Chapter 20: Thin Ice

  Mae was up and outside before the last echoes of the organ had completely faded.  She didn’t necessarily mind Sunday church services, the singing was nice, and some of the stories with their fire and brimstone weren’t half bad.  It was the flowery dresses her mother insisted she wear that she couldn’t stand, and she was eager to get back home and into a comfortable t-shirt and jeans.

  Shielding her eyes from the rising sun, Mae hurried down the wide front steps.  The rest of the congregation would soon come streaming out the double doors behind her.  She needed to find a quiet, out-of-the-way place to wait for her parents.  Raised in the south, her mother and father wielded an aggressive form of hospitality that tended to startle the more reserved northerners.  Even so, their enthusiasm remained undaunted.  For the next half hour, Mr. and Mrs. Chase would be busy glad-handing and chatting over coffee and donuts to anyone who would listen.  Mae intended to make herself scarce until it was time to go.

   It wasn’t that the residents of Giles Hollow hadn’t been welcoming.  Since their move, a never-ending stream of neighbors had been dropping by their house with baked goods.  While Mae was happy to see her parents making friends, sometimes she needed a break.  Strangers tended to stare upon seeing her with her family for the first time.  She’d watch their confused looks slowly brighten as they solved a very obvious puzzle.  Then they’d shake her hand with a sympathetic expression, all the while wondering what tragedy of her birth had led to her adoption.  She knew people meant well, but it had already been a busy morning, and her supply of polite smiles was near exhaustion.

  Stepping around the back of the church, Mae stopped short.

  Thomas, the new kid from school with the silly hair, was standing in a wedge of shade cast by the building’s towering steeple, and he wasn’t alone.  Dressed in a crisp white button-up blouse and a long black skirt, Lester’s red-headed math teacher looked every inch the stern disciplinarian, even outside of school.  The two of them were deep in conversation, and neither noticed Mae’s approach.

  “Don’t be in such a hurry,” Mrs. Q was saying.  “You’ve only just arrived.  Give it time.”

  “I don’t remember asking for your advice,” replied Thomas brusquely.  “And I don’t need your help.  I can handle this on my own.”

  “No one is suggesting you can’t,” said Mrs. Q.  “Just that your efforts might benefit from a certain amount of finesse.”

  “That’s a bit rich, coming from you,” Thomas said.  

   Mae knew she should go, that eavesdropping wasn’t polite, but she’d never heard a student talk to a teacher this way.  Was Mrs. Q giving the new kid tips on making friends and fitting in?  If so, Mae thought he was probably right to question the source of the advice.  Still, Mrs. Q was a formidable woman, and Thomas acted as though they were equals.  Even more surprising, the typically gruff teacher hadn’t batted an eye.

  A wave of distant voices came from the front of the church, and Mae glanced behind her as the familiar sound of her mother’s laughter rose above the others.  Then, turning back around, she let out a small shriek.  

  “Can I help you with something, Ms. Chase?” Mrs. Q asked.

  She and Thomas had stopped talking and were both staring at her.

  “Um — no, thanks,” Mae said, wondering why she suddenly felt as if she’d done something wrong.  “I’m just waiting for my ride.”

  “In that case,” said Mrs. Q, “I doubt very much that they’ll find you back here.”

  More than one student at Giles Hollow Elementary had withered under the woman’s infamous piercing glare, confessing to things they’d had no part in simply to escape it.  With the teacher’s full attention trained on her, Mae could understand why.   

  “And where are your two companions today?” Mrs. Q asked, looking past Mae as though Lester and Amanda might be hiding behind her. 

  “Oh, I don’t think they normally attend —”

  “The three of you have become quite inseparable lately,” continued Mrs. Q.

  “I suppose, but —”

  “I do hope your newfound social life isn’t interfering with your academics.” 

  “I enjoy cakes a great deal,” Mae said flatly, her participation in the conversation apparently unnecessary.

  “It’s important that you stay vigilant,” Mrs. Q plowed on, unabated.  “Given what happened at your last school.”  

  “Excuse me?” Mae said, feeling her cheeks go warm.  She bristled at the thought of their pink hue betraying her frustration.  Trying to get a word in edgewise under Mrs. Q’s questioning was like being a boxer fending off blows with your back against the ropes.

  “Now, now,” Mrs. Q said, her tone slipping effortlessly from accusatory to patronizing.  “I meant no offense.  Only that someone with such a troubled history of, shall we say, being prone to folly needs to be mindful of distractions.”

