Chapter fourteen- Whispers in the Wind
Richard left late that evening and I doubt his father didn’t scold him for returning home so late. The next day was tiring, but Richard and I both would exchange glances during lunch in acknowledgement, giggling to ourselves and thinking about the romantic kiss at the campsite last night.
At lunch, the girl named Abigail began to sit with us. Emily, Tara, and Grace had tried to sit with us for the “sake” of Richard, but apparently they couldn’t stand sitting next to Abigail and I. It was a funny sight, but a relief to sit with just Richard and Abigail.
Winter came quickly, and it was strange to see that Ravenwood was still new to me. During the snowy days, the walls outside of Ravenwood were snowy and chilly. However, the inside walls of Ravenwood Academy was warm and toasty, as though the big tree of Bartebly kept the whole academy warm.
On a Wednesday December afternoon, I was sitting with Abigail and Richard, eating lunch by the gates of Bartebly. The morning snowstorm was raging outside the walls, but not one flake of ice past through the tree leaves.
“I’m thinking about talking to the Headmaster after school today.” I announced. Abigail and Richard looked up in surprise.
“W-why?” Richard stuttered, looking rather aghast. Nobody visited the Headmaster unless it was urgent. “Did something happen?”
I grimaced. “Well, there’s the thing with Golem Court , my school, my mother’s letters, and if the undead is really taking over.”
Abigail and Richard had their thinking faces on. Obviously they were thinking back about when I told them about everything. I told Abigail shortly after she began sitting with us, after I learned I could trust her through her energetic personality.
“Oh yeah, everybody wants to know about how Malistaire left you without, you know, murdering you and all.” Abby said in a matter-of-fact voice.
“Yeah, thanks for reminding me.”
Richard’s eyes widened slightly. “I have an idea. How about we go to the library this weekend and study? Mary, you found some stuff on Malistaire, right? And that was just in Basic Wizardry! Think about what we could learn in the more… Let’s say, higher level books.”
I laughed a little. “And how do you think the Librarian will allow us to read high leveled books?”
“Truthfully, Mary.” Abigail took a sip of her juice box, her black pigtails bouncing in the balmy breeze. She had just got red streaks in her hair, and cut her bangs to cover half her face. In a way, she looked daring and someone who you should not ever cross. “Do you not know me? I’m the master of the sneak. I don’t give a crap about what the Librarian thinks- nor do I care if I get a detention. Most likely, he won’t notice me.”
“Um.” I looked at her up and down. “I think he will. Who else in Ravenwood has red and black hair?”
“Not if I wear a wig.” Abby winked and crushed her empty juice box. She glanced at Richard. “How about I sneak in the library and grab some books and Richard distracts the librarian?”
“Okay.” I replied, thinking about it. “Then what do I do?”
“You.” Abby answered, wagging her finger at me. “Will be with me, finding books. The more people helping finding the right books, the better.”
“Okay, I got it.” I connected the pieces. “Yes, it will work! What time shall we meet?”
“At noon, Saturday.” Richard replied.
“Works for me.” I heard the bell ring. “It’s the end of school. I have to hurry to the Headmaster’s office.”
Abby and Richard packed up their bags, and hurried to my pace beside me. Richard opened his mouth first when we were walking out the gates from Ravenwood. “Do you know about Earth?”
Abby looked confused- evidently she knew nothing of the world we, the Enchanted people, came from. I knew exactly what he was talking about. “Yeah. I read it in the Basic Wizardry text book.”
“Well.” Richard continued. “You know the people who weren’t Enchanted? They were called Humans. Apparently, they learned Math, Science, Reading
“Ha!” Abby laughed. “As if they could have a school for that stuff? Everybody knows that we learn that automatically!”
“That’s not the weirdest part.” Richard chuckled. “I heard their whole school day is six hours.”
Abby made a disgusted face. “You mean if I was some ‘Human’, I wouldn’t be able to eat my veggie burgers until four in the afternoon?”
“No.” Richard replied. “They have lunch around our time, but they have school after lunch.”
