They all chuckled at that.
“So what now, Uncle Eddy?” asked Colin.
“You’re close to home, you should be safe. Just… keep that book hidden. Show it to no one.”
They nodded that they understood.
“I’m also afraid it’s too dangerous for you to return to Grimble.”
The twins let out frustrated protests. Eddy held up his hands to calm them.
“Just until I send word that it’s safe. Not for good.”
“But when will that be?” bemoaned Meghan.
“Not until I figure out why Duppy wants the book. And who this supposed employer of his is.”
They sighed. Agreeing. Although, begrudgingly.
Eddy departed, and Timothy escorted them the rest of the way, which wasn’t far. Meghan and Colin stepped through the wagon door, back into Bedgewood, each secretly afraid that it might never be safe to return to Grimble, again.
CHAPTER 29
The twins were vexed. An entire week went by without a word from Uncle Eddy. Their classes were getting more difficult and time-consuming. Exam time rolled closer, and nerves shot into overdrive for all the students.
The twin’s tutor turned out to be Teacher Lindy; she’d taken a liking to the twins, especially Colin, who was excelling in all his subjects, unlike Meghan. The only time they saw Jae was in school; otherwise, he was with his father, or on occasion, Ivan. Some nights he did not come home at all.
“I’m concerned about Jae,” said Meghan one night before bed, noticing once again, he was not home.
“Yeah, me too,” agreed Colin. Meghan grabbed her journal and scribbled a few notes down.
“What are you writing?” he questioned hesitantly.
She set down the pen. It was time to tell him, she couldn’t hide it anymore.
“Something bad is happening to Jae. I’m trying to figure out what.”
“By using Firemancy?”
“Yes. Except I’m not sure how yet, which is why I have the journal. I started writing things down as they happen. I thought it might help me decipher what I see,” she lied, feeling guilty for not telling him it was Juliska’s advice. For some reason she felt protective of that knowledge.
“Why couldn’t you just tell me that before?”
“Not everything I do has to be public knowledge,” she replied. Not wanting to argue, she added, “I just needed more time. To figure things out in my own head, first. I’m starting to think I never will, until it’s too late.”
“Who’s to say we can even help anyway? I mean, we can’t do much about how things are done around here. And I’m guessing it’s something to do with his father. Or school. Or…” he shrugged, unsure of what else, only wishing he could help.
Meghan eyed her brother uneasily. “Colin… I don’t think it’s any of those things. Whatever this is, whatever is happening to Jae… it’s so much bigger than that.” The fearful inflection in her tone caught Colin off guard. He had no reply. His sister left the bedroom, deciding to take a bath before bed.
Just outside the door, she ran into Ivan, just coming up the stairs. He gawked at her, his face blank. After a long silent moment, he whispered, “Goodnight.” And disappeared into his room.
“Ugh, that boy,” she snarled, turning toward the bath. She did not notice Ivan’s door reopen. His eyes narrowed in on her, spying until she had closed herself inside. His door closed gently, a wry smile etching across his face as he listened to her annoyed mutterings.
Colin lay on his bed, but sleep wouldn’t come. What was happening to Jae? It was becoming obvious that his sister was holding back on him.
A light rapping at the window startled him. He sat up quick, his head spinning for a second. There was a leaf tapping gently on the glass. “What the heck?” He tiptoed over and opened the window. The leaf flew inside, landing on his hand.
A message appeared.
“Uncle Eddy,” realized Colin excitedly.
“Timothy and I are fine. However, it’s still not safe to visit. So sit tight. There’s still plenty of time. Work hard for your upcoming exams, and if anything out of the ordinary happens, leaf me right away.” He didn’t sign it. Colin wondered why. “Guess he knew we’d know it was from him.” He let his mind block down and reached out for Meghan. She answered and he explained the message. They were both bummed they could not visit yet. What was taking so long? Was tracking down Duppy, or his employer, proving difficult? They wondered if they could help in some way. But neither had any clue as to how to do so.
