The Familiar (21 page)

“Thank you for your company, your loyalty, your honesty, and your laughter. Here’s to a lifetime of friendship!” she says, as we take turns clinking glasses. My glass lightly taps each one, until finally I meet Samir’s gaze and we make the final clink. Something about the way his eyes bore into mine for only a quick second, before turning away, makes me uneasy. It almost makes me feel like he’s hiding something. I glance at Akiko, and wonder if she’s confided in Samir, letting him in on our secret.

29

When we arrive at the lake for our next class, bellies full and spirits high, Brad is laying on the dock, sunning himself. He lifts his ever present sunglasses, and squints at Akiko with one eye closed. “Akiko, awesome hustle with The Terrarium challenge!”

“Hope you didn’t get all the life sucked out of you, because I’ve got something just as challenging planned for today…”

“Sounds intriguing Brad!” exclaims Louise, batting her eyelashes flirtatiously. We laze on the sand, enjoying the warmth of the sun, while the rest of the students trickle in. Once everyone’s finally present, Brad stands, and stretches his long sinewy swimmer’s body before addressing the class.

“I had a lot of fun planning this challenge, and I’m quite certain that most of you will hate me by the end of it… Today, you’ll be taking part in a scavenger hunt. Though, not just any scavenger hunt, because somewhere under the lake, I’ve hidden a treasure…”

Brad holds up a shiny gold coin with an engraving of an eye on one side and a star on the other, it glistens under the sunlight, winking as if it’s teasing us.

“You will have to transform into creatures that will have both the physical ability, and the senses to help you locate the coin. You may either work alone, or in groups. If a group ends up winning, you’ll have to decide among yourselves, who will take first, second, third place and so on. We will start at the sound of the whistle. Good luck and have fun!”

We know even without discussing it that we’ll work as a team. We wade into the shallows of the lake and wait for the whistle.

“Why don’t we begin with a grid search of the bottom of the lake? If we split up, we can cover the grid faster,” suggests Samir.

Louise’s curls bounce with excitement as she jumps up in small bursts.

“That’s a great idea, Samir. Let’s start with dolphins, that’ll help us cover more ground faster. When we finish our grids, we can meet up at the buoy on the other side of the lake. Okay?”

“Sounds like a solid plan to me,” I reply agreeably. Akiko nods silently, her eyes full of concentration. We divide the area into four equal parts, and assign a portion to each of us. Just as we finish hatching our plan, the whistle blows, and there’s a mad rush of shifting, running, and splashing. We dive in, transforming midair, and hit the water smoothly, our dolphin bodies skimming the surface. We go our separate ways towards our respective sections of the grid. Once I’m sure that I’m heading the right direction, I swim until I reach the perimeter. I dive down, towards the bottom of the lake, and graze the area, not really knowing what I’m looking for, but doing my best to be thorough nonetheless. Some of the sights look kind of familiar as I pass statues, benches, fountains and pathways long forgotten. I try my best to ignore the others swimming frantically around me as they search for the elusive glint of the coin. I continue combing the bottom, looking for any signs of a shiny coin underneath plants, in between rocks, hidden inside statues or fountains, but come up with nothing.

As I’m nearing the end of my grid search, I suddenly catch sight of something shiny, reflecting the sunlight that’s penetrated through to the bottom of the lake. I look around to make sure nobody’s watching, and I swim towards it. As I get closer, I see the object is inside what used to be a giant stone planter, the kind that small trees grow out of. Instead of a tree, the planter is filled with underwater vegetation, and small fish. I stick my head into it, and spot something tangled among plants, half buried in slimy mud. I carefully push the debris aside, trying to unearth the treasure. After a few minutes of poking around, I realize that the object is not the golden coin I had hoped for. Instead, I uncover a long golden wand with intricate engravings, and encrusted with small sparking gems. I have no idea what it’s doing here, but I know just by looking at it, that it must be important. I pull my head out and scan the surrounding area, paranoid that I’m being watched. When the coast is clear, I nudge the wand with my mouth, and clamp down on it, swimming quickly to the side of the lake, where I remember seeing a small pebbly beach covered in tall reeds. I reach the shore, and shift back, pulling the wand out of my mouth. Upon closer examination, I notice that it’s spotless, as if it had been sitting in a velvet-lined box instead of at the bottom of a muddy lake. I decide that the best thing I can do is hide it, until I can come back for it another time. There is a sandy spot, surrounded by rocks, and I dig a hole big enough to cover it. I bury it, packing the sand neatly, and place an unusual looking stone marker on top. When I’m satisfied, I quietly wade back into the water, shifting back into a dolphin before anyone sees me.

