by Isobel Bird
The first pair stepped forward into the labyrinth. Annie watched as they made the first circle, moving carefully. They were followed by another pair, and then another. Then it was her and Ivy’s turn. Still holding Ivy’s elbow in her hand, Annie urged her forward and they stepped out onto the snowy path.
The afternoon air was warm and the sun was bright, but still Annie felt chilled as she and Ivy walked along the labyrinth’s circular path. It was arranged in interlocking circles, so that from time to time they passed other pairs walking. Annie looked at the masked faces of the “dead” as they passed, and at the still-living faces of their attendants. Some were stained with tears, while others appeared peaceful and relaxed.
The journey through the labyrinth, as they made tighter and tighter circles, took about ten minutes. Then they reached the center. Annie guided Ivy to a spot beside another pair, and the two of them stood and waited for the other teams to finish their trips through the labyrinth.
When they were all in the center, Ginny appeared at the entrance to the labyrinth. “Attendants, you must now say your final good-byes and leave the land of the dead. You cannot stay there. You belong here in the land of the living. Quickly! Leave your dead and run back to me! Leave now!”
Annie found herself unable to move. Ginny’s voice was so insistent, so commanding. And part of her didn’t want to remain in the land of the dead any longer than necessary. But another part didn’t want to leave Ivy there, all alone and with her mask on. How would she see? Who would help her? Annie couldn’t just abandon her.
“Come back to the land of the living!” Ginny called again. “Come now! You don’t belong in the land of the dead!”
All around her, other people were leaving their partners and running back through the labyrinth. The “dead” continued to stand there, their empty faces looking out as their attendants left them behind.
Annie knew she had to go. She gripped Ivy’s hand tightly one last time and whispered, “Goodbye.” Then she let go and ran after the others. As she circled the center she looked at Ivy, standing all by herself, and she felt the tears she’d been holding back run down her face. As she raced for the land of the living and left the dead on their little frozen island of snow, she let out all the emotions she’d been feeling during the mask-making process. Her heart was breaking, and it hurt.
She exited the labyrinth and stood with the others. Most of them were sniffling, and some were weeping openly as their friends and pathmates comforted them. A woman Annie had never really spoken to put her arm around Annie and hugged her. “It’s okay,” she said as Annie wiped her eyes.
When the attendants were all gathered outside the labyrinth, Ginny called to the people remaining inside it. “Dead, you are no longer with us,” she said solemnly. “Turn your backs on the living and enter the other world.”
Slowly, the masked people turned around so that their backs faced their attendants. They stood there, facing away, as the people outside the labyrinth watched silently. Annie looked at Ivy’s back and felt her chest heave as she cried. It hurt so much to say good-bye, and she felt like she’d done too much of it in her life—first to her parents, then to her friend Ben Rowe. Although she knew that Ivy wasn’t really dead, she felt as if she were. It reminded her of the ritual she’d participated in at Midsummer, when she had attended an actor playing the part of the Oak King and she’d watched him “die” during a mock battle with his brother, the Holly King. That had been hard, but this was harder. She wanted to run back through the labyrinth and embrace Ivy. She wanted to save her from dying. But she couldn’t.
“The dead are gone from us,” Ginny said to the assembled class. “They have gone to the land of the dead, where you, too, will go one day. But they will not stay there.”
She turned back to the people in the labyrinth. “Take off your masks,” she called to them. “Remove the faces of death.”
Annie watched as the people in the land of the dead carefully removed their death masks. They put their fingers under the edges and loosened them, prying them off gently. Most of them held the masks in their hands and stared at them for a while. Then Ginny said, “It is now time to return to the land of the living,” she said. “Come back to us.”
One at a time, the people in the labyrinth turned and looked back at the others. They smiled, their faces shiny with the remnants of the petroleum jelly and bits of plaster. They look so happy, Annie thought, and the weight in her chest disappeared almost instantly.
