

Alana Weatherbee (Book 1)

By Jack Sorenson

© 2010 Jack Sorenson  
Jacksorenson@comcast.net  
Smashwords Edition

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photo-copying, recording, or otherwise, without prior permission of the author.

Dedication:

A wonderful, colorful, hidden source of extra special qualified potion, charm and magic was placed by our "Magnolia Belle," novelist, and my editor, in the books of "Jacks School of Shines" and the Alana Weatherbee series. Thank you, Belle.

In addition, a huge thanks to MOM and DAD. Hey, Daisy, you too, my dear sweet cat, for allowing me to write another novel over long days and nights.

School of Shines collected quotations:

Just one tap of your wand \- Keep your dreams alive despite what people may say, by working at it a little each day. Rewards come small to even grow larger one day. To achieve anything requires faith and belief in yourself. Keep your vision clear and real. Hard work pays off. Determination and dedication with honor and humility need to be taken but, be advised, it's a hard road to travel. Two taps of your wand \- Remember, all things are possible for those who believe in magic within themselves. Do not spoil what you have by focusing on what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for. Three taps of your wand \- Keep the dreams within arm's reach and you'll do well in life. We all can make it, we just have to believe in ourselves and work at it.

If you enjoy my work, please check out my last novel "Jacks School of Shines." Colin, a young wizard from the School of Shines, must stand between the world of Good and the Evil Goblin with his minions of Dark Robes. "Alana Weatherbee" novel is my second film taken by moviemaker and producer, Amy C. Chapman.

Please enjoy the read. I love this story.

Author Jack R. Sorenson

Chapter 1

Alana got off the back of Headmaster Barns' broomstick and followed him inside the castle which housed the School of Shines. Her eyes darted this way and that, taking it all in. Alana had only heard stories of this place and of its many ghosts.

"Alana, this way." He picked up a candle and led her up two flights of stairs. They turned left and he knocked on the first door. It creaked open to reveal an old woman wearing an even older dark blue bathrobe, one pocket torn at the corner. Her gray hair frizzed around her wrinkled face and she smelled of liniment and lemon drops.

"Pardon me, Professor, for bothering you at this late hour, but I have a new student," Headmaster Barns explained. "This is Miss Alana Weatherbee."

"Not Wizard Weatherbee's daughter?" The professor smiled at her.

"The same. We've just come in from Nottingham. Could you please find her some supper and show her to her room?"

"Certainly. Certainly." The professor stepped into the hallway and patted Alana's light brown hair with one knob-knuckled hand. "How old are you, dear?"

"Fifteen." Alana stared at the ancient woman, wondering if she should ask her age.

"Fifteen?" She tilted her head, studying her too large blue eyes and her porcelain face. "You're a bit small for fifteen."

Alana grumbled, "I'm not that short." Then the thought crossed her mind, Fifteen, gosh, I've never said that out loud before. Where'd the time go?

The professor graciously omitted commenting on Alana's bedraggled appearance. Her hair needed combed and her jeans had muddy hems. No one could ever accuse her of being "girly." But Alana did wash her face and put on shoes for the trip. Her father made her while he and the headmaster spoke privately in the parlor. Just before she left home with the headmaster, she'd spent the afternoon releasing all of her exotic pets back into the forest. Her father wouldn't know what to feed them, and none of her ghost friends could lend a hand. She had no human friends to ask.

"Don't let her size fool you," the headmaster cut in. "She's already well known in her village for her magical abilities. That's why her father agreed to send her here." With a wave, Headmaster Barns bid them goodnight and left her to her fate.

* * *

Her first day at the wizard's School of Shines was predictable. Everyone tried to pull a fast one on the new kid, but most gave up after getting no response. Alana gripped her wand, just in case of foul play.

Between first and second class, three girls approached her and stopped. The one in the middle crossed her arms, shifted her weight to her left leg, raised her nose at her and said, "Humph." By far the prettiest of the three, she seemed to be their leader. The other girls looked at Alana's shoes like they were from another planet.

"You're new here, aren't you?" the leader asked, glancing to her giggling friends, already knowing the answer.

"Yes. Got in last night." Noting her glossy red, manicured fingernails, Alana stuffed her hands with their chewed off nails in her pockets.

"What's your name?"

"Alana Weatherbee."

"Alana. Hi. I'm Judy. This is Denise and she's Carolyn." Judy's blonde curls bobbed over her right shoulder at a tall, lanky brunette with an overbite, and then to a round, short girl with freckles sprinkled across her cheeks. Carolyn kept pushing her glasses back onto her nose.

"Weatherbee? Wait? Isn't she that wizard's weird daughter?" Denise asked without thinking.

"Weird daughter?" Alana took a step closer; her eyes narrowed. "What's so weird about me?"

"Um...um...nothing." Denise turned red and the other two snickered.

"No. I want to hear it."

"Okay." Judy jutted her jaw. "You don't have any friends. People say you're wilder and more wicked than a husker boar. You spend all your time making spells and talking to ghosts, which I can believe now that I see your clothes. Doesn't your mother ever take you shopping?"

Alana's well-maintained anger turned to instant red. Whirling around, she ran down the hall, looking for an asylum to hide before her next class. She stood in the middle of an empty room and gave a Wondrous Spell that would reach the girls in a few minutes. After gaining some composure, she walked out of the room, feeling better. Laughter filled the hallway from the other students and the girls ran past her, being chased by an incredible beast with bulging eyes, hairy chest and a horrible smell. Alana just smiled and walked on.

In spite of that one encounter, Alana breezed through all her morning classes because her love of books gave her advanced knowledge. With her hood pulled low, she silently made her way to the cafeteria. After getting her food, she sat down at an empty table and pulled out a thick spell book written in Azarathean. She was flipping through the many pages when someone interrupted me.

"Hey, newbie, that's our table," a nasally voice sneered.

Alana turned from her spell book and noticed the lunchroom had gone silent; everyone stared at her. No one wanted to miss a minute of the action. She looked at the three in front of her. These must be the criminal gang, the school bullies, she once saw on the news. Wait, or was it the wanted poster in the old post office? What were their names? Ah yes, Wolfgang, Mammoth, and Wyatt.

Trouble, I dare say. Do I have a sign on my back saying 'new girl in school?'

Wolfgang, the boy who had talked to her, hovered a few feet above the ground, courtesy of the oversized broom he acquired from the poor kid crying in the background. Wolfgang was a small, messy haired boy in ripped blue jeans and a white T-shirt. Next to him stood a boy of average size with bright red hair and connect-the-dot freckles. Wyatt's longhaired locks were pulled up into two horns and his rose colored cat eyes were in slits. Standing behind him was a large teen, aptly named Mammoth. He towered above many in the cafeteria, glaring down at her. Hair covered most of his face, making Alana wonder if he'd ever heard of a comb or hairbrush.

"Hey, we're talking to you!" Mammoth's harsh voice bellowed.

"Yes?" she asked in her signature monotone, and her eyes narrowed.

"You're sitting at our table," Wyatt said in a dangerous voice.

The lunch crowed went, "Aw."

Alana shrugged and turned away. "I heard you the first time," she told him without a hint of emotion in her voice.

"So why aren't you moving, scud ball? You got sludge for brains?" Wolfgang asked her.

"One, scud isn't a word. Two, if you think I'm scared of someone stupid enough to wear cat eye contacts, rose colored no less, you're dumber than you look." The entire lunchroom crowd looked at her now, as if she had a death wish. She imagined it wasn't common for anyone to stand up to these three. Placing her hand on her wand hidden inside her jacket, Alana reminded herself now was not a good time to cast a three-way spell on the school bullies. Shines students weren't allowed to use wands outside of class, ordered by the Headmaster himself, Robert Barns. She grabbed her book and got up. "And three, I think you're going to need a new table."

They looked at her with a puzzled expression. "What's wrong with the ta...?"

With a hidden flick of her wand, the table's legs disappeared and, at the loud crash, her tormentors jumped back. Mammoth looked like he wanted to charge her, but Wyatt put up one hand to stop him and pointed to the book she held. "Curses, Murders, and Quarrelling Death Spells."

"Don't bother," Wyatt told them, his red-haired horns bobbing when he shook his head. "Let's just see how she does in combat practice. Labyrinth tryouts are today."

"Come on, guys, let's leave this witch alone...we'll get her later in the field," Mammoth predicted.

Chapter 2

Amusement sparked in Alana's eyes as she made her way to her dorm to meditate. "Oh, boy. What have I gotten myself into?" she said, leaning against the wall and biting her pinky fingernail to the quick. "Mandatory tryouts. What's that all about? Trying to find new blood to deal with the Top Five or wait, Top Three members?" The team probably planned to pull some complex maneuver, hoping they'd be able to make her look incompetent and unqualified for the school Labyrinth. Let them think they're smart, she thought to herself.

After her last two classes, she was assigned to enter the north field of the school for tryouts for the Top Five. As there were only three, they must have lost two somewhere along the way, she reasoned.

Her suspicions proved true. They stood atop a large hexagonal pillar at the beginning of combat practice and, as soon as the starting buzzer went, Wyatt yelled to Wolfgang and Mammoth to perform the Alpha maneuver. They disappeared into the first three openings in the maze.

Alana walked around the pond, her wand in hand, taking her time. Her first Labyrinth moments outside filled with the sound of the chirping birds and the plop, plop of fish and frogs jumping in the pond. She cleared her throat and took a deep breath, having already picked the best way in from Wyatt's head. Reading his thoughts was easy. She found her way straight to them.

Wyatt's wand sizzled and hit a fake monster springing from the hedge. Beside him, Mammoth held his jaw where the monster had zapped him first. Wolfgang jumped back when a plastic ghoul blasted him with a stun. She aimed at the ghoul and fired, sending it melting to the ground. All three boys spun around to stare at her.

"What are you doing here?" Wolfgang growled.

"You're welcome," she spit at him, then trotted around a corner.

"Don't tell me you're on our team," Mammoth snorted, following her.

"I'm not on anybody's team," she answered over her shoulder while ducking a fanged plant lunging for her throat.

"Good! We don't..." The plant wrapped itself around Mammoth's neck, choking him. With a muttered spell, she made the plant drop to the ground and continued on.

"Wait a minute. How'd you do that?" Wyatt asked, jogging to keep up with her.

"You mean you don't know how?" She rolled her eyes and turned left. In spite of not officially being on their team, she fought alongside Wyatt, Mammoth, and Wolfgang, gaining victory over the other practiced team. The trio seemed a bit shocked to see her fluidly enter into their game pattern. They passed the finish line and the headmistress descended upon them, clapping in a slow manner.

"Good job," she said. "Alana?" The teenager looked up, uninterested, as the headmistress called on her. "Meet Wyatt, Wolfgang, and Mammoth. They're the top players, our school's best students."

"We've met," she deadpanned.

"Very well, I'll leave you four to get acquainted." With that said, the headmistress left.

Alana turned to look at the school's top students. They all glared at her. First, she stole their lunch table and then stood up to them in front of their peers. They obviously hated her. She let out a small sigh before starting.

"I don't care what the headmistress said. I have no desire to become acquainted with anyone. You all dislike me and I couldn't care less."

"Is that all you've got to say?" Wyatt asked as she turned to walk away.

Looking over her shoulder, she told him yes in a flat voice and left the maze.

"Man, Judy was right. You are weird," Mammoth's deep voice followed her.

* * *

In the windy night, pelting rain prickled against the skin, driving most people to seek the comforts of their fireplaces. In the cleverly hidden pizza joint off campus, though, the fire burned low, unable to beat back the chill over the atmosphere. Behind the little bar, the bartender Tall, so called for obvious reasons, lean, and narrow in his gaze, continuously polished glasses with a grimy rag, getting them steadily dirtier, rechecking them for any spark of cleanness. His beady eyes glanced around the room, taking in the sparse customers and lingering on one old crazy woman who sat alone on one of the rickety wooden barstools.

The old crazy woman, Allison Lightenfoot, mumbled to herself, weighed down by an ungodly number of shawls. Bangles covered her arms and huge glasses made her eyes appear much larger than they were. She looked like she'd sprung out of the darkness and dirt of the pizza joint. She held a glass of stale beer, and a crust of pizza warmed by the fire. The beer froth froze to the rim of the glass, which she downed steadily with no effort at all. Abruptly, she pushed the empty glass away and, with as much dignity as a drunken person could muster, she stood to weave around the room.

"I've seen a werewolf," she slurred, clutching onto the bar.

The whole place stopped their actions as if frozen by a curse.

At that exact moment, her face turned blank and she stood stock still. A man, hooded and cloaked, who sat in the corner, saw this and walked over to her. Whispering in her ear, he led her into one of the more private parlors in the rear, among the discarded broken chairs, and a mop and pail. On the front of the man's cloak, letters in fine stitching read, Firewatchers. The woman didn't put up a fight. Instead, she started shaking, like someone exposed to too much cold.

Tall shut the door behind them at the same time as the woman started to speak, with her head thrown up and her eyes rolling back. At this point, the man sensed a presence behind the door. He set his lips in a grim line and murmured a spell that sealed off the door and all other entranceways to the room. Then he returned his attention to the woman.

* * *

Shannon Elfenroot from the School of Shines, a nosy professor, always on the lookout for any trouble, just happened to see this and tried to eavesdrop on the woman's conversation. He cursed to the high heavens at the door sealed smartly in front of his face. He threw every opening charm and jinx he knew on the door but it wouldn't budge an inch. He even added a few curses, although Elfenroot doubted whether a spell would actually open the charmed door the man had placed on the lock.

Of all the times for Allison Lightenfoot to launch a scary story so close to the school, she had to pick now, when not only was the headmaster absent from Shines, but he wasn't even in Whales. In addition, of all the people who had to come, the Firewatcher just happened to be sitting there. Werewolves were not to be taken lightly. No sir! It meant trouble, if the old drunk spinster could be trusted. Something needed to be done - immediately! Elfenroot paused and gave one last speculative glance at the door.

"All right, you win," he grumbled, feeling disgusted. He tried to reassure himself that Headmaster Barns would find a way to know the rest of the story from Miss Allison Lightenfoot anyway.

The Firewatcher watched Allison's head droop and listened to her speech slow to a stop. Convinced he had learned all he could from the sot, he opened the door, prepared to step out. Giving a loud gasp and shaking herself awake, she rasped out the last part of the nightmare she witnessed in harsh tones. "He's a MAN-EATER." With that, her head fell back against the wall, her mouth opened, revealing more teeth missing than not, and her snores filled the room.

With a swish of his cloak, Elfenroot brushed past the Firewatcher and went outside the back of the building, getting pelted by the rain. The night's cold damp air smelled of pizza and old beer. Without a pause, he hurried towards the school castle. Much as he loathed most of the people in the school, they had to know just what had transpired.

Chapter 3

Professor Elfenroot regarded himself with much amusement. There was no charm that he could not unhitch, except for the occasional one emanating from deep within a darker magic. He arrived at the castle and pounded on the door, the thump echoing through the great hall. While he waited, rain dripped off his nose and ran underneath his collar, down his back, giving him a chill and making him grumpy.

After several minutes of waiting, the door cracked open and a woman with fuzzy hair peeked through. "Oh, it's you." She held a handkerchief to her nose and sniffled.

"Sorry to come in so late after the doors were locked. But, I've news that's unpleasant, disagreeable, likely to cause trouble or loss. It might be an ugly rumor, but it might not."

"You know Headmaster Barns is gone. Whatever it is will have to keep."

"I know. Just listen for whispers and comments," the professor warned before inclining his head to her. She gave him a puzzled gaze as he disappeared down the great hall, leaving wet footprints toward the professors' quarters.

* * *

It was typical to find Alana in her room, working hard by candlelight. For the moment, she stared unfocused at the book opened before her while she recounted the day's events. That first day, she left her third period class when she was then told to bring a couple of empty boxes to the basement's storage room. She walked into the basement to bring the boxes to Professor Crowslunger, but Alana couldn't find her so she set the boxes down. On her way back up the basement stairs, an eerie voice called to her.

She took a step, but the voice called up to her again, stopping her. "Let's be friends. I will not hurt you," it said from a distance, soulful like. She followed the voice across the basement.

"Let's be friends, Alana. I will not hurt you."

Again and again, the voice called for her. As she followed, it led her to a mysterious old room in the end of the basement. Cobwebs hung like curtains across the thick wooden door. A curious symbol decorated the center and the door handle was made of human bone.

"What a strange room. I wonder where it leads?"

Alana opened the door. Round. Everything, walls and ceiling, lamps and mirrors were round. A faint hum and a smell of perfumed oil attracted her. She took a step in and looked around, but saw nothing of interest until she spotted an ancient book. A thick leather cover bound the pages together, with a wide strap holding a lock.

The book glowed gold and orange and floated in front of her. Alana reached, trying to catch it, but something or someone blew her away, back to be where she stood with the boxes before the voice came. She ran to the end of the basement, determined to solve this mystery, but, search as hard as she could, she couldn't find the door.

She went to bed that night with worry about her father circling her mind. He really didn't want her to leave home, but let her go, knowing it was for the best. Still, she could picture him forgetting to eat dinner, his face already too thin and pinched.

When she finally fell asleep, the nightmare returned. She hadn't dreamed it in a long time. Maybe being homesick brought it on.

My mother is standing on the parapet, silhouetted in the night's moon silver and gold. She trips, falling backward...falling...falling. I try to run, but my feet won't move. My scream sticks in my throat.

She woke in tears, her heart pounding in her ears, the feeling of helplessness wrapping around her so tightly, she could barely breathe. She was three when her mother died, and her father buried her under a root of rosemary outside Alana's bedroom window, so she could be close to her. A candle was lighted each May third, the anniversary of her death. Alana didn't remember much of her, more sensations than actual events. She loved her lullabies at night and her soft hands brushing her hair. Alana missed her so much, she ached and wondered if the pain would ever diminish.

* * *

Three days later...

"I see." Headmaster Robert Barns twiddled with his fingers behind his desk and looked at Shannon Elfenroot from behind half-moon glasses. "So all you heard, Shannon, was merely that part of the lady's story, a man eater, and nothing else."

"Yes," Elfenroot growled. "Whoever it was, he sealed the room before I could hear any more. Darn charm effective seal. I tried everything I could think of to remove it, but it wouldn't come off. The lock was buzzwacked with many new spells."

"And you don't know who that man was?"

"Not anyone I knew," Shannon confessed. "He was dressed in a dark cloak from head to toe, though."

"Could he have been one of Firewatchers?" Barns wondered.

Elfenroot shrugged. "The moment I got back to the school, I was questioned about a werewolf on campus. Two children saw it running around freely, playing with other children around the same age."

"I heard," Barns said. Word traveled fast. "Apparently, the werewolf might be a boy then?"

Tall said, "I doubt it, since the Firewatchers themselves have no knowledge of the werewolf apart from what was told."

Elfenroot interrupted. "I disagree, Tall. I'm sorry, Headmaster, but if the Firewatchers even suspect there might be a werewolf, they'll come to the school soon to search for the boy."

Headmaster Barns' eyes glinted in concern and anger.

* * *

Late one afternoon, after class and without practice to attend, Alana walked down the dorm hall, holding a small golden sack tied with a red silk ribbon, a gift from her father. Untying the ribbon, she reached in and took out a raspberry truffle, made by the finest chocolatier in the whole country. Her nose sniffed the delectable aroma and her mouth watered in anticipation at the dark brown square with a red zigzag decorating the top. Almost to her mouth, a hand snatched it away from her and grabbed the gold sack as well.

