Price

"There is a way, but are you willing to pay the price for her life?"

This makes Bobby and Leo stare at me for a while. Then Leo responds, "Yes, no matter the price, I'm ready for everything."

"Really? Are you also ready to suffer for her for eternity?" I take out the necklace I got from the pseudo immortal witch and show it to them.

It wasn't glowing at the moment, but it still had the aura of a demon in it. I was pretty sure it's just waiting for someone to put it on.

"What is this and where did you get it from?" asks Bobby, stepping a bit away from us, probably thinking that it is something dangerous... well, he is right about that.

"A borrower artifact," says Leo, seemingly recognizing what kind of necklace it is.

"So that's what it's called. Well, then I probably don't need to explain to you what it can do or what probably the price is for using it."

Leo shakes his head while staring at the necklace.

"Yeah, he probably doesn't need an explanation, but I do. What the hell is this thing?"

Leo takes the necklace like he's in a trance and says, "A borrower artifact is something that people get when they make a deal with a demon in exchange for becoming a witch. But the price is—"

"Their soul... I know what demons want," says Bobby, and Leo nods. Then Bobby looks at me skeptically and angrily says, "And how did you get it? Don't tell me that's how you got your sensory powers."

"No, when we got separated, I got attacked by a witch who used it as his power source, so after a good boy dragged him away, I took it from him."

"What? What good boy? What the hell are you talking about, idiot?"

It looked somewhat like a dog, and came for the bad guy so that makes it a good boy... I guess.

"What can I say? That's how it went," I say with a shrug, leaving Bobby confused behind and looking back at Leo, who stares at the artifact in his hands.

"So what will you do? Give her a chance to live and sell your soul, or end her misery and continue the way you are?"

In a situation like this, it shows what kind of person you are... Are you willing to do something absolutely stupid for something worth fighting for, or do the right thing and carry a lifetime of regrets...

I've tried both, and none of them is rewarding...

Leo thinks about it, then tries to put on the necklace. I say to him, "You know, even if you heal her, she probably will never be a witch again.

Whatever they did to her, they left only the minimum behind... So you probably can never create a bond with her."

---

"Even so, at least I can do something for her as a familiar," he says confidently. Then pauses for a while, puts on the necklace, and it begins to glow.

"Agh!"

Leo grabs his head, falls to the ground, and Bobby steps next to him to help him up, and says, "I knew this was a bad idea. What if he gets possessed?"

But I stop him and say, "No, I can't sense something like that happening. It seems more like his body is absorbing the magical energy from the necklace and adapting to it."

Bobby remains skeptical but stays behind and waits for Leo to stand up, while gripping his shotgun.

After a few minutes of rolling around on the ground and screaming, Leo finally gets up with his eyes closed and I can sense that the necklace aura has fused with his own.

Creating a strange mix of witch, demon, human and animal aura in the process.

"Show me your eyes, or I will blow your head off," says Bobby as he points his shotgun at the witchy-familiar. Leo takes a deep breath, does as he is told, and opens his eyes... and they look perfectly fine.

I push down Bobby's gun, much to his annoyance, because he still doesn't seem convinced that everything is fine. And I ask Leo, "And how does it feel?"

"Strange... I never thought I would end up as a witch myself one day and so much information is flowing into my head, it's crazy." says Leo, with a complex look that shows he hasn't fully realized the situation yet.

"Well, it was your own decision, so you probably have no other choice but to accept this strangeness."

Leo nods at my words and then kneels down next to Cassidy, placing a hand on the dagger and one on her dried head, and starts chanting the same spell the other witch used. (Wounds are in the past, flesh is new, the past is the future.)

"Vulnera praeterita sunt, caro recens est, praeteritum est futurum,"

"Vulnera praeterita sunt, caro recens est, praeteritum est futurum,"

"Vulnera praeterita sunt, caro recens est, praeteritum est futurum,"

Then he takes out the dagger, throws it away, and Cassidy begins to heal. Her skin and body return to normal, then her hair turns ginger, and finally her stab wound disappears.

After her wounds have completely healed, Leo sighs and slumps to the ground, saying, "It worked... she is healed but still too weak to wake up."

To be sure I kneel down beside her and place my hand on her head too. I can feel her aura becoming stronger bit by bit, but there is nothing that would indicate she is not human.

"Yeah, she is fine... we should probably burn the bodies and get away from here," I say to the two, and Bobby breathes a sigh of relief then nods, along with Leo.

Well, look at the tough hunter, relaxed for once... is it because it's all over or because the girl is safe? In the end, it probably doesn't matter.

Afterwards, Leo grabs Cassidy and carries her out, while I retrieve the dagger that has stopped glowing and stick it in my belt.