Meghan sighed. “Getting out of the bath now. Night, Col.”
He grunted his reply. Their mind blocks went back up.
Meghan dried off and sat in front of the fire. She did not want to fear it. Fire was supposed to be her ally. Yet anytime she was near, it felt like it was trying to pull her in and show her something. But she hadn’t really just stared into the flames, long enough for them to show her.
She’d caught glimpses. Small pieces of a puzzle that made no sense. Other than, it was Jae, and he was going through something terrifying.
And whenever a flame caught her eye, it called to her, almost begging her to look long enough to see. She hadn’t wanted to. Didn’t feel ready to. She feared now, she might have waited too long. It might be too late to help Jae, even if the flames could show her all she needed to see.
So now, she stared, watching the flames burst and flicker. Allowing them to pull her in and take her to what she needed to see. She had to give in to this. Let it show her whatever thing it needed to.
It didn’t happen like she expected. Previously, she’d had intense feelings, one’s clearly not her own. And even a few flickers of images in her mind. But this vision came to her like a waking dream. One she could walk through and witness, like a silent observer.
Meghan caught her breath. Apparently, she could not walk far. There was a rounded edge all around her. She was standing in the middle of a stone pillar. A dim light cast down over her, just enough to see a rough outline of the edge. She knelt down and crawled to the edge, peering cautiously over the side.
Nothing. Just darkness. All the way around.
How high up was she? Her heart skipped a few beats. She couldn’t get stuck inside a vision, could she?
“H-hello,” she called out in a hushed whisper. It echoed back at her, bouncing off walls she could not see in the darkness.
A noise from behind startled her. She slid around apprehensively. About ten feet away and out of reach, another dim light snapped on, exposing another pillar. A body lay on it, moaning.
“Hello,” she stammered. “Are you okay?”
The figure rolled over, facing her.
Meghan’s breath hitched.
It was Jae. And he was covered with bloody gashes. An arm stretched out to her, and a weak voice pleaded with her.
“Don’t let it come back. I can’t fight it. I can’t fight it.”
She searched in desperation for some way of getting to the other pillar, groping the edges of her own, until she came face to face with Jae again. Her blood drained to her feet, an icy sweat erupting on her brow.
“Please, don’t let it happen again,” he repeated his plea.
“What is happening, Jae?” she asked him desperately. He did not reply, only stared into her eyes hopelessly. Meghan squeezed her eyes shut. If this is what she had to look forward to, by being a Firemancer, she didn’t want any part of it. She took a deep breath and reopened her eyes. Her gaze widened and froze on something new: a faceless silhouette rising over him, out of nowhere. She looked back down at Jae; he saw the fear she could not hide.
“You can’t help me,” he cried weakly. He rolled onto his back, accepting his fate. Or maybe in this vision, he had no choice but to follow through with it. Meghan didn’t really understand.
The silhouette expanded, fanning out into a dark mass that pressed down over him like a thick blanket he could not remove. Jae’s hands went up to his face in defense.
/> “Leave him alone,” begged Meghan, but the dark figure did not stop.
With ragged breaths, Jae screamed out, “No. Not again. I won’t! I won’t do it.” In payment for his refusal, a new gash slashed across his face. It wasn’t blood that came out this time though. Darkness. Like inside his body was just darkness and nothing more.
His head fell to the side.
Meghan stared back in horror. Tears streamed down her face. She called out to him but there was no answer. His eyes flicked open and she gasped, falling back to the middle of her pillar.
His eyes were solid black. Soulless. Wicked.
Then, with a blink, they returned to the normal molasses brown she’d grown accustomed to.
“You’ll have to kill me,” he whispered.
Meghan had no idea if he was talking to her, or the thing trying to hurt him.
Jae rolled his head to look up, and dare the shadow.
“I won’t do what you want. I’d rather die.”
