by Lori Woods
“Just show me one of those featureless creatures and you’ll see,” she says angrily as I step out of the cabin where Val is waiting for me.
“Which way is Hemlock?” I ask, never having been this deep into the huge park.
Val points to our left.
It’s as though his finger is a magnet because suddenly pale featureless beings start to rush from the forest toward the cabin.
“Doppelgangers!” I shout as I send fireballs toward the mass of attackers. Red Sumac adds her barrage of fireballs to mine, but the Doppelgangers move with surprising speed, dodging right and left. Some even leap over the flames.
Before I can stop him, Val charges toward them like an avenging shadow.
CHAPTER 16
“F ireballs aren’t working!” I shout to Red Sumac as the horde of Doppelgangers swam toward us like big white ants. “One touch and we are unconscious!” I warn. “Time for broomsticks.”
Red Sumac, who has called her broomstick to her side, nods as I cock Broom Hilda, poised and ready for action. I hit the leading Doppelganger in the stomach with such a powerful blow he flies backward twenty feet, knocking several of his brethren to the ground as he collides with them. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Red sending another one flying through the air. Then I am so busy whacking Doppelgangers that I lose track of everyone. I do see Alfie moving close behind me for protection, and the headmaster is trying to create spells, but without his wand, he couldn’t make any work.
By then, the other witches had called their broomsticks and were using them to fight off the Doppelgangers just like Red and I were doing. Some were casting spells that froze the attackers or caused them to turn and run screaming in the opposite direction. However, they were the exception. We were knocking the featureless creatures right and left, yet still they poured from the surrounding forest like ants out of an anthill.
Finally, I remembered how Red Sumac had built a firewall to block me from the racecourse so I arranged runes in my head until I had a similar spell and spoke the words aloud while pointing my finger at the attacking horde.
The size of the firewall even frightened me as it blazed to life twenty feet in front of the group of defenders, of which I was at the forefront. I heard screams from Doppelgangers as they collided into the tall, burning barrier. Those trapped on our side of the firewall we knocked across to reunite them with their brethren.
“Clear!” Red yells from her side of the defensive line. “And that’s the tallest firewall I’ve ever seen anyone build,” she adds admiringly.
“I learned how to make it from you. Remember, you used it to block me from the racecourse,” I say teasingly.
“I guess you are never going to let me forget that, right?” she asks, shaking her head.
“Not on your life. That way I’ll have a favor card I plan on using when needed,” I reply.
“Be that way. And here I thought we were friends.”
“We are friends. That’s why you are going to let Alfie ride with you,” I tell her.
“You two kiss and make up,” the headmaster says. “Because I need to get back to the Academy and retrieve my wand. I want to cast a spell over the entire city of Hemlock that will strip the Doppelgangers of their ability to project an image of their victims. Once they are exposed, they will be easier to drive out.”
“Let’s go, Suzy,” Red calls out to me. I see that Alfie is already on her broomstick, with his arms around her waist and his face pressed against her back.
I start to follow her and the rest of the witches but then stop. “No, Val is behind the wall!” Then, without thinking of my own safety, I hop on Broom Hilda. “Fly over the wall of flames!” I command.
Before I know it, we are zipping straight up into the air like a launched rocket. “You did that on purpose, Hilda!” I accuse as she dips back down to earth. I find Val standing, shaking his fist at the departing Doppelgangers. “Are you all right?” I ask as Broom Hilda lands beside him.
“Suzy,” he says. “Oh, just a little tired. How about if I catch a ride with you on your broomstick?”
“Sure, hop on. Let get out of here before they return. How did you manage to fight them off?” I ask as Val climbs behind me and Broom Hilda become quickly airborne.
“I’m a vampire,” he says, as though that should explain everything.
I am distracted because Broom Hilda, ever the show-off, catches up with the other witches. Red Sumac glances at Val and winks. “Good catch, Suzy.”
