10 The Book
It was already morning, and no one seemed to get much sleep. Hazel was passed out on the couch, her cheeks stained red. Juliette was sitting next to her, resting her eyes as well. On the recliner, was Hale reading a letter from Harmony. It read,
Dear Dad,
I'm sorry to have to do this right after what happened with Thea, but it was best to leave now. I'm taking Weslyn with me, and we're going to be happy. If we didn't leave now, then you would just get more attached and it would be harder to let go later. I lov… I'll miss you daddy.
Harmony
A single tear ran down Hale's face, but he was quick to wipe it away. Leo was in one of the extra rooms punching a punching bag, wearing blue athletic shorts that show off his shiny blue eyes. Wes was on the floor leaning against a wall, holding tight to the book Thea gave him. He was hesitant about opening it, and ended up staring at the book for a while.
Leo finally stops hitting the bag, and walks out to the living room where he sees Wes. He walks towards him, still shirtless and sweaty.
"What's with the book? You've been staring at it for an hour now." Leo slides down the wall to sit next to Wes.
"Thea gave it to me, and told me not to read it until all hope was lost. I'm wondering whether that time is now." Wes faltered.
"Just take a look around and tell me if all hope is gone."
Wes raises his head to view the mess in front of him. "It does look like we've lost all hope."
"I guess you should read that book, and see what's so special about it." Leo insists.
Wes opens the book to the first page that reads, The Dark and Painful Way Out. He continues to read through the book, and the further he gets, the more surprised his face gets. Leo watches in admiration as Wes speeds through the book. When Wes completes the book, he slams it shut waking everyone and attracting their attention.
"I've figured it out!" Wes exclaims.
"What are you talking about this time, Wes?" Hale inquired.
"Thea knew how to get out of the curse, but she was waiting for the right time to do it."
"What are you talking about?" Hazel asks.
"In the book Thea gave me, it talks about the Curse. It's written by a group over 4,000 years ago who finished it and found a loophole. It says it all in this book, even the spell they used to get out. The only problem with this spell is that it needed a special being sacrifice.
"And what do you mean by 'special being'?" Juliette questions.
"Someone from Maledictus, where were from." Wes answers.
Juliette gasps in relief, receiving glares from everyone in the room. While everyone else worries, and stares at one another.
"I don't want to lose anyone else." Hazel mumbled.
"That's the thing, the sacrifice spell sounds vaguely familiar to me. I did some thinking, and remember that Thea said something before she passed. She finished the spell, she said the sacrifice spell, which means we only have to read the spell out of the book." Wes announces.
"Thea died a while ago, will her sacrifice still work?" Hale blurts out.
"The books says that the sacrifice lasts for 24 hours, so we still have four hours to complete the spell. That should be plenty of time."
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's say this spell, and get out of here." Hale comments.
"Okay, but we all have to say the spell at the same time. If not some of us will be left behind."
"Let's all come in closer then." Hazel announces.
They all walked in closer, gathering by one another so they could all see the book. When they start the spell, something stops them from finishing. The room starts to shake like an Earthquake, furniture starts falling to the ground. A portal then opens, and an older lady falls out of it. The shaking stops, and the whole room goes silent. The woman in front of them had long blond hair, and piercing blue eyes. Immediately, Juliette knew who it was.
"Ella?" Juliette questions.
"Juliette, you know this woman?" Wes inquires.
"Yeah, this is the bitch that married my father for all his money, and put me in this hell hole."
"Very good, you remember me." Ella responds.
"So, your a witch." Wes stated.
"I guess you can call me a witch or a bitch, either one suffices. Although, Thea could do spells, and you never called her a witch."
"How do you know Thea?!" Hazel shouts.
"Oh, I know all of you sweetie. Don't you remember me?" Ella shifts into a completely different person right before everyone.
"Carol?"
"I'm everyone. I was the person that put you all in this curse, and now that Thea selflessly sacrificed herself. I think it's time that all of you die, and I get my prize."
"What do you mean by prize?" Hazel asks.
"She means everlasting life. It's gifted to us when we successfully leave the curse. We won't age and we'll heal wounds, but it is still possible to die from excessive injuries." Wes explains.
"Exactly." Ella answers.
"How did you know we found the way out?"
"The one you called Nixson, was a servant of mine. His real name was Voltrak, and he did exactly what was needed of him. He set up a microphone and a camera in your living room, so I could watch your every move."
"That asshole." Hale whispers.
"We won't let you get the prize! You didn't earn it! You didn't… lose anyone for it." Hazel snapped.
"Oh, really? The five of you kids can't beat me." Ella declared.
Leo ran towards Ella tackling her into a room, the other four gather to the door. Ella then yells something from the room, "in captionem specialissimarum!"
Hale, Hazel, and Wes are pushed back against the back wall, Hale picks himself up and tries running to Juliette. There seemed to be an invisible wall between them, making it so they couldn't get to each other. Juliette looks back towards the room and sees herself looking back at her. Ella runs towards her pushing herself and Juliette to the ground. Leo walks out of the room, seeing two Juliette's fighting on the ground. Leo looks to Hale for clarification of who is the real one, but he was as lost as Leo was. Juliette sees Leo and instantly begs for help.
