Enchanters: A Meridia Falls Fantasy Thriller (Meridia Falls Series 1 Book 3)

by D. B. Green

  “No way!” Victoria shakes her head. “Could you imagine? You know how obsessed he is with Affinity,” she says. “If he found I wasn’t affected by it, I’d be another one of his lab rats.”

  Stephanie half-smiles. “Don’t be stupid. He wouldn’t… But probably best to keep it between us until we at least figure out…” She nods at Victoria’s stomach. “The baby.”

  “Radiance,” I say, the word buzzing through my mind. “What is Radiance?”

  Stephanie leans across the table until her eyes are right up to mine. There’s a hint of mint on her breath from her cappuccino. “It’s what happens when we use magic. Our irises illuminate… sparkle. It signals the agitation of our magic blood - The M-Chromosome.”

  “Your eyes sparkled brown when you burned the file yesterday, like your normal eye color,” I say, pressing my hands together. “But mine and Penny’s sparkled orange - like fire.” I force my hands apart simulating an explosion.

  “You’re different,” Stephanie says, narrowing her eyes. “That’s the Affinity.”

  Penny’s beautiful eyes flash in my mind. I take another sip of coffee and check my watch. It’s eight thirty-seven. “Can I check in on Penny before we leave for Texas?”

  Stephanie half-smiles. “Of course; we’ve got a while before we need to leave.”

  “You got a private jet or something?” I ask.

  She leans in close again. “We don’t need planes, boats, or even cars for that matter,” she says, sliding her hands across the table. “You know the door you went through in Hellgate Forest… Well, we Enchanters can make our own doorways.”

  “Magic doors,” I say.

  Victoria leans in close, too. “Yes, exactly,” she whispers, smiling. “We can make magic doors.”

  “So you can go to school today,” Stephanie says, as she leans back into the leather seat. “And keep everything as normal as possible.”

  “Under the radar,” Victoria adds.

  Stephanie nods. “Come to the cinema after school. We’ll have plenty of time to get to Texas.”

  “Great.” I say. “And I thought I was getting a day off school.”

  Victoria takes a sip of her elaborate strawberry milkshake. Cream dribbles down the side of the glass. “Come on, Logan. School isn’t that bad.”

  “Yeah, OK,” I say. “I’ll take your word for it.”

  Stephanie checks the time. “You better get going if you don’t want to be late.”

  I quickly finish my coffee and check my watch. “But I was hoping to see Penny this morning.”

  Stephanie slides something across the table. It’s a bunch of keys. Penny’s keys. She glances at Victoria. “Take the spare keys.” She smiles. “Go and see her before school.”

  “Thank you,” I say.

  Victoria grabs my hand again. She tilts her head to the side. “Don’t worry. I closed Penny’s bedroom door. It’s still her room, waiting for her to come back.” She glances at Stephanie. “We moved into the other apartment. It’s bigger, with two bedrooms…” Her voice trails off. “I just wanted you to know.” She glances at the keys and smiles. “You can come by anytime to see her.”

  I slide out of the booth. “Logan,” Stephanie says. “We’ll see you after school - and don’t forget to lock up after you’ve finished.”

  08:46 GMT-4

  THE MERIDIAN CINEMA | MERIDIA FALLS

  I move my hand closer to Penny’s shimmering hand until my fingers almost pass through hers. I don’t know how long I’ve been standing here, staring at her, watching her mouth. Victoria was sure her lips moved. “Are you talking, trying to tell me something?” I ask. “I wish you could hear me, Penny. I miss you so much.”

  I drop my arm and turn away. The clock on the wall says eight forty-six. I need to go, but I don’t want to leave her here on her own.

  A flashing red light on the desk catches my attention. It’s coming from a camera on a small tripod. Twenty-four-seven. Victoria said she’d set up a camera to record Penny’s ghost. There’s a folded floor plan of the apartment on the desk with a scribbled sketch of Penny next to the living room door. I open out the plan - it’s a full drawing of the first floor of the cinema. It’s titled with the Church logo. Must be the tiny revisions that Stephanie mentioned.

