by Silver Nord
“What about the barrier around town? Won’t they be trapped?” Sean said, turning away from the gas to look seriously at me.
“All you need to get though is a very strong sense of purpose about why you want to leave the town. Fleeing for your life should do the trick,” I told him, dryly.
“We should be going, unless you want to go another round with that stuff,” Minerva said, swinging a pre-prepared bag onto her back and walking towards the backdoor.
“Erebus! Artemis! Hemlock!” I called and heard the reassuring patter of large paws as the hellhound came down the stairs.
“Hazel, why does your cat have a lock pick and… thumbs?” Sean asked when he walked back towards the kitchen and stopped in the doorway.
“Hemlock!” I growled, striding over and witnessing my badly behaved familiar trying to jemmy the padlock on his cat treats cabinet. “No looting!” I shook my head as I confiscated the kit.
Artemis gently patted my leg with his paws. I bent down and picked him up so he could ride on my shoulder. Admittedly, I did it with a lot more care now that I knew about his second nature. Once everything had settled down again, I’d have to look for any records of cats turning into were-panthers.
“Is everyone ready? Let’s go,” Minerva said, nodding at our determined little group. “Hold your breath and stick together,” she advised us as she threw open the door to the shop to let the gas come swirling in.
For a moment, it danced around the threshold before being violently sucked backwards out of the shop.
“What the…?” I heard Sean say as the gas continued its retreat - not just from the shop but from the entire street.
I watched in shock as it was sucked away, as if by some giant vacuum.
It turned out that wasn’t a bad description.
I felt the tear before I saw it.
It was as if it was drawing me to it, pulling me closer, so I could slip through to the other side and see what lurked there.
I dismissed the strange sensation and focused on this dimension… where all of my aunts’ Alarming Airborne Pathogen was rapidly disappearing.
“No…” I said as I watched it vanish into the tear. A few seconds later, the gas was gone and the tear magically resealed itself.
“Mayor Starbright,” I muttered, realising what must have happened. He’d already boasted that he was all-knowing when it came to the town, but it would appear that his powers had grown. He had more control over the two dimensions in Wormwood than I did, and he knew how to use them.
“We knew it wouldn’t be easy,” Minerva said, laying a comforting hand on my shoulder.
“Sure, but we didn’t think he’d completely foil us,” Linda said, folding her arms and looking peeved. “It took days of stirring to get that potion just right!”
As we looked out onto the High Street groups of people appeared, strolling back to the places they’d run from. The coughing had finished as soon as the gas had disappeared. With the exception of a few puzzled looks around, it was just another normal day in the weird town of Wormwood.
“I suppose this means the festival is still on,” Sean commented, looking alarmed for the first time. I realised that in spite of what he’d said about it being impossible to stop every single bad thing from happening, he’d expected me and my family to save Wormwood. And our final attempt had just failed.
Tomorrow, the town of Wormwood would be destroyed by monsters from the dark dimension.
It was the beginning of the end of the world.
And there wasn’t a thing any of us could do about it.
17
Quack!
When Wormwood’s last day dawned, the town was shrouded in a blanket of mist that obscured most things from the casual observer. It was a cruel premonition of the town’s future, making it appear as if Wormwood had already disappeared.
I’d made myself a cup of Gloom-Tea but even the joyful taste of dried fruits and herbs did nothing to pick me up on this grey morning.
Late the previous evening, two very confused police sergeants had turned up at the shop - having asked around town about where they might be able to find DCI Admiral. His absence from Witchwood and lack of contact had alarmed them. They’d been dispatched to check he was okay… two days ago.
I’d taken in their dishevelled appearance and baffled expressions and had deduced that the forest had played its tricks on them. Fortunately, Sean had stepped in with a logical explanation for everything. He’d said that there’d been power cuts. A tree had blocked the road. He’d stayed to supervise law and order and had ended up catching a killer, who’d unfortunately had a nasty accident that had resulted in his own death. Then he’d explained that the forest could be a confusing place and they’d probably just got lost.
