Crown Of Spells

Chapter 9 - Let's Escape

The room fell silent; the only sound was the aggressive thumping of my heart. Aunt Matilda opened her mouth to reply when a loud rap on the door caught all of our attention.

"Dr. Patterson, just wanted to let you know that your time with these ladies is coming up. Other patients are waiting for you!" It was the receptionist lady. All our eyes widened, and we looked at Dr. Patterson on the floor, unconscious.

"Thank you for letting us know; we are just about to leave!" I called out, trying to stop my voice from shaking. We remained quiet for a couple of minutes in case the receptionist was still there.

"LEAVE? HOW ARE WE LEAVING WHEN—" Miya exclaimed, looking at Dr. Patterson slumped on the floor.

"Let's move him back to his office and put a sign up, 'do not disturb.' We'll tell the receptionist lady that Dr. Patterson can't be disturbed since he has something urgent to do," I suggested with a firm nod.

"The stun spell should wear off in 10 minutes. It should give us enough time to leave. He won't remember anything that happened," replied Aunt Matilda simply. It was good; that way, Dr. Patterson couldn't remember anything about me he discovered, and my name would still be on the magic registry. I leaned down and grabbed his slumped shoulders; Miya rushed over and grabbed his legs, helping me hoist him up.

"Despite being little, he doesn't weigh little!" she grunted as we maneuvered between office supplies until we carefully laid him in his office. If someone walked in, him laying down seemed suspicious. I grabbed a glass vase on his table and dropped it near his feet.

"DELSIA? What are you trying to DO NOW? Secure our spots in PRISON?" Miya exclaimed, pulling me back.

"No, if someone happens to walk in on Dr. Patterson before the spell wears off, they would see the broken vase next to him and assume he tripped over something and became unconscious," I explained, motioning to the vase. "It'll also help Dr. Patterson when he wakes up to not question anything; he'll simply believe that he got knocked over if the receptionist lady bothers asking further questions."

"Oh Delsia, that's genius! But we have to hurry out; the spell will wear off in just 10 minutes!" she said, tugging on my arm. I followed her outside, pulled close the door, and hung up the 'do not disturb' sign. Miya gave my Aunt a reaffirming nod, and all three of us bolted out and down the corridor.

Guilt and fear clutched at my heart; Dr. Patterson didn't deserve what just happened to him, but it was the only way. I made a silent promise to myself to apologize to him if I came back as a winner from the Divination Games.

Finally, we arrived at the waiting room where the receptionist lady gave us a quick wave.

"Ma'am, the doctor wanted us to let you know that Dr. Patterson can't take any patients for the next 10 minutes. He told us he had something urgent to do and not to disturb him," I said before exiting the house.

"Huh? These patients are waiting, though!" she sighed and shuffled her papers around. "Folks, I'm sorry, but we're going to have a 10-minute delay. Sorry for the inconvenience!" she muttered out loud. A few of the patients groaned, and some of them cast dirty eyes at me like I did something wrong. Oh wait! I did do something wrong.

I stepped outside, and the sunlight sparkled onto us, but I shivered. It felt like a criminal exposed in broad daylight.

"MMM, I don't like this at all! What if we get caught? What if Dr. Patterson remembers?" I stammered, looking around nervously. What had I just put my best friend and my Aunt through?

"I'll take full responsibility for all of us. Both of you don't have to suffer the consequences of my actions," I said, looking down. "I should have known better than to drag both of you to live out a silly fantasy that I wanted." The wind blew softly through my hair, the scent of fresh bread catching my attention. Surprisingly, I found Aunt Matilda looking at me, a warmth of pride flashing in her eyes.

"Delsia, I've been thinking about the outburst I had earlier. It was wrong for me to act so angrily when I promised to stand by your side regardless of what you do," she said. I gave a soft laugh and pressed my forehead against hers.

"Thank you, Auntie." I looked down and saw Miya squashed between us, looking at both of us.

"I know what can cheer us up! The baker down the street has some fresh bread! Let's go get some!" She joyfully exclaimed, dragging my hand.

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We walked into the bakery store, where nobody greeted us. Usually, the bakery was packed with people, but it was empty. Aunt Matilda tapped on the bell on the front counter.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" Aunt Matilda asked. After a minute, a lady popped her head out from the back—Gweneth! She was the local baker in the town, and I worked as an intern for her over the summer, refining my baking skills. She gave us a confused look before wiping flour onto her apron and walking towards us.

"Hello, Matilda and Delsia!" She gave a soft smile to Miya and returned her gaze back to us. "What are you guys doing here? Did you want to miss the royal carriage parade?" She flicked through a jar of candy, handing a lollipop to both me and Miya. "Not that I mind getting more customers!" She gave a soft laugh.

"A royal carriage parade?" Miya and I exclaimed in unison. Was it happening right now?

"Have you not been reading the Daily Royal? In celebration of the Divination Games, Princess Ruby is going to be riding in a carriage and visiting all the towns, and she's visiting our town today!" Here today?

"Where is it?" Aunt Matilda asked; Miya and I nodded our heads, awaiting her response.

"It's the main road that starts at the shopping district; a whole crowd should be gathered there," she pointed out the window.

"Let's go, Delsia, let's go!" Miya bounced up and down, clutching my arm.

"Would we have enough time to come back and see your parents, though?" I asked, remembering the second step of our plan.

"Of course we do, silly! Besides, who wants to miss a chance to see Princess Ruby?" Her eyes glittered at the mention of her name. I had to admit; I also wanted to see her in person.

"Auntie, do you mind if we go see the parade? We'll be right back!" I said, holding Miya's hand.

"Of course, please hurry. I'll be at Miya's house explaining everything," she nodded.

"Aunt Matilda, do you not want to come? You don't have to; I can talk to my parents instead," Miya said. Aunt Matilda shook her head.

"You girls have fun; besides, I don't have the energy." She laughed. Gweneth looked at Matilda and started talking about her decision to stay back.

"If I'd gone, I'd get trampled by everyone; this old body can't handle things like it used to!"

Miya excitedly tugged on my arm, "Delsia hurry before we miss it,". I gave Aunt Matilda a quick wave before bolting out the front door, racing side by side with Miya.

*Note from Author*

Wow I'm so trilled seeing all the views and votes Crown of Spells has been getting! Can we hit 200 reads? Anyways, I've been updating this story pretty quick (1 to 2 days), however with my schedule filling up I may not be as fast with updates for future chapters. Thanks for the understanding! :)