*****
2:37, and the day was finally over... almost. Zoe ran through the halls, dodging the masses and hurtling gear adrift. She'd promised to meet the rest of the group in the library so that Amitie could get a book she needed for her new AP English class, and they could talk over the day's happenings. Risa, Micah and Amitie only had a little time before play practice at 3:00, and Zoe wanted maximum down time with her buds before she had to sumbit herself to yet another two hours of watching them singing in barns and dancing with cowboys.
She was the last to arrive, as usual. The others were sitting around a back table, drumming their fingers and glaring at her expectantly. "Just shut up! Yes, I know. I'm late, like always. Now let's find this book and get out of here before we have to go celebrate the territory of Oklahoma!, shall we?" She asked in mock anger. It had been a very long day. Everyone was tried and crabby, and they all needed a break.
Amitie was not thrilled about a novel assignment the first day of class, and Micah was sullen over facing an art class alone. Risa had two histories and a math to add to chemistry, and by this point, she was inconsolable.
"Okay, so, what's this book we need to find?" Risa grumbled, sighing and standing. No one in the group knew the library like Risa, and it was rumored that she'd read every book they had to offer. Zoe didn't doubt it.
"A foreign book. We have to read a novel written in a country other than the US." Amitie growled a bit too loudly, earning them a steely glare from the librarian, Ms. Primrose, whom everyone but Risa feared. Zoe and Amitie sniggered, but Risa was already off and amongst the shelves, obviously in one of her pirickly moods. The librarian stood and left the room with one last warning look. "Well, Jamensen, do you want comedy, mystery, horror, fantasy, non-fiction...?"
"Why don't you give her one of the books you're always reading? Then maybe she can explain some stuff to us and we'll have a clue what you're always going on about. Vampires and emperors and elves and dragons and moppits and the like," Micah suggested teasingly, attempting to lift the dark clouds that hung about Risa. All intentions aside, it seemed as if lightening now crackled in the darkness she steeped in, because the look on Risa's face could've stopped even the most vicious of her imaginary creatures.
"They are *hobbits*, not moppits." She said darkly, and Zoe let out her breath slowly when she dissapeared back around a shelf. "Ouch. What's Farenel's deal?" She whispered. Micah shrugged, and Amitie shook her head. "Who knows. She does have math class now, and we all know how Risa feels about math class." The latter suggested, also in a whisper.
"True, but--"
***CRASH!***
Micah, Zoe and Amitie jumped. "What the bloody hell was that!?" Micah asked, and they all shook their heads. "Risa, are you alright?" Zoe called, suddenly on her feet and rushing around the corner of the shelf her friend had dissapeared behind. Risa was best known for two things: her imagination, and being a notorious klutz. No one was sure whether the two things were related or not, but for some reason, Risa became graceful when she was in dream-mode. This was obviously not one of those times.
"Risa?" Amitie asked, following Zoe. Risa lay sprawled on the ground, one of the stools that were placed about the room for reaching high shelves on its side behind her. Several books were scattered on, around and under her, but her face has suddenly bright, her eyes wide and sparkling in that dangerous way which meant she was off in her own little world. In her ring-decked fingers she held a huge book that no one remembered seeing before. It looked anceint, bound in some sort of leather, trimmed with silver tooling and some bizarre runic text.
"Hey, guys, look at this!" The tumbled redhead said breathily, as they knealt around her, Micah taking her arm and helping her up to a kneeling position. Zoe frowned at the book, but Risa's eyes remained big and shining as she lay it across her knees.
"What the hell kind of writing is that!" Amitie all but shouted. Zoe continued frowning heavily, and Micah sent a doubtful glance up at Risa. "It's Common Elvish," The red-head explained, running her fingers over the cover, a strange expression entering her sparkly eyes. "It's some sort of book written entirely in Elvish! I've never seen it here before. It must be new."
"New is not the word I'd use for it," Micah said, poking it with one finger and wrinkling his nose. "It looks decrepit!"
"Can you read that stuff?" Zoe asked, her frown turning into a kind of grudging interest a she peered at the silver inscriptions. "Yeah, Gramma taught me before she died. Don't ask me how she knew, but she was such a Tolkien fan anyways."
