LEARNING, PROTECTING AND INVESTIGATING

Yapping, yapping and more yapping, would her dad ever stop talking because he was beginning to get on her last nerves. Maybe she would start walking to school and back, anything to avoid having to listen to her dad go on and on about life when he was a teen. She could understand that her dad was just trying to bond with her, but did he have to do it in such a torturous way. She was about to go mad and was on the verge of yelling at him to shut the heck up. Other reasons adding to her annoyance would be the lack of sleep, exhaustion from being possessed by a ghost, being teleported twice and not to mention all the yelling she had done the previous night. She had almost lost her voice. She felt so relieved when they finally pulled to a stop in the school's parking lot, who would've thought she'd be so happy to see that building. She practically flew out of the car to the school building and only stopped to catch her breath when she was safely in the hallway. She didn't even mind the puzzled looks people gave her, as long she was far away from her annoying dad.

She flipped her hair and with an air of confidence began strutting to her locker. Halfway there, she noticed kids stealing glances at her and giggling, some just laughed out loud and people moved out of the way quickly when she approached like she had a plague. The weirdness in the environment had killed her confidence and she was just feeling uncomfortable.

"Think she knows?"

Bethany turned around. Flare, Serenity and Harp floated up to her above the heads of the other students in the hall unseen till they came to a stop just a few feet from her still floating with concerned looks on their faces. Tilting her head so no one would see her she whispered. "Seen what?"

"Oh my Gosh! Bethany Margo ruined you." Paige came running up to her with her cell phone extended out in her hand. "Watch this."

It was a video of her from the previous day in class. She was talking to nothingness making hand gestures, Margo had added a funny song and emojis to make it hilarious. Underneath it was the caption 'What happens when you have no one to talk to'

"Look at these comments." Said Paige scrolling down.

"OMG! She's literally losing it"

"Ha ha ha. She made up her own friends"

"What a looser."

"That's so sad."

"Is it that bad?"

"Someone should please find her a friend."

Bethany could feel her hand trembling, the video already had about a thousand views. Her heart began thumping wildly, she could hear landlines in her head and it was as though everyone was laughing right into her ear. It hurts. "Hey there." Margo strutted up to them. "Tell me you loved the video. Only a couple more people and it'll reach a thousand views, you're a little celebrity." She came nose to nose with Bethany. "Only, not in a good way."

Bethany sucked in a breath trying not to lose her temper. "I loved the video actually and you're right I am a celebrity. I bet until you did a video of me you never had a video that had this many views did you?" She plastered a fake smile on her face as she spoke trying to act like nothing was getting to her. "You're right." Smiled Margo. "I didn't have any video this hilarious before, you know it's really hard to find people that are just so stupid they'd threaten thin air."

"I know and I'm so thankful that there are people like you who have nothing else to do in their lives than to film such people doing those acts of stupidity." Bethany fired back. Margo flipped her hair. "Says the girl who was talking to nothing in class, I hope you're not going mad Bethany I'd hate to learn in the same class as a possible psycho killer. That is unless you were just putting up a play in class to get everyone's attention. In which case, you'd be pathetic. So which was it, attention seeking or cuckoo in the head?"

Bethany bit her lip. There was no way she was answering that question and yet she couldn't think of a good enough lie to tell at the moment. "Tsk tsk tsk." Margo shook her head with faux pity. "Cuckoo it is."

With that she began singing the song which she had used in the video. "Lonely, I am so lonely, I have nobody, to call my own..."

This caused everyone in the hallway to burst out laughing and before she could stop it, Bethany found herself running towards the female toilet. When she arrived Shannon and Louise were there engaged in a conversation. "For the last time Shannon, I don't like glitter ponies." Louise groaned. "For heaven's sake I'm not an eight year old."

She ignored them and sprinted to the nearest stall, locking herself in. Safely inside, the tears began to flow and she let herself cry. The sound of her sobbing interrupted Shannon and Louise's conversation and both of them walked towards her stall equally worried. "Hey... Beth. You okay?" Shannon asked softly. Louise slapped her forehead. "No I'm not okay. I'm obviously not okay Shannon." Bethany snapped from behind the stall amidst sniffs. "Sorry, you know how Shannon is." Louise apologized. "Is it the video that Margo posted?"

"You saw it too huh." Said Bethany before blowing into a tissue. "I don't want you to feel worse than you're already feeling but the whole school's seen it." Shannon informed her. The sobbing restarted and Shannon bit her lip feeling bad. "It's really not that bad." Shannon lied. "Don't tell me it's not that bad because I watched the video with my own eyes and it's that bad." Wailed Bethany from within the stall. She went on sobbing and Shannon opened her mouth to say something else but Louise placed a hand on her shoulder stopping her. "Leave her. She'll feel better if we let her cry out the pain." She said. She and Shannon slowly and hesitantly left.

Bethany didn't know how long she was in there crying but by the time she was done her face was a total wreck. Her mascara had left long black lines down her cheeks and her red lip-gloss was now smeared all over face. She moaned between hiccups and with the help of her handkerchief which she soaked in tap water she began wiping her face. She felt so much better when she was clean and didn't bother reapplying her make-up before heading for class.

