House of Magic:
Joy stiffened with fear, afraid that someone from the club would come into the garden and catch her. But then Joy saw Otis walk into the garden.
"Oh thank goodness it's you," said Joy.
"Were you expecting someone else?" Asked Otis.
"I thought you were Amber," said Joy.
"Then why are you glad I'm not Amber?" Asked Otis.
"Never mind," said Joy. "What are you doing here anyway?"
"I'm helping Mara and Jerome interview the candidates," said Otis.
"Oh," said Joy.
"Something wrong, Joy?" Asked Otis.
"Nothing. I'm just gonna go back inside," said Joy.
Joy looked over her shoulder and saw that Omar was gone. Joy gave Otis a quick kiss and walked in.
In the meantime. The club was still in Nina and Amber's room. Fabian was busy studying the blue prints.
"And do you already what it is?" Asked Amber.
"No, not yet. And if you keep asking me that every minute, I'll never figure it out," said Fabian.
"Amber, sit down and leave Fabian alone," said Patricia.
Nina came running into the room.
"Guys I've seen Alfie's eye," said Nina.
"Oh, no," said Alfie, as he covered his eyes.
"I mean your amulet," said Nina.
"Where?" Asked Fabian.
"Victor has it around his neck," said Nina.
"What! We've got to get that back, this thing is mine," said Alfie.
"That's gonna be very difficult," said Nina.
"What are you talking about?" Asked Alfie.
"Sweetie, he sits next to Victor all the time anyway," said Fabian.
"Look, Alfie wouldn't be Alfie if his plan wasn't foolproof. All right, here's what we do. We wait for the full moon," said Alfie.
"What do you mean?" Asked Amber.
"Because then Mr. Sweet turns into a werewolf," joked Alfie.
"Alfie, stop this nonsense," said Nina.
"Alfie be serious we've to get that amulet back," said Fabian.
"But how?" Asked Patricia.
"I think I've an idea," said Aaron.
"What is it?" Asked Nina.
"Nina, do you still have that fake amulet?" Asked Aaron.
"Yes, I've," said Nina.
"Give it to me," said Aaron.
Nina walked over to her nightstand and took the fake amulet out of the drawer and handed it to Aaron.
"Okay now I also need superglue," said Aaron.
"I've that," said Alfie.
"Can you get that for me?" Asked Aaron.
"Okay, said Alfie, as he left the room.
"Amber do you have some nail polish with the same shade as the amulet?" Asked Aaron.
"I think I do," said Amber.
Amber went over to her bed and pulled out a box filled with nail polish.
"Why do you have so many colors of nail polish?" Asked Patricia.
"Why not," said Amber.
Amber searched the box of nail polish. A few seconds later and Alfie entered the room.
"Here's the superglue dude, said Alfie, as he gave Aaron the superglue
"Thanks, said Aaron.
Aaron glued the fake amulet back together.
"Here I think this color is the closest as to the fake amulet," said Amber, as she handed Aaron the nail polish.
"Great," said Aaron.
"What are you going to do Aaron?" Asked Patricia.
"Same as Victor," said Aaron.
"You're gonna get a concussion?" Asked Amber.
"No, he's gonna swap amulets," said Nina.
"Exactly," said Aaron.
"But how are you gonna do that?" Asked Patricia
"We wait for Victor and Sweetie to fall sleep and then we do the switcheroo," said Aaron.
"Isn't that too much of a risk?" Asked Amber.
"It is a big risk, but I think it's the only chance we have of getting the amulet back," said Aaron.
"Aaron's right, this might be our only chance of getting Alfie's amulet back," said Fabian.
"Well good luck Aaron and Alfie," said Amber.
"Wait, why do I've to help? It was Aaron's idea," said Alfie.
"Because it's your amulet," said Amber.
"All right, then Super Alfie will help too," said Alfie.
"Okay the plan is clear, Aaron and Alfie are going to retrieve the amulet. And Fabian continue to solve the new clue," said Nina.
"And what are you girls gonna do?" Asked Alfie.
"We're going to hope everything goes smoothly," said Amber.
But what the club didn't know was they were being spied on by Victor sr. and that he now knew there plan.
In the meantime. Mara, Jerome and Otis had set everything up. Mara saw a black duffel bag and opened it and saw that it contained two super soakers.
"Why are there water guns in this bag?" Asked Mara.
"They are super soakers, they are so much better than water guns," said Otis.
"Why are these things here?" Asked Mara.
"So that we can blast the candidates away if we don't like them," said Jerome.
"Jerome," said Mara.
"What if they're total whack jobs? Then you want them gone as soon as possible," said Jerome.
Mara decided to ignore Jerome's comment and focus on the interviews. The first candidate arrived and sat down and the man looked like a biker type.
