THE DOOR slammed shut. Light, windswept footsteps followed. Everything was silent as the witch's ragged breathing grew further down the hallway.

The only thing Andy could hear was his own breath. Even Hex and Chip were frozen as they stared fearfully at the door as if any time the old hag would barge in and find them hiding in one of the rooms. They were lucky enough that the room closest to them when Andy made an involuntary noise was unlocked, so they slipped in. The room was such a mess as if someone had torn it apart in rage. All the things were tipped over on the floor.

"Is she gone?" Andy mouthed to the two while pressing his ear to the door. Chip imitated him and strained his oval ear, and listened.

How should I know? Hex hissed, seemingly not pleased by this turn of events.

"You're a cat!" Andy whisper-yelled at him. "Your sense of hearing should be four times farther away than humans. Well? Is she far enough?"

True, Hex said thoughtfully, and they grew perfectly silent and strained their ears.

Tick.

Tock.

Tick.

Tock.

Only the repetitive mutterings of the clock could be heard despite the five living beings occupying the mansion. But maybe that was because, despite having visitors after such a long time—Andy, Hex, and Chip were suddenly engaged in a game of hide-and-seek.

All clear. How about you? Hex said to Chip.

Ain't hearing anything, bud.

Good. Let's go, and make this quick. I can't stand being in this place anymore, said Hex, shivering.

"Then the more we can avoid creating a noise, the better," Andy said as he turned the knob and pulled the door gingerly, wincing when its hinges made a squeaky noise. But luckily for them, the coast remained clear in the hallway. "We don't want the witch spotting us, or else our heads will be stewed in that nasty cauldron of hers."

They tiptoed down the hall, pausing to look behind them as the hair and fur on their back stood at the odd feeling of being watched. Despite the egging warning in the back of his mind, Andy led the two away from the squeaky floorboards with deft, opened the door the smallest crack, and slipped through sideways.

The inside of the room was much larger than it looked from the outside but so dark and cramped and filled with indistinguishable things that the effect was much less grand than it could have been. A primitive fire burned coals on the floor without a ring or anything around to contain it. Its pitch-black smoke billowed in a single spiral like a twister, passing through the wood ceiling planks with ease.

"Wait," said Andy before Chip could nudge the door shut. He slid the small traveling backpack he sneaked out of his aunt's closet off his shoulders and rummaged through his various trinkets. The clanging of metals against metals and baubles against beads came from inside the bag. What those things were for, Hex didn't know. Even Chip never had an idea! Sometimes, he could not understand how Andy's head worked. The boy would call himself smart, but Chip wasn't sure anymore.

Eventually, Andy pulled out a gleaming steel box with extending, hydraulic arm shovels with articulated fingers bound on its sides. Its head contained an audio-visual sensor mounted on a long articulated neck.

"Chip, Hex, meet Spy-O, Roby's little brother. He'll be our lookout in this mission as we find a way to free Elsie from that strange orb," said Andy as he carried the tiny robot in his arms like a delicate baby. Spy-O swiveled his steel neck around, studying the room with his round glassy eyes out of sheer curiosity, before finally landing at his master's companions. Such cranky things they were, with funny-looking faces, bodies full of hairs, and flexible sticks sprouting at their backsides.

Roby? Chip exclaimed in surprise. Your robot clock Roby has a brother? And you named him Spy-O?

Spy-O's glass orb eyes blinked red. He leaped off Andy's arms and circled the spot where Chip and Hex were, his caterpillar tread grating from the lack of oil. The two huddled close to each other. Chip threw Andy a pleading look, whereas Hex snarled and clawed at the robot whenever it went past him.

Andy laughed a little as he scratched his head. He picked Spy-O up and cast them an apologetic smile. "I have already downloaded your information to Spy-O's memory bank, so he must have recognized your voice, Chip, although, to him, it was just your bark. I was planning to finish installing his other features this summer but... things sort of went out of hand with this Fairton business."

Well, if you wish for this Fairton business to be over soon, then do what you ought to do with that thing. Trust me. I don't want to be in this place any longer than you do, Hex hissed, and it was only then that Andy remembered why he brought Spy-O out. He placed the tiny robot down and then gave him a gentle push.

