Witchling (Curse of Kin)

by Ari Harper

“It’s Brie.”

  “What is going through her head, Nera?”

  “There are some things even you don’t want to know about.” I laughed at him. From the way he raised his eyebrows at me, I knew he had a fair idea of what was going through Brie’s mind.

  “Try someone else, girl dear.”

  I tried to concentrate on my mother, easily drawing her in my mind. Whenever I thought of her, she came to me in the garden, one of her greatest loves. But the garden was nowhere near her thoughts when I invaded her privacy. She was confused and angry, most of it pointed in my father’s direction. I knew they had been arguing lately. I could hear it from my room, even when I tried to block out the noise. Mom wanted to have another baby, and Dad, for a reason that I could not fathom, wanted to wait. They were both baby mad, so I didn’t understand his reasoning, but hey, it was their decision, not mine.

  “That is not a good place to be right now, Jasper,” I said, not elaborating the reasons why. I let him think it was too hard.

  “It doesn’t mean anything,” Jasper said. “You are not going to be able to stay in someone’s mind forever, Nera. Sometimes all you will get is a quick snapshot. That’s the way it is.”

  I briefly honed in on friends until Sully and Brie came through the gate. I could tell that Sully was excited about something the way he kept looking from me to Jasper and the quick grin he kept trying to hide. I didn’t even want to try and see what he was thinking. I looked at Jasper greeting Brie and could see that he was intrigued with Sully as well. We didn’t have to wait long to see what was causing his mood.

  “Jasper, you know how we went through the secret panel upstairs into the war room,” he began. “Well, I was wondering if there were any more panels or tunnels. You know lots of the older houses had those and since this is a very old house and you already have one secret panel?” he drifted off.

  Jasper laughed out loud. “Oh Sully, I knew you were a thinker. What I can’t believe is how long you managed to keep this question at bay.”

  I looked at him with raised eyebrows.

  “Yes, of course there is more,” he said. “But before I show you, I must have your solemn promise that this stays with us. You must tell no one.”

  We all agreed quickly and followed him into the house. We came to a stop in the library and gathered around Jasper.

  “You are all familiar with the library,” Jasper said, “but when you look around, what do you see?”

  “Books, junk, and more junk!” I said, laughing.

  “Thank you, my dear.” Jasper rolled his eyes to the ceiling and sighed. “What you don’t see are the escape tunnels and master’s peepholes. When my father had this house built all those years ago, he had them installed in most of the rooms. You must remember that those were tough times. If someone wanted what you had, they took it. War was very common place, I’m afraid to say. Sometimes a quick escape was all that was between you and death.”

  He moved to the far wall facing the fireplace. Turning to Sully, he addressed him directly. “Come closer, Sully. What can you see?”

  “Um, really nice carved panels, I guess.”

  “Yes, yes, but can you see the sliding panel?” Jasper asked.

  Sully shook his head, looking embarrassed about being singled out to find the impossible.

  “The only ones alive who know where they are hidden are Bones and I. Now you will too. Need I say anymore?” He peered at Sully with a dangerous glare.

  “N-not at all, sir, n-not at all,” he stuttered. “We already promised.”

  “Touch that stag’s head, Sully, and step back quickly so you don’t lose your fingers.” Jasper looked at him with a twinkle in his eye.

  Sully gingerly stepped forward and touched one of the intricate carvings on the wall panel and all but squealed when it swung inward to reveal a dark corridor. “This is so cool! Where does it go to, Jasper?”

  “Lead the way, young man. Coming, girls?” He followed Sully into the corridor, grabbing the torch off the sideboard as he went.

  “No way in hell you are leaving us out of this one.” I grabbed Brie’s hand and dragged her through the opening. “Don’t you dare scream if you see a spider, Brie. Just suck it up and keep up with me, or I’ll leave you behind.”

  “It does get a little cramped in here, but we deal with it. You carry the torch, Sully, you are headed the right way,” Jasper said.

  We headed down the tunnel, bent over and shuffled along. The musty smell and damp air made us sneeze but I didn’t complain. It was too exciting.

