by Jimi Alan
Justin noticed all the jars. “Where did you get all of this?”
“Around.” Lucia said with a casual tone. “What do we need for the potion?”
“Lionstongue.” Gloria started listing off the ingredients as she placed a bowl in front of her. “A purple lilac stem, a tear of a wolf, the hair of youth and a petal from a Stronghold Flower.”
Lucia placed a jar of each ingredient onto her bed beside her. Five jars lines up in a row. She closed her closet door with all of the ingredients played out of her bed before her friends.
“My mother.” She told her friends what she thought they wanted to know. “She always had us collect things since we were kids. They can be useful.”
“Creepy.” Gloria honestly said. “I can start the potion.”
“Sure.” Justin stood by the door. “I'll keep watch.”
Alice helped Lucia take some of the jars off of her bed. She placed the jars on the floor in front of Gloria's bed. Her hands lowered from the jar as Lucia placed the rest of them beside the ones Alice had placed on the floor.
Gloria joined them with the bowl, revealing a butter knife and spoon inside the bowl. She looked over her shoulder at the book on her bed. Alice could see the book with all the ingredients listed. She wondered if Gloria was going to share it with them.
Gloria reached her hand for each jar. Looking over her shoulder at the book as she used a butter knife to cut what she needed. She used the spoon for the liquid in one of the jars. Gloria mixed each one of them together in the bowl. She mixed the last ingredient, making an aroma drift into the room that made all of them grind their teeth.
Alice gagged. “That's so bad.”
“Yup.” Gloria told them. “It didn't smell like this the first time we did it.”
She held the bowl in her hands. Gloria rose up from the floor. She looked down at her friends.
Gloria said. “Now let's see if it works.”
She headed towards the door to their dorm, with the bowl in her hands. Alice grabbed the book off of Gloria's bed. She placed her finger on the page to keep the page from getting lost. Alice followed behind Gloria with Lucia and Justin following behind her. She knew the four of them together would draw some attention by the other students.
Alice kept close to her friends. She knew Lucia had her own thing she wanted to do. Alice was glad Lucia was behind her, helping them find answers they might have forgotten a while back.
The four of them reached the hallways of the library before they knew it. Alice headed down a hallway with Gloria leading the way. She knew her friend had no idea where they were going.
“It's this way.” Alice heard a whisper in her ear. She remembered the sound of the voice in her ear. “This way.”
Walking down the hallway, Alice looked down at the hallway of books. She looked over her shoulder at Lucia with Gloria stopping dead in her tracks. The three of them followed Alice down the hallway. She listened as the voice sound less inviting to her.
Alice walked down the hallway. She stood where she did as she searched for Lucia moments before. Her friends watched as their friend vanished before their eyes. She faded away, like she wasn't even there.
Gloria took two of her fingers into the bowl. She dipped her fingers into the bowl, leaning down to where he friends stood. Her eyes looked over her shoulder at Justin. She nodded her head slightly, telling him to get ready.
Making a circle on the floor, Gloria touched her fingertips onto the floor. Droplets from the potion slithered off of her fingertips and onto the floor. She moved her hand in a circle where Alice had stood.
“Revelare.” Gloria spoke like she knew the word from many days of practice. “Revelare.”
On the floor, the ground seemed to have changed. A stone flooring appeared from the flooring. The bookshelf changed from the wooden structure of the library into a dark vine covered chamber. Gloria took the first step into the circle. She kept on walking until her friends could not see her anymore. Lucia looked over her shoulder at Justin. She reached for his hand as he smiled at her. He let her keep his hand gripped tightly as she made the first step into the circle. Justin followed behind her, walking into the chamber with her friend behind her.
Alice stood in the chamber. She saw the vines and roots covering the stone walls around her. She turned around, walking around the tree trunk in the middle of the room like a giant column.
Waiting for her friends, Alice felt the coldness of the room. She felt an emptiness, she never felt before. A kind of feeling she could not put into words. Her body was telling her to be ready to use her father's wand, which she remembered she still had no idea how to use.
Alice reached her hand to her pocket. She felt her fingertip onto the handle of her father's wand. Alice watched as she saw a shimmer of light on the wall behind her. She turned around as she watched Gloria shimmer from the stones. Her friends, Lucia and Justin walked out of the stone behind her. Alice never saw such an epic sight in her life.
She knew what she was in the chamber to do. With her friends behind her, she walked past the column towards the tunnel. Alice feared the tunnel for the last time she walked down its stone pathway, she felt herself slipping away.
Alice looked over her shoulder at her friends. “Before we head in here. We should talk.”
Lucia sighed. “You will see things.”
“It's the place where we were for four months.” Alice reminded them. “And it's really…”
She could not put the experience into words. Alice took the first step. She walked down the tunnel with Gloria behind her. Lucia stayed behind Justin as they walked. She seemed less afraid compared to the last time they were close to the tunnel.
Alice kept the others behind her. She felt like she needed to protect them from what they might see in the tunnel. Alice felt like they where walking for a while. She wrapped her fingers around her father's wand. Her mind tried to think of some words as she pointed the wand down the stone tunnel.
