Jax’s jaw dropped. “But I wanted to hang the stockings and play some board games! It’s Christmas Eve!”
“You’re not six, Jax. Santa isn’t coming. No one wants to play dumb old board games either,” I insisted angrily.
Jax’s face burned red. “You’re siding with Alba?”
Sweets furrowed her eyebrows. “You don’t have to be mean to Jax. She’s just trying to cheer everyone up.”
Devastated and embarrassed, Jax turned to Sweets with her heart shattered. “You don’t have to stand up for me Sweets. I’m not a baby. I can take care of myself,” she snapped.
Alba shook her head at Sweets. “She’s not trying to cheer everyone up anyway. She’s just getting on everyone’s nerves. We’re tired of her cheerfulness. Sometimes people just don’t want to be cheerful!”
Holly slammed her flattened palms down on the table. “You know what, Alba? I’m so tired of your bad attitude. You never want to be cheerful!”
“I’m so tired of your face, Cosmo,” Alba fired back viciously. “In fact, I’m tired of all of your faces. I’ve had it with the Witch Squad. When school starts back up in January, I’m out. I’ve had it. I’m getting a new roommate, and I’m moving out. You four are on your own!”
“Fine with me!” Holly hollered back.
Jax poked at a potato in her stew with her fork. “Me too.”
I looked at the girls bitterly as I threw down my napkin. “Well, if you guys don’t want to be friends anymore, that’s fine with me. I’m out, too.”
That was the last straw. Sweets had had enough. With a red face, she pushed her chair back and stood up. “That’s it! I’ve heard enough! We’re not splitting up the Witch Squad. No more fighting! No more name calling! No more insults! No more being mean or angry!”
I rolled my eyes. If it wasn’t one of us being melodramatic, it was the other. Having girlfriends was a whole lot more drama than I ever realized. I let out the deep breath I didn’t realize that I’d been holding. No sooner had all the air been let out than I heard a loud familiar voice from behind me.
“Well, this is the sorriest Christmas celebration that I’ve ever seen!”
10
The group of us turned around collectively. My eyes widened at the sight of the large apparition floating above the stairs. She was wearing a bathrobe and slippers and had her dark hair set in curlers. I’d recognize that face anywhere. The sight of the abrupt visitor had taken me by complete surprise, and my heart thudded heavily in my chest.
“Is anyone else seeing Grandma Porter’s ghost or is it just me?” Jax asked out of the side of her mouth.
“I see her too,” Holly whispered back. “Sweets. What is your grandma doing here?”
Sweets cleared her throat nervously. “I have no idea!” she hissed across the table. “When she was alive she was a peacemaker witch.”
“Yeah, well what is she doing here now?” Alba asked unhappily.
Floating high above us, Wilhelmina Porter looked down at the five of us with a stern face. From the height she was flying, and the way she had her face turned downwards towards us her chubby cheeks melded together with her thick neck.
“Grandma,” Sweets whispered. “That’s not a very flattering angle. You should come down here.”
With a big to-do, Wilhelmina sighed and rolled her eyes but then lowered herself closer to the first floor. “Better?” she asked Sweets sarcastically.
Sweets nodded. “Yeah, a lot,” she whispered.
“Grandma Porter, what are you doing here?” Jax asked her bravely.
“My services have been summoned,” she responded. Her voice bellowed through the b&b the way a bell gongs through a bell tower, echoing off the walls.
“Your services? Who summoned you?” I asked, looking around.
Holly, Alba, and Jax looked at Sweets. She raised her eyebrows and shook her head furiously. “It wasn’t me! Swear!”
“Then who summoned you?” asked Alba.
“Why is it that you girls must always find someone to blame? Why can’t it just be the way that it is? I’m here. None of you summoned me. I was summoned by a greater power,” chastised Grandma Porter.
Holly put her hands on her hips. “What greater power? I don’t understand what’s going on!”
Alba rolled her eyes. “You wouldn’t!”
Holly swiveled in her seat to face Alba angrily. “Like you understand what’s going on?”
“The old lady came back to make us all get along. But she’s got another thing coming because I have no interest in getting along with you bozos.”
