| | | | | I was lying down on my back in a field of flowers, the sun shining
gently on my face. I was in my element here; this was where I truly belonged.
Never before had I felt so safe and happy. This was my
haven.
“Beware.”
I looked around, trying to figure
out who had said that.
The voice, seeming to come from the very
heavens themselves, spoke again. “Everything in this world is connected: life,
death, hate, love. While it creates a balance in our world, it also creates an
air of mystery, perfect for concealing deceit and lies. Evil is near. And
betrayal as well.”
I ignored the voice. I was trying to rest, and
it was only an annoyance to me.
The sun seemed to go out as
suddenly as someone switching off a light bulb. At that moment my oasis, my
haven, turned into a living death chamber.
Rotting Fodders,
Skeletal Warriors, Field Guards, and every other type of undead I could imagine
rose up from the ground and walked slow, zombielike, to where I lay. I tried to
get up and run. But as the thought rose up to my mind, thick, long, ropy vines
erupted from the ground, which was now completely devoid of flowers or grass.
They wrapped around my body, pinning my arms to my side and my body to the
ground. I struggled to break free, but it was useless.
An
unnatural hush seemed to come over the undead. Someone was
coming.
In an instant, I knew who it was. Who else would have the
kind of power to make all the creatures part like the Red Sea, bowing as they
shifted off to the side?
He stood before me, his face hidden under
a hood, his staff by his side. I struggled even more, but it seemed that the
more I wriggled, the more determined the vines seemed to hold
me.
Lightning flashed across the sky, and the wizard threw back
his head and laughed. His hood was tossed aside, revealing shoulder-length,
greasy black hair, a stringy goatee, those horrible, sunken
eyes…
He raised his staff. He was going to kill me; I had known it
all along. I closed my eyes, preparing for the
worst…
“AAAAHHH!”
I sat up in bed, gasping for breath. My hand
was clutching my heart, which seemed to be beating at twice its normal
speed.
I checked. No vines, no signs of recent pain, especially no
Malistaire. And I was safe in bed, in my house.
So it was only a dream. I
couldn’t help breathing a sigh of relief.
But it had seemed so real! I
had other dreams like this before, but this was the worst. This time, Malistaire
himself had come to kill me directly.
I could help but wonder if this was
one of those “prophetic” dreams. I had two of those a long time ago, but those
were for silly, pointless cases. What if this, officially my worst nightmare
ever, would come true?
I relaxed after a few moments. I had never been to
that place before in my life, and I hadn’t heard any tales about strange voices
booming down from the sky, even though I’d only been here about two
months
I got out of bed, my legs shaking like crazy. Even though it
was just a dream, I half expected Malistaire to fling himself from behind
the wardrobe. I managed to laugh that crazy thought off, but I couldn’t help
checking, just in case. Nothing.
First checking to see if my bedroom door
was locked so an unwanted sibling wouldn’t come barging in, (Not that they
would; at the moment, we were giving each other the silent treatment.) I changed
in to the lightest ensemble I had, clothes that could only be found in
Krokotopia. Then, after a grabbed my wand and spell cards, I teleported to my
friend Chris.
It was a Sunday, so today, we were going to finish up with
the Temple of Storms. I was excited, for I knew that after you completed this,
you were let into Marleybone, which would be quite an improvement from all this
heat.
At least one good thing had come out of our month in Krokotopia.
After weeks spent in the hot sun, I had acquired a magnificent sun tan, which I
knew would last for days.
I arrived in Bartleby’s Spiral Chamber. It was
crowded with wizards; I must have gotten up later than I thought.
I
immediately spotted Chris, who, to my surprise, looked concerned. “Are you all
right?” he asked. “You’re sweating all over and we’re not even in Krokotopia
yet.”
Oh, that. “Bad dream,” I muttered.
“Oh,” he said. “Well at
least it’s over.”
“That’s true.” I said thoughtfully.
We stepped
through the door and transported to Krokotopia. But when we arrived in the
pyramid, our destination in mind, we were distracted by none other than Tinu
Bhak’Mal.
