Inside the parklike area, the hostages were lying on the ground. I reached the hostages first. There were at least seven people lying on the brick floor. I reached the hostage closest to me and bent over. It was the woman from the Granary. She looked thinner than I remembered. She had bags under her eyes. I took her pulse. She was still warm. Her pulse was weak, but she was alive. My celebration was short-lived. From the back of the memorial, Angelito’s dear girlfriend, Lily, appeared.
“You really don’t give up, do you?”
I guessed these witches didn’t need any wands like in the movies. She was holding a ball of fire in her hands. I was still holding the M16, and I went for the trigger.
“Do you really want to test who’s faster?” she said.
From my right side, another one of those oversize thugs came out carrying Bartholomew. He had Bartholomew’s gun in one hand and was holding Bartholomew’s wrist in the other. Bartholomew looked pissed.
“Shoot her, Isis. They’re not planning to let anyone live, anyways.” Nobody would ever deny that Bartholomew had spunk.
“Oh, look. You brought us one with lots of years in him. Two for the price of one. I love it.” The crazy witch had the most mocking smile on her face. She was definitely demented. “Too bad your boss won’t be here to take you home.” Demented, and she thought she was funny. Great.
“Aren’t you kind? Drop the ball, and we can do this one-on-one.” I just wanted to knock her teeth out.
“Child, please. After fifty years, I don’t believe in fighting fair. Law-abiding and listening to the order—what did it get us? A dead brother. We were told we can’t go against nature. Bullshit! Those arrogant, self-righteous pigs got rich and happy, and my family died.” Lily was demented, with a revenge motive and lots of years of experience. I was truly out of my league. “What? No witty comeback?”
“Nope. I got nothing for that one. You are demented.” What I needed was a plan to get us out of there. We were facing a psycho witch with lots of power.
“Oh, that’s a shame. Angelito said you were really funny.” She was playing with the ball of fire and looking more evil by the minute.
“Obviously Angelito is not a good source of information. He fell for your crazy ass.” She actually laughed at that. “So do we just stand here and wait, or do you kill me now? I’m ready for a fight.”
“You are a feisty little intern. No, child. We lost a few specimens setting that little diversion. We’re going to make great use of you. Tie him up and then get her,” she ordered the thug holding Bartholomew.
I looked around the group and realized neither Angelito or Ana were there. That was a blessing.
Lily glanced at the thug. It was barely a second, but it was long enough for the person on the ground to kick her. The witch lost her balance, and I opened fire and marched at her. We were less than twenty feet apart, and I was gaining ground. I wasn’t sure what damage I would inflict. I didn’t care. Unfortunately, I wasn’t quick enough. She raised a shield, and the bullets just got stuck in it. But magic required focus and energy. I had plenty of bullets, and she would get tired. She backed away from me, and I kept pace. I emptied a thirty-round magazine on her.
Lily got ready to attack back, but, unfortunately for the pretty little thing, she had to drop her shield. I ran at her and butt struck her to the head with the M16. She wasn’t expecting actual contact. Did I mention I was tired of getting beaten up? The witch went down like a sack of potatoes, and I kicked her in the ribs just for good measure. I heard a loud grunt from behind me, and I turned, M16 ready and reloaded.
“I didn’t take all those lessons to get beaten up by a giant.” The thug holding Bartholomew doubled over with his hands at his groin. Bartholomew managed to elbow him in the face on his way down.
“Nice job, Bart.” The little man was full of surprises.
“Isis, what are you doing here?”
I turned back to the witch to find my mysterious helper. Thank my lucky stars it was the famous no-last-name Bob.
“Oh, thank the Lord, Bob, you’re alive.” I walked over and helped him up. He was also thinner—but alive. He was also very conscious, unlike the rest of the people.
“You’re the famous Bob. Hi, I’m Bartholomew. How are you awake and everyone else is not?” Bartholomew was talking from his side of the memorial.
“Famous?” He looked at me, confused.
“Yeah, long story. Let’s get these two tied up before they wake up.” I pulled out industrial-size zip ties. Bartholomew did the same.
“Zip ties, Isis? Are you serious? That bitch can do magic.” Bob looked very skeptical.
“Reinforced zip ties, my dear Bob. Cuts off their magic source. The only thing she’ll be able to do with these is get plastic burns. Come on, now. Grab her feet.”
Bob bent over and started helping. “Isis, what’s going on here? Where are we? This is not Texarkana—not exactly.”
I felt bad for Bob. He looked so lost. “No, it’s not. It’s purgatory.” I finished her arms and legs and pulled out duct tape to cover her mouth.
“Isis, I’m not Catholic. Does that mean I’m dead? Are you dead?” He looked as if he was about to lose his mind.
“No, we’re not dead, but we will be if we don’t get out of here soon,” Bartholomew said. “Come help me
