by Unknown
“Emissio!” he shouted. He could feel the energy raging through his body pouring into his palm, but nothing happened. He planted his feet firmly against the ground, taking a deep breath to calm himself.
“Emissio,” he repeated.
This time, the force of energy was so strong he could barley keep his feet planted on the ground.
It worked!
The creatures retreated.
Behind him, both Sebastien and Jae watched in electrified awe. A scream from Meghan regained their attention. The Scratcher was struggling to hold onto her and she was now grasping it firmly, trying not to plummet to the ground far below.
“I’m going to try and pull it down, Sebastien. When I do, grab her, and hold tight.”
“That’s your plan?” yelled Sebastien. “Grab her!” Jae ignored him, focused on his task.
143
“Valeerea,” shouted Jae, his hand shaking. The spell caught the beast, causing him to howl viciously, nearly dropping Meghan, again.
Behind them, Colin repeated his spell. The Scratchers backed off, also strangely appearing caught off guard by Colin’s use of magic.
Jae pulled his imprisoned creature toward Sebastien.
Every muscle in his body raged with power and the fortitude not to give up. He exhausted so much magical energy that his appearance-changing spell stopped working. His normal stringy hair returned, hiding his determined eyes.
Sebastien could see Meghan’s strength waning.
“Hold on Meghan! I can almost reach you,” he shouted.
Her legs dangled in the air as the flying beast held onto her by her shoulders; its claws digging in. Meghan tried to force the claws out of her, but she was too weak. She dangled four feet from the ground now, which meant that the creature’s wings were a danger to Sebastien.
“Grab her now, Sebastien!” instructed Jae, beginning to tire. Sebastien took hold as tight as he could to her legs.
Jae took his free left hand and yelled (still holding the right one strongly), “Emissio!”
The creature, clearly in torment, let go of Meghan.
Sebastien carefully swung her to the ground and cupped his body over hers, protecting her from the creatures floundering wings, as it struggled to remain airborne.
A sharp claw scratched the entire length of Sebastien’s back. Meghan was terrified that Sebastien was seriously injured, but he kept his place protecting her, insisting he was fine.
144
Jae could no longer hold both spells. He let go and collapsed, exhausted.
Colin stopped his own spell and rushed to Jae’s side.
The four got up and with every ounce of strength they had left, ran, leaving the Scratchers flying above, reorganizing for another attack.
“Hurry,” said Jae. “If we can get to the entrance, where there are people, I don’t think they’ll follow.”
“Can you be sure?” asked Meghan, leaning on Sebastien’s arm for support.
“I am not sure about anything anymore,” he replied, as they ran. They did not stop until they came into view of people; people completely oblivious to the danger that lurked overhead.
Children played kickball in the wide park entrance. Two runners left the campground, running in the opposite direction of the foursome, who left the roadway a few feet before the entrance, seeking the coverage of the trees and bushes. Once out of sight they crumpled to the ground.
After a few minutes of catching their breath and gathering their thoughts, Meghan jumped up.
“Sebastien! Your back!”
“I think its okay, it doesn’t hurt much.” She made him roll over and to everyone’s relief, the claws had gone through his shirt, but had not broken through his skin. A long swollen scratch etched from his right shoulder to his lower back. There was no blood.
Jae wanted to heal everyone’s injuries, but he needed time to recover. He turned to Colin.
“I guess I could let you try it, Mr. Magic Man,” he said pompously. Colin knew he had some explaining to do, but had no idea where to begin. The other three waited for his 145
explanation. Colin sensed Meghan trying to break into his thoughts.
“Will you give me a second?” he said aloud to her.
“Sorry,” she replied impatiently.
“Don’t you have some explaining to do, too?” he questioned. This was true, but Colin continued anyway. “I am not sure how it happened. Maybe it has got something to do with my new book.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Meghan asked angrily. “You did not think you could hide it from me did you?”
“You are just getting over being sick, and I didn’t know how to tell you.”
“Has this ever happened to you before?” asked Jae, with growing bewilderment and concern.
“Only since I bought the Magicante.”
“But that book was not with you today,” reminded Sebastien.
“Maybe it was working long distance?” Colin suggested, somewhat sarcastically.
“Perhaps,” said Jae, eying Colin with a new-found wonder.
Now it was Meghan’s turn. The three boys waited for her to explain how she knew the attack was coming. She now blocked her thoughts from Colin, trying to muster an explanation.
The only problem was, she did not understand it herself.
“I…” she stopped, and then said, “It was just intuition.” She knew that was a bad answer. Jae raised his eyebrow, clearly not believing her. Colin knew his sister was lying.
Then again, he had not really told the truth either.
146
“Regardless of whatever is happening with the sudden breakout of magical powers,” said Sebastien. “We should probably get closer to home.”
“We certainly cannot go back looking like this!” said Jae.
It appeared as though they had been in a mini war. Their clothes were torn and their bodies caked with dirt and mud. Plus, all of them, minus Colin, had injuries from the creatures’ sharp talons.
