“No, I haven’t.”
Krystal puts her books on the step beneath us, then starts to count off on her fingers. “First, you’re friends with Jake, like best friends with him. He’s from the Tracks and you’re a Richie. Breaking the rules. Then you start hanging out with me, the crazy new girl who sees ghosts and breaks out the windows in her house. Breaking the rules. You ignore Alyssa and tell your parents you won’t help them promote a club that excludes people. And I’m not even mentioning how you saved Jake’s house.”
I hold my hand up to stop her next words. “Don’t say it. I know, breaking the rules.”
She laughs. “See?”
I can’t help it, I smile, too. It feels nice to have a girl to talk to about this stuff.
“Yeah, but I wasn’t going to let Mouse take me to Antoine’s house today. I was going to catch the bus with him.”
“And he didn’t like that?”
“He’s ignoring me. The last thing he said to me was that he thinks I’m still hiding our relationship.”
“Are you?”
I lean back, resting my elbows on the cement. Tilting my head back, I look up into the bright sunny sky. The warm rays feel good against my skin. “I just don’t want any interference, you know? It’s like I have this one good thing that supernatural powers and silly prejudices can’t touch. Or rather, I don’t want them to touch.”
“So you think if you keep it quiet, it’ll stay good?”
“I was hoping.”
“I don’t know the answer, Sasha. But I’m willing to bet you’re not going to figure it out sitting here chatting it up with me.”
We both laugh at that and a few minutes later I’m walking back inside the school building, heading to where I know Antoine is still hanging out.
I’m actually the one looking for Antoine this time. I can’t believe it. But he hasn’t returned any of my calls or my texts. I know he’s still pissed about that day last week when he called and wanted to meet up. I couldn’t tell him why I couldn’t go out with him, and he immediately jumped to the wrong conclusion. I wasn’t trying to hide being with him, I just had other things to do.
I wonder if I’ll ever be able to tell him about my powers. Maybe we’ll get rid of the threat before I have to. At any rate, I at least need to talk to him to clear the air. I just need to find him first.
I see him at the end of the hallway standing near some lockers with his fellow hip-hop crew—or friends, I should say. Antoine is constantly telling me the guys he hangs with aren’t as bad as everybody thinks they are. I think it’s time I start taking those words to heart. So I take a deep breath and keep right on walking towards them. Two of the guys see me coming and nudge Antoine, who finally looks up at me with a none-too-pleased look on his face.
I’m nervous, but I’m trying desperately not to show it. My jeans suddenly feel too tight, my legs stiff as they move. I swallow deeply just as I come up on them, and my lips tremble into a smile. “Hi,” I finally manage in a small voice.
“Hey, cutie.” The one called Fats, with his super-round stomach and even rounder face, speaks to me first. He’s not a bad-looking guy with his root-beer toned skin and silver-gray eyes. His hair is in cornrows, and he has an earring in his left ear. His clothes are super neat, jeans cuffed at the ankles and a New York Giants jersey. “What brings you all the way down here to our corner of the world?” he asks jovially.
I guess this is their corner of the world since there appears to be nobody down this end of the hall but them. Turning around briefly, I see farther down the opposite side the kids have done much the same as they do in the cafeteria. Three or four Goths stand near the water fountain, while a big cluster of jocks are close to the door. Everyone finding their kind and sticking with them.
Turning back to face Fats, I think it’s even crazier than before. “I need to talk to Antoine,” I say a little louder than I’d been speaking previously. I don’t want there to be any doubts about why I’m here or who I’m here to see.
Antoine does what he always does, slips his hands into his pockets and just stares at me. He doesn’t say a word.
The one they call Trigga smiles at me. He’s taller than all of us and rail-thin like he was born specifically to play basketball.
“Oooohhh, you wanna talk to Twan. Well, go ahead and talk to him.”
I look right up at him and say, “Alone.”
