Circle Quartet: 29

Chapter 29

I couldn’t stop staring blankly at Stefan. That name stuns me. I can’t believe that he is the stray dog that I’ve been searching for. No words come out from my mouth and Stefan is getting worry as I haven’t say anything after he said Cody’s name. Maybe he is the one that I should be careful of. Granddaddy Saba and Dad told me before that I should beware of a stray dog. Why they want me to be aware of Cody? Is he connected to Alse the Black Magic Woman?

Stefan continues telling me about Cody as I calm myself and told him to tell me more about that stray dog. Cody’s parents died in a mission 15 years ago. Cody’s father was Stefan’s father twin brother and willing to do anything for his brother. Cody’s father married to a werewolf from the minor clan so Stefan’s father has the right to be the next leader as he married to a major clan.

On the third day of the mission, they were attacked by a group of black magic users. Dad was there too, together with Uncle Yale. The fight occurred and they couldn’t easily defeat the black magic users. One of them tried to strike Uncle Azure with black poison but Cody’s father used himself as the shield to protect Uncle Azure. He died during the battle and asked Uncle Azure to take care of Cody for his mother died when he was born.

Cody was 8 years old at that time and Uncle Azure took him and raised him as his own son. He was very happy because the Silver family took a great care of him and he was very close to Zayne and Stefan. One day, when he was 15 and coming back from school, his relatives from his mother’s side came to Stefan’s house to discuss about Cody. And at that time, he learnt that he’s a stray dog and needed to be taken care under the minor clan. Cody got mad and blamed Uncle Azure that he didn’t tell that he’s from the minor clan as his mother was dead on the day he was born. He said that he hated the Silvers and made decision to stay with his relatives of the minor clan.

“That’s too bad for Cody,” I think I can understand how he feels.

“Yeah. Mom and Dad tried to convince him that he also belongs to our family but he didn’t want to listen to them,” says Stefan.

We are not in the library anymore. Stefan and I walk to the fountain and sit there. We stay silence for a while.

“Why do you want to know about stray dog?” Stefan breaks the silence.

I turn to him and stare at him for a while. “Your Granddaddy and my Dad told me to stay away from stray dog. First, I thought they were just joking. But when I realized that they sounded seriously, I decided to find out about stray dog.”

“Stay away from Cody?” asks Stefan.

“Maybe,” I reply hesitantly. “I don’t know. I’m shock knowing that Cody is the stay dog,” I sigh heavily, blowing the white puff from my mouth as the night is kind of cold.

“If you need any help, you can tell me. I don’t want you to carry this burden on your own,” he pats on my back gently. “Does Jeff know about this?”

I shake my head slowly. “No. I don’t want him to be worried. Besides, there’s one thing that we all should be worried of.”

“Yeah,” Stefan sighs, “I know. The special training will be starting soon. I hope that we’re in the same team again, with your cousin Abbie,” he smiles. I know that he wants me to calm down.

The special force training is not as easy as the training that I have gone through before. This one is much tougher and needs a lot of stamina and skills. We’re now dealing with the most dangerous person in this world and we need to stop her from getting her powers back.

Abbie and I are working hard on our training and lucky for us that we train under Jeff’s team. We’re now the assassins and tonight is the night of our first dangerous mission. Alse has managed to create monsters to destroy humans and us, of course. She’s thirst of our blood and to make her stay stronger, she needs the blood from normal human too.

Stefan is part of our team too; I’m glad that he’s one of our team and will join us for the mission. Jeff explains everything in details and we need to scatter into group of four. Abbie goes with Jeff while I go with Stefan. Stefan and I, and the rest of our team, go to the south to stop the monsters from going to another town.

The mission sounds quite easy; just destroy the monsters, but it’s not as easy as it seems. Those monsters are too difficult to handle and our team need to stop 5 monsters from trespassing another town. Those monsters come in many shapes and ugly. Some of them are able to use poisons. We need to be careful on that.

It takes two hours to destroy all those monsters and I nearly run out of energy. One of my teammate, a vampire from the minor clan, offers me a bottle of blood to drink but I refuse to take it because he’s slightly injured and he needs the blood more than I do. We take a rest for a while and some of them have gone to the Academy.

“I think we should go back too,” I say, still exhausted.

Come, I’ll carry you, says Stefan who is in werewolf mode.

“Sure,” I smile and hop on his back. Suddenly, Stefan senses something and he turns around. His ears stand up and he pricks something. “What is it, Stefan?” I ask.

Granddaddy is in danger! We must go and hurry to him!

I hold on tight to Stefan’s back and he runs as swiftly as he can. I know that he’s worry about Granddaddy Saba for he also is in the mission to stop Alse. We reach to an area which is to shock to be seen. Bodies of injured people lay on the ground. Some of them are groaning in pain. Then Nash appeared with his injured shoulder.

