Chapter 02
Thanks to having to get ready after helping Jane with her makeup and hair, Harriet, CJ, and Jane were fashionably late to the party being thrown by Gaston's twins. They'd chosen an old, one-story house on the far side of the island that in all the years that the Isle had stood, never had anyone in it. Growing up the Isle's children could never remember even one villain ever living in it or setting up shop inside it. Not even Maleficent would go near it. And when they asked their parents why, all they'd ever been told was to leave it alone. Soon, rumors and stories started spreading – that it was haunted. That a serial killer lived there. That the bodies of bad villain children were buried there. As always happened, it became the house that children dared each other to enter to prove how tough they were, but none ever did.
But now, most of the Isle children were grown, and had stopped believing in ghost stories. And tonight, the rather spacious old home was playing host to actual music, and scary themed decorations, and food that wasn't half rotted, even if it looked like it did.
The Hook sisters and Jane drew quite the attention as they walked in. Harriet was dressed as the Queen of Hearts, though pulling off a more fashionable red, black, and white minidress dress, along with matching red heels and black stockings. Jane had acquiesced and accessorized both girls, so Harriet was the recipient of a real glittering jeweled tiara and matching gold scepter. CJ had opted for the same Wonderland homage, though choosing to dress as the Mad Hatter. She had on a bright, turquoise with purple trim, form-fitting double-breasted jacket that had tails in the back. She was wearing a black and white diamond print pencil skirt that came down to just above her knees, and Jane had conjured up a chic little, off center top hat and black lace fingerless gloves.
While the two pirate sisters were enough to attract the stares of room on their own, with Jane next to them in her black dress, her own matching witch's hat, lace fingerless gloves, and knee high, high-heeled boots, CJ had been right – jaws were dropping.
As they started to mingle, it was obvious that Jane was attracting attention, not just because of her costume, but from the fact that no assumed anyone from Auradon would be there, least of all The Fairy Godmother's daughter.
"Well looky here," came a voice from behind the three girls as they were getting something to drink. Turning toward the sound, they saw a large, towering figure that was dressed in dark coveralls and a white, featureless mask with brown hair. His stout frame was hulking with every breath he took under the mask. "How's it going?" he asked happily.
All three girls looked at each other.
"Do you two know…?" Jane started to ask.
"Who are…?" CJ began asking the figure.
"Murph take off the mask," Harriet ordered recognizing the voice even under the mask.
The figure began to remove his mask, though he found it difficult due its rubbery material and the fact that he'd been sweating a little under it. After some struggle, he was able to finally pull the mask off. "Ah, that thing is hotter than it looks," he commented as he rubbed his hand through his wet hair which had been matted down.
"Seriously Murphy?" CJ asked annoyed.
"What? It's Halloween," Murph defended himself.
CJ rolled her eyes and shook her head. She felt a tap on her side, turned, and saw Jane motioning with her head towards the large newcomer. "Janey, say hello to Big Murph. Big Murph… say hi to the Fairy Goddaughter," she introduced. Murph waved, a big cheeked smile on his face.
"How long you been here?" Harriet asked larger pirate.
Murph shook his head. "Not long. Just long enough to know that you three definitely have the best costumes here."
"Indeed you do," came another unknown voice. This time when they turned, the girls saw a much slimmer looking guy. He was dressed in an old suit that had been made to look tattered and worn. His face had been painted in shades of grays in order to give him a dead and decaying look. There was even a spattering of gray sprinkled into his dark hair to give it a weathered look.
"Tony," CJ said, her voice halfway between annoyed and indifferent. Jane noticed it quickly, as well the way Harriet seemed to roll her eyes. "Hey," CJ added monotone.
"Lovely to see you too," he said, his smile coming through even with all the make-up. "You too, Harriet. So… who's your gorgeous friend?" he smiled cockily as he eyed Jane up and down. The move reminded Jane of the way CJ and Harriet's brother came on to her the first time he met her. And just like that time, she couldn't help but feel a little bit giddy at the attention.
"Behave yourself," Harriet told him firmly. Anthony held up his hands in self-defense. "Jane, this –"
"I'm Anthony," he introduced himself to Jane with a charming smile. "Anthony Tremaine."
"Also known as Harriet's ex," CJ added.
"And Chad's cousin," Jane said animatedly.
Anthony's face fell for a second. "So you know Aunt Cindy's side of the family, huh?" Jane nodded. "Good to know."
