MOONSPELL

by

PiperMerlyn

Chapter 9

The Chapters

INTRO

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 10

Five o'clock Monday afternoon, Callie Shaw pulled up to the old house. She glanced around to see if Joe had rigged any last minute surprises but couldn't spot them. She glanced at Vanessa. "I'm glad Frank reminded me of the time change. The house looks spooky even now."

Vanessa nodded. "Let's unload the ice and the stuff and go."

The two girls brought the bags of ice inside first and dumped them in the ice chests Biff had brought earlier. Then while Vanessa was spreading the ice in the coolers, Callie went to get the sodas and stuff that needed to stay cold. Busy with her task, Vanessa didn't let herself think of being alone in the spooky house until she stopped. Above her the ceiling creaked almost as someone had walked across the floor upstairs. She glanced up and felt a chill wash over her. Was someone up there? Frank had been emphatic about keeping everyone off the stairs. Who would be up there?

Callie came into the kitchen and frowned at Vanessa. "What?"

"I heard someone walking upstairs."

Callie glanced up at the ceiling, then the doorway that led back to the foyer. "Are you sure?"

There was a thunk, then an odd clattering sound as if something had fallen and was rolling across the floorboards. Both girls jumped, startled. Vanessa swallowed hard. "Well?"

"Okay, okay, let's dump this stuff in the coolers and go. We'll stop by Frank and Joe's and tell them someone's here."

Vanessa gave a hurried nod. "All right."

Dumping the sodas in two of the coolers sounded overloud to the girls as they tried to hurry and hope that whoever was upstairs would stay upstairs and not come down. Callie placed the deli meat, tomatoes, lettuce and cheese in the third cooler with the mayonnaise, mustard and ketchup as well as marshmallows and chocolate bars to keep the latter from getting too soft before it was time to make s’mores.

When the girls were done, they bolted out of the house and headed for Callie's car. Callie thought about checking the car to make sure no one was inside, then they got in and Callie peeled out in her hurry to leave. Vanessa let out a faint scream as she stared up at the second floor. "Callie, there is someone up there."

Callie spared a glance and saw the silhouette of a man in one of the upstairs windows. She frowned. "We're going, we're going."

It was all she could do not to speed to the Hardy home. She pulled up behind the van and Vanessa bounded out of the car and rushed up to the front door. Now that she was safe, Callie was a tad embarrassed she was so scared of an obvious human source for the noise. Still, the house was spooky.

Vanessa knocked on the door rather than use the doorbell. Frank answered the door, clad only in a white T-shirt and black pants. "Hey, Vanessa, what--" He caught a look at her face. "What's wrong?"

"There was someone out at the house, Frank. Upstairs. He was walking around and he dropped something. Callie and I both heard it. I saw the silhouette of a man in an upstairs window as we drove away."

Frank felt cold, thinking the girls could have been in serious danger. "We'll check it out, Vanessa."

"Check what out?" came Joe's voice from the stairs.

Frank glanced over his shoulder to see Joe clad in a raunchy-looking striped sweater and old faded pants. With the mask and glove, he would make a great Freddy Krueger. "Vanessa said she and Callie heard footsteps and something rolling across the floor upstairs."

"And I saw someone--silhouette of a man," added Vanessa, too flustered to take notice of Joe's costume.

Joe came down the stairs, scratching at the sweater. "Probably some idiot who thinks he can spook us. Liz handed out the invites to practically the whole school today."

Frank nodded. "We'll check it out."

Vanessa took a deep breath. "Okay." She nodded to Joe. "I'll pick you up at six-forty-five. Well, between then and seven, okay?"

Joe nodded and gave her a quick kiss. "Sounds good, see you then."

Vanessa said goodbye and left. Frank stepped outside for a moment, to kiss his girlfriend, and then came back into the house, to tell his brother to come on. Joe was nowhere to be seen. Frank sighed and shut the door, then hurried upstairs. "Joe?"

"Hold on."

His brother's voice was oddly muffled and when Frank stopped at his brother's room, he saw why. "What are you doing?"

