ALL NOVEL 16. Quarrels & Queries
When we heard the front door open, all five of us looked at each other with wide eyes and a shocked expression.
Brooke pointed at the back door and whispered, "Run!"
Kaylee and I got there first, and she grabbed the doorknob. Before she could open it I saw a flicker of purple light flash across the exit. The cute redhead tugged at the door but the magic held it sealed shut.
She looked at me and shook her head as she hissed, "It won't open!"
Meanwhile we could all hear footsteps approaching the kitchen. The five of us turned around to look. Brooke and Paige took up a position in front of me and Kaylee, while Marissa stood off to the left.
The two taller girls were both skilled with protection magic and they were in a sort of defensive position, to keep the rest of us safe. Except for the younger witch, who was off to the side and ready with her 'ass-kicking' spells.
My heart was pounding in my chest as the footsteps got closer, then the kidnapper finally stepped into view in the kitchen doorway.
Me and Kaylee both blinked in surprise, while Paige gasped "Mrs. Reeves?!"
The fun friendly substitute math teacher was standing there with a frustrated look on her face.
She stated, "Well this is convenient isn't it? All four teenage witches in one place, along with their little sidekick friend."
Brooke demanded, "Why did you attack us? What are you, and what do you want with us?"
Paige added, "And what did you do with Miss Hawthorne?!"
"I hunt fools like you, and I'm here to put an end to your little coven," the teacher replied with a scowl. "It's bad enough when adults start messing with nature and the proper order of things. A bunch of irresponsible teens though? You're meddling with powers and forces you don't understand, and last month you crossed a line! That spell you used to change reality was a massive abuse of power. It didn't go unnoticed, and it won't go unpunished."
Before anyone could respond to that Mrs. Reeves fixed her gaze on Marissa. "Cerys Ainsley, you really are a pest you know that? Skipping school, running around using magic all over town, not to mention breaking and entering. I thought it'd take me another day or two to get my hands on you, so thanks for coming here yourself and saving me the trouble."
The brash blonde witch stated "Call me Marissa...when you wake up!"
I saw a bolt of purple light flash from the young witch's hand towards the substitute teacher, but Mrs. Reeves blocked it with a magical shield like the kind Marissa taught me. Except the teacher's was as big across as she was tall, compared to the tiny little disk I'd managed. Then without even a pause the teacher launched a spell back at the rest of us.
Marissa managed to dodge, being off to the side already she sort of lunged clear as she moved further to the left. Meanwhile Brooke and Paige formed a magic shield of their own, but the teacher's spell went right through their defensive magic. I felt another shock of fear as both the taller girls crumpled to the floor while their shield spell flickered and vanished.
It looked like the two of them were asleep again. That same purple glow from before surrounded their bodies as they lay quietly at our feet.
Marissa tried shooting magic at the witch hunter once more, but Mrs. Reeves blocked it just as easily as she had the first one. She didn't even look like she was putting any effort into it, like none of us were any kind of threat to her. After blocking Marissa's second spell the teacher pointed at Kaylee and a flare of purple light leapt from Mrs. Reeves' fingers towards the cute redhead.
I reacted without thinking, I jumped in front of my friend and the spell struck me instead of Kaylee. I winced and grit my teeth as I felt a chill run down my spine and all the little hairs on my arms and legs stood up on end.
"Cass!" Kaylee gasped.
Except I didn't fall asleep or anything, I was still awake and standing there. And both Mrs. Reeves and Marissa stopped what they were doing to stare at me.
"What -" the witch hunter started to ask, when a flash of purple light hit her from behind. Her eyes went wide and her body stiffened, then she crumpled to the floor. Just like Brooke and Paige, she was enveloped in a faint purple glow.
And standing in the hall behind her was Miss Hawthorne.
My favourite teacher held her phone in her left hand. She looked at us and said calmly, "Sorry I didn't get your messages until just now. I was out of town."
As she kneeled down to check on the witch hunter May added, "Kaylee, Marissa, would you please wake Brooke and Paige? A simple dispell should do the trick."
