by John Corwin
"An Arcane, you idiot." She pointed at the door. "Are you coming or not?"
He didn't hesitate to answer. "Yes, I'm coming. Just don't turn me into a frog again."
Ambria opened a pouch and began distributing mushrooms. "Eat these once you get outside."
Stephan emerged from beneath a table and took one, though he regarded it suspiciously. "Will these turn us all into frogs?"
"No, they'll make you light as fairies," she replied.
"Pixie dust!" little Mary shouted with glee.
I looked beneath the tables to make sure nobody else was hiding and found the little boy the Goodleighs had kidnapped the day Ambria and I had left. I gave him a reassuring smile. "Hi, I'm Conrad. What's your name?"
"I'm Toddy." Tears glistened in his eyes. "I'm scared."
I reached a hand for him. "We're here to protect you."
He backed away.
"Hurry," Ambria said. "The adults are waking up."
"Please come, Toddy. If you don't, you'll be left all alone here."
His eyes went wide as saucers. "Don't leave me alone!" Toddy scrambled from beneath the table.
Ambria took his hand and led him and the others to the exit. "We'll never leave you alone."
I took another look around and then turned to follow.
"Conrad," a weak voice hissed. Marcus tried to push himself up from the table, but his arms collapsed beneath him. "You little traitor."
"You're the traitors," I replied in a cold harsh voice. "Selling children into slavery for profit."
He began to chant the strange song I'd heard during our drives in the car. My legs went weak and it was all I could do to remain standing. A sudden realization struck me. This was no song, but a sleeping spell. Try as I might, I couldn't resist the haunting lullaby. Black dots formed at the edges of my vision. My knees hit the floor. Felicity rose behind her husband and pulled a gleaming butcher knife from the bloody roast on the table.
Her lips peeled back in a snarl. "More trouble than you're worth, brat."
I tried to grab the potion at my belt, but my arms were limp. My body swayed, and toppled to the side. Watching helplessly as Felicity staggered closer with the knife, I hoped Ambria and Max could escape without me.
I heard a loud shout. A stone struck Marcus right in the nose. He yelled and fell off his chair. Another stone hit Felicity in the forehead. She screamed, dropped the knife. The light pushed back the darkness in my vision and the world snapped into focus.
"Get up, you lazy git." Max's grinning face appeared. "Look, Conrad, I'm awful sorry about freezing up back there. I was so scared—"
"Save the apologies for later." I held up a hand. "Now help me up."
He tugged me to my feet and looked back at the adults. "Should we stun them again?"
I fingered the rot potion and thought about it. Stunning them again would ensure their deaths. I didn't want so many souls on my conscience. "No. Let's go."
We ran down the hallway. I uncorked the rot potion and threw it into the central corridor. Black smoke poured from the bottle. Within seconds, every wooden object it touched disintegrated. The ceiling began to buckle, and I knew it was time to leave. Max and I raced outside and spotted Ambria leading the orphans down the dirt road to the pasture. We grabbed the three brooms and followed.
The central part of the manor imploded in a cloud of dust. I saw Oadby and other adults coughing and running from the back kitchen entrance. Of the Goodleighs, I saw no sign. If they died in the collapse, I would shed no tears for them.
Chapter 28
By the time we reached the field, several of the smaller children were already floating and giggling with delight. Thankfully, Ambria had instructed everyone to join hands so no one floated off.
"I'm feeling really weird," William said. "My stomach is all wibbly wobbly."
Stephan unleashed a loud belch. "I might toss up my gruel."
"Don't be a ninny," Ambria said. She looked at Max and me. "Are you ready?"
Max didn't meet her gaze, but nodded. "We're ready."
"What are those brooms for?" William asked.
I dropped mine and let it hover. "This is how we're getting out of here."
"Ambria is a good witch," little Mary declared as she floated several feet off the ground with Alice and Catherine holding hers and Beth's hands.
I grabbed a strand of diamond fiber and fastened it to the back of Ambria's broomstick and then threaded it around the waists of five girls. I repeated the procedure with Max's broom, attaching William, Toddy, and the smaller boys together.
