Charmed to Death

by Rose Pressey

  “Oh, no. We have to get him.” I jumped out of the car and took off down the sidewalk.

  I didn’t want to let this cat get away. There was something about him. He seemed insistent on being with us. So why now had he run away?

  “Stop,” I yelled out.

  “Here, kitty,” my mother screamed out as her sandals flip-flopped against the pavement.

  Of course the cat didn’t listen. He kept on down the sidewalk, as if on a mission. Did he know where he was going? There was just something about this cat that was strange. I wondered if he was doing this on purpose. Was he leading us somewhere?

  “I think he wants us to follow him,” I said as we ran along.

  She was trying to keep up.

  “These shoes aren’t meant for running,” she said, pointing to her silver sandals.

  I hadn’t worn my sneakers either.

  “You’d think if he wanted us to follow him that he would slow down just a little bit. Doesn’t he know that I’m not a marathon runner?” My mother huffed and puffed.

  “I’m not sure the cat thinks about that,” I said.

  “Well, then how can he be leading us somewhere if he doesn’t think about things like that?”

  “I guess you do have a point. Maybe I was just imagining all of this. Maybe we should just let him go.”

  “He may not want us to get him and make him stop,” my mother said.

  “Maybe that was why he took off in the first place, he didn’t want to be around us. Though he did seem awfully comfortable at the manor when I found him there.”

  I wasn’t sure how long I could keep up the pace with chasing the cat. Where was he going? He acted as if he knew exactly where he was headed. For all I knew maybe he did. It was a crazy thought, but was he going to the cemetery where I’d seen the witch? This was certainly in that direction. It must just be a coincidence. There was no way the cat was taking me there. Oh, unless he was luring me there on purpose. A spooky feeling crept across my skin when the thought crossed my mind.

  Nevertheless, we kept following the cat down the sidewalk. A bit longer and he made a left turn. He moved much faster than a regular cat, as if he had some kind of special energy or something. Maybe he had a bit of a spell placed on him as well. It was dark now and it was even creepier that way. Why did I always seem to come back here in the dark?

  “Where do you think he’s taking us?” my mother asked.

  “I think maybe he’s leading us to that graveyard,” I said.

  At least that was my gut instinct.

  “Maybe we should turn around now?” she asked.

  “We’ve come too far to turn back around,” I said. “Besides, I have my magic to help me.”

  No matter that the witch had knocked me down. That was just a minor setback.

  The graveyard came into view. The cat was at the end of the alleyway, waiting for us to catch up. So far I didn’t see the witch waiting there for us. The cat was obviously leading us back here for a reason. I was sure of that now. This was just too much to be a coincidence. At the end of the alleyway, I stopped in my tracks. So did the cat.

  Up ahead was the witch. Our eyes met. Nicolas, Liam, and Annabelle were nowhere to be seen. My mother released a little gasp when she saw the witch there. The cat stepped aside. He meowed as if he was yelling at the witch. I was surprised that I didn’t run away when I saw her evil face. Not only did she look mean, she gave off a bad vibe too.

  “Where are my friends?” I demanded.

  I would only give her a short time to answer before I pulled out some magic on her. She moved closer to me, step by step. At least she didn’t rush up on me. Her movement was slow, as if she was taunting me.

  “You didn’t answer my question.”

  She kept her eyes focused on me the entire time. It made me uncomfortable, but I wouldn’t back down. I wouldn’t let her think she had the upper hand. I was completely in control. She was right in front of me now. She didn’t take her eyes off me.

  Chapter 15

  The witch stared right at me. She never even looked over at my mother, as if she wasn’t even around. But it was two against one. Didn’t she realize that? I guessed she thought she was so powerful that it didn’t matter. Maybe she’d heard that my witchcraft was bad. News update for her, it wasn’t that way anymore. Okay, so I had the occasional hiccup here and there, but for the most part it was flawless. I didn’t take my eyes off of her. I wasn’t about to back down.

  “Let her have it, Halloween,” my mother said.

  It was probably best if she didn’t talk smack. A heavy, dreadful feeling hung in the air. I was ready for this spell. I lifted up my arms and pointed them toward the witch and started to recite the words. She didn’t appear to be scared of me, but that was okay. She would be once I was finished with her.

  Before I had a chance to cast any spell the cat made this loud noise that hurt my ears.

  My mother clasped her hands over her ears. “Oh, why is the cat doing that?”

  The cat launched up and toward the witch. At that point she actually screamed. It was an odd sound considering she had been trying to be so tough. The next thing I knew the witch turned and ran down the alley. I stood there in shock at what had just happened. My mother and I looked at each other, but still didn’t speak. I was trying to wrap my mind around what had just happened. Had the cat really just scared the witch away? Yeah, that was exactly what it had looked like. I totally hadn’t expected that. It was a good thing though. Now I didn’t have to worry about casting a spell against her. Lucky for her.

  “I can’t believe what just happened,” my mother said.

  The cat was just sitting there, staring at me. I knelt down so that I could talk face-to-face with him. Well, not quite face-to-face, but it was as close as I could get. I wasn’t sure if he would let me pick him up right now, or if he wanted to take off again.