“Nash!” I cry and hop down from Stefan’s back. His legs wobble and I help him to stand. “What happened, Nash?”

“We’ve been attacked,” groaned Nash. I call for Deena and Beatrice by using telepathy and they are on their way. “Granddaddy…he’s been attacked!”

I look towards Stefan who is now in human mode and kneeling on the ground. Granddaddy Saba, who is lying on the ground, speaks with Stefan. I take Nash to him and am surprise to see Granddaddy Saba who is badly injured. His chest have been ripped by something sharp, like a claw, and blood splutter everywhere from his body. He can hardly breathe and Stefan gently put Granddaddy Saba’s head on his lap.

“Don’t talk too much, Granddaddy. You’re going to be okay,” whispers Stefan as he strokes Granddaddy Saba’s grey hair. Nash and I also kneel beside him. He looks so weak and he manages to smile to us.

“Who’s done this to you?” I ask, holding back my tears as I take his trembling hand.

Granddaddy Saba says something but I can’t hear what he’s trying to say. Deena and Beatrice arrive with the healing team and they quickly heal every injured people. Beatrice heals Granddaddy Saba while Deena heals Nash.

“We have to take him to the Academy. His wounds are too deep. Besides, he loses too much blood,” informs Beatrice. Stefan only nods and Beatrice calls for her friends to help her to get Granddaddy Saba back to the Academy.

Stefan and I watch everyone go until they leave. Only two of us are at the area now. I don’t know what to say to Stefan as he seems very angry.

“You’ll pay for this, Cody!” he grits his teeth and clenches his knuckles hard.

Circle Quartet: 28

Chapter 28

“I can’t believe that Yvonne is Black Magic Woman in disguise! She’s kind and gentle. And smart. Always help her friends in solving some of the assignments,” says Harley.

“And hot too!” adds Sable.

“Oh yes, she is! If you guys didn’t careful, you’ll get into a hot soup,” warns Jeff while crunching the chips.

We’re now in Alex room where he always keeps his junk food and chips supply in a big cupboard. After the out-of-the-blue meeting, our parents shuffled back to their chambers while we rushed to Alex room because he texted Jeff that he wanted to discuss more about that damn woman Alse. After all, we can eat chips and drink Coke, which are forbidden to be eaten in this house.

“So what are we going to do? She might be targeting us soon,” Sable is getting worry.

“Oh yes, she is targeting you guys. The reason why she wanted your classmate is because you carried the name Black. And you guys know that she desperately wanted to take revenge on the Black clan,” I state.

“Then, what shall we do?” asks Sable. He’s getting double-worry.

“Oh, I know!” Harley snaps his finger and beams like he’s gotten the greatest idea ever. “I can turn her into a frog. A big ugly frog,” Harley raises his eyebrows few times.

“She’ll turn you into frog, Harley. Remember, she still has some black magic powers even though she’s not in a complete form,” Beatrice jabs her finger to Harley’s chest. Harley gulps and chuckle uncomfortably.

“All we need is a very careful plan to spy on her. We might not know her next step is. And since Grandma has ordered that we shouldn’t go outside of her enchanted range, except for school, we need to find some ways to follow her,” says Alex who is being silence since out gathering started.

“Raven, can you turn into small things like a fly or a bee?” asks Ace who is tearing a bag of chips for third times.

“No, I can’t,” Raven shakes her head. “But Armand can. He can turn into insects by shape-shifting and using magic at one time. Hey, Armand, can you do us a favour?” Raven turns to Armand who’s supposed to be with us in Alex’s room.

The only response that we get from Armand is the sound of his snores. He’s sleeping on the floor. Everybody laughs.

“I guess that he’s a little bit tired. He’s not used to be up this late,” says Jeff and slowly picks him up. “I’m going to tuck him to bed.” Jeff leaves the room.

It’s nearly dusk when I awake. I don’t sleep on bed anymore. After I’ve been through the blooding ceremony, I demand for a coffin; a big black coffin just like in the Dracula movies. I don’t want to sleep in bed anymore. Dad told me that coffin is too out-of-date since bed is more comfortable but I don’t care. I longed to sleep in a coffin since I knew that I’m a vampire.

I slowly open my coffin, stretching my body and gulping two bottles of blood supply which came in last two days. Recently, I drink five bottles of blood per day. Dad says that I’m in a stage of ‘growing up’. After taking a hot bath (since its winter), I go downstairs to join them for dinner. Shockingly, there’s no one in the dining room except Jeff and Beatrice.

“Good morning, Alice. We have something to tell you,” greets Jeff as I take a seat beside Beatrice.

“Wait, before that, where’s everybody? And the food? I’m starving. I think I can eat a whole elephant,” I ask as I can see no one is around during dinner time. It dinner time and it’s compulsory for us to dine together.

“Guess that you haven’t received the news yet. Grandma Zelda, Mom and Aunt Ada are in the Magic Chamber. While Dad, Uncle Yale and Uncle Archie went out for a mission since this evening,” replies Jeff.

