"This is just so no one will be able to find us," he elaborated, as if that was the most important thing in the world. Kenzie had told Logan about Alley's making a wish for eternal youth at the fountain, and he'd said it sounded like she'd gone crazy. But he was wrong. It was Patrick that was crazy.
Then Kenzie realized that she'd probably never see Logan again. Not Logan, not her parents, not Jillian...at least not in the way she would now, if she wasn't about to be...whatever Patrick had in mind.
Patrick had even (unfortunately) had the bright idea to disable Alley's car's GPS. And her cell phone was still on the floor of Alley's house. Patrick had taken Alley's phone as well. The two were basically helpless against this tyrant. And with the automatic door locks, jumping out the back wasn't an option.
When they arrived at the garden at last, Patrick ordered the two out of the car. He then insisted they sit down on the hard terrain, threatening them to not even think of running away. Kenzie had no idea what this guy intended to do, but she did know that the outcome wouldn't be good for either her or Alley.
His mind was more dangerous than any weapon, for he had the power to cast spells and bend things to his will. He could probably turn her and Alley into animals to cover his tracks and get away with his plans. Essentially, he'd get away with murder.
Maybe she could stall him. He hadn't been smart enough to bring rope to tie his hostages up with. She could try to run of course, but that would do her no good. Alley just curled herself into a ball and buried her head in her arms. Kenzie tried to come up with a plan on how the two could possibly escape this dire situation.
"Patrick," she attempted, "listen. You don't have to do this. People get dumped all the time. Believe me, I know."
"Of course you'd know. Who would want to date you in the first place? You're nosy and fat."
Kenzie bit her lip, reluctant to cry. "I have a boyfriend actually. And from the sounds of it, you're hardly one to judge others by their appearances."
This was apparently the wrong thing to say. Patrick let out a tremendous bellow and stomped toward her. Kenzie was afraid he was going to strike her, until Alley spoke up and said, "Stop it!"
Patrick glared down at Alley, and Kenzie saw her looking braver than she'd ever portrayed herself in her movies. It was obvious she wasn't acting this time. She was really standing up to this guy, not just pretending to. In fact, she literally stood up to face him directly.
"Galen," she said in as strong a voice as she could muster, "it's not too late. If you want to give us a second chance, that's fine. We can do that."
"You're only saying that because now I look what you consider acceptable. Plus with my job and the kind of money I make, that would be very beneficial to you, wouldn't it? Not to mention you think I'll let you go if you give me what you think I want. No, Alley. That's not good enough. You have to pay for what you've done. And did you even look at this place? This is the garden where the Fountain of Youth is. I brought you here because I loved you. This is where I told you that I loved you for the first time. How appropriate that it's where you'll get your just desserts."
"What do you mean by that? What are you going to do to me?"
"You'll find out soon enough."
With that, Patrick turned on his heel and consulted the small piece of paper that contained a list of spells on it. He scanned it thoroughly, trying to decide on what to conjure up to make Kenzie and Alley pay.
But Kenzie wouldn't have it. She stood up and whispered in Alley's here, "We have to get away from here. Let's just start running. We should be able to get a good enough head start."
Alley looked dubiously back at Patrick, who by that time faced them with a snide grin on his face. "I've got it! The perfect spell to take care of both of you." He then began chanting an incantation. He was so absorbed in it that he closed his eyes and began flailing his arms around like an imbecile.
Kenzie saw this as her chance. She grabbed Alley's wrist and tugged her along, racing to the top of the hill to get back to Alley's car. But the rustling bushes gave their intentions away. Patrick was livid when he opened his eyes upon hearing the ruckus and began chasing after them, gaining speed quickly.
This was a price Kenzie had to pay for being plus-size, and for Alley's blessing of never having to work out, being blessed with the perfect body. Either that, or she was very out of shape for not working out in a while. Plus, she was wearing heels, which made her extra clumsy. On top of that, the closest hill to them was the steeper of the two. As they stumbled up the hill, Patrick gained on them with each step.
Huffing and puffing, they got halfway up the hill before Patrick grabbed Alley. Kenzie kept going, not looking back. If she wanted to save Alley, she'd have to save herself first.
But she didn't have to. Because when she hit the top of the hill, she heard the sirens. Her lungs about to burst, she kept moving, hearing Patrick approaching behind her. When she burst through the trees and onto the road, she saw a police cruiser coming toward her. Patrick grabbed her from behind, nearly wrenching her arm out of its socket, but he was too late. The police cruiser screeched to a halt and officers jumped out, shouting, "Freeze!"
Two officers pulled Patrick off Kenzie, who ran forward...
...and into the waiting arms of Jillian.
"Are you all right?" Jillian shrieked vehemently. "I called your cell and you never answered, and I know that's not right. You always have that thing with you. I was afraid something was wrong so I called the police!"
"Thank you, I'm so glad you did! Patrick showed up when I was talking to Alley through the intercom, then he made me go inside, and eventually brought us both here. He was working on some sort of spell apparently to get rid of us, but we ran, and thankfully we ran right into you and the police. But how did you know where to make them look?"
"I didn't, I just told them what was going on, so they went to check it out. They saw Alley's car missing and no one was home, plus the GPS in her car wasn't working. And your cell phone was on her floor. So they traced Patrick's cell phone, since most cell phones these days have built-in GPS's, and it led them here. I guess the idiot didn't think to get rid of his own phone. Anyway, they let me come too since I was the one that called, plus I'm your best friend so I wasn't going to just wait around."
Behind them, the police were escorting Patrick to a cruiser in handcuffs. Alley was shying away from the officers, trying to hide her face.
Which reminded Kenzie that this case wasn't over yet. She marched up to Patrick, who was sitting in the police cruiser, and asked, "What about Alley? There's some sort of spell on her. Every time she uses the Fountain of Youth, its effects are reversed. And you put it on her. Why?"
"Isn't it obvious? She values her looks so much that without them or her job, she'd be nothing. The reason she left me was because of those two things. So what better way to punish her than take them away from her? If she loses her looks, she'll lose her job. Agents want young, pretty girls for their actresses."
"Can you reverse the spell?"
"Of course it can be reversed, but I won't do it. And you can't even try it, it'll be way over your head. Only my people can do magic."
"Unless you count the people who do magic tricks on stage."
"Very funny. But you'll never get me to reverse the spell."
Patrick's statement was so blatantly true that Kenzie felt physically weak. He was the only one who could remove the spell he'd put on Alley. Him, or one of the green-skinned people in Hidden Springs. But she couldn't exactly ask a random person with green skin to remove a spell someone else cast. For all she knew, none of those people had even heard of Alley Catraz, so what concern would she be of theirs?
Alley seemed to realize the situation was hopeless as well. She collapsed onto the ground in loud sobs, so loud that a wild animal would have scampered away in fear if it were close by.
"Why don't you ask one of the people then?" Jillian asked when Kenzie told her the verdict. "The worst they could do is say no."
"I have a better idea," Kenzie replied confidently. "I think I know just how to get Patrick to change Alley back to the way she was."
No comments:
Post a Comment