𝐑𝐄𝐃 • Max Dennison

VIV: DANCE, DANCE, DANCE

The three made their way to the Town Hall, where Max and Dani's parents (along with most of Salem) were partying. Lilah had been to one of the Town Hall's parties once. It wasn't that great, if she was honest. Right now, though, a good party was the smallest of her worries.

A band was playing on stage, dressed up as skeletons. The variety of different costumes was honestly amazing, but, given the circumstances, Lilah didn't have time to stop and admire the effort that the people of Salem had put in to their costumes.

"I'm gonna look for mom," Dani said, disappearing into the crowd leaving Lilah and Max alone.

"Fancy a dance?" Lilah ask, Max stared at her as if she was stupid, "Chill, I'm kidding. What exactly are we gonna-"

Lilah was interrupted by Max jumping in shock, the pair of them turning around to see Max's dad dressed up as a vampire. "Oh, Dad," Max said.

"It's not dad," his dad said in a funny accent, "It's Dadcula. Oh my goodness, who must this charming young blood donor be?"

Max's dad lifted Lilah's hand pretending to kiss it. In a different situation, it would have been funny, but they were in a rush. "Dad! Something terrible happened!"

"Dani? What's wrong?"

"No, Dani's fine."

"Excuse me, come here."

Max's dad took him off, leaving Lilah alone in the crowd. She began to feel claustrophobic. Maybe the crowdedness of the room shouldn't be the most worrying thing to her, but it certainly was getting to her. She decided to go out for some fresh air, hoping that Max and Dani wouldn't worry.

She could still loudly hear the music, even from outside. She sat on the curb, looking up into a sky. She told herself she was keeping an eye out of the witches, but, realistically, she was just sitting there doing nothing.

She heard footsteps walking past her, looking up to see Jay and Ice. She really couldn't get away from them today. She looked back down, hoping they wouldn't notice her. They did.

"So, Li," Jay said, "This is the sophisticated party?"

"No, I left that one."

"Too boring?"

"Mhm."

"Well, we're not boring. Come hang with us, surely you don't wanna be in that cramped shit hole all night? Me and you can ditch Ice and, well, see where it goes."

For a minute, Lilah debated it. Not because she wanted to hook up with Jay, she wasn't interested. But she also wasn't completely opposed to the idea of hanging out with him. She just wanted to get away from the witches. Her head knew she shouldn't leave Max and Dani to fend for themselves, but the logic in her head said it would be smartest to just get away from the witches.

Before she had time to come to a conclusion, she saw three women, dressed in old clothing, enter the Town Hall. "Shit," she whispered. "Listen, Jay, I'm gonna have to pass. I'll see you when I see you!" Lilah ran into the Town Hall.

"You never hang out with me!" Jay whined after her.

"I wonder why," Ice scoffed as they walked away.

Lilah entered the Town Hall, but the three witches had already disappeared into the crowd. She managed to find Dani, Max and their parents. She figured they'd broke the news, since their parents were trying their best to convince them that nothing had happened.

She ran over to them, grabbing Max's shoulder and turning him around, evidently out of breath. Max put his hand on her waist to steady her as she caught her breath. "Lilah? Li, what's up?"

"They're here," she said breathlessly.

"There they are!" Dani said, pointing towards Winifred and Mary.

"Stay here!" Max said. Lilah ignored him, chasing after him as Dani was held back by her mother. He jumped up onto the stage and took the microphone out of the singers mouth. "Hey, cut the music," he said as the singer protested. "It's an emergency. Only for a minute." Max turned to the crowd. "Will everybody listen up, please? Your kids are in danger. Three hundred years ago, the Sanderson sisters bewitched people, and now they've returned from their grave." Everyone laughed, including the singer. Max grabbed onto his collar. "Hey, man, I'm serious, it's not a joke! I know this sounds dumb, but they're here tonight. They're right over there!" Max pointed to the witches. The spot light shone on them as everyone backed away.

"Thank you, Max," Winifred said, "For that marvelous introduction."

Everyone laughed and Winifred began to sing. Lilah, Max and Dani found each other, Binx running over shortly after. They turned around to see Billy behind them, attempting to grab them.

They ran back to Max's parents, warning them to cover their ears, but they didn't listen. They were soon chased back out by Billy.

"Dance, dance, dance until you die!"