by E A Foley
“Right. Uh, right. So, these doors link our minds to one another and we can communicate through them. You just have to learn how to get through your mind’s defenses to your inner door. All you need to do is concentrate your thoughts inward and delve deeper into your mind. I’ll go to the Gallery and knock on your doors so you have a point of reference. Ready?”
Violet and Cirrus nodded. Iris flitted through her own internal maze to the Gallery. The trip seemed to get shorter each time she took it. Once there, she knocked softly on Violet’s and Cirrus’s doors until Violet opened hers a few minutes later.
“Wow! That was the weirdest experience of my life. It was like traveling through a hedge garden at a castle or something.”
“Huh. I have a hedge maze entrance, but it transitions into caves. They’re really maze-like, but definitely caves. Dark, too. I wonder if it’s different for everyone,” Iris mused.
“Mind if I wander around?”
“Be my guest.”
Violet moved out of Iris’s line of sight as she knocked on Cirrus’s door for the fifth time. This isn’t working, she thought. Hey! Little Self. Will I destroy his mind if I open his door?
No. It’s safe, now that he knows. Probably best if you do call him. He’s been lost in his own mind for far too long. Try giving him a few instructions as well.
Iris nodded to herself and opened Cirrus’s door. “Cirrus? Hey, Cirrus, it’s Iris. I’m over here. Can you hear me? If you can, keep coming toward my voice. Think about the door I just opened. That it exists as a physical thing. It’ll help, I—Hi!”
“Hi. That was . . . eerie. How long did that take me? It felt like hours and only a few seconds at the same time.”
“A few minutes at least. I’m not sure. I didn’t time you. I get faster each time I come here, so I bet you will too.”
“Sounds good. Nice scenery,” he added as they exited his room and entered the Gallery of Doors.
“It really does look like an art gallery. With spotlights and everything.”
“Yeah. Come check out my door!” Violet was there. Both hands clasped Cirrus’s right one and pulled him to face her door.
“Very nice babe. Mine’s not too bad either. A griffin. I like it. Feels appropriate. As does your pegasus.”
“So, what are these other lights?”
Chapter 14
“Lights?” Iris looked around. Sure enough, there were two more dim, almost pinpoint rays illuminating frames past Aerianna’s forming door. “Huh. There was only one yesterday. Those are how doors form.”
“Ooh, does that mean more magic users? I bet that one’s Aerianna’s and those are Roz’s and Zarina’s,” Violet announced.
Iris blinked at her.
“I’m right! I knew it. We’re all magic users! This is so cool. I can’t wait to tell them."
“You can’t!” Iris yelled. Her voice echoed around the room a few times before fading into the emptiness. “Sorry, but you can’t. Imagine what you would’ve said if I’d told you you could do magic.”
“I would’ve thought you were crazy,” Cirrus supplied.
“Precisely. And then you may never have believed and never become a magic user.”
“I sort of, may have, accidentally mentioned magic to Aerianna yesterday, but it was completely by accident and I don’t think she was really paying that much attention to me. We were leaving German class and I was rambling on about something—not too sure what—and she seemed distracted, so I kept talking and, I dunno, it just sort of came out.”
“What did you say?”
“Something like Cirrus and I have magic lessons with Iris this afternoon.”
“And what did Aerianna say?”
“She shook her head a little and finally looked at me. She asked me ‘what’ and I changed the subject to our oral test next week.”
“Well, it may wind up that your little slip was the best thing for her, but just to be safe, please don’t mention magic or lessons to her unless she brings it up first.”
“Okay.”
Iris cocked her head to the right and concentrated on something that caught her ear. “I think a car just pulled up out front. Yup, that was definitely a car door closing. Time to leave. All you have to do is exit the room, imagine being back in Cirrus’s room and—” They were both gone before Iris finished her sentence. She took a few more seconds to analyze the light sources in the Gallery. Violet was right. They belonged to Aeri, Roz, and Zarina.
