Chapter 12: Spells and Plots

Hannah whimpered as I peeled the tape from her. When enough was off that it no longer supported her, she leaned forward and wobbled on unsteady legs. I held her lest she fall.

"Tyballa, where did you go? It's been so bad without you."

"I know, sweetie. I was with Mr. Woodhouse, and I couldn't get away. But a lot happened, and I'll tell you everything later. First, let's get you to your room."

She shook her legs as her blood began to flow again. She could walk, but they'd beaten her badly, and she'd been hanging a long time. So, we walked arm in arm, her naked and me practically naked in my flimsy clothes. I carried my little red bag and Lana's book on the stars.

"Who did this?"

"Madison and her friends."

"They'll pay."

"April helped them."

"Yeah, Chloe told me about that. She'll pay too. Maybe."

We rounded the corner of Miranda Hall and the dormitory was just beyond. We were too late. Three girls were walking through the door, two brunettes and a blond, dressed pretty in their uniforms and with ribbons in their hair. All at once, they saw us and turned their heads.

"Oh my god!" the blond said.

"Hold on to me," I said to Hannah. She wrapped her arm tightly. Then, as we rushed toward the dormitory, and near the girls, I removed one of the little balls from the bag and tossed it on the ground in front of them. There was a flash, and the girls stopped cold, their eyes glazed over. They looked around confused while we continued forward.

As I passed the blond, I whispered, "There's a fire in the building, you must get to the hockey field."

Her eyes got wide and her mouth made an "O". Then she ran off toward the field. As she fled, her two friends watched her and didn't notice us.

"Tyballa!" Hannah said, "Oh my god, Tyballa! You're back!"

Clearly the spell had affected her as well.

"I am sweetie. I'm back. Madison's friends stripped you and tied you to the pole. I was taking you to your room, but let's go to my room; it's closer."

"I remember them tying me up. What happened? Where were you? It's been terrible here."

"I know. I'll tell you everything later. Let's hurry before we meet more girls."

"More girls?"

I dragged her into the building and down the hall. My door was locked, but I forced the handle and it snapped easily. We entered, and when I closed the door behind us, the mechanism no longer engaged. I blocked the door with a chair.

"You can borrow a robe, I guess, and get up to your room and get cleaned up."

She sat on Renee's bed. "Tyballa, I thought you'd abandoned us."

I tossed her a robe. "Well, you shouldn't have thought that."

I sounded too cross when I said that, but Hannah didn't seem to notice. She went on, listing each horror: "And April betrayed us, and Shelly went home –"

"Shelly went home?"

"She couldn't handle it."

"Oh."

She looked at the robe and squeezed it tightly. Then she looked up. "Why did you leave?"

"I didn't leave."

She gave me a blank look.

"I was taken."

She blinked. "Taken? By who?"

"Mr. Woodhouse."

"What?"

"He tried to steal my blood for some spell."

She blinked again. She looked down at her feet.

"Is Renee... ?"

"She's the same."

"Oh my god. What will we do?"

Her voice sounded pitiful. I went and sat next to her, putting my arm around her.

"Well, first we set things straight – you know – with Madison."

"Oh."

"Yes. Then, we regroup, get Shelly to come back – if we can – talk to April. After that, we figure out how to help Renee."

"Can we do those things?"

"Yes, Hannah, we can do those things."

She looked up at me with wide dark eyes.

"You're really back?"

"Yes."

"What if the dean doesn't let you stay?"

"Don't worry about that."

I saw her eyes glisten. She rubbed a tear aside.

"I'm back to stay, alright?"

"Yes."

"So stop worrying. I'm going to put everything right."

She leaned into me.

"I'll never leave you Hannah, no matter what."

I said it like a spell, as if saying the words could make it true.

"I'll never leave you." I repeated it, hoping.

She pulled closer. I kissed her on the mouth and thought of soft starlight and the last time I'd held her in my arms. "Remember when we were in the woods, before the ritual, when you said you loved me? I didn't answer."

"Yeah."

"I should have answered. I'm sorry about that."

"What would you have said?"

I gave her a long look and a soft smile.

"I love you like the sky is wide."

I felt her quiver a bit.

"Speaking of love, Chloe's one of us now."

"Oh?"

"Yes."

And in spite everything, her dark eyes twinkled and she got a curious grin.

Hannah went up to her room to get ready for the day, to shower and cake makeup over her terrible bruise. I showered also, downstairs in my floor's lavatory. I decided to wear a proper school uniform before seeing the dean, for although confronting her in my skimpy little thing would have been fun, this seemed more wise. I brought along one of my little glass balls, the remaining three I hid in my closet. Also, Lana had given me a handful of necklaces with amulets, little red gems, for my friends wear, to mark them as protected. I put one on and dropped a few in my book bag.

I found the dean just exiting her office, ready to head to breakfast. I strutted up right in front of her.

"Young lady! You have some nerve coming back here!"

"Hello Dean Gilbert." For old time's sake, I curtsied. "I'm very pleased to see you again."

I smiled. She didn't smile.

