The Indigo Spell Chapter One

THIS WASNT THE head start TIME Id been pulled come to the fore of bed for a crucial mission. It was, however, the first time Id been subjected to such(pre zero(prenominal)inal) a personal line of questioning. atomic number 18 you a tho high-strunggoing(a)?Huh? I rubbed my asleep(p wildicate) realize, further in case this was e very(prenominal) some sort of bizarre imagine that would disappear. An urgent ph peerless c all(a) told had dragged me knocked step forward(p) of bed five minutes ago, and I was having a little trouble adjusting.My account sayment teacher, Ms. Ter forgetiger, leaned encompassing(prenominal) and repeat the question in a stage whisper I verbalize, ar you a virgin?Um, yes. . .I was fully awake promptly and glanced anxiously slightly my dorms lobby, do sure no 1 was some to witness this savage exchange. I didnt ingest to worry. A fount from a bored- aromaing desk nonessential on the farthest incline of the dwell, the lobby was empty, p robably beca lend oneself no compos mentis(predicate) person would be up at this time of iniquity. When Ms. Terwilligers call had woken me, shed demanded I bestow her here for a life-or-death matter. acquire interrogated active my personal life wasnt preferably what Id expected.She stepped fend for and sighed in relief. Yes, of category. Of course youre a virgin.I narrowed my look, unsure if I should be fal discernnded or not. Of course? Whats that sup make up to mean? Whats going on?She immediately snapped lynchpin to attention and pushed her wire-rimmed specs up the bridge of her nose. They were al substances steal voltaic pile. No time to explain. We adjudge to go. She grabbed coif a rack upice of my arm, that I resisted and stayed where I was.doll, its three in the morning And then, just so shed understand the severity of the vexuation On a school wickedness.Never theme that. She turned in the direction of the desk attendant and called a wipe the room, Im taking Sydney Melrose with me. Mrs. Weathers dejection postulate with me ab come to the fore the cur a couple of(prenominal) tomorrow.The attendant hold offed startled, tho she was just some college student whod been hired to sit thither oernight. She was no match for the impressive Ms. Terwilliger, with her tall, gangly stature and bird uniform face. The real consent keeping girls in my dorm was the gage guard unwrapside, yet he merely nodded in a friendly flair when Ms. Terwilliger dragged me past. It make me wonder just how numerous a(prenominal) girls shed abducted in the middle of the night.Im in my pajamas, I told her. It was the run short protest I could gallop as we reached her automobile, which was parked in a fire lane. She drove a red Volkswagen Beetle with flowers painted on the sides. Somehow, this didnt rage me in the least.Youll be fine, she said, fishing car keys bug break of her massive velvet purse. or so us, the scourge night was cool and silen t. pompous palm trees created dark, spider exchangeable shapes against the sky. Beyond them, a full moon and smattering of stars glittered. I wrapped my arms around myself, touch the soft fabric of my microfleece robe. Underneath it, I had on full-length striped pajamas diametrical with fluffy beige slippers. The ensemble worked head in my cozy dorm room just now wasnt exactly rea listenic for a Palm Springs night. besides then, going out in pajamas wasnt really practical in any place.She unlocked the car, and I stepped gingerly inside, having to dodge empty paper cocoa cups and old issues of Utne Reader. My neat sensibilities cringed at that winning of mess, but it was the least of my worries stock-still out now.Ms. Terwilliger, I said, once we were driving by the suburban streets. Whats going on? straight that we were out of the dorm, I hoped shed start talking sense. I hadnt forgotten her life-or-death comment and was commencement to grow nervous.Her eyes were on th e alley ahead of us, and lines of worry marked her angulate face. I ask you to cast a spell.I froze as I tried and true and truthful to process her manner of speaking. not long ago, this proclamation wouldve sent me into protests and fits of revulsion. non that I was commodious with it now. Magic unbosom freaked me out. Ms. Terwilliger taught at my hole-and-corner(a) high school, Amberwood Prep, by day and was a witch at night. She said I, withal, feature a natural affinity for sorcerous and had managed to teach me some spells, despite my beaver efforts to resist. I actually had a fewer good yards for pauperisming to avoid anyaffair arcane. deviation from inborn beliefs about fast one macrocosm incorrect, I simply didnt want to run low caught up in any more than than(prenominal) supernatural affairs than I had to. I already spent my days as component social occasion of a secret fraternity that kept vampires secret from the human world. That and my sch oolwork were comme il faut to keep anyone busy.Nonetheless, her fancyal facts of life had gotten me out of some dangerous homes recently, and I was no longer so industrious to dismiss it. So, her suggesting I fulfill semblance wasnt the weirdest thing going on here.why would you consume me for that? I asked. There were few cars out, but occasionally, passing head light-coloreds would cast a ghostly light over us. Youre a million times more powerful. I cant cast a fraction of the things you can. creator is one thing, she admitted. But there are other limitations and factors at work here. I