《Shattered Worlds》
Witching Hour Party Chapter 1
Veronica stared out the window bouncing on the bed as she said, "Come on, come on. Hurry up!"
Suddenly, a bat swooped down from the ceiling and landed on her shoulder. She didn''t even glance at it as her eyes were focused on the full moon up in the sky.
"Veronica, what are you doing?" the bat asked.
"I want to go to the party already," she said as she finally stopped bouncing on the bed.
"I don''t think there''s any ritual involving jumping on the bed to make time go faster."
"Not funny, Echo."
"I''m just saying you should stop that. It gives me migraines."
She huffed and crossed her arms. "Fine."
Now that she stopped jumping on the bed, she started tapping her feet on the floor. Echo swatted her face with one of his wings in response before flying away. Veronica sputtered as she glared after him. The bat settled back on the ceiling and wrapped his wings around his body.
I''ll get him for that once we reach the mansion.
A knock on the door distracted her, and she turned her attention to who was on the other side.
"Veronica, we need to have a talk," a familiar voice said.
Standing up, Veronica said, "Coming, Mom."
Veronica swiftly crossed the distance and opened the door. Her mother''s disheveled appearance greeted her, making Veronica''s jaw drop.
"Veronica, I''m so sorry, but there''s an emergency," her mother said as she frantically urged Veronica to come out of her room.
She didn''t hesitate to follow her mom to the living room as she asked, "What''s wrong?"
"Your father was caught up in a traffic accident. I have to go."
Her eyes widened. "Dad''s hurt? Is he okay?"
"I don''t know. All I know is that an ambulance arrived to take the injured to the hospital," her mother said.
Veronica stared horrified.
She never thought her father would ever get into an accident. Both her parents were responsible drivers. They had never been in an accident before. In fact, Veronica was pretty sure they never had car problems, period.
As her mother threw on a coat and grabbed her purse, she said, "That''s why I want you to stay here and keep an eye on your sister until the sitter shows up."
Caught off guard, Veronica blurted out, "What?" She quickly recovered from her shock and asked, "Why am I not going with you?"
"The situation is not ideal. I don''t want to leave you two alone, but bringing both of you to the hospital isn''t possible."
"But¡ª"
"Veronica," her mother snapped as she spun around to face Veronica. "Please. I can''t deal with this right now. I already called the sitter, and she said that she''d come soon. We''re lucky that she was able to come in last minute." Then her mother mumbled, "If only the rest of the family lived close by. Then I wouldn''t have to worry." In a louder voice, she said, "Remember. Keep the doors locked until she shows up. Do not answer the door for anyone else. Stay safe, you two. I love you."
Then she was out the door. Veronica stared at the closed door in disbelief.
Just early, she had been excited to sneak out at midnight to go to the witches'' party. It was something she had been dreaming about for months since the last one. Now she was stuck anxiously waiting for the sitter to show up and wait for news about her father.
Suddenly, there was a sharp cry coming from the baby''s room. Veronica ran, throwing the door open. Her baby sister brawled from in her crib, her tiny arms reaching up the ceiling. Without missing a beat, Veronica marched towards the crib to carefully lift her baby sister and gently rocked her to sleep. Unfortunately, her baby sister didn''t make it easy and wailed into her ears. She grimaced but didn''t stop. Eventually, her baby sister fell silent.
This is the worst. How could this have happened? I hope Dad is okay.
Veronica nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard ringing. Her baby sister whimpered.
"Shh. It''s okay." Her words didn''t seem to have any effect, as she could see tears forming at the corner of her sister''s eyes. "Please don''t cry. If you cry, I''m going to cry."
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The ringing still hadn''t stopped, and she gritted her teeth as she stormed out of the baby''s room to grab the phone.
After ripping the phone off the stand, she placed the phone against her ear and snapped, "What?"
"Veronica, is that you?" asked a familiar voice on the other end.
It was the sitter.
"Yeah, it''s me," Veronica said as she adjusted her grip on her baby sister. "When are you getting here?"
"Actually, about that." Veronica had a sinking feeling in her stomach. "I don''t think I''ll be able to come."
"Why not?" Her baby sister whimpered at her sharp tone, and she took a moment to soothe her baby sister before returning to the conversation. "Mom said you were coming. What happened?"
"There''s horrible traffic. Apparently, there''s been a terrible accident that''s keeping everyone stuck. I won''t be able to get to the house until a couple hours later."
A couple hours?
By then, it would be way after midnight.
"But my mom already left," she said.
"Oh no. I''m really sorry, but none of the cars in front of me are moving. I''m literally stuck. Can you call your mom? If not, I''ll call her," the sitter said.
"I''ll try."
"I''m really sorry about this. I promise to make it up to you."
How are you going to make this up?
She hanged up. After dialing her mother''s number, she waited for her mother to pick up, but it went straight to voicemail. Veronica tried a couple more times only to get the same result. Giving up, she returned the phone back to its stand. Then she collapsed onto the nearby sofa and stared at nothing.
What now?
Veronica never expected to end up in such a situation. This was probably the first time she had been left alone, much less solely responsible for her baby sister. She never had to handle her baby sister alone, at least without another adult nearby, to make sure nothing bad happened. Even now, she was worried she might accidentally drop her sister.
She eyed her baby sister warily, making sure that she was holding her correctly. Her baby sister had the audacity to blow a bubble at her.
With a grimace, she muttered, "You''re really lucky you don''t understand what''s going on right now."
What am I supposed to do now? Do I just stay awake and watch my baby sister until Mom and Dad come home? I don''t even know when they''ll be back.
A familiar ringtone caught her attention, and she stared in the direction of her room. Veronica sighed before getting to her feet and walked to her room to grab her phone. She picked it up and saw it was a text from her friend asking if she was excited to go to the party. Unable to properly text with one hand, she called her friend.
Her friend immediately picked up and asked, "What''s up? Why did you call?"
"I can''t come," Veronica said in a dejected tone.
"Huh?"
"I can''t come."
"Why not? Weren''t you the one begging to come to the party even though you''re only twelve? You even managed to get them to waive the rule that you have to be thirteen to join as long as you fulfilled the conditions."
"My dad got into an accident."
"Oh, sorry. I guess you''re in the hospital right now."
"No, my mom said I need to stay home to watch my sister."
"Wait. You''re home alone?"
"Yes."
"Isn''t that illegal? Don''t you have to be thirteen or something?"
"It''s fourteen. I checked."
The only reason she knew about this was because she had been researching when she could be left home alone so she could sneak off to meet other witches. As the only witch in the family with her entire family completely in the dark about it, she had to keep it a secret. Witches were not supposed to reveal themselves to humans, and Veronica just happened to be one of the rare witches to be born into a purely human family.
"So what are you going to do?" her friend asked.
"I don''t know. The sitter my mom called says she can''t come because of traffic, so I''m stuck alone with my baby sister," Veronica said as she shifted her baby sister.
"That''s rough. It''s too bad you can''t make it this year. At least you''ll be able to go next year when you''re of age."
"I know, but I really wanted to go this year. I even got clothes specifically for the party."
"Well, it''s not like you can leave your baby sister behind. That''s practically asking something bad to happen."
"I know that. I''m not that dumb or heartless."
"I''m just saying. Well, I''ve got to go. I need to get ready for the party. See you on Monday."
Before Veronica could respond, the call was discounted. She glared daggers at the phone, tempted to toss it at the wall. Instead, she dropped it on the bed and nearly threw herself face forward onto the bed. Luckily, she quickly remembered that she was still holding her baby sister and stopped herself from crushing her baby sister beneath her weight. Falling onto her back, she stared up at the ceiling where Echo was still perched.
The bat flew down as he asked, "I heard what happened."
"It''s not fair," she whined. "I''ve been waiting for so long to go ever since I found out about it."
"You only found out about it a couple months ago."
"Exactly."
"I can''t believe no one thought to tell me for the past two years."
"You were only ten."
If Ten was old enough to awaken as a witch, she was old enough to know about the party. They didn''t even have to let her go at ten. She could just have let her know that it was one of the things witches did.
"Besides, shouldn''t you be more worried about your dad? I mean don''t you think him being in the hospital is more important than a party?" Echo asked as he waved his wings.
"I''m trying not to think about it," she admitted.
It was easier not to panic if she didn''t think about it. Talking about the party distracted her from thinking about the horrible things that might have happened to her father.
"How about watching some TV?" he suggested. "It''ll keep you awake and distracted."
"I don''t want to watch TV though."
"I don''t know what else to tell you."
For several moments, no one spoke. It was quiet except for the noises her baby sister was making. Suddenly, Veronica sat up as she was struck with an idea.
"I don''t like the look on your face," Echo said as he took into the air and eyed her warily.
"If I can''t leave my baby sister alone, I can just take her with me to the party," she said as she stood up.
"...Are you crazy? This is a witches'' party we''re talking about. A human baby isn''t going to be welcomed."
"I''m sure the others will understand. It''s an emergency. They said I''m allowed to go."
"I''m pretty sure they allowed it because they didn''t think you would suddenly bring a human baby to the party."
"Well, it''s better than staying home alone. If I go to the party, there''ll be a bunch of adults around."
"You''re not going to listen to me anyway. Do whatever you want."
That was her intention. However, she needed to prepare her baby sister for the trip. There was no way her baby sister would be able to stay warm while they flew through the sky on her broomstick. She would get sick.
"Where''s the coat?" Veronica mumbled as she set out to dress up her baby sister for the party.
Witching Hour Party Chapter 2
"It''s done," Veronica declared as she placed her hands on her hips and admired her handiwork.
Her baby sister stared at her with a clueless expression on her face as she waved her arms at her side.
It had taken some wrangling¡ªand some hits to the face¡ªbut she had managed to force her baby sister into some warm clothes for their trip to the party. Now Veronica didn''t have to worry about her baby sister catching a cold.
Echo glanced between the two as he asked, "Are you really sure you want to do this? You can''t take it back once we leave."
Veronica huffed as she picked her baby sister up. "I already took the time to change her clothes. I''ve already made up my mind."
Instead of responding back, Echo took to the air and flew circles above them. She ignored him as she swiped her phone and stuffed it into her pocket. Then she walked to her closet to retrieve her broomstick. With her baby sister and broomstick in hand, she headed for the window. She took a moment to shift the broomstick under her armpit so she could open the window. Cold air hit them.
"Brr. That''s cold," Veronica said before stepping out onto the roof.
It was a tight squeeze, especially with her baby sister in her arms. For a moment, she thought she got stuck and freaked out. Fortunately, it was a false alarm.
She stared out at the sea of houses before closing the window behind her. Her baby sister gurgled and squirmed. Veronica grimaced, adjusting her grip so she wouldn''t drop her baby sister.
Luckily, her sister decided to calm down and work with her. Thank goodness for small miracles.
As she sat on the broomstick, she gripped the handle with one hand while holding her baby sister close to her body with the other. After taking a deep breath, she kicked off of the roof. They flew through the air as she guided the broomstick in the direction of the mansion. Her baby sister babbled excitedly and reached out in front of her. Echo flew by their side, making sure to keep the same pace as them.
I hope I can still make it.
The deadline for the party was midnight. If she arrived late, she wouldn''t be allowed to join. Unfortunately, it had taken some time for her to get her baby sister ready. The last time she checked the time, it had been almost eleven. The flight to the mansion was about an hour. It would be cutting it close.
Veronica pushed her broomstick as fast as she dared without dropping her baby sister. The wind brushed past them as their clothes whipped around. Echo continued to follow, zipping around them. A sudden, strong gust pushed them to one side. Veronica gritted her teeth as she tightened grip on the broomstick and her baby sister. Her baby sister whimpered and squirmed at the sound pressure.
"Don''t move," Veronica hissed as she righted the broomstick. "It''s hard enough to fly without you squirming."
Unfortunately, her sister was just a baby and didn''t understand anything Veronica said.
Her baby sister continued to struggle, making it hard for Veronica to focus on flying. "Cut it out. I mean it." A slap to the face was the last straw. "That''s it. When we get there, you''re getting a timeout."
"Are you really picking a fight with a baby?" Echo asked as he flew in close.
"You''re not helping."
"What do you expect me to do? Just because I''m your familiar doesn''t mean I''ll be able to help. She''ll probably swat me like a fly if I get too close."
"Just butt out if you''re not going to help."
Echo took the invitation to fly out of range. Veronica glared at the bat before she was forced to pay attention to her baby sister, who was babbling insistently.
"Hey, hey. IF you keep moving like that, I''m going to end up dropping you," Veronica said as she had to use both hands to keep herself from losing her grip.
This meant she could no longer pay attention to where they were going as she grappled with her baby sister.
"Veronica!" Echo snapped.
She looked up and screamed. Veronica grabbed the broomstick''s handle and swerved out of the way, nearly avoiding running smack dab into the billboard. Her heart pounded in her chest as she glanced back at it.
That was way too close for comfort.
A sharp wail cut through the air. Her baby sister had burst into tears and was waving her tiny arms frantically.
Rocking her baby sister, she said, "Don''t cry. I''m sorry I shouted. I didn''t mean to scare you."
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Several minutes passed before her baby sister finally calmed down.
Veronica nearly cried in relief, as it could have turned out much uglier. Her baby sister could cry for hours, and they didn''t have hours to deal with her baby sister''s tantrum.
Now her baby sister was nodding away. Her baby sister''s eyes struggled to stay open.
While she was glad that her baby sister had calmed down, she had lost time calming her down. They weren''t going to make it unless she sped things up, but that was impossible without risking dropping her baby sister.
Just as she thought that there was nothing she could do, she was struck by a sudden idea. She glanced down at her clothes. Veronica used one hand to hold her baby sister while the other undid the belt around her waist. Then she wrapped it around herself and her baby sister before securing it. Her baby sister didn''t resist as they were tied together.
It was a bit uncomfortable, but with this method, Veronica didn''t have to worry her baby sister would fall off the broomstick. Her baby sister didn''t seem to mind and rested her head against Veronica.
"Looks like you were lucky to wear a belt," Echo commented.
She ignored him and continued their journey to the mansion.
"Finally," Veronica said as soon as she saw the mansion in the distance. "We''re almost there."
Urging her broomstick to go faster, she sped through the air towards the mansion. When she was a couple yards away, she slowed down and descended. As soon as her feet touched the ground, she got off her broomstick. Her baby sister remained quiet the entire time as Veronica walked the rest of the way to the mansion. Several other witches were ahead of her and turned towards her. The moment they saw her, everything fell silent.
At the sudden silence, she stopped in her tracks as Echo flew up from behind her and whispered, "I think you''re in trouble.
Veronica didn''t get a word in as the mansion''s front door slammed open. A powerful force weight heavily on her shoulders, nearly sending her sprawling. She noticed that she wasn''t the only one as the other witches hunched forward or fell to their knees. A very familiar face stormed out of the mansion towards Veronica.
The witch stopped right in front of Veronica and demanded, "What have you done?" Veronica opened her mouth, but the witch cut her off. "Don''t answer. You know the rules. Humans are not allowed her, no matter how old they are. What possessed you to break this very important rule?" When Veronica remained silent, the witch snapped, "Why are you keeping silent? Speak."
"...You said not to talk," Veronica said in a small voice.
"I''m giving you to speak now."
Unable to meet the witch''s gaze, Veronica glanced at their surroundings. A crowd had formed, and the witches whispered to each other.
"What''s going on? What''s the commotion?"
"It''s the new witch."
"What''s she doing here? Isn''t she like twelve?"
"I heard she got permission to come."
"Isn''t that favoritism?"
"Typical. This is why you don''t bend the rules in the slightest. Give her an inch, and she''ll take a yard."
Hey! I worked really hard to get permission. Do you know how hard it was to convince them to let me come here for the party? It took months, you know!
She didn''t dare to voice her thoughts out loud with the host of the party looming over her.
"You must leave and take the human baby back to where you found it," the witch declared.
"She''s not an it," Veronica said as she mustered up the courage to meet the witch''s eyes.
Veronica quickly lost her nerve and looked down at her baby sister, who was slowly waking up.
"Go," the witch ordered.
No one dared to speak, not even to gossip. All eyes were on Veronica, waiting to see what she would do. She bit down on her lip, unable to move from her spot, both from stubbornness and fear. Her legs were like a newborn fawn''s threatening to give out if she dared to make a single move. Suddenly, a wail cut through the silence. Veronica welcomed the distraction as she undid the belt and checked on her baby sister.
At that moment, her friend burst from the crowd and stared at the scene with wide eyes before blurting out, "Veronica, what are you doing here? I thought you said you were staying home."
"You knew about this, Leta," the witch in front of Veronica said, her tone dangerous.
Leta frantically shook her head. "No, ma''am. I mean yes?" She took a moment to collect herself before saying, "Veronica called me earlier today to tell me that she needed to watch her baby sister since they were home."
"And you didn''t think to inform anyone?"
She blinked owlishly. "Are we supposed to tell in advance we''re coming or if something came up?"
No one could argue against the innocent question. Attendance wasn''t mandatory¡ªno one could force a witch to do something they didn''t want to even another witch¡ªand none of them needed to notify anyone else about coming to the party, not even the host. It was just an open party for witches ages thirteen and up.
The air around them abruptly shifted. Veronica glanced around in confusion, wondering what had changed. The witch in front of Veronica sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose.
One of the witches stepped forward as she said, "Deville, the time..."
"I know," Deville said through gritted teeth. Then she turned her gaze to Veronica, who flinched under the intense look. "It seems that you will have to stay."
Immediately, protests filled the air.
"You can''t be serious."
"Humans aren''t allowed here. We need to kick them out."
"You can''t let her get away with this."
Deville raised a hand, silencing everyone.
As she lowered her hand, she said, "Unfortunately, it''s out of our hands now. You must have felt it."
Felt what? Is she talking about that weird sensation earlier?
This time there was no screaming or shouting, but Veronica could hear grumbling and mumbling from the crowd.
"You will be allowed to stay until the party is over, but there will be restrictions," Deville said. "You will be responsible for the human baby the entire time. If anything happens to it or it does anything to affect anyone here, the blame will fall solely onto you. Do you understand?"
Veronica swallowed. "...I do."
Deville studied Veronica''s face before turning on her heel and striding back to the mansion without a single word or glance back. The tense atmosphere didn''t completely disappear with her departure as the crowd of witches continued to stand around. For several moments, no one moved. Then many of the witches walked away after staring intensely at Veronica. Others kept their eyes on her the entire time.
It felt like they wanted to set her on fire with just their eyes¡ªno magic involved.
She was about to drop to her knees when her friend stormed towards her with a serious expression on her face. Before she could speak, Leta grabbed her arms in a vice grip and stared directly into Veronica''s eyes.
"What was that all about?" Leta hissed.
"Oh..." Veronica glanced away as she muttered, "It''s a long story."
"Tell me."
Witching Hour Party Chapter 3
"I didn''t think you would come here with the baby," Leta said the moment Veronica finished her story.
"What else was I supposed to do?" Veronica asked as they slowly made their way to the mansion.
"I don''t know. Actually, stay at home with the baby?"
"I mean besides that."
"I don''t know what else to tell you. I''m not the one with a human baby as a sister."
"You don''t even have any siblings."
"Exactly."
Veronica gave her friend a half-hearted stare because she was right.
Leta couldn''t understand what Veronica wasn''t going through. She didn''t know what it was like to try to fit in with her human parents and human sister while dealing with her witch identity. With everyone in her family being a witch, Leta never had to deal with a human family member.
It''s so unfair. Not everyone can have their entire family be only women.
Unlike Leta, whose family situation didn''t make anyone bat an eye for some reason, the majority of Veronica''s family was male. She had two uncles from her mom''s side and three uncles from her dad''s. Two were married, so she had two aunts, but all her cousins were boys too. Veronica was literally the only girl in the family, if she didn''t count her baby sister.
