Max's eyes fluttered open, and his heart nearly stopped when he saw that he was hanging over Salem, rushing over a quiet town. A turn of his head found Winifred's back, and he could barely hear the sisters talking.

Her head turned back to look at him. "Ah, you're awake. We're almost there."

"Wha-?" Stars exploded in his eyes as something hit him hard.

Winifred cackled. "It's always a rough landing for passengers." With strength that betrayed her appearance, she hoisted the youngest Russo into the house. "Welcome, Max, and join your friends!"

The feline Max and Harper looked down from cages that once held two bullies; Dani and Allison fought against binds that held them to chairs. A snap of the head witch's fingers bound the wizard as well, and Sarah picked up his wand.

"Look, sisters, I have a wizard stick!" She danced around until her sister hit the back of her head and snatched the "stick" away.

"You fool! This is a wand, and it's likely the source of this," Winifred gestured at the human Max, "wizard's power. We can use it to enhance the power of our potion!"

"Winnie? What if we fed his life force? He's a wizard." Mary finally chimed in.

"A most excellent idea, sister! Well done. We shall consume his life force and be powerful enough to survive the rising of the sun! Come, sisters. We must prepare the potion!"

While the witches readied their sinister brew, Max's older siblings ran into Salem's town square, pausing when they reached the street that would lead them to the Sanderson house.

"What are we going to do now, Justin? They have Max, and they can steal the life force of children. I mean, Max isn't exactly a kid," her brother shot her a raised eyebrow, "okay, fine. He's a kid at heart. But what if they steal his life force?"

Justin sighed. "For the first time in a long time, I don't know."

"There you go, giving yourself far too much credit." Alex cackled.

"You could come up with ideas instead of insulting me."

"What do you want to do, call Mom and Dad? I can imagine how well that conversation would go." She held her wand up to her ear like a phone. "Mom, Dad? Guess what? Your oldest son raised three witches from the dead, and now they're going to kill your youngest son! Surprisingly, your daughter had nothing to do with it!"

He thrust a finger at her. "You were the one who suggested that we go there!"

She crossed her arms. "You're really reaching there."

"Fine. Let's come up with a plan to save Max so we don't have to make that phone call."

They ran down the street toward the house, and paused when they were across the street.

Alex's knuckles went white as she gripped her wand. "What do we do, Justin? They're older and a lot more powerful than us."

Justin's smile trembled as he looked at his sister. "We beat Gorog. We can do this." The tip of his wand sparked.

The witches looked up just as the wizards flung the door open with magic.

"Ah, the others. Welcome back! I hope my friends didn't harm you!" Winnie grinned.

Alex glared. "Let our brother go!"

Winifred put a hand to her heart. "Oh, my, and what are you going to do about it? Your brother has already taken our potion!"

Both elder Russos' hearts stopped when they saw Max glowing faintly.

Winifred put up a hand. "If you come any closer, we'll drain his life energy."

Alex's eyes narrowed. "Fine." She turned to her brother. "Ready?"

Lightning flew from the two wands, but the sisters deflected it, and Winifred cackled. "Didst thou think you could use my own magic against me?" The same energy flew toward the wizards, and they barely avoided the blast.

Alex's eyes flicked around the room. "Ha! The candle's almost burned out. If the legend's true, you'll be gone soon."

"'Tis more time than we need!" Lightning assaulted them again, but this time, they were able to deflect and return fire. The electricity hit Sarah and Mary, knocking them against the wall and down to the floor. "Ah, thou will pay for harming my sisters!"

"Wait!"

Winifred stopped generating lightning from her fingertips when Justin spoke up.

"If you have to take anyone, take me."

Alex grabbed his arm. "Justin, no!"

He turned to her. "I'm the oldest. It's my job to take care of you guys." He turned back to the witch. "You can have me, but you have to let everyone else go."

"But if we let them go, they'd try to avenge your death, young wizard."

"What if I told you how to use my wand?"

Winifred's eyes narrowed. "Thou woudst teach me how to use thine wand? 'Tis a trick."

He held it out to her. "No, it's not. You can use my wand to live after the candle burns out."

The witch crossed the room and took it from his palm. "Very well. With your magic, my sisters and I will be unstoppable! Young and beautiful forever! Now, teach me how it works."

"First, let everyone go."

"You fool! You take me for one as well. I may not know how to use your wand, but you are without magic!"

"Fine! I'll teach you how to activate it."

Alex tightened her grip. "Justin."

He put a hand on hers. "It's okay, Alex." He cleared his throat. "To activate it, just say 'Threemetris moveitris.'"

"That's better! Threemetris moveitris." She vanished for a brief moment, before reappearing and colliding with a display case.

Alex took a deep breath and waved her wand, unlocking the cage doors and releasing everyone tied to a chair. "Let's go!"

Justin helped his brother up as everyone ran out of the house, into the street. They turned back when a bang sounded from inside the house, signaling the witches' appearance in the doorway.

Winifred's hands clenched into fists. "Oh, that wasn't a nice trick; but we have a nice treat for you!"

Howls sounded in the distance as everyone bunched together, looking all around.