Ellen, Harris and Jessica left the house at 6:45 P.M., while Allyson and Simon stayed behind.
Harris drove to and parked his car one block from the mansion. After Ellen, Harris and Jessica gathered the boxes of gerbils, finches and the things that they needed, they cautiously walked to the mansion.
The front yard was full of shrub-hedges, and Ellen, Harris and Jessica stopped next to the hedge nearest the mansion and released the gerbils and the finches. However, the gerbils or the finches wouldn’t leave Ellen’s side until she had mentally commanded them to find a way into the mansion.
The finches found an open window and entered the house before the gerbils could find a way in. The window that the finches had entered was the window to Leon’s room.
Leon—while dressed in pajamas—appeared comatose as he lay in bed, and the door to the room was shut. To get the door to the room open along with creating a diversion for Ellen’s group, Ellen mentally ordered the finches to knock over the small items within the room.
Ellen, Harris and Jessica crept up to the sliding back door, and when Karla/Leon entered the bedroom to investigate the commotion, Jessica unlocked the sliding back door and entered the mansion followed by Ellen, Harris and the four gerbils.
“Where did you four come from?” rang in Ellen’s, Harris’s and Jessica’s heads when Karla/Leon spoke the words.
Ellen mentally ordered the finches to evade Karla/Leon, but before the finches could comply, Karla/Leon rattled off a spell that exploded one of the finches. Jessica gasped when she mentally saw the incident through the surviving finches’ eyes.
“Shsh!” Ellen mentally hissed as the three saw through the finches’ eyes that Karla/Leon had sensed them either by hearing Jessica’s gasp or sensing their presence.
The three then mentally saw that Karla/Leon glanced towards the finches while saying, “You birds are just the diversion, and I’ll deal with you birds later.”
“Karla’s coming,” Harris mentally said. “Jess, you know the house. Where should we make our stand?”
“Follow me,” Jessica mentally said before leading the way.
Jessica led Ellen and Harris through an open set of double-wooden-doors—the doors close inward towards the room—and into a large room that was filled with taxidermic bears, wolves, lions, tigers, dears, elks and zebras. Most of the animals were posed on foliage-decorated bases. On the walls were several mounted fishes.
“This is where Jessica wants to make a stand?” Ellen thought while forgetting that Jessica and even Harris could hear her thoughts.
“These stuff animals are my grandfather’s prize collection,” Jessica mentally answered. “They’ve been in my family for generations, so he… Karla will be less likely to throw anything big at us in here.”
“I don’t share your optimism, Jess,” Ellen mentally told her.
“This room is big enough to maneuver,” Harris mentally told them. “And there are plenty of… of large stuff animals to hide behind. So find a spot out of view.”
Ellen stepped midway into the room and ducked down behind a bear. Jessica was a short distance from her as she ducked down behind an elk. Harris was slightly closer to the entrance as he ducked down behind one of the larger lions. The three had barely gotten into their positions when they saw Karla/Leon reaching the first floor through the gerbils’ eyes. Two of the finches had followed Karla/Leon to the first floor as well.
While seeing through the gerbils’ and the finches’ eyes, the three saw the short time that it took for Karla/Leon to trace their trail into the room with the taxidermic animals.
Karla/Leon stopped at the door and gazed over the room before saying, “You’ve outsmarted yourselves, Jess and company.”
“I don’t want to fight you, Grandfather,” Jessica spoke aloud without sticking her head up.
The three could see Karla/Leon’s reaction—which was just facing Jessica’s direction—through the gerbils’ eyes.
“What are you doing, Jess?” Ellen demanded to know.
Jessica ignored the words that rang in her head from Ellen and continued with, “Release Karla, Grandfather, and we’ll be on our way.”
“You became too well educated, Jessica, for me to release you and the person who’s with you,” Karla/Leon said.
“He… she doesn’t know how many we are,” Harris mentally thought.
“We’re educated enough to stop you,” Ellen bluffed while overlapping Harris’s words that rang in her head.
