Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder
Chapter 26 - Far Away
Justin's POV
"Russo...Russo..." Helen searched in her large dust covered book. "Ah, here you are! Russo, Justin. Russo family wizard, and...Elementary school principal..?" She gave me a quizzical glance.
I raised an eyebrow. "It's my career choice."
"Very true, Justin," she sighed, "but it's kind of unusual for a family wizard to take a job in the real world, due to all the free will of magic and all."
"I understand, Helen. But I do like to have a relatively normal life."
"Respect," she finally agreed, holding her hand in the air. "So anyhoo, what can I do you for today?"
I thought to myself for a minute, then made my descision. I bravely explained my plan to her. She raised an eyebrow.
"Is that really what you want to do?" she asked, a hint of surprise in her voice. "I haven't had a request like this since...ever."
"Yes." I declared. "Is it possible?"
"We ususally don't do such a thing.." she began.
"Please, you have to." I pleaded.
"Justin I-"
"Can you at least see if it's possible? For me?" I wiggled my eyebrows flirtatiously. "Helen?"
She giggled her annoying chuckle, which meant I would get my way. "Okay, Justin. I'll look it up and get back to you. Call me a genie; consider your request granted."
xXxXxXxXxXx
In the Lair
"Gosh, Leah, this is a lot of hard work!" Ink informed her, struggling with the words in the spell book as he sat on the red sofa.
"What do you mean? This is a piece of cake!" She replied, looking up from another spell book on the podium.
"Yeah, a piece of cake for a super genius," He reminded her, eyeing the stack of already read books next to her. "I, on the other hand, am still normal for seven."
"Ink, you're anything but normal," she smirked. "But I guess you're right." She sighed, realizing that it was pretty abnormal for a five year old to read at a middle, almost high school level. The more she read, the more her reading level increased. She thought of back when she was home, reading fifth grade books aloud to her mom before being tucked in. She shook it off and groaned, slamming the finished spell book shut.
"There is nothing in here that's useful!" She groaned, laying her head on the podium.
"Why don't we head back to the WOC? We almost got caught yesterday," Ink reminded her.
"Uncle Justin said to stay put until he gets back," she replied.
"He left around five, Lee," he checked his spiderman watch. "It's almost eight-"
"So? That means it's almost six in the wizard world. Dinner's not 'til six thirty. Let's wait five more minutes. Okay?"
"Well, what if Miss Janine's in a good mood for once and decided to make dinner early for a change?"
"What are the odds of that?"
"What are the odds of Justin walking in within the next five minutes?" He argued. Whoosh. The children spun around to see Justin walk through the portal door.
"-Apparently a lot." Ink finished himself.
"Uncle Justin!" Leah exclaimed, hugging him the second he closed the door.
"Hey, kiddo," he smiled.
"What's the deal?" Ink asked curiously.
Justin's smile widened as he explained his plan to the children.
"Now, I can't promise you everything will go according to plan," he explained, sensing their excitement, "But I think it's out only shot."
xXxXxXxXxXx
at the WOC
"Angele, do me a favor and go get Leah and Ink for dinner, they're in your room." Miss Janine asked exhaustedly, struggling to get Trace in his booster seat.
Angele looked up from the tv with an eye roll. "Why can't you do it? I haven't seen this episode!"
"Because I have to get the table ready, serve everyone's meal, pretty much force the food down a grumpy two year old's throat, and wash the dishes when that's done." She snapped. "Would you rather do that?"
Angele sighed, "Fine, whatever." She almost pulled herself up, until she saw Adele enter the room from the kitchen. She slumped back in her seat. "Adele, Miss Janine wants you to go get the freaks from our room."
Janine rolled her hazel eyes and brushed back her black bangs. "What are you watching anyway?" she asked, stepping towards the tv.
"Vampires of Valentine Lane," Angele explained, not looking up from the tv. "It's about a family of vampires that own an unsucessful taco shop who's three teenagers all go to school while trying to pretend they have a normal life."
