A/N: Sorry, sorry, sorry for the long wait, everyone. *dodges rotten fruit* But it's finally up. Yay! Lol okay, so as always, reviews make me super happy and make me write faster :D
A big thanks and a plate of imaginary cookies to those of you who do review. You guys make me super duper happy!!
Disclaimer: Apparently I'm not cool enough to own WOWP. Way to make me say it over and over….
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The Russo family huddled together in the hallway. Jerry and Justin had instinctively pushed Theresa, Alex, and Max behind them as they backed into Jerry and Theresa's bedroom. Jerry dug around in his pocket when the door was shut and pulled out a piece of paper. He turned to Justin, "Say this spell. It will transport the bags and you guys to the safe location I found for us a couple weeks ago."
Max clung to his mother like he was eight years old. "But what about you guys?" he whispered back.
Theresa's eyes started to fill with tears. Her lip quivered as she looked to Jerry. Their father told his children, "Don't worry about us. We'll be fine. You guys need to get yourselves out of here."
The sounds of crashing and voices were getting louder. Alex took hold of her father's hand, "No, we can't leave you behind! Why can't you come with us?" Angry tears flooded her eyes.
"The spell can't transport mortals. Justin, hijo, please take your brother and sister and go," Theresa begged her oldest son. Justin shook his head automatically and his eyes too filled with tears. Jerry took him by the shoulders and stared him down.
"Justin, I need you to be the man right now, alright? We'll meet you as soon as we can. Everything you'll need is in our bag. Take Alex and Max and go. Now!" Jerry shook Justin a little bit to keep him grounded and focused. The second Justin nodded slowly, the voices drifted down the hallway.
Theresa rushed to her jewelry box and took out Alessandra's pendant. She stuffed it into Alex's hand and kissed her forehead. She wrapped her family in for a quick and teary embrace. The voices down the hall carried underneath Jerry and Theresa's door and they could hear the man's voice clearly scream, "FIND IT! I don't care if we have to tear this place apart. We're not leaving without it."
Justin tore Max away from his mother's arm and went to reach for Alex. She shook her head and buried her face in her father's chest. "Don't make us go, we'll stay with you. We'll stay together. Please." Tears streamed down her face and drenched Jerry's shirt. He gently removed her arms from his midsection and nudged her towards Justin.
The next few minutes were a blur to Alex. She saw her father saying something last minute to Justin, and felt his arm around her shoulders. She saw his jaw moving and guessed that he was saying the spell because a second later, she and her brothers were standing in what looked like an abandoned warehouse. It was incredibly dark save for the think stream of light coming from a window ten feet above their heads. It was chilly and lonely. It wasn't home.
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Alex didn't remember going to sleep. She was probably so exhausted from crying that she just passed out. When she awoke the next morning, Max was curled up against her like she was Mom.
Mom. Alex's heart sank.
Squinting her eyes before they started to tear again, she sat up and looked around. Justin was nowhere to be found and she panicked. Alex scrambled to her feet and examined her surroundings. Her guess the previous night had been correct: they were in a warehouse, which held all sorts of machinery and tools. She and her brother had been sleeping on a thin piece of foam. Off to her left, it looked like a kitchen had been set up; or at least, a sink, a rust-covered stove, a battered fridge, and rickety table were sitting on the concrete floor with a couple of fold-up chairs leaning against the wall. To her right, tri-folding screens had been placed adjacent to each other and their bags were sitting behind one of them. Alex tiptoed around, careful not to wake her still-snoozing younger brother.
The warehouse was huge. Besides their little living area, the room stretched for at least another fifty feet. Alex dashed around the entirety of it, searching for Justin. She pulled a hand through her tangled hair in frustration. She found herself wandering back to where Max was sleeping and kneeled beside him.
"Maxie, wake up!" Alex shook his shoulder gently. Max groaned and rolled over. Alex couldn't help but laugh a little bit; her little brother and she were so alike sometimes. She looked down at his curly locks that were splayed across his forehead. He looked so young when he slept. Alex got back to her feet and decided to take a look outside, letting Max have a few more minutes of peace.
