Sunday night, before the last final of the first trimester - Dorien is bored by her textbooks. She simply can't forget the events she experienced with the Enchanted Ones. The images constantly flash through her mind and control her every thought.
She admires the Enchanted Ones because they saved her, but a part of her still misses the werewolf that had taken hold of her. The wild uncontrollability of the wolf, the strange cathartic effect of the transformation and the emptiness after the separation; it is all overwhelming her senses.
She closes her books, rolls off her bed, and walks to her window. She crawls onto the windowsill, leans back against the window jamb, and looks at the moon through the window. With its ancient glow, the moon clears up Dorien's mind. The brunette is enjoying the soft caress of the moonlight so much that it makes her close her eyes.
While she sits there with her eyes closed, Costabor appears as inconspicuously as possible on the roof of the garage. Dorien's room looks directly out on a tail end of the garage and behind it lies her garden. Underneath his arm, Costabor is carrying a wicker pet carrier with a steel door.
He tiptoes closer. Just within Dorien's line of sight, he halts and kneels carefully. He puts down the wicker pet carrier and opens the little steel door of the twined animal transport cage. A pitch-black cat with emerald green eyes limberly crawls out of the wicker carrier.
'She's the one! Through her you'll get to the witches. If you get caught, you don't mention a word about me or the master, because then he'll destroy you in an even more horrible way than they could ever think of. Understood?' he whispers into the cat's ear. It only meows and casually patters to the window. Costabor orbs the hell out of there.
Suddenly, Dorien hears something screeching against her window. She opens her eyes and sees a black cat scratching the glass. Immediately, she swings open the window and lifts the animal off the windowsill.
'Hey kitty! What are you doing here?' she holds the cat in front of her face. The cat meows again, but now the animal's eyes light up a fluorescent green. Dorien's eyes light up fluorescent green as well and then she lovingly snuggles and pets the cat.
'O there, there, I'll take care of you, kitty. And I will protect you at all cost,' she pets the critter with care while it purrs of joy.
The following day, the last final - On the main playground of the Saint-Joseph's College, Kelly, Nathalie, and Kim are huddled together as always. They chitchat a little until Dorien approaches them.
'Hey! How do you do?' she asks cheerfully.
'Okay, even though it's finals. I just hope the questions aren't too hard,' Nathalie says.
'Before I forget, are you coming Wednesday?'
'Wednesday?' Kelly furrows her brows.
'Yeah? The party to celebrate the end of finals?'
'O sorry, totally slipped our minds,' Kim apologizes. And totally not in the mood.
'Ohh, I understand. You guys are probably too busy with your witch business and stuff.'
'Whoa! What did you just say?' Kelly grabs Dorien by the arm.
'Oh, it's fine. You probably have to go save someone again with your powers or something. It's okay.'
'Dorien, we would rather not have people know we are witches. You didn't tell anyone about us, did you?' Kelly looks at her with a piercing gaze.
'O, don't worry. Your secret is safe with me. Even better, I want to be just like you.'
'Confident?' Nathalie smiles sourly. I hope she doesn't mean what I think she means.
'No, silly, a witch! I want to be a part of your coven.'
'No, no, that doesn't just happen. You can't suddenly become a witch because you want to. We didn't even want to! And you also definitely can't just be a part of our coven, or pack or whatever you want to call it,' Kelly tries to raise her awareness of the difficulties.
'But didn't it happen all of a sudden for you too? Suddenly, you guys closed yourselves off, then you turned out to be sisters and immediately after that you started living together.'
'Yes, but that's a completely different...' Then the school bell rings.
'Dorien, how about this? Drop by our house after this final. There we can explain everything to you, calmly and privately, so you might understand our situation,' Kelly suggests. Dorien nods and agrees.
A couple hours later, Dorien rings the bell of the Enchanted Ones' house. Nathalie opens the front door and lets Dorien in. The brown-haired girl is carrying a pet carrier for some reason. Kelly and Kim join them in the entryway too and greet Dorien.
'Well, you decided to come anyway,' Kim remains at the sidelines, standing in the archway of the living room.
'Yes and I brought someone,' Dorien places the wicker pet carrier on the ground. She opens the steel door of the portable carrier and pulls out the black cat she snatched from her roof.
'Aw how cute!' Nathalie and Kelly want to hold the cat.
