Ariel whimpered again, shaking her head left and right.
“No!” Beanie cried.
She went over and started to shake Ariel by the shoulders. Ariel shook, but didn’t wake up.
“Stop it, Beanie.”
“How do I make her wake up?”
“Let her finish. I swear to you she’ll wake up as soon as she’s done.”
Beanie remembered what she had done to break the spell when she couldn’t speak. She took a couple of steps back from Mrs. Kantor.
“Beanie? What are you doing?”
“I’m going to end this.”
She raised the wand up, holding it at both ends
“Don’t!” Mrs. Kantor cried.
Beanie brought the wand over her knee with all the force she could muster. The wand snapped in half with a sparkly cloud. Ariel dropped to the ground like a ragdoll. Her body was limp, almost lifeless.
Mrs. Kantor raced over to her and checked her pulse. Ariel was alive, but the glow of the sapphire began to fade. Blue laser-like rays no longer coursed around her body. Her skin was pale, her brow covered with sweat. Beanie went over to Ariel and clutched her shoulders.
“Ariel. Ariel!”
Her eyes remained closed. She didn’t say anything.
“Is … is she alive?” Beanie said.
“Yes. But—”
“But what?”
Mrs. Kantor sighed. “She won’t be the same anymore.”
“Why not?”
Mrs. Kantor turned and looked at Beanie gravely. “Ariel was bonding with the spirit-gem, becoming one with it. If she had time to defeat Malik, she would’ve become a powerful wizard—one Malik could not defeat. But now that bond is tenuous. She is still between our world and the dream world.”
“I don’t understand. How can she be at both places at once?”
“When I cast the dream spell, that dream becomes your reality. You can’t tell the difference between our reality and the dream world. But when the dream spell is broken without giving her a chance to leave it, she’s still living in that world.”
Mrs. Kantor rose to her feet, shaking her head. “I’m afraid she won’t be with us much longer. She might drift off to the dream world or to other worlds. She might even disappear.”
Beanie couldn’t quite comprehend what she was saying. Ariel might disappear?
“What did you do to her?” Beanie said harshly. “What did you do to us?”
“I was trying to save Kitewell,” Mrs. Kantor said. “Because soon, Malik will destroy it again.”
“I don’t believe you,” Beanie said. “You’re lying. Malik’s dead. He died in the flood a hundred years ago. You’re making all of this up.”
She backpedaled to the front door.
“Beanie, wait!”
Beanie dropped the two halves of the wand, grabbed her rain jacket, and then darted out of the house.
Chapter 20
Beanie trudged into the kitchen tracking mud across the floor. Her hair was wet like a mop, her rain jacket was soaking wet from the rain. Hemlock spun around and gasped. She dropped the knife on the cutting board next to the tomatoes and wiped her hands dry on the towel.
“What happened Bean-Bean?” Hemlock cried.
Beanie shivered uncontrollably. She would’ve answered if her teeth weren’t chattering.
“Take off your jacket,” Hemlock said. “Let’s get you warm.”
Beanie took it off and Hemlock hung it to dry. She told Beanie to take off her muddy shoes as well. After Beanie did so, Hemlock wrapped a throw blanket around her. She also dried Beanie’s hair with a towel. They sat side by side on the couch in the living room.
“Okay, so tell me what’s going?” Hemlock said.
“We have to save Ariel,” Beanie said. “She’s in trouble.”
“What happened to Ariel?”
“Mrs. Kantor did something to her.”
Her mother gasped, “What did Mrs. Kantor do?”
“There’s no time to explain. We have to hurry. We need to call the police.”
“Slow down, Bean-Bean. Tell me exactly what happened.”
“We went to Mrs. Kantor’s house for cookies and drinks and then she told us a ghost story. She put us to sleep and trapped us in a dream where she gave us spirit-gems to fight Malik.”
“Hold on,” Hemlock said. “So you went to Mrs. Kantor’s house after school?”
