Rise of the Night Witch

Chapter 5.8 - After The Storm

Falling to my doom from a broom and being targetedby a headless death god knocked me out. Assuming I survived at all. Was this what the afterlife felt like?

No-one knew what happened to those who perished. Ghosts were a thing, but they were more like imprints of people than real people. Our teachers said that the Underworld, Helheim, or Yomi were real, too, but their inhabitants were a mystery.

This place felt so warm and soft. My last memories were of hitting the water surface of the Hudson River. Water wasn't soft, no matter what anyone told you. I should have broken every bone in my body.

Yet, when I moved my hands, moved my feet, I was met with the startling realization that I was in one piece.

Where was I? It was hard to see. If there was any light source except those few torches. Besides my bed, the room I woke up in was empty and featureless. No windows, no wall paint, and no furniture other than a table with multiple glasses of water.

Those walls were made of marble. They reminded me of the Academy or the Council's Headquarters.

Which might have been where I landed, given the people around me.

Once my vision cleared, I realized I wasn't dead. Dad was by my bedside, as were my friends and Nathan and projections of Cornelius, holding Melas' picture frame, and strangely enough Jaclyn. These people couldn't be all dead. Many of them didn't even fight. They were alive and so was I.

Everyone, even those who weren't practitioners, was dressed in formal black robes. Nathan leaned against the wall with his arms crossed while Dad beamed with joy. Simon supported his sister who cried silent tears while Isa had her usual, uncomplicated smile on her lips.

"You're awake!" Isa said.

I cracked a smile. "Beauty sleep's over."

Jaclyn crossed her arms. "No 'thank you' for having pulled your excuse of a body out of the water?"

"Typical," Cornelius said. "no gratitude to me and the Hunters who slowed down your fall either. We were forced to levitate you without making your fall look unnatural to the helicopters."

"Thank you," I said. "Both of you. I'd have never thought you'd pull me to my feet while I was knocked out."

"Do not mistake an act of duty for an act of charity. As the Council's Disciplinarian and Executioner, it is my duty to punish those who violate our law and protect those who do not."

I stood up and sat on my bedside, my head still aching from the impact. Technically, I was one of the rule-breakers. I had broken the rule about not seeking bargains with beings from the Otherworld. And Cornelius knew it. He saw the Primordial, whatever those things were, in my head and tried to exorcise it even.

Yet, he saved me. He made it sound as though I hadn't broken my Oath. As though I deserved my protection. "Thank you," I said without thinking. "I-I guess you don't like it when I say that. I'm just surprised you helped."

"As am I," he said. "When I saw you fall to your death with the Book of Samael in your hand, I was certain you would be tempted to use it to your advantage. I was proven wrong."

That was it. He was harsh to those who walked the wrong path, but he gave people a chance to turn around.

I picked up a bonbon and a glass of water from the bedside table and swallowed both. I wiped my mouth and looked at everyone else, glad that they survived.

"So, what happened?" I asked.

Isa jumped and raised her hands. "Saved the whole world, that happened!"