Emma and Sean surveyed the territory. They were by Billy's dug up grave, Manny going around it, pouring salt in a protective circle. Jay was keeping a lookout with Billy, but humorously, both kept giving another the suspicious eye.
The trees overhead would impede the witches' flight but aside from ducking behind large headstones there weren't many places to take cover.
What concerned Sean was that Emma was clearly Winifred's target and there was no good place to hide her. Sean toed the soft, brown dirt of Butcherson's grave thoughtfully. If the witches couldn't step foot on hallowed ground they certainly couldn't go in it. But Emma could.
"You've got to take cover, Em." Sean stated.
Emma looked down into the empty grave with a frown. She was never one to hide.
"It's not so bad," Billy the zombie added helpfully.
"Just until the sun comes up, Emma" Sean almost had to beg her, entangling her fingers with his. ''Which is soon. No time at all."
"'kay." Emma huffed but agreed and put her hands on Sean's shoulder who lept her up easily and helped her down into the grave. She looked up at him, almost a little sadly and his gut tore up. He had to look away and cleared his throat.
"You'll be save down there." he said.
Satisfied that Emma was hidden away, Sean knelt by a bagand opened the bag of supplies. He handed a container of salt to Jay who had just kissed Manny sweetly too and put her beside Emma down under.
Sean then took out a baseball bat for himself and took a few warm-up swings. Binx perched on the top of Billy's headstone and they all looked to the sky. Billy even flinched when he heard the witches laughter from a far.
"Here they come!" Binx cried. "Billy, guard the girls! Sean and Jay, spread out!"
Sean was so well trained that he never questioned following orders from a talking cat. Moving to an area that was slightly clearer gave him more room to work, although it would also give the witches greater access. Sean didn't care if they all came at him; as long at they were focused on him they weren't focused on the girls.
With an angry growl, Winifred zeroed in on Sean. "For the last time, prepare to meet thy doom!"
Sean took a swing with the bat, but the witch easily evaded it.
"I've had enough of you," she snarled.
"Oh sister, not nearly enough as I've had of you," Sean retorted. He swung again but this time Winifred caught the bat in a surprisingly strong grip. She pulled the bat out of his grasp and tossed it aside. Then she leaned forward and came at him on her broom determined to run him down.
Sean sprinted away from the area where Emma was stationed but he wasn't fast enough to evade Winifred on her broom. She managed to grab the back of his sweatshirt and pull him off of his feet until she lost her grip on his shirt and he fell to the ground by Billy. The wind was knocked right out of him
Sean forced himself to breathe and climb back to his feet, but he knew he was moving too slowly. By the time he turned around Jay had run out of salt and was having trouble dodging Sarah's aerial attacks.
"Why couldn't you of brought TWO bats?!" yelled Jay.
Winifred had circled around and was focused on taunting Billy. Without warning she dove toward him, but at the last second she pulled her broom up sharply and cleanly knocked his head right off of his neck.
Emma peaked her head out and yelled in alarm as Billy fell to his knees searching for his missing head. Sean headed back toward the grave and yelled at Emma to leave it alone because he knew that Billy would be fine for a while without his head. But since the zombie was fighting on their side, Emma felt compelled to help him and got out.
Who said a girl couldn't fight too? She wouldn't stay in there helplessly, watching the love of her life in a deadly duel.
It was like a nightmare. Sean could see Emma pull herself out of Billy's grave to retrieve the zombie's head from where it landed after rolling away. He tried to yell for Emmato get back inside the circle, but his lungs had no power. Emma was so focused on getting the head back to Billy that she wasn't watching the sky. He placed the lost head in the zombie's hands and stood up to head back toward the grave. That's when Winifred swooped in and claimed her prize.
"Sean!" Emma cried in alarm.
"EMMMA!" He scrambled over fallen logs and broken headstones, but all that was there upon his arrival was Billy's empty grave.
Winifred swung around in a lazy circle. "Say bye-bye, lover!" She halted the broom's flight about 25 feet up in the air. Emma's balance was precarious, though Winifred was careful to hold on to her precious cargo.
"All right you little brat." From within a pocket of her voluminous robe Winifred pulled out a vial of the noxious green potion she had spent the night trying to brew. Emma gave up a valuable handhold on the broom in order to clamp her hand over her mouth.
Winifred pulled the stopper out of the vial with her teeth and struggled to pull Emma's hand free of her mouth. "Drink it! Drink it you vile teenager!"
"Hang on, Emma!" Binx shouted. Nimbly, Binx climbed a nearby tree leaping from branch to branch until he matched the height of Winifred's broom.
