Accidentally Evil (9 page)

Sixteen

T
he next couple of days fade into one another. I ignore Cody's e-mails because I don't know what to say. And it doesn't even matter. After all, he's just a boy. If the headmistress put her head to it, she could figure out a way to get me excommunicated. I'm not risking my gifts on some guy I hardly know.

Lady Rose was right. The auras do become normal. I play a game with myself where I guess what someone's aura will be before I see them. Kendall and Zena are usually surrounded by a gray aura, which is the sign of dark thoughts. No big surprise. That was hardly a challenge.

Before my class with Lady Jennica, I guess she'll be turquoise, which means she's dynamic. A natural leader. And when I walk into class that day, I smile to myself
when I see that blue-green aura behind her. I'm pretty good at this game. I wish I could play it with Ivy. For some reason my gut tells me to keep this a secret. Maybe I'm just being paranoid.

Lady Jennica's room has a lab behind our desks. Today those lab tables hold stacks and stacks of old books. The scent of aged paper fills the room. I love the smell of books. Old, new, it doesn't matter. I start walking to the tables to see what the books are, when Lady Jennica calls my name.

“Can you come here for a minute?”

My hands instantly turn sweaty. Am I in trouble? I'm not used to being in trouble. I will do almost anything to keep out of trouble.

“Relax,” she says when I get to her desk. “You're not in trouble.”

I give her a nervous nod.

Her voice lowers, and I have to strain to hear her. “How are you doing?”

I know she is asking about something specific, but I don't know what it is. “Okay.”

Lady Jennica gives me the same look Lady Rose gave me. The one that says she wants to tell me more than
she's allowed to. “Good. Good.” Her voice is strained, like she doesn't believe my answer.

We stand in awkward silence for a full minute before I ask if I can go to my desk. She doesn't answer immediately. She looks at me, her eyes so serious it makes me dread what's coming next.

“Hallie,” she says. “I am forbidden to say anything specific.”

“But . . .”

“Do me a favor?”

“Sure.”

“Be more careful than normal.”

I nod, confusion and fear making it impossible to speak.

“Promise me,” she says.

“I promise.”

She sighs deeply and gives me a half smile, and I walk back to my desk.

“Everyone, sit down,” she says, snapping her fingers to close the door. Lady Jennica sits on her desk, her legs crossed in perfect form. Her face is back to normal, and she's in teacher mode.

“I know there's a lot of excitement in the air about the
upcoming Third Harvest celebration,” she begins. The volume escalates quickly until she holds up her hand, her
Zip it
sign. “As I was saying, I know you're fired up, but you really need to focus today. We are digging into the genealogy. You should already have completed your basic family tree with your parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents. Let's get those papers out. Then I'll have you add a sheet to the bottom so you can continue the search.”

Lady Jennica passes out the extra paper, and we all tape it to the bottom of our family trees.

“Now, girls, I'm going to warn you. This search can be time consuming and tedious. But it's critical you know who came before you. You must be careful that you copy the information down
exactly
as it is written. Do not rush.”

She dives into a fifteen-minute lecture about always wearing these thin white gloves when looking in the books because the oil from our hands can cause the paper to deteriorate. She then tells us how the books are organized. By the time she allows us to begin our research, my head is swimming.

I know I have to look up my great-great-grandmother in the
S
book for “Simon.” I have to wait for two people in
front of me to finish looking before I can get to the book. And when I do, I'm speechless. The pages are yellow and thin, the handwriting meticulous. I'm awed by the fact that I'm looking at writing put on paper a hundred or more years ago. I think about my descendants and what they'll think of me when they find my name in one of these books.

I carefully turn the pages until I find Elsa's name in the register. I copy down the information on my paper.

Elsa Whittier Simon

Born: 06 July 1902

Dowling Ancestor: Bridget May Whittier

Entered Dowling: 01 September 1922

Graduated Dowling: 06 June 1929

Gift: Hedge Witch

I keep my paper steady and write as neatly as pos­sible. If I write it neatly this time, I won't have to do it over.

I've always been a history buff, but knowing that this history is directly related to me fuels my curiosity even more than normal. Lady Jennica walks through the room to make sure everyone is working.

