These Lying Eyes

by Allen, Amanda A.

  Four humans. Three sprites.

  Alone against the witch who’d taken Sarah.

  * * *

  Mina opened her silver locket, tilted it towards the moonlight, took hold of her magic, Max handed her a pocket knife. She pricked her finger and spread it over the locket.

  “Gross.” Hailey stepped away from Mina when she knelt down to focus.

  Grasp your magic.

  She searched for her fire, for the wind. Her practice hadn’t been for nothing, and she had it in a moment.

  Focus your intent.

  Mina focused hall of her will on the image of her sister. Mina had to find her sister.

  Execute the spell.

  Mina rubbed her blood into the locket again, just in case, and said her sister’s name clearly.

  “Um, what are you doing?” Hailey looked from Charlie to Max to Mina, and her face was shocked and disgusted.

  “I guess she doesn’t know,” Max said.

  “We figured that out a long time ago. Back when Hailey wasn’t so evil.” Poppy said to him. Max grinned at the sprite. He’d only been able to see and hear them for a few days.

  He held his hand towards Mina. She took hold, and he pulled her to her feet. Their fingers wove together as the spell took effect. Light was building around the locket. Slowly at first, but faster and faster until Sarah’s face—a transparent, brilliant image—glowed before them. The image curled in on itself until it was a ball about the size of a baseball. It bobbed before them, moving a few feet forward and then back.

  “How did you do that?” Charlie demanded. He reached his hand towards the light, but Mina stopped him; she didn’t know what touching the spell would do, and they were not going to mess things up.

  “Is this a trick?” Hailey moved towards them again. She didn’t try to touch the light, but her face was awed.

  “Magic’s real. The sprites were always real. You’re a witch. Surprise,” Mina said quickly.

  Max and Mina started after the light.

  “What,” Hailey grabbed Mina’s arm, “is going on?”

  “I don’t have time to explain. Come or don’t, but don’t hold me up.”

  “What are you doing?” Charlie asked Max.

  “I’m going with Mina,” Max said simply.

  “Where?” Charlie persisted.

  “We’re going to find Sarah.”

  Mina didn’t wait for them to discuss it out. She took off.

  “I’m gonna look for a trail,” Hitch said. “Maybe I can catch her, slow her up.”

  Mina nodded, but she knew he wouldn’t find her. Something told her that Sarah would only be found in the hands of whoever took her. Mina only hoped that they’d be there soon enough. With that thought, she increased her speed.

  “She’s probably at the camp,” Hailey said, but Mina could hear her following them.

  “The light is leading us to where she is.” Mina said.

  “What are we doing?” Hailey asked Charlie.

  “We’re helping Mina and Max find Sarah.”

  “Charlie, Mina’s crazy. I thought I…”

  “What’s that ball of light then?” Charlie asked. “Hails, go back if you want. But I like Sarah, and this feels bad. So, I’m gonna follow the magic light into the woods too. We’ll rescue the damsel, come back, get her to make us some more treats.”

  “It’s a trick,” Hailey said. “They’re probably pranking us.” But she didn’t turn back, and she quit arguing.

  Maybe twenty minutes passed before the trail forked. They’d long since left behind the lake, and if they looked behind them, they wouldn’t see the light of all the campfires.

  They stopped only when the light stopped.

  “We did it,” Mina cried, excitement filling her voice, relief. And fear. They shouldn’t have caught up yet. Even still, the light of hope made the trees less ominous. The clouds were no longer spiting them with their cloud cover.

  Mina let herself have that burst of speed, pushing to catch her sister.

  Only Sarah wasn’t there.

  Chapter 27

  The light hovered directly in front of a steep cliff.

  “Do you think we’re supposed to climb it?” Max leaned over, hands on his knees and fought for breath.

  “Great,” Hailey said as they all stared up the cliff.

  Mina struggled to breathe too, but it was secondary to the overwhelming worry. She didn’t remember much of the spell when it had gotten her. But, she could clearly recall the last bits, when it was fading. The feeling of being at the back of her mind, unable to react, no longer herself.