Watching Emma and the witch struggle at that height made Sean worried and nauseous. Suddenly Binx leapt on Winifred's back from behind. Clawing and scratching he added to the mid-air fight. Winifred lost hold of the potion. Sean scrambled to catch it. With an angry yell, Winifred reached over her shoulder, dislodged Binx and threw him down to the ground.
"Give me that vial!" Winifred demanded.
"Put him down, or I'll smash it!" Sean yelled in return, holding it up like a hostage.
Winifred locked a hand around Emma's little throat and pushed her off-balance on the broom. "Smash it, and she dies!"
"NOO!" Manny yelled in the grave, her eyes widened in horror for her best friend.
"Give it to her man!" Jay begged Sean
Everything was suspended for a horrible, endless moment. There was no safety for Emma either way – smashing the vial or giving it back would both result in her death – so Sean really had no other options.
Locking eyes with Winifred, Sean brought the potion to his lips and swallowed it in one gulp. "Sean! No!" Emma whimpered and yelled.
Sean never looked away from the witch, his eyes holding so much fury. "Now you have no choice. You have to take me."
Winifred brought the broom down to ground level slowly, perhaps frightened about spooking Sean if anything happened to Emma; she didn't have enough time to chase him down. She hovered close enough to speak to Sean but still leave Emma's legs dangling without touching the ground.
"What a fool to give up thy life for a girl."
Sean's gaze shifted to Emma's worried, frightened face. She was all big eyes and denial; it was all happening too fast for her to comprehend. Sean wished he had the time to explain that it was really okay; that he was doing exactly what he needed to do. A tear ran down Emma's cheek- But Winifred grew impatient with the reward so close at hand. Unceremoniously she gave Emma a shove. Sean couldn't help but watch the fall, making sure she landed okay. He didn't worry that Winifred had grabbed him. Emma fell the last few feet to the ground and Sean was relieved when Billy caught her.
Winifred then grabbed Sean's shirt with both hands, not needing anything other than innate magic to remain seated on her broom, and swiftly rose into the air.
Emma was in motion beneath them immediately, calling "Sean!" but they were already out of reach. Jay, Binx and Billy gathered around Ema, but there was nothing they could do but watch, Manny even cried and sat on the floor in the grave.
Sean though had no intention of allowing that bitch of a witch to suck the life out of his body without putting up a hell of a fight. Winifred pulled him closer and leaned in as though to kiss him; instead she breathed in deeply and he could feel a weakness spread throughout his body. With his left hand holding onto the broom he used his right hand to grab the witch's chin and push it away. She was surprised by the resistance and lost her grip on him.
He felt himself slipping and made the mistake of looking down. It was a hell of a long way to fall. Panic gave him power and he grasped the broom's handle with both hands. Winifred leaned forward again and grabbed him with both hands. Even the small gulps of his energy that Winifred was able to take were draining Sean tremendously. He managed to give her another shove and was surprisingly able to throw her far off balance. She pin-wheeled her arms in order to keep her seat while she called out in alarm to her sisters, "Hallowed ground! Hallowed ground! Sisters!"
Winifred regained her stability and leaned forward once again. "I'm going to teach you a lesson you'll never forget!" she threatened.
Sean was unable to do much more than hang on and try to wiggle around making it harder for Winifred to get a good grip on him. There was screaming from the other sisters and noise on the ground, but Sean couldn't see what the others were doing to cause the commotion. Then, out of nowhere, the other Sanderson sisters whizzed by in uncontrolled flight. Winifred sat up, distracted and Sean managed to shake the broom so hard that they both fell off.
It was probably lucky that Sean fell through a tree and had some branches to break his fall, but it sure didn't feel lucky on the way down. He landed on his back on a relatively soft patch of dirt and counted himself fortunate that he didn't land on a headstone. It seemed like getting the wind knocked out of him was a running theme for the night.
He struggled to get to his feet, but the best he could manage was to wave his hands weakly in front of his face. His hands, like the rest of him, were glowing softly. It was weird to be able to see his life-force on the outside; he distantly wondered how long it would last.
A sound to his left got Sean's attention. He was abruptly reminded that he was not the only one to fall from the witch's broom.
With a menacing growl Winifred pounced like an angry panther. Sean tried to roll away from her but he was too weak to get very far. Winifred, fueled by anger and the energy she had stolen from Sean, had no trouble picking him up off of the ground and holding him aloft. Eagerly she sucked the life-force from his body. Sean struggled in her grasp, but knew he didn't have the strength to pull away.
