《Chronicles Of A Boy Witch [Book 1: Andrew's Journey]》


 Prologue

    Andrew had never really liked his grandmother. In his heart, he called her a crazy old hag, and nothing she said ever sat right with him. Grandma was a small, wrinkly woman with scraggly white hair. The large frames of her round spectacles made her eyes seem twice their size. It was unsettling being watched by those large, slightly yellow eyes.


    She walked with a wooden cane that was a tad too long for the hunched old lady. Since Andrew was a child, he''d been deathly afraid of that cane. It had various figures carved onto its surface- words in a language Andrew couldn''t decipher, shapes not explained in his Geometry books, and eyes. Everywhere. Andrew could''ve sworn he''d seen the eyes twitch and move. Of course, grandma denied such a thing and his parents laughed it off. ''A child''s imagination is such a curious thing!'' they would say.


    Indeed, a child''s imaginationisa thing of wonder. Andrew had a vivid and marvelous imagination; his only source of entertainment in his youth. Growing up in a remote farm on a hill outside of town left scant opportunities for socializing, if any at all. On top of that, grandma would not allow Andrew to go to school. She told his parents that she could not bear parting with the child and requested that he be homeschooled.


    As though eliminating his hopes for making friends wasn''t bad enough. Grandma would often intrude into his imaginary world, turning it from a safe haven into yet another source of terror. Every bedtime story she told him would keep him up till dawn. She would speak of heinous things and vile creatures of her imagination that then became a part of his. From his overactive imagination they turned into cold nightmares. Every flicker of light was the eyes of a savage beast, and the howling winds were the calls of monsters on the hunt for their prey.


    Little Andrew had no one to share his woes with. The only other human interaction he had aside from his parents and his grandma was with milkman Joe. He came to the farm every third Sunday of the month to milk Bessie the cow, but kept mostly to himself and spoke more with Bessie than with Andrew.


    -------


    One night, Andrew''s parents had been in town visiting some friends, and Andrew was at home with grandma. She was hobbling about the living room, etching shapes onto the floor with the bottom of her cane. Andrew studied her from the couch where he lay upside down, feet up on the headrest and head resting on the seat. At length, he asked her why she was making a mess.


    "Hush child," she replied irritably. "Do you not see how busy I am?"


    Andrew knitted his eyebrows. "And justhoware you busy, you old witch? Stop messing up the floor! Bet you''re gonna makemeclean those up later!" he yelled.


    "No! Don''t you dare get rid of these!" she crowed. "You wouldn''t understand. It''s for protection!"


    "You really are a witch," He narrowed his eyes.


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    She merely smiled back, a smile that sent shivers up and down his spine, and continued with her protective measures against who-knows-what. When grandma was done, she turned to the living-room window and just as she did, a branch whacked hard against it. Andrew jolted upright. The eerie sound of the raging winds indicated that a storm was coming. Lights flickered on and off in the house that suddenly felt too big for only two people. Despite his fear of the wretched old lady, Andrew scooted closer to her.


    "It''s stronger than I thought!" grandma cackled. "Come, boy," she reached her wrinkly hand out to him. Under the circumstances, he accepted it without another thought. She drew him closer to her and wrapped her big shawl around him with one hand. Her other hand was raised towards the corner window.


    Draped in grandma''s shawl, Andrew could barely see beyond her hand. He could make out glowing shapes floating beyond her outstretched palm. He clutched tightly at his grandmother''s skirt. Enemies became friends under such circumstances, one must understand. Eventually he shut his eyes and left it all up to fate. He thought that if a typhoon was to blow them away, at the very least his parents who were far away would hopefully survive.


    The whirling winds began screeching, making sounds of torture and pain. The air pressure was so strong that Andrew didn''t dare let go of grandma no matter how much he wanted to cover his ears with his hands. His speeding heartbeat echoing in his ears helped to block out some of the sounds.


    Through it all, he didn''t dare cry. He may not be very brave but he was no crybaby.


    "It''s okay to cry if you''re scared, you know." Grandma patted him on the head. The time around them seemed to have stopped. It felt as though everything, including his heartbeat, was on pause. Like time and space had collided around them. He looked around. It seemed vaguely like theywerein space. It wasn''t dark; a hazy blue light surrounded them and there were bright starlike beings everywhere. Then Andrew was pulled back to reality in a flash. His mind reeled from the sudden change.


    The storm had stopped. The house was a mess; picture frames had fallen off their spot on the wall, furniture had toppled over, and glass objects shattered. Andrew only saw all of that for a short moment. By the time his mind had to recover from the sudden nausea, grandma swirled her wrist and the picture frames slid up the wall to their respective places, the toppled furniture sprang back up, and the shattered glass pieces floated as though they were attracted by a magnet and attached themselves to become whole again.


    Andrew caught every movement but it only registered in his brain much, much later. He took deep breaths to calm himself and looked up at grandma who remained unfazed. "What happened just now?" he asked and as he had expected, she shrugged. Experience told Andrew that grandma wouldn''t explain anything so he decided against wasting his breath. He went up to his room and laid down. The events that had come to pass just moments ago replayed in his head. It occurred to him that he might have imagined the entire thing. He decided he had not. After a while, grandma came up to his room.


    "You''ve done well. I expected you to cry," she said as she ran a hand through his hair. "Sometimes, it''s okay to cry."


    He contemplated shortly on those words and on why she was offering them to him.


    "Will you ask me no further about it, my dear?"


    "Will you tell me if I ask?" He asked meekly. The crazy events had taken their toll on him and he wasn''t snapping at her. But that was okay because she wasn''t snapping at him either.


    Grandma gave him a smile for an answer and Andrew felt calm inside. A bittoocalm, as he found that he could not help but drift off to sleep before getting another word out. He decided that he would do so the day after. He never got the chance because the next morning, he woke to find that grandma was gone.

 Chapter 1 : Where It Started

    The events of that stormy night had occurred when Andrew was the tender age of six. He found himself pondering on them again ten years later, perched lazily on the edge of his desk. He swirled his wrist and tiny stars danced about to the circling movements. A pair of eyes followed the stars with great interest before abruptly jumping to try and catch one. The stars disappeared and he pouted at the offender.


    "Bad cat," he chided. The cat simply cocked its head to one side and gave him an innocent look. He tried to hold his ground but eventually gave in and offered her a hand. As she came closer, he picked her up onto his lap and petted her soft gray and white fur. "Scar, you''re the only one I''d forgive for doing something like that."


    Scarlet purred in satisfaction. His other cat, Madelaine with her black fur and yellow eyes, crept up and rubbed herself against his leg, seemingly upset at the blatant favoritism. Andrew patted her on the head and she bit his index finger. "Hmph! And she wonders why she isn''t the favorite!" he muttered under his breath. She looked up at him with a victorious glint in her crisp yellow eyes.


    A dull sound reverberated around the room as Andrew''s phone vibrated on his bed. He lifted his hand in its direction, palms facing bed-wards. The phone wobbled a bit as it lifted in the air and floated slowly towards him. "Hello...?" he said cautiously.


    "HOW COULD YOU MISS SCHOOL TODAY-"


    Andrew groaned loudly into the receiver. "I don''t feel like talking right now."


    "Well, that sucks. And here I was, waiting patiently by your front door. Your one and only friend-"


    Caroline Harley was the closest thing Andrew had to a ''childhood friend'', or rather even a ''friend''. He sighed and sprung off the desk and ambled over to the front door. He peeked through the peephole and assured that it was indeed her. Then he unlocked the door without bothering to open it and trudged over to the kitchen. She pushed open the door and stalked after him, chattering away without missing a beat.


    "Why are you here?" Andrew sighed, exasperated. "Why didn''t you just ring the doorbell?"


    "Why didn''t you come to school today?" she asked, more annoyed than worried.


    "Didn''t feel like it," he answered simply, as he covered a slice of bread with peanut butter. He had to do things manually when she was around.


    "Don''t you even want to know what you missed?" she asked after a short silence. "No need," Andrew yawned. She cocked her head to the side. "You know, you''re being awfully dismissive... your grades aren''t even that good..."


    "Don''t really care," he mumbled.


    "UGH!" I don''t know why I even bother with you!" Caroline fumed.


    Andrew continued to butter the toast in silence. Why did she bother with him, Andrew wondered. He most certainly didn''t want her to. Andrew had never gone out of his way to seek out her friendship. He was somewhat appreciative of the fact that she went out of her way to show concern for him and play the part of the ''childhood friend''. Perhaps as an ode to his now deceased parents who were friends with hers. But he felt that at one point, she started pushing herself onto him of her own free will.


    Andrew didn''t quite understand what people saw in Caroline. She was considered attractive by most people but nothing about her sparked any sort of emotion in him. Caroline was one of the more popular girls at the high school they both attended. Because she was so close to Andrew, people tried to befriend him to get closer to her. Because he rejected such advances, people considered him stuck up. There were many who were just plain jealous of their friendship. Andrew''s social skills were mediocre at best and that only served to hinder his attempts to get people to cease their unreasonable dislike for him. All in all, Andrew decided to give up all hope of finding even one good friend, and to instead use that energy to concentrate on practicing magic. Caroline, of course, knew nothing about it. He grimaced at the very thought of telling her.


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    Many people had often mistaken him for her boyfriend. He didn''t think they even looked very good together. Andrew and Caroline were around the same height. She had light skin, while his was darker. They both had black hair, black eyes, and other equally ordinary features. Caroline wore her hair up in twin ponytails just above her ears (which Andrew thought were too big for her face). He also thought that her eyes were rather intimidating.


    Of course, one might still wonder why Andrew didn''t fall for her. The reason was simple; he thought that she was annoying. Andrew knew that she wasn''t interested in him in a romantic sense either. She probably stuck to him because it bothered her how uninterested in her he was. Several times he tried to throw her attention onto someone else by pointing out several of their classmates who also showed little to no interest in her. Some such examples would be Benjamin from the math club, Izu from the chess club, and Zen who was one of the more famous delinquents in their school.


    She merely waved them off, claiming she could befriend them if she so wished it. In a further attempt to lose her interest, he asked her to prove it but she didn''t seem to find it necessary to accept the challenge. There was no doubt that she was confident that she could do it. It''s just that she did not want to and she was self-indulgent.


    "You know, we had those career counselors come in today. Then Mr. Brown was telling us to start thinking about which college we want to go to. School''s going to be over before you know it..." she said.


    "I suppose so. Would you like something to drink?" He was certainly not an ungracious host.


    "Juice is fine. You know which I like. So, any plans for where to go after? I heard most of the others already decided. I''ve got some colleges shortlisted out for you as well since-"


    "I''m not planning to go."


    "WHAT?" she screeched after a short pause.


    "More specifically, I''m planning not to go." He grinned as though that had been a choice he put a lot of thought into.


    "WHAT?" she screeched a second time.


    Andrew poured some orange juice in a bright red mug and offered it to her. She took it (or rather, clutched it out of his hands), gulped it down in one go, and began bombarding him with questions. "Why?! What do you mean you''re not going to go?! How can you not?!" then paused, "...I know your grades aren''t that great but I''m sure you can manage to get into one of the affiliated colleges if you-" She was shaking him by the shoulders. He crossed his eyebrows in blatant irritation, hoping it would send the message not to inquire further. No dice.


    "You can''t take your future this lightly!!" she yelled as though she, of all people, could change his mind about it. He decided that he''d had enough. Softly, but firmly, Andrew pushed her hands off his shoulders. "It isn''t as though I''m taking my future lightly. I just have other plans." He paused, and then continued, "And they have nothing to do with you." before she could bombard him with several more questions.


    "I see," was all she managed before finally leaving.


    He almost felt slightly bad about the whole thing. Annoying as she was, at least she pretended to care. Madelaine scratched his ankle and stared expectantly at him with her round glowing eyes, her pupils sharp black slits in a sea of yellow. Normally, he would have gotten mad but this time he supposed he''d deserved it. Sighing seemed to be all he did those days. He took a bit of time to actually ponder on his future as he dropped two more slices of bread into the toaster. He picked Madelaine up onto his lap and rocked her back and forth as he considered his options.


    He had no plans to continue with this foolish education nonsense, that was for sure. His parents had enrolled him in school so that he could enjoy a normal life, after having deprived him of it for the first few years of his adolescent life. They were a tad too late because by that time he was beyond it all. It all started a few years ago, when his Grandma came back after her grand disappearance.

 Chapter 2: Where It Started (Pt. 2)

    Grandma had been gone for months. His parents told him she was visiting relatives in another part of the world. They didn''t even narrow it down to a country. Young as he was, he didn''t question the strangeness of an old lady''s sudden disappearance. That too, all by herself. Even his parents'' unconcerned state or the fact that they didn''t even call or write to her did not bother him. In fact, Andrew was excited to not have her around for once. He thought life would be great, though he soon discovered that it was more or less the same. Perhaps except for the fact that he became rather lonely. Horrid and troublesome as she was, she was still company. She was still family.


    Then one day, some months later, she was back! When the bell rang one sunny Tuesday, Andrew put down his toys and ran to the front door. Guests were rare on their farm, and since it wasn''t Sunday it definitely couldn''t be milkman Joe. Andrew clutched his father''s pant legs and peeked from behind him as he opened the door. Hunched small below the large door frame, was little old grandma with her creepy walking stick. She had a melancholy smile as she announced that she was back.


