by Cathy Gaitan
I should have known better than to ask her anything.
To me Bea answers, “When magic is really strong it leaves a scent. But just like dog whistles are only audible to dogs the Witch scent can only be detected by another Witch.” Great to know.
“Okay, here we go,” calls Oz as he approaches the runway. There’s no turning back now. We have a battle to win.
Chapter Nine
Everybody’s worried because a Witch resuscitated?
I’ve done it twice. Boo-yah!
#FearTheNerd
-Mercy Mayhem’s mad twitter feed
Pinkerton Floyd
Hell hath no fury like Witches scorned
The minute the plane touches down it’s go time. OZ immediately announces the hag has mystical ‘trip wires’ everywhere. He and the Witches have to maneuver us through the supernatural mine field. So the return drive to Happyville takes a tremendously long time. It doesn’t help that they’re bickering amongst themselves. Luckily we make it to the outskirts of town without triggering one of the traps.
It’s pitch dark as we approach with occasional streaks of lightening splitting the sky and making the town glow eerily. That yellow brick wall Mercy crashed into months ago now has scorch marks etched into it in an organized pattern. I don’t know what it means but something tells me it’s connected to the Dragon Lady in some way.
That guess is confirmed when Oz groans, “That rusty bag of hexes combo’d her protection spells!”
“Oh, settle down. You’re embarrassing us in front of the Zombies. Magic is in our bones. We’ve got this.” Boom Hildie opens her bottomless trunk and pulls out a crystal wand complete with a bedazzled star at the tip.
I thought Mercy was going to jump her for it. Her eyes were huge in her face. “Is that a real magic wand,” she doesn’t take her eyes off it.
Broom Hildie chuckles, “Nah. I just like the way it glitters when I’m doing my thing. She waves it around and Mercy’s eyes follow along. “What we need is our own combination spell. Something with a little pizazz,” she says. “Something that says we’re here and we mean business. Like an explosion or, better yet, fireworks. The hell with subtle.
“Fireworks? That’s your brilliant idea,” huffs Oz.
“It beats staking you at the wall with a stick of dynamite in your mouth. Wouldn’t you say,” she asks.
“He pauses then says, “You’re right. Fireworks are the perfect announcement of a homecoming.”
“I kind of like the stick of dynamite idea,” declares Bea. “It’s more original. It tells those Warlocks here’s one of yours but we’re taking our own back.”
Oz shakes his head in dismay. “I give, give, give to this team and all I get is insults and betrayal.”
“Hey, don’t sweat it,” says Mercy. “I have it on good authority that those things help you grow.”
“She’s right, apparently now a kick to the head equals ‘I love you’.” I’m tempted to tell him I love him right now just because.
“That’s real sweet Pink,” he growls with a glare. “But I’m pretty sure I love you more. Come over here and let me count the ways.”
“Boys,” Bibidee Bea puts a hand on each of our chests to keep us separated. “I could really get into this but right now is not the time. We have a town to free and a Dragon Lady to take down.” She gives us a wink. “Later.”
“Fireworks going up in five,” announces Boom Hildie. “If you need to psyche yourself up, get to it. If you need to prep, start now. And if you need to pray well you should have started earlier. Throw your prayers up and hope that heaven catches them.”
I look at Mercy. “Fight like a Ninja, nerd,” I tell her.
“I always do,” she tells me cockily right before she trips over her own feet.
As the countdown begins Bibidee Bea shouts, “Never forget we are a team.” After a moment she adds, “And Oz.”
“What the hell, Bea! I’m part of the team,” complains Oz. Bibidee Bea just grins. That Witch is warped. No wonder she likes Titus so much.
At that moment, the fireworks light up the night sky. It looks like the 4th of July or New Years at midnight. So, I did what anyone would do in that situation. I grabbed Mercy and kissed the hell out of her. Yeah, I know, I’m supposed to have my head on the battle ahead and I do. But sometimes you have to take your moments when they present themselves. You never know when you’ll have another one.