“Aunt Nadine needs to take care of the children. They are not allowed to go out in this short period of time until Grandma Zelda tells so,” adds Beatrice.

My stomach growls. I need food!

“Can I just eat something before we go on with our conversation that you’re saying just now?” I pat on my grumbling stomach.

Beatrice sighs and goes to the kitchen. Later, she brings out chicken pie with wine since I’m allowed to drink that.

“Great! Chicken pie! Okay, move on to the discussion!” I clap my hand and gobble the pie. Jeff chuckles while shaking his head. I smile sheepishly at him.

“I have one bad news,” announces Beatrice that nearly chokes me. “Three of us need to go back to the Academy in midnight by train. Zayne and Stefan will join us too.”

“What?” I choke and gulp down the wine. Jeff gently pats my back. “So soon?”

“This is an emergency, Alice. Alse is getting nearer and we need to get back to the Academy, preparing ourselves for the upcoming war,” says Jeff.

“This is getting uglier,” I blurt out. I hate war. I never been in war before but I hate it.

“One hour before midnight we have to go to the train station. Mom has already booked the ticket for us. We’ll meet Zayne and Stefan there. And bring weapon in case any nasty thing happens,” says Beatrice.

I groan in frustration. I guess I have to burn up my precious holiday. I still have 5 more days to go. Five more days! That damn Alse is ruining my holiday!

We reach the train station 11 p.m. sharp. Zayne and Stefan are already here when we arrive. We don’t talk much as we are aware of what we had received these past days. I don’t even talk much to Stefan even he sits next to me as we wait for the train.

There are not so many people at this hour except for those who work in night shift. I read a book while waiting for the train. Jeff is talking to Zayne but in whisper. The train arrives 10 minutes before midnight. We board the train and share one room.

I take a look outside the window. The city is shimmering with city lights. I can barely see the stars up in the sky. Two hours later, we safely arrive at the Academy. We are greeted by Grandma Maegan and Granddaddy Saba. The Academy is tranquilly quite but there are some students who haven’t gone to bed yet; the nocturnal like us.

It’s still early for me to go to bed when I get into my room. Abbie hasn’t arrived yet. Perhaps tomorrow she’ll be here. I text her that I have arrive and ask her when she’ll be coming. I really miss her so much and I have a lot of things to tell her.

I go to the library as its open during night time. I search for the book that will entertain me before Abbie’s arrival. Then I spot a book about dogs. Since I have two cute little puppies at home, I think I should read more about them. Taking care of puppies is quite difficult rather than adult dogs. After all, they are parentless.

Then I remember about a stray dog that Granddaddy Saba and Dad told me earlier. They wanted me to be careful of stray dog. Stefan comes as I’m searching for the book about werewolves. There are a lot of books about them on the shelves but I don’t know which one to pick.

“Hey, Alice. What book are you searching for?” asks Stefan as he stands next to me. He’s wearing his black leather jacket.

“Hey, Stefan. Oh, it’s good that you’re here. I need to ask you something about stray dog. Do you know the term of stray dog in your clan?” I ask.

Stefan is surprise when I ask him that question. He asks me to sit down before he can explain. I know that he knew about stray dog.

“Why do you want to know about stray dog?” he asks as we take a seat.

“Well…your Granddaddy and Dad mentioned about stray dog. I thought that they’re joking or something but that thing keeps bothering me sometimes,” I reply.

“In our clan, stray dog is a term for a werewolf who has been abandoned by the parents, whether the parents died or just left. It’s an old term actually because there’s once a couple of werewolf abandoned their child for the war. Then they died and the child had nowhere to go. He’s been on his own, alone, until one day another relative of his came and rescue him. From that day, that child was called ‘stray dog’. But we didn’t use that term anymore. For those who parents died will be taking care by any other relatives,” explains Stefan. I just listen to his story and nod once in a while.

“So there’s no stray dog in your family?” I ask.

“Actually, there is,” he replies shortly.

I blink at him, waiting for his answer. “Who?” I frown at him.

He closes his eyes and sighs. “Cody.”

Circle Quartet: 27

Chapter 27

It’s hard to tell when you know the ugly truth. Being a mind-reader is hard not to hear the whole thing. Yes, I learn something really, really ugly when I eavesdropped – or the exact words, reading mind, just now. I don’t think that Mom and Dad knew that I was there, hearing their conversation.

I lie on my bed, staring and the ceiling – once again, and sigh heavily. I wish that I’m dreaming right now. The conversation is keeping on playing in my mind; the way Mom sounded so worryingly. What I need to do now is not to think much about this.

Since I had gone through the blooding session, the night has become my day. I seldom sleep during night time and I usually spend my ‘day’ in the library, or gym, or somewhere where normal people can’t see me. Sometimes I like to sit on someone else’s roof and look for some preys like robbers.

