Once Upon a Charmed Time

by Rose Pressey

  I had transfixed him with the magic spell. It looked as if I was back in business. I didn’t know how long this spell would have this influence on him. Since he was tied up it didn’t really matter now. I just had to find out, and he was going to talk. I would see to it. I moved over to him. “Okay, stop looking at the shiny lights and talk to me.”

  For a moment he didn’t acknowledge me, but then something broke through and he looked over. That was when he broke down and realized that he was tied up.

  “What have you done to me?” he asked. “You witch.”

  “You got that right,” I said with a wink. “Now tell me who else is behind all of this?”

  “I will never talk,” he said.

  “Oh, yes, you will. I’ll see to it that you do. I’ll torture you.”

  “You wouldn’t do you that. You’re too nice.”

  “You think I’m nice? What about this?” I stepped on his foot.

  He screamed out in pain. Yes, that wasn’t nice, and I hated to do it. I really did it, but I had to show him that I meant business.

  “Plus, remember I gave you a knee in the crotch. Was that very nice?”

  My mother fanned herself. “I’m getting claustrophobic in this room. Let’s take him out into the open area.”

  Liam and Nicolas picked the chair up.

  “Where are you taking me?” Bart said. “Let me down.”

  We followed as they carried Bart out to the open space and sat him down.

  Before he had a chance to respond we heard voices.

  “Sounds like someone’s coming,” my mother said.

  Nicolas, Liam, and I moved over to the door. They peeked out the door.

  “There are people out there,” Liam said.

  “It must be who’s working with him. How many are there?”

  “Too many to count right now,” Liam said.

  Just when I’d thought we had gotten out of this mess.

  “See, I knew they would come to help me and now it’s all over for you. So you think you can be mean, but you won’t stand a chance with all of them.”

  “You seem to forget that I have magic. I’m a witch, remember?” I smiled.

  Then the group appeared at the door. Men and women. I wasn’t sure how many since I couldn’t quite see out the door completely. I ran over and grabbed the book, clutching it in my arms. It looked as if I was going to need this now more than ever.

  “Hallie, what are you doing?” Nicolas asked.

  “There is only one thing we can do,” I said. “We have to confront them. We’ll use our magic and just hope for the best.”

  In the meantime, I had no idea where Annabelle had gone. She was missing again. What if they had recaptured her?

  “Don’t make a move,” Cameron warned.

  I wasn’t surprised to see her with this group. Again she wore a long gown. This time a bright red like a shiny Christmas ornament. Didn’t she own jeans?

  “You’ve come to stop me from casting magic?” I asked.

  “Don’t only you, but all witches,” she said. “You can untie Bart now.”

  I shook my head. “Not going to happen.”

  I couldn’t believe who had shown up. Dalton was standing at the top of the balcony area. I didn’t think anyone else had noticed him up there. Was he there for them? Or there to help us? He waved at me and motioned to his right, as if telling me that he was going to come down. That must mean that he was on our side and I hoped there to help us get out of the situation. Without someone else’s help I wasn’t sure how we were going to escape. Maybe he could cause a distraction and that would give us time to get away from these people. Then again, he could come down here and make things even worse for us. That would make me lose pretty much all hope.

  They still hadn’t noticed as he walked the length of the balcony and then headed down the steps. I tried not to pay too much attention to him so that they wouldn’t notice I was watching someone. That was when my mother and Nicolas noticed him too. I just hoped that they were able to keep quiet. Dalton reached the bottom of the steps and then he moved over behind the group. They were still unaware of his presence. My stomach was twisted into a knot and my heart sped up with anxiety.

  “I guess you didn’t expect to see me here,” Dalton mouthed.

  Was he talking to me or the people holding us hostage? That was when they turned around.

  “No, I wasn’t expecting you, I suppose,” I said.

  “Who are you talking to?” the older man asked.

  I didn’t recognize him, but he looked to be taking over for Bart.

  I looked at him strangely. “Well, the guy standing right behind you.” When I pointed he looked around again.

  Dalton had disappeared again. Where had he gone this time? Why did he keep doing that?

  “I don’t see anybody back there. Are you delusional?” the older man asked.

  “Do I look delusional?” I said. “No, I see him. He’s right there. You had him in the basement tied up.”

  The guy got a funny look on his face. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Well, I’m sure Dalton knows what I’m talking about.”

  The woman next to him let out a little scream. “Dalton? Do you see Dalton?”

  “Of course I see him. He’s right behind you all.”

  They stared at me again as if I was crazy.

  “What man are you talking about?” she asked.

  “The one that you put in the basement and left there forever. By the way, that was really evil. And you tried to do it to us.”

  “Yes, I thought it was clever that we locked you in the basement,” she said.

  “Now you remember him. Why did you put him down there in that basement?”

  “He was trying to stop our plan.”

  “He was tied up to a chair for a long time and then you killed him.”

  Cameron’s eyes widened. “What’s going on?”