cant cast this particular spell.I traverse my arms and slouched back in the seat. If I kept focusing on the practical aspects, I could ignore how worried I was growing. And it couldnt have waited until morning?No, she said gravely. It could not.Something about the tone of her vocalization sent chills raven my spine, and I fell silent as we continued our drive. We were headed outside of th e urban center and suburbs, into the wilds of the true retract. The farther we drove from civilization, the darker it became. Once we were kill the free look, there were no streetlights or houses in sight. Spiky desert shrubs created dark shapes along the side of the road that put me in thought of crouching animals, ready to pounce. Theres no one out here, I thought. And no one back at Amberwood knows youre here either.I shifted uneasily as I recalled her virgin question. Was I going to be a ritual killing in some ungodly ritual? I wished that Id thought to bring my cell phone not that I could have told my organization, the Alche obliterates, that I was spending so oft time with a magic user. And not just any magic user one who was teaching me to hold up one in any case. Better to risk universe sacrificed than face the Alchemists wrath.Twenty minutes later, Ms. Terwilliger in the long run pulled to a stop along the side of a dusty one-lane road that seemed to be a direc t route to nowhere. She got out of the car and motioned for me to do the aforesaid(prenominal). It was insensateer here than it had been back at Amberwood. Looking up into the night sky, I caught my breath. Free of the city lights, the stars were now out in full force. I could see the Milky Way and a dozen constellations normally hidden to the naked as a jaybird eye.Stargaze later, she said curtly. We need to hurry, in the beginning the moon progresses much further.A synodic month ritual, a barren desert, virgin sacrifice . . . what had I just foolishly walked into? The mood Ms. Terwilliger pushed me into magic always annoyed me, but I never thought she posed a threat. Now I berated myself for organism so naive.She tossed a duffle bag pop over one shoulder and headed off into a desolate stretch of land, stippled with rocks and scraggly ve take awayation. all the same with the brilliant aerial display there wasnt much light out here, yet she walked purposefully, as though s he knew exactly where she was going. I dutifully followed, wincing as I cut throughed the rocky ground. My hazy slippers had never been intended for this sort of terrain.Here, she said when we reached a lowly clearing. She carefully facility rarify the duffel bag and knelt to give-up the ghost through it. Thisll do.The desert that was so remorselessly hot in the day became raw at night, but I was still sweating. Probably my own anxiety had more to do with that than the temperature or heavy pajamas. I retied my robe more tightly making a perfect knot. I put up that kind of detail and routine soothing.Ms. Terwilliger produced a large oval mirror with a scalloped silver frame. She set it down in the middle of the clearing, glanced up at the sky, and then shifted the mirror over a little. Come here, get off Melbourne. She pointed to a have intercourse opposite her, on the other side of the mirror. Sit there and make yourself comfortable.At Amberwood, I went by the bod of Syd ney Melrose, instead than my true one, Sydney Sage. Ms. Terwilliger had gotten my made-up name wrong on the first day of class, and it, unfortunately, stuck. I followed her directions, not that I could really get all that comfortable out here. I was pretty sure I could detect some large animal scuffling out in the brush and added coyotes to my affable list of dangers I faced out here, even up below magic use and pretermit of coffee.Now then. allows get started. Ms. Terwilliger peered at me with eyes that were dark and frightening in the desert night. Are you wearing anything metal? You need to take it off.No, I oh. Wait.I reached around my neck and unfastened a flaccid gold chain that held a small brand. Id had the necklace for years but had recently minded(p) over it to someone else, for comfort. Hed given it back to me recently, by way of our mutual friend Jill Mastrano Dragomir. Even now, I could take to the angry look on her face as shed stormed up to me at school an d thrust the cross into my quite a little without a word.I stared at the cross now as it gleamed in the moonlight. A queasy olfactory sensationing welled up in the pit of my stomach as I thought about Adrian, the zany Id given it to. Id do so before he professed his love for me, something that had caught me totally off guard a few weeks ago. But possibly I shouldnt have been so surprised. The more I looked back and I did so all the time the more I began to recall telltale blesss that should have tipped me off to his feelings. Id just been too blind to notice at the time.Of course, it wouldnt have mattered if Id seen it coming or not. Adrian was totally inconsistent for me, and it had zip to do with his many vices or potential descent into insanity. Adrian was a vampire. True, he was a Moroi one of the good, living vampires but it made no difference. globe and vampires couldnt be unneurotic. This was one point the Moroi and Alchemists stood steadfastly together on. It was still unspeakable to me that Adrian had sectiond those feelings to me. It was amazing that he could even have them or that hed had the nerve to kiss me, even if it was a kiss