I get up and stretch my body. I need to get some fresh night air. Since it was snowing – it’s now winter, I decide to take for a little stroll around the mansion. I don’t need any winter coat as I step outside. Cold breeze brushes my cheek. It makes me feel calm. I think this is the good way to get rid off of what I’ve heard from Mom and Dad.

But I won’t dare to go outside of the mansion area since Dad said that we all need to be careful. I don’t want to get caught by that person. I read about her in a book a long time ago and her name shivers my spine. Until now.

I take a walk to the garden. Even the snow is not thick but I can hear the crunching sound of my footsteps. I turn my gaze to the mansion and see some lights are still on. Most of us in this mansion are nocturnal creature so it’s normal for us to stay awake during the night.

I take a seat on a bench and look at the dark night sky. No stars can be seen tonight. I bet this place will be covered with thick snow tomorrow morning. My gaze falls on Raina’s room. The light is still on and I can see her shadow lingering about near the window. Probably she’s on the phone.

A naughty thought suddenly comes in my mind. It’s been a while since I didn’t tease Raina, especially in the middle of the night like this. I slowly walk, approaching the wall and look up again to the third floor straight to Raina’s window. I can hear her voice bubbling into the air. I think she’s talking to Tavis.

I jump up to her window and land in her balcony. I make a frightening face and she drops her cell phone. Her scream starts to disturb the calm snowy night.

“Hey, it’s okay! It’s me!” I grab her as she starts to scream louder.

“Don’t ever do that again!” she shrieks and nearly makes me deaf.

I chuckle and pick up her cell phone.

“Raina? Honey, is everything fine?” I hear Tavis’ voice on the other side. He sounds so worry.

“Hello, Tavis. It’s me, Alice,” I say.

“Oh, Alice, it’s you. Where’s Raina? What happened to her? I heard her screaming just now,” Tavis is now in panic.

“Oh, it’s nothing, really. I jumped to her window and shocked her. That’s all,” I reply.

Tavis sighs in relief. “Thank God. Tell her that I’m going to call her again tomorrow. Night, Alice.”

“Nighty-night, Tavis,” I hang up the call.

Raina is now staring madly at me. I think she’s going to turn into old ugly witch, just like in Wizard of Oz.

“Chill, Raina. I just want to have fun with you,” I shrug while smiling at her.

“You nearly make my heart stop, you know. Why you haven’t gone to sleep yet, Alice?” she asks and this time she’s calming down as she sits on the floor.

I sit next to her. “I’m a nocturnal creature, remember? I’m not supposed to sleep in this time. It’s you who is supposed to go to bed. It’s late,” I point to the clock on the wall. It’s nearly 3 a.m.

“I’m trying to be nocturnal too. You see, I wanted to be an assassin so badly. Like Deena and Jeff. And you,” she says.

“I’m not an assassin yet. And Deena is special. She joins the Academy earlier than I am. And she’s one of the best assassin in Jeff’s team,” I state.

“Really? Don’t you want to be like her too?” Raina lies on the floor.

“Of course I do. Everybody in our family wanted to be assassins. All you have to do is to show your ability. But I don’t think that you’re capable to be an assassin,” I glance at her, smiling teasingly.

“Why not?” she frowns.

“Because the enemy will run away if they hear your voice, Raina. I think you should be the executioner. You can send the enemy to death by breaking their ears with your high-pitch voice,” I try not to laugh.

“You jerk!” she hit me with her pillow and I hit her back.

The pillow fight begins but not too long. We end up on the floor, laughing.

“Hey, Raina,” I call her. “You read a lot about witch and wizard, right?” I glance at her.

She nods. “Yeah. Is there anything you want to ask? Just shoot. I know everything about my clan by heart.”

“I read about witch and wizard too, but, there’s one thing that I need to know in detail,” I say without looking at her. I grip on the pillow that I’m holding now. “Can you tell me more about your first ancestor who…”

Raina abruptly gets up and stares at me before I manage to complete my question. “The First of what?” she sounds much more serious this time.

“The one who had betrayed your clan?” I gulp.

“Don’t mention the name in this middle of night, Alice,” she says in a very serious tone. “Of course I know about her. She’s the one who created Black Magic and started the Ancient War. You know about her too, right, from your mother. Why do you want to ask me more?” she asks by locking her gazes to mine.

I tell her what I have heard from my parents and the news shocking her. She’s no speechless and looking even paler than a zombie. She shakes her head in disbelief as I end my story.

“This can’t be happening,” she whispers.

The suddenly a black soot appears in front of us that makes us jump in fright. It’s a message from Grandma Zelda. The dust spread into figure of words, telling is there’s an urgent family meeting in the Meeting Room.

The members of the Circle gathers in the meeting room shortly, right after Raina and I arrive. Grandma Zelda is already taking her seat and waiting for the members to sit down. Everyone is wondering why Grandma wants to hold a meeting in this hour.

