It was Halloween and the whole Carter house was beaming with excitement.  The whole family was home and they were going to have a big costume party that night.  While Dad, Leslie and B.J. were at the store, Mom, Kari, Nick, Aaron and Angel were still making plans.

"Alright, who is going to answer the door?"  asked Mom.  Aaron's hand shot up.

"Me me!"  he said.

"What are you, in the 2nd grade?"  Kari laughed.  He made a face at her.  Nothing could ruin this day.  Well, almost nothing.  Because at that moment, someone was planning other wise.  Something that could change all who are in it's path.  Something evil.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
1:00 pm

"Aaron, take that thing off.  The party isn't for another 6 hours."  said Nick.  Aaron was all dressed up in his biker costume.

"I know that.  I'm just breaking in." Aaron answered.  Nick just shrugged.  Suddenly the door bell rang.  Aaron made a mad dash for it and made it there before his brother.  He opened the door to find Nick's best friend Brian.

"Hey B-Rok!  What are you doing here?"  Nick asked.

"Just wanted to stop by.  Ever since, you know, I've had a lot more time on my hands."  he said.  Nick nodded.  Of course he understood.  Remembering what happened that one day on the bus.  The horror.

"Well, come on in."  Aaron said, grabbing Brian's arm.  Nick shut the door.

"You guys do know that there is this dude standing a the end of your driveway?"  Brian said.  Nick looked out the window and saw Brian was right.

"I know, he's been there at this time for the past three days.  We just leave him because he never disturbs us.

"I don't know man.  Something just doesn't feel right about that guy."  he said.  Nick lead Brian into the kitchen while Aaron ran upstairs.  He burst into Kari's room without knocking.

"Guess who's here."  he giggled.  Kari looked at him from where she was sitting.

"Who?"  she asked.  Aaron continued to smile at her.

"Brriian!"  he said.  He knew she had a big crush on him and never stopped letting her know it.

"Shut up!  He might hear you!"  she snapped.

"Admit it, you've wanted to be his girl since Leighanne disappeared."  he said.  This got Kari going.

"That has nothing to do with it.  She was evil."  Kari yelled.

"Whoa, touchy."  he said and left the room before she could smack him.  Kari sat back in her bed and began to think about what he had just said.  Aaron didn't know that she was the cause of that witches disappearance.  And he must never know.  The guys had never told anyone.  Not even their own parents.  But somebody knew.  Somebody no person would want to face.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

I watched as the young man entered the home of his friend.  That ignorant scum.  Neither of them know what's coming to them and their other little friends.  Yes, it shall be grand.  Soon they will join the other victims.  I especially want the girl.  A beautiful, young siren.  She reminds me so much of my queen.  Such beauty in a human being should not be wasted.  Yet I must do what I need to do.  And that is revenge.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
5:00 pm.

It was getting down to the wire.  Mom and Dad were going nuts and the kids were all hyper.  All of Nick's buddies from the Backstreet Boys had arrived early and were in full costume.  Nick, of course, was dressed up as his favorite Final Fantasy character.  Brian was going as a guy from the fifties.  A.j. was a pimp, (Who didn't see that one coming?).  Kevin was Rocky, and Howie was a basketball player.  The only problem was was that they all started to feel a bit sick.

"Oh man, what the heck is going on?"  A.j. groaned as he sat on the couch.  Nick's mom gave them each a glass of water.

"This is what you guys get for eating most of the chips."  she laughed.  Nick just glared at her.

"It's nothing Mom.  Just a bit of excitement."  he said with no emotion.

"It's alright Mrs. Carter.  I can't even remember the last time all of us were somewhere to have a little fun for a change."   Kevin said as he put down his glass.

"You know, I haven't seen Kari all afternoon."  said Howie.  The guys all looked at each other.

"She's been in her room.  Leslie said she wasn't feeling well."  B.J. yelled from in the kitchen.  Brian chuckled.

