Dark Realms (37 page)

Trevor’s face became slack and he
nodded.

I smiled. “Wow, I wish I could do that. Of
course, I would have told him to drop dead.”

“I don’t know if that would work on a
human,” said Tyler with a straight face. “I’ve never attempted
it.”

“Oh, my God…I was kidding!”

He didn’t say anything.

My eyes narrowed. “You mentioned something
about trolls before. Um, was that real? Did you actually kill three
trolls?”

“Yes, but they deserved it,” he smiled.
“They wouldn’t let me over their bridge.”

“Wow, you’re amazing,” I said, shaking my
head.

“Sorry,” he laughed. “I just couldn’t
resist.”

I lowered my voice. “Seriously, though, are
there really trolls?”

He pursed his lips and nodded. “Yes, and
pray that you never meet one. They’re nasty creatures and very hard
to kill.”

“Uh, okay.”

We started climbing down the hill, which was
actually steeper than I thought. “This would have to be very
dangerous if you’ve been drinking,” I noted.

“Yeah, look down below us.”

There was a ravine at the very bottom of the
hill, about three hundred feet down.

“If you didn’t get hurt tumbling down, you
might just drown in the ravine,” I said.

Loud music and laughter blasted out of the
large cave as we drew near.

“I wonder if the cops know about this
place?”

“No,” replied Mark, stepping out of the
cave. “And I’ve worked hard to keep it that way.”

I put my hands on my hips. “Where’s
Kala?”

His smile gave me the
chills. “Come, I’ll show you,
Kendra
.”

Tyler looked at me and I knew he felt it
too. Mark was acting strange and he hadn’t seemed surprised at all
to see us.

Mark glanced at me. “Well, I have to say,
Kendra, you’re looking pretty hot. It’s almost like,” he said with
a wicked grin. “Someone put a spell on you.”

“Hey, Kala!” smiled Hailey. She was sitting
with a couple of girls and drinking a beer. “I must be seeing
things because I could have sworn you just passed by a few minutes
ago.”

I smirked. “Maybe you’ve just had too much
to drink?”

“Not yet,” she answered and then
giggled.

“Don’t worry, Hailey,” smiled Mark. “I’ll
let you know tomorrow if you’ve taken off any clothes.”

“Stop about the last time already!” she
pouted. “You shouldn’t have been looking anyway!”

I wasn’t about to ask what she meant by
that. Tyler just shook his head and removed his sunglasses.

We followed him deeper into the cave. It was
getting darker and after a while, Mark pulled out a flashlight.
“Watch out for spiders and other things lurking in the dark,” he
said. “You never know what you’ll run into in these caves.”

“Where is Kala?” I asked,
getting worried.
Why would my sister be
hanging out somewhere in the back of this smelly dank cave?

Mark turned to me. “Don’t worry, we’re
almost there.”

We came to a tunnel and he motioned for us
to keep following him.

“Are you sure she’s back here?” I asked.

He turned back and gave me a reassuring
smile. “Of course. Wait until we get there, you can see for
yourself how great she’s doing.”

I shuddered at the way he said that, and
even Tyler frowned.

“Here,” said Mark, pointing towards a lit-up
passageway. “Come on.”

We followed him through the opening and my
breath caught in my throat when I noticed my sister. “Kala?” I
whispered in horror.

She lay on a giant slab of rock with her
arms and legs tied together. Her eyes were closed and her skin was
so pale, she appeared almost… dead.

“Oh, God!” I screamed, rushing towards her.
“What have you done to my sister?”

“Wait!” yelled Tyler, as I slammed into some
kind of invisible wall and fell backwards.

“So we meet again,” chuckled Vivian,
stepping out of the shadows of the cave. “Isn’t this a quaint
little family reunion?”

Chapter Twenty-Two

I stood up. “Let my sister go!”

“No,” she sneered. “I don’t think so.”

With a very determined look, Tyler took a
step towards Vivian.

“Freeze!” she demanded, raising her wand.
“You try anything, boy, and I’ll kill both girls.”

Tyler clenched his fists. “Leave them alone.
They’re not who you’re after.”

“No, but they’re good bait, don’t you
think?”

A bright flash of light lit up the cave and
I sighed in relief when I saw Rebecca and Clarice appear, both of
their wands raised.

