Crowns and Curses

by V. B. Marlowe

  Everyone hurried to get inside. Gretchen had fallen behind Molly. Once she was inside, Molly flung the door closed. Just before the door could close completely, Scarlett burst through, sending pieces of the door, Molly, and a few others down the flight of stairs that led to the deep part of the basement.

  Pain shot through Molly's body as her side landed on the hard concrete. She scrambled to her feet trying her best to ignore the pain. She'd lost her lantern in the fall. The only light from the room came from Ms. Halifax's flashlight. She couldn't see or hear Scarlett, and that was more terrifying than anything.

  “Everyone, get your backs against a wall,” Ms. Halifax ordered.

  "What are you going to do?" Molly asked. "We're trapped."

  Ms. Halifax shone her flashlight toward the center of the room. Scarlett stood there, taking slow, menacing steps toward them with a look of hunger in her eye. “Just do as I said,” Ms. Halifax replied, sounding surprisingly calm. Since Molly had no ideas herself, she ushered the girls against the wall.

  The coolness of the brick wall seeped through the back of Molly's nightgown. Everyone watched in silence as Ms. Halifax, illuminated in light, took small steps backward toward Scarlett's empty cage. The top of the cage almost reached the ceiling, and it was at least twenty feet wide. It had been made so that Scarlett would have plenty of room to move around. Molly held her breath as Ms. Halifax stood in front of the open door, still shining the light on Scarlett. "What is she doing?" Molly whispered to herself.

  Scarlett crouched and made a mad dash toward Ms. Halifax. Molly watched in terror, covering her ears from the frantic shrieks coming from the girls. Ms. Halifax scurried quickly to the right just as Scarlett reached her. Scarlett, not being able to stop herself in time, skidded into the empty cage as Ms. Halifax slammed the door shut behind her, closing the latch.

  Everyone cheered in relief, finally able to breathe as they moved away from the wall. Molly placed her hand over her heart, taking deep breaths.

  “Thank you, Ms. Halifax,” Tress said. “You saved us. If you hadn’t done that Scarlett would have—”

  Ms. Halifax shook her head and held up her hands. "Let's not think about that. She's tucked away in her cage, and she is going to stay there. I want all of you to your quarters immediately. No one is to leave their room anymore under any circumstances."

  The girls murmured more thank yous before feeling their way in the darkness and heading up the basement stairs. Molly turned to Scarlett’s cage. She thrashed around throwing herself against the sides of the cage, obviously angry about being tricked. She snapped her jaws at them. Molly turned to Ms. Halifax. “That was badass . . . amazing, I mean.”

  Ms. Halifax smoothed the sides of her bun with the hand that wasn’t holding the flashlight. “I know what badass means.”

  A low roar came from Oriana’s cage. In all the chaos, Molly had forgotten that she was down their too. Ms. Halifax shone her flashlight on the cage. Oriana stirred for a moment, then went still again.

  “What are we going to do?” Molly asked. She remembered what Ms. Halifax had told her before all the commotion started. “Are you sure someone let her out?”

  Ms. Halifax gestured toward the heavy crates scattered around the basement. They had been tossed haphazardly out of the way. “Absolutely. She’s not strong enough to move that many crates. Someone did it and unlocked the latch to her cage. We just need to find out who.”

  9

  MOLLY

  MOLLY WAS DUMBFOUNDED. “BUT who? Who would open her cage and why?” Whoever had done it, didn’t they realize that they were putting themselves in danger also?

  Ms. Halifax studied the latch on Scarlett’s cage. “I have no idea, but we will find out.”

  Molly thought Ms. Bea might have a way of figuring it out. “We really can’t wake Ms. Bea up? Not even for this.”

  Ms. Halifax attempted to push one of the crates toward Scarlett's cage. "I'm afraid not. Waking her early could have the opposite effect than we need."

  Molly helped Ms. Halifax move the crate. It was heavy but throwing all her weight against it helped. She was more worried about Ms. Bea’s waning magical powers than usual. If her magic wasn’t strong enough to get rid of the vines, how could she keep Everly protected? How could she get them through the next portal to get the pen? There were other important questions too.

