by Rose Pressey
I glared at her. “If I find you cupcakes will you leave me alone?”
“Of course.” A sly smile slid across her face.
“It’ll be a bit while I make them, okay? Why don’t you watch TV or something? You’ll probably be fascinated by the reality shows.” I waved her off.
“What’s a reality show?” She scrunched her brow.
“You’ll figure it out,” I said over my shoulder.
“Why don’t you just use your magic to make cupcakes? They’ll be done in a second.” She snapped her fingers.
I turned around. “I’ve tried that in the past and it didn’t work out so well.”
She shrugged and walked off. Her statement put a thought in my head though. Maybe I really could whip up a batch of cupcakes with magic this time. After all, I’d cleaned up the kitchen until it sparkled. Then I remembered. I’d forgotten about the food I’d left out in the kitchen. I’d left it in a mess this morning when Nicolas and Liam had dropped the bomb on me.
Now was a chance for me to test the magic out again. Would I be able to do the cleaning spell again? I stepped into the kitchen and stood in the middle of the room. I waved my hands through the air and recited the words.
Again the wind whipped and moved the objects around the room with ease. Nothing exploded and nothing broke. Thank goodness no fires started either. I giggled on the inside. My new skills were pretty darn awesome. Maybe I really could make those cupcakes.
I reached for one of Aunt Maddy’s magical cookbooks and picked out a recipe for the cupcakes. After pulling a few ingredients from the shelves, I recited the words listed on the page.
Make me a perfect white cake confection with fluffy buttercream frosting and sprinkles adding to the perfection. So mote it be.
The next thing I knew, there was a giant puff of smoke and when the smoke settled, a gorgeous tray of cupcakes was on the counter in front of me. Sure, they looked great with creamy swirls of frosting and delicate sugar adornments on top, but what would happen when someone ate one? The good thing was I had someone to be my guinea pig. If one exploded when bitten into, it wouldn’t be me with the singed eyebrows. That was mean of me, right? Hey, she was the one who’d wanted cupcakes. I would definitely get a bad review if this cupcake thing went badly.
Since Isabeau wasn’t expecting cupcakes for a while, I decided to use the time to search the books for a spell to get rid of her. I didn’t care if it was just a spell that would banish her from my house. I’d get rid of the other ghosts lingering outside too. Books lined the shelves in a sea of hardback bindings. I got dizzy just looking at all the titles. How would I ever find the spells I was looking for? If they were even there.
I pulled off a couple of books and curled up on the velvet chair in front of the stone fireplace. Page after page and there was nothing that even resembled a spell to banish a ghost who had been turned back to the living. I did find a spell that would keep the ghosts out of the house. I’d have to try it because I knew the ghosts would finally enter the manor. Once they came in, I knew I’d never get rid of them. I didn’t want my place to turn into a ghost motel.
I placed a piece of paper between the pages to mark my spot and continued looking. After an hour of searching, I hadn’t found anything useful and the sound of footsteps made me slap the books closed and slip them back onto the crowded shelves. Isabeau must be restless and wanted her cupcakes.
When she appeared from around the corner, I said, “I made you cupcakes.” I forced a smile on my face.
She frowned and eyed me suspiciously. “What did you do to them?”
I frowned. “I’m offended. What makes you think I’d do something to them?”
“Because you don’t like me.” She walked past and toward the kitchen. My jeans fit her better. The hem didn’t drag the ground like when I wore them.
“I never said I didn’t like you,” I mumbled.
She scoffed. “You don’t have to.”
“Well, I get the feeling you don’t like me much either.” I folded my arms across my chest and leaned against the counter.
“So you do admit you don’t like me?” Her eyes widened when she spotted the tray of cupcakes.
“No,” I said defensively. “I just said I had the feeling you don’t like me. Just like you have a feeling. Your feeling is wrong though.”
“Oh, so you do like me?” She smiled and snatched a cupcake like she hadn’t eaten in years. “I have a feeling we’ll be the best of friends.” She took a big bite out of a cupcake.
