by E A Foley
Iris closed her eyes. She exhaled several times. Focused on her physical self and the coolness of her headboard. As her Little Self, Iris stood within her mind, eyes clenched shut until she pulled her emotions in line and lost the desire to break down and cry. She opened her eyes, turned away from her door and walked to the center of the room.
As she got closer to Violet’s door, Iris felt another presence. She turned toward it to discover a third light in the room, though she could have sworn there had been only two when she entered the first time.
“Aerianna,” she breathed as she approached the single, feeble ray of light that illuminated the doorframe to the right of Violet’s.
Yes. Though, I’m surprised it took her this long. She felt the beginnings of awakening at almost the same time as Violet.
“Aeri’s much more stubborn. If she decided straightaway that there was no possible way for her to be a magic user, she would’ve thrown the entire notion from her mind and fought with all her might to keep it out until she had no other explanations,” Iris grinned.
It appears she’s run out of other explanations, then, her Little Self chuckled.
“That it does. So, what is this place? I mean what do I call it?”
It has no name.
“Well I can’t keep calling it the room of doors in my mind.” She looked around the room again. At the well-lit doors. The beautiful carvings adorning two of them. It reminded her of an art gallery. “I’ll call it the Gallery of Doors.”
Very fitting.
Iris smiled. Her thoughts shifted to logistics. “So, how do I get out of here and how do I get back in without getting lost along the way?”
You’ve been here once, so you’ll be able to find your way back at will. Just feel out my presence and imagine yourself at the entrance to this room. The Gallery of Doors, as you called it. As for getting out, all you need to do is exit the room and allow your mind to become whole once more.
Before you leave, Iris, I must stress one point to you. Your entire mind can never travel to this place, or it may be trapped forever. Your unconscious self may take over your body. In essence, you run the risk of going crazy and being locked in a prison that no one will be able to pull you out of.
“Good to know. Is that why I can still feel my body lying on my bed and hear . . . my mom yelling at me? Gotta go!” Iris said. Not waiting for an answer, she quickly headed for her own door before her mom came looking for her.
Just as her Little Self said, once Iris exited the Gallery of Doors, she imagined opening her eyes and her mind being whole. In less than a second, she was once more staring at the blank wall in her quickly darkening room.
Chapter 11
Iris had no trouble getting out of bed the next morning. It could have been because she knew she wasn’t alone in her oddities this time or the fact that she’d learned more about her abilities. Then again, it was most likely because she hadn’t stayed up well past one in the morning attempting to figure out how to create her own light source. In fact, it only took Iris about five minutes to create her first light source the previous evening, and within an hour she was able to control the specific color of the light by changing the amount of electron transference and the combination of elements in the air.
Exactly how she was able to do this, she wasn’t quite sure. All she knew was what it felt like and for now, that was enough. It turned out she’d been overthinking the process. She needed to trust her instincts more. They appeared to lead her in the correct direction—most of the time.
Iris pulled into her assigned parking space and grabbed her backpack. She was heading through the back gate to the football field when she heard someone call her name.
“Yo, Iris, wait up.”
Iris paused and waited as Cirrus jogged to join her.
“Morning,” Iris greeted when he caught up to her.
“Hi. I need to talk to you, like now. It’s really important.”
“Okay, I’m all ears,” Iris hoped she sounded calm and that Cirrus couldn’t hear her heart as it attempted to beat its way out of her chest.
“Yeah, and so are all of our wonderful classmates,” he grumbled under his breath.
“Good point. C’mon, we’ve got time to walk the long way around the track.” They turned left on the track rather than right like the rest of their classmates.
They walked around the entire northern curve of the track before Iris broke the silence. “Uh, Cirrus, I would love to give you all the time in the world to say whatever it is you want to say, but we only have about another ten minutes before I get yelled at by Mr. Wright.”
“Right. Okay. Violet was rambling on the other day and said you were the person we should talk to. Anyway, I feel . . . I dunno how to explain this. I feel like, like I’m . . . like I’m a . . .” He couldn’t get the words out.
Iris looked at his face and saw all the strain she’d experienced a few weeks ago etched on his normally calm features. She didn’t care what her Little Self said. He needed to know. “Like you can do magic?” she supplied in a blunt whisper.
Cirrus stopped midstride. Iris took a few steps past him before she stopped as well. She turned to face him and had to use every ounce of willpower not to laugh outright at the stunned look on his face.
“How . . . how?” was all Cirrus could get out while shaking his head.
“Just a hunch,” Iris shrugged. Cirrus continued to stare at her, so she decided to elaborate. “C’mon, walk with me. On my right side, so no one else can see,” Iris said and pulled out a pen. “You coming?” She called back to Cirrus, who still stood where he’d stopped, mouth open and full of disbelief.
A few seconds later, they were walking side by side once more. Iris placed the pen in her left hand and started explaining her own abilities. “Keep your eye on the pen,” She told him in a soft voice. She opened herself to the stores of power flowing through the Earth and pulled the tiniest amount she possibly could into her being. As she did, a tickling sensation started at the back of her neck. She ignored it for the moment and focused on the pen. Asked it to spin in a circle on her hand before requesting it stand on end and float over to Cirrus’s hand. “Seem familiar to you?”
