So sorry about the wait! To anybody who will read this anyways. My computer crashed, and I lost this, and I just didn't have time to fix everything. Anyways, here is the next part. I'll post the next part as soon as these weeks from hell are over, I just have to get through my exams.
An hour ago, Erica had shown up at the church practically begging Ivy to let her play with Rachel. Now Ivy was sitting in the kitchen on her laptop, and was becoming mildly concerned with the sounds she was hearing from the sanctuary.
Erica, Rachel, and all the pixies were in there, and though Ivy did trust her sister, she was still checking on them every 20 minutes. It was much too chaotic for her to stay out here.
Just as she was got out of her chair to go check on them again, Rachel came tumbling into the room, right into her legs, with Erica right behind her.
"Erica?" Ivy asked, reaching down to steady the child on her own feet.
"Hi Ivy!" the redhead started with a big smile. Erica laughed.
"Man, that girl can move fast, can't she? She's just all over the place!" She continued on, chattering about this and that, and Ivy kept listening with one ear, following Rachel as she ran around the room. When the witch veered sharply to the left, sliding in her socks and narrowly missing the wall, Ivy grabbed her. She swung her up into her arms, surprised when the child kept squirming, bouncing up and down. Rachel usually calmed down when she picked her up.
"What did you do to her?" she asked, cutting off her sister.
"Hmm? Oh, nothing. We were playing, that's all. Little kids are so much fun. Oh! And I think she might be having a teensy little sugar rush. I had some candy in my purse and gave her some. You know the really good sour ones? We had them that one time when you took me to the movies? That one about the spy who…" Tuning out her commentary on the entire movie, Ivy concentrated on Rachel, tightening her hold on her when she almost managed to squirm out of her arms.
"A sugar rush," she repeated, guessing that was probably like normal Rachel without sleep for two days, on 19 cups of coffee.
Just then, Rachel wiggled right out of her arms and somehow clambered onto her back like a monkey. Ivy quickly adjusted her grip, now holding her in a piggyback ride. Oh, this was going to be fun.
Ivy let herself fall onto the couch, mentally exhausted. Erica had left an hour ago to meet her friends once it looked like Rachel's sugar rush was winding down. Turn take it, that witch had a lot of energy.
Rachel was asleep in the playpen, and Ivy was never letting her get her hands on candy again.
Jenks buzzed back into the room. "Is it over yet?"
"Yeah," Ivy indicated the slumbering child. "She finally fell asleep."
Ivy got back to her feet and set about cleaning up the church, listening for any signs of Rachel waking up, chatting with Jenks all the way. When she heard the witch start moving again, she returned to the sanctuary to find her standing up in the playpen, a bright smile on her face.
When Ivy noticed her lightly bouncing on her feet, she sighed and picked her up, bouncing her in her arms. "Still a bit hyper, huh?" Rachel's grin widened. "Well, how about we go and visit the pixies in the garden, hmm?"
She brought her into the kitchen to the back door, getting the pair of baby converse she had bought. After helping her lace them up, they went out to the back. The pixies hovered around, cautiously flying closer to Rachel, checking over the tiny girl. Ivy sat on a lawn chair and let her run around, burning off her excess energy. The pixies were keeping her amused, and while she kept one eye on her, she let herself relax. Shrieks of delight filled the garden, and Ivy smiled, letting the time pass.
Suddenly, a pixy came darting over to Ivy and Jenks, frantically yelling and waving his arms. Jenks shot up and let out a piercing whistle, shouting commands, and the pixies flew into motion, all thoughts of whatever game they were playing with Rachel gone. They were moving so fast that Ivy was losing track of them. She had shot to her feet with Jenks as adrenaline flooded her body, frantically trying to piece together what the danger was. She hated it when the pixies were agitated, she could never understand what they were saying.
"Jenks?" she asked, her eyes scanning the yard for threats. And Rachel, she realized a moment later. She had to find Rachel. She couldn't defend herself with magic like she usually could.