Meghan collapsed. She didn’t want to watch anymore. She’d finally given into the flames, letting them take her into this vision, and she wasn’t any clearer about what was happening to Jae than before. She was forced to witness this dreadful thing that she could not stop, but only watch. What purpose did this serve?
The dark silhouette released Jae. But it did not leave. Instead, it transformed next to him, from a faceless shadow to a solid cloaked being. It leaned over and picked up Jae’s limp body. He didn’t even fight. The figure dangled him over the edge of the pillar, threatening to drop him into the dark abyss.
“Please don’t!” cried Meghan. She groped the edge of her pillar, trying desperately to reach Jae. “Why are you doing this?” she sobbed in helpless horror. What purpose did this gift serve, if she could do nothing but watch her friend suffer and die?
She took a daring glance at the being. Black burnished eyes pierced her own. She screamed, stumbling backwards. With a snarl, the being dropped Jae into the black abyss.
Meghan stumbled too far and fell over the edge. Her screams grew distant. Like a dream she was waking from. Her eyes fluttered open and she was on the bath-room floor in the Mochrie house. She was panting. But even more disturbing, her hand was lying in the fireplace. Only hot and pulsing embers remained.
She pulled out her hand, it was fine. Not a burn. It didn’t hurt at all.
Sunlight was creeping into the room; somehow, it was already morning. Her eyes wouldn’t focus and she thought for a second she might be sick. Hands wrapped around her waist, picking her up off the floor. No one spoke, someone just helped her into a chair.
She took a few deep breaths waiting for the nausea to go away. She stretched her eyelids getting her sight to return. Her gaze drifted upward, to the person who had helped her. Another pit opened in her gut. This time, filled with irritation.
Ivan Crane sat in a chair blocking the door, almost as if he’d been standing guard and not letting anyone else inside. He stared at her, not saying anything. Just how long had he been here? The vision had only felt like minutes, and yet it was morning.
She pulled her robe around herself, tightly. “Thanks?” she returned flatly as if asking a question.
“I’d gather it was a pretty bad dream.” His voice showed no concern. She didn’t want to discuss it, especially with rude stranger boy, who never spoke more than a few words in passing.
“I don’t remember,” she lied, lifting her chin defiantly. “I’m fine now.”
Ivan took the hint. He moved the chair away from the entrance and opened it to leave. He stopped halfway through though. “I’ve had bad dreams,” he mused, “but nothing that ever made me scream like I was being murdered in my sleep.” His voice taunted her to argue, but she ignored it.
She bit her tongue, a hundred different retorts forming.
“Don’t worry. No one heard you, if that’s what you’re worried about,” he replied arrogantly. “I used magic to mask the noise, so you wouldn’t wake up anyone else.” His statement intimated she’d awakened him with her screaming. Meghan had no idea if she should be cross with him, or thank him.
Cross was winning. Was it possible for him to speak, without sounding smug?
And she didn’t like the idea of screaming in her sleep, around anyone, but of all the people to get stuck with… weirdo boy!
With exhausting effort, she made it to her bed and crawled in. Within minutes, Mireya was stirring and getting up.
Meghan just wanted to sleep. And forget. But the vision replayed over and over in her mind. She wondered if there was any way not to be a Firemancer. If she could just ignore it, and maybe it would just go away.
Mireya got up and dressed. Colin followed just minutes later. Jae must have never come home, or come up to bed; there was no movement from his bedroom cubby.
Meghan stayed quiet, and kept her mind block firmly in place. She didn’t want to talk to her brother just yet.
After she was alone, she sat up and grabbed her journal. But just as she put pen to paper she froze. Suddenly unsure about writing it all down. Somehow, it would make it real. Make it so she had to accept what she’d seen in her vision.
And how could she possibly ever forget? Every detail burned into her brain like it had been branded there.
Still, she had promised Juliska.
She decided to do it. But left out Jae’s name and changed it to unknown boy. She wrote furiously, taking up page after page and when finished, let out a breath so deep and long she wondered if maybe she’d been holding it the entire time.
