W.I.T.C.H
Chapter 8
Friends in High Places
Balsilide
28 Years Ago
Endarno walks down the street holding a briefcase full of papers in his hand. It was these same papers that probably killed his father. His dad had owned a small, but unsuccessful company, and had owed a very large sum of money at the time of his passing. Although officially ruled an accident, it was widely believed that his death was connected to his debt.
The company then fell to his son, Endarno, who had proved himself quite the businessman. Alone, he had rebuilt the company using his ingenuity, his intelligence and his incredible speaking skills. He had had virtually no help or advice, and was now able to provide for both himself and his mother.
Endarno smiles as he thinks of his mother. In a few weeks, he was going to surprise her. He was going to buy a new house, just for her, so she could be more comfortable. She was not as young as she used to be, and Endarno did not think it right that she still had to cook and clean in such an old, dilapidated house. Endarno's mother was by far the most important person in his life. She was the only one that Endarno had allowed himself to rely on.
He opens the door, and feels his blood run cold. His mother is lying face down, unmoving, in the center of the room. He begins to run towards her, but then stops. There is no sign of breathing. Her skin is pale. Her eyes have glazed over. He can tell she is dead. There is nothing he can do.
For a few seconds, time stands still. For a few seconds, nothing else in the universe is of any importance. And, for a few seconds, he loses control. He destroys the room with his bare hands. He breaks the windows, he smashes the tables, he attacks the walls. They mean nothing to him anymore. Everything important in his life lies in front of him, dead. Nothing else matters. Nothing makes sense. All his work, everything he's done, and once again a loved one is taken from him. He slams his fists until his knuckles bleed. He screams at the sky until his throat is raw. And when he is completely spent, when all the rage and the pain and the anger are gone, he does the only thing he can do. He kneels beside her, and he cries.
Heatherfield
Will's head was fit to burst. Not only was the usual mixture of math, english, science and history that usually floated around after a long day of school present, but party guests and food orders also added to her stress. The first guests were scheduled to show up in an hour, and Will still had to run home and clean, well, everything. And what was that shouting she could hear?
"Hey punk, haven't you heard about the locker tax?"
Uriah. And he was picking on some helpless second grader.
"What locker tax?" The younger kid said, clenching his textbooks.
"A five dollar charge to any odd-numbered lockers." Uriah said with a smirk.
"But I have locker 552." The smaller kid said, pointing the number on his locker.
Uriah looked at the locker and frowned.
"Uh, yeah, but there's also a ten dollar tax on lockers that end with 2." Uriah said.
"But I don't have ten dollars." the kid said, starting to get nervous.
"Well that's too bad." Uriah said, forming a fist.
Will had heard enough.
"Get lost Uriah. Don't you have a rock to crawl under?" She said.
"Mind your own business, Wilma." Uriah said, stressing the last word.
Will noticed the kid had used the distraction to escape.
"Why don't you make me?" Will said, sticking her tongue out.
"Oh, you asked for it." Uriah said advancing on Will.
Will smiled and started to back away. She checked her watch and stopped moving. Uriah got closer and closer until…
WHAM
Suddenly, a door flew open right in front of Uriah and Mr. Collins walked out. Uriah had no time to react and walked right into the open door.
"Ow!" he yelled.
Will smiled. One of the nice things about your mom dating a teacher is that you get to know him pretty well. And Mr. Collins was nothing if not punctual. Every day, without fail, he left his room at 3:28. Will looked at her watch. 3:28 it read. Good old reliable Dean.
"Sorry, did I hit someone… Uriah? What are you doing out here?" Mr. Collins asked.
"Um, nothing." Uriah said, still holding his nose.
"Good. It's time for you to go home."
Uriah glared at Will, and then took off.
"You too, Will." Mr. Collins said. "Is everything ready for tonight?"
"Yep. I trust you're still coming?" Will replied.
"Wouldn't miss it for the world." Mr. Collins said.
The two of them said goodbye, then headed their separate ways. Will was pretty happy with her self. She had defeated evil, kind of, and hadn't had to use any Guardian powers to do so. In fact, she hadn't had to use any Guardian powers for a while now, and that was the way she liked it. She stopped smiling and began to focus as she headed for home. After all, she had a party to plan.
Meridian
TINK SPLOSH
TINK SPLOSH
TINK SPLOSH
Drake and Caleb stood on the tower facing Mr. Jantique's room. The window was about 150 yards away, and gave a clear view of the precise area where Mr. Jantique had died. If an arrow had killed Mr. Jantique, the shooter would have been undoubtedly standing on this tower. However, he wasn't killed by an arrow, he was killed by a dagger. And, as far as anyone knew, it was impossible to throw a dagger that far. Drake and Caleb were now testing that theory. Drake pulled out a dagger similar to the one that had killed Mr. Jantique and prepared to throw it.
"Alright. Go." Caleb said.
Drake took a second to aim, then threw the dagger with all his might. The knife bounced off the wall about ten feet below the window, TINK, and then landed in the water below, SPLOSH.
