A History of Hexing

by Evie Wilde

  “Oliver still hasn't made a move?” Ruby asked as we walked between buildings.

  I shook my head. “I think I need to let him go at his own pace. It’ll happen eventually. Sort of what you have to do with Brett.”

  Ruby giggled and squeezed my arm. “Four guys and one girl,” she said. “How do you even manage?”

  “Lots of vitamins,” I said jokingly, and then I really thought about an answer. “They aren’t really coming at me the way you might think. All of them are respectful. I think they know I wouldn’t have it any other way. Like I said before, they’re all unique, so every time is a little different than the last, and none of them do it the same way.”

  It was true. I’d been with Dash the most, and each time had been an adventure. Braeden always made sure my needs were met before his own. Everything with Kyler, whether it was sex or just talking, happened on another plane of existence. Sometimes it was quite strange. I imagined Oliver would fall somewhere in the middle of what the others had to offer.

  “With Brett,” I said as we approached the path into the forest, “you need to make sure that whatever happens is because it’s what you want to happen, not because he forced you to do it. You go at his pace, but make sure his pace is in agreement with yours.”

  “Point taken,” Ruby said, and then we stopped in our tracks.

  “We can’t let you enter the forest,” the girl said and crossed her arms, blocking the path with a second girl who appeared from behind a tree.

  I tried to look past them, but all I saw was darkness. They’d cloaked the area again, but the cloak did nothing to stifle the cries of despair. I also noticed there was no music playing or a crowd of people talking.

  “We’re supposed to meet some people inside,” I said and took a step forward. The two girls moved closer together, completely blocking the path. I glanced at Ruby.

  “What the hell’s going on?” Ruby asked. She put her hands on her hips, but I then noticed her right hand slipping toward her wand. I placed my hand on her arm. Halloween was a few days away, and it looked like someone was getting an early start on trick or treating.

  “Seriously,” I said. “I’ve got four guys in there waiting on me, and I’m already late.”

  “Well, hopefully they aren’t among the dead,” the girl on the right said.

  I glanced at Ruby and then turned my attention on the two girls. “You’re serious?”

  “Like a heart attack,” the girl on the left said. “Thirty-minutes ago students began collapsing, sick and throwing up. Some died from whatever poisoned them.”

  “Right,” I said. “Let us in.”

  “They’re not kidding,” Ruby said. “Something’s wrong in there. I can feel the negative energy.”

  “Are you going to move, or do we need to move you,” I said to the two girls. They looked at each other and then parted. “Thank you.” It helped having a destructive reputation.

  We headed down the path toward the festival, and I regretted the tight jeans and heels. I still felt the guys’ energy, but could sense at least two of them fading. We entered the clearing and immediately a female student stumbled toward us, vomiting at our feet. One of the instructors rushed toward us and grabbed the girl before she fell face first. He lowered her to the ground and called one of the medics over. All around us students were vomiting or lay passed out on the ground.

  “Damn,” Ruby said. She stopped next to a guy lying on his stomach. She rolled him over, and he was obviously dead. “Who would’ve done something like this?”

  “Edius,” I said. “Who else hates the academy like he does?”

  Another student passed us, leaving the festival and heading down the path toward the school. He seemed fine, but he looked like he was in shock.

  “Find Brett,” I said to Ruby. “I’m going to search for the guys.”

  The festival covered several acres, and as I made my way around, I found the place littered with bodies. Most were still alive and those who were looked like zombies: grayish skin, eyes dark, and covered in puke. Moans of pain came from every direction.

  “Cass,” I looked up from the girl I was trying to help, a girl long gone.

  “Kyler,” I said and jumped into his arms, squeezing him. I put my hands against his cheeks. “Are you okay? What the fuck happened?”

  “Yeah, I think so. Whatever was in the food didn’t bother me.” He looked around. “You seen the others?”

  “Not yet. Come on, let’s keep searching.” We continued through the festival, plates and cups littering the ground. Chairs and tables were overturned. The stage where there should have been a band sat empty.

