A/N: I am so sorry for the delay, guys! I was hit with major writer's block, and I wasn't confidant in publishing chapters until I finished the entire story. You can expect daily or every-other-day updates from here on out!
Chapter Ten – Kikimora's Sinister Plot
The Mashups found each other even with only moonlight to guide them. They carried flashlights and wore jackets over their pajamas. Clampers led them to where the party had been, and Cadence pointed out where the snack table once rested.
"If there was a hole here, it's been filled and the grass grew back already." Blue noted.
"I don't think they were taken through a hole." CJ said. "Even if it were under the table, one of the grown-ups would have seen it while cleaning up."
"Everyone be quiet." Clampers ordered. "Let's listen and look, and maybe we'll see the thing that caught the kids' attention."
After a pause, Ozzy whispered, "I don't hear anything."
"Well, that's not helpful." Blue sighed.
"No, really." Ozzy insisted. "Do you hear any sound? Any crickets or animals?" The kids listened, but heard nothing.
"It's quiet." Cadence breathed. "Too quiet."
"Don't say that!" CJ whimpered. "Every time someone says that, something bad happens."
"Like what?" Coral Blush asked.
Blue vanished. By the time the Mashups found him, something yanked him into the shrubbery and disappeared towards the forest. The remaining Mashups ran after their friend. They could just make out his flashlight in the darkness, and they followed it. Somehow, whatever grabbed Blue got past the guards patrolling Music Central's borders. The Mashups ran right by one guard who noticed them, but they ignored his shouts. They ran into the forest, their eyes solely on their friend. Unfortunately, the creature that snatched Blue jumped a creek, and the other kids couldn't cross the water quite fast enough. They searched the shrubbery and shadows for their friend.
"Blue!" Cadence shouted. "Where are you?" They could hear him whimpering and shouting. His light disappeared. They heard rustling in the bushes.
"Now what do we do?" CJ whimpered.
"We stay together." Clampers pulled a coil of rope from her hair. "I'll lasso this critter and we'll drag it back to Music Central!"
"Watch out!" Coral Blush pushed Clampers out of the way just as a wolf-like creature burst from the brush and lunged for her. The kids recognized the black dog creature with the red collar: it was either Deimos or Lupe, one of Kikimora's demon servants. The dog grabbed Coral Blush in his teeth and carried him off into the forest. Clampers tossed her lasso and caught the dog by the tail. The dog didn't seem to notice, still carrying Coral Blush into the darkness.
"Hang on!" Clampers called. Ozzy and CJ hopped onto the back of Clampers' horse half, and Cadence clung to CJ's ponytail. Clampers just managed to keep up, her grip on the rope tight. When the demon dog took a sharp turn, the whiplash of the rope sent the kids tumbling into a mud puddle. Ozzy got up first and darted stealthily after Coral Blush and his abductor. He stopped on a small hill and spotted the neon colors of Coral Blush. Ozzy even saw Blue being carried by another demon dog. Deimos and Lupe carried the children towards a familiar spooky cottage. Ozzy returned to his friends to report.
"Kikimora's cottage?" Cadence gasped. "But she seemed so nice."
"Forget how she seemed before! We have to save Coral Blush and Blue!" Clampers urged. She led her friends towards the cottage. They tiptoed around the back and found a secluded window. They stood on boxes and rocks to peer into the cottage. To their horror, there was something new in the corner of the cottage: a large cage, where all the missing kids from Music Central sat. Deimos and Lupe arrived in the cottage and tossed Coral Blush and Blue into the cage with the other children.
"Well done, you two." Kikimora said, stirring some green liquid in her cauldron. "This should be just enough children to restore me to my former beauty."
"Former beauty?" Blue repeated in confusion.
"Kikimora, why are you doing this?" Coral Blush asked. "Why didn't you come to the party?"
"Oh, I did." Kikimora assured. "Deimos and Lupe were there, too. Remind me to thank your little friend for telling me about it. The busy setting made gathering children all too easy."
Cadence covered her mouth to muffle her gasp. Guilt etched into her features, but Ozzy gave her a comforting pat on the shoulder.
"What do you want with us?" Blue asked Kikimora.
