Blood Rose (Vampire/Ballerina Book 1)

Chapter 12: The Calling

KAYLA

The girls eye the bookshelf full of grimoires. They're spooked by the literature. Jia is pale as a sheet. Mya is trying to keep it together, but fear overtakes her dark eyes. "So...your mom said they are just prank books, right?" she asks in an uneven tone.     

"Yes...but my grandma has been passing them down as part of our family history. I think that's a bit too much for a prank."  

"Maybe she's a master joker." 

"Which one did you read?" Jia's voice is shaky. 

"The one from 400 B.C." 

"Halloween is tomorrow...maybe you're getting into the holiday spirit. That could explain the dream." Mya deduces rationally.

The trio gaze at the first book atop the shelf. The binding on the side reads: Spell Benders: Runes and Incantations. "What's a Spell Bender?" Jia inquires.

"I have no clue..." Kay exhales slowly to calm herself from a panic attack. Being within the room is spiking her heart rate and prickling her skin. "I didn't ask my mom about that."

"Have you called your grandma?"

"No."

"You should."

"Jia, stop, it's just a joke."

"We don't know that for sure."

"I'm not pulling a joke, Mya! I know the difference between a dream and the real world!"

"Okay...okay, fine. But I'm not a believer unless I see it for myself."

"I'm not speaking another spell! It's too scary!"

"I'm not suggesting that." Mya sighs. "Where's the Ouija board? If there is a presence in the book, we can call on it."

"I don't think that's smart." Kayla turns away from them to hide her panic. "Whatever is in these books felt evil. The energy in the room changed. There was this humming...I felt hypnotized by it." There's a moment of silence. No one speaks or moves. The stillness of the room is ghostly. Even the motion outside fail to penetrate the windows. Usually there's the sound of cars and city ambience...but there's nothing. Kayla clears her throat to add noise to quietness. "Maybe it was a dream. Just forget it."

Jia walks to lay a hand on Kayla's back. "That's probably the best thing to do. Forget about it. We can focus on more important things."

"Like shopping for our costumes." Mya suggest. "We can go to the cinema and see Never Cry Wolf. Then maybe sneak out to a party when our folks are snoozing."

"I don't know about sneaking out."

"Me either." Kayla agrees with Jia. "But let's go shopping...I don't like being in this room." The menacing atmosphere returns to attack her nerves. Her heart races up a storm, her skin tighten with goosebumps. Her breathing labors. Kay rushes from the bedroom and into the powder room. She closes the door and locks it. Her shaky hands twist on the cold water faucet. She douses her face in the icy liquid.

Knocking from the door startles her. "KAYLA??! KAYLA???!!" Her friends shout. Their fists chaotically bang on the door.

Kay hyperventilates. The wind encounter revisits her mind. The hammering breeze on the window. The vibrating glass. The roaring tornado outside. The shaking walls and overflowing vents. The creepy, humming chant, in a language she doesn't understand. The spell book spoke to me?! Why?? Its wind was delicate with me. The force could have easily harmed me, but it didn't. Did it want me to listen...just as it listened to me?? I ordered it to stop, and it did. The entity seemed conscious.