"That's a nice costume by the way," Jane complimented.
"Thanks."
"It really is," Harriet concurred. "Who did you have to pay to get it made?" she deadpanned.
Anthony chuckled at her sarcastically before looking around. "Granny," he said in a hushed tone. The three girls and Murph started laughing. With the initial ice of the evening broken, everyone started to loosen up, Jane especially. They found themselves making the rounds, CJ catching up with old friends and introducing Jane as they made their way around the house.
Eventually, they ended up in what Jane assumed was the living room, sitting with Harriet, CJ, Big Murph, and Anthony. After a little while, they were joined by Judge Frollo's daughter, Claudine, whose costume made Jane do a double take. "Are you dressed as… Audrey?" Jane asked as she looked Claudine up and down in her dark pink pants and long sleeved top with matching black cape.
"Um… yeah," Claudine squeaked, not able to tell if Jane was judging her or not.
"I like it," Jane said with a nod. She saw Claudine let out a breath, as if she was expecting to hear a different kind of response.
"Thanks," Claudine smiled, looking down at her costume. She then twirled a small strand of her hair around her finger. "I had trouble finding a wig though, and Dad wouldn't let me dye my hair."
"That's not a problem, Jane can do a little magical dye job," CJ said excitedly.
"Jane can do what now?" Jane asked in astonishment.
"Yeah, you just wave your hands or go bibbidi-something and poof, instant pink-head," CJ said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Jane grabbed grabbed CJ by the hand and led her to a less crowded side of the room. "What are you doing?" she asked, trying not to sound too loud.
"Offering your makeover services," CJ smiled.
"You can't just offer up the use of my powers. It's not right for me to just use them so nonchalantly."
"Says the girl who conjured up the accessories we're all wearing," CJ countered.
"That was different, that was me… me just…"
"I'm not asking you to bust another hole in the barrier, or conjure another pumpkin into a car," CJ told her with a sly smile on her face. "I'm just asking – this is me officially asking – you to give Claudine the right shade of pink for tonight. I mean you can set a time limit on it, right?"
Jane thought on it for a second. She shook her head in resignation before finally relenting. "Fine, but it's only for tonight."
"Awesome!" CJ said excitedly. They went back to the group, letting Claudine know that Jane had decided to help her out. Jane had her stand in front of her, staring at the nervous looking blonde. "Uh, Janey, shouldn't you be waving your hands, or saying… something?" CJ asked when Jane didn't do anything.
"Shush, I'm thinking. I wanna get the wording right," Jane admonished CJ. Finally, her eyes widened as she decided on the right incantation. She took a breath, pointed her finger at Claudine, and began speaking. "Beware, fore swear, until morning, give Claudine, Audrey's hot pink hair."
The assembled group, and a few others nearby, watched as Claudine's head whipped back and forth and up and down, before little white orbs danced around her head and bright hot pink coloring began flowing its way down and taking over her normal honey blonde shade.
"Whoa," said an astonished Murph.
"Did it work?" Claudine asked hopefully.
"Definitely," Harriet answered as she pulled out a mirror and let Claudine see herself.
"Nice work there, Little Miss Bibbidi Bobbidi," CJ raved as she hip bumped Jane.
"Yeah, maybe I should've just let you do this make-up job," Anthony nodded as he came up beside her and put his arm around her. Jane looked at his arm before turning her gaze to him, her eyebrow raised. He winked at her and smiled with as much charm as he could. Despite her best efforts since knowing his reputation from the little snippets she'd heard from Harriet tonight, and from comparing his womanizing to Chad's, Jane couldn't help but feel herself swoon just a little bit and hoped it didn't show.
"So the rumors are true," came a new voice. Jane watched as Harriet, CJ, Big Murph, and Claudine groaned or rolled their eyes in contempt.
She turned and saw two girls walking up. One looked about Jane's height with long aqua green hair that matched her large aqua green eyes. She was dressed in tight black shorts with red fishnets under them leading to a pair of black, chunky combat boots. On top she was wearing a black V-neck blouse with a red leather biker jacket over it, and a red devil-horned headband. The girl next to her was a little taller, with dark, wild, frizzy hair that almost covered the matching devil-horned headband and bright, vivid gray eyes. She was wearing a red midi dress that came down to just above mid-thigh and the same kind of combat boots. In contrast with her friend, she wore a black biker jacket over her dress. "There's a fairy in the house," said the girl with the aqua hair.
