An Odd Sort of Magic

Chapter Four

“Good, you’re here,” the girl whispered, “she’s waiting. I’ll take you to her, follow me, and be careful.”

“Wait,” Jayan said, following the girl, “who’s ‘she’?”

The girl looked at her incredulously, “Vanessa of course! Who else would summon you? Why do you think you’re here?”

Jayan shut her mouth. The two girls walked on in silence, up many flights of stairs. Jayan didn’t know how the house’s magic worked, but she was pretty sure they could keep walking up forever. She was very surprised, therefore, to be blinking in the light from attic windows. There were only a few people in the attic, a handful of boys, and few more girls than that. And sitting at the table farthest from the clusters of kids, sat Vanessa and another girl.

“Thank goodness you’re hear,” Vanessa sighed, “I didn’t know if you would get my message. I’m sorry to call you back so soon, but we’ve got a problem.”

“What do you mean ‘we’?” Jayan probed her, “and what sort of problem?”

“Ms. Shelling’s moving faster than I thought,” Vanessa explained, “she’s getting impatient. Her plan is simple, and if we don’t match her pace, she’ll over take us.”

“Okay, slow down. What’s her plan?” Jayan asked. Vanessa bit her lip, and looked down at her feet.

“She can’t tell,” the carrot-top across from them said, “she’s been cursed. She’ll die if she tells us, or at least Ms. Shelling will know, and she’ll probably kill her.”

“And who are you?” Jayan looked at her, feeling very out of it.

“I’m Kiya,” the girl replied, “oh, and you wanted to know who the ‘we’ are? That would be me, and all of us here, plus some others. We’re the Underground, so to speak. We’re the ones fighting her, sort of. I’m leader here, and Vanessa helps us as best she can.”

“Hang on a second,” Jayan frowned, “you said Ms. Shelling cursed Vanessa?” Both girls nodded. “But how,” Jayan asked, “She doesn’t do curses, does she?”

“She didn’t do it,” Kiya stated, “Ray did.”

“What?” now Jayan was confused, “but Ray’s just a kid.”

“Exactly,” Kiya told her, “Ms. Shelling taught Ray how to draw the symbol she needed, and she let him do it to Vanessa. He was really little, so he had no idea he was doing anything bad.”

“Okay, most of what you’ve told me makes sense so far,” Jayan said, “but can we fast forward to why I’m here?”

“We need you to help us,” Vanessa said, “and you need Kiya to help you first. You arrived in daylight, not to mention Ms. Shelling knows what you look like, and you can’t do magic as far as we know. These are pretty big things.”

“And Kiya can help me how?” Jayan still didn’t get it.

“Look,” Kiya said, “as near as we can figure from what Vanessa’s been able to tell us, Ms. Shelling has a list of every kid, and their powers. Vanessa needed someone who could change someone’s appearance, so she found me.”

“You’re going to do magic on me?” Jayan hoped she didn’t look as freaked out as she felt. Apparently she did, because Kiya said,

“No need to look so scared, my magic’s only temporary. I can only do your face, and I promise it won’t hurt. Now stand still.” Kiya focused, and Jayan felt a tingling all over her face.

It took Kiya a few minutes, but when she was done Vanessa said, “Good. You wouldn’t ever think she was the same person.” Kiya held up a hand mirror, and Jayan looked into it. Her eyes were now the same color, both blue, her hair a shorter, amber color and her normally roundish face pointed.