Everett was standing inside the library door, waiting for us.
He knew I’d be back.
“Feeling better?” he asked.
“Feeling like I hope I’m not making a big mistake,” I answered brusquely.
I walked right past him and headed for the far side of the library, with Theo and Lu right behind me. Everett joined the parade that would end at the door that would send us back into the story of Ainsley Murcer…and the witches of the Black Moon Circle.
“Anything new show up in the book?” Lu asked.
“Not a word,” Everett replied. “I believe this is what you would call the calm before the storm.”
“I hope we’re not too late,” Theo said.
“You won’t be,” Everett said. “My guess is you’ll arrive at Coppell at the same time of day as when you left home.”
“I don’t understand that,” Theo said. “You said time has no meaning here.”
“It doesn’t,” Everett said. “The Library exists whenever the story needs it to. Right now we need to exist on the morning of Samhain.”
“How does it know that?” Lu asked.
Everett held up the red book and said, “Because Marcus has the book checked out.”
“That’s like…magic,” Lu said.
Everett gave her a wink. “That’s the Library.”
I reached the far door and stopped, turning to face Everett.
“That’s a little too loose for me,” I said. “How much time do we have before things get nasty?”
“If Lu is correct, and I believe she is, nothing will happen until the evening festivities.”
“When all those kids are together in one place at the dance,” Theo said somberly. “What a nightmare.”
“Find the altar and destroy it,” Everett said. “That’ll stop the ascent of the high priestess and break the hex the coven has put on you.”
“What about Ainsley?” Lu asked.
“If the power of the coven is taken away, there’s a good chance that bond will be severed as well.”
“Only ‘a good chance’?” Lu asked.
“Witchcraft isn’t an exact science, lass. All we can do is stop the disruption and hope for the best.”
“So where do we look for this altar?” I asked.
“It must be near the school,” Everett said. “That’s where all the activity has been centered. Look for a place large enough for the coven to gather but also hidden so an innocent wouldn’t accidently stumble upon it.”
“The school building is ancient,” Theo said. “And huge. It could be hidden in some remote, dark wing that isn’t used anymore.”
The four of us looked at each other. There was nothing more to add.
“Lots of unfinished books in this library,” I said to Everett. “Are they all this dangerous?”
“Not all,” Everett said.
“That’s a relief,” Theo said.
“Just most of ’em,” Everett added.
I gave him a sharp look. He shrugged innocently.
I opened the door that led into the boys’ bathroom at Coppell Middle School.
“Empty,” Theo said. “That’s good. I don’t know how we’d explain being in the bathroom closet.”
“That’s the least of our worries,” I said. “Let’s go hunt us some witches.”
I stepped into the bathroom, with Lu and Theo right behind me.
We were back in the story.
“What time is it?” I asked, leading them quickly out of the bathroom.
The corridor was full of kids between classes. The three of us froze for an instant, confused. The school had turned into a twisted fun house. There were hoboes and zombies, princesses and giant cats walking on two legs. And, yes, there were even a few witches with green faces and tall pointed hats.
Lu put it together first.
“It’s Halloween,” she said. “Trick or treat.”
The realization made me relax. Slightly.
“It’s eleven-thirty,” Theo announced, pointing to a wall clock. “Lunchtime.”
“Find Ainsley,” I said to Lu. “Stay close to her. If we don’t find that altar, it may come down to us keeping her from going to the dance.”
“What about me?” Theo asked.
“You and I are going to search the school for that altar. Let’s all meet out front at the end of the school day.”
“Got it,” Lu said, and took off without another word.
I looked to Theo and said, “If anything happens to me, you keep searching.”
Theo seemed a lot more nervous than he had been the night before. Maybe he was having second thoughts about this adventure. Or third thoughts. Or fourth. Theo was a thinker.
We walked quickly through the sea of costumed kids until we found a set of swinging doors that led to a stairwell.
“All righty,” Theo said nervously. “Up or down?”
“Basement,” I answered with authority. “We’ll start low and work our way up.”
