My Long Lost Mate

What? Payback? What does she mean by payback? What did white witches do to black witches? 

I didn't know much about the history of witches, but from what I've seen from the murals in the church, they were good friends. Even if they were not blood-related, they treated each other like sisters and did everything together. 

The murals didn't tell me what happened between the two that separated them. One day they were having a nice dinner, and then the next, a war started between the two. We all know what happened after that brought us to this day. 

Was she talking about the thing that caused the war between the two? 

"What do you mean?" 

"Oh, sweetie, do you think white witches are all that pure and kind as you appear to be? When you were the one who started the war?" She rolled her eyes, gasping at my poor knowledge of our history. 

What? The white witches were the ones who started the war? But, why? I thought white witches preferred to live quietly? That's what everyone said. Everyone says that white witches are kind, unlike black witches. 

"At least, black witches stay true to their nature," she hissed, now showing her serpent-like tongue. "We don't pretend." 

"Are you saying white witches are pretending to be kind?"

As I'd never met a white witch in person, I couldn't confirm the rumors going around about them. Everyone said white witches are kind, so I assumed they were. I was relieved to find that I was a white witch rather than a black witch. I was relieved because I thought being a white witch was a good thing, knowing that we're not as despised by others.

But what am I supposed to feel now that I know the white witches were not as they seemed to be? I thought I'd definitely side with the white witches no matter what happened, but now I'm not so sure anymore.

No, she could very well be lying. I shouldn't trust her words so blindly—or anyone else's for that matter. I should confirm their words with my own eyes and decide for myself. While most of us think that black witches are wicked, evil beings, when we see it from their perspective, we're the wicked ones.

We hunted so many of their kind and chased them out of their homes, shunning them out completely. They were hunted, burned, decapitated. All because of our fear for them. We see them as a threat, but what if someone made us think in such a way to their advantage?

Like the white witches, for example? After all, Doris had claimed that white witches were the ones who first started the war between them. This can happen. 

But is it possible for the rest of the creatures to be fooled? The fact that most of us hated black witches was enough proof of their wickedness, no? There must be something that the black witches have done to us for them to be this despised... right? 

Regardless of who was in the wrong, what the black witches were doing right now was unforgivable. It's wrong for them to take someone else's life and use them to their liking. Each of them was someone with their own dream, their own future, but black witches took that from them.

"Why are you asking that to me?" She scoffed. "You should ask your elders, or rather, ask yourself. Are you pretending right now?"

"I'm being human," I said, the knife trembling in my hand. "Not everyone likes to watch others suffer." 

"Do you want me to stop the ritual?" She smirked, and it was obvious that she had something in mind. Whatever it was, it won't be good for me. I gulped the lump in my throat, waiting for her to continue. "Kill me then."

"What?" 

"I said kill me, and the ritual will stop." She raised her hand, showing the blood staining it. "You're already close enough."

Upon her absurd demand, she started singing again, making the sigil glow and absorb the fingers laid atop it.

"Darkness is our light, curse is our song.

Snakes as our Queen, doves as our enemy.

Let us go to our castle, together we chant.

Hail all witches, as black remained."

She continued from where she left off, smiling so widely that her teeth were made public. I panicked, seeing the sigil quickly growing wider to where the rest of the people were. 

W-what should I do? I—I don't have the courage to… to kill. I pulled the knife away, using my other hand to support my trembling hand.  I looked at Doris beneath me, seeing the blood which continued to flow out of her sides, making a pool of blood around us. 

Is the one talking with me right now the real Doris? Is she really a black witch? What about the little girl from before? The one whose hands trembled as she threw the stones to help me? 

If I kill, will I kill the real Doris—or will I kill the black witch controlling her? 

Doris looked at me with amusement in her eyes as she sang. Fingers after fingers vanished into the sigil, and more people transformed fully into puppets. Each time the sigil reached a person, a monstrous scream came from them as the magic pushed its way into their bodies.

There was a brief moment where they regained their consciousness, and in that same moment, all they felt was pain.

I could feel my heart beating fast, so fast that it was not normal. The sound of people screaming at the top of their lungs, the growling of the three wolves who struggled to fight the never-ending snakes, the sound of Doris singing close to my ears.

All of the sounds surrounding me were too overwhelming, and my mind felt like it was about to explode. I had to stop the ritual, but the only way to stop it was to kill. If I didn't do what she said, I'd be sacrificing the lives of numerous people here. But if I did as she said, I'd be killing a young girl who hasn't even lived five years of her life.

Doris continued to sing, tilting her head as she waited for my decision. Why is she letting me do this? As countless questions came flooding my mind, another scream came, turning my mind into a jumbled mess.

Then came a ferocious growl, a growl of anger and pain. The big black wolf had its body wrapped around a few snakes, enduring the pain of the bites the snakes had given him. Blood dripped down to the ground, and the sight of red coming from the wolf was what made me make up my mind.

I have to end this. 

With my trembling hands, I raised the knife in the air, ready to do whatever it took to end this whole ordeal. With one last glance at the serpent-like eyes, and another at the smile that stretched across her face, I pierced the knife right to her heart.

Doris immediately stopped singing, but the smile never disappeared. "You're going to be a good black witch in the future," she said, and the serpent-like eyes turned into that of a normal person.

Along with the disappearance of the serpent-like eyes, I saw something—a mist—a black mist, going out of Doris's body and dissipating into thin air. Her brown eyes were wide open when she looked at me, blood filling up her mouth.

"L-lady…"