Poison and Mirrors

by Holly Hook

  Mrs. Landry opened a drawer. It sounded so far away through the metal door. I prayed it wasn't the one with the phone. The man in black might tell her I was just here. She would check the room.

  I laughed to myself. I hadn't been that scared of the guy who had threatened my life, but I was horrified of Mrs. Landry and what she would do to me. It made about as much sense as everything else about this. When I thought of the hooded figure, anger boiled up inside and I didn't know why.

  He and I had some history.

  We had to. I just didn't remember it. My investigation wasn't over yet.

  I stayed in that cramped oven and the air got more and more stale. I'd be able to push open this door at the end of the day--right? I should. It didn't lock or anything. Mrs. Landry opened another drawer, but never spoke. At least two of the teachers here were against me. I had the sense they were the hooded guy's minions. I still couldn't figure out Mrs. Hendry.

  Time crawled past and my calves started to hurt from being so scrunched up. I was lucky I was skinny. At last, Mrs. Landry got up and exited the room. She locked the door behind her. The bell hadn't rang yet and she was ducking out early to escape the heat. I hoped. Sweat rolled down my back and I didn't even have enough room to ran myself.

  As soon as the door shut, I shoved open that oven door with my foot and breathed the best air of my life. I had pulled that part off, at least.

  I had grease all over my leggings, forming brownish black lines over the dragons. Great. At least I could sneak out of the school before anyone saw that.

  And then the bell rang.

  I let my forehead fall to the classroom door as chatter filled the space outside. There was no escaping it now. I waited for the noise to calm down before I opened the door and dared to go out to my bike. By then, the buses had left. I couldn't find Sara anywhere.

  And then, my phone buzzed.

  It was from Sara. Where are you at?

  I typed my message back to her and let her know. I'm alive. At least I could tell her about the guy in the black robe appearing in the phone. She'd seen all the crazy stuff today right along with me and wouldn't find me crazy.

  Sara met me, unlocked her bike, and rode with me all the way home. Both of us wanted away from the school after that. Before going inside Haven House, we did a check on the garden to make sure nothing else had changed. Check. The sunflowers waved in the wind and no more of the lettuce had grown in place of the purple stuff. The green lettuce remained, bright and happy. The pear tree remained as scraggly as ever and the apple tree still had fruits that Stephanie hadn't picked yet. I thought of poison apples, but these ones looked the same as yesterday. Red with some green in them. Wasn't the one in that one fairy tale really red?

  Like the one in my dream?

  Once we got up to my room, we sat on my bed since there wasn't much space. Sara stayed on the edge of the bed like she wanted to get up and run away any second. She kept taking glances at me from the corner of her eye. Sara had always been a lot more scared than me, but now she was bordering on paranoid.

  I told Sara about what I had seen in Mrs. Landry's phone. She got paler and paler as I told her about his threat.

  "Mrs. Landry might have been talking to that guy outside," Sara said. "She was messing with her phone while Nort and Joey were grazing."

  I laughed at the word grazing. There was no better reaction.

  "I think you're right," I said. "That guy might be some kind of magician or warlock or something if he can wipe memories. I'm kind of glad everyone in Foods got wiped, but still."

  "Nort and Joey are very lucky," she said. "It's just...I didn't like that guy at all. He really scared me. And if Mr. Rain has been spying for him like you said he was doing yesterday, that guy knows where I live."

  "He knows where I live, too," I pointed out. "I've met him before. I know it. I even saw him in my dream last night. Here. I'll show it to you." Sara was the only person I allowed to see my dream journal. Well, the Eric-free parts. I opened the page and opposite of where I had doodled some roses, I'd written my entire dream down, apple and hooded man and all.

  Sara held the book close and read each word, mouthing them to herself. I sat back on my bed and turned on my fan while she took it in. Even more color drained from her face. She was seriously freaking out. "Mara--what if that dream's a memory of yours? Something he tried to block or get rid of?"

  I jumped. How had she come up with the idea?