“We shall start our meeting now,” announces Grandma Zelda. The Meeting Room is now in silence.

“The purpose that I hold this meeting is to tell you something that is very improtant. A very bad news, actually,” says Grandma Zelda. “It’s about Alse the Black Magic Woman.”

Everyone gasps and whispers to each other. I already knew the news but still it’s shocking to hear it loud and clear from Grandma’s mouth.

“Jeff,” calls Grandma Zelda to Jeff who is sitting next to Dad. “Proceed.”

Jeff clears his throat before starts talking. “We have been aware of this time to come. I know that everyone on this hall knows about the history of Alse. And everyone knows that she’s been sealed in the heart of Mount Gotakey because of her wrongdoings. But the seal is now broken.”

Another gasps is heard. And now it seems to be more panicking.

“Then she’s back from the dead?” asks Raina.

“No, Raina,” Jeff shakes his head. Raina sighs in relief. “Although the seal is broken, Alse hasn’t got her powers yet. She’s now in disguise as a teenager,” Jeff presses some button and the lights go dim. The projector screen scrolls down and a picture of a teenage girl appears.

“Wait a minute! I know this girl! She’s my new classmate, Yvonne!” Sable stands up and points to the picture of Yvonne.

“Hey, you’re right, Sable. She is our classmate,” adds Harley.

“Yes. She’s now Yvonne Ashen. She appears last month and started to go to the same school as Sable and Harley. We’ve been spying her after the seal had broken. Her powers right now is not as powerful as before but still she can create some dangerous poisons,” says Jeff.

“This is going to get ugly,” groans Harley. “She’s in my group in Biology class.”

“That’s why we have to be careful for she’s now taking her next step. She needs the blood from the four Main Families which are considered as special to break the seal inside her body as well as getting her powers back. Until now, she only has taken one blood from the Black family,” says Grandma Zelda.

“Who’s blood has she taken from?” asks Beatrice worriedly.

“My husband. It’s the work of a stray dog. He had found the chamber where we put the blood of our ancestors. Look likes he’s also on the move to get another three,” replies Grandma Zelda.

A stray dog? That reminds me of something where Dad and Mr. Saba had mentioned. Who is the stray dog anyway? 

Ghost Stories #3

Year: 1991

My family and I moved to a new house. Finally, we stayed in our own house. Before that, my parents rent a terrace.

I was so happy when I got my own bedroom. There are four rooms; 3 bedroom and 1 storeroom. And we have another small store-house at the lawn. My brothers had to share a room with my lovely Nanny. My room is quite big and my Mom said that I need to take care of my room, always keep it neat and tidy.

After the movers arranged our furniture (my brothers and I helped them too even though our Nanny forbade us because we're still small at that time), we had a nice tea-break and the movers went back. My Dad went to the mosque that night, leaving Mom and Nanny to take care of us.

We watched TV in the TV room. Our TV room was near the veranda and there are wooden sliding doors and a small window. There was a comedy-drama that night so we had a wonderful time laughing at the joke.

Mom bought an electronic doorbell where she put the remote at the porch. Someone only had to come inside our porch and press the button on the remote. The it'll ring a Yankee Doodle song.

As we're occupied with the drama, someone rang the doorbell. Mom told my Nanny to peep through the small window before opened the door. The small window was for our safety, actually. Mom turned down the volume of the TV while my Nanny opened the window and peeped through it. She said that there's no one there. Perhaps some naughty kids tip-toed to our porch and press the button.

Then it rang second time. Mom and I peeped through the window but no one was there. Mom was getting irritated. Suddenly we heard a voice, a rough voice, gave Salaam. We're very shocked because there's no one there.

Mom told Nanny to turn off the TV and she abruptly closed the window. Mom told us to keep silence and waited there for Dad to come back. Then, I heard a snicker and it's scared me at that time. That night, I slept with Nanny in my brothers' bedroom.

The next day, our neighbours came for a visit and they told us about the an invisible person who liked to rang the doorbell and gave Salaam, especially for ones who had just moved. Mom told them what had happened last night and they told Mom to ignore the doorbell and the Salaam.

Circle Quartet: 26

Chapter 26

“Frogs! Frogs! They’re everywhere!” Amanda shrieks on top of her lungs.

I can see the slimy creatures hopping happily in this ballroom. Some of them are even trying to hop on my special gown. I kick them and one of them stuck on Raina’s hair.

“Get it off me! Get it off me!”She screams in horror, pulling her hair in madness as the frog is still sticking on her head, and running around like a headless chicken. Beatrice and Deena are shooting those frogs while chanting the spell as loud as they can.

The boys, on the other hand, are laughing happily as they see the frogs hopping here and there. They even compete who catches the most frogs.

“Harley!” Aunt Ada’s voice booms around the hall.

The ballroom becomes queer silence.

