Sealing Death

by Basil E. Bacorn

  "Char-Char!" Stella squealed. "Charles!" his grandma called. "Stop!" he shouted, but it was too late. Charlie watched in horror as walls lifted up from the ground and surrounded them all. "What's going on!" Will yelled.

  Then he came. Sid Saxton appeared next to Will. "Me." he answered, "I certainly didn't forget you, Prince Will! You were so scared when we first met! Ha!"

  Cassie walked up to Saxton and gulped, "You're dead. I did it. Don't make me do it again." Saxton laughed and reminded, "Nobody can die, and there's something else. Your powers are subdued, and there are no daggers within a mile of here. You know, the trauma."

  He flicked her nose and whispered, "You're doomed, Cassandra."

  Saxton Freezes

  Cassie growled as she tried to catch the man on fire. "Give up, Cassandra!" Saxton teased, "Just accept it. Saxton is back-ston. That was the worst catchphrase ever. I have a list if you wanted to help me, no? Ok." He sure was enjoying himself.

  Charlie was numb. He didn't know how long he was tied up, but he couldn't move. He looked at his ex-girlfriend. Why did she have to be so pretty! Stop it. Charlie didn't have time to think about her right now, he needed to get a plan to stop this guy. He thought and thought, but got nothing.

  Stella didn't know this guy. Not personally anyway. When she was spying on Cassie, she did catch a glimpse of the attack, and the killing part, but she had to turn it off. Blood freaked her out. "So Sid," Stella began, "could you tell me how you know my friend?"

  Sid Saxton stared at the girl. She wasn't at Camp Silver Shadow. "I'd be happy to!" he piped, "Your friend killed me! That is it. And I think I deserve justice!" He turned to Susan. "You don't know how to raise children!" he yelled as he slapped her, hard enough that she fell to the ground. James leapt at him, and received a throat punch in return, sending him down with Susan.

  Cassie couldn't take it. She ran at him as fast as she could and jumped. Saxton simply held out his hand and she flew back and slammed against the wall. "You people are so, OUCH!" Saxton was interrupted by a knitting needle stab in his leg. He turned furiously and there stood a little old lady. "This will be entertaining!" he announced, walking towards her.

  Saxton started to swing and got hit in the head by a heel. His gaze fell on the shoeless Stella. He raised his hand and everything went black. Betty wrapped a scarf she knitted around his head and pushed him back. He stumbled backwards, and ripped the scarf off in time to see Will's crazed face as he tackled him down.

  "Enough!" he ordered, throwing Will next to Cassie. "Mr.?" Vanessa asked, "How do you have magic if Cassie doesn't?" Sid waltzed over to the twins and replied, "I only blocked her magic, that's how."

  Vanessa smiled and kicked him in the shin and grabbed Vander's hand. They hadn't practiced much, but they had to try. Vanessa raised her hand and the ground flew up and smashed into Saxton's chin. Vander giggled, pointed at the dazed creep and watched as he raised in the air and stuck to the ceiling of their trap.

  "What!" he screamed, "Toddlers?" He held out his hand and flames sprung towards the twins. They jumped out of the way and Saxton plummeted to the ground and landed with a thud. He had pain all over, and his back was almost crushed. He stood up and enclosed Vander in a soundproof box made up of rocks.

  "I'd like to see you pull any tricks now!" he joked, "Now, you are doomed!"

  Stella threw her other heel as a pathetic last attempt to win. Saxton simply scorched it mid-air. He was right. They were doomed.

  Charlie was no help whatsoever, since he was probably the last choice for the hero in his current position. And that was including the rock next to his cage.

  Will laid next to Cassie, trying not to draw any attention to himself. How were they going to beat this guy? Cassie had no magic, and he was just too powerful for the untrained twins! Will wished someone would come up with an idea.

  Betty stared at the man. She wanted to spit on him. There had to be something she could do, but she had no idea what.

  Vander was stuck in his dirt prison. That was just rude to stick him in there! He was only a kid! Now he is a kid in a lot of trouble.

