Velma rushed through the halls, desperate to make sure she got to class on time. She'd spent the morning trying to revert her syllabus back to how it was before she'd changed all the content to center around Merlin. However, this had caused her to completely lose track of time. Thankfully, she'd noticed the time about ten minutes before class. She usually always liked to arrive in the classroom between 15-20 minutes before it began, so she would be the first one in the room.
"Hey Ms. Dinkley." Velma heard Ron say. When she glanced behind her, she noticed that he was racing to catch up with her."
"I've been really thinking about what you said the other day, and you're right. I'm not really putting my best foot forward for this class, and I'm sorry." Ron said.
"It's okay, Ron. I appreciate your acknowledgement of it, and hopefully realizing that, you'll be able to improve the quality of your work for the rest of the course." Velma smiled.
"Well, that's what I was gonna talk to you about. I think it'd be best if I dropped the course." Ron said.
"Oh…are you sure?" Velma questioned.
"Well, even if I got a great grade on the rest of my assignments, I've really tanked my grade in the past few weeks. The highest grade I can get is a C- at this point, and I just don't think it's worth it. I'm sorry for wasting your time." Ron muttered. Velma's warning the other day must have really resonated with him.
"You didn't waste my time. Don't think that for a moment." Velma assured. "It was a very honorable thing for you to do to come to me and think this through so much. I won't think anything bad of you if you drop my course. Maybe you'll be more prepared to take it again another semester."
"Thanks for understanding Ms. D." Ron smiled. "It wasn't you at all; I just wasn't putting in the effort. I'm really sorry. If I take this class another semester, I hope I get you. You really were a great teacher."
"Thanks, Ron. It was great having you in class. I hope you have a great rest of your semester!" Velma well-wished, even though she knew that he probably wouldn't get her again.
"Thanks Ms. D. You too!" Ron said, as he headed in the other direction.
Even if it made her a little late to class, Velma was really glad she had that conversation with Ron. She truly meant what she said to Ron. Even if he had dropped the course, it took a lot of responsibility to really think about it like he had and make a decision that seemed best for him.
As Velma had suspected, all of her students were already sitting in the room. A quick glance at the clock showed it was exactly 1.
"I'm sorry I'm late, class." Velma apologized. "I had to deal with something related to a student."
To be fair, it wasn't exactly a lie, even if it wasn't the only reason she was late.
"Today, we're going to talk about the exciting history of stage magic." Velma began. She stopped when she saw Mike raise his hand. "Yes, Mike?"
"Hey, what about Merlin?" Mike asked. "I thought we were talking about him for the rest of the semester."
"Well, there was a change of plans." Velma simply said. She didn't want to worry any of the students by divulging the real reason why she'd stopped talking about Merlin.
"Ah man, this class is already boring enough as it is. Just when it was getting exciting, we've gotta go back to talking about boring old literature." Mike sighed. "I bet you're just switching because you're afraid Merlin's gonna show up or something."
Velma had never experienced an outburst like this in the classroom before, besides maybe Eric, but that was obviously a very different situation. She wondered if Mike's outburst was because he was upset with her for calling his group out for doing a poor job last week.
"I don't appreciate your tone, Mike." Velma's voice became a little more stern. "It's important you learn about the history of stage magic, since you are going to a magic boarding school after all."
"Oh c'mon, are you really that afraid of Merlin? What's he gonna do, turn off the lights so you stumble and lose your glasses or something?" Mike teased. "Nobody in this room's afraid of Merlin."
Velma's heart sank when the lights turned off again. They weren't off very long this time, but when they turned back on, she admittedly wished they had stayed off. Merlin had appeared right in front of Mike, his ghostly fingers pointed right at him. Velma had never seen Merlin's hands very close, but this time, she noticed they were bony, skeletal hands. This feature alone added a whole new level of creepiness to the ghostly wizard.
"So you aren't afraid of me?" Merlin rasped. "I'll give you something to be very afraid of!"
In a puff of smoke, Merlin disappeared. However, this time, he quickly reappeared in front of Madelyn.
"No! Don't hurt my students!" Velma cried.
Merlin simply cackled, as he wrapped his arms around Madelyn.
