by Paul Simpson
“George, Wait!” Ffion cried realising she had forgotten her human self. She closed the door just in time, she had always been faster than George, but he was quicker at looking at places to escape, he locked his eyes on the window.
“George, George, just wait a second!” She waved her hand which closed all the window shutters. George was in a panic now. Having nowhere to hide, he forced himself into a corner, arching his back. His claws extended and his mouth hissed. He could put up a fight when he put his mind to it, yet Ffion calmly knelt down.
“George, it’s me, Ffion!” His head dropped to one side, but his claws were still at the ready. “Come on! How many humans do you know that speak cat? Here let me show you something…” He lowered his back but his claws remained poised.
“I’ll explain everything to you if you promise not to run away.” Laying her hand over her necklace, a slow shimmer of light surrounded her body and the blinking flickering lights encircled her once more. She shrank into the swirling colour until all traces of the large human figure had disappeared. Stood before him, on four legs instead of two, was a small black cat George immediately recognised as Ffion.
“See I told you there was nothing to be afraid of.”
“All this time...every second of it…you were telling the truth!” Babbled George, trembling beneath his furry coat.
“Yes. I never lied to you George. It’s always been the truth and now I have the chance to put things back to how they should be.”
“Does this mean you’re going to be leaving?” He asked disappointedly.
“Yes, I’m afraid it might. There is something I have to put right and tonight I have a chance to break the spell and do that.”
“Wow, I know you said you were over 300 years old but I just took that as cats years” said George with a grin. “Okay I’ll help you. Just promise me one thing? Promise that you won’t forget about your friend, the loveable rogue who’s always there for you?” He asked with a cheeky grin across his white face.
“You don’t have to worry. I’ll never forget my best friend.”
“Good, then I’m with you all the way,” pledged George. “So explain to me what’s going on and is it anything to do with what’s happening in the village?”
“In the village?” Asked Ffion puzzled.
George jumped onto the window ledge, staring out to the village below. Ffion joined him. In the distance, at the bottom of the hill the village seemed to have come alive. People were screaming and shouting whilst running away from their homes in fear. It soon become apparent to Ffion that the doorway which Jack had opened, was affecting more than just the old mansion house.
“I’m not prepared damn it! I need more time!”
“No problem, what do you need?” Asked George.
Ffion morphed with the use of the necklace. She concentrated hard and soon the strange light returned and traced over her feline body, when emerging from the twirling light, she was human again.
Ffion crouched by the dusty fireplace. She looked for the longest stone in the wall just as her mother had told her to. She found it and scraped away the years of dust and soot, finding the edges she pulled the stone out. Just as her mother had said, there behind the hole in the wall, was the hidden spell book. She picked it up. It had been compiled by her mother, many, many moons ago when Ffion was just a little girl. It was full of rhymes, illustrations, spells, chants and descriptions of encounters with creatures which her mother had been dedicated to recording. All of her knowledge and secrets were bound within these pages.
George sat and watched in amazement waiting for what would come next.
“Right, let’s get started.”
The hours passed as George and Ffion worked through the night making preparations for the task ahead. He helped Ffion by collecting all the items he could find and carry in his mouth, as required in the lists of the book's pages.
Ffion moved the furniture, put the ingredients together and was ready to start mixing in an old rusty cooking pot. As the items were thrown in, the potion was forming and the magic was growing. Sparks of vivid colour burst into the air like a firework display and the colourful smoke plumed through the windows, doorway and chimney. From down in the village the old shack looked like a spectacle to behold, alight and sensational, If anyone had time to notice that was. In the gardens and in-between the houses, people were still running scared, being hunted and chased by spooks, ghouls and other creatures, who had been spat out of Limbo and emerged through the portal door and were out to cause chaos.
After several hours Ffion and George were finished.
“What do we do now?” Asked George.
“Now? Now I drink this and we see if it works before the sun comes up and those ‘things’ down there go into hiding.”