“Put down your masks,” Ginny said. “You don’t need them anymore. Come, return to the land of the living and begin your new lives.”
The people in the labyrinth laid down their masks and began the walk back through the maze. As each one emerged at the end, she or he was greeted with hugs and kisses by the people already there. Annie waited expectantly for Ivy to arrive, watching as she circled in the snow before stepping out. Ivy held out her arms, and Annie ran to her.
“Welcome home,” Annie said.
“It’s nice to be back,” joked Ivy.
When everyone had returned from the land of the dead, Ginny led them back inside. There they discovered that while they were outside, the masks they’d made on the first day had been laid on tables.
“It’s now time for the reborn to put on their new faces,” Ginny said. “Take up your masks and put them on.”
People went to the tables and found their masks. Putting them on, they looked at one another and laughed. There was something childlike and joyous about what they were doing, and the feeling was contagious. As Annie looked at the women and men donning their new identities and walking around, she was filled with happiness.
“You did such a good job,” Ivy said to her, coming up to Annie after finding her leafy mask and putting it on. “I felt so loved and cared for. At first I was terrified. But as your fingers moved over my face, I actually felt at peace. And when you started humming I knew everything would be okay.”
Annie hugged her friend. “I’m glad I could do it,” she said.
“I just hope I can do as good a job for you tomorrow,” said Ivy.
Tomorrow, Annie thought, realizing suddenly that the ritual wasn’t over yet. Tomorrow I die.
CHAPTER 10
“There were two of them?” Sasha said in amazement as the girls sat in their room after dinner that night. Cooper had just finished telling them about her conversation with Mr. Greaves.
“That’s right,” replied Cooper. “Twin sisters.”
“Just like Nora and Lucy,” Annie said. “That’s really weird.”
“Why do you think Nora didn’t say anything about it?” asked Kate.
“Maybe she didn’t know,” said Cooper.
“I find it hard to believe that Mary wouldn’t at least mention her sister in her diary,” Annie remarked.
“Annie’s right,” Sasha said. “She had to have known. Besides, if the O’Sheas really were related to the Reillys, don’t you think she would have heard something about the story? I mean, it’s kind of a big deal.”
Cooper sighed. “I know it all seems strange,” she said. “But I think we should give Nora a chance to explain before we get all excited.”
“You haven’t spoken to her yet?” asked Kate.
“No,” Cooper said. “I didn’t really know what to say. I asked her to meet us here in a few minutes. We’ll do it then. But I don’t want it to seem like we’re ambushing her or anything.”
“I wonder what Mr. Greaves meant when he said that the O’Shea girls made strange stuff happen,” Annie mused.
“Maybe Nora knows something about that, too,” said Kate.
There was a knock on the door, and they all looked at Cooper. “Here’s our chance to find out,” she said as she got up and opened it.
“Hey,” Nora said, coming in and plopping down on one of the beds. “Are you guys ready to try and contact Mary again? I have a feeling that tonight we’ll find out more.”
“About that…” said Cooper.
“We have some questions.”
“Shoot,” Nora said cheerfully. “I’ll tell you what I know.”
“Well, for starters, did you know that she had a twin sister?” Cooper asked.
“And that they both died in a fall from the tower room?” Kate added.
“How did you find out that stuff?” asked Nora, looking slightly concerned.
“I did some digging around,” said Cooper vaguely. “I wanted to see if I could find out what happened to Mary, and that’s what I found out. So, did you know about it?”
Nora rubbed her hands on her thighs. “Yeah,” she said. “I guess I did.”
“Why didn’t you tell us, then?” asked Annie. “Why did you pretend you didn’t know anything?”
Nora sighed. “Look,” she said, “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. There’s more to this story than I told you. But I didn’t mean to hide anything. I guess I was just waiting for the right time to tell you all of it.”
“Right time?” Kate echoed. “What does that mean?”
