The Witch Within

by M. Z. Andrews

  I shook my head. “I don’t understand, Alba. Where are we going? I don’t think we went anywhere.”

  “Or maybe Gemma and Sorceress Stone didn’t have any drama,” suggested Sweets.

  Holly wrinkled her nose. “No, I definitely sensed drama when Gemma was talking about Sorceress Stone.”

  I shrugged. “Maybe we did the spell wrong. Maybe we should go back to the time rip and try the spell again.”

  Alba looked over her shoulder as she walked. “There’s no way we did the spell wrong. The tunnel changed direction. Maybe their drama didn’t start until a few days ago. Maybe they got in a fight or something. If I had to guess, I’d guess that we went back in time to Monday. I’ll bet if we go into the gym right now, we’ll find everyone assembled, just like they were the other day. Come on, let’s go check it out.”

  We made a beeline towards the Clara Mason auditorium, where all our assemblies were held. But since we were trying to keep our time-traveling presence on the down-low, we avoided the busy main entrance and opted to go in through the rarely used back door instead. Inside the small vestibule just outside the gym, we hid behind a set of doors, peering out at the gym carefully.

  Sure enough, we found the place packed, just like it had been on Monday. Handfuls of students milled around the gym floor while others were seated in the bleachers and many climbed the steps trying to locate their friends. A stage was set up on the gym floor, just as it had been two days prior. I didn’t give the students much attention, because once I saw the podium and the stage, I knew that Alba had been right.

  “See,” hissed Alba. “I told you we went back to Monday.”

  No one responded, but instead we watched as a woman with blond hair piled high on top of her head approached the stage from the other end of the gym. She was average height, thin, and wore a pink short-sleeved sweater tucked into a gray pencil skirt that stopped just below the knee. Her gray high heels clicked on the gym floor and her hips swiveled slightly as she walked. I stared at her, puzzled. I’d never seen her before.

  My eyes swung up to take in the students in the bleachers. No one seemed to pay the woman any attention as she got up on the stage and tapped the microphone before adjusting the height of the microphone stand.

  “Who is that?” I hissed.

  Alba shook her head in bewilderment. “I have no idea.”

  Holly scooted closer, leaning her head on the side of my arm. “What’s going on?”

  With my mouth gaping slightly, we continued to watch as a woman in a big black cape came out next, followed by five old women, none of whom I recognized.

  The scene played out almost identically to the assembly we’d had on Monday, except the players in this scene were different. There was no Sorceress Stone, no Brittany Hobbs, and the members of the Great Witches Council appeared to have been swapped out by an older, more crippled version.

  “Good morning, students,” sang the middle-aged woman in the black cape.

  “Good morning, Sorceress Livingston,” the crowd cheered back.

  Our jaws dropped. Sorceress Livingston?! Who in the heck was Sorceress Livingston? What was going on?

  “Today is a very special day for the Paranormal Institute. Today we discuss graduation requirements!”

  The crowd cheered. Were we in a parallel universe? One that didn’t contain Sorceress Stone anymore? My eyes flicked up towards the bleachers and scanned the faces of the girls staring at the stage. That was when I realized I didn’t recognize a single face in the crowd. I certainly didn’t consider myself friends with all of the girls at the Paranormal Institute for Witches, but it was a small enough school that I knew most of their faces, if not their names. But as I looked out at the crowd now, it suddenly became completely apparent that I knew none of the girls’ faces!

  My eyes swung up towards the seat I’d sat in two days before, where Alba, Holly, Jax, Libby, and Cinder had been too. We’d all been in a little group towards the top of the bleachers, all the way to one side. My heart began to beat wildly when I realized I didn’t see myself up there. What was going on?

  “Alba,” I hissed.

  “Shh!”

  “And I’m so excited to get to introduce to you this year’s Great Witches Council!” said Sorceress Livingston. “But before we get to that, I have an exciting announcement. Today I have the honor of announcing this year’s graduation speaker! As you all know, I select our speaker from the top of our graduating class. This year, it was not an easy decision to make. We had two students who, for the last two years, have been neck and neck and are now tied for valedictorian of the graduating class.” The crowd cheered.

