Liam and Mr Evans looked amazing in their Bill and Ted costumes. It was kind of funny that they selected those particular outfits as that was the other choice I had along with my Aunt. Mr Evans had stood beside Auntie M and spoke to her. I only just caught what they were saying over the loudness of the music.

'You smell like death.' Mr Evans said to my Aunt.

'And you smell like wet dog.' She replied.

I couldn't quite tell if there was some tension between them or not, I assumed there was as they were staring intently at each other and I could feel an atmosphere. I looked over at Liam who was busy talking to Katie and Victoria and apparently hadn't felt any of this. But knowing he was a naturally weaker warlock and was distracted, I wasn't all that surprised. Though he probably just wasn't paying attention.

I looked back at my Aunt and Mr Evans who were now laughing and grinning at each other; and getting a bit closer too. Was this a magic user thing? Some apparent promiscuity that occurred and they were okay with or did most of the grown ups I knew just happen to be absolute tarts? Or was I looking way too deep in to it? Thinking about what my Auntie M had just said to Mr Evans, I did get a whiff of wet dog smell coming from him and even a bit from Liam.

'Auntie M, that smell... is it?'

'I know it's disgusting huh?' My Aunt replied. I was really getting used to this talking in each others heads thing, it came in handy for all sorts and having secret conversations was amazing.

'I assume it's werewolf smell?'

'Bingo. Seems like the local male coven is allied with a werewolf pack.'

'Well I won't be forgetting that smell in a while, sheesh.' I wrinkled my nose. I was sort of glad our coven was allied with vampires as they actually smelt quite nice and not like damp Labrador. My train of thought was interrupted by Liam who had made his way to my side as Katie and Victoria were fixing things on each others costumes.

'Hey you,'

'Hey you too.'

Wow, awkward. At least Liam decided to carry on talking.

'So, how was your initiation?'

'As expected I suppose.' I didn't sound too sure about that which to be honest, I wasn't. I'm sure he can smell the vampires on me much like how I could smell the werewolves on him. 'Your coven is aligned with a werewolf clan am I right?

Liam nodded.

'And yours is aligned with a vampire clan?'

'Yep.' I replied.

There was yet another brief moment of silence between us. These silences were becoming a bit too uncomfortable for my liking and were happening more often. It was weird to me as it always seemed like Liam wanted to talk but just couldn't quite get the words out. Every time it ended up with just me and Liam stood near each other swapping the bare minimum of words.

Most of the evening was spent checking out everyone's costumes and trying to remember what TV show or film they were in. I had even taken some time out to massacre the buffet along with my Aunt who was not holding back in cramming as much fancy food in to her face as possible. The music wasn't bad either. The DJ that was hired was keeping well in with the theme of the night and was playing plenty eighties and nineties hits, but had also thrown in some newer stuff too. My Aunt and I had got a few "Party on Wayne" and "Party on Garth's" shouted at us us, which was kinda cool. Everything seemed pretty chill, but there was something that was just bothering me. I don't know why, or what it was, but something was not sitting right with me.

Katie and Victoria had Taken to the dance floor and were busy throwing shapes in some sort of attempt at dancing. To be honest, none of us were anywhere near being passable dancers as we were the slightly socially awkward types. Francesca and her cronies however were the complete opposite. They all just looked so coll and effortless in the way they moved. Some of the boys had even plucked up enough courage to ask them to dance, all under the watchful eyes of some of the teachers who were there to make sure nothing got out of hand.

Ugh, then it hit me. This god awful smell that came out of nowhere and was making me feel a little sick. The scent had burned it's way in to my nostrils and lingered way longer than I liked; the smell was a combination of sweaty feet, bathed in rotten onion juice then liberally frosted in a hot curry fart. It was disgusting and I wanted to heave. I don't know what the deal is, but with myself and my Aunt; we were quite sensitive to smells, especially ones that revolved around magic.

Magic. The vampires smelt amazing and that must have been caused by whatever supernatural force animated them. Dark or sinister magic seemed to always smell absolutely awful and this is what I could smell now. Auntie M had obviously caught a whiff of it and was now hurrying her way over to me.

'You smell that?' She asked me, her eyes darting around.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

'How could I not? It's rank whatever it is.'

'Whatever it is, it's in the school.'

My heart skipped a beat. I did not like this one bit. A few minutes later and Mr Evans and Liam had finally wandered over, they must have just caught a whiff of it now. I looked around for Katie and Victoria, hoping they were still in the main hall and hadn't wandered off anywhere. Sure enough I saw them getting drinks near the buffet table and they seemed to be engaged in watching everyone else.

'Come on Maddie we gotta go find this, whatever or whoever it is. They've been too close or even in the school way too many times now for my liking and it needs to stop.'

I agreed with her on that, but to be honest I was a little hesitant.

Apparently, witches and warlocks were quite good a syncing up. Auntie M, Mr Evans, Liam and myself all marched out of the main hall in the direction that the foul stench was coming from. It seemed to be coming from the dining hall which was usually locked off every evening, but proved easy to break in to with a little magic; Auntie M let me do the honours. Liam was in the midst of trying to do some kind of protection spell with a bit of help from Mr Evans.

