Witches in Training (#2 in the Witches Trilogy) [rewrites ongoing]

Chapter Nineteen: The Bell Tower

VINNI

"Wow." I repeat, dumbstruck.

"Amazing, isn't it?" Sher says, smiling.

Right before my eyes is a single tower, soaring into the sky and high above the tallest trees, twenty storeys high. But its most spectacular point isn't it's magnificent structure-it's that it's made entirely out of glass. 

The whole tower is made of a frosted glass, beautiful and entirely magical, shimmering in the moonlight. "Why glass?" I wonder, taking a few steps closer and studying the wall. Perfectly smooth.

"Because even though it's strong, and looks so grand and magnificent, it's there to remind everyone that behind every display of grandeur and greatness is vulnerability and fragility." Louis says promptly.

I turn to him in surprise. "Really?"

"No, I just made that up."

"Idiot." Warren mutters. Sher grins, used to Warren and Louis both.

"All right, you guys. Come on. Vinni hasn't seen the inside yet, and trust me, it's even more spectacular than it is on the outside."

"Is that possible?"

Sher just gives me a knowing smile and pulls me towards the imposing tower. I have yet to discover why it's called the Bell Tower, but I have a feeling there's a lot more to this amazing place than being pretty.

Inside, it leads immediately to the foot of a see-through glass staircase, otherwise surrounded on all sides by frosted glass. Very well. I take a couple of steps up before stopping, noticing something odd. Set into the right-hand of the stairs, into the wall, are small alcoves, no bigger than my hand from fingertip to wrist, and in each alcove a glass bell is hanging. 

"The Bell Tower," I say out loud with dawning realisation.

"Absolutely. Wait till you get to the top."

Something strikes me suddenly. "It's twenty floors up or more. I can't climb stairs all the way up in this dress."

Sher laughs. "Don't worry, I've got that covered." She pulls out a fairy bead and smashes it lightly on her palm, then sprinkles the dust over me. I remember, in Alys' dressing room, a heavy sensation came over me. Now I experience the opposite-I feel wonderfully light. The gown has been replaced with a white T-shirt, a hoodie, grey jeans and the sneakers Alys made me change out of. "Borrowed from Alys," Sher tells me with a wink. I notice she's already exchanged her dress for a shirt and jeans as well.

"You are a genius."

"I know. Now go, go! Hurry! I want to get to the top!"

Sher makes me take the lead, walking up the spiralling staircase. Alcoves are set at set distances from each other, each with a bell the size of my hand. I keep going, amazed, and burning with anticipation as to what I'll see at the top.

Round and round and round and round and round. That's how the glass staircase feels, at least, and if you look down you get a dizzying sense of vertigo because you can see the sheer drop straight down.

Up and up and up and up. I keep climbing. The glass tower has no windows, yet it's cool and airy inside it. Finally, the sight ahead of me changes. Instead of an everlasting staircase, I catch a glimpse of a sparkling ceiling. Unwittingly, my eyes light up and my steps quicken. I reach the top of the stairs and emerge onto a glass catwalk that runs in an even solid ring around the entire interior of the tower. There isn't a railing, and the platform is only about two metres thick. Beyond that, it's open air that drops down straight onto the glass stairs, or emptiness. Yet the top of the tower is far too beautiful for anyone to worry about falling.