This is a prompt from Godzilla183. Hope you enjoy!
Max and Allison are just friends in this. They'll seem like more, particularly in the beginning, but they're just friends.
Disclaimer: I don't own the movie Hocus Pocus.
WARNINGS: INCEST
A loud whooshing sound pulled Thackery Bing out of a deep sleep, and the handsome boy sat bolt up right in his bed, gasping in shock and a pre-full alertness confusion.
Thackery scanned his room, looking from the window to the closet and finally, to his sister's (and girlfriend's) bed.
Yes, Thackery was dating his sister, but hush, don't tell. They could be executed for incest, even if it was true love. Even if Thackery and his sister were soul mates, it was still illegal and could be worthy of execution. Discrimination, at the least, possibly even banishment. Therefore, Thackery and his sister kept their relationship a secret, but that only seemed to make them love each other more, much like Romeo and Juliet. Forbidden love, star crossed, and yet… destiny.
Thackery blinked the sleepiness from his eyes, and that's when he noticed something that made his heart pound in his chest, panic seizing every nerve and closing his throat.
Emily's bed was empty.
"Emily?" he called. "Emily?"
Thackery whipped the blankets off of his body and swung his legs out of bed to run for the door.
Something was wrong. Thackery could feel it in his bones, in his muscles, in his heart, and in every pore of his body. Something was wrong. Very wrong.
"Emily?" he called as he exited the house. No response and no sign of Emily.
Thackery sighed, looking over the yard for his sister's silky brown hair and her beautiful face and her snowy white skin. He'd know her anywhere, even if she was teasing him and hiding from him. He'd know her even when he only saw her through a thick section of leaves or over the edge of a wall. Thackery would know Emily anywhere, and Emily was not here.
"Eliza!" he called to his next door neighbor, who was standing near the fence with an amazed expression plastered across his face. "Have you seen my little sister, Emily?"
Eliza shook his head. "No, but look. They're conjuring."
Thackery followed his gaze to see a bright blue light reaching towards the heavens. It was coming from the witches' cottage on the other side of the field. Thackery's parents hated to live so close to them, but they couldn't afford to move, so they simply kept their children away from the witches and did their best to keep the family and their home safe.
Thackery's eyes widened when he saw a small dot of white dashing across the field.
Like I said before, Thackery would know Emily anywhere.
"Emily!" he shouted.
Eliza followed him as he leaped over the fence and raced down the small hill to stand among the tall, yellow weeds. Down here, they got a good look at young Emily sprinting across the field after a darker spot (one of the witches, presumably) before they disappeared into the forest less than ten meters from the witches' cottage.
"She's done for," Eliza gasped.
"Not yet," Thackery growled. "Summon my father and the others. Go!"
Eliza raced back towards the house in search of Mr. Binx and any other townsfolk he could scrounge up on short notice.
Thackery, meanwhile, chose to run towards the witches instead of away.
Thackery leaped over the grass, taking huge strides towards the cottage, before bolting into the woods, snapping any branches and leaves that got in his way. The rough forest floor scratched Thackery's bare feet, but he barely noticed. Twigs and branches clawed at Thackery's skin, but he ignored the pain until his shirt was captured by a branch that was too thick and strong to simply break through. His shirt ripped, and the sudden force stopped Thackery's momentum just enough to send him rolling.
Thackery somersaulted down the hill, leaves sticking to his clothes, and bumping his head more than a few times.
Finally, Thackery landed in a dazed heap at the bottom of the hill, his head aching and his vision darkening.
No. He couldn't pass out, no matter how much pain he was in. He had to find Emily.
Thackery stumbled to his feet and tripped across the yard to stand beside the witches' gloomy, run down cottage. He could hear giggling and whispers from inside.
Thackery slowly slid open the window and peaked inside.
His beautiful sister, his girlfriend, his true love, his one and only- sitting in a chair with glazed eyes while the cruel, vicious witches rounded her, giggling and cackling in a mocking manner.
Emily was obviously deep in trance. Otherwise, she would've been running out the door and back home by now.
Emily's eyes caught Thackery's, and the glazed expression faded from her eyes, replaced by raw fear and desperation. Emily tried to stand, but one of the witches grabbed her shoulders and forced her back into her chair, whispering into her ear. The trance returned, stronger than before.
The wooden shutter banged against the side of the house as a breeze ruffled Thackery's hair, and Thackery hurried to shut the shutter as the witches spun around.
Footsteps creaked across the floor, and Thackery ran to the side of the house, hiding behind a wall and pressing himself against it. To the window and the door, he was invisible, but one wrong move, and the witches would spot him.
Two of the witches cackled insanely as they skipped out of the door while their leader checked out the window.
She muttered something before calling, "Sisters!"
The giggling witches cried out at the sudden call and raced back inside.
"Sorry!" one cried out while the other simply giggled and smiled with her rotten teeth.
The witches disappeared inside.
Thackery raced over to the wheel on the side of the house and scrambled up it, spinning it with each step as he found himself at the window near the roof.
Thackery pushed it open and climbed through.
He saw his sister first. She was sitting perfectly still in her chair. Thackery wanted nothing more than to sweep her into his arms and kiss her lips and face and whisper the three words he so desperately wanted to tell her one last time.
But he didn't. The witches would curse him before he could get within three feet of Emily. He had to play this smart if he was going to get both of them out of this alive.
The witches were whispering among themselves, their voices raspy.
"Dead man's toe, dead man's toe!" the blonde one-the most crazy, Thackery thought- giggled as she galloped around the room, spinning in circles.
"Here's one!" another witch sing songed, dropping an object into the boiling cauldron.
I swear, if they chop my sister up and put her in there, I won't kill them, Thackery thought, bitterly. I'll make them wish they were dead.
One of the witches glanced at the platform Thackery was balanced upon, and he rolled over, pressing himself against the wood under his back to avoid being seen.
"I smell child," one of them hissed.
"What do you call that?" the leader spat, stabbing a thumb at Emily.
"A child," the other muttered in embarrassment.
Thackery rolled back over and peered down at the witches.
