Spies, Spells, and Secrets

Chapter 3

Ramon and Marissa were helping Ella and me get all of our stuff to our room. After the last trip up, Ramon said, "Once you get settled in, just knock on the door across the hall. That's Marissa's room." Then, they left. The second they left I looked at Ella.

"They know." I said.

"Know what?"

"That we're witches!"

"WHAT! How did they find out?" She narrowed her eyes. "But first, how do you know?"

"Do you remember what Ramon said to you? He said 'It is never about asking any number of questions, but about remembering the answers to those question, and learning from those answers. Though, some answers you must find yourself.' When he said that, he looked straight at me. He said the same thing that Harry Potter said to me when he told me that I am a witch. That can't be a coincidence. Ramon must have come in contact with Harry."

"Wow. What about Marissa? Is she a witch?"

"No. She seemed as clueless as you."

She sighed. "Well, we can unpack the rest later." She collapsed onto her bed. "I want to meet the team."

Abby's POV

We walked across the hall and knocked on the door. Marissa opened it. She turned inside and yelled, "Guys, they're here!" She opened the door. Two people were walking toward us: one short girl and one buff guy.

"Abby, Ella, this is Sarah." She said, gesturing to the short girl. "And my brother, Andy." She finished, pointing at the boy. I immediately noticed that Andy didn't look anything like Marissa.

"So, you're Andy." I said

"Yup." He said. His eyes narrowed, as if he didn't trust me.

"You don't look much like Marissa. Actually, you don't look like her at all." I was being real sassy now.

For a second, he looked surprised and worried. But, as quick as it came, it disappeared.

"I look more like my dad. Se looks more like her mom." I suddenly had a feeling that he was telling the truth, but not the whole truth. "What about you and Ella?"

"Oh, we aren't even related. We are neighbors and BFF's and practically twins. So, where are you from?"

"Hawaii. You?" Again, I got the feeling that he was telling the truth, but still leaving something out.

"Arkansas."

"Really? Your accent sounds British."

"Well, me and Ella go to a boarding school in the UK." He narrowed his eyes, like he was suspicious about something.

I thought of what Marissa told me about Andy. She said that he is overprotective and that I shouldn't push his buttons. Unfortunately, to get something out of him, I would have to do just that.

Or, I could get someone who was good at pushing peoples buttons.

"Ella!" I shouted.

Ella's POV

"Ella!" I heard Abby shout.

"What?" I said

"I need you to annoy Andy."

I narrowed my eyes. "Why?"

"Because, If we can figure out what gets him angry, then we are one step closer to finding out what Marissa is." Ahh. I get it. She wants me to get info.

"So, we are annoying Andy to find something out about Marissa?"

"Andy and Marissa are obviously not related, but they are the same thing. It's obvious that they trust each other a lot." Of course I already knew that. They have no resemblance at all, but they trust each other.

"If you don't, then just tell me the main things people get mad about."

"Looks. Smartness. Athletic ability." I listed of automatically. "But that doesn't matter, cause I'm in."

I walked over to him.

"You okay?" I said.

"Yeah, why?"

"You look sick." He just stared at me. I decided to start off with athletic ability. "I just don't want you to puke all over me. Imagine, me covered in steroid puke." Okay, it is a loose fit, but it still counts. Unfortunatly, it didn't get him angry, just surprised. I decided to do looks next.

"Of course, you may or may not be sick. I can't tell because your face is so ugly."

Looks still didn't get a sufficient reaction. That only left smartness.

"Now you look like a dumb, brainless fish." I immediately regretted saying that. I think I struck a nerve because he looked like he was going to explode.

"You shouldn't have said that." He said.

"Oh, shit!" I heard Marissa yell. She ran in front of Andy. "Calm down." She said. I saw Abby come over and stand beside me.

"She called me a dumb, brainless fish."

"Forget about that." She said. Then she whispered, "If you injure anyone, you will have to answer to me and I have the power to take you off the guard." I know that I wasn't supposed to hear that.

She then made a series of super soft clicks and shrieks.

Well, that narrows it down a lot.

"Okay?" She said normally.

"Yes, Your Highness." He said. Then both their eyes got real big.

"You will never let me live that down, will you?" Marissa said. She spoke calmly, but she looked nervous.

"Live what down?" I asked.

"When I was younger I tried to make everyone treat me like a princess." She said

"She always wore a crown and dress-up clothes." Andy grinned.

Abby's POV

I was trying to hide my laughes as Marissa and Andy tried to cover up the second clue in a ros to what they were when I suddenly noticed a weird necklace he had on. It was dark green stuff braided together. Very weird. I soon realized that I was staring. I looked back at Marissa. She smiled at me. I noticed that she had a necklace on, too. It looked like a golden clamshell locket on a gold chain. The locket had a weird symbol on it.

With a shock, I realized that the symbols looked like Ancient Runes. If she had a necklace with Ancient Runes on it, she must be some magical creature. I said, "That's a cool necklace. Can I have a closer look at it?"

She looked hesitant, but reluctantly said, "Sure." She took it off and handed it to me.

I quickly grabbed it and looked at the engraving. It was one larger symbol above three smaller symbols and the symbols were all in Ancient Runes! I quickly memorized the symbols and gave the necklace back.

"Why don't y'all go put on yer bathin' suits and we can go swimin'?" said Sarah.

"Sure, but it might be a while. We haven't unpacked all of our stuff." Ella said.

"Where is it?" I asked

"Walk past the elevator. Ya can't miss it." Sarah said

We went back to our room.