Sorceress Stone’s left eyebrow peaked. “Oh, is that all you demand?”
I winced. That wasn’t sarcastic or anything. I kneaded my forehead with the tips of my fingers.
Alba cleared her throat nervously but nodded. “Yes. It is.”
“Very well then. How about this. I don’t tell you anything, and you leave when I say you can leave!” she shouted before raising both arms up over her head. A large thunderbolt cracked over our heads, followed by a heavy boom splitting the air. Sorceress Stone stepped back, and the door to the bedroom slammed shut.
The sound in my ears was empty, hollow. I looked around. The girls all stood in shock, staring helplessly at the closed door. Alba was the first to shake it off. She sprinted forward and tried the handle. “It’s locked!” she hollered. She held her palms up to the door. “I think it’s protected by magic.”
“The windows!” I yelled.
Holly, Sweets, Jax and I all ran to one of the many windows in the oversized room. They were all locked and protected by a magical force as well. She’d trapped us in the room!
“What are we going to do now?” asked Holly, her eyes blazing with fear. “Jax, you have to get your mom to let us out of here.”
Alba let out a chortle. “You heard Stone, Cosmo. Her daughter wants to be treated like everyone else. There’s no way she’s letting us out until she’s darn good and ready. She’s probably out there thinking of the perfect punishment for us right now. We’ll have to be ready for anything.”
I shook my head. “There has to be a secret way out of here. Jax?”
Jax shrugged her shoulders helplessly. “I’ve only been on this floor a few times, guys. I’ve really never been in this room. I doubt there’s a secret way out of here. I think we’re stuck.”
I fell back against a wall and slunk to the ground, covering my head with my hands. “This is totally bogus. Why is it we always seem to find ourselves in these kinds of situations? I wonder how many other college girls out there routinely get trapped in a room by the headmistress of their school?”
Alba slid onto the ground next to me. “At least sixty percent.”
I smiled. “Funny, Alba.”
“We can’t be the only college girls in the world to get into trouble,” said Holly.
Sweets slid down in front of me and folded her legs in like a pretzel. “See this is just another good reason I shouldn’t be in college. I’m twenty-one years old and I’m constantly getting in trouble for trying to be helpful.”
Jax looked at Sweets. Concern colored her blue eyes. “Sweets, you can’t quit school. What would we do without you?”
“We’ll make do, Jax,” I hissed. “Leave Sweets alone. If the courts weren’t requiring me to do two years of school, I’d quit too. Especially if I had the Aspen Falls PD knocking down my door to be a full-time medium. Sweets needs to make the best decisions for herself. She can’t make these kinds of important life decisions based on what we want.”
Jax and Sweets both hung their heads.
“It’s a hard decision,” Sweets finally whispered.
Alba forced a puff of air past her gums.
Sweets looked up at her. “What?”
“It shouldn’t be a hard decision.”
Sweets shrugged and rested her head on one hand, smashing one pudgy cheek up into her eye. “Well, it is.”
“What’s most important to you in life, Sweets?” I finally asked.
“Most important? What do you mean?”
“I mean, rank the things that are important to you.”
“What kind of things.”
“Like work. Family. Friends. Education. Money. Travel. Love. Magic. Faith. Stuff like that.”
“Yeah Sweets. What’s your number one?” asked Holly, leaning the edge of her chin on her fist.
Sweets leaned back against the bed. “I don’t know. I guess I’ve never thought about it. Family and friends are important to me. And I want to find love someday. My career is important to me though, too.”
“Okay, so you picked family, friends, love, and career. That’s where you start.”
“Where I start? What do you mean?”
“It’s where you start prioritizing your life.”
“When did you get so smart, Red?”
I waved Alba’s comment away. It was only logic. It was like making a pros and cons list. I’d probably started a million of those in my lifetime.
“Friends are really important to me right now, but so is my career,” began Sweets hesitantly. “Family is important too, but they aren’t around right now anyway.”
“And don’t forget about love,” said Holly.
