Roman, Patton, and Emile sat in chairs across from the witches inside the Sanderson house. It was awkwardly quiet. Roman tapped his thumb on his folded hands. Virgil picked at his skirts. Patton bounced his leg while Logan tapped his pointer finger against his leg. Emile fiddled with his pen and Remy snored. Logan sighed and elbowed Remy who jolted up with a shout.
"I wasn't asleep Mr. Thicket!" Remy blinked, forced himself to focus, before losing it again when Emile giggled at him. A smile twitched at his lips before he transferred it into a smirk. Logan frowned and cleared his throat. Remy glanced at his brother and rolled his eyes. "Alright, get on with it."
Logan rolled his eyes so hard they almost got stuck. Then he turned towards the three teens sitting in front of them. "So, I suppose you will want an explanation?"
"Yeah, that's kinda why we're here Microsoft Nerd," Roman huffed.
Logan's face twisted in confusion. "What's a 'Microsoft Nerd'?"
Roman froze and blinked. He stared blankly at Logan for a few moments before he remembered the three people in front of him were witches from over 300 years ago brought back from the dead for one night. "Sorry, it's a 21th-century thing."
Logan pursed his lips, trying to restrain himself from asking more questions about the 21st century. He sighed. "Okay. So, I suppose we shall start at the beginning." Logan clenched his fist.
Virgil leaned forward with a frown and placed one of the cats on his lap. "Here. I can start with you."
Logan held the cat as Virgil started the story. "We moved into Salem along with our mothers. They were very kind women. They taught us most of what we know. We stayed in the woods because most of us were.." Virgil bit his lip. "Reclusive? And eventually, they passed. It was about a year before we were..." Virgil took a deep breath. "Before we were hanged. And unfortunately, there was another witch in the town. He wasn't like us. And it was even worse that we didn't find that part out until it was too late." He huffed and clenched his fists before letting out a deep breath. "He used his wits and knowledge of magic to worm his way into our close-knit family. He used us and our gifts to gain life. He had found a spell that allowed him to suck the life out of children to gain more life for himself. He had used it for years to keep himself young. He sweet-talked the three of us..." Virgil felt his throat beginning to close up. "He learned of how Remy had a magically enhanced sense of smell and..he.." Virgil's throat felt scratchy. His eyes felt itchy and his face felt splotchy. "He-" He felt something cool splash onto his cheek. He frowned, confused. Was it raining? What was happening? Why couldn't he see? His ears were ringing. Why were his ears ringing? What was going on? Why couldn't he breathe? Who was that speaking?
"Vir-il!" What were they saying? "-gil!"
"Virgil!"
Virgil jumped as he felt hands on him. "Virgil, breathe. In 4, hold 7, out for 8." Virgil followed the instructions, repeating them as needed. Soon the ringing in his ears died down and he could see again, albeit a little blurry. Virgil took a few moments to calm down some more as he took in his surroundings. Remy and Logan were on either side of him while he noticed Patton and Emile in the background wringing their hands with worry. Both Binx and John sat calmly in his lap, emitting loud purrs. He frowned as he realized one of their group was missing. Where's Princey? Suddenly, Virgil became aware that he wasn't sitting on his chair anymore. He wasn't even sitting on the floor. Whatever was beneath him felt warm and fleshy. "It's okay, Virgil. Everything is okay." Roman.
Virgil's face flushed red. "Don't worry Virgil, we explained everything to them," Remy said, uncharacteristically soft. Virgil nodded and relaxed against Roman as the valiant teen ran his fingers through Virgil's hair, soothing the anxious witch as he calmed down from his attack.
"I'm sorry."
Roman frowned. "Hey, there's nothing to be sorry for."
Patton stepped forward and nodded rapidly. "Exactly! There is nothing to be ashamed of, kiddo. Nothing at all."
Roman lightly tightened his grip on the tall witch as he mulled over the explanation for why the anxious emo witch freaked.
-----
Roman's eyes blew wide as he watched tears spill down Virgil's face. His chest rose and fell erratically as sobs erupted from his mouth. Patton went to surge forward only to stop and freeze, unsure if he would be able to help or not. Logan and Remy moved quickly to pull Virgil out of his chair and sit him on the floor so he wouldn't end up falling out of it. Roman felt his heart clench painfully as Virgil curled in on himself, the fabric of his skirts getting twisted around his legs. "
Patton wrung his hands repeatedly. "Is there anything-" he bit his lip. "Is there anything we can do to help?" He asked.
