TSP Draft Three - Ch7

Overview: https://kaylinrosealexande.wixsite.com/kaylinalexanderbooks/post/draft-three-of-the-secret-portal

Read-aloud, pt1: https://www.tiktok.com/@kaylinrosealexander/video/7187034325077003566?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7168171927235937835

Previous: https://kaylinrosealexande.wixsite.com/kaylinalexanderbooks/post/tsp-draft-three

I highlighted the text exclusive to the first version of this draft and underlined the text exclusive to the second version.

Chapter Seven

Date: November 22nd, 2024 Time: 1:45

Place: Baxter House

Alexia

Time Stopper, Ice Queen, and Speeder

My first thought was, Who is this guy? My second thought was, What treasure?

Just when I thought it couldn’t get any weirder, Creepy Guy took out a stick.

What?????????????????

“Give me the treasure,” he repeated.

Aurora stepped forward. “Who are you? What are you doing here? What treasure?” she demanded.

Creepy Guy put down the stick. “My name is Quincey Moon.”

Moon? Oh my gosh. Moon isn’t a common last name …

“Moon?!?!?!?!” Aurora exclaimed. “Are you related to…?”

“No,” Quincey answered. “But she’s my wife. You see, my dear Paige was banished to the human world. She used to be a witch, but did something against the code, and the Council of Dark Magic banished her. She knew that witches and wizards weren’t allowed to use the portal now, so she looked for people who were, special.”

I wasn’t sure what “the code” was, or what Mrs. Moon did to disobey it, but I guess everyone’s suspicions were confirmed: she was a witch. Which, by the way, I would never have believed if I hadn’t been through what I had been through today.

“You, Miss Hathaway,” Quincey Moon continued, “were the first to turn 13 out of the ‘special people.’” He said it like it was a bad thing. “That day in science, September 27th, she required you to bring something interesting you had to analyze or whatever. You, Miss Morgan, brought the metal detector. Paige realized that was important. Miss Hathaway, you let her down, so Paige waited for November 22nd, conveniently the last day before Thanksgiving Break.

“She made the list of metals to find so you could bring it. You do know the portal is made of metal, right?”

I nodded. It was weird. I thought it had only been a few weeks since I found the metal detector. How could I have been able to bring it in September? Did Mrs. Moon cast a spell on me?

The metal detector was still in my pocket. I reached out to touch the outside of the pocket. I could feel it in there. I don’t know how it stayed in there after the Rainbow Tunnel, but I wished it had fallen out.

“Two questions,” I said, raising my hand. Mr. Moon nodded, as if to say, “Shoot.” I put on my best poker face and said, “One; why do you need the metal detector if you can’t go through the portal anyway?” I asked.

Quincey sighed. “I guess I didn’t make that clear. I meant witches and wizards can’t find it on their own. With the metal detector, I could find her.”

Well, we’re screwed. “Okay,” I said, trying not to show anything on my face, “two; how do you know all this?”

Quincey sighed. “This.” He pulled out the stick whispered something that sounded like “caramel flip flop” and an image appeared of Mrs. Moon. She smiled, her pale eyes glowing. “Hello, girls. How’s your holiday going?”

“Perfect,” Aurora muttered sarcastically. “I can’t believe you’ve been hiding under our noses this whole time.”

Mrs. Moon just winked as the image disappeared and Quincey smiled. “Turn out your pockets.”

I gulped as Aurora turned out her pockets. The only thing there was her phone. Quincey turned to me and I did the same. Only, the metal detector wasn’t there.

What?!?!?!

I couldn’t believe it. I had no idea where it had gone, or what happened. Did I do something? Was it someone, or something else? Was I just imagining it in there to begin with?

Mr. Moon glared at me. His eyes glowed silver, and I could swear it got colder in here. But I could now see why Mrs. Moon was attracted to him. They both were creepy. The way he stared at me was the same way. Mrs. Moon looked when she gave out a pop quiz. It was like he was taunting me. Taunting me to answer one question wrong so I could fail, or in this case, maybe die.

Quincey glared at me. “Fine,” Quincey Moon said. “I guess we’ll have to do this the hard way.”

He pulled out his stick and pointed it at us. He said something that sounded like “jelly marshmallow” and a lavender light shot out of it.

I closed my eyes, waiting for the end.

I didn’t know what the lavender light would feel like, so I braced myself for the worst. Or maybe the light would be pleasant, and we’d die in paradise. Or maybe it would be torture us and our deaths would be slow.

Dying on my birthday

The light was three inches from us when it stopped. Quincey still had the same look on his face but wasn’t moving. I looked at Aurora, who looked just as confused.

I turned around to find Carla, her hand extended, pointing directly at the wizard. “Alexia," she said, “please imagine this guy in deep ditch.”

I did, and to my surprise, he disappeared. Carla lowered her hand.

“How did you do that?” Aurora asked.

“I can bend time,” said Carla. “They call me Time Stopper.”

“Cool,” I said. I wouldn’t have believed it if that hadn’t just happened. “That’s kind of helpful. Are there any others…?”

“Yes,” she said. “Lot’s. People with abilities have their powers come out at ten years of age. If they live here, they’re good to go. If they don’t, they have to walk past a certain place at thirteen, then they can go through the portal, through the Rainbow Tunnel, then to Raven Falls.”

“Who else can do this?” Aurora asked.

“I’ll show you,” said Carla, and led us back into the living room, where Hannah and George were playing chess. “Aurora, Lexi, meet Ice Queen and Speeder.”

Quincey Moon is a slightly better named than Quincy Warlock. But I'm glad that I changed it, as well as the wizards.

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