Well, it seems that I couldn't finish this chapter before I went to Missouri. I'm sorry for the long wait because I know it's been bugging some people of what happened to Hay Lin, Taranee, and Will. Well you've waited long enough so go ahead and read it. Oh and thanks for the reviews! I really appreciate them!

Disclaimer: I put this on the first chapter, meaning it for the whole story but I just decided to put it up on this chapter anyway. I repeat, I do not own W.i.t.c.h. or anything related to it. I did however create Ms. Korean and Mr. Stanton. (I just made them up as I was writing)

Chapter 16: Kidnapping and Trials

Cedric's POV

Cedric was filled with glee. Everything was going as planned. Even if he hadn't managed to push Will out the window and kill her in this world of fears. It still worked out, but barely. His mistake had made Phobos punish him dearly. Phobos wanted to talk to her, to get the Crown of Light and the Heart of Candracar in one go. His chance was taken away when Hay Lin managed to keep her alive. She messed it up for him, but Phobos thinks that he can do something different. Something better…

Cedric looked behind him in the backseat. The redhead was lying there fast asleep gagged and bound by magical ropes, too weak after her long fall. Cedric smirked and slapped her hard across the face to wake her up. Her eyes popped open and she yelped in pain before she struggled to sit up. For once, Cedric was happy with Phobos's instructions. Not that he wasn't loyal, no he was always loyal. But some of the things he was told to do only pained him because he knew that he would be punished for failing later. The plans to take care of the Guardians, well…those never went very well. But this one was wonderful! He knew that he could do it easily. He needed to torture them as much as possible for the plan to get the Heart of Candracar to work, and they couldn't do anything to stop him! This was his idea of a good time!

Will stared in horror and looked around. They were parked next to a police station and a small courtroom. Cedric ungagged her, but wasn't prepared for what any girl in this situation would do. She screamed.

"Aaaahhhh! Help! I've been kidnapped! I've been-" Cedric quickly gagged her again shaking with shock and anger. Are all girls like this he wondered, as she tried to close her fist but couldn't. Cedric had to laugh at the sight.

"Well, well. Why don't we have a little chat, Keeper of the Heart of Candracar?" he said smoothly leaning forward against the seat to look at her. "Since you can't talk without screaming, I guess I'll do all the talking." He got amused again when her face started to blend with her hair and her eyes were squinting with anger. Well, he might as well start his part. He had other places to be. Besides, she wasn't going anywhere. This was going to be his best order yet.

"So, how are you doing now that your whole life is a disaster? I mean, life can't go smoothly now that your mother is dead." He could tell that he hit a nerve because a flash of grief spread quickly across her face. Then it filled with anger again and she started squirming in her bonds. If he continued, he'd get somewhere. He just knew it.

"Yes, it's sad indeed. But at least you have your friends to help you. Oops! You don't do you? You left them and they don't look up to you as a leader anymore. Really Will, what kind of leader are you?" Will was shaking so much that it seemed like the magical ropes binding her would fall apart. He had to continue now that he had her where he wanted her.

"You walked out on your friends and your duty. That's why Cornelia won't speak to you. You gave her the cat that ripped her love apart. What kind of friend would do that?" She stopped struggling slightly. Will was considering what he said. That must mean that she thought that there was some truth to his words.

"It's your fault that your powers are gone. You let Cornelia go, you could have kept everything right but you didn't. You could have heeded that Evil Will's warning before you lost your friends, and before you lost your mother…" Her mouth was slightly open and she was staring and his face with disbelief. She knew what he had just said was true. She could have saved everyone if she did what Evil Will wanted.

"Because of you, your powers, mother, and friends are gone and they'll never come back. Not unless you give up the Heart of Candracar. We can sort everything out." Will scowled and turned away doubtfully.

"We'll stop at nothing to get it, and that can get dangerous. We have your friends right where we want them. It shouldn't be too hard to do anything if they're behind bars!" He leaned closer and smiled.

"Give us the Heart of Candracar, or you will witness your friends die" Will's eyes opened wide with horror and she turned away. She seemed so angry and desperate, that her hand was almost clutching into a fist. Anger was surging through the girl. Her feelings of grief, terror, and anxiety had mixed together into a pure emotion that shot out angry sparks across her face. Cedric laughed and decided that he'd leave her with her thoughts. He had two old friends to visit…

"I'm telling you we didn't kill anyone" Taranee yelled to the courtroom, standing up with anger. "It was an accident that we were found there!"

