Wow it's been a while since I've posted anything from this novel. But I got a new laptop a couple weeks ago and I ended up going through all my novels chapter by chapter. I decided which ones had hope and which ones should never be read. I decided this one had hope. I stopped posting it because I wasn't getting much support, but it won't hurt to try again I guess. And I figured I shouldn't need people to like something to like my own writing and continue with it. Even though this is my older writing, I hope to get some good reviews that will help me in my writing, even if someone doesn't necessary like the story.
Chapter Four
An entire month passed. I spent my days waiting until the next, and being sure I got something to eat. Emma didn't starve me, but I always felt bad taking the little food she had. I spent a lot of time with Joshua. It turned out he lived only a couple streets away. His house was bigger than Emma's, but not by much. His mother seemed like a witch on the run too. He taught me a curse or two, and in return I told him a little about the future. He thought it was so cool, and laughed when I told him about cell phones. “That's not possible,” he had told me. I guess you couldn't convince even a witch of a portable computer.
I also spent a lot of time with Emma. We hadn't moved houses, but she told me we would soon. She worked with a clothing company right now, so she spent all her time at home sewing. She sewed me a bunch of clothes to the side of her job. The clothes they wore back then were really comfy. And she was an amazing sewer. That was just another thing that she had told me was passed down from generation to generation. We went out anytime she got the chance. She showed me around town a lot. We went window shopping all the time. It was hard for her not to be able to have any of it, but it was easy for me because it all looked like old junk.
We had to be really careful around any person we saw. She said she had been wanted for years and was very well known around town. I wasn't allowed to talk to anyone except Joshua and his mom. And anytime I went to Joshua's house I had to ignore anyone who would come up or try to talk to me. I didn't see the big deal. It was her they were after, not me.
Some days she would be really paranoid, and refuse to go out at all. She found it hard to find something to do. When I asked her why she told me she used to spend her free time checking in on me. And now that I was right here, she couldn't do that anymore.
Some days were really bad. I saw men eying our house hundreds of times. I knew this meant we had to move soon. But I wondered if the house would be even smaller this time. Emma always had her blinds closed and would never go downtown to talk with women her own age. If you didn't know any better, you would say she was a creepy old lady that never came out of her house.
I missed my parents a lot. I couldn't help wondering what they were doing now and if they even cared that I was gone. I know Emma had told me they loved me a lot, but that didn't mean they didn't feel glad to have the burden of me gone. And maybe now the neighborhood would finally talk to them. I thought about asking Emma how to do that curse that allowed her to see me all these years. But then I chickened out and told myself it wasn't important, and what they were doing was their business.
Everyday started to feel the same. I did the same things and talked to the same people. Nothing new ever happened, and I was really starting to get homesick. This century didn't have an iPods, cell phones, computers, or any of the electronic devices I learned to live with. It was so boring! Emma just laughed when I told her that, and told me to be careful what I told people about the future. “Knowing too much is never good,” she had told me.
Well this particular day I was at Joshua's house. Emma had given me permission to come once she made sure no one was outside and I bugged her about it long enough. I was sitting at his table watching him apply baking soda to his teeth. I just gave him a weird look. “What?” he asked me.
“You know in the future we put that in our toothpaste, so we don't have to worry about it.”
“Toothpaste? Man you guys are smart. But I bet everyone in the future is smart, since you all know how to read and write perfectly.”
I laughed. “Not everyone in the future is smart. We just have a higher education system than you guys do right now. I'm one of the lowest in my class with test scores.”
“Well you could have had me fooled.” He set the box down and sat across from me. “So who did you live with before, some super robotic parents?”
I just looked at him weird. “Robotic parents? We don't even have robots yet. I lived with my adoptive parents. That means that I wasn't really there's biologically, but they raised me so I was considered their son.”
“Oh. So did you like them?”
“Of course,” I replied. “I really want to go back to live with them. They were such amazing parents. No offense to Emma of course.”
“Do they know you're here, and that you're a witch?”
I looked down sadly. “No. They probably think I'm lost somewhere in our city. Maybe I was kidnapped or something.”
“Why would they think you were lost somewhere in the city?”
“Because I ran away a little bit before I was brought here.”
“Why did you run away? I thought you said they were good parents and you liked them.”
“I did. But I got mad and my eyes went red, then I started to float. It freaked them out so bad that I just ran. I didn't get to say anything to them after that.”
“Wow. Yeah witches tend to do that when they get mad. Did they ever figure out you were a witch?”
“I didn't even know that I was a witch. They knew there was something weird about me, but they didn't know what. That wasn't the first incident.”