"This piece of crap itches like poison ivy. I can't wear it bare." Joe pulled off the sweater. "I'll have to wear something underneath it." He tossed the sweater on the floor and scratched at his arms. "You think I'm allergic to it?"

Frank shrugged. "Heck if I know. Just get dressed, so we can go out there to see what's going on. I want to check things out before it gets dark."

Joe nodded and pulled out a black sweatshirt. "I'll be ready in a minute."

Frank slipped on a black sweater and changed into a pair of jeans so he wouldn't dirty the costume he'd been in the middle of putting on. Within five minutes, he and Joe were headed toward Birch Road . Joe ran a hand through his blond hair. "You don't think the girls were putting us on, do you?"

Frank shook his head. "Callie was shaking and Vanessa was too flustered. Someone was upstairs."

"We told everyone in the invite that upstairs and the cemetery were off-limits."

"Some people don't know how to listen." Frank made it out to Birch Road in record time and they got out of the van. The sun was already behind the trees, so that it was looking darker and spookier by the time the brothers got into the house. Using high-powered flashlights, the brothers explored every room downstairs, including the secret passages.

Joe pulled a string of cobwebs off his sweatshirt. "No one." They had met back in the foyer and now he stared at the curving stairs. Two sets of stairs met in the middle at a landing forming a U shape. "We may have to go up there."

Frank frowned. "I'll go. Better one of us hit a rotten board, than both." He started up the stairs slowly, keeping his flashlight aimed on the upper floor.  It was slow going as Frank tested each step before putting weight on it. Finally he made it to the second floor. Joe was a little faster, a little more reckless but he made it to the second floor without mishap.

Frank saw the upstairs was a mirror of the downstairs, with rooms spanning around the foyer and stairs. Joe started to his left. "I'll check these, you get those."

It was completely dark when the brothers met at the landing. Frank was getting aggravated. "Nothing. No footprints except ours."

A door banged loudly in the quiet. Joe gave his brother a startled look and started for the stairs. On the second step, he froze. "The front door's open, Frank, I know I shut it."

"Joe, are there footprints on the steps?"

Joe shone the light to find his brother staring at the other staircase intently. Joe flashed his light on the steps he was on and frowned. "Just mine and yours, going up."

"There are none on these steps. If someone was up here, how'd he get down without leaving footprints?"

Joe shrugged. "I don't know, Frank. But someone opened that door down there. Come on."

The brothers reached the foyer at the same time and saw a dark shadow jump off the porch and head for the woods. Without a word, the brothers took off after him. The shadow led them on a confusing chase through the cemetery before actually veering for the woods and disappearing.

Frank paused, not only uncertain of how to get back to the house, but because there wasn't anyone to chase anymore. "Crap, where'd he go?"

Joe shook his head and started forward---and nearly fell. "What the--?"

Frank shone his flashlight at his brother and went cold. "Joe, stop. Don't take another step."

"What?" Joe aimed his own light for the ground in front of him and scowled. Two freshly dug graves sat there.  With two coffins inside, the lids yawning open. Joe took a deep breath. "Why do I have the feeling these are the Cadillacs that guy was talking about?"

"Because you'd be right." Frank shook his head. "Of all the lame, stupid, dangerous pranks--"

"Frank."

"I hope I catch up to the idiots who've been doing all this and beat some sense into them."

"Frank."

Frank looked over at his brother. "What?"

"Look."

Frank followed the beam of his brother's flashlight. Situated at the head of the open grave was a marker. The words read: Here lies Joseph Hardy, Gone too soon but hardly missed.

A chill swept over Frank as he aimed his flashlight at the head of the other grave. Another marker was there with the same words only the name was his own. "Joe, this is getting downright scary. I don't like this, let's--"

Joe glanced over at his brother. "Frank?" A second later he felt a sharp stab in his neck. He felt with his free hand and pulled out a small metal dart. He watched his brother do the same. The world narrowed down to the scope of his flashlight beam, then everything went dark. He had the sensation of falling but only for a moment---that was the last thing he remembered.

