Spellbound

Chapter 74

I want to apologize for the delay and to thank each of you for reading, reviewing, and making this story one of your favorites. I hope that each of you had a great holiday.

Sookie and Claudette stood outside of Maggie's house and looked up at the girl's bedroom window. The lace curtains fluttered lightly in the autumn breeze. They closed their eyes and inhaled as the sweet yet faint scent wafted through the air.

"She's part fae," Sookie said as she opened her eyes; still staring up at the girl's bedroom window.

Claudette nodded as she turned to face her cousin. "Her scent is strong. She's more fae than human but there's something else here too. I just can't pinpoint it." Frowning she asked, "Is it magic? Is she surrounded by magic?"

Sookie turned to look at her cousin as she nodded. "It smells like it. Someone is trying to keep this girl safe. What puzzles me is that she's still here. Why didn't they take her when they took the others? What's so special about her that she's still at home?"

Claudette shrugged. "I haven't the foggiest idea. There's only one way to find out," she said as she began walking towards the house. She nodded her approval as they walked up the cobblestone walkway. "Beautiful home, isn't it?"

Sookie had to agree. The three story ranch style home was quite beautiful. It had a huge front lawn. Plush green bushes aligned the cobblestone driveway. Tulips were displayed throughout the front yard. There were benches that surrounded a birdbath. It looked like a very comforting and welcoming home but Sookie could see that it used to be a comforting and welcoming home. It hasn't been comforting and welcoming in a very long time; especially not for Maggie.

Before Claudette could knock on the door, Sookie placed her hand on her cousin's arm. "You know the roles that we are to play. Please, behave yourself and try not to go overboard."

Claudette did all that she could to look insulted. She batted her eyelashes and said, "I am always on my best behavior. When am I not on my best behavior?"

Sookie rolled her eyes and released her cousin's arm. She looked at her arm and asked, "How much time do you think we have?"

Claudette giggled as she knocked on the door. "That's why I love you. You don't believe in beating around the bush."

Before Sookie could reply, an elderly lady answered the door. She was wiping her hands on her apron. Her hair was piled high upon her head and she was dressed like a wife from the late 60s. She smiled at the girls and said, "Hi. How may I help you today?"

Claudette chewed and snapped her gum. "Hi, Mrs. Brady," she said. "We're here to see Maggie."

"Yeah," Sookie said. "She hasn't been in school in awhile so we've decided to see how she's doing. There are so many rumors going around about her being sick so we decided to pay her a visit ... if she's not sick and all."

Claudette agreed. "With the missing girls and all that's going on, we just wanted to make sure that she's okay. Is she okay? I know that a lot of girls don't come out after dark anymore."

Sookie nodded head and her blonde ponytail bobbed up and down. "My parents don't let me out after dark anymore either. They are so afraid and all with those missing girls, ya know?"

Claudette began to giggle. "I think it's because they're old."

Sookie nodded in agreement.

Mrs. Brady didn't seem to hear or notice anything the girls said. She looked at the girls with concern in her eyes. "Your parents are right." That's when she motioned for the girls to come inside. She led them to the living room and offered them seats on the couch as she sat in the wingback chair. "I can understand what and how your parents are feeling. It's such a sad state of affairs when your children aren't safe anywhere anymore."

Sookie and Claudette agreed with her; nodding heads and bobbing ponytails.

Mrs. Brady asked, "What are your names again?"

"I'm Sookie and this is my best friend, Claudette," Sookie said. "We take Human Anatomy with Maggie. We used to take the class at night but we take it during the daytime now. Did you know that they have let a lot of us girls change our night classes to day classes. Isn't that sweet?"

Claudette looked and Sookie and said, "You bet your sweet ass it is." They high fived each other and winked at Mrs. Brady.

Mrs. Brady blushed. "I'm happy for you girls."

"Well, what about Maggie? May we see her?" Claudette asked. "As we said, she hasn't been to school and we'd like to see her."

