Charmed to Death

by Rose Pressey

  I needed to call Gramps and tell him what I found. Maybe that would help spark a memory and it would all come back to him. I went over to the bedroom door, opened it up, and jumped when I saw the three of them standing in front of the door. They were just staring at me blankly.

  “What’s going on, guys?” I asked.

  “We just wondered what you were doing up here in this room,” Nicolas said.

  Nicolas stared at me, as if he was sure I was up to something.

  “What have I been doing?” I tried to act casual. “Nothing much. I was just looking for you all.”

  They didn’t budge for a while, until I motioned for them to go. “We need to go downstairs,” I said in a stern voice.

  The three of them marched out of the room. I walked behind them while they went down the steps. I hated that I was being so suspicious. It was as if they were in a trance. I was beginning to think that maybe they were. They would never act this way on their own. And they hadn’t started acting this way until Thomas and the witch had come around. What about that witch? She’d been in the car with them. I bet she’d placed a spell on them. They probably didn’t even know it. Maybe they really didn’t even know she’d been in the car with them. She could have been invisible to them.

  Once at the bottom of the stairs the doorbell rang. Was this the witch coming for a visit? Did she want to put me under a spell just as she had the others? I rushed over to the door.

  “Who is it?” I called out.

  “It’s your mother. Let me in, Halloween.”

  I opened the door, thankful to see her. The weirdest thing happened next. I knew what she was thinking without her saying a word.

  “You don’t like my outfit?” I asked.

  She stared at me for a moment. “I didn’t say that.”

  Now she wanted to know if I was going to invite her in or if she had to stand outside until the cows came home.

  “Of course, you can come inside,” I said. “And I don’t have cows.”

  She gave me the strangest look. Why did I know what she was thinking? It wasn’t every thought. At least I hoped she had more thoughts than that. There were spurts of moments when I heard her thoughts. I needed to talk to her alone. So far I wasn’t able to hear the others’ thoughts.

  “We’ll be right back,” I said to the trio. “We have to talk.”

  I grabbed her hand and pulled her into the library.

  “What’s going on, Halloween?” she asked.

  “I was able to read your thoughts.”

  “Oh, that’s silly.” She waved her hand. “What am I thinking now?”

  I stared at her face, trying to read her mind. Nothing was coming to me. Okay, maybe it was just a fluke, but it was impossible.

  “I knew what you were thinking and now it’s gone.”

  “You’re tired and stressed. Maybe you need a vacation.” She patted my arm.

  “So now I’m crazy. How do you explain the cows comment?”

  “I always say that.”

  “It has to be the brooch,” I said.

  “What brooch?” she asked.

  “I found it in the attic. It was close to where I found the Book of Mystics. Well, it was actually on the other wall, but still, it was located in the same space.”

  “What about it?” She frowned.

  “When I held it in my hand the thing started vibrating.”

  She quirked her one real eyebrow. “That is odd. Where is it now?”

  “I hid it in the safe with the Book of the Mystics. I think it’s the thing that Gramps wanted me to find. Right after I put it away is when I saw you. I started reading your thoughts…” I sighed. “But I can’t read the other three.”

  “Maybe that’s a good thing,” she said.

  “They have been acting really strange.” I looked over my shoulder to make sure that they weren’t listening. Maybe they had been eavesdropping from the foyer. “I don’t want them to know anything about this brooch.”

  “You don’t want to tell Nicolas or Annabelle? You tell them everything. You tell them when you don’t tell me,” she said, placing her hands on her hips.

  “Well, now I’m telling you first. Anyway, that doesn’t matter right now. The fact is I don’t know if I can trust them.”

  “Why do you say that?” she asked.

  “I think that they’ve had a spell placed on them.”

  “Who would do something like that?” my mother asked.

  “I saw the witch with them in the car and they claimed that she wasn’t there. I saw her with my own eyes. I think she placed a spell on them.”

  Chapter 14

  Nicolas, Liam, and Annabelle were standing in the foyer. They were staring at my mother and me. A loud rumbling noise sounded from outside. The next thing I knew, the front door blasted open. The witch appeared just like in my dream. Except for this time, it was no dream. I knew that for certain. My mother stumbled backwards, almost falling onto the floor.

  I grabbed her so that I could steady her on her feet.

  “Who is that?” my mother asked.

  I didn’t have time to answer. I had to stop whatever the witch was getting ready to do. She’d done enough spellcasting. I raced over to confront her.

  “Take the spell off them now.”

  It looked as if I was going to get it in a battle of witchcraft with her. Her eyes glowed red as she glared at me. She didn’t speak though, so I’d take that as a no on the reversing the spell thing. Okay, if she wanted to play the hard way that was fine by me. I could play that game. I raised my arms and recited words.

  Casting a spell against her would at least freeze her for the time being. It was the same one that I used against Thomas, but suddenly she stopped me by casting a spell. She was quicker than me. I fell backwards onto my rear. For a moment, I was speechless.