“Good friends, kind wizards, I would appreciate it if you
helped me,” he called out to us.
“Come on, Sarah, we can help him later,”
said Chris. He apparently, was as eager to get out of Krokotopia as I
was.
But the minute Tinu looked at me with those wide, pleading eyes, my
mind was made up. Man, I was just so soft sometimes.
“Krokopatra
can wait,” I said firmly. “Please, Chris, it’ll only take a
minute!”
“Okay, fine,” he said, with obvious reluctance.
So we
both went to talk with Tinu, who needed some fire crystals from Professor
Falmea. But after going back to Ravenwood to talk to her, we found out that she
had none, but there were plenty in Dragon’s Mouth Cave.
“Excellent, I’ve
always wanted to go there,” said Chris.
I had never been there either, so
I was also pretty excited. I had always wondered what was inside the cave in
Golem Court that stubbornly remained closed to all but those who had a quest
inside.
“Yes!” exclaimed Chris when we saw that the gate had
mysteriously, but not unexpectedly, crashed, leaving a hole for us to get
through. We didn’t even have to crawl to enter the cave.
Taking my first
glimpse of Dragon’s Mouth Cave, I couldn’t help but feel the slightest sense of
anticlimax. There was nothing really special in here, just rocks. Although red,
sparkling crystals adorned the walls and the stone seemed to have a sort of
glow, I had been expecting something a little bit…more.
I climbed up on a
bit of protruding rock and plucked two large fire crystals from their places.
Then I hopped back down on the ground and gave one to Chris, who also looked
disappointed.
“Let’s get out of here,” I said distastefully.
But
Chris was looking at something behind me. I turned to see what he was looking at
just in time to see two fire crystals finish growing in place of the ones I
took.
“Huh,” I said. Maybe this place did have a little magic in it. But
we needed to get going. Maybe if we hurried back to Krokotopia, we could
complete the Temple of Storms before lunchtime.
That’s when I saw it: a
hole in the side of the wall that I could maybe slip through if I were
crouching.
“Look, Chris,” I said, swiveling him around and pointing to
the hole.
“Do you think that’s supposed to be here?” he asked me. “What
do you think is inside?”
“I don’t know, but it has to be more
interesting than this,” I said. And with that, I crouched down on all fours and
wriggled through.
When I got up, I had to blink my eyes several times to
make sure I hadn’t suddenly fallen asleep. I saw nothing but blackness. I had
thought that there would at least be a little light coming in from the hole I
had just come through, but I couldn’t even see that, strangely
enough.
There was a slight movement behind me. Chris had followed me
in.
“Ouch, Chris, that was my foot!”
“Sorry. This is creepy, isn’t
it? Not being able to see each other? I’m going to look around a bit; maybe
there’s a torch or something.”
A couple seconds later there was a small
thud and an “Ow!” Chris had apparently just walked into a
wall.
“Strange,” I mused. “This being a fire wizard place and not having
any light.”
“What is this place?” Chris wondered aloud.
No sooner
than he had spoken, every torch in the room came to life with a loud crackling
sound. A giant, disembodied voice echoed throughout the room, “You are in the
Hall of the Prophecy.”
My eyes widened. We were in an enormous
cavern, which surprised me a bit, because I had been expecting something
smaller. The ceiling seemed to stretch for miles above our heads. But the walls
were what amazed me most; they seemed to be colorful. On closer inspection, I
realized someone had drawn pictures all over the walls. Beautiful pictures that
looped and curled around the walls from top to bottom.
“How come we’ve
never heard of this place before?” Chris asked. “A place this big…someone
would’ve mentioned—”
“The door will only show itself for those for
which a prophecy is made.”
“Hmm…it can’t hurt to have a look around,”
I said, studying a picture of a beautiful woman with blue, flowing
robes.
So we walked along the wall, admiring the beautiful pictures. We
didn’t spot anything familiar until Chris stopped me at a picture of a
staff.
“Hang on,” he said.
