by Mara Webb
The ground was so uneven here. The tree roots bursting up through the soil obscured by fallen leaves were causing me to stumble, my breathing grew shallower and more frantic. That’s when it happened.
A burst of light flashed passed my left cheek, grazing it slightly and exploding into a low hanging branch in a dazzling blast. In the few seconds that my vision was compromised, my legs had kept moving. I tripped over and fell headfirst into a tree, dropping Marnie to the ground.
I couldn’t open my eyes. The rattling of my skull seemed to have continued beyond the initial impact and my head ached horribly. I was being dragged across the ground now, which was adding insult to injury. I knew they could have used magic to transport me, they clearly wanted me to feel every bump of the ground, every rock, every thorn covered weed.
Through my closed eyelids I could see the faint blue glow becoming brighter. I was being taken to the ritual site. I couldn’t hear Quin or any other friendly voice which made me more determined to open my eyes so that I could defend myself. When I forced the muscles in my face to open my eyes, I saw an angry Imogen standing over me.
The self-inflicted blow to my head had rendered me slightly confused, but I knew I needed to get a hold of myself quickly. “Why are you doing this? What is this all for? The ritual? You’re using forbidden magic, I don’t understand, what could possibly be worth the risk?” I asked, looking up at her.
Imogen crouched low and leaned in towards my ear. “Help me,” she whispered. “Please, I don’t want this.” Her valley girl accent had fallen away, I could hear the breath in her throat shaking. What does she mean? Was she not the one in charge here? I had seen her in the mirror with the book, the stolen book about ritualistic sacrifice. Edith had wanted me to see that. Unless she was showing me someone else. Robin.
My eyes darted around the group that were standing around me, trying to find Robin’s face. She was standing away from me, her eyes fixed on the back of Imogen. Could that be right? Robin was the one responsible for all this?
I looked back at Imogen and realized that she needed me to understand something. The expression on her face was one of desperation, her eyebrows raised in a questioning way as if to ask me ‘Are we in this together? Can you help me get out?’ I nodded gently so that only Imogen could see it. She helped me to my feet.
“She said the justice department is on the way, we should go. I’ll take care of this,” Imogen pointed to me. Her voice had lost some of its earlier confidence, but she stood tall, she was trying to get everyone to leave. I saw a few of the girls around me take steps towards the pile of backpacks.
“We’re going nowhere Imogen. No one leaves until the ceremony is complete.” Robin’s voice was steady, she had established her place. She was the one in charge here. “Marnie or Nora, it makes no difference. Get it done, Imogen. Back in your places everyone.”
“Robin, she knows. Don’t make this worse.” Imogen stepped towards her, making sure to obscure Robin’s view of me. I was able to reach for my wand and feel through the fabric of my backpack for the item I needed next.
“We made a mistake, a huge one. If we explain that to everyone then maybe they will take it easy on us, right? We have to own up to it.” Imogen was distracting her; I was ready to strike.
“Summa noctis!” I yelled. The blue light that swam across the branches around me, vanished. All light vanished. We fell into the depths of night. The pupils of my cat eyes dilated enormously, and I was able to relocate Robin. I started to run.
I reached back and pulled out an item from my backpack as I charged towards her, she was reaching for something inside her coat. Faster. Out of the corner of my eye I could see other hands moving for their wands, but I was running too quickly. They wouldn’t have time. I turned so that I would be approaching Robin from behind, leapt up high and brought the velvet bag deftly down over her head. She crumpled like old newspaper, falling into a snoring pile on the floor.
I could hear a rustling sound. Something was approaching. I wanted to live in my glorious moment for longer, but I didn’t have time. I pushed up off the ground and climbed up off Robin’s back just as something heavy struck me, knocking me down hard. I gasped for the air that had been so aggressively knocked out of me. It evaded me. My eyes closed and I lay still, plummeting into an even darker place, unconsciousness.
I felt a weight against my feet as if someone was sitting on me. My eyes started to shift back and forth under their lids, searching for something that they couldn’t quite see. As I opened them, I found myself in a bedroom that was a stranger to me. Looking down my body I could see Quin curled up next to my feet, his face nuzzled into a navy-blue quilt that was embroidered with moons and stars.
The window closest to the nightstand was covered by a white, linen blind that was allowing some of the winter sun to trickle in softly. I felt so comfortable and warm here, wherever here was. Upon trying to shuffle back into a seated position I felt a pounding in my head and right shoulder. Something had hit me. It was what I imagined being swung at by a sledgehammer must feel like.
As I delicately rearranged myself to upright, I realized that I was not in my own clothes. A mint green silk brushed across my skin; someone must have changed me into these pajamas. They looked, and felt, expensive. I wonder how much they cost. I really should treat myself to something like this, generally expensive stuff lasts longer, it’s an investment!
A silhouette in the doorway broke me out of my nightwear shopping fantasy.
Ryan stepped forward into the room, he was carrying a toasted bagel and a glass of orange juice. “Hey, how are you feeling?” He asked.
“Rattled, where am I? What happened?”