***

Callie Shaw twisted her blond hair into a high messy ponytail, trying to decide if that would make a better bun to go under the police hat or if she should French-braid her hair. She faintly heard the doorbell but figured it was early trick-or-treaters. A few minutes later, she heard her mother, "Callie, it's Vanessa."

Callie glanced automatically at her alarm clock and frowned. It was five minutes after seven. She hurried down the stairs to find Vanessa standing in the foyer already in costume. She wore a purple prom dress with a dead flower pinned to the bodice. Her bare arms, shoulders, neck and face looked quite pale and her eyes dark due to heavy dark eye-shadow and eyeliner. Strategic rips in the dress and blood spatters made her look like the revengeful ghost of an evil prom queen. "What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to getting Joe?"

"They're not home. I just came from there. Their mom said they haven't come back yet from their errand."

Callie frowned. "You mean going out to the caretaker's house?" Callie went pale. "Oh God."

"I know. I called Biff on the way over here. He said he'd call Tony and Chet. Something's wrong, Callie, I just know it."

Callie shivered and bolted up the stairs. She was already dressed in her own costume save fixing her hair. Now she grabbed the billy club that came with the costume and the toy gun, not sure why she was doing so and ran back downstairs. "Come on."

Vanessa glanced at the toy gun. "Right now, I think I'd wish that were a real one. I’d feel safer."

Callie just nodded and hurried out of the house. She and Vanessa got into Vanessa's car and they hurried out to the caretaker's house as fast as they dared. The van was pulled up close to the house, dark and silent. Right behind the girls, two cars pulled up. Vanessa left her headlights on to be able to see as she and Callie got out of the car.

"Hey, Vanessa, is that you?" came Biff's voice. He'd left his headlights on as well and they speared through the darkness. As he came closer, Vanessa saw he'd dressed up as a football player for the Green Bay Packers.

Callie saw Tony and Sara get out of the other car. Tony was dressed in slacks, button-down shirt and garishly purple sport jacket. An old crumpled fedora was on his head and a coil of rope at his belt. Sara was wearing an ankle-length scarlet dress with opera gloves and rhinestone jewelry. Her dark curly hair was pulled up into a bun. Tony started forward. "I called Chet, he's on his way.

Karen got out of Biff's car, looking worried. She was wearing the apron and old grandma dress but hadn't messed with the silver wig or granny glasses. "What's going on?”

"Frank and Joe are missing," said Callie. She quickly explained why the brothers had come out here before they were supposed to.

Biff frowned. "That means whatever happened, happened in the hour and a half from the last time you saw them."

Tony went over to the van. "Hood's cool."

Biff shook his head. "It's cold tonight. That's not an accurate gauge."

Another car pulled up and Chet and Liz  got out. Chet was dressed just like Sean Connery in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, complete with mock rifle. Liz had chosen to dress as Cruella de Ville from 101 Dalmations.

"What do we do?" asked Biff. "Check the house?"

Tony glanced at the old house. "It's awfully quiet inside and dark. I doubt they're in there."

Another car pulled up behind Chet's vehicle. From its bulk, it appeared to be a van. Then Vanessa saw faintly the orange and yellow flames. The doors thunked as several people got out. As the newcomers stepped into the light of the cars' headlamps, Vanessa saw none of the four were in costume.

The one guy, tall, black-haired, looked rather unhappy. "So this is your party?"

"Shut up, Dyllan, that's not why we came," snapped Merlyn. "You should know."

"Stop it, both of you," said one of the twins. She looked nervous and scared. "We don't have much time."

Callie took a step forward. "What are you talking about?"

The girl shook her head. "I said it wrong. They don't have much time. We have to find them."

"It's blacker than the dark side of the moon, Leigh," said her twin. "How are we going to find them?"

Merlyn took a breath. "We can remedy that."

Dyllan grabbed at her arms. "No. All our parents would kill us."

Merlyn stared at him for a long moment. "You are really that selfish?"