“What is it? Come on, Chris, it’s just
a staff.”
“But that’s Malistaire’s staff; I’d recognize it
anywhere.”
Sure enough, it was Malistaire’s staff. The tiny dragon
curling around the tip was a dead giveaway. Beside the staff were these
words:
Forged by masters;
So nears the
hour
For the chosen necromancer
To wield the
staff’s true power.
“Hmm,” I said, contemplating the words. “Maybe…”
I gasped, suddenly realizing the truth. “No way… Malistaire was this
chosen necromancer!”
“Really?” asked Chris.
“Think about it; it
makes sense! We see a picture of his staff on the wall…how many other staffs in
the world are like his? That’s how he’s becoming powerful; he’s been using this
really powerful staff! Of course, he may have been a skilled wizard anyway, but
the staff just made him stronger!” I quivered in excitement. “We should tell
Ambrose right away!”
“He probably already knows; he knew about the
Prophecy of Light” said Chris wisely. He appeared to be looking at something
else. “Uh…Sarah?”
“What?” I asked.
“You’re here too. In a picture.
Your sisters and brother too.”
This was the last thing I’d expected to
hear. “ What?”
My curiosity aroused, I walked over to where Chris
was pointing. Sure enough, there was me in perfect likeness from my head to my
toes. Surrounding me were my siblings, and we all seemed to be glowing. We were
facing Malistaire with looks of sheer determination.
Right next to our
picture was painting of the death skull. Below the skull were more words:
Everything in this world is connected: life, death, hate, love. While it
creates a balance in our world, it also creates an air of mystery, perfect for
concealing deceit and lies. Evil is near. And betrayal as well.
I
frowned. Where had I heard those words before?
“What are you looking at?”
asked Chris curiously.
I inhaled deeply. “I’ve heard these words before,”
I said. “In a dream.”
“Really? Wow.” Chris seemed impressed. “You’re
like, a seer or something.”
“A seer?”
“Yeah, a seer. You know,
someone who can see the future. I think my great, great, great…well, I forget
how many “greats” there were…but one of my great aunts was a seer, anyway.”
“I don’t think so,” I said. “Wouldn’t I have known?”
“You’re
probably right.” He looked around again. “This is so cool. We’ve got a lot to
tell Ambrose when we get back.”
I nodded, trying to hide the new worries
that had erupted in my mind.
The words I had heard in my dream were
written here, in the Hall of the Prophecy. How much more of the dream would come
true? Would Malistaire really try to kill me? Probably yes, because of the
Prophecy of Light. But would he kill me like he had almost killed me
then?
I was still thinking about this as we crawled back into Dragon’s
Mouth Cave. But as we were about to leave, someone teleported behind
me.
“Hey,” said a familiar voice that made me freeze in my
tracks.
Oh no, I thought. Anywhere but here. I gave Nolan a discreet little wave and
tried to push Chris out the door. But it was too late; he had already
noticed.
“Sarah,” he asked, “who is this?” His eyes narrowed when he
caught sight of Nolan’s black ensemble. “Are you a necromancer?” he asked
him.
“Yeah,” said Nolan. “So?”
“So what are you doing
here?”
Nolan returned Chris’s icy stare. “Can’t a guy visit his
friend?”
This is not going to end well, I thought. I looked
from Nolan to Chris, the latter of whom looked surprised, than
skeptical.
“What? No,” said Chris. “I know Sarah. Not only are you guys
certainly total opposites, but Sarah is the most dedicated, hardworking,
loyal…”
“Um, Chris?” I said quietly.
“…intelligent Life Wizard
that I know. She would never, ever, ever, ever…”
“Um, Chris?” I was
feeling guiltier and guiltier by the minute.
“…ever, ever, ever, ever
make friends with a necromancer. That would go against everything we
believe—”
“ Chris!” I yelled in exasperation. “I am his
friend!”
All was silent except for my words echoing around the cave: “
friend…friend…friend…”
“He does seem familiar,” said Chris suddenly.
