A/N Yay third chapter. Time for some spell casting! But will all the girls be lured into stella's love schemes?
The girls stared at the book. Even Flora pulled back the blanket, just poking her head out, to see what was going on.
Layla was the first to speak "Sooo your going to fix all our 'relationship problems'...with a book?" she said, doubtfully, a hint of annoyance in her voice. Oh I'm sorry, did I say hint? There was a LOT of annoyance in her voice.
"Pleeease tell me its not a Dr Phil self help book" Musa said sarcastically, rolling her eyes "Because I am not into those 'ten tips for a better relationship' guides"
Stella just tutted "Ugh, of course not. It's far better than that"
"...an Oprah self help book?"
"...No, Flora. It's-"
But before Stella could explain any more she was tackled off the coffee table, letting out a small shriek just before she hit the ground with a loud thump."Ugh, huh, what? BLOOM!" Stella yelled indignantly as Bloom now pinned Stella down to the ground with her legs, her arms reaching over Stella's head for the book. "Are you deranged? Get off of me!"
"Stella, you said you would keep it a secret!" Bloom let out through clenched teeth as she strained against her friend, who had started to fight back, holding onto the book as tightly as she could and squirming to get away.
The other girls just looked on in shock...and slight amusement. What was going on?
"Oh, c'mon girls, don't fight!" Flora looked on worriedly, but her soft voice didn't seem to be heard over the struggle. That or they ignored her.
"Well I didn't promise anything!" Stella said, kicking her legs, trying to throw Bloom off her.
"Stella, don't! Just give it here!" Bloom took another lunge at the book, which Stella now had held high over her head out of reach.
"No! We need it, including you!" Stella yelled, arms straining.
While the cat fight went on, Musa couldn't help but lean over and whisper in Tecna's ear "Don't you think Sky and Brandon would love to be seeing this right now?" Tecna tried to stifle a giggle as her two friends continued to roll around on the floor on top of each other.
"I don't need it, and neither do you or any of the girls. Now give it over!" Bloom pinned down one of Stella's arms successfully and took aim for the other one, but just as she was in reach, Layla stepped forward.
"Okay, this is just getting silly" she said, bending down over the two to grab the book easily from Stella's hands.
"Hey, give it back!" Bloom and Stella yelled simultaneously as they struggled to get up quickly from the floor, falling over each other as they did so. Unluckily, Layla was already reading the cover of the book.
"Love spells?" she read out loud, causing the commotion to stop and a silence to fall over the room.
Stella looked smugly at Bloom as the two girls finally untangled themselves. The cat was out of the bag now. Bloom just huffed and crossed her arms.
Layla sat down on the floor in front of the coffee table, laying the book out in front of her and opening its pages to the index of spells. Both Musa and Tecna stepped over for a better look. Flora didn't move from under her blanket, but she watched on curiously.
"Did you guys get this from the library?" she asked.
"Impossible" Tecna cut in "Books with love spells have been banned from school libraries for the last forty years" she said it like this was something everyone should know.
Stella just waved them off "Of course we got it from the Library, and yes it was from the 'banned' section, but-"
"Actually-" Bloom interrupted, looking irritated "-it was from the 'forbidden' section. Forbidden as in ' Not for use by Stella or others' not 'hey, I'm forbidden, how could using me possibly be a bad idea'"
"BUT" Stella continued on, pretending not to hear Bloom "The head librarian gave us the all clear, letting us check it out and telling us it is, in fact, safe to use"
Layla got up and walked over to Stella, leaving the book open on the table. Flora eyed it as it was left unattended."I find it a little hard to believe a head librarian would lend out a forbidden book to students" Layla said as she eyed Stella up and down, trying to detect if she was lying.
"Yeah" Musa chimed in "Especially students who were there for detention of all things "
"That's what I said" Bloom muttered quietly from behind everyone.
"Hey, hey" Stella threw up her hands in defence "I don't know why Miss Paige decided to trust us, she just did. She said the book wasn't dangerous or bad or anything, it just got over used by girls with bad intentions" she struck a pose with a sickly sweet smile on her face "she could probably just tell we were nice girls with good intentions, you know" Stella fluttered her eyelashes.
The girls laughed "Good intentions, you? Yeah right" Musa joked. Besides, Bloom, Flora was the only other girl not joining in on the laughter. While the others gave Stella the third degree, Flora had gently thrown off her blanket and pulled the book across the table towards her. Here eyes scanned the index curiously, before her eyes suddenly lit up and she started flipping through the pages.