Nora looked down at her feet, as if she was thinking. Then she looked up. “I’m scared,” she said. “I’m really scared.”
Cooper shook her head. “I am really confused here,” she said. “You told us that you wanted help contacting this ghost so that we could figure out who killed her. Now you’re telling us that you’re scared. What are you scared of?”
“Lucy,” Nora said softly. “I’m scared of Lucy.”
“Why are you scared of her?” asked Annie. “She’s your sister.”
Nora laughed ruefully. “Alice was Mary’s sister, too,” she said. “And she killed her.”
“Alice killed Mary?” said Sasha. “I thought they fell.”
“That’s what everyone thinks,” Nora said. “But that’s not what happened. Alice pushed Mary.”
“But Alice died, too,” said Annie.
“Because she fell pushing Mary,” Nora replied.
“Now I really don’t get it,” Cooper said. “Why would Alice kill Mary?”
“Because Mary knew what Alice was doing,” Nora answered.
“Doing?” said Kate questioningly.
Nora paused before continuing. “Alice was involved in magic,” Nora told them all. “Dark magic. She was using her powers to hurt people.”
“Mr. Greaves mentioned that some weird stuff happened that year,” Cooper said.
“That’s what I mean,” said Nora. “Alice had been using her powers to do bad things. Mary found out about it and tried to stop her.”
“So Alice killed her?” Kate asked.
“She was desperate,” Nora explained. “There was this guy—a gardener—who worked at the hotel. Alice was in love with him. But he loved Mary, and when he told Alice that she went crazy. She did this spell and made him drown. Mary didn’t know at first. But she found out, and when she confronted Alice about it, Alice told her that she’d better be careful or she would be the next one to have an accident.”
“How do you know all this?” asked Cooper.
“It was in the diary,” Nora replied. “Mary wrote all about it.”
“But the gardener drowned over the summer,” Annie said, thinking about it. “The girls didn’t die until December. Why did it take so long for things to explode?”
“Mary was trying to keep Alice controlled using magic,” said Nora. “She made a talisman using her hair and hid it somewhere in the house.”
“Sympathetic magic,” Kate said. “We certainly know how that works.”
“We had a little run-in with a Ken doll once,” Annie explained to Nora, who nodded.
“As long as Mary had the talisman, Alice couldn’t hurt her,” Nora continued. “But then Alice found the talisman. She destroyed it, and she made an even more powerful one to use against Mary. Mary searched all over the house, but she couldn’t find it anywhere. Finally, in desperation, she went to the tower room to perform one final ritual, one that would break Alice’s spell over her. But Alice showed up. They fought, and Alice pushed Mary from the ledge. Only at the last second Mary grabbed Alice’s hand, and she fell, too.”
“That last part couldn’t possibly be in the diary,” Annie said. “Mary couldn’t have written it before she died. How did you find out about it?”
“Mary told me,” said Nora.
“Okay,” said Sasha. “So now we know what happened. But that still doesn’t explain why you didn’t tell us any of this before.”
“I had to be sure I could trust you,” said Nora. “I knew that if you offered to help Mary that I could count on you.”
“Count on us for what?” asked Kate.
“To help me fight Lucy,” Nora responded.
“Now we’re back to Lucy,” Cooper said. “What does she have to do with this?”
“Lucy has been talking to the ghost of Alice O’Shea,” said Nora. “She started doing it about a year ago. Alice has been telling her all kinds of lies, and Lucy believes them. I’ve tried to make her see that it’s not right, but she won’t listen to me.”
“What has Alice been telling her?” asked Kate.
“She’s promised Lucy that she’ll show her how she can gain incredible powers,” answered Nora.
“Powers?” asked Sasha. “What do you mean?”
“Both Lucy and I have always kind of been able to do things,” Nora replied. “You know, little spells and stuff. Ever since we were kids. But Lucy wants to do more. Alice told her that she’ll help her do that if Lucy helps her.”