"You can read goddamn bizarre languages that no one's ever heard of, and yet you can't get your GPA above a 3.5? Goddamn you, Farenel!" Amitie exploded inceredulously, but Risa just shrugged. "Sorry, Amitie, but not everyone can have a 4.11!" She laughed, her foul mood gone as mysteriously as it had come. "Well, what does it say!" Micah asked after a few seconds of good-natured glaring between the two girls. Risa said a long string of something in some strange language quite matter-of-factly, and the others glanced at each other with raised brows and confused expressions.
"And what the hell does that mean?" Zoe asked. Risa sighed with impatience. "It'a story book, from best I can tell. Some old fairytale from the elves of Middle Earth."
"What did you say you ate for lunch?" Amitie asked, reaching a hand out and touching Risa's forehead, as if feeling for fever. Risa slapped her away, gathering the book in her arms and standing. "C'mon, we'll be late for practice."
"Put that thing back, Risa," Zoe muttered grimly, scooping up the books that had fallen and stuffing them up on the empty shelf in no apparent order. "Why? I want to read it!" Her friend sulked, rearrangeing the said books properly with out even really thinking about it.
"I still need a novel, folks!" Amitie cried from the floor, just as long-suffering and whiney as Risa. "Here, read The Hobbit and shut up about it," Risa said off-handedly, tossing a red hard-cover book over her shoulder, which hit Amitie in the head, who swore loudly. The others laughed, and Micah helped Amitie off the ground. "Was it written in the US?" she questioned, glaring and rubbing the bump that was forming on her head.
"If it was, she wouldn't have given it to you. Now come on, let's go to the check-out." Micah said, making for the front counter. Risa started to follow him, but Zoe stuck her arm in front of her friend, grabbing the edge of the shelf with her hand and causing Risa to slam into it.
"Put the book back, Risa," she said seriously, a rare thing indeed where Zoe was concerned.
"What! Why the hell should I do that, Gingringer? It's a *book*, for the love of the Gods!" Risa cried, hugging it protectively to her chest.
"Because the whole damn thing is a little too Fushigi Yuugi-esque for my taste! Wierd books written in strange languages falling from the sky! I don't like it, Farenel. Please put it back!"
"It's just a book, Gingringer," Micah said. "Seriously, what's the worse that could happen?" Amitie chimed in, giving Zoe an odd look. But Risa paused and stared at her best friend for a few moments, and no words were said. Then the red-headed girl sighed and looked very sad. "I see what you mean, Zoe, but I can't put it back. I have to read this book. I-it has my Gramma's name on it, Zoe. I think she wrote it."
"Your Gramma!" Micah exclaimed. Everyone had loved Risa's grandmother, affectionately dubbed "Gramma" by all who knew her. Risa had been completely devistated when she died, but refused to admit it to anyone. They had shared an unusual bond, and Zoe wasn't sure Risa'd ever get over the loss. Zoe frowned for a moment longer, then grabbed the book, looking over her shoulder and slipping it into her bookbag, zipping it up and putting it back on her shoulder. Risa watched her gravely, then smiled a bit.
"Micah, Amitie, go check out that book. Meet us at the gazebo. Play practice can go without you guys for one day. We're gonna read this book!" She announced, grabbing Risa's arm and rushing from the library as Micah and Amitie made for the check-out desk.
***
Once outside, Risa grabbed her arm back from Zoe and attempted to pull her coat on against the bitter snowy wind that had started up, swirling with bits of ice and sleet. She also took Zoe's backpack and hugged it tight against her chest. "When did this blow up?" Zoe called over the storm, but her friend made no reply to her question. "Let's cut across the common!" Risa called back, her words all but lost on the wind. Zoe nodded, pulling the top of her coat shut with one hand, and grabbing Risa's shoulder with the other. After the first few initial steps into the knee-deep snow, Risa stopped and turned back again.
"Hey, Zoe! There's a bit of an ice formed over this mess! If we walk really lightly, I'll bet we can just go right across on top, rather than wading through it!" She shouted.
"More than likely!" Zoe shouted back, and together they stepped above the snow, walking as lightly as they could, and only sinking in a few inches. This was how they crossed the common (with the exception of a few falls and spills) and to the road, finally crossing the park in the same manner and huddling down in the meager protection provided by the gazebo.
"Maybe this wasn't the best place to have a meeting!" Zoe chattered, and Risa agreed, nodding her head vigorously, still hugging the bookbag across her chest.