  Then I got my bearings. "It might be," I said. "Either that, or I'm seeing some visions of the future." The dream had felt so alive and so still at the same time. I took my journal back.

  A horrible thought rose.

  This might be a lot more like some fairy tale than I thought.

  Sara handed me my dream journal and stood up from my bed. "I'm going to go lie down," she said. "I need to think for a while."

  "So do I," I said. "I'll be fine. I think I'll go out and ride my bike for a while."

  "Have fun," she said.

  Sara went across the hall to her own room. It was almost like she was trying to get away from me. She closed the door most of the way behind her, leaving me alone with the soft hum of the fan. Sweat gathered on the back of my neck. It sucked having the top floor sometimes, but at least I didn't have all the boys bothering me constantly. I heard them shouting below me as they got off the bus and headed to the kitchen to grab the snacks Stephanie always made in the middle of the day. I flopped down on my bed as a massive headache started. So much for riding my bike.

  The apple. It all had to do with an apple.

  And a man who wanted me out of the way.

  If my dream was a memory, I'd been in a forest right before I'd ended up in Mr. Rain's class. When I'd first woken there, I hadn't had a clue where I was.

  My heart raced and my head hurt worse.

  It was possible that I had never drawn the apple on the bottom of the stairs.

  That I had really only been in Haven House for a couple of days. My life before that could be completely different than I thought.

  That Tony was staring at me strange because he had never seen me before yesterday.

  Maybe I had come from somewhere else and some dark magic had transported me here and made me forget it all. But if the man in black wanted me out of the way, why hadn't he just killed me? It had only been me and him in that forest.

  A huge mystery surrounded me here. And I had to unravel it before that creepy guy changed his mind.

  * * * * *

  I woke some time later and my headache was gone.

  Sweet relief filled my skull as I sat up. The light outside was dimmer. My fan blew in some cooler air and I sat there for a minute, glad that I wouldn't have to smell like a pair of gym socks from all the sweat. It must be past dinner and I hadn't gone down to eat. My stomach rumbled with hunger.

  I hadn't eaten lunch, either. If I pulled this much longer, Stephanie might think I had an eating disorder. I was already skinny enough. I didn't need to get any thinner or I'd border on skeletal. Stephanie might even think Sara and I were in on some weight loss thing together.

  I got off the squeaky bed and the old mattress that was sagging in places. Sara's door was still open a bit and her bare light bulb shone, casting a warm yellow glow in the room. Sara stood there at her vanity, examining the corner of her eye for the tiniest blemish. I'd never seen her so absorbed in her looks before. Sara leaned closer and blinked, then turned her head up so she could look at her chin. I didn't get it. Her face was flawless and she never even needed makeup.

  I wondered if she had someone to impress.

  Turning away, I headed downstairs and passed the apple drawn on the bottom. I remembered putting it there in the fourth grade and Stephanie telling me what a great job I'd done. It was there. But something about that memory was shaky.

  Could it be a false memory, like the ants had been for everyone in Foods? Moanna really believed that ants had crawled up her legs. I wondered if she had fake bit
es to prove they'd been there.

  The kitchen was empty. The television was going in the living room. A blue glow landed on the hallway just outside of it and some cartoon song I'd never heard floated out. The boys were watching a movie. I'd forgotten it was movie night. Stephanie always rented one for the younger kids and made a huge bowl of popcorn.

  I crept down the hall. Popcorn sounded great and I didn't want to cook. My legs felt weak from the lack of food and a mouthful of that would make me feel better.

  I peeked into the living room.

  And stopped.

  This had to be another dream. I held onto that thought because it was the only thing keeping me sane.

  The boys were gone.

  Instead, seven little gruff men sat there in a circle, watching a very grainy version of Dumbo.

  I blinked to make sure I was seeing it right in the dimness. I was. They sat in a semicircle, cross-legged, and all of them faced away from me. Each one of the men had to be four feet tall at the most and all of them had long beards that toppled down to their laps. They were all bald on the top and looked to be middle aged. If little men had middle age. One of them, a man with a long black beard, reached into the bowl of popcorn and shoved a whole bunch in his mouth. It toppled out everywhere as he made horrible chewing sounds. He seemed annoyed that he was here watching a kids' movie.

