:=: Amanda :=:

Amanda whimpered softly as she listened to the man talk. She could only hear one side of the conversation but what she could hear would have been enough to scare her to death if she hadn't already been so terrified.

"Nah, it's not gonna be till tomorrow." He paused. "Because the boss wants to get the other one too. Hundred grand for this one, a cool quarter million for a matched set of twins, dumbass." Another pause. "Just tell the pilot to chill out. Get him a hooker or something. Plan's the same, just not gonna go till tomorrow."

She was laying on her side on a bed in a hotel room. Her wrists and ankles burned with pain from struggling against the plastic ties wrapped around them, and her throat ached from screaming and crying. Her jaw hurt from straining against the gag in her mouth.

Her head was throbbing too, she was hungry and thirsty, and almost numb with fear.

When she'd first woken up here a couple hours ago, she struggled to sit up and look around. That's when she'd discovered she was in a hotel room, on maybe the fifth or sixth floor.

She'd spotted Niagara Falls in the distance out the window, but the angle was wrong. Then she'd realized she was on the wrong side of the river, she was in the USA now. Somehow she'd been taken out of the country, and she had no idea how to get home from here.

Not that she was going anywhere, between the plastic ties and the guy who was between her and the door.

The man in the room with her was large and heavyset, and looked to be in his thirties or forties. His dark hair was trimmed in a buzz cut, and he wore a moustache. He was dressed casually, in jeans, t-shirt, running shoes, and a sports jacket.

He hadn't hurt Amanda, not yet, but he'd shouted at her and scared her half to death after she woke up and started screaming and struggling.

Now she just lay on her side, shuddering a little. She closed her eyes tight and wished she could close her ears too. She wished she could just disappear into darkness rather than lay here listening to this guy talking about planes and schedules. And about people looking for her sister.

Fresh tears started rolling from her eyes as she thought about them grabbing Sadie as well, and then what sort of fate would be in store for them. Who'd pay a quarter-million dollars for a pair of teenaged girls, and what would someone like that do to them...

Then she thought about Ben, and started quietly sobbing again. Her memories from last night were fuzzy. She and Ben were at a burger place, but some men jumped them outside his car when they were leaving. They grabbed her, and Ben tried to stop them. Something wet had been put over Amanda's mouth and nose, and things got all spinny. But she thought she'd heard a gunshot before things went completely dark.

Now she was positive her boyfriend was dead. She'd been kidnapped and was already in a different country. And tomorrow she was going to be put on a plane and sold somewhere, after the men had kidnapped Sadie as well...

She started shaking more as she sobbed, until finally tiring herself out again. She just lay on her side facing the window, feeling weak, exhausted, and hopeless.

Her captor had finished his phone call. He was sitting at the small table next to the TV. Amanda had her back to him now, but she heard him turn the TV back on again, and she heard the creak of his chair as he relaxed.

Then she heard him gasp "What the fuck?!"

Amanda turned to look, and her eyes widened. There were two more people in the room, they were standing at the foot of her bed.

One was tall and slim, with short blonde hair. They appeared to be in their early twenties, and looked a bit androgynous. They were wearing jeans and a sleeveless top, and Amanda could see they had some muscles on them. The other one looked slightly older, mid-twenties, and she was several inches shorter, with long jet black hair. She was dressed like a goth, all in black, and with dark make-up.

There was no explanation for how these two had got here. They hadn't come through the door, the man was between them and the door. Amanda could see the door was still locked, and she hadn't heard it open or anything. It was as if they'd just appeared by the bed somehow.

The man jumped to his feet and moved at them, but the tall blonde stepped forward and gave him a shove. Their little push hit the man like a truck, he was knocked backwards across the room and hit the wall hard enough to leave cracks in the plaster. Amanda stared in surprise as her captor slumped to his knees, gasping for air.

Meanwhile the goth moved to the side of the bed and said softly, "It's ok Amanda. Your aunt Maria sent us to help you." She added, "My name's Nikki, that's Kara."

Suddenly the gag was gone, along with the plastic ties. The goth hadn't removed them or cut them, the restraints had simply vanished from her body.

