Beep beep beep

"Snooooooze," Ariel rolled over, trying to find the alarm clock that was attempting to drill into her skull. After fumbling around for a few seconds, she finally woke up enough to remember that she didn't own an alarm clock.

Opening her eyes, she gasped upon seeing a small glowing orb hovering above her bed. The noise appeared to be emitting from it, the orb flashing brighter with each 'beep'.

"Amelia!" She shouted. "Turn your bloody alarm off you sadistic witch!"

The noise cut off mid beep and sighing in relief, Ariel fell back onto her pillow. It glowed brighter, blinding her and Amelia's voice filtered through her bedroom.

"Mornin' sunshine! Sorry bout the alarm, but you said you wanted to tag along and I might have a lead. I'll pick ya up at nine. Now get your sorry butt outta bed and get dressed! We got witches to hunt!"

The globe disappeared with a pop and her room fell back into darkness. Groaning, she rolled over and buried her head into her pillow. It was true, she did want to go with Amelia if she found something, but after being up half the night talking to the Doc and thinking about what her future career choice might be, her bed held more appeal than an outing in Melbourne with a crazy witch.

Arguing with herself internally for a minute, she dragged her legs out of bed, grabbed some clothes and her heart before heading for the bathroom. She passed Paige in the hallway.

"Why were you shouting?" Paige asked, bleary eyed.

"A stupid glowing orb woke me up."

She opened her mouth to respond, but shook her head and returned to her bedroom. Ariel didn't blame her. Even she thought the sentence was too ridiculous to respond to.

After showering, she grabbed yoghurt from the fridge and turned on the television in the kitchen. The news showed something about floods in Queensland and she flicked through the channels, settling on a cartoon. She couldn't handle hearing about the flooding and people losing their homes. It weighed down on her soul and it was heavy enough with her own concerns.

Paige joined her after her own shower. She leaned on the counter beside her, watching the strange CGI cartoon. They watched in silence for a few minutes.

"Were cartoons always this bad?" Paige asked through a mouthful of apple.

"No, I don't think so," Ariel answered, finishing her yoghurt. "Everything's dumbed down now because parents coddle kids these days."

"These days?" Paige teased. "Geez Grandma."

"Shut up!"

They continued watching. Paige flicked the kettle on. "Do you remember when we used to be late for school every Friday when Sailor Moon was on?"

Ariel smiled. "Totally worth it. I'm still angry that they stopped English dubbing it before the show had even ended."

"I know right? I still remember you crying as we ran to school because we couldn't watch it anymore."

"I never cried!"

"Yes you did! I remember you tripping on a rock because you were blinded by your tears."

"I was only nine!" Ariel snapped. "You nearly passed out because you were sniveling about it and couldn't breathe trying to keep up with me."

"Was not!"

Ariel smiled and turned to look at Paige. Her sister was smiling back at her. Paige opened her mouth to say something and Ariel saw a thought cross her face before her mouth closed again.

"What?"

Paige looked away. "It's nothing."

"Stop being a chicken and say what you were going to say, Paige."

"No," she said tersely. "I don't want to say anything that might ruin the moment!"

Sighing, Ariel looked back to the television. Forgive forgive forgive, the word echoed in her mind, sounding like the Doc, and she bit the inside of her cheek. "Do you remember how angry we were when they stopped airing the old Looney tunes?"

She felt Paige glance her way but kept her gaze focused on the television. "I remember," Paige smiled. "I still haven't forgiven them for it either."

"Me either. It was the only decent thing that used to be on when we got home from school."

The kitchen door flew open and both girls shrieked. Amelia strode in. Dressed in a black tank top, skinny jeans with a pair of shit kickers that had more buckles than leather, she looked like she'd stepped off the set of 'The Lost Boys'.

"Morning!" she said cheerfully. "I see ya got me alarm message."

"Kind of hard to avoid, unless you're blind and death," Ariel muttered. Pushing off the counter, she grabbed her shoulder bag, double-checking she had her wallet, phone and heart. "So where are we going today?"

"To follow up a few leads. To be honest it might be nothin' but I'm getting bored being on me own all the time, and you probably know this city better than me. I got lost for two hours in some Chadstone shopping mall yesterday, it was a bloody nightmare!"

