Dark Days (The Childe Series, #2) (57 page)

Several hours after the final school bell rang, Miss Amaya was still sitting at her desk watching the sunset. She was exhausted. She had lost track of how many spells she and Gretchen had cast over the last couple of days. Now she was waiting to finish the last one, a complicated binding spell. One that if done correctly, would suppress the power of the three rogue vampire girls. Miss Amaya was more determined than ever to end this and get Melvin back.

“Miss Amaya?” a voice at the side of her made her jump in her seat.

“Oh Julie, it’s you. What are you doing here at this time of night?”

“Sorry I startled you. I just wanted to ask-” Julie stopped, seeing movement outside of the classroom windows. “We need to leave now!” Julie said firmly, grabbing her teacher’s arm and pulling her to her feet.

“What is it?” Miss Amaya asked, noticing the earnest look on Julie’s face.

“Trouble,” Julie replied tersely, dragging her teacher behind her toward the doorway.

“Okay, I get that, but what, or who?” 

“The threesome, I saw them outside the window. We’ve got to go,” Julie said, moving her along down the semi-dark empty hallway.

“Julie, what threesome?”

“Shhh! I think I heard something,” Julie replied, hearing a door open from behind them.

“Where oh where is the witch? That wicked witch, oh where has she gone? We want to show you our gratitude for the spells you’ve been casting on us,” an eerie voice echoed in the corridor.

“Don’t worry, we’ll find you. And soon you’ll be reunited with your honey bear, Melvie. He’s sooo delish! We just can’t seem to get enough of him.” Another voice giggled wickedly from somewhere in front of them.

Seeing the door to the janitor’s closet, Julie rushed over and was relieved when it opened. After the pair slipped inside, Julie closed the door quietly behind them.

“I need to put an invisibility spell on us, so please stand still,” Miss Amaya commanded, closing her eyes, and mumbling words from an ancient language. Julie began to feel a tingling sensation throughout her body as she stood still listening. 

“Miss Amaya? I’m beginning to think this whole spell thing was a bad idea.”

Miss Amaya’s eyes opened. “What do you mean?” she asked and then noticed Julie wasn’t in front of her.

“Uh, down here,” Julie said.

Dropping her eyes, Miss Amaya looked at her feet. “Oh my, Julie. I’m so sorry. I must’ve used the wrong spell. You’re all furry,” she apologized, seeing a cat that resembled a golden miniature lioness in front of her.

“No, your spell worked. It just revealed my true form in the process.”

“True form?”

“Yeah, I’m a familiar. Cat’s familiar to be exact,” Julie meowed.

“Cat’s familiar? Wait, you’re Jewels? Her stray cat friend? Interesting, you know I always felt there was something special about you.”

 “Yep, this is my secret. Wait…shhh. I think they’re just outside,” she whispered. The door to the janitor’s closet was suddenly flung open and the three girls burst into the room.

“Wrong again, Becca! She’s obviously not in here. You and Linda were right behind her. Tell me again how you lost her? I swear if I want something done right I have to do it myself.”

“Well I-” Becca began to explain.

“I was being sarcastic. I don’t really want your input. Now let’s split up. We need to find that witch! Andrei will be so upset if we screw up again!” Amy slammed the closet door shut and took off down the hall. “You two idiots, move it!” she yelled, keeping her back to them as she moved quickly out of sight.

“Who died and made her boss! She really irritates me. Come on, Linda, let’s go back to the bio classroom, maybe the witch has come back for her stuff.” Becca’s voice became more distant as she moved down the hall.

“Okay, Jewels, I mean, Julie. I guess we should stay awhile until they leave. Do you want me to try and turn you back?”

“No,” Julie’s voice purred. “Just give me a little while, and I’ll turn back on my own…I hope.”

“I guess we should have a seat, we might be here for a bit. You think they’d have a couch or something in here, at least a chair to sit on,” Miss Amaya rambled on, missing the rolling of the feline’s eyes at her words.

 “How’d she get past us? I mean, really?” Amy growled, meeting up with Linda and Becca in the woods behind the school.

“She may have gotten away, but lookie what we found,” Becca stated, holding a cell phone in her right hand.

“Tell me it’s the witch’s,” Amy said, her eyes brightening as Becca nodded with a wicked grin.

“Huh, so you two aren’t so useless after all. This will be perfect. Let’s call Cat. Oh, this is going to be so much fun, and Andrei will be very pleased.”

Cat lay on her bed staring at the ceiling wondering how the meeting was going. She was told to stay home and not leave the house under any circumstances. Taylor was downstairs with Trish, and Cat knew it had been her parents’ idea to have them babysit her. Even Ryan was attending the meeting, which she felt was so unfair. She flinched as her cell phone rang at its full volume. Seeing Miss Amaya’s number on the screen, she quickly answered. “I’m so happy you called. I’m going crazy waiting for this meeting to be over and find out what’s going to happen. It’s not fair that my parents think I can’t handle this. If they only knew how much I’ve dealt with, they’d be shocked.” Cat paused waiting for a response.

“What meeting is that, Ms. Catherine Colvin?” Amy’s voice came through the phone.

“What are you doing with Miss Amaya’s phone?” Cat asked angrily, her eyes narrowing.

“Well, wouldn’t you like to know,” Amy taunted.

“I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t!” Cat grounded out through clenched teeth.

Amy giggled evilly. “If you want to know that badly, why don’t you come join the party? We’re having so much fun here.”

“If you hurt her I’ll-”

“You’ll what? Come now, little kitty, and play with us at the clearing by the beach. I know you know where it is. Oh, and one itsy bitsy request.”

“What?!”

“Come alone!”

Cat heard a beep and realized Amy had hung up. Quickly slipping on her tennis shoes, Cat grabbed her jacket and left through her bay window. Looking over her balcony and seeing no one around, Cat floated to the ground and made her way to the shed to retrieve her bike. Sticking to the shadows as best as she could, she was unaware she was being followed. Duffie and Leif rode silently behind her, keeping a safe distance between them but not losing sight of Cat.