Ch 8
Sophie sat at the table watching Howl change his order when a strange smell wafted in the air in front of her. It smelled like roses mixed with rotten meat. She made a disgusted face and looked to see where it was coming from.
Suddenly, she was face to face with the dark-haired woman in the blue felt hat. It was the same woman who threw water in Howl's face the day Sophie cursed herself. Sophie was quite stunned and started to complain about lack of privacy. The other woman, however, spoke first.
"Stop and listen," she whispered. "You're not the only one with magic that Howl fell in love with. Now come with me and don't say a word."
Sophie found herself unwillingly obeying her command. She followed the dark-haired woman, who she thought might have been named Angelica, out a backdoor of the inn while giving a desperate look to Howl. He was exasperatedly watching the innkeeper behind the counter searching for something. Sophie didn't know what to do except try to attack the woman.
Sophie raised her knee to give the woman who might be Angelica a swift kick in the back. But as the met the sunlight, Angelica turned around quickly and said, "Ah ha, don't touch me." Sophie's leg dropped and she stumbled slightly. She was greatly dismayed. "Now get into this cart," Angelica commanded, "and tie your ankles with the rope."
There was a one-horse cart in the back of the inn lined with left over hay and a few thin ropes. The brown horse was munching on grass, not realizing a kidnapping taking place. Sophie felt herself compelled to do what she was told, but she resisted as much as possible. It hurt her muscles to defy the orders. She tried her hardest to hold back just in case Howl would come soon. In the end, Sophie sat in the empty cart and tied her ankles together as she was commanded.
Once she was finished, the woman climbed up to tie Sophie's hands. Then Angelica pulled a large, silk hanky from a hidden pocket in her dress and wrapped it around Sophie's mouth to prevent her from talking. She jumped out and assumed the driver's seat. All Sophie could see was Angelica's blue hat as she seized the reigns of the horse, and they took off back towards the valleys of Ingary.
The evil woman laughed pleasantly at the success of her plan, while Sophie was incensed. "By now the perfume is wearing off, but it certainly did the trick. I was impressed by your little word magic, and I thought, 'I can do just the same.' I call this," she held up the bottle of rose and rot scented perfume, "'eau de inspiration,' because I'm inspiring cooperation." She laughed brightly at herself.
"You see, I have a way with fragrances. It's a bit like potions I suppose. You see, with the right ingredients and thoughts, I can make people feel emotions. I am the world's greatest artist in scents. If you wanted to feel sad, I could use willow bark and sea salt. If you wanted to feel in love, it would be roses and truffles. I was good enough to open my own shop, you see. That's how I met Howl, but he went by Edward back then."
Sophie could not stand to listen to her narcisstic speech. She had been quiet for long enough. Sophie started to scream into the handkerchief, but it was muffled and nowhere near as loud as she wanted. She kept screaming as the inn grew smaller and smaller, and her heart grew sad as Howl never appeared.
The woman only gave a bubbly laugh. "Oh don't worry. He'll come rescue you, it's all part of the plan. Only, it has to be at my shop. See, I was clever enough to come up with a perfume that worked like a love potion. You see, the problem with scents is they eventually fade away." The woman's voice suddenly changed from airy to angry. "Just like how Howl's love for me faded away. But this time, I learned to concentrate it!" She laughed again, but the bubbliness turned into something more sinister.
She continued her twisted laugh as she said, "The concentrate works so much better! You can put it in their food or their drink, and they hardly notice!" She turned to look at Sophie, who was still eyeing the road in hopes that Howl would come rescue her. "I think I have the better talent, so I deserve the man, not you. I cannot understand why he would choose such a mouse like you."
To Sophie's frustration, the woman went on and on the whole ride. Eventually, Angelica wondered aloud if Sophie used her own magic on Howl. Sophie couldn't stand it ant longer and screamed again, as useless as it may be. Even yelling through the handkerchief was better than listening to the ramble of this psychopathic woman.