“How did you do that? I can’t do anything like that.” He handed the pen back. “All I seem able to do is destroy things. Does Vi know you can do that?” He gestured at Iris’s hand and the pen. “She got really weird a few weeks ago and said something about going crazy and stuff. Then we both could, I dunno, do stuff,” Cirrus spoke in a flood of words as though he’d been wanting to tell someone—anyone—this secret for weeks.
“I asked the pen to move. That’s how I did it.” She released the remaining power she held and closed herself off from accepting any more. The tickling sensation vanished. “You probably destroy things because you demand they bend to your will. Your power. You have to make requests, not demands.
“And no, Violet has not talked to me, so she doesn’t know I can do magic yet, though I tried to support her as best as I could when I sensed she could do magic. You’re more than welcome to tell her, and I’d love to talk to you guys more about this, but right now I’m going to need to jog so that I’m not late to first period. I suggest you do the same. See you at break?” Iris waited long enough for Cirrus’s nod before grabbing the straps of her backpack so it wouldn’t bounce as much on her jog across campus to the band room.
Very nicely handled, Iris. I’m impressed, her Little Self congratulated.
Iris grinned and her eyes sparkled to a brighter blue. “I thought you’d be mad at me. I used magic in public and told Cirrus he was a magic user.”
You did, but both needed to happen. Try not to do it again, though.
Iris made it to first period before the bell rang and had an enjoyable time playing the usual medley of holiday songs in preparation for the final concert of the year. Brett tried to destroy her good mood during second period by asking her if she was trying to take her best friend’s boyfriend
away from her. She flipped him off, told him to mind his own business, and ignored him for the rest of class. Break couldn’t come fast enough.
Cirrus arrived at morning break at the same time as Iris. He only stayed long enough to say hello to the gang before dragging Violet off. Iris assumed it was to explain about his morning encounter with her. She wasn’t sure she’d be able to contain herself until lunch.
“Can’t I just go into the Gallery of Doors, open their doors, and tell them everything now that they know?” Iris whined at her Little Self.
What, and shatter their minds completely? Sure, be my guest.
“You know, you’re less like me than I thought you’d be.”
Wait until you have confidence in yourself. In all seriousness, you might, might be able to communicate with Violet through her door in the Gallery of Doors, but Cirrus’s door isn’t fully formed. It would significantly damage his mind at the least, and destroy it at the worst. Violet may not be one hundred percent ready either, so be patient. You have to give her time. Let her bring it up after lunch if she wants to. Don’t force it. You need them.
“What’s that supposed to mean? Hello? Did you ditch me again? You totally did. You know, you really suck sometimes.”
Neither Cirrus nor Violet joined the group at lunch. By the time the bell rang, no one had seen either of them, so Iris decided she’d better head off to class alone. It wasn’t until she rounded the corner of the H-building and Cirrus hissed in her ear that she realized he and Violet were following her.
“We need to talk. Can you get out of fifth period? We already called our parents and got them to excuse us on the premise of not feeling well. Any chance your parents will do the same?”
“Not likely. I mean, I got up and left for school early this morning. There’s no way my mom would believe I’m sick.” Iris thought for a moment. “There is something I can try, though.” She lowered her voice so only the two of them could hear her. “I have an old note from my mom that excused me from my after-lunch classes earlier this year for a medical appointment. It was canceled last minute, so I still have the note. I can try to change the date on it. There’s no guarantee it’ll work, but I can give it a shot.”
Cirrus looked at Violet. She nodded. “We’d appreciate it if you’d try,” he whispered back before raising his voice so the few people in their classes within earshot could hear them. “Iris, I thought you had a doctor’s appointment today. Isn’t your car in the other lot?”
“Oh shit, you’re right. I still have to drop my note off at the office. Well, I hope you two feel better. See you later.” And with that, Iris turned around and headed back toward the main office. The bell rang as she approached the concrete path across the center of the grassy quad. Her stomach clenched. This was a bad idea. She’d never tried anything like this. There was no guarantee it would work. And if it didn’t, she’d have to come up with some kind of explanation for not being in class right now.
It was too late to turn back, so Iris plunged forward. She decided she’d better try to change her old note before she got to the office. Pulling it out, Iris concentrated on the pen marks that dated the note October second rather than December second. Well, at least I only need to change one number. Here goes nothing.
She closed her eyes to increase her concentration, slowed her pace, and drew power into her being. Iris formed the request in her mind and expelled the energy she held in a slow, steady stream at the piece of paper clutched in her hands. It felt like her request got stuck as she made it. The power within her failed to flow outwards. She opened her eyes and found she was fifteen paces from the office door.
Iris gritted her teeth. Reformed the request. Tried and failed to quell her roiling stomach. She pulled more power into her being and released it. A few seconds later, she glanced at the note in her hand. Her eyes registered a twelve inked on the page rather than a ten as her other hand pulled the office door open. She dropped the note off, received a hall pass, and left campus. It took her half the walk to her car to get her thumping heart to slow its pace.