"Keep this up and the whole house will have to be quarantined."  he said.  The others laughed with him.

"You know, I forgot to pick up extra soda.  Would you guys mind going to the store and picking some up?"  asked Mrs. Carter.  Kevin smiled.

"We'll be happy too.  The fresh air might do us some good.  Come on guys."  he answered.  They all got up and started for the door.

"A.j., pimp coat goes off now."  said Nick.  A.j. glared at him but took it off and threw it on the stairs.  They all walked out the door and Nick closed it behind him.  They would be taking Brian's car.

"Guys, something just hit me."  Nick said.

"Oh no.  Nick's got something in his head!  Everybody run!"  Brian laughed.  Nick smacked him in the arm.

"No.  It's just that, the last time i've ever felt this rotten was before, your know.  Meow meow."  he said.  Everyone knew what he meant be that.

"Yeah, I know.  I remember feeling the same way before Leighanne turned me into a dog."  Kevin said.

"Guys, Leighanne is dead.  Kari smashed her before she left the bus that day."  Howie said.

"But still, I keep having this feeling like something is wrong.  Like that dude that was standing outside my house those few days.  Now that was weird."  Nick explained.  The others just laughed at him.

"Nick, we have nothing to worry about."  Brian snickered.  Before Nick could answer, Brian put in the keys into the ignition and turned them.  The engine coughed and sputter but didn't start up.  Brian tried it again.  The same thing happened.

"What the heck, I thought this was a new car."  said Kevin.

"It is."  Brian said in a shocked voice.  He tried it one more time.  This time the engine made a strange thumping and hissing noise before quitting.  Brian hit the steering wheel in frustration.

"Man, you got jipped bro!"  exclaimed A.j..  Brian unbuckled hs seat belt and was about to get out when something weird happened.  The doors all locked up on their own.  Brian tried to get them undone but couldn't.

"What the heck is going on here?"  asked Howie  Suddenly, blue smoke began to fill the car.

"Oh my god!"  Nick screamed.  It began to swirl around them as they tried to break free.  Kevin let out a loud yell.

"My hands!  What's happening to me!"  he cried.  The guys all look at themselves and saw that their bodies were changing.  It also felt like they were being pulled by something.

"Whoa, hang on!"  yelled Brian.  And then, silence.  As fast as it came, the blue smoke was gone.  As well as the five young men inside.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
5:15 pm

Kari was sitting in her room feeling like crap when there was a knock at the door.  To sick to answer it, she yelled to who ever was behind it.

"Come on in!"  she said.  The door creaked open and there stood Angel.  She was all dressed up as Blossom the Powerpuff girl.  Kari was also dressed as one, only she was going as Bubbles.

"Hey Kari, you feeling any better?"  she asked.  Kari shook her head.

"It feels like someone implanted a bowling ball into my stomach."  she said.  Angel backed off a bit.

"Well, you're not alone.  Nick and the gang all feel pretty awful."  she explained.  Kari straighten up.

"They do?  Well, where are they now?"  she asked.  Angel shrugged.

"Mom sent them out to get some more soda.  They said they were going to use Brian's car but it's still in the driveway" she answered.

"They must have walked then.  Ang, can you do me a favor and get me some of that ant-acid stuff?"  Kari asked nicely.  Angel smiled.

"Oh of course.  Give me a minute."  she said and then left the room.  Kari laid back down on her bed.  She had never felt like this before.  Especially we something fun was going to happen.  She let out a long sigh.  The guys had better be back soon, she needed to see if they were feeling the same way.

"Angel?  Ang?"  she called.  She got no answer.  She must be in the bathroom.  Suddenly, she began to see these blue streaks around her.  She rubbed her eyes to make them go away but it didn't work.

"What the heck?"  she whispered.  The streaks kept coming and becoming like a tornado.  Pretty soon she was surrounded.  She began to scream when Angel returned.  Angel couldn't believe what she was seeing and dropped the medicine.