"How can you get lost in Chadstone?" Ariel shook her head. "It's not that difficult to walk around."

"Are ya kidding me? It's gigantic!"

"Why didn't you use your magic to get out?" Paige asked. "Wouldn't that have been easier?"

"Yeah it would've, but hard to use magic when there's a million people walking around. Anyway, let's go."

Unsure why, Ariel turned back to Paige. "Do you want to come?"

Her eyes widened with surprise. "You want me to go with you?"

Ariel shrugged. "You can come if you want."

Paige's face broke into a smile but before she could say anything, it fell. "I can't. I have to go to a luncheon with Smithers and Dad down by the river."

"Skip it."

She shook her head. "I wish I could, but I can't."

"You can, it's easy." Ariel pressed. She didn't know why she was trying to so hard to get Paige to come with her. The only reason she could think of was keeping her away from that creep. "Just tell them I put a voodoo spell on you or something and made you come with me."

Paige smiled. "Somehow I don't think even Dad will believe you're capable of that, Ariel. You go; hopefully you find the witch."

"Yeah, I hope so too." She paused at the doorway. "I'll tell you about it tonight when I get home."

Not waiting for a reply, she followed Amelia out the front door. The first tram stop was two blocks away and she struggled to keep up with Amelia's long strides.

"That was nice of ya," Amelia said. "Trying to help ya sister like that."

"I wasn't trying to help her," the reply came out of her mouth automatically and she winced. "I mean, if you'd met that Smithers bloke you'd understand."

"I'm sure I would," she agreed. They crossed the last intersection and waited in the center of the busy street for the tram. Checking the time, Ariel saw the next one would arrive three minutes. Amelia leaned on the railing. "I spoke with the Doc this morning, too. Said you and him had a heart to heart last night."

"I guess so, I wouldn't say heart to heart..."

Amelia smacked the timetable and the pole attached to it shook violently. Ariel quickly looked around, making sure no one had seen it. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said 'heart to heart'. What a stupid thing to say!"

"It's okay, Amelia. That wasn't what I meant. I'm not so sensitive that something like that would upset me. I just meant I didn't think our conversation was that... touchy feely I guess."

Amelia nodded. "Okay, gotcha." A tram bell sounded and Ariel stepped back as it glided to a stop. Being nine in the morning, the tram was packed with people on their way to work and they were forced to squish into a corner of the opposite door as they took off.

"So, where are we going?" Ariel asked quietly.

Amelia shook her head. "Not here. I'll tell ya when we get off at Federation Square."

They remained silent for the rest of the journey and out of habit Ariel started reading a novel on her phone. It had been a routine every morning she would make the trip to school. Her father had always insisted they be driven, but Grandpa had talked him into letting them take the tram. Ariel and Paige had preferred using the tram and meeting their other friends in the city after school for Bubble Tea and some quick shopping before they were expected home.

Reaching Federation Square, Ariel gripped her bag tightly as three quarters of the people on the tram started clambering off to catch connecting trams or trains at Flinders Street Station across the road.

Amelia grabbed her arm and guided her across the street towards the station. Ariel saw a group of punks, dressed in clothes similar to Amelia's but they didn't pull them off quite as well as the witch. They eyed her appreciatively as the two women crossed the busy intersection.

"Where are we going?" Ariel puffed. Amelia was walking too fast and she basically carried Ariel through the crowd.

"Oh, just down this alley here." She took a sharp right, turning them into the narrow laneway that was Degraves Street.

"We're only going here?" Ariel exclaimed. "Why couldn't you just tell me that on the tram? It's not like this place is a secret."

"I didn't want to talk about who we were meeting or what we were doing. You never know who's listening, Ariel." She tapped her nose as they passed the Little Cupcakes shop.

Ariel's mouth watered as she watched someone inside the shop placing the delicious cupcakes into the glass display cabinet, ready for the day. Even though it was early, she wanted to eat some badly. She made a mental note to stop by the shop before they went home.

"Hey, Amelia," the witch had slowed down as the laneway became narrower. The center of the laneway was filled with small tables and chairs for the numerous cafes lining either side of the street. "When are we heading back to England?"