  My eyes drift past the desk and the open safe to Penny’s bedroom. The door is closed… ‘Waiting for Penny to come back,’ Victoria said. I walk across and open the door and I’m hit with the beautiful scent of vanilla. Penny’s scent. My mind rushes back to yesterday morning when I was on the bed lying next to Penny. When I asked her to marry me. In that moment, despite everything happening around us, we were happy. We could see our future, all laid out in front of us.

  I drop on the bed and lay back, closing my eyes. Penny. “I miss you so much.” The wedding vision plays through my mind. Penny in a beautiful dress, smiling. That has to be our future… It has to be. I spread my arms out, feeling across the sheets. I wish I’d brought the Polaroid of us lying here, smiling. I close my eyes, remembering the happy moment again. Polaroid.

  I sit up and turn to Penny’s white dresser. The camera. Sliding off the bed, I walk across to the dresser and open the top drawer. Sitting on top of a folded purple blouse is Penny’s Polaroid camera. I carefully take it out, like it’s a delicate antique. I turn and look through the open bedroom door, back into the living room. I wonder…

  My heart pounds as I walk into the living room. I lift the viewfinder and aim the camera at Penny’s ghost. At her shimmering blue outline. I press my finger down on the button and the flash fires. The photo ejects from the front of the camera. I turn back to Penny’s ghost and stare into her eyes. “Did it work?”

  As I stare at the developing Polaroid, my heartbeat shifts into high gear. I feel lightheaded, like I’m going to pass out. Grabbing the edge of the sofa for support, I make my way back to the bedroom and lay down on Penny’s bed again.

  I hold up the Polaroid. It’s still black - the image isn’t showing yet. I lay it next to me on the bed. Something crinkles under the pillow as I turn; it sounds like paper. I pull back the pillow, revealing a folded note underneath. A note from Penny.

  I’m in a forest. It’s dusk on a hot summer night. I can feel the warm heat on my skin. I’m leading a boy down a path. I feel happy. He’s happy. He smiles at me. I feel like I know him, like I’ve known him my whole life… But I haven’t seen him before… Only in this recurring dream.

  Smoke gathers around us, but we can’t smell it. As we walk between the trees, I continue to look into his eyes. His big, dreamy, green eyes. The smoke suddenly gives way to fire. Raging flames lick against the edge of the forest path. But we still walk, heading deeper into the burning trees…

  Penny must have written this before we met - before she knew me. Our recurring dream, but from her point of view. I smell the paper. It too has a faint essence of vanilla. I close my eyes and revisit the dream as it happened to me. What does it mean?

  This note wasn’t under the pillow last night; I’d have noticed. Penny must have put it there after I left. Despite what Victoria said, I’m not leaving this here for anyone else to find. I carefully fold it back up, following the same creases that Penny made.

  Penny. I reach across the sheets and grab the Polaroid. My heart pounds like a drum roll as I hold up the photo. Staring back at me is an image of Penny’s ghost.

  09:22 GMT-4

  MERIDIA HIGH SCHOOL | MERIDIA FALLS

  My footsteps echo down the school corridor like a drumbeat reaching a crescendo. Why do I feel so guilty for being late? I wasn’t the least bothered until I walked through the entrance lobby and then it felt like I’d broken into someone’s house.

  I check my watch. Crap. It’s nine twenty-two. I’ve well missed homeroom registration - and now I’m late for history, too. I take a deep breath and open the classroom door.

  Mr. Jefferson is standing next to his desk, addressing the class. He taps a long wooden ruler into his palm as he
talks. He stops and turns - and so does everyone else in the classroom. I ignore the stares and search for Maz. She’s at the back of the classroom, sitting in the same seat Penny did the first time I saw her. Maz is staring out of the window, so her reaction is later than everyone else. She slowly turns, noticing that Jefferson has stopped talking. Her eyes open wide and her mouth drops open. She mouths the words ‘what the…’

  “Ah, Mr. Collins. You’ve decided to join us after all.” Jefferson sniggers and turns back to face the class, like he’s expecting a round of applause or something. Nothing happens. This seems to irritate him and he turns sharply back to me, narrowing his eyes. “Well, are you coming in or not?” He strokes his graying beard and then points the ruler to the back of the classroom.

  I close the door and weave between the desks. Maz’s stepsister, Candy, watches my every move. Her eyes flick to the right and she grins.