The moment the duo stepped into the mansion, Veronica was momentarily stunned by the interior.
Golden, intricate chandeliers hung from the ceiling. Their glow highlighted the numerous paintings lining the walls, which shone with their golden frames. The chairs and couches that several witches were sitting on had bits of gold lining the material. Even the rugs at their feet shone when the light hit them.
The place reeked of money with all the expensive and flashy furniture on display.
Is it really okay for me to come in with my shoes?
She had never been to such a fancy place before. All the previous times she had met up with the witches had been at normal locations. There had been no fancy mansions or rich people vibes.
Veronica hesitated to take a step, while her friend had no problem stepping over the shiny rug.
Seeing Veronica hesitate, Leta waved at her and said, "Come on. What are you standing at the door for?" Veronica still hesitated, and Leta sighed. "What''s wrong? Is it the baby? Is she giving you trouble?"
Leta''s words were enough to snap Veronica out of it as she glanced down at her baby sister. Said baby sister was calmly looking around with an odd look on her face that Veronica couldn''t decipher.
Was the baby happy or bored?
Well, it''s better than her crying, I guess.
She didn''t want to deal with her baby sister''s crying again so soon after the last fit. Veronica had just calmed her down minutes earlier, and she was pretty sure none of the other witches would appreciate her baby sister throwing a tantrum.
Veronica reluctantly walked towards her friend, grimacing with each step she took across the expensive rug.
"So, where will you stay?" Leta asked as they resumed walking.
Puzzled, Veronica asked, "Stay?"
"Yeah. Stay." When Leta saw Veronica''s confused look, she said, "You couldn''t have forgotten what we just talked about. You have to find a place to stay until the party is over."
What is she talking about? I don''t understand.
"Can''t I just stick with you?" Veronica asked, her mind still mulling over her friend''s odd words.
Leta stared directly into her eyes and said, "Veronica, you can''t come with me."
"Wha¡ªwhy not?"
"Didn''t you say you''d take responsibility and keep an eye on your baby sister?"
"Yeah, but what''s that got to do with anything?"
"Everything," Leta said as she waved her arms everywhere. "I want to talk with the other witches and participate in the party, but I can''t do that with your baby sister around."
"She''ll behavior. I promise," Veronica insisted.
Her baby sister chose that moment to clap her hands and babble.
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Leta sighed. "Veronica, I''m not saying this to be mean, but you know how everyone here feels about humans. Even if she''s a baby, they''re not going to be comfortable with her around. No one''s going to want to talk to me if she''s around."
Even though Veronica wanted to argue otherwise, she hadn''t missed how no one got within several feet of them. She would have to be willfully blind not to notice. Except for those sitting down, everyone else had made sure to distance themselves from them.
Whenever the girls got close to any of the witches, they would quickly move away, like they were avoiding the plague.
"Can''t we just hang out?" Veronica asked desperately.
Leta''s expression twisted into a mixture of annoyance and guilt. "M-Maybe next time." Then she tore her gaze away so she wouldn''t have to look at Veronica''s broken expression. "Veronica, this is my first party. You know how much of a big deal it is. I really want to experience it. I''m sorry."
Before Veronica could speak, Leta darted away. Veronica''s outstretched hand hovered in front of her until she reluctantly lowered it. None of the other witches were looking her way as she cradled her baby sister closer to her chest. She could feel the corners of her eyes prickle with unshed tears while her baby sister remained oblivious to Veronica''s troubles.
"It''s my first party too," Veronica muttered to herself.
She had been excited about this event just as much as Leta had. In fact, she was certain that she was more excited, as she had pushed to be invited despite not being of age. Now she was stuck at the party where no one wanted to have anything to do with her and had to keep an eye on her baby sister. Even her best friend had ditched Veronica because of her baby sister.
Unable to take it anymore, she stormed off, hoping to clear her head and think about what she should do.
Listening to her baby sister''s babbling, Veronica sighed and asked, "Can you stop that?"
Her baby sister obviously didn''t understand her and continued to wave her tiny arms in front of her, trying to get Veronica''s attention. Instead of giving her baby sister what she wanted, Veronica laid down by her side. Staring desolately at the opposing wall, she found herself feeling resentful for the whole situation.
It wasn''t her fault that her human parents suddenly dumped her baby sister right before the party. There was no way she could have predicted it would happen. It wasn''t fair that the others were punishing her for it.
Leta is a traitor. I''m never going to forgive her for ditching me like this.
Once the party was over, she was going to cut ties with the other girl.
"There you are," Echo said as he flew into the room and circled above them before landing on Veronica''s arm. "I was wondering where you went."
Veronica glared at her familiar as she said, "I''m not the one who ditched the other."
"What are you talking about?"
She abruptly sat up, sending him flying through the air as she snapped, "You flew off the moment things got serious. You left me to face the other witches by myself."
Her baby sister whimpered and covered her face with her hands. Veronica went through the motions of reaching out to comfort her, but she was still angry over the fact that Echo had vanished on her while she was being ganged up by the other witches.
Veronica hadn''t even noticed when he vanished. All she knew was that he had been right behind her up until the host stormed towards her. When she did finally realize he wasn''t with her, she didn''t have any time to spare on him. There were other things she had to deal with, and she couldn''t waste her time or energy on her missing familiar.
"What did you expect me to do if I stayed?" Echo asked. "There''s nothing I can do against another witch, much less one stronger than you, and with so many other witches lurking around."
"I don''t know," Veronica said as she violently waved her arms everywhere. "You could have backed me up."
"They would have swatted me like a fly if I did that."
"How would you know that?"
"Well, that''s what you do when you''re unhappy with me." She swung her arm at him, but he easily avoided it and kept his distance. "See? You just proved my point."
"Then I guess you can find another witch to be your partner if you''re unhappy with me," she snapped.
With a scowl on her face, she turned her back on her familiar, which in turn meant she turned her back on her baby sister. Veronica could feel something tug at the back of her clothes, but she was in no mood to deal with her baby sister. Her baby sister continued to tug on Veronica''s clothes, which she ignored until she heard the telltale signals for an upcoming tantrum. The moment she heard the sniffles, she turned around to see her baby sister on the verge of tears.
She groaned before reluctantly picking up her baby sister and saying, "Don''t cry. I should be the one crying."
As she tried to soothe her baby sister, Echo said, "I told you it wasn''t a good idea to come here. We should just go back."
"...When exactly did you leave during the conversation?"
"Honestly, I hightailed out of there as fast as I could. Why?"
"Then you would have heard that no one can leave until the party is over."
"Ah."
Veronica tore her gaze away from her baby sister and snapped, "Is that all you have to say?"
Echo waved his wings frantically as he asked, "What else is there?"
She was too upset to form words. Instead, she angrily glared at her baby sister, who seemed confused about what was going on.
"Veronica, don''t be like this. It''s just a temporary setback. We just have to wait for a couple hours before we go."
"But I don''t want to go. I want to join the party."
"Well, that''s not happening with your baby sister around. Unless you can find someone willing to watch her and who is trustworthy, you won''t be able to join the party."
Veronica''s face darkened. All of a sudden, a lightbulb went off in her head, wiping her previous expression off of her face. She took a moment to consider the idea before going for it.
"In that case, I want you to watch my baby sister while I go talk with the other witches and join the party," she said without batting an eye.
Caught off guard, Echo bluntly said, "That doesn''t sound like a good idea."
"Whose familiar are you?" Veronica demanded.
"I¡ª"
"Whose?"
"...Yours."
"Exactly. You should be listening to me. If you want to make up for ditching me, you have to do this for me."
"...Fine." Veronica immediately cheered up. "But you can''t blame me if something goes wrong. I''m just a bat. I can''t do anything against the other witches."
She waved him off as she said, "They''re not going to try anything with her. None of them even want to be within several feet of her."
"Wow. They must really hate babies."
"Human babies."
Veronica made sure to clarify because she was pretty certain things would have turned out differently. If her baby sister had been a witch like Veronica, the other witches wouldn''t be acting like this. They would probably be unhappy to see a baby at the party before being over the moon over how cute her sister was.
"Are you really sure you want me to watch over her?" Echo asked as he landed on her baby sister''s head.
"Yes," Veronica said without hesitation. "Now I''ll leave you with her."
Shen then hurried away, ignoring her baby sister''s cries and her familiarity to enjoy the time she had left.
Witching Hour Party Chapter 4
The first thing Veronica did was search for other witches around her age who were not Leta. She still hadn''t forgiven her friend for ditching her. There was just no way Veronica was going to talk to a traitor like her. She was so sure she could find other witches who would want to be her friend.
What was there not to like about her?
Unfortunately, reality seemed to think otherwise.
Why is there no one my age here?
Veronica wanted to tear her hair out when she saw another group of witches, who were clearly adults, in the distance.
So far, she had yet to encounter anyone who wasn''t a grown up in this giant mansion. It was like the other kids were purposely avoiding her, but that couldn''t be true. Veronica wasn''t carrying her baby sister with her this time. They had no reason to avoid her since her baby sister wasn''t getting in the way.
Besides, how would they know she was coming?
She could have been another witch roaming the halls. Unless she was somehow giving off some kind of vibe that let them know in advance to steer clear, it didn''t make any sense.
Ignoring the looks the group was throwing her way, Veronica took a detour to avoid them. She walked down the hall, lost in her thoughts.
The whole situation left her with a bad taste in her mouth. This party was supposed to be fun and exciting. She and Leta were supposed to hang out and do stuff together, having the time of their lives.
What kind of stuff were they supposed to do?
Well, she wasn''t quite sure. It wasn''t like the other witches had advertised what went on at these parties. She only knew the bare minimum.
Something caught Veronica''s eye, and she studied her surroundings, temporarily distracted from her plight. Her eyes shone as she marveled at the sights, wondering how much was bought with money and how much was made with magic.
If they were made with magic, would I be able to do it too?
Veronica reached out to touch one of the hanging lights when she heard a loud crash. She jumped, her head swerving around. There was nothing in sight, but that didn''t stop her heart from pounding in her chest or her tightening her grip on her broom. After several long moments, she continued down the hall while keeping her eyes open. At the end of the path, she turned the corner and froze at the sight of broken glass strung across the floor.
"What happened here?" she muttered as she glanced towards the broken window.
She hadn''t seen anyone or anything coming towards her from this direction. If she had, she would have immediately turned back. That could only mean one thing. Whoever or whatever was responsible for breaking the glass had gone in a different direction. Well, it wasn''t really any of her business. She wasn''t the one to break the window, and this wasn''t her home.
As soon as she thought that, she glanced around to see if there was anyone else around.
Like before, she didn''t see anyone, which was a huge relief. Veronica didn''t want anyone to mistakenly think she was the one responsible for the broken window. It was already bad enough that no one wanted anything to do with her. She didn''t want to give them more reasons to shun her.
Using her broom to brush the glass out of the way so she wouldn''t step on any of it, she felt something prickle in the back of her mind.
It was only after she finished sweeping that she realized what was bugging her. In the movies, whenever a glass window was broken, the glass always ended up on the opposite side.
Veronica stared down at the glass she had swept up before slowly turning her head towards the window.
Doesn''t that mean that someone broke into the mansion?
She tried to shake those thoughts out of her head because of how silly they sounded. It was simply impossible. Since the party started, no one could come in or get out of this place. That''s the only reason why she hadn''t been sent home, even though the other witches wanted her gone. The only people around were witches, except for her human baby sister.
Speaking of her baby sister, Veronica glanced in the direction she came from before shaking her head.
The movies must have been wrong. Maybe someone broke the window by accident¡ªa spell gone haywire?¡ªand ran off because they were scared of getting into trouble. Well, she wasn''t going to stick around either. She wasn''t going to take the fall for someone else.
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Marching past the glass shards, she focused on finding the other kids. However, her mind kept wandering back to the broken window.
What if it wasn''t an accident? Why would anyone want to break the window?
If someone was trying to get in, they could have just gone through the front door. No one was stopping them from coming in. They were all witches.
Everything about the situation made her skin crawl, and she hurried down the hall to find anyone. Veronica turned another corner, crashed into something, and was sent sprawling to the ground.
"Ouch!"
As she rubbed her forehead, she looked up to see what she had bumped into.
The girl in front of her scowled as she demanded, "Watch where you''re going. This isn''t some zoo where you can run wild like an animal."
Bristling at the girl''s words, she quickly stood up and said, "You don''t have to be so rude. It''s not like I pushed you to the ground."
"How rude. Were you raised by beasts? You haven''t even apologized for running into me."
"I was going to, but now I''m not."
The girl clicked her tongue. "Typical, but I suppose I shouldn''t expect much from someone living among humans. If it were me, I would rather die than have a human family."
Die?
Veronica was instantly assaulted with thoughts of her father''s accident and possible death.
"Ow!"
She stared at the girl, who had stumbled back and was glaring right back at her.
What just happened?
Staring down at her outstretched hands, Veronica realized she had just dropped her broomstick and shoved the other girl. Suddenly, the other girl rushed at her and pushed her back. Veronica stumbled, tripping over her broomstick and falling to the ground.
"If you do that again, I''m going to do more than push you to the ground," the girl snarled.
Veronica gnashed her teeth together. "At least I don''t look like an idiot. Who wears their hair like drills?"
The girl gasped as she touched one of her drill pigtails. "How dare you! You wouldn''t know anything about fashion, even if it hit you in the face. Look at you. You''re a joke."
Scrambling to her feet, Veronica was prepared to chew the girl out when there was a loud crash. The two girls instantly flinched and looked in the direction the sound had come from. For several minutes, neither of them said a word.
The first to break the silence was the other girl. "What was that?"
"I don''t know," Veronica said, picking her broomstick off the ground.
"I wasn''t talking to you."
She threw a glare at the girl who ignored Veronica and marched towards where the sound had come from.
Veronica''s eyes widened in surprise as she asked, "Where are you going?"
The girl stopped for a moment to flick her hair. "What do you think? I''m obviously going to investigate." At the look on Veronica''s face, the girl scoffed. "Of course you''re a coward too. Run away and let a real witch handle things."
As the girl walked away, she laughed mockingly. Veronica burned holes into the girl''s back, but she didn''t dare follow after her.
Who would walk toward the crash?
If anything, they should run away and find an adult. It would be one thing if they were humans, but they were all witches. A crash could mean anything from someone dropping a vase to someone accidentally unleashing a demon or something.
She looked back and considered going back the way she came.
Then she remembered the broken glass window. Perhaps it wasn''t a good idea to go back. However, she didn''t have many options. She could either follow the rude girl from before and head towards the noise or walk back the way she came and possibly get accused of being the one to break the window.
Which was worse?
Well, on one hand, there was no guarantee she would bump into someone who would instantly think she broke the window. On the other hand, if there was trouble, she could use the rude girl as a decoy or shield.
After some careful thought, she hesitantly followed after the girl.
I don''t like her, but she''s like the only other kid I''ve met so far. She might know where the other kids are. It''s better than roaming around this huge mansion trying to find them.
Veronica jerked to a stop and stared with wide eyes at the scene in front of her. The girl from before was being cornered by some kind of skinny creature with a skull for a head and antlers.
"Get back," the girl ordered as she waved her wand at the creature.
A ball of flames launched itself at the creature, but it easily batted it away like it was nothing. Then it shrieked before lunging at the girl. She dove out of the way as the creature crashed into the wall, sending pieces of rubble everywhere. Veronica instinctively closed her eyes and turned her head away while holding up her broomstick like a makeshift shield.
Where is everyone? How is no one hearing any of this?
She couldn''t understand how none of the witches had shown up to investigate what was going on. The creature wasn''t even trying to be quiet.
It pulled itself free from the wall, shaking its head. Then its eyeless sockets locked onto Veronica, who froze like a deer in headlights. Just as the creature opened its jaws, a ball of flames slammed into its face, cutting it off in mid-scream. Veronica looked away from the creature to see the girl from earlier pointing her wand at the creature.
"What are you standing around for?" the girl snapped. "Get away from there."
The girl didn''t need to tell Veronica twice. She bolted towards the girl, and the duo hurried away from the scene. While the girl willingly checked over her shoulders to see if the creature was following them, Veronica didn''t dare to look behind her.
If she did, she was afraid she would freeze up and trip over her feet.
After what seemed like forever, the duo finally stopped running to catch their breath. Veronica leaned against the wall for support as she looked back down the hall.
The creature was nowhere to be seen.
"What was that?" Veronica muttered to herself in between pants.
The girl huffed. "Are you joking? Don''t you know what a wendigo is?" When Veronica remained silent, the girl made a disgusted sound. "Of course you don''t. I don''t know why I bothered asking."
It''s not like I know everything. I only have two years of experience.
However, instead of bringing this up and arguing with the girl, she asked, "What''s it doing in the mansion? Did one of the witches bring it?"
"Obviously not," the girl snapped. "You saw how dangerous it was. No one would think to bring a wendigo to the party. The party is supposed to have a right of passage, not the time to do dangerous work."
"Rite of passage?"
"Ugh. Don''t talk to me. I feel like I''m losing brain cells talking to you."
Rude.
"Will we be safe?" Veronica asked as she kept glancing in the direction of the wendigo.
Before the girl could answer, a loud crash caught their attention.
Witching Hour Party Chapter 5
Veronica was one step away from sprinting for her life. She was honestly impressed that she hadn''t done so already. Well, that could be the fear keeping her from running.
That''s when she noticed the girl was already marching away.
"W-wait," Veronica said as she followed after.
"Don''t follow me," the girl said, waving Veronica away.
"What else am I supposed to do?"
"Go anywhere else."
She glanced around before staring blankly at the back of the girl''s head and dryly asking, "Where?"
Unlike some parts of the mansion, there was only one path. Actually, it had been a while since she last saw forks in the road, but the point was that she could only go forward or backward. There was literally nowhere else for Veronica to go unless she wanted to walk right back to the wendigo.
Of course, the girl chose to ignore her and continued to walk.
Fine. I don''t want to talk to you either.
As Veronica followed the girl, she wished that her familiar was there.
If Echo was there, she could easily send him off to find some adult witches to deal with the wendigo instead of having to go looking for one. Unfortunately, he was babysitting her baby sister for her.
The moment she thought of her baby sister, the blood in her veins went cold.
What if the wendigo stumbled upon her baby sister?
Veronica and the other girl were already no match for the creature.
How could a baby hope to survive against it?
No, don''t think about it like that. I''m sure that the wendigo won''t find her. It''s currently chasing after us...which isn''t a good thing either.
She glanced behind her to see if the wendigo had caught up, but there were still no signs of the creature, which was odd.
The path had been straight the entire time. There was no way she could miss spotting the creature coming after them. The only way that was possible was if the creature could somehow go through the walls or something along those lines.
Feeling uneasy, she asked, "What abilities does a wendigo have?" The girl remained silent. "What can a wendigo do?" There was still no response. "Hello?"
"I said don''t bother me," the girl snapped.
"I''m being serious here. I don''t see the wendigo. Can it use magic like us?"
The girl immediately stopped in her tracks, and Veronica crashed into her back.
As she stumbled back, the girl spun around with a serious expression on her face. "No, they don''t. That''s ridiculous."
"Then where did it go?" Veronica asked, waving her hand behind them.
The girl took a moment to glance behind them and frown. Suddenly, she grabbed one of Veronica''s hands and ran. Caught off guard, Veronica stumbled but managed to stay on her feet as they hurried down the hall.
"Slow down. I can''t keep up," Veronica said.
"Unless you want to be eaten by a wendigo, be my guest," the girl said.
Veronica wisely kept her mouth shut.
She tightened her grip on the girl''s hand, afraid it would slip from her grasp and be left behind. Looking over her shoulder, Veronica couldn''t see what made the girl decide to run again.
Did she see the wendigo? I don''t see it.
