

**The Bad Luck Curse**

Copyright 2015 by Jason Flanigan

No part of the book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author's rights.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

Chapter 1

It was with great trepidation that James approached the empty driveway to his home. Normally his birthday was a time of light-hearted celebration, but his grandmother had been behaving in an uncharacteristically nervous and fretful manner for the previous several weeks. This morning, she had made him promise to go home right after school so they could discuss a very important matter. He imagined that her recent anxiety stemmed from this serious discussion. James was a short and slender boy, which often made him a target for bullies, with curly, brown hair and brown eyes. He had a long nose and large ears that made him feel awkward and self-conscious, especially when some people made fun of him and called him "Elephant ears." James wished his magic would kick in, so that perhaps someday he could learn how to make himself taller and shrink his ears to normal size.

Black, storm clouds overhead rumbled threateningly and he quickly let himself inside the house. The unusual silence made him nervous. Typically, he could expect to find his grandmother puttering in the kitchen or practicing her magic in the living room while watching soap operas on television. What made her absence even more strange was knowing that she had intended to initiate a serious discussion with him right after school. This didn't bode well.

James couldn't believe he was experiencing such rotten luck only a day before his eleventh birthday. More thunder rumbled and rain pelted the windows. James set his backpack, which was quite heavy and loaded with school supplies, beside the desk in his bedroom. He and his grandmother lived in a spacious, three bedroom home with a meager yard. The only landscaping was several mini palm trees clustered together in the front but the miniscule lawn was always well-manicured. James picked up the living room phone and dialed his friend, Tim.

"I thought you couldn't come over this afternoon," Tim said before James could explain the situation.

"My grandmother wanted to talk to me but she's not home."

"That's weird. She's always home," Tim said. "Do you think something happened to her?"

"Maybe," James said cautiously. "She was nervous about whatever she wanted to talk about."

"Maybe she got caught up in some kind of trouble."

"Do you really think so?"

"Maybe. Do you want me and Beth to come over?" Tim asked.

"Sure. I could use some company," James said.

"Okay. We'll be over there in a little bit."

James hung up the phone and paced nervously. He went over to the living room window and peered outside as the rain continued to deluge the outdoors. The driveway was still empty. James wondered what kind of trouble his grandmother could possibly be in. If life was fair, this wouldn't be happening to him a day before his birthday. Soon, his two best friends, Tim and Beth, arrived. Tim was the most adventurous of the three. He was skinny with blond hair and green eyes. Beth was the most studious of the group and she took her schoolwork very seriously. She had long, curly brown hair, brown eyes and a long, aquiline nose. James, Tim, and Beth gathered in the living room to discuss their situation.

"Your grandmother still isn't home," Tim observed.

"I'm sure she's just running an errand," Beth said.

"I hope so," James said.

"It's strange that she would choose not to be here when she had urgent business to discuss with you," Tim said.

"Did she really say it was urgent?" Beth asked.

"Not really," James said slowly as he tried to remember precisely what she'd told him. "She said it was a very serious matter and very important."

"Have you searched the house for clues?" Beth asked.

"No," James said.

"That's what we should do then," Beth said.

"What are we looking for exactly?" James asked.

"Anything that might tell us what could have happened."

"What do you think happened?" James threw her a challenging look.

"I really can't say right now," Beth said.

"Let's start with the kitchen. I'm hungry and I'd like a snack," Tim said.

"All right," Beth said with annoyance. "We can eat first and then start our investigation."

James hoped nothing serious had happened to his grandmother. The three of them went to the kitchen and rummaged through the cupboards for something tasty to munch on. They finally found some Oreo cookies. Tim poured himself a tall glass of milk and enjoyed a bunch of cookies while James and Beth watched him with undisguised impatience and disgust.

"You should build your strength," Tim advised. "We may need to do some serious magic."

Beth was the more powerful one but Tim could do some pretty cool spells as well. James' powers had yet to manifest, which really bothered him. Most wizards received their magical abilities by the time their eighth birthday rolled around. James would be turning eleven soon and he couldn't so much as levitate a penny.

"I can't do magic," James reminded his friend.

"Yes, but we may need to track your grandmother for quite some distance," Tim said.

"We don't know that anything has happened to her yet," Beth said. "We shouldn't jump to conclusions."

After Tim finally finished his snack, the three of them ventured down the hall to James' grandmother's bedroom. They gaped in astonishment as they stood in the doorway gazing inside. The small, rickety table beside the bed which normally held the telephone and alarm clock had fallen onto the floor. The curtain rod had been torn from the wall and lay on the floor amidst the tangled curtains. The picture frames that were normally kept on the long, oak dresser had been knocked to the floor along with the jewelry box which had flipped open and released half its contents. A shattered, blue vase lay in pieces by the dresser along with a bundle of artificial flowers.

"There was definitely a struggle in here," Beth said gravely.

"Your grandmother was kidnapped," Tim announced.

"Kidnapped?" James shot his friend an alarmed look.

"We can do a tracking spell," Tim said. "We just need to get some of her hair."

"No, we need to call the police first," Beth said.

James remembered something his grandmother had said to him several times, which he'd dismissed until now. He wished he'd listened to her more carefully.

"Remember how I told you Grandma was really anxious lately?" James asked. "Well, she kept saying, 'You need to be more careful. You need to start keeping a vigilant lookout for dangers.' I didn't think she was in any kind of trouble but I guess this means she was trying to warn me."

"Did you ask her about it?" Tim asked.

"Yeah. She said she'd explain later," James said.

"Too bad she didn't tell you. Now it's too late," Beth said gravely. "It's time to call the police."

She made her way over to the phone and picked it up off the floor. Suddenly, the front door opened and footsteps sounded in the living room. Beth's eyes widened with fear and she exchanged panicked looks with Tim and James.

"What do we do now?" James whispered frantically.

"Let's hide in the closet," Beth whispered back.

She carefully set down the phone and they rushed over to the closet.

"James! Are you home?" James' grandmother, Louise, called out.

"It's Grandma!" James exclaimed with relief.

Louise suddenly appeared at the bedroom door with her black cat, Princess, cradled in her arms.

"What are you doing in here?" Louise blinked her bright, blue eyes at them with surprise. She was tall with short, dark brown hair and a kind face that often gave the false impression she was even-tempered and calm.

"We thought you'd been kidnapped," James said.

"Why would you think such a foolish thing?" Louise frowned at him with puzzlement.

"Look at your room." James motioned helplessly at his surroundings. "You said I should be careful and that you wanted to tell me about something serious."

"Oh, dear." Louise smiled apologetically at him. "I had to catch Princess and put her in the carrier. She thought I was taking her to the vet so I had to chase her all through the house. Eventually, I trapped her in here but she put up quite a fuss and knocked over a bunch of stuff. I wanted to talk to you after school but I forgot that I had already made an appointment to take Princess over to the masseuse. Look at how relaxed she is now."

Princess swished her tail with agitation and looked around for a way to escape. She didn't like being picked up but Louise loved to carry her beloved cat around. Princess abruptly wriggled and slipped free from her grasp. As soon as her paws hit the floor, she dashed out of the room.

"I guess it's time I had that serious discussion with you," Louise said gravely. "Let's sit down in the living room. It's kind of a good thing your friends are here with you because you may need their support in the future."

James swallowed nervously at that remark, which sounded foreboding. He wasn't looking forward to whatever bad news his grandmother was about to impart. He and his friends followed her to the living room and they sank down into the plush cushions of the two bright, red couches. Louise pulled up the rocking chair so she could sit closer to them. She held herself stiffly and her expression became anxious.

"You need to try to stay calm when I tell you this," Louise instructed him.

"Okay." James said solemnly.

"Sometimes families have bad genes and they inherit things. You've probably learned a little bit about genetics. If your ancestors had lung cancer, the chances are greater that you could get it so you shouldn't smoke. Smoking is a filthy habit by the way. If your parents or grandparents have high cholesterol or high blood pressure or diabetes, there's a greater risk that you'll have the same condition," Louise babbled nervously. "It all has to do with how lucky you are with your genetics. There are all kinds of things you could inherit from your parents. But that doesn't necessarily mean you'll catch all of those things that your parents and their parents had. You can avoid a lot of things by taking care of your body. Exercise regularly and develop good eating habits. Don't skimp on your vegetables."

"What does this have to do with anything?" James regarded her with confusion.

"Nothing really," Louise said and her eyes roved skittishly across the room as if seeking out hidden predators that could be lurking behind a piece of furniture or the television. "The thing is your family is cursed. They call it the Kafka curse, which was named after your family, of course. One of your ancestors defeated a very powerful and evil wizard who cursed him. Your ancestor, Stephen Kafka, protected himself from the full potential of the curse but it still hit him. The Kafka curse has been passed down from generation to generation. It's something that we all have to live with."

"Are you saying I'm cursed?" James asked.

"I'm afraid so. Your father was cursed as well."

"But you aren't cursed anymore?" James asked.

"I am, but it's dormant now," Louise said. "You see, your curse is dormant until you turn eleven. That's when it becomes active and you need to be very, very careful."

"I'm turning eleven tomorrow!" James exclaimed.

"That's why I had to have this serious discussion with you. I didn't want to tell you too far in advance because I didn't want to spoil your birthday."

"It's already ruined," James said dismally.

"Just calm down, young man," Louise said. "The curse isn't too bad. It will bring you bad luck. And the reason you need to be careful is because the bad luck it brings you can cause you some serious injuries. But if you're vigilant and you do everything safely, you'll be perfectly fine, as your entire family has been. Your dad survived the curse just fine."

"He died in a car crash. Couldn't it have been caused by the curse?" James asked.

"No, dear. Your father managed to make his curse dormant once he was in his early twenties."

"How did he do that?" James said sharply.

"I can't tell you that now. It's too dangerous. I'll let you know when you're eighteen. Until then, you'll be too vulnerable and weak to make the curse dormant."

"I promise I won't try until I'm eighteen," James said.

"I'm sorry, but I won't do it," Louise said stubbornly.

James swallowed nervously at the realization that there was even more to know about this dreaded curse.

"The curse has the unfortunate side effect of keeping your powers bound until it becomes active. That's why you've never received your magical abilities. Tomorrow, you'll be able to finally use magic. I know you've been memorizing spells so you'll be able to practice quite a bit," Louise explained.

"I wish you had told me this before."

"Your parents decided a long time ago that you shouldn't be told until shortly before your eleventh birthday. They didn't want you to suffer with the burden of knowing about your curse when there was nothing you could do about it. I agree with their decision, which is why I waited until now to have this serious discussion with you."

James mulled this over and excitement began to pump through his body as he realized he would soon be able to cast spells like his friends.

"One more thing I should tell you," Louise said. "Because your powers have been bound, when they are finally released, your body will need to adjust. You'll be accidentally using your powers without conscious effort. It's important that you practice learning control so that you don't end up doing something unfortunate or causing an accident, which is part of your curse."

"So this is like a bad luck curse?" Beth asked.

"Precisely." Louise smiled affectionately at her. "You and Tim can help keep James safe from these bad luck occurrences."

"Don't worry. We will," Beth vowed.

"I'll finally get my powers sometime tomorrow, right?" James asked.

"You'll get your powers at the exact moment that you turn eleven which will be at 4:07 P.M. If you were getting your abilities in the morning, you would have to use a sick day because your power will be too unstable to hide from the mortals at school," Louise said.

"So after a day I'll have some control?" James asked for clarification.

"You should have a little bit of control by then."

"Nobody else had trouble like that," James protested.

"Other people don't have their powers bound until they're eleven," Louise pointed out. She abruptly smiled with forced cheer. "Now, let's talk about something positive. What kind of cake did you want for your birthday?"

"I wanted a coconut cream pie, remember?" James had already told her his preference eight times but he now realized why she had been so distracted.

"Oh, yeah," Louise said. "I remember now. And you wanted strawberry ice cream, too."

"I wanted mud pie ice cream," James corrected her.

"That's right," Louise acknowledged. "I was just testing you to see if you remembered what you had already told me."

Beth and Tim threw James sympathetic looks.

"I'm going to lie down and take a quick nap before I start dinner. If I'm still asleep at six, why don't you wake me up?" Louise said.

"Sure, Grandma," James said.

"Okay. You guys run along and have fun," Louise said.

When she retired to her room, Beth regarded James with commiseration.

"I'm so sorry about your curse," she said.

"That's okay. I'm glad I'm finally going to get my powers," James said.

"Don't worry. That curse doesn't sound like too big a deal," Tim said, "unless your grandmother is lying about your parents dying because of it."

"That's a terrible thing to say!" Beth exclaimed with outrage.

"It's okay," James said weakly. "I should consider the possibilities."

"There's no reason why your grandmother would lie to you," Beth said.

"Unless the curse will remain active for the rest of your life," Tim said.

"She would have just told him if that was the truth," Beth said.

"You saw how reluctant she was to tell him about the curse at all," Tim pointed out.

"Let's stop talking about curses," Beth said forcefully. "It won't do us any good."

"We should be prepared," Tim said.

"James, I'll bet you're so excited that you'll be able to finally start practicing magic. You've been memorizing and practicing spells so you're all prepared," Beth said.

"I'm looking forward to it," James said.

He couldn't take his mind off the curse or his powers that were about to become unbound. The evening dragged slowly until it was finally time to go to bed. James lay down beneath the sheets and tried to fall asleep. Unfortunately, it was difficult to do so. Finally, it seemed he'd just dozed off when he abruptly awakened. A pleasant, giddy sensation coursed through his body as though he'd just drunk three cups of coffee. He sat up and flinched when his bedroom light turned on. The window abruptly slammed open while his closet door and bedroom door burst open. James let out a startled yelp and jumped out of bed. His grandmother stumbled into the room in her blue nightgown looking disoriented and panicked.

She blinked rapidly at him and she adopted a faraway look, which he realized meant she was reading the energy in the room. Louise smiled cheerfully at him but also looked puzzled.

"Your powers have awakened," she said. "It's strange because you've got them exactly twelve hours too early." She furrowed her brows with concentration and snapped her fingers with realization. "Of course! You were born at 4:07 in the morning rather than in the evening! I got the timing a bit mixed up. Happy Birthday, James!"

"Why did the window and the doors pop open?" James asked.

"It appears you have a proclivity towards that kind of spell," she said, "and perhaps turning on electrical appliances. As I said, your powers are unstable because they've been ready to be used but bound and trapped by the curse."

"Oh."

"I'll need your help. Every window and door in the house has opened and we need to get them shut and locked so we can get back to bed," Louise told him.
Chapter 2

James smiled exuberantly as he stepped into the kitchen where his grandmother was preparing chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast. Louise hummed cheerfully to herself as she removed two of the pancakes from the skillet and set them on a large platter on the blue Formica countertop.

"Good morning, James," Louise said amiably.

"Good morning, Grandma."

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

"Great!" James said enthusiastically.

Without warning, all of the cupboard doors in the kitchen and the refrigerator doors swung open by themselves. Louise yelped in surprise then her alarmed gaze shifted back to her grandson.

"James, you can't go to school today," she said.

"I'm not sick though," he said.

"You're not well. Your body needs to adjust to your powers. They've been bound by the curse so it will take longer than it does for other wizards," Louise said.

"Ms. MacKenna was going to have a birthday party for me today," James protested.

"She'll have to postpone it until tomorrow," Louise said firmly. "It's too dangerous for you to attend school in your condition."

"What condition? I feel fine," James said sullenly.

"You can't hide your powers from humans if doors are opening by themselves all the time," Louise said.

"Why does that keep happening anyway?" James asked.

"As you already know, wizards usually have the ability to cast one magical spell without practice or the need to make an enchantment ahead of time. Your ability seems to be an opening spell, which is very unusual. You also have an unlocking spell built into it, which is also unusual since those spells usually have to be cast separately. Last night, all of the windows and the doors were locked but your ability unlocked and opened them throughout the entire house."

"Does that mean I have strong powers?" James asked.

"Yours are definitely above average, but you'll find many people with stronger talents unless you dedicate yourself to strengthening your talent," Louise said. "Magic is like any other ability. To become better and stronger, you'll need to practice."

"That's fine with me," James said.

"While your body is adjusting, you shouldn't be practicing your powers excessively or it will take longer to gain control," Louise said. "You should take it easy for a few days."

"I don't want to wait," James said.

"You've waited a couple of years, young man, I think you can wait just a bit longer," Louise said sternly. "Now, sit down and have some breakfast."

"Okay," James said sullenly.

Louise flicked her wrist and three pancakes drifted up from the platter and dropped onto a plate, which drifted over to James at the kitchen table and set itself down in front of him. He smeared some butter and then poured syrup over them.

"Thank you for making chocolate chip pancakes," James said.

"You're welcome. It's your birthday and I want you to have a special day," Louise said. "I already called your school and let them know you are sick."

"I'll be fine to go to school, tomorrow, right?" James asked.

"We'll see," Louise said vaguely as she turned her attention back to the pancakes.

James stabbed at the pancake on his plate and wished he didn't have to miss the birthday party at school. He felt a sudden pressure in his forehead as all the cupboard doors burst open. One of the doors had loose hinges and it dropped down onto the edge of the bowl of pancake batter, causing the bowl to fly into the air in James' direction. A large portion of the batter sprayed his face, chest and legs as well as the floor. James froze in shock then wiped a bunch of the goop off his face.

"It has begun," Louise whispered loudly.

"What do you mean?" James asked with disgust as the batter slowly dribbled down his neck, arms, and clothes.

"The Kafka curse. Your bad luck!" Louise exclaimed.

"I'm in for a long year," James said wearily.

"It'll be nineteen years before your bad luck becomes dormant again," Louise said.

"There's something I can do to get rid of it," James said.

"I can't tell you that until you're eighteen," Louise said fretfully.

She wrung her hands nervously and picked up the white, plastic mixing bowl that had fallen to the floor. James went to the bathroom to change out of his soiled clothes and into a clean pair of jeans and a blue tee shirt. By the time he returned to the kitchen, Louise had cleaned up the mess on the table and floor.

"Now you know why I've been telling you to be more careful," Louise said.

"There's nothing I could have done to prevent that accident," James pointed out.

"No," Louise said fretfully. "However, you'll find opportunities to prevent accidents in the future. Believe me."

"I'll be careful."

"That's a good boy," Louise said cheerfully. "Why don't you watch some television?"

James went to the living room and sat down on the long couch facing the television. Princess was curled up on the other end of the couch. She lifted her head and gazed suspiciously at James before leaping off the couch and dashing out of the room. He returned to the kitchen to tell his grandmother about this strange behavior.

"I'm afraid that's part of the Kafka curse. It makes animals nervous. You'll get used to it, dear," she said.

James seriously doubted he'd ever become accustomed to Princess running away from him whenever she saw him. He settled down on the couch again to watch television. He jerked his attention away from it when his grandmother walked breezily toward the front door.

"Where are you going?" James asked swiftly.

"Out to get your chocolate peanut butter pie and some pizza for dinner," Louise said.

"I wanted coconut cream pie," James said.

"Oh, yes!" Louise exclaimed and snapped her fingers. "That's right! Don't worry! I'll get the right thing!"

"I can go with you." James leapt up from the couch and headed for the front door.

"No, you can't leave the house. Your powers are adjusting."

"I'll be fine," James said.

"No, I insist. You need to stay here." Louise eyed him sternly.

"Are you sure you should leave me alone on the first day of my curse?" James asked pointedly.

"All right." Louise's gaze roved the room as if searching for hidden dangers. "You can come with me to the grocery store."

Louise took him to Publix in her silver Toyota Camry. She kept glancing nervously at him as if expecting something. She nabbed a cart as they entered the grocery store and headed directly for the bakery. She made her way to the display case where one of the bakers noticed her and asked if he could assist her in any way. The baker was a short, portly man wearing a white uniform.

"I'm here to pick up an order of a coconut cream pie," Louise said.

"What was your name?" the baker asked.

"Louise Kafka."

"Let me check here," the baker said.

He went over to the holding area and looked over the desserts.

"I'm sorry, but I don't see anything," he said.

"That's not possible. I ordered it almost a week ago," Louise said in a panic-stricken voice.

"Let me check through the orders to see if I can find anything," the man said apologetically. He shuffled through a file of papers but shook his head slowly. "There's no record of your order here."

"How can this be?" Louise said in a high-pitched, squeaky voice.

James shuffled nervously at her side and his face flushed in embarrassment as nearby shoppers turned to see what the commotion was all about. He felt a brief pressure in his forehead just before all of the glass refrigerator and freezer doors in the bakery shopping area swung open. One of the doors smacked a thin, elderly woman in the rear end as she slowly ambled forward. She yelped in surprise as did the employees who had been previously gawking at Louise. Nearby shoppers and the employees gazed at the open doors with bewilderment. A couple of people began closing the doors.

"My grandson had his heart set on a coconut cream pie," Louise said.

"We make them fresh daily. There are three left in the cooler over there," the baker said, pointing across the room to the display near the entrance of the bakery.

"I only need two," Louise said before pushing her cart over to the display cooler.

"Why didn't he just say that in the first place?" James murmured in a low voice.

Louise ignored him and smiled with relief when she gazed down at the coconut cream pies. She picked two of them and placed them in her cart.

"It looks like you had nothing to worry about," Louise said. "Do you feel better now, honey?"

"I wasn't worried," James said.

"You don't need to pretend with me. Feelings are natural," Louise said airily. "Let's go over to the ice cream."

They had just turned down the appropriate aisle when James spotted the principal of his school, Charles Pratt slowly heading towards them. A cold dread washed over James as he realized he would probably be recognized. Mr. Pratt was a short, pudgy man with black hair, brown eyes, a stubby nose, and a permanent frown of disapproval on his face. He was extremely strict with the uncanny ability to catch anyone who played hooky.

"That's my principal!" James whispered urgently to his grandmother.

"Mr. Pratt! Of course, I recognize him," Louise said. "Let's go over and say hi."

"Grandma! I'm supposed to be at school, remember?"

"Oh, dear. He's heading right for us," Louise said. "I need to create a diversion."

She furrowed her brows with concentration. Abruptly, the package of broccoli in Mr. Pratt's cart leapt out and hit the floor. Mr. Pratt grumbled moodily as he stooped down to pick up the vegetables.

"Quick, go!" Louise said.

James didn't need to be told twice. He swiftly turned the corner and his grandmother followed close behind. She accidentally rammed into him and knocked him down. As he picked himself up off the floor, Louise peeked around the corner and yelped with alarm.

"He's coming! We need to hurry down this aisle before he sees you."

James dashed down the aisle and peeked just in time to see Mr. Pratt turn the corner. It looked like he was going to go straight but he abruptly halted then looked in the direction James was standing. James quickly ducked behind the corner before he could be seen. He peeked cautiously from the floor and saw Mr. Pratt heading down the aisle toward him with a look of deliberation on his face. James couldn't believe the rotten luck, but had to remind himself that he should be expecting situations like this because of the Kafka curse. He ran down the aisle, turned, and walked swiftly half a dozen rows before turning again. He walked briskly down the aisle and wondered where his grandmother had gone.

James reached the end of the aisle and looked back. He gasped in astonishment when Mr. Pratt appeared. The elementary principal was walking swiftly and looked like he was going to pass right by but abruptly halted at the last minute and turned. James leapt around the corner before he could be seen. A couple of shoppers threw him disgruntled looks as they walked by. James peeked around the corner from the floor where it was unlikely Mr. Pratt would be looking. He was dismayed to find that the principal was heading right for him. James groaned softly with anguish. He couldn't believe this! Surely the family curse wasn't bringing him this much bad luck!

James dashed down the aisle parallel to the one Mr. Pratt was taking. He quickly reached the end and turned to look down the one he'd just left. Mr. Pratt was swiftly walking away from him down the aisle. He abruptly halted and turned to look behind him. James managed to duck back around the corner and wondered if Mr. Pratt was turning the cart and making his way toward him again. His heart beat wildly in his chest and anxiety made him want to flee from the store. He bent down and peeked to find Mr. Pratt standing at the far end, gazing thoughtfully in his direction. James ducked his head back and ran halfway across the store before turning down another aisle. He wished he could find his grandmother. Mr. Pratt was certain to find him at any moment. James had memorized an invisibility spell and decided it was time to use it.

He could feel the magic bubbling inside him and prepared to use some of it. He had never had the opportunity to work with magic before so he wasn't certain if he could control it. James brushed aside his doubts and cast the spell. He looked down at his arms, which slowly faded until he was no longer visible. For some reason, he felt the remaining store of magic in him burst out. Fatigue made him suddenly weak and the cash register drawers opened as well as the automatic doors. Out of the corner of his eyes, James saw a blue flash of light. He turned to see what it was but there was nothing there. James flinched when Mr. Pratt turned the corner beside him. James hastily leapt to the side to avoid being hit by the principal's cart.

Mr. Pratt raced by him, but abruptly halted and then slowly turned as if sensing him. James couldn't believe that even now, he was unable to evade Mr. Pratt. James turned and fled to search for his grandmother. Soon, he found her in the bakery.

"Grandma, we have to go," he said.

"James? Where are you?" Louise asked.

"I'm invisible."

"How did that happen?" Louise asked sharply.

"I had to make myself invisible because Mr. Pratt keeps finding me," James said.

"That's because he's a psychic. He can sense when something is wrong."

"How do you know that?" James asked in astonishment.

"Everyone knows."

"I never heard about that before."

"All wizards know. I guess parents don't tell their kids about it," Louise said.

Suddenly, Mr. Pratt entered the bakery and made a beeline for her.

"Do I know you?" Mr. Pratt said.

"Yes, we've met at parent-teacher conferences a couple of times," Louise said.

"I'm Mr. Pratt, the principal of Gulf Gate Elementary."

"I'm Louise, James Kafka's grandmother."

"James. You called in to the office and reported that he was sick, correct?" Mr. Pratt said.

"That's right."

"I have the feeling he isn't sick at all. In fact, I have the distinct impression that you're covering up for him." Mr. Pratt regarded her with undisguised suspicion.

"Well!" Louise exclaimed with indignation. "How insulting! I would never assist my grandson in skipping school!"

"You're a wizard," Mr. Pratt said slowly. "Is James a wizard as well? Is he skipping school because of some silly wizard event?"

"That's completely absurd!" Louise shot the principal an affronted look. "I hope you realize that James is a good boy and he would never play hooky."

"I have a feeling he isn't sick," Mr. Pratt said. "If he's missed school because of some sort of arcane ritual practiced by wizards, he'll have to be disciplined."

"I assure you that isn't the case. He's home in bed with the flu," Louise said forcefully. "If you'll excuse me, I need to be going. He's home alone."

"I'm sensing something else," Mr. Pratt said.

Louise shoved the cart away from him and headed for the front of the store. Mr. Pratt followed her to the registers.

"It's his birthday," Mr. Pratt told her. "He's disappointed about something."

"Maybe I should hire you for entertainment for his birthday party," Louise said sarcastically. "Do you read cards?"

"Of course not," Mr. Pratt said dismissively. "That's all a bunch of rubbish."

"I think you should leave James alone and start looking for the real rule-breakers instead of wasting my time."

"You're hiding something." Suspicion flickered in Mr. Pratt's brown eyes.

At that moment, the cashier began ringing up Louise's groceries and she turned away from the principal.

"What are you hiding, Ms. Kafka?" the principal asked.

"I could ask you the same question." Louise leveled a pointed look at him. "Why are you grocery shopping when you should be at school working?"

Mr. Pratt blinked with surprise. "This is my day off but I had to stop by the office to help with a minor emergency."

"So the vice principal couldn't handle it?"

Mr. Pratt narrowed his brown eyes at her with displeasure, but he failed to respond to her inquiry. Louise ignored him as she paid for her groceries, she moved stiffly and angrily. It was obvious that the principal had seriously annoyed her. As Louise drove back home, James became visible again.

"I told you not to use your magic," Louise scolded him.

"I had to. Mr. Pratt was following me no matter where I went. It must be that psychic thing you were telling me about."

"Yes, he has excellent abilities," Louise said. "He's also a very obnoxious man."

"Is he going to find out about me not being sick?" James asked.

"No, I won't let him." Louise stuck her chin out at a stubborn angle.

She parked the car and James helped her carry the groceries into the house. Louise started to unpack the bags in the kitchen then abruptly stopped and whirled around to scowl at her grandson reprovingly.

"Don't think you're off the hook for using magic when I specifically told you not to use it for a few days," she said sternly.

"I didn't have a choice," James said.

"You most certainly did. You could have let me explain to Mr. Pratt that you couldn't go to school. He knows about wizards."

"He also said that if I wasn't sick and that you were having me miss school because of some wizard event, it would count as an unexcused absence," James pointed out.

"That's true," Louise said grudgingly. "I suppose I'll let you get away with it this time but you'd better not use any more magic."

"I cast the invisibility spell very well," James said.

"You did and you also opened all the cash registers by mistake, which could have revealed the existence of magic to a bunch of humans," Louise said. "You also put additional stress on your body when it's still adjusting to the magic."

"I didn't feel any stress," James said.

"You didn't feel extremely weak?" Louise eyed him shrewdly.

"I guess I did," James admitted.

Louise turned back to the bags of groceries and continued unpacking them.

"I hope you realize that you were lucky when you cast that spell at the grocery store," Louise said as she shoved a box of ice cream in the freezer. "It normally takes a lot of practice before wizards can consistently cast a spell correctly. There will be many instances where you'll expend a lot of magic with no results."

James didn't remark but he didn't believe it. If that was true then why was the first spell he cast so successful? He suspected she was just trying to trick him into not using his magic for a while. James knew better. He had studied his beginner's spell book many times and had almost a dozen spells memorized and had even practiced them. The only element he had lacked was the magical ability. In the early evening, Beth and Tim came over for dinner to celebrate James' birthday. Louise had baked pizza and they ate in the dining room. She'd forgotten to remove the cardboard before baking it so it had a strong taste of paper. James was so excited about the colorful, wrapped presents piled high at the center of the table that he didn't mind the odd tasting dinner at all.

"It's hard to believe you're eleven already," Louise said wistfully. "You're growing up so fast."

Beth, Tim and James had yet to finish their first piece of pizza but Louise had already eaten two slices.

"Aren't you children hungry?" Louise asked. "We have coconut cream pie for dessert."

"It just tastes funny," Tim said.

"I know," Louise said. "But surely you can eat one slice?"

"No, I can't," Tim said.

Louise exhaled sadly. "I'm sorry I ruined the pizza. It's so difficult to get things right in this day and age."

"You did your best." Tim looked guilty and forced himself to take a bite.

Louise took his plate and cleared off some of the dirty dishes from the table. Beth forced herself to eat her piece of pizza before taking her plate to the kitchen where Louise was filling the sink with hot, soapy water.

"You're such a good girl, Beth."

"Thank you, Ms. Kafka."

Louise washed the dishes then got out her camera and told them it was time for James to open his presents. James picked up one of the larger presents decorated with a shiny blue wrap.

"Who is that from?" Louise asked before he could tear it open.

"It's from Tim," James said.

"I need a shot of you and him holding the present then," Louise said. She waved Tim over. "Come on, Tim!"

Tim accidentally stepped on Princess's tail, who he hadn't seen slip in front of him. The cat shrieked and leapt onto the table while Tim stumbled backwards in surprise. Princess scrambled across the table, knocking a glass of milk with her leg, which flew across the room and splattered James' pants. Princess dug her claws in the tablecloth as she slipped near the edge then toppled over. The presents and Tim's glass of soda fell to the floor. Princess unwittingly proved that cats don't always land on their feet. She quickly righted herself and darted out of the room. Louise cried out in dismay and ran after her. Tim, Beth, and James exchanged wary looks.

"This is what I have to look forward to for the next nineteen years," James said in dismay.

"Maybe your parents can help," Tim said slowly.

"His parents are dead," Beth whispered.

"There's a spell that can allow us to briefly call spirits to family," Tim said.

"That's not beginner's magic and we would need at least four people. We don't have any other friends who are wizards and would be willing to try something like that," Beth said.

"It's not dangerous," Tim said.

"It takes a lot of magic. If we try, we would be weak the next day," Beth said.

"It's just like being tired. Nothing serious," Tim argued. "It's not dangerous so there's no harm in trying it."

"What's not dangerous?" Louise asked as she stepped into the room with Princess cradled in her arms.

"Putting candles in the coconut cream pie," Tim said. "I was thinking we could help you out but it looks like you're back already."

"We certainly don't want to put candles in the pie even if it is like a birthday cake for James," Louise said. "The candles are liable to fall over—especially with the Kafka curse around."

"That's what I thought," Beth said.

"You're wise for your age, my dear." Louise threw her an approving smile before setting Princess down and heading for the kitchen.

