But it was Alex’s face that appeared when the trapdoor lifted open. I handed him the book and his mom’s journal, and then heaved myself out.

“Do you think he knew someone was here?” I asked.

Alex shook his head, his forehead creasing over with puzzlement. “I don’t think so…But why did he come here…and in my room?” He glanced around the room, his eyes landing on the top dresser drawer, which was open.

Alex handed me the flashlight and dug around inside the drawer. “Why would he…I don’t get it?”

“What’s missing?” I asked, pointing the flashlight at the inside of the drawer.

He shook his head. “My mirror.”

“Like your make-up mirror,” I joked and then pressed my lips together when he gave me a dirty look. “Sorry.”

He shook his head. “No, it’s just…I don’t get it—why did he take it?”

“Was there something special about the mirror?” I asked.

He shut the drawer. “I don’t know…I got it from a witch, who told me it would show me my future if I looked in it, but it was a bunch of crap because every time I looked in it all I saw was light.”

I dropped the flashlight. “You saw what?”

“Light.” He picked up the flashlight and shined it in my eyes. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” I blinked against the bright light. “But maybe your father’s worried that we changed the future and he thought this mirror would show him.”

“Maybe…” Alex looked at me strangely, knowing there was something else wrong.

“We should probably go in case he comes back.” I started for the door, figuring he would argue, but he didn’t.

Alex was right—my Mitsubishi did make it off the hill. After a little bit of backing up, and some spinning of the tires, we were driving down the road. Alex hadn’t said a word since we had left his house. And that was okay. I was too distracted by what he had told me about the light. I worried that there might be a connection there, between what he saw in the mirror and what I kept seeing repeatedly every time my eyes closed.

I started reading through the pages of the Foreseer’s book. The first few chapters were pretty boring, but then I stumbled onto something interesting.

The Room of Forbidden: A desolate place where no soul lives except the seer that committed the crime. In the Room of Forbidden, the seer will spend an eternity alone. No one can enter the Room of Forbidden, for the room exists only in the seer’s mind.

“The Seer’s mind,” I didn’t mean to say it out loud.

“What?” Alex cast a quick glance at me, somewhat distracted.

“It’s nothing.” I waved him off. But I couldn’t understand how my dad was stuck in a room inside his own head. And that I was in there once.

I shivered and went back to my reading.

The power of a Foreseer’s mind: The Foreseer’s mind is one of the most powerful tools. In fact, some of the more powerful Foreseers are able to push their minds to see what they need to see in times of great need.

Push the mind to see what it needs to see in times of great need? Hmmm…I wondered how that one worked. I turned the page, hoping for detailed instructions, but the only thing there was a drawing of a person with an eye on the center of their forehead. I touched my finger to my forehead, wondering what it meant.

I went on skimming through the pages, looking for the words “purple” or “flame,” but by the time Alex pulled in the driveway, I still hadn’t found a mention of either.

Alex killed the engine and turned to me. “Hey, can we keep what happened back at the house a secret? I don’t want to worry Aislin more than she already is…she’s been really stressed out lately.”

I actually thought this was a good idea. “Yeah, I’ll keep it to myself.”

He gave me a small smile and we went inside the house. Aislin was sitting at the kitchen table, a bunch of herbs and leaves scattered in front of her, along with a few candles.

“Did you get the book?” She asked as soon as we stepped over the threshold.

I nodded, lifting up the Foreseers book. “Yep, we got it.”

“Run into any problems?” She was distracted with her herbs and didn’t notice when I glanced at Alex.

“No, everything went fine.” Alex slipped off his jacket and hung it on the back of the chair. Then he sat the box of herbs that we had picked up from Aislin’s room onto the table “Did you run into any problems here?”

She shook her head, turning a page of the book she was reading. “Everything’s fine. Jocelyn’s asleep, and Laylen’s showing Aleesa what a TV is.”

I slid down into a chair at the table. “What are you doing with all this stuff?” I picked up a red and green leaf and turned it in my fingers.

“I am trying to finger out a spell that will remove the mark.” She turned the page of the book.

I put the leaf back on the table. “Is that the book you…borrowed from Medea’s?”

“Um…yeah.” She peered up at me with a guilty smile.

I thought about her room and when I saw her shoplift. There seemed to be more to Aislin then what I had originally thought.

“You got that book from Medea’s.” Alex picked up the book and turned it to the back cover.

Aislin tried to grab it back, but Alex moved it behind his back. “I don’t think you should be doing any spells from this thing,” he said. “If it’s from Medea’s store.”

“It’s just something she was selling, Alex.” Aislin held out her hand impatiently. “Now give it back.”