The witches chanted words Thackery didn't hear and didn't care to know before scooping up some of the steaming potion and strolling over to Emily.
"Open up your mouth, girl," the leader sneered.
Thackery couldn't tell if they fed her the potion or not. All he could do was hope that he had stopped them in time.
"NO!" he bellowed.
The witches spun around, yelping in surprise as Thackery jumped off of the platform and hit the ground, colliding with the cauldron and making it swing on its strings.
"Stay away from my cauldron," the leader ordered.
Thackery did the exact opposite. He grabbed the rim of the cauldron and pushed it forward, wacking two of the witches and sending them to the floor before spilling the green, boiling potion all over the floor and the witches' robes.
"Emily!" Thackery cried, running for his sister.
"Thackery?" Emily muttered in a trance, in an almost drugged haze.
The leader sighed in boredom before shooting electricity from her finger tips, hitting Thackery's back.
Thackery spun, all sense of direction lost as the electricity coursed through his veins, muddling and fogging his mind.
The leader zapped him once more before Thackery fell to the floor.
"What shall we do-" one witch began.
"Sisters!" the leader suddenly shouted. "Her life force!"
A light glowed around Emily, lighting up the room and making Emily's hair and clothes blow with a nonexistent wind.
The witches leaned over her and breathed in the light.
When they pulled away, Thackery barely recognized them.
Before, they'd been old, hideous hags. Now, they wouldn't be winning any beauty pageants, but they were certainly younger. The gray was gone from the hair; their wrinkles had vanished. They'd shaved probably a decade off of their ages.
Emily, on the other hand… it took all of Thackery's will power not to cry.
She was slumped forward, the light having vanished from her. She was no longer vibrant and bright; she no longer lit up the room just by being in it. She was dull and her skin had taken on a grayish tinge. Her hair was dry and brittle, falling in her face. They'd snuffed out her life force, effectively killing Thackery's girlfriend.
He swore to the heavens there would be hell to pay.
Thackery stumbled to his feet, still disoriented, and the leader narrowed her eyes at him.
"Now, boy, what to do with you," the leader mused.
"All the children in the world cannot make thee young and beautiful," Thackery snarled.
The witches only laughed.
"What shall we do with him?" the leader repeated. "Book, come!"
Thackery watched in apprehension as the spell book-which had a moving eye, by the way- floated through the air and into the leader's hands.
The witch flipped through the pages, occasionally muttering "We can do better" before continuing.
"Ahh," she finally murmured. "Perfect. As usual. His curse shall not be to die, but to live forever with his guilt."
She snapped the book shut and began chanting. Thackery's fear was so immense, he couldn't even follow the spell or the words or any of it.
"Just… like… that," the witches finished.
An excruciating pain filled Thackery, causing him to scream and shout in utter pain. The witches were growing taller, getting farther and farther away.
Soon, Thackery's cries turned to meows.
They turned him into a cat.
Banging began at the door, and Thackery saw torches and pitch forks through the window.
What took them so long? He thought.
The witches ran to barricade the door, and Thackery slinked over to his sister's body (the witches having half hidden her by a blanket-they may be powerful, but they're certainly not smart).
He pounced onto her lap and curled up in the silky folds of her dress, sobbing (as much as a cat could sob) and howling in pure emotional agony.
His true love was gone, and Thackery couldn't even join her.
The witches had nooses tied around their necks, standing on the platform and gazing down at the townsfolk.
"I will ask you one more time," Mr. Binx growled. "What has thou done with my son Thackery?"
"Thackery," one witch mused. "Doesn't ring a bell."
The witches began chanting.
"Listen to them not!" Mr. Binx cried.
One man dropped the spell book in order to cover his ears, and the book turned its own pages, causing the leader to grin.
"We shall be back!" she called.
Mr. Binx nodded, and the platform dropped out from underneath them, causing the witches to dangle by their broken necks.
Mr. Binx walked into the cottage to retrieve the body of his dead daughter, but he found a black cat sitting upon Emily's lap, yowling in what sounded like pain.
"Get away," he ordered.
The cat didn't move.
Mr. Binx picked up the cat, and for a moment, he thought he recognized something in the cat's eyes… he pushed it off as his imagation. He'd just lost a child to death, and his son had gone missing. Forgive him if he's not thinking rationally.
He set the cat on the ground and watched the cat weave between Emily's legs.
The cat seemed to really care about Emily…
Mr. Binx pushed that thought aside and picked the dead body up, needing to prepare it (not it, he thought. Her) for the burial.
The cat hissed and meowed for his attention, but Mr. Binx didn't turn around.
Maybe if he'd know that that cat was his son, he would've given the cat the time of day.
Thackery stared after his father, and he thought the three words he would give anything to say to Emily one last time.
I love you.
PRESENT DAY
"Poor Thackery Binx," the teacher mused. "No one ever knew what became of him. The witches were hanged, but some say that a black cat still guards the witches ' cottage, warding off anything that might make the witches come back to LIFE!"
The teacher tossed a black ribbon at a student, who cried out in fright.
"Give me a break," a boy muttered in the front row.
The teacher raised an eyebrow. "I see we have a sceptic in our midst. Mr. Dennison, would you care to give us your California, tie dyed, laid back view?"
"Okay," Max Dennison said with a shrug. "I know here in Salem you're all into the black cats and witches and stuff."
"Stuff?" the teacher squawked, the class making sounds of outrage.
"But we all know that Halloween was invented by the candy companies," Max continued as though they hadn't spoken. "It's a conspiracy!"
"It just so happens," a girl spoke up, "that Halloween is based on a feast called All Hallow's Eve. It's the one night of the year the spirits of the dead can return to earth."
The class clapped.
"Well said, Allison," the teacher said.
Max stood and handed Allison a folded up piece of paper.
"Well, in case Jimmy Hendrix shows up tonight, here's my number," Max said as Allison unfolded the paper to reveal a couple of numbers and the boy's name scrawled across it.
"Ooh," the class called as the bell rang.
Max and Allison gave each other one last look before Allison left the classroom.
"Not a chance, Dennison," another guy muttered as he passed.