"Why aren't you tying me with William?" Stephan asked.
"Because you two are the heaviest," I said. "Even with the fairy mushrooms, we'll need to balance the load."
He cried out as his feet left the ground. "I don't like this at all. I'm afraid of heights."
Ren, Johnny, and the other boys squealed with glee as they flipped through the air. I grabbed the broom to keep them from dragging it away. "Well, by the time this flight is over, you shouldn't be scared anymore."
"I think they're light enough to go," Max said.
Ambria mounted her broom. "Up, up, and away." She eased forward, letting the slack in the rope tighten and then angled up, trailing giggling girls behind her, except for Alice, who squeezed her eyes shut and curled into a ball as they gained altitude.
"That's smart," Max said. "I was about to take off at full speed."
I didn't want to admit it, but had been about to do just the same. "Easy does it," I told him. "Don't want to give anyone whiplash."
We followed Ambria's example and ascended at a gentle angle. Stephan gibbered with fear and clenched the diamond fiber rope so tight his knuckles went white. Soon, we were flying fast, though nowhere near top speed. We hadn't brought goggles for the other children and didn't want them to be too uncomfortable.
I heard a pop and a whiz. Max cried out and grabbed his shoulder. He pulled away his hand to reveal blood. Another pop startled me. I turned and saw Marcus's black car flying not far behind us. Felicity hung out the passenger window with a long rifle. She took aim and fired.
Stephan screamed and grabbed his leg. "I've been shot! I've been shot!"
The sedan closed quickly. I saw Marcus reach a handgun out the window. Shots popped, but they must have all missed, because nobody screamed.
"Evasive action!" Max yelled.
Ambria and I looked at him with confusion.
He shouted again. "It means, split up!"
More shots rang out.
I shook my head. "We can't split up. Someone needs to get rid of the Goodleighs."
"We can't just fly willy-nilly with children in tow," Ambria said.
I angled down, then flew sideways beneath Ambria and the others while Stephan continued to cry in pain and the other children burst into screams and tears. "I'm going to attach my group to yours," I told Ambria. "Then I'll take care of the Goodleighs."
Her forehead wrinkled into a worried look. "Be careful, Conrad."
I unfastened the diamond fiber from my broom and attached it to the rope trailing behind Alice, the last girl, in Ambria's train. "Will do."
Using my mysterious, innate flying skill, I looped the broom upside down to reverse direction and rolled upright. Bullets sang past me. I hugged the broom and flew in circles, making myself a hard target. I felt no fear, only grim determination. It was time to finish the Goodleighs once and for all.
Felicity cocked the rifle bolt and fired. Pulled the bolt to eject a shell, and fired again. I dodged back and forth, up and down. As I drew to within a few yards, she sneered and took out a shorter gun with a long clip. She pulled back a small lever, squeezed the trigger. A hail of bullets exploded from the muzzle.
I yelped and did a wide barrel loop followed by a steep dive. Sharp pain bit into my leg. I clenched my teeth and ignored it the best I could. The black car swerved through a small cloud to follow me as I whizzed past. I looked back and saw Felicity jam another
clip into the automatic gun. The car caught up to me quickly. The rat-a-tat of bullets warned me to dodge. I jerked left then hit the brakes hard. The sedan flew overhead. I increased speed and flew just beneath it.
"Where is he?" I heard Marcus shout.
I grabbed a metal flange beneath the car and held on. The car veered around as they searched for me. Felicity's upside-down face appeared from my right. The gun barrel appeared a split second later. I turned off the broom and released the pipe. Bullets exploded as I tumbled toward earth. I felt a rush of wind as one narrowly missed my head. Felicity burned through the ammo within seconds and the gun went silent. I flicked on the broom and angled up toward the driver door as Felicity withdrew inside the car to reload.
Marcus saw me in the rear view mirror and angled his handgun out the window. He fired, but missed every shot without me even moving. I put on full speed, reached into my pouch, and flicked a cork from a potion. Felicity jammed a clip into the gun and pulled herself into a sitting position halfway out of the window just as I drew even with Marcus.
