Chapter 88: Chapter Eighty-Eight - Potions & Promises

Someone or someones might have helped Unfoxy create the potion needed to become UnBoxy. Good thing I just happened to know a couple of someones in a potion coven called The Crow and Switch. Sure, they’d tried to murder me with Broccoli Tea and marbles, but I was desperate. Desperate witches did desperate things.

Besides, I had to do something other than wait around for midnight tomorrow. That was when I had to make the trade: the Ring of Everlasting Night for Studmuffin.

Before I left, I peeled off my wet socks and replaced them with wool ones. I’d gone out to roll up Dad’s car windows earlier, and my boots had sunk into snowdrifts that were already calf-height.

Craziness, this snow, and it was even crazier to drive in. No one had ever driven in a July blizzard before, and it showed. Cars and trucks skidded and stalled and did unintentional donuts in the middle of intersections. Some people tried to push their cars out of snowbanks wearing tank tops, shorts, and flip-flops. This extreme weather had caught everyone off guard. I’d made Dad and Boxy promise to text me the moment they arrived at their homes safely.

They did. I’d trained them well. Go me.

It was fully night by the time I reached Kitty City. The lights inside the store glowed and flickered over the falling snow. Pretty, but I wouldn’t let that fool me. This place was crazy-pants. I’d even brought my broom in case I needed to make a quick getaway.

The bell above the door dinged when I entered. Cats everywhere swiveled their heads to stare with crafty eyes. All of them sat on top of their cages, the metal doors swinging open and shut, open and shut. That’s cats for you. Even though they’d had a hand—err, paw—in trying to kill me, I couldn’t help but smile. At the same time, the gigantic part of my heart that belonged to Studmuffin ached.

“Carlitta? Carlotta?” I called to the otherwise empty store. “I need to ask you some questions about the potion that makes you look like someone else. And I’m not leaving until you answer me. And if you try to kill me again, I’ll complain, loudly, to the Better Business Bureau and Belle’s Cove PD. They’re kind of strict about the whole attempted murder thing, so I hear.”

A pause, then both of the forty-something twins flung themselves out of the back room, the beaded ribbons in their bright red hair swinging.

Uh-oh. Good thing I’d prepared for a witchy battle.

I lifted my hand toward them and recited a short, sort of harmless repelling spell I’d read from my grimoire before I came. “With this spell, I will repel. The stink of armpits and really sour milk will dispel.”

The twins kept running toward me, even as the stink of armpits and really sour milk suffused the air inside the little shop. The Kitty City cats, however, scrunched up their furry faces in disgust and shrank back.

Oh yeah, that stink was awful.

“Victoria Fox,” Carlitta—or was that Carlotta?—screeched.

“We have you now,” the other one cried.

“No, you don’t. Stop right there. Halt, or I’ll…” I’d what? I swung my broomstick end around and waved it threateningly. “Or I’ll jam this up your noses so far that even you’ll be impressed.”

Yeah, no idea how that would work, but I’d think about the logistics later.

It was then that I noticed the tears streaming down both their faces. Actual tears, magnified by the red glasses perched on the tips of their red noses. Another pair of glasses perched on both their heads.

My broom waving slowed, even as they kept coming. “Are you ok— Oof.”

They both threw their arms around me, sniffling and crying.

“You saved our shop,” the one on my right declared. “Remember? The runaway bookmobile nearly took out the corner of our shop.”

“Just think of the destruction!” the other screeched. “These cats would have kicked us out of Kitty City for sure if that had happened.”

The cats would’ve kicked them out? It figured they’d be the ones really in charge here.

“Thank you, thank you,” they both said at once.

They squeezed me tighter. Some of the tears on their cheeks had somehow transferred to inside my ears. Eww, gross. The scent of boiled broccoli enveloped all of my senses, so much that I imagined I’d been dipped into a cup of soup. Or worse, Broccoli Tea.

“Is there anything we can do for you?” the one on the right asked.

“Um,” I croaked. “Let me breathe?”

They released me at once.

“Anything else?” the other asked, wringing her hands. “We are forever in your debt.”

