For the first time since arriving at Shadow’s Edge, Mara checked her email. She scrolled through the thousands of messages, most of them junk mail, but there were sixty-seven that weren’t. Those sixty-seven made Mara cringe, spiraling into a self-loathing state.
Every single one of those emails was from her friends, she had gone a couple months without contacting them once, and they had tried to reach her sixty-seven times. Mara smacked her palm against her forehead and frowned. There was no excuse for leaving them like that, she had promised to keep in touch, but she hadn’t even sent them one email back.
Trixle walked into the room just then, looking at Mara quizzically. “What’s wrong?”
“Sarah! Matt! How could I just forget about them like that? I’m a horrible person. That’s just it, there’s nothing else to it, who forgets about their friends like that?” Mara groaned, mumbling incoherently.
“Well, you have been really busy. I mean you’ve had to adjust to a whole new life, I’m sure they’ll understand if you explain it to them.”
“I can’t explain it to them!” Mara shouted. “It’s against the rules for ordinary humans to know about this stuff.”
“Oh, right.” The way Trixle said it, made Mara believe she truly had forgotten or hadn’t known that humans weren’t allowed to know about their world.
“And that doesn’t really excuse forgetting the two people who have always been there for you, well, at least the past two years.” Mara got up and paced the room. “I have to go back. I have to go back home and to see Matt and Sarah, there’s no way an email or even a phone call will be good enough after all this time. I need to talk to them and Natalie.”
“Could Zander help you get there and back through a portal?” Trixle asked.
“A portal. Yeah, Natalie has one in the basement. Zander should be able to help me get through I would think, thanks Trix.” Mara left the room, Trixle just staring after her, shocked that Mara had used the nickname Marx had given her.
“No problem,” she said to the empty room and shrugged, going back to what she had been doing.
Mara ran to Zander’s room, stopping just short of the door about to knock. His roommate opened the door, jumping as he saw another person on the other side.
“Is Zander here?” She asked, slightly out of breath.
The boy looked over his shoulder into the room as Zander’s dark hair came into view.
“Mara? What are you doing here?” Zander asked.
“I have a favor to ask you-” Mara glanced over Zander’s shoulder at his roommate still hovering near the door. Zander stepped into the hallway, the door closing behind him.
“What is it?”
“This is going to sound really stupid, but I completely forgot to talk to my friends back home. I know, I’m horrible, but they don’t know anything about all this magic stuff, and I can’t talk to them about it. But I was wondering if you would help me get back there so I can talk to them in person. Do you think you could help me go back through the portal? Natalie has one in the basement.” Mara pleaded with her eyes.
She could see Zander working it out in his head; he had already been trying to figure out a way to get her back before she had even finished asking. “We could create a temporary portal, one that I can keep open until you cross over, and recreate it when you want to come back. You can’t use the school’s portal, it’s heavily guarded, and you need a pin to get you where you want to go.”
“Thank you so much!” Mara said excitedly. “We can do it in my room, Trixle won’t say anything to anyone.” Mara turned on her heels, making her way to the stairs trusting that Zander was right behind her.
Trixle looked up as the two walked right in. She gave Zander a slightly sympathetic nod as he stood awkwardly by the door.
“Okay, so where do we do this?” Mara asked not wanting to waste any time.
“Well I need to know exactly where the connecting portal is. I need precise location, and its surroundings. Since you know all of that information, you are going to have to act as the bridge. I need you to picture the portal; I need you to see that room like you’re standing in it. Just like what you would do to create an object, like in our lessons.”
"Sounds simple enough. Just picture it and you’ll draw on that to create one to get me there?”
“Essentially. It’s a lot like drawing on another witch's power except I’m only drawing on your image.”
“Not to be the party pooper here,” Trixle chimed in. “But is this safe? I mean, it sounds like there’s a lot of room for error, and I wouldn’t want Mara left to float around in portal land or whatever.”
“She won’t be floating around in portal land,” Zander said. “I’ll have it under control. As long as we know the location, everything will be perfectly fine."
Zander took a piece of chalk out of his jeans pocket and Mara looked at him quizzically.
“We have to draw the portal, you can’t make it randomly appear,” he said guessing her thoughts. “Most places have built in portals, a permanent place for them, but in this case we’re trying to make a new one. We have to give it boundaries unless you want the entire room to become the portal.”