“Weird.” I added. “Do the Humans not learn Math, Science, and the Arts automatically?”
“No, I guess not. Normally, the Enchanted would know this when they are first born- but Humans have to learn it over time. Just think- it’s kind of similar to us. The Enchanted learn Magic over time, and Humans learn Science, Math and the Arts overtime.”
“Um, not really.” I explained. “You see, Humans don’t know magic. That changes a lot.”
“Forget Humans and your logic, Mary. We’re at the Headmaster’s house anyway.” Abby nodded.
We stopped in our tracks. I looked at Abby and Richard and nodded. They nodded back and turned their backs, walking away. Richard glanced back at me, but I was already walking into the Headmaster’s mansion.
When I touched the silver circlet on the door to knock, a breeze sent a cold shiver up my arms. I hoped another snowstorm wasn’t coming this way. The wind brushed through my hair, moving it away from my ears. The wind whistled in my ear drums, but I swore I heard an echo… Something in the wind, and perhaps saying something… My name?
But then the wind stopped. I brushed it off as nothing. Just the wind whistling. I knocked on the door, and after a second, the door swung open. It was as though the house was expecting me.
Headmaster Ambrose was sitting at his desk, writing. He did not look up, but waved his hand slightly to urge me forward. I walked slowly up to his desk.
“I need to talk to you, Headmaster.”
The Headmaster nodded, and put his pen down. “What is it you seek to talk about?”
I sat in a large, plush chair by the fireplace. “Everything. Have you figured out why my school is Balance? About Golem Court ?”
The Headmaster finally lifted his gaze of what he was writing to look at me. “And more..?”
How he knew that I needed to tell him more, I did not know. “About my mother.”
He nodded, and began to tap his pen on his desk. He sighed. “I’ve had my suspicions, but I rather not plague your mind with ideas that may not be true. The source of your Balance school, I have yet to know. Golem Court… What do you wish to know?”
“Golem Court .” The place sounded slippery in words. “I want to know why Malistaire left me unharmed. Why he said what he said. Why he had that shocked look on his face. Why I heard a weird sound when I closed the door when I entered the Tower of Golem Court .”
“Weird sound?”
“When I first entered the Tower.” I explained. “I heard a scuffling… When it was too long until the door of the Tower closed, I looked back but nothing was there. I thought of it as nothing… But what do I know?”
“You know a lot, Mary.” Headmaster Ambrose said carefully. “And I understand how… How worried you are about Malistaire and his plans-“
“Plans?” I interrupted. “You mean he has more things happening later on?”
The Headmaster grimaced. “There are so many things happening these days.” He put his hand on my shoulder. “I would regret making you worry more.”
“No- tell me!” I begged. I suddenly realized that I was being rather needy of the Headmaster. However, Headmaster Ambrose just chuckled.
“I know you wish to know, but these are times that are only for Questures. Now, you said something about your mother?”
“I-“I shook my head. What if he took it the wrong way? “Nothing.” I lied.
Headmaster Ambrose raised an eyebrow. “I thought you wanted to know something about the letters..?”
I shook my head again. Nobody would understand- not even him. Would he? I wasn’t going to take the risk. “Its nothing- I just found out the answer. Just now. It’s not a question anymore.”
The Headmaster leaned back on his chair. “Well, since your ‘question’ has now just been answered, I could tell you my suspicions about Golem Court .”
I nodded eagerly. “That would be a relief.”
The Headmaster did not smile. Instead, he looked rather serious. He leaned over on his desk and stared into my eyes. “Do you think you could have a sort of relationship or similarity to Malistaire Drake?”
“Rel- What?” I gasped. “Wha- what are you saying? I never met Malistaire Drake in my life.”
“No, I believe you have never seen or met him in your life. However, where do you get this sudden boost of power, when you blew Mr. GreenBlade across the room? Where did you get the soul of a Balance child? A Fire and Life magic do not make a Balance magic. It makes either a Fire, or a Life child. Not your school, my dear.”