"Invaders!" Jenks yelled back to her, flying away with his sword already drawn. "Witches!" and he was gone.
There was a blast of light near the gate, and somebody yelled. Ivy instinctively ran and took cover behind a tree, knowing from experience that when witches were involved, it was better to duck first, attack later, instead of getting hit with some unknown spell.
Looking behind her, she spotted Rachel cowering behind the porch. As Ivy watched, she burrowed into the hedge, concealing herself from view. Smart girl. Nobody would find her without a locater spell amongst the fight, and they wouldn't have time to use one. Whatever it takes, she thought fiercely, trying to spot the invaders, ducking as another blast blew her hair back.
Geez, for people packing spells, their aim really sucks, she thought, peeking out again.
They didn't do their homework either, seeing a tall man trying to swat at the pixies swarming around him. He'd never be able to hit them. She would have laughed, except he was attacking her home. Never smart. Men. She was sensing a pattern here. Good thing whoever this is didn't send a woman. I bet she'd be smarter.
Craning her neck a bit farther, she saw another witch already subdued, covered in tiny cuts. The one still standing had some kind of protection spell thingy going on, because the pixies were finding it difficult to get close enough to reach him with their swords, although some did get through.
Seeing his back turned, she leaped at him, fangs bared. As she collided with him, she felt herself pass through some kind of barrier. It slowed her down, but was not nearly strong enough to stop her completely. It must have been what was deterring the pixies.
She knocked the man backwards and he stumbled. When he started mumbling a spell, Ivy simply smacked the side of his head, knocking him unconscious.
Just as she was going to relax, Rachel screamed behind her. Ivy tensed, whirling around and falling into a fighting stance. A third man, one she hadn't noticed – judging by Jenks' swearing, he hadn't either – had a tight grip on Rachel. The child was struggling, and he flinched when her foot connected with his shin.
Ivy tensed to spring, deadly spell be damned, when he tightened his grip on Rachel's arm and held his hand towards her. He sneered, and Rachel whimpered.
"I wouldn't do that, vampire," he threatened. Scared, Rachel tried to jerk her arm back again, straining towards Ivy. The man narrowed his eyes at her, completely ignoring Rachel's struggles.
"Let her go," Ivy said, snarling unconsciously, her body wire tight.
"Hmm," he said, pretending to think about it. "I think the answer to that will have to be… no." Ivy jerked forward to hit him, but he took a step back. "Ah ah ah," he taunted, waving a finger at her, and she slowly lowered her hands.
"You see, I have the child. I also have a ley line spell ready in my head. I say 3 words, and she stops breathing." Ivy glanced at Rachel before tearing her eyes away, forcing herself to concentrate. The girl's eyes were wide, filled with fear, and her rapid breathing marked the beginning of a terror fueled panic attack.
"And that goes for you too, pixies!"
Ivy cursed, her hope that Jenks sneaking up behind him would go unnoticed gone. "Jenks, make sure your kids don't try anything." Don't try anything that won't work, she added mentally.
The man smirked at them one last time. "Well, I do regret to inform you that I will be leaving now, and I will be taking her with me." Rachel whimpered.
Ivy readied herself. She'd just have to get him before he could use the spell. He started walking away, dragging Rachel with him. "No!" Rachel cried, angrily this time. She wrenched her arm away from him, and when he reached for her again, she screamed, and he was pushed backwards.
He landed on his knees a good five feet away, shock written all over his face, an expression Ivy knew was sure to be mirrored on hers.
Rachel stood with her feet spread defiantly and her hands clenched, inside a circle. A circle she wasn't supposed to be able to make, but that was clearly hers all the same. Everyone froze, and then the man sputtered and got to his feet. "She's not supposed to have any powers!" he exclaimed. "Faoseihlo ensured it. That damn demon said-"
Not giving him a chance to recover, Ivy sprang at him, knocking him clear back to the fence. She jerked back in surprise when a ball of energy flew past her and hit the fence, narrowly missing his face. Turning, she saw Rachel's hand outstretched, already starting to glow again. She was shaking, repeating the word 'no', and looked like she was about to faint.