“Since our injuries are small, I think I can fix them,” he said. “Everyone stand close by each other.” He waved his hand and said something inaudible for the rest to hear. In an instant their clothes mended, the mud vanished and their wounds healed. He did the same thing to himself, and then redid his appearance spell.
“I can’t believe I just did all that after a battle,” he said as they departed the woods. “My powers never renew so easily.”
Their gazes grazed the skyline as they walked deeper into the campground.
Meghan was deep in thought, and Sebastien, walking beside her, tried to feel his back, not believing the scratch had vanished. Jae held back, walking alongside Colin.
“I wish I wasn’t leaving tomorrow night. I would like some more time to look over that book again.”
“Do you think you could learn anything about it?”
“Dunno, but you guys have helped me out a ton. I wish I could return the favor.” There was silence between them for a moment, and then Jae added, “However you did it, Colin, that was an awesome show of force. It took me years of practice to do that. Whatever you do, be careful.
You do not want to make any enemies.”
“You mean, like the Scratchers?”
147
“Exactly like the Scratchers.”
They were silent the rest of the way home.
“What do we do now?” asked Meghan, as they approached their uncle’s trailer.
“We go home and pretend that nothing happened,” proposed Sebastien, catching on quickly to the secret filled, magical lifestyle.
“Sounds about right,” frowned Jae.
“I think I could get used to this magic thing,” boasted Colin.
Meghan rolled her eyes, half-amused at his daring behavior, and half-afraid of what it meant.
A fire lit up the Jacoby campsite. Meghan did not trust the fire, unsure of what would happen if she looked into the flames. When she did finally dare to cast a glance, the flames cast no shado
ws or visions, just warmth.
“There you are, we were going to come searching for you all,” said Milo Jendaya. “We thought you might have gotten lost,” he joked.
They sat around the warm fire, thankful for the option not to speak, and simply stared blankly into the flames.
Meghan and Colin eventually linked their minds.
“I am nervous about tomorrow,” said Meghan. “What if something goes wrong and Jae does not get home.”
“He has to,” replied Colin.
“At least you can fight those things off if we need to get away, and you better remember that book this time.” Colin was not fond of the idea of fighting again, with magic at his side or not! His heart quickened at the thought.
“I will remember the book, but what if I can’t do that again, fight them I mean?”
148
Meghan sensed his fear.
“Thanks, Colin.”
“For what?” he asked her.
“I know you, and what you did was, well, brave. If you had not tried it, I don’t want to think where I might be right now, or if I would even still… be.” Colin’s face went pink. A compliment from Meghan.
Brave. Him?
Once again, they lost themselves in the flames. Jae announced he was going home and said goodnight.
Meghan, Colin, and Sebastien watched as he walked away, for what should be his last night with them. They were sad and scared something would go wrong.
Colin began to doze off, leaning his head against his chair. Sebastien and the Jendayas departed. Uncle Arnon awoke the dozing Colin and marched him into the trailer.
“I will put out the fire tonight, Uncle Arnon,” offered Meghan.
“Are you sure you’re feeling up to it?”
“Yeah, it’s actually very relaxing.”
“Okay then. Just be careful.”
Meghan poked around, breaking up the burning embers, when something caught her eye, something moving in the fire. She stepped back, with the poker raised in her hand, ready to strike.
“What is this now?” she asked herself, wondering if perhaps she was just jumpy and had not actually seen anything.
Something jumped out of the fire pit, darting to the edge. Meghan stepped back, aghast, as it meowed at her. It was a cat, with one white eye and one black eye. It had a 149
slim body covered in fine, almost non-existent hair, similar to a Siamese cat.
“Who are you and what do you want?” Meghan asked boldly, realizing she was asking a cat to reply to her question. Then again, it did just jump out of a lit fireplace.
Meghan gasped when the cat did respond, actually speaking to her.
“My master wants to meet you Meghan Chelcy Jacoby,” a cattish, girly voice said.
“Your m-master,” Meghan had only heard this term used in movies. “And why should I do that?” asked Meghan, keeping her distance.
“Do not ask why. It is a great honor to be asked, little girl.”
“Little girl!” Meghan repeated, edging closer to the strange cat. “Now look here, you,” she said a little louder, blocking her mind from her brother, hoping not to raise any suspicion from inside the trailer. “I am not a little girl.”
The cat hissed and meowed back at her.
“You can tell your master that I’m not interested! What am I doing?” she berated herself. “Having an argument with a cat? What’s next?”
Meghan realized that she was so close to the fire pit she was nearly touching it, and was surprised that it did not feel hot, but rather quite comfortable.
“Suit yourself,” the cat hissed, pawing at her. “My master may choose to come and visit you, then!”
“Visit here? Why?”
Maybe she was putting Colin’s and her uncle’s lives in danger by not going with this menacing cat. Maybe this 150
master person could answer some questions about what was happening to her and Colin.
She stepped closer to the cat, within its reach now, her legs touching the fire pit.
“Why should I go with you? Will I be able to get home?”
“You will have to trust me,” it trilled.
