The secrets of Gettyson preschool

Chapter 8

"Oh, no no no," Marely cried while Micahleah comforted her. "Who is this? Why is she dead? Who would do this?!"

JJ couldn't believe he was actually seeing this; the last time he saw the triplets was when he and his allies were confronting this girl and her other two twin sisters, and they were nothing to scoff at.

This girl, Harriet Pfeiffer, and her other two sisters, Harley and Henrietta, were fighting like they meant it when JJ and his allies were here at the high school, and seeing one of them dead like this was very unnerving because whatever killed this one (and possibly the others) was not a mere human, at least not just one (unless they were hopelessly insane). If those girls were no match for whoever, or whatever, did this, then what good were JJ, Marely, and Micahleah going to do?

JJ was mostly good with fire spells, but just one of these girls managed to dodge whatever he sent their way.

Marely and Micahleah didn't do voodoo as a rule, and their fighting skills were nothing compared to just one of the Pfeiffer triplets. JJ started to shake a little just thinking about it.

"Uh, JJ?" Micahleah said when she noticed he was shaking.

"Nothing," JJ responded quickly.

"Um, I was gonna say this girl here looks like she matches that description you was telling me about Thursday."

"Oh, uh, sh-she does," JJ stammered.

"Call the number, again," Marely whimpered. "Please. Just so we can get out of here."

JJ called the number again, and this time, the phone was answered. JJ put it on speaker.

"Hello?" he said.

Faint, raspy breathing was heard.

"Uh..."

The phone hung up. JJ called it again, and this time it kept ringing. They all ran out of the room and followed the ringing, going down hallways, until they came to a door. The tag above the door was very faded but it was still legible enough to be read as "Nap room."

They all listened for a split second more, and when they were for certain that the ringing was coming from inside the room, JJ got himself ready to perform a fire spell. He muttered his words, but nothing happened. He tried again, but nothing still happened.

"Now I know I'm saying this right," JJ muttered. "Why isn't it working?"

He got mad and pounded on the door, which made a metallic clang as his fists made contact.

"That could be why it's not working," Micahleah pointed out.

"Hey, I'm using a spell that's strong enough to melt diamonds," JJ barked. "And I know I'm saying it right. I used to use it all the time, and that's why Maralyssa got on my back about burning a kid's arm Friday."

"Hey, JJ?" Marely whimpered.

"Yeah?" JJ said.

"Do you still think this is a prank?"

"Well, if it is, I wouldn't be surprised. Maralyssa would kill a person or two to make a prank really convincing. She has done it before. And she can also block my abilities to do voodoo."

Marely cried even harder, making Micahleah hold her and give JJ a begrudging look. JJ looked away and tried to open the door...and succeeded.

He walked in, feeling stupid that he didn't try this from the start, with Marely and Micahleah following him. JJ looked down and saw another one of the Pfeiffer triplets on the ground. The scar on her ear told him that this was Harley, the triplet who got her ear clipped by one of JJ's allies, Caleb.

JJ went down to check her pulse when she suddenly grabbed his wrist, causing him to jump a little and causing Marely and Micahleah to yelp.

"Help...me," Harley breathed out. Her eyes were heavily bloodshot and parts of her face were starting to turn black.

"Harley, what happened?" JJ asked her.

Harley started to shake, then her mouth was foaming up like she had rabies.

"SHE'S HAVING A SEIZURE!" Marely cried out.

Harley grabbed JJ as she spazzed out. Her eyes said that she wanted to die, to be put out of her misery.

JJ muttered softly in Latin, and the power was coursing through him again. He wasn't going to make her burn; he was just going to kill her quickly and painlessly. He muttered just a few Latin words and she stopped shaking, she stopped breathing, and she stopped suffering.

JJ felt tears escaping his eyes, and there was no keeping them back now. All the power in his body couldn't keep the tears away. He decided to try and call Maralyssa and see if she could get them all out of this place. The phone rang, and after about a few moments, Maralyssa answered with, "Hello?"

"Maralyssa, it's...it's JJ."

"JJ? Are you crying? What's wrong?"

For some reason, JJ felt rage coursing through him.
"WHAT'S WRONG? I'LL TELL YOU WHAT'S WRONG! WE HAVE BEEN THROUGH SO MUCH, YOU WOULDN'T EVEN BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND! I JUST HAD TO TAKE THE LIFE OF ONE OF THE PFEIFFER TRIPLETS, AND IT DIDN'T FEEL GOOD, MIND YOU! I HAD TO KEEP HER FROM SUFFERING, AND YOU COULD NEVER UNDERSTAND!" JJ stopped yelling, and began crying again.

"JJ, listen," Maralyssa said, surprisingly calm. "I have actually tried to get you guys out of there when I was told that you all were in danger, but for some reason I'm unable to. You must be in some place with a powerful magic or something that's affecting my magic. I'm sorry, but it looks like you'll have to find your own way out. I'm sorry, I really am."

She hung up. JJ dropped his phone and broke down to the ground crying and, knowing that it was hopeless, screaming for help. He stopped screaming after a while and hung his head in defeat.