by Tonya Kappes
“Naw. This is a great friendship.” I hugged her and held her tight.
“I’m only here to guide you. Not give you answers.” Her voice echoed creating waves in the ball. Like a light switch that had turned off, so had Madame Torres.
The clock read two a.m. and I didn’t have to be at Intuition School until seven. Seeing Eloise and knowing she was okay put me at ease. I had a couple of hours to snoop around this University.
Who needs sleep?
I threw on my black jump suit and tennies before I grabbed Madame Torres and threw her in my bag. I could hear a slight tantrum at the bottom of my purse. I was going to ignore her. After al,l she was there to help me.
I backed out of my door, and used the key to lock it.
“Where are you going at this hour?”
My heart nearly leapt out of my chest until I realized it was Hili standing in the shadow of the hallway.
“Shh.” I put my finger up to my mouth. I didn’t want to wake the retired professors on the wall, but it was too late. All of the eyes popped open and darted between Hili and me.
“Why are you all dressed? Where are you going?” Hili had her short, tomboy blonde hair matted to her head in a Michelle Williams kind-of-way, rolled up tight blue jeans, black V-neck tee, and black high-heeled shoes.
“I don’t sleep.” She shrugged her shoulders. “Where are you off to?” She followed me down the hall, clicking as if she was a little girl playing dress up in her mom’s shoes. I wasn’t going to tell her anything with the professors staring.
Walking down the stairs, I reached in my bag and grabbed two Ding Dongs. It was obvious to me and Mr. Prince Charming that Hili was going to tag along.
“Come on.” I handed her one of the scrumptious treats wrapped in foil and headed out into the dark night.
The fireflies darted around us. Being nosey teenagers, no doubt. I ignored them and Hili’s endless stream of questions.
I really didn’t know where I was going. I was relying on my number one gift. My intuition.
“Okay, Hili, how long have you been a student at Hidden Hall.” My intuition told me to go the opposite direction of the field to get to Intuition School, so I set my sights on the darker side of the University.
Briefly stopping, I noticed it was also the more dreary side as well.
“Four years.” Hili put her hand on me. We stopped.
“Four years? But you are only eighteen.” I couldn’t imagine leaving home as a young teenager.
“It’s different for us.” She shrugged it off. “You were raised by a mortal, but if you had two psychic parents, then you would’ve been here too. Where are you going?”
“This way.” I took a few more steps when I realized she wasn’t following me. I turned around. “Well, are you coming?”
She’d better be. I’ll be damned if I wasted a good Ding Dong on her.
She ducked when a bat aimed at her head, teeter-tottering on her high heels, and then started to plummet to the ground, only to catch her fall. “I don’t think that is a good idea. That is where the darker side students live and the professor dorms.”
Professor dorms? Darker side?
“What do you mean by darker side?” This was something altogether new to me.
“Well, you have the dark spiritualists that you things like voodoo and dolls. And then you have us. The Good-Siders.” She looked into the dark abyss in front of us.
“Are all Dark-Siders bad?” That didn’t seem right, but Hili had been a spiritualist all her life so she should know. And it was good to know that there was a term for people like me. A Good-Sider.
“Every once in a while there is a good one in the Dark-Sider group, but not here.” She pointed in the direction she didn’t want us to go. “I’m not going in.”
Dark or not, I am.” I turned and looked into the dark before me. I wasn’t going to freely admit it, but I was scared out of my wits, and secretly prayed Hili would follow even though I had no idea how she would help if some Dark-Sider did hurt us. Maybe she could use her high-heeled fancy shoes to stab one or even claw their eyes with her perfectly manicured fingernails.
Somehow I doubted that. She didn’t seem the type to even go near confrontation or dark anything. She was harmless and a little nosy, but it would be great to have some type of backup.
Before ascending into the darkness, I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath. Not just any old inhale, but one that filled my lungs. The kind that gives you the little extra brain oxygen to give you courage. Only my brain was telling me I was crazy.