  “Kitty, why did you do that? Who are you? Are you here to help me?” I asked.

  He meowed loudly. I was really starting to warm up to this little guy.

  “Well, thank you very much,” I said, rubbing his head. He didn’t run away.

  Although I could have handled the witch on my own, I was grateful for the help. I needed to save all the energy I could so that I could find Annabelle, Nicolas, and Liam. Though now that the witch was gone I wasn’t sure where to look. I supposed casting a spell on her to get the truth while she was here would have been better.

  The cat meowed out again, and then turned and walked away. He didn’t go back down the alleyway in the direction we had just come from, though. He was walking past the cemetery.

  “Where are you going?” I asked as I hurried after him.

  My mother was right behind me. “Where do you think he’s going?”

  “I don’t know, but I think he’s taking us somewhere else important. Maybe the cat knows where to find Nicolas, Liam, and Annabelle.”

  “Oh, that is ridiculous. How could he? He can’t possibly know.”

  “I don’t know, but where else could he be taking us?” I said. “He just got rid of the witch for me. Maybe he knows something else.”

  “Well, I guess we’ll soon find out,” she said.

  We continued to follow the cat, unsure of where we were headed. I felt more at ease around the cat now, so that was always a plus. Finally after a while he stopped. He looked up at the tall building and then meowed.

  “Is this where we’re supposed to go?” my mother asked.

  I felt like I was talking to Lassie. The cat was almost smiling at me.

  “I don’t know, but since he’s stopped in front of the building I assume this is where we’re supposed to go.”

  “Is the door locked?” my mother asked.

  I tried the knob and it turned, so I pushed the door open. It squeaked loudly as I opened it. The place was dim and full of cobwebs. That appeared to be about it. It looked as if no one had been here for years.

  “What was this place befor
e?” I asked my mother.

  “Just a bunch of office buildings is all that I remember,” she said.

  “Oh, yeah, that’s right. Now I remember,” I said.

  My mother and I stepped further inside, trying to avoid any broken pieces in the floor or any other dangerous obstacle. I wasn’t sure how safe this place was. It could be condemned for all I knew. Plus, I didn’t even know why I was in here. A chill came over me and I thought about turning and leaving, but then I remembered Nicolas, Liam, and Annabelle. I had to go further. My mother was beside me so at least I wasn’t alone. The cat was behind us, making sure we went inside. I reached the end of the hall and didn’t know which way to go next. The cat raced in front of us and turned to the left. My mother and I exchanged a book.

  “I guess he wants us to go in that room right there,” my mother said.

  “Yeah, I guess so,” I said.

  We stepped into the room. It was even dimmer in there.

  “I have to say, kitty, I’m not sure why you brought us here.’

  As I moved across the floor toward the window I stumbled over something that was in the middle of the room. When I looked down I spotted a phone.

  “That’s odd,” I said.

  When I touched the screen it lit up and I knew immediately who this phone belonged to. This explained why the kitty had brought us here.

  “It’s Annabelle’s phone,” I said.

  “Are you sure?” my mother asked.

  “The screen saver is a unicorn and her phone case has a picture of one too. That’s definitely her.” I scrolled through the phone and saw my number as the last one who had called her. “I have to check this whole building and see if she’s still here.”

  My mother and I rushed out of the room. The cat ran down the hallway. He was standing by the exit door. He meowed loudly.

  “We can’t leave now, kitty, we still have to look through the rest of the building,” I said.

  He meowed again and pawed at the door, but I ignored him. I wasn’t going to just leave without looking. We went to the second floor and checked every room. There was no sign of them. No other belongings. Had the witch brought them here? Was there some connection or was this just a random place? And where were they now?

  When we ran downstairs the cat was still waiting by the door. He meowed.

  “Okay, kitty, so you knew they weren’t in here, but I had to check for myself.”

  I opened the door and he raced outside ahead of us.

  “I need to check Annabelle’s phone to see if there were any unusual calls placed,” I said.

  Before I had a chance my cell rang. I hoped it was Nicolas, Liam or Annabelle. No such luck though. I thought I recognized the number, but I wasn’t sure. When I answered, I realized it was Cassandra Delaney, the leader of the vampires.

  “I need to speak to you. Can you meet me?” she asked.

  “Well, I’m kind of in the middle of something. My fiancé, his brother, and my best friend are missing. The witch took them away.”

  “That’s what I wanted to talk to you about,” she said.

  “I’ll be there right away. Where should I meet you?”

  “I’m at my office now if it’s convenient for you,” she said.

  “I’ll be there soon,” I said, ending the call.

  “What was that all about?” my mother asked.

  “The vampire leader wants to talk to me about the situation. We’ll go there right away. I hope she has good news for us,” she said.

  My mother and I rushed down the alleyway, back toward her car. The cat was running along beside us. When we reached her car, I scooped him up and placed them inside.

  “I don’t care if you don’t like it, you’re going with us,” I said.

  He didn’t argue with any more meows, nor did he try to get out of the car. So it seemed he was fine with going with us. My mother pulled away from the curb with a loud screeching of tires.

