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NINETY-FIVE | MAZE
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2020-10-27 00:57:54“I can’t believe it,” I hissed at Rowan.
She shrugged her shoulders at me. “Me neither.”
Molly glared at us. She was fat, her heart shaped face framed neatly by her shoulder-length blonde hair. Her rosebud lips curled into a scowl as I opened my mouth, and immediately shut it again. “Sorry, I didn’t realise our meeting was interrupting,” she snapped. “Anything you’d like to share with the group?”
Rowan rolled her eyes. “No, Mols. Sorry.”
I hadn’t realised how seriously a group of high school students would take planning a Halloween maze. We were in one of the spare classrooms at the far end of the campus, and it smelt like dust and damp mould. I’d spent the majority of the meeting wrinkling my nose at it, as had Kathrena and Skye, too. For her part, Rowan seemed blissfully unaware of the stench, but she wa
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“But a demon wouldn’t do something like this, would it?” Rowan whispered. “It’s too – too thought out, too calculated.”“This raven might just be road kill. It might not be connected to the feather…” I said, though I trailed off, uncertainty gnawing at me. I’d never seen a bird get hit by a car before.“Or maybe you were right earlier, El, and it’s the outcome of another signalling spell,” Kathrena suggested, though she didn’t sound too convinced, either.“We should just go. Right?” I said, looking around desperately. The poor bird was clearly dead – its glassy eye had been staring at us for minutes now, and it hadn’t blinked or so much as twitched a feather“I guess so,” Skye mumbled, his hand snaking its way into mine. “It feels wrong to just leave it ther
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Grandma Rosie came bustling in moments later with an overflowing tray. It was stacked high with biscuits and mugs, and there was a huge patterned teapot in its centre. She wobbled beneath its weight, and Skye leapt up to steady her.“Thank you, dear,” she muttered, patting his arm as he took it from her. “It’s a herbal blend, of course – basil, black pepper, rosemary, dill – oh! And some salt, and a squirt of lime juice, too. All of which are potent protectors against dark forces, forces of evil.”I wrinkled my nose. “It’s a shame Kathrena and I can’t have any,” I said, half-jokingly.“Not to worry, dear,” Grandma Rosie said, pushing aside the mugs and the biscuits, rummaging around, I assumed, for something else. “I’ve made you both a sachet to carry with you – at all times.”“T
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It was only after we’d left that I realised I had, yet again, forgotten to ask either Herb or Grandma Rosie for more information about the fox. I supposed that, for now, it wasn’t high on our list of priorities.The sense of foreboding was less heavy in the air as we crossed the herb garden, picking our way quickly through the dark. The little solar lamps glowed like moonshine amongst the bushes, but they did little to light our path. Not that any of us needed the light to see – it was a comfort more than a tool of use.Once we were securely seated and belted in to my truck, Skye – from his position in the driver’s seat – gave me a gentle nudge. “Earlier,” he said, “you mentioned that creepy old poem. I don’t know what it means – I’ve never read the whole thing, I just recognised that one line.”“What poem?” Kathrena asked.
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We had an hour to kill before the Clan were due to start their fight. I didn’t want to think that it might be my last, but try as I might, my barricades were struggling to stay in place. The two thuds played on a loop in my head, and I had to concentrate very hard to keep the images of David and Toby out of my mind.No. I couldn’t think like that. Tonight we would avenge David, and we would keep the rest of the town safe. We’d been lucky so far in that there had been only one casualty – there was something odd about that, I was sure, though I was grateful that was the case – but I didn’t want to put anyone else at risk.I took a deep breath. “Do you want to go through the maze?” I asked, turning to face Skye.He slipped his hand out of mine and rubbed it on the thigh of his jeans. “Sure.” He pulled a smile onto his lips, but it seemed that I wasn’t alone w
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Skye let out a tiny, defeated sigh, but then he pushed through his disappointment and stepped closer, peering into the window beside me. “Are you sure they haven’t just changed the display around?”“The display is the same.” I groaned, banging my head against his arm. We were being careful not to say what we were looking for out loud – there could be ears anywhere – but I’d been so pent up all day, so focused, and it felt as though our plan had fallen flat before we’d even had a chance to start.“Hey, don’t do that,” Skye murmured, prying my chin off his shoulder. “You almost went through a window yesterday.”I shrugged. “It’s pretty much healed now. But – thank you for being concerned. It’s sweet. I like that you forget what I am, sometimes.” I gave him a tiny smile, and he pressed a kiss to my forehead, rig
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