As we quietly crept through the doors, the smell hit you like a frying pan to the face. God it was disgusting. There was some amount of moonlight flooding in through the dining halls large windows so we didn't need, or want to turn any lights on so as to give away our being in there. But the light was bright enough to illuminate a hooded kneeling figure, wearing a cheap looking black cloak that pooled on the floor. The figure was kneeling and chanting away in a large circle draw on the floor in what was most likely blood, with unlit candles at certain points. The candles one by one, sputtered in to life; some of them sort of lighting then going out only to half light again. Whoever this person was, they weren't really good at basic magic so it seemed. |There did seem to be what looked like flies buzzing around the candles.

But there was a sound coming from the cloak this person was wearing, a meek mewing sound. We edged closer to the figure to see that it was definitely a man, who's left hand was badly bandaged up but reached in to in inner pocket of the cloak and pulled out a small black and white kitten, maybe around three months old or so. Holding the kitten in his left hand, the man stood as he continued to chant and stepped out of the circle. We carried on creeping closer and closer until he finally noticed us. He turned to face us all, still clutching on to the kitten that looked to be lethargic and unwell and he grinned; bringing a shining knife of his pocket with his free right hand. In amongst all of this guys chanting, a faint rumble could be felt under foot and the floor where his circle was drawn appeared to be shimmering and wobbling almost. He held the kitten out over the circle, drew the knife round to it and was just about to stab the poor thing when my Auntie M who was growling at this point; teleported behind the man and grabbed his right arm, twisting it round his back which made him yelp in pain and drop the knife. She instantly threw him to the floor and snatched the kitten out of his hands who clung to her for dear life. Auntie M had spirited her athame in to her hand and was pointing it at the man.

'You can't stop me... or kill me.' The man cackled as he tried to regain his composure. As he carried on talking, I went and stood beside Liam who was still concentrating on his protection spell. Something wasn't right about this guy though I could feel it. He had some power, but it wasn't his. It felt like he was borrowing it, I'm not sure the sensation was weird. I figured now would be a good time to assist Liam so I started to cast my own protection spell to help give Liam's a boost. Mr Evan's was now also advancing on the man with his own athame in hand. The man did not look bothered in the slightest.

Aunte M and Mr Evans were stood hovering above the man now who had thrown his head back, the hood of his cloak fell finally revealing his face. He was shockingly pale but had a smattering of dry skin and red patches over his face, which highlighted his even patchier stubble. His dull brownish hair started from his receding hairline and messily stuck out from his head in irregular short waves and curls. And while he wasn't portly, the man appeared to be quite skinny but tall as well. Now I'm not one to completely judge a person by their looks, but this guy looked like his reason for being was having arguments on the internet and complaining about how only shallow, good looking blokes got women but he was entitled to pester women because he was "a nice guy." The dude was a straight up incel and after recognising this one in the wild; I had to resist the urge to roll my eyes at him.

'Kill me, kill me then. My master will bring me back.' The man mused as he closed his eyes, practically begging for my Aunt and Mr Evans to end his life then and there.

Auntie M and Mr Evans were about to grant his request which in all honesty was something I did not want to see at all. I closed my eyes shut as tight as I could but not before getting a horrible glare from the man. Our eyes connected for a brief moment; a moment too long and instantly both of my arms started hurting immensely, from the tips of my fingers and all the way up to my elbows. I squealed in pain. Looking at my hand I had noticed that my skin had started to go a funny colour. It actually looked like I was heavily bruised but what made it worse was the fact that it wasn't contained to one spot like a regular bruise, but it was everywhere on my skin.

It was at that moment when I head my Aunt and Mr Evans chant. I could make out two different chants in different languages, one sounded Welsh and the other sounded like it was in Latin or something. The chanting continued for a second or two as my Aunt and History teacher thrust their athame blades in to the man.

Except he wasn't there any more.

The man's cloak had fell to the ground in an untidy pile. He'd vanished in a split second. Mr Evans was spinning around trying to figure out where the man had gone but my Aunt instantly come bolting over to me, demanding I show her my arms. The colour had gone from that weird yellowy-blue colour bruises start out as and was gradually beginning to turn even darker. My hands at this point actually looked like I had frostbite and the pain was taking my breath away to the point where I could barely even whimper. My Aunt had her arm around my shoulders to comfort me and to stop me from wobbling so much. Tears were now steaming down my face from the pain.

'Well I know what demon the man's been trying to summon, I've felt that energy before I'd recognise it anywhere.' Auntie M stated. 'I should've known at the start with all the flies.'

'Is it Baal?' Liam asked. Auntie M shot him a congratulatory grin.

'Not bad Liam. He's also called Beelzebub amongst other things but Baal is adequate. We'll talk about this later I need to treat my niece. I highly doubt that guy will be back so can you two clear this away please?' Auntie M asked Mr Evans and Liam who both simply nodded.

'Great, thanks for coming you two but I need to get Maddie sorted.'

Mr Evans and Liam looked worried for me but told me I'd feel better soon. I thanked them for their concern as best I could before Auntie M teleported us out of the schools dining hall to outside an enormous fucking mansion. Holy shit it was huge. Then I think I passed out.