Dark Realms

by Kristen Middleton

  She turned to me in horror. “Why would her own sister want to do this, and secondly, why didn’t mom ever tell us she was a witch with an evil twin sister?”

  I sighed. “To protect us. The less we knew, the better.”

  Kala wiped the tears from her eyes. “This just seems so… crazy,” she laughed bitterly. “I mean witches, spells, and… what about your friend Tyler?” her eyes grew large. “Is he a warlock?”

  I shook my head. “No, he’s an Enchanter. Tyler inherited his gifts from his father, who, by the way, was also killed by Vivian.”

  “Oh of course,” she mumbled.

  “Girls,” said Clarice, coming up behind us.

  We both shot up off of the couch.

  She smiled sadly. “We must talk. Please sit down.”

  I sat back down next to my sister and cleared my throat. “So, is mom okay?” I asked.

  Her face darkened. “Well, she’s been hexed.”

  “What does that mean?” asked Kala.

  “Vivian has put a curse on your mother.”

  Kala’s lips began to tremble. “A curse? What do you mean? Is she going to die?”

  Not one to mince words, she replied, “Yes she will die, unless we can stop the curse.”

  “Oh, my God!” I moaned. “She might really die? Seriously?”

  “How can we stop it?” asked Kala, wiping her eyes. “There must be a way?”