I continue my search till I reach the other side of the lake where I meet Louise, Akiko, and Samir. We shift back, and wade in the shallows.

Samir looks bright eyed, as he splashes about excitedly. “I think I found it, guys! We’re just going to have to figure out how to retrieve it.”

Louise looks like she’s about to explode. “So… Where is it?”

Samir points to the far end of the lake where there’s a narrow corner, almost like an inlet, filled with a thicket of overgrown plants and trees.

“I almost didn’t see it. But I decided to go all the way into that inlet. Behind a fallen tree and a bunch of weeds, I found an old wishing well about ten feet underwater. It’s made of solid stone, and this is the bad part, it’s attached to the ground. There are a bunch of coins still in there, and right at the very top tier is a gold coin exactly like the one Brad was holding.”

Akiko stares at her brother quizzically. “Why didn’t you just get it then?”

“Believe me, I tried… It seems like the coin is soldered onto the stone, and no matter how hard I pull, it won’t come off,” he says, frustrated. We look at one another, contemplating the situation.

“So, the only option would be to pull the wishing well off the ground and carry it all the way to the dock?” I ask skeptically.

Samir shrugs his shoulders. “I don’t really know. I mean that thing must weigh a ton, so even with the four of us, I’m doubtful we could carry it.”

Louise kicks her legs in the water, swimming away impatiently. “Why don’t we just go over and check it out before coming to any conclusions?”

We shift back into dolphins, Samir taking the lead as we swim at a leisurely pace, trying not to attract attention to ourselves. Once we get there, we dive underwater, and follow Samir through the jumble of branches and reeds. The wishing well appears through the murky water and I cringe, realizing that the solid marble structure will be impossible to transport. Up close, I see many coins glinting in the light, but there’s only one that’s golden. The engraving of the eye stares back at me, and I know we’ve found it. I try pushing it with my nose, and picking it up with my teeth, but just as Samir described, the coin seems to be stuck. Louise and Akiko also make an attempt without much success. We surface, shift back and take refuge by the fallen tree.

“Why would Brad do this to us?” says Louise sulkily. I sit on a branch, mulling the situation over. I realize now, that everything in this world seems to be a mixture of logic and magic. So if it seems impossible to complete the challenge with logic, there must be a magical element involved.

“Guys, I think there must be some sort of spell cast on the coin, maybe even the whole wishing well. There must be another solution besides dragging that thing back with us.”

Akiko ponders my words and asks, “But how?”

“Let’s just put our heads together and see what we come up with,” I say, as Louise, Akiko, and Samir concentrate, wracking their brains for ideas. “It’s obvious that this was a wishing well when there was a park here. So what
is
the purpose of a wishing well?”

“Hmmm, to make a wish, right? And hope that it comes true?” says Louise.

Samir’s face lights up. “Maybe we should wish for the coin to detach itself?”

“That’s not going to work. The whole point is to toss a coin and make a wish, and in case you hadn’t noticed, we don’t have a coin to toss in,” says Akiko adamantly.

“Akiko’s right. We need a coin…” I say.

“What about the other coins in the fountain? We could just take one, and toss it in again?” suggests Louise. I think about Louise’s idea, and decide it may be worth a try.