  “Dalton is back.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “He’s here?”

  “He’s right there. I used my magic to bring him back.”

  “Dalton was dead. Why did you mess with that? He won’t help you.”

  I scanned the room. “Dalton, are you on my side? I’m beginning to think you’re not because you keep hiding.”

  He stepped out from the darkened corner. “Don’t listen to her. I’m here to help you. I’m not on their side. Why do you think I kept showing up everywhere?”

  “But you disappeared.”

  “Apparently the reanimation wasn’t without its flaws. They’re the ones who killed me. Why would I help them now?”

  “They murdered you, right?” I asked for confirmation.

  He nodded. “Yes, they did and I’m here to get revenge.”

  “Why did they kill you?”

  “I figured out their plan to stop the magic.” He glared at Cameron.

  “Where did you go before?” I asked.

  “I just lost my ability to be seen, but I’m back now.”

  I still didn’t fully understand, but I didn’t have time to ask more questions now. I had to deal with this group of people that obviously wanted to inflict harm on us. I had to find Annabelle again and get us out of this situation.

  “Oh, are you looking for your friend?” the older man asked.

  “You know I am. What have you done with her this time?”

  “We got her once, but she managed to get away,” Cameron said.

  “Good for her.” I smirked.

  “She wasn’t smart enough to avoid us in the first place. She was just standing on the sidewalk as if waiting for us to take her. That’s bad for you. Now we have you, which is what we wanted from the beginning.”

  “You think you’re so clever with your snarky little remarks. We’ll see who has the last laugh,” I said. “Who are you? What do you want?”

  The group stared at me, as if I was speaking a foreign language. Finally Cameron stepped forward.

&n
bsp; “We are a group of people who have been wronged by magic. Therefore we felt the need to make it stop so that no one has to endure this any longer.”

  “So because someone did magic to you that you didn’t like you think that all magic is bad? You think you can make it stop?”

  “Yes,” she said matter-of-factly.

  “That doesn’t even make sense to me. That’s not the way things work.”

  “Well, it’s the way things work in our world,” she said with a smile.

  “You don’t live in this world alone,” I said. “You don’t get to decide who does or doesn’t get to do magic, understand?”

  “Actually, we do because we have you here, and we’re going to get that book, then stop the magic, so we do have a say-so.” She crossed her arms in front of her chest.

  This argument could go back and forth all day long. I wouldn’t let it come to that.

  “So just hand over the book and we’ll make this as painless for you as possible,” the man said as he wiggled his fingers, gesturing for me to give him the book.

  I had offered the book before, but now I was going to force them to give me Annabelle first. I would find a way not to turn over the book.

  “I don’t have my friend here, as you can see.” I waved my hand. “So therefore I need her first before I turn over the book. You do understand, right? Plus, I will give you Bart back.”

  “You can keep Bart. We don’t have your friend. I don’t know where she went,” the woman said.

  “How can I possibly trust you to tell the truth? I suggest that you find her really quick.”

  She narrowed her eyes at me as if she was contemplating reaching over and strangling me right there on the spot. Where had Dalton gone this time? I’d thought he’d stopped disappearing on me. It was as if he had disappeared into thin air. Why did he keep slipping away like that and where did he go when he did it? I supposed I would have to look through this whole building for him like I had Annabelle. At least I’d found her now.

  “Have you seen Dalton?” I asked.

  “I’ll go look for him,” Nicolas said.

  “I’ll come with you,” Liam said.

  “Please be careful,” I said.

  The group stared at me. One move and it would be a fight. I didn’t think we would win. There were too many of them. Thank goodness Nicolas came back.

  “Did you find Dalton?” I asked.

  Nicolas shook his head.

  “What about you, Liam?”

  Liam responded with a no.

  “He has to be here somewhere,” I said. “If they claim they don’t have him then maybe he just took off on his own before we saw him leave.”

  That made me wonder if they really had taken Addie. Maybe she’d been in on this all along. It wouldn’t be the first time that I’d been tricked by someone. I was definitely too trusting, and I had to learn to quit doing that. I just hated to be the suspicious person all the time, always on the defensive with every new person that I met. But it looked as if maybe that was the safe way to be. I could learn to trust someone in the long run and they would earn that. In the meantime I would just have to be cautious around everyone.

  I was getting ahead of myself though. I didn’t know for sure that Addie was involved in this. First it would require finding her in order to get those answers. I decided to ask them if they were working with Addie. I was almost afraid to find out the answer.

  “I have one more question before you take them away,” I said. “Did you know Addie? Did you take her? She’s missing and we need to know.”

  “I don’t know who you’re talking about,” Cameron said.

  I didn’t believe her this time. She was telling the truth probably about Dalton, but Addie? She knew where they’d taken Addie or if Addie was involved. But I supposed I couldn’t force Cameron to tell me anything right now.

  Just then Addie appeared in the doorway. My heart sank. Was she involved with this group too? Was that why she had wanted to work at the manor? That was when I saw the man holding her arm.

