Dance of Magic - The Books of Beginning [1]

5. The Attack And The Escape

"What was that," Robert whispered in utter terror, nearly collapsing at the sound of the screecher. He propped himself up against the kitchen table, his eyes wide with fear.

"It's a screecher. Just try to remember that it's screams aren't that bad, they can't hurt you, and that we'll get you out of this somehow," Michael advised the teen.

Robert nodded shakily, watching as the scared but functional Wibberly siblings plotted their next move.

"We have to get out of here! Everything is locked, which will buy us some time, but won't hold forever," Kate said.

"We need to get to Cambridge Falls," Dr. Pym instructed, "my home there is protected from attacks such as these and there might be valuable research in my study."

"Ok, but how do we get there? It's hours away!" Emma retorted.

Dr. Pym didn't seem concerned by this reasonable thought, "why, with magic of course."

"I'm case you didn't notice, we're a little short on that," Emma snapped.

"Well, yes, I'll admit that's a problem, but I think I have a workaround. Now obviously, being ghosts, our abilities in the world of the living, including abilities to do magic, are severely limited. However, if we could borrow magic from a living soul - just using the natural magical energy all living beings put out, we could generate enough power to create a portal to Cambridge Falls," Dr. Pym said.

"So basically, you would use our magical auras to power your spell?" Michael asked, wishing he had a notebook to jot all this information down.

"Exactly," Dr. Pym confirmed.

Kate, Michael, and Emma exchanges looks. Finally, Kate said, "Well we don't seem to have any better ideas, so let's do it."

"I'll go on ahead and scout out the area, and warn Abraham and Ms. Sallow if they're there," Gabriel declared before vanishing using the land of the dead and his new ghostly abilities as a passageway.

"Great," Dr. Pym said, "now, we need to get started creating the portal before-"

Just then, a crash came, and more shrieks, sounding very close. The screechers were throwing themselves against the front door, trying to break it down.

Quickly, Dr. Pym took a place between Michael and Emma, hands hovering over their shoulders, using their magical auras to fuel the spell that he couldn't do on his own. Michael and Emma exchanges glances of worry, but felt nothing except a bit of fatigue and a slight crackle in the air, the only signs of the magic taking place

Slowly but surely, a portal began to form, revealing the dark library in the Cambridge Falls mansion on the other side, blurred around the edges of the magical doorway that had been opened. Michael gasped at what he and Emma had helped accomplish.

Dr. Pym remover his hands from the children's shoulders, "quickly now, the portal will only stay open for a moment. Robert, you first."

Not hesitating and wanting to get away from the monsters at the door, Robert leapt  through the portal, collapsing on the other side.

"Now you two," Dr. Pym said to Michael and Emma.

Just then, they heard a sickening crack. The door had come crashing down and the screechers, with their nightmare shout, were entering the house.

"Go now!" Dr. Pym urged. He didn't need to tell Michael and Emma twice. The two children dashed through, with the ghost of their friend following until only Kate and Rafe had yet to cross through the portal.

"You go first," Rafe said, and Kate gave him a sharp nod, preparing to leap through after her siblings. But just as she was about to make contact and go through, a grotesque and bony hand grabbed her shoulder and yanked her back, just as the time ran out for the portal, which snapped shut despite Kate's siblings screaming her name from the other side.

Meanwhile, Kate twisted frantically in the screecher's grip, shoving it off of her and into the table, just as three more entered the room, blocking the exit and Kate's chance at escape.

Rafe watched all of this, panicking immensely. He couldn't let harm come to Kate. Not after all he had done to save her, not when he loved her. Quickly, he disappeared and reappeared by her side, his hand hovering just about her shoulder.

"We're going to get out of here. Together. Just trust me," he whispered to her, and he could see in her eyes that she did trust him, that she too was determined to escape.

As the screechers closed in on them, Rafe focused on Cambridge Falls, on getting there and harnessing magic to do so. He knew Kate was thinking about the same thing as their will and his magical ability sparked the aura of magic in her soul to life. Rafe gasped as he felt the magic within her wrapping around them, igniting a glow around them that pushed the grabbing arms of the screechers away.

Then that power sparked once more, opening a quick portal that swallowed the young couple up, spiriting them away to Cambridge Falls, and closing as fast as it opened, leaving the screechers to grab at nothing but air.

...............

As soon as Kate and Rafe arrived in Dr. Pym's library, they were greeted  with shouts of relief as Michael and Emma hugged their sister tightly. Kate wrapped her arms around both of them, promising in a soft whisper that she was here, that she would always be there for them, that she was ok.

"I know," Emma sniffled, trying very hard not to cry in front of everyone, "but it was so much like that time before, y'know. At the orphanage, with the atlas... I was scared we were gonna lose you again."

Kate brushed the hair out of her sister's eyes gently, her voice firm as she said, "You'll never lose me Emma. Never. I will never stop fighting for you and Michael, you hear me."

Emma nodded and wiped her eyes. Michael wipes his too, though if anyone asked, he would have denied that he was tearing up.

The ghosts of their friends watched this, before Gabriel turned to inform Dr. Pym that Ms. Sallow and Abraham were out of the house, each having gone to visit friends or family across the country. 

Rafe, meanwhile, shut all of it out to ponder something that had shocked him earlier. When he had reached out with his own magic for Kate's to power the spell, he had been expecting what every normal human had. A single spark of magic that illuminated their soul and allowed them to live. But what he had found instead was an inferno of power, one that was locked away for sure, but definitely there. 

He wasn't sure how he had not noticed it before. He must have assumed it was a part of the atlas's power. But it wasn't. Kate had a magical power all her own shut away inside of her, one that she didn't even know existed. And from what Rafe could feel, it was some incredibly strong magic.

What that meant though, he was not sure. If Kate had magical power, did Michael and Emma? Possibly so. Did Richard and Clare? He didn't think so, which was s the more curious. How had no one realized that this power was inside the Wibberlys? How had it not been unlocked before? And how, if at all, did it connect to the changing bonds of life and death and all the trouble they were in?

Rafe felt so confused, it was like a spiral of questions, each potential answer dragging up more things to consider.

Rafe was only snapped out of his thoughts by Robert (Rafe really wasn't liking that boy for some reason) saying, "uhh, it's great that we're all safe, but can someone please explain what is happening?"

Kate, her siblings, and the three ghosts all exchanged glances, all their conflictedness and mixed emotions, confusion and panic put aside for a moment as they wondered how to explain magic itself, as well as their adventures to this very normal, very frightened boy. Finally Kate said, "take a seat Robert, because this is gonna be a long story."

A/N: Well there you have it, a daring escape and some interesting plot points that could lead to very interesting places. And oh they will. I have big plans for this story. *insert evil laugh*