“Sounds to me like your magic is responsible for that, not mine.” Matthew stood up straight and cleaned off some imaginary dust from his pants. “Didn’t I tell you that magic came with a price? I gave you magic, but using magic requires obeying rules. You had your powers one day, and you already ignored most of those rules.”
“You never said anything about that.” Ryan’s anger dissolved. I’d like to blame all of this on Matthew, but what if I’m the one responsible? What if I abused his powers, and Timothy vanished because of that?
“We’re talking magic, kid, not parlor tricks. When you make someone disappear, you make them disappear for real.”
“Where?” Ryan almost choked on the words. “Where did he disappear too?”
The other boy shrugged. “There’s a shadow world next to our own world, a mirror image of ours, and the place where magicians get their powers from. Timothy probably disappeared to that dark and miserable place, filled with evil. Probably just what he deserves.”
“How can you say that?” Tears burned in Ryan’s throat. “He’s your friend!”
Matthew snorted. “That bully? I wouldn’t call him a friend. He’s mean, egotistical. He only wanted to be my friend because he thought I could help him.” He paused and looked at the younger boy. “Why are you so concerned about Timothy all of the sudden? He did nothing but tease you and hurt you.”
“He....” Ryan struggled to find a good reason. “That’s true, but I don’t want to be like him. I’m not mean. I didn’t want this to happen.”
“When you dabble in the dark arts, something will happen sooner or later.” Matthew shrugged. “He got what he deserved, as far as I’m concerned.”
“Is there a way to get him back? Can’t we summon him or something?”
“First of all, there’s no ‘we’ here. This is your mess, so you’ll clean it up. Secondly, it’s not as easy as just summoning him out of nowhere. I’m surprised that even worked the first time around. Once the shadow world has someone, they don’t let him go.”
“There must be a way to help him.” Tears prickled in Ryan’s eyes, and he wanted to throw up. The thought of being responsible for Timothy getting lost in a shadow world made his head spin. Please let this be a nightmare, some horrible dream I’ll wake up from soon.
Matthew sighed out loud. “Fine, if you insist. There is one way to help Timothy, but I’m having no part in it.”
“What is it?”
“You can travel to the shadow world and get him back yourself.”
“All right, I’ll do it,” Ryan said without hesitation. “How do I get there?”
Matthew rolled his eyes. “You’ll really do it? After all he did to you, you’d still risk your life to save him?” He shook his head. “Magic is wasted on you. You’re an idiot, like the rest of them. I thought you were destined for greatness, for more than being ordinary. I was wrong.”
“Please, just tell me how to save him.”
Matthew sighed. “Your doom, kiddo. The shadow world is an almost exact replica of our world, except it’s darker, and dangerous. If you go in, you’ll find Timothy at the spot where you last made him disappear.”
“And how do I get him out?”
“Something will look out of place. Grab onto that object, and it’ll transport you back to the normal world.”
Ryan raised his eyebrows. “Look out of place? How?”
“Do I have to spell everything out for you?” Matthew threw his hands in the air. “Out of place like it doesn’t belong there. In the shadow world, everything is dreary, grey, black. The object could shine, or it could be white, or stand out in any other way. It changes every time, so I can’t tell you what it is.”
“All right. Go into the shadow world, find the classroom, find Timothy, find an object that stands out, and get back. Sounds easy enough.”
“You won’t think that once you’re in there. Anyway, are you ready?”
“Yeah.” Ryan straightened up. “What do I do?”
“Nothing. Safe travels, kiddo.” Matthew snapped his fingers.
The entire world went dark around Ryan.
Chapter 8
Ryan blinked a few times, and the darkness disappeared, until only a grey fog remained, hanging low. He stood in the boy’s bathroom, but nothing looked like it had before.
The doors hung off the stalls, the wood rotten and wet. The floor missed several tiles, and huge holes appeared throughout the ceiling, letting rain fall through. The place looked as if he’d been thrown straight into a zombie apocalypse movie several years in the future and the school had been abandoned and then overrun by a zombie horde.
