9

Kayla had never felt so frustrated in her entire life. She had found out that she was also a witch, that her father had really loved and wanted her all of these years, and that she was responsible for Jess's death.

She had lain on this bed like a granite statue while her father cried. She had never wanted anything as badly as she had wanted to hug her dad and tell him she understood why he left her. She wanted to let him know she forgave him. She had wanted to hold Mooney and tell him how sorry she was that the love of his life had died trying to save her. Inside, she had cried every day, but outwardly, she was dead to the world.

As the coven started chanting the unbinding spell, she had listened to the words they were saying and silently chanted along with them, hoping she might give the spell a power boost.

"Unbind, undo, unleash," they chanted while the incense and candles burned.

Unbind, undo, unleash. Kayla said in unison from inside her trapped body.

Suddenly something stirred deep in the pit of her stomach. There was a surge of what felt like electricity coursing through her limbs. Something was happening! It was exhilarating and powerful. She could feel her catatonic body twitching and shaking. That was when the pain hit her like a ton of bricks.

"Shit!" Carolyn yelled to no one in particular. She dropped her arms and turned to the group of monsters standing behind her.

"This isn't working! Those tiny little witches put a power boost on the shield." Carolyn's fury poured out of her in waves, causing the wolves to hunker down and whimper in fear. They looked more like whipped pets than ferocious, mythological beasts of the full moon.

Carolyn turned to one of the vampires standing in front of the group looking like he was waiting to be hit.

"Get him from the van."

The vampire obeyed without question, scurrying away toward the van to obtain the prize Carolyn was referring to. She turned back to the house and addressed the coven one more time.

"This is your last chance! Send her out, and no one gets hurt,” Carolyn turned to look for the vampire that she had sent on the errand. There was a scuffle in the back of the crowd, and she tapped her foot impatiently. The dark-haired vampire in skintight jeans brought the blindfolded human to Carolyn's side.

David struggled against his abductor, who was unnaturally strong. The man's grip felt like a vice clamping down on David's upper arm as he led him through a crowd of things that snarled and growled.

"Excellent." He heard Carolyn's voice, further confusing him as to what was going on.

Carolyn reached up and pulled the gag from his mouth.

"What the fuck is going on, you crazy bitch?" he yelled in the direction he thought Carolyn's voice had come from.

"Watch your mouth!" A powerful hand smacked David on the back of the head. It felt like he had been hit by a frying pan, and stars flashed through his closed eyes.

"Uh, manners," Carolyn said. She reached up and removed his blindfold, but left his hands tied in front of him.

"Why are you doing this?" David whimpered, looking around at the monsters surrounding him. His blood ran cold when he saw the pale men and women with the long, white fangs and the wolf-things with hairy bodies and nightmarishly sharp claws staring at him like he was the best item on the menu.

The freakishly strong hand that he now saw belonged to a man about six foot two, wearing tight black jeans and an even tighter black muscle shirt, grabbed him by the back of the neck and pushed him forward toward the cottage in front of them. The man had arms like tree trunks and a neck that was barely thinner than the circumference of his head. His white skin and long fangs gleamed in the full moonlight.

David felt as though he might lose control of his bladder, and tears tried to make their way from the corners of his eyes, but he fought and won the battle for control. He listened and waited for the right time to try and make an escape.

"Send her out, or he dies! You have two minutes!" Carolyn shouted as the vampire held David on display for the coven to see.

"Hey, isn't that Kayla's fiancé?" Daisy asked the rest of the group. When no one answered, she turned to see if they had heard her. She was unable to choke back the gasp that stuck in her throat when she caught sight of Kayla's body lying on the bed. The rest of the coven had stopped chanting and stared at what was happening.

The short, dark hair that had just moments before been draped around Kayla's head, adorned with herbs and flowers, had now spread to her face, covering the majority of her upper body. Her brow line now protruded from its normal position, and her nose and mouth had begun to form a long snout with large, white teeth. Her whole body shook and vibrated.