'O, o, o, cat! Cat, cat, cat!' Kim points to the animal in fear as if she has just seen a tyrannosaurus.
'Yeah, so?' Nathalie takes the cat from Dorien.
'That's a cat. A cat!'
'So? It's such a cute critter,' she holds the animal in front of her face. The eyes of the black cat light up fluorescent green and then Nathalie's eyes do the same. Afterwards, she carefully cradles the critter in her arms like a fragile newborn baby.
'Cute? Cats are mean, lazy, stuck up, and...evil.'
'Kim, you're overreacting. It's a cat, not a snake,' Kelly scratches the animal under its chin.
'You've clearly never seen a sphinx cat.'
'I haven't, but does that matter? This one's got hair,' she takes the cat from Nathalie. She gasps for breath and suddenly gets a premonition. She sees gleaming, smooth, oily black hands with claws making tantalizing movements. 'Huh, what?'
Filled with disbelief, she holds the cat in front of her face, but then the eyes of the animal light up fluorescent green again. Kelly's eyes momentarily turn fluorescent green as well and then she pets and caresses the cat.
'Kelly, what's wrong? Did you see something?' Kim asks, who obviously noticed that Kelly's breath stopped short, which always happens when she has a premonition.
'Eh? O no, just a shiver.'
'Kim, what's your problem with cats?' Dorien asks.
'First of all, they're mean, secondly they lose their hair all the time, and thirdly...I'm allergic to them.'
'Really?' Kelly brings the cat closer to Kim. I don't believe that for a second.
The brunette flinches back out of fright. 'No, keep that thing away from me! You know what? I'll go to the kitchen and I'll stay there until that animal is out of here. Toodles!'
She flees through the living room in order to go in a roundabout way through the dining room and the solarium before she has finally run into the kitchen. The others keep worshipping the cat.
The following moment, the three young women are sitting on the couch in the living room while Dorien is fooling around with her pussy. While she is petting the critter, Nathalie and Kelly try to convince her that she doesn't belong to their coven.
'You see, we're sisters and it's because of our father, our blood tie, that we're witches and have powers. So, you can't be a part of our coven, do you understand?' Nathalie explains to her.
'And you were turned into a werewolf because of a curse, so it wasn't your own magic that was summoned there. We've banished any magic from you that you possessed at the time by destroying your werewolf half. So, you're also not a witch,' Kelly explains in turn.
'I know that the power I had as a werewolf wasn't mine, but I do have other powers now,' Dorien smiles.
'And what might these powers be?' Kelly asks skeptically. It's impossible for her to have powers; it just can't be.
'Well,' she places the cat on the ground, neatly positions herself on the couch with a straight back, and unfolds her hands, 'see for yourself.'
Suddenly, a green pilot light ignites in her hand. Just like that, a fluorescent green little flame that appears to be floating above her hand is burning in the palm of her hand.
'O my god!' Nathalie and Kelly both freak out.
Right at this moment, Kim enters the living room. 'Okay, I give up. I don't care if that cat is here. Dorien, it's not possible that you...', then she sees the flame, 'O my god!'
'That's what they said,' Dorien grins broadly.
The Enchanted Ones don't know what to do with Dorien and turn to Ivan for advice. In the meantime, Dorien has shown him her power. He is watching the floating fire equally as surprised as the sisters.
'Well, this is interesting. I mean, it's a bit odd. Last week you were a werewolf and now you're a witch. That's pretty suspicious.' It even seems a little demonic.
'We thought the same thing,' Kelly crosses her arms.
'When did you discover this power?'
'O, only last night,' Dorien says carelessly.
'Yesterday? Did something else happen then per chance?'
'Well, that's also when I found my kitty, Mittens. I almost burned her tail back then.'
'Kitty, huh? Where's your cat now?'
'She had it with her. That animal is walking around here somewhere, don't ask me where,' Kim crosses her arms. Ivan immediately goes on a search. He walks about and takes a peek in every corner. All of a sudden, Dorien, Kelly, and Nathalie feel obligated to stop him and they follow in his wake like a row of ducklings behind their mother.
'Ivan, is this really necessary? It's just a cat. Surely, it has nothing to do with this,' Kelly tries to persuade him to stop looking.
'Yeah, maybe we should focus on helping Dorien. She's very confused and could really use our help,' Nathalie also tries to divert him from his target.