“If friends and career are your only top two right now, there’s still room in there for love, Sweets,” I pointed out.
“There is?” she asked with a hopeful smile.
I nodded. “Yes, because the things that weren’t on your priority list were education and magic. I think that’s because you already know all the magic you need to know to do your job. You’re set Sweets.”
Sweets’ face slowly brightened. “I think you’re right, Mercy. I am set. I can have the career and the friends and the love.”
“Uh!” Jax grunted. “Mercy! You promised you weren’t going to coerce Sweets. We both promised we were going to let her make her own decisions.”
“I’m not trying to coerce her, Jax. I’m just trying to help her figure out what’s most important in her life.”
“She didn’t coerce me, Jax. I already knew all of that, I have just had a hard time accepting it. It makes things easier to hear someone else saying it aloud. Like I’m making the smart decision, not the easy one.”
“But that means you’re giving up school,” whined Jax.
“But that doesn’t mean I’m giving up you guys!” protested Sweets. She scooted over and put an arm around Jax’s shoulder.
Jax looked up at her with tears shimmering in her eyes. “Promise?”
“Yeah, I promise. We’ll always be the Witch Squad even if I don’t live in the same dorm room. I’ll be in the same town.”
“You’ll still come over and watch Grey’s Anatomy and The Bachelor with us?”
Sweets giggled. “I’ll bring the treats.”
“And you’ll still solve murders with us?”
Sweets blotted her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt as she giggled again. “I’ll bring the treats!”
All of us laughed too. It was a tender moment. Almost like we were saying goodbye to Sweets before she’d even left. Even I had to swallow down a lump in the back of my throat. I would miss seeing Sweets at breakfast every morning. It was going to be hard not having her around, but I knew it was best for our friend. She had to get started with her life.
The room was quiet for a long moment before Alba looked at me curiously. “So, what’s your ranking, Red?”
“My ranking?”
“Yeah of all those things you made Sweets rank.”
I made a face. I didn’t know. It wasn’t like that was something I sat around thinking about. “I suppose getting a decent job and making something of my life is important to me. I wouldn’t mind making my mom proud of me for once.”
“So that probably means you need to finish school then, huh?” asked Alba.
I nodded. “Yeah, I suppose. You guys are important to me.”
“What about love?” asked Holly. “It’s one of the top things on my list of things I want in my life. Where does it fit in on yours?”
I concentrated firmly on my hands. I hated to admit it, but there was the truth staring at me. It wasn’t Hugh’s fault. It was just me. I wasn’t ready for love. If I were being honest with myself, it wasn’t even on my list yet. “It’s not very high on my list,” I answered honestly. I had too many other things I wanted to accomplish. Things I didn’t even know I wanted to accomplish. Like graduating college and finding my place in the world and having a great job. My family was very important to me. My friends were important to me. It
was in that moment that I knew what I had to do. I lifted my arms up over my head and slammed my palms down on the ground. “Dang it!”
“What?” asked Sweets with furrowed eyebrows.
“I’m so sick of being caught by Stone. Now we’re stuck in here!”
There was a sound at the door. It was a soft thumping sound as if something were bumping against the door on the other side.
“Did you hear that?” asked Jax, scrambling up off the floor to rest on her knees.
Alba got to her feet. “I totally heard that.” She got into a defensive position with her arms braced out in front of her, preparing herself for a magical dual against Sorceress Stone.
I stood up too, but I didn’t think it was Sorceress Stone. If it were her, she would have burst in by now. She wouldn’t be lumbering outside the door. “Maybe it’s BethAnn,” I whispered anxiously.
Jax shook her head. “My aunt is too afraid of strangers to confront us. She knows we’re in here. She was the one that called my mom. It’s not Aunt BethAnn.”
I inched towards the door. “Who’s there?” I asked.
“Mercy?” a tiny voice whispered back.
“Mom?”
30
“Yes, it’s me.” I saw a dark shadow sweep across the floor beneath the door.