"When the others get here, we can go to Gramma's old house. Mom and I haven't really moved in yet, so it'll be empty for sure!" Risa murmured. Soon Micah and Amitite showed up, the latter swearing loudly and profusely.
"Goddamn fucking winters in this goddamn town, all this goddamn snow and all this fucking wind and goddamn sleet! SHIT!" She screeched, stomping her feet in an effort to remove the snow clinging to her electric blue fishnet stockings.
"Are we going to stay here?" Micah asked, raising his voice over the wind. It had grown very dark in contrast to the blinding snow, and suddenly a flash of lightening split across the sky, followed by a crash of thunder.
"EEEK!" Risa screamed, practically leaping into Micah's arms. Zoe went stiff and pale, blue eyes wide, and Amitie put her hands on her hips and glared at the roof of the gazebo for all she was worth.
"This is one hell of a blizzard!" She bellowed, and then flicked the bird at the sky.
"C'mon! Let's go!" Risa called, and the party started again into the snow, clinging to backpacks and shoulders and arms in an effort not to be seperated. By the time they reached their destination, they looked more like four walking, shivering snowmen than four teenagers.
They waited on the wide front porch while Risa fumbled with the key, finally letting them in.
"Leave your snowy stuff out here. If we water-mark the floors, Mom'll have a fit." Risa said, shedding her coat and sneakers and brushing the snow off of her jeans as best she could, and shaking out her hair.
She then dissapeared into the gloom of the house, turning on lamps and lights as she went. The rest of the group stood somewhat nervously in the corridor, but eventually krept forward to follow Risa's progress towards the parlor. Gramma's house was a big, sky-blue cape cod with white shudders and gingerbread trim. In the spring and summer, huge flower gardens worthy of fairy tales surrounded the property, and in winter the snow clung to the trees like sugar frosting. Inside, the house was all polished hard-wood floors and crystal lamps. There were the occasional oriental carpets, and thousands of little statues, nick-nacks, old mirrors and paintings. Somewhere in the house the old westminster clock chimed three, sending it's eerie music through the house. Risa's black cat, Tiki-Bird, scampered out and laced around their ankles before going off in search of her mistress, and in their cages, Gramma's rescued birds squawked and twittered about. Zoe looked about with mild interest, even though they'd all been to the house many times.
Once they'd shed their snowy, wet gear, they tip-toed into the parlor where Risa sat waiting, the book on the marble coffee table before her. They all knealt around her, cuddling into the blankets left folded on the sofa, and began to talk softly.
"Didn't your grandma die in this house?" Micah asked, eyeing an owl statue with some discomfort. Risa shrugged. "Gramma's no haunting ghost. Don't worry about it. Tiki here would flip out if there were anything we ought to know about," she smiled, stroking her kitten's head affectionately.
"Well, are we gonna read this thing or what?" Amitie demanded, ringing out her soaked hair into an empty candy dish nearby. Risa frowned at her. "Seriously. We didn't skip play practice for nothing," Micah added. "Micah, sweetie, with this kind of weather, I'm pretty sure practice was cancelled," Risa sighed, and then examined the book again.
"Well, Gingringer, there's no warnings, no word of a curse, or a spell, or an enchantment of any kind. It's just a book."
"What's it called again?" Amitie asked, leaning over to get a look, too.
"Well, essentially, it's called the The Phrophecy of Celebêl. Celebêl was Gramma's name."
"Thus your obsession with that battered ol' thing," Amitie muttered back. At that moment, the lights went out, and everyone screamed. "Maybe we should be nicer to that book!" Micah said in a trembly voice. "It's a book, Micah," Risa sighed, lighting a few candles that were laying about and two of the old oil lamps with their fancy painted shades. Sitting in the dim back room, it was little wonder why Risa had spent her life dreaming. The house was worthy of something from a horror novel.
"I wonder what it was doing in the library?" Zoe wondered out loud, sitting up on her knees and waiting for Risa to come open it. Amitie let out an exasperated sigh and threw down the afgan she'd had wrapped about her. "That's it! I'm opening the damn thing!" She announced, reaching forward and grabbing the book.
Risa ran back to the table. "What the hell!" She yelled angrily, obviously put out by her exclusion from what she felt to be her mystery. Amitie stood squarely, glowering down at the leather tome in her hands. She put her fingers under the front cover, and everyone took a deep breath as she lifted it. Zoe shut her eyes tight, and....