I held my breath, but nothing happened, other than Isabeau making mild noises of enjoyment.
“I’m glad you like them,” I said with an innocent smile.
She shook her head as she grabbed another one. I had a feeling the tray wouldn’t last long.
The doorbell rang and I froze. It was not the sound I wanted to hear. Unless it was Annabelle, I knew it couldn’t be good news. Annabelle was supposed to be going to town to research, so I doubted it was her.
Isabeau continued stuffing her mouth full of the sugary confection while I hurried to the door and peeked out. It was a woman who’d I’d never seen before. I would have thought she was selling something if not for her blurry appearance. She wore a cotton candy pink dress and had long black hair that reached all the way past her waist. Her grainy appearance looked like the man and woman in the woods. No need for her to tell me what she wanted. I knew she was a ghost and I knew what she wanted. The thought of not opening the door crossed my mind, but I knew she’d just keep trying and eventually make it into the house. I opened the door just a crack. I wanted to tell her to go away, but I couldn’t bring myself to be that rude.
“May I help you?” I asked in my sweetest voice.
Like I didn’t know what she wanted.
“We’re waiting for you to turn us back into living beings.” She gestured over her shoulder.
The man and woman were standing in my driveway. They waved. Oh dear. This was really putting me in a pickle.
“I told them that I can’t do that. I’m sorry.” I started to close the door.
“Please,” she said.
I glanced at her face and she looked so sad. Way to lay the guilt trip on me.
I let out a sigh. “Look, even if I wanted to do this for you, I can’t. The spell isn’t in English now.”
“What do you mean?” she asked with a frown.
“The spell only appeared to me in English the one time. Before and after that it’s written in a language that I don’t understand. I don’t even know what the language is.”
The scowl on her face remained. “I don’t understand.”
“It’s complicated,” I said. “To make a long story short, I just don’t have the means to do it.”
Isabeau stood behind me, chewing on what I assumed was remnants of a cupcake. “You haven’t looked at the book when they were around, how do you know that it isn’t in English now? Maybe it’s just up there waiting for you to work the magic.”
I turned to look at her. “How did you know the book was upstairs?”
She looked at me blankly. “I don’t know it’s up there. I just assumed you were keeping it in your room like before.”
“Because you can’t find it anywhere else?” I glared at her.
And she wondered why I didn’t like her? She was sneaky and I didn’t trust her. Why was she here really? Maybe she was after the book too? After all, she’d already stolen it once. I wasn’t going to let her or the ghosts pressure me into doing anything. I wasn’t so sure I should be bringing anyone back with a spell. It was one thing to do it on accident and an entirely different thing to do it on purpose.
“I’m sorry.” I looked at the woman’s sad face. “I just can’t do it.”
I closed the door without meeting her gaze again. If I looked at her again I might invite her in and that wouldn’t be a good thing.
When I’d closed the door and locked it, I glared at Isabeau. “I think you need to mind your
own business. Now if you’ll please excuse me.”
“I didn’t do anything wrong,” she huffed. “I was merely trying to help. You’re just a bully.”
“A bully?” I looked at her with wide eyes. “Are you kidding me? I turned you back into a living person and I’m the bully? You’re staying in my house and I’m giving you food and my clothing. I think that’s nice. It’s far from rude. Rude would be if I kicked you out.”
“You’d love that, wouldn’t you?” she asked.
“You’re being unreasonable,” I said.
“Then why don’t you help those poor people out?” She placed her hands on her hips.
“That’s not something I think I’m supposed to do.” A vision of the Coven members wagging their pointy fingers flashed through my mind.
“Why? What harm can it do?” she asked sweetly.
“I’m pretty sure there’s something in the Coven Rulebook that says we’re not supposed to do that. Technically, I think I performed black magic when I turned you,” I said.