  Mae blinked.  The phrase prone to folly had slipped in past her guard and caught her square on the chin.  She opened her mouth to reply, but nothing came out.  Dumbfounded, she glanced at Thomas, but he was busy prodding his hair into an even more ridiculous shape, seemingly oblivious.

  Mrs. Q, her verbal assault done, stood staring at Mae as though she were a fish flopping around on dry land, gasping for air. 

  Unsure which would begin to flow first, the tears welling up in her eyes, or the string of curse words forming in the back of her throat, Mae spun to leave.  The old man standing behind her must have been sturdier than he looked because he somehow remained upright as she crashed into him, bounced off, and fell to the ground.  

  “Oh, my,” the man said, looking down at where she lay.  “Pardon me.”

  Mae got quickly to her feet.

  “Sorry,” she said, brushing grass clippings from her dress.  She could feel her face grow even redder with embarrassment.  “I didn’t see you there.”

  “Think nothing of it,” the man said.  “Entirely my fault.  It serves me right for sneaking up on people.  I don’t believe we’ve had the pleasure.  Ben Titus,” he said, pointing to the name tag on his gray uniform.  “And you must be Maeko Chase.  Lester’s told me all about you.  Any friend of his is a friend of mine.”

  Ben Titus gave an elaborate bow and doffed an invisible hat.  As he leaned closer, he asked in a soft voice only Mae could hear,  “Are you alright?”

  Mae saw his eyes glance behind her to Thomas and Mrs. Q and got the impression he wasn’t asking about her fall.  How long had he been standing there, and what had he heard?

  “I’m fine,” she whispered back.  “Thanks.” 

  “Well, then,” Ben said, more loudly, “you best be on your way.  I think I saw your parents looking for you out front.”  He gave her a wink and a pat on the shoulder, then briskly walked towards Mrs. Q.  “Annie Quince!  Just the person I was looking for!”

   Mae was halfway to the front of the church when she heard someone call out.

  “Hey!  Wait up!”

  She didn’t stop but slowed enough for Thomas to fall into step beside her.

  “I know we haven’t really met,” he said, “but you’re friends with Amanda, right?”

  “If not, Mrs. Q just wasted her time berating the wrong student,” Mae said, still slightly shaky.

  “Oh, don’t mind her,” said Thomas.  He flashed a lopsided grin.  His teeth were perfect, if perhaps a bit too white.  “You know how teachers are, always feeling like they can tell you what to do even if you’re not in school.  So, about Amanda.  I hate to be so painfully blunt, but does she have a boyfriend?”

  Mae stopped walking.

  “Seriously?” she said.  “No, she doesn’t have a boyfriend.  She’s twelve.”

  “Is that too young for a boyfriend?”

  If he were anyone else, Mae would have assumed he was joking.  But as he stood in front of her with his coiffed hair, fancy clothes, and blank expression, she felt sure he was being sincere.

  “Not that long ago,” Thomas said, his accent making him sound like the narrator of an educational film, “most women were married by the time they were teenagers.”

  “And it was once believed redheads turned into vampires after death,” said Mae.

  “Pardon?”

  “Oh.  I’m sorry,” Mae said in mock confusion.  “I thought we were sharing ideas from the past that now seem absolutely ridiculous.  Anyway, I think I hear my mom calling.”

  She stepped around Thomas and picked up her pace.

  “Would you tell Amanda I was asking after her?” Thomas shouted as she neared the front of the church.

  “Sure!” Mae yelled back.  “Right after I pick out a dress for the cotillion!”  Then, mumbling to herself added, “And people think I’m weird.”

Walking into the empty kitchen, Lester found a lone plate of food sitting on the table, covered in plastic wrap.  Next to it was a note.

  Lester.  I hope you had a good visit.  I can’t wait to hear all about it.  Be home late.  Don’t wait up.  Love, Mom.

  His stomach gurgling with hunger, he poured himself a glass of milk and sat down to eat his cold dinner.

  Mathis must have called ahead to help smooth things over.  Before departing Salem, Lester had taken some final advice from his brother.  Since their mother had no way of knowing about the things Lester and his friends had discovered, she would believe they’d simply had an argument.  After which, Lester had lost his temper.  The best thing to do was to act as if nothing had happened.

