by Jimi Alan
Justin asked. “Madam Highfield mentioned the ‘Dark Days’.”
Alice was glad that Justin had no idea either. She wondered if Lucia also knew what the Dark days were referring to. It sounded like some kind of event, to be feared.
“Of course you don’t know of it.” Lucia smiled. “Only a few books have been written about those days.”
“But who wants to read a book about it.” Gloria said. “It’s just so depressing. And most of the books you can find are written in giberious, or some bezar language.”
Lucia sighed. “But there's a secret part of the library, which we could go into.”
“Now your just tripping.” Gloria smirked. “There is no such thing as a secret part of the library.”
Justin snorted.
Lucia glared at him for only a second. She looked troubled, like she didn’t want to say the wrong words to them. Lucia placed her fingertips into her pockets to get some kind of comfort.
“If their was, then my brother would tell me about it.” Gloria said. “He brags about everything he finds out.”
“Trust me.” Lucia stopped in the hallway.
She looked down at her feet as Alice and Justin stopped behind her. In enough time not to bang into her back. Alice reached her hand out, grabbing Gloria’s arm for just a second.
In the moment, Alice felt something pulling her away from the old victoria hallways of the academy. She saw Gloria standing with her as they looked down the hallway.
A ghostly chill flowed through Alice’s body. She felt a shiver run from her fingertips to her chest. Only for a second, down the hallway of the academy, they saw her.
Standing in the middle of the hallway, Alice noticed the girl. She looked like her with another girl around the same age beside her. Alice took a deep breath as she saw the two girls talking amongst each other.
The second girl walked away, as the one that looked similar to Alice reached her hand out for the other girls arm. She touched her arm, but only for a second. Her resemblance to Alice was kending. She wondered why they looked similar with a significant difference.
Her hands let go of the girl. Alice felt something dark source of energy flowing around her body, like aura. The dark aura was pulling Alice closer to her. Something dark kept her stuck with them.
The girl similar to Alice said. “Come on Natas.”
“It’s real.” Her dark aura floating around her body. “The Hollow has power that the council doesn’t want us to know about.”
She asked her friend. “How do you even know?”
“I read about it in the library.” The girl with the dark aura admitted. “It was in some kind of stoned room with all these books about dark magic.”
“Take me to it.” The girl forced her down the hallway towards the library. “Now.”
Alice let go of Gloria’s arm. The girls vanished from the hallway in front of her. It was like they were protected by her mind. Alice looked into Gloria’s eyes. She knew by the look on her friend’s face, she saw it too.
Gloria sighed. “What was that?”
“I’m not sure.” Alice stuttered.
Justin looked puzzled. “Did something just happen?”
“You have to be kidding me.” Lucia looked at Alice. “Are you siding with her?”
Alice took a moment to think about what she saw. She placed her hand onto her wand in her pocket. She felt her male jeans pockets felt larger than before.
“The Hallow.” Alice remembered what she saw in the projection.
“What?” Lucia held a concern look on her face.
Justin sighed. “That’s just a legend.”
“You saw it too.” Gloria said. “The two girls.”
“They were looking for something.” Alice told her. “The Hollow is what they call it.”
“And let me guess.” Lucia sighed. “These girls found what they needed from the library.”
Alice exchanged a soft look of agreeance with Gloria. She saw the soft tilt of her head towards the left, like she was thinking of something. Alice thought back for a moment. She remembered the other girl with the dark aura around her.
Gloria said. “So we go looking for this secret section of the library.”
“You believe me.” Lucia asked. “What happened?”
“Don’t ask.” Gloria sighed. “It’s hard to explain.”
Alice wondered. “Maybe someday.”
She could not help herself from thinking about the girl she saw with Gloria. The way she looked had an innocent sense to her. Her posture screamed with power, like she was the polar opposite to Alice.
Justin shrugged his shoulders. “If we are going to the library, then we should go this way.”
He walked off towards the staircase. Alice followed closely behind him with Gloria and Lucia behind them. They stayed quiet as they walked up the staircase towards the libraries main doors.
Reaching the library, Lucia suggested for them to separate to search for a secret entrance as quickly as possible. Alice walked down a hallway in the library. She looked at the books around her.
Many of them were about curses and unknown spells. In a way, Alice felt at home in the stacks of books around her. A sanctuary of books cascading towards the roof above. Her hand grazed over a book spine as she reached the end of the ille.
Slightly, the spine of the book sent a wave down themselves. Alice stood at the brick wall. Looking over her shoulder, Alice saw the spines fading on the shelf beside her. She wondered what was with the glowing books.
Alice placed her hand on the book spines. She leaned forward to the books on the shelf with the glowing spines shimmering over her fingertips. Leaning into the bookshelf, a glow covered over Alice's body. She felt a cold shiver encasting over her body. Alice closed her eyes for a second as her eyes took a second to on just to the darkness around her.
Placing her hand onto the wand in her pocket, a burst of light shimmered from her fingertips. Alice rose her hand with her glowing fingertips in front of her to see through the darkness. Her eyes begin to object to the sight around her.