The rest of the day was extremely difficult for her. People whispering, staring and giggling and some really rude ones made fun of her right in front of her face. She spent most of her entire morning actively tuning people out so she wouldn't have to hear every mean comment. She was so relieved when the lunch bell rang and practically sprinted towards the cafeteria. She got her food and carried her tray to her usual table. She felt even happier when amongst all the jocks and cheerleaders, she spotted her best friend and boyfriend seated there. She hurried over but before she could sit down Kathy one of the cheerleaders stopped her.

"Sorry Bethany, tables full." She said with a challenging look on her face. Bethany felt the anger bubbling within her but held it down. "But I always sit here." She said tapping her feet. It was an unconscious action she always performed when she was getting overly mad in order to calm down. "Well the table's full today find somewhere else." Said Nat a football player. From the looks on everyone's face it was obvious they were not letting her sit with them. "Fine." Said Bethany. "Joey, Paige, let's find some other table to eat at."

Joey and Paige both stared at each other and back at her with awkward smiles. "Actually babe, I and the boys need to talk about the strategy we're working on for our upcoming game." Said Joey rubbing the back of his head nervously. "And the girls and I need to talk about upping our cheer routine for the game." Said Paige. "Maybe tomorrow I'll save you a space."

Bethany was dumbstruck, she couldn't believe her best friend and boyfriend had just abandoned her. She slowly and awkwardly began finding her way down the cafeteria looking for an empty lunch table. She could feel everyone's eyes on her as she searched and the only empty lunch table was the one right next to the trash bins. No one ever sat there and when someone eventually did, he or she was labelled a friendless loser and she felt a pang in her heart when she remembered that she was the one who started that trend. If she sat here she would be at the bottom of the social pyramid, even below the janitor. She turned around to stare at her former lunch table where her friends sat talking, laughing and eating. She frowned when she noticed Joey's hand around Paige's waist. They were talking affectionately to each other and at some point Paige even lay her hand on his shoulder. Infuriated, she groaned and stormed out of the cafeteria with her tray. She ate her lunch on the bleachers alone and it actually felt good to be away from people's gazes. She was starting to feel better when the bell rang again crushing her spirits.

She spent the rest of the day still tuning everyone out and when the final bell rang, she flew to her locker. Angrily she flung her textbooks in and slammed her locker shut. "Aargh!" She squeaked with surprise when she saw Drake standing right next to her. "What were you doing just standing there?"

"Nothing much. I came to ask you if you've decided to help or not." Said Drake. Bethany stared at him in disbelief, did he not notice how bad a day she was having. "And if I said I was not helping?" Asked Bethany stubbornly.

"Then I'm going home."

"What?! Why?"

"Well this isn't my world, one and two, I need all seven descendent to do the binding spell." Drake explained. "So even if I manage to get all the other descendents the spell wouldn't work without you and if you who lives in this world doesn't care about your life and the life of others, why should I?"

He said that with so much unfeelingness, it was scary. How did he manage to be so heartless when he was so good-looking? "Are you for real?" Bethany exclaimed. "So you'd just leave without even trying to convince me? Sounds like you're the one who really doesn't care. I thought you liked Patricia, are you going to abandon her just because I won't help?"

"No I won't." Said Drake. "I can save her. I'll take her and her mother with me."

Bethany felt hurt. This guy really only cared about Patricia in the entire town, how had Patricia managed to make such a huge influence on him. She didn't want him to leave and even though she didn't feel like she had the courage to save the town, she still wanted to attempt to save her friend if she had the power to.

"If I said yes, is there a way we could save Molly?" Asked Bethany more calmly. Drake seemed surprised at her statement like he was shocked that she actually cared about someone else other than herself. "Yes." He answered. "There's a way we can save Molly and the rest."

"The rest? I thought it was only Molly and Patricia."

Drake let out a sigh. "Now it's Molly, Patricia and Lola. They got her last night."

"What!" Gasped Bethany. "Wait... how did you know that?"

Drake started walking towards the front doors. "Come over to my place and I'll teach you."

Bethany was puzzled. "Teach me!?"

🌚🌚🌚🌚

Cole pulled his truck to a stop in front of a bungalow. It was one of those houses that looked so clean, you would assume that it was a really friendly couple living here or a sweet old lady. The walls were painted a bright pink, the windows gleamed in the sunlight and there were so many flowers on the front porch that he could barely see the wood that held up the roof of the porch and as he walked past the open gate and up the gravel walkway he noticed that even the swing was covered in flowers. "Oh boy." He blurted. If he were his cousin Billy, he wouldn't last five minutes in this place.

He carefully pressed the doorbell and waited for someone to answer. The doorbell wasn't done chiming its tune when Drake pulled the door open. "You'd better have a good reason for calling me kid." Said Cole strolling in. "Because I have another one of you missing and three more dead bodies. The people are starting to get restless and they're starting to move out of town. They're saying it's not safe and the mayor is planning to address the situation tomorrow. Called to tell me that he hopes that I can give him something good to tell the people by then. Oh hi Bethany."

