David Ortega sat silently in the house of the ancient curanderas, the witch who was preparing a herbal remedy for his recent headaches. His aunt had insisted, and he was loathe to incur her wrath. Since the encounter in the caves with the strange cubes, David had felt increasingly weak.

Two weeks later they were back, no better, and in fact even worse.

"Your nephew is suffering from some force beyond my skills; I'm afraid. I cannot help him."

"But he is a young man, surely someone you know . . ."

"There is a young woman, a Brujas Blancas in Guadalajara, they say has powers that surpass what is usual for most curanderas."

"Do you have her name?"

"She is known by Lily. That is all I know."

With his determined aunt, David was rushed off to the bustling city, and there they sought for the information on the mysterious Lily. After two days of searching, they were directed to a home in a residential part of the city, where they found the young woman - Lily Bonilla.

Ever since she was a little girl, Lily had wanted to be a Brujas Blancas, a white witch, who could do good things for all the people. What she learned, growing up, was that while witches were accepted, and held in wide belief among the population, there really wasn't a whole lot to do. At least not for someone with her skills.

Certainly there were plenty of requests, but too many were for personal gain and Lily wasn't about to use what she possessed for whims. She wanted to contribute to something bigger and better - for all. This latest request, at least, was for a humane purpose, and she listened with growing excitement to David's tale of the beginning of his problem.

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"I say we just nuke the cave and be done with it." Major General Hank Ashton, tossed his pen on the table and sat back, chin jutting at the others around the room.

"You can't nuke an underground cave system that is an integral part of the geography - and in another country." Malcolm Dandridge clasped his forehead. "Gentlemen, we are talking about an encounter with an alien intelligence - a dangerous alien intelligence."

"It's the water! We brought this to you weeks ago, when we first thought it was earth's water they were after." Gordon Weller slapped the table. "We were wrong. They were after water - human water. We have reports from several countries that have experienced the same encounters. Their scientists have reported that certain segments of the population have been decreasing in disturbing numbers.

"Children and babies are at risk the most." Gordon rubbed his eyes and leaned on the table. "Gentlemen," he pointed around the room, "we are on average, 45 to 75 percent water. Babies and young children are at the top end of that percentage. This is an attack on us, not our planet."

One of the military assistants sat up, waving a file folder, but was shouted down.

"Well what the hell are we supposed to do? We can't just put a plug in this, we need to go on the offensive." General Ashton retorted.

"How do we combat holographic transmitter receivers, with the capacity to physically manifest?" Dandridge wailed. "What does the White House say?" A few chairs squeaked, and low mumbles were heard. "Okay, so it's in our court. Any other suggestions?" He shot Ashton a brief glare.

Victoria studied her phone and immediately nudged Gordon. "It's a text from David." She whispered, tilting the screen so he could read it.

"Something we should be aware of Mr. Weller?" The chairman asked.

"Not at the moment, sir, but we will need to be excused from the rest of the meeting."

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"A witch!" Gordon slapped his head, pivoting where he stood and coming to a halt in front of David. "You drag us out of a crisis meeting for a witch?"

"Calm down, Gordon, let me explain."

"Explain! Explain- hey, I thought you were sick. Last I saw you, you were a wreck."

"I was. And that's why I want you to meet Lily."

"Is this the young lady?" Victoria asked, as the woman, smiling pleasantly, came forward.

David held out a hand. "Gordon, Victoria, meet Lily Bonilla, a bona fide Brujas Blancas."

"A what?" Gordon gave a cursory nod.

"A white witch."

Gordon groaned, and Victoria shook the smooth hand, feeling an odd tingle up her arm.

Lily stepped closer, still smiling. "I understand your reticence, Mr. Weller, but I assure you, I am not a fraudster." She pointed to some chairs and suggested they all sit.

"Lily discovered that my problem was being caused by a gradual dehydration." David began right away. "It's the same problem that's being reported in a number of places."

"We know that, David. How does this- this- Ms Bonilla, fit into that?"

"She cured me. I don't know how, but I'm fine again."

Gordon looked at her. "I don't suppose I would understand even if you told me."

"I believe, Mr. Weller, what you are dealing with is a form of osmosis. The cubes, as David described to me, displayed what appeared to be veins when they were touched."

"That's right."

"I think they may be roots."

"Roots?" Gordon's mouth dropped open. "Roots . . .? Osmosis! Of course. That's what's happening. That's how they are extracting our body's water!"

"Just like a plant in the earth." Lily said.

Victoria joined excitedly. "So when they physically manifest, that's when they are creating this osmosis? We just have to be close, not touching?"

"That's my theory, until actually confronting one, of course." Lily retained her smile.

"What could you do if you did confront one," Gordon asked doubtfully.

"That would have to take place for me to know, but I believe I could achieve a solution."

"How do you explain it, this- ability?"

"Simply put, Mr. Weller, it's a long, hard earned gift. One I have studied since childhood."

It was a two hour history lesson of Lily's life. How her parents enrolled her in a witches school at the age of seven, all the way through to her graduation, and a mastery over her innate powers. How she spent so many years trying to find a legitimate, acceptable way to use them without drawing the scorn that followed all of her kind.