"Angel, help me!"  Kari screamed.  She could feel something was happening to her body and didn't like it.  But Angel was frozen in fear.  Kari let out one final scream, and then it was over.  The blue tornado disappeared along with Kari.  And there stood Angel, still paralyzed in fear.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Kari could feel herself being pulled downward.  She closed her eyes until she felt her feet hit something.

"Oh dear lord."  she whispered.  She opened her eyes to find she was no longer in the safety of her room, but a dark forest area.  She could hear an owl hoot in the distence.

"Where am I?"  she whispered again.  Suddenly, as if to answer, the bushes next to her began to move.  She turned to see something emerging.  It was big.  Too big to be an animal but it's head and body were to strange to be of a human beings.  Kari didn't wait to see which one it really was.  She took off running as fast as she could.

"Gotta go, gotta get away!"  she kept telling herself.  She then looked over her shoulder and let out a scream.  What ever it was, was following her.  She sped up to try and lose it.  She didn't even know she could go that fast.  She turned again to see it falling behind.  She was pretty happy with that.  Suddenly, her foot caught the root of a tree and she went flying forward.  She hit the ground hard enough to stun her for a few seconds.  She could hear footsteps behind her and she knew she couldn't get up in time.  She huddled herself against the tree and shut her eyes, preparing for sever pain.  To her amazement, the footsteps stopped just in front of her.  She opened one of her eyes a bit and saw the persons feet.  She moved her eye upward and gasped at his face.  It was that of a wolf.  She shut her eyes again.

"If you are going to kill me, do it fast."  she cried.

"Now why would I do that?"  a soft voice said.  She knew it's voice.  Only one person could have a voice that soothing.

"Brian, is that you?"  she asked as she opened her eyes.  He smiled and nodded.  She continued to stare.  "What in blazes happened to you?"  He knelt down beside her.

"I honestly don't have a clue.  All of us were in my car when, poof, we were here."  he explained. She still didn't understand one thing.

"Brian, why do you look like that?"  she asked as he helped her to her feet.  He gave her a funny look.

"All of us look like this.  I guess the time warp thing did it."  he answered.  Kari breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'm just glad it didn't happen to me."  she said.  Brian stopped.

"Kari, look at your arms and hands."  he said.  Kari didn't know how to answer that.  So she looked down at them.  She gasped when she saw that they were all red with black on her hands.  She looked back up at Brian.  He had pulled a mirror out of his pocket and handed it to her.  She almost went into shock when she saw her own face.

"I look like a fox."  she said softly.  Brian nodded.  Kari handed him the mirror with no emotion on her face.

"Come on.  Lets go back to the guys and we'll figure all this out."   he said in a calm voice.  He began to lead her toward the way out.  At the edge of the woods was a large meadow area.  Kari could clearly see four figures standing there.  She was astonished at what she saw.  It was in fact the guys but not the way she remembered them.  Kevin was part dog, Nick was part cat, A.j. was part snake, and Howie was part falcon.  To add to the weirdness, they were all still in costume.  Kari could see Nick look up toward them.

"He's coming back!  And he's got somebody with him!"  he yelled.

Brian!  What did you find?"  called Howie.  Brian was the first one to reach them.

"It's not in the matter of what, it's who."  he said.  Just then, Kari walked out of the woods.  Nick's jaw dropped.

"No, it can't be."  he whispered.  He pulled Kari into his arms.

"How did you know to look in there?"  she asked motioning to the woods.

"We saw something glowing blue.  We thought it might be the way out of this place."  said A.j.

"And instead, you found me."  she answered.  Brian smiled.

"All we have to do is figure out how to get the heck out of this place.  Better yet, how we got here."  said Kevin.  Kari let Nick go.

"Angel saw the whole thing.  The lights, and me screaming.  She can alert the others."  she explained.

"But who will believe her?"  asked Nick.  Suddenly, the silence of the air was cut by a booming laugher.  They all turned around to see another tornado of blue light.  Then, as soon as it appeared, it was gone again.  Leaving a tall muscular man behind.  He was laughing his head off.

