Chapter15: A Sinister Confession

Callie's Lair

"Mrs. Calloway is that you; why are you dressed like that?" Grace was at a loss for words. She didn't know whether or not to believe that this really was her or if the witch was playing some kind of nasty trick. "I was afraid you'd never wake up, but where is Maggie?"

"Fool, I'm not who you think I am!" said the fake Mrs. C with a savage smile still sitting atop that frightening throne. Her face looked like the proper cow except that her expression was more cruel and sinister. Her eyes flashed red, she wore no purple bonnet on her head, she wore a black cape similar to a vampire's covering her entire body, her back had a hunch, and her hooves were black, shiny, a pointed like monster claws. "I'm Callie, and this is a form I'm borrowing briefly, if you don't mind of course. I've seen how you weren't able to wake up your friends in the pumpkin field. I must admit that I'm deeply disappointed that those pumpkins failed to finish you off. But now I'm impressed you made it this far only because of your brave effort. Tell me my dear, how do you manage it?" she sneered.

"Wha…what's going on?" Grace was now more confused than ever. But then the words of Chief Thunder Cloud rang in her memory: She can take on any form and may be waiting for you in a form you do not wish to see. Grace swallowed her pride and gathered her courage. "Wait a minute, I know what I came here for, I came to ask you to remove the spell from my friends and send us BACK HOME NOW!!"

Callie stood there with her mouth wide open for a moment from the way she was spoken to in that kind of tone. She let out a deep growl as her eyes flashed furiously. As Callie motioned her right hoof backward, Grace witnessed the chains disappear from her and then pulled forward by a force unseen until she was standing in front of the witch.

"How DARE you use that TONE on me!!" Callie screamed as she rose up from her throne chair to bend down and meet Grace's face with her snout pressing against hers firmly. "I told YOU that I am the LAW of this world here! And YOU will not speak to me unless spoken to or use smart remarks; and you will refer to me as Mistress, UNDERSTAND!!" Grace shivered when she realized how big Callie was unlike the real Mrs. Calloway. "DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!" Grace nodded with a solid whimper. Even in this form, she could not argue back or think of any other way to reason with her without making her angry. She had never argued with Mrs. C before because of her proper motherly personality. However, the appearance she was staring was nothing compared to the real Mrs. C and by now she knew better. But why would she want to take this form? Then Callie became strangely calm and cleared her throat.

"I guess you're wondering why I'm like this I suppose," she spoke softly, sitting back on her throne. "Well then, why don't we discuss this over the dinner table?" she smirked and turned to where Mildred still stood.

"The dining room if you will," Callie ordered.

"Yes my Mistress," Mildred bowed before she found Grace trying to make a run for it.

"STOP HER!"

Bolts of lightening shot out of Mildred's fingers; the bovine was once again petrified by the Stun spell when she had barely made it to the passageway up.

"Now take her upstairs!" the witch lead Grace up to the dining hall of the mansion.

The dining hall

Grace awoke to see she was in a dark fanciful room lit by candles on two chandeliers hanging above a long wide table sitting before her. It was set with the finest china and candle bras. She was seated at one end while she believed that Callie would be sitting at the opposite end, wherever she was of course.

"I'm thinking this might be the dining hall," she whispered to herself fearfully. "Well I am not going to stay here any longer in a place of pure evil; I'm out of here," She prepared to rise up and leave but was taken aback when she found that she was yanked back by something strong. Her neck was once again shackled with a long chain attached to the table in front of her. The chain rattled whenever she pulled on it, but couldn't break free. Grace sat back down feeling hopeless.

WHAM! The doors to the dining room opened revealing Callie walking in with four witches following behind her.

"Well, glad to see that you're awake my dear," she murmured as she sat at the opposite end of the long table. "Oh and forgive me for having my minions chain you like that; I just couldn't risk having you trying to make another escape now could I," she replied with a wicked grin.

Grace looked down on her shackle and didn't like what was about to happen. She only wanted to go home and be with her family instead of having to deal with this imposter pretending to be an evil version of Mrs. Calloway. But why was she being tormented like this? Grace shivered and tried to forbid those tears that welled up in her eyes.

