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Mystic Hollow Community Page
New post from Rob Kercher: Did anyone see that thing fly over the green? It had red eyes. Is it safe to be trick-or-treating right now?
New comment from Hayley Druther: I saw it too! There are also green scaly creatures attacking Witches Brew. Steer clear!
Colton told everyone to show up at seven, and by seven fifteen the house is bursting at the seams, people packed like sardines in every room of the first floor.
Even so, the doorbell keeps ringing, groups of people showing up, many I don’t even know.
While I was gone, Laney convinced my group of admirers to start a game of flag football—apparently whoever wins, wins my heart or something—so they’re busy in the front yard while Laney and I control the door, making sure we don’t allow any vampires inside.
Zach and his brothers are on garden gnome duty.
I’m not sure what Zach told his brothers, but they don’t seem alarmed to find living, evil garden decorations running though my house.
All around me, people are dancing, laughing, and having fun, not realizing my house is falling down around them.
I try to focus, but all I can think about is Harry.
Zach says they kissed, my sister and Reese, but she was dating Jack. Why didn’t she tell me?
“Great party, Kat!” someone yells.
“Slime on the walls! So cool, Kat!” I hear someone else shout.
“Where’d you’d get the animatronic gnomes, Kat? Colton had these too!” a third person asks me.
I try to smile and be in the moment, but Harry is all I can think about.
First she stole all the supplies for the ritual, and now she’s gone, hopefully to the cemetery—since my mother always said it was the other most magical spot in Mystic Hollow.
Does she know that I got my own ingredients?
Has she started casting yet? And is she still thinking about Reese? Suddenly I wish I could talk to her.
The doorbell rings again and Laney opens it. Two Confederate soldiers walk in side by side and join the fray.
“Cool costumes!” Justin says to them, then turns to me with the look of a lovesick puppy. “I feel like you’re avoiding me. Can we go someplace and talk?”
“Kat! Over here!” A guy I don’t know is waving wildly to me from the dining room, where he’s standing on one of the chairs.
“Hey, Kat! You look amazing tonight!” another guy yells, even though I’m pretty sure I have slime in my hair.
I’d love to think all these guys want to talk to me because I’m so magnetic, but I know Harry’s love spell is on the fritz and clearly things are getting worse. Somewhere in the house, I hear a wolf howl over the sounds of Taylor Swift.
Laney looks at me and mouths, “Are you okay?”
Not really, I want to tell her. I wish I had time to fill her in on everything, but there are too many people.
My watch alarm goes off, reminding me it’s almost time for the first spell—I glance out the window to see the full moon, looking far too large through the branches of the willow tree.
And the doorbell rings again. Laney opens it.
“Hi! Hi! Hello! Hi there!” I recognize the guy right away.
He’s cleaner than the last time I saw him, and his extensive facial hair has been tamed.
He takes one look at Laney and breaks into a wide grin.
“Girl! It’s you! Bookstore girl! Love you!
” He grabs her hand and pulls her toward him, practically lifting her into his arms.
Laney squeals as he puts her down. He’s still holding her tight. “Hi. I’m Laney.”
“Laney!” he repeats, and spins her around. “Love you! Treats?”
And now I’m certain. Mystic Hollow might have had werewolves, but now we have a were-boy. Unfortunately, he used to be Zach’s and Laney’s joint-custody stray dog named Ronald/Fred. Should I tell her the truth? “Um, Laney?”
“You came as Wolverine,” Laney is saying to him as she ignores me. “I love that character. Let me show you where the treats are in the other room.” She looks over at me shyly and mouths, “He’s cute,” as he drags her away, chanting, “Treats! Treats! Treats!”
I think she’ll be okay. After all, she wanted a golden retriever boyfriend. Right?
“Catch!”
I duck barely in time to miss a garden gnome flying just overhead. A gremlin comes from out of nowhere and grabs it, and they begin wrestling in time to the music. The guys just laugh. “Look at that thing! What is it?”
Okay. I definitely need to cast these wards. And they have to work.
My phone buzzes. It’s Mom on the family text chain.
Mom:
Everyone ready? We miss you both but know you’ll do great.
Dad:
Don’t forget to wear your hats and send us pictures. It’s tradition!
The hat! I almost forgot. I rush back into the dining room and go to the armoire to pull out the hatbox with our cartoonishly large witches’ hats stacked inside.
Harry’s and mine are both here. I feel a strange pang when I realize Harry has left without hers.
