everlong| hocus pocus

013. disco inferno

THERE LAY THE TORTURE CHAMBER known as Jacob Bailey High School. Guess you never know when high school could be your saving grace. Max scurried off with a paper clip just in case the door was locked. She had to teach the boy how to pick a lock. Which in Max's eyes, made his crush look even cooler. It was surreal to think that not long ago, Max and Tatum had roamed these very halls, blissfully ignorant of their fate. And so, operation "live to see November" was underway.
     "Okay, Mary will sniff us out so we just wait here until...boom. Disco inferno." Max's eyes sparkled as he glanced at Dani, whose grin was equally radiant. The Dennisons were clearly elated, and Max felt like a giddy child.
     "God, Jasper, you're a genius!" Max exclaimed, pulling Jasper into a tight hug. Laughter bubbled up between them as Dani raised her eyebrows at them, glaring at them up and down while Jasper had patted Max's back as his embarrassment sunk in of what he just did. To Max's luck, Jasper didn't mind,
     "You come here too you little imp." Dani smiled as Jasper included her in the embrace.
     Once the hug was broken up, Max's gaze fell upon the principal's office, a wicked grin stretching across his face. "Hey, you guys go downstairs I'll stay up here." Jasper eyed him quizzically as he spun in the principal's chair. The girls looked down at each other, then back up at Max.
     "Okay? But what are you doing?" Dani asked.
     "Using the 20th, century against them." Max replied with a devious chuckle, donning his sunglasses. Jasper led Dani away, their laughter echoing as Max's voice took on a theatrical tone.
     "We're rooting for you, Dennison." Jasper smiled, leaving Max alone all to himself.
The Dennison waited, spinning around the principle office's chair, trying to distract himself from the fact he was doing this to distract three ancient all-powerful, witches. His skin crawled as he shifted in his chair.
      On the downstairs of the school lay the furnace where Dani and Jasper hid. They walked around, talking about the awful art pieces. Jasper let Dani know about all the latest gossip. They had a good time alone without anything threatening their lives or a boy. Yuck.

_____

     Max howled like a wolf into the speaker once he heard the witches' approach. "Welcome to High School Hell," he whispered ominously. The witches, confused by the eerie broadcast, wandered through the halls, searching for its source. "I'm your host, Boris Karloff Jr.," Max declared, slamming the microphone and laughing maniacally. Dani and Tatum exchanged amused glances, their laughter barely contained. "It's time to meet our three contestants," he dragged on, sprawling onto the desk while adjusting his sunglasses. "Sarah, Mary, and Winifred Sanderson. Read any good spell books lately?" Dani and Jasper looked at each other one last time, breaking into laughter.
"Your brother's a dork," Jasper said with a chuckle, letting Dani lean on her shoulder.
"Tell me about it."
As the witches' footsteps echoed closer, Dani urged Jasper to start the boombox. "Hello. Welcome to the library. Bonjour..." The monotonous greetings in multiple languages filled the air. The footsteps grew louder which was the girl's cue to hide. Their heartbeat's were in their throat once they heard the faint shh's and choked laughter of the witches thinking that they had finally won. All they could do was wait. Jaspee peeked one last time before shooting up to sneak behind the door. The witches cackled and danced inside the room.
     "We've got them! We've got them, we've got them!" Winifred crowed triumphantly, only to be met with the boombox Mary had been examining. Mary knocked on the boombox waiting for an answer. The witches stood curiously at the contraption. Seizing the moment, the girls slammed the heavy metal door shut and locked it. Winifred screamed, racing up to the door with her sisters panicking behind her. Max leaped down the stairs, joining the girls to take part in watching the witches burn.
The witches cursed and yelled through the window. Tatum made eye contact with the main Sanderson who stared daggers at the Stauder girl. The faint screams echoed in the kids ears, now only being a memory.

_____

"Farewell, Winifred Sanderson!" Max yelled triumphantly as they fled the school, the burden of guilt lifting like a weight melting away. Dani preformed cartwheels around the front of the school while the Dennison and Weiss crashed their bodies into one another, slowly wrapping their arms around each other. The three yelled and screamed with glee, spinning and dancing down the empty streets of Salem. They were finally gone. Forever.
Binx then hopped onto a tree while Max talked to him. Jasper, relieved, sank to her knees in relief. She felt the green grass hug her legs comforting as well as Dani wrapped around her. "We did it, mini Dennison."
"I knew we could." Dani smiled, picking the teen back up.
"Yeah right!" Jasper teased, lightly pushing the young Dennison. "You were so scared!"
"So were you, dummy!" Dani retorted. The girls playfully wrestled on the grass as Max watched, clutching a book and leaning on the gate. Jasper flipped the little girl over onto her shoulders harmlessly as she climbed on. Dani shrieked with glee as Jasper turned to see Max gazing at them.
"I've wanted to do that for three hundred years." Binx said hopping onto a tree branch that's slightly higher up than Max's height. Max, reflecting on Binx's words, realized the depth of his loss.
"You really miss her, don't you? Man, you can't keep blaming yourself for that. That happened so long ago." Max said. Binx looked down at Max. Although he appreciated Max's advice and efforts, there were no amount of words that could fill the huge, empty, gaping hole that had been gnawing at his heart for three-hundred years. Max could only imagine having the loss of a sibling, with Dani, it scared him even more. If he had lost her to one of those witches, he would have no idea what to do with himself.
"Take good care of Dani, Max. You'll never know how precious she is until you lose her," Max nodded, smiling at his little sister who was now playing tag. "Keep and eye out for Jasper too. She's just as special." Max looked up to Binx, his pale eyes widening.
"Really?" Max asked, straightening his posture eagerly.
"I know." Binx replied before trotting away, leaving Max deep in thought.
     Max had the biggest brain fart known to man. "Hey, Binx! Where do you think you're goin'?" Max yelled. Jasper smiled at the Dennison, now running around with Dani on her shoulders.
"Come on, Binx! Lets go home!" Dani shouted from Jasper's shoulders. Jasper and Max shared broad smiles as he caught up, finally joining the jubilant girls. Jasper gleefully wrapped her arm around the smiling boy who was now flushing. He was now whole. He had kept his promise: to protect and made a hell of a good friend on the way.
"Cmon, Dennison, lets go home." Max smiled at the girl as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. It's finally over.

Unfortunately, they might've been utterly, completely wrong.