Jacked Read online

  Jacked

  A Witchy Bakery Holiday

  Naomi Muse

  Copyright © 2018 by Naomi Muse

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Cover Design by James, GoOnWrite.com

  Formatted by Nina Morse

  Contents

  Jacked

  Author Introduction – Naomi Muse

  Angelo wasn’t sure what was happening, but Nova seemed worked up. She barely brushed him before their morning walk. She grabbed his leash and hustled him out the door. He hoped that they were going to the bakery, but no matter how hard he pulled on his leash, she wouldn’t take the proper street. It seemed like they were going someplace new.

  Unfamiliar places were Angelo’s favorite. There were all kinds of new smells. Sometimes, there were even other animals. He wasn’t too fond of cats, but other dogs were a lot of fun. Unless they were those short nervous jerks. Nova said they were Chihuahuas. Angelo they were high-strung.

  Angelo marked every tree along this new route. He had to make sure he could smell his way back home in case they got lost. It would be a lot easier if a certain someone would stop rushing him. Nova was a lovely woman, but her sense of smell was awful. That’s probably why she was such a terrible baker. At least her heart was in the right place.

  They rounded a corner and came to a sign that said pumpkin patch. Angelo had never seen a pumpkin before, and there were so many of them. When he lifted his leg near one, he was immediately rebuffed. Angelo wasn’t sure how she expected him to pick one if he couldn’t mark his favorites. He snorted.

  What was the big deal about pumpkins, anyway? It's not like they had meat inside of them. Unless… Angelo rushed to the nearest pumpkin, sniffing fervently. He licked it tentatively and jumped back, shaking his head. It tasted like dirt tainted with vegetables. Angelo hated vegetables. Nova claimed that his favorite biscuits had beets in them, but he was sure that wasn’t true. They were delicious, and everyone knew that vegetables were gross.

  Now Angelo wanted a treat. Nova rarely carried anything for him to eat. He would have to go hungry until they headed home. She wasn’t paying any attention to him, anyway. She was talking to another new person. He lived in Temperance before she even came to town, yet he still didn’t know nearly as many people as she did. Nova would talk to anyone.

  If he was careful, Angelo knew that he could slip his leash. He sat down and pretended to scratch his ear with his hind leg. Nova didn’t even look in his direction. He loosened his collar and began slowly backing up until he was just out of her line of sight. Angelo pulled his head out of the collar and took off running towards the nearby trees as fast as his legs would carry him.

  “Angelo, no!” Nova shouted behind him.

  She was too late. The dog was sprinting around the pumpkins as fast as his furry legs would carry him. The laughter of nearby children only encouraged him. He let out a yelp as he headed for a tree. If he couldn’t mark the pumpkins, he could mark as many trees near them as he could. It was his right as a dog. He ran from tree to tree as fast as he could. Nova was kind, but she was powerful. He didn’t want to get on her bad side and get turned into a cat.

  Once Angelo had marked a decent amount of trees, he headed back to her making sure to avoid any pumpkins on the way. He didn’t want to get their stench on him. It took him longer than he expected. He had to stop and let people pet him. Angelo thought it would be rude to deny the people what could be the highlight of their day. Allowing strangers to pat his soft fur was a public service. Not to mention that it made him feel good.

  “Angelo that is enough. Stop being such a ham.” Nova said, rolling her eyes.

  Angelo gave a soft woof and shook his head. When he got closer, he realized that she was holding one of those stinky pumpkins. Something about it seemed off. He growled at the pumpkin. Nova cut his growl short when she fastened his collar around his neck.

  He let out a dramatic cough and even added a gag for good measure to try to get sympathy. Nova stuck her tongue out at him. They went to pay for the pumpkin and Angelo couldn’t shake the feeling that the pumpkin was mocking him.

  Back home, Angelo gave the pumpkin a wide berth. He could feel it watching him. When he saw Nova pull out a knife and approach the pumpkin, he was relieved. At least it would be dead soon. Now that the pumpkin would be handled, Angelo was ready for his nap. He headed for his dog bed, wagging his tail.

  After his nap, Angelo headed to the kitchen for some water. He was trying to remember where he had left his favorite ball when he saw it. That awful pumpkin wasn’t dead. Now it had a face. A sinister face. This pumpkin was worse than any Chihuahua Angelo had ever seen. He charged across the room barking and snarling. He had to get this monster out of his house.

  Angelo’s front paws hit the counter just as Nova came back into the room. He didn’t hear the spell she used, but he felt himself floating up into the air. Witches always had a spell ready. Angelo refused to make eye contact with Nova as he tried to air swim to the horrifying orange face.

