Enchanted Academy Box Set

by L. C. Mortimer

  Unfortunately, I had the sneaking suspicion that Allie was back.

  I couldn’t prove it.

  I couldn’t even really pinpoint why I thought she was the one behind the painting except that it would explain how she had been able to learn so much information about the school. After all, she had managed to blend in as a normal student for a long time and no one suspected a thing. Maybe she had planted the painting when she first came to the school and simply moved it around the castle.

  Or maybe she was planning something sinister.

  The idea that the painting was gone made me wildly uncomfortable, but I also didn’t want Hook to panic anymore than she already was. After all, Hook looked nervous.

  “You’re worried,” I said.

  “No.”

  “You’re a bad liar, Jillian Hook.”

  “Look, I just think it’s weird that it’s been moved. Who would have moved it?” She ran a hand through her dark hair and shook her head. We were standing in the center of one of the hallways. The other students were gone already. They were probably well into the process of eating their lunch, and I kind of wished, a little more than anything else, that I was also enjoying a tasty meal.

  I was starving, and I was tired of being scared.

  “Anyone.”

  She eyed me suspiciously.

  “You think it was her, too.”

  “Who?”

  “Now who’s the bad liar?” She scoffed.

  “Okay,” I relented. “That still doesn’t explain why she would have moved it.”

  “She’s here, Jessica. I can feel it.”

  “But why you?” I asked.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Why is she obsessed with you? She’s taken your appearance, and she basically stole your parents, and then she came here and took your friend. Why does she want to be you so badly?”

  “I don’t know,” Hook whispered.

  “We’ll figure it out,” I told her confidently. I didn’t feel confident, but there was that old saying: fake it ‘til you make it. If I kept pretending to believe in myself, then maybe I would finally be able to for real.

  “How can you be so sure?”

  “We have to,” I said simply. “Now let’s go find my roommates.”

  “Why?”

  “Because they know everything there is to know about Enchanted Academy, Hook, and they’re going to help us figure out what this girl is really after.”

  Chapter 9

  Hook peered into the dormitory suite. Three sets of blinking eyes stared at her, waiting for her to enter, but she just couldn’t convince herself that it was safe. She was struggling to persuade herself to just take that leap and walk into the room.

  “We aren’t going to bite,” Wolf said.

  “We might,” Belle teased.

  “Give her a second,” Jessica whispered. She looked at Hook and smiled encouragingly, and even though Jessica was completely goofy and bratty and silly, when she looked at Hook like that, it really did change something deep inside. Hook suddenly felt like her friend truly believed in her. In many ways, that gave her the guts to believe in herself.

  She took a deep breath and stepped over the threshold of the room.

  Everyone still stared at her.

  “What’s with the drama?” Wolf finally asked.

  “I’ve never been invited into someone’s dorm,” she said.

  “That’s not true. You were with me in Snow White’s room when Belle was trapped,” Jessica pointed out.

  “That was different.”

  “How?”

  “We forced our way in. She wasn’t inviting me to hang out.”

  “Well, consider yourself invited,” Belle said gently. She gestured to the colorful pillows that covered their living room floor. “Have a seat.”

  Hook sat down and crossed her legs. Then she uncrossed them. Finally, she crossed them again. She wiggled around trying to get comfortable, and finally, Wolf reached out and touched her knee.

  “It’s fine,” she said.

  “Thanks.”

  “So what’s going on?” Wolf asked. When Hook looked at Natasha Wolf, she didn’t feel like she was being judged. They weren’t exactly friends, but they knew each other. They’d helped each other out before in the past with various tasks and problems, but Hook had always kept a distance between herself and other people.

  When she’d had her powers, that hadn’t been a problem. Everyone needed her: not the other way around.

  Now things were different.

  Where she had once been confident and bold, she now felt lonely and isolated.

  “There was a weird painting in the hallway at school,” Hook said.

  “Oh yeah, the one with all the people in front of Enchanted Academy,” Belle said. She shivered. “That picture creeps me out.”

  “Yeah, me too,” Hook admitted. “But it’s gone.”

  “What do you mean?” Wolf asked.

  “Someone just moved it,” Jessica said.

  “No offense, and forgive me for being clueless, but why is that a problem?” Wolf asked. “People move things on campus all of the time. Nobody ever cares. Why now?”

  “Because there was a twin orb in the painting.”

  Wolf and Belle both stared at Hook blankly. She knew they had been in the magical world for a long time. Surely they knew what a twin orb was.

  “So?”

  “What do you mean? Someone has been spying on us through it.”

  “Through the orb painting?” Belle asked. “Is that even possible?”

  “Helena Hex seemed to think so,” Hook said. “No one ever paints those.”

  “Why not?” Jessica wondered.

  “Because orbs are one of the most powerful things in existence,” Wolf said. “My mother taught me about them. She’s the head of a coven and she’s one of the few witches who can craft them.”

  “Your mother can make them?”

  “Yes, but she never does,” Wolf said. “She hates them. She thinks they’re only ever used for evil and not for good. My mom isn’t the most morally straight person I’ve ever met, but that’s saying something.”

