Saturday, September 8th

Three little witches sat around the table in Crystal Hall, looking at all the other kids who could cast great magic spells, while they were still stuck making nice tea and struggling to get even the tiniest bit of essence that other kids seemed to pick up just by breathing.
Clover pulled her hat down as a freshman waved his fingers and his tray went sailing across the cafeteria to join the rest of the dirty dishes. “It's a new year and we still can't do anything really cool!” she whined.
“It's all because we don't have essence,” Abra said, taking a savage bite from her salad.
Palantir focused in on some freshmen who were talking excitedly about their classes and sharing the few spells they knew. “Well lets go get some. There are so many new kids here we can get some of their essence to spark ours before they know what we're doing.”
“Yes! We just have to move quickly we can do it!” Clover practically shouted. “We just need to find the best person to take it from.”
Abra looked off into the distance. “The closest we came to getting essence was when we took it from the ghost...”
“We are NOT going after a scary ghost again,” Clover said, hugging her familiar Buttons to her chest.
“No, no, no,” Abra agreed quickly. “But there are magical students here. There's one in my dorm, a fairy girl. She has to be loaded with essence, and she doesn't seem to know anything about magic.”
“Is that the one who started the food fight on the first day? She seems kind of scary,” Palantir said, unthinkingly rubbing her shoulders. Seeing the girl hanging from a light by her bra looked painful.
“She's not that scary Pali. I live on the same floor as her and she doesn't seem to pay a lot of attention to anything. We can trick her easy,” Abra assured her. “She has detention at Hawthorne, and always takes the same way on green flag days.”
**

Teri rushed across the campus to get to her detention. She was suppose to help a spider girl with her English homework and after the crummy way Venus Inc., had acted, she was hoping for something nice and relaxing. So she never noticed the carefully drawn runes hidden in the tall grass until she ran into an invisible wall nose first.
“OW!” she screamed rubbing her face. “Ok, who hardened the air?” A quick check showed she was surrounded on all sides.
She heard some muttering from the nearby bushes. “Hey, help me outta here, I have to get to detention and I don't want to be late.” No one came out.
Tapping her foot, she put her chin in her hand to think of a clever way out of the trap. Her eyes lit up as the answer came to her. She flew straight up keeping her hand touching the side of the invisible wall. At ten feet it started to curve inwards, at fifteen feet she hit the top of the sphere and started heading back down.
“Ok, someone is in a lot of trouble, I'm now late for my detention!” she shouted as she landed on the ground.
Jutting out her chin, Teri began to fly in a circle her wings just touching the side of the trap. She picked up speed. She was not going to stay in this stupid trap any longer, she started going so fast the trees and bushes around her were a blur. Then she hit the wall... and bounced. Refusing to slow down, she hit the other side and bounced backwards, each time she went a bit faster getting more and more frustrated.
**
“She's like a ping pong ball, shouldn't she be slowing down?” Clover asked.
“Don't worry,” Palantir said, “just give her another minute or two and she'll realize she can't escape, then we go and make a deal with her.”
Abra looked at the blur of movement bouncing around the circle. “Yeah, sure. If she's still conscious.”
“One more minute and she'll stop.”
**
Ten minutes later, sweating, suffering a headache and ready to spit nails, Teri finally sank back to the ground. “Great, now my hairs a mess to. And I'm so late!”
Walking to the edge of the circle, she saw a carefully drawn line, kicking it didn't do anything. Neither did grabbing a piece of grass and poking at it. Then she had a eureka moment. Getting down on her hands and knees she started digging, focusing her PK field around her hands into something like a shovel so she could take out big piles of dirt in one go. In less than a minute she was crawling out the other side.
“Great, I'm filthy and late!” she cried, taking to the air and leaving a comet tail of dirt behind her as she flew to Hawthorne as fast as possible.
She never saw the three young teens come out of the bushes, staring at the magic circle.
Clover and Buttons looked at Pali, “Sure, lets wait for her to get annoyed and give up. She'll give us anything to get out.”
“I didn't even know you could dig your way out of a magic circle,” Palantir said.
“Don't worry our next trap will work perfectly,” Abra assured them. “And hey, we can have a sleepover. I don't have a roommate until next Friday.”
They cleaned up the circle and headed back to to Whitman to talk about the next plan.
**
“I swear, I was trapped in a some kind of invisible trap. I didn't want to be late,” Teri said as Ms. Cantrell glared at her. “Look at my clothes and hair, I had to dig my way out of it.”
“Get to work, you know what room you're to go to. And you're making up the time so don't take off at five like you usually would,” the big woman said.
“Sure,” she replied, as she flew off.
The door was open when she reached the students room. Inside was a girl who didn't look that scary from the waist up, but her lower half was all spider, a big one, with a red patch on the back. She was busy writing something while looking in a history book.
“Hi, Emilia right?” Teri asked flying inside.
“Yeah, that's right, Teri. We're in the same costume class,” she said putting her pen down.
“Oh right, I remember seeing you in there. Why do you sit all the way at the back? It must be annoying to look through everyone's head.”
She pointed at her spider butt. “I'd be in the way of everyone else if I was near the front.”
Teri gave a shrug to that. “So what exactly do you need help with? I'm in English II, so I should be able to help you.”
“Composition. Mr. Lord says I need a lot of work on writing essays,” she practically whispered, hiding her face with her hair.
“That's easy to fix. What do you like?” Teri asked, sitting on the desk.
“I like fashion.”
Teri pulled over a piece of paper, and then grabbed a pen for Emilia. “Ok! I like fashion to, I'm a model actually. So let's pick a topic, your favourite fashion brand. First you need an introduction. To do that...”