Angelica turned back in annoyance to see Sophie. She wanted a cooperative audience. Angelica's voice increased as she continued blathering about her plans. "You see, I'm keeping Howl busy to perfect my plans. At the right moment, he will enter my perfume shop to rescue you, be assaulted by my 'eau de inspiration' to control his will, then I will feed him the love concentrate." She laughed sinisterly again. "And you'll get to watch as I take your love away, like you took mine!"
This woman is absolutely mad, Sophie thought. Although she had been concerned for all the women whose hearts had been broken by Howl, she never considered the fact that one of them might be unhinged enough to plan something so deranged. If they got out of this, she was going to make Howl go back to each woman he ever hurt and apologize before any of this nonsense can fester again.
For Howl back at the inn, his dreams of the afternoon spent with Sophie alone drained in an instant. He walked around the small front room then poked his head through the back hall, calling out, "Sophie?"
"Ma'am?" Howl called out to the innkeeper, feeling a nervousness grow in his chest. "Is there a back room of the inn where someone could go?"
She popped around the corner and shook her head. Then she gave him a questioning look. "No, there's nothing back there but the stairs to the rooms and the yard. I thought your wife's name was Isabel?"
Howl ignored her. Now something was absolutely amiss. He walked quickly out the yard door and only saw wheel tracks in the dust. Faintly he heard a vehicle rumbling, but it was far too early for Fanny's carriage to arrive. He rushed into the middle of the road only to spot a glimpse of red hair sitting on the back of a cart before it disappeared around the corner.
Howl was about to conjure up a furious wind to catch up, but he suddenly found himself frozen stiff. Howl cursed loudly and ferociously. A young, dark-haired man walked slowly into his eyesight. He looked familiar, then Howl realized. It was young Robert Smith, Suliman's apprentice.
Howl barked at him, "What the hell are you doing? Release me immediately! I am going to turn you into a toad if you don't release me! Did you help kidnap Sophie? Is that what's going on?" He continued to curse at him in any language he could think of.
Robert stood calmly but his voice waivered when he talked, "I-I know this seems bad, but I'm only supposed to delay you. I'm not going to hurt you or anything. And Sophie won't be hurt either."
"Then what the hell on earth are you doing?" Howl screamed. He struggled to break free of this immobility spell, but it was useless. Briefly, Howl considered that the spell worked very well for such a young apprentice. But mostly he was furious that it had been cast upon him.
Robert looked confused and said, "I am supposed to delay you, but –" he grabbed his head as if there was a dull pain at his temples, "I'm forgetting why." He shook his head and continued. "The only thing I'm good at is this enchantment. And she told me to keep you in it for an hour."
"An hour? Who are you talking about? Who is your accomplice?" Howl demanded.
Robert dreamily sighed, "Angelica."
"Angelica! Oh my god," Howl groaned loudly. Everything was painfully starting to make sense. "That's where I saw you before: the café! You two were stalking me – and here too! You knew we were going to see the Hermit." Howl cursed at him more.
When he finished, Howl remarked, "Oh man, do you know you're under the influence of a love potion?"
Robert suddenly became deep in thought. After a moment he nodded and said, "That is possible. She is very good at essences and perfume magic. Yeah, that's probably what she did, but you can't help but admire it." His dreamy look returned.
"Yes, you can," Howl said flatly. "She's oobviously disturbed and used you to get to me."
Robert didn't reply and only shot him a doubtful look. "It's just an hour, then I let you go."
Damn, Howl thought to himself. Of all the repercussions that could come back and bite me, it had to be Angelica. She was a viper, to be sure.
She had been a devil to court, and near the end, he had a feeling she had just been using him the whole time. Once she discovered his real name, she chased after the castle for days, crying, screaming and making threats. Now, to find out she kidnapped Sophie to try to get back at him - or worse! He regretted ever walking into her perfume shop.
Howl watched as Robert stood up straight and said the enchantment to refreeze Howl. He must be timing the deterioration rate, Howl thought, as he was assuredly immobile the entire time.
"Since we're stuck here, and I do hate talking to myself, why don't you tell me how you and Angelica met?" Howl forced himself to ask, hoping to discover some sort of clue to help rescue Sophie.