  “Besides,” Mathis had said, “if there’s one thing the Norths are exceedingly good at, it’s pretending a problem doesn’t exist.  I’m living proof of that.”

  Their mother’s note seemed to confirm his brother’s assertions.  

  When he finished eating, Lester went to his room and fell onto his bed.  The bus ride home had been long, and there had been so much to think about.  Exhausted, he closed his eyes and, within seconds, was sound asleep.

  He was back in the field atop the hill.  The bonfire was raging, creating a warm circle of heat as he stood in the cold night.  This time, the journey had been easier, and he’d quickly wound his way along the path, following the glow through the trees.  When he’d reached the edge of the flames, he’d found himself alone.  There was no sign of his father, and peering dangerously close to the fire, he’d been relieved to discover nothing but wood inside.

  A strong gust of wind sent clouds drifting across the bright moon, and the bonfire was snuffed out like a candle on a birthday cake.  Lester stumbled.  Plunged into darkness, he reached out, groping, blind.  The sudden black was so complete that he couldn’t tell if his eyes were open or shut.

  Moving carefully, Lester inched his way around the top of the hill.  Then he spotted a shimmering beacon in the distance.  Walking toward it, he slowly descended into the valley below, and the shimmer became a man.

  “Hello!” Lester called, but the man didn’t answer.  Instead, he continued on as though he hadn’t heard, his long legs striding through the tall grass.

  Lester followed him across the field and out onto a wide dirt road.  As he drew closer, the darkness surrounding them began to brighten.  At first, Lester thought they were returning to the bonfire but then gasped as he recognized the town of Salem.  It was as it had been the day before, except every building was now engulfed in flames.

  “Who did this?” Lester asked in a hushed voice.  And to his surprise, the man stopped and turned around.

  He was bald, and his pale blue eyes matched the color of his suit, the same one he’d been wearing at Bernard’s Drawing-In ceremony.

  “Why don’t you do something?” said Lester, gesturing to the fire.

  The man in blue gave a quizzical tilt of his head, but he did not speak.  Staring at Lester, he took out a deck of black and white cards and began to shuffle.  As he did, the cards rippled from one hand to the other in increasingly larger arcs.  Then, with a flick of his wrist, he sent one sailing through the air to Lester, who caught it.

  “What do you want me to do with this?” Lester asked.  He flipped the card over to reveal the hourglass symbol from the old mailbox.  “Is this some sort of trick?” 

   Remaining silent, the man let the rest of the deck slip from his hand.  As the cards fell to the ground like the wilted petals of a dying flower, he turned and began walking away.

  “Why are you giving this to me?” Lester called after him.  “What am I supposed to do with it?”

  Lester looked down at the card and was surprised to see it vibrating with a pulsating hum.  Panicked, he tried to drop it, but it stuck to the ends of his fingers.  He pulled it free using his other hand, but still, it refused to let go.  The buzzing sensation grew until it felt as though he were clutching a hive of angry bees.

  “Hey!” Lester yelled to the receding figure.  “Take this back!  I don’t want it!  Do you hear me!  I said — I DON’T WANT IT!”  

  But the man was gone, and Lester stood alone in the middle of an empty street, the world burning down around him.

Green light showed from Lester’s cellphone as he woke in the dark to find it vibrating on the pillow beside him.  Flipping it open, he saw several missed texts.  They were all from Amanda, wondering where he was and telling him to meet her and Mae at the town’s skating rink ASAP.  She must have been trying to reach him for a while because the last one was just an angry face emoji, followed by a string of exclamation marks.

  Swapping his sweat-soaked shirt for a clean one, Lester washed his face in the bathroom sink and headed downstairs.  The house was still empty.

  He grabbed a piece of cold fried chicken from the refrigerator and popped it into his mouth as he tried to remember the dream he’d been having.  It hovered at the edge of his thoughts, but each time he attempted to bring it into focus, it disappeared.  Was it something about warm bees, maybe?  Giving up, he slipped on his coat and stepped outside.

  The night was clear, and the earthy smell of decomposing leaves hung in the cold crisp air.  

  On the lower sports field behind Giles Hollow Elementary, The Council had converted an old barn into a place for kids to skate.  Yet another gift to the town.  They’d gone to great pains to keep its rustic exterior intact so as not to disrupt the quaint nature of the village.  But beyond the old barn doors, everything was bright white and modern.

  Lester felt the temperature drop even further as he stepped inside. 