**
As Teri flew back to Whitman, thinking about having to wash herself for the second time that day, she never noticed the three girls who were trying to watch her while looking like they weren't. If she had noticed them, her week would probably have been much more peaceful.

**
Sunday, September 9th
Whitman Cottage

“Are you sure this is safe?” Abra asked her friends, as they sat in her room in Whitman looking at the equipment for the next trap.

“Sure,” Clover said, playing with the net she and Buttons had borrowed from the grounds keepers earlier. “They use this type of net to keep birds from eating the seeds when they plant flower beds. Tink won't get hurt by it.”

“And we know she can't get hurt by sugar. She just gets a little hyper and silly. So we put the net over her window tonight, put some sugar on her snacks and get her to follow the pretty ball. She gets caught in the net and we take her essence. She won't even know what's happening until we're long gone.” Palantir said. “It will be easy.”

“Alright. Teri should be coming back from detention soon, and Serena is out, so we need do this now if we're going to,” Abra said.

The three little witches, two of whom not so little now that they were fourteen and freshmen, casually walked down the hallway. Since it was a sunny Sunday the dorm was pretty much empty, even the girls who were doing homework were outside taking in the sun at one of the tables, benches or simply sitting on a blanket on the grass.

After knocking on the door to make sure both girls were gone, Abra opened the door using a tiny bit of magic. With the coast clear they slipped inside. Each girl had a small bag of sugar, Abra went to the small dresser opening it up to see a small pile of doll clothes, and lots of snacks all of them sugar free. There was an open bag of trail mix on top. Carefully opening the sugar, she began pouring a little bit in the trail mix when there was a knock on the door.

All of them stopped dead, not even breathing. There was another knock. Abra's nose started to itch, she had to sneeze. She scrunched up her face, fighting the urge as best she could. Finally, just when she was sure she couldn't hold it in any longer, they heard footsteps going down the hall. They gasped in relief, and she scratched her nose. Then she gasped. The bag of sugar was empty.

Looking at the trail mix, she saw everything was covered in sugar. Giving it a couple of shakes, made the sugar less noticeable, but not by much.

“I'm done,” Clover said closing the small mini-fridge. “Let's go.”

