Crowns and Curses

by V. B. Marlowe

  Ms. Bea jumped slightly, giving Molly a broad smile. “Ms. Dillinger. Come in.”

  It chilled Molly how fast Ms. Bea could manage to throw on a false smile for her. Molly crept in, closing the door behind her. “I just dismissed the girls for lunch. They all seemed okay considering. I don’t know how long they will stay so calm though. Anyway, I had a discussion with Scarlett. She told me something I need to share with you.”

  Ms. Halifax didn’t look up from what she was doing. “Did she? What is it?”

  Molly lowered herself onto one of the satin-covered couches. "She told me that there are two types of Wolvenblood, the type that are bad wolves and the type that are good wolves. Scarlett said the good wolves only hunt and kill the animals they need for food, and they stay within their boundaries. She said bad wolves do whatever they want and kill just for fun. She warned me that where ever we keep her needs to be extra secure so she can't get out. A bad wolf will destroy anything in its path, us included."

  Ms. Halifax turned in her seat and stared at Molly. “Interesting.”

  Ms. Bea was quiet for a long time. “Oh, dear. Well, I’m glad she felt safe enough to tell you. I’ve created cages for both her and Oriana and enchanted the latches with a locking spell, but we most definitely will take extra precautions from tonight on.”

  “Also,” Molly added, “she doesn’t want the other girls to know. She doesn’t want them to be afraid of her or to treat her any differently.”

  “I think that’s wise,” Ms. Halifax said. “They already have enough to scare them at present.”

  “Is there anything else, Ms. Dillinger?” Ms. Bea asked. She sounded as if she were a thousand miles away.

  "No, that's it. I'm going to get some reading done now." Molly didn't know why, but she didn't like the vibe she was feeling in the room. She felt secrets were hanging in the air like bombs on the verge of exploding, but she wasn't sure she wanted to know what they were. Molly left quickly, closing the door behind her.

  5

  MOLLY

  AS MOLLY ROUNDED THE corner on the way to her bedroom, she bumped into Ember carrying a flashlight. Ember was the Glam Room's hairstylist. The Glam Room was a girl's best friend and one of Molly's favorite parts of Everly Academy. You could get your hair styled by Ember, your makeup done by Anais, and any dress you desired whipped up by Cinnamon within minutes.

  “Ember, hey.”

  Ember grinned, running her fingers through her fluorescent orange hair. That day she had placed a large pink bow just above her right ear. Her heavily lined eyes looked more narrow than usual. "Hey, Molls. Funny I should run into you. I want to take you somewhere."

  Molly frowned. “You want to take me somewhere? Where?” Didn’t Ember realize they were trapped and there was nowhere for any of them to go?

  Ember’s diamond stud nose ring glistened in the glow of the flashlight. “We had to make sure you were cool first, but since you’ve passed that test, I’d like to invite you to the staff lounge. It’s the most happening place at Everly only open to those who receive our special invite.”

  Molly couldn’t imagine there being yet another room in the sprawling estate. She thought she’d seen everything. Before she could respond, Ember grabbed her hand and pulled her down the long corridor. They hurried up the stairs to the third floor. Molly struggled to keep up so she wouldn’t fall. Ember led Molly down the dark empty hallway to the very last room. Knocking first, she poked her head inside when there was no answer. Molly followed her into the room. Inside were two long tables filled with clay, paint, brushes, and a horde of art supplies.

  Three of the walls were completely covered in splotches of paint, while the fourth wall was covered with a purple velvet curtain from the ceiling to the floor.

  “This is Tress’ studio,” Ember explained.

  Molly didn’t understand. “You use Tress’ studio as a staff lounge?”

  Ember burst into giggles. “No, no. Of course not. Come.” She scampered over to the curtain and pulled it back, revealing a door. It was easy to miss unless you knew it was there. Ember flattened her palms against the door and pushed. It popped open. She waved Molly inside with a hand flourish. “After you, my dear.”