"Allison," Max called as he rose his bike beside Allison.
"Hey," Allison replied.
"I didn't mean to embarrass you back there," Max sighed.
"You didn't," Allison replied.
"I'm Max Dennison," Max introduced.
"I know. You just moved here, huh?"
Max nodded. "Last week."
"Must be a pretty big change."
Max nodded. "Tell me about it."
"How you liking Salem?" Allison asked.
"Well, the leaves are great, but all this Halloween stuff…"
"You don't believe in it?"
"The Sander sisters. Seriously?" Max said. "No way."
"Not even on Halloween?"
"Especially not on Halloween!"
Allison laughed before handing Max a folded up piece of paper.
"Trick or treat."
She walked away, and Max unfolded the paper.
His phone number. Not her's.
Dang it. He'd really been looking forward to being her friend.
Max was flirting with her, but he already had a girlfriend. He wouldn't truly go out with Alison, but usually, he flirted with girls and in the process, became friends with them. The system, however weird, worked.
Max rode his bike through town, taking a short cut through the cemetery.
"Who are you?" a voice shouted.
Max turned to see two rough looking boys spring out from behind a tomb stone.
"Um, Max," Max replied. "I just moved here."
"From where?" one of them-the blonde one with hair long enough to be a girl's-demanded.
"Los Angeles."
He was met with blank stares.
"LA," Max clarified, and the boys nodded in realization.
"Tubular," the shorter one drawled.
"I'm Jay, and this is Ernie," the long haired one said.
The shorter one pull Jay into a huddle and they seemed to have an argument before standing back up straight.
"This is Ice," Jay amended.
Ice turned around the display those three letters shaved into the back of his head.
Max nodded.
"Give us a butt, man," Jay ordered.
Max shook his head. "Oh, no, I don't smoke."
"They're very health conscious in Los Angeles," Ice mocked.
"Got any cash?" Jay added. "Hollywood."
Max shook his head, preparing to mount his bike.
"Well, if you don't give me any cigarettes and you don't have any cash, what am I supposed to do with my afternoon?" Ice asked, his foul breath wafting over Max's face.
"You could learn how to breathe through your nose," Max suggested.
Jay laughed, but when Ice glared at him, Jay fell silent and looked at the ground.
"Hey," Jay said. "Look at the trainers."
Max tried to walk away, but Ice smacked him in the chest, keeping him in place.
Needless to say, Max went home with no shoes.
Max slammed open the door to his house and stormed inside.
"How was school?" Mrs. Dennison called.
"It sucked!" Max shouted. "I can't believe you made me move here."
"Watch the language," he father admonished.
"Why isn't he wearing any shoes?" Mrs. Dennison muttered to her husband once their son was out of ear shot.
Max slammed the door to his room and dropped his bag on the floor before collapsing into his bed, curling up under his covers, pitying himself, and wondering what he was doing with his life. The normal teenage angst.
The closet door burst open, making Max yelp in surprise, and then his sister leaped on top of him.
"Dani!" Max laughed, giving her a kiss on the lips.
Remember that girlfriend I told you about earlier? That girlfriend is Dani, Max's little sister.
"I scared you!" she shouted.
"You did," Max chuckled. "Halloween is the holiday for you."
Dani collapsed beside her boyfriend.
"I'm sorry you didn't have a good day," she said.
Max shrugged. "Yeah. I have no friends, got embarrassed, and got mugged."
Dani shrugged. "I got picked last for kickball, ate alone at lunch, and a kid stole my lunch money. Guess we're in the same boat here."
Max smiled sadly before changing the subject. "Excited for trick or treating tonight?"
"Of course!" Dani cried. "Still taking me?"
"I wouldn't miss it for the world," Max replied, giving Dani another kiss.
"The witching hours are about to begin!" Mr. Dennison cheered as he swept Dani into a hug. "What are you supposed to be, Max?"
Max smiled. "The best big brother in the world."
His parents nodded before Mrs. Dennison snapped a picture and let them go.
"Max is so good with Dani," she mused. "How does he do it?"
They didn't know about Max and Dani's relationship, but they did know that the two siblings were closer than the average brother and sister.
Mr. Dennison shrugged. "I don't know, but at least we can count on Max to keep Dani safe."
Dani walked away from the door after getting her candy and stared down at the commotion on the sidewalk. Two guys-Ice and Jay, Max realized- were stealing a bunch of kids' candy.
"Let's go the other way," Max suggested.
Dani, determined, walked straight down the porch to where the two boys were.
"Pay the toll, kid," Ice said. "Ten chocolate bars, no licorice."
"Nope," Dani replied.
"How would you like to be hung from that telephone poll?" Jay asked.
"I'd like to see you try," Dani said.
"Hey!" Max called, stepping in. "Back off."
"Oh, it's Max from LA," Ice drawled.
"Look, you can mess with me all you want, but you do not go near my sister. Understand?" Max demanded.
"Wait," Dani yelled. "Are these the guys that mugged you?"
Max nodded, and the two siblings exchanged a single glance before acting at the same time.
Max punched Ice in the face so hard, he heard a crunch, and Dani kicked Jay in the legs and hit him in the stomach until he doubled over. Dani had a surprising amount of strength for such a young girl.
"You stay away from my sister," Max snarled.
"And you stay away from my brother," Dani added.
"Or you'd better sleep with one eye open at night," they advised in a creepy unison before walking away.
Jay and Ice exchanged a glance before stumbling to their feet and running away.
"Woah, look at this house," Dani muttered. "Rich people."
Max nodded as he stared at all of the Halloween decorations.
"Trick or treat!" he called as they walked through the open door.
"Jackpot!" Dani suddenly yelled.
Max and Dani rushed inside, grabbing tons of medium sized candy bars out of a cauldron shaped bowl.
"Max Dennison," a familiar voice called, and Max looked up to see Allison standing at the banister above. "I thought you didn't like Halloween."
"I don't," Max shrugged. "Just taking my little sister trick or treating. Dani, this is Allison. Allison, Dani."
"Nice to meet you," Allison said. "You guys want some cider?"
