Awakening Intuition
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The next morning, I woke up feeling like a million bucks. The first thing that hit me was the smell of bacon and coffee, coming from my kitchen. My nose led me downstairs to the table where a steaming mug awaited me with two slices of bacon sitting on top.
I grinned and took a sip of coffee before digging into breakfast. After all the work that had been done yesterday, I didn’t have much else planned for today so I’d slept in, which meant it was time to get back to work. First, though, I wanted some more answers about what happened at the club last night.
So after breakfast, I got online and began reading through posts about magic users. Most of the threads were about new spells, or how to improve existing ones, but there were also a lot of questions being asked by people who were just starting out.
My favorite thread wasn’t about magic either, it was one about relationships and dating issues. It was pretty popular too because it was always filled with new questions and stories that seemed real enough. I found myself drawn in as I read through them.
A couple days ago, someone posted a story about a guy whose girlfriend couldn’t seem to get over her ex-boyfriend’s betrayal even though they hadn’t seen each other since high school. It went on for quite a while until she started getting desperate and asking for advice; then another poster chimed in saying he’d be happy to help.
He said if the girl really liked him, his spell would make sure nothing stood in their way again. When the thread continued, a week later, the guy had come back and explained things weren’t going well. His girlfriend had left him and moved away.
Then the same poster came back again and asked for more suggestions about how to get her back. The next poster suggested an item called “Heartbreak” which was supposed to put the woman into a deep depression that made her lose interest in every man in her life, including the one she loved. It sounded good, but I’d never heard of such a thing.
I wondered if it was true, but when I searched for it, the only result I got involved a band and an album title.
I kept reading, but eventually, I realized I might need to take action. If the Heartbreak spell actually existed, maybe I could do something against it without revealing anything. I decided to try casting a spell of protection around my house, but as soon as I finished writing up the incantation and began chanting, a thought popped into my head.
What if this person knew they were under a curse, and that’s why they asked for help? Maybe they figured out it was something bad but still needed some help. That made sense to me, so I changed directions and tried looking for spells to break curses.
This time, it worked. There were quite a few different kinds listed, some simple, some complicated. As I skimmed over them, I spotted several that looked like they were made specifically to undo the effects of my favorite love song.
So far, all it said was to send someone a letter with instructions, but there were plenty of variations depending on how detailed the information was. It seemed that most of these spells were geared toward preventing cheating in a relationship; others included a variety of different curses.
One spell caught my eye right away because it mentioned using a picture to bring back someone from the dead, and I already knew where I’d find such an image. While I was at it, I decided to see what I could do about protecting myself against the heartbreak spell and its ilk. It was pretty easy, just a matter of changing the words in the incantations.
All three of my spell books gave me the same basic instructions, so I followed them exactly:
— To banish any evil that may harm you, speak aloud the following:
“You can’t touch me,”
“Not even death shall keep us apart.”
I repeated it ten times, but as soon as I was done, I noticed something odd. The second word seemed to stick in my throat when I spoke it aloud, and it made my voice tremble and shake. But I forced myself to keep going and finally managed to spit it out. “Even death shall not stop us from being together.”
After that, there was nothing to do but wait and hope. So I sat staring at the wall, wondering if this spell would work. I was trying to figure out how it differed from those that helped prevent infidelity.
I was thinking that maybe it didn’t help protect against cheating because cheating wouldn’t necessarily kill someone’s chances at true love, but instead, it protected against people who used a curse or spell to separate lovers who were truly in love.
If that was true, then maybe the difference was that these spells also included other kinds of curses besides cheating. Maybe it covered a whole range of bad situations that happened outside of the bedroom, but that seemed unlikely.
If so, then why not just say so? And anyway, there were lots of spells that helped with that particular problem. In fact, it seemed like almost half the spells I’d seen dealt with cheating, but I couldn’t think of any other kind of curse that made people forget about love.
As I thought more about it, a question popped into my mind. Could it have been someone else’s spell that was causing all the weird stuff, not mine? Maybe the person who had cursed me had somehow found out about my magic and was playing nasty tricks on me. This struck me as very plausible. I mean, I hadn’t exactly been hiding the fact that I could make wishes come true …
But before I could consider it further, a knock came from downstairs. I glanced up, startled by the noise. Then I remembered that the doorbell didn’t ring there. Instead, someone knocked once and then rang again.