"I hope you burn," I said in a cold voice and threw the stun potion in the window.
I veered away an instant before the interior of the car detonated in a brilliant white flash. Felicity shrieked and Marcus screamed. The car careened out of control, rolling, spinning, and diving. It plunged into the woods with a loud boom and screech of metal. I almost flew away, but stopped and turned toward the area.
I need to be sure.
A trail of broken saplings led me to the final resting place where the sedan had struck a large oak. The front section was crushed and the windscreen shattered. Marcus's broken body draped across the steering wheel. Felicity lay on the hood, eyes wide and unseeing. Blood pooled around her head. I shuddered and looked away. They were dead.
I cut power to the broom and fell to my knees, vomiting. Shadowy voices whispered in my head.
Good boy, said a masculine voice in my head. Leave no enemy alive.
"No, I'm not a good boy," I said. "I'm evil. I kill people."
You make us proud.
"I make me sick!"
A feminine voice, like that of the cat shadow, spoke. Gather the blood for a ritual. We will destroy their entire lineage!
The voices grew louder and more demanding. I couldn't silence them no matter how hard I tried. An ache grew in my head, the pain pounding against my temples.
"No!" I cried. "Leave me alone!"
In an instant, there was silence.
"Hello, Conrad," said a familiar voice.
I opened my eyes and saw Dr. Cumberbatch standing on a flying carpet not far away. "What—how—"
"I set wards around the farm and pastures in the hopes you might someday return. The moment you appeared, they alerted me." He smiled. "It was very brave of you to confront the Goodleighs, Conrad. Now it's time for you to be brave once more."
"Brave?" I rose to my feet. "What's wrong with me? Why am I cursed?"
He took out a wand. "You'll find out in due time." He flicked the wand. Dark mist swallowed the light.
Consciousness fled.
Cora's feeble hands touch mine. She sucks in a harsh breath. In a matter of days, the cancer has taken everything from her, but she still manages to smile at me.
"I'm sorry, there's nothing more we can do," the doctor says to her.
She nods.
"I notified the orphanage," he says.
A tear wells in her eye.
I can't hold back any longer and burst into sobs. "Please don't go, Mummy." I want to hug her, but I know it will only hurt her fragile body.
I hear a familiar voice behind me. "It's time to go, Conrad."
I look back and see Mr. Goodleigh, his face flat and emotionless.
"She's still alive." I say.
The doctor gives Mr. Goodleigh a disbelieving look. "Sir, you need to wait in the hallway."
Mr. Goodleigh's eyes harden and I know I'll be punished when I return to the orphanage. I don't care.
I kiss my true mother on the cheek. "I love you, Mummy."
"Be good, son." Her breath rattles in her throat. "I will always love you."
Her chest deflates, and the light fades from her eyes.
I have lost everything.
Finally! The cat shadow stretched as if waking from a nap. We are here.
The other shadow hovered overhead like a dark cloud. The curse will be ended.
I jolted awake but couldn't move. I lay flat on something hard and wooden, my limbs, chest, and head secured by what felt like leather straps. I could turn my head, but try as I might, couldn't slip beneath the bond. The table rotated upright. Cold stone kissed my bare feet. The phone in my pants pocket pressed against my leg, but I couldn't reach it.
Dr. Cumberbatch stood in front of me, eyes bright. "Ah, Conrad, you're finally awake. Time to begin." He slid the strap from my head. "That should make you more comfortable."
"What are you doing to me?"
"Preparing to remove the spell I placed on you so long ago." He sighed with satisfaction. "I'd planned to release you on this birthday, but the Goodleighs refused to leave you with me."
I used my new freedom to crane my head. We were in the doctor's wine cellar. Two large oak barrels sat to either side of me. "Did they know about the curse?"
"Of course not." He chuckled. "I, of course, knew about the deleterious side effects of demon magic, so after putting you under this enchantment, I knew the best thing to do was get you far away from me."