Putting the trail mix back, Abra didn't say anything as they made their way out. A little extra sugar wouldn't hurt anything.

Back in Abra's room, they hugged each other for a job well done. But Clover had a question, “Pally, where did you get the sugar? I thought the lunch ladies would yell at you for taking that much.”

“I didn't get it from Crystal Hall, those lunch ladies are scary. I just grabbed some I found lying around, no one was using it,” Pallly replied.

**

The Tunnels

Hazmat looked around his workshop, very confused. He was missing one of his new sugar derivative samples, that if successful would revolutionize energy drinks. He'd worked on it all summer, and after some safety tests, he wanted to show it to Ayla.

“Belphegor, if you've taken it I'm going to... do something very nasty,” he said to himself, stalking off to find the thief.

The Tunnels

Teri flew through the tunnels following the directions written on a sheet of paper. She was smiling and bobbing happily in the air, having had a good day, all of her homework was done, she'd been able to play with India and Dr. Heavy for her detention, and now she was going to meet a devisor to get a bag of holding.

She came to a door, looking at the note she saw that it was the right one, and knocked loudly. A pear shaped boy, with thick glasses, that reeked of science nerd, even without looking at his lab coat opened the door. “You're Tink?” he asked looking at her in fascination.

“Yep. You're Mobius I guess. I really need your help,” Teri said.

“How can you think with such a small head?” he asked.

She crossed her arms and gave him her best glare. “Why does every scientist say that? I'm really smart!”

“Sorry, come on in. You want to buy some of my bags right?”

“Yeah. And I have an idea for a weapon I'd like built,” she told him flying into the rather large lab.

“I don't do weapons, but if you tell me about it I can point you to someone who does. How big do you want the bags?”

Tink pulled a piece of paper out of her change purse. She'd drawn it large enough for big people to see it. “I have all of it written down here. It's really small for most people so I think I should be really easy to do.”

He took a few moments to look it over. “My pinky wouldn't fit through the opening of this pocket.”

“My head is as big as your pinky,” she pointed out.

He cocked his head, looking at her again. “Well, you've got me there. The satchel is easy enough to do, the belt is impossible, it's way too small. But a belt with some larger pouches on it could work. And you want the tubes for your... fairy claws coming out of them, it would definitely be easier to make them into pouches that clip onto your belt, that way you can switch the load quickly.”

“So how much?”

“Five thousand for everything. Usually I'd charge three times that, but these are small enough I don't need to spend much on material or time.”

“FIVE THOUSAND! That's ridiculous! Two thousand,” she countered.

“Do you know how many people want my bags? 4800.”

“Hah! I'm not some stupid kid who doesn't know how much something is worth, three thousand.”

They finally agreed on four thousand dollars, half up front.

“So, about the weapon, who can make me my claws and everything?” Teri asked, after they finished transferring the money on the computer.

“For something this small, you'll want to talk to Generator. She's -”

“Oh I know her, we're in Japanese class together!” Teri exclaimed. “She can do this?”

Mobius nodded. “Yeah, her devises are useless to everyone else, but for detail work you won't find anyone better.”

Teri flew up and kissed his cheek. “Thank you for everything, Mobius. I'll be back to to pick up the satchel in a week. Bye bye!”

Mobius didn't respond as Teri flew out the door, he was holding his cheek with a look of shock that a pretty girl would kiss him willingly. Even if she was only six inches tall.

**

That night, Teri went up to the tv room where a bunch of the Whitman girls were watching Shrek 3. Some girls had made up a huge barrel full of popcorn,and there were sugary drinks, candy and chocolate being shared freely. She watched the chocolate being eaten with big puppy dog eyes, but since everyone knew what had happened Friday, no one was willing to give her any. Instead she got a big bowl of popcorn dripping with butter and shared it with her roommate Serena, and her friend Page.