Dyllan squirmed under her gaze, then let out an explosive sigh. "Fine. But we'll have to leave. You know that, don't you?" Suddenly, he sounded like a sad, scared little boy. "We always have to leave..."

Leigh started crying and slammed her hands over her ears. "Stop it. Both of you."

Her twin sister, Quinn, stepped forward and said, "I think I have a better way. Rhiannon, we need your help."

Merlyn stared at her cousin. "It was you."

"She begged me.  She just wanted to see the ocean, she said." The girl frowned. "She tricked me, little--"

"Don't," said Dyllan. "You'll get us all in trouble with her."

Light appeared, like hundreds, no thousands of fireflies. The light grew brighter, just enough for people to see several feet in any direction. It was dim, not enough to see clearly, but at least it was lighter than before. Then for good measure, the full moon shed its cloud cover.

Callie frowned. "How'd you get a bunch of fireflies all in one place?"

Liz touched her arm, remembering the fairy ring she'd seen. Her botany teacher was still puzzled over it. "I don't think they are fireflies, Callie. I think they’re f--"

"Wee folk," said Leigh, her voice shaking. "They don't like being called the other." She started down one of the cemetery paths.

Liz frowned. "Wait, the deal was no one goes upstairs or in the cemetery."

Merlyn looked at her. "That's where your friends are. Come on."

With the dim light of the moon and the otherworldly light of the wee folk, plus the few armed with flashlights, the group were careful to avoid trampling graves as they followed Leigh, who seemed even more nervous and scared the deeper into the cemetery they went.

Callie found herself walking with Merlyn. "What's wrong with your cousin?"

"She's picking up on them."

Liz, who was on the other side of Callie, frowned. "Picking up---you mean your cousin's telepathic?"

Callie shot her friend a frown but Merlyn nodded. "Yes." Merlyn swallowed hard. "She's picking up on their fears, their panic. All I can sense is a muted fear, worry."

Callie looked over at her. " Sense?"

"I'm empathic. I pick up emotions, rather than pictures or thoughts."

Leigh suddenly stopped at two fresh graves. The dim light of the wee folk hovered around the markers and everyone in the group went still. "Oh God," muttered Biff. "No."

"This is sick."

"It was just done," said Dyllan. "The dirt hasn't been tamped down."

"We're too far away to go back and get shovels," said Tony. "What do we do?"

"I can't move that much, not all at once," said Leigh's twin sister. "There's no way."

Liz glanced at her. "Telekinetic?"

Quinn just nodded.

Chet started forward. "We'll use our bare hands."

"Ouch," came Sara's voice. "What's this?"

Everyone turned to see her trying to massage her toe and not fall down. Tony glanced at what looked like a stick hidden under a bush. He darted forward. "It's a shovel." He ran to get it and started digging the loose dirt. The girls moved aside to keep from getting showered by debris. Tony shoveled until his hands were sore, then Biff took over.

Leigh   wrapped her arms around her belly as if she were freezing. "Please, please hurry."

It was another long ten minutes before they were able to remove enough dirt from both graves to see the lids of the coffins. Callie moved forward, feeling frightened herself. "Open them."

Tony standing in one grave, Biff in the other, they opened the top halves of each coffin. Both were empty.

Leigh sank to the ground. "Hurry," she whispered. "Please."

Merlyn saw her cousin's eyes were closed. "Leigh, they're not there."

"Please."

Merlyn had learned the hard way to never touch her cousin in the middle of a telepathic connection because it spilled back into her--whatever Leigh was sensing, hearing, feeling. But this time it was too important to worry about the aftereffects. She squatted in front of Leigh and put both hands on her cousin's shoulders. Leigh's eyes snapped open but Merlyn didn't, couldn't see—not now.

Hands pulled on her, breaking contact. She looked up to see Dyllan frowning down at her.  She scrambled to her feet and turned to Callie and Vanessa. "They were here but before someone buried the coffins, the brothers were brought into the house..." She frowned. "Is there a secret passage?"

Biff jumped out of the grave and came over to Merlyn. "Is this your idea of fun?" he asked, his voice nearly a growl. "I don't think we're having fun."

