A Charming Cure (10 page)

Professor
dorms? Darker side?

“What
do you mean by darker side?” This was something altogether new to me.

“Well,
you have the dark spiritualists that you things like voodoo and dolls. And then
you have us. The Good-Siders.” She looked into the dark abyss in front of us.

“Are
all Dark-Siders bad?” That didn’t seem right, but Hili had been a spiritualist
all her life so she should know. And it was good to know that there was a term
for people like me. A Good-Sider.

“Every
once in a while there is a good one in the Dark-Sider group, but not here.” She
pointed in the direction she didn’t want us to go. “I’m not going in.”

Dark
or not, I am.” I turned and looked into the dark before me. I wasn’t going to
freely admit it, but I was scared out of my wits, and secretly prayed Hili
would follow even though I had no idea how she would help if some Dark-Sider
did hurt us. Maybe she could use her high-heeled fancy shoes to stab one or
even claw their eyes with her perfectly manicured fingernails.

Somehow
I doubted that. She didn’t seem the type to even go
near
confrontation
or dark anything. She was harmless and a little nosy, but it would be great to
have some type of backup.

Before
ascending into the darkness, I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath. Not
just any old inhale, but one that filled my lungs. The kind that gives you the
little extra brain oxygen to give you courage. Only my brain was telling me I
was crazy.

Forcing
myself, I took the first step into the dark and opened my eyes. The only thing
I could see was Mr. Prince Charming’s tail dancing along the path in front of
me and I could hear Hili’s heels clicking behind me.

“Oh…..wait
up!” She whispered so loud, I was sure she would wake the owls. Even if she did
wake the nighttime creatures, I was relieved she decided to come. Darla always
told me that she believed there was strength in numbers.

“What
is the layout of the buildings?” I whispered forging ahead and not looking
back.

“I
have no idea.” Hili’s teeth chattered with every click of her heels. “I’ve
never been brave enough to come back here.”

I
glanced over in the direction of her voice, and her brilliant white teeth were
shining like white shoe laces do at the skating rink when they turn the strobe
on.

“Look.”
I pointed to a faint light in the distance. One more step and we made it into a
clearing where the moon and stars lit up the night sky.

“Wow!”
Hili mouth formed an O as her eyes almost popped out of her head.

It
was a complete village of tree houses, just like Eloise’s house in Whispering
Falls. Some were two-stories, while others were three. The trees were connected
with wooden bridges, the kind that I would’ve loved to have had as a child.

“The
Dark-Siders don’t live so badly.” I walked toward the only one with a light on.
“I thought you said they stayed up all night?”

“I’m
only repeating what I heard.” There was a snide tone in her words. “Where are
you going?”

I
stopped at the bottom step of the tree house and looked up. Someone’s shadow
danced along the bark of the tree at the top level.

“I’m
going up.” I put my foot on the first step to see if it was going to make
noise.

“Are
you crazy?” Fear, stark and vivid, glittered in her eyes. “June Heal, I think
you are crazy. I’m staying right here.” She stomped and her heels sank in the
ground. She tugged, and tugged a little more, but one of her shoes wouldn’t
come out.

“While
you work on that,” I pointed to her foot, “I’m going to see who’s up there.”

As
she continued to pull and groan, I followed Mr. Prince Charming up the steps
around the bark of the tree toward the light.

Once
at the top, I briefly stopped and looked around. Who ever lived here had the
most amazing view. I felt like I could almost grab a star and put it in my
pocket for keeps.

Oscar
would love this
;
I thought and smiled wondering how he was doing with the shop. The sudden
movement of a shadow that was cast on the trunk of the tree caught my attention
and I bent down into the shadow.

I
tucked my hair behind my ear and leaned over, looking into the window to see if
I recognized the Dark-Sider. The long onyx hair and pale skin told me exactly
who it was.

Raven.

I
stood as still as the night as I watched her glide around the large room. She
reached in a cabinet and pulled out a cauldron. She hung it on the hook in the
fireplace and touched it. A spark shot out from the underneath the cauldron and
a flame ignited, causing the liquid in the cauldron to quickly boil over.

Was
she making a dark potion?

I
didn’t know anything about dark potions, but I was on a mission to find out
everything I could. I had a sneaky suspicion that Raven was now a big part of
Faith Mortimer’s fate as well as Eloise’s. If Raven was such a good friend to
Faith, and she knew a lot about potions, why hadn’t she stopped Faith from
drinking the sleeping potion?

A
bright red plume of smoke cast a shadow over the large room. It dangled over
the two large, black leather sofas and coffee table. The smoke extended from
the fireplace mantle to the hallway leading to other rooms I couldn’t see.

“Oh,
no.” I gasped, realizing a shiver of panic as the red plume developed into a
skull and crossbones. The mouth of the skull opened and closed as if it was
laughing at me. Sheer black fright swept through me, remembering what Gerald
had said about the skull and crossbones. I continued to watch Raven perform her
dark magic.

Carefully
she took different ingredients from a makeshift box. These weren’t packaged
like my cures. These were different.

I
strained to see what she picked first. Unscrewing the lid off the bottle, she
pinched out a small portion of Cimicifuga, which didn’t phase the potion with a
spark or color. I made mental notes to remember what each of these ingredients
was so I could look them up in the Magical Cures book.

She
shook a bottle labeled Nuxvomica, sending a couple dashes into the mix. That
caused a couple of sparks that hit the red plume above and popped it like a
needle popping a balloon.

Suddenly
the air smelled like pinecones. As soon as she used the Apis ingredients, the
air smelled like pine needles.

Who
likes pinecones, pine needles or anything outside? Raven was making a cure with
someone in mind and I was going to find out who.