“I was afraid you’d say that.” George turned to the door with Ffion following him. When he turned to look at her, he saw the worried, twisted expression on her face. “There’s no way you’re leaving me behind.” He said. “It wouldn’t be safe to go down there alone. Besides, you could do with another pair of eyes, and... and I can help you” he pleaded.
There was no room or time for debate.
“Okay, you win! Just be careful and let me handle things, ok?” She said with a smile and the two friends set off down the hillside.
Chapter 6
Test of power
The village was in chaotic uproar. The flashing lights from their once quaint homes drove them into the streets screaming causing people to lose both their minds and wits in the unfolding events around them. Doors and windows banging open and ghouls screeching, all adding to the nightmare. Ghostly red, blue and green soul orbs chased them in their attempted frenzied escape and there was no sign of things slowing down anytime soon.
Ffion and George walked through the village gingerly, hoping to remain hidden and avoid the unfolding drama. Ffion found a large Oak tree to stand by while she prepared herself. She closed her eyes and began to concentrate whilst the necklace began to do its thing. Lifting her hands slowly, a spark of light crackled around her bewitching fingers which began to grow brighter as the power intensified. With a final surge, Ffion’s eyes opened wide, white over and full of wild energy at the sight of the circular power source she had called forth within her hands.
George’s jaw dropped, “Ermm, I’ll wait here then?” He had never seen anything like it before. Ffion however, had not heard him as she kept her train of thought on the task before her.
She stepped out from her hiding place and leapt into action. A jolt of power flew from her fingers like a lightening bolt, then another, then another like beautiful but deadly electric streams. The orbs were happily terrifying the village residents until they sensed Ffion’s magic and changed direction to launch their attack on the little witch like a swarm of angry wasps. Ffion stayed determined and kept launching her attacks to defeat the orbs.
The street fell silent at last as the villagers scrambled to their feet and ran for their homes not knowing who or what to be more afraid of.
“Not bad for a beginner Fi, I could have helped but everyone’s gotta start out somewhere right?” said George.
The luminescent light faded from Ffion, she appreciated and smiled at what George had just said. The two set off again when George stopped suddenly.
“Hey! Hey! Did you hear that?”
In the distance, the sound of horribly distorted children’s laughter started to get louder. George and Ffion readied themselves for what was obviously coming their way. The sound of fighting and madness came closer. As he looked around, George thought he had spotted movement.
“There!” he pointed to the left. Ffion turned to look finding a small gang wearing ‘Trick or Treat’ masks approaching. They appeared to be childlike moving in a mischievous yet menacing manner. They drew closer and spread out until they had the pair fully surrounded. Ffion studied them. These weren’t children at all; they were some sort of strange creature she had never seen befor
e.
In fact, there were two kinds of creature. The first, seemed to be male, with a large rounded mask of a skull tied to their heads with leather straps to secure it in place. The second type loosely resembled a girl. It wore a devil mask and carried a burning pitchfork, which it seemed to control like a sort of small flame thrower.
“So, who’s the trick and who’s the treat?” laughed Ffion sarcastically.
Without hesitation, one of the skull masks stepped forward to look at Ffion for what felt like a lifetime but what was in fact seconds. The creature inhaled over-dramatically, forcing his mask to open up, almost splitting in half at the mouth. A strong blast of air bellowed forth, knocking George and Ffion off their feet and across the ground as they stumbled and rolled onto a grass verge.
“I guess you’re the Tricker?" She spoke slightly winded from the attack. "George, wait here and keep an eye out, I'm just going to teach these 'Things' a lesson in manners” said Ffion.
"They're all yours, I'll just wait here then till your done?" Came his reply.
She climbed to her feet and went back to the centre of freaks that found their fall quite amusing and seemed to cackle amongst themselves at their own mischief. The Trickers prepared for another blast whilst the Treaters aimed their pitchforks.