Amanda gasped in surprise. She knew aunt Maria was a witch but she'd never seen magic before. She realized these two had to be from her aunt's coven! Aunt Maria sent witches to come and save her!

Her heart was pounding and she exclaimed, "They're after Sadie too! You have to help my sister!"

Nikki nodded, "Maria is with Sadie and Jenny, they're both safe."

Kara had moved to stand over Amanda's captor, watching as the man slowly caught his breath and regained his senses.

Amanda turned to look, just in time to see the guy pull a gun out from under his jacket.

The blonde saw it too, and they moved so fast Amanda wasn't even sure what happened. Suddenly there was a sword in Kara's hand! Amanda hadn't seen where it came from, it had just appeared in their hand like magic.

They already had the tip of the sword pressed against the guy's throat. He was motionless, his wide eyes slightly crossed as he looked down at the weapon Kara was holding against his neck.

Kara leaned down and took the gun from his hand, then straightened up and tucked it into their belt.

They kept their sword at the man's throat as they glanced at the goth and asked, "What do you want to do with this guy?"

Amanda saw Nikki's eyes suddenly glow. They were bright blue to begin with, but now they were actually glowing. At the same time, lights swirled around the man as he was kneeling against the wall infront of Kara.

The swirling lights faded, and Amanda's eyes went wide. "Holy shit..." she whispered as she stared.

Instead of the heavyset man with the buzz cut and a moustache, there was now a teenage girl kneeling there. She was about Amanda's age, and had shoulder length blonde hair and hazel eyes. She was wearing skinny jeans and a tight t-shirt.

Amanda realized with shock, although this girl wasn't her double she was close enough that anyone was going by a verbal description wouldn't know the difference between them.

Kara stepped back and their sword just seemed to vanish back to where ever it had come from.

The kneeling girl shuddered and looked down at herself, then yelped "What?!"

Nikki's voice sounded slightly different as she stated, "Your best bet is to run child, before your friends get here. If they find you like that, I think you know what they'll do with you."

Amanda was still in shock as she watched her former captor slowly get to her feet, trembling a little. She then sort of yelped in fear and ran for it. She struggled to get the door open, then took off out of sight down the hall.

"Now let's get you somewhere safe, Amanda." Nikki said, her eyes and voice back to the way they were before.

Both witches helped Amanda up off the bed and onto her feet. They were standing to either side of her.

Amanda looked toward the door, thinking they were going to just walk out when everything sort of faded and spun. Suddenly they were somewhere else.

The room and the hotel and Niagara Falls had all just vanished, and she and her two saviours were standing in a large open-concept house, infront of some big bay windows, overlooking a vineyard somewhere. There was a large leather sectional sofa behind her, and a fireplace with a small fire burning just to the side.

They moved her to the sofa and sat her down, as two other young women approached. A short redhead brought Amanda a bottle of water, and a tall brunette said, "Maria will be here in a minute or two with the others. They're all safe."

Amanda took the water and had a few deep gulps. Then she started to cry once again. It was tears of relief this time, as the shock was wearing off and she started to realize things were going to be ok.

:=: Maria :=:

"Shouldn't we be going to the police or something?" Ashley asked nervously.

They had pulled Jenny out of class and she got all three girls back in the car. Jenny was in the passenger seat next to her, Sadie and Ashley were both in the back seat again. Now they were driving down a rural road, almost a half hour out of town, approaching the vineyard and Sam and Nikki's home.

The girls had finally convinced Maria to tell them what was going on.

Maria shook her head, "The police can't do what the coven can do. Amanda's probably safe already. Nikki and Kara were going to get her."

"What if these guys have guns though?" Sadie's voice sounded very nervous. "What if..."

"Amanda will be fine, Sadie." Maria stated. "Kara could take on a half dozen men single-handed. They're very strong, and they know how to fight. And Nikki... She's the one who helped you, Sadie. And she and Samantha were there to help Ashley. She's got access to some very powerful magic."

Sadie still sounded worried. "But if they have guns..."

"They're no match for magic." Maria said. "Trust me, your sister will be safe. We're almost there now."