"All in good time, little ones." Kikimora spoke in a sickeningly sweet voice that bordered on condescending. She tossed a few more strange ingredients in the cauldron. Every addition caused a hiss, like a snake threatening an attacker. The kids in the cage trembled. A few of them hummed under their breath.
"What do we do?" CJ whispered to Clampers.
"I….uh….." Clampers struggled to come up with an idea. The windows were locked, as she discovered when she tried to discreetly open the one they looked through. The only entrance—and, ergo, the only exit—seemed to be the front door, which didn't leave room for error should their escape plan go awry. Plus, they did not have an escape plan. What was Kikimora doing, anyway?
Kikimora grinned at her newly finished potion. She slithered over to the cage, and the children huddled together in fear. "Let's see. Which one will work best? A younger or an older?"
"I'm the eldest here." A Funk troll child said bravely. He appeared no older than ten.
"Very well." Kikimora raised her hand, which became enveloped in a green glow. The door to the cage swung open, the Funk child flew out, and the cage door slammed shut again before any of the other children could escape. Kikimora plopped the Funk child onto a chair near the cauldron. His moment of bravery had ended, and he now sat there stiff as a board. Kikimora took a large mug from a nearby table, filled it completely with the green liquid from her cauldron, and proceeded to dump it all onto the Funk child's head. He grimaced for a moment, and then his eyes were engulfed in light. A ghostly glow surrounded his body. The glow lifted off the child's body like a smoke, snaking through the air and surrounding Kikimora. She grinned gleefully. Her snake-like lower half morphed and changed until she had two troll legs that had scaly skin. Her claw-like nails shrunk, and a few streaks of purple appeared in her tangled black hair. As the glow disappeared, the Funk child's colors dimmed until he was grey, and he tumbled out of the chair and lay on the ground like a rag doll.
"What just happened?" CJ whispered.
"I don't know." Clampers breathed.
"Yes!" Kikimora ran to a large mirror on the wall and checked her reflection. "Oh, to have legs again! But those scales. Ugh, I need a pedicure."
"Well done, Mistress." Lupe said. "What should we do with the child?"
"Oh, he can be tossed out for the birds to eat." Kikimora snapped her fingers. The front door opened, the Funk Troll child flew outside, and the door swung shut again. "I need a new dress before I try again. I wonder if these children will be enough."
Clampers hurried around the front of the cottage to approach the Funk child, who hadn't moved after being thrown outside. Ozzy, CJ, and Cadence joined her. None of them could rouse the grey child.
"Do you think he's….." CJ gulped.
"No! He's fine. But nobody else will be unless we do something." Clampers insisted.
"I think we should go home and get a grown-up." Ozzy said.
"We don't need their help." Clampers said.
"Are you sure?" Cadence asked. "How are we going to help them?"
"We can't just leave Blue and Coral Blush here!" Clampers snapped.
"But what can we do now?" CJ asked.
"I guess if we work together….." Ozzy murmured.
"Exactly!" Clampers said. She hoped the fear and panic she felt did not show on her face. She wanted so badly to charge in there and heroically save her friends and the rest of the kids. Kikimora's cottage did not look so menacing the last time she was here.
"Clampers?" CJ piped up. "What do we do?"
What do they do? Clampers wondered if this is how her aunt felt when the Country Trolls looked to her for guidance on a problem. Did Delta Dawn ever feel so torn? Swallowing her pride, Clampers said, "Mr. Branch can help us. We need to find the kings and queens. We're taking this kid with us, too. The grown-ups can help." She pulled the grey Funk Troll onto her back. "Let's move!"
Though they hoped to avoid being noticed, the quartet were found by Barb and Trollex, who led them to where the other leaders talked with the anxious parents and guardians of the Mashups.
"Where have you been?!" Delta Dawn demanded, forcefully checking Clampers for any injuries. "Why in the heck would you run off like that in the middle of the night?"
"We were just trying to help!" Clampers pushed her aunt's hands away.
"I told you not to worry about the kidnapped children, and you nearly became one of them!" Delta Dawn snapped. "This is not something a child should—"
"I'm not a baby, Aunt Delta!" Clampers snapped.