  Molly stepped in cautiously not knowing what to expect. The room was small but charming. The walls were splashed with bright oranges and yellows. A beautiful sunset mural covered one wall, making Molly long for a trip to the beach. Two long teal couches ran up the sides of the rooms. Tall armchairs that looked very comfortable and a small wooden table sat in the center of the room. Below the sunset mural was a counter that held a coffee maker and bottles of alcohol. A neon pink refrigerator planted in one corner would have been Molly's dream appliance when she was twelve.

  “Wow,” Molly said. She had been in staff lounges before but none that looked like this.

  Cinnamon, the resident seamstress, and Anais, the makeup artist, were stretched across one couch. A brunette Molly recognized as one of the servers from the dining room occupied and armchair. A good-looking guy with dark features laid across the second couch thumping a pen against the word-search book on his lap. They stared at Molly expectantly.

  The ladies from the Glam Room made quite the trio visually. Cinnamon had deep, mossy green hair that flowed down her back and Anais’s lavender hair was pulled up into a perfect bun. She batted her spider-like eyelashes at Molly.

  Ember rested her hand on Molly’s shoulders. “You already know Anais and Cinnamon.” She motioned to the guy on the couch. “This here is Boscoe. He’s one of the cooks.”

  That's why Molly had never seen him before. He spent his time in the kitchen. Molly realized then that she'd never laid eyes on any of the cooks. They must have kept to the kitchen and their living quarters.

  Ember nodded toward the girl in the armchair. "And this is our darling, Shelby."

  She saw Shelby at almost every meal. “Yes, I’ve seen Shelby before. It’s nice to meet you guys.”

  Boscoe stood to shake Molly’s hand. He was quite a bit shorter than her with tan skin and dark features. His ebony hair was shaved into a buzz cut. “It’s nice to finally meet you, Ms. Dillinger.”

  “Please. Call me Molly.”

  Boscoe winked at her, smirking slyly. “Okay, Molly.”

  Molly could tell right away that Boscoe was skilled in the fine art of flirting.

  Shelby extended her hand but didn't get up, so Molly inched her way over to her. "Nice to officially meet you, Shelby."

  "Likewise." Shelby pointed to the armchair beside her. "Please have a seat."

  Molly lowered herself into the armchair. It was made of tweed and didn't match the room, but it was so comfortable she could have taken a nap in it. Cinnamon rose from her seat and scooted over to where the alcohol was kept. "I'm going to make you a drink. My specialty. It's called Cinnamon Surprise."

  “That sounds great.” It had been a while since Molly had had a good drink and she could sure use one.

  Ember lifted Boscoe's feet and slid underneath them to sit on the couch. "First things first," she said. "No one knows about this place but a select few. Not even all the staff because not everyone is cool. I mean, don't get me wrong, everyone at Everly is very nice, but some are just a little too serious, and some of them are downright depressing. I get that none of us want to be here really but at least make the most of it. Anyway, people can only be brought here by invitation, and we all have to agree on who to invite."

  "Okay." That was easy for Molly. She had no intentions of bringing anyone there, so it really didn't matter to her. "Thanks for thinking I was cool enough to join the club."

  Cinnamon handed her a glass filled with red liquid. “No, thank you. This group has gotten pretty boring. We needed some new blood to spice things up.”

  “Hey,” Boscoe whined, covering his heart with his hand. “I’m far from boring.”

  Cinnamon took her place on the couch beside Anais and tossed a pillow at him. “Don’t take it personally. After so
many years together it’s bound to happen. You know I love you, Bossy.” She blew him a kiss. Boscoe shook his head and brought his attention back to the word search he’d been working on.

  Molly brought the glass to her lips and took a sip, letting the drink run down her throat. It was sweet and spicy. Not too strong. She’d never had a drink like it, but it was good.

  Cinnamon nodded. “Good, right?”

  "It is delicious," Molly admitted before taking another sip. She frowned. "Tress doesn't know you guys meet in here?"

  Shelby made a face. “Tress isn’t exactly the sharpest crayon in the box.”

  “She’s not dumb,” Molly replied. She didn’t mean to sound defensive, but she felt very protective of her students.

  Shelby shook her head. "I didn't say she was dumb, she just isn't the brightest. But to answer your question, these walls are soundproof. Anyway, you can't even tell Ms. Bea about this place, okay?"