I stepped back and let my senses clear and a fresh gulp of air fill my lungs for a moment. It was Carlitta on the right and Carlotta on the left, both identical in every single way possible. How did I know the difference? Their nametags, obviously.

“Yes, there is something you can do for me,” I told them.

They nodded enthusiastically and leaned forward on their tiptoes, hanging on to every word I hadn’t yet said.

“You can tell me if you helped make a potion to make someone look like someone else.”

They both sucked in a breath.

“The Perfect Disguise Potion?” Carlotta asked and then looked to her sister. “We haven’t helped make a potion like that since 1997. It’s a dangerous one, highly volatile before and especially after you drink it.”

“Well, does this potion have an expiration date?”

“All potions do, Teacup,” Carlitta said, using her nickname for me. Why Teacup? I had no idea. “Potions usually expire about three to four weeks from the last sprinkle of chopped-up fly wings.”

Ah, yes. Chopped-up fly wings. They’d insisted I put some in my time-travel potion, but oops, they’d gone into the trash instead.

“Did you give anyone ingredients to make it recently?” I asked.

Carlotta shook her head. “No, but if you want to know if who you’re really talking to is the real deal, just pinch their nose.”

My eyes widened. “That’s it?”

Carlitta nodded. “That’s enough, believe me.”

“What happens?”

“A whole lotta purple,” Carlotta said with a grin and then gently patted my cheek. “You’ll see.”

Ooookay. So I’d have to go around pinching everyone’s noses to make sure I was talking to who I actually wanted to talk to. Sure. Yep. Who wouldn’t be cool with getting their nose pinched?

“One last question,” I said. “Do you know anything about the Ring of Everlasting Night?”

Carlitta and Carlotta gasped. All the cats on the tops of their cages hunched their kitty shoulders low and hissed. The lights in the store flickered.

“We don’t talk about that in here,” Carlotta whispered.

“What? Why?”

“Come on, Teacup.” Carlitta took my hand and led me toward the front counter’s register. Then we went behind the front counter through the red curtain to the back room.

Alarms blared inside my head. Warning whistles picked up the melody until there was a full-blown cautionary orchestra swirling through my mind. This couldn’t be good, whatever we were doing, or could it?

They seemed genuinely thankful that I’d stopped the bookmobile from smashing into their store. At any time, I could’ve dug in my heels and threatened them with my broom again, but I didn’t. Partly because of their tears and their thanks, and partly because there were no cauldrons full of Broccoli Tea in the back room for them to toss me into. There were lots of empty teacups, though. Hundreds, maybe thousands were scattered everywhere.

Carlitta and Carlotta swept me through their shop’s back door out into the July blizzard.

“Oh, yuck.” Carlotta wrapped her arms around her thin flowery top, already shivering hard. “Why didn’t anyone tell me it was snowing?”

“You didn’t see it out the window?” My incredulousness pitched my voice higher.

She flicked her beady stare to me. “Now, why would I do that?”

“To make sure it’s not snowing in July, just in case Belle’s Cove decided to get weird? Uh, weirder?”

“I see your point.” She whisked her red, windblown hair from her face and waved toward her sister. “Carlitta, would you mind, please?”

“Of course I don’t mind.” Grinning, Carlitta opened her mouth to catch snowflakes on her tongue.

“Carlitta!” her twin scolded.

“Oh, that.” Carlitta reached into her back pocket and retrieved a wand, a delightfully crooked wooden one that reminded me of my broom. (Note to self—get one of those!) She waved it around her head in a wild arc, nearly elbowing me in the face. Even if she had, I might not have minded because an orangish bubble ensconced us with heat. Plus, the bubble blocked and silenced the wind and danced with lovely rainbow swirls that reminded me of motor oil on water.

“Ahhhhh,” the three of us said as we melted into the bubble’s comfort.

“Now, why did we come out here again?” Carlotta asked.

“Uh, because you couldn’t tell me about the Ring of Everlasting Night insi—”

Carlitta cupped her hand over my mouth as she shook her head hard. “We can’t tell you outside either.”