Logan nodded. "Are any of you strong enough to hold Virgil in your lap and make sure he doesn't accidentally hurt himself?"
Roman flushed as both Emile and Patton glanced at him. "Yeah, Roman plays football and does theatre.."
"What's football?" Remy asked as he turned and beckoned Roman to come over.
Roman let himself be guided to the floor where he could pull Virgil into his lap as gently as he could. "What-" Emile paused, choosing his next words carefully. "What did He do?"
Remy bit his lip. "He used Virgil's power. He asked him how it worked. He asked him to demonstrate it. Virgil or course wasn't going to but Eli used his own power, puppetry, to force Virgil to sing."
Logan sighed. "Virgil ran home as fast as he could to tell us and we were able to poison Eli and sew his mouth shut. Unfortunately, Eli told the town about us. Made them weary. So when Virgil lured Binx to our home so we could help him and John told others, it was all too easy for the townspeople to believe him."
Tears sprang in Roman's eyes as he pulled Virgil closer. Binx and John jumped up into Virgil's lap to help calm the witch and Roman as they purred. He redirected his attention to helping Virgil.
-----
Anger seeped into his veins at the thought of that wretched zombie witch he met earlier using Virgil's charming voice to lure children to him to take their lives. He didn't think what Logan did to that witch was good enough. That devil deserved more than just being poisoned and getting his mouth sewn shut. Although he appreciated the effort from Logan and Remy. But he was going to make sure that the devil paid. He wasn't going to let Virgil go unavenged.
-----
Logan, Remy, and Virgil glanced around with barely masked confusion as children in costumes ran around with bags full of candy. "So you're telling me that All Hallow's Eve has become a night of frolic where children wear costumes and run amok to get candy?" Logan asked.
"Yup," Emile answered. "We call it Halloween now."
Virgil began hopping up and down, "Amok! Amok! Amok! Amok!"
Logan groaned, feeling his soul leave his body at his brother's successful attempt to annoy him. Roman giggled at the adorable emo witch in front of him. Logan pinched the bridge of his nose and let out an annoyed huff. "This is not good. Eli will be looking for children to suck the lives out of so that he doesn't turn to dust come sunrise. It will be a lot easier for him to get enough children to keep him young if they're all out and about."
Patton bit his lip. "Well then what are we going to do?"
"He can suck the lives out of adults too," Remy added.
The group stood still for a few moments. "So, what do we do?" Emile asked, subconsciously shifting closer to Remy. The group sat silent for a few moments. Neither the witches or teens or cats had an idea. Roman bit his lip as he worked out a plan in his head. "I think...I think I have an idea."
------
Once the six humans and two cats got inside the town hall, they fought through the crowded hall of adults in costumes to get to a semi-abandoned corner. "Okay, let's go through the plan again," Emile said. Everyone nodded in agreement.
"I will hop up onto the stage and warn the adults. If that doesn't work then I will point the witches out.." Roman started before Logan picked up.
"Then, Remy, Virgil, and I will come up on stage to sing a song and charm the adults to dance until they die. The charm will wear off once we turn to dust." Roman winced.
Patton felt his eyes sting. He forced the oncoming tears back. "What if you live? What if you stay?"
Logan blinked, taken aback by the thought of living past sunrise. "Well," he started, his throat feeling slightly closed up. "If we live past sunrise, we can decharm the spell." Patton let out a sigh of relief. "So is everyone okay with the plan?" Logan asked.
"You ready to act Princey?" Virgil asked with a raised eyebrow.
Roman raised his head high. "I was born ready," he exclaimed before marching up to the stage and pulling himself up onto the stage. "Hey!" He called out. "Cut the music!"
"We're in the middle of a song!" The bands' singer argued.
Roman frowned. "Its an emergency, only for a minute, okay?!??" The music stopped and he turned around to face the crowd as they turned to look for the explanation for the sudden absence of music. "Your kids are in danger."
The crowd became angry and concerned in a second. "What do you mean!?!?" Someone shouted out.
