Behind the Curtain

"Oh, shut up!" she yelled hand coming down hard on the snooze button. Groaning Cassandra swung her legs off to the side of the bed, rubbing her eyes insistently. "Why did I ever buy that stupid clock in the first place?"

An irritated hoot was heard as Orion shook his feathers, beady eyes seeming to glare at the black machine. He called out again making Cassandra raise her head and chuckle at the bird's stubborn despise.

"Don't I know it," she laughed again as he fluffed his feather, "No worries partner, I'll turn it into a radio again. As soon as I find that manual," she shook her curving locks out of her face and got up, making her way to the table.

"So where do I start?" she mused, looking over the map she had opened the night before.

Sunlight poured into the room through the half open window painting the room an even brighter shade of white and casting shadows over the large paper. She had pinpointed several locations all over New York the night before. One was an old Chinese restaurant owned by an old family, another an Indian spice and vegetable market that had been owned by the same man for a hundred years- or so said Google -and an old cemetery hosting dead men for many centuries past. Red circles were placed over each location, marking the each area.

"Well let's get started," Cassandra sighed, turning to her clothes drawers.

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The weather seemed better today, blue skies instead of grey, a sign of luck. Or so Cassandra hoped, anyway. Making her way down the busy sidewalk, nose in a map, she tried to weave her way through the crowd of people. Heading to the most Northern point on the map, she looked up occasionally to see if she could spot any sign of the Chinese restaurant.

"Oh my gosh! Hey!" a familiar voice shouted and Cassandra felt someone tap her on the back. Turning, she looked questioningly at the pixie-sized female. "Hey, Cassie! Wow, what a coincidence! So where are you headed?"

"Umm..." Cassandra looked the girl over again folding the map and placing it into her pocket. Who was this hyper-active...? "Oh, hello Penelope, I'm just off to get some..." she checked her watch, "brunch."

"Brunch, huh? You're probably one of the only people I know who still get brunch. Well where are you headed? A couple friends of mine are all going to this great smoothie place. Would you like to tag along?" Penelope grinned up at her, toothy smile flashing pearly whites.

"I don't think that would be a very good idea. I'm sure it will be very awkward and I wouldn't want you missing out time with your friends for me. Besides, I really have to go-"

"Oh, nonsense! Its right around the corner and you're no burden! Come on!" Penelope grabbed Cassandra by the wrist and started dragging her away from the intersection. Away from the restaurant.

"I'm not really good around strangers, you know. You don't have to go to all this trouble; I was heading in a totally different direction anyway," Cassandra wrung her wrist a bit, trying to escape the other girl's firm grip.

"Oh please, Cassie. Live a little! Anyway, we're already here," she let go of Cassandra's wrist, pointing to a small corner shop painted in vibrant green. A few signs were outside it and the place seemed pretty full.

Pulling her into the store, Penelope grazed her eyes over the tables filled with chatting people slurping on juice drinks. Her eyes widened and she grinned waving to a table near the window. Another girl facing them returned the greeting and nudged her two other friends out of their conversation.

"Hey guys! Look who I found walking along the streets today," Penelope sat down next to a wiry-looking fellow and pulled out another seat for Cassandra, urging her to sit, "This here is Cassandra Irving, the new arrival."

The fair-haired boy nodded in greeting and the two raven-headed girls smiled at her, seeming to size her up. Cassandra sat awkwardly, not knowing what to say, and gave a little wave with jerk of her hand. God, she hated socializing. How long had it been since she had to go through these motions anyway? Her mind, to Cassandra's chagrin, quickly provided an answer. Her skills were certainly forgotten by now.

"Cassie, let me introduce Jonathan Summers," Penelope continued, pointing to the brown-eyed blond next to her, "Angela Collins," she motioned to the black-haired beauty sitting opposite Cassandra, "And her sister Beatrice," Penelope indicated to the honey-eyed look alike of Angela sitting next to Cassandra.

"Pleasure," Cassandra managed to fumble out with a nod. Oh yes, definitely out of practise.

"So are you into sports, Cassie?" Beatrice started, seeming only a bit calmer than Penelope.

"Not really, I don't really do much other than hiking," Cassandra shrugged lightly, "I'm not the most graceful person to walk the earth," well at least that was true.

"Oh, well we're all from the track team," Angela pointed out smugly looking down her nose at her.

The blond boy nudged her, "Play nice Angela, Cassandra here just came to New York. From Montréal wasn't it?" Cassandra nodded again, "Penelope here was most intent on spreading news of your arrival all throughout the practise. And how you would be her tutor for French."

Cassandra blushed with nervousness, twisting a strand of hair deftly around her fingers. What had happened to staying low? Keeping under the radar? Not earning a reputation? This was not going to turn out well. "Well I'll be happy to help if you like."

"Great!" Penelope let out a little cry of excitement, grabbing hold of Cassandra's hand from across the round wood table, "I cannot wait to get started! How's Sunday for you?"