I heaved an exasperated sigh, so done with today that I wished I could fast-forward to tomorrow at midnight when I got my sweet Studmuffin back. “Then why did you bring me out here?” I asked, my voice muffled.

Carlotta waved her hand at her sister again. “Carlitta, would you mind?”

“Of course I don’t mind.” Grinning, Carlitta dropped her hand from over my mouth and opened hers to catch more snowflakes…even though we were now in a magic bubble.

“Carlitta!” her twin scolded yet again.

“Oh, that.” Carlitta waved her wand again, but nothing changed within our bubble.

Not that I could see anyway.

But then I heard Carlotta’s voice inside my head. The more places I be, the less you can see. That’s the power of the Ring of Everlasting Night.

I opened my mouth, but the twins shook their heads vigorously. Okay, fine. Psychic speaking inside a magical bubble in an alleyway during a July blizzard it was.

I don’t understand, I thought at them.

The ring turns you into night, for as long as you wear it, Carlitta said. Forever, if you want.

I thought back to when I’d caught the ring on the tip of my finger. Someone had summoned it from my pocket, and when I got it back, it had turned part of my finger into starry night. It was the strangest thing. If I’d properly worn the ring, I would’ve turned into night? Like, all of me? So weird.

Carlotta’s eyes sparkled with excitement. But just think, if you look like night, at nighttime, that opens doors to you that are otherwise sealed shut.

You would be the ruler of the moon and the stars. You could do whatever you want and not get caught if you look like night. Except if it’s day. Carlitta shrugged. Obviously.

That’s the thing though, Teacup, Carlotta said. The longer you wear the ring, the longer nighttime lasts. Its magic affects the sun and the moon and will eventually slow them and lock them in place.

Eternal night, Carlitta said, at least for part of the globe.

Carlotta nodded gravely. And eternal sunshine for the rest. Can you imagine the chaos that would cause? The pandemonium? The sheer madness?

Whoa. When she put it like that, yes, I could.

Mass confusion, all while the ring bearer prowls the night doing whatever he or she wanted.

I mean, how would we grow our herbs for potions with no sun? Carlitta screeched. Eventually, part of the Earth would freeze while the other parts melted!

Yeah, not good.

So this ring… I began. It kind of makes you invisible in a way. A person dressed as night at night would be invisible.

That sounds about right, yes, Carlotta said.

I’d always wanted to be invisible. In fact, when I was really little, I’d begged Dad and Boxy for an invisibility costume to wear to a school Halloween party. They hadn’t had a clue how to get one, let alone make one, so they’d gently urged me to dress up as a porcupine with velvet-soft quills. Thanks to them, I was the best porcupine ever. The kids in my class even cheered when I rolled myself into a little quill ball. Good times.

Oops, had I thought all that out loud?

Carlitta and Carlotta tittered softly, and my cheeks warmed.

Annnnyway, how do you know all this about the ring? I asked them.

Carlitta shrugged. We just know stuff. We’re old.

Speak for yourself, Carlotta scolded. Forty-four is hardly old.

Well, you’ve been very helpful, I told them. I have one more question for you while we’re here. Is there any way you can help me create a psychic link with my catnapped familiar? Please? Even in my head, my voice broke with desperation.

Catnapped? Carlitta put a hand over her heart. Oh, you poor teacup.

There is a potion… Carlotta began.

Oh no.

But it takes weeks to create, Carlotta continued, and you both have to drink it.

Well, that won’t work, then. Not that I wanted one of their potions to work. Oops, had I thought that out loud too?

When the twins’ mouths popped open with indignation, I threw all my current thoughts at them in a rush for a distraction.

Um, he’s able to create a psychic link with me, but he’s not doing that, and I don’t know how to create one with him to see if he’s okay, and I’m so unbelievably worried about him, and there are so many things I don’t know about being a witch, and it’s all so overwhelming, and I don’t even have a wand or a cauldron yet, but I do have a perfect broom that my new best friend made me, and oh, by the way, have you seen her missing fingers?

While I rambled, Carlitta and Carlotta’s eyes had grown to twice the size of their heads. Before I finished, they rushed at me yet again and wrapped me up in their arms.

