Chapter 3 Kidnapped

Author's note; Summary: Annie and Rachel must help a boy who is being stalked by a supernatural hunter.

The next day, Annie and Rachel went over to the house to check up on the mermaids. Melora also arrived.

"Good morning Melora," called Annie. "Just seeing how you're pods doing before school."

"Thank you, Annie," said Melora appreciatively.

The three walked up the porch and Annie rang the doorbell. The Yesconises house and Ms. Spears house was a semi house, so the driveway was the same. Molly answered the door.

"Hi Molly," said Melora. "How are things doing?"

"Fine so far," said Molly. "I gotta admit the trinkets and potions the sea witch has gathered kind of reminds us of the magical world at sea. But it's still strange having legs and learning to use all this stuff."

Annie peered inside the house; she remembered when Leesha Spears greeted her when she first moved to Florence. She had appeared a kind and cheerful old lady who loved gardening. She always wore colorful and floral-patterned clothes and had been very kind to her family. She thought about all the magic objects and books she kept.

There was a crashing sound from the kitchen.

"You'd better come in," said Molly cringing a bit. "Asanna is working in the kitchen working on those kitchen tools."

"Alright," chuckled Melora. "I'll be there."

…

Miami Florida

A young boy was walking out of a school, he had light brown hair and wore a blue and white polo shirt and denim shorts. His mother was waiting for him, she had curly dirty blond hair and wore a satin lavender top and black skirt.

"Hey Timothy," said his mother. "How was school?"

"It was okay mom" said Timothy happily.

As they walked home, Timothy's mom noticed he was looking down at the ground. He looked like he was troubled about something.

"Is something wrong honey?" she asked.

"No mom," he said. "It's just… have you ever noticed strange things happening?"

"Like what?" asked his mom.

"Like things moving on their own even if you didn't touch them," said Timothy.

Just then a red car dashed by and came to a stop. A man stepped out of the car, he was dressed in dark clothing came out and he held a knife.

"Move along," he said snatching Timothy by the wrist. The kid struggled and held back and his mother pulled him back by the collar of his shirt.

Timothy then heard his mom muttering in a different language, the handle of the knife suddenly glowed red and steam formed from the handle. The man screamed in pain and let go of both Timothy and the knife. The man then ran back into his car and drove off.

…

Back in Florence, Annie and Rachel were sitting down in English. Trish walked up to them and sat next to Annie.

"Hey guys," she whispered. "Have you heard about the news about George and Yuria?"

Annie and Rachel nodded.

"Why are you so worried?" asked Rachel. "They're dead."

"I'm still worried about the whole stalking thing," replied Trish warily. "And how suspicious it might be if they never find they're bodies. They already found their computer and saw the pictures on it."

"Don't worry," assured Annie. "There weren't any pictures of us in mermaid form on it."

"I remember," admitted Trish. "But they could send other hunters to spy on us. Irene's worried about how suspicious things might be if they don't find their bodies."

"They're bodies are still in the oceanic realm," said Annie. She had to admit Trish had a point.

When school was out Annie and Rachel went over to Parker's house. The three sat in the living room and watched tv.

Annie flipped through channels with the remote and stopped on channel 8, the news was playing on that channel.

"An attempted abduction was reported today in Miami Florida," said the reporter. "A man just came up to a woman and her son and tried to kidnap them at knifepoint. However, the man dropped the knife and ran. Police are trying to track down the man behind the attack. The boy claims the man dropped the knife because the handle heated up, but police couldn't find anything unusual with the knife."

"The knife's handle just heated up?" said Parker. "That sounds like magic."

"Maybe the boy's mother is a magic being," suggested Annie. "And maybe that man is a supernatural hunter, maybe that's why he attacked them."

"Maybe we should go and find out," said Rachel.

Annie nodded in agreement.

"I'm coming with you," said Parker. "Your dad would want me to go with you and keep an eye on you Annie."

Annie nodded.

The three friends went down to the beach and Annie used the potion Mrs. Wellington showed them to make a portal to transport them to Miami. They jumped in and came out on the beach in Miami.

"We're here," declared Annie. "Now let's find Timothy."

The three walked through town and came near the school Timothy went to.

"This must be the area where the attempted abduction happened," said Rachel.

"Timothy must live near here," said Annie.

"I think the report said that they lived down the street," said Rachel.

They walked up to a house and knocked on the door. A woman answered the door and to Annie's surprise, it was the woman they had seen on the tv."

"Can I help you?" asked the woman.

"You're that woman from on the news" exclaimed Annie.

The woman looked surprised.

"I'm Annie," said Annie. "This is my boyfriend Parker and my friend Rachel. We heard about what happened with you on the news."

"I'm Beverly Leird," said the woman. "Is there anything I can help you with."

"We'd like to talk to your son," said Parker. "Ask him some questions."