Nothing happened. Everyone let out a deep breath, and Risa looked crushed. Zoe felt dissapointed, too. Maybe she had been hoping for something to happen, despite her fears.
"We missed play practice for this?" Micah whined, glaring. Risa scowled and reached for the book, which Amitie was leafing through with interest. "Alright, give it back!" she pouted.
"No! I'm looking at it! Don't be such a goddamn baby!" The older girl growled, and Risa's face darkened omniously. "Jamensen, give Farenel the book before she kills us all!" Zoe said quickly before anything too drastic could go down, also grabbing the book and attempting to pull it from the grasp of the other two. "Let go!" Amitie cried, giving it a pull. "If you rip it, I'll break your hands!" Risa announced darkly, letting go as if the book burnt hers. "You're the one who's going to rip it!
"Give the book back to Risa! It has her grandma's name on it!"
"Well, I want to look at the pictures!"
"You can see them later!"
"Both of you! Just put the stupid book down! I wish I'd never found it in the first place!" Risa wailed, her eyes filling with tears. "Meow! Cat fight!" Micah sighed, striding over to them. "Alright, ladies. Let's just put the book down before someone goes into convulsions!" He murmured, also taking the book. Amitie and Zoe refused to let go, staring each other down. "That's it!" Risa shouted through her tears, breaking in and groping for the book once more.
A bright light suddenly burst from the book, as lightening flashed across the sky and white energy surged through the house. The friends were thrown down, and the book fell to the ground, its pages flipping wildly until they fell to apparently just the right page. More light streamed from the open tome, swirling out and twirling around each of the four in turn, and then pulling them sharply upright.
"What the fuck!" Amitie bellowed, turning round and round in and effort to beat the light off of her. Zoe stood still, feeling as if she were going to faint. Micah looked pale and terrified, but Risa just looked slightly distant, her eyes somewhat glazed as she stared straight ahead.
"Ohmigod," She murmured, and the four were sucked straight to the spot where the book lay, and then began falling. They were falling faster than the fastest rollercoaster, and Zoe could hear them all screaming as loud as they could, clinging to each other in fear. Risa and Zoe shared one shrill, toneless shriek of terror, and Micah yelled as loud as he could, but Amitie's cry was one long, endless "SSSSHHHHHHHHHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!"
Downward they sped, breaking through the white, endless barrier and into bright blue and fluffy clouds, passing it all in a blur as the green below rose up to meet them, and then crashing through a canopy of emerald leaves, taking down branches and limbs and setting birds to flying as they went, finally landing on the ground with a loud "OOMPH!"
Zoe hesitantly opened her eyes, and looked about her. She lay sprawled across a moss-covered log, staring straight up at the broken patch in the forest through which they'd fallen as leaves twirled innocently down on them. Micah was next to her, his long legs across her stomache, moaning about his aching backside. Risa was collapsed inelegantly face down a few feet away, a crazy grin on her face. Amitie sat up to her left, rubbing her elbow and letting out a long string of choice words.
They were all covered with leaves and twigs, and dirt-smudged, windblown and disheveled, but aside from a few bumps, bruises and minor scrapes and cuts, they seemed to be in one piece.
"Where are we?" Zoe whispered, a small black fleck in the sky catching her attention, and she watched its progress downward.
"Beats me," Micah muttered, crawling off of her and flopping back down on his back with a groan.
Risa began to giggle insanely, and Zoe shot her a worried glance. "Whoa boy, Risa's lost it."
"Goddamn fucking book," Amitie grumbled, examining her scraped knee and torn fishnets, and glaring at the scuff in her opalescent silver boots.
Zoe turned her eye back to the clouds above just in time to realized what the falling speck was.
"Amitie, look out!" She called, but too late, because just as the girl looked up from her stockings, the book landed with a dull "thud" on her head.
"DAMMIT!" Amitie cried, clutching her skull and grimaceing in pain. "I told you to be nice to that book," Micah sighed.
"Die a slow, painful death!" Amitie hissed, and Micah laughed quietly. But Risa had suddenly sat up, her eyes focused hazily on something approaching. "Umm, guys...." she whispered, motioning for them, but by then the tall figure had stopped and cast a long shadow over the four frightened faces upturned upon it.
Risa's eyes grew wide, Micah went pale again, Zoe gasped and covered her mouth, and Amitie swore yet again. "Ohmigod," Risa murmured, and the forest seemed to stand still.
