The boy eyed the cup and the gaggle of girls with a deep suspicion. “I’m not really thirsty,” he stated, handing the cup back to her.
“Of course you are,” she insisted and placed the cup firmly back into his hands, waiting expectantly for him to take a sip.
His suspicious gaze skimmed across her and landed on me, standing a few feet behind: the odd-looking duck in colorful sweat pants amongst a sea of prissy wannabe Black Sabbath girls. I had been shuffling suspiciously close by, eagerly waiting for the most opportune moment to stop him from drinking the spiked drink.
“Okaaay. What’s going on, here?” he said, directly at me.
Despite his arrogance, he seemed to have good gut instincts for trusting me, I’d give him that.
“They think you’re Joe Gray,” I told him with a wide grin.
His mood darkened considerably, and he scoffed at the whole room. “Oh, come on! Not again! I’ve been hearing this non-stop for the past half hour! ‘Are you Joe Gray? Is it you? Oh my gawd, it’s Joe Gray!’” he mimicked in a mocking girly tone.
Alicia paused for a moment. “So you’re not him? Give me that back, then.” She snatched the cup from his hand and huffed in annoyance.
He seemed offended by that, which was odd seeing as he had just declined the offer of a drink. “I’m not Joe Gray. I’m Simon Blaine, if you must know. What’s the big deal about this guy, anyway?”
I guessed the refusal of a drink had been a blow to his male ego, because he trash-talked Joe Gray in retaliation. “I’ve not even met the guy yet, but he’s pissing me off to unreal levels already! I’ll teach him a lesson in humility, if he ever shows up.”
“You can try, but Joe has black belts in two martial arts, you know,” I chirped, with a knowing smile. “Cookie?” I offered, extending the plate towards him.
Boy, this was so much fun. It was like watching a live comedy show. It was a shame there wasn’t any popcorn around . . . The cookies were good, but popcorn would have been much better.
“So, are you by any chance related to Cillian Blaine?” Alicia asked, instantly perking up at the mention of his surname.
He rolled his eyes, seemingly used to that kind of reaction. “Yes, Cillian is my older brother.”
“On second thought, you do seem parched. Here’s your refreshment back.” She made to push the drink in his hand again but stopped midway as the crowd around us stirred.
We all turned to see the Harker sisters entering the room, with dorky Lizzie tagging behind them. Celeste took the lead, dressed in her usual formal white attire, as petite and pristine as ever. Celeste looked like a Disney ice princess: cool and collected, her perfect hair so blonde it appeared almost white, and flawless skin as pale as a snowflake. Brooding Luna was by her side, dressed as usual in black, and lovely Arice flanked her left, typically wearing a flower-patterned summer dress.
“Joe Gray!” Celeste beckoned, stopping right in front of me, her blue eyes twinkling in the bright light of the meeting room. “Lizzie told me you’d arrived. I’m so glad you came! Welcome.”
Aww. Okay, I guess the fun had to end some time. Sad it had to be over so soon, though. I smiled back at Celeste and saluted playfully. “Aye, aye, Captain. Joe Gray reporting for duty.”
She rolled her eyes at my jest and turned to see a score of faces staring at us with unblinking eyes and gasping mouths. “Erm . . . is everybody all right?” she asked.
“This is Joe Gray? B-but . . . you’re a girl!” Simon protested accusingly.
“Okay, yes. But just so you know, you owe me a penny for my ‘Joe-is-a-boy’s-name’ penny jar. It doesn’t have to be right now, but, you know, whenever you can . . .”
He blushed, embarrassed.
“I’m kidding, couldn’t resist, sorry. You don’t owe me anything,” I told Simon, with a chuckle. “Oh, but speaking of owing . . . Alicia, darling. About that drink you spiked . . .” I turned to face her, frowning. “Gross, dude. You don’t do that to people. That’s seriously messed up.”
She gawked at me in fury. “You can’t be Joe Gray!” she shouted.
At the same time, Simon asked, “What did she put in that drink?”
