Misplaced Magic (Book 8)

Chapter 4

"Sisters function as safety nets in a chaotic world simply by being there for each other." ― Carol Saline

--xxxxxx--

Lauren and Dani came into the attic a little while later with the bag of ingredients. 'Why does it smell like burning in here?' Dani asked as she put the bag down on the table.

'Christina was being impatient.' Katherine said.

'I was just trying something different.' Christina told them.

'Well, we have everything you need now so you can stop trying to blow yourself up.'

'Very funny, thank you' Christina said. 'How's Wendy?'

'She's good, same old. She offered to help.' Lauren told them.

'Do we have any idea who this guys is, or where he is?' Lisa asked. She had joined them upon her return from work.

'No. Nothing out of the ordinary has been reported anywhere.' Lauren admitted. 'It's like he vanished.'

'Maybe he's hiding.' Katherine said. 'If he knows he's potentially dangerous he might not want to hurt anyone.' Just then, Amy came into the room with a sad look on her face.

'What's wrong Aimes?' Lauren asked when she saw her.

'I just got a call from the hospital.' She said, sitting down on the couch next to Katherine. 'My patient, Mr Huckley, he died an hour ago.'

'Shit Aimes, we're sorry.' Dani said, sitting down on her other side.

'I wanted to be there when he went, I told him I'd always be there.' Amy said, a tear falling down her face.

'Aimes, you couldn't have know exactly when he was going to go.' Katherine said.

'I could have been there though.' Amy said.

'How, by staying there around the clock?' Christina said. 'Come on Aimes, he'll forgive you.'

'Has the hospital called his family?' Lauren asked.

'No.' Amy shook her head and wiped away some more tears. 'He didn't have any. Never married, no kids. He doesn't have anyone to mourn him.'

'We can Aimes.' Lisa said. 'And if you want, I can put together a kick-ass funeral for him.'

'You don't have to do that Lise.' Amy smiled.

'I want to.' Lisa said. 'You can help me plan it and we can send him off properly, okay?'

'Okay. Thanks Lise.' Amy nodded.

xxxxxx

Christina was busy making the potion when Lauren called them all down to the living room. 'What's up Laur?' Katherine said.

'Look, on the tele.' Lauren pointed to the news. There was a reporter downtown who was talking about the aftermath of an odd rampage. There were cars on fire and shop windows busted in.

'That doesn't look good.' Amy said.

'It's not. People were saying they saw a man walking down the road with this electric energy coming out of him.'

'Like Christina's?' Lisa wondered.

'Kind of, but they said it was yellow.' Lauren said.

'Anything else?' Dani asked.

'Just that he looked like he was on drugs or something.' Lauren told them.

'Doesn't surprise me.' Katherine said. 'His body probably isn't handling the power well.'

'Why don't we go down there and see if we can find him?' Dani suggested.

'And just wander around?' Katherine asked.

'Why not? If we find him we could convince him that we can help.' Lauren said.

'If he knows he's not alone then we might be able to talk him down.' Christina agreed.

'Alright. Is the potion ready?' Katherine asked.

'It will be after I add one more ingredient.' Christina said.

'What's that?' Amy wondered.

'My blood.' Christina said.

'Why your blood?' Lisa asked.

'His power seems similar to mine. If the potion has a reference point, it will know what it's trying to attack.' Christina said. 'Just, no one throw it at me.'

'Got it.' Dani said as she went back up the stairs.

xxxxxx

Lauren was walking into the kitchen just as Amy was walking out with a mug of tea in her hand. 'Hey Aimes, can we talk for a sec?' Lauren asked, stopping her in her tracks.

'Sure, what's up?' Amy asked, moving back into the kitchen. They both sat down at the kitchen counter.

'I know you're dealing with Mr Huckley and all, but I was wondering if you'd been able to talk to your psychology department about that internship?' Lauren asked, biting her lip.

'I did ask and they have to open it to everyone, they can't just give it to you because you're my sister.' Amy said.

'Okay, what do I need to do?' Lauren wondered.

'Go online and fill out the application. There are three essay questions and then if you make it through they'll bring you in for an interview.' Amy smiled.

'Great, that's great.' Lauren nodded. 'I can do that.' She let out a breath.

'Relax, Laur.' Amy rubbed her knee. 'I've read some of your stuff, I know how good you are. You know what you're talking about so just be yourself.'

'I will.' Lauren said. 'Thanks again Aimes.'

xxxxxx

Katherine and Dani watched as Christina dropped a bit of her blood into the potion. She stayed as far back as possible and the potion bubbled and turned a solid blue colour. 'Can one of you bottle it for me?' She asked. 'I don't really want to be in the same room as it.' Christina joked, but she wasn't really joking.

'Yeah, I got it.' Lisa said. She took several small potion vials from the shelf and scooped some of the liquid up in each. After screwing the tops on she put them on the table and put a lid over the bowl.

'We need to be very careful with that stuff.' Katherine said.

'What if this guy doesn't want to get rid of the powers? What if he likes them too much?' Lisa asked.

'He doesn't have a choice. They'll kill him if he keeps them.' Christina said.

'We can't vanquish him so we're just going to have to get the potion on him somehow.' Katherine said.

'As long as we can subdue him long enough to give him the potion, it'll be fine.' Christina said.

'What about the other power? We still don't know what it is. He could turn himself into a vampire bat and fly away for all we know.'

'Magic powers don't turn you into a vampire Lise.' Katherine said. 'And vampires don't exist anyway.'

'Seriously? You're a witch Kath, and you don't think vampires are real?' Lisa looked at her, shocked.

'Hey, when I meet one, I'll believe it.' Katherine said.

'Alright, enough.' Christina said. 'Let's get the others and head downtown.' Lisa picked up the potions and gave one to Katherine as they left the room.