Roman sighed. "Over 300 years ago the Sanderson Brothers bewitched people. Now they have returned from the grave!" Roman let out an annoyed groan as the crowd erupted in laughter. "Hey!" He exclaimed. "This isn't a joke! I'm being serious!"
Down in the crowd, the Sanderson brothers moved into place their skirts and capes swirling with their movement. Back up on stage, Roman pretended to grow desperate. "Look, I know this sounds like a bunch of bullshit but they're here tonight. They're right over there!" He threw a dramatic arm out to point towards the brothers. A spotlight moved to hit them and the crowd drew back in shock.
Virgil, having already been chosen to lead through this steps forward. "Thank you, Princey, for that marvelous introduction." The crowd relaxed, small laughter spilling out. Virgil started singing. "I put a spell on you, and now your mine." Roman tried not to react too violently upon hearing Virgill's voice. It was heavenly. "You can't stop the things I do. I ain't lyyying."
"No! Don't listen to them!" Emile cried out, his voice drowned out by the cheers from the people around them, just as they had planned.
"It's been 300 years, right down to the day. Now the witch is back, and there's hell to pay," Virgil sang as he moved through the crowd toward the stage. "I put a spell on you.."
The singer turned to Roman with a large smile. "Good joke. Happy Halloween!"
Roman shook his head. "No! I'm serious!"
The singer rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right."
"And now you're miiiiine!"
"All right, let's go!" The singer told his band and they started up again. Virgil lifted his skirt as he stepped up on to the stage. "Hello, Salem! My name's Virgil, what's yours?!" Virgil shouted as his brothers followed. They threw off their capes and began to sing. "I put a spell on you. And now you're gone!"
"Gone gone gone so long!" Remy and Logan sang, acting as their brother's background singers. And if they had teary eyes because of how brave their brother was being, then that was okay.
"My whammy fell on you. And it was strong."
"So strong. So strong. So strong."
"Your wretched little lives have all been cursed, 'cause out of all the witches working, I'm the worst!" Virgil danced across the stage, his skirts swirling. "I put a spell on you, and now you're mine!"
"Watch out! Watch out! Watch out! Watch out!"
"If you don't believe, you'd better get superstitious. Ask my brothers!"
"Ooh, he's vicious!"
"I put a spell on you...I put a spell on you. Brothers!"
The three witches joined together to sing the mystical words to charm the room. "Ah say ento pi alpha mabi upendi!"
The crowd sang back the same. "Ah say ento pi alpha mabi upendi!"
"In comma coriyama."
"In comma coriyama."
"Ay, ay, aye, aye, say bye-byyyyyyyyyyyyye! Bye-bye!" The three brothers finished their song. The crowd cheered and the witches looked to see Roman, Patton, and Emile waiting for them at the bottom of the steps with the two cats. "Dance, dance, until you die!" Virgil cried out before lifting his skirts and running off stage to join the others.
Suddenly, Logan ran into them with an alarmed look. "He's here! Eli is here! We have to go!" The six humans and two cats ran out the back door, Eli not far behind. "Let's go!" Roman yelled. He grabbed ahold of Virgil's hand and yanked him along as Patton and Emile did the same. The witches startled slightly but quickened their pace as they raced through the streets and into a dead-end alleyway in the hopes of losing the zombie witch. The quickly hid behind trash cans and old ovens as Eli stopped just outside the alley.
The group held their breath, Roman pulled Virgil tighter against him, the need to comfort and hold someone too strong in the moment for him to resist. Then Eli left, deciding he was going to try and suck the lives out of a child before dealing with the troublesome witches and their stupid boyfriends. Surely they wouldn't cause too much trouble before sunrise.
They all waited a few moments before climbing out of their hiding places and dusted themselves off. "What are we going to do?" Patton asked.
Emile bit his lip. "You said Eli can't enter your home, correct?"
Logan nodded. "Not even the property."
Emile hummed. "Then maybe we should gather all the children there?"
Logan blinked. "That could work."
Remy smirked. "My man is smart," he muttered to himself.
Patton giggled silently before innocently asking, "What was that Remy?"
Remy's eyes widened. "Uh, nothing."
"Let's get going before he has a chance to hurt anyone."
And they were off.