The Witch's Debt

Dominic

It started in the woods.

I was alone. Everything looked... wrong. The trees weren’t real trees. They bent weird, like arms, like ribs, like they were breathing in slow jerks. I could hear something moving, but it wasn’t moving in steps. It was sliding. Dragging. Like silk over gravel.

And the moon. It was blood-red. Not warm. Not glowing. Cold. Watching me.

“You weren’t supposed to remember.”

I turned. Nothing there. Just fog. Then a woman stepped out. Long white dress. Eyes covered in black cloth. Her mouth didn’t move, but I heard her voice like it was inside my chest.

“You weren’t supposed to find her. Not this soon. You’ll ruin it again.”

My jaw clenched. I didn’t know who she was. Didn’t care.

“Who are you?”

“You don’t get to ask,” she said. Her voice was sharp now. Like glass snapping in water. “You get to follow.”

I backed up. My feet crunched on dry leaves that weren’t really leaves.

“I don’t take orders from you.”

“You don’t remember what you are,” she said. “You never did. But this time... you remembered her too early. The soul isn’t ready.”

“Selena—”

“Stop.”

Her scream wasn’t loud. But everything around me cracked. Trees split in half. My spine screamed. My ears bled.

“You forget,” she said. “Now.”

I tried to run.

But my knees gave out. I hit the ground.

The dirt swallowed me.

I woke up in my bed.

Cold sweat. Shirt damp. I sat up fast and gasped. My hands gripped the sheets like they were the only thing holding me here.

I blinked at the ceiling.

What was that...

Dream?

I looked around. Nothing was familiar.

No, it was. My room.

Just... off.

I stood and rubbed my temples. Pain pulsed behind my eyes like something sharp had been pushed in and yanked out.

I got dressed on autopilot. Hoodie. Ripped jeans. My boots.

I felt like I forgot something.

Or someone.

School felt louder than usual. The halls buzzed with that stupid energy only teenagers could carry. Everyone talking at once about nothing.

I moved through them like a ghost.

I felt... wired. Like my skin didn’t fit.

Then I saw her.

A girl.

Pretty. Pale. Brown eyes that looked like they’d seen things she didn’t wanna say. She looked at me like she knew me.

I frowned.

She walked toward me. Fast.

Her lips moved.

“Dominic,” she said.

I blinked. "Yeah?"

She smiled. Nervous smile. She had this weird glow. Like she lit up from the inside. Like she was a candle about to burn out.

“We need to talk,” she said.

I looked around. “Do I... know you?”

She laughed. Awkward. Like she thought I was joking.

“Okay. Funny. But seriously—about yesterday. About the rink. About the dreams. And the—”

She dropped her voice. “—werewolf thing.”

I stared at her.

Then I laughed.

I didn’t mean to. It just came out.

“What?”

She blinked. Her face dropped.

I grinned. “Okay, sure. I’m a werewolf. And let me guess—you’re a vampire? Or maybe a mermaid? Are you writing fanfic now?”

The hallway fell quiet. Not totally. But enough. People turned. Faces stared.

Selena’s mouth opened. Closed. Like she couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

“Dominic... stop,” she whispered. “What are you doing?”

I leaned closer. "I'm sorry, do I know you?"

Her lips snapped tight. I saw her hands tremble. One of them balled into a fist at her side.

“You kissed me,” she hissed. “You told me you remembered. You—”

“Wow,” I cut in, louder now. “You sure you’re not confusing me with someone else? Blake maybe?”

And of course—speak of the devil.

Blake rounded the corner.

He looked at me. Then at her. Then smirked.

“Oh, so she’s doing that again,” he said.

“Doing what?” I asked, eyebrows raised.

“She makes up drama,” Blake said, loud enough for people to hear. “Used to tell people I was her soulmate or some crap. You should’ve seen her freshman year.”

People laughed. Real, ugly, high-school laughter. The kind that sticks.

I looked back at her.

She wasn’t glowing anymore.

Just... breaking.

Tears welled up in her eyes. She looked like she couldn’t breathe.

“I don’t know what game you’re playing,” she said. Her voice shook so hard it barely came out. “But this isn’t funny. You knew me. You said my name. You kissed me.”

I shrugged. “Sorry. Doesn’t ring a bell.”

More laughter.

She ran.

She actually ran.

Turned and pushed through the hallway, nearly tripping over someone’s backpack. Someone said “Jesus, chill” as she bumped past.

She didn’t stop.

Gone.

I stood there.

People kept laughing. Whispering.

I didn’t laugh anymore.

Something... twisted in my chest.

I didn’t know her.

But I felt like I should’ve.

I shook my head. Tried to ignore it.

But it stuck.

The image of her face when I said her name like it was nothing.

The way her voice cracked when she said I kissed her.

I went to class.

Sat in the back.

Everyone kept buzzing about the scene.

I stared at my hands. They didn’t look different. But they felt different. Like maybe they did something they weren’t supposed to do.

There was a mark on my wrist. Faint.

Silver.

I pulled my sleeve down.

Tried not to think.

Tried not to remember.

But something inside me whispered.

You already did.

And that scared me more than anything.