The Hollow Halloween
Chapter Three: The Bewitching Hour
Tootie decided to begin the investigation by visiting the scene of the crime. It was what any good detective would do...at least that's what always happened in the movies.
Hocus and Pocus led the way down to the basement eager to have the matter resolved before Jack could return and find out a nega-creature had gotten lose.
"I don't know why I bothered." Norm griped as he floated alongside Des down to the musty, dank basement. "It's not like I'm getting anything out of this deal."
"Maybe if you're good you'll catch pneumonia." Des muttered clearly tired of hearing him complain.
"What was that?"
She plastered on a sugary sweet grin and faced him, "I said a good deed is its own reward."
Norm rolled his eyes, "Right, like you'd be half this well behaved if you didn't have the little fruit cup to act nice for."
He heard Des growl in frustration which signaled that round one had just gone to him. Norm grinned smugly, Dames, call their bluff and out come their claws.
They reached the bottom of the stairs on the other side of the door and waited for Pocus to switch on the lights. Once the place was dimly lit by a few flickering bulbs Hocus pointed to the coffin laying beside a stack of trunks. "There it is, the nega-portal. The locks have been broken but we don't know who did it."
"It does look kind of spooky." Tootie took a step back wishing she hadn't spent last night watching old Dracula films.
"What's the matter candy corn?" Norm teased, "Too scared to do your job?"
"Norm!" Des hissed, but Tootie was already stomping towards the eerie box. "I'll show you who's scared!"
"Aahhh, I wouldn't do that if I were you." Pocus warned but froze at the sound of voices just up the stairs.
"I told Jack we needed to have some kinda security system installed!" Spete grumbled, "This is what? The second time this week we've had people droppin' in on us?"
"Oh Spete, don't be so suspicious." Phana lightly scolded her companion, "It's probably just Hocus and Pocus scampering about down there."
"Why the boss left those two in charge of guarding the nega-portal I'll never know." Spete continued, annoyance rising in his voice.
"Nega-portal?" Tootie repeated.
"Oh man!" Hocus started to panic and turned to his brother. "It's Phana and grouchy ol' Spete! We can't let them find out about this!"
"Yeah," Pocus gulped, "they'll tell Jack for sure!"
"C'mon we've gotta stop 'em." The two brothers raced up the stairs leaving Tootie and her genie godparents alone with the strange coffin.
"I've got a bad feeling about this kiddo," Des frowned as Tootie gathered up her courage and neared the coffin again, "Maybe we shouldn't-"
"I'm not scared!" Tootie said more to convince herself than Des.
She wiped a bit of dust off the lid and read the inscription aloud. "Hm, sounds like some kind of warning."
"Probably to scare off thieves and stuff," Norm shrugged, "I bet antiques like this fetch a pretty price on the black magic market."
Des shot him a disapproving glare. "Uh...not that I would know." he grinned sheepishly and gave his bowtie a tug.
Cautiously Tootie lifted the lid…
Nothing.
"It's empty." She shrugged and glanced over her shoulder. Before she could turn back around a blast of cryptic red light and black flames sprang up from the coffin.
"WHAT'S HAPPENING?!" Tootie shielded her eyes and backed away. The roar of the flames was deafening yet it seemed confined to those in the immediate vicinity of the opened portal.
"IT'S THE PORTAL!" Des shouted, "WE'VE GOTTA GET THE LID DOWN!"
"I'M ON IT!"
Norm struggled against the force of the eerie inferno until he was able to grip the edge of the coffin. But before he could lay a finger on the lid a frightful howl emanated from somewhere within the portal. As if that sound alone weren't enough to make their blood run cold it was followed by an equally disturbing wicked cackle. Two figures took shape in the bright red light and soon both genies found themselves being stared down by their evil nega-selves.
Nega-Norm and Nega-Des hovered with sinister grins spread over their faces. Nega-Norm had been the source of the howl. He resembled a werewolf with studded arm and wristbands and a shredded aqua blue vest.
"Oh man," Norm gulped staring at himself, "I need a shave."
Nega-Des looked every bit the stereotype of a wicked witch. Ghastly green tail, black pointed hat, broomstick belly ring, and tattered black clothes.
"So that's what I'd look like if I lost my sense of fashion." Des murmured.
"Trick or treat?" Nega-Des grinned.
"Heh, thanks for opening the portal boneheads," Nega-Norm laughed, "we were afraid we'd miss all the fun."
"And ssspeaking of fun," Nega-Des and Nega-Norm moved aside as another figure took shape. Tootie gasped when a menacing, dark purple, grey complexioned version of herself was revealed.
"What's going on?!" she blurted out, taking a step back only to fall flat on her butt. "Who--what--are you?!"
The red eyed girl chuckled revealing a set of fangs without the hindrance of braces. "Just call me, Nega-Tootie!"
"Alright I've seen enough," Norm wasn't about to show fear in front of the girls...they'd never let him live it down. "You costumed wannabes dive right back into that overdone lightshow and uh...don't come out til ya knock it off with the snake bit."
The three nega-creatures laughed in unison but halted when the door swung open on its creaky hinges. "Enough talk," Nega-Des eyed the staircase warily, "if we don't move soon those meddling imps will seal us back in."