  Amanda teetered atop a pair of skates, inching her way around the large oval of ice, gripping the sides for support.  While out in the center, past the plexiglass barrier and shiny metal bleachers, Mae twirled rapidly on one foot.  Bringing her arms in tight, she became a revolving blur.

  Mae had an almost comical clumsiness on dry land, often bumping into things and knocking them over.  But here, she moved like a dancer, and Lester watched as she launched gracefully from her spin.  After executing a perfect figure eight, she coasted to a gentle stop in front of the waist-high door that led onto the ice.

  “Hi, Lester,” Mae said cheerily, her breath showing in the air.

  Lester marveled at how at home she seemed, gliding across the slick surface.

  “I didn’t know you could skate,” he said.   

  “Yeah, since I was five.  It was one of the things my parents thought I’d like about moving here.  I think they imagined me gliding across a smooth pond surrounded by evergreen trees and snow, but this place is amazing.”

  “Where the hell have you been?” interrupted Amanda, slowly making her way towards them.  “After Saturday, you just vanished.  No call.  No Message.  You could have been dead for all we knew.”

  “Sorry,” Lester said, feeling guilty.  He’d known Amanda his whole life.  When she felt scared or concerned, she masked her fear with annoyance and frustration.  He could tell she’d actually been worried. 

  “Listen up,” Amanda scowled.  “New rule.  No one disappears from here on out without letting at least one of us know.  Clear?”

  Mae and Lester nodded.

  Amanda was right.  Amid everything that was happening around them, they only had each other.  It was essential to look out for one another.  Especially now, in light of what Lester had learned on his trip to Salem.

  “I went to see Mathis,” Lester said apologetically.  “It wasn’t exactly planned.”

  “What?  Really?” Amanda asked, her angry expression vanishing.  “How is he?”

  “Actually.  All things considered, he’s pretty good,” said Lester.

  Sitting on the bleachers, he filled them in on what had happened since they’d separated on the way back from Amanda’s aunt’s house.  He shared his conversation with Ben, the fight with his mother, and what he’d learned from Mathis.

  “He really thinks there could be members of The Light in Giles Hollow?” asked Amanda.

  “It would explain what we saw in the alley behind The Mortician’s Eye,” said Lester.

  Amanda frowned.  “I guess.  But if that guy was their enemy, why didn’t he put up more of a fight?”

  “I don’t know,” Lester said.  “However, if Mathis is right, we’ve got more than just The Council to worry about.”

  “Great.  That’s all we need,” said Amanda.  “And how are we supposed to know who’s on what side?”

  “I don’t know.  What do you think, Mae?” Lester asked.

  “Sorry.  What?” said Mae.

  Since the completion of Lester’s story, Mae had been unusually silent.  She’d been sitting quietly, gazing out at the lights reflecting off the ice.  Now, pulled from her reverie by the question, she gave her head a quick shake as if clearing a troubling thought.

  “Do you have any ideas on how we can tell The Light from The Dark?” Lester asked again.

  “I’m not sure,” Mae said, back in detective mode.  “Let’s see.  Werewolves have an instigating injury, of course.  Vampires can’t go out in the sunlight, and Zombies experience discoloration and fevers in the early stages.  Though, later I’m guessing it wouldn’t be that hard to pick them out.  You know, because their bodies continue to decay.”

  “Will you be serious,” said Amanda.

  “I am,” said Mae.

  “What if there is no way to tell?” Lester asked.  “Maybe all we can do is watch for any sign of suspicious activity.”

  “Are you forgetting we live in Giles Hollow?” said Amanda.  “Suspicious activity is kind of this town’s thing.”

  “Wait a minute,” Mae said, snapping her fingers.  “This morning, I overheard Mrs. Q and that new kid, Thomas, having a very odd conversation.” 

  “Honestly.  You think Thomas is a member of The Light?” said Amanda.

You are reading story Lester of Two Evils at novel35.com

  “He did just move here, and he’s been acting a little weird ever since he arrived,” said Lester.

  “First of all, Mae just moved here,” Amanda said.  “And you’re not accusing her of being a member of The Light.  Secondly, I think you’re jealous.  Thomas is smart and funny, and people like him.”

  “People like me,” Lester said, not sounding entirely confident.

  “Not everyone,” said Amanda.  “You heard Mae.  Thomas is even friends with Mrs. Q.”

  “That’s not exactly a mark in his favor,” said Lester.