I got down on my hands and knees and peered through the crack. Four black paws stood on the other side of the door. “Mom!” I said excitedly. I turned my head to the other side and looked at the girls. “It’s Sneaks!”
“Yay!” exclaimed Jax. “How’d you find us, Aunt Linda?”
“I followed you,” she whispered back. “I could tell you girls were up to something when you left the restaurant. My instincts were right. What are you doing here?”
“Trying to piece together a puzzle, Mom,” I said. “Can we explain later? You’ve got to get us out of here before Sorceress Stone gets back.”
Sneaks laid down on her stomach and peered under the door. Our green eyes met. Even though a pair of cat eyes stared back at me, I knew I was really staring into the eyes of my mother. I could feel her soul staring back at me. “Can you hold tight for a little while? I can’t do much here as a cat. I’ll need to drive myself over there.”
“I think so. I don’t know what Stone is planning to do to us, though. You should probably hurry back. She was pretty angry.”
The fur on top of Sneaks’ head ruffled. “That woman will not touch a hair on my baby’s head!” she said firmly. “I’ve had just about enough of her antics. I’ll be there as soon as I can. Hold tight, Mercy.”
And then, just like that, I saw the spirit of my mother leave Sneaks’ eyes like she’d hung up the phone on her end. “Meow,” said Sneaks, reaching a paw underneath the door to bat at my nose.
I sat up, folded my legs up in front of me, leaned against the door, and looked at the girls. “Mom’s on her way to see what she can do to help.”
“I can’t believe this,” said Alba tossing up her arms as she stormed around the room. “Whose room is this anyway?”
Jax shook her head. “I-I don’t know. I’m not allowed on Aunt BethAnn’s floor. I’ve only been up here once or twice before.”
Our eyes swept the room and almost at the same time, they all rested on the luggage on the bed. We’d almost forgotten what we were doing before Sorceress Stone had come in.
“The suitcases,” said Alba. “We never opened them. This could be Augusta Stone’s stuff. Come on, let’s check it out.”
We all stood then and gathered around the bed. I looked down at the suitcase. It was leather and beat-up, like it had been around the world and back a few times. Alba finished unzipping the suitcase and threw back the leather top to unveil a bag full of books.
“Books?” spat Holly in disgust.
“Well that’s anticlimactic,” I said with a tiny smile. “I thought it was going to be something good.” I poked at the variety of vintage colored hardcover books in the bag.
“There could be something hiding inside the books,” suggested Jax with a shrug. “Like the hollow book in the Great Witch’s Library?”
Alba shook her head. “They’re too heavy to be hollowed out.”
“Spellbooks?” asked Holly.
“Oooh, that could be fun. Maybe there’s a spell in one to get us out of here,” said Sweets. “Should we?” She reached down to brush the tips of her fingers across the bound books.
Alba nearly spat. “Of course we should. Stone shouldn’t have locked us in here if she didn’t want us reading whatever is in the books.”
We each took a book and found a comfy spot on the bed. Sitting next to the open lid of the suitcase, I was the first to crack open a book. When I saw what was inside, it caused me to suck in my breath. Wide, scrawling script filled every last inch of every last page. “It’s a diary!” I said excitedly. I spun around and looked at the other girls, curious if they’d made the same discovery.
Alba looked at me. “Mine’s a diary too.”
“Mine too,” yelled the rest of the girls in unison.
“I wonder who wrote them,” I asked. I flipped the book over in search of a name or some other identifying marker, but both the cover and the spine were without writing.
“It kind of looks like my Aunt’s handwriting,” said Jax. “I think they’re hers. This is her floor.”
I flipped through the pages and read excerpts from here and there. “Today is my sister’s birthday. She turned twenty-two. It’s funny that at a mere twenty-two she’s already had more suitors in her life than I’ll ever have in all of mine,” I read off of an aged yellow page.
Holly was the next to read an excerpt aloud. “My heart is more shattered today than it was yesterday and yesterday it was more shattered than the day before. Each day becomes exponentially more difficult to live without you. Since the day you broke my heart, I have become nothing,” read Holly. She looked up. “Aww, that’s sad.”