“Teleport!” they cried in unison. Rebecca
aimed her wand at me and Clarice aimed hers at Kala.

The next thing I knew, I was transported
through the rainbow vortex and landed on my butt at Tyler and
Rebecca’s home in Vail.

“What happened?” moaned Kala, who was lying
on the plush carpet a few feet away. She rubbed her temples and
shuddered. “Man, I don’t feel so good.”

“Oh, my God, Kala,” I cried, crawling over
to her. “You’re okay!”

Kala opened her eyes and gasped. “What… what
happened to you?”

I smiled sheepishly. “I lost a little
weight. It’s a long story.”

She looked around. “Where in the heck are
we, and how’d we get here?”

“Um, we’re at my friend Tyler’s house.”

She stood up and swayed. “Oh,” she mumbled,
touching her forehead. “I’m a little dizzy.”

“Sit down,” I said, motioning towards the
white leather couch.

Kala stumbled towards the sofa and plopped
down.

“Better?” I asked.

She sighed and put her head in her hands. “I
don’t understand, what happened?”

I took a deep breath and started telling her
about mom and how she was a powerful witch.

“Excuse me?” she snapped, raising her head.
“Are you on crack?”

“Listen, don’t you remember being tied up in
the cave? Or the crazy redhead who looked like our mother?”

She glanced at her wrists, which were
slightly pink. “I don’t remember being tied up, but I tell you
what, I’m never going out with Mark again. He dragged me to that
party and then left me alone in the middle of the cave.”

I raised my eyebrows. “So you really don’t
remember anything else?”

She shook her head and frowned. “No.”

Before I could say anything else, Tyler
burst out of the vortex and landed on the carpet by her feet. Kala
backed away from him on the sofa and began screaming.

I placed a hand on her shoulder. “It’s okay,
he’s a friend.”

“A friend…where did he come from? He wasn’t
here a second ago!”

“He just came from that cave party,” I said.
“Like us. We both teleported here as well.”

She put her head back in her hands and
moaned. “Okay, someone must have slipped me something in my diet
soda. This must be what it’s like to be stoned out of your
mind.”

“You’re fine,” I said, sitting down next to
her. “Thank God.”

Tyler cleared his throat. “So, are you two
girls okay?”

“I think so,” I said, turning to him. “Oh,
my God, what happened to you?”

I had been focusing all of my attention on
my sister and hadn’t even noticed the horrible shape he was in. His
clothes were ripped, he was sweating, and his hand was torn up and
bleeding.

“I’m okay,” he said. “A few scrapes from
Vivian. Could have been a lot worse.”

I frowned. “I think you need stitches. What
in the heck did she do to you?”

“She blasted me with her wand when I went
after her son.”

“Her
son
?” I asked.

He nodded. “Yeah, you know, Mark.

“No way, seriously?”

He closed his eyes and let out a painful
sigh. “Deadly serious, Kendra.”

“Are you going to be okay?” I asked, seeing
his face grow paler.

Before he could answer, Rebecca appeared out
of nowhere.

“Is everyone okay?” she asked.

Kala’s face was as white as a ghost. “I’m
definitely losing my mind.”

“Tyler’s hand is pretty messed up, other
than that, we’re okay. Where’s Clarice?”

“She went to go find your mother. Let me see
your hand, Tyler.”

He held out his hand and Rebecca pointed her
wand. “Mend.”

Kala and I watched in awe as the skin on his
hand began to glow and repair itself. The next time I blinked, his
hand looked smooth and free of any injury.

“Please tell me I’m dreaming,” murmured
Kala, “because if I’m not, I should be locked up.

“Oh, you’re not dreaming,” said Rebecca with
a reassuring smile. “This is real and someday, you’ll hone the same
powers as your mother.”

“It’s true, Kala,” I said. “Like I was
trying to tell you, our mother’s a witch. She also has an evil twin
sister who practices Black magic and wants to destroy her.”

She laughed, bitterly. “Really? So that she
can rule the planet and kill us all.”

“No,” said Rebecca. “Just those who won’t
bow down to her every whim.”

“Are you people out of your freaken’ minds?”
she yelled. “Our mother runs a daycare! There is no way she could
possibly be a witch. That’s absurd and I won’t believe it for a
minute!”

