Traces Of Magic

~Chapter 21~

The bell jingles as Dustin and Savannah enter the magic shop. They march straight to the register where the old man is standing. He looks up at them. "Can I help you..." Dustin slams his fist down on the counter. "Cut the bullshit old man! We know you sell magic indicators and the such! Now, show me the goods."

The man sighs before going into the back of the store with the two of them following him. The back of the store is like a separate store filled with magic stuff. Dustin goes straight for a metallic, futuristic looking watch and stuffs it in his pocket. He shoves a ten dollar bill in the man's hand before leaving the store. As they near the car, Savannah grabs Dustin's arm. "You think you could go any faster? Tell me what we're doing." Dustin shakes her hand off and gets in the car. "Just get in Savannah." She frowns as she goes around and gets in the car. They both buckle in. "You'll find out when we get there."

Dustin stops the car at the edge of the woods and gets out. Savannah gets out as well and goes to the trunk with him. He opens the trunk and looks at Savannah. "You still have my gun, right?" She nods her head. He gestures for her to give it to him, and she hands it over. She crosses her arms as he puts the gun in his pocket and picks up Lexi. "How come I don't get a weapon Dustin?"

He sighs and gives her Lexi before rummaging around in the trunk. He finally pulls out a baseball bat and hands it to her as she gives him back Lexi. She practices taking a swing with it as he places Lexi on the sidewalk. "Quit playing around Savannah and hand me the bottle of water." She pouts and hands him the bottle of water. He takes off the cap and pours it on Lexi's face. She sits up abruptly and looks around. Dustin grabs her by the shoulder and pulls her up harshly before tossing her over his shoulder. "Come on. We need to get going. Savannah, you lead the way."

They stop at the edge of the trees. Dustin sets Lexi down before pulling the watch out of his pocket. "Can you tell me what that is please?" Clearly annoyed, he sighs. "This is a magic indicator. What it does is picks up on the amount of magic in an area and displays it with a certain color, almost like a thermal imaging camera would work." She nods her head, understanding half of what he said. He looks down at the watch. "She's here alright. And she's got friends." He shows her the image on the watch before he takes out the gun and looks down at Lexi. "What I said still stands. Don't say a word, and I'll keep mine." He looks back towards the cave.

"Cover your ears Savannah." She looks at him. "Why?" "Just do as I say and cover your ears!" She rolls here eyes before covering her ears. Dustin presses a button on the watch. It makes a screeching noise that would drive anyone crazy. Soon, the red head girl comes out and looks around. Dustin walks over to Savannah and gets her attention. He points at the red head girl. Savannah nods her head, picks up the bat, and makes her way behind the girl. Dustin watches as she sneaks up behind her and whacks her with the bat. The sound of the bat making contact is lost under the noise from the watch.

The girl falls to the ground. Not missing a chance, Savannah pounces on her and strangles her. Once the girl is unconscious, she drags her body back over to Dustin, who turns off the screeching noise coming from the watch. The woods are silent as he bounds and gags the girl the same way as Lexi.

"What do we do now Dustin? Obviously this isn't Mandy." Dustin looks at Savannah. "Do you think I don't know that she isn't Mandy? What we do now is wait. Eventually someone will come looking for her." She sighs before sitting down and leaning against a tree. "And when Mandy does come, don't do anything until I look at you. I have something special in mind for her..." She sighs as he turns his attention back to the cave.

I make my way outside. I shield my eyes from the sun as I move the rock back in front of the entrance. "Hello Mandy." Upon hearing my name, I turn around to see Dustin by the edge of the woods. Beside him stands a bound Lexi. "Dustin? What are you doing?" My voice catches in my throat. Dustin picks up on my fear.

"You know why I'm here Mandy. I know what you did in the bathroom earlier today..." My body becomes panicked as it begins to shake. He knows I have powers. "...I was planning on telling someone what I saw, but I want to make a deal with you." I stay silent, so he continues. "In return for your cooperation, I won't tell anyone about you and your friends' powers." I take a breath. "Then why do you have Lexi?"

He chuckles as he takes out a gun and points it at her stomach. From where I'm standing, I can see tears rolling down her face. "If you don't agree, not only will I tell everyone about you and your friends, but then I will kill Lexi. Right here, right now. You have a minute to decide starting now."

Now I really panic. What do I do? Do as he says and let him do who knows what to me in order to keep Lexi, Jarron, Sage, Grayson, and Derrick safe, or rebel against him and lose my best friend? Dustin's voice interrupts my thoughts. "Oh, too bad. You've ran out of time. Guess it's plan B." He smiles mockingly at me before pulling the trigger.

Lexi's eyes go wide as the bullet goes through her. Her body falls to the ground as I scream in terror. Dustin puts the gun away as I run over to Lexi's side. Her sweatshirt turns red as blood pours from her wound. "Lexi! Oh gosh Lexi! Why did I let this happen?" I see her struggle to breathe. "I'm so sorry Mandy..." Her chest goes up and down rapidly. I stare at her and frown. "Sorry for what?" "For...for not being there for you like Grayson..." I look at her. "Lexi you were always there for me." I move away from her slightly as she starts to cough of blood. "You were right. About everything. You were always right." I take her hand in mine, not caring about the blood. I feel her take her last breath before her hand falls away from mine.

Tears stream down my face and land on hers. Her face is covered by Dustin's shadow. The sound of a gun cocking makes me look up at the man who killed my best friend. "Awe. How sweet." He mocks me and places a hand on his heart. He looks at her and kicks her body. 'Stop it!" He looks over at me.

"Oh you don't like that, do you?" His face turns into an evil grin as he kicks her body harder. "Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!" He kicks her body harder one more time. The sound of a rib cracking sets me off. Anger floods my veins as I stand up. I feel my body get hotter and hotter as I stare at Dustin. I yell at the top of my lungs. "Stop it you monster!" The air entering my lungs ignite the internal flames inside me and my body explodes into a ball of fire. Suddenly, there is a sharp pain in the back of my head as my vision goes black.