  “Okay, this is an entry point. This tunnel has three of them that lead to separate rooms downstairs. This one goes into the kitchen through the pantry. In you go, Sully.” He nudged him forward while at the same time touching a latch at the top of a panel in the wall. It slid open silently and we found ourselves in the large kitchen pantry.

  “That is so cool! How many tunnels in the house, Jasper?” he asked.

  “Quite a few actually,” he replied. “Let me show you one more secret this house has. Do I need to remind any of you that no one else knows about this?”

  “No sir,” we replied together, following him.

  Upstairs, on the second floor, Jasper opened the upper gallery panel to the secret war woom and showed us the master’s peepholes.

  A cold feeling came over me. I was looking down into my room below. It was now that I knew that someone had been watching over me. I looked at Jasper, but he was busy showing Sully how they worked, and I didn’t know if I should even bring it up.

  Brie was watching me out of the corner of her eye. Poor Brie. I knew that she was wishing it was her that had the powers. She was always going on about witches and crystals and faeries. She had them hanging from everywhere in her room. As much as I loved Brie, I wondered if she would use the powers for the greater good or for more personal reasons but then felt ashamed of myself for my thoughts. It would be easy to slip up and use the powers for personal gain. I wondered if I was strong enough to stay true to the craft that I had.

  I moved to stand by Sully, who was listening to Jasper explain how the peepholes worked.

  “It’s quite brilliant really. You can’t see them from the rooms below because of the high carved ceilings and the modern lighting that we have put in. It’s lower than the peepholes, so is undetectable. Rather clever I thought.”

  “Yes, brilliant,” I said. “Does that mean anyone can come up here and see into the rooms beneath? Like watch me sleeping, for example?”

  “Why, my dear? Why would anyone want to do that?” Jasper asked.

  “Nothing, don’t worry about it,” I replied. “Just asking.”

  I turned to leave the room. “Come on,” I said to Brie and Sully. “I need some air.”

  ***

  I was listening to Bones trying to explain to me about the element spells when Jasper found us.

  “There you are, Bones. I was hoping you could show the kids how to do the elements,” he said.

  “It’s really easy, Nera. Brie and Sully, why don’t you try too? You never know, you might be able to do this as well. Gather around me.” Bones stepped over to a clearer area of the garden. He stood with his hands clasped together in front of his face, index finger on his lips while we gathered around him, his dark eyes serious. “Okay, all you need to do is concentrate on the element that you want to use. Let’s try the wind. First let your mind go clear and relax. That’s good.” He was quiet while we concentrated on his words. “Now I want you to imagine the wind swirling in the air above you, then let it drop gently around your body. Just a light breeze to start with, a gentle breeze that just ruffles your hair on a summer’s day. Make it come to you and swirl around your body, going nowhere else.” He walked around us, his head cocked to one side, and I imagined him listening for the wind to suddenly appear.

  Bones watched quietly, and we all tried to concentrate on his instructions. I could hear the rustle of the wind blowing the leaves of the tree overhead but
so far it had yet to settle around which of us had called it into being. I closed my eyes and tried to feel it around my face.

  “Pull it closer to you, gently now,” Bones instructed. “Don’t give me a hurricane just yet.”

  The breeze slowly dropped around my head, and I opened my eyes. It was mine! The wind cooled my skin and settled my nerves. A small chuckle escaped my throat as I strengthened the breeze to lift up my hair. Sully’s and Brie’s eyes opened in amazement. A small frown marred Brie’s forehead, but it was soon replaced by a radiant smile, and she quickly became mesmerized by what I was doing.

  I whipped the wind up another notch and sent it around Brie’s head, ruffling her hair, then Sully’s. Finally, I sent it back to the heavens.

  “Wow, that’s really fun. How many others can we call up? Can I try the rain or a huge storm?” I asked excitedly.

  “How about not,” Jasper replied, laughing. “You need to be a careful, Nera. You don’t want to bring up any elements you can’t control, so I would advise you to be mindful with this spell. But really, it’s the same for the rain. You just have to think it into being. That’s the easiest way to explain it.”

