A Witch Like No Other (29 page)

“
Oh,” said Ted,
picking up his magazine again. “You should’
ve said.”

“
I
didn’
t say because you hate
magic,” Damon said, feeling guilty now. “I
’
m sorry, Ted. But at
least you like Dreamer, so-”

“
I
love
Dreamer,” Ted corrected, looking at him.
Damon
’
s jaw dropped again, Ted nodding. “Yep, I love her. And
I
’
m
going to marry her as soon as I
’
m old enough, whether my
parents like it or not.”

Ted
’
s icy stare seemed to cut through his thoughts. Damon
shivered, then he said “It- it
’
s nice seeing you
again.”

“
You’
re lucky Dreamer made
me calm down,” Ted answered, “When she told me the reason you
abused my child. Because I was so close to purchasing a gun and
coming here to kill you, Damon.” He put a hand in his inside jacket
and pulled it out, saying “That could
’
ve been a gun in my
hand. One shot and you would
’
ve been gone. I
would
’
ve gone to prison- not that I
’
d have cared. At least I
got something out of it.”

“
Ted, please-
we’
re friends,” Damon said
painfully, making Ted smile.

“
You got nerve,
haven’
t you? You slept with my
wife and repeatedly abused my child right under my nose, across the
road from me- you
killed
my wife. And
you
’
ve
got the audacity to try and worm out of this with that lame excuse?
We
’
re
not friends, Damon. Not anymore.”

“
Ted,
I’
m sorry- I really am. If I
could go back in time-”

“
You
wouldn’
t have hurt Pandora?”
sneered Ted. “I believe that part. You wouldn
’
t have killed Dreamer, I
believe that too. But tell me you wouldn
’
t have had an affair
with her, Damon- tell me.”

“
Is what true?”
Damon asked nervously, Ted saying “The reason you hurt Pandora. You
was pretending she was Dreamer. Is it true?”

“
Damn!” Ted
slid backwards on his chair, shaking his head. “No.”

“
Yes.”

“
No!”

“
That’
s the truth,” Damon
said calmly, Ted
’
s head in his hands. “Remember when I asked you about
girls that day you told me about seeing Dreamer?” Ted lifted his
head, Damon nodding. “She was the girl I was talking about. I
wanted her for ages and she would
’
ve been mine, but you
stuck your foot in it. You took her away from me.”

“
That’
s not true,” spat
Ted, glaring at Damon. “You
’
re talking
crazy.”

“
Oh yeah?”
Damon leaned forwards across the table, his anger matching
Ted’
s. “Before you came along
I had a chance with her- before you went marching round to her
house like an idiot. Paul should
’
ve blasted the frown off
your face.”

“
Paul
wasn’
t there,” Ted shot back.
“Dreamer was by herself. And if you actually
was
clever
you would
’
ve told me you fancied Dreamer- I would
’
ve backed
off.”

“
Yeah
right.”

“
I would have,”
Ted said angrily. “No girl was worth us breaking up.”

Damon decided not to answer that. Maybe it
was
his fault?

“
Anyway,
it’
s all said and done now,”
Ted said, getting up. “Bye.”

“
Wha-
you’
re leaving?”

“
Did you think
this was a social visit?” Ted asked coldly. “Well it
wasn’
t. I just needed to hear
you confirm the reason you hurt my kid. I needed to hear it from
your mouth. And now I have-” Ted swallowed, hardly able to believe
what jealousy had done to his best friend. It pained him to see him
in this place, just like it pained him to see what
he
’
d
reduced his child to. “-So now I can go.”

“
Ted,
don’
t go. I know you
don
’
t
hate me- I can see it.”

“
I
don’
t care,” Ted answered,
turning and walking away.

“
Ted,
don’
t go! I
’
m sorry!”

Ted didn
’
t look back. Damon slumped in his chair, crestfallen.
Then he yelled “You cant forget the old days, Ted! You
cant!”

“
The old days
are dead, Damon.”

“
Give it to
her, Mister!” yelled a group of teenage boys, eyes wide as an old
woman batted her husband grumpily, saying “You
never-”

“
I’
m too old for that!”
snapped the old man, glaring at the couple across the road.
“They
’
re not even forty, the youngsters. Look at
them!”