  Molly didn't mean to laugh as hard as she did. She covered her mouth with her hand to make herself stop. "She's a fairy. She created this estate. Do you really think Ms. Bea doesn't know this is here?"

  "She knows," Anais said, flapping her hands. "I keep telling them that. Ms. Bea doesn't care. Aside from imprisoning us in this fancy prison, she's cool. She knows we need a place to kick back and unwind. We had to shut the Glam Room down, you know. Since the girls can't go outside, they were passing the time in there making demand after demand. We're fast, but we're not machines. We needed a break."

  Molly downed the rest of her drink. "I can imagine. Hopefully, the vines will be gone soon." She turned her attention to Boscoe. "I have to tell you, the food here is the best I've ever tasted. How do you guys do it?"

  Boscoe’s cheeks reddened. “I was trained at one of the most prestigious culinary schools in the world—The International Culinary Center. It’s in my blood. When I went to school, I imagined myself cooking in famous kitchens all over the world and even owning my own restaurant, not being confined to one kitchen in an enchanted academy.”

  Molly traced the rim of her glass with her finger. “I’m guessing none of us imagined ourselves in this situation. How long have you been here?”

  Boscoe shook his head as he circled something in his word search book. “Six long years. Six years too many. So, tell us about you. What was your life like before Beatrix whisked you away from it and brought you here?”

  Molly shuddered because her life had been kind of a mess. She’d been unemployed and broken-hearted. Those weren’t really things she cared to advertise. “Well, I had just finished my internship and graduated college. I was looking for a teaching job.”

  Shelby made a circular motion with her hand. “That’s really nice but get to the juicy details. You look like you’re hiding something scandalous under that Suzy Sunshine exterior.”

  Suzy Sunshine?

  Cinnamon shot Shelby a look. “Leave her alone, Shel. She can share what she wants.”

  Shelby shrugged. "Whatever." Then looking bored, she wandered over to the alcohol.

  Molly pondered for a moment and thought that it might help to get some things off her chest. “I had just broken off my engagement after finding out that my fiance was cheating on me with my best friend.”

  Everyone gasped and sat on the edge of their seats. Shelby, still fixing herself a drink, threw one arm up. “I knew it!”

  Boscoe put his word search down while Molly gave the gory details. She told them how Clay had claimed to be going out of town and how she'd gone over to his apartment to surprise him with a welcome back dinner only to find out that he was there with her best friend, Jessica. They had been running around behind her back for months, and neither one of them was very apologetic about it. Molly had gone from choosing her wedding colors to going full-blown mad woman on them. It had taken everything in her to not destroy the contents of Clay's bachelor-pad apartment, slash both of their tires, and go on a social media tirade so that the world (or at least everyone who followed Molly) could know that they were back-stabbing traitors who were not to be trusted.

  Anais had a faraway look in her eye. “Well, the universe has a way of making things right again because you came here and met Owen.”

  Molly's cheeks warmed. She liked Owen a lot. He was one of the best things about Everly. "Too bad he's out there, and I'm stuck in here."

  Shelby sighed, cradling a glass of brown liquor. “Lucky you. He is a hottie. I love a man whose good with his hands.”

  While Molly agreed with Shelby but wasn't sure how she felt about her thinking of Owen in that way. She silently chastised herself for feeling jealous. They had only been on one date. Owen wasn't her boyfriend or anything.

  Boscoe groaned before becoming engrossed in his word search again. Molly, however, appreciated the fact that she could finally express these feelings to someone. A picture of Owen flashed through her mind. "He is most definitely easy on the eyes.” She imagined him shirtless, swinging his ax in the sweltering heat as sweat dripped down his body.

  They talked a bit more about past loves and relationships gone wrong. Molly felt like she was having lunch with a group of her old friends and it was a good feeling. Suddenly the conversation took a different turn. Boscoe tossed his book aside and perched himself on the edge of the sofa. “What about these vines? What if they never go away and we’re stuck inside forever to never see the light of day again?”

  Shelby's eyes widened. "Don't say that. Ms. Bea will figure out a way to get rid of them. She has too. It hasn't even been a day, and I already feel like the walls are closing in on me. I will never take being able to look out of a window to see the sky for granted."