  “Those ladies up there don’t look like the Great Witches Council,” whispered Holly.

  Libby scrunched her nose. “What is going on?”

  “Shhh,” hissed Alba. “I’m trying to hear her.”

  I shook my head. None of this was making any sense at all. “Alba, there’s something you need to know.”

  Alba waved her hand backwards at me. “Tell me later, Red.”

  I looked up at Reign.

  “What?” he mouthed.

  I shook my head, mashing my lips together as the applause died down and Sorceress Livingston began to speak again. “So, this year we’ve decided on two graduation speakers, but the official class valedictorian will be announced on graduation day!”

  My eyes scanned the crowd again, hoping I’d recognize someone, and I’d realize that all of this was silly. It had to be the scene from two days before. Suddenly, my eyes stopped on one face in particular. Something about that face looked eerily familiar. I sucked in my breath as Sorceress Livingston continued.

  “And this year’s first graduation speaker will be none other than Gemma Overbrook!”

  The crowd clapped as the face I’d been staring at smiled and stood up to wave at the crowd from her spot on the bleachers. A couple girls shouted. “Go, Gemma!”

  “Gemma Overbrook!” breathed Holly. “But that’s—”

  “Yup.” I couldn’t believe it. We’d truly gone back in time!

  “And the second graduation speaker will be…,” she began slowly.

  My eyes swept the crowd now as I had a feeling I knew who else I’d find if I kept looking. There was one girl who sat off to the side by herself. She looked familiar as well. She had straight white hair that fell just below her shoulders and a long thin nose. I’d recognize that nose anywhere! I sucked in my breath.

  Sorceress Livingston’s voice boomed out of the speaker. “SaraLynn Stone!”

  The applause wasn’t as strong or impressive, but the crowd clapped politely as the girl stood up. She was hardly any bigger than Jax was now. Maybe she was taller, though it was hard to tell from so far away, but she was certainly as petite. Her posture was just as it was now. With her shoulders pulled back regally, she looked down her nose at the crowd that clapped pathetically for her.

  Everyone hiding behind me sucked in their breath.

  “Sorceress Stone!” whispered Libby.

  “She looks so young!” hissed Sweets.

  My mind reeled at the realization that not only were we looking at Sorceress Stone in her youth, but once again, she was alive!

  Before they could even finish the assembly, Alba tapped me on the shoulder and jerked her head towards the back door. I nodded before turning to beckon Reign. We were leaving. The group of us left, regrouping on the back lawn behind the gymnasium.

  “Oh my goodness,” breathed Sweets, her brown eyes wide. “It worked, Alba. It really worked! We went back in time! And not just a day—we went back years!”

  “Gotta say, I’m impressed,” said my brother, leaning an elbow on Alba’s shoulder.

  Alba shoved his arm off her. “That doesn’t mean you can touch me. Got it, Slick?” She circled the air around her body with her hands. “This is a strict no-touching zone.”

  Reign straightened, crossing his arms in front of him. “No-touching zone, got it.”

 
; Alba leaned into our circle. “Listen, we don’t have a lot of time here. That assembly is gonna let out and then we gotta be on Gemma Overbrook like the stripes on Jax’s tights. Got it? She’s a major person of interest as far as I’m concerned, and we need to find out more about the relationship between her and Stone.”

  “But, Alba, this scene happened decades ago,” said Holly. “You really think we’re going to find a clue as to their current relationship?”

  Alba shrugged. “I have no idea, but we gotta start somewhere, right?”

  “Well, how do we find out more about their relationship?” asked Libby.

  “If a visitor from the future came back in time to find out more about our relationships, where would they go?” I asked the girls.

  Holly and Sweets smiled as they said in unison. “The quad!”

