Dave continued, “Do you know of any shops there?”
I tried to control my excitement about the revelation. “I know of a shop, yes.”
“Well, it sounds like something is going on with that shop,” he said.
“You could say that. I received a necklace from that place, so there is probably a connection somehow,” I said.
I filled him in of all the details on the necklace and about the woman at the shop who had now mysteriously disappeared, along with other people around town.
“I’ll ask around about the witch’s family members too. If there’s anything to find out you can guarantee that I will. What about the necklace?”
“Don’t worry, I buried it, but even with that, my time is running out,” I said.
“I’ll make calls as soon as we hang up,” he said.
“I appreciate that.”
I was still trying to get over the shock that the occult shop was somehow involved in all of this. I knew that woman who had given me the necklace had acted strangely. As soon as possible, I had to get back to the store. I would demand an answer from that woman. If she was hiding something from me she would be sorry. If she was behind this in any way I would make sure she couldn’t do magic ever again. After all, her magic hadn’t been affected by the spell. It shouldn’t have been a surprise that she was involved.
It was good to know that I had another person on my side. It was hard to know who to trust when so many people wanted the book. I was constantly looking over my shoulder and being suspicious of everyone I met. The real Dave seemed genuinely ready to help though.
“Thank you for all your help,” I said.
“I’ll be in touch soon,” he said before hanging up.
When I hung up the phone Liam asked, “Well, what was that all about?”
It was at that moment that I realized the call was actually the spell working. The call had been my message. I put the phone back in my pocket and walked over to the book. I closed the covers and tucked it under my arm.
“There is a witch who is mad at the Baton Rouge coven and me. Her aunt owns the occult shop in Enchantment Pointe.”
“That explains a lot,” Nicolas said.
“Let me put the book away and we’ll go back to the store,” I said.
Chapter Twenty-Two
I hurried back up the stairs and closed the book up in the trunk. As I walked down the hallway toward the stairs I looked over at Charlie’s room. For a moment I thought about going in there again. Maybe I had missed something. I had found the driver’s license and it had an address of New Orleans. So that couldn’t be the same witch that Dave was talking about, right? I went back downstairs and met the guys by the door. The only thing we could do now was go back to the occult shop. If I didn’t find answers there then where would I find them?
As we drove down the road Nicolas asked, “What do you know about the shop owner?”
“Absolutely nothing, really. The store has only been there for a couple years. I get my spices and herbs with my mother at another shop across town. I know this one is closer, but my mother has been friends with the other shop owner for years. We just never switched for that reason.”
“That’s understandable,” Liam said from the backseat.
“That woman did act strange with the necklace,” Nicolas said. “And she claimed they never sold anything like that in her store.”
We drove a little further and in the distance I spotted someone walking on the side of the road. Even from that far away I thought I recognized the person.
Before I could point out the man, Liam leaned forward in his seat and pointed. “Isn’t that your Uncle Fitz?”
Nicolas looked in that direction too. “It looks just like him. I do believe it is.”
“He’s walking toward the manor, I guess. He’s a persistent old guy, isn’t he?” Liam asked.
“I heard my father was stubborn too,” I said.
Liam laughed. “Well, that explains a lot,” Liam said.
“Hey!” I couldn’t hide my smile.
When we neared the man walking it was very clear that it was in fact Uncle Fitz. I supposed he couldn’t catch a ride this time. He was lucky that we’d come along when we did. Nicolas pulled the car over to the side of the road. When Uncle Fitz spotted the car, he waved his arms frantically, as if we hadn’t seen him and already pulled the car over to the side of the road.
I lowered my window. “Uncle Fitz, what do you think you’re doing?”
“I am going to the manor,” he said.
“Get in the car.” I motioned for him to get in the back.
Liam opened the door and Uncle Fitz climbed in. Something about him looked different and I figured he was tired. He had been walking a lot.
“The note said you were going to fix the situation. Why would you try something like that?”
Uncle Fitz chuckled nervously. “Just trying to help.”
“I appreciate that, Uncle Fitz, but I don’t want you hurt,” I said.
“Where are you going?” he asked.
“We’re not going back to the manor right now. I hope that’s okay, but we’re in a bit of a hurry.”
“Where are you going in such a hurry?”
“We have to go to the occult shop.”
“Right now? What is so important there?” he asked.
“It’s a long story,” I said. “But we probably won’t be long. You can wait in the car.”
I really didn’t want him involved in case this scene turned violent. I had no idea what would happen when we confronted this woman with the news that we’d learned. She had lied to our faces and she had to know that I would be back eventually.
Nicolas navigated the streets through town. No one walked on the sidewalks and there were no cars out. It was like something you’d see in the middle of the night. We drove right through, catching all of the green lights.
Nicolas pulled up in front of the shop and shoved the car into gear. When I looked over at the window, I noticed that the open sign was turned off. “It looks like she’s closed shop for the day.”
