Together, Sean and Emma burst into the kitchen and ran into the living room; it appeared to be unchanged. Manny was in Jay's arms, not even a stir.

Then Emma gasped, remembering they left the book downstairs, "The Book," she ran downstairs.

Jay and Manny woke up by the loud noises made by their friends, "I'm going to go check on Lib and JT." Sean told her, insisting to himself it was okay, and they were just being paranoid but he jogged up the stairs rather fast

Jay had sat up slowly, pulling off the blanket but trying not to bother Manny but she was already awake. "What's going on?" she yawned.

(((*))

Jay and Manny had run behind Sean to stop right in the doorway where he stood. The room seemed untouched too, just like the living room before, only the window was open

Liberty and Jt laid under the covers in the bed, but, why would they leave the window open in October?

Manny pulled her sweater closer around her as Emma finally jogged up the stairs and slowed down when she saw her friends' hesitate at the room Liberty and Jt were in.

"The books gone." Emma whispered, and their heads turned, catching her look of horror.

And where was Binx?

. "I'm telling you…something's weird." whispered Sean, eyeing where their friends bodies laid but saw no heads, just lumps.

He knew that trick. He strode toward the bed. "JT! Wake up!"

Pulling the covers off of the lumps on the bed, Sean was startled when it revealed not Jt, or Liberty, but Sarah Sanderson. "Trick or treat!" she shrieked and giggled wildly as Sean jumped back, his heart in his throat.

The doors to the double closet slid back to reveal the other witches, and Jay stood protectively in front of Manny and Emma

Emma's eyes widened to see what the had. "Looking for this?" Winifred held up her spell book, and then gestured to JT held tight in Mary's grip, her hand covering his mouth preventing him from yelling out.

Liberty was knocked unconscious in the closet.

"We were gonna take the girl," Mary says, while holding the struggling JT, "But this one bit me, and he seems more immature." she pointed to the closet at Liberty, "She spoke too much and he's easier to carry." she giggled a bit with her sisters.

"Let him go!" Manny cried.

"Binx!" Emma yelled, as Mary held up her right hand containing a burlap sack. There was no movement, but Sean too was certain that Binx was trapped inside.

Sean lunged toward the dresser hoping to get his hands on something useful, anything he could use as a weapon. Winifred opened the book and a ball of green energy shot out. It was even more concentrated than the power the witch had used on him earlier. The pulse hit Sean so hard it threw him across the room and into the wall with Emma's scream being the last thing he heard

Darkness engulfed Sean, but it wasn't as black as the despair sitting deep in his chest.

Emma! NEed.. ..Emma...

An indeterminate amount of time later, Manny was at Sean's side urging him to move and pulling him into an upright position. "Are you okay?"

Sean pushed her hands aside after fluttering his eyes open then widening them. "Where's Emma?"

Manny was slow to respond with tears in her eyes and Sean's heart sank. Behind Manny, stood Jt, now okay, but Emma gone..and Jay too?

Liberty came over and together, her and Manny got Sean to his feet. He rubbed his face and blinked to clear his vision because he was still seeing stars. But it turned out there was nothing wrong with his vision, he actually was seeing stars; the witches had literally blown the roof off when making their escape with a kidnapped Emma and Jay.

"How'd they get them?" angered Sean and Manny jumped, crying harder. "How could you just let them take her!?"

"Can't you see we are ALL scared, Sean!?" Liberty snapped back at him. "It wasn't our faults. Emma gave herself up for Jt and since you were knocked out, Jay went to help her, getting himself kidnapped!"

Sean looked bewildered, and paced the room as Jt backed up before he accidentally got punched or something.

Sean stopped at the edge of the broken house and looked out into the street. For some reason, none of the neighbors were responding to the explosion it seemed; that was weird but not Sean's priority. Emma was.

An eerie, lilting melody carried on the air to where Sean was standing and now Manny too, who curiously stepped beside him.

"Come little children, the times come to play. Intoo our garden of magic''

It was Sarah – she was singing. No. Summoning.

"Sean." Manny said, frightfully, and he turned to see what she meant to see Liberty and Jt now looking almost hypnotized.

"Why is it working on them and not us?" Sean asked her.

"We know not to listen to it." Manny reminded him, "We should follow them, they'll lead us to Jay and Emma."

Sean nodded, happy with a plan now, and followed their friends who were following the summoning.

((***))

One by one, doors up and down the block opened and neighborhood children in their pajamas stumbled out into the street. They seemed about as animated as Billy Butcherson and were unresponsive when Sean shouted out trying to warn them not to listen.

Sean didn't have to worry about being hypnotized, he was too worried and scared, and angry. Manny too was worried, but covered her ears just in case. They lost Liberty and Jt in the crowd of summoning children, but it was one big crowd so they knew to just follow it.

Sean let Manny keep her hand on the back of his arm to keep them from splitting up. They couldn't stand to lose another friend.

