you shouldn't call death a bitch
Agatha ran through the forest, her feet sinking into the mud as raindrops fell from the leaves, making the ground slippery beneath her feet. With every step she took the anxiety in her chest lessened just a little bit.
She had done it, no one had seen her take it. She wondered what her mother would say, of course, she couldn’t talk to her anymore, and she only had herself to blame for that.
She cursed herself at that moment for killing her mother. Sure, she had her flaws, but she had unprecedented knowledge about witches and their magic. Maybe if Agatha wasn't forced into killing her she could have actually learned something useful.
Maybe then she wouldn’t have to resort to stealing other witch's books to learn simple healing spells.
She didn’t have time to finish that thought as the ground slipped out from under her and she landed hard on her back.
“fuck!” Agatha yelled as she picked herself up from the cold mud.
She could feel the anxiety from the day had worn down her patience. Her anger boiling over, she kicked the nearest tree, falling again as she lost her grip on the earth below.
“Are you kidding me right now!”
Agatha grit her teeth and stood up carefully so she didn’t embarrass herself again, not that there was anyone there to witness her.
She was fine, but that didn’t stop the tears from pooling in her eyes and falling to the mud below. Why was she crying? She just fell and it didn’t even hurt that badly. She was exhausted, all she wanted to do was lay in her bed, but she didn’t have that anymore.
Ever since she killed her coven she had been on the run. How long has it been? A month, a week, a year? She honestly couldn’t tell, she never stayed in one place for more than a night.
But what else could she do? She was being hunted, and any time that wasn't spent running away was costly. It could mean the difference between life and death.
The days blurred by her, life became grey. It consisted of running away, stealing food, finding a deserted area to rest, and running away again. There was so much running and all she wanted to do was find a home, a safe place where she could relax.
But she knew she would never have that again, not after what she had done. Not with who was coming for her.
The thought was enough for her to wipe the tears streaming down her face, pick up the spell book she dropped, and start walking towards an isolated place where she could read it.
Agatha didn’t know how long she’d been traveling, but the sun was starting to set and she knew that she needed to find a place to sleep.
She had two options, Agatha could find a nice mossy spot under the trees or she could go into the nearest town and try to lure a man to bed so she could have a warm place to sleep. Of course, nothing ever happened with them, and the men she took to bed were dead by the time they closed their bedroom door.
After the day she had she really didn’t have the energy to flirt around and pretend to be enthralled by someone who just wanted into her pants. But it was nearing wintertime and she could see a white cloud leave her nose every time she took a breath.
With that Agatha headed for the town she saw about a mile back cursing herself yet again for killing her coven.
Agatha noticed immediately that the town was very different from the others she had been to. She couldn’t exactly place what it was that gave the town an eerie feeling, but she shook it off anyway. It was probably just her exhaustion getting the better of her.
So with a sigh Agatha headed to the first place that looked like it would be warm.
The smell hit her immediately, so much for a nice, inviting place. The bar she walked into smelled like vomit and blood, the two things she hated the most. The room was barely lit, most of the candles burnt out from years of use.
She glanced to the far wall of the room and she saw a man being beaten by what looked like a pair of twins. He wasn't even moving anymore but they never stopped. With every hit, blood spewed from his mouth and onto the wall beside him.
She made a face of disgust and walked out. She would find somewhere better, somewhere- Agatha slammed into something hard, not someone.
“Watch it!” Agatha said with as much bitterness as she could muster. She found that people usually left her alone if she seemed like a total ass.
The woman only gave a surprised look that quickly morphed into confusion, then interest. She tilted her head and stared at Agatha like she could see her soul, the gaze made her want to run.
But Agatha held her ground and stared right back, flaring her nostrils and curving her top lip up in a snarl. The women studied her closely, looking up and down with curiosity now.
The women's long dark hair framed her face perfectly, she had full lips and a strong but soft jawline. Agatha couldn’t help but study the women's body, how pretty she was even with the dim lighting of the night. She felt heat rise to her cheeks when the women kept looking at her, never breaking eye contact.