"Hey!" She whirled around to find Mammoth shoving the candy into his mouth. Wyatt pulled a piece out of the sack and tossed the sack to Wolfgang. The three walked away, leaving her sputtering.

"Give that back! That's mine!"

Wolfgang looked over his shoulder and opened his mouth as wide as it would go, revealing chewed chocolate caught between his teeth and coating his tongue. "You want it back? Here."

"You're disgusting!" She almost ran to her room for her wand, but realized they'd be long gone by the time she returned. Deciding her room might be safer, she went to it and lay down on her bed, squishing her pillow in her hands. Boys! Grrrr! Watching out the window for a long moment, she sat up and decided to do something constructive.

Dearest Father,

I hope this finds you well and rested. I thought you'd like to know how I'm getting on here. I like most of my classes. Theory of Mayhem, Potions Chemistry, History of Magic, Spelling (though the professor mumbles and often gets the spells wrong), and Broom Mechanics.

Also, I'm training with a team for the Labyrinth games coming up soon. You know I've always been fascinated by labyrinths, so I enjoy the practice, except for my team mates. They are three of the most obnoxious, smelly boys I've ever met!

The food is decent enough and I have my own room, which is quite nice. It gives me plenty of quiet privacy to read. Oh, the library here is amazing! I could spend years in there reading.

I must close as it's getting late. I love you and will see you my first free weekend.

Love,  
Alana

Once she'd written her letter, she rolled up the parchment, and laid it flat on the palm of her right hand. She said the spell, then blew on it. The Wind Messenger picked up her letter and whisked it away to her father's castle.

Dearest Daughter,

I was thrilled to hear from you so soon, as I imagined you'd be very busy with the new school and making new friends. I'm glad to know you're doing well in your classes, though I had no doubt you would.

As for the Labyrinth team members, if they give you any trouble, speak to a professor or to the headmaster. Don't let them bully you. And don't lose your temper and hurt them. Alright?

I've been working on a new potion in hopes of curing the common cold. When you're here next, I'll show you how far I've gotten. Perhaps we can put our heads together and finish it.

I'm proud of you. No father has been prouder. I'll be at the Labyrinth games, too. I've already made travel arrangements. For now, I'll close.

Love,  
Your father

* * *

The next morning, the schools bullies, Wyatt and Wolfgang, along with the giant-size knucklehead Mammoth, placed an enormous dose of black powder in Alana's locker. On her way there, Alana walked past the three boys acting like they were perfect angels. As Alana got closer, Wyatt snickered and the other boys clamped their hands over his mouth.

Alana opened her locker and the blast of the powder sprayed her face and upper body black with white smoke whirling around her head. Holding her breath, Alana saw the three boys laughing, falling to the floor, being overly silly in their amusement.

Wolfgang got to his feet first and looked at Alana. "Aw, what's the matter? Does baby want to cry? You want your mommy?"

A handful of kids in the hallway joined the boys, laughing and making jokes at Alana's state. She took one huge breath, filled with disappointment for the way life at school treated her. Glancing at Wyatt, she saw him quit laughing.

"Aw, c'mon. It's just a joke." Wyatt shoved his hands in his pockets.

"Maybe to you." She shrugged and made her way around the corner. A few steps later, she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Alana, wait." Wyatt pulled her to a stop.

"What now? You want to throw water on me or something?" She looked at him with hurt eyes.

"I...I thought you'd laugh...or get mad or something. I didn't think you'd really be hurt."

"You thought I'd laugh?" Crossing her arms, she shook her head.

"Yeah, or maybe get even and make our noses twice as big." His grin faded at her sad expression.

"I don't always feel like fighting with you, Wyatt. Sometimes it's too much being the outsider. Sometimes I just feel...left out."

Wyatt looked puzzled, like a new idea tried to burrow its way into his brain and the sensation confused him. "I'm sorry," he finally said. "Really, we were just goofing around."

"Hey, Wyatt!" Mammoth walked up behind him. "Giving her more grief?" The huge teen chortled and slapped his friend on the back.

Sending Wyatt another sad look, Alana walked away and, just before she went into the bathroom to wash her face, she overheard him say to Mammoth, "Knock it off, will you?"

* * *

She excelled in all her classes and found herself growing bored, well more bored than usual. She liked to daydream and let loose her inner powers to see where they would go. Being the only newbie, she had taken to spending lunch in her room where she could meditate or read in peace.

On the surface, she supposed things looked normal for her. But they weren't. In spite of choosing to stay by herself, she watched the groups of girls sharing gossip and makeup and clothes. Not that any of them would want to borrow her things, but still... They got each other's jokes and stood up for each other whenever anyone tried anything funny, like stealing a boyfriend, or starting a false rumor.

At home, she had her animals and the castle ghosts to talk to. On occasion, her mother's ghost would appear in her bedroom mirror and they'd talk for a while. Here she had no one and for the first time, she realized how lonely felt. She hated it. She wished she had at least one friend here, even one of her rude teammates. But every time she made even the slightest effort, like saying good morning or passing the salt at dinner, she got the silent treatment. If the school had an outcast, by her second week here, it was her.

Last night, though, she made a discovery that cheered her up. In the hallway close to the Headmaster's study sat a bust of one of the ancient headmasters. She had to stop and stare at it, as she'd never seen anyone quite that ugly before. The poor man had warts on top of warts, his eyes were too small and his chin too big. In her enthralled study, she pressed one hand against the wall and felt it grow instantly cold. Glancing at it, she couldn't see it. After her wrist, she only saw the wall. She jerked her hand free and inspected it for injury. Finding none, she repeated the experiment, except this time, she stepped completely in.

Whoosh! In a blink of a bat's eyelash, she found herself on the top floor on the opposite side of the school, close to the observatory where an astrology class was in progress.

Wow! Double wow! She wondered who all knew about this. Certainly the headmaster and probably most if not all of the professors. But, what about the students? Stepping back, she returned to the first hall and went to her room, knowing for certain there were more magical doors to find. With hopes of discovery and travel, her immediate future looked promising.

Chapter 4

The next morning, the T5S (the Top Five Students as she had taken to calling them, even though there were only three...Good grief! Doesn't anyone know how to count?) cornered her in the hallway.

"Hey there, birdie-brain," Mammoth said, towering over her.

Oh boy, he had not showered in days. What a body smell! He tried to think of another great brainstorm name to call her. She could tell, as his tongue came out a little and hung like his droopy eyes, to the right.

Wyatt reached behind him and whipped something out in an exaggerated gesture. Normally it was his pet toad Dewey hanging on his buttonhole. Alana looked at the device he held. She had no idea what it was till it popped open to reveal an ivory wand. Wyatt threw it to her and she plucked it out of the air easily.

"Congratulations. You've proven your worth. Welcome to the team," Wyatt told her.

"Thanks," she said, nodding.

"There's a briefing in my room tonight. Got it, pie head? Don't be late," Wolfgang barked, clearly sore about her being accepted on the team. It showed through his gritted teeth. Headmistress assured her later in the day that the meetings were only to acclimate them for the game. Alana felt there would be more horseplay than meeting.

She raised an eyebrow but of course, they couldn't see it with her midnight blue cloak covering her eyes. "I'll be there," she told them. "Now if you don't mind, I have to study for my Theorem of Mayhem test."

As she walked off toward her dorm room, she granted herself a small smile. She was finally a part of a team, accepted. Some of the schoolgirls artily smiled at her as she walked down the halls. She gave a smile back, careful to not overact. She knew they were only smiling so she wouldn't send another magical beast chasing after them, or make their hair fall out. Everyone here was so different from her.

She read up on her new team members after she reached the safety of her room. This bunch of guys seemed to enjoy robbing first year students, but now they left her stuff alone. At least she would get out of the first year of school alive. She thought to herself, it's best to play it safe.

That night, the meeting was a joke and she knew not to show up to the next one. The boys were close enough for her to smell their disgusting sulfur breath. Ripped up sofas and unclean shirts and shorts spiraled about the room in amazing disarray. It smelled like her locker room. The boys sat around a big table scored with terrible doodles of girls' bodies. They talked big and loud, big nothings, like they were the greatest team that the school had. The school cafeteria brought up some pizza; she was lucky to get one slice of plain cheese.

She had showered and dressed up in a brand new, short pink dress for this? Good grief. What a horrible experience for her. "Boys! Aaaahhhh!" She went to her room and to bed and the next day she burned her dress along with her new shoes, too.

* * *

That next full moon rose over Shines school, lighting the windows that didn't have shades. Watching closely from his upstairs study, the headmaster stared into his magic looking glass. A boy walked alone in the forest near the school. The headmaster worried about this dear boy and watched as he started to tremble. Barns could feel the boy's eyesight grow sharper and his nose begin to pick up smells it never could before. As they both looked at the full moon, his hair started to sprout from every inch of his body. The poor boy lost all his sense of self control and twitched his pointy ears, then raised his huge head and howled at the moon.

Headmaster remarked from the looking glass, "Oh my." He watched two men following the boy and could tell by their robes they were Firewatchers. He called out to summon the spirit, and spoke lovingly of a charm hidden in a tiny rose colored box on his desk. Turning back to the looking glass, he saw they lost the werewolf boy's trail. The Firewatchers continued to look around but found nothing, not a sign or footprint to follow. The werewolf boy had fallen silent and a calm, white light illuminated the forest where he last stood. Giving a satisfied "harrumph," the headmaster turned to his room for a good night's sleep.

One night, overcome with curiosity, Headmaster took an oil lamp and looked outside. He knew the boy needed his protection and hoped he could find him before the Firewatchers did. The boy also needed protected from himself. In adolescence, a spell is cast for the good, or else an old spell for the bad takes effect.

Headmaster Barns walked a ways down the forest trail, tree branches casting shadows on the ground and night birds calling to each other while they hunted.

"Boy, come to me," the headmaster intoned, raising his oil lamp high. He walked for a mile in slow, searching steps, his voice breaking the otherwise silent trail. "Boy? Where are you? I mean you no harm."

A shadow darted between two trees, catching his attention. Headmaster Barns stopped and pulled a baked chicken leg out of his pocket.

"Are you hungry? Here." He set the food, wrapped in a napkin, on the path and took two steps back. "I'm very fond of children. I have a whole school full of them."

The shadow stopped and then came closer until he could see the face of a teenage boy, frightened and thin, his nose sniffing the air at the scent of meat. His hand flicked out and grabbed the chicken, then he darted behind a tree. Headmaster Barns could hear the grunting of someone eating too fast.

"So, I came out here to tell you I have room for one more boy. I've got a soft bed, a warm fire, and all the food you want."

"But...but..." a whisper came from behind the tree. "I'm not good. I'm not safe."

The headmaster held a trusted faith in all magical children being good and of sound mind. "Of course you're safe."

"I change..."

"...into a werewolf. Yes, I know." Barns took a step closer. "And that doesn't bother me at all. It just makes you special. Will you come back with me?"

The boy stepped away from the tree and closer to the light, chicken grease smeared across his mouth.

"I'm Headmaster Barns. What's your name?"

"I...I don't remember." His sad eyes looked at the ground.

"Well, this won't do. This won't do at all." Barns crossed his arms and leaned back on his left foot. "I've always like the name Logan. I think it suits you. So, Logan, will you come back with me?"

"You promise you won't hurt me or try to put me in a cage?"

"A cage?" Barns looked horrified. "Never! You'll be well treated, I assure you."

"In that case, yes." He walked to the Headmaster and tugged on his sleeve. "Will there be more chicken?"

"Absolutely." Barns put his arm around the boy's shoulders and led him to the school.

Because of the lateness of the hour, most students and professors were asleep in their rooms. Barns brought the boy to the kitchen first for more food. Just as he set a platter of chicken on the table, the cook walked in, grumpy face and sleepy eyes.

"Hey! Who's in here?"

Startled, Logan jumped back and transfigured. Fierce wind blew through the room; pots and pans and teapots levitated and swirled; butcher knives hurled themselves into the walls.

"Now! Now!" Barns raised his hands, trying to reach Logan. "It's alright. Cook won't harm you."

Crouching to the floor, his eyes wild, Logan lifted his head and howled. Without looking away, Barns spoke over his shoulder.

"Cook, maybe you ought to leave for a moment."

"C...certainly, Headmaster." Backing out of the room, cook went to lie down, waiting for his heart to go back into his chest.

When he waddled down the hall, the wind stopped and the levitating objects returned to their original positions. When the boy's transfiguration turned off, all things settled down. The utter destruction that had befallen the room moments ago disappeared without a trace. Headmaster Robert Barns and the new boy exchanged shaken looks.

"What's going on? Headmaster?" The shaky voice belonged to Professor Cronwinkle. She stood near the open door, holding a white bundle of clean sheets in her arms. Beside her were a medic-witch, Tukloups and Gigues, all three of them looking shocked.

"Please help me welcome our newest student, Logan," Headmaster Barns smiled and gestured to the boy.

They all looked anxious to make Logan at home.

"H-headmaster..." medic-witch stuttered. "The boy will not change into...dare I say...a werewolf at school now, will he?"

"I have it under control," he said with a wave of his finger.

In the gloomy hallway, even bent over, old tired Professor Briggs took a moment before he could regain his voice. "I-it stopped. Everything," the usually unflappable Potions Master gestured weakly around in shock. "All the flying objects and banging windows stopped because of him."

Barns nodded. "Yes, quite right. Apparently, and to my surprise, he isn't just a werewolf. There's a lot of wizard about him, too. Very rare! Very special! Much magic is to be learned from this boy." He inhaled a breath of air and nodded to Professor Cronwinkle. "After he's eaten, would you please show him to his room?"

"Of course." The kindly old woman set a glass of water in front of Logan, then joined him for a piece of blackberry pie.

Satisfied with the night's work, with quick strides, Barns made his way to his study. A sweet serenity engulfed the entire room. Barns smiled, the twinkle returning to his eyes.

Chapter 5

A week later...

"How are you feeling, Alana?"

She gave a wan smile. "Much better, Headmaster. I've rested enough now." She'd returned to school the day before, tired and upset after spending the weekend at home.

Barns nodded. "And how has Mr. Weatherbee been?"

"He won't stop crying," she said. "And every time he cries, the same thing happens. Everything in the room starts going haywire. The furniture flies around and slams itself into walls. The air is so thick and dank, it feels like it's choking you..."

"Aw, he misses his daughter. Very touching indeed."

"I know he misses me. He has no one there now, and only agreed to let me come here because you convinced him I needed more magical training. But, honestly, all he does anymore is conjure new charms and potions and practice new spells. I wonder if some of the potions' fumes are affecting him."

"Nothing to worry about, dear. You've got your first game coming up soon. Keep your mind on practices."

She let out a dry sob. "Headmaster, please! What can we do about my father? There has to be something we can do to make this all stop! I can't take it anymore!"

"Have you told him about the big game? Will he be coming?"

"Yes." She swiped at her eyes with her sleeve. "He gave me this." She picked up a brand new wand and flicked it a few times. "It's ten times more powerful than my old one. He said that one was for a child, and this one is for a true witch. It's even better than the ivory wand the team gave me."

"Well, then..." Headmaster Barns took it from her, balancing it in his hands. "This is a fine wand, one of the better ones I've ever seen. When your father comes to the game, he'll see how well you're doing here and then he'll feel better, too."

Barns returned the wand to her and changed the subject. "Alana, I have a friend who I believe you can help... strange behavior. He has never worked with a school such as ours or been around too many people, either, but he's willing to try if you can be his friend. When this boy turns up, you'll know who I'm referring to and perhaps you can take relief of your problems by helping him."

"Alright."

"Good. Thank you." He patted her shoulder and walked away, leaving her feeling a bit better.

* * *

Alana woke early the next day, anxious about the big game, and headed for the field. It seemed the whole School of Shines showed up. Her team members, Wolfgang, Wyatt and Mammoth, wore black cloaks with wands at their sides. She did the same.

She sat down on a bench, trying to take it all in. The sky filled with broomsticks carrying eager attendees hoping they weren't too late to find good seats. People strolled about the school grounds or filled the bleachers on one side of the labyrinth. Some brought picnic baskets with them. Small children chased each other around their parents' feet.

She could tell the parents of the students playing the game. They sat straighter and talked louder than most, pointing to their son or daughter and bragging. They also wore their child's team colors. Bright orange, deep crimson, brilliant blue and silver gray blossomed over the grounds. Searching the crowd, she didn't see her father. But it was still early.

"So, you ready for this?" Wyatt thudded down next to her, his wand dangling from one hand.

"We've practiced enough." She didn't want to admit how nervous she felt.

"You know this may take a few days."

Her mind exploded. A few days? Good grief! What have she gotten herself in for? She just assumed it would all be over in a few hours, but she didn't tell him that.

"Plus," Wyatt went on, "the beasts and eerie creatures are real."

"What? They're real? But...but..."

"Why do you think there were only three of the top five students when you got here? We lost two players last year. Bernard couldn't take it and quit school."

"What happened to the other one?"

"No one's sure."

Her wide blue eyes begged him to tell her he was joking. "Now I know the reason for the new wand," she muttered.

Glancing to make sure no one watched, Wyatt put his arm around her shoulder. "You'll be alright. You've got a giant, a master with the wand, and me, the brains of this outfit, for teammates. And, we've got the best spell caster of all the schools here. You."

"Th...thanks." She wiggled loose from his arm in the pretense of dropping her wand and needing to pick it up.

"Have you seen the map yet?" He didn't wait for her answer, but knelt on the grass to unroll it. She leaned forward to look over his shoulder.

Once lying flat, the map spoke aloud. The Sacred Labyrinth Walk, Illuminating the Inner Path, is the ancient practice of "Circling to the Center". Great Magic unfolds through your experiences by walking the labyrinth. Labyrinths have been in use for over a thousand years at the School of Shines. Their basic design is fundamental to nature and many cultures and religious traditions. Whatever one's religion...walking the labyrinth clears the mind and gives insight. It calms people in the throes of life's transitions.

The map showed a dangerous single-path Labyrinth of the earliest form of mazes. A student might question how a maze with a single path and no choices could be of any interest. Nevertheless, it was capable of leading a player into great confusion and wonder.

Wyatt raised his head to look at her. "How long do you think it would take you to get through it?"

"It doesn't look too complicated." She shrugged. How hard could a single path labyrinth be?

"Not that long, huh?" Wyatt guessed at her unspoken answer.

"Well... I mean, if you can do it, so can I." By the look he gave her, she knew she was in for a wild ride.

Headmaster stood atop a tower along with all the other school's professors. Everyone fell silent.

"Welcome to the School of Shines' one thousand, four hundred and fifty sixth Labyrinth Games!" Roars of approval greeted that announcement.

"This year, we have some of the finest teams ever assembled, as well as one of the craftiest, most dangerous labyrinths. For the parents of these fine students, please be assured their wands are for stun only, in order to pass an opponent in the maze. Now, if the teams are ready?"

One by one, each team leader called out from their entry point.

"Cabal team ready!" He swirled his red cape.

"Merlin team ready!" Her silver cape flashed in the sun.

Wyatt raised his fist. "Weatherbee team ready!"

"Weatherbee?" she whispered, completely surprised.