"Welcome.  I see you all made it here."  he said.

"You brought us here?"  asked A.j..

"Haven't you figured that out yet?  You creatures aren't as smart as you think you are."  he bellowed.  This really pissed A.j. off.

"You come here and say that you wuss!  I can take you!"  he yelled.  He began to charge at him when he was thrown backwards.  He went flying into a bush.  The rest of them just looked on.

"Nicky, look at his neck."  Kari whispered.  Nick took a look and sure enough, the dude had a blue amulet around his neck.

"Who are you?"  asked Brian.  The man had a smug look on his face.

"Who am I?  I am only the King of the witches and warlocks.  You have already been introduced to my wife."  he said.  Brian's jaw dropped.  All of them knew exactly who he was talking about.  They also all knew that they were in big trouble.  Suddenly, all of their arms felt like they were pinned to their sides and they could move their legs.

"Why?  We didn't do anything to you!"  yelled Howie.

"You killed Leighanne.  You all must pay."  he said.  At this time they were all really scared.

"We'll do anything you want, just let us go!"  cried Kari.  The King got another one of those big smiles on his face.

"Anything you say?"  he asked sarcastically.

"Yes, anything!  Just let us go home!"  she called.

"I want you."  he answered.  Nick began to struggle against the force that held him.

"Wrong answer buddy!"  he yelled.  The King approached the small girl.

"I have admired you since the day I laid my eyes upon you.  You would be a perfect addition to my kingdom."  he told her.  Kari didn't know what to do.  She looked from the guys to the evil king and back.  Finally she sighed.

"If I go with you, what will happen to me?"  she asked.

"Why, you will be my bride." he sneered.  Nick began to fight the force even more.

"Don't do it Kari!  It's a trick!"  he yelled.  The King chuckled.

"What do you say my sweet?  Join me and be the queen of all, or die with those beasts."  he said motioning to the guys.  Kari didn't need anymore time to think.

"Alright.  I'll do it." she answered.

"No!"  screamed Nick.  The King clapped his hands together and the forces fell from Kari's arms and legs.  He put his hand on her shoulders and kissed her on the cheek.  All of the guys held back the urge to hurl.  The King then removed the amulet from around his neck.

"I give this to you as a token of my love."  he said softly.  He put it around her neck.  She looked down at it and smiled.  Just then, the forces left the guys arms and legs but they didn't move.  They didn't know what to do next.

"You know, i'd like to give you something too.  Come closer."  she said sweetly.  He came so close she could feel his breath on her face.

"Now dear?"  he asked.  She nodded.

"Now, close those eyes and no peeking."  she said.  The King shut his eyes.  As soon as he did, Kari waved a hand in front of his face.  She got a cruel smile on her face.  "You ready?"  she asked.  The King nodded.  At that second, Kari brought one knee up sharply and did the universal knock a man down move.  Even the guys cringed at it.  The King doubled over.

"Run!"  screamed Howie.  All of them darted for the woods and ran as fast as they could.  Right when they made it there, they saw a strange site.  All of these animals were lined against the edge, blocking them from getting in.

"A.j.!  Take this!"  Kari yelled.  He turned to see the amulet flying at him.  He caught it and placed it in his pocket.

"Go on!  Git!"  Brian yelled at the animals.  They didn't move.  They just stood there.

"Do you think that ugly dude controls them."  whispered Howie.  Behind them, they could hear the King groaning in pain.  By the sound of that, they knew he wouldn't be up for a while.  Suddenly, the panther approached Kevin.  It stared into his eyes.

"O.k, I think this ones going to do something."  he said in a shaky voice.  To his amazement, it turned back around.  The weird part it that it began to speak to the other animals.