'They're right. I'm very confused,' Dorien looks at him seeking compassion, but nothing can keep him from his path.
'Are you sure you haven't run into that cat somewhere?' he asks Kim.
'I don't know,' just then Mittens the cat tiptoes back into the living room out of the entryway, 'Look, there it is!'
'O Mittens!' Dorien wants to pick her up, but Ivan stops her. He squats near the cat, picks the animal up, and holds the cat in front of his face.
'Let's see. What makes you so special that causes...' Before he can finish his sentence, Mittens' eyes light up fluorescent green again. For a second, Ivan's eyes light up the same way. Then he stands up, turns around, and tickles the cat's belly.
'That causes what, Ivan?' Kim insists.
'O nothing. This is such a cute little kitty. Yes, you are. Yes, you really are!' he plays with Mittens the same way only single 80-year-old grandmas handle their cats.
'You're right, she's so sweet!' Kelly joins him. She also pets the animal.
'Yup, nothing odd about this cat,' Nathalie starts scratching behind Mittens' ears.
'And so innocent!' Dorien bends over and makes funny faces for the cat.
'O, this is ridiculous!' Kim places her hands on her hips. The others are startled by her blunt reaction and automatically shield Mittens from her.
'Kim, how could you say something like that about such a harmless pet?' Kelly responds, flabbergasted.
'Yes, poor kitty,' Ivan continues hugging the animal. The others are again only concerned with Mittens. They don't even look up from the cat when the bell rings.
'Fine, I'll go,' Kim sacrifices herself with the necessary dose of sarcasm.
Kim opens the front door and sees an attractive, tall boy with extremely short, crew cut hair on the doorstep. Despite him wearing a thin, dark blue sweatshirt over his sweater, his lightly muscular build shines through.
'Well hello! I don't know you,' Kim smiles. But I'd sure love to get to know you, meow!
'I'm here to see Nathalie. We were supposed to go shopping downtown,' the handsome fellow smiles back in a friendly way.
'O, Nathalie? Okay. Hold on. Nathalie!'
Enthusiastically, Nathalie skips to the front door. She hugs Kim from behind and gazes at the boy over the brunette's shoulder with a mischievous yet curious grin.
'Wow, you're handsome,' she giggles.
'I think he knows that all too well,' Kim smirks at her.
'Nathalie, we were going to the city together today, weren't we?' the boy asks, a little more uncertain than before.
'Really? Sure, fun!' she pushes Kim aside and slips sideways out the door. She clamps onto her boyfriend's lightly muscular arm and lays her head on his shoulder. Using her cheek, she gently rubs his shoulder like a cat nuzzling up against its owner.
'Are you sure you're alright?' he raises an eyebrow.
'Ooh, she's just being a little...catty,' Kim reappears in the doorframe, 'Well, have fun!'
She swings the door shut, spins around, and jumps out of her skin. Dorien, Ivan, Kelly, and Mittens (how could it not) are suddenly standing right in front of her.
'Where's Nathalie going?' Kelly pouts.
'Nathalie's on a date with her boyfriend now. We should be happy for her,' Kim takes hold of Kelly's hand in a sisterly gesture.
'But what are we going to do?' Ivan also pouts like a little child while he is petting Mittens.
'We? We aren't going to do anything. You will go back to Magic School, because you have classes to teach, don't you? And I will take the misses Catnip to the attic, so we can educate Dorien on the magical world. How about that?'
'It's okay,' he sighs, disappointed. He hands over Mittens to Dorien and orbs away. Smiling broadly like two little children, Dorien and Kelly look at Kim.
'What are you staring at? Go, skedaddle!' she chases the two of them, and Mittens, to the attic.
In the attic Kim and Dorien are sitting on an old couch aimed at the attic door while Kelly is playing with Mittens. Kim asks Dorien to show her power once more, so Dorien places her hands pressed together on her lap. She unfolds her hands in a single move and a fluorescent green flame like that of a blowtorch is burning in the palm of her hand again.
'Wow,' Kim flinches back.
'Cool, huh?' Dorien smiles conspiratorially. Intrigued by the fire, Kelly crawls towards her and watches the dancing little flame in awe. Mittens tiptoes along with her and neatly sits down next to her.
