"Pick up the phone Dave, pick it up," Becky pleaded.
For the second time her call went to voice mail. She shut her phone in irritation and desperation. Her eyes went up to the top floor, barely visible in the dark of the night. She was still looking when Balthazar's car screeched to a halt in front of her. He made a motion to her and she scrambled inside it.
"They haven't come out yet, but Morgana and the rest did," said Becky, "I tried calling Dave, but he hasn't picked up."
"Damn it," swore Balthazar.
His fingers tapped the steering wheel.
"I'm going up there," he said after a moment.
"You can't," Becky said, "If they come out then we'd need to leave immediately. I don't know how to drive this old car."
"Doesn't make any difference-" started Balthazar.
From high above them they heard a crash. Both of them looked up to see pieces of glass rain down from the sky. It was followed by a few chunks of masonry.
"Oh my God," whispered Becky, "Balthazar-"
"I'm on it."
He slammed the door open and looked upwards.
"Hell," he said.
"What is it?" asked Becky, edging towards the door to the car herself.
"Stay in there," Balthazar snapped, throwing himself back in the car, "We need to move. NOW."
Slamming his foot on the accelerator they jerked forward a few feet. Becky hit her lip on the back of the seat in front of them. The taste of blood flooded her mouth as her teeth cut into the tender flesh there. There was a crash behind them and, despite the pain and her surprise, she turned around to see what caused it.
A stone eagle was lying on the ground in several pieces. Dave was sprawled on the sidewalk, dazed but triumphant. Veronica grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the car. He got into the passenger's seat as Veronica got into the seat next to Becky. Balthazar stepped on the accelerator again and they took off.
"Smooth Dave," Balthazar said.
"Hey, it was my first try!"
"Your first try doing what?" demanded Becky.
Dave grinned at her sheepishly through the review mirror.
"I tried animating a stone gargoyle to get us down quickly," he said, "Still ironing a few kinks out on that one."
The grin turned into a frown.
"Are you okay?" he asked, "You're bleeding."
"I'm fine," Becky insisted, "Just bit my lip."
"You're not 'ironing out a few kinks' Dave. You crash landed," Balthazar said.
"The important thing is that I landed," he said, putting on his seat buckle.
"No, the important thing is that you didn't break every bone in your body!" snapped Balthazar.
His eyes flickered to the review mirror.
"Veronica, are you alright?" he asked.
"Shocked, but also impressed," she said, "Your apprentice thinks very fast and rather well under pressure."
"Thank you Veronica!" Dave said .
"Right after he stops panicking for the first two minutes that is."
"I resent that-"
Becky slammed into the wall of the car as another car ran into theirs. They hit the curb and Balthazar struggled to regain control of the vehicle. Veronica was shoved to the side and banged into the door. Balthazar got the car back onto the road after a few minutes but they got bumped forward again. Becky took to bracing herself, even if it was ineffective because she didn't know which direction the next attack would come from.
Next to her Veronica slid from side to side. Suddenly she realized what the problem was.
"You'd best buckle up," Becky said, pulling the seat belt over Veronica's chest and locking it in.
She gave her a nod of thanks before looing out her window.
"What's happening?" Veronica asked.
"Horvath," said Balthazar.
The other car pulled up until it was level with them.
"Dave, change the car," Balthazar ordered.
Dave rolled down the window and smacked the side of the car.
"When you say change the car do you mean-" started Becky.
All around her Becky felt the car lengthen and shift. She didn't know what model the car had changed into, only that it was much faster. They pulled forward, weaving wildly in and out of traffic. She looked back. Horvath's car was still hot on their trail.
"I am speechless."
Finally Horvath's car weaved ahead of theirs. Balthazar turned sharply, but a trail of smoke was coming from the other car. Everything around them was obscured. She vaguely made out the headlights of other cars as they got too close. Feeling sick to her stomach Becky closed her eyes, trying to block out the fact that they could very well crash and die.
Upon opening them again she saw that the smoke had cleared. Instead they were rocketing towards a large mirror with a rippling surface. Up in front Balthazar slammed on the brakes but they spun towards it. She braced herself for the crash but instead the mirror swallowed them whole.
She blinked. All around them signs were reversed and spelt backwards. Becky felt like she'd gone down the rabbit hole.
"What just happened?" asked Dave.
At least she wasn't alone in her confusion this time.
"Hungarian Mirror trap," Balthazar groaned, "Horvath's trying to get me back for earlier."
Balthazar stepped on the accelerator again.
"It's not fatal, not if we drive through our own reflection soon," he said.
"I'm guessing the key word is soon?" asked Dave.
"Exactly."