Everly Academy

by V. B. Marlowe

  A heavy feeling weighed down on her heart. She remembered all the things the girls had told her earlier. Tales of horrible curses which took place at night. She remembered the night before asking Bea where the girls were and Bea had replied that it would be best for her to see them the following morning. Molly now understood why. At night, Everly Academy became a place of torture and pain. Her heart ached for the fact that the girls had to endure their plights night after night, and she couldn’t imagine being in their shoes.

  A small part of her wanted to stay and help, but a bigger part of her had no idea what they wanted. What was Molly supposed to do for them? She didn’t have the power to break a witch’s curse. If a fairy godmother couldn’t help them, what made them think Molly could? Molly wanted a job where she could teach and nurture, but this assignment was way beyond her skill set.

  Molly rolled to her side and closed her eyes. Before she knew it, her mind had shut off and she was snoozing soundly. Her dreams were a mixture of mangled fairy tales, overbearing mothers, and mysterious schools.

  She jumped when she was shaken awake by someone. She opened one eye to see Bea sitting on the edge of her bed. Molly groaned and forced the other eye open.

  Bea smiled gently. “Dinner started ten minutes ago. We don’t want your meal to get cold. In honor of your first official dinner here, the cooks prepared your favorites—pot roast, macaroni and cheese, and creamed corn.”

  Molly sat upright. “How did you know those were my favorites?”

  “I’m sure you told me on the ride here when I asked you to tell me about yourself.”

  Molly frowned. “I’m pretty sure that never happened.”

  Bea patted her knee. “Why don’t you wash your face and come on down?”

  Even though the wonderful aromas had reached Molly’s room and her mouth watered, she didn’t have much of an appetite. “I’ll have to pass on dinner. I’m not hungry.”

  “Oh, but the girls will be so disappointed.”

  Molly knew she would be leaving that night, so she figured the less time she spent with the girls the better. There was no use in anyone getting attached. “Please tell them I don’t feel well. I have a terrible headache.”

  Bea stood and smoothed out her dress. “I’ll have Dr. Meyer come see you. He’ll give you something that will take your headache right away.”

  “Thank you,” Molly said. “That would be great.”

  Bea left her alone, and Molly lay back down. She’d just closed her eyes again when there was a soft knock on her door. “Who is it?” she called.

  “Dr. Meyer.”

  Molly had already forgotten that Bea had gone to fetch the doctor. Reluctantly Molly rose to get the door. She didn’t have a headache, but she needed to pretend to.

  The man in the white lab coat who had wheeled Allison in that morning stood on the other side. She should have known at that first breakfast that this place was all wrong. “Please come in,” she said, holding the door open for the doctor.

  Molly thought Dr. Meyer was good-looking for an older man. He looked to be just a little younger than her father. His brown hair was combed back from his thin face, and he had friendly green eyes. The doctor walked in, and she closed the door behind him. He set his black bag on top of her dresser. “Ms. Bea tells me you have a headache.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Do you get headaches often?”

  The last time Molly had a headache was when she’d drank too much tequila after finding out about her boyfriend and Jessica. She decided to keep that to herself. “No, I don’t. It’s really not a big deal. Nothing that can’t be cured with some sleep and a few aspirin.”

  Dr. Meyer popped open his medicine bag and retrieved a small brown bottle. He poured four small, white pills into Molly’s hand. “Take four of those with a tall glass of water, and your headache should go away in no time.”

  Dr. Meyer sat beside her on the bed. “So, how was your first day?”

  “It was . . . different.” Molly had so many emotions about the day that she didn’t think she’d ever be able to put it into words, but she tried anyway. “It was a roller coaster of confusion, and I’m not fully convinced that I’m not dreaming.” She glanced at the doctor from the corner of her eye. She was unable to read his reaction as he stared ahead blankly. “Dr. Meyer, tell me about Allison.”

  “Allison has been diagnosed with schizophrenia. She’s on several medications that she has to take throughout the day to keep her calm.”

  “How did she get that way?”

