At school, right around now, Tam is marching up to Sydney and starting a conversation. Or an argument. I watch the aura. Nothing yet.
The four yellow tentacles are aimlessly floating around her, touching random objects and then moving on. They never make anything glow or seem to be up to anything. The hex is here, but for the moment, it’s not actively against Dina.
A minute has passed with no change. Maybe Sydney’s not the hexer. Maybe we’re going after a perfectly innocent person. I hope Tam doesn’t go too far, just in case we’re wrong.
But now the yellow light is starting to brighten. It gets stronger for a moment, then fades. Brighter, dimmer, brighter. It’s pulsing now, and the pulses are getting faster. One of the tentacles reaches into the ceiling and the overhead lights lose power. Dina lets out a small scream as the lights go out, but there’s still plenty of illumination from the window and she calms down a little.
The pulsing is like a strobe light. Even though the lights blew out, it’s almost blinding in here. I shield my eyes with one hand as the pulses reach a peak, and the bright yellow light stays on, and when I let my hand down again there are six tentacles now, and they’re flailing wildly, like branches in a hurricane. One of them reaches for a framed painting on the side wall. The painting starts to glow. I run toward it just as the painting launches off the wall. I stick my hand out and slap the top of the frame downward, and the painting hits the side of Dina’s bed, shattering glass around the floor. A bird flies into the window with a hard thump, and falls dead to the windowsill. The window is cracked by the impact.
Another tentacle is entering the controls for the hospital bed. I see it and have terrible thoughts of the two ends of the bed tilting up and crushing Dina between them, so I step over the broken glass, feeling it crunch under my shoe, and grab the power cord for the bed. I jerk it out of the wall and see a bright blue arc of electricity from the wall outlet to the cord, and then there’s a drop in the background noise level and I realize the power has gone out. The breakers for this entire hallway must have popped. There’s commotion out in the hallway, nurses jogging past.
I see that a shard of glass from the framed painting has landed on top Dina, on her blankets. I pick up the shard, cutting my hand a little, and toss it to the floor.
“Make it stop,” she shouts at me.
I pick up my phone and redial Tam. It takes a few rings for her to answer and when she does I hear a teacher in the background telling her to put the phone away.
“Stop it right now,” I shout into the phone. “The hex is going nuts.”
Tam mumbles something I can’t make out, and hangs up. I look back to Dina, her legs pulled up toward her body, her good arm over her face, as if to shield her from anything else that might fly in her direction.
Someone flips the breaker and the power comes back on. The lights are still out, but at least I can hear a TV in the next room. It’s more normal than it was before. The six arms are still bright, but not blinding. I think the storm has passed. A nurse comes into the room, surprised to see me.
“Are you Ok in here?” she asks.
“The lights blew out,” Dina says. The nurse flips the light switch and sees that the bulbs have blown.
“And there’s broken glass,” I say, “on the floor.”
“Who are you?” the nurse asks. “Shouldn’t you be in school?”
“I’m just leaving,” I say.
“Don’t,” says Dina.
“Don’t worry,” I say. “You’re going to be fine now.”
I leave before the nurse can ask me any more questions.
Outside, I call Tam again.
“What happened?” I ask.
“I started an argument,” she says, he voice is loud, angry. “And then it kind of escalated.”
“Did you tell her I can see the hex?” Even as I asked the question, I was starting to jog.
“No, I just told her that I knew about the hex and that she wouldn’t get away with it. Then I said some personal things and she freaked out. Screamed at me, threw some things. Teachers had to separate us. That’s when you called.”
“Where are you guys?” I ask.
“I’m in the office waiting for my turn to talk to Mrs. Grey, which will definitely be a suspension.”
“Where’s Ryan?” I ask. “Is he with you?”
“He’s out in the hall waiting for me. He’s late for class by now.” Tam seems pretty resigned to having a suspension to explain to her parents.
“And where’s Sydney?”
“In with Mrs. Grey now. I already heard the secretary call her parents.”