"We think we can help about your attack" added Rachel.

Mrs. Leird seemed to trust them, she opened the door further and moved aside to allow them inside.

Mrs. Leird led them upstairs to Timothy's room. Timothy was on the floor playing with his toys on the floor. The door was open, Mrs. Leird knocked on the door.

"Timothy," she said softly. "You have visitors."

Timothy looked up to see Annie, Rachel and Parker.

"Hello Timothy," said Annie with a kind, gentle voice.

Timothy looked over to see his mother and three teenagers.

"Is it okay if we talk to him alone?" asked Annie.

Mrs. Leird nodded and left the room.

"I'm glad your alright from the attack," said Annie as she knelt down beside Timothy. "Have you ever noticed anything strange?"

"I can move things with my mind," Timothy spoke up softly. "I don't even touch them. I can make plants grow too, and I can make wind storms when I get mad."

"You can?" asked Annie.

Timothy nodded.

"I made the flag on the school flagpole wave even when there's no wind, I've moved the teacher's desk and I wasn't even near it" he explained.

"You know Rachel and I are like you too," said Annie smiling. "We can do magic."

"Really?" asked Timothy unsurely.

Annie nodded. She went downstairs and came back up a couple minutes later carrying a cup of water.

Rachel held out her hand, Timothy's dark blue eyes opened in surprise as he saw the water bubbling and steam rising. Rachel then lowered her hand and water stopped heating.

Annie then went. She held her hand out and Timothy watched as the water froze into ice.

"Rachel and I can do magic," explained Annie. "Rachel has fire powers, and I can do ice, fire, water and substances. We can also move stuff with our minds."

"What are you?" asked Timothy.

Annie, Rachel and Parker exchanged looks.

"Can we trust you?" asked Rachel.

Timothy nodded.

Annie used her powers to unfreeze the water. She picked up the cup and poured some water on her arm. A few seconds there was a woosh sound and Annie turned into mermaid form and flopped on the ground.

Timothy's mouth dropped wide open.

"Rachel and I are mermaids," explained Annie. "Whenever we touch water for ten seconds our legs turn into tails."

"But I can't be a mermaid," said Timothy. "I've never turned into one when I get wet."

"Well, you have to be a magic being of some kind," said Parker.

The three friends walked downstairs; Mrs. Leird was in the kitchen talking to a man. He had light brown hair like Timothy and wore doctor clothes. Mrs. Leird noticed the three standing in the living room.

"Oh, Annie," she said. "This is my husband Mark, he's a dentist."

"Nice to meet you Mr. Leird," said Annie politely.

"We were talking about what happened," said Mr. Leird. "I didn't hear about it until I was leaving work."

"There's something we have to talk to you about," said Annie. "Timothy was telling us about abilities he could do. Is he a witch?"

Mr. and Mrs. Leird stared at each other in surprise.

"Yes," replied Mrs. Leird. "He is."

"Is one of you a witch too?" asked Rachel.

"We're both witches," Mr. Leird jumped in. "We come from a long line of witches."

"I knew you girls were mermaids when you came here," added Mrs. Leird. "I could sense magic on you. That's why I let you in."

"It was you who heated up the knife that man had wasn't it?" said Annie.

Mrs. Leird nodded.

"Timothy's only seven," explained Mrs. Leird. "I wanted him to feel normal, so that's why I haven't told him."

"We think that man who attacked you was a supernatural hunter," said Annie.

"I thought so too," agreed Mrs. Leird. "I was surprised, we normally don't have trouble with hunters, but it seems lately the hunters have become more intense. It's like they've been attacking more often."

"It's like they're finding ways to tell who's a magic being," added Mr. Leird. "We can usually blend in with the crowd.

"Well, it seems like magic beings have been fighting back the past couple years," said Annie thoughtfully. "The hunters are probably becoming more determined to take you down. My friends and I have dealt with them back home."

"Right now, we gotta find that hunter that attacked you," said Parker. "Before he comes back."

"Can we get Timothy and ask him to help describe the man who attacked?" asked Annie.

Mrs. Leird agreed and they went to get Timothy.

…

Trish had called Irene, Kelsey, and Sean over to her house.

"What is it, Trish?" asked Irene, sitting on the couch.

"I was watching the news the other day," explained Trish. "They're still looking for George and Yuria. I think we should go to the oceanic realm and ask king Merrow to return the bodies."

"Why?" asked Kelsey.

"If they don't find them," explained Trish. "They're going to get suspicious of how they disappeared."

"She might be right," agreed Sean. "If they don't find them, they're gonna keep searching forever and they're probably going to question if we did anything to them."

"Maybe we should go," said Kelsey. "To give the police closure."

The four friends got up and headed off to the beach. Sean, Irene and Trish got into the water and transformed into mermaid form.

