Spell Bound
Emily Quintos
Copyright 2014 by Emily Quintos
Cover photo from Pixabay
(https://pixabay.com/en/lightning-storm-night-debrecen-spiš-232516/)
CHAPTER 1
May 21, 2013
I woke up sweating, out of breath and terrified. I stared at the clock, 4:48 a.m., what is happening to me? This question was bouncing around in my head as I tossed and turned, trying to get comfortable on my bed. I finally dismissed the thought a few minutes later, but it still became clear that I wasn’t going to fall asleep any time soon.
I tried to think of something to do in the meantime, like studying maybe, but I didn’t remember any of my teachers saying we had tests this week. I decided that it was as good a time of any to start getting ready. I had to look perfect anyways, I always did, really. I walked up to the mirror, and took a look at my long, golden, wavy hair and bright blue eyes, then took a good two and a half hours getting dressed. By the time I found the most amazing outfit, my room looked like a war zone.
It wasn’t so early in the morning by now, so I gathered my things and went downstairs. I turned on the coffee pot, just like my parents always told me to, even though I constantly forget. I usually forget a lot of things, but today I felt spot on. Maybe it had to do with me waking up early, or maybe it was that I checked to make sure I had everything with me at least a half dozen times.
At seven o’clock on the dot (as usual), I headed off to school. It’s not far from where I live maybe a ten minute walk, I can’t remember. That’s only if I don’t wait for my best friend, Caroline McKee. She takes forever to get ready, and I don’t really know why. Her plain, long, black hair (which, I think, goes perfectly with her bright green eyes), and average (but cute) clothes couldn’t possibly take that long to situate.
Ding, ding. I look down at my phone, the text says, “You have a gift. Learn to use it.” That’s weird, whatever. When I finally approach Caroline’s, house she was already waiting for me.
As I approach her she mumbles, “Are you ready for finals?”
“Sorry, I didn’t catch that, what did you say?” I responded.
“I said, are you ready for finals? Ya know, sometimes I think you’re really stupid,” she told me firmly. Sometimes she can be really mean, but nevertheless she is still my best friend.
“WHAT!” I screamed, and I practically woke up the entire neighborhood in the process.
I felt sick. A pure feeling of hatred for myself sank to the bottom of my stomach. How could I forget? At this point I knew that when Caroline called me stupid, she was right. Now the entire time I was walking to school, I’m thinking about how much of a failure I was.
Caroline tried reassuring me in her own way by saying things like, “Don’t fail these test kid, it’s too important,” or, “Don’t worry I studied, and I’m still going to get bad grades right along with you.” None of the things she said helped me at all, and they only added pressure on me to do well.
As we came closer and closer to school, the feeling of failure became more distinct, and by the time we had arrived it was almost unbearable. Even though I’m trying to zone out I can’t help but hear the loud ringing of the bell sounding that it was time to head to our first class and start testing.
I took a gigantic gulp.
CHAPTER 2
May 21, 2013
“I completely failed my finals! My parents are so going to kill me.”
“Probably, yah. I can see it in the headlines already, ‘Breaking News: 14 year old girl, Alex Heart, gets killed by parents. ‘As if,” stated Caroline. “I got to go, my next class is right here.”
That was kind of rude. I mean, wasn’t she supposed to be supportive and tell me that everything was going to be alright. Then it hit me like a painful brick in the face; all she ever does is insult me. I was done with it, I was done with her. Maybe I wasn’t so upset about finals. Maybe I was upset because finally realized the truth, that I was never truly friends with her.
And then I remembered all the laughs and the funny memories we share. How could I could I have been thinking these things about my best friend? Even when I get upset with her about things like this, if I think hard enough about it she is my best friend, and I would still like it to stay that way. The pressure of finals is getting to my head. I started to get a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach.
One class later, I was finished for the day, and I could go home. Although the pit in my stomach was still there, it was starting to grow smaller. Then I remembered I had soccer. Although, I thought, it wouldn’t be that bad if I skipped soccer practice. The next thing I knew I was out the door and running for home, hoping, just hoping, that tomorrow wouldn’t turn out the same as it had today.
I zoned out for the rest of the night. It was probably because I didn’t want to face the inevitable and tell my parents about everything that went on today. Nothing much else happened that night, but I made sure to study.
May 22, 2013
I had another dream. All I could see was white, and as I walked around in the blank whiteness, a voice came. It was calling my name as though there was an emergency. “Alex, Alex, Alex! Alex, you need to listen very closely. You have a special gift, something only a few people in the world have. But you need to learn how to use it. In the wrong hands it can be a curse.”
“Wait what. I very confused right now.”
“That’s ok. But soon, soon you will need to understand, and that’s what I’m here for.”
“But I don’t know who you are. How do you know who I am?”
“I’ve been watching you. “
“WHAT!”
“Shhhhh, I have said enough for today”
Something about this woman’s voice made me believe her. Maybe I did have a gift.