“So you just keep chalk in your pocket?” She asked sarcastically.
“You never know when you might need some chalk,” he sad flashing a grin and winking. He then began to draw a fully enclosed rectangle on one of the blank walls. He stood back up and turned to Mara.
“Now it’s your turn,” Zander said as he stood up, taking her hands. “You just need to picture the portal entrance in your house. Share your image with me.
Mara closed her eyes and began to picture the room in her basement. The one door she had never really noticed before the day she left for Shadow’s Edge. She pictured the neat space, kept clean and organized, the red, fuzzy rug in the center of the room. Once she had a stable image in her head, she pushed it outward, using her magic to broadcast it to Zander.
When he was able to get the image, he murmured something she had been unable to hear. The hairs on Mara’s arms instantly stood on end, and the same feeling that always washed over her when magic was preformed flowed once again. She felt the change in the air. Trixle watched as the chalk line on the wall began to shimmer, swirls starting to form inside the space that had been created.
Zander and Mara opened their eyes, looking at the portal in front of them. Something didn’t seem quite right. The portal didn’t look the same as the one she had gone through to get to the school, this one seemed darker. Instead of the shimmering blues and purples, it had been taken on by greys.
Mara mentally shrugged it off; after all, it was only the second portal she had seen. Could she really expect every portal to look the same? “I’ll contact you when I’m ready to come back. You’ll be able to help me get back here right?”
“Of course I will,” he said smiling down at her. Zander bent over and kissed her forehead before she turned towards the portal to go back home.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Mara stepped into the dark swirling abyss, and this time was definitely different from the last. She was overcome with a feeling of fear and the matter in the portal was cold and slimy. It didn’t feel right to her, it almost felt as if the portal was alive, alive and villainous. She shivered as she made her way through and hit a barrier. It seemed as if the portal was at war with itself.
Mara could see the darkness around her clashing with the shimmering blues and purples. The grey was winning, she watched in awe as the blues and purples began to shrink away. Mara turned away forging ahead towards the end.
She fell out of the portal on the other side gasping for air. Just like before, the trip had happened in that one step, but it had seemed like so much more than that. Within that one step she had seen and felt so much inside the portal. Mara never wanted to experience that cold, desolate place ever again.
Mara gained her composure and headed soundlessly up the stairs. She found Natalie sitting in the living room with the television on. “Natalie?”
Mara bit her tongue; she hadn’t meant to say anything yet. She still hadn’t been sure she wanted Natalie to know she had left the school.
Her aunt screamed and jumped off the couch, swinging her arms defensively in front of her. She could feel magic being summoned up, ready to use it if necessary.
“Mara! What on earth are you doing here? You’re supposed to be at school.”
“I came home for a little bit. Zander helped me get here,” she confessed. “I had to see Sarah and Matt."
“You’re not supposed to leave school grounds, how did you even get here?”
“I already told you, Zander helped me. And like you never broke the rules when you were in school,” she said pointedly.
“Don’t try to shift this onto me. How did he help you?”
“He created a portal on a wall,” Mara shrugged.
“He created a portal? What’s happened to the security in that place? You kids should not be making portals. It’s dangerous! Any number of things could go wrong and you could get hurt, or worse,” Natalie began to shout.
“Chill out Natalie, it’s fine. I’m in one piece. I just need to visit my friends and then I’ll go back. I’ll be back before classes start again,” Mara said as she started to back up towards the door.
“You bet you’re going back, and you're going the right way!” She shouted after Mara’s retreating figure.
Mara ran out to her car and drove until she pulled up in front of the familiar house. She hesitantly got out and walked up the creaking steps she had sat on so many times before with her best friend. It was where they had talked for hours about whatever was on their mind. She kept going, making her way past the porch swing where she and Sarah used to sit and laugh about the drama and horrors of school.
She made her way to the front door, running her fingers over the mesh screen before pressing the doorbell. Mara stood there waiting silently for a response.
After an excruciatingly long period of time, the wood door opened, and Sarah’s face appeared behind the screen. Sarah’s eyes widened before turning into angry slits as she processed what was happening.
“Mara, what the hell?” The anger was thick in her voice, bringing out the thick southern accent she had only when she was emotional.
“Sarah, I’m sorry I didn’t email you back. I-”
“You’re sorry?” She interjected. “You left us for months without a single word to say that you hated your life, or that you were fine or whatever, and all you have to say is you’re sorry?” Her voice raised an octave.