I am embarrassed and don’t want to reply with Val within hearing distance. “Where are we going?”
“The headmaster told everyone to assemble in the Academy’s auditorium,” Red shouts her answer as other witches are talking back and forth among themselves as we all fly over the park.
Eventually, I see the Academy building so I tell Broom Hilda to fly faster, leaving the rest of the pack behind, wanting a few moments alone with Val before they arrive. I land my broomstick on the lawn in front of the school.
“Here we are,” I say to signal him to climb off Broom Hilda. “And thanks for saving me. I didn’t really have time in the cellar to properly thank you.”
“It was nothing; I was in the neighborhood,” Val says.
Oh no! He touched Broom Hilda! I remember the last time he did that; it drained her off all her power. Rats!
“Val, how about that kiss you deserve for rescuing me?” I ask, forcing a smile on my face.
“Yeah, it’s always nice to kiss a pretty girl,” he says and leans toward me.
Our lips meet.
“Get off me!” I shout, my suspicions confirmed. The touch of his lips is like kissing a fish! Nothing. No passion! Zip! “You are not Val!” I accuse. “Where is he?”
“What are you talking about? I’m Val. You are just confused from the long period of confinement, Suzy.”
I whack Val in the stomach with Broom Hilda hard enough to cause him to bend over in pain. As the vampire bends his body at the waist, suddenly he isn’t a vampire but a Doppelganger.
“That hurt, you wicked witch!” the creature says.
“You’ll get another one if you don’t tell me where your buddies have taken Val.” I raise Boom Hilda for a blow that will send him all the way back to Bottom Moor if it connects.
“No! No more!” the creature says, holding his hands up in surrender.
“Speak!”
“To Bottom Moor.”
“Why?”
“We can use him to get into the next town of Poison Ivy,” the creature admits. “The town has a big community of vampires. Through him, we can take them all over and eventually the entire town.”
“But you have touched him and are using his image.”
“After my influence wears off, one of my brothers will assume his identity if I don’t,” the creature explains, fearing I will hit him again. “But how could you tell that I wasn’t Val?” he asks.
I should have known when he touched Broom Hilda and she didn’t lose her charge, but I was too excited at the time to think clearly, and then I had to confirm it with that unfortunate peck on the lips.
“You’d never be Val!” I shout at him.
“Suzy!”
I turn and there stands the real headmaster with his wand in his hand.
“I see you caught one!”
“He was pretending to be Val. They have the real Val in Bottom Moor,” I explain. “What are we going to do with him?”
“Leave that to me,” the headmaster says, pointing his wand at the Doppelganger.
“Sleep! Sleep until I call you forth!” he shouts, pointing his wand at the creature, who faints and falls to the lawn.
“That was a neat trick. I need to know how to do that.” I say. “I don’t want to do fireballs all the time.”
“You didn’t learn the sleeping spell in word spell class?” the headmaster asks accusingly.
Yep, the Doppelganger was correct about playing headmaster. It doesn’t take much talent.
<
br /> “Everyone into the auditorium. We have to work together to create a spell to strip the Doppelgangers’ illusions from them in Hemlock. That’s the only way to expose the pretenders and drive them out of town.”
“Hmmm, a group séance,” I say to Red.
“What’s that?”
No séances! Figures.
“Nothing, just something from the other side,” I say. “You think he needs us in there?”
Red shrugs. “I don’t know. Never participated in a group spell.”
“I guess we better go inside, just in case,” I say, motioning toward the door. Remembering Alfie, I stop and glance over at him. “You go home and have a duck berry pie. You deserve one. And look after Snowball and Malcolm until I return.”
“Thanks, Suzy. I’m really hungry,” he says as he waddles across the lawn toward our apartment.
“How did you know that Val was a Doppelganger?” Red asks.
I blush.
“What? Why are you suddenly turning red?” Red asks and giggles at my discomfort.
“Ok, I kissed him,” I admit.