  “There’s Oliver,” Kyler said, and we hurried over to one of the vendor stands. “Oliver?”

  Oliver turned, his face distraught. “I couldn’t find anyone.” He looked around us. “Where’s Dash and Braeden.”

  “We don’t know,” I said. “We’re still looking. I've checked everyone near the entrance.”

  We moved deeper into the festival, checking on sick students, turning over lifeless bodies. Just when we thought we’d make it through a semester with no problems, devastation followed.

  “There,” Oliver said and ran forward, ignoring those needing help. “Dash!”

  Kyler and I sprinted toward Dash and Braeden, both guys surrounded by medics who were trying to lift them onto stretchers. I immediately grabbed my wand and cast a spell, lifting Braeden and Dash onto the stretchers.

  I stopped between the two guys. “What happened?”

  Braeden opened his eyes and mumbled something I couldn’t understand.

  “He’s bad off.” Kyler called for the medics, “Get him to the academy’s infirmary.”

  “Dash,” I said, and Dash opened his eyes. “What happened? Who did this?”

  “The punch.” He pointed at the table where a large bowl of punch sat, surrounded by cups and food. “Someone spiked the punch.”

  “Get him out of here,” Kyler said, and the medics raced through the festival, Dash’s head bouncing around on the stretcher as they ran.

  “How do we fix this?” I asked.

  “Cass,” Ruby said and joined us, Brett by her side. “Braeden and Dash looked like shit.”

  I clinched my fists, anger roiling from deep inside. We should have gone off and found Edius after the news about him destroying the guilds. “We need to fix this.”

  “It’s a hex.” Oliver shook his head. “I already tried to reverse the curse, but all I got was burned fingertips.”

  “Great,” I said. “Let me try.”

  “Don’t bother.” Ruby looked around us. “Until we figure out what the hex is, there’s no way for us to fix it.”

  “Kyler, can you put a dome of protection over the festival?” I asked. “We need to make sure whoever did this doesn’t return for an encore.”

  Kyler nodded and moved away, withdrawing his wand from the sleeve in his pants. We’d learned using the wand instead of our hands gave our magic more precision. He created a large arc in the air above him and said, “Dominous Protectous.”

  When the dome appeared it first had a shine, but then as it took hold of the area it became invisible. Kyler was never sure how long his domes would hold, so the academy needed to get the sick to the infirmary as soon as possible.

  “We need to check on Dash and Braeden.” I felt their pulses weakening. I tried to ignore the thought the four guys could possibly be down to two. I wasn’t prepared to lose them the way I lost my parents.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Kyler

  Everyone was blaming the poisoning on Edius, but I knew differently. Too much had calmed down around the campus for it to be Edius, especially since rumor had it he was away tormenting Europe. Nobody knew how far his reach of terror stretched, but I guessed not that far. Sonny was at the festival with a couple of his friends. None of them got sick or even looked ill. At one point I noticed him and his friends hanging out by the food.

  We were stopped by
an instructor at the entrance to the infirmary. “It’s bad in there,” he said, his face grim. “I wouldn’t go in if I were you.” He nodded toward the woods. “I hear they’re bringing more in now.”

  “You’re not us.” Cassandra’s stern face seemed to scare the instructor. He obviously knew of her reputation. “We have friends in there. She pushed past the instructor who gave Oliver and I the evil eye. People were not necessarily afraid of Cassandra, but they did respect her more than others. She was a good person to have on your side.

  We entered the academy’s infirmary and found it overcrowded with both the sick and people trying to help. Vomit covered sheets, people. and the floor. I pulled my shirt up over my nose and took a deep breath. We had to be here. The other students at the academy, even the older ones, looked to us for leadership. I did understand why so many were waiting outside to hear about friends. The infirmary was not for the faint of heart.

  “They’re getting worse,” Oliver said. He leaned over the girl on the stretcher next to us and listened for breathing. “She’s not going to make it.”