Norm made a lunge for the lid but found himself colliding with Nega-Norm instead. Des coughed from the puff of the red smoke left behind when her nega-self sprang towards her. "Where'd they go? Tootie?!"
Tootie was in a face-off with her opposite. "What do you want?" she demanded.
"What any nega wantsss," Nega-Tootie replied with an evil grin, "to be the most evil creature in the entire world! Just like you I've got the ability to outgrow my current form. All I need is a sssingle black rose. And with my arsenal of hate I'll turn everyone in Dimmsdale into their nega-selves! And that'sss just the beginning! But first...I'll have to get rid of you!"
Phana fazed through the door and flew straight down to the coffin, slamming the lid shut. Hocus and Pocus weren't far behind her. Pocus carried Spete in his hands, grimacing as the spider chewed him out the whole way down. "See! I told ya so! When they started jugglin' candy corn I just KNEW something was up down here!"
With a sigh of relief Phana pushed a stray strand of hair out of her face. "Well at least we made it down here before-"
"AAAHHH!!!" Tootie's scream rang out.
"Oh no!" Hocus exclaimed, "Tootie!"
"Who's Tootie?" the phantom and spider asked in unison.
The imps rushed over to find the girl climbing out of one of the clothing piles by the back wall. Coughing from the dust and--was that smoke?
"Ungh," Des floated into view holding her head, "anyone get the license plate of that truck?"
"Get my lawyer on the phone," Norm's arm appeared from under a toppled stack of crates. "I'll sue!"
Phana fazed him out and turned to glare at the sheepish imps who'd helped Tootie to her feet. "You two have a lot of explaining to do. Just wait until Jack hears about this."
Hocus and Pocus blanched white, "You're not gonna tell him are you?!"
"And why shouldn't we?" Spete demanded, already scurrying up the steps. "You two slackers let your guard down and snuck three intruders into the castle! Now there's probably who knows how many nega-creatures on the loose?!"
"But it wasn't our fault!" Pocus insisted.
Phana twisted her frown to the side and glared down at them disbelievingly.
"Okay," Hocus flinched, "so maybe it was our fault. But we were trying to fix it! Honest!"
Tootie shook her head and recalled the last few moments, "Wait! Where'd she go?"
"She?" Spete stopped and threw two of his appendages into the air. "There's another one of you jokers down here?!"
"No," Tootie's eyes darted around uneasily, "Nega-Tootie, she's...she's gone!"
Quicker than lightning Phana had both imps by their pointed ears. "We're going to tell Jack. NOW!"
"But it's Halloween!" Hocus pointed out, "We'll never be able to track him down in time!"
"Plus," Pocus added, dragging his foot across the floor, "we think another one got out."
"What?!" Spete was getting too old for this, "When?!"
"Last night," Pocus answered and pointed at Tootie, "that's why we brought her. She's that operative who works for Cupid."
"We figured she could help." Hocus shrugged, not taking his eyes off the floor. "We didn't mean for another nega to escape."
"Actually," Tootie spoke up timidly, "That was my fault. Please don't be mad at them. I promise I'll stop the negas. Just give me a chance."
"NO WAY!" Spete snapped.
Phana seemed to relent though, "Alright, you can try to stop them. But be careful, if a nega comes in contact with their opposite they can overshadow them. You'll need Cupid's help on this. And you two," she tugged at the imps' ears, "are coming with me to look for Jack. And you're going to tell him EVERYTHING."
The imp brothers exchanged dismal glances, "We were afraid you'd say that."
"And what am I supposed to do?!" Spete demanded.
"You stay here incase Jack returns." Phana answered. "Someone's got to watch over the castle and make sure no one else opens that portal."
"Hn, you'd figure being genies we'd be immune to this whole 'nega-version' deal." Norm scoffed and folded his arms.
"Maybe this is part
of why being rule-free is a bad thing?" Des sighed. No 'Bad
Day' rule equals no nega-version immunity.
"Oh Timmy!" Mr. Turner called up the stairs to his son. "Hurry up and get down here or you'll be late for extra fundamentals at Camp Learn-A-Torium!"
Up in his room Timmy glared at his reflection in the mirror. "That would be a real shame," he spat, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Uh Sport?" Wanda ventured, "You're looking pretty pale today. Maybe you should stay home?"
"What? If I stay here Gary and Betty are gonna turn Halloween into some lame sugar-free, anti-fun day!"
"But Timmy," Cosmo fretted, "it's Camp Learn-A-Torium, there's LEARNING! How are you gonna stop that?!"
"Oh I'm sure sssomething will come to mind. In fact, I wouldn't missss tonight for the world! MWUHAHAHAHA!!!"
Right on cue the mirror shattered, each piece reflecting an image of an almost black haired Timmy laughing evilly.
"Wanda," Cosmo floated behind his wife, "what's wrong with Timmy? His sinister smile is creeping me out."
The pink haired fairy frowned down at her oddly behaving godchild, "I'm not sure Cosmo but something tells me that's not our Timmy."
HONK! HONK!