*****
2:37, and the day was finally over... almost. Zoe ran through the halls, dodging the masses and hurtling gear adrift. She'd promised to meet the rest of the group in the library so that Amitie could get a book she needed for her new AP English class, and they could talk over the day's happenings. Risa, Micah and Amitie only had a little time before play practice at 3:00, and Zoe wanted maximum down time with her buds before she had to sumbit herself to yet another two hours of watching them singing in barns and dancing with cowboys.
She was the last to arrive, as usual. The others were sitting around a back table, drumming their fingers and glaring at her expectantly. "Just shut up! Yes, I know. I'm late, like always. Now let's find this book and get out of here before we have to go celebrate the territory of Oklahoma!, shall we?" She asked in mock anger. It had been a very long day. Everyone was tried and crabby, and they all needed a break.
Amitie was not thrilled about a novel assignment the first day of class, and Micah was sullen over facing an art class alone. Risa had two histories and a math to add to chemistry, and by this point, she was inconsolable.
"Okay, so, what's this book we need to find?" Risa grumbled, sighing and standing. No one in the group knew the library like Risa, and it was rumored that she'd read every book they had to offer. Zoe didn't doubt it.
"A foreign book. We have to read a novel written in a country other than the US." Amitie growled a bit too loudly, earning them a steely glare from the librarian, Ms. Primrose, whom everyone but Risa feared. Zoe and Amitie sniggered, but Risa was already off and amongst the shelves, obviously in one of her pirickly moods. The librarian stood and left the room with one last warning look. "Well, Jamensen, do you want comedy, mystery, horror, fantasy, non-fiction...?"
"Why don't you give her one of the books you're always reading? Then maybe she can explain some stuff to us and we'll have a clue what you're always going on about. Vampires and emperors and elves and dragons and moppits and the like," Micah suggested teasingly, attempting to lift the dark clouds that hung about Risa. All intentions aside, it seemed as if lightening now crackled in the darkness she steeped in, because the look on Risa's face could've stopped even the most vicious of her imaginary creatures.
"They are *hobbits*, not moppits." She said darkly, and Zoe let out her breath slowly when she dissapeared back around a shelf. "Ouch. What's Farenel's deal?" She whispered. Micah shrugged, and Amitie shook her head. "Who knows. She does have math class now, and we all know how Risa feels about math class." The latter suggested, also in a whisper.
"True, but--"
***CRASH!***
Micah, Zoe and Amitie jumped. "What the bloody hell was that!?" Micah asked, and they all shook their heads. "Risa, are you alright?" Zoe called, suddenly on her feet and rushing around the corner of the shelf her friend had dissapeared behind. Risa was best known for two things: her imagination, and being a notorious klutz. No one was sure whether the two things were related or not, but for some reason, Risa became graceful when she was in dream-mode. This was obviously not one of those times.
"Risa?" Amitie asked, following Zoe. Risa lay sprawled on the ground, one of the stools that were placed about the room for reaching high shelves on its side behind her. Several books were scattered on, around and under her, but her face has suddenly bright, her eyes wide and sparkling in that dangerous way which meant she was off in her own little world. In her ring-decked fingers she held a huge book that no one remembered seeing before. It looked anceint, bound in some sort of leather, trimmed with silver tooling and some bizarre runic text.
"Hey, guys, look at this!" The tumbled redhead said breathily, as they knealt around her, Micah taking her arm and helping her up to a kneeling position. Zoe frowned at the book, but Risa's eyes remained big and shining as she lay it across her knees.
"What the hell kind of writing is that!" Amitie all but shouted. Zoe continued frowning heavily, and Micah sent a doubtful glance up at Risa. "It's Common Elvish," The red-head explained, running her fingers over the cover, a strange expression entering her sparkly eyes. "It's some sort of book written entirely in Elvish! I've never seen it here before. It must be new."
"New is not the word I'd use for it," Micah said, poking it with one finger and wrinkling his nose. "It looks decrepit!"
"Can you read that stuff?" Zoe asked, her frown turning into a kind of grudging interest a she peered at the silver inscriptions. "Yeah, Gramma taught me before she died. Don't ask me how she knew, but she was such a Tolkien fan anyways."