“I wish I could convince myself to leave this house. I feel so alone here without you. I wish you would return to me. You’re all that I want,” read Alba.
“These are so sad!” cried Jax. “I had no idea my Aunt was dealing with a broken heart.”
“Guys. I don’t think this one was written by BethAnn. The handwriting is different, and the pages in this book look older. Listen,” said Alba. “I hurt a dear friend today. I followed my heart, and it led me to betray my best friend. I may never be able to forgive myself. It’s very possible that she will never forgive me for what I’ve done, but I had to do it. I only hope that with time, things will change and she’ll forgive me,” she read.
“I wonder who wrote that one. Sorceress Stone?” I suggested.
Jax leaned over and looked at the book Alba was reading. “That’s definitely not my mom’s handwrit…”
There was a sharp noise at the door that caused us all to look up, and suddenly the door was thrust open. We didn’t even have time to stash away the books we’d been reading.
Sorceress Stone strode in with a haughty look on her face. “I’ve decided what to do with you trespassers,” she said smugly. “A bunch of snakes such as yourselves deserve to be taught a lesson and apparently just locking you in the tower hasn’t taught you the lessons you need. Therefore, maybe spending some time as the blithering snakes you are will teach you!”
My heart dropped. She was going to turn us into snakes? Including her own daughter? What kind of a heartless woman would do such a thing?
She rose her hands and began to chant a spell in Latin. Instinctively, Alba’s hand fired out and lashed Sorceress Stone with a zap of energy to stop her from completing the spell. The blast caught her off guard, and she was thrown backwards into the hallway. Her back hit the wall on the other side of the hall, causing her to stumble, but the force hadn’t been strong enough to knock her off of her feet.
My mouth fell open, and as Sorceress Stone struggled to recover, a thought struck me. Two witches would be better than one. If Alba could do
it, surely I could, too. I closed my eyes and focused my powers. Slowly, I raised my arms and felt myself collecting energy from the objects around me. I took a deep breath and unleashed a bolt of energy just as Sorceress Stone reentered the room, but it was too late, and I was no match for Sorceress Stone. She repelled my blast with one side swept arm and instead threw a blast at me so hard it knocked me backwards against the dresser. Dazed, I scrambled to my feet.
Sorceress Stone stood in the doorway. Her long white hair was now wild around her face. We’d only managed to annoy her, not stop her. “You think you’re a match for me?!” she demanded. “Ha! How amusing! I’ll show you the difference between amateur abilities and what a veteran witch can do!”
She gathered in her hands the biggest, brightest ball of energy I’d ever seen. It glowed orange and yellow as it swirled in her hands, growing bigger by the second. I winced as she launched it at us and prepared myself to be hit. But when a second passed, and nothing hit, I opened my eyes.
Sorceress Stone was in front of me, frozen solid. Her giant ball of energy hovered in the air, mid-launch, just in front of her.
“Yes witch, please, tell me what a veteran witch can do,” cackled my granny from the doorway. My mother and my brother stood in the hallway behind her. Mom looked relieved to see us unharmed, but Reign’s face was flushed beet red. He looked like he wanted to tear someone’s head off.
I let out a sigh of relief. “Gran!”
“The one and only!” she said with a smile.
“Oh man, are we glad to see you guys,” said Alba, fist bumping my grandmother.
“Glad to help, now let’s make like ducks and get the flock out of here before this amateur witch thaws out.”
She didn’t have to tell us twice. The five of us bolted from the room and didn’t look back, but I was sure that I heard Gran whisper under her breath as we left, “Like mother, like daughter.”
It wasn’t until we were safely downstairs that my brother stopped us. “Are you five alright? Did she hurt you?”
“She definitely would have if you three hadn’t shown up,” I said. “Thank you.”
Witch School Dropout: A Witch Squad Cozy Mystery #7 Page 21