At the sound of the car horn Timmy rushed out the door and called over his shoulder, "See ya suckers! I've got some trouble to brew!"
"C'mon Cosmo!" Wanda snatched her husband's wrist and raised her wand, "We've got to follow him!
Up in the Love Bunker...
"Leaping lilies!" Cupid shouted, "You mean to tell me that there are TWO nega-creatures loose in Dimmsdale?!"
"Yeah," Tootie cringed, "is that...bad?"
"Is it bad?!" Cupid repeated, "It's worse than bad, it's HORRIBLE!"
Des frowned, "Does he always have to be so dramatic?"
"It's the caffeine," Norm muttered, "guy drinks enough to keep Sandman jittery year-round."
Ignoring the mumbling genies Cupid flew over to his desk and smashed a fist down on a large red heart-shaped button. "One nega-creature is easy enough to stop but when you've got two they tend to work together and become twice as powerful! So we've got to get to them fast before they start spreading that negative energy."
Norm and Des exchanged uneasy glances. Neither felt it wise to mention that they'd lost track of their nega-selves too.
"You wanna tell him or should I?" Norm muttered.
"Shh!" Des hissed.
"How can they spread it if the portal's closed up?" Tootie inquired.
The back wall to Cupid's office rose up revealing what appeared to be two endless rows of shelves stocked with every sort of love weapon imaginable.
"Once they're loose nega-creatures can enhance their dark magic by doing bad deeds." Cupid explained, "After they've grown powerful enough they can start changing people into their nega-versions without using a portal."
"That's terrible!" Tootie gasped.
"Just think of all those unsuspecting humans down there," Cupid continued, zipping down the rows of shelves and tossing weapons over his shoulders for Tootie and her godparents to catch, "once they're in the clutches of those nasty negas they'll be totally helpless! Which is why WE'VE got to go stop them!"
"Whoa..." Norm didn't like the sound of this. A mission with pretty in pink boy? Not on his watch. "What d'ya mean 'we'?"
Cupid spun around and propped his hands on his hips, "You don't think I'm gonna send the kid out there to face negas by herself?!"
"Hey!!" both genies took offense.
"Ehehe," Tootie glanced from her fuming godparents to the stubborn cherub and felt a bead of sweat roll down the side of her face. Sometimes mediating between the three magical beings reminded her of trying to keep the peace at home. "Let's not fight guys. We've gotta stay focused remember?"
"Focused on what?"
Every head turned to see a blonde sprite hovering in the entranceway.
"Chartre!" Des beamed, "We gotta stop meeting like this."
"Oh great," the sprite frowned, "trouble again?"
Norm arched an eyebrow and held up the mound of weapons he'd been tossed, "How'd ya guess?"
"No time for chitchat daffodil," Cupid fastened a lavender headband around his pink hair and struck a heroic pose, "We're going to war!"
"War?" Chartre's eyes widened, "Why?"
"Because love-" Cupid narrowed his eyes in a serious manner, "-is a battlefield."
POOF!
CHARGE!
"Oh brother!" Norm rolled his eyes and shuffled the items he was holding so he'd have room to snap. "I say we put Diaper Boy on the front line."
"Should I be worried?" Chartre questioned Des.
"No..." Des didn't look so sure, "...well, it couldn't hurt to tag along?"
"Sigh," Chartre moaned, "I knew I shouldn't have closed up shop early today."
GONG!
They arrived in Tootie's backyard, the twelve-year-old darted around the house to find her parents starting the car. Upstairs a window was raised and a redhead leaned out.
"TOOTIE!! TIME FOR BABY BOOTCAMP SQUIRT!"
Tootie shot her sister a glare and returned to the backyard. "My parents are ready to leave, what now?"
"Now you head over to the Learn-A-Torium with this," Cupid responded pulling a rose out from his pack of arrows, "Negas live to destroy anything sappy, danger-free, educational, or non-violent. They'll probably be drawn to that place like flies to honey."
"Oh great," Tootie gulped and accepted the rose, careful to shove it inside her pink sweater vest without inhaling its scent, "what about you guys?"
"We'll fan out and try to catch those negas before they reach the kids." Cupid explained in a confident tone, "Just leave it to us kiddo and if you get into any trouble just whip out that rose."
Tootie nodded and rounded the corner as her magical companions paired off and split up. No sooner had she hopped in the backseat when an odd feeling overtook her. It was almost like...wicked glee?
Those foolsss, they don't have any idea who they're messing with!
Deep blue eyes widened behind her cat-eye glasses, "Wh-What was that?"
"What was what honey?" her mother asked glancing back at her in the rearview mirror as they backed down the driveway.
Sssniveling dolts, that strange voice again, they don't even realize that they've just given me the key to unlocking my full power!
"Seatbelt pumpkin," Tootie's dad reminded her, distracting her from the voice.
The sound of the buckle clicking into place was drowned out by a raspy dark laugh that seemed to echo through her mind like the night wind through the barren autumn trees.
As Tootie continued to puzzle over the strange sound the rose tucked away in her vest slowly darkened in its crimson hue. By the time the car arrived at its peppy destination the petals were already streaked with black.
To be continued...