"No." Dyllan stepped between Merlyn and Biff. "No, this isn't our idea of fun, exposing family secrets to help find your friends."

"Dyllan, stop," said Quinn.

Leigh let out a cry. "We don't have time. They'll die."

As one the group headed back to the house. Callie rushed up the steps and reached for the knob but it wouldn't turn. "It's locked."

Dyllan stepped past her, put all his weight on his right leg, lifted his left and kicked the door. It swung open, banged against the wall and started to close again. Callie stopped the door and walked inside, with everyone else following. "There are candles in all the rooms with matches handy. We need light."

Soon everyone held a candlestick or some sort of holder with a flickering candle. Biff walked over to the stairs. "Two sets of footprints going up this way, one set going down."

"There's only a set going down over here," said Chet, looking pale in the candlelight. He turned to Leigh. "Where?"

Leigh looked at him startled as if surprised he believed she was for real. She took a deep breath and pointed. Vanessa frowned. "The study has a secret passage that leads to the kitchen."

"We should take both ends, then," said Tony.

Just then, the sound of cars and voices and laughter reminded everyone that there was supposed to be a party here tonight. Callie glanced at her watch and groaned. It was three minutes after eight. "We'll just have to scrap the original plan and get everyone to help look for Frank and Joe."

Liz nodded and looked at Sara. "Want to help me tell everyone?"

Sara nodded. Quinn walked over to them. "I'll help too."

The rest of them split up to take each end of the secret passage, hoping against hope they'd find their friends.

***

It was cold and smelled of earth, wherever he was. He tried to sit up but found the ceiling only inches from his head. Then he remembered. The open coffin, the fresh grave.....Joe Hardy felt his heart skip a beat. Oh God, no. He felt his breathing speed up and knew vaguely that was the wrong thing to do. He tried to calm down, slow his breathing, try to figure a way out. Slowly, tentatively, he raised his hands until they came in contact with what was above him. He felt bare wood and frowned. The inside of the casket had been lined with plush pale fabric. Why was he feeling wood?

Something brushed his thigh and he let out a yelp.

"Joe?"

"Frank?

"What happened?"

"I don't know." Feeling calmer, knowing his brother was close, Joe wished he could see something. "The last thing I remember--" He broke off as a light blinded him. "Frank?"

"It's a wonder I didn't loose it when I fell..." Frank held the penlight at an angle so they could see where they were.

"Into a coffin," muttered Joe. "We're not in those."

"No."

The surface they were laying on was hard-packed dirt. Darkness was to either side of them while rough wood planks were above them. Joe frowned. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say we were in some sort of storage cellar."

Frank shifted his head and the light to see. "I think you're right. A storage cellar--" He went quiet at the sound of loud thuds above them. Faintly, they could hear voices. "Joe, do you hear that?"

Suddenly, Joe remembered. "There was a trap door at the beginning of the secret passage from the kitchen."

Frank   frowned. "From the noise, I'd say it's several--" He went quiet again as the voice sounded louder. Then with a loud creak, the wood above them came apart. The first face he saw was Callie, looking pale and worried. "Callie."

Her eyes filled with tears. "Frank, God, you scared the life out of me. Vanessa, Joe's here."

Frank let her and Vanessa help him out, then Joe before asking, "How'd you know where we were?"

Callie swallowed hard. "We didn't."

Vanessa pulled Joe close and showed no signs of letting him go. "Leigh found you."

Joe blinked, still dazed from everything that had happened. "Leigh?" he asked, then saw the girl. He remembered then what had happened in the library. "Thank you."

She gave a shaky nod but didn't say anything.

Callie cleared her throat. "What happened?"

Frank took a deep breath. "What say we get somewhere where it's a little less cramped."

"Yeah," said Joe. "I think I can understand why someone could be claustrophobic."

"Hold it right there," came a harsh voice with the faintest of accents.

The small group turned to see a tall, dark-haired man glaring at all of them, although for a moment, his glare seemed directed right at Merlyn Slade. "You little witch, how'd you know?"