    Andrew felt that it had been ages, though he kept his delight to himself. He wanted her to know that he was upset she left without saying anything to him. But he was eventually won over with the chocolates and toys she brought back with her. He was a child after all.


    It became more difficult as the years progressed. Every few months, grandma would disappear for weeks on end. Each time she would go on one of her ''travels'', Andrew began to notice that she never took anything with her. Not even a measly handbag! Yet, she always came back with things that she was not seen to be carrying. One time, grandma brought back several large books with her.


    Andrew was eight at the time. One morning, he peeked into her room to find her lying in bed, busy reading. He shuffled into the room and sat down on her fuzzy carpet. After a short silence, he decided to try his luck. "How did you carry all those big books back with you?" he asked.


    Grandma didn''t reply but she didn''t seem to be reading either. She was lost in thought. Andrew silently waited, fiddling with the fuzzy strands of carpet thread. Finally grandma said, "Magic, my dear."


    Andrew thought she was kidding, but he didn''t ask again. He knew she never took him seriously. After a few minutes she put the book aside and sat up. "Do you not believe me?"


    Andrew said nothing.


    "Well, how else would I have done it?" she prompted him.


    "Well, how can you use magic?" he asked dumbly.


    "I can because..." Grandma paused. She was once again lost in thought, but decided on finishing her sentence. "Because I''m a witch."


    Andrew''s eyes widened. He felt a surge of excitement course through him as grandma said, "I am a witch, Andrew. Maybe you are one too."


    That was when it all started. Of course, Andrew knew. In the bottom of his heart, he had suspected that there was something more to his eccentric grandmother. Nobody believed him and at one point he had begun to doubt himself. But at last, the truth was out. After that, nothing was the same. There was magic in his life. Literally.


    Grandma told him that she had not been visiting another country, but rather a different world altogether! It was a world where every creature Andrew ever read about in fairytales existed! Wizards, Warlocks, Fairies, and of course, Witches. Andrew ate it all up like any child would. It gave his isolated life a hint of color. In fact, he believed it because he desperately wanted to believe it. Grandma showed him a small purse she kept tucked away in the pocket of her shabby dress. From inside the purse she produced large items, all of which should not have been able to fit inside it. Then, she showed him the first magic spell he''d seen. The glowing shapes that danced out of her palms. He would never forget that moment. He was mesmerized.


    Andrew turned out to have a natural talent for magic. Grandma was very pleased, and taught him his first spell- the glowing stars. After that, he spent most of his youth learning more about magic in general. It was to be kept a secret between him and grandma. She told him that if his parents knew about it, they would not accept it; they would think he was dabbling in dark magic and evil spirits.


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    So he read and practiced in secret- on top of the haystack at the horses'' stables, on the roof of the house, under his blankets with a torchlight during bedtime. Grandma obliged him when she saw fit, but her disappearances started becoming more and more frequent.


    Andrew had swallowed his pride and pleaded with her to take him to the other world even if only once. But she violently declined and told him never to bring it up again. That had thrown their amended relationship back into the gutters. Andrew once again started being bitter towards her, though he imagined it hardly mattered to her since she wasn''t around for long at any point in time.


    Andrew hated his grandmother for teaching him about a new world, but never letting him be a part of it. He felt as though he belonged to neither world. He had no friends, and was lonely in the world around him. Grandma refused to take him to the magical world of which he heard about in her stories. Since he could not be a part of either, he simply existed in a third world; his own. It was peaceful, but it was dull. The boundaries were limited by his imagination. The world would only expand with his mind and as long as his life remained as stagnant as it were, his mind would never expand. Thus, he thought his world was doomed to remain small forever.


    When Andrew was about twelve, Grandma once again disappeared and had not returned for about a year. Andrew''s parents then decided that Andrew had enough homeschooling, that he needed to see the world, and that they would enroll him in middle school.


    Andrew hardly thought going to a private school in the nearby town would let him see much of the world, but it was something. He found that he could not be excited for something so trivial when there was a whole other world of magic that awaited him. Still, he pretended to be very happy with his parents'' decision.


    Sure enough, the day before school, he felt hopeful. It was no magical world, but perhaps he would finally make some friends and enjoy himself. Of course, no such enjoyment was ultimately felt. The day after that, his parents took him to the Harleys'' home where he was introduced to young Caroline who was his schoolmate. She soon designated herself his best friend.


    When he was fourteen, both his parents died in a car accident.


    On his fifteenth birthday, grandma had returned from one of her expeditions; this time with rather unique souvenirs. She brought him two cats, Madelaine and Scarlet.


    These were some of the highlights of his otherwise humdrum life.


    He went to school as usual and he learned the art of magic as usual. He often wondered if there was more to life, but found that there wasn''t. Life had continued its usual pace, following its dull course.


    Then one day, soon after he turned sixteen, his whole life was thrown off course. Grandma declared that he was free. Free from her, free to do whatever he wanted, free to live however he wished. Andrew raised his eyebrows and delivered his feelings on such a declaration in the form of an inquisitive glare.


    "Since you hate me, and the life I have given you so far... I have decided to give you the liberty to live your life on your own terms now," she said.


    "What do you mean?"


    "I am leaving, Andrew. I am going back to my own world. Since I cannot take you with me, you are free to live however you like in this world. Don''t worry about the expenses for now. Your parents left enough for that."


    Nothing she said made sense to him. She would go back to her world for good? She would just leave him all by himself?


    "It seems you have something to say," she said quietly.


    "WHY NOW?" He burst out.


    "You are grown enough to take care of yourself. You will be alright."


    Andrew was speechless. There were no words he could find that could convey the utter bewilderment he felt. He left it at that, and wordlessly stormed out of her room. As Andrew huddled on his bed and tried to arrange his thoughts, he fell further down the rabbit hole of despair.


    -------


    Ever since his parents had died, he had been taking care of himself. Grandma would always come and go, but he was mostly just by himself. No, since even before that. Andrew had always felt alone. He would be fine, right? He really could take care of himself, right?


    But then again, those times Andrew always knew that grandma would be back. He knew that no matter how many times she would leave, even if after a month or after five months, she would return. Now that she said a final goodbye, Andrew felt scared.


    Grandma had left early the next day without another word to Andrew. Andrew hadn''t expected her to say anything. When she was gone he cried. He did not go to school or do much of anything for a week. When the self pity had mostly dried up and hardened, he resumed life as usual. Andrew was used to being abandoned, especially by her.


    His future had become more uncertain than ever. He decided that he would figure it out eventually. Internally he thought his grandmother would come back again. Whether it happened in one year, in two years, he would not hold grudges or be irritable anymore. He would be good to her. He had never thanked her for anything, never even given her a proper hug. He decided that he deserved to be abandoned and if she ever came back, he would be better.


    In fact, he expected it. She wouldn''t just leave him to fend for himself all alone, would she? He was just a kid! No, this was a lesson! She''d be back, and she would see that Andrew could be good. And so, Andrew went on with his life with that hope in mind.

 Chapter 3 : The Infamous Zen

    Andrew stared at the oddly bent object on the ground with some level of intrigue. He rubbed his knee at the spot where it had hit him just moments before and wondered what miraculous bone or muscle in his body had caused it to become so distorted. He decided to fix it before whoever threw it came along and asked unnecessary questions.


    He raised an arm and the ball floated slowly upwards and began to recover its original shape. It was a spell to revert objects to a previous state. His grandmother had insisted on his memorizing it since the cats were always breaking things around the house. At least it was coming in handy outside of broken dishware. If the owner of the ball saw the state it was in, Andrew would definitely be found out.


    Just as the ball became perfectly round again and fell to the ground beside him, a gruff voice called out "Have you seen a-"


    The owner of the voice stopped short, looked down at the ball, and then up at Andrew. Andrew recognized him right away. Light hair, blue eyes, bruises and scratches all over his arms and legs- he was the infamous Zen.


    Andrew picked up the ball and tossed it over to him. He knew for sure that the other boy hadn''t witnessed him denting or fixing the ball, so he wondered why Zen continued gaping at him. Even after he took the ball, Zen had stood and stared while Andrew swiftly walked away.


    Zen had a reputation around their part of town as the local troublemaker. He was in a different class, but Andrew knew that he had no friends in school (much like Andrew). He skipped school a lot (also like Andrew). But unlike Andrew, he had several bad rumors surrounding him. Some said he was a part of a local gang. Some said in his previous school, he bullied a kid until he left town. Some said he tortured stray animals for fun.


    All of it sounded quite farfetched to Andrew and he didn''t really believe most of them. Mostly because they were broadcasted by the same people who spread rumors about him dating Caroline and being an obnoxious jerk. Zen''s various scars and bruises were questionable to be sure, but maybe he was just really sporty.


    All things considered, Andrew regarded Zen as a kindred soul. Not that he would go out of his way to associate with him due to the similar nature of their situations- disliked in general for no good reason and lack of companionship- but he had an odd sense of respect for him. So the strange meeting had left him in a sense of utter confusion.


    It felt as though the balance between their existences was upset; like they were two entities who co-existed at the same sort of pace but were never supposed to interact. And now that they had, it felt like that imaginary balance Andrew had constructed in his mind was shifting. More so because of how Zen had reacted.


    If he had simply taken the ball and left, Andrew might not have thought much of it. But the way he watched Andrew with his calm demeanor and cool eyes, as though he could see right through him... Andrew was worried. Could it be that he saw him using magic? He realized that he might have been overthinking the whole incident and decided to try to think no further about it. That, however, proved to be difficult. The entire day, whenever he passed by Zen, each time without fail, they made eye contact. The Zen who never gave his existence the slightest bit of acknowledgement before that incident, now looked him directly in the eyes. The attention made Andrew uneasy since he was used to being treated more like a background prop. When classes were over for the day, Zen waited for him outside. "Come with me for a bit," he said when Andrew had come out. They walked to a nearby park in silence.


    Zen threw and caught the football with his knee, not once letting it fall to the ground. As a person with no natural talent for sports, Andrew found what he was doing to be quite amazing. He had thought that only professional sportsmen were capable of such feats. Nevertheless, the atmosphere around them was still quite awkward.


    "You know," Zen finally spoke. "People still ask me why I keep this old thing." He pointed to the ball. "A... friend gave this to me when I was a kid." He kneed it high into the air. It sprung up and came down, as though in slow motion.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    "When I was a kid, I got into an accident with it."


    A cold sweat formed on Andrew''s brow.


    "It had been in that state since. I tried to get it fixed but every store told me to just buy a new one," at which point he smiled at Andrew. "How''d you do it?"


    "I..."


    Honestly there were very few times over the course of his life that Andrew had ever felt stupid. Not that he thought of himself as a highly intelligent being, but surely he was not stupid? That being said, he could not comprehend what had possessed him at that time to have thought that his bones were so strong and magical that they had dented a football on the spot.


    "I..." Andrew tried again, and failed to form even one measly sentence.


    Zen laughed a short and pleasant laugh. "I''m just grateful. I''m not interrogating you or anything."


    "I... uh, I..." Andrew said for the umpteenth time, yet again lacking a proper string of words to follow up with.


    "You don''t have to explain yourself to me. For all I know, there could be some secret art to it. You don''t have to tell me anything!" He paused. "But I''d like it if you did."


    Andrew said nothing. The atmosphere felt thick. His eyes naturally fell to the ground and stayed there as though the world''s most interesting grass grew on it. Zen seemed to understand that he was unwilling to talk. "Well, I''ll see you around, bud!" he said and walked away. Andrew stood for a few moments in silence. He took a deep breath.


    In his mind, he swiftly had a debate with an imaginary Zen.


    A: "For all you know, in the span of a minute, someone else could have fixed it and run away and I just happened to find it all fixed when you walked in!"


    Z: "I see, that makes sense. You win."


    Andrew won the imaginary debate in one go. Real life wasn''t that easy. He wondered if it would be safe for him to try and alter Zen''s memories. Grandma once mentioned a spell like that but she also said that using it without mastering it could make the subject''s head explode. Or, at least, damage their brain for life.


    Andrew decided that he did not want to harm Zen regardless. He was unexpectedly different from how Andrew thought he''d be. The Zen that Andrew had imagined was at least somewhat of a bully who listened to death metal and would only smile when he felt the warm sensation of blood on his knuckles. The Zen he spent ten minutes stupidly mumbling with was understanding, had a pleasant laugh, and was emotionally attached to a football. He seemed like a decent guy. Andrew decided that he was glad he had the chance to interact with him and have their imaginary balance thrown off. Then he remembered how close Zen was to finding out the truth about him. He knew that with so little to do throughout his uneventful life, it would bother him every minute of every day. He knew he had to talk to him and make things right for himself.


    But after that day, Zen seemed to have disappeared from the face of the earth. Andrew spent a good twelve minutes planning what to say to him and a good thirteen and half hours editing it. It was all for naught as the person in question hadn''t bothered coming to school the next day... or any other day in the subsequent week. In fact, Andrew (who had skipped school whenever the chance presented itself) had been regularly attending in order to run into him. It was frustrating and when he could hold it in no longer, he decided to take direct action.


    After school one day, Andrew asked Zen''s class teacher if he knew the reason for Zen''s absence. The old man didn''t seem to have a clue as to whom he was referring to. In fact, he didn''t even seem to be very much awake. Andrew understood there was no point in trying to elicit any further information from the drowsy and incompetent teacher. Asking the rest of the staff proved pointless too so he decided to take direct action 2.0.