My head was spinning. My thoughts were flying everywhere without much focus to guide them. First, I’d gotten a message from Death and a phone call from the Grim Reaper, but neither one was making sense to me. And now there were mysterious knocks coming from downstairs, and I didn’t know what to do.
So I did the next thing that came to mind. I went into the kitchen and poured myself a glass of water. I took a sip, hoping that might calm my racing thoughts. After all, drinking water often made me feel calmer when I had no idea why.
But then another knock came from down below, and it seemed louder than all the others combined. A cold chill ran through me, and I felt goosebumps on my skin. For whatever reason, the sound seemed to strike a nerve with me, and I suddenly wanted to scream at whoever was knocking so desperately to go away!
But I held back because yelling sounded crazy, especially since I wasn’t sure how many people lived in this huge mansion.
And then I saw a shadow move across the window behind me. Something big was standing outside, blocking the light from the front porch.
It took a few seconds for my eyes to adjust enough to see what it really was, but when I did, I couldn’t believe it. Someone stood on the front steps, looking up at me!
“Are you okay?”
The voice was soft and gentle, but with a hint of fear underneath. It belonged to the young girl I’d met at the beginning of my journey; the one who had been crying over her father’s murder. But she looked completely different now!
Her clothes were dirty, torn, and tattered. She was pale and thin and looked terribly weak and vulnerable, but she smiled gently down at me as if nothing was wrong.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, still staring at the woman who appeared to be younger than I was.
She shrugged. “I heard you screaming and came running. You shouldn’t yell so loudly, Miss Ravenwood. People will hear you.”
That was funny. I hadn’t realized that anyone could hear me shout, but maybe this woman had some special power or gift. I didn’t know, and that confused me too. Hadn’t I tried everything under the sun? Why wasn’t this working?
But as I considered the possibility that someone else was involved, it occurred to me that there were probably tons of magical folk around. There were witches after all, and wizards too, not to mention vampires.
What if someone else knew more about how magic worked than I did? It was possible, but it didn’t seem likely. Still, there was something strange going on, and I needed to find out why.
“Who are you?” I demanded. “How can you possibly know where I am? And when I ask questions, they always come out backward!”
This time she chuckled a little. “You’ve got quite an imagination, Miss Ravenwood.”
“Then tell me your name,” I snapped angrily. “Or don’t, if you’re afraid I’ll forget it again.”
But she ignored my sarcasm. “I’m not used to talking to strangers, so bear with me while I try to explain things. The last thing I want is to cause any problems for you. I just want to help … if I can.”
Her words made perfect sense, but I wanted to know where she’d seen me and who she was. If only I could understand what she was trying to say. As I struggled to think of the best way to respond, she continued.
“Do you remember when we first met?”
I nodded. “Yes. But what does it matter now?”
She shook her head. “Don’t worry about that now. I won’t ask anything too personal.”
I sighed. I didn’t even know her name and she already wanted to talk about private matters. It was like dealing with my mom’s boyfriend, but at least he was honest.
“I need to get home,” I said, frustrated. “Can we stop this charade and get it over with?”
“Oh, no,” she answered hastily. “I haven’t got it all sorted yet. It’s hard to explain. Can I come upstairs? There’s so much confusion down below, and you look so sad. Please let me see you for a minute.”
There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that she meant well, but I couldn’t trust a stranger. Especially not someone who had a history of Death as I suspected.
“Why do you want to see me?” I demanded again.
I didn’t see the point. We both knew this was just another trick. Or at least I thought we did.
For whatever reason, I didn’t protest. Maybe it was because I was too exhausted to argue with myself. My head hurt from the constant pounding, and my feet burned with tiredness. I simply followed her inside.
After climbing three flights of stairs, I entered a long hallway lined with doors. I recognized many of them as belonging to various rooms in the building, though I didn’t recall having walked through these halls before.
As soon as I opened the door next to us, the sound of wind suddenly filled my ears. A gust of cold air rushed through the hall, blowing away all the smoke. Then a warm breeze moved in behind it and blew into our faces, pushing against our cheeks as if we were sitting on a beach. It felt good, especially after the suffocating atmosphere of the basement.
It didn’t take long for the air to clear enough for me to make out what lay beyond. The room itself seemed normal, except that the sunlight that poured in reminded me of the bright blue skies at night. It was a bit strange and unnerving.
“What is this place?” I wondered aloud.
The young woman smiled as if she had read my thoughts. “Just relax, Miss Ravenwood. We’ll have answers later.”
