But the office had no windows and was nearly all in shadow. All I could see in the light coming in from the doorway was a neat desk with two chairs in front of it. I blinked, then felt hopefully along the wall for a light switch. There was one a little further from the door than I would have expected, but when I flipped it, it worked just fine.
In the ensuing glare I blinked several more times. The first thing I noticed was a circular outline on the floor. I thought most police investigators made outlines in the shape of a body, so I wasn’t sure what the circle implied. Maybe it was some strange magical ritual, but in any case I resolved to avoid it.
There were shelves on either side of the office stuffed with thick books, light-hearted trinkets, and magazines.
I circled the desk, looking for anything that might point to a motive for someone murdering this Jonathan that had nothing to do with Ethel. On the desk was a small mirror with a gilded back, and a crystal ball. There were at least six ChapSticks, plus three pairs of glasses and a collection of tiny teacups.
I leafed through some of the scattered papers, but didn’t find anything there either.
When I heard a hum of voices below me, I glanced at my feet as if that would help me see through the floor. Of course, I had no such powers.
But the calm I had felt once I had entered the office shot through the window and ran away. My heart started pounding, and I just prayed no one would think to look for me up the stairs. I was almost out of time.
Despite my panic, on a whim I decided to try one of the drawers before I left. The top one opened with a squeak and I looked inside.
The drawer was completely empty, but that seemed strange in a place that was otherwise so cluttered, so I reached inside to feel around in the back, hidden part of the drawer. Sure enough, something was taped to the back surface. When I yanked on it, it took so much force to loosen it that I started to fall backwards. I caught myself just before I crashed to the floor and made a racket.
When I’d righted myself, I found myself holding a small silver box. Incidentally, I felt like I was doing something wrong. There was a good chance that was because I was.
Out of time, I stuck the tiny box into the pocket of my sweater and raced for the door. I debated about what to do with the key, and decided to keep it. Jonathan’s office was private, and we couldn’t very well have people sneaking in against his wishes.
I decided to go down the same staircase I had used to come up. Hopefully whoever belonged to the voices wouldn’t notice me. It was a big room, after all.
By the time I slipped into the dance hall, the voices had disappeared. I had to go down another flight to get to the cafeteria, and those stairs were nowhere near the doors to the hall. I roamed along a hallway for a bit until I found them and hurried down.
There were only a handful of people in the cafeteria, including Jackie and Kelley, who were eating quietly in a corner. I went and grabbed some food and joined them.
I had never seen such luscious food in my life. The vegetables looked even better than the ones in my grandmother’s garden. The fruits were deep reds, blues, and purples. I suddenly felt healthy.
Then I wondered if magic food would give me indigestion.
To my surprise, the only other occupants of the cafeteria were sheriffs. One of them was the woman I had seen with Quinn, and she was sitting with several colleagues. I didn’t think she even looked up when I entered.
What were they were doing here? Well, superficially they were talking quietly amongst themselves. But that wasn’t really an explanation. My new friends were sitting far enough away so that I didn’t think I’d be able to overhear the sheriffs’ conversation. Too bad, I would have loved to get a clue about what they were up to.
“You finally made it,” said Jackie. Her plate was half empty.
“Sorry. I didn’t manage to move the marble,” I murmured.
“Of course not. It’s going to take you time and practice. Not that you have either of those, but I still think it’s a good thing to say,” Kelly whispered.
I had never met anybody as quiet as Kelly. Jackie didn’t appear fazed by the silence, but I thought it was strange.
“Right. I’ll keep that in mind next time,” I said.
“Any sign of the wicked witches?” Jackie asked.
Even Kelly snickered a little bit. “You know that she’s talking about Hannah and Taylor right?”
I nearly choked on my sandwich. “No sign of them. Did they go somewhere fancy to eat?”
“They probably had a chef prepare their food. It would be just like them. That would seem totally normal. Their families are incredibly wealthy,” Jackie explained.
“I can’t believe all the witches have to go through this process,” I said. When no one had anything to say to that, I dug into my food.
While we ate and chatted, I tried to keep an eye on the table of sheriffs. They seemed to have moved closer together and were speaking in lower voices than before. Even when there was silence at my table, there was no way I could hear what they were saying.
We didn’t have much time, so I ate quickly. I was very aware of the tiny box in one pocket and the key in the other, and I made myself stay turned away from the sheriffs lest they somehow see it my pockets bulging. Jackie gave me a look as if I were acting strangely, but I couldn’t help it.
Once we headed back upstairs to start class again, I was still particularly worried about the key. It felt like it was going to burn a hole in my jeans, and Ms. Mallon kept giving me strange looks as I kept running my hand along my thigh to make sure the key was still there.
In my worried imagination, I was sure she suspected I had gone upstairs. Since we’d been expressly told not to, it wasn’t the smartest decision, but I didn’t care. One way or another I was going to clear Ethel’s name.
Anyhow, or so I told myself, Ms. Mallon was much more likely to be giving me strange looks because I was so bad at twiddling my fingers properly.
