xxx. witch-hunt.

Mr. Schultz leapt out of bed. "What do you mean, kidnapped?"

Marisol sniffled, looking up from her spot on the ground. "I was on a facetime call and she suddenly fell asleep. I could see a man carrying her away through the camera. I took a screenshot."

"Show me the picture," Mr. Schultz said.

Marisol patted the space around her, only to realize that she had dropped her phone earlier. "I left it downstairs," she said, shooting up from her sitting position. She ran downstairs, hearing three sets of footsteps hurrying after her.

When she grabbed her phone off the ground, it was cracked, though not bad enough to ruin the screen. She had just unlocked it when the Schultz family ran up behind her, looking over her shoulders. Her hands shook as she opened her photo album and pressed on the picture.

The photo was exactly as Marisol had seen. The phone was on the ground, looking up at a man dressed in a suit, Colette slung over his shoulder. Because of the angle, it was hard to make out his facial features. In the bottom left corner of the screen was the small window that Marisol's own face was in, her eyes wide and panicked.

Nevada plucked the phone from Marisol's hands and zoomed into the photo. A glint of recognition sparked in their eye, though they still looked at Marisol. "Did she seem to recognize this person? Were there any names?"

Marisol blinked a few times. "It was hard to hear, but she definitely said a name. It was Seaburn? Sea-something."

"Cesar," Nevada said, narrowing their eyes at the phone, "I knew the greasy slicked back hair looked familiar. He's one of the bodyguards that Rosie Richards brought to our house."

The pieces clicked in Marisol's brain. The face did seem familiar, but she couldn't place it in her moment of panic. Nevada, observant as ever, had recognized him. "We have to tell somebody," Marisol said, "Like the president or the FBI."

Mr. Schultz sighed, "We can try submitting a tip, but who knows when they'll get to it? They get thousands of tips a day."

"I'll try submitting one anyway," Nevada said, "Better to do that than nothing." They tapped a few times on Marisol's phone before handing it back. They ran up the stairs towards their room, where they kept their laptop.

Marisol agreed, though she didn't think much would come out of it. She glanced over at Mr. Schultz, who looked deep in thought.

"What if the government planned this?" Marisol asked, "What if Cesar is carrying out orders?"

Mr. Schultz shook his head. "No, that's too risky. Besides, President Richards obviously wanted Colette to go through with the publicity stunt. Can you imagine how awful it would look if she disappeared the night before the executive order was to be signed?"

Marisol couldn't help but agree, though a lot of things didn't make sense. Why would Cesar kidnap Colette right before the executive order was signed? The bill would give him the ability to practice magic publicly without any legal repercussions. If anything, he should want Colette there.

"There's a military base a few hours away," said Mr. Schultz, "We can go there, try and see if they can get us into quick contact with the government. Otherwise, I don't see any other options."

"Let's go then," Marisol said, "We have to do everything as soon as possible, before he can get her far."

Mr. Schultz nodded. "I'll change and then we'll leave. Pack anything you might need. Make sure to bring your phone as evidence." He hurried upstairs.

Marisol looked at Mrs. Schultz, who stood nearby, silent.

"Are you coming?" Marisol asked.

Mrs. Schultz shook her head. "Nevada and I will stay here, in case anyone comes looking for you. Give me your phone number though, to keep me updated." Mrs. Schultz held out her cellphone, which Marisol typed her number into. When she was done, Mr. Schultz walked down the stairs.

"Are you ready to go?" He asked, now changed into jeans and a sweater. Marisol nodded, stuffing her phone in her pocket and grabbing her own sweatshirt, which had been discarded on the couch.

In a matter of seconds, Mr. Schultz and Marisol were in a car, pulling away from the house. Marisol punched the address into the built in GPS, and for nearly minutes, the robotic voice reading out directions was the only sound in the car. The silence was broken by Mr. Schultz clearing his throat.

"She's not going to go down without a fight," he said, eyes trained on the dimly lit road, "She's an incredible witch."