Robert perked up immediately at the chance to fawn over Angelica. Howl slightly regretted asking while he sat through a tedious account how they met in the palace by accident a couple of weeks ago. Before Robert could finish his tale, Howl already saw what had happened. Angelica found her way to the palace when it was announced that Howl became the Royal Magician. Upon finding Robert, she assumed he was Howl's assistant rather than Suliman's. She would have eventually realized her mistake, but it seems she was smart enough to take advantage of the situation.
Howl grew more and more distressed over Sophie as time wasted. He tried further to make Robert question his motives. "Why involve Sophie and myself if you are both truly in love?"
But Howl was met with a shrug. "I just do as I'm told," Robert said.
Howl made a disgusted sound and gave up. There was silence the rest of the time, except when Robert repeated the immobilization enchantment.
What felt like an eternity later, a sound of carriage and horse hooves began to rumble down the road. Howl felt actually felt joy upon seeing Calcifer's blue floating, flaming mass. "Calcifer! Release me, I'm trapped!" Howl cried.
Calcifer flew speedily to where Howl stood frozen outside the inn in the middle of the dirt road. His wicked grin spread widely, showing off teeth. "You found trouble already?" He spun around and only found Robert's surprised expression. "Where's Sophie?" he asked, a twinge of worry in his crackling voice.
"Release me!" Howl wailed.
Calcifer circled around him once and barked back, "Done!"
Immediately, Howl threw his arms out to Robert in a rage, and the young man disappeared. Only a ribbiting toad remained in the dirt road.
"I told you I would turn you into a toad!" Howl heatedly said. "But because you are probably doing this under the influence of a love potion, you'll turn back to your regular self in an hour. Poetic justice," Howl scoffed.
The next moment he turned to Calcifer, "Quickly! A mad woman took Sophie. I know where to find her, just follow me." As soon as he finished, Howl conjured up a mighty wind and blasted past Fanny's carriage. Calcifer was hot on his tail. And the coachman was left, bewildered, wondering if he should follow or not.
Sophie, meanwhile, felt her ears bleeding after having to listen to Angelica drone on the entire way to the perfume store.
They had arrived in Market Chipping by now. The sun was glimmering from the west, and most everyone had gone home for supper. Angelica drove through the back alleyways, and there was no one Sophie could look to for help. "You see, I strung him along for quite a while," she laughed flippantly. "He was like a little puppy. I kept telling him what a good 'friend' he was, and how I wish I could find a man like him. It was so funny to see him continue to try to win my affection. But then, when I finally admitted that I loved him the same way he loved me, he-"" she took a breath as if to compose herself, "he left me."
The cart stopped in a narrow alley between rows of shop buildings. Only the pigeons and mice eating the litter occupied the area. Angelica went to the back of the cart and threatened Sophie with a perfume bottle. It was made with green-colored glass and had long pump ending with a tassel.
Sophie immediately shook her head and began inching towards the end of the cart. She did not want to be under the perfume spell again. If she cooperated for now, she might have an opening to get away.
Angelica smirked, believing she had the upper hand. "He left me for you, and I just cannot understand why. You must have given him a love potion, hm?"
Sophie rolled her eyes at Angelica as she hopped of the cart. Angelica dragged Sophie by her arm towards to back door of one of the buildings. It was slow getting there as Sophie's ankles were still tied together.
While Sophie hobbled along the dark interior, Angelica continued talking. "Well, I doubt your love potion is stronger than mine. Soon Howl will be here, and you'll see for yourself."
Oh botheration, Sophie thought. This whole thing was a trap in order to spray Howl with her love perfume! If Howl wasn't careful, he would get caught just as Sophie had. She needed to escape for him to avoid Angelica's trap.
Sophie almost got away as Angelica tried pushing her down into a chair in the main shop area. But right away, Angelica's "eau de inspiration" filled the air. Sophie, resisting with all her might, was magically forced to sit back down in the chair and to stay still as Angelica tied her down.
