Potion of the Hound

by Alicia Scarborough

  Jay offers again, “Look, I can go around to the front and open it from the inside.”

  “No, that won’t work,” Helga replies, “If that brat locked it, then it stays locked, no matter what side of the door you’re on.”

  Ursa argues, “Can’t we plead with the little girl and ask for her to unlock the door?”

  “No, she won’t listen,” Helga explains. She winces as she rubs her injured shoulder.

  “There has to be something we can do,” Jay insists.

  Ursa says nothing, and Helga leans her head against the door. Suddenly her eyes pop open, and she presses her ear against the door to listen.

  Ursa asks, “What is it—”

  “Shhhh,” Helga interrupts, waving her hand at them and leaning in harder. She hears some sort of chant. The color drains from her when she realizes that it is Agnes, on the other side of the door, casting a spell.

  Helga shouts while slamming into the door with her left shoulder, “NO!”

  Jay, noticing the urgency, hands Ruby to Ursa and then helps Helga try and break down the door.

  Helga shouts the whole time, “Agnes, NO! Don’t cast that spell! NO, Agnes, NO!”

  Both of them continue to ram the door when suddenly it opens on its own.

  Helga falls face first into the pool of frogs and toads. Jay follows shortly after with a grunt.

  Not wanting to stop for a second Helga pushes herself up, wincing from the pain, and moves forward towards Agnes.

  She sees Agnes waving her spatula wand in the air like a tornado and whirling around in a circle with her eyes closed and her tongue stuck out blowing a raspberry.

  “AGNES! NO!” Helga screams and reaches forward.

  Helga tries her best to run for her sister, with her right side flaring up with pain, but the toads and frogs prevent her from moving fast.

  As her sister continues her spell, the critters become less and less, and Helga is able to gain some speed. She still screams at Agnes, “Stop, Agnes! Stop! You’ll only make it worse!”

  Agnes continues to twirl around waving her spatula as though she is articulating a rain dance instead of a get-rid-of-slimy-critter dance.

  Helga sees the toads and frogs begin to stream into one spot in the middle of Agnes’s circle. The toads and frogs in the room no longer prevent Helga from moving towards her sister. Also she can see the final toad merge with all the others and become one single creature, sitting at Agnes’s foot.

  Agnes bends down to pick up the creature to show her sister, “See? I knew I could do it.”

  Helga, with no more frogs or toads to wade through, stumbles into Agnes’s circle. She looks down to see the salt line broken.

  “Uh, oh,” Helga emits.

  Agnes takes a peek at the circle line to see Helga’s foot has broken the salt line. She and Helga both look at one another in horror.

  The frog-toad creature in Agnes’s hands begins to waver and shudder. It then explodes outward, like a fountain, from her hands. Helga watches her poor sister reach for her, begging, “HELGA! PLEASE HE—”

  It is too late. An avalanche of toads buries Agnes. Not wanting to be buried under a sea of amphibians like her sister, Helga hobbles like mad trying to get out of the store. Giggling erupts throughout the store as the girl ghost shows up and blocks Helga’s exit through the front door.

  Becky laughs, “You’ve been a bad bad bad witch, and now I’m gonna punish you.” She turns red and moves forward towards Helga.

  Helga moves back and heads for the back door but stops to witness near the ceiling of the shop a mist that slowly appears and begins to whirl in a circular fashion, quickly making a funnel to the floor. The tornado starts to move picking up toads and frogs as it swirls about the room.

  Helga rushes back to Jay while pointing to the back door, ordering, “Move, move, move!”

  The two rush to the back door, which starts to close. The child ghost hovers on one side, giggling, “Naughty witch, you can’t get away. You have to be punished!”

  Helga pushes her hat forward and yanks Jay harder as they race to get outside before the door closes. She chances one more look back towards Agnes as the room becomes purple, and lightning scatters across the space. She cannot see Agnes anywhere as several portals open and rain down toads and frogs, flooding the shop completely.

  The last thing she hears is Agnes screaming as her spatula wavers in the air trying to cast the toads away. Helga is yanked outside by Jay before the door slams on her foot.

