Melissa's Quest

  Melissa’s Quest

  A Finding Magic Novel Book 1

  Blair Drake

  Copyright ©2018 by Blair Drake

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  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously, and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.

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  All rights are reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author.

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  This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author's work.

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

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  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  The Finding Magic Series

  Sneak Peek of Reese’s Quest

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  Prologue

  The dark fog thickened, roiling into a deeper encroaching blackness, a thin band on the horizon that never disappeared. Forever it had been merely a cloud separating the magical dimensions from those not magical, but this last year it grew darker…more threatening. None of the elders knew what shifted to make this nightmare a current part of their world.

  Everything was about balance.

  This darkness said something went sideways. But what?

  An eeriness to the cloud was both compelling and disturbing. Headmistress Hettie Lalane stood on the balcony of the regal private school, Gray Cliffs Academy, and stared into the abyss. A cold, numbing wind blew strong, forcing her to lean into the gusts to keep her balance. The early morning chill nipped at her cheeks and poked at her poorly covered feet. She’d walked up in only her light slip-on shoes and long sweater. Although Vancouver Island had a light version of winter, and cold gales could batter the ancient building, Hettie always managed to keep her own energy at such a level to keep warm, at least inside.

  No longer. Fear could freeze the best of them, and she certainly, although old with centuries of life experience behind her, was not immune. Maybe that was the chill taking her breath away.

  Staring across the ocean, it was easy to see the change in her—their—lives. She hated change. And this was the worst kind. It spoke of the unknown. It spoke of darkness and…of evil.

  She’d heard the rumors rumbling through the stone walls as the kids whispered about the variance in atmosphere from this year over last—of a young man missing.

  There was a truth to that. It hurt to talk about it. It hurt more to lie about it, but Hettie had to. Panic would run amok if the kids found out just what happened.

  Finals were coming up soon. The students were focused on that—and should be focused only on that. Except she was old, not stupid, and neither were the kids.

  They’d asked the right questions many times; she just couldn’t give them the right answers. They’d understand eventually. In the meantime, a nervousness threaded through the atmosphere. Whispers could be heard at odd times; sideways glances were directed at her and Headmaster Auster.

  Speaking of which, she was due at his office now. She tugged the collar of her long sweater closer to her throat, and with a final glance at the darkness, she turned to the stairs.

  As she headed to the door, a pained whisper drifted across the rooftop.

  “Don’t forget me.”

  Hettie froze and shuddered. Turning ever-so-slowly, she glanced hopefully around her. But, as always, there was nobody, no vision, no light to match the voice. Calling back as she always did, she said, “I won’t.”

  Then she dashed the last few steps inside.

  As she sped down the worn stone stairs, the noise coming from the main floor below was deafening. And she realized how late she actually was.

  “Hettie, do you have them?” the headmaster asked as his voice cut across the din.

  She nodded, even while she searched the crowd below. “I do.”

  “Good. We’re ready.” Headmaster Auster ushered the nine students toward his office. “All of you, go to my office, take a seat, and wait for us. We’ll join you in a moment.”

  Hettie plastered a smile on her face, but her stomach was in knots. As soon as the last teen was out of earshot, she exclaimed, “We can’t do this. Not now. It’s too dangerous.”

  “To not do this is too dangerous,” he admonished her as she stepped off the last stair. “You knew this was coming. I was worried you wouldn’t be strong enough to go through with it.”

  Insulted, she snapped her back even straighter and answered him in a stiff tone, “I’m strong enough. My concern is they aren’t. We already made one fatal mistake. We can’t afford another one.”

  “And that’s why we need to do this as we’ve always done,” he said, gentling his tone.

  “You don’t understand,” she hissed, motioning toward the roof. “I was just up there. That thing is growing. It’s almost pitch black this morning. It’s after those kids.”

  “Maybe. That’s why they need to be strong enough to handle it—whatever it is,” he warned. “You can’t mess with this. Our system is centuries old.”

  “But something happened. Somehow it’s gained a foothold in our world. We can’t let that continue.”

  “And yet we can’t determine why it’s grown or how to stop it. We must put these kids to the test—as every one of us before was tested.”

  “And yet they have no idea.” She hated this. To know she could lose one of these precious beings like she’d lost one last year. The guilt still brought her to tears.

  “Neither did any of us, remember? And we did just fine.” He walked toward his office, turning to look at her, asking once more, “Do you have the talismans?”