"Spy-O, can you stand guard outside the door? And if you see an old, ugly, wrinkly, and warty hag, alert us, okay?" he said, leaning forwards to the little fellow, and Spy-O returned it with a grand salute before wheeling himself out the door, gingerly closing it behind him. Andy immediately got up and combed once again inside his bag and extracted a transparent pouch containing colorful beads and marbles. He tipped it over, making its contents spill and dribble like giant raindrops onto the floor.

Hex tilted his head, narrowing his eyes, and Andy knew at once what was going on in that little head of his, so he felt the urge to explain himself. "I'm just doing what an Outlander like myself can do."

Perhaps, this was one of those rare moments that Hex would admit that Andy could be really dependable at times. As Hex watched the boy give his command earlier to the squeaky, annoying thing, not once had he stutter, and he looked so strong and brave, quite different from the wimp he knew him as. For once, he indeed appeared smart in the Familiar's eyes.

Do you think the witch will fall on your trap, Andy? Wait, is there a real candy in here? Chip asked as he sniffed on the mixed beads and marbles. Andy merely shrugged at either of his questions and ran over to where Elsie was curled into a ball, sound asleep. Andy, Hex, and Chip sighed with relief at the same time when they realized she wasn't, in any way, hurt. Her hat and dress robe were all in the right places.

Andy knocked on the glittering cage encasing Elsie, producing a loud thunk. "It is made of glass! And it's thick we might have a hard time breaking it," he said, rapping on the circular cage once more, then looked into Hex. "Can't you breathe your fire on it? If the fire is hot enough, which I bet yours is, the glass will soften."

Nah, I don't think it'll work, bud, said Chip. That's not a regular glass, you know.

Andy groaned, his shoulder slumping. "You're right. But hey, Hex's fire isn't any ordinary fire either. Just try it once, Hex."

Hex rolled his eyes but did as he told anyway. He gulped in mouthfuls of stale air, his chest swelling as he filled more into his lungs, and released a much larger burst of fire. The fire spread wider and wider, bouncing off the starry glass cage across the ceiling. Its blaze spun towards them like a venomous mist, and soon it overtook them, turning the room into an ocean of fire. Until slowly, as if someone had snuffed out a candle, Hex's fire recoiled like a retreating sea wave and vanished. It was much to Andy's relief that no one was harmed—though he would later reprimand Hex for his brashness—yet it was to his disappointment that the cage imprisoning Elsie remained intact.

Told you, Chip said, shrugging.

Tch, said Hex, mouth curling in annoyance. Then he gestured to a shelf, which had on it things that made Andy squirm: moldering jars of foul-smelling ointments, shiny black plants that looked more liquid than fiber, cloches protecting half-fleshed skeletons that could have been human or reptile—and which moved a little when not looked at directly. Also, a set of musty black-bound books, some of which had blinking eyeballs set on their covers.

"Hmm, I wonder if we can find some sort of spell in there that can unlock this cage." But before they could go on and take a closer look on the shelf (no matter how creepy it was), a loud, fluttering noise of an alarm jolted them on the spot. Spy-O squeezed in through the small gap of the slightly ajar door. His spherical eyes blinked a frantic red as he scuttled on his caterpillar tread over them, hydraulic arms beating wildly in the air.

"W-What? What is it?" Andy asked nervously. Spy-O revolved around them, making Andy dizzy. But Hex and Chip realized what was happening right away, and they leaped in front of Andy, crouching lower in a defensive stance and glaring at the door.

"Beware! Beware! Unwanted presence coming. Beware!"

Almost as soon as he thought things couldn't worsen, a terrifying sound rang in his ears. The sudden bang of the door slamming into the wall made his thin face grow pale. And then he saw her. At this point, his denial of the existence of the supernatural was a funny and naive thing. Draped in a long, sagging, black robe stood the witch in the doorway. Held securely in her bony right hand was a dark wooden staff with a white skull—with a turquoise round stone in its mouth—on top of it. Her skin was thick with grease and soot. And when she turned to fix a pair of milky eyes on her unexpected guests, her mouth split into a devilish sneer, revealing her yellowing, gapped teeth. Andy's heart almost stopped, but Hex and Chip wouldn't give the slightest flinch as they stayed alert.

"Ah, visitors!" she cried, surprisingly merry. "Such a long time— AGHH!" The witch let out a high-pitched wail and collapsed onto the floor as she stepped on the beads and marbles that Andy left scattered across the doorway.

WIIIIIIITCH! Hex cried and practically flew the distance in one leap, claws drawn.

You heard him, Andy. WITCH! Chip shouted and launched himself at the witch.

