Alyssa McCarthy's Magical Missions, Book 2
Middle-Grade Fantasy
Date Published: July 2019
History, like magic, has a habit of repeating itself...
It’s been six months since thirteen-year-old Alyssa McCarthy left magic behind for good. Or so she thought…
Then the enchanted objects that protected her disappear. Now a skeleton named Errol has cursed her with magical powers that keep getting her in trouble. Suddenly strange things are happening with disastrous effects, and if Alyssa can’t remove the magic, she will lose everything she holds dear.
In order to get rid of her unwanted wizardry, Alyssa will have to boost her bravery and confidence and determine who Errol really is. But every time Alyssa uses an enchantment, Errol is one step closer to getting his flesh back and becoming alive, and he will do anything to achieve his goals…even if it means destroying Alyssa’s happiness.
Originally published in 2016 as “Wizardry Goes Wild” and “The Uncontrollable Curse” in April 2019, “The Unruly Curse” is book two in the exciting and suspenseful paranormal Magical Missions series.
1
Lilac-colored
smoke poured in through the slight opening under Alyssa’s bedroom window.
Alyssa leaped back. She swore the window had been closed when she’d come in
here a few minutes ago.
The gas clouded into her room,
blocking her sight. It washed onto her, causing her to squint and lean back.
She coughed, rubbed her eyes, and opened them. The smoke faded. Someone must’ve
pulled a prank, and not just any kind—one that involved…wizardry.
Alyssa’s breathing sped up. She shut
the window and gazed at the huge yard and long driveway. No one was outside—not
even Alex, her godfather and legal guardian.
Perhaps the trespasser had escaped
or had hidden somewhere—maybe behind the tree on the lawn or somewhere else on
the property.
Alyssa hurried out, brushing ash
from her muted purple shirt. She entered the ground floor and opened the front
door. “Hello?!”
There was no answer.
“Whoever set that smoke off, it
wasn’t funny!”
The silence continued.
Despite the freezing air this autumn
evening, Alyssa stepped onto the front porch. A piece of paper appeared out of
nowhere, making her jump. She picked it up, anyway.
Welcome
back to magic.
Her chest tightened. She hadn’t
encountered a single instance of wizardry in six months! Plus, she had two
objects that were supposed to protect her from such encounters.
She dashed back up to her room and
opened the closet door. Tape hung from a shoebox, and the items that she had
left in there…were missing.
Heart jackhammering, Alyssa moved
shoes and other boxes around. The two things might’ve fallen when she and Alex
had moved here from Ohio in the spring after Alex had lost his job there. No
one could have stolen them while Alex had taken her to Chicago this afternoon,
right?
As Alyssa picked up the same
shoebox, her palms warmed up, and light beams shot out of both hands. She
screamed as the rays smashed into each other, and then faded, revealing a tiny,
rainbow-colored, bouncy ball.
Alyssa’s body stiffened, as if
paralyzed. Her jaw hung as she gaped at the bouncing ball.
How
could I have done magic? Alyssa asked herself. I’m not a wizard.
As the object jumped onto her knee,
she yelped and fell back. It had left a multi-colored stain on her leggings.
She sat up. The toy sprung onto her
narrow shoulders and then to the top of her head, where it cracked like an egg.
“Ow!” Alyssa covered that area and
then ran her fingers down her straight, pale-blonde hair, checking for any
unusual, hard textures. She lifted the ends up from the area a few inches past
her hips, where the length fell to. There were tiny plastic ball-bits stuck in
her tresses, so she pulled them out.
Alex knocked on the door. “Alyssa,
are you ready for the party?”
“Not yet.”
“It’s almost six o’clock, sweetie.
The tent in the backyard is already set up.”
“Something’s wrong with me!”
Alex opened the door, already
wearing his suit. “What’s the matter?”
“I…I…”
Alex had tied his shoulder-length
light-brown hair into a ponytail. “What’s going on?”
Alyssa whimpered. “Ma…ma…”
“Are you all right?”
She shook her head.
Alex looked away and covered his
goatee. “Your closet’s a mess.”
“I did magic!” Alyssa’s breathing quickened.
“I did magic!” Alyssa’s breathing quickened.
Alex opened his mouth. “No way. That
doesn’t make sense.”
“I did!” Alyssa sucked in
inhalations. “I’m not making this up!”