  21

  During the first four months of school, the quad was the place us girls had spent almost every meal. After Christmas, the weather had gotten too cold to sit outside, but now that it was springtime, we’d gotten back into the habit of eating our lunches outside again. With the sun shining and the temperature warm, we all believed it was incredibly likely that even the witches of the past had enjoyed sitting outside for lunch. We’d brought along such a large group that we had to spread out to hide. My brother, Holly, and Sweets hid behind a big bush on the wizards’ lawn that faced the quad. Libby and Cinder hid behind a stand of scarlet oak trees, and Alba and I hid behind the low retaining wall that circled the quad. I could only hope that someone wouldn’t see us and that Sorceress Overbrook or Sorceress Stone would take a seat near us.

  We’d hung out for all of twenty minutes before the quad doors burst open and the first group of girls came out carrying lunch trays. While their clothes and hairstyles were different, it was just like a normal day when we had lunch. Everyone spoke excitedly, likely over the announcements of the graduation projects and the speakers.

  We watched as a group of girls sat at the table directly in front of us. We didn’t recognize any of the witches but, unable to move from our spots without being seen, we listened to them anyway.

  “Hey, Kelly, what are you going to do for your project?”

  A girl in a yellow shift dress smiled. “Are you kidding? I haven’t given it any thought yet. After lunch I’m gonna go to the Great Witch’s Library to get started. You’re all welcome to join me and help if you like.”

  “I can’t,” said another one of the girls. “I need to study for finals or I’m going to flunk out for sure. You’re so lucky you’re graduating this year. I’m so tired of homework it’s not even funny.”

  “Yeah, me too,” said another.

  The dorm doors opened again and a diminutive Sorceress Stone appeared, tray in hand. Seeing her up close, I realized she was just as small as Jax was now. The girls quieted down as she made her way over to an empty table and sat down.

  Kelly leaned forward and said in a hushed voice, “So—who’s shocked that Gemma and Sara got chosen as graduation speakers?” Her tone implied annoyance with the announcement.

  “Not me,” sighed one of the girls. “They’re good at everything.”

  Kelly lifted a shoulder. “It’s got to be exhausting being that perfect. I’d rather not be perfect and get to have a life. I couldn’t stand being the goody two-shoes that those girls are.”

  We all watched as Sorceress Stone got comfortable in her spot, pulling her napkin from her tray and sprinkling a bit of salt and pepper over her food. She looked like she was used to sitting alone. For a split second, I almost felt bad for her. Then, there was a commotion on the men’s side of the quad. A lanky boy appeared, carrying a paper bag and a thermos. He strode over to Sorceress Stone’s table and pointed at the empty spot in front of her. She looked up at him and gave him a small smile and a nod. He plopped down in front of her.

  “Ugh,” said one of the girls. “Elon Ipswich and SaraLynn Stone? That’s got to be the most awkward couple ever.”

  Kelly wrinkled her nose. “Ew. Yes! That’s perfect! We should nominate them for most awkward couple so it’s in the yearbook!”

  The girls at the table all laughed.

  Then one of the girls at the table put a hand on her hip. “Wait. I thought Elon and Gemma were dating?”

  “For like a minute,” said Kelly. “Gemma said they only went on a couple of dates. But how embarrassing for Sara to get Gemma’s hand-me-downs.”

  “Speak of the devil!” said the girl next to Kelly, sucking in her breath. “Look who’s coming!”

  At her prompting, Alba and I looked up to see Gemma Overbrook walking towards Sorceress Stone’s table. Gemma had her tray in hand too, but her eyes were focused intently on the boy. When she got to their table, she slammed her tray down, making her silverware rattle and Sorceress Stone’s drink tip over.

  Sorceress Stone’s narrow face went white.

  “Hey, man, be cool,” we heard Elon say as he stood up to look at Gemma’s reddened face.

  Gemma said something to him, keeping her voice low so as not to completely make a scene, but Elon simply rolled his eyes at her, making her even more infuriated. He shook his head, snatched his brown paper sack off the table, and stood up. “You’re spazzing,” he told her before looking down at Sorceress Stone. “I’ll talk to ya later, Sara.” Then he strutted off, shaking his head in annoyance.

