Caught in the middle

Chapter 1
Marcus's Problems

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Chapter Description: When Marcus comes home for a weekend, he gets held as a hostage in a struggle between witches.

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For all intents and purposes, Marcus thought his life was pretty dull. He was a 21 year old male who was an average six feet tall and weighed an average 175 pounds. He had grown up in a normal family with an older sister who was working at as advertising representative in Dallas. He lived in an average neighborhood in an average part of the country. His mother, Annie, worked as the media contact for a local hospital and his dad, Michael, was a high school history teacher. He had graduated high school two years before and gone off to college to, for all intents and purposes, an average state school.

It was fall break of his junior year when it happened. He had made one of his relatively uncommon trips home for the break to see his parents. It was Sunday of the week and, after a long and rather unproductive three-day weekend, Marcus had gathered his clothes into his car and was getting ready to leave. His father had left to go to some teaching conference about an hour away and wouldn’t be back until the next day, so he gave his mom a hug and walked out, loading up his car, and was about to pull out when he realized that he had left his phone inside. He turned off his car and walked back in to his house.

As he did, he heard a woman talking that wasn’t his mother. This was particularly strange, as his mother was the only person in the house when he left.

“So, this is what the mighty Catalina has been up to the past 75 years,” the strange voice said with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

“Esmeralda, it’s been a while,” Marcus heard his mother respond. “Now you may leave.”

Marcus waited in the hallway as they spoke, not sure of what he was hearing.

“I don’t think so, Catalina. You know what I’m here for.”

“Yes, Esmeralda, and I can assure you that you won’t be getting it.”

“It’s only a matter of time, Catalina. It may have taken me nearly a century to find you, but now that I have, you won’t be able to hide it.”

“Do you think you’re intimidating? You were never anything more than a half-assed mage to begin with. Exactly what makes you think you could beat me?”

“Poor misinformed Catalina. I’ve not been sitting around popping out babies with some mortal for the past 100 years. You’re rusty and I’m as sharp as ever. Besides, I’ve already beaten the other 5 guardian mages.”

“You’re such a liar, Esmeralda, and you know it.”

Marcus had heard just about as much as he could. He took a deep breath and walked in on the two talking.

They both just stared at him for a few moments before he spoke. “What’s going on? Who are you?”

Marcus saw his mother’s eyes widen as a wry smile crept across the face of the other woman. “So, Catalina, this is your son. I take it he knows nothing of who you really are.”

“Marcus, get out of here, please.”

Marcus looked over at his mom. “Catalina? Mom, who is this?”

Esmeralda shook her head. “That’s not the right question, boy.” She said as she lifted her hand into the air and snapped her fingers. Catalina lunged out as Esmeralda snapped her fingers. “The question is, ?what are you?’”

When Marcus came too, he found he was in a large room with metal walls. A single light bulb hung from the ceiling, which was high above him. It looked like it could be an empty silo or a lighthouse with no stairs.

He tried to move his arms only to find that they were shackled to the wall. “What... what’s going on?”

“The answer to the question,” he heard the voice of Esmeralda from the side. He turned his head to see the women, clad in a red dress that looked far too fancy for their current surroundings.

He tugged on the chains and looked at her. “What question?”

She walked over to him and leaned over, smiling, “the question of who, or rather, what, you are. You’re bait, boy, and you’ll get me exactly what I want.”

He frowned and tugged on the chains some more, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Esmeralda smiled. “I wouldn’t bother with those chains. You’re not strong enough to break them.”

Marcus knew she was right, but still defiantly tugged on them once more. “Who are you?”

Esmeralda smirked. “Your mother never told you who she really was, did she?”

Marcus shook his head, which caused the smile on Esmeralda’s face to widen even further.

“Well, Marcus, was it? Me and your mother go way back, a few hundred years, in fact.”

Marcus shook his head. “What are you talking about? My mom is 48.”

Esmeralda smirked. “You’re off by a few centuries, kid. Your mother was around when the catholic church inquisitioned Galileo, and yes, I know inquisitioned isn’t a word, but you get my point.”

Marcus cocked an eyebrow, “You are insane.”

Esmeralda looked around, “Kid, look around, you were thrown here from your house a half hour ago and you don’t remember anything in between. How exactly do you think that happened?”

Marcus paused and looked away.