“
Freeze!” he
yelled through his window, then Ted waved merrily at someone behind
the car. Brown turned his head automatically to look- there was no
one. Frowning, he looked at Ted- then he gasped.

“
Freeze,
Stone!” Brown shouted, stumbling out of the car.
“Where’
s the witch?” Ted
frowned at him. “Don
’
t play innocent either! Where is she?”

“
Don’
t have a clue what
you
’
re
talking about,” said Ted breezily, walking off. Brown followed
furiously, saying “She was right next to you!”

“
Who
was?”

“
The
witch!”

“
What
witch?”

“
Dreamer
Black!”

Ted gaped. “She
’
s alive?”

“
Where’
s my gun?” said
Brown furiously, realising he left it in his car. “Stay there,
Stone!” Ted smirked at him. “I mean it- stay there!”

Brown backed across the empty road, Dreamer watching him
curiously. She didn
’
t understand why the man was slowly becoming obsessed
with her. Touching Ted
’
s shoulder, she whispered “He
’
s nuts,
Teddy.”

“
I’
m not sure- should I
teleport now?”

“
Wait until he
turns his head.”

“
He’
s going to come to the
house next, Ted. Trust me.”

“
He might if he
gets real obsessed-
why
is he
obsessed?”

“
Europe
hasn’
t changed much, Dream.
Everyone
’
s still scared of Agnes and Paul- and
there
’
s been more and more rumours about you.”

“
Saying
what?”

DaveBrown: She
’
s evil.

PeachyPat: She
’
s evil and powerful. Worse than her
father.

DaveBrown: Nobody
’
s worse than Paul
Black.

PeachyPat: Nobody
’
s come back from the
dead either.

“
Sarge? Can I
come in?”

“
Yes?”

“
He came to the
prison today, Sarge- visiting Damon Stile.”

“
Er… no Sarge.
He left pretty angry.”

“
He was with
the witch,” Brown said slowly. “No doubt she calmed him down- wait!
Blonde, I need someone to watch Ted Stone’
s house.”

“
What for,
Sarge?”

“
I want this
witch caught. I want her chained up. I want the evil
woman’
s wand in my hands- both
of them. She has two, did you know that?”

“
N-no Sarge.”
P.C. Blonde stared at him. “Is everything ok?”

“
No!” bellowed
Brown, startling him. “She’
s
evil!”

“
I know Sarge,
but-”

“
I want her
burned at stake, Blonde! Europe’
s just about got through the dark times. I remember
everyone fearing Agnes and Paul Black-”

“
We still do,
Sarge- but nobody knows where Agnes lives, or Paul.”

“
I know
that!”

“
And their
daughter- nobody really knows much about her. We only know about
the showdown with Damon Stile; apart from that-”

“
We know
enough. She came back from the dead.”

“
What about
their grandchildren, Sarge?”

“
Pandora’
s harmless,”
Brown muttered, rubbing his forehead. “So is Marlon. No,
it
’
s
their mother I want. Get a private detective up here right away.
Call the best we have.”

“
There’
s a car across the
road,” Pandora said flatly, looking at her brother.
“It
’
s
been there since lunchtime. I swear it was there
yesterday.”

“
Maybe
they’
re tourists?”

“
Or feds,”
Pandora answered, twirling her wand musingly.

Cruise lowered the camera, saying “That
’
s what we need for
Brown.”

Jules frowned at him, saying “It
’
s just a
stick.”

“
It’
s a wand,” Cruise
corrected, shaking his head. Why did he always get goons for
partners? The last idiot nearly cost his career chasing the target.
Cruise Tyler knew exactly who Dreamer was, and
wasn
’
t
at all stunned by her beauty. He was a little, but the fact she was
a witch kept his head screwed on tight. He wanted to see her burn
as much as Brown did, and was determined to get both wands before
making his move.

“
Come on,”
whined Jules. “Let’
s just
forget it. We
’
ve been here a week and there
’
s no witch about- just
her bratty son and daughter.”

“
And her
boyfriend,” Cruise added. “I know, but don’
t forget she
’
s Agnes and Paul
Black
’
s child. I bet she
’
s invisible or
something.”

“
You cant get
invisible, Cruise. Use your brain,” snickered Jules, and Cruise
slapped him across the head, snapping “She’
s a witch!”

“
I forgot!”
howled Jules, as Cruise pulled his ear furiously.
“Sorry!”