"Listen, all of you.  We must take them to the safe zones.  Demer and I will take this one.  Katrina, Hugo, you take the girl.  Victor, Lena, you take the wolf.  Inga, take the cat, and Jaun will take the snake.  Tyna, Sina, take the falcon.  Come now!"  it said.  After it was finished certain animals approached the group.  The panther turned back to Kevin.  Beside it came a dog.

"Wow."  Kevin said softly.

"You will need to trust us.  We will take you to a place where you will be safe for the time being.  Come on!"  said the panther.  And with that, they all went off in separate directions, hoping the evil king wasn't following them.  Kevin closely followed the panther and the dog, knowing that they were indeed helping him.

"Who are you?"  He asked as they ran.  They didn't answer.  Suddenly, the animals both stopped.  Kevin stopped beside them.

"You will stay here.  We are out of range."  said the dog.  Kevin breathed a sigh of relief as he sat down.

"Who are you guys?"  he asked again.

"I'm Demer, and this is Clare."  the dog answered.  Kevin couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Well then, where are we?"  he asked once more.

"We are in what we call the forest on victims.  All of us hear, including the plants have been human at one point.  Then, we encountered Leighanne or Draco.  Like myself, I came in between Leighanne and someone else."  explained Clare, in her light british accent.  Kevin lowered his head.

"I'm sorry to hear that, but what's that got to do with us?  Leighanne is dead."  he said.  Demer and Clare looked at each other.

"The King wants revenge.  He's that type you know."  Demer spoke up.  Just then, there was a noise from the trees.  They all turned to see an owl there.

"Ze girl and men are safe now.  Ze king is very angry but he can't get to zem."  it said.

"That's a relief.  Send the message to the others that they will wait for my signal.  Thank you Phillipe."  said Clare.  Phillipe did this little bow thing and then flew off.

"This is so unreal."  Kevin said softly.

"As you are too.  In all my time here, I have never seen someone come in that has maintained a human stature, yet is animal."  said Clare.

"Trust me, i've been in your position.  I know it's not easy.  Two of us, you know, the bonehead with the tattoos and the one with the ponytail?  They haven't been through this.  They got trapped inside a mirror last time."  babbled Kevin.  Clare and Demer gazed on in awe.

"You lived through that?  Usually this is a one time only deal.  How did you escape?"  asked Demer.

"Brian smashed her amulet.  That pretty much did it."  he said.  Clare gasped.

"I knew it!  You're the ones fate has sent us to bring us out of this horrible place!"  she cried.

"Now hold on, explain please."  said Kevin.  Clare sat down.

"All of the creatures around here have had visions of six people coming to save us.  Ones that could break this spell forever."  she explained.

"Why didn't you guys just break the amulet?  It worked for us."  he claimed.  Demer shook his head.

"We've tried.  It's the not having a thumb issue that keeps us from succeeding.  Beside, none of us are even strong enough."  he said.

"Oh."  Kevin replied.  He then looked at his wristwatch.  "Man, we've been in this place for an hour now."  Clare gave him an odd look.

"How do you know that?  There are no ways to know that except for the sun and it never shines here."  she said.  Kevin let out a soft chuckle.

"You mean to tell me you don't know what a watch is?"  he said.  She nodded.  He showed the watch to her and Demer.

"Wow, i've never seen a timepiece like that.  You must be from 2050 or something."  he said.  Now Kevin got the weird look.

"No.  It's only 2001.  Why?"  he asked.

"When this happened to me, it was 1645."  said Clare.  She turned to Demer.

"And for me, it was 1952."  he answered.

"Whoa, that's a long time."  Kevin said.  Suddenly, Clare's ear perked up.  Kevin and Demer looked to her.

"The feeling is right.  Time to meet our match and defeat him.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

About fifteen minutes later, Clare lead Kevin to where they would start.  The rest of them were already there.

"Kev!  We have to do this, we've got to help these guys!"  said Kari.  He nodded to her.  He looked to A.j. who was clutching the amulet like it was going to start on fire.  The tension was very high.

"Well, we have to leave now."  said Clare.

