Page 73 of Phoenix Academy: Mayhem

"Well?" Spinning on me heel, I meet three pairs of eyes that reflect the moonlight back in my direction. "Are you coming with me?"

Reggie arches a brow. "Was there ever any doubt?"

I climb over the vines first, coaxing them to curl tighter everywhere I feel weakness, and pushing them to form a way down on the other side. Reggie follows me, then David, and finally Xavier, his expression nervous as he drops down to the soft ground on the other side.

"Is this safe?" His anxious voice are accompanied by the nervous tic of his where he pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "We are kind of at constant war. The last time we left campus we needed special dispensation... and we nearly died."

"You're overly dramatic," Reggie points out, snorting incredulously. "We've been to Hell and back. This is nothing in comparison."

"I only need a few minutes," I tell the guys. "I just want to see if they're still around."

"If who's still around?"

Instead of answering, I walk into the strange, different woods on this side of the wall. I know the campus is magicked, that each wall has a different boundary, and that in reality the land stretches across multiple states in a very physics-defying way. It's still strange to see completely different species of trees and feel a heavy humidity to the much chiller air on this side.

Finding a good spot, where there are plenty of fallen leaves and space on the ground, I methodically make a ring in the grass. Place leaves of various colors on top of each other. Coax the wild flowers to raise their stalks and bloom, despite the cold winter air and night sky.

There's the brush of wings overhead as birds settle on the branches to watch me.

The light snap of twigs as a nearby herd of deer gather, close enough to see, far enough to scatter should they be scared away.

Until finally I've formed the spirit ring at my feet. All that's left is to step into it and complete the ritual.

For a moment I hesitate. I'm not sure why, but there's something intimidating about this. It feels like I'm about to open a door I'll be forced to close forever once the night is over.

But all things end.

Including the people who make us.

Looking over my shoulder to gather courage from the guys, I take a deep breath and step into the circle. The leaves brush against my ankles. The flowers curl at my toes. Even the ground seems to sway towards me precariously.

I look into the dark of the night.

And wait for my eyes to adjust to what I'm seeing.

It takes time. Like one of those old pictures that would develop in chemicals. At first there's just a hazy impression. Then something shaped like a figure. Finally, she's there, not quite in the flesh but still her all the same.

"Mom."

"Ari." Her voice is a whisper on the wind. Colorless and only a little opaque, she walks to me on feet that don't disturb the fallen leaves, her smile a pale thing. "I had hoped I would get to see you one last time. But it didn't happen for so long that I feared the worst. I'm glad to see you. Did you find your sister?"

"Yes. Why didn't you tell me she was still alive?"

"I couldn't." A sad smile. "Spirits must keep our secrets, and whatever I saw from my side of the veil, I knew better than to share it with you." She hesitates, glancing to her side then back at me. "Do you want to speak to him?"

My eyes wander to the made standing next to her.

My father.

My killer.

I can still taste the blood of his death on my lips. Little of what happened after that is embedded in my memory. David dragged me away; Xavier held me as I screamed and sobbed. Reggie did... something... with the body. Then fire and flames, and water running down my face, red blood swirling into a drain at my feet.

He says, "I wasn't sure if I should come."

"I wanted you to," I admit. Two salty tears roll down my cheeks and arc towards my mouth. I don't bother to wipe them away. "I wish we'd had more time together with you like this. Before..."

"Yes." A sad smile. "I hope that you'll be able to move past all that's happened to you, Ari. Including all that I've done to you."

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