Standing before her, a ghostly figure of a tree hollow with white bark on the sides clawed up the edge. A narrow vine covered around it with a pitched white birch covered stand in the middle. Gripping tightly to a white book in the middle of the stand. Alice’s had touched the wall of the tree trunk that covered around her. She saw the silhouette of the girl who looked similar to her. She looked ecstatic to see the book. Rushing up to the stand,the girl's fingers touched the book. She flipped through the page as her eyes glossed over.
Alice never saw such a spooky sight before. She saw the girl's colorless eyes as she read the page. As if the book took over her curious mind. The girl was thirsty for information, that even her own friend wanted to know.
From behind her, Alice heard the dark aura girl's voice. “Martina.”
The girl with the dark aura around her rushed towards her friend. She slammed the book out of her friends grip, snapping Martina out of the book’s control in the process. Looking at her worried friend, Martina let out a sigh.
“What happened, Natas.” She told her friend. “Where are we?”
“You don't remember.” Natas looked puzzled at her friend. “You found the hidden room.”
Alice looked at the two girls. Her mind made the connection. Martina was the name of the girl who looked similar to her. Of course she would, for she was Alice's mother. Her eyes widened at the thought of her seeing how her mother was back when she was Alice's age. She felt connected, but lonely all at once.
“We need to tell Jacob.” Martina pulled her friend out of the room.
They walked right towards Alice, vanishing like smoke before her eyes. As that moment passed, Alice's mother was gone once more. She looked around at the hidden room in the tree hollow. Alice wondered what the book might show her. Deep inside she feared such a power, which was strong enough to trance her own mother.
Alice heard a whisper behind her. She
turned around, taking a step into the darkness once more. Her eyes adjusted to the sight around her as she walked out of the books.
Standing in the isle of shelves, Alice looked behind her. She placed her hand off of her wand, making her fingertips stop glowing. A light touch on the books’ she felt how fermented they were. None of them seemed to move.
“Where did it go?” She panicked. “Where is it?”
Moving her fingertips around, Alice searched for the first book she grazed as she walked towards the book with the golden star cover, she gave up hope. She forgot that book was the first spine her fingertips made glow.
Justin reached her, gasping with his hands on his knees he tried to catch his breath before speaking. “Did you find something?”
“It was right here.” Alice moved her fingers away from the shelf. “It was like a room. And the books glowed, but only for a second.”
She stared at the shelf behind her, hoping she would be able to find the one book she couldn't reach. Justin stood up to the shelf. He placed his fingers at the books before him.
“I can't sense anything.” Justin told her. “It’s strange.”
“What?” Alice was lost. “Do you…”
He smirked. “Some magic users can sense magic. It gives a tingly feeling and only works if a spell has a large amount of magic used in it.”
“So.” Alice thought of it. “You are like a spell detector?”
“Pretty much.” Justin shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe a cloaking spell was used to block it. Or the spell traveled, either way, it's no longer here.”
Alice looked up at the shelves of books. She felt frustrated in the way her world seemed to be changing. She missed the days when she could sit up in her bedroom with no care in the world about what was happening outside.
In the back of her mind, she felt a sparkle as her eyes caught his. She saw Justin standing before her. Not like she saw him before, but in a new light as if someone placed a spotlight onto him.
She thought for a moment about what he said as they walked through the library searching for their friends. Justin had no tithes to the magical world before he attended the school. But somehow he had this ability to detect spells.
Alice thought she should ask him. She thought about it for a minute too long.
Walking to the end of a bookshelf, Alice stumbled over her boots. She caught herself as her hand slammed into the bookshelf. Keeping herself standing, she looked at the face of the girl in front of her. She held a ghostly feel to her appearance. Alice was startled as she looked through the girls semi transparent body.
The girl wore a gown over her body. She winked at Alice, as she evaporated back into the bookshelf. Alice looked over her shoulder as she felt a hand touch hers. She looked back, hoping to not see a creepy girl standing beside her.
Instead, Justin crouched down with his hand out. He offered his hand to her with a smile on his face. Alice guested he had not seen the ghostly girl she saw. She placed her hand onto his as he helped her back to her feet.
Alice blushed feeling embarrassed. “Thanks.”
“Don’t worry about it.” He told her. “I trip over my feet all the time.”
Justin walked past her towards the end of the bookshelf. Alice glanced over her shoulder at the bookshelf. She heard the quiet giggling of a high school echoing down the bookshelves that covered the stone walls of the library.
“So.” Justin asked her. “Where are you from?”
“Me.” Alice was a bit nervous. She thought he already knew about her, like most of the other students in the academy.
“Well.” Justin smirked. “No one else is here.”
“Oh yeah.” She looked over her shoulder, keeping an eye out for the ghostly girl before drawing her attention back to Justin. “I’m from the big bad city.”
“Oh.” He seemed surprised. “A Toronto girl.”
“I guess.” Alice shrugged her shoulders. “How about you?”
“A small town by the great lakes.” He seemed bored with the words that came flowing out of his own mouth. Alice guested he was tired of wandering around the library like she was.