Beside him, Manny suddenly gasped and took her hands off her ears. "I figured it out!" Sean gave her a wierd look, so she explained, "When you were unconscious Winfred said 'The candle's magic is almost spent. Dawn approaches', then she fled with Emma and Jay."

"Tell me something that's going to make me feel better." Sean growled.

"The Black Flame Candle brought them back only for this one Halloween night. Unless they can steal the lives of children, so when the sun comes up they're dust!"

Sean looked out into the street where dozens of children shuffled forward. All of them were walking toward their deaths unless they could stop the witches. He shook his head again, "How can we make the sun come up?"

Sean thought back over the events of the night. More than once ingenuity and twentieth century technology had bested the witches. It was time to manufacture a miracle.

He turned to make sure Manny was on board with him. "Let's go. I have an idea."

Sean was glad Manny didn't bat an eyelash as he hotwired and stole a neighbor's car. Emma would of freaked, but he needed to do anything he could to save her. She was the only thing that made him truly happy.

They sped, and it was a little hard with the crowd of zombie children but Sean finally rolled into the driveway of the Sanderson house and quietly came to a stop. He jumped out of the driver's seat and Manny took up her position. Sean crouched and snuck up to the window near the rear of the porch, trying to get a lay of the land and see where the witches were positioned. He could hear Winifred talking, she was awfully proud of herself.

"Soon the lives of all of thy friends will be mine and I shall be young and beautiful forever!"

"It doesn't matter how young or old you are, you sold your soul! You're the ugliest thing that ever lived, and you know it!" Hearing Emma's voice as she argued with the witch was such a relief that Sean had to steady himself against the wall.

"You'll die first," Winifred growled. The threat put steel in Sean's spine, and he headed for the door.

"No! Take me instead!" Jay's voice bellowed, clearly protecting Emma for his best friend. Sean could never explain to anyone why Jay Hogart was his best friend, but this was why. Deep down, he was a good guy.

"Fine! The potion is ready. Open his mouth!" Winifred ordered.

"Jay, Don't drink it!" Binx shouted out. Hearing the cat's voice was a relief to Sean as well. They were all okay, he just needed to save them; NOW.

Sean passed by the window closest to the door. Mary and Sarah had closed in on Jay who was tied to the chair where Emily Binx died many years ago.

Suddenly Mary cried out, "He bit me!" and Sarah was hopping around in pain from a kick that connected with her shin from Emma when she tried to go at her next. Winifred grabbed Emma madly, but Sean's biggest concern was the ladle full of glowing, green potion that Winifred was trying to get past Emma's tightly closed lips.

What would it do to her?!

Sean kicked the front door open, "HEY!" he barked.

The witches looked up in alarm. Emma was relieved, but Jay kept his mouth shut. Sean was strong, but with the book now, the witches were stronger.

"You!" Winifred yelled. "You have no power here you fool!" She hadn't stopped trying to push the potion on Emma, and Mary had moved behind the chair to hold her head steady. Emma whimpered and shut her eyes, trying to turn her head.

"Maybe not," Sean yelled, trying to engage Winifred. "But there's a power greater than your magic…and that's knowledge."

Sean could tell he was getting Winifred's attention. Knowledge was her strength and she prided herself on knowing more than everyone around her. But it wasn't enough to take her focus off of Emma.

In desperation, Sean resorted to taunting. "There's one thing I know that you don't!"

He let it hang there praying that Winifred would take the bait. She stood up straight, bristling with irritation – finally, her focus was on Sean and not Emma. "And what's that?" she demanded, "Dude?" her sisters laughed out loud. .

Sean flashed a signal to Manny behind his back. "Daylight Savings Time!"

The witches looked confused, and then the room was flooded with pink light from the east. Both Sarah and Mary shrieked in alarm and ran toward Winifred.

"THE SUN!"

"IT HURTS!"

The three of them stared in horror out the window as they backed away from the cauldron toward the shadows in the rear of the room. Sean rushed forward and slipped a utility knife from his jeans' pocket. He cleanly sliced through the ropes binding Emma. Emma didn't waste a moment; she jumped out of the chair toward the burlap sack hanging uncomfortably close to the fire where Binx was

With Binx in hand, and Sean now untying Jay, they ran for the door. Sean turned before exiting and delivered a solid kick to the cauldron spilling the noxious green potion across the ancient, wooden floorboards. The red-headed witch watched with hatred in her eyes even as she pulled her huddled, screaming sisters closer to hide from the light.

"NOOoooo!"

Sean led them to the car where Manny jumped out of and into Jay's arm. He sighed in relief too, nuzzling her neck and pulling her into his arms tighter. Meanwhile, Sean ran around the front of the car and peeled the red gels off of the headlights and Emma paused beside him, raising her eyebrows.

"I'm impressed." he only MADE it LOOK like the sun was coming up. He even fooled her.