“My place,” he said. “I thought it was only fair that I look after you a little after I flew into you in the woods. I haven’t flown on a broomstick for a very long time, taking off wasn’t too hard but the landing wasn’t how I planned. I crashed into your body when you stood up, you cushioned my fall, but I knocked you clean out.”
I looked at him. He was wearing a short sleeve t-shirt and I could see some bruising and scratches on his skin. If he looked like that after a cushioned landing, then I could only imagine how awful I must look.
“You’ve managed to get plenty of sleep though so hopefully that has helped. I had a doctor come check you over just to make sure I hadn’t knocked you into a coma. You’ve been sleepy, he gave you an elixir to help with pain. I think he said some memory loss could be expected, and webbed toes, but only for a few days.” He laughed. “I’m just very sorry. I fed your cats though! I went around at Quins insistence and they were glad of the attention. I only just managed to leave and get back here.”
“Days? What about Robin? The other cheerleaders in the woods?” I asked as Ryan propped me up with another pillow. I took a bite of the bagel; the cream cheese had melted into it a little and it was an explosion of flavor in my mouth. I felt like I hadn’t eaten for a week.
“She was arrested, which was pretty easy as you had put that magic bag over her, she was fast asleep. When she woke up, she was in an interrogation room. She tried to give the officers the verbal run around for a couple of hours, but her story didn’t match up with the accounts from Imogen and the other cheerleaders. Imogen is in big trouble too, but Robin will probably get the harshest punishment.” He rolled up the blind to let some of the sunlight rush into the room and onto the bed.
“So, was it Robin that killed Hannah?”
“Yeah. They stole those books from your attic. Robin is over one hundred years old, you know. She has failed her classes so many times it’s ridiculous, she just has plenty of cash to keep paying so the University has been letting her stay. She wears a lot of moisturizer apparently but there must some other magic at play there. She had heard about the books at your aunt’s house from someone in her family, they remembered it was there from before Edith put the protection spell on the library.
“They are trying to find out exactly how she managed to ma
nipulate the others so effectively. She convinced Hannah to break into your house, showed her enough magic to get through the protection spell and gave her the bag to put Quin inside. Quite funny that you used it to capture her in the end.” He laughed.
I finished the bagel and started to press at crumbs on the plate with my index finger, picking them up and rubbing them onto my tongue. I was so hungry.
“I’ll go toast another one, I won’t be long,” Ryan said as he took the plate from my hands and walked towards the door.
My stomach was relieved that I was putting food into it again. I wasn’t sure what day it was or how I had ended up in Ryan’s house, or who had dressed me. I hadn’t even asked if the Huxley’s had called off the death threat. I had so many questions for Ryan, I hadn’t spoken to Brent in days either. I was still wearing the locket necklace, maybe it would be able to help me make a decision about my love life.
I was staring out of the window when Ryan returned. “Do the Huxley’s know that it wasn’t me that killed Hannah?” I asked, snatching the plate from his hands and taking another huge bite of bagel.
“Yeah, all the right people have been informed. They were just so grateful that you got there in time to save Marnie, they couldn’t stand the idea of losing two members of their family like that.” Ryan nuzzled Quin behind the ear, he was rolling about in his sleep.
“Why did she do it? What was the point? Why frame me for it?” The words were clear enough for Ryan to hear, but somewhat muffled by dough.
“She wanted fame, glory, success, you name it, for the squad in general but this was really all about her. Some of the old spell books promise stuff like that if you do a bunch of wild rituals. I’ve never heard a story about it working. Robin convinced Hannah to go get the books from your attic and was furious that she had been so careless as to get caught doing it. She was already mad about the exam paper scandal, so it seems like she had earmarked Hannah as the sacrifice weeks ago.
“You showing up and causing a scene was perfect for Robin, they could carry out the ritual and then they had an easy way to get rid of the body. You would be the obvious suspect. Didn’t work out well, clearly. I guess we all know now why she isn’t getting the grades, right?”
I had been framed for murder because an old witch wanted to be famous. That was crazy. I had thought I would be killed in those woods. If Imogen hadn’t stepped up to distract Robin like that I might have been. I doubt Ryan would have gotten there in time if I hadn’t fought back. My mind wandered over the people that cared about me. My mom and stepdad, my father, Brent. None of them would have ever known what had happened to me, I would have just disappeared.
“So why wasn’t Hannah enough? Why did they need Marnie too?” I asked.
“They didn’t do it right, or it was just a bunch of badly worded mumbo jumbo that would never have worked. Like I said, they aren’t the smartest bunch. Robin just wanted to be good at something. She thought that this ritual would do all the hard work for her, but she couldn’t pull it off. Why don’t you get dressed? I’ll wait downstairs. I can drive you home.” He smiled, got up and left.
18
The days and weeks blurred together. More and more of Robin’s deceit had been exposed and the ripple effect had even been felt by the humans in Sucré. It had involved many council meetings to calm down the local magic community by establishing new guidelines, standards and safety precautions.
I wasn’t completely off the hook with the illegal book collection. I had managed to negotiate a reduced punishment due to my own obliviousness to the situation in my own attic, so I had some community service to complete as well as donating all illegal books to the museum of ancient magical literature. I had heard a rumor that I would be placed in charge of cleaning a swamp in the woods nearby. That rumor had come from Quin however, so I took it with a pinch of salt.