“I think you may be onto something, Louise. But my guess is that it’ll have to be a specific coin that breaks the spell. Come on, let’s go look,” I say, leaping into the water.

Our dolphin bodies dive down to the bottom once again. We closely examine each and every coin in the fountain, to see if anything stands out. They all look pretty ordinary until I come across a shiny silver one with an engraving of a mermaid sitting on a crescent moon. It’s the only coin with any kind of symbolism related to shape shifting, and the fact that its water related is a good sign. I shift back, so I can use my fingers to pick it up and toss it. While holding on to Louise’s dorsal fin for buoyancy, I carefully hold the mermaid coin in my hand, positioning myself close to the well so I can compensate for the water resistance. I aim for the top tier, and drop it, hoping it’ll land just on the right spot. Then, I close my eyes and wish for the golden coin to dislodge itself. I peek just as the mermaid coin makes its descent, floating dangerously close to the edge. But just at the right moment, it shifts and lands flatly on top. My fingers wrap around the prize, and I pull it from the fountain to show my friends, their triumphant grins evident even in dolphin form. With Louise’s help, I swim to the top quickly, gripping the coin in my fist.

We hit the surface, and Samir’s dolphin body slips underneath me. I wrap my legs around him and lean over, holding onto his dorsal fin for balance. It takes about ten minutes of vigorous swimming with Samir and me up front, to reach the other side. Brad is standing at the end of the dock, watching over the lake. As we near, his gaze falls on us, and I hold the coin up in the air. He screams out, “Right on!” his fist pumping in the air as the sunglasses on his head slip, and fall down his face crookedly.

When we reach the shore, I wade to the beach, while Louise, Akiko, and Samir shift back. I hand the coin to Brad, grab a towel and wrap it around myself. As Brad inspects the coin, we sit on the beach, recovering from the adrenaline filled challenge.

“You guys did it! Awesome teamwork!” says Brad, high-fiving us. “I know it was a difficult challenge, but I knew that with some quick thinking someone would recover it. You were only one of two groups that teamed up.” We look at each other, grateful to have made the right choice. “The question now is who will take first place?”

I raise my hand quickly. “I think Samir should get first, he’s the one who found the coin.”

“I second the motion,” adds Louise.

Akiko hugs Samir excitedly. “Me, too!”

Brad slaps Samir on the back lightly. “Congratulations, Samir! Looks like you’ve got the top spot!”

Samir smiles at us appreciatively. “Thanks, but it really was a team effort.”

“I nominate Hazel for second place!” shouts Louise.

“No… No… Not me,” I protest.

Louise pushes me playfully. “Come on, Hazel, you deserve it!”

“You have no choice in the matter, Hazel,” says Akiko, winking at me. I would insist further, but I’m afraid that Brad would get suspicious, so I just smile and concede.

Akiko puts her arm on Louise’s shoulders. “I’ll take fourth, since I just won the last challenge.”

“So, it’s settled then!” says Brad, as the whistle echoes across the lake.

Our classmates return, and they gather around us. Some look envious, but most of them offer sincere congratulations.

It’s not till we’re climbing the hill on our way back to our dorm, that I suddenly remember the wand that I left buried on the beach. Though I don’t really know what to do with it, my instincts tell me that I have to protect it from getting into the wrong hands.

30

The dorm is unusually quiet. Everyone seems to have passed out from exhaustion after the excitement of the day. Louise is asleep when I tiptoe out of the room with my backpack and skateboard. Outside, the sunlight is mellow, casting an amber glow. It’s been a while since I’ve had the chance to ride my skateboard, and as I glide down the pathway, I can’t help but feel a bit lonely without Andy by my side. I push the feeling aside, and enjoy the breeze on my face as I speed down the slope towards the lake. I ride until I reach the little beach where I buried the wand. With my board under my arm, I maneuver my way through the tangle of bushes until I feel the pebbles rolling under my feet. My marker sticks out like a sore thumb; the pink rock with its black and white veins is hard to miss next to the predominantly gray backdrop. I kneel on the ground, and dig with my fingers till I see the shiny rod of metal poke out. After wiping off the sand, I study the wand closely. The jewels are sparkly white, possibly diamonds or quartz crystals, and other than the intricately engraved design, there are no identifying markings. I “huh” to myself, and wrap it in a hand towel, tucking it into my backpack for safekeeping. With the bottom of my shoe, I smooth the sand out, and place the rock back where it belongs, careful to leave everything as it was.