  Dr. Meyer sighed. “Hard to tell. I can’t get much from her. She talks to her friends Lily and Marina the most. She tells them more than she tells me, but I’m not sure how much she’s told them or how much she’s capable of telling them. Unfortunately for me, they’re extremely loyal to her and won’t tell me anything she says even though I’m trying to help her. I do know that when she was a little girl she fell down a rabbit hole and ended up in some strange place called Wonderland. There she met all sorts of otherworldly creatures and had some out-of-this-world experiences. They really got into her head and distorted her view of reality. And that damn cat doesn’t help.”

  “What cat? I haven’t seen any cat.”

  The doctor grimaced. “Be thankful for that, but you will see him eventually. The Cheshire Cat. He’s the pet of the Moonhaven Coven witches, and he pops up whenever he wants to deliver a taunting message to the girls, courtesy of the witches. No matter how much progress I make with Allison, whenever he shows up, it sets her right back to square one.”

  Molly’s heart raced as she stared down at the tiny pills she had no intention of taking. “Doesn’t this all sound familiar to you, Dr. Meyer? A girl falling down a rabbit hole? A place called Wonderland? A Cheshire cat?”

  Dr. Meyer nodded. “Sure. Alice in Wonderland.”

  “And you believe Allison? That all those things really happened to her?”

  The doctor cocked his head to the side, watching Molly as if he didn’t really understand what she was asking. “Of course, I do. Why wouldn’t I?”

  “So, you believe that all these girls are living fairy tales who’ve been cursed by a coven of witches?”

  He nodded. “Of course. If you ask me, I have to say that Allison has the worst curse of all. Being trapped in your own mind and having no escape from nightmares that come to you even when you’re awake is a cruel fate.”

  Something tugged at Molly’s heart. She supposed Allison did have the short end of the stick. “What do you do to help her, I mean, besides the meds?”

  “I see her for three sessions a day for psychosocial treatments, morning, noon, and evening. I try my best, but there’s no cure for schizophrenia. I make sure she leads the most normal life possible.”

  Molly didn’t think there was anything normal about Allison’s life. “How long have you been here?”

  “Going on twenty-two years next month. It’s strange watching myself grow older while the girls don’t, but I’ve gotten used to it. You will too.”

  No, I won’t, Molly thought. She didn’t want to get used to it.

  “What made you come here?” Molly wanted to know if Bea had employed the same deceitful methods to get the doctor there as she had used on her.

  “I was unhappy with my practice. One day I was sitting in a café having a cup of coffee when Bea sat down at my table. She asked me if I was a doctor. I told her yes. I was a psychiatrist. She told me that she had a great opportunity for me. She said she was the headmistress of a prestigious school and she wanted a doctor on the grounds at all times in case of illnesses and emergencies. It sounded like the perfect change for me, so I took it.”

  Molly couldn’t believe the doctor was so calm about being deceived when he should have been angry. “So, when you got here and realized you could never leave, you were cool with that?”

  The doctor chuckled. “Oh no. I was totally angry at first. I threw a fit and even trashed Bea’s office. Then after I realized I ha
d no choice and there was nothing to be done, I accepted my fate and decided to make the best of it. It didn’t take long for me to bond with Allison and want to help her. I’ve grown close to everyone here. We’re a family.”

  Molly thought for a moment. “I understand that. I can see myself growing close to the girls and I do feel compassion for them, but how are you okay with just giving up your own life for this? I mean, I’ve always wanted to teach kids and dedicate myself to making a difference in their lives, but at some point, I would go home and have a life of my own. Here our lives are dictated to us. We’ll never see our friends or families or be able to have our own lives. Don’t you have a family? What if you wanted to get married or have children? Or go to the beach or coffee shop?”

  Dr. Meyer gazed through the window. “I think about that all the time, but I also have faith in those girls. I’m sure very soon they will be figuring out how to break their curses and we’ll all be free of this place. They are trapped here just as much as we are. They’ve been here a lot longer too.”

  “What if they never break their curse?”

  “They will. Especially now that you’re here.”

