Hocus Pocus (Stories Untold)

Chapter 1: After the Sun Rises

Winifred Sanderson floated in the air on her broom, the child who had insulted her writhing in her grasp. On the ground nearby was that cursed Binx boy, Thackery. Unstopping the vial of her precious potion with her teeth, she prepared to force it down the girl's throat.

Three hundred years ago, Winifred and her sisters had been the terror of Salem. They had kidnapped a young girl named Emily Binx, hoping to use her to fuel their spell. With it, they could become immortal and eternally young. They partially achieved their goal, and they would have fully achieved it had Emily's older brother Thackery not intervened. As punishment, she and her sisters had cursed him with the body of a cat, with fur black as the night, and immortal life. No matter how much Thackery wanted to die, to join his family on the other side, he couldn't.

Then, on this very night, 300 years later, Max, the wretched girl's older brother, had lit the Black Candle, bringing them back for one night, just long enough for them to exact their revenge.

And now she had the girl in her grasp. Binx, coming to, saw what Winifred was about to do, and leapt into action. "No Dani!" He cried, trying to stop Winifred.

But it was too late. Winifred had already forced the potion down Dani's throat, and... nothing happened.

"What trickery is this?" cried Winifred, "I should be able to suck the life out of you!" she tried, but nothing happened!

The sun rose.

"No! No! No!" cried Winifred right before she and her sisters exploded into dust. Dani fell to the ground.

•••

The sun had rose, the warm glow of the sun was casting long shadows, turning the fallen leaves a dusky orange, and the light filtered in through the trees. The three witches were gone, but for some reason, Binx was still there. A quick look down and yup! Sure enough, he still had paws, a tail, and fur as black as the night. While pondering the strange predicament, Dani spoke up to break the silence and bringing Binx out of his thoughts. "Well, we got rid of the witches, but now what?" Binx curled his tail over his front paws and stares up at the three kids. "I'm not sure, I guess you three go back home and I will go back and guard the Sanderson house." Binx mewed while flicking his tail toward the forest as he spoke. The midnight-black feline did a quick stretch and slowly stood to his paws, preparing to turn around and dash back into the line of trees. Binx was about to do just that when a sudden thought occurred to him and he stopped in his tracks, turning back around to look over at Dani, Max, and Alison, who were all staring down at him with curious expressions forming on each of their faces.

Binx just blinked and stared up at them with confused eyes. "What?" he asked, twitching his ears back and forth as he studied there expressions. "But you have no reason to guard the house anymore Binx, the witches are gone." Max pointed out while gesturing vaguely with his hands toward the sky. "So why don't you come home and live with us?" Binx knew he was right, but he just wanted to do it as a precaution. But in reality, now that he thought about it, it's not like the witches were gonna come back for a visit anytime soon. So why not take them up on their offer?

Binx sighed softly to himself before casting one last glance back into the woods. "Alright, I'll come with you. I just hope nothing bad happens in the meantime." Binx mewed in defeat, finally giving into what they were asking of him. "But will your parents take in an immortal cat who can talk?" Binx inquired with a small tilt of his furry black head. Dani laughed quietly to herself at that and picked the small cat up, holding him securely in her arms as she spoke up. "Don't worry Binx, we'll take care of it." She paused for a moment before continuing to speak, albeit with a teasing edge to her voice as she spoke. "Hey Binx, did anyone ever tell you that you overthink things too much?" she remarked with a small laugh and a raised eyebrow directed toward the cat in her arms.

And when they finally did get home, their parents had been waiting for them. Max had been the one to tell them that they had found Binx while out trick-or treating. But of course they couldn't tell their parents that Thakery Binx, who had once been a boy, but then he had been turned into an immortal talking cat, for if they did, they would be scent to a mental health institution. Their parents weren't exactly ecstatic about the 'stray' cat they had brought home, but after seeing how much he meant to Dani (and Max), they were quick to accept Binx as part of the family.