A/N: I'm not dead! Yes, I am still here! I did not abandon this story, and I swear I never will. I'm SO incredibly sorry it's been more than a month. It's just that to workload I've been getting from school is ridiculous. Also, I've been writing other stories, including my Full House stories (I know, I know, people who like So Weird probably aren't going to be interested in a mushy sitcom. I just thought you would like to know since that, well, you obviously like my writing, you might want to see more of it. Just a thought). To make up for my extremely long and inexcusable absence, I have made this chapter longer than usual.
Thanks to all my faithful reviewers, and to my new ones!
CuteLittleBritt: I know I may not be historically accurate, but I did not mean karate in the modern sense. I meant, like, hand-to-hand combat. Also, in Irene's (and Molly's) case, the witch gene is only matriarchal (meaning only in women…but you already knew that). I'm just putting that here instead of in the story because, well, I'm lazy. That's why.
Fiona12690: He he, glad you like it. But Carey and Fi will not be getting together – I mentioned in the first chapter that this is a strictly NON-ROMANTIC story.
Also thanks to Ms.Manning331, JlyfishLuver, and, well, everyone else!
I highly suggest re-reading the last chapter and parts of the story that you don't remember clearly, seeing as I haven't updated in a while.
Chapter 9
"Kidnapped? Are you sure?" Fi asked, the news not quite sunken in yet.
"Positive." Jack stated firmly, well, as firmly as he could after that run. Come to think of it, it probably would have been easier just to call rather than frantically run the eight miles to his house. I guess that's what happens under stress – the "act now, think later" gear kicks in. Ah, well, it's probably better to be doing something than standing around in shock while Irene, Ned, and Clu try to figure out what to do next. Realizing Fi was waiting for an explanation, Jack added, "His room could have been declared a national disaster area. The comforter was twisted and torn, the garbage pail was turned over and its contents scattered across the floor, and it looked like everything he owned was either knocked over or smashed into pieces." Exhausted, Jack slid into the circular booth.
"Poor Carey. I hope he's not in too much pain. Or dead." Fi mumbled that last part as she sat down next to Jack. She looked at her parents. Their faces were expressionless, but Fi knew they were just as torn up about this as she and her brother were. Fi also knew that they were trying to stay calm and think of a course of action.
Rick held his head in his hand, then asked, "Jack, there must have been a lot of noise when Carey's room was being ripped apart. Wouldn't Irene, Ned, or Clu have heard it and come running?"
"That's what's so weird. Neither of them heard a single sound throughout the night. When I got there at around nine, Irene assumed he was still sleeping since he hadn't come downstairs. Then, when she went to check on him at eleven, she saw Carey's door open and his room destroyed."
"They probably didn't hear anything because whoever, or whatever, attacked him must have been protected by a well-cast sound-proofing spell." Rick concluded.
Molly thought aloud, "Then it must have been those demons we've been fighting for the past few weeks. I don't think we have many other current magical enemies."
Rick nodded. "I think that would be a safe bet. Let's go over to check out the scene of the crime…and see how Ned and Irene are holding up."
When they arrived at the Bell's home, they found its inhabitants in Carey's room, which was still in the exact same shape as Jack had described it. Irene was sitting on her son's bed and quietly sobbing into Ned's shoulder, and he himself was holding back tears. Clu was aimlessly wandering around, as if in some kind of trance.
Fi walked over to Clu and hugged him. "It's going to be okay. We'll find him."
"How can you say that?" Clu angrily kicked the wall. "Look around, Fi! At this point there's probably nothing left to find!"
"Hey, Clu, calm down. Shouting won't solve anything." Jack held Clu back from kicking a hole in the wall.
After sitting down and putting a comforting arm around Irene's shoulders. Jack was right – the room looked like a tornado went through it. Suddenly, he noticed Molly. She seemed to be intently staring at something on the floor. "Molly, what are you looking at?"
"I'm not sure." Everyone came over to look. It was a small pool of thick liquid, and was a bold, green color. What worried Molly most was that it had some kind of eerie glow. "What…is it?"
"Demon blood." Rick answered automatically. When everybody stared at him, he explained, "I've seen it before - many times. Whatever you do, don't touch it. It kills mortals instantly. However, Molly, Irene, and Fi are safe – witches are immune to its effects."
"In that case…" Molly reached out her hand and touched it. The substance was smooth, like if silk was liquid. She rubbed some on her fingertips, then froze.