    Unlike his grandmother, Andrew wasn''t very proficient with magic. The most Andrew learned to do was make things float or create glowing stars for his own aesthetic pleasure. And of course, the occasional spell or two to do things like fix broken plates (and apparently footballs). He hated having to resort to using magic beyond that (though he often did).


    Andrew searched his bookshelf and pulled out three books. Behind them, was a small compartment hidden in his wall. He opened it and took out a black leather bound notebook with a red gem in the center. Andrew gingerly rubbed a finger against it, and the gem turned purplish in color. If one opened the notebook without doing that, one would find the pages blank. When the gem turned purple, the pages of the notebook yellowed like that of ancient parchment and words rose from the depths of the paper. Andrew swiftly flipped through it, and skimmed the pages in the middle until he found what he desired. A person-finding spell.

 Chapter 4: Coin

    The next day found Andrew outside Zen''s house, seemingly inconspicuous. He knew Zen was in the front yard. He had to catch his attention, yet make it seem completely coincidental that he was there. No amount of magic could help make him less awkward around people. He was very clueless when it came to most human interactions, as one might have guessed from the incident with Zen and his football. Andrew coughed loudly a few times and realized that trick only worked when one was in a closer proximity to the intended target. He paced back and forth a few times before finally deciding to call it a day, and to come back some other time with a better strategy. He whirled around upon feeling a sudden hand on his shoulder, whacking it with a jolt.


    Zen rubbed the spot where Andrew had just hit him and tried to stifle his laughter. Andrew stared wide-eyed at him.


    "Hey! What''s up?" Zen asked.


    "I... was just passing by the area and-" Andrew started, unsure of how to string more words onto the sentence after that point.


    "And? You decided to pace about here and there?" Zen grinned. "Coin and I were watching." A very small golden retriever popped out from inside the yard, gleefully made its way to Zen, and rubbed its face against his leg. He got down on one knee and lovingly petted it.


    Andrew was lost. He suddenly missed the days grandma made him not socialize with people. ONE interaction with a human person and THIS happened. He couldn''t win with this guy. He not only caught onto Andrew''s magic, but he also caught him sneaking around outside his house. Andrew wanted to clear things out, but here he was making kissy faces at a puppy. It was getting harder and harder for Andrew to handle the situation. Andrew thought back on the plan of potentially making his head explode but before he could contemplate on it any further, Zen stood up. "Sorry about that. Coin is very attached to me. He won''t leave me alone."


    Andrew bent down and carressed the puppy''s face. It rubbed its small, soft head against his palm and he felt his lips twitch up instinctively. Zen seemed surprised. "Woah! He never allows other people to touch him!" he said with amazement as he crouched down next to Andrew.


    "Animals naturally like me..." Andrew mumbled. ''Maybe except Madelaine though,'' he thought to himself.


    "So, you like dogs?" Zen asked. "I have two cats..." Andrew mumbled as an answer. Zen raised an eyebrow. "So... you don''t like dogs?" Andrew took a second to think before saying "I like them", as he continued to pet Coin.


    "We haven''t really spoken much before, have we?" Zen offered Andrew his hand "I''m Zen!"


    "Andrew." He tentatively accepted the hand and shook it.


    "So, why were you passing by our area?" Zen inquired lightly. "You live around here?"


    "No," Andrew said as Coin rubbed his small head against his ankle. He didn''t know what to say next. Zen was quiet for a bit. "Do you wanna come in?" He said finally and Andrew nodded in reply.


    The interior of Zen''s house was the true essence of ''minimalism''. Andrew thought his parents must either be very busy or very lazy. There was hardly anything inside. Andrew followed him up the stairs to what he imagined would be the attic. Turned out that it was the boy''s bedroom and it was the liveliest room in the entire house. He told Andrew to make himself at home. Andrew paced over to a bean bag and slumped down on it. It collapsed under his weight and Zen chuckled.Stolen story; please report.


    Andrew decided that since he made the first move and came all the way to Zen''s house, it was the other boy''s turn to ask Andrew how he really fixed the ball (so he could lie and tell him otherwise). "Do you want something to drink?" he asked instead.


    A surge of impatience and annoyance washed over Andrew. "No."


    Why didn''t anything ever go how he planned in his head?


    "Aw, don''t be shy!" Zen waved his hand. "Let me see what I have down in the fridge," and before Andrew could further object, he disappeared down the stairs. When he was back a couple minutes later, he had two juice boxes and a packet of chips. "Haven''t had guests in a while... or gone grocery shopping," he said with a deprecating laugh.


    As Andrew sipped on his apple-blueberry surprise, Zen watched him with interest. Twice he caught his eyes and Andrew moved his eyes away. Zen didn''t look away though and Andrew thought he was odd. Understanding that Zen would not bring it up as he had hoped, he decided to do it himself and get it over with. "You know your football..." Andrew mumbled quietly. "I didn''t fix it."


    Lying was hard.


    "Then who did?" Zen asked coolly. "I don''t know," Andrew muttered.


    Zen didn''t say anything for what -to Andrew- felt like an eternity. When he finally said "Oh, I see. My bad, huh?" and flashed his usual smile, Andrew thought he would be put out of his misery. Unfortunately, he was not. He still felt queasy inside.


    Andrew had thought that lying was an occupational hazard of having a magical descent. But having Zen find out like that and having to lie to him, it didn''t feel right. If grandma had left her address with him, Andrew would have written her a letter to ask her what the right thing to do would be in this situation. But as it were, he had no way of reaching her. And then he remembered that for the remainder of his life, perhaps there would be no reaching her. Ever.


    If she really had deserted him and left him to live his life as he wished, then shouldn''t he have the freedom to decide who to share the truth with? What would it be to her? As he contemplated such matters, he got a painful reminder that despite being set free to be independent, he was not free of responsibility.


    "No wait," Andrew sighed, his internal battle reaching a conclusion. "I did."


    Zen didn''t say anything. Andrew bit his lower lip. He realized that it wasn''t that he felt guilty lying, but that he didn''t want to lie to Zen. He wanted to be friends with him.


    He forced his eyes up to Zen''s and saw him look patiently back. He was being very understanding, and Andrew appreciated him all the more for it. He realized that it wasn''t as though Zen didn''t want to know, he was trying his best to be considerate.


    Still, the rest of the explanation didn''t want to make its way out of Andrew''s throat. Andrew decided that it would be better to show him than to start blabbering again. He pointed his index finger skywards. Tiny glowing stars flowed out in a circular motion. Zen''s eyes went wide. Andrew swirled his wrist and they began floating around them. Coin leapt into action, trying to catch them.


    "So that''s your answer?" Zen asked. Andrew wondered what exactly the question was, but he nodded. Zen himself didn''t seem to have the right words for the moment. He didn''t speak, but stared at the glowing shapes flying around them. "Bet this looks gorgeous at night," he said after some time. "Yes!" Andrew said with more spirit than he''d known himself to possess. "You wanna see?"


    Zen raised his eyebrows. "You can make it night?!"


    "Err no..." Andrew faltered. "I can do this again... at night."


    Zen laughed. "Ah, that makes more sense,"


    So what else can you do? Are you a freak? This is some movie maker effect right? This can''t be real. Can you also guess what number I''m thinking of right now? Make something disappear! Andrew had expected a response of that manner. He was grateful that Zen didn''t say any of those things. In fact, he didn''t say much at all, and Andrew could understand. The first time he learned about magic, it took his breath away too.

 Chapter 5: Andrew and Zen

    Andrew and Zen became friends. For the first time in his life, Andrew felt what he thought making friends would feel like. He started to go to school more often, and Caroline was very happy with his improved attendance. He always had lunch with Zen, and sometimes they would talk for a while after school before going their separate ways. It wasn''t a lot, but it was a start.


    One day, during lunch break, Andrew found Zen by himself at a corner of the school grounds, crouched by a sleeping cat. He prodded it with his finger and it angrily opened its eyes. Big mistake, Andrew thought. His cats always hated being prematurely woken. However, the cat stretched and stared quietly at Zen. It made no effort to lunge at him and bite his finger off. Andrew came to the conclusion that his cats were jerks.


    As Zen lovingly petted the cat, Andrew understood that Zen was just one of those good-with-animals kind of people that he, himself, claimed to be. What he didn''t understand was why people avoided Zen. Andrew walked over to him and crouched down beside him. "So when are you showing me the glowing stars at night?" Zen asked.


    Andrew was taken by surprise. He had thought that Zen''s silence when he''d mentioned it meant that he was politely declining the offer. "How about tonight? You can come over to my place."


    "Cool, where do you live?"


    Andrew told him but upon hearing the address, Zen fell into deep thought. "It''s really really far from my place so night is not a great time for me to-" Zen started. "You could stay over!" Andrew said abruptly.


    Zen looked as surprised as Andrew felt. For the longest time, he was a social nobody and now suddenly he was sharing his entire identity and having slumber parties with someone he''d met a week ago? He made no sense even to himself. Zen''s surprise faded to a warm smile in an instant and he seemed like he would take up the offer.


    "Oh but..." he fell back into thought "clothes..." he muttered. "You can borrow mine!" Andrew said. He felt utterly embarrassed, as though he sounded like he was desperate to make friends, which, maybe, he was, but it didn''t help to realize that.


    "But Coin..." Zen faltered. Andrew had forgotten about Coin. "Hmmm," He put a hand over his chin as he thought. Zen looked at him silently, then asked if it were okay if he brought Coin along.


    "Oh, sure!" Andrew exclaimed. "We can introduce him to my cats!" He said and immediately regretted it. He thought he sounded like those soccer moms that meet in their yoga classes and decide to introduce their grubby little kids to each other.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    "Yeah sure," Zen said, laughing lightly. He had a pleasant and lively laugh. If Andrew hadn''t felt like he were making a joke out of himself with every word he uttered, he might have joined him.


    -------


    Andrew pulled out his notebook for the next class. He actually had only one school notebook that he used for all of his classes. "Can you PLEASE get a few more?" Caroline seemed to materialize behind him in an instant.


    "Nope." Andrew told her for what he thought might have been the twentieth time that month. "Now go back to your desk. Class is gonna start. Shoo."


    "You know I can give you one, I-" Caroline started but then stopped. Andrew followed her eyes to the door where he saw Zen waving at him. Andrew got up and walked over to him. "I forgot to tell you to meet up at the usual place after school. Wanna get dinner? We can pick up Coin afterwards." Andrew just nodded, painfully aware of the eyes burning into his back. "Cool!" Zen said cheerily and went on his merry way.


    "So you''re still hanging out with him." Caroline tried to keep her voice steady. "Even after I asked you not to."


    "Yeah," Andrew shrugged, a bit irritated.


    "He''s dangerous!" She slammed a palm down on his desk. "Why do you have to go make friends with him of all people, Andrew?!"


    "Listen." Andrew stood up to pin her down with his glare, utilizing the one or two centimeters he had on her. "You don''t even know him."


    "And you do?" she glared right back, her ever intimidating eyes burning.


    Andrew didn''t really have an answer for that. He realized how stupid it would be to continue arguing since he had nothing to defend himself with. He''d only spoken to the guy a couple times his entire life and the only reason he had to believe Zen to be a good guy is that a dog liked him. ''No bad guy can lovingly pet a tiny dog like that,'' he thought to himself.


    Andrew couldn''t believe his own baseless defense of the guy. All the same, he refused to give in to Caroline''s demanding eyes. "You don''t have a say in who I become friends with or don''t," and with that Andrew sat back down. Just as she opened her mouth to say something, more students filed in followed by the teacher and Caroline promptly sat down at her own desk a few rows ahead of Andrew''s. She turned back to scowl at him once more before turning her attention to math.


    After school, Caroline caught up with Andrew again. "I have plans with Zen." He casually informed her. She raised her eyebrows in genuine surprise. "I didn''t know you two were that close," she said, her voice devoid of expression. He shrugged in response.


    She didn''t speak much, seemingly deep in thought as she twirled strands of a ponytail around her finger. As they neared their usual spot, they found Zen propped against a wall, skimming through a notebook. When he noticed Andrew, his eyes lit up and he smiled.


    "Hey!" he made his way over. "I know where we can grab some food-" his voice faltered as he registered the girl standing haughtily beside Andrew, arms crossed.


    As much as he didn''t want to, Andrew hastily brought the introductions in order. "Line, Zen. Zen, Caroline." Andrew mumbled indifferently.


    Zen smiled and offered her a hand and she sourly shook it. "Will Caroline be joining us?" Zen asked.


    "If it''s alright with you two." Caroline forced a smile. Her tone of voice suggested that she was going to do whatever she pleased regardless.


    "I don''t mind," Zen said politely. "Me neither," Andrew shrugged.

 Chapter 6: Where It Begins

    The trio walked in somber silence, Andrew and Zen a bit ahead with Caroline trailing behind a couple steps, watching them intently. They got on the bus headed towards Leary Avenue, Zen''s stop. Zen made pleasant conversation. Caroline didn''t bother them. She replied if Zen asked her anything, but was otherwise content to stay at the back and observe them like a chaperone. It started to irritate Andrew. He decided that he needed to tell her off once and for all. It had always annoyed him just how naggy she was but recently he''d realized just how interfering she could be. He decided that when Zen wasn''t around, he would pull her aside and tell her to stop sticking her nose into his business.