  Suddenly, I trip and fall. Spreading my arms out, I manage to protect my face as I hit the hardwood floor. Desks tumble over like dominos; so do the students sitting at them.

  A raucous laugh rings out, like cheer at a football game. The blond-haired jock that came on to Miss Slayter, Richard ‘Dick’ Cavanagh, withdraws his foot, making sure I see it was him that tripped me. He grins and winks as a chewing gum bubble pops against his lips.

  Maz grabs my sleeve and helps me to my feet. “He’s Candy’s new toy,” she whispers, glaring at her stepsister. She turns to Cavanagh and scowls. “Don’t be such a dick, Dick!”

  He shrugs his shoulders and blows another chewing gum bubble.

  “Are you sure you’re OK to be in school?” Jefferson says, pointing his ruler at me. “You don’t look too good on your feet.” The time, the class laughs like he’s Chris Rock on full flow. Jefferson smiles, lapping up the attention.

  I help another a student pick up their fallen desk. It’s the geeky kid from the library the other day. “Thanks, Logan,” he says. I reach under the desk next to me and grab his history book. “Ignore them; you get used to it.” He holds out his hand. “I’m Trevor. Trevor Baines.”

  Crap. I don’t want to shake his hand. I don’t want to intrude. I hold out my hand and then pull it back. “Better not, just in case I’m contagious.” I fake a sneeze. “Nice to meet you, Trevor,” I say. “Sorry for knocking your desk over.”

  My excuse seems to work. Trevor smiles and then sits down at his desk.

  I sit at the desk next to Maz… next to where Penny sat. Maz’s eyes are screaming all kinds of questions, but she can’t ask any because Jefferson is watching me like a hawk.

  “Are you finished, Mr. Collins?” He points his ruler at Maz. “Or would you like your chaperone to tuck you in?”

  Another laugh from the front row of the class.

  Three beeps suddenly chime from the public-address speaker above the door. Jefferson spins around and scowls, annoyed at the interruption to his performance.

  “Can Sally Baines, Trevor Baines, and Candy Steele please report to the nurse’s room for mandatory vaccinations?”

  Candy groans and drags herself up from her desk. She blows a kiss at Cavanagh as she saunters to the classroom door.

  Trevor turns around, a wide grin on his face. He pumps his fists together, giving two thumbs up. I guess he’s happy to miss history. The girl behind Candy stands, too. I remember her - she’s one of the Candy wannabe’s, one of her gang. She’s wearing similar clothes - short denim skirt and a thin pink jumper. She even has a streak of pink running down the side of her dark-brown hair. Must be Candy’s gang colors.

  Baines. I lean across to Maz. “Are they brother and sister?”

  She nods. “Yeah. Hard to believe, isn’t it?” She pauses, like she’s lost in a memory. “We used to tease Trevor all the time. Well, the old me did,” she says, turning to the window. “They’re twins.” She sniffs. “Although you’d never guess.”

  “Quiet please, at the back,” Jefferson says, pointing his ruler in our direction. He turns back to the open classroom door, waiting until Sally closes it behind her. Then, he puts the ruler down on the desk and rubs his hands together. “Right then, back to—”

  Three more beeps come from the speaker, cutting Jefferson off again. “Can Mr. Jefferson please come to the main reception desk?”

  Jefferson fakes a smile. His cheeks turn bright red as he tries to hide his rising anger. He takes a deep breath. “Turn to page sixty-three in your books and start reading,” he says. “I’ll not be long.”

  As soon as Jefferson closes the classroom door, Maz leans across to my desk. “Well!” She looks at her watch. “Why are you not on a plane to Texas right now?”

  “Stephanie wanted to see me this morning,” I say. “I met her and Victoria in the coffee shop.”

  Maz raises her left eyebrow. It’s fast becoming her signature look. “Yes?”

  “Stephanie said she can get me to Texas after school.” I lean in close. “Through a magic door.”

  “Magic door!”

  I pull my finger to my lips. Even with the rising noise level in the classroom, I don’t want anyone else to hear. “Yes. A magic door. Like the one in the forest,” I say, pausing for a second. “Stephanie wants to show me something else as well… I don’t know what, though.”

  Maz runs her hand through her hair. “Did they say anything about Penny?”

  “Victoria said she was separating the magic signatures.”