Ivy started back towards her, her need to protect the witch greater than anything else. Jenks went to hover around the slumped man, threatening the little cookie-maker. "You got it under control, Jenks?" she called to him. Receiving his affirmative, she turned her attention to Rachel.
The girl's heartbeat was totally uneven, and her face was deathly pale. "Rachel?" she asked cautiously, slightly worried by her still-glowing hand. "Rachel, it's okay," she told her, stopping her hand just short of touching the circle. She lowered herself down so she was level with her eyes.
"Hey," she urged her, trying to catch her eye. Hesitantly, Ivy pressed her hand against the barrier, tensing for the usual shock, but instead the barrier just wavered, nearly coming down, the circle too weak to withstand much pressure.
"Rachel, take a deep breath. Can you do that for me?"
Rachel's desperate gaze locked onto hers, and she held it, hearing Rachel struggle to take a breath. She got one, then another, and slowly she started breathing normally. Her hands stopped glowing, and she stumbled, falling right through her circle and into Ivy's arms.
Rachel's body was shaking, and she pressed her head into Ivy's neck. She let out a sigh of relief. Ivy held her tightly, slowly rocking her back and forth. Rachel started sobbing, and at that precise moment, the man against the fence yelled something. Ivy hunched over Rachel, uselessly trying to shield her from any threat, but the spell wasn't aimed at her.
All the pixies suddenly froze, and the man made a break for it. He got to the street, and then vanished, right before her eyes. "Jenks?" As soon as the man disappeared, the pixies started moving again, the air filling with curses Ivy never could have dreamed up. She turned around, seeing the other one had disappeared as well.
Rachel hadn't reacted during any of this, just crying in Ivy's arms. "Everybody okay?" Ivy called out, trying to soothe the witch.
"That bastard! Yeah, we're fine. But what in Tink's name was that? He froze us!"
Ivy heaved a sigh of relief and stood up, cradling Rachel. The little witch barely reacted, almost asleep. Ivy's guess was that the magic had taken a lot out of her. The magic her body shouldn't have been able to support.
Ceri had explained that it wasn't the lack of knowledge that prevented young witches from successfully doing magic, but the ability to channel and hold it in their bodies. Whoever was coming after Rachel probably knew that now, and they would probably start trying harder after this. But it was time to start fighting back.
"Jenks, I think it's time we call Al."
"What?" he exclaimed. Ivy shifted Rachel in her arms.
"That name the man said, it was demon. We need to stop whoever's doing this, and I think we need Al. He doesn't want anyone else getting Rachel either, remember?"
Jenks just scowled and crossed his arms, and Ivy grabbed the phone and dialed Trent's number.
"Yes, Rachel?" his voice came through.
"Put Ceri on."
"Oh, it's the vampire. Why should I? She's very busy going through-"
"Trent. Put. Her. On." She could hear him sneering at her through the phone.
"If you insist." She heard some shuffling, then Ceri's voice came through.
"Ivy?"
"Ceri, we need you back here. We were attacked again, and this time it almost worked. We need to call Al."
There was a pause. "I'm leaving now."
"Thank you." She hung up and turned to Jenks. "So now we wait."
"Yup." He nodded towards the child in her arms. "We sure she's okay?"
"She seems fine, but we can only be sure after she's awake and mostly coherent again." Ivy's body unconsciously curved around her. "I don't know how this is happening, Jenks. I don't know why." She heard the helplessness in her own voice and bit down on her tongue.
Jenks sighed, no judgment in his tone. "I dunno Ivy," he shook his head, "but we're going to win, you'll see. We always beat the bad guys. It's what we do."