"I heard she's only half a fairy" said the girl with the frizzy hair. "What? No hello for us?"
"Hello… bit –" CJ starts.
"CJ," Harriet abruptly cuts off her sister, giving her an admonishing glare. CJ looked at her older sister and knew what she was being told: don't let your mouth once again start trouble I have to settle for you.
"Witches," CJ said in a mockingly sweet tone. "Hello, witches."
"Witches?" Jane asked Tony, slightly caught off guard.
"Mad Maddy and Ginny Gothel, Madam Mim's granddaughter and Mother Gothel's daughter," he whispered in her ear. "Fancy themselves powerful witches since their mom and granny are. Truthfully, I think their all hype."
"Aw, Anthony, look at you over there, getting cozy with – sorry dear, I didn't catch your name," said the girl with aqua hair.
"J-Jane," she answered shaken.
"Maddy," she introduced herself. She then motioned toward her frizzy haired friend. "Ginny."
Ginny started walking toward Jane. She felt Anthony's grip on her shoulder tighten a little bit. CJ moved to get closer to Jane's side. Ginny wasn't deterred and moved around the three of them, glancing up and down at Jane. She did her best to make sure they could tell that she wasn't impressed.
"She's… okay, I guess, Anthony," Ginny said when she was back in front of them. "This is what you want to hang out with now? A homely looking halfling who thinks it's fun to mock what we are with a cheap dress and a stupid hat."
"That dress was anything but cheap," Harriet spoke up, remembering what it cost her to get that dress since she got it after the barrier came down.
"Well then I guess it's the person wearing it that makes it cheap," Maddy remarked with a dirty look. Ginny laughed to back up her friend.
"Excuse me?" Jane finally spoke up. "Did she just call me cheap?" she asked CJ.
"Ignore it. Especially you," Harriet said, her gaze however fixed on her sister, not completely trusting CJ's ability to not want to take on the two for insulting her friend. Especially since despite the laid back attitude she puts on, she knew that her sister had become attached enough to Jane to start a fight in a situation like this.
"Yeah, ignore it," Maddy mocked in Jane's direction. "It's not like you could do anything about it." Ginny laughed.
"I don't know about that," CJ replied, coming up next to Jane and leaning on her shoulder. "Let's not forget, she is the Fairy Goddaughter. She's probably got more magic in her little pinky than the two of you have combined," she said, doing her best to sound as condescending as possible.
"Please," Maddy retorts, her conceited smile gone. "This little bitch couldn't conjure her way out of a paper bag."
"Hey," Jane gasped.
"How about we all just settle down," CJ spoke up. "We'll get back to hanging out and you two can get back to becoming old hags like your mom and grandmother," she finished off, proud of herself after seeing how angry the two teenage witches became. "Besides, Jane's pulled off some pretty impressive feats of magic. I saw her once turn a pumpkin into a car."
Maddy and Ginny looked at Jane skeptically. Jane nodded.
"She conjured up the accessories that she, CJ, and I are wearing," Harriet added.
"She used a spell to make my hair this color," Claudine chimed in.
"Not to mention," CJ spoke up once again. "Let's not forget that it was Janey here who punched a hole in the barrier a couple of years ago."
Jane pulled CJ over to her, leaning in close to her friend. "I didn't do that intentionally," she told her in a hushed tone.
"You still did it," CJ replied back before turning her attention back toward Maddy and Ginny. "See, powerful fairy, so run along before she turns you two into rats or something else even more useless."
Anthony, Claudine, and Big Murph started to laugh. Harriet just looked annoyed at her little sister. Jane once again looked at CJ in shock. In moments like this, Jane wrestled between how much she liked CJ, she really did. In a short time, the two of them had quickly become best friends. But then incidents like this happened, where CJ let her mouth write a check that would undoubtedly cause a situation to escalate. And in these moments she found herself thinking like Harriet, and wondered how Harriet hadn't killed her younger sister before today.
Maddy, in her ire, stepped up until she was face to face with CJ. Her steeled glare spoke volumes and her hardened eyes were boring into the young pirate. Suddenly, Maddy cracked a smile that sent a small tremble of dread to those who saw it. "Congratulations mutt, your friend just talked you into a little magic competition by running her mouth," she said to Jane without taking her gaze off of CJ. "That is unless you don't you don't think your little half-breed friend has what it takes to go up against some real magic users," she all but threatened.