“Wanna play rough do you?” Asked Ffion, poking fun at the creatures. “Well, Bring it!”
Her hands and eye's became white with her powers as she discharged a bolt with such ferocity that it knocked the first creature clear over a nearby fence. George, though petrified, stood and looked at his friend with newfound respect whilst the fighting raged on. Keeping a watchful eye out he saw two of the creatures whispering and then retreating to a nearby alleyway.
“No you don’t!” He roared.
Ffion stood triumphant over the fallen creatures, proud of her work and pleased with her awesome powers.
“George, GEORGE, where’d you go?”
“Ffion! Over here, quick!”
She raced over to where George was waiting “Did you see that? I WON!” She beamed with pride to her friend.
“Well, while you were playing, two escaped. Luckily I clocked their escape and followed them over to the mansion grounds. I think you’d better come with me.” George turned and ran with Ffion close behind.
Chapter 7
Trick and Treat
They ran past the houses and into the clearing until the Trick and Treater came into view by the side of the field. Orbs swarmed round the foul creatures in a crazed-tornado.
The Tricker opened his mask with a deep inhale as spirals of orb souls were sucked into his mouth. This made the Tricker stronger and it grew until it was the size of a house. The Treater squealed with laughter as the super Tricker bent down and with a swipe of his enormous hand lifted the Treater high above the ground. The Tricker, now holding The Treater with its burning pitchfork up to its mouth, opened its mask once more and blew across the Treaters flame sending a huge dragon-like breath of fire in Ffion’s direction.
George and Ffion looked at one another in disbelief.
“Any ideas?” asked Ffion.
George pondered for a moment, "Nope, I'm all out on this one."
At the same moment the gigantic Tricker, now standing over 40 feet high, began to charge towards them.
“I know," said George, "I’ll distract him so you can get in a clear shot.”
George ran as fast as his little furry legs could carry him aiming right in between the legs of the giant. Ffion tried to stop George’s foolish plan but it was already too late, she couldn’t grab him in time. He was halfway across the field as the Tricker closed in on him. Ffion drew on all the magic within herself that she could muster. She stepped into the open ground directing a huge blast at the Tricker’s back.
The bolt nearly knocked the Tricker off its feet as it staggered about, struggling to quickly regain it's balance. Turning its gaze away from George and now onto Ffion the giant charged straight for her. Jumping out of the way of the charging creature Ffion landed with a roll turning to see as the huge beast hit the tree she was standing next too. Unable to stop in time the Tricker stumbled and fell face first into the soft grassy ground, all the while the Treater screamed as the clutch around it tightened in the fall. Ffion launched more shots hitting the Tricker square on the side of its head, causing the mask to crack as several of the trapped spirits escaped.
“That’s it” shouted George from the other side of the field. “It’s the mask! If it’s broken, it can’t hold the orbs and it will lose power! You have to break the mask Ffion!”
She looked for herself and, sure enough, the Tricker was holding its hand over a damaged side of its mask so the orbs could not escape. The giant held up the Treater to defend itself. Once again the Tricker blew a breath, sending out a blast that burned the grass scorching its way towards Ffion. With no time to escape she crossed her wrists and held them out away from herself as the fire hit her.
“Nooooooooooooooooo!!!” screamed George helplessly, hardly daring to look as the flames engulfed her body.
The fiery blast cleared and the Tricker and George looked at Ffion. She stood in a spherical shield of energy that had protected her from the heat of the blast.
“That all you got? Well, have some of this!”
Her eyes turned white and she unleashed a volley of shots at the Tricker’s head sending the monster reeling from the attack. Each hit smashing away at its mask until it finally shattered in a burst of light. The orbs escaped into the air with a scream of a thousand dammed souls regaining their freedom. The giant dropped to its knees and stared at Ffion, then, with a deafening sound its body exploded with a vivid flash of red, yellow and purple sparks, leaving the Treater, which it had held in it's hand, to fall to the floor with a thud. Weak and shaking under its own weight, the Treater struggled to hold itself up. Exhausted, still on its hands and knees it turned its head slowly only to see a pair of black buckled boots standing next to it. Looking down into its dead eyes, Ffion swung back one foot and with all of her strength kicked the Treater hard in the mask, which, similarly to its companion's, cracked and splintered, ultimately exploding in a burst of colour and light.
