Chapter 09: The Secret Hideout

Milly and I share a secret eye conversation. Comes naturally when you’ve been best friends for years. We argue silently, Milly wanting to include them, and me wanting to exclude them. In the end, Milly wins, with the card of ‘they won’t like that they’re being protected.’

We nod our heads to the boys.

“Do you have any sort of info?”

Lucus is about to speak, but Siren shushes him.

“Not here, not now. We can’t work on empty stomachs!”

On cue, Milly’s stomach growls.

“I definitely can’t.”

We split and promise to meet back here in forty minutes. Milly and I walk to our school’s dining hall and pile our plates with food. I sigh as I inhale the smell of soup, made of garnish and clove. A vegetarian dish. We head over to our usual tree and bask in the last rays of sunshine. It feels so good to finally get a rest from all these strange things. Milly and I chat like before, back when we were still wondering the area of Autumn Town. I remember when we would jump in magic blossom tree leaves, how curious we were on how they shimmered. Now that I think about it, we never paid much attention to the world outside of our cozy town. We never really noticed the mass of woods that surrounded the small place. The only knowledge I have of them are from lessons for young witches. The woods were separated into four parts. Wolf Hollow, the jail of banished witches, invested with wolves. Mother Stump, a beautiful, huge mushroom, mini cottages dotting the surface. The faeries called it home. Misty Forest, huge treetops and little caves. Full of elves, gnomes and goblins. The last section is the Dark District. A forbidden place. No one’s ever ventured in and lived to tell the tales. Nevertheless, there are rumors that evil things beyond imagination live there. The border between these woods is the long river that flows in between. It’s water is polluted with magic. Strong, powerful magic that leaves veins of purple and green in the crystal clear waters. They come from the mermaids. Creatures that once were the glue for all intelligent species. Nobody knew what happened. I snap out of my massive info load and come back to the present. The journal mentioned mermaids! I take the notebook out and scribble that down. One mystery at a time, please. I glance at Milly who’s plate is licked clean. Mine’s barely touched. Milly bounces up and tells me she’s going to get some more. While she’s gone, Myra strides up to me, smiling.

“Hey Lucinda! You seem pretty lonely. Care for some company?”

I look at her suspiciously, but I don’t want to seem rude, so I say yes. She plops down beside me, right where Milly had been sitting.

“You know Milly, right?”

“Yeah, she’s my friend.”

Myra leans in and cups her hand over her mouth.

“Apparently, she’s working with the Principal to do something illegal.”

I glare at her.

“And how do you know this?”

She smirks, all traces of kindness gone.

“I have my sources.”

With that, she gets up and goes to her group.

I shout after her, “I don’t believe you, you know!”

She simply puts her hand in the air. Milly comes back moments later, and though I pay no consideration to Myra’s ‘warning’, I can’t help but imagine her rubbing her hands together evilly while conducting experiments on the shadow hounds. It’s such a ridiculous vision that I laugh out loud.

“What’s so funny?”

“Nothing. Nothing at all.”

“Well, if it's nothing, why haven’t you finished dinner? I swear, you eat like a tarda faerie!”

I shake my head and quickly finish my meal.

“Good job, Lucy. Pat on the back for you.”

Instead of patting me on the back, she pulls me up and drags me to the meeting spot.

I pretend to be offended, “I’m perfectly capable of walking, you know.”

“We both know you're not capable of walking in a straight line after a meal.”

I huff. “Not my fault.”

The boys are already there, sitting under the trees and chatting.

Milly smiles and whispers, “What if we eavesdrop?”

“Milly, that’s rude!”

She shrugs. “Suit yourself.”

She gently nudges me, but since my balance is completely off after eating, I topple to the ground. Two pairs of arms catch me and I breathe out in relief. They steady me until I’m standing again. I spot Milly in the corner, stifling a laugh. I shake my fist at her and thank Lucus and Siren.

“No problem. Are you usually so uncoordinated?”

I cross my arms.

“Only after eating.”

Milly emerges from her hiding spot.

“You mean nibbling.”

I smile.

“So, where are we going?”

Lucus points behind them, to the wall.

I frown, confused.

“I thought we were going somewhere else?”

“Oh, we are alright. Follow us.”

He and Siren stalk closer to the wall, and just as they are about to crash into it, they disappear. Milly grumbles.

“Of course. A secret door. This better not hurt.”

She grabs my hand and we run into the wall. A blast of cold hits us and I shiver. We keep walking down the blindly white space until we see a hint of warm light. Standing there are four figures. I furrow my brows. That can’t be right. Lucus looks sheepish as I make out Evernly and Clary.

“We found them nearby and they caught glimpses of your conversation too. They wanted to check on me after I got hurt.”

Clary waves nervously.

“They..uh…they told us everything. If you don’t mind, we would like to help too.”

I’m tempted to say yes, but that’s not how I roll. Milly shushes me before I can say anything and nods. I sigh, but go along with it. Ater all, they already know everything. Before we can make out a plan, Evernly puts her hand up. I gesture for her to speak, like a teacher.

“I will only join this little group on one condition.”

“Yes…?”

She nods at Clary, “You’ll let us decorate this place. Honestly, all this white walls and yellow glow is not vibing for me, darl.”

I agree.

“As long as you don’t make it too weird. We got boys here too. Also, here’s my condition. You stop calling me darling.”

Evernly rolls her eyes.

“If you say so, missy.”

I huff and Siren claps his hands.

“Now that we have done our very formal introductions,” he turns to me, “what exactly are we going to do with the knowledge we have?”

“Well...the only plan I have is to find the hidden room.”

Lucus jumps in, “What about that journal you told us about?”

“You mean you eavesdropped about,” Milly corrected.

I snap my fingers. “It would be helpful to have a few more pairs of eyes read it! When should I get it?”

“How about now?” Milly asks.

“Janky’s in bed right now, and even though she’s a deep sleeper, I might not be able to climb the rickety ladder with her there.”

“So tomorrow then.”

I nod. Hopefully I can get it by then.

“Well, since we have time...may I ask how you found this place?”

Lucus sucks in a breath.

"It's a pretty long one that includes our backstories."

I sit down on the suprisingly cushy floor.

"Well, we have all night. Plus, who doesn't like to listen to their friends' backstories?"

"Me." Evernly says.

"Then let the white hall greet you."

She grumbles. "Fine, I'll listen to this story."

We all sit down in a circle, peering intently at the two speakers.