The girl stared up at the man, her face pale but her green eyes were hard. "It was you--all this time. None of what happened this past week was accidental, was it?"

The man scowled, and then seemed to notice Dyllan, Leigh and Quinn. "Damn it, how'd you find them? I knew you'd sense something," he added, pointing to Leigh. "But I knew if I moved them, you'd never find them. How?"

Frank frowned. "What's going on?"

"You shut up."

Dyllan stepped forward and apparently heedless of the gun in the man's hand, shoved him in the shoulder. "You are the reason I've been having nightmares all week."

Frank started forward but surprisingly Joe held him back. "Hold on."

Noises above them as people hurried back and forth, apparently still searching for the brothers was distracting but Joe strained to hear what the man was saying to Dyllan. "I should have known. I should have known. But none of you showed any signs except her." He said, gesturing to Leigh again.

Leigh stepped back and collided with Frank. He could feel her shaking like a leaf and thought nothing of wrapping a protective arm around her. He started to tell her to calm down, then remembering what had happened the other day, merely thought it. If she were really telepathic, she'd pick up on it.

Dyllan drew himself up to his full height of six feet. "I think you'd better leave."

"Not without finishing the job."

"Over my dead body," countered Dyllan, anger evident in his tone. "Uncle Arch told you to go and never show your face again."

"My brother isn't here right now. And none of you were supposed to be here. I have a job to do."

Joe narrowed his eyes and glanced at Merlyn, remembering what she'd said yesterday. Suddenly, it made perfect sense. Only an insider would know the weird goings-on and make them into pranks. That's why suspicion kept landing on the family's doorstep. He moved forward. "And that job is us?"

The man glared at Joe. "I was hired to take care of you two. Paid good money to see it done. I always finish a job."

Dyllan shook his head. "Not this time." He whipped his head around and glanced at Leigh, then Quinn. Quinn at first shook her head, then sighed and closed her eyes.

"No," shouted the man. "I will not be thwarted."

Frank took a deep breath. "Why us? We don't even know you."

"He's a contract killer," said Merlyn in a low voice full of bitterness. "When Father was a struggling writer, trying to be a decent person, this man was killing people for money."

Joe studied the man in the dim candlelight. Like Archimedes, the man had black hair and piercing eyes. But there was an ugliness in the man's face, from his job. "Who hired you?"

"Why should I tell you? Let it be one mystery you can't solve."'

"It was a person with a grudge. A long time ago," answered Leigh in a small voice.

The man swung his gun at her. "Shut up."

"Don't talk to her that way," snapped Quinn.

Frank felt a concussive force, not hard but it pushed at him. At the expression on his brother's face and the others around them, he knew they felt it too. He stared at Quinn, startled. What had happened? Before he could think to ask, another harder concussive force hit him. But the man holding the gun staggered. For the moment, Frank decided not to question, just let it go. Was it the aftereffect of whatever Quinn was doing to the man--Archimedes's brother? "At least tell us your name. You owe us that much."

The man stiffened. "Orion Slade," he said mockingly. "At your service."

Dyllan moved forward. "We're not going to let you get away with this."

Before Slade could respond the faint sound of sirens was heard. Quinn sagged against Joe who was nearest to her. Joe held her up, confused over what had just happened. Slade aimed the gun at Quinn. "How'd you---?"

Someone upstairs let out a piercing scream, and then they all heard a wolf howl. Slade looked over his shoulder, suddenly unsettled. In that moment of inattention, Joe sprang forward but Dyllan got the gun first. He aimed it at the man. "Don't move."

The man didn't hear him. He whirled around just as the wolf came tearing down the steps into the tunnel. The wolf knocked the man down, pressing the front paws on the man's shoulders, as if greeting him. But then the wolf snarled, bearing its teeth like it would prefer to tear the man's throat out. Slade carefully shook his head. "No," he whispered.

The wolf snarled again, aiming its fangs for the throat. Spotting the crucifix dangling from the chain around the wolf's neck, Frank took a careful step forward, not even daring to look at Merlyn, "Reiden," Frank whispered.

