A shriek of sheer panic shattered the silence.

Nick rubbed his eyes before gawking at the unfamiliar scenery of trees and shrubbery dotting the mist-covered area. He spun around before choking out a hysterical giggle, the laughter distorted in the gloomy surroundings. "Dead! We're dead!"

The Duo made a beeline for Victor, who took a moment to adjust to the strangeness of the situation, too stunned to be afraid. He glanced at Kristy as she stood with eyes narrowed. Looking down, he saw the chalk-covered patch of ground that was once a sidewalk. The markings shone with a faint greenish tint.

"Bloody magic," he muttered.

"Killed while trick-or-treating!" Nick dropped to the ground and continued his insane laughter. "What a way to gooooo!"

Kristy nodded at the dazed Nick. "Vic, pull him together. Use a spell if you need to." The genie stepped away, moving outward to scan the perimeter.

Victor stalked over to his friend, and hauled the frightened teen to his feet. He couldn't blame the bloke. His first experience with magic hadn't been a walk in the park either.

"Nick, we aren't dead!" 

Nick seized Victor's forearms as if clinging to a lifeline. "Where are we if we aren't dead?"

"I don't know... yet," Victor replied, his eyes never leaving Nick's. "But I won't let anything happen to you. I promise." In his eyes, the mantle of caretaker now extended to include a dreadlock-wearing teen and a beautiful genie.

"B-u-u-t stuff like this doesn't happen in real life. We're dead!"

"Nick, unbelievable as it sounds, this is... magic. I'm sorry you're involved." Victor swore that he'd get them to safety no matter the cost. "It's a double life I lead, but I won't let anyone come to harm."

Nick's wild eyes latched onto Victor's as his aura, with a strong hint of magic, began to soothe his agitated friend. He needed Nick functioning while they figured a way out of this mess. 

"You... You'll save me, English?"

"I'll do my best." Victor released Nick and stepped back.

"No," whined Nick, his fingers grabbing for Victor. "Put your arms around me. Hold me tight!"

Victor balked and shuffled back further. "What the?"

A fed-up Rosetta marched over to Nick and kicked him in the shin with a booted foot. Hard.

"Ow!" Nick turned to the child as he flicked back his wayward dreads, anger overtaking the fear. "Yikes on bikes, Rosetta! What the heck?"

"You ain't helping. Let go so Vic can help us!" The child stood with arms akimbo, frowning up at the older boy. "Woman up, skippy!"

Her words had the desired effect. Nick glared at the little girl as he stood straighter. "I'm hooked on reality, kid!" His arm swept out over the bleak scenery surrounding them. "This ain't reality!"

Seeing his sister had humiliated Nick into submission, Victor hurried away.

Three magics, known as Disciplines, lived inside him, the power of genies, fairies, and witches. The combination of the entities formed a column of white magic—a merging of the blue, red, and green. Focusing on his combined power and remembering to keep his emotions in check, he reached outward in a quest for knowledge.

The spell's thickness surrounded them—its dark nature suffocated his senses. This fabrication didn't feel normal. The evil sensation indicated a path straight toward the darker side of magic.

The green glow—the chalk marks on the sidewalk are glyphs, bloody witch magic! And we were standing on top of it when the spell released.

The sensation, the taste, the vibrations of this place left him tainted. Victor would have loved a shower to be rid of the touch. After the fiasco with Arabella, he thought the magi would leave him be. But now, he realized the wrongness of his assumption. The knowledge gave way to bitterness.

"We're in an alternate reality." Kristy returned through the misty air to report her findings. "It must have taken several magi to create it."

Nick looked at Kristy and gulped. "So, uh, who or what are you?"

"I'm a genie."

Nick pointed a shaky finger at Victor. "What's English?"

"Male."

He grumbled, then gave the Duo the side-eye.

"Don't look at us. We're normal, old boring, like you." Jason's grip on his candy-filled pillowcase tightened as he studied the moonless scenery. Trees, shrubs, and grass—all covered in a hint of mist. "This place sucks."

Kristy huffed, the pole held across her body. Her eyes skimmed the dreary scene. "I get bad vibes about this place."

