The Darkness Within (25 page)

“And your fake last name?”

“Smith.”

“Where do you work and who do you work for?”

“The Pocono Diner, and I work for Gloria and Jackson.”

Ethan reached for my hand, and I saw deer-Ethan do the same with deer-me. My head spun. This was surreal. “It will be fine.”

Mirabella put her arm around me. “You can trust me, Sam.”

Trust was a hard thing for me. I was still learning to trust Shannon and Dylan, and they’d helped save my life.

With our clones on their way back home to live our lives for us, we headed back to the basement. I was eager for Ethan to start working with Mirabella. She’d proven she was strong enough to help him. Now, I had to work on the trusting-her part. I refused to
leave the room. Dylan and Shannon stayed behind with me, even though I could tell they both wanted something to eat and drink.

Mirabella placed her spell book, which she hadn’t let go of since she took it from her bookshelf, on the couch as she stood with Ethan in front of the fountain. She reached for his hands. “Now, I want you to clear your mind. I’m going to speak to you through your thoughts once we start. I don’t want you to try to answer aloud. Simply think your responses when they are required. I’ll hear you through our connection.”

“Wait.” I didn’t like that idea. I’d be totally lost as far as what was happening. “Can’t you talk out loud? I’d like to hear this.”

Mirabella shook her head. “I’m sorry, Sam, but this spell requires a connection between Ethan and me. I’m afraid that connection makes it so our minds are joined. All our energy will be focused on the spell. Neither of us will be able to speak aloud. If Ethan tries to, it will weaken the spell, possibly breaking it all together.”

I sighed. “I still want to stay. I want to be close in case—”

“Sam.” Ethan’s eyes pleaded with me. I knew I was babying him again, but I couldn’t help it.

“You’d be the same way if it were me,” I told him. He couldn’t argue with that.

“I know. I’m asking a lot, but please trust me.”

That
was
asking a lot. I’d watched him try to end his own life twice since this all started. But I nodded. He’d be so into the spell, he wouldn’t notice my hovering. “Go ahead.”

He smiled and turned back to Mirabella.

“Good. Now, Ethan, close your eyes and listen for the sound of my voice.” She stopped talking out loud, but I knew she was still speaking—in his mind.

My foot tapped impatiently as I waited to see what would happen. Minutes ticked by with no movement or any sign of magic from Mirabella or Ethan. I wanted to ask Mirabella what was happening—if anything
was
happening—but I didn’t want to interrupt if this was somehow helping Ethan.

Shannon tugged on my arm. “Come on. I’m starving, and you must be, too. You’re stomach is making all sorts of noise.”

I didn’t want to leave, but I was hungry. “Okay. A quick snack,
and then I’m coming back down here. I don’t want to leave Ethan for too long. We have no idea what this is doing to him.”

“Doesn’t look like it’s doing anything at all,” Dylan said.

I had to agree. “I’m guessing the spell is more about what’s inside Ethan. That’s why we can’t see it.”

Dylan nodded. “I think you’re right. Come on. Let’s get something to eat.”

We headed upstairs and raided the cabinets. Mirabella had everything. I wondered how she shopped out here, all alone and with no car.

“Think she conjured the food?” Shannon asked, sniffing some cheese in the fridge. “Oh, this is heavenly!” She brought it to the table and searched the drawers until she found a knife.

“She must have used magic for all this stuff.” I couldn’t imagine living like this, cut off from the entire world.

“It must be tough on her,” Dylan said. His voice was full of sorrow, and I knew he felt guilty, responsible for the way Mirabella lived. I hadn’t thought about it, but he was right.

Shannon sat down and began slicing the cheese. “I think she’s amazing. She can do so many things. She can make animals look like people and talk to her if she wanted. I don’t think she gets bored or lonely at all.”

“Maybe, but is conjuring friends the same as having real people to talk to?” I doubted it, and apparently I’d made my point because Shannon didn’t respond.

