Vacations from Hell

A gust of cool wind tossed Cecily’s hair and made her shiver. “Your freedom.”



Kathleen’s eyes opened wide. She knew. It was now or never.



Whispering the incantation, Cecily yanked off the top of the spray bottle and dumped the contents into the hot tub.



The currents caught it, creating a spiral of blue-black that widened every second. Instead of diluting within the water the elixir darkened the contents of the hot tub until it looked as if Scott and Kathleen were sitting in ink. Thick smoke began bubbling at the surface and tumbling over the sides. The air turned sulfuric, and Cecily felt as if she could hardly breathe.



“What the—” Scott tried to push himself out of the Jacuzzi, but he didn’t make it, because that was when everything exploded.



Not for real, with bits of tub and deck and Kathleen spraying everywhere. But it felt like an explosion anyway. A shock wave smashed outward, shaking them all and thundering like a sonic boom. Little arcs of static electricity vaulted through the air. Kathleen started screaming, and Cecily didn’t blame her.



Then it was over. Scott slumped down in the tub as if unconscious, but Cecily jumped forward to catch his head. “Scott?” Her voice shook. “Scott, are you okay?”



“Yeah.” He sat upright, blinking slowly. His expression looked dazed. “What was that?”



“You don’t need to know!” Kathleen clambered out of the hot tub. Her whole body shook, and some of her hair literally stood on end from the energy in the air. “Scott, come on.”



Cecily said, “He’s not going anywhere with you.”



“Who are you to say? Scott, come with me!” Kathleen held a hand out to him, but he didn’t budge.



His expression still looked dazed. No, Cecily thought the correct word was “vacant.” Like there was nobody home. Had she hurt him?



Then the Jacuzzi jets came on, and Scott grinned a lazy, stupid sort of smile that Cecily had never seen before. “Dude, hot tubs crack me up. You know why?”



Cecily cocked her head. “Uh, no?”



He said, “Because when the jets make the bubbles, it’s like somebody farted.”



“Are you sure you feel okay?” Cecily said. “Because you—you don’t sound like yourself.”



Scott laughed the kind of laugh that sounded like a donkey’s bray. “Guess what? I’m farting right now! And you can’t tell!”



Cecily stumbled away from the hot tub, backing toward the other side of the deck. Something was wrong with him; he wasn’t at all the kind of person he’d been before. Had she done something wrong when she broke the enchantment? Had she hurt Scott?



Kathleen wiped angry tears from her cheeks. “You ruined him!”



The truth hit Cecily. “You didn’t just make him like you. The enchantment altered his personality too, so he’d be the perfect guy for you.” Or for me, she thought, remembering how Scott had seemed so ideal when he was with her—and how his personality had seemed to change the moment Kathleen walked into the room. Why hadn’t she seen it before? The real Scott was this guy: slack-jawed, stupid, and completely unconcerned with anything around him. He wasn’t even paying any attention to their conversation.



“If you had the guts to borrow your mom’s Book of Shadows, you’d know how to do real magic too,” Kathleen jeered. She advanced upon Cecily, who pressed her back against the deck railing. What other evil spells could Kathleen have learned? What else might she be willing to do? Cecily wanted to think she could defend herself, but more than that she wanted to run for help. Yet Kathleen stood between her and any escape. “Scott was perfect, and he can be perfect again, because you’re about to get out of my way.”



“No, she isn’t,” Mrs. Pruitt said sternly. She stood in the doorway of the deck, with all the mothers standing just behind her. Their faces were grave. “Kathleen, come talk with me.”



Kathleen’s face changed then, from its default setting (evil) to something Cecily had never seen before: real fear. Obviously the mothers had recognized the breaking of an enchantment; just as obviously they’d overheard enough to realize what Kathleen had done. Nobody was wielding any magic; they didn’t have to. The moms’ power eclipsed anything Cecily or Kathleen could do.



And at long last the evil reign of Kathleen Pruitt had come to a crashing end.



“What will happen to her?” Cecily asked later as she and her mother walked on the beach.



“Kathleen will never be allowed to practice magic again. She’ll never be given the right incantations to start a Book of Shadows, and her supplies and instruments will have to be destroyed. We can’t erase what she already knows, but from now on she’s cut out of this or any coven. It’s going to be hard on her mother, but rules are rules.” They went on silently for a few steps before Mom said, “I’m proud of you for not gloating.”