The Witches of the Glass Castle

  ‘Please,’ Dino said, his surly tone dissolving into desperation. ‘Please, I’m begging you. I can’t share a room with her.’

  Mia’s jaw dropped. ‘Hey! I’m not that bad!’

  Dino spoke only to Wendolyn. ‘I’m begging you,’ he said, his hands clasped together. ‘You don’t understand.’

  She began to blow out the candles. ‘I do understand,’ she said. ‘I’m afraid there is nothing I can do.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ Dino exclaimed. ‘This is your place! Surely there’s somewhere else you can put me?’

  Wendolyn opened the library door and ushered them back out into the long, narrow corridor. ‘I’m afraid not,’ she said.

  Fuming, Dino ran his hands through his hair.

  Mia watched the display with a mixture of anger and sorrow. Why was the idea of sharing a room so horrific to him? OK, so it wasn’t ideal, but they’d shared rooms in the past. As she trailed her hands along the indented carvings on the wall, she realised that his blame and resentment towards her had evolved into pure hatred.

  They walked on through the dark corridor until they reached a wide staircase furnished with the same dull-red carpet and a grand, mahogany banister. As Mia took the first step, a small brown sparrow fluttered past her. She gasped.

  ‘Everything OK?’ Wendolyn enquired, pausing her ascent on the staircase.

  Mia looked around her for the bird, but it had vanished from sight. ‘There was a sparrow,’ she explained, mystified.

  ‘Ah,’ Wendolyn smiled. ‘That’ll be the tea showing you a little glimpse into the future. Keep an eye out for sparrows; they must have some significance.’ She continued walking.

  At the top of the staircase, Wendolyn brought them to a tall oak door. ‘This will be your bedchamber,’ she told them. ‘You’re free to explore the grounds, but be cautious. Do not venture too near to the forest – it’s Hunter territory.’

  Dino looked at Mia, his dark eyes almost venomous. At that moment she noticed just how dark they were, especially in comparison to the pale grey of her own eyes. Looking at him now, she supposed they probably didn’t look much like brother and sister at all. Well, aside from their chocolate brown hair, and perhaps their smiles – although Mia hadn’t seen Dino smile in a while, so it was difficult to judge. She turned away from him. She didn’t want to look at him anymore. The emptiness in his eyes was alien. She could barely recognise him. In fact, something in the pit of her stomach told her that he was no longer her brother.

  Chapter Two

  How the Birds Fly

  Dino and Mia’s bedchamber proved to be just as impressive as the rest of the castle. It was a spacious room with two four-poster beds situated in opposite corners. Both beds were covered by a canopy made out of embroidered gold curtains.

  After emptying the contents of his rucksack on the carpet, Dino flopped back on to one of the beds and closed his eyes. Although it was still daylight outside, he managed to fall asleep – or at least, he pretended to.

  Mia sat up on her own bed and drew the curtains across. There, sheltered inside in the confines, she felt as though she had disappeared into her own private little haven, away from the rest of the world. And away from all that had happened that day.

  When the minutes had turned into hours, she began to get restless. A growing sense of inquisitiveness began to outweigh her anxiety, and she made the decision to leave the safety of the room. She pulled apart the heavy, gold curtains and crawled out from the bed.

  Across the room, Dino’s bed curtains were drawn.

  ‘Dino?’ Mia called in a small voice.

  She heard him sigh impatiently. ‘What?’

  ‘I’m going to explore,’ she told him. ‘Do you want to come with me?’ At this point she didn’t actually know if she wanted him with her or not. She wasn’t sure how much more of his obnoxious behaviour she could take.

  ‘No,’ he said bluntly. The decision was made for her.

  But despite his brash attitude, there was still a small – or large – part of her that feared wandering around the castle alone. The thought of crossing paths with a Hunter sent a chill down her spine.

  ‘I could wait for you if you want,’ she suggested.

  ‘No!’ he shouted. ‘Go!’

  Mia winced. They had had arguments in the past, some worse than others, but this was in a whole new league.

  ‘Fine,’ Mia muttered. ‘I guess I’ll see you later then.’

  ‘I’ll look forward to it,’ Dino replied, his words dripping with sarcasm.