"Hey," Veronica started.
"I have a name," the girl snapped back.
"Well, you never introduced yourself."
"I''m Maura Diablo, your superior. I expect you to give me a proper greeting after this."
There were a lot of things Veronica wanted to comment on about the girl''s name, but she decided not to annoy the girl who was currently helping her out.
When Veronica finally saw a fork in the path, she thought she was going to cry. Maura turned the corner, pulling Veronica along with her. They walked some more, and just as Veronica was wondering how much longer before they found someone¡ªshe swore that it was impossible to find anyone in that place¡ªthey spotted a group of witches.
Adult witches, in fact.
Maura immediately hailed them, shouting, "Wendigo."
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The witches instantly converged on them, surrounding them, with most of them facing the direction they came from.
One of the witches inspected them for injuries as she said, "Explain."
"I saw a wendigo and was able to fight it off before running," Maura said.
"You did good. Leave it to us."
Veronica didn''t miss how the witch hadn''t even looked her way outside of making sure she wasn''t hurt. She hadn''t even bothered to hear what Veronica had to say. It kind of hurt that she was ignoring Veronica, but she chose to believe it on purpose. The witch was just worried about the wendigo, and Maura had basically told them the gist of it.
A loud roar drew everyone''s attention as the wendigo finally appeared in front of them. Literally.
One moment, there was nothing there. The next day, the wendigo was standing before them in its twelve-foot glory. Veronica hadn''t even seen where it had come from. It was almost like it had appeared out of thin air.
Spells filled the air as the witches attacked the creature. Veronica couldn''t bear to watch¡ªshe had never used magic to hurt another living being before¡ªand stared resolutely at the ground. She could hear the wendigo scream in pain and outrage. Out of the corner of her eyes, she could see flashes of color from the spells as she waited for the other witches to finish dealing with the creature. When it finally quieted down, she dared to take a peek.
There was no sign of the wendigo.
She saw traces of the battle covering the floor, but the creature was nowhere in sight. Looking at the grim expressions on the other witches'' faces, she could guess what could have happened.
"We need to inform the others that there''s a wendigo on the loose," one of the witches said.
"Unbelievable. How did a wendigo get in here?"
"This has never happened before. This has to be a sign."
"A sign for what?"
Suddenly, everyone''s eyes were on Veronica, leaving her feeling sick to her stomach.
Veronica could instantly tell what everyone was thinking without any of them having to say a single word. They were all blaming her for the appearance of the wendigo.
Why else would they be looking at her with that kind of look in their eyes?
She wanted to say it wasn''t her fault, but the words were stuck in her throat. The weight of their stares made it impossible for her to talk, and she averted her gaze, hoping they would stop looking at her like that.
Suddenly, Maura cleared her throat. "We should find Deville and tell her what happened right away."
There was instantly a chorus of agreements from the other witches as well as praise for Maura''s quick thinking.
It took Veronica a couple of minutes to recall who Deville was. Of course, they should tell the host what was happening in her own home. It wasn''t rocket science, and Maura didn''t deserve to be praised for bringing it up. However, Veronica didn''t say anything so as not to draw any attention to her.
Instead, she quietly followed the group as they hurried to track down the host. For a moment, she swore that she saw Maura glance her way with a strange expression on her face, but in a blink of an eye, Maura was staring straight ahead. Veronica couldn''t be sure if she was just imagining things and kept her mouth shut as she continued to run.
It didn''t take long for them to find Deville.
As soon as Deville saw them, her expression hardened as she demanded, "What''s going on?"
"There''s been a situation," one of the adult witches said before going into detail about what happened.
Veronica took this moment to scan the crowd of witches behind Deville and spot Leta. Leta seemed to notice her stare and looked in Veronica''s direction. Their eyes met, and neither of them said a word. Then Leta abruptly broke away from her group to march towards Veronica. Caught like a deer in headlights, Veronica stared with wide eyes as Leta pushed her way into Veronica''s personal space.
"Veronica, what are you doing here? Where''s your baby sister?" Leta asked.
She backed away, but Leta simply followed after her, refusing to give Veronica any space.
Gnashing her teeth together, Veronica countered, "Why does it matter to you?"
Leta gave Veronica a bewildered look. "What does it matter? This is your baby sister we''re talking about. Shouldn''t you be more worried about her?"
"I have nothing to say to you."
"Seriously, Veronica. Where''s the baby?"
Their conversation was cut short when Deville suddenly announced, "Everyone, gather around."
None of the other witches hesitated to rush forward to get closer to Deville. Leta glanced at Veronica, who ignored the look Leta was giving her. Without saying another word, Leta left Veronica''s side to get closer to Deville. Veronica remained rooted in her spot, watching the other witches form an encirclement around Deville.
"We have an emergency on our hands. While I don''t know the cause of it, we must handle it now before it gets completely out of hand." Deville scanned the crowd, her eyes not stopping on a single person longer than a moment, including Veronica. "We will split up into several groups. There are two important tasks we need to carry out. One is to investigate the mansion for any intruders. The other is to round up the other witches spread out throughout the mansion. No one should travel alone."
At the end of her speech, the gathered witches rushed to form groups. Veronica continued to watch from the sidelines, wondering if she should join either of the two groups or stay out of it.
Deville said no one should travel alone, but would anyone let her come along?
Well, Veronica didn''t think so.
Witches were already leaving to carry out their tasks, thinning the group until almost everyone was gone. There were a few stragglers hanging around, but no one dared to get close to her.
They were treating her like she was the plague. Even though she expected this, it still hurt to be treated like that.
Suddenly, Deville strutted towards Veronica and towered over her with an expressionless face. Unsure what to do, Veronica stared right back at the woman clutching her broomstick close to her chest.
"Well? What are you waiting for?" When Veronica remained silent, Deville continued, "Come with me. You''ll be part of my group."
Huh? She wants me to be part of her group? Wasn''t she the one demanding I leave earlier?
"Don''t stand there in a daze," Deville barked. "Follow me unless you want to be left behind."
Veronica flinched. She stared at Deville''s retreating back before checking the other witches'' reactions. They were staring at her with various expressions, which pushed Veronica to quickly chase after Deville just so she could avoid the looks. Deville didn''t say a word as their small group¡ªit was just her, Deville, and Leta, who had attached herself to them¡ªwalked down the halls searching for intruders and other witches.
She didn''t know why Leta chose to come with them, but she wasn''t in the mood to talk with her.
Fortunately, Leta didn''t say a single word as the group traveled in silence. The only sound was their footsteps echoing in the long hall as they observed their surroundings.
There were no signs of anything out of the ordinary, nor did they spot any other witches.
Maybe that wendigo was a one-time thing. I really hope it is.
The thought of encountering another wendigo or facing some other kind of creature left her shaking in her boots. It was a good thing that she was Deville since she could be counted on to protect them if something dangerous showed up.
After traveling for some time, they finally encountered a trio of witches who looked around Leta and Veronica''s age. Deville hailed them, and the kids waved back. When she signaled for them to come over, the trio shared a glance before hurrying over to them with a puzzled expression on their faces. The trio was just a few feet away from them when the ground shook.
Witching Hour Party Chapter 6
Everyone except for Deville stumbled.
Leta asked what was on everyone''s mind. "What''s that?"
The three witches the group found regained their footing and hurried over to them just as one of the walls exploded. This time the trio was blown off their feet and thrown across the ground¡ªor at least they would have if a pink substance hadn''t formed beneath them to catch them. They bounced up and down as Deville rushed to stand in front of them. Veronica and Leta scrambled to their feet and watched anxiously as something appeared through the smoke.
"Stay behind me, kids," Deville said as she raised her wand.
A creature that looked like a mix of a bull and a man stepped forward, wielding a giant axe. All the girls quivered at the sight of the towering figure.
What was that thing?
As if hearing the unspoken question, Deville muttered, "A minotaur." Then, in a louder voice, she said, "I don''t know how you got here, but I''m not going to allow you to hurt these children."
The minotaur roared before charging at them. Deville summoned a shield to block its ax as a loud clang rang in the hallway. She quickly followed up by summoning golden chains to wrap around the minotaur''s body. It roared as it tugged at them, but the chains held fast, preventing the minotaur from moving. Seeing how quickly Deville handled the creature, everyone stared at her in awe.
Deville turned around and asked, "Is everyone alright?" They nodded. "Good."
Before she could say another word, the minotaur roared again. Deville silenced it by wrapping chains around its snout, effectively silencing it. The minotaur continued to struggle against the chains as Deville returned her attention back to the kids.
"I want everyone who doesn''t have their wands out to have them ready," she ordered.
Everyone, except Veronica, obeyed her orders. All eyes turned to her as she refused to face anyone.
"Veronica, where''s your wand?" Veronica mumbled something unintelligibly, and Deville narrowed her eyes. "Where. Is. Your. Wand?"
"I...I don''t have it," Veronica finally admitted as she fiddled with her broomstick.
"Why don''t you have your wand?" one of the new girls demanded. "No witch would ever leave it behind."
"How about you mind your own business?" Veronica snapped, glaring at the girl who returned her look.
"Enough." Deville''s no-nonsense voice silenced them. She studied the group before her eyes settled on Veronica. "I can see you have your broomstick. You''ll have to make do with it."
Everyone grimaced at the declaration.
While it was true that a broomstick was an alternative to a wand¡ªthere was a reason why every witch had one besides using it to travel¡ªit was mostly used as a last resort. Unfortunately, Veronica didn''t really have a choice since she didn''t have a wand with her.
The trio of witches threw her a dirty look before looking to Deville for guidance. Leta, on the other hand, was giving Veronica a worried look, which she ignored.
There was no way Veronica was going to admit why she didn''t have her wand with her. It was completely embarrassing. Only two people knew the reason, including herself, and she refused to let anyone else find out.
How could she possibly tell anyone she never got a wand?
Having a wand is one of the five basic things a witch has to have. If anyone were to find out I didn''t have it, they would wonder if I''m really a witch.
Her mind instantly jumped to Echo and her baby sister.
Were they okay?
If she had known this would have happened, she wouldn''t have brought her baby sister along. In fact, Veronica would have never come and stayed at home, where it was safe.
Why was it, out of all witch parties, that this one turned into a giant mess?
It was almost like it was Veronica''s presence that caused this, like that one witch said.
Was...was she the problem?
"Stay close to me," Deville said, snapping Veronica out of her thoughts. "I''ll do my best to protect you, but I expect all of you to be able to at least put up a fight against anything we might face."
A tense silence settled on the group.
Then the same girl who had snapped at Veronica earlier asked, "But what could possibly get past you?"
Deville stared coolly at the girl as she said, "Nissa, how many years have you been a witch? You should know that nothing is certain except death."
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Seriously cowed, the girl curled in on herself and refused to raise her head.
Veronica was pleased to see her get put in her place. Served her right. She was clearly one of those arrogant and snobbish girls, just like Maura. Well, Maura wasn''t too bad.
Without saying a word, Deville marched past the minotaur, clearly expecting all of them to follow. None of them hesitated to run after her, afraid to be left behind. As they walked past the minotaur, they glanced at the tied-up creature that was glaring at them. It suddenly flexed its large muscles, rattling the chains. One of the girls squeaked and tripped over her feet. She swiftly got back on her feet and scurried away.
Is it really okay to leave it alone? What if it gets out and comes after us?
Of course, she wasn''t doubting Deville. She was a powerful witch, but leaving the minotaur there left a bad taste in Veronica''s mouth. It was just as Deville said. Nothing was certain except death, which meant anything could happen.
She clutched her broomstick close to her chest.
Her action didn''t go unnoticed as Leta asked, "Veronica, are you okay?"
Looking away from the minotaur, Veronica said, "I''m fine."
Then she remembered she was supposed to be angry at Leta and turned her head away.
It seemed that she wasn''t the only one worried about the minotaur, as another girl asked, "Ms. Deville, why didn''t you get rid of the minotaur?"
Deville paused for a moment to look over her shoulder. "What makes you think I haven''t?" Everyone blinked before glancing back at where they left the minotaur, but they were stopped by the sound of a clap. "I suggest you don''t look. It''s not something for children to see. I don''t want to sully your eyes with a gruesome sight."
After hearing those grim words, no one dared to look.
"If that''s all, we need to move," Deville said.
Since no one protested, the group continued to move forward. All of them kept an eye on their surroundings with their wands¡ªand broomstick¡ªat the ready. At the slightest sound, the girls instantly snapped their heads at the noise. Only Deville remained unmoved, moving at the same pace she had set.
Veronica wished she could be just as fearless.
Would she be like Deville when she got old?
Suddenly, Deville raised a hand to signal everyone to stop. They immediately froze in their tracks and stared in the direction Deville was looking at. None of them could see anything out of the ordinary, but none of them believed for a second that it was safe. After a couple moments, something dropped down from the ceiling. One of the girls whimpered as more continued to fall.
"Is that a slime?" Nissa muttered.
A slime?
Turning her head to one side and squinting at it, Veronica guessed it was.
She couldn''t say for sure, but she couldn''t think of many creatures that could fall from the ceiling in clumps and form together again. Then again, she didn''t know many to begin with. Veronica hadn''t spent a lot of time studying them.
"Here it comes. Prepare yourselves. I will observe from the sidelines," Deville said as she stepped aside.
Everyone''s heads snapped in her direction. Before any of them could say a word to her, the slime rapidly approached them. Turning their attention back to the slime, they prepared themselves for a fight. Nissa fired a spell, freezing the slime. Her smug smile dropped when the slime broke free of the ice and continued heading for them. Another girl grimaced as she hit it with a ball of flames. This time it got a reaction as the slime screamed.
Why does everything we meet scream?
Veronica hadn''t even known that slimes could make a sound. It was, well, slime.
"Take this," a different girl said as she struck it with lightning.
The slime stopped moving. Leta followed up with a gust of wind to gather up the slime in one spot. Then everyone turned their gaze to Deville, who calmly watched the scene without batting an eye.
"Not bad. You all did well when suddenly thrown into a fight," Deville said.
Her words cheered the witches up, except for Veronica, who tightened her grip on her broomstick.
She had been the only one not to do anything. Veronica wanted to blame it on them being too fast for her to make a move¡ªcasting magic with a broomstick couldn''t compare to casting with a wand¡ªbut it was honestly because she froze up again. Even with all the other witches with her, she couldn''t act. No, that wasn''t it. It was because there were so many witches around that she left it to them to handle the slime.
That''s when she noticed Deville staring straight at her. The others followed her gaze and looked at Veronica. For a moment, no one said anything.
Nissa huffed, crossing her arms as she snidely said, "Of course not everyone contributed."
"Nissa." Deville''s warning tone made Nissa lower her arms and stare resolutely at the ground. "You are four years her senior, and that is if we go by your age."
Four years? Wouldn''t that make her sixteen? I didn''t realize she was that old.
Veronica had noticed the trio were bigger than her, but she just thought they were bigger than average.
"Veronica." Veronica flinched as Deville stared right into her soul. "You need to be quicker on the draw. Since you''re at a disadvantage, you need to be faster. If you were alone, you wouldn''t be able to properly react in time."
"I understand," Veronica said in a small voice.
"There is also something I want to address that I haven''t before."
When Deville didn''t say anything else right away, Veronica stared at her curiously. The other girls did the same and waited for Deville to speak. Deville sighed.
"We can discuss this later," she said as she spun on her heel and marched towards the defeated slime.
Everyone else shared a confused look¡ªalong with suspicion from the other girls except Leta¡ªbefore following after Deville. Deville summoned a small glass bottle. Then she pointed at the slime, which suddenly flew through the air into the bottle. Despite the slime''s large size, it somehow managed to fit inside. She placed the stopper and slipped it into her pocket.
"Are you going to use it for some experiments?" one of the other girls asked.
"You''re somewhat right, Aspen. It would be a waste to throw it away such a valuable specimen. This is actually for you four for defeating the slime," Deville said.
Those who contributed to defeating the slime shared gleeful smiles as Veronica watched on with a blank expression.
Well, Veronica couldn''t say she was jealous. She wouldn''t want to touch the slime with a 10-foot pole, much less touch it with her hands, even if she wore gloves. It was gross. Okay, maybe she was a bit jealous.
She wasn''t the slightest bit interested in the slime, but seeing how they were praised and rewarded made her bite down on her lips, drawing blood.
If she had tried to help, would she also be praised and rewarded?
Even though Nissa had messed up, she still got praised and rewarded.
Leta glanced back at Veronica. Her bright expression faltered. Just as Leta opened her mouth, Deville clapped her hands to draw everyone''s attention. Leta shot Veronica one more worried glance before facing Deville.
"We will be changing things from now on." Everyone shared a nervous glance as Deville continued, "Every time we encounter a threat, I will determine whether or not you will be able to handle it. If I determine it''s within your capabilities, I will step aside and monitor you. I will only step in if I think your lives are in danger. I do hope you will all impress me."
Witching Hour Party Chapter 7
That''s easier said than done!
Veronica swallowed a scream as she avoided the giant tree monster''s swinging arm. Its arm crashed into the wall, sending pieces of rubble everywhere. She flinched as some of them bounced off of her too small to actually do her any harm. At that moment, Leta appeared between her and the monster and threw small balls of flames at it. It roared in pain as the flames found their target and it stumbled back while waving its arms around to extinguish the flames.
"Not so fast," Nissa declared as she stepped forward and launched a torrent of flames.
The other witches were quick to join in, and the giant tree was reduced to cinders under the unrelenting flames. Veronica stared at the ashes while the others were complimented by Deville.
I messed up again.
Even though the giant tree monster had crossed paths with them by chance, no one else had panicked like she did. She had tried to take the lead to prove herself, but when the time came to show what she was capable of, she turned tail and ran. It was humiliating. Veronica was sure that they were laughing behind her back, mocking her inability to do anything.
She could feel tears of frustration welling up in the corners of her eyes and tightened her grip on her broomstick.
"Hey," Nissa called out to her.
Veronica warily said, "Yes?"
"Why don''t you sweep up the ashes with your broomstick? It''s the least you can do to help out."
"Nissa," Deville snapped.
Nissa immediately lost her smug expression and glanced away with a scowl on her face. Veronica couldn''t bring herself to be happy about it as Deville turned her attention to Veronica.
"Veronica, I want you to cast a spell. I want to see how proficient you are using your broomstick," Deville said as she signaled with her head towards the large pile of ashes.
Seeing this as her chance to redeem herself, Veronica pointed the end of her broomstick at the pile of ashes. After a few minutes, she was able to lift the pile of ashes into the air with a gust of wind. Before she could feel smug about performing the spell, she realized she hadn''t thought about what to do with the ashes afterwards and frantically thought of another spell to use. However, Leta acted first and summoned one of the tapestries to be used to wrap up the ashes.
Deville nodded. "Very good." Looking at Veronica, she said, "Even though your spellcasting is slow, it''s expected since you''re using a broomstick. Unfortunately, you don''t seem to know a lot of spells, which is also expected given your experience. It appears that your mentor only taught you the very basics, and you haven''t fully mastered them yet."
She can tell just by watching me cast one spell?
It seemed impossible, but the older witch somehow managed to figure out everything. She was right that Veronica hadn''t learned many spells other than the basics because she struggled to use them properly. Veronica blamed it on the fact that she didn''t have a wand and had to rely on her broomstick to cast. Once she got her hands on a wand, she was sure that would change. Until then, she was stuck with the basics.
"Unfortunately, I can only say you need to practice more to get a better feel for the spells." As Veronica nodded, Deville turned her attention to Leta. "As for you, Leta, you did well to support her when you noticed she was in trouble. Being mindful of your surroundings and helping out your allies is important."
As Leta beamed at the praise and handed over the wrapped ashes to Deville, Veronica wilted.