  They moved a few more crates to block the entrance of Scarlett’s cage and a few in front of Oriana’s just to be safe. “And what about the doors closing like that?” Molly asked. “How did that happen?”

  Ms. Halifax pressed her thin lips together. Molly could tell she was most bothered by that. "Yes, that will need to be investigated also. Also the latch on Scarlett's cage was under a locking spell. Someone would have had to break that. The only one in this house who has the magic to do something like that is Bea."

  Molly's shoulders drooped. "Well, she certainly wouldn't have done it." Was there someone else on the premises that had that kind of magic? There had to be, they just didn’t know who. “Where’s Dr. Meyer?”

  Ms. Halifax turned her flashlight toward Scarlett's cage, and double checked the lock. "He's in the attic. I go up there three times a day to deliver his meals. The doctor is locked behind bars as he should be and then there are two more locked doors between him and freedom. I triple-check the locks each time. There's no way he could get out of there."

  Molly wasn’t one hundred percent sure about that. “We need to sit down and make a list of every possible suspect. We need to do this before the culprit tries something like this again.”

  Ms. Halifax nodded her head in agreement. “We’ll have plenty of time to sort this out in the morning. Let’s head back upstairs.”

  Molly hurried quickly behind Ms. Halifax, mainly because she had the flashlight and Molly didn’t want to be left in the darkness.

  Back upstairs the girls were nowhere to be seen, so it was safe to assume that the bedroom doors were open again. Sure enough, the door to Molly's bedroom was no longer locked. After doing a final check of the girls and making sure that everyone was accounted for, she crawled into bed and slid underneath the cool covers. It had been a long, tiring day but as exhausted as she was, she could not fall asleep.

  The next day was a strange one. Ms. Bea's absence gave the estate a peculiar feeling. Molly didn't care for this restoration business even though she knew it had to be done. What if they were attacked right then by the Moonhaven Coven? How would they defend themselves? Aside from that worry, Scarlett wouldn’t leave her room and asked to be excused from class. Gretchen and Jolie were still hard at work on finding a concoction that would kill the beanstalks.

  The remaining girls gathered in the Great Study, but no one could really focus on anything. Everyone was still shaken up by what had happened the night before—Molly included.

  Isleen was perched on the couch beside Tress, her legs tucked under her long royal-blue dress. “I can’t believe we almost died last night. At the hands of one of our own.”

  “Don’t even,” Lily said forcefully, glaring at Isleen.

  Isleen widened her eyes, blinking innocently. “Don’t even what?”

  Lily shook her head. "I know what you're trying to do Izzy. It's what you always do. Disturbing the peace. You're trying to get us to turn on Scarlett, and it isn't going to work.” Lily looked around the room at the remaining girls. “Is it? We know what happened last night wasn’t Scarlett’s fault. She can’t help what she is.”

  No one spoke at first. "Yeah," Oriana agreed. "Neither of us asked to be turned into shifters. She feels awful about what happened."

  Isleen turned down the corners of her mouth. "Aw! She feels bad? Well, we felt absolutely terrorized last night when she chased us down like prey." Isleen folded her arms over her chest. "What do you think, Tress?"

  Tress appeared to be caught off guard like her mind had been somewhere else. "We—we know she can't control it and that it's not her fault, but that doesn't change
the fact that she could have killed us all last night."

  “Exactly,” Isleen agreed. “Not to mention she would have earned herself on elixir by taking us out. Maybe that was her plan all along.”

  Marina stood and stretched her long arms above her head. “I have to agree with Lily and Ori. I know how it is. There are things that I’ve done that I’m not proud of, but I couldn’t control them. They were just a part of my natural instinct.” She shot Molly a quick glance.

  Molly knew exactly what Marina was talking about. When Molly had first come to Everly, she'd walked by the pool while Marina was swimming. She'd bitten Molly's ankle and pulled her into the pool, holding her under the water. Owen jumped in to save her. If it weren't for him, Molly might not have been sitting in the great study at that moment. It's a mermaid's instinct to attack when someone foreign enters their territory, and at a point, Molly hadn't known Marina very well yet.