“Wait a minute, I can’t believe it! Isn’t she Joe Gray from The Lost Boys?” Alicia’s younger sister finally connected the obvious dots, her realization accompanied by an audible gasp. “Oh, my God, she is! They are the rock band she said were staying in the cabins up the hill. There’s talk about her everywhere in the news. She’s just got married . . .”
“Good to know at least one of you figured it out. I was seriously worrying about the band’s public profile,” I muttered.
At the danger of sounding rather conceited, this was the longest I’d been in a crowd of so many people without anyone recognizing me, especially with the media stalking me day and night. It had been making me kind of anxious, because I’d been waiting for the penny to drop, but that familiar gasp of recognition hadn’t come. Until now.
“But, yeah. That’s me. I’m Halloway now, though, by the way. Not Gray any more.”
“Excuse me, sorry to interrupt . . .” Simon bellowed over the excited shouts of the gathering crowd. “I don’t care if you’re a boy, girl, a Halloway or whatever. What I would really like to know is what the hell was in that drink?”
“I think she’s spiked it with a love potion of some kind,” I told him, nodding to Alicia, who was clearly having a hard time concealing her guilt.
“And you were all going to let me drink it?” he asked, appalled.
“Of course not. I was merely observing to see if she’d actually go through with it. I was going to stop you, but you kept refusing the drink, so I didn’t bother,” I said, then turned to Celeste. “What I really wanna know is what’s this place’s policy for people slipping ‘love roofies’ in other’s people’s drinks?”
The room was in uproar. Alicia and her minions protested vehemently, saying these were ludicrous accusations; Simon and his friends were shouting in indignation about the attempt to poison him; and people everywhere around us argued fervently, taking sides in the debate.
“All right, everybody, settle down!” Celeste’s commanding voice boomed through the room, making the waves of excitement dissipate instantly.
She rubbed her temple and gave me a look that said, I knew you’d end up in some sort of trouble here, but I didn’t imagine it’d be mere seconds after your arrival.
“Miss Collins, is there any truth to Joey’s accusation?” she asked sternly.
“Of course not! It’s obviously a lie. There’s nothing in the drink!” Alicia squeaked in outrage, glaring deadly daggers my way.
“Really? Why don’t you give the drink to one of your friends, then? If there’s nothing in there, it shouldn’t be a problem,” I dared. It would be a good lesson to her minions for supporting this kind of thing. I hoped this would serve to teach them not to try this ever again. Although I wasn’t really worried – if Alicia’s love potion was anything like her crappy crystal ball, it wouldn’t have any effect, anyway.
“Sure. Of course. No problem at all,” Alicia conceded and, with gritted teeth, turned to face her friends.
Her sister took a significantly large step back, clearly not wanting to swallow that drink for anything, not even her “dearest” older sister. The other girls watched in horrified silence.
“You. Drink this.” Alicia forced the drink into the hand of a girl who seemed to be the least inclined to disobey. The trembling girl took the cup, looking pleadingly at her leader, who showed no signs of mercy. “Drink. It,” Alicia hissed. The girl obediently gulped the drink in one go. “See? No problem at all.”
“Of course. My apologies, then. I might have misheard things.” I mock-bowed graciously in apology. “I’m sure nothing strange will happen to your friend after that drink,” I said, with a knowing smirk playing at the corner of my lips, which didn’t pass by unnoticed.
I knew everyone would be looking for signs of poisoning now.
Alicia had better pray for her potion to be utter crap, or summon an antidote fast, or her farce would be exposed for everyone to see.
“All right. It seems that the matter is resolved,” Celeste said, clapping her hands to dismiss the topic before turning to address the crowd. “We can start this meeting now, since everybody’s here. Welcome all to the Misty Lake Annual Gathering!”
She motioned to her sisters, who took their seats at a long table at the head of the room, while everybody else shuffled around to fetch chairs and find places in front of the Harker sisters.
I decided to linger away from the crowd, perched on the arm of the couch, as Alicia, her friends – and even Simon – kept giving me dirty glares, and I didn’t feel like sitting anywhere near them.