"Oh, my God," Richard said, flustered by this latest development. "What's happening to her?" he yelled, helplessly.

Outside, every one of the wolves began to howl in a snarling cacophony. Daisy covered her ears to block out the blood curdling yelps. She shouted over the clamor.

"Carolyn has Kayla's fiancé, and she's going to kill him."

"We can't let that happen," Doc shouted back.

"I have an idea," Mooney stated, and motioned the group to come in close to hear it.

"Are you crazy?" Gus barked at him, after hearing his plan.

"Maybe a little," Mooney replied with no humor in his voice.

Joy pursed her lips and looked at Richard and the rest of the coven.

"I think we should do it. Hopefully, David will understand. Does everyone agree?" She surveyed the group again as each one nodded in agreement.

"Richard?" Joy looked at him questioningly. He nodded.

On the bed, Kayla continued her transformation. Joy hoped that the unbinding had worked. All of their lives depended on it.

While Carolyn waited for the deadline to expire, she continued working on breaking down the force field, to no avail.

Movement in the doorway of the little house caught her eye. One of the dwarves stepped out onto the porch and waved her hand.

"Ha! One of the mini witches wants to surrender! I knew it!" Carolyn laughed raucously and looked around at the vampires and wolves. They all began to chuckle in response to her dark, commanding look. She put her hand up to silence their sycophantic laughter. The crowd fell silent immediately.

"Bring her out!" Carolyn yelled.

"We can't, she's too heavy for us to move," the female, bookish-looking witch yelled back, with obvious fear in her voice. "You have to come in and get her. Just you, alone."

"Now you are making demands?" Carolyn laughed, raising her eyebrow.

"We will lift the force field for you and the human only."

"Fine," Carolyn said begrudgingly.

"No, it's a trick," the large vampire holding David warned her.

"I'm not afraid of a bunch of pint-sized, wannabe witches," she snapped back at the vampire, who looked down sheepishly like a chastised employee.

"Let us in, then. We'll make an even trade," Carolyn commanded.

"Open." The small witch waved her hand and a portal opened directly in front of Carolyn. The female vampire that had been watching the whole scenario unfold charged in front of Carolyn and pushed her way into the magical doorway. As she stepped into the opening, a scream of agony and surprise caused the group to jump back, holding their ears to block out the painful screech.

The female vamp seemed suspended in midair as her body sizzled and smoked. Her screams continued as her appendages turned to black ash and fell to the ground. The smell of burning flesh assaulted Carolyn's senses and sent the wolves into another howling frenzy.

The vampire had been reduced to a pile of smoldering embers. The other vamps in the group took a step away from the opening.

"I told you, only you and the human," the witch in the doorway said with a smirk.

Carolyn lifted her hand and clenched her fist. David rose from the ground as if suspended by wires. He floated toward the portal, closing his eyes, waiting to be reduced to ash like the vampire before him. Carolyn moved his body through the portal, testing to see if he was going to die. When he passed through the hole involuntarily, nothing happened. Carolyn was satisfied that the goody two-shoes witches would keep their word. She followed his floating body through the opening, kicking up a cloud of vampire dust without a second thought, and it immediately sealed behind her.

She guided David up the walkway to the front door, following close behind, using his airborne body as a shield against attack.

The small witch at the doorway shrank back as Carolyn approached the door. She walked through, into the living area, and the small witch led her to the bedroom where Kayla lay unconscious. As she entered the room, she saw the coven standing around a body covered by a large white sheet. It seemed too big to be Kayla.

"Uncover her," she commanded them.

Mooney stepped up and grabbed the corner of the sheet. When he began to pull the linen down to reveal Kayla, Carolyn shuddered with anticipation. He ripped the sheet away, revealing the female werewolf that lay unconscious on the bed. Carolyn gasped in horror and took a step back. As she backed up, Richard stepped out from behind the closet door and jabbed the kitchen knife into Carolyn's back. When he pulled the blade out and the blood began to flow, David fell to the ground in a heap. Carolyn turned to face her attacker head on.

