by Dani Corlee
The next day it was still pouring, black clouds covering the sky. It was Saturday, and Kim lounged in bed more than usual, still feeling tired and lazy. Aurora was sleeping, holding her doll tight, and Kim kissed her while getting up. She reminded herself she still had to clarify why Mrs. Daisy had been in the basement, and still needed to find out who the room downstairs belonged to.
She mentally called Isidora.
Hello, my dear. How are you?
Tired, I didn't sleep much. You?
I think nobody slept much last night. The signs aren't saying anything good. I had a long meeting with all the other masters. But I'd prefer to talk to you here.
That's why I called you. I feel uncomfortable at home, not knowing what's going on downstairs. I wonder... er... Kim cleared her throat and added, Could you please send me someone to help me teleport us to the club? I'd rather not stay at home today.
Sure, Kim. I'll send Hylee. Just let me arrange it.
Thanks, it’s appreciated, Isidora.
I'll see you soon, my dear.
CHAPTER 16
Knock, knock. Pooof!
"Lucille?"
"Ya, sweetie." Lucille appeared in front of Kim, who couldn't suppress a smile. Lucille wore tight pink velvet trousers and a little pink sweater with silver sequins spelling out I'm your Love. How she could always wear that kind of outfit was something Kim couldn't understand.
"Why did Isidora send you? I thought Hylee was coming to pick up us."
"She had... no, the fact is that she couldn't."
"She is a teenager, she must have lots of things to do." Kim smiled then realized that her friend's look was worried.
"No, I mean she wasn't able to teleport. She tried and failed. The same for other witches. Also Ravyn, who is usually quite powerful. There seems to be a sort of spell that is sapping our power. Hylee had barely the strength to come here; she couldn't have teleported three people."
"I can teleport by myself." Aurora had come very close to Lucille, and her tiny face was totally bent upwards to look at her.
Lucille looked down at the girl and chewed, open mouthed. For an anxious moment Kim imagined the chewing gum falling from her mouth and getting stuck to Aurora's head. She released a breath when Lucille closed her mouth. "Mm..." Lucille then said. "I can hardly believe it. Even I had some problems."
Aurora frowned and pouted. "You see?" she said, stamping her feet on the floor, then disappearing.
"SSSugar!" Lucille shouted and disappeared.
It had been a matter of few seconds and now Kim was alone and desperate. She cried "Aurora, Aurora! Lucille!" No answer. She shouted again with all her breath, her face pale and her hands trembling while running through her hair. "Help!"
She felt someone gripping her arm and found herself in front of Isidora, Lucille and Ravyn. Isidora was as pale as a ghost.
Kim rubbed her aching arm and looked around, expecting to see Aurora, but she was nowhere. "Where is she?" Her heartbeat quickened. She dried her face, a cold sweat wetting her forehead.
There was a sudden cold blast of wind and a whirlwind of smoke. The four witches could barely keep their eyes open, and Kim lifted her arm to protect her face.
Two figures appeared, at first very lightly, then they slowly materialized. "Aurora!" Kim shouted. She threw herself toward Aurora and hugged her tight without a word.
She then lifted her eyes in the unnatural silence that had followed the coming of the two, and looked at the other person who had arrived, a woman with nice features and young eyes despite her evident old age. The woman smoothed down her coat, carefully picked a piece of white lint with her fingertips and let it fall down, then tried to adjust her messy hair. She then looked at the other witches and exclaimed "Hi!" with a smile, although she wore a worried frown.
Despite her fear for Aurora's disappearance and the gravity of the moment, Kim couldn't help noticing that one of her most dreaded fears which had followed her in the last few months had just turned into reality. Lucille stared at the woman open mouthed and her gum fell on the floor. She then closed her mouth with a jerk and swallowed hard.
Isidora had left herself fall into her chair, and Hylee had frozen in an unnatural pose, probably caught by surprise while she was walking toward her grandmother. They all looked like they were staring at a ghost.
They were, in fact.
Isidora breathed heavily, her hands visibly shaking, holding the desk in an attempt to prove she wasn't dreaming. "Dolly, my dear, what on earth...?"
"Dolly?" Kim brusquely turned to the old woman who reciprocated the gaze and simply said with a thin, musical voice, "Nice to meet you, Kim. Oh, well, I've been around you since you arrived, so I should say, nice that you finally meet me."
"We thought you were dead." Isidora said. "You have been away for so long! Where have you been, Dolly? And why?"
Dolly looked at the room. "Congratulations, Isidora. You ruled the community and the Club very well. But I knew you would," she added. "That's why I wanted you to succeed me."
"Oh!" Isidora snapped upright and pushed away her chair. "This is yours again, I suppose."
"What? Oh, no, you are the master now, and you will be for a long time. But I've been watching the community from afar and never really felt away from it."
