Salvage: Book 3 of the Magic Mutations Series

8: Olivia

November, 2018

She arrived with a bag full of candles, herbs, flowers, and stones, bursting into the house the moment I opened the door.

"What's that going to—" I started as she immediately dumped the items onto my dining table.

"You said your mum will be back in half an hour," Marli cut me off as she began to arrange her items around a thin, black cloth. "We don't have time for explanations of what everything does. I just... I need you to trust me, okay?" She paused for a moment, glancing up at me for confirmation.

Perhaps my past experiences of blindly believing in people should have taught me some sense on this one. But unable to doubt the confident gleam in Marli's eyes and the fact I had known her for most of my life, I gave her a nod.

And so she got to work. Taking a seat at the head of the table, she instructed me to sit before placing a hand on either side of her setup—a candle in the middle circled by the other ornaments. Warily looking at her upturned palms and curved fingers, I took a deep breath before taking hold of her hands.

At once, I felt her power flow through me, and that familiar autumnal spiral blasted through my mind... until eventually it all stopped and the world went black.

I wasn't sure if I was sitting or standing, but I made an effort to get up as I spun around in the dark cavern of nothingness.

"Marli?" I called out, my heart constricting in my chest as the hairs on my neck stood up on end.

This doesn't feel right, my mind warned me, like I didn't already know.

"Marli!" I tried again.

But still, nothing.

A dampness started to form in my palms as my heart quickened again.

I continued to take noiseless steps further into the void, opening my mouth once more to call her name.

But before I even got out the first syllable, the world around me exploded. The matter, the air, the blackness became a plethora of circles, transforming, shifting, until it seemed like I was suddenly out in the bush... though my world was somehow an Aboriginal dot painting.

I spun around, this way and that, trying to figure out where I was. But nothing was familiar. Nothing was concrete. It was all just... specks of... paint?

Glancing towards the ground as though it would give me a clue, I heard something rustle behind me. Before I had time to react, a serpent slithered by my feet, causing me to leap away.

Rule 1 about snakes in Australia is to stay as still as possible if you see one so that they don't bite you... yet here I was going against all I knew.

The snake paused in its mission, head cocking around to look at me. While fear should have filled me at that moment, instead I became overwhelmed with a sense of ease and awe. In place of the familiar black irises of a snake staring back at me, the rainbow flashed through its eyes.

Head raising further and further into the air, the serpent continued to grow as its eyes stayed locked on me. Yet still, I felt myself trapped by its gaze, unable to move. Unable to feel. Unable to even think.

It opened its mouth, baring its fangs at me, a hiss sliding off its forked tongue.

But my hand moved on instinct, reaching for it, wanting to touch its scaly texture.

And just as I was about to make contact, just as the snake seemed ready to strike, the world went black again, the dots disappearing like they were an illusion.