  Vanessa needed to get to her brother, but the dirt was in the way. They can only do magic if they can touch, see, or hear each other, and at the moment they couldn't.

  James looked at his wife and kids. This is how it was going to end. At least they were together.

  Cassie felt useless. She had never felt so hopeless. Usually, she could count on her friends and family, but they were all pretty much trapped as well. Cassie remembered how the Ice Queen volunteered to help if they needed it, and they definitely did, but there was no way to contact her, right?

  Susan sat on the ground. There had to be something that they could do! She couldn't believe this one guy had them all trapped! One man against all of them and he won. How is that remotely possible! It wasn't possible! Susan got a cold chill. Cold? The Ice Queen!

  Susan reached in her pocket and ripped out the magic icicle the Ice Queen gave her. She took it in her hands, snapped it in two, and threw it at the creep's head. "What was that for!" he yelled as the icicle shattered on the ground. A brisk wind blew around the room, lowering the temperature below freezing. Frost formed on the walls and Sid Saxton looked at the sights impatiently. "What are you doing?" he interrogated, "And how?"

  Snow quickly formed and whirled together in a mini snow-tornado in front of Saxton. The blizzard ended suddenly, leaving behind a woman with an icy glare. "Well if it isn't Mr. Saxton up to his old tricks!" she barked.

  "You know him!" Stella yelped. "We have a history." Sisilla explained, "The man with the plan has commitment issues. He turned and ran the other way when he heard he was a father." Sid growled, "Miss Winters, we were on the verge of splitting up long before Jack came!" He stepped forward. "What are you doing here?" he insisted to know, "I'm in the middle of some very important business."

  "That's why I am here!" Sisilla grinned, "To stop you. Or what's the word, FREEZE!!!" As the Ice Queen said the word, she thrust her arm forward, releasing a wave of ice and snow on her ex. Within seconds, Saxton was frozen solid and as harmful as an ugly ice sculpture.

  "Now let's get you all out of here." the queen beamed. She clenched her fists slowly, and ice scattered up the walls and in every nook and cranny there was. With the quick opening of her hand, all of the ice crystals doubled in size, causing the wall to crumble.

  Charlie was amazed. And limp still. "Hey!" he called, "Can you get me outta here?" Sisilla swayed over to the cage and waved her hand over the lock, freezing it. Then, she simply yanked it off. The Ice Queen opened the door and dragged Charlie out. Betty ran over and cut him free.

  "I can't move." he admitted, "I'm numb." "What?" Betty wondered. "I've been tied up so long I can't walk." Charlie said, flopping on the ground like a fish out of water.

  "I have an idea." Sisilla explained. She pointed at the ground and made a path of ice straight to the vehicles. "Now you can just slide him across the ground." the Ice Queen explained. Cassie dragged Charlie onto the ice and he slid easily. "This is easy!" Cassie exclaimed, "Thank you Sisilla!" The queen smiled, "It was nothing, I owe you my life, because you saved my son's."

  Susan grinned and sighed. Cassie was so good at making friends. She even made friends with the Ice Queen! Susan couldn't understand how anyone could dislike her.

  Charlie slid across the ice, being pushed around by his ex-girlfriend. Somehow, he always thought it would happen, but not literally. "Cassie," Charlie began, "I made a mistake when I ran off, can we be friends again?"

  Cassie thought that Charlie wouldn't wait a second once they saved him to get back together, but he just wants to be friends! She figured it was for the better and replied, "Of course! You are my best friend still." She wanted him to be her boyfriend, but she was apparently going to have to move on.

  Once everyone gathered at the wrecked vehicles, James drove the cop car backwards so they could proceed. Sisilla had already returned to her realm with her icy
work. There was no way they were going to allow Saxton to thaw anytime soon. It had been determined that the adults and the twins would join Cassie's group on the mission, since it was going to take all the help they could get.

