~6~

"Mel, your vile is boiling over!" Cried a second girl from somewhere inside the room.

The girl with the green eyes and hair every bit as red as Macarias' returned to her spot at a desk that sat beneath an old wavy glass window. The desk was littered with old books, stray papers, and jars upon jars of herbs and mysterious liquids. In the center of the clutter, a dark red froth was bubbling over the rim of the clear glass vile. The girl let out a stream of curses, as she began Filling the small vile with random herbs in hopes that it would calm the brew.

The room was three times as big as hers back at her father's manor. On the right, the wall was completely hidden by a beautiful oak bookshelf, and above her, a black iron candlestick chandelier hung. Two girls were sitting on one of five beds that lined the back wall. Only one of the girls glanced up at Ivory as she entered the room. The girl had icy blonde hair and Honey eyes. Her face was half-hidden behind a fan of playing cards.

"You can just hang your Cloak there," said Macaria, pointing to a coat stand near the door Which was already dressed in three other cloaks.

One Cloak had crimson seams, and the other two had dark gold and purple.

"Who wears those?" Asked Ivory, as she hung up her white seamed Cloak.

"The purple ones are for Enchanters; you know, enchantresses and warlocks." Answered Macaria, as she too hung her Cloak.

"And those?"

"The red is for the demons and the gold is for the gods"

"Didn't Josephine explain this to you on the way?" Asked the red-haired girl who was tending to her brew.

"Erm..."

"Ivory, this is my twin sister, Melinoe Ward ." Said Macaria.

"Sitting over there, Rowen Brown." Said Macaria, as she pointed to one of the girls seated on the bed. She had light brown hair, dark brown eyes, and a face full of tiny freckles.

"...And that little blond one is Avery Ruse."

Macaria was now motioning towards the girl with the icy blonde hair and Honey colored down-turned eyes that resembled those of a doll. She had a strange sort of beauty to her.

"How do you do?" Said Ivory, eyeing each of the three girls in turn.

"Fine, thank you" answered the girl called Rowen Brown.

"Ivory," Macaria began, "you really must rest. Tomorrow will be a long day for you."

Ivory nodded, then stopped.

"Which one is mine?" She asked, pointing to the five beds.

"This one," said Rowen, as she placed a playing card in front of her.

Avery peered over her own cards, then sighed in defeat, as she handed over her remaining handful of cards.

"Shoo you two!" Demanded Macaria. Rowen rolled her eyes as she and Avery moved to the bed to the right of Ivory's.

"Go play on your own beds!" Barked Melinoe. "Go on!"

Rowen stuck out her tongue at Melinoe; an action which was immediately mirrored back to her by Melinoe herself.

"There you are Ivory, the washroom is just through that door if you need to change."

Ivory thanked Macaria, then proceeded through the door.

Ivory was the last one to fall asleep. Mostly she just laid there staring up at the dark, shadow-covered ceiling.

She watches as the dark phantom limbs of the old Willow tree that stood guard just outside the window swayed back and forth in the chilly night.

Back and forth and back and forth they went. She watches until her eyes grew heavier and heavier with every hypnotic movement. And before she knew it, each dark form of a creaky branch had slowly joined together to form one big shadowy image.

Ivory was now looking at an unmistakable silhouette of a young girl. Ever so slowly, the shadow began to melt from the ceiling and down the walls, until it gave the believable illusion that the girl was standing on her own.

Ivory stared, unmoving, and unable to look away, as the shadow began to walk along the walls, and back towards the window.

It stopped just beside the window and hesitantly extended an arm. Ivory still watched her, fascinated and transfixed.

A reflection of a ghostly white arm appeared in the window, the girl's entire body.

The girl was rather thin and had heavily lidded eyes, long springy curls, and a dress that looked to be from another time period. Though Ivory did not know which one.

Ivory's eyes widened as the ghost girl opened her mouth to speak. Her words came out breathless and broken, but Ivory had understood them plainly.

"Fine, the dead key..." Is what she had said, and nothing more.

A sickening sensation had overcome Ivory suddenly. Then, she was pulled into the darkest parts of her mind. Where there was no light, no feeling; nothing.

After a minute or two, they had regained consciousness. And when she opened her eyes again, the sun, a familiar friend, was pouring in through the window. And the girl was gone.