Haven: A Stranger Magic (BOOK 1)

Haven: A Stranger Magic - Chapter 12 - Episode 17

Chapter 12 - Episode 17

The night sky was filled with silver clouds and a radiant cream-colored moon that seemed to follow the boys as they walked briskly back through their development.

Sam's ribs were throbbing now; the cuts and scrapes were starting to sting. His mind kept flashing back to the mirror. Had the stranger come through a mirror like the spiders did, he wondered.

Travis was walking very stiffly, trying not to cause any additional pain. Trickles of blood from small scrapes cascaded down his arms like road maps to nowhere. His muscles were taut and his legs ached as if he had run a small marathon.

"Sam, I've never seen anything like that in my life! The mirror was floating above the water! Just freaking floating!"

Sam looked over at Travis. He had no idea just how bizarre things really were.

"I mean, how in the world did it do that? Where did it come from?" he continued. "And who or what made the new tunnel?"

Sam thought for a moment before he spoke. What would be the best way to tell Travis that yes, he had seen something just as crazy before and it happened just the other night? What if he went on to tell Travis about the stranger that might be stalking him and that he can vanish into thin air? Surely he would believe him now! Surely after tonight he would know it was in the realm of possibility, surely.

Sam knew if he told Travis the truth it would place him on the same path as Sam. But what was that path? Where was it headed? Perhaps Travis had been on the same road all along without knowing it. After all, it was Travis's idea to come to the caves. Didn't he owe it to Travis to tell him the truth? What if the stranger came after Travis? That was a chance Sam couldn't take, Sam concluded. Travis had to know.

"Well, to tell you the truth Trav, there have been some very strange things happening around the Dalcome house lately."

Travis looked over at Sam with his dark brown eyes squinted and eyebrows flexed, preparing himself for more of the bizarre.

Sam began to explain in detail the events of the last several days. He told Travis about the dreams he had and the mysterious stranger outside his house. He told him about the chocolate wrappers and how the stranger had disappeared into thin air.

Travis listened intently, never interrupting to ask questions. By the time Sam had finished Travis's face had gone sallow. The realization of what Sam had said was slowly sinking in. The moment had come and gone, the words had escaped Sam's mouth and seeped into the air, changing everything they knew around them. Things were different now; more real, and more alive. Magic had fused unimaginable possibilities together with imminent danger bringing forth a world they never knew existed, but that had always been there. Magic had slumbered in the shadows until now. Now it was awake and nothing would ever be the same. Sam shivered at the thought.

They rounded the corner to Giddyup Lane. Their neighborhood in the past had felt like an old friend-familiar and comfortable, but most of all safe. But tonight it felt foreign and eerie. Things they took for granted, such as next door neighbors, stray animals, and insects, for that matter, could no longer be looked at in the same way. Not anymore, not with magic out there. Not with the stranger out there.

Sam and Travis continued to walk in silence. The soft breeze grazed against treetops of maples, elms, and oaks that perfectly lined both sides of the street, rooted in small, overpriced lots. Sam's house was the fifth from the end on the left.

As the boys approached his house, Sam could see that the light in his mother's bedroom was still on. His heart sank just a little, remembering that he still owed her an apology. With all that had happened he had simply forgotten about it. It was just one more thing that would have to be done before the night was through.