Zelda (2009)
24 - Zed and TedHilda watched as William opened the package that Theo had left on the table, well hidden in plain sight. Inside it were a few small glass containers with liquids that looked like water but definitely weren't. There also was a box with yellow pills. "I don't think they are lemon flavoured just because they're yellow, right?" the witch asked. "You're right. I don't know my way around this stuff but it's not something you would use for its taste." William wrapped the package up again. On his request, Hilda made an exact copy of it. The copy however contained vials with real water, and the pills did taste like lemon. The couple then simply waited for evening to come, as the people who would collect the package would arrive then also. They were not disappointed. Hilda had changed the shed back a little to its messy appearance. Their things were now behind a fake wall, and they themselves hovered over the roof on their brooms. An hour after darkness had fallen, two people, dressed in black, made their way to the shed. It was clear from their behaviour that they were not eager to be noticed: they moved from shadow to shadow. Hilda and William calmly watched how the two slowly made their way to the narrow alley that led to the shed. Whispers rose up to them as the two came closer to the door. As the collectors of the package had entered, the magical couple silently descended into the alley as well and simply waited for the two 'guests' to reappear in the open. William already had a small stick in his hand that he could ignite at will, making light to blind the drugs-people. Inside the house a flashlight moved around. It clearly was very difficult for the intruders to find their precious loot. Some muffled cursing went on after that, which was obviously the result of someone running into something. Hilda grinned. The door opened again, the two people stepped outside. "Stuff it away, idiot," one of them whispered to the other. "We don't want to get caught with that shit in plain sight." William ignited the stick. The effect, next to light that was spreading, was highly entertaining. One of the visitors screamed and just dropped to the ground, his hands over his head. The other one staggered back towards the shed, missing the door as the light was working more than miracles. The man clawed along the short wall and then yelled: "I don't know who you are, but I have a gun." Not in the least impressed, Hilda said: "I have a wand." She popped it into existence, just to be convincing. It missed its effect as the man against the wall was still not seeing much. As he was huddled into a corner, the man's eyes started making sense of the surroundings. He grabbed into the pocket of his coat and drew a gun from it, waving it around in a rather uncontrolled fashion. "These things are dangerous, aren't they?" Hilda wanted to make sure, so she asked William. "They are." "Right." She flicked her wand at the man with the gun. "Taken care of that." The man in the corner, who had taken the time to look at his partner in crime who was still whimpering as he lay on the floor, looked at the two strange people. "Taken care of what?" he asked. Hilda just smiled and waited for the metal of the gun to become hot enough for the man to notice that as well. He cursed as he shook the burning gun from his fingers, staring at the blisters that were forming on them. "I think they've had enough now, Hilda," William said. "I guess," said the witch. "So, boys. How about we go inside and you can explain what you are doing here?" The 'boy' who had thrown away his gun was not the kind who would jump to the request of a witch. Instead, he made a big leap, in an attempt to throw the two strange people off balance. They would not expect him to try that. Unfortunately he had not expected the power-wall that William and Hilda had in place between them and the two visitors. The man slammed into the invisible wall and with a more than ordinary expression of surprise on his face he fell down, over his scared companion. "They don't know a thing here," Hilda sighed. She removed the safety-wall, they picked up the face-down visitors and took them inside. -=-=- Zed woke up with a thunder of a headache. He was uncomfortably sitting on a wooden chair, his hands tied behind his back. His head hung down so all he saw were his knees and a floor that looked as if it was made of concrete. Zed slowly raised his head. The throbbing that went on inside there made him careful, something he usually was not. 'What the fuck happened,' he thought to himself, as he saw Ted tied up on another chair 'I am dreaming,' Zed then thought. 'That, or someone fixed me up with a shot of real bad.' He looked at Hilda and William, who were calmly sitting at the table, eating something. The smell of food and coffee were very helpful to Zed in regaining some more consciousness. "Hrrbf", he stated, to his surprise. Hilda looked at the source of the sound. "Oh. William, it's awake." "Brrm?" Zed wanted to know. Hilda's spell had glued his lips together. He didn't know that. Actually, there was a lot he did not know yet, but he was about to be enlightened. Hilda style. William looked over his shoulder. "Oh. Good. We can talk to him later." "Hvhvm!" Zed showed his displeasure with that comment. He tried to kick Ted, but found out his feet would not move away from the legs of the chair. Another surprise, spelled by Hilda. Ted looked at his frantically moving friend and shook his head. He had been awake during most of the time and had seen the actions of the strange, grey-haired woman and her silly stick. Oh, wrong. It was hardly a silly stick, considering what it had achieved. "Hggm," Ted told Zed, and sat back, as that was the least uncomfortable way to be. "Hvvvrrrr!" Zed was not giving up just like that. William turned around. "Would you mind shutting up for a while? We're having a late night snack, and it tastes better when you stop making these obnoxious sounds." Hilda waved her wand. "You stop yourself, or we stop you." She hoped the muttering man would not stop, but that hope was destroyed as Zed slumped back into the chair and kept quiet. It had already dawned on him that he could not win this one. Only a few minutes later, the magical couple turned their full attention to the two people they had caught. Hilda leisurely snipped her fingers, releasing the lips of their involuntary guests. Zed noticed the tightness around his lips leave. "Who the fuck are you peop-" Snip. "vvm." "That's better." Hilda turned to Ted. "Are you going to do the same thing?" She held her hand up, ready to snip her fingers. "No, no, no!" Ted shook his head. "No, ma'am, I'm not gonna scream." "Bmm vvmvm grmvm!" Zed shared his feelings about Ted. He was ignored, though. The magical couple pulled up their chairs and sat down near Ted. "Right then," Hilda started. "Your friend Theo left a package for you two characters. He was glad we were helpful in storing the package for you, so next time you run into him, you should be grateful." "Who is Theo?" Ted asked. His surprise was evident. "Hilda, usually these types do not know each other. That is safer for them as they are dealing with illegal business," William explained. "They don't know each other, so they can never say who did something bad." The witch rubbed her nose. "There's this remark I'd like to make about this world, William. You know what I mean." "I do, sweet witch." "Good. First off, boy, tell us your names." Ted managed to tell the two strange people his name, and that of his partner in crime. "Ted and Zed. Sounds like a comedy couple," William snickered. "William, please pay attention. These two were trying to murder us. That is not a laughing matter," Hilda said, missing the joke. She turned to Ted again. "You may have understood that we are a witch and a wizard. The real deal." She showed her wand. "This is not a stick, this is a magical wand. And I know how to use it. So no tricks. Do we have an understanding?" Ted nodded as if his life depended on it, rattling his teeth as he went along. With all that had been happening in the last few minutes, he was ready to believe anything this strange woman said. He tried to jolt as he saw the wand vanish. The spell prevented him from doing such a thing, though. "Now. Slowly and from the start, because I am not from here. Who are you and what do you want to do with that package?" Hilda asked. Ted was temporarily distracted by Zed, who tried to convince Ted to "Gmmvvvm", otherwise "brrrfff!" would be the consequence. "Don't worry about Zep," Hilda said, "he's quite harmless." Ted did not chance a thing, so he let the Zep slip. "We were asked by some friends to come here and collect the package that was waiting for us here." "Look here, son," said William. "We don't look like we're from here, and she isn't. But I am. Your package contains drugs. You coming here for that means you are into drugs. And we don't like drugs, nor the people who deal with them. So my advice to you is to tell us the story." Calmly, William held his hand out, right in front of Ted's face. Then he made his white and red wand appear. "See, she is not the only one who can do a trick or two."
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