  They all hear the child laugh maniacally as the sound of the lock clicks.

  Ursa stands there with Ruby clutched tightly in her arms and her mouth wide open.

  Jay stares hard at the door and then looks to Helga who is standing there with her mouth pressed firmly shut.

  An ambulance echoes in the distance.

  Eyes brighten as each person remembers the ambulance. They hurry to the front as Helga notices a long and stealthy man emerge from the shadow.

  Helga stops, waiting for Ursa and Jay to disappear, and then says in a low voice, “Brimstone.”

  11

  The Rescue

  Helga glowers at the six-foot tall man who stands silently examining his fingernails.

  He sighs, “I tried to enter your establishment, you know . . .”

  “And?” Helga prompts.

  “Hmm. I was assaulted by toads and nearly tripped over some bloke asleep on the sidewalk when I tried to avoid them,” he replies while buffing his nails on his black, woolen long coat.

  Helga says nothing and stares at Brimstone. He continues picking at his cuticles not bothering to look at Helga as he muses, “Are my potions ready?”

  “No,” she lies.

  He stops messing with his fingers, as his eyes move sideways while he cocks his head to one side, remarking, “Interesting.”

  “As you can see we’ve had some issues.” Helga gestures towards the shop.

  Brimstone holds his pose but curls his upper lip to reply, “Not my problem.”

  She shudders as his cold, dead black eyes stare back at her.

  “Look, I need your help. Your potions are in the shop. If you could—” Helga starts to explain.

  “No,” he answers without moving a muscle.

  “Wha—” she tries to continue.

  “No,” he interrupts while dusting off his hands and coat. He turns his back on Helga and slowly starts to walk away, waving his hand in the air as he steps into the shadows. “You have failed me. I should have never asked you for this job. I shall inform Lady Ava about your betrayal.”

  Helga leaps forward, reaching for him, shouting, “WAIT!”

  Brimstone pauses to ask, “Yes?”

  “I really need your help. Your potions are ready, but they are in the shop,” she pleads, “I can’t get them because a ghost has locked me out.”

  He sighs, “I don’t have time for this nonsense, Helga. Lady Ava has probably already figured out that I have left without her permission.” His eyes begin to widen as he reveals, “She suspects that I’m up to something already. She will hunt me down if I do not return.”

  “Just help me get rid of the toads . . . that’s all I ask,” Helga begs, staring after Brimstone and watching for his reaction.

  His head drops as he sighs even louder. He turns towards Helga, determining, “I’ll give you one more chance. Double cross me again, and I will tell Lady Ava EVERYTHING.”

  “Thank you.”

  He narrows his eyes at her. “No funny business, and you better have my potions.”

  She stiffens and squeaks, “Of course.”

  “Well, come on.” He beckons with his hand as he walks towards the front of the store. “I can’t be here all day.”

  Helga hurries after him.

  As they turn the corner to the front of the shop Helga and Brimstone are met with chaos. Crowds of people gather as fire truck, ambulance, and police vehicles block the road. The police make a perimeter with wooden barriers. The
fire chief yells at his crew who are at the front of the store shoveling out the frogs and toads. Helga tries to take a step forward but is stopped by an officer.

  “Sorry, little miss, you can’t go here.”

  Helga pushes against the cop. “I need to get through,” she whines.

  “Nobody is allowed past the barrier,” he asserts, pushing against her shoulder. “You need to step back, young lady.”

  She cries, “But my sister! She is trapped in that store!”

  The cop holds her in place but looks back at the scene. Helga peeks past the cop to see Ursa and Jay talking to the ambulance crew loading the inspector up into the ambulance. She scans the area looking for Agnes who is still absent. Her heart drops when she realizes that Agnes is still trapped in the store.

  A hitch gets caught in Helga’s throat as she chokes back a few sobs. She wishes she had done something to try to save Agnes instead of tucking tail and running. The cop looks back at Helga and Brimstone, who stands next to her. He quickly removes his gaze from Brimstone and glances back to Helga.

  “Your sister, eh?” he asks.

  She replies, “Yeah, my sister. I have to go get her.”