"Oh you little… bitches are on," CJ responded, glee practicality written on her face.
Maddy turned toward Jane, staring at her like a predator. "Time to nut up, Fairy Goddaughter."
Gulp, Jane thought.
After spreading the word, the party cleared the room of furniture, leaving a large open area for the girls to duel in. Maddy and Ginny were on one side, talking between themselves. They could be seen looking over at Jane, laughing and making mocking gestures at her. Jane was watching them from the opposite side of the room. She knew that she looked nervous. She was thankful that was all she appeared to be because inside she was terrified. CJ was behind her, massaging her shoulders.
"You got this," the young pirate encouraged.
"I feel like I'm gonna throw up," Jane replied. She put her hands to her stomach and felt the rumbling inside it. "Yeah, I'm definitely gonna throw up."
"You're not gonna throw up," CJ told her. She turned Jane around and held her by the shoulders. "Look at me, you're gonna be fine. You're gonna kick ass," she said firmly, smiling big and bright.
"I shouldn't even be doing this. Why did you have to get me into to this?"
"Because I wasn't going to stand there and let them insult my best friend. Especially when I know she's like a thousand times more powerful than they think they are."
"But I've never really done any big magic, at least not without Mom there," Jane reminded CJ since she was sometimes there to watch when Fairy Godmother was giving Jane proper lessons.
CJ tightened her grip on Jane's shoulders. "Janey, look at me," she told Jane strongly. Jane stared back, her eyes big and wide. "You can do this. You hear me? You can do this. I believe in you, and so should you."
Jane took a deep breath, holding it for a few seconds before letting it out slowly. "Thank you," she said. She gave CJ a quick hug for the pep talk and then shook herself to let out some nerves. "Just so you know, win or lose, I'm turning your hair tie dye for getting me into this."
"Aye, aye," CJ smiled. After a second of looking at each other with a stern glare, the two of them started laughing.
"Is Jane going to step up or are you two school bitches gonna keep gazing into each other's eyes?" Maddy shouted.
"Janey, sweetums, do us all a favor and kick their asses," CJ said as she turned Jane around. Thrown off balance, Jane was unprepared for the feeling of CJ slapping her in the butt before practicality shoving her toward the center of the room. "You got this," she heard CJ yell at her.
The crowd was anxiously watching the three magic users stare each other down. Maddy and Ginny were looking supremely confident while Jane, feeling less nervous after CJ's pep talk, had a look of nervous determination. The Gaston twins stepped in between them, Gaston Jr. dressed as a vampire, his cape flowing lightly behind him. His brother, Trois, was dressed as a skeleton, compete with skull face paint.
"Okay, so, we all get a show with tonight's party," Junior started as he addressed the crowd. "We got some magic users in the house and apparently they want to settle the question of who's the most powerful. So we're gonna have ourselves a magical throwdown. To the left, wearing the devil's costumes, we have, the Isle's own next generation of witches - Mad Maddy and Ginny Goethel." A few in the room broke out in applause and cheers as Maddy and Ginny preened and posed for crowd.
"To the right, wearing a killer looking witch dress," Junior continued, looking over at Jane and winking, "straight from Auradon, the girl who single-handedly punched a hole in our former barrier - Jane, the Fairy Goddaughter herself."
There were some cheers for her, as well as a couple boos, and to her shock, a few wolf whistles. "See, they love you," Jane heard CJ say from behind her. She waved nervously.
"Alright, the rules are simple. Each side uses their magic to pull off a spell or trick trying to outdo the other. When one side can't answer - they lose. We flipped a coin, and Maddy and Ginny get to start," Trois explained before stepping back and deferring to the girls.
Maddy and Ginny stepped a little closer into the room, with Ginny leaving an empty black candy bowl in the center of the room. She took her place next to Maddy and both girls looked at each other and smiled. They stretched out their hands and began speaking. "Double, double, toil and bubble, fire burn, make this cauldron bubble."
For a few seconds nothing happened, until finally, red and aqua smoke began building and eventually billowing around the bowl. There was a loud popping sound and a quick flash of light. When the smoke cleared, standing where the bowl once sat, was a large black cauldron. "Oohs" and "ahhs" came from the audience.
"Now, Jane," said Junior.
Jane stood there apprehensive. She felt every eye on her. CJ ran up next to her. "Janey, sweetie, this is where you do... something."
