The Witches of Glass Castle: Uprising (The Witches of the Glass Castle Series Book 2) (2 page)

Outside, the December air was bitter. Their narrow suburban street was lit only by pools of cool light cast from the street lamps. Parked neatly at the curb was Cassandra’s blue station wagon. One of its hubcaps was missing, and spoils of rust discoloured the framework.

‘Are you sure you can drive?’ Mia whispered as they piled their bags into the boot of the station wagon.

‘Of course I can drive!’ Dino paused. ‘I mean, not legally, obviously.’

Mia laughed nervously. ‘Stealing a car
and
driving without a licence? Oh, well. At least Mum and Aunt Maddie won’t think to look for us in jail.’

‘It’s our mother’s car,’ Dino pointed out. ‘And we’re not stealing, we’re
borrowing
. Besides, I left a note.’

‘Remember to remind them of that when they’re reading you your rights,’ Mia said as she slid into the front passenger seat. She pulled the door gently shut behind her, enclosing herself in the cold car. Her breath fogged the windscreen.

Dino settled into the driver’s seat and fastened his seatbelt. With one hand fixed on the steering wheel, he turned the key in the ignition. The car rumbled to life, then jolted forward, jerking them in their seats. The engine stalled and died, leaving them in eerie silence.

Dino glanced at Mia. ‘My foot slipped,’ he justified vaguely.

She glanced down at his muddy skate trainers where they rested on the pedals. ‘Is your foot planning on slipping a lot?’ she asked.

‘I don’t know,’ he mused. ‘We’ll soon find out.’

He turned the ignition over again and slowly, erratically, the car lumbered out onto the tarmac.

Clinging to her seat in trepidation, Mia shot one last look at their house, nestled in the heart of a terraced street. Neat stone steps led up to the cherry-red front door, which in the darkness was more a blood-red hue. The ill omen made her shiver and she quickly looked away.

Mia watched through the car window as the slumbering houses of Conway Street were left behind. There was no turning back now; they were on their way.

Mia gave one last glance over her shoulder. A chill ran down her spine. The feeling was neither good nor bad, simply an awareness that this was just the beginning.

Homecoming

It was approaching dusk by the time the old station wagon crossed into the town of Silver Brook thirteen hours later. The streets seemed bleak and deserted. Evergreen pines lined the main road, and fog clung to the distant snow-capped mountain peaks.

Inside the car, the old stereo crackled in and out of tune, disjointing a maudlin ballad as though it were waiting for the listeners to fill in the blanks, daring them to narrate their own story. The fragmented melody only added to the haunting atmosphere of the desolate town.

Dino pulled over on the roadside and slowed to a stop. The car engine gave a little splutter.

‘What’s wrong?’ Mia asked, gazing out the window to a smaller dirt road leading through an archway of trees. ‘This is the turnoff, isn’t it?’

‘Yeah,’ Dino answered. ‘This is it.’

‘Then why have you stopped?’ Mia turned to him, studying his profile as his eyes remained trained on the road.

‘I need a second,’ he said in a hoarse voice.

Mia’s stomach knotted. ‘What’s wrong?’ she tried again.

‘Nothing.’ He exhaled quietly before pressing his foot down on the accelerator and swerving off the main road and onto the dirt path. His grip on the steering wheel tightened as the car juddered along the uneven ground. 

Overhead, the trees bowed towards each other, creating a tunnel. The barren winter branches knotted together, blocking out the daylight. Only occasional bursts of fading sunlight lanced through the gaps, shooting spears of misted light across the dusty road.

When the trees finally parted many miles later, the tunnel opened out onto a rolling meadow. The turrets of the castle came into view in the distance, and as they drove along the gently sloping pasture they were greeted with the sight of the castle in its entirety. It stood tall, grand and imposing. The russet stone walls curved neatly around one another, and the tall lead-framed windows reflected the light like mirrors, echoing golden hues back at them.

Dino let the car roll to a stop in the courtyard and cut the engine.

For a long while, neither of them spoke. The only sound was the hum of the car engine as it cooled from the journey.

‘We’re back,’ Mia murmured breathlessly.

Dino’s jaw clenched. ‘Feels like we never left.’ He unbuckled his seatbelt and stepped out into the courtyard, letting the car door fall shut behind him.

With a vague sense of apprehension, Mia joined him outside. The air here felt static, charged, as though it were waiting for something extraordinary to happen. She glanced across the courtyard to a hedge archway—the gateway to the grounds and the forest beyond.

Hunter domain
, she thought, immediately conjuring an image of Colt in her mind. The forest was
his
territory. His presence loomed over her. It was present in the air, grazing her skin.