The final one had been a stretch given the amount of time the police officers must have wandered through a geographically small area, but I’d watched them accept all of it - grateful for something to soothe their minds. Sean had told them that he had the bodies on ice (we’d had to clear out the bakery chest freezer) and that it was the best that could be done until the roads were opened up again and communications resumed. He’d asked his officers to take the two remaining ghost hunters back to Witchwood with them for further questioning and counselling.
“Just focus on getting back home and how important it is that you take these two to safety,” he’d told them, emphasising the focus part. We’d sent them off with far more supplies than were necessary for what should be a journey of only a few hours on foot, but with the forest playing up, you couldn’t take any chances.
“At least they’ll get out,” Sean had said, prompting me to tell him to go with them. He’d refused, reminding me that he’d made his decision and would do whatever he could to help me defeat the mayor. I’d emphasised that there was no great miracle on its way.
To that, he’d just said that he’d stay anyway.
“There’s as much coffee as you can drink,” Minerva said, breezing past with the shop’s accounts ledger. “After all, it’s probably the last day it will be drinkable.”
“Thanks… I think,” Sean said, frowning at the coffeemaker.
I looked at my aunt, my eyes wide and hopeful. We still hadn’t spoken about what had happened in the forest the other day when I’d nearly got her killed.
“Oh, Hazel, there’s no need to look at me like that. It’s all forgotten. I know you did what you had to do. There has been a lot of that going round lately,” she said, looking over at Artemis, who was playing with a satsuma he’d stolen from the fruit bowl. He let it slip through his paws and it fell onto his nose with a comical ‘bonk’. I’d just started to smirk when there was a sudden flash. The smell of burnt satsuma filled the kitchen.
“I can’t believe I was worried about his safety,” I murmured, still unnerved by the kitten.
“Just keep giving him lots of treats. And give them to me, too… or I’ll tell him to microwave your possessions,” Hemlock contributed from on top of a kitchen cabinet.
I glanced up to see his tail lashing back and forth, the only part of him visible. I heard a familiar evil cackle.
I tugged on his tail. “Unless you’re plotting how to stop the mayor, stop plotting whatever it is you’re plotting!”
“You’re not the boss of me!” he said back.
I was about to have a full blown argument with my unruly familiar when there was a knock on the shop door.
“Sorry! We’re closed! We’re preparing for the end of the world!” Linda called in the direction of the fog-filled street.
I glanced over but couldn’t see anyone waiting in the mist. “Probably a tourist,” I muttered.
“So… what’s our plan for foiling the festival?” Linda asked.
“I vote the plan is packing our bags and getting the heck out of here,” Hemlock pitched in, having finished his plotting.
“Hemlock says we should stand and fight. It’s the honourable thing to do for our town and the people in
it. We should save as many people as we can,” I translated for the group.
“I said no such thing!”
“He’s being so courageous. So selfless. I’m touched,” I told them, lifting a hand to my heart and pretending to hold back tears.
I ducked the flying can of tuna Hemlock had been trying to open. Some magical extra sense had warned me at the last second. Or perhaps it was too long spent experiencing Hemlock’s methods of getting even.
“Oh, darn it all! We’re out of milk. Is it worth buying more?” Minerva asked, looking in the fridge with dismay.
“We need some, or my frosted cereal will go to waste. It has marshmallows in it! And real caramel pieces!” Linda protested. “It needs milk, otherwise it’s like eating candy for breakfast. People judge you for that.”
Minerva rolled her eyes. “You do know that it is complete junk, don’t you? Adding milk doesn’t suddenly make it good for you.”
“Then tell me this, Minerva… why does it say that it’s part of a balanced diet on the advert? They can’t lie about stuff like that!”