"So why did you even want this Love book anyway, Stella? You already have a boyfriend, remember" Tecna asked.
"Oh please, Tec" Stella said, flipping her hair over one shoulder " This book has more to offer than just a spell to make a boy fall in love with you. Just look at all those pages! I'm just using it to make my valentines day with Brandon as romantic and love filled as possible"
"Soo...It has spells that could maybe make your boyfriend sweeter...for instance?" Musa tried to say this casually, but she was looking intently at Stella for an answer.
Stella slung her arm over Musa's shoulder "Of course it does! You could have Riven be the sweetest, most caring boy from Red fountain with just one little spell!" Musa coukdnt help but crack a small smile at the thought, you could practically hear her brain clicking, her mind being won over by Stella.
"I say we use it!" she said suddenly.
"Musa!" Bloom but in, indignantly "Don't get sucked into Stella's little plans, this book is bad news! Just stay out of it"
"That's easy for you to say" Musa snapped "You might have the perfect little relationship with Sky, but I don't! So forgive me for wanting to make my valentines day just a little special"
Layla quickly stepped in between Bloom and Musa "Woah, c'mon, lets just calm down ladies. Two cat fights in one hour is too much." she turned to Bloom "I don't want you tackling anyone else either, okay?"
Bloom opened her mouth to say something back to Musa, but decided against it and closed it again.
Layla spoke again "Now, I for one don't think we should use the book. Love and magic shouldn't mix, that's just a principle of mine."
"Same here" Tecna agreed "Love is a subject that's complicated enough, without the aid of spells"
Stella frowned "Well I don't see what the big deal is, so I say we should be able to use it"
"Yeah" Musa stood behind Stella " and some of us have a good reason for wanting to use it" she crossed her arms.
Bloom smiled widely "Well I've had a bad feeling about the book from the start, so I say no too. Which makes three of us against the two of you" she shrugged "Guess this means we wont be using it after all"
However, left forgotten over by the couch sat Flora, the book now resting in her lap. She wasn't even listening to the others bicker as she scanned the page she was on, finger resting anxiously against the paper. She read what was written at the top of the page 'A spell for the girls with feelings untold: Gain the courage to reveal your hearts desire to the man you most want, simply by uttering the incantation below. Don't sit in silence any longer'. Flora felt her heart beat in her chest. Did she dare try it? Was she thinking rationally? Would this even work? Before she could think about it a second longer, her lips started moving in a light whisper. Her head had stopped thinking, her heart had taken action.
"There is so much I want to share with you, but my words are lost within me
I have so many emotions, I want to make you see
I want to tell you
I've made my choice
I cast this spell to give me a voice!"
"Hey, since when was this a vote decision!" Stella argued "If we want to use it we should be able to use it, you guys can keep out of it if you want"
Tecna rolled her eyes "Oh, of course. It's not as if we wont be dragged in to help you out of the mess you made when your spells go horribly wrong. The vote system stays, and the majority is no!"
"Not yet it's not!" Musa smirked "Have you guys forgotten Flora?"
The girls looked sheepish, it's obvious they had. They all quickly turned towards the couch to determine the deciding vote.
"Hey Flora, what do you think, we use the book or no-" But Musa stopped herself mid sentence to gasp with the other girls, who stood wide eyed staring. Flora was still on the couch, but above her there was a swarm of what seemed to be small, glowing red, orbs of light. Thousands of them flickered and darted around above her head, while Flora just looked up at them, transfixed and scared.
"Flora, move!" Layla was the first to yell, but Flora seemed paralysed. At that instant, the orbs suddenly flocked together and started circling around and around, like some sort of glowing red tornado. In a bright flash it became one long thread of red light, and it leapt towards Flora. She screamed as the it aimed for her mouth, and her voice was muffled as the thread forced itself down her throat in an instant. There was another blinding flash of red light...and then it was gone, and everything was deathly quiet. Flora sat there, blinking, her eyes wide. Her hand clasped at her throat in disbelief. She had just swallowed that...that..thing!
The others rushed over to her, all looking panicked.
"Oh my god, Flora, are you okay? Are you hurt?" Bloom asked as they all flocked around their friend on the couch.
"I...I...um.." Flora was obviously in a little bit of a daze. It had all happened so fast.
"I'll go get her some water" Tecna said, hurrying over to the fridge.