"You like it?" He winked and then nodded toward the bleachers. "Isn't that..."

"My father!" She waved like an idiot, pleased when he waved back.

When all the teams answered, Headmaster threw a magical card into the maze, which rearranged the labyrinth passages, in case anyone had used magic earlier to see the layout. When the whistle blew, the teams entered the maze, the crowd's cheers echoing off the walls.

Glancing at Wolfgang and Mammoth, Wyatt then locked his stare on her. "Ready?"

She gulped and followed him in.

Chapter 6

Cabal team members, the wand casters' chosen path was Curse of Darkness. The player first entered the maze trail.

Many of this school had labyrinths; the cards showed what path lay ahead, though they couldn't be sure what they were used for. They were symbols of long ago. They might have provided a pattern for players to follow, but they were probably used to show them symbolically the way to the next world.

Traps and mystic creatures lay in wait throughout the maze. Heavy fog filled the walkways and, in spite of the sun outside, the Labyrinth was dark. Wyatt led with Mammoth behind him. Alana followed Mammoth, and Wolfgang brought up the rear. A scream by a student meeting their first encounter some distance away froze her blood and fed her fevered imagination. She forced herself to go on and, with one hand raised to feel the maze walls, she came to an opening and turned into it.

A man-eating plant, with dark spiky leaves, jumped at her, chomping for her arm. Leaping backward, she blasted it and watched it splatter against the hedge. Wiping bits of stem and leaves out of her hair and off her face, she managed to keep going on shaky legs.

She proceeded right, where she approached a painting and a window. Taking a second, she studied the painting.

"That's a bit unusual," she murmured. It showed a wall with several doors, each painted a different color. The one on the far left, though, glowed in yellow gold. Giving a shrug, she turned her attention to her choices.

She had the option of heading right or opening the window. Choosing the window, she had to open it by selecting the correct string out of three to pull, then break the window and blast the monster (before it fired back). After that, she had two options: head to the basement or the attic. She picked the attic and zapped a few more man-eating plants to get there. She had almost reached it when a Cabal member came out of a path on the right. They stared at each other for one frozen second, then both aimed their wands. Hers blasted just before his did, and he fell back, stunned. She scrambled to the attic, but it turned out to be locked. Stepping over the Cabal team player, she headed down into the basement.

The first basement area contained a wooden box that blocked her passage. She didn't realize that if she shot the box, the whole building would explode. Standing still, she closed her eyes, listening, waiting, letting her inner self choose what to do. Biting her lower lip, she aimed for the lock rather than the box. Light flashed from her wand and the box lid flew open. She peeked in and saw a bomb!

Mammoth ran up behind her. "Don't touch it! I saw this last year," he whispered. "I need to set your bomb-holding hand to retrieve the explosive."

"Alright." Even though she didn't care for his rude behavior or lack of table manners, somehow she found herself trusting him with her life at this moment.

In a twinkling, he said the spell over her hand and her careful fingers retrieved the explosive. They proceeded right, surprised by two trolls, slobber dripping off their fangs. She flicked her wand up and blew them into smithereens. Mammoth spun around and took out several ghouls with his.

Afterwards, she entered a room filled with grunts and howls. A cage held a man-eating creature with long, weedy hair and dark green, insane eyes. Easing herself against the wall, she tried to pass to the exit, but the creature broke out of its cage and lunged for her. She raised her wand, but the creature knocked it from her hand and tried to bite her neck. Wiggling loose, she stretched for the wand, but couldn't reach it because the creature wrapped its bony fingers around her ankle. Realizing she had one more weapon, she jerked free, threw the bomb in his direction and flung herself in the other, grabbing her wand on her way. When the smoke cleared, she saw him run outside, holding one arm.

Taking a minute to catch her breath, she grumbled, "We never practiced this!"

She left that place and looked up. A foggy full moon hung overhead and she wondered how long she'd been in there. Thirst parched her throat and her stomach growled. With a shrug, she kept going and saw a sign hanging on the maze wall. When she picked it up, she heard a cry from the Hallowed Grounds. "You'll know what to do when the time comes."

Around the next corner, she came to a table loaded with food and water. A side chamber held several bunk beds, most of them filled with sleeping contestants. Grabbing two sandwiches and two bottles of water, she found an empty bed and flopped down.

* * *

She'd been two full days inside the maze and had run and walked over thirty miles. With no sign of an end, the next level started. This new level proved trickier and more complicated than the others. Her team members had to levitate her (they chose her since she was the smallest) by moving on foot and not colliding with any creatures or teams. If any part of her touched the ground, her team would be disqualified. Once reaching the exit gate, she cast spell after spell to open the lock on it, to no avail.

"We need the key," Wolfgang grumbled, his arms tired of all this levitation.

"I know where that is. I saw it earlier," she told them.

"Where?" Wyatt asked.

With her directions, they approached a sector where she saw a skull key. Her sigh of relief at seeing it still there stopped when a monster looking like an octopus with horns attacked. They all jumped.

"Don't drop me!" she screamed, upside down, her nose just inches from the ground.

"I've got you!" Mammoth hollered, his huge biceps trembling when Wyatt and Wolfgang let go to fight the monster. They defeated him in a few violent moments, then hurried to help Mammoth.

She grabbed a key ring from a trickster's mirror and used it to unlock the wooden door hidden in the wall. The skull key sat behind that.

With the key, they hurried back to the gate of the hedge maze. She unlocked it and found herself near some concrete columns, many of which were structurally insecure. On pressing the front left one, a cloak of invisibility appeared, which she grabbed and put on. Just in time, too. The Cabal team ran up, firing wand cast blows at her team, who were unable to return fire or they risked dropping her. The Cabal team couldn't see where she was so, silently thanking her father for her super powered wand, she lit into them, one by one. By the end, stunned Cabal students lay every which direction and her wand wasn't even warm.

Still levitating her, her team entered an area with three doors, one of which was marked "Exit." A red wooden handle hanging on the wall needed to be pulled. When she did, a sign appeared. "Two doors down leads to certain death. Choose wisely!"

"What does that mean?" she asked.

"If we click on the wrong door, we'll all be crushed," Wyatt explained.

"So which do we choose?" She felt tears stinging her tired eyes.

"Have you seen any clues?" Wolfgang asked.

"I...uh...let me think."

"Hurry, will ya?" Wolfgang groused. "You've gained fifteen stone since we started levitating you."

Too tired to even stick her tongue out at him, she shut her eyes to concentrate. Hallowed Grounds, as well as the painting in the red house, gave the hint to the finish, hence the "You'll know what to do".

"It's too obvious to be the one marked Exit," she reasoned. With one deep sigh, praying she was right, she tapped the left-most door, the one glowing in the painting. It sprang open, letting them out onto the school grounds. When they crossed the finish line, the boys eased her down and the crowd went wild.

Chapter 7

"You must be Boy Blunder," she said, her nerves jangled by the crowd's noise and the turmoil she'd just endured. "You guys were no help at all. I had to do all the difficult parts, like figuring out the right door."

Wyatt whirled from waving at his family and speared her with a glower. "No help at all! Listen, princess, who was it levitated your sorry..."

"Now, now, students!" Headmaster approached, scowling at the boys. "It's time for the awards ceremony." He raised a critical eyebrow at Wolfgang who lost one shoe somewhere in the labyrinth. Mammoth's sleeve hung off his shoulder when a man-eating plant nearly caught him. Wyatt reeked from falling into a foggy swamp, like a damp dog. She moved as far away from him as possible. In spite of their appearance, Headmaster and two professors, Twilled and Humphries, walked them over to the winner circle. Headmaster Barns read a long speech to the crowd on their behalf.

"Alana," Headmaster said after the speech, "You are now promoted to be our number one team member and to receive the grand prize."

Her eyes grew big and she glanced at her teammates, unable to believe this. Her shaking knees made it difficult to walk, but she stepped forward and the headmaster shook her hand. When she lowered her head, he placed a ribbon, with a medal of first place. The boys growled sly remarks behind her.

Headmaster continued speaking as she stood by his side. Looking at the audience, she saw her father sitting in the third row, beaming at her with a parent's pride. When the ceremony ended, she hurried off stage and to the bleachers, pushing through the congratulations and back slaps to find her father.

He stood with several other men, some of them school professors and some she didn't know, accepting their kudos. She'd never seen him smile like that before - ever. When he saw her, he held out his arms.

"There she is now! Winner of the Labyrinth Games!"

She walked into his hug, nearly getting the life squeezed out of her.

"Let me see that medal." He held her by her shoulders and inspected the imprinted gold. "I wish your mother could see this," he whispered, his eyes bright.

Turning her around, he spoke to the men. "Gentlemen, my daughter, Alana."

She endured their best wishes and salutations for a few minutes, then pulled at her father's sleeve. "Can we go somewhere to talk?"

"Certainly." He nodded to his friends. "If you'll excuse us, please." They walked to the back of the bleachers, away from the crowd. "I'm so proud of you, daughter."

"Thanks."

"You seem to fit in so well here. I was worried, I don't mind admitting now. You've never had any real friends, but here you are, leader of the best Labyrinth team in the shire."

She didn't have the heart to tell him she still didn't have any friends. "I wanted to thank you again for the wand. It made all the difference in there."

He waved a hand. "That was your mother's."

"Really?" Her eyes grew wide. "I didn't know that. Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want you worrying about harming it or anything."

"Oh. Okay." She stepped back and tilted her head. "Now that you see how I'm doing here, will you promise me one thing?"

"Anything. What?"

"Will you please quit being sad about me being gone? Will you eat? And have friends over and...and..."

"Be happy?" he finished for her.

"Yes, and be happy. Please. I can't bear it when I realize how sad you are."

He studied her for a long, quiet moment, then pulled her into his embrace, his chin resting on her hair. "Yes, Alana. I promise. From now on, I'll be happy. With a daughter as wonderful as you, how could I not?"

With his arm around her shoulder, they returned to the crowd now dividing into family groups before dinner. On their way to the library, Judy stopped her, looking like she'd just stepped out of a spa. Alana, however, had just stepped out of a maze with no benefit of hairbrush or bath for days. Judy's family stood beside her, watching with smiles plastered across their faces and managing to ignore Alana's stench.

"Oh, Alana, I'm so happy for you," Judy gushed. "I was just telling my parents that I knew you'd be the top winner. Congratulations."

"Uh...thanks," she mumbled.

"And don't forget about the party next weekend. It won't be the same if you're not there."

Confusion covered Alana's face and she wondered if Judy had been in the heat too long. Before she could voice her concern, Judy led her family away, chattering like a magpie.

"A party!" Alana's father clapped his hand on her arm. "That sounds like fun."

"Yeah, her parties are always a...uh...blast."

* * *

After saying goodbye to her father, Alana delivered the team back to Wolfgang's room by three gentle taps of her new wand. Wyatt split their winner's haul into four piles while the rest of them sat on various surfaces or, in her case, floated. She loved magic and today felt free to show it off a bit.

Wyatt glared at her for a moment, then threw a token across the room, where it bounced off the wall.

"What's your problem?" she asked from her lofty position.

"I want an apology!"

"From me?" She glanced at the other two. "Why? What'd I do?"

"That crack about you being the only one who did anything...that's a lie!"

Setting her feet on the floor, she crossed her arms and jutted her chin. "Not much of one. We wouldn't have won without me guessing the right door, and knowing where the skeleton key was."

"We wouldn't have won without us carrying you all over creation, either!"

Anger made her refuse to admit he had a point. Before she could retaliate, he grabbed her shoulders and shook her once. "It's called a team, Alana. We're a team, not three guys and a princess!"

"You've called me that before. I don't like it!"

"Then quit acting like it! You couldn't have won without us, and we couldn't have won without you. Teamwork. Get it through your head! You're one of us!"

She stepped back, her stance relaxing. "I...I'm one of you? Really?"

Seeing the vulnerability in her eyes, Wyatt unclenched his fists. "Yes. You're one of us. Didn't you figure that out already?"

"Well...on paper, sure. But none of you have ever said."

Wyatt glanced over his shoulder at Wolfgang, nodding once. Wolfgang stopped unwrapping a piece of candy and shrugged. "Yeah, what he said."

She looked at Mammoth sprawled out on the sofa. "Sure, teammates," he mumbled, looking like he'd rather be shot.

"I never did thank you for help with the bomb and the ghouls and all. You were amazing with that wand!" Alana told Mammoth.

If she hadn't seen it herself, she wouldn't have believed it. Mammoth actually smiled... and blushed. "It was nothing. You were alright, too."

"There. You see?" Wyatt gestured.

"Yeah, okay." She touched his arm. "In that case, I'm sorry. Really. I was just too tired and the crowd was too loud. I've never won anything in my life before."

"It was too cool, wasn't it?" Wyatt grinned. "First place Labyrinth team for the second year straight." He returned his attention to dividing up the prizes. Part of them consisted of school tokens for the snack bars and soft drinks, cafeteria lunches and dinners. They sat for a few more minutes, while Mammoth and Wolfgang talked to one another beside her before Wyatt turned to address them.

"There's more to being a wizard than just saying magic spells. As we saw in the maze, sometimes spells make things happen, and sometimes other powers are set loose. These include Alana's talents that we don't have."

"Such as?" Mammoth glowered at him.

"Psychic abilities, for one. How else do you think she picked the right door? Astral projection for another. I bet there's even more that we don't know about yet." Wyatt eyed her up and down, suspicion and envy on his face.

She looked at the boys, wondering why they were looking at her. She quickly wrapped her pile of tokens, placed them in her jacket pocket, and covered her head with her hood.

"Psychic abilities?" Wolfgang's eyes brightened, like a hungry wolf that just saw a slow rabbit. "Alana, wow! Can you teach us?"

She look fearful, cleared her throat and whispered, "No, boys. You'll use this magic for the wrong reasons."

Wolfgang stood and loomed over her, their fragile friendship shattered, his face splotchy red. "Who says? We're as good as you and we're older than you."

She tucked her knees under her chin and pulled her hood even further over her face.

"Alana!" Wyatt barked, "We're teammates. We share everything. If we're going to keep being the best, you need to teach us!"

Folding her arms, she firmly stated a final, "Not ever."

"Astral projection charm? Please?" Mammoth asked politely for the first time in his life, opening his hand, sharing a dozen gold dinner tokens for her to change her thinking.

"This is similar to psychic ability," Wyatt interrupted Mammoth, "but there are certain differences."

It's a power that allows a wizard to step out of his or her physical body into an invisible shell of consciousness. This shell can then go to other locations at the speed of thought, and perhaps even to other times and dimensions. When in astral form, most wizards can watch and listen, but can take no physical action. However, a few can cast spells from the astral shell, which makes them even more powerful.

She learned this from the forest where she lived. It was child's play at the time. How would the boys use this new power? In the school or going through the many mazes in the next game? Or for tormenting the younger students and the newbies? This worried her. She escaped to her room before they could bug her some more.

Chapter 8

In the morning, Alana sat slumped at the breakfast table alongside of the girls' groups. Unpopular in the first few weeks of school, she now gained new attention among the many girls clubs wanting her to join.

Glasses clinked in time with the clapping thunder outside; lightning threw whitish light across the school's lobby and dining room. Hardly a soul normally came to the dining room, as rumors of it being cursed had been floating around for the past few years. Now the place filled with students of all ages, and many sat at the same table as her. Mammoth, Wyatt and Wolfgang sat alone at their table.

One person didn't seem to mind the rumors, though; a young man - perhaps boy would have been a more appropriate term - who couldn't have been any older than seventeen, sat at a table alone. Upon first glance, he seemed calm, but then a loud crash of thunder made him start. He appeared embarrassed with himself, especially when the headmaster's announcements came loudly over the talking owls' mouths sitting atop pillars. She shot him an amused glance.

"Thunder frighten you much?" she asked, a smile on her lips, and walked to his table.

"Maybe just a little," he admitted, frowning when she sat down uninvited.

"My name's Alana."

"Yeah, I know." He shrugged. "Everybody knows who you are." Falling silent, he picked at the toast on his plate.

She studied him close up, liking what she saw. Dark hair hit the top of his collar and framed emerald green eyes, intense and full of secrets. It didn't look like he'd shaved that morning, dark stubble crossing his angular jaw. He held his mouth in a tight line and she wondered what he'd look like if he smiled. Would she find a dimple? Maybe two? She found herself looking at his hands next. He had long fingers, both strong and supple, like they could fight as well as caress with equal ability.

"Well?" she asked after a moment.

"Well, what?" His haunted eyes darted at her and returned to the table.

"What's your name?"

"Oh, uh...Logan." He didn't sound too sure about that, and glanced at the window when lightning flashed. That's when she remembered what Headmaster told her, that she'd recognize the new boy when she saw him.

She eyed his now-empty glass, a single straw protruding from the clear cylinder stained with streaks of white. Tiny bubbles gathered at the bottom, left over from the earlier bubbly drink. "Would you like that refilled?"

"No thanks."

"It's no trouble. Really." She reached for the glass, but he grabbed it.

"I said no thanks!"

"Sorry." She almost got up and left at his rudeness. From the look on his face, she could tell he wanted her to. But the headmaster's warning about him made her try one more time. She tapped her cheek. "See this pink rose? I painted it on this morning."

"Yeah? So?"

"Wanna know why?"

"Not really." He slumped down, looking utterly bored.

"Well, at first I couldn't decide between pink or red or white. I mean any of them would have worked, but then I remembered that pink was her favorite color. So, of course it had to be pink. Luckily, I had a lot of that color in..."

"Do you ever shut up?" he snarled just loud enough for her to hear.

She drew her head back, her brows crunched, then she took a deep breath. "Not really. Anyway, I had a lot of pink, so I painted it for her - my mother."

"Whoopee!" He twirled one finger in the air.

Ignoring him, she went on. "It reminds me of her at times. I didn't get a chance to know her well. I was only three when she died." She sent him a sad smile. "I feel now she's watching over my father, but, I like to think she's proud of me, too, for what I've done of late."

"Hmm," he murmured, giving her an odd look. "I'm an orphan, so I wouldn't know of anything like that."

"Anything like what?" She leaned in so she could hear him over the thunder.

"Having someone proud of me."

"Oh."

"Look," he straightened in his chair. "I appreciate you trying to make nice and all, but I don't want any friends. I don't need any. You're wasting your time, so would you please just leave me alone?"

"Everyone needs friends," she replied.

"Yeah, well not me." He jabbed a thumb into his chest. Seeing her confusion mixed with honest concern, he added, "I'd be a lousy friend."

Before she could ask why, to their surprise, the front door swung open. Rain splattered in while one smallish figure streaked inside, shivering and hugging himself for warmth. The other, clearly annoyed, slammed the door shut behind him.

Panic swept across Logan's face and he ducked behind her. All color drained from his cheeks and he gripped the table's edge, his eyes looking for escape. "They found me," he whispered.

A broad grin crossed the older man's face when he entered the dining hall and walked over to the boy next to her, clapping him on the shoulder. "Well...well. Look who we've found."

"This boy has been using Dark Magic," the larger of the two announced in a gruff voice. He reached out a meaty hand for Logan who started at his touch, practically ripping away from it. He stood and took a couple steps back, glancing at the shocked crowd of school children watching this unfold.

"Orphan Ushiosama," the man said, "We've got you now," grabbing the boy again.