  Mute, she pulled the special school pins from her coat pocket. Even as they studied the round objects, they glowed.

  “We must hurry,” he snapped. “Now. Before it’s too late and we miss the window.”

  She raced up behind him. “We agreed they could request one thing to travel with them, right?”

  “No, you asked, but I did not agree.” His stern tone dashed her hopes.

  “They need to know something. Our old pins used to talk. The new ones don’t. They have no way to communicate with us or with each other.”

  “And that’s the way it’s supposed to be.” He dodged several students who stood ta
lking in the hallway. “We can’t break the rules.”

  “They should be able to take something with them. Make it their choice,” she insisted. “We lost one because he couldn’t.”

  Auster turned to send her a look. “And most would snag you or I, remember? We can’t make a blanket request like that.”

  She frowned. He had a point. “So not us—but something?”

  “Only if they don’t know what they are asking for. That would be cheating.”

  “How?” she argued. She knew it was futile, but she couldn’t stop herself from trying. They were at the top of the stairs, his hand on the door, ready to push it open.

  “Look. I agree they can take something, but there is no grace in the rules. They’ll have to work it out for themselves.” And he shoved the door open.

  She let out a gasp. “Oh, no.”

  The darkness had completely filled his office, swirling in a wild wind around the students huddled together in the center of the room.

  “Help us,” Melissa called out, her arms wide to protect the others.

  “What is this?” came a question from the center of the group.

  Headmaster Auster spun, a look of terror on his face. “We have to get them out of here.” He raced to the side door. “Go to the roof, now.”

  Hettie stepped into the black turbulence settling in Auster’s office, opening her arms to help ground herself as the storm raged over her, around her, and finally through her. The air was sucked from her lungs, and her voice was strangled by the need to withstand the forces. But still she cried out, “There’s no time.”

  However, her words were too late; the students raced up the stairs to escape the darkness.

  Her hopes sank as the door slammed behind her, leaving her to drain the darkness. But instead of it draining, the dark wind uncoiled and zipped back out the window, and she knew—it was racing to the rooftop for the children.

  Gathering the last of her energy, she ran to the roof and found the group of students still clutched together. The headmaster tried to talk to them, but his words had no effect. Hettie quickly moved from one student to the other and slipped a talisman into each one’s pocket.

  The window wasn’t just closing…

  “Ten…nine…” The headmaster started the countdown.

  The wind picked up, making the black cloud tighten its circle around the group.

  Hettie stepped into place, grasped Auster’s hand, and started the chant from the ageless ones…in front of her, she could see the colors swirl, the lights brighten. Then, as if the wind gained a voice, it howled and screamed in fury, trying to find a crack in the energy shield surrounding the crying students.

  “Six…five…”

  The headmaster’s voice could barely be heard over the wind, yet it was also intoned at such a level it would soon resonate with the physical bodies of all those on the roof—a process that fascinated Hettie. She’d seen it hundreds of times, but it was so miraculous she never tired of watching it happen.

  Three of the students she could see clearly. Melissa, a junior, the loner and independent spirit, was at the front. Although, she was more subdued this year after Luke, her boyfriend, graduated and left last year. He was two years older but had lost a year due to a major illness when he was only twelve. Then she saw Annalise, Melissa’s faithful sidekick, her partner in crime, and the youngest member in the group having skipped a grade. And finally, Reese, who stood beside her talking to his buddy—as always. She wasn’t sure he’d be ready, but he made it just in time.

  Hettie’s voice rose as the chant filled her until she was singing, her voice angelic and light, calling to the matching piece inside each of the students’ pockets. The talismans glowed with fire, filling the air.

  The students’ cries calmed as their tones changed to cries of wonder.

  “Three…two…”

  And then it hit her. Oh, dear God. Her shocked mind caused her voice to falter…Annalise shouldn’t be here. Hettie shuddered and gripped at her control and raised her voice yet again. Annalise had shown no sign of the genetic disposition to magic the others had. This process would kill her.

  Suddenly, Hettie’s voice rose over the wind, and the chant swirled with the darkness in an eerie way. When the wind changed, turning to the lightness she’d been striving for, she knew she was winning.

  She smiled in joy, knowing it would finally be okay. She was almost there. The kids were almost there. This would work. She could reach out and grab Annalise, hold her back. Hettie took a step forward and held out her hand to Annalise who immediately reached back.

