BLACKOUT; JR [1]

8.2

"So now we sneak into the witch's lair to steal her magic book?" Jake mumbled, causing Felix to sigh. We had only been on this mission for two minutes, and they were already arguing. We were all hiding behind Phoebe's yellow van, using it as cover. We peeked through the windows to see her pacing around inside, moving things around, making it all neat. Felix motioned for us all to duck down, so we did.

"Okay..." He whispered. "You guys distract her in the shop. Sam and I will sneak into the back room. That's where she keeps it." Sam nodded vigorously, looking a little nervous. I was nervous, too. Felix poked his head around the van, staying there for longer than I thought was necessary. I scooted closer to him, sneaking a glance of Phoebe locking up the shop and placing a big book in her purse.

Felix huffed in annoyance. "Except when she keeps it in her bag." I moved back as he did, and we tried to form another plan.

"Please, Felix." I said, my voice overly dramatic. "Please tell me we have a Plan B."

Felix looked stumped for a second, staring down at his shoes. "We follow her?"

"Awesome." I mumbled unenthusiastically. "Let's go." We all began to stand, but Felix pulled my arm down.

"No!" He whispered, his eyes moving to Sam. "We'll go after her. You guys go into the shop, see if you can find any clues. If she is behind these attacks, she'll need things that belong to us for her spell."

"Like what?" Jake asked.

Felix shrugged. "Stray hairs, flaky skin. Just as long as it comes from us." He sounded quite casual, but the look on his face showed even he was anxious.

"Gross. Nice." I muttered, shaking my head as I whispered to myself.

"There's a spare key under the pot plant." Felix continued, ignoring me. "It's where she hides it in our world. So hopefully, that's one of the things that hasn't changed."

Sam suddenly shivered with enthusiasm. He slapped his hand onto Jake's knee. "Come on, guys. Eyes on the prize." Sam and Felix moved out of our sight while the rest of us made our way to the shop.

"Is it still breaking and entering if you have a key?" Andy asked as Jake shut the door behind us, the wind chimes echoing throughout the otherwise quiet shop.

"It's not our key, so probably." I answered. We all walked rather slowly through the store, taking it all in. There was books all about magic, crystals and wind chimes everywhere. I had never come into this shop at home, so I didn't really know what to expect. This wasn't it.

"Well, we haven't broken anything. So technically, it's just entering." Jake quipped, pushing me forward gently.

Andy didn't look convinced, I wasn't either. "Tell that to the judge." He muttered, to which I scoffed.

Jake and I wondered into a small aisle full of little statues of fictional and mythical creatures. "Man, I'm starved." He whined.

"I can't help you there, pretty boy." I giggled, examining a small mermaid figurine.

Jake walked away, chuckling. "There's not a single edible thing in here." He complained, turning to me.

"Well, maybe that's because it's not a supermarket." I quipped, rolling my eyes as I followed Andy around the room. Jake waved me off, shaking his head and mumbling some things that I couldn't hear.

Andy nudged me, grabbing my attention. "I think I've found what we're looking for." He said, looking into the back room. I didn't really want to go in there, but we had to.

It was really dark in the room, the only light being some small lamps littered around the area. Jake went to the small shelves, running his finger along all the jars that were sitting on it. His finger stopped moving, settling on a jar of pink things in pink liquid. He picked it up, practically beaming at me.

"Look at this, it's like pickles." He said excitedly. I shivered, mostly in disgust.

"You're delusional. Please don't eat that." I told him, my eyebrows raised knowingly. He flipped the lid and I bumped my shoulder into his as I strolled past him. I expected him to put the jar back, but he didn't. "Seriously, don't eat that."

"Do you think they're edible?" He asked, still smiling. He took a bite before he received any sort of answer.

"No." Andy deadpanned, flicking through the pages of a book. Jake coughed, spitting the contents back into the jar as a look of disgust crossed his face.

Andy had acquired the same look as he stared into his own little jar. "What is that?" I asked him, standing beside him and peering over his shoulder.

"There's over four types of hair here." He stated, moving into the light so he could see it better.

"That's exactly what we're looking for." I said, my voice sounding a lot more sarcastic than I intended. Andy sent a stern look my way, but his lips twitched up into a smile.

His face grew serious in a matter of seconds. "Maybe it's our hair." I felt my face scrunch up in distaste at the thought. Jake seemed more interested in the task at hand, now that his hopes of finding food had been crushed.

"I thought you didn't believe in magic." Jake said quietly, also looking at the jar's contents.

Andy barely looked up to respond. "I don't. But I'm very goal driven and I don't like underachieving." That was all he said before he put the jar down.
I scanned the desk for anything useful, any clues. I found a few black feathers. When I picked one up, I realised the feathers belonged to a crow.

"Maybe this is a clue to those scary birds." Jake suggested, taking another feather from the desk. Andy had moved on already, not really interested in this particular clue.

"Look at this." He called to us, gesturing to a framed photo of a woman. It was centred in a small circle of candles. "Is it a friend?" Andy suggested. "Relative?"

"A victim?" Jake quipped, his eyes widening as he joked around. Andy rolled his eyes and put the picture back on the shelf. He tried to open the drawer that was below it, but it appeared to be locked. He returned to the desk to find a key or something, but he came back with a pin. He was there for ages trying to open the draw. I was afraid Phoebe would return and catch us before we even got the chance to find anything.

"It looks so easy on TV." Andy mumbled, still not getting anywhere.

"Here, give me a go." Jake said, his voice flat. It seemed like he had taken a turn for the worse in the last ten minutes. He looked sick.

"Well, if I can't do it, I don't see how you can." Andy said. Jake didn't reply as he pulled the drawer open with ease. Apparently, it wasn't locked after all.

"That's really annoying." I said, my head falling into my hands.

"That's how good I am." Jake said as I walked over to examine the drawer's contents. "What the..." There were five little dolls that looked like they were made out of straw. I was officially creeped out.

"I think they're supposed to be us." Andy said quietly. Jake chuckled, reaching for the one with a little pair of glasses. It even had a blue shirt, just like Andy.

"Well, this one is you." Jake said, putting it down again. There was a sudden jingle at the front door. I felt my eyes widen in shock as we all turned our heads to the sound.

Phoebe was back, but we were gone.