To Fats this must be one helluva joke because he starts to laugh like I’m a comedian onstage. Antoine just nods his head and they both get his message.
In a few seconds we’re alone. He’s still standing a short distance from me, and his facial expression hasn’t changed.
“I think…ah…there was a misunderstanding the other day,” I begin. It’s unnerving that he’s not moving or saying anything. I’m trying to gauge his reaction to me being here, but he’s making it very difficult.
“What I mean is, when you called me I really did have something to do. I couldn’t just drop it and come meet you.”
He remains silent for a few more seconds, and I feel like I’m drowning. I don’t know what else to say, what else to do. Should I just walk away, leave him alone as he seems to want me to do? Or should I stay and say my piece? I think I already have, but it doesn’t seem to have helped.
“Well, that’s all I wanted to say.” I turn and am getting ready to leave when I feel a hand on my shoulder.
“You could have just said you were busy and you’d call me back later.”
The sound of his voice warms me inside, and I slowly turn back around to face him. “I was in a hurry and so much was going on.” I sigh. “Yeah, I could have.”
“But you didn’t. It was like you were brushing me off one final time.”
I’m shaking my head negatively. “No. It definitely wasn’t like that.”
But you don’t want to tell me what it was like?”
“I just did. I had something else to do, so I couldn’t meet you. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to be with you the way you made it seem.”
He shrugs. “I can’t really tell with you.”
I swallow and realize I’m going to have to put it all out there. “I know I’ve been kind of on the fence with this whole thing, but I just had some stupid hang-ups about us being together. I’m not ashamed of you or of us, together, I mean. I’m really not.”
“Prove it,” he says, and the corner of his mouth kind of lifts into a smile.
I don’t really know how to prove this to him. Or rather, I don’t know what he expects me to do. But on impulse, I take another step closer to him. I push up on my tiptoes because he’s taller than me, and I kiss him. Right there in the hallway with the after-school kids still hanging around, I, Sasha Carrington, supposed Richie, kiss Antoine Watson, supposed bad boy, right on the lips.
His smile grows bigger, then he wraps his arms around me and kisses me right back.
And for this one moment in time, I feel like all is well.
twenty-seven
Five Weeks Later
It’s the last day of school.
Weeks have gone by since the storm, since we saw those inky black things come from the funnel. I haven’t traveled to the Majestic, nor have I spoken to Fatima the Messenger.
Krystal hasn’t had any visions about Mr. Bryant and his research, and Jake seems to be coming out of his funk. Lindsey’s a little touch-and-go sometimes, but I can tell she’s really trying to fit in with us. I think she already does.
Casietta’s still gone. I’ve written her two letters but haven’t received any response. At some point, I guess I’ll give up. My dad came back from his business trip, and he’s even more quiet than ever. I don’t care. I don’t have much to say to him anyway. My mom’s been a little weird, coming into my room a lot, acting like she just wants to talk. She’s still on the health food kick, and she still loves her committees, but I think something’s changed with her since Casietta left.
Antoine is my boyfriend. Yes, it’s of
ficial. He even came to dinner at my house last week. It was just me, him and my mother, but that was just fine.
I wonder if the Darkness has moved on.
Then I look up as we’re sitting in the cafeteria and see it.
At the far end, where the exit doors are, there are two windows on the side. The sun is shining through every other window in the cafeteria. Except these two.
The panes have grown dark.
“Ah, guys,” I say to Krystal and Jake. Lindsey’s sitting right beside me, so I tap her on the leg.
They all follow my gaze.
Through the dark window panes, a thick gooey goop is coming. It’s trailing down the walls, touching the floor, then sliding across like a trail of blood.
We don’t move, don’t say a word, but the heat at my side and the sight of Krystal rubbing the back of her neck says we’re thinking along the same lines.
The Darkness is back.
epilogue
I never knew there were different levels of Hell. Then again, I had no idea there was such a thing as demons and gods and souls to be taken. Life for me has existed around my father’s incessant rantings about storm patterns and excess energy. Good and bad seemed like basic common sense. Do good things, don’t do bad things. Everybody learned that as a kid. Some experts call it discipline.
