First Frost (9 page)

Bianca tried to remember everything she learned with Rose. She tried to concentrate on a spell, a thought, anything that could help her mother. She closed her eyes and tried to concentrate on her fire spell…or anything that would work for her at the moment.

Lenore laughed and said, “You’re joking. All right, I’ll play. Let’s see what you’re made of.”

Bianca thought her heart was going to burst out of her chest. She took several deep breaths before stepping out of her house and into the front yard. She put every thought, every ounce of energy she had into her hands, just like Rose taught her to.

“Humph. Looks like I have to crush a little fly,” Lenore said to Rose. “Don’t go anywhere.” She muttered a spell and vines sprouted from the ground, covering Rose’s body. She struggled to free herself, but the more she fought the tighter the vines held on to her.

Suddenly, Bianca could feel everything: the grass beneath her feet, the wind flowing all around her, the blood rushing through Lenore’s body, and her mother’s beating heart. Bianca’s breathing quickened. She didn’t understand any of what she was feeling. What did it mean? This was without a doubt a brand new sensation to her. She wished this wasn’t happening in the middle of her first real fight. She wanted so desperately to be able to speak to her mother about what she was experiencing and why. But it would have to wait for another day. If she succeeded, then she and Rose would be able to speak about it that same night. Bianca wasted no time. She attacked. She threw every spell she could think of at Lenore.

The witch was able to deflect Bianca’s spells, save for one, which hit her squarely in the chest. It knocked her down momentarily. Lenore snarled as she got up, showing off row after row of yellowed crooked teeth.

A shiver ran down Bianca’s spine as her eyes locked with Lenore’s. She had never seen anyone so devoid of humanity and compassion. This wasn’t a woman anymore; this creature before her was more monster than human.

Bianca used a fire spell and instead of directing it at Lenore, she threw the spell at the vines that had ensnared her mother. The vines were ablaze within moments. Rose was free, but it was short lived. As soon as Rose got up, Lenore leapt and landed on top of her knocking them both on the ground. Lenore tried to claw Rose’s eyes out, but she grabbed the evil witch’s wrists, and they struggled with each other for what felt like an eternity.

Bianca grabbed the shovel that rested on the fence and hit Lenore on the back. She howled, but kept her attention on Rose. The hatred she had for Bianca’s mother oozed out of her. If she hadn’t been thrashing as she was, Bianca was certain she could touch the feelings that surrounded Lenore. Bianca was ready to strike her once more, but all of a sudden she was blinded by a bright green flash that knocked her back several feet.

Bianca landed gracelessly on the ground with a heavy thud.

“Not bad, little one. But I don’t have time to play with you anymore,” Lenore said.

Lenore muttered a spell under her breath and opened a portal. A swirl of shadows sucked up what little light there was available.

“Find the spell book and you will get your mother back, though I can’t guarantee she’ll be in one piece when you do,” she said as she dragged Rose by her hair.

“No! Wait! I don’t know where it is,” Bianca shouted. She tried to stand up, but her legs gave out. She was still trying to recover from being thrown several feet in the air.

“Find it,” Lenore snapped.

“No!” Bianca shouted as she struggled to walk toward the portal. It closed before she could go through it and save her mother.

“Oh, God. What do I do? What do I do?” Bianca muttered.

She lost all sensation in her legs. She fell to the ground, unable to do anything except breathe. The night felt colder, the crickets seemed to mock her. She looked up at the sky and the stars laughed at her. They no longer seemed to wink at her playfully like she had always thought as a child. Everything just seemed wrong, distorted, and ruined, as though she were in an alternate universe.

Then she heard a little tinkling sound. It took her a moment to realize that it was her cell-phone ringing. Her fingers were numb as she pulled it out of her pocket.

“Hello,” she said as she flipped it open.

“Hey, B. Did you wanna come over and watch the rest of
30 Rock
? My mom bought popcorn and I think there are still some Sour Patch Kids from the last time you were here.” It was Ming.

“Ming, I can’t…I can’t go anywhere right now.” Bianca didn’t even know how to explain what happened.

“What’s wrong?”

“Mom…Mom’s been kidnapped.”

“What? By who? Have you called the police?”

All of these were valid questions, only Bianca didn’t know how to answer any of them.

“I can’t call the police. They won’t find her. I don’t even know where to start looking for her.”

“Umm…have you seen
CSI?
They can find anyone.”

“This isn’t a TV show, Ming,” Bianca said, trying very hard not to scream at her friend.

“Sorry, just trying to help. Why would someone kidnap your mom? She wouldn’t hurt a fly,” she said.

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.” Never in a million years, did Bianca think she would ever have to use that sentence.

“I’m your best friend. If you can’t tell me, who can you tell?”

Bianca remained silent as she thought about whether or not she should tell Ming everything.

“Helloooo? Bianca? You still there? I can hear you breathing.”

“Fine. You wanna know what happened?”

“Yes, please.”

“A witch took my mother. A freaking evil witch took my mom and told me she’d kill her if I don’t give her a spell book. And to top it off? I don’t know where the stupid book is, so my mom may as well be dead!”

Her confession was met with silence. “Hello? Ming?”

“Sorry. Yeah…umm…I’ll be right over.”

“Okay, but come alone,” Bianca said.

“Okay.”

Bianca looked at the spot her mother had vanished from. There were black singe marks where Lenore had attacked Rose using her fireballs and the second singe mark from where Bianca had used fire to free her mother. It’d worked, but the more she thought about it, the more she wondered if it could’ve changed everything had she just let her mother free herself. She cried out in frustration. No matter how she played it out in her mind, she still would’ve done everything the exact same way.