  Vanessa ran up to her mother as they loaded up and whispered, "Coming along won't help, one will die, and the knight will go back." Susan shushed her child. She didn't want Cassie knowing that they knew someone was going to die.

  Once Betty got in the cruiser as they had before, the band took off to the next realm.

  Beating The Beat

  The batch of heroes came through the loose end and landed on a giant xylophone. The vehicles slid down to the bottom, creating a perfect descending D major scale. At the end, the bunch landed on some perfectly tuned timpanis and bounced down onto a tuba. They slid inside and flew out of the mouth piece, flying through the metal scented air and plopping on the back of a double bass.

  "I'm gonna go out on a limb here, and say that we are in the Musical Realm." Will assumed. Cassie looked at him and said, "Ya think?!" Cassie had her eyes set on Will. Her of all people should know that everyone deserves a second chance.

  Will got out and eyed the situation. They needed to get up there somehow, preferably with the vehicles. "How?" he sighed.

  Cassie waved to him. "I can transport us there, remember?" she reminded loudly. It was pretty loud where they were. There had to be billions of huge instruments playing at once. Right now they were blaring the chorus of "Can Can". Cassie raised her hand and heard an ear-piercing, out of tune note, causing the instruments to temporarily stop playing. "What was that?" Cassie asked.

  Mr. Braddock knew the answer. "It's because all magic has a tune, but you normally don't hear it." he briefed, "In the Musical Realm, all music is amplified enormously, so unless you can hit the right note to fit in with what they are playing, you get no magic."

  Cassie shook her hand and jogged in place. She had to get warmed up, because they had to be rushing the song. When the chorus came up, she raised her hand with every note for the first part, and she heard the music vibrate out of her. Smoke rolled in every direction and surrounded everyone. They all slowly floated up, as did all of the instruments.

  Seeing the circumstances, the instruments switched songs from what they were playing to "The Blue Danube". Cassie snickered and then it hit her. How were they going to get to the portal now?

  Susan drifted out the window and tried to swim back, but it didn't work. "Cassie!" she yelled, "I don't think this is helping!"

  Stella only had one heel left and right now it was floating toward the trumpets. "NOO!!" she called as it was sucked inside one. The trumpet lurched and shook, clearly trying to get it out. It smashed into the one next to it, sending the victim careening towards Stella. "Ahh!" she screamed as it slammed into her.

  Will drifted aimlessly through the air. He saw Susan fly out the window, and dodged a heel. The trumpet choked and he watched as Stella got overtook by the brass. "Stella!" he called as she wafted into the cello section and got shot away by the bow.

  Charlie was no use. He was still numb, and when Stella crashed into him he simply was pushed in the direction of the bass drum. The bass drum! He watched as he flew closer and closer to the colossal mallet, smashing on the drum. It went "BANG BANG! BANG BANG!" with the music.

  Betty got her ball of yarn out from her pack and unwound it a bit before throwing it to her grandson. The ball unraveled as it went, and it flew past Charlie. He tried to grab it, but his arm drifted behind his head. There was only one muscle he could use, so he opened his mouth and bit down on the string, and Betty pulled him in.

  Vander and Vanessa bumped into each other, and with a bright flash, everyone fell to the ground.

  Charlie landed in a hanging position on the leg of a music stand. "Ouch!" he yelped as the bar more than likely bruised several internal organs.

  Cassie kicked a stone at the van. Now they were further away than before! Not to mention all of the angry instruments that laid all over probably wouldn't be of any help. The instruments didn't play at all, so it was completely silent, except for the low growling of the Scarrcedenhogg in the distance.

  The beast was now at the gate opening. Since it was imprisoned deep inside Death, it took a while for it to get to the exit. A monster of its size took a lot of energy to move, so it was incredibly slow unless it was under attack. The Scarrcedenhogg looked around with its hundred heads. At all times, at least one of them was growling. The beast roared as loud as it ever has and smashed through the Death Realm exterior and slithered into the nothing where it used to live.