She found the door to the warehouse and took a deep breath before she pushed it open. Sunlight immediately shone in her eyes as she stepped outside. Taking a few moments to adjust, Alex felt how warm it was. Warmer than New York was that time of year, anyways. Glancing around her, Alex saw that it was just dirt. There were a couple of bushes off in the distance, but other than that it was just earth that stretched on for miles. More machinery surrounded the warehouse. Alex wasn't quite sure what most of them did. Well this is boring, Alex thought.
She drifted back inside and turned to close the door. "Hey," a voice whispered in her left ear. Alex screeched in surprise and whipped around with her fists clenched, ready to attack. "Hey, no it's just me!"
Justin's voice rang in her ears and Alex's vision focused in on him holding up his arms in defense. Alex nearly screamed at him, "What were you doing?!" Justin winced and held up a finger to his mouth, telling her to shush.
"I was getting us some breakfast," Justin murmured, waving towards their "kitchen". Two tall cups of coffee and an assortment of bagels and fruit took up most of the table. Justin had unfolded the chairs and sat them around the tiny slab of plastic. Alex was about to run over and dive in until she and Justin both jumped when Max sat up on the foam mattress and shouted, "The cats stole my spaceship!"
His eyes wild, his hair sticking straight up, and a little bit of drool cascading down his chin, Max looked up at his older siblings. Alex and Justin spared one glance to each other before they collapsed to the floor with laughter. Max's eyes were glazed and he couldn't yet process what they were laughing about, but he smelled food.
Max's eyes gained their focus and he lifted himself off the ground. Alex and Justin wiped away their tears of hilarity and they all moved towards the kitchen. Justin reached into his bag of groceries and tossed Max a personal bottle of orange juice. He handed Alex one of the cups of coffee before taking a sip of his own. Then he pulled out the ingredients to embellish the bagels that were to the side: cream cheese, tiny containers of jelly and peanut butter, and Alex's favorite, chocolate fudge.
"Where did you get all this?" Alex asked, tasting her cup of mediocre coffee.
Justin didn't look up from preparing their breakfast when he replied; "I transported myself to a gas station about ten miles away." He handed Alex her bagel, which was practically overflowing with chocolate. It was just the way she liked it, but Alex frowned. "Justin, where are we? Do you know where Mom and Dad are? Shouldn't they have met us by now? What's going on?"
She sped through the tidal wave of questions without taking a breath, but they all just kind of hit her at once. Alex was confused and angry and scared. She glanced down at Max sitting in his chair. He looked as scared as she felt. She sat down in the chair and pulled it close to him, intertwining her arm with his. Justin passed a hand over his face and sighed. He answered slowly, "Well, from the maps I found at the gas station, we're in some small town in Arizona, Kearny," Justin tossed an informational brochure on the table in front of Alex and Max. "We go to school in a couple of days. Dad must have enrolled us…"
He looks so tired, Alex thought. "I don't know where Mom and Dad are," Justin stated helplessly. Alex's stomach dropped and she could feel herself panicking.
"I've tried to call them. It goes straight to voicemail. I've tried the house phone. A message saying it's disconnected plays. I don't know how to reach them," Justin slumped down into an empty chair and put his head in his hands.
Alex moved from Max to Justin, sliding her arms over his trembling shoulders. He whispered so only she could hear, "I don't know what to do." Alex gave a little squeeze and murmured into his ear, "It's okay."
She straightened and went to make the rest of the bagels. Max had scooted his chair over to Justin's and placed a tentative hand on his older brother's shoulder. Justin tilted his head to Max with drooping eyes. He closed them briefly before enveloping Max into a strong hug. Alex dropped their plates in front of them and the sound of silverware clattering broke the boys apart. They ate in comfortable silence.
