Spellcasters:Ch1-It's Just An Ad

Jake decided it was time to sit down and think about how unfair his life had been. Then again when you are locked in a dungeon, you have plenty of time to think. So think he did. He thought about the dungeon and the cruel king that ruled in the castle somewhere above him. He thought about Jasmine, the girl he really likes, sitting in a cell not unlike his own. He thought it was totally unfair. Just yesterday (or was that the day before yesterday?) he had found out that Jasmine has had a crush on him for most of the school year. The worst part about it was the fact that they were both in this mess because they had wanted to go out on a date. Now it wasn't as simple as go on date, get locked up. Oh no, it was definitely not that simple. It all started with an ad...

Jake had been walking around all day with his feet barely touching the ground, his head in the clouds. He had gathered his courage to ask a girl out, and she had said yes. He, Jake Mathis, was going on a date with one of the prettiest girls at Likedrive High. It was a blur of a day for him. A few snippets of classes and lunch, but nothing lingered in his mind long. Little did he know that reality was about to bring him crashing back to Earth. Once he got home he did his chores while waiting for the right moment to hit his father up for an advance on his allowance and, if he played his cards right, maybe even get the car Saturday night.

"No."

"But dad!"

"I said 'No' and that's final." His dad glared at him with a stern look.

"But why?" Jake asked.

"Because the car needs to go into the shop and that will cost a lot of money," came the reply.

"The CAR?!? I can't even use the CAR?!?" Jake shouted.

"Don't you take that tone with me," Jake's father said with a dangerous edge in his voice. "If you need money then you should get a job."

"A job? But who would want to hire me? And what could I do?"

"Check the paper, there are plenty of odd jobs that you could do on weekends," his father replied handing him the news paper. Jake took the paper and flopped onto the couch. He flipped through the news stories, past the comics and stopped when he got to the classifieds.

"Experience required ... 2 year diploma a must ... qualified technician needed ..." Jake's heart sank the more he read. Then a little ad in the corner caught his eye.

Seeking young person
To aid with household chores

The address at the bottom was just around the block. "That's not too far" thought Jake, "and it's only simple chores." With that he decided he would go for it. He quickly went to the phone and called the number that was printed next to the address.

A creaky old voice answered on the third ring. "Hello?"

"Ya, ummm ... Hi, I'm answering your ad in the paper. You're looking for help with chores?"

"Ahhh, good. I was hoping someone like you was going to answer my ad." The old man's voice was barely more then a wheeze.

As Jake asked "So I can have the job?" he felt a sudden chill run up his spine. It was as if a shadow had passed over him, dark and foreboding. He quickly hung up the phone after the old man told him to be at the house the next day by 5 o'clock, sharp.

The next day, Jake powered through his homework, quickly finishing so that he could get to the old man's house on time. Walking the block and a half to the house didn't give him much time to think about changing his mind. What a grand old house it was. It looked like it belonged in one of those old movies his mother loves. Like something you'd see on the history channel, or maybe the 'Addams Family'. It was an old style mansion, complete with withered, almost gray, wood beams and faded paint. The feeling of 'old' just oozed from the place. As he approached the front door, it suddenly opened to reveal an old man. He was almost as old, if not older then, the house. He even had ancient, boney hands clasping an ancient cane. For someone that old, he moved surprisingly quick. Before he knew what had happened, Jake was whisked from the front porch and pulled into the main hall.

"Good, good. If you want to start, you can begin in the library. Dust all the shelves and put away the books that are out. Now don't just move the dust around, you will have to sweep it all first and then vacuum after. I'll see about having the young lady help you after she's done in the parlor." The old man began pushing Jake towards, presumably, the library. "Get going now, I'll only pay for good work and nothing less."

"For such a wrinkly, old geezer he sure is strong." Jake muttered to himself as he took his first look at the library. Books lay everywhere. Half a dozen tables could scarcely hold the weight of the books piled high on top of them. Shelves stretched from floor to ceiling in the two-story room, covering every inch of wall. More books lay haphazardly on the shelves, on the floor, on chairs, on the steps of the ladders. Everything was coated in a thick, inch and a half layer of dust. The only thing that didn't have dust on it was a small banister brush, a rag and a vacuum that looked like it belonged on 'Leave it to Beaver.'

After half an hour Jake had made a dent in the dust. Two chairs and one table could now be clamed as 'dust free.' He didn't know what do to about the books. He didn't know what shelf they belonged on, so he simply piled them in a corner. It wasn't until he finished clearing the second chair that he bothered to look at the titles of the books he was carting around.

                   Mystic and Foreign Creatures of the Land
                   Magic in the Modern World
                   101 Ways to Hex Without Getting Caught
                   Beginners Book on Spell Casting: A How-To for Mortals

He stopped reading the titles and flipped through that last book. The book was full of weird instructions. 'Holding master hand out, turn clockwise, index and middle finger extended ...' It was almost like a How-To manual but with some sort of twisted yoga instructions. Scratching his head and trying to make sense of the odd book he didn't see the girl enter the room. He didn't hear her move over to his side, and didn't feel her presence as she peered over his shoulder to see what he was doing.

"That looks cool" was all she said, but he jumped six feet into the air and landed on top of a pile of books. With a thundering crash the books he had been holding spilled all over the floor. The girl neatly bent over and picked up the book he was reading before she interrupted. She quickly read the title and then opened it up.

Still fighting to get his heart back into his chest, he took a couple of deep breaths and then turned to see who was responsible for scaring the life out of him. His heart nearly stopped. It was Jasmine, the girl he had asked out. She was standing there, one hand holding the book the other hand was stretched out. She was moving her hand as she read each instruction. First twisting it one way then back again, curling her fingers into a small fist. All he could do was sit there and watch her; he was so stunned that he didn't see the old man enter. She was fixed on the book and moving her hand that she missed the old man's entrance as well.

"Ahem" the old man cleared his throat and for the second time in as nearly as many minutes, Jake jumped. This time he wasn't alone, Jasmine gave a scream as she dropped the book. She clutched her chest as she tried to regain her breath. The old man ambled over to the book, now sprawled on the floor. "Ahh, yes. That one" he muttered to himself.

"Fancy yourselves Spellcasters? Well I do say you'll need these to even begin to try to cast any spells." The old man produced two ornate bracelets and handed them over to the teens. "You can't access the magical realm without the bracelet. You're only mortals after all." Jake looked at the bracelet and wondered if he was going to see the white rabbit run pass any time soon. When he looked up, Jasmine had already put the bracelet on and was bending over to pick up the book. Giving a mental sigh, he too put the bracelet on then got up to stand next to Jasmine.

It was late when Jake finally walked in the front door. Collapsing onto the couch, Jake felt exhausted. He had spent most of the evening trying to cast spells and then cleaning up the mess the inevitably occurred when the spell went wrong. The old man had been trying to teach them about wind and blowing dust off the books. Jake somehow got a bit mixed up, and instead of blowing dust around, he ended up blowing up the books. Seven small fires had to be put out. At least he didn't make it rain inside the house. Jasmine had conjured up a fearsome storm that nearly flooded the library. In the end they both did manage to make a light breeze to blow the dust into a pile in a corner. Heading up to bed, he wondered what the old man was going to teach tomorrow. He fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. Dreams of spells and explosions kept him company until morning.