Tonya awoke in a strange room. Through faded curtains early morning light revealed a cheap white dresser. She was lying in an iron bed layered with chipped paint. She tried to stand but her head went woozy. She slipped her legs over the side of the bed and sat up. At her feet lay a backpack with clothes spilling out of it. Where was she?
Tonya went to the tiny window and slid it open. She inhaled the cool scent of pine. Chickadees trilled in the trees. This forest could be near Loon Lake or somewhere up north.
"Don't tell me what I can do!" The sound of arguing came through the flimsy wall. Tonya dragged her feet to the door, opened it a crack and peeked out. The modest bedroom gave directly onto a narrow kitchen/ living room where Mom and Dad were arguing with Aunt Helene.
Her parents were back from Australia! Tonya slipped into the room but her relatives were so intent on their conflict that nobody noticed.
"We can't trust you." Dad was trembling, his fists and long arms tanned.
Mom was round and dark, the opposite of her gaunt, white-haired sister. "If your enchantment didn't lift when Waldock almost killed you, we'd still be clueless in Australia. Tell me again why I should trust you with my kid." Mom's arms were crossed in front of her, a position Tonya recognized from being told off.
Aunt Helene turned her palms up in supplication. "Please..." She took a step toward her sister who backed away.
"I couldn't do it without her."
"At what cost?" Dad paced the room gesticulating broadly. "She'll be banished as soon as she's fit to stand trial."
"Let me take the blame," Aunt Helene pleaded. "Don't underestimate the gratitude of our faction."
"Our faction! You have some nerve pretending to be on our side."
"Hello." Tonya's voice came out soft and phlegmy.
All heads turned in her direction.
"Tonya!" Mom rushed to embrace her first but it turned into a four-way family hug.
When they let go Dad said: "Let's get out of here."
"Are you hungry?" asked Aunt Helene.
"We'll be taking care of her from now on." Dad glared at her Aunt.
He took Tonya by the elbow but she wasn't ready to go just yet. "Wait."
Her Aunt beamed at her. "I knew you'd pull through. You're a very strong young woman."
Tonya noticed Aunt Helene had more colour in her face, and her hair was drawn back in a tidy ponytail. Perhaps it was the low lighting but Tonya thought she looked younger too, her face less wrinkled.
"You're cured!" She hugged her Aunt.
"When we overcame Waldock, I sent his poison back into him."
"And now it's over. I have my Baby back and she's safe." Dad held a hand out to Tonya. "We're taking you to Toronto."
"You always wanted to go to university there," said Mom. "Now you can."
Tonya once yearned to go to school in the city. "I thought you wanted me to stay close to home."
"Dad found a job in Toronto. We've moved there to stay."
"Why don't you tell her the real reason you want her to run away?" Aunt Helene said.
"You," said Dad. "Maybe you meant well, but Tonya isn't safe here anymore."
"It won't prevent a trial." Aunt Helene sighed. "Running will just make her look guilty."
"Guilty?" Tonya remembered sucking the life force out of Waldock.
Her Aunt shrugged. "Don't worry. You meant no harm." She turned to her sister. "I'll take the blame for everything. Tonya didn't know what she was doing."
"The Court will accuse her of apprenticing with you. You've been flaunting the rules for years with your so-called herbal cures. No one will believe a word you say."
"Leave her defence to me. I promise Tonya will remain a perfect 'white hat,' like her parents."
Dad put a protective arm around Tonya's shoulders. "The best thing you can do is leave her alone."
Tonya stepped free. "Don't I get a say?" She was tired of being 'protected.'
"Of course," said Mom. She put her hands on Tonya's shoulders and looked her in the eyes. "What you do is up to you, but while you decide come to Toronto and forget all this unpleasantness. You need rest."
She was exhausted. Tonya's mind's eye instinctively opened on its own. Dad, Aunt Helene, and Mom were suddenly transformed into points of light in space. The trees outside were green dots of energy surrounding her Aunt's flimsy walls of gyprock and aluminum. Her mother's delicious energy pulsated as it rushed out through her fingertips and into Tonya's shoulders.
Mom recoiled. "Stop!"
"You did this!" Mom rushed at Aunt Helene so fast Tonya thought she would hit her. "You corrupted her."
"She was born with that ability."
The sisters faced each other, hands on hips, chins jutting, cheeks flushed, each the reverse image of the other.
"I'm on your side," said Aunt Helene, "but we couldn't let Waldock win."
"Liar! You abandoned the anti-magic faction the minute you went out with him. Stay away from Tonya or they'll find her guilty by association."
"You should be grateful to Aunt Helene for stopping Waldock," said Tonya.
"She sent us to Australia where we couldn't protect you," said Dad.
"What could you have done without magic?" said Tonya.
Aunt Helene smiled at her. "I knew you wouldn't let us down."
