Third Time's a Charm (Halloween LaVeau) (9 page)

What else did I not know about this town? How much had they kept from me? I’d been excluded from too much.

“I never knew there was a special section,” I said.

“Well, I’m sure the librarian will let you in since you are the leader now,” she said with a wave of her hand.

“Gee, that’s really kind of her,” I said with sarcasm.

Misty rolled her eyes.

“So everyone has this special collection of books and I’d never known about it?” I asked.

She shrugged. “I just figured everyone knew.”

I shook my head. “No, everyone didn’t know. I didn’t know.”

Misty dismissed my outrage with a wave of her wrist. “Well, anyway. It had a lot about the coven from back then.”

When I spotted the witches heading back my way, I said in a hurry, “Thanks for the info, Misty.”

Annabelle frowned and mouthed, “Sorry.”

I’d known she wouldn’t be able to keep them away for long. But I’d gotten more information from Misty that I thought she’d provide, so it didn’t matter.

I looked down at the empty glass in front of her, hoping she would offer an explanation. I’d known her for a long time and she’d never been much of a drinker, but if she wanted to have a drink that was none of my business. I loved enjoying a mimosa with brunch occasionally. But something seemed off about this situation and I had to know who this new man in town was.

“Thanks again, Misty,” I said with a wave.

She gestured at the bartender to fill her empty glass,
then looked at me. “I’ll talk to you soon.” Misty immediately returned her attention to the bartender. He cast a look my way for a split second, but looked away quickly when he realized I was looking at him as well.

We filed out of the bar and started down the sidewalk.

“Are we getting that hot dog now?” Kimberly asked.

It looked as if I’d better find some snacks right away.
“I promise we’ll get food,” I said.

“Jon should be here soon. You all can go ahead and get the hot dogs if you want,” Annabelle said.

I shook my head. “I don’t want to leave you until Jon is here.”

Before Annabelle had a chance to respond, I noticed the women had started to walk in the opposite direction.

“Oh, they’re getting away,” Annabelle said.

I ran toward the women. “I had no idea they could run so fast,” I said breathlessly.

I’d almost reached them, but as I stretched my hand out to grab Sarah I stumbled and fell to the sidewalk.

“Are you okay?” Annabelle asked as she reached down to help me up.

I looked up and saw that the women had already made it out of sight. “Did you see where they went?” I asked as I righted myself.

“They walked into the diner.” Annabelle pointed.

After I scrambled to my feet, we hurried the rest of the way to the diner. When I peered in through the big windows, I spotted the witches. They were in the middle of the room, looking around as if they were lost. A waitress was walking toward them. I had no idea what had possessed them to head into the diner. I mean, I assumed it was because of the food, but I didn’t think they’d even known the restaurant was there. They must have smelled the French fries. They’d stop at nothing in the pursuit of a hot dog overloaded with relish and mustard.

Annabelle and I rushed through the door. No one
paid the least bit of attention to us though. They were more focused on the witches with their pointy hats. The only time anyone dressed like that was for Halloween. And there were no Halloween parties today. People stared as the women walked across the dining room floor. I rushed around a few tables trying to catch up with the women before they did something that I’d have to pay for with a ton of cash. They stepped up to the counter and sat on the stools, then grabbed menus.

Kimberly took a couple French fries from a man’s plate. He glared at her, but didn’t say anything.

“What are you all doing?” I asked when I finally caught up with them.

They swirled around on the stools and looked at me.

“Oh hello, Halloween. Do you want something to eat too?” Rebecca asked.

I shook my head. “We don’t have time to eat.”

“But you said that we would get something to eat,” Barbara said with a pout.

“You did say that.” Rebecca wiggled her finger in my direction.

“I didn’t mean right this very second. I have other things to do right now.” I motioned for them to get up.

“But we are hungry now.” Rebecca pulled the menu up over her face, ignoring my stare.

“Oh, look, they have hot dogs on the menu,” Kimberly said with enthusiasm.

“The grilled cheese is really good too,” Annabelle said.

I looked at her.

“Sorry, but it is good.”

