Witchy Wishes for Christmas

Chapter 4

The first second my brain didn't even realize that I was falling. I was just in a strange state of vertigo, with no part of my body touching anything but air.

And then I heard the wind whistling past my ears and felt it whipping my long scarf around. Panic clammed around my chest like a tight vise, forcing my eyes open - but nothing changed, there was only blackness all around me.

I wanted to scream but didn't manage to get enough air into my lungs - and then magic flashed through me, snapping my body like an elastic band. Suddenly I wasn't falling down any longer, but up.

Blinking incredulously I realized my surroundings had changed from black to white, and then gravity took ahold of me. My trajectory changed mid-flight, as if some giant had thrown me upwards and now I'd reached the highest point of my ascent - and was falling back down.

This time I managed a small shriek and then two strong arms caught me. My scarf dangled down, brushing the snow-covered floor.

Aiden's eyes were laughing at me. I knew this because he was looking right at me, being the owner of the arms who had stopped my abrupt descent. "You alright, Mags?"

"I don't like this portal," I told him. My voice was barely above a whisper. "I think I'll have to call in sick a lot in my senior year."

The smile traveled from his eyes to his mouth, making his lips twitch.

"So this is 'the belly', huh?" Jo remarked. I twisted my head to look at her. She wasn't covered in snow or bruises which led me to the conclusion that Aiden must have caught her as well.

Speaking of which, it was probably time to get down from his arms. Blushing, which would hopefully be attributed to the cold, I tapped his shoulder and understanding what I wanted, he carefully set me on my feet.

"I was expecting something more creepy," Jo continued. "It's just a cave."

But a beautiful one. The cave wasn't made from stone but from clear, blueish ice. Some of the walls were transparent, like thick glass, offering a distorted view of even more ice and snow. The ceiling was covered in icy stalagmites, most bigger than me, almost like crystalline decorations. The light coming through the semi-transparent ceiling looked just like it would have underwater - blueish and ethereal. Snow powdered everything in a thin layer, diffusing the ice's polished look. Behind us stood a twin to the well in school, same dirty stones, same vines - though these were covered with a lick of frost.

"Alright, now that we're here, I'll be able to scout," Jo declared. "Give me just a second."

She sat on the floor next to the well and closed her eyes. Akela circled around her, before settling down as well and watching the entrance to the cave, his ears pricked and alert.

Jo's eyes started moving behind her closed lids. "Alright, snow, snow and even more snow. This isn't the only cave by the way, there are hundreds under the surface, connected by tunnels. Okay, here we have a strange ... forest? Man, it's endless, hmm, still the forest ... Ah finally ... ugh, more snow."

She stayed silent for a few seconds, before opening her eyes and looking at us. "I might have something, although I'm not sure."

She took her bag pack and pulled a hand mirror out of an easy-access front pocket. "Okay, remember what the creepy store-lady said? They're bees made from snow, just like the name suggests."

Aiden and I stepped closer and she showed the mirror to us. Akela didn't seem interested, still watching the entrance. The mirror reflected a white, snowy field undisturbed by tracks of any kind. In the distance I could make out something that looked like huge black spikes thrusting upward. Thick snowflakes were whirling through the air, dancing across the field. The sky was a deep, dark blue, reminding me of sapphires.