  Mia stormed out of the room, purposely slamming the door behind her. At least, if nothing else, his comment had fuelled her with a much needed burst of adrenaline, which came in useful when she found herself alone in the dark corridor. Boldly, she faced her surroundings. The ceilings were so high that they almost disappeared into the shadows, and the long narrow corridor seemed endless, eventually getting lost in an abyss of darkness. All of a sudden she wasn’t feeling quite so courageous any more.

  It seemed sensible to follow the path that she already knew, so she made her way to the staircase and crept down it. The floorboards creaked as she descended the steps, and the ghostly noise echoed hauntingly in the cavernous stone building. By the time she made it to the bottom of the stairs her heart was racing, so she picked up her speed and ran along the lower corridor towards the main door.

  Bursting out through the door, Mia found herself back in the courtyard. It seemed completely different now as she stood there alone, in the same spot that she had stood with her mother and aunt just hours earlier. It suddenly felt like the loneliest place in the world. The very thought made her want to cry.

  Out in the open courtyard, a small sparrow shot past her. Mia looked twice, wondering if she was seeing things again. But this time it was really there. It circled the courtyard and then darted through a hedge archway. Remembering what Wendolyn had told her, Mia tentatively followed the little bird. She broke into a trot to keep up with it, passing under the hedge and emerging out on to immaculately maintained grounds.

  For a moment, Mia was taken aback by the breath-taking scenery. In the pale-blue sky, the sun shone behind a faint haze of cloud, illuminating the rolling green landscape as far as the eye could see. Directly in front of her were elegant, well-tended gardens, laid out geometrically with hedge mazes and neatly arranged flower beds. Beyond the gardens was a broad grassy embankment leading down to a pine forest. Mist clung to the outskirts of the forest, so that only the tips of the trees could be seen.

  Still in pursuit of the sparrow, Mia stepped out on to the grass. She tracked the bird to a finely pruned hedge which appeared to be encircling a small patch of land. The bird hovered above the area and then fluttered away into the sky.

  Somewhat warily, Mia approached a gap in the hedge and peeked inside.

  She gasped at the sight of a girl lying on her back on a circular section of grass.

  ‘Sorry,’ Mia excused herself quickly. ‘Are you OK?’ she asked as an afterthought.

  The girl, startled by the unexpected voice that had disrupted the tranquil garden, let out a shrill scream. She scrambled to her feet and clutched at her heart melodramatically.

  ‘Sorry,’ Mia said again, holding her hands up in surrender.

  ‘Are you…a vision?’ the girl whispered, edging closer to Mia. Her blonde hair was tied up with a shoelace.

  Mia thought about it for a second. ‘No,’ she said. ‘I don’t think so.’

  The girl relaxed slightly. ‘So, you’re real?’ she asked, sounding a little disappointed.

  Mia frowned. ‘Yes.’

  ‘Oh.’ The girl smiled sheepishly. ‘I was hoping that you were a vision. No offence.’

  Mia nodded as though she understood. But she didn’t.

  ‘Yeah,’ the girl continued, ‘it’s confusing sometimes. I’m trying to tap into my power. I’ve been here a whole week and I’m not getting anywhere.’ She slumped back down to the ground with a huff. ‘I think
I’m trying too hard.’ She idly rolled up the bottoms of her oversized denim dungarees, which she wore loosely over a bright-orange top.

  ‘I know how you feel,’ Mia consoled sympathetically. ‘I’m having some trouble in that department, too.’

  ‘Well, I guess that’s some comfort. At least I’m not the only one,’ the girl said and giggled. ‘Everyone else’s powers are so active that they can’t control them, and then there’s people like us who can’t even get ours started!’

  Mia sat down on the grass. ‘I’m not even sure I have a power.’

  ‘Oh, God! That hadn’t crossed my mind!’

  ‘Sorry,’ Mia smiled. ‘I’m sure that’s not the case for you.’

  ‘Nor you,’ the girl replied amiably. ‘I’m Kizzy, by the way. Kizzy Mortimer.’

  ‘Nice to meet you. I’m Mia Bicks.’ She wasn’t just being polite – it really was nice to meet her. Kizzy seemed to be around the same age as Mia, and, most importantly, she was friendly. And Mia could definitely do with a friend.

  Kizzy carried on, ‘I’m a Seer. I should be able to see visions of the future. But the visions aren’t coming to me yet.’

