Dark Realms (38 page)

“He’s our cousin.”

Kala closed her eyes and
groaned. “Thank
God
I never kissed him.”

“That would have been disturbing,” I said.
“He knows we’re cousins, too, I’m sure.”

Clarice nodded. “Oh, yes I’m sure he
does.”

Rebecca walked into the room and sighed.
“She wants to speak with you girls, just be careful not to touch
her. The spell that’s been cast upon her is like a poison. If you
touch her, you’ll be vulnerable to the curse as well.”

“We can’t touch her at all?” I asked.

“No. I’m sorry,” replied Rebecca.

My sister and I looked at each other
sadly.

“Let’s go,” I said, grabbing her hand.

“Follow me,” said Rebecca, leading us down a
long hallway.

We entered a beautiful, dimly-lit room on
the other side of the house where our mother was now tucked inside
of a luxurious king-sized bed.

“Come closer, just don’t touch me,” she
murmured.

I stood over her and marveled at how fragile
she looked. Not only was her face pale, but she looked almost
gaunt, nothing like the healthy woman who’d fed me breakfast this
morning. “I’m sorry,” I whispered, with tears in my eyes.

“You have nothing to be sorry about,” she
sighed. “It’s my fault. I should have told you a long time ago. I
just didn’t want you to get hurt.”

“We understand,” I said.

“What did you do to yourself?” asked
mom.

I smiled sheepishly. “A potion, to lose
weight.”

“Oh, Kendra…”

“But mom, you wanted me to lose weight.”

She shook her head. “I wanted you to be
healthy. Potions are dangerous and not worth the risk. Please,
don’t ever do something like that again.”

I nodded.

“Are you really going to die?” asked Kala.
“Is it true?”

She swallowed. “Girls, I won’t die and do
you know why? Because you’re going to destroy her.”

I stared at her in shock.
“Us? How can we do anything against
her
? She’s a powerful
sorceress.”

Mom smiled. “She is not the only one. You
two, together, can stop her.”

“But we don’t know the first thing about
being a witch,” argued Kala. “We know nothing of casting spells or
witchcraft. I mean, all of this stuff was thrown on me fifteen
minutes ago, although Kendra seems to have known about it much
longer.”

I frowned. “Hey, I just found out about it
today, too. Cut me some slack.”

She sighed. “Well, whatever. The point is we
don’t know how to be witches so there has to be another way.”

Mom closed her eyes for a minute.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

She nodded and then reopened her eyes, which
looked very tired. “Yes, just very weak from this… curse.”

“I’m sorry for upsetting you, mom,”
whispered Kala.

She shook her head. “Oh, God, don’t be. Now,
I have something important to tell you. Listen to me carefully – in
the attic there is an old trunk with all of my… secrets.” She
paused to catch her breath. “To unlock it, you only need to say,
‘Michael, I love you’, and then… it will open.”

Michael was our father’s name.

She went on. “I have a
spell book in the trunk. In this book is a very powerful spell
called ‘Removal.’ If you can get to that book and use the spell
while you’re standing before her, Vivian will disappear and… never
bother any one of us again. She will be gone and the spell she’s
cast on me will also be removed. But, this is important, you
have
to say it and
believe, without a doubt, that it will work.”

Her eyes closed again and it looked like
she’d stopped breathing.

“Mom?” I choked in horror.

“I’m… okay,” she answered in a breathless
whisper. She opened her haunted blue eyes up again and smiled
weakly. “I’m still here.”

“How much time do we have?” I asked, wishing
I could do something for her right now.

She licked her lips, which were dry and
cracked, as if something was sucking every ounce of life out of
her. “You have twenty-four hours. Around four… tomorrow evening.
But, I believe in you girls. You have it in you to defeat her,
especially together. As a team. ”

Kala looked at me. “Defeat her?”

I pursed my lips and nodded. “We have no
choice. We have to try.”

“Now, regardless of whether or not I make
it, she must be stopped at all costs. If not, everyone will suffer.
Her heart is as cold and black as death…” she whispered before her
eyes rolled into the back of her head and she passed out.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Clarice stayed with our mother while the
rest of us quickly teleported to “Secrets.”