Yet this is different. This dark, cold place I find myself in. Oh yeah, the burning in the fires of hell theory might be true, but not on the level I’m in at the moment. Where I’m at, my breath is like frost, my fingers already numb, even though I think I’ve only been here a couple of minutes.
The move happened quick, like a flash of light. One minute I was with Krystal—ah, remembering her touch warms me a bit. Let’s hope that memory lasts, I’ve got a feeling I’m going to need some nice hot thoughts to get me through this. For about the time it took me to blink or inhale, I was gone from Krystal’s arms and dropped here. In Hell.
How do I know I’m in Hell?
Because there is no feeling, good or bad. There is no end. I’m like on this ledge, and if I take a step, I’ll fall, but I don’t know where I’ll fall to. Probably another level but I can’t see it. There’s nothing down there but pitch black. The ledge only looks like it goes so far, then there’s nothing.
I’m all alone.
Yes, this is definitely Hell.
Another reason I know I’m in Hell—all the skulls and other dead body parts that seem frozen into the wall behind me. They look like somebody scared the hell out of them—no pun intended. Or scared them directly into Hell—either way it’s not a cool sight.
And while I should be afraid, should be wondering how I came to be here and what will happen to me next, I’m not.
I don’t even jump when icy cold fingers touch my shoulder. And when I look down, I see bones, finger bones, but bones nonetheless, resting on my left shoulder as if waiting for me to acknowledge them. So I turn slowly, being extra careful not to let my foot go over the edge and fall into the dark oblivion.
My heart should have been beating fast with fear, but I don’t think my heart’s in there anymore. Actually, it doesn’t feel like I have anything on the inside. No thumping, no movement, just nothing. Kind of like what it looks like to fall off this ledge.
Of course there’s a body attached to the bone fingers. It’s wearing all black—how appropriate. The robe seems long and the hood is lifted, and there’s no face—like the pictures of a reaper. But if I’m in Hell, I’m already dead, so there’s no need for a reaper to come for me.
“Come. He waits.” The reaperlike thing has a deep voice that echoes off the nothing environment and almost busts my eardrum.
When I don’t make a move, the bone fingers grab me up by the collar. My feet are dangling in the air now, no skinny ledge and no falling into nothing. Better yet, reaperlike thing has just sprouted wings from his back, and the next thing I know, we’re both lifted into the cold air of darkness. The wings are huge and gray-black, flapping wildly, creating a loud clacking sound and an even cooler breeze.
There’s just more dark for as far as I can see, but reaperlike flying thing is moving quick, as if it knows exactly where to go and how to get there.
Again, I’m not afraid but figure that’ll change soon enough.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
Have you ever been asked to choose friends based on their status or how much money they had? If so, how did you handle it?
Do you think Sasha should be more honest with Antoine about how she feels about him?
Sasha can astral project to another plane called the Majestic. Do you believe another world or dimension, besides Earth, exists?
The Majestic is home to magical beings. How do you think the knowledge of this place will affect the Mystyx?
Sasha unknowingly hurts Krystal and Jake’s feelings by snubbing them for her wealthy friends. How do you think she could have handled the situation better?
Greek mythology is prevalent in modern-day astrology. Have you ever felt that the sun or the moon exuded some type of power over your actions and behavior? How?
Because Lindsey reveals herself as one of the Mystyx, Sasha wonders if there is a particular reason that Lindsey showed up in Lincoln. Do you think it’s connected to the battle they’re preparing for or just a coincidence?
What ways do you think the Mystyx can use their powers to fight the Darkness? What are the limits of their powers and how do you think it will affect their ability to battle evil?
MYSTIFY: A MYSTYX NOVEL
ISBN: 978-1-4268-8449-8
Copyright © 2011 by Artist Arthur
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