by Evie Wilde
I left the office and raced down the stairs. I’d been so stupid, ignoring the scroll and the writing on the back of the image of Ruby. I let out a loud sigh because we needed to find Ruby. We needed to save the students. And we needed to defeat Ren and Edius. The obstacles were piling up with no resolution in sight. And where was Headmaster Eliphas? If I found out he’d been withholding important information that would have helped us, he would suffer the consequence along with Edius and Ren.
I flung open the door to the dorm and took the steps two at a time, my heart pounding in my chest, my knees aching as if I were eighty-years-old. I joked to myself that all the sex wasn’t doing enough to keep my stamina where it should be. Dash would have found that thought funny and then tried to help me with my stamina.
In my room, I grabbed the scroll and the picture of Ruby, almost leaving behind the dagger. I held the dagger in my hand and imagined using it on Sonny, Ren, and Edius. Yeah, it was all driving me crazy, almost psycho-crazy. Once Aurelius improved, we would have to have a talk about how we went on the offensive instead of always being on the defensive.
Though I made it safely back to the faculty building, it didn’t stop me from continually watching over my shoulder, although I knew one, if not all three of them, were lurking somewhere close. Just like I could feel the positive energy from the guys, I could also feel the negative energy from Ren, Edius, and Sonny.
I entered the office and found Kyler chanting, his body still aglow.
“Find it?” Dash asked.
In front of him and the others, I broke the seal on the scroll, the sound like a tree-limb had been snapped. What I found on the scroll might as well have been invisible because I couldn’t understand a damn word. “I don’t know what it says, but it has to be the answer!” We desperately needed for something to go our way. Aurelius let out a loud shriek, and we momentarily looked away from the scroll.
“Let me try,” Braeden said, and I handed him the scroll. He looked at the dagger in my hand and raised an eyebrow. He read down the scroll and then read it again. “I’ve seen this before. I think it’s the ending to the spell we’ve been mucking up.”
Oliver joined us. “I’ve never seen it before.” He whipped out his computer.
“Don’t bother,” Braeden said. “This spell was handed down orally. It’s unwritten.” He pointed at the scroll. “Until recently. This handwriting is fresh.”
“How do you know that?” I looked at the scroll again. Nothing suggested it was recently done.
“Because the summer before you and I came here, Ren was trying to teach me this same spell.” Braeden shook his head, disappointed once again in the man we considered a father.
Oliver pointed at the handwriting. “Is that Ren’s?”
“I can’t say for sure,” I said. “But do you think it’ll work?”
Dash took the scroll from Braeden and read through it, shaking his head. “Hell if I know.” He looked at Braeden. You think witch doctor boy here can use this?”
“Only one way to find out,” Braeden said, and then we all eyed Kyler as another shriek filled the room.
“What the actual fuck is that?” Dash handed Braeden the scroll and approached Kyler, the rest of us following.
“Oh shit.” Oliver stopped and started taking pictures with his computer.
I stopped and looked at my hands, the glow deep and bright like the sun. I looked back at Kyler who was grappling with a black, horrific mass fighting to stay within Aurelius’ chest. Nicolette screamed behind me and took off down the stairs. Dash quickly grabbed at the mass, but his hands waved through the blackness. Braeden tried as well but had the same result. Oliver rushed forward, and I thought he might try a similar move but, instead, he took close up pictures of the damned thing.
“I can’t hold the fucking thing much longer!” Kyler yelled. “Somebody help me!”
I noticed the closer I got to the thing the more my hands radiated.
“Cassandra, no!” I heard Dash yell, but it was too late. I placed my hands on Kyler’s shoulders.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Dash
Shit was hitting the fan and getting ready to blow back on us if we didn’t do something. Whatever the black mass was it had no intentions of letting go of Aurelius’ body. Although completely black, the thing looked like a misshapen man.
“We’ve got to fucking do something!” I yelled and grabbed Braeden’s arm. “What else did Ren teach you about this spell!?”
Oliver started toward Kyler, but I grabbed his arm. “We have to help them!”
“We will, Oliver, but we can’t just rush into something we know nothing about. Braeden?”
Braeden shrugged, and I considered punching him in the face, hoping to knock some long-forgotten information loose. He needed to take a break from worrying so damned much and use his head to think. “Wait,” Braeden said. “Ren was always trying to teach me secret hexes and spells. He said they came from dark magic, but I always failed at completing those types of spells. He said there was too much goodness in my heart. The spells required a heart of darkness, or at least the desire to cast a dark spell. I had neither.”
“Damn boy scout.” I read the scroll again and then handed it to Braeden. “Read the fucking thing out loud so we all know what it says.” I looked back at Kyler and Cassandra and knew they wouldn’t be able to battle on their own for much longer. We needed to help finish the spell or die trying.
Braeden did as I asked while Kyler still grappled with the black mass, Cassandra struggling to hang onto Kyler’s shoulders. Her hands stilled glowed, but the flickering concerned me. I feared the abomination was sucking her life-force from her body or, worse—trying to transfer from Aurelius to her.
