Fireflies at Midnight

Chapter 8: Ghost Lake

Maia glanced at her sisters. They'd all dressed in medieval gowns for the ritual. Gemma had voted for togas, but Electra preferred the elegance of velvet, and Maia applauded the choice. Gemma's was emerald green and Maia wore her favorite amethyst gown. Usually Electra wore garnet red, but tonight she was in sapphire blue. She'd commented that was to be her new color.

They'd teleported to the banks of Ghost Lake. The stars sparkled in the night sky. Vega was bright in the east as it rose over the trees.

Electra gently blew on an ancient oak stump that would serve as their altar and then placed the crystal basin on top of it. The sisters formed a circle while the scent of herbs in the bubbling infusion wafted upward in the night air. Maia softly chanted in Greek as she strummed her lyre.

Gemma withdrew several silk pouches of flower petals from a mesh bag tied to her belt. Casting a pinch from each pouch into the brew, she added her voice to Maia's. Electra joined them for the last verse. Their voices blended and swirled high above the treetops toward Vega.

As Maia sang, she pictured the fire orchids growing larger, metamorphosing into their new bodies. The thralls would have gathered, ready to lead them off—thirteen pure-blood princes to rule them and establish new dominions.

* * * * *

"Here, let me clean you up." Peter pulled his handkerchief out of his pocket and wiped the chocolate chip smears off Hannah's face. She beamed at him and scampered off to join her best friend Amita.

So many excited kids. They'd started camp early that night with special snacks prepared by El and Janet—lunar phase sandwiches, solar system fruit kebabs, and meteorite Krispies. The constellation cookies were Peter's favorite, and clearly Hannah's as well. Each giant cookie was decorated with chocolate chips representing the stars of one of the constellations. He and El had worked on those the week before.

On this final night, they also gave the kids space alien antennae to take home as Mozzie passed out certificates proclaiming them to be children of stardust. Travis had worn his Spock makeup and Vulcan uniform for the occasion and all the kids wanted their pictures taken with him.

Despite the threats of vampires, nothing had marred camp. Mozzie and Neal were naturals with little ones. Neal always had a touch of Peter Pan about him, but this week he'd pulled out all the stops.

At the moment, he was lying flat on his back gazing up at the stars as the youngest kids took turns relating the stories they'd made up about the constellations. Janet was helping him while the older ones worked with Peter and Travis at the telescopes. Mozzie was a floater, sprinkling alien dust wherever he landed. In another hour, astro camp would be a wrap.

"You did good, hon," El said, walking up to him. Never had anyone looked so lovely in an astro camp t-shirt.

"We survived and may have inspired a few future astronomers."

"I overheard Ethan asking Neal to enroll him in next summer's camp. Are you interested?"

"Possibly, if I can get the rest of my crew to join me."

"You know you can count on me, and I bet Neal and Mozzie won't be hard to persuade either."

* * * * *

"Hey, Ethan, where are you going? The telescope demo's about to start." Neal had spotted the mini-pirate near the observatory building. The little boy was starting to run toward the meadow.

Ethan ignored him and took off at a dash. Neal sprinted forward and caught him.

"Let me go!" Ethan yelled, struggling to break free.