by Lauren Quick
“Late, late, late,” Madeline said and then the other witches sounded off around her, chanting in unison, “You’re going to be late. You’re going to be late.” And then they all fell into a chorus of grating cackles.
“For what?! Late for what?!” Vivi yelled over the laughing witches, but everywhere she turned the witches completely ignored her. With a huff, Vivi grabbed Scarlet’s arm to get her attention, but the witch looked right through her and spilled a pack of tarot cards on the ground at Vivi’s feet. Scarlet scooped up the cards with her long silver-ringed fingers. With hands on hips, Vivi surveyed the raucous crowd stuffing cake into their mouth and sloshing tea all over the place.
From its perch on the garden fence, the white raven ruffled its wings and caught Vivi’s attention. Relief washed over her, for she was more than happy to follow the raven out of the maddening tea party and back onto Main Street. Her bare feet padded on the sidewalk as she tried to keep up with the bird, and in doing so, she bumped right into her assistant, Pepper.
Vivi sighed with relief. “You won’t believe what I saw at the tea shop. What are you doing here?”
With a wide grin, Pepper handed Vivi a potion bottle. “It’s a new potion I brewed up especially for the occasion.”
“What occasion? Madeline mentioned a big day, but no one would tell me what she was talking about,” Vivi said, clutching the swirling glass bottle in her hands.
“The big day is coming,” Pepper said with a twinkle in her eye.
Vivi groaned. That wasn’t the answer she was looking for, so she shifted tactics. “What’s your new potion for?”
“It’s for you, silly. Now drink up,” Pepper said, popping the cork and handing it to Vivi to hold. “Go ahead. Don’t be shy.”
Seeking a little more information, Vivi checked the tag tied to the bottle that read Drink Me in blocky black print.
“I brewed the potion especially for you. You’ll need it more than you realize.” Pepper adjusted her glasses, nodded to Vivi knowingly, and crossed the street, heading back toward the shop.
That’s strange. Vivi glanced at the bottle, but she trusted her perky, dedicated assistant implicitly. She held the potion bottle to her lips, but right as she was about to take a drink, a pedestrian bumped her arm, forcing her to quickly shove the cork back into the bottle before spilling it.
“Pardon me.” A tall wizard, dressed in a fine suit, with a caterpillar mustache nodded to her in apology. He clutched a pipe between his finger and thumb, a swirl of sweet tobacco smoke coiling in the air, and stared at her with the most captivating green eyes. A wave of recognition overwhelmed her.
“Excuse me,” Vivi said. “Do I know you? You seem awfully familiar. But I can’t seem to place you.” Her stomach fluttered with nerves like she was meeting an important wizard.
He smiled politely, but dodged the question. “I have a message for you.” He glanced from side to side to make sure they were alone. “Beware the Red Queen,” he said and his mustache twitched, his gaze sharpening into cut green glass.
A cold arrow of fear shot through her body. “Who’s the Red Queen?”
The mustached wizard tipped his hat, ignoring her question again, and continued down Main Street.
The caw of the white raven pulled Vivi further down the street past Nocturnes. As Vivi passed the café, Arnica hurried out and shoved a bakery box in her hands. Inside was a huge cake with the phrase Eat Me written on the top in frosting. “It’s for the big day, sweet witch.” Arnica smiled and pinched her cheek before hurrying back inside.
The big day. Not again.
Vivi closed the bakery box and turned her attention back to the potion bottle. Once again, she popped the cork and sniffed, but before the bottle reached her lips, her sisters, Honora and Clover, came bounding up behind her and grabbed her arms. Honora snatched up the cake and Clover took the potion bottle right out of Vivi’s hands.
“I need this for the big day,” Clover said and took a sip of the potion.
“Hey! Pepper made that potion for me,” Vivi said, trying to get the bottle back.
Honora dug into the cake with her bare hand and shoved a fistful into her mouth. “Have some,” she mumbled and extended a chunk of cake to Vivi. “We’re getting ready for the big day.”
Vivi rolled her eyes. “This big day is really annoying.”