  “Why are you always on their side?” Isleen snapped.

  Marina plopped back down on a beanbag. “It’s not about sides, it’s about what’s right.”

  Isleen turned to Molly. “What happens when she gets out again? Are we supposed to live in fear until the next Blood Moon because God knows these vines aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.”

  Molly swallowed hard. The girls had a right to feel safe. Everyone who lived on the estate did. “Ms. Halifax and I will be meeting about that today. She won’t be getting out again, so don’t worry.”

  “Where’s Ms. Bea?” Tress asked. “Is she okay?”

  “She fine,” Molly replied. “She’s just resting up. She’ll join us again soon.”

  Isleen chuckled. “As if taking a long nap is going to suddenly make her magic work.” When no one said a word, Isleen looked around the room. “Don’t you guys get it? Her magic isn’t working like it used to because she’s old. Old and dried up. Sleeping isn’t going to make her younger. That’s not how it works.”

  Lily opened her mouth to say something but Oriana cut her off. "That's not true. Her powers aren't as strong as they used to be because she gave us each a piece of it when she gave us weapons and powers. She didn't have to do that, but she did so we would have ways to protect ourselves—even you, you ungrateful brat. Don't speak of her like that again."

  The other girls nodded in agreement. Isleen smirked, but she said nothing else.

  "She's right," Molly said to Isleen. "Her number one goal is to keep you all safe and protected. It's literally what she lives for. The least you could do is show some respect."

  A dismal memory smacked Molly in the gut. Someone had opened that cage and they needed to figure out who. “I think we could all use a break after last night. You guys can continue to work on your debate speeches, or you can leave class early.”

  Once the girls were dismissed, Molly headed to Ms. Halifax’s office. She knocked on the door and waited, but there was no answer. The door was unlocked, so Molly let herself in and looked around.

  She had never been in Ms. Halifax's office before. It wasn't as bright and cheerful as Ms. Bea's office which came as no surprise. The walls were painted a medium-gray, and dark-gray curtains hung from the window. A small black desk was nestled between the two windows. It was immaculate, housing only a pen holder, an empty paper tray, and a neat stack of papers which rested in the middle.

  Against one wall was a black bookshelf that stretched from floor o ceiling. The only portrait on the wall was a beautiful painting of Ms. Bea, only she looked much younger in the painting. Molly wondered how long they had known each other. She'd never asked. She realized then that she had never asked Ms. Halifax much of anything about herself.

  A gray rug filled the center of the office along with a black velvet couch and a wooden armchair. Molly felt terrible about what she was about to do, but it needed to be done. Ms. Halifax always carried a ring full of skeleton keys with her. Molly was sure that one of those keys opened the attic door.

  Molly went to the center desk drawer and pulled it out. There was nothing in there, but typical office supplies—a stapler, tape dispenser, a tiny clear box filled with paper clips—but she was afraid to touch anything since everything was so neat. She opened the top drawer on the left which held some files. The drawer underneath that was filled with skeleton keys. "Bingo," Molly said to herself as she grabbed them and shoved them into her pockets. There were about twelve in all.

  With the keys in tow, she hurried up to the attic. She had never been to the attic and attics always gave her uneasy feelings. It didn’t seem as though good things ever happened in them.

  At the first door, Molly tried several skeleton keys. The lock clicked open with the fifth key she tried. There were about five feet between the first and second doors. The key that opened the first door didn't open the second. It took Molly a minute to get that one open.

  Immediately she was hit by the smell of mothballs and must. Her eyes went directly to a ball of light in the corner. Dr. Meyer sat in a five by five cage with a lantern reading a book. He didn't stir at her arrival. Molly shut the door behind her, and he looked over in her direction. His lips curved into a slow grin. "Ms. Dillinger. I didn't expect to see you here."