"Traitor," Tim whispered to Beth.
Chapter 3

James had to walk over two blocks to reach the bus stop every morning for school. He had been relieved that his grandmother had allowed him to go to school today but she warned him to be careful of his curse. She told him to keep an eye out for situations that may lead to bad luck. James had promised to do so. Without warning, he tripped and his Harry Potter lunch box jostled in his hand. The handle broke away: the lunch box fell to the sidewalk, burst open and his lunch spilled out. At that moment, rain poured down over him and something came up behind him. James turned to see a black Doberman approaching, foaming at the mouth. It growled menacingly and James slowly backed away from it. Of course, he knew the reason this was happening. It was his bad luck curse. This was only the second day that James had been forced to live with the Kafka curse and already, he was sick of it.

James mentally flipped through the spells he knew that may help ward off the rabid dog. The two options that came to mind were the sleeping spell and the illusion spell. The illusion spell was an intermediate spell, which required a focused mind and some skill but not much energy. The sleeping spell required a moderate amount of magic but not much skill. James prepared himself but the dog looked ready to jump so he quickly cast the spell. The Doberman stumbled and awkwardly hobbled forward instead of leaping and shook its head drowsily. James smiled with elation but quickly realized the danger hadn't passed. The dog was still awake and didn't look ready to fall asleep just yet. James prepared himself for another spell but took his time. The dog's attention dropped down to the ziplock bag containing the ham sandwich. It abruptly sank its jaws into the bag and chewed viciously.

"Hey!" James exclaimed indignantly.

The dog's head whipped back up and its gaze centered on James once again. The Doberman's sleepiness had almost completely worn off now. James couldn't believe how quickly the spell's affect had dissipated. He quickly cast another sleeping spell as he raised his hand up toward the dog. The Doberman slumped as it took a menacing step toward him. The sandwich and plastic dropped from its jaws and it yawned profusely.

"You need to fall asleep," James said fiercely but quietly.

He didn't want to allow the dog to recuperate so he cast another sleeping spell. The dog lay down as it growled softly and blinked its eyes blearily. James hastily picked up his broken lunch box and walked briskly to the bus stop as the rain continued to pour over him. A car passed by and the tires splashed in a mud puddle, which sprayed him twice since both the front and back wheels managed to sink into the hole in the street. Dark, muddy water dripped down his shirt and pants as he stepped up to Beth and Tim. About a dozen other kids were gathered at the bus stop looking miserable and wet, but also slightly amused by James' condition.

"I can't believe the rotten luck," Tim said. His eyes widened with sudden realization and a smirk spread across his face. "You're muddy because of the curse."

"Be nice. It's not James' fault that he's cursed," Beth said softly so the other kids wouldn't overhear.

With so many non-magical folk surrounding them, they couldn't discuss magic openly.

"A rabid dog attacked me on the way over here," James said.

"I'm so sorry," Beth said. "That's just terrible!"

The rain stopped and the bus came shortly thereafter. Everyone climbed on board. James, Beth, and Tim were forced to sit up front because no other seats were available. James hated to imagine things getting any worse. He started to relax once class started. Ms. MacKenna, his teacher, wore a pink blouse with black pants. Her silky, black hair was tied in a French braid and she wasn't wet from the rain. She had an umbrella propped against the desk, which she must have brought with her to school today.

"Good morning, class," she said in her typical, relaxed tone of voice.

"Good morning, Ms. MacKenna," the class responded.

She stood up and gracefully picked up an erasable black marker.

"We're going to start right in with some story problems. Yesterday, we were having some difficulties with them but I don't want anyone to panic. Everything is manageable when you take it one step at a time. Open your math books to page 172," she said calmly.

Everyone reached for their books and flipped through to find the page as she began writing the problem on the whiteboard. James was one of the students having difficulty grasping the concepts for solving story problems. He wasn't sure if he would ever fully understand them. It was almost like a nightmare. To make matters worse, he had been absent the previous day and had missed all of the practice work that led up to this morning's current exercise.

"James, I'm glad you're feeling better today," Ms. MacKenna said. "We'll have your birthday party in the afternoon."

"Thank you," James said.

"You're welcome." She smiled briefly at him then her gaze wandered through the class. "Do I have any volunteers to write down each step on the board?"

Beth's hand soared up into the air, which was the norm. Ms. MacKenna waited for more students to offer their assistance before choosing her.

"Thank you, Beth," Ms. MacKenna said appreciatively. She handed the marker to Beth and clasped her hands behind her back as she slowly paced in front of the room and began to talk about the problem.

James noticed a pressure building in his forehead along with a dull ache. He found it difficult to pay attention as his teacher went through the math problem. He kneaded his forehead as the pain slowly built. Ms. MacKenna threw a concerned look at him but didn't comment. She continued through the problem. Suddenly, the class door burst open and the two girls seated in the back closest to it squealed with alarm.

"It's okay. The wind must have knocked the door open," Ms. MacKenna said calmly. "Would you close the door, please, Susie?"

"Okay."

Susie got up from her chair and tugged ineffectually at the door. The ache and pressure in James' forehead had gone down just a bit but was still there.

"The door won't close, Ms. MacKenna," Susie said breathlessly.

"Let me help you." She walked over to the door and tugged at it.

After a moment, it became clear that the teacher wasn't going to have any success with this task either. Suddenly, all the drawers in Ms. MacKenna's desk opened and fell to the floor. Ms. MacKenna calmly walked over to the desk and gazed at it appraisingly. She stooped down and looked inside the desk as if searching for something then slowly slid one of the drawers back in. The ache in James' head abruptly released and the door of the classroom slowly swung shut. He breathed a sigh of relief and realized Beth and Tim were both staring at him. Ms. MacKenna finished placing the drawers back in the desk and continued on with the math problems as if nothing unusual had occurred. A short while later, the principal's assistant stepped into the classroom and handed Ms. MacKenna a note. She quietly perused the paper and handed it back.

"James, you need to see the principal," she said.

"Okay." James reluctantly stood up and followed the aid to the principal's office.

James slowly stepped into the room and Mr. Pratt rose to his feet from behind his desk. He motioned for James to be seated as he strode over to the door and closed it before returning to his own chair. Mr. Pratt's massive oak desk had a computer off to one side and a manila file folder was open in front of him. He frowned at James and allowed an uncomfortable silence to stretch before speaking.

"Do you know why you're here?" Mr. Pratt asked stonily.

"Because you asked to see me," James said.

"You're a disruption," Mr. Pratt said. "You've been causing problems this morning in Ms. MacKenna's class and you're going to continue to do so for the entire day. In fact, this problem will create difficulties for at least a week."

The principal's double chin wobbled as he spoke and his brown eyes sparked with anger.

"I won't tolerate these disruptions and I'm warning you that they must stop," he continued forcefully. "Do I make myself clear?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," James said nervously.

"I'm talking about the pranks you played on Ms. MacKenna."

"Is that what she told you?" James said nervously.

"She hasn't spoken to me. Don't think you can weasel your way out of this. I know what you're doing. You're messing around with her desk and the classroom door and you're going to keep doing it. I won't tolerate your mischief."

"I can't help it."

"I don't want to hear excuses."

Someone knocked tentatively at the door, which interrupted the principal from whatever he was about to say. He shot an annoyed look at the door.

"What do you want?" he called out.

"It's James' grandmother. She's here."

"Send her in," Mr. Pratt said.

The door opened and Louise stepped inside. She gently closed the door behind her and sat down beside James.

"What's going on?" she asked cautiously.

"Your grandson has been playing pranks and will continue to do so for at least a week," Mr. Pratt said heatedly. "I'm going to have to suspend him."

"I'm sorry, but your psychic abilities are misleading you," Louise said. "James has inherited a family curse that kept his powers bound until he turned eleven. Now his body needs to adjust and he will have no control over them for at least several days or so."

"This is outrageous! I'm not going to allow you to turn this school into a circus!" Mr. Pratt said.

"You're going to have to be patient," Louise said regretfully.

"Your grandson must follow the school guidelines. I know that wizards are forbidden from revealing magic to mortals."

"That's true and he's not revealing his abilities. He has no control over them so he's exempt from whatever happens. If you weren't psychic, you wouldn't have any idea James was responsible for what happened in Ms. MacKenna's classroom or future events that you've foreseen. In fact, if we weren't wizards, you wouldn't even be able to speak about them. You can't use your psychic input to determine disciplinary action against him," Louise said firmly. "I can make a lot of trouble for you if you even try."

"Don't threaten me," Mr. Pratt said menacingly. "I realize what my limitations are. I'm merely taking advantage of my ability to be completely candid with you and your trouble-making brat."

"How dare you!" Louise snapped.

"We need to do something to keep James from disrupting my school while he's adjusting to his abilities. Is there a tutor or some sort of spell that can help?" Mr. Pratt asked.

"I'm afraid there are no spells designed for that kind of thing," Louise said regretfully. "The only course of action available is to wait for his body to adjust to the magic that has been kept bound by the Kafka curse."

"What kind of curse are we talking about?"

"That's none of your business," Louise said rigidly.

"It certainly is if it affects the smooth operation of this school."

"It gives him bad luck. That's all."

"I see." Mr. Pratt frowned severely at James as though the situation was entirely his fault. "I trust that safeguards and precautions will be taken?"

"Of course. I've warned him of what to do to prevent unfortunate occurrences," Louise said.

"From what I've seen, the major disturbances will occur today and tomorrow. After that, the disturbances are fewer and more minor," the principal said. "I want James to remain at home for the next two days. I will count them as excused absences and no disciplinary action will be taken against him."

"Thank you," Louise said.

"I'm not doing this as a favor to you. I'm doing this to protect the students from the disruptions that James will cause."

"It's not his fault; it's the curse," Louise said pointedly.

"Whatever," the principal said dismissively. "You can both go now."
Chapter 4

James leaned forward as he leafed through the spell book lying on his desk. Someone knocked tentatively at his closed bedroom door.

"James? I need to speak with you," Louise said in a tremulous voice.

"Okay, Grandma."

James set the book aside and stood up from his chair, but Louise had already opened the door to let herself inside. She smiled weakly at him and perched on the edge of his bed.

"That was Uncle Jerry on the phone," Louise said hesitantly.

Uncle Jerry was the husband of Louise's sister, Veronica, who was one of the more reclusive members of the Kafka family although none of the Kafka's really kept in touch all that well. The last time he called was a couple of years ago to wish James a happy birthday.

"Uncle Jerry?" James echoed.

"I'm afraid Aunt Veronica has passed on," Louise said sadly. Unshed tears shone in her eyes and she sniffed loudly. "It was the Kafka curse."

James stiffened in shock and felt a strange sense of foreboding at the realization that the family curse had killed his great aunt.

"How did it happen?" James asked weakly.

"She was eating lunch and choked on her sandwich. It happened while Jerry was outside getting the mail."

"It took him that long to get the mail?" James said.

"I'm afraid so. What happened was that he went out and got the mail, but when he went back there was a coral snake blocking the front door. He didn't bring a key to unlock the backdoor because he'd only planned on slipping out to get the mail. By the time he managed to get inside, poor Veronica was dead."

James couldn't believe his ears. It horrified him to hear that the curse could actually kill him. He had to remove it before his time ran out. Anxiety squeezed his stomach as he realized he had no hope of escaping the curse. He didn't even know how to get rid of it. His grandmother refused to tell him because she said it was too dangerous until he was much older.

"I know what you must be thinking," Louise said sadly. "The curse usually doesn't kill you. It only gets bad when you get much older."

"Why did the curse last so much longer for her than everyone else?" James demanded. "You said that the curse would be gone after nineteen years so Aunt Veronica should have been safe."

"Sometimes the curse doesn't become dormant on its own. Almost everyone gets rid of it before that happens, but Veronica was a gentle soul. She didn't have the stomach to do what needed to be done. As a result, the curse remained active and kept getting worse. She used to cast a luck inversion spell, which would last for a day at a time and would temporarily get rid of the bad luck. Unfortunately, it takes a lot of energy to do this spell and she couldn't do it every single day. As a result, she had some really bad days. Her bad luck finally caught up with her," Louise said shakily.

"You have to tell me how to get rid of the curse!" James exclaimed.

"No!" Louise said forcefully. "You're much too young to even try! You're not strong enough; it would be far too dangerous. You have to wait until you're eighteen like everyone else!"

"What if it kills me?"

"That won't be a risk until you're much older. You'll have plenty of time to deactivate the curse," Louise said.

James was at a loss for words. He hated arguing and didn't want to upset his grandmother. Tension built within him as fear made his gut twist savagely. He needed to believe that she wouldn't endanger him. The curse would only bring him bad luck. It wouldn't threaten his life. He had to trust that his grandmother knew what she was talking about. The window snapped open, which caused him to flinch. More thumps resounded throughout the house as the rest of the windows flew open followed by every door in the house.

"Your body is still adjusting to magic," Louise said shakily. "Help me get everything closed."

"Okay."

"Jerry will be stopping by to see us," Louise said.

"Why didn't Aunt Veronica and Uncle Jerry visit us much?" James asked as he closed and locked a window in the living room.

"Veronica and I certainly had a lot of fun when we were younger. I wish things hadn't changed. It wasn't long after we started going to college in Sarasota that Veronica dropped out of school and moved away. All because of Jerry," Louise explained.

"You don't like Uncle Jerry?" James asked.

"It's not that, honey," Louise said with chagrin. "I just don't express myself very well when I'm upset. Jerry's a good guy."

"I didn't realize you and Veronica were so close," James commented. "You never talked about her before."

"It was never worth mentioning," Louise said airily as she briskly walked to the front door to close and lock it. "There! That's all the windows and doors! You are certainly a strong wizard, young man."

"You really think so?" James asked.

"Of course, but you'll have to practice to realize your full potential," Louise said. Her eyes widened with concern. "And don't forget to wait a couple more days to let your body adjust to your magic."

"Don't worry. I won't do any spells," James promised.

"I'm glad to hear that," Louise said with forced joviality. "It's time for lunch. I'll fix some sandwiches."

Louise opened a cupboard door and pulled out a couple of plates. She grabbed the loaf of bread and set to work preparing ham sandwiches.

"You should be careful around Mr. Pratt," Louise warned. "He's a powerful psychic and because of what happened with your powers disrupting Ms. MacKenna's class, he's going to keep a close eye on you."

"I'll be careful," James said grievously. "I don't know why this stuff keeps happening to me."

"It's because you're cursed, honey," Louise said.

A sharp pain in James' head made him wince, and then the refrigerator doors burst open. Louise jumped and screamed before glaring at James.

"You need to be more careful," she said reprovingly.

"I can't help it." James clutched his head with both hands because the pressure and pain were pounding wildly at his skull.

Louise tried to close the refrigerator door but it wouldn't budge. She threw a questioning look at James.

"It's like what happened at school," James bit out. "My head is killing me."

"You have to relax," Louise instructed.

"I can't!" James exclaimed.

A small, blue fire materialized on the kitchen table in front of him. Louise gasped with surprise and turned away. She pushed roughly on the refrigerator door but it still wouldn't close.

"James, you can shut it down. Feel what's happening in your mind and relax it!" Louise said loudly.

James squeezed his eyes shut and paid close attention to how the magic felt and where the pressure built inside his head. After a moment, he imagined it relaxing and stopping. Surprisingly, the pain vanished and the magic stopped. James opened his eyes and he could see that the blue fire was gone. It hadn't even left a mark on the table. He turned to see that Louise was closing both doors of the refrigerator.

"You see? You can control it," Louise said.

"What was that fire on the table?" James asked.

"What are you talking about?" Louise said nervously. "There wasn't any fire."

"Yes, there was. It was a small, blue fire," James said.

"You were imagining things because of your headache, young man," Louise said forcefully. "Besides, if there had been a fire, you'd see scorch marks on the table but there's nothing there."

James frowned at her but she'd turned away to finish up on the sandwiches. He knew she was lying. She'd seen the fire and it had made her nervous. Why wouldn't she admit it? Obviously, it upset her so he brushed aside these thoughts and decided to ask about Jerry instead.

"Why is Jerry visiting us? It doesn't sound like you really like him," James regarded his grandmother curiously.

"There are some things that you and I are inheriting from Veronica. Jerry wants to get it over with."

"Why does he have to stop by? He could just mail them to you."

"Veronica wanted you to have her parakeet, honey. Animals are difficult to ship safely so he's going to stop by personally," Louise said. "Aren't you looking forward to seeing Jerry again?"

"Not really. He hasn't visited in years and I hardly know him. Plus, you don't seem to like him," James said.

"It's complicated. You'll understand when you're older," Louise said. "When Jerry stops by, try to be nice to him, okay?"

"Is it the same parakeet that they brought over when they visited a couple years ago?" James asked. "Its name is Amy, right?"

"Yes, that's right. She's a special bird. Veronica inherited Amy when she was in her mid-twenties. Normally, parakeets don't live to be much older than fifteen but Amy is a wereparakeet so we're not sure what her life span will be."

"A wereparakeet?" James echoed with confusion.

"Yes, like a werewolf. You see, Amy was first owned by your great, great grandfather. Because of the family curse, he'd been bitten by a werewolf. He'd survived but become a werewolf himself. As you already know, werewolves are forced to take the shape of a wolf at the full moon. Your great, great grandfather actually enjoyed his adventures as a werewolf once he got used to the transformation that occurred during the full moon. He was playing around with his parakeet one day and she flew into his mouth and got cut on one of his sharp teeth. Soon, it became obvious that Amy had succumbed to the magical werewolf infection. You don't hear much about weres other than wolves because they are very rare. Amy isn't human so the were infection caused a different reaction to occur in her because it mutates when it crosses from one species to another.

"Amy became fully cognizant and self-aware. She talked like an ordinary person. She became a delightful pet. Unfortunately, whenever there is a full moon, she transforms into a human. As Amy grew older, she learned how to become a human at will but only during the night," Louise explained. "Amy gave Veronica great comfort and encouragement while she suffered from the family curse and had to endure all that bad luck. So you see, Jerry wouldn't want to ship a very special bird like that to you. He wants to make sure she gets here safely."

"I can't believe my first pet is going to be a wereparakeet," James said with awe.

"You'll need to take good care of Amy. She's a very special bird."

"I will," James promised. "What would happen if Amy bit me?"

"It's possible you'd become infected by the were virus and become a wereparakeet yourself. But you don't need to worry about that. Amy doesn't bite."

"How come Amy never talked when Aunt Veronica visited us?" James asked.

"Amy doesn't like to talk in front of others. She's very cautious. She has to get used to you first."

James mulled this over as he grew excited with the anticipation of owning his first pet with the added benefit of it being a magical one. He abruptly realized there was something puzzling about Louise's tale.

"Grandma, you said Grandpa enjoyed being a werewolf. I thought werewolves couldn't control themselves when they became wolves during the full moon," James said.

"That's true if you eat meat. Your great, great grandfather was a vegetarian so he had complete control at all times. However, if you do eat meat, you can regain control later on if you become a vegetarian. It takes about four days to get the meat out of your system," Louise said.

"That sounds really weird," James said.

"That's just the way it is, dear. You can't argue with facts."

"So that means that whoever bit Grandpa wasn't a vegetarian," James said.

"That's right. The guy was a human who didn't know any better. Your grandfather taught him how to live a normal life with his werewolf condition so in a way, it was kind of a lucky thing for the human that he happened to infect him. On the other hand, it was the bad luck curse that caused your grandfather to be in the wrong place at the wrong time to get bitten by the werewolf in the first place."

James looked down at his sandwich and wondered if he could become a vegetarian. If he'd taken the ham out of the sandwich it would be comprised of just bread, mayo, tomatoes, and cheese, which was pretty disgusting. Furthermore, he didn't care for cheese pizza or vegetarian lasagna. James was grateful for the fact that he wasn't a werewolf and that werewolves were extremely rare. Louise took a nap after lunch and the afternoon dragged by at an agonizing rate. Beth came over with James' homework after school.

"Thanks for bringing this over," James said.

"No problem. Ms. MacKenna said she hopes you feel better soon," Beth said. "Mr. Pratt told her you're very sick right now."

James explained the situation to her and she nodded.

"I figured he must know about your powers," Beth said. "I didn't realize he was a psychic though. That's scary. I guess that's why people don't seem to get away with stuff at school. They almost always get caught."

"It's kind of weird, isn't it?" James said. "Guess what? I'm inheriting a wereparakeet."

"A what?" Beth said.

James explained what his grandmother had told him earlier and Beth gazed at him with astonishment.

"This is really amazing!" Beth exclaimed. "Amy can probably help you through your bad luck since she's already had two owners who suffered from the Kafka curse."

"Yeah," James said.

"I should probably let you do your homework," Beth said hesitantly.

"That's okay. I can do it tomorrow during the day. Mr. Pratt's making me stay home tomorrow too," James said.

"Okay. Tim's waiting for me at his house. We can go on over," Beth said.

"Let me write a note for Grandma since she's still asleep," James said.

He took some paper from the desk in the dining room, scribbled down a quick note, and taped it to Louise's bedroom door. Then he walked with Beth out into the warm, Florida sunshine. They soon came to a couple of fire trucks where firemen were putting out a fire in someone's yard. The trucks were blocking the street that they normally took to Tim's so they had to take another route. James hoped his curse wasn't at work again. All too soon, he figured out that it was. Normally, James and Beth didn't walk along Terrace Avenue, which was where Bill, one of the school bullies, lived. Bill was a fifth grader who was tall and pudgy but also muscular because he lifted weights. He had short brown hair, puffy cheeks, a temporary tattoo of a skunk on his right arm just below the shoulder, thin lips, and green eyes. Today, it was a scorpion tattoo that marked the bully's meaty, right arm.

"What do we have here?" Bill sneered as he stalked over to them.

James considered running away, but for some reason, it didn't seem like an option. Beth fidgeted nervously at his side as she seemed to struggle with indecision.

"Nice seeing you," she said evenly.

She and James moved to walk past him, but he shifted to block their path.

"It's been a long time since I've run into you," Bill said, taunting them. He shoved James backward. "Woops. Did I do that?"

James managed to keep his footing but didn't know what to say. His face flamed with embarrassment. He cast a sleeping spell but it had no effect on the bully. Bill shoved James again, which caused him to trip and land on his behind. James glared up at the bully and summoned as much magic as he possibly could before casting another sleeping spell. He didn't know what he'd done wrong but a raging headache erupted in his skull. Bill didn't look the slightest bit drowsy as he stepped forward. Suddenly, a woman's voice sounded from directly behind him.

"What on Earth is going on here?" she said authoritatively.

James slowly rose to his feet and could see a woman with a stern expression on her face. She had long, brown hair, green eyes, and wore a green sundress.

"Why did you push that boy, Bill?" the woman said forcefully. "I'm going to have to speak with your mother about this."

"It was an accident," Bill mumbled.

"That was no accident! Go home!" The woman pointed emphatically at Bill's house, which was across the street.

Bill trudged to his house and the woman stood there glaring at his back. Beth immediately continued walking down the street and James hurried to catch up.

"Who was that?" James asked.

"It's an illusion of one of the neighbors," Beth said.

"Wow." James shot her an amazed look, clearly impressed by her magic.

Beth's natural ability was creating illusions. The illusion of the woman walked away from the house and when she turned the corner so Bill couldn't see her, she faded away into nothingness.

"I didn't know you could make illusions of people!" James exclaimed.

"Yes but it takes a lot of concentration," Beth said. "I've been practicing."

"You should have told me."

"I didn't want to show you or Tim until I knew for sure I could do it," Beth said.

"I was trying to cast a sleeping spell on Bill but nothing happened," James said.

"You were doing it wrong. I could sense it."

"I need to start practicing."

"No, you need to let yourself adjust to magic before you start practicing," Beth said firmly. "Your grandmother is right about that."

When they reached Tim's house, his parents weren't home, which was usually the case since they often worked until early in the evening. They gathered in the living room where an article from _Wizard's Weekly_ lay on the coffee table.

"I was reading about a breakout that happened," Tim said. "People are worried."

"Let me see." Beth took the article and read it aloud. "One of the jail cells located in a dimensional pocket inside the school had deteriorated to the point where a creature known as a Viatus managed to escape."

The jail cells were designed to imprison magical beings from the secondary realm that committed serious crimes against humanity. These jail cells were constructed in such a way as to keep a secondary realm creature trapped until it disintegrated into nothingness, which usually took a couple of hundred years. Unfortunately, once a jail cell was placed inside a dimensional pocket, it sometimes became difficult to track and often moved around. This sometimes made it extremely challenging to keep tabs on those creatures that were imprisoned. However, it usually wasn't really necessary to monitor them since the creature would disintegrate into nothingness before the cell wore out.

"Little is known about the Viatus except that it takes on human form once it enters the primary realm and that it's powerful," Beth read. "That's the only useful thing in the article. Everything else is just talking about enhancing security in this area."

"I wonder what the Viatus looks like without its human disguise," Tim said.

"Most creatures from the secondary realm are partially composed of magical energy, but we don't usually know what they look like." Beth's shoulders lifted in a shrug.

"I wonder whether it's still hanging around Sarasota or if it's left the city," Tim said.

"It's probably long gone," Beth said. "I'm sure it doesn't want to be anywhere near it's former prison."

James took advantage of the pause in conversation to tell Tim about his new wereparakeet.

"Cool!" Tim exclaimed. "When is Jerry stopping by?"

"I'm not sure but Grandma thinks he'll be here soon," James said.

"That's great news! I wonder if Amy could tell you how to deactivate your curse," Tim suggested. "After all, she's lived a long time with two of your cursed relatives. She's bound to know a lot."

"You're right. I'll have to ask her," James said.

"It's entirely possible she's been sworn to secrecy until you turn eighteen," Beth said. "I bet Jerry has already made her promise."

"I hope not," James said but he had a feeling his friend was right about this.
Chapter 5

It was Friday morning and the last day that Mr. Pratt was forcing James to stay away from school. James was starting to enjoy the extra time off. It was almost like a vacation. His grandmother was watching television as he stepped into the kitchen. She'd left a couple of waffles for him on a plate and they were now lukewarm. As James sat down on the chair, it slowly collapsed under his weight. He clutched the table to catch himself from falling, but slipped anyway, and his fingers accidentally tugged over the green placemat holding his plate and orange juice. Both the waffles and the orange juice spilled over his head as he landed in an awkward sitting position on the floor. Louise stepped inside the doorway and regarded him with dismay.

"Heavens! You need to start keeping an eye out for bad luck," she told him.

"How was I supposed to know the chair would choose this exact moment to break?" Exasperation laced James' words.

"You have to learn to expect the unexpected," Louise lectured him. "Always do everything with extra care."

James slowly rose to his feet and left the kitchen to get cleaned up. He took a shower and changed into fresh clothes that weren't drenched in orange juice. When he returned to the kitchen, he poured himself a bowl of cereal. The broken chair was gone so his grandmother had probably disposed of it already. The television in the living room was blaring. James stepped toward the refrigerator and the door opened on its own. He realized that he'd felt a kind of pressure just before it happened. If he could figure out how to control this ability, it might come in handy and he could also start casting spells. James grabbed the milk and poured some of it into the cereal. He set the carton back in the refrigerator and tried duplicating the effect he had when he accidentally opened doors.

He stared intently at the opened door and worked with the magic. Unfortunately, nothing happened. He reached out and shut the door with his right hand. He probably could only open things and not close them. It was an unfortunate limitation. One would assume that if you had a magical affinity for opening doors, you would naturally inherit the ability to close them too. It looked like that wasn't the case. He took a bite of cereal and began to feel pressure building in his forehead even though he was no longer attempting to use any magic. He set down the spoon and closed his eyes so he could concentrate on stopping it. In spite of his best efforts, the pressure in his forehead quickly grew and he flinched when both the refrigerator and the freezer door burst open abruptly.

"What's going on in here?" Louise asked.

"I can't stop it," James said.

"Just relax and figure out how to control the flow of magic," Louise instructed him.

James' head was aching now and the pressure wouldn't go away. He tried concentrating but couldn't control the power. He clutched his head with both hands and wished it would stop. Maybe it wasn't so much fun being a wizard after all. There were a couple of slamming sounds in the house as two windows burst open.

"James, you need to relax," Louise said forcefully.

"I'm trying," he said.

More slamming echoed through the house as more windows opened. The front door burst open and Louise exclaimed with frustration.

"You need to try harder," she scolded him.

Finally, the pressure began to ease and James managed to take control. Louise suddenly screamed when her gaze flew to the kitchen doorway. James turned to see what had startled her and discovered that Uncle Jerry had arrived. He was extremely tall, had a long and angular face, hazel eyes, and thick, frizzy, gray hair.

"I didn't realize I had that effect on you." Jerry smiled tightly at Louise.

"Most polite people knock on the door before invading someone's privacy," Louise said silkily.

"Most people leave their front door closed and locked," Jerry pointed out.

"Hi, Uncle Jerry," James said, interrupting their argument.

He walked over and gave his uncle a hug. Jerry affectionately patted him on the head.

"I brought Amy inside. I didn't want to leave her in the car," Jerry said.

They walked into the living room where a medium-sized birdcage was resting on the coffee table. The cage had a perch hanging from the top of the cage and one near the bottom. Amy was standing on the higher one, gazing intently at them with her head cocked to the side and her bright, yellow feathers puffed out.

"Say hello to your new owner," Jerry said.

"No one owns me," Amy said indignantly. "It's a partnership."

"Wow! You can really talk!" James exclaimed.

"Yes," Amy said. "I hope your grandmother explained my abilities to you."

"You're a wereparakeet," James said.

"That's right," Amy said. "Where is my cage going to be kept?"

"We could leave you on the coffee table," James suggested.

"I don't know if that's such a good idea," Louise said.

Princess crept into the room and gazed longingly at the caged bird.

"I left the stand in the car. It should keep the cage safely out of your cat's reach," Jerry said. "You probably won't have to worry about the cat. All animals tend to fear wereanimals once they get close enough."

He briefly left the house and returned with a stand, which he placed in the living room near the far corner.

"Excellent!" Louise said approvingly.

Princess meowed with disappointment and sat down near the foot of the cage. The parakeet's feathers poofed out and she seemed to be relaxed.

"You'll need to leave my cage door open at all times," Amy said.

"Why is that?" Louise asked.

"It's a full moon tonight."

"So you're changing into a human then?" Louise asked.

"Yes," Amy confirmed. "You'll need to make sure the door is left open."

"We'll let you out before night fall, but we can't just leave the door open. We have a cat in the house and it's just too dangerous," Louise said.

"I need to have it open. Trust me. I'll be fine," Amy said.

"No, I can't do it," Louise said firmly.

"You'll be sorry."

"You're a sassy bird," Louise said reprovingly.

"She's always been that way," Jerry said. "I guess it's because of how old she is. She thinks she knows everything."

Amy fluffed her feathers then smoothed them down against her body so she looked sleek and ready to fly. She jumped over to the food dish and began eating.

"How much bird seed do you have?" Louise asked.

"I brought a two-pound bag," Jerry said. "It's in the car. Do you mind if I stay the night?"

"Sure," Louise said woodenly. "You're not staying more than one night, are you?"

"No. I just need some rest and shuteye," Jerry replied. "I'll be going to bed soon."

"It's very early." Louise regarded him with puzzlement. It was starting to get dark but it wasn't even six o'clock yet.

"I haven't been able to sleep the last couple of nights and it's caught up with me."

"I see."

"I'm going to get my suitcase," Jerry said.

"Okay," Louise said in an indifferent tone.

When he returned with the suitcase, she showed him to the guest room and let him unpack. He closed the bedroom door and went to sleep. James could hear his heavy breathing as he passed by. When he reached the living room, Louise had fallen asleep on the armchair watching a soap opera. Princess was sitting near the foot of the cage staring intently at the parakeet with her fluffy, black tail twitching occasionally. Amy stood on her perch with her head cocked to the side, staring at the cat.

"Are you okay?" James asked the bird.

Amy didn't seem to hear him so he repeated the question. Amy jumped onto the food dish and ate a couple birdseeds before hopping back onto her perch. She returned her attention to the cat. There was a knock at the door and James ran over to answer it. Beth and Tim stood in front of him. Beth had a pile of papers tucked against her side.

"I'll bet it's been fun missing so much school," Tim said cheerfully.

"It kind of feels like a vacation," James said.

"It won't seem that way when you get back. You'll be behind in the class work," Beth said.

"You've brought me all the homework," James pointed out.

"Yes but you've missed a lot of the problems that Ms. MacKenna demonstrated. Also you missed out on the study time and the explanations that she went over," Beth said.

"I'm sure I'll be fine," James said.

"It won't be fun though," Beth said.

"Uncle Jerry came over. Take a look at the parakeet," James said.

"Wow! He came over today?" Tim said with excitement.

James took them through to the living room and they both gazed at the bird with fascination.

"I was expecting her to be bigger," Tim said.

"Why?" Beth said. "Just because she's a wereparakeet, doesn't mean she'd be any bigger."

"Usually you gain size when you become a wolf," Tim said.

"This is a wereparakeet—not a werewolf," Beth lectured him. "There's a big difference there."

Amy faced them in complete silence, cocking her head to the side.

"She's not very talkative, is she?" Beth asked.

"Jerry says she doesn't speak much around strangers," James explained.

"I guess that explains why she's so quiet right now," Tim said with disappointment. "Do you want to play Chinese checkers?"