I’m anxious to get back before anyone notices I’m gone, so I ride back hastily, and tiptoe back into my room. While standing next to my bed, I try to think of a safe hiding place. The only thing that comes to mind, is the banged up pencil case where I store all my colored pencils, charcoals, and pens. I unzip my backpack as quietly as possible, peeking over my shoulder to make sure Louise doesn’t hear me, and pull the wand out, unwrapping it before hiding it under the pencils. I snap the case shut, and put it into my desk drawer next to my sketchpad.

I hear Louise waking up behind me. “Hey, what are you up to?” she asks, pushing up her facemask and rubbing her eyes.

I pretend to smooth down the blanket on my bed. “Oh, nothing, I was just tidying up a bit.”

Louise yawns and stretches her back, too groggy to notice my suspicious behavior. “Is it dinnertime yet? I’m starving!”

I look at the clock on my bedside table. “Yup, in ten minutes.”

She gets out of bed, and heads to the bathroom to freshen up. When I’m alone again, I open up my laptop and check my email. My pulse races when I see a message from Andy.

Hazel,

Where have you been? Let’s chat soon. I miss you...

Andy

I know it’s totally sappy, but reading the words “I miss you,” makes me all warm and gooey inside. Maybe my stabs of jealousy were unwarranted after all. I glance at the clock, wishing I had time to chat before dinner, but in the meantime, I just send him a quickly reply.

Hey Andy,

Been super busy, and I’m on my way to dinner, so no time to chat. I was riding my board today, and it made me think of you... I wish you could see this place. It’s really beautiful up here. I’ll check if you’re online tonight, otherwise maybe tomorrow?

Later,

Hazel

I press send, just as Louise emerges from the bathroom with a vanilla and lavender scented cloud surrounding her. I close my laptop, pushing thoughts of Andy to the back of my mind. The flutters inside are suddenly replaced with ravenous hunger pangs.

“Let’s go! I’m
so
craving a veggie burger, fries, and milkshake.”

When we arrive at the dining hall, the room is only half full, but Akiko and Samir are already there, gobbling up their food.

“And I thought we were hungry,” jokes Louise, checking out the array of dishes in front of them.

“I can’t help it! I feel like I haven’t eaten in days,” mutters Samir with a mouthful of food.

Akiko pokes her fry in some ranch dressing, “I know. I’m starting to feel like a human trash compactor,” she mumbles, covering her mouth with her hand. I chuckle, as I walk off to get my food.

On my way to the burger station, I pass by the teachers’ table and notice that Jared, Alicia, Brad, and Maya are speaking in hushed voices. Something about them looks anxious, jaws tense, and frowns all around. I’m beginning to suspect that Ivana’s disappearance may be the subject of their solemn conversation.

When I get back to our table with my tray piled high, I lean in and whisper to my friends. “So, don’t you guys think there’s something weird about Ivana going on a mission right in the middle of the program?”

Samir takes a sip of his chocolate milk while he considers my question. “You know, now that you mention it, I did think it was kind of weird… Why Ivana? I’m sure they could have sent someone else.”

Louise shrugs it off. “I’m sure it’s nothing, guys. Things come up all the time, and besides, they said she’d be back tomorrow.”

“Hmmm… Maybe you’re right. I’m probably just being overly paranoid,” I say, trying to ignore the nagging doubt in my mind.