“Wait a minute, I do remember you. You were at Triton Avenue; you were
being attacked by Scarlet Screamers! Your name…it was something like…Nick
or…”
“Nolan,” Nolan finished. “Nolan Darkwind. And who are you; coming up
to say that I can’t be friends with Sarah? I can if I want. So what if I’m a
death wizard?”
“I’m her best friend,” said Chris. “And if you know
what’s good for you, you’ll leave right away and never see her again.”
My
mouth was hanging open in shock. The angry lecture from Chris I had expected
hadn’t come. Instead, he was blaming our friendship on Nolan. This didn’t
seem very fair, in my opinion.
Nolan had his hands held up, like he would
if he were facing a cop with a gun. “Alright, I will,” he said snidely. “But
first, tell me where you got those robes. Your mom’s closet?”
Chris’s
face glowed a bright red. Then he raised his staff and pointed it directly at
Nolan.
“No, Chris!” I rushed over to stop him only to stop and turn
around because Nolan had gotten out his staff too. “No, don’t do it!”
But
it was too late. Only seconds later, I found myself in the middle of a dueling
circle with both wizards pointing their staffs at each other.
And I, I
realized, would be in the crossfire! I threw myself out of the way just in time.
A giant tree cast by Chris and a vampire cast by Nolan erupted from the stretch
of ground where I had been moments before and started battling each other. Both
dissolved into the air.
“A necromancer.” Chris cast Storm Shark at Nolan,
which surprisingly didn’t fizzle. “I don’t know what Sarah was
thinking…”
Nolan regained some of the health he had lost with another
Vampire. “Funny,” he said coolly. “I was about to say the exact same thing. I
have no idea how she can even get around this place without you following her
around like a little heckhound…”
After another fresh wave of anger from
each, two spells canceled each other out again.
“No! Stop it! Stop
it!” I screamed, reminding myself of a crabby Samuel when he wasn’t getting
his way. They both ignored me, and I felt like I was going to have to resort to
more drastic measures.
“Out of the way, Sarah,” Chris snapped when
I tried to jump right into the middle of the dueling circle.
“Yeah,”
Nolan snarled. “I’m trying to see whether your friend would be any better
looking as a pile of ashes. Probably wouldn’t make much difference
anyway.”
“Yeah, like I should take the word of someone who can’t tell a
regular human being from a pile of ashes.”
Part of me, a totally and
completely insane part, was fighting a sudden urge to laugh. This was turning
out to be the diss-off of the century! I had to memorize some of these; they
would be useful against Savannah…
But then I snapped back into reality.
Right, I had to focus. I had to get Chris and Nolan to stop before they killed
themselves.
“Come on, guys, let’s stop this…”
Nolan, his face
contorted with anger, cast death trap on Chris.
“Chris.” I tried again,
this time trying to tempt him. “Um, the Temple of Storms, remember?” He appeared
not to have heard, casting Spirit Armor on himself so as to counteract Nolan’s
upcoming attack.
That was the last straw. I gathered up every shred of dignity I had and
said, “Fine, I’m leaving. Let me know when you’re done.” Then I promptly marched
out the door.
For a second, I wondered if I was doing the right thing.
Then I decided I couldn’t do anything else. I mean, one of them had to
notice that I was gone…
Then I spotted Catherine waving me over to her.
Relived, I walked up to chat.
“Hi, Sarah! I heard something in Dragon’s
Mouth Cave, like shouting or something. Maybe you can tell me what’s going on in
there.”
I shrugged, trying to act like it wasn’t that big of a deal.
“Some boys are in there fighting.”
Catherine’s eyes grew wide. “Are they
fighting over you?”
I hesitated. “Kind of,” I finally
said
“Wow.” To my surprise, Catherine appeared a little envious. “You are
so lucky. I could never even hope to be that popular. So which boys? Is
it that cute guy in Magus Balance Magic?”
Before I could answer that, no,
it wasn’t that boy and just because he was cute didn’t stop him from getting
five detentions a week, there was a painfully loud explosion and a flash of
light coming from inside the cave. Several apprentices helping Regina Flametalon
with her science project screamed. Catherine and I gave each other startled
looks and hurried inside.
