Spell Bound

by Natalie Romano

  "Maybe u could come by the hospital?!?"

  "Hello?"

  "U there?"

  "I really want u to come."

  "R u coming?"

  That was weird Caroline hated begging people, and more than that she hated when people took pity on her. This was strange for Caroline, but it sounded like she needed me.

  "Be right there," I texted back.

  June 2nd, 2013

  "Hey, Care, how you feeling?" I said as I stood in a blank white hospital room, with a single bed that had a young girl lying on it.

  "I'm ok, but it hurts. A lot." She responded with a voice that just screamed how much pain she was in.

  "Alright, well, I'm gonna leave you alone so you can get some rest. Okay?" I said as I placed some really nice looking flowers on the small nightstand next to her.

  "NO! DON'T LEAVE! I mean, I like having someone to talk to. Please stay."

  It was weird the way she asked me because she sounded somewhat needy, and Caroline always was the kind of person who did everything by herself.

  "Okay, if you insist."

  "So, I've noticed you've been hanging out with Ms. Caster a lot lately. I hope you know she's completely nuts."

  "She's actually not that bad. She's kind and really helpful to me."

  "Yah, but she lies about almost everything."

  "What are you talking about? Do you even know her, you don't have her for anything, and I know that because you're in my social studies class."

  Caroline wasn't making any sense. How did she even know I was ever with her? What else wasn't she telling me?

  She just sat there with a blank look on her face, not knowing what to say.

  "Care?" I said.

  "You just can't trust her, okay?"

  "No. Not until you tell me what this is about."

  "YOU REALLY JUST CAN’T TRUST HER!"

  "What ever," I said as I walked towards the door.

  Then I felt a hand grab my arm, hard. How did she even get out of bed? I thought as I spun around only to he her lying in her hospital gown on the bed, whispering a spell under her breath. I knew the spell too, Eplornia Sultarni. You use the spell when you want to stop someone from getting away. That's when i realized that was the important part of this situation. My best friend was a witch, like me, but her magic was dark and had a negative energy.

  I just stood there in awe as the grasp of the spell started to tighten. I just couldn't get passed it; my best friend was a dark witch. Wow, I really didn't see that one coming.

  ALEX! SNAP OUT OF IT!

  It was Ms. Caster.

  Are you here to save me?

  No, I can't help you with this one. You have to help yourself. Alex, use your powers. I've told you this before, but it's clear you don't understand it. You're extremely powerful. You can do this. Use the force spell, the one that forces the people away, do you remember it?

  I did, Ecrithem Soucratious, but I couldn't say it. The grasp was getting to strong. I couldn't, I just couldn't.

  ALEX NOW!!!!!

  "Ecrtihem Soucratious," I spat out as I breathed what I thought would be my last breath.

  Then, Caroline screamed out in pain, the grip loosened, and I could finally breathe again. I gasped as I tried to catch my breath. I mustered up the strength to stand up again and I took one last look at Caroline. She was muttering some words in a language I didn't understand. She looked so evil to me, like the devil himself. I walked over to her for the last time I ever would, for the last time I ever wanted to.

  "I despise you Caroline Grace McKee."  I stood there for a second and watched her still shriveled up into a ball out of the pain I caused her. Good. I should have listened to Ms. Caster the first time she told me not to trust her. As I turned around I noticed the flowers I had bought her, and I pushed them off the edge of the nightstand. "Goodbye, forever."

 

   

  June 3rd, 2013

  I was back in the pure white world now. Nothing seemed like it had changed, it did feel different though. I just couldn't figure out how, or why. I look to my left, then to my right, then back to my left.  I saw Cassidy and Al, two of the people that I have come to know well in this world.

  "Hey," I shouted to the people in the distance.

  "Hey, Alex," said Cassidy. Al never really talked much, but he was good company and Cassidy usually just talked for him.

  As I headed towards them, I saw a ginormous black cloud in the background. It looked like a tornado or something. But that couldn't be possible, right? I mean this world isn't even really a world, it's a dream. So what could have been?

  "What’s that?" I said as I pointed in the direction of the cloud.

  "THE DARKNESS!" Screamed Al. That's weird, he never, I mean NEVER talks.

  "What?" I was so confused about what was going on. Then, behind me, there was a scream. People were huddled in a crowd looking at 'the darkness'.

  "Evil is coming back to this land, Alex. It's dangerous, you've witnessed it first hand with your 'friend' Caroline," stated Cassidy in a trembling voice as she motioned towards the bruises on my arms. "It happened once before, a long time ago, and it ended in a lot of deaths. The elders said this would happen again, and they said-"

  Then she was cut off by a loud booming noise that was louder than thunder, and the dark clouds were coming closer too us. People were frantically running everywhere, screaming their heads off. Like come on people, calm down. Seriously, I'm just beginning to learn this stuff, and I beat a dark witch all on my own.