"School! There are witch's schools?" Gordon looked dumbfounded.

The smile widened. "Not brick and mortar, as you imagine. Simply put, it is the study and the adaptation of cultural beliefs and symbolism." She paused and waited a beat. "I understand completely that, as a scientist, you want facts, but maybe the fact is, we shouldn't be so quick to dismiss the supernatural. The popular choice of almost everyone is to reject, deny, and even accuse. I have spent more time defending myself than I care to think about."

Gordon sighed and gave an impatient shrug. "Whatever the source of a solution, we need it now."

"Couldn't you just- do something . . ." Victoria asked.

"No. It doesn't work like that. I need to immerse into a situation. Absorb what I can of the energy and signals around me. These are the ingredients I require for whatever I hope is needed."

David spoke up when she finished. "What if Lily went to the cave with us and saw the cubes for herself, maybe she could somehow, I don't know - disrupt them?"

Victoria let out a gasp, drawing everyone's attention. She looked at the picture on her phone. Rows of glowing cubes filled the street in front of Gordon's laboratory in the science building.

We won't need to visit any caves . . . they're in the city."

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The large cube sat in front of the group, its orange glow pulsing. David stood behind Victoria, not wanting to be close, while Gordon and Lily approached.

"Pipaluk? I know you can hear me without physical contact."

The cube pulsed brighter, and then the face appeared as before. "Gordon Weller." The words came out clearly. "Your species is more intelligent than we had anticipated, and since you know why we are here, you would be wise to simply submit. We cannot be stopped."

"Why are you killing our people when there are oceans of water you could access?"

"Because we found your species to contain much more. We absorb more than the water from you, Gordon Weller. All the energy and minerals are taken as well." There was a pause and the orange glow pulsed brightly. "Who is that person with you?"

Lily smiled and held out her arms to the side. Her skin seemed to shimmer, and the group backed away, watching in awe. As the cube's glow increased, Lily's became brighter still, and the voice wavered as the veins appeared and began moving erratically. "What are you?" Lily continued to hold her arms out, slowly raising them. The face on the cube became clearer, angrier in appearance, and the veins began growing. "I am Pipaluk, of Hornikut! I am invincible in your puny world! You cannot stop us." All the cubes in the street began pulsing and growing in height.

Lily closed her eyes and breathed deeply, her arms rising straight above her head, then she arched her head back and exhaled loudly. Pipaluk's face blurred then distorted, and the veins, now fully exposed, began to spark and shrivel. His words scrambled and began to fade. The disturbance ran through the cubes in the street. The ranks began to break, and they toppled and bumped together. Their orange light stopped pulsing and they all turned darker and darker until their images broke apart and vanished.

"No! No, I . . . amum Pupipupalulkuk . . .am Pupipu . . ." The face distorted and collapsed, accompanied by a long, painful whine, then the cube shattered and disappeared. Nothing moved. No sound could be heard. Lily opened her eyes and gradually lowered her arms, her smile returning slowly, as the others snapped out of their brief trance.

"How- what did you do?" Gordon gaped about.

"Gordon! Look!" Victoria held up her phone showing the news of cubes mysteriously vanishing all over the world.

"Lily . . . how?"

"It was easier than I thought it might be," she said, slipping an arm through David's. "I managed to create a field of pure white noise, removing all the sound that the cubes could send or receive. Then I did the same with the colours of the spectrum, exposing the interior of the cubes. That reversed the signals the cubes were emitting, and the sudden reversal of all that energy overpowered Pipaluk's system, destroying it, and him in the process."

"You- you were able to do that!" Gordon boggled. I don't- how - that's why we couldn't hear or see anything for a few minutes." He shook his head with disbelief.

"Not a few minutes, Mr. Weller. Instantaneously. It was just a blink for you."

He raised his arms and let them fall to his sides. "This is too much. All our hours of technical and scientific expertise replaced by an amazing young woman who just closed her eyes and raised her arms."

Lily squeezed David's arm, tilting her head in thanks. "While it may not be apparent, there was a lot more to it."

"Well, whatever it was, it worked, and nothing can repay you for what you did."

Victoria held out her phone again. "It's Malcolm for you, Gordon."

"Malcolm, hello. I guess you know what has happened."

"It's was amazing! The board is as giddy as they are baffled. How on earth did you manage that?"

"With the indispensible assistance of the newest member of our science lab." He turned to Lily, eyebrows lifting in questioning hope. "Right now, we are celebrating, so I'll report to you first thing in the morning." Gordon rang off and held out his arms to everyone.

"Is that something you would consider, Lily?"

Her smile settled on all of them and she nodded enthusiastically. There was a moment of complete serenity, followed closely with a realization of a new future.

Malcolm, shouted down the line for him to wait, and as he heard the call disconnect, he also heard

♫♪♩·.¸¸.·♩♪♫ 𝗗, 𝗘, 𝗖, 𝗖, 𝗚 ♫♪♩·.¸¸.·♩♪♫

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