Page 71 of The Book of Unwritten Stories

Morana smiled at them, terrified of letting them down. She looked down at the parchment in her fingers and read the words inside her head, slowly and three times over just like the aunts had told her to. When that was done, she tucked it into the linen pouch, clasped that in one hand then began to sip the tea, imagining it was Sambuca or vodka shots. When she’d finished, she let out a loud burp.

‘Ladies, I’m not going to lie. That was the worst thing I’ve ever drank in my entire life, and I’ve been to some shady bars in my time.’

Sephy laughed. ‘I’ll work on a better tasting version. Thank you, how do you feel?’

‘Sick.’

Sephy’s face was stricken with worry.

‘I’m okay though, just a bit queasy that’s all. I’m sure it will wear off soon.’

‘Oh, we need to talk about Hades. Has anyone seen him today? We saw him outside Gulu-Gulu and then he took off and we haven’t seen him since.’

‘He did?’ asked Lenny.

Dora nodded.

‘Can I use the bathroom?’ Morana smiled at them all.

‘Of course, it’s the palest pink door on the left upstairs.’

Morana stood up and closed the kitchen door softly behind her. She needed to get out of here. It was too much. Her eyes were watering so much and she didn’t want to cry in front of these wonderful women who would try to comfort her. She wasn’t sure she could accept their comfort – it would be so strange after a lifetime of loneliness. Why had her father abandoned her when she’d needed him the most? Why had he never come home to visit and see how she was? It didn’t make sense and she needed a little time to herself to process everything because her entire life as she knew it had been flipped inside out.

* * *

She snuck out of the front door, a horrible taste in her mouth from Sephy’s tea, clutching the bag with the crystals that Lenny had given to her, but her heart felt full, even though the grief for Addison was tearing it in two. She was going to find Hades, then Clara, and get the book back. She had caused all of this. She would be the one to put an end to it.

FIFTY-SIX

Morana could not see the bird anywhere. She had checked the Old Burying Point Cemetery where she had first met him. Then she had followed her usual route home, the entire time checking the rooftops and trees along the way. There was a sickness inside of her stomach not just from the tea. She could feel that something was wrong, yet she didn’t know exactly what.

When she reached her apartment she hurried inside. It was cold in here, but it wasn’t as dark as it had been. This time when she turned on the light she could see into the corners, and she blew out a long breath. Thank you, crazy, beautiful aunts. She was unsure whether it was because The Book of Black Magic was not currently in her possession or because of Sephy’s awful tea and Lenny’s protection pouch. Either way what mattered was that she felt lighter, though not better. She didn’t know how she would ever cope with the grief of what had happened to her best friend. She grabbed her phone off the corner of the sofa and went to close the window that she’d left open for Hades.

The sea breeze was chilly tonight. As she stared out of the window, she saw a black cloud in the distance; it wasn’t a rain cloud. It was more like the shadow that had been hanging over this apartment building. She stared, convinced she saw a flash of red and purple shoot up into that cloud and her heart skipped a beat. Someone was using The Book of Black Magic, she was sure of it. Is that where Hades was? Had he been drawn to Clara now because she was in possession of the book? That would make sense. He was in danger though because if he thought Morana was mean she was a pussy cat compared to Clara. Tucking her phone into her hoody pocket she ran down the stairs out onto the street and headed in the direction of the dark shadow. It was leading away from the wharf area towards the House of the Seven Gables.

A brilliant red spark flew up in the air and Morana began to jog towards the historic waterfront mansion.

She reached the entrance of the red brick pedestrian walkway, noticing the car park was empty, and she realised it was closed for the evening. A loud cawing noise came from behind the entrance building, making her run towards the exit at the back, where there was a turnstile for visitors to leave through. She clambered over it and then she was squeezing through the gate that hadn’t been closed properly.

Trying not to breathe too heavily, she tiptoed her way into the gardens. The house was even more stunning than the Witch House, all splendid in black. There were seven peaks that formed the building giving it its name, but it wasn’t the house Morana was interested in. Clara would have to have serious friends to gain access to it after dark when it was closed and, somehow, she didn’t think Clara was the kind of woman who had any of those. She got the impression Clara led an even lonelier life than she did. The irony wasn’t lost on Morana. If she hadn’t met Dora and her aunts, this could be her in a few years, and she realised now more than ever that she did not want to be that woman, cold and all alone.

Another squawk came from the gardens near to the edge of the property that looked down onto the sea. Morana peeked through the beautiful wisteria-covered walkway to see Clara in a long black dress, and in front of her on the grass was a black cauldron in which she had lit a fire that was glowing brightly. On a table to the side of her was a small cage with Hades inside and next to him was The Book of Black Magic that kept sending out tiny zaps of red and purple into the night sky. Morana thought about sending Dora a message then realised she didn’t even have her phone number. She closed her eyes and tried to send her an SOS message then looked at the house and tried to send that image too. No idea if she was delusional or if she could use her newfound power to do some good.

Nervous that she didn’t know what to do, she hesitated, until Clara, who was rubbing the palms of her hands together, pulled a small dagger out of her pocket and turned towards the cage.

‘I’m going to need you to keep still in a moment, bird. It won’t hurt. I’ll make it quick.’

‘Help, help, help.’ Hades was cawing into the night. Then he began to let out loud non-stop caws, and Morana understood he was calling for help from his fellow crows. She hoped to God there were enough of them nearby to hear him and attack that wizened old witch. Maybe peck her eyes out for good measure. Clara must have noticed what he was doing, as she opened the cage, grabbing him by the throat. He began to flap his wings wildly and try to peck at her hands.

‘Let him go.’

Clara slowly turned to face Morana, her grip on the bird’s neck tight as she tucked him under her arm so he couldn’t fight with her.

‘I should have known you would turn up. Go home, this is not for you.’

‘I think you should go home, it’s not for you either. You have no authority here.’

Clara laughed, the sound shrill as it pierced the night. ‘You stupid, delusional girl, get out of here and let me be. I told you we’ll discuss this at the council meeting.’