Meghan set down the journal just as there was a light rapping at the bedroom door. She flicked her curtain back to look.
“Who’d be knocking?” she muttered under her breath. “Ugh, please not Ivan,” she droned. “Come in,” she called out apprehensively.
Her brother poked in his head. “You up, finally?”
“What are you doing knocking? Usually you just invade my head.” Even with the block in place, she could sense him trying to contact her. But she hadn’t since he’d first awakened that morning.
“I’m trying to be more… what Uncle Eddy said. More privacy. I figured if you weren’t awake yet you needed more sleep.”
“Oh. That’s really nice of you,” she answered, caught off guard by his behavior.
He shrugged. “Breakfast is ready and it’s Saturday, so no school. Oh, and no tutor today either. She can’t make it.”
“I’d forgotten it was the weekend. And no tutor! We’ll get an actual day off.” She liked that prospect. She came close to telling Colin about her vision, but decided to keep it to herself; besides, she didn’t want Colin to worry about Jae (more than he already was).
Nona stirred. The fast growing kitten had been curled up in her blankets all night. It pawed at her arm softly. Meghan picked her up and nuzzled her against her cheek. They headed down to breakfast a bit later, dressed and ready for the day. Spirits were good around the kitchen table. Jae had fallen asleep on a sofa downstairs and just stayed there all night, but even he seemed happier this morning.
Meghan did her best to shake off the nightmarish vision. It hadn’t gotten her any closer to finding out what was wrong with him.
“That kitten is getting bigger fast,” said Mireya, playing with Nona.
“She follows me almost everywhere now and sleeps on my feet at night,” said Meghan. “Way too big to fit into a pocket now.” Nona looked up at Meghan just then, her white eye gleaming. Her head turned side to side, almost as if she was listening to something. She hopped onto Meghan’s lap and curled up, but not before giving her a lick on the arm.
Once they’d cleaned off the breakfast table, Jae suggested they take their homework to the wharf. It was nice outside, sunny and warm. It had been raining for the last three days. Quite a few students had gathered near the shore to study. Everyone wanted to be outside enjoying the weather.
Jae and the twins found a comfortable spot to sit and study. Nona scampered off to chase som
ething. Probably a mouse, assumed Meghan. She watched the other students; some had their noses glued to the inside of a book. Some were questioning each other. A few were practicing actual magic. All were prepping for the exams looming over them.
Mireya, being a level above the three, studied with another group of friends she found nearby. There was a lot of giggling and pointing to a few cute boys not far away though. They weren’t getting much studying in.
The twins and Jae decided to take turns questioning each other for a written part of the exam. Mostly they questioned Meghan. Jae already knew the answers and Colin had no trouble remembering them either. This part of the test required them to recite (in written form) the predetermined answers they were to give when in the outside world. In order to keep their magic a secret.
They’d heard Jae say a few of these things when they’d first met him back in Cobbscott. And now that they were learning it themselves, they realized how many rules he’d broken when he’d gotten stuck there.
Meghan had a thought pop into her head. She wondered if this was part of what was wrong with Jae. Was he feeling guilty? About the rules he broke, or how he got his family in trouble? She was sure he had to feel that, at least on some level. But even so, she didn’t think it was all of it.
They spent an hour having Meghan recite the answers. She was slow, but did eventually get them all right. She wished she had Colin’s memory, he was so much better at this sort of thing.
Nona returned, sauntering back to curl up on Meghan’s lap. She stroked the kittens back absentmindedly. After reciting answers for an hour, they moved on to memorizing the Svoda Goals. Again, the main theme being that each of them was responsible to maintain the safety of the group. And live a life that was conducive to helping, not jeopardizing, the end goal: getting back home to their island off the coast of Maine, permanently.
The Book, The Witches, and the Doorway (Fated Chronicles Book 1) Page 32