Touch of Darkness

Chapter 3: Bonfire

We were all sat in a ring around the fire. When we were little, hanging out like this was so common and casual. But now it was only awkward, and it seemed to show on everyone's faces. Still, I couldn't help but feel relaxed in their company. Even though we weren't close anymore, it was as if we had an unspoken trust in each other that we could rely on. Maybe that's why Alice decided she could have us all gather here again after a long time.

I sat between her and Chris, who had suddenly become quiet and seemed to be focusing on something as we sat down. Elijah couldn't seem to give his usual kind smile, he could sense the mood of the situation as well. Cain was leaning back in the grass with a slightly irritated look on his face.

"So are you gonna tell us why we're here in the middle of the night when we could be sleeping?" he growled.

Alice shrinks back at his tone and I give him a small glare.

"I didn't think the town bad boy had a bedtime," I said mockingly. He sneers at me and before he can retort Chris intervenes.

"Obviously whatever Alice has to tell us must be important for her to call all of us out," and he gives Cain a knowing glance, "You knew that too, or else you wouldn't have shown up."

Cain opens his mouth to say something but shuts up after thinking it over. We all turn to look at Alice, and finally she speaks.

"I know this is sudden but I'm glad you all came. I specifically wanted us to meet at night, since I know some of us have after school obligations." Chris and Elijah nod in agreement. "What I'm going to tell you guys might seem unbelievable, but please hear me out. This concerns all of us." She makes eye contact with each of us, then continued, "I learned that there is something that connects all of us. And it's not just that we're all neighbors, which is another point I've yet to make, but...well, I guess I should just say it." Alice takes a deep breath, "We have magic."

No one says anything at first, and Alice seems to be waiting for some sort of reaction from us. All of a sudden Cain stands up and tries to leave. "I can't believe you dragged us out here for this bullshit. Magic? Really Alice? We're not five anymore.".

Alice grabs the hem of his jacket, "It's the truth, Cain. You won't believe me, but I found this book in my parents' closet when I was looking for something else. It was handwritten, almost like a diary, and in a language I've never seen before, but I knew it was my father's writing, and somehow when I opened it, I could understand it." She looked around at each of us, and we continued listening to her story, "I'm still shaking from what happened. The moment I touched a page of that book, it was like all the symbols on the paper shifted and I could read it. And what was written inside...it was about all of us. Or actually, about our families to be exact. Magic runs in all of our families."

There was a long moment of silence as we were taking in what she was saying.

"I believe her," Elijah speaks up.

Cain mutters, "You're in on this too?"

"No, I rarely talk to Alice," Elijah shakes his head, "The only class I have with her is the one with the rest of you guys. But I believe there is some truth in what she is telling us."

Alice has a faint smile, "You really believe me, Elijah?"

He nods, "What else were you going to say?"

Alice continues, "I couldn't take the book out incase my dad noticed. Another strange thing though is I can remember the contents of his journal word for word, even after only glancing it over once. There are things written about past events in our town, and about the magic that our families use. There were some pages that were torn out towards the end of it. It seemed a little odd, but part of one of the pages was still there." Alice looked directly at me as she said this next part, "I saw the name Paxton written. That's the same as the new kids'. There wasn't anything else about them so I don't know what the connection might be, but there's one thing I've learned from this, and it's that we should be careful of Zedd and Alessia. They're connected to something bad that's happened before."

"If what you say is true," Chris chimes in with a serious tone in his voice, "Then the feelings I've been having make sense now too."

"What feelings?" Alice asks.

"Recently I have this foreboding, and the moment I saw Zedd and Alessia at school that feeling became extremely intense. Those two are dangerous, I'm sure of it. If what you and I have experienced happened around the same time, then you may be onto something."

I was quiet the whole time they were talking, pondering over what Alice and Chris were saying. Magic? It should seem ridiculous, but just hearing it snaps something into place in my mind. And their feelings about Zedd match my own suspicions.

"Okay I'll agree that those twins have some sort of bad vibe to them, but anyone could see that. And even if you two have these things happening to you, how come I," Cain glances at me and Elijah who haven't claimed anything either, "and these two haven't experienced anything?"

Alice thinks for a bit and then says, "I can't say for sure yet. The journal was numbered, so I think my father has more of these somewhere around. I'm going to look for them and continue looking at his notes when I can. But the main reason I wanted to tell you guys about this now was so you could be careful with both the magic and those twins. Even if you don't believe us now," she looks pointedly at Cain, "Humor me for a few days. If anything happens, tell us." She pauses for a moment and looks at me, "Victoria, you haven't spoken this entire time. You're never this quiet unless you're thinking hard about something. What is it?"

Now all eyes are on me. I consider telling them about my encounters with Zedd. Alice and Chris were brave enough to tell the group about it, even though for years we've been indifferent to each other's lives. If they trust us enough, I should trust them a little too.

I take a deep breath and speak, "I've been having these dreams for a while. Sometimes they're normal, sometimes they're like nightmares. Lately, there's been more nightmares, and they've been getting scarier, to the point that I'm losing sleep over them."

"So that's why you always say you're tired," Elijah said softly. I give him a pained smile and nod.

"The dreams are usually never the same, but there's one constant theme. In all of them, a man appears. When I wake up, I forget what he looks like, but in my dreams I know he's the same. And then..." I pause and take another deep breath, "When I saw Zedd for the first time at school, I thought that he looked familiar, but I've never met him before. When he looked at me, I got chills. After thinking about it for a while, I can't match up their faces, but I think...that man in my dreams is Zedd."

Their eyes widen in surprise. Even Cain, who was suspicious of this whole thing, couldn't hide his genuine shock. I shrug and continue speaking.

"We should all be careful of those two. And Alice," I glance over at her, "The moment you know more about this magic, can you tell us? I think we all have each other's numbers."

Everyone nods. Alice resolved that she would try writing down what she could to sort out her thoughts. If anything happened with any of us, we promised to contact each other immediately. Our meeting place would continue to be the woods. After making sure everyone was on the same page, we decided to end it there for the night. We walked as a silent group out of the woods, until we could split off to our respective houses.

When I returned to my room I lay on my bed and reached out my hand towards the ceiling, wondering, if there really was magic, what it would feel like.

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Now that they know they have magic powers, what do you think will happen?

xx