The Curse in the Candlelight

by Sophie Cleverly

  Ebony winced and the cat jumped before settling down again. “I can’t …”

  But Scarlet wasn’t having any of it. “We need to know! If we don’t stop whatever Muriel’s up to, Ariadne could get hurt and you’ll never be free of her!”

  There were a few moments of painful silence before we finally got an answer. “In the crypt.”

  My twin wrinkled her nose. “Crypt? What crypt?”

  “There’s a crypt,” Ebony explained. “Under the school chapel. I don’t think anyone else knows it’s there. Muriel found a diagram of it in the school library, in some old book. That’s where she was hiding out.”

  “Have you been there?” I asked. “Can you take us?”

  “Unfortunately not.” She pulled her knees up to her chest, dislodging the cat.

  Scarlet looked at me. “We have to go and look. If she’s got Ariadne … that must be where they are.”

  An owl hooted from somewhere in the trees, reminding us of the time. I looked out of the window and saw a full moon rising out of the clouds. Of course.

  “Take me with you,” Ebony said suddenly.

  “What?” we both exclaimed. I’d thought she would be too terrified of Muriel after the way she had been acting.

  But she extended her pale legs and stood up, then went over to her wardrobe. “This is my fault. I need to help, somehow.”

  “Well,” Scarlet said, looking at me. “She does have a point.”

  Ebony gave a sharp nod. “Give me two minutes.”

  Two minutes later, we were heading back down the stairs. But this time, the two of us black cats were accompanied by Ebony in her usual dark attire, and the real-life black cat, Midnight. He trotted at her heels like a dog.

  But when we got to the bottom, I saw an unwelcome sight – crowds of girls flooding back into the school. The party must be over. As if sensing this too, Midnight slunk away from us. I suspected that meant it would be difficult to get outside.

  My suspicions were confirmed when we reached the foyer.

  Miss Bowler and Mrs Knight were standing at the doorway, ushering everyone in and waving goodbye to the guests.

  With a glance back at me, Scarlet dragged us over to them. And then she tried something that probably only she would do – she tried to walk straight out.

  “AHEM!” Miss Bowler didn’t clear her throat, but pronounced the entire word. “Where do you think you’re going, Grey?”

  Scarlet spun round. “Miss, I … I lost my shoe!”

  I looked down at her feet and realised she had quickly kicked her shoe off and it was now resting behind mine. I tried to push it gently out of sight.

  “I need to go back and get it!” Scarlet pleaded. “I can’t go about with only one shoe!”

  I could have sworn Miss Bowler actually rolled her eyes. “No,” she said, moving in front of the doorway and blocking our path. “You can find it tomorrow!”

  “But, Miss!” we all tried.

  “Miss Bowler is right,” Mrs Knight called. “You need to get to your beds. Run along, now. It’s late enough as it is.”

  “And besides, there’s ghosts and ghouls out there and they’ll eat you!” Someone whispered in my ear in a menacing voice. I didn’t have to turn round to know who it was.

  “Thank you, Penny,” I said, not rising to the bait. She cackled as she walked away.

  “Looks like there really always was just the one witch around here,” Scarlet muttered.

  Reluctantly, we moved back through the crowds, Scarlet shuffling her shoe along as we did so.

  “We can’t give up now,” I said. Knowing that Muriel was out for revenge against Ariadne had made everything so much worse. Now I feared our friend was in real danger.

  “Who said anything about giving up?” Scarlet pushed us both towards the doors. “Come on …”

  She dragged us further down the corridors to a place that was empty and quiet. Our footsteps echoed off the walls.

  “Right, Miss McCloud,” Scarlet said, leaning down to put her shoe back on. “I know you have ways of getting out of the school. So what is it? Magic? Just a trick?”

  Ebony looked at the floor sheepishly. “I stole some of the caretaker’s keys,” she said.

  “Do you still have them?” I asked.

  As an answer, she pulled them out of the pocket of her black dress. “He still thinks he’s lost them.”

  “You should give them back,” I said.