The three witches had reached the center of town where the grand fountain sat in a small park. A group of witches and wizards were playing croquet with their animal familiars on the lawn. The fountain gurgled and the water shimmered a crystal blue color. A silver portal key hung from the lip of the fountain.
“Another strange portal,” Vivi said.
“What do you mean?” Honora asked, licking icing off her fingers.
“I mean there wasn’t a portal there before.”
“Of course there’s always been a portal in the fountain. Come on. We’ll hold hands and jump in,” Clover said.
Suddenly, her sisters grabbed her by the hands and pulled her into the fountain, sending them through another mysterious portal where they ended up back in the Meadowlands. Colorful streamers fluttered through the tree branches. The white raven cawed from the treetops. Witches and wizards surrounded them. Music filled the air. Everyone in Everland was there. Dozens of chairs were lined up in rows with an aisle down the middle.
“Today’s the big day,” Clover said dusting herself off. She was wearing a stunning white gown, dripping with lace and pearls. And so was Honora, minus the pearls. Vivi looked down. She too was wearing a beautiful frothy white dress, a dress too formal to wear for just any occasion.
“What kind of celebration is this?” Vivi asked hopefully, but the telltale dresses said it was more than just any old party. “Tell me what’s going on, sisters.” Vivi stumbled to her feet, lifting handfuls of her dress out of her way.
“Oh, silly. It’s the wedding,” Honora said, adjusting her bodice.
“Who’s getting married?” Vivi croaked.
“It’s a Mayhem wedding.” Elspeth Mayhem’s voice traveled through the crowd. Vivi spun around, but didn’t see her mother anywhere.
“But which one of us is getting married?” Vivi asked, gaze sliding between her two sisters. “It can’t be me.” Things were definitely getting more serious with Lance, but not that serious. They’d been dating for a while now and spent most of their free time together, but in a casual way. Neither of them felt pressure to talk marriage, though the love word was used with ease between them. And that was just how Vivi liked it.
Both Honora and Clover giggled to themselves. Suddenly Vivi’s body went cold when her gaze shifted down the long aisle. She saw her—a tall witch with a commanding presence, wearing blood red in a sea of pretty pastel colors. The witch’s face was obscured, but Vivi had a bad feeling she knew who the witch was.
“It’s the Red Queen,” Vivi said, a lump forming in her throat, the mustached wizard’s warning shaking her to the core.
“She’s going to ruin our big day,” Clover said with a snarl.
“That devious witch has got big plans for Everland, that’s for sure,” Honora said, shooting daggers down the aisle.
Fear pulsed through Vivi as her gaze dropped to the witch’s hand. The witch was carrying an ax, the sharp blade glinting in the sunlight.
Honora put her hands on her hips, bracing for a fight. “That kind of ax will take your head right off.”
The sun suddenly disappeared and the sky darkened. Wind whipped up, blowing the leaves off the trees in a gale force. The tranquil Meadowlands transformed into the Dire Woods, dragging in a gloom and chill. All the guests went running in every direction. Honora and Clover clasped hands and ran off with the crowd, leaving Vivi behind. “Don’t leave!” Vivi yelled. A dull feeling of abandonment weighed on her as her sis
ters disappeared.
A squawking sound filled the air.
The raven. I have to follow the raven. The white raven took flight above the chaos and Vivi raced after him into the dangerous woods.
Vivi jerked awake in her bedroom. Her heart raced. Her stomach was twisted in knots. Shadowy darkness surrounded her. The curtains fluttered from the breeze rushing through the open window, causing chills to race across her skin. She lurched out of bed and shut the window with a bang and dove for the covers. The dream clung to her mind like a sticky veil obscuring her vision. She shoved the dream aside, but somehow she knew it wouldn’t be so easy to ignore in the daylight.