  Molly was starting to get a real headache now. “What do I have to do with it? I can’t help them. I barely understand what’s going on.”

  Dr. Meyer pressed his lips together. “That’s what you think. Bea wouldn’t have brought you here if she didn’t believe you were the one who could help them. Time is running out, and she wouldn’t waste time like this. I don’t know what the solution is, but I do know that somehow you all will find it. It’s sort of like when you look at a math problem for a long time and you just can’t figure it out, then you ask someone for help and they come up with the answer right away. They need a fresh set of eyes, Ms. Dillinger. Your eyes. Maybe you see something they don’t.”

  Dr. Meyer rose to his feet, but Molly wasn’t ready for him to leave yet. At the moment, he was the only one who seemed to understand. She grabbed his hand. “Everything you said sounds very brave and noble, but I can’t do this. I don’t know how to break any curse, and I will not spend the rest of my life here. I’m leaving tonight.”

  Molly wasn’t sure why she was sharing this information with Dr. Meyer, but the words had flown from her mouth before she could stop them. She hoped he wouldn’t tell anyone about their conversation. Dr. Meyer exhaled deeply and sank back onto the bed. “You can’t leave. It’s impossible. The second you pass the barrier, you’re stuck here unless Ms. Bea lets you out, and she’s not going to do that until you’ve saved those girls.”

  But Dr. Meyer didn’t know Molly. She’d spent years finding ways to do impossible things simply because her mother had told her she couldn’t. When Molly was five, Mrs. Dillinger had insisted that no one, yet alone a little girl, could climb the giant sycamore in the front yard. Molly had taken that as a challenge. She’d climbed all the way to the point where the branches were thin. Of course, she’d told her mother she could climb the tree, not that she knew how to get down. Her parents had called the fire department to get her back on solid ground. When Molly turned eighteen and Mrs. Dillinger told her that purchasing a moped would be dangerous and impractical, Molly took all the earnings from her part-time job and combined it with her graduation money. She purchased the cheapest moped she could find and drove it everywhere for the next six months until the novelty wore off.

  Dr. Meyer must have noticed the determination in her eyes. “Obviously nothing I say is going to keep you from trying to leave. Listen, today’s Monday. Every Monday at midnight, or I guess Tuesday morning technically, the groundskeepers leave to go into town. I’m not sure what they do, but it’s something for Bea. They’re gone for about an hour.”

  “Really?” Molly asked. Her heart rate sped up. This was possibly her way out. “Maybe they go to pick up supplies like groceries and stuff.”

  “Nah,” Dr. Meyer said. “Bea is the most powerful fairy alive. Anything this place needs, she just conjures it up. I don’t know what they do, just that they never speak on it. Anyway, that’s the only time the front gates ever open. You can slip out through the back doors and go around the house. The back doors are always open so that the girls who need to can get in and out easily. As I said, you won’t make it out, but I can see you’re determined to try. Be careful, though. Beasts roam these woods at night, and they’re not all friendly.” With that, he collected his medical bag and left Molly alone again.

  She took the pills, which were starting to dissolve in her sweaty palm, and tossed them into the top drawer of her nightstand. Dr. Meyer had told her everything she needed to know. Trying to scale the gate had been a complete fail, but now she had a way out. The barrier would pose a problem, but she at least had to try. Maybe it wasn’t as strong as everyone thought it was, or maybe it was just something Bea pretended was there to keep people from running away—kind of like a glass ceiling. Was it really there or wasn’t it? Molly didn’t know, but one thing she knew for sure was that come midnight she would be making her great escape.

  8

  Ms. Halifax paid Molly a visit after dinner. Molly still wasn’t hungry. All she could think about was trying to escape, and Ms. Halifax was the last person she wanted to see. Ms. Halifax closed the door behind her and pressed the binder she carried to her chest. “Are you feeling better? I heard you were suffering from a terrible headache.”

  Molly had been standing at her window, staring out into the darkness. The immaculate backyard had the largest pool Molly had ever seen in someone’s home. The only light came from the lamp posts which surrounded the pool. Marina had just come outside and lay across one of the pool chairs.