While Deville hadn''t outright said it, Veronica knew that she was basically saying that Veronica screwed up and needed Leta to fix her mistakes. If Leta hadn''t intervened, the ashes would have scattered, wasting everyone''s efforts. Even though she had no clue what the monster was and what the ashes could be used for, she was certain that it was also another valuable ingredient that witches can use.
"This shall be split between the five of you once everything is over," Deville said, causing everyone to look at her with wide eyes.
"Ms. Deville, d-did you say five?" one of the other girls sputtered.
"That''s correct. All five of you contributed."
Nissa''s hand shot up. "Excuse me, but how did she contribute?" she asked, pointing a finger in Veronica''s direction. "She didn''t do anything to defeat the treant."
Treant? Is that what the thing is called?
Deville raised an eyebrow as she asked, "What exactly are you saying? Of course she contributed."
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Veronica was sure that everyone was thinking the same thing.
What had Veronica done other than run away from the treant and nearly blow away its ashes?
Before anyone could voice this question, Deville continued, "Not only did she act as a distraction, keeping the treant''s attention on her so the rest of you can make a move, she did help gather the ashes like you suggested, Nissa."
Nissa sputtered, unable to form words, while Veronica''s jaw dropped slightly.
Was that how Deville saw it?
She hadn''t tried to act as a distraction. Veronica had only been trying to save herself from the treant, and they all saw how she nearly messed up collecting the ashes. Besides, she wouldn''t have done anything if it weren''t for Deville asking her to do something.
"Now, if you''re done complaining, I suggest we keep moving," Deville said, her tone hinting that this wasn''t up for discussion.
Nissa and her group threw dirty looks in Veronica''s direction before taking the lead this time. Veronica stared as they walked away before she noticed Leta staring at her.
What does she want? Does she want me to thank her for helping me out?
After glancing between Leta and Deville, Veronica looked away and forced out, "Thanks."
Leta smiled. "It''s what friends are for."
Veronica felt an unpleasant twinge in her chest. Instead of replying, she hurried after the trio, leaving Leta and Deville to take up the back.
The group encountered several more creatures and handled them without needing Deville to step in. Even though Veronica barely got involved in these encounters, she did manage to get a hit or two, so she wasn''t completely useless. Of course Nissa didn''t fail to point out that Veronica barely did anything, but Deville was quick to shut her down so the other girl could only mock her when she was sure that Deville wasn''t listening, which was easier said than done.
"We''ll take a break here," Deville declared, causing the group to stop.
After studying their surroundings, one of the girls timidly asked, "Here?"
"You have done well, but you need rest so you can recover your energy. You''ve already fought several creatures on your own without my help, which is something praiseworthy."
Everyone perked up. Well, everyone except Veronica who fidgeted.
She couldn''t feel happy when she was too worried about her baby sister and familiar. They had been traveling for a while now and hadn''t found them. Veronica couldn''t remember where they were supposed to be, and she hadn''t been able to bring the topic up to everyone there. She was sure that the trio wouldn''t care about what happened to her baby sister. As for Deville and Leta, the words died in her throat every time she worked up the courage to say anything.
Unfortunately, Leta noticed something was wrong and asked, "Veronica, is something the matter?"
"It''s nothing," Veronica quickly said without meeting Leta''s gaze.
"Hey." Veronica almost groaned at the sound of Nissa''s voice. "There''s something I''ve been wondering about. Where''s the human you were carrying around?"
Veronica''s blood turned cold.
One of the other girls nodded and added, "That''s right. She was carrying that human around earlier, but she isn''t now."
The third member of the trio asked, "Do you think she threw it away?"
In an instant, Veronica''s previously cold veins burned with hot fury and hate.
How dare she.
"Enough." Deville''s voice cut through the unseen tension. "I don''t want to hear another word from any of you three." After ensuring the three girls have been fully cowed, she turned her attention to Veronica and said, "However, they are correct. Didn''t you promise to keep an eye on the human so they wouldn''t cause any trouble? I know you couldn''t have left the premises and come back after dropping the human off somewhere."
Instead of giving an answer, Veronica chose to stare at her feet, hoping they would just drop it.
Obviously, it didn''t work as Leta said, "Veronica, you never answered my question before. What happened to your baby sister?"
Completely surrounded on all sides, Veronica knew she couldn''t get away, but it was hard to speak.
Fiddling with her broomstick, she struggled to get the words out. Nissa and her group clearly wanted to say something given the expression on their faces, but Deville''s previous warning kept them in check, so they stuck with glaring at her. Leta, on the other hand, tentatively reached out before pulling her hand back with an uncertain look on her face.
"Veronica," Deville prodded.
"I-I don''t know," Veronica finally admitted.
"What do you mean you don''t know?"
"I left her in one of the rooms with my familiar. I thought it would be fine, and I could come back to her later. She''s just a baby, so I didn''t think she would cause any problems or walk away."
The words just poured right away after being suppressed for so long.
She thought she would feel better after explaining everything, but she only felt worse. It was like the invisible weight on her shoulders got heavier, and she thought she was going to be sick. The look on Deville and Leta''s faces didn''t make it any better.
After several long moments, Deville coolly said, "So you''re saying you left a human baby alone despite promising to keep an eye on them." Veronica timidly nodded. "Despicable. Outrageous. How could you be so irresponsible? Did you really think it would be okay to just leave them anywhere and do as you pleased? I''ve never heard of such a selfish and disgusting act coming from a fellow witch. You should be ashamed of yourself."
With each word she spoke, it felt like a knife in the back. Tears fell down Veronica''s cheeks as she bit the inside of her cheeks. The trio of girls she had thought would take the opportunity to insult her were strangely quiet and couldn''t even look in her direction.
What was worse was the horrified look on Leta''s face.
The girl was staring at Veronica like she was some kind of monster. She even took a step back, like she couldn''t stand to be near Veronica and wished to be anywhere else but there.
No, the worst part was that Deville wasn''t wrong. Even though Veronica had convinced herself earlier that it would be okay, the truth was that she was the worst sister ever. Her mom had asked her to watch her baby sister until she came home. Now her baby sister could be dead for all she knew, and it would be all her fault.
That broke the dam, and Veronica burst out sobbing.
"I''m sorry. I''m really sorry," Veronica bawled.
The rest of her words were incoherent as she babbled incessantly with tears and snot falling down her face. She couldn''t hear anyone over her wails if they were talking.
Even if she could hear them, she was sure they would be berating her for crying and tell her how much they hated her.
Suddenly, she felt something wrap around her. Through her blurry vision, she could make out Leta hugging her. For a moment, she was stunned that Leta would want to be near her after she backed away earlier, much less hug her. It only made her tear up more as she clung to her friend as she continued to blurt out apologies.
Witching Hour Party Chapter 8
After what felt like an eternity, Veronica finally calmed down. Well, she stopped sobbing like a big baby, at least. She sniffled, feeling snot oozing out of her nose. As she was about to use her sleeve to wipe it away, Leta handed her a handkerchief that seemingly appeared out of nowhere. Accepting the handkerchief, she used it to blow her nose.
Once she finished blowing her nose, she muttered, "Thank you."
"Now that you''re finally calmed down, we need to have a talk," Deville said, breaking the moment.
Veronica cowered, expecting Deville to tear her apart even further. Leta, on the other hand, narrowed her eyes at the older witch standing between her and Veronica. The others watched from the sidelines.
However, nothing could have prepared them for the words that came out of Deville''s mouth.
"I''m sorry," she said with a regretful expression.
Everyone''s jaw dropped.
Did she just apologize?
I''m not hallucinating, am I? This isn''t some kind of illusion cooked up by some random monster, right?
"While I still do believe your actions are unbelievably wrong and selfish, I still shouldn''t have used such harsh words towards a child." Veronica flinched at the former part and eased up at the latter, though a small part of her felt insulted to be considered a child. "You''re our youngest witch in both age and experience here. You also have no prior connection to magic until recently, with no one to help guide you beforehand. Putting you to the same standard as everyone else was wrong of me, and for that I apologize."
Hearing a second apology coming from Deville was surreal.
Honestly, Veronica wasn''t sure how she should respond. Yes, it hurt hearing all those things, but she fully realized and accepted she deserved it. She had been a bad girl.
Her expression must have shown how lost she felt as Deville sighed. "We will discuss this further at a later time. For now, we should locate the human baby before it''s too late."
At the mention of her baby sister, Veronica immediately asked, "How are we going to find her?"
"It seems that you haven''t learned how to cast tracking magic, which is understandable. It is a bit advanced for your age and experience. Watch me closely."
Everyone scooted closer and watched Deville perform the spell. She made several motions with her wand until a glowing white arrow appeared in front of her. The girls stared in awe, their eyes following the direction it was pointing in.
"That should be the way," Deville said. "I shall take the lead this time. We don''t have a moment to waste."
The words barely left her mouth as she marched down the hallway at incredible speed. The girls were momentarily stunned before they quickly ran after her. The group hurried down the hall as Deville made quick work of any monster that happened to cross their way. With just one flick of her wand, the monster was defeated.
However, the amazing displays of magic couldn''t keep Veronica''s attention.
She could feel Leta''s gaze on her, but she couldn''t bring herself to face her and talk, not after what happened earlier. Her mouth tasted like sandpaper, and the lump in her throat made the thought of talking difficult. At the same time, her stomach churned uncomfortably at the thought of leaving things as is. Forcing herself to glance at Leta, she immediately looked away, unable to meet Leta''s gaze.
"Veronica." Veronica flinched at the sound of her name. "Are you upset with me?" Veronica''s head whipped around so fast that she was sure she heard something crack as Leta continued, "I noticed early on that you didn''t want to talk to me after we came here. I wasn''t sure if I did something wrong to make you upset."
Whatever Leta intended to say next was cut off by Veronica blurting out, "Of course not."
Her loud words drew the attention of the other girls, while Deville continued onward without bothering to give them a glance. Veronica cringed.
"Do you really mean that?" Leta asked with wide eyes.
"Yeah." Leta perked up, and Veronica felt guilty for her next words. "I mean, I was kind of mad, but that''s because I was an idiot." Leta''s sad expression shifted to a surprised one. "You were being a good friend, and I was being a jerk."
"That''s not true. Well, you kind of were, but I ditched you earlier when you needed a friend. You don''t know anyone else here, and I left you alone."
Veronica shook her head. "No. It wasn''t your fault that I showed up with my baby sister even though I knew humans wouldn''t be welcomed. I really thought I was special and could get special treatment."
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"You are the first witch to join the witching hour party at twelve. That has to mean something."
"Well, I screwed that up big time. I doubt they would do anything for me ever again."
"Deville seemed understanding. If she speaks up for you to the other witches, I''m sure it''ll be fine."
Would Deville really do that though?
She wasn''t so sure about that.
Suddenly, Deville came to a stop as a horrible stench reached their noses. All the girls covered their faces with their hands and stared wide-eyed at the giant monster blocking their path. It was so large that it couldn''t even stand properly in the mansion and had to hunch over to fit.
What is that? How did it even get inside the mansion?
Deville raised a hand as she said, "Stay back, girls."
Then she proceeded to cast a spell at the monster. Much to everyone''s shock, the spell bounced off the monster''s hide like it was nothing.
"Wh-what? How?" Nissa sputtered.
While the girls were freaking out over what they just saw, Deville calmly cast another spell. A pillar of flames swallowed up the monster. The girls raised their arms to shield their faces from the intense light and heat.
There''s no way the monster would be able to withstand that. It''s toast.
Veronica quickly found out just how wrong she was when the monster''s large hand reached out to crush Deville. The older witch was quick to dodge the monster''s attack, and her heels clicked against the hard floor as she took several steps back. When the flames vanished, they saw it was completely unharmed.
"Th-that''s impossible. There''s no way it could get away unscathed from Ms. Deville''s attack," one of the girls from the trio said.
"It appears to have some magic resistance," Deville said, completely undeterred by what they were seeing.
Magic resistance?
"But Ms. Deville, I''ve never heard of such a thing," Nissa spoke up.
Deville spared her a glance and said, "That''s because it''s normally a subject reserved for when you''re older."
"What does that mean for us?" Nissa''s other friend asked.
"It just means that it''s a bit tougher than usual. You have nothing to fear while I''m here."
She launched herself at the monster, casting several different spells at the monster. Chains appeared from all over to wrap around the giant monster''s body as multiple fireballs struck it in the face. The monster howled as its vision was completely obstructed by smoke. Once Deville got in close, she pressed her wand against the monster''s belly. Its belly rippled before the monster was blown off its feet. Everyone''s jaw dropped.
"Wow," one of the girls from the trio said.
"That''s so cool," the other said.
"Of course that''s to be expected from Ms. Deville," Nissa said as she puffed her chest out and held her head up high.
Even though Veronica didn''t want to agree with her, she was right. The monster had made a show of not being affected by Deville''s magic, but she quickly dealt with it despite the disadvantage.
Would she be able to do something like that someday?
Deville turned to face the girls with a calm expression on her, only for it to transform into shock and horror. "Move!"
They didn''t stand a chance.
The girls were suddenly thrown in all directions. Veronica managed to catch a brief glimpse of what attacked them¡ªshe could only make out that it looked human and the crazy large hat on its head¡ªbut she had no clue what had just happened.
One moment they were watching Deville, and the next they had been hit by something.
Veronica braced for herself for the painful impact with the wall. However, she found herself crashing into the ground instead and rolling across the floor. When she finally stopped rolling, it took her a couple minutes to recover and look up. Her eyes widened at the sight of an entirely different place. Instead of a long hallway, it looked like she was trapped in one of those colorful playpens they used for babies.
Her baby sister had one back at home, but it was white, not rainbow¡ªrainbow was a horrible color choice¡ªand there definitely wasn''t supposed to be a ceiling.
She pushed herself to her feet as she scanned her surroundings and saw she was completely alone. The thought terrified her, and she scrambled to find a way out of the predicament she found herself in. Veronica searched the walls for a door or way out, but just like the playpen at home, the walls were completely solid with no hint of an exit. She backed away from the wall she had been inspecting before falling onto her butt.
This couldn''t be happening. Veronica wasn''t even sure what was happening.
Did she get hit by a spell that sent her to a playpen? If it was a spell, who could have cast it?
IT''s definitely not Deville. There''s no way she would do something like this, and she looked pretty scared. What did she see?
Veronica tried to recall more about what happened, but everything had happened too fast for her to properly remember what happened. If she wanted answers, she would have to ask one of the others, which she couldn''t do since they were currently separated. She wondered if everyone else had ended up in the same situation as her; however, she quickly shoved the thought of her head as she needed to focus on escaping this place.
"Okay, if there isn''t a door, I''ll have to make one," she declared, getting back on her feet.
Unfortunately, that was easier said than done. Creating a door wasn''t something she had learned just yet.
Was there even a spell for it?
Well, she was about to find out if there was one.
Her narrowed eyes burned holes into the walls as she attempted to use her broomstick to draw a door. After making four lines on the wall using the end of the broomstick, she added a doorknob and attempted to open her newly drawn door.
Nothing happened.
Her hand only touched the wall instead of grasping a doorknob. She mimed, grabbing the doorknob a couple of times before giving up on the idea and moving on to her next idea.
This time she attempted to blow a hole in the wall with fire since she didn''t know how to create explosions. All it did was leave burn marks.
Staring at the burn marks, she muttered, "Is it because my fire isn''t strong enough? Do I need to make them hotter?"
She didn''t have a way to test that idea since she couldn''t make the fire any stronger than what she just used and was forced to move on to her next idea. Using earth magic had no effect on the wall either. Veronica wasn''t sure if it was because she wasn''t good at it or the walls weren''t made with earth. She made several more attempts, with each one as ineffective as the last.
Throwing her arms into the air, she said, "There has to be some way to get out of here. I''m not going to give up."
That''s when she heard a knock on the wall.
Witching Hour Party Chapter 9
Veronica thought she was imagining things when she heard it again. She practically jumped several feet into the air as she stared wide-eyed at the wall closest to her.
Who was knocking? Which wall was it coming from? Most importantly, did she really want to find out?
When several minutes passed without another knock, she tentatively approached the wall. She placed her palm against the flat surface. Then she dared to lean forward and pressed her ear against the wall. The only sound she could hear was her rapidly beating heart, no matter how long she waited. Veronica pulled her head away from the wall and studied the black surface. After taking a deep breath, she hesitantly knocked back.
"Oh good, I thought that I might have messed up."
She jumped at the sound of a voice coming up from behind her and whirled around to see a man in a top hat. A very long top hat. In fact, the top hat was so long that it was literally taller than the man and brushed against the ceiling. The peculiar sight completely stunned her as she was left speechless.
"What a fascinating specimen I caught. I''m so glad that I listened to their information," the man said as he rubbed his hands together gleefully.
Veronica shifted uncomfortably as she asked, "What are you talking about?"
"Oh, I haven''t introduced myself. The name''s Gerard Highmore. It''s a pleasure to meet you. May I know your name?" Veronica remained silent, gripping her broomstick close to her chest, and he sighed. "You know it would be nice if you witches introduced yourselves. Having a name to put to your face would be helpful."
She sucked in a breath.
How did she know she was a witch?
Even if her outfit looked like the stereotypical clothes of a witch, she could have been cosplaying as one. He had no reason to think she was a witch just by looking at her.
"You know it''s quite rude to ignore someone when they''re talking to you," Gerard said with a frown.
Veronica kept her mouth shut as she prepared to defend herself with her broomstick.
There could only be one reason why he seemed certain she was a witch. He was another of those monsters that had broken into the mansion and was pretending to look human. She didn''t know what monsters were capable of looking like humans, but they had to be strong and scary.
In a blink of an eye, he stood in front of her like he hadn''t been several feet away. It took her a couple moments to process what she was seeing before she scrambled back to get away from him. Unfortunately, she had already been close to the wall, and her back collided with the hard surface, leaving her nowhere to run. Before she could even attempt to throw herself to the side, he got into her space and towered over her.
She hadn''t realized how tall he was until he was right in front of her.
"I suggest you don''t run, though it''s not like you can get away even if you do. You''re trapped in this place unless I say you can leave, so you''ll only waste your energy." His expression suddenly turned thoughtful as he added, "Actually, go ahead and try. There are some things I want to try on a witch. You can be my test subject."
Everything about the man made her skin crawl.
It reminded her of one of her parents'' lectures about encountering strange people and getting into disturbing situations. However, she didn''t think that any of the advice they gave her on how to avoid them or how to get out of them would help her now. She had no clue what the man was capable of. If only Deville or the other girls were with her, then she wouldn''t have to worry about facing him alone.
"Well, aren''t you going to do anything, or are you just going to stand there looking stupid?" he snapped.
Veronica recoiled at the hostility and closed her eyes.
She fully expected him to hurt her¡ªif she was lucky, it wouldn''t hurt too much¡ªor drag her away to do whatever he wanted to do¡ªshe would prefer if he just hit her as she didn''t like the sound of what he seemed to have in mind¡ªbut it never came.
Instead, she felt the whole room shake before some kind of explosion rocked the place, or at least what she thought was an explosion. She couldn''t be sure with her eyes screwed shut and had to rely on her ears to figure out what was going on. The man was cursing up a storm. Despite wanting to know what was going on, she didn''t dare to open her eyes even when she lost her balance and fell to the floor. Veronica laid on the floor as she waited for the earthquake to pass.
"Ugh. I have to give up on this one and leave," the man said. "If I ever found out who''s responsible for this mess, they''ll pay."
As soon as she heard that he was abandoning her, she wanted to shout at him to not leave her behind.
Didn''t he say that I couldn''t leave unless he allowed it? What''s going to happen to me if he leaves without me?
Even if she found him disturbing, she found the idea of being left behind in this place while an earthquake was happening scarier. She didn''t want to stay trapped in that place forever.
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The whole place shook violently again. A sudden shout caused her to flinch.