'Are you also able to move that flame or something?' Kim asks. Dorien sighs and stands up. She stretches out her right arm in front of her and a fluorescent green beam of fire shoots from her hand. Just like the beam of a flame-thrower, it burns its way through the air and the fire hits an old cardboard box.
The box immediately catches fire and crackles like a fireplace. The fluorescent green flames dance around the edges of the box like a tribe of natives.
Hypnotized by the flames, Kelly crawls to the box. She stretches and lays down beside it as if she were going to sleep. She curls up entirely into a little ball and lies near the burning box like a cat in front of a fireplace. Mittens follows her example, but Kim is less at ease.
'O no, fire!' Kim runs to the other side of the attic and rummages through some boxes. All of a sudden she yanks away a bucket from behind a box of ski equipment and takes it downstairs.
A minute later she runs back into the attic with the bucket, which is now filled to the brim with water. In Kim's determined stride, some water sloshes over the edge, but that is the least of her concern.
Finally at the burning box, she empties the bucket over it. Kelly and Mittens jump out of the way before they get hit by the water pouring down. With a dull splash and a hiss, the water extinguishes the fire and Kim breathes a big sigh of relief.
Kelly and Mittens are less satisfied. Kelly pouts at Kim, but Mittens arches her back and hisses at her.
'Did that cat just hiss at me?'
'Well, you did put out that nice warm fire,' Dorien says sullenly.
'Yeah, and it felt so good,' Kelly licks the back of her hand like a cat cleansing itself.
'That fire was about to make the attic go up in flames. I'm sorry, but in that case I don't give a damn about a cat's opinion,' Kim growls.
'O Kim, you just haven't seen Mittens' adorableness. When you realize what a sweet kitty she is, you'll come around,' Dorien picks up the cat. She holds out the animal to Kim. She nearly shoves it in her face and the critter eagerly stretches its paws towards her.
When Mittens is only an inch away from her, all of a sudden Kim sneezes super loudly. It almost sounds like a balloon popping. It startles the two other girls and Mittens leaps from Dorien's hands in fright. The animal tiptoes to the couch and hides underneath it.
'Great...achoo...now I have to...achoo...sneeze because of that...achoo...stupid cat...achoo! Could this...achoo...get any worse?'
In the meantime, Nathalie and her boyfriend are in a bar taking a break from shopping, but the boy notices that Nathalie isn't her usual self. He scratches his stubbly head and leans in towards her acros their table.
'Are you sure you're alright?'
Nathalie is just in the middle of polishing a bowl of milk with feline licks. When she looks up at him, she has a white milky moustache and milk drips down the corners of her mouth.
'Yeah sure. Why wouldn't I be?' she rubs her cheek over her shoulder. When a waitress passes by, she tugs at her sleeve. 'Excuse me, could I get another bowl of hot milk, please?'
'Whatever you want,' the waitress removes the previous bowl, 'as long as you pay for it.'
'Is that such a good idea? I mean, people are watching us,' the boy whispers, glancing at the other customers gossiping and throwing disapproving looks in their direction.
'Let them, they're jealous.' With semi-clenched fists, in an almost claw-like grip, she rubs her nose and briefly blows through her nose, like a cat cleaning its face.
'I think we better get going,' he signals the waitress that she can bring the check.
In the attic, Kim is standing behind the Enchanted Book while Kelly and Dorien are playing with Mittens on the pentagram carpet. As she is flipping the pages, she is still sneezing:
'Achoo...this is so annoying...achoo! I want...achoo...that cat...achoo...out of here later, ...achoo...because I can't...achoo...take it anymore!'
'Fine,' Kelly rolls on her back and rubs her back over the carpet.
'Now Dorien, why do you want to be a witch all of a sudden, aside from suddenly having powers? Achoo!'
'O you know, witchcraft seems fun.' She is sitting on her hands and knees, then leans forward until her chin touches the ground, and extends her arms. In this feline position and completely unbothered, she stretches out.
'Fun? Witchcraft isn't fun at all. I mean, we get chased by demons or attacked by evil almost every week.'
'Oh well, that comes with the territory, I guess? I mean, what you guys did to help those pixies was pretty cool.'
'Cool? Dorien, we killed your friends! We could've helped them if we had looked in the Enchanted Book sooner, but instead we murdered them.'