We filled up on crackers of every variety—herb and garlic, roasted red pepper, honey wheat. And the cheese
did
taste better than any I’d ever had. But as much as I was enjoying the food and the fact that my stomach wasn’t rumbling anymore, I couldn’t get something out of my head. “I don’t get it.”

“What?” Shannon said, crumbs falling out of her mouth. “How this tastes so good? Because I’m totally baffled by it, too.”

“No. This spell Mirabella’s doing with Ethan.”

“What about it?” Dylan asked, taking a sip of iced tea. “She said she was going to help Ethan bury the dark magic, so it can’t take over anymore.”

“Yeah, I get that, but why do they need a connection to do the
spell? If she’s not taking his dark magic, then why do they need to be connected?”

“Relax. It’s not like she’s going to steal your boyfriend, if that’s what you’re worried about.” Shannon shoved another cracker with cheese into her mouth. “She might look like a cougar, but she’s over a hundred years old.”

Ew! “I’m not worried about her stealing Ethan. I’m worried because we don’t really know her, and she’s doing this humongous spell without us seeing or hearing any of it.”

Shannon held her hands out. “Look around, Sam. Mirabella knows what she’s doing. She’s been doing stuff like this forever.”

Maybe. But none of this—the cottage, the food, the deer clones—had to do with actual living, breathing people. And this wasn’t just anyone she was doing a spell on. It was Ethan. Why had I agreed to come up here? I should’ve been with Ethan, making sure he was okay. I put down my cracker and rushed back downstairs. Shannon and Dylan stayed behind. They didn’t share my concern. That, or they didn’t want to stop feeding their faces.

As I reached the bottom step, I saw a faint greenish glow around Ethan and Mirabella. The green snake thing that had attacked us. Ethan’s dark magic. It had to be. “Ethan!” I rushed for him, but the snake turned on me and hissed. I stumbled back in shock. It really
was
a snake. I’d never seen it have a head like this. I’d only referred to it as a snake because of the way it moved, slithered.

I reached my hand up and pushed the snake back with my own golden energy. The snake recoiled, but it came back at me. Mirabella’s eyes opened and landed on me. The snake turned to her and slowly began to wind back up into itself. It hissed one last time before disappearing like smoke.

Ethan let go of Mirabella’s hands. “That was—” He collapsed on the hardwood floor.

26

I
RUSHED
to Ethan, sliding on the floor next to him. “Ethan!” I tapped his cheeks, trying to get him to open his eyes, respond in some way. Nothing. “What did you do to him? What was that?”

Shannon and Dylan were downstairs before Mirabella could answer. My screaming had apparently brought them running. “What’s going on?” Dylan asked, his eyes falling on Ethan. They both rushed over, bending down beside him.

“Ask Mirabella. I came down here and that green snake thing was surrounding both of them. It tried to attack me. And when Mirabella saw me down here, she made it disappear. When Ethan came out of the spell, he collapsed. She did this to him!” My magic was surging inside me, wanting to get out. For the first time ever, I wanted to use my magic to hurt someone. To hurt Mirabella. I wanted her to pay for what she’d done to Ethan.

“Sam.” Mirabella put her hands up. “I didn’t do anything to him. The spell was working just fine, but then you interrupted. That’s what made Ethan collapse. He came out of the spell before he was meant to.”

“No! It wasn’t working fine. That snake thing wouldn’t have been here if you were burying the dark magic inside Ethan. You brought it to the surface. That’s the opposite of what you said you were going to do!”

“Sam, relax,” Dylan said. “Let’s hear her out, okay? We don’t
know anything about this spell or how it works. This might be normal.”

Normal? What was he talking about? “You’re only taking her side because you feel guilty. She’s here because she saved you, and that guilt is clouding your judgment.”

Mirabella walked over to me and placed her hand on my shoulder. “Samantha—”

“Don’t call me that!” No one called me that, except for Gloria. “And don’t touch me, either. Stay away from all of us.” I shook Ethan, trying to wake him again.

“He needs rest. He’s weak from the spell. It took a lot of energy. The best thing to do is bring him upstairs and let him sleep. I have two spare bedrooms up there. Take your pick.”