Her ears registered a door opening and Cirrus’s voice rang down the stairs. Another male voice answered. Something about going to take a shower. Iris left the Gallery of Doors for her body. She heard Cirrus mention dropping friends back off at campus, which was followed by a reply from the same unknown male voice. Her mind and body became one and she had a fleeting look at the back of someone with dark hair who was even taller than Cirrus as he disappeared into the upstairs bathroom. Evidently Cirrus’s brother had finally made it home through the infamous Los Angles traffic.
“C’mon. I’d better get you two out of here before he gets out of the shower,” Cirrus whispered urgently. “I can only imagine the shit he’s going to give me for being home alone with not one, but two petite blondes, who he will assume are twins. Damn it! I was not prepared for this today. Oh well,” he shrugged and headed downstairs.
Iris and Violet grabbed their things and followed quickly on Cirrus’s heels. No one spoke until they were in the car.
“Why would it matter that we were here with you?” Iris asked as they drove back toward campus.
“Oh, it doesn’t really matter that you were over, it’s more, well . . .” Cirrus tried to find the words. “Like I said the other day, my brother enjoys joking around and I just gave him a million lines he can use on me. He knows I have a girlfriend, but he’s never met Violet. I’m not ready to subject her to him or my parents yet. Then there’s the fact that you were over too.”
“So?”
"Even some people at school think you two are twins. He’ll assume the same thing. And,” he coughed a little, “he probably noticed the light was off when he pulled up and then on a few seconds later. He’s really observant like that. Then there’s the fact that neither of you really said anything, on top of your slightly vacant expression, Iris. It’ll make him think there was something, uh, extracurricular occurring rather than studying,” he said delicately.
“It won’t matter what I say,” Cirrus continued a little sadly. “He’ll just have this stupid knowing grin and will make subtle comments my parents won’t understand, but that’ll probably cause me to blush even though I know they aren’t true. Don’t worry about it. It’s between the two of us and it’s this game we play all the time. Trying to one-up the other. I think I’m ahead right now, which doesn’t happen very often, and I gave him enough material for him to sprint ahead so far I may never catch up,” he sighed.
“Well, then turn it back on him. Don’t let him get the better of you by trying to say you didn’t do anything—how’d you phrase it—’extracurricular’ with us. Just go with it and act like we did. What do I care? I’m never going to meet the guy, right? And Violet is way too sweet for anyone to berate her for more than a few seconds, so we both know he’ll never be able to bring it up with her when you finally introduce her to him,” Iris countered.
“You know, Iris, that may be the best instruction you’ve given me today.” Cirrus grinned and laughed outright as they pulled back into Pacific’s parking lot. “I think I may actually do that. Thanks. You sure you don’t care? I mean, this is Pacific and things could potentially get around . . .” he trailed off and let Iris infer the meaning of his words.
“Really, Cirrus? You think it’ll matter with how much shit I already take? Hell, this may lessen the attacks on me for all I know. Besides, my sister already graduated, so it shouldn’t get back to my parents in any way.”
“I guess you have a point there. All right then, thanks. I like this new confidence you have. It sui
ts you.”
Iris smiled at the compliment.
“By the way,” he added as she opened the car door. “I’m really glad I have you on my side. I’d hate to see what you’d do to me if I wasn’t dating Violet.”
“Me? Are you kidding? Do you even know who I am?”
“I do. There’s a lot more in there than you let on. I’d hate to be on your bad side when you realize it.” He grinned at her in the rearview mirror. “See you later!”
“Bye!” Iris called and hopped out at the back of the 4Runner.
The weekend came and went. Though Iris checked, there were no changes to Aerianna’s, Rozlynd’s, or Zarina’s doors in the Gallery. With only two weeks left before the winter break and teachers assigning way too much homework, it was a miracle she, Violet, and Cirrus were able to meet once each week for a lesson.