  And sitting in the armchair was Stephanie, a large hardcover book spread out on her lap.

  I crept back down the hall about as fast as I could, back up to my room, and back into my bed. Sara said nothing to me as I pulled the covers over myself and closed my eyes, trying to make it all go away.

  Chapter Six

  When I woke in the morning, I was starving. As in, about to pass out hungry.

  I got right out of bed even though I five more minutes. Hitting my alarm, I dressed in my red vest with the black lace-up, and headed into the bathroom before Sara used it. I combed my hair with my marbled glass comb and stuffed it into my backpack like I did every morning. Then I headed downstairs to grab a bowl of cereal. The boys were already there eating away, and they all looked up at me as if I'd crashed a secret meeting. Chad went back to his food and Jose waited like he was expecting something.

  "Hey," I said, smiling. "I'm here to eat your souls." I waved to Tony, and he cringed.

  Stephanie walked out into the kitchen. "Some of these children are five, Mara. Try to remember that, please."

  "I was just kidding," I said. "You know I'd let no one hurt these kids." I tousled Tony's hair as I made my way to the fridge. He said nothing.

  "You sure?" Stephanie asked, smiling.

  "I'm sure," I said. "I need food. Is there a cereal called Souls?" I pulled milk from the fridge and found Fruit Loops.

  It wasn't until I was halfway through breakfast I remembered last night.

  The little men.

  That had to be another dream. Stephanie never let men into the house unless she checked them out through the peephole in the front door first. I never got that. It wasn't like she was running a shelter for abused people.

  Unless she knew about Mr. Rain.

  I didn't ask her. I had too much to think about right now.

  Like everything.

  The morning at school crawled past. Concentrating in Sociology and Economics proved impossible. I watched my teachers' arms for any signs of the red blob, but I saw no trace of anything on Mrs. Chaney's arm, and she was wearing short sleeves today. I also found nothing on Mr. Tottle's arm, unless he had his mark somewhere else on his body. Maybe only some teachers were allied with that guy in black. That brought down the creepy factor a little, at least.

  Great. I only had to deal with Hooded Guy's allies two hours every day. And the principal. I couldn't forget her mirror.

  Her magic mirror?

  Maybe I should check out the office instead of Mrs. Landry's room. If I were Hooded Guy, I'd want the leader of my allies to be the principal of my enemy's school. The thought of breaking into the office with a much bigger mirror sent shudders up and down my arms even though I had survived going into Mrs. Landry's. But they might all know what I was up to if they'd communicated with the guy between yesterday and now.

  I headed off to lunch after third period and sat down at our usual table. Sara joined me with her tray and set it down. She picked at her food for a long time as if trying to decide if someone had slipped poison into it.

  "Who will be the taster?" I asked. "Kings used to have tasters to make sure no one was trying to kill them."

  "Not me," she said. "You're the brave one, remember?"

  I studied my food. Greasy pizza. With grease as a topping. It looked normal enough, but I sure didn't want to touch it.

  But that was when Eric sat down next to us.

  No. Next to Sara. He grinned at her and motioned to her food.

  "You want me to be the taster?" he asked.

  Sara shifted, uncomfortable. She passed her tray to Eric and scooted away to put one space between him and her. "Be my guest," she said. "Neither one of us wants to do it. Mara here doesn't want to end up grazing on the ground, for starters."

  I couldn't laugh.

  Eric had sat down next to Sara.

  Not me.

  I'd lost my appetite. The pizza on my tray looked like garbage someone had pulled out of a Dumpster. Eric smiled at Sara and took the tray. "I'm sure it's fine," he said, "but we had better find out. Warning: I'll leave a bite mark on your pizza."

  "You don't have to," said Sara, starting to stand. "I don't think I feel great. I need to comb my hair."

  She glanced at me out of the corner of my eye. She knew I shouldn't be seeing this. Eric didn't. It was all over her face. Sara wanted out before I got any more suspicious.