Victor continued his scrutiny, noting the work seemed amateurish and weak. The shoddy woven patterns barely held the fantasy together that forced the impossible to become reality. The air stank with the decomposition of organic material. This faulty construction, small in area, shaped itself into a pentagram formation, a five-pointed star. They only needed to focus power on one of the points, and the reality would release them.

A blemish existed here. Someone had died on a pentagram to aid the creation... no, not died—

Sacrificed.

They needed to get out. Now. Sickened by his discovery, Victor pointed to a path barely visible in the murk. "That way. There's a tunnel. It's one of the closest endpoints to force our way out. The construction isn't great, so it won't take much. Let's go." He led the way, the genie taking rear guard.

They walked through the fog and trees until the forest abruptly cut off at the cusp of a large open space. Beyond that was the entrance to a rock tunnel. With sighs of relief, the group left the tree cover and marched into the open, headed for the mouth of the tunnel.

"Let's..." A tingling sensation ran down Victor's spine. He wasted no time yelling, "Kristy!" as a robed figure appeared on the girl's left, grasping a scythe that shined a wicked red.

Kristy ducked under the swinging apparatus. Twisting upward, she faced her attacker—stepping forward as she executed quick jabs to the chest with her staff which now glowed a muted blue. Surprised by the girl going on the offense, her opponent steadily lost ground.

Victor's jaw dropped when the genie hooked the curve of the scythe with her staff, yanked, and tossed the weapon into the brush. As the figure stood dumbfounded, Kristy went in with a sidekick to the face, dropping her adversary like a rock.

The genie bared her teeth in victory as she raised her staff, backpedaling toward her friends.

Victor had no time to marvel at the turn of events. Two others popped out of the darkness to his right, then two to his left, their hands illuminating a sickening green color as they blocked the path.

"Look sharp!" he shouted while calming his now aroused magic. The power bubbled inside him, pressing against its invisible containment, ready to strike out against their adversaries. The feeling frightened him, but he managed to block a stream of green energy aimed at his brother, then Nick.

Stay in control, he reminded himself, dancing backward and keeping in front of his charges. Don't let the power control you.

Nick grabbed the Duo, keeping close to Victor. "Stay behind me."

Jason snorted as he pulled out a water gun, glaring at the older teen. "What're you gonna do?"

"Scream—and if that don't work, run like hell!"

"Who are you?" Victor called to the four black robes that blocked their path to the tunnel. He noticed the central figure stood somewhat ahead of the others. "Why did you bring us here?"

To his surprise, Kristy snorted. "The two on the left are Arabella's servants, Silvan and Solan. I'd recognize those blocky shapeless bulks anywhere."

"Traitorous wench! You can't even fight with honor!" Silvan threw back his cowl with an angry hand.

"You have no right to speak of honor, Silvan," a seething Kristy replied.

Victor recalled the burly henchmen who had attacked him on Arabella's orders. "I remember them! Beef and Brawn!"

Silvan and Solan shook with rage while the assailant Kristy downed, rose, and hobbled near the others. The robed figure in the lead didn't so much as glance at the witch. But now, five barred the exit.

The one in the front finally stepped forward. "One Magi, I am Oliver, Imperial Leader of the Four." His deep-sounding voice resonated with malice, fitting the haunting surroundings of mist, trees, and brush. "Here, in my reality, you cannot hide behind smoke and mirrors as you did in the Four's chambers."

The Four. Kristy had spoken about her suspicions of others in cahoots with Arabella at the trial. Victor believed the witch had been a group member, if not the spearhead. The staged way these magi revealed themselves confirmed his inklings. These witches were out for revenge. And worse, the speaker seemed full of theatrics, like an inept villain in a bad movie.

"What chambers?" Victor asked, a puzzled look on his face. "I don't understand."

"Look, we just wanna go home!" added a fearful Nick.

Oliver continued, ignoring the interruptions. "I demand you turn over the traitorous genie. She will pay for her perfidious crimes against our order."

These muttonheads wanted Kristy? Victor shook his head. "Kristy was never on your side. She was Arabella's prisoner."

The genie snorted again, the sound distorted by the fog. "That doesn't count in their twisted perspective."

"The genie betrayed the Four and must die as punishment," stated Oliver in clipped tones. "And you, One Magi, will swear loyalty to me as you also bear responsibility for Arabella's incarceration."

How he despised that name, One Magi!

Behind him, Nick muttered, "What did Vic do?"