  Mia furrowed her brow. How could a person know of their power without ever having experienced it? She thought of her vision of the sparrow brought on by the tea, and wondered if perhaps she too might be a Seer.

  ‘How do you know what you are?’ she asked, absent-mindedly knotting her fingers through the grass.

  Kizzy shrugged. ‘I just…know.’

  ‘I don’t know what I am,’ Mia admitted.

  ‘That’s odd,’ Kizzy scratched her head. ‘Hasn’t anyone ever told you?’

  ‘No. Should they have?’

  Kizzy pondered it. ‘No, I guess they prefer you to work it out on your own. Sadists! But sometimes powers are genetic,’ she added helpfully. ‘Both my parents are Seers.’

  ‘I don’t know what my mother’s power is,’ Mia confessed, suddenly wondering why she had not asked. ‘And I never knew my father. But my brother’s here, too, and he seems to have an active power.’

  Kizzy’s baby-blue eyes lit up. ‘What can he do?’

  ‘Hmm…’ Mia thought about it. ‘From what I’ve seen, he gets headaches and stares.’

  ‘Wow,’ Kizzy smiled wryly. ‘Don’t mess with him! Hey,’ she teased, ‘maybe he’s a Hunter.’ She paused. ‘Wait – you’re not a Hunter, are you?’ She seemed to be suspiciously studying Mia’s eyes.

  ‘Of course not!’ Mia cried.

  ‘Good. Neither am I.’

  ‘Do I really look like a Hunter?’ Mia asked, somewhat traumatised by the idea of resembling a monster.

  Kizzy giggled. ‘Hunters look just like regular people! The only real difference is their attitude. Haven’t you ever seen one?’

  Mia shuddered. ‘No. And I don’t want to.’

  But Kizzy didn’t seem to hear the last part because she sprang to her feet. ‘Come on!’ she said, grasping Mia’s hand and hoisting her up.

  ‘Where are we going?’

  Kizzy smiled mischievously. ‘Hunting. Excuse the pun.’

  ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa!’ Mia wriggled free of Kizzy’s grasp. ‘I don’t want to go looking for Hunters! I want to avoid them!’

  ‘But if you’ve never seen one, how will you know what to avoid?’ Kizzy pointed out innocently.

  Mia grimaced. ‘Well, I’ll just avoid everyone.’

  Kizzy rolled her eyes. ‘Follow me.’ She skipped out from the confines of the hedge.

  Mia brushed the grass from her hands and mulled her options over. Despite her protests, she was sort of curious to get a glimpse of a Hunter – it was beginning to feel like forbidden fruit. And she was definitely glad to have someone to talk to; Kizzy was a far cry from Dino right now. All things considered, she had to admit that she was tempted to follow Kizzy. So, with some reservation, she stepped through the hedge wall.

  Kizzy was waiting on the other side.

  ‘I expected you to be way ahead of me by now,’ Mia remarked shrewdly. ‘You had a good head start.’

  ‘No way! I’d never go alone. I don’t have a death wish!’

  ‘That’s reassuring,’ Mia muttered.

  The two girls set off across the gardens.

  ‘Where exactly are we going?’ Mia asked, nervously fiddling with a strand of her hair.

  ‘The forest,’ Kizzy told her.

  Mia’s gaze travelled down to the edge of the forest. It was nearer now, and the mist shrouding it appeared even thicker, almost impenetrable.

  As they forged on across the lawn, Mia took note of her surroundings. To her right, she noticed a graveyard which was fringed with a row of wind chimes ringing tunefully in the light breeze.

  ‘What’s that?’ Mia asked. ‘I mean, I know it’s a graveyard, but why here?’

  Kizzy seemed indifferent and merely shrugged.

  Strangely enough, the nearer Mia got to the forest, the more courageous she felt. The opposite could be said of Kizzy

  ‘Maybe we shouldn’t actually go into the forest,’ Kizzy debated now. ‘I mean, we know they’re in there; we don’t need to see them.’

  ‘We’re here now,’ Mia reasoned. ‘We might as well go in.’

  ‘But we’re intruding on their territory. They won’t like that.’

  ‘Just a peek,’ Mia insisted, surprisingly sure of herself. ‘We won’t hang around long enough for them to catch us. Anyway, they might not even be there.’ She paused. ‘Do they live in the forest?’ In her imagination, the Hunters had become something like half-naked savages living out in the wild.

