Yes, I know, long time since an update, I've been busy with schoolwork and such. Hence, this part is a bit shorter. Enjoy.

Knock knock knock.

"Who could that be?" said Karolina. "Not the neighbors, I hope. Have you guys blown anything up lately?"

"Not me," said Molly, who was furiously playing videogames with Klara. And losing. "Not fair. You're camping."

"I'm hiding."

"But I can't get near you when you're hiding."

"Let her hide, Molly. It's what we're best at," said Victor as he cracked open a can of coke.

"Guys," said Karolina, "the door."

"I'll get it," said Victor. "Maybe one of the neighbors saw Old Lace. I'll make something up." Victor promptly left the living room. Molly kept grimacing and smashing buttons furiously.

"Hiding it wrong, if you ask me," she said. "We should be out there stopping bad guys."

"Molly, we've been over this," said Karolina. "We have to wait until things cool down. We can't risk getting caught."

"Spider-man fights baddies all the time, even though the newspapers hate him."

"That's just the Daily Bugle, dear. And Spider-man is… different."

"He has a costume," exclaimed Molly, having given up against Klara. "We should totally have those. I designed you one, K. All we need is a bathing suit and glitter."

Karolina raised an eyebrow. "Ayyyye think I'll pass."

"Give me the book." Kenyon advanced towards the two. Nico clutched the spellbook tightly and Chase hastily put his fists up.

"Touch her and I'll knock you back to Warthogs."

"Hogwarts," corrected Nico.

"Whatever. It sounded more badass in my head."

"A man doesn't fight well when he's caught the flu." Kenyon waved his hand and Chase's face turned pale. He leaned over and vomited.

"Chase! Get well."

"You're still casting spells only once, aren't you my dear? Besides, I'm the stronger magician." Kenyon again waved his hand. Chase frowned.

"Not aga… splaaaah."

Policemen were coming down the stairs. Nico grabbed Chase and hurried behind a nearby couch.

Kenyon put up his hands. "It's all right officers."

Blam! Nico and Chase heard a gunshot. Nico listened closely. Was he…

"He's gone," said a policeman in surprise. "Just disappeared.

"There were more here. Search the place."

"Nico…" cried a weakened Chase.

"I'll have to try something else. Vaccination." Slowly, Chase's breathing became more regular and his skin less pale. But Nico didn't have time to wait; she had to quickly think of a spell to get them out of there. They couldn't teleport because she has used that before.

"I'll found the—"

Out of panic, Nico threw the spellbook at the policeman.

"Invisible," said Chase. "Make us invisible."

"Invisible," repeated Nico. The two of them vanished.

"They disappeared too!" cried the policeman. "And what the heck is this book? It looks like it's bound in animal skin?"

"That's no animal. That's human skin, man," said another.

"Are you serious?" The man holding the book dropped it like it was on fire. "This is one of the weird things they wanted us to bring in, isn't it?"

"Enough talk, the trespassers have to be around somewhere. Search the place."

Nico and Chase tiptoed away, up the stairs, and out the door.

"You're going to get us killed."

Chase was driving rather recklessly. He was swerving between lanes and almost went onto the sidewalk every time he made a right turn. Both were still in a panic over the cops showing up. Finally, a red light forced him to stop.

"Look," Chase said as they were parked at the intersection, "Let's just calm down."

"You're the one driving."

"You're the one who freaked out and threw away that book."

"I stopped us from getting shot, didn't I?"

Chase had no response. They both sighed until the light turned green. "Here," said Chase, "Let me turn on some music." He reached for the radio but Nico grabbed his wrist to stop him.

"We need to talk about this," she said. "Why were the police at my house?"

"I don't know. Maybe a neighbor saw us or something."

"Maybe. I don't know, it could be worse." Nico closed her eyes, thinking intensively. "We should move. Find a new hideout."

"What? Come on, boss, you're overreacting."

"Trust me, it's in my gut. Something is wrong."

"You're just saying that because one of your 'rents' old Wicca friends from high school showed up. We'll head home and discuss it with the team. Cheer up, boss, everything's going to be fine."

