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The Burning Times ((Vivid and Dark_Times))

The Boss looked at Moira his face seemed to soften, "If what the girl says is true, bring the old woman back her, without magic she's no more of an enemy to me than you are Jack", he nodded to Jack. Jack laughed loudly again, "True enough, true enough, I shall set out now," he turned to leave but froze, "What if the girl is lying......", his voice held more menace than the Boss's when he spoke these words.


The tone made the Boss stiffen, which was a rare event, "You've been trained, you know what to do in a situation like that", he turned back to the monitors which returned to there normal pictures. Jack nodded and opened the door, "Come", he said to Moira. He had seen how the Boss's face had twitched when he saw Moira, he was interested, but so was Jack, and she was his catch.
 
The only ability her grandmother had left was to direct see and as her sickness progressed, even that ability waned. It was sad. The Crone was supposed to be the strongest stage magically of a female witch’s life. That was when she knew the proper ways to raise and control her energies. But her grandmother’s energies were slowly fading away. It was very fortunate indeed that she would not be able to attack the hunter; her grandmother was very strong willed.

Though she was revealed. If she came here, Moira knew that she was likely to be taken care of. But the way that Jack said “What if the girl is lying?” frightened her. It was as if he wanted the old woman to have powers so he could kill her.

Moira followed Jack with a somber look on her face. She prayed that this ended well for them. This night had already been too much for her. Being caught, shocked, and forced to listen to a man that wanted to rip her throat out did not suit her at all.

“It is only about twenty minutes outside of the city walking distance,” she told him. “So I guess taking your car it won’t be too far.”

Though it was covered in charms and concealment spells. It would likely piss the already angry hunter off even more. As they walked out a question came to her mind. One that was not about her only living relative but about her future.

“What is going to happen to me?” she asked. “I mean, when you go and see that my grandmother in no real threat. After she is taken to be treated, where am I to go. To the world I am dead.”
 
He pulled open the rear door of his car and pushed her inside, more gently this time, something had changed, he needed her now. "What will happen to you?", he smiled, "You my dear, belong to me now", he held up the control for the shock collar. "The boss, never asked for the control, so that means I get to keep you for the time being.

He remained outside the car, smoking as the lift climbed slowly towards the surface, "Right", he said with a long sigh while stretching his back. "Time to get to work", he got into the car again, once again it dipped slightly. "So where exactly would I be heading, and trust me, I hate being lied to", his voice edged towards that menace again.
 
What? She gasped. Slavery? The thought of being owned by someone was appalling. So that is what the collar was for. It was to make sure that she obeyed whoever her new owner was. Her stomach churned and she easily was pushed in the car. She watched closely as he smoked. The thought of lying to him did cross her mind. To send him on a wild goose chase for a few hours to just piss him off but she instantly defused that thought. He had that control to her collar and no matter how she tried to remove it, she could not. The release must have been someplace on the control.

As if he could read her thoughts, as soon as he got in, he asked where it was and told her he did not liked ot be lied to. She flushed as if he had found her out and she cleared he throat. “It’s near the northern exit of town,” she replied, “on the old road that isn’t used anymore. Do you know the one that I am talking about? The one that leads to the woods.”
 
He nodded "It's where we send the new recruits so they don't screw up their routes", after turning on a device that resembled a GPS a green light came on on the dash. "There we go, been there in no time", his voice was pleased, clearly he was not speaking to her, instead it seemed to be more vocal thought.


"So what exactly is wrong with your grandmother?", he was asking merely to break the dullness of the journey. The car sped silently on down one of the cities many superhighways, occasionally overtaking another car, nothing really that interesting for him, but to a newcomer the feats of engineering around them would have been amazing.
 
It felt horrible. Her mind still was working around the fact that she was now the property of another human. The feats of mankind did not appeal to her in that moment. All of the grand highways and towering buildings; they were nothing compared to the profound hopelessness that was creeping into her body. Even if her grandmother was finally taken care of, Moira would likely never see her again. At the age of seventeen she would be bound to serve this hunter who seemed to have a personal vendetta against witches.

His question partially snapped her out of her funk. She looked down at her hands and she noted that they were dotted with tears. She wiped the wetness on her skirt. “The muscles in her body are weakening and her sight is fading at an alarming rate. There are times when she even has trouble breathing and I have to cast a spell to help her.”