After dinner, everyone heads to the lounge for board game night. I’m exhausted, so I decide to turn in early despite Louise’s protests. When I get back to my room, I relish the silence and lay on my bed, thinking about all the crazy things happening in my life.

I grab my phone and place my earphones around my head. I click on my favorite playlist and close my eyes, hoping the music will drown out the jumble of thoughts in my head. Soon, I’m dozing off, the music in my ears like a lullaby to a baby.

It’s blurry at first, and then it zooms into focus. I’m standing in a city park with scattered benches and carefully landscaped trees. Pigeons surround my feet, eating breadcrumbs off the concrete ground. It takes a moment for me to realize I’m dreaming, as I study the unfamiliar surroundings. I don’t recognize any of the faces around me, until I spot a young couple seated on a nearby bench. My mom is whispering into my father ear, glancing suspiciously at the building across the street. I walk over and sit next to her. She looks young, confident and composed, wearing white leggings, a long white sweater, and white knee high boots. My father gazes at her adoringly, his jaw tenses as he listens.

“Maven, are you sure you want to go in there by yourself?” he asks, grabbing hold of her hand protectively

“Erik, I have to. Eleven people have died already. These people are my friends and colleagues. If I don’t do this, I might be next…” she says, looking at my father with desperation.

He tightens his grip and frowns. “What makes you think the Wand Calibrator has anything to do with it? He’s practically an institution in this place.”

“I’m not certain, Erik… I have my doubts of course, but if you think about it, this is the
one
place that all the witches and wizards of the Light have in common. Once a month like clockwork, we bring our wands here for calibration. Those who died, had just brought their wands in for servicing… We can’t ignore that fact.”

My father sighs. “Okay, so what’s the plan?”

She lets go of his hand and bends over to pick-up a gold metallic case. “I already have an appointment for an emergency calibration. While I’m there, I’ll take a look around, see if I spot anything suspicious. If I need you, I’ll let you know.” She kisses him on the lips, and grabs the case by the handle, walking away without looking back.

I follow her as she crosses the street. In front of the building, in large, ancient looking letters, it says,
The Federation of Light
. Inside, the granite floors look glossy, complimenting the modern glass and metal interiors. She walks confidently towards the security checkpoint, where they do a full body scan. Once she’s cleared, she steps into a see-through glass elevator and rides up to the eighth floor. The doors open and she emerges onto a shiny concrete hallway with a row of frosted glass doors. She passes several, till she reaches one with an etched sign that reads:
The Calibrator: By Appointment Only
.

The door slides open and she enters. Instead of the high-tech place I was expecting, the room looks like an ancient laboratory filled with wooden tables, shelves, metal tools, machines, and a myriad of glass bottles and beakers filled with gasses and liquids of various colors. Behind one of the tables sits a very old Asian man. He’s tall with a shiny bald-head and a thin, scraggly mustache. Under his small wire rimmed glasses, his eyes are cloudy with cataracts. As he looks up and smiles at her, I notice that half of his teeth are missing.

“Good afternoon, Miss Smith, thank you for being on time as usual,” he says with a thick accent.

She nods politely. “Thanks for seeing me on such short notice. I only noticed yesterday that my wand seems shaky.” She places her case on the table and opens it, revealing a velvet-lined interior, with a space that fits the wand snugly. She lifts it out, and I gasp when I see that it’s almost identical to the one I found at the lake, except for one minor difference. Her wand is encrusted with sparkling purple colored stones instead of the diamond-like ones of the other wand. As she holds it up to the calibrator, the stones shine even brighter.

He takes it from her and examines it closely. “Hmmm… It does seem slightly off, but I won’t be sure till I run some tests.” She nods agreeably.

“I’ll just have you sign our consent form, and I’ll get started right away,” he adds. He calls for someone in an unintelligible language, and a few seconds later, a young Asian girl appears, holding a glass clipboard and pen. She looks rather meek, staring down at the floor when she hands over the clipboard for a signature. Mom studies her closely, her eyes squinting as if she notices something odd. She lifts her eyebrow and looks at the calibrator.

