A Charming Cure (18 page)

Watch
your backs, Good-Siders.

“What
does this prove?” He pushed it back.

“Now
read this one.” I handed him the next installment of the UnHidden Hall
Chronicles.

IMPOSTER
STRIKES AGAIN. . .

We
are almost close to exposing the Dark-Sider that is posing as a Good-Sider.
Only this time, they have made a misstep and have proven who they are.

She
will stop at nothing to get her hands on the ULTIMATE Spell.

Watch
your backs, Good-Siders!

The
quickest way for me to figure out what the Ultimate spell was, was through
Madame Torres.

“Madame
Torres, what is the ultimate spell that only Good-Siders know?” I peered deep
into the ball.

Flashes
of lightning bolts radiated as if there was a storm brewing in the globe.
Madame Torres had mustered up enough strength to come through when I needed her
to.

“Death.”
Her voice cracked. The flashes continued to dart around the ball. There was no
sign of Madame Torres. “Death is the one spell that Spiritualist cannot
perform. The Good-Siders are the only spiritualists that know the ingredients
for death.”

Instantly,
I realized that Faith was not dead, because the Dark-Sider didn’t know the
Ultimate Spell, and the Dark-Sider doing this needed to keep the one Good-Sider
that might tell the secret alive.

But
how did Eloise tie into this?

“I’m
telling you Hili is a weirdo witch.” He tossed it on the table. “I’m just
saying that she’s a little weird marking stuff out beans or berries, and then I
found a boatload of these.”

He
handed over a small drawstring sack that contained a bunch of little red beans
with black tips.

“She
was always standing behind your partition, using that big cauldron.” He
pretended like he was stirring a pot. “When I asked her what she was doing, she
told me to mind my own business. Then she’d say, ‘I don’t tell you how to
arrest people, do I?’”

I
grabbed the Magical Cures book off my counter and the pages flipped quickly as
if I was turning them.

“What
in the world?” Oscar walked backwards. “Are you doing that?”

Shrugging,
I never looked up. I completely concentrated on the book.

The
whirlwind above the book stopped. The pages stopped flipping and it was open to
the picture glossary in the back. I had seen these beans before, but I couldn’t
remember what they were used for.

There
was a picture of the exact bean. The Rosemary Pea. I scanned the page, reading
all I could in that split second. I began to shake as I realized that this was
the deadliest bean of all, if ingested in the right potion.

“Oh
my God, I think this is the main ingredient in the Ultimate Spell!” Suddenly I
felt feverish. I had been giving Hili all the information I knew. She had me
believing that Raven was the one who was going around trying to harm Hidden
Hall A Spiritualist University students and facility, when it was really her.

Hili
had spent her time as an intern trying to duplicate the Ultimate Spell, but she
couldn’t.

“The
cleaner?” I picked up the bottle and smelled the tip. Exactly what I liked. .
.Ding Dongs. “She replaced Eloise’s cleaner with a poison, and she knew I
wanted one. And it smells exactly like Ding Dongs.”

There
was confusion written all over Oscar’s face. It was an explanation I was going
to have to tell him later. There was no time to dilly-dally.

I
jumped up. The chair fell backwards and crashed to the ground. I grabbed my
bag, put Madame Torres in, and flung it across my shoulders.

“What?”
Oscar forcefully held me by my arms to stop me. “Where are you going, June?

“Oscar,”
I stared up at him. There was a fright so deep in my body, I couldn’t stop
shaking. “She is more than a weirdo. Hili is the one who tried to kill Faith.
And I think she has Eloise somewhere.”

“We
have to stop her.” He let go and ran out the door with me.

“Don’t
forget the potion.” He held it in the air.

“It’s
poison!” I ran out the door and yelled over my shoulder, “Come on! I’ll explain
later!”

Without
another word between us, I knew where Eloise was. My greatest fear was that I
was too late.

“Please
let her be safe.” I begged to the heavens as we ran through the woods to get to
Eloise’s tree house.

Tree
house.

Little
by little, things began to add up in my head. Eloise lived in a tree house. She
was banned from Whispering Falls for being a Fairiwick. Only the Good-Siders
know the Ultimate spell. Hili took Eloise because as a Good-Sider, Eloise would
know the spell. She hasn’t killed Eloise because Hili needs the spell. Only Eloise
doesn’t know it.

I
ran faster. Hili might not know the Ultimate Spell, but she could use other
means to kill Eloise, if she hadn’t done so already.

Once
we got to her house, we bolted up the stairs that climbed the trunk of the
tree, two-by-two, until we reached the top. The door was wide open and a
cauldron was bubbling over. A plume of smoke hovered.

“Pine
needles.” I gasped as the smell from the copper pot twirled around me.

“Pine
needles?” Oscar questioned.

“Yes.
Hili was making a potion with Faith or Raven in mind.” The words came spilled
out of my mouth had a slight chill behind them. If my hunches were right, Hili
would stop at nothing to get the spell. “Just like the cauldron cleaner smelled
like Ding Dongs.”

I
had to hurry up and find Eloise. I had to stop Hili. She was more than just a
caster. She had a lot of magic in that little prissy body of hers. But she
didn’t have the one thing she needed. . .a Good-Sider.

The
last place I wanted to go was back to Hidden Hall, but if I didn’t, I knew Aunt
Helena, Faith, and Raven would be next. And then the demise of the entire
Spiritualist community.

Oscar’s
jaw was clenched. He shook his head.

“I
don’t like this, June.” He paced around the room with papers clutched in his
hands as I scampered from door to door looking for Eloise.

She
was nowhere to be found.

“You
need to take a look at these.” He grabbed me from my frantic tirade and held
the papers in front of me.