Esmeralda leaned over him and smirked. “Your mom is a witch, Marcus, a real one, and I’m one as well.” Marcus shook his head and was about to speak when Esmeralda interrupted him. “Yeah, yeah, I know, witches aren’t real, you would have seen signs, or some other excuse you want to come up with. The simple fact is, for whatever reason, your mom wanted to protect you from that fact.” To illustrate this point, she raised her hand and snapped her fingers, causing a small ball of light to shiver above her fingers for a few moments.”

Marcus glared at her, “So what, this is revenge or something? Did my mom turn you into a frog or something?”

Esmeralda chuckled, “Not at all, really. In fact, I would have been absolutely fine leaving Catalina alone, she just has something I need.”

“What’s that?” Marcus said, cocking an eyebrow.

She shook her head, “Believe me, kid, you wouldn’t understand even if I told you.”

“Try me,” Marcus responded.

Esmeralda shrugged, “Alright, kid, your mom currently holds one of the keys to an ancient artifact called the mountain of light. I’m trying to get my hands on it.”

“What does it do?” Marcus asked.

Esmeralda smirked, “Kid, that, you really wouldn’t understand. Suffice to say it’s useful enough for me to track down everyone who had part of the key. You just happened to come into the picture, which gave me another option. I really didn’t want to destroy your mother.”

Marcus glared at Esmeralda, tugging at the chains a little. “You bitch!”

She shrugged in response, “If the circumstances were any different, I would retaliate for that comment, but, to be fair, if I were in your situation, I would have said worse.”

Marcus scowled and pulled at the chains, which held taught.

“Now, now, kid, you know, most people would be much happier at the news that their parents were going to be fine.”

Marcus frowned and leaned against the wall, “So, what exactly are you waiting for?”

Esmeralda smirked. “Well, kid, your mother knows exactly how to find us, but she’ll want to avoid fighting in front of you as well, so I’m hoping she’ll bring her part of the key for a trade.”

“And if she just shows up and destroys you?” Marcus responded with a smirk.

She paused and looked him over. “You know, that’s not very likely, however, you do bring up a good point. There’s absolutely no reason to believe she would trade fairly for you, presumably, once she had you, she could do whatever.”

A smile crept across Marcus’s face. “A flaw in your perfect plan?”

Esmeralda closed her eyes and shook her head, “Nope, a flaw in yours.”

The smile disappeared from Marcus’s face as he looked up at her, “What?”

Esmeralda bent over him and smiled, “You’re absolutely right, I have to do something to ensure that your mother isn’t going to try to ambush me after the fact.”

“What?” Marcus asked as Esmeralda reached over and placed her hands on his face. She closed his eyes and he felt a strange squirming sensation in his body. After several minutes she stood up, the smile staying on her face.

“My, my, Marcus, your mind is a rather interesting place.”

Marcus paused, “You just read my mind?”

She nodded, “Indeed, it seems your school is stressing you out quite a bit, and you wished more than once that you could avoid it.”

Marcus cocked an eyebrow, “So? Every student gets stressed sometimes.”

She nodded, “I see, tell me, what would you say if I told you I could help you avoid that stress?”

He looked around, confused at the notion. “What? How would that even be possible?”

She smirked and closed her eyes, waving her hands a little. Marcus squirmed as he felt a tingling spreading through his body.

“What are you doin...” Marcus paused as his voice cracked. He put his hand to his throat. “What’s wrong with my voice?” he squeaked.

Esmeralda bent over and placed her finger of Marcus’s chest. Marcus looked down to realize that his shirt now looked like a tent on him. He looked up at her and opened his mouth, but was too panicked to say anything.

He didn’t have to worry about the chains for long, as his hands soon slipped out of it. He grabbed his shirt, which was quickly engulfing him. He looked around panicked as he tried to walk away, only to find that he had shrunk to the point where his legs could no hold him. He tried to hell, only to find that what came out of his mouth was incomprehensible babble. He looked up to see Esmeralda towering over him. She reached down and grabbed him under the arms, lifting him up into the air.

“My, my, Marcus, you were such an adorable little scamp.”

Marcus stared at her, confused as she snapped her fingers. He looked down to see his clothes glisten for a few moments before swirling in the air around him. His pants had seemed to transform into a diaper, wrapping around him as his shirt shrunk to fit him.

Marcus looked down, his mind now struggling to take in his now tiny form. For some reason, he found tears welling up in his eyes. However, he soon lost the ability and began to wail uncontrollably.

Esmeralda smiled and lifted up his shirt, her finger glowing as she rubbed it across his stomach, several black marks appearing in the trail.

“Now, kid, you really are worth something.”

 

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