“Yeah I caused some pretty bad trouble when I was younger too,” Joshua said. “My mom had to keep moving because I liked to blow things up. How often did you move?”
“We never did. Our neighbors never suspected I was a witch, because we didn't believe in that anymore. But they hated our entire family because they knew of all the freaky stuff I did. And my school almost kicked me out.”
“Harsh. But it must have been nice not having to be on the run.”
“I guess it was. I never really thought about it. So do you think I will ever get to see my parents again?” I asked.
“Honestly, probably not. I know how the head witch works. She's heartless because she never had any children or a family. It takes forever to convince her of anything. I never got to go to the meetings, but my mom was always complaining about her. She only told your mother you could come because that would give us another boy. That was the argument your mom made at the meeting she asked. If you would have been a girl, you would still be back in the year 2010 not knowing anything about being a witch. That and your mom's one of the most powerful witches, so they expected great things from you.”
“Great things? Yeah right. I can't even do simple curses yet. I obviously don't have any of my mom's power.”
“You're only sixteen. Just give it some time. Not even your mom knew everything at age sixteen. Not many powerful witches come out until at least twenty-five.”
“Oh. Well I guess that makes me feel a little better. But once I turn twenty-five what excuse will I have then?”
“You won't need an excuse.”
“Well thanks. I have to go. My mom gets kind of paranoid if I'm not back by a certain time.”
“Oh no I completely understand. I'll see you later.”
“Goodbye,” I said as I got up and left.
I thought about it the entire walk home. This wasn't fair. Emma had told me she would let them see me again, and now it didn't look very likely. I knew it had only been a month, but I missed them already. I missed everything about that century. None of this would have happened if I hadn't insisted on fixing that facet.
I arrived at my house and walked through the door. It sure was awful quiet. At first I thought it was because Emma was on another one of her “Someone's suspicious about me” phases. But when she was she usually told me to be quiet the second I got home. I didn't hear her at all right now. “Emma!” I called. I listened. It was still dead silent. By now she should have been running over here telling me I was going to blow her cover. “Hello!” Then I heard footsteps.
“Grab him!” Someone yelled.
“But he's just a kid,” someone else said.
“He's living with a witch, so I don't care.”
I tried to run, but I wasn't quick enough. I felt someone grab me by both of my arms. “Let go!” I shouted.
“I don't think so.” I looked over to see a man. He had short dark hair and was fairly short. He had an evil smile across his face.
“What do you want from me?” I asked. “I didn't do anything.”
“Allow me to introduce myself,” the man said with that same evil smile. “My name's Henry. I'm the second highest in command of all the witch hunters. No witch can get passed me.”
“You're a witch hunter?” I asked. “You got me all wrong. I'm not a witch.” I sucked at lying, but this was a life or death situation.
“We'll just see what the head has to say about that.”
“The what? That's not necessary. You can trust me.”
“Enough!” he shouted. “Tie him up boys. I know I'm going to get a promotion for this one.” I didn't like the sound of the head. Bosses were always mean and huge jerks. I know he wouldn't let me slip through his fingers.
I tried to fight but it was no use, they were too strong for me. First they blindfolded me, and then they tied up my hands and made me walk. “If witches can't see, they're not nearly as dangerous,” he had told me. I didn't think I was dangerous at all.
They made me walk for what felt like hours. I didn't really get their strategy, because a witch could have easily found their way out of this. Maybe they didn't take me as much of a threat because I was just a kid. They finally stopped and I felt them tie me to a tree. I had no idea what was going to happen next, so I just sat there for awhile.
I started to hear voices not too far away. “You let her escape? She doesn't look that strong to me! I don't get it.”
“It's not that she's strong, she's just really clever.”
“Clever? You're the smartest of us all. How can she be smarter than you?”
“She just is okay. Now will you stop asking me stupid questions?” They were both male voices. I recognized Henry's, but not the other guy's.
“Well I found him coming home and calling her name. I bet he's a witch too.” I knew they were talking about me. The other guy didn't answer right away. “Richard, did you hear me? I bet he's a witch too.” So the other guy's name must have been Richard.
“Yes I heard you Henry. You shouldn't assume he's a witch just because he knows one.”
“What are you talking about? We could hang someone just for knowing a witch. You can't mingle with them. That's encouraging what they're doing. And not only do you encourage them, but you also know that their a witch and you don't turn them in. That's against the law. You of all people should know that.”
“I do know that,” Richard said. “Now let me handle this one.”
“But Richard-”
“I said let me handle this one. Now go away and bug someone else.” I heard Henry go off mumbling. They sounded like a bunch of middle scholars, and I had to stop myself from laughing. But the fact that Richard said let me handle this one kind of scared me. What would he do to me?