'Hm, now that you mention it. Oh well, they weren't that good friends anyway,' she rolls on her back. Before Kim can respond in horror, the doorbell rings.
'Who could that be? Stay here, you two!' Kim leaves the attic, but Mittens follows her downstairs, causing Kelly and Dorien to hurry downstairs as well.
Meanwhile, Kim has opened the front door and she comes eye to eye with Nathalie and her boyfriend. Only Nathalie is clinging to him and rubbing her cheek across his shoulder.
'Back already?' Kim frowns.
'Nathalie really isn't feeling well today...I think,' he pries her off his shoulder. He leads her through the front door and then Kim goes to stand in the doorframe.
'You know, she isn't always this...unstable.'
Meanwhile, Nathalie is holding onto the wooden jamb of the archway of the living room and scratching her nails across the wallpaper.
'I'd really like to believe it, but if she's acting like a...cat, I can't deal with her,' he searches for the word "cat" to best describe Nathalie.
'Like a cat, eh?' Kim looks at her with a fresh pair of eyes. Now Nathalie is leaning against the wall and licking the back of her hand. 'Now that you mention it, she does look awfully a lot like a cat. Maybe you should leave your cellphone number behind, just in case, so she can reach you when she's less...catty?' And then I'll have your number too.
The boy recites his cellphone number and Kim saves it on her bright pink cellphone. 'Well, then I hope to hear from you or Nathalie later. See ya!'
After he has left, Kim shuts the door and spins around so she can address Nathalie, but she has suddenly vanished. 'Nathalie?'
She hears something tearing up in the living room and follows the sound. There she finds Nathalie sitting on her knees in the couch clawing at a pillow. The pillow case is already torn and now she is pulling out all the stuffing.
'Nathalie, what are you doing?' Kim yanks her away from the pillow. Nathalie cocks her head to the side and pouts as she looks at her. Then she hugs her and rubs her cheek across Kim's chest.
'Okay Nathalie, you love me. Now let go!' Kim pulls her off of her and then Nathalie rocks back and forth like a small child. 'This is all getting too much for me. I need a drink.'
In the kitchen, Kim takes a bottle of water from the fridge and a glass from the kitchen cabinet. She sees Nathalie advancing on Dorien and Kelly in the entryway. The three of them hug and rub their cheeks against each other's shoulders while they make grunting sounds like purring cats. Kim sits down on the kitchen table and fills the glass with water. She takes a sip of it.
At that moment, Mittens tiptoes inside through the kitchen door. Her long, black tail high up in the air, she bounces to the kitchen cabinet, which she starts scratching up. She moans the entire time with shrill meows.
'O, annoying cat!' Kim drinks from her water again, but Mittens continues to meow loudly.
'Why won't that creature shut up? Hold on,' she stretches her left hand in Mittens' direction and freezes the animal, 'That should keep things quiet for a while.'
Yet she sees Mittens walking onwards and the cat tiptoes down the stairs to the basement. Baffled, Kim spins towards the basement door, from which she can still hear Mittens meowing. She rises from her chair and takes a few steps backwards.
'How is that critter able to move and make noise if I just froze it? The only people that keep moving are my sisters unless...O yeah, o yeah, if I didn't think so: that cat is evil!' Determined, she runs to the kitchen cabinet, opens a drawer, and pulls out a butcher's knife that shares more similarities with an ax than a knife.
Carefully, Kim pushes the basement door wide open and switches on the light next to her. Step by step she descends the stairs to the basement into the small, still dimly lit space underneath the house.
'Here, little kitty! Kitty, kitty, kitty! Where are you?' Intermittently, she makes brief kissing noises like owners trying to lure their cat. She is on the final step of the short stairs to the basement, squats, and peers around her with the butcher's knife at the ready. 'Come, come, sweet kitty! Come on out, you demonic cat!'
Suddenly, she hears a meow. She immediately shifts towards the origin if the sound. In the right-hand corner of the basement, next to the washing machine, she sees Mittens sitting up straight.
'There you are. Game over, kitty cat! You were supposed to be frozen, but you weren't. O, I know your dirty secret and now you'll meet your miserable fate, flee bag!'
She steps off the final step and approaches Mittens, but the animal stays sitting stoically in the corner. With pursed lips, her emerald green eyes staring into infinity, and her tail hypnotically curling to and fro, she awaits Kim's advancement.