"You put me in the orphanage?" A terrible anger burned inside me. This man was responsible for Cora's death. He was responsible for more deaths than I could count.
"I'd worked with the Goodleighs for quite some time in their little enterprise." He shrugged. "It seemed a very good place to keep tabs on you."
I realized I was asking the wrong question. "Why did you put me under this enchantment in the first place?"
His eyes brightened. "I summoned a minor demon to possess you. It was the only way to preserve souls."
Horror twisted my stomach. "I'm possessed? Were those demons I saw in my dreams?"
He clapped his hands together once. "This is the exciting part, Conrad. Brace yourself."
"I'm already braced, thank you very much." Nausea crept up my throat as I thought of the evil parasite feeding off my body and soul.
"Get ready for a late birthday surprise, young man." He stepped to the barrel on my right, undid a clasp on the side, and swung it open like a coffin. A man's body lay inside, a shimmering nimbus surrounding his body. Cumberbatch moved to the second barrel and opened it as well. A woman, hands across her chest, rested inside. The doctor splayed his hands like a magician who'd just opened a cabinet to reveal the conclusion of a trick. "Ta-da!"
My eyes went wide as I recognized the corpses. "My parents!"
"Yes, yes, yes!" He puffed out his chest. "I'm surprised you recognize them." Cumberbatch leaned in close. "In a moment, you'll get to meet them."
"Meet them? But they're dead!"
"They've never been dead, my boy, just temporarily out of body." He bent down and examined a demon-summoning diagram at my feet. "When they were cornered and facing defeat, I knew there was only one way to save them." He stood and brushed off his hands. "If everyone thought they were dead, nobody would look for them. With my specialty in demonology, I knew of a way to make that happen."
Somehow, I suddenly knew the answer. "You summoned the demon to siphon their souls, using my body as a vessel so the demon wouldn't consume them." I knew right then that the shadowy cat and snake I'd seen in my dreams had been the twisted souls of my parents.
Cumberbatch seemed disappointed at my revelation, but his face brightened. "Ah, the knowledge of the souls living within you must have leeched into your subconscious." He tapped his chin. "It must have finally countered the dampening effect of the enchantment on your intelligence."
"Is that why I was so stupid?" I asked.
"Indeed."
&
nbsp; My lips peeled back. "What kind of a doctor are you?"
"A very skilled one." He tested my bonds. "I was once but a healer until I discovered a wealth of other magics to complement those skills."
"Like demon magic."
He pursed his lips. "Precisely."
I strained against my bonds. "You're as evil and twisted as my parents."
"No, you're wrong there, lad. Evil is a term used by those who don't understand greatness, by those who lack the intelligence to grasp the power afforded them." The doctor's eyes narrowed. "Your parents were—are—great visionaries. With the Overworld on the brink of collapse, and Ivy Slade gone, there will be nothing to stop them this time."
I wanted the curse removed, but didn't want my parents back. It was an odd admission for an orphan, I realized, but my family had murdered their way into power. I calmed down and tried to reason with the man. "Don't bring them back, sir. Why don't you let the demon have them and take power for yourself? You're obviously brilliant."
Cumberbatch chuckled. "I'm a genius, boy. My playground is hypothesis and theory, not policy-making or governing the brainless masses. I prefer to work with people who support my quest for knowledge—visionaries like your parents." He picked up a thick rod from the table behind him and flicked it. It sprung into a long staff with a large green gem at the top. "Speaking of which, it's time to begin."
He began to chant strange unfamiliar words.
"No!" I wriggled and pressed futilely against the straps. "Stop!"
He ignored me and continued. I felt something writhing inside me, reacting to the spell. My vision blackened for a brief moment and my head lolled forward. When I jerked back to full consciousness, I suddenly understood the foreign language. It wasn't just any language, but the demon tongue.
"Sovodorak, I call you forth. Show your form. Release the souls." He repeated the chant over and over again. I felt something tear loose from me, like tape peeling from my skin. A dark presence stepped forward and slammed into an invisible barrier. It turned toward me, snarling.