  “… after we’ve saved Ariadne,” Scarlet said. “Right. The teachers will probably be keeping a close eye on the front doors for a while. We can’t let them see us.” She didn’t elaborate, but I knew she was thinking about how we were on our last warning. They couldn’t know we were involved with this. If we could get Ariadne back and talk Muriel out of her plan, then everything would be fine. “Do you have a key for the back ones?

  “I think so.” Ebony jangled the keys to select the right one and Scarlet winced at the noise.

  We headed for the back door, keeping an eye out for the teachers. When we reached it, Ebony slipped the key into the lock and wrenched the handle. It opened out on to the dark All Hallows’ Eve night.

  As Scarlet and Ebony peered out, I imagined I could see two paths in front of me. On one, we would walk through that door, throw ourselves into inevitable trouble and be expelled from Rookwood. On the other, we would give up, go back to the safety of our beds …

  And lose Ariadne forever.

  I took a deep breath, and I chose my path.

  Chapter Thirty-seven

  SCARLET

  f all the things I had expected to be doing on All Hallows’ Eve, sneaking out of the school with my twin sister and Rookwood’s resident witch was not one of them.

  It was quite a walk round the huge building, across gravel paths and grass that was crunchy with fallen leaves. It was lucky that we were all wearing black because we seemed to fade into the shadows.

  The playing field was now empty of people, though the stalls had yet to be taken down. Most of the candles had been extinguished, but I could still see a lone grinning turnip glowing at the entrance.

  I jumped at every noise, every flicker I spotted out of the corner of my eye. I told myself it was because it could be teachers, but the truth was I felt on edge. It was much colder than it had been at the party and the full moon was casting everything in an eerie light.

  When we reached the front of the school, I could see the chapel looming out of the darkness. I turned to look at the doors, but now they were locked shut. Everyone must have been back inside. There were still a few cars in the driveway, presumably because some of the parents hadn’t yet left.

  We crept towards the graveyard. “How do you get inside?” Ivy asked.

  Ebony stopped in her tracks. “I don’t know,” she said, her brow wrinkling with concern. “I don’t think I have a key for the door here.”

  “Let’s try,” I said. It was worth it. “I’ll keep a lookout.”

  So we stood at the dark-stained wooden doors of the chapel, while Ebony tried every key she had. Nothing worked. I was beginning to feel twitchy. What if Muriel and Ariadne weren’t even here? I pressed my ear to the doors, but I couldn’t hear a thing.

  “I’m not even sure if this is the way into the crypt,” Ebony said with a frown. “It’s underneath the chapel.”

  I turned to Ivy. “Have you ever noticed any stairs in there?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t think so. But then I’ve never been in the vestry.”

  I looked to the side of the chapel where the small extension jutted off it. There could be stairs in there, but there was no way into it either.

  “There has to be an easy way in,” I insisted. “Otherwise how would Muriel be getting in and out all the time?”

  Ebony stared up at the moon for a second and said something in the strange language that she’d spoken before.

  “What is that?” I asked. “I thought you must have been making it up.”

  Sh
e went a little red. “Oh, sorry, it’s Gaelic. A rare tongue now, but my mama spoke it to me. I still think in it sometimes. I was wondering … what if the way in is outside?”

  Ivy’s face lit up. “I think I have an idea. Follow me.”

  She led us round the side of the chapel, into the graveyard. As we reached a small clearing, she said, “I remembered when you were doing the curse, Ebony. You were in front of these doors.”

  And sure enough, there were those two wooden doors in the grass beside the chapel wall that looked as if they were leaning into a stone pedestal. They looked ancient.

  I glanced at Ivy and Ebony. Ebony was shaking a little, though whether it was from the cold or the thought of confronting Muriel, I didn’t know. Ivy looked determined and I knew it was because she had to be.

  Without saying anything, Ivy and I knelt down in the grass and pulled open the doors, which were thankfully unlocked. A strange scent swept out, dusty and old, like a forgotten tomb.

  And in the moonlight, I could see stone steps. They went down under the chapel, spiralling into the darkness.

  I hated being confined in tight spaces, hated not being able to see. It brought back so many bad memories. But this was for Ariadne.