Of course, we weren’t in the business of changing national law, but we had to have some form of self-policing and awareness to prevent lower level mischief from becoming an illegal activity. Robin’s whole family was in the conning business, lying their way through life had worked out well for centuries but Robin’s failures had brought down the whole sorry mess.
Ryan and I had exchanged pleasantries at the meetings, he had also hosted a pot-luck dinner with the council members and a few other wizarding friends where we had sat next to each other and enjoyed a conversation, but it was different now to how it had been before all of this.
I had chosen Brent. Ryan told me that I had been muttering Brent’s name in my sleep after the head injury, my subconscious had known something that my waking mind didn’t. Ryan had obviously been hoping for a different outcome. When I had consulted the locket, and I had many times, it kept wobbling between ‘want’ and the heart symbol. For Brent it had spun round and round.
I had managed to convince Brent that I had done some cycling training when he was away and had fallen badly on a trail. I needed to explain away the bruises and the limited movement I had all down my right side. He had been making a lot of soup to get me through the recovery period.
“Are you feeling up to going for a walk today? I’ll get out of the station at six. I could drive over to your place then we could walk into town for dinner, if you want to? Or I could bring dinner to you, let me know!” Brent had called and left a voicemail. He must be one of the last remaining voicemail users. I wrote a text to say that him bringing dinner here would be great, remembered that I had barely left the house this week, then changed the message to agree to dinner in town.
“I’ll be out tonight Quin, are you going to be okay here?” I asked, already knowing what answer to expect. The kittens had passed their most recent assessment by the familiar training board and were now eligible for on campus education to complete their study. Even though they had all called him every day since they left, Quin had spent most of his time crying, sniffing their cat beds and comfort eating. He was now very round in the middle.
“Sure, why not. All alone, that’s just fine with me!” He was sitting on the lounge windowsill, staring out onto the street. I could hear the labored breathing of someone fighting the urge to cry. He didn’t seem to notice that I was dressed to leave the house or that I was putting on my shoes.
I had secretly called the familiar training program head the day after the kittens had left. Quin’s crying had already become unbearable to hear, he was truly heartbroken. Obviously, it is not common practice for one witch to have seven familiars, but I begged and pleaded, and made a generous donation to the academy, so they would be returning this afternoon.
They had completed the most intensive part of their training and so were free to leave. Typically, at this point they would each be deployed to different wizarding households. Quin would be so happy, of course he didn’t know anything about it yet, but I knew it would be a great surprise. He missed them so much.
The donation had taken up most of my remaining inheritance. As I now owned Edith’s house, I didn’t have to pay rent, but food costs would creep up with seven fully grown cats living here, so I had needed to get a job. Quin hadn’t even noticed me going out to work every weekday as he was so immersed in his own misery.
I locked the door behind me and got into my car. It wasn’t a long drive to the University so after I tuned the radio to a local station, I only listened to one song, an ad for a county fair and a car dealership jingle. All the drama with the University, the illegal activities of the entire cheerleading team and the murder of a student had really shaken up the magical community.
When I had spoken with Professor Burne, the headmistress, about it all she had asked me about my undergraduate degree. One thing lead to another and now I was a lab assistant for the Biology students. The pay was pretty good, it was a short commute and I could spend my days more involved with magic.
I had spoken with my O.W.L. tutor, Professor Easter, via email and explained my recent involvement with a ring of dark magic witches in training and how I had resc
ued their next sacrifice victim from the woods in the dead of night. She did some fact checking with the justice department officers and they confirmed my story. I got a pass for the ‘survival magic’ assignment automatically. No VR jaguars for me!
I parked in the staff parking lot and navigated my way safely across the imp guarded lawn, flashed my ID at Lyle the bear and made my way to the science building. I had a busy morning ahead but had arranged to be home in time to watch Quin welcome the kittens back.
The first class dragged. I had to supervise final year students working on their own projects, but they were well versed in their work at this stage so didn’t require much input from me. Once that session had ended, I had first years again, once they had settled into their tasks set by their Professor, I wandered about offering advice where needed.
“Nasty business with the whole sports faculty, don’t you think?” Professor Allen said. He had perched on a lab stool at the end of the bench so that he could watch over the class and chat to me. “Yeah, I didn’t think Martha would have been fired over it all, she was just the cheer coach. She wasn’t involved, right?”
I had tried to stay out of the gossip, but teachers had been going out of their way to find me between classes to ask me for the scoop on the investigation, as if the justice department was calling me every hour to fill me in. I shrugged and then tried to steer the conversation elsewhere. We talked about a wildfire on an island off the coast and how he suspected it was teenage magic being used to cause trouble. A student beckoned him over for help and I looped the lab a few times waiting for the class to end.
It was around one thirty when the final student left the lab and I was free to pack up and head home. I took off my lab coat and threw on my coat and gloves before hurrying across campus back to my car. I had a text message on my cell phone to say that the kittens were being dropped off in just over an hour, so I planned to grab a few large fish from a grocery store fishmonger before heading home.