The forest was pitch black. She could barely see anything except a black-clad figure moving through the trees. The only reason she could see him was because his arm was cut, and green blood was oozing out of his shoulder.
He continued on through the forest until he reached a clearing. The demon then went over to an unusually large tree on the edge of it and stretched out his palm. A purple glow shot out, and eight strange symbols appeared in two columns on the trunk.
The demon pressed each symbol, as if it was some kind of code or pattern, and the entire tree glowed purple. Then he stepped through the tree and disappeared.
When the vision faded, Molly declared, "I know where Carey was taken."
"You do? How…where…?" Irene demanded, her hope returning.
Quickly Molly explained her vision. "The only problem is that I don't know where to find the clearing."
Jack thought for a second. "I do. Clu and I used to take our bikes through there all the time. It's only a few miles from our house."
"Well then, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Fi turned around. Clu was already halfway out the door.
"Are we there yet?" Fi moaned. Irene had transported all of them close to the clearing, but she hadn't been able to get them to the exact spot since they didn't know where it was. As a result, they had been walking around the woods for about an hour now.
"For the zillionth time, Fi, I don't know." Jack snapped. He was frustrated – he should have known where the clearing was. But he and Clu hadn't been through this part of the forest in a while, and his memory was failing him.
Fi immediately felt bad about complaining, so she offered to help. "I could turn myself into an eagle again. Then maybe I could spot the clearing from over head.
"Good idea Fi, but you shouldn't use your magic. You'll need all of your strength to fight off those demons," Rick warned.
Hey, what's that light over there?" Ned pointed to his left.
Clu stood next to his dad and gazed in the direction he was pointing. "It looks like a ball of light or something…"
Molly glanced at Fi in surprise, "It couldn't be…could it?"
The "ball of light", as Clu so accurately described, zipped through the trees and reached the group. "Thought you could use a wee bit o' help."
"What are you doing here Bricriu?" Fi demanded.
"I'm hurt, Little Duck. Aren't you glad to see me?"
"That answer would depend on why you're here."
Clu glanced from Fi, to Bricriu, then back to Fi. "What did I miss?"
Irene raised an eyebrow, "Fi, you know an evil spirit who takes over innocent humans?"
Rick crossed his arms and glared at the spunkie, "Yeah, the last few spunkies that I've come across have been malicious and devious."
As Fi explained her past encounters with Bricriu, Jack looked at Clu and asked, "Ever get the feeling that you don't belong?"
Clu nodded. "All the time, dude."
"You know, Bricriu, I've been wondering about something." Molly asked as she narrowly avoided twisting her ankle on a tree root. "You never told us why you busted into Fi's room a few weeks ago."
"I thought it was obvious. I originally wanted to warn Fi about the Protector and his minions. Only after I 'busted in', I sensed that Rick was coming and figured he would do it for me. We spunkies have a way of knowing when a human, or anyone else, enters or leaves their surrounding area."
"I've been thinking about something too." Fi said. Like Molly, something had been in the back of her mind since that fateful night. "Mom, when Bricriu came through the window, he said he knew you."
"Well, Little Duck, I'll leave it up to yer mum to tell ye about something that wasn't me fault!"
Molly stopped short and looked at Bricriu. "Yes, it was your fault. If you hadn't come in the first place – "
"It wasn't me fault!"
"Yes it was!"
"No it wasn't!"
"It was too!"
"It was not!"
"Was too!"
"Was not!"
Irene stepped in before Molly could come back with another "Was too!" "Will you two five-year-olds please tell us what happened?"
Molly crossed her arms and glared at the spunkie. "Fine. I will."
"No ye won't. I will."
"I will!"
"I will!"
Irene rolled her eyes and held up her hands in a time out sign. "Molly, why don't you start, and, Bricriu, you can correct her if need be." She hastily added that last part before the temperamental spunkie could protest.
"Alright." Molly sat on a stump, and Bricriu hovered nearby. Irene, Ned, and Rick sat on a log lying on its side. Jack, Clu, and a disgusted Fi sat on the wet, muddy grass.
"Well, it all started when Bricriu took over Rick's body – "
Looking very confused, Rick cut in. "Wait a minute. I don't remember that."
"And ye shouldn't. Humans don't remember when one of our kind takes them over."
Molly continued. "Anyway, this was before I had cast that memory spell, so from my education I knew Rick was possessed. Naturally I was upset and tried to figure out what the spunkie's name was. Since his came could have been anything seven letters long, it was giving me a very hard time."
