by Rose Pressey
“So the problem everyone’s having with their magic… is that why you look so down?” he asked.
That question took me aback.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
He looked at me in the rearview mirror again. “You do know what’s going on, right?”
I scoffed. “Yeah, I’m a leader.”
I should know what was going on, but sadly I was embarrassed to say I didn’t know what was happening with the witches here in New Orleans. He didn’t wait for me to answer.
“Well, just recently everyone is having lots of problems with their magic. All the witches in the area.”
This was terrible. Why didn’t I know about this? Now it had reached New Orleans too.
“When did this start?” I asked.
“Probably a couple of hours ago. Word has been spreading quickly through the Internet, text messages, social media, etc.”
Yeah, etc. I supposed we were a little bit cut off from everything going on in the Underworld at the plantation. They were probably just finding out about this. Now they were probably looking for me. I had turned my phone off. So they could have been trying to tell me and I wouldn’t know. That wasn’t exactly being a good leader of the Underworld. I tried to act like I wasn’t shocked.
“Well, we’re taking care of everything, so don’t worry, okay?” I tried to fill my voice with confidence.
“Oh, I believe you. I figured you had everything under control,” he said.
A short time later we arrived at the French Quarter. He drove me right in front of the building.
“I guess this is it.”
“Yes, thank you for the ride.” I got out of the car, still confused about where to go and what to do next.
I could only handle one problem at a time though. This building wasn’t cut up into apartments. It was one big place and I was pretty sure it was abandoned. I knew by the sign on the door stating for everyone to stay out. I wasn’t going to let that stop me though. I had a feeling that Annabelle was in this place. I managed to pry the door open and stepped inside. It was dark, but not so dark that I couldn’t see around. I tried to quiet my steps so that no one would know I was inside. It would be a lot easier if I knew my magic would work right now. I was pretty sure that it wouldn’t. This had to be part of their plan. It looked as if they wanted to get rid of not just me, but all of the witches.
I moved slowly down the long hallway, looking from room to room for Annabelle. The doors to all of the rooms were open, so I could easily see inside. There was no furniture, nothing. It was dirty inside of the place. It must have leaks in the ceiling since there were water puddles around. I wasn’t sure what I would do next if Annabelle wasn’t here. Though I just had a feeling that she was. Maybe I shouldn’t be so confident with my magic not working. I supposed my confidence wasn’t warranted. I pushed forward though so that I could at least say that I had gone through the entire building looking for her. I wouldn’t give up. Annabelle probably knew that. She knew that I was persistent. I hoped she wasn’t too worried. How could she not be worried? Someone was holding her against her will.
What sounded like footsteps came from behind me. I turned around, but no one was there. It was kind of like a shuffling sound. I continued my steps, but my anxiety grew the longer I stayed in the building.
The next thing I knew someone grabbed me from behind and put their hand over my mouth. I couldn’t scream. Not that it mattered though. No one was there to hear me anyway. Why did they even care if I screamed?
They dragged me backward. I tried to get a look at who had me, but I couldn’t see behind me. The person was strong. The next thing I knew something was over my mouth and then they shoved something over my head. They were tying my hands behind my back. Had this happened to Annabelle too? This was probably why they had taken her in the first place, because they knew I would come looking for her. They knew I wouldn’t stop until I found her, and that was how they had lured me here. Why hadn’t they just taken me on the sidewalk that day? Perhaps because I’d been surrounded by Nicolas and Liam. Annabelle had been an easier target. That was one sneaky plan they had put together. How long had it taken them to come up with this?
Chapter 30
I wasn’t sure where they had taken me, but I still had what I assumed was a cloth bag over my head. My hands were tied. They had left the room, or at least led me to believe that they had left the room, since it was so quiet. Now I had to get myself free.
I wiggled my hands and arms, trying to loosen the grip that the rope had on me. Finally after a bit of work I managed to get my hands free. I tugged at the rope of the thing covering my head and got that off as well.
I jumped up from the chair and raced over to the door. It didn’t budge. Locked. That was just my luck. I looked around the room. There was a window on the far wall. If only I could break the window and get out. I ran over to see how far of a drop it was. It was a pretty long way down. I’d probably kill myself if I tried. I had to do some magic, but of course my magic wasn’t working, so that was pointless.
I ran back over to the door and pulled on the knob, as if somehow now it would actually work. A sound came from the other side of the door. Someone was approaching. All of a sudden the doorknob rattled. The door opened violently and knocked me to my feet. I landed on the floor, looking up at the face of the man who had just entered.
It was Carter Cobb—or Bart House, his real name that Detective Manning had given me.
I hadn’t used magic, and it didn’t seem as if there was any magic in the air. Actually the air was nonexistent of any energy, void of anything.
Bart reached down and picked me up, yanking me to my feet. “What do you think you’re doing? How did you get free?”
“Well, that’s for me to know and you to find out. Now let me go.” I yanked my arm away, but he still had a tight grip on my arm. He was really strong. Imagine what he would do if he had magic. Was that what he wanted? To get magic and become stronger?