“Yes.”
“And she told you a ghost story?”
“Yes.”
“And then you fell asleep?”
“Yes.”
“And then you had a nightmare?”
“Yes … no. She trapped us in a dream world. She told us we had to go down to the well to fight Malik.”
Hemlock sighed. She didn’t know what to think given Beanie’s track record of half-true stories and outright lies. Beanie had a habit of telling her mother awful things that Bram had done—some of which were true, but some of which bent the truth to get him in trouble. Beanie had also lied for months about packing a healthy lunch when she had been stuffing her bag with cinnamon bread and cookies.
And then there was the time she stole away to Georges Buckley’s farm and rode his horse in the fields. He and his sons were gone that day, and she had told her parents she was spending the day at Ariel’s house. When they found out from the Grace’s that Beanie wasn’t there, they spent the entire day looking for her—even called the sheriff—until they received a phone call from Georges at about 10 p.m. They came to his farm and found her sleeping in the stable beside his thoroughbred horse.
“Tell me what’s really going on, Bean-Bean.”
“I’m telling you the truth. She’s got Ariel. Ariel hasn’t woken up yet.”
“All right. We’ll go to Mrs. Kantor’s house and straighten this out.”
“Bring the police, too,” Beanie urged.
“If something bad happened, I’ll call them,” Hemlock said.
Chapter 21
Hemlock got out of the car with an umbrella. Beanie followed her and they walked to the front door of Mrs. Kantor’s house. Hemlock knocked on the door twice, and with a smile, glanced down at Beanie to assure her that things would be fine.
Mrs. Kantor opened the door slowly.
“Where’s Ariel you witch!” Beanie snapped.
“Bean-Bean!” Hemlock exclaimed.
“It’s all right,” Mrs. Kantor said.
“I came here because I wanted to ask you what happened today,” Hemlock said. “Beanie told me that she and Ariel came to your house this afternoon, and when she came home, she was very upset. Can you tell me what happened?”
“Of course,” Mrs. Kantor said. “The girls came to visit me after school, and later, they fell asleep on the couch. But after your daughter had a terrible nightmare, she ran out of the house.”
“I see,” Hemlock said suspiciously.
“That’s a lie!” Beanie cried. She turned to her mother and said, “She’s lying, Mommy.”
“I’ll handle this,” Hemlock said coolly. “Where’s Ariel Grace?”
“Ariel was just leaving,” Mrs. Kantor said. “Oh, here she is.”
Mrs. Kantor stepped aside and Ariel strolled to the entryway with her rain jacket and sapphire pendant. She looked pale and tired. Beanie could tell she wasn’t herself.
“Hi Mrs. Sinclair,” Ariel said. Her expression was blank.
“Hi, Ariel,” Hemlock replied. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine,” Ariel said. “I woke up and was about to call my mom to pick me up.”
“I can take you home, honey,” Hemlock said.
“Tell her what that witch did to us,” Beanie said fretfully. “Tell her she made us fight Malik.”
“I didn’t beat him,” Ariel sai
d disappointedly. “Somehow, the dream stopped and I … ”
Beanie grimaced at Mrs. Kantor. “See what you did to her? This is all your fault!”
“That’s enough Bean-Bean,” Hemlock said.
“It’s all right,” Mrs. Kantor said. “She’s just upset after the bad dream she had.”
“You’re an evil witch! I hope you burn at the stake!” Beanie cried.
“Hush,” Hemlock snapped. “I don’t want to hear another word from you, Bean-Bean.”
Beanie flushed red with anger. She wanted to get one more nasty word in when Ariel said, “I want to go home.”
“I’ll take you home,” Hemlock said. “Why don’t you get in the car?”
“Okay.”
Ariel grabbed her umbrella from the porch swing, then made for the car wearily.
