North End: The Black Forest

by Amanda Turner

  I slipped the dress over my head and posed in front of the dressing room mirror. It was stunning. I tried not to stare too long. I would not be swayed. “Are you ready?” Lillian yelled from her dressing room.

  “Yep!” I stepped out and turned to face Lillian but was met with a different face. Professor Rose stood in front of the mirror in a dress she was trying on. It was a floor length, deep blue gown with pearls splattered on the long sleeves. She turned her attention to me when I stepped out.

  “Good evening, Ms. Parker. Oh my, that is quite a dress!” she exclaimed, placing her hand delicately on her chest as if she were genuinely taken aback.

  “Thank you, Professor Rose.” I felt my cheeks turn a shade of pink. Lillian popped out from behind Professor Rose in her yellow, frilly disaster.

  “Hi, Professor Rose,” Lillian said as she bopped out of the dressing room before coming to a halt in front of me. “Whoa! Josie, you look gorgeous!”

  “Give us a spin, darling,” Professor Rose suggested as she delicately waved her hand in a circle. I obliged shyly, spinning slowly and avoiding direct eye contact. “Is this for the Hallow’s Eve dance?”

  “Oh...uh, no. I’m just here to support Lillian on her shopping venture.” I pointed to Lillian and tried to freeze my face into a neutral expression as I took in her dress. Professor Rose was having a difficult time controlling her face, as well.

  “Oh my! That dress…” Professor Rose drifted off, unable to find the words to describe the yellow frill.

  “I know! I know!” Lillian exclaimed, holding up her hands. “I’m just trying a bunch of different things.” She stepped in front of the mirror and twirled on her toes. “This is obviously not a winner,” she laughed. The dress practically swallowed her whole. “But that,” she turned to point to me, “is a winner. We’re getting it.”

  “No, Lillian, you’re not buying this.” I tried to avoid looking in the mirror, afraid that if I looked at the dress too long, I would cave.

  “Fine!” she exclaimed, frustrated. “I can’t stay in this dress any longer. I’m suffocating. Next one coming up!” She hiked up the fabric that dragged the floor and hopped back into her dressing room, closing the curtain behind her.

  “That truly is a stunning gown, Ms. Parker,” Rose commented, her voice as soft as satin.

  “Thank you. Look at yours!” I motioned towards her to take the attention off me. “Are you shopping for the dance, too?” I asked.

  “Just shopping in general, really. It is a shame there are no shops on this island. It’s a rare occasion I am able to purchase something new,” she mused as she turned in the mirror. “Come here, dear, take a look.” She waved for me to step in front of the mirror. I may be able to argue with Lillian, but I certainly could not argue with Professor Rose. I reluctantly stepped in front of the mirror and took in the dress. The black did look good with my dark hair and made my green eyes stand out even more so than usual. Professor Rose stood behind me beaming. “Do you love it?”

  “It’s beautiful,” I shook my head, “but I can’t afford it. Lillian is offering, but I know she doesn’t have that much money to spare. She needs to save it.” I stepped away from the mirror and walked back to my dressing room. “I have some older dresses I can wear anyway so it’s not a big deal.”

  “You will look radiant in whatever you choose. Have a lovely night,” she waved and walked back to her dressing room.

  * * *

  After several failed attempts, Lillian finally found her perfect dress and skipped all the way to our room, ecstatic. When we walked in, we saw Daliah and Ava doing each other’s makeup on Ava’s bed. They were dressed to the nines. There must be a party tonight.

  “Hey, girls!” Lillian sang. “Got my dress!” She held up the hanger which was covered in black satin to protect the dress underneath.

  “Let’s see it!” Daliah stopped applying blush to Ava’s cheeks and stood up to jump on the bed. Ava rolled her eyes like she was too cool to worry about Lillian’s dress when, in fact, she was probably the one who cared about it the most. If someone had something better than she did, she was riddled with jealousy.

  “No way!” Lillian cried, rushing to hang the dress in her closet. “I want it to be a surprise! But, trust me, it’s to die for.” Daliah stopped jumping, I raised an eyebrow, and Ava turned around to shoot her a disappointed look. “Okay, maybe that wasn’t the best word choice. Sorry.” She frowned. “I just meant it’s really pretty.”