My
eyes drifted to the mantel as Raven chanted something. I couldn’t make out the
words.

I
squinted, trying to see who she had in the frames. Two little girls. One black
haired, one blonde.

Faith.
Quickly
I closed my mouth, fearing I was going to make a noise. Mr. Prince Charming
looked back and darted down the steps. It was my cue to go, but I had to get a
closer look at those photos. Had they been friends all of their lives? But how?
One was a Dark-Sider, while the other was a Good-Sider.

Slowly
I crept up to the window and peered in. Raven’s eyes were closed as her hands
whipped over the cauldron so fast that I couldn’t even follow them. The pot
boiled and bubbled creating a mess in the fireplace, but Raven didn’t seem to
notice. She was completely in a dark zone.

A
green stream of light passed over my right shoulder from the house. Glancing at
the window to see where it came from, Raven stood, stoned faced, red cheeks,
glowing green eyes. She knew I was there.

I
darted down the stairs, past Hili, and out of the woods.

Chapter Ten

We
didn’t talk about what had just happened, what I saw, or even her shoe. We
walked in silence trying to figure one another out.

We
made it back without being seen or what I considered not being seen even though
the retired professors that hung on the wall watched our every move up the
stairs.

“There
was a framed picture on the mantle of Faith and Raven from when they were
little. I mean toddler-little. I find it odd that they have been best friends
for. . .ever.” I shuffled my foot along the floor while I looked down, noticing
that Hili only had one shoe on.

“Where
is your shoe?” My mouth dropped.

“I
couldn’t get it out of the mud. And you took off so fast that I left it there.”
Her words were rushed and panicked.

“Oh,
Hili.” I smacked my forehead with the palm of my hand. “Now they are going to
know that we were there.”

“I’ve
never been into the woods until now. I didn’t know it was so muddy. Come on.”
She waved me toward her room. “I have a coffee pot my dad sent me. I’ll make us
a cup before we have to go to class.”

“If
anyone asks, just say that I was curious about the University and you decided
to go with me. Nothing more.” I crisscrossed my fingers over my heart.
“Promise?”

She
crisscrossed. “Promise.”

Her
room was everything I never wanted in my room. The leopard print was plastered
everywhere including the rug and wall hangings. Pictures of a happy family
displayed all over the walls showed Hili smiling in each of them. Hili was one
pampered daddy’s girl.

“That’s
my daddy.” She smiled, proud as could be. “He wants me to be really successful
in school. How do you know Professor Sandlewood?”

“She
and my mother were best friends.” I continued to pick up little knick-knacks
she had sitting around her room. “She helped me get through a really hard time
when I first moved to Whispering Falls”

“Do
you think she really hurt Faith?” She asked. She walked over to the mirror she
had hanging on the wall and corrected the lining of her lipstick. “I mean, she
really
didn’t like Faith.”

“I
know she didn’t hurt Faith.” The coffee smelled really good. “How do you know
they didn’t get along?”

“You
know. Teacher student stuff.” She waved her hands in the air. A little spark
left her pointer finger. She giggled. “Sorry. Sometimes it goes off without me
making it. That’s why I go to school.”

“Can’t
you give me a specific?” I wasn’t a ‘just-cause-you-should-know’ kind of girl.
I wanted pure, hard, facts as to why Faith and Eloise had a strained
relationship.

“Faith
is so uppity and thinks that she should pass because of her family money.
Professor Sandlewood makes you work.” Hili took two mugs from the closet. I
peeked in, but she slammed it shut before I could see anything.

Curiosity
had gotten the best of me. “What’s in here?” I put my hand on the door knob,
ready to twist it.

“Please
don’t go in there.” She blushed. “It’s my closet. I’d be so embarrassed for you
to see how messy it is.”

I
could just imagine what all she had in there. Hili was one high-maintenance
teenager. . .harmless none the less.

“Do
you get along with Faith?” It wasn’t a bad question to ask. They both seemed to
come from high-class Good-Sider’s.

“We’ve
never had a problem. She has her friends and I have mine.” She poured the
coffee out of the carafe. The steam from the heat rolled up and formed a heart
before it puffed out. She handed me my cup. “My dad is so cute. He had the
coffee pot specially made to do that.”

Yes,
she was just as high-class as Faith Mortimer.

“Sometimes
we get accelerated students like you.” She sat down. “Most the time they are
just here to hone their abilities.”

“What
about the professors?” I questioned. Eloise didn’t even mention she was a
professor, nor did Izzy tell me.

“They
come from all over. There are Dark-Siders along with the Good-Siders like us.”
She got up and took a couple mugs that were in the shape of a witch’s hat.
“Cream? Sugar?”

A
Ding Dong sure would taste good right now,
I thought as I sat down to drink
my coffee. Only I wasn’t into sharing anymore. I only had a few left as it was.
Because it was only four days. . .
right?

“Where
are the professor offices?” Somehow I had to get to the student files and read
Raven’s and Faith’s. Maybe their background would lead me in a direction to
help Eloise.

“It’s
on the backside of the library. Why do you ask?” She tilted her head to the
side.

“I
thought I’d pay my aunt a visit.” I lied. “We have a lot of catching up to do.”

Yes,
a Ding Dong would taste great right now.

I
glanced over, noticing Hili’s clock read 7AM in hot pink glow numbers.

“We
are late!” I jumped up and out the door before I even thought about grabbing my
bag or Madame Torres, leaving them on Hili’s bed.

I
ran out of the cottage dorm and down the street quickly touching the sign that
pointed in the direction of Intuition class.

That
didn’t stop me from thinking about Elosie. Things didn’t add up. There was no
way she’d hurt Faith. Plus Darla would never put me in danger. At least that’s
what my intuition told me.