“So, what happens after we find this spell
book? How are we supposed to get close enough to Vivian to perform
it without her killing us first?” I asked, brushing the dust from
my knees. I’d teleported with Tyler again, who obviously needed to
work on his traveling skills, because we’d landed in a pile of
discarded rags in the stockroom.

Rebecca raised her wand. “I’m going to keep
her busy while you two recite the spell.”

Tyler’s face darkened. “Just be careful,
mom.”

She pulled her hair back and tied it into a
ponytail. “Listen, I’ve had to deal with Vivian before. I can
handle myself.”

He sighed. “Yes, but Clarice told me that
Vivian is already gaining power now that Adrianne is losing her own
strength.”

Kala and I looked at each other. We’d
already lost our father, and the thought of losing our mom was too
horrible to even imagine.

“We’re going to park up the block and I’ll
keep an eye out for trouble while you guys sneak back to the house.
I don’t think Vivian will be hanging around, but you never
know.”

“Okay, let’s get this over with before one
of us chickens out,” I said, noticing how tense Kala was.

Her eyes narrowed. “You’re not talking about
me, are you?”

“You do look pretty tense,” said Tyler.

“Wouldn’t you look tense, too,” she snapped,
“if your mother was dying, and you’d already lost your dad?”

Seeing the stricken look on Tyler’s face, I
winced.

“Believe it or not, I get it,” he said, in
an even tone.

“No, I don’t think you really do,” she
mumbled, staring out the window.

“Kala,” I said, “Tyler gets
it more than
anyone
. Vivian already murdered his father.”

She stared at him in horror. “Oh, my God.
I’m so sorry. I didn’t…”

“It’s fine,” he interrupted. “Let’s just go
and find her before she can hurt anyone else.”

We all piled into Clarice’s Buick, which was
parked behind the store.

“Wouldn’t it be easier just to teleport?”
asked Kala.

“No, she’ll sense it,” said Tyler.

“Why didn’t she show up at ‘Secrets’ then?”
she asked.

“Because the shop is
protected by one of my spells. Your house was, too, until Mark
found out who you
really
were. Your mother told me that the house was only
protected from Vivian, but not from Mark, because she wasn’t aware
of him.”

“So, Mark can perform magic, too?” asked
Kala.

Rebecca nodded. “Yes, he’s a warlock, and
now that he is honing his powers, he’s potentially a very dangerous
enemy.”

“Jeez,” I said, turning towards Kala. “And
you thought he was cute.”

“He must have put a spell on me,” she
muttered.

It was almost eight o’clock by the time we
reached our neighborhood.

“I’m going first,” said Tyler, as Kala and I
followed him out of the car. “I’ll send you a signal if I see any
danger.”

“Maybe we should go through the back alley,”
whispered Kala. “It’s less conspicuous.”

“I don’t know about that,” I said. “Tyler
and I were attacked in the alley earlier. If she’s around, it won’t
matter which way we go, she’ll figure it out.”

“Just keep your eyes on the trees,” said
Tyler.

“Why?” asked Kala.

“Vivian uses birds to spy on people,” I
answered. “Believe me, it’s pretty freaky.”

Tyler jogged down the street ahead of us and
we crept through the darkness, both of us nervous and scared beyond
belief.

“Is it just me, or do you feel like someone
is watching us?” whispered Kala.

The hair on the back of my neck was standing
straight up. “Oh, yeah. In fact, I feel like someone’s going to
jump out of the bushes at any moment.”

She pointed. “Look, Tyler’s already made it
to the door,” said Rebecca.

He turned to us and waved his arm, motioning
us forward. We picked up our pace and quickly joined him on the
porch.

“Door’s open,” he whispered. He pushed the
door open slowly and we all stepped inside.

My eyes darted around the dark living room,
the one I’d always felt so safe in. Even from where I was standing,
the entire house seemed so quiet and normal, but the truth was, I
was so frightened, I felt like throwing up. Every little sound
freaked me out, from the furnace clicking on, to the tick-tock of
our old grandfather clock.

“She said the trunk was in the attic,” I
whispered.

“I’m going to cast a protection spell on
your house while you’re in the attic,” said Rebecca, appearing out
of the nowhere.