  "You don't have a comb," I said, sharpening my words like razors. "I can let you borrow mine." I had to keep her here, to see if Eric and her really were a thing. Eric sure seemed to think so. I unzipped my backpack and fished out my comb.

  "So, what's going on over here?" someone asked.

  I sat up all the way, nearly dropping my comb. The thing had been in my possession forever. Shattering it would suck. I set it on the table and faced Moanna, who stood behind Sara and Eric. She'd seen the new development. Moanna was the designated gossip girl.

  "Nothing," I said, stressing the word. "Nothing at all." Wow, I sounded like a jealous jerk. Eric looked at me funny. I was blowing it even more now. We hadn't exchanged words since he sat down and now he knew I might as well turn green.

  I handed the comb to Sara. She took it and seemed to forget all about her hair.

  Moanna leaned closer to Eric. "You never hang out at this table. You're over with us. Why must thou stray from us today?"

  Moanna worshipped Eric. Next she'd build a shrine to him.

  "Maybe I didn't feel like sitting by the art kids today. I'm a drifter. No offense."

  Moanna looked hurt. "But you always sit with us."

  "Eric can sit where he wants," Sara said. "He has a free will."

  "Yes," I said. "He can sit where he wants."

  Moanna turned a glare on Sara. Sara ran her finger along the comb, trying to distract herself. Arguments were my job. She was stepping into scary territory here. Eric sat there and searched for an escape. He was the most uncomfortable out of all of us. "I'll come over and sit with you guys in a few minutes," he told Moanna at last. "We were just talking about Foods yesterday. Geez, it's nothing to freak out over."

  Moanna calmed down a little. "Sorry," she said, not sounding it. "Everyone's been talking about Foods. I hate ants. I swear, I will hate ants until I take my last breath."

  Eric exchanged a glance with Sara and I. The memory wipe had been a good one. I wondered of Moanna had nightmares about donkeys, not knowing where they came from.

  And I had nightmares about apples and forests.

  "The comb?" Moanna asked. "Is it okay if I borrow that? I left mine at home and there's this huge knot in my hair from gym class."
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  Sara brushed it one more time and handed it to her. "Sure," she said. "Just bring it back here when you're done. It's Mara's."

  Translation: Get out of here.

  "That's my glass comb," I said as Moanna walked away.

  "She was annoying," Sara said. "She'll bring it back now that she knows who it belongs to."

  "I'm glad to be away from her for a while," Eric said. "She's crazy sometimes, and she has a huge crush on me I don't want to return. I swear, she wants to tie me to a chair and make out with me." He made a show of shuddering. "Nightmare material."

  Moanna left the cafeteria. I watched her vanish into the girls' bathroom across the hall. Eric's shoulders sagged with relief.

  "We should go sit somewhere she won't think to look for us," I said. "I'm sure she'll give my comb back by the end of the day. I'm not that worried about it." I was, but I didn't want to show that in front of Eric. "The picnic tables outside might be a good place to hide." I grabbed my tray. "We'll keep you safe from her, Eric."

  He stood up. "That's a great idea. We'll just have to make sure all the lettuce is gone. I wonder if it affects ants."

  "Then there will be a lot of donkeys walking around," Sara said.

  We all grabbed our trays. It was hot outside again, but it was better than dealing with Moanna's whole possessive thing. The three of us walked out of the cafeteria before the lunch lady could catch us leaving and yell at us.

  It was when we were passing the water fountain that a scream echoed from inside the girls' bathroom.

  Sara froze and dropped her tray. Greasy pizza flopped onto the floor and another, weaker scream followed.

  "Moanna," I said.

  I shoved my tray onto the water fountain and ran into the bathroom, ramming my shoulder into the door. It swung shut behind me and then Sara ran in. I ran around the white brick of the corner and found someone in a red skirt and a black tank top lying on her back, sprawled on the floor under the mirrors. My comb stuck in her hair like she was trying to use it as a pick.

  Moanna.

  And she wasn't moving.