“And?”
I roll my eyes. “If you had ever kissed Val, you wouldn’t say that.”
Red still looks puzzled.
“Haven’t you ever kissed someone that made your spine tingle and curls your toes?”
“No!”
“That’s the way Val kissed me outside the library in Nightshade. Once kissed like that, and you will instantly know if the man who is kissing you is an impostor. Kissing the Doppelganger was like kissing a mannequin! Nothing!”
“You and a fang banger?” Red accuses as we make our way toward the auditorium.
“Don’t call Val that horrible name. I hate that name!” I complain.
“Hey, Suzy, other witches are going to be saying far worse. Just get used to it. Can’t you find a nice wizard, warlock, shapeshifter or even werewolf?”
I shake my head. “I’ve got what I want, thank you,” I reply as we enter the auditorium and find the headmaster and the warlocks and witches huddled in the center. Everyone is standing in a spiraling circle around the headmaster with their hands on the back of the person in front of them. The headmaster is saying the words of a spell.
As Red and I watch, the headmaster points his wand at the ceiling and says a magic word that I can’t hear well enough to understand. Suddenly a ring of blue fire forms around the group and moves about two feet from them and fizzles out.
“I need more power!” the headmaster says. He glances around and spots Red and me. “Come join the group. Add your power as I speak the spell,” he says, waving us toward him.
I glance at Red. “I don’t know how to give my energy to another person,” I admit.
“It’s simple,” Red says as she takes me by the hand and leads me toward the group. “You will feel a sucking sensation. Just give in to it. Your energy will flow into the headmaster.”
“Sounds simple enough,” I say, still not one hundred percent convinced I want to participate but realizing it’s important. I don’t state my objections.
Now a part of the circle, Red reaches out and touches the back of a witch. I follow suit, touching the back of the witch adjacent to her. I see the headmaster give a nod of approval before he starts reciting his spell again. I hear the words he is saying, but he must be using magic to conceal them because I don’t understand anything he is speaking, despite the fact I recognize that it’s in English.
Suddenly, as his spell progresses, I feel the sucking sensation that Red had told me would occur. I don’t like the feeling. I resist at first, but then, knowing that my energy is probably needed to make the spell strong enough, I relent and let my strength flow out of my body and into the headmaster’s.
I am aware of the energy of everyone in the group. Each is like a slightly different color of current. Mine is white-hot and the brightest by far. At that moment, I realize the power I have at my disposal and I’m shocked. My current is like a torch light, while the surrounding lights are like birthday candles.
The headmaster finishes his spell, and as all our energies flow into him, he again points his wand at the ceiling and cries out the magic words. The blue light exploding from his wand this time is a blinding flash of lightning that lights up the entire auditorium for a moment in a blue light.
“It worked!” the headmaster shouts. He glances around until his eyes meet mine. “Where did you get so much power?”
“I guess from all the red bull I drank on the other side,” I say jokingly.
He and the rest of the group stare at me like I just started speaking in tongues. “Lots of duck berry pies,” I deadpan.
Their faces are frozen in puzzlement for a long moment before someone starts laughing. Suddenly everyone is laughing.
“You are always saying something funny,” Red says, shaking her head.
“Yeah, that’s me—a reject from the Comedy Store!”
Upon hearing that, Red just shakes her head. “Sometimes I think you are speaking a secret language.”
This cracks me up. And I find myself laughing along with them. Then I find I can’t stop, as all the pent-up tension won’t let me. Finally, with tears running down my cheeks and the entire group staring at me like I’m having a fit, I am able, with great effort, to stop.
I clear my throat. “Now what do we do?”
The headmaster shrugs. “I’m through here. I have exposed them and they will flee Hemlock. They’re now someone else’s problem.”
“What about Val?” I ask. “They captured him. We have to go to Bottom Moor and rescue him.”