“Now what are you doing, Ellen?!” Harris demanded to know.
“Bluffing,” Ellen mentally answered.
“Karla told me about you, Ellen,” Karla/Leon said with a grin. “At least I’m assuming that you’re Ellen. And I know that you don’t carry the mark of Merlin.”
“As long as you’re possessing your granddaughter’s body, you and Jessica are equally matched,” Ellen supplied. “So my ability combined with Jessica’s trumps yours.”
“But I have the education and the experience,” Karla/Leon retorted. “In fact, Jess, let me educate you and Ellen on some of our family’s history. Your great-great-great grandfather was the big-game hunter who captured most of these animals. ‘To kill animals for sport is barbaric,’ his wife told him. So your great-great-great grandfather found a compromise. According to the Merlin legend—one of them anyway—Merlin was captured in time. So your great-great-great grandfather brainstormed and came up with an incantation that would capture animals in time.”
Karla/Leon stepped just outside the room at the doorway and pressed a button that activated an overhead-grated-gate that unrolled as it moved to cover the entrance. Ellen looked towards the doorjamb and saw that the gate wasn’t in the double-wooden-doors’ way and that the doors could still be closed.
“Two of the animals in that room are still alive. I’ll let you and Ellen figure out which ones,” Karla/Leon continued before rattling off a short incantation. Ellen, Harris and Jessica rose quickly and vigorously looked around. “Uh, there are three of you.” The gate was two-thirds unrolled. “Doesn’t matter.”
“The Siberian tigers are alive!” Harris uttered verbally. “Back away to the far wall! Quickly!”
As Harris and Jessica were putting distance between them and the two tigers (a male and a female) that were slowly returning to life, Ellen stood her ground.
With her hands out at her side, her palms turned forward, her heart pounding and breaking out in a nervous sweat, Ellen said in a low trembling and soothing voice, “Nice-nice, kitties. Please see me as a friend and not as a piece of meat.”
“Ellen?!” Harris called.
Ellen stood like a statue while repeating soothingly, more loudly and with more courage in her voice, “Nice, kitties. Please see me as a friend and not as a piece of meat.”
“What are you doing?” Jessica’s voice rang in Ellen’s head.
“I’m hoping that I’m doing what comes naturally,” Ellen mentally told Jessica. “Nice, kitties. I’m a friend.” The two tigers turned towards Ellen and fiercely growled. “Yes. And you both are right. I would be cranky too if I had awakened and there’s a stranger next to me.” The tigers stalked closer to Ellen. “Plus, I can imagine how hungry you two must be.”
The female tiger stepped up to Ellen and sniffed her left palm. Ellen shut her eyes tightly, and while fighting the urge to yank her trembling hand away, she mouthed the words, “Please. Please don’t attack.”
The tiger licked Ellen’s palm, wrist and lower arm, and as Ellen was thinking that the tiger was about to take a huge bite out of her, she peed herself. She then felt one of them brushing up against her leg, but she was too scared to look.
“What’s this?!” Karla/Leon angrily uttered.
Ellen opened her eyes to see what was happening and saw that the male tiger was lounging at her feet while the female was standing at her side like a loyal pet. Ellen took a chance with the female tiger and stroked her head. The tiger reacted playfully towards Ellen.
“Ugh!” Karla/Leon uttered. “Of course you would be from the animal-enthralling Clover Coven. I thought your line had died out long ago.”
“I’m sorry to disappoint you!” Ellen shot unpleasantly towards Karla/Leon.
The tigers detected the tone in Ellen’s voice, and while acting as if commanded, the male tiger had gotten quickly back onto his feet as both tigers growled threateningly towards Karla/Leon.
Karla/Leon sighed before rattling off an incantation. As she/he gestured her/his hand towards the tigers, the air around them distorted slightly before the tigers froze like statues in their current pose.
“You froze them in time again!” Ellen accused.
“They’re no good to me with you in the room,” Karla/Leon told her. “And you three can thank God that my father had destroyed the incantation that would initially freeze living creatures in time; otherwise you three would be frozen in time alongside the tigers.”