"You can read goddamn bizarre languages that no one's ever heard of, and yet you can't get your GPA above a 3.5? Goddamn you, Farenel!" Amitie exploded inceredulously, but Risa just shrugged. "Sorry, Amitie, but not everyone can have a 4.11!" She laughed, her foul mood gone as mysteriously as it had come. "Well, what does it say!" Micah asked after a few seconds of good-natured glaring between the two girls. Risa said a long string of something in some strange language quite matter-of-factly, and the others glanced at each other with raised brows and confused expressions.
"And what the hell does that mean?" Zoe asked. Risa sighed with impatience. "It'a story book, from best I can tell. Some old fairytale from the elves of Middle Earth."
"What did you say you ate for lunch?" Amitie asked, reaching a hand out and touching Risa's forehead, as if feeling for fever. Risa slapped her away, gathering the book in her arms and standing. "C'mon, we'll be late for practice."
"Put that thing back, Risa," Zoe muttered grimly, scooping up the books that had fallen and stuffing them up on the empty shelf in no apparent order. "Why? I want to read it!" Her friend sulked, rearrangeing the said books properly with out even really thinking about it.
"I still need a novel, folks!" Amitie cried from the floor, just as long-suffering and whiney as Risa. "Here, read The Hobbit and shut up about it," Risa said off-handedly, tossing a red hard-cover book over her shoulder, which hit Amitie in the head, who swore loudly. The others laughed, and Micah helped Amitie off the ground. "Was it written in the US?" she questioned, glaring and rubbing the bump that was forming on her head.
"If it was, she wouldn't have given it to you. Now come on, let's go to the check-out." Micah said, making for the front counter. Risa started to follow him, but Zoe stuck her arm in front of her friend, grabbing the edge of the shelf with her hand and causing Risa to slam into it.
"Put the book back, Risa," she said seriously, a rare thing indeed where Zoe was concerned.
"What! Why the hell should I do that, Gingringer? It's a *book*, for the love of the Gods!" Risa cried, hugging it protectively to her chest.
"Because the whole damn thing is a little too Fushigi Yuugi-esque for my taste! Wierd books written in strange languages falling from the sky! I don't like it, Farenel. Please put it back!"
"It's just a book, Gingringer," Micah said. "Seriously, what's the worse that could happen?" Amitie chimed in, giving Zoe an odd look. But Risa paused and stared at her best friend for a few moments, and no words were said. Then the red-headed girl sighed and looked very sad. "I see what you mean, Zoe, but I can't put it back. I have to read this book. I-it has my Gramma's name on it, Zoe. I think she wrote it."
"Your Gramma!" Micah exclaimed. Everyone had loved Risa's grandmother, affectionately dubbed "Gramma" by all who knew her. Risa had been completely devistated when she died, but refused to admit it to anyone. They had shared an unusual bond, and Zoe wasn't sure Risa'd ever get over the loss. Zoe frowned for a moment longer, then grabbed the book, looking over her shoulder and slipping it into her bookbag, zipping it up and putting it back on her shoulder. Risa watched her gravely, then smiled a bit.
"Micah, Amitie, go check out that book. Meet us at the gazebo. Play practice can go without you guys for one day. We're gonna read this book!" She announced, grabbing Risa's arm and rushing from the library as Micah and Amitie made for the check-out desk.
***
Once outside, Risa grabbed her arm back from Zoe and attempted to pull her coat on against the bitter snowy wind that had started up, swirling with bits of ice and sleet. She also took Zoe's backpack and hugged it tight against her chest. "When did this blow up?" Zoe called over the storm, but her friend made no reply to her question. "Let's cut across the common!" Risa called back, her words all but lost on the wind. Zoe nodded, pulling the top of her coat shut with one hand, and grabbing Risa's shoulder with the other. After the first few initial steps into the knee-deep snow, Risa stopped and turned back again.
"Hey, Zoe! There's a bit of an ice formed over this mess! If we walk really lightly, I'll bet we can just go right across on top, rather than wading through it!" She shouted.
"More than likely!" Zoe shouted back, and together they stepped above the snow, walking as lightly as they could, and only sinking in a few inches. This was how they crossed the common (with the exception of a few falls and spills) and to the road, finally crossing the park in the same manner and huddling down in the meager protection provided by the gazebo.
"Maybe this wasn't the best place to have a meeting!" Zoe chattered, and Risa agreed, nodding her head vigorously, still hugging the bookbag across her chest.