Alex tilted his head.
“I told you about magic back in
March! I was kidnapped and taken to Fiji by an evil wizard! And then one of the
mentors gave me a couple of little things to keep me safe!”
“Wait, what?”
“The objects are gone! Somebody must’ve
stolen them!”
Alex clapped both hands over his
mouth.
“I looked everywhere in my closet! I
can’t find them!”
Alex removed his hands from his
mouth.
“How could you forget these
things?!”
He remained mute.
“What the heck?!” She sat on her bed,
and her breathing still hurried.
“I’m sorry.” Alex closed the door
and left.
He’d wanted to hold this party over
the summer. But his agricultural-engineering and country-singing jobs had kept
him from setting a date.
Alyssa considered the ways in which
she might remove these powers. Maybe one of her previous mentors would know a
way. Like technology, magic became more advanced over time.
2
Could
he be the one who jinxed me? Alyssa
asked herself.
She
opened her bedroom door.
“Where
are you going?” asked a strange voice.
Gasping,
Alyssa turned around. A gloved, black-cloaked figure with a gray mask over his
face stood nearby. He also held a sheer cloth in one arm.
“E…Errol?”
“Yes.”
He nodded. “It’s me.”
“What
the heck have you done to me?!”
Errol
sighed. “It’s…it’s…”
“Horrible!
Shame on you!”
“I had
no other choice. You’re my only hope of making me looking good again.”
“What
kind of—?”
“Quiet.”
Errol removed his gloves, showing hands made only of beige bones with white
light surrounding them.
Alyssa’s
jaw fell. Errol took off his mask. He had only a skull, which had the same
luminosity shining around it.
“Look at
me,” he said. “Don’t I look hideous?”
Alyssa stayed
silent.
“I do,
don’t I?”
Alyssa
sighed.
“Don’t
sigh at me,” Errol choked. “I can’t take it anymore. I’ve had enough of people
freaking out at me and calling me the Grim Reaper.”
“So, why
do I have to help you become human again?”
“Because
I used a special device to find out about the most powerful wizard ever, and it
told me. I could only find his soul in the reincarnation acid. You remember
Master Beau? And the magical connection he made with you last year to find you
when he felt ready?”
“Yes, but
he’s dead now.”
“His
soul is strengthening, though, and the connection has come back.”
Alyssa
inhaled.
“I’ve put
some of the magic from Master Beau’s soul into my potion so that the magical
waves can form a bond.”
“Are you
kidding me?”
“If I
had cursed somebody else, the enchantments would’ve done nothing to
Master Beau’s spirit.”
“But I
can’t let—”
“Do I
have to repeat myself?”
Alyssa
exhaled.
“According
to an app on my device, Master Beau had the ability to give skeletons—dead or
alive—flesh and blood and, you know, so on.”
“Yeah,
right.”
“He did.
The app even told me that he used to experiment on dead skeletons. He was the only
one from the reincarnation acid underground that I could find.”
“So,
where did you come from?”
Errol
sniffled. “I…I’d rather not talk about it.”
“Why
not?”
“I just
don’t want to. You know what to do now. Without the things you got in April—”
“Speaking
of which, where are they?”
“I sent
my friend out to get them and then I disabled them. They were getting in my
way.”
“Ugh!”
Alyssa covered her forehead. “Please get these powers out of me.”
“I can’t
do that. Sorry.”
Scooter
barked from downstairs. Errol turned to the door and gasped. “I’m going to go
now.” He put his gloves and mask back on. Then he pulled his poncho over
himself, making him invisible, held out his arms, and disappeared.
Alyssa
considered Errol’s frail-looking bones and small size. She, too, stood near the
shorter side for her age. But maybe she could still knock his bones down as if
he were a piñata, and succeed.
Magic
might’ve advanced enough to awaken the dead—at least wizards. Yet, whoever had
resurrected Errol had failed to provide him with flesh, organs, and everything
else he needed to make him human.
Alyssa
thought about what skills she could use. While the dance studio she attended
had gone under renovations, she’d taken jazz, tap, and ballet classes since
early childhood. The movements could help with fighting Errol.
About the Author
Sunayna Prasad is passionate about fantasy and magic in fiction. She has also written the previous installment, "The Frights of Fiji" and enjoys worldbuilding. She lives in New York.
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