  "We should really go, Caroline!" Cassidy shouted.

  "Ok, but what’s so scary about all this, I mean I knew people died last time and all, but..." I said.

  "The elders said every single person would die this time, witches or human."

  Yikes. Those are big stakes. All life gone, just try to imagine it.

  "Oh. Yah we better go."

  Then we took off for the closest building in sight to take cover in, and as we entered the building everyone got silent. Seriously, it got so quiet that someone could have dropped a hair, and you would have heard it.

  "What's going on?" I whispered to Cassidy. I looked up and noticed every one staring at us.

  "Um, yah about that. The elders also said that, well... you would bring us a victory."

  The last thing I could remember before I woke up was fainting.

  June 4th, 2013

  I woke up and my head felt like scrambled eggs.

  My blurry vision made it hard to see the people standing over me. I heard distant voices speaking Gibberish and words that I could not make out. I couldn't figure out what had happened to me to make me pass out like that. In fact I couldn't figure out anything at all. Questions then began bouncing around in my head, putting my brain into over load. Where was I? Who were all these people? What was going on?

  And then I slipped back out into dark blackness.

  June 5th, 2013

  When I came to my senses once again, I was thrilled to realize I could see and hear as well as remember what happened. Although I was unpleased to realize I was out for an entire day. I mean who knows what you could miss in 24hrs, and from what I was hearing, I missed more then I imagined.

  I heard one woman shriek that the sky was falling, and another saying we were all gonna die. It was very reassuring to me.

  I needed to escape the madness for a while, so I attempted to go back into the normal world. No such luck.

  Ugh, I thought, what a great time for me to forget how to do this.

  I tried focusing on what I wanted to do and where I wanted to go just like Ms. Caster told me. Nothing. I was just the cherry on top of a perfect day.

  Alex, you can stop trying to go home, the darkness trapped us in. Almost everyone has given up all hope. It's no use.

  No, no, no, no, no. How could this be happening? I mean, just a month ago I was the most normal kid on the planet, and now I'm stuck inside a 'Witch World' thingy.


  But there is always one way to stop this...

  I knew what she was implying, that I could it. There was no way; I was just little old me, not some special person that could save an entire world!

  Ms. C, you're crazy if you really think I can save all these people.

  You really can Alex! I believe in you.

  Whatever, what would she know anyways? I bet it's not even that bad and the clouds have gone away, or 'The Darkness' has gone away.

  I stepped outside and realized I couldn't have been more wrong. Blackness covered the sky as far as the eye could see, the winds were blowing at speeds I never knew were even possible, and a torrential rain was beating on the ground. This was a problem, this was a big problem.

  Then, out of nowhere, the wind stopped blowing. I guess its over.

  All of a sudden a voice was booming throughout the sky, it was Caroline's voice. She said. "Surrender her. Give us Alex and we will lift this curse from your land."

  I guess I spoke too soon.

  June 6th, 2013

  Mrs. Caster had told me earlier today day that I had to make a decision on what I was going to do, whether I was going to help these people or not. I didn't even know if people wanted my help, and what was I even supposed to do? I knew I was the prophecy and all, but what did that even mean? My thoughts just became more and more jumbled up as I thought about the situation I had gotten myself into.

  I have to help them, I thought. And I need to tell them before I change my mind. I stepped onto a podium that was towards the front of the crowd. "I need your attention please," I shouted so everyone could hear me. "As many of you know, it was written that I will one day save your world, and that day might be now. I wanted to let you know that I have decided to lead you in this fight against the dark. Thank you, that is all." Silence was all I heard after that. Everyone’s faces staring at me in wonder and confusion. The next thing I knew, that silence erupted into applause and grateful shouts. I remember just feeling a great deal of relief. They wanted me to lead them, and that was a first for me.

  I went back into the building that I was in when I fainted, and I tried to look for Mrs. Caster. After a while I didn't find her, so I sat down on a comfortable couch that I never realized was there. A few moments later Mrs. Caster walked in.

  "That was a brave choice you made out the Alex. The people love you. I even have some flowers for you." She walked over and gently placed the bouquet of flowers in my hands. Lilies, my favorite.

  "Thanks, but it was nothing." I took the flowers out of plastic cover they were in, and placed them into a vase I found near by.

  "Alex, that was amazing, seriously." Then Ms. Caster left the room and left me there alone in my thoughts.

  The lilies that were sitting on the table to the right of me were actually really beautiful flowers. I walked over to them and played with the little petals in my hands. The smell of the flowers drifted through the air, but there was something off putting about the smell of them. They smelled as though they were rotting, but I knew they weren't, I mean they looked like they had just bloomed.

  And then I felt it. My body started getting weak, my knees were wobbling, struggling to hold me up.  My head felt faint and my sight was blurry. I stumbled back and fell back on the couch I was laying on earlier. My senses started flooding back and a realization creeped in to my mind. The flowers must have been poisoned.

