Once Upon a Witch: A Wicked Witches of the Midwest Fantasy Books 1-3

by Amanda M. Lee

  “Do you think so?”

  “That seems to be the obvious answer.”

  “Let’s get going then. I’m so tired of this.”

  “We all are,” Thistle said. “We all need to remember this feeling.”

  “Why?”

  “Because we’re going to need all this anger when we’re digging a grave to hide Aunt Tillie’s body,” Thistle replied.

  “You’re probably right.”

  We started moving warily toward the castle. While the castle was tall and proud, the outside was overgrown with dead vines and brambles.

  “I’m confused,” Clove said as we started climbing the stone stairs that led to the front of the castle. “Why did we all fall asleep?”

  “So the curse could separate us again,” I said.

  “I know I don’t remember everything about Aunt Tillie’s book, but wasn’t there supposed to be a giant at the top of the beanstalk?” Clove asked.

  That was a sobering thought. I scanned the open grounds again. There was nothing menacing – other than the bad gardening – to threaten us, though. “I think we would have seen a giant by now if one was here.”

  “Let’s not tempt fate,” Thistle said, pushing me forward. “Come on. Landon has to be in here somewhere. Let’s find him.”

  “When we do, I’m tying him to me,” I grumbled.

  “I’m sure he’ll love that.”

  It took three of us to push the heavy mahogany door open, and the silence that greeted us inside the great foyer was oppressive. The air inside felt stagnant with decay and neglect.

  “Well, this is disappointing,” Clove said. “Shouldn’t a castle be pretty?”

  “I think it’s pretty,” Thistle said. “It needs a good maid, but it’s pretty.” Her eyes brightened. “Get cleaning, Cinderella.”

  “Bite me,” I muttered.

  Five sets of footsteps echoed on the marble floors as we trudged onward. An elegant staircase was built into the wall on our right and a huge set of double doors beckoned at the far end of the hall. We were expecting a giant, but the castle design was meant for normal people.

  “What do you think?” Clove asked.

  “I think this place is huge, but it’s not made for a huge person.”

  “I mean what direction do you think we should go?”

  That was a pretty good question. “I think we should check the whole first floor before going upstairs,” I said, considering. “We might as well search in an orderly fashion.”

  “Are you channeling Landon?” Marcus asked, smiling softly. “He’d be proud.”

  “Don’t talk about him in the past tense,” I ordered.

  Marcus’ face drained of color. “I didn’t mean … .”

  “I know you didn’t,” I said. “Let’s find Landon. He somewhere in here … and he’s alone.”

  “He’s going to be fine,” Thistle said. “He knows what he’s doing.”

  “I know.”

  “If it’s any consolation, he was worried about you for the same reason when you were whisked away to be Cinderella,” Clove added.

  “I know,” I said. “It’s not a consolation, though.”

  “Come on,” Thistle said, taking the lead. “Let’s find the Fed. He’s probably swearing so much he’s making the fairy tale gods tremble.”

  That was a nice visual.

  When we got to the end of the room, Thistle grunted as she pushed the partially-ajar door open and introduced us to a whole new world. Unfortunately, it was a world none of ever wanted to see. The room was … alive. There was no other way to describe it.

  The furniture moved, the curtains danced and the cobwebs in the corner shook in rhythm with music only they could hear. The sound of the door opening stilled the activity, and as a broomstick, candlestick, chair and piano all turned to stare at me I had to swallow the scream that was bubbling up.

  “What are they?” It was the candlestick speaking.

  “They look like dolls,” the piano replied.

  “They’re pretty ugly dolls,” the broomstick said.

  “Aren’t all dolls ugly?” I wasn’t sure who made that comment, but it sounded as though it came from above.

  “Um … .”

  “Holy cow,” the candlestick said. “The dolls can talk!”

  “They’re freaking me out. We need to get them out of here before the master comes in and squashes them like bugs.”