Theo took a deep, nervous breath and the two of us started down. When we hit the bottom of the stairs, we were only on the ground floor. We had to hunt for another way to the basement. The corridor was empty, since most of the kids were eating lunch, but there were enough stragglers around that Theo and I didn’t stand out. We hurried along, passing the school office, the nurse’s station, and, finally, the library. I glanced in through a window to see a bunch of kids hanging out. Like at our school, Coppell’s library was a social center.
Kayla was there. I’d almost forgotten about the shy, silent girl. She was at the circulation desk with a book. She dropped it on the counter in front of the librarian…and I nearly screamed. I grabbed Theo’s shirt like it was a lifeline to reality.
“What?” he asked with surprise.
My heart raced and my head spun. I pushed Theo back so neither of us could be seen through the library window.
“You getting dizzy again?” he asked.
I opened my mouth but could barely form words.
“It’s her,” I said. “The librarian.”
Theo took a cautious peek through the window.
“What about her?” he asked.
“The witch from the forest.”
Theo instantly flung himself backward and pressed himself against the wall next to me.
“You sure?” he asked, his voice rising two octaves.
I risked taking another cautious look.
The woman smiled at Kayla, took her book, and scanned it to check it out. It was all so normal. She looked nothing like a witch but it was definitely her. She wore a plaid skirt and a navy-blue sweater instead of the long, old-fashioned white dress, but I recognized her jet-black hair and golden eyes.
When she finished with Kayla, the librarian waved to another lady behind the counter.
“I’m going to grab some lunch in the cafeteria,” she said. “Can I get you anything?”
“Thanks, no, Ms. Tomac,” the lady replied.
“Okay, back soon.”
Ms. Tomac. That was her name. I wondered if it was made up or if she’d used it since the seventeenth century. She rounded the counter, headed for the door, which was only a few yards away from Theo and me.
“She’s coming,” I said, and pushed Theo back a few steps.
There was nowhere to hide. If the witch came our way, she’d see me for sure.
Theo stopped at a water fountain.
“Drink,” he said, and pushed my head down toward the fountain and blocked me from Tomac’s view with his body.
The witch came out of the library, turned the other way, and hurried away from us.
“It’s okay,” Theo whispered.
I took a chance and straightened up to watch her.
“I thought she was getting lunch,” I said. “Cafeteria’s the other way.”
I moved to follow her, but Theo stopped me.
“Whoa. If she sees you, she’ll twist your head around again.”
“Yeah, but we gotta see where she’s going,” I said, and kept moving.
Theo followed reluctantly.
There was nothing remotely witchy about the woman. She looked every bit like a normal person. I began to wonder if I was mistaken.
She reached a fire door at the end of the corridor and blasted through with no hesitation.
“Come on,” I said, and we sprinted to catch up.
When we got to the door, I opened it cautiously, fearing she’d be waiting for us on the other side.
“Uh-oh,” Theo said.
Beyond the door was a stairwell that led down.
“I guess we found out how to get to the basement,” Theo said with dread.
Tomac had already gone down. Without stopping to think, I hurried after her. Theo closed the door gently and caught right up with me. As we descended, the air grew cooler. We were definitely going deep into the bowels of the school. The floor on the next level down was cement, not linoleum. We had hit bottom. There was only one way to go and that was through another set of heavy fire doors. I opened one of the doors cautiously and peeked in.
On the other side was a large room filled with stacks of supplies. There was everything from toilet paper to cleaning fluid to fluorescent lightbulbs. This was where the janitors stored the stuff that kept the school running. It was a labyrinth of cardboard boxes piled to the ceiling.
I took a tentative step forward, but Theo grabbed my shoulder to stop me. He shook his head. Can’t say that I blamed him. It was a dark basement, and there was no way to know if a witch lurked around the next turn.
I gently took his hand off my arm and gestured for him to stay put. He shook his head again. I guess being alone freaked him out more than coming with me, so the two of us moved on.
The only light came from old, bare lightbulbs hanging from the ceiling that were spaced so far apart there were more stretches of shadow than patches of light. I listened, hoping to hear footsteps that would tell us how far ahead the witch had gone, but I heard nothing.
Was this a trap? Did she know we were following her the whole time? Was she hiding in the shadows waiting for us to stumble by so she could throw another spell at us?
