Urban Mystic Academy: Graduation (A Supernatural Academy Series Book 6)

by Jennifer Rose McMahon

  As I bolted across the labyrinth’s winding trail, I lost my sense of balance every time I tried to veer off the path. It was as if the only way out was to continue on the predetermined passage.

  Every nerve in my body screamed, knowing the labyrinth would slow me down, and Shane would catch me. My only hope was that he'd be forced to remain on the path as well.

  With dizzying speed and huffing breath, I flew along the stone trail, twisting and turning along its frantic maze.

  "Brynn!" Shane's voice pierced through my skull. "Stop!"

  His shrill tone sent sharp terror through me. Whatever it was that had possessed him, he seemed hell-bent on wrecking me.

  Tripping over my own feet, I struggled to stay on the path at the panicked pace I was going. The sound of the wailing voices rushed through the air behind me as if searching for me.

  Each time the trail snaked back on itself, I quaked with resisting fear, certain the haunting force would catch me on the return.

  "Brynn, stop!" Shane's voice cut at me again, and this time I caught sight of him.

  He twisted along the labyrinth path, keeping his fiery eyes fixed on me like a predator. Something had a hold of him, causing him to turn into a hunting beast.

  The whirl of the storm coursed all around him as if fueling his attack. He swiped at it, keeping it above his head, allowing him clear visibility.

  With one final turn, I flew along the outermost edge of the labyrinth, and the exit came into view. As I panted toward my salvation, visions of haunting skulls and burning agony whooshed past me. Ghostly images of pain and suffering caused my eyes to shut against their assault, causing me to stumble off the path.

  As I struggled to get back on it, my entire body trembled in terror, making it nearly impossible to continue to run. I glanced behind me only to see Shane barreling toward me. The whirling chaos of the storm followed above him, and it began reaching out toward me.

  "No!" he screamed, stretching his hands out toward my neck.

  In a defensive posture, I stood my ground to fight against his attack.

  But he was too strong with the force of his speed behind him, and he plowed into me, knocking me to the ground.

  I wrestled beneath his weight, but he smothered me with his body.

  "Keep down!" he shouted.

  As I forced my eyes open against his assault, I watched as the tempest of wailing voices and agonized souls whooshed over us and dissipated up into the sky.

  Panting, Shane rolled off of me and covered his face with his hands. His trembling body gave the appearance of sobbing, and I reeled back in shock.

  "What the hell happened?" I spat. "You were going to kill me!"

  He bared his teeth, attempting to gather himself together.

  "I almost did," he whispered.

  I pulled back in shock.

  I hadn't been wrong.

  "Opening the vial could have killed you." He pushed up on his elbows. "I'm so sorry. I didn't realize until it was too late. Something had taken me over for that moment as I pulled the cork."

  I gasped for air, not realizing I'd stopped breathing.

  "I don't understand," I coughed.

  He glanced back toward the center of the labyrinth, still trying to catch his breath.

  "I'd hidden it long ago. Hoping it would end it all." He shook his head in self-loathing. "But I see now I failed. It's alive and well. And it almost got you, Brynn." His voice cracked as he struggled for air.

  I had no clue what he was talking about, except that whatever it was hidden in that vial, it had murderous intent.

  And Shane knew it.

  He knew enough about its power to hide it, forever.

  But the end of forever came sooner than he'd expected.

  "What was in the vial?" I whispered, studying his face for clues.

  With sweat dripping from his brow, he drew in a long breath and exhaled.

  "The Dark Witch's death curse."

  Chapter 7

  Backing away from the labyrinth, all I saw now was withered vines and brown leaves. Whatever signs of life that had survived in the garden were now shriveled or fallen from the branches.

  I looked above to be sure the death curse wasn't still coursing through the air, waiting to descend upon me, but all I saw was clouds in the bright sky.

  "How the hell did her death curse get in that vial?" I shook my head in confusion.

