The night light shone softly. Enough for Cathy to feel comfortable, if not completely at ease, in her surroundings. The swirls on the bedroom curtains seemed to smile at her like plump, happy cherubs. Their wide eyes followed her every move.

She lay listening to the grandfather clock on the landing as it ticked and chimed every hour and half hour, much to her annoyance. Now it chimed eleven.

Cathy huffed as the house creaked, and ignoring the ache in her tummy from dinner, she fell into a deep sleep.

 *

"Wakey, wakey," said a voice from above Cathy.

Cathy opened her eyes. She could hardly move. Her body felt heavy and nothing like it should.

"It's good to see you awake, at last." The tall, spindly figure grinned at her, his dark eyes twinkling.

"Where am I?" she asked. The last thing Cathy remembered was falling asleep in her bedroom, and now she was somewhere else.

"You're in my home... Rune Hall. My name is Hex... and I am a sorcerer." The sorcerer began to rummage through the hundreds of glass bottles on the many dusty wooden shelves.

Cathy lay on a long bench with a fluffy pillow under her head and a blanket draped across her shoulders. She pinched herself because she must be dreaming. The sharp pain let her know she wasn't.

"What have you done?" She tried to sit up but tiny sparkles flashed in front of her eyes.

"That'll be the magic," Hex said. "I have a remedy around here somewhere... Aha! Here it is."

Hex crossed the room and grabbed a spoon from the small desk by the fireplace.

"Open wide," he ordered, pouring the liquid onto the spoon.

Cathy refused to open her mouth.

Hex, losing patience, said, "Come on, I don't have all day." Before she could stop him, he pinched her nostrils until she gasped for breath, and quick as a flash, he crammed the spoon into her mouth, tipping the bitter liquid down her throat, and making her choke.

"There, that wasn't so bad." He let go and popped a cork stopper into the bottle before placing it back on the shelf. "Now, we wait."

"Wait for what?" She asked and rubbed her nose.

"For you to know your place." Hex wrapped his long black cloak around his shoulders and smirked.

"I don't understand." Had she misheard him?

"No, of course you don't understand. How could you? It has been my experience that children rarely understand things."

Cathy had a bad feeling, and as she looked more closely at her surroundings, the feeling grew worse.

"Do you like my home, girl? It's unique. I not only designed it, but I built it." Hex pointed to the shelves full of glass bottles. "These are all magic potions created by my hand. And here," he said, flicking his hand towards the many books stacked up on every surface, "are my spell books. Touch my things at your peril."

"I would never touch those things. Can I leave? I'm feeling much better." Cathy pushed herself up from the bench, relieved that although her body felt stiff, she could stand without feeling dizzy, and the pain in her head was gone.

"Leave? You won't be leaving. Not now. Not ever." Hex walked to the door.

"But you can't keep me here," Cathy said, panicking.

"Oh, but I can. The potion you took was a binding potion. Do you know what binding means?"

"Yes, I know what it means," she answered. She wasn't stupid.

"So you'll know you are now bound to this house. You may not leave unless I give you permission. And if you do, it will always compel you to return. To wander away will end in disaster."

"But why?" Cathy couldn't stop the tears from welling, or her bottom lip from quivering.

"You ask me why? It takes hard work to run this home, and servants are so difficult to train. I have little patience for such matters. My lack of patience meant my last servant had to go. That's when I thought to myself, how fortunate, just as I retired my previous servant, another appears before me. As if by magic."

"But I am not a servant," she said, her stomach churning.

"But you are. You will fetch and carry. Scrub and clean. You cannot leave, so you have no choice."

"Please, let me go? My parents will worry about me. They'll look for me."

"I'm certain no one will miss you. Now, what is your name? Unless you wish me to give you a new one?" Hex took a step closer to her, and his dark eyes narrowed.

"My name is Cathy." A tear ran down her cheek.

"Cathy," Hex repeated. "Good, good. Follow me," he ordered, heading towards the door. "I'll show you around."

Hex pushed open the heavy wooden door and slipped into the hallway. Cathy hurried to keep up, but her normal grace seemed to have deserted her and she stumbled over her own feet. And something more unusual was happening. She'd experienced nothing like it.

"You'll get used to it, Pet."

"What is it?" she asked, as something clinked against the stone floor.

"Magic. It's a remarkable thing." Hex stopped outside another door. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a gold key. He placed the key in the lock and turned it. With a click, the door opened.

"After you." Hex swept his hand towards the room and waited for her to enter.

"What do you mean... magic?" Cathy looked around the room. The wallpaper was a pretty pale pink with tiny hummingbirds drinking from silver flowers. Thick velvet, silver-grey curtains with heavy swags framed the windows, and beyond lay beautifully manicured lawns. The silver and crystal chandelier above their heads sparkled with rainbow colours in the sunlight. This charming room didn't suit the strange sorcerer. He was better suited to a damp cavern.

Hex locked the door behind them and said, "I am a powerful sorcerer. Some say the most powerful sorcerer. I practised the art of magic until I became its master. I've created powders to make a fat fairy thin, or a thin fairy fat. And spells to grant beauty, or curses to make a fairy resemble a pig.

"But now, I make my living by buying and selling. I can manifest anything a creature desires for the right price. I, Hex, can make it so. The binding potion you drank creates an invisible chain from the heart of this house all the way to your ankles. Right now it's a long chain. But every time you displease me, the chain gets shorter. Limiting your access to the outside world."

Cathy had heard nothing so awful. How had this happened to her? The room swam, and she felt herself fall.

"Stupid girl!" Hex hissed as he caught her.