Hannah and Taylor kept snickering behind my back, just loudly enough to make sure I noticed. They apparently loved making fun of all things Rhinestone.
“If you’re the great hope for the family, they might as well just give up now,” said Hannah coolly.
“I hope they have failed witch insurance,” Taylor snickered.
Far from doing anything to stop them, Ms. Mallon obviously agreed with them. Each time I failed she let out another big sigh, as if she had expected as much.
“You just don’t have enough time. You might as well remove yourself from the running now,” was surely what she wanted to say to me.
By the end of the day I was tired of anything at all that might be related to being a coven witch. Sincerely, it was not worth it.
For the first time since my grandmother had come tearing down Bailey’s wedding aisle and pulled me through a green shrub, I was mad at my sister.
If she hadn’t disappeared, I wouldn’t have to deal with not being able to pull a marble across the floor, or Hannah’s perfume drowning me, or Ms. Mallon’s sharp eyes.
As it stood I was up to my neck in trouble.
The only thing that kept me going was my determination to catch a murderer.
That night I nearly fell into bed. All in all the day had been a success. Kind of. Who knew what tomorrow would bring? It was only just the beginning.
Chapter Twenty
Friday night was a long evening. First of all, the deportment students had to stay at the hall for dinner. We were required to learn manners that I didn’t know still existed anywhere in the world, and I couldn’t imagine what use it was supposed to be to distinguish between different kinds of forks. They all had prongs and did the same thing. They brought food to my mouth. The only question was whether the food was delicious or not. But hey, you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do, and that’s that.
Our classes ended so late on Friday that darkness had already fallen by the time we were finished. I wasn’t worried, since by now I knew how t
o get back to my grandmother’s house on my own and had done it several times.
But it was, in fact, the first time I’d been out on my own in Twinkleford after nightfall. Having said goodbye to my classmates, except for Hannah and Taylor, I headed out of the dance hall. As I left I saw the Rolls Royce pull up and Hannah and Taylor both getting into it.
They never so much as looked my way.
As I made my way through the maze of small streets, one thing became clear. The nightlife in the village was vastly different from the daytime bustle.
The supernaturals out at night dressed differently. They walked differently. I was certain that they had different agendas from the agendas of the people I saw going to the market at noon. I saw a lot of black leather, makeup, and elaborate hairstyles. There were bursts of laughter among groups going into establishments together. As I passed restaurants and bars, supernaturals were spilling out of them. There was a close knot of vampires just hanging out on a street corner.
For the most part I was ignored, so I was able to slip down the streets without so much as a hello from anyone.
Craning my neck so that I could see the sky, I slowed my walk. There were more stars stuffed into the heavens than I had ever seen before. I tried to take it all in while still keeping an eye on where I was going.
I enjoyed the anonymity of walking by myself, which gave me a little opportunity to think. One thing I couldn’t deny was that the situation was a mess . . . and exciting. I wondered how my sister was doing right now. Was she was in hiding and alone? Was she enjoying the same night that I was?
In the end, I spent so much time looking up at the starry sky that I forgot to pay attention to where I was going. I took two left turns and then a right. Or was it three lefts? I had nearly lost track by the time I looked for another street sign.
I glanced around in every direction, but there wasn’t a street sign in sight. I slowed to a halt, knowing deep down that something was wrong. There was less light here, and it was harder to see the stars.
This was not a part of town I had been in before. In fact, this was the Bleak Area. Uninvited guests were unwelcome. I could tell from the gray cast of the buildings and the dilapidated and drab surroundings. Windows were broken. Ledges had rotted away. This place had been abandoned and left to decay a long time ago.
I swallowed hard.
I had just come to the one place I wasn’t supposed to be.
I was lost and alone.
Now what?
Suddenly, the evening had stopped being a straightforward stroll home to Misdirect. As I looked around at the small, dark buildings, a chill went down my spine. This was dangerous, and I shouldn’t be here, but I also had no idea how to get back to where I should be. I looked back the way I had come, but every street looked like the last one. I looked down at my feet. It was so dark where I was standing that I could barely see my shoes.
I was well and truly lost.
With my heart pounding like mad, I started to walk faster. As soon as I moved, the shadows closed in. One of them moved directly in front of me and forced me to stop. In reaction, I stepped closer to the nearest wall, hoping at least to have some protection from behind. Something rotting and dark met my nostrils and they flared. I quickly starting moving forward again.
Whatever the shadow had been, it had already disappeared. But that turned out to be scant comfort. Fear gripped me as I searched my brain for any clues about what to do. Since I had entered the Bleak Area there had not been a single signpost to point the way or name the streets, and just as bad, my grandmother had not given me a way to contact her. You would think with my ability with crystal balls I would have a way to get in touch and call for help. Not to be dramatic, but it was getting to that point.
My foot landed in a puddle, but instead of hearing the splash of clean water I heard a squelch. I glanced down and blanched.
My foot was in a black pool of muck.
While I gazed at it in disgust, a noise drew my attention.
I spun around and tried to see what was behind me, almost panicking now. All I saw was an empty street lined with gloomy buildings.