“That’s not black magic. Don’t you know anything? If it was black magic something bad would have happened to someone.” She shook her head in disgust.
I glared at her. “My point exactly.”
“Very funny. You’re a clever one.” She wiggled her finger at me.
I wanted to find a spell that would shut her up so badly. I hurried up the stairs. I wasn’t going to talk with her about this any longer. I didn’t owe her an explanation. I had to lock myself in my bedroom for a moment’s reprieve. She was giving me a headache. This would give me a chance to look at the spell book anyway. I knew that it wouldn’t be in English this time, but Isabeau had had a point. I’d never looked after the ghosts had appeared to see if the words had changed. What would I do even if they had? I wasn’t going to turn the ghosts.
With each step up the stairs, I moved faster. Was it a coincidence that the magic was pulling at me? I felt it again the same way I’d felt it when it pulled me to do the first spell. I wanted to fight it, but I wasn’t sure there was any way to fight the feeling. How could I fight something I knew nothing about?
Chapter Twenty-Five
The power wasn’t pulling me to my room though. It was drawing me toward the attic. I moved up the rest of the stairs and found myself at the attic door. Was the magic messing up now? The book was in my room. Why did I feel compelled to go into the attic?
I hoped Isabeau didn’t hear me in the attic. I’d hate to have to kick her out. Her insistent talking was getting on my last nerve. Maybe if I just kept her with an endless supply of cupcakes she’d leave me alone. Why had she wanted the book anyway? It seemed everyone wanted the book. Did she want to be the leader of the Underworld too?
I eased the door open and poked my head in as if I was expecting someone to be in there waiting for me. And to think I’d been worried about finding bones in the attic. That was the least of my worries now.
No one was in the room. That was unless I had another ghost I didn’t know about. There was a strange vibe in the room though, pulsating around me. It lured me toward the middle of the room. I stepped inside and stood right in the middle of the room, as if saying, Here I am, now what? I scanned the space, but nothing looked out of place or different from when I’d been in there just a few days ago. Had it only been a few days? It seemed like months.
A odd tug was coming from the corner of the room. I stepped into the shadowy corner and instinctively reached behind another beam behind a hidden cranny. Something was back there. I wrapped my hand around the object and pulled it out. It was a piece of paper that had been rolled up and tied with a ribbon.
This was like some kind of weird magical scavenger hunt. I blew the dust off the paper and turned it over in my hands. I contemplated shoving it back where I’d found it. I’d forget about it, tell Isabeau to leave, get rid of Liam and Nicolas and try to forget any of this had ever happened. I knew that was fantasy though. There was no way I would do any of that. My curiosity would get the better of me and I’d have to know what the paper said, what any of this meant. It was crazy, but I had to know. I’d never been one to live dangerously, but suddenly I felt like I was living on the edge.
Finally, with shaky hands, I untied the ribbon around the scroll. My breathing came in short gasps as I unrolled it. It was a small map of the house. My aunt Maddy really was a strange woman. She had a tendency to forget things though, so it was understandable why she’d sketched a map of her little treasures. The attic had two spots marked, the location where I’d found the book and another spot in the middle of the room.
I walked over to the area where I’d found the book and stuck my hand behind the beam. The space was empty. I had to make sure there wasn’t something else there. I studied the map again. It had a spot marked right in the middle of the room. What could be there?
Walking over to the marked spot, I looked down. Nothing was there. I knelt down and ran my hand across the floor. It was smooth except for the imperfections in the wood. When I ran my hand across it again though, I noticed the board moved ever so slightly. I ran my fingernail under the edge, but couldn’t get it to come up. I needed something to pry the board up with.
I scanned around the room, then spotted a box in the corner marked dishes. I rooted through the box and found a few random utensils. A butter knife was one of the items. I was thankful that my aunt was so eccentric now. I never knew what I’d find in her stuff.