Wilhelmina threw her head back and laughed. “Maybe you will, maybe you won’t, but time will tell. Time always tells. I’ve got something special baked up this Christmas Eve for the five of you.”
I furrowed my eyebrows together, crinkling my forehead. “A Christmas treat? Fine, bring it out. I’m starving. But let’s get it over with because I’m tired and I just want to go to bed and forget that it’s even Christmas Eve.”
Wilhelmina smiled at me patronizingly. “I didn’t bake up a treat, young lady. The spirits and I have big plans for you girls. Shockingly, I’ve been told that you are all destined for great things in life, but to get to those allotted places in life you’re going to need each other. So the five of you need to learn to get along, and you must all make amends. None of this, I’m not your friend anymore, mumbo-jumbo. And to such effect, the five of you will be visited by three ghosts tonight.”
Sweets looked at her grandmother curiously. “Three ghosts? What?”
Wilhelmina lowered her head into her hands. Then she shook her head gently and looked up at Sweets. “Desperate times, Mildred. Desperate times,” she chastised.
Holly furrowed her eyebrows. “Three ghosts? I’ve heard that before. Isn’t that like a story somewhere?”
Alba palmed her forehead. “Oh my god, Cosmo. You couldn’t get any dumber if the dumb truck careened across the median and hit you in the head.”
Wilhelmina’s eyes widened, and she pointed her short chubby finger directly at Alba. “This is exactly what I’m talking about! You cannot continue to speak to each other in such disrespectful ways!” She turned to look at Holly. “And yes, dear. There is a story like that somewhere – in fact, it’s become quite a famous one, but many look upon it as a fairytale of sorts. However, art is known to imitate life. That story had to have come from somewhere, right? Higher powers have been intervening in mortal lives for centuries. Obviously, this isn’t the first time.”
“So you’re saying that the Charles Dickens story really happened?” I asked with a chuckle.
Grandma Porter turned her wrathful eyes on me. “What I’m saying is. One must suspend disbelief and consider the possibilities. We must accept the possibility that unreal is real. You’re witches. Are witches real? Are you real? I’m a ghost. There are many in this world that don’t believe in ghosts. But if ghosts aren’t real – then what am I? A figment of your imagination? A hallucination? Unlikely because that means the five of you are all having a group hallucination right now.”
Alba only rolled her eyes and waved a hand backwards as she pushed her chair back, stood up, and walked towards the stairs. “This is ridiculous. I’m going to bed,” she spat at us.
Wilhelmina turned around and watched her go. “You’ll stop, and you’ll stay down here until I tell you that you can go.”
Alba continued up the stairs without even a pause to show her concern.
“Alba, please stay…,” Sweets began weakly.
Floating just in front of the stairs, Wilhelmina angrily held her hands together in front of herself as if she were holding a ball between them. My eyes widened as I noticed a pink ball of electrical energy collecting between her hands. In the blink of an eye it had tripled in size, and before Alba could reach the third step, Wilhelmina launched the energy towards her.
When it struck Alba, she turned around slowly. The resulting effect seemed to have a delayed reaction as she didn’t quite
know what had happened to her. She held her arms out. Energy sparked around them causing the hair on her arms to stand on end. She looked at them curiously.
“What did you just do to me? My arms are tingling,” she said.
Wilhelmina shrugged her shoulders. “You’ll see,” she assured her. “Would you like to come back to the table now?”
Alba furrowed her eyebrows and started to say something, but suddenly it looked as if her tongue had gotten heavy and her mouth wouldn’t move right. Her response came back blurred and in slow motion. “Noooo, I’mmmm gooooinggg tooooo beeeeddddd.” Freaked out by the heavy, drawn out sound of her own voice, she tried to turn towards us, but her head only turned in slow motion.
Wilhelmina swirled the air with one hand causing Alba to spin around slowly until she was facing us. Then she put both hands out in front of her and began to roll them over one another like she was wrapping yarn around her hands. The motion seemed to drag Alba unwillingly backwards, down the three steps until she was standing face to face with her. “Aww, so sweet of you to come back, dear,” chirped Wilhelmina.
I could tell by the pained expression on Alba’s face she wanted to yell at Wilhelmina and all of us, but her body wouldn’t allow her to. “I caaann’ttttt mmmooovvveee,” she said angrily.