I walked forward slowly, with Theo right on my tail. Neither of us said anything for fear the witch would hear. Though the basement was cold, I was sweating like it were a sauna. We made a few turns past stacks of boxes. Each time I poked my head around a corner, I feared Tomac would be standing directly in our path.
Theo heard something and pulled on my shirt to stop me. He pointed to his ear as if to say, Listen. I heard it too. The sound was faint but distinct. It was a crunching sound, like the kind you make when you crack your knuckles. It kept going, the longest knuckle crack in history. I heard a whimper, as if the knuckle cracker was in pain. Theo and I took the chance and moved closer, creeping around a few more corners. The sound grew steadily louder and more intense. So did the pained whimpers. I had no idea what was happening, but it didn’t sound good.
Worse, it sounded gruesome.
I rounded yet another stack of boxes and stopped so suddenly that Theo ran into me from behind. The space ahead widened out into a workshop. There were long tables strewn with wrenches, hammers, saws, and screwdrivers. It was probably where the school’s maintenance staff worked. It looked nothing like a witch’s altar…
…but what we saw next to it was definitely straight-up witchlike.
The librarian stood in the center of the space with her back to us. At first I thought she was dancing, because she was moving in a slow rhythm, rolling her shoulders and swiveling her head. But there was no music and it was like no dance I had ever seen. With every movement, loud crunching sounds echoed through the room. It was both fascinating and gross.
Theo’s eyes were as big as headlights as we watched the woman squirm and twist, painfully contorting her body, letting out small sighs with each new pop and crack. It lasted for several seconds before we realized what was happening.
Tomac’s body was changing. It started slowly, but once under way, the transformation took only a few seconds. She crouched down near the floor and tucked her chin into her chest. With one last pained gasp, this human-looking witch turned into something completely different. Any hint of human shape was gone. The cracking grew frantic; her body writhed as if small animals were trying to poke out from beneath her skin; her dark clothing faded to white, and in seconds the librarian was gone.
In her place was the white wolf with the black blaze between its eyes.
Theo let out a small whine of shock.
I slapped my hand over his mouth. The last thing we needed was to be trapped in that basement with a vicious wolf-witch.
The beast shook like a dog that had just come out of the water, then scampered off, trotting deeper into the dark basement.
I looked to Theo, my hand still over his mouth. His eyes were comically wide and scared, but his body relaxed. He nodded as if to say, I’m okay, so I lowered my hand.
“We gotta follow it,” I whispered. “It could lead us to the altar.”
Theo looked into the darkness ahead as if debating whether to step into the unknown. He took a deep breath, exhaled, and nodded.
We hurried after the wolf without another word. It was critical for us to be quiet. If the witch had wolf hearing, there was an even greater chance of being discovered. I didn’t even want to think about whether or not she could smell us.
Theo and I moved quickly through the workshop and found ourselves walking past large steel tanks with lots of valves and gauges. They had to be the boilers that heated the school. They looked ancient, as if they’d been there for fifty years. The metal tanks cracked and pinged as steam moved through the overhead pipes on the way to the building above.
Running through the basement was like traveling back in time. We moved past the active boilers and found ourselves next to much older tanks that were no longer in use. Brown rust ran along every seam and dust caked the flat surfaces. These things hadn’t been used in years. It was probably more trouble to get them out than to leave them to rust.
Theo and I kept moving forward because there was nowhere else for the wolf to have gone. The overhead bulbs grew fewer and farther between, but at least they were still burning. The air grew colder too. I didn’t know if that was because we were moving away from the active boilers, or because we were going deeper underground.
The corridor narrowed and the steam pipes ended as we reached a wood-frame doorway. Beyond was darkness.
I stopped. As much as I wanted to find that altar, I wasn’t about to walk into the pitch dark after a supernatural wolf.
“This is the end of the foundation,” Theo whispered while tugging on his ear.
“Then what’s through there?” I asked.
“Maybe the remains of a different structure. This building has been here a long time. They probably built it around whatever was here before.”
I poked my head into the dark space, trying to get my eyes to adjust to the dark. It smelled like old, wet wood.
“It’s like finding an archaeological site,” Theo said.