Bethany was sat on a couch toying with a cookie from a plate of cookies that was placed on the coffee table in front of her, Drake had served these to her earlier before Cole had shown up. He may lack almost all ounces of emotion but at least he had curtsy. Cole took a sit right next to her and grabbed a cookie shoving the whole thing in his mouth. Eating helped him think and stay calm even if everything around him said, Panic. "You know I have a name, right? It's Drake." Drake sat on the couch across from them. "And you're in luck because I've figured out what to do and I have a plan but first... Beth."

Bethany gave him a curious look. "You were wondering how I knew about Lola, so here it is." Drake began. "The stones are connected to each other and when a stone finds a new bearer, it glows and so did the other stones. At that exact moment, if you say this spell, 'Apokolypto mihi die een' your stone will reveal to you who the new bearer is and combining that with my power to see into other worlds and spaces, I managed to develop a spell that helps me keep watch over you guys."

Bethany's jaw dropped. "You were spying on me with magic. "She nearly screamed. "I was watching over you. How did you think I knew to come save you that night? "Said Drake. Bethany had been about to do some serious scolding and hollering but stopped at his words. She had to admit that he had been helpful then even though it felt kinda of creepy that he had been watching her without her knowledge. She thought of all the embarrassing things she always did when she was alone and blushed bright crimson. Had he seen them as well?

"I saw Lola in Darka's castle. She was in deep sleep." Drake continued. "He only needs the stones, why is he capturing the girls?" Asked Cole piping into the conversation. "I... don't know." Drake replied. Bethany noticed the discomfort in his statement like he disliked not knowing. "But I do know how we can rescue them and maybe even this town." Said Drake. Bethany and Cole inched closer on their seats and asked in unison. "How?"

"When I came here, the plan was to wait till the other stones had found new bearers and convince them to help close the rip but I was thinking about this all wrong." Drake spoke with enthusiasm and Cole and Bethany listened attentively. "You see, like I said the other night, someone used a stone, a descendent, to create a rip, an opening to Skotagi. That's how the Nightprowlers came through but the reason Darka isn't through is because the spell wasn't strong enough to free him as well. This means that rip isn't big enough that all of us would need to close it, if one of us can open it, one of us can close it with a spell."

"If we close the rip those things will be gone right?" Cole tried to confirm. Drake nodded. "There are several problems though. One, the three girls in there." Drake listed out. "We need to rescue them first before closing the rip or they'll be trapped in there too. Two, the Nightprowlers. They attack anything that seems like a threat to them, their home and their master. If either you or I starts closing the rip, they'll know, they'll feel it and they'll attack. There's hundreds of them, there's no way only three of us can take them on. And three, the mystery descendent and kidnapper. They both have magic. The mystery descendent gets his or hers from the stone and the kidnapper uses plain 'ol witchcraft. That night he came to your house, he placed a trapping spell and a sleeping spell on the entire building. If I hadn't intervened, there would've been no way for you to escape that night."

"That sounds like a lot of problems to me." Sighed Cole with a hint of frustration in his tone. "It's not a lot because each problem comes with a solution." Said Drake. "I looked into Skotagi and I saw what the place is like. There are a lot of night prowlers flying around everywhere but most of them guard the castle and each room that the girls are in so getting in and out of the castle even with teleportation would be difficult. The plan is... first we find the rip, then you Sheriff Cole will start firing into the rip. It'll attract some of them and when they come out, we kill them. That'll attract more of them and the more we kill the more it'll attract. Once the rooms are clear, I'll teleport into the rooms and teleport out with each of the girls. Once I'm out Bethany will do the spell to close the rip and we'll kill any night prowler that has escaped."

Both Cole and Bethany looked thoughtful for a while, evaluating the plan in their heads. "Do you even know where in town the rip is?" Asked Bethany. "It's in the woods." Cole said before Drake could reply. Both Drake and Bethany gave him puzzled looks. "How did you know that?" She asked. "Yesterday, Harriet told me about a weird purple glow coming from the woods." Said Cole. "I was going to investigate then you guys showed up. Also, Lola's little sister who called about Lola missing said her sister had not come back last night after going to investigate two strange people and weird glow in the woods. So I'm guessing that's where our rip is."

"Okay... how about the spell to close the rip, do you know it?" Enquired Bethany further. "I don't. But your spirit guides will." Said Drake. "All you have to do is ask. Once you find out, you can tell me just in case something goes wrong and I have to close the rip myself."

Bethany nodded with understanding. "Here's my own question." Cole piped. "Those Nightprowlers of yours. If we are going to grab attention for a large quantity of them to come at us, doesn't that mean we'll be attracting hundreds of them? Are they easy to kill?"

Drake sighed. "First, they aren't mine and no they're not easy to kill. That's why we're going to need help. We're going to need your men Cole."

Cole raised an eyebrow. "You expect my officers to march with you to imminent doom, willingly? There's not even that many of us. It's not going to be possible. How am I even going to convince them that something supernatural is going down? They'll probably think I'm crazy and I might lose my job. They won't believe anything without proof."

"If they need proof then convince them to come out with you at night, so they'll see the Nightprowlers with their own eyes." Bethany cut in. "That's got to be proof enough."