The Circle

The Circle - Chapter Seventeen

Seventeen:

As April predicted, students of all ages joined in with Rick Edwards' crazed movements as they surrounded Loretta Antonio with a sea of vacant eyes. Caleb confirmed what April feared most. Mass possession was dangerous beyond belief and she was convinced it wouldn’t stop here. She needed to figure out who was behind it and the De Souza twins were becoming bigger suspects by the second. Glancing over to where the twins sat, she noticed Ally’s calculated movements. She had her eyes fixed on Rick Edwards as if in a trance and if April didn't know any better, she would bet Ally De Souza was controlling his every move. A frightened Loretta panicked and tried frantically to get away as the whole of Mad-Hatters turned to watch the hysteria. All the pupils on the dance floor were in the same state.

"It's got to be a distraction," April finally voiced, frozen to the spot and transfixed with what was happening. "The question is why."

"It could be any of the things Caleb mentioned," Jinx replied feeling helpless.

"Yeah and did anyone else hear 'raising the dead'?" Alex added in a fit of panic. "I don't fancy hanging about for that..."

"I don't see any of us having a party about it Alex," Jinx snapped. "What do we need to do?"

Separating into groups, the four friends quickly developed a plan of action where they could wait for the party to really start. Rick Edwards and co still raved away on the dance floor and held Loretta in their grip. She lightened up a little after the remainder of people joined in, assuming it was some sort of fuss over her, but still she found it impossible to escape. Every time she tried to walk off the dance floor it was as if an invisible barrier was trapping her in. Some sort of Transfiction spell was binding her to it. Violet Western on the other hand had no trouble leaving the dance floor and was stood at the bar, looking completely perplexed. Loretta was the only girl left, dancing against her will and looking out of place.

Jinx and Caleb stood silently on the upstairs balcony overlooking the dance floor and took in every movement. They couldn't miss a thing. The De Souza twins sat on the sofa next to the dance floor, laughing and joking over Loretta’s predicament and seeming a little too guarded in Jinx's opinion. If this was a distraction, the big bang wasn't far away.

Jinx spotted April and Alex downstairs, approaching the twins from behind. Alex discretely gave Jinx a signal of the thumbs up as they slid onto the sofa behind them. Someone needed to watch their every move and April and Alex were just the people to do it.

*****

"Is it ok for me to be weirded out by this magic soap opera?" Alex asked April as they made themselves comfortable on the sofa behind the De Souza twins. "How do I save the world and make time for my XBox?"

"We're not saving the world Alex," April replied as she watched the twins intently, mentally logging their every movement. "We're trying to save Loretta."

"Well even better. I never thought I'd hear you say such beautiful words. Saving Loretta from a fate worse than death is something I've always strived towards. Actually, it's on my list of top 10 things to do before I die," Alex continued babbling sarcastically. "I have an idea, why don't we leave her to be un-saved? I vote un-save Loretta. Throw her to the sharks. It's not like anyone would care."

"Would you be quiet for one minute?" April snapped, getting irritated with Alex's moaning. "I'm trying to listen."

Alex mocked April's bad mood for a second but finally shut up. He always had to make a joke out of everything, even when he was scared. April supposed he was in denial. This was hard for anyone to get their head around least of all her.