Mrs. Brady looked down at the hands that were dry 15 minutes ago as she continued to wipe them on her apron. "I would like to see her too. She doesn't come out of her room anymore. She doesn't really do much of anything anymore."

Sookie scooted to edge of her seat. "What do you mean? Is she as sick as people say she is?"

"No," Mrs. Brady said. "She's not sick. She has never been sick a single day in her life. She just won't come down. She's just been acting strangely since those girls went missing. They were her friends, you know."

"Yes, ma'am," Claudette said. "They were our friends too. They were almost like family to us."

Mrs. Brady cocked her head to the side and shook it. "Poor girls," she said. "I am so sorry. At least you're still trying to carry on. It's almost as if my Maggie has just given up on living and doing the things that she's always done."

Claudette looked so sad. "It's been so hard on all of us."

Mrs. Brady tightened her grip on her apron as she leaned forward in her seat. "My Maggie is taking it harder than most, I believe." She then looked around the room as if they weren't alone before speaking again. When she decided that it was safe to talk, she wasn't speaking in a regular tone. She was whispering. "She lives on the third floor of the house now." She then nodded and sat tall in her seat. She looked at the girls as if they should know what she's talking about.

"I don't get it," Claudette said.

Mrs. Brady sighed and shook her head before sighing. "She had me and her dad to write her a lease and she made us sign over the third floor to her. Her dad didn't want to do it but she told us that if we didn't do it, she'd leave and we'd never find her. From the look that was in her eyes, we knew that she meant it."

"Wow," Claudette said.

"Yes and she won't even let us come to the third floor." Mrs. Brady soon had tears welling up in her eyes. "She said that she couldn't trust us anymore." She then began to whisper again and said, "She said that she could no longer trust me."

Sookie looked at Claudette before speaking to Mrs. Brady. She knew the answer to her question before she asked it. "Why would she do that … keep you away I mean?"

Using her apron, Mrs. Brady said, "I don't know why. She said that my mind wasn't the way that it used to be. She said that I've let the vampire take over. She said that I was no longer her mom." She started to shake her head. "I think that she's on drugs," she whispered as she leaned forward.

"What vampire?" Claudette and Sookie asked at the same time.

Mrs. Brady said, "The same one that always comes over here. He was the one that used to come here with the girls when they'd have their little get-togethers. Amelia, Connie, Elizabeth, and Cecile were here all of the time." She then frowned as she looked at Claudette and Sookie. "I think I remember seeing you two here," she said. Pointing at Sookie said, "You used to have red hair didn't you?"

Sookie nodded her head yes. "It was too red so I decided to let my hair go natural. My mom hated it. She said that it made me look … unappealing. That's the nicest way that I can explain it."

Mrs. Brady nodded. "I agree. It was very unbecoming." Looking at Claudette, she said, "Now your hair has always been brown. I've always been envious of it."

Claudette looked at the woman with an open mouth and wide eyes. Sookie had to nudge her in order to get her to reply to Mrs. Brady's compliment. "Thank you, Mrs. B. I've always been very partial to my hair. I use mayonnaise as a conditioner."

"That's interesting," Mrs. Brady said.

Sookie decided to bring the conversation back to the missing girls. "Bill?" Sookie asked. "Is Bill Compton the vampire that you're talking about?"

Mrs. Brady smiled. "Yes," she said. "He is such a nice young man. He's always so polite. I've never understood why Maggie didn't like him. When he would come over with Amelia, he'd be so nice to the girls. He'd hug them and welcome them in." A confused look appeared on her face. "I just never understood why he had to sniff them."

Speaking to Sookie in her mind, Claudette said, "So that he could smell them. He needed to catch their scent."

"How did he make your daughter feel?" Sookie asked. "Do you know if she ever told Amelia not to bring Bill by here?"

"Yeah," Claudette said. "I didn't trust him either. He was always touching my hair. He used to hold my hand to his nose and inhale."