She could shatter glass with that voice, Mara thought to herself, trying to keep from covering her ears.
“I know it’s no excuse,” Mara started. “There isn’t a good enough excuse, but I’ve been dealing with so much. Everything has completely changed and I’ve been trying to adjust. I just looked at my emails for the first time today. I didn’t mean to drop off the face of the earth and disappear on you like that.”
“You could have talked to us about what you were going through. We could have helped you through whatever it was, that’s what friends are for after all.” Sarah looked hurt and Mara found it hard to look into her eyes.
Through the screen she could see an angry flame dancing in her friend’s brown eyes but there was also pain. Pain for being left behind, pain from the thought of losing a friend. Mara couldn’t stand seeing that in her friend’s eyes.
Mara looked down at the ground, tears stinging her eyes as they welled up, threatening to escape. She threw the door open and pulled Sarah into her, hugging her tight. Hot tears streamed down both girls’ cheeks.
“I missed you, Sarah,” Mara whispered in her ear.
As they pulled away, they wiped the tears from their eyes, laughing at themselves.
Mara heard someone from behind the door. “Is it safe to come out now?” Matt’s familiar face popped out from behind the wooden door, checking to see if the coast was clear.
“The tears have stopped and we’re both alive, I think it’s all good,” Sarah shouted back.
Matt stepped out onto the porch and pulled Mara into a hug. He picked her up, lifting her a couple feet off the ground, squeezing her tightly. “I missed you Peanut!” Matt said using the nickname he had given due to her shortness when they had first met.
He put Mara back down and Sarah offered for them to go inside. No one argued and they made their way up to Sarah’s room where they could talk and catch up on missed times.
“It’s only been a couple months, but it feels like a lifetime when I hear everything I’ve missed,” she said referring to her two friends holding hands, sitting next to each other.
“It happened just two weeks ago,” Sarah said, smiling at Matt and leaning into him.
“I’m so happy for you guys, it’s about time this finally happened. It’s just sad I won’t be here to see it. You’ll invite me to the wedding though, right?”
Matt and Sarah’s eyes bugged out of their heads. “Wedding?” Sarah squeaked. “You really jump ahead of yourself don’t you Mara?”
“I’m kidding,” Mara said laughing at her friends. “Don’t freak out. I just wanted to see your faces.”
“What about you?” Matt asked trying to change the subject. “Have you met any cool people?”
“Yeah, I have some friends back at school. There’s Marx, Trixle, Zander, and Zeldra. I’m actually going to a dance with Zander,” Mara said blushing a little.
Sarah squealed. “Is there something between you and this Zander fellow?”
“Actually,” Mara admitted. “We’re sort of dating. I think.”
“You think?” Matt asked. “How do you not know?”
“Well, I mean we’re going to the dance together, and we’ve had some moments, but we haven’t really gone on a date or anything. Although that’s partly due to the fact that we aren’t really allowed to leave the grounds.”
“Then how did you get back here?” Sara asked.
Mara hesitated for a second. She had to remember to be careful about what she said. “Natalie called in to the school and excused me for the weekend when I told her I wanted to come back and see you guys,” Mara lied.
“Well that was awesome of her,” Sarah said. “But back to this Zander guy. Does he have a last name?”
“Delcole,” Mara replied.
“Zander Delcole. Sounds fancy,” Sarah said, wiggling her eyebrows. “Do you have a picture of him?”
Mara pulled out her phone and scrolled through her pictures. She pulled one up that Zeldra had taken of the two together, sitting on the gazebo. Zander had his arm around her, holding her close to him, and they were smiling.
Sarah squealed at the picture. “You two are just absolutely adorable. And he’s a total hottie. You are too Matty, don’t worry, but that man is gorgeous.”
Matt did one of his half smiles and nodded, looking slightly jealous. Mara was unsure of the reason behind his jealousy.
The three talked well into the night, talking about everything that had happened to them. Mara told them all about her new school, making sure to avoid all topics of magic. It was difficult for her to keep that part of her life hidden from her friends, but there were just some things they needed to be protected from, and the magical world was one of those things.
Early morning light started to filter in through the windows as Mara woke up. She sat up, looking around the room finding Matt and Sarah passed out on the ground. The last thing she remembered was watching a movie.