Forcing myself, I took the first step into the dark and opened my eyes. The only thing I could see was Mr. Prince Charming’s tail dancing along the path in front of me and I could hear Hili’s heels clicking behind me.
“Oh…..wait up!” She whispered so loud, I was sure she would wake the owls. Even if she did wake the nighttime creatures, I was relieved she decided to come. Darla always told me that she believed there was strength in numbers.
“What is the layout of the buildings?” I whispered forging ahead and not looking back.
“I have no idea.” Hili’s teeth chattered with every click of her heels. “I’ve never been brave enough to come back here.”
I glanced over in the direction of her voice, and her brilliant white teeth were shining like white shoe laces do at the skating rink when they turn the strobe on.
“Look.” I pointed to a faint light in the distance. One more step and we made it into a clearing where the moon and stars lit up the night sky.
“Wow!” Hili mouth formed an O as her eyes almost popped out of her head.
It was a complete village of tree houses, just like Eloise’s house in Whispering Falls. Some were two-stories, while others were three. The trees were connected with wooden bridges, the kind that I would’ve loved to have had as a child.
“The Dark-Siders don’t live so badly.” I walked toward the only one with a light on. “I thought you said they stayed up all night?”
“I’m only repeating what I heard.” There was a snide tone in her words. “Where are you going?”
I stopped at the bottom step of the tree house and looked up. Someone’s shadow danced along the bark of the tree at the top level.
“I’m going up.” I put my foot on the first step to see if it was going to make noise.
“Are you crazy?” Fear, stark and vivid, glittered in her eyes. “June Heal, I think you are crazy. I’m staying right here.” She stomped and her heels sank in the ground. She tugged, and tugged a little more, but one of her shoes wouldn’t come out.
“While you work on that,” I pointed to her foot, “I’m going to see who’s up there.”
As she continued to pull and groan, I followed Mr. Prince Charming up the steps around the bark of the tree toward the light.
Once at the top, I briefly stopped and looked around. Who ever lived here had the most amazing view. I felt like I could almost grab a star and put it in my pocket for keeps.
Oscar would love this; I thought and smiled wondering how he was doing with the shop. The sudden movement of a shadow that was cast on the trunk of the tree caught my attention and I bent down into the shadow.
I tucked my hair behind my ear and leaned over, looking into the window to see if I recognized the Dark-Sider. The long onyx hair and pale skin told me exactly who it was.
Raven.
I stood as still as the night as I watched her glide around the large room. She reached in a cabinet and pulled out a cauldron. She hung it on the hook in the fireplace and touched it. A spark shot out from the underneath the cauldron and a flame ignited, causing the liquid in the cauldron to quickly boil over.
Was she making a dark potion?
I didn’t know anything about dark potions, but I was on a mission to find out everything I could. I had a sneaky suspicion that Raven was now a big part of Faith Mortimer’s fate as well as Eloise’s. If Raven was such a good friend to Faith, and she knew a lot about po
tions, why hadn’t she stopped Faith from drinking the sleeping potion?
A bright red plume of smoke cast a shadow over the large room. It dangled over the two large, black leather sofas and coffee table. The smoke extended from the fireplace mantle to the hallway leading to other rooms I couldn’t see.
“Oh, no.” I gasped, realizing a shiver of panic as the red plume developed into a skull and crossbones. The mouth of the skull opened and closed as if it was laughing at me. Sheer black fright swept through me, remembering what Gerald had said about the skull and crossbones. I continued to watch Raven perform her dark magic.
Carefully she took different ingredients from a makeshift box. These weren’t packaged like my cures. These were different.
I strained to see what she picked first. Unscrewing the lid off the bottle, she pinched out a small portion of Cimicifuga, which didn’t phase the potion with a spark or color. I made mental notes to remember what each of these ingredients was so I could look them up in the Magical Cures book.
She shook a bottle labeled Nuxvomica, sending a couple dashes into the mix. That caused a couple of sparks that hit the red plume above and popped it like a needle popping a balloon.