  Boscoe covered his face with his hands. “Am I the only one seeing the big picture here? Who would have done this to Everly aside from the Moonhaven Coven? No one. No one else even knows we exist. If they were able to do this, doesn’t that mean they know where we are? Bea is always making a huge deal about how important it is for our location to stay hidden. Well, it's clearly not hidden anymore, so what’s the point of being here?”

  Although Molly didn't want to think that way, Boscoe had a point. According to Ms. Bea, the whole point of Everly Academy was for the girls to have a safe haven. This wasn't precisely what Molly considered safe.

  Shelby set her empty glass on the table. "Let's say they do know where we are. There just playing with us. If they wanted to kill us or something they would have. Maybe they did it because the girls found the first elixir. It's taken them all this time to finally get one so the witches probably thought it would never happen. I think since time is almost up, they are pretty confident that they're going to win, so they wanted to shake everyone up a little. Like an animal playing with its prey before devouring it."

  Molly would have been very grateful if Shelby stopped talking right then.

  Anais hugged a throw pillow to her belly. “Stop it, Shelby. I don’t want to hear that.”

  Shelby shrugged. "Hate to break it to you, but that's the reality of our situation right now. Time is almost up, and when that happens the girls will be permanently cursed, and we will all die."

  Cinnamon placed a hand on Anais’ back. “Don’t listen to her. If the time runs out, those of us who aren’t cursed will be released from here. We will be able to go on with our lives again. That’s what Ms. Bea has always told us.”

  Shelby looked at Cinnamon as if she'd just said the dumbest thing she'd ever heard. "You really think it's up to her? Once time is up the coven will do whatever the hell they want to us, and I'm sorry, but they don't strike me as the merciful type. They will claim the girls that are left and kill the rest of us. Of course, the old woman isn't going to tell us that because she wants everyone to carry on their work as usual."

  “Is that right?” Boscoe asked Molly.

  Everyone turned their attention to Molly, but she wasn't sure why. They had all been there a lot longer than she had and probably knew a lot more. Molly bit her bottom lip. She wasn't sure what
to say, but she wasn't going to lie. "I don't know what would happen. Honestly, I don't think Ms. Bea knows either. That would require us to predict what the witches would do, and we can't."

  A tense moment of silence followed.

  “How’s it going with finding the elixirs?” Cinnamon finally asked. “Are we close to getting out of here?”

  Cinnamon's doe-like eyes held so much hope it hurt Molly's heart. "I hope so. We are working very hard at it, and Allison is getting better by the day. She should be able to tell us more very soon." The truth was, though they had made some progress, they still had a long way to go. But Molly thought that it would be cruel to make everyone feel worse than they already did.

  The five of them stared at Molly expectantly as if waiting for her to say more, but she had nothing else. She shifted uncomfortably under their watchful gazes. Molly got the sinking feeling they’d asked her to come just to get information on the progress of the curses, but then she wondered if she were making a mistake for thinking the worst of people. They had done nothing wrong. They were just asking questions. Molly knew she would be doing the same if she were in their positions. Still, there was so much to do and so little time. Molly placed her empty glass on the table. “This has been really nice, and I hope to do it again soon, but I have to get to work. Thanks for letting me know about this place. I promise to keep it secret.”

  "Hold on," Boscoe said, hurrying over to a small monitor in the corner Molly had just noticed. The monitor showed a live feed of Tress' workroom. It was still empty. "Okay," Boscoe said, letting her out.

  Molly left the room. As the door shut behind her, she felt extreme pressure on her shoulders. So many people depended on her and the girls to break the curses. She wouldn't be able to live with herself if she let them down. Molly knew she had to do something, but without any clues from Allison, she had no idea where to start.

  6

  MOLLY

  THE GIRLS GATHERED IN the Great Study the following day. Molly knew they needed a distraction from pens, and curses, and vines, so she decided to get to work on her other main project. Teaching the girls life skills so that when they finally got to leave the estate, they would be able to function and lead productive lives. The girls had been locked away for over two centuries and knew nothing of what it was like to live in the modern world. Molly wouldn't feel right sending them out there to be eaten by wolves.