1

I walked down the hall, heading towards English. My mind kept on wondering back to the strange woman Cheryl, Erika, and I had encountered. Why was she here? What did she do to Cheryl? Was she sucking the magic out of her? Was Cheryl going to be okay?

My ruby red jewel was not flashing bright shades of red like it was before. I still worried about Cheryl, though. I had stopped the woman from taking all of Cheryl's magic, but did the woman still have the magic someplace? Then a disturbing thought popped into my mind: Was the magic now in her?

I shuddered and continued toward the English classroom. Along the way, I ran into a classmate of mine, April.

April had a worried expression on her face. She was not surrounded by her usual group of chatting girls. April was one of the popular girls. She always wore the hottest outfit, and lots of the boys liked her.

"April?" I asked. April looked up. Her long, sandy hair was looking very shaggy in two long braids that fell almost to her waist. Her pale blue eyes were plagued with fear.

"April, is anything wrong?" I asked again. She swallowed.

"Chris, your jewel - " My hand flew to my jewel. It was glowing. Oh, no. April had seen it!

"Wha - what about it?" I said, covering my stone with my sleeve.

"I know it's magic," answered April. I covered her mouth. This was not the place. I lead her to the girls bathroom. No one was in there.

"How did you find out?" I asked. April looked down.

"I - I saw you battling the witch," she said.

"Witch?" I asked, confused. The woman we saw was a witch!

"Yes," April answered. " She is the witch of death,"

"How do you know this?" I asked her, shocked. Witch of death...?

"All witches are related. The witch of death is related to the Spider Witch. Every single witch in this universe knows about the others," she said. I stared at her. Where was this going?

"Chris, your good. I can tell you,"

"Tell me what?" April took a deep breath. Her eyes were swimming with tears.

"I - I am a witch!"she cried. My hand flew to my mouth. My mother had told me about the Spider Witch. She was an evil witch (fairy?) that she and Cheryl and Erika's mothers had battled. And April was related to her!

"April, I - " I started. Suddenly, a thin red-haired girl walked into the bathroom. I recognized her. She was one of April's "home girls".

"Come on, April. Class is almost starting," she said. I rolled my eyes and sighed. We were going to have to finish this conversation later.

"April? A witch! Arrgghh!" shrieked Erika. It was the evening. Me, Cheryl, and Erika were gathered in my bedroom. Even though it was a school night, Mom said we could have a sleepover, as long as we didn't sleep too late. I had just told Cheryl and Erika the news.

"I never would have guessed. I didn't know witches were snobby, clothes obsessed populars," huffed Cheryl, crossing her arms.

"Come on, Cheryl. April isn't that bad," I answered. I wondered why I was sticking up for April.

"April? A witch! Aagghh!" screamed Erika again, falling off my bed.

"ERIKA! WE KNOW!" Cheryl yelled at the top of her lungs. Erika raised her stone and created a cloud over Cheryl's head.

"Erika! Get this thing off me!" yelled Cheryl. Erika giggled and made the cloud disappear. Cheryl's head appeared, her hair a little wet.

"Okay, guys. Enough. What do we do about April?" I asked, trying not to laugh at Cheryl's new 'do.

"I dunno. Do you think she's lying?" asked Cheryl.

"No. Either she was telling the truth or she deserves an Oscar for her performance," I responded.

"But if April is a witch, do you think she is . . . evil?" whispered Erika. I shuddered.

"Well, maybe all witches aren't evil," I said.

"I think we should all get a good sleep," suggested Cheryl. I nodded and slipped into my sleeping bag. The others did the same.

The following morning, we went to school. I decided to go find April. She had only one class with me: Theater.

I entered the Theater room, scanning the room for April. I found her, near the curtains. Mr. Lawrence, the Theater teacher, had assigned her to pull the curtains. I waved and made my way up to her. But suddenly, April disappeared behind the curtains.

Huh?

I pushed aside the curtains. April was not there.

"April?" I called. No one answered. My jewel started flashing violent shades of red. I heard a noise from backstage.

"April!" I called again. I ran toward the noise. I saw April, or rather, a glimpse of her. She was swept away by a pair of arms. I could hear a muffled scream. April was being kidnaped!