"Sure," James said. "I'll get the game."

He returned and they set it up on the coffee table. Louise hadn't stirred in spite of their presence there. James felt a bit guilty for taking the chance that they might wake her up, but she was a sound sleeper, and could have gone to bed if she wanted to take a nap. James always picked the white marbles while Tim chose green this time and Beth chose the blue ones. Princess flounced over to Beth and sat in her lap.

"I wonder why she likes you so much," Tim said.

Beth stroked the cat's silky fur as she continued playing the game. She was the best at it, which was true for most games.

"We're having a math test on Tuesday. You'll probably want to study for it over the weekend," Beth said.

"I'll try," James said.

Beth leveled a warning look at him. "You'll want to try hard or your grades will slip. If you don't do well on the test, your grade may fall to a B."

"I think he can live with a B," Tim said.

They lapsed into silence as the game became more intense. Beth was clearly in the lead and would win if Tim and James didn't concentrate harder. They both frowned and took their time as they made each move. Without warning, Princess flinched, jumped out of Beth's lap, and darted from the room.

"Something is wrong with this picture," Louise said as she rose from her armchair.

"What's wrong, Grandma?" James asked with alarm.

"I told you to keep a sharp eye out for ways that bad luck can find its way to you. Don't you notice something in this room?" Louise asked sharply.

James, Tim, and Beth carefully scrutinized the room and then shrugged helplessly when they failed to locate anything amiss.

"I don't see anything," James said.

"Look at your shoes." Louise stabbed an index finger to indicate James' left foot. "They're untied. If you get up with your shoelaces flopping around, you could end up falling at the most inconvenient time."

"That's no big deal," James said.

"It most certainly could be if the right circumstances came along," Louise said.

"Like what?" Tim asked.

"I don't know but it's all about timing," Louise said.

"I hate to interrupt, but I can sense something," Amy interjected.

"What is it?" Louise said sharply.

"Bad luck. Sometimes animals can sense it. I feel something big coming," Amy told them.

Louise gazed around the room with alarm. The living room window rippled for a moment as if it had become flexible. An instant later, it became apparent that the window itself hadn't rippled but something large was floating through the air and distorting whatever it passed through. It drifted through the couch and headed straight for Beth, Tim, and James. The three of them hastily moved away to avoid it but weren't fast enough. The distortion shimmered briefly with a silvery, blue light as it passed through Beth and James. The living room rippled then vanished as the strange luminescence intensified and drowned out their surroundings. A moment later, the light was gone. James and Beth found themselves standing in a large room with the walls and floor composed of white tiles. In the center of the room was a box made up of a strange, silvery reflective substance and large enough for a group of people to stand inside.

"What is this place?" James asked.

"I don't know but it looks familiar," Beth said. Her brows furrowed together as she studied their surroundings. "Of course! I know where this is. We're in a dimensional pocket where one or more prisoners from the secondary realm are being safeguarded."

"Really? Is that what this box is?" James asked curiously.

"Yes, it's a jail cell. Oh, no! Look!" Beth pointed.

She was standing on the other side of the box so James had to walk over to her to see what she was gawking at. When he reached her, he could see there was a large, gaping hole big enough for someone to crawl through.

"Something escaped from here," Beth said.

"We should leave." A prickle of unease tickled the back of James' neck.

"Yes, we should," Beth agreed.

The two of them walked along the perimeter of the room, but there was no sign of any doors or windows.

"How do we leave this place?" James asked.

"I don't know," Beth said.

She leaned against the wall and her brows furrowed with concentration.

"I think I remember Mr. Morgan mentioning this in our fourth grade class. I can't remember all the details. It was just a few comments he made," Beth said slowly.

James couldn't even remember that conversation so it would be up to his friend to come up with more details. Beth slowly paced and James noticed a sign on the side of the box. He walked over to take a closer look. It was a gold plate with large, silver letters that read: "This Viatus was captured in 1922."

"What are you doing?" Beth asked.

"I was looking at this sign. This is the place that the _Wizard's Weekly_ was talking about. The Viatus was captured in 1922."

"Really?" Beth said. She started to walk over then abruptly halted and her eyes widened with alarm. "We have to get out of here now! The article said that this dimensional pocket was scheduled for collapsing today."

"How do we get out of here?" James asked frantically.

"We should be able to make some kind of opening appear with the right spell," Beth said. "I don't know what kind of spell to use though."

"How about an opening spell?" James suggested.

"That might work," Beth said.

She cast the spell but nothing happened.

"Let me try," James said.

He closed his eyes and prepared to cast the spell. He'd never bothered to learn an opening spell but it was something that came naturally to him. He unleashed a powerful stream of magic and his head throbbed for just a moment. An ordinary-looking, wooden door on the far side of the room materialized and burst open.

"You did it!" Beth exclaimed.

A silvery light danced across the open doorway so they couldn't see what waited for them beyond the threshold. Beth and James stepped through it with only slight hesitation. Anything was better than being trapped in a room that was about to collapse. Finding themselves in someone's backyard, they made their way to the sidewalk and took stock of their surroundings.

"Where are we?" Beth asked in confusion.

"I have no idea," James replied.

A man appeared down the street, dashing madly toward them. As he drew closer, James recognized him as Mr. O'Connor, a fifth grade teacher at his school. He had short-cropped blond hair, green eyes, and was currently wearing jeans and a green polo shirt. He held a device in his right hand as he approached and was breathing heavily.

"Mr. O'Connor?" James said.

Mr. O'Connor abruptly halted and gazed intently at him.

"You're both wizards," he said.

"That's right," James confirmed.

Mr. O'Connor drew a wand and pointed it at the empty air in front of him. A rippling distortion appeared in the backyard where James and Beth had escaped from the dimensional pocket.

"It stopped here." Mr. O'Connor stepped cautiously toward the distortion and a green shimmering luminescence spilled from his wand.

The distortion twisted and shrank until it collapsed entirely.

"You were inside the dimensional pocket," Mr. O'Connor said. "What were you doing there?"

"We were pulled inside while we were playing Chinese checkers," Beth said.

"Chinese checkers?" Mr. O'Connor's brows rose with confusion.

"Can you help us get home?" James said tentatively. "We kind of got lost because the dimensional pocket must have been flying fast."

"Yes, it was. I had a very hard time tracking it." Mr. O'Connor frowned as he pocketed the tracking device he'd been using. He also tucked his wand into his pants pocket. "James, I didn't realize you were a wizard."

"I didn't get my powers until just this week."

"That explains why I never sensed you as a wizard," Mr. O'Connor said. "My car is parked a couple of blocks away. Where do you live?"

James told him his address and Mr. O'Connor shook his head with astonishment.

"The dimensional pocket traveled over two miles once it picked you up from your house," he said with amazement.

"Shouldn't you make sure no one is inside a dimensional pocket before you collapse it?" Beth asked.

"No, because anything inside the dimensional pocket besides the prison will be released into the primary realm unharmed," Mr. O'Connor explained.

"So James and I weren't in any danger?" Beth asked.

"No, you weren't," Mr. O'Connor replied. "If collapsing dimensional pockets killed anything inside it, we would be collapsing them as soon as we put the creatures in. I'm surprised you kids didn't already know that."

"Isn't there a way to vanquish secondary realm creatures?" James asked.

"It's practically impossible. That's why we stick them in prison. They usually waste away to nothing before the dimensional pocket collapses," Mr. O'Connor explained.

"I can't believe you're a member of the protectorate," James said.

"Why?" Mr. O'Connor asked.

"I don't know. You just don't seem like a wizard."

The tires of a blue Nissan sedan screeched as it turned a corner and sped toward them. James recognized his grandmother's car and realized she must have used a tracking spell to find him. She slammed on the brakes and burst out of the car. James and Beth walked over to her. Louise fiercely hugged James and threw a questioning look at Mr. O'Connor.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"I'm a protectorate officer. I came here to collapse the dimensional pocket," he replied.

"I'm James' grandmother. I'm taking him home if that's all right," Louise said warily.

"That's fine. Have a good evening."

"You, too," she said shakily.

James looked up at the full moon before he got in the car. When they returned to the house, they were horrified to discover Amy's cage lying on the floor with the frame twisted so badly it was almost unrecognizable. Princess lay nearby looking curiously satisfied just as James would expect a cat to look that had just managed to eat a parakeet.
Chapter 6

A cold knot of dread settled in the pit of James' stomach as he watched Princess lying beside the cage with a replete expression on her furry face. Louise exhaled sharply with horror and dismay.

"Oh, no!" Beth exclaimed.

James couldn't believe he'd inherited such a special pet only to have it eaten by his grandmother's cat on the very day it arrived.

"What's going on?" someone asked from behind them.

The three of them turned to face a short, thin woman in her late twenties with long blonde hair, and gold eyes. She wore jeans, white tennis shoes, and a gold blouse and had a gorgeous opal pendant shaped like a teardrop suspended around her neck on a gold chain. She cocked her head to the side and regarded them quizzically.

"Who are you?" James said.

"I'm Amy," she said.

"No!" Beth exclaimed in astonishment.

"I warned you to leave the cage door open," Amy said wryly. "Transformation is a very powerful experience for a wereparakeet."

"I can't believe this," Louise said. "I've never seen you in wizard form before."

"That's because Veronica and Jerry didn't visit you on a full moon and I don't transform when I'm a guest away from home."

"What are we going to do now that your cage is destroyed?" Louise said.

"Just buy a new one," Amy said dismissively.

She strode past them and an odd expression dominated her face as she drew closer to the black cat. Her eyes narrowed and a decidedly hostile look transformed her features. Princess abruptly stood up and darted out of the room.

"You're not so tough when your prey is bigger than you," Amy said hotly.

Louise wrung her hands and paced the room.

"This is terrible! I don't have the money to just go out and buy a new cage! I wish you had told us why you needed the cage door open." she said.

"I don't articulate myself as well when I'm in my original form," Amy explained. "When I'm human, I can speak a lot better."

"Surely you could have warned us," Louise said.

"I did," Amy pointed out. "It's a shame that you didn't listen."

"What are we going to do about this?" Louise said.

"You're going to either buy a new cage or just let me fly around loose," Amy said. "It's your call. I don't really need a cage—just something to perch on."

"I don't think that would be wise with a cat running loose," Louise fretted. "We also have another problem. What are we going to do about the nights when you become human? Where are you going to sleep?"

"I don't sleep when I'm human; there's no need," Amy explained.

"That's not acceptable," Louise said.

"I'm sorry but that's how it works. When I'm in wizard form, I just don't need to sleep."

"You'd better be very quiet then," Louise said sternly. "I don't want my sleeping patterns disrupted and I don't want you keeping James up on a school night."

"You won't hear a peep out of me. I swear," Amy said. "So what happened to you guys? You just disappeared."

"We were caught in a dimensional pocket used to imprison a secondary realm creature," James explained.

"I told you I sensed something big coming," Amy said.

"Too bad you couldn't be a little more specific," Louise said silkily.

"What kind of creature was trapped in the dimensional pocket?" Amy asked, curious.

"A Viatus," James said.

"How interesting," Amy said. "There's only been one Viatus ever known to visit the primary realm. It was a very powerful being. It took a dozen wizards to capture it in April of '22."

"She's right!" Beth exclaimed.

"How do you know this?" Louise asked.

"I have photographic memory and I've read every single edition of the _Wizard's Weekly_ since I became a wereparakeet," Amy said. "Every week, all the secondary realm creatures that are captured are printed in the paper."

"What do you know about this Viatus?" James asked.

"Its name is Roedalgia and the wizards figured out it had some sort of mind control power and the ability to distort memories and create illusions, but there wasn't specific information about it. I'm afraid the wizards of that time period didn't really understand how it worked," Amy said. "Why are you so interested in it?"

"Because it escaped the dimensional pocket," James said.

"That's terrible!" Amy exclaimed. "Did you somehow release the prisoner?"

"No, it had already escaped."

"I see," Amy said slowly. "Unfortunately, it's very difficult to track so the protectorate officers have their work cut out for them."

"Do you know anything else about Roedalgia?" Louise asked.

"I'm afraid not," Amy said.

Louise smothered a yawn with her right hand.

"It's getting late! Beth, you'd better go home. It's dark out so I'll give you a ride," Louise said.

"Thank you, Ms. Kafka," Beth said.

After Louise and Beth had left, James decided this would be a good opportunity to get another piece of information he wanted.

"Can you tell me how to get rid of my curse?" James asked.

"I'm sorry but I can't tell you until you're eighteen," Amy said apologetically.

"What could be so terrible about getting rid of the curse?"

"If you knew, you'd be tempted to try it too early and that would be very dangerous."

James felt a sudden pressure in his forehead and the living room window slid open. He sighed with exasperation and crossed the room to close it.

"Your natural ability must be opening spells," Amy said. "That's useful. Anything else?"

"I can unlock things, too," James said.

"That's terrific! Those two spells go well together," Amy said. "You don't have a third ability, do you? A lot of Kafkas do."

"No, I don't," James said. He suddenly remembered the blue flames that had materialized in the kitchen and how his grandmother hadn't seen them. "Are there times when wizards are first getting their powers when they see things that aren't real?"

"You mean like a hallucination?" Amy asked.

"Yes," James responded. "Does that ever happen?"

"Yes, it does. It usually afflicts wizards who have exceptionally strong abilities. The hallucinations will often manifest as deep-rooted fears. Those who are afflicted with this condition must learn to control their emotions. Why do you ask?"

"No reason." James tried to look nonchalant. "I was just curious."

"You aren't seeing things, are you?" A troubled frown marred Amy's face.

"Of course not. I'd just heard stories and wanted to know what to expect."

"There's no way to predict who will suffer from wizard madness but it's an extremely rare condition."

"Am I strong enough to be susceptible?" James asked.

"I don't know. What have you done so far?"

James explained about the opening spells he'd cast unintentionally.

"You are much stronger than average." Amy smiled approvingly at him. "You've definitely inherited the powerful magic that runs through the veins of the Kafka family. I'm glad I've been assigned to you."

"Really?" James asked.

"Yes and I have a secret to share with you tomorrow," Amy said mysteriously.

"Why can't you tell me now?"

"It's a rule. I'm required to wait for at least one day."

"I'm getting tired of so many rules," James said.

"Sometimes I get tired of them too, but once you get to be my age you'll understand that they're very important."

* * *

Jerry slept in late the following morning. James, Beth, and Tim played rummy while Louise watched the news with Princess sprawled in her lap. Jerry stumbled into the room. He was still in his pajamas and his frizzy, gray hair stuck out like a mad scientist's.

"Jerry! Nice to see you," Louise said cheerfully.

Amy was perched on the curtain rod warbling cheerfully. She hadn't spoken all morning and seemed like an ordinary parakeet.

"What happened to Amy's cage?" Jerry asked in confusion.

Louise explained what had occurred the night before.

"You should have listened to her. She knows what she's talking about," Jerry said.

"I need you to tell us what we should know about taking care of the wereparakeet," Louise said.

Jerry sat down at the edge of the couch where Beth sat. James and Mark were positioned on the floor on the opposite side of the coffee table.

"There's not much to tell," Jerry said. "She can assume human form at night. When it's a full moon, she has no choice but to become human. When she's in her parakeet form, she's not as cognizant but she remembers everything that's going on around her. I guess the most important thing to keep in mind is that you should never feed her any meat."

"Why is that?" James asked curiously.

"When a wereanimal eats meat, they lose their consciousness when in their were form. Veronica said that this happened to Amy once and it was terrible, but she wouldn't go into any details. Amy doesn't remember anything during that short time period but it sounds like it wasn't pleasant. Once a wereanimal eats meat, it takes three days for their body to process it."

"That's strange because I know that werewolves who aren't vegetarians lose their consciousness when they become wolves. So that would mean that Amy would lose her consciousness while she was a human, right?" James said.

"That's correct," Jerry confirmed.

"So it seems to me that since she turns into a human then it wouldn't matter if she wasn't a vegetarian because humans aren't mindless animals," James said.

"That's not quite how it works. Believe me; Veronica was very adamant about that."

"We certainly won't be feeding that bird any meat," Louise said firmly.

"Good." Jerry looked immensely relieved to hear that.

James shrugged as he set down four aces and ended the game in the lead. Tim groaned loudly in dismay while Beth just quietly set her cards down and began figuring out her score with calm and careful precision. Jerry took a shower, dressed, ate a piece of bacon and ham quiche for breakfast, said his goodbyes to everyone, and then he left. James wished he could have seen his uncle longer but knew that Jerry and Louise didn't get along very well. It was the most amicable visit Jerry had ever had with them. James and his two friends sat down for more cards. They usually played each game to a thousand points before declaring a winner. Beth was in the lead with eight hundred fifty and Tim was close behind at eight hundred twenty. James didn't think there was much chance he could catch up with them. He wasn't very good at card games.

"It looks like a cold front is headed our way." Louise fretted as she watched the news. "The temperature will drop down into the fifties by Monday. James, you'll probably need to wear your jacket."

Princess's tail twitched as she watched Amy who was hopping along the curtain rod, intermittently warbling and chirping. The cat abruptly leapt out of Louise's lap, darted across the room, and leapt onto the curtains as high as she could. Her nails dug into the fabric and she clung to it as her body swung wildly with the momentum of her jump. Amy flew off the curtains and into the kitchen. Princess held onto the curtains for a moment then leapt off and raced into the kitchen. James ran after them followed by Louise. Amy had landed on the kitchen counter on top of the bacon and ham quiche that Jerry hadn't finished eating. She took a few bites of the food before leaping off the plate. Princess leapt onto the counter and Amy took off again. James heart thudded wildly as he realized how close Amy had come to becoming cat food. So much for Uncle Jerry's theory that Princess would fear Amy once she got close enough to smell her magic.

"We need to get a cage for her," James said.

"I agree," Louise said.

"Oh, no!" Beth exclaimed.

"What's wrong?" Louise leveled a concerned look at her.

"Did you notice that Amy ate some of that quiche?" Beth asked.

"Yes, I did. What's wrong with that?" Louise asked.

"It's made out of eggs. That means she consumed meat."

Louise gasped with horror then turned to watch Amy who was now perched on top of the refrigerator.

"She doesn't seem any different," Louise noted.

"The quiche was very good," Amy said.

"You shouldn't have any more of it. It's meat," Louise said in a grave tone.

"Some vegetarians eat eggs. It depends on how strict a vegetarian you are," Amy said.

"That's true," Louise said. "The bird's got a point."

"Let's hope she does," Beth said dourly.
Chapter 7

James was annoyed that he had to shop for a birdcage. Beth had won the first round of rummy but James had started off the second round with a couple of really good scores. As a result, he was in the lead with four hundred eighty points. Louise had insisted that they go to the pet store though. She had asked Tim to stay and keep an eye on the bird while she, James, and Beth went out. James passed by the rows of birdcages and couldn't help but notice the yellow parakeets. They were such a vibrant color and he'd rarely seen them before. He especially noticed now that he owned one.

"We're not looking for birds," Louise said.

"Maybe we should try to find a companion for Amy," Beth suggested.

"No, Amy doesn't need one because she is capable of interacting with people," Louise said.

Beth shrugged and followed Louise down another aisle, which contained numerous cages of various sizes.

"These things are expensive," Louise said with dismay.

"Those are only fifteen dollars." Beth pointed at some of them.

"They're very small," James said.

Louise gazed at the tiny, square-shaped cage that Beth held up.

"That will do. We're going to leave the door open anyway so Amy can always jump on top of the cage and stretch her legs. It's not like she's going to be cooped up in there," Louise said.

James preferred a larger cage, but he was just grateful his grandmother wasn't making him spend his allowance money. When they returned home, Louise set the cage securely on the stand and filled the food and water dishes. Amy flew into the cage without prompting. Louise left the door open as she remembered what could happen if she accidentally left it shut. The phone rang and Louise crossed the room to answer it.

"Hello?" she said. "Yes, he'll be going to school Monday." She frowned with irritation. "Of course he's ready." She listened for a moment then rolled her eyes with exasperation. "I know that he's not going to be given special treatment just because he's a wizard. You don't need to nag me." She paused for a moment and the voice on the other end grew louder but James still couldn't hear what was being said. "That's fine. I promise. Goodbye."

She quickly hung up the phone as if prematurely ending the conversation.

"What was that all about?" James asked.

"That was Mr. Pratt. He said that you need to be sure you're going to school. You're not going to be given special treatment just because you're a wizard. He merely excused your absences so you wouldn't disrupt the day-to-day operations. Furthermore, he said he'll be keeping a close eye on you."

"James is a good student. You have nothing to worry about." Beth's voice rang with confidence.

"Thank you, dear, but if someone is watching for problems, they will most likely find some. James, you need to be on your best behavior."

"I will," he said solemnly.

Louise went over to the curtains and closed them because it was getting dark outside. She frowned and closely inspected them.

"For heaven's sake. There's bird poop all over these," Louise said with disapproval.

"What did you expect?" Amy asked.

"Tomorrow, you're going to have to catch up on your homework and really study hard for your tests," Louise told her grandson.

"I will," he promised.

"You can't have any friends over until you have everything caught up."

Tomorrow was going to be a drag. To add insult to injury, James lost his lead in the game of rummy with his friends. Beth quickly gained momentum and Tim narrowed the gap. Just as usual, James ended up losing the game.

"Let's play Parcheesi," Tim suggested.

"That sounds like a good idea," James agreed.

All too soon, it was time for Beth and Tim to return to their homes. James went to the living room to see if there was something interesting to do. He found his grandmother sleeping in the armchair with Princess sprawled across her lap. The cat lifted her head and stared intently at James. The soft, fluffy, black hair on her back stood on end as she issued a low, menacing growl.

"What's wrong?" James asked.

Suddenly, she leapt off the chair with a loud screech and ran out of the room. Louise screamed and woke up with a start.

"What in the world is going on?" she demanded.

"I don't know. Princess just got scared and left," James said.

A bright, gold luminescence spilled from the corner of the room and he turned to see what it was. His parakeet glowed with a radiant light as she stood on the edge of the cage door.

"It's time," Amy announced.

She leapt from the cage as she became completely engulfed in the gold luminescence. As she dropped toward the floor, there was a loud crack like thunder and the gold light was suddenly much larger. The large, golden mass hit the floor with an audible thud and abruptly stopped glowing to reveal Amy in her human form, curled up on her side. She wore the same jeans, gold blouse and tennis shoes as last night. She smiled and stretched as she sat up.

"What a wonderful evening," she said.

"It's time for dinner, isn't it?" Louise asked.

"Let's have some bacon and ham quiche. I love that stuff," Amy said cheerfully.

"I'll fix you a nice bowl of oatmeal instead," Louise said.

"That's one of my favorites," Amy said brightly. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

They went to the kitchen and Louise fixed ham sandwiches for herself and James while making a bowl of oatmeal for Amy. Soon, they were all seated at the dining room table.

"There was a secret I was going to tell James, but I suppose I can tell you too," Amy told Louise.

"A secret?"

"No one can know about this outside the family," Amy said. "Do you both promise to keep this to yourselves?"

"Yes," Louise and James said.

"I can do powerful magic." Amy smiled radiantly at them. "My natural ability is a barrier spell. In case you don't know what that is, James, it's the ability to create an invisible wall of telekinetic energy. I've used it to help out my previous owners when they've been in trouble with secondary realm creatures."

"Veronica had trouble with secondary realm creatures?" James asked.

"Oh, yes. It's perfectly understandable when you realize..." Amy's voice trailed off.

"What were you going to say?" James asked.

He glanced at his grandmother who had set her sandwich down and was pinning Amy with a warning look.

"Oh, nothing!" Amy exclaimed. "I was just thinking how fun it was to help Veronica when she needed it. Magic can be fun."

"What kinds of spells have you done before?" James' eyes shone with excitement.

"I've done all kinds of things. Veronica liked me to help out with luck inversion spells to give her relief from bad luck but my favorite spell is transmutation."

"What's that?" James peered at her with curiosity.

Amy snapped her finger, causing a brief flash of gold light to engulf her body. When the light ebbed away, her clothing had changed so that she now wore a midnight blue evening gown and it made her look older.

"Barrier spells are very useful," Louise said. "I think you should stick with those."

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing." Complete and utter confidence laced Amy's words. "I'm looking forward to teaching James how to use his magic."

"You'd better be careful," Louise said. "Don't teach him anything too advanced."

"Of course not," Amy said in a reassuring tone.

Princess cautiously stepped into the room and warily eyed Amy as if she would suddenly spring down upon the cat without warning.

"You're certainly uptight this evening," Louise said to her cat.

Princess meowed plaintively at her before stepping farther into the room and rubbing against Louise's ankles.

"This oatmeal is delicious!" Amy said with delight. "Veronica used to slice up dates and put them in. Do you think you could do that sometime?"

"Sure, dear," Louise said.

"How about tomorrow evening?" Amy asked.

"Okay."

"Do you think we could go over and see Tim and Beth?" Amy asked.

"They just went home for their dinner. Why don't you and James wait for another half an hour before you go over?" Louise suggested.

"Okay," Amy said. "Do you have any spell books I can read?"

"Yes, there are some in the desk over there." Louise pointed to the corner of the dining room where a small desk rested against the wall.

Amy rushed over to it and began leafing through one of the leather-bound books.

"I thought you already knew all kinds of magic," James remarked.

"I like reading about them and discovering new spells. Like this, one for instance. An invisibility spell." Amy tapped the page with her index finger.

"Can you show me?" James asked.

"That's advanced magic." Louise leveled a warning gaze at Amy. "I would prefer that you stay away from that type of stuff."

"I was able to do it at the grocery store," James pointed out.

"And you're very lucky that nothing went wrong," Louise said.

"You successfully cast an invisibility spell on yourself?" Amy grinned at James. "Congratulations, kid. It usually takes a great deal of practice to get it right."

"I still want you to steer clear of that kind of magic for a while." Louise centered a stern look at her grandson. "Master the basics first."

"I will," he promised.

Amy set the spell book down on the desk. Her brows furrowed with concentration and her body slowly faded away into nothingness.

"I told you not to do that." Louise leveled a look of reprisal at the empty spot in front of the desk where she presumed that Amy was still standing.

Amy materialized right beside Louise, startling her. A wide grin of pleasure curved Amy's lips, but Louise was not in the least amused.

"I think I'm going to try another one!" Amy said.

She walked over to the desk, grabbed the book, and flipped through the pages.

"This is a really cool spell! Take a look at this!" Amy looked it over carefully then extended her left hand out toward James.

Without warning, his chair suddenly lifted him up into the air. He continued to float toward the ceiling, but finally stopped when he was about ten feet above the floor.

"A levitation spell," Louise murmured.

"Yes!" Amy exclaimed.

"Why don't you put him down now, dear?" Louise said cautiously.

"Sure."

The chair slowly lowered to the floor and James let out a soft sigh of relief. He'd been a little concerned over how high he was floating. He vacated his chair just in case Amy decided to levitate it again. He needn't have worried as she was now concentrating on the table. It slowly rose into the air.

"I think you've done enough for now," Louise said.

"This is fun," Amy said enthusiastically.

The desk lifted up from behind her a few feet as well as a couple of chairs.

"Amy! You're going to break something!" Louise scolded.

"Take a chill pill, Kafka," Amy said.

James noticed that her eyes had changed from gold to blue. He went to the kitchen and dialed Jerry's cell phone. He rarely called his uncle but Amy seemed to be acting odd; even for a parakeet that had taken human form.

"Hello?" Jerry said.

"I wanted to ask you about a possible problem we're having."

"What is it?" Jerry asked tightly.

"After you left this morning, Amy ate some of your leftover quiche. Tonight, she seems different," James explained.

"Different how?"

James explained Amy's strange behavior to his uncle.

"She's definitely acting out of character. She's normally very reserved and disciplined. You shouldn't have let her eat that quiche, young man. I warned you that there would be negative consequences."

"I didn't do it on purpose. She flew into the kitchen and started nibbling on the quiche before I could even get there," James said defensively.

"You should have been more careful." Jerry sighed loudly over the phone. "What you need to do now is make sure she doesn't have any more meat. After three nights, she should revert back to normal."

"Have her eyes ever been blue before?" James asked.

"No, that's never happened. It's undoubtedly a side effect of her carnivorous nature."

"Do you think anything else is going to happen to Amy before she returns back to normal?"

"Something really big is going to happen. The thing about wereanimals is that whenever they take their temporary form, if they aren't vegetarian during that time period, their consciousness is subsumed by the essence of the animal."

"A wizard isn't an animal," James argued.

"Technically speaking, people and wizards are just different types of animals compared to wolves and parakeets. So if we were to think about it, we could naturally expect that Amy's normal personality will be replaced by the essence of the wizard form that she's become."

"What is the essence of a wizard?" James asked.

"The gathering of magic and the instinct to protect."

"That doesn't sound so bad."

"There's no way to predict how that will manifest in Amy. Don't let her eat any more meat," Jerry cautioned.

"Don't worry, I won't."

"Let me know if you need any more help. I have to go now."

James hung up the phone and went to the dining room to talk to his grandmother. Louise and Amy were in the living room playing rummy.

"James, we're almost finished with this hand. Sit down and you can join us in the next game," Amy said.

"Actually, I don't really like playing cards all that much," Louise said. "You and James can go see Beth and Tim."

"That sounds like fun," Amy said.

Amy and James went outside in the dark and headed down the street toward Beth's house, which was closest. James hoped Tim would be waiting there because he hated walking all the way to Tim's house. Soon, Amy and James saw a couple of kids playing soccer in the street. James couldn't tell who they were until they noticed them. It was Bill and his friend, Joe Bob. Joe Bob was a tall, pudgy boy with black greasy hair and blue eyes.

"What do we have here?" Bill said.

He tucked the soccer ball under his arm as he approached James and Amy.

"We're just going to see a friend," James said.

"You aren't very friendly, are you?" Bill taunted them as he stepped to the side to block them. "Maybe Joe Bob and I need to teach you some manners."

"We're not supposed to hang out at night. We need to get going," James said nervously.

"That's too bad," Joe Bob said menacingly. "You're being rude."

Without warning, Bill threw the soccer ball and it smashed into James' face. He fell backwards onto his behind and blood trickled from his nose. Amy gazed down at him in surprise then narrowed her eyes at the two boys.

"Maybe you should pick on someone your own size," Amy said as she raised her fists.

"I'm so scared! Are you going to beat me up?" Bill said sarcastically.

"Not really. I'm just going to knock you around a bit," Amy said conversationally.

She stepped forward with the fluid grace of a dancer and then her fist sailed through the air with lightning speed, connecting with Bill's forehead and causing him to stumble backward in a daze. Without skipping a beat, she turned on Joe Bob and slapped him in the face, leaving a red hand imprint on his cheek. She waved her hand at him and he instantly fell asleep on the street. Bill shook his head and glared at her. He stepped forward but she made a sweeping gesture with her arm, and an instant later, he stumbled and fell flat on his face. He lay down on the street snoring loudly.

"That's how you deal with bullies," Amy said brightly. "Wasn't that easy?"

"If you know how to cast sleeping spells," James said, "which I can't do yet."

"You'll have to practice. I'll help you," Amy said.

"Why was I able to do more advanced magic like make myself invisible, but then later I couldn't even do a simple sleeping spell?"

"Your body is still adjusting to your magic so it's not working consistently just yet."
Chapter 8

James had finished his cereal and was walking to the sink with his dirty bowl when his foot slipped on something slippery. The bowl slipped from his grasp as he fell flat on his back and the remaining milk splashed over his face and chest. He stared up at the ceiling for a moment before irritation over his constant bad luck took hold. He sat up and snatched the bowl from the floor.

"Are you okay, honey?" Louise asked from the kitchen table.

"Is there ever going to be a day when I don't end up wearing breakfast or something disgusting splashes on me?" James asked.

"Saint Patrick's Day."

"What?" James regarded with surprise. He hadn't expected an answer.

"The only day you won't have rotten luck is Saint Patrick's Day. For some reason, the good luck cancels out the curse," Louise explained.

"At least I'll have one day of relief out of three hundred sixty-five," James said.

He washed out his bowl and spoon and then went to the living room to see how his parakeet was doing. He stared at the empty cage with stunned disbelief. The cage door was open but there was no sign of Amy anywhere in the room. Princess was curled up on the couch sleeping.

"Grandma!" James shouted.

Louise rushed into the room and immediately identified the problem.

"Amy is missing!" Louise exclaimed.

"What could have happened?" James' gaze dropped to the sleeping black cat.

"Maybe she got bored and flew into another room," Louise suggested.

They frantically searched the house and finally found Amy sleeping at the desk in the guest room. Both Louise and James were startled to see that she was still in human form even though it was morning.

"This isn't possible," Louise said.

"Maybe it's a side-effect of the meat she ate," James suggested.

Amy groaned softly and lifted her head. She opened her eyes and blinked at her surroundings with confusion.

"What is going on?" she asked.

"We were wondering the same thing," Louise said.

"I've never been in wizard form during the day." Amy straightened in the office chair and held her arms out to the side in a brief stretch.

