Enchanted High Book I

The warm morning sun began to shine through the tent in thin rays of light, seeping between the fabrics.

June blinked her eyes open and looked around, warmth flooding through her skin. There were two masses heaving up and down; Nicole and Dominic breathed underneath the comfort of their sleeping bags. The sleeping bag that lay on the ground beside June was empty.

She rubbed her eyes and leaned on her elbow. Tilting her head to look outside, she saw the silhouette of a seated, hunched boy. Stretching as she stood up and careful not to awake Nicole and Dominic, she walked outside.

‘Hey,’ said June, shielding her eyes from the sun. It was rising, a semi-circle over the sand dune, golden light pouring from it profusely.

‘Morning,’ said James.

‘You’re awake early,’ June leaned, sitting beside him on the soft sand. She looked down into the valley. Her fingers played with the sand, picking up mounds of it from either side of her, and letting them slip through.

‘I couldn’t sleep.’ James replied and turned to look at her. The light made her skin glow like an angel; strands of hair brushed over her face and again he forced himself to ignore it.

‘Bad dream?’

James barely shrugged and stared back at the sunrise.

The pair sat staring into the distance unable to break the silence with words.

As the sun went higher and higher into the sky, it brightened up the steep sand dune they had camped before. And that’s when June noticed something – a spot of air shimmering.

‘Can you see that?’

James looked in the direction she was pointing. ‘What is it?’

June stood up and dusted herself. ‘I don’t know.’

‘It must be this heat,’ said James replied. ‘We must be hallucinating.’

June was sure she wasn’t hallucinating. She grabbed his arm and jerked him towards the bottom of the dune.

They stared, half blinded by the rising sun, as a rippling image of a brick wall formed.

June tightened her grip on James’s hand.

‘Is that the same building that was invisible last night?’ James asked.

‘I think so,’ she said.

‘But that was far off that side of the desert,’ said James, pointing over the horizon. Indeed, they had driven quite a distance the night before, and they had left this invisible building far behind as well.

‘Maybe it followed us?’ suggested June.

The top half of the building was now fully formed. Gradually the brick wall began to develop as each sun ray shone on it.

Moments later, an entire gateway stood ahead of them. It looked similar to the entrance of Enchanted High, June noted. The only difference was; this strange building looked a lot more ancient. Its walls were filled with cracks; the metal bars were all rusted and half of it was buried in sand.

‘We should call Charlie and the others,’ James whispered.

June looked back at the tent. There was no sign of movement.

‘No, they’re still asleep,’ she said. ‘Let’s go inside.’

‘What? But – it could be dangerous –’

But June wasn’t listening.

She walked towards the metal gate; it casted a great shadow over her as if trying to intimidate her; but she was not the least intimidated, if not intrigued by its existence. She felt as if she had visited the place before ... some magical memory that she had experienced here.

She approached the gate and looked down at the handle; staring back at her was a stone statue of a snake, eyes glistening with rubies.

‘What’s wrong?’ James tensed.

‘It’s just that Lock Guardian Professor Silong spoke to us about.’

‘June – it won’t open for intruders.’

But again June wasn’t listening. She held the handle of the doors firmly.

Instantly the snake turned a bright orange and slithered away, disappearing when it reached the brick of the wall.

James looked surprised. ‘What...?’

June shot him a smile, yanked open the double doors and stepped inside with James following.

‘But how did it open for you?’ James kept mumbling. ’That thing only opens with a certain person’s touch that’s its familiar with...′

And again, June wasn’t listening.

She was admiring the beautiful building they were in.

Or, rather, the beautiful buildings; indeed, there was an entire village. The exterior walls surrounding the village were there to protect it. Inside, there were many other buildings; houses, stalls, vegetable markets, stables that must have once housed horses. And directly above it, was the clear blue sky.

And it wasn’t empty. A mother was standing and buying vegetables from a nearby cart and her six year old son was running around the place; a group of girls were drawing on a rock with a piece of chalk. There was a rowdy bunch of men seated on a withered round table, laughing and gambling with a deck of cards. A woman with two kids stood at the entrance of her home and kissed her husband bye for his day off to work.

June also saw a young girl who seemed strangely familiar. She even had a strange feature to her; parts of her hand and face sparkled; she had scales. The girl was trying to mount a camel. She had managed to reach onto its back, before she fell off into the hands of her father.

June laughed. It felt like she was staring at a memory.

‘Did I say something funny?’

June snapped around. Behind her was James, staring at her with raised eyebrows.

‘Huh?’

‘Did I say something funny?’ he repeated.

‘No.’

‘Then why were you laughing?’

‘There –’ June turned and pointed at the spot where she saw the girl and the camel but stopped short.

There was no one there.

The woman buying vegetables with her son had gone. The group of girls drawing on the rock had gone. The group of gambling men had gone. Everyone and everything was gone.

June had imagined the people.

‘I –’ June felt a sinking sensation. She felt her head short circuit and then she fell.

‘You’re so stupid.’ A girl called out. All her friends burst out laughing, evil laughs that could’ve only praised the devil.

‘Not as stupid as you!’ June screamed back but very soon, she regretted her words. She covered her mouth to prevent anymore outbursts.

‘What did you say?’ The head girl of the group said in a tone that June wasn’t comfortable with.

June didn’t reply.

The girl walked to her again, her brunette curls bouncing as she approached June. She stood so close to her, June had to step back and lean on the tree behind her. She wanted to move; June would never allow herself to be bullied, or seem weak; but it was like she was in another body, being controlled by that person’s thoughts and character.

‘Aww, are you gonna cry?’ The girl wiped fake tears from her face. Her friends burst into another roar of laughter behind her. The girl grinned, turning to look at her crowd. When she turned to look at June again, she wore a harsh expression.

‘You’re not allowed to reply to me when I tell you something.’ She pinched June’s cheek and smiled smugly. ‘That’s more like it.’ She tapped June on the head and walked away with her army of perfectly groomed girls trotting behind her.

Their laughter echoed in June’s mind.

‘Look – she’s waking up.’

June opened her eyes to see James staring back at her. She looked at Nicole, who was standing behind him, also staring at her, eyes wide in worry.

‘Yes, Charlie, you were right,’ Dominic’s voice floated in from outside, ‘there is a village here.’ Pause. ‘Yeah ... fine.’

June looked back at James and blinked the whiteness out of her vision. The tent spun around several times, and she had to lay her head against the pillow to stop the nausea. ‘What happened?’

James frowned. ‘You fainted after we went into the village.’

‘Oh.’

‘I’ll get you some water.’ Nicole said and shuffled through the bag.

James studied June carefully. ‘What happened back there?’

‘I don’t know. I saw all these people ...’ she massaged her head. ‘And I was sure I recognized them from somewhere.’

‘Oh,’ said James. ‘Okay, don’t worry about it now, we have to go back to search for the tree,’ he paused. ‘Unless you would like to stay –’

‘No,’ June replied.

‘Really, I don’t think you should –’

‘I’m going back,’ said June, in a tone which clearly finalized her decision. And once she made up her mind, there was no overwriting it.

I’ve been through a lot of dangerous situations. But the most dangerous thing that trumps it all is when my boss is quiet. I mean, she’s a very inward person, but she’d usually say a few things here and there. Other times - the dangerous times - she’s extra silent. She’s thinking. And, oh, I’ve learnt that when she is in this state, it’s in your best interest to stay at least a running distance away from her.

Right now, she is in this state. I write this note while sitting at the end of the dining table. She is at the other end. I figure I have a quick escape to my room, just in case.

Love from all the fur on my back,

--THUG.