"Let her go!" Velma exclaimed.
"Let this be a warning to the rest of you!" Merlin hissed. "Two shall face my wrath! Do not let there be a third!"
The lights suddenly went out again, causing the classroom to erupt in gasping and frightened screaming. After a few moments, the lights flickered on.
Velma immediately looked over to see if Madelyn was safe. Her heart began to race when she saw an empty seat next to Sadie.
"Madelyn's gone!" Sadie panicked.
"Merlin said two shall face his wrath, though. Who else is missing?" Sabrina looked around the room frantically.
"Parry's disappeared too!" John exclaimed. "Merlin must have kidnapped both of them."
"Oh god!" Velma exclaimed. She usually would never show her students that she wasn't confident in handling a situation, but she was completely freaking out about Madelyn. Her stomach began to ache, she started to breathe quickly, and she felt like she could barely think straight. She still hadn't even processed that this had really happened. It didn't feel like it could be real that Merlin would kidnap her sister and Parry like this. "I'm sorry, but I'm going to dismiss class for the day. I need to inform Whirlen about this immediately."
Velma didn't even wait for her students to leave the room. The glasses-wearing teacher raced out to see Whirlen before any other student had left yet.
She sprinted through the halls to Whirlen's office as fast as she possibly could. By the time she'd made it to his office, she felt a bit out of breath.
"Whirlen. Whirlen!" Velma shouted as she came into the office. She didn't have time for normal pleasantries; she needed the headmaster out here immediately. Thankfully, he poked his head out of his office with a concerned look when he saw Velma's frantic expression.
"What's wrong?" Whirlen asked. "You look as if you've seen a ghost."
"I have! I saw the ghost of Merlin again, and he…" Velma had a hard time even explaining the situation to him. It still didn't even feel real to her that this had happened. "He kidnapped Madelyn and Parry Hotter."
"What?!" Whirlen's eyes grew wide with shock. "How did this happen?"
"One of my students was asking why I wasn't teaching about Merlin anymore, and accused me of being too scared to teach about him." Velma explained.
"Are you saying the student was taunting you?" Whirlen looked frustrated.
"Yes." Velma confirmed.
"Why, that's the clearest violation of the Nana Nana Boo Boo Policy I've ever heard!" Whirlen snarled.
"Anyway, Merlin appeared and said that Madelyn and Parry were going to face his wrath." Velma continued explaining. "Then he turned the lights out and grabbed them, and when the lights came on, they were gone."
"Good lord!" Whirlen gasped. "We must warn the students! Bumbledore, please warn everyone!"
"I don't even know where to begin, since Merlin can appear and disappear at will." Bumbledore panicked, as his hands hovered over a set of buttons below Whirlen's desk. "I suppose I'll just have to press all these buttons."
Velma glanced at the set of emergency buttons Bumbledore was pressing, and saw the headmaster's fingers press the 'fire,' 'tornado,' and 'lockdown' buttons all at the same time.
"Attention students!" a pre-recorded message of a robotic voice came over the intercom. "There has been a fire spotted somewhere in this building! Please evacuate the building in an orderly fashion immediately."
Another pre-recorded message began promptly afterwards. "Attention students! There has been a tornado spotted outside! No matter what you do, do not go outside! Line up in the brick hallway and cover your head with your hands!"
A third pre-recorded message started as soon as the last one ended. "Attention students! There has been an intruder spotted in the building! No matter what, you cannot go out in the hall! Stay in your rooms!"
"Oh dear, I've really bumbled things up again, haven't I?" Bumbledore sighed.
Whirlen didn't respond directly to Bumbledore. Rather, he simply picked up the intercom and began speaking into it.
"Attention students! False alarm…all three of them, actually. Please ignore all of the previous alarms; they were simply an accident. However, what I meant to announce is that there is an all-staff meeting after classes today. All staff must report to my office." Whirlen announced. "Apologies for the inconvenience."
"Why didn't you warn the students?" Velma inquired.
"In hindsight, I think it's better if they don't know for now. The all-staff meeting shall give us an opportunity to brainstorm what to do, and hopefully, we'll find Madelyn and Parry before nightfall." Whirlen said.
