When we returned to Prague, Keith was fascinated by all the people and carriages. Zhuzhen walked alongside him, the vampire slowing his stride in consideration of the Adept's pace, and pointed out what various things were. Keith's two-hundred-year slumber had kept him ignorant of all the technological advancement that had occurred, and now his curiosity was piqued.
Their words were lost to me, though I was walking behind them so close I could have plucked either of their shirts. Margarete should already be waiting for us at the bar, and she'd want to know everything that had happened concerning Sasha. She had a right to know, but just thinking about it hurt. Not to mention that she would also know what a fool I had been.
I nearly bumped into Keith when we stopped in front of Gismot's bar. The blond brushed his long hair to the side, looked up at the depiction of the beer mug, and then followed Zhuzhen inside.
The instant he saw us, Gismot walked over. "Hello! Looks like your company has grown!" he greeted us, casting a glance at Keith. "Listen, I have a message for you from Margarete."
"A message?" I repeated, confused. "Isn't Margarete here?"
He shook his head. "I thought she'd wait here until you two got back, but she rushed off in a hurry. She said she wanted you to meet her in Rouen, north of Paris."
I had thought for a second that perhaps Margarete's absence was a reprieve from reliving that night, but now different, more horrible memories were being conjured. "Rouen?" I questioned. Silently I pleaded that I had misheard.
"What is the matter, Alice?" Keith asked. "You look upset."
"Rouen is where my father died," I answered.
"It must be urgent," Zhuzhen said. "For her to suddenly go off like this…she must have a lead on Roger Bacon."
"Oh?" exclaimed Keith. "The warlock you have been looking for?"
I nodded. "He's somewhere in Europe, we believe. We've been looking for him, but to no avail." I was looking for Yuri too…but I suppose I didn't really find what I wanted.
"And for all we know, he's got something worse than Dehuai's schemes planned," Zhuzhen muttered. "We've got to find him."
Yuria was walking towards us, but I didn't notice what she was doing until she slung one arm over my shoulders, giggling. "Hey, why so glum? You're back safe. Let's celebrate!"
My nose wrinkled at the alcohol on her breath, and the slur in her words was obvious to everyone. "You're drunk," I told her. She laughed as if I'd made a joke.
"Me, drunk? No way." Then she hiccupped and withdrew her arm. "Just need to use the toilet. I want you smiling when I'm back!" she threatened with another giggle before going to the bathroom.
Zhuzhen shook his head, apparently astonished by her behavior. "Good grief…"
"Hmm…Roger Bacon…?" The name seemed to puzzle Keith, but then he shook his head. "Do I understand correctly that another member of your party is waiting for you in France?"
"Yes," I responded, wondering why he had asked. Didn't he know of Rouen or Paris? Things couldn't change that drastically in two centuries, could they?
Zhuzhen was already seated on a barstool, looking over the map and figuring out where exactly Rouen was. Sitting myself by him, I pointed it out to him and then said, "If we can catch a carriage along the way, I think it'll take less than a month to get there, but…" I trailed off, remembering that we had little money for traveling. A carriage was out of the question.
Zhuzhen bit his lip and then turned to Gismot. "Say, did anyone come here asking for us while we were gone?" Catching my eye, he added, "It would be better to wait and do one or two jobs if it can cut down our travel time."
I nodded in agreement and looked to Gismot, who was rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Actually, there was someone complaining of a ghost…thing is, it sounds like another person just jumping at shadows…"
"They still pay a bit," Zhuzhen said, "even if it is a waste of time. We need to make some more money right now."
"I thought the business was doing well though."
The adept said nothing, though I caught his glance at me. Turning a bit red, I rose from the stool and scanned the room. Keith had started a conversation with old Rosa, but I had no idea what they could be talking about. "I'd better check on Yuria, she's been in the bathroom for a while now," I blurted, noticing that she was still absent.
With how long she had been in there, it was likely she was sick. Though it wasn't really an emergency, I knew from a memorable night with Margarete that my Wish spell, meant for clearing out poisons and curses, could also help ease the effects of overdrinking.