Cassandra stuttered a bit, unsure of how to get out of the arrangement. Well you did say you'd be happy to help... her consciousness chided her. She mentally scowled at herself, how was she to know the girl would take her seriously? She had work to do and was in no way ready to sacrifice her time to teach a hyper peer how to speak French.

"Oh you can't do that!" called out Angela, "We have meeting on Sundays! You'll just have to do it another day!"

Cassandra breathed a small sigh of relief. It seemed the conceited girl had come to her rescue.

"Oh but I-"

"No buts, Penelope, track is way more important than learning a new language," Jonathan paused to turn to Cassandra for a second, "No offence," his gaze returned to a frowning Penelope, "Besides, you can do it after school on Tuesdays."

Penelope crossed her arms over her chest and let out a stubborn huff of disagreement. The argument went on a bit longer; Angela responding stoutly with a no-exception attitude, Jonathan as the voice of reason and Beatrice constantly switching sides between her sister and her friend always speaking modestly. Cassandra faded into the background for a bit, enjoying the role of a wallflower as the small group jabbered on. It amazed her to see how fast they could jump from topic to topic. She wasn't even sure they knew they were doing it. The whole conversation just flowed together into one story. It was quite riveting when one was watching from the outside instead of taking part. Soon enough though, the conversation slowed and got topics started to rapidly run out. The whole thing seemed like a train starting from point A, until finally slowing down when catching sight of point B.

At some point during the story of Serena-the-bitch-hellhound -and-how-she-made-the-Collins-sisters-Friday-a-living-Hell Penelope's phone rang and she rushed to pick up. After several fast responses of "Mom!" "But" and "Fine!" she hung up and looked at the group with a most unhappy grimace.

"Sorry guys, I got to dash, parents' orders. Apparently I forgot to clean up my paints from the basement and a certain someone ran them over with a vacuum cleaner claiming not to have seen them and," here she put on a high-pitched voice, "It was all your responsibility to clean up the basement anyway!"

An appreciative chuckle ran throughout the group, even Cassandra had to smile at that one. Penelope got up and grabbed her neon-yellow purse. The rest of the group got up as well, all reaching for their things. Cassandra breathed a sigh of relief; finally she could get back to her search. Though she had to admit, it had been fun. Maybe settling down a bit after every few years wouldn't be so bad. Even if it only involved having a few drinks with a couple of new-found acquaintances she barely knew. Maybe company wasn't all that bad. It made her life place-to-place life seem quite lonely.

"It's your turn this time, Jonathan," Angela directed her gaze to the check constituting of four chocolate-banana smoothies and one green bubble tea, the later being an effort from Cassandra to avoid her least-favourite fruit. Though Penelope had argued most ruthlessly with her in order to force her to order something that was -in her words- a bit less bland.

Jonathan mumbled something incoherent under his breath mainly constituting of offensive remarks toward the blue-eyed female. He dug into his pockets, searching for his wallet. Penelope then turned to Cassandra, a regretful smile on her cotton-pink lips.

"Look, I'm sorry if you felt out of place," she said, placing a hand on Cassandra's shoulder.

"No! On the contrary, it was very nice of you and your friends to invite me," Cassandra assured her nodding.

"Well, if you ever want to tag along with us again, just say the words. Here my number if you want to give me a call, okay? We're going to the theatres on Sunday if you want to come," she passed Cassandra the purple sticky she had been writing on.

"Thanks for the offer but I think I have piano classes then. Maybe another day," Cassandra replied pushing back the paper to its owner.

"Keep my number anyway just in case you decide to skip class," she winked and Cassandra took the paper and folded it in her pocket.

Turning to her friends Penelope waved goodbye and left the shop. The Collins sister followed suite and Cassandra exited last, leaving Jonathan to wait for his change for the $50 bill he had given in, due to the fact that he had forgotten to bring any other money.

Cassandra made her way along the sidewalk and opened her map again to check her next location. She wasn't too far from the Chinese place, but she was even closer to the Indian spice store. Glancing up from the now crumpled map, she checked her location again, searching for a sign to see which street she was on. To her surprise, she spotted a tourist shop with a blue door; it was the same place she had gone to buy the map from. A memory sparked in her mind much like the light bulbs that flashed over a cartoon character's head when a brilliant plan was hatched.

An old antique place a block from here that is pretty ancient if you're interested...The lady's words came back to her. Old antique place... That seemed like the perfect spot to find what she was looking for. Folding the map once again and slipping it into her right pocket, she made her way down the block, eyes darting from store to store in search of an antique shop. After a few minutes of walking, and reaching the end of the second block she puffed out a frustrated breath. What did this lady consider "a block from here" anyway? Retracing her steps she tried again, supposing she had missed a shop. She had made it to the second block when she stopped. The two blocks where separated by a small rode that led to another street; perhaps the woman had meant that instead? Turning around, she headed through the small bend in the sidewalk, keeping her eyes peeled for any type of store.