"Tyballa..."

I threw down the glass ball and it flashed. Then I grabbed her wrist and spoke the far hearing spell while she shook her head and looked around confused.

"Hello Dean Gilbert, you look very nice today."

"Uh – Hi, Tyballa, right? Didn't you disappear?"

"Don't be silly. You said you'd walk with me to breakfast."

Still holding her hand, I led her toward the dining room.

When we entered everyone gasped and gawked, both girls and staff. I gave the dean a little pat on the butt, then dashed away toward the student's tables.

I looked for my friends. Hannah and Kathy were crammed into a table at the end with a bunch of unfriendly looking girls. April sat two tables over with some slightly more popular girls. At the table where we used to sit, Madison had set up with her crew. Of course she had.

The seats were filling fast. Two were left directly across from Hannah and Kathy. One remained at April's table, and one at another table with girls I didn't know. Also, there was one left at Madison's table, and her crew seemed to jealously guard it, as if protecting themselves from being sullied by the presence of an unpopular girl.

I chose the one at Madison's table. She shook her head as I approached.

"Don't even think about it," she said, sneering and blinking her eyes to some strange cadence. I pulled out the chair, plopped down, and smiled at her. She was directly across from me.

"You can't really stop me, it turns out."

Then, through my far hearing spell, I heard one of the teachers say to Dean Gilbert, "So, Tyballa is back? What happened to her?"

"Uh – I – uh – I don't know," the dean replied.

Madison's friends all looked at me with their mouths hanging open in bemused fascination. They seemed eager for trouble, and they glanced at Madison, as if wondering what she would do.

I stared at Madison.

"So, which of you beat up Hannah?"

"Fuck you!" Madison said.

The girl next to me, a blond with teased out hair and violet makeup, whispered, "We'll kick your ass just like your friend."

I heard the teacher say to the dean, "I think Tyballa is looking for trouble or something, sitting with Madison's group like that. You may want to move her."

Another girl across the way with curly brown hair said, "Yeah, we don't want to eat with a smelly dyke. You'll prolly give us AIDS."

"Let's see how it plays out," the dean said.

If it played out, I thought, it would surely lead to a fight. I got up and without looking back, without even paying attention to their crude parting remarks, I made my way to April's table.

"Well, I didn't expect that," I heard the teacher say to the dean.

"Nor I," the dean replied.

There was an empty chair three over from April's.

"Hello April. How are you?"

"Hi Tyballa," she said flatly. "You've come back, I see."

"Yes." The girl sitting next to her was stocky with plain brown hair. "Do you mind if we switch?" I asked her, pointing to the empty seat. "I need to talk with April."

"Okay," she said, and she got up and took the other seat. I sat next to April and looked at her. She looked straight ahead.

I said, "So, Hannah's been having a real hard time, I guess."

"I guess."

"And – I guess – you haven't exactly helped."

She turned and looked at me. "It's been hard for everyone. I did what I had to do to get by."

I touched her arm.

The dean spoke, her voice almost a murmur, "She'd better not kiss that girl."

The teacher answered, "It would make for an interesting breakfast."

The dean harrumphed. April pulled away her arm.

The teacher went on, "You have to admit, her coming back will make things interesting. Watching all the lezzies get tortured was getting dull. I wonder if Tyballa will turn the tables on Madison's crew?"

"I'd like to see her kicked out, frankly."

"Aw, where's your sense of fair play?"

The dean didn't answer her.

April said, "The group's over, and everyone should accept that. Without Renee, we're nothing."

"That isn't true."

It came time for our table to get our food. She popped up from her seat and put her back to me. Then she darted away toward the kitchen. I followed, but she was far ahead in line when I got to the food counter. I took some eggs, a piece of toast, and a fruit cup.

When I got back she was already eating. She had no eggs, no fruit, and only two pieces of toast.

"That isn't enough breakfast," I said.

She didn't answer. She chewed her toast and looked away.

"April, I think I'm going to go sit with Hannah and Kathy, if someone will trade seats with me. Would you come along?"

"The group's over. They wouldn't want me anyhow."

"April –"

"Tyballa! I'm glad the group's over, okay?"

"What?"

"I'm glad the group's over. I'm glad Renee's gone. So leave me alone."

"Uh –"

"I'm serious! Leave me a alone."

The girls at Hannah's and Kathy's table got up to get their food. As they passed us on the way to the kitchen, Hannah walked near to me. She whispered, "Tyballa, come sit with us." She cast April a harsh glance.

I took my tray and went to their table. When they returned, the girls shifted their seats, and I ended up between Hannah and Kathy. We exchanged smiles.

The teacher said, "Well, she's back with the Conner girl."

"I see that," the dean replied.

I took a piece of melon from my fruit cup and ate it. Hannah had one waffle with a bit of syrup, and she chewed slowly. Kathy had eggs.

"So," I said, "while Renee's gone I'm taking over. Are you two fine with that?"

They both nodded.

"So, what happened with Shelly?"

Kathy answered, "Her parents took her home, 'cause stuff got so bad."