Cloverfield Magic

Chapter 15 - Big Girls / Boys Don't Cry

A lone girl wanders along an empty road.

A few cars honk at her as they swerve to avoid running her over. A couple of good samaritans stop to ask if she needs a ride, but they too eventually leave her when she fails to respond, choosing only to continue walking forward blankly. Her body was so cold it felt like someone had doused her in gasoline and set her ablaze.

Inside, she was hurting just as much. Her emotions were so twisted that she wouldn't be surprised if a mortician pulled out her heart to find it tied in a sailor's knot. It seems that no matter how hard she tried, no matter what form she took, or how much power she acquired, everything she tried to build would just fall apart in the end. She couldn't escape the inevitability of pain.

Slowly, all of her memories became more and more abstract... until the rabbit no longer understood the images in its mind enough for them to hurt anymore.

The smell of flowers, laughter, a soft blue sweater... its last sentient thought was if there was ever any point to its existence at all.

+

Rowen wasn't sure what to do. Since school didn't start for another couple of weeks, he didn't know when he would get the chance to talk with Issac again. He hoped his friend was okay. Rowen had wanted to check up on him, but he wasn't sure if he was still welcome at the Andersons' anymore.

At first he had mostly kept to himself in his room, but after his stepdad found out about all the days he skipped school, he beat Rowen until he was black and blue and took his door away abusing his 'privilege of privacy', or something along those lines. Rowen decided that he didn't care anymore, really, about what his parents did or thought of him. Rowen spent the majority of his time after that at the cemetery or the Witches' Brew. Beyond that, winter break at the Hill residence was uneventful.

Occasionally, his thoughts wandered to Alice as well. From the few times he visited the shop, it didn't look like anyone had set foot inside. He wondered if she found somewhere new to hole up. Rowen watched his warm breath crystalize into smoke in the cold winter air. Wherever she was, Rowen hoped she was warm.

Saying goodbye to his grandmother's honorary headstone - one that Rowen had to purchase himself - Rowen decided to drop by the Andersons' house after days of brooding. The worst they could do to him was turn him away anyways. When Issac opens the door, he looks surprised to see him. A bit embarrassed, Issac tugged down the sleeves of his oversized sweater lower. After being friends for so long, Rowen noticed that it seemed to be a nervous tick of his.

"Hey, Rowen. Sorry about last time -"

"It's fine. How are you doing? You seemed pretty upset when I left."

"Everything's fine now. Is Alice with you? I feel bad for the things I said. I was hoping I could apologize."

"Ah, she's not. I'm actually not sure where she is."

Issac's expression pinches in worry. "Did she go back to the shop? I think the temperature dropped below zero last night."

Now, Rowen was starting to worry too. "No, at least not that I've noticed. Should we try using a scrying spell?"

"Let's do it. Dad! I'm going to borrow the car!" Issac calls into the house. Without waiting for approval, Issac grabs the keys and hustles both himself and Rowen into the car.

Upon getting to the shop, Issac and Rowen hurry to set up the blackout curtains to create a dark room for scrying.

"Rowen, you use the water basin and I'll try the black mirror?"

"Works for me."

Issac finishes setting up by lighting specifically placed candles and gets into a meditative position. Taking slow breaths, he relaxes his body and brings the mirror within his field of vision, but not actually looking into it. His sight starts to get foggy as he surrenders his mind to unpredictable visions. Circe had always said that scrying wasn't always the most efficient way of collecting information, as the visions received weren't in the scryer's control, but with some modifications to the technique...

The first thing that appeared out of the darkness was his sister's face, looking back at him as she left through the door.

The doorway shifted into the maw of a black wolf that engulfed his sister and wandered in and out of the dark of his vision.

Hazy fireflies appeared in his mind, opening up into an impression of a forest.

Spots of color popped in and out, implying flowers, maybe.

In the forest was blood. A limp hand. A familiar green dress stained red.

Alice's face, deadened eyes gazing up at stars shining bright in the dark swatch of the new moon.

Behind her, a young woman inside the hollow of a large tree appeared from the darkness. Issac couldn't see her face, but he could read the anguish in her body.

A hand on his shoulder startled him out of his meditation.

"Rowen!" Issac cried out. "I think Alice -"

"I know where she is," Rowen responded gravely. "She's in the forest."

Rowen loads up the car with warm clothes, energy bars, and flashlights. He jumps into the passenger seat, all the while studying a map of Cloverfield more intently than had any spellbook.

Issac hops into the driver's seat shortly after, jamming the car keys shakily. "Rowen, are you sure we're not too late? I saw..." Issac couldn't finish the thought. "...something horrible."

Rowen grits his teeth together but responds confidently, "We'll find her."

Tracing a river with his finger, Rowen continues, "Where a narrow hiking path meets a river, we'll find her."

Issac lets Rowen guide him through a winding patchwork of asphalt. As the sun started to set, Issac felt his hope die with the last light of the day. But then, Rowen calls for him to stop.

"She entered the forest here, I think. When scrying I saw a field of pink clover flowers in the water. There! A hiking trail!"

Rowen was right. A small wood post marked the beginning of the path. Issac pulled the car off the main road and the two of them got out. Issac unloaded their bikes from the trunk of the pickup, and Rowen grabbed the rest of the gear.

Rowen, who had always been the better study of elemental magic between the two of them, lit up their surroundings with compact but bright balls of flame.

"I'll take the lead. Follow me and keep your eyes peeled for Alice in case my vision wasn't completely accurate."

In the distance, Issac heard the babbling of a shallow brook. For what felt like hours, Issac and Rowen called out Alice's name, scouring the trail for any traces of their friend.

He yelps as his foot gets stuck in a shallow hole in the ground. With a start, he realizes it's a small animal's burrow. Wrestling his foot free, he unwittingly tears the hole bigger. Then, he catches a flash of white fur in the dark.

Could it be?

Issac drops to the ground and shines his flashlight into the burrow. A terrified white rabbit trembles back at him. A rabbit with a familiar leather collar.

"Rowen!" Issac shouts out, "I think I found her."