    They got off at Leary Ave. and went to a nearby fast food place at Zen''s suggestion. There as well, Caroline didn''t speak much while Zen talked pleasantly about sports, pets, homework, and other such ordinary things. Andrew hoped that at the very least, Caroline was realizing that Zen wasn''t actually a bad person. It was hard to tell what she was thinking; her face was blank and she didn''t really look up from her phone the entire time they ate. It was dark out by the time they''d left the cafe.


    They walked towards Zen''s house, and at that point even Zen had become quiet. Caroline trailed behind them like a shadow for a while but then stopped. "Hey,"


    The boys turned towards her.


    "Is it always this empty here?" she asked.


    Andrew hadn''t realized it before but the neighborhood was suspiciously empty and eerily silent. Not only that, the houses were all dark; the only lights were from the street lights spaced so far apart they barely seemed to illuminate anything. Andrew felt a chill run down his shoulders. He hated semi-darkness more than absolute darkness.


    "Well," Zen started. "It IS kind of spooky now that you mention it. My house isn''t too far away now-"


    The silence around them was broken as a loud bang went off in the darkness ahead. A flare had shot up into the sky from a rather small pistol, and illuminated the area. The light wasn''t comforting, but rather dreadful. The man holding the miniscule gun was, in contrast, large and muscular. Behind him was a group of people. They all wore matching dark cloaks and menacing expressions.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    "Children," the man said, "let''s skip the pleasantries, shall we? You-" he pointed to Andrew, "yes, you. Come with us quietly."


    -------


    Though everything seemed to be whirling around him, Andrew reacted to the incident with a surprising level of detachment. He didn''t believe something so exciting could happen to him. He looked to his left and spotted a rather narrow alley. If they made a mad dash through that alley, they might be able to get away. Zen''s house wasn''t far and they could call the police. If they were lucky maybe some would be patrolling the area.


    Andrew felt Zen grab his left arm and looked up at him. He wore a grim expression as he looked from Andrew to the alley. His grip tightened and Andrew realized that Zen had the same idea. All they had to do was scream for Caroline to follow and run like crazy.


    Andrew contemplated on how smart that plan would be given that the other party had weird-looking guns. As his attention drew back to them, he realized the man was pointing his at him. "I don''t like waiting..." he grumbled.


    Andrew decided that plan might put Zen and Caroline at risk. Their safety was more important to him than his own. Though rather confused about the situation, the strange man mentioned that he wanted Andrew. He decided that giving himself up might be smarter if they would let his friends go. Upon reaching that conclusion, he was about to raise his hands in surrender when he was violently knocked sideways.


    Surprised, he fell unceremoniously on his arm and grunted in pain as someone else landed on him. It was Caroline. "What-" he began, only to see the trail of blood trickling down the side of her leg. If she hadn''t pushed him out of the way, he reckoned the shot would''ve gone straight through his knee. Be that as it were, running was definitely out; Caroline would no longer be able to run.


    "We were told to take you back alive, not unharmed," the leader said, and then yawned. "You looked like you were thinking of running. Anyway, I won''t hurt your friends as long as you come along without resisting."


    "What are you doing?" Caroline''s voice was hoarse. She couldn''t stand up. Shifting her weight on her balled fists, she turned to Zen. "TAKE ANDREW AND RUN!"


    Zen jolted and tugged at Andrew''s shirt but he did not move.


    "What are you doing?!" Andrew screamed at Caroline.


    "Don''t worry about me, run Andrew!" Caroline pleaded.


    "Enough," the leader said, his tone dispassionate. "What is this? Some drama show? Shut the girl up!"


    The lackeys emotionlessly aimed their guns at Caroline. "RUN ANDREW!" she screamed. It was followed by a round of loud bangs.

 Chapter 7: The Evil Witches Appear

    Andrew and Zen recoiled from the air pressure and were flung backwards. Andrew felt his head hit the wall behind them. As his senses started to return, he put his pain temporarily aside. His blood froze as he desperately looked for Caroline. There was a rather dense fog of dust as a result of the weapons going off all at once. As it cleared, Andrew spotted to his relief, Caroline on her hands and knees, shaken severely with several more cuts and bruises, but otherwise unharmed. He ran over to her despite a dull ache in his head and the vague sensation of blood trailing down from somewhere. "Are you guys alright?" Zen called out from nearby. He crawled over to them. He was bleeding from a few open cuts on his elbows. "What just happened?" Caroline asked, her voice trembling.


    As the fog dissipated completely, they saw to their surprise, the group on the other side had been knocked backwards as well. In the center of the chaos stood two women with their backs to the trio. They wore dark clothing and pointed hats. One had her arms outstretched towards the gang of goons. For all intents and purposes, they were witches.


    The leader of the goons stood up weakly. He spat blood onto the pavement and wiped the dust from his face. When he saw the witches, his eyes went wide. However, instead of what Andrew had expected would be a look of surprise and rage, he saw that the man was rather smiling.


    No, he was laughing. That too with great joy!


    Neither of the witches spoke and the man''s glee died down a little. "Well, well, well! Isn''t this a thing?"


    "Is it a thing?" asked one witch to the other in a voice so deep it made one think of volcanoes and what it would feel like to soak in one. "Is it, Madelaine?"


    The other witch cackled and her voice sounded like two swords clashing against each other and what it would feel like to be caught in their midst. "It sure seems to be, Scarlet!"


    At that, Andrew''s heart rate started to skyrocket again. Caroline looked up at him, no doubt thinking the same thing.


    The man finally gave a name to associate with him. "I am THE Lord Gravis of Oz. I thought I had come to collect some child." His eyes flicked to Andrew. "But what a completely unexpected, yet delicious treat to stumble upon in this filthy realm. The two biggest criminals in Enos, the great witches of darkness in one place."


    The witches remained silent. Andrew tried to get a better look at their faces. They had crooked noses and demonic glowing eyes. One of them had scaly red skin while the other shiny green. They were every bit a stereotypical witch from any generic children''s fantasy book. And yet. When Andrew looked at their faces, in his mind he could see two completely different people. It wasn''t very clear, but he saw them without a doubt.


    Finally the slightly taller deep-voiced witch spoke. "We have a proposition for you, Lord Gravis." She pointed her gloved hand at him. "If you give us your word that you and your crew will leave the boy alone, that you will not ever come after him, we will surrender and come quietly with you."


    "And how can I trust the likes of you to keep such a promise, Miss Scarlet?" he hissed.


    "If we didn''t intend to, we would have evaporated you and the entire neighborhood by now," Scarlet said, her voice swirling with lava. "Which you no doubt know we are well capable of."


    "All we want is for you to give us your word," Madelaine said.


    Lord Gravis contemplated on that and then smiled very smugly, as though Christmas had come early for him. "Is that all? Well then, I give you my word." He didn''t sound the slightest bit convincing.


    "So you give us your word?" said Madelaine. "In that case-" She raised her hands and a ray of light passed through Lord Gravis and his crew. They collapsed on the floor and began to breathe heavily.


    "WHAT DID YOU DO?!" gagged Lord Gravis.


    "Throat a bit itchy? Don''t worry, it''ll fade away eventually," said Scarlet with mock sympathy. "It''s a hex," said Madelaine. "Nothing to worry about, Lord Gravis. You gave us your word, did you not? We intend to keep it."


    "What?" he sputtered. He glared daggers at the witches.


    As if explaining it to Andrew as well as the goons, Madelaine spoke, her words sharp and cutting. "The hex has been cast on each and every member of your crew. Even those still inside your ship. It goes like this: none of you are allowed to approach this boy with any harmful intent. You are not to willingly share any information which may lead him to any harm. Yes, that includes sharing anything to anyone about his identity or his whereabouts. If you so much as try to speak with any intentions such as those, you will cough out blood till you die."Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    The other side was a sea of faces twisted with horror and fear. Lord Gravis turned back to one of his crewmen and nodded towards Andrew. The man''s face turned white. He shook in place and moved only after Lord Gravis raised his gun towards him. He took a few steps closer to Andrew. The witches did nothing. Slowly, with shaky hands, he raised his gun to Andrew and fingered the trigger. Nothing happened.


    "For the love of- SHOOT!" Gravis shouted and the goon pulled the trigger. Or was about to, anyway, but the gun fell to the ground beside him and the man collapsed to his hands and knees. He choked and coughed and teared up. Blood started to spill out of his mouth. It was a horrible sight.


    "Apologies, ladies," the smug smile crawled back onto Gravis'' face as he addressed the witches with no regard to the plight of his subordinate. "I had to try it out. You know how it is, right? I believe you now."


    The witches seemed like they were about to speak but thought better of it. The choking man, indeed, continued to cough out blood. He began to scream from the intense pain. There was, soon, a deep red puddle below his drooping face. The other crew members did nothing but watch, terrified. Caroline looked away, and covered her ears. Andrew sat and stared.


    "There''s nothing to worry about, men," he said to his crew "as it is but a small price to pay, for the capture of the greatest most evil witches, Scarlet and Madelaine. It is of no consequence at all! Rest assured we will not touch a hair on the boy. But you will come quietly with us, yes?"


    "That''s what we said we''d do,"


    "And why is that?"


    "Change of heart," "Does the reason matter?" The witches spoke over each other.


    Gravis laughed. "Well, it really doesn''t matter to me. Say goodbye to your kids, I''d like to get a move on. But, say, will he really keep coughing blood till he dies?" He indicated to the blood-coughing crewman. "We can''t leave a trace revealing that we were here sooo we''d have to clean up. I don''t suppose the kids could do it since we''re being nice and not kidnapping the boy?"


    "Absolutely not!" snapped Madelaine.


    Gravis sighed.


    "We can''t stop this once it starts. Such is the manner of this hex," Scarlet said through gritted teeth. "That''s why we gave you a warning. Knowing us, we assumed you''d be wise enough to believe us instead of throwing a life away like that."


    "Oh, Henry doesn''t mind! Do you, old Henry?" Gravis laughed as he scooted down next to Henry the dying goon. He clutched at Gravis'' ankles and gasped for breath with tears in his eyes and hot blood bubbling out his mouth. Gravis frowned. "I''d expect more grace from one of my men," He stylishly spun the gun around his finger before firing it smack dab on Henry''s head. There was a bright flash and in the next moment, Henry''s entire head was gone. There was no more bleeding either. The top of his neck seemed like it was cauterized shut and it gave off a singeing smell. His body lay lifeless in the pool of its own blood. "Quick and painless." Gravis smiled and blew against the tip of the gun. The witches stood with blank expressions. Andrew tried his best to hold back the bile rising in his throat.


    "Come on, men, chop chop. Remove the body and spray the earth, don''t leave any stains behind. Ladies, shall we?"


    Andrew had felt a cold sweat form as soon as the evil witches introduced themselves, as though they had deliberately done so for him. He looked desperately at them, as they both turned and glanced over at Andrew. And then he saw it again. The faces of the people he glimpsed in his mind only moments earlier. It was a brief flash and by the time he recovered from the shock, he noticed Madelaine point a finger at the three of them. The throbbing in his head stopped. Other smaller cuts he hadn''t even felt smoothed away. "Goodbye Andre," Scarlet said as she turned. "Be good," said Madelaine and she too turned away.


    A bright light shone overhead, and a vehicle that looked like a cross between an airplane and a ship descended slowly. Without another glance back at Andrew, they boarded the plane-ship.


    The lackeys threw a long, white cloth over Henry''s corpse. Their faces were so warped with terror that Andrew found it difficult to even look at them. The three teens sat and watched quietly, as they picked up the body and carried it away into the ship. One of them brought out a spray can and sprayed an orange gassy substance onto the earth where the corpse had been. Immediately, the puddle of blood began to congeal. The goon peeled the elastic blood off the earth, put it in a glass container and sealed it shut, and walked into the ship.


    At no point did any of them approach Andrew and his friends.


    With the corpse retrieved, and the bloody mess cleared up, the ship ascended back up to the sky and in the blink of an eye, they were gone.


    -------


    Zen and Caroline watched Andrew carefully. He sat against a street light, hugged his knees and stared off into nothing in particular. "You wanna stay over at my place?" Zen asked. Andrew shook his head. "You want us to take you home?" Zen asked. Andrew shook his head.


    Caroline paced the length of a street light''s shadow. She was trembling. The wounds on her and Zen were gone as well.


    "I''m sorry," Andrew said finally. "I don''t really understand what happened but... You guys had to... all of that... because of me..."


    "Are you sure you can get back by yourself?" Caroline asked.


    Andrew nodded, careful to avoid her eyes.


    "Text me when you''re home," she said, and then walked away. Andrew watched her as she left, hugging herself and shaking slightly.


    "Sure you don''t wanna stay over?" Zen put a hand on Andrew''s shoulder and squeezed it.


    Some feeling returned to him. "I''m sorry," he apologized again.


    Zen patted him on the head. "Stop apologizing. We''re all okay. We can talk about this later."


    Though Caroline''s calmness was making him even more anxious, the calm of Zen''s voice was comforting.


    Andrew took a deep breath. "Yeah," he said, "Thanks."


    After the feeling returned to his legs, Andrew made his way back home. It was a painfully long trip back.


    By the time he''d finally made it to the top of the hill, his head was whirling and he wasn''t feeling up to using magic to unlock the front door. With a trembling hand he inserted the key into the lock on the third try. He burst inside and rushed about from room to room, hoping against hope that it was some weird coincidence.