  I stormed out of the building and stood up in front of the crowd that was still there, surprisingly.

  "SOMEONE HAS TRIED TO POISON ME AND I WANT TO KNOW WHO IT IS, NOW!"

  "It was me." I looked out in the crowd to see who had said that, man were they gonna pay. As my eyes found the mysterious person who had attempted to kill my, I realized it could only be one person, Caroline.

  "You. We will banish you from these lands and make you pay for everything you have done. There will be a war fought between us, and you will lose."

  "You couldn't be more wrong," Caroline argued.

  ...

  In the hours that followed that, all hell broke loose. Spells and potions going off everywhere. Screams and cries for help struggled out of people’s mouths. I can still see the images of dead people when I close my eyes. The scariest part of the whole thing was when I battled Caroline one on one.

  She attacked me with one of the most painful spells I have ever experienced. Agrotti Frortisi, it creates the illusion of a bullet going through your heart.

  I cried out in pain. It hurt so badly that I didn't think I could make it. And then I heard the sweet honey voice of Ms. Caster.

  Alex, come on stand up. The pain isn't real, the spell just tricks your mind into thinking it is. Be the warrior I know you can be.

  If that was true, and the pain wasn't real, how could it have hurt so badly? But I stood up anyways, through the "pain".

  "Is that the best you've got?" I asked Caroline with my weak voice.

  "Just getting started," she responded with a smirk on her lips.

  "Sadrink Capori," I said, and Caroline was sent flying back, into a rather large metal pole.

  Then we kept fighting back and forth with the worst spells we could think of. At the end of it all I came out on top, because I had knocked Caroline out cold. The people of the light side took her away in chains as the remaining few from the dark side staggered over to see what was happening.

  The crowd erupted in a roar, cheering and shouting. But wait what? I don't remember this happening. Why was I fighting? Where was I? What? Huh?

  June 11, 2013

  Ms. Caster walked over to me and tried to get my attention. How did I know her, I didn't even have her as a teacher? Confusion was flooding my mind and questions raced in my mind. Ugh, I wish someone had explained this all this me! My thoughts went to Ms. Caster. Maybe she could help!

  "Ms. Caster? What’s going on, I don't remember anything. Where am I? How do you know me? Why is everyone crowing around me?"

  "Do you remember that you are a witch?" Ms. Caster asked.

  "What’s that supposed to mean?!?"

  "I mean your powers, Alex."

  "WHAT?!?"

  "Oh boy, this is gonna take a while."

  With that said we scurried over to that building where I was told the battle was all started. I had a hard time believing that the whole thing started because of flowers, but then I was told someone tried to poison me with them. That just formed more questions that bounced around in my head.

  "Wait who tried to poison me, and why?" I questioned.

  "Well, I guess were going to have to start from the beginning of it all, and not just from the battle," Ms. Caster stated.

  ...

  After that Ms. Caster explained everything, from my dreams to the battle. She handed me this diary that you are reading now, and told me everything that happened was in here.

  But everything was already so clear to me. Although it was all overwhelming I knew it was over and that I would be home soon. And then I remembered what home actually meant. Now it felt like a tilde wave washed over my brain. What would my parents be thinking? What happened to my grades?  How long has it been since I've been in the real world? How was I going to explain this?

  "Ms. Caster, and everyone else, I have to go. I hope you understand. I am glad that I could save your world for you, and I promise to visit now and then. Goodbye."

  And then, before anyone said something that would stop me, I closed my eyes and thought of my warm, comforting bed, and in a sudden movement I was in it

  I launched myself out of my bed, ran down the stairs and found my parents. I threw my arms around them and gave them great big kisses. I couldn't be happier to be home.

  June 12th, 2013

  With me in the embrace of my parents arms, the world seemed to literally stop. Everything that I thought my parents would ask and worry about faded away when I came down those steps, I could swear my mom was even crying. We just stood there holding each other, until my dad asked the fir
st question.

  "Where were you? We were so worried!" My dad's question only triggered many more from my mom.

  "Are you ok? What happened to you? Did someone take you?" My mom asked question after question, which was to be expected, but I was hoping that when they didn't immediately ask these questions, that it meant they never would.

  I realized that there was no way we could lie about what happened; I had to tell them the truth. The whole truth. I looked down at the diary, this diary, that I was surprisingly still holding in my hands. This was the only thing that could explain every detail of everything that had happened, even the things I was still iffy on. I handed the book to my parents and told them to start on the first page, where everything started. Following that I sat in a nearby chair as my parents read the words I had written over the past month. I watched their eyes go to me every time they learned something new. It seemed as though they kept inching away from me, but that was crazy, right? I mean they were my parents, and they were supposed to love me no matter what. I hoped so at least.

  When they finally closed up my diary, their facial expressions were enough for me to tell that they were shocked.