"They'll charge you with practising magic," said Dad.
"Everybody uses magic! This is Loon Lake," said Tonya.
"Not the non-magic faction, and sanctions are severe." Mom moved in cautiously and, without touching her, brushed a strand of hair off Tonya's face.
"If you leave there's no coming back," said her Aunt. "Don't go," she said to her sister.
"You must be tired," Mom said to Tonya. "I'll help you pack. We have to get back to Toronto before they realize you're up and about."
Tonya looked from her smiling parents to Aunt Helene, who looked down at her clasped hands.
"I can do it myself." Her parents shouldn't make her choose between them and Aunt Helene.
Back in the bedroom, it took moments to stuff her things into the backpack but she took her time making the bed. Through the skimpy wall she could hear them hissing accusations at each other. They stopped when she came back.
"I'm going for a walk, by myself." She was happy to see her parents but running away felt wrong. Tonya had helped save the town and that should count for something. At one time she would've given everything to leave Loon Lake and go to university in the big city. She wanted to meet new people who didn't think of her as 'that chubby girl who reads too many books.' A few months ago, Toronto would have represented adventure and a chance to figure out who she could be. How ironic that by the time her protective parents allowed her to live there, Loon Lake and its magic had proven much more exciting.
# # #
Outside Tonya realized where she was. Her Aunt Helene had set up a trailer in the woods behind the fire-damaged Herbal Healing Shoppe. She walked the perimeter of the chain link fence enclosing the building. Attached to the gate she read a sign: "Closed for construction. Consultations by appointment only."
She decided to walk back to campus. It would give her a chance to think. Out of habit she headed for the shortcut through the woods but the sight of trees reduced to charcoal made the pit of her stomach drop. Maybe she did deserve to be tried for arson.
She backtracked and took the Highway route. It would take longer, but it felt good to walk listening to the crunch of gravel under her feet. Tonya had never seen her parents so angry. Selling the house was wrong but Aunt Helene did it to protect them. Waldock could have made them do anything. Why weren't they grateful? There was too much about Loon Lake magic and its factions that the family had kept from her.
A rumbling engine slowed and pulled up behind her. Tonya recognized Priya's rustmobile and got in.
"Your Aunt texted me. How do you feel?" she asked.
"Okay." The short walk made Tonya's legs ache as if it had been miles, but she would never admit it.
# # #
On the drive back, Tonya asked: "Have they closed the campus? Are there still roadblocks?"
"Everything's back the way it was. Students are worried about normal things, like dating and doing essays. They have blackouts in their memories but nobody's sure why."
"You remember."
"Thanks to your Aunt."
"What about the prisoners Ducky saw? The police had to report that."
"Nope." Priya kept her eyes on the road. "Everything's back to normal."
"After the grocery store riots? Somebody must have recorded them on a security camera or a phone."
"I think your Aunt did something about it. The locals are acting like nothing happened, and the students don't remember much. You can stop worrying."
As they pulled into campus, Tonya asked Priya to drop her off at the residence. "Thanks for the lift."
Waiting for the elevator, she caught a whiff of ripe socks, men's cologne, and textbooks. She was home.
At the sound of her key in the lock, the door flew open. It was Lynette dressed for clubbing.
"Finally!" Her roommate threw her arms around Tonya and gave her a warm squeeze. "I've been so worried."
"Likewise," said Tonya. "How long have you been up and around?"
"All day." Lynette didn't remember being unconscious for days, and when Tonya mentioned the hospital she looked at her quizzically.
"How's Roberto?"
"I don't know. He went back to Peru but he's fine, I guess. You're the one who's sick. Shouldn't you lie down?"
It took a while for Tonya to convince her roommate she felt fine, but as soon as she did Lynette went out. What a relief! The argument with her parents and the walk had really taken it out of her. She lay down on top of her bed and closed her eyes for a moment.
# # #
When Tonya awoke it was dark outside.
Lynette sat on her bed using her smart phone. "You're awake. I have a surprise for you but you should change first."
Tonya looked down at the t-shirt and track pants she'd been wearing at the trailer. Her hair in the mirror was greasy and flat on one side. She tried to remember how long she'd been sick but could dredge up only vague memories of sitting propped against pillows while Aunt Helene fed her soup.
She showered first, then let her roommate make wardrobe suggestions. Was it her imagination or had she lost a bit more weight? Puzzled, she allowed herself to be led back to the elevator. Lynette hit the 'up' button.
"We're going to see Priya?"
She nodded.
Priya met them in the corridor which throbbed with music from inside her room. "You look nice." She smiled and flung the door open.
"Surprise!" shouted a crowd.
Tonya was surrounded by smiling faces. As she came in they started to applaud. Clearly somebody on campus had told them what she did.
"That would be me." Aunt Helene stepped out of the shadows.