  “Where’s your dress, Josie?” Ava asked as Daliah sat back down to continue applying her makeup.

  “I think I’ll just wear one I already have. I’m trying to be frugal,” I said simply. My family problems weren’t something I discussed with my other two roommates. I'm not sure they would understand.

  “A repeat dress?” Ava asked in a disgusted tone. I saw Daliah mouth “shut up” out of the corner of my eye.

  “I think a repeat dress sounds fine! You already have some pretty ones,” Daliah offered, even though I am sure she was not actually a fan of repeats. She was just trying to be nice. I appreciated the gesture even if it wasn’t her true opinion. I shot a small smile her way before plopping down on my bed.

  “Do you two want to go to a party tonight?” Ava asked with excitement.

  Lillian looked at me to judge my face. A party wasn’t the exact place I wanted to be tonight—I would much prefer to be wrapped up in Miles’ arms—but I had reserved this night for Lillian only. This was all about her and whatever she wanted to do. I had no doubt she’d been feeling a little neglected lately. And it was obvious by the way her eyes glittered that she wanted to go. So, I painted a half smile on my face because if she saw any sign of resistance from me, she would never accept the invitation.

  “That sounds fun,” I shrugged casually. Lillian raised her eyebrow as if questioning my intentions, but it was too late. Daliah was already cheering and Ava offered to do Lillian’s makeup right away so her attention was turned elsewhere before she could say another word to me.

  “Thanks, Ava,” Lillian smiled, and I shoved my face into a book before Lillian could examine me with her eyes any further.

  * * *

  The party was in a dorm belonging to a final year witch. Her parents apparently donated some special wing in the library at school, so she had one of the biggest rooms I had ever seen with only one other roommate as opposed to the usual three. The donation was supposed to be hush hush since she was obviously getting special treatment because of it, but, as usual, people love to talk. Even if they didn’t, it would be obvious as soon as you set foot in the dorm. It even had a private bathroom connected.

  “I didn’t even know rooms like this existed,” I mumbled as we made our way through the door.

  Since it was twice as big as my room with only two beds, I had a feeling it was a hot spot for parties and gatherings. There were at least 20 people inside and it wasn’t even crowded. Daliah and Ava led the way through the room. They bopped from group to group introducing us. Lillian struck up a quick, friendly conversation with pretty much every person we met, but I held back. I wasn’t great at small talk with strangers, which was the main reason a party had not sounded like my cup of tea.

  We had made our way around the whole party and were only left with one group of three older girls who were perched up close to the bathroom with black plastic cups in their hands. Judging by Ava’s reaction to the tall red headed one, she was the host of this party. Ava bounced her way over to the girl with her arms stretched wide as I realized I recognized her from somewhere. The girl squealed when she saw Ava and stretched out her arms, as well. They wrapped them around each other and bounced in a little circle. The tall girl held her cup high in the air, being very careful not to spill any of her liquid onto Ava’s dress.

  “Ava! It has been too long!” she cried as she pulled away from the hug. She glanced back, passed over Lillian and I, not recognizing us, and headed straight for Daliah. Neither of their reactions were quite
as dramatic.

  “Hello, Daliah! How are you?” the host asked, snaking one arm around her shoulders, while holding her cup in the air again. She was a head taller than Daliah.

  “Hi, Crystal! What a great party!” Daliah cheered. She spoke in a weird voice that almost sounded fake. Kind of like how Ava sounded most of the time, but Daliah didn’t usually talk like that around us. It was strange to hear, and I wondered why she felt like she had to put on an act for this particular group of people.

  “Oh, isn’t it?” Crystal responded in a high-pitched voice. “I was a little worried to host tonight—you know, with everything that’s been going on. I didn’t want to be the next one to wind up dead on the floor!” She laughed wildly like Laura’s death was all some practical joke someone pulled. I instinctively stepped back from the group, feeling an unusual reaction move through my body. I wasn’t sure what type of person would use a young girl’s death as party banter, but I knew I wanted nothing to do with someone like that. I recognized the unusual feeling in my stomach as disgust.

