Chapter 16
I lunge forward. I can’t let Giselle’s notebook burn.
“No!” Jaxon says, grabbing me around the waist and pulling me to the ground.
“We have to get it!” I cry, not even considering my voice or the air pocket or Mr. Stewart.
Krista stands and swirls her hands around, making the fire shoot up like someone threw gasoline on it. I want to scream. She’s making it worse! The notebook is going to burn. But then I see that the brambles above and around Mr. Stewart have caught fire. He turns to fight the blaze.
“Go!” Jaxon whispers to me.
Ivy grabs my hand, and the two of us run across the glen toward the bonfire. Mr. Stewart doesn’t even see us as the fire grows bigger. Even though he’s a fire witch, he doesn’t seem to realize that Krista is stoking the flames from a distance. He must think he’s fighting a natural fire, not one being controlled by witchcraft.
When we reach the bonfire, I exhale the carbon dioxide in my lungs to lessen the flames as Ivy reaches into the fire itself to grab the book. I guess mundane high school science was good for something. I start to cry out for her to be careful, but I realize I can almost see through her. It’s as if she has turned her body into water so the fire can’t hurt her.
She grabs the book out of the flames and turns back to normal as she grabs my hand, and we run back to Jaxon and Krista. We zoom down the path through the hedge, Jaxon closing it behind us and Krista letting go of the fire she created.
“Will he be all right?” I ask as we exit the hedge, terrified we might have just burned a man to death.
“Without me there, he’ll put it out in no time,” Krista says.
“Gimme the notebook!” I say, grabbing it from Ivy. “Ouch! Hot!”
I bounce the notebook in my hands as it cools. As the smoke from the book dissipates, I stare at it in surprise.
It’s in perfect condition.
“What the...?”
“She must have put a protection spell on it,” Ivy says. “A strong one at that.”
“As an elder, Mr. Stewart should have realized that,” Jaxon says. “He should have known he would have to remove the ward before he could burn it.”
I open the book, and the others gasp.
“What?” I ask.
“If she put a protection spell that powerful on it,” Ivy says, “you shouldn’t be able to just open it.”
I don’t tell them this isn’t the first time I’ve opened it. If they know I used them to save the journal, that I already have an idea of what’s in it, they might not trust me. If I wasn’t honest about this, they might think I’m keeping other things from them...like how Giselle died.
It suddenly dawns on me they could easily come to the conclusion that I killed Giselle in order to get my hands on the journal. Ms. Brewster already suspects something isn’t right about me. I don’t want to give my new friends reasons to suspect me as well.
“Maybe since Giselle is dead, the ward isn’t working?” I suggest.
“It protected it from the fire, though,” Krista says.
Jaxon frowns. “Maybe she wanted you to be able to open it.”
“But she hated me,” I say. “Why would she trust me in the unlikely event of her death?”
Everyone shrugs or shakes their heads. There is no explanation.
I glance up to the window of my room and am surprised there is no shadow of a person standing there. Giselle might not have liked me in life, but in death, I’m the only person she can trust. I’m the only one close enough to her to hear what she is trying to say.
There must be more to it than that, but I don’t know what. Not yet.
“Someone’s coming!” Ivy says.
A few students exit the house to head into town. It’s Friday night. One of the few nights we are allowed to stay out past curfew. With no classes the next day, it’s a time for everyone to head out for dinner or a movie or dancing.
“Come on,” Jaxon says, leading us around the house to the back door. “We can take the back stairs to our rooms. I’m sure we all reek of smoke. We need to get cleaned up.”
“Good idea,” Ivy says. She looks exhausted. Drained. We all used our powers to get the notebook back, so I’m surprised she looks worse than the rest of us.
“Are you okay, Ivy?”
“I will be.” She pushes out a smile that fails to convey any emotion. “After a good long soak. That fire was intense. Quite a bit of me went up in steam.”
