by Jimi Alan
Her finger touched the branch. She saw a flash as her eyes seemed to show her something. Her mind was full of memories of the tree.
Alice saw Natas standing before it. She ran up to the tree with Alice’s mother following behind her. Alice’s mother seemed to stay away from the tree, stopping in her tracks at the sight of it.
Natas ran up to the tree, climbing up into its branches. She had made her way up to the second branch as her mother bagged and warned her to come down. Alice had a feeling her mother knew of the curse of the hollow, the kind of creepy story her parents would probably had told her before she went to bed.
On the tree, Natas went to climb up higher. She slipped cracking off the branch. She fell down onto the ground, taking the branch along with her. Alice was surprised that the branch was small, like a wand. She felt bad for it to be separated from the rest of it so quickly.
The memory had faded as Alice stood back before the hollow with her friends behind her. Alice held the branch in her hand, she knew it had fallen before she arrived. She knew changing the wand into something would be better than leaving it on the floor of the forest before the rest of its body would be best for it.
Gloria warned her. “Didn’t you just hear what I told you.”
“It’s fine.” Alice held the branch in her hand. “I didn’t break it off of it, so the curse won’t follow me.”
“Some forest animals probably broke it off.” Justin noticed a few of the animal skulls and bones around the hollow. “It’s not like there seems to be a lack of them.”
“This will be perfect.” Lucia bent down to the floor of the forest. “I never say so many. I wonder what were they.”
She picked up one of the larger bones in her hand. Lucia waved the bone around. She seemed to enjoy having such a strange wand to be hers. Alice thought a wand made out of bones, would be perfect for her friend. She liked to collect many unique herbs and other items used for spells. A unique wand was just what she would need.
GLoria said. “You guys are crazy.”
“Maybe.” Alice tried to lighten up the mood.
Lucia said. “We should get back to school.”
“I wonder how Madam Highfield is feeling.” Justin said. “She did just use a lot of magic.”
Alice placed her hand into his back. “I think she'll be fine.”
“Yeah.” Gloria told them. “She’s been around for like one hundred years or so.”
“What?” Justin seemed surprised.
Lucia laughed as they walked through the forest. Alice followed her friends joining in on their conversation as she followed behind them. She had a feeling the lady was plotting something underneath them, waiting for the right moment to drag her under the floor of the forest with her.
Back at the academy, Alice sat in her dorm room. She looked out at the lake as the sun set behind the mountains past the lake. Her smile crept on her face as she saw a figure standing in front of the lodge.
The figure seemed to be looking out at the lake. She squinted her eyes slightly, realizing who the figure was. Mrs Monroe stood on the doorstep to the lodge. She seemed to be moving her lips as she looked out at the moon.
Alice's eyes widened as she noticed someone standing slightly beside her. The other person was Madam Highfield, who moved away from a tree that was blocking her before from Alice's sight. She could not help but to wonder what they were talking about. Alice guessed they were talking about the woods as the conversation seemed to be quite intriguing to both of them.
Madam Highfield waved goodnight as she headed back to the academy. She left Mrs Monro by the lodge. Her eyes seemed to be locked with the lake with her hands folded in front of her. Mr Monroe lifted her hand away with her wand expanding to it's full length. She raised her wand, mutter a word Alice could not pick out in the process.
Alice watched as a breeze drifted away from Mrs Monroe towards the lake. The grass rustled but only where the isolated breeze touched it. The breeze went across the lake, causing ripples to echoes over the surface. Alice wondered what kind of spell she was casting.
She jumped as the door to her dorm room closed behind her. Alice quickly looked over her shoulder at the door. She smiled at the sight of Lucia.
“Hey.” Lucia smiled back at her.
Alice felt a warmth inside her. “Hey.”
“We are all going down to the shops.” Lucia told her. “Gloria wants to know if you wanted to join us.”
“Nah.” Alice thought she had enough excitement for one day. “I’m a bit tired.”