  Her heart was a knot. Her brain could only stutter, “Sarah, Sarah, Sarah, Sarah.”

  She’d told herself the locket was enough. She’d told herself she could save Sarah, but she couldn’t save anyone. Not herself. Not her sister.

  “What am I supposed to do?” Mina wailed.

  The light didn’t move. It stayed in front of the cliff, bobbing. Forward, back towards them. Forward again.

  Wait.

  Mina stepped closer, following the light and instead of climbing up the cliff to lead the way, it moved into the cliff face.

  Max pulled Mina back by the hand that held the locket. He knelt in front of the rock and put his hand out. He laid one hand on the cliff face and the other on the ground. He closed his eyes, and Mina felt him reach for his magic. She took her own and fed it to him.

  She could feel him focus on the cliff face. There were the murmurs of Hailey and Charlie. There was the sound of the sprite’s wings, but it was all secondary to the feel of the combined magic probing the stone in front of them.

  He ran his hands over the edges of the stone. He’d caught something she hadn’t.

  “This isn’t…” He said.

  Mina felt a flare of their magic, pushed at the cliff, and it parted before them, showing only a few feet of path.

  The rest was darkness.

  “Thank you God.” Mina plunged into the dark, ignoring the objections of the others.

  The sprites darted after her. She glanced back and found Max only steps behind her.

  The others were holding hands, framed by the opening to the path. Their faces were shocked and terrified. But Charlie took a step forward.

  Mina didn’t wait to see if Hailey would follow. All that mattered was Sarah.

  “Light the fire, Mina.” Max said, and she paused long enough to flick her lighter, pull the fire into her hands spreading light around her.

  She saw, out of the corner of her eye, that Charlie and Hailey had caught up with her. Their faces were white, but they came. Racing into the dark. Following a magic light.

  Their flashlights were nearly useless, but the fire Mina sent racing up her arms was sufficient to set the cave alight.

  “Sarah’s in here?” Hailey’s voice was…no longer objecting.

  Mina nodded.

  “All right then.” Hailey said, and her face changed from angry to something else…something Mina hadn’t seen in years.

  The path wound among stalactites and stalagmites. It passed dark alcoves with mysterious rustling. It felt like they were going deeper and deeper into the earth.

  Eventually, they had to rest, but Mina couldn’t sit. She could only pace and hold her side. Hailey whimpered, occasionally, before heading deeper into the dark. For, it was as if each step lead them into a deeper darkness than they’d just been in, until it was as if the dark was rubbing along their skin, formless but tangible.

  “Who’s she talking to?” Charlie asked Max when Mina had stopped to listen to Hitch tell her to be careful and slow for the next bit.

  “Her invisible friend, Hitch,” Max answered before taking a long swig from the water bottle.

  “Hitch is an imaginary friend,” Hailey declared. “From when we were little. He’s not real.”

  “Neither is that magic light ball or the sleeve of fire Mina is wearing.” Max’s voice was dry, and he wasn’t really paying attention to Hailey. H
is eyes, like Mina’s, were on the path ahead. The path had started to shadow drop offs so deep they couldn’t see the bottom.

  The ball of light swirled around them before leading them across a narrow ledge. It was just wide enough for each person to follow the one ahead but it was covered in loose pebbles.

  Mina went first. Followed by Max, Hailey and then Charlie. The sprites paced them, over the darkness.

  All of them pressed their hands to the cliff as if it they could dig their fingers in. Mina’s breath quavered with each step. And with each step, pebbles shifted and fell.

  And then it happened.

  Mina only heard a scream and rush of pebbles. But she knew that voice, and it was Hailey’s. And Hailey had fallen.

  They all screamed, but Hailey’s cry was soul piercing, echoing again and again in the abyss.

  Charlie tried to grab her, but Zizi pushed him against the wall.

  Only Hailey’s fingers held her, curling into the stone path. She would have been one slow slide from falling except that Poppy held her by the back of the shirt.

  Those bat wings beat furiously. Hitch joined Poppy, taking hold of Hailey’s jeans.

  Mina swallowed dryly.

  “Hailey,” Charlie called. Trying to reach her, but unable to avoid Zizi.