"But why?" asked Howie.

"We cannot interfere.  I'm not sure why, it just is."  she answered, and with that, she disappeared into the forest with the other animals.  The guys all turned to look at each other.

"Well, we're on our own for this.  Got any ideas?"  said Nick.  There was silence for a moment.

"I have one."  said Kari.

"And why am I not surprised."  said Nick.

"Shut up."  she shot back.

"Whoa, come on Nick, let the powerpuff girl have her word."  said Brian.

"Thank you B-Rok.  We have to leave A.j. behind."  she said.

"What!  No we don't have to leave A.j. behind."  said A.j..  Howie put a hand up to tell him to be quiet.

"Just stay here with the amulet and keep you eyes open."  she said.  A.j. opened his mouth to say something else but closed it again.  The other five began to walk out into the meadow area to find there was no one there.

"Draco!  Show yourself."  Kevin yelled.  The ground began to shake and the earth cracked.  A figure rose from the crack and it closed up below his feet.

"Well, I see you have returned.  Very brave, and stupid of you."  he bellowed.  The guys didn't move.  "Wait, I thought there was six of you."  the King declared.

"He is missing.  We think some of the creatures caught him."  said Brian.

"Good.  One down five to go.  Now hand over the amulet."  he ordered.

"We don't have it."  said Kevin.  The King laughed.

"You don't have it?  I'm not that gullible.  Now hand it over or you will die before your time."  he said.  Kari's eyes got wide with fear.  She looked over at Nick, but he was doing something strange.  He kept hitting his fist into his hand over and over.

"But sweetie.  I thought it was a present to me."  Kari said, still not understanding what Nick was doing.  Nearby, A.j. was watching this, not understanding it either when it just clicked.  He took the amulet and placed it on the ground.  He then took a nearby rock and held it over his scaly head.

"Hey Draco!  Eat this!"  he yelled from the woods.  Draco turned around just in time to see A.j. smash the amulet into little tiny pieces.

"NNNNNNOOOOO!"  he screamed.  His body became engulfed in blue flames.  As that was happening, the world around them began to crumble away.  Then it was over.  In a blink of an eye, they were return to Nicks home.  All of them had returned to normal.

"We did it!  We actually did it!"  yelled Brian.  They looked around to see that they were in the backyard.  The house was glowing with lights.

"Well, looks like the party got started without old A.j."  A.j. said.  He began to walk to the house when a flash of light burst in front of him, causing him to back up.

"Dude!  What the heck is that?"  yelled Nick.  The light faded and they could see to people there.  A man and a woman.  But there was something different about them.  You could see right through them.  The woman smiled.

"Hello Kevin."  she said.  Kevins jaw dropped.

"Clare?  Is that you?"  he asked.  She kept smiling.

"We are all very proud of each and every one of you.  You freed us.  We now can move on to the other side."  she said.  The man in the leather jacket cleared his throat.

"Yeah, now I can pick up some real chicks!"  he said.  All of them laughed.  Clare them turned to Kari.

"I know your sister witnessed what happened to you.  Don't worry about her, I made sure she doesn't remember a thing."  she told her.

"Wow, thanks!"  cried Kari.

"Now, we have to go.  Hope to see you again some day!"  said the man.  They began to fade away.

"Wait, Clare!"  yelled Kevin.  He ran up to where she was hovering.

"What is it?"  she asked.  He sighed.

"I will cherish the day that we might be together again.  You are so beautiful."  he said.  She put an icy hand on his cheek.

"And I too dear Kevin.  I shall wait for you, and all of you blokes at the other side.  Good-bye."  she whispered.  Kevin blinked and she was gone.  He stood there, not believing he hand seen this.  Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Come on Kevin, party time!"  said Brian.  And that was it.  No one knew the true story of that night.  None of them would speak of it.  And who would?  I did make them promise not to tell didn't I?  So the tale ends here and never again will these six suffer the actions of magic again.

THE END.