“Everyone remember the spell?” I yelled, and they nodded. “We do this as a team. One entity.” I pointed at the guys. “Oliver, on Cassandra’s left side, Braeden on the right. I’ll be behind her.” Everyone moved into position. Oliver and Braeden placed their hands on Cassandra’s shoulders. I placed mine on her back. “On three, everyone repeat the spell!”
“Fuck, I hope this works.” Braeden’s face was a mess of worry.
“I should have thought of this before,” Oliver said. “I should have run the numbers.”
I glanced at Kyler who had yet to take his eyes off the creature or demon or whatever the hell it was. I then counted slowly, and when I got to three, everyone recited the spell. And then everything in the world stopped on a dime.
Their voices were like listening to a song that had been slowed to a slur. Braeden’s mouth moved as he tried to say something to Cassandra, the two looking at each other in terror. Oliver looked down at his pocket where his computer awaited, his eyes questioning everything. I glanced at Aurelius and closed my eyes.
Aurelius and I walked together in a flowery field atop a plain in some distant land. The skies were magnificently blue with not a cloud. Birds chirped and glided overhead. He spoke to me in a foreign language I should not have been unable to understand.
“What is this place?” I asked. Whatever it was, I wanted to stay and never leave. It relaxed every muscle in my body.
Aurelius chuckled. “It’s where I go to find comfort when things are not as they should be. You’ve stepped inside my soul, and what you see is what my soul is like.”
“Now’s a damn good time to come here. Is this going to work? Are you going to be okay?”
“As long as the group of you figures it out.”
It was my turn to chuckle. “No pressure.”
“Not really, no.” He told me of all his pains, the ones that had haunted him most of his life. He told me about his childhood, and of losing his parents. He told me of all the things he’d suffered in life, and about the things he’d experienced at the academy. I wondered how the man could find such a gentle place in his soul after all he’d experienced.
“I had no idea about all those things,” I said. “I’m sorry. You carry all our burdens, and we’
ve never done the same for you.”
“And yet here are the five of you trying to save me,” he said. “Letting Kyler help me is the right thing to do, Dash. You made the right decision.”
“I know, Aurelius, I know.” I looked at him calmly. “What’s going on? Why’re we here?” A soft, warm breeze brushed against my skin, and the flowers in the field gently bent to its whim.
“Look at the five of you, Dash. Look at the way you’re working together. Yes, you’re working as a team to save me, but you’re also learning how to accept each other.”
I did as Aurelius requested and watched the five of us work as one, an energy passing through us in a circular motion, connected like never before.
“You and I will always be a part of each other, Dash. You the student, me the mentor. Now go to the others. Make the bond between each of you stronger. Show them you are the leader they think you can be.”
“But all this pain that surrounds you. I want to help with that.”
Aurelius smiled the way he always did when he was about to have a teaching moment. “Our paths in life are marked by struggles none of us could have foreseen. It’s how you manage those struggles that determines what waits at the end of your path.” He motioned at the others. “Go help them with their paths.”
I turned away from Aurelius and found Kyler in the woods in wolf form. “You’ve accepted both sides of your heritage I see.” I pointed at the group of us fighting the demon. “Am I interrupting what’s going on?”
“No,” Kyler said. “I got this shit under control. We’re about there.”
“You know what’s going on? Why we’re seeing each other like this?”
“And why you talked to Aurelius?”
“You saw that?”
“Yeah, we all did. You’re a good friend, Dash. We’re all lucky to have each other.”
“I’m sorry about all the shit you’ve been through, bro,” I said.
“Struggles along life’s path, right?”
“You been talking to the ol’ man too?”
“You thought you were special?” Kyler looked at the others, the two of us watching everyone working as a team to fight for a common goal. “Think it will always be like this?”
I nodded. “As crazy as it sounds, I do.” I gave Kyler a hug and moved on to Oliver, the one guy who always seemed to have his shit together.
“Dash,” Oliver said. “Fancy meeting you here.”
“You look like you’re constipated, Oliver. What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, just thinking. Trying to figure out how in the hell we can fight this thing inside Aurelius and still talk to each other on some other plane of existence. It doesn’t compute.” He checked his pocket for his computer, but it wasn’t there.
“That’s the thing, brainiac, you’re thinking too hard. If something doesn’t compute, you get all frazzled. This is one of those things where you have to let the connection we have speak for itself.” I patted him on the back. “Less time with the computer and more time with us.”
“But this is different, Dash. It’s not just our energy connected.”
“I know, bro, I know.”
“We’re going to win this,” he said, and stared at the black mass half in and half out of Aurelius.
“Keep fighting the good fight, Oliver. Guys like you keep order to what little order there is in this world.”
I noticed the strange look on Braeden’s face and approached him with neither a smirk nor a smile on my face. At least for our relationship, I learned to be straight forward with Braeden. “You worry too much, man.” And just like that we were in a town in Florida, the sun hot overhead. ‘You know this place?”
Braeden laughed. “My home town.” He smiled and seemed to ease into a better place.
“You miss it?”
“I haven’t really had time to miss it,” he said.
“You need to take time,” I told him. “Keep the memories strong, something to fall back to when things get you down.”
