Rectification

Chapter 5

To an outsider, seeing Blight Manor for the first time was an unforgettable experience. The mansion stuck out like a sore thumb among the surrounding Bonesbourough, especially the clawlike central spire that stretched towards the sky. Even from the street a person could see the epic stained glass windows that lined the top and the strange red moss that crawled up the ancient brick exterior.

But for Amity, toiling up the long entrance path after a tiring day at school, it was routine.

She actually hated how big the house was; once she entered, it took her several minutes just to climb up two stories and find her room. And even in such a huge house her bedroom was sandwiched right between her twin siblings'. Some nights it was hard to get to sleep with the racket their mock battles and over-the-top illusion spells made. Nearly nightly Amity would find herself covering her ears with her pillow and wondering why Edric and Emira had to practice their magic so loudly. (She blamed the AP Illusions classes they were taking this semester.) Soon, though, she'd have distracted herself. Thoughts and daydreams that mostly involved Luz would dance through her mind and lull her to sleep.

After Luz had gone her separate way, Amity had stayed in the forest, leaned against a tree, and shut her eyes, quickly losing herself in thought. Contemplating calmed her. She knew she had a lot to deal with- more than a standard witch would be able to deal with. But she wasn't a standard witch. She was talented, and she knew she could nip this time-travel thing right in the bud. She'd tried her best to come up with a stable plan for guaranteed girlfriend-getting success but she found that this timeline was just as confusing as the last. Who knew how much she'd unknowingly change things just by possessing knowledge of the future?

Now, as dusk was creeping over the spire of the mansion Amity stood outside the manor's huge double door and waited. She didn't have a key to get in (her parents didn't trust her with the ability to enter the house while they were gone... something about discouraging her or the twins from going out and "partying") so she was stuck pulling her cowl down around her upper arms to keep the wind chill out. Any minute now her parents would appear at the front window...

And speak of the Titan. At that instant there was a loud creak as the door was pushed open. Looking up, Amity was met with the steely golden eyes of her father, Alador. A pang of anger shot through her chest. Every time she saw him, she was overwhelmed with disgust at how much she looked like him. She hated that he bore almost no resemblance to her twin siblings. She hated that they shared the same bright eyes and the same prodigious magical talent and, occasionally, the same hair color (though the alternative wasn't much better).

"Amity," her father growled. "You're late."

Amity gulped.

"As you can see, it's already dusk." Alador pointed up at the red-orange sky. His steely eyes didn't leave his daughter's. "Where have you been?" He looked down at her wrist, bound in a cast. "You've been so irresponsible that you hurt yourself?"

"In the woods," Amity tried. "Studying. And I just... tripped earlier. While I was taking my abomination to school."

Alador nodded. "Funny you should say that about studying."

"Why?"

He avoided the question. "Why don't you come inside? You'll catch your death of a cold out here. Cold winds seem to be blowing in from the Skeletal Sea tonight." Alador's tone was less than inviting, and Amity's heart hammered her chest as she crept past him and into the manor's lobby, slouching under the weight of her book bag. She'd reached the bottom of the staircase when Alador spoke again.

"Bodhia called me today."

Freezing, Amity silently begged her heart to stop pounding so loudly. Surely even the twins could hear it from their bedroom. "Oh?" she asked, trying her best to sound nonchalant, though she knew it wouldn't work, especially in front of her father.