Chapter 139 - Ritual - Part 7

"Doris!!" No matter how many times I called, she kept running towards the people, not minding how they were going on a full rampage towards us. The people also didn't mind Doris, who ran past them and only let her go.

"Violet, stop!" Luke quickly grabbed my wrist, pulling me back behind him. "What are you doing?! It's dangerous!"

The warriors had formed a big circle around the two of us, seemingly to be protecting their Alpha and Luna from the people's rampage. As most of Mary's puppets were normal civilians, it was not hard to knock them out. Even so, we were easily outnumbered by them.

Though Luke had called for more warriors, we'd underestimate the number of Mary's puppets. We assumed that she wouldn't have that many puppets as there was only one village under her control, but we were mistaken. There were a lot more puppets than the villagers from the last village.   

Kicks and punches were thrown, but none of them were meant for the owner of the bodies. They were meant for the witch controlling these poor people, and with each punch, our resentment grew even stronger.

Mary—no, the black witches were evil for using these people to achieve their goals. They single-handedly destroyed these innocent people's hopes and dreams, all for the sake of their own. They wanted to create a world where they could live happily, where they could roam freely without feeling wary of their surroundings. But, in their quest to find their happiness, they failed to consider the happiness of others. They were simply too blinded by their goals to realize that others' lives were as important as theirs.

Be it in the past or in the present, their selfishness was what brought us doom. 

"But Doris, she—"

"Did you not see her eyes?" A line appeared between his brows, frustrated and angered. "She's one of them."         

Though I didn't want to admit it, he was right. She was one of the puppets. There wouldn't be any problem should she go and join the other puppets, but the short moment I had with the real Doris made it hard for me to let her go. It was hard because I knew she was only a frightened little girl deep inside. And so were the others.

"Listen, I know you're worried, but we have to find a way to get past these people first—together," he looked around, trying to find a gap, but found none.

We were surrounded by both our warriors and the puppets, who were being knocked out one by one by the warriors. If we got any closer to these puppets, they would undoubtedly try to harm—kill us—in the most inhumane ways possible. They would either choke us to death or beat us to death. Even some of the warriors had already had the privilege to taste their deadly chokes first-hand.

These puppets came swarming like bees, and they absolutely knew no return. They would only stop once they got knocked out or we got knocked out.

Luke started to rummage through his pockets, giving me a gun and a knife. He also tied his cape around me, pulling the hood to cover my face. He then took another glance at the puppets in front of us, thinking of a way to break through this wall of people.

"I think this might be the fastest way," he said, then without a warning, his body instantly doubled in size and smooth black fur started to crawl from beneath his skin. His sharp and long claws appeared, baring his canines as a howl came. "Hold on tight," he said before turning into a full wolf.

Now, who stood before me was a big black wolf, surrounded by the warriors and the puppets who were beating the hell of each other. The big black wolf let out a howl, loud enough to be heard by everyone in this entire village. It was a warning.

Is he thinking of breaking through all these people here?

Wolfie stepped closer to me, nudging his head against my hand. He stared at me with his brilliant red eyes, seemingly to have realized my uneasiness. If he could talk right now, I'm sure he would ask me to trust him.

Even though his plan was risky—for both us and the people—we had no other choices. Wolfie could accidentally hurt these people while breaking through his way, and these people could do the same to us. Intentionally.

I put the two weapons into my pocket, hopping onto his back right after. I positioned myself and held onto Wolfie, praying so that I wouldn't let go of his back before we got through these people. It would be a disaster should I fall midway.

As if on cue, all of the warriors immediately made way for us the moment Wolfie started to dash forward, running straight into the sea of puppets. Even with the people in front, Wolfie didn't hesitate for a bit and bumped past them, causing them to fall at the impact.

Both of us became the center of attention as all hell broke loose, with the warriors staying behind to prevent the puppets from going after us. A few people tried to pull me away from Wolfie, but he was too fast for them. He continued to run, not caring about whether he was stepping on the ground or on people.

Just as we were about to pass them, someone grabbed my hair and pulled me backward, causing me to fall off Wolfie with great force. Immediately after my fall, most of the puppets started to run towards me, their eyes set on my throat. I was basically a fish thrown into a sea of piranhas.

I yelped, feeling sharp pain all throughout my body. Before anyone could reach me, Wolfie came back and shielded me with his own body, taking all of the hits from the people while I was still on the ground. He let out an earth-shattering growl, kicking and clawing at the people around us.

I took the chance to attack them by pulling their legs, making them lose their balance and fall. As those people crowded around us, they had little to no space to fall on empty ground. They fell on the people beside them, one by one falling like dominoes. They were persistent, but they lacked power. 

I didn't waste any time and jumped back on Wolfie's back as he stepped away. The rest of the warriors took advantage of the opportunity to knock them all out, not allowing them to stand. Among them, I noticed Andrew, who was singing a lullaby to the puppets as he threw punch after punch.

Successfully going past the puppets, we were met with another group. This time, half-puppets. They were standing inside a circle—no, a sigil. There was a sigil shaped like a star in the middle of a circle, all drawn with blood.

There were about twenty to thirty people, and they were standing in two circles. From what I've perceived, adults stood right outside of the sigil, circling the children who stood by the inner side of the sigil.

Just like Andrew, they were singing—but not a lullaby. It was a song led by the children, their voices cheerful as they went round and round their circle with their hands clasped together.

"Come, come, sister is calling.

Cast a spell, cast a spell.

Let us bathe in the darkness.

Wicked, wicked, they call us.

As snakes killed the doves."

They continued to sing, smiles spread wide in their faces. When the children stopped spinning, one by one of the adults walked towards the children. Each child had a knife on their hands, using it to cut off a finger of the adult's hand.

Finger after finger fell to the ground, making the sigil even darker than before. The previously blank expression on the adults' faces brightened when they cut off their fingers, piling them together as they continued to sing. 

With each finger, the smell of the black magic grew even stronger, making me nauseous. I couldn't shake off this suffocating feeling in my chest. It was as if someone was choking me.

Maggie said that we should stop the one leading the ritual, but who was leading the ritual? There were no signs of black witches, only puppets were seen. I watched the horrendous scene unfold before me, searching for someone—anyone—who looked different from the others. Wolfie, who usually lunged at his enemies at first sight, also stopped and observed the people's behavior. 

Most of the people here had milky eyes, their bodies limp and lifeless. Even the smiles on their faces looked eerie, as so were the children's. At first, I couldn't find anything different from these people. They all looked the same, from the adults to the children. But after closer observation, I finally found something that stood out from the others.

Among the children, there was one child who didn't have milky eyes. She had thin, vertical pupils that were similar to those of a snake. 

It was Doris.