"A likely story." the prosecutor said. "And I suppose that you just happened to find the gun that killed the guard and she" he said pointing to Hay Lin "was just standing at the window when that girl fell out. This is obviously a double murder act!" His brown mustache twitched furiously as he pointed an accusing finger at the two teenagers. There was murmuring until the judge's voice broke the noise.

"You are questioning the girls Mr. Stanton, not accusing them without more proof. Ask questions and let them speak." the Judge said quietly but firmly. Judge Cook wouldn't want her own daughter arrested, but what would she do if Taranee was found guilty?

"Right." the balding lawyer muttered quickly and then went back to the questioning.

"So." he said clasping his hands behind his back. "What were you doing at Simultech in the first place? Not a very common place to visit."

Taranee and Hay Lin looked at each other and Hay Lin spoke of the first thing that came to her mind.

"Our friend, Will Vandom, was kidnapped and taken to Simultech after being falsely led there. We heard about it and followed them!" Well, it was almost exactly the truth. She just left out the part about them being magical and chasing a giant lizard man.

"Yeah right. You-"

"Objection! Your Honor, these girls could have been found at the wrong place and at the wrong time! They said that their friend was kidnapped. Maybe we should look more into that." The thin woman with wavy blonde hair who was acting as the girls' lawyer or defense attorney shouted out. Just then, the door opened and two visitors came in to the surprise of Taranee and Hay Lin. Agents Medina and McTiennan walked in looking gleeful.

"If I might say something your Honor," Agent Medina called out sweetly. "Unless Will was killed we had another girl, Elyon, who was most likely kidnapped also. We think that the kidnappings might be related since they both have something that they are mysteriously hiding." Hay Lin and Taranee looked at each other and gulped.

"The same Will Vandom that was pushed out of a window? I think not!" shouted the prosecutor.

"Overruled." Judge Cook quickly said. Then she just rubbed her chin.

"Yes, we would need to look into that as a possibility. Did you girls see him take Will?"

"Yes I did!" Hay Lin said looking relieved. "I saw him hold Will out the window when I came in the room. That's when the alarm went off and he dropped her as I tried to catch her."

"The alarms! Now that's something else. Would you care to explain to me how the alarms were triggered after a large hole was punctured through three walls and offices?"

Everyone was paying close attention to the girls who were squirming uncomfortably in the stand. Then Hay Lin spoke up.

"Well no. I didn't see that. I was paying more attention to my friend dangling out a window!" Hay Lin yelled dramatically and convincingly. Even Taranee was impressed on how she covered it up.

"Well then, how did your friend survive as you say she did?" he stared again. "A long fall like that surely would have killed someone. What do you say to that? Admit it! You have committed these crimes and came up with a kidnapping story to cover up why your friend is missing. You were about to hide the guard too when the police caught you in the act!" the prosecutor spat. The court whispered his words to each other while the girls shook with anger.

"We didn't kill anyone!" Taranee yelled again almost crying but trying to get them to believe them. "Why would we kill anyone? Especially our best friend!"

"Hmm.…I don't know! Why don't you tell me that?" he roared.

"Objection! There is no absolute proof that these girls have done anything wrong!"

"What do you need? A big sign on their foreheads that says 'We did it'?"

Judge Cook banged her gavel down fiercely.

"Order in the courtroom." she yelled quieting down the outbreak of voices. "Now Ms. Korean has pointed out as the defendants' lawyer, that the girls have told the jury what their account of the incident was and that there isn't any evidence that they have committed the crime in question. Now professionals will take the gun and look more into the fingerprints and possibility of the gun being the weapon that killed the man. There was not the body of Will Vandom at the scene, so we can only assume at the moment that the story the accused have presented is true of the girl being kidnapped. As-"

A sudden hush fell through the courtroom. The air got colder and nobody dared to move. The girls looked around mysteriously. They could tell something bad was coming into the room. Voices filled their head and wiped their minds blank right as a purple mist came flooding into the court.

("Keep your minds open.")