Suddenly the air smelled like pinecones. As soon as she used the Apis ingredients, the air smelled like pine needles.
Who likes pinecones, pine needles or anything outside? Raven was making a cure with someone in mind and I was going to find out who.
My eyes drifted to the mantel as Raven chanted something. I couldn’t make out the words.
I squinted, trying to see who she had in the frames. Two little girls. One black haired, one blonde.
Faith. Quickly I closed my mouth, fearing I was going to make a noise. Mr. Prince Charming looked back and darted down the steps. It was my cue to go, but I had to get a closer look at those photos. Had they been friends all of their lives? But how? One was a Dark-Sider, while the other was a Good-Sider.
Slowly I crept up to the window and peered in. Raven’s eyes were closed as her hands whipped over the cauldron so fast that I couldn’t even follow them. The pot boiled and bubbled creating a mess in the fireplace, but Raven didn’t seem to notice. She was completely in a dark zone.
A green stream of light passed over my right shoulder from the house. Glancing at the window to see where it came from, Raven stood, stoned faced, red cheeks, glowing green eyes. She knew I was there.
I darted down the stairs, past Hili, and out of the woods.
Chapter Ten
We didn’t talk about what had just happened, what I saw, or even her shoe. We walked in silence trying to figure one another out.
We made it back without being seen or what I considered not being seen even though the retired professors that hung on the wall watched our every move up the stairs.
“There was a framed picture on the mantle of Faith and Raven from when they were little. I mean toddler-little. I find it odd that they have been best friends for. . .ever.” I shuffled my foot along the floor while I looked down, noticing that Hili only had one shoe on.
“Where is your shoe?” My mouth dropped.
“I couldn’t get it out of the mud. And you took off so fast that I left it there.” Her words were rushed and panicked.
“Oh, Hili.” I smacked my forehead with the palm of my hand. “Now they are going to know that we were there.”
“I’ve never been into the woods until now. I didn’t know it was so muddy. Come on.” She waved me toward her room. “I have a coffee pot my dad sent me. I’ll make us a cup before we have to go to class.”
“If anyone asks, just say that I was curious about the University and you decided to go with me. Nothing more.” I crisscrossed my fingers over my heart. “Promise?”
She crisscrossed. “Promise.”
Her room was everything I never wanted in my room. The leopard print was plastered everywhere including the rug and wall hangings. Pictures of a happy family displayed all over the walls showed Hili smiling in each of them. Hili was one pampered daddy’s girl.
“That’s my daddy.” She smiled, proud as could be. “He wants me to be really successful in school. How do you know Professor Sandlewood?”
“She and my mother were best friends.” I continued to pick up little knick-knacks she had sitting around her room. “She helped me get through a really hard time when I first moved to Whispering Falls”
“Do you think she really hurt Faith?” She asked. She walked over to the mirror she had hanging on the wall and corrected the lining of her lipstick. “I mean, she really didn’t like Faith.”
“I know she didn’t hurt Faith.” The coffee smelled really good. “How do you know they didn’t get along?”
“You know. Teacher student stuff.” She waved her hands in the air. A little spark left her pointer finger. She giggled. “Sorry. Sometimes it goes off without me making it. That’s why I go to school.”
“Can’t you give me a specific?” I wasn’t a ‘just-cause-you-should-know’ kind of girl. I wanted pure, hard, facts as to why Faith and Eloise had a strained relationship.
“Faith is so uppity and thinks that she should pass because of her family money. Professor Sandlewood makes you work.” Hili took two mugs from the closet. I peeked in, but she slammed it shut before I could see anything.
Curiosity had gotten the best of me. “What’s in here?” I put my hand on the door knob, ready to twist it.
“Please don’t go in there.” She blushed. “It’s my closet. I’d be so embarrassed for you to see how messy it is.”
I could just imagine what all she had in there. Hili was one high-maintenance teenager. . .harmless none the less.
