Annabelle took out her phone to dial his number, just when Jacob pushed open the door of the classroom and walked in drunk.

  “So magic really exists?” he said as he staggered and fell to the ground, emptying the content of the cup in his hand.

  “Ok this is strange, Jacob is drunk?” Anna said, and took a few pictures of him.

  “I’ll use this for blackmail later,” she added, slipping the phone into her purse.

  “I think we should help them throw up or something,” Jackson said as he helped Jacob to his feet.

  “Throw up?” Anna asked, and helped Joanna to her feet.

  “Just take them to the toilets and see if they puke, because they look like they are going to,” Jackson said.

  Annabelle held Joanna and they both headed to the female toilets.

  On getting there, the entire space was empty, and it looked like no one had been there for hours.

  “That’s strange, there’s supposed to be at least a silly couple making out here,” she said as her eyes darted around the space.

  She sat Joanna on the floor and washed her hand in the sink, studying her reflection in the mirror.

  “Ok time to puke,” she said to Joanna as she tried pulling her up.

  “Leave me alone, I just want to see Ron,” Joanna muttered, clearly drunk.

  “You will see him after this,” she said, and strained, trying to pick Joanna up.

  CLANG…. CLANG… Two metal objects dropped on the floor in one of the water closet stalls.

  “Who’s there?” Anna asked, a shiver running down her spine as she walked towards the toilet stall. She boldly kicked it open, and saw nothing but two metal door handles.

  “Show yourself! I am protected!” she screamed, standing as still as a deer in headlights.

  She was about to turn around, when she sensed a presence behind her. Something was growling behind her, and gripped by fear, she couldn’t move.

  “I…I…I’m nnnnottt sscccaarred of you,” she said, trying hard not to tremble.

  The growling creature breathed soft puffs of air on her shoulder and then vanished.

  Immediately, she ran out of the stall to see if Joanna was okay, but she was long gone, and all that was left was a note that read “Tell Crow I have your friend, I’ll be expecting you and your team.”

  “Oh no,” she said, tears clouding her eyes as she left the toilet.

  “Jackson!” she screamed, banging on the male toilet door.

  Jackson abruptly opened the door, and in his eyes were fear and disappointment.

  “Did they take Joanna too?” he asked, as he pulled already weeping Anna in for a big hug.

  “We have to find Crow,” he said.

  Please be in your office, were the thoughts in Anna’s head as she ran. On getting to the office, they tried opening the door, but it was locked.

  “No, no, no, no, this isn’t a good time to disappear,” Anna said, crying. She was about to run off looking for Crow, but the door was unlocked from the inside.

  She pushed it open, to find Crow reading a book and comfortably crossing her legs.

  “How can you be this comfortable when my friends are in danger?” Anna screamed, as she charged towards Crow, but was held back by Jackson.

  “Let me go!” she struggled to break free.

  “I know about your friends’ disappearance,” she said, still flipping the pages of the book.

  “I was waiting for you,” she added, as she stood up and scanned through her bookshelf with her fingers.

  “Why didn’t you help?” Jackson asked, still holding Anna who had already calmed down.

  “Because I didn’t sense anything until they were gone from this world. Found it!” She said, pulling out a padlocked black book from her shelf.

  “Then what use are the amulets if you can’t sense danger?!” Annabelle screamed, studying the hard cover book with her eyes.

  “Don’t worry, no one can cause them physical harm since the amulets you are all wearing have been modified by me,” Crow said, as she furiously flipped the pages of the book.

  “You might want to take a few steps back,” she said, gesturing, her eyes rapidly scanning the content of the book.

  “Farther, all the way to the door.” She pressed her index finger on a page of the book and closed her eyes.

  She took a deep breath, and out of nowhere, a cold wind blew throughout the entire office.

  Annabelle and Jackson held on to each other for body warmth, as the wind got even more intense. The wind was really powerful, but it didn’t thrash any objects around the office, which was really strange.

  Mrs. Crow’s eyes lit up, her hair turned white and the entire office started to quake.

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  “What’s she doing?” Anna said, shivering due to the cold. Her body was covered in goosebumps and her skin began to turn white, then suddenly, the wind ceased and the cold was no more.

  “Okay, I found them, but you aren’t going to like where they are,” Mrs. Crow said, as she adjusted her hair.

  “Where are they?” Annabelle asked, heaving a sigh of relief.

  “They are locked up in Opsilion 12, the home of dark magic, and residence of the dark order,” Crow said with a smoldering look on her face.

  “This isn’t the time to joke!” Annabelle screamed.

  “Let’s go get them, we don’t have time to waste,” she added.

  “I’m sorry we? Didn’t you just hear me? I said the home of dark magic and residence of the dark order, which means anyone caught trespassing would die,” Crow replied as she pulled out the top drawer on her desk and took a bracelet out of it.

  “What’s that?” Jackson asked, with his eyes focused on the bracelet.

  “Protection,” Crow replied, as she slipped the bracelet on her wrist.

  “Someone as strong as I am would need protection where I’m going,” she added.

  “Well, I don’t care, I’m coming with you. It’s my best friend and my stupid neighbor we are talking about here. If I don’t go, then no one goes,” Anna replied.

