Chapter 2 Panic

"What about Carly?" I demand, all but slamming the coffee on the table. We are in the back room of the library. Mrs. Terwilliger hesitates and I get, if possible, angrier. I pace back and forth the small space.

"What?" I practically shout. My teacher looks startled.

"Carly called me. She's the reason I had you look for my sister in the first place."

"Wait What?" I interrupt, "Why would Carly call you? You don't even know her, do you?"

"I met Carly two summers ago when I was asked to lecture at Utah state, a lecture your sister attended." Utah State is where Carly goes to school. "She came to talk to me afterwards. We got to know each other and I eventually ended up teaching her magic. The two of you are similarly powerful. After I came back to California we kept in touch. When Carly heard that my sister was on the move she called me. Gave me warning. I had told her you could do magic and she was worried. I told her how close Imma, my sister is she wanted to come down here and make sure everything was okay. I convinced her not to. We were supposed to Skype so when she didn't show I had to tell you. I know a spell that can tell me if She's okay , but that's where you come in. I need you to find an object, something that you relate to her. Meet me in my room in a few minutes. With the object I just described." While Mrs. Terwilliger was talking I had sunken in to a chair, shocked. My sister is a witch. At her words I jump up and begin to leave when a thought occurs to me.

"You knew her and you didn't tell me?"

"She wanted to tell you herself." At that I leave moving so fast through the library that I get several startled looks from my peers.

"Hey, wait up!" Angeline calls. She takes one look at my face before saying, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing" I say. She matches my pace and falls in step with me.

"Come on tell me. Maybe I can help."

"It's-" I stop myself from saying nothing. I decide on the truth or part of it anyway. "My sister may be in trouble. She was supposed to call someone and she didn't It's not like her. I'm worried." Although I meant to tell the truth I didn't intend to reveal that much. I think Angeline realizes this and doesn't respond. I fish my phone out of my purse and dial Carly's number. After three rings it goes to voice mail, not a good sign. I leave a message.

"Hey Carly, it's Sydney. When you get this, call me back okay? We need to talk." I hurry to my room only to find Jill already there, sitting on my bed. Deka hovers in the corner, observing. I go straight to my jewelry box and start looking for a bracelet Carly gave me last Christmas. When I don't find it I begin to tear the room apart to find it. Jill grabs my hand and says,

"What's wrong? You're as pale as I am." I barely register her words in my panicked effort to find the bracelet.

"Now is not a good time." I snap surprisingly sharp. Instead of taking offense Jill offers to help.

"What are you looking for?"

"A silver bracelet. It has a indigo heart charm on it."

"It must be pretty important for you to ransack your room for it." Angeline comments.

"It is." I respond. A few minutes later Jill finds it. She hands it to me and asks,

"Are you sure nothing is wrong?"

"It's nothing you can help with." I say. I leave a confused looking Jill in my room as I hurry to Mrs. Terwilliger's room. I pause outside for a moment to catch my breath before going in. Inside I see Mrs. Terwilliger and an unknown man huddled around what has to be a spell book. The man turns to face me and to my surprise, I recognize him. I saw him in the picture Clarence showed me. Marcus Finch. It dawns on me know why he looked familiar, Carly had shown me a picture of him before, a picture of Carly's boyfriend.

"Sydney this is Marcus, Marcus this is Sydney." Mrs. Terwilliger says.

"You're Carly's boyfriend." I say. "Are you a warlock?" I ask.

"Yes and yes." He responds. "And your Carly's sister, she talks about you a lot." How in the world did Carly get involved with an exAlchemist?

"Do you have something that reminds you of her?" Mrs. Terwilliger asks. I hold up the braclet, my teacher exams it.

"When did you get this?" She asks.

"Carly gave it to me last Christmas." I say baffled at why this should matter.

"She's one smart girl. Do you know what this is? It's a location charm. The wear instantly knows where the enchanter is, but only the person it is made for no one else but you can active this spell." Mrs. Terwilliger announces. She hands it back to me and I put it on. I feel a slight tingle of magic and instantly know where she is.

"She's a little outside of LA. Let's go." I say. To my surprise no one objects, they are both as eager to find Carly as I am. The three of us head out the door only to find Angeline waiting outside.

"What are you doing here?" I ask.

"Remember our conversation at Clarence's" I notice Marcus starts a little at the sound of Marcus's mane. He studies Angeline and I see understanding in his eyes.

"I don't suppose you can just let me go, just this once?" I ask, already knowing the answer .

"That would defeat the purpose." She responds. I role my eyes and sigh. I check to ensure that the hall is empty.

"They know you're a dhampir Angeline." I say. "Let's just say she's my guardian and leave it at that." Both adults look a little surprised but don't say anything. Angeline and I take the Latte and Mrs. Terwilliger and Marcus follow behind us.

"Can I ask where we are going?" she asks.

"If you're coming along please don't tell the others." I take a deep breath. "To be blunt, I can do magic. Because of that Mrs. Terwilliger's evil sister is after me. We think she kidnapped my sister. I have a charm that tells me where she is."

"So we're going to rescue her?" Angeline asks.

"Yes. Why are you not saying that humans doing magic is crazy?" I ask.

"We don't tell outsiders this but there are two witches that live with the Keepers." This surprises me but I chose not to comment. The almost hour long drive takes way to long in my opinion. When we finally get to the house the bracelet directs me to I purposely drive past it. I park farther down the street. Mrs. Terwilliger pulls up behind me and we get out.

"My sister is nearby," She says pointing to the house where Carly is.

"So is Carly." I say I point to the same house. It is the same house that was in my vision when I preformed the location spell. Carly is trapped in the house of the Witch who is trying to kill me.