  Shane lowered his gaze to the ground, then looked up at me with lifted eyebrows.

  "I put it in there."

  His simple reply shook me to my core.

  "What? How?" I pressed.

  He exhaled. "It's still very hazy, but I think I went back, long after my parent's deaths, and hid it there with the key." He rubbed his temples with his thumb and middle finger. "I brought the key here when the posse came for my family. I knew they meant to hurt us. I just had no idea how badly."

  I listened as we walked toward the manor.

  Shane continued. "My parents had told me to run and hide. And so I did. I took the key and hid in the labyrinth."

  I closed my eyes and swallowed hard, imagining Shane's horrifying predicament.

  "What happened to you then?" I asked.

  "I don't remember exactly how much time passed," he started. "But I remember staying hidden in the center of the labyrinth for days. Cold and hungry. Hearing my mother's screams over and over in my mind." He paused. "That was when the hate began to grow. It was something deep that I'd never felt before, and it gave me a place to channel my anger and fear."

  His voice cracked as he relived the emotions.

  "The worst part was...," he continued, "was the fact that I blamed myself for not being able to stop it from happening. I was helpless that day, and I swore never to be helpless again."

  I watched as his hands clenched into tight fists.

  I cleared my throat and asked, "So, what did you do?"

  He turned away from me to hide his face.

  "I allowed her in," he whispered.

  I slowed my pace, studying him. "Allowed who in?"

  "The Dark Witch."

  I stopped in my tracks as his words shocked me to the core.

  He'd allowed her in.

  I couldn't believe it.

  "What the hell do you mean?" I stammered.

  He stopped with me and kept his eyes on the boarded-up estate ahead of us.

  "You have to understand, Brynn, I had nobody. I was all alone in the world... and lost."

  His broken voice shot me through the heart.

  "I know. I didn't mean to sound judgmental. I just had no idea you'd been through so much," I said.

  "Yeah, same." He kicked at some stones by his feet. "It all kind of makes better sense now, though. I was never quite sure how I'd lost my soul. I thought maybe it happened when we were shot at by the portal, but now I understand."

  I stared at him for more information, because I sure as hell understood nothing.

  It made no sense that Shane could have partnered with the Dark Witch.

  "She promised she'd take care of me," he murmured. "Said she would train me and make me stronger. She was my only option at the time, and I had no true idea of her evil or what it meant to seal our contract in blood. I was young and naive."

  I stepped back from him without thinking. I couldn't help it. I just couldn't believe what I was hearing, and it scared the shit out of me.

  Shane had sold his soul to the Dark Witch after his family was killed. She owned him.

  "Brynn?" His voice was barely audible.

  I shook my head. "I just need a second. I don't understand what's going on."

  My breath grew short and choppy. As I turned my gaze into the trees, the bark began to crawl, and strange faces morphed within the branches. The clouds streamed across the sky in kaleidoscope color patterns, and the sound of chirping birds turned into a language I understood. Their whistles and tweets wondered who we were and what we were doing there. One bird flew past my should
er and told me I should try to fly.

  I followed its soar across the sky and put my arms out. The other birds called to me with encouragement and excitement as I swayed my arms through the air and felt my feet lighten from the ground beneath me. A sense of weightlessness lifted me as I gazed into the expanse of the sky.

  The trill of the birds rang louder as I said, "I feel it. I feel what it's like to be you." They chirped and flew all around me as we communicated in a way both could understand.

  Lowering my arms, I felt gravity return to my body, as I kept my eyes high on the birds. A deep smile crossed my lips as a sense of unity with nature filled me with light.

  As if in slow motion, I turned my gaze to Shane, and he had a similar look of wonder on his face as he stared at the lines in the palm of his hand. Moving his fingers in and out, he studied his hand as if lost in its amazing intricacy. He watched it move as if it were a separate entity from the rest of his body.