When she gets to me, she looks over my shoulder. “So now you need to find Bridget's name in the
W
book.”

“Yes, ma'am.”

I stack my papers neatly, grab my pen. When I turn around, I run right into Kendall. The same depressing gray haze surrounds her, like she's walking around in a storm cloud.

“I'm surprised you don't have this done already. You've always been such a little overachiever.”

As much as I hate talking to Kendall, seeing her up close and watching her forked tongue appear and disappear, appear and disappear, is so gratifying that I forget I don't want to talk to her.

“Yeah, well, I've been busy. Cody e-mails me constantly.” Before a word can slither out of her, I point at Kendall's mouth. “Good luck with all that.”

I turn around and focus on the book, hands shaking. Why did I say that about Cody? I'm just making a bad situation worse. I never should have said that. But I so rarely get to put Kendall in her place, it just flew right out. I grin to myself. I can't wait to tell Ivy, Jo, and Dru. They'll be so proud of me.

I open the
W
book and begin looking for Bridget's
name. I wish the registers had photographs or drawings of our ancestors. I finally find her, the last name on page 422 of the book.

Bridget May Whittier

Born: 20 March 1890

Dowling Ancestor: Anna Cooper Hewitt

Entered Dowling: 29 August 1900

Graduated Dowling: 11 May 1908

Gift: Telekinesis

“Thirty more minutes, girls,” Lady Jennica calls out. I look for Ivy, but find Kendall glaring at me. I ignore her and walk to Ivy's table.

“Isn't this cool?” I ask. Ivy's paper has only one name added. “What's taking you so long?”

She gives me an irritated look. “I got stuck waiting behind Zena. She took her sweet time finding the name she was looking for. Even stopped to redo her ponytail like I wasn't even standing there. She finally left when Lady Jennica told her to move on.”

I take a quick glance at Zena, whose aura has become darker than Kendall's. No surprise there.

“Wait for me after class,” I tell Ivy. “I have to tell you about my conversation with Kendall.”

Her eyes widen. “Oh boy, can't wait to hear that.”

I walk on to the
H
book. Missy is working in it, so I wait behind her. I guessed her aura right too. She's pink—the perfect balance between spirituality and materialism. “Going okay?” I ask her.

She nods, face content, like always. I wish I could be like that. She always seems to feel exactly the same. She finishes her work, then gives me a little wave when she walks away.

I find Anna's name and begin writing.

Anna Cooper Hewitt

Born: 13 August 1869

Dowling Ancestor: Sarah Elizabeth Scott

Entered Dowling: 08 September 1880

Graduated Dowling: 31 May 1888

Gift: Blinking

I stop and look at that again. Blinking is a gift? I wave to Lady Jennica, and she walks over. She looks at my paper, and her eyes squint, like maybe she can't read something that far away or she's waiting for me to say
something. I know for a fact the handwriting is neat.

“What kind of gift is blinking?”

Lady Jennica smiles. “It's not what you think.”

“Good, because it sounds super-lame.”

She laughs and then explains. “Blinking is instant teleportation, activated by thinking of a location and blinking your eyes.”

I stare at her, openmouthed. “Shut. Up.” I slap a hand over my mouth. “I'm so sorry, Lady Jennica! I didn't mean—”

She shakes her head at me. “It's fine, Hallie.”

“How cool would that be?” I wonder out loud.

“Well, Hallie, you know you can have any gift you want. All you have to do is find the right item from your ancestor.”

I shake my head. “I've got my hands full with the three gifts I've picked up accidentally.”

“I don't know about that, Hallie. Your family line has some pretty amazing gifts.” She gives me a wink, then leaves to help another student.

I look at my paper again to make sure I've copied down everything correctly. As I reread the gifts of my ancestors, my skin begins to tingle. Maybe Lady Jennica's right. Maybe acquiring some of these gifts might not be so bad after all.

Seventeen

L
ady Rose reminds everyone to review their dream journals daily and to record in them when they wake up. I have been keeping my journal, but nothing has changed in my dreams. I
always
have the Cody and Kendall dream.

“How has the studying spell been going for everyone?” Lady Rose asks.

Ivy raises her hand. “I got my first A on a math test after we did the studying spell in our room.”