Me and Kaylee and Marissa were all staring at our teacher in shock and relief. After a second or two they both nodded and crouched down. Marissa dispelled the magic on Paige while Kaylee did the same for Brooke, and a few moments later our two sleeping friends began to stir again.
While Brooke and Paige were waking up, the rest of us had about a million things we wanted to ask Miss Hawthorne. I mostly stayed quiet and hung back while Kaylee and Marissa advanced on May as they both unleashed a barrage of questions.
"Where were you?"
"How did you find us?"
"What did you do to Mrs. Reeves?"
"Do you know her?"
"Do you know what she was going to do with us?"
Miss Hawthorne smiled patiently as she moved to stand between the defeated witch hunter and the two young witches who were talking almost non-stop.
She held her hands up to sort of quiet the two down and told them both, "We'll have plenty of time for discussions later girls. For now I think you should all head home and try and relax. I'll take care of Mrs. Reeves, and we can meet up again afterwards to sort everything else out."
Kaylee grimaced, "I'm going to need a drive home, I can't really go out in public like this. And I definitely can't walk home barefoot."
Brooke and Paige were both up by that point, though they were still a little groggy from the after-effects of the sleep spell.
Our teacher asked, "Brooke do you feel well enough to drive? Mrs. Reeves' mini-van is in the driveway and her keys are on a hook by the front door. If you could drive the other girls home that would be ideal, then I'll collect the mini-van later on."
The tall blonde nodded, "Yeah I'm ok now. I'll be fine in another minute or so."
Everyone seemed reluctant to just leave, but the others slowly filed past May and Mrs. Reeves and headed for the front door. Except me.
I hung back and when the others were out of the kitchen I asked quietly, "Miss Hawthorne? How come Mrs. Reeves' magic didn't affect me? I got hit with the same kind of spell that hit Brooke and Paige, but nothing happened. Or actually, it felt like what happens when I accidentally break a magic circle."
May gave me a sympathetic look, "You and I will talk about that later, ok Cass? I have to tidy up the mess Mrs. Reeves has made with her meddling and her magic. Why don't you head on home for now, ok?"
"Ok," I sighed.
The others were waiting for me outside in the mini-van, and I climbed into the back and sat down next to Kaylee. Once the door was closed Brooke pulled out and took us all home.
• • • • •
"So my folks were fine," Kaylee explained over a mug of hot chocolate. "Confused and a little disoriented, but that passed after a few minutes. I don't think they even remember anything unusual happened."
Brooke agreed, "Same. I dispelled the magic on my parents and they didn't even notice anything was out of the ordinary."
Paige just nodded quietly as she had a sip of her hot cocoa.
It was Thursday evening and the five of us were at Miss Hawthorne's place. We were all hoping we'd finally get some answers about what all happened at the start of the week.
So far we knew that Kaylee, Brooke, and Paige's families had all been enspelled by Mrs. Reeves. Fortunately it wasn't that bad, she just made it so their parents wouldn't notice anything unusual. According to what Kaylee said yesterday, her folks never even noticed she was missing. Brooke said the same thing, her parents apparently even thought she was with them for dinner Monday night and everything.
"So are you going to tell us what happened?" Brooke asked our teacher. "Or at least, tell us what you can? We still have an awful lot of questions."
Miss Hawthorne put another log on the fire, then she settled into the recliner to our left. Me and Kaylee were sitting together on one of the sofas, Brooke and Paige were next to each other on the sofa opposite us. And Marissa was relaxing on the third sofa to our right.
May took a deep breath then stated, "Mrs. Reeves is a rather powerful witch. She used to work with... Let's just call them a witches council of elders. Her job was to make sure nobody broke the council's rules. Mostly that would have involved things like witches out doing magic in public, exposing themselves to the world. That sort of thing could put us all at risk after all."
Her expression darkened slightly as she added, "Or very rarely, a witch might turn to evil, might start using their powers for dark or nefarious purposes. In that case Mrs. Reeves would put a stop to them. Either way the offending parties would be brought before the council and handled accordingly."
She paused for a sip of her drink then shook her head, "I honestly don't know what happened to her, I don't know why she changed. All I know is she quit serving the council and became something of a vigilante. Rather than only involving herself with witches who broke the rules or put others in danger, she started going after any and all witches."