"Don't take that tone with me." Delta Dawn growled. "The lot of you are in so much trouble—"
"But we found the missing kids!" Ozzy shouted over the girls.
The adults stared at Ozzy. "You what?" Barb breathed.
"The kidnapped kids?" CJ gently pulled the grey Funk child off Clampers' back. "We were looking for them, and we found them. But then Coral Blush and Blue got caught. We came back to get help."
"Start from the beginning. Very quickly, tell us everything." Poppy ordered.
Clampers, CJ, Ozzy, and Cadence told the adults about their adventure in the woods (the only part where they lied: they said it was a simple stroll). They explained meeting Kikimora, who looked monstrous, but the kids thought she just needed a friend. They went through their detective work and how they tracked down the missing children to Kikimora's home. There, they watched her brew a potion and drain the color from the Funk Troll child, and Kikimora appeared to regain some of her original form.
"We know this child's parents. We'll take him to them." Quincy took the grey Funk child from CJ. He and Essence departed, trying to hide their sadness.
"What you all did was equal parts brave and foolish." Delta Dawn said. "I'm both furious and proud."
"So, am I still in trouble?" Clampers asked.
"Yes, but I'll only ground you for a week instead of the next three summers." Delta Dawn sighed.
"Right now, you guys need to tell us where Kikimora's home is." Trollex told the kids. "We'll gather our best fighters and rescue those kids."
"Barb, do you have those soundwave glasses ready?" Branch asked.
"I only had enough materials for one pair." Barb pulled the glasses from her hair.
"That's fine. You and I will lead the charge to save those kids." Branch looked to the other trolls, especially the parents. "I know you're going to freak when I ask this, but I would like your permission to bring the Mashups with us."
"Are you out of your mind?" Kim-Petit snapped.
"These guys know where this Kikimora is, and they spent time with her." Branch reasoned. "They can help us navigate the area and avoid any of the witch's tricks. You have my word: I will bring them all home safe and sound."
"We won't let them out of our sight, and they won't need to do anything dangerous." Barb added.
The parental figures discussed amongst themselves, occasionally glancing to Clampers, Ozzy, CJ, and Cadence. The four Mashups held their breaths. They wanted to help so badly.
"I'll be joining you." Delta Dawn decided. "We need to go before any more kids get hurt."
Unfortunately, Deimos had spotted the remaining Mashups departing, and he was quick to warn Kikimora that their operation had been discovered.
"The potion only works a few times before I have to make a new one." Kikimora mused to herself. "I do not have time to deal with intruders."
"What should we do, Mistress?" Lupe asked.
"Take the children to the Twisted Tree and guard them." Kikimora ordered. "I will collect the materials needed and meet you there to continue my work."
The troll children were roughly thrown into a cage on wheels, and Deimos and Lupe pulled them deeper into the forest. They were all too afraid to scream for help.
"Don't give up hope." Coral Blush whispered to them. "We'll find a way out of here. Our friends will come for us."
"But what if they can't find us?" one of the kids gulped. "It's so dark out here. I don't recognize anything."
"We have to sing." Another child piped up. "The angel told us to."
"What angel?" Blue asked.
"The pretty one." A third child said with a small smile. "She told us to sing, and we'll be okay."
"How does she know?" Blue wondered.
"Wait, she's right!" Coral Blush gasped. "I heard King Trollex talk about this thing that tracks soundwaves, and the kings and queens were going to use it to find the missing kids. If we sing, we'll create those soundwaves that they can find us!"
"I'm too scared." One of the children whimpered.
"It's okay." Blue said. "It's okay to be scared. But we have to fight through it. Come on, let's do this!" He pulled a pair of drumsticks from his hair and started tapping out a beat.
"Knock it off!" Lupe snarled.
"Make us!" Coral Blush blew a raspberry at the wolfish creature.
"Oh, just ignore them." Deimos scoffed. "We're too far away for anyone to hear them. Besides, Mistress says we aren't to harm them. I don't know about you, but I don't want to be a demon-skin rug."
Lupe rolled his eyes. "Fine." He tried to ignore the kids' beginning to sing, taking comfort in Deimos' logic.