“Thank you all for coming,” Celeste continued, moving to stand between her sisters. “It is a delight to see so many lovely faces this year. We’ve never had so many attendants before!” I noticed a lot of people kept glancing sideways in my direction, and I was betting the rumors about Joe Gray – the infamous Death Conjurer – had something to do with the big turnout this year. I sure had already caused an impactful introduction for the first meeting of this witchy boot camp.
So much for keeping a low profile, like Tristan had asked of me . . .
“This Gathering is about exchanging experiences; it’s about communing knowledge. You’ll get to know other forms of practice from your colleagues here. ‘Sharing’ is the key word. Now my sister Luna will say a few words.”
“All right, people,” Luna began, taking over from Celeste. “This is the start of our first official meeting. You’ve been chosen by the most influential mentors for the privilege and the opportunity to attend this Gathering, so listen closely now, because I’m going to give you the rules: break any of them and you’ll be asked to leave, immediately.”
By the looks on everyone’s faces, they were taking Luna Harker very seriously. She was the scarier and snarkiest of the sisters; with her long straight hair, heavy make-up and gothic style, she did look pretty intimidating.
“To clarify the first question raised: the policy for ‘spiking’ drinks with any kind of substance is zero tolerance. If any of you are caught doing so, or if there’s any hard evidence that you did, the penalty is immediate expulsion from this Gathering. Your mentors and parents will be duly notified, too. The same goes for hex bags found in your possession, as well as dark magic enchantments of any kind.”
She shot a cold glare at Alicia and her minions. “Also, Joey really is with The Lost Boys at this camp, and they will be staying in the cabins up the hill. Which leads me to my first rule of the Gathering: it is strictly forbidden for any of you to go anywhere near those cabins to stalk or harass the band. If we catch you up there, it’s one strike down. You get three strikes for misbehavior and you’re in for detention hours. There’s a lot of work to do around this place that the camp employees will gladly hand over to you.”
There was a series of disappointed grunts from all around the room.
Arice continued after Luna, her round, beaming face the direct opposite of her moody sister’s. “Okey dokey, folksies. Now, on a lighter note, the following are some camp rules set mostly for your safety and wellbeing. It is important that you follow them so that you all have a nice stay, all right? First, you shouldn’t wander round the woods at night. If there is an emergency, or something urgent that demands you leave your quarters, never go unescorted. Take a cabin room-mate with you, and notify me or either of my sisters immediately, okay? It’s very easy to get lost in these woods, and it isn’t safe.” Then, jokingly, she added: “We’d have to organize a search party, and it would be a hassle all around. So please, just don’t.”
The rest of the meeting went on for quite some time, along the same lines of safety in the camp, telling us what we could and couldn’t do. I zoned out and stopped paying attention after rule number two, to be honest.
I dangled my legs from the arm of the couch while humming a tune that had suddenly come into my head. It was rather catchy and felt very promising, potentially a single for the new album. I was musing to myself, when Arice called out my name.
“Hmm, sorry, what?” I snapped out of my musical reverie to notice a sea of faces staring at me, waiting for an answer. Celeste rolled her eyes, knowingly.
Oops! Busted by the teachers while daydreaming in class, again. Bummer.
“Could you repeat the question, please?” I asked with a smile.
“As I was saying, it is time to form the groups that will be assigned to each head monitor,” Arice explained again. “My group will be discussing White Wiccan dealings, Luna will be handling the hidden powers of the Mists and the Moon, and Celeste will be tackling advanced theory in Occult Philosophy.”
“So which group do you pick?” Celeste asked impatiently, giving me a pointed look that clearly indicated I should choose her, for obvious mentoring reasons.
I saw that most people had already formed clusters around the sisters. I was the last one to pick a team.
Alicia, Felicia and her minion friends had chosen Luna’s group. That alone was a very good reason to stay as far away from that group as I possibly could.
Arice had a gleeful bunch of her own; one of her girls had epic blonde dreadlocks with dyed pink ends, and the friend by her side had a nose piercing and wild auburn hair braided with small daisies. They looked like fairy girls.
And then there was Celeste, with mousy Lizzie by her side waving at me with the goofiest grin ever, plus Simon, his two backup friends and some other people I didn’t know.