Mrs. Brady nodded rapidly. "That's what he used to do to the other girls. He'd hold their hands, hug them, smell their hair; he was always doing that. I used to ask Amelia if it bothered her when he would do that but she said no. She said that he does that to everyone."

Sookie nodded and pointed at Claudette. "I did hear that Amelia was his girlfriend. I used to see them together all of the time at The Coffin but since she's been gone, I haven't seen him as much. I'll bet he's so upset about her being gone."

As she looked at Sookie, Claudette said, "I heard that he was really in love with her." Turning her attention to Mrs. Brady, she asked, "Have you seen him? Has he been coming around since Amelia has been gone?"

"Oh, yes," Mrs. Brady answered. "He comes by every night. He comes by to check on my sweet Maggie but he can't get past the second floor." She then frowned. "None of us can for that matter. I've tried but when I do, something stops me."

"Wards," Sookie whispered to Claudette.

"Very strong wards," Claudette said as she spoke to Sookie in her mind. "That's the other scent. She's protected herself from Bill. She knew that something was going on. Have you tried reading her?"

Sookie looked at Claudette and stared at her. In order to answer Claudette's question, Sookie said to Mrs. Brady, "Have you ever been alone with Bill? Did he make you feel uncomfortable? I've noticed that you don't seem to have anything negative to say about him. You seem to like him a lot."

Mrs. Brady began smiling. "At first I didn't like him. I didn't trust him but then I couldn't get enough of him," she said as she shrugged her shoulders. "I can't for the life of me remember why I didn't like him."

"Glamour," Claudette said.

"Exactly," Sookie whispered. "I've been trying to read her since we got here and there's nothing there. We need to go and talk with Maggie but first we need to get them out of here. Bill isn't going to take too kindly to being brushed off by Maggie too much longer. He's going to kill her family in order to get to her."

Claudette nodded. "He's going to use them as leverage."

Looking at Mrs. Brady, Sookie asked, "Will you allow us to help you and your family, Mrs. Brady?"

Still smiling, Mrs. Brady asked, "What do you mean? We don't need any help. We are just fine. Bill said that as long as I depend on him, me and my family will be safe."

Claudette and Sookie stood up from their seats and walked to where Mrs. Brady was sitting. The stood in front of her and looked down at her and smiled. "He's going to kill you and your husband in order to get to your daughter, Mrs. Brady." Shaking her head, she added, "We can't have that."

"Who are you talking about?" Mrs. Brady asked. "Mr. Compton? He wouldn't do that. He's such a nice young man."

"No, he's not," Claudette said. "He wants your daughter because of her blood. She's special to him. We don't know why but he wants her but it's up to you now to keep her safe. If you help us, we can all keep her safe."

"No one wants to hurt my Maggie," Mrs. Brady said. "I think that you girls are behaving just as weirdly as she is. She's going to be just fine."

Claudette sighed as she looked down at the woman. "She doesn't believe us. You're going to have to show her, Sookie."

"Give me your hand," Sookie ordered.

Mrs. Brady squeezed her apron tightly. "I'm not sure that I should."

"Do it," Claudette ordered.

Wiping her dry and nervous hands once more on her apron, Mrs. Brady gave Sookie her hand. As soon as she did, Sookie showed her everything that had been glamoured from her mind. Mrs. Brady saw that from the very beginning, she was afraid of Bill Compton. She saw that she's never trusted him. She saw that she begged her daughter to keep him out of their house but Maggie wouldn't listen. Maggie kept telling her mom to open her mind to new things. She kept telling her mom that Bill wouldn't let harm come to any of the girls. That's when Sookie saw how Bill was able to keep track of the girls; all of them but Maggie.

She looked at Claudette and said, "He fed all of those girls his blood; all of them but Maggie. He was about to feed her his blood but Mrs. Brady came home and saw what was going on. She rescinded his invitation before Maggie had a chance to drink from him."