Sean took out his transport pearl and threw it in the water opening the portal.

"Good luck!" called Kelsey as they swum into the portal.

…

"So Timothy," said Annie as they all sat down in the living room. "Can you draw us a picture of what the man who attacked you looked like?"

Timothy nodded and started drawing. After a few minutes, he held up a picture of a man. He looked in his early twenties, he had pale gray eyes and short dirty blond hair.

Annie looked at the picture and showed it to Mrs. Leird.

"Is this him?" she asked.

Mrs. Leird looked at the picture and nodded.

"I'll send the picture to Mrs. Wellington," said Rachel. She took a picture on her phone and sent it to Mrs. Wellington.

…

Mrs. Wellington and Melora were sitting in the living room when the telephone rang.

Mrs. Wellington got up and answered it.

"Hello Dawn," said Rachel. "We're in Miami, this boy and his family got attacked by a supernatural hunter. The boy drew us a picture of the man who attacked, I've sent it to you."

Mrs. Wellington thanked Rachel and went to go look.

She opened her laptop and saw the drawing of the man Timothy had made. She then looked up federal files.

A few minutes later Mrs. Wellington called back.

"I think I found a picture of the man," said Mrs. Wellington. "I've sent it to you."

Rachel checked her phone and then showed Mrs. Leird.

"That does look like him" she exclaimed.

"His name is Ron Madden," replied Mrs. Wellington. "He's a film equipment worker. It says he spent time in juvie when he was fifteen for the manslaughter of a teacher in Ohio and he's wanted in South Carolina for the attempted murder of a girl.

"He certainly sounds like a supernatural hunter" said Parker thoughtfully.

"Yeah," agreed Annie. "I wouldn't be surprised if the teacher and that girl were magic beings."

"Why does he want to hurt us mom?" asked Timothy.

"Some people just don't like magic honey," said Mrs. Leird. "There's a reason why you can do magic. Your father and I are witches. Just like the girls are mermaids."

Timothy looked at his parents with wide eyes.

"You and dad can do magic too?" he asked.

"Yes," replied Mr. Leird. "You've never just seen your mother and I do magic because we keep it secret."

"We didn't tell you because we wanted you to feel normal," added Mrs. Leird. "But then your powers have been showing. I'm sorry we didn't tell you sooner."

Annie, Rachel and Parker all exchanged looks. It was a lot for the boy to take in that he and his family were witches.

Timothy seemed shaken by the thought of being a witch. He ran out of the kitchen without saying anything.

"Don't worry Beverly," said Mr. Leird. "It's just hard for him right now."

"We'll talk to him," said Annie.

The three friends went into the living and saw the door was slightly open.

"Oh no!" cried Parker. "He must've gone outside!"

Annie, Rachel and Parker quickly ran outside and saw Timothy running down the street. Just then they saw a man grabbing him by the wrist. Timothy screamed and the man dragged him into his car.

"It looks just like the man in the picture" whispered Rachel.

Mr. and Mrs. Leird came running out as the car drove off.

"That's the car we saw!" cried Mrs. Leird.

"Don't worry Mrs. Leird," said Annie. "We'll save him."

Rachel quickly ran down the road. She turned herself invisible and climbed on to the roof of the car.

Annie and Parker took off after them.

…

Irene, Trish, Kelsey and Sean arrived at the beach. Sean tossed a transport pearl into the water and opened up the portal.

"Good luck," said Kelsey.

"Thanks" replied Irene.

Irene, Trish and Sean waded into the water and transformed into mermaids and swum through the portal.

Trish was astonished with the oceanic realm. She had only seen the underwater world on tv and had never thought of being there. It was even a magical world.

"There's the castle" called Sean.

Trish stared down in wonder at the beautiful castle.

Celina saw them swimming towards the castle and swum up to them.

"Hey guys," said Celina "What are you doing here?"

"We need to talk to your dad," explained Irene.

Celina led them into the castle, Trish looked around in wonder. She looked up to see king Merrow and queen Thelxeipeia and bowed down.

"Mom, dad," said Celina. "This is Trish, she's Annie and Irene's friend."

"A pleasure to meet you Trish," said Thelxeipeia kindly. "Why have you come?"

"We would like you to return the bodies of George and Yuria to Florence," explained Irene. "The police have been searching for them ever since we told them about them stalking us. And we're worried about what suspicion they might have if they don't find them soon."

The king listened thoughtfully to Irene's words.

"It shall be considered Irene" he said respectfully.

Celina led the three mermaids out.

…

Rachel reappeared as the car pulled to a stop outside of a house. It was a semi house in an older neighborhood, the houses looked old. Ron Madden pulled Timothy out of the car and forced him into the house on the right side.

Rachel hopped off the car as soon as she heard the door close and she quickly ran up on to the porch. There was a window on the front of the house next to the door. Rachel looked inside. The walls of the living room were covered in old fashioned wallpaper and she could see newspaper clippings hanging on the walls. She saw Ron swinging Timothy to the floor.