“Lux.” Alice heard the word come to her mind. She had no idea what the word meant.
A spark lit on the top of her father's wand, making the tip illuminate. She could see down the tunnel. Alice felt better with the small amount of light. She kept on walking with her friends following behind her.
The group walked in silence for a while. Alice knew it was awkward walking without any explanation of where they were going or why. She remembered doing the same with Lucia, the first time they came across the stone pashed tunnel.
Justin's voice echoed down the tunnel. “Are we there yet?”
“I don't know.” Alice reminded them. “It’s weird down here.”
“Last time.” Lucia remembered. “We got swallowed by the ground.”
“After some stones on the wall tried to steal our memories.” Alice sighed. “Fun times.”
Justin sarcastically said. “Sound like a great place.”
Alice sighed as she kept on walking. She muttered the word under her breath one more time. “Lux.”
The light on the tip of her wand brighten. Alice looked ahead of them at the stones on the wall, which seemed like they went on endlessly for miles. Each step she took, Alice saw her reflection on the stones. She knew not to stare at the stones for to long, for she would lose herself once more if she did.
Alice heard the same voice from the library in her head. She stopped dead in her tracks as the voice charmed in her mind. “We should speak with the child.”
The voice sound distorted in Alice's ears. She wondered if the voice even came from the direction she headed further down. Behind Alice, she heard the whispering sounds of her friends nervously following behind her.
Justin asked. “What was that?”
Alice shrugged her shoulders. She had no idea who was speaking in the tunnel. The sound of the voice seemed young at time and then demented at others. She even wondered if the voice could have been multiple people.
Gloria sighed. “Are we there yet?”
“That's such a childish t
hing to say.” Lucia spoke in a hushed tone.
The voice crept down the tunnel. “Our guest should be arriving soon.” As quickly as the voice came, it had changed again to the demonic tone. “No worries. If they don't. Your do fine.”
“How many times do I have to tell you.” The young voice seemed to have an issue with the demonic voice. “If you feed on me, then your be draining both of us.”
“Yes, I understand.” The demonic voice said. “But I need more…”
The tunnel went quiet as Alice stopped dead in her tracks. She saw a light coming from the end of the tunnel. Lower her wand down to her side, Alice hopped to no draw any attention to her and her friends.
Behind her, Alice's friends noticed the end of the tunnel. Alice felt a slight push as she kept on walking. She saw the figure standing beside the end of the tunnel. The moonlight glowed in from behind her making the tunnel like almost blue. Alice kept her pace as she wondered if the figure was just another illusion of the tunnel.
In her ears, Alice heard the young voice. “We have visitors.”
Alice looked at the figure, her young thirty year old skin seemed to have no aged. Her dark black hair and skin tone seemed to blink in with the girls young eyes. She wore a dress over her body with her feet bare. Her hand was leaning against the wall of stone behind her as she faced Alice as her friends.
Her friends stood beside her. Justin stood to the left of Alice, with Gloria and Lucia standing to her right. Alice looked over her shoulder at Gloria and Lucia. She needed answers from the women before her.
Alice asked her. “Who are you?”
“She doesn't know.” The demonic voice came from the women's lips. “How does she not know?”
“No one does.” Her voice changed to being young again. “We don't have much time. It's coming for you. Take my warnings.”
Alice felt the woman's hand reach for hers. She looked over her shoulder as the walls of the tunnel swallowed her and her friends. Her eyes closed as the stone of the walls covered her body. She could feel the coldness covering her head all the way down to her toes. Her eyes opened as the warmth in her body returned.
Opening her eyes, Alice stood back in the library with Justin, Gloria and Lucia beside her. They were standing the same way as they did in the tunnel. Alice had to pinch herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming again.
“What just happened?” Gloria seemed excited. “And can we do it again?”
“No way.” Justin seemed freaked out. “Did anyone else get this strange vibe from that lady? Like she wanted to eat us or something.”
“It was a little strange.” Alice admitted. “Could you guys hear her?”
“She was a little muffled.” Justin wondered. “What’s up with that?”
Gloria crossed her arms over her chest. “You try making a spell and perfecting it after your first attempt failed.”
“At less it did worked.” Lucia tried to encourage Gloria to do more potions. “And we were able to open the bewitched portal. I have a feeling that tree trunk in the middle of the chamber is some kind off...” Her words seemed to get lost in her thoughts.
“That’s the place I saw. With my mother and that girl.” Alice had a thought. “Just she seemed to be a lot older now.”
“Wait.” Gloria said. “That demonic women was a friend of your mother.”
Alice thought. “Well, I think so.”
Justin sighed. “It could be worse.”
“What a demonic woman isn’t worse enough for you.” Gloria seemed to be on edge. “Do you even have the slightest clue to what could’ve happened to us back there.”
“Are you saying?” Lucia seemed to understand what Gloria was getting at. “That she's dangerous.”
Gloria sighed. “There is something you should see.”
She rushed past her friends towards the hallway of bookshelves on each side. Gloria kept her head on the bookshelves. She seemed to know where she was going as she went from one hallway to the other. Alice kept up with her with Justin in front of her and Lucia behind her.