“Helps her what?” said Annie.
“That’s what I don’t know,” Nora answered. “Mary doesn’t know either. But she says we have to hurry.”
“But hurry and what?” said Cooper. “If we don’t know what Alice is trying to do, how can we hurry?”
“We can help Mary come back,” Nora said.
“Come back?” said Sasha.
“Just for one night,” said Nora. “The Winter Solstice. That’s the night they died. If Mary can come back to our world on that night, she says she can make sure that whatever Alice is planning on doing is stopped and that the two of them will move on to the spirit world.”
“But how do we help her come back?” Kate asked.
“We have to find the talisman that Alice made,” Nora told her. “It’s still hidden somewhere in the house. If we can find it, then Mary can come back and do what she needs to do.”
Cooper sighed. “I think maybe we should talk to Sophia about this,” she said.
“No!” Nora said emphatically. Then, when she saw everyone looking at her, she said more calmly, “I don’t think that’s a good idea. She’d want to tell my parents, and I don’t want them to know what Lucy has been doing. Even though she’s done some awful things, I still hope I can stop her from doing anything stupid and get her back to normal.”
“She told me that she’s afraid you’re trying to kill her,” Kate told Nora.
“What?” said Nora, sounding shocked. “She told you that?”
Kate nodded. “In path the other day.”
Nora shook her head. “She’s been getting worse,” she said, sounding worried. “You’ve seen her. She used to look normal. Now she looks like some kind of goth freak or something. I have no idea what Alice has been doing to her, but we have to help her.”
“Lucy also told me that she stole the diary,” Kate said.
“So that’s what happened,” Nora said. “I should have known. I thought I lost it. Did she say what she did with it?”
“She told me she burned it,” replied Kate.
A shadow fell across Nora’s face when she heard Kate’s news. “She burned it?” she repeated.
“That’s what she said,” answered Kate.
“I can’t believe she told you all of this,” Nora said. “Why would she do that?”
“Maybe to throw us off the track,” suggested Cooper. “If she doesn’t want us helping you, the best way to do that is to make it look like you’re the one who’s up to something.”
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Nora put her face in her hands. “I wish you guys could have seen her before all of this started happening,” she said. “She used to be so happy and fun to be around. Then she got mixed up with Alice’s ghost, and everything changed.”
“Now that we know what’s really happening, what’s the game plan?” Sasha asked.
Everyone looked at Cooper, who always seemed to have a plan. She thought for a minute. “You say that the talisman Alice made to control Mary is still in the house somewhere, right?” she asked Nora.
“That’s right,” Nora replied. “Or at least Mary thinks so, because it wasn’t destroyed before Alice pushed her from the tower. Besides, she’s been trying to come through into our world for a long time and can’t, so something is holding her back. She believes it’s the talisman.”
“Then we have to find the talisman,” Cooper said. “And apparently we have to find it before the night of the Winter Solstice.”
“And you have no idea what it is that Lucy and Alice are planning for that night, right?” asked Cooper.
“No idea,” Nora answered. “But I’m sure it’s bad, whatever it is. Alice had grown very powerful before her death, and Mary says she’s very anxious to get back into our world to finish what she’d started.”
“Today is the nineteenth,” Cooper reminded them all. “That gives us less than forty-eight hours to do this.”
“Where do we even start?” Kate asked. “This place is huge. The talisman could be anywhere.”
“Nora, you have to think,” said Cooper. “There must have been some clue in the diary, some mention of a place that Alice liked to go. My guess is that she hid it there.”
“Believe me,” Nora said, “I’ve thought and thought about that. I even went to the places Mary mentioned in the diary. But I couldn’t find anything. Alice was smart. I think she would have hidden the talisman someplace where Mary would never think to look.”
“Do you even know what it is?” asked Annie. “A talisman could take any shape.”
“I know it was made with some of Mary’s hair,” Nora replied. “But I don’t know what she made with it.”