Wilhelmina smiled haughtily. “Oh, you can move. You just can’t move very fast. A snail’d beat you upstairs with that spell.”
Hearing that, Holly and Jax had a hard time suppressing their giggles. The sight of Alba defeated and imprisoned in her own slow-moving body was just too much for them. The second Alba heard the sound of laughter, her eyebrows furrowed together slowly. She tried to lift her arms and legs to move towards Holly. Ever so slowly she managed to raise one finger, and her knee pulled upwards like it was dragging a boulder behind it.
“Taaakkke thhhiiisss spppeeelll offff meee!” Alba called out slowly.
Wilhelmina shook her head adamantly. “Nope. That’ll help you stay put until the first ghost comes. Shouldn’t be long. But remember, no more acting up. You owe it to these girls to give them one night. Be good!”
Alba’s eyes widened slowly. “Nooooo!”
Wilhelmina turned her back to us. “I need to go. It’s Christmas Eve – the girls and I are playing bridge tonight.”
“Grandma!” Sweets called out. “Do you have to go?”
Wilhelmina moved towards the stairs, nodding. “I’m afraid I do. My time is up.”
“Well! What are we supposed to do with Alba like that?” Sweets asked, wringing her hands like a dish rag out in front of herself.
Wilhelmina winked at her. “The next ghost will be here any minute. Don’t worry; they’ll know what to do. Goodbye girls, good luck.”
And just like that, she vanished in mid-air and was gone.
With Grandma Porter gone, we all stared at Alba curiously. She was trying to move, but her limbs and face still moved slower than molasses.
Alba’s eyes met mine and silently begged me to help her.
I shrugged. I had no idea how to undo the spell. Undoing a slow motion spell wasn’t something that I’d learned during my time at the Paranormal Institute for Witches. “I honestly don’t know how to undo it, Alba. Sorry.”
She glared at me viciously. I could tell she wanted to yell at me. Or yell at Holly. Or Sweets. Or Jax. I could almost hear her thoughts. Sorry? Sorry! You will be sorry when I get done with you!
A low guttural sound emerged from her mouth as she tried with all her might to lift her foot.
Holly and Jax lost it, both laughing wildly. Holly’s huffing and puffing was so intense that it bent her over, causing her to crimp one side with her hand. “Oh, that is just too hilarious! I wish I could do a slow motion spell and zap Alba like that anytime I wanted! I’ve got to ask Grandma Porter how she did it!”
The four of us could hear Alba growling. “Whennn I geeet ouuut of thhhisss, I’mmm commminnnggg afffterrr youuu firrrsssttt Hollllllyyyy.”
Holly shot Alba a disgusted look. “News flash Alba, you have been coming after me first! Since the day that we met! You’ve called me idiot, stupid, dumb, moron, klutz; the list goes on and on. You’ve insulted my appearance. You’ve told me you’re a better witch than I am. You’ve told me that all I care about are boys and that I’ll never be a good witch. You’re mean Alba! M.E.A.N. MEAN! And finally, someone put you in your place! So go ahead. Move out in January. More room for me. I don’t need you. I don’t need anyone. I’ll be fine on my own!”
Just then we heard the sound of lightning streaking above our heads; it sounded like the b&b had cracked open. Everyone ducked, including Alba. A cold gust of wind seemed to sweep in with whatever had just happened. I shivered, wrapping my arms around my body. My thin sweatshirt did little to protect my arms against the drop in temperature.
When the noise had settled, and everything in the room stopped moving from the gust of wind, we looked up, wondering where the noise had come from.
“What was that?!” Holly asked, climbing out from underneath the table she’d just ducked under.
“Oh, that was me,” we heard a timid voice say from the other side of the room.
11
Our eyes skipped around the room until we saw where the tiny voice had come from. Standing minutely in the small glow cast off from the Christmas tree was a tiny featured girl with blonde hair and a gold cross hanging around her neck.
My jaw dropped as I sucked in my breath. I recognized the girl! “Morgan!” I whispered.
“Hi Mercy,” she whispered back with a small wave of one hand.
