I'm not a witch. I'm not a witch. I'm not a witch.
The phrase ran through my mind as a sinister chant. How could I be one? No one in my family was a witch. Those types of powers ran in the family. You inherited them and it didn't often skip a generation. Which meant that my mother would have had magic. Which she didn't. She never would have put up with all the crap in her life if she had.
So why did they keep insisting that I had magic? If that wasn't bad enough, Iris kept going on about how my magic was more powerful than her's. If that were true, I'd have kicked their butts a long time ago. The Ingreman family had a few screws loose.
I was brought up to the top floor of the castle. Colton took great pleasure in tying me to a chair, making sure the ropes were bound tightly against my wrists. He wasn't satisfied until I grimaced in pain. I wasn't sure what I'd done to make him hate me so much. Every time he walked past me as he paced the room, he gave me a look that made my skin crawl. Like he wanted to tear me apart limb from limb. My expression remained stony. I refused to let him see how terrified I actually was.
Isis leaned against the wall, watching me. Her expression was hard to read. She wasn't smiling like she normally was, yet she didn't look angry like her brother. There was something else there, something I couldn't place. Knowing Isis though it wasn't good.
Iris on the other hand had taken a chair and placed it directly in front of me. She perched elegantly on the edge of it, crossed her legs and stared at me with an amused grin. "You should have chosen to join our side, Taryn. I'm afraid you won't like the alternative quite as much."
"Anything is better than working with you." I spat. "Besides, what's the worst you could do to me?"
"You must have really wiped her memory good." Colton laughed. His english sucked. I had my doubts the guy had ever been to school in his life. He sorta gave off that 'I have no clue about anything' vibe. "If her mind was anywhere near normal, she'd be afraid."
"Shut up, Colton." Iris said smoothly, not bothering to look up at her brother. "I had reasons behind my actions. If she were to have had all of her memories, we would all have been dead. After all, she was just beginning to understand her newfound magic."
"I'm telling you, I don't have magic." I let my head fall back in exasperation and laughed without amusement. "You people don't seem to get it. You're making a huge mistake here." Still, they'd all talked about my memory being lost which meant it was my head that had been tampered with. Maybe those people I'd met throughout the castle were actually telling the truth. It would explain why they all knew my real name and why they all were so upset when I left. That made me mad. First she screws up my life and now she's messing with my mind too? That's where I drew the line.
If they really had tampered with my memory, would that mean that I might actually have some sort of magic in me? It didn't make any sense, and was completely illogical. Yet Iris had seemed almost frightened at the thought of facing me and going head to head with magic. There was just no way I could be stronger than her though . . . right? I mean, that's just crazy.
"Oh my dear," Iris purred, "you have magic. Powerful magic. It is true I am not aware of where this power has come from, yet you possess a great deal of it. I simply can not allow you to gain complete control over it. Doing so may cause damage to an already fragile idea."
"So what exactly is it that you're planning to do with me?"
Iris' grin was cold and dangerous. "Extracting the magic from a witch can be deadly. Most don't survive the process. Those who do are maimed for life. I'm willing to take my chances with you. I will warn you that the process will involve a bit of pain."
"A bit?" Colton laughed. "The last witch you took magic from screamed so loud she literally cracked a window. That's gotta be some major pain."
"Not willing! Not willing! I am so not willing!" I still wasn't sure what she meant by all of that, but I wasn't thrilled about the pain or the imminent death.
"I do hope you have all your affairs in order, Taryn. I fear you won't be around much longer." She stood and I fought against the ropes that bound me to the chair. For once, I wasn't worried about hiding my fear. Tears clouded my vision as she approached. This was definitely not going to end well for me.
After August had found himself back on the other side of the Wonderland, he'd immediately started making his way back toward the castle. Taryn wouldn't have waited around for him once he disappeared. He would know because once he had taken a bite of that biscuit and had made the jump, he'd gotten his memory back. August wanted to kick himself for ever forgetting Taryn. Especially when she had needed him the most. He was officially the world's worst boyfriend.
Getting to the castle had been fairly easy. Too easy actually. It allowed him to walk right up to it without taking some weird roundabout way like the last time. That wasn't a good sign.
Again, August wondered how Taryn had even gotten herself stuck back inside the curse. Hadn't they destroyed it the first time? There should have been nothing left to come back to. He wanted to believe that she'd been kidnapped or something. Brought here against her will. But he knew her better. More than likely she'd found out about this new curse and all the characters trapped inside and in a spurt of heroism and rage, she'd jumped back in without a second thought for her own life. Now she was stuck and it was up to August to free her . . . again. He loved her more than anything, but she could still get under his skin. Why couldn't she at least try to avoid putting herself in any unnecessary danger? She was going to succeed in giving him a heart attack one of these times.
August was trying to decide where to begin looking now that he'd reached the castle when the screaming started. The color drained from his face and his heart skipped a few beats. Taryn.
Without another thought or even a second glance at the confused nights, he barreled through the front doors. His vision tunneled as he followed the sound of Taryn's agonized screams. What were they doing to her? Whoever it was, was going regret ever even thinking about hurting her.
Somewhere along the way August met up with Dixie who'd also heard Taryn's screaming. He wasn't surprised to see her there. If all the other characters had returned she would have too. That could have been part of the reason Taryn had come in the first place.
They also met up with another guy. August didn't know who he was, but he said his name was Chord and he seemed to know Taryn. Chord was just has concerned for her as the rest of them so August decided to let him stick around. They were going to need all the help they could get.