"Sure," Dani and Max stated.
Alison got them both a cup and looked down at Dani.
"So Dani, you like Halloween?"
Dani nodded. "Yep. It's my favorite holiday. We just learned about those sisters in school."
"The Sanderson sisters?" Allison said. "I know all about them because my mom used to work in a museum."
"There's a museum about them?" Dani asked.
Alison shrugged. "There use to be, but they had to shut it down because a lot of spooky things happened there."
"Well, why don't we go the Sanderson sisters' cottage?" Max suggested. "How would you like that, Dani?"
"I'd love it!" Dani cheered.
"You want to come, Allison?" Max asked.
Allison shrugged. "Sure. Just let me get changed," she said, gesturing to the ball gown she was currently wearing before heading for the stairs.
"This is going to be epic," Dani grinned.
Max smiled. "That's why I suggested it."
"Legend has it, the bodies of a hundred children were buried within these walls," Allison told Dani and Max as they came upon the gate that barred off the Sander sisters' cottage.
"Oh, great," Dani muttered.
Now that she was here, she wasn't sure this was such a good idea, but she didn't say anything.
They climbed the gate and walked into the cottage. Just opening the door kicked up hundreds of years of dust and made the three of them cough and sputter and gag. Darkness filled the room, and every few feet, Dani and Max (holding hands) would bump into something.
"I can't see anything," Dani said as she stumbled into an object (it felt like a table).
"Where are the lights?" Allison wondered.
Max picked up an object off of a nearby table that had a silver glint to it, and he uncapped the object. Dani jumped as a flame leaped out of the lighter.
"I found a lighter," he told Allison before holding it up to the wall so that she could find the lights.
Allison flipped the lights on, and they flashed on with a quiet pop, lighting up the eerie cottage. There were vials and cauldrons and tons of witch things that Max didn't even want to know the name of.
"This is the spell book that belonged to Winifred Sanderson," Allison announced, gesturing to a book sitting on a stand. "It was given to her by the Devil himself. It's bound in human skin and contains the recipes for her most powerful and evil spells."
"We get the picture," Dani muttered, the uneasy feeling in her gut growing with each second she stood in the cottage.
"Ooh, what's this?" Max asked as he caught sight of a candle sitting on a table. "The Black Flame candle," he read off of a plaque. "On a full moon, it can release spirits of the dead. What do you say we light this sucker?"
"I wouldn't," Dani advised.
"Would you dare?" Max asked Allison.
"No, thanks," she replied.
Max shrugged and flipped open the cap on the lighter, holding it closer and closer and closer to the wick.
"MEOW!"
A black cat tackled Max, clawing at his neck and face and making him fall to the ground.
"Stupid cat!" Max yelled.
"All right, Max, you've had your fun," Dani said. "Let's go. Come on, Allison."
Max stood and flipped open the lighter again.
"Its just a bunch of hocus pocus," he muttered.
"Max, don't!" Dani screamed.
Max almost always listened to Dani, but he didn't that night. He isn't sure why. Maybe he just wanted to prove a point. Either way, not listening to Dani was the biggest mistake he made that day.
Max lit the candle and watched in horror as the flame went from orange to black.
"Oh, no," he muttered, which pretty much summed it up.
The lights began popping out one by one, and for a moment, there was nothing but silence.
Max headed for the door to grab Dani and leave, but he didn't make it.
The floorboards began shaking, and emerald light shined out from beneath them, making the pale faces of the children glow in an almost sickly fashion.
It stopped as quickly as it came.
"What happened?" Max asked.
Dani sighed. "A moron lit a candle."
Dani didn't typically insult her boyfriend, but the situation called for it.
Flames began sprouting from candles all around the room before engulfing the inside of the fireplace, making the three kids jump.
The door burst open with a resonating bang, and three middle aged woman strolled through.
Dani, Allison, and Max ran for a hiding place. Even the black cat that had attacked Max dove under a table for cover.
"We're home!" the red haired one (obviously the leader) cried.
"My cauldron!" another shouted, gesturing to one of the many cauldrons in the cottage. "I knew I left this cauldron somewhere, but I didn't know where."
The blonde woman reached high before pulling something off of a platform that rounded the walls.
"My lucky rat tail!" she shouted, presenting the object with pride.
"Oh," the redhead suddenly said. "Who lit the black flame candle?"
She paused before crying out in excitement. For a moment, Max was afraid she had found him, but then, she approached the spell book.
"Wakey, wakey," she sing songed. "Time to wake up. I missed you. Did you miss me, too?"
"Sister," one of the other woman hissed. "I smell… children."
Max, Allison, and Dani paled.
"Sick 'em," the redhead said.
"I smell," the woman that had smelled the child said as the women crept through the cottage, "a young girl. Seven. Maybe eight, eight and a half."
Dani's face turned utterly white as the women neared her hiding place.
"I love children," the blonde said. "Come little children, I'll take thee awa-"
The redhead covered the blonde's mouth before banging on the table and causing Dani to cry out as she leapt out from under it.
"We will not harm you," the redhead said. "Oh, what a pretty thing."
"Get away from her!" Max shouted as he sprung out of his hiding place.
The women whipped around.
"A boy!" the blonde cried in pure excitement.
"Get away from my sister," Max growled.
The redhead rolled her eyes before zapping Max with electricity from her fingertips, causing Max to fall to the floor.
"Dani!" he cried while the women were distracted. "RUN!"
One of the women grabbed Dani before she could make it two feet, and she battled to keep the child still while the redhead began to torture Max with the electricity. Shocking him until his vision was fuzzy, slamming him into walls, and using her powers to cause an excruciating pain in his abdomen that was quickly spreading.
Allison appeared out of no where and wacked one of the women upside the head, forcing her to release Dani, who immediately ran to her brother's aid.
"Leave my brother alone!" she shouted, smacking the other two women with her bucket of candy.
Dani and Allison ran for the door, but Max climbed onto the platform above.
"HEY!" he shouted, causing the women to spin around. "If you mess with my little sister, there'll be hell to pay. I summon the fiery storm of death!"