  The beast eyed the nearby realms and moved towards the Realm of Hats. A very pathetic realm, all it had was hats. All sorts of hats, top hats, fedoras, and wizard caps. It had them all. As the Scarrcedenhogg swam to it, its tail slammed against Death, tilting it slightly.

  In the Musical Realm, Cassie had Betty and Will hand out ear plugs. She was tired of messing around and was going to lift them to the portal even if she made the worst sound in existence. Cassie had everyone get in their rides and clapped her hands together. The vehicles lurched and began to fly as a deafening squeal echoed through the realm and to every point in Reality.

  The Scarrcedenhogg made its way to the Hat Realm and heard an awful noise that made it twist and turn. It thrashed around wildly and knocked the Hat Realm far away. The beast roared loudly and settled for an equally pathetic realm. The Realm of Shoes. It turned to the realm and snarled loudly. Heads flew in and in a split second, shoes were everywhere and the realm was gone.

  Cassie was almost to the crack. The screeching was as loud as it could be, and finally they tumbled in. Cassie's vision became fuzzy, and before she knew what the next realm looked like, she blacked out.

  Fear Your Reflection

  Cassie woke up. She was alone. What could have happened? The van and cop car were obviously deserted. They wouldn't leave her would they? Something was wrong.

  She stood up and heard Charlie yelling her name. There were mirrors everywhere, and Cassie had trouble finding her way around them. "Charlie?" she called out. "Cassie!" he yelled. He was sprawled out on the floor, still limp. "What is going on?!" Cassie inquired. Charlie moved his arm. "We were ambushed by these people." he explained, "They were reflections of us. My reflection carried me here."

  Cassie gasped, "What about my reflection?" "It can't escape unless you touch it." Charlie explained, "They were talking about it. Apparently unless you bring her out, she'll be powerless. It happened with the twins. They escaped, but they are powerless."

  "Cassie!" someone shouted. It was Will! "Will! Over here!" Will ran over. "I've been looking all over for you guys!" he said, "Those reflections are awful!" Cassie walked up to her friend. "Yeah, definitely." Cassie agreed, "Will, where are the others?" Will smiled, "Follow me!"

  Cassie grabbed Will's hand, and made a fireball. "OUCH!" he yelled, tripping backwards, "What was that for?!" Cassie grinned and explained, "Because you're not Will."

  Reflection Will jumped up. "How did you know?" he cursed. Cassie kicked him in the stomach and he fell up against the mirror. "Your sweatshirt that says 'Prince'." she began, as he started to return to the mirror, "It's backwards!" Cassie pointed at the writing. "It's a dead giveaway!" Charlie yelled. Cassie waved good bye to Reflection Will as he was fully absorbed by the looking glass.

  "Good work, Cassandra!" Charlie teased, now standing behind her. "Hello Not Charlie!" Cassie greeted, blasting him away. He tumbled backwards and returned to the mirror just like Reflection Will. "Now where are my real friends?" she wondered, jetting up into the sky, dodging mirrors.

  Above the dangers, Cassie looked around. She saw two of her mom, two of her dad, two sets of twins, and two of Charlie's grandma. She searched some more and found a limp Charlie with Stella, and Will with Stella. The issue was that Will and Charlie weren't even close to each other!

  Cassie swooped down to Will. "Hey Will!" she piped, "Some reflections told me what h
appened, are you all okay?" Will nodded. "Good." Cassie sighed, "Now for the second order of business." Cassie pulled Will close and kissed him right in front of Stella. When she pulled away, she got slapped in the face by Stella. Cassie smiled big and looked at the tag on her shirt. It was all facing the right way.

  Charlie had been laying limp where his reflection left him. Stella had found him, but was acting strange. She was strange as is, but she was acting different.

  "Charles?" she began, "Do you think those reflections are coming back?" Charlie rolled a little so he could see her. Did she just call him Charles? "I don't know, but hopefully Cassie wakes up and finds us soon." he answered, "She should know what to do."