Her heart began beating a little faster.

‘Come on,’ Dino muttered, breaking through her reverie. He began towards the castle entrance.

With one last glance to the hedge archway, Mia followed her brother.

At the castle, Dino twisted the brass handle on the towering oak door. It opened with a weary groan, scraping across the stone floor as it granted them access.

They crossed into the subdued candlelit entryway, where shadows were thrown across the dark wood floor. The familiar scents of the castle stirred around them, welcoming them. It was the scent of lingering candle smoke and log fires—the scent of the place where their lives had changed irrevocably.

Mia followed Dino along the narrow corridor, their footsteps echoing in the cavernous building. She’d never known the castle to be this empty before. It felt abandoned and hollow, devoid of life.

‘Where is everybody?’ she wondered aloud. Her voice reverberated off the high ceilings.

Dino shrugged. ‘Your guess is as good as mine.’

Mia frowned. She knew that most of the people who came to the castle would only stay for the summer, but Wendolyn, the four resident Hunters, and a few of the consenting civilian witches, called Arcana, stayed all year round. Surely there should be some sign of life?

They reached the drawing room. Dino pushed open the heavy door and they ventured inside.

Just like the corridor they’d come from, this room was empty too. Candles jutted from the walls, their flames flickering anxiously. Gold-framed oil paintings hung beside one another on the tall walls like an army of eyes guarding the chamber. Dotted around were pieces of well-worn furniture and lead-framed windows looking out over the courtyard.

Dino moved carefully across the room, his steps mirroring the hushed tone of the castle. ‘Maybe nobody’s here.’ He gazed beyond one of the windows, watching the dull orange blushes of sunset dance across the stone courtyard outside.

Mia wandered through the room, running her fingers along the furniture as she passed each piece. She stopped at a green, crushed velvet settee. She’d been sitting here on her first day at the Glass Castle—the day she’d met her friend Kizzy, a free-spirited Seer gifted with the ability to glimpse into the future. It felt like a lifetime had passed since that day. Her world had changed drastically since then. She’d first come to the castle at a time when her relationship with Dino had been strained at best, and now...

She glanced at him. He was her brother again. The same brother who had taught her to ride a bike when she was six years old. The same brother who had stood up to the school thug, Billy Driscol, when he’d pushed her over in the playground. And worlds apart from the brother who had fallen under a spell and tried to kill her just four months earlier. The difference was,
that
brother—the occasionally homicidal brother—was the brother she’d almost lost. The brother who had been deceived and manipulated by a man they should have been able to trust. By a man who, as it turned out, was their father.

But that may as well have been a lifetime ago. Their father, Tol, had been defeated in his quest for power, and Dino was back to being Dino again. At nearly eighteen years old, Dino still retained the spirit of his childhood self—the same self who had confidently removed the stabiliser wheels from his little sister’s bike and sent her free-wheeling down their terraced street...then had looked on sheepishly when she’d toppled over and hit the concrete.

‘Ouch,’ he’d uttered, wincing for her. ‘You okay, Mia?’

Mia could still remember the shock she’d felt as her knees had smacked down on the pavement. As senseless as it may have sounded, she’d been more than okay. Actually, she’d felt great! It had been a landmark in her young life: the day she’d ridden her bike without training wheels. Grazed knees were merely battle scars in a war she’d boldly won. And her brother, Dino, had been right there with her, on the front lines.

Now, in the dim light of the drawing room, Dino turned to her. The early evening sun spilled in through the imposing windows and caught in his brown eyes, warming them with coppery tones.

Dino gave her a strange look. ‘You okay, Mia?’ he asked, echoing the past.

‘More than okay,’ she replied with meaning.

Perplexed, he furrowed his brow. ‘Okay... Wanna check the library?’

Mia nodded.

Side by side, they left the drawing room and emerged into the corridor once more. They followed it as it wound through the Arcana wing of the castle. Brass candlesticks hung from the walls, their flames sprouting guiding lights to map a course through the windowless passage.

A short distance away, the library door was ajar. Its tall, solid oak structure cast a shadow into the room beyond.

Mia and Dino slipped through the shadows and surfaced in the library.

Countless rows of books lined the walls in a sea of autumn colours. They stretched right from the floor and crept all the way up to the double-height ceiling. The very highest row of books was only accessible by a ladder that was tipped against the top shelf. In the centre of the room, a dozen or so high-backed leather chairs were arranged around an apothecary table. The five people seated around it looked to the doorway in surprise as Mia and Dino entered.

Wendolyn was the first to speak. ‘My goodness!’ she cried, rising from her seat and hurrying to greet her guests. Her silvery hair had been woven into one long plait that tumbled over her wine-red winter dress.