  “Well, what would she say?”

  “About the painting?”

  “Yeah,” Hook nodded. “Would it be possible for someone to use them to spy on someone else?”

  “So here’s the thing about these orbs,” Wolf said. “They aren’t just your run-of-the-mill magical item. They’re actually pretty hard to wield. They take up a ton of energy and they make you really tired. So if you’ve been using one to spy on someone, you’re going to be totally exhausted. You can’t use it all of the time.”

  “We think that Allie may be back,” Jessica said.

  “The dark fairy?”

  “We think maybe she’s been using the orb to spy on us.”

  “I guess it makes sense,” Wolf said. “She’s been after Hook for a long time, if what you all have told us is true.”

  It was true.

  It was hauntingly, horribly true.

  And Hook wanted it to not be true.

  She didn’t want to worry about someone coming back to Enchanted Academy. She didn’t want to worry about what her old nemesis wanted.

  She just wanted to move on with her life.

  Only now it seemed like she’d never be able to. She had lost everything. Everything. There was nothing else left for her in the world. She’d lost both of her parents and now she might be losing the school she had grown to so desperately love. She looked forward to her classes and to her interactions with the other students.

  Hell, she was even beginning to like Jessica.

  A little.

  The girl was still a bit wild.

  “But what is she after?” Hook finally said.

  “You know, for someone who claims to be a bully, you don’t seem to know much about them,” Wolf smiled sadly.

  Hook glared at the shifter.

  “I’m just saying,” Wolf cont
inued. “Bullies don’t always have a goal, Hook. Not in the way you’re thinking.”

  “Their goal is to destroy you,” Belle added. “They want to make you suffer as much as possible, and it looks like it’s happening. You’re stressed out, you’re frustrated, and you’re snappy. Even if she doesn’t do anything else to you, she’s already accomplished what she wants: your unhappiness.”

  “I’m not unhappy,” Hook lied.

  “Stop with the bullshit,” Wolf bared her teeth for a quick moment before she remembered where she was and who she was talking with, and she closed her mouth quickly.

  “I think they’re right,” Jessica carefully considered.

  “But how can I find her? How can I stop her? I don’t have any powers. I can’t sniff her out. Neither can our fairy friends. Neither Tinkerbell nor Peter Pan were able to detect her before.”

  “We could cast a tracking spell,” Wolf suggested.

  “Or a location potion,” Belle added.

  Jessica just started laughing and everyone turned to see what was so funny.

  “Haven’t you all seen teen movies? She’ll be at the dance.”

  Chapter 10

  The night of the ball couldn’t come soon enough.

  I waited anxiously, ready to defend my school and my friends from anything we might face or have to deal with, but as soon as I stepped through the doors of the auditorium that night, all thoughts of Allie vanished from my head. Instead of being worried that she was going to show up as some invisible villain I couldn’t see, I was caught off guard by just how truly incredible things looked in the auditorium.

  The walls were covered with long white flags and banners. There were tables covered with “snow” and food and drinks. The entire school had come out to dance, and the whole room seemed to sparkle and glow with anticipation and beauty. There were magical stars floating throughout the room which seemed to give the entire winter wonderland theme an even bigger boost.

  “Woah,” I breathed out, looking around. I’d never seen anything like this before at Millbrook High. There things had been simple and straightforward. What you saw was what you got at that particular school. I liked that Enchanted Academy was different.

  Here, we really had been essentially transported to a beautiful and lovely place where everything looked, smelled, and hopefully, tasted delicious.

  “It’s beautiful,” Beast said, looking out over the auditorium. If he knew just how quickly it had been decorated, maybe he wouldn’t be so impressed. Just glancing around, I would have guessed that it had taken hours or even weeks to prepare, but Miss Fate had totally outdone herself with the ball.

  “It is beautiful, but not as beautiful as you,” I looked sideways at him and winked.

  “Really?”

  “Of course.”

  Beast cleaned up nicely. I’d go out on a limb and say that we both did. I mean, I was wearing a ridiculously long and beautiful ball gown in my school colors that the other girls and helped me acquire. Apparently, there were several thrift shops close to campus that supplied low-cost and discount dresses for just such occasions.

  I hadn’t even known that dressing up was something I wanted to do until we’d decided to go to the ball. Now, as I moved and my dress swished with every step, I wondered how I’d ever managed to live without this kind of wonder in my life before.

  I leaned over and kissed Beast on the cheek.

  “This is it,” I said.

  “The first night of freedom,” he smiled.

  He was looking forward to the winter break. We all were, I think. It was wonderful to have a way to divide up the semester like this so we didn’t all get completely burnt out. We were both looking forward to having time to ourselves just feel and think and relax.

  The semester had been hard. We’d had struggle after struggle and it was going to be nice to just take a break from everything and have some time to just chill. I wanted to work on some artistic projects over the break and I knew Beast wanted to start a new exercise program to prepare for spring sports. We were both going to benefit from not having to spend all of our time in classes.