They were now passing rows of grape vines on the left. Maria soon made a left turn onto a dirt road, and then less than five hundred meters later she made another left, pulling into the long driveway.

The winery building was on their left, and on the right they passed the spiritual retreat. Finally Maria parked her car next to the house, beside one of the large black Land Rovers.

"Ok we're here." Maria said, as she turned off the car. "Let's get inside, girls."

Maria took Jenny's hand, and Sadie and Ashley followed. She walked them all up to the front door, which opened before they reached it.

Nicole was there at the door, to welcome them in. The short goth waved them all inside, then motioned towards the leather sofa.

Amanda was sitting sort of huddled up there, and both Sadie and Jenny immediately ran to her, sitting down on either side of her.

Maria breathed a deep sigh of relief as she watched the three sisters. The girls were all starting to cry, tears of relief as they hugged and spoke quietly to each other.

"Thank you Nikki... Thank you so much!" Maria was feeling emotional as well, now that everything seemed to be over and everyone was safe.

Ashley moved to join the other girls on the sofa, sitting down next to Sadie.

Nikki then motioned Maria to come and sit down at the dining table. Samantha, Kara, and Jessica were already there.

"Would you like a coffee or anything, Maria?" Nikki asked as they moved to sit down.

Maria shook her head, as she took a seat at the table with the others. "No thanks. Was there any trouble, when you got Amanda?"

Kara replied quietly, "There was one man watching her. He had a gun. He was no trouble."

Nikki added softly, "You were right to be worried about Sadie. There are others, and they're looking for her. They planned to sell the twins off, somewhere overseas."

Kara added, "Apparently a 'matched set' is worth more."

"Oh my Goddess..." Maria whispered softly. "Do we know why they were targeted? Or who's behind it?" She paused, then asked nervously, "Tell me their mother wasn't involved..."

Nicole sighed. "The Goddess took some information from the mind of the guy who was watching Amanda, before She dealt with him. He didn't have all the information, but... There's a chance that Elizabeth had something to do with it. We'll have to go and talk to her."

Samantha added quietly, "I think she needs a talking-to regardless. From what you said earlier, she's the one who kicked Sadie out? And she didn't even care that Amanda was missing?"

Maria sighed but nodded, "It's not going to be an easy conversation. Liz won't want to speak with us. She won't even want to see us..."

Nikki nodded, "Easy or not, we're going to pay her a visit this evening. Maria, you and Kara and I will go and see your sister-in-law. Samantha and Jessica will stay here with the girls."

:=: Elizabeth :=:

"Are you sure it'll be ok?" James asked. "Your girls won't mind me being there tonight?"

Liz shook her head, "I don't really care whether they mind or not, James. It may only be Jenny there anyways. Sadie's already gone, and Amanda stayed away last night. If she hasn't come home tonight then for all I care she can just stay with her aunt, or wherever the hell she is."

She was driving her little Corvette, she had met James for dinner after work and now the two of them were heading back to her place. She'd finally invited him home to spend the night.

It was already dark out, they'd enjoyed a very nice meal at one of the local winery restaurants, and James had bought a couple extra bottles to bring home with them.

"Where abouts does their aunt live?" James asked. "I'm assuming not too far, if that's where the girls have gone..."

"Oh, its the other side of town, about a half hour away. The girls would take the bus, though I'm sure they can get Maria to just come and get them." Liz added with a frown, "I wouldn't be surprised if she's behind all this. Turning my own girls against me..."

Her frown deepened as she pulled onto her street. Her house was dark. It looked like no-one was home at all.

Liz pulled into the driveway and parked, saying "It looks like Amanda hasn't bothered to come back. I wonder if Jenny's home."

The two of them got out of the car, James was carrying the wine, and he followed her up to the front door.

As she unlocked it, James asked "Maybe Jenny's out with a friend? Or gone to bed early?"

Liz sighed as she stepped inside, "I don't know, maybe Jenny's run off as well now. I just don't care any more, James."

She closed the door after he was inside, locking it, then hit the light switches to turn on the hall lights. Then she froze, when she saw the three witches standing in her living-room.

Maria was there, and Liz recognized the short goth woman next to her. That was the witch who's magic took David away from her forever.