“Nearly one-hundred years on this earth, and you still believe everything you see on the TV. I remember when direct mail selling was all the rage. I’ll never forget the day you ordered one-hundred stuffed monkeys.”
“They were supposed to be all-purpose! Plus, they were running out of stock. I was really lucky to get the last hundred,” Aunt Linda countered.
“I think they should both go and get the milk,” Sean muttered.
“He’s right. Get some fresh air,” I said, looking doubtfully at the swirling mist outside of the door. “We could all do with clear heads when we try to work out our next move.”
My aunts mercifully didn’t argue and left to visit the corner shop to see if they had any long-life milk left after the deliveries had stopped. Once they were well and truly gone, I turned to face Sean. With Wormwood possibly being destroyed by monsters today and the detective sticking around for the festival, it didn’t seem likely that we had much time left to spend together. If I wanted to get my feelings out in the open, there was no more putting it off. It really was now or never.
On the plus side, if he was shocked and horrified when I told him how I felt, I’d only have to live with the heartbreak for another ten hours.
“Sean… there’s something I need to tell you,” I began, seizing the moment with both hands.
Hemlock made smoochy noises prompting me to fling the barbecued satsuma his way.
“What is it?” Sean asked, looking at me with the sort of hope in his gaze that made me know he wasn’t expecting what I was about to say. He still thought I had something up my sleeve that would save us all.
It was enough to make me hesitate for a second.
The shop door burst open and I swore under my breath. How had my aunts been so fast? They’d only left a minute ago! With the added time for arguing, I’d have expected them to be gone for at least fifteen-minutes.
“I thought I locked that,” I muttered, suddenly realising I hadn’t heard a key in the lock.
Worse still, I hadn’t heard my aunts arguing.
Which meant it wasn’t my aunts.
Drawing upon my magic, I motioned for Sean to stay back and tiptoed towards the shop. I sensed movement by my side and nearly attacked, before realising that Sean had decided to ignore my warning and was right next to me.
“Locks just don’t tend to stop me,” a voice said from inside the shop.
I stepped out of the kitchen and saw a dark figure wrapped in a cloak standing in the open doorway.
“We’re closed,” I said, somehow sensing this stranger hadn’t come to shop.
“Hello, Hazel. I’m your father,” the stranger announced, spreading his arms wide.
He removed his hooded cloak and tufts of brown hair, streaked with grey, jumped out. Two blue eyes looked into my amber pair, creasing up at the corners. When the man smiled, his nose crumpled up - just the way my nose did.
I looked at this large, warm-looking man and felt so many things clicking into place. This was the person who’d been missing from my life for so long.
My mouth flapped a couple of times before I found my words again. “What are you doing here? You said it was more important than ever that you stayed hidden. People know you’re alive, and they’re looking for you. All of the time you spent hiding could be for nothing. Over two decades wasted.”
My father’s mouth set into a determined line. “I won’t pretend that I haven’t made difficult decisions in my life. And perhaps I was wrong about the one I made with regard to you, Hazel. I think you should know that your aunts were against it, but your mother… she persuaded me that cutting you both off was the right thing to do to keep you safe. Anything else was just too dangerous. You could have been used against me.” He looked around the shop. “Are your aunts out?”
“Yes, they are,” I said, still trying to process what he was saying. “Why come back now? Do you think you can save the town?”
A golden glimmer of hope seemed to shine through the early morning mist.
“Yes. That’s exactly why I’m back here. It’s time that my greatest mistake is used for good. I’ve figured out a way to use the weapon I designed to send that mayor and his monsters to kingdom come. My design always seemed so destructive to me. I’ve been scared of my own work for too long, but now it all might have been for something.” He smiled broadly at me and Sean. “What do you say? Are we ready to stop this festival?”
“That’s exactly what we want to do,” Sean agreed. I glanced to my right and saw the same hope I was feeling reflected on his face. Could my father have been the solution we’d been waiting for all this time?