Even though she had seen it happen first hand, she still couldn’t believe it. How could Rose be there one moment and gone the next. Poof! Just like that. Gone.

“This can’t be real,” she whispered.

Bianca closed her eyes tightly and thought to herself,
Wake up. Wake up from this nightmare. Mom is gone. Dad is gone. I’m all alone. Wake up. This has to be a nightmare. Wake up!

She opened her eyes and half expected to appear in her bed with the bright morning sun shooing all the bad things back into their hiding places. But all she could see was the pale moon hanging overhead and reminding her of the things that were wrong in the world.

She went inside and waited for Ming to arrive. The house felt empty and vacant of the love and soul that made it a home. Without her mother, the house was nothing but walls and a roof.

Everywhere she looked she was reminded of her mother’s absence. Helpless. That was how she felt, completely and utterly helpless. There was no one to turn to. No one to tell her what she should do next. No one to tell her that everyone would be okay. Before she knew it, she burst into tears and sobbed so much that her body folded itself in half. She watched as her tears pooled on the hardwood floor. It felt like hours had passed by when she finally heard Ming’s car pull up on the driveway.

She wiped her tears away and tried to pull herself back together. Ming turned the car off, and Bianca heard her friend’s footsteps as she ran to the front door. Before she could lift her hand to knock, Bianca opened the door and let her best friend inside the house. Bianca locked the door behind them. Ming hugged Bianca and did her best to sooth her dearest and oldest friend.

“What happened?” Ming asked gently.

Bianca then told her everything that had happened. When she finally finished speaking, Ming said, “That’s just…” Ming struggled to find the right word.

“Incredible?” Bianca said.

“Crazy. This is just twenty different kinds of crazy, B. I mean…I believe you because there’s no way you’d make something like this up, but that’s what I have to say about it.”

“Yeah…it’s definitely crazy,” Bianca agreed.

“What do we do now?”

Bianca looked at the clock on the living room wall. It was already eleven o’clock. She was bruised and dirty. Every bone in her body ached. Her head was pounding, and her temples ached. She kept massaging them, hoping that it would somehow help to ease the pain, but it was hopeless. Besides it wasn’t like she could go lie down and sleep it off, she had work to do.

“Right now? I gotta cover that broken window with a tarp or something and I need to tear this house apart and find that book.”

“Well…I’m gonna help you.”

“Really?” Bianca asked.

“Of course,” Ming replied.

“Thanks.” Bianca smiled.

“Do you want me to stay the night?”

Bianca nodded. She didn’t want to be alone in the house. Not after everything that happened. Even with Ming close by, she was terrified. Every sound made her want to leap out of her skin. Then the air conditioner turned itself on. It made a loud clanking sound whenever it was ready start. Bianca flinched and began to tremble.

“It’s just the AC. Calm down,” Ming said.

“Sorry, it’s just…you didn’t see what I saw. You have no idea what I’m up against.” Bianca rubbed her arms to try to get rid of the goose bumps that riddled her skin.

“Don’t worry, we’ll figure it out,” Ming tried to reassure her.

Bianca wished she could make Ming understand, but she didn’t have the patience at that moment.

“You wanna call your mom?” Bianca asked.

“Nah, I already told her I’d crash here.”

“Thanks.” Bianca did her best to smile.

“No problem. That’s what best friends are for.”

Ming went to her car and grabbed her overnight bag. Bianca remembered that they had an old black tarp at the bottom of the pantry from the last time they’d painted the living room. She grabbed a roll of duct-tape and together they taped the old paint spattered tarp to the broken window. Bianca double-checked the doors and windows to make sure everything was locked. It was something her mother did every night before she went to bed. Bianca took some comfort in keeping that routine alive.

Bianca threw herself on the couch and took a moment to catch her breath. She thought about where the book could be. Where should she start looking? What did it even look like? These thoughts plagued her mind.

What if I don’t find the book? What happens then? What if Mom dies because I failed? I’ll be an orphan. I’ll be all alone. What will happen then?

The thought of being an orphan terrified her. Losing her father had been awful, but it was bearable because at least she still had her mother. Her mind was plagued with questions, worries, and other random thoughts.

Eventually…sleep found her. She didn’t even realize it had happened. Her face slumped on the armrest. Her black hair fanned across her eyes like a makeshift mask. That night she dreamt of dying animals, a tangle of spider webs, and Lenore’s cruel laughter.

Chapter Seven

Bianca woke with a start. She looked around…confused. She had a cranberry red blanket draped over her. It slid off her body as she sat up and rubbed her eyes. She glanced out the window and saw that it was still dark out. The neon green numbers on the DVD player told her that it was five o’clock in the morning. Ming had made herself at home. Her best friend had fallen asleep right next to her. Bianca smiled when she noticed that Ming was using her pink
Hello Kitty
sleeping bag. She groaned, unable to believe that she had let herself fall asleep when they had so much work to do. Bianca rolled her neck and shoulders, doing her best to get rid of the kinks from having fallen asleep at such an odd angle.

“Ming,” she whispered.

“Hmm?”

“Ming, wake up.”

“Five more minutes,” Ming muttered and then turned to her side.

“Fine. Five more minutes and then we need to start looking for that book.”

“Okeydokey.”

While Ming slept for a few more moments, Bianca went into her mother’s bedroom and did a quick search for the book in there. But the more she thought about it, the less likely it seemed that the book would be in her house.

What would Mom do?

“Hmm.”

If I had my daughter in my house, I would do everything possible to keep her safe. So I would keep the book as far away from here as humanly possible.

And that was when she knew that the book was at the museum. It was the only other place it could be.