Velma sighed. It wasn't the best solution, but it was at least something. She just hoped it wouldn't be too late.
By the time the staff meeting came around at 3:30, Velma felt like an absolute nervous wreck. She'd hardly gotten anything prepared for her class the next day, because all she could think about was Madelyn. She didn't know what Merlin's "wrath" entailed, but all she could hope was that her little sister was safe. She didn't know if she could ever forgive herself if Madelyn was somehow hurt or worse.
Velma tapped her foot anxiously as she sat in the chair awaiting the rest of the staff to show up. Nearly everybody was already there, and the one holdout - Mr. Mistara - had just entered the room, so Velma presumed they were about to start. She wasn't sure if Bumbledore would join the meeting, but she assumed not.
"Alright, it appears as if everybody's here." Whirlen said. "I suppose we can start."
"Where's Bumbledore?" a woman whom Velma believed to be named Mikayla asked.
"Ah, he's out doing one of his typical weekly listening sessions with the students." Whirlen informed, as the beat of a rap song and a loud bass could be suddenly heard outside the room. "Velma, would you like to explain what happened and why this meeting is being called?"
"The ghost of Whirlen's ancestor, Merlin, appeared in my class today and kidnapped two of my students." Velma shared, feeling very emotional as she said it.
"Oh no! Does that mean we have to close the school?" Dan wondered.
"Well, Hogwarts never had to close even when a Satanic wizard was attacking the school for seven years, so I don't see why we should have to." Whirlen oddly referenced. "However, I would like to open up the floor to suggestions."
"Perhaps it's time to revive the STF." Sam suggested.
"The Stupid Task Force? Ugh, I hate those guys. They're so incompetent." Whirlen harrumphed.
"No, Sam's talking about the Staff Task Force." Matt clarified. "We haven't used it since Bumbledore was launched out a window in a tragic-yet-comedic series of events resulting from opening a file cabinet."
"I for one would be in favor." Joseph agreed. "We need to find those students as soon as possible."
"So would I." Amanda agreed. "Student safety should be our top priority here."
"Let's put it to a vote." Whirlen suggested. "All in favor of forming the task force, raise your hand."
Everybody raised their hands.
"So it's settled then." Whirlen said. "We go out on a mission to rescue Madelyn Dinkley and Parry Hotter."
A man wearing a tweed coat and gray pants who had not yet spoken yet raised his hand to denote he had something to say.
"Yes, Jonathan?" Whirlen inquired.
"Well, I vote our first task is to get supper. I'm famished." Jonathan rubbed his stomach.
"I'm in favor of that!" Dan agreed.
"Alright, so first we get supper, then perhaps a little dessert if there's room, then our second task is to find those students!"
Velma couldn't help but roll her eyes. The last thing that was on her mind right now was eating, but if she had learned anything from working here for two months, it was to embrace the chaos.
Dinner felt like it took absolutely forever. Velma was more than ready to go look for her sister and Parry. Quite frankly, she found the Staff Task Force's lack of morale and concern for these students quite frustrating.
Thankfully, someone seemed to understand the direness of the situation. She saw Sadie wander over to the group of staff and walk directly up to Velma.
"Have you found Madelyn yet?" Sadie asked, seeming very anxious.
"Not yet. After dinner, the whole Whirlen Merlin staff is going to go out and look for her, so you can be assured we'll find her." Velma comforted. She wasn't exactly feeling too certain of that herself, but the teacher in her didn't want to worry her student.
"Okay, good." Sadie had a faint hint of a comforted smile on her face. "I've been so worried all day, I just haven't been able to focus on anything else."
Velma could relate, but she didn't want to say anything that would show Sadie she was worried. She felt like she had no business comforting this student on something that she was feeling equally awful about, but she felt like she had to at least try. "I'm sorry to hear that. Just get some dinner and try to distract yourself."
"Okay…I'm not really hungry, but I'll try." Sadie walked over to pour herself a glass of milk. However, her hands were so shaky from being worked up about Madelyn's kidnapping that she dropped the entire bottle on the ground and began to tear up. "Oh gosh, I'm so sorry!"