After breakfast, Justin showed them where the dingy bathroom was. Alex's jaw dropped when she saw the tarnished shower and cracking toilet. Justin rolled his eyes and said, "Alex, grow up. At least it's not outside…" Alex stopped complaining. Justin also explained that the screens were their only means for privacy. He had set up one foam mattress behind the screen closest to the concrete wall. The other screen was for the boys.
Max had explored the rest of the warehouse, and brought back handfuls of metal objects that had fallen loose from the machines. Justin had brought over the bag of their magical things and started to unpack. Alex smiled as she saw that the bag itself was magic. The three children started to pull out its contents and saw that the amount of it, for regular people, would have needed ten suitcases instead of one.
"Being a wizard rocks," Alex exclaimed. Justin returned with a tight-lipped smile and said solemnly, "Okay. I think we should wait a couple of days for Mom and Dad to show up. In the meantime, no one touches the magic stuff, okay?"
His words were for both Max and Alex but he was only looking at the latter when he said the last part. Max chuckled and Alex huffed while crossing her arms. Then a thought struck her and she sobered her face when she asked Justin, "What if Mom and Dad never come?"
Justin didn't answer.
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That night when Alex undressed to take a shower, she found the necklace stuffed into her jean pockets. She asked Justin what they should do with it.
"I want you to hide it someplace. Don't tell Max or me," he answered in a low voice. Alex asked him why and Justin sighed. He told her, "If they find us, I want you to use magic and transport yourself somewhere, anywhere. Don't worry about Max or me; I just want you to get out of here. That way if they cast the truth spell on us, we won't be able to tell them."
Before her emotions could betray her, Alex replied snidely, "Since when did you grow into your big-boy voice?"
Alex went out into the night to hide the necklace. She wandered around aimlessly, not really looking for a place in particular. The moonlight was so clear; Alex didn't even need to use the flashlight Justin insisted she took with her. Plus her wand. Plus her cell phone. Plus the whistle he draped around her neck. Plus the baseball bat.
Alex had finally drawn the line at the old bottle of window cleaner Justin tried to shove in her hands. "You know, I think if a coyote or some big cat were going to attack me, cleaning their windows wouldn't be my first reaction," she snorted.
So there she was; wand in her back pocket, baseball bat in one hand, and the necklace in her other. She toed rocks with her sneaker as she dragged her feet. She didn't really want to waste the effort of thinking of a place to hide the necklace. She had always done her best work when she didn't do much thinking at all.
But she was thinking. Alex was thinking about her parents. She was thinking about Harper. She was thinking about her brothers who were inside. Justin tried not to be scared for her and Max. But she knew him better than that. He was just as terrified and unsure as she was. Alex decided that she admired him though, for that. Alex was indifferent, aloof, and hard in personality. Everyone knew that about her. But if something huge, like say, not knowing where your parents were and the fact that evil wizards were hunting you down, were to somehow come up. Yeah, the Alex walls-of-stone would come crumbling to the ground.
Alex sat on the dusty ground a good ways away from the warehouse and looked up at the stars. In New York, you were lucky to see them. But here, Alex could see the miles and miles of twinkling lights in the sky. She smiled a little and thought, This is a completely different world.
A scurrying noise snapped Alex's attention back to the earth. She gripped the baseball bat she had laid down beside her and arose as quietly as possible. God, please let it be a stupid little animal, please let it be a stupid little animal…
A light breeze sent chills up Alex's bare arms and she fumbled with her flashlight to switch it on. She realized that this is the part in all the horror movies where the main character is supposed to go where more people are, instead of trekking off alone. But her feet were leading and her brain had shut off. The light was bouncing from left to right and all Alex could see was the dirt and some desert weeds every now and then. She heard the noise again coming from her right and whipped around.