What was that? It sounded like that man. Did something happen to him? I really don''t know what''s going on.
After some time passed, she realized that the shaking had stopped and that she couldn''t hear the man talking. Hesitantly opening her eyes, she was shocked to see a black cat standing over the man''s prone form. Unable to believe her eyes, she blinked several times and even rubbed them to get rid of the hallucinations, but none of it worked.
As she pushed herself into a sitting position, she muttered to herself, "Did a cat really just beat that man?"
One of the cat''s ears twitched before it turned around and stared at her with bright red eyes.
I''ve never seen a black cat with red eyes before. Is it really a cat?
When the cat started strolling towards Veronica, she frantically shot secretive glances at her surroundings.
There was no way she was willing to let the cat get close to her. If she really wasn''t mistaken and that the cat really did take out the creepy man by itself, she didn''t want to see what it could do to her. The moment the cat was within a few feet of her, Veronica stiffened, afraid of making a single move and provoking the cat. She clutched her broomstick so hard that her knuckles turned white.
"Hey," the cat suddenly said.
A shrill scream escaped Veronica as she jumped back, her head slamming into the wall. The sudden impact stunned her, sending her sprawling to the ground. She groaned into the floor. The throbbing pain on the back of her head was enough to make her mind blank out.
"That hurt," she said, her voice muffled by the ground.
"That happens when you hit your head," a voice dryly said.
As she pushed herself up, Veronica said, "I didn''t do it on purpose."
Veronica unexpectedly came face to face with the cat. For a moment, the two stared unblinkingly into each other''s eyes. Then she jerked back, almost hitting her head again, and instantly forgot about the pain.
"Careful. You don''t want to give yourself a concussion," the cat said as it sat down and licked its paw with its tail slowly wagging.
She was utterly speechless.
Was the cat...was the cat grooming itself?
Well, a cat grooming itself wasn''t exactly weird. Veronica had seen plenty of cats do it all the time, but it seemed out of place given what she had just seen and heard.
It rubbed its head with one paw as it asked, "Cat got your tongue?" When Veronica continued to stare like a goldfish, the cat deadpanned, its tail freezing. "Why are you acting like that? Aren''t you supposed to be a witch? Have you never seen a talking cat before?"
That snapped Veronica out of her daze. "Wh-You''re a familiar?"
"No, but you can think of me as one if that makes you feel better."
What is that supposed to mean?
"Anyway," the cat said as it placed its paw back onto the ground. "Sorry to trouble you, but I''m looking for someone."
Still befuddled by the whole situation, Veronica asked, "Uh, who?"
"I''m looking for my sibling. Have you perhaps seen them or bumped into them?"
"I haven''t seen any cats that weren''t familiars. Is your sibling a familiar?"
"No, and they''re not a cat."
That just left Veronica even more perplexed. "Oh, uh, then what are they?"
The cat shrugged its shoulders as it said, "Don''t know."
What do you mean you don''t know? Aren''t you siblings?
Her bewilderment must have shown on her face as the cat said, "It''s a bit complicated." Veronica could only give a slow nod. "Well, have you seen anyone you don''t recognize?" Her response was to look behind the cat at the creepy man who was still unconscious on the floor, and the cat followed her gaze. "Ah. No, that''s not my sibling."
Veronica thought it was pretty obvious since the cat had attacked the man.
"In that case, I will leave you be. Thank you for your time," the cat said as it stood up and turned its back on her.
"W-wait. Take me with you," she said as she scrambled to your feet.
"Huh? Why do you want to come with me? Shouldn''t you go back to your friends or family?"
"I got separated from them and don''t know where they are." Veronica pointed at the creepy man as she said, "He trapped me here."
The cat grimaced. Then it prowled over to the creepy man until it was standing in front of his head. Veronica watched as it raised a claw and abruptly scratched at the creepy man''s face. She flinched. The creepy man didn''t even flinch as the cat continued to claw at his face at a frantic pace that almost seemed like an uncontrollable frenzy.
Since the cat was big enough to cover the man''s face, Veronica couldn''t see how badly it was scratching the man''s face, but she was sure he would be horrifically scarred.
When the cat finally stopped, it turned around with a satisfied look on its face. "Okay, come with me. I''ll take you out of this place."
She didn''t dare to argue and hurried after the cat. As she passed the creepy man''s body, she hesitated, unsure if she wanted to take a look at what the cat did. After a few moments of hesitation, she moved on without giving the creepy man a glance. The duo approached the rubble that Veronica finally noticed was there. The sudden appearance of the cat had completely caught her off guard, making the rubble disappear into the background.
Well, a cat capable of taking out a man is more eye-catching than a pile of rocks.
They climbed up the rubble out of that place into a hallway. Veronica glanced around, recognizing the surroundings as part of the mansion, but she didn''t know where exactly in the mansion they were.
Considering that they had climbed up to get out, she assumed they had gone up a floor.
"By the way, what happened to your wand?" the cat asked. "I can''t promise to protect you from everything that might cross our paths."
Oh, it must think I can''t protect myself since I haven''t cast any magic in front of it.
Veronica hadn''t even tried to ride her broomstick out of the place, even though she had it right in her hands, so it probably had a poor opinion of her.
She tightened her grip on her broomstick and said, "I-I''ll be fine. You don''t have to worry about me."
The cat didn''t look convinced, but instead of arguing with her, it simply said, "Then let''s go. When we find one of your friends or family members, we''ll part ways."
Witching Hour Party Chapter 10
As the two unlikely companions traversed the mansion, Veronica wondered what happened to the others.
Had they also encountered a creepy man like she had?
Well, she didn''t really care too much about what happened to Nissa or her friends. That didn''t mean she wanted anything bad to happen to them¡ªokay, maybe she did a little¡ªbut she was more worried about Leta. They had just made up, and then this happened.
"You''re pretty quiet," the cat commented as they passed by several paintings.
"Did you want me to talk?" Veronica asked tentatively.
Even though they were working together and the cat didn''t seem to want to hurt her, she didn''t want to get on the cat''s bad side.
"No, I''m just used to the people I bump into asking me questions. I was a bit surprised, that''s all," the cat said.
Veronica could imagine. "Then is it okay if I ask questions?"
"Go right ahead."
"If you''re not anyone''s familiar, how did you get in here?"
The whole place was supposed to be closed off during the witching hour party, which lasted from midnight to three o''clock. That meant that the cat had to have entered before midnight, but no one had seemed to know about it, like they hadn''t known about the monsters that had shown up out of nowhere.
"I have my ways." That didn''t answer her question. "I assure you that I hold no ill intent toward you or your fellow witches. I really only want to track down my sibling."
She immediately latched onto that sentence. "What makes you so sure they''re here? I mean, they could be anywhere else."
"I was able to track them here. I...I will have to apologize on their behalf."
"Apologize for what?"
"I have reason to believe they are the cause for all the monsters running amok as well as that man you encountered."
Veronica stopped in her tracks. The cat quickly caught on that she wasn''t following and stopped to look back at her. She didn''t pay the cat any mind as its words echoed in her head.
There were so many questions that she didn''t even know where to begin. The biggest one was probably who or what was the cat. Even if it was somehow a magical cat, Veronica had never heard of a cat being able to control monsters. While she might not know a lot about the world of witches, she was pretty sure she would have heard of about it.
This is crazy. I know the cat said it was its sibling responsible for the monsters, but doesn''t that mean the cat can do the same? They are siblings. What did I get myself into?
"Prepare yourself. Something is coming," it said, its voice cutting through her whirlwind of thoughts.
She could also hear something coming closer. The sound of something heavy repeatedly hitting the floor grew progressively louder. The ground beneath them shook slightly as they waited to see what they were up against. Then they saw it. A stone golem came out from around the corner. Veronica''s eyes bulged, and her legs shook at the sight of the massive creature. It continued down the hallway, seemingly unaware of their presence.
"Stay calm," the cat whispered.
Easy for the cat to say. It could run away if the stone golem spotted them without getting hurt. The stone golem would probably not even notice it because the cat was so much smaller. Veronica, on the other hand, was bigger and much more obvious. She didn''t think she could outrun it either.
They watched as it lumbered across the hallway in front of them. Her hands clenched her broomstick tightly until they turned white. After what seemed like forever, the stone golem disappeared out of sight. For several long moments, neither of them said or did anything. The duo continued to stare at where the stone golem disappeared, as if expecting it to jump out and run at them.
Then the cat said, "I think it won''t be coming back." She collapsed to her knees. "Are you alright?"
Veronica didn''t say a word.
That had been a close call. She wouldn''t have stood a chance if it had noticed her. None of the magic she knew would have been strong enough to take on the stone golem. It would be like an ant attacking an elephant.
If Deville were here, she would have taken care of it in a flash. It would be great if I could find her and the others. Is my baby sister and Echo still okay? What if the monsters got to them? No, I have to think positively. I''ll find them.
Forcing herself to stand back up on her shaking legs, Veronica said, "Let''s keep going before the stone golem realizes we''re here." At the cat''s intense stare, she blurted out, "What?"
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The cat sighed before lifting one paw. While puzzled, she didn''t think anything of it until she found herself floating into the air. She swallowed the scream that nearly came out.
"Since you look like you''re about to fall over, I''ll have to carry you like this," the cat said as it lowered its paw. "Just don''t tell anyone about this. I''m actually not supposed to intervene like this."
She wasn''t sure anyone would believe her, even if she wanted to tell anyone. The cat was getting weirder and weirder by the second.
Whoever heard of a cat using magic?
While she could accept that the cat might be magical, she never thought that it could cast magic like a witch except without a wand.
And what did the cat mean by it wasn''t supposed to interfere? I''m confused.
It said it was looking for its sibling and came to the mansion after them. Its sibling was the one responsible for the monsters. It could also use magic, but it wasn''t supposed to use it because it would interfere with something. Veronica couldn''t understand how all of that was connected. She had to be missing something. Unfortunately, she couldn''t quite figure it out. Maybe if she got another person''s opinion, she could put it together.
As the cat started walking, it said, "I''ll let you down when I think you can walk again."
Veronica could only float after the cat as they continued their journey. They crossed paths with several monsters¡ªthe majority were weak or small monsters¡ªand managed to pass by without being detected. Even when a flying snake nearly brushed against her, it didn''t react and continued on like it didn''t even notice her.
It was almost like none of them could see her.
Had the cat done something?
She couldn''t think of another explanation and wanted to ask, but neither of them had said another word after the cat had used magic to make her float. Suddenly asking a question felt awkward.
The cat abruptly came to a stop and said, "I think one of your friends is coming. I''ll leave you here." Before Veronica could say a word, she floated back down to the ground and landed on her feet. "Take care."
"Wait," she called out, reaching out to the cat.
It didn''t give her a single glance back as it bounded down the hallway. She stared as the cat disappeared from sight. Then she looked in the direction that the cat had been looking at previously. A group of witches was heading towards her. In an instant, she was waving at them and running to meet them. When she got closer, she was disappointed that she couldn''t recognize a single one of them.
"Who are you?" one of the witches demanded. "Why are you running around by yourself?"
Ignoring her rude tone, Veronica said, "I''m so glad I found other witches. I got separated from my group by a bunch of monsters."
The oldest¡ªVeronica assumed she was the oldest because the witch was the biggest of the group¡ªwitch asked, "Can you tell us what happened?"
Veronica quickly explained what happened to her while keeping some details out of her explanation.
She didn''t see a reason to tell them about the cat or how it had protected her from the other monsters until they showed up. They didn''t need to know about that.
At the end of her tale, the witch said, "You were quite lucky to make it this far on your own. You should stick with us until we meet back with everyone else."
Why would I want to wander off on my own when I was looking for witches to join? Do they know how scary it was to travel on my own? I don''t think I could have made it a couple steps without that cat''s help.
Instead of saying any of that out loud, she said, "Thank you."
However, as soon as they started moving, Veronica''s thoughts turned to her baby sister and Echo.
Despite wanting to ask the group to look for them, she was certain that they would refuse. If she wanted to find them, she would have to look for them on her own, but she couldn''t bring herself to break from the group she had just joined. She was ashamed to admit that she was too scared to search for them by herself. It was one thing to face a monster with a group, and it was another to face one all by herself.
"So, I didn''t catch your name?" one of the witches said as she leaned uncomfortable close to Veronica.
Veronica leaned away, refusing to meet the witch''s gaze, and said, "It''s Veronica."
"Hi, Veronica. I''m Bernardette Soulton. It''s nice to meet you."
"Uh, nice to meet you too."
That''s a long name. What were her parents thinking?
"Wait. I think I''ve heard that name before," one of the other witches said, butting in.
Another nodded. "Yeah, I''m pretty sure I heard it somewhere." Then she turned to Veronica and asked, "What''s your last name?"
She knew where this was going, but she didn''t know how to get out of it. If she kept quiet, they would think she had something to hide, which she kind of did. If she told them, they would probably realize who she was since they already had an idea. In that case, she was sure she would be harassed by the group.
Out of nowhere, the wall next to them exploded. Veronica was hit by a sense of deja vu as everyone was thrown back by the sudden force. She struggled to push herself up, looking towards the wall that had exploded out of nowhere. A man stood at the opening. His head moved from side to side as if scanning the area, but it was hard to tell with the mask he was wearing.
It might not even be a human for all she knew.
Veronica swept the area, hoping to see if the others had recovered. Unfortunately, she was the only one in a sitting position. Everyone else was still sprawled on the ground. Her stomach dropped as her mouth went dry. Then the masked man looked in her direction. He jumped down from the hole in the wall and marched towards her. She scrambled to her feet, ready to run, when a black blur shot out of nowhere. The cat clawed at the man, hissing and spitting.
Had the cat returned for her?
She was touched that the cat had come back for her except something was bothering her.
Why wasn''t the cat using magic to fend off the man?
It didn''t have any problems using it before.
What had changed?
The man finally caught the cat, lifting it away from his body. The cat continued to hiss and claw at him in a wild frenzy. After several moments, he tossed it in Veronica''s direction. Without thinking, she rushed forward to catch it. The cat landed in her arms, causing her to grunt from its weight. Right as she was about to ask if it was okay and demand what it was thinking, she noticed the color of its eyes.
They were green.
Huh? There''s another black cat in the mansion? How many black cats are there?
Witching Hour Party Chapter 11
The cat blinked before meowing loudly in Veronica''s face. Then it hissed at the masked man, its fur standing on edge.
It seemed like an ordinary cat, but she refused to be tricked. There was no way it was a plain old cat, even if nothing about the cat screamed that it was magical. A normal cat wouldn''t be running around. It had to be someone''s familiar.
The masked man raised a hand in their direction. Veronica tensed, curling in on the cat. However, before he could do anything, something swooped down from the ceiling. An owl lashed out with its talon, trying to claw at his masked face. More animals made their appearance, rushing at the masked man like a tidal wave. She watched stunned at the numerous animals dogpiling him.
Where were all of them coming from?
Veronica hadn''t seen any familiars beside her own since she got there. She assumed that the other witches hadn''t brought them, leaving her the only one who did. There wasn''t a rule saying that familiars had to always trail after their witches. It was just more convenient to have them around instead of letting them lounge around back home.
"What are you standing around for?" Veronica jolted and spun around to see one of the witches back on her feet. "Hit him with a spell already."
She adjusted her grip on the cat so as not to drop it and aim her broomstick at the masked man. The witch who had shouted at her summoned vines to wrap around the man''s feet. In the back of Veronica''s head, she wondered how it was possible as she struggled to come up with a spell that wouldn''t harm the familiars.
"What are you waiting for?" the witch barked.
"I''ll hit them," Veronica snapped back as she jerked her head in the witch''s direction.
"Y-Here he comes!"
Veronica looked back in time to see all the familiars being flung back by a large gust of wind. She covered her face with the arm holding her broomstick. Her long hair whipped around as her clothes flapped and her hat flew away. Several of the animals landed near her feet.
Fortunately, they didn''t look hurt. Familiars were made of sterner stuff than regular animals.
When she removed her arm, her eyes widened at the sight of the masked man charging towards her. Even though she knew she wouldn''t be able to cast a spell fast enough¡ªa wand wouldn''t have made a difference¡ªshe pointed her broomstick at him. His hand caught her by the throat. The cat and her broomstick fell to the floor as she grasped at the masked man''s arm. He still didn''t say a word, choosing to stare at her through his mask.
I...I can''t breathe.
Her legs kicked back and forth as she gasped desperately. Her vision swam as it became harder to breathe. Just as she felt her strength leave her arms, a fireball slammed into his mask. He immediately let go, dropping Veronica to the floor. She coughed and wheezed as she was finally able to breathe. Veronica glanced up at him and watched him defend himself against further fireballs.
"You stay away from her!" a familiar voice shrieked.
She turned her head to see Leta rushing at them with a furious expression on her face. Veronica had never seen her so angry before and flinched when Leta created a massive fireball and lobbed it at them. She somehow found the strength to scramble away and out of the blast radius. However, she was still blown off her feet and rolled across the ground.
"Veronica!" Leta called out.
Veronica groaned before shouting back, "I''m fine."
Leta looked relieved, but she was immediately distracted by the masked man rushing at her. Seeing her friend being attacked, Veronica frantically scanned the place for her broomstick. Her eyes spotted it in the same place where she had been grabbed by the masked man. She ran over to pick up and turned around in time to see Leta get blasted into one of the walls.
"Leta!" she screamed as she pointed her broomstick at the masked man.
The masked man didn''t even flinch as he calmly looked her way. He lazily raised a hand, and Veronica was hit by a blast of wind. She flew through the air before her back crashed into the ground, knocking the air out of her. In a daze, she stared up at the ceiling. When she regained enough strength, she pushed herself up to see him grabbing a pair of witches. Without looking back, he ran back through the hole he had come from.
"Hold it!" one of the witches shouted. "Get back here!"
However, it was too late. He was already gone, taking two witches with him.
Why had he taken those two witches? Did he know them somehow, or did it not matter which witches he grabbed as long as he grabbed two witches?
She was ashamed to admit that she was glad that he hadn''t taken her or Leta. Even though they were her fellow witches, she would rather it be them than her or her friend.
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The same witch who had been screaming was being held back from giving chase by the other witches. Veronica grimaced as she forced herself to her feet and pressed a hand on her aching stomach. A quiet meow drew her attention, and she glanced down at the black cat who had tried to attack the masked man. It meowed again before walking away. She reached out as if to call it back but stopped in midmotion.
How was she supposed to get its attention? Say hey you?
I don''t know its name. I wonder whose familiar it belongs to.
After staring at the cat''s retreating form a little longer, Veronica focused her attention on the other witches. She hobbled over towards them, aiming for Leta, who had also gotten back on her feet. Everyone converged on one spot, still reeling from what just happened.
"You need to calm down," the oldest witch started, only to be cut off by a scream of outrage.
Bernardette¡ªVeronica hadn''t realized it was her screaming this whole time¡ªthrew off the other witches as she shouted, "That man just kidnapped them! We have to save them!"
"I know that, but you need to calm down. Chasing after them without a plan won''t help anyone."
"No! The longer we wait, the farther they will get!"
"Enough!" No one dared to speak a word as the witch continued, "I understand you''re upset and worried. We all are, but I''m responsible for all of you. We''ve all just seen a man capable of using magic that has never been heard of. We have no idea what else he can do."
The only sounds after her impassioned speech were her heavy breathing and the familiars who had regained their wits making animal noises.
A man capable of magic. It was completely outrageous. There had never been a case where a man could use magic in known history. It had always been women who could use magic.
Whoever heard of a male witch?
However, they had seen the proof right in front of their eyes. Even though he didn''t use a wand or show visible signs of casting magic, they couldn''t ignore how he could control the wind when attacking them. What was worse was that they had lost to him and lost two of their own to him.
"Then what do we do?" one of the witches asked in a small voice.