When I pull away Mercy doesn’t say anything, she just looks at me in shock. Bibidee Bea shouts, “Good idea, Pink. We gotta power up for the battle.” She turns to Titus with arms outstretched and finds Julia Caesar there instead.
“Consider yourself powered,” Julia says as she gives Bea a hard shove straight into the yellow brick wall. Titus starts laughing until he realizes Bea is now stuck to the wall like a fly in a spider web. Invisible manacles have her arms trapped at her side.
“Oh, hell,” curses Oz when thin, thorny vines start creeping up her body until every inch of her is covered. Bibidee Bea’s eyes are wide and scared as it makes its way over her face. He lifts his hand and places his forefinger directly over one of the vines and it starts to shrivel, then dry up and finally falls away. He sighs in relief and opens his hand wide and waves it over her face. That whole section of vines falls away. As he continues to work a funnel of air sweeps down from the sky. There are lightning bolts woven into it that spark and sizzle as dust and debris get caught in the whirlwind.
Boom Hildie reaches back into her trunk and pulls out a jar of some foul looking concoction and pours it over the sparkling star tip. She and DaniElle begin to chant:
Let she who wrought this windswept spell
Face the fury of its hell
Those who follow a step behind
Toward their graves they’ll fall in line
Humans, Warlocks with Witch in lead
Reap what you sewed with your evil deed
The funnel stops turning for a moment then suddenly reverses direction leaving a trail of debris in its wake. Oz has most of the vines removed from Bibidee Bea but she’s still pinned to the wall. She hasn’t spoken a word throughout this whole ordeal so I’m guessing whatever it is that’s binding her is also inhibiting her ability to speak.
Once all the vines are gone Oz and the Witches try to decide how best to approach the magic restraining her. Boom Hildie wants to use some sort of crystalized potion. Oz thinks they should cast a reversal spell. DaniElle suggest just blowing the whole wall. From the way Bibidee Bea’s eyes widen I don’t think she’s down with that idea.
It’s kind of ironic that Bibidee Bea’s idea was to stake a GOAT as bait for the Dragon Lady using Mercy or Oz. Now she’s the staked GOAT. Her plan may work but not exactly the way she imagined it.
I guess Julia’s on the same page as me. “She wanted a GOAT. Looks like she volunteered. I say we get on with this battle.”
Bea’s eyes turn to stare hard at Oz. I guess she figures he’s her best hope. She may be right since everyone else seemed ready to walk with Julia.
“We can’t leave her like this,” Oz declares. “Even if she was planning to do that to me.”
Witchy Bea rolls her eyes. She must have a lot of confidence in that Warlock to unload attitude like that at a time like this.
“You might try curbing the eye rolls if you want my help,” advises Oz. He takes the crystals and takes a pinch to taste himself.
“Do you think it will work,” Mercy asks Oz. She’s staring at Bibidee Bea worriedly. I can tell she’s not on board with leaving Bea. I didn’t think she would be.
He shrugs. “I guess we’ll find out.” He pours the crystals into his hand then blows them straight into Bibidee Bea’s face. Nothing happens at first but soon her skins starts to sizzle. Ever so slowly thin strands of red and purple lights become visible along the surface of her skin clashing together like light sabers and making those hissing, sizzling sounds. Bea’s eyes turn yellow like the sun with lights dancing around the iris
es. I’m not certain but I think she may be in pain. Those strands I believe are the two sides of magic fighting it out. One side to keep her imprisoned and the other to free her.
A loud groan comes from the direction where the air funnel returned. A huge explosion fills the air and dark smoke rises from the center of town. It obscures some of the light from the fireworks Boom Hildie released. There are flames visible now. The smell of burning wood is acrid filling my lungs and making my eyes water.
Bibidee Bea is weeping as the lights along her skin continue to battle. I think the red might be overtaking the purple. There seems to be more of those strands now. Boom Hildie and Australian Witch are looking at each other as though they don’t know what to do.