"What are you doing?" cried Timothy shakily. "My family didn't do anything to you!"

"You and your magic parents are nothing but trouble," growled Ron. "It's nothing but a bunch of trouble."

"My parents aren't bad!" exclaimed Timothy.

"You magic beings are all the same to me," snapped Ron. "And when I get my hands on your parents you will all be executed."

He held out a knife.

Timothy cringed.

Rachel gasped. She knew she had to do something. She walked over to the house next door and knocked on the door.

A young couple opened the door.

"Can we help you?" asked the girl.

"Can I use your phone?" asked Rachel. "I have to report a kidnapping."

The couple looked at each other in concern.

"Come on in," said the man.

…

Annie, Parker and Mrs. Leird were walking down town.

"I'm sure they're heading this way," said Parker.

Just then Annie's phone rang.

Annie looked at the text message.

"It's from Rachel," she said. "She's found Timothy. They're at 136 Desantis gardens."

"That's not far from here," said Mrs. Leird "Come on!"

…

Rachel looked in the window. She could see Ron was going through a belt of knives getting ready to go out. She looked out at the newspaper clippings on the wall. On one she could see the picture of a teenage girl with dirty blond hair.

17-year-old Sophie Blue was attacked near the pier of Myrtle Beach South Carolina in the early evening hours of Saturday evening of July 18th 2015. She was taken to hospital clinging to life after being stabbed in lower body and waste. Suspect remains at large after fleeing the seen when beach goers caught the seen.

Another article read; Sophie Blue survived stab wounding, suspect has been identified as 24-year-old Ron Madden. Region wide manhunt has been launched against suspect.

Rachel knew she had to do something.

She turned invisible and opened the door.

Ron looked up in surprise to see the door open and close on its own. He looked over suspiciously to Timothy. Just then Rachel made herself reappear.

Ron stepped back in surprise.

"Who are you?" he cried.

"I'm a mermaid," said Rachel. "I had a feeling you were a supernatural hunter when I learned about you're record."

"That girl in South Carolina was a mermaid," declared Ron. "I would've killed her if the crowd hadn't shown up."

"Was your teacher a magic being too?" asked Rachel.

"He was a witch," said Ron. "I had a feeling; he always wore these silver amulets."

"You can't hurt Timothy," cried Rachel. "He's just a kid!"

"Looks like I'll get to kill a mermaid too," said Ron with a smirk. "And this time I'll make sure you're dead."

He had just raised his knife when the cabinet rammed into him and he flew to the ground.

Rachel looked in surprise to see Timothy standing up with a hand held out.

"Right," said Ron. "It's personal now."

Just then the door swung open and Annie, Parker and Mrs. Leird came running in.

"Mom!" cried Timothy happily.

Mrs. Leird unleashed a bolt of purple energy. The beam blasted Ron and sent him flying back.

Ron picked himself up and took out his knife. Mrs. Leird held her hand out and the blade turned into butterflies.

Annie, Rachel and Timothy looked at each other and nodded. They held their hands out and made Ron float up into the air.

Ron screamed as the floated up off the ground.

"Put me down!" he shouted as the group laughed.

Just then they heard the sound of someone entering the house and they quickly dropped him to the ground.

Two policemen answered the house, one was a Caucasian and the other was an African-American.

"Police freeze!" called the Caucasian officer.

"He's the one who attacked us earlier officers," declared Mrs. Leird. "And he kidnapped my son!"

"Please stand-up sir," said the dark-skinned officer. "You're going downtown."

Ron groaned as the two officers grabbed him and led him out.

Annie, Rachel and Parker walked Timothy and Mrs. Leird back home.

"Thanks so much for helping us," said Mrs. Leird.

"Yes, we're so glad you helped our son" added Mr. Leird.

"Mom, will you and dad teach me how to do magic?" asked Timothy.

"Of course we will honey," said Mrs. Leird.

Annie and her friends waved goodbye and headed back to the water.

That evening Annie told Alex and Vivian about their adventure.

Vivian had the news on.

"An anonymous caller sent police in Miami Florida to the home of 24-year-old Ron Madden who was arrested for attacking a young boy and his mother, he was taken into custody and is looking up to 50 years in prison without parole. He is also being tried for the attempted murder of a teenage girl from South Carolina the year before."

The scene on the tv then changed to a beach. Annie noticed two bodies were laying at the water's edge.

"The two bodies that have washed up on the beach have been identified as 41-year-old George Clemons and 37-year-old Yuria Shou," announced a female reporter. "The deaths have been suspected as accidental drowning. George and Yuria have been wanted for stalking high school girls in Florence. We will have more news soon."

Annie and her parents all looked at each other in surprise.