  I stepped on to the stairs. It was time to save our friend. I just prayed we wouldn’t be too late.

  I took each step slowly, holding on to the walls as I went. There were no handrails and they were covered in soil and dust. The others followed me and I could hear their breathing.

  I saw a warm light below and a familiar smell filled my nose. It was a burning torch, like the ones we’d used in the cave on the school trip.

  And, faintly, I heard voices and then the sound of someone crying.

  I stopped as we reached the bottom and took in the sight. It was a fairly small room, with the light from the few lit torches dancing over stone-vaulted ceilings. There were a pair of open iron gates halfway across, and behind them was a dais with what looked like a stone coffin lying on it. The final resting place of another of Rookwood’s long-dead lords.

  And there, in front of the coffin, was Ariadne. She was sobbing and I could just about make out that her hands were tied behind her back, and attached to an iron ring in the dais.

  I would have run to her, set her free, but right in the middle of the crypt …

  Was the witch.

  I shoved the others back behind me so that we could just see out.

  “You see, Ariadne?” Muriel was saying. Her mask lay on the floor, a discarded face. So did a black wig. But she had kept the witch’s hat and cloak, and that was all I could see of the back of her. “It’s just the way the world works. You ruined my life, so I’m ruining yours.”

  “I-I don’t understand!” Ariadne sobbed. “I thought we were friends now.”

  Muriel gave a theatrical sigh. “Were you even listening? All of it. Everything that’s gone wrong in my life. It was all your fault.” She was speaking so coldly, so matter-of-factly. “You made me do this.”

  Tears were running down Ariadne’s face. I gripped Ivy’s hand, feeling Ebony’s breath on the back of my neck.

  “But you bullied me!” Ariadne cried in a moment of bravery, tugging on the rope that tied her to the dais. “That’s why I had to tell on you back then.”

  But Muriel seemed to be in a trance. She ignored Ariadne and carried on talking. “I didn’t see it coming when the school expelled me and my parents disowned me. So I didn’t want you to see it coming either. I had to tear you down slowly. I kept you up late. I wanted you tired, so you’d trust me and make more mistakes. I helped those mistakes along in whatever way I could. I had everyone fooled, even the school nurse was stupid enough to believe that I was hurt.” She laughed, and the sound was horrible. “I made you believe I was a friend and that Ebony was the one you had to watch out for.”

  “But Ebony—” Ariadne started.

  “Ebony was just a distraction.” I could hear the smile in Muriel’s voice.

  She thinks she’s so clever. I felt the anger welling up inside me.

  “She said it to me herself.” Muriel put on an imitation of Ebony’s accent. “It’s classic misdirection. You make the people look where you want them to. You hide the cards in plain sight.”

  I couldn’t help glaring at Ebony, who shrank back against the wall. She must have known what she was getting involved with, at least on some level.

  “You know what the best part is?” Muriel asked, while Ariadne sobbed quietly. “You did most of the work for me. You pushed your friends away. They don’t care about you any more, if they ever even did. They don’t listen to you. They have each other. You have no one. I could leave you down here to rot if I wanted. Nobody knows this place is here.”

  Ariadne said nothing now. I prayed that she might be able to see us so that she wouldn’t be so scared, but we were in the shadows and her eyes were glued to the floor. She was hunched over, almost curling into a ball, but still standing.

  “Everything you cared about, gone, just like that.” Muriel clapped her hands once, sharply. “No school. No friends. No mummy and daddy. How does that make you feel? You. Have. No one.”

  It was at this point that I couldn’t take it any longer. “You’re wrong! She has us!”

  I ran into the crypt and squared up to Muriel. Ariadne gasped through her sobs and I looked up at the witch. She towered over me already and the tall black hat and boots only added to her height.

  Ivy and Ebony skidded in behind me. Muriel turned to look at them. “Oh,” she said, a quizzical expression on her face.

  I put my hands on my hips. “It’s over, Muriel. We know everything that you’ve done. And we’ve come to get her back.”