Halfway through the movie, she needed something with a bit of sugar, even if it wasn't a lot. Flying to her room, she grabbed the open bag of trail mix which had raisins, dates, and small pieces of dried fruit in it, which was just enough to satisfy her sugar cravings.

Wanting to get back to the movie, she just reached in and grabbed a raisin to tide herself over for the flight back upstairs. She never noticed the grains of sugar coating it. It touched her tongue and her hyper metabolism went to work.

**

Palintir, waited outside Whitman, floating on her ball of energy, while her friends waited down below. The net was in place and in the darkness it was virtually invisible. They each held a couple of ropes that were tied to the net, so that as soon as the fairy girl flew into it, they could pull it down. All they needed to do was wait for Teri to eat some trail mix and she'd catch the girl's attention.

The tiny door opened, and she saw Teri fly inside. The window was open, so she could hear a drawer open and plastic rustling. There was a high pitched whine, which might have been a squeal of joy.

The little witch made a ball appear just outside the window and made it dance. Nothing happened for a few seconds. Drifting closer to the window she risked looking inside, there was nothing there. Had Teri left the room? Maybe she hadn't grabbed the right bag. She risked a closer look and screamed.

A tiny face appeared out of nowhere, as if it had teleported. It was grinning so widely it looked painful, it had pure black eyes, purple hair was standing on end, and it was vibrating.

It opened it's mouth and another high pitched squeak filled the air. The next thing Palintir knew, she was yanked off her ball and flying through the air hanging onto the rope for dear life, with Clover and Abra screaming in terror along for the ride.

**

Teri felt wonderful.

She finished off the bag of trail mix which was the best food in the whole entire world. NO! The whole entire GALAXY! And now she was floating on a cloud, moving peacefully and slowly. Something bobbed outside the window, it looked like it was in slow motion.

She watched it for what seemed like hours, and then she casually flew over to the window to get a better look. Everything was such pretty, pretty colours. The moon was dancing in front of her. It was pretty to. She wondered why the sun hadn't risen yet, it had had more than enough time to rise. Maybe it was being lazy and wanted to sleep in.

Yeah that made sense.

“Hi moon. Can I play with you?” she asked.

The moon seemed to nod.

“Oh thank you!” she said, flying through the screen not even realizing it was there.

The moon suddenly vanished. “Oh you want to play hide and seek do you?” she asked. “Ok, I'll find you.”

Teri flew off to find the moon. She could hear it laughing, but she couldn't actually see it, there were just some big birds following her.

**

Clover managed to climb up high enough to get her hands around the net itself. Her knuckles were white and it felt like her hair was being ripped out, and she couldn't feel her hands, arms or shoulders anymore, but she was pretty sure she wouldn't fall to her death right away. Ducking her head, she could just barely see Pally and Abra hanging onto the net, through her half closed eyes.

“CAN WE JUMP?” she shouted, hoping to be heard.

“NO! TOO FAST!” one of her friends screamed. She couldn't actually tell who it was.

Maybe if they waited a few more minutes, the fairy would tire out. They could hang on for a little longer, they weren't really doing anything other than going fast. She could hold on, she told herself.

Clover began feeling some hope that they just might survive as they started to slow down. When they stopped, she started to giggle, then laugh in relief. They were at least a hundred feet up in the air, but they'd stopped. Pally was a few feet above her, and Abra was at her feet, they were laughing to.

“We're alive,” Clover said.

She never heard her friends reply as they went from zero to sixty in about five seconds and kept going faster. Then the loop de loops and barrel rolls, started.

**

Teri couldn't find the moon anymore. “Moon! Oh Moon! Where are you?” she called out, zipping around Crystal Hall a few times for fun.

She finally came to a stop in the air. The birds were still following her. She'd never seen birds so persistent before. They were talking to each other a little bit below her.

Maybe, she thought, they were trying to catch the moon. That was why the moon didn't want to play anymore, it was scared of the birds. It made perfect sense. So if she got rid of the birds, the moon would come out to play.

