In the silence I dropped my arms. As my eyes readjusted to the darkness I could see the witches were all stood looking at me with awe. My gaze swivelled to the common around us. Not a zombie in sight. And there in front of me was Peter, once more all ghosty.
Ghosty and naked!
At his feet lay the onesie he had been wearing. It had dropped right off his ghost body. I remembered that his pyjamas were still at the house.
I tipped my head back and gave in to a hysterical mix of crying and laughter.
When I had calmed down a little I wiped my eyes and focused on Peter. He was glaring at me, with his hands over his manhood.
“You know what they say,” I giggled, “revenge is a dish best served cold, and naked.”
“Emily!” His eyes darted to the other witches, who were also starting to giggle.
I shrugged. “I don’t know what to do now,” I told him.
“I do.” A pretty girl in her mid-twenties came forward.
“Are you Theresa?” I asked.
She nodded. “Here, take my hand and hold the other out to Peter. He’s bound to you, right?”
“Yes.” Peter rested his hand over mine as we had tried once before. I felt the bond straightaway; we were still connected.
“Good.” Theresa smiled with approval, “That’s the hardest bit. Now just imagine him surrounded by white light and repeat after me.
“Halloween moon, blessed night,
surround this man with cleansing light,
whatever keeps him, set it free,
release his bonds, so mote it be.”
I repeated her spell three times. Peter and I stared into each other’s eyes as I said the words, trying to convey everything we wanted to say, but really there wasn’t much, only that in the last few hours he had become special and I would miss him. As I said the verse a final time, he mouthed “goodbye”, smiled and glowed, and then he was gone.
“Goodbye,” I whispered, “rest in peace.”
Just like that, I felt the bond fade, and suddenly I was freezing cold on a dark autumn night, feeling lonely and overwhelmed.
As if sensing my need, Bob flew down and landed on my shoulder. I stroked his little head. “Let’s get out of here,” he said quietly.
I quickly got dressed and then thanked the witches one by one. Iris came up to me last of all. “I suppose you’d like me to take you to your party now?” she said, giving me a quick hug. I could see she was really proud of my performance.
“Yes, please.” I had no idea how I was supposed to act in this situation, but I couldn’t wait to get back to my normal life, where I knew exactly what I wanted. “But would you mind if we went and picked up Duncan first? I wouldn’t want him to think I went to the party without him.”
She looked at me in surprise, but I didn’t explain. I was going to be much nicer to Duncan from now on.
Fifteen minutes later Iris dropped Duncan and me off at Tamsin’s house. I could hear the song “I Put a Spell on You” blaring out from inside, and there were cut-out ghosts and witches in the windows.
Duncan made a decent vampire in his costume. I wondered about setting him up with Kate, she was such a “Twilight” fan.
As the door opened I thought I would feel sick with nerves wondering if Sean was going to be there and if he would talk to me, but after everything I had been through in the last day, I felt surprisingly confident.
I quickly found Bryony and Kate. Bryony was flirting with a boy I recognised as one of Sean’s friends. Kate was standing to one side looking a bit left out. I hugged them both.
“Where have you been all day?” Kate asked, “I’ve been ringing your phone but it was always switched off.”
“Sorry,” I apologised, “just some family stuff I had to sort out.”
“Is everything alright now?”
“Yes.” I smiled.
“Hey, Kate, do you think you could chat to Duncan for a bit? I don’t see any of his friends here yet.”
“Sure,” she smiled coyly at Duncan. He looked delighted and a bit star struck at the sight of her in her ‘“Buffy” outfit. How had I never noticed before that they might like each other?
I soon spotted Sean chilling in the kitchen. He was dressed as a zombie. I laughed when I saw his costume. He looked absolutely nothing like the zombies I had accidentally raised. Much better-looking, for a start. I walked over.
He leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. He smelled a million times better than my zombies as well.
“I was starting to worry you weren’t coming,” he said, flashing lovely white teeth at me.
“I wouldn’t have missed this party for anything,” I said, knowing full well now that it was the truth.
He tilted his head, eyeing me appraisingly. “You seem different somehow.”
I laughed again. “Do I?”
But he was right, I did feel different. I was different. For a start, the old me would never have approached him; I would have waited for him to come to me, and then I would have been really edgy and under-confident. Not any more.
He offered me a glass of “eyeball” fruit punch. I sipped it, smiling at him and listening to him talk. I didn’t add much, just watched the way he ran his fingers through his hair, the way he was focused only on me.
Then I watched him and his friends do the full dance to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”, and clapped appreciatively.
Eventually we moved out to a bench in the garden, only able to see each other by the light of the moon and the flickering of several candles that stood inside carved pumpkins.
It wasn’t the most romantic song in the world, but he leaned in to kiss me as the “Ghostbusters” theme tune started in the house, filtering out of the living room window.
It was funny how the lyrics made me feel powerful. I was a ghost buster, in a friendly nice way. I was a “righteous witch”, as Peter had said.
Instead of ducking my head, or turning away in fear at the last second, as I might have done before, I was ready for this moment.
Under a Halloween full moon, Sean Carrey kissed me, and I kissed him back.
I had earned this moment. Who knew what the future would hold, what other talking animals I would encounter, what ghosts I might have to help, what other spells I would cast that would cause complete mayhem, and whether my magic would be a major part of my life or just another element of who I was?
None of that mattered as I experienced my first real kiss.
This was one Halloween I would never forget.
The End
I hope you enjoyed this book, and please don't forget to leave a review. Thank you! Stella x
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Werewolf Magic & Mayhem (Book Two)
New witch Emily Rand and her crow Familiar, Bob, are back for a full length bout of magical mayhem. Emily is approached by a handsome werewolf called Fletcher who wants her to cure him of his affliction. Despite her lack of experience, Emily decides to try to help Fletcher. Unfortunately her spells aren’t known for going according to plan, and Emily accidentally divides Fletch from his human body and brings forth his inner wolf in a very real sense. Now she has to find a way to put it right by the next full moon or Fletcher will be stuck as a wolf forever.
You can get it on iTunes here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/werewolf-magic-mayhem-book/id868269388
Available from Stella Wilkinson
The Flirting Games (Free!)
More Flirting Games
Further Flirting Games
The Flirting Games Trilogy Edition
Good @ Games
Halloween Magic & Mayhem (Free!)
Werewolf Magic & Mayhem
Notice Me
A Christmas Gift
Multi-Author Anthologies
Something to Read on the Ride
Something for the Journey
Somethi
ng to Take on the Trip
Stories on the Go: 101 very short stories by 101 authors
Coming Soon:
Romancing the Stove
Solstice Magic & Mayhem
For more details of upcoming new releases please check the website: www.stellawilkinson.com
About the Author
Stella Wilkinson lives in Somerset, the orchard of England, land of cheddar cheese and cider.
When she isn't cleaning mud off her boots, she wallows in a world where best friends, boys, flirting, kissing and the occasional paranormal creature are what she thinks and writes about.
As well as The Flirting Games series, she has two stand alone novels and another series titled Magic & Mayhem, which are young adult romantic comedies about a disastrous witch and her crow.
She has nine books currently available, and is of course writing the next one.
She also compiled and edited three anthologies for a children's hospital charity, which feature over seventy authors, including Stella, who all contributed short stories to the collection.
She hopes you enjoy the books and looks forward to catching up any time you feel like emailing her through her website. Also check the website for details of upcoming new releases!
www.stellawilkinson.com
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