  “I…I…” The terror in Hailey’s voice would have melted the cruelest of hearts. For them, who loved her, it was terrible.

  “Shut up.” Mina interjected. “Hitch and Poppy have you. You’re ok, Hailey.”

  Hailey whimpered.

  “You are not going to fall. They are going to lift you and fly you to the other side.”

  “No, no, no.” Hailey begged, her terror seemed to feed the darkness until it almost pulled at them.

  “Yes,” Mina commanded, then added, “You can’t struggle.”

  “No,” Hailey wailed.

  “Hailey,” Mina’s voice was soft now. “Do you remember when we climbed the pine trees by my house?”

  Eerie, heavy silence was interrupted only by the terrible sound of Hailey’s crying.

  “Yes,” she finally said.

  “Do you remember how I fell?”

  “Yes,” Hailey whispered.

  “And I flew back up, didn’t I? Hitch grabbed me, and he saved me.”

  “I remember.”

  “You said it wasn’t fair that I got to fly, and you jumped from the tree. And then what happened?”

  “Poppy caught me, and they flew both of us to the top of the tree.” Hailey’s fingers quivered. Pebbles fell.

  “Hailey,” Charlie’s voice was agonized.

  The ball of light swirled around them, showing Hailey’s feet hanging above nothing.

  Mina was balanced like a gymnast on the edge of the cliff just above her cousin. Unlike the others, she didn’t press forward for Hailey. She trusted the sprites, and her voice was calm as she said, “And we were afraid to climb down from the top of the tree.”

  “And what did we do Hailey?”

  “L-let go?”

  “We’re not going to risk this path anymore. The sprites are going to save us. Hitch, how far to the other side?”

  “Maybe forty feet.”

  “You could fly us that far.”

  “Yez.” Hitch said. “We can do it, Mina,” Poppy said.

  “It’s forty feet, Hailey. Less than that tree we climbed.”

  And Mina pulled her sleeve of fire onto her palm, creating a large crackling ball of flame. She threw it towards the other side of the cavern where it lit up a wide cave.

  Mina nodded at Hitch and Poppy, and said, “Let go, Hailey. Just like when we were little.”

  “I…” But this time she didn’t argue. She just let go, fell a foot, and was carried across the chasm, eyes squeezed tight. All without a sound.

  Hitch and Poppy set her down, the sound of her retching filled the cavern, and Mina said, “You next, Charlie.” Zizi took hold of his wrist, Poppy took his other hand, and Hitch grabbed the back of his coat.

  “Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap,” he muttered as he flew. But when he landed, he grabbed Hailey and clutched her.

  “You next,” Max said.

  “Zizi can get me.”

  “Hitch and Poppy will take you.”

  Hitch nodded, and in moments, Mina and Max were flying over the abyss that seemed to pull at their ankles.

  When they landed, Hailey pulled away from Charlie to hug Mina tight.

  “I’m so sorry,” she said, and they all knew she was referring to those years of ignoring Mina. To the lonely times in middle school, the missed birthdays, and all the times she’d belittled Mina.

  “It’s ok,” Mina replied, and this time, she thought she meant it.

  Chapter 28

  “I feel like Sarah needs me now,” Mina whispered to Zizi. After the darkness of the inner mountain, the moon was a floodlight. There was no question they were in the Haven now. Cascadia was one of the most unpopulated of the magical sanctuaries—full of wilderness, untouched regions, and long lonely stretches. Like the one before them. They were near the top of the mountain, and there were few trees. But after the rock and dirt of the tip of the mountain, the trees began, becoming ever thicker the further down the slope they went.

  There had been no clear cutting here. No government forest types with their thinning; no roads that wove through the trees. All was thick branches, wide trunks, and tangled undergrowth. Mina had known, intellectually, that the Cascadia was untouched, but it was a startling to find stars that shone as bright as street lights. Startling, lonely, and a little terrifying.

  “I am sure she does need you now.” Zizi said.