Titus moves forward. He looks at Bea then down at his hands. Reaching out, he wraps his fingers around her neck squeezing slightly. I freeze expecting the magic that’s overtaken Bibidee Bea to attack him as well but it doesn’t happen. Oz moves toward Titus as though to stop him but stops short of touching him when he realizes Titus seems to be drawing those red streaks of light from Bea and somehow absorbing them into himself.
When all the red streaks have disappeared from her skin and the purple lights are all that remain Titus lets go. The purple light fades to golden light until Bibidee Bea looks like the sun is streaming from her through every pore. That light makes her hair look like it’s on fire.
As Witchy Bea steps away from the yellow brick wall the lights begin fading from her skin altogether and returning her to her normal coloring. She’s coughing and wheezing. Tears are still streaming from the corner of her eyes. All things considered, she looks good.
Meanwhile, Titus bends at the waist as though sick. He begins to shake and gag. Sweat is pouring from his forehead and the side of his face. When he starts to heave Julia goes over as though to touch him but he warns her off. “Don’t touch me,” he growls. “It’s not safe.”
Soon his heaves turn to vomiting but it’s those awful red streaks of light that are streaming out of Titus. They’re bound and twisted together sliding out of his mouth like a giant red snake hissing and snapping as it falls to the ground. It begins to make its way up that brick wall and into the scorch marks etched into its surface until nothing remains but a glowing red outline where it entered.
“What the hell was that,” Carmony is staring at Titus in shock. “How did you know to do that?”
Titus just shakes his head. “I don’t know. Something just told me to do it. So I did.
“We need to move. That funnel isn’t going to hold the Witch for long,” warned Boom Hildie as more explosions cause the earth to rock beneath our feet.
We all begin running toward town. As we approach, the town center looks like a bonfire. The flames are so hot the lampposts have melted in half. The diner is charred and almost completely demolished as is the record shop. Half of the sheriff’s office is just gone and rubble is everywhere. A block of houses has been literally blown away leaving just concrete foundations.
Those still standing are covered with the same scorch marks as the yellow brick wall. They appear to be vacant but we don’t want to risk leaving someone behind.
“Is there a way to determine if the houses are empty without entering,” Julia asks the Witches.
It’s Oz that steps forward. He pulls a small sheet of paper from his pocket and folds it into a paper airplane. He whistles a little tune then sets it sailing toward Molly’s house. He continues whistling changing notes when the plane needs to change direction. He does this with each house, one by one until he determines that they are all empty. When the plane has finished its final run he waves his hand and it turns to flames.
“Why did you do that,” asked Carmony. “What if we need it again?”
“We can’t risk the possibility of it being touched by the Dragon Lady’s magic. You saw what happened with Bea and she’s an experienced Witch. Zombies would have no protection. Magic or no magic.
“It didn’t hurt Titus,” Carmony argues. “He drew it into himself and he’s fine.”
“He’s the exception. Do not make the mistake of thinking he’s the rule,” Oz advises.
“We need to move on. They’re at the training facility,” Mercy declares. When she was last able to contact Kailani that’s where they were being held. Hopefully that hasn’t changed.
“Just stay close to the center of the road,” says Bibidee Bea. “See those small red cracks along the edge? Avoid those. It’s more of the hag’s games. We don’t have time to play right now.”
We’re half way to our destination when the red cracks open up further and red maggots start to crawl out. There are thousands of them wiggling around and making their way closer to us.
DaniElle pulls out a bottle of thunder and tosses it on the ground around us. Boom Hildie lights it with a snap of her fingers. The maggots are squirming in the flames. One by one they begin to burst from the heat. Their bodies look a little like charred popcorn. The smell is nauseating making my stomach clench in disgust.
Though that took care of the ones closest to us we still had a mile of road to go and not much thunder left in the bottle. We can see the maggots spreading from the cracks down the road in both directions. The flames are dying down now.
Carmony makes her way to the lead. “I’ve got this,” she announces. I’m not sure if she’s trying to convince us or herself. Though she sounds confident she looks anything but. She raises her hands in front of her and flames erupt scorching the paved road and the mass of red maggots flooding towards us. More of that horrendous smell as Carmony moves behind us to do the same in the other direction.