  That sounded ominous. I cleared my throat. “Master?”

  “It’s talking again!”

  I rolled my shoulders, cracking my neck as I fought to contain my temper. “We’re not dolls. We’re … people!”

  “What’s a people?” the broomstick asked. “Does that mean you’re an alien?”

  “Sure.”

  “Where is your space ship?”

  “It’s parked outside,” I said. “We lost a member of our … landing party. If we could find him we’d be out of your hair … not that you have any hair.”

  “And out of your master’s hair,” Clove said. “What? Does anyone else not want to meet their master?”

  She wasn’t the only one thinking that very thing. “Can you point us toward our missing alien? We’d be very thankful.”

  “What does he look like?”

  “He looks like us,” I said. “He has black hair, and he’s tall and he’s very handsome.” I choked up slightly. “He’s all alone, and we’d really like to find him.”

  “There’s no one who looks like that here,” the candlestick said.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Sorry.”

  That was disconcerting.

  “Don’t worry, Bay. He’s here,” Marcus said. “We just have to find him.”

  “We should check upstairs,” Clove said. “I’ll bet that’s where he is.”

  “Oh, don’t go up there,” the broomstick warned. “That’s where the master is.”

  “I don’t think we have a lot of choice in the matter,” I said. “I … .”

  The door at the opposite end of the room opened and the figure standing there was horrific. It was tall and wide, arms too long for its body, and it didn’t appear to have a neck. Its face was terrible, overlarge teeth jutting out from its mouth. The brown fur covering its body was long and matted, and when it opened its mouth the only thing that came out was a terrible roar.

  “You must be the master,” I said, taking an inadvertent step back. “I … um … wow.”

  The creature roared again. It looked like Bigfoot on steroids.

  I held up my hand, which shook as I tried to act braver than I felt. “I’m really sorry to come into your home,” I said. “We’re looking for a friend. We need to find him. We’ll be out of your hair as soon as we do. I promise.”

  The creature shuffled closer, growling as it opened its menacing mouth. I took a step back. “I … I’m really sorry. We’re really sorry.”

  I glanced over my shoulder, frowning when I saw the empty space behind me – which only moments before had been occupied by Marcus, Thistle, Clove and Sam. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

  The monster roared again, and when I risked a glance back in its direction I realized it was closing the gap between us. “Okay. It’s okay. Nice … thing.” I started backing out of the room. “I’m not here to hurt you. I’m assuming you’re not here to hurt me. I just … I need to find someone.”

  Another roar was all I could take. I fled the room, racing back into the foyer and finding it empty. The open door at the far end of the corridor told me that my supposed family and friends hadn’t stopped with abandoning me in a separate room. They’d abandoned me in a strange castle.

  The creature screeched behind me again and I increased my pace, bursting from the front of the castle and skidding to a stop on the terrace – where a new horror was waiting.

  Thistle, Clove, Marcus and Sam cowered in the far corner, the men working to shield their respective girlfriends, and the hulking figure raising his hands in a menac
ing fashion on the lawn towered over them.

  “Oh, well, I guess we’ve found the giant,” I grumbled.

  No one answered except for the monster closing the distance on me from behind. Things officially just got worse. How was that even possible?

  THE giant screamed, ramming his hands down on the ground with enough force to shake the courtyard – and the castle behind us. Apparently in Aunt Tillie’s head a giant has more in common with the Hulk than anything else.

  “Well, great,” I said. “This is just awesome. We have a giant cutting us off from escape in that direction and the hairy beast is coming after me from in there. Thanks for having my back in there, by the way. I just loved turning around and finding myself alone … again.”

  “We thought you were right behind us,” Marcus said, covering Thistle’s head.

  “Well, I wasn’t.”

  “Do you really think this is the time to argue about this?” Marcus asked, infuriated. “Get over here.”

  He was panicked. He was doing his best to hold it together, but without Landon here to tell everyone what to do we were scattered. We lacked leadership. We were … a mess. Where was he?

