02

THE WITCH'S GIFT

Chapter One: The Witch's Gift

Kitee, North Karelia, Finland

Floor stared down at the gift. Another large smile came over her face. "Do you really think we have a chance?" she asked Esa.

Esa shrugged. "I think we've a better chance once we get out of here."

Lydia stared at the pair of them. "So, you found something happy?" She looked down at Floor's box. "What makes that box such a happy thing?"

Floor nodded toward the door. The snow was falling even harder outside. If this kept up, it would end up piling higher than the buildings. "You'll see."

"I just don't see a lot to be happy about right now," Lydia muttered.

The threesome made their way out onto the porch, where the snow had piled so high that it was next to impossible to get the door close correctly. It took all three of them pushing on it with everything they had to even get it close.

Floor's eyes narrowed even more as they made their way down the slick steps. The light coming from the end of Esa's torch did little to anything to help them. It was so slick that Lydia almost slid down the bottom three steps instead of walking.

Floor kept fingering the chest. She had a feeling that it was more than hope. There had to be something else that made it so important. Sure, hope was important and all, but there just had to be something else and she was going to figure it out.

The snow blow all around them, some of it coming in blasts so hard that it made it quite difficult from them to remain upright. Floor couldn't even tell if they were even walking in the right direction. The power for the streetlights was long gone and snow had covered everything so thickly that they couldn't tell the houses from the trees.

Esa grabbed Floor's arm, pulling to her to the side. Lydia was hovering in a porch, her eyes peering at them. "We had to stop until daylight," Esa said.

Floor stared out into the black masses. "How long is that?"

Esa shrugged. "I don't know, but I can't tell where we are going."

Lydia hugged herself. "If only the moon would come back. I could get us out of here with no problems if I just had a little bit of moonlight." She looked at them. "I can't even sense if the monster is coming back. Monster, I guess, it's more like a Rogue wolf."

Esa looked at Lydia as if she was the most interesting thing he had ever seen. "Can you tell us a little bit more about the Rogue? It's been awhile since we've had to deal with one."

"Can you promise me you won't hurt him? He really isn't like this all the time," Lydia said in a small voice. She nodded to Floor. "I've already told her, he's normally not like this. It's because she's got him trapped in her spell. Break the spell and I think everything will be okay."

Esa and Floor exchanged looks.

"You know, Lydia, we really can't promise anything like that," Esa gently stared in. "He could hurt someone and we just may not have a chance."

Lydia didn't move for several seconds. "I understand, I think, but please just make sure it's a last resort. I just don't think I could live with myself knowing that he was murdered for no reason."

"We don't kill for fun." The words sounded so strange coming off of Floor's tongue. "We only do it when it's completely necessary."

Lydia's head jerked upwards at Floor's words. Floor could tell that Lydia believed the lies just about as much as Floor did. They were Hunters and Hunters killed wolves for the simple act of entering human lands.

Esa smiled. "We are trying to help you. If some of the other Hunters see him, they will kill him on sight without really understanding what is going on."

Lydia glared up at him. "You know that I really don't believe you, but I do thank you for at least making an effort."

"I try."

"He really doesn't know what he's doing. He hasn't been in control of his own body for months and even before that he was acting stranger than normal." Lydia stared off into space. "He used to help the Hunters so they wouldn't kill him. I always thought it was kind of low of him, but he was doing whatever he could to make sure he could live. I tried to talk him into moving so many times, but he wouldn't hear it."

"Mikko," Floor breathed. "He always was kind of twisted, but those weeks he really did lose it. I'd never seem him act like he did."

Lydia nodded. "So, you kind of get what I'm talking about?"

Floor nodded.

"He just won't hear me out, no matter what I said and it was worse after that wolf died. It was like he was under some kind of trance. I don't even think he knew I was there." She paused. "Then, one day he invited me to come and see him. Being as stupid as I am, I agreed. He seemed normal. I really thought he had broken the spell, then he attacked. I really thought he was going to kill me." She stared off into the snow. "I really couldn't believe it."

"And we ended up here," Floor finished.

Lydia looked at her with big eyes. "Yes, then we ended up here with a box."

Floor stared down at the box. "It all has be connected. I just don't seen the witch being killed for nothing."

"We don't even know if this is what they were after," Esa pointed out.

Floor stared down at the box. No, Esa was wrong. She just had a feeling in gut that this was what the witch was killed for. They were probably just lucky that whoever had broken into the house had not found it.

The snow blew harder around them. Esa had been right about one thing. Stopping here and waiting until the sun came out probably did save them. She could just see themselves wondering around for hours without really having a clue as to where they were going.

She kept watching Lydia out of the corner of her eye. True, Lydia had been around them for awhile now, but there was still something off about her. She had no idea if Mikko had actually managed to Bite her. Floor was pretty sure that whenever a Rogue normally Bite another wolf, it normally turned that wolf Rogue. Desiderius was kind of the odd one. There must have been something wrong with him when Mikko bit him.

Hours must have pasted, but it felt like days. The sky was starting to lighten up a little bit, but it was still far too dark to start thinking about moving. The snow, it seemed, was actually letting up a little bit.

They waited for about another half an hour before setting off into the early morning light. They were the only ones on the street. Everyone else was smart and was remaining inside. The icy blasts of the wind almost sent them falling over backwards and more than once did some of the snow make its way into their clothing, brushing their cold skin.

Floor kept looking around for any sign of movement while keeping the box close to her. She just knew it was important, knew there was a bigger reason behind it than just giving them hope. The more she thought about it, the more she was starting to believe her own words.

They turned down another street. Here it looked like people had just gotten out of their cars and left them sit wherever. Floor had to keep herself from swearing as the snow bank in front of her did not turn out to be a snow back, but a small car.

The train line remained frozen and buried beneath at least two metres of snow.

Floor nudged Esa. "I guess taking the train is not longer an option."

Esa smiled at the snow buried train. "Yeah, I don't think we'll be using that today."

Lydia glared at us. "Why do you think this is a good time to joke about things? I've told you what's been happening."

Floor smiled at her. "Now, is probably one of the best times to joke. Haven't you ever heard of easing the tension?"

Lydia just looked like she would like to say something about Floor's easing the tension.

The kept walking, going deeper into Kitee. Every once in awhile, they would see small signs of life, a cat or other small animal, but no people. Floor wondered if they were going to venture out at all. A few of the streets in this part of town looked like a warzone. The fronts of buildings were badly damaged or worse. A few of them looked like they had been burned or something. Glass littered the ground in huge chunks; doors were resting in their new homes on top of snow drifts. Items from the businesses littered the ground, left out to rot in the snow. So many of these places had become home to Floor during her time in Finland and now they were gone. Everything was just falling apart.

"It's just happened," Esa muttered, looking at a newspaper whose print was melting away into the snow. "They can't be far."

Floor shook her head. "I don't think we should go after them. They're probably just humans who are afraid." She paused. "I really can't say that I don't blame them."

Esa examined one of the busted out shop windows. "You're probably right."

"They shouldn't have been pulled into this," Floor muttered, staring down at what looked like blood. "They shouldn't have to fight like this."

"It's the way these things work," Lydia muttered.