“So what are you saying?” I asked. “That I’m connected to Malistaire somehow.”
The Headmaster relaxed and chuckled. “The thought of it… It’s not possible. Not for a child whom has no reason to be connected to such a cruel, murderous man.”
I stared out the window, watching the evening snow fall. I remembered my mother’s words, the day I was sick. That’s what everybody thinks of him at first. I sighed. “How? He only destroyed a monument in Ravenwood.”
“Yes, but that Monument happened to be a school. A classroom, full of children. Do you want to know what happened to those children?” The Headmaster whispered.
I winced. How dare a man murder a classroom of children? “For Gods sake, why did he do it? Did he murder a bunch of children and destroy the school for no reason?”
The Headmaster just shook his head. “Nobody knows why. I wish I could somehow figure it out, but the only person related to him is his brother, Professor Cyrus Drake. He, however, knew nothing of the sort either.”
“What about Sylvia Drake?”
Headmaster Ambrose smiled numbly. “She was dead of a cold long before Malistaire lost control. She was the most kind, beautiful woman. She loved everything, and whatever she touched loved her back.”
I stared at my hands. “Did she truly love Malistaire?”
Headmaster Ambrose sighed. “Out of all men, she chose the Death teacher. Opposite of her own kind, and yet she did love him. A strange combination, but she had always said that she loved his mysterious aura, his handsome looks and solitary attitude.”
“But she was a social butterfly, was she not?” I contrasted. “Sylvia was an apparent beautiful woman, but everyone says about her personality the absolute opposite of what Malistaire’s personality is. How could they love each other when they are so utterly different?”
“Love works in many ways, Mary.”
“So does friendship.”
The Headmaster’s eyes twinkled at me. “I like your clever attitude. Use it well, for the future. You may need it.”
“For what?” I asked.
The Headmaster frowned. “Oh, who knows? Life comes with many things.”
I turned my head away, resting it on the chair. “So, you think that Malistaire Drake only spared my life because he thought we were… Connected?”
“Yes. Somehow.”
I nodded. “I don’t believe it.”
“Why not?” The Headmaster looked mildly surprised.
I snorted. “It’s just like saying that evil is connected to me. I don’t want anything to do with evil.”
“It actually may be true that you have evil inside you.”
I stood up in my chair, shocked. “How could you assume that of me?”
His face did not waver from any emotion. It was just blank. “Malistaire spared you for a reason. Perhaps because he saw something in you, unlike other thirteen-year olds.”
“Wait- are you saying what I think your saying? That I’m evil?” My voice was tuning up.
“Perhaps.”
I made a sound of disgust, and folded my arms. I left his office without turning back. He did not want to help me, and I did not want to hear his words. If he did want to help me, why did he assume I was evil? On Malistaire’s side? I saved his life.
The night breeze once again picked up on the way home, sending shivers down my back. I could feel my hair whipping back, clinging with wet snow.
“Daughter…”
I turned around. I swear I heard the words from somewhere, and yet nobody was around me. I remembered the experience of hearing something in the wind, before I walked into the Headmaster’s office. My panic began to rise slightly. I walked in a faster pace.
However, the wind just kept picking up. I wondered if I was going to be suddenly blown away, but I still had resistance to the wind. Was a storm brewing, or was this wind supernatural?
“The… Time… Is… Coming…”
This time, I only whipped my head around, and began to run. Nothing was there. Was something following me? I looked around the area, Unicorn Way Park
I began to see my house. I ran through the wind, and I felt like it was pushing me back. Trees were slanted away from the wind, and it felt like a dream where you can’t run. I began to get frustrated, and the sudden change of mood gave me a boost of energy. I reached my house.
I got through the wind enough to touch the doorknob. All of a sudden, the wind stopped. I looked around, gripping the doorknob, watching the trees slowly move back to their normal place. House’s windows no longer shuddering and no source of wind were moving through the air. What was going on?
I turned the doorknob. At the last moment, a large gust of wind blew me back once again.
“Be… Prepared…”
I ran into the house and slammed the door behind me.
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