I had so many racing thoughts. I couldn’t keep up. He shoved me back down onto the chair and grabbed the ropes. There was no way I was going to let him tie me up this time without a fight. When he came close to me I kicked him. He groaned, but that didn’t stop him from grabbing my arm. I wouldn’t back down this time. My friends’ and family’s lives were on the line. I jumped up from the chair yet again and raced toward the door. I had made it halfway through the door when he grabbed me again, pulling me back and dragging me across the floor.
“Just who the hell do you think you are?” I yelled.
“Oh, you’re going to find out who I am. Just stop fighting me, you nasty witch.”
“What did you call me?” I asked.
“You heard me,” Bart said.
“What do you want?” I asked.
“I’ll tell you what I want,” he said as he stood in front of me.
I crossed my arms in front of my chest. “Well, please do. I’ve been dying to find out, and while you’re at it, I would like my friend back.”
“Oh, that’s all in due time. You’ll get her back if you do what we want.”
“Who is ‘we’ and what do you want?” I asked. “You’re not exactly making that clear.”
“You’ve got a really sassy mouth for someone whose friend is in danger. You’d think you would be a little bit nicer if you wanted to see her alive.”
“Of course I want to see her alive, but I’m really getting inpatient with your games. How can I be nice to someone who treats my friend this way? Do you understand?”
Bart glared me, but seemed at a loss for words.
“Are Annabelle and Addie in this building?” I asked.
“Oh, wouldn’t you like to know,” he said.
“Yes, as a matter of fact, I would. That’s why I asked.”
Bart glared at me again. “I guess you’ll find out soon enough, won’t you?”
“I don’t know. That’s what you keep telling me. You just keep telling me the same
things over and over again and I’m getting really frustrated with you.”
I stood from the chair again and headed toward the door. I wasn’t going to let him stop me, but unfortunately he knocked me to the floor again. I just got up. I would keep getting up until I could no longer get up.
“Tell me what you want!” I yelled.
Finally he looked at me, and said, “I’ll tell you what I want… what we want is for all the witches to be gone.”
“What do you mean, gone?” I asked.
“I mean not able to perform magic any longer. We want to get rid of it.”
“Who are you to get rid of it?” I asked. “What makes you think that you can do this? You want the book, don’t you?”
When he stared without answering I assumed that that was a yes. I knew that there was a spell in the book that would allow someone to get rid of magic and make it stop for good. That was part of the power of the book, and partially the reason why so many people wanted it. That among other things. Just being the leader would make a lot of people happy. They wanted the power, probably to do bad things. But as long as the Underworld wanted me as the leader then I would try to make sure that the book wasn’t used for bad. Everyone had freedom in the Underworld, and they didn’t need to be oppressed by a leader or other evil entity.
Bart took me back over to the chair and sat me down again, gathering up the rope. I had to think of a way to stall and keep him from tying me up again so that I could get out the door.
“You know you don’t have to do this to solve the problem, right? I don’t have to be tied up and we don’t have to be kidnapped.”
“Oh, yeah, and how are you going to make me do that? What kind of incentive?”
“I can offer you the Book of Mystics. Isn’t that what you want? Just let Annabelle and Addie go and you can have the book. No questions asked. Do you want LaVeau Manor as well? Then you can have that too, but I can’t have you harming my friend. Those things—the book, the house—they’re material things that can be replaced. But my friend can’t be replaced, do you understand? Do you have friends you care about? Or are you a heartless monster with no emotion whatsoever?”
He stared at me for a moment. “All right, I’ll take you up on that offer to take the book.”
“I need my friend first before I give you the book. That’s the way this thing works, got it?”
I must’ve somehow glanced over at my bag and that was probably when he realized that I actually had the book in the bag with me. How could I forget? That thing never left my side. In a split second he raced over and grabbed the bag before I could get it.
He yanked the book from inside of the bag and then laughed. “It’s mine now and I don’t have to give your friend back.”
“You’ll be sorry for this,” I said. “Mark my words.”
“And what are you going do about it?” he asked.
“That’s for me to know and you to find out,” I said with a satisfied smile.
He glared at me after that response. Two could play that game.
“Well, now that I have the book I can get rid of it and then all of the witches won’t have power any longer.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” I said. “Just because you’ve gotten rid of the book doesn’t mean that the witches won’t have power. It just means that there’s no longer a leader. And apparently that doesn’t matter because all the witches need is their magic.”
He frowned as if he didn’t believe me.
“Go ahead, give it a shot,” I said. “Get rid of the book and see what happens.”
Bart pulled a lighter from his pocket and then flicked the switch. He smiled and laughed as he held the book up and then moved the lighter closer and closer to the pages.
All of a sudden in a blur Annabelle raced into the room and tackled the guy. The book flew from his hands, going one way, and the lighter flamed out and went the other way. I jumped up and grabbed the book before he could get his hands on it again. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Finally Annabelle was here and she had saved the day.
“Are you all right?” she asked.
“I’m all right. Are you okay? I’m so glad to see you,” I said.
“We can have our formal reunion later. Now we have to get rid of this guy.” Annabelle pulled me closer to the door.