"Son of a bitch," Claudette whispered.

"But he came back," Sookie said as she looked down at Mrs. Brady. "He glamoured her as soon as she opened the door but Maggie wasn't here. She was gone to Indiana to visit with her grandmother."

Claudette frowned. "What would make her want to take an entire floor of their home and turn it into just hers? What reasons would she have to put wards on the second and third floor?"

"I was told to," Maggie said from the doorway.

Sookie and Claudette turned around to see Maggie standing in the doorway of the living room. The girl looked as if she hasn't been out of the house in weeks. She looked drawn and washed out. Her hair was lifeless and her skin was pale. She needed the sun. They could see that she was a part of the sky people.

Turning back to Mrs. Brady, Sookie said, "Do you want to keep Mr. Compton away from your home?"

Mrs. Brady was now crying. "I do. I remember everything now. I don't want him anywhere near my home. I would never have let him near my daughter."

Claudette said, "Go to your room and pack. We need to get you and your daughter out of here. You cannot tell anyone, no family members or friends, where you're going; especially if you want to live. Do you want to live, Mrs. Brady?"

"I do," she said.

"Go," Claudette ordered once more. "You need to be gone before sundown."

Mrs. Brady jumped up from her chair and ran to her bedroom.

Both faeries then turned back to Maggie. Sookie asked, "What is your bloodline?" She needed to know if the girl knows what she is.

"I'm a Brady," she answered. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Sookie decided to leave it alone. She didn't want to open any doors that she very well couldn't close. She turned the subject back to Bill Compton. "Why did you have your parents sign the third floor as a lease to you? Why did you put wards on the 2nd and 3rd floors? Has Bill come for you?"

Maggie nodded her head rapidly. "He's got my parents trying to give me to him. I had no choice. I didn't want to keep them away from me but I had no choice. He's going to do to me what he did to the other girls."

"What do you mean?" Sookie asked.

"How do you know what he's done to the other girls?" Claudette asked.

"Amelia talked to me in my head," Maggie said. "She told me to stay away from him. She told me what he's done."

"They're telepaths," Claudette said.

Moving in close to Maggie, Sookie asked, "When did you last speak to her? What did she tell you?"

"Last week," Maggie answered. "She told me that she is the last one left. She said that everyone else is gone. She can't hear them anymore. She said that they're all gone."

"Fuck," Claudette whispered. "Did she tell you where she is?"

Maggie shook her head. "I asked her. She said that she doesn't know. She said that she just knows that they're in a dungeon. She said that it's always dark and that they're always taking her blood." A sad look appeared on the girl's face. "She said that he passes her around; Bill. She said that passes her around and that vampires drink from her."

Sookie placed her hand to heart and closed her eyes. "Is she well?"

"I don't know," Maggie answered. "I've tried talking to her again but she won't answer me."

"Does Bill know of what you and Amelia can do?"

"No," Maggie said.

"What about the other girls?" Claudette asked. "Were they capable of mind reading?"

"No," Maggie said.

"How do you know?" Sookie asked.

Maggie said, "Amelia and I would say things to them in their minds but they wouldn't answer, so no. They couldn't do it."

"What drew you to the other girls?" Claudette asked.

"I don't know," Maggie said. "I just wanted to be around them. I felt better when I was around them. Like I do now," she whispered as she looked at Sookie and Claudette.

"Never tell anyone what you can do," Sookie warned. "Do you understand me?"

"Yes, I'll never say anything." Oddly, the girl didn't look afraid. It's as if she knew not to say anything.

"To anyone," Claudette warned.

Nonchalantly and in a monotone voice, Maggie promised that she wouldn't. "I swear that I won't tell."

Sookie placed her hand on the girl's arm and asked, "Do you know any witches?"

Maggie closed her eyes and sighed as she shook her head. "No," she answered. "Witches? Really?"