“What?” I grip her arm, but she winces. I pull my hand back and look down and see that she has large exposed wounds on her hands and arms. “Oh my God! You need a doctor!”
She gives me a wan smile. “I just need water.”
“Ivy.” I shake my head. “I can’t believe you did that for me. Thank you.”
“Let’s just hope there’s something good in that book.”
She chuckles as she walks ahead of me up the narrow staircase, but I can see she is in terrible pain. Guilt twists my stomach. When we reach the floor where Ivy’s room is, Krista takes her arm and leads her away.
“Can I do anything? I ask, starting to follow.
“I’ll take care of her,” Krista says.
Jaxon nods. “Let’s meet later to talk about the notebook.”
“Sure,” Krista says, but she turns away, her arm around Ivy, without making any definite plans.
Jaxon and I stop following, and I turn to him. “Will she really be okay?”
“She will,” he says, opening his arms to go in for a hug, but he stops himself, looking at me for permission.
I hold back an instinctive grimace. Do I want a hug? Will it send him the wrong message? Am I ready for that, even from a friend. What happened to Bo...it makes me want to keep my distance. But a bigger part of me really wants that comfort right now.
Seeing Jax’s expression is entirely platonic, I nod my agreement to the hug, and I’m glad I do. It’s gentle, friendly, and reassuring. Nothing uncomfortable about it, or weird about it, outside of my momentary hesitation.
When Jaxon steps back again, I look down at the book in my hands. It feels heavier somehow. More meaningful. As though this isn’t a game, but serious.
Ivy could have died. Any of us could have gotten seriously hurt. We could all be expelled. I mean, there’s nothing in the handbook—at least, I doubt there is—about not stopping teachers from burning secret books, but I’m sure there are any number of rules we’ve broken tonight.
“You are going to share what’s in that book, right?” Jaxon asks, raising an eyebrow.
“Of course. I couldn’t have gotten it without you guys.”
“Well, go shower,” he says. “If Ivy’s up for it, we can talk in her room later, or we can just meet tomorrow.”
“Good idea,” I say, waving the notebook in my hand. “Just message me when you want to meet.”
“Sure thing. See ya’.”
“See ya’.”
He walks down the hall and turns a corner. Then I feel...alone.
Voices of other students come up the main staircase, so I slip through the door to the back stairs and make my way to the next floor where my room is.
Once I’m inside, I lock the door. Leaving the door unlocked is one rule I’ll never be able to follow. Besides which, it’s a stupid rule. If they can open them with magic anyway, who cares?
Though I figure it does award me a warning if they have to do that before entering, and maybe that’s what they don’t want.
I wonder why the doors in the school had locks to begin with. Someone must have wanted the locks there. Especially if they warded them to prevent removal, as Ms. Brewster had said.
I put the notebook on my desk and turn to go into the bathroom. But as I start to go in, I glance back out, just to make sure the book is still there. I look at the main door, chewing my bottom lip.
If I was able to pick the lock of a desk, it must be easy enough for someone with stronger powers than me to unlock my door. I
t’s stronger than the desk lock, but nothing fancy. There’s also the windows. They just have a little flip latch to keep them closed. Someone who could fly—like an air witch—could easily come up three floors and then use a brick to break the window and take the book.
I have no idea why anyone would want to steal the book, but I don’t know why anyone would want to burn it, either. If Mr. Stewart realizes the book was taken from the fire, he might realize the bramble fire was not natural and come looking for the book. As Giselle’s roommate, I would certainly be one of the suspects of such an investigation.
I grab the book and hold it tightly to my chest, then check to make sure the windows are locked. Afterward, I pull the blinds closed and double-check the lock on my room door again before pulling the chair over from my desk and shoving it under the doorknob.
Though I’m still not quite satisfied that the room is secure, there isn’t much else I can do. I’ll have to ask Jaxon, Ivy, and Krista about putting a ward on the doorframe. Something that prevents it from opening whenever I shut it. It must be possible, since the locks themselves had been warded against removal.