"Not sure, probably tomorrow of the day after. Why?"

"I just wanted to know." She'd make sure to buy enough cupcakes to take back for everyone at Sherwood. Emily and Autumn would like them for sure.

Amelia slipped into a chair outside Pear Drop and Ariel sat down beside her. Amelia leaned forward, her hair falling in a knotty mess over her shoulder. "I managed to make contact with one of my old sources who knows someone that works for the old broad who cursed ya. He's willin' to talk and said he'd meet us here this morning in –" she looked at her watch "– five minutes.

Ariel's stomach fluttered. Five minutes. In five minutes she would meet someone who might be able to tell them how to cure her, or find the witch who did it. It almost didn't feel real. "Are you sure we can trust him?"

Amelia snorted. "Course not. You don't trust anyone in this business, Ariel. Cept the Doc and me, we want to do right by you kids. Others out there are only out for 'emselves. There are three creatures in this world you shouldn't trust with anything." She held up three fingers, lowering them with each creature. "Witches, the Fae and Vampires."

"Whoa, wait hold the phone – Vampires?"

"Yep, they're real too."

"Do you mean the sparkly, angst driven ones? Or the ones that will actually try to kill you?"

Amelia grinned. "The ones that will actually try to kill you. Though I have met a few that have got the angst down to a poetic art. It can be pretty entertaining to watch."

Ariel shook her head, slumping back into her chair. "Just when I think I'm used to all this, you say something weird and I remember that I'm still the biggest noob out there."

"Noob? I ain't ever heard of those. Course I'm not as familiar with the terminology of this century. Still trying to catch up."

"This century? How old are you?"

Amelia's brow furrowed. "Three hundred and twenty six."

Ariel stared as her stomach dropped. "You are not."

The witch laughed. "Yeah I am! I'm looking pretty good aren't I? Been with the Doc and his family for most of that time, too."

"Why? I mean you said witches aren't to be trusted. Why do they trust you?"

Scratching her head, she looked away. "I don't like to leave debts unpaid."

In that moment, Ariel could see the years of Amelia's life etched in her eyes. They were filled with regret and a steely determination. Ariel started to ask another question but Amelia held up her hand.

"We got company."

Looking down the laneway, Ariel saw the person Amelia was talking about. A man in a large overcoat hobbled towards them. He was short and thin, and the coat looked like it weighed more than he did. The clink, clink of his black cane sounded amongst the chatter of customers and grinding coffee. Ariel started to shift and make room for him to sit down, but he continued past them.

"Maybe you got the wrong person?" she said, confused.

Amelia shook her head, standing up. "Come on. Stay close."

They followed the old man up the laneway and he turned right into one of the cafes near the end of the lane. Entering the café, they saw him climbing the stairs and met him at the top.

Ariel scrunched her nose. His coat smelt like it hadn't been washed in years. Amelia coughed slightly and glancing up, Ariel saw her lips curled in disgust. At least it wasn't just her who could smell it. He fumbled for a moment with the lock before opening the door.

The room beyond was small and furnished with a small army cot in the corner that looked like it hadn't been slept in since the last World War. The only other piece of furniture was a table stood in the center of the room, buried in piles of books and papers. The floorboards groaned with the weight of the three occupants and Ariel found she was standing on tiptoe, as if that would somehow alleviate her weight on the boards bending and creaking beneath her.

"You're the Dusk Witch?" he wheezed.

"That's right," Amelia leaned against the table and Ariel flinched as it threatened to collapse. "I was told you have some information for me, Kevin?"

"Kevin?" Ariel quickly clamped her mouth shut when he turned to look at her. The basic name threw her. Amelia was known as the Dusk Witch – which she thought was kind of cool – surely he should have had his own cool name too. Like, Wheezer or something. Not an exact improvement, but still more interesting than Kevin.

"I might," he walked around the other side of the table, resting his weight on his cane. The coat swished around him. "What's my reward?"

"You get to live another miserable day," Amelia growled. "I don't enjoy vermin such as ya self wasting me time. Do you know where the Amber Enchantress is or not?"