  “I’ve got to agree with Lester on this one,” added Mae.  “She’s saiaku.”

  Neither Lester nor Amanda needed to know Japanese to get Mae’s meaning.  The disgust on her face said enough.

  “You’re just giving Thomas a pass because you think he’s cute,” Lester said.

  Amanda’s face, already pink from the cold, turned a deep red.

  “I do not think he’s cute.  You take that back!” she said, poking Lester hard.

  “If you don’t think he’s cute, then why are you getting so upset?” said Lester, responding with a jab of his own.

  “Guys.  Stop,” Mae interrupted.  “I just realized.  Thomas can’t be one of The Light.”

  “Why not?” Lester asked, shielding himself from a series of well-placed slaps from Amanda.

  “He owns one of those really expensive new smartphones,” said Mae.  “I’ve seen him use it.  From what Mathis told you, if Thomas were a member of The Light or The Dark, he wouldn’t be able to.”

  “Oh.  Right,” Lester said, trying not to sound too disappointed.  He had also seen Thomas on his phone.

  “That still doesn’t rule out Mrs. Q,” said Mae.

  “She’s lived here since before we were born,” said Amanda.  “If she’s part of The Light, she’s certainly taking her sweet time making her move.”

  “Good point,” Mae admitted.  “But I still don’t like her.”

  For a long moment, they sat in silence, each running a string of mental mugshots through their minds, wondering which of their neighbors might be secretly plotting against them.

  “So, what now?” Lester asked.

  The scowl that had appeared on Mae’s face upon the mention of Mrs. Q suddenly brightened.

  “Now,” she said excitedly, “we get on with why we asked you to meet us here.  While you were away with your brother, we did some digging of our own.  Remember what Amanda’s aunt called me when we first met her?”

  “A Gray,” Lester said, not sure if the chill he felt was from the cold or the memory of the strange woman glaring at them from her porch.

  “Right,” Mae said.  “Thanks to Mathis, we now know that means someone who is neither of The Light or The Dark.  Cambion, which is what she called Amanda, proved a bit more of a challenge.  I finally found it in an 1885 French dictionary.  The word refers to the offspring of a demon and a human.”

  Lester looked at Amanda.

  “Yeah.  That sounds about right,” he smirked, bracing himself for a punch to the arm, but neither girl moved.  “Wait.  Don’t tell me you two are taking the ravings of that crazy hermit seriously?”

   “Think about it,” Mae said.  “We can be fairly certain both of your parents are involved with The Dark somehow, as is Amanda’s father.  However, nothing we’ve found so far links her mother to them.”

  “But if the Witch Trials were meant to wipe out the women in order to win the war, and Mrs. Poole isn’t a member of The Dark —”

  “Then she wouldn’t have any abilities for me to inherit,” said Amanda.

  Lester wasn’t sure if the slight catch in her voice was relief or disappointment.

  “Possibly,” Mae said.  “We’re doing a lot of theorizing with incomplete information.”

  “Fair enough,” said Lester, blowing on his freezing hands.  “But I still don’t understand why you couldn’t have told me all of this in the warm library basement.”

  Amanda jumped to her feet.  “Come with us, and we’ll show you.”

  Lester followed Amanda and Mae down the bleachers and onto the rink.  His sneakers slid easily across the smooth surface, and he took small, careful steps to avoid falling.

  “The powers wielded by The Dark seem to be specific to each person,” Mae said, gliding along on her skates as she guided him to center ice.  “Both of your fathers use fire.  Your mother is obviously adept at manipulating air.  And you, Lester, have been having difficulty with water.  Though, we can’t be sure it’s not fire.  So, we thought this would be the safest place to test it out.”

  Lester looked towards the hockey goal standing at the far end of the rink.  In front of the netting sat a square block of ice, placed between two buckets of water.

  “We weren’t sure if the temperature would make any difference, Mae said.  “So the bucket on the left is cold.  The one on the right is hot.  And the block of ice is — well, ice.”

  Lester’s heart quickened.

  “I don’t know, you guys.  This might not be the best idea.”

  “What?  Why not?” Amanda asked.  “If I thought I might have magical powers, I’d definitely want to try them out.  Don’t tell me you haven’t been thinking about it.”

  “That’s just it,” Lester snapped.  “I have been thinking about it.  It’s all I’ve been thinking about.  You’ve seen what these powers can do, what they use them for.  I’m sorry, but this is a mistake.”

