Enchanted Secrets (11 page)

I chewed on what Clarice had told me on the way to the school but had a hard time really believing it. I was still trying to imagine my mother as a powerful sorceress. It just didn’t seem logical. She changed diapers and served macaroni and cheese to children during the day. Did she really have the ability to teleport or put a hex on someone when she wasn’t potty training?

“You okay?”
asked Tyler, touching my knee.

“I think so,” I said
, staring at his hand.

“
I know this whole thing is hard to grasp,” he said, looking down, suddenly shy. He removed his hand. “Sorry.”

I smiled. “You didn’t hear me complaining.”

He grinned and put his hand back on my knee.

“Tyler,”
warned Rebecca, who must also have eyes on the back of her head.

He removed his hand and smiled sheepishly.

I turned to look out the window as we pulled up to the high school. The last bell hadn’t rung yet, so I knew we still had some time.

“
Kendra and I should go into the school alone,” said Tyler. “You ladies can keep a lookout for anything unusual on the outside.”

“Just be careful,” said Rebecca. “If
you run into Vivian, send me a signal.”

He nodded and we got out of the car.

“So, how
are
you going to let your mother know if Vivian’s around?” I asked.

He pointed to his head.
“If she opens her mind up, I can send her a telepathic message.”

I sighed.
“Oh, of course. I should have known.”

The bell began to ring
right as we entered the school and the sound of chaos soon filled the halls.

“I’m not
even sure which class Kala has for final period,” I said, as kids started rushing past us towards the exit.

“Maybe
you should watch for her at this side of the building,” he said. “I’ll go to the other exit and keep an eye out.”

“Okay.”

I watched as Tyler put his sunglasses on and walked away. He seemed so much older and sophisticated than the guys sprinting past me on their way out of the school. Some of them were belching out loud or skateboarding towards the exits, and I began to wonder if Tyler was older than what he’d said. It was feasible since he only came to the school looking for us.

“Kala!” hollered
Hailey coming straight towards me. She obviously had me confused with my sister.

“Hi,” I said
, gritting my teeth.

She looked down at my dress
and grinned like a Cheshire cat. “Oh, I see they do make that dress in regular sizes. It certainly looks nice on you.”

I forced a smile. “Well, thanks.”

She nodded. “Too bad your sister can’t lose all that extra weight. I’d have thought seeing you in the exact same dress would inspire her to eat less.”

“Why are you so interested in my sister?” I snapped.

Hailey’s eyes narrowed. “I’m not. It’s just that I know you were talking about running for student council president and having a sister like her can’t be good for your image. Maybe you shouldn’t even waste your time running.”

“What do you mean?”

She smiled cruelly. “Well, you’re popular, of course, but she’s pretty much in a class all by herself.  Think about it, you’ll lose a lot of votes and that would be totally humiliating. You could save yourself the embarrassment and just help someone else win.”

I folded my arms under my chest.
“Let me guess, you’re running for president as well and would like me to back you up?”

Her face lit up. “You’d do that?”

I was speechless. Words just couldn’t describe how much I despised Hailey at that particular moment, although, if I had the power to turn her into a toad right now, I’d turn myself into one instead. Then I’d turn her into a fly, so that I could devour her.

“Listen,” she said. “Don’t forget to meet us at
‘The Pointe’ after school. Mark mentioned that he was giving you a lift?”

The Pointe?
That was a popular partying spot. I cleared my throat. “Oh, yeah. I’ll see you later.”