Jane took a deep breath and looked around the room. Her eyes widened as she spotted an old derelict looking bicycle placed against the wall. "Go grab that," she told CJ as she pointed at it. CJ did as asked and propped it up in the room's center.
"Alright, dazzle us, Mutt," Ginny mocked.
I see why CJ calls them bitches, Jane thought. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before finally looking at the bicycle. "Bibbidi, bobbidi, boo," she recited while snapping her fingers. Bright blue and white light began engulfing the bicycle, swirling around it before finally glowing so bright everyone had to cover their eyes. When the light faded, everyone looked and stood in awe at the fact that Jane had turned the bicycle into an actual motorcycle.
The crowd murmured in shock. There was even the small spattering of applause. "Holy crap," CJ shouted. "So you can make more than just cars?"
"Now that's impressive," Harriet concurred with her sister.
"Please, t-that's not that good. Probably doesn't even work," Ginny said derisively.
"Then let's see," Anthony said as he walked over to bike. Without removing the kickstand, he straddled the bike, and gripped the handle bars. Much to his surprise, there was a key in the ignition. He turned it and after setting the bike to the correct gear, the room watched as he kick started it, and, much to everyone's amazement, the motor actually turned over. Applause broke out as Anthony revved the motorcycle. Eventually, he had to turn the motorcycle off because the exhaust smell was becoming overpowering.
"I call dibs," he said once the growling of the engine was gone.
From there, the contest took off. Ginny's next spell made the skeleton decorations dance. Jane countered by making the flames from the candles rise up and take a human form that she then made dance as well. Maddy then grabbed a broom and enchanted it so it could lift her off the ground and flew in small circles. CJ thought she saw a sly little smirk come across Jane's face and thought to herself, Janey's getting more confident. After Maddy was back on the ground, Jane closed her eyes, spread her arms and, to everyone's surprise, she levitated off the ground. She rose about six feet into the air, and then gasps were heard as the outline of shimmering wings appeared behind her. This time most of the crowd applauded after she brought herself back to the ground.
"You didn't tell me you have wings," CJ told her in shock.
"Because I don't. Fairies the size of me and Mom don't get them, but we can manipulate the light for a cool little show," Jane explained.
"Okay, that was pretty awesome," Junior interrupted. He looked over toward Maddy and Ginny. "Hope you two got something good to follow that."
Maddy and Ginny huddled together. Everyone watched as they whispered to each other. There was a shrug, and what looked like some small arguing. "We ain't waiting all night," Trois told them.
Ginny shot him a dirty look. Feeling disrespected, he turned toward his brother before speaking up. "And the winner of tonight's..."
"We're going, damn it," Maddy shouted at him. She looked at Ginny and they nodded to each other.
They moved to the center of the room and faced each other. They brought up their hands, keeping them about a foot away from each other. Then, they started chanting.
"Hic nos, superi spiritus mundi,
Te rogamus ut nostra facias iussione,
Erige animam ex adverso,
Et producite eum,
Facere sicut olim in vita fecerunt"
Maddy and Ginny then stood there waiting. After a second, they looked at each other, and then looked around expectantly. But nothing was happening. "What happened?" Ginny asked.
"I don't know. We did the spell just like it said in my Mom's spell book," Maddy answered.
"Did you do something wrong?"
Maddy looked at Ginny with indignation. "Me? For all I know you screwed something up. Or maybe you're not powerful enough make it work."
"Oh, screw you, hag," Ginny fired back.
"Well seems to us that either way, you two just lost," Trois interrupted them, a smug look on his face.
"And the winner is," Junior spoke up, an equally smug look on his face, "The Fairy Goddaughter."
Cheers broke out, this time without the boos, but a few more wolf whistles. Jane, feeling more confident, smiled and gave a curtsy. CJ came up threw her arms around Jane from behind, hugging her best friend tightly. She let out a quick squeal before letting her go. "I knew you could it," she said excitedly.
"Congratulations," Harriet said she joined the two girls in celebrating. Eventually, they went back and sat with Big Murph, Claudine, and Anthony. Anthony went and got a couple of drinks for Jane and himself.
"You kicked ass, Little Miss Bibbidi Bobbidi," CJ told Jane laughing from her spot next to her. "See, I told you those bitches had nothing on you."
"No they didn't," Anthony said as he returned. He took a seat on Jane's other side after handing her the drink. "So, what's gonna happen with that motorcycle?"
"I'm pretty sure I need to turn it back."