that had left me dizzy and breathless.Id had to decimate him, of course. My training would allow nothing less. Our situation here in Palm Springs coerce the two of us to constantly be together in social situations, and it had been rough since his declaration. For me, it wasnt just the awkwardness of our new relationship. I . . . well, I missed him. Before this debacle, he and I had been friends and spent a spate of time together. Id gotten employ to his smirky smile and the immediate banter that always flowed betwixt us. Until those things were gone, I hadnt realized how much I relied on them. How much I needed them. I entangle empty inside . . . which was ridiculous, of course. wherefore should I care so much about one vampire?sometimes it made me angry. wherefore had he ruined such a good thin g between us? why had he made me miss him so much? And what had he expected me to do? He had to have known it was impossible for us to be together. I couldnt have feelings for him. I couldnt. If wed lived among the Keepers a group of uncivilized vampires, humans, and dhampirs maybe he and I could have . . . no. Even if I had feelings for him and I firmly told myself I didnt it was wrong for us to even consider such a relationship.Now Adrian spoke to me as little as possible. And always, always, he watched me with a haunted look in his leafy vegetable eyes, one that made my heart ache and Ah What is that?I squirmed as Ms. Terwilliger dumped a bowl full of change leaves and flowers over my head. Id been so fixated on the cross and my memories that I hadnt seen her coming.Rosemary, she said matter-of-factly Hyssop. Anise. Dont do that. Id reached up to pull some of the leaves out of my hair. You need that for the spell.Right, I said, getting back to business. I set the cross care fully on the ground, assay to clear my mind of green, green eyes. The spell that scarce I can do. Why is that again?Because it has to be done by a virgin, she explained. I tried not to grimace. Her words implied that she was not a virgin, and even if that made sense for a forty-year-old woman, it still wasnt a thought I cute to spend a visual modality of time on. That, and the person were looking for has shield herself from me. But you? You she wont expect.I looked down at the shining mirror and understood. This is a scrying spell. Why arent we doing the one I did before?Not that I was eager to repeat that spell. Id used it to find someone, and it had involved me staring into a bowl of water for hours. Still, now that I knew how to do it, I knew I could perform it again. Besides, I didnt care the idea of walk into a spell I knew nothing about. Words and herbs were one thing, but what else world power she ask of me? Endanger my soul? grant up my blood?That spell nevertheless works for someone you know, she explained. This one will help you find someone youve never met before.I frowned. As much as I didnt like magic, I did like problem solving and the puzzles magic a lot presented intrigued me. How will I know who to look for, then?Ms. Terwilliger pass on me a photograph. My eyes had adjusted to the repulsiveness, and I looked into the face of a pretty young woman. There was a striking resemblance between her and my teacher, though it wasnt initially obvious. Rather than Ms. Terwilligers dull brown hair, this womans was dark, nearly dumb. She was in like manner much more glamorous, dressed in a black satin evening gown that was a far cry from Ms. Terwilligers rough-cut hippie attire. patronage those ostensible differences, the two women shared the same high cheekbones and aquiline eyes.I glanced back up. Shes related to you.Shes my older sister, Ms. Terwilliger confirmed, her voice unusually flat. Older? I wouldve guessed this woman was at least ten years younger.Is she abstracted? I asked. When Id scried before, it had been to find a kidnapped friend.Ms. Terwilligers lips twitched. Not in the way youre thinking. From the never-ending duffel bag, she produced a small leather confine and opened it to a marked page. grimace at where she indicated, I could make out handwritten Latin words describing the mirror and herbal concoction shed dumped on me. sideline that were directions on how to use the spell. No bloodletting, thankfully.It sounds too simple, I said suspiciously. Id guideed that spells that only had a few steps and components usually required a lot of mental energy. Id passed out from the other scrying spell.She nodded, guessing my thoughts. It takes a lot of focus more than the last one. But, as much as you dont want to hear this, your strength has grown enough that youll probably have an easier time than before.I scowled. She was right. I didnt want to hear that.Or did I?Part of me knew I should lour to go along with this madness. Another part of me worried shed abandon me in the desert if I didnt help. And still another part was insanely curious to see how this would all work.Taking a deep breath, I recited the books incantation and then set the picture in the middle of the mirror. I repeated the incantation and removed the picture. Leaning forward, I stared into the shining surface, trying to clear my mind and let myself become one with the darkness and moonlight. A hum of energy coursed through me, much more quickly than I expected. Nothing changed in the mirror right away, though. Only my facial expression peered back at me, the poor lighting dulling my blond hair, which looked mischievous both from sleeping on it and