  ‘No,’ said Kizzy. ‘But I think they train there pretty much all day. Hidden among the trees, watching, waiting…’ she trailed off, frightened by her own words.

  Instinctively, the girls came to a standstill at the beginning of the mist. Mia strained her eyes, trying to peer through it. Admittedly, she couldn’t see much further than the first few trees, but there was no sign of movement so she edged forward. In the blink of an eye, the mist had swallowed her whole.

  ‘Mia!’ Kizzy hissed. ‘Stop!’

  But it was too late. Something was pulling Mia in. She was like a tiny magnet being drawn forward by an invisible force. Somewhere in the depths of her mind she knew she should stop, but the pull was far too strong. She heard the crunch of leaves behind her. She couldn’t turn her head, but she knew that Kizzy had been pulled in, too.

  The girls trudged on like zombies, marching through the smoky mist. As they were drawn deeper into the shadowed maze of pine trees, the daylight turned to dusk and the melodic chirping of birds was replaced by the occasional sinister caw of a crow.

  ‘Kizzy,’ Mia murmured, barely able to speak. ‘I can’t stop.’

  ‘Neither can I!’ Kizzy cried. The pounding of her feet continued in a slow, steady rhythm.

  Stop, stop, stop! Mia commanded herself silently. But her legs kept plodding on, deeper and deeper into the forest.

  ‘We need to break stride,’ Kizzy told her, breathless with urgency.

  ‘How?’

  ‘By stopping!’ Kizzy replied unhelpfully.

  ‘I can’t!’ Mia wailed. It was hopeless.

  Just as she was about to accept her doom, she was blessed by a stroke of luck. Straight ahead of her, Mia noticed a rotted tree root protruding from the ground. With no time to waste, she jammed her foot underneath it, losing her balance and toppling forward. She landed with a thud on a bed of crisp leaves.

  ‘Help!’ Kizzy squealed as she marched robotically past her friend.

  Scrambling over leaves and twigs, Mia grabbed hold of Kizzy’s ankle and tugged her down to the ground.

  Kizzy tripped and fell to the forest floor.

  ‘Are you OK?’ Mia asked in a hushed voice.

  Kizzy sat upright and rubbed her grazed hands. ‘Yeah. You?’

  They looked at each other, unsure whether to laugh or cry.

  ‘I think so,’ Mia replied. ‘We need to get out of her
e.’ She clambered to her feet.

  Huddled together, the two girls raced through the forest, back in the direction they had come from. But in the confusing web of trees, finding their way out wasn’t quite so simple.

  And that wasn’t their only problem. A strange instinct nagged at Mia to stop running. ‘Wait!’ she said, grasping Kizzy’s arm to hold her still.

  ‘What is it?’ Kizzy panted. ‘We have to keep going!’

  ‘Shh!’ Mia held her breath. ‘What’s that noise?’

  They clung on to each other as the distinct sound of footsteps approached.

  Kizzy’s eyes grew wide with terror. ‘What should we do?’

  Mia held her index finger to her lips.

  And then, sure enough, two dark figures weaved through the trees, combing the area like predatory animals hunting their prey. There was no doubt about it: they were Hunters.

  Pressed flat up against a tree trunk, Mia watched them with a combination of fear and respect. They were brawny young men in their late teens and could easily have been taken for normal ‘civilians’. But they weren’t normal – they were Hunters. Everything about them was innately predatory. The way in which they moved, so sleek and precise, was as though every step had been calculated to the finest detail. And their powerful bodies, taut and strong, seemed like they had been sculpted into the perfect soldier. Even their hair and clothes were dark, blending them into the shadows, almost as if they were shadows themselves.

  ‘They’ve sensed us,’ Kizzy whimpered in a nearly inaudible voice.

  And she was right. The two Hunters were on a trail, tracking the intruders. In seconds they were just a stone’s throw away.

  Mia felt as though her heart had stopped beating. She was so close to them that she could practically smell them. One of them turned his head slowly towards her; he seemed to be absorbing the air, almost as if he were tasting it. His eyes were rabidly intent and a sullen green – the colour of the pine forest. Mia pressed herself even closer to the tree trunk. With a sharp jab, something pricked her thigh. It was the jackdaw feather that she had found earlier that day; she had tucked it into her pocket for safekeeping.