"Is it possible that this has something to do with the quiche you had yesterday morning?" James asked.

"I don't see how. Of course, I don't remember the time period when I ate meat the last time. I just know that Veronica was very stressed out afterwards," Amy said. "It was before she met Jerry so he doesn't know either."

"We need to do something about this," Louise said.

"The only thing we can do is make sure I stay a vegetarian until this side effect wears off, but I don't think there's any reason for me to return back to normal," Amy said.

"I disagree," Louise said.

"Why?" Amy cocked her head to the side and gazed at the grandmother curiously.

"Because you'll lose your identity as a parakeet."

"What's so bad about that? Do I seem any different to you?" Amy asked.

"Not really," Louise said slowly. "But that doesn't mean your condition won't get worse."

"I'll take that chance." Amy flashed a playful grin at her.

Louise frowned at her reprovingly but refrained from argument. She abruptly left the room. James sat down on the edge of the bed and regarded Amy with consideration. Maybe if she was different, she may not follow the rules as much.

"I was thinking it would be a good idea if I knew how to get rid of my curse," James said.

"I can't tell you that until you're older," Amy responded. "I'm sorry but it's for your own good."

"If the bad luck curse kills me like it did Veronica, how can it be for my own good?" James asked.

Amy flinched at the reminder of her previous owner's death and her face became guarded.

"I'm exhausted. I need more sleep," she said after a lengthy pause.

"Okay," James said.

He left the room and Amy closed the door behind him. James went to his room and sat down at his desk to work on some of his homework. It was taking much longer than he'd expected to finish. After several hours, he had to force himself to concentrate. Missing school had been fun but the homework was a drag. A painful throbbing suddenly erupted in his forehead. Without warning, his textbook was engulfed in blue flames. James yelped in alarm. His heart beat wildly in his chest as the blue flames licked at the pages of his math book. He abruptly remembered that this was a hallucination caused by his new power and fear. He had to overcome the fear or the hallucinations would get worse.

He gazed at the blue fire and realized it wasn't damaging his book. That made sense since it was just an illusion. Even though he knew this was just a hallucination, his body still reacted with fear. He sat and stared at the blue flames wishing they would go away as the pain in his forehead throbbed violently. He slowly reached out with his left hand with the intention of sticking it into the fire. He hesitated at the last moment with his hand poised inches from the hungry, blue flames. Adrenaline coursed through his body and he wasn't sure he could force himself to touch it. James pulled his hand away from the turbulent, blue flames, which were now spreading across his desk with alarming speed. He gasped in terror and scooted backwards. His chair overturned and he tumbled to the floor.

He abruptly looked up and sighed with relief when he could see that the fire was now gone. There was no sign of any smoke or damage either. He wished the hallucination hadn't seemed so real. He should have forced himself to touch the blue flame so he could convince himself once and for all that it was just an illusion. He had to control his fear or it would only grow worse.

"What's going on?" Amy asked from directly behind him.

"Don't you know how to knock?" James asked with annoyance.

"The door was open," she said.

"I closed it when I started studying," James said tersely.

"You must have accidentally cast an opening spell again," Amy said. "Did you have a headache earlier?"

"Yes," James said slowly.

He noticed that the headache was gone now. It must have been his body adjusting to the magic again. He wondered when he would gain control of his new abilities.

"Did you want to play Monopoly?" Amy asked.

"I don't really like that game," James said.

"Come on! It'll be fun!"

"All right," James said reluctantly.

Someone rang the doorbell as they were setting the game up at the coffee table in the living room. Louise opened the door to reveal Mr. Pratt.

"Ms. Kafka, I need to speak with you and James," Mr. Pratt said.

"Okay," Louise said. "Come in."

"Thank you," Mr. Pratt said stiffly.

They walked into the living room and seated themselves. Mr. Pratt noticed Amy and a strange expression flitted across his face.

"Who are you, young lady?" he asked.

"I'm Amy Kafka, James' cousin," she fibbed.

"This is a private conversation," Mr. Pratt said.

"She can stay," Louise said.

"Very well." Mr. Pratt frowned with disapproval. "I stopped by to find out if James is still having difficulties with his new abilities as a wizard."

"For the most part, he's adjusted," Louise said.

"But not entirely," Mr. Pratt said with alarm. "I don't want any problems at my school."

"For heaven's sake, what do you want?" Louise asked.

"I want everything to run smoothly. I don't want to be overrun with magical problems."

"There won't be any problems."

"I had a couple of visions that indicate otherwise. James is going to be doing something to cause disruptions," Mr. Pratt said.

"There may be minor difficulties but nothing serious. In several days, he should be in complete control," Louise said.

"Can you guarantee that?" Mr. Pratt demanded.

"I can't make any promises."

"I can't allow this," he said belligerently. "I may have to expel your grandson."

"You will do no such thing. If you weren't a psychic, you would have no idea that magic was involved and nothing to point the blame at James. You have no legal justification for disciplining my grandson," Louise said heatedly.

Mr. Pratt's face flushed and he opened his mouth several times as if he couldn't string a coherent thought together.

"This is unacceptable," he finally said.

"I'm sorry you feel that way but James is going to school tomorrow," Louise said firmly. "You will take no action against him."

"You're wrong," the principal said forcefully. "If anyone witnesses James disrupting school or physical evidence points to him, there will definitely be consequences."

"No one can witness magic," Louise said.

"That depends on the spell, doesn't it?" Mr. Pratt stood up and shot James a disapproving look. "Be sure you're on your best behavior and control your powers."

"Yes, sir," James responded.

Mr. Pratt blinked at him in surprise before whirling around and stomping over to the front door. Louise trailed behind him and made sure to close and lock the door after he left.

"Psychics can be so troublesome," Louise fretted. She paced the living room as if searching for some kind of solution to their problem. She abruptly halted and turned to face her grandson. "You need to promise me you'll be very careful at school."

"I will," James said.

"When people are looking for something wrong, they can usually find it. I wish Mr. Pratt had other problems that would take his attention away from you."

"I can make problems for him," Amy suggested.

"What?" Louise threw her a look of surprise.

"I could cast some spells to get things stirred up. I could create so many distractions for Mr. Pratt that he'd completely forget about James."

"What do you have in mind?" Louise asked.

"For starters, I could transport a bunch of frogs inside all of the desks of someone's classroom. That would be a disruption," Amy said smugly. "I'd make sure it was a class far from Ms. MacKenna's."

"It's too risky. He would probably realize you were the source of the problems. He's already seen you here at the house so he would figure out that you're doing this because of James."

"I suppose you're right," Amy conceded with great disappointment.

"You need to swear to me that you're not going to do anything to the school," Louise said forcefully.

"I promise." Amy rolled her eyes with exasperation. "Sheesh! You're such a worry-wart."

"It's almost time for dinner. I'm going to stick some pizza in the oven," Louise said.

"Oh, great! Pizza sounds wonderful!" Amy exclaimed.

"You've had pizza before?" Louise asked.

"No but it sounds really good."

"I'm afraid you can't have any because it contains meat," Louise said regretfully.

Amy wordlessly left the room. James and Louise exchanged worried looks. Princess sauntered into the room and brushed against Louise's ankles. Louise reached down and briefly stroked her cat's silky, black fur.

"Princess seems kind of stressed lately. I think she could use another massage," Louise said in a distracted tone. "I'll have to make an appointment with the pet masseuse."

Beth came over a short while later to help James work on his homework. It didn't take long for the two of them to finish up.

"Pizza is ready!" Louise called out from across the house.

The three of them ate in the living room watching television. James finished off his second piece of pizza and went to the kitchen for another. Oddly enough, there was only one slice left but there should have been three. Louise stepped into the kitchen and halted a short distance from the pizza.

"I only had one slice. How many did you and Beth have?" Louise said.

"We each had two," James responded.

"That means there are two pieces missing," Louise said.

"Amy!" James exclaimed.

Louise nodded slowly and an expression of anxiety clouded her face. She and James went to the guest room and knocked on the door.

"Just a minute!" Amy called out.

Louise opened the door without waiting. Amy was chewing and held a half-eaten slice of pizza in her hand. She glared at them accusingly.

"I can't believe you just barged into my room like that." Her blue eyes flashed with outrage.

"Young lady, you are under strict orders not to eat meat!" Louise pointed a scolding finger at her.

"I'm not following that rule anymore," Amy said.

"You must."

When Amy failed to respond, Louise stepped forward and reached out to snatch the pizza. Louise's hand bounced away as if smacking against something invisible. James realized that Amy must have cast a barrier spell.

"I can eat whatever I feel like." A smug smile curled Amy's lips.

Louise abruptly left the room and James followed her. They went to the living room where Beth was still watching the movie.

"What's going on?" Beth asked.

"You can't tell anybody about this. Not even Tim," Louise said.

"Okay," Beth promised.

Louise informed her of what had just occurred, which flabbergasted Beth.

"I can't believe it," Beth said.

"No one can find out she's a wizard," Louise warned.

"Don't worry. I won't tell anyone," Beth said.

"It's going to take three more days for the meat to get out of her system so she can return to normal," Louise fretted.

"What if she eats meat every day?" Beth asked.

"Her condition may escalate and something terrible will happen," Louise said.
Chapter 9

James, Beth, and Tim were the last to arrive in Ms. MacKenna's classroom on Monday morning. Beth was seriously upset because she hated to be late even if it was the school bus driver's fault and she wouldn't be blamed. Her eyes flitted nervously over the various students as she made her way over to her desk. Ms. MacKenna was jotting down notes on a piece of paper. James stumbled as a wave of dizziness and vertigo assailed his senses. He accidentally bumped into Tim who threw him a troubled look. The three of them sat down with less than a minute to spare. The class was loud with chattering students.

"Are you all right?" Beth asked.

"I'm kind of dizzy," James replied.

In the back of his mind, something seemed wrong with the room. He abruptly realized he'd somehow ended up in the wrong seat, but then shook his head in confusion because it was the right seat after all. He looked over at the other students and for some reason, every seat seemed to be off as though everyone was shifted one seat over from their normal place. When James tried to remember the exact seating arrangement, he became even dizzier and his attention slid away as if directed to do so. The bells rang to indicate it was time for class to start.

"Good morning, class," Ms. MacKenna said.

"Good morning, Ms. MacKenna."

"Today, we're going to combine a couple of things we have learned in the past. One of them we've been practicing quite a bit and that's solving equations. I'm sure most of you are starting to become comfortable with them," she said in a pleasant voice. "Today, we're going to learn how to use equations to solve story problems."

A few students groaned at the mention of story problems.

"There's no need to worry because it will all make perfect sense once you learn the basics and you start practicing," Ms. MacKenna said effervescently.

James' stomach clenched into an anxious knot because his experiences with story problems never ended well. Ms. MacKenna started off by reading a story problem aloud.

"Do I have a volunteer to write on the board?" Ms. MacKenna asked.

Peggy, one of the teacher's pets, flung her hand up into the air before anyone else could even think about volunteering. Beth's hand shot up in the air a split second later because, as much as it pained James to admit it, she was also the teacher's pet.

"Peggy, thank you," Ms. MacKenna said appreciatively.

Peggy flounced up from her seat with a wide, proud grin on her face. She and Beth sometimes got on James' nerves. Peggy was thin, shorter than average with long black hair that she always kept in a French braid and sparkling, blue eyes. He looked over at the desk she was sitting in and remembered that this was the wrong desk for her. Someone else had always sat there before. In fact, it seemed that practically all the students were in the wrong desks including him, Beth, and Tim. His attention slid away from this fact as if being guided by some unseen force and he quickly forgot about the problem.

"I am going to go through each step methodically," Ms. MacKenna said pleasantly as she slowly paced the room.

She began to explain the basic concept of this particular story problem and told Peggy what equation to use. Peggy obediently wrote down the formula with slow, deliberate strokes of the dry-erase pen. The letters and numbers were all the same size and height and written as though on an invisible line. Peggy had a unique talent for writing neatly on the whiteboard, which was extremely difficult. The dizziness that distracted James slowly subsided, and it was almost completely gone when the recess bell sounded. He, Beth, and Tim eagerly stepped outside into the fresh air. The azure blue sky was breathtaking although the relentless heat from the blazing sun bore down on them.

"James, we need to talk," Beth said gravely.

"What do you mean?" James asked.

"Remember when you first came to class and you were dizzy?" Beth asked.

"Yes, why do you ask?" James regarded her with puzzlement.

"I've been feeling the same way for the last three days, every time I've first set foot in the classroom. Tim felt it for only one day and then he was fine," Beth said.

"What do you think it is?" James asked.

"There's definitely an illusion spell at work. I have a partial immunity to illusion spells because it's my natural ability. It's really powerful though so I can't tell how things really were or what's different," Beth said. "Whenever I try to figure it out, I can't concentrate and I forget about it until later when I leave the classroom."

"It's like something is forcing us not to think about it," James said.

"Exactly! I've heard of those spells. There's a thought redirection spell, for example, that would keep people from thinking about certain things," Beth said.

"Is there any way we can protect ourselves from it?" James asked.

"It's possible, but it's very advanced magic," Beth said. "There's no way that any of us could cast a spell like that."

"What do you think we should do?" James asked.

"I think we need to tell an officer of the protectorate so that they can investigate the problem," Beth said.

"My dad's a protectorate officer," Tim said.

James' gaze was drawn to Mr. O'Connor who was a short distance away and walking quickly toward the main office with Mr. Pratt.

"Mr. O'Connor is an officer of the protectorate, too," James said. He pointed to him. "He's over there right now."

"I wonder why he and Mr. Pratt are going to the main office?" Tim said. "We should follow them."

"We can't do that," Beth sputtered with outrage.

"We might hear something important about what's going on," Tim said.

"We could get in trouble for eavesdropping," Beth said.

"Not if we're invisible," Tim suggested.

He made a subtle sweeping gesture with his right hand as he quickly cast an invisibility spell on the three of them before Beth could protest. Because the same spell encompassed all of them, they perceived each other as transparent images.

"What have you done?" Beth's eyes glinted with ire.

"I think it's important that we find out what's happening," James said.

"He's right," Tim jumped in. "What if it has to do with what's happened in Ms. MacKenna's class? We might be able to help."

Beth stared at him with a doubtful expression on her face as she considered his words.

Finally, she shook her head with exasperation. "All right, let's go."

The three of them carefully made their way to the main office. Mr. Pratt and Mr. O'Connor were in the principal's room. Their angry voices were muffled by the closed door. James, Beth, and Tim pressed their ears against it and strained to listen.

"There are going to be too many disruptions. I need you to put an end to this," Mr. Pratt said furiously.

"There is something dangerous happening at this school," Mr. O'Connor said.

"I know that! It's something magical and it's your people's fault," Mr. Pratt said snippily.

"The protectorate is investigating the spells. So far, we haven't discovered the source of the magic. The spells are too strong for us to remember what's happening once we step into one of the infected classrooms."

"I don't want to hear excuses!"

"I'm just explaining the situation. We're doing our best. We think it might be a secondary realm creature that has just escaped from prison. It's called a Viatus and its name is Roedalgia. We have no idea what it looks like because it can disguise itself with magic."

"What else can you tell me about it?" Mr. Pratt demanded.

"Its natural abilities are mind control, illusion spells, and memory manipulation. She draws power from people when she pulls them into her magical network."

"Then Roedalgia's a woman?"

"Yes, or a girl," Mr. O'Connor said.

"This is just terrific," Mr. Pratt said with disgust. "You're not going to be able to track her down."

"How do you know that?"

"I can feel it. For as long as a week, you will get no closer to discovering who she is. I can't sense any farther ahead than that," Mr. Pratt said. "I suggest you call for reinforcements."

"You're actually inviting wizards into your school?"

"They'll have to come after hours to avoid raising suspicion."

"Of course," Mr. O'Connor agreed.

The warning bells rang, indicating there were only five minutes until recess was over.

"We'd better get out of here," Beth whispered.

James, Beth, and Tim left the main office. Tim removed the invisibility spell when no one was looking at them and they returned to class. They didn't have time to discuss what they had discovered until lunch. It was difficult to find a seat where they could conduct a private conversation, but they found a secluded spot at the end of a table near the corner of the cafeteria. They were amongst the few students who rarely ate the cafeteria food. Beth had a lunch box while Tim and James had sack lunches.

"I can't believe we have a secondary realm creature in our school," Tim whispered.

"It sounds like Roedalgia is pretending to be a teacher or a student," Beth said quietly.

"Do you think she's Ms. MacKenna?" Tim asked.

"Of course not!" Beth exclaimed. "That's absurd!"

"Roedalgia gives false memories, doesn't she?" Tim said.

"Yes but that doesn't make any sense. Ms. MacKenna has been our teacher for the entire year."

"They could be fake memories," Tim said forcefully.

"No, that can't be." Beth shook her head in denial. "That's just not possible."

"Why not?" Tim said.

"It just isn't," Beth said irritably. "It doesn't matter anyway. The protectorate will find her and put her back in prison."

"Not only that but Mr. O'Connor said there was more than one classroom infected by the magic. Roedalgia probably isn't even in our class."

"Why is she using her magic on different classrooms?" Tim asked with puzzlement.

"Probably because she's taken over some people's minds and they're helping her," Beth suggested. "She doesn't want the protectorate to stop her people."

"Wouldn't it be freaky if Amy was really Roedalgia?" Tim said.

"Don't be ridiculous!" Beth snapped. "A bird can't be a secondary realm creature."

"But what if the bird is just the illusion part? Amy never perched on any of our fingers, did she? Besides, what if Roedalgia can take two different forms?" Tim said.

"Some secondary realm creatures can alternate between two different forms but I've never heard of them changing into an animal," Beth said. "I think you should stop thinking about the Viatus. It'll drive you crazy if you keep speculating about everything."

"I guess so," Tim said. "I just think it would be cool if we were the ones who discovered her before the protectorate did. Do you think we would get an award or anything?"

"I think we would get in trouble for interfering with an investigation," Beth said primly.

"I guess it probably wouldn't be a good idea." Tim looked deflated as he grabbed his ham sandwich and took a bite.

"Everything will be okay. The protectorate will discover her and put her back in jail," Beth said confidently.

A boy carrying a tray of cafeteria food was walking past them but tripped suddenly and fell sideways against James. The spaghetti slid from the tray and onto James' head while the peaches plopped into his lap.

"I'm sorry," the boy cried out.

James sighed with resignation and fled the cafeteria as quickly as possible. A bunch of kids pointed and snickered but he ignored them. He made his way to the bathroom and brushed the spaghetti off his head and into the trash. The tomato sauce was smeared into his hair and the peaches had stained the front of his pants, which made him look like he'd peed in them. It was so humiliating. James grabbed some paper towels and wiped at his pants first then dunked his head under the running water. Mr. O'Connor stepped into the bathroom as he finished rinsing his hair off. Mr. O'Connor carried a clean shirt and a pair of pants.

"You should think about bringing a change of clothes. You've had a lot of accidents because of your curse," Mr. O'Connor said.

"How did you know about that?" James asked.

"I had a talk with your grandmother after I discovered you're a wizard," he explained. "Be careful. You don't want to draw attention to yourself."

Mr. O'Connor set the clothes down on the dry portion of the sink and left. James was immensely relieved to change into clean clothes. The warning bell rang, which indicated there were only five minutes remaining for lunch. James was disgusted that his bad luck had cost him practically the entire break. He grabbed his soiled clothes and returned to class, stuffing them into his backpack. A wave of dizziness made him stumble as he headed for his seat. It was the wrong one. He normally sat over to the right where Beth was currently seated. Her spot was one over as well. James wondered if his mind was playing tricks on him. He took in all the desks and tried to figure out what was so different about them. Before he could make any progress with remembering the original seating arrangements, his thoughts were directed by the same outside force that had influenced him before. It was a type of thought redirection spell. It was so potent that James completely forgot about the disturbance until Beth reminded him after class as they were riding on the bus toward home.

"I can't believe this," James said. "It's so hard to remember."

"Are you sure it's real?" Tim asked. "Maybe you're both hallucinating."

"Oh, please," Beth said. "Do you know how that sounds?"

"How come I don't remember anything strange about people's seating arrangement in the class?" Tim demanded.

"You forgot over the weekend," Beth explained. "James will probably forget after a couple of days."

"You think so?" James asked.

"Would you have remembered if I hadn't reminded you?" Beth asked.

"I don't know," James replied.

"Are you sure there aren't any spells to help protect us against whatever spell was cast in Ms. MacKenna's class?" Tim asked.

"Mind manipulation spells and their antidotes are way beyond our skill level. Even protectorate officers have difficulty with them," Beth said.

"It's not our problem. We're just kids," James said.

"It really bothers me that we may be sharing the same classroom as Roedalgia." Beth frowned in consternation.

"Me, too," James admitted.

They decided to go directly to Tim's house so they could talk privately. They met in the spacious living room, which boasted a massive entertainment system, two long black couches with plush cushions, thick beige carpeting, and red walls. Gold sconces in the wall held long, white candles containing security charms. A flame would appear if someone tried to break into the home.

"Why don't we try a tranquility spell mixed with a clarity-of-mind spell?" James suggested.

"That won't work. Those are minor spells," Beth said.

"There's no point in trying to figure this out. If the protectorate had to bring a team of wizards in, there's nothing three kids can do," James told them.

"Amy knows a lot about magic. Maybe we should ask her for help." Tim's eyes glinted with excitement.

"It's worth a shot but we don't want Grandma Kafka to hear," James said. "She won't like this at all."

The phone hanging on the wall nearby rang and Tim answered it. He told James it was his grandmother as he handed the phone over.

"It's me," his grandmother said. "I need you to come home now."

"It's really early," James protested.

"I need you to come home."

"Can Tim and Beth come over?" James asked.

"Sure, honey, but don't dawdle."

James hung up the phone and told them he had to go, but asked if they would like to tag along. He was relieved that they did. When the three of them entered the house, Louise was seated in the living room looking tense and pretending to read a magazine. Amy was restlessly pacing the area directly in front of the couch with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Hello, James," Louise said with a strained smile.

"What's going on?" James asked.

"James, your life is in danger," Amy said.

She directed her intense gaze at him, which revealed a strange, silvery luminescence that flickered within her blue eyes.

"What do you mean?" James asked.

"There's danger at your school. I can feel it," Amy said.

"You can? Are you a psychic now?"

Tim did a double take when he noticed her eyes.

"I've discovered I can do many things," Amy told them.

"You can?" Tim asked with awe.

"I don't know why I've never seen it before," Amy said. "All these years I've had the potential to do incredible things."

"We've had a problem in Ms. MacKenna's classroom. Do you think you can help us?" Tim asked.

"A problem?" Amy tensed up and she pinned him with a concerned gaze. "Tell me about it."

Beth briefly outlined the situation and what they had overheard in the principal's office. Amy began pacing and became more agitated as she listened.

"That makes perfect sense. Roedalgia was attracted to your school for a very good reason. I should have predicted this. James is in terrible danger," Amy said in a panic-stricken voice.

"Calm down," Louise said soothingly.

Amy stopped pacing and shook her head. "Don't you see? It's all tied together."

"What does she mean?" James asked.

"She's not thinking rationally," Louise stated in a nervous tone.

"I'm going to have to do a spell," Amy said decisively.

She held her hands out towards James and he sensed a buildup of power.

"Amy, stop!" Louise leapt to her feet.

Amy didn't seem to hear her. James braced himself as a tendril of bright, blue light lurched wildly from each of Amy's hands. One of them intersected with his forehead and the other struck Beth in the exact same spot. It happened so quickly that no one had time to react. After several seconds, the energy discharge from the spell was gone. James frowned pensively as he took stock of how he felt. Nothing was hurt or different as far as he could tell.

"That was a counter spell that should protect your minds from whatever is affecting the classroom," Amy said.

"Are you sure it worked?" Louise asked nervously. "You didn't mess up and accidentally cast some other sort of spell did you?"

"I know what I'm doing," Amy said confidently.

"Could you do the counter spell on me, too?" Tim asked.

"Sure."

Before anyone could protest, she cast the spell.

"You shouldn't have done that," Louise reprimanded her.

"I need to do whatever I can to protect James. If we aren't careful, Roedalgia will end up killing him."

"Why are you so worried that she's going to kill me?" James asked.

"I can't tell you that. You'll just have to trust me," Amy replied.

James shot his grandmother a questioning look.

"She's not herself," Louise said nervously.

"I need to establish a few ground rules to keep you safe, James," Amy stated in an authoritative tone. "For now on, you need to come straight home after school. When you're at school, I'll need you to call me twice a day."

"You can't give me rules. I'm your owner," James said.

"I'm your mentor—not your pet. I know what's best for you," Amy said stridently. "You're going to have to comply with my rules." She held her hand out and a red, stylish purse drifted up from the far end of the couch and floated over to her.

"Nice purse," Beth said.

"Thanks." Amy's lips curved in a pleased smile as she pulled out smartphones and handed them to Beth, James, and Tim. Excitement welled inside James as his fingers closed over the blue smartphone that Amy passed to him. He had wanted one for over a year and had even begged Louise to give him one for his birthday, but she couldn't afford it.

"How were you able to buy all this stuff?" Tim asked.

"It's easy to do when you can make gold and other gemstones out of ordinary rocks," Amy smirked. "I have quite a collection stashed in my room for safekeeping."

"You have a room now?" Tim inquired.

"The former guestroom is mine."

"Why do I need to call you twice a day?" James asked.

"So that I know you're safe."

"You're really acting strange."

"I'm destined to guard you from the dangers that will threaten your life," Amy said.

"Are you talking about my bad luck curse?" James asked.

"Of course." Amy smiled patronizingly at him. "You're very bright for a human."

"You're really smart for a bird," Tim teased her.

Amy turned and narrowed her eyes at him. "Why don't you go home now?"

"I don't want to."

"I wasn't asking. I was giving you an order," Amy said sternly.

She cast a spell on Tim. His eyes immediately lost focus and he slowly walked toward the door, which opened of its own accord. As he left the house, the door closed and locked behind him.

"He'll be back to normal as soon as he returns home," Amy said conversationally.

"You just cast a very advanced mind control spell without even concentrating or preparing for it," Beth said with astonishment.

"I'm in control now and I'm taking charge of James," Amy announced.
Chapter 10

Louise sank back down into the couch, watching Amy with the same caution that one would give to a dangerous animal. Beth looked more shocked than afraid. James realized what was happening to his wereparakeet. He hadn't expected eating meat would drastically alter her personality to such an alarming degree. The essence of wizardry was magic and power, which were completely overriding her personality. Amy didn't look the slightest bit remorseful over the spell she'd just cast on Tim.

"I hope you realize that mind coercion spells are illegal," Louise said.

"I'm aware of that but they can be used in self-defense." Amy smiled widely at her.

"The spell you just cast wasn't in self-defense."

"I was protecting James."

"How was sending Tim home helping to keep James safe?" Louise asked.

"The more important question is how can we better protect James?" Amy regarded him with concern. "So many dangers await you."

"I'm fine," James said.

The silver glow that had radiated from Amy's eyes was gone now. She yawned and stretched.

"I'm getting very sleepy," she said. "I think I'm going to take a nap."

She casually flicked her wrist as she cast another spell that was so potent it briefly lit up the entire room. She cast another spell and smiled with satisfaction.

"If anyone tries to break through the barricade spell I put up around the house, it'll awaken me immediately."

"I can't believe you're doing this," James said.

"You're welcome," Amy said.

"I thought you didn't need sleep when you're a person." James leveled a curious gaze at her.

Amy's brows rose with surprise. "That's a good point. There's something very different about me."

"It's because you're eating meat," James told her.

"Perhaps, but it's a small price to pay." The color of her eyes changed from blue to brown. She breezed past him and out of the room.

"What's wrong with her?" Beth asked.

"I think we've just lost Amy completely to the essence of magic and power," Louise said fearfully. "We need to make sure she's sleeping."

"Why don't we tie her up and gag her?" James suggested.

"She would just use her magic to free herself and then she may retaliate," Louise said.

The three of them tiptoed down the hall. Louise grasped the doorknob and tried to turn it. She breathed heavily as she struggled to open the door. She dropped her hand away and turned to face James and Beth.

"There's a powerful spell on the door. We can't open it without magic, which will break the security field and awaken her," Louise whispered.

"Let me see if I can peek in the room," James said.

He peered through the keyhole, which was positioned directly underneath the doorknob. He could see the bed and Amy hovering above it in a reclined position with her eyes closed. James stood up to his full height and turned to address Beth and his grandmother.

"She's sleeping."

"Good. Let's go to the dining room," Louise said.

She retrieved a book from the desk and placed it on the table. She flipped through the pages and found what she was looking for.

"We're going to invoke a spirit," Louise said.

"Who are you going to call?" James asked.

"Your Aunt Veronica." Louise found the page with the corresponding spell and tapped it with her index finger as she read through the instructions. "It takes three wizards to invoke a spirit."

James didn't know the exact spell to accomplish this but he did know that only one person performed the magic while the other two supplied the power.

"Isn't it risky for me to do magic?" James asked.

"It's been almost a week. You can start practicing magic now," Louise told him.

The three of them stood in a circle and joined hands. James felt power flow from him as his grandmother began the spell. A long silence ensued as Louise concentrated. The power from the spell cascaded between the three wizards in a clockwise pattern through their hands. James expected for his grandmother to finish the spell, but instead, the power continued to build.

James found it increasingly difficult to keep up the flow of magic. A pressure was building in his forehead. After what seemed an eternity, a wispy white cloud wafted between them over the table. James, Beth, and Louise dropped their hands to their sides and stepped back several paces to give the apparition more room to manifest. It grew until it coalesced into a translucent image of Veronica, gently glowing with a silvery luminescence. Confusion swam over her face as she took stock of her surroundings. Her dark, brown hair was pinned up in a bun and she wore horn-rimmed glasses and a brown and white checkered dress.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"I called you here to ask for your help," Louise said urgently.

"You need help from me? But I've passed on."

"Amy accidentally ate some quiche and now she's different. She's become very aggressive in her attempts to protect James."

"That's terrible! Her personality will be completely subsumed by the essence of magic!" Fear and a sense of urgency swirled in Veronica's eyes. "You need to prevent her from eating any more meat."

"That's not possible. She's too powerful to stop," Louise said.

"You have to hit her with a sleeping spell and keep doing that throughout the day for three days," Veronica said.

"I've already tried that but she deflected the spell."

"You'll have to do it when she's distracted. It's the only way to stop her." Veronica's image wavered and became wispy. "I can't stay here long, I'm afraid."

"Isn't there a spell that might restore Amy's identity?" James asked.

"That's not possible. If it was, wereanimals wouldn't have to become vegetarians." Veronica gazed sadly at him. "Believe me, many wizards have been trying to make just such a spell for hundreds of years."

"I can't believe this is happening," Louise said. "We need a plan!"

"I'm so sorry. It's unfortunate that Amy's were form is a wizard. It makes her more dangerous and powerful than a werewolf," Veronica said.

Her body faded even more as it was replaced by the white, glowing mist.

"Is there anything you can tell us that might help?" James asked quickly.

"I'm sorry, honey. I wish you there was something more I could do."

Veronica's body exploded into a swirling mist with bright green sparks of energy that reminded James of fireflies. An instant later, she was gone. A sense of helplessness and despair engulfed James as he realized there was nothing any of them could do to stop Amy.

"I'm sure everything will work out for the best," Beth said quietly.

They sat in silence for a while then Louise lurched to her feet.

"I think I could use some chocolate. Would you care for some?" she asked them with phony cheer that didn't fool her companions in the least.

"I'd love some." Beth smiled reassuringly at her.

"What about you James?" Louise asked.

"Sure. Thanks," James said.

Louise sliced generous portions of chocolate cream pie and set them in front of Beth and James at the table. She then went back into the kitchen and returned with a piece for herself. Princess sauntered into the room and meowed loudly.

"I'll feed you in a minute," Louise said in a distracted tone.

As she ate, her eyes grew distant and pensive. James wondered if she was strategizing over a way to catch Amy off guard with a sleeping spell. He certainly hoped she would think of some kind of plan because he had no idea what to do.

"It was nice seeing Veronica again," Louise said wistfully. "I was glad to have this opportunity to say goodbye."

They had almost finished eating their dessert when Amy stepped into the room with a piece of pie for herself.

"This looks good," she said cheerfully. "Does it have meat in it?"

"Of course it doesn't. It's chocolate cream pie," Louise said impatiently.

"I see." Amy smiled at her as she sat down and took a bite. "I rarely eat people food. This is such a unique experience. I'm not sure why I've never been allowed to indulge in this type of luxury before."

"You used to follow the rules without questioning them," Louise said.

"Yes, I know. I'm glad I've finally realized that I can make my own rules."

"It's getting late. I'm sure Beth's parents would appreciate it if you would allow her to leave," Louise said.

"Of course." Amy's gaze went distant for a moment then she smiled at Beth. "The protection around the house is removed. You may leave. It was nice seeing you."

"You, too," Beth said nervously. "Goodbye, everyone."

