Page 55 of Monster's Delight

I was anxious about the plan, especially the lack of escape route, but Aiden was so certain it would work that I pushed my fears aside and focused on learning the spell by heart. The faster it could be cast, the faster we’d be able to leave his office.

We were hiding under an invisibility spell next to the door that Professor Dunlop had used to lead me into his office that fateful night back in September when Rhiannon ran up and knocked loudly on the door.

“Professor? Professor, I need your help!” she called.

It didn’t take more than two repetitions before the door opened.

Rhiannon poured out her story in a rush, but he got the jist of it.

“Lead on,” he said, slipping out the door and closing it behind him.

The instant before it closed, Aiden cast a quiet spell that held it open a crack. We stayed hidden until the professor and Rhiannon reached the end of the hall and then slipped through the door.

The office looked exactly the same as it had the last time I was in it, but I wasted no time cataloging any differences. I went to the golden mirror that the professor had told me was Apollo’s mirror.

I held up my copy of the spell that my grandfather supposedly used and pressed it against the mirrored surface. Then I recited,

“Though it was long ago,

This spell I wish to see,

Take me back to the show,

Please unlock with this key.”

I blew gently on the paper and it stuck to the mirror before vanishing into the surface.

It felt weird to recite an incantation out loud. Most of the magic we learned involved drawing power from within ourselves and manifesting the will for it to become reality. Speech was rarely needed. But with this spell being so old, and probably due to the nature of the mirror, the spell worked a little differently.

Nothing happened for a long moment and my stomach sank.

Had I recited it wrong?

But then the paper wouldn’t have disappeared.

“Look!” Aiden gasped, pointing at the mirror.

Deep within, what I had thought was a shadow was growing clearer. It was the main foyer of the school, the stained glass windows dark in the night. I could see my grandfather, in his early twenties, facing the beautiful Bridget. She was in the center of a circle of salt, several objects surrounding her. She looked like she was on death’s door, her skin pulled taut across bone.

I focused on my grandfather, not wanting to take the time to look at Aiden. We only had one chance at this, and we had agreed to each watch our own ancestor closely. Hopefully, we could describe to the other what happened and figure out the mystery.

Grandfather’s mouth was moving, but no sound was heard, and I realized that though we could see what was going on, we couldn’t hear anything. “Rats,” I muttered. I tried to read his lips, but he was talking too fast.

I took a deep breath and focused. Grandfather nodded, blew a kiss, and raised his hand. I could see the power gathering around him, dark and foreboding. I swallowed hard. I hadn’t considered how Aiden would react at seeing his grandmother die right in front of him.

The power leapt forward, arcing through the air to the circle of salt and the figure standing within it.

Aiden gripped my hand hard and I knew this moment would haunt him. I kept my gaze fixed on Grandfather’s face. He ran toward Bridget to check on her. I saw the moment it registered that the spell hadn’t worked, that she’d died, his face twisted in anguish. The last remnants of the spell dissipated and the mirror returned to reflecting our own stunned faces.

“Fuck,” Aiden said, his voice hoarse, rubbing his eyes with his free hand. “That was...”

“Awful.” I said it for him. “We’ve got to go.” I pulled out my mirror and used it to contact Hazel.

“Get out of there!” she hissed, eyes wide with fear. “He’s on his way back to you! Why haven’t you been answering my calls?”

“Shit,” I cursed, looking around for a place to hide.

Aiden crossed to the window and threw it open. “Come on,” he said, hopping onto the window ledge. “On my back.”

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