She was probably here to pick up her drunk husband. She wondered who he was, but Agatha was pulled from her thoughts by another force hitting her from behind, forcing her forward by a few steps.
She was now inches from the women's face. Agatha was frozen. The women looked at her with such intensity, studying her so closely that Agatha couldn’t move.
“Where did they go?!” She heard a deep voice nearby, but that voice was faded, all Agatha could see was the women's brown eyes and the specks of gold that lined them.
She was snapped out of her trance as she felt two strong hands turn her around.
“Miss, did you see the two men who just ran by you? Where did they go?”
He was still holding her by her shoulders, it took a second to register what he was saying but once she did she just gave a confused look.
Agatha glanced back to see if the woman knew the answer, but she was gone. Agatha spun her head trying to get a glimpse of where the women went. But she was nowhere to be seen.
Two men walked out of the bar, carrying a third. Agatha recognized him as the guy who was being beaten, the blood all over him confirming it. His head was rolled back in a way that Agatha knew he wouldn’t be getting up again.
Still a little stunned, she just turned around and walked as fast as she could away from that place.
She continued deeper into the town until she heard noises coming from a nearby building. Her feet followed those sounds until she ended up in a warm tavern.
The place was lit by candles going around the room, illuminating every corner she could see. While it didn’t smell great, it didn’t reek of vomit and blood, so she counted that a win.
So Agatha headed to the man behind the table and ordered a drink.
She studied the brown liquid in her glass under the dim light around her. Agatha threw back her glass, trying to stop the images of the bloodied man running through her head.
She hated moments like this. Moments where she was left alone with nothing but her thoughts.
She vaguely registered that someone had sat next to her and was looking at her. She wasn't in the mood for talking, not after seeing that man.
She just kept looking at her glass and they continued to stare. Finally, Agatha’s anger boiled over and she sneered “What?”
Oh, it was the same woman who ran into her outside the bar. And God help her she was even more gorgeous in the light.
“So what happened to you to end up in a place like this?”
“It’s none of your business” Agatha sneered, the last thing she needed right now was to get some counseling from some random person in a bar.
The woman huffed a laugh and drank from her own glass, she must have ordered it when Agatha was pretending not to notice her.
“Aren’t you going to ask me about the day I’ve had?” A face of pretend hurt showing on the women's features.
“What?” Agatha almost yelled, anger taking control again. Who did this woman think she was, asking Agatha all these questions?
“I asked you about your day, the polite thing to do is ask about mine.” The woman said it with a feline grin that made Agatha’s last bit of control slip.
She stood, turned to leave, and said. “Listen, I don’t owe you anything okay and although I would love to sit here and chit-chat with you about absolutely nothing, I have somewhere to be.”
It was a lie and from the look on the women's face she probably knew it too.
She didn’t care, Agatha was done with whatever game this woman was playing and no matter how beautiful she was Agatha knew nothing would come from it.
Agatha stepped away, heading for the door, this town was nothing but trouble and everyone she met so far had been intolerable. She decided to head back into the forest and find a place to sleep there, screw the cold, she hated everyone.
She was halfway to the door when she heard a different voice, still belonging to the women's but there was something odd about it. “I wouldn’t walk out there if I were you, they don’t like your kind very much.”
Agatha stopped dead in her tracks, turning slowly. “What do you mean, my kind?” She all but whispered.
Did the woman know she was a witch? She must have, is that why she came up to her?
The pieces started coming together, how the women just disappeared from thin air, her interest in Agatha, it all made sense now.
The woman didn’t say anything though she just looked down and laughed, pressing her tongue against her cheek in a way that Agatha couldn’t help but think was hot.
This made Agatha even angrier and she fought back a remark that would definitely not help her get the information out of the women.
She turned and gave the door another look but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. She turned back to question the women more but she was nowhere to be seen. Agatha looked all around her, cursing herself for letting the women out of her sights again.
“Bitch” Agatha muttered and walked out the door anyway.