Second Generation Witches

Striking a Deal

I really don't like Joel!

Julianna lifted her head from her pillow. A piece of toast sat next to her. What had happened? She must have gotten breakfast then come up here and fell asleep. Yes, that was it. It had to be. She spotted the box by her bed and picked up.
Arissa walked in half an hour later.
"What are you doing?" She asked softly, clearly nervous about something.
"Trying to open the box," Julianna mumbled.
"I'll go get mine!" Arissa offered.
They tried all evening to get them open, but nothing worked.
The next four days were the same. Arissa woke up and jogged around the block. When she came home, her and Julianna worked on the boxes until dinnertime with no luck at all.
It was always the same. Try after try after try. Pull on this piece, pry open this side, try this magic spell.
Nothing. Nothing at all.
Julianna was frustrated. Extremely frustrated.
It had been weeks since school ended, and she was starting to wish she could go back in time. The boxes wouldn't open, Arissa was acting strangely, and every time she got close to Elphaba she felt as if she was supposed to remember something.
Not to mention the fact that Arissa would always be cooped up in her room. What was it in there? Was she working on the box? Then there was the big question: Had she ever told her mother about the man in the alley?
Julianna was afraid that if she brought that up, her and Arissa's friendship would only get worse.

Arissa closed the door to her house and took off. Every morning for the past week she had jogged around Oz, trying to tell her feet to go back to the alley, but every time she chickened out.
Not today. This time, she was going back. She could feel it. She ran to the fountain then down the alley. Turn left here, right there. Just ahead. Almost there. Stop. How she knew where to go, she didn't know, but she knew she was in the right place.
"What's a pretty girl like you doing in here?" A voice said.
Arissa jumped as a man cornered her.
"I asked you a question," He snarled, placing his hand on her cheek.
"Harry, stand down," Another man commanded. For the first time, Arissa was relieved to see him.
"This is the girl I was talking to you about. You know, the Wicked Witch of the West's daughter," He smiled.
"Oh, so this is your beautiful niece," The man laughed.
Arissa had never thought of it that way, but she still couldn't understand that he was her uncle. Was it even true?
"I'll leave you two alone," The first man, Harry, said.
"So, have you told your mother about me yet?" Her supposed uncle asked.
"No. Not yet, actually," Arissa mumbled.
"Then what do you want?"
"I...I put a memory charm on Julianna," Arissa whispered, ashamed.
"And?" The man asked, clearly not impressed.
"And I don't want her to remember," Arissa admitted.
"I can't stop her from remembering, but if she does remember, I can get her to....not tell anyone," The man said.
"You wouldn't hurt her, would you?"
"No," He said, and the lie was so convincing that Arissa didn't notice.
"There's something else," Arissa mumbled.
"Get on with it."
"I was wondering if you knew anything about two boxes. You see, Elphaba and Glinda gave Julianna and I these boxes with our names on them, but we can't open them. I was just wondering if you knew," Arissa asked.
"Why do you want to know so badly?" The man questioned.
"Well...um...Julianna and I have been growing apart lately. I think this might bring us together," Arissa admitted. It was true, but what was also true was that Arissa knew the bottle of green liquid was what was keeping them apart. It was driving her insane.
"I know about these boxes, as a matter of fact," The man said.
"Really? Oh thank you, I-"
"But all of this will come with a price," The man finished.
"What's the price?" Arissa asked worriedly.
"If you are satisfied with what I have to tell you, which you will be, you will report here every day for the next week and be my servant for exactly four hours. 6 to 10 AM. You will do whatever I tell you, is that understood?"
"Yes," Arissa whispered.
"So do we have a deal?"
"We have a deal."
"Good. Now, these boxes are activated by blood. A person would offer their blood as a sacrifice, then the box will be theirs," The man explained.
"The thorns," Arissa breathed.
"Each box will have exactly what the person needs, even if they do not know it, but, the only person that can open it is the owner of the twin box. In this case, I would imagine it to be Julianna."
Of course, Julianna and Arissa were best friends. They had to help the other.
"Thank you," Arissa said.
"If this works, I'll will expect you here at 6:00 sharp, understood?" The man commanded.
"Yes, sir." Arissa was about to leave, but turned back. "What is your name?"
"Joel," He answered with a smile. "My name is Joel."