Rise of the Night Witch

Chapter 1.4 - The Witness

Recap: Last time, Marissa got in her school's basement to fight a hellhound and a Cad Goddeu (plant demon/helltree). However, after the dog bit her, her friend Isa came and made a video of Marissa fighting monsters.

So, Isa saw those monsters. They could act despite the presence of a witness while I could only fight my anxiety attacks.

My hands felt cold, my breath was short, and my spine quivered. Sitting in a crouch, I made sure my hood remained where it should. My cloak was open at the front, so, if I didn't hold it together, Isa might see the grey sweater.

It was one of those situations. Situations where I speak in front of the whole class or deal with people I don't like. Being nervous never makes anything better, but I always feel nervous around others. Particularly around people like Isa who didn't know me very long and who I didn't want to judge me.

But she didn't judge me. Instead, she approached me slowly and had her voice low as she spoke. "Y-you're one of those urban legend superheroes we had at school, aren't you?"

"Yes!" I said in a muffled, rasping voice.

I didn't think before I spoke, but I feigned confidence. Most people laughed at the idea that Superman became Clark Kent by putting on glasses. But it wasn't just how he looked, but also how he acted. No-one would believe that this flying demigod was a dorky reporter. So, I straightened my back and tried to sound as powerful and wise as possible while hiding the shy Marissa under the cloak.

I couldn't turn around to judge her reaction or to see if her cellphone was recording everything, lest she'd see my face. Bi-bi-di-ba-bi-di-bo.

Fortunately, I didn't have to talk much, as Isa was willing to take the initiative.

"Do you know that video where a woman dressed in black fought a vampire?" she asked.

"Yes." That was the video that got Mom in trouble.

"Cool! I saw it, too, and I gave her the nickname 'Night Witch'. How about I call you like that, too? Witches are cool, and you've got a cat, and I've been looping Sabaton all summer, and-"

She lurched before she could finish the sentence. Isa normally had more energy than coffee and could talk until her breath ran out. But now, her eyes closed, her back refused to stay straight, and her life energy left her body as it went to the helltree.

While my steel pipe had stunned the monster for a moment, it wasn't sleeping.

I wanted to catch her, but even I could barely move a foot.

"Ah, the hound venom still works," Siris whispered inside my head. "Your body is soon gonna look like my scratch tree if you're lucky. If not, you'll learn the meaning of true despair."

I'd rather look it up in a dictionary.

Unfortunately, the helltree had bulked up. Its black "suit" now clearly revealed itself to be bark. Its thin body had grown into a thick trunk while its faceless head template looked more and more like a stump. Spikes, eye-ball-shaped seeds, and knotted ivy vines decorated its wooden plates.

But it didn't just look bigger and scarier than before. No. It also learned new tricks. The immobile tree monster learned how to move its tendrils. And, like an ambush predator, it was about to snatch Isa.

"Isa, no!" I screamed as loud as my lack of breath allowed.

I jumped forward and tackled Isa out of the way.

The helltree snatched me faster than a chameleon tongue. The tendrils coiled around my ribcage like a Boa constrictor and squeezed the breath out of my lungs. Like a crane, they hefted me into the air and moved me closer to the monster.