Then I blacked out.
CHAPTER 3
May 24, 2013
I woke up to an on and off pounding that was both frantic and threatening. For a moment I sat there terrified, and confused. Where am I? I thought. Where’s that pounding coming from?
The pounding had returned, only now it was louder, and this took me so much by surprise that flung myself out of the bed I was in, breaking a large mirror while doing so. Calm down Alex, I thought. Just try to assess the room you’re in.
At this point I commanded myself to stand up. A flowery perfume vaguely filled the air, but as I moved slightly to one of the two doors in the room, I smelled rancid pizza and some smell that was too disgustingly putrid to describe. I stumbled over to a dresser, still a little woozy from waking up. As I held on tightly to the top of the dresser for balance, I surveyed the random junk sitting on top of it. Then as another pounding began, I cocked my head slightly to the side, seeing an entire wall filled with various pictures of me with my family and friends.
Then there was a voice, and I couldn’t help but feel like I knew that voice. First the voice just started cussing and telling me to open the door, then the voice started ramming at the door to bust it down. Terrified, I ran and hid under the bed. I had done it just in time, too, because the person behind the door that I was too cowardly to go investigate had plowed through the door.
“ALEX! WHERE ARE YOU!” the voice boomed. I didn’t dare respond.
“ALEX!”
Silence.
“I KNOW YOU’RE HERE!”
I hear things fall to the ground as the stranger looks for me.
“Alex, sweetheart?” another, sweeter voice says. “Alex, honey, please come out we need to talk to you. We just want to know why you
ditched school today.”
School? SCHOOL! I momentarily forgot where I was and tried to sit up, banging my head and screaming on the process. Then, I realized who was talking to me, and who was banging on the door. It was my parents, looking for an explanation as to why they got a call from the school asking why I hadn’t shown up. I slid out from under the bed and everything looked blurry for a moment. Then I saw everything clearer than ever. I was in my room, and my parents were hovering over me with a look of disapproval on their faces. I must have been out the whole day.
“So, do you have anything to say for yourself?” my dad asked.
“I’m sorry?” I stated, but I knew that wasn’t going to cut it. I had missed school, and in their eyes it looks as though I ditched. On top of that, I ditched during finals. Say goodbye to Jr. Year, I thought.
“Downstairs, now missy,” my mom replied.
I knew I was in for a long night.
CHAPTER 4
May 25, 2013
My parents drove me to school today and even got permission from my teachers to “stop in and see what happens in our class”. I’m not that clueless, and neither are my peers. My parents were really there to make sure I didn’t “ditch” again. It was a long three hours from the time school started to the time I had lunch, where my parents still gave me no freedom. About fifteen minutes into lunch, I make an excuse to go to the bathroom. Good, I think. They won’t follow me there.
I tried to think about the bathroom that is farthest away from the lunch room, from my parents. Then I thought that was probably a bad idea, considering how mad they already were. After some thinking, I decided to just walk around for a bit, refocus my mind. As I roamed the halls, a passing period began, marking that a group of classes have ended.
I knew I should have probably started to head back to the lunch room now, but I wanted this time alone for just a little while longer. By this point during the day, almost half the kids in the school had heard that my parents were here watching me. I was probably the laughing stock of the school, but I had bigger problems to deal with. That was before a guy on the football team, Francis Bueller, tripped me in front of everyone.
Oh boy was I mad. Although, even I could have never guessed I was mad enough to do what I did next.
I bolted up, and ripped off my shoe. Angrily, and somewhat instinctively, chucked my shoe at that dumb Francis Bueller. But, that’s not even the worst of it. As he pivoted around, landing in a position to come charging at me, I lifted my arms. Not the kind of lifting your arms in surrender, but strongly, and in a way that held power. And right as I did so, all the lockers in the hallway burst open, sending books and papers flying all over the place. I looked at Francis with a devilish smile, and looked him in the eyes as a current of pure terror shot through him.
It took me a moment to process what I had done. Then, I brought my arms down and stared at my hands, terrified of what they had just accomplished. Then, I was suddenly bawling my eyes out and sprinting for home.
Just before I collapsed on my bed I thought of two things: 1- My parents were going to be so upset with me, and 2- I never want to do what I just did EVER again.
CHAPTER 5
May 26, 2013
"HELP!! HELP!!! SOMEONE, CAN ANYONE HEAR ME!"
"Use your powers"
"I DON'T KNOW HOW!"
"Try... You are powerful. You are unstoppable. You are stronger than you think you are."
More pounding, more screaming. I'm late, school. I forgot about school again.
I thought I would make it to school on time I didn't. I had gotten four detentions from my first four periods. I had missed all of them. My parents would kill me once again.
Caroline didn't realize what I was going through. She didn't know my hardships and how confusing all of this was to me! All she said to me was "Why were you late this time" and "I had to walk to school by myself, again! It's really bringing down my popularity status."
