The Bewitching - Book 1

Chapter 19 - Vanishing of Two, Return of One

The house was quiet as Elyssa pulled up in the car. It was still early and the sun had just barely peeked of the top of the house. She looked down at Tobias who was still sound asleep in the seat next to her. She reached over and softly ran her fingers from the nap of his neck down his back to wake him. He turned his head and looked up to her, still slightly groggy from the long night.

"We're home," she whispered softly as she continued to pet his back. He wagged his tail as he labored to his feet, and then shook himself awake. It had been a long night and Elyssa felt completely exhausted, more so than she normally might. Maybe it was the excitement of earlier, or perhaps the magic she had cast had drained her more than she thought. All she wanted at this moment was to collapse into bed and sleep as long as possible.

As they made their way up the steps of the house she hoped that Annette and her mom were still sound asleep. The last thing she wanted was to spend the following hour or two it would take to explain where they had been and the near death experience they would have encountered had Leo not shown up to save them. She also dreaded the thought of having to tell them how she had almost lost Tobias. She could only imagine the look of horror and anger on their faces if they knew how close he had come to dying.

Carefully and quietly she made her way to the back of the house and slowly pushed open the door to her room. Slowly she stepped in and the floor creaked loudly under her feet. She cringed at the sound and waited a moment for a response. Nothing. It looked like she had made it unnoticed into the house. Now if she could just change back into her pajama's and slip into bed she'd hopefully be able to grab a few hours of sleep before having to explain her night time outing.

Tobias must have had other plans. Before she could stop him he rushed into the house and past her feet straight to the bedroom door, his little mouth yapping the whole way. Elyssa braced herself for the commotion that she was sure would ensue. Instead there was only silence.

Quickly but quietly she made her way into the room and placed the box down on the bed.

"Tobias, shhhh! You'll wake them.," she whispered as discreetly but forcefully as she dared. He grew silent for a moment as he looked back at her then turned around and started yapping again. This time though he added the accompanying noise of scratching frantically at the door.

She cringed at the sound. She had never seen Tobias act this way and couldn't figure out what was wrong with him. Was he that excited to see them? It was then that she noticed what Tobias must have already sensed. The was no response to all the noise he was making. While she knew Annette could sleep through almost anything, it wasn't like her mom not to be awoken by even the slightest of noises. So why wasn't she coming in to see if there was something wrong?

Ever so quietly she tiptoed over to the door and pressed her ear against it. Nothing. It was completely silent. How odd she thought. She wondered if maybe they had left the house, possibly in search of Tobias and herself. Gently she place her hands against the door and pushed it open. Tobias took off running through it the minute he had enough room to squeeze through the doorway.

"Hello? Is anyone here?" she called out as she peeked through. There was still no response. Elyssa got the strange feeling that something wasn't right as she pushed the door further open. She glanced around the outer room. Everything seemed to be in place, and nothing seemed to be showing any signs of disturbance. Everything seemed to be alright but she couldn't shake the nagging feeling that she was wrong. She was missing something but she wasn't quite sure what it was.

Cautiously she made her way to the room that Annette and her mom had been sleeping in. She looked around but they were gone. Their blankets laid unmade upon the couches. Tobias was in the middle of the room, his nose sniffing the ground, before looking up to Elyssa curiously. He too was puzzled as to where they had disappeared to. Elyssa knew that Annette and her mom were very neat people. It wasn't like them not to make their beds the minute they woke up.