  Instead of doing as Marcus instructed I turned to face the giant and descended the stairs.

  “Bay! What are you doing?” Marcus screamed.

  I ignored him and kept moving forward. The giant stilled when he saw me, a meaty fist raised high above his head. I was … done. I couldn’t take another second of this.

  “I don’t know if you’re watching this, Aunt Tillie,” I said, my eyes clouding with angry tears. “Enough is enough, though. We want to go home. We need to go home. You’ve taught us our lessons. Please. Give me back Landon and … end this. I believe you can hear me.

  “That’s what you told me, right?” I continued. “At the Cinderella house you told me that everything depended on what we believe. I believe we should be done here. So … I’m done.”

  For one brief, shining moment I thought I’d won. The giant cocked its head to the side, its eyes softening. Then the world tilted as the giant roared and aimed its descending fist at me.

  My body flew to the side as something barreled into me from behind. Another roaring voice entered the fray, only this one belonged to the hairy castle beast. After tossing me out of the way, the growling monster caught the giant’s descending fist and deflected it, whimpering from the force of the blow.

  The monster matched the giant angry howl for angry howl. I rolled over on my side so I could glance back at the castle. Marcus was on his feet staring at me, worry marring his handsome face as he debated running after me or staying to protect Thistle and Clove. He was caught. He knew it, and I knew it, too.

  “Stay there,” I yelled. “Don’t come out here.”

  Marcus didn’t look convinced. “Bay! Come back here. I can’t just leave you. I made a promise to Landon.”

  What promise? “So did I,” I said. “I won’t leave this place without him.”

  “That’s not what I’m saying,” Marcus said. “Come back here! We’ll figure it out. Let them fight. It’s what they want to do.”

  I shook my head, turning back to the battle raging in front of me. The giant was stronger, but the beast was determined. I had no idea why it pushed me out of the way and sacrificed itself in the battle. It was almost as if … .

  “Oh, crap.” I pushed myself to my feet, realization dawning as I searched for a weapon. There wasn’t much to choose from. The only thing that was even remotely an option was a large rock half buried in the ground.

  I dug my fingers into the hard dirt, grimacing at the pain as I clawed at the rock. It took everything I had to dislodge it, and when I had it in my hand I turned back to the giant.

  The beast was on the ground, struggling to regain its footing as it continued to put its battered body between me and the giant. I didn’t take time to think about what I was doing. I didn’t care whether it was smart. I didn’t care whether it would work. It was the only thing I could do, so I did it.

  I launched the rock at the giant’s head as hard as I could. He was readying himself for another blow against the beast, but when the rock hit him in the head he shifted his attention to me.

  The beast howled, enraged, but the giant ignored it. I was on the menu now.

  I didn’t take a step back, and I didn’t try to protect myself. Instead, I spoke the words I knew would end the story. I remembered this one from Aunt Tillie’s book. “Sometimes you have to fight, even though you know you’re going to lose,” I yelled, clenching my hands into fists at my side. “I can’t win, but I won’t stop fighting!”

  The giant’s face blanked at the words and then, like magic, it started dissolving. Within seconds, the only thing that remained was the beast … and my tears.

  The beast breathed heavily, and it listed to one side and dropped to a knee, giving in to fatigue now that the danger was gone. I closed the distance between us, the lyrics of an old song playing through my head.

  When I got close to the beast I leaned down, searching the clear eyes that stared back at me. “You promised we wouldn’t be separated again,” I said, grabbing either side of its face. “I love you!”

  I closed my eyes and leaned forward, pressing my lips against the beast’s. I could hear the zip of magic, and when I opened my eyes Landon stared at me in astonishment.

  “How did you know?”

  “No one else would be willing to die for me,” I said.

  “I think you’re wrong on that front,” Landon said, reaching for me. “I can’t believe you did that.”

  “Sometimes you have to fight for the person you love,” I said, bursting into tears.