When the brunette is close enough, she lifts her butcher's knife high up in the air, but she suddenly doesn't swing it because she notices something about Mittens.
The cat's shadow suddenly becomes longer and darker. From the coal black shadow, two oily black, claw-like smooth hands appear. As if they have freed themselves of chains after centuries of imprisonment, the fingers of the hands start wiggling.
Behind the oily black hands with the wiggling fingers follow short, scrawny little arms attached to an equally black and smooth upper body that is emaciated. On top of that emaciated upper body rests an oval-shaped, expressionless face.
This face has no nose, ears, mouth, or hair on its head. It is completely tar black and only has two large, luminescent, oval, white eyes. The wiggling fingers appear to be making circles in the air. Kim can actually see these circles.
The dark figure's right hand suddenly rises and stretches wide open. In a powerful telekinetic blast, Kim is propelled backwards. She is catapulted up the stairs to the kitchen, through the open basement door, and lands hard on the kitchen floor.
Struggling, Kim pushes herself up from her stomach. Her hair is a tangled mess and she is covered in scratch marks.
'Ouch, that didn't feel right,' she coughs. When she turns around to lie on her back, she sees Mittens by her feet standing near the basement door. 'No, stay away from me! Help!'
She quickly regains her feet and wants to run into the entryway, but when she opens the kitchen door, Nathalie, Kelly, and Dorien are right in front of her.
'Good, you guys are here. That cat is evil to the deepest core of her heart. There's some kind of demon inside of her and it's really powerful and...' Before she can finish her sentence, Kelly squints her eyes, launching Kim against the kitchen cabinet. She hits her back right up against it and drops to her side on the hard kitchen floor.
'Ouch. Why did you...?' She doesn't need to finish her sentence, because her answer can be seen on their faces. Both Dorien, Nathalie, and Kelly now have fluorescent green eyes and are looking at her while growling.
'I don't need to expect help from you then,' she tries to pull herself up by the cabinet. The possessed Mittens hisses at her. From her shadow, the dark figure reappears. Again its fingers wiggle and now it stretches its left hand. In a new telekinetic blast, Kim gets slid across the kitchen floor into the solarium. The wooden garden bench in there slows her down when she crashes into it.
Dorien runs after Kim and aims her right arm at her. A fluorescent green beam of fire surges towards her.
'Aah!' Kim stretches her hands and freezes Dorien and the beam of fire while she is still lying on the ground. She immediately gets back on her feet and runs to the living room. The dark figure looks at Nathalie, who nods and orbs away.
Meanwhile, Kim is racing through the living room. Just when she reaches the archway of the entryway, Nathalie orbs in in front of her.
'Nathalie, get out of my way, I don't want to hurt you!' Kim warns her. Nathalie doesn't care, because she aims her hand at a lamp behind her.
'Meow!' she calls to the lamp. Of course nothing happens, because that is not how her power works. 'Meow! Meow!'
Cautiously, Kim sneaks up to the coffee table and lifts a vase of flowers. 'Nathalie, are you trying to do this?' She smashes the vase on Nathalie's head. The blonde with the illuminated green eyes drops to the ground, unconscious and bleeding slightly from a head wound.
'Sorry, you left me no choice,' Kim whispers as she steps over her.
Next, Kim bolts up the stairs. When she reaches the attic, she bangs the door shut behind her and quickly pushes an old armchair in front of it. Then she flips through the Enchanted Book at a rapid pace. 'Come on, a possessed cat! How often do you come across those?'
And then she finds the right page: a drawing of a black cat with emerald green eyes and an oily black, emaciated alien in its shadow. The subtitle reads "feline possessed by a demon" and "Ma'at" is the heading of the page.
'Ma'at, feline possessed by a demon. According to the Egyptians, Ma'at is the embodiment of evil in the form of a cat. Since cats were worshipped in the Ancient Far East, many people fell victim to this demon. Only those possessing a special gift recognized it in its true form. Today this gift is described as an allergy.' Ooh, that's why!
'In its feline form, Ma'at is invulnerable, but if it shows its demonic side, it is just as susceptible to attacks as other demons. Alright, just take out that black alien and everything will go back to normal. Of course, I need to make sure not to die trying.' Piece of cake.
At that moment, someone is trying to ram through the attic door, but to no avail. The armchair Kim shoved in front of the door is holding up.
