Dark Summer

by Lizzy Ford

  “Well enough,” Summer said. “I don’t like the food here.”

  “Seriously? You seemed okay with it the first night.”

  Summer shrugged. She didn’t know why, either.

  “Wait a minute.” Amber hopped off the table and drew a crystal and some sage from the bag between them. She lit the sage, tied the crystal to its base, and blew on the fiery herb until smoke puffed towards Summer. The rich, earthy scent was comforting.

  Amber murmured a few words as she waved the sage around Summer. She motioned for her to stand, and Summer did, watching her teacher circle her with the smoking herb.

  “That should take care of it,” Amber said. “Lesson one. When you use magick, and there’s any left over, burn it to return it to nature.”

  She tossed the sage into the center of the pentagram.

  The sound of a car door closing drew Summer’s attention towards the house. A tall woman with black hair and wearing a suit entered the side door leading into the kitchen.

  “That’s Matilda,” Amber said quietly. “You remember how I told you I teach the children of the Light?”

  Amber nodded.

  “She teaches the children of the Dark.”

  Summer’s gaze lingered on the door. The woman seemed the opposite of Amber, even from a distance. Her hair was short and kept in place by hairspray, her slender figure clad in formal wear. Amber floated over the ground in her skirts; Matilda marched.

  “Okay, now we need to figure out what element is yours.”

  Summer looked at Amber.

  “Do you have any idea?” Amber asked. “Do you feel drawn to anything? Fire? Water?”

  “I don’t know about drawn,” Summer replied slowly. “But there’s like, this tingling I get from the wind and the forest.”

  “Very good. You may have a primary and secondary element. Can you tell which is stronger?”

  “No.”

  “Which did you feel first when you arrived?”

  “Probably the wind. It tried to flip up my shirt,” Summer said.

  “Then we’ll go with air primary and earth secondary.” Amber smiled. “This is very good. Few students have a secondary. It must make the forest feel very comfortable to you.”

  “It does, except at night.”

  “A reminder of our rules. You shouldn’t be out in the forest at night.”

  “I got lost.”

  “Now that you know your element, all you have to do is ask it for directions.”

  Summer almost laughed at the ridiculous thought of asking the wind for directions, until she saw Amber wasn’t joking.

  “Your element might’ve been trying to warn you, too,” Amber added.

  She retrieved her bag and dug around in it. She pulled out a turquoise cabochon the size of Summer’s thumb and handed it to her. The stone hummed with magick in Summer’s hand.

  “This is for your primary element. It’ll help you communicate with the air.”

  Amber dug out a piece of green jade in the shape of a small elephant. Summer smiled as she looked at its intricately carved features.

  “This one is for the earth.”

  The buzz from this one was weaker in her hand. She placed them both in one hand, fascinated by the sensations running through her palm and up her forearm.

  “Every student learns a different way to communicate with their elements,” Amber continued.

  “Do Dark students have elements?”

  “They do. Our magickks and theirs are all based off the five elements. They have simply chosen to use them outside the three rules that guide the Light.”

  “If there’s a Dark teacher here, are there Dark students?”

  “The children in black.”

  She looked up. “They’re … evil?”

  “They’ve chosen to use their gifts outside of our three rules,” Amber said. “They are governed by their own three rules, ones you’ll never know, so long as you stay within ours.”

  “Even Decker?”

  “Yes.”

  Summer frowned. She’d felt something deep last night when Decker touched her, like his body awoke hers. How could he be evil?

  “But why are they here then? Shouldn’t they keep away from us?” she demanded.

  “This is where the balance of good and evil is struck,” Amber replied patiently. “You cannot have a balance without both, now can you?”

  “No, but if they’re evil, how …” Summer didn’t know what to ask.

  “They’re not evil, Summer. They made choices that fall outside ours. That doesn’t mean they don’t also keep to some of our rules. Most do no harm, but most have also chosen to use their powers for selfish reasons, and not for reasons that help another or protect another,” Amber explained.

