The Puddle Portal

Part 18: The Staff

       Zarina pointed the staff at Kelsey, and a purple smoke flew out of it. It rushed towards her, but Dallas pushed her out of the way. Reagan jumped out of the way just as the smoke passed her. The smoke crashed into the trees. Zarina watched as the trees crashed down to the ground and flew dirt and stone everywhere.

       Lexie yelled, "Kelsey!" Kelsey got up and blood covered her arm. "Damn, can you people just not die?" "I guess not." Kelsey said. "I guess I just have to make you suffer forever, then." Dallas walked over to Kelsey and held her hand. She smiled, and he said, "If she suffers, I suffer." Zarina shrugged and shot a lightning bolt out of her staff. It hit Dallas and Kelsey, and they screamed in pain. Their bodies got stiff and tears ran down their faces before being frozen. They stood there like statues.

       "That was supposed to kill them, not turned them to stone." Zarina shrugged and then saw Liz had broken the vines surrounding Charlie, Sophia, and Olivia. Zarina screamed and flew towards them. Liz nodded to the others, and they nodded along. They ran in different directions and Zarina didn't know who to go after. She flew towards Liz, and just like Liz thought, started shouting fire at her.

       The vines around Lexie and Caleb let go of them and slithered towards the others. Caleb and Lexie fell towards the ground and hit with a thud. Caleb got up and helped Lexie up. "I'm so sorry." Caleb said with tears in his eyes. Lexie looked at him and didn't say a word. She ran over and hugged him. She let go of him and asked, "But why did you do it?" "Zarina was my first friend when we were kids and so I didn't think she was doing anything that evil." Lexie smiled, "Dallas, Kelsey and I have been living with you for three years. I thought you would've known that even the sweetest people can be evil." Caleb giggled and said, "Let win this battle."

       Sophia and Olivia were having a hard time running away from the vines. The almost tripped and fell multiple times. "I can't keep this up. We need a new plan." "But Liz said to just run away from the vines and thorns." Olivia looked around and darted to the left. The vines followed Olivia and left Sophia. "What are you doing?" Sophia called out. "Just get the staff!" Sophia nodded and ran to help Charlie.

       Charlie kicked the vines going after him. He tried to hide behind trees but the vines were smarter than that. He ran around in circles, causing the vines to get tangled up. "That's how you do it." "Charlie." Charlie turned to see Sophia running towards him. "Sophia? What's wrong?" "We have to get the staff, that is how we'll defeat her." "How do we do that?" Sophia thought for a moment. "I got an idea. You distracted her and I'll grab the staff." They nodded and ran towards Zarina.

       Zarina was still chasing Liz. Liz couldn't keep this up. "Hey, Purple Demon! Over Here!" Zarina turned around and saw Charlie waving his hands everywhere. Zarina's face went red. She had just been called a purple demon. She flew towards him but she felt a jolt on her back. Sophia had jumped up on her and was kicking her in the side. Zarina screamed out in pain and dropped the staff. Zarina and Sophia fell to the ground. All the vines stopped moving and just laid there like sticks. Zarina got up and looked around. She saw everyone moving closer to her. Humiliated, She stood straight up and said, "You may have won this battle, but you won't win the war!" Lexie walked over to her. She smiled and said, "Oh, father would be pissed if he saw you like this?"

       Zarina closed her hands and her eyes. In a split second, a bright purple flash appeared everywhere, blinding everyone. They all opened their eyes and gasped, "She's gone!" Liz yelled. "And I'm back!" They turned around to see Caleb floating in the air with the staff in his hands. Everyone backed up except Lexie. She walked up to him and said, "That's the Caleb I know." Caleb smiled and floated down to the ground and kissed.

       "Okay, that's gross." Olivia said standing next to Charlie. Caleb looked at the others standing with them. "I'm sorry for the trouble we've caused." Charlie could only shrug and then asked, "Can I ask you two something?" Both Caleb and Lexie nodded for him to continue. "Two questions. First, why should we forgive you?" Caleb looked at Lexie. "Yeah, Lexie. Why should they forgive us? Technically, I didn't do anything wrong. Dallas tried to kill the girls with snakes, Kelsey killed Skyler, and you tried to kill these girls for a stupid reason. Plus, you stuck Skyler to a door." Lexie looked at him.

       "After Kelsey killed Skyler, me, you and her left. We didn't stick him to the wall." Caleb had a blank expression on his face. "Well," Liz said, "You two really didn't do anything. So I guess we can forgive you. Charlie, what was your other question?" Charlie gulped and asked, "Ray's not my father, is he?" Lexie's eyes widened. Caleb circled the group. "Lexie, we both know the answer." Lexie sighed. "No, he isn't. But I know who it is." Everybody looked at her, wanting to know.