“Look,” Hemlock said to Mrs. Kantor in a grave tone. “I’m not sure what happened here, but I think it’s best if the girls don’t come to your house anymore. Whatever happened has terribly upset my daughter—maybe even traumatized her. I will speak to Martha Grace about this, and I would appreciate it if you don’t have any contact with the girls again. Is that clear?”
“Yes. I understand,” Mrs. Kantor said, nodding.
Hemlock turned around and held the umbrella up as she and Beanie walked to the car.
Chapter 22
The full moon shone softly on Kitewell. Beanie snored in her sleep. Suddenly, as if by reflex, she twitched as the closet door grated open. Beanie blinked her bleary-eyes and saw the hooded figure standing inside the closet.
She sat bolt upright in bed. The figure stepped out of the closet. It had a skeletal face, hollow eye sockets, and wore a tattered cloak. It outstretched its skeletal hands. The tips of its boney fingers were so pointy that they might as well have been talons.
Beanie almost screamed when Malik hissed a spell. Her lips sealed, and she mumbled through a closed mouth.
“Hello, Beanie,” Malik said with a hiss. “That’s a nice ruby you have there. Mind if I take it?”
He stepped inside the bedroom and reached for the ruby ring on the nightstand. As soon as he clasped it, the ruby turned bright red like a flame and incinerated his skeletal hand, turning it black. He retracted his hand in pain, moaning through clenched teeth. He glared at the ruby ring as if he wanted to destroy it.
Inside of his cloak, he drew out a wand with a thorny tip. He aimed it at the ruby ring and held the wand steady. After a moment, the expression on his skeletal face turned from anger to composure as he lowered the wand. Beanie could tell he needed the ruby ring, that he wouldn’t destroy it no matter how angry he was at it.
“If I unseal your lips, will you promise not to scream?”
Beanie nodded.
He waved the wand and instantly, her mouth opened. She gasped, felt her lips with her hand. She inhaled deeply to recover the lack of air.
“You’re Malik, right?” she said.
“Yes.”
“What do you want?”
“I want to make a trade.”
“A trade?” she repeated.
“Yes. I need your spirit-gem, but it has already bonded with you. Once a spirit-gem bonds with someone, it cannot be unreleased unless you utter a spell.”
She clasped the ruby ring from the nightstand and put it on. She gazed at the ruby, and when she made a fist, it glowed red. She could feel its energy coursing through her body.
“Why do you want it?” Beanie said.
“I need it to destroy the witch.”
“Mrs. Kantor?”
“Yes. I need you to utter a spell that will un-bond the spirit-gem from your soul. Once you do that, I can use the spirit-gem.”
She scooted back against the pillow, wrapping her arms around her doll horse, Nighthawk.
Malik coughed with a harsh rasp. He clutched his chest as if he was in pain.
“Are you hurt?” she said.
“Yes. Ever since I fought the witch, she has weakened me. But with your spirit-gem, my full power will be restored.”
He moved closer to her when the ruby glowed bright like it was about to zap him.
“You don’t have to be afraid,” he said. “Would this suit you better?”
He brought his hand up to his skeletal face, and as soon as he lowered his hand, his face transformed into a snake. His eyes burned with yellow like a candle. He stuck out his slithering tongue and smiled viciously.
“Y-y-you’re a snake?” Beanie stuttered.
“When my spirit-gem fully bonded with me, it changed me into a snake. My human form is lost because of it. But my spirit-gem has been weak ever since that witch broke it. Just give me your spirit-gem and—”
“No!”
He hissed his tongue at her angrily.
“What would it take for you to give it to me?”
“Nothing.”
“There’s nothing you want?”
She glared at him, didn’t answer.
“How about this?” he said, drawing out his wand. “Do you want it?”
He moved slowly toward her and handed her the wand. She inspected it carefully. The wood was coiled up to the top, the tip of which was thorny and sharp as a knife. She touched it with her finger and immediately retracted her hand.