  “It seems so harsh to call them bad when they might have made a mistake.”

  “Perhaps. But that is how good and evil work. Our rules are very simple. They’re about selflessness. Would you ever knowingly hurt someone?”

  “No, of course not.”

  “Would you ever knowingly not help someone in need?”

  “No,” Summer said, mind on her deer.

  “Would you do evil?”

  “No.”

  “It’s that simple. The path is at your feet already.”

  Summer didn’t think it was simple at all, but she said nothing. She concentrated on what Amber told her as much as she could while her thoughts kept going to her deer. That night at dinner, she found her taste buds had improved, and she ate as she had her first night there, relishing the taste of food.

  Decker hadn’t been able to sleep in three nights, since the night with their mother. He lay awake in the dorm. By Beck’s tossing and turning, his twin couldn’t sleep either. Fed up waiting, he rose and pulled on his jeans and a sweatshirt.

  “I’m grabbing some food. You want anything?” he asked.

  “Cookies,” Beck said.

  “Be back in a few.”

  Decker stepped into the cool night and gazed up at the moon and clear skies. The square was silent, the scents of the evening barbecue still in the air. Stuffing his hands into his pockets, he walked to the kitchen and turned on the light.

  The small form in the open door of the fridge straightened, startled. If he wasn’t so preoccupied, he would’ve sensed her. Summer faced him, eyes large and a gallon of milk clutched in her hands. She seemed relieved it was him and closed the door.

  “My fawn needs some food,” she said.

  “I came for cookies,” he said.

  “There are cookies here?”

  “In the cabinet.” He lifted his chin towards the cupboards behind her.

  She turned and set the milk on the counter then opened the cabinet. The cookies were on a plate on the top shelf, beyond her reach. Decker crossed to her and stretched over her to get them. His body brushed hers again, sending a jolt of magick through him. It was even stronger this time than the first. Summer hunched away and twisted to face him, glancing up.

  The awkward lack of space between them made his body warm. Her dark eyes were soft, her scent earthy. He stepped away, unable to shake the strange effect she had on him. He pretended he didn’t notice the tension between them and set the cookies on the table.

  “You want to join me?” he asked, expecting her to decline.

  “Yes.”

  He glanced up, and their gazes locked again. The sense of a shared fate returned to him. Someone who glowed with goodness could never understand what he’d soon be forced to do. Watching his mother take another’s life had made him vomit, and he was Dark. Summer was too good to share a fate with him.

  Decker looked away finally and sat at the breakfast bar. She sat two stools over and reached for a cookie.

  “I love cookies,” she said. “And most food.”

  “I can only eat cookies during the off season.”

  “What sport do you play?”

  “Swimming.”

  “Do you swim in the lake here?” she
asked.

  “Yep. I’ve swum across it a few times.”

  “It looks dirty.” Her nose crinkled.

  Decker studied her, sensing her magick. It was still locked, as was every witchling’s power until they learned to control it. It was harder to read when trapped in her body.

  “You’re air and earth?” he asked.

  “Yes.”

  “You don’t like water at all then,” he guessed.

  “Not to swim in, no. I love the ocean from a distance.”

  “I feel like I’m in my natural element in the water.”

  “I do when …” She tilted her head to the side. “I think when I’m in the forest is best for me. I’m still trying to understand all this, uh, magick stuff.”

  “It takes awhile,” he replied and bit into a chocolate chip cookie.

  Summer looked distressed rather than assured by his words. Her soul sang a sad song. She nibbled on a cookie, gaze distant. He wondered what could upset someone so sweet that she’d rescue a deer in the middle of the forest. She’d been exhausted but determined when he found her that night, the fawn trembling in her shaking arms. The pretty girl had a good heart, even if her soul was sad.

  “I don’t really fit in anywhere I go. So I hope I have awhile,” she said at last.

  “I don’t fit in either.”

  “I can see that.” Her words were accompanied by a small smile. “I burnt down one of my schools by accident once.”