Her eyes drifted to the rearview mirror and she studied his features. She could not help but ask another question referring to herself. “I guess I’ll be doing a lot of cooking and cleaning, huh?” Moira wasn’t too shabby of a cook though she wondered what type of things he liked. Her mind did not once go to anything less than innocent in her role.
 
"Hmmm, sounds to me like a lung related condition, though I could be wrong, I'm not a doctor", he made a mental note of the symptoms in case the girl was not available to tell the doctor or the boss. He pulled off the main roads and the forest came into view in the distance, he flashed his I.D. to the gate guard as he drove trough the city exit and onto the old dirt track.


He laughed at her next comment, "Oh lord no, there are others to do that", his smile held a hidden darkness, "I have a special position for you". He chuckled quietly as he brought the car to a halt, after getting both himself and her out of the car her leaned close to her, "Now, you go in and get her, make sure she knows I'm here and what will happen if I am met with force". Clearly age and gender made no difference to him, but then, that was how he had been trained.
 
Being a hunter must have been a very lucrative business if he could afford those to cook and clean for him. She tarried a second on what her special position could be. Perhaps he had a garden! Moira did love flowers, plants, vegetables, and herbs. This may not be as bad as what she originally thought.

Her somewhat chipper mood was somewhat deflated. She needed to leave and get her grandmother, who would be very disappointed with her. Moira had led a hunter right to their door. It was a dangerous situation to the older woman.

She left the car and quickly walked to the door of her house. From beneath the welcome mat she retrieved the key and opened the door. A delightful smell hit her nose and it was too her shock to see at the small stove her grandmother up and about. There was a shake to her limbs. She looked behind her. It always surprised Moira how strikingly beautiful her grandmother was still at her advanced age. Even though she was nearing her seventies, she would easily be pegged for someone in their early forties.

“You’re home,” she replied. Her happy expression slowly fell when she saw the collar on her neck. “Darling! What happened?”

Reluctantly she explained the entire situation. Her grandmother gasped and placed a hand over her mouth. Her shaking had become worse and she forced herself to walk towards Moira. “A slave is a far worse fate than death. My poor child!”

“We need to hurry,” the lovely young witch replied, taking her grandmother’s arm. “They have promised you a cure and if we don’t get going, that hunter will come in. He’s vicious.” She left out the part that it was he who was to be her keeper. The elder woman tried to resist but she was not a match for a healthy young woman and soon she was dragging her out to the car.
 
He waited outside, leaning against the car now, after removing some of the heavier parts of his armour he lit up a cigarette and began to think back over the day, it had been interesting and more importantly would be a great help to his career. His earpiece crackled as though about to receive a message, but rather than emitting a voice it let out a very high pitched shriek.


He ripped it out and threw it to the ground, his eyes were watering and his vision was shaky, "What...was that", he fell against the car and leant all his weight against it. Be careful Jack, nobody must know of this incident, destroy the earpiece. He stiffened, where had that voice come from, had they managed to cast something.
 
Moira’s eyes widened as she watched the hunter rip off his earpiece and toss it to the ground. He looked very shaken by it. Quickly she helped the frail woman into the backseat and slammed the door before running around to check on Jack.

“What happened?” she asked. Worry reflected in her eyes. Yes. She disliked this man greatly. Yes. He was likely going to make her life miserable. But she didn’t want him to be injured. Mostly because that would lead to fingers pointed in her direction. “Are you alright?”

In the backseat of the car, her grandmother Ellis, was waiting. This could not go well. Innocent Moira likely did not know the position that she was in. Witches rarely were spared and those who were became indentured to the hunters whom caught them. As rewards for the hard work. Their powers were suppressed. With a beautiful girl like Moira, it was apparent what that hunter wanted from her. It made Ellis sick.
 
He stared at her blankly for a few short seconds before shrugging, "Bloody thing broke, but don't think that's any excuse for you to misbehave", he lit another cigarette and looked at her for a moment, "Do you smoke?". It had become a habit of his to ask whoever he was with whether they smoked or not, purely to past the time.


Jack, time to get back to work, you were given a job, now finish it before I have to hurt you again. Jack let on no indication as to the voice in his head, "Right", he said with a sigh, "Lets get going, in the back with you", he pulled the door open and pushed her in again, but with less force again, though this was more a reward for behaving herself so far.
 