She didn't recognize the third one. They were tall and slim, but muscular. They had short blonde hair, blue-grey eyes, and wore somewhat masculine-looking clothes.

Liz scowled at the three of them as she demanded, "What the hell are you people doing in my house?!"

Maria asked, "Liz... Do you have any idea what happened to Amanda last night?"

"She left, just like Sadie did." Liz stated, glaring at her. "I assume all three of them are staying with you now, in that tiny apartment of yours?"

"No Liz," Maria sighed. "Your girls are somewhere safer."

Liz was still glaring. "With your coven then, I presume? Fine. You know what, Maria? You can keep them."

James had been silent till now, but he put the wine down on the hall table and frowned, asking "Coven?" He sort of gave Liz a questioning look.

Then the goth spoke up, her eyes fixed on Liz. "Yesterday evening, Amanda and her boyfriend were attacked. The boy was nearly killed, and your daughter was kidnapped. She was drugged Elizabeth, bound and gagged. They took her over the border into the States, and they were planning to fly her overseas. They were just waiting to get their hands on Sadie as well."

Then the tall blonde added, "They were going to sell your girls. A hundred thousand dollars for Amanda, or a quarter million for the pair of twins."

Liz could tell James was getting uneasy hearing all this stuff. It looked like it was upsetting him, and Liz didn't blame him. She'd never heard such a ridiculous story before.

"Bull. Shit." She stated, still glaring at the three witches. "You're just trying to scare me or something, with your lies. It won't work."

Maria demanded, "Liz do you even hear yourself?! One of your girls was attacked! She was drugged, kidnapped! The other one was targeted! And you're acting like you don't even care! What's happened to you?!"

Liz scowled as she responded angrily, "You happened to me, Maria! First you took my husband and now you've turned my girls against me!" She raised her voice, demanding "Get out of my house! Now!"

At this point James stepped forward and said to the three of them, "Listen, I don't know who you ladies are, but this is Liz's home, and she's asked you to leave." He glanced back at her and asked, "Liz honey, do you want me to escort them out?"

"Thanks James, but no." Liz shook her head. "It's best if you stay out of this. These women are dangerous."

Liz could see the goth was staring at James now. She knew what these people were capable of, and the last thing she wanted was for one of them to work their magic on him.

The goth suddenly frowned. She was still staring at James as she said, "It was you. You arranged to get rid of Sadie and Amanda."

Liz couldn't believe it. She didn't believe the story about Amanda being kidnapped, now they were trying to make her think James was somehow involved.

He just scowled at the goth, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Liz had had enough. She shouted at them, "Get out of my house! You've done enough damage to my life and my family! What more do you want?!"

The three witches didn't budge, and Liz pulled out her phone, "I'm calling the police. You're trespassing. I can probably get you booked for kidnapping too, assuming you've got my girls wherever the hell you people hide out."

James then turned towards her, "Liz honey, let's don't bother the police ok? I'll get rid of them, then we can enjoy the rest of our evening."

Liz just shook her head. She didn't trust the women not to hurt him, but she was pretty sure Maria wouldn't do anything against the police. She started to dial 911, but James reached out and took her phone from her.

"What are you doing?" Liz looked at him in surprise.

James slipped it into his jacket pocket, while his other hand reached under his jacket then produced a small gun.

Liz stared in shock, "James what are you doing with a gun!?"

"Sorry Liz." James sighed, as he turned to face Maria and the other witches. He addressed the goth, "I don't know how, but you all know too much."

Liz took a step back, her heart was pounding now, as she stared at him in confusion. "James? Did you do something to Amanda?"

He shrugged slightly, glancing at her. "You said you wanted to be rid of them Liz. I told you I'd do what I could to help. I asked some friends to take the girls off your hands."

He was just starting to look back towards the three witches when the tall blonde suddenly moved.

The witch lunged at James so fast it was hard for Liz to actually follow the witch's movement. James turned, trying to point his gun at them, but they were already ontop of him.

There was a flash of steel and James let out a yell of surprise and pain. The gun fell from his hand and clattered across the floor, and Liz could see blood.