Nico nodded slightly. "I hope you're right."

"The spellbook is in the hands of the authorities." Headwizard Kenyon had arranged an emergency meeting of the Guild immediately after the incident at the Minoru house. So far, only three of his comrades had shown up. The Headwitch contorted her already heavily wrinkled face. She wasn't happy.

"It's no big deal," said another wizard. "I doubt it contained any magic we don't already know."

"The spellbook is more than that," replied a chubby witch to his left. "It is a diary of the Minoru clan. It contains their secrets and their history, and it is worth plenty of gold on the black magic market."

"I agree with Gilda," said the Headwitch. "The spellbook is too important for us to lose. We'll have to take it from them as quietly as possible. Unfortunately, this has happened at an inopportune time; my masters have called me back to our headquarters in Beijing. Headwizard Kenyon, I leave you in charge while I am gone. Retrieve the spellbook. As for the girl, we are not here to play silly games. If she will not join us, kill her."

"Understood, mistress," said Kenyon. He made a quick bow, but inward he was smiling. Silly games were his specialty.

"Place seems rather quiet," said Chase as he drove up the driveway.

"That's good," said Nico. "It means we're not making trouble for once." She adjusted her hair and stepped out of the car. "Some lunch is what I need."

"Nico," called Chase. "There's something I wanted to ask you."

"If this is another date offer—"

"Why did Spookum back there say you'd rather bring back Alex than Gert?"

Nico stopped but kept her face hidden. "I… that was just him playing games with us."

"You're a terrible liar, you know that?"

"It's like I said, Gert was more of a friend than Alex ever was. But… but when I think of Alex these emotions just well up in throat." She gulped and took a moment to gather her thoughts. "Lately I keep having dreams about him, about the time we first kissed, about the times we hung out when we were younger. For some reason, I just can't believe what happened to him. For some reason I just… I just can't let go."

"Nico, I know, I feel the same way about Gert," said Chase, "but we get over these things. Alex was a traitor, who was willing to have us and the rest of humanity killed! He doesn't deserve anything from you, and honestly I think you should be ashamed."

Oh, he did not. She turned to face him. "Ashamed, Chase? Ashamed for actually caring? I've been holding this team together ever since he died, while you just monkey around and play with your 'rents' old equipment. What is it with you anyway? First you ask me out and now you're accusing me?"

"If you care so much, why don't you want to bring back Gert?"

"I do! Honestly, if I had the chance I would bring back Gert in a heartbeat, despite my emotions."

Chase still looked unconvinced. "Whatever, let's just go inside."

The two of them, noticeable aggravated and uncomfortable, went into the house. Nico called for Karolina and Chase called for Molly. No one answered.

"Do you think they went out?" asked Nico.

"Let's search the place."

Victor and Klara were also nowhere to be seen. Since the place was usually a mess, it took Nico some time to realize the house was more shambled than usual. Chairs were overturned, plates were on the floor, and even furniture was displaced. The real clue was that the television was broken; Molly would have protected that with her life… oh God.

"Chase," Nico called, "Chase, we have a problem."

Chase came in through the backdoor. Old Lace was with him. "Found her hiding under the sundeck. She seems disturbed. What's happened?"

"I think we were attacked. I mean, look at this place more closely."

"No way. Old Lace here would have any cops for breakfast."

"Are you sure? She doesn't look too well. Maybe she was fighting but then without you she decided to escape."

"Well why didn't she go with everyone else?" asked Chase. "I mean, everyone else escaped, right?"

"Hello," someone called. Nico recognized Klara's voice. "Is someone there? Nico?"

"Klara!" Nico ran towards the door and hugged the girl. She was noticeable scared and crying. "What happened?"

"It was horrible. Victor answered the door and then suddenly all these men dressed in black attack us. There was gas everywhere and… we couldn't breathe and…" Klara quickly devolved into hysterics.

"There there," said Nico, trying to comfort the girl but also determined to get information, "Listen, it's okay, you're safe. Where's everyone now?"

"They took them," she said. "Molly, Victor and Karolina. I'm the only one who got away."