Whirlen scurried over to help her clean it up, but his facial expression grew a bit stern. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to stop crying over spilled milk."
"Sorry. I'll run to the bathroom to get some paper towels." Sadie sniffled, as she scurried off.
"Well, I think everybody's just about wrapped up eating. We need to find those students." Velma decided to use the Sadie situation to her advantage, since the other teachers might not know Sadie was one of her students. "Look how upset that student was. Word must be getting around, so we need to get out looking for them before students get too worried."
"She's right." Whirlen agreed. "We need to start combing every room to see if Madelyn and Parry are there. Do we want to split up into multiple groups? One group can look at the classrooms on this floor, another group can look on the second floor, a third group can check the third and fourth floors, and the last group can look in the basement."
Out of the corner of her eye, Velma noticed that Marlin was rushing towards the group of teachers.
"What's happened?" Marlin asked. "I'm sorry I missed the staff meeting, I was in my room fixing something and it took far longer than I anticipated."
"I'm afraid it's horrible news, brother. Our ancestor has taken two students, and we devised this task force to look for them." Whirlen updated.
"Oh good lord!" Marlin gasped. "We have to find them before something terrible happens!"
"Indeed. How would we like to split up?" Whirlen inquired.
"Well, we've got 13 of us here." Marlin looked at the group of staff. "How about if we make group 1 Sam, John and Amanda? Group 2 can be Joseph, Matt and Dan. Group 3: Mikayla, Harper and Don. Doris, would you be okay with being in a group of four with those three?"
"The pleasure will be all mine, I'm sure!" Doris exclaimed.
"That just leaves myself, Whirlen and Velma." Marlin said.
"Alright, group 1 can check this floor, group 2 can check the second floor, and group 3 can check the third and fourth floors." Whirlen instructed. "I guess that just leaves the basement for us. For those checking the floors, be sure to look in each and every classroom."
Velma certainly wasn't looking forward to going back in the basement after her experience last time, but she knew she had to. As powerless as she felt, she knew she and the other staff were Madelyn and Parry's only hope.
"Let's all meet back here in two hours. That way, we'll be sure that all of us are safe and nobody was kidnapped by Merlin." Marlin suggested.
Each group headed their separate ways. Marlin, Whirlen and Velma hustled towards the basement.
"I never would have thought Merlin would have done something like this." Marlin said, as he held the basement door open for Whirlen and Velma. Once again, there was no light in the basement, making Velma fear the possibility of Merlin ambushing them.
"Yes, it is quite odd. It seems his behavior has gotten more rash since you've come here, Velma." Whirlen agreed.
Velma found herself tensing up when Whirlen moved his hand towards the lightswitch. She was terrified that nothing would happen when he attempted to turn on the light, just like last time. Thankfully, the light turned on when his hand hit the switch. However, Velma still felt a bit tense. Why would Merlin specifically be targeting her?
"Are you saying that you think he's targeting me?" Velma finally said. She was admittedly afraid to hear the answer.
"Well, it does seem a bit like that may be the case." Whirlen stated.
"I would agree." Marlin admitted. "Think about it, of all the students he could have kidnapped, he chose your sister."
"He's also always appearing in your class, it seems. No other teachers have reported him doing anything else, beyond the occasional prank of turning the lights out and whatnot." Whirlen added.
The basement was very spooky at night. It appeared to be just a long, windy hallway of classrooms as far as the eye could see.
"But why would he be targeting me?" Velma asked. "I just don't understand it."
She quickly popped her head in the first room she saw, and turned on the light to the classroom. This one was much smaller than the room she taught in; it was just four large tables pushed together in the shape of a square. It looked like it would fit 20 students maximum. No Madelyn or Parry in there, though.
"Well, it's said that Merlin will return on his 1,500th anniversary to restore balance, at least according to the legend." Marlin answered, as he looked in the next classroom. "She's not in here."
Velma popped her head in a third classroom and turned on the lights. This one was another smaller room, though it looked like it was designed to hold slightly more students. There were around five rows of desks, and from a quick glance, it looked like it could hold around 20 students. No Madelyn or Parry again.
"What do you think that has to do with me?" Velma wondered.