She’s a stickler for tradition and, like Mom, she would never do Samhain without it.
Something is wrong. I can feel it. But then my phone alarm goes off again, and I know there is no time to second-guess myself. The first spell has to be cast.
I head to the back of the house with the hats to where my parents’ office is. I’ve hidden my supplies in their locked room, which leads to a side door. The first spell is a simple one. I just need to burn some flowers.
“I can’t believe I’m doing this alone,” I say to myself.
Sure, this is what I wanted. I told Harry to work separately.
I wanted to send my aunts on a cruise. I was excited Mom and Dad would be away so I could have this party.
But now, as I am about to do a Samhain spell alone, I realize I miss them.
It doesn’t matter that I’ve got a whole town full of boys, all clamoring for my attention.
“I’m here,” Eleanor says, and immediately I feel cold at the base of my neck.
I spin around and see her standing in the doorway. I wish I could hug her. “You’re back!”
“You and all your gentlemen callers looked as if you needed some privacy.” She gives me a stern look. “Though that many suitors calling on one lady would have been a scandal in my day.”
“I know,” I say, oddly cheered up at the sight of a ghostly relative. “Do you want to do the first part of the spell with me?”
Eleanor smiles sadly. “You miss Harry, don’t you?”
“How’d you know that?” I ask.
“I can just tell. Harriet had the same look when she left the house earlier. You two are lucky to have each other.” She wrings her hands. “I wish I still had my sister to talk to.”
“What happened to her?” I ask. “With the two of you, I mean?”
“We had a terrible row right before I fell ill,” she says.
“It’s so long ago, I don’t remember who was at fault, or what the argument was about, but when she came to see me to make amends, I pretended to slumber so she left.
Then I died before we could speak.” For once, Eleanor doesn’t look smug or in control—she looks devastated.
“Oh, Eleanor!” I gasp. “Is this why you haven’t moved on? I’m sure your sister would want to see you. You’re being too hard on yourself.”
Eleanor’s lip trembles. “But what if you’re wrong? What if she’s still cross with me?”
“She’s not,” I insist. “Sisters forgive each other.” I stop short, realizing what I just said.
Eleanor doesn’t seem to notice. She absentmindedly pulls a candy bar from her pocket and takes a bite. “I wish I remembered our row. Maybe I’ve been wrong all this time and my sister really did have my best interests at heart.”
Like Harry, I realize.
The clock in my parents’ office chimes. It’s 8:00 p.m. Time for the first spell. Please let this work, even though I’m alone, I pray, suddenly overtaken with terror that I’m about to ruin everything.
“You better hurry,” Eleanor says, forcing me out of my spiral. “I’ll stand here with you the whole time.”
I pull all the spell supplies out of the cabinet and cram my hat on my head, leaving Harry’s in the box. Eleanor nods encouragingly as I step outside and walk down the back steps. I look around for gnomes, but there are none, so I pull out the supplies.
Will fresh flowers even burn?
“Focus on your intentions.”
I inhale slowly, lighting the birthday candle. Its flame is weak and small, but that shouldn’t matter. My intentions are big.
Protect my friends. Protect my family. Protect my home.
I hold the blue petals to the flame, but all I can see in my mind’s eye is Harry’s face. I don’t have a sister anymore.
“Focus!” Eleanor reminds me.
I bite my lip. Right.
Cast out the creatures who would do us harm. Protect this town. And don’t let the Headless Horseman rise out of his grave and try to eat us all.
The flowers flare to life and I gasp as the fire consumes them, the tingles in my hands growing into something more—something that feels like power.
I stare at Eleanor in surprise.
“Did I just do it?” I ask, my voice catching.
Eleanor doesn’t look elated. Instead, her eyes are wide in panic. “Kat,” she says. “What did you do?”
“The protection ritual!” I say, but my heart is suddenly beating in my throat far too fast. “To keep us safe. To keep the Headless Horseman from—”
But my words are swallowed up as the ground begins to shake violently both inside and outside the house.
Eleanor and I look at one another in a panic as everything around us starts to sway.
I rush inside with her and see the books in my parents’ office falling from shelves, the lamp tumbling off the table and crashing.
Garden gnomes pop up from holes in the baseboards and cracks in the wall and scatter, screaming their little heads off as they run full tilt.
Then there is an ear-piercing crack that sounds like lightning, and a gaping hole appears in the middle of the office floor.