  The cop grimaces and removes his hand from Helga. Jutting his thumb back at the scene, he relents, “Go on—”

  Helga does not wait for the cop to finish as she rushes past him to get to the storefront. She hears a commotion behind her but does not bother to look back, for she assumes it is Brimstone forcing his way past the cop and the barrier. She approaches the front with the frogs and toads still flooding out of the opened door.

  A fireman comes up to her, moving her back a few feet. “Step back, miss. We don’t know what is causing this biohazard.”

  “I need to get my sister out,” Helga cries pointing back at the door.

  The fireman does a double take, asking, “There’s a person in that building?”

  “Yes! You nitwit!” she shouts.

  The fireman runs back to the other men with Helga following close behind. The man talks to the other men, but Helga pays no heed as she looks at the window of the shop with frogs and toads pressed against it. Her gaze turns to the door where the men are standing and talking as the frogs flood out of the shop.

  She looks around for Brimstone who is nowhere to be seen. She stares back at the firemen just standing there, yelling at each other and not doing anything to help her sister. Her face flushes with heat as she storms over to the door and pushes the men out of the way.

  “Move it,” she commands, rubbing her hands together as she readies herself to dive into the shop.

  She pauses as a sudden chill moves down her spine. The sounds of everything around her die out. Looking around there are still people, the firemen shouting at one another, the officers and other people that should be making sounds, but it’s like someone hit the mute button on them.

  The sky darkens with more clouds as a storm begins to roll in. As she glances around, one sound rings out. The eerie laughter of the child ghost echoes out from the store. Helga stares back at the heaving flow of frogs and toads coming out from the front door.

  The laughter becomes louder, and Helga freezes with cold sweat forming on her brow. She has no time for this child’s nonsense, but she does not know what to do to get rid of her. She’s a constant thorn in Helga’s side since the pantry, but Helga feels powerless against this child.

  The little girl laughs in a sing-song manner, “You~~ can’t~~~ get~~ in~~”

  “Show yourself,” Helga shouts, “you little brat!”

  “Ha HA!” The girl laughs and sings, “I~~ know~~~ where~~ she~~ is~~~”

  “I’m not afraid of you,” Helga declares, “Show yourself.”

  “Your~~~ sister’s~~~~ gonna~~~ die~~” the little girl continues to sing.

  “Shut up,” Helga yells.

  The little girl stops singing and replies, “That’s not very nice.”

  “I don’t care. Show yourself,” Helga repeats, “I’m not afraid of you.”

  “No,” the child replies, “Your sister is almost out of air.”

  “AGNES!” Helga shouts at the oozing mound of frogs coming out of the door, “AGNES! You have to wake up! You have to crawl out! Follow my voice.”

  “She can’t hear you,” the little girl informs her.

  Helga shouts again, “AGNES! C’MON, YOU HAVE TO GET OUT!”

  “She can’t hear you,” the little girl hums, “You have to come in and get her.”

  Helga chews her bottom lip staring hard at the doorway overflowing with frogs and toads. She breathes in deeply through her nose as she readies herself to jump in.

  The little girl ghost eggs Helga on by adding, “That’s it, jump in after her. Only you can save her.”

  As Helga bends her knees and lifts her arms into a diving position she jumps back when she feels a hand placed upon her shoulder.

  That someone whispers in her ear, “Don’t do it.”

  Startled, she moves sideways away from the person who touched her. It takes her a moment catching her breath before she looks up to see Brimstone staring hard at the door. The whole time she hears the little girl ghost laughing.

  “I have to,” she starts to explain.

  Brimstone turns his hard gaze at her, explaining, “No, it’s a trap.”

  “But, Agnes, my sister.” Helga starts to breathe between frantic gulps, muttering, “she’s in there . . . she’s running . . . running out of time.”

  Brimstone turns his attention back to the door, tilting his head to one side to inquire, “This child ghost—how long has she been here?”

  “I don’t care about that thing!” Helga’s voice wavers, “I want to save my sister, Agnes!”

  “Hmmm,” Brimstone responds.

