Looking at the house, Arthur said, “Why is it that the houses the heroes have to go to are always old, haunted house types?”

Shirley shrugged, but agreed, “It certainly is decrepit.”

That caused Arthur to look at Shirley, and then at the old run-down house. Merlin could almost see the light going on in his eyes. Ah, decrepit must mean old and run down. Why did he feel like throwing Arthur a bone? Dang, was he turning into a bitter old man already?

Shaking away those thoughts, Merlin said, “At least we probably don’t have to worry about surveillance cameras. Just in case though, I probably need to cast something anyway.” With that, he started the spell he had written last night.

“Hide us from the cameras’ eyes,

Let us slip in like three good spies.

Stop any cameras from working,

That might catch us as we are lurking.”

Merlin could feel the pressure of the spell building. While he thought the first two lines might be enough, he couldn’t risk going to jail and had decided to add a couple more lines just to make sure. Somehow, he didn’t think jail and he would get along well together. Pushing such thoughts aside, he concentrated on ensuring the spell would work as he had planned.

“Hide us from the cameras’ eyes,

Let us slip in like three good spies.

Stop any cameras from working,

That might catch us as we are lurking.”

There was a strong pressure of magic swelling inside him, but he pushed through, casting his will into the world.

“Hide us from the cameras’ eyes,

Let us slip in like three good spies.

Stop any cameras from working,

That might catch us as we are lurking.”

For good measure, he also prepared another spell. Pulling out three-quarters from his pocket, he chanted.

“After I drop these quarters three,

Create a shield to protect me.

After I drop these quarters three,

Create a shield to protect me.

After I drop these quarters three,

Create a shield to protect me.”

After he was done, he wiped a few drops of perspiration from his forehead. More than likely, there weren’t any cameras in the area, but he couldn’t risk being wrong, even if it wasted what could have been two perfectly good spells.

With hearts beating quickly, they slowly approached the abandoned home. Without even touching the door, Merlin knew the door was going to creak when they opened it. Sure enough, when Arthur pushed the door open, sword in hand, it creaked. While it wasn’t a loud creak, it seemed to fill the night. Everyone waited a few seconds and listened to see if anyone had heard.

Hearing nothing more, they entered the house, each one scanning the dark interior for any signs of life. Nothing stirred, however. Each of them pulled out a flashlight to help see. Merlin still wasn’t sure about the socks but had gone along with the idea.

Shirley had been the one to come up with the suggestion of covering the flashlights with socks to dim the light so they wouldn’t be so obvious to anyone who might see them. While it would limit their vision, it would also make it harder to notice them, which is what they were looking for.

Slowly, they made their way through the rooms, finding nothing of interest. Merlin was impressed when Shirley pointed to some footsteps in the dusty floor, and how they stopped in one of the corners.

They both looked at Shirley as if to say, what now? Shirley then gave them an exasperated look, as if to say, how do you not know? Idiots! Merlin could almost hear her thoughts. Wow, she really could make someone feel dense.

“Oh come on now!” Shirley whispered fiercely. The footsteps end right here. That means there has to be a passage. Since there is no way to go up, that means there has to be a way down. It’s a cellar or a basement guys.”

Arthur and Merlin looked again at the floor and then noticed that there was a rectangular shape of wood among all the wooden flooring. Arthur kneeled and pulled at the edge of the rectangle slowly.

This time there was no screech, but Shirley had been right. There was a secret trapdoor to get into the cellar or basement. They almost didn’t notice there was a light down there. Immediately, they shut off their own flashlights, and slowly descended into the dark basement.

Since there wasn’t likely to be power in a rundown place like this, the fact that there was light most likely meant that someone was in the basement. Hopefully, it would be Peter all by himself, and with the mirror, but more than likely, there would probably be someone else there as well.

Bracing themselves for a fight, they moved toward the light.

Everyone came to a stunned stop when all they found was Peter, sitting in the middle of the room with only a small flashlight for light. Merlin almost didn’t notice someone else was in the room. Although it was too dark to see the corners of the room, they could all see Frank was there as well, but that wasn’t really important since he seemed to be as unconscious as Robert.

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What was interesting was the fact that Peter seemed to be caring for Frank, placing a white cloth over his head. He actually seemed concerned about the health of one of the groups of people who had kidnapped him. While Frank hadn’t been involved, he certainly would have been if he hadn’t been injured.

Peter noticed them, and stood up, “Really guys? You get a message that I’ve been kidnapped and that something bad will happen to me if you don’t go back home and you don’t listen. I mean, I know I am new to the group and all, but I thought I meant more than that.”

Arthur said, “We didn’t trust them. We thought they would hurt you anyway.”

Peter sighed, “Arthur, you are a friend, and I appreciate your trying to rescue me, but I really wish you hadn’t.”

With that, Ruth and Lucas stepped out of the shadows of the back corners of the room. Ruth seemed completely at home in the darkness, even if Lucas didn’t seem to be happy being in such cramped quarters. A moment later, one more figure emerged to the surprise of everyone.

Merlin could almost feel his jaw dropping in amazement. Even if he had already developed the ability to see into the future like Merlin the Magician, he doubted he would have ever foreseen who emerged from the shadows.

Belle moved forward. He would have said stepped forward, but there were no steps involved. There were two big wings that fluttered behind her so that she hovered a few inches off the ground. She was still wearing the fairy outfit as well. Merlin realized she must have been the other magic user.

Then he looked at Peter in confusion. Why would she try to hurt her own brother? Maybe she had known it wouldn’t hurt him.