"Here we are," she mumbled looking up at an unusually gloomy shop. The exterior was painted a dark green, almost grey, colour. The whole thing looking quite small with an entrance composed of steps, a pair of old-fashioned lamps and two glass doors. "Arcana Cabana..." she read the faded gold lettering.

The place seemed exceedingly mysterious, holding a sense of suspense and secrecy. It also looked old, bringing a smile to Cassandra's face. Looks like I've hit the jackpot... She contemplated, walking up the steps, hand trailing over the chipped wood railing. Ignoring the 'BY APPOINTMENTS ONLY' sign she opened the doors and was welcomed with a most exhilarating sight.

Items. Thousands and thousands of items, piled up on every wall, crammed into every self, hanging off of every ledge. Unusual items, extraordinary items, items that should only exist in books and stories. This was exactly what she had been looking for. A place of legend, a place of myth. A place that contained items that were bound to have some sort of magical significance. Items that could lock a soul up for years and keep it hidden. This was it. It had to be it. She had seen mystical places before that contained equally fabulous items such as these but never like this, and never in such quantity.

She gazed hungrily at the cabinets and shelves holding who-knows-what amazing things she could see. Waves of excitement ran up her spine and she immediately started surfing through the mound of objects on the closest shelf, picking up and examining anything that seemed remotely suspicious. She was so lost in the grand heap of antiques she didn't hear the footsteps until a drawling voice sounded from behind her.

"Can I help you?" the voice caused her to nearly jump out of her skin. Turning around quickly and nearly pushing over several objects she faced her discoverer. Dressed in a crisp black suit with matching tie and felt hat was tall man of about 40. His dark, piercing gaze examining her intently.

"Oh, um... You're the owner?" she asked more than a little intimidated by the man's haunting demeanour. A small tilt of the head answered her question and she swallowed roughly. "Well I was uh... passing by the store and I wondering if you have anything of um... magical significance." The man gazed at her blankly, still watching her carefully. "I mean to say do you have anything from err... mythological histories or uh... an item considered part of legend or..." he raised a brow in question, "Oh damn! What am I saying? I'm not even making sense!" this just brought the corners of the man's mouth down further, "What I'm trying to ask is... well... is there an item here of magical or legendary importance that might contain or be part of a myth that speaks of containing human souls or preserving them for a long time?"

His expression changed into a deep frown and his eyes narrowed significantly. He looked her over again then moved forward, unclasping his hands from behind his back. Cassandra took a step back like a reflex at his advance and he paused.

"You seek the Grimhold, do you?" he spoke in a voice that seemed almost darker than the one he had used the first time he spoke.

"The-the what?" she blurted out.

"Oh, don't play coy with me! I know who you are, Morganian," he sneered advancing again, "Nice disguise but did you honestly think you can steal it from me? Think Horvath didn't try hard enough? Or do you work for him?"

"Morganian? What are you-" then she caught the flash of green light on his finger and her eyes widened like moons. It all came back and it had the same effect as being hit with a hammer.

Morganians, the soul enemies of Merlinians and the cause of most magic-created catastrophes. Or so said the Encantus, anyway. Sorcerer. He was a Merlinian sorcerer. And it seemed he thought her to be the enemy. This was a disaster! A huge, total and complete disaster. Who knew how powerful this guy could be? And even worse was that the only magic she knew was composed of creating fire and a little bit of telekinesis. Weren't Merlinians supposed to be good? Another look at the man and all her thoughts of what Merlinians were supposed to be like disappeared.

"No, no, no, no! Let me explain, I have absolutely nothing to do with magic! I was just-"

"Looking?" he cut in, a blue orb of energy balanced between his palms, "I'm sure you were. I can tell a sorceress when I see one, Morganian. So, are you working for Maxim or just out on some solo job?"

"I don't know any Maxim! I'm not a Morganian! I'm Merlinian for crying out loud! Please!" the orb just seemed to enlarge, "Oh God! Come on! Just listen to me! I'm the daughter of Balthaz-" she was cut short, a scream ripping from her throat as the blue ball of energy rocketed toward her.


Looks like it's a cliff-hanger! Oh, how I love them! Guess you'll have to wait until Chapter 3 to find out if Cassandra gets blasted to smithereens or not. I can almost hear the angry shouts and groans from here. Sorry guys!

A very, very big thanks to everyone who reviewed! I can't tell you how grateful I am to have a two-chapter story and already 10 reviews up. Love you guys! And to kenobigirlliz: I didn't even notice the Harry Potter reference until you mentioned it *facepalm*. Hopefully, your later question shall be answered in the next chapter. Anyway, I beg you guys to please drop a review before you leave. It really helps encourage the writing out of me. Another thanks to those who have added this story to their alerts but guys, will a small review really hurt?

So I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter (excluding the cliff of an ending)! Looks like you guys finally got to meet Dave! Well my version of an older Dave anyway. Fair warning, he's going to be super OOC. I have reasonable explanations though, so don't think it's just my bad writing. Well maybe a little, but still. I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as I can!

Sincerely,
AncientQuill