  “Vivian must die,” stated Tyler, coming out of the kitchen. “The only way you can save your mother, is to destroy Vivian first.”

  ~~~

  “How in the world are we supposed to kill her? Wouldn’t you have done it years ago if it was feasible?” I asked.

  “We’ve never tried to actually kill her before,” said Clarice. “To be honest, I’m not sure if we’re even strong enough to do it.”

  “That’s why we work together,” said Tyler. “She has weaknesses. I know she does. In fact, the Shape-shifters have been watching her for me.”

  “How clever, my dear boy. Have they learned her weaknesses yet?” asked Clarice.

  He sighed and sat down on the couch. “Well, obviously she needs her wand, without it, she’s not as powerful. Also, Mark. She spoils the crap out of him. He’s her other weakness.”

  “Mark?” spat Kala. “That jerk is her son for real? That means…”

  “He’s our cousin.”

  Kala closed her eyes and groaned. “Thank God I never kissed him.”

  “That would have been disturbing,” I said. “He knows we’re cousins, too, I’m sure.”

  Clarice nodded. “Oh, yes I’m sure he does.”

  Rebecca walked into the room and sighed. “She wants to speak with you girls, just be careful not to touch her. The spell that’s been cast upon her is like a poison. If you touch her, you’ll be vulnerable to the curse as well.”

  “We can’t touch her at all?” I asked.

  “No. I’m sorry,” replied Rebecca.

  My sister and I looked at each other sadly.

  “Let’s go,” I said, grabbing her hand.

  “Follow me,” said Rebecca, leading us down a long hallway.

  We entered a beautiful, dimly-lit room on the other side of the house where our mother was now tucked inside of a luxurious king-sized bed.

  “Come closer, just don’t touch me,” she murmured.

  I stood over her and marveled at how fragile she looked. Not only was her face pale, but she looked almost gaunt, nothing like the healthy woman who’d fed me breakfast this morning. “I’m sorry,” I whispered, with tears in my eyes.

  “You have nothing to be sorry about,” she sighed. “It’s my fault. I should have told you a long time ago. I just didn’t want you to get hurt.”

  “We understand,” I said.

  “What did you do to yourself?” asked mom.

  I smiled sheepishly. “A potion, to lose weight.”

  “Oh, Kendra…”

  “But mom, you wanted me to lose weight.”

  She shook her head. “I wanted you to be healthy. Potions are dangerous and not worth the risk. Please, don’t ever do something like that again.”

  I nodded.

  “Are you really going to die?” asked Kala. “Is it true?”

  She swallowed. “Girls, I won’t die and do you know why? Because you’re going to destroy her.”

  I stared at her in shock. “Us? How can we do anything against her? She’s a powerful sorceress.”

  Mom smiled. “She is not the only one. You two, together, can stop her.”

  “But we don’t know the first thing about being a witch,” argued Kala. “We know nothing of casting spells or witchcraft. I mean, all of this stuff was thrown on me fifteen minutes ago, although Kendra seems to have known about it much longer.”

  I frowned. “Hey, I just found out about it today, too. Cut me some slack.”

  She sighed. “Well, whatever. The point is we don’t know how to be witches so there has to be another way.”

  Mom closed her eyes for a minute.

  “Are you okay?” I asked.

  She nodded and then reopened her eyes, which looked very tired. “Yes, just very weak from this… curse.”

  “I’m sorry for upsetting you, mom,” whispered Kala.

  She shook her head. “Oh, God, don’t be. Now, I have something important to tell you. Listen to me carefully – in the attic there is an old trunk with all of my… secrets.” She paused to catch her breath. “To unlock it, you only need to say, ‘Michael, I love you’, and then… it will open.”

  Michael was our father’s name.

  She went on. “I have a spell book in the trunk. In this book is a very powerful spell called ‘Removal.’ If you can get to that book and use the spell while you’re standing before her, Vivian will disappear and… never bother any one of us again. She will be gone and the spell she’s cast on me will also be removed. But, this is important, you have to say it and believe, without a doubt, that it will work.”

  Her eyes closed again and it looked like she’d stopped breathing.

  “Mom?” I choked in horror.

  “I’m… okay,” she answered in a breathless whisper. She opened her haunted blue eyes up again and smiled weakly. “I’m still here.”

  “How much time do we have?” I asked, wishing I could do something for her right now.

  She licked her lips, which were dry and cracked, as if something was sucking every ounce of life out of her. “You have twenty-four hours. Around four… tomorrow evening. But, I believe in you girls. You have it in you to defeat her, especially together. As a team. ”

  Kala looked at me. “Defeat her?”

  I pursed my lips and nodded. “We have no choice. We have to try.”

  “Now, regardless of whether or not I make it, she must be stopped at all costs. If not, everyone will suffer. Her heart is as cold and black as death…” she whispered before her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she passed out.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Clarice stayed with our mother while the rest of us quickly teleported to “Secrets.”