("We'll protect you.")

("Find your friends.")

("And destroy this evil.")

They opened their eyes and looked around at all the people staring at them. Something wasn't right. The person who just walked through the door only confirmed their fears.

Cedric walked in and grinned.

"I am a witness to these girls murdering the guard at the entrance and Will Vandom."

"Come to the stand and present your case." Judge Cook said in a hallow kind of dead voice. Taranee snapped her head in the Judge's direction.

"Mom?" She asked with her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Hay Lin was too overwhelmed to notice.

"That's the guy who kidnapped her!" she screamed jumping up excitedly. "Believe us not him! He's right there. Will said that he also killed the guard!"

"Don't be silly girls." Ms. Korean said in the same dead voice. "Please step down and let the witness step forward. To the stand please and tell us what you witnessed."

The girls stepped down cautiously and looked at her perplexed.

"Wait, aren't you supposed to be our lawyer?" Taranee shouted as the woman sat back down, staring. Cedric walked up to them with a smug look on his face.

"Get out of my way girls."

"You heard him! Sit down!" yelled the prosecutor. Everyone just stared without blinking. Hay Lin thought something weird was going on.

"Something's wrong." She whispered.

Cedric sat down and started his tale.

"I saw these girls murder two people. I saw Taranee with a gun and shoot the poor guard to try to get in the building. Then Hay Lin went in to push their friend out the window. It's very tragic. Why would they try to do that to their best friend? Go ahead and ask them."

Everyone's heads snapped toward the girls' stunned faces.

"Why did you kill them?" the prosecutor questioned with emptiness.

"We didn't! He's lying to you! He kidnapped our friend and-" Hay Lin was cut off by Taranee who nudged her in the side and pointed at the man.

"Look at their eyes."

They looked closely at the purple glow in each person's eyes. It was almost as if they were being hypnotized!

"If you were wondering why you couldn't find the body, I would suggest getting their two friends Cornelia and Irma. After all, they were the ones who dragged the body away from the site. These girls," he sneered looking at them with disgust. "Are guilty."

The court blindly looked to the jury they all answered together absentmindedly.

"Yes, guilty."

"Yes, guilty. Take these girls to a jail cell while we get the other two for them to be sent to a minor cell. Agents, since you seem to know them find the two girls and bring them to the cell while they await their punishment. Court dismissed."

Taranee and Hay Lin gasped with shock and anger as they kicked the guards who were leading them away.

"Cedric! You might get away with this but you won't get away with kidnapping Will or anything else! We'll get out and figure out what you're up to!" Hay Lin yelled.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that. You'll find out that you will soon meet your end along with Elyon and the universe as you know it. To show that I keep my promises, why don't you look out the window and see something that might interest you? That's what you get for saving your friend!"

Cedric sneered as everything went in slow motion. The girls stopped struggling and were led outside. Smoke clouded the early morning sky as dawn had not fully approached yet. They slowly turned their heads and stared with their lips trembling. The Sliver Dragon was being burnt down.

Hay Lin gasped and started crying into Taranee's shoulders who could only stare nimbly at the growing flames. A fire truck sounded in the distance, but the damage was already done. Cedric smiled with satisfaction as the girls watched a place they loved get burned to the ground. Taranee couldn't make the flames die down, Irma could wash away the fire, Hay Lin couldn't blow the smoke away, Cornelia couldn't repair the building, and Will couldn't even give them the powers to do so. Their powers were gone and the Guardians were his! There was nothing any of them could do as Hay Lin watched the fire destroy her home.

Cedric watched them being led away to the cells that they'd be staying in until they could be moved. They didn't put up a fight because of the shock. He had two down and two more to go! And then the ultimate prize for Phobos! Will and Elyon would give him what he wanted. Cedric himself would make sure of it!

He walked back to the car to gain the prize that the prince had desired for so long. He peered into the backseat and was stunned to see that the Keeper of the Heart of Candracar, the girl who was the key for the plan to succeed, had disappeared, leaving a long magical rope shimmering in its wake.

Another chapter finished. I'm pretty sure that was the longest. I am planning to have 10 more chapters and the next one gets back to Cornelia and Irma. Review please because I love reviews! Yes, reviews help a lot! Love them lots!