Salem Falls

All day long, Zayn had looked forward to meeting up with Maggie. She was all he could find himself thinking about, even when he tried not to. He was so thankful that she’d forgiven him, because he didn’t know how he’d be able to protect her without her knowing, even though he hated that she was as afraid as he was.

With his hands tucked in his pockets, Zayn walked up Maggie’s sidewalk and to her front porch, where he tapped lightly on the door. He didn’t know why, but he half expected Maggie to be the one to open the door, so he was surprised when her mother greeted him instead.

“Zayn,” she said, giving him the same smile that Maggie did. It was uncanny how alike the two looked. “Maggie isn’t here right now. Is there something I can help you with?”

Zayn was shocked that Maggie wasn’t home, because she had promised to meet him at her house right after school and it was well past the time that she should have been home. Of course, there was always the possibility that she had stopped to talk to Alexa or finish homework, but Zayn knew better. After everything that had happened, he knew something was up.

“That’s alright, Mrs. Snow,” Zayn said, smiling back at her. “I’ll just give her a ring.”

Mrs. Snow nodded at him before shutting the door as Zayn began walking off down the sidewalk. He pulled out his phone the second he was out of ear shot and began ringing Maggie’s number. He had to have called her at least ten times and she didn’t answer, and with every passing moment, he was becoming more and more worried.

He could have told Mr. Snow that they needed to find Maggie and that it was an emergency, but what could he have said? He had no way to explain to him what was happening, and no faith that Mr. Snow would believe him.

All he could do was take matters into his own hands, because at the point, the only person he trusted was himself.

He didn’t know much about what was going on, but he knew enough to know that the woods was probably a safe place to start his search. He raced for the forest, running faster than he’d ever run before, and as soon as he was under the cover of the trees, he used a search enchantment to help guide him in Maggie’s direction. He had a hard time getting ahold of her, but the spell got the faintest whiff of her scent and he followed it for as long as he could.

When he heard the sound of voices ahead of him, he stopped dead in his tracks, because he recognized the voices immediately. They belonged to members of his clan, and they were shouting out an enchantment that Zayn neither knew nor had heard of.

He slowed his pace, moving quietly forward so he wouldn’t attract any attention. He didn’t know what was going on, and he didn’t want to make any sudden movements until he had more information.
Weaving between the trees, Zayn came to a small opening where he could see the open space in front of him, where several of his clan members stood in a circle with their heads bowed and mumbling underneath their breath.

At the head of the circle, Zayn spotted Naveed, his father’s brother and his own uncle. He immediately felt sick to his stomach, because as his eyes fell on Naveed’s which were a deep red color, he knew exactly what was going on, and he felt so ashamed that his uncle was a part of it.
It wasn’t until Zayn took one last step forward that he caught a glimpse of the middle of the circle. Laying on the ground, eyes closed and arms folded across her chest, was Maggie.

Zayn felt his heart fall to the bottom of his chest, his blood running cold at the sight of her. She looked so similar to the girl they’d found in the woods before, and Zayn couldn’t believe he hadn’t protected. He’d made a promise to her that he hadn’t kept. There she was, being cursed and hexed and god only knows what, and it was all Zayn’s fault.

He didn’t know what he was going to do, nor did he have a plan of any sort. All he knew was that he had made a promise to Maggie to always keep her safe, and he wasn’t going to let them hurt her anymore.

The numbers were stacked against him, but he didn’t care. He stepped through the tree line, and before anyone even knew he was there, he’d casted a small spell on the group, causing them all to tense up in pain. It wasn’t the best spell he knew, but it still took a lot out of him, just because he’d never performed at all and definitely not on so many people at once.

He jolted forward, not caring if any of them were recovering from the blow he’d given them. His heart raced as he approached the circle, kicking his father’s former best friend along the way and causing him to wince in more pain than the rest of them.

When he reached Maggie, he didn’t have enough time to check if she was okay, because the group was quickly recovering and he knew he’d never be able to hold them off. He swooped Maggie up in his arms, her suddenly feeling much lighter than he had imagined, and took off in the only direction he knew to go.

He was racing through the trees, being whipped by so many branches that he had cuts all along his face. He didn’t feel the pain, though, because he was too focused on worrying about Maggie. If something happened to her, he would never be able to forgive himself.

When he finally hit the streets, he let out a deep breath, because he knew none of his coven members would be stupid enough to perform magic where they could be seen. He still didn’t feel safe though, because they could attack him outright at any moment.

His arms were still wrapped tightly around Maggie, and he could feel her beginning to stir. He didn’t know what spell they were performing on her or how much she would remember, but he was just thankful that she was waking up. She made a few soft groans, tensing her body up, before she closed her eyes again and went limp like before.

Zayn didn’t know what to do to help her, so he raced to the police station, because if anyone besides him could protect her, it could be her own father. The station was a few blocks away and Zayn was beginning to run out of breath, but he ran as fast as he could and hard as he could until he reached the station just as Maggie spoke his name.

“Zayn?” she whispered, causing him to stop dead in his tracks and look down at the girl in his arms. Her eyes were faintly open and her cheeks were a bright red. He wasn’t sure, but he hoped it was a good sign because she looked like she was recovering. “Is everything okay?”

Zayn nodded his head quickly, because he didn’t want her to be any more worried than she needed to be. “Everything’s fine, baby. I’m going to take you to the station and you’re gonna stay with your dad.”

“Why? What’s happening?”

“It’s nothing,” he whispered as he gave her a soft smile. He hadn’t been able to protect her, but he was going to protect her this time. “You just need to stay at the station, and don’t leave until I tell you.”

“But Zayn –”

“But nothing, Maggie. I’ve got it under control. I just want you to stay here until I come and don’t leave no matter what.”

Maggie looked like she wanted to protest, but the look in Zayn’s eyes told her better than to argue. She didn’t understand half of what was going on, and she knew deep down that she’d just get in the way.

With both of their eyes connected on one another, Zayn reached his hand forward and brushed a piece of Maggie’s now tangled hair out of her face. The touch of his skin on hers in that loving, caring way made Zayn’s seal burn in anger, but he pushed through the pain, because Maggie was worth it to him.

“Stay safe, okay?” Maggie said, her voice sounding as if it was going to crack.

“I will,” Zayn smiled, running his hand through the back of her hair. “I promise.”

Zayn was just about to lean forward and kiss Maggie for the first time in what felt like forever when her father opened the door, smiling in surprise at both of them.

“Maggie, Zayn, what are you doing here?”

Maggie didn’t hesitate when she turned to her father, smiling brightly at him. “I just came to visit you at work.”

If Zayn didn’t already want to kiss Maggie, he would have wanted to right then, because she was protecting him and his secret once again, and he was more thankful for that then she would ever know.

“I’ve got to go,” Zayn whispered to her, knowing he wouldn’t get a chance to say a proper goodbye with her father there.

Maggie nodded her head, her eyes saying the words she couldn’t. “I’ll see you soon.”

The last thing Zayn wanted to do at that moment was walk away from Maggie, but he used every bit of courage he had to pull himself away and began walking down the sidewalk, looking back at her as he turned the corner. She smiled at him, waving her arm gently, and all he wanted to do was run back and scoop her up into his arms.

But, he couldn’t do that. He couldn’t do anything he wanted, because he had to care on his own father’s duty and stop whatever horrible magic was happening in his clan. He had to put a stop to whatever was going, no matter what it took, because if he didn’t, the results could be disastrous.

As much as he hated it, Zayn knew he couldn’t face the rogue coven members on his own, so he went to the first person he could think of that could possibly be as strong as him: Liam.