Cirrus didn’t mention his conversation with his brother and Iris didn’t ask. They instead focused on magic lessons and honing the skills she’d already taught them. Cirrus and Violet both became adept at entering the Gallery of Doors, but while Violet progressed in her ability to lift large objects, Cirrus seemed to have developed a block against moving small ones. He was getting better each time, but he still couldn’t move the picture frame across his room.
They all agreed not to meet during the break and to refrain from using magic. Instead, they were going to do some magical research by looking through dozens of fantasy books to get a better idea of the possibilities before them. Even with the task at hand, it was the slowest holiday break Iris had ever experienced. True to her promise, the only magic she performed was checking on the forming doors in the Gallery. After a week of no change, she stopped. It was too depressing.
The final Saturday before the end of break came with some alone time. Her parents were going out for her Mom’s birthday and her sister was out with friends. Iris decided to take one last look in the Gallery of Doors to see what she’d be working with at school in a few days and was stunned to find three fully formed doors. She moved down the line of doors and studied the new ones.
Aerianna’s was formed, but the lines manifesting on the door’s surface were too pale to discern what they would become. The carved lines on Rozlynd’s door were deepening by the second. Iris watched for a few minutes as the eye of a Western-style dragon came to life. She shook her head and moved to Zarina’s door. It was being etched as well, but not quite at the rate of Roz’s door. She was trying to decide what was being carved when movement caught her peripheral vision.
“Uh, hi?” Iris managed after a few seconds of stunned silence.
“Oh, hey! How’s it going? Sorry, I didn’t see you there. I was a bit distracted by that maze I just came through. So, where am I?” Rozlynd asked as though this was all part of a lesson Iris was conducting.
“Uh,” Iris hesitated. “In the Gallery of Doors. A room that connects your mind to mine.”
“Through these doors, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Cool! And that’s Zarina’s door.” Rozlynd pointed to the door Iris stood in front of. Before Iris could say anything, Roz opened the door and yelled. “Yo, Zarina. Hurry up!”
“There you are.” A voice in the dark manifested into Zarina. “Oh, hey Iris! I didn’t expect you here.”
“What the hell, you guys!” Iris yelled at the pair.
“Surprise?”
“Explain!”
“Well, I started having these weird dreams a few weeks ago and when I told Zarina all about them, she said she’d been having some too. We compared notes and came to the only logical conclusion: we’re able to do magic. One of the things we both mentioned was feeling like there was something in the back of our minds calling to us, so we decided to investigate and here we are.”
“That . . . that’s awesome!”
“Yeah. We thought so too. I’m guessing you’ve already come to the same conclusion.”
“Yup.”
“So,” Zarina looked around the room. “Who do these doors belong to?”
Iris gave them a tour of the Gallery and explained a little about her own experience and magic. She gave them the same warnings she’d given Violet and Cirrus about not using magic around people before asking if they’d tried using magic yet.
“A little. I can pick up pens with my mind, but who needs a skill like that, am I right? I gotta figure out how to type mentally. That would be so much more useful.”
“I hadn’t thought about that one. Good idea. Though, isn’t that the same as dictation?”
“I guess so. But maybe not. Won’t know until I try it.”
“Speaking of trying things, you mentioned you, Violet, and Cirrus meet to practice this stuff?” Zarina asked.
“Yeah. Once or twice a week. We haven’t decided when our next training session will be, but I’m sure we’ll talk about it on Monday.”
“Sounds good to me. Think we can join?”
“I don’t see why not.”
Great! I think I’m going to go do a bit of practicing myself.”
“Cool! Just remember—"
“We know, no magic around other people even if the door is locked, and make requests, not demands. Got it!”
“Perfect!”
“See you Monday,” the pair said in unison.
They disappeared and Iris was alone once more. She really wanted to tell Cirrus and Violet, but she thought it would be rude of her to ruin the surprise. She’d have to arrive on campus in time to witness it on Monday. If only Aerianna and Morrigan would figure it out. Then they could create a code and be able to talk about magic at school or when they got bored in class.