"What's going on, Dolly?" Isidora asked with a puzzled and worried look. "I don't understand."
CHAPTER 17
A streak of lightning burst right in front of the Club. They saw sparkles shining in front of the window and a loud clap of thunder made the walls tremble.
A small rift formed in the center of the glass window. They all looked as if hypnotized at the myriad of cracks as they formed till the whole window was a huge web, which then exploded in thousands of tiny pieces.
They froze, not only because of the icy air that surrounded them, but with terror. Time slowed. They looked at the glass pieces, only partially able to move and draw back to not be hit by them. What was going on? Isidora was the first to regain her control. She was still on the opposite side of her desk, the only one of them near the window, and she was able to turn around and go near the other witches.
They stared at the huge break in silence, hit by the strong wind that made their hair blow. Then they looked at Dolly.
"What's happening?" Isidora shouted to be heard over the noise of the tempest.
"The witches of the other side of the moon broke the seals and now they are coming."
A knock at the door interrupted her, but nobody dared to answer.
There was another knock and soon after the door opened. Catarina entered, her eyes darting toward Isidora's seat.
Then her eyes grow wider when she saw the scene: the broken window, the tempest approaching, the wild wind blowing all the papers in the room.
"You!" Isidora said, looking at Catarina.
Kim withdrew, holding Aurora tight. She had already suspected Catarina had something to do with all this.
Unexpectedly, Catarina turned white and brought her hand at her face, her eyes now filling with tears.
Kim turned to Isidora. She didn’t understand anything that was happening.
A loud sound, even louder than the tempest, interrupted her thoughts. A black figure flying from the dark sky approached them and extended an arm toward Kim, a greenish, thick lightning bolt coming from it.
"Not the Queen!" Dolly shouted, and she sent too a lightning bolt toward the flying figure, a light yellow flash which hit the figure and dissolved in tiny electric darts, while the figure rolled backwards.
They all had been frozen but now everyone moved, ready for the fight. Kim withdrew further, while Aurora tried to wiggle out of her mom’s grip.
"She's calling me!" she shouted, her feeble voice barely audible over the wind. "She needs me! Let me go."
Kim screamed. "Please, stay calm! Aurora, my love, stay still!"
A few other dark figures were now approaching the Club, coming from the high, dark clouds.
"Leave her!" Dolly shouted, only partially turning to Kim.
"What?" Kim frowned and tried to say something, but the strong wind coming in her mouth didn't allow her to say anything more.
"Leave her! Let her go!"
Kim turned, so as not to have the wind hit her mouth and tried to drift apart from Dolly. "Are you crazy?" Damn Dolly and all the respect everybody had for her. Age must have ruined her brain.
She held Aurora even stronger, but the little girl now was kicking her, trying to free herself.
"Horatio!" Aurora started to shout. "Horatio!"
"That's a nightmare! Oh my....!" Kim cried. She closed her eyes, still holding Aurora. "I can do it, I can do it. I can keep her safe," she kept repeating. "This is just a nightmare. Now I'll wake up. Nothing has happened. I'll be at home, still married. In my nice flat. In my troubled marriage. Everything is better than this nightmare, even Jason!"
"Horatio!" Aurora shouted again.
With a hiccup, Kim realized her strength was failing.
Aurora finally succeeded freeing herself and approached the window. "I have to save her," she screamed. Kim couldn't move. She looked at Aurora with terror.
Then she caught a movement on the floor. The shiny little pieces of glass were gathering and they lifted from the floor, spinning round and round and then gathering into something circular that kept on swirling and then flew over Aurora's head. A crown!
Kim stared at Aurora with an incredulous stare. Rapidly, she looked at the other witches and saw that all of them had a shocked look. Isidora was grabbing the side of her desk not to fall down. Lucille was shaking her head, Catarina and Hylee both had their mouths falling open. Only Dolly seemed to be in control and kept on looking at the faraway, dark shapes which now didn't dare to approach them.
"What does it mean?" Kim was able to mutter, while the wind and the terrible sound were dying down.
Isidora looked at her and shook her head. "What a lack of judgment. We all took for granted you were the queen. Instead, it's her."
At that very moment the wind rose again, and again other tiny pieces of glass started to swirl, to create two beautiful thin wings which lowered on Aurora's back. She raised her little arms and light blue rays came from her arms. New approaching figures were hit and flung far, while a new, huge shape was flying directly toward them. When Kim and the other witches realized what was happening, it was too late. Horatio Confetti nimbly leaped inside Isidora's room, Aurora flew onto him, and they flew away.
CHAPTER 18
They were in a middle land. It wasn't earth; it wasn't sky. It wasn't material and was not spiritual either. It was a land made of feelings and dreams, and it was as white and ethereal as a white, fluffy cloud.