"Ushiosama?" the smaller one said. "Are you sure?" he murmured, shooting the older man an odd glance. No one else noticed Firewatcher on his dark cloak.

"A... uh... magic...? Dark magic?" Alana stammered.

"That magic, my child, is forbidden. We all know that. Headmaster Barns would never allow such magic to be used in his school."

Some instinct made her want to protect Logan and forced her to her feet.

"Forgive me, Mister. He's an old friend of mine and my advisor for the games." She stood up for the poor boy, not truly knowing if he was the one they wanted or not.

He pointed a thick finger at her. "You lie, child. You'll be arrested as well when we find out the truth."

"You have the wrong person!" She continued to argue, her eyes flashing.

Ignoring her outburst, Logan nodded toward the door. "It's hailing out there. You can't go out in that." The boy sounded like he knew how to get out of trouble and spoke in a spell-like, mesmerizing voice, "Why don't you two dry off? Then we'll all go to headmaster's office and get this straightened out." Looking at her, he nodded for her to agree and say yes.

"Of course," the two men in black cloaks said, changing from angry to gracious in a second.

All smiles and the perfect hostess, Alana invited, "Please, make yourselves comfortable while I go fix up a room for each of you."

The orphan seemed eager to escape. "Ah... I'll just be going now."

"Wait." She grabbed his arm, "you will not leave me with these two blokes."

He wiggled his nose and said something she didn't understand. "Ushiosama." With that, he disappeared, darting from the room.

Chapter 9

That night in the darkness of his room, Logan looked at the stone gargoyle outside his window, the full moon throwing light to the ground. He sighed, running his hand through his too long hair, and again asked himself, "Why am I here?" The orphan, half boy, half werewolf, had a plan to stay hidden till the remainder of the hairy beast Transfigure spell wore off. Headmaster brought him here to live safely, knowing of his plight, and had given him self-control spells for such a time as this.

Alana trotted down the hall and tapped on his door.

"Who is it?"

"Me, Alana. Open the door."

"I...I can't. It's not..."

She didn't let him finish. "You'd better let me in, and quickly, too. I have to warn you."

The door creaked open a few inches and he peered at her. She could see his eyebrows, bushier than normal, and fur on his knuckles. "It's not safe, Alana," he whispered.

Pushing the door open, she stepped in. "I don't care about that. You won't hurt me and you don't scare me. The Firewatchers are here to take you back. They're searching the school."

"Alana, leave! Now!" He sent a frightened glance toward the moon.

"I know all about it, Logan. You're a werewolf."

"You...you know? And you're not scared?" He locked the door behind her.

"No. Headmaster Barns told me. How long have you...I mean, how did it...?"

"How did I become a werewolf?" His jaws flexed at the unpleasant subject and he crossed his arms. "I've lived at an orphanage for as long as I can remember. I liked to escape when I could and go for long walks in the woods, pretending I was going home, I mean to a real home. One evening, I stayed out too late and ran into a family of werewolves. And..."

"And they bit you. How old...?"

"Eight." He walked to the window and traced the pane's frame with his finger. "By then, I'd mastered my wand and some spells and killed all but the one who bit me." Turning, he shrugged. "And now you know."

Wanting to get that haunted look off his face, she pulled out candy from her pocket and handed it to him. "I've made you something."

"What's this? Gumdrops?" His expression told her he thought she'd lost her mind.

"Medicinal gumdrops, if you please. There's a potion in them that will help you fight the Transfigure Spell."

His green eyes stared at her for a long moment. "Why are you doing this? You don't know me."

"I wasn't kidding earlier about everyone needing a friend."

"I already told you. Not me."

"But I do."

Her soft answer surprised him. He tilted his head and touched her shoulder.

"You need a friend? You're the most popular girl here."

"No I'm not. Up until I won the maze games, no one would even speak to me, let alone invite me to parties or eat lunch with me."

"As pretty as you are? That doesn't make sense."

"It does if you wear the wrong clothes and don't know the right people and have no social graces whatsoever. My closest friend is an old nanny goat at home."

A smile brushed his face and for one split second she saw it - a dimple on his right cheek. But his frown returned. "Are you sure the Firewatchers are looking? I thought they'd gone by now."

"Yes. They're in the library."

Logan stuffed the package of gumdrops in his pants pocket and paced back and forth, glancing at the full moon through the window. She sat at his desk, waiting for him to say something.

"Well!"

Logan jumped and looked at her, but she hadn't said anything. However, someone definitely had spoken.

"Do you know the password or not? Just because I have to stand here all night doesn't mean you do!" snapped the mirror on the wall. Alana gasped at the mirror, unsure of just what to say.

"I didn't know you could do that," Logan mumbled, studying the mirror with interest.

"Well, I can and I'm here, aren't I? You don't stand the test of time as a warlock without picking up a few tricks of the trade along the way. Now do you know the password or not?" the mirror said.

"Warlock? What game is this?" he asked.

"It's not. Give me the password Headmaster gave to you in times of trouble, and I will take you away through this mirror from those hunters."

"Oh," Logan said. "Oh, um, yes of course. Truffles and daffodils."

The mirror got up and shuffled grudgingly to the side, muttering something that sounded suspiciously like, "Well, it's about time."

Logan couldn't help but laugh as he passed, wondering exactly how a mirror with a warlock inside could walk so gingerly across the room.

"Ok. Hurry. We don't have much time. Jump into the mirror."

Logan didn't hesitate when the two men came to his door that instant and tried to open it, banging on the wood and twisting the knob.

As Logan and Alana were whisked away by the magical mirror, they came to the door leading into Headmaster Barns' office. She sighed and wondered why in Merlin's name the password brought them here. Couldn't the headmaster just let Logan sit in his shambled cottage size room and read his comic books until the two men eventually slipped away into the night?

Why must people always meddle?

Logan and she looked at the door, resigned to his fate and knocked lightly, hearing a faint "come in" from the headmaster's private study. Alana briefly wondered how long it would take them to find her if she left now without a trace, but she decided to face it with him. If it wasn't for her insisting on being Logan's friend, he wouldn't have anyone in his corner right now.

Madame Sakentooth, not the headmaster, called Logan to come in for one of her many lectures about how he needed to take special precautions in caring for himself due to his "condition."

Didn't they understand that he was tired? The fact that a large werewolf bit him as a small child wasn't his fault. She looked on as Logan stood before Madame Sakentooth, listening to her tirade.

"You've brought your problem to the school as well as involved Alana, a new Shines student. Magical measures need to be taken - immediately."

"But, Headmaster..." Logan didn't get a chance to finish.

"Of all places to be, you came here!" Madame Sakentooth shouted at Logan. "The Firewatchers have gotten reports on your whereabouts from people they encountered on their way here. They'll search this entire school before they leave. They could have us closed down!"

Alana thought of how she could help. Casting an interference spell would make it harder for them to search the school. She didn't want him to leave just because Madame Sakentooth was scared and angry. After all, Headmaster Barns brought him here.

Logan's shoulders slumped as he realized they would find him soon. He had no inclination to leave the place that supplied him with a steady dosage of self control spells every month when he needed it most. He sighed and turned the doorknob, leaving the headmaster's office with a glum look. He glanced over his shoulder, then grinned back at Alana. That smile was never a good thing in Logan's eyes.

"Where are you going?" she asked. "You can't go back to your room."

"Don't worry. I have a place I like to go to where no one will think to look."

"Where?" At his suspicious glance, she punched his arm. "After all we've been through, you can tell me!"

"Yeah, okay. I like to sit on one of the tower roofs."

She must have looked like she didn't believe him, because he added, "No, really. I do."

"Is it a nearby tower? Or do you have to cross the entire castle to get there?"

"Uh, it's kinda on the other side."

"Then the Firewatchers could catch you."

"I'll be careful."

"No. Wait. I have a better idea." She grabbed his arm and pulled him down the hall and around the corner, next to a bust of one of the ancient Headmasters. "Stand on the left of him and press into the wall."

"Why?"

"It's one of the magic doors I've found. This one won't take you to the tower, but it gets you close. It comes out at the observatory."

"Wow! That's next to my tower." He put his hand on the wall and pushed, watching it disappear. "Thanks! See you in the morning." He leaned over, kissed her cheek, then vanished.

With a satisfied smirk, she started back to her room, only to run into the Firewatchers.

"Hey! You!" the big one yelled. "Where's Ushiosama?"

"Who?" Her eyes went wide and innocent.

"You know - orphan boy." He leaned over her.

"Oh, Logan. I have no idea. It's late, so he's probably asleep. Have you tried his room?" Without waiting for an answer, she pushed past them.

"Don't go too far, girlie. As soon as we find him, we're taking you to jail, too, for lying to the law and probably aiding and abetting as well."

His voice followed her down the hall and, once out of sight, she trotted all the way to her room.

Chapter 10

The next morning, she didn't see Logan until their first class. He ran in late, his hair a mess and his clothes the ones he wore the day before.

"Oh goody, goody, you're here! Well, come on in and sit down. Would you care for a Cherry Bomb?" Professor Tensile asked, indicating the tray of red cherry candies sitting on his desk. Logan looked at the candy warily but took one against his better judgment. The second his fingers lifted the small thing off the tray, its stem fizzled and sparked. Logan yelped as one of the sparks hit his hand and he threw it into the air where it exploded into a gooey substance and rained down on the classroom floor. He looked at Wyatt and his brother Wolfgang laughing.

Alana was taken aback. "Are you mad, Professor? That thing could have killed someone."

"Not in the least, young lady. You're supposed to remove the stem before eating it," the professor said with a hint of amusement to Logan. He waved his wand and the mess disappeared into nothingness.

Logan frowned. How was he supposed to know that? Perhaps if the old man had told him... "I'll remember that next time."

"Yes, well, my boy, let's get down to business, shall we? I have a job proposal for you." Professor Tensile led him out to the hallway for a private conversation. "It's a teaching job of sorts, one that you're not familiar with. Your Art of Dark Magic is very different from our Alana's. It's most incurable though, and I'm sad to know that you're involved with 'revelries' during the night hours, if we dare say."

Logan perked up, but then scowled when he caught the second half of the man's statement.

"Now I know what you're thinking and I quite agree, after so many years of not being able to keep a place you could call home for more than one year. My offer could help you find a permanent place. I think it wouldn't be a bad idea to help me teach some of your peers about your affliction of werewolf. I'm actually offering you a job teaching Dark Arts at a Wizard School, more as an aid to me in that affliction you bear. Before you refuse, I ask that you just consider my offer."

Logan sighed and looked tiredly at Professor Tensile, but agreed to at least think about it.

Alana told him after class, "That would be a grand idea to teach others about yourself. More would understand it, and it would help hide your secret from the outside."

"You really think so?"

"Yep."

His eyebrows flicked up for a second, then he asked, "How'd you like to eat lunch with a friend?"

"Who? You?"

"You have any others?" he teased.

"Yeah, but she's eating hay in the barn back home." She linked arms with him and they went in to eat, ignoring the stares they garnered from the other students.

In the crowded dining room, they found two available chairs at the table with her teammates.

"Hi, guys. Mind if we join you?" she asked, setting her tray down without waiting for an answer.

"Sure." Wolfgang swallowed and nodded.

Wyatt eyed Logan when he sat down and opened a soda. "You're new here."

Alana winked. "Logan, please meet the most observant member of our team, Wyatt."

Wyatt rolled his eyes at her, then waved once at Logan. "Nice to meet you."

"You, too." Glancing at his plate, he stood. "I forgot a fork. I'll be right back."

When Logan walked away, she leaned in. "Please, guys, help me make him feel welcomed. It's been rough going since he got here."

"Fine with me," Mammoth mumbled through a mouthful of mashed potatoes. Wolfgang shrugged his agreement. Wyatt frowned.

"Thank you. I owe you all."

* * *

The next day, Logan accepted the job and started to work that morning. Professor Elfenroot introduced him to the class and explained his special ability.

"A werewolf?" Clyde straightened in his chair and sneered. "Sure you are."

"I dunno, Clyde," his equally ugly friend Drake cut in. "He looks more like a monster than a human, wouldn't you say?"

Logan stiffened in front of the class, trying to keep his anger in check.

"Knock it off, guys," Mammoth growled from the back of the room. "Shut up and you might actually learn something - for once." The classroom snickered and Logan began to speak.

* * *

That evening, Logan perched on the edge of the odd-shaped tower's roof and watched the sun slowly melt into the west side of the school. Casting spells into the night, dusky oranges, reds, and pinks splashed across the sky, the canvas pitted here and there with ever-shifting flocks of black crows.

His keen eyesight allowed him to appreciate the colorful nuances more than normal humans ever could, carefully watching the two men in black cloaks calling for him. Logan didn't particularly like sunsets or ends to the day. Bad memories of his long years at the Boys' Home crossed his face. To him, they always symbolized the end of something; precious moments slipping away that would soon disappear forever. No matter how beautiful the sunset, or how often he tried to recall it, the memory always faded over time.

Logan saw Alana below, looking around the corridors, hesitating before she turned a corner.

"Are we stalling now?" he asked, crossing his arms over the black t-shirt and letting a smug look dominate his face.

She ignored Logan's gloating stare while she considered her predicament and how to resolve it. Would magical charms be best? Or disappearing doors? Furrowed in concentration, she pondered if there was a lesson she should have learned that would get her out of this. She could have spelled into a door that would whoosh her away. The two men wanted to arrest her now for partaking in a lie to save Logan. Perhaps she shouldn't have underestimated the orphan boy's trouble.

He must have sensed her worry and realized he was the source. "I've felt since we first started talking that we were kindred spirits... never met, totally different, yet similar lives and the same passions. It's like I've known you forever. I know I'll never let you go as long as I can control it. You're already a huge part of my life, although we rarely speak and have just met."

"Crazy, huh?" She shrugged.

"Yeah, like I loved that rush..." he said from atop the tower, "...the thrill of flight, the Boys' Home used to call it. The exhilaration of letting go. The element of free flight and escapism by broomstick is almost enough to make me just want to swing around the school, from rooftop to rooftop every night. However, I can't. Not when men like those jokers are looking for me." His voice softened. "I'm sorry, Alana, I got you in such trouble. Girls like you will find me like poison ivy, out there breaking the law and doing wrong."

"I wanted to help you," she grinned. "I want to help people. I want to make a difference...for the better."

For some reason, when the headmaster told her that Logan needed her - needed a friend - to balance out life, she couldn't help feeling that she was doing it for her own reasons. She needed balance as much as the orphan boy did. They needed each other.

"I've got you, Logan."

* * *

Logan paced in the headmaster's office, stopping every two or three minutes to glance at the fireplace crackling. He kept muttering aloud. Headmaster Barns was supposed to stop by to give him the latest news about the ongoing search for him, but that was at least ten minutes ago, and Logan grew more and more anxious.

Where is that headmaster? Logan wondered, wringing his hands together as he resumed his pacing. He heard someone chuckling behind him and spun on his heel, his wand pointed at the intruder, who turned out to be none other than the very man he had been waiting for. "Oh sorry, Headmaster."

"Logan, my boy, that is a very nice carpet and I fear that if you keep pacing, you're going to wear a hole through it," Barns said, his eyes twinkling. Logan sighed. "I feel you're safe now. No one has bothered to look for you."

"Well, perhaps the time as come. I could finally rest and enjoy the school and explore..." Logan said with rather understated impatience. Barns smiled and took a seat in a comfy looking armchair by the fire.

"You wouldn't by any chance have any sweets would you?" Headmaster Barns asked. Logan stared at the man, but held his tongue. "That was a test in humility, my boy. That's all. Cherry Bombs are known for their humor. What can I say? It's April, and pranks come all through the month. Would you like some chocolate?"

Logan shook his head. "No thank you. Too many sweets of late hurt my new teeth, or fangs, I should say. But luckily for me," Logan said, reaching into his robe pocket and pulling out a small candy in a clear plastic wrapper, "Alana hands me these. I always have some gumdrops on hand, just in case."

Headmaster smiled, then sighed again and watched Logan with mounting impatience. "Yes, quite right. That's your transfer daily dose, to keep turning into a werewolf at bay. Alana is very good at making that charm. She's been a good friend to you, has she not?"

"Yes, Headmaster, she has. She's brilliant, smart, and very knowledgeable in most all things magic. But, I assume that you didn't come here for pleasantries..." Logan prompted.

"How is teaching with Professor Elfenroot?" His blue eyes showing concern, he stood and walked to the window, sighing again.

Logan stiffened at the question, the earlier humiliations stabbing at him all over again.

When he didn't answer right away, Barns added, "You must have a lot on your mind, dear boy."

Logan shook his head, facing Headmaster Barns, "Truly, Headmaster, I don't fancy it much."

"How's that?"

"It seems that some of the students don't take my affliction seriously. I'm more of a monster than boy. The students Wolfgang, Wyatt and Mammoth, through Alana, have been kinder than others. New bullies have sent their regards in the most unsociable ways to show me I'm not welcome around school." His jaws clenched and the vein in his neck pulsed with anger and shame.

Headmaster said, "It's best to give the students more time, and they'll come around."

Logan sobbed, yelling, "I am just a monster!" and ran down the hallway full-tilt, for once regretting his human form and its slow speed. Without conscious thought, his feet led him to Alana's doorway. She answered his knock and stepped back at the expression on his face.

"What's the matter?"

Chapter 11

"Can we go somewhere and talk?" Logan asked.

"Sure. I should be studying for the Potions Chemistry exam, but I already know it cold. How about the lobby?"

Logan nodded and turned on his heel without waiting for her. She took a few quick steps to catch up and walked silently down the hallway, down the stairs and to the high ceilinged lobby. The smaller children were already in bed, and the older students were studying for the exam, so they had the room to themselves.

She sat down on the sofa in front of the fireplace and tucked her feet under her. Logan waved his hand, muttering a spell, and a bright fire crackled in the hearth. A suit of armor standing in one corner reflected the firelight and caught her eye. She wondered who it belonged to all those centuries ago. Sitting on the other end of the sofa, Logan crossed his legs, ankle on knee, and ran his hands through his hair.

"Okay, I'll ask again. What's the matter?" she said.

"I...I don't belong here. I don't belong anywhere." He cast a doubtful glance her way. "I may look human, but I'm just a monster. Everyone knows it. Everyone!"

"What brought this on?" She reached out with a sympathetic touch.

Shaking his head, he planted both feet on the floor and leaned forward. "I keep running into the same attitude from the students here. Some of them take great delight in making sure I know I'm not welcomed here. For instance, three of them cornered me in the library earlier today, after my first teaching class. They demanded that I turn into a werewolf right then. When I refused, they said it was because I was a liar." He huffed. "If I ever did show up as a werewolf, they'd die of fright. I can't win!" Thudding back against the sofa, he crossed his arms. "I should leave. I'm better off alone."

When he fell silent, they both watched the fire for a moment, him wrapped in depression and defeat, while she tried to figure out what to say.

"You know, I felt the same way when I first got here. I didn't fit in and wanted to go back home something awful. But, Headmaster Barns told me to give everyone time and they'd come around. I thought he was just saying that, but it turned out to be true. I don't have a lot of friends, but I have some. And, I count you at the top of the list. If you leave, what will I do?"

"You could always make Wyatt your best friend."

"Wyatt?" Her eyebrows rose. "Are you kidding me? He was the roughest one on me."

"Yeah, well...I see things."

"What things?"