“No, Suzy, it is too dangerous. They are in their own environment in the moor. It would be very difficult to defeat them. There might be hundreds of the creatures in the moor.”
“But what about Val?” I repeat, this time with more force.
“You mean the vampire from Nightshade?” the headmaster asks.
“Yes, I mean him,” I answer.
“He’s not one of us humans. I for one am not going to put my neck on the line to save him from the Doppelgangers,” the headmaster answers to several shouts of agreement.
“Really? After he came to our rescue, you are going to leave him among the Doppelgangers?” I ask, raising my voice as I speak.
“He came to rescue you, Suzy. He doesn’t care anything about any of us.”
“I can’t believe you just said that! Red, let’s go and save him,” I say.
“Suzy, just the two of us don’t stand a chance against so many of those creatures,” Red says softly, shaking her head.
I stop. She’s right; we need help. Nightshade. I’ll go back and find those who can help!
I turn and start walking away.
“Where are you going?”
“To Nightshade. Time to bring in the cavalry!” I call over my shoulder as I stalk out of the room.
CHAPTER 17
Everyone is free, at least for the time being, except for Val, and the spell the headmaster cast will destroy any illusions the Doppelgangers can create when they touch human beings. Yet the situation in Hemlock is far from perfect. The Doppelgangers can still capture people by touching them, even though they’re stripped of their ability to create an illusion of the person—so, what’s the point? I know they are going to try to use a fake Val to get access to the vampire community in Poison Ivy. I have to do something to prevent this from happening. I owe it to Val to rescue him from those horrible creatures as soon as possible.
With the headmaster refusing to help rescue Val, the only option I have is going back to Nightshade to get help to fight the Doppelgangers and to see if Granny Maycomber can give me some advice about how to stop them from impersonating human beings.
And I certainly don’t want to leave Alfie and Snowball alone with Malcolm. Not that I have anything against the old friendly ghost, but Alfie has been traumatized by his experience as a captive of the Doppelgangers and needs to feel protected. And I can’t leave Snowb
all home alone.
Besides, it will be nice to go home again. Yes, home, because Nightshade is where I belong. I feel more comfortable there, more attuned to the world around me, and I’d made some awfully good friends—more than I’d had on the other side of the cemetery. Certainly, there are things I miss—my herb shop, for instance, and the old lady who served as my assistant.
And I miss my house and the woods that surround it. And I also hate to leave my collection of brooms.
Still, I never intend to go back—except maybe for a quick visit.
Back in the apartment, I tell Snowball and Alfie of my plans to go back to Nightshade to talk with my grandmother’s spirit, and that I also want to ask Joe and the werewolf pack if they would be willing to help fight the Doppelgangers.
“We’re going home?” Snowball asks. “Let’s go! Let’s go. I can’t wait!”
“Snowball, we’re going to Nightshade; not through the cemetery.”
“Yes, we’re going home! Will we see Sprout and everyone else?” Alfie asks, jumping up and down like a little kid.
“Of course we will, but we’re not going to stay very long. Only for two or three hours at the most.”
“That’s not fair,” Snowball says.
“We have to come back as soon as we can to free Val. I’m worried about him. He could starve, you know, since he can’t eat mushroom gruel.”
“Two or three hours are better than nothing,” Snowball admits. “But as soon as Suzy finishes school,” she says to Alfie, “we’re going back to stay. Nightshade is home for me too.”
“I’m not sure I am going to finish the Academy,” I tell them. “I think I could learn more from Granny Maycomber than what they are trying to teach me here. I am just not good with the standard spells.”
With no warning, Malcolm pops out of the wall. “And you’re just going to abandon me, are you?”
“Malcolm! Your wife is back. What more do you want?” I ask.
“Isn’t that nice?” Malcolm says, his voice filled with sarcasm. “The little wifey is back.”
“You’re not happy she’s free?” I ask.
“Of course, I am. I hate it that the Doppelgangers kidnapped her.”