  Ava laughed wildly along with Crystal, but the rest of us stood silently, awkwardly. “Oh, come on! Lighten up! It’s just a joke,” Crystal defended herself and tucked her light red hair behind her ear.

  “Um...this is Lillian and Josie. They’re our roommates,” Daliah said in an attempt to change the subject. Crystal reached her hand out to shake both of ours.

  “Ladies, it is a pleasure to meet you,” she said in a formal tone.

  “It’s nice to meet you, too,” Lillian said. I nodded but kept quiet. “Thanks for letting us tag along with Ava and Daliah. Your room is incredible.” Lillian spoke with such ease. I would have been wracking my brain to think of anything to talk about, but not Lillian. She could strike up a conversation with anyone, even someone like Crystal.

  “Isn’t it the best? Thanks, daddy,” she smiled and took another swig from her cup.

  “What are you drinking?” Ava asked and winked.

  Crystal glanced over both of her shoulders as if she was about to tell us something top secret. She leaned in closer before whispering “This is a diabolus mix.” She didn’t elaborate any further and I wondered if I was the only one who was confused.

  “Is that some sort of alcohol?” Lillian asked hesitantly.

  “No,” Crystal rolled her eyes and giggled, still whispering. “You really don’t know what diabolus mix is?”

  We all shrugged with the exception of Ava, who was pretending to know what it was. I had a feeling she actually had no idea, but in her eyes lying would be better than admitting she was out of the loop. “It’s devil juice.” The group was suddenly very still, and it seemed like the party quieted down, but maybe that was just in my head. My heart had sunk down to my feet. I wasn’t sure what devil juice was, but I knew it could not be a good thing.

  Suddenly I realized where I recognized Crystal from. She was the girl in the auditorium the day Headmistress Craw made her speech about Laura’s death, the one that was so concerned the administration would find her “devil’s juice.” They obviously hadn’t found it or simply didn’t care if a student had it in their possession.

  “W--w…what does it do?” Daliah stammered. She looked just as nervous as I felt.

  “It connects your mind to the Underworld.” This was starting to sound a lot like dark magic. “It gives you a direct line to the Fallen Angel so he can send you messages, if he chooses to.” Her face was lit up with excitement, like it was an honor to have communication with the Fallen Angel. I felt an intense wonder for how this juice worked, but I didn’t want Crystal to mistake my curiosity for interest in trying it.

  “How does that work?” Lillian asked. I knew she was feeling the same way I was: curious. She was just brave enough to ask out loud.

  “I’ll drink this whole cup and when I go to sleep tonight the Fallen Angel will visit me,” she shrugged as if she did this all the time.

  “So...he visits people every time they drink this?” Daliah asked, looking into Crystal’s cup. I leaned forward just a bit to glance in the cup, as well. It was a dark liquid with bubbles on the top. It looked thick. I wondered what it would taste like but shoved that thought out of my mind quickly. I didn’t want to picture myself anywhere near the juice.

  “Well, some people drink it and don’t see him or any visions at all, but he visits me every time I drink it. He shows me things.” She took another sip of the thick substance.

  “Like what?” I felt the words leave my mouth before I had a chance to stop myself. I didn’t know why I asked. I just knew I had to learn more about the juice and the people who would willingly drink it. It was like a magnetic pull.

  “Different things. Sometimes it’s images from the Underworld. Sometimes it’s things that haven’t yet happened in this world. It’s unbelievable.”

  “Yeah, almost completely unbelievable,” Lillian said, obviously not buying anything she was saying. Crystal didn’t pick up on her sarcasm though and went on rambling about the images that came to her the last time she drank this juice. She described images of the Black Forest filled with creatures from the Underworld in such detail I could almost picture myself there among these beasts. I shivered. Either Crystal really had been visited by the Fallen Angel or she had the most vivid imagination I’d ever heard.

  “So, do you have to be a Follower for the potion to work?” Daliah asked. “Since it’s the Fallen Angel who gives you these visions?”