As soon as she left the house, Amy reset the barrier and security spells around the house.

"I feel like I'm a prisoner in my own home," Louise grumbled.

"You can leave any time you wish. I'm doing this to protect James. He needs the extra security because of his curse," Amy said.

"It's just bad luck. I can't be protected from that," James said.

"Roedalgia is running loose and she's hanging out at your school. I don't want to take any chances with your safety."

The pressure in James' forehead was getting worse. A piercing pain made him gasp aloud. The living room windows opened with a loud crash and one of the couch pillows burst into blue flames. Louise shrieked in alarm and Amy's gaze jerked across the room to stare at the fire.

"You can see it?" James asked.

"Of course, I can." Amy's brown eyes were fixated on the blue flames.

"What is it?" James asked.

"You've conjured the flames of Aferon. It must be one of your natural abilities."

"What does it do?" James eyed the hungry, blue flames as they danced wildly over the couch but spread no further.

Amy crossed the room and stretched her hand out toward the fire, smiling with satisfaction.

"This is definitely the flames of Aferon," she said.

"It can't be," Louise whispered with horror.

"You shouldn't be afraid. You should be relieved and happy," Amy said. "This is a wonderful gift that your grandson has."

"What does it do?" James asked again.

"It has a disruptive effect on most types of magic and it severely weakens secondary realm creatures." Amy explained. "If it's strong enough, it can be used to vanquish them."

The blue flames abruptly died away and the pain in James' skull dulled to a more manageable ache. Louise crossed the room to shut the windows.

"I've been so worried about the secondary creatures finding you and hurting you but now that I know you have this gift, I'm very excited," Amy said.

"This is very disturbing," Louise said crossly. "If James thinks he's invulnerable to dangerous creatures, he's going to get himself into serious trouble."

"I'm going to teach him to enhance his gift and to make it stronger," Amy said.

"I don't think that's such a good idea," Louise protested.

"Grandma, it's okay. I'll be careful." James leveled an earnest gaze at her.

"You see? There's no need for concern." Amy smiled smugly at his grandmother. Louise crossed her arms defensively across her chest and looked ready to argue. Amy cocked her head to the side, reminding James of what she used to do as a parakeet from the safety of her cage. "I have an idea. I'm going to the school to cast a tracking spell. I'll find Roedalgia and vanquish her."

"It's too dangerous. Secondary realm creatures are powerful," Louise said sharply.

"Don't worry about me. I'm strong enough to handle her."

Amy walked toward the front door.

"Wait! You can't protect James if you're away," Louise said frantically.

Amy abruptly halted and turned to regard James pensively.

"I'll make him invisible and take him with me," she said after a lengthy pause.

"That's too dangerous!"

"Roedalgia can't attack what she can't see."

"It's possible she may have immunity to invisibility spells," Louise protested.

"There's not too much of a risk of that. In any case, I'm strong enough to protect him," Amy said decisively.

She made a sweeping gesture with her left hand and James' image rippled, and then faded out of existence.

"Come with me, James."

"Young man, you're staying here," Louise said sternly.

Amy cast a sleeping spell, which knocked Louise unconscious.

"Why did you do that?" James asked.

"She was wasting time," Amy said breezily. "We need to hurry. It's dark and I want to catch that stupid creature before morning."

She cast an unlocking spell to open the blue Nissan parked in their driveway. Amy slid behind the wheel of the car and her face lit up with enthusiastic glee. James was surprised by how well Amy navigated the roads. One would never guess that a parakeet made a skilled driver without any practice. She didn't take any unnecessary risks as she drove down the streets in spite of the obvious thrill reflected on her face. She parked the car in the school parking lot along with about half a dozen other cars.

"I wonder who is out this late at night," Amy said musingly.

"It's probably the protectorate officers who are working on finding Roedalgia," James suggested.

"You're right. We'll have to be careful. We'll go to your classroom first since we know Roedalgia cast a powerful spell in there. Enough of her essence may still be around for me to track."

James followed her to his class where she unlocked and opened the door with ease. They stepped inside the room and the lights came on with a flick of Amy's wrist. Her eyes radiated a soft, silvery glow as she slowly surveyed her surroundings. James shook his head as dizziness flooded his senses and made it difficult to think. Amy sat down at one of the desks and clutched her head with both hands. Her brows furrowed with concentration as she struggled against the powerful magic in the room. James regarded her with confusion because he could no longer remember why they had gone there.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Everything's going to be okay. I just need some time," Amy told him.

An instant later, two men stepped inside. One of them was a short man with black hair, a mustache, and brown eyes wearing a pressed, blue dress shirt and black pants. The other one was medium framed and bald, with green, piercing eyes and a long, jagged scar on his left cheek. He wore a charcoal sports jacket over a white dress shirt and charcoal pants but held a wand in his right hand.

"Roedalgia," the black-haired man said as he reached into his pocket and withdrew a wand.

"I'm not Roedalgia." Amy slowly rose to her feet.

"We're protectorate officers armed with advanced magic. Surrender and you won't be harmed. We can transport you back to the secondary realm where you belong."

"I'm a wizard, like you," Amy said. "I came here to track down Roedalgia and you're wasting my time."

"You won't be afraid of this then." The man with the scarred face waved his wand and sent a ball of blue flames soaring at her.

Amy didn't flinch as the flames of Aferon smacked into her chest and instantly died out.

"You see?" Amy leveled a pointed look at the protectorate officers.

"It's extremely rare but there are some secondary realm creatures that are known to have resistance to the flames of Aferon."

"For heaven's sake." Amy casually cast sleeping spells simultaneously at the two officers, which they managed to deflect.

They both tossed several balls of blue flames, which she easily repelled. Amy's eyes glowed bright as she tapped deep into the core of her power. She raised both hands and simultaneously cast two dozen sleeping spells at the officers. They were overwhelmed by the sheer volume and suddenness of the attack, and some of the spells slipped through, knocking the two men unconscious. Amy turned to face James as though he were visible.

"I completely forgot why we came here," she said.

"I forgot, too," James said.

"We might as well go home then," Amy said.

As they made their way to the parked car, the bright glow in her eyes dimmed and vanished. It wasn't until they reached their house that they remembered their reason for going to the school.

"I can't believe it!" Amy exclaimed with frustration.

The steering wheel wavered under her grip as though losing its molecular cohesion. An instant later, it solidified again. Amy left the car and James followed her toward the house. Amy reached for the door, which fell inward before she could touch it and crashed to the floor.

"What on Earth is going on?" Louise rushed toward them, panic shrouding her face.

"Take a chill pill," Amy said casually. "I accidentally broke the door but it's easily fixed."

She and James stepped inside the house.

"You ripped it right off its hinges!" Louise said accusingly.

Amy turned and motioned at the door, which rose up and secured itself into the threshold. The hinges melded together with an audible snap. Amy demonstrated that it was fixed by opening and closing it. She grinned triumphantly at Louise who failed to comment.

"You're welcome." Amy smirked.
Chapter 11

James awoke to the stench of burning pancakes. He grimaced with revulsion as he sat up in bed and heard the sound of rain pattering against his desk. He turned to see that the window had somehow opened during the night and that the math homework he'd left out was soaked. He stumbled across the room and shut the window. His powers must have opened it while he was asleep. His grandmother had assured him that his body was probably adjusted so these opening spells shouldn't be happening on their own for too much longer. James dried the desk and copied his homework on some dry paper before taking a quick shower and dressing for school. He was surprised to find a girl his age in the kitchen eating a burnt pancake as she leaned casually against the counter. She had piercing blue eyes, blonde hair secured in a pony tail, and wore a black blouse with jeans.

James froze as he stared at her with stunned bewilderment until he recognized Amy. She had somehow transformed herself into a younger girl. He wondered why she'd done that.

"Hi, James," Amy greeted him. "Have a pancake. They're pretty good."

"Where's Grandma?" James asked.

"She's sleeping in the living room."

"That's weird. She usually doesn't take a nap in the morning."

"She was getting on my nerves so I cast a sleeping spell on her," Amy explained.

"That's not right," James said sharply.

Amy narrowed her eyes at him and they began to radiate a shimmering silver light.

"She'll wake up in a couple of hours. Don't worry about it," she said moodily.

"Okay," James said hastily as he realized it wouldn't be a good idea to argue with his wereparakeet.

"Have some breakfast."

James reluctantly picked up a slightly burnt pancake from the stack and plopped it on his plate. He made sure to slather plenty of butter and syrup on it to drown out the flavor. He and Amy sat down at the dining room table. Louise was sprawled on one of the long couches in the living room. Amy held out her fork and used telekinesis to slowly bend the four prongs from one side to the other as she forgot about her half eaten pancake. James nervously watched her practice magic as he ate his breakfast. Finally, Amy grew bored with her fork bending and continued eating. After a moment, she stared at the glass of milk in front of her. The white liquid slowly lifted into the air and formed a bubble shape as it wobbled erratically over the table.

"What are you doing?" James asked.

"Just having some fun," Amy said in a distracted tone.

"You might make a mess."

"Then I'll clean it up."

The blob of milk slowly elongated until it formed a cylindrical shape, which slowly rotated clockwise. Amy's eyes were no longer glowing and had turned green. James finished his breakfast and wondered what she would do next. The milk drifted toward him and he wondered if she would intentionally hit him with it. It continued to float about a foot away from his face and slowly rotate. The shape of the white liquid turned back into a round mass and abruptly sailed across the table and returned to Amy's glass. She drank the milk and smiled with satisfaction.

"I'm going to school with you today," she announced.

"I don't think that's such a good idea."

"You can't go to school unescorted with Roedalgia running loose. I've already cast a false memory perception spell on myself and a chameleon spell so that people won't notice me. Everyone will think I'm just another student."

"Are you sure that will work?" James asked.

"I'm positive."

"What if Roedalgia is immune to your perception spells?"

"It will probably confront me, and if that happens, I'll be ready." A wide, confident smile spread across Amy's face.

James knew this was a bad idea, but his grandmother was sleeping and couldn't intervene. Even if she'd been awake, Amy was too powerful to defy anyway. James cleaned up the dirty dishes and then prepared for school. Tim and Beth were surprised to see Amy and pumped her for information. She was evasive about their questions and just said she was there to keep an eye out for trouble. When they arrived in the classroom, Amy's false memory spell caused everyone to adjust their seating so she could occupy the desk next to James.

"If Roedalgia is here and she's immune to my spell, she'll act differently. Keep an eye out for anyone behaving out of the ordinary," Amy whispered to them.

"Who's Roedalgia?" Tim asked, unable to remember the name while occupying the classroom, which ensnared him within the perception spells that Roedalgia had cast.

James could remember Roedalgia, but he found it difficult to concentrate and soon lost track of the secondary realm creature as his thoughts were forcibly redirected. Very soon, Amy succumbed to the same spells. The morning dragged by slowly as Ms. MacKenna began with the dreaded story problems. James couldn't seem to get comfortable with them no matter how hard he tried. After spending a fair amount of time working out a variety of different story problems, Ms. MacKenna instructed the class to pull out their homework assignments and exchange papers with the student directly in front of them for correcting. Ms. MacKenna went over the problems and answers before having the papers turned in so she could record everyone's scores.

"I hope everyone finished their creative writing assignment on their favorite pet," Ms. MacKenna said in reference to yet another homework assignment. "As you know, we will be reading them aloud. Who'd like to be first?"

Six hands shot into the air, which was truly astounding because there were only three teacher's pets in the room. One of the volunteers was Zachary, a bully who sat in the back. He had short, black hair, a medium build, brown eyes, and was just a little bit taller than average. There was no sign of the typical smirk present on his face. Instead of the typical, wrinkled tee shirt and stained jeans that he usually wore, he had on brown pants and a blue polo shirt.

"Zachary, please come up and read your paper," Ms. MacKenna said with approval and a hint of surprise.

James wasn't looking forward to his own turn because he dreaded speaking in front of large groups. He wished Ms. MacKenna wasn't making everyone read their papers aloud. Zachary ambled to the front of the room and began talking about his pet hamster. He held his paper in front of him but only glanced at it, which made it obvious he'd memorized the words. How bizarre was that? Zachary never studied for anything and was such a goof off. Classmates were whispering quietly as he finished his speech.

"There will be no talking during the presentations," Ms. MacKenna said crisply. "Wonderful job, Zachary."

"Thank you, Ms. MacKenna."

"You may be seated." Ms. MacKenna jotted down some notes on a sheet of paper and asked for another volunteer. She called on Peggy who eagerly rose from her desk and strode to the front of the class. Like Zachary, she had her paper memorized. Her favorite pet was her goldfish, which she admitted was imaginary because she didn't have any pets. After about half the class had taken their turn, Ms. MacKenna called on Amy who grabbed a blank piece of paper and took up a position at the front of the room. She pretended to read from it as she talked about the wondrous qualities of parakeets. When she'd finished, Ms. MacKenna smiled and thanked her. Peggy's hand shot up in the air before Amy could return to her seat.

"Yes, Peggy?" Ms. MacKenna asked with puzzlement.

"She didn't do her homework, Ms. MacKenna. She has a blank piece of paper!" Peggy exclaimed.

The teacher frowned with disapproval. "Amy, is this true?"

"Of course not!" Amy turned the paper so the teacher and the class could see that it was filled with sharp, precise handwriting. James remembered that the page had been blank before so he realized that she must have cast an illusion spell on it.

"Very good," Ms. MacKenna said.

"Are you going to punish Peggy for lying?" Amy asked.

"No but I don't approve of students who fib." Ms. MacKenna threw Peggy a reprimanding look.

Peggy narrowed her eyes at Amy with undisguised hostility as she returned to her desk. Another classmate was called upon to read her paper. James fidgeted as a pressure quickly built in his forehead. One of the desks in the front row burst into blue flames. The students screamed and jumped up from their seats.

"Everyone stay calm and walk slowly to the door," Ms. MacKenna said authoritatively.

The class rushed toward the door in a blind panic as two more desks burst into blue flames. As James waited behind the mass of kids waiting to burst out the door, the desk beside him burst into large, blue flames. An unnatural cold emanated from the flames of Aferon and he shivered as several tendrils of blue fire brushed across his arm. The pressure in his forehead was becoming even worse and more desks were catching fire. James reminded himself that the flames of Aferon didn't pose any physical danger but he still suffered from a deeply ingrained fear of fire.

"Amy, what's going on?" James whispered to her.

"I'm flexing your magical muscles so you'll get some practice invoking the flames of Aferon," she whispered back.

"We need to stop this," James said.

"Why?" she asked with puzzlement.

"Everyone's scared and we've disrupted the class."

"I suppose you've had enough practice for now."

The pressure in his head abruptly evaporated and the fires swiftly died away. Ms. MacKenna inspected one of the desks for damage and pressed her hand against its cool surface with a puzzled frown. Half of the class had exited the room already and her attention was drawn to the pile of students waiting to leave.

"Everyone can come back inside," Ms. MacKenna called out. "The fires are gone!"

The students reluctantly stopped shoving each other toward the door and slowly returned to their seats.

"Someone just pulled a serious prank and whoever it is had better confess," Ms. MacKenna said sternly.

No one said anything for the longest time so Ms. MacKenna repeated herself. Peggy raised her hand to speak.

"Yes, Peggy?" Ms. MacKenna regarded the pupil with surprise.

"I think James did it."

James cringed inside and tried to adopt an innocent expression on his face. He swallowed fearfully as he turned to face Peggy.

"Why do you think it was James?" Ms. MacKenna asked patiently.

"I thought I saw him playing with something under his desk just before the fires started," Peggy said accusingly.

"I didn't do anything," James said as guilt made way for outrage. "She's lying!"

"Let me take a look at your desk." Ms. MacKenna strode over to him. "Stand up, please."

She carefully went through his desk then instructed him to turn out his pockets.

"I'm sorry you were falsely accused, James," Ms. MacKenna said apologetically. "Peggy, you need to be careful when you make accusations."

"Ms. MacKenna, I think Peggy's lying again. She's trying to get people in trouble," Amy said as she intently eyed the teacher.

Ms. MacKenna's gaze locked with hers and she seemed almost hypnotized. She frowned musingly as Amy repeated herself.

"I think Peggy should be punished for lying. She's done it twice in a row," Amy said.

Ms. MacKenna nodded with agreement. "Peggy, you need to stop lying. You're going to have to spend your lunch recess in here for the next three days."

"I think she should have to apologize to James," Amy said forcefully.

James could sense magic radiating from her in powerful waves. He knew she was casting a mind control or mind coercion spell but was helpless to stop it.

"That's a good idea," Ms. MacKenna said. "Peggy, you need to apologize."

"I'm sorry, James. I was mistaken about you," Peggy said.

"That's all right," James acknowledged.

"Now, let's continue. We don't want to get behind in our studies," Ms. MacKenna said crisply.

Amy continued to disrupt the classroom with magic and by the time school was out, James and his two friends were a nervous wreck. Beth and Tim didn't offer to go home with him and he didn't blame them. James and Amy entered his house and found Louise puttering in the kitchen. The aroma of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies wafted through the air and James inhaled appreciatively.

"You're just in time for some dessert," Louise said cheerfully.

"Great! I love dessert," Amy said.

"Go sit down and I'll bring you some cookies and milk," Louise said amiably.

James and Amy sat down at the dining room table and Louise set a couple of plates with cookies in front of them. She returned with glasses of milk.

"So how was school?" Louise asked.

"It was boring!" Amy exclaimed. "I don't know how humans and wizards can stand it!"

"Go ahead and have a cookie. You'll feel better."

"If you say so." Amy gobbled a cookie then wolfed down the other two. She immediately drank the entire glass of milk.

"Jeez. You act like you've never had a cookie before," James said.

"I haven't. They're delicious. I can't believe Veronica never let me eat people food. I can see now how selfish she was."

"She was trying to protect you," Louise said coolly.

"From what?" Amy scoffed.

"From losing yourself to magic," Louise said sternly. "One bite of meat and you're a dangerous creature."

"I'm not a creature," Amy said belligerently. "When I go back to school tomorrow, I'm going to fix some problems I've noticed."

"I don't think that's going to happen," Louise said.

Amy yawned and shook her head as if to clear it.

"No one can stop me," Amy said. "There are going to be some drastic changes."

Amy yawned again then abruptly fell forward. Her head smacked the table as she lost consciousness. James assumed his grandmother had done something to the cookies but he felt perfectly fine. He threw her a questioning look.

"I made some sleeping potion while you were in school today and put some in her milk," she explained.
Chapter 12

James trudged down the hall and flinched as Princess shrieked and lunged out of the bathroom directly in front of him. She hissed before scrambling away and disappearing into the living room. James walked into the kitchen where Louise was cooking oatmeal on the stove.

"Good morning," she said.

Dark circles were etched deep around her eyes, betraying the fact that she had just endured a long, sleepless night. James hadn't slept well either. He kept worrying that Amy would wake up and tear the house apart. Louise had cast a bunch of sleeping spells before she'd gone to bed, but apparently she'd woken up and continued to work her magic on Amy to prevent her from regaining consciousness.

"I'm not sure I can keep Amy unconscious for three days so I'm going to create an obedience spell just in case. I'll need your help though."

"Are you sure I can help with magic that advanced?" James asked.

"I just need you to supply me with extra energy," Louise explained.

She poured the oatmeal into two bowls. James added brown sugar and butter to his before taking a seat in the dining room. Louise preferred hers with just molasses. James suppressed a shiver of revulsion as he saw the streaks of molasses in her cereal as she took a spoonful to eat.

"I called Jerry last night and he agreed to come over to help. He'll be here around midnight," Louise told him.

"I'll bet he's sorry that I inherited Amy," James said sadly.

"Honey, this isn't your fault. It was just an accident and you're not the one who left the quiche lying around."

"We're always going to have to be careful with Amy, aren't we?" James asked.

"I'm afraid so."

After breakfast, they went to the guestroom where Amy was sleeping. She was lying on top of the bed wearing jeans and a red silk blouse.

"How did she change her clothes?" James asked.

"It's a side affect of her magical nature. Even unconscious, she's been doing magic." Louise pointed at the drapes, which were no longer green but had changed to turquoise. The wooden floor was now polished as well as the oak dresser and desk.

"It looks like she's been housecleaning," James said.

"Except for that." Louise pointed at a large burnt spot on the cream colored wall.

When James looked up at the ceiling, he saw some more burned spots.

"How does she do that?" James asked.

"It's a mystery. Little is known about weres that are transmitted via interspecies. The were virus causes unpredictable effects when it crosses from people to animals, and luckily it's extremely rare."

"It was bad luck that caused Amy to eat the quiche. Was that part of my curse?" James asked.

"There's no way to tell the difference between just plain bad luck and bad luck caused by the curse," Louise said.

When James met Beth and Tim at the bus stop, they both expressed sympathy and concern about Amy.

"Do you want to meet at my house after school?" Tim asked. "My parents rented a couple of movies we could watch."

"I need to help my grandmother take care of Amy," James said. "Sorry."

"That's all right." Tim tried to hide his disappointment, but he was far from successful.

"Some other time," Beth said.

"Yeah," James agreed.

He was relieved when the bus finally came. Beth sat beside him and Tim sat directly behind them.

"It's really cool that you can invoke the flames of Aferon," Tim whispered. "I wish I could do something like that."

"Your natural ability isn't too shabby," Beth said in reference to his ability to cast negotiation spells.

"My power sucks. I'd rather have James'," Tim said.

"We all have our own strengths and weaknesses," Beth told them, "some magical, some physical, some mental, and some emotional. We're all different."

As the bus pulled into the school parking lot, James sensed a powerful buildup of magic. He'd never been able to sense magic before but now that his body had adjusted to his power becoming active, he realized it was very easy. Tim and Beth exchanged troubled looks, indicating that they noticed the same phenomenon that James did. As they slowly shuffled off the bus, the magic began to coalesce and form a purpose. It spread across the entire school and maybe even farther. James had read about spells of this magnitude, but he had never witnessed one in action.

"We should protect ourselves," Beth said.

"What do you mean?" Tim asked.

"We need to create a dampening field," Beth replied.

"I've never been able to do that."

Beth turned sharply to face James. "What about you?"

"I've never had the chance to try it out but I know how to do it," he responded.

"We all need to stand close. Whatever spell is forming around the school is almost ready," Beth warned them.

They stood off to the side and set to work creating a dampening field that encompassed the three of them. The mysterious spell that was forming around the school hovered threateningly over them as it prepared to unleash itself. James found it difficult to work under the pressure and tried to focus on the task at hand. Mr. Pratt turned the corner in a panic with his frantic gaze searching for something. He stumbled clumsily as if overwhelmed by indecision and fear. He didn't immediately notice James, Beth, and Tim but when he did, he turned sharply and headed directly for them. The mysterious spell activated and students began dropping to the pavement as they lost consciousness. The dampening field created by James, Beth, and Tim collapsed under the crushing weight of the potent spell surrounding them.

Mr. Pratt stumbled and weaved but he managed to maintain his footing. Tim crumpled to the pavement as he passed out. James' knees buckled as a bone-deep weariness settled deep inside his body. His eyes drooped but he forced himself to stay awake. The urge to submit and fall asleep was almost overwhelming. After a moment, the fatigue completely vanished, leaving him wide awake and alert. He realized that he, Beth, and Mr. Pratt were the only ones in the immediate vicinity who had managed to remain conscious.

"What's happening?" Mr. Pratt's panic-stricken gaze landed on Beth.

"Some sort of spell," she said.

"It must be Roedalgia," James said fearfully.

"You know of her?" Mr. Pratt asked.

"A little bit," James said nervously.

"The protectorate was supposed to prevent anything like this from happening," Mr. Pratt said anxiously. "I can't believe they couldn't stop it."

"Roedalgia must be too strong for them," Beth said.

"You think so?" Mr. Pratt said sarcastically.

"Can you sense anything about the spell?" Beth asked.

Mr. Pratt adopted a faraway look in his eyes.

"It has something to do with how people think and connections," he said slowly. "Roedalgia is going to become even stronger once the spell has had time to solidify."

"That doesn't sound good at all," James said.

The students began to stir and awaken. Tim sat up and then rose to his feet.

"Hey, guys," he said.

"Are you all right?" Beth asked.

"Sure." Tim shrugged casually. "We'd better get to class. We're going to be late."

The rest of the students were walking in unison toward their classes. As James, Beth, and Tim took their seats, James noticed that no one was talking. Instead, they were all flipping through their textbooks. Tim opened his math book and started carefully reading through it.

"What are you doing?" James asked him.

"Studying. I need to get this memorized," Tim said.

"I'm glad you're finally taking your schoolwork seriously," Beth said.

James shot her a pointed look. "Don't you think it's odd how everyone is studying and no one is talking?"

"Yes, but it's a good thing."

One of their nearby classmates shushed them and then immediately went back to studying. Ms. MacKenna was leafing through her planner and scribbling on a notepad. After the bell rang, Ms. MacKenna promptly began class. She started with a review and when asking for a volunteer, everyone's hand rose into the air except for James. He scowled at Beth because even though she was normally teacher's pet, it annoyed him that she was joining in with everyone else's bizarre behavior. After several problems, Ms. MacKenna asked for another volunteer to write down on the board. She called on James even though he was the only one who hadn't raised his hand. He reluctantly left his desk and went over to the front of the class. As was typical, Ms. MacKenna asked for a volunteer to work out the problem. She called on Zachary who swiftly went through the steps.

James jotted down the information as quickly as possible, but he wasn't able to write down everything. Ms. MacKenna frowned at him with annoyance as she rhythmically paced the front of the room.

"James, I'm disappointed in you. Your writing is barely legible and you can't keep up," she said. "What seems to be the problem?"

"I'm sorry. I'm doing the best I can." James felt his face redden with embarrassment.

"It's just not good enough. You will need to stay after school every day for practice, starting this afternoon."

"I've already promised to help my grandmother," James said.

"You can start practicing tomorrow then," Ms. MacKenna said crisply. "Please be seated."

She swiftly wiped down the eraser board and replaced his notes with neat, precise ones. James sat stiffly in his seat as he checked to be sure he'd written the correct answer on his paper. He was slightly mollified to see that he had. Beth kept throwing nervous glances at him from the corner of her eye. Was she taking Ms. MacKenna's side and turning against him? When the first recess came, the three of them walked off to the playground and stood apart from the others so they could talk without being overheard.

"I can't believe Ms. MacKenna is making me spend time after school," James grumbled.

"She's obviously under the influence of whatever spell was cast this morning," Beth said pensively. "It seems like everyone is acting the same. I'm not sure if they're directly under Roedalgia's control or merely being influenced."

"What are you talking about?" Tim asked.

"You remember everyone losing consciousness this morning on the way to school?" Beth questioned him.

"You must be delusional. That never happened," Tim said.

"Okay." Beth shared a concerned look with James. "I must be mistaken."

"That's right," Tim said.

"I wonder what Roedalgia is up to," James said.

"What makes you think she's up to anything at all?" Tim asked. "I haven't seen anything bad happen since she's been released from prison."

"She wasn't released—she escaped," James said, correcting his friend.

"Maybe she didn't deserve to be there in the first place," Tim suggested. "If she was so terrible, why hasn't anyone been attacked?"

"Maybe you're right," Beth said cheerfully and threw James a warning look.

James took her hint and let the subject drop. Obviously, they couldn't discuss Roedalgia in front of Tim anymore. As James watched the kids playing, he realized that they weren't really enjoying themselves. They were just going through the motions in a coordinated fashion. Kids were playing on the seesaws but they weren't laughing or smiling. Instead, they were moving up and down with synchronized coordination. The side that was going up was the same in the entire row of seesaws and they all came down at the same time. None of the kids on the merry-go-round were smiling or laughing either. The children on the swing set were placidly pushing themselves forward and backward with perfect synchronization as if directed by an unseen force. All of the children completely avoided the competitive games like tetherball and basketball. Tim finally grew bored of hanging out with his two friends and took a spot on an empty swing.

"I'll stop by your house after school," Beth said quietly.

"Okay," James said.

"Is Amy doing any better?" Beth asked.

James explained what had occurred the previous night with Amy.

"That was clever of your grandmother to trick her into drinking the sleeping potion," Beth said.

"Jerry is coming over late in the evening to help with her. I wonder if it's really possible to keep Amy asleep for the next three days," James said.

"I think it's a good idea to have a fallback plan. I'll help you and your grandmother with the obedience spell."

"That's really thoughtful," James said. "Thanks."

"You're welcome."

Their attention was once again drawn to their peers and their automated play. It was disturbing to watch because it was so completely unnatural. James suddenly noticed Mr. Pratt calmly walking through the crowds of kids. He walked purposefully over to the principal.

"James," Mr. Pratt said affably.

"Mr. Pratt, do you sense what's happening to everyone here?" James asked.

"Yes, I do." A serene smile spread across the principal's face. "I sense order and perfect unity. There is no disruptive energy or fighting at all. Everything is completely organized."

"Roedalgia is controlling everyone," James said.

"I'm starting to think having her here isn't such a bad thing after all."

"She's stolen everyone's free will. I hate to see what she's going to do next," James said.

"You don't understand. Everything is peaceful. I don't sense any malevolent energy at all. This has to be white magic; otherwise, I'd feel like I was in danger."

"You felt differently this morning," James pointed out.

"That's because I didn't know all the details. This is like a utopia."

The recess bell rang to warn that class would start in five minutes. Everyone instantly dropped whatever they were doing and calmly strode toward their respective classrooms. Beth and James exchanged worried looks while Mr. Pratt smiled with delight. James couldn't believe the principal could be so shortsighted about this problem. Things may be going well for now, but James was certain that would change when Roedalgia ensnared everyone in her mind control. The day dragged by as Ms. MacKenna continued teaching and everyone in the room continued to behave like robots. During lunch, Tim joined several other students at a separate table far from Beth and James.

"We'll get Tim back as soon as the protectorate breaks Roedalgia's mind control spell," Beth stated in a reassuring tone.

"I wish there was something we could do to free him now," James said.

"Me, too."

James swallowed nervously as the harsh reality of his situation set in. He was surrounded by classmates and teachers who had been transformed into mindless zombies working for a secondary realm creature. If he wasn't careful, he and Beth would become Roedalgia's next victims.

A sudden dizziness made him grip the table to keep from keeling over. He found Roedalgia slipping from his thoughts and realized it was a thought redirection spell. Instead of affecting just a few classrooms, it must have expanded to encompass the entire school. He voiced his concern to Beth who nodded and winced as the dizziness struck her as well.

"We have to concentrate," she said.

James nodded in agreement and forced Roedalgia's name to stay firmly planted in his mind. It was so difficult that he wasn't sure how much longer he could do it. Maybe this was a hopeless effort. His eyes widened as he realized there was a possible course of action he hadn't considered previously. He wasn't sure he could do it, but he had to try.

"Follow me," he said weakly.

He pushed himself up from the table and stumbled out of the cafeteria. He quickly found the janitor's closet and flung open the door.

"What are you doing?" Beth asked with bewilderment.

"Roedalgia, Roedalgia, Roedalgia," James said fervently so he wouldn't forget the name.

Beth wordlessly squeezed into the closet with him and he closed the door. James held out his hands and small blue flames materialized over them.

"Of course!" Beth grinned at him with approval.

Fatigue began to seep into James and the blue flames shrank. He drew deep inside the core of power where his magic dwelled. The fire intensified and then it spread up his arms. An unpleasant, bitterly cold breeze wafted from the blue, flickering tendrils that slowly crawled across his arm. Beth reached out and grasped his hands. Magic poured from her and funneled into his power core. The blue flames swiftly expanded to engulf both of their bodies in its chilling embrace. James realized she must have cast a spell to strengthen the fire of Aferon. James shivered in the sudden cold, but his thoughts were no longer being redirected.

"It's working." He grinned widely at his friend. "I can think clearly now."

"You were very clever to come up with this plan," Beth said earnestly.

James abruptly realized the flames were dying. Soon they were gone completely, but his mind was still crystal clear. He leaned against the wall as fatigue settled deep inside his body.

"I'm so tired, I feel like I could sleep for days," he murmured.

"Invoking the flames of Aferon takes a lot of magic. Your strength will return soon."

* * *

After school, Beth and James went directly to James' house to meet with Louise and tell her what had happened. Louise wrung her hands and paced the living room after hearing about the latest development with Roedalgia.

"This is a disaster," she told them. "I need to call the protectorate office and let them know what's going on." She picked up the phone and briefly spoke with an individual before hanging up. "They already knew what happened. Several teachers are protectorate officers. It looks like practically everyone at the school was taken over by the mind control spell."

"Has this ever happened before with a secondary realm creature?" James asked.

"Yes, and the protectorate has always defeated any criminals that break into our world," Louise replied.

Even though the secondary realm harbored many enemies of Earth, the society as a whole was respectful of the primary realm. Many of Earth's magical allies, such as faeries and elves, resided in the secondary realm.

"I wish this wasn't happening. I hate for you to go to school at a time like this," Louise said as she fretted over their plight. "Unfortunately, if I take you out of school, it will put a target on your back. We can't do anything to draw Roedalgia's attention to you."