  “You do indeed,” Landon said, pulling me close as we sank to the ground. “Oh, cripes, you scared me half to death. Don’t cry. If you don’t stop crying, I’m going to cry. Oh, well, crap. I guess we’ll both cry.”

  If someone tries to distract you by making you look in a specific direction, make sure you look the other way. The one thing they’re trying to hide from you is usually the one thing you need to find. That’s only true if I’m not the one trying to hide something from you, though. If I tell you to knock it off, I mean it.

  – Aunt Tillie’s Wonderful World of Stories to Make Little Girls Shut Up

  Sixteen

  Landon and I remained wrapped around one another for at least five minutes. We didn’t glance up until someone cleared a throat behind us.

  “Now is not a good time,” Landon growled, tightening his arm around my shoulder. “I can’t tell you how ticked off I am at you guys right now.”

  “What did we do?” Thistle protested.

  Landon stiffened. “Well, for starters, you bolted and left Bay to fend for herself. Way to be loyal.”

  “Hey, you were terrifying,” Thistle said.

  “We thought she was right behind us,” Marcus offered sincerely. “I didn’t realize she wasn’t until we were already on the terrace … and by then we had another problem.”

  “Whatever,” Landon grumbled. “You still left her in there. What if she’d been hurt?”

  “Were you going to hurt her?” Thistle asked.

  “You didn’t know it was me,” Landon said. “By the way, in my head I was talking regularly but it kept coming out in growls. I wasn’t trying to frighten you.”

  “I know,” I said, pulling my face away to study him. “Are you hurt?”

  “I’m fine. Are you hurt?”

  “I was so worried about you,” I said. “When I woke up … you were gone.”

  “I’m so sorry,” Landon said, cupping my chin. “I shouldn’t have promised I would be there when we woke up. This world doesn’t give us the luxury of keeping promises.”

  “It’s not as if I thought you walked away on purpose,” I said.

  Landon arched an eyebrow.

  “I didn’t,” I said. “Not this time. It didn’t even enter my head.”

  “That’s good, Bay,” Landon said
. “No one is leaving. Not again.”

  I snorted. “Don’t say that just yet,” I said. “We’re trapped in a fairy tale world. We still don’t have control.”

  “I know,” Landon said. “I wasn’t talking about here, though.”

  I rested my forehead against his briefly. “I know.”

  Landon pressed me to his chest as he rolled us to a different position. He climbed to his feet and pulled me along with him, never letting go of me. When we were standing, the look he shot Marcus was chilling. “I’m not thrilled with you right now.”

  “What did you expect me to do?” Marcus asked. “She ran right into danger. She wasn’t the only one here.”

  “I know that,” Landon said. “I also know that Thistle is your first priority. You still left her.”

  “I … .” Marcus’ cheeks colored with shame. “I’m sorry. Clove ran, and Sam ran after her. Then Thistle took off and … instinct took over. I swear I thought Bay was right behind us. I wouldn’t have abandoned her.”

  “I know,” Landon said, running his hand over the back of my head. “I heard you during the fight.”

  “I … I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” Landon said, coldly. “We’re all fine. We’re all getting out of here.”

  “Landon, I really am sorry,” Marcus said.

  “I told you not to worry about it,” Landon said. “We’re all exhausted. We’re all … frustrated. I want out of here.”

  “Where do we go next?” Thistle asked, linking her fingers with Marcus’ as she rested her head against his shoulder in a sign of solidarity.

  “The castle,” Landon said.

  “How do you know that?” I asked.

  “It’s a feeling. I think the castle is our end location. We have to figure out how many fairy tales we’re talking about here.”

  “Let’s go,” I said, slipping my arm around his waist. “Are you sure you’re not hurt?”

  “The second I changed back all of my aches and pains went away,” Landon said, kissing my forehead. “Well … except one. You’re here, though. You’re fixing that one.”

  I wanted to cry again. “Landon … .”