The dueling circle had vanished, and both Chris
and Nolan were lying on the ground, both of them covered in scorch marks. They
were both glaring at each other, giving off identical contemptuous
expressions.
Nolan got up, straightened his hood, and stormed over to me,
his eyes full of hate.
“Is he a necromancer?” Catherine whispered
into my ear.
“I can’t do this anymore,” said Nolan, acting like he didn’t
hear Catherine’s comment. “Not with him hanging around: Mr. I-know-best.
You have to choose: me or him.”
I looked at Chris helplessly. He hadn’t
spoken, but I could tell he meant to say the exact same thing. That I would have
to choose. And right now.
“Well…I…” I looked from Nolan to Chris again,
my mind being clouded with panic. Then I looked at Catherine again, who just
shrugged, unable to do anything.
Then I did something incredibly stupid,
although it would have been what any normal person would have done. I ran. I ran
the heck out of there.
I was hoping that
Chris would forget about the fight the next day, that it wouldn’t affect our
friendship at all. So in life class the next morning, I was immediately
disheartened when he ignored the seat I had saved for him and went to sit next
to one of his other friends instead. And although Catherine did sit next to me,
she didn’t do much to improve my mood.
“I mean,” she said as she cast a
Seraph over her desk, “a death wizard? It’s no wonder he was mad. I know you
probably liked him. But aren’t death wizards supposed to be evil? Everyone
says…”
“I everyone is just being prejudiced,” I said a little too loudly.
Everyone within a three-desk radius swiveled around to look at me. “Just because
Malistaire was in the death school doesn’t mean that the whole school is evil.
It’s probably just a stereotype!”
I became consciously aware that the
whole entire class had fallen silent. Everyone, except Chris, who was
determinedly looking anywhere but me, was staring at me looking scandalized.
Even Professor Wu said, “Please quiet down, Miss Spiritheart,” her gaze
disapproving.
Catherine looked as if she would like nothing more than to
put a paper bag over her head.
Possibly to avoid any further encounter
with me after class, Chris leapt up from his chair as soon as class was over and
was out the door before I had even gathered up all my supplies. I scowled at the
doorway where the hem of his cloak had been seconds before. Then I exited with
the rest of the Adept life students, all of whom were acting like I was carrying
some sort of contagious disease.
To my surprise, Nolan was waiting
outside the Life School. I had expected him to be behaving like Chris, avoiding
me whenever possible.
“Where’s your friend?” he asked as soon as I had
approached him.
I understood where he was going with this right away. So
I merely shrugged. “I don’t know.”
I couldn’t help but notice that Nolan
looked slightly more cheerful. I hastily added, “But it doesn’t mean—”
“I
know, I know,” said Nolan, still grinning. “So what were you planning on doing
today?”
“Just finishing up the Temple of Storms,” I said. “Do you think
you could come with me?” Chris and I had wanted to go to Marleybone together,
but why not?
“Sure, I’ll go!” said Nolan. “I’m ready to go right now, if
you like.”
I was about to say yes when a voice behind me said, “Miss
Spiritheart, a word in my office?” It was Professor Drake.
“What did I
do?” I demanded. I didn’t do anything wrong, did I?
“Come with me and I
shall tell you,” Professor Drake snapped. He turned around and walked brusquely
to the Myth School, and I had no choice but to follow.
“Now, Miss
Spiritheart,” said Professor Drake, sitting down at his desk. “I have a comment
to make.”
“What?” I asked. What had I done that had made Cyrus Drake so
intent upon seeing me in his office?
“You are seeing a lot of Mr.
Darkwind, am I right?”
My jaw dropped. First Chris and now you, I
thought.
“Yeah,” I replied. It took all the self control I had to refrain
from also saying, “So what?”
“Well, don’t,” he said. “The boy is not to
be trusted. And believe me, I have your best interests at hand.”
Best
interests? Since when had Professor Drake had the best interests of
anybody?