"Yuria?" I called as I stepped inside the bathroom. When absolute silence answered me, I frowned. Had she fainted? She drank a bit much on occasion, but this was ridiculous.
Calling her name again, I poked my head into the first stall. Immediately I raised my hand to cover my nose. Someone, most likely Yuria, had vomited in the toilet. After flushing it, I looked in the second stall, but that was also empty. "Where did she go?" I muttered to myself. "I know she didn't leave."
The mirror over the sink caught my eye. It must have been because of my appearance; my cheeks were still a touch pink, a blush of shame.
"I'll never make that mistake again though. After all, Sasha's gone away to—who knows where."
To Roger Bacon, nitwit.
But something else bothered me about my reflection. After looking closer, I realized it was my eyes; they seemed different for some reason. Harsh. I felt a little unhappy, but my expression seemed to suggest great upset. I smiled at the mirror, trying to make myself relax, but my eyes stayed frigid.
"Hmph." I turned away from the mirror. "Yuria?" On the off-chance she was curled up in a corner, I checked both stalls again and the corner where Gismot kept cleaning supplies. But I found no one. I hadn't really expected that I had missed her in my first search; after all, the bathroom simply wasn't that big. But she couldn't have left the bar; we would have heard the door shutting. My eyes traveled around the bathroom. "Yuria, where are—" and then I gasped.
My eyes had landed on the mirror—and my reflection was laughing at me. Though I couldn't take a single breath due to my surprise, she had her hands cupped over her mouth and appeared to be in the midst of gales of laughter.
Finally, breath, as well as speech, came back to me. "Wh-what the…?" The reflection looked at me and changed suddenly, to the woman who had watched as Terry and Darcy died. She smiled nastily at me. Her eyes were cold and harsh, just as mine had been—she had been disguised as my reflection.
"Who--?" I shouted, but in that instant my own reflection replaced hers. This time the eyes were mine, but full of fear. That woman had to be nearby to have cast a spell on the mirror. I moved towards the door, wanting both Zhuzhen and Keith's assistance, but then stopped. Yuria was still in here and defenseless against such a witch, if she had actually been responsible for Terry's death. I couldn't leave her alone, not even for a second. After all, it hadn't taken long for those two men to die…
"I know you're in here!" I shouted, hoping I sounded braver than I felt. My hands, clenched into fists, were shaking. "Come out!" I threw open the first stall's door with a bang, as if to startle her out of hiding. "Your tricks won't work on me!" They already had; but I prayed that if I focused hard enough, my skill as a Demon Eyes would let me see through the deception.
When I stepped into the second stall, my vision blurred slightly and I blinked my eyes, confused. Why wouldn't they focus right? And why did my back suddenly ache? I trudged out of the stall, unnerved by the onset of pain. Had she cast a spell on me without my knowing?
She was back in the mirror, mimicking my movements, though this time she did not pretend to be my reflection. I scowled and she scowled back, looking quite troubled. Wait a second…those were my eyes looking back at me, not hers!
I reached up to my face, surprised, and felt the creases of wrinkles in aged skin. Then I looked down at my hands, seeing spidery veins bulging beneath loose skin.
"This—this isn't me," I gasped.
The reflection cackled and there was a flash of light. When I reopened my eyes, my own body stood beside me, blue eyes gleaming with malice. The mirror showed the truth, that it was the old witch standing besides me. It was reality that had become a lie.
"You're the one who killed Terry," I said. Before I had thought Kevin had summoned those monsters, but this witch was more than powerful enough to have done the deed herself.
Her reflection chuckled in the mirror, and my body raised a hand to her mouth for to stifle the sound. "That's right. That was the mayor's request. What a beautiful young woman you are," she said, admiring my reflection. "Makes me feel good just assuming your form." She turned to me, my own blue eyes glinting with her malice. "If your body was to become mine…"
I grit my teeth. "You can't have it."
"Oh?" She laughed, a light airy giggle that grated my nerves. Did I really laugh like that? "Bacon doesn't need your body, he needs your powers. Besides, it makes it all the more easier to capture you. I'm sure he wouldn't object."
