Shattered Worlds

Veronica was one step away from sprinting for her life. She was honestly impressed that she hadn't done so already. Well, that could be the fear keeping her from running.

That's when she noticed the girl was already marching away.

"W-wait," Veronica said as she followed after.

"Don't follow me," the girl said, waving Veronica away.

"What else am I supposed to do?"

"Go anywhere else."

She glanced around before staring blankly at the back of the girl's head and dryly asking, "Where?"

Unlike some parts of the mansion, there was only one path. Actually, it had been a while since she last saw forks in the road, but the point was that she could only go forward or backward. There was literally nowhere else for Veronica to go unless she wanted to walk right back to the wendigo.

Of course, the girl chose to ignore her and continued to walk.

Fine. I don't want to talk to you either.

As Veronica followed the girl, she wished that her familiar was there.

If Echo was there, she could easily send him off to find some adult witches to deal with the wendigo instead of having to go looking for one. Unfortunately, he was babysitting her baby sister for her.

The moment she thought of her baby sister, the blood in her veins went cold.

What if the wendigo stumbled upon her baby sister?

Veronica and the other girl were already no match for the creature.

How could a baby hope to survive against it?

No, don't think about it like that. I'm sure that the wendigo won't find her. It's currently chasing after us...which isn't a good thing either.

She glanced behind her to see if the wendigo had caught up, but there were still no signs of the creature, which was odd.

The path had been straight the entire time. There was no way she could miss spotting the creature coming after them. The only way that was possible was if the creature could somehow go through the walls or something along those lines.

Feeling uneasy, she asked, "What abilities does a wendigo have?" The girl remained silent. "What can a wendigo do?" There was still no response. "Hello?"

"I said don't bother me," the girl snapped.

"I'm being serious here. I don't see the wendigo. Can it use magic like us?"

The girl immediately stopped in her tracks, and Veronica crashed into her back.

As she stumbled back, the girl spun around with a serious expression on her face. "No, they don't. That's ridiculous."

"Then where did it go?" Veronica asked, waving her hand behind them.

The girl took a moment to glance behind them and frown. Suddenly, she grabbed one of Veronica's hands and ran. Caught off guard, Veronica stumbled but managed to stay on her feet as they hurried down the hall.

"Slow down. I can't keep up," Veronica said.

"Unless you want to be eaten by a wendigo, be my guest," the girl said.

Veronica wisely kept her mouth shut.

She tightened her grip on the girl's hand, afraid it would slip from her grasp and be left behind. Looking over her shoulder, Veronica couldn't see what made the girl decide to run again.

Did she see the wendigo? I don't see it.

"Hey," Veronica started.

"I have a name," the girl snapped back.

"Well, you never introduced yourself."

"I'm Maura Diablo, your superior. I expect you to give me a proper greeting after this."

There were a lot of things Veronica wanted to comment on about the girl's name, but she decided not to annoy the girl who was currently helping her out.

When Veronica finally saw a fork in the path, she thought she was going to cry. Maura turned the corner, pulling Veronica along with her. They walked some more, and just as Veronica was wondering how much longer before they found someone—she swore that it was impossible to find anyone in that place—they spotted a group of witches.

Adult witches, in fact.

Maura immediately hailed them, shouting, "Wendigo."

The witches instantly converged on them, surrounding them, with most of them facing the direction they came from.

One of the witches inspected them for injuries as she said, "Explain."

"I saw a wendigo and was able to fight it off before running," Maura said.

"You did good. Leave it to us."

Veronica didn't miss how the witch hadn't even looked her way outside of making sure she wasn't hurt. She hadn't even bothered to hear what Veronica had to say. It kind of hurt that she was ignoring Veronica, but she chose to believe it on purpose. The witch was just worried about the wendigo, and Maura had basically told them the gist of it.

A loud roar drew everyone's attention as the wendigo finally appeared in front of them. Literally.

One moment, there was nothing there. The next day, the wendigo was standing before them in its twelve-foot glory. Veronica hadn't even seen where it had come from. It was almost like it had appeared out of thin air.

Spells filled the air as the witches attacked the creature. Veronica couldn't bear to watch—she had never used magic to hurt another living being before—and stared resolutely at the ground. She could hear the wendigo scream in pain and outrage. Out of the corner of her eyes, she could see flashes of color from the spells as she waited for the other witches to finish dealing with the creature. When it finally quieted down, she dared to take a peek.

There was no sign of the wendigo.

She saw traces of the battle covering the floor, but the creature was nowhere in sight. Looking at the grim expressions on the other witches' faces, she could guess what could have happened.

"We need to inform the others that there's a wendigo on the loose," one of the witches said.

"Unbelievable. How did a wendigo get in here?"

"This has never happened before. This has to be a sign."

"A sign for what?"

Suddenly, everyone's eyes were on Veronica, leaving her feeling sick to her stomach.