  He choked back a laugh. Summer flushed in embarrassment.

  “That’s awesome,” he said. “I’ve never done that.”

  “Bad stuff happens around me. I hope I can stay here, though.”

  “Amber will help you. She’s a good person,” he assured her. “If you make something explode here, we have the power to stop it.”

  “Dark power,” she murmured. She gazed at him intently for a moment then shook her head. “You don’t seem evil, Decker.”

  “I’m not.”

  She didn’t look convinced and reached for another cookie.

  Irritated, he wanted to throw the plate of cookies against a wall and leave. She was reacting to him the same way everyone did. But something about her and their strange connection made him stay despite the reaction he loathed. Being with her almost made him forget the look in the eyes of the man his mother killed.

  “I know I can’t go in the forest after dark, but it seems like it’d be beautiful,” she said.

  Decker sneaked a glance at her. Her gaze was on her cookie. He relaxed some to see she wasn’t getting ready to flee the kitchen to escape from him.

  “It’s very beautiful,” he said. “But you can’t go.”

  “I know.” She rolled her eyes at him. “No one will really tell me why, either. I want to see the stars. We couldn’t see them in LA because of the light pollution.”

  “You can see the stars if you lay on one of the picnic tables in the Square,” he said.

  “Am I allowed out back at night?”

  “Yeah. Come on.” He grabbed a handful of cookies and rose. “There’s one picnic table where the trees don’t block everything.”

  Summer followed him, the gallon of milk forgotten. She stopped when she exited, and he looked over his shoulder at her. Her dark gaze was on him. While he didn’t glow as dark as his mother, he knew the night only enhanced the shadows around him. He kept walking, expecting her to leave and disappointed at the thought she’d be as frightened of him as most girls were.

  “This is the one,” he said and paused at a table. To his surprise, she’d followed. She climbed onto the table, unafraid. Her eyes on the sky, Summer stretched back on the table until she was lying on it.

  “You’re right,” she whispered. “This is perfect.”

  Decker considered returning to his room but stopped, enjoying her company. He sat and lay on one of the hard, wood benches, leaving the table top to her. He didn’t need to touch her to feel their connection, but he wished he could. The sensations were more intense then.

  “What’s your favorite constellation?” she asked.

  “I don’t think I have a favorite. You?”

  “Orion. He owns the sky whenever he’s there. He’s the opposite of me.”

  “If you’re blowing up schools, it sounds like you’re leaving an impression, too.”

  Her soft laughter made him smile. The sad song of her soul turned, and he closed his eyes, listening. The sounds joined the distant gurgle of his water magick and the soothing crackle of his fire magick. The combination relaxed him, made him feel drowsy for the first time in days.

  “Do you like it here so far?” he asked.

  “I do. It’s different. All the talk about magick weirds me out, but I’m understanding more every day.”

  “It doesn’t help that they don’t give you a book explaining everything when you arrive.”

  “No, it really doesn’t. Did you have trouble understanding everything?”

  “Not until I crossed to the Dark.”

  Summer fell silent.

  “How is your deer?” he asked, not wanting to scare her off.

  “Not as good as I hoped. Not sure he’ll make it.”

  “He will. Don’t give up on him. Sometimes the most broken are the ones in the most need of a second chance.”

  Summer’s face appeared over the edge of the table, blocking his view of the sky. She gazed down at him. Her skin was like porcelain in the moonlight, her plump lips too close for his comfort. He hadn’t been able to date anyone seriously since falling from the Light. Her intent look and the nearness of her blooming body stirred his blood, reminding him of the other sensation he felt around her he’d been trying to ignore.

  “Do you feel broken?” she asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “So do I.”

  “You’re not,” he replied, bothered by her response. “I don’t even know you, but I know that.”

  “Just like I know you are,” she murmured.

  “I’m probably not the guy you should be sitting with outside after dark,” he agreed, agitated at the reminder.

