Chapter Four

Harper and Zeke searched through the tiny apartment in about an hour, but did not find any useful information. As they searched, she patiently answered all of his questions about Gorog, dark angels, and the entire situation. "Right, Gorog created this floor so he could recruit the residents for his force of darkness. He wants to use them to take over the Wizard World."

"Okay, I think I'm caught up,"

While he took a minute to process everything, Harper stood up from where she'd been looking through storage bins on the floor, and looked around. "Searching the whole apartment isn't working. We have to think about this."

"Right. So, if I were Alex's books, where would I be..." Zeke chuckled. "That doesn't help. Alex wouldn't bring books."

Laughing in agreement, Harper remarked, "Yeah, trust me, we've barely talked about the wizard competition since we moved out. The only way she'd possibly have any spell books would be if...if..." Harper's eyes widened. "If Justin packed them for her! Hold on!" She ran to the apartment's only closet, rummaged through the bottom, and pulled out a small packing box. They must have dismissed it as Alex's mementos or pictures because "private" was scrawled on the top in her handwriting.

They lugged the box over to the couch, where they opened it to find the expected various pictures and scraps of paper. But a lone wizard training workbook filled out the bottom, a Post-it note stuck to the cover. "Jackpot!" Harper exclaimed. She read the note aloud. "'Yes, haha, I'm a dork, you're so clever. Now study!...love, Justin.'"

Zeke frowned. "Wait, why would he do that when he's competing against her?"

"It's Justin. He wants everyone to study," Harper replied with a shrug. She flipped through the book, looking out for any informational pages...then found a folded piece of lined paper. "Must be another note from Justin," she remarked. "Alex has probably never even opened this book."

"What does the note say?"

Harper unfolded the paper and read the title aloud. "'Because I knew you wouldn't bring this information with you either.'" Shaking her head, she commented, "Yup, definitely from Justin."

Glancing at the note over her shoulder, Zeke scanned the neat handwriting, his eyes widening as he did. "Oh my gosh, Harper, that's it! Phone numbers!"

"Well, wand numbers, but yeah," she corrected, pointing out the extensions. "They're for Mr. Russo's younger brother Kelbo and Professor Crumbs. And Professor Crumbs left with Gorog, so our only option is to call Kelbo. He's the family wizard from Mr. Russo's generation."

Zeke sighed with relief. "Thank goodness. He'll be able to help."

"Oh, that's right. You haven't met him."

Turning evil wasn't that painful. Juliet's return significantly eased the transition.

In addition to reuniting with his true love, Justin liked that he got to remain a wizard this time. Trading his wand for wings before had put him out of his element. But he knew how to be a wizard, and the power boost from Gorog would make him a great one...evil, but great.

So what if Justin wasn't "good"? He'd been good his whole life, worked hard towards his goals. Where did that get him? Demoted back to level one on a technicality. Obeying Council rules, earning excellent grades, studying for the competition...doing the right thing just didn't seem worth it anymore. Here he was, "evil," yet he had Juliet and everything else he'd ever wanted.

Who cared what others thought of his morals? Justin had finally realized that to him, respect and Juliet were more important.

After Gorog won Justin's support, the two began plotting their take over of the Wizard World. Of course Gorog had his own plans, but he hadn't expected Professor Crumbs to cave in, so he needed to redo his attack strategy. To be honest, Justin wasn't convinced the professor had truly joined the dark side and worried it might be some kind of trick. For some reason he kept his doubts to himself.

Besides, he was much too distracted by catching up with Juliet. Fortunately, Gorog also had right-hand security wizard Felix, so occasionally Justin could break away. "I missed you so much, Juliet," he mumbled. The couple had moved to the far side of the lair by the teacher's desk, while Gorog, Felix and Jerry planned in front of the portal. Recovering Theresa had gone into the Sub Station to wait with the other thirteenth floor residents.

"I missed you too," Juliet replied, kissing him...again. Their little breaks were equally devoted to talking and making out. "I thought about you every day. Even though it seemed impossible I knew I would see you again."

Justin nodded. "So did I. Everyone kept telling me to move on. But I never really did."

"I can't wait until Gorog is in power," she remarked, glancing over at their leader. "He'll make sure that you and I are never separated again. That's what he promised, you know. It's why I joined his army."

"I'm sure being young again is nice too," Justin joked, secretly flattered that she had done that for him.

"Hey Romeo! Get over here!"

Giving Juliet an apologetic glance, Justin kissed her again, then went over to the strategy group. "Sorry. What do you need, Master Gorog?"

"Tell me all you know about Wiztech," Gorog demanded. "Professor Crumbs was evasive about the details. I don't trust him yet."

Justin paused, thinking of the summers he attended. "What kind of details, sir?"

"Oh, anything that might be useful. You can write me an essay if you want," Gorog answered, a sarcastic note to his voice.

Brightening at the familiar task, Justin nodded. "I'll get started on that essay now."

"Justin, I meant...well, whatever, might be handy to have that in written form. Get to it."

"Yes, sir!" Justin went to turn away, then hesitated. Something was nagging at his memory thanks to the mention of Wiztech. "Um, Master Gorog? Can I ask you a question?"

Gorog raised an eyebrow. "You can. I may or may not answer."

"About...my brother and sister. You're going to bring them back soon, right? So they can join our evil army? You said you need more members."

Standing up from his chair, Gorog crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes. "You'll get Alex and Max back when I'm sure I can trust you. I know about that 'power of three siblings' deal. If I'm not careful, they could bring you back to their side, then..."

Indignant Justin argued, "Master Gorog, I promise, I would never betray you!"

Gorog held up a silencing hand. "Save it, kid. No matter what you say, you still have to prove yourself. Am I understood?"

"Yes, sir."