"Where do they come up with this stuff?" Adele asked, planting herself on the coffee table.
Janine grabbed the remote and clicked the pause button. Before the twins could protest, she replied, "You can finish your show after dinner. Go get Ink and Leah."
Angele let out the most over-dramatic sigh she was capable of. She walked past Janine with a devilish look burning in her eyes.
"Now." She replied.
Angele grabbed her sister by the hair, pulling her out of her seat and down the hall, ignoring the protest. They came to the girls' section, peeking into the room slowly. The room was empty.
"Um, Miss Janine? They're not-" Adele started. Before she could finish her sentence, Ink and Leah rose from the notebook paper on the nightstand, collapsing into the floor. Angele gasped.
"Nevermind! They're-" Adele continued. Her sister elbowed her in the ribcage. She flung open the door.
"Ah-ha!" Angele snapped, making the kids jump in surprise. "You guys escaped the property!"
"Wait 'til Miss Janine hears about this!" Adele added evily.
"Wait! Guys! It's not what it looks like!-" Leah tried to explain, but it was too late. The twins took off down the hall, screaming bloody murder.
"Oh, no." Ink breathed.
Leah squeezed her eyes shut, using every ounce of her power. We're in trouble! Emergency! Mommy, please hurry!
xXxXxXxXxXx
"Knock knock!" Alex called as she walked into her parents' home, not even bothering to knock. After all, it was still home to her, so why even? She laughed at her own minor contradiction. Mason rolled his eyes and smiled at her childlike sense of humor. Alex gave him a smirk and took his hand.
"Hello, mijah," Theresa smiled, looking up from her laptop. She closed it slightly and set it on the coffee table. "What's got you so excited?"
"Do you know what tomorrow is?" she nearly sang, her eyes shining like the stars.
Theresa pulled out her phone. "June twenty-seventh?"
"No! It's-" she paused, "Well it is, but that's not what I meant."
"Then don't keep us in suspense, what is it?" Jerry asked from the dining room table, where he was clearing off the dishes from dinner.
"Mason, do you want to tell them?" Alex asked with a smile.
"You go ahead, love." He smiled back, equally excited.
"Alrighty," she grinned. "Tomorrow's-"
"HOLD IT HOLD IT HOLD EVERYTHING!" Max wailed, nearly dragging Hailey down the stairs with him. He dove over the couch like a penguin sliding down a hill, attacking the remote when he found it; leaving him face first in the floor with his feet on the back of the couch. Hailey chose a simpler route by dashing around the couch as he scrambled back into his seat.
"Hurry! Hurry! We're gonna miss it!" Hailey yelped, elbowing him impatiently.
"I'm going! I'm going!" He yelped back, eyes glued to the tv.
"What's going on?" Theresa demanded.
"There's one hundred and four days of summer vacation, and school comes along just to end it.." the television sang.
Alex folded her arms. "You interrupted a huge announcement to watch Phineas and Ferb?"
"It's a new one!" Max explained. He and Hailey both continued to belt out the song. Theresa, sitting next to them, winced and moved herself and the pink computer to the reclining chair.
"Max? You have a tv in your room." Jerry reminded him.
"It's not HD in there," Hailey explained, as glued to the tube as Max.
"Max, we're kind of in the middle of someth-" Mason started.
"Shhhhhhh!" the couple exclaimed, putting their fingers over their lips. They turned back to their show.
"Max has finally met his perfect match." Alex whispered to Mason. He chuckled and wrapped his arm around her waist.
"As you were saying, Alex?" Theresa asked, ignoring Hailey and Max laughing hysterically at the cartoon.
Also ignoring them, Alex smiled a mile wide. "It's been a whole month!"
Theresa's face lit up the same way. Jerry was confused. "What does that mean?" He asked.
Mason squeezed her hand. She squeezed his back. "Leah's coming home tomorrow!"
Before anyone had a chance to reply, Alex's smile faded. Her eyes lost their shine. Her whole body seemed to freeze.