“Well, she will just have to open for us,” Liam said as he climbed out of the backseat.
“Wait here for us, Uncle Fitz, we’ll be back in just a minute.”
He nodded, but thank goodness didn’t ask what we were doing here. All of the lights were off in the store, but that didn’t stop Nicolas from trying the door anyway.
Of course the door was locked.
“What do we do now?” I asked.
“Dave didn’t say where this woman lived?” Nicolas cupped his hands around his eyes and leaned against the glass for a better look inside.
I shook my head. “No, he didn’t know, but he was going to ask around and call as soon as he had more information.”
The information Dave had given us about the shop owner might explain why she still had her magic. There had to be a connection. I walked down the sidewalk a few steps. At the side of the building was an alleyway. When I looked at the alley, I noticed stairs that led up to a door above the occult shop. It looked like there was an apartment above the store. I wondered if she lived there? It would make sense since she owned the shop that she would live above it.
“Hey, guys, come here.” I motioned.
Liam and Nicolas walked over to where I stood.
I pointed up to the door. “I wonder if she lives there?”
“It’s worth going and knocking on the door to find out,” Liam said.
I headed toward the stairs with Nicolas and Liam right behind me. The stairs wobbled a little with each step. I had the feeling that the stairs wouldn’t be standing for much longer. Especially with three people walking on them at once. We finally made it to the top.
It was a nondescript white door with nothing on it or around it. I had no idea if it was really an apartment or maybe just some random storage. Of course what other reason would there be for an outside entrance? I reached out and knocked on the door.
>
After a minute I realized that no one was going to answer. When I peered down toward the back of the building I spotted Uncle Fitz.
“Where is he going?” I asked.
The only place back there was a cemetery. I had told him to stay in the car, but he never listened. The last thing I needed right now was to have to chase Uncle Fitz around.
I called out to him, but he didn’t hear me or just acted as if he didn’t hear me.
“Come on, we have to go after him.” I motioned for the guys to follow me.
It didn’t appear as if anyone was going to answer the door anyway. I needed to find out where this woman lived. Maybe my mother knew her or knew someone who knew of her. It was worth a shot to ask.
We made the trip down the stairs and down the alleyway. When we reached the end we were practically in the cemetery. There was an iron-gated entrance right there.
“What is your uncle up to now?” Liam asked.
“He goes to the most random places. And does the most random things,” Nicolas said.
We stepped into the graveyard. It looked as if we were the only living souls around. Uncle Fitz was nowhere in sight. It figured the time I needed him to stay out of trouble was the time he made it even worse.
“He has to be around here somewhere,” I said. “We’ll walk a little and see if we can find him.”
Liam opened his mouth to talk, but I put my hand up to stop him.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea if we split up, if that’s what you were going you say,” I warned with a wave of my finger.
Liam held his hands up in surrender. “It was just a suggestion,” Liam said.
“A bad one,” I said.
We inched through the cemetery among the old faded stones. Moss hung from the trees, creating a canopy over the entire place. We’d made it a few more steps when movement caught my attention. It wasn’t Uncle Fitz that I saw.
“It’s Annabelle,” we all said at the same time.
I called out to her. She didn’t stop.
“I don’t think she hears me.”
Nicolas called out with his loud voice. But she didn’t stop. I was sure she must have heard him. Why was she here in the first place? This was not somewhere she would ever come to by herself.
“Let’s see if we can catch up to her.”
She moved around one of the crypts. Liam ran ahead. I hoped that he could catch up to her. Uncle Fitz had been missing and Annabelle too—now I’d found them in the same place. What were the odds of that? Something wasn’t right about this.
When we reached the spot where we’d last seen Annabelle, Liam popped out from behind the crypt.
I clutched my chest. “You scared me. What are you doing? Is she there? Did you find her?”
He shook his head. “She isn’t around here.”
“Well, she couldn’t just disappear into thin air.”
But apparently that was exactly what she had done and Uncle Fitz too.
Movement caught my attention again from the corner of my eye. When I looked over I spotted Uncle Fitz again.
“Hey, there’s Fitz,” Liam said.
We ran through the graveyard, weaving across the stones toward Uncle Fitz. I called out to him, but he didn’t stop or even look back at me. I knew he heard us calling for him. This was giving me the creeps. Uncle Fitz disappeared behind a crypt. When we reached the crypt, he was not there. It was as if he had vanished into thin air.
“Where did he go?” I asked.
Nicolas shook his head. “I don’t know. He’s an old guy and I know he can’t move that quickly.”
Liam turned around and walked over to us.
“You didn’t see where he went?” I asked Liam.
He looked out over the graveyard again. “No, and I didn’t take my eyes off him for a second.”
Movement caught my attention again and I looked to my right. Once again I recognized the woman. My mother walked through the graveyard with her back to us. I had never experienced this kind of creepiness before.
I yelled out to my mother, “Mom, it’s Hallie. Stop.”