The heat of her fire must be immense because not only did it kill the maggots but it also managed to seal up the red cracks. When she’s done her hands are crackling with power. Her skin is glowing as though she were a live flame. It’s actually a beautiful sight to behold.
Bibidee turns and high-fives Boom Hildie. “You aced that potion, sis. These Zombies are killing it!”
Hildie pats her hair. “What can I say? I’m a master at my craft.”
“I hate to interrupt your love fest but we need to keep moving,” Julia Caesar tells them. She’s already marching forward with complete confidence that everyone will follow and we do.
The wind is blowing the ash from the dead maggots toward us so we use our shirts to cover our noses and mouths. I have zero desire to ingest those dried carcasses and obviously neither does anyone else.
Though the flames have died I can feel the heat rising from the pavement. It has sweat coating my skin and, unfortunately, bits of maggot ash clinging to it. When I look at Mercy I can see she’s in the same condition. She’s trying to use Titus’ bigger body to block the ash but the wind keeps changing directions.
I think the bottom of her shoes may be melting because I can hear a sucking sound with every step she takes. It’s those same damn pair of running shoes she bought for the 5k I won. She keeps saying she’s going to throw them away and yet here they are again. If they melt off her feet I guess that will take care of them once and for all.
We’re close to the training facility now. I can actually see the roof of the converted barn. The weather vane atop it is going crazy in this wind. There are dark, heavy clouds in sky above. They’re so thick it looks like you could slice them.
The whole facility is covered in those scorch mark designs. For some reason they appear to be moving along the side of the building. I look at Oz questioningly.
“She put extra security on this building. Most likely because the ones you seek are inside,” he explains simply.
I look at Bibidee for more explanation. “It’s the equivalent of a captcha in spell form,” she says.
“How do we bypass it,” asks Julia.
“I think we have other problems right now,” announces Titus as a group of about 10 Humans approach. I think the guys is white robes beside them are probably Warlocks.
“So happy to see you were finally able to join
us,” says one of the robed men. He has hair past his shoulders and onyx eyes with grey clouds swirling around the irises. He’s look directly at Oz. “I was beginning to think you had changed your mind.”
Bea turns and glares at Oz. “What does he mean?” I’m starting to get a really bad feeling. I knew we couldn’t trust Oz.
“It means he sold you out,” I tell her angrily.
Oz shrugs. “Just cooperate and nobody will be hurt,” he tells Bibidee Bea looking only at her. “This is for the best. There’s no way we could have defeated them with such small numbers. You understand. Don’t you?”
I wait for Bea to lay into him or zap him to kingdom come but she doesn’t. She just nods her head. “Just don’t hurt anyone,” she says. Not at all a Bea-like response. I look her over but can see nothing that would explain her reacting the way she is.
The others are doing the same thing. “What the hell, Bibidee Bea? You actually expect us to surrender?” To say that Titus is angry is an understatement.
“We’re not going to do that,” insists Julia Caesar. “We came here to get our team and that’s what we’re going to do!”
Oz stares at Julia for a moment then says, “We’re all going inside. There will be no battle today.”
Julia goes completely still. She’s staring back at Oz with a weird expression. The she says, “Fine. We’ll do what you say just don’t hurt anyone.”
I thought Titus was going to go for his throat but he grabs Julia’s hand and says. “You’re right. It’s for the best.”
What the ever-loving hell is going on? Mercy moves closer to me and grips my hand. She looks into my eyes and whispers, “Is he doing mind voodoo or something?”
It was more or less what I was wondering. “It’s something,” I whisper back. I try to see if I can do a block of Julia’s mind like I did Mercy’s but she’s got iron curtains in there. If Oz got past that he’s better than I gave him credit for.
Carmony, Boom Hildie and Australian Witch are leaning towards us. I think they’re trying to figure this out as well. Do we resist now or do we wait until we’re reunited with the others? Every muscle in my body is yelling at me to beat feet but that means leaving the others behind and I’m not willing to do that.