Marisol looked down at her hands. "Really? She said that she was only doing things with rocks when she trained with you. It all seemed pretty basic."

Mr. Schultz laughed, though it was quiet. "That's because I was teaching her control. In terms of raw power, she'd be in the top percentile. You saw what she did in New York."

Marisol couldn't bring herself to smile, but a small bit of pride swam in her chest. "But you can stop a waterfall," she said, "I can't think of anything more powerful than that."

Mr. Schultz glanced over at Marisol, a small grin on his face. "She told you that?" he said, his voice light. "I may be able to stop a waterfall, but that took years of honing my abilities to do, and I quickly become exhausted afterwards. Colette, with years of training, could stop five waterfalls at once."

"She's incredible," Marisol said, "but Cesar is stronger than her, right? I think he put her to sleep with some kind of spell. I could see her fighting it." Colette's eyes had been fluttering shut and then shooting open, as if there had been some battle over her consciousness.

"Anybody can fight against a mental spell like that, even those without magic. However, mental fortitude is about training, and not many people are trained to withstand a mental attack like that. Colette hasn't been trained in this area at all. The fact that she was able to fight it at all shows her strength."

Marisol sighed. That didn't change the face that Cesar ended up winning in the end.

Seeming to sense her apprehension, Mr. Schultz spoke again. "I don't know the extent of Cesar's powers, but I don't think that he's stronger than her in terms of natural talent. She's extremely powerful. I think he just has her beaten in skill."

"Will that be enough for her to hold on?"

Mr. Schultz hummed. "If he wanted to kill her, he could have done it right there. She won't be dead when we find her, I promise."

The mention of death, even in the context of Colette not dying, gnawed at Marisol's stomach. She slinked down in her seat and closed her eyes, trying to stop nausea from taking over her body.

Marisol didn't know that she had fallen asleep until her phone awoke her by shaking violently in her lap. She picked up her phone, only to see an unknown number calling. Usually if a number wasn't in her contact list, she'd just wait for them to leave a voicemail. However, she had given Mrs. Schultz her number at the house. She pressed the green answer button and held the phone up to her ear.

"Hello, is this Marisol Reyes?" The voice was female, but much too deep to be Mrs. Schultz.

"Uh, yes." Marisol responded. She slowly lowered the phone and put it on speaker mode, so that Mr. Schultz could hear also.

"This is the FBI," they said, "As you know, Colette has gone missing. You were the last person she called and we got a tip with a picture of her and you on a facetime call. We need to know what you saw."

Marisol glanced at Mr. Schultz, who nodded, assuring her that it was okay to tell. "It was Cesar," she said, "We were talking on Facetime and then Colette started acting weird, like she was trying to prevent herself from falling asleep. When she passed out, her phone dropped. After that is when I took the screenshot."

"What is Mr. Schultz's opinion on the matter?"

Marisoll looked over at the man driving. The expression on his face mirrored hers: confusion. Why would they ask about Mr. Schultz?

They must not have responded fast enough, because the person on the other side of the call spoke again. "I know that Mr. Schultz is a witch," they said, "I sensed it when I came over with the president. I'm Talia."

"I thought you were a secret service agent," she said, "How do I know you're not working with him?"

"I work with both the secret service and the FBI. Magic is a useful tool for the more secretive parts of the government, but we're stretched thin," she said, "And if you want to know that I'm not lying, I can put the president on the phone."

Marisol nodded. The White House was one of the most heavily guarded places in the country. If the president had gone missing, the news would have cycled around.

"Okay," she responded, "What should I do?"

"Can you get somewhere with a landline? Your voice has been cutting out and landlines are more secure."

"We're on our way to a military base right now. We didn't know how soon you'd get to the report."

"Is it the one closest to the Schultz home?"

"Yes."

"I'll inform them of your arrival," Talia said, "You'll call me as soon as I'm there. I'll take Mr. Schultz's help as well. It takes a witch to track a witch."

Talia didn't say anything more before hanging up.