"I'm smart too, you know?" he teased, grabbing her hand and running back into the car, he in driver seat again, Jay up front too and girls in the back.

The drive back to town was a nightmare in slow motion. The spellbound children of Salem had made their way nearly to the witch's lair. Sean had to weave around them on the road knowing all the while that Winifred would soon see through his trick and would soon be after them. At least he had destroyed the potion so none of the potential victims was actually in danger.

"Are they following us?" Jay asked intently.

Sean picked up speed as they cleared the main group of children heading toward the house. He tried to keep his eyes on the road while watching the rear view mirror.

Emma tried to look out the window, and looked up at the sky. "No."

"Good." Manny sighed beside her.

Upfront, "Don't get too comfortable yet." Jay muttered.

Without warning, Winifred swooped down on the driver's side of the car and smashed the back window spraying Manny and Emma with broken glass. The guys looked back in terror and back at another, Sean instinctively swerved to the right as Jay yelled at Winifred, "Bitch!"

Sean swerved the car back in his lane. Winifred swooped in again reaching for Emma in the backseat since the window by her side was now broken. Her and Manny screamed and Manny held onto Emma as tight as she could as the witch was trying to yank her out of the car.

Sean rolled down his window until he could reach out and grasp the end of Winifred's broomstick. He pulled her forward and landed a very satisfactory punch on her jaw. She lost her equilibrium and careened out of control into the trees.

Jay cheered, but Sean did not share his elation. "Stay down, guys!" both Manny and Emma listening, bending down into the seats.

Their time was limited before Winifred and the other two regrouped. Driving around until dawn actually arrived wasn't a realistic option. Sean had an idea, they needed to go to a place where they had an advantage against the witches.

Sean headed back toward the cemetery.

With a squeal of breaks Sean stopped the car as close to the wrought-iron cemetery gates as possible. Binx shouted, "Hurry! Hurry!" as Sean barked, "Go! Go! Go!"

Binx leaped through the bars and took the lead. Jay and the girls were hot on his heels. Sean grabbed the bag of supplies and made sure the cemetery gate was shut firmly behind them. He turned at top speed hastening to join the others on the path toward the little hill when he crashed into Billy Butcherson and bounced off of him, landing on his ass.

Jesus Christ! I forgot about the zombie!

Before he could get up and run, Sean could feel the iron gate against his back - nowhere to go.

"Cam!" Jay was the only one who noticed and held back. The girls were trying to keep up with Binx.

"Run, Just Run!"

Sean fumbled into his pocket and pulled out his utility knife. It seemed a pitiful weapon against such a large foe, but it was all he had. Sean climbed to his feet and held the knife to be ready. If he was lucky he'd get one good shot in.

The zombie swung at Sean. He was having trouble coordinating his limbs. It was his strength that made him dangerous. If Sean could just manage to duck past him, maybe he'd have a chance.

"Billy!"

Sean jumped and turned to look at the voice shouting practically in his ear and lost the upper hand. Billy grabbed the wrist holding the knife, and then turned and pulled Sean against his chest. Sean fought to keep possession of the knife but was no match against the zombie's superior strength.

Winifred shouted orders as she hovered above the sidewalk outside the cemetery on her broom. "Billy! Listen to me! Kill him if you must, just bring me those young girls. I want to steal the life out of them, PERSONALLY!"

Seans eyes widened and he struggled harder, but the zombie pinned both of his hands with his left arm. The knife in Billy's right hand came closer and closer to Sean's face.

"And put some wiggle in it you putrid, festering bag of bones!"

Suddenl, Billy put the blade up against the stitches on his lips. One by one he cut through the bindings as Winifred harangued him.

"Don't dawdle! Come along now! Kill him…do it now!"

Billy's mouth popped open with a wheeze and his jaw creaked and snapped. Ancient moths flew out of an unexpected escape hatch. Sean's eyes watered and he coughed at the stench.

Billy shouts up at the witches, "Wench!"

Winifred looks surprised.

" Trollop! You buck tooth, mouth rind, firefly from Hell!"

While Winifred shrieks in outrage, noticing now Billy was not on her side, Sean had to grin, but cringe again when Billy breathed upon him again, "I've waited centuries to say that."

"Say what you want, just don't breath on me." Sean begged.

Winifred snaps, "Billy! I killed you once. I shall kill you again you maggotly mouth peasant. Hang on to your head!"

She and her sisters fly off.

Not knowing what they are up to, Billy and Sean get going as fast as they can to the little hill where his friends and girlfriend went running. When they meet up with them, Emma looks ecstatic since being so scared when Jay said Sean got held back. He never explained why, but suddenly the zombie was behind Sean and she shrieked and Manny grabbed a big branch to hit him with. Billy even yelped.

"He's a good zombie! He's on our side." Sean assured, and chuckled a bit, pulling Emma into his arms.

((*))

Author note: End of this chapter. More reviews please for more chapters.