"It's no use Caleb." Drake said, rubbing his shoulder, "There's no way I can reach the window. No one can."
"What are you guys doing up here?" Julian said, interrupting the two men.
"Trying to clear Vathek." Caleb said, still looking at the window. "Whoever killed Jantique didn't go through the door, and the wall is to vertical to climb without leaving some kind of mark. That only leaves this window."
"But I can't even come close to reaching it with a dagger." Drake said. "And, at the risk of sounding arrogant, if I can't reach it, no one can."
The three men stood and stared at the window.
"What if they didn't throw it?" Julian said. "What if they shot it?"
"Shot it? I've never heard of anything that could shoot a dagger." Drake said.
"No, not on Meridian." Julian replied. "But there is such a thing on Balsilide."
"There is?" Caleb asked.
"Yes." Julian replied. "Didn't you read the briefing?"
"Yeah."
"All of it?"
"Well, maybe not all of it…"
"Very well." Julian said with a sigh. "Balsilidians have been experimenting for years with long range weapons, everything from different types of bows, to the occasional attempt with firearms and balistics. They have been known to shoot all sorts of different objects. Some shoot arrows, some shoot bullets, and a couple shoot daggers."
"They have a device that shoots daggers?" Drake asked. "How come we don't have one of those? My arm's killing me!"
"Balsilide is much more technologically advanced then we are." Julian said. "And this device is rare and probably difficult to obtain."
"Difficult enough for an assassin?" Caleb asked.
"Not a good one." Julian replied.
"So if we think the weapon is Balsilidian…" Drake said.
"Then the shooter probably is too." Caleb finished. "It's not much, but for now it's the best we've got."
"It's also a moot point." said a voice from behind.
The three men spun to find Elyon standing behind them.
"Balsilide has finished their 'investigation'" Elyon said.
"And?"
"They're convinced it's Vathek." Elyon said. "And I can't change their minds."
"But if we tell them our theory…" Julian began.
"Unfortunately, this isn't about evidence or theories anymore, Julian." Elyon said. "The Balsilidians just want someone to blame and Vathek fits the bill."
"But that's ridiculous!" Caleb said. "Did you tell them…?"
"Caleb, I've done everything I possibly can, believe me, but they're not budging." Elyon said. "They're demanding we hand over Vathek to them so he can go to Balsilide to face trial."
"And if we don't?" Caleb asked, clenching his fist.
"We're not going to war over this." Elyon said. "Too many people will get hurt. I won't let it happen. And neither will Vathek."
"But we know it's not Vathek." Julian said. "We all do. And now we're almost certain that the man we do want is on Balsilide."
"Just let us try to fix this." Drake said. "Let us go to Balsilide and find our guy."
"I can't let Meridian troops into Balsilide." Elyon said. "Not without starting a war."
"What if they weren't Meridian troops?" Caleb said.
"You mean the Guardians." Elyon said.
"They could go, investigate, find the killer and bring him back." Caleb said. "And they would be completely independent from us."
"Caleb, you better be sure about this." Elyon said.
"I am."
Elyon thought about it for a moment.
"I can stall for a day. Maybe two." Elyon said. "Will that buy them enough time? Can they do it that quickly?"
"They can do it." Caleb said.
"Caleb…"
"Elyon, they can do it."
Elyon took a deep breath.
"Alright." she said. "Call them in."
Balsilide
23 Years Ago
Endarno frowns, and flips through the pages of a rather large textbook. He sits in the library at the most prestigious learning institute in Balsilide. Last year, he sold his father's old company for a large sum of money, and is now dedicating himself to the study of law.
It was five years ago to the day that his mother had died of a heart attack. While he still misses her daily, it has also made him stronger. He has learned that he doesn't need anyone but himself to be successful, and that there is little he can't accomplish, no matter what the obstacles in his way. He's perfectly okay being alone.
"What you got there?" comes a voice from in front of him.
He looked up from his book and found himself looking at a beautiful girl. She had short, black hair, and the darkest, deepest eyes Endarno had ever seen. Endarno tries to stop his jaw from dropping to the floor at the sight of her.
"Endarno, right?" she asked as she takes the seat across from him.
"Yeah." Endarno said, trying to still sound calm as his heat raced, "How do you…?"
"You sit in front of me in class." She said. "That's Mr. Cordner's homework, right?"
"Yeah." Endarno said, looking down at the book. He tried to say something clever, or funny, but nothing came out.
"Having trouble with it?" She asked.
"Um, well…"
"So was I." She continued, leaning across the desk to take a look at what he had done. "Then one of my friends walked me through it. Want some help?"
"Yeah, I think I would." He said, extending his hand. "I'm Endarno, but I guess you already know that."
"Ha, yeah I guess I do." She said, shaking his hand. "I'm Jezabella, but everyone just calls me Jez."
"Pleased to meet you Jez." Endarno said.
He smiled. Maybe he didn't have to be completely alone.