"So Luther, I read that you're an artist by profession," said Mara.
"That's right," said Luther.
"And what kind of artist are you exactly?" Asked Mara.
"Tattoo artist," said Luther.
"Tattoo artist?" Asked Mara.
"You heard me," said Luther.
"And what makes you think you'd be the perfect man for Trudy?" Asked Jerome.
"That Trudy seems like a top-notch woman and it would be great if I can give my woman a tattoo," said Luther.
"You want to tattoo Trudy?" Asked Mara.
"Yes, I would love to," said Luther.
"Well, that doesn't sound like a great idea," said Jerome.
"Why wouldn't it?" Asked Luther, angry.
"Well, um...," said Jerome.
"You haven't been talking to Cross-eyed Sven, have you?" Asked Luther.
"Cross-eyed Sven?" Asked Jerome.
"Yes, because Cross-eyed Sven wanted to have a purple and yellow star dragon, so it's not my fault," said Luther.
"No, I didn't talk to Cross-eyed Sven, or any Sven for that matter. I don't even know one Sven," said Jerome.
"Thank you for coming," said a scared Mara.
Luther left and the rest of the candidates followed. One candidate was crazier than the other. At one point, a man who looked rather dirty sat at the table, but this man was more focused on the food than on Mara and Jerome.
"So you want a date with Trudy?" Asked Mara.
The man said nothing and continued to eat.
"Do you even have a computer?" Asked Jerome.
The man said nothing again and grabbed some food and ran away.
"I don't think this man came for Trudy," said Jerome.
"No, I think he came for the food," said Mara.
"I think he is homeless," said Otis.
After the homeless man came a man who looked cared for.
"So Peter you will want a date with Trudy?" Asked Mara.
"Sure, I'd love to," said Peter.
"Tell me about yourself," said Jerome.
"I'm very romantic and very rich," said Peter.
"I like the sound of that, said Jerome.
"And why do you like Trudy so much?" Asked Mara.
"I like all women," said Peter.
"All women? Asked Mara.
"But I'm a man of steady relationships," said Peter.
"Thank goodness, you scared me," said Mara.
"For example, I've 16 steady relationships now and I would love it if Trudy was number 17," said Peter.
Jerome and Otis burst out laughing. Mara was not happy about it. After Peter, a man came and sat down who was dressed like a magician.
"Hello I'm Melvin," said Melvin.
"Hello Melvin all first I want to make it clear to you that you will not be getting anything to eat here," said Jerome.
"Oh that's no problem," said Melvin
Melvin snapped his fingers and pulled a bun out of his inside pocket and then the homeless man appeared and stole the bun from Melvin.
"Okay, that was strange," said Jerome.
"Okay, let's move on," said Mara.
"Pick a card, said Melvin, as he pulled a deck of card.
"All right, then," said Mara.
Mara picked up a card and looked at it. A few seconds later and Mara put the card back. Melvin shuffled the stack of cards and tossed it into his hat. Melvin snapped his fingers and the cards popped out of his hat. Melvin grabbed one of the cards out of the air.
"Is this your card?" Asked Melvin
"Yes," said Mara.
"So you're a magician?" Asked Jerome.
"I prefer to call myself a master of illusions. My magic is flawless," said Melvin.
"So can you show us another magic trick?" Asked Otis.
"No problem," said Melvin.
Melvin took a small ball from his pocket and threw it on the ground and smoke appeared. When the smoke cleared, Melvin had disappeared and Mara, Jerome and Otis were all flabbergasted.
At the same time. Omar was back at the cottage in the woods.
"And?" Asked the sick man.
"Her friends are now working on the second clue," said Omar.
"And what else do you know?" Asked the sick man
"Joy had no further information about the mask. But she did tell me something else," said Omar.
"What?" Asked the sick man.
"She mentioned a woman named Senkhara," said Omar.
"Senkhara, the Forgotten Ruler," said the sick man.
"You heard of her?" Asked Omar.
"Yes of course I've," said the sick man.
"Joy said, that Senkhara has marked for death and if they don't give her the mask that they are done for it," said Omar.
The sick man said nothing and opened his nightstand drawer and took out a small box and handed it to Omar. Omar opened the box and pulled out an azure blue beaded bracelet.
"Give this to Joy," said the sick man.
Omar nodded his head and put the box in his coat pocket.
A few moments later. Aaron walked out of Nina and Amber's room to go to the bathroom when he ran into KT.
"Hi," said KT
"Hey," said Aaron.
"You doing okay?" Asked KT
"Yeah," said Aaron. "And you?"
"I'm fine too," said KT.
"Good," said Aaron.