"Not in here either." Whirlen said, after looking in another classroom.
"Well, as our newest teacher, you represent change." Marlin postulated. "Therefore, Merlin sees you as the biggest threat."
Velma glanced in another room and saw no sign of her sister or Parry. "There have been lots of new teachers here. You introduced a couple new ones just the other week at that dinner."
"They all started last semester, though. You're the only new one this semester, which aligns with Merlin's return spoken of in the legends." Marlin explained.
"Not in here." Whirlen informed, after a quick glance in another room.
"Here either." Velma responded after looking in another classroom, before averting her attention back to her conversation with Marlin. "That still doesn't really line up, though. It seems like he'd need more of a reason than that to come after me."
"And they're not here either." Marlin commented. "I don't know what to tell you. That's the best explanation I've got."
Velma tried to mull over all the possibilities for why Merlin would specifically come after her as she continued to check each classroom, but she was drawing a blank. She couldn't understand why Merlin would specifically come after her, but Whirlen and Marlin were right: there were too many signs to keep ignoring it at this point. It was clear the vengeful wizard had it out for her for some reason.
Whirlen, Marlin and Velma had checked every classroom, but there was no sign of Madelyn or Parry anywhere.
"Well, I think it's safe to say we've combed the basement, and there's nothing." Marlin sighed.
"Oh dear…" Whirlen muttered, before raising his voice back to normal volume. "You're right…and it's been around two hours, so we should be getting back upstairs to meet the others."
"We can't give up yet, though." Velma started to panic. She wasn't willing to admit defeat…not when it came to something as important as her sister. What if Madelyn was being tortured somewhere?
"Maybe one of the other groups will have found them." Marlin comforted, patting Velma very lightly on the back.
"And what if they haven't?" Velma worried.
"We're not at that stage yet." Whirlen asserted. "If the other groups haven't found your students yet, though, I will have to insist that your class is canceled until we do. We can't risk Merlin appearing again and kidnapping somebody else."
"You're absolutely right, and I will." Velma said, as Whirlen and Marlin headed back up the stairs to the main floor.
When they arrived back on the main floor, they saw everyone else sitting there. To Velma's horror, Madelyn and Parry were nowhere to be found.
"Well, anybody have any luck?" Whirlen inquired.
Each person from every group somberly shook their head.
"Well, I found this ripe pear in the fruit bowl at the dining hall." Dan said. "Could we name it Pear-y 2.0 and have it stand in for the original Parry?"
"No, I'm afraid we can't." Whirlen shook his head.
"Aww man." Dan hung his head.
"Well everyone, it's quite late." Whirlen said, seeming quite weary. "I think we've pretty much combed this school. I don't know what else to suggest at this point, but I'll phone the police and inform them that there are two missing students. In the meantime, Velma is canceling all her classes until the missing students are found."
Velma felt a mix of frustration and absolute hopelessness. She wanted to be angry with Whirlen for not doing enough, but she knew there wasn't really anything more he could do about the situation. They'd searched the school top to bottom, and the two missing students were nowhere to be found. All Velma could do was hold out hope that they'd turn up or the police would find them. It felt like such a simple wish, but the only thing in the world Velma wanted right now was to see her baby sister again.
It felt like a long, tiring day already, and it had just begun. Velma hadn't been able to sleep a wink last night, as she had spent the whole night tossing and turning due to her mind perseverating over where Madelyn and Parry might be. She felt responsible for their kidnappings simply due to the fact it had happened on her watch, even though Mike had taunted Marlin. While it made Velma feel better that she wasn't holding class today, it also made her feel worse at the same time, because it meant there wasn't really much of anything to do to stop her mind from worrying. She was supposed to give the midterm tomorrow, but Whirlen had ensured to give every student in her class a take-home midterm, which was to be submitted to Whirlen's office no later than 1:50pm tomorrow when class normally ended. Even though it was nice to have the freedom, Velma wished that she could be in class with her students. She missed them.
Velma hadn't felt hungry since yesterday at lunch, before Madelyn was kidnapped, but she tried to force herself to at least have a bowl of cereal and a glass of milk for proper nourishment.