"When the others get here, we can go to Gramma's old house. Mom and I haven't really moved in yet, so it'll be empty for sure!" Risa murmured. Soon Micah and Amitite showed up, the latter swearing loudly and profusely.
"Goddamn fucking winters in this goddamn town, all this goddamn snow and all this fucking wind and goddamn sleet! SHIT!" She screeched, stomping her feet in an effort to remove the snow clinging to her electric blue fishnet stockings.
"Are we going to stay here?" Micah asked, raising his voice over the wind. It had grown very dark in contrast to the blinding snow, and suddenly a flash of lightening split across the sky, followed by a crash of thunder.
"EEEK!" Risa screamed, practically leaping into Micah's arms. Zoe went stiff and pale, blue eyes wide, and Amitie put her hands on her hips and glared at the roof of the gazebo for all she was worth.
"This is one hell of a blizzard!" She bellowed, and then flicked the bird at the sky.
"C'mon! Let's go!" Risa called, and the party started again into the snow, clinging to backpacks and shoulders and arms in an effort not to be seperated. By the time they reached their destination, they looked more like four walking, shivering snowmen than four teenagers.
They waited on the wide front porch while Risa fumbled with the key, finally letting them in.
"Leave your snowy stuff out here. If we water-mark the floors, Mom'll have a fit." Risa said, shedding her coat and sneakers and brushing the snow off of her jeans as best she could, and shaking out her hair.
She then dissapeared into the gloom of the house, turning on lamps and lights as she went. The rest of the group stood somewhat nervously in the corridor, but eventually krept forward to follow Risa's progress towards the parlor. Gramma's house was a big, sky-blue cape cod with white shudders and gingerbread trim. In the spring and summer, huge flower gardens worthy of fairy tales surrounded the property, and in winter the snow clung to the trees like sugar frosting. Inside, the house was all polished hard-wood floors and crystal lamps. There were the occasional oriental carpets, and thousands of little statues, nick-nacks, old mirrors and paintings. Somewhere in the house the old westminster clock chimed three, sending it's eerie music through the house. Risa's black cat, Tiki-Bird, scampered out and laced around their ankles before going off in search of her mistress, and in their cages, Gramma's rescued birds squawked and twittered about. Zoe looked about with mild interest, even though they'd all been to the house many times.
Once they'd shed their snowy, wet gear, they tip-toed into the parlor where Risa sat waiting, the book on the marble coffee table before her. They all knealt around her, cuddling into the blankets left folded on the sofa, and began to talk softly.
"Didn't your grandma die in this house?" Micah asked, eyeing an owl statue with some discomfort. Risa shrugged. "Gramma's no haunting ghost. Don't worry about it. Tiki here would flip out if there were anything we ought to know about," she smiled, stroking her kitten's head affectionately.
"Well, are we gonna read this thing or what?" Amitie demanded, ringing out her soaked hair into an empty candy dish nearby. Risa frowned at her. "Seriously. We didn't skip play practice for nothing," Micah added. "Micah, sweetie, with this kind of weather, I'm pretty sure practice was cancelled," Risa sighed, and then examined the book again.
"Well, Gingringer, there's no warnings, no word of a curse, or a spell, or an enchantment of any kind. It's just a book."
"What's it called again?" Amitie asked, leaning over to get a look, too.
"Well, essentially, it's called the The Phrophecy of Celebêl. Celebêl was Gramma's name."
"Thus your obsession with that battered ol' thing," Amitie muttered back. At that moment, the lights went out, and everyone screamed. "Maybe we should be nicer to that book!" Micah said in a trembly voice. "It's a book, Micah," Risa sighed, lighting a few candles that were laying about and two of the old oil lamps with their fancy painted shades. Sitting in the dim back room, it was little wonder why Risa had spent her life dreaming. The house was worthy of something from a horror novel.
"I wonder what it was doing in the library?" Zoe wondered out loud, sitting up on her knees and waiting for Risa to come open it. Amitie let out an exasperated sigh and threw down the afgan she'd had wrapped about her. "That's it! I'm opening the damn thing!" She announced, reaching forward and grabbing the book.
Risa ran back to the table. "What the hell!" She yelled angrily, obviously put out by her exclusion from what she felt to be her mystery. Amitie stood squarely, glowering down at the leather tome in her hands. She put her fingers under the front cover, and everyone took a deep breath as she lifted it. Zoe shut her eyes tight, and....