Shirley didn’t have any trouble connecting the dots, however. “You traitors,” she hissed at both Peter and Belle. Looking at Peter, she said, “You only came with us to keep an eye on what we were doing and where we were going. You never had any intention of helping us get the mirror.”

Turning to look at Belle, she continued, “Your sister there probably jinxed the car. If I am not mistaken, she is dressed as Tinkerbell. And since tinkers fix broken things, I bet they can also break things. That was what happened to the car.”

Looking back at Peter, she said, “And I am sure you faked being injured at the beginning of the fight. In fact, that probably was a signal to start fighting.”

Merlin looked back and forth between the three, realizing just how much he had missed. Peter had been playing them. Why, though?

Arthur asked before he could even begin to form the first word, however, “Why Peter? Don’t you want to save Angela?”

Peter looked at Arthur, “I do. I really do, but I don’t want to give up the ability to fly or stay young forever. Belle certainly doesn’t want to give up her powers either. You might have to break the mirror to break the curse. I, for one, do not want to risk that. Anyway, she’s just asleep. Just find the right person to wake her up with a kiss.”

Shirley interrupted at this point, “I don’t know yet how you knew about Frank, Lucas, and Ruth, however.”

Lucas and Ruth both smiled at this. They weren’t nice smiles, however. Ruth spoke first, “Why, Peter didn’t find out about us. We found out about him. We caught him and his sister floating in the air the morning after the fall festival.”

Lucas finished, “Naturally, we got to talking, and one thing led to another.”

Belle spoke up again, “I’m sorry guys, but we can’t let you leave here yet. Ms. White hasn’t had time to finish her moving preparations. You guys are forcing her to move before she is ready. That means you all will stay here until the mirror is safely moved once again.”

Shirley seemed puzzled by this. “Why can’t she just put the mirror in a van and move it?”

For once, Merlin knew the answer, “Because it’s a magic mirror. You don’t want to risk a mirror like that getting broken in a move.”

Peter nodded, “You’re partially right, but the rest doesn’t concern you. Now, we are going to go upstairs and lock you guys in. You will take care of Frank since you were the ones who hurt him. Once Ms. White is safely away, we will release you as long as you promise not to look for her again. Deal?”

Arthur responded by swinging his sword at Peter. Merlin didn’t even have time to yell for Arthur not to before it happened. Peter jumped back, or flew back, as the case may be. That was when Merlin noticed Arthur had been using the flat of the blade.

Merlin sighed, not wanting anyone else to get hurt, even Peter who had been working against them the whole time.

Realizing they were in a fight, Merlin hastily took out the marble, mentally going over the magical spell he had cast on the marble the first night, just as he had done so for the pebble.

He kept the image and rhyme in his head as he threw the marble at Lucas, figuring he was the most dangerous, the magical words ringing in his head. “After this marble is thrown, turn it into a big stone.”

This time, he hit his target, and not in the face. The stone hit Lucas in the chest, causing him to stop and clutch at his chest for a moment. While the rock wasn’t as large as the cinder block had been, it was still large enough to break a bone, or at least hurt a lot.

Arthur kept Peter on the defensive, but surprisingly, Peter pulled out a knife and was able to fend off Arthur, despite his longer reach. Ugh, really? Just like Peter Pan had fought Captain Hook, Merlin thought to himself. Ruth and Shirley went for each other again, which wasn’t a surprise. For some reason, they were like oil and water. They just didn’t mix well together.

That left Belle and Lucas for him. “Oh joy,” Merlin muttered to himself. Quickly, he backed away from the fight, trying to give himself time to finish a spell he had come up with just hours before.

“Listen, listen, enemy,

Fight against your friends for me.

And let no spell break you free.”

Merlin could feel the pressure of the spell building. Concentrating on Lucas, he continued. Lucas had other things in mind, however, and leaped toward Merlin.

Merlin had been prepared for this, however, and used another one of his prepared spells. He was so glad he had come prepared. Dropping the three enchanted quarters, he continued with the magic spell.

“Listen, listen, enemy,

Fight against your friends for me.

And let no spell break you free.”

Merlin was almost out of breath as he ran to the opposite side of the room, trying to get as far from both Belle and Lucas as he could. Belle had thrown something at him, and Lucas had tried to slash him with those vicious talons. The quarters which had changed into large hovering shields just long enough to take the hits for Merlin had saved his life.

Hurriedly, he finished the magic spell, willing it to take effect.

“Listen, listen, enemy,

Fight against your friends for me.

And let no spell break you free.”

Merlin almost lost his balance and fell to the floor as the spell snapped into place around Lucas, who stopped just as he was about to slash open Merlin’s chest the same as he had done to Robert.

Belle went wide-eyed as Lucas turned to look at her. Seeing the way the fight was turning, she ran up the stairs and out of the basement. Lucas followed, hot on her heels.

Not wanting to lose the spell and have Lucas start attacking him again, Merlin continued to concentrate on Lucas going after Belle. While he wasn’t sure it would work, he also tried to keep the image of Lucas fighting with non-lethal intent. After all, he didn’t want her killed.

After seeing his sister flee, Peter followed her seconds later. While he wanted to give Peter the benefit of the doubt and say that Peter was running after Lucas to stop him from hurting his sister, somehow, he doubted that.

Suddenly, and as quickly as it had started, the fight was over. That was when he realized Ruth had disappeared, leaving Shirley on the floor. She looked pale and was unmoving. Rushing to her side, he felt his concentration on the spell controlling Lucas shatter.