  “No, I don’t think so. I got the visions before I decided to be a Follower. It probably works for anyone. Or maybe the Fallen Angel just has a special connection to my mind.” She winked. I shivered.

  I was thankful when Crystal wrapped up her story, chugged the rest of her drink, looked at Ava and said, “I need to mingle. We’ll catch up later.” She walked into the growing crowd of people in her room, which had already doubled. I wasn’t sure there would be room for many more people.

  I stayed close to Lillian’s side the rest of the night as my roommates made the rounds, chatting with people they knew from class or boys they thought were cute. I felt slightly uncomfortable, but it wasn’t unbearable with Lillian there. She made sure I wasn’t totally left out of the conversation without forcing me to talk too much. I wasn’t sure how long we had been there, maybe an hour or so, but I was starting to get bored. My mind began drifting to Miles. I pictured his eyes in my favorite shade of blue, his hand covering mine, his arm wrapped around my shoulder, making me feel even smaller than I really was. Miles.

  “...that Miles kid probably killed her.” I was snapped out of my daydream by the mention of his name out loud, here at the party. Lillian and Daliah were distracted by their conversation with two girls they knew from class, but I immediately focused on the conversation going on right behind me. I was very careful not to turn my head, but I leaned back just a bit so I could really hear what they were saying. “Dude, he had blood on his shirt!” some boy said. My heart started pounding.

  “One kid from that hallway swore he saw him hit her,” another said. No! I yelled in my head. What they were saying was completely made up. Miles would never hit someone.

  “He was smiling when he came around the corner,” a familiar voice cooed. My blood was boiling now. The voice I heard belonged to Frances. I was sure. My hands started shaking as I contemplated turning around and giving her a piece of my mind right in the middle of the party. I wouldn’t hold anything back.

  But I knew it wouldn’t do any good. That was exactly what she wanted me to do. So, instead I balled my hands into fists at my side and refused to turn around for even a second. I wouldn’t give her the chance to lock eyes with me and smile her smuggest smile. She would not get the satisfaction of making me snap, despite the fact that she was lying through her teeth. I was there the night of the murder. I had seen his face when he rounded that corner. It was far from a smile. He was terrified. Traumatized.

  I listened as another boy backed up the lie Frances had just told and had to gn
aw on my cheek to stop myself from jumping to Miles’ defense, but I bit too hard and tasted blood.

  “I don’t know. I’m pretty sure he was the one that went to get help. Why would he bring attention to his own crime?” a girl from the group asked. My heart rate slowed. I took a deep breath. At least someone in that group had some common sense.

  “I’m telling you, the dude is messed up. He probably killed her so he could be forever young or something...like the Fallen Angel,” the first voice interjected.

  “He better be careful messing with dark magic like that…” the girl said. There it was again. This talk of stealing someone’s youth. And they thought that’s what Miles wanted. I was furious. It is just gossip. It is just gossip. I tried to repeat it to myself to calm down. These people didn’t know Miles. They just wanted a story to talk about to make their lives seem more interesting. Their words meant nothing. But it didn’t work. I was still angry even after the gossip group behind me changed the subject. I was officially partied out.

  “Hey, I think I’m going to head back,” I whispered to Lillian.

  “What? Why?” she asked, slightly concerned. “Is something wrong?” She glanced over my shoulder at the group of gossipers and her eyes widened. “Did Frances say something?” she hissed.

  “No, no,” I lied. There was no reason to ruin her fun. “I’m just feeling tired.”

  “Do you want me to come with you?” Her eyes drifted back to the two of cute boys she and Daliah were talking to. I knew she wanted nothing more than to stay, but she would leave if I needed her.

  “No way!” I said. “You stay. I’m just going to lay down anyway.”

  “Text me if you need me,” she smiled, and I watched her return to her conversation before sliding out the door. I walked down the hall and could hear conversations floating from other rooms that were having gatherings. None were quite as loud as Crystal’s room, though. I was finally starting to calm down, but my adrenaline was still going. As I passed a guard at the end of the hall, I watched him give me a funny look and wondered how red the anger had made my face.