"Nothing. Forget it." Shaking his head, he threw one arm across the back of the sofa. Taking a sofa pillow, she plopped it onto his lap, then lay down, nestling her head in the pillow. He looked surprised, but didn't move.

"So," she looked up at him, "tell me about you."

"Me? I told you the worst of it. What else do you want to know?"

"Everything. Every little thing." She reached up and played with his fingers hanging over the sofa.

"That won't take long." She saw him grin and felt the tension leave when he took a deep breath. "Some horseman found me in an evergreen forest and dropped me off at an orphanage. They guessed I was about 10 months old."

"Were there any clues who your parents were? An initialed blanket, or a piece of jewelry?"

"No. Nothing. Things were rolling along fairly well, I guess, until I made a wand at the ripe old age of six."

"Six! Did the wand work?"

"Yep. I taught myself spells, too."

"You must have at least one great wizard or witch for a parent. That's awfully young to be that good."

"You think so? Thanks!" He lowered his arm and played with her hair while he talked. "The other boys picked on me all the time until I started fighting back with my wand. I was tired of being the butt of their jokes. I guess I never did have much of a sense of humor. Anyway, after I...I got bitten, things changed. The orphanage couldn't get rid of me fast enough. I never stayed in one place for more than a year. I tried to hide my condition, but someone eventually figured it out, and off I'd go to a new place. When I reached sixteen, I'd had enough and ran away."

His voice turned bitter and his hand fell still. "No one came to look for me. Surprise!"

"So where did you live before you came here?"

"The woods, abandoned barns, anywhere there weren't people. I might have been happy that way except the Firewatchers started hunting me. Do you know what they do when they catch someone like me?"

"They take them to jail, right?"

"That's what they say. They really haul them into the woods, kill them, and leave them hanging from a tree to rot. I've seen it twice."

She shuddered at the mental picture and sat up. "How awful!"

"I should say, they leave the bodies to rot. They take the heads in and collect the bounty."

"Okay. Stop, please. I've heard enough. I'll have nightmares tonight, I just know it."

Logan glanced at her fear-filled face, scooted closer to her and put his arm around her shoulders. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you, but you wanted to know."

"Yes, I...I did. And I'm glad you told me." She rested her head in the crook of his neck and whispered, "Please don't leave here. I can't protect you if you go."

"You can't protect me if I stay, either."

"Maybe, maybe not. But at least we'd be together."

His arm tightened around her and he kissed the side of her head. "Alright. If that's what you want, I'll stay."

* * *

High above the School of Shines, the moon moved closer to eclipsing the sun within a narrow corridor that traversed Earth's northern hemisphere. The path of the moon's umbra crossed the Atlantic Ocean, steadily nearing the school. The solar and lunar forces combined to pull Logan on a primal, unconscious level to the woods.

"No...no...please..." Logan twisted in the bed sheets, his eyes fluttering underneath his closed lids. His fingers clenched, then released, then clenched again while the nightmare refused to let go.

His attacker's footsteps disappeared through the trees. The forest made an impenetrable canopy of thick foliage, blocking the moonlight. Logan lay on cold, hard ground, unable to move. Ants crawled up his arms and legs, across his face, biting, stinging, hundreds of them. His scream couldn't pass his cut throat, blood dripping from the wound, its sticky sweetness attracting more ants.

"No...NO!"

Logan jerked upright in bed, his eyes darting around the room, one hand brushing off the dream-ants, the other clutching his throat, checking for injury. Drawing his hand back and seeing no blood, he took a deep breath, then threw the covers off.

Standing by the window, he gazed at the landscape, the forest expanding to the horizon. It called to him, inviting him back and he needed to respond. Grabbing jeans, t-shirt and jacket, he dressed, hurried down the stairs and out the side door, jogging north to the forest.

After several minutes, he reached a small glade deep in the woods, stopping at its edge, his hand resting on a walnut tree. Glancing skyward, he noted the almost full moon and closed his eyes. The rich scent of the moist ground filled his nose; the tree bark felt rough under his hand, but he knew these senses paled in comparison to a wolf's. Mice ran underneath the tall grass and scurried through the underbrush; rabbits hopped to their warrens for safety and sleep. He couldn't hear them, though, not as Logan.

The surroundings brought him solace and comfort with no humans to distract or bully him. No one passed by him with fear in their eyes. No one demanded certain acceptable behavior from him here. He could relax and breathe and...

Whirling around at a noise behind him, he crouched, alert and searching the darkness. A branch on the ground snapped, closer this time. Slinking to a nearby bush, Logan waited, holding his breath, wondering who dared invade his privacy. After a long moment, a tall figure emerged, walking to the glade, then stopped.

"Who's here?" the stranger asked.

Logan remained crouched, unsure.

"You might as well come out. I can smell you." The man held out his arms. "I have no weapons and no wish to harm anyone." After a minute of silence, he added, "My name is Lucien. Please. Come out."

Logan straightened, his gaze steadfast on the stranger, then took a step forward. "I'm Logan." Three more steps brought him into the glade as well, and the two studied each other.

"Logan. Hello."

The teenager leaned closer, his eyes narrowing. "I...I think I know you...but I don't remember us meeting."

"Your name is Logan?" Lucien looked puzzled and shocked.

"Yes. Why?"

Lucien took a step back. "That's not your given name."

"How would you know?"

"Come back in three nights and you'll understand."

Before Logan could ask any more questions, Lucien darted into the forest's cover and disappeared.

* * *

Alana awoke the next day and found a note beside her bed. Grabbing it, she ripped the envelope open.

Alana, meet me tonight at the old shearer's shack by the pond.

Logan

She frowned, knowing this meant she wouldn't see him at all today. What was he up to now? He worried her, running to the forest, not answering her questions, turning all secretive. Maybe tonight he'd explain things. Managing to get through her classes and the day without curiosity killing her, she hurried to the shack right after dinner.

Logan stood when she arrived.

"Where have you been? What's going on?" she huffed with no smile for a greeting, her hands on her hips.

"I know you're worried about me, especially about my...condition. But, please trust me. I love you, Alana."

Her knees weakened, hearing this for the very first time. "I love you too, my dear sweet man. But, where have you been?"

"The forest. I have no idea why I'm driven so hard to leave the school grounds at night and head out into the dark. I feel pulled."

"I'll stay with you and help you to control this behavior." She tried not to smile at the love part still bouncing around in her mind. She wanted to jump for joy. Someone loved her and it was Logan.

Logan looked around the old place where the two lovers could meet and be alone, even as that feeling pulled him once again. When he looked into her eyes, she saw that he changed by something wicked consuming him.

She frowned. "If you loved me, you'd continue to take your Transfigure gumdrops."

"I'm sorry," Logan replied, looking now out the old window, searching for the unknown answer to his plight.

"Logan, what's wrong?" She stood on tiptoe to look directly at him.

"Here," said Logan, grabbing her wand and lifting her up, her feet dangling. "Give your toes a rest. Now you can see into my eyes."

She hugged him - tight - like she'd never let go of him. But she knew she'd have to. He was sweating and warm to the touch. His heart raced like he had run all day. Now he wanted to run like a wild creature through the woods, looking for...what?

"Alana, I can't fight this!" cried Logan, his eyes wide with horrible terror, worry, and panic. He shook, trembled, unsure of what to do, heading toward the door, then turning away again, leaving her hanging in the air.

Lowering herself to the floor, she sat on the bed and watched him pace up and down the shack. Then he paused, hearing what she could not of sounds in the forest that lay about this old shack.

Glancing over his shoulder at her with her arms crossed, her mouth in a grimace, he asked, "What's the matter?"

"I'm FINE!" She couldn't stand it, watching Logan being torn between his human and werewolf natures, twitching and nervous. She started to walk over to him, but he flung the door opened and raced down the stone pathway.

Her earlier blushes and smiles now turned into tears and sadness. He's free. You have to let go of those things that you love sometimes. "Logan loves me. He said those words. I told him my feeling, too. My heart is only for YOU! I hope you know that out there in the dark and cold of the night."

Chapter 12

"Alana?" Logan came by her room two days later.

"Can't you see I'm studying?" She refused to look up when he pushed her door open.

Logan sighed and ran a hand through his hair. She wasn't going to make this easy. "Are you mad at me?"

"Mad? Why on earth would I be mad? Especially at you?" Her sarcasm bit at him. "I mean, when a guy tells a girl for the first time that he loves her, she's not sure what will happen. Bur certainly not that he'll run out the door five minutes later without even a goodbye or goodnight or see you later, sweetie!" Alana threw her pen across the desk, where it rolled and hit the floor with a clink.

Logan took a deep breath, trying to find courage to walk further into the room. "I got you a present."

"Oh? What magic is this now?"

"It's just..."

"Yes... What? Go on, tell me."

"A frog!"

Alana twisted around in her chair to stare at him, her eyes full of disbelief. "A...what?"

"Yup."

"Uh... How thoughtful."

"I thought so," Logan replied and handed it to her, feeling awfully proud of himself. He'd never had a girlfriend before, let alone fought with one. He liked frogs, so he felt sure she would, too.

She shifted uncomfortably, the frog wriggling in her hands. She wondered what Logan had been thinking... a frog... Wha...? It's Dewey, Wyatt's pet.

"So you like it?"

"Uh... well..." She felt too stunned to be angry.

Something soft and furry brushed against her legs. She jumped and yelled, "What the heck?" The frog managed to escape in the process. Logan watched in dismay as his gift hopped away, followed by a hissing growl from the floor.

"What on earth was that?" she gasped.

"Don't know," Logan said and watched Dewey hop out the door to freedom. "Err... and I traded a week's worth of lunch tokens for him, too."

"Aw, what a shame." She felt bad.

"Oh, well."

She frowned at her book, walked over to him, and put her arms around his neck. "May I make a suggestion?"

"A suggestion...uh...sure." She could tell her nearness made it difficult for him to think clearly. He kept glancing from her eyes to her mouth and he swallowed hard once.

"Next time you want to give me a gift, please make it a little less...froggy."

He looked confused.

"I'm not twelve, you know, but a quite grown up fifteen, and a girl to boot."

"Yeah, I've noticed."

He wrapped his arms around her waist when she hugged him and whispered, "Thanks for thinking of me, though. That's sweet. And I'm not mad anymore."

She stepped back and returned to her studies, leaving him trying to catch his breath.

* * *

The next day at breakfast in the cafeteria, Madam Wriggles headed up all the kitchen duties and served pancakes. Wolfgang, Wyatt, Mammoth and Alana gathered around the table, breathing in the delicious aroma of food.

"Do we have any maple syrup on the table?" she asked her friends, looking around for some.

"No," Mammoth said. "I'm sorry, but we're all out."

Grumbling under her breath, she started on her pancakes. Wolfgang followed suit.

"Is everything ok with Logan?" asked the Wolfgang. Logan hadn't come down to eat and his pancakes would be up for grabs in a minute.

"Huh? Oh, yeah...he'll be down," Mammoth replied.

She looked at the school clock for the tenth time. Logan's tardiness was getting to be a bit much and she shook her head in dismay. She finally picked up her fork and, growing tired of waiting for Logan, she started to eat.

"Alana," Wolfgang said, "I wondered when you were going to eat."

"You can't eat pancakes on their own!"

"This is true," Wolfgang grunted.

She raised an eyebrow and looked at the other two. "Mammoth and Wyatt seem to be managing just fine!"

Leaping up from his bed to the sound of over-wound alarm clock, Logan grabbed his clothes, changing in the hallway, and headed down to breakfast. He ran into the kitchen, out of breath and wearing his shirt on inside out. He came over to the tables, selected applesauce and poured a generous amount onto her pancakes. "Sorry for being late," he mumbled with a mouthful of a half of a pancake already eaten.

"Whoops," he hissed.

Alana glared at him and hissed back with a messy hair spell, making Logan's hair stand up straight.

"Hey!" Logan protested. "Not fair."

"I don't like applesauce," she yelled.

"So sorry. Wrong plate, Alana."

Madam Wriggles, who had been watching the whole scene unfold, took Logan's pancakes and swapped them for hers. "There," she said kindly. "Now Logan can have the ones with sauce!"

She smiled at Madam Wriggles and took a small forkful of food. Logan shot daggers at Madam Wriggle's back and said to her in an undertone, "Women, who needs them?"

In the background, mouths full of pancakes, Wyatt, Wolfgang, and Mammoth mumbled, "We do."

"Who would make the tasty pancakes, then?" Wyatt asked, his eyes glancing at Alana.

Logan held his head. "Aargh!"

Alana said to Logan, "Deal with it!"

After they ate, she walked with Logan to her first class.

"You want to meet me at the tower tonight?" she asked. "I've been studying too much and need to take a break."

"Tonight? Uh...I can't." His eyes looked guilty.

"I know it's a full moon, but you're taking your gumdrops, right?"

He looked away, his shoulders shifting.

"Right?" she pressed.

"You'd better get to class. You don't want to be late." He hurried away, leaving her worried. He found excuse after excuse to leave whenever she started asking questions. Sometimes, she knew he avoided her altogether.

* * *

Logan sat at his desk in his dorm room, staring at the gumdrops in front of him. The self-control spell to keep the Transfigure from taking over that night hung on his lips, but he kept glancing out the window. Alana wanted to be with him and he'd turned her down. That hurt in her eyes bothered him. He didn't like keeping secrets from her, but he wasn't sure what exactly this secret meant.

"Come back in three nights and you'll understand." Lucien's words looped through his mind, getting the better of his curiosity. Tonight was the night...a full moon night.

"What if...?" Before he could finish the thought, someone yelled outside. Hurrying to the window, he looked at the school grounds and saw several students glancing up, shielding their eyes. Looking skyward, he watched the moon begin to cross the sun, blocking its light. At the same time, the all too familiar feeling of the Transfigure Spell crawled up his skin, electrifying his nerve endings, and made his bones ache as they morphed into a wolf's body. Frantic, he bolted out of the school, hoping he could reach safety before he completely transfigured.

Halfway to the woods, he dropped on all fours, his nose sniffing the breeze, his pointed ears listening for pursuit, his paws tearing across the earth toward the forest. He reached its protection just as the sun reappeared, first in feeble rays of light and then at full strength. Falling to the ground, he twitched and twisted, turning back into a human before the transfiguration had completed. The pain of being jolted between two bodies wrenched a howl from his lungs and tears from his eyes. Clutching his stomach, he rolled to his side, his knees drawn up to his chest.

The afternoon wore on while Logan slept beneath the trees, spent and aching. When he awoke, he saw the sun kissing the earth goodnight in the west and a full moon gracing the east with its presence. Grabbing for his pocket, he pulled out the gumdrops and ate one, then mumbled the self-control spell, unwilling to transfigure to a werewolf again so soon. Reaching to the tree trunk for support, he pulled himself to his feet, then stretched, trying to relieve his stiff muscles.

A huge beast ran out, making no attempt to conceal its noise. Logan drew back, both fear and fight on his face.

"Logan," the werewolf gasped.

Logan nodded grimly. "Yeah, great." He figured he be eaten in a few minutes. They circled each other in the clearing, the moon their only source of light. Logan thought that the werewolf looked hurt, old and scared.

"I'm glad you came. After our surprise meeting the other day, I wasn't sure you would."

"Our surprise meeting...?" Logan shook his head, then his eyes widened with understanding. "You're Lucien? The man in the forest?"

"Yes, yes. I'm Lucien."

"A werewolf?" He paused, letting that sink in, wondering if Lucien knew about him. "I can smell blood," Logan said with authority, "and you've been injured."

The huge werewolf answered with a nod and, looking down to his arm, he whispered, "The same men who hunted you caught up to me tonight. They'll be on my tracks soon. We don't have much time."

Logan frowned. "Time? Time for what?"

"But we really shouldn't be standing around out here," Lucien said, taking a deep, refreshing breath.

A howl from the woods came as the werewolf urged, "We have no time!" He grabbed Logan and pulled him to the safety of the trees. The two watched as men with hunting dogs entered the far side of the clearing. The dogs were inches from picking up the blood trail.

Sighing, he turned to Logan, saying, "Dear boy...son."

Logan sneered, hearing him speak to him as if they were friends.

"I have a confession. I'm the one that bit you all those years ago. Our lives are full of mysteries and downfalls," Lucien continued.

"What? You bit me? Why?"

"I don't have time to explain." Lucien looked over his shoulder, searching for any sign of the hunters or their dogs.

Logan pleaded, "I can get you out of here. Give me a chance. I've changed back to human already. If I talk to them in the clearing, they might just leave."

"I don't think they'll quit until they find me. On the way over, I had to kill two farmers who came after me for crossing their field. I had to."

"No, you didn't. You could have stayed in the woods like I do."

"I had to come and see you," Lucien insisted. "It's the gathering. All clans must be together on this night."

"Clan? Why me? I'm not your clan member. You terrorized me and then bit me, so I killed your family."

"Son, you killed your mother and sister and two brothers on that night. I'm your father, Logan."

Outrage...shock...horror...sadness. Logan had no time for any of them. Looking behind the brush, seeing the dogs come a few feet away, they both had to run in two directions. As Logan ran toward the school, he kept thinking, clan? I killed my family? The faint cry of a werewolf echoed through the still night air.

* * *

Back at school, headmaster Barns jolted awake as the moonlight streamed in the window and hit his face. As he stretched, he glanced out the window and froze at the eerie, faraway sound.

"It can't be...The clan is gathering," he softly cried. LOGAN! His thoughts ran to the unthinkable.

Out in the walkway, a shadowy figure, looking like a large heap of rags, bent over. As he watched, the figure turned to face the headmaster's window.

Barns called out, "Mr. shadow of the dark, I know who you are. On this dark night, I've run into a problem. Can you do me an indispensable favor? Find the boy called Logan who goes to this school. Any news will be most helpful."

Without a second thought, the dark shadowy figure swooshed away. Headmaster reached for his wand and tore out of his bedroom and down the stairs, barefoot. He hurtled past the professors' dorm and came to Elfenroot's door. Opening the door and seeing his bed empty, Barns ran to the stairs to find Elfenroot yawning at the foot of the stairs, ready to go with the headmaster out into the night.

They both scrambled out the front of the school and threw open the Main Gate, running into the deserted street that lay surreal and quiet. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he and the professor had to walk across the streets past the villages of Nubritten and Casatar. They heard dogs barking, awaking a few who lighted candles and saw Professor Elfenroot and Headmaster Barns, in their nightgowns and disheveled appearances, pick up their stride and head down the road.

* * *

Logan detoured to the village of Nubritten, hoping to throw the tracking dogs off his trail. Passing the old church, he stopped in its shadow at another howl. The werewolf clan was meeting tonight. Lucien said Logan belonged to the clan. Never having belonged to anything before, Logan thought for a long moment, then retraced his steps toward the forest, toward his...family.

He found them in an unfamiliar part of the forest, further to the north, with stony ground and fog-covered moors lying to the east. Stopping outside the gathering, he stood behind a large oak and surveyed the scene. Shafts of moonlight glinted off rocks and silhouetted wolves, at least a dozen of them, large and small, young and old.

"You came."

Logan whirled around at the voice. "Lucien! You startled me."

"Come, meet everyone."

"Not yet. I want to ask you some questions."

"Of course." The werewolf sat down on his haunches and tilted his head, waiting for him. Logan joined him on the cold ground and stared at him for a moment.

"First question. Are you really my father?"