“Thank you.” Dylan’s words cut me like a knife. He was still taking her word for it. Ethan was unconscious, and yet Dylan was listening to Mirabella. “Sam, focus on Ethan. Let’s get him upstairs so we can take care of him.” He was playing dirty. He knew I’d do anything for Ethan, even put aside thoughts of ripping out Mirabella’s hair.

“Fine. We’ll take care of Ethan.” I glared at Mirabella. “But you aren’t coming near him again. Once he’s awake, we’re getting out of here.”

Mirabella nodded. “You’re upset. I understand that. But before you leave, I’d like to speak with you, explain the spell a bit more. I should’ve done that in the first place. I apologize for that. I was just eager to get started.”

“Sounds good,” Shannon said, pulling me away from Ethan. I stared at her in disbelief.

Dylan used a levitation spell to pick up Ethan. Seeing Ethan’s unconscious form floating in the air brought tears to my eyes. When we got here and Mirabella had opened the door and appeared normal, I thought things were finally going to get better. But she hadn’t agreed to taking his dark magic. And then that spell she did… I wanted to rip her face off and reveal the true monster—old and hideous—she really was. But Dylan and Shannon were on her side. Did that mean I was being paranoid? Was I seeing things? Imagining evil because it was my biggest fear? No, it had been real. I was sure of it.

I glared at Mirabella as I followed the others up the stairs. She stood by the fountain, clutching her spell book in her arms again. She was so attached to that thing. I had to get my hands on it. It was the only way to know for sure what she was doing. Only, without her saying the spell out loud, there was no way for me to pinpoint which spell she’d used even if I did get the book away from her. I was going to have to trace her spell, something I’d never done on my own before. But that didn’t mean I couldn’t.

Dylan brought Ethan upstairs to the second floor. To the right of the stairs were two guest rooms. Dylan brought Ethan to the bigger of the two, the one with a bathroom attached to it. Once Ethan was resting comfortably on the bed, I shut the door, locking Shannon and Dylan inside with me. I was getting answers. Now.

Shannon put her hands on her hips. “Sam, let us out. This isn’t a game.”

I crossed my arms, standing my ground. “No, it’s Ethan’s life at stake, and you two are willing to trust someone who, last time she saw you, wanted nothing to do with you. What changed? You were sure it would be a struggle to even get her to talk to us, and here you are now, all buddy-buddy.”

“I thought you’d be happy Mirabella’s willing to help us,” Dylan said. “This is what you wanted.”

“I would be happy about it, but I just witnessed that green snake thing again, and it tried to attack me. If Mirabella is burying the dark magic in Ethan, what was that snake doing slithering around the two of them?”

“I don’t know.” Dylan shook his head. “Mirabella is a hell of a lot older than us. She’s more experienced. You think Shannon and I are powerful because we know more spells than you do. Well, Mirabella makes us look like amateurs.”

“I’m not arguing there.” It was a low blow, but I was angry and worried about Ethan and neither of them seemed to care. “What I’m saying is you’re blindly trusting her. We weren’t down there with her and Ethan. She could’ve done anything to him.”

Shannon shrugged. “Why would she? Think about it, Sam. She said taking his dark magic would kill her. She can’t handle any more
than she already has. She’s not stupid. She wouldn’t put herself in danger. That’s why she refused to use the spell she used on Dylan.”

Dylan looked away. “I owe it to her to trust her right now.”

“Owe it to her? You had no idea what that spell was going to do to her. You said it yourself; she’s more knowledgeable, more powerful than you are. She should’ve known what she was getting into.” It wasn’t that I thought Mirabella deserved what had happened to her, and I wouldn’t wish that on anyone, but there was a part of me that thought she’d had an idea of what might happen, and she’d done the spell anyway.

Dylan looked at me like I was a complete stranger. “You don’t get it.”

“No, I don’t. All I know is Ethan was hurt by that spell. He’s unconscious because of Mirabella.”

“She said Ethan collapsed because you broke the spell,” Shannon said.

I whipped my head around at her. “You think this is
my
fault? Are you serious?”