  Brie bounced around me. “I so wish I could do this, Nera. Can you help me practice some more?”

  “Either you have it or you don’t, Brie,” Sully said. “It looks like you don’t.”

  “Let her be, Sully. We can try again later, Brie. I need a break; that zaps your energy. Why don’t we do something different for awhile? Let’s grab a drink and figure it out. We will practice more later on,” I promised.

  We sat under the big tree, drinking cold juice while we talked about what to do for the rest of the day. Sully was keen for the local swimming hole and I had to agree with him.

  “Why, just for once, can’t we go catch a movie?” asked Brie. “We never get to see anything when it’s in town. We always miss them and have to get out the DVD,” she moaned.

  “Because it’s too bloody nice to sit in a movie theater,” I snapped. “And who wants to watch a soppy movie anyway? You go and we will go to the swimming hole. Who knows who we might see there?” I looked at Brie out of the corner of my eye.

  “You can be really nasty sometimes, Nera. You know that, don’t you?” Brie said.

  “Yeah, I do, and I’m damned good at it too,” I replied. “Come on if you are coming. Catch you later, Jasper, Bones.”

  Waving good-bye we walked out the garden, Hugo beside us, wagging his tail as if he knew where we were going. The waterhole was one of his favorite places.

  We took the path through the forest and past Widow’s Lake to the bridge over the River Laigin. From there, we walked west toward the hills that the river sprang from. Its cool waters meandered down the valley, through the surrounding hills, and formed small pockets of rock pools. Then it wound its way to the east coast where it met the Irish Sea. Sully, Brie, and I clambered over the rocks to the sweet sound of the waterfall thundering down into our favorite pool. The laughing of the other kids lifted our spirits and took the focus off the earlier conversation with Jasper and Bones. That could be shelved until later in the day, for now we were going to enjoy ourselves.

  Many of our classmates were there, dipping toes in the cool water or lazing on the water’s edge. Someone had brought music and the sounds of Coldplay drifted over the water.

  “Hey, Sully, come and sit with us,” Paul called from a shady spot near the far side of the pool. Paul and Sully were both on the football team together along with Denny and Peter from our class.

  “Hi, Nera, how are you?” Paul asked.

  “Yeah, good, thanks, Paul.”

  “We mean, you know, after your beating at school. We were kind of worried about you.” Denny joined the group.

  “Honestly, guys, I’m okay, really. I just can’t believe that they got the better of me. Not like me, I know, but there it is.”

  “Where are Alison and Lia?” Brie changed the subject, looking around for Paul’s girlfriend.

  “They just went for a walk, you know, to talk about girl stuff.” He looked away from us and shuffled his feet.

  I looked at him with shock, the visions going through my head like a movie reel. “Oh Paul, what have you done?”

  “What are you talking about?” His face turned red all the way up to his hairline. He tried to look away, but I pinned him with my gaze. “It just wasn’t working for me, you know, Nera. She was getting too clingy, and I was suffocating. What was I supposed to do?”

  “Well, you could have dumped her a little nicer than that, and in front of your mates. What the hell were you thinking, Paul? You really are a jerk sometimes!” I turned away from him in disgust.

  “She’s been gone awhile now,” Denny offered, coming forward. “Should we go and look for her do you think? Lia is with her, but she was pretty upset.”

  Denny was such a nice boy, very easygoing and eager to please. He’s had a crush on Brie since first grade. Pity she didn’t return his feelings.

  “Which way did she go?” I grabbed Sully’s arm as I tried to decide where to look first.

  “They took the track to the left, I think,” he replied, motioning toward the trailhead.

  Sully and I took off, fully expecting Brie to be right behind us.

  ***

  I made my way back to the pond with Alison, Lia, and Sully, giving my friend a sympathetic shoulder to lean on. Teenage boys could be such jerks when it came to girls. I was sure that the hormones raging through their bodies muddled up their brains. At least girls had a better grip on the whole child to teenage transition.

  When my ears started to pound and my breathing came in ragged gasps, I turned to Sully for help, fighting the panic that engulfed me.