"Actually, his name is Fang," came a new voice.

Leigh let out a soft squeal and ran to the man that Frank recognized from the museum. This was her father. And obviously, he wasn't a werewolf by any stretch of the imagination. Reiden nodded to Quinn. "I got your message. I never knew you knew Morse code."

Frank frowned, watching as the wolf still had its attention on Slade, not moving an inch. He looked first to Quinn, then Reiden. "I'm not sure I understand."

"I sent an S.O.S.," said Quinn tiredly. "Poppa has no psychic ability whatsoever. He wouldn't have gotten a message from Leigh. So I made his light flash S.O.S."

Reiden nodded as the sirens came closer. "Arch told me Merlyn told him you were having a party out here and I knew Merlyn had come out here on urgent business. So I called the police and had them follow me." He glanced at Merlyn, then Dyllan. "Arch and Sully are on their way as well." For the first time, Reiden got a good look at the man his wolf was pinning. "My God, Orion. What the hell are you doing here?"

"He was trying to kill Frank and Joe, Uncle Ray," said Merlyn, her voice vibrating with anger. "Everything was set up. He made the mixup at the museum. He probably planted the idea for Leigh to use Mum's submersible. He probably coaxed Rhiannon--"

Joe frowned. "Submersible?"

Merlyn glanced back at him and nodded. "Mum designed a special one-man submersible that on the water's surface can function like a jet ski. She designed it to mimick movements of dolphins and sharks to enable researchers to get even closer to their subjects."

Joe looked at Frank, who sighed. "Spotted: one mermaid," muttered Frank.

Merlyn turned back to her uncle. "I bet anything he made Rhiannon leave the house and Grams."

Reiden frowned. "What about the other stuff, Lyn? The coffins, the explosion, the blood bank?" After a moment, Reiden focused his attention on Slade. "Well?"

Slade glared up at him. "I stole the coffins to bury them alive. Then I suspected Leigh might pick up on their fear, so I changed my plans."

"And the explosion?"

"Actually," said Quinn in a small voice. "That was my fault. I was trying to help Aunt Willow."

Reiden sighed just as someone came into the already crowded tunnel. "What's going on down here?" came a voice that was familiar to the Hardy brothers. Joe took a deep breath. "Con."

Con Riley glanced at Joe, then Frank. "What happened to you two?"

It took awhile to explain as everyone wanted to add something. The only person who didn't say a word was the man still on the floor, pinned by the wolf. Con Riley eyed the animal for a long moment. "Who's...um, dog?"

"Mine," said Reiden, a trace of humor in his voice. "Fang, heel."

Fang snarled one more time then moved away from Slade and went to Reiden's side. Orion Slade got to his feet and glared at Reiden and the animal. "Next time..."

"There won't be a next time, Orion," came a new voice. "I want to press charges, Officer," said Archimedes Slade. "This man has endangered all these teenagers' lives, especially my daughter's and her friends here," he continued, gesturing to Joe and Frank. "I want this man arrested."

"Don't be ridiculous, Archimedes," said Orion. "No jail cell will hold me for long."

Con reached for his handcuffs. "We'll see about that." He moved to snap the cuffs on the man when the strangest thing happened. Orion fell sideways like he'd lost his balance but at the last minute, he reached out to grab not a handhold but the gun from Dyllan who'd been holding it rather loosely.

Orion twisted around, gained his footing and aimed the gun at the nearest person: Merlyn. With one hand he pulled her close and placed the barrel of the weapon at her temple with his other hand. "Let me out of here or I'll kill her."

Joe took a step forward but the man swiveled and aimed the gun at Joe. "Or you. I don't care who gets it."

"Son of a---" Con Riley broke off, clamping his mouth shut. He reached for his weapon.

"Ah, ah, no sir, officer. You keep your hands right where I can see them." Orion grinned. "Stalemate."