The oldest witch grimaced. "I''m sorry to say this, but we need to meet up with the other witches and figure out how to handle this development."
Bernardette looked ready to argue, but Leta quickly stepped in and said, "I agree. I was lucky to escape the man who attacked my own group."
This caught everyone''s attention as all eyes fell onto her, shock painting their expressions except for Veronica, who had suspected this was the case.
The first to recover was the oldest witch, who asked, "What did you say?"
"My group was fighting monsters when we suddenly attacked from behind. It was a man capable of using magic," Leta explained.
"Why are you only mentioning it just now?" Bernardette demanded as she took a threatening step towards her.
"I didn''t exactly have the time to. I arrived just as that horrible man was choking Veronica."
Instantly, all eyes shifted to Veronica at the mention of her name. At the sudden attention she was receiving, she fidgeted while avoiding their looks.
Fortunately, the oldest witch intervened and said, "Alright. This isn''t the time to be fighting. We need to work together, not fight against each other." Satisfied with what she saw, she focused her attention on Leta and asked, "Can you tell us anything about the man you encountered? Anything you can tell us might help us figure out what they want and how to deal with them."
Leta shook her head as she said, "I don''t really know much. I was lucky to get away thanks to Deville." At the mention of Deville, everyone''s expression turned grim. "She was able to protect me from the crazy man. He seemed obsessed with kidnapping young witches."
"Wait. Weren''t the ones they snatched the youngest?" someone whispered.
Veronica''s eyes bulged out of their sockets.
Hold on. If they target the youngest witches, wouldn''t that mean I''m a prime target? I''m the only twelve-year-old here.
She couldn''t believe her luck. Of course everything had to go horribly wrong at her first witching hour party. Nothing of this sort had ever happened at other witching hour parties. At least not that she had heard of. It was almost like her presence had caused all of this to happen, but that was ridiculous.
How could it be her fault?
It wasn''t like she purposely brought them there or anything. However, no matter how hard she tried to convince herself it had nothing to do with her, a part of her had doubts. After all, this was the first time the witches ever had an incident in who knew how long. Veronica had also been targeted earlier, and if it weren''t for a certain magical talking cat, she would have been dragged away never to be seen again.
A warm tugged on her sleeve, pulling Veronica out of her dark thoughts.
Leta''s worried expression greeted her as she asked, "Are you alright, Veronica?" Without waiting for Veronica to respond, Leta continued, "I was so worried when I couldn''t find you anywhere. I thought that the crazy man had taken you."
"O-oh, I''m okay. I got lucky," Veronica said.
"Hold it," one of the witches said. "Don''t you find it suspicious that she was able to get away safely?"
As Leta turned away from Veronica, she narrowed her eyes and asked, "What are you saying?"
"I''m saying something is off here. You said you got separated and were nearly kidnapped by a man. Where was she in all this?" Veronica''s heart dropped at the sight of the finger pointed in her direction. "Did she leave all of you behind to save herself?"
Veronica stiffened. "That''s¡ª"
"Not to mention we found her completely unharmed. How did she avoid all the monsters without a single scratch on her?"
Even though no one else was saying a single word, Veronica could see and feel them judging her.
It was suspicious that she had ended up there looking no worse for wear. If she had encountered monsters, she should have looked scuffed up or at least appear worn out from fighting off the monsters. However, she really did have a good explanation for it. The problem was Veronica wasn''t sure they would believe her. There was a reason she had brought it up sooner, but she might not have a choice.
She opened her mouth, ready to defend herself, when Leta stepped in front of her and said, "Don''t you dare blame her for running away."
Witching Hour Party Chapter 12
Veronica stared speechless at Leta''s back, her jaw still hanging open.
What was she talking about?
She hadn''t run away.
Before she could clear up the misconception, Leta continued, "She''s still inexperienced and has a lot to learn. I want to see you stick around when things get dangerous with only two years of experience."
"Two years?" one of the witches whispered. "How old is she?"
"I''ve never heard of a witch only having two years of experience," another said.
"Hold on. I think I have." All eyes turned to the witch as she asked, "Wasn''t there a young witch who showed up with a human baby even though she isn''t the minimum age?"
In an instant, everyone whipped their heads to stare in Veronica''s direction. She flinched and cowered behind Leta at the sudden attention, as she knew what was about to happen next.
"Hang on. Doesn''t that mean she''s twelve years old? That would make her the youngest witch here. Why didn''t the man take her instead?" Bernardette asked.
I don''t know. Why don''t you ask the masked man when you see him again?
Leta came to the rescue again as she said, "That should be obvious. If I hadn''t shown up, I''m certain that the masked man would have taken her away. That''s why he ended up changing targets."
"Why would he do that when he was winning?" Bernardette asked.
"Don''t ask me. How should I know?"
"Enough girls," said the oldest witch as she finally stepped in.
You could have stepped in sooner. Why were you just standing there?
However, Veronica suspected that the witch had let things devolve on purpose. If Leta hadn''t come to her defense, even if she misunderstood things, it would have been a witch hunt, which was kind of ironic considering they were all witches.
"Veronica." She jerked back as the oldest witch focused her attention on Veronica. "Can you explain what happened between getting separated from your group and joining ours? I''m sure it would help ease everyone''s concerns if you did."
Veronica winced.
It seemed that things really had come down to this. They weren''t going to let it go, and she couldn''t come up with a convincing lie that wouldn''t blow up in her face. Well, she never planned on lying about what happened anyway.
From behind Leta, she said, "You won''t believe me even if I tell you."
"I promise we won''t judge. Just tell us," the oldest witch urged.
"Okay, but don''t say I didn''t warn you."
If they wanted the full story, they were going to get it. She didn''t spare any details, no matter how outrageous it was. Veronica had thought someone would interrupt her while she was telling her story, but it seemed that everyone was too overwhelmed with what they were hearing to say a word.
"And that''s it," Veronica said, ending her tale.
Not a moment too soon, one of the witches demanded, "Do you really expect us to believe something so crazy? How can a cat talk and use magic? Tell us the truth."
"I told you that you wouldn''t believe me."
The oldest witch stepped in before an argument could break out. "Stop. Thank you for speaking up, Veronica. It must have been difficult."
No kidding. She had been fretting over whether or not they were going to accuse her of making it up and hound her for it.
"Are you seriously believing her story?" one of the witches asked.
"I''ll admit it''s a bit unbelievable." At the oldest witch''s admission, the other witches except for Bernardette and Leta gave Veronica a triumphant gaze. "However, it is still possible. Witches can transform themselves into animals and retain their ability to speak."
Everyone stared at her wide-eyed for several moments.
One witch gathered up the courage to ask what was on everyone''s minds. "We can?"
She nodded. "It is, but the magic behind it is too advance for your age. It''s something meant for when you''re older, as it''s quite risky and hard to pull off."
Why does it feel like every magic we''ve never seen before is something we will learn when we''re older? I''ve never seen a single witch use the magic she''s talking about. Shouldn''t we have at least heard about it or met a witch who had transformed herself into an animal?
"However, that is neither here nor now. Veronica, can you tell us more about the talking cat you encountered? You might have missed something when retelling us what happened," the oldest witch said.
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Veronica took a moment to think about it before shaking her head. "No, that''s all I know." A thought suddenly crossed her mind, and she added, "Well, I did encounter another black cat. It didn''t talk, but it looked just like the first cat except with different eye colors."
"Really? Where is it now?"
"I''m not sure. I think it walked off."
The group instantly scanned their surroundings, hoping to spy the black cat among all the familiars still gathered around.
Unfortunately, the black cat was nowhere in sight, though there were plenty of cats and plenty of black animals. It seemed to have disappeared in a hurry, almost like it was trying to get away.
"We need to find that black cat," the oldest witch declared as she held up her arm for an owl to land on it. "Have you seen where the cat could have gone, Ozzie?" The owl hooted a couple times. "Please lead us to it."
It gave a nod before taking into the air. Several familiars followed the owl while the others dispersed in other directions. Veronica assumed they were searching for their witches, but she couldn''t spare them any thought as she followed the rest of the group chasing after the owl. As they ran down the hallway, she expected for monsters to show up to block their path like they always did.
However, not a single one made an appearance. Their path was completely undisturbed, not that she was upset about it. Veronica was glad they wouldn''t have to face any. It just seemed off that there weren''t any.
Had the other witches dealt with all of them, or were the monsters somewhere else?
She had a bad feeling about this.
Suddenly, someone stepped out in front of the witches. The group slowed to a stop at the sight of a clown holding a baby. Veronica''s eyes widened as she recognized her baby sister in the clown''s arms. She took a step forward, but Leta grabbed her shoulder to stop her. Veronica threw a betrayed and angry look at her friend; however, the other girl wasn''t looking at her. That''s when she realized that Leta''s hand was shaking.
"Oh, I didn''t expect to come across any witches. I guess those monsters wouldn''t be enough to deal with all of you," the clown said in a cheerful tone.
The oldest witch narrowed her eyes as she held up her wand. "So it was you who unleashed the monsters. What are you after?"
"Hmm...I don''t want to tell you."
Veronica gnashed her teeth. She was ready to shove Leta away and throw herself at the clown when the oldest witch immediately pelted the clown with icicles.
In an instant, her anger transformed into horror and panic as she screamed, "Wait! He has my baby sister!"
The other witches except for the oldest glanced back at her with a mixture of expressions¡ªnone of them pity or concern except from Leta and Bernardette. Luckily or unluckily, the clown dodged the icicles through a series of flips and spins. To add insult to injury, he did it like he was performing a circus act and laughing the entire time.
"How scary. You witches really don''t know how to chill out," the clown said once the attack ended.
Instead of giving him a response, the oldest witch simply attacked again with a bolt of lightning. When he avoided that with a back flip, she followed up with a wave of water. The clown scaled the walls like a monkey and hung from one of the paintings as the water rushed past him. Veronica didn''t know how the painting didn''t fall off from his weight, but she was just relieved to see that her baby sister made it out unharmed while resting peacefully in the clown''s arms.
"You do know I have a baby in my arms, right? Do you really not care? I mean, she''s one of your own, isn''t she?" the clown said as he raised the baby up in the air.
She sucked in a breath at the sight of her baby sister being paraded around as a hostage.
"She isn''t one of our own," the oldest witch said before sending a fireball at him.
He calmly jumped down from the painting and rolled across the ground while making sure that the baby remained unharmed. The burning painting collapsed to the ground, its burning remains acting as a wall between them.
"Oh? Didn''t I just hear one of you shout that she''s her baby sister?" the clown asked before pointing at Veronica. "Or maybe you don''t consider her to be one of your own either." When no one spoke, he erupted into a belly laugh. "Wow. This is hilarious. Well, I guess that''s witches for you. In that case, I''ll take both of your hands."
"Not a chance," Let snarled as she sent a wave of ice at his feet.
The clown somersaulted away until the ice stopped. He stood at the edge of the ice and waved at them before turning and running away.
Veronica threw herself forward only to be stopped by Leta again as she screamed, "Come back!"
The oldest witch summoned a gust of wind that blew out of the flames and headed for the clown. However, the clown turned a corner, disappearing from view, letting the gust blow right by him.
That was the last straw for Veronica, who shoved Leta off of her. "Why did you stop me? He has my baby sister."
"You saw what he could do right. He was able to avoid all our magic like it was nothing," Leta said.
The reminder of how callous the oldest witch was at using magic with her baby sister in the direct line of fire burned her. Veronica threw a disgusted look at the oldest witch, wishing to set her on fire with just her gaze.
Unbothered by the look she was receiving, the oldest witch calmly said, "She''s right. We can''t put the group in danger over a human."
"That''s my baby sister you''re talking about," Veronica spat.
"Like you actually care." Veronica snapped her head in the direction of the muttering witch and glared at her. "What? It''s true. If you really care about the human baby, shouldn''t you have been carrying her around instead?"
At once, her anger was blown out, leaving behind self-loathing. The witch was right. If she had simply carried her baby sister everywhere instead of dumping her in a room with her familiar, then her baby sister wouldn''t have been taken by the clown. No, if she had simply stayed at home and watched her baby sister like her mom asked, none of this would have happened.
She barely felt Leta''s hand on her shoulder as her friend said, "Whatever you might feel about Veronica''s sister, don''t you think it''s suspicious that the clown took her?" At everyone''s befuddled expressions, she continued, "Think about it. They''ve been taking witches, so why would they want a human baby?"
Her words lit a fire in Veronica, who shoved aside her self-deprecating thoughts to think about what she was saying.
Leta was right. The clown had no reason to take her baby sister if they were only after young witches. He should have ignored her baby sister to hunt down some witches, but he didn''t. In fact, he had even been careful to make sure her baby sister was unharmed. There had to be a reason why.
"Do you think he might have mistaken the human baby for a witch?" one of the witches timidly asked.
"That makes sense," another witch said. "Who would think a human baby would be here at a witching hour party?"
What they''re saying makes sense, but why do I feel like they''re not right? What am I missing?
Witching Hour Party Chapter 13
The oldest witch clapped, grabbing everyone''s attention. "Whatever the case may be, we can''t just stand here. We have two options in front of us. We can either chase after the clown or continue looking for the black cat."
Veronica couldn''t choose. She obviously wanted to go after the clown to save her baby sister. Every part of her was screaming at her to hurry and sprint after them. However, she wasn''t confident that they would be able to save her baby sister. The group had already tried to fight him, and the clown still got away. Even if only two witches actually fought, the fact that the clown could be so calm in the face of their magic was unnerving.
She felt a nudge and glanced at Leta, who gave her an apologetic look before saying, "We should go after the black cat." Veronica didn''t even get the chance to feel betrayed as Leta continued, "We saw that the clown is someone we don''t stand a chance against. Instead, we should track down the black cat and find out what it knows."
"Hold on," Bernardette said, taking a step forward. "I disagree. If we all worked together to fight him, I''m sure we could take him on. He couldn''t even fight back against us."
"I don''t think so," someone muttered.
Veronica realized it had been her when everyone looked in her direction.
"What are you talking about?" Bernardette asked. "Didn''t you see how he was running away from us?"
"That''s true," Veronica admitted. "But he didn''t look worried at all. In fact, he looked like he was having fun."
"Fun?"
Veronica winced at her choice of words, but it was the only thing she could think of to describe what happened.
The clown hadn''t taken the whole fight seriously and even made fun of them before running away. If that wasn''t him having fun at their expense, she wasn''t sure what was.
"She''s right," one of the other witches murmured. "He did look like he was playing around."
Bernardette threw a glare at the girl, but it wasn''t enough to deter her in the slightest. For several moments, no one dared to say a word as they recalled what had just occurred minutes earlier.
Well, at least Veronica was.
The oldest broke the silence. "Then are we in favor of chasing after the black cat?" It was a unanimous agreement. "Then let''s go."
They returned back to the hunt for the black cat as Veronica''s thoughts turned to her baby sister.
I''m really sorry. I promise to come back and save you from the clown. I promise.
The group took several twists and turns through the hallways with no black cat in sight. Veronica found herself doubting they would ever find it, but she kept her mouth shut as they hurried down the steps to the next floor. Just as everyone stepped onto the new floor, there was a quiet meow. They quickly searched the area for signs of the black cat.
"There it is," one of the witches said.
All eyes followed the direction she was pointing at and spotted a black cat in the distance. Veronica assumed it was a cat¡ªall she could tell was that there was something small and black¡ªas she narrowed her eyes at it. For several moments, no one made a move. Then the black cat bolted away.
"After that cat," the oldest witch ordered as she ran down the hallway.
Everyone followed suit with Veronica in the back. The cat was annoyingly fast as its figure became smaller and smaller. The oldest witch raised her wand and sent a wave of ice at the cat. Much to their surprise, the black cat jumped right before the wave of ice could hit it and grabbed onto a tapestry. One of the witches recovered from the shock to shoot a bolt of lightning at the cat. The cat threw itself away before the attack could hit it.
"What are you doing?" one of the other witches sputtered. "Are you trying to kill it?"
The witch who attacked the cat with lightning became flustered as she said, "I-I was just trying to catch it."
"By hitting it with lightning?"
"Guys, the cat," Bernardette said as she shoved past the other witches in a desperate attempt to catch the cat. "Come on."
They chased after the cat with everyone except for Veronica throwing non-lethal spells at it. The cat proved to be too agile to be hit and continued to avoid all their attempts to catch it.
This is just ridiculous. How can a cat avoid everyone''s spells? Could it be a witch in a cat''s body, like she said?
The cat bounded through a door when it abruptly came to a stop. The oldest witch didn''t waste this chance to cast a spell at the cat, causing the rug underneath it to wrap around the feline. A muffled meow escaped the rug as the cat struggled to escape from its imprisonment. Bernardette forced herself to the front and threw herself at the trapped cat.
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Raising the captured cat triumphantly, she boldly declared, "Got you!"
Their excitement was short lived when they saw the reason why the cat had stopped in its tracks. Everyone froze at the sight of the tied-up witches surrounded by a group of men in various getups. Veronica recognized the masked man and clown among them, but her eyes were drawn to her baby sister, who looked around innocently unaware of what was happening.
"Oh, you''re back again," the clown cheerfully greeted them with a wave.
The oldest witch raised her wand to attack, but the group was suddenly tied up by ropes that appeared out of nowhere. They collapsed to the ground as they struggled to escape.
"You shouldn''t bother. It''s not that easy to escape," a familiar voice said.
It can''t be.
She could recognize that voice anywhere, but it didn''t make any sense. There was no way it could be her.
Rolling to her side, Veronica hoped she was wrong. Gazing up at the one who attacked them, she felt her heart drop as her eyes met Leta''s. Her friend smiled calmly down at them.
"You traitor," Bernardette spat. "How could you do this?"
"What do you mean?" Leta asked.
"Don''t play dumb. How could you attack us? Your own kind?"
"I wonder why."
Veronica stared in disbelief as Leta continued to pat her palm with her wand.
How could her friend do this? Was she being blackmailed, or had they used magic on her to force her to work with them?
She refused to accept that her friend would willingly join the invaders who released monsters into the mansion and kidnapped her baby sister. That wasn''t like Leta at all.
The longer she stared at her friend, the more certain she felt that something was very wrong with Leta. Veronica couldn''t get her finger out and studied her friend''s figure. Her eyes scanned Leta up and down looking for a sign until she noticed something hanging in her friend''s left ear. She narrowed her eyes at what looked like an earring.
When had her friend started wearing earrings?
Veronica hadn''t seen it earlier when they were together. Thinking back on it, ever since they met back up, Leta had always made sure that Veronica was on her right. It was such a small detail that she hadn''t noticed¡ªthe earring was so tiny that it was easy to miss¡ªbut it was undeniable proof that the person in front of her wasn''t Leta.
Pushing herself into a sitting position, she demanded, "Where''s Leta?"
The other witches gave her an odd look, which she ignored in favor of staring at the imposter''s face.
The imposter stopped playing with Leta''s wand as she asked, "What are you talking about? It''s me, Leta Frankson. Your friend."
"Liar," Veronica snapped. "Leta is allergic to earrings. Even if she wasn''t, she said she would never pierce her ears."
The imposter''s eyebrows shot up, which Veronica took as proof that he had been caught. However, instead of being upset or embarrassed about being caught, the imposter seemed thoroughly amused as a grin stretched across her face.
"Huh. You have a bit more brains than your usual witch." All the witches bristled at the insult as the imposter continued, "I''ve heard a bit about you from the other witches. Why don''t you join us?"
If anyone had any plans to speak, they were silenced by her last words. Everyone gawked at the imposter. Even the men seemed caught off guard, as a few were slack-jawed.
The imposter ignored all of them as she asked, "Well, what do you think?"
What do I think? Why are you asking me to join? Join what? I don''t even know who you are!