Max lit the lighter and held it under the sprinkler, watching as water poured down upon the panicking witches.
Max tumbled to the floor, slipping in the water and falling on his back, and the black cat leapt onto his chest.
"Nice going, Max," the cat snapped.
Yes, you heard that right. The cat talked.
Max's eyes could not have been wider.
"Get the spell book!" the cat shouted.
Max blinked.
The cat howled in irritation and scratched Max across the face.
That snapped Max out of his stupor and he shot to his feet, seeing the three women standing beneath the platform to keep away from the water.
Max smashed the glass case with the book inside with the nearest object (a fire place poker) before grabbing the book. The redhead struggled against her sisters, who held her back and kept repeating Fiery storm of death.
Max ran out the door with the cat on his heels and the book in his hand.
"MAX!" Dani screamed, and Max followed her voice to where her and Allison stood.
The witches were on their heels (having realized that the Fiery storm of death was only water), but they got distracted by the black river (a road) and the squealing sirens of a fire truck. Needless to say, this bought Binx and the kids some time.
"This is crazy!" Max cried as they stopped in front of the gate to the cemetery.
"This is hollowed ground," the cat said. "Witches can't set foot here."
Allison and Dani gaped.
"Oh, he talks," Max said, casually.
The cat leaped through the spires that formed the gate, calling, "Follow me!" over his shoulder.
The cat stood on a headstone and told them a quick story of Sarah and how she sowed a man's mouth shut and poisoned him and a whole bunch of stuff they didn't really want to know.
"Who are you?" Max demanded.
"You're Thackery Binx," Allison realized before the cat could speak (never thought I'd say that). "So the legends are true."
"Come along. I want to show you something else."
The cat (now Thackery Binx) lead them to another part of the graveyard and stood on a head tone with the name Emily Binx scrawled across it.
"Because of me, my little sister's life was stolen. I waited for years for my life to end, so I could reunite with her, but that witch's spell kept me alive. At some point, I figured out what to do with my eternal life. The next time the Sander sisters returned, I would be there just in case some airhead were to light that candle," Binx muttered.
"I'm sorry," Max muttered.
Dani grabbed Max's hand.
"It'll be okay, Max. It has to be. Won't it?" she asked.
Max hugged her and kissed her on the forehead.
"Of course it will, Dani. I won't let them get you. I promise."
Binx stared at the siblings with a weird gaze in his eyes, almost… a far away gaze, as though he were remembering something.
(Little did the children know, Max and Dani reminded Binx of him and Emily).
"We're talking about three ancient hags versus the twentieth century," Max pointed out. "How bad can it be?"
"Bad," Binx replied.
"AHHHH!" Three screams, filled with cackles, echoed through the night.
The witches hovered above the graveyard on their brooms, giggling and smirking.
"It's all just hocus pocus," the redhead mocked. "Book!"
The book began to float through the air towards her hand, but Thackery leaped on top of it to keep it on the ground.
"Thackery Binx!" the leader chuckled. "Still alive?"
"And waiting for you!" Binx snarled.
"Thou has waited in vain. Thou shall fail to save thy friends as thou failed to save thy sister," the witch taunted before diving with her broom.
No matter what direction they ran, one of the three witches would cut them off, trapping them in the graveyard.
"They can't touch us, right?" Max asked as he hugged Dani against his side.
"Well… they can't," Binx said, his tone telling them there was a catch.
"I don't like the way you said that," Dani muttered.
The witches began chanting and waving their hands, casting a spell. What spell, the four of them didn't know.
The ground began to tremble. Dirt flew through the air, and the headstones shuddered.
Dani screamed, and Max held her closer than ever before, shielding her from the witches and trying to protect her from the aftermath of the spell, which was very hard, considering it was occurring all around them.
A zombie leapt out of the grave from beside them, the one Binx had told them about. The one with the sowed mouth.
The three children exchanged shocked glances before issuing one scream and running for their lives.
"In here!" Binx shouted, gesturing to a small hole in the ground, but luckily, the teenagers and Daniel could definitely fit inside.
Dani and Allison slipped into the hole and yelled as they dropped down into some kind of underground tunnel.
Max stayed behind and pulled back a branch, watching as the zombie (what did Binx say his name was? Billy?) approached.
Max released the branch at the last minute, and the branch took off Billy's head.
Max smiled before it dropped as Billy's body continued to fumble around, even as his severed head rolled away.
Max dove into the hole and glanced around, using the lighter as a light.
Bones. All over the ceiling, and a bunch of disgusting stuff that Max didn't even want to know what it was.
"Don't look up, Dani, " he muttered.
Dani nodded, keeping her eyes trained on her shoes.
"It connects to the sewer," Binx explained. "It'll lead you up to the road."
The four of them traveled through winding tunnels, Max in the lead with Dani's hand clenched in his, until they arrived at a metal cover that lead up to the road.
Max motioned for them to wait as he climbed up the ladder with Binx. He pushed the cover up and Binx crawled out. Max reached his hand down to help Dani, but a sudden roar sounded, and he saw a bus barreling towards them.
Max dropped the cover and fell off of the ladder to land beside Dani and Allison.
After the roar of the engine had faded, the three of them climbed out to see Binx flattened, a tire mark staining his midsection. He wasn't moving.
Dani whimpered and hid her face in Max's shirt.
"It's all my fault," Max whispered.
"It's not your fault, Max," Allison disagreed.
Dani risked another peak at Binx and saw… and saw…
"Guys!" she exclaimed.
Binx's flattened midsection rose until it returned to its previous state (before he'd been run over by a six hundred pound bus, possible more!)
Binx stood as though he hadn't just been run over and shook, almost like a dog trying to dry off.
"I hate when that happens," he muttered.
"How…" Allison muttered.
"I told you. I can't die, remember?" Binx said. "You okay, Dani?"
Dani smiled and wiped away her tears, nodding.
"Okay, then," Binx said. "Let's go!"
"Officer, officer!" Allison called as they ran up to a police officer.
"We need your help!" Dani added.
"What's the problem?" the officer asked.