I have to stop watching horror movies. Zombies aren’t real. At least...I hope they’re not.
Ryan took a deep breath and braced himself before he opened the door to the hallway. The hallway looked in an even worse condition than the boy’s bathroom. Green moss crawled over the walls, and a thick slime covered the floor. It smelled like rotten meat, and he almost threw up.
I have to be strong, for Timothy. It’s my fault he’s missing, and I have to find him.
He repeated the mantra in his head as he struggled through the hallway, his feet slipping on the slime-covered floor. A distant buzzing sound gave him the chills, as the noise seemed to come closer with every step he took.
The moss on the walls pulsated, looking alive. Ryan swallowed the fear building up in his throat, as he moved further toward his class room.
The floor slithered underneath him, moving and twisting. The walls turned around, upside down, like a haunted house on a fair. This world didn’t feel right, and the wrongness of it swept through his bones. He rushed forward, but his feet wouldn’t move faster, as if something held him back.
He gritted his teeth and struggled to keep moving on, against whatever forces held him back.
I have to find Timothy. Please let me find him, and get back home. God, this is all my fault.
The hallway dwindled around the corner. Wind gushed into Ryan’s face, sending him a few steps backwards. A small tornado had formed right in the middle of the school’s hallway, pushing him back.
He grabbed onto the lockers lined up on the sides of the hallway, and held on with all his strength. “Timothy! Timothy, can you hear me?”
The door to the classroom was only a few feet away, but with the tornado blasting in the middle of the room; it might as well have been a few miles. The door stayed shut, no sign of Timothy.
But tornado or not, he had to go get him. He looked around for a way to get past the whirlwind.
“This better work,” Ryan mumbled. He climbed on top of the lockers, groaning and puffing. Should have tried harder in gym. His arms ached by the time he crawled on top of the row of the lockers.
This high, all the tornado could do was blow his hair back. He let go of the locker, and put a few steps backward. If you can’t go through it, then go above it.
He sprinted toward the end of the row of lockers, as fast as he could. Right at the end, he jumped.
He landed several feet behind the tornado, right in front of the door he needed. His ankle burned from pain, but he yanked himself forward anyway, biting back the hurt, and opened up the door.
The class room was in as much disarray as the rest of the school. Chairs and tables were scattered across the floor. A closet had tumbled to the ground, and the blackboard was filled with scribbles in a language Ryan couldn’t understand.
“Timothy?” His voice sounded small inside the empty room. “Are you here?”
It stayed quiet for a minute, until someone sniffed from inside the fallen closet.
“Timothy, is that you?” Ryan tiptoed toward the closet. What if it’s not Timothy, but some kind of monster instead?
His heart beat as loud as a marching band. Please let it be him, let it be him...
“Yes,” a voice squeaked from inside the closet. “Yes, it’s me.”
Ryan breathed out a sigh of relief. He bent forward and gr
abbed the handle, about to open up the closet.
“Please don’t let him hurt me,” Timothy said.
Fear crawled up Ryan’s back, and his hands trembled while they clenched around the door handle. “Let who hurt you?”
“Him. Matthew.”
Chapter 9
Ryan opened up the closet door. “Matthew isn’t here.” He almost ran out of the room.
Timothy looked nothing like his usual self. He’d brought his knees to his chest, almost as if he’d tried to disappear. With his red, bloated face, it appeared he’d been crying for days.
“He’s creeping around somewhere.” This time, the older boy sounded sure of himself. “How did you end up here? Is it the end of the world?”
Ryan reached out and helped pull Timothy up. “It’s not the end of the world, no. We’re not really in our world anymore.”
“This is crazy.” The older boy sighed and put a hand to his head. “I’ve seen these... monsters. And Matthew was here, but he didn’t look like Matthew at all. He wore a black cape, kind of like the one you wore during your magic tricks.” He shook his head. “Everything is a blur, but this place... man, it’s freaky.”