    It was not.


    His cats were gone.

 Chapter 8: Silver And Esther

    The next day brought back the monotony of everyday life that Andrew was used to. But of course, it wasn''t the same. The events of the night before haunted him. He didn''t know who those people were, why they wanted him of all people, and what happened to his cats. The memory of the decapitation rendered him unable to stomach any food he forced himself to take. He wondered if those two witches would be subjected to the same fate if they crossed any lines. Who were they, anyway?


    The last time Andrew had spoken with Caroline was when he''d texted her that he was home safe. "That''s good," she had replied and they hadn''t spoken since. Andrew hadn''t gone to school the next day. Instead he kept revisiting Leary Avenue, hoping to find clues- anything that would give him some answers. Zen caught him patrolling the area a few times.


    "Back again, huh?" he asked Andrew when he spotted him in the neighborhood for about the fourth time in two days. "What are you hoping to find?"


    "I don''t know," Andrew mumbled. He hoped that if he hung around often enough he''d find something. Zen kept insisting that Andrew stop trying to get himself involved with those dangerous people.


    Andrew understood why Zen was worried, but he didn''t know how to explain to him that he couldn''t just stop and accept things as they were and go back home. Mostly because of how empty home felt now. It was stifling and he couldn''t take it. But to tell Zen all of that, he would need to explain everything from the top. He really didn''t have the energy for that. So he avoided the topic with Zen (deflecting any questions he''d ask) and he avoided Caroline altogether. He knew he''d have to talk to them about it someday but first he needed to understand what was happening himself. He didn''t argue any further and left. He had been investigating the area in the daytime so he decided to try coming back at night.


    So as planned, he returned that very night, the fifth time since the incident. Two days had passed and many important questions built up in his head. Sadly, there was no one with any answers to offer him. He walked the perimeter of the area, exceedingly familiar at that point. He stopped at the exact place where the two witches stood like a protective force between him and those strange people. ''Oz'' they''d called themselves. Who were they? Why him? Did it have something to do with his grandmother and her sudden urgency in leaving the realm for good?


    Andrew felt helpless and alone. He truly didn''t know what to do next. The witches with the same names as his cats sacrificed themselves to save him. Why? Frustrated and dispirited, he sank to his knees. If another gang of thugs came out of the shadows and kidnapped or even murdered him, he decided that he simply would not care. It would be better than living with all this anxiety, confusion, and misery.


    As he sat, dejected, in the middle of the street and reflected on his woes, a pair of bright eyes watched him. It was joined by another pair and they watched him for some time. Andrew sat bolt upright as he heard someone clear their throat. He looked into the dark alley on his right and in the darkness, he caught a glimpse of a glint of light from a nearby street light bouncing off a pair of shades. The figure donning the shades walked out into the street and Andrew suddenly began to have second thoughts about the whole kidnap/murder thing.


    As the figure stepped into the street light''s shine, Andrew got a good look at him. It was a boy with whitish-silver hair. Andrew initially thought it was an elderly man but a better look at him informed Andrew that the boy couldn''t be much older than him. Either that or he had a great skincare routine. He was dressed in white pants and a bright white shirt. He strolled breezily over to Andrew and crouched down next to him. Behind his thick shades shone bright silver eyes.


    "Who are you?" Andrew asked, his voice shaky.


    "Silver," the boy smiled and extended a hand to him. Andrew tentatively accepted his hand for a shake but the boy stood abruptly, pulling Andrew to his feet with him.


    "I''m Andrew," Andrew said and immediately regretted it, wondering whether he should''ve shared his name with a fishy looking stranger. He was still not in the best mental state and was unable to command the use of his better judgment. Andrew noticed Silver looking intently at him. He wondered if he''d screamed at the top of his lungs, would Zen hear him? Would he even come to help? Before he could do any such thing, however, Silver began to barrage him with questions.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    "Is it always this empty here around this time? What are you doing here all alone? You''d been sitting and moping over there for around 10 minutes until I walked out. Isn''t that dangerous here? In Enos, if you don''t get mugged or killed by anyone, you''d definitely get eaten by a Night Creature. Unless you''re prepared, that is. You''re not prepared, are you? You don''t look very prepared. Don''t you have Night Creatures here?"


    Caught off guard by the sudden bombardment of questions, Andrew hesitated. His head wasn''t functioning well as it were, and Silver wasn''t making it any easier.


    "Give him a second to breathe," came a milder voice from the shadows. Andrew had only just noticed the girl leaning against a street light with her arms crossed. "I bet he didn''t register a thing you said."


    Andrew realized he was already outnumbered and they might even have a couple more people hidden in the shadows. His apprehension showed on his face and Silver chuckled lightly. "That''s just Esther! Nothing to be scared of!" He pulled Andrew over to her. She was indeed not scary. The first thing that caught Andrew''s eyes was the pastel pink hair that fell well below her shoulders, and then the various shiny piercings on her ears. She had a sour expression on her face but it faded the closer they got. Then she looked rather shy. She backed a few steps as they got nearer.


    "Aw, you don''t need to be scared of him either, Es. I bet you could beat him up with your eyes closed and your hands tied!" Silver said to ease her, though it didn''t do much for Andrew. On the bright side, his own home didn''t seem like such a bad place after all.


    "So... Anderoo, right? Let''s get down to business. I believe we can help each other out," Silver said.


    "Huh?" Andrew''s tongue tied-ness returned.


    "Yep!" Silver gave a confident nod.


    Andrew didn''t know how to explain to Silver that they weren''t really on the same page. In an effort to notify Silver of that, he said, "Wha-?"


    Silver finally seemed to get the hint. He frowned. "Aren''t you looking for them too?"


    Andrew didn''t want them to know how out of the whole loop he was. Not yet anyway. "Yes..." he said, unsure of who Silver thought he was looking for and whether he really wanted to ''help him''.


    "Can you start by telling me what exactly went down here two nights ago?" Silver asked. Both he and Esther watched Andrew with interest. "Well..." Andrew started and also stopped. He felt dizzy and was suddenly aware of how cold it was that night and how he''d forgotten his jacket. He really wasn''t in his best senses.


    "Yeah, you''re absolutely right," Silver said, supposedly reading his mind. "This isn''t the best place to discuss this and it is pretty cold out." He turned to Esther. "Bring her out, Es."


    Esther sighed and scratched the back of her head. She dug out what looked like car keys from the pocket of her shorts. Andrew hadn''t decided whether he really wanted to go on a late night drive with the questionable looking duo when Esther pressed the button. A light flashed from above and Andrew looked up to see a large airship materialize out of the clouds. He immediately changed his mind. He had to get on that.


    It was the coolest moment of his life and he knew he had to say something befitting the moment. He couldn''t mess it up by spurting out something dumb. "How are you gonna park that?" he asked. Failed step one, he thought miserably to himself.


    "We''re not! You see the size of this baby? Nah, we''re going up to it," Silver said.


    "So, is a ladder coming down or...?"


    "A ladder!" snorted Silver. "Hah!"


    A metallic cylinder came down instead and they entered it like an elevator. Andrew was only slightly disappointed it didn''t suck them up with light like the UFOs did in cartoons. "I make ''em with comfort in mind," Silver chuckled as he patted a marble pillar inside the rather luxuriant elevator. Andrew felt like he was in a fancy hotel. He didn''t miss the gloat that was supposed to inform him that Silver was the creator of such a fine ship. Or at least the fine elevator.


    Esther was quiet. She watched him with varying levels of disinterest, each followed by a yawn. Silver talked very animatedly with Andrew. He didn''t seem like a bad guy but Andrew thought something about his smile was a bit off.


    Andrew guessed he might have been a bit paranoid given how the entire night, or rather, the entire week since two nights ago had been. Perhaps going off on a strange flying ship that he never knew existed, with two mysterious strangers, wasn''t the smartest decision he ever made. But what choice did he have? He couldn''t go on with his life, pretending the events of that night never happened.


    His cats were gone. His grandmother was gone. He didn''t feel safe. He had too many questions and no one to give him any answers. When Silver reached out to him from out of the blue, it was a ray of light in the darkness. A bright silvery light.

 Chapter 9: Into the Desert

    The interior of the ship surpassed Andrew''s wildest imagination. He stared in awe at everything and he felt like a country bumpkin introduced to the big city for the first time. Silver pushed him from room to room until they were in a large sitting lounge. Andrew settled down on a plump bean bag and Silver dumped a blanket on him. Esther appeared a short while later with a tray of warm drinks. Andrew accepted a cup gratefully and took a sip before coming to the realization that they might have been trying to lull him into a false sense of security (and that it was working).


    "Well, whenever you''re ready, I guess..." said Silver. He and Esther sat opposite to Andrew and watched him intently. Andrew had hoped that they really were referring to the events of that night because that was all he had to offer them. He was a mess with his words but he did his best to articulate the incident with as many details as he could remember to add. When he was done, nobody said anything. He didn''t expect anything from Esther, but even chatty Silver was silently stroking his chin. "Now you," Andrew said after he''d cleared his throat to dispel the silence. "Tell me who you guys are, how you know about what happened, and how you play into all of this."


    "Well," Silver smiled. "Do you want to go or should I?" he glanced over at Esther who didn''t even bother returning his gaze. "Oh alright, if you insist." He took a deep breath. "Well, I am Silver, inventor of each of SilverStar''s products including, yes, the ship that we are on. Mind you, it''s for company trips and I don''t always use it for personal reasons but I didn''t know how many people I would have to accommodate so I brought it just in case. This here-" he turned and gestured to the girl, "-is Esther. We''re aware of what happened because we have access to almost all radio communication lines across Enos- shh don''t tell anyone- So we''ve heard all about the capture of the great witches through Oz''s radio channels and gotten the small details. We''d been camping in the area and looking for clues. You''d been showing up to the exact location and snooping around a lot so it was luck that united us. As for how we play into this... let''s just say the two of us have some unfinished business with the evil witches. So that should answer all your questions. Anything else?"


    It was a lot to take in. Andrew knew his next few words had to be very important. "Are they really evil?" he asked, disappointing himself yet again.


    "Oh yes, they are." Silver smiled maliciously. "They''re the worst."


    "Then why are we going to save them?"


    Silver''s eyebrows shot up a notch. "Is that what we''re doing?"


    "Isn''t it?" Andrew looked from Silver to Esther, and back to Silver again. Esther''s face was devoid of emotion, and Silver was just all smiles. "I don''t know about what they did or didn''t do. I just want my cats back."


    "Oh?" Silver seemed interested. "Your cats? Do tell."


    Andrew told them about how his cats had the same names as the witches, how they disappeared after the witches did, and in order to escape the miserable awkward silence that followed, the whole backstory from when grandma got them and how long he had them. "They can''t be evil witches!" Andrew said with feeling. "They were like family to me! I loved them, fed them... well, now it makes sense why they never let me wash them..." his voice faltered.


    "I need a nap." Silver abruptly got up and left the room. With him gone, the silence in the room became more pronounced.


    "So, where are we going?" Andrew asked Esther.


    "We are currently headed to where the witches are kept hostage," she replied, not making eye contact.


    "Wait, if you guys know where they are, why didn''t you already head there?"


    "Well... we kinda need you." She stood up. "Any more questions, ask Silver. You should rest," she said before exiting the room too.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Andrew curled up in the bean bag and tried to drift off to sleep. But so much happened and was still happening that he couldn''t rest easy. When Silver reappeared, he seemed groggy and irritable. He didn''t say much and Andrew returned the favor by refraining from speaking as well.


    It had been a few hours since Andrew boarded the ship. The skies were clearing and he dragged his bean bag closer to the long glass window that lined the wall and watched the clouds float by. He camped there until Silver finally declared that they''d arrived. As the ship descended to the lower part of the skies, Andrew watched from his spot by the window. They were in the middle of nowhere in what was, unmistakably, a desert. "Where are we?" he asked, though he was a bit hesitant to speak.


    "We obviously can''t get too near their hideout. They''ll see us coming. We have to keep it on the down low from here," Silver said.


    Esther also made an appearance just as things were finally picking up. The ship was left flying in auto mode. "Invisibility cloaking systems will make sure it''s not seen by anyone," Silver took upon the kindness of informing Andrew though he seemed somewhat displeased with him. Andrew had been feeling somewhat strange for quite some time but once they had exited the vehicle, he felt a strange blast of air. It was as though the very oxygen was slightly different. The feeling wasn''t bad, but it was off.


    Andrew noticed Esther staring off into the distance, like she was remembering something. Something sad. Silver stared expectantly at her until at length she broke out of her reverie and threw some strange cubes on the ground.


    Silver dug three controllers out of his many pockets. He pressed a bright red button on each of the controllers before throwing one each at Esther and Andrew. Esther caught hers effortlessly while Andrew''s fell to the ground beside him. He swallowed his embarrassment as he bent to pick it up. ''If it were Zen, he definitely would''ve caught it,'' he found himself thinking.


    The strange cubes rattled and began to expand into skateboard-like objects. "Just get on it and don''t worry too much about how to maintain your course. Yours is set to novice mode. Shift your weight to the direction you''re moving," Silver said as he stepped onto his. Two latches sprouted from the board and belted his feet to it. Esther did the same and latches sprouted from hers too. Andrew followed suit and sure enough, a pair of metallic prongs shot out and secured his feet to the board.