  “How dare you do that to my daughter,” my mother yelled as she ran over toward me.

  The loud rumbling started again. It shook the whole house. A swift gust of air flowed through the room and then the next thing I knew it was like wings had scooped Nicolas, Liam, and Annabelle up. Out the door they went. It all happened so quickly.

  “What happened?” my mother cried out.

  I couldn’t believe she had taken them.

  “We have to help them,” I said as I ran across the room.

  I didn’t make it far though. As I got halfway across the room I slipped. Why was I so clumsy all of a sudden? Okay, maybe not all of a sudden. More like always. I was now face first on the floor. I crawled along, trying to get up. My mother raced over and helped me to my feet. Both of us were clumsy. This was the last thing we needed right now. My mother helped me up and then we rushed toward the door. I readied myself for the battle that was sure to ensue. This witch had a lot of nerve coming here and trying stuff with me. It was not going to end well for her.

  “Just be careful, Halloween, we don’t know who she is and what she’s capable of.”

  Did my mother think I didn’t understand that? My leadership status in the Underworld was probably why the witch was here.

  “I’ll be fine,” I said.

  “Halloween, I’m just saying, be careful.”

  There was no time to worry. I had to just go with it. Whatever happened, happened. My mother and I ran outside, hoping that there was a way to stop the witch. What was she going to do with them? A cold shiver ran down my spine at the thought. The three of them were walking with the witch directly behind them. She was making sure they didn’t turn around and come back to the manor.

  “Annabelle, Nicolas, Liam,” I called out.

  They didn’t turn around and respond. I yelled at the witch, but she just ignored me. I thought I heard her cackling. I would say it was my imagination or the wind whistling through the trees, but I knew she was getting joy out of this, which meant laughter would be likely. They moved down the driveway. Their speed increased by the second. I knew she had some kind of spell over them. They didn’t even look
back or try to break free from it.

  “What do we do?” my mother asked.

  I took off running down the driveway, but it was no use. My speed was no match for the witch’s spell. They had already reached the end of the drive. The only thing we could do was possibly chase them in the car. By the time we got in the car, I wouldn’t know where they’d gone. It was my only option, I guessed. My mother raced over beside me.

  “What should we do?” she asked again.

  “I guess we’ll follow in the car and hope to catch up with them.”

  “I’ve got this under control. You know I have mad driving skills.” My mother pulled out her keys.

  She was mad all right. I wasn’t sure about the driving skills though. Nevertheless, I agreed with whatever option I had. Now that they had disappeared I had to do something.

  “We should go to Annabelle’s place,” I said. “Not that I think she’ll take them there, but just in case. Plus, all of her animals are there.”

  Pluto was standing at the door. I rushed back up and put him inside where I knew he would be safe. At least I hoped so. I hoped he couldn’t get out like the other cat had gotten in.

  “Did you check the book?” my mother asked.

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “The Book of Mystics,” she said. “It might have information about the brooch and what it’s supposed to do. Also, maybe it will tell you how to find everyone.”

  “It’s not a book with all the answers,” I said. “Plus, I don’t have time for that right now.”

  “No, I didn’t say it was, but you just kind of seem as if you’ve given up on it. Don’t get too big for your britches.” She waved her finger.

  “I’m never too big for my britches. I’m always going to be the worst witch ever. No matter how great my magic is, in my mind, I will always be the worst. I was that way for so long I’ll never get overly confident.”

  “I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” she said, crossing your arms in front of her chest. “You say that now, but a few more years of practicing magic that’s good and you’ll forget all about the bad times.”

  “Did you forget how bad the bad times really were?” I asked. “As demonstrated by the witch who just let me have it.”

  “Just trust your mother on this one and get the book. At least give it a shot,” she said.

  There was no time to waste, but since I had no idea how to get Nicolas, Liam, and Annabelle back, I had to try everything. Maybe the brooch could help me.

  I nodded. “Okay, you’re right. I should look at the book, but I have to hurry.”

  I’d been ignoring the book, just thinking that I’d read everything I needed to know. I should remember how much the book had helped me. Just when I needed a spell the most, the book would pop up out of nowhere and help. When I’d first gotten that book there were blank pages, nothing on them. As time went on, soon the spells and instructions for being the leader of the Underworld appeared.

  “I’m going to get the book. Do you want to come with me?” I asked.

  She moved toward the parlor. “No, I’ll sit in here and wait. What you do with that book is kind of like a private thing. So you go do your thing,” she said with a wave of her hand.

  My mother was right. It was kind of like a private moment, where I would concentrate and read the spell book. Being alone while I did it was kind of like meditation almost, and that was an important part of the witchcraft. I raced up the stairs, down the hallway to the bedroom, and over to the closet where I kept the book secure in the safe. My side hurt from running so quickly. I tried to catch my breath. Panic was setting in.