Angelica spoke as she tied Sophie's ankles to the chair, "My powers have increased lately, and I doubt anyone can withstand my essences now. Not even Howl Pendragon, the Royal Wizard. Even the king thought I had something special. But," she said as she moved to untie Sophie's hands, "I'll let you in on a little secret."
Sophie stared back, hoping the intensity in her eyes could somehow start a fire in her hair.
In a hushed voice, Angelica smiled and said, "I made a deal with a demon. In exchange for something of mine, he increased my powers."
Sophie turned her head to keep staring at Angelica as she walked behind her. Angelica roughly began to tie Sophie's hands to the back of the chair. There were obvious similarities of this story to Howl and Calcifer, as well as the Witch of the Waste and her fire demon. She did note the big difference was that Angelica was free to discuss the trade. This psychopathic woman might actually be a real threat to Howl.
Angelica retied the handkerchief around Sophie's mouth and pulled it tight. Sophie growled as loud as she could. She wanted to twist and turn her head to bite her, if she could, but Angelica's perfume was still controlling Sophie.
Angelica only laughed obnoxiously. She walked across the room to a glass counter. The area was dim due to the fading sunlight, and Sophie hadn't noticed she was tied up in the center of Angelica's perfume shop. There were three glass counters around the whole room in a "U" shape, and within them were vials and perfumes filled with fragrance. There were shelves on every wall behind the counters filled with even more perfumes of different shapes, sizes, and colors. The pink, yellow, orange, and red bottles glowed in the dusky light, and Sophie hoped Howl would come soon.
Still chuckling to herself, Angelica pulled a wooden hat stand across the counter towards her. She took off her blue-felted hat, but to Sophie's shock, her brown hair went with it. Angelica turned to see Sophie's face and laughed even more.
"It asked for my hair, and now it lives on the back of my head. It's not a bad deal for me at all. You see, my concentrates are so powerful now, it's been a whole day since I last gave some to Robert, and he still does whatever I ask him to." She laughed sinisterly again.
As the back of Angelica's head came into view, Sophie became horrified. On her smooth, bald head were two eyes like black buttons and a grinning mouth full of rows of pointed teeth. The mouth was huge and took up almost half of her head.
"Hello," the demon said, rather conversational. He had the deepest voice Sophie ever heard. Though its face was simple, there was an evilness to it. Calcifer could look dangerous too, but he simply gave off bad first impressions. This thing was villainous through and through. The situation suddenly became much more complicated, Sophie thought.
"I could give your concentrates more power, Angelica," the demon said enticingly, staring out the shop window. Angelica said nothing and only turned back to Sophie, looking contemplative.
"You'll want something," she said back after moments had passed. Though she was looking towards Sophie's direction, she was really paying no mind to her. Angelica's thoughts were elsewhere.
"Only your face – and I promise I'll share! I'd only use it occasionally, while you slept and only with permission," the demon said, half begging. Sophie felt ominous about the offer, but Angelica looked to be thinking only of the rewards.
"You promise?" she asked now looking out the shop windows. She was not giving Sophie any notice. "How much better could you make it? You know Howl will be here soon? I would need it to be made instantaneous!"
"Of course," the deep voice said sweetly.
A loud pop echoed in the store and upon the glass counter, a ruby red, crystal vial appeared. Angelica spun around to see it and snatched it greedily. "And how often do I have to give him this?"
All Sophie could see was the demon's face, with its grotesque smile growing larger and larger upon Angelica's head. "Just once, Angelica," the demon said warmly. "You will be able to use it only once you give me permission to have your face." His little black eyes were eager to hear the next words from Angelica.
While the two of them were deep in conversation, Angelica's controlling perfume wore off. Sophie slowly pushed the silk handkerchief down to her chin with her mouth and tongue. While Angelica had retied it around Sophie's mouth, Sophie had done whatever she could to expand her face so that it would be lose when she relaxed. It gave her a few centimeters, but that was all she needed.
Frantically, with her eyes upon the demonic exchange unfolding in front of her, she whispered from the side of her mouth, "Ropes! Loosen up! Ropes around my hands and ankles, get loose now. If you don't, you'll be kindling for my fire demon!"