"Mr. Pratt actually thinks Roedalgia is doing good," James said.

"That crazy man." Louise shook her head sadly. "This period of comfort for him is only temporary. Soon, he'll be very sorry that the spell is imprisoning the minds of his students and teachers."

"Do you have any idea what will happen now?" James asked.

"I'm afraid not. I do know that it's probable nothing bad will happen at the school for quite a while. You should be safe as long as you don't confront anyone and just cooperate."

"That reminds me. I was assigned to stay after school for personal tutoring from Ms. MacKenna because I'm not learning fast enough for her," James said.

"Go ahead and do it," Louise said. "We don't want to spur Roedalgia into taking action against you. As it stands now, she will focus her efforts on expanding her power base and her influence. She'll keep doing that until she feels safe enough to start going through with her other plans."

"Are you sure I can't just stay home tomorrow?" James asked.

"No, it's too risky." Louise leveled an anxious gaze at him. "When you go to school, you need to blend in. Act like you're under the mind control spell."

"Okay," James said reluctantly.

"It's time to help me with that obedience spell." Louise centered a grateful smile at Beth. "Thank you for your assistance, dear. I really do appreciate it."

"You're welcome, Ms. Kafka."

Louise, James, and Beth went to the dining room. Louise pulled a massive, leather bound spell book from the desk tucked away in the corner. She opened it to the appropriate page.

"I've been studying this spell all day, but it's very complex and I just want to be sure I have it right," she told them.

"I understand," Beth acknowledged.

"All right." An expression of resolve transformed Louise's features as she slipped a ruby ring off her finger and held it up. "I'm going to set the obedience enchantment on this ruby. I've already laid the foundation down this afternoon."

She carefully set the ring down on the table between the three of them. She held the palms of her hands towards the target. James and Beth followed her lead.

"Send as much power as you can," Louise instructed them. "Are you ready?"

James and Beth nodded in acknowledgment. The three of them directed sparkling beams of shimmering gold energy from their hands to the ring. Soon, the ring radiated with an intense gold, luminescence and swirling sparks of gold and silver. After several moments, the energy beams from James and Beth sputtered out. Louise reached out and closed her right fist around the ring. Vibrant, gold light spilled between the fingers of her hand as she shaped the patterns of energy at a molecular level to imbue the jewelry with the obedience enchantment. The bright luminescence dimmed then went dark and Louise opened her fist to inspect the ruby.

"I believe it worked." A smile curved her lips as she slipped the ring back on her finger. "This should allow me to cast an obedience spell if it's needed."

"You realize that Amy is so powerful she'll be able to overcome the effects of the enchantment very quickly, right?" Beth asked.

"I'm way ahead of you. I've prepared several batches of sleeping potion and will instruct Amy to drink it immediately after I cast the obedience spell on her," Louise said.

"You should make sure to bring some of your sleeping potion with you at all times," Beth warned her.

"I intend to." Louise pulled a glass vial filled with turquoise liquid from her pants pocket. "You see? I'm more than ready for any eventuality. Let's check in on her and see how she's doing."

James and Beth followed Louise to the guest room. Amy was transformed back into her original body instead of a young girl's. James marveled at how peaceful she looked while sleeping. He gasped with shock when Amy's eyes opened and she sat up with jarring abruptness. Her eyes began to radiate a silvery luminescence as her gaze locked onto James.

"You're in terrible danger. I need to protect you," she said.

Louise opened her hand so it was facing up and the obedience spell from the ruby ring gathered to form a gold sphere of luminescence. James stepped away from his grandmother so Amy wouldn't notice.

"Who am I in danger from—you?" he asked.

Amy's agitated gaze fixed firmly on him as he shifted back from her. "I'm the only one who can keep you safe."

Louise tossed the sphere of gold luminescence and it struck Amy in the back. Amy flinched and her eyes widened in surprise as the obedience spell took hold.

"I command you to calm down and to drink this potion." Louise withdrew the glass vial containing the turquoise liquid from her pants pocket.

"Okay." Amy accepted the vial and her green eyes lost their strange, eerie glow. She pulled the stopper off the glass vial and drank the sleeping potion. When she handed it back to Louise, she blinked and her eyes turned blue.

"You should be getting sleepy now." Louise watched her with an air of anticipation and nervousness.

Amy's eyes began to glow once again. James and Beth took an involuntary step away from her, but Louise held her ground.

"Stop what you're doing, young lady," Louise ordered.

"All right," Amy said agreeably.

She stared off into space, but her eyes continued to glow.

"You're still doing magic," Louise said shakily.

"I'm trying to stop." Amy's brows furrowed with concentration. "There's too much power."

"Stay right there," Louise ordered.

"I will comply," Amy murmured.

Louise ushered Beth and James out of the room, and bolted down the hall to the kitchen. She threw open one of the cupboards and her hands trembled as she pulled out three more vials of sleeping potion. She rushed back to the guestroom with Beth and James trailing behind her. Amy's eyes radiated with a dazzling silver luminescence. Louise hesitated like a deer caught in headlights, and then she recovered, shoving the three vials of turquoise liquid at the wereparakeet and commanding her to drink them.

"I will obey," Amy said.

She drank all three sleeping potions. A tense silence hung over the room as James, Beth, and Louise waited for Amy to lose consciousness. Amy rose to her feet and faced the trio. She took a deep, shuddering breath and her body became rigid. Her eyes stopped glowing and reverted to their normal gold color.

"She's back!" James exclaimed.

"You aren't safe." Tension thickened Amy's voice as she faced them and her body was drawn tight. "I don't know how long I can stay in control like this. I've been trapped inside my mind while the personality of the wereanimal has been in control. I don't know what she's been doing, but she's dangerous and you can't trust her."

"What do you mean?" James asked.

"As soon as I transformed into a wizard after eating the quiche, my mind has been trapped while the wereanimal has seized control. The best way to explain it is to call it a werewizard. After all, my natural form is a parakeet," Amy told them.

"Yes, that makes perfect sense," Beth agreed. "The werewizard has a consciousness that's all about power and magic."

"The werewizard doesn't realize that she's becoming too powerful," Amy warned them. "I believe that it's going to reach a point where her magic will begin to have a deleterious effect on all physical matter in the primary realm."

"That doesn't sound good," Louise said.

"You have to stop her no matter what the cost," Amy said.

She trembled and her eyes squeezed shut for several seconds. When they opened, they were a beautiful blue the shade of sapphires.

Amy cocked her head to the side. "What just happened?"

"Nothing," Louise fibbed.

"It feels like I missed something very important," Amy said. "I suppose it doesn't matter. I need to carry on with my plans."

She crossed over to the dresser and pulled out a jewelry box with an exterior comprised entirely of mirrors. She turned to face the others, grinning widely at them as she opened the box to reveal two polished copper bracelets.

"I finished these enchantments shortly before you tricked me into drinking a sleeping potion," Amy announced. "I made one for James and one for Louise. They will greatly strengthen your power and the effect will be permanent."

"They're too large," James noted.

"They reshape to whoever puts them on." Amy pulled out one of the bracelets and moved closer to him.

James instinctively retreated a step, knowing that every wizard who attempted to create an enchantment like the one Amy described had failed with the direst of consequences.

"Amy, you can't make us put those on," Louise protested. "It will kill us."

For just a split second, a trace of uncertainty flicked across Amy's face but it was gone in a heartbeat. "Believe me, I perfected the enchantment. It will definitely work as designed."

"I refuse to let you put my grandson's life in jeopardy for one of your experiments," Louise said. "I order you to put those horrible bracelets back in the dresser."

"I will not comply." Amy's expression hardened and she flicked her wrist, lobbing a sleeping spell at Louise.

Louise deflected the spell and cast one of her own. Amy blocked it and made a sweeping gesture with her hand as she threw six more sleeping spells at the same time. Louise managed to block all of them except for one and crumpled to the floor as she lost consciousness. Amy gazed down at her for a moment then leveled a triumphant smile at James.

"I've decided that I will not bestow Louise with the honor of greater power. Beth will take her place." Amy held the bracelet out to James who reluctantly accepted it but didn't put it on his wrist. She handed Beth the other one.

"Thanks." Beth offered a strained smile as she clutched the bracelet, but didn't put it on her wrist just yet.

"What are you two waiting for"—impatience crept into Amy's voice as her gaze flitted between the two of them—"an engraved invitation?"

"We know you're not really Amy," James said nervously.

"Who else would I be?"

"You're the consciousness of the werewizard inside Amy's head, but you're not really her."

"Strictly speaking, I suppose that's true," Amy said slowly as she mulled over his words. "However, my consciousness sprang directly from Amy's own mind and life experience. I'm just an improved version of her." She stalked closer to James and pinned him with a cold, hard stare. "Put on the bracelet—now."

James backed away from her as she continued to close in on him. Soon, he was backed up against the wall with nowhere left to move. When Amy had almost reached him, he tossed the bracelet towards the far corner of the room. Amy kept her gaze planted on him and her eyes began to glow with a bright, silvery luminescence. The bracelet halted in the air near the corner of the room, stopping short of hitting the wall. James dashed towards the door. Amy gestured with her left hand and the door slammed shut. James grabbed the knob and tugged, but it wouldn't turn. Amy held her right hand out and the bracelet whipped across the room to her.

"I'm sorry but you're going to become more powerful whether you like it or not," she told him.

She gestured with her free hand, casting a telekinetic spell that forced James right arm to pull forward. Amy stepped towards him and moved the bracelet towards his wrist. James could hear blood rushing in his ears as terror crashed down over him. He tried to pull his arm away but her telekinesis was too strong. When the bracelet was poised several feet from his wrist, Amy halted then pulled back to smother a yawn with her free hand. Unexpectedly released from the telekinetic spell, James stumbled backwards.

"It looks like the sleeping potion is finally kicking in." Frustration swirled in Amy's gorgeous blue eyes. "Maybe I can do some good before I pass out."

She stalked towards James again, brandishing the bracelet. His back hit the wall and she grabbed his right arm, pulled it forward. She moved the bracelet towards him, but stopped and blinked her eyes blearily. She smothered another yawn and James slipped out of her grasp. Amy crumpled to the floor as she fell asleep and the bracelet slipped from her grasp, clanging against the wooden floor beside her. Beth walked over to Louise and cast an awakening spell on her. Louise's eyes fluttered open then she gasped and bolted upright.

"It's all right. Amy's asleep now." Beth leveled a reassuring gaze at her.

Louise sighed with relief and James offered a hand to help her stand up. Louise spotted the discarded bracelet and picked it up. Beth handed her the other one.

Louise set both bracelets inside the jewelry box and frowned at it with contemplation. "I wonder what I should do with these horrible things."

"You can put them in the living room wall safe," James suggested.

"That's an excellent idea," Louise acknowledged.

They went to the living room and Louise walked over to the far side of the room where there was a large painting of a tropical beach hanging on the wall. She pulled on the left hand side of it, which swung open like a door, to reveal a large wall safe. Louise carefully set the jewelry box inside it then closed both the door and the painting.

"How long will Amy stay asleep?" Beth asked.

"I gave her enough potion for at least twelve hours this time," Louise said. "Jerry will be here by midnight and he'll help me keep her trapped in a sleeping spell for the next couple of days. After that she'll be back to normal."

"I'd better be going home," Beth said.

Louise gave her an effusive hug. "Thank you so much for helping us take care of Amy."

Beth left the house and James went to his room to finish the homework that Ms. MacKenna had assigned. He wasn't able to finish it until well after bedtime. He wasn't sure if it was possible to keep up with rest of the class because they seemed so much smarter now. It was like the spell Roedalgia had cast transformed everyone into geniuses. Even Beth had been struggling with the classwork today. James sighed with frustration and hoped that tomorrow would be a better day.
Chapter 13

The next morning, James was pleasantly surprised when he finished his breakfast that nothing inconvenient or unlucky had happened to him. When he opened the front door to leave for school, he halted at the threshold and stared at the yard with astonishment. A huge swarm of bees buzzed throughout the area and a massive amount of them clustered on top of the weeping willow tree near the front edge of the property. Before he could react, a couple of nearby bees swooped down and stung him on the right arm. He yelped and hastily retreated inside the house. Several bees followed him, circling his head as he slammed the door shut. One of them stung him on the back of his neck and the other two stung him on the left arm.

He glanced down and saw three dead bees on the floor, remembering that they always died after stinging someone. He looked up to make sure no more bees were buzzing around inside the house. His arms began to swell with blisters from the stings. Louise stepped into the room and gazed at him with alarm.

"What's happened?" she asked fearfully.

"A bunch of bees are swarming around the front yard," James said. "They attacked me."

"Let's get those wounds healed up." Louise pulled out a topaz ring, which was enchanted with healing magic, and slipped it on the finger of her right hand. She slowly moved her hand over each of the bee stings as she sent a stream of healing energy over the wounds. It took three passes of her hand for the injuries to disappear completely.

"I wonder if those are the killer bees that made a nest in out neighbor's tree down the road. The exterminator bombed the tree a couple of days ago."

"It looks like they've decided to move to our place. It's the curse again," James said.

"I'm afraid so, sweetie, but it'll be okay," Louise said.

They went to the living room and she pulled the drapes aside to peer out the window.

"You'll get stung again if you go out there," Louise said.

"Maybe I should stay home."

They went to the dining room window to check the backyard and then the bedroom windows.

"Most of the bees are congregating in the front yard, but there are some at the side of the house. If you were invisible, you would be safe slipping out the backdoor and cutting across the neighbor's yard. Go ahead and cast an invisibility spell on yourself," Louise said.

James cast the spell but nothing happened. After several more failed attempts, he slowly faded from sight.

"Good job." Louise favored him with a warm smile. "I'm very proud of you. Invisibility spells aren't easy to master."

James left the house through the backdoor, crossed into the neighbor's yard and went down the street before allowing himself to become visible again. When he arrived at the bus stop, Beth was standing off to the side with the rest of the kids standing in one long row. At first, James thought Tim wasn't there, but then he spotted him talking to a couple of other fifth graders.

"It looks like now that he's under Roedalgia's control, we won't see much of him anymore," James remarked.

"It's just as well. We can't trust him until he's free from the mind control spell."

"What did your parents say when you told them about the mind control spell?"

"They already knew. The protectorate called as many grownups as they could to warn them about what could happen if Roedalgia isn't stopped."

"What will she do if they can't vanquish her?" James asked.

"She'll take over this entire city and her influence will spread even further. It's possible she could manage to seize control of the entire state."

"This is really serious."

"Yes, it is," Beth said gravely.

James told her about the killer bees in his yard.

"I'm so sorry to hear about that. What rotten luck," Beth said sympathetically.

When the bus arrived, Tim picked a seat far from Beth and James. As soon as they arrived at the school, James felt the mind redirection spell tugging at his thoughts and making him forget about Roedalgia. He and Beth looked for a spot where they could hide and use the flame of Aferon to shake off the effects, but they ran out of time. Beth and James stared at each other with puzzlement. Neither one of them could remember what had been so urgent. All concerns about Roedalgia had been temporarily purged from their minds. They headed for class and took their seats. The students were unusually quiet and studied wordlessly as they waited for the bell. James found this behavior odd, but before he could dwell on it, his thoughts were forcibly redirected. At the end of the day, James started his first remedial study session with Ms. MacKenna.

"Let's use the whiteboard for these problems," Ms. MacKenna said crisply.

"Why?" James asked. "It would be quicker to write them down on paper."

"You need the practice." Ms. MacKenna's expression was uncharacteristically stern as she handed him an eraser pen.

He went over to the board and Ms. MacKenna quickly went through various math problems. James struggled to keep up and he could tell she was rushing through the exercises on purpose. His right arm was extremely sore by the end of the practice session and he wondered how much longer he could do this. He was immensely relieved when Ms. MacKenna announced that it was time for him to go home. James rushed over to the after-school activity bus and rode it home. It wasn't until he stepped off the bus that he remembered Roedalgia and his current predicament. His shoulders drooped with weariness as he trudged down the street. He halted a short distance from his house as he saw the killer bees swarming through the front yard. He stared at them with dismay because he was exhausted and badly in need of some rest. His grandmother appeared, turning the corner of the next-door neighbor's house.

"We'll need to come this way and through the backdoor," Louise told him.

"Okay," James acknowledged. "When are we going to get rid of the bees?"

"I'm afraid that the exterminator can't come until the day after tomorrow. He's completely booked," Louise said regretfully.

When they made it safely inside the house, Jerry was sitting on the couch in the living room looking haggard but watchful. James turned to take a closer look at his grandmother and confirmed that she was in the same weary state as his uncle.

"It must be very difficult to keep Amy asleep," James observed.

"Don't worry, sweetie." Louise patted him on the shoulder. "We won't let her wake up until she's back to normal."

"I want to see her," James said.

Louise hesitated and then she slowly nodded her head in agreement. "All right. We'll check in on her."

The two of them went to the guestroom and adrenaline began to pump through James' veins as he saw Amy lying on the bed. He had hoped to feel some relief seeing her unconscious, but instead, a cold knot of fear settled in the pit of his stomach and his body tensed with the urge to run.

"Are you sure she can't wake up?" James asked nervously.

"I cast a whole bunch of sleeping spells less than an hour ago," Louise said. "Jerry and I are taking four hour shifts."

"That's a good plan."

"How was school?"

"It was fine. The redirection spell is so powerful that I completely forgot about Roedalgia as soon as I got there," James told her.

"I hope the protectorate finds her quickly." An anxious frown marred his grandmother's kind face.

"I think we need to take more precautions just in case Amy breaks free of the sleeping spells," James said. "We should get rid of all the meat in the kitchen and then go to the store for some vegetarian meat."

"That's a good idea," Louise agreed. "Let's do it."

Louise and James cleared out every last piece of meat in the kitchen and then went to the store for some veggie burgers, veggie bacon, veggie sausage patties, and veggie chicken. After unpacking the fake meat, they joined Jerry in the living room to watch television. It was almost time for James to go to bed when the phone rang. He crossed the room to answer it.

"This is Mr. Pratt." The principal's unwelcome voice drifted from the earpiece. "Did you know you have killer bees swarming in your front yard?"

"Yes," James said. "Grandma called the exterminator and he'll be here the day after tomorrow."

"I came to speak with you and your grandmother. How do I get into the house?"

"You have to cut through the next-door neighbor's yard and come to our backdoor." James explained. "I'll show you."

James walked outside to the neighbor's yard and waved at the principal who reluctantly walked over to him, clearly unhappy about cutting through someone else's property. They walked across the yard towards the backdoor to James' house.

"It's really strange how you've got killer bees. How did this happen?" Mr. Pratt asked.

"We think they migrated from the neighbors down the street," James replied.

When they reached the living room, Jerry and Louise stood up to shake the principal's hand.

"What a pleasant surprise," Jerry said. "What brings you here?"

"I need to speak with you about an unusual situation at school," Mr. Pratt said cautiously.

"Is there some sort of problem?" Louise asked.

"Let me be perfectly blunt. A secondary creature named Roedalgia has cast a spell on the school and made all the students very well behaved," Pratt said. "James came to me with concerns and I can sense that he is somehow likely to cause a disturbance."

"You sense it's likely my nephew will make some kind of problem?" Jerry regarded him with incredulous disbelief. "You can't take disciplinary action based on psychic perceptions. Future probabilities aren't completely predictable. James may not do anything wrong."

"That's why I'm here. To make sure you realize what is likely to occur and stop it," the principal said.

"I'm not going to do anything to make trouble," James said, "but Roedalgia is an escaped prisoner of the secondary realm and I think she's going to make problems once everyone is trapped in her mind control spell."

"That simply isn't true," Mr. Pratt said. "It's more of a behavioral modification spell that's made everyone calm and orderly. It's the best thing that's ever happened to my school."

"The protectorate has reported that it's working on the problem. Roedalgia is extremely dangerous. This creature's influence is expanding beyond the school," Jerry said.

"No one is under any kind of control," the principal said belligerently. "And you'd better make sure James behaves himself or I'm going to really come down hard on him. I won't tolerate any disruptions."

Jerry gaped at Mr. Pratt with incredulous disbelief.

Louise spoke up before an argument could ensue. "James will follow all the school rules."

"He'd better," Mr. Pratt said.

"I've never met a psychic before," Louise said, neatly changing the topic. "How far can you see into the future?"

"I can rarely see more than a week in advance and only two of the main probable outcomes," the principal replied.

"It must be confusing at times if you have two different possible outcomes," Jerry noted. "How can you tell which one is more likely to occur?"

"I usually only see one outcome, but I admit that it can be disconcerting when I perceive two of them. I also receive general information."

"A useful talent for a principal," Jerry acknowledged.

Jerry and Louise escorted him out of the house then returned to the living room.

"I think Mr. Pratt is already trapped in the creature's mind control spell," Jerry noted.

"I agree." Louise heaved a burdened sigh. "I wish we didn't have to send James to school tomorrow."
Chapter 14

As James stepped down the hallway, his hair slightly damp from a shower, the aroma of chocolate chip pancakes and sausage wafted toward him. He inhaled appreciatively and stepped into the kitchen to find his grandmother puttering about. She had two skillets on the stove and the one that contained the sausage looked different. That's when he remembered it was vegetarian sausage.

"Good morning, Grandma," he said.

"Good morning, sweetie. I hope you slept well."

"How did you get these veggie sausages to smell so good?" he asked.

"They just came that way," she informed him. "Maybe they'll taste just as good."

"They don't," Jerry said as he entered the room with a plate containing one half-eaten sausage.

Louise flipped the pancake on the skillet over while Jerry helped himself to more pancakes from a large stack situated on the counter beside the stove. Even though his uncle hadn't liked them, James took three of the sausages and set them on his plate. He spread some butter on his pancake, poured on a generous helping of syrup, and went to the dining room to enjoy his breakfast. He took a bite of his pancake, and savored the delicious flavor before allowing his thoughts to dwell on the huge problem waiting for him at school. Louise joined them at the table and they ate in tense silence. James could tell that his grandmother and his uncle were both worried.

"I'm glad Amy gave you a cell phone the other day. I need to install the protectorate app on your phone so you can stay informed of the situation with Roedalgia and any other crisis that may come about in the future," Jerry announced.

"The protectorate has an app?" James asked.

"They sure do," Jerry confirmed as he set his fork down on his plate and held his hand out. "Give me your phone, please."

James pulled it out of his pants pocket and handed it over to his uncle.

"I think it's ridiculous," Louise said grievously. "There's an app for practically everything when it's just as easy to place a phone call."

Jerry ignored her as he downloaded the protectorate app then crowed in triumph when a new update popped up on the smartphone.

"Did you know that Roedalgia now controls everyone within two and a half miles of the school?" he asked

"Yes, I already knew about that." Louise's chin jutted out at a stubborn angle. "I called the protectorate hotline fifteen minutes ago."

"Who has time for that?" Jerry asked as he handed James his phone.

"Thanks," James murmured and tapped the app, which took the form of a gold letter 'P' with white feathers unfurled as though it was ready to take flight. A new update dialogue box sprang up on his smartphone and showed the latest news that Jerry had just announced. James closed the app and grinned, pleased to have such a useful tool at his fingertips.

Jerry centered a pointed look at Louise. "You should seriously consider purchasing a smartphone."

"Those things are ridiculous. I've lived my entire life without one and I don't see the point of wasting my time on one now." She sniffed with disdain and took another bite of her pancake.

Amy breezed into the room, clad in black jeans, a pink blouse, and a black leather jacket. Her long, silky blond hair flowed freely down her back as she clutched a plate containing three pancakes drenched in maple syrup and three sausage patties.

"Good morning, guys," she said as she took the empty chair beside James.

Louise froze with her empty fork hovering several inches above her plate and a mouthful of food in her mouth. She hastily chewed and set her fork down.

"Good morning." Jerry's face was drawn as he watched her take a bite of her pancakes. "You're awake."

"Be careful not to eat those sausages. They're meat," James fibbed, thinking it was best to convince Amy she was consuming meat so she wouldn't search for it on her own.

"That's excellent! I suspected as much, but I wasn't sure, since I've never been allowed to eat people food before." Amy's sapphire eyes twinkled with pleasure as she used her fork to scoop up a bite of the veggie sausage. As soon as she popped the food in her mouth, she grimaced with displeasure. Louise and Jerry watched her with shock while James wanted to laugh as Amy moaned as if in pain then swallowed the veggie sausage.

"I never realized meat was so vile," she said with revulsion. "I don't know how people can stand it."

"You've only eaten one bite of your sausage, dear, and you've got three of them on your plate," Louise pointed out.

Amy pulled a face. "I wouldn't have taken so many of them if I'd known how disgusting meat is. I want to stay strong so I'd better force myself to eat the rest of them."

She reluctantly took another bite of sausage and slowly chewed on it. James felt a subtle stirring of magic and tensed as he wondered who was about to cast a spell.

"Jerry, if you send any sleeping spells my way, you're going to spend the next two days sleeping in the next door neighbor's dog house," Amy said in a conversational tone.

James sensed the stirring of power halt and realized Jerry must have decided not to risk a confrontation just yet.

"You have to realize you're dangerous like this," Jerry said.

"On the contrary, I'm the best protection James could have." Amy glanced at the remaining two sausages on her plate with disdain before returning her attention back to James' uncle. "I've got a plan for capturing Roedalgia. I'll go to school and pose as James' teacher so that I can track her down."

Louise cleared her throat nervously. "What about Ms. MacKenna?"

"I've already created a mind perception enchantment that will make everyone think of me as James' teacher and Ms. MacKenna as my aide. Even Ms. MacKenna will think it. I programmed immunity in the enchantment for James and Beth so they'll remember what's going on."

"What about Jerry and me?" Louise asked.

"It would be too complicated to add more than a couple of people for immunity and I don't have that kind of time," Amy replied. "I've also programmed an amnesia spell so that no one will remember what happened during the time period they were under its influence."

"That's remarkable," Jerry said. "Are you sure that it works properly?"

"Of course." Amy held her palm out and there was a brief flash of gold light in it preceding the teleportation of an extravagant tiara comprised of sterling silver, studded with sparkling diamonds, and featuring a large, blue topaz as the centerpiece. A wide, satisfied smile curved her lips as she held it up for everyone to see. "This is truly a work of art."

"When did you have time to make that?" Jerry asked.

"I created the tiara before Louise knocked me out originally and I've been awake for about an hour. I used that time wisely."

"You created a complex enchantment like that in less than an hour?" Jerry eyed her with incredulous disbelief.

"Isn't it great?" Amy grinned at him with excitement. "Now can you see that I'm the perfect protection for James?"

"It is reckless to slap together such advanced magic in such a short amount of time," Jerry told her.

"You're starting to bore me." Amy rose to her feet.

Louise and Jerry stood up and heavy magic stirred in the air.

"Please don't fight," James said before any spells could be unleashed. He knew that Amy was too powerful to defeat in a duel. The only chance his grandmother or uncle had to stop her was by subterfuge. They would have to think of a way to trick her into drinking some more sleeping potion or they would need to lay a trap for her somehow.

"We're all friends here," Louise stated in an even tone. "Perhaps we should work together."

"I'm glad you're starting to see things my way," Amy said. "Now, I need you to give me the two bracelets I made that can increase a wizard's magical strength."

"That enchantment will kill James." Louise's voice trembled with emotion. "Please, think about your role as his guardian."

A look of concern danced over Amy's face for just a second before it was replaced with a confident smile. "I know what's best for him. If you don't give them to me right now, I will be forced to take more extreme measures."

"I'm sorry, but I'm not risking his life." Louise raised her hands out so they faced Amy.

Power gathered in the room in an almost tangible force. James froze in his seat as his grandmother and uncle faced off against Amy. The three of them hurled sleeping spells at each other so fast that James couldn't detect how many were zipping back and forth. Like many forms of magic, sleeping spells were invisible to the naked eye and could only be perceived with paranormal sensory perception and second sight. James didn't have much experience with magic yet so his paranormal receptors were not finely tuned, and he knew it would be years before he mastered second sight. Louise was the first to succumb to a sleeping spell and several seconds later, Jerry collapsed beside her on the floor.

Amy's gaze shifted over to James and her topaz eyes filled with regret. "I'm sorry you had to see that."

"Why don't you listen to them?" James' heart thundered in his chest and adrenaline coursed through his body, making him want to run away and hide. "If they say it could hurt me, it probably will."

Amy cocked her head to the side in contemplation. Fear and uncertainty flashed across her face for several seconds and then her confidence returned. Her topaz eyes turned into a dazzling shade of green.

"The answer to all of life's problems is to gain more power, my boy," she said.

"No, that's not right."

She secured her tiara to her head and then she walked around the table until she stood over Louise. She held her hand over James' grandmother and cast an obedience spell followed by an awakening spell. Louise sat up, looking confused, as she took stock of her surroundings.

"Tell me where you put my bracelets," Amy said.

"They're in the wall safe," Louise replied.

"Give them to me."

"I will obey," Louise replied.

"Here, let me help you." Amy offered her hand and assisted Louise in regaining her footing.

James trailed behind Amy and his grandmother as they went to the living room. Louise revealed the hidden wall safe, opened it, and pulled out the jewelry box with care.

"This is too dangerous," Louise warned her.

"I don't want to hear another word about this," Amy stated in annoyance.

"I will obey," Louise responded.

"I should have cast that spell on you a long time ago. It makes everything so much easier."

Anger smoldered in Louise's eyes but she didn't argue because the obedience spell wouldn't allow it. James swallowed nervously as Amy opened the jewelry box and pulled out a bracelet.

"Put the bracelet on, young one," Amy commanded.

James reluctantly closed his fingers around the smooth, cold surface of the polished, copper bracelet as his frantic thoughts churned in his mind to come up with a way to avoid this.

"Don't make me force you into obedience," Amy warned him.

James sighed and slipped the bracelet on his left hand. He figured it would be best to avoid wearing it on the same hand that he used to write. As soon as the jewelry touched his skin, it shrank down with startling speed until it fit like a glove, eliciting a startled flinch from James. A tingling sensation crept out from the bracelet as tendrils of power snaked out from it to merge with James' power core. He stiffened with surprise and braced himself against the pain that was sure to come.

"Are you all right, young one?" Amy asked.

"It's changing my power core," James said fearfully. "Is it going to hurt?"

"Of course not. I specially designed this enchantment to be perfectly safe. There will be no pain whatsoever," she replied.

James looked up at his grandmother. "I read that every enchantment used to strengthen a wizard's magic causes unimaginable pain."

"The pain always starts right away." Louise's expression became cautiously optimistic. "Perhaps Amy has succeeded where everyone else has failed."

"I believe that others have gotten this enchantment to work before," Amy announced.

"Then why don't we hear about it?" Louise asked.

"The protectorate wants to stay in control of the masses so they cover it up."

"That's ridiculous," Louise said.

"It's just about time for us to leave for school," Amy stated brusquely.

"I'll pack lunches for you," Louise volunteered.

"That sounds good," Amy agreed. "Be sure to put plenty of meat in mine."

"I will."

"And I order you not to put anything in my lunch that will knock me out or make me fall asleep," Amy said in a steely tone.

"I will obey."

Louise scurried out of the room to prepare lunches for Amy and James. Amy held the jewelry box containing the other bracelet against her side as she closed the safe and the painting.

"Why didn't you put the bracelet away?" James asked.

"Because I'm giving it to Beth. I can tell that she's smart, resourceful, and loyal to you. That makes her valuable to me."

"Why does that make her valuable to _you_?" James regarded her with puzzlement.

Amy's green eyes sparkled with anticipation. "Because power is the answer to everything."

"What do you mean?"

"You'll understand when you're older."

Louise returned with their brownbag lunches.

Amy walked over to the front door and reached for the doorknob.

"Wait!" James called out in alarm. "The killer bees are still out there."

"Don't worry." Amy opened the door to reveal the killer bees swarming in the front yard. She made a sweeping gesture with her left hand and the bees flew over to the next door neighbor's yard. She threw James a triumphant look. "Easy peasy."

"What if they come back here?" he asked.

"Then I'll simply move them again."

Amy drove them to the bus stop so they could pick up Beth and give her the bracelet.

"Thanks." Amy accepted the bracelet with a strained smile and slipped into the backseat of the blue sedan.

"It's all right," James told her and held up his wrist. "I've had this on for a while and there's no pain at all. I think she did the enchantment right."

"Of course I did," Amy said as she pulled the car away from the bus stop and headed for the school.

Beth hesitated, but when Amy glanced at her several times through the reflection in the rearview mirror, she finally slipped the bracelet on her left wrist.

"You two will make excellent grownups someday," Amy commented.

"Thanks," Beth murmured as she stared at the bracelet that had shrunk down to fit snugly against her wrist.

By the time Amy reached the school and parked Louise's car, neither James nor Beth had suffered any ill effects from the enchantments to magnify their power.

"What I'm counting on is that your power will be strong enough to withstand the redirection spell that Roedalgia has cast over this school," Amy said as they walked alongside the massive, red brick building towards the front door.