"Are you sure your okay?" Layla asked again, checking her friends forehead.
"Yeah..yeah, I think I'm fine. I don't feel any different.." she moved her legs and her arms, all still working. She could obviously still talk. She didn't even have indigestion or a headache.
Bloom suddenly turned on Stella again "See what happened Stella! It was the book, it just attacked Flora!" For the first time Stella actually looked a little guilty, and she looked worriedly at Flora who was still clasping at her throat looking anxious. Before Stella said anything however, Flora sheepishly began to explain herself.
"Um, I don't think it attacked me.."
The girls all looked towards her and Flora squirmed under their scrutiny. They all waited for her to finish.
Flora looked down to the carpet 'I...I kind of cast one of the spells.."
Layla looked at Flora in disbeleif "Flora! Why would you do that? You don't even know if this thing is trustworthy, you almost could of hurt yourself!"
Flora blushed and looked embaressed as Layla said this, feeling stupid.
Stella's expression of sympathy quickly changed to one of relief and excitement "See!" she said "She wasn't attacked at all, it was just a spell! No biggie, no need to worry" she patted Flora on the back "And no need to yell at Flora. I mean this just proves it works, doesn't it?"
Layla obviously didn't see it the same way "Are you kidding? Did you see it Stella? Even if it was just a spell it didn't exactly look safe. Would you trust a big cluster ball of red lights being crammed down your throat, just for some silly thing like Valentines day?"
Stella just shrugged like she didn't care "Sure, I mean Flora's not hurt, seems pretty legit to me"
Musa turned to Flora "What spell did you even use Flo?"
Flora handed her the book and pointed "This one" she blushed more "So I...so I could confess my feelings to Helia..and ask him to the dance..." Musa scanned the page, Bloom and Layla reading over her shoulder. Layla sighed, Flora just wanted so badly to tell Helia how she felt that this is what she would resort too? Layla slid down into the couch next to Flora, feeling bad for yelling at her friend.
"Hey, sorry for being so..you know, about you using the book" she gave small smile to Flora "It's only because I was worried about you, I thought it hurt you!" Flora smiled back and reached out to give her friend a hug.
"I know Layla, don't worry...and I am sorry about using the book so impulsively. Its just...you know. Sometimes when I think about Helia my brain seems to shut down, I wasn't thinking"
Layla returned the hug "Trust me, I'm the person who wants to see you confess to Helia the most and- hey!" Layla suddenly pulled away from the hug to see Musa quietly reading from the book at the end of the couch. Musa stopped to look up, and realizing she'd been caught quickly dashed across the room, still clutching the open book.
"Oh no you don't!" Layla sprang to her feet, giving chase "I don't want anyone else to use that damn book!"
Musa yelped, hurdling over the coffee table trying to get away from Layla.
"That's it Musa, run, run! Start the spell over over again or it wont work!" Stella yelled on her encouragement as the two girls an circles around the room. Without hesitating, Musa began to read.
"I know your love is there and true, and you should know I love you too"
Bloom stretched out her leg as Musa came closer to her, hoping to trip her up, but Musa spotted it and jumped effortlessly over the top, only continuing to read.
"Though sometimes you seem cold and mean, I hide my tears so they're unseen"
"I've got you now!" Layla had jumped clean over the couch, landing right in front of Musa's path, Bloom and Tecna now behind her, blocking her exit. "Just stop reading right now, and hand me the book" she said authoritatively. Musa looked all around her, she was trapped. She hung her head, defeated. Layla smiled as Musa slumped her shoulders and handed her the book. "Thankyo-"
"So I cast this spell A.S.A.P, be nice, be kind, be sweet to me!"
There was a light crackling sound, like millions of bubbles fizzing around them, before a big pink vapour formed in the middle of the room, giving off a sweet scent. There was a loud popping sound and the vapour vanished, leaving a small, heart shaped ….cookie? It was made of light pastry, with light pink icing. The girls all looked up at it and confusion crossed their faces. Musa stretched out her hands, and as the cookie fell she caught it gently, a smile on her face.
After the girls took a few more seconds to take in witnessing yet another of these odd spells, Tecna glared towards Musa. "You tricked us, you memorised the spell!"
Musa just stood there, twirling the cookie in her hand, looking pleased with herself "Well it wasn't exactly a complicated thing to remember" she turned to Layla "And I didn't even get anything crammed down my throat"
Stella walked over, patting Musa on the shoulder "You go girl, nice bluff! But...what's with the cookie?"