  “Oh she passed thiz way,” Hitch said. “Even without the spell, I’d know. There are signz of her movement over the game trail that beginz near the treez. Her movementz are obviouz all through here. Through the treez. To the cliff, onto a path down the side of the cliff, I’d never have noticed if she were trying to hide what she waz doing.”

  “So, a game trail, climbing down the cliff path, and then what?”

  “Well there’z the wolves and cougar on the path. Who knowz what else. And at the bottom of the cliff iz a river.”

  “Wolves,” Mina said. She took a deep breath and pressed her hands against her eyes. Could she let her friends follow this path? But…for Sarah—Mina was going to leave it up to them. She knew her path.

  Wolves. A cougar. Who knew what else? But they did know this…those animals were pacing, guarding the trail.

  Hitch and Max were conferring. Mina didn’t know or care about what though the low rumble of their voices was soothing. Even still, all she cared about was that Zizi’s face was pale. There was a touch of grey to Poppy’s dark chocolate skin. And both sprites wings dropped.

  Charlie sat with his eyes closed, pressed against a rock, as if he never planned to move again. Hailey was rubbing her calves, moaning a little as she did.

  For Mina it was different. It felt like ants were crawling inside her skin. She had to go. She must go. Her mind still echoed the melody of Sarah, Sarah, Sarah. And with each repetition of her sister’s name, Mina’s desperation infused her with a manic energy. It was the anger, she thought. The worry and the fury fueled this chase for her in a way that didn’t work for the others.

  “Who has Sarah?” Hailey held her ankles, cheek pressed against her knee, taking long, slow breaths. The moonlight curled around her, and Mina wondered if Hailey were a Fire Witch too.

  “I don’t know.” The back of Mina’s head was pressed against a large stone. Her hands were on her knees too, but it was to keep them still. “A bad witch. Maybe someone we know.”

  Someone related to us. Would it be Aunt Charlotte at the bottom of that cliff? Uncle Denny? Peter’s Dad, Uncle Rob?

  “What’s the plan?” Charlie wrapped his arm around Hailey, and she snuggled into the crook of his neck.

  “Did you hear about the wolves? The cougar.”

  “Yes,” Hailey’s voice didn’t in
vite second guessing, and Mina…she didn’t want to second guess; she wanted her friend’s help. Even if it put them in danger, she needed them.

  “The plan,” Max said, “Is that we’re going to go get Sarah and bring her back. Hopefully before whoever did this figures out we followed.”

  “We’re going against an evil witch?” Charlie asked.

  “To save Sarah.” Hailey added.

  Mina and Max nodded together.

  “Well ok,” Charlie said as if they were planning a surfing trip. He was too nice to say what they were all thinking. They’d be lucky if any of them even survived.

  “Whoever has Sarah can’t be that far into this place,” Charlie said, determined it seemed, to find some hope.

  “So the animals between us and Sarah,” Hailey said, “that’s bad. But we’re humans right. Top of the food chain.”

  Mina nodded.

  “They can’t know we didn’t stop her thiz time.” Poppy said. “We might have a leeway before they can get to her.”

  “So, we have surprise on our side.” Max stood, pulling Mina up. “Let’s do this thing.”

  “The animalz are a wayz down the trail. We head out. We move fast,” Hitch said. “You keep going. We’ll try to keep them off of you.”

  He darted ahead. Poppy and Zizi jumped into the air without hesitation, and despite their wan looks, they moved with a barely controlled ferocity.

  * * *

  As they descended from the top of the mountain, trees started appearing. Even knowing they were going towards those bewitched animals, they felt better. They could feel the wind on their faces; there were stars overhead. And the darkness that almost had fingers was left behind.

  The path they were on lead into a deeply forested area, and each step increased Mina’s concern. She was catching glimpses of red eyes. Eyes watching them. Pacing them.

  But, they still had no choice but to press onward.

  “Do you see that?” Hitch whispered as they took their first steps into the trees. He’d flown ahead again, scouting.

  Mina nodded.

  “They’re going to attack,” Hitch said. “The path ends at a cliff. The ball of light is heading straight towards it. If you keep to the path, once you’re making your way down the cliff side trail, the animals will have a harder time getting at you.”