  “So, what happens after we find this spell book? How are we supposed to get close enough to Vivian to perform it without her killing us first?” I asked, brushing the dust from my knees. I’d teleported with Tyler again, who obviously needed to work on his traveling skills, because we’d landed in a pile of discarded rags in the stockroom.

  Rebecca raised her wand. “I’m going to keep her busy while you two recite the spell.”

  Tyler’s face darkened. “Just be careful, mom.”

  She pulled her hair back and tied it into a ponytail. “Listen, I’ve had to deal with Vivian before. I can handle myself.”

  He sighed. “Yes, but Clarice told me that Vivian is already gaining power now that Adrianne is losing her own strength.”

  Kala and I looked at each other. We’d already lost our father, and the thought of losing our mom was too horrible to even imagine.

&
nbsp; “We’re going to park up the block and I’ll keep an eye out for trouble while you guys sneak back to the house. I don’t think Vivian will be hanging around, but you never know.”

  “Okay, let’s get this over with before one of us chickens out,” I said, noticing how tense Kala was.

  Her eyes narrowed. “You’re not talking about me, are you?”

  “You do look pretty tense,” said Tyler.

  “Wouldn’t you look tense, too,” she snapped, “if your mother was dying, and you’d already lost your dad?”

  Seeing the stricken look on Tyler’s face, I winced.

  “Believe it or not, I get it,” he said, in an even tone.

  “No, I don’t think you really do,” she mumbled, staring out the window.

  “Kala,” I said, “Tyler gets it more than anyone. Vivian already murdered his father.”

  She stared at him in horror. “Oh, my God. I’m so sorry. I didn’t…”

  “It’s fine,” he interrupted. “Let’s just go and find her before she can hurt anyone else.”

  We all piled into Clarice’s Buick, which was parked behind the store.

  “Wouldn’t it be easier just to teleport?” asked Kala.

  “No, she’ll sense it,” said Tyler.

  “Why didn’t she show up at ‘Secrets’ then?” she asked.

  “Because the shop is protected by one of my spells. Your house was, too, until Mark found out who you really were. Your mother told me that the house was only protected from Vivian, but not from Mark, because she wasn’t aware of him.”

  “So, Mark can perform magic, too?” asked Kala.

  Rebecca nodded. “Yes, he’s a warlock, and now that he is honing his powers, he’s potentially a very dangerous enemy.”

  “Jeez,” I said, turning towards Kala. “And you thought he was cute.”

  “He must have put a spell on me,” she muttered.

  It was almost eight o’clock by the time we reached our neighborhood.

  “I’m going first,” said Tyler, as Kala and I followed him out of the car. “I’ll send you a signal if I see any danger.”

  “Maybe we should go through the back alley,” whispered Kala. “It’s less conspicuous.”

  “I don’t know about that,” I said. “Tyler and I were attacked in the alley earlier. If she’s around, it won’t matter which way we go, she’ll figure it out.”

  “Just keep your eyes on the trees,” said Tyler.

  “Why?” asked Kala.

  “Vivian uses birds to spy on people,” I answered. “Believe me, it’s pretty freaky.”

  Tyler jogged down the street ahead of us and we crept through the darkness, both of us nervous and scared beyond belief.

  “Is it just me, or do you feel like someone is watching us?” whispered Kala.

  The hair on the back of my neck was standing straight up. “Oh, yeah. In fact, I feel like someone’s going to jump out of the bushes at any moment.”

  She pointed. “Look, Tyler’s already made it to the door,” said Rebecca.

  He turned to us and waved his arm, motioning us forward. We picked up our pace and quickly joined him on the porch.

  “Door’s open,” he whispered. He pushed the door open slowly and we all stepped inside.

  My eyes darted around the dark living room, the one I’d always felt so safe in. Even from where I was standing, the entire house seemed so quiet and normal, but the truth was, I was so frightened, I felt like throwing up. Every little sound freaked me out, from the furnace clicking on, to the tick-tock of our old grandfather clock.

  “She said the trunk was in the attic,” I whispered.

  “I’m going to cast a protection spell on your house while you’re in the attic,” said Rebecca, appearing out of the nowhere.

  “Oh, my God, don’t do that,” I whispered loudly. “You scared the crap out of me!”

  “Sorry.” She raised her wand in the air. “Something told me it wouldn’t be wise to leave you children unattended. Now, this spell might not work, especially if Vivian has already casted a ‘Spell Blocker’, but it’s definitely worth a try.” She then raised her wand and began to chant under her breath. Seconds later, a blast of light shot out of her wand and lit the corners of the house up.

  “Crap,” she said, as the light quickly died. “I don’t think it worked. We need to find that book as quickly as possible.”

  “Okay, I’m going outside to watch the house and see if I can contact Trixie,” said Tyler, moving down the hallway and towards the back door.

  “Let’s go,” said Rebecca, walking towards the stairs.