  He turned and started cautiously making his way back to the bleachers.

  “I get it,” Mae said, slowly skating circles around Lester as he inched his way along.  “It’s scary.  But, Lester, do you really think you can ignore this and it’ll go away?  Wouldn’t it be better to learn to control it?”

  “And what if it makes me like them?” Lester asked.

  Mae came to a stop in front of him, blocking his path.  She was about two inches taller on her skates and looked Lester straight in the eyes as she placed a hand on each of his shoulders.

  “In the Giles Hollow Historical Society, there’s a plaque,” she said.  “It’s dedicated to residents who’ve given outstanding service to the town.  Do you know who’s name is at the top of the list?  Randall North.  He accepted chickens and corn as payment from people too poor to afford a doctor.  He once walked eight miles in a blinding snowstorm to bring medicine to a sick child.  When the bridge to Elmwood City washed out, he singlehandedly rescued four people from an overturned coach and saved two horses.  If your ancestor was evil, he had a funny way of showing it.  Then again, maybe he found himself in the same position you’re in, and he decided to make his own choice about what kind of person he’d be.”  

  Lester thought about his great, great grandfather, a man he’d never known.  He thought about Mathis and his lonely struggle to regain a sense of who he was in the world.  Lastly, he thought about his parents, their rules, and the path they’d already laid out for his life.

  He slowly walked back to where Amanda still waited at the center of the rink.  “Okay,” he said.  “What do I do?”

  “Excellent!” cried Mae, excited to finally put their plan into action.  “Correct me if I’m wrong, but each time you experienced something before, you were feeling a strong emotion, right?”

  “Yeah,” said Lester, “mostly fear.  What are you going to do, scare me?”

  “That was Amanda’s idea,” said Mae.

  “What?” Lester said nervously.

  “I even dug out some Halloween masks,” Amanda grinned.

  “Fortunately,” Mae continued, “I think there’s a simpler solution.  When something scares us, it’s primal.  Our flight or fight response engages our brains with a single purpose, keeping us alive.  The thousands of random thoughts that occupy us each day disappear.  What am I having for lunch?  Did I remember to brush my teeth?  Why does my locker smell like that?”

  “Makes sense,” Lester said.  “But how do I focus my mind without being afraid?”

  “The fighting Shaolin Monks of China perform feats that can only be described as magical.  They do this by entering a deep meditative state.  Of course, that sort of mindfulness takes years of study to achieve.  For you, it should be enough to simply quiet your thoughts in order to let whatever is naturally occurring inside you come out.”

  “Alright,” Lester said and closed his eyes.  Taking a deep breath, he stretched his hand towards the hockey goal.  As he did, he tried to think of nothing.  It was harder than it sounded.  He kept finding himself thinking about thinking of nothing and having to start over.

  “It might help to have a mantra,” Mae said, her voice coming from behind him.  “A short phrase you repeat over and over in your head to keep your conscious mind busy.” 

  Lester opened his eyes and looked back.  Mae and Amanda were crouched behind the opposing goal at the other end of the ice.

  “Why are you guys so far away?” he asked.

  “It’s just a precaution,” Mae called.

  “And what are those?”  Lester said, pointing to the protective goggles both girls wore over their eyes.  They were the kind you used in science class while performing experiments involving dangerous chemicals.

  “You can’t be too careful,” said Mae.

  “Then shouldn’t I have some?” asked Lester.

  “No, no.  You’ll be fine,” Amanda said.  “Now get on with it.”

  Not feeling reassured, Lester returned his attention to the buckets.  Again, he reached out his hand and closed his eyes, but this time he quietly chanted to himself in a low whisper.

  “The choice is mine.  The choice is mine.  The choice is mine.”

  The warm sensation started in his feet as though he’d stepped into a bath.  As it rose up through his legs and into his chest, the intensity grew.  By the time it reached his shoulders, his outstretched arm felt like it was on fire.

  Lester opened his eyes to see if anything was happening, and everything in the barn went abruptly sideways.

  “Lester!” Amanda shouted.

  He heard the sound of skates, and seconds later, they were standing over him, faces full of concern.

  “Are you hurt?” Mae asked.

  “No.  I’m fine,” said Lester, sitting up and massaging his leg.  “Did it work?”  

  “Not exactly,” said Amanda.

  Lester looked at the buckets.  Nothing had changed.  They still stood full of water on either side of the block of ice.