  The sound of the breeze stole my attention for a moment as I followed its voice, carrying tales of centuries gone by. Mesmerized by the storytelling in the air and the colors converging all around me, I strained to use my voice.

  "What's happening?" I asked. But as the words left my lips, I didn't understand them. It was as if I was speaking another language.

  Shane lifted his attention to me, and a gentle smile spread across his face.

  "I think we're tripping," he said with a scrunched nose.

  I glanced all around, itching my nose with the back of my hand, and then, as I looked down, a cloud of gray smoke plumed at our feet. Stepping aside, I generated more plumes that lifted their swirling dust up to our faces.

  "Shittttttt...," Shane's echoing voice vibrated through my head. "The mushroooooooms..."

  I stepped away from the patch of spotted mushrooms, noticing the strange opening at the rounded top of each one. Their spore dust puffed out of the holes each time they were disturbed.

  We stumbled away from the mushroom patch, moving as far from the gray haze as possible.

  "I feel the air," I said. "It's thick, like an actual thing." I reached into the space in front of me, touching the texture of the air. The birds had made me aware of its existence. "I've never noticed that before."

  Shane laughed through his nose with a snort, and I turned to him.

  As soon as I saw his entertained face, I burst out laughing. He must have thought I was insane.

  "What? Try it," I chuckled, moving my hand back and forth through the air.

  He lifted his hand and pressed it in front of him. As soon as he felt it, his eyes widened.

  "Shit. I feel it," he gasped. "It has particles in it. And different temperatures."

  "I know," I gushed. "I feel that too!"

  Moving our arms through the air as if we were swimming, we traveled across the vast lawn, reaching a tranquil spot of short grass on a gentle incline.

  "It's safe here," Shane said, sitting into the grass.

  "Okay," I agreed, finding it impossible to bring my mind back to any possible concerns we may have had.

  Instead, staring into the sky and feeling the earth’s energy pass into my body was all I needed to do.

  "I feel so connected," I murmured. "Like a part of the earth. And the universe. Do you feel that?"

  I turned to him and soaked his warm eyes into mine. He moved into my mind through our gaze, and I wrapped my soul around him.

  "I've got you," I said. "I'll protect you."

  And I meant every word. I'd protect him until we found his soul. The soul he'd given to the Dark Witch.

  But right now, all that mattered was that we were together.

  "I promise to protect you, too," he said without having to speak out loud.

  And I believed him.

  He'd already protected me.

  He saved me from almost getting struck by the death curse. If its surge had the chance to hit me, I'd be done, and we'd have no hope at all.

  I rolled my eyes in annoyance that I had even thought for a second that he was attacking me in the labyrinth.

  "It's fucked up that we can understand each other without speaking," he said.

  "And that we can feel each other's energy when we touch." I smiled at him.

  "This whole thing is fucked up," he smirked. "How do we actually accept all of this. The academy. The UMAs. Graduation. Like, what the fuck?"

  I chuckled.

  "I know. I never really thought about it, I guess. I just went with it." I shook my head at the insanity of it all.

  "Like, we're freaks. You know that, right?" he said.

  I shrugged my shoulders into the grass.

  "I've always been a freak. Maybe that's why I roll with it so well."

  He smiled up into the sky and filled his lungs with fresh air.

  I thought back to the first time I ever set eyes on Shane. He had been standing at the top of the stairs of Lakefield High. I noticed him right away.

  We'd had a history I never even knew about.

  Until that day. When it all began.

  "We knew each other before," I whispered.

  He turned his gaze to me and twisted onto his elbow.

  "I know," he answered.

  As the sun dipped down behind the tree line, we pulled ourselves off the grass. My head felt surprisingly clear after having nearly lost my mind from the mushroom dust.

  "That was so weird," I murmured, testing my ability to speak clearly.

  "Yeah. I actually feel more awake than ever right now," Shane said.

  "Same."