“YES! DON'T WORRY MOON! I'LL SAVE YOU FROM THESE NASTY BIRDS!”

She started flying again, slowly building up speed.

**

“I'm gonna die! I'm gonna die! I'm gonna die!” Abra screamed.

She could see some people flying through the air after them, but anytime anyone came close, Teri did some crazy midair maneuver that sent them flying high into the sky or almost into the ground and the rescuers were left heading in the wrong direction.

And the entire time it sounded like a squirrel was laughing on fast forward.

Someone came flying straight at them. Abra somehow found the strength to bend her arms and clutch the net even harder. As expected Teri did a ninety degree turn and somehow went even faster. Not that it matter to Abra or her friends.

Abra screamed as the net suddenly went slack, she saw Teri flying away, the tiny figure bathed in the light from Crystal Hall, as she, Clover and Pally were left far behind and falling towards the ground. No one was close enough to save them.

Suddenly a big blue ball appeared in the middle of the net. Their fatal fall slowed and a few seconds later they hit the ground painfully but not fatally.

Letting go of the net proved almost impossible, but somehow the three little witches, managed to untangle themselves and stagger away before anyone caught them.

**

The birds had finally gone away, but there were more birds following her now, and the moon was still too scared to come out. Yawning, Teri decided that this game wasn't any fun anymore and it was time to go to bed.

Flying back to her room, she saw two windows, and went through the one that seemed the most stable. There was a loud crash and a scream, but she didn't care. Landing on her bed, it was a lot pointier and less comfortable then she remembered. She was too tired to care, without a care in the world Teri fell asleep.

**

Hive walked into Whitman, with a full security detail behind her. Mrs. Savage met her at the stairs.

“Admiral, I don't believe you need this many men with you. Whatever Teri was doing, she is asleep now. The only damage I've heard about is a hole in the wall, so this can wait until morning,” the house mother said.

“I'm sorry Mrs. Savage, but there are a dozen reports that she was dragging three students behind her. We need to investigate this and see if anyone was hurt as quickly as possible,” Hive said.

They marched up the stairs and went to Teri's room, where a group of girls, including the other occupant of the dorm were looking inside with worried expressions. They got more worried when they saw the armed security team.

Hive walked in first, there was a large hole in the wall about five feet away from the window, and a baseball size hole in the comforter, sheet and mattress. Loud snoring could be heard from the hole. Kneeling beside the bed, she loudly said, “Teri, time to wake up.”

There was some mumbling, followed by louder snoring.

Sighing, she stood up, and projected her voice in the best military fashion. “TERI MOUSER! You're late for class!”

The mattress jumped up and exploded in midair. Plaster fell from the ceiling where a basketball size hole seemed to just appear. A second hole opened up in the ceiling, followed by screaming, and yet another hole was torn in the wall.

Everyone blinked in amazement.

Twenty seconds later, Teri was standing in the window covered in plaster, leaves and dirt. “It's too early for school, Mom. Just let me sleep for another hour.” She fell to the floor, snoring before she hit the ground.

“Let's get her to Doyle. We need to see what her blood sugar level is.” She did a quick scan of her files and found the name of Teri's roommate. “Serena, what did she eat today?”

One of the girls stepped forward. “She had some popcorn, and she said she was going to get some trail mix. But she's had it before, it only has some dried fruit which doesn't affect her.”

Hive looked at the floor and saw a small bag with a few seeds at the bottom. She picked it up carefully and sealed it so they could see if there was sugar in it. Taking Teri in her other hand, she carried the sleeping girl out of the room.

**

The three little witches sat in Abra's room, since they'd asked Mrs. Savage very nicely if they could have a sleepover. They were busy trying to work some feeling back into their arms.

“Let's never do that again,” Clover said.

“Right. For the next plan, NO sugar!” Abra said.

“Don't worry I have a great plan. And just think how much essence she must have to be able to do all of that!” Pally said.

They all leaned in to discuss the plan for tomorrow night.