“Send Ryan to come get me,” I say. “I mean right now.”
“Why? What’s up?” there’s concern in her voice.
“Whatever you did sent the hex over the top. It’s really trying to attack her now. If we don’t get that talisman today, I think Dina’s in real trouble.”
“Why do you need Ry?”
“I’m gonna break into Sydney’s house before she gets home. I’m gonna find the damn thing and destroy it.” I’m full-out running down Main Street, the most physical exercise I’ve had since I stopped taking gym class this year.
“Where are you?” Tam asks.
“I’m running down Main. I know where Sydney lives, but it’s a long walk. Send Ryan with the car.”
“OK.”
Tamara hangs up. I make it a good half a kilometer before Ryan pulls up in his BMW. I climb in and tell him which street we’re going to. I catch my breath while we drive. On Sydney’s street, I tell him to park so we can check out the area.
Before we can even get out of the car, there’s movement at Sydney’s. A woman in her forties with a distinctive strong chin, definitely Sydney’s mom, walks out of the house and climbs into an SUV. She pulls out and we let her disappear around the corner before we get out of the car.
We walk past the house a few times, and see no sign of anybody inside.
“I’m going around back. You go ring the doorbell and see if anyone’s home. I’m going to sneak inside,” I say. “Call me if someone’s coming.”
I run along the fence that separates Sydney’s house from the neighbour’s. There’s a big wooden gate beside the house, and I have to stop and figure out how to open it. There’s a side window looking out at the gate, and I’m terrified that someone will see me standing there. Through the window, I hear the sound the doorbell. Crap, if anyone comes to answer the door right now, they’ll see me.
I jump to grab the top of the gate and pull myself half-way over it. Once I can see over the gate it’s easy to reach for the latch and pull it open. The gate swings a little underneath me, so I drop back to my feet and push the gate open. Once inside the yard, I close the gate behind me and sneak to a back window. It looks into the kitchen, above the sink. There’s no sign of movement. Nobody is answering the door, and there don’t seem to be any dogs.
I try to open the window, but it’s locked. I head over to a sliding patio door farther down the wall, but it’s locked too. On the other side of the door there is another window, looking into a dining room. I try this one and it opens about two inches, but then a wooden stick in the windowsill stops it from opening any farther. Dammit, I need to get in. I don’t want to have to break a window. The noise would draw attention and it would be evidence that someone broke in.
There’s an oak tree in the yard, mostly bare of leaves this late in autumn. I run over to the tree and jump to grab a branch, pulling it down as I land. I twist the branch, hoping to break it off, but it doesn’t want to break so easily. I really have to fight it, twisting, and pulling with both hands before the branch breaks, leaving me about twenty inches of narrow stick.
I head back to the window and squeeze my fingers through the opening. Once I have my hand inside I pass the branch through with the other hand. Now I have to manipulate the stick in my hand to knock the piece of wood from the window down to the floor. It takes a while, but I eventually get my
stick to pry the other up and knock it away. The window slides open and I toss the piece of oak to the grass. I climb inside Sydney’s house. It’s nice. Very old-fashioned, with wallpaper and lots of dark wood furniture. I find the stairs and head up, figuring that the talisman Sydney made to hex Dina must be in her bedroom.
There are only two bedrooms up here, the master and Sydney’s. Another would-be bedroom is set up as some kind of office. I guess Sydney’s an only child. Once I’m inside the bedroom, I start to search. I open all the drawers in her desk and find nothing. Then I try the dresser, and again there’s nothing. I can’t even find a black candle or feather.
My phone rings. I flip it open and answer right away. “What?” I say.
“Syd’s mom just picked her up,” Tam says. “They’re on their way.”
“Can you stall them?” I ask.
Somewhere on Tam’s end, I hear a female teacher tell her to put the phone away.
“I’m in her bedroom. They’re going to catch me breaking and entering and I still can’t find the damn thing,” I say.
“I’m so getting expelled,” Tam says. “I’ll stop them before they get in the car.”