“Believe it, honey,” murmured the soft voice
of my mother as she began to materialize before our eyes.
“Everything you’ve heard, it’s… true.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

“Mom!” I cried, stumbling towards her.
“Where have you been?”

She raised both of her hands and took a step
back. “Wait,” she answered, breathlessly. “Please don’t touch me.
It’s too dangerous.”

“What? Are you hurt?” I asked, noticing how
pale and delicate she looked.

She swayed slightly and blinked. “Vivian’s…
placed a spell on me.” Then before I could say or do anything, she
collapsed to the floor.

“Mom!” I sobbed, reaching for her.

“Wait! Stay back!” hollered Clarice, who
suddenly materialized next to her. “You mustn’t touch her!”

Rebecca placed herself between us and then
turned to Clarice. “Take Adrianne into my bedroom.”

She waved her wand. Then, they were both
gone.

“What in God’s name is
wrong with our mother?” choked Kala, who was still sitting on the
sofa. “And who
are
you people?”

Tyler removed his sunglasses and walked
stepped forward. “Don’t be afraid,” he said softly.

She stared at him in confusion.

“You must relax and listen to your sister.
She’s telling you the truth. You need to be strong so you can help
each other.”

Kala’s eyes were now dilated. She nodded her
head slowly. “Yes.”

Tyler, who also looked exhausted, turned to
me. “Okay, now, talk to her.”

“Kala?” I asked, edging back towards the
sofa. “Are you okay?”

She turned to me and I watched as her eyes
began to refocus. She nodded. “Yes. I’m just trying to absorb
everything.”

Rebecca stepped forward and squeezed her
shoulder. Then, she looked at me. “I’ll be right back. I’m going to
find out what happened to your mother, although,” she said with a
pained expression, “I think it’s pretty obvious.”

“Listen,” I said to Kala as
soon as we were alone. “Everything I’ve told you is true.
Vivian
is
mom’s
twin sister. She wants to kill her so she can steal all of her
magic. I guess if you’re a twin
and
a witch you can absorb the other one’s magic after
they die.”

She turned to me in horror. “Why would her
own sister want to do this, and secondly, why didn’t mom ever tell
us she was a witch with an evil twin sister?”

I sighed. “To protect us. The less we knew,
the better.”

Kala wiped the tears from her eyes. “This
just seems so… crazy,” she laughed bitterly. “I mean witches,
spells, and… what about your friend Tyler?” her eyes grew large.
“Is he a warlock?”

I shook my head. “No, he’s an Enchanter.
Tyler inherited his gifts from his father, who, by the way, was
also killed by Vivian.”

“Oh of course,” she mumbled.

“Girls,” said Clarice, coming up behind
us.

We both shot up off of the couch.

She smiled sadly. “We must talk. Please sit
down.”

I sat back down next to my sister and
cleared my throat. “So, is mom okay?” I asked.

Her face darkened. “Well, she’s been
hexed.”

“What does that mean?” asked Kala.

“Vivian has put a curse on your mother.”

Kala’s lips began to tremble. “A curse? What
do you mean? Is she going to die?”

Not one to mince words, she
replied, “Yes she
will
die, unless we can stop the curse.”

“Oh, my God!” I moaned. “She might really
die? Seriously?”

“How can we stop it?” asked Kala, wiping her
eyes. “There must be a way?”

“Vivian must die,” stated Tyler, coming out
of the kitchen. “The only way you can save your mother, is to
destroy Vivian first.”

~~~

“How in the world are we supposed to kill
her? Wouldn’t you have done it years ago if it was feasible?” I
asked.

“We’ve never tried to
actually
kill
her
before,” said Clarice. “To be honest, I’m not sure if we’re even
strong enough to do it.”

“That’s why we work together,” said Tyler.
“She has weaknesses. I know she does. In fact, the Shape-shifters
have been watching her for me.”

“How clever, my dear boy. Have they learned
her weaknesses yet?” asked Clarice.

He sighed and sat down on the couch. “Well,
obviously she needs her wand, without it, she’s not as powerful.
Also, Mark. She spoils the crap out of him. He’s her other
weakness.”

“Mark?” spat Kala. “That jerk is her son for
real? That means…”