Once she made it to the track, she called Violet.
“Iris?” Cirrus answered after less than a full ring.
“You know I called Violet, right?”
“Yeah. You get out of class?”
“Yes. I’m almost to my car. Where are you guys?”
“We’re at the lake. Come meet us here.”
“It’d be better to go somewhere else. You know, less public. I’d suggest my place, but I’m sure a neighbor would notice my car and come check on me. What about one of your houses?”
“We can go to my place. Both my parents work late and my brother’s at college. There’s enough room in the garage for both our cars. I’ll text you the address. See you there.”
Chapter 12
Iris pulled into Cirrus’s garage less than fifteen minutes later. She slid out of her seat, reached back to grab her backpack and had a Violet glued to her side. “Violet? Vi?”
“You guys coming?” Cirrus called from a door that must have led to the house.
Violet nodded into Iris’s shoulder but didn’t release her, so they awkwardly followed Cirrus inside to the kitchen.
“Violet . . . come on, Vi, what’s up?”
Violet stared back, a do-I-really-need-to-spell-this-out-for-you expression on her face.
“Right, dumb question. Aren’t you excited, though? Isn’t this what you’ve dreamt of your whole life? Wishing you could actually use magic like in one of the dozens of books we’ve read?”
“You realize the people in the books always wind up getting chased or hurt or dead, right? What if that’s what’s going to happen to us? I’m not ready to die yet. I want to live and grow old and have, you know, a family,” she mumbled the last part in an effort to prevent Cirrus from hearing.
Cirrus evidently heard just fine because his alabaster cheeks turned rosy with embarrassment. “So we obviously need to talk about this stuff because, as you can see, the two of us are freaking out.”
“Sure thing! What do you want to know?” Iris asked.
“Well, umm . . . uh . . .” Cirrus tried to get words out but seemed incapable of speaking at the moment. He tossed his hat on the counter and ran his hands through his pigmentless hair before burying his face in his hands and softly yelling into them. Dropping his hands to his sides, Cirrus found the words he was looking for. “Why do we all of a sudden have magical powers?”
“To tell you the truth, I have no idea. I’m sure there’s a really good reason and I would bet that it has something to do with our being reborn or awoken because some tragedy is about to befall Earth and we have to save it, but, honestly, I don’t know.” Iris tried to keep her voice soft, calm, and reassuring while Cirrus’s eyes attempted to bore into her head for answers she didn’t have.
After a few minutes of silence that worked their way toward awkward, Iris spoke again. “I’m sure you two have a ton of questions, and I want you to ask them all, but can we sit down or something first? I’m positive this isn’t going to be a short conversation.”
“Yeah, all right. Let’s go to my room to be safe.”
Iris glanced round the house as she followed Cirrus upstairs. It was really nice. As she entered his room, her eyes were drawn to a picture on Cirrus’s desk. It was of two boys around the ages of five and eight. They had their arms around one another’s shoulders in a familiar fashion. The younger child had to be Cirrus; you couldn’t mistake his white hair, pale skin, and arctic-ice-blue eyes. He had the biggest grin on his face and couldn’t be happier with himself as he appeared to have just left a muddy handprint on the older boy’s face.
The other boy was the complete opposite of Cirrus. He had dark hair, almost black, and an expression that plainly said he was completely unimpressed with the younger boy’s actions. His eyes were what drew Iris’s attention to the picture. Though he was dark haired, he was light in complexion, not nearly as light as Cirrus, but light all the same,
and his eyes looked like twin earths as seen from the Hubble Space Telescope. Iris stared into those eyes and saw a twinkle deep within that gave her the impression he was planning his revenge on the younger boy.
Cirrus glanced at the picture Iris stared at so intently and answered the unasked question. “That’s my older brother. I love this picture,” he grinned, “because it shows I got the best of him once in my life. Though,” he half muttered, “he did toss me fully into the mud puddle seconds later, but that’s another story.”
“You look so happy, but he looks like a very serious individual.”
“Don’t let that face fool you. He can be very serious, but he can be a great prankster as well. He has this way of always making me feel safe, like nothing can happen to me. I guess that’s a really good quality to have as an older brother. But enough about him. I—we would like to know about us. Do you know what’s happening to us?” Cirrus sounded like a man trying to hold onto reality.
“I’m not sure about the why, but you’re now able to access the power that flows through the Earth, like I can.”
Cirrus scoffed.
Iris looked down and fidgeted with her cuticles.
“Be nice,” Violet told Cirrus. “Keep going, Iris.”
“So, for whatever reason, we were given the ability to draw upon the power that naturally flows through the Earth. You know those dreams I was having about the mansion? Well, they were devised by this part of me—I call her my Little Self—to help me realize I have powers. She’s been helping me figure out how to use them and such. And based on the looks on your faces, I’d say you’ve had something similar going on, am I right?”
They both nodded.
“But how do you do it?” Violet asked.