I smirk to myself. If I did that, I wouldn’t technically be breaking school rules. The locks wouldn’t be locked. The door would just be...stuck.
After I return to the bathroom and shut and lock that door, too, I lay the book on the counter, undress, and climb into the shower. I step into the stall and pull the curtain shut, but then quickly pull it back open so I can see the book.
At this point, I know I’m being paranoid, but I can’t help it. I don’t want to let the book out of my sight for a moment. Reaching over, I nudge the book to the top of the counter, then I leave the curtain open enough that I can see the book, but hopefully not so much that I get water on the floor. At least I don’t have a roommate to complain about getting her socks wet.
I cuss at myself and shake my head as I let the hot water pour over me. Of course having Giselle complain about a wet floor would be better than having her dead. I wash my hair and soap up my body, then watch as the soot I didn’t know was in my hair rinses down the drain.
I finish my shower in record time, not bothering to shave my legs or exfoliate my face. Stepping out, I wrap myself in a towel, open the door to help the exhaust fan clear out the steam faster, wipe the condensation from the front cover of the notebook, then set it near the door and the drier air.
As I wipe my hand across the mirror to clear away the condensation, I see Giselle in the reflection behind me.
I scream and turn around, but she’s not there. Slowly, I look back at the mirror.
Above where I had already cleared away the steam, Help Them has been drawn on the mirror.
“How?” I ask. “How can I help them? I already got the book back. What do you want me to do?”
As if being drawn by a finger, some of the strange runes from Giselle’s notes appear.
“I don’t know what they mean,” I say. “How can I read them?”
Giselle either can’t or won’t answer me. After she finishes writing the runes, nothing else happens.
“Damn it, Giselle,” I mutter. “Help a girl out.”
The runes dissipate as the steam clears. I run back to my room and grab my phone, taking a picture of the runes before it’s too late. I have no idea what they mean, but I’m not about to take a message from beyond the grave lightly.
Somehow, I have to decipher this code.
Chapter 17
The condensation on the mirror evaporates as the room dries, and you’d never know I had just received a message from The Great Beyond.
It’s bizarre how comfortable I’m getting with all this. But at least I snapped a pic to show the others.
I throw on some jeans and a T-shirt, run a comb through my hair, and put on the barest of makeup: foundation, gloss, and mascara. I grab the book and my bag and head out of the room for the library. I didn’t have a set time to meet with the others, but surely everyone will be anxious to meet as soon as possible. I just hope Ivy is okay.
When I walk into the library, Mr. Hamilton gives me a nod, which I return. Jaxon is already there, waiting toward the back. I sit next to him so I can see most of the library, including the door and Mr. Hamilton as he putters around putting books away.
“Maybe this isn’t the best place to meet,” I say, my voice low. “We need to look at the notebook, but anyone would be able to see us here.”
Jaxon looks over at Mr. Hamilton, then back at me. “Let’s wait for the girls. Then we can go somewhere else.”
I nod and lean back on the sofa, finding it’s nice to be able to relax for a moment. I release a long exhale and let the smooth leather envelop me.
Jaxon chuckles. “Nap time?”
"You have no idea,” I say. “I have barely slept since...since Giselle’s death. I thought coming here would help me make sense of my life. But everything is just as complicated as ever, just in a different way.”
“The more things change, the more things stay the same?”
“Yeah,” I say, looking over at him. “Exactly like that.”
“But would you want to go back to your life before?” he asks. “A life of hiding in the shadows?”
A life before Beau died?
I want to answer yes…but I know that isn’t the answer Jaxon wants to hear. He wants to believe that I’m happier here, among my “own kind.” That in spite of the troubles a life of truth brings, it’s somehow worth it.
I’m not there yet. And I’m not sure I ever will be.
I’ve taken far too long to answer, so I just give a forced smile and look away, grateful to see Krista and Ivy coming toward us. I nearly jump out of my seat and run to Ivy.