"Mijah? What's the matter?" Theresa asked concerningly.
Mason glanced at her in surprise. He squeezed her hand. She didn't squeeze back. "Alex? What happened?"
"It's Leah." Were the only words able to force through her lips. Alex frantically dashed to her father's side. "Dad, the carpet can be driven by anyone, right?"
He scratched his head in thought. "Um, yeah, I guess. If by that you mean there's a magic engine that makes it go,-"
"So, even a certain mortal could drive it, without a problem?" her hands instantly started shaking.
"Yes, but I-" Alex cut him off and sped frantically down the stairs into the garage, easily dodging the low pipe on the stairs. Mason dashed after her. She glanced around the room, full-on panic mode.
"Alex, love, are you sure you're not jumping to conclusions too soon? You do that a lot, you know." Mason watched curiously as Alex tore through the dusty boxes in the floor.
"Leah's in trouble! I can feel it." she spotted an old rug rolled up on top of the shelf. She jumped, but it was quite out of reach. "I just have to go. I need to make sure she's okay." she put one foot on one of the shelves, kicking some old books into the floor. Mason could sense her fear.
"Alex, what exactly do you plan on doing?" Mason asked cautiously.
She stepped on the next shelf and reached for the carpet; it was still too far. "Easy, I'm.." she froze and realized that she hadn't even thought about what she would do when she arrived. "I'll think of something. I just have to get over there. Immediately."
Mason sighed. "Well then I'm-" his response was interrupted by Alex's foot slipping on a potion she knocked over. Her instant reflex from slipping was to let go with her hands. She screamed and squeezed her eyes shut. She didn't feel herself hit the ground. She reopened her eyes, to see that she was in Mason's arms.
"I'm coming with you." he declared, setting her down gently.
"Are you sure, Mason? Flying carpets are kind of hazardous to someone who's never been in one. Not to mention how much trouble we'd be in if they caught both of us-"
He pulled her back into his arms and cut her off by pressing his lips against hers. It took her by surprise, but she didn't mind at all. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back.
He pulled away and smiled. "I don't care. I'm coming. Whatever it takes to keep my family safe, I'll do. She's my daughter too, so we're in this together."
She smiled too. "Forever."
"And ever." he added.
She backed away and pulled a cardboard box out from under a dusty table. "Well, we're gonna need these." she handed him a helmet and a life jacket. He gave her a funny look, but put them both on as Alex climbed back up the shelf and pulled down the carpet.
Mason watched cautiously as she unrolled it and pressed a button from underneath. The dusty carpet went stiff and levitated up to their level. Alex grinned and climbed on one side.
"Okay, lean right to go right, left to go left, pull back to go down- no, pull back is up, and lean down to go down. Got it." she clutched the end of the carpet, then noticed Mason, who was still standing on the other side. "Mason? You coming?"
He examined around the carpet with caution. "Are you sure you know how to drive this thing?"
Alex rolled her eyes. "Of course I do! Dad and Justin taught me."
"Darling, please take into consideration that you learned nearly ten years ago."
She thought for a minute. "Wow. I learned how to fly a magic carpet ten years ago. We're getting old, dude." she shuddered at the thought of getting any older. "Anyway, it's now or never. Our baby needs us!"
Mason sighed, "For Leah." he carefully climbed next to her. She slightly pulled up on the edge. The carpet pointed up.
"Are you sure-" he started. Alex didn't let him finish. She leaned forward, and the carpet carried them away into the night sky, super speed.
Jerry and Max dashed down the stairs. "Wait! Guys!-" Jerry called after them, but he was too late. He heard their screams echo off the buildings. "This isn't good, this isn't good." he paced in circle, unsure of what to do next.
Max tapped his father's shoulder. "Don't you think we should've told them that the breaks are broken before they took off?" he asked curiously.
Jerry sighed. "Well all we can do now is hope for the best."
Dun dun nunnnnnn! What's gonna happen next? 27 coming sooooooon! :)
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