Kim tried to ride as fast as she could. What had happened? She had wished she could follow Aurora and suddenly she had found herself in this no-place.
How could she had been so stupid as to let Aurora jump on Horatio and run away alone? Such a huge horse! It wasn't the kind of animal a kid could ride. Not even a kid with supernatural power. At least not a kid with supernatural powers and an apprehensive mother.
Kim could hardly see ahead of her. Her hair kept floating in front of her face, but she didn't dare to push it away, too scared to let go of her strong grip on Hugo's mane. She was pushing the poor pony as fast as he could and indeed he was riding pretty fast, considering his short legs.
She looked behind her at the witches following them. It was quite a strange group. Some of them were just flying. Others were using their brooms. In the far distance Isidora was riding a huge Pegasus, while Lucille was only few yards behind her, riding a magnificent unicorn. The group looked mighty, extremely powerful. She had a mental view of herself on the tiny pony and she felt like laughing and crying at the same time.
"I feel so stupid," she shouted back to Lucille, who obviously couldn't hear her.
Looking again ahead, she started seeing something on the horizon. It was a tiny and faint gray line that was growing bigger and bigger. It was a sort of cloud, and yes, it was a big group approaching as fast as her group was approaching them. Aurora had distanced herself a lot now, and was still riding fast toward the other group.
Kim's heart was beating furiously. What if she couldn't reach Aurora in time? What if Aurora approached the other group enough for them to hurt her? She had to reach her and protect her. But how? She felt powerless, well knowing she could do little against a huge group of maleficent witches. Big tears came out of her eyes. Whether they were caused by the wind hitting her face, or by her grief and fear, she could not tell. But she should have showed at least a minimum strength in her gaze. Not that her frown only could scare a witch. Not even a non-witch would be impressed by her pout. A thousand thoughts were flying in her head and she realized she was only trying not to think about the most important thing. What would she do once she reached Aurora? What could she do to protect her?
Aurora must have slowed down because she was now only few yards in front of her. The cloud at the horizon had grown into a large group of people. They seem to be flying, but they were still too distant to make out if they were riding brooms or anything else. A solitary figure seemed to lead them. She was in front of everybody else, as Aurora was. The two leaders were now approaching each other and Kim sobbed, feeling it was too late to reach Aurora and take her back with her. She had failed in protecting her sweet little daughter.
As quick as she had started riding, Horatio halted. Kim was now near them, only a few yards behind when Hugo halted as well. Kim's attempts to make him move any further were useless. With an elegant movement, Horatio knelt down on the ground to let the young rider dismount safely. Aurora got down from her horse and Kim realized she couldn't. She was stuck to the pony by a spell. She could only look and pray.
The other leader had flown near them. Then she had halted too, facing Aurora, and with a firm gesture of her hand she ordered her followers to stop. The group of maleficent witches was some 30 yards back, motionless, the only movements caused by their hair and vests blowing in the breeze.
Kim turned and saw her group, too, was motionless at the same distance. She looked at Isidora and could sense a worried gaze.
When Aurora had quickly dismounted, it was evident she had been holding something in her hand. Kim wondered how she could hold on to Horatio while one hand was otherwise engaged before questioning what her daughter was holding.
Aurora cupped her hands and looked inside. Without any fear she moved toward the figure who was slowly approaching her. Kim wasn't distant from the other group and could finally see who the chief was. It was a woman, no, a girl. A child only a little older than Aurora. She must have been 10, maybe 11, years old. Surely a pre-teen. Her skin was as pale as the moon, and she had long and wavy dark brown hair that ended with big curls.
Her vest was long and pure white, with a delicate golden embroidery. Weren't the bad witches old and ugly, with awful beaky noses and black dresses? Where had they hidden their pointy hats, their hairy warts and messy gray hair?
Aurora approached the other girl while her side of the witches held their breath. She kept her hands cupped and looked inside. The other young witch came across her and looked inside too. She leaned toward Aurora and touched her fingers to open the protection and see its secret.
"What's that?" Her gaze moved to Aurora's face, her golden eyes sparkling with interest.
"It's a bee." Aurora's gaze was still on the little insect.
"A bee? I thought it was a mythological animal. What happened to her?"
"She’s dying."
"Why?"
"For no reason."
"Who caused this?"
"People who don't care, who don't understand. People who don't know her death starts the decline of the world and of humanity."
The girl leaned toward Aurora and whispered, "Should we imprison them and make them slaves?"
"No, we can't."
"Oh!" She nodded. If she was disappoi
nted, she didn't show it. "Can we do something?"
"Yes, we can," Aurora replied, looking into her eyes.
"For her?"
"For everybody."
The girl put her hands over those of Aurora as if to protect the bee.