  “Edius is trying to wipe out the academy.” Cassandra looked at the sick and dead in the room. I knew what was on her mind. “Just like he did the guild.”

  I didn’t want to disagree, at least not yet. I thought Edius was the least of our worries. His ego would have required he be seen at the scene of the crime. It had to be someone working for him.

  A student stumbled through the doorway, and a nurse came to her rescue. The nurse guided her to an empty stretcher and helped her lie down. The student shook with chills, her gray skin sunken around her eyes. I’d seen this sickness before. I approached the girl, and she turned to look at me, red veins long and thick covered the whites of her eyes. “You’re going to be okay,” I told her, lying the best I could.

  “We need to help these people,” Cassandra said. She and Ruby stopped to check on several students but, really, there was nothing we could do until we knew what hex had been used. Only one person really knew what had happened.

  I moved slowly through the infirmary, sure it was Sonny’s fault. And then I spotted Sonny. He was bent over a girl lying on a stretcher. A young woman who I sat next to in one of my battle classes. I believed her name was Sabrina. She had long curly blonde hair and fair skin, reminding me of the reason I hated Sonny so much in the first place. He had to know the memory never left my mind, that I relived it every day of my life. Eventually I would have to tell Cassandra and the others the whole story.

  Sonny and I were attending a magic festival two years ago in the Adirondack Mountains in upstate New York when we met Kate Star, the daughter of a high wizard from the west coast. Our elders had sent us there to represent our clan at one of the ceremonies. Despite being surrounded by bodyguards, I managed to spend a couple of hours talking to Kate, eventually us sitting shoulder to shoulder. We talked about art and nature. I told her about my love of nature and my ability to shapeshift, though, I never got the chance to show her. She told me all about the poetry she wrote in her diary and about wanting to travel the world without all the protection surrounding her. She wanted to have the freedom I experienced when running through the forest as a wolf. She told me about her magic, and I shared mine. We had so much in common that we talked about seeing each other again after she returned home. And then things turned even more in my favor. Kate's entourage of bodyguards and servants became ill and were all hospitalized. Kate initially wanted to stay at the hospital. But Kate’s father demanded help getting his daughter returned home safely. A few months before someone had made an attempt on his life, so he wanted her home pronto. Sonny and I eagerly volunteered to escort Kate back to the west coast, and the elders agreed.

  In the middle of the night, Sonny and I whisked Kate away and boarded a train heading to the west coast. The three of us shared a cozy cabin, me sending Sonny out of the room whenever possible. Two days into the trip, Kate and I became very close. Laughing and joking and chatting it up. I could tell Sonny didn’t like it one bit. Kate was, after all, one of the most beautiful girls either of us had ever seen. He even caught us sharing a kiss when he entered the cabin unannounced. Late on the third evening the train stopped in Kansas City to refuel. We were told we had an hour before leaving, so I left Kate alone with Sonny while I ran into town. I never gave it a second thought, leaving her in what I thought were Sonny’s safe hands. The next morning Kate fell ill. We did everything possible to make her better, but nothing worked. Sonny tried dozens of medicine spells, but nothing made her any better. By the time we reached the west coast she was dead, and I was devastated.

  The train ride home had been solemn until we hit Kansas City which quickly reminded me Kate was perfectly fine when I left the train but sick when I returned. Of course, Sonny claimed to have had nothing to do with Kate’s illness. On the train, in a private room, Sonny and I had words. Those words eventually turned into punches. We rode back to our hometown in separate cars with security standing guard between us.

  Upon our arrival home, the elders met us at the train station, questioning Kate’s death. I explained why I got off the train; Sonny explained having done nothing wrong. The Council of Elders believed nothing we said and immediately sent us into exile which was the last time I had seen Sonny, though I heard months ago he began searching for me to apologize. There was nothing he could say or do to bring Kate back, so I wanted to hear nothing from him. In fact, I wanted to see him dead for what he did to Kate. Now I had the chance to make things right.

  “You okay?” Cassandra asked, pulling my mind from despair. She put her hand on my shoulder, and the anxiety began to falter. I was sure her connection with each of us was the same, but part of me wanted to feel, needed to feel, she was closer to me.