4
Vivi rolled over and buried her head in the pillow. Her eyes felt sticky and hot, her head heavy and throbbing. The dream flooded back in all its weirdness. Was the dream really some kind of premonition? She couldn’t see how the scenes fit into a real-life context, especially the end one—a Mayhem wedding. Her heart leapt. Things were going good with Lance, better than good, but marriage was a whole other level of commitment. She pictured his broad shoulders and strong arms coupled with his warm nature and understated strength. She could see them doing a lot of things together, but marriage was too soon to call. That went for her sisters and their love lives too. She couldn’t remember the last time her mom had a date, though Elspeth probably wouldn’t tell her if she did. Sometimes a dream was just a weird and unexplainable dream, she reminded herself.
A spring breeze blew through the open window. Rumor cawed. Vivi leaned up and peered at him through half-opened eyes. “At least you aren’t white. Then I’d really start to worry.” She let out a long exhale. “That’s what I get for eating glowing food and drinking a luminous cocktail. You’re too smart to eat food with its own light source.”
Rumor cawed again and bobbed his head in agreement. Vivi took a long hot shower and slipped into a favorite pair of jeans and T-shirt. She brewed up a cup of strong black tea with peppermint and licorice to soothe her stomach and get her going and headed downstairs into the shop. The magical security ward had been deactivated so she knew Pepper was already there. And sure enough as Vivi turned the corner at the bottom of the steps, her assistant was watering the herbs growing in the back window garden.
“Morning, boss.” Pepper’s red hair shined in the morning sunlight.
“Morning,” Vivi croaked and cleared her throat. She grabbed a headache tonic she’d picked up from The Wild Rose Apothecary off the shelf, uncorked the bottle, and swigged it down in a one gulp.
“Are you feeling okay?” Pepper asked, setting down the watering can.
“Oh, I’ll be fine. I had a late night in Stargazer City with Honora and her crew.” Vivi massaged her temples. “Plus I had the weirdest dream. It was one of those dreams where everything seems so real and familiar and yet nothing makes sense at all.”
“I have those all the time.” Pepper pulled two raspberry scones out of a bakery bag and set them on a napkin on the counter. “Here, have something to eat. It’ll help settle your stomach. And you can tell me about your dream.” Her voice was light with excitement. She loved to chitchat.
Vivi set her mug down and nibbled an edge of the scone. “It began with a raven, who was as white as a dove, leading me all over Everland from Main Street to the Meadowlands, and then into the woods.” Vivi took a sip of the warm drink. “There was a strange tea party and my sisters were dressed in flowing dresses and acting really weird, pulling me through town. And you were in it too.”
“Me? How exciting. What did I do?” Pepper asked, breaking off another piece of scone and shoving it into her mouth.
“Well, it seems you had made a brand new potion and were extremely excited. You came running down Main Street to show it to me.”
“What kind of potion was it?” Her voice rose and her expression shifted as she grabbed a copper bowl from under the counter. She began setting out the basic ingredients for brewing a potion.
Vivi shrugged. “I don’t know, but you were very proud of it and wanted me to drink it immediately. You shoved the bottle in my hand, but I have no idea what was in it. The label read Drink Me.”
“Super mysterious. Did you drink it?” Between bites of her scone, Pepper poured rosewater into the bowl and added some dried herbs.
Vivi sipped her tea. “No. My sisters showed up and snatched up the potion and a cake that Arnica had made for me. Then they proceeded to eat and drink them like ravenous animals.”
“Interesting. Your sisters are eating your cake and drinking your potions. Wonder if that’s symbolic of something?” She arched her brow.
“That’s it. You deciphered the dream. I have middle-child syndrome and feel I’m not getting enough attention,” Vivi said with a joking smile.
“What else happened?”
Vivi sifted through the images in her memory. The dream was quickly fading. “There was a strange wizard with a huge mustache who told me to beware the Red Queen. Have you ever heard of one?” Her brow eased, her headache lifting.
“No. Maybe you heard of a red queen in a children’s story your mother read to you when you were little.”
“I don’t know. It was just a silly dream.” Vivi had glossed over the details about the delivery to Maybelle, and she didn’t want to get into details about the Darklander’s request or about the Dire Woods popping up in her dream just in case the situation turned dark, so she shifted the subject. “But I do know that it ended with a wedding.”