  I was surprised someone hadn’t found the safe and taken it away with a huge dolly. The person could haul the safe right out of here just so they could get the book. Maybe I should rethink keeping it here, but where else would I put it? Maybe I could have a big vault built for it. I digressed… I was getting off topic. I pulled the book out and flipped the heavy front cover open. A big wind blasted through the room. The gust flipped the pages until it landed on a page. I knew what that meant.

  This book had a mind of its own and it had a tendency to turn to the pages that it knew I needed. Oh, boy, did I need them now more than ever. I peered down at the page. Sure enough, it was information that was relevant to my current situation. I read the words.

  When the time is right a visitor will come to you.

  Who was the visitor?

  The special objects that you found will help you communicate with this person.

  Objects? How did the book know I’d found the brooch? Was there more than one? The book said objects, plural. What did the other object mean and what was it? I’d had a hard enough time finding the brooch, now I had to find something else? Maybe I needed to go back to the attic and have another look around. Did Gramps know there were two things to look for?

  I pulled the brooch out from the safe. It sparkled and shone. I turned it over in my hand, studying the gems and metal. That was when I realized that there was a notch on the side. It looked as if another brooch could connect with this one. Maybe it was a puzzle piece and the other one that fit was missing. That had to be what the book was trying to relay to me. But where would I find the other one? It had to be in the attic, right? I didn’t have time to look for it right now. Besides, what would another brooch actually do for me? I wasn’t casting anything else with it. All I’d done was read a couple of thoughts a few times. I hadn’t even liked it when that had happened. There was just no time to go back up to the attic and look for the missing piece right now. It would have to wait.

  The book told me nothing about where to find everyone. Plus, it didn’t help me with who the witch was either. This idea had been a waste of time. I tossed the Book of Mystics back into the safe so that no one could get anywhere near it. Then I closed the door and ran back out of the bedroom, down the hall, and the stairs to the parlor. I paused for a moment to catch my breath. The stairs were a killer.

  My mother was dozing in the chair. No doubt if I told her about the other brooch and my theory she might be tempted to go up to the attic and look. Well, if we didn’t have an emergency on our hands. Her curiosity always got the better of her. So perhaps I just wouldn’t even give her that little tidbit right now. She would want to know what the Book of Mystics said though. I would have to think of a twist on the truth. I would just leave out that little bit of detail. I reached over and gave her a gentle nudge. She jumped from the chair.

  “We have to go.” I pulled on her arm. “How can you sleep at a time like this?”

  “I was just resting my eyes,” she said. “What did the book say?”

  “I’ll tell you in the car.”

  I locked the manor’s door behind me and rushed over to my mother’s car. She had already started it and was waiting for me to jump in.

  “Let’s go,” she said, shoving it into drive.

  I could have totally done a spell that would have made me walk faster like they had, but doubted I could catch up with them. How did she have such strong powers? Plus, I didn’t know where I was going, so that would have defeated the purpose. Now I was going to Annabelle’s place, but once there, I didn’t know what we would do. We needed the car to go from place to place faster. I needed to cover a lot of ground. That witch wouldn’t be able to keep up that spell forever. We might find them on the side of the road on the way to Annabelle’s house. Maybe they’d be looking for someone to pick them up because they’d run out of steam.

  My mother pulled out onto the road with screeching tires. “So are you going to tell me what the book said?”

  “It had no advice for me,” I said.

  That wasn’t a lie totally. It hadn’t told me anything about Nicolas, Liam, and Annabelle’s whereabouts.

  “That’s surprising.” She punched the gas and headed toward Annabelle’s house.

  In record time we arrived at Annabelle’s house. I used my key to get into her place. We walked in and were greeted
by cats meowing and birds chirping.

  “I’ll make sure that everyone has food and water and then look for anything unusual,” I said.

  “Unusual things around here?” my mother said, looking around. “I had no idea Annabelle was so eccentric.”

  “Why do you think she fits right in with us?” I said.

  “Good point,” my mother said, checking the birdcages.

  The stray cat who had appeared at the manor ran over to me. He meowed loudly and then started rubbing against my leg.

  “This is no time for petting. Annabelle is in danger,” I said.

  The cat meowed loudly again. This time it was so loud it hurt my ears.

  “Do you think he knows what you’re saying?” my mother asked.

  I stared at the cat. It was almost as if he knew what I was saying.

  “What do we do now?” my mother asked.

  “I think we should do a spell to see if we can locate them. I know it’s a long shot, but we have to try.”

  My mother and I held hands. The cat watched as we recited the words. After the spell we hurried toward the door. The cat meowed loudly again. Ear-piercing sounds came from his little mouth. He followed us to the door. I tried to leave, but he darted out the door when I opened it. He meowed all the way to the car. He stood beside the car and stared at the door.

  “Call me crazy, but I think he wants to go with us,” my mother said.

  “We must both be crazy because I think he does too.” I grabbed him up and placed him in the car.

  Soon we pulled up to my mother’s shop. I cut the engine. As soon as she opened the door the cat jumped out and raced down the sidewalk.