"Tell him," Dani hissed to Max.
Max hesitated. What he was about to say was crazy, and he could only hope the officer would believe them.
"Well, you see," Max said. "I just moved here, and…"
The officer raced an eyebrow, waiting for him to continue.
"I broke into the old Sanderson house and brought the witches back from the dead," Max blurted. "I even have the book," he added, displaying the spell book.
The officer sighed. "You lit the black flame candle, didn't you?"
Max nodded.
"And he's a virgin," Dani added since that was a part of the legend ( a Virgin had to light the candle, supposedly).
The officer pulled the three of them aside.
"Are you a virgin?" he asked Max.
Max sighed. "I'll get it tattooed on my forehead, all right?"
"Officer, this isn't a prank," Allison stressed.
"Seriously? I risk my life to keep this town safe, and you punks pull something like this," the officer spat. "Get out of here."
The kids obeyed, recognizing a lost cause when they saw one.
Binx meowed in anger, hissing at the officer.
"And take that cat with you!"
"What's going on, Eddie?" a woman asked as she sat behind the officer on his motorcycle.
"Just some kids pulling my chain, " Eddie scoffed. "They thought I was a real cop."
"Great," Max muttered as they walked up to a crowded building, where their parents were attending a Halloween party. "How are we going to find Mom and Dad in this place?"
The three of them pushed their way into the building, and Dani, Binx in her arms, split off to find their mom.
"So… you and Dani, huh?" Allison said.
Max turned to face her, confused.
"What do you mean?"
"You're dating her, aren't you?"
Max blinked. "How did you know?"
Allison shrugged. "I'm smart. And don't worry, Max. As long as you two are happy, I don't judge."
Max nodded with a smile, and he was about to thank her when suddenly, hands appeared on his shoulders, making Max cry out and spin around.
Max sighed in relief. "Dad…"
"It's not Dad," his father corrected. "It's Dad-ula!" he smirked, gesturing to his Dracula costume.
"Something terrible happened," Max told him.
His father's smile dropped. "What? Dani? Where's Dani?"
"Dani's fine," Max assured him.
"Whatever it is, you can just tell me," his father said, looking at Allison for a moment and wondering who she was and why she was here, but he didn't ask.
Meanwhile, Dani combed the room for her mom. Binx's warm fur against the skin of her arms was oddly comforting, even though the threat of the witches gobbling her up still loomed on the horizon.
"Mom?" she called before her jaw dropped as she spotted her mother.
Her mother was dressed in a short skirt and had these cones over her chest. She was dancing and swinging her hips, and her hair was pulled back in a pony tail.
"Mom?" she gaped. "What are you supposed to be?"
Her mother blushed and fumbled for words.
"Um… I'm… well, I'm, you know… what's going on?" She said, changing the subject.
Dani sighed. "Max is a virgin and he lit the black flame candle and brought the Sanderson sisters back from the dead and they're going to eat all the children in Salem!" she blurted.
"How much candy have you had tonight?" her mother asked.
"I haven't had any. I haven't even had a piece!"
Her mother looked over the crowd, unsure of what to do in this situation.
"Okay… let's just find your father."
"Kids, kids, I know it's Halloween, but stop it with the pranks already."
"This isn't a prank," Allison told Mr. and Mrs. Dennison.
"Guys!" Dani suddenly yelled and pointed to something in the crowd.
The Sanderson sisters.
"Hold this," Max ordered, thrusting the spell book into Allison's arms and running for the stage.
He climbed onto the stage and snatched the microphone from what was now a very angry singer.
"This is important," Max announced. "Three hundred years ago, the Sanderson sisters were killed, but now, they've risen from the grave."
The crowd laughed.
"No, I'm serious. They're right there!"
Everyone followed Max's pointing finger to see the Sanderson sisters standing in the crowd.
"Well," Winifred drawled, "Max, thank you for that wonderful introduction."
The crowd chuckled.
The woman burst into song, chanting and singing what sounded like an enchantment.
"Don't listen to them!" Dani begged her parents, covering her own ears.
"They're good!" Mr. Dennison shouted, ignoring Dani.
"Come on!" Max yelled, dragging Allison and Dani away from the party, leaving the singing behind.
The three of them whirled into an alleyway, and they ducked behind some trashcans.
"Allison, I want you to take Dani to your house and keep her safe."
"I'm not leaving you!" Dani disagreed.
"Dani, I don't want to leave you, but my priority is to keep you safe," Max said, firmly, kissing Dani on the lips. "I love you more than anything in the world. Never forget that."
"Uh, oh," Binx muttered, cutting them off.
They turned to see the three witches lurking around the corner, their shadows dancing upon the walls, and the four of them dove for cover behind walls and trash bags and a rusty, old oven.
"I smell…" one witch (Mary, Max remembered) murmured, "fish."
Winifred cursed. "We need to find that book."
The witches left, and Allison moved, slightly, clanging against the rusty oven and making her friends jump.
"Sorry," she said before smiling at the oven. "I have an idea."
"What is this place?" Winifred muttered as they stumbled upon a high school.
"I don't know," Mary replied, "but it reeks of children."
"It's a prison for children," Winifred settled on.
The three witches strolled inside, and a male voice (Max's) boomed over the speakers.
"Welcome to High School hell!" he shouted. "Meet our three contestants: Mary, Sarah, and Winifred Sanderson."
"What is this?" Mary mumbled.
Mary sniffed the air and lead the way to a metal door labeled boiler room.
"What? I smell children," Mary murmured, "but I don't see any children."
Suddenly, hands pushed the three sisters into the room, and Allison flipped the switch, watching as flames engulfed the room, swallowing the screaming witches.
"It's over," Max murmured to his sister. "It's over. IT'S OVER!"
The three kids and Binx raised out of the school and danced around the park across the street, cheering in happiness.
"We did it, Binx!" Max said to the cat.
Binx nodded. "You saved Dani from my sister's fate."
"You really miss her, don't you?" Max asked, sadly.
Binx nodded. "She wasn't only my sister, you know. She was my girlfriend, my one and only. Just like you and Dani."