“How are you?” I ask her, reaching for her hands but not actually touching her, just in case.
“I’m fine,” Ivy says, placing her hands in mine. “Good as new.”
I turn her hands over, relieved to see that they are, indeed, healed. Perfectly white and smooth. I sigh and nearly want to cry in relief.
Ivy touches my shoulder. “It’s okay,” she says. “I’ve been through worse, trust me. I know my limits.”
I suck back tears and nod. “Should we go somewhere more private?” I ask everyone.
“I’m sure it’s fine here,” Krista says, plopping down. “We don’t have a lot of time anyway. Dinner will be served in a bit, then I need to study.”
I nod as we all take our seats and keep a wary eye out for any evesdroppers. Then I pull the book out and open it.
“The first half is mainly sketches and notes about the various statues around campus,” I explain, flipping the pages. “Names, dates—I assume of birth and death—descriptions, powers. As if she was gleaning this information from various sources and putting it all together in one place.”
Krista, Ivy, and Jaxon lean over the book.
Jaxon’s eyebrows pull together. “I mean, I guess it would be interesting for an art major or art historian,” he says. “I’m sure there are already books in here about the statues, though.”
“That’s what I thought at first,” I said. “Maybe just an art project. But if so, why is she warding it and stuff?”
“What else is in there?” Krista asks.
I flip to the back. “Pages and pages of this rune writing.”
They all look at the writing and get weird looks on their faces I can’t interpret. Raised eyebrows, scrunched up noses. Mostly confusion, I guess.
“I’ve never seen this before,” Krista says.
Ivy frowns. “Me neither.”
“Well,” Jaxon says, “it must be something important for her to write it in such a complicated code. We can assume that much.”
“Right? That’s what I’m saying.” I tuck a loose strand of hair behind my ear and turn the book so the writing is upright for me. “Something related to the statues, you think? Or...is that just a cover? So that if anyone glanced at the book, they wouldn’t know what she was really working on?”<
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Krista sighs and leans back, putting her foot up on the table. “It’s getting late, and I’m famished. No sense in guessing what a dead girl really intended.”
“I’m hungry, too,” Ivy says. “I need to eat to get my energy up.”
Slowly I close the book and hug it to my chest as Jaxon gets to his feet.
“Let’s head to the dining hall,” he says.
“Wait!” I say, jumping up, dismayed by their lack of interest in the book. “Don’t you want to try to decipher it? All codes can be cracked, right?”
My friends look at each other and then all shrug or look away.
Ivy is the only one to give me a sympathetic look. “I’m not sure it’s worth risking our lives over,” she says finally.
“Or getting expelled for,” Krista adds.
“Or even missing a meal over,” Jaxon says, rubbing his stomach. “I have a lot to do tonight. This whole week really. I can’t puzzle over some weird code. I have an algebra test to study for.”
“Same,” Krista says. “Maybe we can come back to this later, when we have more time.”
Ivy just nods.
I feel like a balloon someone just let all the air out of. What happened to the excitement from earlier? The adventure in the hedgerow? The fire?
But as I look at their weary faces, I can only hope they all just need a break and will help me resume the investigation tomorrow. Given their lack of interest right now, though, I don’t even have it in me to tell them about the weird message Giselle wrote on the bathroom mirror.
“Sure,” I finally say. “I’m way behind on my list from Ms. Brewster anyway. I need to study. Y’all go ahead. I’ll just do some reading here.”
They give me small waves and head out. I can’t help but notice that they don’t try to persuade me to go with them or to even take a break.
Maybe I’ve worn out my welcome with my new friends. Pushed them too far with my weirdness.
Wow. If I’m too weird even for a bunch of witches, I must be really out there. I need to rein it in. But how can I? I have a ghost in my bedroom sending me cryptic messages. That’s not exactly something in my control.
Curse of Stone (Academy of the Damned Book 1) Page 16