She never expected something like this to happen. When Veronica pointed out that she was an imposter, she truly expected that the imposter would get angry and lash out.
What had she heard?
"You''re not really thinking about joining them, are you?" one of the witches asked.
The question completely stumped Veronica, and she was left utterly speechless. The other witches took it as a sign that she was considering it as the room filled with a canopy of voices.
"Traitor."
"How dare you call yourself a witch."
"Unforgivable."
Veronica curled in on herself as if to shield herself from the barrage of insults and angry words. The imposter clapped, and it suddenly became silent. Confused and unnerved by the abrupt silence, Veronica dared to glance at the other witches and saw their mouths were moving except no sound was coming out.
Had the imposter silenced them with a clap of her hands?
What is she? I''ve never heard of a witch capable of silencing so many people at once with just a clap. Can she even be called a witch?
Her shaky gaze met the imposter as she lowered her hands. "Now, now. None of that language. We are supposed to be respectable folk." Her mocking tone said otherwise. "So what do you think, Veronica? You heard and saw how they reacted. They immediately doubted you the moment I gave you that offer." The imposter knelt down and offered a comforting hand on Veronica''s shoulder. "Do you really want to side with these witches who don''t care about you? Didn''t they ostracize you because of your baby sister? Won''t it be better to join a group that will acknowledge you?"
Even though Veronica knew she shouldn''t listen, she found herself wavering at the imposter''s words. Her words resonated with the bitter part of Veronica that she had tried to ignore. Ever since she learned she was a witch, it felt like she could never meet any of their standards. Either she disappointed them when she failed to meet their expectations or she received apathetic responses when she did something right.
How could she not be bitter?
Despite this, something else eclipsed those bitter feelings.
She licked her suddenly dry lips and asked, "Why does it sound like you''re not a witch?"
The imposter stared blankly at her before bursting out in laughter. Veronica flinched as she tried to distance herself from the laughing imposter. From the corner of her eyes, she saw that everyone was just as unnerved as she was. After a couple minutes, the imposter calmed down and wiped the tears from her eyes.
"You''re a lot more than I hoped for. You have to join us," the imposter said.
Veronica felt like her choice had just gone out the window as the imposter reached out to her.
"Stay away from my friend, you creep!" a familiar voice shouted as a massive fireball came flying towards them.
The imposter''s bright expression vanished. She spun around and cut the fireball in half with Leta''s wand. The heat of the flames brushed past Veronica while those around them screamed.
She could only hope that no one had been seriously hurt by that attack.
After shifting around to get a better look, she finally managed to see who it was when the imposter moved. Her eyes widened at the sight of Leta holding a broomstick in her hand with Echo and a familiar black cat with red eyes at her side.
Witching Hour Party Chapter 14
"You really don''t know how to stay out of my way," the imposter snarled as electricity sparked around her form.
"That''s enough, brother," the cat said. "You''ve done enough harm. Stop this right now."
Wait. What? Brother?
Veronica''s bulging eyes burned holes into the imposter''s back.
The imposter laughed. "Excuse me? You''re telling me to stop when you''re stuck in the body of a cat. What are you going to do?"
"If you really won''t stop your madness, then I''ll end you here and now," the cat said.
"Just try it."
A bolt of lightning shot of the imposter''s hand soaring through the air towards the trio that had just arrived. They dispersed, and the lightning bolt struck the ground behind them. The floor exploded, sending pieces of wood everywhere. Leta immediately sent a barrage of icicles toward the imposter, who destroyed them with a wave of her hand.
This is bad. I need to get out of here before I get caught in the crossfire.
Unfortunately, that was easier said than done. She was still tied up. Maybe if she had her broomstick¡ªit had landed several feet away from her and was impossible to get to¡ªor something sharp like a knife to cut the ropes, she could get free.
She frantically scanned her surroundings, looking for something nearby, when her eyes caught sight of a broken piece of ice. Unable to find anything else, Veronica scooted over to it as more spells flew through the air. Once she was close enough, she pressed the ropes against the ice piercing the floor and rubbed them against it like she had seen in the movies. As she did this, she kept an eye out for the men in case they decided to stop her.
Fortunately, it seemed that no one noticed what she was doing or just didn''t care about her. Veronica admittedly found it hard to focus on escaping too. With the intense fight between the imposter and the trio happening, it was easy to get distracted.
Fire clashed with water, followed by lightning colliding with earth. Echo and the black cat darted around, aiming to get close, only to be pushed back by a spell. This didn''t deter the two animals, as they continued to swerve and dodge the spells, with several coming dangerously close to hitting them. Leta continued to act as support and fired a spell whenever it looked like the imposter would actually land a hit on either Echo or the black cat.
Veronica could honestly say she had never seen a fight quite like this one. Even the fights that had happened in the mansion so far had nothing on the one in front of her. However, she didn''t miss how the imposter hadn''t moved from her spot since the start of the fight.
The trio were furiously giving it their all, and the imposter was calmly firing spell after spell.
It was even more obvious that the imposter was toying with them since she had a wand while Leta used a broomstick. This was never a fair fight to begin with.
Suddenly, Veronica felt the ropes snap. She immediately ripped the ropes off of her and scrambled to her feet.
"Veronica, watch out!" Leta screamed.
The moment she heard her name, Veronica didn''t hesitate to throw herself on the ground again. As she landed on the ground, she felt a wave of heat pass over her. Veronica glanced up in time to see a fireball crash into the opposing wall.
That had been too close.
She pushed herself to her feet as the imposter said, "It looks like one of you had the sense to find a way to get freed." Veronica didn''t react to her mocking tone. "What are you going to do now? You don''t have anything to fight with."
Veronica hysterically wanted to ask why the imposter was stating the obvious.
Even though she was free now, there was no way she would be able to pick up her broomstick and cast a spell quickly. She seriously doubted that the men would let that happen. Of course that was assuming that the imposter didn''t attack her first.
"Hold it," Leta said, raising her broomstick. "We''re your opponents."
The imposter sighed and waved a hand. In a blink of an eye, Leta was blasted back. She completely disappeared from view, almost like she had never been there from the beginning.
If there had been any doubts that the imposter hadn''t taken the fight seriously, they had just been erased by her display of power.
"Don''t you dare lay a hand on her," Echo screeched as he dive-bombed the imposter.
With a flick of the imposter''s finger, Veronica''s familiar crashed into the wall, creating a sizable dent. A scream cut through the air, and Veronica vaguely realized she was the one screaming.
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"Devin!" the black cat howled as it threw itself at him.
The imposter caught the black cat by the scruff of its neck and held it up in the air. It hissed and howled, scratching at her arms, but the imposter didn''t bat an eye. She tightened her grip, threatening to choke the life out of the cat. Veronica was frozen stiff as she watched the horrible scene unfold in front of her.
This had to be a bad dream, right?
Th-that''s right. I must have hit my head. When I wake up, it will all be just a bad dream. I just need to wake up.
However, no matter how hard she tried to wake up she couldn''t.
The black cat''s cry of pain cut through Veronica''s hysteria, urging her to do something. Without thinking, she threw herself at the imposter. Veronica crashed into the imposter''s back.
She wasn''t sure what she was expecting. Maybe she had hoped it would distract the imposter enough to loosen her grip on the black cat to give it a chance to escape, or maybe she had hoped she had caught the imposter off guard and knocked her to the ground to buy herself some time. Veronica wasn''t sure, but none of those things happened.
Instead, the imposter didn''t budge an inch and coolly stared back at her. "What are you doing?"
The imposter didn''t give Veronica a chance to react as she spun around and caught Veronica by the throat. Veronica gasped and kicked at the imposter to no effect.
It was like kicking a stone wall. She would know. She had tried once and regretted it.
"You know I thought you were interesting, but now you''re just annoying. You really should have taken my offer when you had the chance," the imposter said as she squeezed Veronica''s throat tighter.
Veronica dug her nails into the imposter''s hand and struggled more violently. Dark spots filled her vision as a familiar sensation overtook her. Before she could lose consciousness, something ripped Veronica free from the imposter''s grip. She gasped for air and coughed violently as she pressed a hand to her throat.
What was with everyone grabbing her by the throat?
This wasn''t the first time it had happened today, but she really hoped that this would be the last. She wasn''t sure if she would be lucky the next time it happened.
Once she recovered from the choking, she took a moment to glance back at the imposter. Veronica balked at the sight of the imposter facedown in a sizable dent in the ground. She blinked several times, but the image didn''t disappear as the imposter finally pushed herself up. Then Veronica noticed how something clung to the back of her dress and slowly looked up. She stared blankly at the person behind her.
Is that a toddler?
The little girl was smaller than Veronica, which said a lot since Veronica was the youngest witch there. She was practically half of Veronica''s height. Veronica wasn''t tall by any means. She was pretty average in height. That meant that the little girl had to be younger than her.
"Who are you?" the imposter spat. "Where did you come from?"
Instead of answering the imposter, the little girl glanced around anxiously. "Oh no. I''m going to be in so much trouble. I''m not supposed to be here. I''m really going to get scolded."
Hearing such eloquent words coming from the toddler changed Veronica''s opinion about the little girl''s age. However, her attention was drawn away from the little girl to the imposter, who was literally on fire. Despite the distance between them, the duo were still close enough to feel the intense heat emitting from the imposter¡ªor maybe that was just how powerful the flames were.
"I said what are you?" the imposter snapped as he sent several fireballs at the duo.
At the sight of the incoming fireballs, Veronica moved to run away, but the little girl''s grip on her dress caused her to stumble over her feet. She nearly fell flat on her butt if it weren''t for the little girl holding her up with the same hand grabbing onto her dress. Veronica didn''t have time to be befuddled over the little girl''s incredible display of strength with the fireballs almost on them and closed her eyes to brace herself for the pain.
"If I''m going to get in trouble anyway, I might as well do something," the little girl said.
There were loud gasps and shouts all around Veronica, who had no clue what just happened.
She should have already been hit by the fireballs, but she didn''t feel a thing. Veronica didn''t think the other witches helped her out, as none of them were in the position to help her even if they wanted to.
Wanting to know what was going on, she opened her eyes. The sight in front of her was enough to make her eyes pop out of their sockets and her jaw drop. The fireballs hung in the air right in front of the duo, almost as if they were frozen. Veronica stared at the frozen fireballs before turning her gaze to the little girl still holding onto her. Then the little girl made a flicking motion. In an instant, the fireballs were gone, and the imposter was embedded into the wall.
Wha-what just happened?
Veronica couldn''t wrap her mind around what she was seeing and looked around to see if everyone else saw what she had seen. Given everyone''s reaction¡ªthe witches had varying emotions plastered over their faces, with the majority being shock and fear while the men were tense and eyeing the little girl suspiciously¡ªshe was pretty sure it was real and looked back at the little girl, who had a sheepish expression on her face.
"Oops. I didn''t mean to hit him that hard. I''m really going to have my head bitten off after this," the little girl muttered.
"How did you do that?" Veronica blurted out.
She immediately slapped a hand over her mouth, but the damage had been done. The little girl looked toward Veronica with wide eyes.
Covering her mouth with a hand, the little girl murmured, "Did she hear me?"
Even though Veronica was tempted to ask the little girl what she was talking about, she didn''t get a chance to as the imposter shrieked, "What are you doing standing there for? Get them!"
In a blink of an eye, the duo was surrounded. All the men in the room had rushed over to follow the imposter''s orders, which probably meant that the imposter was their leader.
"Sorry about this, but orders are orders, kiddo," the clown said as he continued to hold Veronica''s baby sister to his chest.
Veronica''s face contorted with rage as she snapped, "Don''t you bring my baby sister into this."
None of them men reacted to her words other than to charge at the duo. Veronica stared like a deer in headlights when she felt herself being lifted in the air. Startled, she glanced at the little girl lifting her up in the air.
She gave Veronica an apologetic look as she said, "Sorry about this, but I''m going to need to toss you."
"To¡ª" Veronica didn''t even get the chance to finish her sentence as she was thrown up into the air.
Witching Hour Party Chapter 15
Veronica would like to say that in that moment several thoughts were crossing her mind or how she was thinking about how she was going to land safely, but none of that happened.
She screamed, flailing her arms around as she flew through the air.
Someone! Help me!
Unfortunately, no one seemed to pay her any mind.
When Veronica began her descent back to the ground, she shut her eyes and held her arms out in front of her as she hoped that it wouldn''t hurt too much. Veronica slammed into the ground, and the air was knocked out of her. For several seconds, she laid there on the strangely not very hard surface to catch her breath. She was abruptly shoved to the side, leaving her frazzled and confused. One look back at the witches she had used as her cushion told her everything.
"Uh, sorry?" she said, still out of it.
"Don''t just stand there. Help us out of these ropes," one of the witches snapped.
Veronica almost said back that she wasn''t standing, but she had recovered enough of her wits to not say it.
Instead, she hurried to fiddle with the ropes, keeping the witches tied up. The stubborn ropes refused to give way as her face contorted in concentration. Her sweaty hands didn''t help as she struggled to get a good grip on them, and she mumbled a curse when the ropes refused to budge.
"Hurry up," the witch hissed.
"I''m trying," Veronica snapped back.
"Well, try faster."
The ground shook violently, nearly sending everyone tumbling to the ground. Veronica glanced back, and her eyes almost popped out of their sockets. The little girl from before was beating the living daylights out of the men without breaking a sweat.
You gotta be kidding me. Is she even human?
She had never seen something so outrageous in her entire life, which was saying something considering she was a witch.
The little girl jumped onto one of the men''s shoulders and performed a flip, avoiding being hit by a whip. Unluckily for the man she had jumped on, he got slapped in the face. To add insult to injury, the little girl landed behind him and slammed her foot into the back of his knee. The man fell down with a curse before she punched him in the face. She promptly hurried on to the next opponent once he was out for the count.
"What are you doing?" Veronica tore her gaze away from the fight to look back at the witch she had been trying to free. "Don''t just watch them. Get me out of these ropes."
"Give me a sec," she said and tugged on the rope with the grunt.
The witch hissed in pain and glared at Veronica, but Veronica wasn''t paying her any mind.
This isn''t working. I need something to work with. Anything would help right now.
A quiet meow drew her attention. She almost jumped when she saw a familiar black cat right next to her.
Where had it come from?
Veronica hadn''t even heard it coming. Well, it didn''t matter how it got there without anyone noticing¡ªshe actually had an idea, but it wasn''t important in the whole scheme of things¡ªshe now had a way to get the witches free.
"Mr. Black Cat, can you help me free everyone here?" Veronica asked.
The black cat gave her a look with its green eyes that she couldn''t decipher before using its claws to cut the rope. As she watched the black cat free everyone, Veronica couldn''t figure out if the rope was a lot weaker than she thought or the black cat was a lot more powerful than she realized.
It could be both, for all she knew.
However, their actions didn''t go unnoticed as one of the men shouted, "Hey! The witches are escaping!"
"Escaping?" Veronica tensed at the familiar voice and watched as Deville strode forward with an expressionless face. "Do you really think I''ll run away from my home, my own turf?" In a flash, icicles filled the room. "I don''t think so."
The icicles launched towards the men as Deville followed it up with bolts of lightning. The other witches quickly joined in. Veronica kept her head down as she anxiously kept an eye out for her baby sister. When she last looked, she had seen the clown holding onto her.
She wasn''t sure how he did it, but he kept just out of the fight to avoid being caught up in the attacks while still actively participating.
I swear if even a single strand of hair on my baby sister''s head is cut, I''m going to give him a good kick in between the legs.
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Well, that was only if she could actually catch the clown. Considering how agile he was, it was going to be tough to get close. Maybe if she was lucky, she could land a hit on him.
Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw them.
The clown had completely retreated to the side, and no one seemed to notice or care about him or her baby sister. It was actually kind of weird how no one even approached them. Veronica would have thought at least one witch would have attacked them, not that she wanted that to happen. She was relieved to see her baby sister out of danger, but something about the whole situation bugged her.
With everyone distracted, Veronica made her way to the clown. Avoiding the spells being flung around, she inched closer and closer to the clown''s back. Right as she was about to throw herself at his back and snatch her baby sister away, the clown abruptly spun around.
"Oh, I thought I felt someone''s eyes on me. How strange. I didn''t expect anyone to notice me," the clown said with a jovial tone.
Ignoring his strange words, Veronica demanded, "Hand my baby sister back to me or else you''re going to regret it."
The clown gave her a once-over before asking, "And how are you going to do that?"
Veronica hated how judgmental he sounded and how right he was to be. She had failed to recover her broomstick before showing up to confront the clown. Her plan had been to take him by surprise and get out of there with her baby sister before he could have a chance to react. Unfortunately, that plan had failed before she could act on it.
Now she was stuck staring the clown down, hoping she could find an opening to snatch her baby sister back.
"Well, if you''re not going to do anything, then I''ll be going," he said before performing a backflip.
It had been so sudden and out of left field that Veronica could only blink. She had been expecting him to take advantage of having a hostage and fight her.
Why was he running away?
She snapped out of her shock and screamed, "Get back! Give me back, my baby sister!"
"Sorry, that''s not going to happen," the clown said as he continued to backflip without stopping.
Veronica scowled, chasing after the duo. Her shout had drawn the attention of nearby witches, who suddenly realized that they had missed one of the intruders and aimed their wands at them. Luckily, the clown dodged the numerous fireballs and waves of water heading towards him while keeping Veronica''s baby sister out of harm''s way.
When a lightning bolt brushed past her baby sister''s head, Veronica snarled, "Watch where you''re aiming. You could have hit my baby sister."
"Who cares?" the witch who had fired the lightning bolt snapped. "It''s just a human baby."
She gnashed her teeth together, ready to spit out some biting words, when the clown gave a dramatic sigh.
The witches focused their attention back on the clown as he said, "This is why the witch hunts happened. You''re all so barbaric."
"How dare you!" the witch screamed, sending a torrent of flame at the clown.
Veronica gasped as she was hit by a wave of heat and raised her arms to protect her face. Between the gaps in her raised arms, she watched with horrified eyes as the flames struck the clown and her baby sister.
"No!" she screamed, unable to do anything to save her baby sister.
The witch who unleashed the spell smirked, panting heavily from exerting so much magic. Veronica wanted to wipe the smirk off her face when she saw what was behind the witch, and her jaw dropped.
"Well, that wasn''t very nice." The witch lost her smirk as the clown''s shadow loomed over her. "I was simply telling the truth. I suppose I should return the favor."
Spinning on her heel, the witch raised her wand. However, the clown was faster and grabbed her forehead. What happened next was so gruesome that Veronica had to look away and barely kept herself from throwing up. Not everyone could do the same, as she heard several witches puking. Forcing herself to look back at the clown, she pointedly avoided gazing at the witch sprawled on the ground.
The clown grimaced as he pulled a handkerchief out of nowhere and wiped his bloodied hand on it. "That was unpleasant. This is why I don''t like participating in fights." Then he noticed everyone else''s reaction. "Oh, sorry about that. It''s not exactly kid-friendly, but don''t worry. I''ll fix that."
With a snap of his fingers, a pink cloud burst out in front of him, right where the witch''s body was. Her gaze was drawn back to the witch against her will. Veronica did a double take as the blood had been replaced with stuffing.
She couldn''t decide if this was more horrifying than what she had seen just moments before or not.
"Now that gruesome sight is out of the way, I suggest all you focus on fighting someone else," the clown said as he waved them away.
Before Veronica could open her mouth, one of the witches exclaimed, "Where did he go? He was just here a moment ago."
Veronica gave her a befuddled look as another witch said, "He must have used magic to teleport away."
What are they talking about? He''s right here.
She glanced between the clown and the other witches, who continued to insist he was no longer there.
Had the clown used magic to make them think he teleported away? Then why could she still see him?
He must have felt her gaze as he turned in her direction. "Huh. It looks like my magic doesn''t work on you. How peculiar."