  “One …now!”

  Then lightning spat from the center of the black cloud and blasted Hettie off her feet. From the corner of her eye she caught sight of the headmaster as he was picked up and thrown back a dozen feet.

  She landed beside him, momentarily stunned before she scrambled in a panic to stand and looked around. “Annalise?” she yelled. “Are you here?”

  “She’s not here,” the headmaster said in a heavy voice. “None of them are.”

  “No, you have to be wrong,” Hettie cried out, spinning around.

  The sky had cleared, the dark cloud retreating to the horizon where it lived. The rooftop glistened with the sunshine bright overhead, the atmosphere as clean and fresh as a new dawning day.

  But it was a false positive. There was nothing good about any of this. But Auster was right. All the kids were gone.

  The question was, where had they ended up?

  And were they coming back?

  Chapter 1

  Melissa’s voice was raw from screaming, her body battered and bruised from the intense trip, and inside … inside shock was the prevailing force. What the hell just happened?

  Had she imagined that hand at her back, pushing her out of the tightly clenched group of her and her friends? Did someone hate her so much they’d actively done something to hurt her? And how could that even work? There was such chaos with the dark, snaky cloud rippling around them on the school’s rooftop, all the students jammed together and screaming hysterically. And the headmaster and headmistress standing with their arms over their heads and calling out some weird chant to whoever would listen.

  Then Melissa was torn from the other students and tossed in the middle of some storm until she landed here. She tried to open her eyes, but a heavy wind slammed into her, so she clenched her eyelids tightly closed again. Terrified of the harsh elements that surrounded her.

  The icy coldness ripped through Melissa’s heart and soul, sneaking into her blood and tissue, tearing it apart in some horrible form of torture she’d never experienced before and hoped never to again. It seemed like forever before the horrific agony stopped, and when it was over, she was afraid she’d imagined it. Until she opened her eyes.

  To a white, arctic wasteland.

  She gasped, sat up instantly, and stared all around. She’d been flung from the rooftop deck of the school she loved so very much to an ice field in the middle of freaking nowhere. She slammed her eyes closed and trembled. Crashing to the ground on her side, she wrapped her arms tightly around her chest, pulling her knees close, and tried to make sense of what happened—but couldn’t—and wondered if anyone could.

  It didn’t take long for the wet blowing snow to soak through her pants. As soon as she felt the cold hitting her, she started to hyperventilate.

  “Calm down, Melissa. Calm down. You can do this.” Bullshit. And, even if she could, she wasn’t going to. This was beyond crazy. And so cold…

  She stood, just to make less bodily contact with the wet, frigid snow. Her mind frantically struggled to figure out what happened. She paced about in a meandering fashion as she thought it through again. They were in the headmaster’s office when the darkness raced in through a window. They ran to the roof for some unknown ceremony, and the darkness seemed to chase them. A malevolent darkness that was grasping, needy.

  All the kids clung together in a tight coil, screaming in ter
ror. What happened to her other classmates? Were they okay? She risked a glance around and gave a quick shudder. None of the others were with her. Too bad. Immediately after that thought she felt worse. She wouldn’t wish this—whatever this was—on anyone. Especially not Annalise. Where was her best friend? Was she safe?

  She took another step and felt the slightest something—like a hand to her shoulder—pushing her back the way she came.

  She spun in two quick circles, one clockwise, the other counterclockwise. “Anyone out there?” Melissa called out. Only the wind answered. She shivered and stared in disbelief. “How is it I am now in the middle of nowhere, in an icy-cold world, just minutes after I was on that rooftop with all my friends?”

  If she remembered her geography lessons, this could be Iceland. No. That’s not right. Greenland is more the iceberg, and Iceland’s actually green like some kind of reverse-marketing thing. Regardless, she knew she’d have to build an igloo or dig a hole in the snow and ice to shield her from some of the elements.

  She glared down at her school uniform: the identifying blazer with the GC crest, her blouse, and pants, and the white-soled running shoes she was only supposed to wear to gym class so as not to leave marks on the tiles and wooden gym floors. She shouldn’t be wearing them outside. Oh well, too late now. Still she didn’t want to ask her father for more money to get new ones either. They barely spoke as it was.

  “I could use a parka and some gloves here!” Melissa yelled to anyone, to no one. “A scarf or two would be helpful as well.” No one answered. Then who would?