Everyone looks at Harley who is smiling sheepishly like nothing happen. There’s a big toad on top of his head and he’s holding some small frogs with my two cousins, Raymond and Heath.

Harley is a frog-lover. He played with frog since he’s 3 years old. When he reached 6, he started to learn more about frogs and collected them as his hobbies. Of course Aunt Ada forbade him to play with frogs inside the house so Harley spends most of his time at the pond near our compound.

His love towards the frogs was never changed. At the age of 10, Harley managed to cast his own magic spell as he learned from the frog; creating a green slimy liquid for traps. Because of that, he was known as a young alchemist. But sometimes, he made some mess, just like tonight.

“What. Do. You. Think. You. Are. Doing?” Aunt Ada grits her teeth, her hands on her hips. Aunt Ada’s eyes are blazing angrily. No one dare to speak any word.

“I…,” Harley gulps, “I just wanted to show them how to cast a frog spell.”

Silence.

“I can make them vanish,” Harley squeaks like a squirrel for his body starts to shake.

“How many times do I have to tell you NOT TO PLAY WITH FROGS?” Now Aunt Ada explodes.

There are two things that will make Aunt Ada explodes. First; don’t eat the instant noodle in front of her. Second; don’t play with the frogs.

Aunt Ada turns Harley into a big green ugly toad. My two cousins gasp in horror and hide behind their mother. I guess someone has to kiss froggy Harley to turn him back to normal.

“Serve him right!” exclaims Raina. “I’m not going to kiss you, stupid frog!”

Grandma Zelda makes the frogs vanish in one blink. The others sigh in relief and the leave the ballroom except me, Jeff and Beatrice.

“I guess I have to kiss it,” I sigh and pick up Harley who is now crying while croaking. I kiss the frog, ignoring how slimy it is, and Harley turns back into normal.

“Oh, thank you, Alice!” he hugs me tight and he’s still crying. “Thank you so much for saving me! I promise I won’t do that stupid thing again.”

After the frogs’ aftermath, we shuffle back to our room. I feel so tired tonight. But at the same time, I have a lot of fun. It’s been a while since last two year’s family gathering. My gown automatically change into my normal outfit after the clock strikes twelve. I smile and jump on the bed.

I received tons of text messages, mostly from Abbie. I know that she started to miss me since we left the Academy for the break. And I receive one text message from Stefan. He asked me about my holiday. I text him back, saying that I’m at Uncle Andy’s house. He replies my message, saying that he’s at his relative’s house and he’s just came back from the family dinner. I wonder what are they eating? Raw meat, I suppose.

Three days has passed swiftly and today my family and I need to go back to Sewra. How I miss my room so much! We board our private plane (Sable refuse to take the train because he said that the train are way too slow than the train). In one hour, we reach Sewra.

The first thing that I do is rushing to my room, jumping on my bed, hugging my smelly pillows which I can’t take them to the Academy. People might died if the smell my pillows!

We’re having a wonderful tea time this evening since it’s quite sunny. My little cousins are playing hop-scotch with Jeff and they are merrily laughing as Jeff loses to them. Beatrice, Raina, Raven and I are sitting around a small table, drinking milk tea made by Beatrice. She’s the best tea-maker.

Stefan and his brothers, Zayne and Tavis, pay a visit to our lovely mansion. Raina squeals in joy when she sees Tavis and nearly choke him to death as she hugs him tight. Poor Tavis.

Zayne and Beatrice exchange kisses on the cheek while Stefan greets me by shaking hands. Raina urges Stefan to kiss me on the cheek but he just smiles bashfully while gently scratching his cheek.

“Hey, what’s that?” asks Raven as she points to the box that Stefan has brought.

“Oh, this is a present to your sisters,” replies Stefan.

Lacey and Sabrina spot Stefan and come to him running. Both of them hug Stefan joyfully.

“I have a present for both of you,” he opens the box and there are two puppies inside it.

“Puppies! Puppies!” Both Lacey and Sabrina claps their hands. “Thank you, Stefan!” says Lacey and kisses him on the cheek. Sabrina does the same.

Stefan chuckles and hands them both puppies. Sabrina gets the brown puppy, as she wishes too, while Lacey gets the black puppy. The puppies yap with joy.

“You gave them puppies?” asks Jeff as he approaches us later.

Stefan nods. “I promised them long time ago to get them the puppies.”

“Mom will be shocked if she sees those puppies,” Raven smiles while shaking her head.

“What about me? You should give me one too, you know?” I tease him.

“You already have one, Alice. Don’t be so greedy,” says Jeff, pointing to Stefan. “Am I right, Steffy boy?”

Stefan blushes as Jeff calls him Steffy. Everybody laugh. We sit together around the table and talk about things that we usually do at the Academy.

The appearance of those puppies surprises Aunt Nadine as she comes down to the lawn. She thanks Stefan for buying those puppies to Lacey and Sabrina. At dawn, the Silver brothers excuse themselves to leave.