I hear Mrs. Grey yell “Where are you going?” and then Tam’s phone cuts out.
I open Sydney’s closet and start digging. I spend several minutes going through boxes, shelves, even looking inside her shoes. There’s no magic talisman here. I’m sweating from the pressure, and from the fact that if I get caught I’m committing a crime. I hear a car door. My phone rings, and it’s Ryan this time.
“The SUV just came around the corner. They’re going to be here in a minute.”
I hang up and look around. There’s a jewellery box. I open it and find exactly what you’d expect—jewellery. I hear another car door. And then a second. Two people getting out of a car in the driveway. They’re home. The front door opens. I’m screwed. There’s no time left to search, I have to hide.
I slip out of Sydney’s room and into the next door down the hall, which is a sort of home office. One entire wall is books, and another wall consumed by a long desk and computer workstation. There’s also a wardrobe at the end of the room. Maybe I can hide in, or behind, that wardrobe.
I hear steps on the stairs. I open the wardrobe door and find that it has shelves inside, and many of the shelves are holding files and papers. But the bottom area has nothing. I cram myself under the bottom shelf, and pull the wardrobe shut just as the footsteps pass the office. The footsteps go straight to Sydney’s room and I hear the door slam. I listen closely and hear Sydney rummaging in her room. I pray she doesn’t notice that I’ve already disturbed her things.
“Sydney!” her mother shouts from downstairs. “Get down here!”
I listen to Sydney leaving her room and heading down the stairs. This might be my last chance to get out unnoticed. I make it to the hallway and turn toward the stairs, then stop. Tam told Sydney she knew about the hex. That probably has Sydney spooked. I turn back, heading to Sydney’s room. I’m trapping myself farther from the exit, but I have to know.
As I open the door, I see it immediately. There’s a small wooden box on the bed, with the lid open. Inside there’s a small black feather. I get closer and see that the feather is tied to several other objects. There’s a lock of brown hair, a brightly coloured bracelet, and an ornate metallic brooch. All of these are tied together with plain brown string, and have been doused in black wax, which seals it all together.
I grab the talisman, and jam it into my pocket. Now I have to move. I make it to the top of the stairs. I only have to dash down, out the front door, and sprint to Ryan’s car. I can be out of here in five seconds.
But there’s a voice in the hallway below. They would see me if I left now. Even worse, they’re coming to the bottom of the stairs. I backtrack, getting to the hallway again. I don’t think I can hide in the office, the person on the stairs will see me pass. I duck into the nearest room, the master bedroom, and hide behind the door.
I cross my fingers and pray that the person coming is Sydney, because if it’s her mom she’ll be coming into this room and then I’ll be caught.
But if it’s Sydney, she’ll immediately see that the talisman has been taken and she’ll know someone is in the house. Either way, I’m about ten seconds from getting caught. I watch through the crack of the door as the figure reaches the top of the stairs, and instead of coming straight into the master, the figure turns and takes the hall. It’s Sydney. In five seconds, the only real-life witch I’ve ever met will know that I’m inside her house.
One last chance. I run to the window and slide it open. I force the screen to slide too, and climb through, so that’s sitting on the sill with my legs dangling over the open air. I didn’t realize second-floor windows were this high. I spin around so I’m facing back into the house.
“Where is it?” screams Sydney from down the hall. I drop out of the window, holding onto the edge with only my fingertips keeping me from falling into the back yard. I hear thumping, running footsteps. My face presses against ice-cold brick and I know she’ll notice the cold air coming in the open window.
My feet are probably four metres from the yard below. I let go.
I hit the ground hard, knees buckling, and end up flat on my back, facing up at the window. That hurt, but I don’t think I damaged anything. I pull myself up just in time to hear a voice above me shout, “Stop.”
I make it to the side gate and pull it open. I sprint to the road and Ryan sees the look of panic on my face and leans over to open the passenger door. I dive in, ducking my face out of sight because I don’t want Sydney to know who took her precious talisman. I don’t need her hexing me. Ryan pulls away and drives past the house just as Sydney runs out the front door, screaming profanities.