Mara looked at the clock on the wall seeing that it was almost noon. She began to panic; she still had homework to do before class the next day, and she was supposed to meet up with Marx in a couple hours.
Mara stood up and heard Sarah groan as she started to wake up. Her sleep filled voice carried up to Mara. “What are you doing?”
“I have to get back to school. I really wish I could stay longer, but I don’t have the time.” Mara rambled.
“Do you have to go back already?” She asked, as Matt started to wake up.
“I really do. I have to, uh, study for classes. I have a… study session with some friends later that I can’t miss,” Mara explained, stumbling over her words.
“But if feels like you just got here, you can’t leave us again.”
Sarah and Matt were just that, Sarah and Matt. They had accepted Mara into their group, turning the duo into a trio. It had only been the three of them, they didn’t accept others easily but once they did, they couldn’t let them go. The three were like a family, which was why Mara’s heart broke at the thought of having to leave them again.
“I promise, this time I’ll check my emails regularly. We will keep in touch,” Mara said, but her words felt empty. She could feel a rift growing between her and her friends, and it saddened her.
After more hugs followed by more crying, Mara got in her car and drove back to her aunt’s house. She walked through the door tiredly and slumped against the banister that led upstairs.
“You’re back, are you?” Natalie’s voice trailed into the hall, she still sounded annoyed.
Mara winced and walked towards the sound of her aunt’s voice.
“Yeah, I’m here. I’ll get back to school right away,” Mara said sounding resigned. “Can I just go back the same way I got back here? I can send Zander a message and he’ll open the portal back up.”
“Why would I let you do that?” Natalie asked, her arms across her chest.
“Because then I can just go back to my room and study like a good little student,” Mara said, hopeful.
Natalie just stood there, staring her down.
“Come on Nat, I can go back that way and get right back to studying, or I can go the traditional way and be in the Head Mistress’s office for hours.”
“Which is exactly where you should end up. Breaking the rules like that is unacceptable,” her aunt replied sternly.
“Can you honestly tell me you never left the grounds when you were in school? I won’t come back here without proper permission again, I promise.”
Natalie’s jaw clenched and Mara was prepared for her to deny her request.
“Fine,” Natalie groaned. “This one time I will let you skate by. But if I ever hear of you doing this again, I will send you straight to the Head Mistress myself. Is that clear?”
“Crystal.”
Mara sent Zander the message, telling him she was ready to go back. A minute later she got a response saying he would be ready in a minute. Mara went down to the basement with Natalie right behind her. As she opened the door to the portal, she remembered the darkness within the one before.
“Natalie, do all portals look the same?”
“Yeah, they’re all made up of the same magical essence.”
“I see.”
“Why?”
“No reason,” Mara said trying to brush it off, but a cold chill ran down her spine. Then why was the portal Zander created different?
Mara could feel the shift in the air again as crackling flashes appeared within the confines of the portal before it roared to life.
The swirling blues and purples were back, swirling and falling in like a waterfall. Everything appeared normal, so Mara said goodbye to her aunt and stepped through the portal.
As she made her way, the lightness seemed to push her along, taking her towards her destination until she hit that same block. The cold, dark slime started to crawl along Mara’s skin. She wanted to escape, she wanted to be back at the school, but it seemed like she was frozen in place. Stuck in the middle of the grey slime.
Where the substance touched her, Mara felt sharp pain. It was like the slime was puncturing her skin, trying to take something from her.
She finally reached the other side, stepping into her room with the expectant eyes of Zander and Trixle staring at her.
Trixle approached her. “Both arms, good. Two legs, also good. You appear to be in one piece, and you’re not floating in portal land. It worked!” Trixle beamed.
Mara smiled at her friend before a cold tremor came over her. She shook so violently that it took her to the ground. Both Trixle and Zander rushed to her side, as she lay there curled into a ball.
Trixle shook Mara’s shoulder. She could see both of her friends staring at her, worried, but she was unable to say anything. The only thing she could do was lie there as her body shook violently.
“What did you do to her?” Trixle shouted at Zander accusingly.
“Nothing!”
Mara wanted to speak up for Zander, to defend him, but nothing could get past her lips.
Zander started to look her over, but Trixle was able to sense the problem first. “Her magic,” Trixle said, panicked.
“What about her magic?”
“It’s gone. Something’s blocking it,” she replied solemnly. That was the last thing Mara heard before she slipped into the dark abyss.