“Excellent. Let’s knock this on the head before it even gets going. I heard on my way over here that the power-mad mayor is in the town square, helping to decorate trees with lights and bunting.” He shook his head. “What a psychopath!”
“He used not to be,” I said, suddenly feeling a little sorry for all that Gareth had become and all that he had once been - just a man with Wormwood’s best interests at heart. He’s made his choice, I told myself firmly.
“Excellent. If you wouldn’t mind bringing down my invention, we’ll be on our way to save the day,” my father promised. “I, uh… don’t actually know where it is. When I entrusted it to Minerva, she said she would keep the hiding place to herself in case I was ever compromised.”
“She’s kept her promise well. I don’t know where it is either,” I said with a thin-lipped smile. I’d known my aunts’ secretive ways would one day come back around to bite them. “We’ll have to wait for them to come back from the shop. It probably won’t be too long now.”
“You mean you haven’t worked it out?” my father said, looking astonished. “I was certain that someone as observant as my daughter would have noticed her aunt visiting a particular place, or even avoiding it. There will have been small signs. I heard you’re quite the mystery solver.” He smiled. “It’s nice to think that you got something from me. Although, I’m sure we’re all thrilled that you got your mother’s good looks.” He pulled a wonky face, drawing attention to the way his features were not perfectly symmetrical. He wasn’t an ugly man, but his face was definitely what you might call characterful rather than traditionally handsome.
“Hazel,” Sean said quietly. “Do you think you know where this weapon has been hidden?” There was still the flare of hope in his eyes but there was something else, too… something I didn’t think bore any relation to the words coming out of his mouth. And it was something I was supposed to understand.
“I’m still thinking,” I said, playing for time and wondering when my aunts would be coming back. “I just… still have a few questions.”
“Questions?” my father raised his eyebrows curiously.
“Yes… I want to know more about the deal you made,” I announced.
“I’d be happy to discuss it at great length, but don’t you think that
time is of the essence right now? The mayor is about to make Wormwood a monster haven!”
I folded my arms, trying to fight the feeling that I was being a brat. “I want to know about it now. In detail,” I added.
“I’m not sure what deal you’re talking about. I’ve made lots of deals in my time and in my old business,” he said, frowning. “Don’t you see how important it is that we go now…”
“My real father would have known exactly which deal I was referring to. No one forgets a deal they made with a devil. It is supposed to be a once in a lifetime thing.”
“Devil deal?” my father said, looking a lot less cool and collected than he had a few moments earlier. “Oh yes… that deal,” he hastily amended, but it was too late.
“So, who are you really?” I asked the man who was not my father.
Sean made a noise of satisfaction. I’d understood what he’d been trying to tell me without saying anything - which was that I needed to be careful trusting strangers who turned up on my doorstep claiming to be people they were not.
“I’m your…” he started to say but stopped when I showed him my fist, glowing with pure magic.
He sighed in a bored way, suddenly sounding a lot less like the person I’d imagined my father to be. With a single swishing motion, he removed the cape.
The man standing in front of us now was not my father… but I did recognise him.
“Aleister Root. I should have known you would try something before this town went belly up,” I said, keeping my magic ready.
“I can’t let technology like that slip through my fingers. It’s for the good of everyone, Hazel! I wasn’t lying when I said the weapon could be used for good. I genuinely believe it can destroy monsters who are immune to magic. Those rumours are true, aren’t they?”
I nodded, never taking my eyes off him. How had I not seen that he was wearing a magical disguise? How had his magic not given him away?
“This is your father’s work, you know,” Aleister said, lifting the cape up. “He used to work for us. Did he tell you that? His work always came in handy precisely because it was a blend of technology and magic. It doesn’t show up on a witch’s or magician’s radar the way spells do.” He raised his eyebrows. “Take this cloak, for example… it projects an idea of the person that the intended target expects to see. That’s why I introduced myself before I let you see my face. That’s how it works.”