She didn’t stop, just like Uncle Fitz and Annabelle. Where were they going and why didn’t they listen to me? Were they under a spell? More and more it seemed like that was the case. I exchanged a look with Nicolas and Liam. Then we all ran after my mother. It was only a repeat of what had just happened though. When we reached the area where we thought she’d gone she was nowhere in sight. I ran my hand through my hair and released a deep breath.
“Don’t worry, Hallie, we’ll find them,” Nicolas said.
I knew he felt my fear and anxiety. As we turned around my mother popped up in front of us. She stood by a tall tombstone. She stared at us, but I was pretty sure no one was home.
“Mom, are you okay?” I asked.
“You have to give the book to Charlie,” she said without answering my question.
“I don’t have the book,” I said.
“You need to give the book to Charlie now,” she repeated.
Apparently she wasn’t going to take no for an answer. Why did she want the book?
I shook my head. “There is no way I can give you the book. Do you see the book on me?”
“I know it is in your house, so just drive there and pick it up.”
“I can’t do that,” I said.
She glared at me and that wasn’t her normal reaction. When I was a kid she would ground me for doing spells to turn people into toads, but she’d never given me a look like that.
“I said go get the book unless you want something bad to happen.” Hate filled her voice and her eyes glowed as if on fire.
“What does that mean, ‘something bad to happen?’ Has Charlie threatened you?” I asked.
Just then another voice called out to me. “Give the book to me or else.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
I whipped around and saw Charlie standing behind me. I should have known that she had something to do with this.
“If you have a spell on my mother then you can just take it off right now. I won’t let you get away with this.”
She laughed and her eyes flashed red. I swallowed hard. It looked as if I was going to be in for a fight. I glanced back and saw that my mother was still standing in the same spot. Her blank expression hadn’t changed.
“Charlie, you don’t have to do this,” Nicolas said.
She laughed again. Apparently this was extremely funny to her. “See, that’s where you’re wrong. Why not do this? I tried to contact Ms. LaVeau and she ignored my problem, so now she is going to pay the price. She shouldn’t have ignored me. She doesn’t deserve to be the leader. I should be the leader of the Underworld.”
“I didn’t ignore you. I never received any communication from you,” I said.
“That is a lie.” She shot a venomous glare my way.
Charlie was convinced that I had ignored her. If I had it certainly wasn’t on purpose.
Movement came from a nearby tree and Uncle Fitz appeared.
“Uncle Fitz, don’t go near her,” I yelled.
He didn’t stop. He had that same blank expression on his face. He moved toward her and then stopped when he was right beside her.
She smiled and looked over at him. “Tell your niece that she needs to give me the book. I told him to go get it, but apparently he couldn’t get the job done.”
“Give her the book, Halloween.” Uncle Fitz stared at me when he spoke, but it was as if he was looking right through me. He didn’t care what he saw or said.
It didn’t even sound like his voice. She had placed a powerful spell on Uncle Fitz and my mother.
More movement came from the other side of Charlie. Annabelle appeared from behind another tree. She had the same blank expression as Uncle Fitz and my mother. I knew there was no point in telling her not to go near Charlie. Charlie had placed a spell on her too. Charlie’s powers were a lot greater than I imagined.
“Tell your friend to give
me the book,” Charlie ordered.
Annabelle gave me the same blank stare. “Halloween, give Charlie the book and no one will get hurt.”
What did she mean no one would get hurt? Did Charlie plan to hurt them?
“I bet you are surprised to see your loved ones,” Charlie said.
When I looked back again, my mother had moved closer. I tried to look into her eyes, but they were blank as well. The four of them inched closer to us.
“What are you doing?” I asked my mother.
It was as if she didn’t even know me now. She would do whatever Charlie asked her to do.
“Charlie, I command you to stop whatever spell you have on them.”
“I don’t have to follow your rules. You are not the leader any more. I will be the leader now.” She seemed awfully convinced of this.
I wouldn’t go down without a fight.
When I looked at Charlie again, her face began to change. Her features were changing into someone else. She looked familiar, but I couldn’t quite place her yet.
“Who are you?” I asked.
She just laughed. She still had some of Charlie’s features but was changing into someone else. I watched as a full transformation took place. The woman had dark hair and eyes like Charlie.
“Who is that?” Nicolas asked.
When he said it I instantly remembered Dave mentioning the other witch. Could this be her?
“Who are you?” I demanded.
She cackled. “That’s for me to know and for you to find out.”
Apparently Charlie had been practicing her evil witch routine. I was up for the challenge. I wasn’t going to let her play these games. Not when the people I loved were a part of them. When I looked back at my mother I noticed something different about her face. Her features were changing too. I stared in disbelief. I couldn’t wrap my mind around what was happening. I watched as she became the one of the women from the fake board.
“Who are you and what have you done with my mother?” Anger bubbled inside me.
I was furious. Both of the women laughed, mocking me.
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