She's young, Claudette said to Sookie in her mind. Someone did this without her knowing.

"Did what?" Maggie asked as her giggles subsided.

Claudette and Sookie ignored her question. "Has anyone been to your home that you don't know?"

"Yeah," Maggie said. Instead of continuing on, she just stood there and looked at Sookie and Claudette.

"Well," Claudette said; not bothering to hide her exasperation with the girl. "Who was it?"

"It was man," she answered. "He was really handsome and he smelled like my favorite candy; honey mallow." She closed her eyes as she thought of him. "He has blond hair and he has the prettiest blue eyes I've ever seen. They kind of glitter." She had broad smile on her face as she talked about him. "When he touched me, he made me feel so good. He made me feel as if everything was going to be okay." Opening her eyes, she said, "And he was right. Since he told me what to do to keep Bill away from me, I've been safe."

This time the faeries gave each other a knowing stare.

Sookie then tried removing her hand from the girl's arm but she grabbed it and begged, "Please, don't. I …" She dropped her head and said nothing else.

Sookie did as the girl wanted. She held her hand.

Just then, Mrs. Brady came running down the stairs carrying a carryall bag and a suitcase. "I've packed enough clothes for two weeks. If we need anything, I have our credit cards."

Sookie shook her head no. "You can't use them. They'll track you that way." Glancing over her shoulder, she said, "Arayleah."

Within seconds, the faery appeared. "Yes, your highness?" she said as she bowed.

Maggie and Mrs. Brady looked on in surprise.

"Take these women to the airport. Give them enough cash to last them for awhile," Sookie ordered. "Make sure Drayton goes with them and he stays with them until I say otherwise. Keep them protected at all costs. Am I understood?"

"Yes, your highness," Arayleah answered. Instantly she was gone.

"It's true," Maggie whispered. "Bridget told us about you but we didn't believe her. We thought that she was just crazy but it's true." Her grip tightened on Sookie's hand.

Looking into the girl's eyes, Sookie said, "My cousin and I will do all that we can to keep you safe but you have to listen to us."

"I promise," she whispered.

"Mrs. Brady," Claudette said.

The woman looked at Claudette and stared. She said nothing.

"Mrs. Brady," Claudette yelled.

"Yes," Mrs. Brady finally said. "I'm sorry. I'm just ... It's just ..." She didn't bother trying to finish the sentence. She put all of her attention on Sookie and Claudette.

"You can't tell anyone who you are. Use different names, talk to no one," Claudette warned. "That goes for both of you. And Maggie, when you enter a room, always listen to your surroundings."

"I will," she said.

Drayton and Arayleah then appeared. "We are ready, your highness."

Sookie hugged Maggie and whispered in her ear, "You will be protected."

The girl melted in Sookie's arms as tears of relief fell from her eyes. She was finally going to be free of him. She was going to be able to smile again. She was finally going to be free. "Thank you," she said. "Thank you both." She reached out for Claudette's hand and smiled.

Claudette took it and basked in Maggie's joy.

"We have to go," Arayleah said. "We have six hours before sundown, your highness."

Sookie nodded and released Maggie. Claudette released her hand. Sookie looked into Mrs. Brady's eyes and said, "You won't remember any of what's about to happen. As far as you know, you and Maggie needed some time to rebuild your relationship."

With that said, Drayton and Arayleah sandwiched the two women in between them and held hands. Seconds later, they were gone.

Sookie and Claudette stood in the living room of the Brady home. "Leave Mr. Brady a note. Tell him that his wife and daughter needed some time alone. Call Octavia and have her ward Mr. Brady. We need to keep him safe and out of Bill's line of sight."

"Okay," Claudette said. She finally said what they were both wondering. "Why would Fintan help her? If he's done this, he knows what's going on. Why would he keep it quiet? Why wouldn't he use this to get you back home?"

Looking and feeling as confused and lost as Claudette, Sookie answered, "I have no idea."