Ffion felt the rays of warmth from the rising sun upon her face, as the dawn's golden light forced its way through the dark storm clouds above.
“I need you to do me a favour,” said Ffion to George, trying to catch her breath as George looked up at her.
“These seeds need to be planted near the river bank by the Water Mill." She held out a small silk bag, which George took in his mouth.
“The damp ground and the potion in the bag should help them to grow, just pour it over the ground around them. It’ll be safe to go there while the sun is out. I’m gonna go back to the shack and take a little rest," she said to George “I’ve got a feeling it’s going to be a very long night.”
Chapter 8
Dreams of the past
Back at the shack Ffion had changed back to her cat form and settled into her usual sleeping place. Although she could have stayed human, she thought it could be difficult to fully integrate after three centuries of being a cat. Tonight she couldn’t take any chances either but now she desperately needed sleep to regain her spent energy levels. She curled up, her whiskers and paws twitching as she fell into a deep, deep sleep.
In her slumber, memories came flooding back, patchy at first but as her sleep deepened they became more vivid. As usual, she remembered ‘that day’. She relived the moments of the fateful day that changed her whole life. She was back to the 17th century, everything in slow motion, each frame being a picture and echoing with noise.
Ffion was seven years old again, playing on a tree swing her father had made for her, watching the sunset over the horizon. As she gazed from her vantage point, a warm light caught her eyes coming from the windows of their home.
“Ffion, it’s time to come in. It’s time to eat sweetheart.”
Ffion ran to the do
orway and flung her arms around her mother’s neck but the dream never allowed her to see her mother fully, only glimpses and blurs, hands reaching out to hold her, a lock of red hair blowing in the breeze, a voice that whispered “I love you” as they embraced.
“How about wearing this for luck tonight while I finish my work?” Her mother took off her necklace and fastened it around Ffion’s neck. “Come on now, go wash up before we eat and no playing with your dolls again.”
Her mother returned to the stove to finish cooking whilst Ffion cleaned up from her adventures outside. She ran into the room to do as her mother had asked but caught sight of her dolls on the chair. Hoping her mother would not notice, she quickly waved her hands about the air causing them to softly glow with magic, as the girl and boy dolls rose to their feet and began to dance with each other. Ffion quietly giggled with delight as they swayed to the sound of the rhythmic beat of the axe her father was using to cut wood outside. He was a tall, well built man with long hair which he often tied back while he worked. She loved how he would often play with her after his work had finished for the day. In the evening he would show off for his little girl by juggling and spinning his axe as he chopped the wood to make the evening fire. This night was different somehow, she knew something was happening when she heard other voices outside and her father’s getting louder. It was the sound of an argument that quickly escalated into a scuffle. Ffion peeked through the slight gap in the room's open door and saw the front door of the cabin burst open. Several strange men, not from the village, with burning torches entered. Her father attempted to stop and reason with them but he was outnumbered and deliberately ignored. Grabbing his axe he began to fight off the intruders. During the ensuing fight to block their advance, one of the group sneaked up behind him with a blade in his hand and stabbed him. Her father fell to the floor, still reaching out trying to stop them but his strength was fading along with his life. All he could do was look on helplessly, unable to protect the two people in his life he valued above anything and who were about to be taken from him. Two of the men grabbed Ffion’s mother by her hair and dragged her away screaming. Amongst the chaos, but still thankfully hidden, a tear fell down Ffion’s cheek as she watched her father slip away. She could hear her mother chanting strange words and realised it was some form of spell being cast, as she was no stranger to magic.