Kevin glanced at Ariel and she sidled closer to Amelia. "She's cursed you, hasn't she, child? I recognize her magic in your bones. What did she do to you?"

Amelia held up her hand. "Don't answer him. He don't need to know. All he needs is to tell us where the enchantress is."

He shifted again, and Ariel jumped when the coat flicked violently to the side. She searched for his hands, but they were still resting on his cane.

How?

Ariel gripped her bag tightly and his eyes flicked down to it. "She took something from you? She did like to do that. She always had a fascination with ripping organs from people's bodies."

She paled. He disappeared from view as Amelia stepped in front of her. "That's the last thing you say to her. If the next words out of your mouth aren't, ' the enchantress is at such and such' then we're walking."

"I want a reward," he wheezed again. "A longevity spell that can be used at any time."

"This ain't a bargainin' situation, Kev." Amelia pushed off the table, crossing her arms. "I can see this is a dead end. Thanks for wasting our time."

Grabbing Ariel by the arm, she walked them back towards the door. Ariel wanted to tell her to wait, to give the guy what he wanted –

"Ah!"

She shrieked, as they were ripped apart. Ariel's feet left the floor and she crashed into the far wall. Gasping, she scrambled to regain her footing, grabbing her bag with both hands; she pressed her back against the wall.

"What the hell -?"

Gone was the large heavy overcoat, and she could now see why Kevin had been wearing it. Large thick tentacles protruded from various parts of his body. Pale pink suckers slapped the floor and the walls, pulling away with distinct popping noises. His body was emaciated, and clearly the weight of the tentacles was damaging his failing body. Bones protruded through pale skin, which was pulled tight where each tentacle grew with large discoloured stretch marks.

Nausea rose in her throat, and she covered her mouth with her bag. She didn't know whether to be horrified or disgusted.

"Ya bloody bastard!"

Something white burst from the other side of the room and the table exploded into a thousand pieces. Ariel ducked, as wood and paper flew everywhere. She felt something sharp hit her arm and cried out in pain.

Kevin hadn't fared much better from the blast. The force had knocked him over – almost. His tentacles gripped the floor firmly, supporting his body above the floor. The floorboards groaned with the extra pressure the tentacles were placing on them and Ariel glanced at the door. Surely the people downstairs in the café were hearing everything right now?

Amelia stood up on the other side of the room, dusting off her jeans which now sported a large rip just below the knee. It blended in with her outfit and Ariel watched in amazement as a small cut on her cheek slowly began to heal.

Her hair began to float about her head, wild and knotty, looking like small raven clouds of anger.

"I just bought these pants ya jack ass!"

Snapping her fingers, a ball of blue flame burst from her fingertips. A tentacle whipped out towards her and she let it fly. Connecting with the tentacle, it exploded in a bright light and the tentacle disintegrated.

Kevin howled in pain. Not wasting any time, Amelia darted forward, weaving between the flying tentacles to land a blow on Kevin's chest. He crashed into the ground, the tentacles still moving. Amelia muttered something under her breath and seven nails rained from the sky, pinning the remaining appendages into the floor. Several floorboards splintered under the pressure and Ariel quickly moved towards the door should the whole floor collapse.

Not bothered by such a thought, Amelia crouched beside Kevin, who was now wheezing loudly in pain.

"You knew who I was," she snapped. "Damn idiot thinking you could take me on. I take it your body is the enchantress's work?"

He nodded, unable to speak. Ariel's eyes widened. "I thought you worked for her?" she whispered.

"Like I said, Ariel. Don't trust anyone." Amelia said grimly. "You should consider yourself lucky she didn't do something like this to you."

For the first time since that fateful day, Ariel did feel lucky that something worse hadn't happened to her. Just the thought of being like Kevin made her sick to her stomach.

Amelia touched his face and he cried out in pain. "You don't know anything, do ya? Looks like ya body started givin' up on ya in the last year – she probably kicked ya to the curb when you weren't of any use to her no more."

He stared at her in resignation and she sighed. "I thought as much."

"I just want to live," he rasped.

"We all want that," she stood up. "Blackmailing others ain't the way to do it though."

"Please," he reached feebly for her arm. "Help me."

"Fulfill our original deal and I'll see what I can do." she said coldly.