So it was the best grilled cheese ever, but that wasn’t important at the moment. Apparently, there was no way they were leaving without eating. So I either had to wait for them to get food, or leave them there. Leaving them wasn’t the best idea, so it looked as if we’d be placing an order. I glanced over my shoulder and saw that most everyone was still watching us.

“Okay, y’all need to order something so we can get out of here.” I gestured toward the menus.

The waitress approached and asked if we were ready to place our orders. I’d fully expected for the witches to order hot dogs, but they surprised me with the grilled cheese. I was busy helping Sarah with her decision on soft drink selection and unfortunately hadn’t noticed Kimberly walk away.

A piercing noise echoed across the room when the plates crashed to the ground. That was when I looked up and spotted her in the kitchen.

“What the hell are you doing?” I asked as I rushed back toward the kitchen.

“I used to cook a lot so I thought I’d see what the kitchen was like here,” she said
, picking up a pan.

“I think it’s like any other kitchen
. And you need to get out of here. They have codes and stuff and I’m pretty sure we are breaking a lot of them.”

The cook was standing near the grill with a spatula in his hand, speechless. I bet he’d never had a witch storm into his kitchen before. I hurried Kimberly back to her seat and then I handed the waitress behind the counter the cash for the orders. It took way too long for the sandwiches and fries to finish, probably because we’d distracted the cook. When the waitress sat the bags on the counters, I scooped them up before the women had a chance to dig in.

“What are you doing?” Rebecca asked.

“I’m holding on to the food so I can get you all out of here and back to the manor.” I nodded at a few people on our way out, trying to act as if everything was perfectly normal.

The witches followed me for the food. They could have easily knocked me down and taken off with the food. I was just glad that they hadn’t figured that out yet. I walked behind the women to make sure they didn’t try anything else.

“We can’t wait until we get all the way back to the manor,” Kimberly said as she walked along beside me.

“You can’t eat in my car. It’s the law,” I said.

Soon enough they’d figure out that wasn’t true either.

When we’d made it halfway back to the car, a loud noise sounded from what I assumed was the side of the building. Annabelle and I exchanged a look.

“What do you think that was?” she asked.

I shook my head. “I don’t know. Maybe a cat in the trash can.”

The loud boom rang out again and I was sure it had come from the same direction as the first. The witches huddled together, but continued to walk with us. 

“Let’s check it out,” I said.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea? What if it’s a rat?” Annabelle shivered.

“With a noise that loud it would have to be a large rat,” I said.

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Annabelle said with a frown.

“I hate rats,” Barbara said with a shudder.

The witches continued to follow us as we made our way over to the side of the red-brick building. When I peeked around the corner, I spotted Kevin Wallace standing in the alleyway. Only his back was visible to us as he stood behind the Dumpster, but I could still see enough of him to know it was the bartender. It seemed as though he was trying to hide, but doing a bad job of it.

“What’s he doing back there
?” Sarah whispered.

I shook my head, but didn’t answer. Honestly, I had no idea.

He waved his arms through the air, then gestured toward the ground. Just as his arms pointed downward, another loud boom rang out.

“What is he doing?” Annabelle asked.

When I glanced over, I noticed her shocked expression. She still wasn’t comfortable with the paranormal being all around her.

“I guess he’s casting a spell. Let’s step back a little so that he doesn’t see us,
” I said, motioning for her to join me.

We peeked out from the corner of the building and watched as he continued his
spellcasting. Magic zipped through the air and whirled around us.

“Wow, do you feel that,
Hallie?” Annabelle asked.

“Yeah, whatever he’s doing is powerful,” I whispered.

Kevin was so consumed in what he was doing that I probably could have yelled at him and he wouldn’t have noticed.

“I wonder what made him come outside and immediately start casting a spell,” I said.

“That is kind of odd.” Annabelle nodded.

“It’s definitely odd.”

I glanced over and noticed that the witches had turned back. They looked as if they were walking to my car, but I couldn’t trust them.

“How will you find out what he’s doing?” Annabelle asked.

“Well, I could ask him, but I doubt he’ll be truthful. I’ll have to think about it for a while.”

It was a little creepy watching him. But just as the thought popped into my head, he stopped and turned around. Annabelle let out a little gasp. I reached for her arm and pulled her back. I knew it was too
late, he had to have seen us.

