KAIROS | CHAPTER FOUR

"I AM LIKE A FISH
IN LOVE WITH A BIRD
WISHING I COULD FLY"

October 31st, 1993 (10:15 PM)

Carrying Riley on his back, through the sewers, was tough on Max's shoulders, but he refused to abandon her - they all did. She'd saved them back there, and got injured because of it. They were halfway through, when she began to wake up.

"Binx!" Max exclaimed, causing everyone to stop, "She's waking up."

He laid her against the wall, and they all watch with concern as she opened her eyes. "What the fuck? Where are we?"

"The old crypt," Thackery spoke. "How's your head?"

"I'll be fine," she sighed. "Gimme a minute." She raised her hand to her wound, unwrapping it, before reciting a spell she'd made when she was in Skid Row, helping wounded people. "Take this wound from my skin, remove it all, and be new again."

Her wound quickly closed, and there hadn't even been a scar remaining. Everyone watched her in awe, and Thackery spoke once more. "God, you're incredible. Anyways, let's get moving. We're almost out."

They approached a sewer cover, and Max had opened it. In seconds, he was back down the ladder and Thackery was not. They climbed up once more, their eyes landing on a flattened black cat. "Oh my God."

"He'll be okay," Riley muttered, approaching him. "Thackery, come on."

The cat inflated once more and got to his feet, "God, I hate it when that happens." When the others were giving him awestruck looks, he spoke once more. "What? I told you, I can't die. Dani, you alright?" He asked the girl, who had fresh tears on her face.

"Yeah!"

"Okay, then, let's go!"

...

In the midst of Max and Dani arguing with their parents, Thackery jumped onto Riley's shoe. She crouched down to meet the eyes of him. "They're here! We need to go!"

"Max!" Riley yelled, gaining the attention of the Dennisons and Allison, "They're here!"

The teens looked through the room, their eyes landing on Winifred and Mary in the center of the room. The Dennison boy ran to the stage, jumping up and snatching the microphone from the singer. "Cut the music! Cut the music!"

"Hey, man, I'm in the middle of a song!"

"It's an emergency, only for a minute!" He turned towards the crowd, "Will everybody listen up, please? Your kids are in danger." The crowd yelled in confusion and panic, causing Max to continue, "300 years ago the Sanderson sisters bewitched people. Now they've returned from their grave." The crowd laughed, "Hey, man, I'm serious! It's not a joke! I know this sounds dumb, but they're here tonight! They're right over there!" He pointed at the witches, and a spotlight was soon placed on them.

Riley sent a look of panic to Dani and Allison, just as the crowd gasped at the sight of the three witches. She knew that they wouldn't believe Max.

"Thank you, Max," The ginger witch spoke, her voice sickening to Riley's ears, "for that marvelous introduction." The crowd laughed, "I put a spell on you, and now you're mine." She sand, quoting the song, and causing the crowd to laugh. "You can't stop the things I do, I ain't lyin'."

"No! No!" Dani shouted, but her parents ushered her closer to the witches. "Don't listen to them!"

"Been 300 years, right down to the day! Now the witch is back and there's hell to pay. I put a spell on you. . ."

"Good joke!" The singer exclaimed, "Happy Halloween!" He snatched the mic back, and ushered Max off stage. "Alright, yeah, gear up. Let's go, guys." Dani ran from her parents, who were watching the witch with a smile, and over to Riley. The witches ran up to the stage, and it had become obvious to the young ginger that they were going to play along.

Panicked, Max found his friends. The adults began to dance around them, somehow enjoying the witches' performance. Riley looked at Allison and Max, "We've got to go."

The group ran, missing the rest of the performance, and trying their hardest to get to safety. Thackery ran alongside Riley, and the two followed their friends into an alleyway. When they stopped running, Max had begun to kick a trash can. "This is really bad!"

"Max, come on! Calm down!" Allison spoke, but the boy turned to face her.

"Look, I want you to take Dani back to your house and don't let her out of your sight!"

"Max, I'm not leaving you." The little girl said, just as a door slammed open. They ducked, but it was just an employee at the seafood restaurant that they were hiding behind. The silhouettes of the witches caught their eye, and they stayed down as the three women crept through the alley. But, luckily, the scent of the lobsters threw them off and they left just as quickly as they came.

The group stood to their feet, but Allison had accidentally hit an old oven. She looked at it, smiling slowly. "I have an idea. Come on, we gotta get to the school."

...

Max was messing around with the intercom, "Welcome to High School Hell. I'm your host, Boris Karloff Jr." He laughed into the mic, the audio echoing through the halls of the school.

Riley tensed, "I sense them." She whispered, "They're here."

The boy nodded, pressing the button on the mic again. "It's time to meet our three contestants: Sarah, Mary, and Winifred Sanderson. Read any good spellbooks, lately?"

Riley hoped that the plan would work, praying that she would not have to kill her own mother if it failed. Yes, she despised the witches, but they were still her family - she didn't want their blood on her hands, too. The two teens, and Thackery, ran to their friends; they had latched the witches in a room, and Allison pressed the button to turn on the kiln.

Winifred glared at her daughter through the glass, as Sarah and Mary had begun to freak out. The fire slowly crept up the witches' clothes, and Winifred broke her stare to try and blow it out. "It's hot! It's hot! My cursed daughter, how could you do this to me?!"

The witches screamed, and Riley was the only one to look away from the window. She ran from her friends, out the doors of the school, and collapsed onto the sidewalk. Thackery noticed her absence immediately, running after her.

When he reached the sidewalk, the girl was throwing up into the grass. He knew he could never understand what she was dealing with, but he also knew that he would do his best to try. "Violetta. . ." He began, approaching the rustic haired girl. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." She whispered, lifting her head and looking toward the sky. The green smoke that emitted from the chimney made her nauseous once more, but it also brought her a strange sense of peace.

The cursed boy analyzed her face under the moonlight, his heart aching as the pain twinkled in her eyes. Her wild hair was thrown up into a messy bun, and her hoodie was stained with grass and blood; he had the slight urge to count her freckles under the moonlight.

The others ran outside, celebrating their believed victory. They ran through the street, while Riley slowly followed behind; Thackery ran with them, but he occasionally looked back to make sure she was still there. He climbed a tree, looking to Max.

"We did it, Binx. We stopped them."

"I've wanted to do that for 300 years, since they took Emily and. . ." He looked at the ginger that he'd known almost his whole life, ". . . ruined Violetta and I's friendship."

Max looked at the cat, "You really miss her, don't you? Man, you can't keep blaming yourself for that. That happened so long ago. And, the whole Riley-Violetta thing? She's right over there," he motioned his head towards the girl. She was sitting on the grass, staring at the moon, while Dani and Allison danced around. "It's been three hundred years, and there's no more forbidden anything. . . other than murder, but that's not the point. Talk to her. You know, about something other than witches."

Thackery looked at the girl, before looking at Dani, then back to Max. "Take good care of Dani, Max. You'll never know how precious she is until you lose her." He took off, but he didn't get far before Max called after him.

"Hey, Binx! Where d'ya think you're goin'? You're a Dennison, now, buddy. One of us."

"C'mon, Binx!" Dani smiled, "Let's go home!"

"Home." The cat repeated, before running towards the girls.