Bricriu jumped in, knowing it wouldn't do him justice if Molly told the rest of the story. "I could see she was havin' a rough time of it, so I broke down and the lass why I needed to stay. The only reason I possessed Rick was to protect him and Molly."
"Now where does that sound familiar?" Fi murmured under her breath. She distinctly remembered when the spunkie had taken over her mom's body. He had said that he wanted to help her, but would up causing her even more trouble. From the way this story sounded, Fi had a feeling that her mom had a similar experience.
"See, this was after Rick had his run-in with the Protector, and I knew that could bring him more trouble later on. So, knowing a spunkie could do more than a mere mortal could do to protect himself, I possessed him."
"That doesn't sound so bad. What happened?" Jack was eager to learn about what had made his mom argue like a little kid. Then he remembered when Fi's laptop successfully predicted that his mom would call a malevolent critic a "big, fat liar." Maybe that's just how she is.
Molly answered, "Well, Bricriu just being with us was a big problem. Before he showed up, the Protector had absolutely no idea where Rick and I were living. He couldn't track my magic because of a shield spell that I was able to cast. But my shield didn't cover other magical creatures, so, when Bricriu came, he found us in less than two days."
"Look, Molly, I swear I didn't know he could find me!"
"And that's supposed to make me feel better? We almost got killed!" Molly exclaimed, then turned toward the others. "A few days after Bricriu arrived, the Protector attacked. Now, this was quite a few years ago, so he didn't have his demon-servants. He himself came and immediately started to try and rip us to shreds. Bricriu, being the chicken that he is, deserted Rick's body as soon as the Protector came through the door."
Everyone glared at the cowardly spunkie, who's only defense was, "It's not me fault! It's a spunkie's top priority to look after himself."
"Yeah, no kidding." Fi commented, again flashing back to the time he spent in Molly's body. When they were trapped in a burning warehouse, Bricriu had fled as soon as he realized that he was in danger. They would have been toast had it not been for the retired firefighter who happened to be there. It's really amazing how similar me and Mom's experiences are.
"So, I was left with a barely conscious, and fairly useless, mortal and a giant, powerful demon." Molly thought for a second, then added, "No offense, Rick."
"None taken."
"Luckily, I had my spell book with me and was able to hit him with a considerably powerful attack spell. It was enough to drive him away for a while, but not destroy him completely. Obviously." Molly hesitated, then looked at Rick, "That's why I now blame myself for your death. If I hadn't seriously wounded him, he wouldn't have been mad enough to kill you years later."
Rick went over and crouched down next to Molly. "We've all had our fair share of self-loathing lately. I know I have. But you have to realize that blaming each other and ourselves won't do any good." Molly meekly nodded, wiped away some fresh tears, and put her head on his shoulder.
After several moments of silence, Fi asked, "Mom, that spell book you mentioned…by any chance…was it the one I have now?"
Molly lifted her head. "Yes, it is. Although I'm not quite sure how you got it."
"Hold on…that was your spell book?" Rick asked, shocked. "I had no idea…I found it while going through an old trunk. I didn't want you to see it, since at that time you had recently expressed your feelings against my 'hobby.' So, when we went to visit Melinda, I gave it to her for safekeeping. She loved it – she figured she could use it in one of her plays."
Fi filled in the last part for Molly, "And then Aunt Melinda gave it to me when we visited her theater group." She then explained how she accidentally used it to conjure up a dragon.
Clu had been listening intently to their conversation, but was now starting to get antsy. We've been sitting here for too long. We need to find Carey. It might already be too late. "Guys, it's getting dark. We should continue looking."
"You're right, son." Ned stood up and stretched. He winced – his scar still hurt a little. "We should get going." He could tell his son was overly anxious to find Carey. Truthfully, so was he. However, even though she didn't show it, Ned could tell that Irene was the most restless of all. And he could definitely understand that. Between him having been stabbed and Carey missing, it was a wonder that she wasn't breaking down into sobs every five minutes.
The group silently got up and started walking. They weren't exactly sure where they were going, but they kept wandering long enough, they would find the clearing. And, hopefully, Carey.
A/N: And the saga continues! Unsurprisingly, Molly has more than a few stories to share. Bricriu rejoins the group, but only after further proving that he is unreliable and selfish.
Next Chapter: The group breaks into to the Protector's secret lair. But will Carey be there? And will they all make it out safely, or will some be left behind?