"Yes."

"What was my mother's name?"

"Elspeth. She loved you very much."

"Then why was I orphaned?"

Chapter 13

Lucien rested one paw on Logan's knee. "We had three other children and you were the baby. She came from a line of powerful wizards and knew you were gifted almost from the moment you first drew breath. Not wanting you to suffer through a werewolf's life, she took you as close as she dared to a town with an orphanage and hid until someone found you and took you in. I didn't know about it until too late. She refused to tell me where you'd gone and I spent years looking for you."

Logan drew his head back while the thought of having a mother who loved him fit like a warm coat in a chilling wind. "Then...then why did you bite me?"

"I'd hoped with all my heart that if you turned into a werewolf, you'd accept us and want to live with us. I did it because I loved you. I still do, son."

"Even after I killed everyone?"

"The wizard in you raged against your attackers because you didn't understand. You were only eight and had been taught to fear what you are. With them dead, you're the only family I have left now."

"Then what's this clan?" Logan nodded over his shoulder to the meeting behind him.

"Survivors. Few of us are actually related, but we count ourselves as family to help our survival. Firewatchers make it their life's work to extinguish our existence. Unfortunately, they're too good at it." He lifted his muzzle and growled.

"Where do you live as a human? In the woods?"

Lucien's eyes brightened. "Ah, no. Many of us live normal lives in the middle of unsuspecting humans. There's a cobbler, a farrier; one of us is even a minister." He chuckled at the joke. "What about you? Where do you live? What's your life like?"

"My life has been horrible and lonely - until recently. I belong to the School of Shines now, as a teacher."

"Really?" Lucien drew his head back, sounding pleased. "A teacher. I know you're a powerful wizard as well. What about friends? Have you made any at this school?"

Even in the dark, Lucien could see Logan blush. "Oh, a girl," he guessed. "What's her name?"

"Alana Weatherbee."

"Weatherbee? Isn't her father a great wizard?"

"Yes. She is, too."

"Does she know about your condition?"

"Yes. She knows everything." About to tell his father how beautiful and smart she was, Logan stopped at a sound away from the clan at the exact time Lucien stood and snarled.

* * *

The shadow stopped Headmaster Barns and Professor Elfenroot on the far side of Casatar. "Sssss. I've found your boy," it hissed.

"Where?" Barns asked.

"He's at the gathering. Hurry. The Firewatchers are close."

"Thank you." Barns grabbed Elfenroot's arm and hurried toward the forest.

"How do you know where they're meeting?" Elfenroot asked, trying not to stumble on the rough path in the dark.

"I'll know." Barns held his wand out straight and followed its soft glow. They arrived within half an hour, out of breath from jogging the distance. Searching through the thick trees and underbrush, Barns drew up short and pointed. Elfenroot strained to see several robed Firewatchers looking to the west and pulling out ropes and weapons.

At the same time, Barns saw Logan talking with a huge werewolf, then both of them stood, glancing around. The Firewatchers crept closer. Barns pushed through the brambles and grabbed Logan, pulling him back just as a rope encircled Lucien's neck.

"No!" Logan yelled, struggling to get free. At his shout, the other werewolves scattered in several directions, trying to outrun their pursuers. Gunfire sliced the night and confusion reigned amid the howling, yelling and bodies crashing through the woods.

Barns backed Logan into a deep shadow, still holding onto him. "Hush!"

"But..." Logan tried to twist free.

"A moment, boy! Wait!"

Logan watched, helpless, as his father struggled against his captors while they put more restraints on him. In an eternity of minutes, it ended and the Firewatchers regrouped. Barns stepped out of the shadow, surprising them.

"Hey!" one of them yelled. "Who are you?"

"I'm Headmaster at the School of Shines. This is Professor Elfenroot, and our newest teacher, Logan. We were out to observe the effects of the full moon on nature and happened across this encounter." He waved a calm hand over the scene.

"Oh, I've heard of you. Headmaster Barns." The man nodded and relaxed his guard.

A Firewatcher dragged Lucien up. "What should we do with this one?" he asked his boss, holding his prize catch like a broken ragdoll.

Barns interrupted. "Are there any more left?"

"Two are dead and the rest got away."

"Very well, then," Barns said. "You may have heard that we at Shines are doing studies on this type of creature." Excited, he asked, "Can we have this fine specimen to use in our labs for class studies?"

Logan's father jerked around, scared. Logan's eyes pulled wider than all, unsure what Headmaster was getting at.

Elfenroot backed up the headmaster's comments. "You're absolutely right! In all the confusion, I didn't think of it, but he'd be perfect."

The Firewatchers grumbled among themselves for a brief moment.

"We'll lose the bounty money," one reasoned.

"How much is the bounty?" Barns asked.

After being told, he dug into his pockets and pulled out cash. Counting it, he held it up. "I'm short ten."

"Sorry, then. No deal."

"No. Wait." Elfenroot riffled through his pocket and pulled out a ten. "Here."

The Firewatcher leader nodded, took the cash in one hand and gave Lucien's ropes to Barns with the other.

When they walked out of earshot from the Firewatchers, Logan exploded. "What are you doing? You can't use Lucien for experiments!"

Barns glanced over his shoulder at the disappearing Firewatchers, then turned to Logan. "Hush, boy. Have a little faith." When they rounded the corner and out of sight, he stopped and untied Lucien. "Forgive me for keeping you in ropes. You're welcome to go free."

Logan rested a hand on his father's wolfish neck. "Really? You'll let him go?"

"Of course."

"What if they come looking for him?"

"Then we'll say he escaped from two clumsy old men and one scared boy."

Lucien stared at Logan for a long moment, then loped across the moors, into the rocks, waiting for sunrise. The others headed to school, getting back in time for Madam Humphrey's eggs and coffee.

Logan taught his class after breakfast, then went to his dorm room, exhausted from the night's events and from the knowledge that he'd killed his own family. After a hot shower, he crawled under the covers, tucking the blanket under his chin. Memories and snippets of conversation filled his mind, keeping sleep at bay. Shifting his shoulder into the pillow, he frowned, clenching his eyes.

Your mother loved you very much. Your mother loved you very much. Elspeth... Elspeth...Elspeth...

Hot tears escaped his closed lids. He scrunched the pillow to both sides of his head, trying to keep the voice away. Brothers...sister...you were the baby...

"No!" Jerking upright, he flung the pillow across the room. A knock on the door startled him.

"Logan? Are you in?" Alana waited for an answer, for a sound, for anything. "Logan?" Twisting the knob, she eased the door open and found him sitting on the edge of his bed, his back to her.

"Get out, Alana!"

"But...why?"

He turned vicious, tormented eyes her way. "Get out! Now!"

She took a step in. "Let me help, please. Whatever it is."

Jumping from the bed, he stomped across the floor, grabbed her elbow and shoved her backwards into the hall. When he slammed the door behind her, she heard it lock.

"Fine! Be that way!" Scurrying down the hall, blinded by her own tears, she ran into someone coming around the corner.

"Alana. Whoa, girl. Watch where you're going." Wyatt put his hands on her shoulders to keep her from falling, then he saw her face. "What's wrong? Why are you crying?"

She tried to speak, but her trembling mouth wouldn't cooperate.

"Does this have anything to do with Logan?" he guessed.

"Y...y...yes." She broke down and flung herself into his waiting arms. Behind her, Logan opened the door to apologize and saw her and Wyatt together. He howled and slammed the door shut. Realizing what had happened, she leapt out of Wyatt's embrace and ran all the way to her room.

Logan paced, his fists clenched, his jaw twitching. "I oughta rip Wyatt's stinking head off and spit down his throat! I oughta..." A note on his dresser caught his attention.

"Logan, if you can, meet me tonight at the old shearer's shed.

Lucien."

He read it twice, then burned the note, not wanting anything for the Firewatchers to find. Questions, millions of questions buzzed around his brain like an upset beehive. It took him an hour to collect himself, then he went in search of Alana.

To keep her mind busy, she went to class and stepped into the hall when it ended.

"Alana? Can we talk?" He stood across the hall, his hands in his pockets.

Giving him her evilest stare, she growled, "Drop dead!" She spun around and managed to get three steps away when he caught up to her and led her to the wall.

Resting one hand against it, he leaned in and whispered, "I am so sorry. Please. I truly am." He brushed her hair away from her cheek and tucked it behind her ear. "Please, sweetie. Forgive me?"

"What was the matter with you?" She still sounded mad.

"I had a rough night last night."

"The full moon. Yeah, but you took your medicine, didn't you?"

"Yes, but I transfigured during the eclipse and ran to the forest."

"Oh." She touched his shoulder. "But that still doesn't explain..."

"I ran into a situation, a big problem, and didn't get any sleep last night. I'm worried sick about it."

"About what?" His big green eyes made her go weak at the knees and she felt her anger evaporate.

He glanced over both shoulders. "I can't talk about it here."

"Then tonight? My room? I'll even make popcorn."

"Uh...tonight? Sorry. Not tonight."

Her shoulders slumped and even his big green eyes couldn't keep away her disappointment. "Fine. Whatever." She waved one hand and escaped down the hall, still hurt, still confused, and still rejected.

* * *

Feeling sorry for herself, she sat on the edge of her bed, staring out the window at the beautiful day outside. There had to be something she could do to get Logan's attention again. She didn't like this distance or these secrets. Glancing around the room, her eyes landed on one of her favorite book of spells.

"I know!" She snapped her fingers and a smile returned to her face. Grabbing the book, she flipped the pages until she came to the Mad Hatter's Spell.

This spell can be used to induce feelings of friendship in lighter doses, and of love in heavier amounts. It is mixed with food and eaten. It blends particularly well with mint. Ingredients are easily found in markets and at greenhouses.

"Perfect!" She wrote down the ingredients, picked up her purse and hurried to town.

* * *

That evening, after supper, Logan walked to the shearer's shack, curiosity quickening his steps. Pushing the door open, he saw Lucien already sitting at the table.

"Come in," Lucien said.

Logan stared at him in his human form and realized they had the same eyes. His father's dark hair grayed at the temples and his face looked too thin.

"So. I'm here." Logan turned a chair around and straddled it, his forearms resting on its back.

"I'm glad you came. I imagine you have a lot of questions for me."

"Yeah, I do. Too many. Mainly I want to know about you and about...my mother."

"Your mother was the most beautiful woman alive, graceful and sweet. You look a bit like her around the mouth. She had an awful temper, though, whenever she got riled. It wasn't often, but..." He smiled at some ancient memory, then focused on Logan. "As for me, I live in Casatar now and work as a bank auditor. Boring job, but it pays the bills."

"When were you turned?"

"I'd graduated from college and was looking for a job, going on interviews all over the country. On one of those trips, my car stalled one night on a country road." He shrugged, then added, "You can imagine the rest."

Father and son fell silent for a long moment. Fidgeting in his chair, Logan asked, "Now what? I don't know what to do with a father."

"I don't want to push my way into your life. I just wanted you to know where you can find me if you ever need me - for anything. It'd be nice to have you come by for an afternoon visit..."

"Wait. What about the clan? What about the Firewatchers? It's impossible to act normal."

A sigh lifted Lucien's shoulders. "I know. We'll just have to take it as it comes. I'm glad you're here, surrounded by a headmaster and professors and a girlfriend who understand what you go through. They'll keep you safe, safer than I could." He stood and handed Logan a piece of paper. "There's my address. I hope you'll come by some time." He walked out the door and disappeared into the night.

Logan stared at the paper, spidery handwriting scrawled across it. Standing, he snatched it up and shoved it in his jeans pocket, then went for a long walk.

Chapter 14

The next morning, Alana woke with an excited feeling. She had plans, good plans, if they worked out, and needed to get cracking. Besides shopping for the spell's ingredients, she also did a little clothes shopping and wanted to see Logan's reaction. Putting on her new short black skirt, sky blue blouse and high heels, she left her hair down and wore a gold chain necklace. She gave herself a spritz of perfume, adjusted her fishnet stockings and picked up the box of chocolate mint candy mixed with the Mad Hatter's spell.

Her high heels walked down the hall to the beat of her favorite song playing through her mind. Her confidence sparkled and her hair bounced, even capturing Judy's attention.

"Good morning," Judy called from her doorway.

"Morning." Alana breezed by her, noticing that her new shoes made her as tall as Judy. She reached Logan's room and knocked. When he didn't answer, she opened the door and found him gone. Leaving the candy on his pillow, she went to class.

After that ended, she walked down the hallway and heard a whistle. Ahead of her Wyatt stood with his arms crossed and his eyes wide.

"Look at you!" he grinned.

"You like?" She twirled once, feeling girly for the first time in her life.

"Yeah, I like. What's up?"

"Nothing. Just feeling good."

"Have you done that essay for Professor Slughnuter yet?" he asked.

Professor Rutenhog looked at them from an open classroom door. "Don't just hang around. Get busy with something."

"I was talking to you, Alana," Wyatt said.

"No, Wyatt, I haven't. I plan to go to the library next. The essay's in my head and I'll start it there. You know I've been... busy with Logan."

"I'll go with you; I need to do it, too," Wyatt said, pulling at a black liquorice whip with his teeth until it snapped off.

"Alright, I'll meet you up there. Bye, everyone." She waved to Wolfgang standing beside him and headed to the library.

In the background, Rutenhog told them to hurry and get to class.

When she reached the library, she looked for a book that would help her write her essay in magical wondering, the history on wayward spells that go haywire.

Usually, she would write her essays with Logan, not Wyatt. However, unfortunately, times and people change. She had a broken heart from their strained friendship because the Transfigure refused to give up. Logan's love of the Dark things that pertained to magic led him astray, leaving her with just her few friends.

She walked down the many rows of books until she reached the Potions area. Professor Huckleberry stood halfway down the aisle with his stony face. When she reached him, the professor looked up with glazed eyes.

"Hello, Alana," he muttered, standing completely motionless.

"Hello, Professor." She scanned various books on the shelves.

"Looking for something to help with Professor Slughnuter's essay?"

"Yes, sir. My friend Wyatt is meeting me here so we can work on it together."

Huckleberry's face hardened at the mention of Wyatt. "Well, this book should help." Without looking for it, he pulled a book off the shelf and held it out.

"Thanks, Professor." She made a gesture to take the book, but Professor Huckleberry refused to release it.

She laughed. "Professor, in order for me to use the book, you have to let go."

Professor Huckleberry stared down at her, his hands trembling. He seemed to be under some emotional turmoil, with sweat beading his reddened face.

"Why...?"

"ALANA! Do you know this is a most dangerous book in this library?" The words sounded forced, like he made himself speak. "In addition, do you know that once you handle this book, strange things will occur to you and your friends if they happen to be nearby? Do you know once you open the book's pages, that you might be taken away from this very library and transported to another time, another place? Do you, Miss Alana Weatherbee, know of the danger you will allow yourself to enter?"

"Oh no, sir."

"Mark my words. Once you open to page three hundred and ninety four, you will unleash the horror." He winced like the last sentence hurt him, then his face returned to stone, his eyes glazed over again. His voice sounded calm when he added, "Wyatt, your friend, has arrived at the end of the aisle. Your book, Miss Weatherbee. Use it wisely." The professor let go of the book and left.

Wyatt asked, "What on earth was that all about?"

"I don't know, but it has to do with the book," she told him. This book's condition seemed normal for one that had remained on the library shelf for a long period and many people had thumbed through it. The dust jacket might be scuffed, torn or abraded, but it looked old and not dangerous to her.

"I have a proposition for you, Alana..." Wyatt leaned over the table, throwing his arms across the book to bring her attention to him.

"Yes?" She could smell cologne and noticed he'd gotten a haircut.

"First off, let me say that I think I like you." He took a deep breath with that confession out in the open. "Now the proposition." Leaning forward, he spoke so only she could hear him. "I want you to give me one week of your time. If at the end of the week, you still like me only as a friend, I'll never ask you out again."

"Wyatt, you never asked me in the first place."

"I was going to, but Logan came into the picture."

"Wha...?"

"If you do like me as more than a friend, next Sunday afternoon, I want to take you out. One date. If you have a horrible time, I won't ask you out again. We'll not see our friends for a week. We'll be each other's best friend. Since every teacher in this school LOVES you, we'll be each other's partner in class.

"Wyatt, I'm flattered. Truly."

He dreamed on. "We'll eat all of our meals together, just us with no outside parties interfering."

"Nevertheless," she interrupted, "I can't do this. Sorry. I do have a friendship with Logan. We tell each other everything, no matter how hard or embarrassing it is, because in a relationship, people trust each other with all their secrets. This is how a true friendship is. I'm so sorry. I can't do this the way you ask."

"Even when he makes you cry like yesterday? If you'd asked me to, I would have torn him apart for you."

The sincerity in his eyes stopped her for a moment, and she touched his cheek. "I believe you. Thank you, but I still have to say no. I don't know what got into him yesterday, but I'm not going to throw an entire friendship away because of one fight."

"Oh," Wyatt moaned, "It was my last resort to make you see the real me."

On the other side of the shelf, hidden from them, Logan listened to the entire conversation, his mouth smiling at her answers, but his eyes glaring at Wyatt.

* * *

Logan looked starry eyed at Alana through all of study period right before lunch. His classmates joked that he'd gotten hold of a charm.

She kidded, "Maybe it's a Mad Hatters charm or something. Don't take too much or you will definitely go bazonkers."

Logan looked at his timepiece, placing it back into his cloak pocket. "How about lunch, which begins in about ten minutes?"

"So this week we'll actually eat together?" she asked.

"Yeah, sure."

"After lunch, I need to show you something from the library," she said.

"Alright," Logan smiled. He was up for anything coming from her. The Mad Hatters charm was working overtime; the boy was definitely love struck. Logan eyed his hand, looking at the long werewolf hair sprouting there.

She worried at the sight and asked, "Did you take your Transfigure gumdrops today?"

He flinched, saying, "I forgot." Logan gestured toward her "Would it be alright if I hold your hand... once in a while?"

She laughed. "Yes, Logan, if you want to, I won't stop you."

"And could I maybe... kiss your cheek?" Logan looked shyly at the ground.

"Yes, you may, as long as we don't get in trouble from the teachers." She looked ecstatic. The charm was working. "Ok, Logan, let's go to lunch." They packed their bags and headed out the classroom, past the library doors. When they stepped into the corridor, Logan took her hand and, instead of her cheek, he kissed her once on the mouth, then whirled around, acting as if nothing happened.

"By the way," she asked to cover her excitement, "did you like the candy I gave you?"

"The candy? Oh, the chocolate. I didn't open it yet. Really sweet food hurts my teeth."

"You didn't open it?" She stopped, her eyes wide. "Then...then..."

"Then what?" He didn't understand her confusion.

"Then you really just kissed me."

"Well, yeah. You were there."

"Oh, gosh!" She ducked her head so he wouldn't see the bright blush creeping across her face.

They arrived in the great hall and sat beside each other with their friends Ally, Kelsey, and Mammoth taking most of the seats. Wyatt and Wolfgang squeezed in.

"I won't be around this week," Alana said, "I am so busy with this test."

Kelsey said, "Me, too. It's a bomb."

Alana poured some apple juice and grabbed a freshly made sandwich with a watchful eye from Logan, smiling as she took her first bite.

Alice remarked, "I need to read this old book I found in the library. It's full of charms, and spells, and potions I've never read before."