  “I’m sorry,” she mouthed.

  That was when I knew they’d taken her against her will.

  “Addie, was Annabelle with you? Have you seen her since she got away?”

  “No, she wasn’t with me in the room. They apparently kept us in separate places. They took her to a different place.”

  The guy pulled on her arm to get her to stop talking. “Be quiet.”

  Dalton lunged forward and swung at the guy, but it had no effect on the man. His fist went straight through him. Now that he had been reanimated that shouldn’t have happened.

  I remembered that I had my magic back. Whatever potion had spilled on me was gone now. They didn’t have the advantage any longer. Plus, I had the book with me. I needed to try the spell with the gold sparkles again. That had had a really good effect on that other jerk.

  I pulled out the book and attempted to flip to the page.

  The guy laughed. “Oh, you think we’re going to let you use that?”

  Liam and Nicolas stepped forward.

  “I don’t think that you have any choice in the matter,” Nicolas said.

  It looked as if this was going to turn into a physical fight sooner rather than later. The man made a move for Nicolas and then Liam lunged in for the fight too. That was when the other guy standing next to him jumped in with them. Cameron looked at me and now I had to decide whether I should try to do the spell or fight with her.

  My mother didn’t give me a chance to make that decision. She ran toward Cameron and practically tackled her like she was in the Super Bowl. I normally would have jumped in on the fight, but my abilities were best used if I tried the spell right now. I just hoped my mother could take this woman down. My mother was pretty tough, and I had confidence in her. I just didn’t want to see her get hurt.

  I pulled out the book. It was hard to flip through the pages, but finally I found the sparkle spell. That was what I liked to call it.

  I recited the words. Every few seconds I glanced up at the brawl going on in front of me. All of a sudden the sparkle appeared again. It was even larger this time, taking up the whole area. The sparkles fell from the sky like golden rain, a dazzling display of metallic light. For a moment I wondered if it had worked, even though I saw it physically. They were still fighting. Then all of a sudden, silence fell over the whole area and they stopped. They stared up at the ceiling, watching the gold sparkles. Even Nicolas, Liam, and my mother were transfixed by the scene.

  The doors burst open. Police dressed in riot gear swarmed the area. They yelled for us to put our hands up. But then they paused and stared at the ceiling. They were transfixed too. I hoped they were here to help us, but unless I stopped the spell they would be kind of useless. I recited the words that with any luck would reverse the spell. As soon as I finished the words the police yelled again. I was so frightened I immediately dropped the book and held my hands up. That was when I spotted Annabelle. She was with an officer. She pointed us out. They came over.

  The officer motioned. “You can put your hands down.”

  They were arresting the others.

  “Are you all okay?”

  I released a deep breath. “I’m all right now. It was touch-and-go there for a while.”

  They escorted the group out of the building. Annabelle ran over to us.

  “I was so worried about you. I thought they had you again.”

  “I got away,” she said with a smile.

  Chapter 32

  We were relaxing in the living room of the LaVeau Manor. Yes, I had to deal with the damage from the fire tomorrow, but tonight I just had to put this out of my mind and try to get back to normal.

  There was one thing left that I wanted to know. We had to cast a spell in order to find the answer. So we gathered around in a circle. Beginning the spell, I called to the elements.

  “Hear my call, element of air and please help with this spell. Hear my call, element of fire and ple
ase help with this spell. Hear my call, element of water and please help with this spell. Hear my call, element of earth and please help with this spell.”

  I needed all the help I could get. The elements gave me the power that I needed to perform the witchcraft. The wind stirred, the zing of energy filled the air and lights whirled and zapped against the walls. The floor vibrated under our feet. I’d made a good connection this time, I felt it.

  I recited the words carefully and waved my arms through the air. This made the lights even brighter and the wind even stronger. My hair whipped around my head and hit me in the face. I blew it out of my mouth and eyes and continued. I was in a complete zone now.

  We recited the words and waited for something to happen. The air grew thicker and a light sparkled and all of a sudden, poof, he was right there in the room with us. Wow, I couldn’t believe it had actually worked. Now the magic seemed to be back to normal. I had to find out why he was here and who he was for sure.

  “What am I doing here?” Edwin asked, looking around.

  “Well, I brought you back here. I want to know who you are. I know your first name is Edwin.”

  He just stared at me without saying anything.

  “Are you my great-great-grandfather?” I asked.

  He nodded. “Yes, I am.”

  “Why didn’t you say something?”

  “I didn’t want to scare you, dear.”

  “I’ve been scared a lot and that wouldn’t have scared me. I just can’t believe this,” I said.

  I walked closer to him, staring at his face and looking for any resemblance. He looked like me a little bit now that I saw the eyes closer.

  “I think you brought me back on accident,” he said.

  “Yeah, I’ve had a tendency to do that,” I said. “Sorry about that if you didn’t want to be back.”