Max blinked. "Wow. I can't imagine losing Dani like that."
"She's your true love," Binx said. "Take care of her, tell her you love her every chance you get. If you lose her, you'll regret not saying it more."
Binx hopped down from his place in the tree and started to head toward the road.
"Binx!" Max called. " Where are you going? You're a Dennison now."
Binx blinked.
"Yeah, you can come home with us!" Dani shouted.
"Home," Binx murmured before running over to Dani.
"Home," Max repeated before following and sweeping Dani into his arms.
"Let's go home, Dani," he whispered to her.
The witches were dead. It was over. They'd survived. Everything was good.
Little did they know, the witches were still very much alive.
Dani laid down in Max's bed, and Max curled up beside her while Allison occupied a cozy spot on the floor, utilizing blankets Max had lent her.
"You're my cat now," Dani said to Binx. "Our family will take care of you for generations."
Binx smiled (as much as a cat could smile, I guess). "Thanks."
Max kissed Dani on the forehead.
"I love you, Dani. I'm glad you're safe."
Dani nodded. "I love you, too, Max. Always will."
The siblings snuggled up together with their friend nearby and Binx in Dani's arms.
For the moment, all was good.
Unfortunately, it couldn't stay that way.
"Can you sleep?" Max asked a few hours later.
"No," Allison replied. Dani continued to snore, softly.
Max sighed before looking at Binx, snuggled up in his sister's arms.
"Poor Binx," he commented.
"You know," Allison said. "The spell book did this to him. Maybe the spell book could undo it."
"But Binx said not to open it," Max whispered.
Allison shrugged. "The witches are dead. What harm could it do?"
Max shrugged and watched as Allison opened the spell book.
Seconds later, a hiss sounded, and Binx pounced on the book.
"What are you doing?" he snapped.
"We just want to help you," Allison said.
"Well, don't," Binx responded. "It's dangerous."
Binx returned to Dani's arms, and Allison and Max both sunk down into their covers and drifted back off to sleep.
Unbeknownst to the people inside the house, opening the spell book had sent a glowing flare of magic into the air, shooting out the windows and shining between the cracks in the roof. It was basically a sign saying SPELL BOOK IS HERE!
And the witches, who were not dead, noticed it.
Max was awakened by a rustling noise from nearby.
"Allison… what are you doing?' he mumbled.
She turned to him. "It's five AM. My parents are going to kill me."
"Here. I'll walk you out," Max volunteered, climbing over Dani, careful not to wake her.
The two teenagers walked down the steps, and Max stopped at the door.
"Allison," he said. "Thanks for helping us, and… not judging us."
Allison nodded. "You don't need to thank me for being your friend. Take care of Dani. You two are good together. I'll see you at school on Monday."
Allison placed her hand on the door knob just as a clatter sounded from above.
"Dani!" Max cried.
The two teens took the steps two at a time and ran into Max's room, where nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Dani was still in bed with the covers over her head.
"The spell book's gone," Alison realized.
"Dani," Max exclaimed before whipping the blanket off of the bed and yelping as he came face to face with, not Dani, but Sarah Sanderson.
The closet door burst open, and Winifred and Mary exited it. Dani was under Mary's arm with Mary's fingers wrapped around her mouth.
"Looking for this?" Winifred asked, gesturing to the spell book.
"Or this?" Mary added, shaking Dani slightly.
"If you hurt her, I'll-" Max was cut off when Winifred shot him with her electricity, seeing him flying over his drum set to land in a dazed heap on the floor.
"Come along, sisters," Winifred said. "The magic will soon run out. Dawn approaches."
The sisters mounted their brooms (Mary dragging Dani with her) before flying out the window.
"Dani!" Allison cried, stumbling over to the window and watching the witches carry Dani farther and farther away.
Max stumbled to his feet and met an amazed and bewildered Allison at the window.
Sarah was singing, and her voice seemed to be drawing children. Children of all ages walked down the street in a trance. There were dozens, if not hundreds, of kids.
"Come, little children. The time's came to play… here in my garden of magic," Sarah sang.
"Max," Allison whispered. "Winifred said that the magic will run out. Dawn approaches. The magic only brought them back for this one night. As soon as the sun comes up, they're dust."
"We have to save her," Max muttered. "Come on."
"Come on!" Max shouted as he tried to weave the car in and out of the lines of children, who were acting like sleep walkers. "Come on."
Hang on, Dani.
"You're the ugliest creature on this planet, and you know it," Dani was saying. "No amount of magic will change that."
Winifred scowled, her eyes turning frigid, as she held the spoon of potion and tried to force it into Dani's closed mouth. Dani was tied to a chair, and she couldn't run, so all she could do was turn her head away, fighting against her bonds.
Please, Max, Dani thought. Please…
Surprisingly, Dani only had one regret:
She didn't say I love you to her brother enough. She'd give anything to say those three words one more time.
As if answering her prayers, the door burst open, revealing her brother.
"Hey!" Max shouted. "There is one thing more powerful than magic."
Winifred frowned. "And what would that be?"
"Knowledge, and I know one thing you don't."
The witches leaned forward in curiosity.
"Day Light Savings Time!" Max announced, just as sunlight filtered through the window.
The witches cried out, falling to the floor and screaming in agony, while Max tore and ripped at the ropes that bound his sister to the chair. He then grabbed Binx, who was tied in a bag over the fireplace.
Max tipped over the cauldron with the potion and led his sister to the door.
"I want to see her turn to dust!" Dani said as they ran outside.
Max shrugged and pointed at Allison, who was ripping sheets of paper off of the headlights of their car. Behind her was a dark sky.
"Hop in!" Dani shouted as she ran down the steps of the cottage.
"We'll never make it past all these kids in time," Max muttered as they attempted to drive through the sleepwalkers that could also be called the children of Salem.
"The graveyard," Binx suggested.
The four of them raced into the graveyard, only to run into Billy the zombie.
"Run!" Max told Allison and Dani, who didn't argue.
"Kill him, Billy! Get those children!" Winifred ordered as she appeared, flying on her broom.