They reached the exit of the library, where Gloria and Lucia were standing before them. A smile sparkled across Gloria's face as her brother walked out from behind one of the bookshelves beside them. Lucia waved at Justin and Alice to join them.
She told them. “We had no luck.”
“It just doesn't make sense.” Gloria sighed.”What did they mean by a secret room.”
Gloria's brother, Giles smiled. “I have heard of hidden portals, but not rooms.”
“Portals?” Gloria held a confused look on her face. Shrugging her shoulders, she let out a slight sigh. “Well, this is a magical place. So I guess that can happen.”
Alice looked over her shoulder at Justin. She realized the look on his face right away. He looked like he was about to burst.
“Wait.” She wondered about the portals. “Say you touched a book and then was somewhere else. Would that be a portal?”
“I have never experienced one myself.” Giles looked down at the book in his hand. “But our escape teacher has, mr…” He thought of the teachers name for a minute too long. “Oh darn it. His name escapes me.” Giles let out a soft sigh. “That happens more than you think.”
Gloria sighed. “Whatever.” She crossed her arms over her chest.
“Wait.” Lucia looked at Alice. “Did you touch a book and it took you somewhere else?”
Everyone looked at Alice for just a minute. She felt nervous and looked over at Justin’s calm demeanor. He was standing with his hands by his sides, like he did most often. She guessed her was just a fidgeting type.
Alice told Gloria and Lucia. “I was back by one of the dead ends and brushed against a book. For a second, I felt like I was in this dark room with some kind of stand with a book on it. And then the next thing I knew, I was back here.”
Justin added. “She looked a little confused when I found here.”
“I leave you guys too it then.” Giles left the library with his hands on his books.
Gloria turned towards Alice. “Did you search for the book?”
“Yupe.” Justin nodded his head. “No luck.”
Alice wanted to say something about what Justin told her, about how he could sense magic. She guessed his sense wasn’t a normal occurance for any magic user. Even for a half magic user like Justin.
“Maybe.” Lucia told them. “No that wouldn’t be it.”
Gloria glared over her shoulder a Lucia, like she was keeping a secret. “What?”
Lucia told her. “If the entrance is cloaked, that would explain why it’s hard to find.”
“But something like that would use a large amount of magical energy.” Alice guessed. “Right?”
“Not really.” Justin told her. “If it’s a dot size portal that will expanded for a short amount of time, then it will only use a spec.”
“But no magic is untraceable.” Lucia told them. “We just need something that can sense magic.”
Gloria sighed. “And how will we do that.”
“A wand.” Lucia crossed her arms over her chest.
She looked like she was glotting with her crossed arms. Alice thought about using her wand. Then she remembered how her wand was a secret. She placed her hands into her pockets. Alice’s fingertip touched the top of her wand. She wondered how could it sense other magic.
“How would that work?” Alice wondered. “Would I need to hold it or use a spell or something?”
“Not sure.” Lucia sighed. “We haven’t even got our wands yet.” She whispered as a student passed them. “And besides, we can’t use yours on campus.”
Gloria glanced over her shoulder at the bookshelf. She smiled, reaching her hand up to a book on the shelf. Her hand pulled away from the shelf with a book in her hand. She looked at the title for just a second before gripping the book to her chest.
Showing her friends the title, Glor
ia read it to her friends. “The Basic Wand Guide.”
“Cool.” Justin told her. “We should get to class.”
“Fine.” Lucia sighed.
They headed out of the library together, with Alice hanging back with Justin. Gloria flipped through the book as she walked down the staircase towards their next classroom of the day. Lucia seemed to be preoccupied with a tune in her head she was trying to hum.
Alice slowed down her pace, to make some distance between them. She wanted to ask Justin why he was keeping his magic sense from the other. Keeping her steps shallow, she walked slower with Justin keeping up beside her.
“I was wondering.” Alice whispered under her breath to Justin. “Why didn’t you tell the other’s about you magic sense, thing?”
Justin held his finger up to his lips. He made a hushin sound as he walked into the classroom. Alice was surprised for him to be so secretive, for Justin did not seem like the type to her that would keep a secret for his friends.
Walking into the classroom, Alice found her desk. She sat down as Justin sat next to her with Gloria on her other side. Lucia sat behind them with her twin sister, Lailah sitting a desk away from her.
Lailah held her head up high, like she was ready for anything the teacher would ask her. She seemed like a mean girl type, one of the ones who would rule over the school. Alice thought it was strange how different Lailah and Lucia were, like they were opposites of each other. To bad their appearances were somewhat the same.
Chapter Four
Portal Opens
The class ended with Lucia walking out with her twin sister, Lailah by her side. She waited by the door for Alice to walk out, before joining her. Alice thought it was strange how Lucia was nothing like her sister.
She walked up the staircase with Lucia, as Justin and Gloria followed behind them. Gloria held the book in her hand as she walked up the stairway. She skimmed over each page, hoping to find the answer to their problems.
Alice looked over at Lucia. She wondered why Lucia was hanging around with them, when her sister was off tormenting the rest of the freshman class. Alice placed her hand onto the wall as she lost her footing on the staircase. Justin placed his hands on her back, keeping her from falling back onto him.