She stared at me
curiously for a minute and then walked away.

~~~

As I continued to search for Kala, I noticed Tyler hurrying towards me.

“Did you see her
anywhere?” I asked.

He nodded and then
ran a hand through his hair. “I did, but unfortunately Mark hustled her out of the school so quickly, I didn’t get a chance to talk to her.”

I sighed.
“Well, I know where they’re going,” I said. “The Pointe.”

“
What’s “The Pointe”?

I smirked.
“Exactly.”

He snorted. “Do
you know where it is?”

“I think so. There’s a park a few blocks from here with a great view of the valley below.
If you climb down the hill underneath it a few feet, you’ll supposedly come to this hidden cave. That’s where the kids hang out to drink or do whatever.”

His eyebrows went up. “So you’ve been there before
?”

I shook my head.

He looked a little relieved. “Let’s go find it then,” he said, taking my hand.

“Clarice checked your house
while you were inside and Adrianne is still not there,” said Rebecca as we slid into the back of her car.

“Yes, I left her a
n encrypted note so she’d know you were safe, as well,” said Clarice.

“Did you teleport
from the car?” I asked.

“No,” she answered
, patting the outside of her purse. “I flew on my broom.”

My jaw dropped.
“You actually flew on a broom and now it’s in your purse?”

She smiled
weakly. “I just can’t teleport like I used to. The last time I landed, my knees were sore for a week.”

“But
, seriously, you can fly on a real broom?” I asked. If I wasn’t so worried about my sister and mom, I’d make her fly for me.

Clarice nodded. “Oh
, yes. I find the old-fashioned way is much easier. Plus, I can see exactly where I’m going.”

I
sat back. “I wonder where my mother is? What if Vivian has already found her?”

“You
r mother is not an easy witch to put down,” said Clarice. “She’s just as powerful as Vivian, remember. They’re twins.”

Rebecca sighed
. “Yes, but Vivian practices Black magic, which Adrianne wouldn’t touch.”

“What’s the difference?” I asked.

“Black magic is evil and it’s used for one’s own good. A witch who uses this type of magic learns how to control demons and spirits, using them for his or her own selfishness. Usually,” Clarice added with a scowl, “to do harm to others.”

“
We don’t dabble in Black magic,” said Rebecca firmly. “It’s dangerous and against our beliefs. Instead, we use only White, which works with the spirits,” said Rebecca, “to heal others or create spells that help us defeat evil.”

“Oh,” I said. “Which is stronger?”

Rebecca and Clarice looked at each other.

“It depends on the witch and her inner strength,” said Tyler. “If she believes she can conquer the other’s magic, no matter what it is, she usually succeeds.”

“So White magic doesn’t always win?” I squeaked.

“Only if the witch
knows what’s she doing and believes her powers are the stronger of the two,” said Tyler. 

That revelation gave me goose bumps. I only hoped my mother’s inner strength and beliefs were enough to keep her alive.

~~~

The park was crawling with high school students, most of them attempting to climb down the hill, many carrying small brown bags.

“Looks like a B.Y.O.B.,” remarked Tyler.

“Bring your own broom?” asked Clarice.
She smiled and her eyes lit up. “Oh, how wonderful. I used to enjoy those parties as a young girl, you know.”

Rebecca laughed. “No Clarice, bottle, not broom.”

Her smile fell. “Oh, those naughty kids.”

“I can’t believe my sister is going to this party,” I said. “She told me Mark didn’t drink alcohol.”

“Hey, there they are,” pointed Clarice.

Sure enough, my sister followed Mark towards the hill, although neither of them carried a ba
g of any sort. Kala didn’t look very enthused.

“I’m going to talk to her,” I said, opening up the car door.

“I’ll come with,” said Tyler.

“We’ll keep an eye out
for Vivian. She might be drawn to this kind of thing,” said Rebecca.

Clarice raised her hands in the air and closed her eyes
. “Yes, I can sense an aura of evil and deception radiating from some of these kids. This party screams of bad news.” 

“
Sounds like a blast,” answered Tyler with a humorless smile. “On that note, we’ll be back as soon as we can.”

W
e stepped away from the car and walked towards the edge of the hill.

“Hey, it’s vampire boy,”
snickered Trevor Danes, coming up behind us. He was holding a two plastic bags filled with ice and plastic red cups.

I smirked.
“Wow, Trevor, looks like you’re all set.”

Trevor
was in our math class – a total surfer type of bonehead. He was also close friends with Mark.

He bobbed his head up and down.
“You know it. Say,” he said, motioning towards Tyler. “I didn’t know you had a thing for bloodsucking-losers, Kala.”