"Aaron, can I ask you something?" Asked Kt
"Yeah, sure. You can always ask me anything," said Aaron.
"Would you like to do something sometime?" Asked KT nervously.
"Are you asking me out?" Asked Aaron.
"Sort of," said KT.
"As in some kind of date?" Asked Aaron.
"If you don't want to, I get it," said KT.
"No, I would love to go out with you," said Aaron.
"Really?" Asked KT.
"Tomorrow night, moonlight picnic in the garden?" Suggested Aaron.
"Yeah, that sounds great," said KT.
KT walked back to her room with a smile. Aaron also got a smile on his face and headed towards the bathroom.
An hour and half later. Mara, Jerome and Otis had finished interviewing the candidates. And were busy cleaning everything up.
"Well that was an utterly disaster," said Mara.
"It wasn't so bad," said Otis.
"They were all whack jobs," said Mara.
"I thought the magician was all right," said Otis.
"Seriously, the magician?" Asked Mara.
"Yeah, maybe he could bring some magic into Trudy's life and I think Trudy would really like his magic tricks," said Otis.
"Otis has a point there," said Jerome.
"Jerome," said Mara, being surprised that Jerome agreed with Otis.
"What, Trudy would really like those magic tricks," said Jerome.
"I'm just glad that this is over," said Mara.
Suddenly Mara felt a drop coming from the sky.
"I think it's going to rain," said Mara.
"You think?" Asked Jerome.
And then it started raining. Mara, Jerome and Otis quickly grabbed their things and ran into the house.
The rain was getting heavier and heavier and it even started to thunder. Patricia and Joy were sitting on their sleeping bags in Nina and Amber's room and decided to have a little sleepover. The two girls looked out the window at the heavy thunderstorm.
"Wow this is really a big storm," said Patricia.
"You could say that again," said Joy.
Nina came into her room, after taking a shower.
"Hey," said Patricia.
"What are you guys talking about?" Asked Nina.
"The thunderstorm," said Joy.
"When I was little, I used to run as fast as I could to my Gran when there was a thunderstorm," said Nina
"Little kids always do," said Joy.
The three girls laughed. Nina lifted her bed covers to get into bed and was startled to see Amber lying in her bed.
"Amber what are you doing? And why are you in my bed?" Asked Nina.
"I'm afraid of thunderstorms so I'm sleeping in your bed tonight," said Amber.
"Why would you be afraid of thunder?" Asked Joy.
"Because of the flashes and the loud noise, duh," said Amber.
"You're inside, nothing can happen to you," said Joy.
"To be honest, I like falling asleep during a thunderstorm," said Patricia.
Nina, Amber and Joy looked at Patricia with confused looks.
"What, I find it relaxing," said Patricia.
"You're weird," said Amber.
"I'm a little worried," said Nina.
"About what?" Asked Amber.
"Fabian, he's having so much trouble with the new clue and feel useless, because I can't help him," said Nina.
"Nina, Fabian is smartest guy there is, He'll figure it out, He always does," said Patricia.
"You know what I'm worried about," said Joy.
"What?" Asked Nina.
"Aaron and Alfie," said Joy.
"What about them?" Asked Amber.
"They're working on getting the amulet back from Victor," said Patricia.
"Let's hope everything works out with both and Fabian figuring out the clue in time and Aaron and Alfie managing to get the amulet back," said Nina.
In the meantime. Aaron and Alfie snuck down the hallway. Aaron and Alfie crawled into the living room to the couch. The two boys peaked their heads from behind the couch and saw that both Victor Jr. and Mr. Sweet were sleeping. The boys looked at Victor Jr. and saw the amulet hanging around his neck.
"Okay, grab the amulet," whispered Alfie.
"Why me? Asked Aaron," in a whispering tone.
"You're the one who has nerves of steel," whispered Alfie.
"Fine," whispered Aaron.
Aaron carefully reached out his hands for the amulet. Aaron had almost reached for the amulet when lightning struck. The two boys ducked behind couch. A few seconds later and Aaron made another attempt. But out of nowhere Victor Jr. grabbed Aaron's wrist.
"Alfie help me," whispered Aaron.
"I've got you dude," said Alfie.
Alfie gently grabbed Victor Jr.'s hand and pulled it off Aaron's wrist. Aaron took a deep breath and made another attempt. Aaron carefully untied the string of the amulet and Alfie carefully grabbed the amulet of off Victor jr. Alfie grabbed the fake amulet from his pocket and wanted to exchange it. Suddenly Victor Jr was startled awake by hearing his father's voice. Alfie dropped the amulet. Aaron and Alfie quickly ducked behind the couch.
Had the plan failed? Will Aaron and Alfie be caught now? And what will happen to amulet?