Although it was very pitiful, Velma was going to spend the day planning ahead for the next week of class. It was unnecessary to do this early, but Velma needed something to keep her anxious mind busy.
As Velma monotonously ate her cereal in an anxious stupor, she noticed Mike coming up to her.
"Hey, Ms. Dinkley. I wanted to talk to you. You know, Ron was telling me about what he did, and I think I should drop your class too. There's no way I'm gonna pass at this point." Mike informed.
Although it was basically the same thing Ron had said, Velma felt an angry outburst boil up inside her. How dare he cause Madelyn and Parry to be kidnapped, then immediately drop the course the next day! That essentially meant they were kidnapped for nothing, since if he would have just dropped the class yesterday like Ron had, none of this would have happened.
"Young man, your behavior was really inappropriate." Velma growled. "I don't look kindly upon you endangering my students yesterday."
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to endanger anybody. I was just sassing off because of what you said to my group the other day." Mike said. The lack of empathy and remorse in his voice was making Velma livid.
"Well, your sassing off harmed two of my students!" Velma snapped. "Now, they've been kidnapped and no one can find them. I don't know if you know this, but every teacher in this school spent all evening searching the school last night, and still no one can find them!"
That's when Mike's face really fell. It was clear the regret was hitting him hard. "I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to hurt anybody. Please don't be angry with me…I didn't mean anything, I was just in a bad mood yesterday! I didn't mean to get anyone kidnapped!"
Velma's jaw nearly dropped to the floor when Mike burst into tears. For such a macho, posturing guy like Mike who was always trying to be the class clown, Velma never would have thought she would see the vulnerable side of him. Now, she was starting to feel bad. Although Mike had technically caused the kidnappings, Velma realized he was exactly right…he was just being a teenager and mouthing off. It was Merlin she should be blaming, not him.
"I'm sorry I lost my temper." Velma said, taking a deep breath. "It isn't your fault they were kidnapped I suppose, it was that you said the wrong thing at the wrong time. I really appreciate the courage it must have taken to come to me and drop today. I assure you that you don't need to just because you feel guilty."
"No, I was just thinking about what you said the other day." Mike said. "I was just mad yesterday because I was dealing with an internal struggle, I think. I was angry you called me out the other day, and I didn't want to admit I was the problem, but you're right…I really haven't been putting much effort into this class. The content bores me, to be honest. I put a lot of thought into this last night, and between saying the stuff that caused Merlin to kidnap those two and my general lack of effort, I think it'd be best to drop. I'm sorry."
"That's a really mature conclusion to come to, Mike. If that's what you want, I'll put in the paperwork with Whirlen." Velma promised.
"Thanks. I hope you find your sister." Mike said, seeming almost afraid of her, which made Velma feel even worse for losing her temper like that.
"I hope so too." Velma said, with a prolonged sigh.
It had been a whole two days since Madelyn and Parry had first been abducted by Merlin. The police had kept an eye out around the surrounding area of the castle, but had come up with nothing. The pain of losing her sister still stung deeply, and quite frankly Velma didn't know if she'd ever get over it if her sister was truly gone. Velma was really spiraling without her sister. It was hard to achieve tasks, no matter how hard she tried to bury herself in her work so as not to become too anxious.
She was currently sitting at dinner, picking at her food. Sadie still sat by her, but it didn't really feel the same.
"The midterm went really well." Sadie said, a hint of somberness in her voice. It was clear this was deeply affecting her too.
"I'm really glad to hear that. I should have them graded and back to you by Monday…if we're in class, that is." Velma added a caveat at the last minute.
"It's Spring Break next week, remember?" Sadie reminded. "You'll have to give it to us the following Monday."
Velma admittedly had spaced this out completely. It felt like a trivial detail to her given everything that had happened.
"Oh. Yeah." Velma said.
Both of them sat in silence for a moment. They each knew that they were avoiding the subject that was weighing heavily on both of their hearts. Finally, Velma broke the silence and talked about the sorrow that both of them were wallowing in.
"I just wish I could spend one more evening in her room." Velma sighed. Even if she still watched movies to distract herself, it just hadn't felt the same without her sister.