  Sorceress Stone looked after him sadly, and then she looked up at Gemma, her face now crimson. From my one-dimensional vantage point, I surmised that Sorceress Stone hadn’t invited the male company, but now she had to pay the price with Gemma. Sorceress Stone tried to apologize to her, but Gemma strutted off in a huff and sat down at another table full of girls, leaving Sorceress Stone alone once again.

  Despite the fact that after that scene, nothing else happened, we were forced to stay hidden until the bell rang and the girls all left the quad for their classes. When they finally did, the group of us reunited.

  “So they knew each other,” said Libby. “But they didn’t like each other.”

  “They were fighting over a boy,” said Holly.

  “And it sounds like they were competing for head of the class too,” said Sweets.

  “But is that a motive for murder?” asked Reign. “I mean, come on! This was years and years ago.”

  I shook my head. “I could definitely see Gemma holding a grudge. She seems like that type of woman.”

  “Plus I think it’s sketchy she didn’t tell us any of this,” said Holly with one crooked brow.

  “It’s very suspicious. She could have just said, ‘I knew her, we were classmates, but we really didn’t get along.’ Instead, she implied they were old friends.”

  Alba looked at me incredulously. “Oh, come on, Red! If someone were accusing you of murder, you don’t think you’d maybe neglect to share that you didn’t like the person that got killed?”

  I lifted a shoulder. Alba had a point. But it was hard to know exactly what I’d do in that situation. “Yeah, maybe.”

  Alba glanced down at her watch. “Jeez, that took forever. We should probably keep moving. See what else we can find out.”

  The group of us made our way back to the river where our portal still stood, waiting for us to reenter. Stepping inside the sauna, Holly was just about to lead us back into the blurring tunnel of lights, when Alba put a hand on her arm to stop her.

  “Hold up, Cosmo, that tunnel is gonna take us back to where we just came from. We don’t wanna go there. Where are we going next?”

  I had no idea where else to go, and by the looks on everyone’s faces, neither did anyone else. I shrugged. “Can we just roll the dice?”

  Alba sighed. “We can try.” The group of us got into position and she began to chant.

  Relationships formed in the very distant past,

  Don’t always work and don’t always last.

  Arguments happen and conflicts arise,

  Take us to when another member of the Great Witches Council and
SaraLynn had drama for the very first time.

  When we reemerged to find the same scene as we’d seen before, Cinder curled her lip. “Is this where they all met her?”

  “It’s definitely the common denominator. Come on,” said Alba, once again heading back towards campus. There we headed straight for the auditorium again. But the second we stepped inside, it was obvious we were in the wrong place. The lights were off and the room was empty.

  “There’s no one here!” breathed Sweets.

  “Awww, look at you. You’re catchin’ on, Sherlock,” snapped Alba.

  Sweets frowned. “Alba, you sound like you’re getting hangry. It is almost lunchtime. Need a little pick-me-up? Reign, do you have a Snickers bar in that backpack?”

  Reign swung the bag off his shoulder, “No, but I have a—”

  “Oh, for crying out loud, Sweets. I don’t need a Snickers bar. I need to figure out where we are!”

  Holly raised her brows and looked around. “We’re at the Institute, Alba, duh?”

  Alba’s eyes swung up towards the sky. “I know where we are, you moron. I meant we need to figure out what year it is.”

  “You don’t have to be so mean, Alba,” spat Holly. “That wasn’t what you said.”

  Reign threw an arm over Holly’s shoulder. “Yeah, how about we knock off the name calling, huh?”

  “I wasn’t talking to you, Slick.”

  A vein bulged in the side of my brother’s neck. He pursed his lips as if he were trying to restrain himself. “And let’s get something straight. My name is Reign. It’s not Slick. Her name is Holly. It’s not moron. And her name is Sweets, not Sherlock.”

  “Yeah? Well, maybe if you knew what you were talking about, you’d know that her name is actually Mildred, not Sweets. Sweets is a nickname. Everybody’s got nicknames. It’s a sign of affection.”

  Reign stifled a smile. “Affection? You think calling Holly a moron is showing affection? Ever heard of a hug?”