They reached the end of a hallway with a table at the end of it. Gloria looked up at the bookshelf. She glanced at each book, searching for the one she had on her mind.
“I was doing some light reading, before the holidays.” She explained. “When I came across the most unusual entry.”
Gloria reached her hand for the book on the shelf, which seemed to be the one she was searching for. She grabbed the book from the shelf, placing it's hard cover onto the wooden desk at the end of the hallway beside her. Gathering around the desk, Alice and her friends listened to Gloria.
She explained to her friends flipping through the pages. “It’s in here somewhere.”
Justin sighed. “Maybe you should just tell us.”
Alice agreed. “It might be faster.”
“Here it is.” Gloria flipped the page and begun the read the entry.
‘Today, we reached the end of the tunnel. They said we were mad for even trying. I think we're brave.
On the first try, it tried to steal our names. We cleaned together, pulling through with our thoughts at the end. But that was only the start.’
Lucia looked over at Alice. “Sound like what happened to us.”
Alice agreed. “Yeah.”
Gloria cleaned her throat as she continued reading.
‘After that, we feared going back there. For as we left, apart of us still felt lost inside its walls. Molly thinks it’s apart of the force, she said that draws us to it. So we went back. This time we felt like we walked for days. Until, we reached it.
Deep in the tunnel, a room by itself. A tree trunk located in the middle of the room. We had no idea what we had stumbled on. It seemed like a cool place to visit, so we created a portal from there to the library.
We feathered ourselves to it. So that only the three of us needed each other to go back to the room.
If only we knew what was hidden in that room. The darkness and power underneath its stones. We should have listened to the signs. But we were too young to know the consequences.’
Gloria flipped the page. “I think it's talking about that tunnel.”
“And the room with the tree trunk.” Lucia reminded them. “But what kind of darkness.”
“Her voice.” Alice remembered how the women's voices seemed demonic at times and then young again. “The lady. She spoke with this strange powerful voice and then this kind of younger voice.”
“Like she's possessed.” Justin seemed to cringe at the sound of the words coming out of his mouth. “There is no way that's possible.”
Gloria seemed to be looking around at the bookshelves. Her mind was searching for the answer. Alice had not known her friends for a long time, but she knew some of the ways her friends eyes lit up as they did something they like. For Justin, it was a good game or a day nap. Lucia would have the look when she was diving into a garden, searching for an herb she had yet to add to her collection. And for Gloria, the look came when she was in the library, searching for knowledge she would use later.
Gloria said. “I read a book about some kind of magical creatures called…” She tried to search for the word. “What was it?” Gloria could not put her figure on the word.
Lucia sighed. “It's getting late. We should retire for the day and pick it up tomorrow.”
“Sure.” Alice could tell her friends were getting tired by the looks on their faces.
She took the hint from her friends. Alice decided to leave the library. She walked with Lucia back to their dorm room.
Gloria seemed to have stayed behind. Alice guessed she was searching for the book she read about the magical creature she forgot the name of. Gloria kept on searching the bookshelves in the library, until the late hours of the night.
Alice rolled over in her bed. She opened her eyes a crack to see Gloria sliding into her bed. Alice wanted to know the name of the magical creature her friend seemed to have forgotten. She squinted her eyes ever slightly.
Alice noticed a book in Gloria's hand, which she placed on the side table next to her desk. She had a feeling Gloria had found the book, but was still searching for the magical creatures name. She closed her tired eyes, hoping to doze off into a deep sleep.
Chapter Seven
Strange to Normal
Alice had a strange dream as she drifted off to sleep. She found herself in the darkness of the tunnel. Her thoughts felt clouded as her reflection seemed to look back at her.
A cold feeling washed over Alice's body. She felt her body shack as the coldness overwhelmed her body. Alice knew she had felt that same feeling once before, when she was pulled out of the portal in the tunnel after touching the ladies hand. She wondered if the boldness was apart of the women.
She looked at the reflection in front of her. Alice could see her own eyes and mouth in front of her. Her face seemed to be all there. Looking over her shoulder, she saw her reflection again.
Flashing from herself, Alice saw parts of Lucia. Her eyes seemed to be different and her mouth too. Her chin stayed the same as her hair began to change. Alice let out a scream as her friends face began to replace hers.
Waking up from the dream, Alice felt rushed. She had slept in for her classes again. Pulling her bedsheets off of her, she rushed to get ready.
Alice headed into her classroom. She saw Madam Highfield has started her lesson for the day. Her voice boomed across the room, staying strong as Alice headed to her empty desk behind Gloria.
Madam Highfield said. “We are going to start collecting some supplies today.”
Sitting down in her seat, Alice felt a little calm. She was glad the class had not already left without her. Alice knew she had to keep her grades up in her second semester, for she was missing for the first one and had to make up for her missing time.
“Can anyone guess what we might be collecting supplies for?” Madam Highfield searched for anyone looking egur to share their thoughts with the class. She spotted Lucia's twin sister. “Liliah.”
“The starting ingredients for our wands.” The way she spoke was as if she knew what the teacher will be covering for the day.