  “Angelo, that is enough,” Nova said, stepping into his path. “Jack is going on our front steps and you need to leave him alone. He isn’t bothering you.”

  She flew him right out of the kitchen and back to his bed, chastising him the whole way. At this rate, he was never going to get his water. Angelo couldn’t believe that she was going to let that thing stay. Sitting it in front of the house seemed like an insult.

  Once Nova released the spell, Angelo got right up. Before Nova could bespell him again, he headed for the door and did the bathroom butt wiggle. There was no way she would make him stay inside.

  Nova sighed and stomped over to the door to open it and let him out. Angelo happily ran down the steps and into the yard. He was glad to be away from Jack. Angelo was hoping there was a puddle he could sip from before Nova caught on.

  Angelo was enjoying his freedom. He marked the trees that needed marking and did his daily investigating of the yard. There were no puddles, but the weather was still great. There was a light breeze that brought him all sorts of strange smells. Then, he turned around and saw Jack sitting on the front steps right next to the door with that sickly grin on his face.

  He couldn't understand what Nova saw in the gourd. It made him uneasy. He crept closer to give it a sniff. Before he could get a good gauge on it, Nova opened the door and ushered him back inside. He felt like Jack was laughing at him.

  The rest of the night went normally. They ate and laughed while watching TV. Dogs didn’t laugh out loud, but they did have silly grins. Still, Angelo couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. When he was falling asleep, he heard whispering. He immediately sat up.

  Angelo waited with his ears cocked. The whispering came again. He crept through the house. Slowly, he realized it was coming for the from the kitchen. There on the counter sat Jack with green smoke billowing out of the holes where his eyes and mouth should be. The smoke was even seeping out around the seam that held his stem in place.

  Angelo wasn't sure what to do. He knew if he barked Nova would come running, but what if the smoke disappeared? That could get him in even more trouble. He decided to watch and see what happened. Jack let out a sinister laugh again, and it made all of Angelo's fur stand on end. He had to bite back the growl that was threatening to build in his throat.

  A dark shadow began to form in the green smoke. Slowly, the shadow took shape. It had long spindly limbs in the big round head. The head was almost the same shape as the pumpkin. This was more than Angelo could take. He growled and snarled at the
pumpkin spirit.

  It turned to him in with a grin matching one on Jack's face and held a shadowy finger to its mouth, to shush him. Angelo barked and lunged at the smoke. As quickly as it had taken shape, it disappeared back into the pumpkin. Nova came running into the kitchen and saw Angelo barking at the pumpkin. She crossed her arms.

  “Angelo. What did I tell you? That's enough.”

  She took one step into the room and stopped. Nova waved her hands slowly from left to right. A puzzled look crossed her face. Angelo could tell that the witch knew something was wrong.

  “I think you should come sleep in my bed tonight. Maybe you just need some love,” she said.

  A small shiver went through her as she looked at Jack. Angelo and Nova headed to her room. The dog felt better knowing that he would be there to protect Nova if the spirit came back. He wouldn't be sleeping tonight.

  In the morning, Nova seemed to be back to her usual self. She rolled over, stretched, and gave Angelo a scratch behind the ears. It was Angelo’s favorite way to wake up. Suddenly, she stopped and looked at Angelo in surprise.

  “What are you doing here? You know you’re not allowed to sleep in the bed. Did you come up here when I had that weird dream?”

  Angelo’s ears drooped. He had hoped that particular rule would be lifted. He wasn’t sure what dream she was talking about.

  “There was some weird entity in the house. Something to do with Jack. I think all of your fussing over him got to my head,” she said.

  Angelo whined pushing his nose against her palm. Nova was usually so intuitive. He hoped that she would get the point this time around too. She didn’t. She laughed.

  Angelo would just have to figure this one out himself. He waited until Nova was in the shower. He slowly crept to the kitchen. The cursed pumpkin was still on the counter where it had stood the night before. It was silent today. There was no laughing and definitely no smoke.

  Jack still had the strange smell that put Angelo on edge back at the field. It was probably the evil that he smelled. He had been around spirits before, but nothing like this one. Maybe if he pushed it off the counter and it broke, that would be the end of it. It was worth a shot.

  Angelo moved out of view the pumpkin’s eyes. He got low to the ground and moved into position to pounce. He sprung off the ground, jaws ready to seize Jack by the stem. Two arms grabbed him around the waist and spun him away.