To
everyone who doesn’t believe in the Dark-Siders, beware. I’m an ingredient away
from discovering the Ultimate Spell, no thanks to a few Good-Siders. I’ve done
it all on my own in the name of all Dark-Siders.

Follow
me and I will take you into the new spiritual world where we will rule the
world and create the justice that is due to us!

There
was no time to waste. I took Madame Torres out of my bag.

“Show
me Eloise.” I commanded. Nothing happened. I yelled, “Show me Eloise,
NOW
!”

Madame
Torres appeared, visibly shaken. She had streaks of black running down her
face. “I’m sorry. I can’t. There is an evil force blocking her from you.” She
swallowed hard. “I’m afraid there is an evil force taking over the spiritual
world and. . .”

The
ball went black.

“Madame
Torres?” I frantically shook the ball. “Madame Torres!”

It
was hopeless. Madame Torres was disappearing before my eyes and I couldn’t help
her.

Eloise.
I
put the last image of her shackled to the wall in my mind and concentrated. I
searched the mental picture for anything and everything. All I could recall was
the Mandrake flower she played with in her fingers.

“I’ve
got it!” I screamed at Oscar and I ran out the door and down the steps. Without
turning back, I could hear Oscar right behind me. “Eloise grows Mandrake
flowers in her garden. She has to be there somewhere.”

We
ran down the cobblestone pathway, zipping past the array of colorful flowers
that I, in the past, enjoyed pruning with Eloise, and straight back into the
garden.

We
stopped, and in a mad frenzy I screamed out, “Eloise! Eloise!”

Thump,
thump.

“Did
you hear that?” Oscar turned his head and we waited for the sound.

Thump,
thump, thump.

Out
of nowhere, Mr. Prince Charming dashed across the garden near the gazebo patio.

Meowl,
meowl.
He went underneath the table and made a complete circle before he sat down.

I
ran over and took a closer look. There was an outline of a circle. A witch’s
circle.

“Is
that a trap door?” Oscar bent down on his knees and began to knock on the wood.
The boards were loose and he pulled one up, exposing a set of stairs.

“You
stay here.” Oscar grabbed my hand and squeezed. His eyes grew serious and
still. “I’d never forgive myself if something happened to you.”

“I
can’t let you go alone.” I vehemently shook my head.

Without
even thinking that Hili could be down there, Oscar held my hand and led me down
the steps.

Letting
go of my hand, Oscar looked back. We locked eyes. We knew that behind the
wooden door, Eloise was going to be there. Hopefully alive.

“1,2,3.”
Oscar pushed.

“Eloise!”
I pushed past him and ran over to her limp body lying on the dirt floor in the
corner of the room.

I
grabbed her and wrapped her up in my arms, exactly the way I had done a few
days ago when Helena had cast her away.

“Go,”
She muttered. “Stop her from killing anyone.”

“I
can’t.” Tears whaled in my eyes. “I can’t leave you here like this.”

“Oscar
can help me.” She used all the strength she had to talk.

“June
is not going anywhere without me.” Oscar knelt down beside us. He began working
on getting the chains off Eloise’s wrists. “I’m not putting her in danger.”

“You
can’t enter Hidden Hall unless you have received an invitation from Helena.”
Her words were soft, but they stung like daggers. “June must go alone. She has
the power to stop Hili from taking over the world.”

“What
do you mean?” I begged her to tell me.

“Once
the spell gets into the Dark-Sider’s hands, they become the ruler of the
Spiritual world. Kind of like an Armageddon.” Eloise trailed off, keeping her
eyes closed.

“Eloise,”
I whispered, almost fearing her answer. “Are you a Dark-Sider?”

Slowly
she nodded, confirming my suspicion.

With
my suspicions confirmed, there was no time to waste. Hili was already at Hidden
Hall and casting evil spells all over. She was going to stop at nothing and no
one to get the Ultimate Spell.

“You
be careful.” Oscar had already freed one wrist. He stood up. “I don’t know what
I’d do if you weren’t in my life. I barely survived four days.”

“I’ll
be safe.” My heart was torn in two. One side ached to stay with Oscar, while
the other side was in fear of what Hili was doing to the new world in which I
lived. I put my fingers up to his lips. “I promise I will be back.”

I
couldn’t bring myself to say anymore. It was just best if I left, while I still
had the courage.

Mr.
Prince Charming was waiting by the trap door when I emerged from the dungeon.

“It’s
up to us.” I let Mr. Prince Charming take the lead. I rubbed the owl charm that
dangled from my bracelet. It was time to make some very wise decisions. It was
time to confront Hili.

Chapter Twenty-Six

There was no way I was going to be able
to do it alone, nor did I want to. I tapped the sign that pointed toward the
campus, exposing the pathway through the wheat field.

In a distance, a gray cloud hung over
the campus area, even the always bright Once Upon a Time Library.

Mr. Prince Charming gave the all clear
as his tail waved me to come on. He proceeded ahead of me to make sure the
coast was clear as we made our way through the campus streets.

Everything was shut down. Closed off.
Hili had definitely made her presence and what she was after known.

A cold breeze swept past my right ear,
sending a spine chilling prickles up my leg.

“Who’s there?” I demanded to know.

Out of nowhere, Gus appeared.

“Gus, I’m so glad you are here.” I
grabbed him by the arm, and pulled him closer. “Are you the one who keeps
whizzing by me, creating that cool breeze?”

“Probably. Dean Helena wanted to keep
close tabs on you. You have come just in time. The students are on lock-down.
Dean Helena is keeping watch over Faith. She knew you’d be back, so she revoked
your expulsion.” He glanced over to the Dark-Sider’s edge of town. “It’s the
evil versus evil.”

“Hili?” I feared.

“And Raven.” He continued to look into
the distance. He turned and looked at me. Panic rioted his face. “I’m scared.
Raven can’t beat Hili alone.”