Every building had a door, and every doorway had at least ten bolts on it. Many of them were decorated with cobwebs in the corners, though some were not. Down the street I could even see the light coming from under one of the doors. Was somebody home? Should I knock? There didn’t seem to be any way to get out of here without help.
Lowe had made it clear that this neighborhood was a big part of Twinkleford. She had even told me you could get lost here, and now I was. I promised myself I’d never look up at the stars again.
Just then there was a hissing at my feet. I glanced down and found the most scraggly cat I had ever seen circling my legs. He was black with tufts of hair sticking up at odd angles, and even in the darkness I could see that his eyes were red.
I gulped. Knowing that cats saw better in the dark and could run faster than I could anyhow, I saw no point in trying to get away from it.
As I continued to walk, I saw a jumble of tombstones that told me I must be near a cemetery. Every time I glanced over my shoulder the cat was following me. No, he wasn’t following me. He was stalking me.
I could barely breathe as I reached the next intersection and found the first sign I had come across since I realized I was lost. It pointed me toward the cemetery straight ahead.
Figuring that there might be someone visiting the cemetery whom I could follow out of this mess, I went on ahead. But when I turned around again to note my route, the situation had deteriorated even more. Now it wasn’t just one cat, but three, all looking as malnourished as the first one. They all had red eyes.
I supposed that this would be okay as long as they didn’t run into any wolves.
Nearer to the cemetery the houses were spaced apart a bit more, but that only gave me more reason to be afraid. At every gap between the houses I was sure someone would be waiting to jump out at me.
I hadn’t seen a supernatural since I entered the Bleak Area, but far from being relieved, it just made me nervous. Where were they all?
Behind the cemetery was a line of ragged trees, their branches close and hanging. Out of several of the trees I saw eyes burning, many of them yellow, others a scattering of different colors. A couple were red. I wondered if those were owls or bats or something else. The trees seemed to be alive too. The branches crawled with black movement.
A trickle of fear ran down my neck. It was all I could do to keep going, but I kept pressing on, hoping to find help. At least the cemetery didn’t have a gate with ten bolts on it.
When I looked behind me, the cats had multiplied yet again. Given how dark it was and the way their small bodies kept shifting, I couldn’t even count how many were there.
Just as I was about to reach the cemetery I heard voices. On the one hand I had been hoping to run into someone who would help me, but on the other, hearing unknown voices in this wilderness terrified me. I chose caution over hope for the moment and shot into a space next to one of the houses. Hoping to see but not be seen, I peeked out to see who was coming.
Maybe it would be someone who could help! Maybe it was someone looking for me!
My hopes were dashed when I saw that it was several skeletons, talking at length about headstone placement in the cemetery.
They turned away from me and toward the gravestones, then kept right on walking. More skeletons popped up from the ground in sprays of dirt. Righting themselves, they brushed themselves off and went to join their friends.
The skeletons clapped each other on the back in greeting. This was obviously a planned gathering of some sort, and of skeletons only.
Scarcely daring to breathe, I checked for the cats again. Only the first one was still visible, but the fact that the darkness around me seemed to be moving told me the others hadn’t gone far.
Suddenly a clicking sound reverberated off the buildings. As I watched in amazement, a parade of spiders about half the
size of the cats came down the street.
I shuddered uncontrollably. At first I thought it was maybe a dozen spiders. Then I realized that it was hundreds. And they just kept coming.
After the spiders came the cockroaches. I recognized them because I had once seen a picture of an infestation for a school project. After that were lizards.
Somehow I had stumbled on a very large gathering of the creepiest of all the supernaturals. Ghosts, vampires and other types that I didn’t recognize also arrived. As I watched, my terror grew.
The strange black cat was still staring at me. It was only a matter of time before his attention drew the attention of others.
I glanced behind me. Between the two buildings where I stood was an alleyway. At the other end of the alleyway there appeared to be a smaller street. I decided to get out of the vicinity of the cemetery, and the gathering of the creepies, as quickly as possible. Surely anything was better than standing in the middle of a cemetery party.
I made my way down the alleyway. As hard as I tried to stay in the center, I still brushed against cobwebs. I wondered if they’d been created by the same spiders I was now trying to avoid. How spiders got that huge I had no idea.
When I emerged onto the smaller street I quickly put my back to the cemetery and hurried in the opposite direction. I hoped was the direction from which I had come; it was only one street over, after all. But it hardly mattered, because all I cared about at the moment was getting away from the spiders. I had always hated spiders, and a nighttime procession of hundreds of them was hardly the cure.
I kept walking, but I still had no clue where I was. Every street was creepier than the last. I simply couldn’t find my way, and luck didn’t come to my rescue in the absence of knowledge. I got more and more frantic. For a few minutes the scraggly cat disappeared, but my relief was short-lived. He found me again and started following at a closer pace than he had before.
I tried moving faster, but quickly realized that that was foolish. When I stubbed my toe against an old barrel I started hopping on one foot in pain. At first I cried out, then I silenced myself. There was no way I was as alone as it seemed.
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