“Ok.” Lucia went to leave and stopped. She had a question she wanted to ask Alice. “I was wondering if you could answer a question for me.”
“Sure.” Alice felt her heart racing in her chest. “What is it?”
“Why did you come for us?” Lucia looked shy, with her eyes looking down at the floor to try to hide how nervous she was. “In the forest. You had no idea if it was just us messing around.”
“I-” She stopped herself as the words did not feel right to say. “We are friends. I would of ran through the forest for Gloria and Justin too.”
“Oh.” Lucia seemed a bit surprised. “Well that's good to know.”
Lucia turned around. She took a step before stopping once more. Turning around, Alice felt her heart flutter again.
“I just wanted to say.” Lucia told her. “Thank you.”
“No sweat.” Alice smiled. “What are friends for.”
She felt dumb as the words came flowing out of her mouth. Alice watched as Lucia walked towards the door. She moved slightly to get comfortable by the window.
Lucia stopped by the door. “If you change your mind.”
“I know where to find you.” Alice smiled at her friend.
Lucia smiled softly as she opened the door to their dorm. She walked out of their dorm room with a smile on her face. Alice watched as the door closed. She felt her heart slowing down as she looked back at the lake. She watched as Mrs Monroe lowered her wand. Her eyes looked out at the lake as she watched the ripple go across the lake.
Weeks had past, Alice sat in Madam Highfield’s class. The branch of the hollow was placed on her desk, carved into a shape Alice was pleased with. She kept a pretty basic shape to her wand keeping some of the natural look on the point with her handle carved to be smoothed like it should.
The rest of her class had almost completely their wands too. Lucia had the bone carved into a cylinder shaped look to her wand. Her wand was thin at the tip and got larger at the handle. It looked appealing with the bone white throughout it.
Gloria had her wand carved out of a dragon's horn. She told Alice the story of how she went to Europe with her family. They came across a dragon that was haunted by a non magical person, who was going to hang the dragon on a wall. Her family had showed up at the right time and Gloria’s mother made the man forget with a single spell. Alice thought some of the story was a bit over exaggerated, but Gloria got apart of the dragon to remember it.
Justin had a thin wand carved out of the twig he stumbled over in the forest. He looked to have some issues with the shape. Thinking his wand would be more bulky than what he had made. Alice thought it was fine and suited him. She now understood how important a wand could be to witches and wizards.
Sitting in class, Madam Highfield stood behind her desk. “That brings an end to today's lesson. Now remember to leave your wands behind for them to be graded.”
Alice lifted her hand away from her wand. She turned around to see Lucia sitting in the desk beside her. She remembered how Lucia stood up to her sister in the forest. Alice was still objecting to how confident Lucia seemed to have become after the lady had stolen her magic energy weeks ago. She seemed more carefree than before, like her usual self had returned.
“Class dismissed.” Madam Highfield smiled as she walked to the door behind her desk. She left the classroom as quickly as she came. No mingling with the students ever since the day in the forest.
Alice had a feeling her teache
r was up to something. She knew her friends would think she was reading into it. Making her feel more like an outsider, like she felt at her old school.
Justin turned around in his chair. “So, what are we doing today?”
“I have a question for Madam Highfield.” Alice said. “I’m going to see if I can speak with her.”
She stood up from her desk. Alice made her way around Lucia's desk towards the front of the class. Her stomach felt like it was in nuts. She kept her hands in her pockets as she walked towards the door behind Madam Highfield’s desk.
Alice reached her hand onto the door. She felt an overwhelming feeling came over her as she opened the door. She looked inside to see curtains draped around the entrance. She thought it seemed a bit odd.
Glancing over her shoulder, Alice saw Lucia walking with Justin and Gloria. They trip headed away from their desk towards the main entrance of the classroom. Lucia glanced over her shoulder, locking eyes with Alice for only a second. Alice smiled as she walked into the door.