    The concept was similar to that of a hoverboard, but it wasn''t difficult to stand still on it. It seemed to adjust to the rider, rather than the opposite. Esther handed Andrew a pink helmet and a pair of goggles, keeping the black gear for herself. Silver put on his silver helmet and pressed a button on the side of his shades. They morphed into a bright black and white pair of goggles.


    Silver and Esther shot off, and Andrew followed them. The remote had a star logo on it and on the back it said Shotboard 3.0. The shotboard went very fast and the speed was manually adjustable with the remote. From observing them, Andrew understood that leaning forward made it go faster, though it did not a thing for him. He came to the conclusion that Silver must have set it to the most basic level for a beginner like him.


    About an hour later, Andrew''s legs were about to give in. Although, initially it seemed like no big deal at all- it took a mysterious toll on the thighs and he needed to sit. "My legs can''t stand it anymore," he whined when it was far beyond his tolerance.


    The two ahead skidded to a halt as they turned to him. Esther held up her hand to Andrew and he was just about to accept it, when the realization hit that she wanted the remote. He threw it over to her and watched, mortified, as it flew carelessly a few meters to the left of where she was standing. In the blink of an eye, something shot out of the sleeve of her hoodie, caught it and retrieved it for her and disappeared.


    Andrew had no time to register what had happened as Esther swiftly pressed some buttons and the board lengthened and sprouted a seat from the back, like a skateboard combined with a bicycle.


    "You should''ve told us earlier," Silver smiled, but it seemed very cold. Almost like he knew but waited until Andrew spoke out, on purpose. "But this mode is slower so we wouldn''t have made good time."


    The other two didn''t bother to join Andrew in what, according to the remote''s changed label, was the "Bikeboard" mode. He could feel the difference in speed and though he felt uncomfortable being the cause of its decrease, he couldn''t help it.


    As they sailed over the sand, Andrew continued watching their surroundings. He wondered if they were in a different country. This was how he imagined those places with cowboys were. The sky was a deeper shade of blue, and clouds were scarce. Though it was sweltering hot, he couldn''t see the sun.


    He saw the occasional cacti, as he had expected from a traditional desert, but there were some other strange plants as well. He hadn''t studied enough plant biology to know what they were, but he hadn''t known other plants could thrive in the desert. Aside from that, it was just bright yellow sand. Nothing more to see. Not even scorpions, which he had expected to find plenty of.

 Chapter 10: The Desert Town

    In another hour, they arrived at the outskirts of what seemed like a deserted town. Andrew wondered if there were cowboys inside. Peering in from afar, he could see several sandy brick houses but they all seemed to be empty. However, if one stayed still and quiet long enough, one could catch the buzz of life in the town. It was inhabited, but made to seem like it wasn''t.


    "This is where you come in, kid," Silver said as he turned to face Andrew. "The first line of houses are empty storehouses. Oz has occupied the entire town. It''s gonna be filled with people as we venture in."


    That didn''t explain to Andrew what his purpose was.


    "We need you to find out where the witches are being kept. We plan to go there directly, attracting as little attention as we can. Hopefully get out before they can gather enough of their forces to stop us. So we need you to pinpoint their exact location," Silver continued without a single doubt that Andrew could do it. Except he couldn''t. "What''s wrong?" he asked, tensing up from the look on Andrew''s face.


    "Wish you told me that earlier..." Andrew mumbled.


    "You can''t do it?" he asked incredulously. "What have they even been teaching you?"


    "What would they teach me? They were cats!"


    He stared at Andrew, the annoyed look back on his face. "You mean ''cats''? Like regular cats?! Not even talking cats?!"


    ''At what point did I ever mention that I had talking cats?'' Andrew thought. He held back the urge to yell at Silver. Panic was rising up inside him. The whole plan would fail because of him! Well, it was Silver''s oversight, but it would still be him who let them down. He was scared to look Silver in the eye. Silver''s fists were balled and he looked furious.


    "Have you never tried locating anyone before?" Esther asked.


    "I have but..." Andrew didn''t remember the spell. "Wait! I think I can do it. But I''ll need a bit of time."


    "We can hide out in that warehouse. But you can''t take more than an hour," Silver said with an edge in his voice.


    "No problem, it shouldn''t take that long anyway. I just need somewhere to sit and concentrate." It was impossible for Andrew to memorize every single spell and its purpose. But he remembered a nifty trick, a loophole he found. He often forgot a lot of the spells he needed. So he put his heart and soul into memorizing just one. A memory spell.


    As he sat on the cold warehouse floor mumbling it, he felt his consciousness drift away. He had to trust Silver and Esther to take care of his body while he ventured into his own mind. He had to look into the day he tried to locate Zen. He didn''t remember the exact date. There wasn''t enough time to dawdle. Someone put an arm on his shoulder. He turned.


    He was greeted by... himself. From a few weeks ago. "Can I help with anything?" Past-Andrew asked. "I need the location spell," he told himself. "Oh... I didn''t do that yet," he said with a hand on his chin. "Wait, let me ask another me." He went off and came back with another past version of him. "Location spell, huh?" he said. "Come right this way." He led himself to a small puddle and pushed himself into it. His consciousness faded to a distant voice. He saw himself, flipping through his spell notebook, looking for a spell. He saw himself reading it out loud, repeating it a few times before trying it out for good. Okay, done.


    Andrew''s eyes shot open. He looked up at Esther''s face, devoid of expression. His head was resting on her lap. With a jolt, he sat upright.


    "You were swaying really weirdly," said Silver. "You''re lucky Esther was there to catch you."


    "Thanks" Andrew mumbled, feeling his cheeks go warm. "Just a bit more."


    He mumbled the spell he re-learnt from his past self. One of the important parts of the spell was clearly thinking of the person one was finding, and hearing their voice. It did not work on someone one had never met or heard. Andrew didn''t really know Scarlet or Madelaine. His interaction with them was rather short. He didn''t think it would work if he tried it with his memory of his cats, so that one night was all he had to go on. He tried to concentrate. He thought of the two witches from that night but nothing happened. Panic rose within him by the second. He needed to be able to do this. He recalled the moment when they turned to him right before they left. He remembered a sudden flash and seeing two different people, his memory of those faces surprisingly clear now.


    It was a long shot but he tried it. He pictured a witch with short dark hair, lightly tanned skin, downcast eyes, and many piercings on her ears. He pictured another witch. Her skin was an almond brown and her jet black hair was tied in a braid. She had a button nose and intelligent eyes. They had spoken to him before they''d left. It was only then that he realized that their voices were completely different from the intimidating voices of the witches and it was possible the words had floated straight to his head without them actually being spoken.


    "Goodbye Andre," said the short-haired witch. "Be good," said the other. And then he knew. He chanted the spell again under his breath and drew lines on the floor with his fingertip. The lines glowed a brilliant blue, green, and gold.


    "Assuming this big blue box is the entire area, and the green circle is where we are now." Andrew paused. "The golden triangle is where they should be."Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    Silver took out his cube remote. The cube itself was nowhere to be seen. A holographic light came out of the remote which now said "Dronebot". The hologram depicted an aerial view of the entire area. "So then if we are here," Silver pointed to the bottom right corner of the picture, glanced at Andrew''s floor map, looked at the picture again and thought for a moment. "Then they should be here." The other two nodded.


    "Good job!" Silver finally smiled again, and Andrew exhaled the breath he was holding in.


    "Doesn''t tell us how many people are in this place, or their security measures." Esther shrugged.


    "No, it doesn''t," Silver nodded thoughtfully. "But you can."


    Andrew was about to argue that he couldn''t do that, when he realized Silver was talking to Esther. She sighed and got down on one knee. She put a palm against the floor and it cracked. She closed her eyes and concentrated. "Okay, got it," she declared after a few minutes.


    ''That was fast,'' Andrew thought.


    "We''ll leave it up to you to find the best path for us," Silver told Esther as he handed her the drone''s remote. Esther looked at the area''s layout for a few minutes before tracing a line through them. "This is the path we''ll take."


    They moved along the back of the storehouses, in a narrow lane against a long wall that served as a border for the town. Esther stood stiffly on her shotboard as it shot through the alley. Silver and Andrew followed on their feet, moving sideways with difficulty. They turned to a less narrow alley between two buildings. They stood quietly and watched as Esther peeked her head from the corner of the building into the main street. She signaled them to follow as she shot across the empty road. They followed at a run and ducked into the shadows. They sped about the town, sticking strictly to the alleyways. For the most part, the places they passed were empty, save for the buildings further inside.


    About 15 minutes of sneaky running later Silver and Andrew fell against the wall of a building, panting heavily. Esther looked down piteously at them. Silver seemed quite able when he was riding his shotboard but put him on his own two legs and he wasn''t that much better than Andrew.


    "We''re still pretty far," Silver said, checking the dronebot''s image map. Andrew peeked at it from the side and found to his utter dismay that the last 15 minutes of running hadn''t brought them nearly as close to the destination as he''d imagined. He thought that they were at least halfway there already.


    "I told you to go workout more," Esther muttered under her breath.


    Silver pretended to neither hear nor comprehend her. "This is getting us nowhere," he declared.


    "Of course not," Esther said through gritted teeth. "If you two would pick up the pace-"


    "I guess we have no choice." Silver declared again, cutting off Esther. He called back his dronebot, and took Andrew''s cube and his own cube and looked expectantly at Esther. She seemed to be holding on by a thread, but she complied- stepping off her shotboard, switching it back to cube form, and handing it to Silver. Andrew watched with intrigue as Silver stacked all three, took their remotes and pressed a few buttons. Immediately, they began to expand. With the greatest of expectations, Andrew watched them mold into one another, like snakes eating other snakes, and finally become... a tandem bicycle. He looked from the bicycle to Silver and back to it again. Then he looked at Esther. She was equal parts horrified and disgusted.


    "Don''t worry!" Silver smiled reassuringly at Esther. "This time you won''t have to pedal for two again!"


    Andrew felt kind of bad for the girl at that point.


    "Because they no longer require any pedaling!" announced Silver. "But we have to adjust our weights accordingly-"


    "Give me back my board," cut in Esther. "You two can tandem."


    "Now now," Silver waved a hand carelessly, ignoring the murderous glare he was on the end of. "Teamwork''s the key! We can''t afford to get separated."


    "Someone''s coming," Esther informed them. Silver and Andrew hopped on the two back seats and looked expectantly at her. Despite the approaching danger, Esther did not budge. She looked at the bike with the sort of dismay and embarrassment one with a previous bitter experience would be apt to feel.


    "Come on, Es! You''re the only one who can guide us safely!" Silver egged. She took the time to sigh, hopped on, and leaned forward. The bike shot off through the alley and just as they turned a corner, Andrew looked back over Silver''s shoulder to see a man walk into the alley. He missed spotting them by seconds. Milliseconds maybe. Esther''s timing was too precise to be true. Andrew wondered if she were a witch as well.


    Being stuck in the middle seat of a tandem bike was one of those experiences Andrew had personally never considered that he would ever be experiencing. At least not with total strangers, in dark alleyways, being commanded to lean sideways by an unsocial possible witch, with an annoying inventor behind him, on the way to save two possibly evil witches who also happened to be his cats. Andrew''s wildest imagination would not be able to conceive something such as that. And yet there they were.


    Esther was doing all of the leg work. Occasionally she told them to shift their balances to the left or right, which Andrew tried his best to comply with but Silver didn''t seem to even be doing that. He couldn''t spare enough time to even glance back at the other boy but from the sounds of it, it seemed like he was napping. The ride was like a roller coaster and Esther, more than once, drove up the walls and jumped the roofs discreetly, only to sink back into the shadows.


    It made no sense to Andrew how the embarrassing bike could go so fast but the more comfortable bikeboard could be so slow. Apparently it had something to do with the extra shift in weight from the extra people. In that case, he wondered about how fast it would go if Silver had actually assisted them. But in no time, they''d arrived outside the building that the witches were kept hostage in.


    Andrew slid himself off and Silver woke with a start and rubbed his eyes. "Oh, we''re here already?" he said, yawning. Esther collapsed off the bike. She rubbed her sore arms. Gripping those handles and maneuvering the three of them hadn''t been easy.


    "Es, why don''t you stay back and take a break? Call the ship here, we might need to make a clean break. It doesn''t matter if they notice us by then cause we''ll be gone in a flash. Security seems super lax here though I don''t know why."


    "It does seem suspicious, doesn''t it?" Esther momentarily forgot her pain and annoyance. "It shouldn''t have been that easy, not that I''m complaining. But to think, the security of the two most evil and dangerous witches-"


    "Maybe it''s because they surrendered themselves?" Andrew added hopefully. They turned simultaneously to him. "Didn''t I mention that?" It was a pretty important detail to have forgotten.


    Silver sighed and slid against a wall. "Well, that explains a lot. They didn''t mention that in their report." He scoffed. "Of course, they wouldn''t."


    "If they surrendered on purpose, should we be here...?" Esther asked with uncertainty.


    "I don''t care what their reasons are." Silver''s eyes flashed. "This is the first and only lead we got in years. We can''t waste it." And with that he got up and began to walk to the door.

 Chapter 11: Infiltrate

    Leaving Esther in an alley behind the building, Silver casually strode in with Andrew at his heels. The entrance was empty. Silver threw a small gun-like object at Andrew. He caught it with some difficulty. Not a great weapon in the face of hundreds of enemies, he thought.