"The book said after I cast the spell, which is a spell to make Riven sweeter by the way, then it would create a love cookie. All I have to do is get him to eat it and it'll make him 'as sweet as sugar to me' apparently"
"Ah, makes sense" Stella nodded. "But still, you shouldn't have handed the book over to Layla yet, I still haven't had my turn!" Stella reached out a hand to take the book back off of Layla, but Layla stepped back, holding the book protectivly. Stella looked exasperated "Oh c'mon, you cant still be worrying! Flora's fine, Musa has a cookie...It's not exactly proved itself evil!"
Layla still looked wary. She looked over at Tecna and Bloom. Bloom looked unsure herself and Tecna just shrugged "Just give it to her, let her cast one of the silly spells. Just know that I wont be trying to help her if she gets into trouble" Tecna was just fed up at this point, and two of her friends had gotten mixed up in this mess already, why not a third. She was beyond caring and just wanted to go to bed.
"Well i'ts settled then!" Stella proclaimed happily as Layla begrudgingly handed her the book "Now lets see, lets see, where's that spell I saw earlier...Ah, here it is!" Stella stopped flipping the pages and opened up the book wide, clearing her throat. She spoke loudly and confidently.
"I want a love that gives me a thrill, all of my dreams you will richly fulfil
turn on your charms
take me in your arms
Lose yourself in passion, for me and only me!"
This time, there was a small blue flash of light, followed by a small humming noise as the light compacted itself into a small, heart shaped, looked like it was made of clear crystal and it glittered as the light reflected off it.
"Oh, so pretty" Flora said, gazing at the gem. The others nodded in agreement. The humming stopped and the gem clinked down onto the floor, where Stella quickly bent down to pick it up.
Bloom walked over "And now what do you do with that?" She questioned. She couldn't help herself, she was becoming more and more curious about the book.
Stella scanned the bottom of the page at the written part under the incantation "Hrm, it says 'Find the man you want to become consumed with passion'- Brandon of course- ' and have him hold this gem until it glows a bright red. The next person to hold this stone'- Me, of course-' will have all of that man's passion and love bestowed upon them for a whole day, starting from the next midnight'"
Stella put the book down "Aw man, I'll have to give Brandon the gem tomorrow when we all go shopping, and the passion will only start that night! I wont even be there at Red Fountain that night" she folded her arms and sulked.
"Yeah, but it starts in time for Valentines day, and only ends at midnight at the dance. You don't need any longer than that right?" Musa reasoned with the now pouting Stella.
Stella let this sink in "Yeah...yeah, I guess that's true" She said, cheering up a bit. "Oh, and now I cant wait! This is too exciting!"
Layla just rolled her eyes. "Anyway, what was that about a shopping trip tomorrow?"
"Oh, that. Well me and Bloom talked about it earlier, were going down to get our dresses for the dance this Sunday and I assume your all coming, as well as the boys" Stella explained.
"Alright" Musa smiled "A chance to get a hot new dress and give Riven his cookie!"
"Exactly!" Stella smiled "And Flora will have the chance to finally ask out Helia" she said smoothly, nudging Flora, who was blushingly lightly.
"Oh, okay, now I'm scared..maybe I wont go" She said, but Stella cut her off.
"Ugh, Flora, of course you're going. The spells been cast, you don't need to worry about being shy remember?"
Flora just looked a little sick. It just hit her, no turning back now. Tomorrow Helia would know how she felt..for better or for worse.
There were no other objections to tomorrows shopping trip, and the girls closed the book and looking at the time. decided it was best that they get to bed.
"See you all in the morning girls!" Stella chirped in high spirits, as she closed the door to her room.
They all chorused their good nights as they marched into their own rooms, Bloom having to guide a somewhat spaced out Flora back to her bed. All the lights were turned off and it went quiet, the book being left on the coffee table.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
Bloom couldn't sleep. She had been tossing and turning in her bed for the last few hours, and checking her clock on her night stand, it was well past midnight. She sighed before re-fluffing her pillow for what seemed like the millionth time. She switched positions, lying on her side, the rolling onto her back, and then trying the other side to see if that made her fall asleep. Another long, drawn out, sigh.
She knew what was keeping her awake.
It was that damn book.
It was practically calling to her from behind her closed door. Just sitting there, completely unguarded...