  Mrs. Crow looked at Anna and thought about knocking her out before departing, just when, “Oh well, you asked for it,” she said.

  “So are we getting any extra protection?” Anna asked.

  “No, the amulet is enough. I would have given you wands but you’d die even before you get to use them,” she replied, trying to scare them off.

  “I hope you told your parents goodbye,” Mrs. Crow said, as she beckoned.

  They all held hands and Mrs. Crow chanted some spells, after which they all vanished alongside the book.

  Moments later, they arrived at the top of a dark rocky mountain.

  The valleys were dried up and there was nothing but dead trees across the horizon. The sky was dark and cloudless and the air was a bit warm when breathed in.

  “Ok, let’s go save our friends,” Anna said, with a determined look on her face.

  “We have to tread carefully,” Crow said, her eyes studying the environment.

  “We are going to that castle over there,” she added as she pointed towards a castle at the far end of the horizon.

  “Are those?” Anna said, squinting her eyes as she tried to look at the creatures hovering above the castle.

  “Are those dragons?!” she exclaimed.

  “Yes, and if they see us, we are dead,” Crow said looking at Anna as if to say: I TOLD YOU TO STAY BACK.

  “I think I can sense your friends’ amulets, so they are still alive,” Crow said.

  “We have to come up with a way to get there without being seen,” Crow said, as she sat on the mountain and began to think.

  “Why not just use magic to make costumes for us?” Jackson asked.

  “That won’t work, they’ll notice us immediately. Besides, the dark order doesn’t allow their soldiers outside the castle unless they go hunting for sorcerers,” Crow replied.

  “We could just tell them that we are hunters,” Annabelle said.

  “That will just get us killed,” Crow replied, dismissing the idea.

  “I have an idea!” she screamed and jumped to her feet.

  “You guys pretend to be members of the dark order and capture me, and then, we’d sneak in and take them by surprise,” she said, clearly being sarcastic.

  “That’s just dumb, we will all die!” Annabelle said, as she sighed and sat on the rocky mountain.

  “So what do we do now?” I thought you have gotten stronger,” Annabelle mentioned, looking at Crow.

  “Joanna and I noticed it when you got back from wherever you went,” she added.

  “Can’t you fight them off?” Anna asked.

  “No, I can’t. I can barely handle three, fighting all of them will be suicide,” Crow replied, snapping her fingers, sparks of electricity crackling around her fingers.

  “Oh, I know what to do.”

  “I’m going to make us all invincible and undetectable, but it only lasts for thirty minutes, after which we will become detectable but still invincible,” Crow said.

  “So we only have thirty minutes to do this,” Jackson said, trying to look cool.

  “We will get your friend back,” He said, giving Anna’s hand a gentle but firm squeeze.

  “I need a while to prepare.”

  “If the spell goes wrong, we will be detected and killed immediately,” she added.

  “But the person who took our friends seems to know you well, besides he probably knows we are here already,” Jackson said.

  “Yes, he probably does, but still, we can’t be caught,” Crow said, as she gently flipped the pages of the book.

  “Is there going to be another cold wind blowing?” Jackson asked sarcastically, in an effort to lighten up the mood.

  “No, not this time,” Crow replied. She seemed to be focused on what she was doing.

  She pulled out a pocketknife from the side of her boot, and also, a piece of paper.

  “Step closer, I’m going to need your blood,” she said, motioning for Anna and Jackson to come closer.

  “How will we heal after you cut us, I can’t carry a scar everywhere,” Jackson said, as he hesitantly walked towards Crow.

  “Do you want to rescue your friends?” she asked, signaling him to walk faster.

  She grabbed his arm and without hesitation, slashed his palm open with the pocketknife.

  He winced, as his blood splattered all over the piece of paper on the ground. Crow let go of his arm, and immediately, the wound closed up.

  “Your turn,” she said to Anna, who boldly walked towards her and stretched out her hand.

  “Brave,” Crow said, as she slashed Anna’s hand with the same knife, allowing her blood to spill on the piece of paper.

  Annabelle’s wound closed up instantly, and she went to stand beside Jackson.

  Crow then grabbed the blade with her left hand and squeezed it, cutting herself even deeper than she cut Jackson and Anna.

  She didn’t wince, as her blood soaked the piece of paper. She let go of the blade, and her wound healed instantly.

  She opened a page of the book she had taken from her office, sat down, closed her eyes and chanted some words.

  The chanting lasted for two entire minutes after which the paper caught fire and was completely burnt to ashes.

  “Ok, it’s done,” Crow said, as she stood up and began to head for the castle.

  “But I can still see you, are you sure we are invincible?” Jackson asked.

  Mrs. Crow ignored Jackson’s question and kept walking to the castle without looking back.

  “Come on, we have a long way to go,” she said as she boldly headed for the castle, kicking tiny pebbles as she walked down the slightly steep mountain.

  Anna and Jackson quickly ran after her, still quite uncertain about their visibility.

  Meanwhile, at the castle, Joanna and Jacob were tied to a cream-colored pillar right at the center of a big empty hall.