  We walked along the side of the boarded-up manor and made our way to Shane's place. I glanced up at the balcony, its black spiral railing hung crooked from a broken support, but I could still see it in its full glory. The talisman had shown me its original, regal condition, and then I remembered.

  The key.

  My eyes darted to Shane's, and at that same moment, he reached into his pocket and pulled it out.

  Holding the old skeleton key in his palm, he curled his fingers around it as if listening to the story it had to tell.

  "Let's wait until morning," he said. "I don't know if I can handle any more events today."

  My shoulders sank in relief. Going into the haunted manor was the last thing I wanted to do at that point, especially at night.

  "It's weird, though," I said. "I feel strangely rested right now. Like I've slept for days."

  "I was just thinking the same thing," Shane agreed. "Something about those mushrooms. It was like a clean re-set."

  "Exactly."

  Stepping into Shane's small house, we pulled our phones out at the same time and plugged them into our chargers. They buzzed to life, and within seconds a string of urgent text messages filled the screens.

  "It's Ms. Kelly," Shane muttered while scrolling.

  I read the messages too, wondering why our phones hadn't received the messages while we were outside. We must have been in a dead zone.

  I paused, realizing how accurate my thought probably was. A dead zone was exactly where we'd been.

  "I'm going to FaceTime her," he said. "Her texts are too erratic to follow."

  I tried to piece together her messages to create a coherent story.

  "Something about the Dark Witch and Ms. Harrison," I murmured, squinting at my phone. "What the hell is she talking about?"

  "No clue," he said, as his phone tried to connect with her. "She's not picking up."

  I texted her, telling her to contact us again, now that we were back online.

  "She must have felt the disturbance of the death curse," I said. "That's the only explanation. She probably thinks it got me."

  Shane nodded. "Maybe. But these other messages seem like more." He studied his phone. "Like this one."

  He read her message out loud.

  She says, "Possible contact with Elizabeth. A shift. Rebuilding."

  He paused, reading it a second time silently. "What the hell does that mean?"

  "And wh
y are the messages so choppy? And now she's out of touch." My tone held annoyance at the additional stress to our day. "I'll try her again."

  I dialed her number and waited for the chime to sound as she picked up. But nothing. It just rang and rang.

  "Try the others. Ms. Reed, Poorva, Blake. See if anyone knows anything." He re-read her texts again as I texted the group chat.

  It was weird that we hadn't heard from anyone else. It made it seem like Ms. Kelly was only reaching out to us. But why? It was like she'd been in a hurry, and then nothing.

  "We should probably swing by her house," Shane said. "Just to be sure everything's okay."

  Before the words finished resonating within my ears, the sound of crunching gravel under tires caused us both to jump. We rushed over to the door and watched as Ms. Kelly's car pulled up.

  Without a moment of hesitation, we flew out of the house and went straight to her.

  She hadn't even had a chance to put the car in park before Shane flung her door open.

  "Are you okay?" he blasted. "Is everything okay?"

  But his words were unnecessary.

  The harrowed look on her face answered for her.

  Everything was not okay.

  We helped her out of the car and into the house. She plopped herself onto a kitchen chair, and I rushed over to her with a cold glass of water.

  "I'm sorry to have alarmed you," she started. "But I had to warn you."

  "We didn't have service while we were outside, or we would have responded to you immediately," Shane interjected.

  She nodded. "I know."

  After taking a long drink of water, she added, "There was a surge. A shift. Did you feel it?"

  Shane and I looked at each other and then back to Ms. Kelly.

  "Yes," we said simultaneously.

  "The death curse," she stated.

  Our eyes widened. She'd felt it too.

  Shane's eyes closed as he absorbed the impact of his actions.

  "I released it accidentally," he whispered. "I didn't know what it was at first."

  "It came after me," I added. "But Shane was able to shelter me from it."

  "Good. Good," Ms. Kelly nodded. "That would have been disastrous if it reached you." She paused. "However, it came for Tommy."