"So what did you do with her after we all left?" Paige asked.
Miss Hawthorne sighed, "I contacted the council, and turned her over to them. They'll take care of things, none of you need to worry about Mrs. Reeves again."
We were all kind of relieved to hear that.
Brooke commented, "There was a map in the den that she'd been using for scrying. I realized after I got home, but I should have grabbed it? I think Mrs. Reeves was using it to track not just us but all supernaturals in the area."
She looked at May and asked, "Did you happen to pick it up?"
Miss Hawthorne replied, "I did. I turned it over to the council, along with all the other paraphernalia Mrs. Reeves was using."
"Ah ok," Brooke frowned. "That's probably for the best."
There was something I was wondering about, but I was nervous to hear what the answer might be. "Mrs. Reeves said she was going after everyone in Club Luna, but I don't think she was looking for me? And right at the end, she said something about all four witches plus their sidekick friend. Like maybe I'm not really a witch after all..."
May gave me a sympathetic smile, "Don't let that get to you Cass. I think all that means is she didn't realize you were one of us. You've only been with us a month and you've yet to start casting spells on a regular basis. Whatever it was she was looking for, she probably didn't see it in you simply because you're so new to the club."
"Ok," I said quietly. "That makes sense."
We were all quiet for a few moments after that, till Kaylee spoke up with another question.
"You said you didn't get our messages because you were out of town right? Didn't you bring your phone with you?"
May looked a little embarrassed as she grimaced slightly, "No I didn't bother bringing my phone. There wasn't any coverage there anyways so it wouldn't have done me much good."
Marissa asked, "Where'd you go that doesn't have coverage?"
Our teacher hesitated very briefly before responding, "I was doing some research, and had to visit a place where they tend to eschew such modern conveniences."
It was pretty clear she wasn't going to tell us where she was, but her non-answer left me wondering what kind of stuff she was researching, and why she had to do it someplace that didn't like mobile phones.
Kaylee gave me an apologetic look before she addressed Miss Hawthorne again, "I also have some um, Cass-related questions."
The cute redhead continued, "She got hit by one of Mrs. Reeves' spells and it didn't seem to do anything to her. Plus she was able to dispell the magic on me, Brooke, and Paige just by touching us. Any idea how that works? Does it have something to do with how she breaks circles?"
The others were all looking at me again and I cringed a bit as I shrank back into my big comfy hoodie.
Meanwhile May nodded slightly, "This is only a theory, but I believe Cassandra has a natural talent for dispelling magic. It would explain why circles fail when she comes in contact with them, and why Mrs. Reeves' magic failed to affect her. And why the active spells on the three of you were broken when she touched you."
I frowned, "Is that normal?"
"I've never heard of it," Brooke commented.
Paige frowned, "If she's like a walking anti-magic zone, will she even be able to cast spells? Or would they fail before they had a chance to even start?"
"I taught her how to scry," Marissa stated proudly. "That's how we found you lot! First try and she pinpointed Kaylee in like two minutes flat. I also taught her a shield spell and sleep spell, but she didn't get a chance to try those two."
"I did the shield spell remember?" I half-mumbled. "Just as a test though. It wasn't very good."
Miss Hawthorne spoke up before anyone else could respond, "Casting one or two spells, regardless of how effective they were, is all we need to know that Cassandra is without a doubt a witch. And if she does have a natural talent for dispelling magic, it clearly doesn't affect her own spells."
Everyone quietly agreed with that, then Kaylee leaned closer till her shoulder pressed up against mine. She grinned, "So we're still on for our study date tomorrow after school, right?"
My cheeks went red at the thought of it being a 'date' instead of just 'studying'. Then I noticed Marissa was looking at me. Our eyes met and the bold young blonde nodded firmly.
I gulped then looked back at Kaylee and smiled, "Yeah. I'm looking forward to it too. It's a date."
She smiled back at me, and I forgot all about Mrs. Reeves and witch hunters and all that other stuff. I had a date with Kaylee, and that was all that mattered.
~ End of Episode Two ~