"I can't," his chest heaved with every breath, his ribs straining against his skin. "It's like you said – she left me eleven months ago. I thought she would reverse the curse, but she didn't. It was meant to be a gift, originally. I just wanted to be strong and this is what she did to me."

He coughed, blood painting his lips. Ariel didn't see anymore. Her vision blurred as tears started to fall. Why had she agreed to come today? She didn't want to see this. What if something like this happened to her?

A sob tore through her throat and Amelia's blur shifted.

"Bugger it," she muttered. "Ariel, come on, hun."

Grabbing her arm, she guided Ariel out the door and back down the stairs. The café was oddly quiet. Amelia placed her on a stool by the bar and after a moment, placed a cold cup of water into her hands.

"Drink this. I'll be right back."

She disappeared back upstairs and Ariel stared into the cup, tears falling into the water. This wasn't how she thought the day was going to go. In her mind, she'd believed they would talk to someone and it would lead her right to the witch. She had believed that everything would be over by the end of the day.

Steps sounded on the stairs five minutes later and Amelia returned.

"It's done," she said quietly.

"What's done? Did you kill him?" she asked horrified.

"What? No, but it wouldn't have mattered if I did. He's not long for this world. I just helped to ease his pain for the next few months. You alright, girl?"

She started to nod but quickly shook her head. "Not really. I wasn't expecting to see...something like that."

Amelia watched her thoughtfully. "You thought it would be over today, didn't ya?"

She nodded, tears falling again. "I know it's stupid, but it just felt like things were returning to normal and I guess I didn't realize how much hope I was putting on today."

Amelia wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. "It's going to be okay. I shouldn't have brought you along today. I was sure we'd be getting good news. Guess that blew up in my face, in a mass of gross tentacles. I hope they didn't touch you. Disgusting!"

She shuddered and Ariel laughed through her tears. She wiped her face with the back of her hand. "Do you think I'll end up like –"

"No," Amelia said firmly. She turned her so they were eye to eye. "You listen to me Ariel Gunters –"

"Winters."

"Uh – Winters. What happened to him will never happen to you. You want to know why? Because when it happened, he chose to stay with that old hag and do her dirty bidding. He could have left and found help. The Doc is a rarity, but there are others in the world that are still willing to offer refuge to those who need it.

'You chose the correct path, Ariel. You're working through it and dealing with your problems head on. It's not easy, but you'll get there. I wish I could tell you it will be over soon, but I can't say for sure. No one can. You can only keep moving forward. We clear?"

"We're clear," she whispered.

"We better get going," Amelia stood up. "The spell I put on the shop is beginning to wear off."

"You put a spell on the shop?"

She laughed. "You must be blind today, Ariel. Look around."

Wiping her eyes, she looked around and gasped. People were sitting throughout the small café, frozen in time. Some were in mid conversation, others about to take a sip of their coffee. One waitress was mid twirl as she spun behind the counter to organize a cheque. Outside, the world moved on, people passed the shop without looking in, completely unaware of the magic happening within.

Amelia grinned at her expression. "We were causing a bit of a ruckus upstairs. Couldn't have people coming to investigate now could I? This was the easiest spell I could think of."

"This was easy?" she exclaimed.

"Well, it was a little intricate but when you'vedone it a thousand times it becomes second nature! Come on." People were slowlybeginning to move and Amelia dragged her out of the store. "Might give them afright if time restarted and two new people were sitting at the bar. Let's goto that cupcake shop. Using magic makes me hungry and I could eat fifty ofthose little sugary devils!"    

Don't be too shocked! I know this update is much quicker than my usual snail pace updating! I did say I was trying to be more motivated! Let me know what you think of the chapter! It was so fun getting to write more of Amelia. She's becoming a favourite :D 

Thanks for letting me know what your hopes were while in (or still in) High School! I know I never reply but I promise I read every comment! It's great to learn more about you guys!

I'd also like to ask a favour - I was wanting to ask if you wouldn't mind sharing the chapters on whatever social media you may use - FB, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr - take your pick. It would be great to get this story out there :) I also post on my FB page, the link is up on my profile page for those looking for it. Anyway, see you all in the next week I hope! <3