“His father and Malistaire were old school friends, and now both
of his parents are Malistaire’s most dedicated servants. There is no reason to
think that he is not also,” Professor Drake continued.
This was news to
me. “ What?”
“You are dismissed,” said Professor Drake as if I had
not spoken. “I had merely wanted to talk to you about this. I hope you will take
my advice into account. Good day, Miss Spiritheart.”
So Nolan’s
parents work for Malistaire, I thought as I walked out the door. I found
that hard to believe, even if he was death. Was Professor Drake, for reasons
best known to himself, lying?
Then again, I thought, seeing Nolan waving
by the Spiral Chamber, Professor Drake was Malistaire’s twin brother. Who
knew if he was trustworthy?
Well, I finally
got my first glimpse of Marleybone. And it was okay. Dark and dreary, sure, but
okay. The air was deliciously cool against my skin, and the Marleybone dogs were
considerably more high-tech than us wizards, with their dirigibles and
automobiles.
I was now at the door to my house, but my mind still on
Marleybone, or the Land of Perpetual Night, as Nolan called it. And thinking
about Nolan, I suddenly remembered that he had invited me to hang out in the
Death Tower that night with some of his friends.
“You should come,” he
had said. “It’s lots of fun. I hear David’s going to set off some fireworks
too.”
“Don’t teachers normally discourage fireworks?” I had asked. At
this, he had shrugged.
At last he had persuaded me to come. And here I
was on the front porch, now wondering what Chris would say if he knew that I was
going out at night with a bunch of necromancers setting off fireworks.
As
it turned out, I didn’t have to wait long to find out. There was a flash of
light before me, and I turned around to see Chris, looking angry but
determined.
“I hear you’re going out with Nolan and a bunch of his
friends tonight.” It wasn’t a question.
“Uh-huh…” I said slowly,
wondering what he was getting at.
“Well, don’t. I’ve heard…” He paused.
“…stuff…about Nolan that…well, just don’t go. You shouldn’t trust him.
I
wondered if Cyrus Drake had put him up to this.
“Please,” he said. “Don’t
go. I’m saying this as your friend.” He paused again. “We are still friends,
right?”
“Of course!” I said. “But…”
“I know. You’re still going.
But please, just promise me you’ll bring a wand, spell cards, something to
protect yourself. You can never tell what’ll happen with a bunch of
necromancers.”
Before I could answer, he disappeared into the
night.
I crept inside and upstairs, careful not to wake any of my
siblings. Then I walked up to my room. There I grabbed a cloak—for some reason
it was cold out tonight. And it was still summer.
As I was about to
leave, I caught sight of my wand and spell cards I had just deposited on top of
my dresser. I hesitated, then I picked up my wand and spell cards again and
pocketed them.
Just in case.
A giant,
silver firework whirled through the air with a loud WHEEE. Then it
exploded, raining silvery sparkles on us all. I held out my hands, trying to
catch them.
Nolan grinned at me. “You have sparkles in your hair.” I
hastily ran my fingers through my hair, trying to brush them out.
We were
on the roof of the death tower. It was kind of creepy at first, but once the
fireworks started, you began to appreciate the beauty of it. Especially with the
full moon and the stars twinkling in the sky.
“Wow,” I breathed as an
orangey-golden firework arced around the tower. It was so beautiful; it looked
like a fiery dragon.
“You liking it?” asked a girl maybe a little older
than I was. When I nodded, she continued, “Yeah, David’s really outdone himself
this time. Must be ‘cause you’re
here.”
“Me?” I was surprised. Wouldn’t I, a life wizard, be considered
inferior, or even the enemy?
The girl laughed, a loud joyful sound that
echoed across the cliffs of Nightside. I vaguely remembered her name being
Sabrina, but I wasn’t sure from where.
“Word gets around fast in
Ravenwood,” she explained. “Of course, we’ve all heard of you. You’re, like, the
only person here who isn’t convinced we’re working for Malistaire. Well, besides
Ambrose.”