Pepper’s eyes went wide. “This is now the best dream ever. I love it when dreams don’t make any sense and have over-the-top endings. Who got married?”
“That’s the thing. I don’t know. It was a Mayhem wedding, but the three of us were all wearing white. It could have been Honora or Clover or me.” Vivi tried to repress a smile. It was a fun idea.
“A Mayhem wedding! That’s even better,” Pepper squealed, whipping her spoon around and around in the copper bowl. “Do you think it’s a premonition? What if you saw your future wedding? Because my bet is totally on you and steamy Sheriff Lance. Honora’s too crazy busy to marry that wizard from the North Woods and who wants to live up in that freezing tundra?” Pepper made a mock shivering motion.
“Honora would never get married in the woods,” Vivi said. “I picture her getting married at City Hall and then throwing a huge bash at a trendy club in the city.”
“Now, Clover would totally get married in the woods or a meadow surrounded by wildflowers and birds. Is she still dating that brewer Bradley Adams?”
“Yep. But it’s way too soon for that. See that’s why the dream is just a dream. A weird, fun, crazy dream. That’s all.” Vivi waved it away, shaking off her nerves. “Hey, how was your date the other night?”
Pepper’s face went instantly crimson. “Good.”
“Just good?” Vivi prodded.
“If you must know, it was great. Really great, verging on amazing.” Pepper smiled. “But it was just a first date, so I’m trying to stay cool and confident. Detached.”
“That’s great. I can’t wait to meet him.”
“One day. Not today,” she said. “Maybe soon, but not too soon.”
“That’s right. Because you are cool and detached.” Vivi nudged her. “Don’t get too detached.”
“I don’t think that’ll be a problem,” Pepper said with a wink.
Vivi wiped the counter free of crumbs and set her mug in the sink. “Let’s see what we have to do today.” She reviewed a list of potions that needed to be restocked and was relieved that there were no special orders that needed filling. “Anything exciting going on with your training?”
“Actually, there is.” Pepper set the bowl down and adjusted her green cat’s-eye glasses. “I have some special news. I entered the annual potion-making contest at Haven Academy this year.” Pepper be
amed.
“That’s exciting. Do you know what you’re going to make and submit as your entry?” Vivi asked.
Haven Academy held a potion-making contest every year that enticed witches and wizards from all over Everland. There was no restriction on who could enter so it attracted an eclectic crowd and the competition was fierce.
“I have a great idea that I want to keep under wraps. You know how crazy it gets. The potion idea alone could nab you a spot on the podium.” Pepper grabbed a potion-making book from the bookshelf and flipped it open on the counter.
“Your idea must be killer. I can’t wait to hear about it. I swear I won’t tell a soul.” Vivi made a twisting motion in front of her lips. “So you’re going to tell me, right.” Her curiosity was piqued. Pepper was one of the most creative witches she knew. If she thought her potion was a winner, then it had to be good.
“Yes. I’ll tell. But you can’t tell anyone, not even your sisters. No one can know.” She drummed her fingers on the book’s parchment page. “I got a little nervous when you dreamed about me brewing up a potion. I thought for a second you had a premonition about the contest.”
“Nope. Sorry. I’ve no clue what the potion was. But you did tell me that I’d need it more than I knew.” Vivi shrugged. “Whatever that means.”
“Who knows? I got the idea for my potion in a flash of inspiration a couple of months ago when I went home to visit my parents for the winter solstice.”
Vivi’s eyes widened in fascination. “Out in The Crossroads. I still want to go out there to visit one day to see the community up close and meet your parents.”
The Crossroads was a unique neighborhood located between Willow Realm and the grounds to Haven Academy, named after the old human habit of burying witches alive upside down at a crossroads. The neighborhood sprang up after a memorial was established to honor the witches killed during earth’s burning times, and it probably would have turned into a hot new community, if not for the strange hauntings. It turned out that the memorial included a box of ash and bones, and the ghosts of the witches burned returned to their remains and haunted the area.