"Has anybody looked in her room for clues?" Sadie inquired. "I guess that was a dumb question. I'm sure somebody has."
"I don't know if they have…I doubt it'd do much, though. She was kidnapped from class, so it's not like she would have known to leave a note." Velma said. "I guess we have nothing to lose but our own emotional composition."
Velma's eyes perked up when she saw Whirlen coming her way.
"Whirlen! Any news on Madelyn or Parry?" Velma asked.
"Nothing yet, I'm sorry." Whirlen sighed.
"Do you know if anyone's investigated her room yet?" Velma asked.
"No, I don't believe so. I doubt you'd find anything in there, though. It's not like she knew she was going to be kidnapped." Whirlen justified.
"We're going to check around in there and see if there's anything, just in case." Velma informed.
"Excellent, I suppose I can join you and come back to eat later." Whirlen stated.
"I'm not really hungry either…" Velma said, twirling her spaghetti noodle on her fork aimlessly for the umpteenth time. "Let's check her room out."
As Whirlen, Sadie and Velma headed towards Madelyn's room, Sadie looked at Whirlen with an extremely concerned look. "Isn't there anything else you can do?"
"I'm afraid we're doing everything we can do already." Whirlen sighed. "I'm sorry. I wish there was something more that could be done, but we've looked everywhere."
"Well, we're doing something now." Velma attempted to be brave for her student, even if she was feeling very little courage. She had never felt so powerless…her sister was currently trapped in the hands of a vengeful spirit, and Velma had no way of knowing how to get to her.
Velma, Sadie and Whirlen noticed quite the mess upon arriving in Madelyn's room. Her desk was scattered with various pieces of homework and notes she'd written herself, several dirty clothes were strewn on the floor, and the bed was not made.
The first thing Velma did was rummage through the papers on Madelyn's desk. She was hoping to find some sort of note, or a clue to where Merlin might be keeping her, but there was nothing.
All of a sudden, groaning and muffled shouting could be heard from the closet.
"Oh my gosh, somebody's in there!" Sadie exclaimed.
The muffled yells continued.
"Dear god, the person must be gagged!" Whirlen rushed to Madelyn's closet and swung the door open. Parry had been locked in the closet, although he wasn't gagged…it appeared he was just making noises with his bare mouth.
"Help, help, I've been locked in this closet for two days and fed nothing but steak and lobster!" Parry cried out.
"That doesn't sound so bad." Sadie looked confused.
"Y'know, Merlin made me some baked alaska one night for dessert too." Parry thoughtfully said, his face looking like he had just come to a realization. "Come to think of it, Merlin actually treated me pretty nice. I think you guys are the real kidnappers!"
"So you've been tied up and gagged in this closet for two days?" Velma gasped.
"Oh no, I wasn't gagged. I was just making a bunch of weird noises so that somebody would hear me." Parry informed.
"I don't see any ropes either." Sadie noticed.
"No, I was tied up…with deez cool tie-dye kits!" Parry held up a couple of tie-dye t-shirts, one of them with a logo with a picture of a smiling Merlin in the center, and the words "Merlin's Choice" printed below his face. "You'd be amazed how much your schedule gets freed up when you're kidnapped!"
"I'm so glad you're alright, Parry." Whirlen said. "Do you know what happened to Madelyn?"
"Who's Madelyn?" Parry asked.
"Oh god, Merlin wiped his brain!" Sadie panicked. "What if he doesn't remember anything now?"
"No, I'm just a raging narcissist who doesn't pay attention to personal details about others unless it personally benefits me in some way." Parry said in a matter-of-fact voice. "Can you describe her?"
"The girl who was kidnapped with you." Velma clarified.
"Oh, her. She's the one Merlin took up to the tower for that magic ritual thing." Parry explained.
"WHAT?!" Velma shrieked.
"The tower was blocked off years ago!" Whirlen exclaimed. "I never would have thought to look up there."
"Clearly Merlin banked on that. C'mon, we've got to get up there and save her!" Velma said, motioning for the others to follow her.
"Which way to the tower?" Sadie inquired.
"It's up above the fourth floor. We must be very careful, though." Whirlen warned. "The tower was blocked off because the brick wall was beginning to break, leaving it rickety and dangerous to be up there."