Sophie's power of persuasion worked, if barely. The ropes did become looser, but they did not drop off completely. Sophie was given enough room to get her fingers around the end knots. She devoted all of her attention to pulling apart the knots.
Eventually, her hands were free, but Angelica was about to agree to the demon's bargain.
"No!" Sophie yelled, risking her escape. "It's tricking you! It's lying about everything!"
Angelica looked at Sophie in surprise. Then her eyes narrowed, and she frowned suspiciously. "You tricky little girl. You're only afraid that I will take Howl away from you with this," Angelica said, twisting the ruby vial in her hands.
"No – this demon will take over your body –" Sophie tried to say.
"Shut up!" Angelica interrupted. "Yes, yes I agree! Let me use this on Howl and you can have my face," Angelica said confidently.
The demon laughed so darkly that Sophie felt as if the walls shuddered. Instead of looking onto Angelica holding the red vial, Sophie now stared at the demon's face plastered on the front of Angelica's head. Its mouth was wider than before and had even more teeth, if that was possible. Sophie was terrified and began to scoot the chair farther away, squeaking as the legs rubbed against the tile floor.
The demon's deep and echoing voice began to talk to Sophie. "You're much smarter than she gives you credit for. She's been quite a bore, and this love fantasy she has is absolutely sickening. But none of that will matter much. I'll still keep to her plan and wait here for Howl."
It's grin grew larger, and it began to talk almost whistfully. "Whenever I'm near him, I can sense he is a great magic user. He will be a much better host. And when I'm done with him - a delicious meal." The demon chuckled, but all Sophie could see on what used to be Angelica's face was the wide mouth full of sharp teeth.
Sophie needed to go back to escaping so that Howl wouldn't get caught. She didn't want to give away that her hands were free just yet, so she began whispering again to the ropes around her feet.
"Ropes, remove yourself from my feet!" she whispered, incensed. The command worked, and the ropes slipped way to the floor. The demon heard Sophie quite clearly this time. With her loose feet, Sophie scooted the chair out of the middle of the shop floor and towards the door.
"Your magic is different," the demon said, suddenly much closer to Sophie than it had been a moment before.
"Don't you dare touch me!" Sophie cried. "You cannot touch me, you demon! When Howl gets here, you'll be sorry!"
Sophie said the words as confidently as she could, hoping it would protect her. But before the demon invading Angelica's body could test it, the shop door flung open.
Howl burst in, looking both furious and noble. As the door slammed open, he exclaimed in righteous fury, "Angelica-aaaaaaah!"
The demon turned around to stare at Howl exactly as the door swung open. From the demon's mouth came a long, snake-like tongue as it hissed in surprise.
Howl, who was quite frightened at Angelica's new appearance, grabbed the shop door and exited as quickly as he came.
The loudest of all cries came from Sophie, "HOWL! YOU COWARD! How dare you leave me-" Sophie stood up in anger, losing the pretense she was tied to the chair, but was interrupted by the demon crashing through the shop door after Howl.
"Botheration!" Sophie yelled and looked through the broken doorframe to see where Angelica's demon and Howl had gone to. Only Calicfer's blue body was floating in the air, and Sophie called out to him exasperatedly, "Did you see where they went?"
"I believe Howl ran off that way with the bald woman following," Calcifer said looking down the shop-filled street. "Did you know she's infested with a demon?"
Sophie ran the way Calcifer indicated, and the fire demon followed closely behind. "Oh," she panted, "I knew!"
Calcifer exerted little energy as he flew and calmly replied, "My guess is it's one of Suliman's that escaped. It must have been out for some time, ever since the Witch of the Waste got to him."
Sophie didn't much care about how the demon got here. She was more worried about whether it caught up to Howl. The streets were still empty as it was dinnertime. Thank goodness, Sophie thought. She would have hated for an innocent bystander to meet Angelica's demon.
After a few minutes, Sophie met a dead end. She growled in frustration. Calcifer quickly floated higher than the shops and town homes to look for any leads.