Chapter 15
That evening, Iris found herself creating a magic curriculum. It was mostly reference words that no one else would be able to understand, but it worked for her. It helped streamline her thought process and allowed her to come up with what she thought was a good, standardized lesson plan. It also helped the time pass faster.
On Monday she arrived early, but so did Morrigan, which meant there could be no discussion about magic practices. Roz and Zarina couldn’t reveal they were magic users, either. Instead, Iris went to the Gallery of Doors and asked the pair what they wanted to do. They said to wait until lunch and see if they could say something then, but time was once more not on their side.
“Hey Aeri,” Iris called as Aerianna sat down between herself and Zarina just as Zarina was about to say something to Violet.
“Hi,” she grumbled.
“Not a good morning?” Zarina asked.
“No, not really,” Aerianna sighed. “I forgot my AP bio homework. Mr. Buckley said I can bring it in tomorrow, but I never forget my homework. I had this weird dream last night and was distracted this morning while I was getting ready. The worst thing is I know exactly where it is. I left it sitting on the kitchen table where I was working on my homework over the break.”
“Well, look at the positive side. He said he’ll accept it tomorrow, right?” Zarina asked.
“Yeah, but it’s not like me,” Aerianna griped.
“What’s not like you?” Rozlynd asked as she took a seat next to Zarina.
Aerianna shook her head and took a bite of her sandwich instead.
“She forgot her AP bio homework,” Iris supplied instead. “But Mr. Buckley is going to let her turn it in tomorrow.”
“Oh, yeah, I knew that. We have class together,” Rozlynd replied with a short laugh.
The conversation gave Morrigan time to sit down without drawing attention to herself. Iris waved at the newcomer and she winked back.
Zarina didn’t notice Morrigan had sat down next to her until she asked Violet, “Where’s Cirrus?”
“He’s having lunch with the guys on the soccer team. I think he feels like he’s been neglecting them, so he decided to have lunch with them a few times a week.” She shrugged. “I don’t really want him to be unhappy or to ditch his friends for me, so it’s cool.”
“That makes sen
se.”
“Well, since he’s not here, I’ve been meaning to ask you guys,” Zarina said with excitement. “What do you all think about one last Disneyland trip before the end of senior year?” If she were standing, she’d be fully rocking on her toes in delight.
“Yes!” was the overwhelming response she received.
“Great! What about over Presidents’ weekend?”
“Might be a little crowded,” Morrigan said.
“True, but there really aren’t any other good times. Unless you all think your parents will let you ditch one day,” Rozlynd countered.
“Not likely,” Aerianna grumbled.
“I’ll look into hotel rooms if you all ask your parents,” Zarina said.
“That’s awesome, thanks!” Iris’s excitement grew at the thought of a friends’ weekend. “Does anyone have a car that will seat all six of us?”
“I’ll ask if I can borrow the minivan,” Rozlynd volunteered. “I’m sure my mom will be fine with it.”
The rest of lunch was filled with conversations about Disneyland that Iris was too distracted to take much part in. She was busy trying to discern which of her friends was making the back of her neck tickle.
A quick trip to the Gallery of Doors showed the carvings on Aerianna’s door had deepened, but not much. There was also a new light that had the distinct sensation of belonging to Morrigan. It looked like Iris had a few more people to teach how to use their powers. She wished they would’ve all figured it out at the same time. It would have been so much easier.
Iris almost got her wish. That evening, Aerianna wandered into the Gallery of Doors the same way Rozlynd had. Though unlike with Roz, Iris hadn’t been in the Gallery when Aeri showed up.
Hello? echoed so loud in Iris’s mind that she closed her eyes and screwed up her face involuntarily.
“You all right, Iris?” her dad asked her across the dinner table.
“Yeah. I just remembered a reading assignment I have to get done tonight. I’ve got time, so it’s not a problem.”
“That’s good. Colleges can reject someone they’ve already accepted if their final semester grades don’t meet expectations.”