I rushed back to the spot in the floor and used the knife to pry up the loose board. It was hard to see if there was anything under there. I didn’t really want to stick my hand down there where I couldn’t see any possible rodents. I poked the knife down there and hit the subfloor. When I moved the knife back and forth, it didn’t catch on anything. Just when I thought I wouldn’t find anything, the knife hit something and a small clang sound rang out. Something was down there, but now I had to decide if I was sticking my hand down there to retrieve the item.
It didn’t look as I had any other options, so I closed my eyes and inched my arm down there. As if closing my eyes would protect me from something. I moved my hand around and reached, but still couldn’t find the source of the noise. Stretching into the far corners of the space, I finally felt it. It was a small, cold object.
I pulled my hand out of the space to see what I’d found. It was a key. I sat on the floor and stared at it. It was a long brass skeleton key. What was it for and why was it hidden? I flipped it around in my hand. There was nothing written on it, just a wispy swirl pattern on both sides.
The map was on the floor where I’d dropped it. I reached over and grabbed it. There were two more spots marked around the house. What was in those locations? There were two problems though. One location was in Nicolas’ room and the other was in Liam’s room. That could get tricky. And what was hidden there? Did it have anything to do with the key that I’d just found?
There was only one way to find out. I had to look quickly before they returned and I was caught. If they wanted the book, did that mean they’d want whatever else was hidden in the house? This just kept getting more complicated. What was Aunt Maddy’s involvement in the Underworld? There had to be a connection. I’d run out of options and knew that I had to break down and tell my mother about this, as much as I didn’t want to. She was my only connection to Aunt Maddy. She’d be the only one who could answer questions about her.
Pushing the board back into its spot, I grabbed the map and the key, then slipped out of the attic. I paused for a moment and listened. Isabeau wasn’t making noise, which was probably a bad thing. At least she was on the second floor and wouldn’t see me slip into Liam or Nicolas’ room, although I’d have to walk lightly or she might hear my footsteps.
What was I worried about anyway? I had a right to be on the third floor. It was my place. I could do whatever I wanted. She could just mind her own business. If she happened to see me I’d tell her I was cleaning the rooms, which technically I needed to do. But I’d
have to look for the secret hiding spots before I did any bed-making or dusting.
I tiptoed down the hall, trying to avoid the spots in the floor that I knew squeaked. I eased into Liam’s room first because it was the first room on the right. He’d made his bed and everything looked relatively tidy. Discarded clothing lay across the chair in the corner of the room. Was it creepy that I wanted to pick up his shirt and give it a whiff? He just smelled so darn good that I couldn’t help myself.
I unrolled the map again and looked down. Apparently, something was hidden in the closet. Or had been hidden there at one time. Whether or not it was still there was the big question. I glanced over my shoulder. Liam and Nicolas were both still out, so what was I worried about? Sucking in a deep breath, I made my way over to the closet. When I opened the door, I peered in the dark space. Liam had a few pieces of clothing hanging up, but other than that the closet was empty. I reached up and felt along the shelf, but couldn’t see because I was too short. When I didn’t feel anything, I gave up.
The only other place to look was in the floor again. Why hadn’t I brought that knife with me? I knelt down and waved my hand across the floor. If Liam walked in and caught me, he’d think I was crazy. Just when I thought I was wasting my time, I felt another loose board at the very back of the closet. I pushed on it and tried to use my fingers, but it was no use. The thing wasn’t coming up.
I needed to hurry up. I still had to check Nicolas’ room. I jumped up and looked around the room. Did Liam have anything that I could use? I prayed I didn’t find a knife in his room. That would make my overactive imagination go into overdrive with visions of him as a serial killer. I mean, I’d found out he was a witch and Nicolas was a vampire. I just didn’t know if they really were being sincere or if they wanted to harm me just to get to the book.
Liam claimed this Mara woman wanted the book. He’d wanted me to give him the book. Maybe that was just a ploy to get the book from me. I stepped over to the dresser and spotted his bag. I hated doing this, but I had a good reason, right? I’d take just a peek.