The Wizard of Sunset Beach
Chapter 4: Saving Meg
Meg screames the entire way back to The Wicked Witch's castle as Tim the flying monkey carries her. "Let me go!" she shrieds, kicking and screming.
"Ahh ah, oooh oooh ah" was Tim's reply as he flew her into the castle.
Tim sets here down in front of the Wicked Witch, Tess. Meg cowers before her.
"Well, well, well, my pretty. You decided to come visit the old, lonely wicked witch?" Tess cackles.
"Please let me go," Meg says in a small voice. "I'm just trying to get out of here and get back home."
"But you have the slippers," Tess snaps. "I can't let you keep them. Don't you understand? Those shoes are worth a million dollars."
Meg looks at her feet. " I-I would give them back, but Sara said I shouldn't," she stammered.
"Well, then, my sweet, you must face the consequenses."
Caitlins sat on the ground, pondering what to do as Gregory and Michael paced back and forth. Suddenly she sat straight up, pointed a finger in the air, and shouted, " I've GOT IT!"
Gregory and Michael crowd around her. "What is it?" Michael asks eagerly.
"We have to find Meg to save her!" Caitlin says triumphantly.
Gregory smacks his hand on his forehead. "Gee, I should have thought of that myself!" he snaps sarcastically. "Oh, well, what more can I expect from a scarecrow?"
Michael scootches back, scared of Gregory, Caitlin scowls him "You didn't give me time to finish. Meg must be in the witch's castle. That's where the monkey came from. The witch want's Meg's shoes! And I don't blame her. Gaudy as they may be, the shoes look great on Meg."
Gregory rolls his eyes. "Let's skip the fashion report, okay? Come on."
They all take off toward the witch's castle.
What consequences?" Meg asks quietly, afraid she already knew.
"My pretty, you and your disgusting little kitten there have company." Tess moves away from the window and Meg's face brightens.
"Ben!" she cries, hurrying to the window. "I'm so happy to see you! You have to help me get out of here!"
'Ben' cackles. "That's funny, Meg. Tell me, why is it you always mistake me for my twin brother?"
Meg's mouth falls open. "Oh...oh, no...please,no..."
"Yes, Meg." Derek opens the window and climbs through. Meg backs up quietly, until she runs into Tess. "Where are you going, Meg?" Tess asks innocently.
"Ooooh aaaaaah aaaaaaAAAAH!" shrieks Tim the monkey when he sees Derek. He takes off from the room and as he runs, his horrified scream reverberates back toward Meg, Tess and Derek.
"Stupid monkey," Tess mutters. She looks at Meg. "My dear, you have one hour to decide wherther or not you're going to take off those shoes. If you do, then you can leave here ASAP. If not...then Derek gets rid of you and your precious little kitten." Tess leaves the room, shrieking with evil laughter.
Caitlin, Gregory and Michael come to the entrance of the castle and fint it guarded by Winkies ( the witch's guards). "What do we do n-n-now?" Michael stammer, clutching his tail.
"I have an idea," Caitlin says, surprising even herself. She walks forward with a sexy stut up to an oddly handsome Winkie with deep dimples in each cheek. "Hey, cutie," she drawls, reaching up a straw hand and rubbing his cheek with it.
The Winkie raises his eyebrow and gives the scarecrow a once over, obviously liking what he sees. "Hi..."
"Sweetie, my friends and I need some help. Our friend is trapped in there, and we want to help her. Can you help us get in?" Caitlin gives him an imploring look. "Pretty please?"
Gergory watches this and scowls. "Figures she would go for a jekr like that. That guy was probably a jewel thief or something before he became the withc's guard.
The Winkie's face is undecided for a long moment. Finally, temptation wins out. "Alright," he says, "but you have to be very, very quiet. And you can't tell the witch that I let you in, or she might fire me, or even kill me."
Caitlin smiles. "Of course not. I wouldn't want anything to happen to you. Thanks." She guestures to the others and they all follow the Winkie in.
Meg sits and faces down Derek as her hour ticks away. "You'll never wim," she states matter-of-factly. "My friends will be here any minute."
Derek grins. "Whatever floats your boat, Meg."
The clock had ticked down to a mere three minutes. "You know, the Wizard isn't what he pretends to be at all," comments Derek. "In fact, you know him very well, even if he doesn't seem to know you. Amazinly, I'm ghe only person here who can remember the Sunset Beach life. To the rest of the people here - Caitlin, Gregory, Michae, Tess, Sara, Benjy - it's like the first time they're ever met you. Sunset Beach never existed for them. And when you finally figure out who the wizard is - it will be the same way."
Two minutes...
"If you kill me, how am I going to figure out who the wizard is?" Meg asks.
Just then, the door swings open and Caitlin, Michael and Gregory run in. The Winkie hangs back just outside the door, out of sight. "We're here to save you. Meg," Gregory says lazily. "Who is this jerk, now?"
"This jerk is holding a gun on you," Derek says angrily, yanking his gun out. That does stop Gregory in his tracks, as well as the other two.
One minute...
"Look, Meg, your time is almost up!" Derek shouts, grabbing her by the arm and pulling her to him. He aims the gun at her head and look pointedly at the others. "Make one false move and your friend doesn't even get the last minute of her life!" He looks down at Meg. "Do you want to be able to find out who the Wizard is? DO YOU?!"
"Yes," Meg chokes out.
"Then give up the slippers!"
"No!"
10 seconds, 9 seconds...
"Say bye-bye, Meggie!" Derek sings out.
8 seconds, 7 seconds...
Tess enters the room and stands back, smiling smugly.
6, 5, 4...
Derek cocks the gun.
3, 2 seconds...
As Derek is preparing to shoot, suddenly someone crashes through the still-open window. He dives forward and grabs Derek by the back of his head. Derek cries out and releases Meg. Meg stumbles forward, and into a bucket of water. The water splashes over Tess and Tess screams.
"I'm melting! I'm melting! Oh, you wretched, wretched girl! All I ever wanted was a million dollars" Oh, what a beach, what a beach...Life certainly is not one..."
Tess melts into the floor and is gone.
Meanwhile, Derek and the masked stranger struggle over the gun. Held above their heads, the gun goes off once, no one is shot as it is pointing up. Howerer, it startles Derek, and he stumbles backward slightly, causing the masked stranger to get a better grip on the gun. However, in this struggle, the gun goes off again.
Meg screams as Derek falls backwards, holding his hand over a hole in his chest. "Damn you, B..." Derek dies before he can finish his statement.
Meg stares at Derek for a long moment and then looks at the masked stranger. "You saved my life!" she gasps. "How can I ever repay you?"
The masked stranger only looks at her for a long moment, his eyes burning with passion, before he turns and dives back through the window.
"No, wait!" Meg protests as she runs over to the mirror. But it's too late; she can't see the stranger through all the fog.
Meg turns and gives her still shocked friends a shaky smile. "Well, er're all okay," she says unnecessarily, and goes to give them all a hug - even Gregory.
In a little while, Meg, Caitlin, Gregory, and Michael stand outside the gates of Oz again. "Well, here goes nothing," Meg says, taking a deep breath, and they enter the gates.