The light was quickly trailing the ground. Alex could hear her heart pounding in her ears. She was about to bolt when the beam came upon a large pit of burs. Entangled in the thorny spheres was a a stupid little animal, just like she had asked for. It was a tiny rabbit. Alex finally let her held breath out. She moved a little closer and saw the tan fur was covered in blood. Her hand covered her mouth as she watched little animal tried in vain to kick his way out. Alex rushed over and kneeled to the ground. She set to work, unraveling the branches to release the squirming rabbit. After about ten minutes, sweat was trickling down Alex's forehead, and the animal was free. He sprinted away with a little limp and Alex sighed in relief. The branches had tore open the skin on her hands and forearms, but saving the rabbit made it all worth it. It was only after the rabbit ran away that Alex realized she could have just used her wand to get him out of there, if she had set the amethyst down. She was about to turn away and walk back to the warehouse when she looked down at her hands again. She fingered the necklace she stashed in her front jeans pocket and looked back at the bur plant.
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Justin was pacing the enormous warehouse. It had been at least a half hour since he sent Alex out to hide the pendant. How does she always do this to me? He asked himself. How can she always make me worried sick?
He had told Max to get some sleep, even though it was only eight. But he could see the exhaustion and worry and fear for their situation in his younger brother's eyes and threatened to not get them pancakes for tomorrow's breakfast unless he immediately went to bed. Now Justin had the "bad" sibling to worry about. He flipped open his phone to call her but saw that his battery was dead. With a groan of frustration, Justin grabbed his wand and a flashlight and headed for the door. Wrenching it open, the sight of his sister in the doorway caused him to yelp and clutch his heart.
"Where have you been? How long could it possibly take you to hide a tiny necklace?!" Justin pulled Alex inside and closed the door behind them.
Alex smirked, "Aw, you scared for me, big bro?" Justin crossed his arms in a very Dad-like way and she sighed.
"I just got lost in my thoughts, okay?" she pushed past him to walk over towards the kitchen so she could wash her bloody hands. Justin cut off her retreat and scoffed, "What thoughts?"
Alex narrowed her eyes and reached up and was about to shove him away when she realized, Ugh, right. Bloody hands. No touching.
Justin noticed them too. And his sarcastic demeanor instantly transformed to concerned as he took her hands in hers, causing her to inhale sharply.
"Oh my gosh, what happened?" He dragged Alex to the sink and ran the water. Alex hissed as the pressure of the water hit her open cuts. She managed to smile though, when she answered, "I just got into a fight with a mountain lion. I totally won…"
Justin's eyes didn't avert from washing the red away from Alex's skin but chuckled. "Yeah, okay. Did you trip and fall over some rocks, Miss Klutzy?" Protective Justin is no fun, she thought. Now the cold water was starting to feel nice on her wounds.
"No, I was.. I just…" This was the part Alex had a hard time admitting. Saying she saved a baby rabbit was like saying she liked girly things like unicorns and heels. Alex heaved a great sigh and muttered, "I untangled a rabbit from a bur plant."
Justin slowly turned his head to hers and saw the her pained look. He let a few seconds go by before erupting in laughter. Alex seethed and punched him in the arm, which she immediately regretted. The pain from her cuts seared through her body and she placed her hands under the water again. Justin, still chortling, went to grab the mini first-aid kit he also bought from the gas station. "So, did you find a safe place for the necklace?" he asked her. Alex just nodded, not wanting to give anything away.
They sat in silence as Justin carefully wound bandages around Alex's hands and arms. She didn't protest to being taken care of, because she knew she couldn't do it herself. She dressed for bed behind her screen and snuggled into her blanket, waiting for sleep to come. She was about to drift off when she saw a dim light turn on through her closed eyes. Alex creaked open one eye and saw through the thin panel that Justin had turned on a flashlight. She sat up and peered around the screen, seeing her brother's figure on his piece of foam.
Justin was lying on his stomach and had a flashlight in one of his hands. A comic book lay on the mattress in front of him. She chuckled slightly and Justin looked up. He hastily tried to flip his blanket over the book but Alex widened her eyes.
"Alright, alright. I'm going to bed. Night, Alex," Justin said as he flipped off the flashlight.
Alex nestled back into her bed and called softly, "Love you, nerd."
She smiled when he answered, "Love you too, brat."