"But I do," I shouted, opening my tome to cast Blessed Light. There was no way I would let her steal my body…and no way that I would let her capture me. But just as I was about to cast the spell, I realized that I couldn't attack her. She was in my body, if I hurt her I'd be hurting myself! My tongue fumbled the words and the witch simply smirked.
She pulled out a wand and then pointed it at me, murmuring words that I couldn't make out. I felt drained, placing one hand to my forehead. "Make this easy for both of us, girl. You can't beat me, so come quietly."
She made to grab my hand, but in that instant my mind was made up. Father had given his life so that Roger Bacon wouldn't capture me. So I couldn't let him, no matter what the cost. My book snapped shut and I slammed it into my—her face, the spine connecting with her nose.
The witch swore and I screamed, "Keith, Zhuzhen, help!"
"Alice?" I could hear Keith shout.
But the woman was not about to let them interfere. Raising her wand again, she pointed this time not at me, but past me to the door. The ground around it frosted over with a sheet of ice, which then sprang up, encasing the door.
"You bitch," she spat, my voice sounding strange as blood gushed out from her nose. Energy crackled around her. Even as I tried to move, lightning shot out at me. I fell to the floor with a cry, my limbs twitching uncontrollably as pain engulfed me.
When the ground shook, I looked up to see the pieces of the earth beneath the floor breaking off and rising. Chunks of rock hovered over me and dropped. I threw my book to my right, near the cleaning supplies, and then rolled in the same direction. Some rock nicked my back and ripped my stockings, but otherwise I was unhurt. I picked up my book and shouted, "Blessed Light!"
Despite the body switch, I was still Light-classed and she Dark-classed, and the spell proved wonderfully effective. It harmed my body, but that couldn't be helped…I would not be captured, not now, not after so many sacrifices had been made to assure my freedom. Unfortunately, my head was already starting to pound, although I had only cast a single spell. I had left our healing supplies with Zhuzhen—who went into the bathroom looking for a fight?—a girl being hounded by a warlock, at least if she were being careful, I thought viciously. If one of her spells should hit me, I would need all my strength for healing.
She was already raising her wand for another spell and I bit my lip. Pressed between the wall and the first stall, there was no way I could evade any spell she might try. I could hit her but that would be even more excruciating if she completed the spell before I hit her. My eyes darted around and I picked up a bucket and threw it at her.
I knew from the sloshing sound and the heft as I picked it up that the bucket contained water. I didn't realize it was dirty water until it was splashing into my face, my clothes, my hair, and the witch was spluttering with fury. Before she could begin another incantation I lunged at her. I swung the book twice before she struck me across the face with her wand. It tore the skin on my cheek open and forced me to take a step back.
She took advantage of the moment to cast a spell. Again jagged rocks rose in the air, their tips pointed at me. I tried to run out of their path, but one tore through the back of my jacket, cutting across my back; the next one pierced my side, hitting just below my ribcage.
The force of the blow caused me to stagger. It was no scrape. I could already feel blood seeping into my clothes.
"You'd better heal that girl," the witch said, smirking. I grit my teeth. She was right, and that was why she was so smug. If I left it unhealed, I would faint from blood loss; if I did heal it, she would snatch me up while I was occupied with casting the spell. Either way, she had won. I glanced at the door. The ice looked slippery with rivulets of water dripping down, but it would still take a few more moments for it to be melted entirely. Zhuzhen and Keith would be too late. All they would find was Yuria—assuming nothing had been done to her. Roger Bacon would have me to use for his dark purposes.
I'd rather be dead. I wrapped my right hand around the rock that had pierced my flesh while, in my left hand, I gathered my energy for a powerful healing spell. The witch was already stepping towards me, the shoes I'd worn making sharp clicks on the floor and splashing in some water.
I pulled out the rock, hissing in pain as the blood gushed out. I nearly clamped my hand over the wound, but when I felt her hand on my arm, my hand shot up to meet her face. "Blessed Light!"