"When are you going to stop reading my mind?" Tonya asked.
"As soon as you learn to think in whispers." Her Aunt laughed. "I cast a charm on the room. They'll have forgotten everything again by morning. Have fun!" She waved goodbye and left.
Crammed into Priya's room were students, but also cafeteria ladies in jeans and T-shirts instead of their usual uniforms. Marta and the swim team huddled in one corner. There were even men and women Tonya recognized as police officers and ambulance attendants.
Just then Shin walked in. With a happy squeal, Priya launched herself into his arms. When they unclinched Shin gave Priya a big goofy smile. "What did I do to deserve you?"
"You don't yet," said Priya, "but you will."
Roberto and Lynette had split, and Priya and Shin were together?
"How long was I in bed?" she asked Priya.
"A while..."
"How long exactly?"
"A month."
Tonya's knees went weak. She sagged into a chair. "How?"
"Your Aunt has been looking after you. I visited but you were asleep most of the time."
That explained why she felt so weak. She hadn't exercised in a month. Tonya stood up on wobbly legs, her dry tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth. She was headed for the punch bowl to get a drink when Professor Rudolph shambled toward her, knees straight and arms outstretched. She backpedalled, trying to find a clear escape route.
Couldn't the others see him? Was he a ghost? She turned to run but before she could, strong arms grabbed her and pulled her back. She craned her neck to see who it was.
Zain's dark eyes glittered. "Don't go now, we're just getting started." He pushed Tonya into the Professor's open arms. Before she could scream he crushed her face into his flabby chest, smothering the sound.
He released her with a smile. "Thanks for everything! Your Aunt told me how you fought Waldock and brought us all back,"
"But your walk... I thought you were still..."
Zain drew her into the hall. "Lying on the cold ground in the cemetery set off his rheumatism, so now he moves like this." Arms outstretched he did a Frankenstein walk. "Grrr! Grrrr!"
Tonya grinned but not because of his antics. Beyond Zain she spied broad shoulders and blue eyes approaching, silent as a Ninja.
The tall youth slipped up to Tonya. "Am I ever glad to see..."
Before Ducky could finish, she kissed him.
The End
*******************************************************************************
Thank you so much for supporting this story and for reading this far! All your votes, comments and follows have made a real difference, spurring me to the finish and helping this story get featured by Wattpad. It's been wonderful meeting you all since posting the first chapter October 31, 2014.
If you're interested in getting your own copy of Feeding Frenzy in paperback or ebook form, visit www.maajawentz.com & join the Loon Lake Reading Club.
You can start also start reading the sequel, Double Dead Magic, on Ream. https://reamstories.com/creator-hub/page/lhdco5cilm/public
Double Dead Magic
When her mother is jailed for slaying a revenant, Tonya must uncover the murderer who killed him—the first time.
Stripped of magic by the Staff of Storms and forbidden to contact her memory-cursed friends and boyfriend, Tonya is sentenced to remedial magic classes at Loon Lake University. Summer school with the enemy feels like the worst punishment—until her birth mother is jailed for slaying a zombie.
Her mother's freedom depends on Tonya solving a 20-year-old cold case involving necromancy, thwarted love, ghosts, and witchy family secrets. Meanwhile, hidden entities menace the beautiful city of Loon Lake. Suspicious fires, missing swimmers, and parasitic dragons threaten the citizens, including Tonya's old friends, the Digital Ninjas.
The stakes rise. Tonya must clear her mother's name, rescue the Ninjas, and save her best friend, Priya, when a motorcycle hunk uses her to unleash a real-life Frankenstein nightmare. Can Tonya save her mother and convince the warring Old Families to restore her friends' memories? If she fails, Tonya will remain outcast and estranged from her true love.
Double Dead Magic is perfect for fans of urban fantasy and creepy serials like Wednesday, iZombie, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. If you enjoyed the magical world of Sabrina, you'll love this thrilling tale of witches, murder, and unique dragons.
Reader Reviews of Feeding Frenzy
"an amazing ride. . . loved every minute of it!" —J. L. Weaver, Penderry's Bizarre series (England)
"A great ending! Loved it!" —Denise Murdoch (USA)
"Just when you think there won't be any more surprises, Maaja Wentz throws us for a loop. . . I NEED MORE." —Helaine Duvenhage (South Africa)
"fun to read! The ending wrapped things up nicely, but it begs for a sequel." —David J. Thirteen (Canada)
"Take a spooky town, a food obsession, and wrap it all up in a wee bit of @MaajaWentz creepy, ghoul-tainted humor and you end up with the kaleidoscope that is Feeding Frenzy. —Jetta Frame (WattZombie Reviews)
Read it on Ream: https://reamstories.com/creator-hub/page/lhdco5cilm/public
Thanks again for your time, your votes and your comments. Without an audience there is no show....
Maaja