Her eyes widened in shock as she realized the blonde had a fucking sword in their hand, and they'd just slashed James's arm with it.

Liz cried out in shock, she stumbled back a few steps and fell to her knees, as she saw the tall blonde lock their left hand around James's throat, and pin him against the wall. Liz's heart was racing as she thought the witch was going to kill James right then and there.

The blonde was holding their sword with the point over James's heart, their left hand still on his throat, keeping him against the wall. The blonde then glanced back at the short goth, as if they were waiting for an order to kill James.

"No!" Liz shouted at the witch, recognizing the blue glow in the goth's eyes. It was too late.

Just like with David last summer, shimmering lights surrounded James. The tall blonde took a few steps back as their sword was suddenly gone again, disappeared back to wherever it had come from.

Liz remained on her knees, staring. The swirling lights faded, and James was gone. In his place was a teen girl with brown eyes and long brown hair. She was wearing a green dress and black leggings. She looked about the same age and size as Amanda and Sadie. The girl even looked a little bit like Sadie.

The teen's eyes were wide and her face was pale as she stood there against the wall in a state of shock.

The goth's eyes were still glowing as she stated to the teen, "Your name is Janice. You will go to the police, and you will tell them everything you know about the men who kidnapped Amanda. Tell them you escaped, you were one of their intended victims. You may not speak of what happened here tonight, or of Elizabeth, or her family. You may not tell anyone who you once were. Do you understand?"

James, or Janice now, just gulped and nodded once. She was still staring wide-eyed at the goth, and her body was trembling with fear.

The witch nodded, "Good. Now go." And just like that, the girl who had once been James was gone. Vanished without a trace.

Liz stayed where she was, still on her knees. She was in shock now too. First they'd taken David from her. Now they'd taken James as well.

The three witches were standing together now, talking quietly to each other. They were ignoring Liz at the moment.

Liz looked down, shoulders slumped, and that's when she saw it. James's gun was still laying on the floor, it was just a foot away from where she was kneeling.

A calm came over her, as she reached out and picked it up. She looked up at the three women. All of this was Maria's fault, but the goth was the one who actually did the dirty work. She's the one who's magic had killed David, and now she'd done the same to James.

Liz raised the gun and pulled the trigger.

It was a lot louder than she'd expected, and the gun jumped so hard in her hand she nearly dropped it. She tried to point it at Maria next, but that blonde witch was already on her, twisting the pistol from her hand.

Liz didn't resist, as the blonde pulled her to her feet and held her arms behind her back.

The goth was laying crumpled on the floor, Maria kneeling over her.

Maria looked up at her and demanded, "Why?! You heard what he said, he was going to get rid of your girls! He had to be dealt with!"

Liz just glared back. "She's the one who took my David away! And then she took James from me too! If this blonde bitch hadn't stopped me, you'd have been next Maria!"

Maria just sighed.

Then Liz gasped, her eyes going wide. The goth wasn't dead. She was starting to move. She slowly sat up, and then got to her feet. Liz realized there wasn't even any blood on her.

"Are you ok?" Maria asked softly.

Liz heard the goth reply quietly, "Fine. It hurt, and there'll probably be a nasty bruise, but that's all."

Maria whispered, "Thank the Goddess for the protective amulets..."

The blonde was still holding Liz tight, as they said, "Sorry Nicole, that was my mistake. I should have secured the gun."

The goth just nodded, then she and Maria looked at Liz again.

Liz sighed. She knew she was beaten.

The goth spoke softly, but her voice was slightly different. There was more authority as she said, "I'm sorry Maria, we can't just let her go. Elizabeth knows too much, and she's in a position to hurt us, to cause us trouble. She just tried to murder Nicole, and admitted that she wanted to kill you as well."

Maria sighed deeply. "I know ma'am... But I'm worried about the girls. She's their mother... I don't want to do anything that will hurt them..."

The goth was silent for a moment, her eyes still on Liz. Finally she stated, "Elizabeth is no longer fit to look after them, Maria. Not after all of this. Your nieces will understand."

Liz saw the woman's eyes start to glow blue again, then everything faded to white.