Oh, you poor teacup, Carlotta cried. That is a lot.

It is, I admitted, my eyes stinging.

We can help you, you know. A little smile curled Carlitta’s lips. Join our coven. Join The Crow and Swit—

No. I shook my head hard. No thanks.

I hadn’t meant to sound rude with such an immediate answer, but they couldn’t pay me enough money to join The Crow and Switch. Ugh, there I go with my out-loud thoughts again! To their credit, though, the twins didn’t even flinch. They were probably used to my overactive brain with sugar-eaten holes deep enough to fall into by now.

I do have another question for you, I told them.

Anything, Teacup, Carlotta said. You need more chopped-up fly wings, just say the word.

Umm, no. This might be taking a risk to trust them, but I needed all the help I could get. In exchange for my familiar, the catnapper wants the Ring of Everlasting Night.

Carlotta’s eyes practically bugged out of her head. You have it?

No. Not on me. But from what you’ve told me about the ring, I can’t just hand it over to some random catnapper. So is there any way I can trick the catnapper into thinking I’ve given him the real ring? Even if it’s just enough time to get Studmuffin back?

Carlitta’s mouth firmed into a determined line. We’ll find a way, whatever it takes.

Carlotta nodded. If anyone ever catnapped our kitties, I would… Oh, I don’t know what I would do.

We would do what it takes to get them back, that’s what, Carlitta said. Life wouldn’t be worth much without three a.m. demands for a sacrifice to the kitty gods and good chin rubs.

I agreed with the chin rubs, but was she kidding about the demands for a sacrifice? With the Kitty City cats, this wouldn’t surprise me.

All of them make this demand? I asked.

Carlitta sighed, a long, drawn-out one. We get piled on at three a.m. sharp every night.

And if we don’t deliver in a timely fashion, the time isn’t the only thing that’s sharp, Carlotta added.

Something told me I didn’t want to know what exactly they sacrificed to the kitty gods, so I didn’t ask.

Wow, I psychically said instead. What is it about the magical hour of three a.m.? Mine just jumps on my head at that time from the ceiling.

Just saying that tied up my throat into knots. Furry ones that looked like cat tails. My eyes filled with tears, and they streaked down my face too fast to bother wiping them away.

“Ugh. Sorry,” I choked out loud.

They immediately wrapped me up into another warm hug.

“Oh, it’s fine. We’ll be here when you need us. Come back tomorrow to see if we’ve found a way to—” make a copy of the Ring of Everlasting Night for you, Carlitta finished in my mind.

Carlotta nodded. “We’ll work tirelessly to get your familiar back to you.”

“Thanks. I appreciate it.” If anyone would understand, they sure did. It was unexpected, sure, but really nice.

They released me, and Carlitta popped the bubble around us with the tip of her wand. Then they held their back shop door open for me, the last of the armpit and really sour milk stink breezing out as they did. As soon as I stepped inside, a wave of Kitty City cats crashed into me. They flanked my ankles, oblivious of the snow on my boots, rubbed their cheeks on my legs, and blinked up at me with loving eyes.

“I think they now know how sad you are,” Carlotta said.

Carlitta reached down to stroke several of their furry chins. “You have their support too. We’ll all help you.”

“Thanks again.” That was about all I could say, what with all the cat tails stuck in my throat.

The cats parted for me and let me leave the store without trying to kill me with marbles this time. I’d call that a win any day.

I left feeling somewhat better. I had new friends who were willing to help. I now wore an entire pet store’s worth of cat glitter. I now knew more about the Ring of Everlasting Night.

Was there a way the ring could be used for good if in, and on, the right hand? Any way at all?

All signs pointed to NO. People had murdered for it, stolen it, and catnapped for it.

If I traded the ring for Studmuffin, it would be amazing for me but chaos for everyone else. For the whole planet. Chaos for me too, I was sure.

Which meant the only way to keep the ring hidden was to find and rescue Studmuffin before the exchange tomorrow at midnight.

And I only had a little more than twenty-four hours to do it.