"What did you do?" she asked, her face contorted in utter confusion.
The clown hummed his face, taking on a thoughtful expression before saying, "Let''s just say I performed a magic trick." That wasn''t an answer, but he clearly didn''t care as he continued, "Now I suggest you leave too, or else I''ll have to deal with you just like I dealt with the other witch."
In an instant, all her bravado went up in smoke.
Her gaze lowered back to the witch at his feet, and she imagined herself in the witch''s place. She instantly slammed her eyes shut, but it was too late as the image was seared into her eyes. Her legs shook, and she found it hard to breathe. Veronica jerked at the feeling of a hand on her shoulder.
"Take deep breaths. I''m not going to do anything to you as long as you stay out of my way," the clown whispered in her ear.
If that was his attempt to calm her down, he did a terrible job.
His hand pulled away from her shoulder. Despite all the noise around them, she could hear him walking away from her. Each step echoed loudly in her ears as he moved farther and farther away.
Soon he would be gone along with her baby sister.
I have to stop him. If I don''t, I might not see her ever again.
Witching Hour Party Chapter 16
However, Veronica''s legs refused to budge.
If she took even one step, no, if she even tried to move, Veronica was certain she would fall over like a puppet with its strings cut. Every fiber of her being was telling her to give up and not go after the clown.
Move body. Move!
Her body refused to listen as her eyes remained closed.
How far had the clown gone already?
Veronica couldn''t hear his steps anymore.
As she was about to give in, she vaguely heard someone call out her name. Her eyes snapped open, and she saw Echo frantically attacking the clown. Her familiar''s attempts were pitiful as he flew around the clown like a fly clawing at the man with his claws. Seeing Echo desperately fight to save her baby sister gave her the push she needed to take a step forward.
"Seriously, can you go away?" The clown waved Echo away. "Just because you''re cute doesn''t mean I won''t hurt you."
He froze as he felt something tug on the back of his clothes and glanced behind him at Veronica, who steadfastly returned his gaze. "Give back my baby sister."
Her hands shook as she continued to cling to the silent clown. Echo managed to grab onto some of the clown''s hair and pull, but the clown didn''t bat an eye. He continued to stare into Veronica''s eyes with a blank expression.
Veronica had no clue what was going on in his head.
Was the clown thinking about how to get rid of her?
The thought only made her hands shake even more. Despite this, she refused to let go and tightened her grip even further.
"I said let go of my baby sister," she repeated with more conviction.
After several long moments, he finally made his move. As his hand reached out to her, Veronica flinched and closed her eyes. She fully expected him to deal with her like he had with the witch before her¡ªwhy did she think it was a good idea to confront the clown without her broomstick or help from the other witches?¡ªbut what he did next was so shocking that she snapped open her eyes.
He continued to pat her head like he was her dad and said, "You know what? You can have her back."
Veronica speechlessly took her baby sister back, still reeling from the whiplash. She blinked several times, but the situation didn''t change.
What''s going on? Did he really give her back? Why? He is the one who kept insisting on keeping her. What changed?
Her confusion must have been obvious, as the clown seemed to take pity on her and answered her unspoken questions. "I''m just hired help. Technically, I wasn''t supposed to hurt anyone, but that witch from earlier was getting on my nerves."
She wasn''t sure how she was supposed to react to that information and kept her mouth shut.
"Anyway, I better get going. See ya," the clown said as he gave her a brief wave, which happened to knock Echo away and out of his hair.
Then he was gone in a flash. Veronica stared at where the clown originally stood as Echo recovered from being swatted away.
"Where did he go?" her familiar asked as he flew to her side.
"I...I don''t know," she said, scanning the area for the clown.
Honestly, she was just glad that the clown was gone and that they had made it out in one piece. She still didn''t get what the clown''s deal was, as his actions were weird, but she wasn''t going to look a gift horse in the mouth.
"We should get out of here," Veronica said as she cradled her baby sister close to her chest.
"How?" Echo asked as he landed on her shoulder.
Veronica didn''t get a chance to answer as she dodged a blast of water. It flew past her and nearly hit another witch, who blocked it with a fireball. Unfortunately, this created a blast that caused Veronica to stumble. Luckily, she didn''t fall over and crush her baby sister with her weight. Now that she had her baby sister in her arms, she searched the vicinity for a safe place to hide until the battle was over.
She didn''t feel a single ounce of regret running from the fighting.
What did they expect her to do?
Without her broomstick, she couldn''t cast any magic. She was currently no better than a regular human.
Her eyes swiveled around the room with no signs of a safe spot. Veronica gritted her teeth as she was forced to move when decent-sized rocks were flung in her direction. They crashed into the ground behind her, kicking up dust and dirt.
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In the back of her mind, she vaguely wondered how there could be dirt when they weren''t even on the first floor.
Suddenly, a strange sound reached her ears. Veronica spun around with a bewildered look on her face as she swore she had just heard a squeak even with everything happening around them. That''s when her gaze fell onto a mouse standing on top of a fallen statue. The two stared at each other before the mouse scurried down the statue and hurried away.
Is that really a mouse? Did a witch really get a mouse as their familiar?
The mouse abruptly stopped and looked back at her. Its gaze practically screamed at her to get a move on. Realizing that the mouse was actually trying to help her, she decided to run with it and followed after the mouse. The group navigated their way through the crowd away from the fighting. She glanced back several times to catch a glimpse of what was going, but she mostly kept her attention on the mouse.
When they finally reached the other side of the room, she collapsed against the wall to catch her breath. "Thank you, uh, Mr. Mouse."
"It''s Miss Mouse if you don''t mind," the mouse squeaked at her feet.
If there wasn''t a wall behind her, Veronica would have thrown herself away from the talking mouse.
Rather, what ended up happening was that her head crashed into the wall, causing her to keel over from the pain. Her baby sister chose this moment to start crying; the noise drowned out by the sound of fighting.
Really? You pick now of all times to cry?
Despite her baby sister''s inconvenient timing¡ªseriously, her baby sister had been quiet while in the crazy clown''s arms¡ªVeronica didn''t snap at her.
Instead, Veronica urgently rocked her baby sister back and forth while hushing her. Her eyes jumped back and forth between her baby sister and the chaotic scene in front of her.
Even though her baby sister''s cries couldn''t be heard over the sound of fighting, she didn''t want to risk the chance of drawing attention to themselves.
Veronica was so focused on calming her baby sister down that she had forgotten about the talking mouse until she felt something brush against her ear. She jerked her head back, nearly dislodging the mouse that sank its paws into her clothes.
"Hey, back away from my witch," Echo demanded as he hovered above them.
"I''m not trying to take your witch," the talking mouse said as it steadied itself on Veronica''s shoulder. "I was just trying to get her attention."
After staring at the talking mouse for a few seconds, Veronica blurted out, "How can you talk? How can I hear you?"
The mouse titled its head to one side. "What are you talking about? Have you never seen a talking mouse before? Aren''t you a witch with a bat for a familiar?"
Echo landed on Veronica''s head as he asked, "That''s absurd. A witch can only talk with their familiar. I''ve never heard of talking animals."
She would have agreed with Echo if she didn''t remember her previous encounter with a talking black cat.
Could this mouse be like that black cat? A witch in the form of a mouse?
What she couldn''t get was why a mouse. There were plenty of other animals the witch could have chosen from, but they ended up going with a mouse. That was unless the witch had been forced to be a mouse. Then Veronica pitied her.
"Oh, that''s how it is." Veronica never thought she would see a mouse adopt what appeared to be a thoughtful expression. "I forgot that''s the rule in this place. It''s hard to keep track of all the different rules of each place."
Veronica didn''t get a chance to ask what the mouse meant as her baby sister wailed even louder, which she hadn''t thought was possible. Her eardrums felt like they were about to explode from the insistent crying. As she was about to return to rocking her baby sister, the mouse suddenly jumped off her shoulder onto her baby sister.
"Time to go to sleep," the mouse said as it waved its paw of her baby sister''s face.
Her baby sister''s wailing quieted down until she completely stopped. Her eyes fluttered before closing all the way.
Without hesitation, Veronica freed one hand to grab the mouse and bring it close to her face as she demanded, "What did you do?"
Unbothered by her reaction, the mouse said, "I just put her to sleep. It''s nothing dangerous or permanent. It''ll only last at most half an hour."
If it weren''t for the slight rise and fall of her baby sister''s chest and the warmth she felt, Veronica would have thought the mouse was lying.
"How did you do that? Familiars can''t use magic," Veronica said.
It was well known that familiars couldn''t perform magic. Being able to talk didn''t count since familiars could only talk to their own witch thanks to the bond. This just further cemented the idea that the mouse in her hand was really a witch in a mouse''s body.
"Well, you already know that I''m not a normal mouse or familiar," the mouse said before being cut off by Veronica''s aha.
"So you are a witch in a mouse''s body," Veronica said.
"Wha¡ªyeah. You could say that."
She had a lot of questions for the mouse, but the abrupt shaking of the floor reminded Veronica that this was probably not the time or place to ask.
"So, uh, Mister, no, Miss Mouse, can you help us?" Veronica asked anxiously as her eyes darted around.
"If you expect me to be a powerful witch in a mouse disguise, I have to disappoint you." Veronica wilted. "But I can try to help. What do you need from me?"
"Can you stop those bad guys?"
"...That''s not within my power. Besides, I think someone else will come to save the day."
Right as she was about to ask what the mouse meant, the ceiling above them was blown right off.
Veronica wasn''t sure what happened. One moment there was a ceiling above them. The next, the ceiling was just gone. It had completely disappeared without a trace, like it had never been there to begin with.
This certainly got everyone''s attention as all eyes turned upward at the sudden light and cold wind. Veronica''s eyes widened at the sight of the moonlight illuminating the figure of a beautiful woman standing on top of a broomstick. Her silver hair floated around her as her red eyes stared emotionlessly down at them. She slowly raised a hand until it was eye level and snapped.
"That''s impossible," someone said as the sky filled with icicles.
As to prove the voice wrong, the icicles fell down like a torrent of rain. Veronica instinctively flinched and curled herself around her baby sister to protect her from the sudden attack.
However, it didn''t seem like it was necessary.
Whether it was because she didn''t seem to be a threat or happened to be out of range, none of the icicles landed close to her. They stopped several feet away, but that didn''t stop Veronica from putting as much distance between them and the icicles as possible.
She would rather be safe than sorry.
Witching Hour Party Chapter 17
When the dust cleared, Veronica''s jaw dropped at the sight of the aftermath. Almost everyone was either pinned down by the icicles or frozen on the ground¡ªboth literally and physically. Only a few were still standing, with one of them unfortunately being the leader of the invaders, who looked up at the newcomer with contempt.
This is crazy. I''ve seen a lot of amazing displays of magic, but this is the first time I''ve seen something so incredible.
Veronica stared up at the witch with a mixture of awe and fear.
Who was she? Where did she come from? Why hadn''t she been at the witching hour party earlier?
Her mind swirled with questions, but she didn''t get a chance to voice them as the insanely strong little girl from before said, "Master, what are you doing here? You didn''t need to interfere."
The newcomer didn''t say a word. She simply stared blankly down at them without a speck of emotion on her face.
What was going through the witch''s mind right now?
It was impossible for Veronica to tell what the newcomer was thinking.
"How dare you get in my way? Who are you?" the leader of the invaders suddenly demanded, swinging his arm in front of himself.
This got a reaction from the new witch, but it wasn''t a reaction any of them expected. "A mutt should learn to keep its mouth shut. I was being lenient as not to seriously hurt or damage this place, but if you keep insisting on barking, I won''t hesitate to permanently silence you."
This is being lenient?
Looking around at her surroundings, Veronica couldn''t imagine what it would really look like if the newcomer decided to get serious.
Would any of them be able to make it out in one piece?
"Shut up," the leader of the invaders roared as he summoned a large fireball, which hurled itself at the witch above them.
The fireball didn''t get a chance to even touch her as it suddenly turned into a ball of ice. The large ball of ice glittered in the moonlight as it hanged above them like a second moon. Veronica''s jaw dropped.
Without even having to peek at everyone else''s reaction, she was sure they were just as stunned as her.
"I warned you," the witch said.
The huge ball of ice abruptly dropped down at break taking speed towards the leader of the invaders. Veronica immediately closed her eyes and shielded her baby sister from the sight. There was a scream of outrage followed by a sickening, wet crunch. She didn''t dare to open her eyes and pressed her baby sister close to her chest.
"You''re going to suffocate the baby if you keep holding her like that," a voice said in her ear.
She jolted and opened her eyes to check on her baby sister. When she saw that her baby sister was fine, she breathed a sigh of relief. Veronica refused to lift her head, afraid of what she might see, but even from the corner of her eyes, she could see the giant ball of ice with mysterious red spots.
"Oh?" The tone in the newcomer''s voice drew Veronica''s attention, her eyes darting up at the witch. "This is unexpected. You''re a lot more durable than expected."
Before Veronica could figure out what she meant, the ball of ice exploded. Pieces of ice blasted through the air, with some hitting some of the people. Fortunately, none of them struck Veronica or her baby sister, and they simply landed around them, kicking up some dust. Veronica raised an arm and coughed into it as the dust got into her face. Something jumped out of the dust where the giant ball of ice had been.
"Don''t act so cocky, you witch," the leader of the invaders snarled as he launched a barrage of fireballs.
Unfortunately for him, his attack was nothing in the face of the newcomer.
In a bat of an eye, he swatted aside like a fly, and the fireballs that had been summoned dispersed into the wind. No one dared to say a word or make a move as they watched the crumpled form of the leader of the invaders crawl across the ground like a worm.
"This can''t be. How could I lose to some witch?" he muttered to himself, loud enough for everyone to hear.
The newcomer snapped her fingers. Even though Veronica couldn''t see what the witch had done, she had a feeling she knew what happened considering how frantically the leader of the invaders was clawing at his face.
"I thought I told you to be silent," the newcomer said before turning her attention to the little girl.
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The little girl jerked at the sudden attention and stammered, "S-sorry, master. I made a mistake."
"Who told you to come here and reveal yourself?"
"I¡ª"
"Don''t you think you''re being a bit mean to your daughter?" a familiar voice asked.
Veronica''s eyes widened at the sight of the clown from before appearing right behind the newcomer.
It''s him. How did he get there?
She hadn''t expected to see him again so soon, especially right behind the newcomer. In fact, she couldn''t figure out how he was doing that. There was nothing behind the newcomer for him to stand on. It was just open air unless he was standing on her broomstick, but the position seemed off. Veronica honestly couldn''t tell from her spot on the ground. Maybe she was mistaken, but that wasn''t important at the moment.
The newcomer didn''t bat an eye as she asked, "What are you doing?"
"I''m just reporting in," the clown said, waving his arms around theatrically. "I''ve completed my mission."
"If that''s all, then you''re wasting my time."
"Your words hurt me."
Watching the two banter felt ridiculous.
Not too long ago, there had been a serious battle playing out. Now it was as if it had never happened to begin with except for the remaining evidence still surrounding them.
At that moment, the newcomer''s eyes fell onto Veronica, who flinched.
Is she looking at me? No, I have to be mistaken. She must be looking at someone else.
Despite her best efforts to convince herself that the witch wasn''t really looking at her, she couldn''t shake the feeling that the witch''s eyes were directed towards her. There was nothing else the witch could be looking at. The only people in the direction the newcomer was looking at were herself, her baby sister, Echo, and the mouse. Even if the newcomer had sharp eyes, Veronica highly doubted she would be interested in a mouse or Echo.
Was the witch perhaps looking at something and not someone?
Veronica glanced at her surroundings, but all she could see were the chunks of ice nearby and the disheveled appearance of the room. When she focused her attention back to where the newcomer was, Veronica nearly jumped out of her skin.
Why did she get in front of me?
The witch ignored her shock and stared directly into Veronica''s eyes as she invaded Veronica''s personal space. With no place to go and not wanting to antagonize such a powerful witch, Veronica remained rooted in place while the witch kept eyeing her with an emotionless expression. Out of the corner of her eye, Veronica noticed everyone else watching them with a curious expression.
The first to break the awkward silence was the little girl who trotted over to them. "Master, what are you doing? Why are you staring at that girl?"
That''s what I want to know!
After several moments of silence, the witch finally said, "Curious."
What was curious?
She really wanted to ask, but she was too afraid of accidentally annoying the witch. All she could do was wait and see if the witch would explain anything.
"Oh?" the clown said as he popped up from behind the newcomer again. "You''re interested in her too. She is a curious thing."
Veronica wasn''t sure whether that was supposed to be a compliment or insult.
"You." Veronica immediately turned her attention back to the witch in front of her. "What''s your name?"
She hesitated before saying, "It''s Veronica."
There was no reaction from the witch, and Veronica fidgeted beneath the intense stare.
"I think you''re scaring her," the clown whispered conspiratively.
You''re not helping.
Then the newcomer''s gaze turned downward to her baby sister. Something shifted in her eyes, leaving Veronica even more anxious. She wasn''t sure what the emotion was in the witch''s eyes, but it didn''t sit right with her as she discretely shielded her baby sister from view. Well, it wasn''t truly possible to move without notice, and the clown smiled amusingly at her.
"Don''t worry. We''re not going to eat her," the clown said.
At the same time, the witch said, "I want her."
The clown froze, his head slowly turning towards the witch. "What was that?"
He wasn''t the only one confused by the witch''s statement, as everyone stared at her like she had grown another head.
Out of all the things she could have said, none of them could have expected the newcomer to ask for a human baby. It would have been one thing if the baby was a witch, but even then it would be odd. Veronica couldn''t help but think that the newcomer had bad intentions toward her baby sister. While she was grateful she helped them and was intimidated by the other witch, she couldn''t hand her baby sister like it was nothing.
Keeping her baby sister close to her chest, Veronica said, "Don''t touch her."
"Don''t talk to her like that," one of the witches snapped. "She just saved us."
"It''s just a human baby. You don''t have to be so defensive," another one said.
Veronica scowled, trying to locate the ones speaking.
However, the newcomer''s next words stopped Veronica dead in her tracks. "I want you too."
I don''t get it. What does she want with me and my baby sister? We weren''t even participating in the fight. We just stayed in the corner the entire time. She isn''t going to punish us, is she?
Unfortunately, the newcomer wasn''t more forthgoing and was impossible to read.
Seeing that she couldn''t get anywhere with the witch, Veronica glanced at the clown. Any hope she might find a clue from the clown was dashed away as he stared at the newcomer oddly.
"What are you thinking?" he asked.
The newcomer didn''t say a word. The tense atmosphere was interrupted by the sound of running footsteps. All eyes turned to the doorway just as Leta burst through.
"You''re going to pay for that. Do you want a piece of¡ª" Leta stared, studying her surroundings, before blurting out, "What happened?"
The sight of Leta being okay brought tears to Veronica''s eyes.
She had been worried about Leta, but with everything that had been happening, she couldn''t even spare her a second thought. Now that the fight was over, she could fret over her friend.
As if sensing her thoughts, Leta glanced in Veronica''s direction. Despite Veronica being on the other side of the room and with several people blocking her from view, Leta seemed to have spotted her and narrowed her eyes. Leta stormed towards them with a dark look on her face, clutching her broomstick in front of herself. She didn''t get very far as several witches rushed over to stop her, probably picking up on the fact that Leta intended to pick a fight.
"What are you doing? Let go!" Leta demanded.
"Don''t pick a fight with her," one of the witches said as they struggled against Leta.
"She saved us," another said.
The group of witches squabbled, but the newcomer didn''t pay them any mind. The clown and little girl took a few moments to watch what was happening before turning their attention back to Veronica.
"As amusing as this is, are you sure you want to take them?" the clown asked.
Without hesitation, the witch said, "I''m sure."