“And why should I trust you?”
“I’m leaving. You can either come with me, or stay here,” it purred. Meghan’s eyes rolled anxiously to her family in the trailer, and then back to the cat.
“To come, you simply take hold of me.”
“I’ll burn myself!” Somehow, she knew this was not true.
“I do not think so,” said the cat. “You and fire, let’s just say, get along extremely well.”
Meghan leaned in and grasped hold of the cats back.
“Hold on, it may be a rough ride.”
The cat began to dissolve into the fire, and Meghan’s arm fell into the burning embers; it was a strange sensation, but it did not burn.
Something grabbed her from behind, pulling her out of the fire. The cat meowed viciously, dissolving fully into the flames. Meghan fell back and landed on someone. She rolled over onto the ground.
“What do you think you’re doing?” she asked, before looking.
Jae’s voice answered, startling her.
“Saving you from that Catawitch.” He helped her up.
“You know what that thing is?” she asked him.
“Yes, I caught a glimpse of it from my window. I ran over as fast as I could. You do not want to mess with a Catawitch until you are positive what its true motives are.
They are loyal to their masters, good or bad.” 151
“But why would it want me? It said its master wanted to meet me.”
Jae was instantly alarmed.
“Its master wanted to meet you?” he was silent for a moment. “This is strange, Meghan. You see, those cats rarely come out of the magical world, they do not belong in this one.”
“That thing is from the magical world?” she asked.
“Yes. They are magical cats, loyal only to their masters; so loyal, that they can even give up one of their lives to save them from death.”
“Now that’s a heck of a cat!” exclaimed Meghan. “But that does not explain why it wanted me to come with it.”
“No, it doesn’t. But I would guess it has something to do with what’s been happening to you and your brother.” He paused again, and then said, “I would ignore it if it returns.”
Meghan did not think she would care to go, and was glad she had not.
“Thanks for stopping me,” she said to Jae.
“It is the least I can do after all your help. It certainly has not been boring around here.”
“It is odd you say that, Jae, because before we met you, things were always boring around here. None of these bizarre things ever happened.”
“Maybe after I leave things will go back to normal,” he said, trying to convince himself that his new friends would be safe once he had left. “See you tomorrow,” he said, vanishing into the darkness.
“Yeah, tomorrow,” she replied, feeling even more overwhelmed.
152
She was hopeful that Jae would get home the next night, but her mind was full of doubt. Why were all these strange things happening? Moreover, what was this new problem of the Catawitch, as Jae had called it? Why was the magical world, which they had only just discovered existed, sneaking its way into their boring, normal world?
Inside the trailer, Colin could not hear Meghan’s thoughts, but similar unanswered questions raced through his own mind.
There were no answers.
Later, Colin and Meghan lay in bed, both awake, and both hiding their confused thoughts from each other.
Eventually they drew the same conclusion. Whatever was happening to them would have to wait. Tomorrow was a big day. Tomorrow, they had to be sure that Jae Mochrie returned to his caravan, safe, alive and preferably in one once piece.
153
7
The twins lay in bed early the next morning, having not slept at all. They did not speak or get out of bed right
away. Hearing movement in the kitchen, they knew their uncle was awake. Meghan knew she should make breakfast, and dragged herself out of bed.
“Colin, what’s happening to us?” she asked him unexpectedly. She did not sound scared, but puzzled. He had been up most of the night thinking about the same subject.
“No idea, Sis. It is a peculiar feeling, though. I feel different, but not wrong.” He shrugged, realizing his explanation did not make a lot of sense.
Meghan had not yet told him about the Catawitch from the previous night. She took a deep breath and started.
“Not that this helps answer anything, but last night, another unusual thing happened.”
“When?” he asked.
“While I was putting out the fire,” she explained. “I had a visitor. One I am guessing was not a friendly foe.” She told him about the cat appearing in the fire and asking her to go with it to meet its master, how she had almost gone when it threatened Colin and Uncle Arnon, and how it did not hurt her when she touched the fire.
“What stopped you from going with the Catawitch?”
“Jae. He was the one that told me it was a Catawitch. He also said it was a creature from the magical world.”
“Magical world?” he questioned. “But why?” 154
“I’m not sure, but I have been thinking about it, and I believe it might have something to do with Jae. All these things started during the time we met him.”
“And Jae did hint at more enemies out there than just the Scratchers,” reminded Colin.
“Maybe they are trying to use us, to get to Jae, or his people?” suggested Meghan.
“How can we be sure? What can we even do about it?”
“I think we need to hope that things go back to normal once Jae is gone. I also think Jae might be in a lot more danger than he has led us to believe,” said Meghan.
“But the Catawitch’s visit and Jae being in danger, still does not fully explain what has been happening to us,” said Colin, with an inquisitive look on his face. “There has to be some kind of explanation or connection,” he whispered.
“Colin,” said Meghan apprehensively. “What if that book was not meant for you, but for Jae. Perhaps someone trying to help him. We don’t really know that much about him when it comes down to it. Maybe he was not as alone as we thought.”