5.

Cassandra walked machinelike into the proper, a stark contrast from her normal fluid step. She walked through the Junkyard and nearly exited the other side when a pair of identical cats raced in and stopped her in her tracks.

“Let me go, I have to go away,” Cassandra recited.

“We’re too late,” Tantomile lamented to her brother.

“Too late for what?” Pouncival asked.

“Cassandra’s under a spell,” Coricopat explained.

“Well, that’s obvious,” Victoria said.

“I’m not sure what kind of magic this is…” Tantomile said.

“…But it’s bad. We sensed evil before the storm, but we were distracted. It came back, and that’s why we returned, but we weren’t in time,” Coricopat finished. “Does anyone know where she was the last time she was normal?” Cassandra continuously mumbled incoherently.

“Uh, she was over there, with Admetus,” Jemima said.

“Hey, where is Admetus?” Pouncival asked.

“Wonderful,” Coricopat sighed. “Cassandra’s under a spell, and Admetus, the cat she was with, is now gone. Cassandra,” he turned her so she faced him. “Where is Admetus?”

“Go away, go away, Admetus will take care of everything,” Cassandra rambled.

“Take care of what?” he asked.

“Voice needs help, I should go away, Admetus help Voice,” she babbled. “Let me go away.”

"Voice?” Mistoffelees said. “What voice?”

"Queen, help,” Cassandra answered weakly. The spell was wearing her out.

“Queen, help,” Misto repeated. “Oh my gosh, the voice!”

“What voice?” Tumblebrutus asked.

“Remember?” Misto insisted. “That one that kept asking for help?”

“Oh, yeah,” Pouncival said. “It started to get really annoying after a while, ‘Help me, Help me.’ I couldn’t find where it was, though.”

“I bet Admetus did. While you and Tumble argued about where the voice originated, Admetus must have found it. Cassandra probably saw him over there, and so the voice put some spell on her…”

“And led Admetus away,” Exotica finished.

“Wait, we can’t jump to conclusions,” Munkustrap put in, always the voice of reason. “I mean, how do we know that this voice led Admetus away?”

“A few clues,” Victoria told him. “One, Cassandra’s blathering on about ‘Admetus will help Voice,’ and we can’t find Admetus. Last place anyone saw him was over somewhere with Cassandra. Now she’s all messed up, and, oh, come on, Munkustrap, it doesn’t take a genius to figure this one out!”

“Ok, next question,” Plato said. All eyes turned to the quiet tom. “How do we find Admetus?”

“Well, the first thing for us to do would be to figure out a way to reverse this spell,” Alonzo said. “But how are we going to do that?”

“There may be a way to counteract the spell,” Tantomile said. “Let’s see… we need to take her where she was when the spell was cast. Jemima, you say she was over there?” The small kitten nodded. “Good, now we need some cat to carry her over there.”

“I’ll do it,” Alonzo said. He picked her up and took her to the spot indicated by Jemima. “Step two?”

“We perform a counter-spell,” Coricopat said. “Based on what we’ve noticed about the spell, we might be able to reverse it.”

“And if you can’t?” Tumblebrutus asked.

“She stays this way until we discover the proper spell or find the cat who cursed her and make that cat take back this spell. Alonzo, lay Cassandra down so she’s on her back.” Alonzo did as he was told. Cassandra was too weak to offer much protest. “Ready, Tantomile?” Coricopat asked. She nodded. “Let’s go.”

The twins stood at opposite ends of the Queen and closed their eyes. They held their paws over her body and began chanting softly in a strange language. Cassandra’s blue eyes flew open as she bolted upright.

“What do you think you’re doing, telling me to go? You have no…” she looked around her. “Huh?”

“You were under a spell, Cassie,” Exotica said. “Tanta and Cori lifted it from you.”

“I was under a spell? Ooh, I bet that cat did it!” Cassandra fumed.

“What cat?” Munkustrap asked eagerly.

“Some strange cat, never heard her before, wanted Admetus for something… say, where is Metus?”

“He’s gone,” Mistoffelees said. “You were with him last.”

“Tell us what happened,” Munkustrap said.

“Well, Admetus was over here talking to the shadows, and I come over, and here’s this Queen’s voice telling him she needs help and for me to go away. She really didn’t want me around, so I got suspicious. Next thing I know, I’m over here.”

“If he was led away, it was through here,” Coricopat said. “I can sense Admetus’s aura, along with an evil one.”

“Well then, let’s find Admetus,” Munkustrap said. “Alonzo, Cori, and Tanta, come with me. The rest of you, wait here in case Admetus comes back.”

“Oh, no, I’m coming,” Cassandra said. “I want to repay that Queen for messing around with my head.”

“No, Cassandra, stay. You’re too weak, anyway. Everyone else, stay, too.” Before anyone else could protest, Munkustrap led his team away in the direction in which they hoped to find Admetus.