“Well, it’s a . . . you know . . .” I stalled, sucking through my teeth while trying to come up with a valid excuse to ditch Celeste and go roam with the fairy team. They looked like a fun bunch to play magic with.
Be nice to Celeste, Joey. You promised you’d try. I could imagine Tristan’s serious voice. I scowled, but relented anyway.
I had promised, and I always kept my promises.
“I’m with Celeste,” I mumbled, and let out a small, defeated sigh.
Chapter Four
Playtime with The Lost Boys
“HEY, YOU’RE BACK!” Tristan greeted me with a welcoming smile.
After the meeting in the main hall, we had a free afternoon so everybody could get to know the camp and relax. I had decided to go back to the cabins to check on how the guys were faring, rather than hanging out in the main house.
Okay, maybe that wasn’t the real reason: maybe it was because Alicia and Simon were still giving me death glares, and I hadn’t wanted to fight with them. As soon as I started walking up the hill, I knew I was safe: thanks to the Harkers’ rule, this area was now forbidden territory for camp folk, Alicia Collins and Simon Blaine included. Which was epic. Now I didn’t need to worry about my privacy, as anyone who snooped risked a “strike” on their naughty list.
“Whoa! This place is amazing,” I said, as I entered the cabin. The main room was inviting and had a rustic style, the modest but welcoming space filled with beautiful sculptures made of raw wood, rusty metals and dry leaves. The interior design used elements of the forest in every nook. It made everything look really earthy and natural.
“You have to check out the guys’ cabin. It’s three times bigger than this one!” Tristan said, heading into the kitchen and selecting a bottle of water from the fridge. “How was your day? Had fun with the Harkers?” he asked, returning swiftly.
“I had a tremendous amount of fun,” I confessed.
Tristan beamed and came to give me a proud peck on the lips.
“But then Celeste arrived.”
The smile disappeared and he rolled his eyes at me.
“I’m sorry!” I chuckled. “The joke about Celeste ending the fun never gets old!”
“Halloway! Is she back yet?” We heard Harry’s high-pitched voice shouting from the neighboring cabin.
“He’s been asking that since you left. They’re all a bunch of comedians . . .” T
ristan grumbled and leaned out of the window. “Stop shouting, Harry! This is not how we’re going to communicate in this place. You come over to ask in person!”
“What? Walk all the way over there? No way!” he complained, still bellowing. “Is she back or not?”
“Your degree of laziness astonishes me, man. We are literally a few steps away from each other. Come over and see for yourself!”
“He wouldn’t make me go there for nothing . . . I think she’s back, you guys!” was the last shout we heard.
“He’s been waiting for you to get back so you can go sightseeing,” Tristan explained, making himself comfortable on the couch.
A minute later, the other Lost Boys came bustling through the cabin door, talking animatedly with each other. Harry was at the front, jumping up and down excitedly. “Yeah! I knew it! She’s here! Come on, come on, Joey! Let’s go!” He grabbed me by the hand and started pulling me to the door.
“Oh, hey, how was your meeting with Celeste, Joey?” I asked sarcastically. “Why, it’s so lovely of you to ask, Harry. Thanks, it was good.”
He rolled his eyes at me. “You know we don’t talk about your encounters with the . . . erm, ‘gifted people’. We know they exist; we don’t need to talk about them. Let’s leave it that way and keep rolling.”
The boys still freaked out a little every time some supernatural event happened. To be fair, freaky unnatural things were kind of a constant in my life. The boys had eventually got used to it, but they still felt wary and avoided any discussion on the topic. As if not talking about supernatural things could magically make them less likely to happen.
They were still very skittish around Vigil and the Harkers – or, as Harry liked to put it, “any of the gifted people”. The only supernatural presence they were completely at ease with was their best friend, former ghost Tristan. And also me, of course – their honorary witch girl.
Josh, Harry and Sam remained at the front door, eagerly waiting, wearing what can only be described as their adventure outfits. They had on a mix of training sneakers, combat boots, cameo shirts and sportswear. I could also hear Rocko yelping excitedly next to Sam. It was a good job the Harker sisters had left their cat, Mr. Skittles, safely at home.
Lost and Found Page 3
