I froze as the familiar voice reached my ears.

Uma.

Sergio used my distraction to throw off my hand from his mouth and frantically shouted, "Uma, Hook! Help! It's me, Sergio! She got Silvio and Aggie t- hmmph"

I growled, immediately placing my forearm back onto the annoying boy's mouth before turning slightly to look at the two pirates in question.

They stood there at the entrance of the alley, their bright outfits standing out against dark and empty streets and buildings surrounding us.

I silently tried to convey the words in my head- 'Walk away. This doesn't concern you.' I fully expected them to do so. Fights on the isle weren't uncommon.

Actually, they were the most common occurrence on the land under the dome. Most people had, therefore, learned to ignore it and walk past.

So it really surprised me when Uma stepped forward towards us with a threatening expression.

"Step away, girl," Uma threatened lowly, "Don't you know he and his two friends are allies of my pirates? Nobody messes with them under my watch."

It dawned on me then why the three bullies had become so much more rambunctious these days.

With Mal and the others gone, Uma and her pirate crew had easily grown in ranks and become the most powerful group on the isle. Uma was smart. She knew when to use intimidation and when to make tactful alliances. Sergio, Silvio and Agnesia seemed to be part of the latter group. With the protection of Uma and her crew, and by extension her allies, they were practically untouchable. Nobody would dare go against them. Even many of the elder villains would shy away from them.

"What're ye waiting for? Need me to clean out yer ears," Hook said maniacally, his hook perched in his hands, glistening under the scarce moonlight.

I knew it would be stupid to not listen to them. I was outnumbered. And even if I hadn't been, the two pirates were formidable foes on their own as well. They were definitely stronger than me physically. Besides, I couldn't risk them finding out who I was. Especially Uma. Unlike in the case Hook and Sergio, nobody would dare question Uma if she told people who I was. They would blindly believe her.

But at the same time, I couldn't just let Servio go like this. Despite how scared he was a few minutes ago, the fear would not remain if I ran away with my tail between my legs when I was overpowered.

No, I needed to get away safe but I needed to make a final statement.

The question was... how?

Trying to buy myself some time, I removed myself from my position over Sergio and turned around to face the two pirates making sure to keep enough distance between both of us.

Sergio immediately scampered to his feet and ran to hide behind the two pirates, sneering at me when he was sure that he was safe.

I thought I saw Hook roll his eyes at the curly-haired boy's behaviour but by the time I turned towards him he had plastered on the evil grin back on his face.

"What're you looking at then? Run off," Uma batted her hand sassily in a 'go away' gesture.

Realising that there was no way to get through this risk-free I strengthened my resolve. I'd just have to go for it.

Mack was more important than all of worries.

I nodded rapidly, trying to act as scared as possible as I moved to walk past them, Sergio openly sniggering at me.

Right when I had passed Uma and Hook, putting a bit of distance between us, and was beside Sergio, I swiftly aimed a side-kick towards Sergio and didn't bother watching the result of it knowing I had little time as I took off.

I hastily thought of the voice of a random flesh-eating siren living in the isle's surrounding water and screamed loud enough for him to hear, "Don't forget to convey my message!"

I heard loud sounds of exclamations from behind me: one of pain, one of shock and the last of outrage; followed by the sound of two pairs of rapid footsteps.

Even though this section of the isle was slightly unfamiliar to me, I didn't dare divert from it knowing that my home was close to the pirates' as well.

I spotted a series of narrow alleys nearby and ducked into as quickly as possible taking as many sharp turns as possible, trying to lose them while they were still behind me but I wasn't fast enough and they always ended up seeing where I was going. I cursed myself for falling out of practice. Maybe then I could have been a bit faster.

I took a turn and almost sighed in relief when I saw an immediate fork ahead of it. The span of time between the two turns gave me a small window to take a road without being seen by Uma and Hook.

I started towards the left road before an idea struck me. Instead of going down either of the roads, I jumped behind a box full of empty spray paints praying that the dim lighting would make up for the less-than-adequate hiding spot.

It didn't even take ten seconds for the two pirates to appear.

I pressed myself closer to the cart in paranoia as they caught sight of the fork ("Oh, come on!" Hook exclaimed). They looked down each of the path trying to spot me but when that came back unfruitful they looked at each other. A silent understanding crossed them, affirmed by the slight nod of their heads. Without another word, Hook ran down the left road while Uma ran down the right one.

I watched them disappear from sight- rooted in my position- and even then I waited for about 10 minutes before deeming it safe to get out.

I immediately rushed home, each turn increasing the jitteriness of my nerves. It didn't really help that I lost my way at least 3 times on the way back.

I finally reached the dock that was placed near my home. With the sound of the gentle lapping of the waves, a thought occurred to me.

I couldn't go home in this outfit.

I could easily be spotted by one of the pirates living in this area who could tell Uma and Hook. Or worse, I could be spotted by the two themselves if they'd already come back.

I needed to get rid of these clothes. Maybe I was just being paranoid but better safe than sorry, right?

I rushed to the edge of the dock overlooking the sea and immediately ripped the scarf off my face, the cold breeze hitting my face. I didn't pause to take it in though. Instead, I focused on dropping the fabric into the waters below. I moved to my cloak then, pulling it off and taking it in my hands.

Though for some reason, I didn't immediately discard the fabric as I'd done with the scarf.

I don't know why but I found myself hesitating as I looked at the apparel.

This was the only gift my mom had ever gotten me.

I shook my head, disgusted with how sentimental I was feeling. She didn't care for me, she never did. She just gave me the cloak so that she could have one more person like her and her sisters. She didn't want Sisha, she just wanted another Sanderson witch. Aunt Winnie had said it herself, if they weren't on the isle then I would have been another one of the many children they had used to gain youth. So would her cousins; the cousins who they cared about even less cause the two hadn't shown any signs of magical prowess.

Taking a deep breath, I extended my hand, this time having no second thoughts.

Suddenly, a hand grabbed my bicep and roughly turned me around, snatching the cloak from my hand.

"Look who we have here," grinned Harry Hook.

Ok, I'm curious. Do you guys also have any methods you use to irritate, annoy or infuriate other people like the Hocus Pocus methods? And if so, what it is. Comment down below. Who knows, maybe I might add some of them in the story as well (crediting the op as well, of course)?