    "You''re a magic kid so you''ll be fine but keep that just in case," Silver said. Andrew guessed that it slipped his mind that Andrew wasn''t a very good ''magic kid'' but it was too late to argue. He thought he''d be fine regardless if it were the same people the witches put the hex on. They couldn''t, or rather, wouldn''t harm him. So with that, they broke into a run.


    Andrew learned from the spell that the witches were kept in some basement room on the right side of the building. So they kept heading right. If they didn''t find any stairs going down, they would blast a hole down the floor, Silver had said. Andrew had no idea how he planned to do that but he didn''t question it. He just hoped that it wouldn''t rely on him knowing any floor-blasting spells.


    A few rooms in, Silver spread his arm out to stop Andrew from running. They peeked into a rather large hallroom from a giant wooden door, slightly ajar. There were several people inside. Their luck with empty rooms and no guards had just about run out.


    "I don''t suppose you could make us both invisible?"


    Andrew shook his head. Then, with a sly grin, he asked "I don''t suppose you could?"


    Silver chuckled softly. "Sorry, the cloaking devices only work in the sky. I''ve actually been working on this other type of device but camouflaging isn''t actually very- Hmm, not the right time to get into that. Well, what do you think we should do now?"


    "I can''t recall the faces of the lackeys they hexed but if these are the same people they shouldn''t harm me. Maybe if you stick close to me-"Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    "Don''t worry about me."


    "What? But-"


    "No, I''ll be fine. If you''re sure they won''t try to attack you, I guess we could just try to run straight- Hmm, but they might still try to stop us some other way." Silver sighed. "Maybe we should''ve brought Esther after all..."


    Andrew took a better look into the room. "Okay, I have an idea. Might not work, but-"


    "We don''t have a lot of options, really. Go ahead, old sport."


    Andrew turned to Silver. "You really don''t plan much ahead, do you?"


    Silver shrugged. Andrew peered again into the hall. He spotted the stairs leading down to the next floor at the other end of the room. Andrew raised his palm and concentrated.


    There was a rather complicated lighting arrangement in the center of the room. The lights hung in varying lengths from the ceiling. They began to swing from side to side slowly. At first the occupants of the room hadn''t noticed the movement but a few seconds later, it got harder to miss. In another few seconds, the lights swung about violently. A few of them ripped off the ceiling and started to flit about the room like a swarm of angry insects.


    The goons in the room, unsure how to deal with crazy flying lighting, dove under any large furnishing they could fit under.


    "Now! Let''s go!" Andrew cried and pushed the heavy door further open. They dashed through the hall to the stairs on the other side, Silver laughing maniacally the entire time.


    By the time the goons saw them and crawled out to give chase, they seemed to realize who Andrew was. Then they stopped dead in their tracks and some even seemed to back away. ''Cough out blood till you die,'' remembered Andrew. They didn''t even try to call for help. Such was the terror of the memory of the coughing blood incident.


    Andrew and Silver descended the stairs at a run and arrived at a long hallway with a metallic doorway at the end. Behind them were the sounds of chaos and disorder and a group of people were wild on their tails.


    "Not good. I think they''re different from the hexed bunch. I don''t think we''ll make it-"


    "You go on ahead, I''ll be there in a second," Silver said as he stopped, turned, and ran towards the enemy.


    "Hey-!" Andrew was about to follow him, but Silver waved an arm impatiently. "Goooo!" he yelled, and Andrew turned and sprinted. He ran headfirst through the metallic doorway into a large round room, dark, lit up only with a few lamps placed at random throughout the wall. The only other sources of light were narrow windows at the highest point of the ridiculously long wall, letting in scant light from outside.

 Chapter 12: Reunion

    The basement room was eerie and strange. There was a large pit towards the center and Andrew could see nothing but darkness below it. A narrow bridge ran over the pit and connected one side of the basement to the other. All around the room were large crates. He wondered if Scarlet and Madelaine were in any of them. As he walked in, scouring the room madly because he knew they were there somewhere- a slightly familiar voice called out to him. "Andre?"


    To his right, on top of a bunch of crates was a big metal cage hanging from a chain affixed to the ceiling. Inside were Scarlet and Madelaine. ''How cliched,'' he thought. They looked as surprised to see him as he looked dumbly up at them. Where was Silver when you needed him?


    From the opposite side of the room, a dark figure made its way across the bridge, While initially a bit apprehensive, Andrew was relieved to see it was that creepy man, Lord Gravis. He surely wouldn''t harm him.


    "You! What are you doing here?!" Gravis sputtered.


    "I er, I uh, I came to save them." Andrew pointed at the two in the cage.


    "Why?" came a voice not from Gravis, but from inside the cage. "Go back home!" "We didn''t ask you to!"


    It probably wasn''t the best time for a confrontation with the witches, but nonetheless Andrew asked, "Are you my cats?"


    The witches looked at each other. Obviously there were more perplexing things than his question. For instance, how did he get there in the first place?


    "I already told you people, I''m not one for sentiments!" Gravis held up his large blaster gun at Andrew. This elicited no response from Scarlet or Madelaine. "You know you can''t harm him."


    "Oh I know I can''t harm him," smiled Lord Gravis maliciously and Andrew tensed up at the maniacal look on his face. "but I think I''ll be good with trying HIM!"


    As Gravis pointed the gun over his head, he turned just in time to see Silver hop into the room. He was on a platform above Andrew and was in perfect range for the shot. Andrew saw his eyes go wide as he registered what was happening and Gravis fired his blaster. Next thing they knew, a loud bang went off, there was a cloud of smoke, and once again the goon was knocked to his feet several feet from where he previously stood. The cage rocked wildly sideways and Madelaine looked irritably from inside it. A chunk of the cage had been melted off.


    Andrew looked back to Silver and sure enough, he was fine. Scarlet towered over him, her eyes wide in shock. "What are you doing here?"


    "Well, it''s been a while, hasn''t it?" Silver''s plastic smile covered his face. "How''ve you been, Elaine?" He looked over at Madelaine who was dangling, somewhat surprised, in the cage. "Huh," she said in response.


    "What are you doing? I thought we had a deal! Get back in that cage!" screamed Gravis as he struggled to get in an upright position, but Scarlet looked at him with death in her eyes. "You- You''ve got some nerve..." she said in a small cold voice, and she flicked her wrist. He flew backwards and hit the wall on the opposite side of the room.


    "You," Scarlet''s face displayed a complicated sort of emotion as she looked down at Silver. "Why-? How-? Nevermind that now... you have to get out of here!"


    Silver simply smiled. "But I just-"


    "It''s dangerous here! Leave!"


    Silver''s face fell for the slightest second. He recovered in the blink of an eye. "I knew you would be difficult so I brought this little bunny rabbit here along. As a hostage." Silver nodded towards Andrew.


    Andrew''s breath caught in his throat. Bunny rabbit? Hostage? He thought his purpose was to locate the witches.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    "How did you- Leave him out of this!"


    "Oh, but I can''t do that." Silver crossed his arms. "Either you two come back with me or-" Silver looked at Andrew with an expression that seemed to be an extension of the irritated faces he''d been making at him all this time, "...or I''m leaving him here. Your call, of course."


    Madelaine finally got out of the cage with one elegant hop and floated down next to Scarlet. "We''re looking for our master," she said to Silver.


    "Ahh, ol'' grammy, eh? And that''s why you''re getting yourself caught?"


    "They say they have her. That she finally surrendered," Scarlet explained.


    "I see," Silver said, thoughtfully stroking his chin. "But they''re definitely lying though."


    Scarlet and Madelaine were taken aback. They exchanged confused looks and then eyed Silver suspiciously. "How do you know?" asked Madelaine.


    "Same way I knew about him, and this place." He shrugged. "It''s really the same whether you go with them or come with me. So might as well come with me."


    "And what about Andrew?"


    "What about him?" Silver asked. "I don''t really care. We can take him home."


    The witches sighed in unison. "Okay," said Scarlet. They turned towards Lord Gravis, who Andrew had momentarily forgotten was even there. "Sorry, we have to break our deal with you." announced Madelaine. "But you did feed us a bunch of lies after stuffing us in that silly little cage. The hex we put on you will still remain, though, sorry about that. We can''t take it off even if we wanted to." He was about to speak when she gave him a dark look which shut him up for good.


    "Just be happy we''re leaving without burning everything to the ground this time," said Scarlet.


    "Aw dang," mumbled a dispirited Silver who had probably wanted to see some destruction. "Why were you two in that cage, though? Didn''t you go with them of your own free will?"


    "Yes, but that lunatic wanted to do this for presentation''s sake for his bosses. Something to do with aesthetics and a promotion. I wasn''t really listening. Can we just get out of here now? We''re back to square one..." Elaine sounded exasperated.


    "Come on Andre," Scarlet called and Andrew followed them out. No one dared to cross them. The hallway where Andrew parted with Silver moments earlier was scattered with unconscious people. Andrew assumed Silver fired what he planned to burst through the floor with. It lowkey terrified him how not a single person tried their luck with a few shots at them. Hexes aside, they were deathly afraid of Scarlet and Madelaine.


    As they stepped outside, an elevator descended in seconds. Good old Esther. Scarlet and Madelaine hid their surprise well, but Andrew could tell they weren''t expecting most of what had been happening. The airship didn''t wait for the elevator to rise to the top before it started rising further upwards. So with them dangling in midair inside the elevator, the ship started to fly off. Esther must have really wanted to get out of there.


    When the elevator finally arrived at the top, Andrew wanted to lunge into his corner bean bag. Sure, he wanted to talk and he wanted answers- but he wanted some sleep more than any of that. He''d been giving it a lot of thought the entire elevator ride up. But then he remembered his position there. He had been used. Silver hadn''t really needed him. He was just a token to ensure that when he found the witches, he could keep their interest. Andrew was scared he''d fall asleep and they''d just drop him home without giving him any answers. He didn''t mind being used as Silver''s pawn; he was rather grateful that Silver included him in his grand plan. It worked out for Andrew. But what he absolutely would not have is to be dropped home without any explanation. Then it truly would be a waste of his time and he truly would have been used.


    As they walked inside, Scarlet and Madelaine kept poker faces.


    "We have a lot to talk about, don''t we? I''d like you to meet someone though," Silver said. Esther stood in the corner and stared awkwardly at the two witches.


    "Es?!" Scarlet nearly choked.


    "What are- how-?" Elaine couldn''t decide on what to ask and then settled for silence.


    Andrew realized that they had just about as many questions rising up as he did.


    "But first things first," said Silver, "Can you do something about those ridiculous faces?"


    The witches took the time to glare at him before exhaling deeply. Their long crooked noses began to straighten and shrink back. Their skins changed shades. The long and dark scraggly hair seeped up more and more until they looked more like them as Andrew had seen in his mind. Silver smiled with satisfaction. "It''s been a very long time since I''ve seen these faces."


    "Is there anything else you would like to request, little Sylvester?" asked Madelaine in a rather contemptuous voice.


    "Nah, I''m good for now, Elaine," Silver responded with goodwill and cheer. "Why don''t we all take some rest? There''ll be plenty of time for talking later." He looked at Madelaine. "I''m sure you want to know how your mother has been."


    Madelaine bit her lip and her eyes misted over. Complicated emotions manifested on her pretty face.


    "For now, make yourselves at home!" Silver announced cheerfully. "We''ve got a long way to go so we can take our time catching up!" he looked at Scarlet with a sweet smile but his voice sounded very bitter. "Isn''t that right, my dearest big sister?"

 Chapter 13: A Surprise

    Personally, Andrew couldn''t see it. Silver had silver hair and silver eyes. Although one could barely see his face properly because of his shades, it still bore no resemblance to that of Scarlet''s. The biggest shock for him was to come to terms with the fact that he wasn''t raising cats, but witches. That too, witches who were his grandma''s responsibility. Not only did she ditch him but she left him with baggage. A soft buzzing woke Andrew up. He reached out and grabbed his phone and turned off the alarm.


    It had taken them a couple hours to reach the hideout. Andrew figured it would take at least that much more to go back. He decided he could squeeze a short nap in. Never before in his life had he physically worn himself out as much as he had in the past few hours. However, the nap wasn''t nearly as helpful as he''d hoped it would be. Andrew rubbed his eyes miserably feeling a sharp stinging sensation behind his eyelids. As he further regained his senses, he looked around.


    Two pairs of eyes watched him from the opposite sofa. They were fixed on him. ''Were they watching me sleep?'' He thought uncomfortably. He straightened up and faced them.


    "Andre," Scarlet cleared her throat. "What do you want to know?"


    It seemed that they had all of their important discussions while he slept. It was a shame; he had wanted to eavesdrop. Well, it was his turn and he needed to make sure to ask them the most important questions first.


    "Why do you call me Andre?" he started.


    Madelaine rolled her eyes and Scarlet giggled. "I''ve always called you that!" she said.


    "Ah, so that''s what some of those meows translated to." Andrew nodded sagely. Madelaine rolled her eyes again.


    "I''m Scarlet. One of your grandmother''s apprentices. The other, of course, is Elaine. Your grandmother used to live in the same village as us once."


    "And I am Madelaine, though you know that by now," Madelaine said. "You can call me Elaine."


