Chapter 9

A/N: I apologize in advance for anything that seems insulting. I mean no disrespect to practicing Wiccans, or any other religion. "Lyness" is largely based on a girl I knew in high school, who claimed to be Wiccan, but who was later discovered to be a Big Fat Liar.

"A what?" asked Alice in surprise.

"A witch," said Lyness, "a real one. Do you believe in magick?"

Alice didn't know what to say. The girl seemed so lonely. What would happen if she told her that she knew witches were real? That her father was a wizard, that her mother was a witch, and that they both worked for the Ministry of Magic? The girl would think that she was a witch too - or that she'd gone mad. Either way she'd be humiliated again. "I… I don't know," she finally answered.

Lyness nodded as if she had expected this response. When she spoke it didn't seem to matter that Alice was in the room. It was as if she were reciting lines for an invisible audience. "The magick is all around you. It is in the air we breathe, the earth we walk upon and the water we drink." She lifted a large silver basin from the floor beside her and placed it on the trunk next to a large candle in a porcelain dish. Alice could see her reflection dimly in the water. Lyness took a plastic cigarette lighter from a pouch looped around her waist and lit the candle. "It is also in fire." In the new light Alice could see Lyness more clearly. The witch had pulled back some of her hair with a leather tie. Her eyes seemed to glow with their own radiance. They were deep brown and lined thickly with dark make-up, making them stand out brilliantly against her pale skin. "Watch," whispered Lyness. She passed her hand through the flame.

"Doesn't that hurt?"

Lyness smiled. "Not a bit," she said to the flame.

A light knock at the door startled both of them. "Alice?" whispered Beth timidly, "Alice, are you in there?"

"I-I'd better go," mumbled Alice, jumping up. She stumbled backwards, her foot caught in Lyness's skirt.

"Alice?" Beth called again. "Are you ok?"

"I'm coming, Beth!" she called. "G-good-bye," she told Lyness quickly before fumbling with the lock and slipping out the door.

"Well?" asked Beth pointedly.

"Well, what?"

"Where are they?"

"What?"

Beth sighed dramatically. "You were going to get us some dry clothes, remember?" She pulled her towel more tightly over her wet clothes. "What happened in there? I told you she was a freak."

"She's not a freak," Alice murmured absently, looking back at the door, which was once again leaking scented smoke.

"Excuse me?"

Alice looked Beth in the eye. "She's not a freak. She seemed… nice."

"Are you kidding? Look, you don't know her. I've been coming here after school since kindergarten. Trust me, she's not normal."

"And you are?" came out before Alice could stop herself. "I-I'm sorry! I didn't-"

"Shut up. Look, I just thought I should warn you. I mean, you don't have to listen to me. I'm just your cousin. If you want to be friends with the freak, that's your business," Beth snapped. She spun away and marched back to the bathroom.

"Beth! Wait! I'm sorry, I-" Alice stopped outside the bathroom.

"It's fine, Alice, really. Just don't blame me when she gets you into trouble."

"You think she's dangerous?"

"You never can tell, can you?"

"But what's she done-"

"It's not what she's done," Beth said, plopping down on the bathmat. "It's just how she is. She doesn't make any sense. You talked to her; wasn't she a ditz?"

"I suppose she was-"

"She's like that all the time. She talks to people that aren't there. She never looks at you. Plus, just look at her! What is she? Goth? Zombie? Reject from a gypsy camp? And *what* is that *smell*?"

"It's incense," mumbled Alice.

"What?"

"It's incense. She's burning it on her nightstand."

"Why?"

"Dunno," said Alice, looking down.

"Well, what was her room like? I've never been in. I try and stay as far away- what was that?" Something rumbled down the hall.

"I'll check," said Alice. She ran back down to Lyness's room and knocked at the door. "Lyness? Are you alright? Lyness, open the door. It's Alice." Silence. Alice tried the door, but Lyness had locked it again. "Beth? Come help me! Something's wrong…"

Beth stepped into the hall again, but stayed within the square of light that fell through the bathroom doorway. "Come back here," she said softly.

"What?"

"Get away from there."

"But she could be hurt-"

"Please." Beth looked pale.

"Beth? What's wrong?"

"Please. Just come back. I'm… scared." She grabbed the door frame as though afraid she might lose her balance.