The step she took went pass the curtains. She felt them wrapping around her arms and legs as she pushed pass them with another step. Alice felt a slight tug on her shirt as a hand pulled her into a room.
Standing in the room, Alice saw Madam Highfield standing before her. She seemed to have her office filled with wooden columns by the corners and windows. Plants were hung by the ledges with a bed off to the side with curtains in front of it for privacy. Alice had no idea the room would lead to Madam Highfield’s private chambers.
“I am so sorry.” Alice apologized. “I was just-”
Madam Highfield smiled at her. “It’s alright my dear. I met your mother the same way, but she was a bit more graceful. The curtains have been bewitched to keep out any unwanted visitors.”
Alice sighed. “The makes sense.”
She looked down at her ankle, which the curtain still kept ahold to. Alice shook her leg as the curtain retreated back by the entrance way. Madam Highfield sat on a chair over by her window.
“I like to have them.” Madam Highfield smiled. “Plus they look nice when they are trying to strangle my students.” Her voice rose at the last word she said as she glared at the curtains. “But they are just doing what I bewitched them to do. So I can't get to made at them.”
Alice stood nervously in the room. She forgot what she was going to say as Madam Highfield sat in silence. Her hand placed on her knee as she leaned forward in her chair.
“So.” She seemed intrigued. “How may I be assistance to you, miss Corey?”
Alice thought for a moment. “The lady, in the forest.”
“Yes.” Madam Highfield smirked. “But I would not call that thing a lady. It's more like an echo that once was.”
“That’s the thing.” Alice nervously explained. “I want to know more about that-” She search for an appropriate word to say, but none came to her mind. “-What ever it was?”
“Sure.” Madam Highfield gestured to the chair beside her. “Take a seat.”
Alice took a seat in the chair beside Madam Highfield. The chair was dark brown leather with some kind of fur on the cushion. Alice sat down in the chair. She felt like she had been their before as she leaned back.
“Don’t worry about what you saw in the forest.” Her teacher told her. “It had no place in Graves Academy. You are safe here.”
“But what was it.” Alice was intrigued. “Like she looked human. But she isn’t.”
“Well.” Madam Highfield smiled. “You know more than you're letting on. You knew her name.” She looked over her shoulder at the door, like she was waiting for a guest.
“I can come back later.” Alice felt rude for intruding. “If your busy.”
Madam Highfield joked with her student. “I am always busy young one. It’s fine, she can wait.”
Alice wanted to know who would be visiting her teacher. “She?”
“Mrs Monroe.” The way she said her name was like they were friends who hung out every day, a casual visit. “She wants an update on her children, like most of the council members do.”
“Oh.” Alice wanted to know more. She figured her prier into her teachers life might send the wrong message to her teacher. “So, the thing in the forest.”
“Yes that.” Madam Highfield crossed her legs as she leaned back to get relaxed. “Like I said, it's just an echo. We have probably seen the last of it.”
“Natas.” Alice looked at Madam Highfield. “She was a friend of my mothers?”
“Most differently.” Her teacher seemed to relax. “Her and your mother were inseparable when they were together. I never saw them alone, kind of like you and Lucia.” She raised her eyebrows like she was expecting some kind of reacting from her student. “But Natas and your mother did something when they were kids. Something that Natas is currently paying the price for.”
Alice wondered. “Like a curse.”
“That’s a funny choice of words.” Madam Highfield stood up from her chair. “But yes.” She looked out the window beside her chair. “It’s like a curse and it seems to want you.”
Alice stood from the chair. She felt like she had been sitting there talking with her teacher for longer than she had. Alice looked over at the door. She saw a figure standing on the other side of the curtains for only a second before it was gone.
“I was wondering if you knew why.” Alice asked her teacher. “It would be after me?”
“No idea.” Madam Highfield told her. “These kinds of things are sometimes hungry for power to have a clear motive.”
“So it wants me.” Alice was confused. “For my power.”
“All magical beings have power.” Madam Highfield sighed. “It’s in their core, like a diamond or ruby. Each person’s core is different. Some beings are searching for that one almighty core that can stop their hunger.”