Veronica could instantly tell what everyone was thinking without any of them having to say a single word. They were all blaming her for the appearance of the wendigo.

Why else would they be looking at her with that kind of look in their eyes?

She wanted to say it wasn't her fault, but the words were stuck in her throat. The weight of their stares made it impossible for her to talk, and she averted her gaze, hoping they would stop looking at her like that.

Suddenly, Maura cleared her throat. "We should find Deville and tell her what happened right away."

There was instantly a chorus of agreements from the other witches as well as praise for Maura's quick thinking.

It took Veronica a couple of minutes to recall who Deville was. Of course, they should tell the host what was happening in her own home. It wasn't rocket science, and Maura didn't deserve to be praised for bringing it up. However, Veronica didn't say anything so as not to draw any attention to her.

Instead, she quietly followed the group as they hurried to track down the host. For a moment, she swore that she saw Maura glance her way with a strange expression on her face, but in a blink of an eye, Maura was staring straight ahead. Veronica couldn't be sure if she was just imagining things and kept her mouth shut as she continued to run.

It didn't take long for them to find Deville.

As soon as Deville saw them, her expression hardened as she demanded, "What's going on?"

"There's been a situation," one of the adult witches said before going into detail about what happened.

Veronica took this moment to scan the crowd of witches behind Deville and spot Leta. Leta seemed to notice her stare and looked in Veronica's direction. Their eyes met, and neither of them said a word. Then Leta abruptly broke away from her group to march towards Veronica. Caught like a deer in headlights, Veronica stared with wide eyes as Leta pushed her way into Veronica's personal space.

"Veronica, what are you doing here? Where's your baby sister?" Leta asked.

She backed away, but Leta simply followed after her, refusing to give Veronica any space.

Gnashing her teeth together, Veronica countered, "Why does it matter to you?"

Leta gave Veronica a bewildered look. "What does it matter? This is your baby sister we're talking about. Shouldn't you be more worried about her?"

"I have nothing to say to you."

"Seriously, Veronica. Where's the baby?"

Their conversation was cut short when Deville suddenly announced, "Everyone, gather around."

None of the other witches hesitated to rush forward to get closer to Deville. Leta glanced at Veronica, who ignored the look Leta was giving her. Without saying another word, Leta left Veronica's side to get closer to Deville. Veronica remained rooted in her spot, watching the other witches form an encirclement around Deville.

"We have an emergency on our hands. While I don't know the cause of it, we must handle it now before it gets completely out of hand." Deville scanned the crowd, her eyes not stopping on a single person longer than a moment, including Veronica. "We will split up into several groups. There are two important tasks we need to carry out. One is to investigate the mansion for any intruders. The other is to round up the other witches spread out throughout the mansion. No one should travel alone."

At the end of her speech, the gathered witches rushed to form groups. Veronica continued to watch from the sidelines, wondering if she should join either of the two groups or stay out of it.

Deville said no one should travel alone, but would anyone let her come along?

Well, Veronica didn't think so.

Witches were already leaving to carry out their tasks, thinning the group until almost everyone was gone. There were a few stragglers hanging around, but no one dared to get close to her.

They were treating her like she was the plague. Even though she expected this, it still hurt to be treated like that.

Suddenly, Deville strutted towards Veronica and towered over her with an expressionless face. Unsure what to do, Veronica stared right back at the woman clutching her broomstick close to her chest.

"Well? What are you waiting for?" When Veronica remained silent, Deville continued, "Come with me. You'll be part of my group."

Huh? She wants me to be part of her group? Wasn't she the one demanding I leave earlier?

"Don't stand there in a daze," Deville barked. "Follow me unless you want to be left behind."

Veronica flinched. She stared at Deville's retreating back before checking the other witches' reactions. They were staring at her with various expressions, which pushed Veronica to quickly chase after Deville just so she could avoid the looks. Deville didn't say a word as their small group—it was just her, Deville, and Leta, who had attached herself to them—walked down the halls searching for intruders and other witches.

She didn't know why Leta chose to come with them, but she wasn't in the mood to talk with her.

Fortunately, Leta didn't say a single word as the group traveled in silence. The only sound was their footsteps echoing in the long hall as they observed their surroundings.

There were no signs of anything out of the ordinary, nor did they spot any other witches.

Maybe that wendigo was a one-time thing. I really hope it is.

The thought of encountering another wendigo or facing some other kind of creature left her shaking in her boots. It was a good thing that she was Deville since she could be counted on to protect them if something dangerous showed up.

After traveling for some time, they finally encountered a trio of witches who looked around Leta and Veronica's age. Deville hailed them, and the kids waved back. When she signaled for them to come over, the trio shared a glance before hurrying over to them with a puzzled expression on their faces. The trio was just a few feet away from them when the ground shook.