Andy, too stunned to do much else, watched the scene with unblinking eyes. Hex claws made ripping noises as they snagged through the witch's robe. The old hag blocked her face with her spindly arms, and Hex sank his teeth into the tensile flesh. She let out a yowl and thrashed wildly from being sprawled on the floor, kicking Chip, who was champing on the end of her robe in the process.

Hearing Chip's whimper as he was thrown a great distance, Andy had had enough. While the witch was distracted by this, Andy took the opportunity to extract a weapon randomly from his bag. He got himself his recently developed toy gun that could fire an arrow with tickle-inducing suctions.

The witch finally got rid of Hex, and she started getting up. But Andy wouldn't give her the chance to recover. He aimed the toy gun's muzzle and pulled the trigger. The arrow shot away with a quiet hiss and connected with a loud pop! on her forehead. There wasn't much force applied, but it still sent the witch on her butt anyway. And then she started squirming and laughing and scratching on her arms, sides, neck, and anywhere that tickles. She fell to her back, thrashing in the air, as she clutched her stomach while laughing loudly.

"W-What... did... you d-do?" she said in between her laughs. Her milky eyes glared at him despite the tears of joy streaming down them. "Oh, spare this old woman. Make... it... s-stop!"

But Andy was smarter than what this witch had taken him for. If he made it stop, who knew what she'd do? Act like his grandmother, perhaps? It would be more than likely to acquire a curse or be tortured with a voodoo doll. Come to think of it. He did spot a collection of those dolls pinned to the ceiling by the knives on their chests. Andy was too young to die.

Spy-O came forth, a small water cannon protruding from the opening of his body cavity. He aimed the cannon at the witch's face then it gunned down a blast of soap water, so now she was laughing and crying simultaneously.

"Devil! Vile! Abomination!" the witch screeched madly, searching blindly for the little robot as she could. "I will get you! I will get you with my own hands, you'll see!"

"Not if we get to you first." Andy had a rope in his hand, which he had gotten while everyone was distracted by all the commotion. He began to twist the ropes around the witch's upper body; however, he was having a hard time doing so with all their captive's thrashing and violent movement. But suddenly, there was a strong force that slammed into his chest, sending him in a backward stagger.

"No can do, boy," a man's voice, high-pitched and gritty, spoke. Andy almost tripped himself in fright at the witch's wooden staff hovering in front of him. His hollow eyes curved in a smile as he looked at the boy interestingly.

The two were frozen as they sized each other up. The staff leaned forwards and grinned at Andy's face eerily. "BAH!" he cried out and chased Andy, Chip, and Spy-O around the room in no time. He let out a mad cackling sound. There was even a moment when Chip's behind would get whacked by the end of his stick body.

The witch's cries for help persisted in the background, and the wooden staff halted in his fun chase and sighed exasperatedly. "Alright, alright, Greta." He glided over to her and knocked the arrow off her forehead.

And then the laughter died down, replaced by a heavy panting. With a face contorting in rage, she leaped to her feet, swiped the wooden staff firmly fixed in her hand, and gave it a big wave. The rope which lay in a heap at her feet rose into the air and tangled itself around the three and worked the finishing knots methodically, ignoring Andy's words as well as his kicking legs.

"NO! Unhand us, villain!" With his hands bound in a tight restriction, there was no way he could freely delve into his handy tools. He just wished he had thought of putting something sharp strapped in his pants. "You monster! You villainous cur!"

"Hush, or I'll cut your tongue," the witch hissed, stopping Andy from throwing more insults at her.

"Cut it off! Cut it!" said the wooden staff and broke into a despicable laugh.

"Who are you?" Andy scoffed. There was a dark look in his eyes. He tried to appear blinded by his rage so that there wasn't anything he could do but throw her mean looks even though he was already formulating a plan inside his head.

"Me?" She waddled back and forth in front of her fire, a giddy, almost child-like look on her face as she tapped her tooth in thought.

Andy fidgeted.

Chip whispered, Where's Hex, Andy?

"I don't know. Even the witch doesn't notice we're missing one," Andy whispered back.

"Spy-O doesn't know where Master Hex is, Master Andy," the little robot said at the same hushed level.

The witch whirled round, and the three jumped like students caught by a teacher. She had one of her hands tucked inside the left sleeve of her baggy robes. She held out a bright ruby-red fruit in her wrinkled hand. "Perhaps this can tell you who I am."