She didn’t smoke. It was a vile and nasty habit that she preferred not to even be around. She scrunched her nose at the billowing gray smoke that came from the tip of the cig and she shook her head. “No thank you,” she replied. Moira didn’t want to offend him.

It felt like it was too soon to get back into the car. For a few seconds she looked at the cabin that had once been her home. Her heart was breaking. This new stage of her life had come far too quickly and it left her with a nasty taste in her mouth. Without much resistance she let herself be put in the car. Right now it was best that she fully obeyed him, like some faithful pet.

“Where are we going?” Ellis asked. She blinked a few times. “Moira, this is very frightening for me.”

“Don’t worry grandma,” Moira replied in a soothing tone. “You’ll get treated. I know this isn’t how you wanted it but this is how it happened. I should have been more specific when I cast that spell for finding your cure.”

“I am not worried for myself. I am worried for you. You’re a slave now!”
 
Before getting into the car he turned his back to them and made sure to keep his voice low, "Who are you, and what have you done to me?", his voice was a mix of threat and confusion.

You do not need to know who I am, all will be revealed in time, you may ask your pet about me when I decide it is time.

He growled a little too loudly before composing himself and turning back to the car, he shook his head to clear it and then crushed out the cigarette on the ground. After climbing into the car again he turned to face the two in the back, "Right, now let me just say, you have no need to worry, I have been ordered to bring you in and have you treated, and I intend to get you there safely".
 
Moira gently held her grandmother’s hand. Why would she be worried about her being the hunter’s servant. Apparently he had people who did the cleaning, cooking, and various other jobs. She would probably get stuck doing something like that. It was a prison but not one that would be so bad.

Ellis simply scoffed and shook her head as Jack spoke. There was an obvious distain to her actions. With every fiber of her being did she hate hunters. Men who killed for the sport of it were not men she respected. She also didn’t like the fact that the only living link to her daughter was going to be enslaved to someone like that.

“The concern is not for myself,” she replied to him. “My concern is for my Moira and your intentions towards her. A witch she may be but she is a beautiful young woman first. I am not too shocked that you have taken her as your own.”

“Please, grandma,” Moira begged. “You shouldn’t get yourself so worked up. It is nothing, really.” She looked towards Jack and sighed. What if he did something to injure her old, sweet grandmother further? It wouldn’t shock her. His hate for witches was particularly strong.
 
Jack laughed pleasantly as he pulled the car back onto the paved roads, "You grandmother is right, you are indeed beautiful, if only you were not what you are, but then again", he paused thoughtfully, "That may have its advantages".

Yes, it may indeed have its advantages

He was now trying his hardest to ignore that voice, but it seemed to penetrate all of his thoughts, at first he had thought it had something to do with the witch, but the voice spoke of her in a way that proved them to be separate.
 
Moira looked down at her hands when he called her beautiful. Was that really true? She knew that she wasn’t unpleasant to look at but she would never have described herself as beautiful or lovely or anything like that. Her grandmother had made sure to raise her to be humble and respectful. She then turned her head to the older woman, wondering what was possibly running through her head. It didn’t matter though. What mattered was getting her back to the city safely.

“I guess it does,” she muttered as she sighed and nudged herself closer to her only living relative. Ellis began to stroke her hair and she spent the entire ride just spending it silently with her. Tears were streaming down her face by the time they stopped. That night she had cried more than she had in her entire life.
 
He stopped the car on the same lift, and upon reaching the bottom there was a group of men with medical ID's waiting for them, one of them stood behind a wheelchair. He climbed out and shut his door leaving the other two in the car, "Gentlemen, what happens here is never to reach the public, they can never know that our technology is being used to help a witch back into health".


The doctors nodded in agreement and only then did he open the back door to let them out, "Both of you must be on your best behaviour, because the boss is using our resources to help you, this is unheard of, not even our government knows about this".

Be careful Jack, this is not the intended path for them

He growled and muttered, "Shut up will you".
 
Moira’s heart lightened as she saw the men dressed in scrubs and the wheelchair came into sight. Yes. They were going to help her! They were actually going to help! She helped her grandmother out of the car and assisted her into the chair. Moira nodded her head. Of course she wasn’t going to say anything. Technically she was dead. Dead women didn’t speak, did they?