  “No,” Muriel said. “You can’t do this. All my plans—”

  “You shouldn’t have used me!” Ebony cried at her. “I thought you were my friend too, but you’re nothing but a … a … wicked witch!”

  Muriel’s face seemed to crumple and she shrank down. “Fine,” she said. “Have your friend back. See if I care.”

  Ivy glanced at me and then together we all ran to Ariadne.

  “Are you all right?” Ivy asked.

  “I … I … don’t …” she sobbed, her eyes wide and afraid.

  Ebony began tugging at the rope that bound Ariadne’s hands, but it was tied too tightly. “Ssh, it’s okay,” I reassured her.

  But Ariadne’s expression became more frantic. “Don’t trust her!” she gasped.

  I turned, just in time to see the iron gates shut behind us with a heavy clang. There was the click of a key turning in a lock.

  “See?” said Muriel from the other side of the gates. “I told you they didn’t listen.”

  Chapter Thirty-eight

  IVY

  e were trapped! Scarlet ran to the gates and shook them furiously. “Muriel!” she yelled. “Don’t you dare!”

  But the cowed look had gone from Muriel’s face and she stood as tall and straight as ever.

  “Well, what a show,” she said. “I didn’t expect to have all of you attending, but here we are. And for my final trick …” She waved her black-gloved hand with a flourish. “I’ll be making you all disappear. Happy All Hallows’ Eve!”

  With that, she dropped her hat to the floor, turned and fled up the spiral staircase, leaving us locked in.

  “No, no, no …” Ebony sank down to the floor beside the gates.

  “We’re stuck,” Scarlet said in disbelief. “No one knows we’re here!”

  I turned to Ariadne, who had half collapsed against the dais. She looked up at me, her face streaked with tears. “It’s all my fault!” she wailed.

  “How can it be your fault?” Scarlet asked.

  Ariadne squeezed her eyes tight shut. “I didn’t see all this coming. I pushed you all away! I’ve done badly at school and you two have almost been expelled, and –” she gulped – “now I’ve got us into this mess! She’s right, I’m worthless!”

  “You’re not�
�” Scarlet started, but Ariadne was crying too hard to listen.

  “Why did I ever burn down that shed?” she sobbed. She pulled against the rope on her wrists. “Why did I listen to Muriel? I’m so stupid!”

  “Ariadne!” I put my hands gently on her shoulders. “You have to listen to me. Don’t pull, you’ll hurt yourself.”

  She was panicking, her breathing shallow.

  “Ariadne,” Scarlet said. “You’re our best friend. You always have been our best friend. None of this matters!”

  Ariadne shook her head, gulping back sobs. She couldn’t wipe her tears away, since her hands were tied, so they just fell from her face like rain. “You’d be better off without me,” she whispered.

  I had to get her out of this. It was as if she’d fallen into a deep pit and somehow I had to reach her. “No! Just think of everything you’ve done,” I cried. “Without you, Scarlet would still be locked away in an asylum. The school would still be run by Miss Fox and we’d be suffering for it every single day! And goodness only knows what would have happened to Rose. We needed you all those times and we need you again now!”

  Ebony stared up at me wide-eyed as I said all this.

  “B-but …” Ariadne gulped. “I should have believed you! I should have known I was being taken for a ride!”

  Scarlet stepped closer. “We all make mistakes. Maybe you should have, but we weren’t honest with you. We got so caught up in ourselves that we didn’t talk things through properly.” I couldn’t tell whether the flush of anger in my twin’s cheeks was at the thought of what Muriel had done or what we had done, but I thought it was probably a bit of both. “We’re twins, it’s easy for us to forget that other people don’t live in our bubble.”

  Ariadne’s sobs started to get quieter and her eyes raised a little. “I just feel so worthless,” she said. “I’ve led you into this mess.”

  “You’re not worthless!” I insisted, feeling my voice crack with sadness and guilt and fear. “We need you! I need you.”

  I was trying to push down the panic that was rising in my own chest as I looked at the cold stone walls, dripping with damp. I imagined the darkness that lay behind the last flicker of the torch. I don’t want to be stuck forever, I thought. I don’t want to die down here.