Chapter Nine Twizz
A mile away from the house, I use nearby trees to conceal myself as I shrink to the size of a small bird.
I unfurl my wings and take flight. Perhaps after I reveal my true form to Isabella, I can take her for a night flight.
Those are my favorite. If she isn’t too frightened by dark fairytales and folklore of old.
I arrive at the house after several flaps of my wings and perch on the roof, just above the water gutter, to survey the area.
It feels good to cause mischief in my natural form.
It’s been a while. Master Larkin keeps me on the straight and narrow, insisting that we don’t have to indulge people in their idea that we’re monsters.
There are five houses on the block, with this one at the center of the cul-de-sac. Just as I suspected, they’re dark as their occupants should be sleeping. The only noise to be heard is that of crickets and frogs singing in the night. Far off, an owl hoots, joining the chorus. It’s perfect.
I hop off of the roof, down to the brick surface in front of the doors. There’s just enough room between the ground and the bottom of the doors for me to shrink down even smaller and sneak inside.
Keeping myself the size of a grown man’s thumb, I flitter into the kitchen where we were earlier. Moonlight spills in through the slats, which will be helpful in case there is any unexpected animal life, like a dog or cat, that I didn’t detect earlier.
Before I follow through on my plan, I explore the downstairs again. The fan blade still spins. I sit atop the counter and cast a spell on the oven clock for it to work backward.
As if the house approves of my actions, the walls shimmer, displaying a set of arrows leading to the upstairs.
I hear voices and pause in a corner where the wall meets the ceiling.
After a few seconds, I follow the sound into the parents’ bedroom.
A television mounted on the wall illuminates the room.
That is the source of the voices, as the loud, vibrating snores of the parents indicate that they are in a deep sleep.
I settle on the wife’s night table next to the remote control. I change the setting to a streaming service and queue up the part in a horror movie where the walls bleed. Keeping it on pause, I turn the volume up to a level that is certain to wake the sleeping couple.
I hesitate sneaking into the teenage girl’s room for several reasons. The chief one being that she might not be asleep, and I don’t wish to exploit her. Having a younger sister, I have a soft spot for girls in that in-between stage. I can manipulate her phone volume from a distance.
As for the young boy, he is my pot of gold. I find a child’s stuffed bat on his shelf and set up behind it. I fly the toy into the parents’ room and snatch the remote control up before settling on the top of the television again.
“One, two, three,” I whisper to myself before hitting the pause button, dropping the remote and flying across the room with the bat toy shielding me from view.
Screams sound at full volume, startling the parents.
“Mom! Dad! Anna!” The young boy calls for his parents and sister as he runs from his room into the hall. “What’s going on?”
“It’s okay, Wyatt,” the teenage girl—Anna, I assume—stands at the door to her room with her hand on her brother’s shoulder.
Here goes nothing. I fly the bat straight for the little boy who watches, open-mouthed and frozen in fear.
I fly close to the nine-foot ceiling, facing the stuffed animal down to keep me hidden from view.
Just before I get to them, I nosedive the animal so that it touches his sister’s hair, sending them both screaming into their parent’s room.
“We’re gonna die!” Wyatt screams.
“No, no.” The father says, alarm still evident in his voice. It was just the T.V..”
“Wyatt’s bat was flying!” Anna explains. “It buzzed in my head.” She brushes her hands over her hair.
“I told you we’re all gonna die. The spirit of the fan is going to kill us!” Wyatt’s voice sounds again as I fly the stuffed bat into the boy’s bedroom and land it on top of his pillow.
Mission accomplished. All I have to do is bide my time until they have settled down again and sneak out as easily as I snuck in. Now this family has no choice but to move. If they stay, they’re all going to have nightmares and never have a moment of peace because Wyatt’s imagination will run wild.
With the option of another house, and the price I’m going to offer them, it’ll be a no-brainer. Once the purchase goes through, I’ll cast a spell for them to forget the fear pulsing through their veins tonight.