All she could ever care about is being popular and fitting in. I couldn't believe her! Even though I was mad and didn't want to go, I lugged myself to soccer practice.
I had to be there for my team, I was the captain after all. But once I was there they all had given me dirty looks and wouldn't talk to me. Except for Caroline, all she said to me was "Stay strong, you are stronger than you think you are."
Those words, those were the words that made me break down and run home right then and there. Blinded by the sun, and a foggy view from all of the tears made it hard to get home quickly, I had to stop a few times just to check that I was going in the right direction!
After that my day got worse when I had arrived home. I opened my backpack, and lying there right on the top was a book with a post-it note on it. One word, five letters, sorry, I needed to talk to Caroline, I didn't want to, but I knew I had to. I knew she knew information about me that I didn't even know, she probably even knew about this so called power I had.
The book underneath the post-it was the most confusing. It was about seven hundred pages long and was a hard copy. I could feel my eyes burning as I opened it. With tears once again streaming down my face the words on the first page scared me. I'm watching you.
I didn't know where to go. I didn't know where I would be safe. I some-how ended up on Caroline's door steps. It was still early and soccer practice wasn't over yet. I knew she wouldn't be home. But right after I knocked on the door, it opened. Caroline's mom was standing right in front of me. I knew she saw the tears in my eyes and that was probably why she let me in without saying a word.
I was probably in Caroline's house more times than I could count, but that time felt weird, different. There was a woman sitting on their brown worn-out leather couch. She had light brown hair that was long; she was also wearing a navy blue dress that looked really expensive. When she stood up, she was tall. She looked to be about 6'4, and spoke in a sweet honey like voice she made me feel strong and powerful, I didn't really know why. I recognized her voice, but I didn't know from where.
Caroline's mom had introduced us, her name was Ms. Caster, and she told me she could help me. She told me she could teach me how to use my powers correctly. She told me I was extremely powerful.
"What was that supposed to mean?" I asked
"You are a witch; one that does spell’s and possesses magic. Not a type of witch in movies and that you dress up like on Halloween."
"Wow. If I had wanted to talk to the mentally insane I would have stayed at home." I was about to leave when I realized where I had heard her voice, it was in my dream. I could tell she knew I had figured it out because she started talking to me in my head.
"If I was crazy then why can you hear me? Why do you think you can't remember anything, how do you explain me being in your dreams?"
"Explain." I said sitting back down.
Nothing seemed right when she had finally stopped talking. She said she couldn't tell me everything yet but I would soon know. I had been forgetting everything because my powers have been getting stronger and stronger; the hallway accident was because I haven't learned how to use my powers correctly. She said she was telling me things in my dreams because it was more private.
She said she put the book in my bag and wanted me to learn a few spells each night. She wanted me to trust her.
I didn't, not yet.
CHAPTER 6
May 27, 2013
I spent the day with Ms. Caster. I will have to get every moment I can with her because of the impeding last day of school. Not that I’m unhappy about it. To be honest no more school means fewer ways to disappoint my parents. But anyways, Ms. Caster and I were going through the norm. Practice a couple of spells I learned last time, learn some new spells, and practice the new spells. I think you get the point.
Today Ms. Caster was choosing this weirdest spells the she claims are “majorly important”. For example, I learned a spell that turns any solid object into a weapon. Like when am I going to use that? I guess I could when my brother t
ries to hurt me (like all day every day). I swear it’s his main goal in life. But I think a weapon is even too harsh for that situation. Nah.
At around six o’clock I said goodbye to Ms. Caster because my parents were expecting me home for dinner soon after. Even though she chooses weird spells, Ms. Caster was certainly proving herself to be someone I can trust, after all, she’s the only one that knows for certain what my abilities are. I haven’t even told Caroline. I just don’t think she would understand. She would probably make fun of me for being so childish and believing that stuff.
June 1, 2013
I had another dream tonight, we’ll at least I hope it was.
I woke up in a world that was perfectly normal except that everything was white. The trees, the houses, the sky. Ms. Caster was there, too.
“Where are we, what’s going on?” I said.
“You're in the new world, Alex. It’s a place where wizards come to practice spells, think things through, or if they just want to get away from everything,” Ms. Caster responded.
“How did I get here?”
“Well when someone comes here for the first time, it can be because of all kinds of things, but I’ve been expecting you to come.”
“Whatever this place freaks me out. How do you get out of here?”
“Alex, you’re going to have to come back here sooner or later.”
“We’ll I choose later.”
“Alex-”
“You're still not showing me how to leave.”
“If you won’t cooperate, there’s no need to be here,” she said to herself. “Think of the place you want to be most and you will appear there.”
“Thank you.”
And the next thing I knew I was in my bed. The sun was glaring through the window, and I had to squint just to avoid feeling as though my eyes were burning. I checked my phone for the time, 11:39 am. Wow my parents must have thought I was over sleeping. When I was on my phone I noticed that Caroline had sent like ten texts to me.