“That’s Peony, I just hired her a few weeks ago. She just graduated from the Beijing Academy,” he says nonchalantly. He waves his hand and grunts at the girl. She bows her head and turns to leave.

Mom looks at her suspiciously. “Wait a minute!”

The girl stops and hesitates before turning around. She shifts her eyes from the ground, and glares at Mom.

It happens so quickly that it takes a moment for me to realize that Mom has grabbed her wand out of the calibrator’s hand, and points it at the girl, uttering a series of words I don’t recognize. A bright white beam shoots out, landing in the middle of the girl’s forehead. For a minute, nothing happens. Then I hear a sizzle and a crack, and the girl’s body begins to vibrate violently. Next, smoke appears, encasing her body till she’s no longer visible. It takes a few seconds for the smoke to clear, but once it does, I gasp, as Rufus White stands with a hideous smirk on his face. He’s dressed in an old-fashioned black suit, cravat and bejeweled cufflinks, his complexion smooth and brown. The calibrator is shocked, standing frozen in place. Mom points her wand at Rufus, but this time, he’s too quick for her. By the time her beam shoots out, he’s already leaped across the room and made a run for it. As she chases him, I hear the elevator doors close, and by the time she gets to the hallway, he’s already gone. She kicks the wall with her boot, cursing before closing her eyes in concentration.

Another elevator door opens, and she hops into it, pressing the ground floor button with force. She flicks her wrist upwards, pointing the wand to the top of the elevator, and suddenly it’s descending so fast, that it feels like we’re freefalling. When it’s dangerously close to hitting the ground, she points the wand downwards, and the elevator slows down and stops. The doors open, and she catches sight of Rufus running towards the exit with a trail of bodies lying on the ground behind him. She runs after him, and just as she reaches the exit, there’s a deafening roar.

The roar is somehow like a shriek; it manages to be low and high-pitched at the same time, the two sounds vibrating in the air with such intensity that my eardrums feel like they’re going to burst. When we get outside, I gasp.

An enormous dragon with silvery scales has Rufus cornered. His piercing red eyes stare right at him, and every few seconds, he breathes out a molten hot flame so close to Rufus’s face that he must feel the burn on the tip of his nose.

As Mom reaches them, she’s breathless and locks eyes with the dragon. She points the wand at Rufus and shouts out a series of chants. Her body stands firm as she spews out the spells in one long string, her voice gradually increasing in volume. The wand emits a violet colored liquid that darts out and showers Rufus’s body, but only for half a second. Almost as soon as the liquid covers his frame, it expands away from him, still surrounding him. It forms into a thick bubble with sparks coming off of it, as if somehow it was electrified. By now, he’s floating in the middle of the sparking sphere. His attempts to escape the bubble are useless; every touch sends jolting shocks through his body. Time after time, he become more aggressive, hoping that if he uses enough force he will be able to withstand the bursts, but eventually his body is so worn, with black, charred, splotches where his skin touched the electric bubble that he’s subdued from even lifting his head. All the while Mom continues to send spell after spell his way, increasing the voltage of the cage, thickening the walls of the bubble. His limp body now floats in the center of the entrapment, spinning, entirely subjected to the will of the electric prison. Mom points her wand at Rufus one more time, removing the wand from his clutches, grabbing it as it flies through the bubble, towards her in the air.

A crowd has appeared, gawking at Rufus. They point and ogle, as if he’s a rare specimen in a museum. Mom suddenly looks pale, and she falls to the ground, losing consciousness. The dragon transforms into my father; he runs to her, sweeping her up dramatically in his arms, as he screams, “Maven!” I hear his voice screaming over and over. But as he continues to scream, his voice seems to change, and instead of Mom’s name, I hear, “Hazel! Hazel! Hazel!”