“Or maybe the perfect place to hide a witch’s altar,” I added.
I took out my phone. I couldn’t get a signal, but the flashlight still worked. I aimed the beam at the floor, keeping the light from shooting too far ahead.
“Let’s go find it,” I said.
Theo’s curiosity was stronger than his fear. He followed me without hesitation through the doorway and even deeper into the past. What we found was a long, dark tunnel with a dirt floor. The walls were no longer cement blocks. Instead, they were made up of thousands of stones perfectly fitted to one another. The low ceiling was made of rotted wooden planks and more stones. It seemed like one sneeze and the whole thing would tumble down on our heads.
“We’re nowhere near the school anymore,” I whispered.
“This tunnel wasn’t part of the original building,” Theo whispered back. “Maybe it was built for something else.”
“Like what?”
He didn’t answer. He didn’t have to. We were both thinking the same thing. This tunnel could have been built by the witches when they first settled in Coppell.
We moved forward quickly but cautiously. Since I kept the beam of light on the dirt floor, we couldn’t see very far ahead.
“Ahhh!” Theo let out a muffled cry.
“What?” I whispered.
“Something grabbed me,” he whispered, frantic.
He was struggling with something I couldn’t see. I reached back to grab him, but my hand found something else instead. At first I thought it was a snake and nearly screamed, but I quickly realized the truth and kept calm.
“Roots,” I whispered. “From the trees over us.”
Roots dangled down like thick strands of hair. I shoved a few out of Theo’s way, causing a shower of dirt to rain down on us. We both covered our heads, expecting a cave-in. I held my breath and waited, but nothing else fell.
“Dumb roots,” Theo said, brushing the dirt out of his hair. Theo hated being dirty.
“Stay focused,” I whispered. “And be quiet!”
We continued on cautiously, holding our hands out to brush aside any other stray roots that might be in our way. My heart was pounding. I didn’t want to say it, but I was afraid the next thing we’d touch would be the fur of a wolf.
“Look,” Theo whispered, pointing ahead.
The tunnel continued for another thirty yards or so. At the end was a faint, warm glow. I turned off the flashlight and our eyes quickly adjusted enough for us to be able to shuffle forward without it. We must have walked a few hundred yards away from the school. But to where?
We slowed down when we reached another doorway framed by rotted wooden beams. Theo and I exchanged nervous looks. There was no turning back. We cautiously moved forward and poked our heads through the doorframe to see…
…a huge underground room.
It looked to be the subterranean foundation of an ancient building. The walls were made of the same type of rocks that we had seen in the tunnel. The ceiling was much higher than the tunnel, though it didn’t look to be any sturdier. It was at least twelve feet from the dirt floor and looked as if it would crumble if I so much as farted. Daylight filtered down through cracks in the uneven dome, giving the room an eerie glow.
The rotten ceiling planks were shored up by several columns of heavy, dark timber that looked to have been cut from the skeleton of an old ship. At least twenty columns ringed the room. Close to the walls and roughly five yards apart, they ran from floor to ceiling like a rack of ribs.
The ancient vault must have been a couple hundred years old, but what stood in the center of the cavern was much newer. It was a modern wire fence, the kind you see around a school playground. It formed a five-yard-wide circle that stretched nearly to the ceiling. A heavy padlock sealed off a hinged door. The fence was there to keep people out, and away from what was inside.
It was a table.
An old stone table.
An altar.
We’d found the hollow of the Black Moon Circle.
The altar was a large slab of granite, the size of a door, lying flat on top of two large stones. It was solid. Flintstone solid. It must have taken some serious muscle to get it down there. Or some serious witchcraft. The surface was around three feet off the ground and covered with candles of all shapes and sizes. None were lit, but they had been at one time: wax had dripped down from them and hardened on the slab’s surface. There were a few ancient-looking books open on top of the altar, as well as some hand tools that I couldn’t identify from where Theo and I stood.
I took a step closer, but Theo stopped me and pointed to the far side of the cavernous room.
The white wolf was there, prowling around the outside of the fence.
We backed off and ducked into the tunnel to stay out of sight.
