Chapter 14- And They All Lived Happily Ever After
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"Farewell Winifred Sanderson!" Max cheered. "Burn! Burn!"
What!? No! No! No! No! No! No! Our queens! Our queens! We must keep fighting for them, in their honor! No, no, no, no, no, no, no ….
The voices faded, at first to a whisper, and then a mumble, and then to nothing at all.
Oh thank God that's over! I'm me again, without those annoying villains in my head. And The Sanderson Sisters are dead … I'm free! I'm free! Free at last!
He joined the other three in frolic in the crisp fall leaves just outside the school.
"All right! Yeah!" Max continued. "Whooo! Yeah! All right!"
They ran past the graveyard again on the way to Max and Dani's house. as they continued their celebration. Binx climbed up a tree with a newfound burst of energy.
Max leaned against the fence and exhaled in relief. "We did it Binx. We stopped them."
"I've wanted to do that for three hundred years …" Binx said, his voice soft. "... Since they took Emily …"
And even more so since those other three wretched witches cursed me to be their subservient beast! Not that he was willing to confess this just yet. Maybe in the future once things settle down more. I still can not even fathom this ...
Max turned to him. "You really miss her, don't you?"
Binx closed his eyes and internally sighed. More than anything …
"Man, you can't keep blaming yourself for that." Max said. "That happened so long ago."
"Take good care of Dani, Max. You'll never know how precious she is … until you lose her." Binx sighed. He looked over at Dani and Allison playing in the leaves, mentally replacing them with him and Emily :
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"Catch me Thackery, catch me!" Emily giggled as she ran through the fresh fallen leaves.
Thackery Binx laughed as he chased after her. He caught up quickly and picked her up, spinning her around.
"Thackery!" Emily giggled as he dropped both her and himself into the leaves.
Both were in hysterics as they threw the leaves into the air, before laying back and looking at the clouds.
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Those days for me are over …. .. …
Binx hopped out of the tree. I should go back to the cottage and wait for Craig. I have to tell him everything that happened tonight …. He'll be glad at least….
However as he was walking off, Max's voice called after him, "Hey, Binx!"
Binx stopped and turned to face him.
"Where do you think you're going?" Max asked.
Binx blinked in confusion. Back to the cottage? Where else can I go? Shall I just stay on Emily's grave and mope some more?
"You're a Dennison now, buddy. One of us!" Max said.
"Come on Binx!" Dani giggled. "Let's go home!"
"Home." Binx sighed happily. Although he had stayed with Craig a few times, he never considered the place his home (Even though at one point hundreds of years ago it actually was his home.), especially now since he had gone off to college. But now, he had somewhere he could stay, besides the old cottage, only reminding him of the pain The Sanderson Sisters, and those three other witches with their villainous curse, had caused him. Now he could start enjoying his immortal life, with more family.
I'll still have to tell Craig in the morning … Maybe he and Brandy can become one of us too!
"Home." Max repeated.
Dani picked up Binx, allowing him to cuddle close to her chest. He was half asleep on the walk home, but managed to spot Craig's house as they walked by, and he could swear he could still see the inside of the house perfectly.
Binx started absentmindedly singing under his breath, " And we both know it's all a game. Face to face our blood runs hot. And no one denies the temptations, and no one's afraid of the heat. "
Allison's face lit up. "Oh Binx, I love that song!"
She giggled as she joined in singing with him, "Well we're dancing with the house on fire! The walls melting it down, making it hotter! Dancing with the house on fire! Burn it down!"
She turned to Binx. "How'd you learn the song so well?"
"Well, you remember I told you about one of the few people I know? Craig? He loved this song and it would play it all the time, and I became rather fond of it myself." Binx admitted.
Allison smiled more. "Well, this Craig sure has good taste in music."
"Yes!" Binx said, smiling widely. "I wish for you to meet him tomorrow. He's my kin and I would love for you all to be acquainted."
Max smiled as he pet Binx's head. "Yeah, I think that'll work out …"
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A few minutes later they had made it back to Max and Dani's place. Max opened the front door and flipped on the light switch. "Mom!? Dad!?"
"We got a new cat!" Dani chimed in. "Mom!?"
"I guess they're still partying." Max said to Allison. "Come on in."
Max lead her up to his room while Dani headed back to the kitchen.
"So, this is your room?" Allison asked she looked around. "I like it!"
Max smiled. "Thanks."
They sat on the steps as Max pulled a thick fish print blanket over the two of them. "Comfy?"
Allison smiled at him. "Yeah …"
Dani came into Max's room holding a bowl of milk, Binx by her side. She set the bowl onto the floor and sat on the bed.
"Thank you Dani." Binx said. "I've been quite parched the whole night."
Binx leaned down and lapped the milk up from the bowl as Dani pet his neck gently. She was silent for a moment before speaking up , "You're my kitty now. You'll have milk and tuna fish everyday. And you'll only hunt mice for fun."
"You're going to turn me into one of those fat, useless, contented house cats." Binx teased.
Dani giggled. "You betcha."
Binx hopped onto the bed.
Dani pulled him close. "You know Binx, I'll always take care of you. My children will take care of you too. And their children after that … and theirs after that … Forever .. and ever … and ever …"
Binx purred as he and Dani started to doze off.
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The sun beat down heavily on a summer's day, as Dani and Binx ran through the grass, laughing excitedly.
On the side of the yard sat Max, Allison, Craig, and Brandy on lawn chairs, smiling at their play.
"Binx come on!" Dani giggled as she ran down the yard. Binx laughed as he chased after her.
"I haven't had this much fun in years!" Binx said, smiling widely.
Dani stopped and turned to him. She picked up Binx and began twirling him in circles. "Well you're my kitty now and we can play together everyday!"
Binx smiled and purred while nuzzling her face. "I'm glad."
She put him back down and ran off again, giggling loudly.
He was about to chase after her when he heard a voice, "Thackery Binx!"
"Em .. .. Emily?"