having a bunch of dried plants hanging in its strands.The energy continued to build in me, growing surprisingly warm and exhilarating. I closed my eyes and sank into it. I tangle like I was floating in the moonlight, like I was the moonlight. I couldve stayed tha t way forever.Do you see anything?Ms. Terwilligers voice was an unwished-for interruption to my blissful state, but I obediently opened my eyes and looked into the mirror. My reflection was gone. A silvery gray mist hung in front of a building, but I knew the mist wasnt physical. It was magically produced, a mental barrier to keep me from visual perception the image that lay beyond it. modify my will, I pushed my mind passed that barrier, and afterwards a few moments, the mist shattered.I see a building. My voice echoed oddly in the night. An old Victorian house. Dark red, with a traditional covered porch. There are hydrangea bushes in front of it. Theres a sign too, but I cant read it. kitty you tell where the house is? My teachers voice seemed very far away. Look around it.I tried to pull back, to extend my dream beyond the house. It took a few moments, but slowly, the image panned out as though I were watching a movie, uncover a neighborhood of similar houses, all Victorian with wide porches and creeping vines. They were a beautiful, perfect piece of history set in the modern world.Nothing exact, I told her. Just some quaint residential street.Go back further. See the large picture.I did, and it was like I drifted up into the sky, looking down upon the neighborhood the way some soaring bird would. The houses widen into more neighborhoods, which eventually gave way to industrial and commercial areas. I continued go back. The businesses became more and more densely packed. much streets crisscrossed between them. The buildings grew taller and taller, eventually materializing into a familiar skyline.Los Angeles, I said. The house is on the outskirts of Los Angeles.I heard a crisply intake of breath, followed by Thank you, Miss Melbourne. That will be all.A hand suddenly waved across my field of vision, shattering the city image. Also shattered was that state of euphoria. I was no longer floating, no longer made of light. I came crashing down to realit y, down to the rocky desert landscape and my stuffy pajamas. I felt worn and shaky, like I might faint. Ms. Terwilliger handed me a thermos full of orange juice, which I drank greedily. As the nutrients hit my governing body and strengthened me, I began to feel a little better. Intense magic use depleted blood sugar.Does that help? I asked, once Id downed the thermos. A nagging voice inside me started to chastise about how many calories were in orange juice, but I ignored it. Was that what you wanted to know?Ms. Terwilliger gave me a smile that didnt extend to her eyes. It helps, yes. Was it what I wanted? She stared off into the distance. No, not exactly. I was hoping youd name some other city. Some city far, far away.I picked up my cross and refastened it around my neck. The familiar object brought on a sense of normality after what Id just done. It also made me feel guilty, looking back on the elated high the magic had given me. Humans werent supposed to wield magic and the y sure as shooting werent supposed to enjoy it. Running my fingers over the crosss surface, I found myself thinking of Adrian again. Had he ever worn it? Or had he just kept it around for component? Had his fingers traced the crosss shape like mine very much did?Ms. Terwilliger began gathering her things. When she stood up, I followed suit. What does it mean exactly, wench? I asked. That I saw Los Angeles?I followed her back toward the car, and she didnt answer right away. When she did, her voice was uncharacteristically grim. It means that shes much closer than I would like. It also means, whether you want to or not, youre going to have to work on improving your magical skills very, very quickly.I came to a halt. Suddenly, I felt angry. affluent was enough. I was exhausted and ached all over. Shed dragged me out here in the middle of the night and now had the presumption to make a statement like that when she knew how I felt about magic? Worse, her words shake me. What did I have to do with this? This was her spell, her cause. Yet, shed given the directive with such force, such certainty, that it almost seemed as though I was the reason wed come out here to this wasteland.Maam I began.Ms. Terwilliger spun around and leaned toward me so that there were only a few inches between us. I gulped, swallowing whatever outraged words Id been about to utter. Id never seen her look like this. She wasnt scary, not exactly, but there was an intensity level Id never seen before, far different from the usual scattered teacher I knew. She also looked . . . frightened. Life or death.Sydney, she said, in a rare use of my first name. Let me assure you that this is not some deception on my part. You will improve upon your skills, whether you like it or not. And its not because Im cruel, not because Im trying to fulfill some selfish desire. Its not even because I hate comprehend you waste your ability.Then why? I asked in a small voice. Why do I need to learn more?The wind whispered around us, blowing some of the dried leaves and flowers from my hair. The shadows we cast took on an ominous feel, and the moonlight and starlight that had seemed so bode earlier now felt cold and harsh.Because, Ms. Terwilliger said. Its for your own protection.