“Oh, my God, don’t do that,” I whispered
loudly. “You scared the crap out of me!”

“Sorry.” She raised her wand in the air.
“Something told me it wouldn’t be wise to leave you children
unattended. Now, this spell might not work, especially if Vivian
has already casted a ‘Spell Blocker’, but it’s definitely worth a
try.” She then raised her wand and began to chant under her breath.
Seconds later, a blast of light shot out of her wand and lit the
corners of the house up.

“Crap,” she said, as the light quickly died.
“I don’t think it worked. We need to find that book as quickly as
possible.”

“Okay, I’m going outside to watch the house
and see if I can contact Trixie,” said Tyler, moving down the
hallway and towards the back door.

“Let’s go,” said Rebecca, walking towards
the stairs.

“What’s going on between you two?” whispered
Kala as we followed Rebecca.

I looked at her. “I’m not sure yet.”

“He’s cute.”

I smiled. “Yes, very.”

“Is this your mom’s room?” asked Rebecca,
stepping inside.

“Yes,” I answered. “The attic entrance is in
her walk-in closet.”

Rebecca stepped over to the closet and
opened the door. I noticed that the smell of my mother’s perfume
still lingered in the air, and it was somewhat comforting.

“Have you ever been in the attic?” asked
Rebecca, waving her wand up towards the entrance on the ceiling. It
opened and a long white ladder materialized out of thin air.

“Uh, no, I don’t think Kala and I have ever
been up there. We were always afraid there’d be mice or bats hiding
inside.”

“Well, there very well could be,” said
Rebecca, climbing the ladder. “But right now, we should be more
frightened of Vivian.”

I couldn’t agree more.

I followed her up the ladder with Kala close
behind. When I stuck my head inside of the opening, I couldn’t see
much of anything in the darkness.

“Rebecca?” I whispered.

“Hold on.” She raised her wand. “Light and
Sparkle.”

The next thing I knew, the attic began to
light up and there was a whirlwind of movement all around. Moments
later, there was a blast of light so bright, I had to cover my
eyes. When it finally dimmed, I reopened my eyes and found the
entire attic clean and organized.

“Nice. I wish I could do that,” I smiled,
standing up.

“You’ll be able to soon enough,” promised
Rebecca, as Kala pulled herself inside.

“Look,” I pointed towards the south corner
of the attic, “that must be the trunk. I’ve never seen it
before.”

“Yes, indeed,” said Rebecca as we moved
towards it.

It was an old brown Victorian trunk with
leather strap enclosures. I looked at Kala. “Um, remember, we have
to say the words to open it.”

“Oh, okay. Michael, I love you?” said
Kala.

The trunk didn’t even move.

“You have to say it with more feeling. Magic
won’t work if you aren’t completely convinced that it will,”
reminded Rebecca.

I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and
said, “Michael, I love you.”

“It’s working!” cried Kala.

I opened my eyes and watched as the trunk’s
lid sparkled brightly and then popped open.

Kala squealed with delight. “You did it! I
guess you’re a true believer.”

“After today, how could I not be?” I said,
bending down to look inside.

There were several items in the trunk,
including a wand, a broken broom, a few pieces of jewelry, and
crystals. Right now, however, all of our attention was on the thick
spell book at the bottom.

I picked up the old, leather-covered book
and opened it up carefully.

“Be careful,” whispered Rebecca.

I nodded. The pages were old and worn,
obviously hundreds of years old.

“Have you ever seen this before?” I asked
her.

She bent down on one knee. “No, but I
believe it was your grandmother’s. She was a very powerful
witch.”

“I saw a picture of her once, but mom never
really said much about her. She was very secretive about a lot of
things, now that I think about it.”

“Well, it makes sense now, doesn’t it?”
muttered Kala. “Mom’s a witch with many secrets.”

“Something’s amiss,” said Rebecca, standing
up quickly. Her brows furrowed. “I think Tyler’s in danger. I’ll be
right back.” She then raised her wand and disappeared.

“Let’s bring the book downstairs,” I said.
“We’ll need to find that spell and figure out how we’re going to
locate Vivian, too.”