  “What’s going on between you two?” whispered Kala as we followed Rebecca.

  I looked at her. “I’m not sure yet.”

  “He’s cute.”

  I smiled. “Yes, very.”

  “Is this your mom’s room?” asked Rebecca, stepping inside.

  “Yes,” I answered. “The attic entrance is in her walk-in closet.”

  Rebecca stepped over to the closet and opened the door. I noticed that the smell of my mother’s perfume still lingered in the air, and it was somewhat comforting.

  “Have you ever been in the attic?” asked Rebecca, waving her wand up towards the entrance on the ceiling. It opened and a long white ladder materialized out of thin air.

  “Uh, no, I don’t think Kala and I have ever been up there. We were always afraid there’d be mice or bats hiding inside.”

  “Well, there very well could be,” said Rebecca, climbing the ladder. “But right now, we should be more frightened of Vivian.”

  I couldn’t agree more.

  I followed her up the ladder with Kala close behind. When I stuck my head inside of the opening, I couldn’t see much of anything in the darkness.

  “Rebecca?” I whispered.

  “Hold on.” She raised her wand. “Light and Sparkle.”

  The next thing I knew, the attic began to light up and there was a whirlwind of movement all around. Moments later, there was a blast of light so bright, I had to cover my eyes. When it finally dimmed, I reopened my eyes and found the entire attic clean and organized.

  “Nice. I wish I could do that,” I smiled, standing up.

  “You’ll be able to soon enough,” promised Rebecca, as Kala pulled herself inside.

  “Look,” I pointed towards the south corner of the attic, “that must be the trunk. I’ve never seen it before.”

  “Yes, indeed,” said Rebecca as we moved towards it.

  It was an old brown Victorian trunk with leather strap enclosures. I looked at Kala. “Um, remember, we have to say the words to open it.”

  “Oh, okay. Michael, I love you?” said Kala.

  The trunk didn’t even move.

  “You have to say it with more feeling. Magic won’t work if you aren’t completely convinced that it will,” reminded Rebecca.

  I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and said, “Michael, I love you.”

  “It’s working!” cried Kala.

  I opened my eyes and watched as the trunk’s lid sparkled brightly and then popped open.

  Kala squealed with delight. “You did it! I guess you’re a true believer.”

  “After today, how could I not be?” I said, bending down to look inside.

  There were several items in the trunk, including a wand, a broken broom, a few pieces of jewelry, and crystals. Right now, however, all of our attention was on the thick spell book at the bottom.

  I picked up the old, leather-covered book and opened it up carefully.

  “Be careful,” whispered Rebecca.

  I nodded. The pages were old and worn, obviously hundreds of years old.

  “Have you ever seen this before?” I asked her.

  She bent down on one knee. “No, but I believe it was your grandmother’s. She was a very powerful witch.”

  “I saw a picture of her once, but mom never really said much about her. She was very secretive about a lot of things, now that I think about
it.”

  “Well, it makes sense now, doesn’t it?” muttered Kala. “Mom’s a witch with many secrets.”

  “Something’s amiss,” said Rebecca, standing up quickly. Her brows furrowed. “I think Tyler’s in danger. I’ll be right back.” She then raised her wand and disappeared.

  “Let’s bring the book downstairs,” I said. “We’ll need to find that spell and figure out how we’re going to locate Vivian, too.”

  A sudden bright flash of light blinded both of us. I winced and covered my eyes.

  “Find me?” chuckled Vivian. “I don’t think that’s going to be a problem.”

  My eyes snapped open and I stared in horror again at the woman who looked so much like our mother. She pointed her wand at us, but then suddenly appeared to have changed her mind. She smiled wickedly. “No… I think I’d rather have you around, so you can fully appreciate my powers, especially when your mother shrivels up and dies.”

  “Why do you hate her so much?” I hollered, horrified that she could be so heartless. “You’re sisters! How can you be so cruel as to want her dead?”

  Vivian’s blue eyes narrowed. “Why? I suppose you wouldn’t know. Your mother had many secrets and she probably wouldn’t have shared this kind of information with you. She wouldn’t want anyone to know what kind of a person she really was.”

  “We didn’t even know she was a witch,” muttered Kala.

  “But we know she was a good person, one with a heart of gold,” I said, raising my chin. Nobody was going to tell me otherwise.

  Vivian snorted. “A heart of gold? No, she’s a deceitful, lying, little fool who should have never tried to cross me.”

  I thought about this woman before me who’d killed Tyler’s father and now wanted to destroy our family. I glared at her. “How did she cross you?”

  “Your loving mother,” she sneered, “took something that meant the world to me. She took it without regret and didn’t care what it would do to me. She was the one who forgot that we were sisters.”

  “What did she take?” whispered Kala.

  Vivian was suddenly distracted by the book in my arms. She pointed. “What’s that?”