“See, nana?” she cooed to her grandmother. “They are going to take care of you.” She smoothed the graying hair back from the shaking woman’s forehead. She placed a kiss on the old woman’s cheek. “I love you so much.”

“Be careful,” Ellis told her grandchild. “I do not trust that man who has collared you.”

Moira flinched. Her grandmother never really had the ability had to hold her tongue. Moira looked to Jack.

“Are we going to be able to follow or do we have to be away from her?”
 
He looked over at the doctors for the answer to her question, the oldest of the group shook his head slowly, "I am afraid not, we must remain undisturbed for around twenty four hours at most, you may spend the duration of that time with Jack".

Now, get her alone, and then you may ask her about me


Jack grunted and began to walk towards the entrance to the long white corridor, "Come along Moira, I have something I must talk to you about". He walked halfway down the white corridor before stopping and pressing his hand to the wall, there was a hydraulic hiss and a section of the wall slid away revealing a large well lit chamber.

"This is my quarters", he spoke as he walked inside, the wall slid shut behind Moira. "Now, I have a little problem I need to speak with you about".
 
This felt like one of those doctor dramas, where the person was rolled into the operating room for a lengthy procedure, and the family had to wait out in a room full of other frightened people. She followed Jack, nervously wringing her hands as she thought about her grandmother.

When she got into his room, she tensed. What was going to happen here? It wasn’t as big as she thought it would be. Then again, it could have just been his quarters in that particular building.

“A question?” she parroted back. She wondered what he wanted to know. “Alright, shoot.”
 
He sighed and sat on his bed, "I'm hearing a voice, as if I'm wearing my earpiece, but it destroyed that, it told me to ask you about it". He was confused, this sort of thing was a scenario only talked about in training, he heard it was only there to frighten the recruits.

What's wrong Jack, do I frighten you? I thought you were meant to be the big bad hunter

"Shut up!", he roared and jumped to his feet, "Get out of my head!!!"
 
What would she know about it? A look of concern crossed her face. That sounded like more of a mental condition than something that she could help with. She thought about it though. There were spells that could pierce someone’s mental shields but that took quite a bit of power and to her knowledge, not many witches with that ability still existed. She stared at him blankly for a few seconds. There were also evil spirits and demons that liked to do things like this.

“Well,” she started. “It could be a witch doing it. Someone with that ability is rare though. Not even nana could do that and I haven’t even began to study that yet. So it would have to be someone with experience if it were a witch. Also,” she swallowed harshly, “it could be a spirit or demon or something along those lines. Who knows what dwells in the human mind. Then again, it could just be the human mind.”

She hoped that he didn't take her hint at a possible mental illness too harshly. He seemed like a very, very angry man and he still held that control to her collar. He could easily make life for her very difficult. She looked to the floor and waited for his response.
 
He thought about what she had said for a moment, "I'm not insane, my mental status is constantly evaluated, to make sure I'm capable of doing my job, so why would I be targeted by these spirits?". He was standing now, looking at her strangely, this was not something he would want to have to do, but he now relied upon her knowledge of this subject.
 
Moira bit her lip. She wracked her brain trying to think of what else it could be. An evil spirit didn’t need to attack someone with a weak mind to attack. They actually preferred strength. The mental condition was simply something she wanted to point out, just in case. She began to pace the room.

“Well then it could be a witch of some sort,” she told him. “Did you ask its name? I know that sounds like a stupid question to ask but it may be of help to me. I don’t know many witches but I may recognize a name. Also, if it IS a spirit or demon, if you ask for a name they are obligated to tell you one. Whether or not if it is real is debatable but they can’t say a name that falls out of their sector.”

She stopped in front of him and sighed. She looked him dead in the eye, tying to get a better understanding of the situation. “You could always let me go inside your head, too. I may have never studied it but I could try it.”
 
"I asked it for its name, I was told that I did not need to know, and that you would tell me what it is", as he thought for a moment, the voice came back to him.

That sounds fun Jack, let her in, I want to speak with her

He shuddered, "It wants me to let you in, so it can speak to you, but I'm not so sure", what if this was just some elaborate plot to get into his head and do away with him.
 
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