Billy got Max in a headlock, his forearm pressed Max's throat.
Max wielded the only weapon he had on hand, which happened to be a pen.
Billy wrestled that out of Max's hand, and Max expected him to stab him with it, but Billy didn't. Instead, he pressed it against his sowed lips and slit through the stitches. He opened his mouth and coughed up dust and a few moths (how did those even get in there?)
"You…" Billy sputtered, staring at Winifred. "You old, shriveled, evil hag!"
Billy looked down at Max and hissed, "I've wanted to say that for three hundred years."
Max coughed as Billy's foul breath wafted over his face, having gone three hundred years with brushing his teeth.
"Say whatever you want, just don't breathe on me," Max mumbled.
Winifred blinked. "I killed you once, Billy. I can kill you again."
Billy simply laughed and dragged Max to his feet before they ran for the cover of the trees.
"Max!" Allison cried, wielding a branch and preparing to bring it down on Billy's head.
"No!" Max shouted. "He's a good zombie."
(Once again, something I'd never thought I'd say)
Dani breathed in relief. "Thank goodness you're okay."
Max nodded. "You, t-"
A cackle sounded, and Winifred dove down out of nowhere, snatching Dani off of the ground and holding her on the broom as she flew high above their heads.
"Dani!" Max shouted.
"Max!" Dani screamed.
"I've got you, Dani!" Binx yelled before leaping off of headstones until he found one tall enough to be able to pounce and reach the broom. His claws dug into Winifred's robe, and she rolled her eyes before swatting Binx aside like an annoying gnat.
Thackery Binx flew into the bushes and didn't return.
Winifred retrieved a vial of the surviving potion and tried to pry open Dani's mouth.
"Open your mouth, girl," she growled.
Dani didn't and she just managed to smack it out of the witch's hand; Max dove forward and caught it.
"Put her down, or I smash it!" he shouted, holding the vial high.
"You smash it, she dies," the witch replied, fighting fire with fire.
Max hesitated.
There was only one choice in his mind, but it could possibly mean his death…
He didn't care. He'd do anything for Dani.
"Dani!" he called up to her. "I love you. I always will, and don't you dare blame yourself for this."
Everyone frowned in confusion before gasping and crying out as Max gulped down the contents of the vial.
"Now, you have no choice. You have to take me," Max said.
"Sacrificing thy life for thy sister's," Winifred said. "Idiotic child."
Winifred dropped Dani and grabbed Max by the front of his shirt. Allison and Dani watched as Max was carried, fighting and kicking, into the air while a bright light surrounded him. His life force.
"MAX!" Dani screamed in pure agony. "MAX!"
Max kicked and fought and wrestled with the witch. She tried to breathe in his life force, but every time, Max would fling himself out of her grip and dangle from the broom by his finger tips.
"Sisters!" Winifred called.
Mary and Sarah appeared, but Allison, Dani, and Billy managed to stop them by grabbing the cord of the vacuum cleaner Margaret was flying on (they'd obviously lost their brooms at some point). Sarah had come to her aid.
"Allison!" Dani yelled. "Look!"
The sun was coming up.
"Let go now!" Allison shouted, and both of the witches went flying as though they'd been released from a sling shot.
Max managed to get the upper hand in the fight with Winifred and they tumbled to the ground, rolling over one another to land on the forest floor.
Winifred snarled and grabbed the front of Max's shirt, standing up with him and bring him nose to nose with her.
She inhaled, but nothing happened.
Winifred glanced down and saw her legs turning to dust as the sun rose above the hills.
A flash of light, a curse from Winifred (not the magical kind), and Max found himself held in the arms of a stone statue of Winifred.
Max managed to slide down from the stone, connecting with the floor and landed in an exhausted heap, the silver light around him finally fading.
"Oh, no," Sarah said as she turned to dust.
"Uh, oh," Mary agreed before becoming dust as well.
This time, it was really and truly over.
"Max!" a voice shouted and Dani appeared at his side. "Max, are you okay?"
Max nodded. "I think so."
Dani engulfed Max in a hug.
"I love you, too," she murmured to him.
The siblings stood, and Billy waved before turning to his grave with a yawn.
"Have a nice nap, Billy!" Dani called. "Binx!"
Max made sure Allison was all right before he was cut off by Dani's sob.
"Binx!"
Dani raced into the trees and found Binx lying upon the grave of his sister, really and truly dead.
"He can't die," she sobbed. "Come back, Binx, like last time."
"Dani?" a familiar voice said.
They all turned to see a handsome teenager standing behind them in a white shirt and baggy pants.
"Binx?" Max muttered.
The boy nodded. "When the witches died, their spell broke. This is my human form."
Dani sniffled.
"Don't be sad, Dani," Binx told her. "I can be with my sister again. By the way, Max… thank you for lighting that candle."
Max smiled.
Binx knelt down and whispered something into Dani's ear before giving her a kiss on the cheek and standing.
"Thackery! Thackery Binx!" someone called, and a brown haired girl appeared from the trees.
"It's Emily," Binx grinned.
Thackery raced up to Emily and kissed her so lovingly and so passionately. The kiss almost seemed timeless.
"I love you so much," he whispered to her.
"I love you, too. Now, what took you so long?" Emily demanded.
"I'm sorry, Emily. I had to wait three hundred years for a virgin to light a candle," Thackery laughed.
They walked through a gate that suddenly appeared and vanished into the distance, leaving Allison, Dani, and Max in a destroyed graveyard with no one but each other and the comfort of knowing that it was all over.
Max knelt down beside Dani and kissed her just like Thackery kissed Emily.
Max said the three words that meant the world to both him and Dani. He had to say them now because meeting Binx had made him realize… he had to say these three words when he had the chance. Someday, Dani may not be there to hear them.
"I love you."
I know the ending wasn't completely like the movie, but it was pretty close.
This is one of the longest one shots (if not the longest) I have ever written, so I did my best with the editing. Please forgive any mistakes.
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Also, I will probably be doing some one shots with this, but I'm not sure when. If you have not followed me already, make sure to do so so you don't miss out.
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Hope you liked it!