"Leo! Please help me. It's me, I'm the real one."
"No, Leo. Don't listen to her, I'm the real one." Ella insists.
"Prove it to me." Leo demands.
"You're an only child." Ella blurts out.
Juliette glares at Ella, "I didn't like you at the beginning of the curse."
Leo looks back and forth between the two girls, not sure which one is the real Juliette. He looks up to the rest of the group behind the transparent wall, and back down to the two of them.
"Tell me the secret I told you in the last scenario." Leo says determined.
Juliette gives a worried look to Leo before announcing the secret, "You like Wes."
Wes' eyes widen, bringing his eyes to Leo's.
"You like Wes?" Hale breaks down laughing. "Dude, I'm sorry to tell you, but Wes is straight."
Wes opens his mouth to say something, but is interrupted by Ella sprinting out the door. Leo turns into his werewolf form running after her. Juliette stands up slowly, and walks over to the door to see what's happening. Screams come from outside, then silence. The wall breaks down, and everyone runs for Leo. When they all look outside, there was no body just blood. Leo transforms back, and walks over to Wes.
"I'm sorry, sometimes I lose control." Leo mumbles.
"I like you too." Wes blurts, ignoring what Leo had done.
"What?!" Hale shouts.
"I guess you don't know me very well, Hale." Wes smirks.
Hale goes silent, glaring at Wes.
"Wait a minute! How much time do we have left to get out of here?" Hazel recalls.
Wes looks down at his watch, his face in shock. "We only have two minutes!"
"We need to hurry then." Juliette rushes.
"The book is inside, let's go!" Wes instructs.
The five of them rushed into the house, and Wes quickly grabs the book. They all hovered around the book, and counted down from three to say the spell.
"Noster accipere sacrificium, et libera nos." All five repeat the spell three times in sync.
Nothing happens, they all stand there hoping for their return home.
"Were we too late?" Hazel sighs.
"I don't know." Wes responds.
Juliette was holding Hale's arm, Wes and Leo were side by side, and Hazel stood with her head down. They didn't know what to do next. A tear drops from Hazel's eye, and she falls to the ground. When the single tear drops to the ground, a portal appears beneath them. They fall down detaching themselves from their partners. Leo, Wes, and Hale all fall towards a different tunnel than Juliette and Hazel. The five of them then disappear returning to their worlds.
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Hazel opens her eyes, seeing an unfamiliar ceiling. She heard a beeping noise beside her. When she looks around, she sees that she's in a hospital room. Next to her was her father sleeping on the chair.
"Dad?" Hazel mumbles, her throat dry. Her dad wakes up seeing her child finally awake, and rushes to her side.
"Oh honey, your friends said that you passed out at the park."
Hazel looks to her father, who looks older than when she last saw him.
"How long have I been asleep?" Hazel mumbles.
"Five years." Hazel's father replies.
Hazel jumps out of the bed and rushes over to look at herself in a mirror.
"You didn't age a day though, isn't it strange?" He told her.
"Not really." Hazel states.
"What do you mean?"
"Dad, you know how mom was from a different world?"
"Yeah?"
"Well, there's something I need to tell you." Hazel explains what happened to her and the five others.
"I'm sorry you had to go through that."
"It's alright, because I found some pretty incredible friends out of it." Hazel smiles.
The door slams open, with a young girl with long black hair rushing inside. She was wearing a dark red crop top, and high waisted black jeans. The way she rushed around, and her expression both described her as determined.
"Juliette?" Hazel questions.
"Oh, you must be Juliette. Nice to meet you." Hazel's father greets.
Juliette looks to Hazel's father whose hand was reached out for a handshake, and she ignores him looking back to Hazel. "Hazel, I found you."
"Juliette, how did you find me?" Hazel asks.
"I have my ways." Juliette smirks.
"I'm so happy your here!" Hazel hugs Juliette.
"Yeah, yeah. Now you need to help me get to Hale." Juliette demands.
"We can't get to them, they're going to have to come to us. They have the spell books, and magic."
"But we used magic to get back and you're an Elemental, so why can't we go to them?"
"The curse gave you magic, and I don't have a spell book. So you're just gonna have to wait." Hazel explains.
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Hale, Wes, and Leo appear back in town where they all disappeared. People around them carry on without commenting about the three boys.
"We made it!" Wes exclaims.
"Yes, we did." Leo says admiring Wes.
Wes and Leo hug each other, and Hale looks at them with disgust. "Break it up, you two. I'm very happy for you two, or whatever, but I need to find Juliette."
"The girls are probably on Earth, so you're going to need a spell to get to them. Oh, that's right, I'm the one with the spell book. So maybe you should treat me with some respect, sense I'm the only one that can get you to your precious Juliette." Wes smirks.
Hale glare at Wes, "Can you… please…make a portal to Earth?"
"That's more like it."