"You!" she exclaimed savagely as she saw her ex-husband at the end of the knife. "I'll kill you!"

"Too late, dear," Richard said with no emotion as he thrust the knife deep into her belly, releasing a new flow of blood. She raised her hands to grab at him, but weakness from the blood loss had taken over. She dropped to her knees and looked at all of them as though they had perpetrated the ultimate betrayal. Even knowing she had planned to kill them all, she still seemed to feel jilted. The coven of witches turned their heads as Carolyn faded away.

David looked around, confused. He pulled himself up to a sitting position with his hands still bound in front of him. Mooney came forward and cut the tape, freeing him.

"What the hell is going on?" David pleaded with Mooney for some kind of explanation.

"I'll explain it all to you, but we need your help first. Kayla needs your help."

"Is that her?" David pointed at the unconscious wolf on the bed.

"Yes, and I think we need you to kiss her."

"Fuck that!" David replied with disgust.

"If you don't kiss her, she will die. If you love Kayla, you will do this. That is still her laying on that bed. The woman that helped you through rehab. The one person that believed in you, when no one else did. If you turn your back on her now, you are killing her,” Mooney said, looking directly into David's eyes.

David nodded and rose to his feet. He walked over to the bed and looked down at the wolf wearing a crown of tea roses.

"On the lips?" he asked Mooney.

"On the lips."

David leaned down, puckered up and kissed the beast on what would be lips if it were not actually a snout.

"No," Carolyn weakly protested, but no one paid attention. They were all rapt, waiting for Kayla to come magically back to life. Violet held her breath and then let it out after a few seconds when nothing happened.

Everyone in the room dropped their heads in disappointment. Joy let out an exasperated sigh, followed by a steady stream of quiet tears.

"Wait!" David exclaimed. "She moved."

Everyone in the room gathered closer to the bed, watching intently.

Kayla lay there on the bed, and her body began to vibrate. The hair covering her body receded and her frame shrunk to its normal, petite size. After watching incredulously, David sighed.

"It really is her!"

"Did you think we were lying to you?" Gus asked, and Violet shoved her elbow into his ribcage to shut him up.

As they watched the transformation back to human complete, Kayla's eyes opened gingerly. She looked around at the group staring at her. When her eyes met David's, she sat up.

"David?" She asked tentatively, not sure what his response would be.

"Kayla." He reached down and took her hand. She gripped his hand back and he leaned in to hold her.

"I love you, baby. I've missed you so much!" David cried as he held her tight.

"I love you, too, David. Where's my dad?" She looked around.

"I'm right here, Munchkin,” Richard called from the doorway of the room. As he stepped forward to speak to his daughter for the first time in twenty years, Carolyn rose weakly from the floor and pulled the bloody knife from her stomach. She plunged the tip of the knife into Richard's abdomen, causing him to fall to his knees.

"No, Daddy," Kayla cried out and instinctively put her hand out in front of her. Carolyn's face twisted in a mask of surprise when her body lifted off the ground. She began to sail through the air with incredible force, slamming against the far wall of the bedroom and then falling into a lifeless heap of black lycra and blood.

Kayla looked out the window at the horde of monsters standing outside the gate. She lifted her arms and a wail of misery bellowed forth from deep inside her. The dwarves watched in amazement as a seemingly nuclear wind shot across the property and rolled over the mob, instantly turning all of them into nothing more than piles of dust.

Kayla scrambled off the bed and rushed to where her father lay dying.

"Daddy, no. You can't go now," she pleaded as tears ran down her face and landed on Richard's shirt, making little dark blue circles on his light blue polo.

"It's okay, Munchkin. You're all right. That's all that matters. I'm dying anyway; this is just a little faster." He took her hand in his and kissed it weakly.

"I just got you back. You can't leave me now. Please," she sobbed, holding him in her arms.

"I will always love you, Kayla." Richard smiled at her and reached his hand up to touch her face. She nuzzled her cheek against his palm as it dropped to his side, lifeless.

"No!" she cried, and buried her head in his chest as she sobbed for the father she had missed for so long.