  Molly said nothing as she ambled over to the cage to inspect it. The bars were made of thick metal. There was a padlock on it that looked as if it would be challenging to break through. There was a slit at the bottom where a tray of food could slide through, but nothing much bigger than that. Dr. Meyer tossed his book aside and watched her curiously.

  The doctor looked terrible. His clean-shaven face now bore a thick mustache and an unkempt beard. His dark hair was a mess all over his head. His white dress shirt was untucked and missing a few buttons. Dr. Meyer's gray pants were rolled up to just above his chins. He wore no socks or shoes. Molly thought he looked like a refugee on a deserted island. She might have felt sorry for him had he not been poisoning Allison.

  Molly peered into the cage. “How have you been getting out of here?”

  The doctor frowned. “Come again?”

  "Don't play games with me. I know you've been getting out. How?"

  He cocked his head to the side. "Are you blind? You are fully aware that you had to get through two doors to in here, right?" He pointed to the door of the cage. "Bea put her magic on that lock. Only she can open it. And if I could get out of here, do you think I would be sitting here now? Would you?"

  Molly wasn’t sure what to think. He was the only one angry enough to do something like letting Scarlett free, but she had no idea how he could have been getting out.

  He folded his arms over his knees. "The whole lot of you should be ashamed of yourselves. Locking me up like some animal and making me live in these inhumane conditions. Halifax comes in to bring me some food—the same thing every day; a sandwich, an apple, and a bottle of water. Every few days she'll bring me some books, and that's it."

  Molly observed a tall stack of books in the corner beside a bucket. She didn’t want to think about what the bucket was for or who emptied it.

  She walked away from the cage. “You’ve got a lot of nerve talking about what’s legal and what’s not. You were drugging Allison and keeping her sick. You betrayed the trust of everyone by working for the witches. You totally deserve this and worse.”

  Dr. Meyer said nothing for a moment, staring at Molly. Then he pursed his lips. "You said all that as if I had a choice. Do you really think the Moonhaven Coven, the worst witches to walk the face of this earth, sent me some cheerful invitation asking me whether or not I wanted to help them? It doesn't work that way. They told me what they wanted me to do and I had to do it."

  Molly thought about that, and maybe he had a point. Still, she couldn't bring herself to muster up any sympathy for him. “You could have told Ms. Bea the truth. She would have helped you escape their wrath. In case you haven’t noticed, she’s been pretty successful at keeping the witches away.”

  Dr. Meyer sighed. “So young and so dumb.”

  Mol
ly scowled. “Excuse me?”

  Dr. Meyer hopped up and grabbed the bars of the cage. “Aren’t you angry yet?”

  “What?”

  "Aren't you angry yet? This woman lied to you and brought you here for reasons based on lies. Now she's holding you prisoner just like me and everyone else here. There's a good chance you will never set a foot beyond the gates of Everly and that you will die here. She has ruined your life. Don't you even care? How can you not be mad?"

  Molly knew he was trying to get into her head, but she wasn't about to let him. "We've had conversations. You know exactly how I feel about being here, and I was angry, but now I know what I have to do to get out."

  Dr. Meyer chuckled so loudly it caused Molly to jump. She rolled her eyes because he was laughing way too long. “What’s so funny?”

  “You’re not going to get out of here that way. These journeys and elixirs and magical lands—they’re not going to set you free. You and me—we’re going to grow old and rot here just like the staff before us.”

  Molly folded her arms over her chest thinking about the teacher who had been there before her. Ms. Pruitt. When she had come to Everly Academy, she was the same age as Molly, but she had grown old and died of old age. Ms. Pruitt was currently buried somewhere in the forest. Molly didn't want that to happen to her. Don't let him get in your head, Molly.

  The doctor cocked his head to the side, studying Molly. “It doesn’t have to be that way though. We don’t just have to accept this.”

  Molly wanted to know what he meant, but she didn't say so out loud.

  Dr. Meyer knelt down to grab his almost-empty water bottle. “There’s enough of us to overpower Bea, even with her magic. Think about it. You. Me. The Glam Squad. The kitchen and housekeeper staff. The groundskeeper and his son. We can get out of here if we really wanted to.”