Alice’s response was unexpected. “Don’t talk to him!” she roared and threw both hands forward. Where her hands stopped, bolts of electricity erupted and slashed through the space, striking the invisible barrier.
The impact sent a forceful wave straight into Emily. She flew back with the force of a whirlwind; however, Michael acted fast enough and grabbed her before she fell.
24
“I said engage them, not enrage them,” Michael cautioned. The scathing remark was given with a skillful smile. Alice could never have guessed what Michael had said.
Emily gave her brother a tight nod, biting back the nasty rebuttal that was working its way through her throat.
“I just need a few minutes.” Michael tried to steady her. “Get them to continue their attack and summarily ignore us.”
Emily eyed him. “Summarily? What does that even mean?”
Michael ignored her, only motioning ever so slightly to Alice.
Emily returned her gaze to the trio. Chandler and Marion had come to join their sister. They waited patiently behind her. Alice, seemingly oblivious to them, was content with just glaring at Emily.
“I’ll enjoy flaying you alive when I get to you,” Alice threatened, coming a few steps closer. She was now standing about a yard away from Emily. Every little detail on her face was crystal clear. The shades of her hair, the startling color of her eyes, her diminutive figure, and the way the air vibrated around her.
Alice was indeed a monster of immense power. Emily believed the girl had significantly more power than her brothers.
“You keep saying that,” Emily muttered and then looked up. The sun was burning a hole in the sky. “Yet, it’s almost evening. You’re still out there, we’re still in here, and it’s all talk.”
Alice’s face changed to a scowl.
Emily knew instantly her choice of words had been a bad idea. Engage them, Michael had said. Not enrage them. She’d succeeded in enraging Alice, which was saying a lot, considering the young Alfred girl seemed to embody rage at all times.
Alice’s eyes filled with loathsome evil. The air around her vibrated at a more terrifying pace. She turned her back to Emily and Michael and faced her brothers. She didn’t need to utter a word. They came closer to each other and began to chant.
Michael gripped Emily by her right arm. She felt a sudden charge of power go through her. Suddenly, the world turned to a dull red hue.
“Come, slowly,” Michael whispered. His voice was strange—it sounded like he was speaking through a very hollow container. With his arm still locked tightly around hers, he pulled her up to take a couple steps away from where she stood.
As Emily stepped away, a perfect image of herself remained standing there on the porch and looking at the Alfreds. The same went for Michael.
Emily was stunned for a moment. She glanced at Michael and saw him grinning from ear to ear.
“It worked.” She looked around, astounded.
“Shh!” Michael replied. He gestured for her to be silent.
Emily glanced back at the copies of herself and Michael. The Alfreds continued chanting. At intervals of about a minute, their fireball would reach its full intensity, and they would let it loose on the house.
Michael tugged at her arm, and she yielded. He led her all the way through the hallway into the library. He paused there and muttered a few phrases. The words were mostly gibberish to Emily, but they were certainly powerful because Emily felt the sharp jolt of power escape Michael’s fingers.
Before her eyes, the Emily and Michael copies turned and walked into the living room. There, they sat down. ‘Emily’ sat on the couch, while ‘Michael’ took the armchair. They sat immobile, staring at each other.
Their motion caught the attention of Chandler and Marion, but neither said anything.
Emily was still standing awestruck by the turn of events, when Michael tugged on her arm. They had to go. Emily’s heart began to race. This was it. They were making a break for it. They were leaving the safety of Aunt Anastacia’s house. Was she ready? She didn’t know.
Michael led her down a small aisle, which seemingly ended in another bookshelf built against a wall. He didn’t stop. He walked up to it, waved a hand above a certain portion of the shelf above the midsection, and muttered a few strings of words. Gibberish again to Emily; apparently not to Michael, because the shelf melted into what looked like a normal door.
Michael opened it, and still holding tight to her arm, tugged her into the dark, narrow corridor. The moment they went through, the door closed of its own accord.
The journey to the end of the corridor was very short. They passed through a door directly into the backyard of the house.
The moment they were standing under the sun in the small backyard, Emily knew they were outside the barrier and now exposed.
Panic struck hard, and her chest tightened. Beyond the backyard was a dirt path that snaked through a heavy forest. From here, Emily could hear the Alfreds’ chanting. It was faint, carried on the winds—but she could hear it still.
She knew that all it took was a thought, and the Alfreds would descend on them and destroy them. Alice was going to have a field day with Emily. Even though she was a little girl, Emily was terrified of her. She had so much power and zero restraint. She had promised to flay Emily alive the moment she had the chance.
As Emily stood in the backyard, her legs trembled with terror.
Michael still held on to her.
Together they waited.
“Why are we waiting?” Emily whispered to Michael. Her voice was so choked it drew a questioning glance from her half brother. He didn’t have time to reply because before their eyes, a staircase appeared to the side, directly from one of the upstairs windows. Aunt Anastacia started to descend from the window and cascaded down the magical steps. Hot on her heels