12
We meet at Tam’s house, because she’s grounded and can’t meet the rest of us anywhere else. She sneaks us in the back door and into the basement, so her parents won’t know she has guests.
Tam is suspended from school for a week. Two days for the screaming match with Sydney and three for running away from a vice principle just to restart the argument outside. When she was outside stalling for time, she got right in Sydney’s mother’s face, and that made Sydney slap Tam so hard it left a bruise beside her eye. Tam’s parents grounded her until next year. Literally until January.
Ryan’s parents are taking the car away for the rest of the term since he skipped his last two classes today. I haven’t been home yet, although I did call and tell my brother that I’m OK.
I look at Tam’s black eye when we meet at the door, but she doesn’t say anything until we’re safely tucked away in the basement. “You should see the other guy,” she jokes as I can’t help but stare at the shiner she got doing me a favour. “Seriously, how fair is it that you got magic powers and I got punched in the head?” I shrug and pull the talisman out of my pocket and hold it out in the palm of my hand.
Marlene wasn’t really involved in the plan, so she’s not in trouble with anyone, and she seems more concerned about the talisman than the story of how we got it.
“I wonder which object is Dina’s and which is Sydney’s?” she says. “And why are there three things? The book only said you need one thing from yourself and one from your victim.”
“Who cares,” I say. “We’re gonna smash it anyway.”
“Why haven’t you?” Tam asks. “Why not smash it as soon as you saw it?”
I get up and take the talisman over to Tam’s dad woodworking bench. I set the talisman down and choose a heavy hammer from the neatly organized wall of tools. I walk back to Tam and hold out the hammer, handle first.
“After you faced the witch head-on, I thought you’d like the honours.”
Tam takes the hammer and grins. “It’s a true friend who saves something for you to smash.”
She stalks over to the talisman, raises the hammer above her head, and brings it down hard. Pieces of the brooch and bracelet
fly away from the workbench. The hair, string, and wax are smooshed into a broken mess. The feather is bent and twisted. She hits it again, and again. Tam takes ten good swings at that thing before passing the hammer to Ryan.
We each take a turn, and in the end there’s nothing left. The feather is in several pieces, the delicate brooch is shattered, the metal remnants bent and torn. The bracelet is just a scattering of links. Tam scoops up the string and hair, which still have a bit of black wax on them, and hands them to Marlene.
“Burn it?” she asks.
“Burn it,” Marlene replies with a mischievous smile.
We sneak out the back door and go to our separate homes. I feel oddly compelled to go by Sydney’s and see what she’s up to, but I realize that would be returning to the scene of the crime; not a good instinct. I go home.
My dad has heard from the school that I skipped most of the day. I try to explain that I was helping a girl who got injured, but he doesn’t believe me. I’m grounded for two weeks. No leaving the house except for school. My brother Devon keeps dropping by my room to taunt me.
Monday, November 19
Sydney’s not at school today (she’s suspended, which is not nearly enough punishment by the way), but the word through the grapevine is that Wayne dumped her over the weekend. Maybe having a girlfriend who has fights in the cafeteria is bad for politics. I go my locker expecting Tam until I realize she won’t be here all week since Tam got an even worse suspension than Sydney.
I attend my first two classes without incident, and when I go to change out the books in my bag, Wayne passes my locker. He makes eye contact, staring at me with those blue eyes, shakes his head and moves on without a word. I think the things I’ve done over the last couple weeks have drastically altered his life. His girlfriend is out of the picture, his student council future uncertain. Now that I think about it, he has been a pretty good president. He always works hard at all the fundraisers, leads the crowd in cheers at football games (our actual cheerleaders never get the crowd to care) and seems to really have fun doing all those things. Now he’s likely to lose to Dina, who will be boring and borderline useless as a president. As he passes me, Wayne looks sort of lost, and I wish I was good enough at talking to people that I could think of something comforting to say.
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