We stepped across the threshold into an open area near the top of the house. Above us soared the second floor of a sprawling mansion; far above even the attic that served as a school for the girls. The wide expanse of white plaster gleamed as though freshly polished, and I assumed it must be a new addition to the old building.
The woman took me by the hand and led me toward a large, open window that overlooked the rest of the property. It stood high up on a ledge near one side of the ceiling, overlooking the grounds below, including a small lake that glittered in the sunshine.
“Look down,” she whispered eagerly.
I squinted at the scene. From here, it appeared that the entire area was covered in snow, except for the water below. All the trees, houses, and roads had turned to ice. Everything had been frozen solid. It was eerie, and the view seemed somehow familiar. But I couldn’t figure out why or where I’d ever seen it before.
“Where are you taking me?” I asked impatiently.
My voice sounded distant and hollow even to myself as if the sound of my words had traveled miles before reaching my ears. Even my fingers tingled and ached.
“To show you something important,” the woman explained. She pulled my arm tightly around her waist to stop me from wandering too far. “You’ve lost your memory again.”
I shook my head angrily. “No. You’re wrong.”
Though she seemed sincere, I didn’t believe it. This was some sort of joke, right?
But the woman’s eyes weren’t lying. They were as serious and focused as ever, but there was still hope and a spark of excitement burning deep within her gaze. She didn’t seem frightened by my appearance; perhaps she expected it.
I stared up at the woman, puzzled and uncertain. What was she expecting? If she was trying to fool me, she wasn’t very good at it.
Then we heard a scream. It came from somewhere nearby. It sounded desperate and terrifying, but at first, I couldn’t find a source. After a moment, however, I saw a figure standing on the edge of a cliff, peering down over its jagged edge with terror-stricken eyes. He was tall and lean like me, only dressed in nothing more than a loose pair of breeches. And he was about to jump off!
I gasped loudly and instinctively reached for him, grabbing his shoulder just as he began to leap. He spun toward me, knocking into me and falling against my chest. I caught him just before he could fall.
A loud crash erupted behind us. The man stumbled backward and fell onto me, landing heavily atop my back with a thump. We toppled backward into the open window as though we’d both been pushed by an invisible hand. I hit the sill hard, but the two of us managed to hold on until the glass stopped rattling.
The man groaned and rolled to the side. Blood dripped from his forehead. I lifted my hands to examine the injury when I realized I had no idea how to do so, nor any way to treat it. The wound seemed clean, not deep enough to require stitches, but then it wasn’t exactly a scratch either. The skin around the cut seemed red and raw though, and the blood was still dripping slowly.
After I’d wiped the tears from my eyes, I looked at the man’s face again and realized he was staring straight at me. He was a handsome man of medium height with dark brown hair, piercing blue eyes, and a strong jawline.
Though he wore his breeches unbuttoned, revealing a hint of toned abdominal muscles, it was obvious from his body language that he was in pain. His eyes were wide, his breathing heavy, and a look of surprise and fear still painted across his pale features.
He must have thought I was a ghost, I realized. At least that was probably what this was all about.
The young woman beside him was watching me closely as well. “Are you hurt?” she asked, but her voice seemed much farther away than before. Was the house really tilting now? Or was it me?
It was impossible to tell.
“Don’t move!” I called out suddenly to the woman, though I knew neither she nor the man would hear me. “This place is unstable.”
The young woman nodded and released my hand abruptly.
Then I felt myself losing my grip—the world was tilting rapidly beneath my feet. I held tight to the man and tried to catch my breath as the building rattled violently and started to sway. We were sinking down … down inside the earth. Down into the center of the Earth!
Suddenly, I could see through the walls and floor as clearly as I’d seen the outside scenery just moments ago. A dull glow illuminated the whole room from somewhere above us, and I found myself holding tightly to the wall once more.
The woman was staring at me strangely as we sank deeper into the ground. There was a strange shimmering aura all around us, but no light was coming from it. The air grew warmer and thicker with every heartbeat, as though we’d fallen into some sort of volcanic crater.
I was having trouble breathing, yet I continued to stare at the ceiling. Then, after another few seconds of descent, I felt the pressure change as the air became lighter, cooler, and less dense. My heart pounded faster as I saw a brilliant white light ahead. I grabbed onto the man’s shoulder once more and prepared to leap into the bright light.
My legs gave way and we plunged downward instead. I screamed, but the sound was drowned out by the thundering roar of water. Water rushing over us in a torrent! The entire house began to shudder violently as we slid through the opening of an underground river, and then everything went dark.
The End