"Beth?" Alice rushed back down the hall and was just in time to steady her cousin.

Later that night Beth sat up in bed, propped by extra pillows, having been thoroughly pampered by her anxious mother. Alice came in after dinner and sat down on her own bed across the room. "Are you feeling better?"

"Much," managed Beth with a small smile. "My headache's almost gone, and I don't feel dizzy any more."

"Thank goodness." Alice smiled back, "I didn't fancy toting your books back from school on Monday."

"Gee, I didn't know you cared."

There was an awkward silence before Alice asked, "Err… so then, what happened back there?"

"I'm not sure," Beth said, twisting her hands in her blanket. "I think… no, you won't believe me."

"Why not? What is it?"

"It sounds silly."

"Beth, if you know what happened and you don't tell anyone, how are we to help you keep it from happening again?" Alice reasoned.

"All right," Beth sighed. "I think… I think that *she* did something to me."

Alice frowned. "Who? Lyness? But she never came out of her room. She didn't even see you-"

"I told you that you wouldn't believe me," Beth pouted.

"It's not that. It's just, how could she do something to you without ever seeing you?"

"I told you she was creepy. She does things in there. Weird things."

Alice squirmed. She wondered what Beth would think of her family if she ever met them. "Do you really think she did something to you?"

"Well, what else could it be? I was fine this morning."

Alice admitted that it looked bad for Lyness, but made a mental note to try and talk to the girl again after school on Monday. Over the weekend Carrie and Martin took all three kids to the cinema. Alice remembered her father's explanation. "Since Muggle photographs don't move, they've had to be very creative. Remarkable, really. Some sort of mechanical process with the film. They shine a bright light though it and project in on a wall through several lenses. Then they all gather in rows of chairs that are bolted to the floor and stuff their mouths with sweets and popcorn." Beth had to spend most of the film answering Alice's questions. She gave up asking about the technical aspects quickly, unable to tell Beth why she'd never seen a film before. "Don't you have movies in England?" Beth asked her more than once. Eventually Alice concentrated on following the plot, which involved two kids trying to save the world with the help of several amazing gadgets (most of which Beth had never seen before either).

After school on Monday Alice rushed off the bus, still trying to come up with a feasible excuse to talk to Lyness. She felt a strange kinship with the girl. Having magic in the Muggle world seemed more dangerous than not having it in the Wizarding one. At least no one accused her of making them sick. She had no way to be sure that Lyness hadn't caused Beth's illness, but somehow she couldn't believe that the girl would hurt anyone on purpose. A few minutes after she, Jake and Beth had started a half-hearted game of hide-and-seek a large brown truck pulled into Mrs. Rice's driveway, delivering Alice's excuse. The kids watched a man in brown shorts get out of the truck with a small package and head around to the front of the house.

"What d'you reckon they're getting?" Alice wondered aloud.

"Wolfsbane and dragon's teeth," muttered Jake, making a face.

Beth shot her brother a dirty look. "I'm sure it's nothing."

"Let's see!" called Jake mischievously, running after the delivery guy.

"Jake!" called Beth. "I don't want to know," she muttered.

"We'd better go after him," Alice suggested.

"Yeah, I guess."

The girls went in through the back door and made it to the front room just as the man rang the bell.

"Girls? Was that you I heard tearing through here?" called Mrs. Rice from the kitchen. "Could you get that? I'm a little… occupied right now."

"No problem, Mrs. Rice!" called Alice. The girls could hear Jake badgering the man through the door. "Reckon he needs a rescue?" Alice asked Beth.

"Good grief," grumbled Beth, pulling open the door. "Jake, get in here and leave him alone."

"Just a minute, Beth, I've got a few more questions for this so-called delivery man," said Jake, trying to sound grown-up. "Now, sir, you say you work for UPS, but how can we be sure?"

The man, who Alice now realized was more like an overgrown kid, with messy hair and bad acne, looked down at his uniform before giving Jake a haughty look. "Is you mother at home?" he asked the girls in a squeaky voice.

"Oh, we don't live here," said Beth quickly.

"But we can still take that for you," offered Alice. "We'll give it to Mrs. Rice right away."

"Well, I really think-" started the UPS guy.

"Thanks!" said Alice, grabbing the box. "Come on!" she said to Beth, pushing the door shut on Jake and the delivery man.