  “I hate seeing all these sick people,” I said. “And I can’t get the dead people outta my head.” I looked around the room. It didn’t make any sense why some got sick and others didn’t. A couple of nurses across the room moved, and I saw Sonny standing over Dash, working his dark magic. “Son-of-a-bitch.”

  “Kyler, wait!” Cassandra's hand swiped at my arm but missed, too slow to catch me charging at Sonny. I’d had enough of his pretending to be a do-gooder. “Oliver!” she yelled as I got away.

  Oliver tried to intercept me, but he missed when I dodge to the right. I looked back at Oliver picking himself up off the ground, Cassandra still in hot pursuit, Ruby coming at me from another direction. We never used magic against one another, so there was nothing stopping me from getting to Sonny.

  Sonny turned right as I was about to grab him by the back of the neck. “Kyler, wait!” The fear in his eyes gave me a satisfaction I’d waited a long time to have.

  Sonny’s cries for me to stop were too late. I shoved him against the wall next to the bed Dash laid on. “You fucking did this. I know you did! Just like Kate. Just like her!” I looked at Dash who appeared worse than before. “You’re fucking killing him!” I drew back my fist to punch Sonny in the face, but he moved quicker, knocking us both to the floor, my head banging against Dash’s bed. Dash moaned and said something I couldn’t understand.

  “Kyler,” Oliver yelled and tried to pull me away. I knocked his arm back and then went at Sonny. I landed a punch to his jaw though in all fairness it was really just to scare him.

  “Get off me!” Sonny yelled and tried to push me away. The fear on his face almost made me laugh out loud. He knew he deserved whatever punishment I wanted to dish out. He knew what Kate meant to me. I raised my hand again to slug him, but someone grabbed my arm.

  “That’s enough!” one of the nurses yelled and pulled us apart. I jerked away, and another arm grabbed me, her hand stopping me in my tracks.

  “Enough, Kyler,” Cassandra said calmly. She pulled me away into an adjoining room. “Calm down.” A dozen people were staring at us. If the campus had actual security, they would have dragged me away. If the campus had actual security none of the day’s events would have happened.
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br />   “I’m sorry,” I said to Cassandra. “I lost it for a minute.” I watched students and nurses stare and point, and I regretted my actions, knowing a fight would get me tossed from the academy. If Headmaster Eliphas found out, I was good as gone.

  “What the fuck is going on?” Oliver asked me. Cassandra and I looked at him. We still weren’t used to him swearing.

  “Long story,” I said. I never told Dash or Oliver what happened with Kate because I wasn’t comfortable letting others know my feelings. The more people knew about you the more they could hurt you. I hated being hurt.

  Where we were standing, we could still see Sonny who had returned to Dash’s bedside. Sonny pulled something from the pouch attached to his belt and squeezed it into his hand. Still making a fist, he blew into one end of his hand, and I could make out a thin cloud of dark resin rising above Dash. The stuff dissipated, and Dash coughed, vomiting. He didn’t look any better just like Kate didn’t look any better before she died.

  “You need to explain what’s going on,” Cassandra said. “What’s up with you guys?”

  I watched Sonny continue to perform his magic on Dash, sure he was going to kill him. “Not everything is what it seems. Sonny is a dangerous guy, and we’re standing here letting him work on Dash. I don’t like it.” I pointed at Dash. “Look at him. He’s worse.” I started back toward the room, but Oliver grabbed me and stared me down. I could have taken Oliver down with one punch, but I also knew nobody would forgive me for doing so.

  “We need to let him try.” Cassandra’s voice was calming. “Nobody else has any clue what’s going on. The nurses look lost. And who knows where Headmaster Eliphas is right now.”

  “You mean let him kill Dash,” I said. I wanted to finish what Sonny and I had started a few minutes earlier. We were making a grave mistake, and I was afraid what would happen if letting Sonny work on Dash ended in a bad way.