Malik snickered. “I can teach you how to use it. Do you want to learn?”
“You’ll … you’ll teach me magic?” she said.
“Yes,” he said emphatically. “I can teach you many spells. You’ll be a powerful wizard under my tutelage. What do you say?”
She analyzed the wand, then looked up at him. “What’s the catch?” she said.
“If I teach you magic, you must sever the bond with your spirit-gem, and then hand it over to me.”
“What will you use it for?” Beanie asked.
“Don’t you listen? I will destroy the witch with it.”
“You will?” she said uncertainly.
She felt that Mrs. Kantor was wrong for what she had done to Ariel, but wasn’t sure if destroying her, as he put it, would mend things.
“I … I don’t know.”
“How about I teach you some beginners magic. If you change your mind, I’ll show you advanced spells. What do you say?”
“Um … ”
“It doesn’t hurt to learn, right?”
Beanie shrugged. “No.”
“So is that a yes?”
“Um … okay,” she said reluctantly.
His yellow eyes seemed to stretch like a flame. His smile widened across his snake-like face.
“Excellent!” he said. “Why don’t we start?”
He gesticulated his hands in a circular motion. The wand fell over lopsidedly in her hands. It turned black like ooze, and then it seeped through the pores of her palms. Her hands felt cold like ice. Her eyes turned black. She felt a darkness taking over her. Immediately, she used the ruby to burn it off—just as she did in the dream world.
The inkblots started to steam with smoke.
“Stop it!” he snapped. “The wand is trying to merge with your hands. Let it finish.”
She nodded, and then stopped the ruby from burning it. Soon, the inkblots seeped into her hands completely, appearing like symbols on her palms. She tried to rub them off, but they were tattooed to her skin.
“What did you do to me?” Beanie said, quivering.
“I imbedded the wand into your skin. You don’t need to carry a wand with you like an amateur. People won’t notice you have wizardry powers. It was a technique witches used in the days when witchcraft was outlawed. Back in those days, you could be hanged or burned at the stake for being a witch.”
“Yes, I know. I read that before.” She looked at the ink blotches in her hands. They moved as if they were reorganizing themselves into strange
, arcane symbols.
“How do I use them?” Beanie asked.
“Let’s go outside.”
He moved toward the door and left the room. She followed him quietly out of the house while her parents and Bram slept. They went to the backyard where the moon cast a pearl light on them.
“See that chair over there?” he said.
“Yes,” she said, fixing her gaze on the lawn chair.
“Move it toward us.”
She looked up at him. “How?”
“With your hands, of course.”
“What do you mean?”
“Hold out your hands and make the chair move.”
She outstretched her arms and held her palms out, facing the chair. She waited for a few seconds, but nothing happened.
“It’s not working,” she said.
“You have to concentrate.”
She did. The chair slowly moved. Her jaw dropped. Her eyes lit up in astonishment.”
“Keep concentrating,” he said.
She imagined the chair hurtling over the yard toward her. The chair tilted, then dragged across the yard as if an invisible rope pulled it. It raked the grass as it moved, making lines in the yard. When she dropped her hands, the chair plopped down right in front of them.
“Excellent!” Malik remarked. “You see. It wasn’t so hard. You just have to will an object and it will move. It’s an extension of your mind. The spell was imbedded in the wand I gave you. It’s inscribed in your palms now.”
She looked at her hands again and saw the symbols reshaping themselves.
“When you get good enough, you won’t even need your hands to help you. You can move things with your mind.”
“Will you teach me more?” Beanie said.
He nodded. “In due time, I can teach you transformations, hexes, and how to fire energy from your hands. Those require knowledge of spells. You have a good memory, right?”
She nodded. “My teacher says I’m so smart that I’ll skip a grade next year.”
“Very good. Then you’ll learn lots of spells. And after I teach them to you, will you hand over the spirit-gem?”
She raised the ruby ring to her eyes and peered at it keenly.
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