Kelsey asked, dumfounded, "Is that the same book that popped around you weeks ago?"

"Yes, the very same. Odd, huh?" Alice answered.

"We'll be attached at the hip to study all this," Alana said and then laughed.

Alice smiled. "Ok, now why's the professor doing this?"

"To try to get all the students up on their charms for the yearly essay. Professor Slughnuter is just brutal." Alana finished her lunch and looked over to see Logan telling the Top Five-team members, Mammoth, and Wolfgang, some tall tales about his broom flying capabilities. He wanted to join the team, he said because he liked labyrinth games. Alana wondered, though, if he just wanted to keep a closer eye on Wyatt.

"He is kinda cute, I guess," Kelsey said about Logan. They looked over at the boys arm wrestling, then breaking the table from the weight of Mammoth's arm.

"I see he does do you wonders."

"What? Who?" Alana asked, embarrassed.

"Logan," Kelsey said. "Wait...what? Why am I thinking that?"

"Because it's true. Logan and Alana, who would have thought - a couple!" Alice chuckled.

Logan heard his name called and looked at Alana as he finished his lunch. "Well, I guess we should go. We'll see you at dinner," he said as he and Alana stood to leave.

When he put his arm around her shoulders, she swore he threw a challenging glance at Wyatt, but it happened so fast, she couldn't be sure.

Logan walked her outside to the pond where they sat on a bench. Bossy ducks surrounded them, insisting that they feed them bread. After one pinched Logan's ankle, they went to the shearer's shack. He closed the door and gestured to a chair.

When Alana got seated, he stared out the window for a moment, then faced her.

"We need to talk. There's a lot that's happened to me lately."

"So, talk." She rested her chin on her hand and waited.

"It started three days before the eclipse. I was out in the woods. No particular reason. Anyway, I met a stranger, Lucien. He seemed to know me and told me to come back on the full moon. Like I told you, I started to transfigure during the eclipse and ran to the woods. Before I completely changed, the sun came out and I changed back to human again. That was the most painful thing I've ever endured. I stayed out there until evening and Lucien, he's..." Logan leaned over to look directly in her eyes. "He's my father."

"Your father!" She jumped up. "How...? Why...?" Questions collided with themselves in her mouth.

"I met him again when the clans got together."

"Clans? What clans?" She lowered herself into the chair.

"Werewolf clans."

"He's a werewolf?" Surprise covered her face like a second skin. "No wonder you've been acting strange lately. That's a lot to take in."

"There's more." Logan brushed back his hair with both hands and took a deep breath. "When I was eight, a werewolf bit me."

"Yeah, you told me."

"And I killed everyone in his family but him."

"Right."

"Well, my father is the one who bit me."

It took a minute for her to make the connection. Her hand flew to her throat. "That means you...you..."

"...killed my own family," he whispered the horror. Finally sitting down, he related the entire story, why his mother abandoned him, and his father's search for years. "Ever since I found out, the guilt is eating me alive. I had a mother who loved me and I k...killed her." His heartbreak filled the room, covering her like a too heavy quilt.

"Oh, sweetheart." She knelt beside him and put her arm around his shoulders. "You were just a child. You didn't know."

"It doesn't matter. I wish I could undo everything. Then I'd have a family to belong to."

She stood and pulled him to his feet to hug him. He clung to her, pressing her against him, trying to hold back tears.

"For what it's worth," she whispered, "you've got me."

"After the way I treated you that morning in my room, I'm surprised you're even speaking to me."

"I was pretty upset. But you've told me now. I understand. We'll get you through this." She kissed his cheek and started to pull back, but he stopped her, giving Alana her first real kiss, awkward and clumsy and sweet.

"Thank you," he whispered when he let her go.

* * *

That early evening, on his way to get Alana for dinner, Logan met Wyatt coming out of her room, shutting the door behind him. Logan drew up short, his face red.

"What are you doing here?"

Wyatt walked past him. "None of your business."

Laying a hand on Wyatt's shoulder, he pulled him back. "It is, too."

Wyatt wheeled around, his fists clenched. "Get your hands off me!"

Logan poked him in the chest with an index finger. "I see how you look at her. She's my girlfriend. You've got no business coming around!"

Wyatt swiped Logan's hand away. "Ha! You sure know how to treat her. Make her cry and she comes running to me. And then trading all your tokens to give her a frog? Man, you're a screw-up. First class!"

Logan lowered his head and drove his shoulder into Wyatt. Wyatt's back hit the wall, sending a painting of a school patron clattering to the floor. At the commotion, Alana stepped out just in time to see Wyatt punch Logan's face.

"Stop it! Both of you!"

Neither one heard her, too intent on hurting the other. Running into her room, she grabbed her wand and hurried out again. Muttering a quick spell, she had them instantly wearing huge sumo-wrestler bodysuits, so padded they could barely move, let alone fight.

"Alana!" Logan yelled. "What are you doing?"

"Funny. I was going to ask you the same thing. Why are you two fighting?"

"Ask him." Wyatt jutted his chin toward Logan.

"What was he doing in your room?" Logan hissed.

"Returning my notes from a class he missed yesterday. Why? What did you think he was doing?"

"I don't know. He wouldn't tell me."

"He wouldn't tell you, so you assumed he was up to no good? Humph!" Flicking her wand, she released Wyatt from her spell.

"Thanks!" He waved once and hurried away from the crazy boyfriend.

"Well?" Logan held his arms out.

"Well, what?" She tilted her head.

"Let me out."

"No. I'm still mad at you."

"At me? But..."

"Listen, mister. I know you weren't raised in normal circumstances, so you don't know how to act all the time. I know you get moody sometimes, but I had no idea you were the jealous type. You either trust me or we're through. Got it?" With her arms crossed, she tapped one foot and glared at him.

He felt the anger escape, leaving embarrassment in its place. "Yeah, got it," he muttered.

She released him from the spell, took his hand and led him toward the kitchen. "We need some ice," she said.

"Ice? Why?"

"For that shiner of yours."

He felt his swelling right eye and winced at the pain. "For what it's worth, it's Wyatt I don't trust. He's always after you, trying to talk to you and stuff. I've always trusted you... with everything. My secrets, my heart, even my life. I've just never had anyone close before, let alone a girlfriend. I'd go crazy if someone stole you away."

She stopped at the top of the stairs. "You can be so sweet sometimes." Reaching up, she gave him a quick kiss, then continued on to the kitchen.

Chapter 15

Later that evening...

Alana's head hurt. In addition, she was lying in a most uncomfortable position, but she didn't have the strength to move after opening to the first page of the book from the library. She had wanted to show it to Logan. The last sound she heard was Logan shouting, "Wait!" Sometime later, (a few seconds? minutes?) she heard voices, footsteps, and felt a gentle hand on her shoulder turning her over. She moaned as the sudden movement caused a sharp pain to shoot through her skull, and she caught a glimpse of booted feet before she passed out again.

When she woke for the second time, she lay on her back, and the pain in her head seemed to have diminished. She opened her eyes slowly, and gasped when she saw two dark and ghostly strange faces peering down at her. She tried to sit up, but fell back with a soft cry, blinking back tears of pain, as her head protested.

"Are you sure you're ok?" asked Logan. The faintest trace of longing filled his voice as he looked at a Black Wand in her hand.

"I think...I can't feel my body. It's like it's not mine. It's numb. Odd, huh?"

"Oh," Logan grimly smiled. "White smoke came out of that book. I stood behind you and when you opened it, all went black for me as well. When I saw you on the floor, I panicked."

She got to her feet. "The wand, Logan." She looked down at her hands. "Whose wand is this?"

Logan, surprised, didn't have a clue. "It must have come from the book."

The many eerie thoughts drumming through her mind now sped up as she paced up and down the room with the wand. Logon looked on, worried. The book sat on a table alone with a golden light on it from an unknown source.

Poof. Darkness fell with a huge breath of cold air onto the castle's lighted rooms leading from the student's dorm to the hallways connecting to the library. The book shook with a horrible sound and the pages flew open. An eerie sound came from its inner depths, like some demented creature of a bygone past. Logan and Alana's eyes grew wide and fearful.

"I made a terrible mistake," she said. "I need to think of a way to reset things."

The book went "Boom" and fell to the floor, taking them along with it. She looked fearfully into Logan's eyes while lying on the cold floor. Before she could go any further with her thoughts, the book interrupted her. Their eyes stared at the pages flapping wildly and stopping on page three hundred and ninety four.

Alana looked back at Logan then, fear evident on her face and, when he reached for her, she felt him trembling. She realized that this was not some romantic gesture by Logan - he hadn't moved toward her in some gallant gesture to warm her. He moved toward her because he needed to be comforted; he needed something solid that he could touch and feel, too. This magic, more than they bargained for, hit Logan's emotions as well as hers.

Another shiver and some chills rattled Logan's body and hers, but she remembered some mild hocus-pocus which wrapped them in a warm feeling. For once, she wasn't alone. With a nod from Logan, they stood and faced their trouble together.

Her head swiveled forward. She caught herself holding her breath and forced it out. "Did I hear something? A dark whisper?" She could have sworn it came from somewhere behind her. Or was it all around her, a harsh hiss of an unspeakable thing that spoke her name?

The voice said, "Alana, I am here. Come on, let's play. Tell me a spell, and I'll show you one bigger and nastier than you can handle."

Logan reacted wide-eyed when he heard the same. Dark shadowy figures surrounded them, some shorter than her, coming out of the book pages, one by one, dancing around them as little children just having a bit of fun and games. She knew now releasing these figures came from her undoing the magic she had feared, the magic Professor Huckleberry warned her about.

Some figures, as tall as her, came close to her face and yelled Boo to make her flinch. She felt helpless and the air stilled with silence. They both felt as if they would never rid themselves of this horrible chill. Logan put his arm around her shoulder as she trembled. The figures stood there, motionless, blinking at them with their glowing eyes. She thought that they might need to fight their way out. Taking a second look, she stood shoulder to shoulder with Logan.

They pulled out their wands, but that didn't bother the spirits one bit. They wanted the new black wand and tried to yank it away. Logan and she both gripped it tightly in their hands.

"No!" Logan yelled.

"Stay away! It's ours," Alana hollered at the same time. The tug of war lasted for a few moments until Logan, using all his strength, pulled it loose.

No sooner did they win that battle when sadness overwhelmed them, the kind of sadness that suffocates all hope, all reason to live. It took all she had to keep from falling to the floor in a miserable heap and bursting into tears.

Sparks flew from the book, dancing and twirling around their heads and all the way to their feet, blinding them in their rushing sparkle. When the ghosts disappeared, Alana and Logan found themselves far away from the school, in a darker place in the woods. She felt cold and so did Logan holding onto her arm. Time travel, perhaps? Or only their memory went on that trip. Perhaps their bodies remained at school, frozen like leaves on a dead tree limb.

She would never walk in an empty wicked place like this alone, and she felt more frightened than she could ever recall, even standing next to Logan. All went black and they stood still, each with a wand in their hands, at the same time saying tiny spells to lift their freezing feet off the ground.

"Logan!" she screamed when something touched her hand. "Was that you?"

"N...no," he chattered through cold teeth.

She peered into the darkness and watched a wavering shape form and become solid.

"Mother?"

"Yes, Alana."

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm trapped - forever. There's nothing you can do to get me free. You're not strong enough."

"But..."

The form dissolved into mist before Alana could protest. Tears stung her eyes and she felt like a failure, panicked at her mother being trapped inside such an evil place. Many spirits and ghouls and unrecognizable creatures surrounded them, hissing and whispering their doom.

"Here they come!" Logan warned, snapping her out of her misery. They stood back to back with their wands out. A mighty force came from that pose, from that unity. Logan used the Black Wand. It warmed up and shot out one incantation after another with just a weenie of a spell needing to be said, streaks of silver and red and gold energy piercing the darkness. Some creatures and ghouls disintegrated at its blast. Others shot skyward like bottle rockets, whistling through the air, until they burst. The two students ducked and twisted to avoid balls of power thrown at them. One creature aimed streams of fire in their direction, but Logan quickly dispatched it. After fighting for several minutes, the ghostly bunch that remained standing disappeared by ones and twos into the forest.

Alana blinked a few times, feeling strange and a bit dizzy, and then realized they were back at the school. To her astonishment, she saw Logan emerge from the book's pages to stand beside her. Shaking her head, she realized they were never in a forest, but inside the book! She guessed it let them go when they defeated its specters. Not only that, but they'd wounded it. Blood dripped from its pages and trickled across its cover and spine, splattering on the floor.

"That wand is more trouble than it's worth," Logan growled. Off the side of the room where they stood, an eerie cry came, then died. Logan could only think the Grim that followed him had come to Shines.

"Now this book followed Grim's plight. It's brought its own darkness to me. And quite honestly, I've had enough trouble for a lifetime," Logan cried. "This book is evil, Alana." He handed her the Black Wand.

"The book?" She twisted this way and that. "Where'd it go?"

They walked silently through the hallways. Logan and she stayed on the side of the halls that hadn't been lighted yet, but saw no signs of the missing magical spell book.

She traced her fingers across the broken walls of the castle, the busted marble banisters, counting silently in her head the number of blood drops she saw dripping from the book. It was easier for her to quantify things rather than face them head on. There was too much emotional damage inside her to focus on all at once. Better to focus on things outside her own head, things she could touch.

* * *

Alana shivered unconsciously in the early morning hours. Cold air drifted in from the glass windows and gaping holes - courtesy, she imagined, of the unleashing of terror and darkness from the magical book. Logan scooted closer to her, putting his arm around her shoulders. She sat on the couch in the lobby, in turn, and put her arm firmly around his waist, marveling how easily these actions turned out to be; how well they both fit together.

"This feels so nice." She rested her head on his shoulder, her fingertips leaving warm trails across his chest.

"Yes," Logan breathed heavily and kissed the side of her head.

"It's just too bad all this dark magic has been released."

"Don't worry, Alana. It'll work out." His voice sounded different, dreamy and lyrical.

"It's a book of great danger," she argued. "It doesn't present us with an image of whatever we're thinking of. Oh, no! It's more insidious than that. It reaches into our souls, and finds things we have hidden deep within us, things we try not to think about. It shows us our most cherished dreams, or worst fears that we do not even dare speak aloud.

"It holds up a mirror to our souls, and it can drive a man mad to see what is reflected. If he's weak-minded enough, that is," she said in a brisker voice. "Not everyone has such secrets. Some people see only a tiny thing, an unimportant thing, and wave their hand once and banish it." She paused. "What did you see?" she asked Logan about what he truly saw last night when the book went wild and wicked.

He didn't answer for a long time and she felt him tense up.

"Logan?"

"It was horrible! I realized what my nightmares have been about. I didn't tell you that I killed the woman werewolf with a wand blast that cut her throat. When I looked back after...everything was over, I saw ants crawling all over her. Tonight, I saw...I saw myself as a boy, sitting in my mother's blood." He shuddered, trying to shake the memory away.

She clutched at his sweater. "I saw my mother, too, and I couldn't save her."

"Like you just said, Alana, it wasn't real. None of it! The book used our fears to make us weak. We beat it anyway. You and me, we're strong together."

She took hold of his hand that hung over her shoulder. He rested his cheek on her hair and they took comfort in each other.

* * *

Late that night, they went exploring to find the book.

"Why are we looking for this thing?" Logan asked. "Shouldn't we just be glad it's gone?"

"Maybe. But, what if it's just lying around and some unsuspecting student finds it? We need to make sure it's put away."

"Yeah, alright."

If Alana told the entire truth, she felt drawn to the book by some twisted compulsion. She needed to possess the book, or perhaps for it to possess her. She led Logan to the basement, hoping to find the hidden room she saw when she first arrived at the school. Walking past broken furniture and dusty chests filled with who knew what, they reached the far end of the room. Alana pressed both hands against the wall, moving them inch by inch.

"What are you looking for?" Logan asked from behind her.

"I saw a door here once. It had a strange mark on it."

"Well, I don't see a door here now." Logan sneezed at the dust she stirred up.

About to give up, she paused at a light outlining a doorway. "Logan, look!"

They both watched a door materialize in front of them. Her eager hands pushed it open and she peered in. The book sat on a shelf, a light hovering just above. She wanted to take hold of it one more time.

Logan said, "Stop! Don't touch it!"

"But, Logan, I want it. I must have it."

"No."

"But why?" She knew why, but refused to give up so easily. "What about the next student who might pick it up?"

"They won't find it down here," Logan mumbled, then said a small spell. The door began to close. She grabbed the book off the shelf just as the door snapped shut.

"I hope you don't regret that," he scowled.

"I won't."

He turned around and surveyed the dim basement. "It's crazy to think that we would have spent the whole year here with a normal life," Logan said, walking toward the stairs.

"How do you mean?" Alana asked.

"To me, normal life and school is like a prison. Now that dark magic is here, adventures come and go. Daily life will never be the same. It's exciting; we've got our own mystery to solve."

"If you say so." She followed him up the stairs and to the lobby. Several students filled the room, some visiting with friends, some playing board games, some trying to study. The two sat on the sofa, the book clutched in Alana's hands and Logan's arm around her shoulders.

"I feel better knowing where this thing is." Alana patted the book. "Thanks for helping me look for it."

"Sure. Just don't go messing around with it. It's too dangerous, as you and I both know."

"Yes, sir." She gave him a kiss on his cheek. "So, you like me, huh?" Alana asked, that lopsided smile returning to her face.

"Me?" He grinned with a new never-ending smile. "Never," he breathed, his voice much huskier than she had ever heard it.

Chapter 16

In the crisp morning air, footsteps pounded down the hall. A violent sound crashed into the serenity of dawn. Alana started, waking up fully, and looked around. For a moment, a heartbeat, she didn't know where she was. She could hear the ocean behind her, see the sea foam green walls around her. Moreover, she was wrapped up in white; it consumed her, buried her. It felt as if she was in a room full of steam, everything around her warm and white. In addition to all that white, she saw a flash of red coming from the magic book on her desk beyond her bed.

She was curled up in many thick blankets, her knees bent slightly. She lay on her side, facing the harsh reality of the book that sat by her. Knowing it could read her thoughts, she kept hers empty.

The warmth disappeared, replaced by an eerie coldness, growing deeper as she took each breath. Logan came to her room. Sleep clouded his face, his eyes dark with vivid dreams. They both heard rumbling of many feet coming down the hall. The walls banged like thunder was locked inside them.

Alana shook her head and sat up. It felt as though they were sitting on waves, the whitecaps crashing around them. The noise sounded again and Logan winced at its loudness. She pushed back the blankets, flexing her toes and stretching, trying not to blush under Logan's gaze. She pulled a bathrobe from the foot of her bed and wrapped it around her body, the silky material giving her no warmth.

Logan grabbed for her new wand. A shock struck him, sending him backwards into the far wall.

"What happened?" He shook his hand free of pain.

"I don't know. Right now, we've got bigger things to worry about." Grabbing the book off the nightstand, she took Logan's hand and they left the bedroom, creeping toward the source of the noise. In the hallway, she peered through open doors and saw room after empty room a jumble, like a young girl got mad at her dollhouse and tossed the furniture in her fit.

The noise sounded again, and Alana jumped. Her blood ran fast now, making her lightheaded. Logan gripped her hand tighter, and she was glad of its pressure. The noise came from the front door; they ran downstairs, Logan drawing his wand. They paused in front of the door; fear caught among them so thick it could be felt. They heard another bang, and then a familiar voice.