    "Just a heads up-" interrupted Silver "everyone should call me Silver."


    Ignoring him, Elaine continued, "We''ve been on the- we''ve been away for over ten years now. Your grandmother found us again and hid- kept us with you in Ga- in your realm. We''ve been with you since. We were strictly instructed not to reveal our non-feline selves to you."


    "Your grandmother didn''t tell us anything before she disappeared," Scarlet said.


    "Welcome to my world," Andrew sighed.


    Scarlet smiled sympathetically. "The news we get from the other realm comes in broken pieces. Unlike Sylves- uh, Silver, we don''t have any state of the art technology. We''ve tried countless spells to locate her but we weren''t able to. Then we thought we saw that she had surrendered herself."


    "You two saw that?"


    "In a crystal ball and everything,"


    "We have a crystal ball at home?"


    "We do."


    "Well, what exactly did you guys see?"


    "We didn''t see it in a lot of detail. It''s just as we said. We saw your grandma surrendering herself to Oz. I mean, at the time we thought it checked out since she left without telling us anything... Maybe that was why?"


    "Apparently we were wrong, though," said Elaine. "Because Sylve-ver... Silver, heard nothing of the sort."


    "And he''s quite sure that she''s not with them," Scarlet added.


    "I''d have heard something if she were," Silver said as he sat on an adjacent sofa. "I''ve pretty much gotten a hold of all of their communication lines."


    "Where do you think my grandmother went then?"


    "I don''t know where she is but," said Silver upon silence from both Scarlet and Elaine "Oz has been on the move again. Seems they''re planning something big."


    Scarlet and Elaine''s faces were flushed with silent fury.


    "Your grandmother''s probably trying to thwart their plans from the shadows again," Silver added nonchalantly, sitting up with a gulp upon receiving sharp glares from the two witches.


    "Again," Andrew repeated after him. He wasn''t all that surprised. There were a million things she hadn''t shared with him. He couldn''t get surprised at each and every one of them. It all felt surreal to him.


    "Andrew," started Elaine, no doubt trying to be as tactful as she could. "I know there is a world of things you''d like to know, but we aren''t sure where to begin and..." she paused, "maybe it''ll be better to discuss it all when your grandmother is back with us."This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    They were just trying to push off the burden to a later time. Who knew how long it would take for his grandmother to return? Andrew just nodded solemnly and the atmosphere went completely silent.


    -------


    Andrew''s home, Skyridge Farm, was on a hill on the outskirts of Gate Town. The farm was at the base of Greenwood forest on its north and eastern sides; as one went deeper, it was utter wilderness. On the southern side was the edge of Skyridge peak, and to the west was the sloped road leading down to town. To reach Skyridge farm, one had to drive up the narrow road along the cliff that had been open to a deep and tragic fall. It was there that Andrew had lost his parents on the night of a deep fog. Having driven down that path a multitude of times, it was unimaginable that they would''ve fallen, no matter how thick a fog there might have been. Andrew had concocted various conspiracy theories about the event, much to the chagrin of his grandmother. She told him that sometimes he needed to accept loss, that that was the only way to move forward and live on. But they were his parents. They weren''t some simple loss that he could accept with a sigh, and carry on with life.


    After that incident, the road had been redeveloped. The cliff from where his parents'' car had fallen now had a strong rail guard running along it. It was after much of this development that Caroline had been permitted to come visit him (chaperoned by their butler, George). Her family had come once, in their chauffeur driven car, to offer his grandmother and him their condolences. When they verified that it was quite safe, they allowed Caroline to visit Andrew every so often to keep tabs on him. As for how Andrew went to school everyday, he walked down the hill to the bus stop.


    The stars were out by the time they had reached Andrew''s desolate home. The witches had instructed Silver to go there directly. The jagged edges of Skyridge peak looked fearsome from the skies. It was like the land there had been violently bitten off. Like the wreckage of a ship that was chewed off by a large shark with razor sharp teeth in a movie he''d watched with Caroline.


    Andrew and his dad had tried to liven the area around Skyridge Peak. They''d built a small shed and a small wooden platform that little Andrew had called their watchtower. His parents had gotten him an expensive telescope for one of his birthdays, and he and his dad had spent some delightful nights stargazing there. Andrew realized that he hadn''t gone back to their little corner since the last time they''d been there together. He tried to push the loneliness away and hinder it from affecting him. He refused to cry in front of strangers. Esther was there beside him, taking in the view as well. Her eyes were distant and though she had no bittersweet memories there, she seemed to be affected by the lonesome peak just as much as he was.


    As they landed, the atmosphere felt thick and Andrew felt that breathing was a bit more difficult than it had been a while back. It occurred to him to ask for their cell phone numbers and tell them to stay in touch, but then he began to wonder if witches even used cell phones. They descended the camouflaged skyship via the elevator wordlessly. What Andrew thought would be a sorrowful goodbye at the end of an exciting journey, ended up being not quite so.


    Scarlet pointed her gloved index finger at the main door, and it swung open and the interior lit up. Andrew was amused, as the most he did was unlock it, even turning the handle by himself. Magic really did make people lazy. The four of them walked inside ahead of him without even waiting for an invitation.


    "Huh," said Silver with a tone of disappointment as he looked around, "houses in this realm are the same as those in ours."


    "What were you expecting?" asked Esther.


    "I dunno," Silver yawned. "I expected them to be so mundane, that it would be intriguing." And with that, he plopped down on a sofa.


    Elaine had disappeared into the kitchen, and not more than 10 seconds later, reappeared with a tray of cold drinks and biscuits. She looked disapprovingly at Andrew. "You should buy more food. There''s barely anything in the fridge!"


    Andrew shrugged. He wanted to tell her that firstly, he never expected guests. Secondly, why didn''t she conjure up food with magic? Thirdly, food cost money and he needed to be careful with it. But he didn''t want to be too rude to his guests, who didn''t seem to be acting like guests. Then he remembered that Scarlet and Elaine were not entirely his guests. They too had been living in his house with him, but as cats.


    As everyone settled down on sofas on either side of the coffee table, he noted silently that the house hadn''t had that many people in it for a long time. He glanced at each person, who sipped their drink in silence. Scarlet tapped her glass and it transformed into a cup with steam billowing out of it. She frowned. "Andre, we are running out of teabags."


    Andrew wasn''t entirely sure they had a pack in the first place.


    "Please get more. I''m a tea person. Milk, no sugar. You must remember from now on."


    Andrew''s heart leapt to his throat. He didn''t understand the meaning behind those words.


    "Ah yes. And I''m a coffee person. Milk, three spoons of sugar," Elaine said.


    Did it mean they meant to visit from now on? Andrew bit down the smile his lips twitched with. He refused to delude himself so he asked to be sure. "What do you mean?"


    "Well," Elaine said haughtily, "I''m sorry if you preferred us as cats, but we won''t be living in that form from now on!"


    He lost her there. He was about to express that when Scarlet spoke up.


    "I suppose we better finish discussing these matters now, we''re all tired after all." She looked at Andrew with a serious expression. "Andre, please clear up your junk from the other two rooms. I''d always tell you as a cat, but of course you wouldn''t understand. Elaine and I will not be occupying such a small space anymore."


    "You will be staying here?"


    Elaine and Scarlet exchanged glances. "Uh... Well, for the time being we thought-"


    Andrew could no longer suppress the smile, that came out as a hefty grin. "I''ll... I''ll clean them up!" he exclaimed, a bit too excitedly.


    "Good," sniffed Elaine. "Or else I''ll throw them out."


    "Well, we better head back," Silver got up and stretched.


    "You could stay back and rest a while," Scarlet suggested. She looked disappointed when he refused the offer. There were meetings to attend and business to take care of. With that, Silver and Esther headed back to the ship and disappeared into the sky. The two witches and Andrew stood outside and watched them go.


    "Maybe next time Es can stay back... Though I don''t even know what to say to her after..." Scarlet trailed off. Elaine nodded silently.


    "I wonder how they got to know each other though. I can barely recognize Sylly now. To think it''s been 10 years since I saw him," Scarlet lamented. "He grew up so much."


    "At least you got to see him," Elaine muttered as they walked back into the house.

 Chapter 14: Into The Forest

    The excitement of getting new housemates had temporarily shaken Zen and Caroline off of Andrew''s mind. He woke up to the unfamiliar feeling that he wasn''t alone. Voices spoke angrily from somewhere outside his room, loud and with no concern for young sleeping boys. He went down to the kitchen to see Scarlet and Elaine hovering over a pot, green smoke billowing, and bubbles the size of his fist rising from it.


    "Good morning, Andre!" chirped Scarlet. "We''re just preparing breakfast."


    Andrew gave a once over at the cliched pot, half expecting a tentacle to rise from within. "What is that supposed to be?"


    "This," gestured Elaine to the pot, "is a potion. That-", she pointed to the toaster, "is breakfast."


    Scarlet made motions with her gloved hands and plates floated out of the rack, washed and dried themselves and caught the toast when they sprang out from the toaster. She hummed as she took out meat from the freezer and cooked it in midair. She took out cheese slices and spread them evenly on the three pieces of toast. Then she put sliced tomatoes and cucumber on them and adorned two of them with the meat, covering the top with another layer of toast.


    "I''m a vegetarian," explained Elaine, as she took the one without meat. They all sat at the breakfast table to eat while the potion stirred itself. Andrew couldn''t remember the last time someone made food for him at his house. He couldn''t remember the last time the breakfast table had lively conversation. He carefully picked the cucumbers out of the sandwich, but Elaine glared at him until he put them back.


    "I don''t like ''em much either," groaned Scarlet as she gingerly took another bite. "But of course, Madam Elaine insists."


    "What''s the potion for?" he asked, still chewing on the sandwich.


    Scarlet sighed. "We''re still trying to gain intel on the whereabouts of your grandmother."


    "We were up since 4 in the morning looking for ingredients," Elaine said, exasperated. "It was no easy feat. Not in this realm. And don''t talk with your mouth full."


    "We''re still not sure if the ingredients we gathered will even work," Scarlet said. "The last time we used things from around the farm, we apparently got wrong information. Well, we collected better stuff this time, though."


    "Where did you get them from?" Andrew asked, wondering if the local supermarket sold live octopuses and bat wings.


    "The forest," Elaine answered.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    Andrew coughed violently as he choked on his food, and Elaine pushed a glass of water toward him.


    "What were you doing in the forest? Don''t you know that it''s dangerous in there?!"


    Scarlet and Elaine exchanged blank glances.


    "Nobody is allowed to go in there!" Andrew cried.


    "We''re not nobody," Scarlet said.


    "People who go there don''t return!"


    "Well, we returned," Elaine said evenly.


    Andrew sighed. He tried to explain to them that his grandmother had warned him against ever entering the forest. They waved it off.


    "Do you know what lies deep in the forest?" asked Elaine, an eyebrow raised.


    "No," he admitted. "I''d only been deep inside it once with my grandmother."


    "Do you know why your grandmother forbade you from going inside the forest?" Scarlet asked.


    "No..." he admitted yet again. He didn''t really need a reason. The fear he had felt the first and only time he went there with her was enough to keep him away for good.


    The witches remained silent for a short while.


    "Inside the forest," Elaine explained "lies the path to the other realm."


    That was news to Andrew.


    "That is probably why your grandmother did not want you anywhere near it," Scarlet said.


    To think the place he had longed to go to all his life was so close. He had never even thought it to be so within his reach. A loud bubbling noise broke his thoughts. Scarlet and Elaine rushed over to the potion. It had gone dark as black. The three of them peered into it, waiting for something. Finally, smoke billowed out from the pot and enveloped them in it. Andrew smelled something burning. It smelled like wood on fire.


    ---A Mysterious Vision---


    A woman was tied to a stake. A crowd of people encircled her. "BURN HER! BURN HER! BURN HER!" they chanted. It was the trial of a witch. A man lit a match and threw it at a large pile of wood at the witch''s feet. Immediately a fire roared to life.


    The flames licked her but spread no further, as though they didn''t dare. The witch looked straight at Andrew, and smiled. Andrew stood transfixed. She seemed familiar but he couldn''t place where he''d seen her.


    A tall, handsome man walked right through Andrew as though he were made of nothing but light and shadows. Andrew realized that the witch had been looking at that man. The man smiled back and proceeded to walk to her, right into the flames.


    The image flickered off.


    -------


    Andrew opened his eyes and found himself lying on the floor. The smoke was all gone and the potion in the pot had evaporated entirely. Scarlet and Elaine looked expectantly down at him.


    "Are you alright?" asked Elaine. "What did you see?" asked Scarlet.


    He took a moment to compose himself and drank the glass of water Elaine offered to him. A few deep breaths later, he felt that the smoke had left his system, and with it the memory of the faces of all the people in that hallucination. He then proceeded to tell them about it.


    "How come you got such an elaborate cinematic experience?! I just saw some dots!" Scarlet shook her head irritably.


    "I saw," Elaine paused, "a place, but I don''t understand." She made a frustrated sound deep in her throat.


    "We need more information," confirmed Scarlet.


    "It''s the ingredients. They weren''t potent enough," grumbled Elaine.


    The two witches muttered amongst themselves while Andrew finished his breakfast and cleared away the plates.


    "Pack some essentials," Elaine told him after they finished. "We''re going camping."


    Andrew dreaded the answer. Still he asked. "Where?"


    "Into the forest, of course."