"I can feel it," James told her.

"Me, too," Beth said.

Amy adjusted her tiara so it was centered more precisely on her head. "Are you struggling to remember Roedalgia?"

"Yes, it's very difficult to focus," James admitted.

"Darn it!" Amy frowned with displeasure. "I'll have to keep a close eye on you two so you don't get into any trouble with that creature."

When they stepped inside the classroom, Ms. MacKenna was seated behind her desk grading papers.

She regarded Amy with confusion. "Are you James' mother? What brings you here?"

"Don't be silly," Amy said in a cheerful tone. "I'm Ms. Kafka and you're my teacher's aide."

"Yes, of course." Ms. MacKenna's face flushed with embarrassed. "I'm sorry about using your desk for grading papers. I'll go back to mine."

"That's quite all right."

Ms. MacKenna swept the papers up and dropped them on the closest student's desk and then dragged it over so that the two desks were positioned side-by-side. The first group of students marched into the room in a single file procession. James knew it was because everyone headed straight for class as soon as they got off the bus. No one stopped for idle chitchat or just to hang out with friends. A shiver of apprehension crawled up his spine as the next group of students marched into the room. Mr. Pratt was absolutely correct when he described the current operation of the school as smooth and orderly.

Everyone read through their textbooks and studied until the final bells rang out, signaling the start of class. At that precise moment, everyone looked up to the front of the room to Amy in silent expectation.

Amy smiled widely as she rose from her desk in one smooth motion. "Good morning, class."

"Good morning, Ms. Kafka."

James hadn't murmured the greeting along with the rest of his peers and some of them had noticed, throwing glances of disapproval at him. He felt his face flush with embarrassment and he reminded himself that he must remain in character and blend in with the others.

"Everyone take out their homework from last night," Amy instructed.

Several seconds of silence ensued as the students waited for further instructions. When Amy failed to elaborate, every single hand shot up in the air. James and Beth exchanged looks and raised their own hands in order to fit in with the others. James' brows furrowed with confusion because he couldn't remember why it was important that no one notice any change in his behavior. Amy frowned as her eyes flitted over the students as if searching for something. Her gaze settled on James then drifted past him. James suddenly realized that Amy didn't know the names of the students here and she hadn't called on him because she didn't want him to stand out in the crowd.

"You in the back." Amy pointed to the back row and the kids regarded her with confusion, unsure which one she had chosen to speak.

"You act like you don't remember our names," Zachary said in reprisal.

Ire flashed in Amy's eyes. "Don't speak to your teacher like that, young man. I know exactly who you are. You're one of the bullies that picks on James."

James slid lower in his seat but that didn't help protect him from receiving a multitude of stares from his peers.

"Pay attention to your instructor," Amy said in an authoritative tone that drew everyone's attention. "Zachary, why did you raise your hand?"

"You didn't tell us which homework assignment to get," he replied.

"That's because I wanted you to use your logic to figure it out," Amy told him. She swept her gaze over the entire group. "We're going to do a quick artwork assignment. You are all going to make name tags and tape them to the front of your desk."

Peggy whipped her hand up.

"Yes?" Amy narrowed her eyes at the girl with aggravation.

"Name tags are messy and they serve no purpose," Peggy stated.

"You must all make very nice nametags that look good. You will be graded on this project and I give you all twenty minutes to complete it. Furthermore, you will leave your nametags on your desk until I tell you they can be removed. Do I make myself clear?"

"I don't think you're our teacher," Peggy said boldly.

Unease and confusion rippled through the group. James sensed a surge of power from Amy and realized she was reinforcing the enchantment in the tiara. Amy directed powerful waves of magic over the group. James and Beth gazed at their peers to see that their eyes had glazed over. Peggy was the first to snap out of it. She pulled out construction paper and a black pen and set to work. The rest of the class followed suit. Amy slowly paced the room as she waited for everyone to finish. She noticed Ms. MacKenna staring at her as if she were some kind of alien life form.

"Did you need something, Patricia?" Amy's words held thinly veiled disapproval.

"No, Ms. Kafka. I just felt sort of strange."

"Get back to work then. I expect my teacher's aides to earn their keep."

"Yes, ma'am." Ms. MacKenna flashed an apologetic smile before she set back to work grading papers.

When the first recess bell clanged, Amy called James and Beth to remain behind. The rest of the students filed out the door in an orderly fashion while James and Beth approached the teacher's desk where Amy sat.

"Ms. MacKenna, help keep an eye on the kids outside," Amy ordered.

"Yes, ma'am."

Amy waited until Ms. MacKenna left before she spoke. "I can't remember why I came to school today. Do either of you remember what we were trying to accomplish?"

"I can't remember either," James replied.

Beth shook her head. "It must be a very strong mind redirection spell."

"You're right. I can sense it now." Amy leaned slightly forward and her gaze sharpened. "Something very odd is happening in this school but I can't quite put my finger on it. I've never encountered such carefully crafted magic in my entire life. It's completely blocking me from figuring out what's going on."

"I think Beth and I are in danger of some kind," James told her.

"Yes, you're right," Amy said. "It has something to do with you two blending in."

"I'd forgotten about that!" Beth exclaimed. "For some reason, it's very important that we act like everyone else."

They lapsed into silence as they mulled this over, but the redirection spell kicked in.

"What were we just talking about?" Amy asked.

"I have no clue," James admitted.

"Me neither." Beth's tone was apologetic.

"Maybe it will help if I summon the flames of Aferon," James suggested.

"No, that will only help us for a few moments. It will also neutralize the enchantment in my tiara and possibly disrupt your bracelets," Amy said.

"I don't mind," James told her.

"Don't you dare," Amy said. "It's important that you and Beth become more powerful."

"Why?" James asked.

"I don't remember, but power is the answer to everything," Amy replied.

"Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely," Beth stated in a sage voice.

"That is complete and utter malarkey." Amy's emerald eyes shone with outrage.

As soon as recess ended and everyone had taken their seats, Amy instructed them to pull out their math homework and asked for a volunteer to read the problem and the answer. She selected Susie to do the first one. Susie had barely started reading when Peggy raised her hand high into the air.

An exasperated sigh escaped Amy's lips. "Yes, Peggy, what do you want now?"

"You're doing it wrong. You should have someone write down the question and the answer on the whiteboard."

"You want someone to read the question and someone else to write it down? Don't you think that's a little redundant?" Amy asked.

"It's the right thing to do," Peggy stated in an emphatic tone.

"Very well, you will write down the problems and answers."

Peggy sprang to her feet with a satisfied smile on her face and strode over to the whiteboard. The rest of the day was painfully awkward as it was extremely obvious that Amy was not a teacher; however, the enchantment she had made for her tiara was strong enough to allay suspicions from the students and Ms. MacKenna. It wasn't until Amy was driving Beth and James towards Beth's house that the redirection spell began to release them. When Amy pulled Louise's blue sedan into Beth's driveway, they all remembered what they had forgotten while at the school.

"Of course! I wanted to find and capture Roedalgia!" Amy exclaimed.

"Too bad we can never remember that while we're at the school," Beth said.

"I can see now that I will need to take a different approach to this problem tomorrow." Amy's tone was contemplative. "I'll need to make two very powerful enchantments. One of them will be a counteragent to Roedalgia's mind control spell and the other will need to be a counteragent to the redirection spell."

"That's a great plan," Beth said. "How long do you think it will take to make them?"

"It should take me several hours or so."

James flinched when his bracelet expanded back to its original size then slipped off his wrist. Beth gasped with surprise when the same thing happened to her.

"Excellent timing." Amy's lips curved in a pleased smile. "Both of your power magnification enchantments have completed. You should be a lot stronger now."

"I don't feel different at all," James remarked.

"Trust me, you two will do great things with your new talent," Amy told them.

Beth got out of the car and Amy drove herself and James back to their house where Louise and Jerry were waiting for them in the living room. There was a huge platter of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies and two tall glasses of milk positioned on the coffee table.

"I have a special treat for both of you." Louise gestured at the cookies and milk.

Each of the glasses had a label taped to them; one for Amy and the other for James. James knew that by now, the obedience spell had worn off. He suspected Louise had poured sleeping potion in Amy's glass of milk. He doubted that Amy would fall for the same trick twice and wondered why his grandmother hadn't concocted a better strategy.

"Do these things have meat in them?" Amy inquired.

"Yes, chocolate chip cookies are filled with meat," Louise fibbed with a false tone of regret. "You may not like them."

"You're probably right but I need another dose of meat." Amy picked up a cookie and took a cautious bite. As she chewed, her eyes lit up with delight. "These are absolutely delicious!"

"I'm so glad you like them." Louise grinned at her. "Don't forget to drink your milk."

Amy finished her cookie and then threw a sly gaze at James' grandmother. "You must think I just fell off the turnip truck. I won't be tricked into drinking any more sleeping potion."

Louise's face froze as Amy reached out and snatched James' glass instead of her own. Amy finished off all of his milk in several seconds.

"Maybe you should drink your own glass too," Louise suggested.

"Not a chance," Amy said. She ate another cookie with relish. "These cookies are delicious. I need you to pack plenty of them in my lunch for tomorrow."

James, Amy, Jerry, and Louise took their time enjoying the freshly baked morsels as they lounged on the two plush couches.

"How did things go today?" Louise finally asked.

"Not so good," Amy confessed. "Roedalgia's redirection spell is too strong. I have a plan to create two very effective enchantments to take care of the problem. I should probably get started right now."

Amy rose to her feet and stumbled forward, weaving precariously as she moved.

She pinned Louise with an expression of outraged disbelief. "You tricked me. You must have put the sleeping potion in James' milk."

"I knew you probably wouldn't drink from your own glass." Louise eyed her cautiously because Amy was still awake and she could possibly do some damage before she passed out.

"You should have let me finish making my counteragents to Roedalgia's magic. I'm the only one who can stop her."

"The protectorate has handled thousands of secondary realm creatures," Louise said.

"This one is craftier and stronger." Amy blinked wearily and moved clumsily towards her. She had only taken a mere three steps before she promptly passed out.

"She may be right," Jerry said. "The protectorate should have captured Roedalgia by now."

"Amy is too dangerous to be allowed to run loose in her current condition," Louise said.

"You're right," Jerry responded. "At least we won't have to keep her asleep for too much longer. She should revert back to normal by sometime tomorrow morning depending on her metabolism."
Chapter 15

James checked on Amy in the guestroom before he made his way to the kitchen for breakfast. His grandmother was frying veggie sausages in the skillet and they smelled great. She greeted him warmly, looking stressed but not as fatigued as the past two nights.

"I thought we'd have some toast and sausages for breakfast," she informed him.

"That sounds good." James popped two pieces of bread into the toaster.

An intense concentration of magic hovered over them.

"Oh, no," Louise said in horror. "Amy must have woken up. What on Earth is she up to?"

The magic gathered tighter around them as a spell neared completion. Louise and James dashed down the hall and burst into the guestroom. They found Amy sleeping on the bed.

"It's not her," James said. His eyes widened as he recognized the general pattern of the spell that was about to activate. "It's Roedalgia's mind control spell."

"We need to set up a dampening field," Louise told him.

Jerry burst into the room with an alarmed expression on his face.

"We need to create a dampening field," he said.

"I agree," Louise said. "Let's all stand together."

The three of them positioned themselves near the doorway and James felt their combined efforts begin to create a dampening field, but he suspected they had not started soon enough to protect themselves. All too soon, the mind control spell manifested and a huge wave of power cascaded over them in a relentless wave. The dampening field eroded quickly and weariness took hold of the three wizards. Louise's eyes drooped and she leaned against the doorframe to keep from falling. Jerry shook his head as if to clear. The dampening field continued to crumble away and would be gone in mere seconds. James knew he had to act quickly. He concentrated on the floor between his feet and massive blue flames erupted from that spot and engulfed his legs. His thoughts cleared and his strength returned as the mind control spell was disrupted. He shivered as the cold air from the flames whipped over his legs and feet. He reached inside his mind to tap into the core of his power and concentrated on increasing the fire. The icy, blue flames suddenly grew to encompass his entire body.

He reached out and grasped his grandmother's hand. Some of the blue fire leapt from his hands and crawled up her arms. Louise blinked as the mind control spell crumbled around her. She stood up straight and took a deep breath. James ran out of magic and could no longer sustain the flames of Aferon but the mind control spell had finished so he and his grandmother were safe. Jerry was lying on the floor, staring up at the ceiling. He pushed himself up into a sitting position then slowly stood up.

"That was a powerful spell," he said. "A lot of wizards probably fell under its influence."

"Probably," Louise said weakly. She turned to level a pleasant smile at her grandson. "Thank you, sweetie. That was quick thinking invoking the flames of Aferon."

"You're welcome," James said.

Louise, Jerry, and James enjoyed a pleasant breakfast. As James prepared his lunch, he checked the time and realized he was running late. He quickly finished and headed for the front door.

"Be careful at school. Try to fit in," Louise called out.

"I will," James promised.

He arrived at the bus stop just in the nick of time. His peers gazed at him with open disapproval. Beth stood with Tim and they both looked disapproving of James as well. James sat on the seat behind them as his two friends silently studied their social studies textbooks.

"Are you all right?" James asked.

Beth shot him an annoyed look. "Why wouldn't we be?"

"You seem irritated at me for some reason," James said.

"You were cutting it awfully close when you came to the bus stop this morning," Beth said with reprisal. "Can't you wake up earlier and get ready for school on time?"

"It's very disorderly to arrive late," Tim said.

James abruptly realized that Beth had fallen prey to Roedalgia's mind control spell. Unsettled by this disturbing realization, he leaned back in his seat to disengage himself from further conversation. Beth and Tim immediately returned their complete attention back to studying. Apprehension chilled James as he thought about Roedalgia and wondered if he would be able to counter another mind control spell. He was certain that Jerry and Louise would succumb to it without his help.

He pulled out his cellphone and checked the protectorate app. The latest update indicated that Roedalgia's influence had expanded to include a five-mile radius from the school. All wizards were warned to avoid Sarasota, Florida at all cost and evacuation was recommended for residents of the entire Sarasota county. The protectorate predicted Roedalgia's power and control would expand exponentially from this point forward until she reached her maximum potential. Once that happened, Roedalgia would be strong enough to break other secondary realm creatures from their prisons in pocket dimensions on Earth. Many protectorate officers from all over the world were stationed near Sarasota to facilitate Roedalgia's capture, but so far, all of their efforts to apprehend the fugitive had failed miserably. James shoved his smartphone back into his pants pocket. It sounded as though Roedalgia was undefeatable.

Without Beth or Tim to confide in, James felt himself wishing he could speed up time just to get the day over with. On the first recess, James sought out Mr. O'Connor to talk about their current predicament. The instructor and protectorate officer was seated behind his desk grading papers when James burst into his classroom.

"May I help you?" Mr. O'Connor smiled questioningly at him, but a hint of irritation flickered in his eyes.

"I was wondering if the protectorate is making any progress with defeating Roedalgia," James said.

"There's no need to put her back in prison. She's our ally."

"She is?" James asked. "Who is she?"

"I really couldn't say. The point is she's not our enemy. Roedalgia has done a world of good at this school and now that she's controlling almost the entire city, things will get even better," Mr. O'Connor said.

James' mouth flopped open but he quickly recovered. There was no point in arguing and he remembered that it was best to fit in.

"Thank you, Mr. Connor," he said.

"You're welcome."

James left the classroom with a sense of impending doom. He didn't want to lose his will to Roedalgia. He wasn't looking forward to becoming a mindless zombie. The recess bell rang, which signaled that there were only five minutes left until class resumed. James hastily made his way back to his classroom because he didn't want to risk being late. Beth and Tim were studying with the same quiet intensity as the rest of the class as they waited for recess to expire. James didn't try to initiate a conversation with either one of his friends as he knew they wouldn't like it. After class, he met with Ms. MacKenna for remedial studies. It was a nerve-racking session that seemed to distort time to a snail's pace. He flinched when the door to the classroom burst open and Amy strode into the room. James couldn't believe his eyes. She should be back to herself by now. As soon as she entered the room, Amy immediately cast a sleeping spell on Ms. MacKenna who slumped forward onto her desk.

"What are you doing?" James asked.

"I'm saving you," Amy said conversationally.

Her eyes glowed with an eerie, silvery light as James sprang up from his desk, ready to leave the school behind but knowing escape was impossible.

"When she wakes up, I'm going to have to keep practicing," James said.

"No, you won't," Amy told him. "I'm going to end this madness once and for all."

Amy held up her right hand to reveal a large topaz ring and an emerald ring. Both rings began to glow with a dazzling, silvery luminescence and powerful magic swirled violently around James as she set to work. James could sense the general makeup of the spells and identified them as counteragents to Roedalgia's mind control spell. He regarded Amy fearfully as he wondered if she had created the enchantments properly. The magic began to coalesce and James began setting up a dampening field around himself. Amy chuckled at him with amusement.

"You won't be affected by the spells," she said. "They are designed to break everyone free of Roedalgia's mind control."

As the spell activated, another powerful wave of magic poured from her and rushed out of the classroom with incredible speed. James rushed over to the window and saw Mr. Pratt walking toward the parking lot with one of the teachers. Both of them slowly crumpled to the floor as they lost consciousness.

"I think it's working." Hope welled inside James as he turned away from the window.

"The enchantments I made are excellent," Amy said smugly. "Unfortunately, I only woke up an hour ago and I didn't feel I had the time to finish the enchantments, which means only about a third of the infected will be freed from Roedalgia's control. This will give me more time to make a couple of stronger enchantments for tomorrow."

"I don't understand what's happening." James peered at her with puzzlement as he remembered that she should be a parakeet again.

"What do you mean?" Amy asked.

James' attention returned to his teacher who still remained unconscious. "Is Ms. MacKenna back to normal?"

"I can check."

Amy stepped closer to Ms. MacKenna and adopted a faraway look as she initiated her second sight. After several seconds, she blinked with surprise and took a step back. She grabbed her throat and made a choking sound.

"What's wrong?" James asked in alarm.

"I don't know." Amy breathed heavily and stumbled backwards. Panic flared in her eyes as comprehension dawned. "I'm returning back to normal. I need more meat."

James was torn with indecision. He was starting to wonder if perhaps Amy was right and that she needed to be in her full werewizard mode if there was any hope at all of defeating Roedalgia.

"My consciousness will be destroyed," Amy told him. "I won't remember anything that's happened. I will become weak and powerless to protect you."

She tripped over a desk and fell to the floor convulsing. James knelt beside her as he watched helplessly. Small branches of bright, golden luminescence spilled from different parts of her body. Soon, she transformed completely into a shimmering, gold light. Her mass swiftly shrank and a loud crack sounded. James flinched and blinked. A yellow parakeet stood where Amy had been lying. She warbled and then went quiet and looked around the room with confusion.

"What happened?" she asked. "Where am I?"

"It's a long story," James said slowly.

Amy flew onto his shoulder.

"Let's go home," James said.

He glanced at Ms. MacKenna who was still sleeping soundly and then he exited the room. Mr. Pratt was stirring and James abruptly realized he needed to hide his parakeet. He cast an invisibility spell on her and was relieved that it only took three attempts to succeed.

"You're really good at that," Amy said.

"Thanks," James said.

There was a group of kids waking up at the bus stop in the parking lot. Soon, the after-school activity bus arrived and James boarded it along with the others. He was relieved to arrive at his house. Louise and Jerry were working on a tracking spell when he stepped into the living room.

"We've got a problem," Louise said gravely. "Amy woke up and she's on a rampage."

"I have Amy on my shoulder. She's back to normal," James informed them.

Louise and Jerry smiled with relief. Jerry made a sweeping motion with his right hand, which brushed away the invisibility spell. Amy popped into view. She ruffled her feathers and cocked her head inquisitively at him.

"Did you say I was on a rampage?" Amy asked drowsily.

"You seem tired," Louise observed.

"I'm exhausted but I have no idea why."

"You've been a very active parakeet these last several days," Jerry said. "You could probably use some rest."

He held out his hand and Amy leapt onto it. He took her over to the cage and she willingly hopped inside and settled on the perch. She fell asleep almost instantly.

"Let's go to the guestroom," Jerry said.

"Why?" James regarded him with puzzlement as he and Louise followed him down the hallway.

"I don't want Amy to overhear," Jerry explained quietly.

He closed the door behind them as they gathered inside. Jerry cast a soundproof spell on the room so their voices wouldn't carry.

"Why all the secrecy?" Louise asked.

"Amy can't find out what happened. If she knew the details, she may be tempted to eat meat on purpose to help us out of a difficult situation," Jerry said.

"Like the one we're in," Louise said with sudden comprehension. "You're right. We can't have her turning back into that powerful and mindless creature."

"Exactly!" Jerry said.

"I don't know. Amy was the only one who managed to thwart Roedalgia's plan and she actually increased my own magical strength," James said. "Maybe we should think about letting her be the way she was."

"You saw her condition. The more powerful she became, the less ability she had to see reason. She didn't think about consequences before she acted. She was becoming more and more dangerous and she put you in harm's way several times. If it went on for much longer, she would have become unstoppable. It took constant vigilance and lots of magic to keep her asleep and she still managed to wake up."

"I guess you're right, she's too dangerous as a werewizard," James conceded.

Jerry grinned at him with mirth. "That's a good name for her when she's like that."

"Even though we're not going to let her eat meat again, I think she should know the truth about what happens," James said.

"We can't risk her becoming tempted to regain her power," Jerry said.

"The werewizard wasn't Amy. The real Amy should know what happened," James argued.

Louise shook her head sadly then locked gazes with Jerry. "He's right. Amy's been part of our family for generations. There is risk involved in keeping something like this a secret from her. She deserves to know."

"All right." Jerry's face set in a mask of disapproval. "You're her new owners so you will need to do what you feel is right."

"Thank you, Uncle Jerry." James leveled a grateful look at him. "We still have a very big problem. Roedalgia is unstoppable."

"I'm sure most of the protectorate will find a way to defeat her," Louise said. "Do you have any idea how effective Amy's enchantment was for neutralizing the mind control?"

"She said that probably one third of those infected by Roedalgia's magic were freed from the spell," James told them.

"Amy gave the protectorate some valuable time. I'm sure they'll develop an effective course of action quickly. We have to trust that they know what they're doing," Jerry said.

James swallowed nervously when he saw raw terror flicker over his uncle's face. He glanced at his grandmother and saw that she was afraid too. It unnerved him to know that both of them were as scared of their current predicament as he was.

"Maybe I shouldn't go to school anymore," James suggested.

"That would be the worst thing to do. It would draw attention to you. Roedalgia will most likely be looking for people who have managed to resist her spell. Luckily, we have a day or so before she'll be strong enough to try this again," Louise said.

"Beth! I need to know if she's free of the spell!" James exclaimed.

"Go ahead and call her," Louise said.

James opened the door and a loud echoing pop reverberated throughout the room as he inadvertently deactivated the soundproof spell that his uncle had cast. Startled, he flinched before he realized what had happened and that the loud noise had been harmless. He rushed over to the desk in his bedroom where he'd left his cell phone and dialed his friend's number.

"Beth, how are you?" James asked nervously as he hoped for the best.

"I'm feeling kind of odd. I'm having trouble remembering what happened today. It's like waking up from a dream and the details are all hazy."

"You were trapped in Roedalgia's mind control spell."

"I was?" Beth asked with shock. "That explains why I feel so strange right now. I should have realized that's what happened. So how did I get free?"

"Amy cast a spell that neutralized the mind control spell for some people," James explained. "She didn't have time to make a stronger enchantment."

"That's wonderful news! That will give the protectorate the edge they need to finally defeat Roedalgia," Beth said enthusiastically.

"I'm coming over to your house. Do you think you could call Tim and see if he's free from the mind control too?"

"Sure. I'll see you soon."

He disconnected the call and let Jerry and Louise know where he was going. When he arrived at Beth's house, his friend was waiting for him by the front door. They sat down on the cream colored couch in the living room. Like all rooms in Beth's house, it was tiny and stark with few decorations or furnishings. The front yard was miniscule and as barren as the inside of the house, but the backyard was surprisingly large with most of it taken up by an herb garden, strawberries, and a bunch of pineapple plants. There was a spacious, three-car garage attached to the side of the house, which took up most of the space of the dwelling. James gave Beth a quick update on Amy's condition, and she in turn, told him that Tim was no longer infected by the mind control spell.

"I'm feeling so disoriented. It's really weird. It's like I was asleep while I was under Roedalgia's spell, but it also feels like I was in some kind of prison. It's hard to explain."

"It sounds terrible," James said.

"I hope it never happens again," Beth said. "I'm going to make sure I practice dampening fields a lot more often."

"I don't know if that can protect you. They can only do so much unless you're strong enough to make a really solid one," James said.

"I'm much stronger than I was before. I can feel it. The enchantment Amy made for us worked."

"It did. I already used my magic to summon the flames of Aferon and it was amazing. I made so many of them that I was able to protect myself and Grandma from being sucked into Roedalgia's mind control. We can't trust that the protectorate will find Roedalgia," James said as an idea took root in his mind.

"Do you think there's something we can do about it?" Beth gazed at him inquisitively.

"Yes, we can get Mr. Pratt to use his psychic ability to help us."

"There's no way he'd agree to that."

"Can you compel him or cast an obedience spell?" James asked.

"Those are very advanced spells and need advance preparation. Tim might be able to use a negotiation spell on Mr. Pratt to convince him to assist us but I don't think we should. If he somehow realized what happened, we would be in big trouble."

"He won't know. Negotiation spells are very subtle."

"When should we do this?" Beth asked.

"Tomorrow morning at recess," James said.

Beth's brown eyes were troubled as she mulled this plan over.

"I really don't think we should do this," she said.

"We don't have much time before Roedalgia takes over the entire city," James said. "We need to help the protectorate as much as possible."

"Don't you think the protectorate will be asking for his help?" Beth asked.

"The protectorate has its own psychic consultants that they hire for cases like this, but it sounds like they're having trouble getting close enough to pick up any clues and I think that's because of the redirection spell."

"You're right. I suppose we need to do our part but your grandmother and my parents wouldn't like this at all if they knew what we were planning," Beth fretted.

"They won't find out," James said confidently.
Chapter 16

James was rudely awakened from a sound sleep by the piercing blare of his alarm clock. He fumbled for it on the nightstand and clumsily shut it off. Another crazy day of school awaited him. He abruptly realized that Princess was sleeping beside him on the bed. The cat's bright blue eyes opened and she stared at him for several seconds before she scuttled out of the bed and dashed out of the room. James took a quick shower and changed into a clean pair of jeans and a tee shirt. He still didn't feel fully awake as he trudged down the hall toward the kitchen. When he remembered his plan to interrogate Mr. Pratt while under a negotiations spell, anxiety swelled in the pit of his stomach.

Louise was in the dining room reading a spell book with a bowl of granola sitting in front of her. James helped himself to a bowl of cereal and perched on a chair at the table to watch his grandmother and start on his breakfast.

"Good morning," she said in a distracted tone.

"What are you looking for?" he asked curiously.

"I'm trying to see if there's anything useful in here that I could use to protect myself against mind control spells," Louise said.

"What should I do if you and Jerry become mesmerized by Roedalgia?"

"I've been thinking about that all night." Louise pulled out a small piece of scrap paper and slid it across the table to James. "Here's the contact information for your aunt and uncle, Maxine and Cody. Let's hope it doesn't come to that."

"I'll put their number on my cell phone," James said.

"Here's a useful deflection spell that I can use to protect myself from Roedalgia's next attack."

"Could I see?" James asked.

"Sure, but it's too complex for you to be able to do," Louise said.

James peeked over her shoulder and quickly realized she was right. There was absolutely no way he could pull this off. He sighed and returned to his spot at the table. He munched on his cereal with an air of dejection as he watched his grandmother study the intricate spell so she would be able to get started on it later.

"I've got an idea," he said with sudden excitement.

Louise's gaze lifted from the spell book with surprise. "What is it?"

"Even though Amy's back to normal, she's still a very powerful wizard. I'll bet she could do this."

"You may be on to something," Louise said with approval.

The two of them went to the living room and walked over to the birdcage. Amy stood placidly on her perch, looking drowsy and there was no sign of Princess in the room.

"Amy, can you take a look at this spell?" Louise held up the book and turned it towards her.

Amy cocked her head to the side as she perused the spell. "This is an excellent deflection spell against mind control attacks. Why would you need this?"

"She doesn't remember the last few days," James said.

His grandmother brought Amy up to speed and explained the consequences of eating meat. By the time she ended her tale, Amy stood tall with her feathers sleeked against her body as if ready to take flight at a moment's notice.

"I can't do magic while I'm a parakeet," Amy finally said, "but I can definitely create this enchantment for you. I can do two of them at the same time and finish them tonight."

"Thank you so much," Louise said.

"You're quite welcome."

James wished he could stay longer, but it was time to leave for school. His grandmother gave him a quick hug and he stepped outside with his lunch and book bag slung over his right shoulder. He was extremely grateful not to have to deal with the killer bees this morning. When he reached the bus stop, Beth and Tim greeted him warmly. Three of the children stood apart from the others, casting puzzled looks at the majority of the group waiting for the bus.

"Hey guys, what's going on?" James asked.

"Those three were freed from Roedalgia's mind control and they're talking about how strange the others are acting," Beth explained.

"I wish Amy was still a werewizard," Tim said. "I don't think the protectorate is going to do us any good at all."

"Do you think you'll be able to convince Mr. Pratt to help us?" James asked.

"I think so." Tim didn't sound as confident as James would have liked.

Negotiation spells required a lot of power. When a wizard made a failed attempt at a spell, they still exerted the same effort and expended the same quantity of power as when they successfully cast a spell. Tim would be exhausted after using his magic on Mr. Pratt.

"I hope you can do it. We really need to find out who Roedalgia is," James said. "I wonder if Mr. Pratt is still under her control."

"If he is, this will be even more difficult. If there's already a mind control spell on someone, you have to use even more magic to cast your own on top of it," Beth said dourly.

"That's just great," Tim said glumly.

Once they reached the school, James was comforted by the fact that about a third of his class was back to normal. He became more and more nervous as recess time approached. He found it difficult to concentrate on Ms. MacKenna's instructions as he worried about what might happen if Mr. Pratt was still under Roedalgia's influence or if something went wrong with the negotiations spell. When the bell finally rang for recess, James flinched and glanced at Beth and Tim who both looked very determined. They made their way to the principal's office and found Mr. Pratt reading over some papers at his desk. He looked up at their approach and frowned irritably.

"What are you doing here?" the principal asked in an ominous tone.

"I was wondering if you felt different today, sir," James said hesitantly.

"Yes, my mind was freed from Roedalgia's control," Mr. Pratt said slowly. "However, it isn't entirely bad to have your thoughts calm and orderly in spite of the unfortunate circumstances."

"You can't be serious!" James was horrified that the principal had actually enjoyed being controlled by the secondary realm creature.

"Nothing bad happened. Roedalgia didn't compel anyone to do anything illegal. The school was running better than it had in a long time," Mr. Pratt said moodily. "Unfortunately, something happened to disrupt her control and she was temporarily weakened. It will take a day or two for her to recover enough to expand her control again."

Tim took a deep, calming breath as his brows furrowed with concentration. James could feel the buildup of magic around him. When Tim cast the spell, his shoulder sagged and he leaned forward. He clutched the desk for support as he lost his balance. James rushed over to help him stand.

Tim raised his head and gazed at the principal. "I need you to help us with something very important."

"You do?" Mr. Pratt raised his brows with surprise.

"We need you to focus on Roedalgia and tell us what kind of psychic impressions you get about her." Tim's voice was layered as though he were four different people speaking in unison.

Mr. Pratt stared at him for several seconds then he shook his head and frowned.

"I'm definitely not going to use my abilities and give children dangerous information that could jeopardize their safety," he finally said.

"It looks like it's up to me," Beth said in a grievous tone.

James sensed a buildup of magic around her. She made a subtle gesture with her left hand as she cast an obedience spell. She weaved and her shoulders drooped. James went over to her and gently grasped her shoulder to help steady her.

"Thanks," she murmured.

"You didn't tell me you were going to do an obedience spell," James said.

"I practiced last night. I thought we might need the spell as a backup plan."

"You were right."

Mr. Pratt blinked and his expression grew distant as though he was no longer aware of the three students occupying his office.

"Are you okay?" James regarded her with concern.

"Yes." Beth smiled reassuringly at her friend as she straightened and stood on her own. She turned to face the principal and spoke in an authoritative tone. "Use your intuition to sense Roedalgia's identity and tell us any clues that will help us find her."

Mr. Pratt's brown eyes remained fixed on the wall behind her as if he hadn't heard her order. James wondered if she had cast the spell right. He waited with tense anticipation.

"She's very upset. She feels threatened and doesn't understand what happened last night. I'm not sure where she is. She isn't a teacher. She's posing as one of the students," Mr. Pratt said.

"What else do you sense?" Beth asked.

"It's hard to focus on her. I don't get precise impressions when I use my ability."