'Ha! What's the matter, kitty? Can't you manage to get through the heavy door? Boo-hoo,' Kim jeers, but all of a sudden Nathalie, Kelly, Dorien, and Mittens appear in the attic in a surging sea of tiny, powder blue light orbs. 'Okay, I take that back.'
Mittens sits back on her behind and Ma'at reappears from her shadow. The demon wiggles its fingers again and stretches its left hand. Kim is pulled from behind the Enchanted Book and lands on the pentagram carpet.
Nathalie and Kelly advance on her and position themselves on opposite sides of her. Wobbling, Kim stands up, but meanwhile Nathalie is aiming her hand at a cardboard box.
'Box!' she now calls the box in the right way and she sends it towards Kim in a powder blue gust of tiny light orbs. Kelly focusses her gaze on a different box and squints. The box shoots from its place and flies towards Kim.
Kim tumbles forwards, somersaults, and swiftly jumps back up. This causes both boxes to fly past one another and to hit Nathalie and Kelly instead of Kim, thus taking out the two possessed witches.
Now Dorien aims her right hand at Kim and a fluorescent green beam of fire shoots from it. As before, Kim stretches her hands and freezes her and the beam of fire.
Ma'at returns into Mittens' shadow and then the cat briefly meows. Ivan orbs in behind Kim in a swirling flurry of white sparkles. Surprised by his arrival, the teenage witch whirls around.
'O Ivan, I'm so happy to see you. I need help, because...,' but then she notices that his eyes are lit up a fluorescent green too, 'O no!'
The wizard opens the palm of his hand and a perfect orb appears. The orb glows with a bright, white light and hums with electricity. Ivan throws the energy ball towards Kim, but she also freezes him and his attack. Mittens now pounces her and scratches her face.
'Ouch, back off!' she hurls the cat away and scuttles backwards, away from the animal. Hissing and baring her teeth, Mittens advances on her and halts threateningly in between Dorien and Ivan.
'O, you've got to be kidding me? You're going to attack me as a cat? Come on, Ma'at, show me your true self for a change and fight like a real demon,' Mittens takes her neat sitting pose again and Ma'at reappears from her shadow, 'Bad guys, predictable as always.'
Kim makes brief circle motions in the air with her hands, allowing Dorien and Ivan, but their attacks as well, to move again. The fluorescent green beam of fire burns and scorches Ma'at's oily black, smooth skin and the energy ball mercilessly electrocutes the demon.
Its skin starts to light up a glaring white because of the attacks. Its black layer cracks open in certain places and through those small crevices a bright white light shines outwards. The fractures completely tear open and divide Ma'at like a jigsaw puzzle.
Finally, Ma'at bursts to smithereens in a blast and no trace remains, except for cascading little white lights. At the same time, Mittens falls unconscious on the floor. Dorien's and Ivan's eyes go back to their human color. The two of them regain their senses, take a look at the attic, and stare at Kim in astonishment.
'Why is Mittens lying completely still on the floor?' Dorien squeaks.
'Long story,' Kim sighs.
'Does it also have to do with the reason why Kelly and Nathalie are unconscious on the ground?' Ivan peeks behind him.
After a long explanation and a hospital visit for Nathalie's head wound and Kim's scratch marks, everything goes back to the way it was, or at least almost everything. Dorien just returns home, but instead of being an annoying friend, she is now a confidant who knows the teenage witches' secret. She has also made a new friend: Mittens.
Nothing has changed for the Enchanted Ones, though. Still, they want something new, something they have missed a little the past couple of months: social interaction. That is why they have decided to go to Dorien's party to celebrate the end of finals.
For the occasion, Nathalie has put on dark blue sneakers, dark blue jeans, and a comfortable gray T-shirt with a black vest on top. She has also asked her boyfriend along to make up for the shopping fiasco.
Kelly's party clothes consist of white boots, black jeans with a white belt, a white sleeveless T-shirt, and a black waistcoat. Kim in turn has braided her hair in a long tail and is wearing gray high heels and a sky-blue, strapless dress that reaches just above her knees.
The company of four arrives in the venue of Bouckenborgh, an outhouse of a small white castle surrounded by beeches. Amidst flashing lights and dancing youngsters, Dorien enthusiastically comes towards them.
'Hey! Did you guys decide to come anyway?'