“Magicians call it the shadow world.” Ryan looked at the floor, unable to meet the eyes of the kid he’d sent here. “It’s my fault you’re here.”
“What do you mean, your fault?” Timothy stepped back and his eyes turned hard, his mouth a grim line. “Did you send me here?” When Ryan didn’t reply, he grabbed his shoulder. “Answer me!”
“I... I didn’t mean to. Remember I made you disappear during my magic trick? Well, Matthew said when I did that, I sent you here.”
“But I... I came back. Didn’t I?”
“Yes, you did, but for some reason, when this place has you, it won’t let you go. So that night, you disappeared again. To the shadow world.”
“Then how did you end up here?” Timothy raised his eyebrows.
“I asked Matthew to send me here, so I could come get you.” Ryan took a deep breath. “I’m sorry for sending you here.”
Timothy stayed quiet for a while, and Ryan didn’t dare look up at his face.
“You....” The older boy took a deep breath. “You came here for me? After all I did to you? After I was such a—”
“No matter what you did, nobody deserves this.”
Another pause, a longer this one time. “Ryan, I’m sorry too. I was an idiot. I thought you were a wimp, but you’re braver than I am. And you’re a good person. I’m sorry.”
“That’s okay. We all make mistakes.” Ryan looked up at him. “I’m glad we’re on the same page now though.”
“Yeah, but you’re wrong about one thing.” Timothy stared at something behind Ryan, his eyes darting back and forth. “I don’t think Matthew sent you here so you could come get me. I’ve seen him here before and he... he looks scary.”
“What do you mean ‘scary’?” Ryan shivered as a chill ran up his spine.
“Kind of... like that.” Timothy stumbled back, nearly tumbling on the floor.
Ryan spun around and stared straight into the face of Matthew.
He wore a black cape resembling crow wings, and seemed several inches taller than in the real world. He looked like a bird, with a beak instead of mouth, and dark, glaring eyes. He clapped his wings and flew up.
“Matthew, why are you here?” Ryan followed him with his gaze, turning around as the bird version of Matthew sat down on one of the broken tables. “Why do you look like that?”
The crow laughed, a wicked, throaty sound. He stood up straight then, and shook back and forth, flapping his wings. “I flew here. Some birds, crows for instance, can cross between the worlds. Hence I transformed into one.”
“Oh.” Ryan let out a relieved breath. “Thank God. Did you come here to help us?”
“Not exactly.” Matthew snickered, as if he’d just heard a great punch-line to a joke. “I came here to steal your magic.”
“What?” Ryan’s heart nearly jumped out of his chest. “Why would you do that? You gave me magic in the first place!”
“Not exactly.” Matthew started strolling back and forth through the room. “You had magic potential all along. I helped you awaken your powers, but they were yours all along, locked up inside of you. Problem is, though, that I want your powers. Stealing powers in the real world doesn’t work, but here....” He spread out his arms/wings. “This world is my domain. Here I rule, and you won’t be able to defeat me here. No use even to try.”
“So you tricked me from the start?” Ryan stood in front of Timothy, protecting him. He took a deep, shaky breath. “You just wanted my powers?”
“Of course. Why else would I have helped you?” He snorted. “I wanted your powers from the start, and now you’re giving me them so willingly. Walked straight into my trap.”
“You... you....” Ryan struggled to find the right words to express his anger. It made him tremble and choke up. “Let us go!”
“Not a chance.” Matthew laughed again, then held the palm of his hand toward Ryan. A light beam burst out of his hand, straight toward the smaller boy.
Ryan ducked to the ground just in time. The beam flew past him and hit the floor, shattering the tiles.
“Why are you doing this?” Ryan yelled as he ran away, looking for cover.
Timothy jumped inside the closet and gestured for Ryan to follow him, and they closed the door.