  “You’re going to get a ticket if you keep driving like this.”

  “I’m sure the police will understand.”

  Luckily we weren’t far from the office. Within a short time we pulled up to the building and pulled into a good parking spot right up front.

  “Did you use magic to do that?” I asked.

  My mother just winked.

  Chapter 16

  It seemed as if it had been a year ago since I’d been there for the meeting, but in reality, it was just a few short days ago. We parked the car and headed toward the building.

  “I don’t think I’ve ever been here before,” my mother said.

  “Well, you’re not a vampire. You would have no reason to come here,” I said.

  “Good point,” she said.

  We reached the door and I pushed the button to alert them that they had guests.

  “I can’t believe it’s so secure,” she said.

  “I guess it’s just part of their thing. You know, they can come out in the sun.”

  “Yes, I’m aware.” My mother smiled. “Remember, I’ve been around Nicolas and Liam quite a bit now.”

  “Yes, I recall,” I said.

  The woman who answered the door was the same one who had led me back to the meeting room. She looked just as annoyed with my presence this time as she had the last time. I wasn’t sure why, but I didn’t think she liked me much.

  “We have a meeting with the leader,” I said.

  She led us down that same darkened hallway, but this time we went to a different room instead of the big conference room. The door was open so she just motioned for us.

  “You can go ahead and go in. If Cassandra’s not in there she’ll be right back. She never goes far.”

  I tried to smile, hoping that would warm her up. She didn’t smile in return. What was I thinking? She was unimpressed with me. She walked away and my mother and I stepped into the office.

  “I don’t like that woman much,” my mother said.

  “Ditto for me,” I said.

  Cassandra wasn’t there. Her computer was on though.

  “It looks as if she just stepped out for a moment,” my mother said.

  We sat in the chairs in front of her desk and waited. Ten minutes passed and she still hadn’t returned.

  “This is weird. You should call her and let her know we’re here,” my mother said.

  “Good idea,” I said.

  “And tell her to hurry,” she said.

  I dialed her number, but she didn’t pick up. I couldn’t wait much longer.

  “We need to go,” I said.

  “She’ll just have to call you back. We can always meet her somewhere else. It’s kind of rude, don’t you think?” my mother said as we stood from the chairs.

  “Well, maybe something happened and she couldn’t make it.”

  “She should have called,” my mother said.

  “Maybe something happened to her phone,” I said.

  “If you say so,” my mother said with a sigh.

  We stepped back out into the dark hallway and back down to the receptionist’s desk. She was sitting behind there filing her nails into sharpened points. The plaque on the top on the desk had the name Marissa Anthony.

  “They look like claws,” my mother whispered.

  It did kind of look like she might claw our eyes out with them.

  As we approached the desk I said, “Cassandra never came back. Do you know if maybe she had an appointment?”

  She stared at me for a moment as if agitated that I would dare ask. “You know, now that I think about it, she did leave with a few people.”

  “And who was that?” I asked.

  She shrugged. “I don’t know. Three people, two guys and a girl.”

  I froze. “Do you happen to know what they looked like?”

  “Two guys and a girl,” she said again, clearly agitated. “Other than that I don’t know.”

  I sensed my mother’s anxiety. She was tensing up and I knew she was getting irritated with this woman. I hope
she didn’t cast a spell against her soon. That was the last thing I needed—for my mother to turn her into a toad. That was my mother’s go-to spell when she was mad at someone. Luckily, she didn’t get mad often and usually she only kept the person that way for a couple seconds, just enough to freak them out.

  “Okay, both guys are extremely good-looking with dark hair and the girl looks kind of like me with blonde hair,” I said.

  She stared blankly. “If two good-looking guys came in here I think I would remember.”

  Good point. I guessed it was just a coincidence that it happened to be two guys and a girl.

  “So Cassandra didn’t say when she would be back?” I said.

  “No, she doesn’t tell me every single move she makes.”

  “What an attitude,” my mother said.

  I completely agreed with her, but I was too busy looking for the three of them to worry about this woman’s bad attitude. I needed to get my mother out of there before this escalated. I grabbed her by the arms

  “Thanks a lot,” I said over my shoulder.

  “Why are you thanking her? She did nothing but cause you trouble. Plus, she gave you an attitude,” my mother said as we headed out the door.

  We went to the parking lot and around to the back area. That was when I noticed the car with the door open. There was one black shoe next to the car. I recognized it was Cassandra’s vehicle.

  “What is that?” My mother said.

  My mother and I walked over to check it out more. A strange feeling settled in the pit of my stomach. Something told me that this possibly could be related to Cassandra not being there when she said she would. What if she had stepped outside for a moment and someone had gotten her… someone like the murderer?

  “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” my mother asked.

  “Yeah, that the murderer has been here,” I said.

  “No, that it was a really bad idea to leave your car door open.”

  I rolled my eyes and then spotted the cell phone on the ground.

  I reached down and picked up the phone. I touched the screen and saw that my number had been the last one called.

  “This is Cassandra’s phone,” I said.