Grizz burst through the door, wild-eyed.
‘My lab!’ she cried. ‘My own beautiful lab!’
She sank to her knees and gazed at the devastation. When she saw the remains of Ancient Evil, she screamed.
‘My book! My precious book!’ she wailed.
Grizz buried her face in her hands. Sobs shook her thin shoulders. Wormella crept into the cellar. Her wide, shocked eyes met mine.
But I wasn’t finished yet. I wanted Grizz to understand what it was like to feel small, and frightened, and alone.
I stepped inside one of the stars chalked on the ground. I pointed at Grizz and made up the first rhyme that came into my head,
‘Snot of squid and leg of louse,
Turn Aunt Grizz into a mouse!’
After a heartbeat’s silence, I felt a surge of power coming from the floor through my legs and into my whole body. There was a blinding flash of blue light.
When I opened my eyes, a thin, grey mouse was sitting on the step where Grizz had been.
Wormella screamed.
‘Anna, what have you done?!’ She pointed a shaking finger at me. ‘You’re a … you’re a …’
‘Witch,’ I said. ‘Yup, it certainly looks like it!’
I scooped up the mouse in my hand, and barged past Wormella. I ran up the steps and into the kitchen.
Charlie was sitting on the window sill. As soon as he saw the mouse, his back arched. His eyes narrowed to slits and he licked his lips. The mouse squealed and tried to run inside my sleeve.
Maybe I shouldn’t have done it, but all I could think of was how cruel Grizz had been to me, and how lonely and unhappy I had been. I really, really wanted to get back at her.
So I dropped the mouse on the floor near Charlie. Then I walked out and slammed the door.