Nothing happened. Everyone let out a deep breath, and Risa looked crushed. Zoe felt dissapointed, too. Maybe she had been hoping for something to happen, despite her fears.
"We missed play practice for this?" Micah whined, glaring. Risa scowled and reached for the book, which Amitie was leafing through with interest. "Alright, give it back!" she pouted.
"No! I'm looking at it! Don't be such a goddamn baby!" The older girl growled, and Risa's face darkened omniously. "Jamensen, give Farenel the book before she kills us all!" Zoe said quickly before anything too drastic could go down, also grabbing the book and attempting to pull it from the grasp of the other two. "Let go!" Amitie cried, giving it a pull. "If you rip it, I'll break your hands!" Risa announced darkly, letting go as if the book burnt hers. "You're the one who's going to rip it!
"Give the book back to Risa! It has her grandma's name on it!"
"Well, I want to look at the pictures!"
"You can see them later!"
"Both of you! Just put the stupid book down! I wish I'd never found it in the first place!" Risa wailed, her eyes filling with tears. "Meow! Cat fight!" Micah sighed, striding over to them. "Alright, ladies. Let's just put the book down before someone goes into convulsions!" He murmured, also taking the book. Amitie and Zoe refused to let go, staring each other down. "That's it!" Risa shouted through her tears, breaking in and groping for the book once more.
A bright light suddenly burst from the book, as lightening flashed across the sky and white energy surged through the house. The friends were thrown down, and the book fell to the ground, its pages flipping wildly until they fell to apparently just the right page. More light streamed from the open tome, swirling out and twirling around each of the four in turn, and then pulling them sharply upright.
"What the fuck!" Amitie bellowed, turning round and round in and effort to beat the light off of her. Zoe stood still, feeling as if she were going to faint. Micah looked pale and terrified, but Risa just looked slightly distant, her eyes somewhat glazed as she stared straight ahead.
"Ohmigod," She murmured, and the four were sucked straight to the spot where the book lay, and then began falling. They were falling faster than the fastest rollercoaster, and Zoe could hear them all screaming as loud as they could, clinging to each other in fear. Risa and Zoe shared one shrill, toneless shriek of terror, and Micah yelled as loud as he could, but Amitie's cry was one long, endless "SSSSHHHHHHHHHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!"
Downward they sped, breaking through the white, endless barrier and into bright blue and fluffy clouds, passing it all in a blur as the green below rose up to meet them, and then crashing through a canopy of emerald leaves, taking down branches and limbs and setting birds to flying as they went, finally landing on the ground with a loud "OOMPH!"
Zoe hesitantly opened her eyes, and looked about her. She lay sprawled across a moss-covered log, staring straight up at the broken patch in the forest through which they'd fallen as leaves twirled innocently down on them. Micah was next to her, his long legs across her stomache, moaning about his aching backside. Risa was collapsed inelegantly face down a few feet away, a crazy grin on her face. Amitie sat up to her left, rubbing her elbow and letting out a long string of choice words.
They were all covered with leaves and twigs, and dirt-smudged, windblown and disheveled, but aside from a few bumps, bruises and minor scrapes and cuts, they seemed to be in one piece.
"Where are we?" Zoe whispered, a small black fleck in the sky catching her attention, and she watched its progress downward.
"Beats me," Micah muttered, crawling off of her and flopping back down on his back with a groan.
Risa began to giggle insanely, and Zoe shot her a worried glance. "Whoa boy, Risa's lost it."
"Goddamn fucking book," Amitie grumbled, examining her scraped knee and torn fishnets, and glaring at the scuff in her opalescent silver boots.
Zoe turned her eye back to the clouds above just in time to realized what the falling speck was.
"Amitie, look out!" She called, but too late, because just as the girl looked up from her stockings, the book landed with a dull "thud" on her head.
"DAMMIT!" Amitie cried, clutching her skull and grimaceing in pain. "I told you to be nice to that book," Micah sighed.
"Die a slow, painful death!" Amitie hissed, and Micah laughed quietly. But Risa had suddenly sat up, her eyes focused hazily on something approaching. "Umm, guys...." she whispered, motioning for them, but by then the tall figure had stopped and cast a long shadow over the four frightened faces upturned upon it.
Risa's eyes grew wide, Micah went pale again, Zoe gasped and covered her mouth, and Amitie swore yet again. "Ohmigod," Risa murmured, and the forest seemed to stand still.
*****