Five: Out of the Dark (2 page)

Since I was treading in uncharted territory, I knew no names for the spells I uncovered. I named them as I went along. My first thought at seeing the little blue star was the childhood poem, “Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight.” So, I called it
star-bright.

The thrill of discovery was like a drug to me. And, as was the way of drugs, the crash was hard and painful. Of course my parents had noticed the change in my routine, and what, to them, probably seemed like ominous signs. I would run in after school, full of energy and excitement, and go directly to my room or out to the woods. After spending hours practicing, I would show up in the kitchen for dinner, exhausted and blurry eyed.

Friday, after school, I set out for the clearing, thoughts of having all of Saturday to myself running through my head. I reached my destination, and with a rush of excitement, I set straight to work. I’d just figured out levitation using the reluctant Sadie as the levitatee.

“Paige! What … what are you—?”

At the sound of my dad’s astonished voice, the spell broke and Sadie dropped to the ground. I whirled around.

“Dad, I can explain.” I don’t know why I said that. I couldn’t explain.

“Paige, what are you doing? How did you do that?”

The anger in his voice scared me.

“I … umm … I’m not sure, Dad. I’m just, magical. I guess.”

“No. No.” His voice cracked. “This is of the Devil. This is a Dark Art.”

“Dad—”

“We’re going back to the house right now and you’re going to explain to your mother and me what kind of evil you’ve gotten mixed up in.”

Back at the house, my mom cried silently while my dad worked himself into a fit of rage the likes of which I’d never seen. He was convinced I’d made a deal with the Devil or gotten involved in the Dark Arts.

“Dad, I don’t even know what ‘Dark Arts’ are.”

“Liar! My daughter is a liar,” his voice broke. “There is no other explanation, Paige.”

“Dad—”

“No more. No more lies tonight. Go to your room while your mother and I decide what to do.”

Before dawn broke the next morning, I learned what decision they’d come to.

I awoke to two burly men in black uniforms looming beside my bed. The sound of my mom’s exhausted sobs drifted down the hall. Sadie stood in the doorway, muscles taught, hind legs bunched up, ready to spring; her lips curled back in a snarl, teeth like white daggers dripping with saliva. My dad grabbed at her collar and held her there as she growled at the strangers near my bed.

“Paige, these gentlemen are here to take you somewhere to get some help. Your mom and I will visit when we can. We love you.” He turned and dragged the furious Sadie from the room.

“I’m Dan. Get dressed. You won’t be taking anything with you,” said the muscle man on my left.

I made no move to rise. “Where are you taking me?”

“Somewhere safe. No more questions. Get dressed.”

My mind raced. I couldn’t go with them.

“Could you please wait in the hallway while I get dressed?” I asked.

“I’m afraid not,” Dan answered. “We’ll turn around while you change.”

“No. No way. Dad!” I yelled toward the open door. “Dad! Please! You can’t do this. Please! Mom, don’t let him do this!”

My mom’s sobs increased, tearing at my heart, but she didn’t come to my rescue. Her anguished cries grew softer as she moved further from my room.

“Paige,” Dan took a step closer to me, his voice gentle but firm. “We can do this the hard way or we can do this the easy way. It’s entirely up to you.”

I pushed my back up against the headboard in an effort to put distance between us. I shook my head. “Dad!” I screamed. “Don’t do this! Let me explain!”

“Your dad isn’t going to change his mind. Get dressed, Paige.”

Not knowing what else to do, I climbed out of bed on the opposite side from where the men stood. My legs nearly collapsed beneath me when my feet hit the floor. My mind raced, trying to figure a way out of there.

“Turn your backs, please.” My voice shook.

I changed my clothes in record time.

“You’ll want your jacket, it’s chilly outside,” Dan said.

I grabbed my pea coat from the hook by my door. The men stood on either side of me. Taking no chances, they grabbed my upper arms, one on each side, and escorted me out the front door.

There was no way I was going to let them force me into the black car parked in the driveway. I had only a few feet to make my move, if I was going to escape. I turned and stared back at the only home I’d ever known. I could hear Sadie’s hysterical barking and scratching at the door. The blinds in the living room window twitched and I caught a brief glimpse of my mom’s tear-streaked face.

I hadn’t practiced any defensive spells—I hadn’t thought there would be a need to. But there was one such spell I was pretty sure I could pull off because I’d used it before.

We drew within one step of the car, and I planted my feet, balled my hands into fists and readied myself.

“
Get away
,” I growled.

Borne of fear and anguish, the will with which I infused the spell was strong. The hands that held me tore free of my arms. The large men soared through the air in opposite directions. I didn’t know or care how far they flew or where they landed. As soon as I felt the release of their grips, I started running for the thick trees bordering our property.

I didn’t stop running for what seemed like hours.