  “Dr. Meyer came by and gave me some aspirin. I rested for a bit and I’m feeling a little better.”

  Ms. Halifax fiddled with the collar of her dress. “Yes, the good doctor has a way of making everything better, doesn’t he?”

  There was a bitterness in Ms. Halifax’s voice that Molly didn’t quite understand. Although she was curious, she didn’t care enough to try to figure it out. What did it matter anyway? She was about to leave, never to return. Molly didn’t know how to respond, so she turned back to the window. Marina was swimming gracefully across the pool now, but something was wrong.

  Her long slender legs were gone. They had been replaced by a long, aqua fin covered with shimmering scales. Upon first glance, Molly would have assumed it was a costume, but the way it moved up and down, back and forth, propelling Marina through the water, it had to be a part of her body. Molly gasped and turned to Ms. Halifax. “Do you see this? She has a fin.”

  “Of course, she does. Would you expect anything different from a mermaid?” Ms. Halifax held a smidge of boredom in her voice.

  Molly swallowed hard. “Well, excuse me. It’s not every day I see a girl with a fin. All this is kind of new to me.”

  “She told you she was a mermaid, didn’t she?”

  Molly turned back to the window. “Well, yeah, but seeing it with my own eyes is a whole different story.” Any hesitation Molly had about believing the girls and their stories had melted away. All the proof she needed was right in her face.

  “Of course,” Ms. Halifax replied tersely. “Anyway, Ms. Bea wanted me to let you know that I will take over your first night’s duties of checking on the girls since you’re feeling under the weather.”

  “Thank you.”

  Ms. Halifax turned to leave. “Also, if you are feeling hungry, one of the cooks will make you something. Anything you want. Just press the kitchen button on the intercom to let them know. You’re not to enter the kitchen after midnight, though.”

  The warning gave Molly an eerie feeling. “Why not? What happens in the kitchen after midnight?”

  “That’s Gretchen’s time, and she likes to be alone.”

  Molly smiled. “Noted. Thanks so much, Ms. Halifax. I’m going to go ahead and turn in so I can get a strong start in the morning.”

  Ms. Halifax hesitated at the door like
she wanted to say something else but didn’t. She simply nodded and closed the door behind her.

  By eleven o’clock Marina had taken another dip in the pool, and Molly had to practically pry herself from the window. She dug through her drawers and retrieved her favorite jeans, a sweater, and a jacket and pulled her sneakers from the closet. It was a cool summer-on-the-edge-of-autumn-night, and she had no idea how long she would be outside, so she wanted to be prepared. She slid her phone into her back pocket just in case she was able to get some reception.

  Molly sat on the edge of her bed, bouncing anxiously. At a quarter to twelve she heard the distinct sound of Ms. Halifax’s heels on the hardwood floors as she made her rounds. Molly peeked through the small window on the door just as the old woman passed and disappeared down the hall. Molly had no idea where Ms. Halifax’s quarters were, but she hoped they were nowhere near hers.

  She slipped through her bedroom door and padded down the long hallway. Molly peeked her head into the sitting area. It was dimly lit by a few sconces, but it was empty. Her heart raced as she hurried toward the double doors that led to the backyard.

  They were open, and luckily the pool was empty. Bushes and shrubbery formed dark, mysterious shapes all over the backyard. Molly was sure she would be able to better appreciate the landscaping in daylight, but she wasn’t planning on being there to find out. Moving as quickly as possible, she ran around the large estate and up the side of the house. There she stopped to survey the situation going on in the front yard.

  The gates were open like arms inviting Molly to run to them. A running pickup truck sat in front of the gate. Ms. Bea stood at the window, talking to whoever was in the driver’s seat, probably Owen or his father. She was too far away to hear what they were saying.

  While they talked, Molly used the opportunity to run behind a cluster of tall hedges. She edged closer and closer to the gate. Finally, Bea stopped talking and headed back toward the house along the driveway.