  Maz shakes her head and holds up her hands. “And that means?”

  “It means I’m closer to finding Penny than I was last night.”

  Maz taps her chest. “We.” She points at me then back at her. “We are closer.”

  The photo. My heartbeat shifts into fast gear. “There’s something else. They gave me the cinema keys so I could visit Penny.”

  Maz’s eyes open wide. “What did you do in there?”

  “Nothing like that,” I say, shaking my head. I reach into my rucksack and pull out the Polaroid. “I took this photo.” I show her the image of Penny’s shimmering ghost. “I just wanted to see if it would work.”

  Maz takes the Polaroid. Her jaw drops open. “You can see Penny.” She shakes the photo, flipping it over in her hand. “You can see her ghost on the photo.”

  The classroom door bursts open and Jefferson storms back across to his desk. He glares at the CCTV camera next to the speaker above the door, puffing his red cheeks out like he’s run a marathon. Then he takes a deep breath. “Where were we? Ah, yes. Page sixty-three.”

  Maz passes me the Polaroid. I glance at the photo for a second and then slip it back in my rucksack. My fingers brush past Penny’s note about the recurring dream. I rest my chin on my hand; a faint smell of vanilla from Penny’s twine ring fills my nose. I close my eyes. I will find you.

  13:21 GMT-4

  MERIDIA HIGH SCHOOL | MERIDIA FALLS

  “Slow down, Logan.” Maz shouts. “What about lunch - Logan!”

  There’s only one thing on my mind. Penny. I must see her… need to see her.

  I stop outside my locker. “We can grab something to eat from the Anne’s bakery,” I say. “That’s if you still want to come.” I open my locker and pull out my jacket.

  Maz half-smiles. “You don’t think I want to hang around this hellhole more than I have to?” she says, panting for breath. “Just don’t walk too fast; I’m so freakin’ tired.” She struggles with her locker door.

  “Let me,” I say. She pulls back her hands and leans against the next locker. Dark shadows sit under her eyes. “You do look tired.” I pull open her locker and grab her coat. She yawns as I pass it to her. “Like, exhausted.”

  She emphasizes taking deep breaths. “You think?” she says, pointing back down the corridor. “Keeping up with you is no mean feat.”

  “No. It’s your eyes. They look tired,” I say. “Like you haven’t slept.”

  She sighs. “You’d think not, with what’s going on. But I am sleeping… Like a freakin’ rock. Every night.” She
yawns again and checks her watch. “We’d better get going though. If we want to get to Main Street and back in forty minutes. It will be a quick visit.”

  “I just need to see her again.”

  Maz half-smiles. “I know you do… And for some weird reason, I need to see her, too.” She taps my sleeve. “So you’ll have to do your thing.”

  “OK, if I must. Just try to think of something… nice.”

  Maz salutes and then links her arm through mine. “No chance of running in front now.”

  “There’s something else.” I pause for a second. “Victoria is sure Penny’s lips moved.”

  “What!?” Maz says, stopping mid yawn.

  I shake my head. “I’m not too sure they are, but Victoria is recording her just-in-case.”

  “Well, let’s go and see, then.”

  Maz picks up her pace as we walk through the entrance lobby to the school doors. She suddenly turns and glances over her shoulder. “What’s wrong?” I ask.

  “Because none of them came back from their vaccinations, I keep expecting Candy to jump out any minute.” She checks her watch. “It’s been like half a day without her doing anything to me.”

  “Excuse me,” I say, rubbing my elbow. “What about me?”

  Maz smiles. “Oh yeah. Sorry. I forgot you subbed for me this morning.” She holds up her finger. “Although, technically that was Cavanagh. Not Candy.”

  “Still hurts, though.”

  Maz rubs my elbow and grins. “Poor baby.”

  “Those vaccinations worry me,” I say. “There could be anything in them.”

  I pull open the main doors and a gust of icy wind almost blows us back inside. We push through it and head down the steps. Maz stops. She lifts her hand, shielding her eyes from the wind. “I thought I saw someone next to your truck,” she says, leaning forward. “It looked like Trevor Baines.”

  I shield my eyes from the biting wind. The parking lot is devoid of life. Just the same old row of car statuses with my truck sitting at the back of the pile. “I wonder what happened to them after their vaccinations?”