Sophie turned another corner and yelped when she saw the back of Angelica's bald head. The demon turned around and hissed, it's huge, teeth-filled mouth filling up Angelica's entire face. Before Sophie could scream, Calcifer plummeted back down and erupted into a fiery blue mass. The demon fell onto its back hissing more, while Sophie jumped and exclaimed with joy, "Calcifer!"
Suddenly, Sophie's wrist was grabbed and dragged towards a narrow alley away from the commotion. It was Howl. Though Sophie was still upset that he left her in such a faint-hearted way, she embraced him affectionately.
As she held him tight, he hugged her back saying, a bit shakily, "I didn't expect to walk into that! I'm glad you're alright Sophie."
She looked back up to him, her feelings of frustration fading as she lost herself in his eyes. Even though his face charms were removed by the Hermit, he was just as handsome as before. She really didn't see what he fussed over every morning. And his dark hair suited him much better, she thought.
Howl gave Sophie a serious look, "You are alright, aren't you? You seem a bit dazed."
Sophie gave her head a shake and nodded firmly. "I'm fine. Just happy to be back with you – what are we going to do about this demon?"
"One thing is sure – I'm going to have nightmares about this," Howl said, shuddering.
"Howl! Be serious," Sophie retorted. "What can you do against this thing? Can you exorcise it, or whatever magicians do to remove demons?"
Howl looked nervous. "For that thing? I say we just kill it."
"Kill it? Howl are you mad? It's taken over Angelica's body! She might be a psychopath, but she doesn't deserve to die."
"Right, right," Howl frowned and nodded. Obviously he had never met such a ravaged demon as this; he was quite addled. "Then…we have to contain her somehow." Howl's expression turned thoughtful, and Sophie could see the wheels turning inside his brain.
Calcifer found their hiding spot at the same moment and exclaimed, "Wow! That one's a real nasty. And it's hungry for you Howl."
"In more ways than one," Sophie muttered aloud, only realizing her mistake in words after seeing Howl's flattered smile.
"I am a desirable catch, if I do say so myself," he said looking more confident.
"Ugh!" Sophie exclaimed as she rolled her eyes. "There's no time for your vanity Howl. Now let's stop this thing once and for all."
On cue, Angelica reared around the corner of the alley, and the demon's mouth opened as if to bite off one of their heads. The three of them exclaimed and sprinted down the alley as fast as they could.
"Howl, do something!" Sophie cried, picking up her yellow dress to run faster.
Making sure Sophie was behind her, Howl spread out his hands and performed a spell. Sophie glanced behind to see if it worked. Angelica's body was frozen, but the demon's mouth continued to hiss and snap. Sophie and Howl sighed happily, until the demon flexed and broke free of the spell.
"Drat! It's too strong," Howl yelled as he gathered Sophie to continue running away. "Calcifer, you do something!"
Calcifer shot small balls of flames towards Angelica's possessed body. The demon quickly evaded all of the fire demon's shots. Smoldering brick and dirt trailed behind them.
"Calcifer!" Sophie called out, as they found an exit into a main street. "It's too dangerous – someone could get hurt."
Howl tried the stunning spell once again, but it's magic only lasted a few seconds. Howl seemed quite irritated by the spell's uselessness. Sophie heard him mutter, "How the hell did he do it?" which only confused her. In frustration, he stopped running, held out his hands, and cast another curse. A giant explosion blasted a hole where the demon had been. Sophie wanted to cry out, thinking they had agreed not to harm Angelica, but the demon came in sight again with only a few scratches from the blast. The continued running again. Sophie didn't notice that now people were peaking fearfully from windows and doors at the commotion.
Sophie was panting and felt helpless. Though Howl was a great wizard, he seemed to lack the finesse and delicacy for this situation. If you have a hammer, everything is a nail, Sophie thought. What could she do? She needed to think wisely, like the Hermit advised her. Sophie's recorded tended to edge towards the disastrous side, but with Howl in charge, disaster seemed imminent. But the blasted hole in the street gave her an idea.
In the middle of the cobbled street, she took a deep breath to give instructions. "I have a plan! Howl - cast your freezing spell again on my mark. Calcifer - be my guard."