  “Nera, Nera, look at me!” Sully grabbed me by the shoulders shaking me. “Tell me what it is. What can you see?”

  “I can’t see. Something is pulling at me, Sully. I feel like I am being dragged down into the darkness. It’s hard to breathe.” I tried to claw at my throat, willing the air into my lungs.

  “Alison, go get the others,” Sully yelled.

  “Brie, where is she?” I gasped. “I think it might be her. We have to find her.”

  “Paul, did you see where Brie went?” Sully called when he came into view.

  “I thought she followed you guys. She left just after you did.”

  “We have to find her,” Sully said to the others. “I think she’s in trouble. Get everyone together and head back out this way. Stick in pairs and fan out. She can’t be too far away.”

  He pulled me up from the ground where I had sunk when he let me go to organize everyone else. “Nera, let’s go. Hold my hand and I’ll guide you until you can find her. Get into her mind. Hurry!”

  “I can’t, Sully. It makes it hard to breathe when I try.”

  Sully twinned our fingers together and holding tight pulled me along. “Find a way. If she’s in trouble, we have to get to her.”

  We stumbled through the bush, and I tried to lock onto Brie and keep breathing regular breaths as I went.

  “This way, Nera. Someone’s been through here. Getting anything yet?”

  “Yes and no. I can feel her panicking, and she can’t breathe, but I can’t seem to calm her. She can’t be too far away because the feeling is getting stronger.” I gripped Sully’s hand tighter as he dragged me through the bush, trying to find any indication that this was the way that Brie had gone.

  “Brie! Brie! Answer me!” Sully yelled.

  “She’s very close,” I panted. “I can feel her, she can’t—Arrgh!” I cried as both Sully and I stumbled over each other and landed on the ground with a thud.

  Brie was curled up in the fetal position under a bramble bush. Her eyes were closed tight, and she was shivering.

  “Oh, Brie, look at you!” I cried. “What happened? You are covered all over with scratches, dirt, and leaves.”

  “Are you hurt?” Sully asked. He knelt down and grabbed her hands to h
elp her up.

  I tried to pick the dead leaves from her hair as she cried quietly in Sully’s arms. Before long, the soft crying turned to huge sobs. “I followed you. Denny was hitting on me, so I couldn’t stay behind, but I lost you. Then,” she gulped, “I fell into the mud and it sucked me down and I couldn’t breathe.”

  “What mud?” Sully looked around us. “There’s no mud here.”

  “There was mud. It sucked me down, and I couldn’t breathe. I know what happened,” she insisted. She took a couple of deep breaths and continued. “There was someone here too. I think I heard something.”

  “Who was it?” I asked. The familiar chill was working down my neck. I quickly scanned the area but could see no one around.

  “I don’t know.”

  “Let’s just get you out of here.” Sully turned to me. “Signal the others will you, Nera.”

  We guided her back to the pool our friends had gathered. Paul and his mates were in one group, Alison and her friends in another.

  “Boys can be such jerks.” I grabbed my bag and our towels, helped Brie with her things, and then waited for Sully to fill in his mates before we headed home.

  ***

  After we had helped Brie clean herself up and treated her cuts and scratches, we went back into my room.

  “Do you suppose,” Sully started, “that this is connected to you, Nera? Remember what Jasper said about us being in danger because we know about the curse.”

  “Yeah, I was thinking the same thing only I don’t get it. Who was with Brie? And why didn’t they help her? We saw no one out there. Surely they would have had to pass us. I didn’t see anyone in the bushes anywhere.”

  Something was starting to gel in my mind, that cold feeling I got whenever things were not quite right. It happened in my dreams, I felt it in my room at Jasper’s and again when we found Brie. Who or what was it? Bones and Jasper knew more than they were letting on, I thought. Just wait until I catch up with them.

  “Give, Nera, I can see your brain ticking.” Sully nudged me on the arm as he watched me. He always knew when I was churning possibilities over. We had been friends for so long he sometimes thought he could read me like a book. But lately, things were not so clear.