---

We collect all the witch bodies and place them in their storage room. Then Leo sets them ablaze while seemingly getting comfortable with his new powers.

After getting out of the warehouse, I throw the key to Bobby, saying, "You guys can go to the car. I want to check out something."

"And what?" Bobby asks, raising his brow.

"Well, the witches didn't come here with broomsticks hopefully, and there was no other car at the gate, so they must have their car here somewhere, and I want to check it out, for research purposes, of course."

"Sure... but if you get stuck in a lamp or something like that, no one will come and save you," Bobby says with a sigh.

"Of course, you will come and save me. You like me," I say with a grin and start to walk away, not waiting for Bobby to take out his shotgun and shoot me.

There weren't many places where they could hide their car, and I really hope they didn't use brooms to get here...

Fortunately, I quickly found their black cargo van after going to the rear of warehouse number 3. It is kinda strange. I never thought the rich-looking witch would drive in a simple cargo van...

I try to open the side door, and luckily I don't need to break in because it simply slides open.

... I take back my remark from before it was not a simple cargo van. The inside was top-notch like a high-class limousine with expensive-looking leather seats and even some freshly released flat screens inside.

Sadly, apart from this, there was nothing except some Emerald Isle whiskey in the mini bar. So I grab the 1.6 million-dollar whiskey and go to the trunk.

Opening it up, I was even luckier. Because there was a chest and some bags with some evil-looking books about witchcraft and spells inside.

Even one that was lying on some vinyl records and looked like it was written with blood and bound by human skin...

I take all the books and stuff them inside some travel bags that are lying there, including the ugly-looking one, but leave the vinyl records behind because they look too fragile.

Of course, I stea--- I take these books only because I want to keep the world safe from this dark magic stuff and not because I was curious about if I could shoot some flames out of my hands or not.

After satisfying my kleptomania, I walked back to my car, now with two bags full of spell books, the dagger I got in the warehouse, and the cheap whiskey.

Arriving there, Bobby was already waiting for me while Leo sat with the still sleeping Cassidy in the back seat of the car.

"I guess you found their car. Something interesting there?"

"Yes, a lot of spell and ritual books that seem to contain some interesting stuff." I say to Bobby, knowing that he is a collector of occult stuff after seeing his home.

"Is that so? Maybe I can look through them when we drive to my place?"

I nod at him and place the bags in my trunk, which already had too much stuff in it for my liking...

---

After we arrived back at the motel, Bobby and I decided to give Leo and Cassidy our room, while we would drive back to Bobby's place to continue our search for Cthylla.

So, after taking a shower and changing clothes, we walk out with Leo to our car while Cassidy continues sleeping, without waking up yet.

"Thank you both for helping me. I probably would have died without you," says Leo, stretching out his hand towards me and Bobby.

I shake his hand first and say, "Well, we kinda stumbled into it, so no need to thank us." He nods and then walks over to Bobby, shaking his hand as well.

"We do it because that's what hunters do, and remember, we will come for you too if that shiny necklace on your neck gets out of control," says Bobby, serious.

"Don't worry, I promise I will keep my powers in check," says Leo, while smiling.

"I'm not worried, Idjit. This is a warning," replies Bobby, and sits down in the car, seemingly angry.

With a laugh I open my car door as well, but ask Leo before sitting down, "What will you do after she wakes up?"

Leo shrugs and says, "Probably explain and tell her everything... and hope she accepts it."

"And if she doesn't?"

"Well... then I'll do what I did before and protect her from afar, but now I have the power to do so." says Leo with confidence.

Something tells me that Bobby probably doesn't need to worry about him...

I take out a small piece of paper, write down my phone number, and give it to Leo.

"Call me if you ever think you can't handle something, like the one who might visit you to claim the price for the necklace."

"I will," he says, then waves at us and starts to walk back into his motel room, while I sit down inside the car.

"Do you feel guilty, after basically condemning his soul to hell with your actions, that you need to offer him your help?"

"Who knows... maybe it's that, or maybe I'm simply a good guy who is willing to help."

"Sure you are..." says Bobby, making himself comfortable to prepare for the long ride.

I start the engine, and we leave the parking lot and the motel behind when suddenly, I have to stop the car in the middle of the road, just a few feet from the motel.

"What the hell?! Why did you stop so suddenly?" says Bobby, after nearly hitting his head on the dashboard.

"Because I can sense Cthulhu's presence nearby... hold onto something! We're going back!" I scream then make a J-turn and drive back to the motel.

Arriving there after a few seconds, we see a dark haired woman knocking on the door of our old motel room where Leo and Cassidy are inside...