Abruptly, Winifred blinked and looked down. sean looked down as well. It looked like there was steam rising from Winifred's boots. She shifted her weight and looked down again. The steam was growing thicker. Then over Winifred's shoulder, just brushing the crest of an eastern hill, Sean could see the arc of the sun peeking above the horizon. It was the most beautiful thing Sean had ever seen; after Emma Nelson that is ofcourse.
"Hallowed ground…hallowed ground…" Winifred muttered.
Sean looked down again and saw that Winifred's boots and legs had begun to turn to stone. Rapidly as the steam rose from the ground it transformed the witch's body from flesh to rock. Frantically Sean pulled against Winifred's hold. He was suddenly overtaken by the terrifying thought that if he didn't break free before the transformation was finished, he would be turned to stone as well.
Sean watched in horror as the transformation progressed. He had no leverage and was too weak to pull himself free. Suddenly, there was an arm around his waist. Emma yanked him backwards with all of her might and the two of them fell to the ground – flesh and bone, not stone.
Above them, Sarah and Mary were airborne. But as the light of the true dawn touched them they exploded into dust. Emma took one look at the statue of Winifred and then threw herself at Dean. She curled herself around Sean's shoulders and head while covering his own with his arms. Winifred's explosion was more gravel and less dust than her sisters, but Sean didn't mind listening to every last bit of rock hit the earth.
When Emma considered the coast to be clear she pulled away from Sean. Sean lay on his back, looked at the morning sky and took a deep breath. Emma hovered nervously to his left.
"Sean? You okay?"
Sean rolled until he was facing Emma, and smirked softly. "Yeah, I'm okay."
"You saved my life," She whispered.
Sean smiled tiredly. "Well, you're not just a girl to me."
Emma reached out tentatively and rested her hand on Sean's chest. "Thanks." she whispered and then leaned down, kissing him softly and longingly.
They kissed until breathless and Emma bit her lip, pullling away and Sean caught his breath before smirking again and then pulling himself to his feet, then her.
Beyond them, Jay helped pull Manny up and out of the grave and into his arms. Then, Manny went looking for Binx. It didn't take them long to find the body of the cat lying broken where Winifred had thrown him.
"Oh no…" Mannys breath was punched out of her gut. "He's not…he can't…"
Hearing the small cry, Sean and Emma came over to see what was going on. Emma knelt and gently stroked the cat's silky head with tears in her eyes. "He's gone."
"But the spell…" Manny pleaded.
"It must've been broken when the witches were destroyed." Jay explained.
Sean bowed his head in grief. Emma even let a tear drop and Manny snuffled.
"Don't grieve for me, guys." they all turned to look at the familiar voice coming from a new source. The transparent form of the boy walking toward them wore the clothing of an early American colonist. "The witches are dead. My soul is finally free!"
Emma stood and joined Sean in front of the ghost. Binx took them all in with his gaze. "You freed me." He looked at them all and touched his right hand to his heart. "Thank you."
Then Thackery grinned sardonically. "Thanks for lighting the candle Sean."
He smirked a bit, turning his head to his girl friend who also giggled at him but couldn't stop her tears until Thackery whipped her tear away, "Hey." he said, "I'll always be with you."
"Hey now," Sean joked, pulling Emma closer to him.
With Thackery not a cat now, but a grown young man, Sean was even more jealous. He chuckled though at Thackerys laugh and how he held his hands up innocently. Emma just reminded him of his sister, Emily.
Speaking of..
"Thackery! Thackery Binx!" Another ghostly figure appeared darting among the trees of the cemetery.
Binx's face lit up. "It's Emily!"
Binx made his way to where Emily waited near the cemetery gates. She reached up her small hand to take his and demanded in a way only a little sister can, "Thackery Binx! What took thee so long?"
"I had to wait 300 years for a virgin to light a candle…" he explained as they faded away walking into the rising sun.
Emma took a deep breath. It was a great relief to know that Binx was at rest. With Sean's arm again around her shoulders, she wrapped her arms around his waist.
"Lets go home." he said to her.
"Thank god." Jay exhaled from behind.
"Yes please!" Manny also threw in.
They laughed, and went their way home. Emma had a lot of explaining to do and it wasn't something you could wave away with a wand and some hocus-pocus. She was done with that sort of stuff in her life anyways.
"guess we never have to worry about Sean lighting any more virgin candles anymore." Jay joked.
"He couldn't even if he tried." teased Emma and they all laughed.
THE END.
Author note: I'm finishing all my stories hopefully this week, if anybody wants to adopt my stories (I'm also under the name of UrHarmony), you may have them! But you have to ask first. I'm retiring.