Alex shook his head. “No, not until you promise me you won’t do any of the spells in it.”

“Fine,” she agreed, but I had a feeling she was lying. “Now give it back.”

He handed the book back to her, and she sat it on her lap. She reached over and grabbed the box of herbs and starting digging through it.

I let out a yawn, and my eyelids suddenly felt very heavy. “I’m going to bed,” I said.

Alex glanced up at the clock. “It’s pretty early for bed.”

“Yeah, but it’s been a long day that used a lot of my energy.” I gave him a pressing look so he would understand what I meant. Our little trapdoor incident had drained me dry and I was actually starting to feel some consequences.

“Well, goodnight then,” Alex said, pretending he had no idea what my look meant.

I sighed and got to my feet. I could barely keep my eyes open as I dragged myself up to bed. I was out before my head even hit the pillow.

Chapter 20

Light. Light everywhere.

“It’ll be all right,” Alex whispered, bushing my hair out of my face. “I want to protect you forever.”

The lake water crackled with ice, and death seized the air as the light blinded me.

“It’ll be alright,” Alex whispered again and I clutched onto him tightly as the light suffocated me.

Images of my surroundings flipped through my mind like a picture show: Death Walkers…Stephan….fire.

Then, nothing but Ash.

“Wake up,” someone mumbled. “Come on, open your eyes.” A hand touched my arm.

Someone was in my room.

My eyes shot open, and with one swift movement I shoved the person down and was on my feet, preparing to attack.

“Gemma,” Aislin hissed from the floor. “Calm down, it’s just me.”

I clicked the lamp on and I blinked down at her. “I’m so sorry.” I helped her to her feet.

“It’s okay.” She was wearing pajamas bottoms with little pink hearts on them and a pink hoodie. “Were you having a nightmare or something?”

“Or something,” I mumbled thinking of the light vision and how I couldn’t seem to get rid of it. And where had the fire and ash suddenly come from?

“Gemma….you know you can talk to me about stuff,” she said, smoothing out her hair. “I can be a really good listener if you’ll give me a chance.”

I thought of her room and wondered if we had more in common than I knew. “Okay, I might take you up on that.” I noticed she had her purse on. “Are you going somewhere?”

She nodded, looking guilty. “And you are too….I mean, if you’ll help me that is?”

“Help you with what?” I asked with interest.

“A spell…”

“From the book you…borrowed.”

“Yeah, and I know Alex told me not to do any spells out of it, but I found one that might work.”

I took my hoodie off the back of the computer chair. “To remove the Mark of Malefiscus?”

“Yeah.” She took the book out of her purse and flipped it open. “The Spell of Zaleena.”

I squinted down at the page and pulled a face. “It looks…interesting.” On the page was a drawing of a woman, her head tilted back, her hands spread out to the side of her. Normal, right? Except that her mouth was open and a spirit was rising out of it.

“So you think this spell’s going to remove the Mark of Malefiscus?” I asked as she slid the book back into her purse.

“The spell’s not exactly for removing a mark.” She zipped up her purse. “But it’s supposed to give the witch who performs the spell the gift of being able to separate and remove evil from those who are naturally good.”

I put my hoodie on and zipped it up. “Yeah, I can see why you would think it might work, but….it’s not dangerous, right?”

“I don’t think so…” She seemed uncertain. “It shouldn’t be, but when it comes to magic, you never know.”

A pause.

“You don’t have to come if you don’t want to,” she said. “I mean, I get it if you don’t, but I think your energy might come in real handy because it’s a really powerful spell…And I could use your company.”

“Alright, I’m in,” I said. “So, where are we going?”

Nervousness rose on her face. “The cemetery.”

Never in a million years would I have thought I would be wandering down the street, late at night, with a witch, heading to a cemetery. I felt like I had stepped into a ghost story or something.

The cemetery was located at the edge of the forest. The moon was a bright orb against the pitch black sky, clouds moving whimsically in front of it. The air was hauntingly silent and still, except for the crunching of gravel underneath our shoes.

“So…how intense is this spell going to be?” I asked trying to break the silence before it drove me insane.

“Honestly?” she asked and I nodded. “Probably pretty difficult.”

Silence filled the air between us again, and I fidgeted with the zipper of my hoodie as I searched for something else to say to her.

“Gemma,” she sputtered abruptly. “Do you like Laylen?”

“What? Like as I friends?” I asked, even though I was sure she didn’t mean it that way.

She shook her head, and the uneasiness could be seen in her expression even through the darkness. “I mean, like…more than as friends…like maybe the same way as you do with Alex.” She held her breath waiting for me to answer.