In one of the other chairs, Benny Blue dropped his book with a thud and leaped up. ‘Dino!’ he exclaimed at the sight of his friend. ‘What are you d-doing here?’ There was a trace of a stammer evident in his voice as his words tumbled out. His honey-coloured eyes were wide with delight as he bounded across the room.

‘Blue! What are
you
doing here?’ Dino returned the question with equal surprise.

‘I’m staying at the castle full time,’ Blue explained hurriedly. ‘I would have called, but...’ he held up his hands submissively, ‘n-no phones.’

Dino smiled. ‘It’s good to see you.’

‘It’s good to see you, too.’ Blue pushed strands of sandy blonde hair away from his brow. ‘And you as well,’ he added, turning to Mia. ‘I’ve missed you both.’ He cast a quick glance towards the apothecary table, where two boys and an older man were seated. ‘It hasn’t been the same around here without you guys,’ he finished.

‘We’ve missed you, too,’ Mia told him. ‘All of you.’ She waved enthusiastically to the trio at the apothecary table.

As they stared back at her strangely, Mia realised that she’d never really met any of them before. There were two teenaged Arcana boys whom she vaguely recognised from the previous summer, and one much older, snowy haired man whom she didn’t recognise at all.

‘I’m Mia,’ she told them with a sheepish wave.

‘I gathered,’ muttered one of the boys grouchily.

‘Isaac,’ Blue mouthed, swapping a peeved look with Mia and Dino.

However, Mia didn’t have time to dwell on the boy’s unfriendly reaction because the elder man jumped up from his seat and smiled jubilantly at her, accepting her warm reception as though it were intended especially for him. His eyes were like cool crystals, almost as light as his hair, and he wore wire-rimmed glasses that looked far too small for his jolly, rounded face.

‘But why are you here?’ Blue pressed.

Dino cleared his throat and straightened his shoulders. He turned to Wendolyn. ‘It was suggested that we come to you,’ he began vaguely, leaving out the part about it being Mia’s suggestion. ‘To seek advice,’ he continued, as though reciting the words from carefully prepared flash cards. ‘Our mother and aunt were at a loss as to what to do in regards to this...’ he hesitated, gazing at the wall of books while he tried to remember his line, ‘
particular matter
,’ he went on. ‘So Mia and I offered to drive here and...’ He fell into another pause as he grasped for words.

‘Seek your counsel before we take the necessary action,’ Mia finished for him.

Good one
, she congratulated herself silently.
Nice save.

‘Yes,’ Dino confirmed, seeming pleased. ‘Seek your counsel, and all that.’

In other words
, Mia thought to herself,
we ran away because we didn’t like our mother’s plan.

‘You ran away?’ Wendolyn echoed.

Dino scowled at his sister.

She cringed. ‘Sorry. I can’t help thinking—it just happens! Your speech sounded great, though.’

‘No, I’m sorry,’ said Wendolyn distractedly. ‘Perhaps I shouldn’t have read your thoughts without permission. I suppose as a Reader I’ve come to rely on my power as the quickest way to learn the truth. You ran away from home?’

‘It’s not how it sounds,’ Dino assured her. ‘Well, maybe it is how it sounds, but it’s not as
bad
as it sounds. In the grand scheme of things,’ he added.

For a moment Wendolyn seemed dazed, but she quickly regained her composure and beckoned them to sit down. While they huddled around the apothecary table, the other three politely returned to their books. Their eyes may have been on the text, but there was no sound of pages turning.

‘I think I know what this is about,’ Wendolyn confessed. She glanced briefly at the snowy haired man, who looked up from his book with an apologetic smile. ‘And I had a feeling we’d be seeing you before long.’

‘So we did the right thing coming here?’ Dino ventured.

Wendolyn smiled kindly. ‘That’s not what I said.’

Dino leaned forward in his seat, knotting his hands through his hair. ‘We had to go somewhere. They were going to send Mia away to some middle-of-nowhere Alcatraz!’

Blue’s eyes widened at the thought.

‘Oh, now, come on,’ Wendolyn placated. ‘I’m quite certain your mother has Mia’s best interests at heart.’

‘Yeah, right,’ Dino snorted. ‘Cassandra only cares about her
own
best interests.’ The room prickled with tension at the curt remark. ‘It’s the way she’s always been and she’ll never change.’

‘That’s not true,’ Wendolyn replied calmly.

‘It’s not in Mia’s best interests to be abandoned out in the sticks on her own,’ Dino argued. ‘If someone’s after her, then sending her into isolation is the
last
thing we should be doing, right?’