“So they will eat it?” Alice tried to make sense of what her teacher was saying. “Like a snack.”
“In a way.” Madam Highfield seemed to be bored with a yawn escaping from her mouth. “I am still recovering from the forest. I used a large deal of my strength in those spells, you should be feeling it too.”
“I’m fine.” Alice took a step away from the chair. “But I do have another class.”
“Great.” Madam Highfield stood by her window. She kept her back to Alice as she walked towards the door to the classroom. “Please let Mrs Monroe in on your way out.”
“Yes.” Alice nodded her head as she walked past the curtains, which seemed to be still like they were tired too.
She opened the door heading into the classroom. Her eyes locked with Mrs Monroe as she walked past her into the room. Alice kept walking, she stopped by her desk as she saw the door was left open to the chamber. She took a step away from her desk, the voice of Mrs Monroe was like a faint whisper as she spoke to Madam Highfield.
Alice walked closer to the door. She listened as Madam Highfield and Mrs Monroe talked in the chamber. Alice her the word ‘Natas’ pulling her attention in. She kept beside the door, enough to not be able to see what was going on inside.
Listen, Alice heard Mrs Monroe tell her teacher. “We are worried about the creature you said have returned.”
“Natas is no creature.” Madam Highfield reminded her. “She is just possessed by that thing.”
“We don’t even know what it is.” Mrs Monroe glared at her. “How can you be so calm after going up against such power?”
“Easy.” She explained. “I have practice. Something that you have none.”
“Well.” Mrs Monroe seemed disappointed, crossing her arms over her chest. “How are we supposed to kill something that can kill us with a single touch? How do we do that?”
A male voice came from somewhere in the room. “We don’t. A being so powerful can only be killed by a caster.”
“The only caster in existence died long ago.” Mrs Monroe spoke with anger. “With her husband and left behind a child. The child that this creature wants.”
/>
“It got injured when she said its name.” Madam Highfield said. “A hole opened and pulled it into the ground.”
“We need to find it.” Mrs Monroe's voice echoed around the room like a panicked girl trying to figure out what to wear. “And kill it.”
“Or we give it what it wants.” The male voice reminded them. “It wants the child. Let's give her to it.”
“Your joking.” Madam Highfield seemed disgusted with her tone. “Sacrificing a child to keep a creature away. That's something we only did in the dark times.”
“And who is to say that those dark times are not here again.” The man's voice seemed powerful as her spoke. “Alice Corey is the key.”
“So we should train her.” Madam Highfield told them. “Use her gifts to defeat the darkness before it rises any further.”
Mrs Monroe sighed. “We don't even know if she's a caster.”
“She is.” Madam Highfield told them. “I saw it.”
“Well that changes everything.” The man said. “We need to gather the council tonight.”
Mrs Monroe said. “Your not serious.”
“Yes I am.” The man told them. “I can get a flight and be there by noon. Send out the message and get ready, we are going to stop this threat before it starts.”
Alice felt her heart racing in her chest. She took a deep breath as she headed away from the door. She skimpered to the main entrance of the classroom with her things. Her eyes locked on her wand on her desk. She taught the urge to take it with her. Keeping her hands tucked in her pockets, she saw Mrs Monroe's figure standing in the entrance to Madam Highfield’s chamber as she left the classroom.
Keeping to herself, Alice made her way down the school hallway. She stopped by one of the archways, keeping her back against it. Her eyes stayed down as she grabbed a book out from her backpack to cover her face.
Alice watched as Mrs Monroe headed out of the classroom. She walked down the school hallway with her head held high. Her eyes locked with Alice for only a second as she headed past her. She seemed to not notice the girl as she kept walking by.
Her heart raced in her chest as she lowered her book down from her face. Alice felt bad for listening in to a private conversation between her teacher and a council member. Then she remembered, Mrs Monroe’s daughter is her friend.