“Do you think he saw us?” Annabelle asked.

I nodded. “Yeah, I’m sure he did. He was looking right at us.”

“That’s what I was afraid of. We should get out of her
e,” Annabelle said.

“Yeah, we should get out of here. We have to catch the witches anyway.” My heart hammered in my chest as I peeked
around the side of the building again.

Kevin glared at us. Our eyes met, so I knew there was no denying that we’d been watching him. He knew I was the leader of the Underworld, so why was I worried
if he knew anyway? But there was something intimidating about him.

“I think it’s definitely time for us to get out of here,” I said, pulling on Annabelle’s arm.

“You don’t have to tell me twice,” she said as she took off in a sprint toward the car.

Sure enough, the witches were waiting by the car.
At least they hadn’t headed off for the diner. Regardless, I was glad that they hadn’t made things more difficult for me at the moment.

“We have to get in the car,” I yelled.

“We can’t fit,” Rebecca said.

“We’ll have to squeeze in,” I said.

I rushed around and climbed behind the wheel. The witches were smashed into the back seat. All I saw from the rear-view mirror were the giant black hats. Just as I cranked the engine, Kevin made it to the edge of the building. He looked around, but quickly spotted us.

“Hurry up,” Annabelle said in a panic.

Why was I running away from this guy? I should ask him what the hell he was doing, but then again, he was rather large and I didn’t want to get pulverized, so I decided leaving was the safest bet. After all, Annabelle and the witches were with me, and I didn’t want to put them in danger.

As we pulled away, Kevin appeared in front of the car. I slammed on the brak
es to keep from running over him.

“Keep going,” Annabelle said.

Kevin walked toward us, then stopped right in front. He leaned down and placed his hands on the hood of the car.

The witches
screamed and Annabelle let out another little shriek.

“What the hell is he doing?” she asked.

“What do you want?” I yelled.

He didn’t take his eyes off me.

“Punch the gas,” Annabelle urged.

“Run over him,” Sarah
said, which was totally out of character for her.

“I can’t run over him.”

“Why not? He’s obviously trying to kill us,” Annabelle said.

“Maybe something is wrong with him. He kind of looks a little out of it.” My hands had a death grip on the steering wheel as I stared at him.

“That’s no excuse for scaring us,” Annabelle said.

“He’s the devil,” Rebecca
yelled.

Kevin moved to his right and started around the side of my car.

“He’s going to the door. Use some of your magic and zap him away,” Annabelle said.

“You do remember that my magic is spotty at best, right?”

“Well, it’s all we’ve got at the moment, unless the witches in the backseat want to whip up something.” 

“No way.
Don’t even think about it,” I warned the witches.

When Kevin reached the window, he
knocked on it and smiled.

Annabelle waved her hands. “Oh
, no way, don’t roll down the window. I don’t trust him.”

“Just try to stay calm. I have to talk with him. I’m the leader, remember
?”

She swallowed hard and nodded. I cracked the window just enough so that I could speak with him.

“Sorry, I hope I didn’t scare you, ladies,” he said with a toothy grin.

“Well, you did a little. Why are you standing in front of the car?” I asked.

He smiled wider. “I thought you were having car trouble. Do you need any help?”

Something was strange about that statement. He knew that we weren’t having car trouble. I didn’t trust this guy. His excuse didn’t add up.

“My car is fine, thank you,” I said.

He stared at me for a moment longer then nodded. “I guess you were wondering what I was doing over there.”

I hesitated, then said, “Yes, I was wondering a little. That was some powerful magic you used.”

He nodded. “Sometimes I get a little carried away. It was just a simple spell for a good day at work. I need the tips, you know. I got bills to pay.”

I nodded. “Yes, I understand.” I stared for a moment longer, then said, “Well, we’d better go, I have an important appointment.” 

Kevin stepped away from the car and gave a little wave.

As we pulled away, I said to Annabelle, “You have to find out from Jon who that guy is.”

“Oh, I plan on it. He was a scary, huh?” Annabelle said.

“I told you, he’s the devil,” Rebecca repeated.