The wolf did a few laps, then padded over to an archway on the opposite side of the cavern. She stood there for a moment, looking into the darkness.
I looked to Theo. What is she doing? Theo could only shrug.
The wolf suddenly threw her head back and let out a piercing howl that shook the ancient foundation. It kind of shook my confidence too. It was so sudden and so chilling that I had to cover my ears. It was a long, sustained wail that I feared might rattle the support columns and bring the ceiling crashing down on our heads.
The wolf stopped to take a breath, then wailed again.
I thought I’d go out of my mind. The sharp yowl was ghostly, as if coming from a creature not natural to this life, or any other. It cut through to some dark part of my brain and made me want to howl back. I think I might have, if the wolf hadn’t stopped suddenly. The cavern was once again silent. The wolf focused on the archway as if waiting for something.
Another sound grew louder. Something was moving beyond that archway, coming closer.
“I don’t want to be here,” Theo whispered.
A moment later, there was a flurry of activity at the mouth of the archway. The wolf’s howl suddenly made sense. She had sent out a call. A summons. A pack of white wolves flooded into the cavern, bounding over one another, growling and whining.
Theo took a step backward, and I had to force myself not to do the same. I had to see.
The wolves scrambled through the archway like a pack of wild animals. Because they were. I almost expected them to attack one another, snarling and nipping like angry dogs. But when they hit the open space, they fell into an intelligently formed line and circled the fence like they’d practiced the routine. Like perfectly trained dogs, they formed a circle around the fence until every last one had joined. Then, as if on cue, they all sat down facing out.
We had found the rest of the Black Moon Circle.
I had been so focused on the wolves that I hadn’t been watching the librarian-witch-wolf. Tomac. While the animal ballet was going on, she had transformed back into human form. Or was it witch form? She was wearing the long white dress I had first seen her in.
The animals sat quietly as Tomac strolled slowly around the circle, looking at each in turn, touching some on the chin and others on the top of the head, greeting them all individually. The animals looked up at her like obedient puppies. Big, scary puppies.
“Welcome home,” she announced to the group. Her voice was calm and sweet, as if she were about to read a bedtime story to this freaking pack of wolves.
“It has been such a long time since we were together last. Thirteen years. In some ways the blink of an eye, in others an eternity. We gathered here those many years ago to begin the ritual of the ascent. Tonight, it will be completed.”
She walked slowly and deliberately outside the fence to a smaller stone table tucked up against the wall. It was a miniature version of the altar, complete with candles.
“I know some have doubts,” she said to the group. Or the pack. Or the coven. Or whatever the heck they were. “We have attempted this ritual four times and achieved nothing but frustration and failure. I swear to you, this time will be different.”
She reached down and picked up what looked like a small doll from the table.
“This time there will be no outside interference. As the black moon ascends, our brothers and sisters will rise to shine our light on a world that has forced us to cower in darkness. Not any longer. When the shadow of the black moon stretches over their spilled blood, we will be avenged.”
I glanced at Theo. He looked about as sick as I felt. Everything we feared was true. The books said it. Something horrible was going to happen that night.
“Now, run with me,” Tomac commanded. “But return here by sundown, for by night’s end the Black Moon Circle will once again run free.”
With a quick series of violent cracking sounds, the witch transformed back into the white wolf. As soon as the change was complete, the other wolves jumped up, ready to roll. The Tomac-wolf took off for the archway. The other wolves howled and barked as they ran after her. They disappeared through the arch in a flurry of fur and fangs, their growls and grunts growing faint as they left the hollow behind.
Theo and I didn’t move. I don’t know if it was because we were shocked by what we had seen, or because we were afraid one of the wolves might come back. We stood there for a good five minutes before I dared to take a step into the cavern.
“Don’t,” Theo warned.
I ignored him and walked up to the fence to peer at our target.
The altar.
“This is it,” I said. “We have to destroy it.”
I now had a better view of the tools on top of the altar. Besides the candles there were various plates and books, along with a nasty-looking dagger with a blade that had to be at least eight inches long. It was the same silver blade that the cardinal had transformed into. I hated to think what it might be used for. Tomac had said something about spilled blood, and the day before, she had looked as though she was going to cut Ainsley. The idea made me want to tear down the barrier with my bare hands. I curled my fingers around the fence’s links and shook it. It barely budged. I yanked on the padlock, hoping it was unlocked. It wasn’t.