  “Stop loitering in the doorway,” Tinkerbell said from behind us, laughing. I turned to see the f airy in a lovely floor-length green gown. It was almost a deep forest color and it showed off all of her curves. She looked perfect in it. It was hard to imagine that dress on anyone else but her.

  Peter Pan stood beside her with a huge grin on his face.

  “Yeah, no loitering,” he chuckled.

  “You both look great,” I said.

  “Get inside,” Tinkerbell ignored me and playfully pushed me forward. “No more delaying the inevitable.”

  “I’m not!”

  “You kind of are,” Beast chuckled.

  He was right, but only a little. I was nervous about the dance even though I probably shouldn’t have been. It was my first real social event at a magical school, and I wasn’t prepared for just how fantastical it was going to be.

  As we stepped further into the auditorium, I could see there were even more little details I hadn’t counted on. The music that played from an invisible band, for example. There was a corner full of instruments that were seemingly playing themselves.

  “How?” I whispered.

  “It’s just an enchantment,” Tinkerbell said. “Anyone can do it.”

  “Not me.”

  “One day, I think you might be able to,” she told me. “And if not, well, whatever. I’ll do all of your spells for you,” she hugged me and then she and Peter Pan went to find a table to sit at.

  I looked around the room and tried to find Hook, but it was so crowded that it was impossible to do so.

  There were just too many students, and everyone was having a good time. It looked like everyone was really enjoying themselves in different ways and I hoped that the entire night was going to go smoothly.

  I was still hoping that Allie wouldn’t actually show up in a cliché villain sort of way and destroy the night, but that was probably too much to hope for. I saw Hannah and Elizabeth and William. Lots of students I knew came by to say hello as Beast and I made our way to the snack tables and then back to the table with Tinkerbell and Peter.

  Miss Hex stood up to welcome everyone to the evening.

  “Hello, boys and girls,” she said, and we all laughed. Boys and girls? It was a little quaint, but I liked it. It made the event feel a little less formal and a little more wonderful.

  “Hello!” Everyone shouted back at her.

  “Tonight’s ball is more than just a winter dance,” she began. “It’s a celebration of togetherness. It’s a way for us to celebrate just how magical life can truly be.”

  She kept talking, but I found myself looking at Beast and wondering what he was thinking. Did he think our lives were magical? Did he like the way our worlds had collided with one another?

  “With that, our magical talents portion of the evening will begin!” Miss Hex smiled at the crowd, fought back a yawn, and then moved to the side of the stage. Everyone cheered and grinned and settled back in their seats to watch the show.

  “Don’t you need to go backstage?” I asked Tinkerbell and Peter.

  “No,” they shook their heads. “We’re not on until the end of the show.”

  “Oh, okay.”

  We all paid rapt attention as the first performer took the stage. It was a boy from one of my classes, Henry. He was able to do a dance while simultaneously moving objects from one side of the stage to the other, but all of the items were food. He moved a cake, cupcakes, and even cookies. He looked like he was getting hungry, and to be honest, so was I. When his routine ended, everyone cheered, and he used his wand to levitate each of the sweets. Then he sent them out into the auditorium for anyone who wanted them to eat.

  The next performer was a student who could sing in many different languages thanks to a special spell. The magical enchantment meant they were able to quickly alternate between both magical and human lang
uages and they created this song that gave me the chills.

  “That’s amazing,” Beast whispered.

  “Yeah, it is.”

  I wished Hook was there to see it. As far as I knew, she hadn’t come to the dance at all. I hated that she was sitting alone in her room. I wanted her to feel confident enough to come along and to see what the rest of the students had put together.

  The show was going to be epic: at least that was the idea.

  A few of the teachers mingled with students, but many of them had taken the night off as a way to spend more time on their own. Helena Hex stood close to the stage. Her floor-length gown was icy silver and reminded everyone of her true form and what she really was.

  She was a dragon.

  Not just any dragon, but a brave one. Ice dragons were perhaps the rarest creatures in the universe, but we had one at our own school, and I hoped that no one ever forgot that.

  The performances continued and student after student showed off just how talented they were. I was a little overwhelmed, to be honest, by just how wonderful some of the performers were.

  And then the song changed and she came out.

  It was Hook.

  “She came,” I whispered.

  “Woah,” Beast said from beside me.

  Tinkerbell and Peter Pan both gasped. None of us could really believe what we were seeing.

  “She cleans up nice,” I said.

  “That’s putting it mildly,” Tinkerbell agreed.

  Hook was wearing a very small black dress that came to her mid-thigh. She had coupled the dress with silver leggings that stretched down to bright red ballet slippers. They were lovely. She moved to the front of the stage and stood there for a minute.

  Then she spoke.

  We were all silent when Hook got there. No one wanted to miss a word of what the most beautiful girl at Enchanted High had to say. Not about this. No matter what she wanted to tell us, we paid rapt attention because Hook wasn’t the type of person who put herself out there.

  “Some of you may know me as a mean girl,” she said. “Or a girl who isn’t very kind. Some of you might know me as the girl who isn’t afraid to help her friends. Others might think of me as the grumpy witch who sits in the back of the class.”