"Or... and hear me out on this," Anthony started as put his arm Jane and leaned in close so he could whisper in her ear.
"Nope," she said sarcastically. Before he could start talking, Jane turned her head dramatically, causing a fit of giggles from CJ, Harriet, and Claudine. Jane then winked at CJ and turned back to toward Anthony. "Wanna get out of here?"
"You serious?" Anthony asked, caught off guard.
"I can turn the motorcycle back before I go back to Harriet's ship, but yeah, I kind of want to get out of here for a little bit. You can drive that thing right?" Anthony nodded. Jane smiled and tossed her witch hat to CJ. "Hold that for me until I get back. Let's go," she said firmly as she rose from the couch. Not giving him a chance to say much else, she grabbed Anthony by his jacket and pulled him after her.
"Now that is something she's never done before," CJ said giggling.
"And it should worry you," Harriet told her sister. CJ raised an eyebrow. "Jane's on a confidence high from the contest. Lord knows what else she'll do until it wears off." Oh crap, CJ thought as she looked out at the crowd, Jane and Anthony already gone from sight. Fairy Godmother's gonna kill me if Jane does something stupid, she thought further.
The night carried on for a little while longer without incident. Talk of the contest died off, unless you were around Maddy and Ginny who were complaining endlessly about how Jane cheated. That she must have done something to negate their spell. No one wanted to correct them that just maybe they weren't as powerful as they thought they were. And maybe Jane was more powerful than everyone thought.
Suddenly, the lights began to flicker, and a strong wind blew the front door open, blowing out the candles. Junior motioned for someone to close the door. A sense of trepidation began to rise as the door blew open again. This time, the there was a strong wind that followed the door. It moved through the room, howling in an inhuman screeching sound. Its strength was able to blow people off balance as it knocked over decorations and extinguished all the candles in the room. The party goers all wondered what was going on when suddenly, the house began to shake. It started with a small, barely noticeable, tremor that caused the vibrating of smaller furniture. Then it progressed to being much more noticeable, shaking as if the house was moving on its foundation. Anything not tied down moved in place, and bowls, lamps, and other small decorations started falling over.
"What the bloody hell?" Harriet asked aloud as she braced herself on the couch. CJ dropped herself from the couch's arm where she'd been perched to the empty spot next to her sister.
Without warning, the shaking intensified until it felt like an earthquake was happening. The house was moving like it was being tossed back and forth. Now everything was moving, both furniture and people alike. CJ screamed and clung to Harriet, the older Hook wrapping her arms around her little sister while everyone else tried to avoid falling debris from the chaos around them.
Amidst the shaking and the screaming, a fissure formed in the center of the room. It was small at first, something that could be explained by the shaking. But it grew and spread, expanding until it was nearly ten feet long before widening. And like it had never happened, the shaking stopped. Everyone looked around, taking stock of what had just transpired.
"Everyone okay?" Trois called out after making sure that the shaking had in fact stopped. There were nods and a few call outs to say yes.
"What the hell was that?" CJ yelled out as she and Harriet separated.
"I'd rather know what the hell that is?" Harriet said as she pointed toward the gaping hole in the middle of the floor.
Before anyone could answer, a great roar came from deep inside the cavernous trench. Like the wind earlier, it was inhuman in sound, but, to the terror of everyone, it didn't sound like an animal either. It sounded darker, like something out of the worst nightmare.
Everyone watched, frozen by fear and amazement, as the inside of the chasm began to emit a faint glow. As the roaring grew louder, the glow grew in intensity with it until finally bright flames from deep inside the Earth itself shot up. A few of the party goers used this as a sign to run, but the majority stayed, whether by fear or curiosity, or a perverse mix of the two. And those who did stay, they became witness to the sight of the fire dying down, and the roar trailing off. And in the momentary silence, they all saw a large gloved hand reach up and grab hold of the cavern's edge. It was followed by the other.
"What the...?" Big Murph gasped, his voice just above a whisper.
The hands pulled up a hulking upper body. Its shoulders were wide, the arms as thick as tree trunks. Even under its military coat and cape, the bulging barrel chest belied the hard muscle underneath to match the arms. Once the figure had pulled itself completely out of the chasm, everyone saw that atop his large, powerful legs, he was tall and imposing. But his final height remained a mystery impossible to gauge due to, everyone's horror, the fact that his head was missing.
All in attendance stood paralyzed as they had just bore witness to the return of The Headless Horseman.