Frank narrowed his eyes, trying to figure a way out. With everyone at the kitchen entrance to the secret passage, that meant it was effectively blocked. No one else knew about the other end of the secret passage because Joe and Vanessa had planned to make good use of it scaring partygoers.

Joe was trying to figure something out as well when he saw Merlyn go completely limp. Her sudden dead weight surprised Orion and he tried to shift to hold her up. Joe moved in a blur, like a place kicker and swung his left leg up. The gun flew out of Orion's hand and into the darkness behind them. Merlyn opened her eyes, straightened up and kicked back, slamming her foot against Orion's shin, making him stagger. In short order, Con and another police officer had Orion handcuffed and subdued.

Joe found himself standing next to Merlyn. "Nice move."

Merlyn gave him a cocky grin. "Thanks."

Archimedes Slade walked over to Joe. "I wish to apologize for my....my brother. He had no right. I cannot believe I was so blind to think it was merely accidents, due more to Samhain, than anything else."

Frank walked over to them. "What exactly is Sow--een?"

"Halloween," said Dyllan joining them.

"What'd I miss? Arch, that wasn't Orion, was it?" came Sullivan Graves' voice, sounding breathless but excited. Sullivan came into the secret tunnel, looking around. "Fascinating house. Arch, why didn't we look at this property?"

Callie, quiet until now, looked at the man. "You'd want to live here, in the middle of a cemetery?"

"At least you wouldn't have to bother with neighbors," said Sullivan.

Joe couldn't help it. He laughed. "That's for sure. Loud music, raucous parties wouldn't disturb these guys." Joe looked around, spotted Vanessa. "Speaking of which--"

Vanessa stared at him, stunned. "You're not serious. You and Frank were buried alive. We were all so scared and you still want to do the party?"

"Everyone is here. Halloween's not over yet, is it?"

Callie stayed close to Frank, still looking pale. "Well, we have been neglecting the guests."

Sullivan clapped his hands. "Then it's settled. Let's have a party."

Dyllan gave his father a look. "Dad, it's for us, not you."

Merlyn hugged her father and managed a grin. "Dyllan, be nice. They saved the day."

Joe turned to her. "Actually you did."

"Well, if we're getting technical," said Leigh, glancing shyly at Joe. "You did. Best field kick I've ever seen."

"Now don't go getting a big head over this," said Vanessa. "Your shirts won't fit."

Joe grinned at her, then turned to Frank. "What do you want to do?"

Frank glanced at his watch. "Well, it's almost ten. We'd still have a couple hours for a party. Your plan's kind of scrapped now--"

"That's okay, I'll save it for next year."

"Yeah," muttered Callie. "It might be a century before you come up with that good an idea again."

Joe just stuck his tongue out at her.

The group began to leave the secret passage one by one. Joe hung back to talk with Frank. "You think we should be worried someone went to so much trouble to hire a contract killer?"

Frank looked pensive. "God, Joe, it could be anybody we've put behind bars. It could be someone still behind bars, able to manipulate things from afar. We might never know."

Joe frowned. "So we keep looking over our shoulders."

Frank sighed. "We do that enough already, Joe. Come on, you wanted to throw a party."

"Frank, what happened? How did Quinn get a message to her father all the way out here?"

"You heard Callie say she's telekinetic."

"And that is?"

"Able to move things with the mind."

Joe and Frank saw Merlyn had come back down the steps. "Look, I apologize for anything I may have said to mislead you. I never dreamed Orion Slade was behind it all. Like they say, hindsight is twenty/twenty."

Joe shook his head. "It's okay. I think I understand why you didn't blurt it out. Not too many people would believe you."

"Actually, that's why we left England ," said Merlyn with a world-weary sigh. "Too many people believed, called us freaks, witches and warlocks, all the niceties. So we left."

Frank touched her shoulder. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I like it here."

Joe nodded. "Bayport's a nice place, kind of quiet, sometimes boring."

"But not for long," grinned Frank.

Merlyn laughed softly. "Why am I not surprised?" She turned around and threaded her arms through theirs. "Come on, let's celebrate Samhain and have some fun."

Joe grinned. "Sounds good to me."

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