"I think we should try to use the element of surprise on Merlin." Velma suggested. "It's going to be a long shot, but it might be our only chance to get Madelyn back."
As fast as they could, all four of them ran up the stairs to retrieve Madelyn. Velma was exhausted and a little sweaty once she'd sprinted up three of the sets of stairs.
"The tower's right here." Whirlen pointed to a room with a sign on the door marked 'keep out.' "Now, we need to be very quiet when we're walking up the stairs so Merlin doesn't hear us."
Whirlen quietly swung the door open, but was unable to stop it from making a small creak. Thankfully, Velma didn't think it was loud enough for anyone to hear. Velma and the others thoughtfully creeped up the stairs, being sure not to make a peep of any sort. Velma could feel her heart racing as she got closer to the door to the tower at the top of the stairs.
The orange-sweatered sister searcher was the first to reach the top. She glanced at Whirlen with an inquisitive look, wondering if she should open the door or not. Whirlen responded with a nod.
Velma braced herself for the worst possible scenario as the door swung open. While what she saw wasn't the worst possible, it was still pretty bad: Madelyn had her ankles tied together, and her wrists tied behind her back. A cloth gag was wrapped around her mouth. She was stationed near a bubbling cauldron, which Merlin was currently stirring.
"Soon they will regret ever meddling in my affairs! Hahahaha!" Merlin cackled, as he stirred the potion. The red cloak he was wearing, as well as his beard, ever-so-lightly brushed against the cauldron that the potion was in.
Velma felt a surge of adrenaline pump through her veins. Although she was never normally this brave, she knew the element of surprise would be the only way to stop a powerful sorcerer like Merlin. She ran at Merlin on the other side of the room, so quickly that it seemed to take him a moment to notice.
"Leave my sister alone!" Velma screamed, as she pushed Merlin into the brick wall. This was very intentional, since she remembered what Whirlen had said about the weak wall, and this side of the room was clearly very worn down: a large crack ran all the way down the wall, and the bricks were beginning to crumble.
Merlin was so caught-off guard that he fell backwards into the wall. The wall began to crumble right on top of him, as he laid on the ground in a confused stupor.
"We have to get out of here!" Whirlen exclaimed. "This tower isn't stable anymore. The wall is crumbling!"
Velma glanced over to where Merlin was currently laying. It looked like he was just regaining his composure, but another large chunk of wall fell on one of his legs, causing it to be crushed under the weight of the brick.
"Everybody, down the stairs!" Velma urged Parry, as Whirlen sprinted back down the staircase. She knew she wouldn't have the time to untie Madelyn, so she simply picked her up and tried to awkwardly carry her down the stairs.
Velma could hear the wall crumbling behind her as she carried Madelyn down the staircase and back to safety. Once she was safely down the stairs, she untied Madelyn and removed her gag before embracing her with a big hug.
"Sis! I'm so glad you're safe!" Velma cried.
"You saved me, sis!" Madelyn reciprocated Velma's hug. "Merlin's had me tied up there for two days! Thankfully, I was fed, but my wrists and ankle were starting to ache."
"I'm very glad you're safe." Whirlen said. "Do you know what he wanted with you?"
"I don't know…he was going to make me drink a potion, and he kept saying something about showing the school who he was or something… I don't know." Madelyn stuttered. "I've been so terrified it's all been a blur."
"That's okay. All that matters is that you're safe." Whirlen comforted. "Let's head back downstairs so that we can share the good news with everyone that you and Parry have been found!"
"I never want to go through that again!" Madelyn said, starting to tear up from how traumatized she was. "Promise me you'll keep me safe, sis."
This made Velma want to tear up too. At this point, she felt like she had no control over what happened in her classroom. Merlin could come in and kidnap or harm any one of her students at any time, and there's nothing she could do about it. Honestly, she didn't even know if she wanted to keep teaching here if Merlin was going to target anyone associated with her. After all she'd been through, Velma didn't want to scare her little sister any further at this point. Although she hated the fact that she was making a promise she knew she couldn't keep, Velma said the words anyway.
"I promise."