“Because I want your powers. Face it: you have no use for those powers either way. You barely know how to use them!”
Ryan held up his hand and wished for a similar light beam. His hand trembled and lit up, as if lightning had just struck it down. Then he opened the closet door and yanked his hand forward, and a beam of light thrust toward Matthew.
“Impressive, but slow,” the magician said. He fired another beam in their direction. It landed against the closet door, and the wood cracked and groaned.
“Stop this!” Timothy yelled. “Come on, Matthew, you’re my friend.”
“Friend?” Matthew’s cackle echoed through the room. “You’re not my friend. In fact, once I’m done stealing the wimp’s powers, I might just hurt you too.”
Another beam hit the door, sending it flying backward, along with Ryan and Timothy. They fall on their backs.
Seconds later, Matthew floated above them, a ball of light glistening in his hands. “Any last words?”
A thousand thoughts raced through Ryan’s mind. Can I stop him? Tackle him? Use his powers? Will I die? He braced himself for the worst, holding his arms above his head, trembling with fear.
He closed his eyes, waiting for the bolt to hit him, but when nothing came, he opened one eye to peek, and then the other.
A golden shield surrounded the two boys. The bolt had hit the shield and evaporated.
“Curses!” Matthew threw his fists in the air. His eyes were the size of Ping-Pong balls, and his mouth twisted in a snarl. He slammed another lightning bolt at the shield, but the shield didn’t even tremble.
The other boys both crouched underneath the shield, while Matthew kept throwing spell after spell at them to no avail.
“Argh!” Matthew yelled out, frustrated.
With each spell, however, the shield grew weaker. It now shimmered every time he kicked a spell at it.
“It won’t hold,” Ryan whispered to Timothy. “We need to find the object that’ll get us out of here. The object shouldn’t belong here, something that looks out of place.”
“You look for it, I’ll keep him occupied,” Timothy said.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. You’re faster than me. Run!” With that, he shoved him out from under the shield and into the open.
Ryan scrambled up and rushed over the floor.
Before Matthew could turn around to attack him, Timothy rushed forward and knocked him to the ground. He grabbed Matthew’s arms and pinned them above his head.
Despite his magic skills, Matthew was not as strong
as Timothy.
While they struggled, Ryan scurried about, looking back and forth for anything that looked out of place. God, what if he lied about that? What if nothing here can bring us back?
He paused and stopped dead in his tracks. Matthew changed into a bird to get here. What if I change into a bird?
The thought hadn’t even fully formed before he started to change. His back cracked, muscles spawned, and his nose grew into a bird’s beak. He cried out, but what came out was a high-pitched screech. He tried to move his arms, but wings flapped against him instead.
He cried out again, and then flew toward Timothy and Matthew. He grabbed the first one’s legs and pulled him up in the air.
Timothy yelled and moved his arms back and forth, as if trying to swim away.
Ryan flew up and up, as high as possible.
“No!” Matthew cried out. He started transforming, shifting into the shape of a crow. He flapped his wings and followed after the two boys.
Ryan glanced behind him.
Matthew came closer and closer, on their heels. He was taller than him, his wings wider, so he had more speed.
“Hurry!” Timothy yelled. He held on to Ryan’s claws with both hands. “Fly higher!”
But is higher the way out? What if we need to go forward? What could be a way out?
Ryan’s heart nearly jumped out of his chest. The tornado. The tornado works as a portal.
He lopped back and flew toward the hallway, dragging Timothy along. The bigger boy bumped into chairs and tables, but didn’t let go. Ryan transformed back into his usual self to open up the door, and Timothy dropped to the ground.
Matthew had transformed quicker, and he grabbed Ryan and pushed him against the door. “Where do you think you’re going, little boy?”
“The tornado. It’s the way out, isn’t it?” Ryan’s confident voice belied the fear churning inside him. “Tell me.”
Weirdville: The Clumsy Magician (Lower Grade Spooky Fun Adventure) Page 4