They followed Taryn's screaming up to the top floor when she suddenly stopped. The air around them turned cold. August could only fear the worst. Dixie laid a hand on his shoulder and nodded toward the only door on the floor. Taryn had to be behind it.
August didn't hesitate. He burst through the door, only it wasn't exactly what he was expecting. The room was empty. At least, that's the way it appeared to be at first. He turned back to the other two who looked just as confused as he was, but when he turned back around four people who hadn't been there before had suddenly appeared. One of them was Taryn. She was slumped forward in a chair, her hands bound tightly behind her back. She was unconscious.
Isis' eyes grew wide and she disappeared in an explosion of sparks as soon as she saw the three of them enter. Colton was too busy laughing at Taryn's unconscious body to notice us. The other lady in the room watched us with amusement. There was no shock on her face. She'd been expecting them.
"Welcome friends!" The lady greeted. "I must say, I was worried you would show up before the process was over. Your timing really is impeccable. We've only just finished. If you hurry, you might even be able to save her life!"
Colton turned on the woman in anger. "You told us we'd be taking her along with us. I was looking forward to spending some more time with my daughter."
The lady rolled her eyes. "She's not of any use to us now. Besides, in her condition she won't last another day. Honestly it's not even worth our trouble."
Colton clenched his fists at his side. "You said she wouldn't have to die."
"Why does it matter to you anyway? You don't even like the girl."
"Look, I was robbed of my fun the last time, I won't be robbed again."
"Forget it, you can keep the girl," The lady sighed in exasperation, "but I make no promises. If she dies it won't be my fault."
Colton looked like a kid who'd just won a prize at the fair. "I knew you'd come around." He knelt down and untied the ropes from around Taryn's wrists. Without the ropes to keep her up, she fell forward onto the floor, landing on her face. In one swift movement, Colton lifted her up and draped her limp body over his shoulder.
"No one is taking her anywhere." August ground out through gritted teeth stepping forward threateningly.
The lady laughed. "You sound so sure of that. It's adorable that you think you could stop us. Colton, isn't that adorable?"
This lady was nuts. If she thought she was going to get away with stealing Taryn than she had another thing coming. August wasn't going to let them take her. Over his dead body. Which might actually happen if he did anything stupid, but that didn't stop him. He'd do anything for Taryn, even give his own life.
Dixie screamed in frustration, surprising both August and Chord. She marched straight up to the lady and waved her finger in her face. "Iris so help me I will tear you limb from limb if you dare to so much as think about taking Taryn. I'm sick of you and your games. This entire thing has been a ruse to lure Taryn in so you could steal her power, wasn't it? Well congratulations, you've succeeded. Now give us our friend back before we unleash hell on all of you consecutively."
Chord leaned over and whispered, "Remind me never to get on Dixie's bad side."
"No kidding." August agreed with a nod.
The lady, whom Dixie had called Iris, threw her head back and laughed. "You're going to release hell on us? Oh, dear, that was pure gold. Honestly, you should consider a future in comedy. You truly are a natural." She took a deep breath to compose herself. "Despite your pathetic threats, we will be taking Taryn with us. I simply have no desire to deal with a whining Colton. A happy Colton is bad enough. As for the rest of you, the curse will be destroyed. It has served its purpose well. As you said before, we got what we came for. There's no need to keep it around any longer. Per Taryn's request, we shall allow each of the characters to return to their normal lives as if nothing has happened. I am a woman of my word after all."
"How noble of you," Colton groaned, "now let's get out of here. This kid is dead weight over here."
Iris sighed and rolled her eyes. "Very well then. Have a safe journey back to your boring realities. Honestly, you would have thought they'd be a bit more grateful. I pulled them out of their mundane lives to live out an exciting one here. So many people dream of living out a fairy tale. You're living out thousands of people's dreams and you're complaining." She shook her head in disappointment. "Children these days will never be grateful for anything."
August couldn't move. He was rooted to the spot as if his shoes had been glued to the floor. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't move. He watched helplessly as Iris turned to Colton and snapped her fingers. Together they faded from view, taking Taryn with them.
August wanted to scream. It couldn't end like this. They'd finally been happy, living out normal lives together. He, Dixie and Taryn had become a family. He wasn't going to let that just fade away.
Dixie screamed at Taryn, hoping for a miracle that maybe she would hear. Chord looked broken. He fell to his knees and stared blankly at the place where Colton had stood holding Taryn's body. She'd looked so broken and close to death. If there was one thing August could count on it was that Colton would want Taryn alive. He was sick like that. Which meant that they still had a chance to save her. That thought alone was the only thing keeping August from falling apart.
"Now what?" Dixie spun to face August with tears streaming down her cheeks. "We can't just let them get away."
August set his jaw. "We won't. Taryn finished what she came here to do. Everyone is going home to their families." Even then the world was beginning to fade as they were being transported back to the real world. "She saved everyone and now it's our turn to save her. There is no way we're going to just give up. If Iris thinks she can get away with this, she really must be delusional."
August knelt down next to Chord who was still in shock. He still wasn't sure who the guy was but he knew Chord was on their side. August offered his hand to the boy. Chord blinked a few times then took his offered hand. August helped him up and as the last of the room faded away, quickly told Chord where he could find him.
"Bring anyone else you might think will help us. If we're going to save her, we're going to need all the help we can get."
Chord nodded his understanding and finally smiled. "We're coming for you, Taryn."
August closed his eyes. "Stay strong just a little while longer. I'm coming."
Another chapter in Taryn's story comes to a close! It's really kinda bittersweet. I never know how to feel after closing out a story. There will definately be a third coming if y'all want it :) Let me know! Thank you to everyone who stuck with me through it all. I love you all! You're the best!