“I guess we have to go now,” says Zayne. “But we’ll see you girls anytime,” he winks.

“Yeah. We have one week to spend our precious time here,” I say.

“See you later, Alice. I’ll text you tonight,” says Stefan, leaning towards me and gives a small kiss on my cheek.

Stefan kisses me! I think my face turns into beet-red! I never thought that he might do that!

I’m now speechless. I watch him waving goodbye and leave. Raina, Beatrice and Jeff squeal with surprise, saying, “Oh my God! Did you see that? Stefan kissed Alice!”

I reply Abbie’s email after dinner. The kissing event spreads so fast – Dad is the most happiest when he heard the news. Then they discussed about the wedding ceremony of me and Stefan. They get so easily excited.

I told Abbie about the kissing event and I think she’ll jump with joy because she’s longing to hear this ‘good’ news. I can imagine her I-can’t-believe-he-kiss-you face. Somehow, I really miss Abbie so much. She’s a talkative and warm person. Living with her makes me feel that living with my own sister.

I send my email to her and lie down for a while. I stare at the ceiling, still thinking about what has happened this evening. I can’t believe Stefan really kissed me. I know that we’re trying to get along like we used to be. But the kiss is too sudden.

I wake up and get off from bed. I need to talk to Mom as the weird feeling crawls over my feeling, again. I go downstairs to Mom’s room and the door is not properly closed.

“Oh no, it’s horrible,” Mom gasps.

I lean to the door closer.

“I know, honey. And from now on we have to take a careful step. I’m worried about our children,” Dad says soothingly.

I gulp. I don’t mean to eavesdrop but something bad is happening!

Photo Inspiration: Two Siblings

Two Siblings! :3

I took the picture as I saw them sitting on the table. 

Sorry for not being able to do the poem about them. Haha!

Oh, and their names are Nana and Nini :)

Circle Quartet: 25

Chapter 25

Those two boys dash towards me while reading to shoot their guns. And I realize that they’re holding a big water gun. Things are going to be wet, I suppose. I use my swiftness ability to dodge their attacks as their shoot the water towards me. Then, Jeff stops them both by using the spell. Both of them are stuck on the ground.

“It’s not fair!” shouts Raymond, a small boy with curly hair like a fried noodle.

“Oh yes, it is, Ray. You guys are the one who are not being fair,” smirks Jeff.

“No, we are not! Let us go!” shouts Heath, Raymond’s big brother who looks much smaller than him.

“Hey, no one bullying my sister but me,” says Jeff proudly, jerking his thumb to his chest. I kick his butt hard that he falls on the ground.

Both Raymond and Heath laugh their heart out as they can move again. I approach them and we slap high-five with each other.

“Mission accomplished! Well done, boys!” I ruffle their heads and turn to Jeff who is still lying on the ground.

I planned all these actions 3 days before coming here. Uncle Anders called me that time and I managed to talk with Heath and Raymond. They like to play trick as they are developing their casting abilities.

Jeff stands up and brushes the dirt on his trousers. “That hurts, you know. I should have known that it was all set up.”

“Aww, come on, Jeff. Like you said, I’m the only one who can bully my brother,” I wink. Raymond and Heath giggle.

“Oh, you’re here,” Aunt Ramona appears with a big smile. “No wonder I heard the giggling and laughing,” then she glares at Raymond and Heath with a death glare, “and shouting too,”

Both Raymond and Heath quickly throw down their water guns and chuckles innocently.

“Hello Aunt Ramona,” I hug her and she kisses my cheeks and Jeff’s. “It’s been a while. How are you?” I ask.

“I’m great and gorgeous as always,” she smiles. “You look quite taller, Alice. And Jeff, as hunky as ever,” she pats Jeff arms.

“Oh yes, Aunt Ramona. I always stay hunky forever,” he raises his eyebrows. I roll my eyes.

“Come on in you two. Ray, Heath, enough with your tricks,” Aunt Ramona ushers us inside the house, or should I say, mansion. “Andy dear, Alice and Jeff are here!”

Uncle Anders, or we called him Uncle Andy, rushes down from the stairs. He is holding a feather duster and smiles widely as he sees us.

“Oh, my Cinderella, it’s good to see you here!” he hugs me and kisses my cheeks. “And you two, Mowgli!” he hugs Jeff tight and pats on Jeff’s back.

He called me Cinderella when I was small because I am his favourite niece. I used to wear gowns when I was four and five with a crown on my head. Jeff, on the other hand, was naughty and liked to run here and there like a monkey. That’s why Uncle Andy called him Mowgli.

“Wow, look likes you’re cleaning, Uncle Andy,” I say.

“Well, your mother is coming so I need to do a little clean up. You know how much she hates messiness and dusty places,” he chuckles. “And it’s better to do it yourself than using magic.”