Annabelle and I were standing on one side of the room and he was standing on the other. He managed to get up from the floor and was now standing. I knew he was ready to charge right at us.
Chapter 31
Luckily, the guy was clumsy. He had tripped over an old board on the floor.
“What do we do now”” Annabelle asked. “Can you do a spell?”
“I can’t cast a spell. My magic doesn’t work.”
The guy stared at us as we had this conversation. I supposed he was just in shock at what had happened.
“Why can’t you do magic?” Annabelle asked.
“I don’t know for sure. They’ve done something to the magic. I took off from the plantation because I didn’t want to hurt my mother, Nicolas or Liam any longer.”
He was smiling.
“What do you think is so funny?” I asked.
“The fact that you can’t do the magic. Our plan worked.” Bart laughed.
“Exactly who is involved in this with you?” I asked.
“A lot of people got together to work out this plan. We actually did witchcraft to stop witchcraft. Once we figured that out we did what we had to do.”
“Was Cameron involved?”
“Yes, that was a good plan,” he said.
“What you don’t understand is that we can never be stopped. This might be a temporary setback, but I guarantee you we’ll figure out a way out of this.”
“It’s time for things to change, Halloween. No magic, no manor, and no spell book.” Bart’s face twisted into a sinister sneer.
“I have the spell book now and I have my friend so there’s nothing you can do about it.” I waved the book. Maybe I shouldn’t taunt.
“Yes, but you don’t have your mother, your fiancé, or Liam, do you?” he said with an evil smile.
I narrowed my eyes. “Exactly what do you mean by that? You wouldn’t dare do anything to them.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t?” he asked.
A loud crash echoed from outside the hallway. This gave me a chance to make my move. It was the only way that I would stand a chance of getting out of this room alive. I ran over and hit the guy in the one place that I knew would take him down immediately. Yes, a knee to the crotch. It was a really great weapon. Only used when absolutely necessary of course. He screamed out and doubled over and fell to the floor.
“Ha, I guess that’ll teach you to mess with me,” I said as I stood over him.
I supposed I shouldn’t gloat now. That wasn’t very nice.
“We have to get out of here now,” I said to Annabelle.
I had the book clutched in my arms as we raced toward the door. Annabelle ran before me. That was when he grabbed me by the ankle and pulled me back. I fell to the ground, landing on my face. At least I still had the book, but man, did that hurt.
“Where do you think you’re going?” he asked as he pulled me back.
I tried to stop him by grabbing hold of the door frame, but he was too strong and I wasn’t able to hold on. Yeah, I was completely back in the room with him again. I wasn’t sure where Annabelle had gone. As long as she was able to get out maybe she would be able to find someone to help me.
Voices came from down the hall. It sounded as if they were running. When I looked up I saw Nicolas, Liam, and my mother. They ran into the room. I thought the guy was shocked to see them.
“Take your hands off my daughter right this minute.” My mother ran over, but Nicolas and Liam charged in front of her. They tackled the guy. I jumped up and spun around, ready to fight.
“Halloween, we must get out of here.” My mother pulled on my arm.
“No, I’m not leaving them her
e with this guy. I want to know what he’s doing. I won’t run away.”
They were throwing punches and rolling around on the ground. This guy wasn’t giving up easily. If only I could use my magic. I had to do something to help them, so I decided to give my magic one more shot. The only thing to do this time would be to open up the Book of Mystics and see if it had anything new to offer for this situation.
As the men continued to punch at each other I opened up the book. The pages were full of the spells that I had grown accustomed to. I flipped through to the back and that was when I noticed a page that appeared different from all the others. It was solid gold and had black writing on top of the gold page.
My mother leaned over my shoulder. “Wow, I’ve never seen anything like that before.”
“Neither have I.”
My spell would began with calling to the elements. “I call to the element of air. I call to the element of fire. I call to the element of water, I call to the element of earth.”
Something still seemed off about my magic. Though maybe I was just being negative. The energy still seemed lower and the buzzing noise in my head was annoyingly loud. I wondered if the others noticed this too.
Without hesitation I recited the words on the page. Please let this work, I thought. I recited the words carefully and waved my arms in the air. Should I try calling to the elements again? No, that would have no effect. I’d never done it twice in the past, so what made me think I should do it now. Something told me this wasn’t right though. Maybe it was the surroundings. It was as if there was something blocking my magic. Someone was trying to stop it. It was as if the power of the elements couldn’t break through.
That was when the whole room filled with gold mist. The spell was working after all. My mother gasped. The men stopped fighting and peered up at the ceiling to watch this phenomenon. It was as if it was raining gold confetti. Out of the corner of my eye I watched Nicolas and Bart. Bart wasn’t aware that he had stopped fighting. He was now vulnerable. Nicolas inched closer to the chair where Bart had had me tied before. Nicolas grabbed the rope and Liam shoved the guy into the chair. The guy seemed to be mesmerized by the gold sparkles. After Liam shoved the guy into the chair, Nicolas used the rope to secure his hands and feet. Bart didn’t complain. It was as if he had no idea what they were even doing to him.