“There’s no way we can get in there,” I said. “That’s why she said there won’t be any interference. The altar’s totally protected.”
“Uh, Marcus,” Theo said, his voice shaky. “I don’t think that’s what she meant.” He was standing next to the smaller table, against the wall. “You gotta see this.”
On the table were a few more melted candles, a couple of smaller knives, and a crude doll made of cloth. It looked like something a kid might make by stuffing a sock. It was the doll that Tomac had picked up to show the others.
“She said there wouldn’t be any outside interference,” Theo said. “She wasn’t talking about the fence.”
“Not following,” I said.
Theo picked up the doll and pointed to a tuft of dark hair pinned to the top of what was supposed to be its head.
“Look familiar?” he asked, and held the doll next to my face.
It took a second for me to register what he meant.
But I got it.
“Is that my hair?” I yelled in disgust, and grabbed the doll.
“It’s a voodoo doll,” Theo said. “This is how she casts those spells on you. You’re the one she’s preventing from interfering.”
“Why is she so worried about me?” I asked, stunned.
“Oh, I don’t know,” Theo said. “Maybe because you’re the only one who knows about Ainsley and what’s really going on? And the only reason the witches failed before was because agents from the Library stopped them? Do you think that might have something to do with why she’s worried? Hmm?”
He was making way too much sense.
“Yeah, well, she’s not gonna mess with me anymore,” I said with defiance, and pulled the straight pin out of the doll. With two fingers, I removed the hair and jammed it into my pocket.
“Done,” I said. “Now let’s figure out how to crush this thing.”
We heard a sound coming from the tunnel that led to the school. It was an unmistakable whimper and a short howl.
“Another wolf,” Theo gasped.
I looked around frantically, desperate to find a place to hide. There was nothing. We had only one choice.
“This way,” I said, running for the archway that the wolves had disappeared through.
“After the wolves?” Theo asked, horrified.
“Or we could face the one that’s about to show up,” I said.
There was no debate. He ran after me. We sprinted for the archway as another howl sounded from the tunnel behind us. The wolf was getting closer. I could only hope that it hadn’t smelled us.
The archway led to a set of stone stairs. I stumbled on the uneven surface as I quickly climbed, headed for the light above. The stairs were steep. They twisted once, then continued higher and finally led out into the sun.
We climbed out of the dark hole and found ourselves surrounded by a jumble of boulders covered in weeds and vines. If you didn’t know what was underground, the hole leading to the stairs would look like nothing more than a narrow opening to a cave. The only hint that it was anything more than that was a rusted DANGER: KEEP OUT sign fixed to one of the boulders. The sign was so old I could barely make out the letters. It wasn’t until I climbed up and over the pile of rocks and jumped down to the ground that I realized where we were.
“Oh man,” I said, breathless. “This is it.”
Theo jumped down next to me, brushing dirt off his nicely ironed shirt.
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“This is where Ainsley and I met Tomac.”
The vine-covered rock pile was in the center of a clearing sealed off from the rest of the forest by a ring of thick brambles. The growth was so dense there was no way anybody could accidentally stumble upon the place.
“They’ve probably had their hollow protected like this for centuries,” I added.
“This is bad, Marcus. I don’t see how we can destroy that altar.”
I stared at the rock pile that stood like a fortress, protecting the hollow of the Black Moon Circle. My mind raced, trying to come up with a plan. Any plan.
I came up empty.
“Look,” Theo said, pointing to the sky.
I looked up, not sure what he was pointing to. The sky was clear blue, without a single cloud.
“What?” I asked.
“Don’t you see it?”
It took a few more seconds, but once I spotted it, it was all I could see. Looming in the vast blue sea of the sky was a perfect dark circle. It was faint but unmistakable.
“It’s the black moon,” Theo said in awe.
It hung over us like an ominous hole in the sky, a dark warning of what was to come.
“We’ve got to stop Ainsley from getting to the dance,” I said, barely above a whisper.