"Open up, you two. Are you going to make us stand around all day?" Headmaster Barns said, banging his wand on the door and the sound of it echoed around the adjoining rooms. Alana felt her heart, which had been beating abnormally fast, slow down. Placing the book on the floor behind the door, she glanced at Logan. He rolled his eyes and shook his head, then opened the door with a bang.

She blinked in the radiant sunlight, which made her eyes stream and her head hurt. Dimly, she could see figures in front of her, one taller than the other, both carrying large bags. As she adjusted to the sudden brightness, Professor Twinkle and Headmaster Barns came into view. Barns muttered something, but it was lost in the sound of the waves.

"Sorry about that," Alana said, ushering them into the dorms. Logan hung onto the door, feeling the dark power trying to slam it shut before the two men came in.

Without ceremony, Headmaster Barns thumped his bag on the floor and crossed his arms.

"Every single student ran out of the dorms about ten minutes ago, screaming about some evil force trying to kill them. Seeing that you two were missing, I added things up and came to a horrible conclusion." He paused, looking at them both still in their pajamas. "Where did you get the Book of Spells?" He aimed his angry blue eyes at Alana, making her wilt. "How did you even see it?"

"Uh, the first time I saw it was right after I came to the school."

"The first time?" He drew back his head and his eyebrows scrunched above his nose.

"Yes. I was taking boxes to the basement and it called to me. I found it in a round room, but when I reached for the book, something blew me across the basement. I couldn't find that room again."

"I see. And the second time?" He crossed his arms, waiting.

"The second time was in the library. Professor Huckleberry gave it to me from a bookshelf."

"Professor Huckleberry!" Barns whirled on his feet, making a complete circle, his hand pushing back his hair. "Gave it to you?"

"Yes. He talked funny, though, and wouldn't let go of it after he told me to take it."

Headmaster and Professor Twinkle stared at each other for a long moment, concern and worry simmering between them.

"Then it's gotten stronger," Twinkle muttered and gulped.

"It would have to if it moved from the place I hid it, and spelled Huckleberry into giving it to a student!" Barns turned his focus to Alana. "Did you open the book to any particular page?"

"You mean page three hundred and ninety four?" she clarified.

He paled at her answer.

"No, sir. We didn't open it to that page. It opened itself."

"What? What?" Terror covered his face, making her fearful. "Opened itself?"

"Yes, sir," Logan spoke up. "That's when it released all these creatures and then sucked us in. We had a horrible fight before it let us go."

Twinkle slumped against the wall, as if his legs could no longer support him.

"Yes, it disappeared after that, but we found it in the round room," Alana added. "And there it is." She pointed to the floor where she'd put it.

"Why, girl? Why did you look for it?" Headmaster Barns asked.

"I don't know." She found her feet suddenly fascinating. "I just wanted it with me."

Twinkle stood in the middle of the living room, turning on the spot, the Professor's eyes wide seeing all the tables and chairs turned upside down. Alana hadn't realized that the book's magical power had been so destructive. Professor Twinkle took a few minutes to soak everything in, then he shut the dorm room's main door with a wave of his wand.

She turned to Logan, her eyes bright, unsure what would happen next, and noticed that he hadn't let go of her hand.

Barns kept shaking his head, making his long beard swish around. "Yes, much destruction has occurred, I see."

"Wait until you see the rest of it!" Logan said.

"The rooms are a mess," Alana cried.

"Welp, we'll put a stop to this book's dark magic," Twinkle agreed, coming over to stand with his wizard's bag open. The two said a plethora of magical spells to the book, which cast a glowing eye toward them. Logan and Alana stood in the corner of the room and watched the wisest of wizards do their best.

"Won't anything work?" Alana exclaimed.

The excitement of her voice caught the book's attention. Its wild eyes widened and an eerie cry hurt her ears, making Headmaster think twice about his next spell attempt. Twinkle placed one foot atop the book, making it angry. Energy rose off the floor where the book lay and then dropped hard to the table. The eerie voice echoed around the whitewashed walls. The headmaster and Professor found this most unusual. The room absorbed happiness; the book sucked it dry, leaving sorrow in its place. An ethereal glow surrounded them and the room seemed to emit death.

Headmaster spoke to the professor. "I need you to put the book in my bag." He held the bag as wide open as it would go.

"Don't touch it. Throw your cloak over it first before you pick it up. I need to get it out of here for the children's safety."

Professor Twinkled hurried to his task, his bottom lip clenched between his teeth in his great concentration. Dropping the book into the bag, he pulled his hands back just as Headmaster Barns snapped it shut. The book registered its outrage by screaming, shouting, cursing at them. The tatty couch the book sat next to caught on fire. Everything else in the room had been turned upside down and the floor shook.

In the midst of putting the fire out, Headmaster took steps back, saying, "That was a very strong warning, if I may say so myself." He told them to get dressed, to leave the book alone and to come down for breakfast. Alana hadn't told Headmaster or the professor about the wand that appeared in her hand from the book's dark power.

They ate breakfast in silence; the screams and hoots and howlers from the room where the book lay sounded all around them and seemed to do enough talking. Logan's arm rested on the back of Alana's chair, and she saw his eyes flicker from green to bright red, then a horrible glossy shade of black. She hurried, reaching in her pocket, and handed Logan his daily dose of anti-Transfigure potion.

After breakfast, the headmaster and professor stood to leave.

"Be careful, Alana," Headmaster Barns warned. "That book wants you for some evil purpose. That's why you're drawn to it and why I'm taking it out of here. I think Logan's presence surprised it, which is why it released you the first time. I doubt it will let you go again, so don't go near it. You understand?"

She nodded, her eyes wide, and felt Logan's hand rest on her shoulder.

"We'll be careful, sir," he promised.

The two men walked out the front door and into the sunlit morning. Alana saw the headmaster's bag containing the book forgotten by the door. Running to call out, she stopped at the threshold and remained silent, part of her wanting to warn them and part of her glad that she didn't. Shutting the door, she shrugged, picked up the bag and took it to her room.

Chapter 17

Days later...

Logan found Alana in a supply closet by the kitchen, crouching among shelves of toilet paper and bars of soap, with her head in her hands. He slipped inside, checking the hallway to see if he had been spotted, and then shut the door behind him. With his keen smell, being a werewolf on those off nights when the Transfigure charm didn't take hold, detergent in the tiny closet gave him a headache.

Standing in front of her, he wordlessly extended a hand down, ready to haul her up, bodily if he had to, but she took the hand and rose with a sigh.

"I'm so sorry," she said, face crumpled in worry.

"For what?"

Her free hand gestured. "Everything. Everyone. Students are getting sick. Weird accidents are happening to everyone. All kinds of things are going wrong, and it's all my fault. I released all those ghouls and creatures."

A tomato-red blush went up her neck, and that finally clued Logan in. "You're scared?"

Her forehead dropped on his shoulder. "I'm horrified. I never should've opened that book, or taken hold of that wand. Sorry I got you into this mess."

"Hey, you didn't get me into any trouble. Well, none that I haven't already done in my day," Logan protested and gave her a candy bar. "I brought myself in with you to help you. What are friends for? Moreover, I'm glad I did, because you're in a horrible state. Friends for life."

"Right!" She choked on a snicker and mock-punched Logan's arm.

"No, seriously," Logan said. "It's really okay. I love this. I got to go on so many adventures with you so far."

"Yeah, I guess," she mumbled.

* * *

Later that day...

It was the night of the new moon and even the stars hid themselves. No light of the heavens washed over the vast land, and darkness reigned. Not a single creature dared to move out of their safe haven. Something big was about to happen. Everything was so lifeless that time seemed to have stopped.

However, undeterred by these deadly book omens, four cloaked figures made their way through the thick forest, each starting from a different area but heading towards the same location. The rustling of leaves being walked on made the only sound that filled the land. The four figures met up in the very heart of the forest. Wordlessly, they surrounded a large tree stump, its cut so smooth that the tree it once was could not have fallen by normal means. They stretched out their arms to both sides; their right palm facing up and their left facing down, becoming the tree. Magically, their hands hovered near the school's Main Gates and they blasted the lock with their wands.

Taking a deep breath, they opened their mouths and released a most eerie sound. So in sync, it sounded like one person speaking in different voices at the same time. As they chanted, the air around them thickened like syrup, and they started to glow, each a different color-crimson, purple, azure, periwinkle, yellow, chrome, green, and white. The lights grew brighter and brighter still, penetrating the darkness, until they enveloped the entire area.

The sound woke an evil presence from its centuries of sleep. It gathered its strength and moved toward the now-opened school from the depths of the forest, anxious to retrieve its Book of Spells.

The book heard the call, too, and stirred about in the bag where Alana left it. The time had come and it was anxious to unleash its devilish will.

Panting hard, covered with sweat, Logan woke. Even though there was no full moon, he felt the beast coming from deep within him and he howled to relieve the pain. A growl came next, joining the fury unleashed by the book owner's presence.

In the next instant, Logan's heart froze with fear and he bolted out of his room. "Alana!"

* * *

Thump! Thump! Thump! The book went thumping one step at a time across Alana's bedroom floor. "BANG!" Its power swept her up and she tumbled to a dark place that the book brought her in her dream. Luckily, she landed on a soft patch; otherwise she would have been badly hurt. Still dizzy from her wild flight, she lay there a while before sitting up and taking a fearful look around.

She found herself in the middle of a dense, dark forest unlike home. Thick, twisted trees stood before her. They had big, peaceful, green round eyes, and long funny noses with big mouths that moved up and down when they talked. She had no idea what they were saying as they chatted to her. Thorny bushes surrounded the little meadow in which she had fallen. The vegetation was so lush that if the meadow were lit, it just might be a cheerful place with sunbeams. But, in the dark, it frightened her.

A thick carpet of fallen leaves covered the ground. The tree branches, gnarled and crooked like bony old hands, looked menacing. Nevertheless, scariest of all were the forest noises: endless twittering, muted screeches and low groaning sounds. Once or twice, she even heard growling, which made her cringe. For a moment, she debated whether to cry or call for help. She decided it was safest to keep quiet, and began looking for a way out.

Alana didn't need to look very long to discover that she could go in three different directions: three openings in the wall of trees and bushes presented themselves to her. The tree-formed tunnels on the left and right were connected through a well-worn path, but the one in the middle looked less used, so she decided to keep away from it. She was just about to take the path on the right when, from overhead, she heard a strange sound like a door opening.

"Look out below!" Something crashed at her feet. She let out an almighty scream, fell flat on the ground and covered her head with her hands. The thing didn't move, though, and little by little, she gathered the courage to look.

At first, she thought a dead animal was lying in front of her. Then she couldn't believe her eyes; it was the magical book covered in leaves and bits of bark from its fall. The little magical book was made tough as a bear's hide. She jumped for joy at seeing something familiar in this strange place, grabbed the book and was just about walk down the path when something unexpected happened.

"Rrrr!" growled the Book of Spells in a peculiar, faint, but angry voice. "Stop! Go no further!" The pages flapped and waved about. Out popped a magical wand into her hand.

She heard a loud sound. "What was that?" she whispered to the wand. "Who is it?" She held her wand out.

"Me, who else? It's me, silly," someone spoke from behind a tree. "How did you get here?"

"I... haven't a clue."

"Of course you don't, silly."

"Stop calling me silly. Who's out there? I'll unleash my wand at your hiding place."

"Oh, please don't," the tree spoke, "You may miss him and hit me."

"Wait, wait a second! I think I know that voice."

"Of course you do, ALANA."

"Logan...Good grief! Thank goodness it's only you. Are you ok?"

"Yeah. How about you?"

"I'm okay. Confused, though. One minute, I was sleeping in my own bed and the next, I fell here. What's going on?"

Logan shrugged. "I see you brought the book."

"No, I didn't. It fell, too. I just picked it up."

"So, neither one of us chose to come here. We both fell in our sleep. The book shows up, too. This doesn't feel right. Not right at all! At least we've got wands." He surveyed the area, a frown covering his face. "We need to find our way back."

"Agreed!" Alana pointed. "I think that might be the best path to take."

"Your guess is as good as any. Let's go."

When Logan and Alana finally made their way out of the forest, they found themselves in a great clearing cut in a complete and perfect circle. In the farther end of the clearing stood a tall building, blacker than night, and thirty-six floors high.

They pulled their wands out, just in case something came from the dark. "I think," she said, "it used to be the school. Don't you feel it? It's just different."

"How?" Logan asked.

"It's gone dark and turned black as a carbon copy, one could say." She looked it over, underestimating the power that reflected off of it. She peered at each window on the first floor, but nothing revealed movement beyond the glass. However, one window had a glimmer of light rippling in the shadows that tried to hide it. Her destiny lay in this building, a building crumbling almost right before her eyes.

On top of the building sat two large crows that glared down at her as if she were trespassing. She didn't like the way they stared at her, so she grabbed Logan by the arm to follow the small dirt path that led to the door. After only a few feet, her body lost its chill and instead became warm. It was as if the building had opened its arms to her in welcome, but she didn't know whether it was a friendly hug, or one that could squeeze her to death. The book grew warm, giving the feeling they were on the right path.

When Logan and Alana approached the door, she stopped in uncertainty, wondering if this was something they should be doing. She noticed that there was no door handle, but rather an odd moon-shaped hole that intrigued her imagination. She frowned and inspected the door from top to bottom, but couldn't find a way to get it opened.

Exhausted, trapped in a forgotten world, and scared, Logan grew desperate now as he tried to find a way into the building. He finally gave up and slumped against the door. Lost and tired, Alana began to sob and dropped her head on his shoulder, hoping that this was all just a dream; that the magical book played some sort of wicked game and when she opened her eyes, she'd be back in her bed. Nevertheless, when she peeked through her eyelids, she still saw the dark yard of the building and the dew shining brightly in the moonlight. She sighed, her tears forming again, betraying her as they slid down her cheek and onto the dirt path they both sat on.

Chapter 18

"So, what's the story behind this place?" Logan asked in a hushed voice. He looked nervous as she held the book upright.

"I think it's the book's home," she quit crying to answer. The trees nearby shook when that was said. Lightning flashed, then blinding darkness fell. In addition, voices, loud and earsplitting, kept yelling out the same words, "Let go!"

The book flew out of her tight grip. Her hand, burning like fire, jerked to the door and it opened. Finding themselves magically inside, they heard laughter in a most devilish way. Her hand stung from a pattern on it put there by the book, the symbol needed to unlock the door. Her face, arms and legs glistened of perspiration in the shadowy light that only came through a few holes in the boarded up windows.

The door slammed shut, trapping them inside. Her head swam, and she felt like she was about to vomit, but she leaned against the wall and closed her eyes, trying to calm down. A panic attack was coming on, and she knew that if she didn't calm herself down in time, she would have a full-blown attack and pass out.

She had a few before, but never as painful as the one approaching. Her eyes flickered open to the sound of her name, but the hallway looked hazy and began to spin so she shut her eyes, tears squeezing out. A pair of hideous red eyes glared at her in her mind. The dark castle hissed evil words to her in a language she didn't understand.

The eyes, those horrifying eyes began to force her to open her mind, but she tried to make them go away. Only, they came on much stronger, piercing her brain and physically hurting her. She trembled from her attack. No, wait. She was being shaken to bring her back to reality.

"Logan!" a voice called. She didn't know whether or not it was her voice or someone else. She sat up straight, the vision of those eyes beginning to fade, hissing a moan of defeat. She looked up and saw three pairs of eyes staring down at her, but none of them the pure blood ruby red like the ones in her head. Ghosts, specters, doing the Book's bidding, kept watch, marking her every move, even while they screamed their agony and hate.

Those red eyes, they had fire in them, fire that would consume the earth and crush everything in their vision. She felt it still within her like a lingering thought. She feared it, the way it compelled her to do something awful, and even though damning it, she wanted to see it just once more. They were eyes icy, unbreakable, scheming and persuasive. She wanted to know what they wanted with her and if they belonged to that dark that called from inside the castle. She didn't understand why they had such a hold on her.

She looked up to the specters' eyes that hung above her and saw one blue pair, just like her own, another pair of amazing light green that almost appeared gold. The last were plain brown, but each folded into a frown and held a look of foreboding in them.

"Man, I'm getting too old for these things," she joked. Logan groaned and noticed her staring at the door, her eyes almost hidden by her hair. The book, glowing red, floated inside the darkness. Her eyes darted to Logan and they held each other's gaze. However, she was unable to read what his eyes said, because the light green that they were just a moment before turned to a dark green and hid the truth.

A sense of foreboding strengthened, threatening to steal the air from their lungs. A presence drew closer, its power coming in waves ahead of it.

Logan knelt, took Alana's hand, and studied it, looking for the red pattern that had just disappeared. She etched out the lines on her palm, tracing them from start to finish. Biting his lower lip, he grimaced at the lie he'd told Alana. He knew how he got there with her, even though he said he didn't. His mind went back to a few hours ago, asleep in his bed.

Being a strong wizard, he'd sensed evil on the wind and in the night air. Something or someone wanted to bend time and circumstances to their will and dark purpose. Knowing Alana's susceptibility to the Book, he cast a few spells to wake him if anything when awry, to trail her if she went anywhere, and then fell asleep in his clothes. Within an hour, his eyes flew open, his body in agony at the sudden Transfiguration. He fought it, knowing only an evil presence could cause it on a night without a full moon. Then, his heart told him to fly to her. Grabbing his wand, he burst into her room just in time to see a vortex open and pull her in. Without hesitation, he jumped in behind her.

Now, here they were, shut inside an old castle with the Book of Spells. Logan knew his presence had once again thwarted the evil plans, just as surely as he knew the Book wasn't finished yet. The hair on the back of his neck stood and his spine twitched at the premonition crawling up it.

"I love you, Alana," he whispered.

She looked like she thought he'd lost his mind at that moment. "What?"

Glancing over his shoulder, he could feel the evil grow in force, impatient and hungry. "I love you. Please, don't ever forget that."

He leaned in and gave her a slow lover's kiss, a goodbye kiss, then stood, deliberately putting himself between Alana and the door. It pulsed in its frame, threatening to crack apart from some invisible force pushing on it.

"Aaalaaannnaaa... Aaalaaannnaaa..." Hissing, evil, seductive voices filled the room; glowing eyes floated, body-less and taunting.

Logan shouted a spell, flicking his wand at the front door. The door burst into flame, blinding him and casting the rest of the room into deep shadow. At least he couldn't make out the glowing eyes anymore, even if he could still hear their screams. He gazed into the fire, concentrating on thinking of nothing so the Book couldn't read his intentions. Bright orange flames threw dancing black spots across his vision.

He pulled his cloak tighter around him and waited, keeping his face expressionless. He prodded the fire with the tip of his wand, making sparks fly, and shivered when he heard quick, approaching footsteps. "It's here!"

Fingers of flame, malevolent and unstoppable, dwarfed the room and stretched toward Alana. Laughter deafened her ears. She gulped, twisting around, looking for somewhere to run. Glancing at Logan, she saw him standing still... motionless... waiting...

"Logan!" Realizing too late his intentions, Alana jumped toward him. "I love you!"

He shoved her out of the way of the outstretched fiery fingers, which closed in a fist around him and pulled him out the door, burning him alive. The last thing he heard was her voice.

The End