He’s right. Mom is a very hygienic person. She hates dust and mess, especially her siblings’ house. She’ll nag from day to night just because there’s a dust on the book shelf! And everyone is afraid if she nags because she’ll throw her arms here and there and at the same time she’ll cast a spell. One might turns into a dustbunny!

“Thank God Mom is not here yet. Let us help you cleaning the house,” Jeff offers.

“Oh, you don’t have to, Jeff. You’re our guest,” says Uncle Andy. “And by the way, we’re going to have a ball tonight.”

“A ball? But…but…I don’t have gown to wear, Uncle Andy. You didn’t tell me earlier.” I don’t expect there will be a ball tonight.

“Don’t worry about that, Alice,” Jeff pats my shoulder. “Everything has been settled. I will make you a special gown with my special magic.”

“You knew it all along?” I glare at Jeff.

“I just wanted to surprise you,” he shrugs.

“Now, now, there’s no time to argue. You can go to any room that you like. I’ll ask Deena, Andrew and Harold to take your bags,” says Uncle Andy.

I cheer, take my bags and rush to the highest floor which is the seventh floor. I love to have room on the highest because I can see beautiful surrounding better. Jeff too chooses the top floor and his room is next to mine.

My room is quite spacious and very neat. I open the windows and see trees and plants towered everywhere, and birds happily chirp as they soar into the sky. I love this place. It reminds me of my own home, Sewra.

2 hours later, Mom and Dad and my brothers arrive safely. They too, come here by a flying car but it doesn’t land like we did. Dad is a professional flying car driver, even though he sometimes smashed into trees.

I run and hug Mom tight and she’s happy to see me. She comments on my quite-tanned face and my new haircut – I asked Abbie to cut my hair before coming here. She knows about what happened during the test in the Dummy Forest (I think everyone already knew) and she can’t wait for my graduation day next two years because she already planned the wedding ceremony.

“Wow, you look great, Alice!” praises Ace and we hug each other.

“And you too, Ace. You look tougher than before. Have you been working out lately?” I ask.

“Yup. Always compete with Sable every day. Sometimes we even fight by using magic but no one gets hurt,” he chuckles.

“I heard somebody said my name,” Sable approaches and I hug him tight. “Nice to see you again, Alice. I really, really miss you!” He bursts into tears. Sable is still a cry baby, I guess.

“Can you please stop being like a cry baby?” I smile. He’s getting taller, even taller than Jeff. “If your girlfriend knew this, she’ll definitely laugh at you.”

Sable stops crying. “You knew?” asks Sable in surprise.

I look at Ace and we laugh. While I was in Academy, Ace always sends e-mail and he told me everything that happened in the mansion including Sable’s having a girlfriend. Her name is Fiona Mahogany and she’s a witch who can bake cakes and cookies. Fiona’s father is Dad’s best friend since elementary school and they’ll be glad to match Sable with Fiona.

Uncle Yale and his family arrive in the evening as we’re having our tea time under some shady trees. Raina and squeal in joy when we get to see each other. Three of us – Raina, Deena and I, sit closer and start gossiping. Raina tells me about Tavis new stupid jokes and shows me the bangles that Tavis gave her for their anniversary (they always celebrated their engagement anniversary every year).

While waiting for the ball to start, I switch on my laptop. It’s been a while since I haven’t opened my e-mail. There are blizzards of e-mails, flooding my inbox. Most of them are from my friends from the high school, asking me how I am doing and how they really missed me. Abbie also send some e-mails, asking me whenever I have kissed Stefan yet. She always asks exaggerating questions. I reply her e-mail, telling her that I won’t kiss Stefan until the day we get married.

Someone knocks on the door as I reply Abbie’s e-mail. I know that is Jeff because he’s supposed to turn my casual attire into a gown.

“Come in,” I say without getting down from the bed.

Jeff slowly pokes his head to my room and smiles as he sees me. “Are you ready, little buddy?” he enters the room.

I jump off the bed. “I’m ready!” I throw my arms to the air.

“Now, the magic word,” a wand appears from his hand. “Close your eyes!”

I smile and close my eyes. I can sense Jeff walks around me. Then he stops.

“Bibidi-bobidi-boo!” he casts a spell from the Disney Cinderella.

As I open my eyes, my t-shirt and jeans turn into a light blue glittering gown just like Cinderella with a crown on my head except for the glass slippers. Jeff, who is now wearing a tuxedo, offers his right arm to me. I slip my hand to his arm and we go downstairs.

Everyone look at me in awe. I rarely wear a gown; only for a special occasion like this. I step down the stairs slowly. Grandma Zelda is also here. I walk to her and bow. She hugs me and praises my gown. I tell her that Jeff made this.

I dance with Ace and then with Sable. We’re having fun together. I even dance with Dad and Uncle Andy! Jeff approaches me slowly and asks me for a dance. I nod and we dance before the party end.

Suddenly we hear a scream. It’s Amanda. And she’s screaming in fright.