"I know but I need you to concentrate and tell me who she is," Beth said.

Mr. Pratt leaned forward as a look of intense concentration transformed his face. Silence dragged on and James tensed with anxiety, hoping the obedience spell would last long enough for the principal to give them the information that they so desperately needed. He glanced at the clock on the wall and could see that two minutes had already passed.

"We need to know anything you can tell us about her," James said.

"She's in the fourth or fifth grade level. She likes for everything to be organized and orderly," Mr. Pratt said slowly. "It feels almost as if she might have OCD."

"Do you mean she might be obsessive and a neat freak?" Tim asked.

"Yes, that's the impression I get," the principal confirmed.

"What else can you tell us about her?" James prompted.

"I can't sense any more specific details except for the most probable outcome," Mr. Pratt said. "By the end of the week, she will take over the entire state of Florida and then she will open a portal to the secondary realm and bring in her colleagues who have been waiting a long time. Together, they will rule most of North America. Before that happens though, there will be a critical point where the probable future could branch off sharply."

"What do you mean by that?" James asked.

"He means that another outcome can occur besides her taking over North America," Beth explained.

"You are correct," the principal said.

"So what do you see about this critical point?" Beth asked.

"I sense Roedalgia confronting James. There is a very small chance that James will somehow prevail and defeat her," Mr. Pratt said.

"What about the protectorate?" Beth demanded.

"There is no outcome in which they can possibly stop her," Mr. Pratt informed them. "There is very little opportunity for James to play his role as the victor. Time is very short."

James, Tim and Beth exchanged astonished and horrified looks. James couldn't believe that Roedalgia was planning to confront him. He couldn't imagine any possibility of winning a battle against such a formidable creature.

"Tell us any details that might help James prevail in this confrontation," Beth said forcefully.

"James will have only one opportunity to defeat Roedalgia," the principal told them. "There will be no warning when it happens, and he will feel completely and utterly alone because he will be surrounded by the enemy."

Mr. Pratt's brown eyes fixated on her and a strange choking sound issued from his throat as if he was struggling to speak. His eyes cleared and he gazed around the room in confusion. James' heart sank as he realized they had missed their opportunity to garner any more crucial information from the principal. Mr. Pratt leveled a disapproving gaze at the three students standing in front of him.

"I'm extremely busy. If you'll excuse me, I have a lot of work to do and you children need to go to class," he said.

"Yes, sir," Beth said shakily.

James, Tim, and Beth vacated the office and ventured outdoors.

"I can't believe Roedalgia is going to confront you. I wonder if she realizes we're wizards," Beth said.

"Why would she even care?" James asked.

"I don't know," Beth replied.

"It seems very important that I blend in and fly under the radar," James said.

"Definitely. We don't want to draw attention to ourselves," Beth said, "which means that we have to start acting like the others."

"Do you think we learned anything that could help the protectorate find Roedalgia?" James asked.

"It might help if they knew for sure that she's a student at the fourth or fifth grade level. That narrows it down quite a bit. I'll call in an anonymous tip after school."

After school, James, Tim and Beth were heading toward the door to leave when Ms. MacKenna called out.

"James, Tim and Beth, I need to speak with you, please," she said in a frigid tone.

The three of them approached their teacher with trepidation.

"I'm concerned about the progress you're making," Ms. MacKenna said with a tight smile. "Beth, Tim, you need to meet here after school for remedial studies like James. James, you were about to leave without staying for your assigned studies. Why is that?"

"I had assumed they were over," James said nervously.

"You assumed incorrectly," Ms. MacKenna said reproachfully. "I will let you know when they are finished."

"Okay."

"You three won't be the only ones doing remedial studies. There are about a dozen other classmates who have suddenly suffered an abrupt backslide for some reason. They were doing so well. Do you have any thoughts on this?" Ms. MacKenna regarded them questioningly.

"I noticed the same thing," Beth said hesitantly. "Maybe it's just a fluke. I know that I have always done my best."

"Well, my expectations have elevated recently. I need everything to be perfect," Ms. MacKenna said cheerfully. "You three would like to be perfect, wouldn't you?"

"Of course," Beth said brightly.

"Good. I'm glad I won't be having any problems with you. Now, let's start our remedial studies," Ms. MacKenna said.

James was a bit perturbed to see that Beth didn't seem to mind this after-school study group. Of course, he shouldn't be surprised as she'd always taken her grades very seriously. When James, Tim and Beth left the classroom, he felt a profound sense of relief. He was so glad the nightmare was over even if it would all start again tomorrow. They took the bus to her house. Beth found an edition of the _Wizard's Weekly_ just inside the doorway. Her parents had a daily subscription and it was delivered through the door—literally. James had seen it done once. The delivery person used a permeable spell to reach inside the door and drop the paper. It was risky to leave it outside even though it was enchanted so non-magical beings would only see blank paper.

"Look what made it onto the front page!" Beth exclaimed and showed James the newspaper.

The article was titled: "Roedalgia: the greatest threat in Florida."

Beth read the main part of the article aloud: "'Roedalgia is the greatest threat to wizards in over a century. Never before has a secondary realm creature managed to elude the protectorate and at the same time take over the entire city. The identity of our rescuer who disrupted Roedalgia's spell is still not known but only about a third of those infected by the mind control spell were freed. The protectorate fully expects that Roedalgia will gain complete control of Sarasota County within three days. Protectorates from all over the world are working diligently on this growing threat and caution everyone to stay vigilant but not to panic.'

"I wish there was something we could do," Beth said.

"I know. I'm surprised everyone isn't leaving town," James said.

"That won't do any good. Roedalgia is going to take over the entire continent in a couple of weeks," Beth reminded him. "No matter where you go, you'll be under her control."

James' stomach clenched as an oppressive sense of helplessness took hold of him. When he returned to his house, he discovered that Jerry was still there. He had expected his uncle to leave sometime during the day now that Amy had reverted back to normal. Jerry was currently sprawled on the couch reading an advanced spell book. Louise was situated in her armchair flipping through the pages of a murder mystery. James greeted them as he entered the room.

"Hello, dear," his grandmother said.

"Hi, James." Jerry's eyes were glued to the book as if his life depended on finding just the right spell.

"What are you doing?" James asked curiously.

"Trying to find protection to help us with Roedalgia," Jerry said.

"Is that why you're still here?"

"Yes, I've decided it would be a good idea to stay until this situation with Roedalgia is sorted out."

"Too bad we don't have a powerful wizard who could help us," James said. His mind churned frantically over the hopelessness of their situation and how Amy had been the only one who'd come close to stopping the secondary realm creature.

"The entire protectorate has made this problem their number one priority," Louise said. "The other state councils are working on it as well."

"Mr. Pratt sensed that Roedalgia is going to take over the entire state of Florida within days and then she'll take over most of North America," James said.

"Why was Mr. Pratt telling you this?" Louise said sharply.

"I asked him," James said. "He's a psychic and I figured he might be able to tell me something important. He also said that there is no chance the protectorate can stop Roedalgia."

"You shouldn't be drawing attention to yourself like that. You're putting yourself in danger," Amy said from her perch in the birdcage.

James threw an annoyed look her way.

"The bird is right," Jerry interjected.

Louise nodded in agreement. "You need to blend in, James."

"It doesn't matter. Sometime within the next day or so, I'll be one of Roedalgia's zombies," James said glumly.

"You don't know that! A certain amount of wizards develop immunities to spells. You might be one of those who are immune to her magic," Jerry said.

"You have to admit that's not very likely," Amy said.

"Will you be quiet?" Jerry said peevishly.

"I'm just telling the truth. We don't have much hope of keeping our individualities," Amy said. "I suppose since I'm a parakeet, I have a strong likelihood of being immune to the mind control spell but I could be wrong."

"You've got a point," Louise said.

"Not that she can do anything to save us," Jerry said.

Louise and Jerry exchanged troubled looks. James wondered if they were thinking the same thing he had been only moments before—that Amy could possibly track down Roedalgia and vanquish her if fed some meat. It was an extremely risky plan and James doubted they would go through with it. Besides, it was too late.

Louise leveled a perturbed gaze at her grandson. "Mr. Pratt told you that there was no chance the protectorate could stop Roedalgia?"

"That's right. He saw it with his psychic ability," James confirmed.

"Psychics generally see an alternate outcome when there are major events like this," Louise said. "Did he talk about it?"

James hesitated because he was certain she wouldn't like the answer. "He said that there would come a time very soon when she could be stopped and that there was only one person who could do it. He said it would be a small chance and if he failed, there would be no stopping Roedalgia."

"Who is this mysterious person?" Fear flared in Louise's eyes.

"It's me," James said.

His grandmother jumped to her feet, outrage and terror transforming her features. "I'm going to have a word with that man."

"Grandma, you can't do that," James said.

"And why not?"

"He won't remember telling me." James swallowed as guilt stirred within him.

"Did you cast a spell on him?" Louise asked.

"I did it to save us. It was an obedience spell."

"James, you have to promise me you'll never do that again." Louise regarded him with a stern frown.

"I promise," he said.

***

James had trouble falling asleep that night as he worried about what would happen the following day. He wasn't sure whether his grandmother and uncle would retain their individuality or become zombies the next day when Roedalgia cast her mind control spell again. The next morning, Amy was still a parakeet, which meant that neither Louise nor Jerry had fed her any meat. James didn't have much to say as he met Beth and Tim at the bus stop and they rode to school together. When they reached their classroom, they got out their books and pretended to study so they would blend in with most of the others. Ms. MacKenna began teaching social studies promptly after the bell rang. She called on volunteers to read paragraphs from the textbook and stood in the front of the class watching as each student took their turn. It was shortly before recess that Ms. MacKenna wordlessly returned to her desk and sat stiffly in her chair.

She placed the palms of both her hands on top of the wooden surface of her desk as her eyes stared intently forward. Those in the class who were infected by Roedalgia's magic did the same. James could sense powerful waves of magic emanating from them. This was how Roedalgia was expanding her influence. Those in her control could perform the same mind control spell as her and she had somehow prompted all of her followers into action. James knew it wouldn't be long before the spell was unleashed. The other students were staring at the zombies with fear and puzzlement. James prepared himself to cast his own spell. At the same time as the mind control spell was unleashed, he invoked the flames of Aferon with all the power he could muster. His entire body was engulfed in blue flames, which staved off the effects of the spell. He only had time to reach one of his friends so he made a difficult decision and grabbed Beth's arm so that the blue fire would protect her as well.

Tim and the other classmates who were not infected by Roedalgia's mind control quickly lost consciousness. The blue flames enveloping James and Beth sent an icy chill over their bodies and goose bumps rose on their skin. James struggled to keep the fire up but it soon began to die out as his power ebbed. His forehead pounded painfully with the exertion. Soon, he lost the flames of Aferon completely but he had accomplished his goal in staving off the mind control spell.

"You did it! You kept us protected," Beth said with exultation.

James smiled back at her then their gazes locked onto Tim.

"I wish I could have saved you both," James said with regret.

"You did the very best you could." Beth patted his arm with affection.

Their gazes traveled over the room and their peers who were either sitting ramrod straight at their desks or lying unconscious on the floor.

"We'd better sit down," Beth said hastily.

James nodded and they took their seats. The students who were already awake slowly regained their awareness of their surroundings as they relaxed and folded their hands. Beth and James mimicked the body language of the other students at their desks. Ms. MacKenna glanced at the classroom and seemed surprised to see Beth and James. She must have thought they would be unconscious like the others who were now stirring and rising from the floor.

"Today is a very special day." Ms. MacKenna smiled brightly as she gracefully drifted from her seat and strolled to the front of the class. "I believe Sarasota has just achieved perfection."
Chapter 17

Ms. MacKenna didn't make James stay after school for remedial studies. He was eager to return home and see what his grandmother and his uncle were up to. So far, everyone he'd encountered at school had succumbed to the mind control spell except for him and Beth. He stepped into his house, which was oddly quiet. Usually, he could hear his grandmother either watching television or puttering in the kitchen. He found both Louise and Jerry calmly leafing through their spell books.

"Hi, James," they said in unison.

"Hi," James said nervously.

Jerry and Louise regarded him serenely.

"How was school?" Jerry asked.

"It was fine," James said.

"I'll bet it was perfect," Louise said happily.

Shivers of apprehension danced across James' spine as he realized both his grandmother and his uncle had become members of Roedalgia's mindless zombies. He chewed nervously on his lower lip as they continued to stare at him.

"I'm going to study now. I'll have Amy help me," James said.

"Sure, sweetie. I hope you get perfect scores tomorrow," Louise said.

James walked over to Amy who had been completely silent during this exchange. She cocked her head at him in curiosity before jumping onto his finger then flying on his shoulder. James went to his room and closed the door behind him.

"Amy, how was your day?" James asked cautiously as he wondered if his wereparakeet had become a zombie as well as the rest of the city.

"Very strange," Amy said. "Louise and Jerry have never gotten along so well in all the years I've known them."

"Do you realize they're trapped in a mind control spell?" James asked.

"Oh, yes," Amy said. "It's the most complex spell I've yet to encounter. It had no effect on me. It didn't even make me drowsy."

"Good." James let out a soft sigh of relief. "Beth and I are the only ones at school who weren't caught in Roedalgia's magic today."

"How can that be? Surely the protectorate officers were strong enough to ward off the mind control spell if you and Beth could."

"No, I spoke to Mr. Connor and he was definitely one of the zombies."

"Zombies?" Amy asked in puzzlement.

"That's how I think of them. They're mindless zombies, trapped and forced to do the bidding of Roedalgia," James said.

"How did you ward off her spell?"

"I invoked the flames of Aferon and used them to protect me and Beth."

"Yes, the flames of Aferon are even better than creating a dampening field but it's usually too difficult for wizards to manifest enough of them. You're lucky it's your natural ability," Amy said. "Still, I'm surprised you were able to summon a sufficient quantity of the flames to protect both you and Beth."

"I'm stronger because of the enchantment in the bracelet you gave me when you were a werewizard and I've also been practicing," James said.

James knew that he had no chance of stopping Roedalgia on his own in spite of Mr. Pratt's psychic impressions. He needed Amy's help as a werewizard and the only way for that to happen was to feed her some meat. James swallowed nervously as he considered his plan. He had only gotten his wereparakeet restored back to normal for a couple of days and he was about to lose her again.

"You seem really nervous," Amy commented. "Is something wrong?"

"It's just that I don't know what to do," James said quietly as a cold knot of unease settled in the pit of his stomach. His thoughts spun with indecision and then he finally discarded his plan of feeding Amy meat. It was too much of a risk and if it was possible for Amy, as a werewizard, to defeat Roedalgia, Mr. Pratt would have foreseen it as a likely alternate outcome.

"You should try not to think about this problem with Roedalgia. It will only cause you grief," Amy said. "I would suggest that you practice magic."

"I can do that." James nodded slowly in agreement. He held himself very still as he concentrated and gathered as much power as possible. After a moment, he cast a spell and the desk burst into bright, blue flames. A rush of cold, brittle air rushed over him. Amy flapped her wings madly as she struggled to control her startled reaction. She continued to beat her wings for several more seconds then abruptly stopped and examined the impressive flames that consumed the desk. Large, blue tendrils of fire writhed madly and chilly air wafted over James and his parakeet. After less than a moment, the flames swiftly weakened and died out.

"That was impressive," Amy said. "How close do you have to be to cast the spell?"

"Very close. No more than a few feet," James said.

"That's the first step you'll need to work on," Amy said. "You should practice invoking the flames from as far away as possible and making them last for a longer period of time."

"How long do I need to keep a secondary creature in the flames to weaken it?"

"It will usually have an immediate effect. The creature will become virtually immobile but once the flames vanish, it will completely regain its strength unless the fire is maintained for at least several minutes."

"That's impossible!" James cried out in dismay.

"It's an achievable goal but it takes many years of experience," Amy said.

"I'm the only one in Sarasota who's not a zombie!"

"There must be some protectorate officers still free."

"Mr. O'Connor along with everyone at school and both Grandma and Uncle Jerry are trapped in the mind control spell," James said. "Is it possible for me to break them loose by invoking the flames over them?"

"It's possible to break the spell if you could keep them engulfed in the flames for at least several minutes. Invoking the flames of Aferon takes a lot of skill and power. If it were easy, everybody would be doing it all the time. It's very advanced magic. You're lucky you can do it at all."

"I don't feel lucky," James said glumly.

"I can help," Amy said. "When I turn into a wizard tonight, I'll create some enchantments for summoning the flames of Aferon. It will take me a few nights, but using all three enchantments should give us enough magic to break your grandmother and Jerry from the mind control spell."

"You can do that?" James asked, a hopeful smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

"I can do a lot," Amy informed him. "I'll work on it every night until I finish the enchantments."

"Thank you, Amy."

"You're quite welcome."

As soon as night descended and Amy turned into a person, she set to work in the guestroom on creating the enchantments she'd promised. James had trouble falling asleep when he went to bed, tossing and turning for most of the night as anxiety over recent events plagued his mind. He awakened before his alarm clock sounded, feeling exhausted and wanting to stay home from school. He slipped out of bed and trudged out of his room. By the time he'd brushed his teeth, taken a quick shower, and dressed for school, his energy was starting to return. As he walked down the hallway, he could hear his grandmother humming in the kitchen. He slipped quietly past the doorway to avoid her and made a beeline for the living room to check on Amy. She was perched in her cage and cocked her head to the side as he approached.

"Did you get very much done last night?" he asked.

"We'll talk later," Amy said quietly. "Be careful."

"James, what are you doing out here?" Louise asked from behind him.

He whirled around and pasted a phony smile on his face.

"I was just checking up on Amy."

"Whatever for? She's perfectly fine," Louise said.

"I want everything to be perfect." James realized how lame those words sounded as soon as they escaped his lips, but it was too late to take them back now.

"I understand completely," Louise said cheerfully. "I've been struggling with pancakes this morning. It's very hard to make them perfect."

"Really?" James asked.

"Yes. Why don't you eat some breakfast?" Louise suggested.

James stepped into the kitchen and could see his uncle eating in the dining room.

"Hi, James," Jerry said amiably.

"Hi, Uncle Jerry."

James helped himself to two pancakes, which were almost the exact same size and shape.

"Do you see what I mean?" Louise asked.

"Huh?" James regarded her with confusion.

"The pancakes are all different. No matter how carefully I measure them, they can't be made to perfection. I never realized that before."

James and Louise sat down at the table with their pancakes.

"You're going to have to raise your grades," Jerry said. "Your grandmother was telling me you have a B in both arithmetic and grammar. We need you to get all As like Beth."

"Okay," James said nervously.

He wasn't sure if he could get straight As. If he couldn't pull this off, people would realize he wasn't a zombie and he'd be in serious trouble. Time was running out. James swallowed nervously and he fidgeted his legs, which caused his heel to accidentally land on Princess's tail underneath the table. She screeched loudly and scratched his foot. James yelped in surprise and pain as his fork slipped from his fingers and clattered against the edge of his plate in such a way that it boomeranged to the side and smashed into Jerry's glass of milk, shattering the glass. Princess dashed out of the room and milk quickly spread across the table and poured into Jerry's lap. He scooted backward and his chair accidentally tipped over. As he landed on the floor, his foot crashed into the table and James' plate bounced violently, which sent the pancake hurtling into James' face. The pancake stuck to him for a split second before sliding down onto the table.

"Oh, dear! What a horrible mess!" Louise exclaimed with dismay.

"This is a catastrophe!" Jerry said with horror.

He quickly disentangled himself from his chair and stood up. He and Louise began cleaning up the mess and casting troubled looks at James. James no longer had an appetite after this latest bout of bad luck. He excused himself and went to his bedroom where he sank down in his chair in front of his desk. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to relax. He needed to take his mind off his problems. There was a fluttering sound in the room and an instant later, Amy landed on his shoulder.

"I thought you could use some company," Amy said sympathetically.

"I have rotten luck," James said dismally.

"I know, but at least things won't be like this forever."

"Yeah, I'll only have to suffer with it for twenty years or so," James retorted.

"Everything will be all right," Amy said reassuringly.

She nuzzled his neck and made a soft, warbling sound, which he found somewhat comforting in spite of his stressful situation. After awhile, he checked the time and realized he needed to start packing his lunch. Amy remained perched on his shoulder as he made his way to the kitchen. Louise and Jerry had finished cleaning up the mess and were conversing in low, anxious voices at the dining room table. They abruptly halted their dialogue as soon as James stepped into the kitchen.

"James, your bad luck is going to be a problem," Louise said.

"There's nothing I can do about it, is there?" James asked.

"As long as you're having these chronic problems, you will not be able to attain perfection," she said sadly.

"That's why we called Roedalgia," Jerry said.

"You called her? She's coming here?" A cold sensation of dread permeated his body as he realized the confrontation would come sooner than he'd anticipated. He had counted on having more time than this. In spite of Amy's comforting presence on his shoulder, he felt completely and utterly alone. No one could help him and he would only have one slim chance of somehow defeating Roedalgia.

"Don't worry. She'll be able to help you," Louise said reassuringly.

"Amy, what should I do?" James asked.

"I don't know," she replied nervously. "I don't think there's anything you can do to escape."

"Don't scare him, Amy. Roedalgia is going to help," Louise said, chastising the bird.

The doorbell rang and Louise went over to answer it. James followed his grandmother and was surprised to find Peggy from his class standing outside. She was wearing a yellow blouse and her silky, black hair was set in a French braid. Her blue eyes gazed appraisingly at James as she stepped inside the living room.

"Roedalgia?" James asked with disbelief.

"You seem surprised." Peggy smiled at him as she approached.

James began to back up and soon they were all standing near the center of the living room.

"You're not one of us?" Louise asked him.

"No, he's not," Peggy/Roedalgia said.

"How can you be Roedalgia? You've been going to school for years. You were in my class last year. Roedalgia has only been at my school for a couple of weeks," James said with confusion.

"Those are false memories created by my mind perception spell," Roedalgia explained. "I've perfected it over the years just as I perfected the mind control spell."

"Why are you doing this?" James asked. "Why can't you just stay in your own world?"

"Because everyone else has stronger magic in the secondary realm like me. But here you're all weaker. I'm trying to help you. There's no reason to be afraid. I'm bringing peace and perfection to this chaotic world. Trust me when I tell you that this planet will soon become a utopia," Roedalgia said.

"No one will be able to think for themselves either," James pointed out.

"It's a small price to pay, isn't it?"

"If we're prisoners in our own minds, we're not really living."

"You just don't understand what it is to be one of my followers," Roedalgia said. "You'll soon realize that my way is the best way."

She raised her hands and they radiated with an intense, gold light as powerful magic swelled from them. James gathered as much magic as he could muster, but he knew he wouldn't be able to cast his spell in time. Roedalgia's spell was already beginning to coalesce around him and would soon activate. James needed more time, but there wasn't any. He braced himself for the mind control spell, but flinched when Amy unexpectedly launched from his shoulder and brushed the top of Roedalgia's head, which slightly disheveled her hair. Roedalgia's hands instantly stopped glowing as she madly felt her head and realized there were some stray hairs out of place. Amy flew up to the curtains and perched on them. Roedalgia's hair slipped back into place so it was once again pristine and fresh-looking. James quickly recovered from his surprise and continued gathering power in preparation for his spell. Roedalgia's blue eyes snapped back to him and she took a quick step forward with her hands outstretched once again.

James cast the spell as he focused intently on her. Blue flames blossomed over her hands and partway up her arms. She froze and her eyes widened fearfully. James stepped closer and concentrated harder. The chilly, blue flames spread up her arms and over her head and shoulders. She shivered and remained perfectly still like a statue. The unnatural, blue tendrils swiftly grew larger until her entire body was engulfed in them. A bitter cold radiated from her and brushed James' skin. He'd only held the fire for a short time and already his head pounded with exertion. He knew it was extremely important to hold the spell for as long as possible so he forced himself to continue. Louise and Jerry stood nearby and watched with horror as Roedalgia stood engulfed in the flames of Aferon. Soon, James could see the flames weaken.

"You need to keep the spell active!" Amy shouted with dismay.

James moved closer so he was almost touching Roedalgia and concentrated harder. The flames picked up again. Roedalgia was unable to move except for her mouth, which slowly opened and closed by just a couple of inches, as if she were struggling to speak. James' head pounded with exertion and dizziness assailed his senses. He couldn't keep this up much longer and it hadn't even been a minute yet. Fatigue settled into his body as he fought to keep the spell active.

"You're doing great! It's almost been a minute!" Amy said encouragingly but with an undercurrent of worry.

James knew he couldn't do this much longer. He was so tired that he could barely stand up anymore. Dizziness made him feel like the room was spinning. The blue flames slowly weakened even as he did his best to keep them going. Louise and Jerry both shook their heads as their minds were freed from Roedalgia's mind control.

"James, I'm going to help you. Whatever you do, don't give up!" Louise said urgently as she rushed over to him and grasped his hand.

He felt power flow through him from his grandmother and he managed to maintain the blue flames. His body ached with exhaustion, but the dizziness had abated somewhat. Jerry positioned himself on James' other side and joined hands with him. More power flowed through James and the blue flames grew larger. Amy flew out of the room and into the kitchen. There was a loud clanging as if she had knocked something over. James couldn't let his concentration falter or he'd lose the spell.

"Keep going. You're doing fantastic," Louise praised him.

James smiled weakly, but even with her and Jerry helping him, his strength was already waning. Soon, the blue flames began to weaken once again.

"Don't give up! You can do it!" Jerry said.

"I'm trying." James body trembled with exertion, but the spell was slipping away.

The blue flames swiftly died down and evaporated into nothingness. Roedalgia sank to her knees and gasped for breath. Jerry and Louise pulled James away from the secondary realm creature. She slowly raised her head and smiled with satisfaction.

"Nice effort, James, but not good enough." Roedalgia slowly rose to her feet.

Louise cast a sleeping spell, which the creature easily deflected. Roedalgia smiled smugly at her.

"You think you're free from my control? James merely weakened the connection with everyone so that they can think on their own, but I'm still drawing power from them and from you as well," Roedalgia said. "The connection is getting stronger by the second. You'll be trapped again soon."

"No," Louise whispered fearfully.

"You can feel it, can't you?" Roedalgia taunted.

Amy flew into the room and dove at Roedalgia's head. The secondary realm creature tried swatting the parakeet but missed. Amy hastily rose out of her reach and circled the room a couple of times before landing on the curtains. Roedalgia gestured at Amy, slinging a telekinetic spell at the parakeet who abruptly vacated her perch. The curtains abruptly tore away from the wall and landed on the floor. Roedalgia shot another telekinetic spell at Amy but missed again.

"By the way, I pooped in your hair," Amy said.

Roedalgia's eyes widened in panic and she tentatively felt her hair. Amy slammed into a lamp and knocked it over. She dove behind the long couch at the far end of the room.

"You stupid bird!" Roedalgia shrieked.

She made a gesture over her hair, which must have removed the bird dropping. She gestured at the curtains and they flew back up, affixing themselves back onto the wall so that they were good as knew. Roedalgia gestured at the lamp and it rose from the floor and set itself back up on the end table where it had been originally. She walked purposefully over to the couch, but Amy chose that moment to take flight again. She flew past the creature's head and Roedalgia once again ineffectually swatted at the bird. Amy flew down the hall and Roedalgia ran after her. James was so exhausted that he didn't follow them right away. He had just taken his first step when Amy flew back into the room and landed awkwardly on his shoulder. Roedalgia stumbled into the room with rage flashing in her blue eyes.

"You're both so full of chaos and disorder that I don't know how you can even function!" she screeched with frustration.

She held her hands out and the palms were radiating with an intense gold light. Powerful magic emanated from them as she prepared to cast her mind control spell. Louise and Jerry stood as still as statues with blank expressions on their faces. James knew there was no escaping it. He swallowed as a horrible sense of defeat washed through him.

The front door suddenly pounded open to reveal Mr. O'Connor and Mr. Callaway, Tim's dad. The two men had already pulled their wands out and had them pointed at Roedalgia. She whirled and held her hands out toward them. Their determined expressions began to cloud with indecision as she began to regain control of their minds. Amy abruptly launched into the air and slammed into the back of Roedalgia's head. Roedalgia swatted at the bird and momentarily lost her concentration. The glow in her hands abruptly died away. In that instant, Mr. O'Connor and Mr. Callaway cast the imprisonment spell. A bright, green light exploded over Roedalgia and formed a green cube of energy that imprisoned her. She beat her fists against the walls and unleashed potent telekinetic spells to try to break them, but the imprisonment spell remained secure.

"And now for the dimensional pocket." Mr. O'Connor flicked his wrist.

A bright green spark arced from the end of his wand and exploded as it hit the energy cube. An instant later, Roedalgia had vanished.

"She's imprisoned again," Mr. O'Connor said to them.

"Thank heavens!" Louise exclaimed with relief.

"What if the she's still alive when the spell wears out?" James asked.

"Most secondary realm creatures die long before their prison crumbles away," Mr. O'Connor said. "Only a very small handful of them survive and break out like Roedalgia did and we'll be sure to monitor the energy signature of this prison more closely so we don't lose track of it this time." He paused and his lips curved into a congratulatory smile. "We'll give your bird an honorable mention for helping to distract Roedalgia."

Amy flew back onto James shoulder and cocked her head to the side as she watched the two protectorate officers.

"Where's Amy?" Mr. O'Connor asked.

"That would be me," Amy said.

Mr. O'Connor's eyes widened with incredulous disbelief.

"A parakeet called me on my cell?" Mr. O'Connor asked.

"I knocked the phone off the wall in the kitchen and dialed your number," Amy explained.

"You're the wereparakeet my son has been talking about," Mr. Callaway said.

"That's right."

"You're a very special bird," Mr. Callaway said.

"She certainly is." Louise smiled affectionately at Amy who was preening as she stood on James' shoulder.

Without warning, a cobalt blue light spilled into the room from seemingly every direction. Everyone stilled and time seemed to suspend temporarily. James took stock of his surroundings as he tried to figure out what was going on.

"You successfully apprehended a secondary realm creature. The first lock to your curse has been released," a whispery female voice said from the empty air around him.

"What do you mean 'the first lock'?" James asked.

"You have nine locks to go and the curse will become dormant," the mysterious voice said.

The cobalt blue light abruptly vanished and time resumed its natural course. No one seemed to realize that anything out of the ordinary had occurred so James didn't comment on it. Mr. Callaway and Mr. O'Connor asked everyone to recount what had happened with Roedalgia before they had arrived. The two protectorate officers asked a few more questions for clarification before leaving. Now that only family members remained, James thought it was time to bring the matter to his grandmother's attention. He informed her of what had happened with the apparent stoppage of time and the mysterious voice. Louise adopted a blank expression on her face, but fear swirled in her eyes, clueing him to the fact that she was hiding something. James glanced at his uncle who was doing precisely the same thing.

"I think I know what's going on," James said slowly.

"It wasn't important. You shouldn't dwell on your curse," Louise said.

"The curse will become dormant if I help to capture nine more secondary realm creatures! That's how the curse works!" James exclaimed as a resounding certainty crashed through his thoughts.

Louise and Jerry exchanged horrified looks.

"I suppose since you've figured it out for yourself, I might as well admit it," Louise said gravely. "You must realize that it's too dangerous. You have to wait until you're older before you start imprisoning or vanquishing these dangerous creatures."

"I'm surprised that I got credit for imprisoning Roedalgia," James said.

"You don't have to imprison or vanquish the creature yourself, you just have to play an important part in its capture," Louise informed him.

He was relieved to finally know how to get rid of this annoying curse. The following day, he was featured on the front page of the _Wizard's Weekly_ for having summoned the flames of Aferon and helping the protectorate officers imprison Roedalgia. Amy also got an honorable mention for contacting the protectorate and distracting the creature at a critical moment. James smiled with satisfaction, confident he would put an end to his curse sooner rather than later.
Books By Jason Flanigan

The Bad Luck Curse: Book 1 of the Kafka Legacy Series

The Amulet of Structured Thought: Book 2 of the Kafka Legacy Series

The Secondary Realm: Book 3 of the Kafka Legacy Series

Note: Jason Flanigan is John O'Riley's pen name for his children's fantasy series

Books by John O'Riley

Young Adult psychic series:

Transformation (Book 1 of the Winters Family Psi Chronicles)

Project Onyx (Book 2 of the Winters Family Psi Chronicles)

Black Moon (Book 3 of the Winters Family Psi Chronicles)

Wizard Fantasy series:

Grumpy Old Wizards (Book 1 of the Grumpy Old Wizards series)

Corruption (Book 2 of the Grumpy Old Wizards series)

Dark Energy (Book 3 of the Grumpy Old Wizards series)

Terramezic Energy (Book 4 of the Grumpy Old Wizards series)

Light Energy (Book 5 of the Grumpy Old Wizards series)

Invasion (Book 6 of the Grumpy Old Wizards series)

Inheritance (Book 1 of the Wizards of Seattle series)

Escape (Book 2 of the Wizards of Seattle series)