I opened up to let him have it when
Tyler removed his sunglasses and motioned for me to remain silent.

“
There goes the shades… hey, watch out for the burn, dude!” laughed Trevor.

Tyler
looked into Trevor’s vacant blue eyes. “Stay put, and keep an eye out for a woman with long, red hair. If you see her coming this way, howl like a wolf as loudly as you can.”

Trevor’
s face became slack and he nodded.

I smiled. “Wow, I wish I could do that. Of course, I would have told him to dro
p dead.”

“I don’t know if that would work
on a human,” said Tyler with a straight face. “I’ve never attempted it.”

“
Oh, my God…I was kidding!”

He didn’t say anything.

My eyes narrowed. “You mentioned something about trolls before. Um, was that real? Did you actually kill three trolls?”

“Yes, but they deserved it,” he smiled. “
They wouldn’t let me over their bridge.”

“Wow, you’re amazing,” I said, shaking my head.

“Sorry,” he laughed. “I just couldn’t resist.”

I lowered my voice.
“Seriously, though, are there really trolls?”

He pursed his lips and nodded. “Yes, and pray that you never meet one. They’re
nasty creatures and very hard to kill.”

“Uh, okay.”

We started climbing down the hill, which was actually steeper than I thought. “This would have to be very dangerous if you’ve been drinking,” I noted.

“Yeah, look down below
us.”

There was a
ravine at the very bottom of the hill, about three hundred feet down.

“If you didn’t get hurt tumbling down, you might just drown in the ravine,” I said.

Loud music and laughter blasted out of the large cave as we drew near.

“I wonder if the cops know about this place?”

“No,” replied Mark, stepping out of the cave. “And I’ve worked hard to keep it that way.”

I put my hands on my hips. “Where’s Kala?”

His smile gave me the chills. “
Come, I’ll show you,
Kendra
.”

Tyler looked at me and I knew he felt it too
. Mark was acting strange and he hadn’t seemed surprised at all to see us.

Mark glanced at me.
“Well, I have to say, Kendra, you’re looking pretty hot. It’s almost like,” he said with a wicked grin.  “Someone put a spell on you.”

“Hey
, Kala!” smiled Hailey. She was sitting with a couple of girls and drinking a beer. “I must be seeing things because I could have sworn you just passed by a few minutes ago.”

I smirked.
“Maybe you’ve just had too much to drink?”

“Not yet,” she answered and then giggled.

“Don’t worry, Hailey,” smiled Mark. “I’ll let you know tomorrow if you’ve taken off any clothes.”

“Stop about the last time already!” she pouted. “You shouldn’t have
been looking anyway!”

I wasn’t about to ask what she meant by that.
Tyler just shook his head and removed his sunglasses.

We followed him
deeper into the cave. It was getting darker and after a while, Mark pulled out a flashlight. “Watch out for spiders and other things lurking in the dark,” he said. “You never know what you’ll run into in these caves.”

“
Where is Kala?” I asked, getting worried.
Why would my sister be hanging out somewhere in the back of this smelly dank cave?

Mark turned to me. “Don’t worry, we’re almost there.”

We came to a tunnel and he motioned for us to keep following him.

“Are you sure she’s back here?” I asked
.

He
turned back and gave me a reassuring smile. “Of course. Wait until we get there, you can see for yourself how great she’s doing.”

I shuddered
at the way he said that, and even Tyler frowned.

“Here,” said Mark, pointing
towards a lit-up passageway. “Come on.”

We followed him through the opening
and my breath caught in my throat when I noticed my sister. “Kala?” I whispered in horror.

She lay on a giant slab of rock with her arms and legs tied together. Her eyes were closed and
her skin was so pale, she appeared almost… dead.

“Oh
, God!” I screamed, rushing towards her. “What have you done to my sister?”

“Wait!” yelled Tyler
, as I slammed into some kind of invisible wall and fell backwards.

“
So we meet again,” chuckled Vivian, stepping out of the shadows of the cave. “Isn’t this a quaint little family reunion?”