“Darn the luck,” Ellen sarcastically told her/him.
“Your fate along with theirs will be the same in the end,” Karla/Leon assured Ellen.
“Keep her distracted, Ellen,” Harris’s voice rang in Ellen’s head. “Jess, let’s show your sister… or grandfather your strength. Fire a strong electrical bolt at Karla’s feet, and you’ll need to recite the words above a whisper.”
Karla/Leon saw that Ellen was momentarily preoccupied with a thought just before she challenged, “I agree that my fate might be predestined… except personally, I would like to believe in free will over fate. In fact, I picture myself living for several decades to come and I’ll do what I can to fight for that picture.”
Karla/Leon’s attention was suddenly drawn to Jessica as thin lines of electricity were drawn to her from the light fixtures and the electrical outlets. The lights in the house had dimmed to almost nothing while Jessica was drawing in the electricity. Karla/Leon slightly tilted her/his head in curiosity and once a glowing halo was seen around Jessica, Jessica shot a strong bolt of electricity at the floor near Karla/Leon’s feet. The lights in the house returned to normal. Karla/Leon jumped back slightly just as the bolt struck the floor near the gate.
“You missed,” Karla/Leon told her.
“I hit exactly where I was aiming,” Jessica assured Karla/ Leon.
Karla/Leon slightly grinned before saying, “You don’t want to hurt your sister. That’s sweet, but it also means that you had already lost against me.”
“Ellen, draw in a short burst of electricity—just enough to sting—and fire it at Karla,” Harris ordered.
As Harris was mentally talking to Ellen, Jessica challenged, “I don’t want to hurt her, but I will if it comes down to it.”
Ellen and Harris rattled off the spell, but neither of them allowed the glowing halo to form before shooting their electrical bolts at Karla/Leon. Harris’s bolt hit Karla/Leon first in the right shoulder. Ellen’s bolt hit Karla/Leon on the right side of her/his chest.
Karla/Leon was knocked back slightly and as she/he covered her/his shoulder with the opposite hand, she/he uttered, “Ow!”
“Have you ever been stung by a swarm of bees?” Harris asked. Karla/Leon shot Harris a curious look. “I was stung by eight bees one day. I was eleven. Now I don’t really know how many bees make up a swarm, but those eight bee stings hurt. Now my point is, Ellen, Jessica and I don’t have to inflict fatal or crippling or even permanent blows to cause you annoying and around-the-clock pain.”
Karla/Leon raised her/his hand and formed her/his lips to speak, but before doing so a thought occurred to her/him.
Karla/Leon clutched the air before saying, “I have a better idea than to exchange magical volleys with you three.”
“Does it involve releasing Karla and us?” Ellen asked sarcastically.
Karla/Leon grinned before saying, “I’ve been stealing mental health from…”
“From the geniuses at Stone Hall,” Ellen finished for her/him. “We know. Darrin Parker was your latest victim.”
“I’ll jump ahead then,” Karla/Leon continued. “That mental health incantation actually only calls for healthy brains. Going after geniuses’ mental health just brings about better results, but the three of you should more than make up for not using geniuses. And hey, I feel that it’s justified to go after your mental health, Jess.”
“What do you mean?” Jessica demanded to know.
“Your mother… my own daughter is who gave me my stroke,” Karla/Leon shot towards Jessica.
“How?” Jessica asked.
“Your dad snuck the magic supplies to your mom during visiting days, and once your mom had all the supplies necessary, she cast the incantation that would forever prevent me from astral projecting. However, when the incantation is done incorrectly it can cause the person to have a stroke, and needless to say that your mother had done the incantation incorrectly. Anyway, since you three are locked up nice and tight, I’ll be back for you three as soon as I prepare the altar for the incantation.”
“Doesn’t this incantation have to be performed during the full moon?” Ellen questioned.
