What Now?

Before long, the rest of the glitches had hurriedly made their way out to the garden and were gathered around Mel with concerned expressions. They could see just how devastated she looked.

"What happened Mel? Are you okay?" Sophie asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine" Mel answered, trying to hold back her tears "But this is Noelle"

She held up the little white field mouse in her hand sadly. Maggie rushed forward, unable to contain herself.

"No! What the fuck!" she exclaimed as Melanie solemnly handed her transformed girlfriend to her "What happened?"

"Rebecca got her" Melanie explained sadly "She did manage to get one of the rings on her first. But I feel like we were sabotaged somehow. It almost felt like she was expecting us"

"What about Tania?" Cassie asked,

"This is her" Melanie held up the small Sophie shaped statue "At least we have her back, I suppose"

"Can we reverse the spells?" Chantelle wanted to know.

"Tania is mid range. I can use magic on those, so I can probably fix her once I have recharged" Melanie speculated "But using magic on Noelle is way beyond my skill level"

There was a deathly silence among the glitches. Firstly, the person they had all been banking on to lead them to victory against Rebecca had been reduced to the form of a harmless little rodent before the battle had even really begun. Beyond that, there was real concern about how they were ever going to be able to ever restore their friend to her former self. Maggie looked distraught.

"So what now?" Abi was beginning to panic, as were many of the group.

"Noelle did at least manage to get one of Maggie's rings on Rebecca before she got zapped. That should weaken her, and she has probably exhausted her magical charge for now. But we have really kicked a hornets nest here and she is going to strike back soon. We have to be prepared for that" Mel warned.

"We still have five witches, against one who is at least partially handicapped" Chantelle spoke up "Lets' not lose hope just yet. Mel is in charge of our magical troops now, and Cass and I will continue to plan a strategy to get back at Rebecca. We have each other, she has no one. Between us, we will beat this bitch."

"It can't be a truce now" Maggie called out angrily "We have to finish the evil cunt. For good"

"I actually agree with you" Chantelle nodded "She is never going to go away otherwise. And she has done too much already to ever be forgiven"

"What about Tania?" Lucy asked "If we are being pragmatic here, she knows more about Rebecca than anyone. And it doesn't seem like she would be her biggest fan anymore. She could actually help us a lot"

"I'll see if I can turn her back and we can take things from there" Cassie decided, taking the small statue from Mel and waving a hand over it. The stone girl morphed from a small ornamental Sophie into a small ornamental Tania, but that was the only change Cassie could manage for now.

"I can fix her properly tomorrow" Melanie offered.

"Until then she's mine" Lexie suddenly announced.

"Why? What are you going to do with her?" Cassie asked a little uncertainly.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to harm her, I'm not a monster" Lexie reassured her friends "But you have to admit, the irony is delicious. You can't deny me this, not after everything she put me through"

Cassie, a little reluctantly. passed the Tania statue to Lexie, who cradled her smugly in her hands.

"Well, well Tannie. How the tables have turned! It looks like you are going to be spending the night with me!" Lexie cackled wickedly.

"There really isn't much more we can do this evening. We'll regroup in the morning" Chantelle told the group, before they solemnly dispersed.