No, no, she couldn't. That book was bad news. She'd felt it ever since Stella had first opened it. Who cares what Miss Paige said, she's just some batty old librarian anyway, everyone knows those ladies are crazy. Should Bloom listen to a crazy lady rather than her own instincts? Nuh-uh, no way, absolutely not.
But as soon as Bloom would say this in her head for the fifteenth time, reassuring herself, she would close her eyes and images of Sky would come to her. Images of him ignoring her, of him leaving her...images of him with another girl...
And that's how Bloom came to find herself Tip-toeing across her room, having thrown on her dressing gown, being careful not to wake Flora as she put her hand on the doorknob and turned. She winced as it let out a small squeak as it opened. The gentle pattering of her footsteps were the only thing to be heard in the whole dorm as Bloom quickly darted towards the middle of the living room, eyeing the book, and sinking down to the floor in front of it. She clicked her fingers to create a small flame, using the light to read by.
She opened it carefully and silently scanned the index with her fingers. There really were spells for everything. Bloom read through them, mentally talking to herself in her head.
A spell make you irresistible to men over thirty (Hrm, was this book really aimed at teenage girls?)
A spell to snag your worst enemies boyfriend (Wow, some of these spells are pretty wicked!)
A spell to make other girls attracted to you ( Wait, why would a girl want a spell like tha-...!)
A spell to make your boyfriends breath smell better (..that one could possibly come in use)
A spell to make your man dance sensually for you (Maybe I should show Layla that one...)
A spell to increase the size of your boyfriends peni-
Bloom blushed and turned the page on that last one. Okay, time to stop reading through all of these silly ones, they weren't any help! Bloom continued reading and flicking through the pages, finding only a few that seemed like they could be of any help.
A spell to see if your boyfriend or husband is cheating. (That one could be alright...maybe as a last resort, if I cant find a better one)
A spell to predict a proposal (Hmph, I wish. Next)
And then finally, on the very last page of the index, written in bright crimson ink, was the last spell. Bloom sat up a little straighter as she read it.
The ultimate love spell: to bind two beings in love together, forever
Perfect.
Bloom flipped hurriedly to the back of the book were this ultimate spell was written, again, the incantation was written in red ink. It made itself clear it was a special spell. The handwriting was done in large, cursive letters. Decorative hearts and doves swirled around the edge of the page in a beautiful, hand drawn, design. There was only a small amount of writing at the top of the page.
To the girls planning on uttering this spell, let it be noted that it shall only work if both you and your partner feel the same type of love for each other. If you attempt to bind a man that does not love you, the spell shall not work.
Bloom hesitated for a second. She loved Sky, but lately with the way he's been acting...did he love her just as much? Bloom tensed, and her eyes lit up with a determined glow. Either way, this spell would work in her favour. If he did love her and the spell worked, they would be bound together by magic, forever, just like she'd always dreamed of...and if the spell didn't work...then at least she could be sure of how sky felt.
Bloom cast her gaze down onto the incantation, and began muttering as silently as she could, her lips practically trembling.
"I put a spell on you and me
create a bond one cannot see
Like silken thread it holds us fast
bonds like this are meant to last
To make us closer
To keep us strong
In loving togetherness
...where we belong"
Bloom hadn't realised she had closed her eyes as she had been reading, and she opened them, expecting to see some sort of flash, or a sound...
...but there was nothing.
Nothing at all. No flashes, no mists, no orbs of light...no gems...not even a cookie...
She clasped a hand over her mouth, tears brimming in her eyes. Could it really be like this?
The entire dorm stood silent as Bloom sat there in disbelief.
It hadn't worked. It really hadn't worked.
...Sky really didn't love her like she loved him.
Bloom slammed the book shut, not caring what sound she made as she ran back towards her room, swung the door open and threw herself back onto her bed. She didn't even bother taking her dressing gown off as she wrenched the sheets tightly around herself and sobbed into her pillow. She still couldn't sleep and the images of Sky were only more frequent, and more vivid, than before...
Why had she even looked at that stupid book
A/N: Oh dear, ending on a bit of a bad note. Poor Bloom, what is she going to do now? Confront Sky or just leave him...
We know what Musa, Stella and Flora are going to be dealing with tomorrow on the shopping trip...assuming everything goes to plan of course.
Next chapter will have all of this, as well as Layla's brush with magic and the girls trying to keep the love spells secret from the boys.
Hope you enjoyed the chapter, please drop in a review, they are very appreciated : )