Unsure of where to go, something unseen pulled me. I walked or ran the entire day, never stopping to rest. I tried to stay hidden—not a difficult thing to do in the Pacific Northwest where there are thickly-packed trees everywhere. At nightfall, I found myself boarding the last ferry of the night headed to Seattle—lucky for me it was free for walk-ons going that direction. I curled up on a bench and slept for most of the hour-long ride.

e found me wandering around the dark, dilapidated Underground of Seattle, three days after my parents had tried to have me carted away. His dark eyes shone with kindness as he approached me.

Exhausted, hungry and thirsty after not eating for three days, my face streaked with dirt and tears … I’m surprised he didn’t take one look at my pitiful state and just keep walking.

“Are you okay?” His dark eyes bore into mine.

I shook my head.

“Are you lost? Hurt?”

I shook my head again.

“Can you talk?” His soft voice spoke of infinite patience.

I nodded.

“Okay. Good. Let’s start with names, then. I’m Johnathan.” His mouth turned up at the corners, revealing a dimple in each cheek.

I stared for a minute before realizing it was my turn. “Paige. I’m Paige.”

“Are you hungry?”

I licked my dry lips and nodded.

“Well, I just happen to have some gourmet food to share. Follow me, Paige.”

The scant light shining down from the century old glass embedded in the sidewalks above didn’t do much to light the way. I tripped every few steps over the rubble strewn everywhere. Johnathan stopped after I almost fell for the gazillionth time.

“Don’t be scared, okay? I’m going to … provide some light.”

I raised an eyebrow, unsure what he meant. I sucked in a breath as a small blue light appeared on the palm of his outstretched hand.

“
Star-bright
,” I said, tears threatening to fall.

“What?”

“
Star-bright
.” I was sure he thought I was crazy. “I call it
star-bright
.” I held my hand out and produced my own blue light.

His eyes widened and his mouth dropped open.

“You can … you’re like … like me?” His voice was barely a whisper.

I nodded. A tear slipped out of the corner of my eye and he reached up and wiped it away. I wasn’t alone. There was someone else like me. We stood, staring at one another, for a dozen frantic beats of our hearts. His smile lit up his face—all the way to the sparkle in his dark eyes. Gorgeous eyes. He let out a short laugh and ran his free hand through the loose curls of his almost black hair. In that moment, mesmerized by his smile, I forgot about my fear, hunger, thirst, and desperate situation. The increasing rhythm of my heartbeat in my ears and the jumble of butterflies flapping wildly in my stomach made all other thoughts vanish.

Johnathan shook his head, still smiling. “C’mon. Let’s go get you some food and water.”

I followed him through the rubble of the Underground street. He ducked into a broken down doorway, stepping over loose bricks scattered around the sidewalk. I didn’t hesitate to follow him.

We stood inside an old shop of some sort. Johnathan pulled a mostly intact chair from where it lay toppled over in a corner. He brought it over and sat it across from another chair at a makeshift table he’d apparently set up using bricks and a large piece of wood.

Johnathan made a grand gesture like a waiter at a fancy restaurant. “Your seat, Madame.”

I smiled and swiped my dirty hair behind my ear. I sat, still holding the
star-bright
in my right hand.

“Watch this.” He placed his
star-bright
into a glass jar that was sitting in the middle of the table, freeing up his hand. “It’ll keep going until you release the spell. And, it drains hardly any energy, too.”

I added my little blue light to the jar.

“I’ll be right back.” Johnathan disappeared into a back room. When he returned, he carried two metal cans the size of soup cans. They appeared to be old and had no labels on them.

I raised an eyebrow.

He set one can on the table and took a pocket knife to the top of the other one. “Don’t worry. I’ve been eating these for a couple weeks now, and I haven’t been sick once.”

“What are they?” I frowned. I wasn’t a picky eater, but I had
some
standards.

“Beans. I keep hoping to open one and find something different one of these times. But, so far, they’ve all been beans.”

“Where did you get them?” I raised one eyebrow.

He shrugged. “I found them in that storage room back there.” He nodded to the room he’d gone into to retrieve the cans. “It isn’t great, but its food. It’ll keep us alive.”

Handing me the opened can, he said, “Sorry, I haven’t found any spoons. You just kind of have to drink it. Be careful, the lid’s a little jagged.”

I took it from him and sniffed at the contents. The beans didn’t smell as awful as I’d thought they would. My stomach growled. I tilted the can to my lips and spilled a few beans into my mouth.

Johnathan worked on opening the other can. “So? How is it?”

I swallowed. “Fabulous.”

He snorted. “Yeah.” He closed his pocket knife and set it on the table before dumping a large amount of beans into his open mouth.

“You said something about water …” My dry mouth reminded me I hadn’t had anything to eat or drink in almost two days.

“Oh, yeah. Of course. I’m so sorry I forgot.” He stood and walked to a corner of the room. He brought back two plastic bottles filled with mostly clear water.

I gulped it down then thought to ask, “Where did the water come from?”

“Above. I fill up the bottles at drinking fountains and in bathrooms before I come back down for the night.”

Not knowing what else to say, but not wanting the conversation to end, I asked, “How old are you?”