Karla/Leon grinned before saying, “You’re more educated than I thought, Ellen. This incantation works best during the full moon; however, for a powerful and experienced wizard or sorceress the incantation is just as effective if the incantation is done two days before the full moon or two days after the full moon. Anyway, enough talk!” Karla/Leon backed up and rattled off a short incantation that made the gate and the windows to the room glow a golden yellow for only a second before returning to normal. “I would refrain from touching the gate and the windows or shooting electrical bolts at them if I was you three.”
“And what will happen if we don’t refrain from touching them?” Ellen asked.
Karla/Leon cringed slightly while debating to say before saying, “Don’t heed my warning and find out.” Karla/Leon then backed up and shut the two doors.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Once the doors had closed completely, Ellen asked, “Should we try the gate?”
“No!” Harris quickly commanded. Ellen shot him a curious look. “I recognized the incantation that Karla… or Leon had cast. In fact, the incantation is a very old curse. It’s believed to had been used each time a pyramid was created and when the curse is cast correctly—which I believe it has been in this case—anyone who touches or disturbs the objects that the incantation was cast on, with the sole exception of the person who cast it, will become very sick, very quickly.”
“Can Jess remove the incantation if you tell her how?” Ellen asked.
“Certain types of incantations can only be canceled by the wizard or sorceress who had cast it and unfortunately for us this curse is one of those incantations,” Harris informed.
“Great!” Ellen sarcastically uttered while seeing that Jessica was noticing her pants. “Yes, Jess, I peed my pants.”
“Hey, if there was a man-eating tiger in touching distance to me as two were to you, I would pee my pants too,” Jessica confessed. “And if by any miracle that we get through this, you can use the shower and borrow some of my clothes.”
Ellen nodded before saying, “Thanks.”
Jessica nodded before asking, “So any suggestions on how we can get through this?”
“Yes,” Harris said before gesturing towards the south and north walls. “Those two walls don’t have windows or an entryway and busting through either wall won’t initiate the curse.”
“Busting through a wall will immediately alert Karla… my grandfather, I mean,” Jessica pointed out.
“It will,” Harris agreed. “But I think we would do better in a fight on the other side of either wall.”
“What are on the other side of those two walls?” Ellen asked. When Jessica mapped out her house in her head to verbally answer, Ellen mentally said, “Ah. A game room on the north side and a dining room on the south side.”
Jessica grinned and nodded.
“Okay, well, before we bust through eit
her wall, we should move some of the larger stuff animals to block the entrance to the room,” Harris suggested.
“Not those two tigers,” Ellen said as she gestured towards the tigers that were frozen in time. “If we survive this, I want to try to release them.”
Harris grinned before saying, “We’ll move them out of harm’s way.”
“Thanks,” Ellen said.
Harris nodded before gesturing towards a large brown bear that was posed upright on a foliage-decorated base and saying, “We’ll start with that.”
“Uh… unless you know a levitating incantation, I don’t see how the three of us could move that,” Ellen quickly said.
Harris amusingly grinned while saying, “The base that the bear is on has retractable wheels for the purpose of moving it.”
“Oh,” Ellen simply uttered.
“Most of these bases have retractable wheels,” Jessica added.
Ellen gave Jessica the thumbs-up sign while saying, “That’s good.”
As Harris went to put the wheels down on the base in order to move the brown bear, Jessica added, “Except it has been years since any of these animals have been moved. So the wheels might be hard to put down… in fact, that brown bear was the last animal added, and my mom bought it just before she went to prison. Karla and I were at summer camp when it was added.”
As Harris was putting the wheels down, Ellen asked, “The last animal added? Was there something else added too?”
Jessica gestured towards the north wall while saying, “Yeah, that wall right there was actually added. The game room and this room were once one big room.”
Just as the brown bear was lifted off the ground by its wheals, a click was heard followed by a section of the north wall opening and revealing a secret door. Ellen, Harris and Jessica turned to look.
“And apparently a hidden door was added as well,” Jessica said while staring in awe of the open door.
“Let’s see what’s in there,” Ellen said as she moved closer.
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