Howl obediently stood beside her, close enough to protect her if anything dangerous arose. Calcifer hoovered close on the other side.
The demon-possessed Angelica was running down the middle of the cobblestone street, looking terrifying as ever. Once she reached the widest part of the street, Sophie cried, "Howl, now!"
Howl cast the immobility spell, and as soon as Angelica was frozen, Sophie called out, "Cobblestones in the street! Surround Angelica up to her neck so she cannot move. Even the dirt and bricks from the steps! Surround her until the job is done - do not let her move one inch!"
The cobblestones only trembled and nocked against each other, still stuck in the street. Calcifer and Howl moved closer to surround Sophie, preparing for the worse as the demon looked to break out of Howl's spell within seconds. Sophie repeated her mantra, imbuing them with every magical fiber in her being. She didn't only wish for the stones and bricks to obey her; she imagined it happening. Right before her eyes, the images she had willed were coming true in perfect form.
The cobblestones obeyed. The stones rumbled and cracked as they swallowed the snapping, screaming demon. It looked even more terrible, with its endless rows of teeth in an impossibly large mouth with the thin snake tongue flailing in the air. The ground sunk and the stones from the whole street rolled and climbed upon each other until Angelica's body was within a rocky mound, buried in the middle of the once-peaceful street of Market Chipping.
The bricks from the walls and steps of the buildings did their small part and hobbled over to fill in any gaps left from the larger stones. The dirt from the ground dusted itself up to solidify the mound. Angelica and the demon were stuck, and the anguished cry that came from the terrifying mouth announced defeat.
Everyone paused, and then a burst of applause and cheers from the neighborhood erupted from windows and front doors. Sophie didn't notice the commotion. She was laughing in delight as Howl swung her around while he exclaimed, "That's my girl!"
As he placed her back on the ground, Howl kissed Sophie, relieved the ordeal was finished. Suddenly the demon released a shriek, and the two of them broke away.
"Howl, please get rid if this thing," Sophie pleaded, giving Angelica's possessed body a wary look. She felt as if the cobblestones could crumble away at any moment.
Howl took a shaky breath, looking as if he'd rather do anything else, but he complied. Whipping out chalk from his breast pocket, he drew a pentagram on an intact half-wall of a nearby shop. His expression was serious as he went to the snapping, growling demon head. As he spoke the spell to remove the demon, a magical breeze twirled around Howl and Sophie. "It's quite strong," Howl grunted as he repeated the spell.
The demonic face was pulled away slowly from Angelica's head. The skin stretched as the toothy mouth and tiny black eyes were stretched away. It was a ghastly sight and Sophie had to turn away for a moment. A loud "pop" was made, and Sophie opened her eyes to see a black, blobby shaped creature with the demon's face get tossed into the abyss in the middle of the chalk pentagram.
Sophie looked back to Angelica's face, which was unnervingly empty. It lacked any facial features and only skin remained. "Howl?" Sophie asked nervously. "Is she going to be okay?"
"Well, I can't say!" Howl said irritably, hiding his worry.
To everyone's relief, Angelica's face slowly melted back seconds later. Her hair never reappeared. Upon seeing the state of herself along with Howl, whose arm was wrapped around Sophie protectively, Angelica burst into wailing sobs.
Sophie gave Howl a hard look. "I hope there aren't any more broken-hearted women planning your demise." Howl looked surprise, then searched the area for anything to use to change the subject.
Howl waved frantically and called out, "Michael!"
Sophie turned in surprise, but only saw a young man that could barely pass for Howl's assistant. She frowned back at Howl. With vigor, she swatted him for tricking her and avoiding her reprimand. At least, she sighed, this madcap tale was over.
A/N This is not the official end! I wanted to put an Epilogue here, but with everything going on in my life, I just didn't have the time. And I didn't want to wait any longer to upload this. Thank you so much for patiently waiting.
Updates are found on my twitter KapranosMrs
Reviews, follows and favorites are much appreciated to let me know if you've enjoyed this story! Thank you for reading :)