  Helga moves forward to the door and tries to leap into the wall of frogs and toads. She feels Brimstone wrap his arm around her waist, pulling her back. “I told you, don’t do it. It’s a trap,” he breathes into her ear.

  The child laughs, “Your~~~ sister’s~~~~ gonna~~~~ die~~~~”

  Helga pulls and claws at Brimstone’s arm trying to get him to let her go. She stares up at his face to see his eyes go from a dark black to liquid fiery gold. Helga stops pawing at his arm and becomes still, fearing to move a muscle.

  He places her to one side. “Stay here,” he commands and turns back to the door.

  With each step his form becomes more dark and fluid. His arms extend longer as his fingers grow into sharp talons. His feet elongate into those of a beast with claws tapping the cement sidewalk with each step. The last thing she sees are his bat-like wings forming as he leaps with lightning speed into the store.

  The child ghost screams, “No, No, NO, NOOO! NO FAIR!! NO FAIR!”

  Helga stares at the store waiting for Brimstone to come back. Butterflies tremble in her stomach as she holds her breath. It seems like an hour goes by when suddenly a large round form breaks through the wall of moving frogs and toads, and rolls down in front of Helga.

  She looks down to see Higgins who is still out cold but breathing with ragged gasps. The firemen shove Helga out of the way to get to him. The sounds return with the blaring of the trucks, officers shouting orders to people to keep back, and the murmur of the crowd as they watch the show unfold. The medics push through the crowd to tend to Higgins.

  She blinks and looks around to find Ursa and Jay standing close to her. Ursa leans forward whispering into Helga’s ear, “Has Agnes made it out yet?

  Helga shakes her head and looks back at the door. Ursa worries her lip as she too watches. Jay moves to the door shoving his sleeves up. “We can’t stand here, someone needs to go in and help her.”

  As Jay is about to jump in, they all see a spatula emerge from the wall of amphibians.

  “AGNES!” they all shout.

  Jay plunges forward and grabs hold of her spatula. He starts to pull when he is suddenly pulled into the shop. Ursa notices this and grabs his legs, which pull her in after him.
Helga quickly snatches her sister’s foot, holding onto it with all of her might. The sound of laughter echoes out of the shop. Helga grunts, straining to not be sucked in with the others.

  “You can’t save them,” the little girl mocks, “You’re not strong enough.”

  “You can’t have them,” Helga breathes between gritted teeth.

  Helga can feel a tug, yanking them farther into the shop. She almost loses her grip on Ursa’s foot but squeezes even harder to keep her hold.

  “Even that demon can’t save your sister,” the little girl sings, “They’re all mine now . . .”

  Helga feels another tug as she braces her foot on the doorway. She pulls hard on Ursa hoping to drag them out. Her eyes shut as she pulls with all her might, trying to save them from being trapped in the shop. Helga pays no attention to the firemen wrapping a rope around her waist. The crew starts to help her pull everyone from the store.

  Helga only feels the resistance as she pulls on her sister’s foot. She worries she is going to lose all of them. Worries that the little girl ghost who haunts their pantry is going to win. She can’t accept the idea that the pantry ghost is more than just a pantry ghost. Why is the little girl doing this to her?

  Helga’s train of thought gets interrupted by the ghost, crying out, “HEY! YOU CHEATED! NO FAIR!”

  Then as if someone lets go of a rope, Helga is yanked backwards as Ursa, Jay, and Agnes are hauled out from the shop. Ursa and Jay lie on the ground gasping for air as Agnes remains still. The medics swarm around the group but then turn their attention to Agnes and start applying CPR. Helga holds her breath waiting for Agnes to start breathing again.

  Out of the corner of her eye she spies Brimstone breaking free of the froggy doom. He is no longer in his demonic shape, but the firemen and medics pay him no heed. He stands up and starts to smooth out the creases in his clothes. He finishes and then moves his gaze towards Helga.

  She moves back a little, knowing that he did not find his potions in the shop. In an instant he is in front of her peering down like she is an insect that he wants to squish.

  His eyes gleam gold for a second. “I saved your sister and took care of your ghost. Now where are my potions?”