  It was Nova again. Angelo had never known her to be light on her feet. She was thwarting him at every turn. Nova set Angelo down on the ground. She leaned down, cradling his face in her hands. A look of concern creased her brow.

  “Angelo, honey. What is going on? Did something happen to you with your former owner? Is that why you hate pumpkins?”

  Angelo never meant to make Nova worry. His former owner was a food blogger. The only thing that he had ever done that might have harmed Angelo was feed him too much decadent food. Angelo had loved his former master. He was a loyal pooch after all. When she was investigating the blogger’s murder, Angelo decided that he was made for Nova. Even if he could talk, he wouldn’t be able to explain how he knew. Angelo believed it was his animal instincts. Everyone knew that animals had the best instincts.

  He licked Nova’s face and wagged his tail. She smiled back at him, pleased by his reaction. Angelo had to find a new way to get rid of the haunted pumpkin that didn’t worry Nova.

  Most familiars could access some form of magic. Some shape shifted, others flew, and some had powers that no one else even knew about. Angelo hadn’t used his magic yet, but these were drastic times.

  When Nova let Angelo outside for his potty break, he went right to work. After marking his territory, he began gathering branches. Nova let Angelo have free reign with his toys, so she would never notice. Since he was a familiar, shopping could be a bit tricky. All his magical ingredients were found in nature.. He couldn’t use spoken words, but focusing his intent got the job done.

  Angelo managed to cause just enough aggravation for Nova to decide that he didn’t need to come with her to work. She took Jack outside and set him on the front step before locking the door on her way out. Angelo wasn’t sure if that would keep the pumpkin out, but it probably wouldn’t walk around in broad daylight.

  Once Angelo watched Nova turn out of the driveway, he headed back to his collection of sticks. He carefully arranged them in a circle and stepped inside. Angelo sat in the center of the circle being careful not to let his paws or tail touch any of the sticks.

  First, he had to think of all the things that he liked to get in the proper mind frame. He closed his eyes and thought of chomping on crunchy leaves, strange smells in the wind and muddy puddles. When his tail began to wag, thumping against the floor, his magic was activated.

  Angelo’s magic was a warm orange color. It reflected his favorite season, the fall. It was fitting that this season was the one that birthed the orange abomination on the front stairs. Now that his magic was active, Angelo had to figure out how to use it to stop Jack.

  He didn’t want to leave his protective circle. Angelo let out his most challenging bark. Something told him that the pumpkin spoke dog. He heard movement on the front steps. Soon there was scratching at the door. Angelo growled then barked again. He heard the click of the lock releasing. The front door slowly began to open.

  Angelo was on his feet, ready to face any threat that came his way. A green glow wrapped around the shadowy figure that came through followed by that wretched Jack. The pumpkin with his eternal grin came in and was sizing Angelo up. Jack approached the circle. When he tried to reach out and grab Angelo, his magical green smoke sparked and fizzled. He drew back away from the circle and hissed. The glow from his magical eyes brightened.

  While Jack was circling around trying to find a way into the circle, Angelo went to work. He turned to make sure that Jack was never behind him while simultaneously using his tail to widen the circle of sticks. Jack wasn’t paying attention. His frustration was getting the best of him.

  The evil jack-o'-lantern made a misstep and landed right in the enlarged circle. Orange and green sparks burst through wherever his green magic swirled. Angelo flattened his ears and bared his teeth, but he held his ground.

  Eventually, the magic burned out, and the shadow folded in on itself. Jack’s head crashed to the floor. Angelo sniffed it tentatively. Once he determined that it was a harmless gourd, he assessed the damage. Most of the pumpkin was still in one piece. There was a large crack across the bottom.

  Since both Angelo and the pumpkin were inside the circle, his magic would be able to fix it. He began licking the tear in the pumpkin just as he would his own injuries. Soon, Angelo’s orange magic began to glow. The wound on the pumpkin stitched itself shut.

  When the spell was complete, Angelo bowed to the center of the circle in thanks. He gathered the sticks and put them in the basket by his bed. He went back to check the pumpkin one last time. It was still just a pumpkin. Angelo laid down, curled around it, and went to sleep. He could rest easy now that his house was safe again. What a way to start Halloween.

  Author Introduction – Naomi Muse

  Naomi Muse sees the world through magically tinted glasses. You may know them as shades, she just likes to look fancy. She seeks magic in everyday situations, which is why she writes urban fantasy and science fiction. Naomi believes people can overcome anything, including monsters and aliens.

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