  “Not exactly?” said Lester.  “Don’t you mean not at all?”

  “It wasn’t a total failure,” Mae said, pointing to where he sat.

  Beneath Lester, the thick ice was gone.  It had melted away in a perfect circle, exposing the wood base underneath the rink.

  “I did this?” Lester asked.

  “When you started to vibrate, it just sort of evaporated,” Amanda said.

  Lester touched the space with his hand.  It was dry and cold.  Getting to his feet, he winced.

  “You are hurt,” said Mae, positioning herself to catch him if he fell again.

  “No.  I just landed on something.”  Lester reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out a silver ring.

  “Where did you get that?” Amanda asked.

  “I don’t know,” Lester said, puzzled.  “I’ve never seen it before.”  He turned it over, running his finger along the smooth band.  “Wait a minute.  Your Aunt!  Before we ran off of her porch, she shoved something into my hand.  In all the commotion, I must have put it in my pocket.”

  “And you never checked to see what it was?” asked Amanda.

  “We left there in a pretty big hurry,” said Lester.  “Then we discovered your grandfather’s grave in the cemetery.  After that, I was off to see Mathis.  I forgot all about it.”

  “Why would she give you a ring?” asked Mae.

  “How should I know?” Lester said, holding it out for them to see.  “Look at these markings?”

  A series of triangular symbols were etched into the surface.  The first was simple, consisting of three thin lines.  The second was the same, but upside down with a dot at the bottom.  The next triangle was the right way up, but with a horizontal line cutting across the top.  The last was identical but upside down again.

  “Put it on,” Mae said.  “Put it on, and let’s try the test again.”

  “What?  Are you crazy?” asked Lester.  “What if I melt the whole rink down this time?”

  “Lester, trust me,” said Mae.  “Do exactly what you did before, only this time with the ring.”

  Not waiting for him to answer, Mae took Amanda by the arm and led her back to their spot behind the goal.

  Lester carefully slid the ring down his finger, half expecting something to happen the instant he did, but it just hung there.

  “Okay, good!” Mae shouted.  “Now remember, clear your thoughts.”

  Focusing on the buckets, Lester again closed his eyes and reached out his hand.  He’d meant to chant his mantra as he’d done before, but his mind suddenly wandered, and he found himself back in his dream.  He was running through the dark wood, with only a glow in the distance to guide him.

  Once more, the warming sensation started in his feet, but this time it was different.  When it arrived in his arm, instead of burning, he felt weightless.  As though the earth’s gravity had gently released him from its grip.

  Lester opened his eyes, and water shot out of both buckets.  The two streams joined in mid-air, forming a single current that dipped back down to encircle the block of ice.  A cloud of steam rose as Lester concentrated, rotating his hand back and forth, focusing on the image in his mind.  When he finished, he spread his fingers.  The water evaporated into a fine mist that floated slowly down onto the rink.

  “That was amazing!” said Mae.

  The three of them stood next to the spot where the block of ice had been.  In its place stood a carved crystal bonfire, nearly as tall as Lester.  The illusion was so realistic that the transparent flames almost flickered.  Except for a space in the center, where the detailed sculpture of a boy, his face contorted in pain, crouched on his knees.

  “Lester!” Amanda gasped.  “Is that —” 

  “Bernard,” Lester said.  “I keep dreaming he’s in trouble.”

  Mae and Amanda leaned in, eager for a closer look, while Lester attempted to calm his shaking legs.  He’d seen enough of the horrific scene in his dreams. 

  “Wow,” Amanda said.  “If members of The Light don’t kill us, you’ve got a solid future as entertainment at kid’s birthday parties.”

  “Mae,” Lester asked.  “How did you know about the ring?”    

  “The Greeks were the first to propose the idea that there are four central elements composing all things,” said Mae.  She took Lester’s hand and spun the ring on his finger, pointing to the triangles.  “They developed a system of symbols to represent each one.  The first is fire, then water, air, and earth.  Once I saw that, I knew our theory had to be correct.  The ring must somehow focus the power, making it easier to control.”

  “But why did my aunt give it to Lester?  I know I’m the half-human, half-demon niece she’s never met.  Still, we are family,” Amanda said, pretending to be insulted. 

 “Honestly,” said Lester, fighting a wave of nausea welling up from his stomach, “you’re welcome to it.”

  And with that, Lester slid the ring from his finger, and everything went black.

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