She screamed. The rock was thrust into her chest with all my weight behind it. We both fell to the floor, and all thought fled as we wrestled and fought. My hand rose and stabbed over and over again. She had my body, but it was trivial; my soul and life were forfeit to the Masks. The only thing that mattered now was that Roger Bacon, this woman, Sasha could not win over me.
A loud thud stopped my hand as it rose again and with some surprise I realized that the witch had regained her form, though pale and trembling. In that moment she disappeared from beneath my body, and the floor rose up to smack me.
There was nothing but darkness and softness and fuzzy warmness. Was I dead? The Masks weren't here. Maybe they'd been lying, maybe they couldn't have any dominion over my soul, and the thought made me smile.
"Good evening, Alice."
I sighed. "You're not the grim reaper, are you, Keith?" No, the Masks would not have allowed me to enter Sasha's soul without taking their toll; they intended to take my own soul one day.
There was a light chuckle from somewhere in the darkness. "I'm afraid not. You, mademoiselle, are yet among the living."
"Are you living, then?" The sluggish thought came that perhaps that was a rude question, though it was dismissed when I remembered that Keith rarely cared.
He 'hmm'ed softly. "Does that matter?"
"It hurts." As soon as I had made the slightest movement a stabbing pain had started, a ghost of the rock that had struck.
"I'll get Master Zhuzhen then—"
"No."
Though there was no light in the room, I could feel Keith's eyes on me. How had he known I was awake, anyways? Could vampires see in the dark? The idea that he could watch me when I couldn't see him made me tug the blanket covering my body over my face.
"It's not that bad. He already healed me, didn't he?"
"Yes, but if you are still in pain…"
"It's not that bad," I repeated.
"I'll just tell him that you are awake then. He was quite worried about you." Old floorboards gave a slight creak as he rose and left the room. I pulled down the blanket from over my face and saw that the door was ajar, letting a band of light stretch to the bed. There were others awake too.
Keith may or may not have told Zhuzhen that I was in pain. Whatever he said, the Adept was worried enough that he came to check on me.
"Zhuzhen, how long have I been asleep?"
"Last time I looked it was past three," he said. The hallway light shone off his monocle but barely touched his face; however, he had stumbled with his words, at first speaking the Chinese he was more accustomed to.
"Three in the morning? You should go to sleep, aren't we going to work tomorrow?" I asked him, remembering Gismot had said we had a few jobs on the table.
"We have to leave. That woman might be one of Bacon's lackeys…and if he knows you're here there will only be more."
"She was," I groaned, and then something even worse occurred to me. "Sasha...it must have been him."
Zhuzhen's fatigue was made evident by the lengthy pause. "Did Sasha know we were staying here?"
"I…I don't remember telling him, but I might've, or—" I clapped a hand to my forehead as a headache started. With my other hand I rubbed at my eyes to force back the tears.
The adept shook his head. "Alice, stop. What's done is done."
"I know. I'm sorry." Had Sasha told Roger Bacon we were staying here? He must have, or else how else would Roger Bacon have known where to find me?
"You made a mistake, but he's the one to blame," Zhuzhen replied. "He wasted the chance you gave him." He looked away, towards one of the shadowy corners of the room, and shook his head again. "Well, your injury seems fine enough. There's not much I can do for it besides a healing spell, and honestly—"
"No, I understand, you're tired." I forced a smile. "I'm tired as well. Thank you for healing me."
"If you're still not feeling well in the morning, tell me. We'll probably start out after breakfast." With that Zhuzhen rose from the bed and left, closing the door. Once again there was complete darkness, and the soft, warm bed beneath me, but now there was the persistent ache of my wound. Sasha had wasted the chance I'd given him…had I sacrificed my soul to the Masks for nothing?
Author's Note: I didn't like this chapter so much, maybe because it's just so short compared to the others, but at least it's done.
There was an error in one of the previous chapters, where Alice knew that Margarete was in Rouen, when in fact she was supposed to find that out in this chapter. The mistake is fixed now, but if anyone was confused about that, you know why.