“You mean like that?” He motioned at the black mass that seemed to be a hundred miles away at the moment. Nothing ever goes our way.” He motioned toward Cassandra. “I don’t want anything to happened to her. If something did...”
I put my hand on Braeden’s shoulder, and he calmed. “We’re here to help each other with our burdens, bro. You carry a fourth of the burden to keep her safe. It is no longer on you.” I hugged Braeden and moved away, the cloud-like ground beneath my feet heavenly.
“Are you the new father-figure?” Cassandra asked as I approached her. Though she wore a smile, I knew underneath panic was roiling.
I moved my arms around Cassandra and then placed my lips against hers, our kiss soft and gentle. No woman had ever made me feel like she did. The warmth, the tenderness, the understanding. Each of us had found our soul mate.
“I don’t think I can do this anymore,” she said, tears building in her eyes. I wiped the tears as they streaked down her cheeks. “I’m sorry, Dash.”
“What we can’t do as individuals we can do as a team,” I said. “It’s not all on you to make things right at the academy. People have failed us, people we trusted. As long as we stay together, we’re incapable of failing each other. Look at us.”
Cassandra did as I asked, and we watched the five of us battled whatever in the hell was coming out of Aurelius. “We’re winning, Cassandra. There’s no need for panic.”
“I love you guys,” she said, and each of us replied we loved her as well.
As the shrieks started, I was suddenly jerked back into reality, the five of us struggling to remove the black mass from within Aurelius’ chest.
“We’re still missing something!” Braeden yelled.
We were beginning to lose control of the monstrosity, the darkness slipping back into Aurelius’ chest. To defeat darkness, you must have the light. I looked around to see who was talking to me but found no one. To defeat darkness, you must have the light.
Cassandra looked at me and me at her. “It’s you,” I said. “You’re the light.”
“What?”
“You’re the light. Use your light magic to finish the spell!”
The four of us stared in amazement at Cassandra, her body glowing, almost blinding us, the glow becoming as round and bright as the sun. Each of us ducked away but felt a sudden shockwave rock the room. Books and trinkets fell from shelves, and candles flickered, threatening to go out. When we turned back, we found Cassandra levitating above the floor, Kyler in her arms, her eyes closed. And although she still glowed, the glow was dying out.
I looked at Aurelius to find the black mass gone, though Aurelius still looked dead.
Cassandra lowered to the floor and opened her eyes. She whispered something into Kyler’s ear, and he smiled. He kissed her deep and passionately as the rest of us looked on. Kyler stepped away, his eyes distant, his smile telling. Cassandra looked at Aurelius, and he suddenly coughed, sitting up and staring blankly into the room. “Is everyone okay?” she asked. She stayed in place and made eye contact with each of us.
“What just happened?” Oliver asked. He started putting books back on shelves.
“It was her light,” Kyler said. “It was the missing piece to the spell. We had the spell right, but we needed the positive energy to finish the spell. Light will always defeat darkness.”
I rushed forward and grabbed Cassandra. “You’re fucking amazing, you know that?” I kissed her, and then we were joined by the others, including Aurelius who had managed to his feet. “You did it.”
Cassandra shook her head. “No, we all did it.”
“I’m still missing something,” Oliver said. “It all feels differently now. Like we are on some existential plane of existence.”
Aurelius chuckled and crossed the room to his desk. “Thank you, by the way. You did a marvelous job of saving me. As for Oliver’s question, it really is quite simple. It’s about mind, body, and soul. When the five of you first came to campus, you
felt a connection of the mind. It produced the energy that you now share. It’s how you are able to keep track of one another. I think the part about the body is pretty obvious. I don’t need to explain the birds and the bees.” He nodded toward the cot. “And just then, when Dash was about to speak to each of us and we were each able to see the other, you were connected by your souls. There’s nothing you can’t do now.”
“That’s not in my computer,” Oliver said, and everyone laughed.
For the first time since arriving at the academy, I felt as if there was nothing I couldn’t accomplish.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Cassandra
“We’ve looked all over campus,” I said and turned away from Nicolette, gazing at the stars, knowing they were probably watching when Ruby was taken. The guys were still out looking, hopefully following orders not to split up. “We should have never let her out of our sight. At least one of us could have stayed with her.”
Nicolette patted my leg and held my hand. “You can’t keep everyone safe all the time. Until Ren and Edius are either captured or killed none of us are safe.” She released my hand and crossed her arms, looking up at the stars with me. “You really think Edius’ reach will extend to other places out there?”
“I think the man is psycho enough to think he can.” I studied my fingernails and wondered when I'd have time for a manicure. Yeah, anything to get my mind off my present situation. We all needed to get back to some sort of normalcy. “I do think he has the capability to create worlds of his own and entrap people in those worlds. I don’t know that he can reach into space, but here on this planet I think he has a plan to conquer both seen and unseen worlds.”
“Which is why we need to stop him now.” Nicolette yawned. We were all tired and weary. “I don’t think he’ll hurt Ruby. At least not yet. Hasn’t he had the chance before, and he did nothing?”