Magic Spawn Origins

Magic Spawn: Chapter 36

by Meredith Skye

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Fog obscured all but the stream, the tall wooden wheel and the cold crumbling stones of the Old Mill. Moving around like specters, six skeleton guarded Molan and Rian's little brother, Kyran.

They'd seen it all. Haley had everything on video tape. The coffins, the skeletons, the bodies. The zombies coming out of the lake--and Kyran. All that time, Kyran stood right next to the wizard that whole time without blinking an eye. Of course, they were too far back to see whether he blinked or not. But he held perfectly still, which Haley knew wasn't normal for that impatient, fidgety kid.

And they'd capture the mysterious, cloaked woman. What did it mean?

"Poor Kyran!" whispered Anya.

"Poor Kyran? He just helped kill that girl!" said Haley, still in shock.

"We have to do something!" whispered Anya.

"I know." They'd both followed the strange woman from where she parted with Rian in the graveyard down the road to the Old Mill. "This place gives me the creeps! They say it's haunted."

"Haunted?" asked Anya. Instead of looking afraid, her eyes shone with wonder, and she stepped from behind the rock to get a better view at the silent, stone building.

Haley pulled Anya back behind the small rock that gave them cover. "Careful," she hissed. "What's wrong with you?" It was like Anya was excited to see a ghost!

"Has anyone seen the ghosts?" asked Anya.

"Sure, lots of people," said Haley. But mostly it was just rumors. "The Old Mill has been abandoned since the late 1800's, ever since the Battle."

"Battle, what battle?" asked Anya, with interest.

"The Battle of Ash Creek—where over forty Indians and twenty settlers had lost their lives along the river. All dead, both sides, robbed of life at an early age.

"Cool!" said Anya.

"It's not cool!" whispered Haley, annoyed at the interruption of her oration. "At night, when the moon is full, the spirits of the dead rise up and fight the Battle of Ash Creek over and over again! It's said that they will kill any of the living person that comes near the ruins of the Old Mill!"

Normally, Haley would never come to such a dreadful place as this. But that's where the woman had gone—and she and Anya had followed.

"Maybe the ghosts will kill Molan," said Anya.

"I doubt it. Probably help him, with our luck!" said Haley.

"We have to get help," said Anya, after a moment.

Haley had wanted to get a last shot of the Old Mill, and the three undead skeletons that still stood guard there. She switched the camera on and let it roll over the entire scene, keeping mostly behind the rock to avoid detection.

"Haley," whispered Anya, tapping her on the shoulder.

"All right," she said, putting the camera in the bag. "Let's go."

They scrambled back up the steep, rocky hill that they'd inched down earlier, in the dark. Then she cut south across the hill, away from the graveyard.

"That's the wrong way," said Anya.

"I'm not going back through that graveyard," said Haley. "This road leads back to town," said Haley, nodding to the road that came past the Old Mill and disappeared around a bend up ahead.

Making their way back in the dark was difficult. The fog continued to obscure the way, but Haley had a good sense of direction. She took Anya's hand, when she slowed down. Together, they inched their way back towards town.

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