Jax ground her balled fists into her eyes and then peered towards Morgan’s ghost closer. “Morgan? Morgan Hartford?!”
Morgan nodded her head gently and gave us a little shrug. “That’s me.”
“You can see her?” I asked, astonished. When we’d solved her murder during the first week of school, I’d been the only one able to see her ghost. It was shocking to me that now others could see her too.
“I see her too,” Holly announced nervously behind me. “Does this mean that I’m a medium now too?”
Sweets shook her head. “This is all part of Grandma’s plan, I’m sure.”
Morgan smiled at all of us gently. “Sweets is right. This is all part of a bigger plan,” she revealed. “I was sent here tonight – Christmas Eve – to help you. Like you helped me.”
I took one tentative step forward, towards Morgan. “I don’t understand Morgan. What bigger plan? And besides this weather issue, we really don’t need any help.”
Morgan looked at me sadly. “Oh, I think you do,” she whispered and then turned around and pointed towards a blank wall.
Suddenly, flashes of light appeared against the white wall. Images began to flicker onto it, like an old movie reel playing against a projector screen. And then we saw our faces. They were random moments, brief snippets of time, really. Alba’s callous face, spewing venom towards Holly, calling her an idiot. Then images of Alba yelling at each of us at different times since we’d met her. Callous remarks I’d made to Jax and then Jax’s sad face after I’d turned my back on her one too many times. Holly, primping time after time, lifting her breasts in her shirt to increase her cleavage, flirting with the boys, and then one of tonight, walking down the stairs in her revealing bikini. Sweets was shown stuffing her face with sugary treat after sugary treat, baking away in her room silently. Then our heated fight from tonight flashed before us. Alba’s angry face. Holly’s hurt response. Jax looking to me in excitement to decorate for Christmas and my refusal to participate. The response I had missed, her turning away with tears in her eyes. Sweets’ face while it was all happening, that of utter pain. Alba telling us she didn’t want to be in the Witch Squad anymore. Holly telling her she was glad she was moving out. Jax agreeing.
It was horrible. The whole movie was painful to watch. It was painful to see how we’d been acting – how we’d been bad friends to one another.
I nodded my head at
Morgan and gave her a tight smile. “I understand. We’ve been cruel to one another. Thank you for showing us what we hadn’t seen. We will try and be better friends to one another now. Right girls?” I asked, looking from face to face.
Jax’s eyes were filled with tears once again. She touched them with the tips of her fingertips and wiped one away, nodding sadly. “Yeah,” she whispered.
Holly frowned. “I don’t understand what’s so wrong with me wanting to look pretty. So what that I like to do my makeup and flirt with boys. How does that make me a bad friend?”
I looked at Alba. I could tell she wanted to say something, and by the looks of her eyes, it didn’t look like whatever she wanted to say had rainbows or butterflies in the sentiment. She probably wanted to bark at us and spew more hatred, but she was unable to do so. She still had the spell that Grandma Porter had put on her.
Sweets saw Alba’s expression too. She sighed and sat back down at the table with her hands on either side of her chubby cheeks. “We’re never going to get along!”
I groaned. I was sure that wasn’t what Morgan Hartford had wanted to hear. I looked up at her. She was staring at us patiently. “I’m sorry, Morgan. Everyone is just really tense tonight. It’s Christmas Eve, and we got a big snow storm here. Alba, Holly, and Sweets didn’t get to fly home to be with their families, and our family is snowed in in Pittsburgh. We’re all a little frustrated. We’ll be fine in the morning,” I assured her.
She smiled softly. “Mercy. You said you didn’t need help. I was just showing you why I thought you did need help. That wasn’t why I was here.”
I stood up straighter. “Oh. Why are you here then?”
Morgan cupped her hands out underneath her chin and blew into them. Glittery dust rose into the air, and suddenly I felt that same rush of air that I’d felt earlier blow around me. The dust covered my hair and my shoulders. I held my hands out, and it fell onto them too, like a small glitter snow shower. I looked around me. Each girl was covered in the glittery dust; even Alba was covered in her frozen state.
A Very Mercy Christmas: A Witch Squad Holiday Special (A Witch Squad Cozy Mystery Book 5) Page 6
