the witch-hunter

Laying her palm flat on the centuries old wooden door, she feels him. He’s awake too. 

The door gives when she tries the doorknob, and she’s surprised because she figured he’d lock it. They were in strange territory, even if it were relative to their past. Swallowing hard, she slips in and closes the door behind her before anyone catches her. 

Their eyes meet, and it’s clear she’s been burning up for awhile.

Freddy stretches his hands out for her and nods, “It will be all right, c’mon.” He feels like he knows what she needs and he’d be lying if he said he didn’t need it too. Contact with someone other than the monster holding them hostage.

“He’s not a good man, Cadi. I don’t think you should be his friend.” That monster didn’t need a friend, he needed a therapist and a prison cell. When she’s finally within his reach, Freddy wiggles his fingers but doesn’t initiate contact for her sake. He nods again to give her confidence in him and herself, “I think I need a hug from a friend, will you grant an old man that wish?”

Arcadia was good at making friends, she was always kind and she liked to make people laugh. Why shouldn’t she make this man her friend? Maybe then he wouldn’t be so angry. She looks at his outstretched hand for a second and hesitantly takes it. The energy crackling around her fingers is visible, sparks igniting at every brush of their skin. She didn’t know why she was this way, it scared her.

The smiles fade and he’s lowering his hands to place them on his knees. It dawns on him that she isn’t afraid of him and that hurts even worse. He raises his hands and scratches his eyebrow before putting his smile back on, “Cadi, it’ll be okay. You can’t hurt me any worse than he has, I trust you. I believe you.”

Offering his hand out again, he waits for her to come to him if she wants. He wishes he could keep her safe, but wishing for it to be true won’t make it happen. Hope was the only thing they had left, hope that someone would be looking for her. Freddy knows they’re out there somewhere knocking on doors or breaking them in to find her because he would be too if he was her father.

“Has he been hurting you, Cadi? Are you doing all right despite everything?” Freddy wants to be her friend in this. He wants to help her at least feel a little less scared until they find her.

Arcadia eyes his hand like more than anything, she wants to hold it. She missed her parents, and she could use a bear hug like the ones her Papa gave her. Or a tender kiss on her forehead the way her Mami kissed her. Sniffling some more, she shakes her head. “He doesn’t hurt me, he’s just... mean.”

Once, when Cadi was just a little girl, she’d been watching the cook in the kitchen. He was frantically picking out pieces of fried chicken, nearly burnt to a crisp, from the fry pan. Across the room from them was the second oven, each shelf fitted with a tray full of potatoes. In the chef’s head, she could hear him say words Papa would smack her on the bottom for saying so she tried to block those out. But she caught the drift, soon the potatoes would burn too.

So being the good girl she was, she slid off the table and walked over to the oven. Quiet as a mouse, she pulled open the door and reached in. Bare handed. The yell she heard wasn’t her own, but the chef who had finally turned around and saw the small child elbow deep inside the oven. Unbothered, she’d pulled out the first tray she could grab and turned to smile at him. It hadn’t hurt until she saw his face, and that’s when it hit her. Like her body suddenly remembered, or forgot. Heat, licking up her arms and making her scream something horrible.

In her dreams, the fire didn’t hurt like that. It licked her skin, much like he did. It crawled up her belly as he pushed up her shirt and left glitter in its wake. He didn’t seem to mind it either, tan hands spreading over her flaming skin like he wanted to be stuck to her. He’s sweating though, some of it pooling in the cupid’s bow of his upper lip. She licks it, pants into his mouth as his hips find their mark and suddenly she’s full of him. And their eyes meet.

Chocolate, pure deep chocolate. Like hers.

Shooting up in bed, she feels her lungs working overtime. Burning in a way her skin hadn’t. Grabbing onto her sheets, she pulls them up over her chest like she’s still naked. As if he’s actually here to see her.

Her voice is so sweet, his heart breaks for her every second she’s in this house. Freddy wishes desperately that he could break out of his chains, but he already knows from experience he can’t. Freddy raises his hand to wave and his chains rustle behind him, he hopes it won’t frighten her too much. He smiles and tries his best to get into the light as much as he can for her.

“May I call you Cadi, too?” he kneels down to her level and the chains on his hands pool under him. “Oh no! No, no.” he chuckles and shows a welcoming smile, “I promise I won’t bite cha.” He quickly looks her over for any marks, bruises or otherwise, as he beckons her closer. Nothing is visible on her bare skin and he’s a little grateful, “You’ll be okay, Cadi. I know there are people looking for ya.”

Cadi lets herself smile back, his was infectious it seemed.That is until he gets closer and she’s slowly inching back, folding her hands behind her back so that he couldn’t possibly touch her bare skin.

“You can call me Cadi,” she says quickly, “Just be careful.” Shifting from foot to foot,she tries to find the words to express why. Her parents didn’t know about her powers until recently, she’d been good at hiding them. This man, though, somehow he knew how to make them stronger. And now Cadi didn’t know how to make it stop. “You shouldn’t touch me, I could hurt you.”

The man wasn’t kind. Freddy often wondered what happened to cause the man to hurt “others” as often as he did. Freddy had seen the man destroy magic, extinguish energy that shouldn’t be so easily destroyed by a human. It was strange that such a fragile creature had so much power over him. What kind of experiments had he done on his previous victims, how long would he keep Freddy alive?

If only the damn chains would break, how did they even work? Such measly metal should be able to snap, but instead they kept him confined to a corner until the man wanted his blood again. After nearly a year, Freddy was ready to just give up. That is, until the man brought her home.

A few nights had gone by, then more. Freddy could smell her and saw her a few times, but then he couldn’t speak. He’d been drained and had no strength to comfort her. Now though, now they could finally make acquaintance. “I’m here… my name’s Freddy.” he tried to sound cheerful, maybe it would help her feel a little more comfortable, “What’s your name, sweet girl?”

Freddy. She feels a smile tug at the corner of her lips. It sounded like a cartoon character’s name. Like someone nice, that she could trust. Standing up slowly, she tiptoed into the light so he could see her better. “I’m Arcadia.”

Crying softly to herself as not to anger him, she pushes her small body closer to the wall as he puts his jacket on. Cadi wonders what he does when he leaves the house, is he finding new victims? Sniffling, she feels her muscles ease as the door clicks shut behind him. It isn’t as hard when he isn’t here, she can pretend she’s just lost.

They were climbing up the bank again. Except they were older, and the man holding her hand was bulky in place of Nico's lean muscle. She watched him just as clearly as she had the day it actually happened, but when he swung her onto his back the hair that flew in front of her face... Red as fire.

Blinking hard, she shakes the memory from her head and tries to keep up with Atlas. It'd been years since she'd seen him too, he hadn't recognized her. She wasn't offended, she was different. Everything was different. Grabbing onto his outstretched hand as they vaulted onto the platform of Port Hoster, she tries to ignore the pounding feet behind them. Coming for them, for her. The shuttle they hurry towards looks like home.

Stumbling into the open door, she hears a gasp from the girl, Puck. But her eyes are on him. Would he recognize her?