“Super,” the teacher says. “Anyone else?”

Several students answer, but I don't hear them. My eyes, energy, every cell are obsessing over Kendall. Lady Rose claps her hands and jolts me back to class.

“Today we're going to learn a protection spell. There
are all kinds of protection spells, but we're starting small. This one will keep you safe from illness, and it will give you the necessary wisdom to keep you safe.”

Fitting.
The headmistress wouldn't think twice about making me disappear. She will stop at nothing to make sure Zena is at the top of the Dowling food chain.

“There are some important things to remember about this spell. The first thing you need to know is that it doesn't make you invincible. You can't cast this spell, then go rob a bank and expect nothing to happen to you.”

Everyone in the room laughs, but I think about Cody and how his gift of invincibility probably means he doesn't ever have to do this spell.

“Second. You should save this spell for a time when you're feeling particularly vulnerable. Magic isn't intended to protect you from every single thing that might happen. This is for the biggies.”

I make those notes in the margin, then write “Protection Spell” in my favorite fancy letters. When they find my dead body clutching my Book of Shadows after I've been eliminated as the next High Priestess, at least they'll be impressed with my supercute lettering, right?

“Okay,” she says with a quick
clap
,
clap
of her hands.
“Let's get started. You should notice that the only ingredient for this spell is a white candle. I prefer casting this spell outside, but you can do this wherever you happen to be.”

She picks up the candle, lights the wick with her fingers, and looks back up. When she does, she's looking right at me in a superintense and intimidating way, like she's trying to tell me something with her eyes. When she speaks, her voice is low and soft, and each word is enunciated with deliberate care.

“You must stand facing west. Then you'll recite the chant.”

“Protect me with all your might,

oh, Goddess Gracious, day and night.”

I'm writing quickly, and it's not as neat as I'd like, but I don't want to miss anything. When I finally take my eyes off the paper to see what she does next, she's staring at me again. No one else in the room seems to notice, but I do, and it's totally creepy.

“You will then turn to the north and repeat the chant.”

She turns and chants.

“Then the east.”

She turns and chants.

“Then the south.”

She turns and chants.

“Then back to the west to end with ‘So mote it be.' ”

By the time the bell rings, I'm exhausted from trying to learn all of this new knowledge.

Ivy and I are walking out when Lady Rose calls me back in. “It'll just take a minute, Hallie.”

I look at Ivy, and she shrugs before walking off. Getting kept after class is becoming a thing with me, and I don't like it. I just want to be normal. Whatever that means at Dowling.

Lady Rose waits for the room to empty before speaking to me. “Lady Jennica says she spoke to you. That she told you to be careful.”

I nod. “Yes, ma'am. She did. So your protection spell today was great timing.”

Lady Rose gives me a knowing grin. “That wasn't a coincidence.”

I take a deep, deep breath. “What exactly is going on?”

Lady Rose looks at me so long, I wonder if she's been frozen by someone's spell. I look at my watch and then
wave my hands in front of her face. “Uh, Lady Rose? Are you okay?”

She blinks, disoriented, like a baby waking from a nap. “I'm so sorry. Mind must have wandered off.”

“Can you tell me what I need to be protecting myself from?” I ask. “Because all these warnings aren't going to do me a lot of good if I don't know what to watch for.”

She shakes her head, of course. “You know I can't. But I do have something for you.”

Lady Rose turns around and grabs her sleek black leather purse. She reaches inside a hidden pocket and pulls out a barrette. But it's no ordinary barrette. This one is covered in dark red stones and tiny little clear crystals. “That's beautiful,” I tell her.

“I'd like you to have it,” she says.

I shake my head. “I can't.”

“Of course you can. My grandmother gave this to me years ago, before she died. Now when I wear it, I feel like she's watching over me. I feel safer. I think you could use some of that, don't you think?”

I do. Of course I do. But . . .

“I'll inherit her gift.”

“No, Hallie. She wasn't a witch.”

“Are you sure?”

She gives me a look. “Of course I'm sure.”

So I nod. “I'll take wonderful care of it. I promise I won't break it.”

Lady Rose smiles. “I'm not worried about that. Not worried about that at all.”