I smiled, touched. Then again, she would probably be feeling
the same about now.
“Hey!” Nolan shouted suddenly. But it wasn’t to us;
he was leaning over the edge of the tower which could only make me assume that
he was talking to this David person. “We’ve got company!”
Immediately,
the fireworks ceased.
“What’s going on?” I asked
curiously.
“Dworgyn’s coming,” said Sabrina matter-of-factly. And sure
enough, the door opened and the humpbacked death teacher waddled out. He
scrutinized the sky; had he seen the fireworks there before?
Nolan turned
back around to face me, and to my surprise, he was grinning. “This is my
favorite part,” he said. “Watch.” Then he traced the death symbol in the air. A
dark sprite emerged from his wand and descended, hovering around Dworgyn’s
head.
For a while he just stood there stupidly, watching the fairy fly
around in circles. Then the fairy zoomed away, heading straight for Sunken City.
After a moment’s hesitation, Dworgyn followed.
Despite myself, I found myself grinning.
I looked back to the necromancers, all of whom were shaking with silent
laughter.
“He falls for it every time!” laughed Sabrina, clutching
her side. “It’s just so hilarious!”
“We should be safe for the time
being,” Nolan informed, fighting to keep a straight face. “When he heads off to
Sunken City, he always gets caught in a battle, which lasts probably an hour or
so.”
I felt a stab of pity for Dworgyn. Did this happen to him every time
the necromancers decided to “hang out?”
“Don’t worry about him,” said a
guy who I didn’t know the name of. “He always comes out all right; it just takes
him a while to finish, that’s all. Licorice?” He held out some black, rope-like
candy.
“Yes please,” I said, taking some to be polite. It was extremely
bitter, but I pretended to be enjoying it as another firework, this one green
and gold, exploded directly above our heads.
“That reminds me,” said
Nolan. “David said something about planning a big finale and I’ve got to go down
to make sure he doesn’t go overboard.” He winked at me. Then he opened a
trapdoor and slid through.
“Of course,” Sabrina informed me, “whenever he
says ‘big finale,’ he always means ‘setting off several fireworks at once.’ It’s
a spectacular, really, but it wastes all our firework supply in one
night.”
“How often do you do this?” I asked curiously.
She
shrugged. “Every so often, when we feel like things get too boring. Oh, here it
comes.”
No sooner than she had spoken, fireworks in every color of the
rainbow exploded with the sound and force of a nuclear bomb. Besides the fact
that I had gone temporarily deaf, the effect was wonderful, and I clapped and
cheered along with the others.
Someone on the ground let out a whoop; I
assumed it was David.
Without warning, I let out a yawn. What time was it
anyway?
“Are you all right?” Sabrina asked.
“Yeah,” I assured her.
“I’m just tired. I should probably be heading back to the house. Tell Nolan bye
for me, okay?”
“Okay,” said Sabrina. She didn’t seem to be tired at all.
“See ya!”
“Bye,” I said, and I teleported home.
As soon as I
arrived home, I heard a loud BOOM coming from upstairs. At first, I
thought that I was hearing things from that enormous firework. But then I
reconsidered. Hoping dearly that Savannah and Sadie weren’t fighting again
(I mean, come on, it was after midnight.) I walked upstairs to check it
out.
First I went up to Sadie’s room. She was there, apparently sleeping.
Check.
Then I tiptoed across the hall to Savannah’s room she was lying
with her head on her pillow and her butt sticking straight up into the air like
an inchworm. But, yes, she was still sleeping. Check.
Then I walked over
to Samuel’s room. He was completely under the covers; I couldn’t even see his
face. But he was apparently still asleep.
Wait. Something was wrong here.
What was it?
I pulled back the covers. Where Samuel’s head should’ve been
was the corner of a large, white pillow. That’s what was missing. The
pillows.
I pulled back the covers as far as they would go. Two pillows
side by side, mirroring Samuel’s height exactly. Samuel was gone.
I
stared in horror at those two pillows as my insides turned to
ice. | | | | |
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