'Yeah, we needed to relax. How's Mittens?' Kelly smiles.
'Surprisingly well. She's such a good girl and sometimes she scratches me...'
'O no! She scratches you?'
'O, but I don't mind. That sweet little kitty can do whatever she wants. Well, have fun and you can get a drink over there!' she points to the outhouse on the opposite side of the park alley leading to the castle. Then she skips off without another word.
'Are you sure she's not still possessed?' Nathalie asks Kim.
'Normally, she shouldn't feel any influence anymore, but perhaps we should have another go at Mittens,' Kim conspiratorially raises her eyebrows.
'Possessed? What are you guys talking about?' Nathalie's boyfriend asks.
'Nothing, Tom! Maybe you can go get me a drink in the meantime?' Nathalie smiles sweetly. Tom nods, gives her a peck on the cheek, and leaves for the other outhouse.
'That was close,' Kim chuckles. Then Nathalie faces her and with a straight face she says:
'You know, if you have a problem with me, you can always tell me.'
'What do you mean?' Kim's eyes grow to the size of saucers.
'Well, I seem to recall you smashing a vase on my head, having knocked me unconscious with a cardboard box, and trying to hit on my boyfriend.'
'I'm sorry about the first two, but I didn't hit on your boyfriend.'
'You asked for his cellphone number!' Nathalie sneers.
'So you could call him,' Kim washes her hands of the accusation.
'I already had his number.'
'If he knew that, then why did he just give me his number?'
That gives Nathalie some pause. 'I'll be right back,' she now heads across the park alley herself.
'O, you're so evil!' Kelly is rendered speechless.
'O no, demonically possessed cats are evil,' Kim chuckles.
'Hm, I'll never truly look at a cat quite the same way again.'
'Welcome to my world!' Kim puts her arm around Kelly.
At the bar, Nathalie confronts her boyfriend Tom and the two of them squabble for a minute at most. Then they give each other a hug and find their way to the dance floor, drink in hand.
'That was quick,' Kelly blinks in surprise.
'I guess it's just going to be an evening between the two of us, Kelly,' Kim sighs.
'Not quite; I took the liberty of inviting a young wizard,' she nods towards the park alley from where Ivan approaches the outhouse. 'Have fun with yourself, Kim!' Kelly tiptoes to her invitee and drags him into the dancing crowd.
Lonesome, Kim is standing in a corner of the venue with a drink in hand. Smiling, she watches while her sisters are dancing and having fun. Occasionally, she sips her ice tea. Suddenly, she is addressed by a classmate, the same classmate who encouraged her to drink alcohol legally on her birthday.
'Hey Kim! How come you're by yourself?' the nearly 6ft. 3in. tall boy asks. He is so tall that he has to lean in to look at her. He has dark blond hair, a long, narrow face, green eyes, an average blunt nose, and full, red lips.
He also has a massive Adam's apple, a cream-colored Caucasian skin, and gigantic hands in comparison to Kim. Aside from the fact that he is a giraffe, he is also very slim, but in proportion to his body he does have broad shoulders.
He is wearing red sneakers and dark blue jeans that are only covering half of his butt (if he turned around, I could probably see his underpants) with a brown belt. He is also wearing a white T-shirt with short sleeves underneath a dark gray striped vest with an open zipper, so she can enjoy the view of his slightly muscular chest.
'Hey Peter! I hadn't expected to see you here. Don't you usually go to a little more riotous parties?' Kim smiles at the friendly blond giant.
'Eh, a party's a party! But why is a hot chick like you standing here in a corner?'
'Bah, long story,' she toys with her plastic cup.
'Hm, might it have something to do with your sisters? By the way, how was it possible again that you three are sisters?'
'That's...a long story,' she sighs for lack of a better answer.
'You have a thing for long stories, don't you?' he chuckles.
'That's right, you got me,' she laughs, 'But are you actually allowed to talk to me, because if I remember correctly, you're one of my ex' best buds?'
'Yeah, but your ex isn't here, is he? So, to hell with him! We can talk all we want and then you can tell me all these long stories or we can go dancing or something else. Who knows what might happen tonight?' he grins.
'Careful what you wish for, Peter. It might come true,' she smiles coyly before taking his hand and letting him guide her into the hustle and bustle of the party. Yes, it might come true.
