Demons, Witches, and Toads (BoyxBoy)

The Break In

"This whole idea seems like a mess." Priscilla sighed. "And I curse you both for dragging me into it."

"Yeah, yeah, cry me a river, kid," Mulock said flatly. "I've bailed you out of enough messes for you to seriously owe me one."

"Ugh, fine," Priscilla rolled her eyes. She glanced at Wheeler and Mulock now, arching a brow. "Are you going to just stand there or are you going to actually hide?"

"Oh, right! Hiding!" Wheeler exclaimed. "That's important."

Mister Pumpernickel croaked in agreement, popping his head out from beneath Wheeler's hat.

"I feel like I ask this every time, but why the hell is the toad here?" Mulock muttered.

"He's backup!"

"Backup?" Mulock snapped. "What's he going to do? Sing another bad rendition of happy birthday?"

"I'll have you know that once I have enough money I'm going to enroll him in singing lessons and then he's going to become a star."

"Oh yeah. Because that's a great investment."

"It's his dream!"

"Well his dream sucks--"

"Will the two of you just hide already," Priscilla cut in sharply.

Luckily, neither protested and Mulock and Wheeler darted off into a side hallway. Nervously, Wheeler poked his head out just enough to watch Priscilla slowly approach the headmistress's door. She hesitated, taking a deep breath before finally knocking.

There was silence for a moment, but at last the door creaked open and Vera appeared.

She cocked her head to the side, almost like an owl, amber eyes appearing to practically bug out thanks to the thick lenses of her glasses. "Why, Miss Packwood, how surprising to find you here. May I assist you with anything?"

Priscilla nodded frantically. "Headmistress, there's an emergency! Violet's accidentally turned herself into a rat!"

"She's done what now?" Vera gaped.

"She tried a spell to help with her toe warts, but instead she transformed into a rodent. We don't know what to do! It's simply awful. Fitting. But awful!" Priscilla wailed.

Vera brought a hand to her mouth. "Oh dear, that's not good. Have you tried researching a reverse spell yet?"

"We don't have time," Priscilla said between loud, fake sobs. "Wheeler's cat got loose and now it's trying to eat her. It's chasing her around the entire academy!"

"Oh my Goodness."

"That's why I came to you, Miss. A life's on the line. We need your help now before she gets devoured!"

"Well then, I shall do my best to help her immediately--"

"Thank you so much, Miss! You're our savior!" Priscilla grabbed the headmistress by the arm, pulling her off into another hall before Vera even had time to fully shut the door.

Once the sound of their footsteps faded, Wheeler and Mulock glanced to each other, exchanging a small nod.

"Wow!" Wheeler exclaimed. "That was a great performance!"

"Now let's hope she can actually drag out the goose-chase," Mulock replied flatly. "Good performance or not, if she comes back early we're both screwed."

With those words, demon and boy quickly slipped inside the headmistress's office.

The room was just as Wheeler remembered it, cozy and warm with sparkling lights flickering from the ceiling. Mulock wasted no time moving to the second door, his hands quickly running over the runes carved into the wood.

"Hmm, that's odd," he murmured.

"What is?"

"These runes are actually pretty simple and should be fairly easy to disenchant. But why have such a lax lock if you don't want anyone to open it?"

Wheeler's shoulders sagged. "Maybe she just uses it to store extra school supplies."

"Could be. Still, there's only one way to find out for sure." The demon continued to trace the runes with one hand, trying out different orders. "Just hold on. This should only take me a minute or two to decipher."

Wheeler watched the demon's quick hand movements, fascinated.

"How do you know so much stuff? Is it a demon thing?" Wheeler asked.

Mulock arched a brow. "What do you mean?"

"You know all about the magical creatures around here, deciphering runes, different kinds of magic. It's pretty amazing."

Mulock shrugged. "Not really. I needed to know that shit for my old job. It was important I properly researched and understood everything this country had to offer so I could be of the best possible service to him."

"To who?"

"To no one," Mulock snapped.

Wheeler's eyes narrowed. "But you just said--"

"Yes, I know what I said," the demon interrupted. "And now we're going to drop it."

Wheeler's gaze flickered to the floor. "So there's not even a tiny chance you might finally tell me about your human life?"

"Nope." As Mulock said this, he slid his hand across the runes again, and this time they began to emit an eerie blue glow. The demon smirked, looking over his handiwork. "Bingo. Okay, let's see what the headmistress is hiding."

The demon seemed so pleased with himself that Wheeler decided not to point out that he'd just unironically said the word bingo.

With a wicked grin on his face, Mulock pushed open the door.

As Wheeler peered inside his eyes grew round as saucers. "Woah..." he breathed. "Incredible!"

From behind the door was a small valley complete with a babbling brook and towering trees with bright purple blossoms. At the other end of the valley was a massive cabinet made of seeder that seemed to tower nearly fifty feet into the air.

"Perfect," Mulock murmured. "If she's keeping her own batch of records it's going to be there."

Cautiously the two slipped through the door and, as they did, the air around them grew warm. It felt as if the sun was beaming down directly onto their faces. Wheeler took a deep breath, the smell of lilac filling his lungs.

"This place is amazing!" Wheeler practically squealed, beginning to skip and prance about.

"Okay, Wheeler, you're currently at about an eight on the overexcitement scale and I'm going to need you to tone it down to about a three or four."

"But it's so pretty!"

Mulock glanced around. "Yeah, but if the records really are here then why the hell were the runes so simple?"

"Look! Birds!" Wheeler exclaimed, clearly not paying attention. Several unnaturally large sparrows had begun to flutter around Wheeler's head like he was some kind of fairytale princess.

Mulock rolled his eyes. "I know you like animals but now really isn't the time."

And then something suddenly clicked.

The demon's eyes widened. "Wheeler, get away from those birds right now."

Wheeler's brows drew together in confusion, glancing at the flittering creatures around him.

"What...why? They're just a bunch of cute birdies?"

"Don't you see. Vera didn't need to guard the door because the security wasn't outside. It was already in--"

And that's when the sparrow's beaks suddenly detached with a sickening snap, revealing a pair of massive jaws set with thousands of sharp, jagged teeth.

Wheeler's stomach dropped, terror swelling in his chest.

The boy hardly had the time to fumble for his wand before the horrifying beasts lunged at him.