Jason whispered, "It wasn't Vic. It was sorta me. I'll fill you in later."

"If there is a later," added Rosetta, in a scared little voice.

Nick gulped.

"Give in now, and as a show of mercy, I'll take the humans as hostages toward your good behavior."

Once again, Victor's magic reared upward, straining against its barrier to emerge. With a grimace, he shoved it down, not knowing which he feared worse, the witches or his turbulent magic. He shook his head with vigor. "I won't let you hurt my family or friends."

Kristy laid a hand on his arm. "And I won't let any of you suffer because of me."

Victor didn't back down. "Forget about becoming a martyr, Kristy."

"Think wisely, One Magi. I care nothing for your human companions, but at least they'll live. We must sacrifice the genie for her crimes and to close this reality. I won't use another one of my people." The bright red eyes locked onto Victor through the depths of his cowl. "You have no choice. We created this reality under the Four's explicit control. I can do anything I want—like this."

A biting cold swarmed the group of friends, the extreme chill causing gasps and screams of pain.

Oliver giggled until the frigid temperature returned to normal. "Don't get upset and give me the cold shoulder." His followers chuckled at their leader's attempt at humor. "Be thankful I didn't do this."

A sudden breathlessness attacked the group as airways narrowed and mouths opened in shock. The group fell to their knees, wheezing and coughing from the lack of air as the witches laughed. Oliver gestured, and the stale air returned.

Nick and Jason breathed deeply, heads down, as the angry genie stumbled to her feet. Gasping, Victor placed a hand on his chest where the enraged column of magic churned and rolled. The beating of his heart flooded his ears until a heartrending sound penetrated the steady drumming.

Rosetta had curled into a ball on the hard ground and began crying as soon as her lungs sucked in sufficient air. The child, so deep in the throes of weeping, had no control over her blinding tears. Victor crawled over to his sister on hands and knees, sweeping her onto his lap.

"It's okay, poppet," he whispered, rocking the child back and forth. "Just hold on, little love."

"I'm s-s-sorry, V-Vic. I-I-I'll be b-b-brave."

He hugged the child tighter as the sound of her crying broke his heart. The group huddled around Victor and the distraught Rosetta, with Kristy keeping a sharp eye on the snickering Four.

Oliver threw back his hood, his robes billowing as his minions closed rank behind him—the scene overdramatic and exaggerated. "One Magi, concede, or I'll suffocate them one by one, starting with the boy." His face grew grim. "I control this reality. Here my magic is supreme. There's nothing you can do."

Victor glanced around him as he held his sniveling sister. He saw the terror on Nick's face; Jason, defiant as he gripped his candy sack and water gun. And Kristy, who looked at him with trust in her eyes, not an inkling of fear on the delicate face.

These were his friends, family, and responsibility. He would not fail them—like he failed the professor. The thought of this Oliver chap awarding deaths as if he were a benevolent god angered Victor to the core. All I wanted was one bloody night of fun. One night, but these knobheads ruined it!

Victor rose to his feet with Rosetta in his arms. He gazed at a preening Oliver while wondering what to do when a familiar voice spoke to him within the ethers of his mind. 

They control this reality's magic. But you are not limited to one CONTROLLED magic.

Victor understood even as he feared the answer. "Nick, take the poppet piggyback." Nick nodded as Victor kissed her wet cheek before handing the child over. "Jason, stay with them. When I say go, run into the tunnel and keep going." He glanced at the genie. "Kristy..."

"You need a fighter at your back," she announced as if daring him to disagree. "I might look delicate, but the fae are usually strong, even partials like me."

Victor only nodded, walking forward with the genie at his side to face the jubilant witches. He closed his eyes and waited, remembering the warning from Kristy. Untethered magic is dangerous.

Solan pointed at the teens and smirked. "Look! The whipped dogs have given in!"

Oliver stepped forward. "Good. You've come to your senses. Silvan, take the genie." A finger pointed to his other servants. "Terek and Solan will conduct the sacrifice. The rest will assist me in taking charge of the prisoners." The gleeful red eyes turned to Victor. "Any last words, One Magi, before we begin?"

"Just one. Move." He opened emerald eyes that glowed with hues of blue and red that sparkled.

Victor had freed his magic, the power of three... untethered.

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