"Care for some refreshment?" she asked in the voice of a serving bartender. A liquor bottle floated off from a shelf above a fancy fireplace next to Grace. The cork opened by itself to pour red wine into a wine glass. Grace looked at the bottle with a puzzled expression; cows like her shouldn't be given wine, yet it was being served to her anyway. "Wet your throat with a drop of this clear red wine, and I'll tell you about what happened to your friends," Callie had already swallowed down her wine.

Still gazing at the glass with the wine in it; Grace pulled it toward her and dipped her tongue in. She cringed and frowned at its sour taste. But when she saw a terrible expression on Callie's face, she took the glass and drank it down, though it was still sour and unsatisfactory.

"Feeling better?" Callie asked furrowing her brow. Grace nodded while still trying to swallow the last few drops swelling in her mouth. After swallowing, she coughed and sputtered. "I thought you would like it," the Mistress gave her an unkind smile. "Now where were we? Ah yes, I believe you came here in a request to awaken your friends from the slumbering spell, is that it?" Grace nodded her head slowly. "Oh but there is just one thing my dear, those two weren't really your friends."

"Huh, what do you mean?" Grace was stunned to hear this. Her chain rattled from almost jumping out of her seat. Was this witch even telling the truth?

"I'm afraid it is true, I used a spell to bring only you into this world while you were witnessed having a few dreadful nightmares from those tales of me doing grievous deeds, while your other friends slept peacefully believing in nothing; and that proper cow did say they were nothing but rubbish. Foolish mortals these days hardly believe in superstition anymore, such a pity. You know mothers will say anything to get younglings to go right to sleep."

"But why…" Grace still wanted to know about Callie choosing this form.

"DO NOT speak unless you're asked a question!" Callie hollered in order to finish her discussion. "In my lair, there is a black cauldron which enables me to see what goes on in other realms; just as I have seen you traveling all this way to get here. Why I've chosen this form, well let me just say that it's always the one you least expect. Besides I've grown rather fond of this one."

That seemed to make sense a little. She might have taken on the form of Maggie, Pearl, even Grace herself possibly instead of choosing Slim or Rico. But here she was in the form of a sinister looking Mrs. Calloway.

"Those friends of yours…" Callie still had more to say. "…were only illusions dear; in other words, just plain ordinary rotting pumpkins. Everything in Pumpkin Hollow is deceitful and cursed to the wandering mortal eye. Think of it as being lost in the smoldering desert of Phantom Valley; where you unaware of those drafty shape shifters being your friends."

Grace blinked back the tears not wanting the witches to see them, fearful that they would mock her for being a spoiled crybaby. Everything Callie said to her seemed true, except that it was still hard to believe every detail without being proven to. She shook, unable to contain her fury within her.

"You're lying; I don't believe you!" She exploded, rising from her chair. "I saw them there with me before, I know they're still under that sleep spell you cast upon them. All I ask is that we be RETURNED HOME SAFELY!!"

"SILENCE FOOL!!" Callie demanded, making a zipping motion with her sharp hoof. To Grace's surprise, her mouth clamped shut like a suitcase and her lips were stuck. She could only mumble unable to open her mouth as Callie still had her steely gaze on Grace. "Hmph, for a mortal, you're a loud mouth, whining little brat who can't keep her mouth shut; and this is the last time I'll ever say that I am the law here. Do I have to repeat myself…" she walked away from the table over to Grace. "…or do I have to turn you into something truly TERRIFYING like a PUMPKIN or maybe you'd prefer to be a STONED GARGOYLE!" she stared down directly into her face. Seeing the fear in her eyes, she smirked which meant Grace finally understood and would never speak again about being asked to return home. And she still couldn't talk while her mouth was sealed shut. Callie then walked over to the fancy fireplace. "If you don't believe me, then I'll show you."

She looked at the witches and motioned her head towards Grace. Immediately, three of them stood by her while the other lifted the neck chain off the table in order to force her in front of the fireplace. Callie clapped her hooves twice and the fireplace transformed into a dark passageway.