  “Don’t be mad. I didn’t mean anything by it.”

  “It’s okay. I’m used to it.”

  Summer’s features softened into another of her magickal smiles. She looked beautiful in the moonlight, gazing at him. Decker let himself think about what it would be like to have a girlfriend, one as sweet and fun to talk to as this one, who wouldn’t judge him for what he was. He found himself reaching up to touch her and stopped himself.

  Even if someone like Summer accepted him, he couldn’t draw her into his world. It was too dark for her. In a few weeks, he’d spend his nights hunting down those who broke Dark Laws and killing those who couldn’t be salvaged. She’d turn on him, as had everyone else in the school when he crossed over to the Dark. Her magickal smile would fade, and she’d revile what he was.

  “I gotta go,” he mumbled and sat up.

  Rising, he didn’t look back, even when her soul’s song turned sad once again. The idea he caused it made him grit his teeth. She deserved better. No woman deserved to be with him. His mother had met his father long before she turned Dark. He had no partner; he never would.

  Returning to his dorm room, he closed the door and leaned against it, the clamor back in his thoughts. Beck’s breathing was deep, and he didn’t stir at Decker’s entrance. He pushed himself away from the door and set a few cookies on Beck’s nightstand before pulling on hiking boots.

  He waited until Summer was gone from the Square before he left the school grounds for the forest. He walked through the woods until he sensed what he sought, the telltale signs of Dark magick being practiced. Decker followed the earthy scent of burning herbs, reaching a small meadow. Three other Dark students were at the center of the meadow, one standing within the pentagram they’d made out of rocks while the others flanked him outside the circle.

  Incense candles burned in waist-high tiki torches at each of the pentagram’s points. H
e recognized the scent of blood as well; they’d sacrificed animals to curry the favor of otherworldly demons on earth. He remained in the shadows, listening to the quiet chants as magick swept around the three. The form in the center knelt as the candles burned low and bowed his head. The other two stepped back. Decker approached then.

  “Hey, Decker,” one of them, a girl a year older than him, greeted him. “Kenny’s in mourning.”

  “What happened?” he asked.

  “I guess someone attacked his little brother. Put him in the hospital. The wind told him who it was, so he’s offered blood for a demon to seek revenge,” Alexa said.

  “Isn’t his brother like, five?” Decker asked with a frown.

  “Yeah. Cute little guy. They don’t think he’ll make it.”

  “I’d kill anyone who hurt Beck, too.” Even though he gets on my nerves. Decker watched as the shadows of the night took a fuzzy shape and approached the teen in the center of the pentagram.

  Watching his mother the other night had made him feel as if he didn’t belong to Light or Dark. Yet the thought of someone hurting a child and getting away with it made him realize his personality was better suited to the Dark, where he could do something about it, than in the Light, where they were forced to turn the other cheek.

  “Hey, I was wondering if you’d want to go to the mall with me sometime?” Alexa’s tone turned warmer as she looked up at him. “I’ve got a car. We can hang out.”

  “Probably not,” he said, mind on Sam’s warnings. He had to stay close to his brother and the new girl, even if staying close to the school made his head hurt.

  “Oh. Well, you want to hang out here together?”

  Decker glanced down at Alexa. A pretty brunette, she had one more year at the school until she’d be free to go at the age of twenty. Her nose piercing glimmered in the moonlight, and shadows kept him from seeing her bright blue eyes. He thought of the frustrated desire he’d felt for Summer. His body grew warm at the thought of her. He couldn’t have her, but every other Dark girl hit on him from time to time. He could have someone.

  “Sure,” he said.

  “Great!” Alexa replied. “We can hang out tomorrow?”

  “Yeah, sounds fine.”

  She smiled, not noticing his lukewarm response. Decker watched the shadow demon listen to the teen in the center of the pentagram. It faded into the darkness when it was done. Alexa and the other girl returned to their positions to finish the ceremony. Decker watched Alexa. She was a runner with a slender body.