“Do you get along with Faith?” It wasn’t a bad question to ask. They both seemed to come from high-class Good-Sider’s.
“We’ve never had a problem. She has her friends and I have mine.” She poured the coffee out of the carafe. The steam from the heat rolled up and formed a heart before it puffed out. She handed me my cup. “My dad is so cute. He had the coffee pot specially made to do that.”
Yes, she was just as high-class as Faith Mortimer.
“Sometimes we get accelerated students like you.” She sat down. “Most the time they are just here to hone their abilities.”
“What about the professors?” I questioned. Eloise didn’t even mention she was a professor, nor did Izzy tell me.
“They come from all over. There are Dark-Siders along with the Good-Siders like us.” She got up and took a couple mugs that were in the shape of a witch’s hat. “Cream? Sugar?”
A Ding Dong sure would taste good right now, I thought as I sat down to drink my coffee. Only I wasn’t into sharing anymore. I only had a few left as it was. Because it was only four days. . .right?
“Where are the professor offices?” Somehow I had to get to the student files and read Raven’s and Faith’s. Maybe their background would lead me in a direction to help Eloise.
“It’s on the backside of the library. Why do you ask?” She tilted her head to the side.
“I thought I’d pay my aunt a visit.” I lied. “We have a lot of catching up to do.”
Yes, a Ding Dong would taste great right now.
I glanced over, noticing Hili’s clock read 7AM in hot pink glow numbers.
“We are late!” I jumped up and out the door before I even thought about grabbing my bag or Madame Torres, leaving them on Hili’s bed.
I ran out of the cottage dorm and down the street quickly touching the sign that pointed in the direction of Intuition class.
That didn’t stop me from thinking about Elosie. Things didn’t add up. There was no way she’d hurt Faith. Plus Darla would never put me in danger. At least that’s what my intuition told me.
Chapter Eleven
“Glad to see you made it.” Helena glared at me with a burning, reproachful eye.
I took a seat next to Hili, wondering how in the hell she got there faster than me. And then I realized that she must’ve ca
st herself there. What a friend she was. She should’ve cast me right alongside of her.
The heel that she had lost at the bottom of Raven’s house was propped on top of our desk. Damn, Raven told Aunt Helena we were there.
Hili slipped the shoe in her bag as she pulled out her books. My embarrassment turned into raw fury as I realized Hili didn’t have my back. She could’ve reminded me to get my books, I thought as I glared over at her.
She shrugged her shoulders, and then flipped to the page.
I turned my attention to Helena who was drumming her fingers on the edge of a new cauldron, continuing to stare at our table.
New cauldron? I couldn’t help but wonder what happened to Eloise’s. It was definitely worth looking into. But why?
Sarsaparilla, Zicum, Rhus Tox, Ledum, Eupbrasia, Ferrum Phos, Belladonna, Mandrak. I read through the potions that lined the shelf behind Aunt Helena. I recognized a few from the Magical Cures book. There was nothing there that Raven had used and I had to be sure to look up the ones she did make. Not to mention try to figure out who likes pinecones. Raven was definitely making a potion for a particular someone. But who?
“Ma’am, June and I. . .um. . .” Hili was about to erupt like a volcano.
“We were taking a walk and I wanted to know my way around the University.” My voice escalated, “What’s wrong with that?”
Wasn’t that a valid question? Why did they want to keep the Dark-Siders and Good-Siders away from each other? I spun around my stool and came face to face with Raven. There was fire in her eyes.
I had no idea if I was right, but Helena didn’t protest and I didn’t let my lack of confidence break.
My eyes narrowed, and a huge smug, smile crossed my lips. Even Raven couldn’t vocally protest, but she discreetly slid her hand across the table and down to Faith’s empty seat, patting it as if she was warning me.
Before turning around, I gave her the ole “I’m watching you” fingers like I saw on the movie Meet The Parents.
Hili was someone I couldn’t rely on. She was young and didn’t want to get in trouble, so she would probably tell on me in a minute. I was going to be really careful around that one.