Escape from Windenburg | 16

Having survived the last several days on a wilderness diet of whatever we could catch or forage, we were all ravenous by the time we got back to Evergreen Harbor. As if she'd anticipated our arrival down to the exact second, Rav was already in the kitchen whipping up a batch of brownies to satisfy her own sweet tooth. It was all I could do not to drool all over the countertop as I peeked over her shoulder at the bowl of brownie batter, which was suddenly the most appetizing thing I had ever seen.

Besides hunger, the other overriding emotion that had permeated our journey back and followed us like a stray dog into the house was awkwardness. Rahul and I had barely exchanged more than strained niceties since he'd sprung his unprompted kiss on me. "Listen, Rowan, I think we really need to talk," he mustered up the courage to mutter as we waited in silent anticipation for Rav's brownies to finish baking. But I still wasn't sure what I could say to him to make things any less painful for either of us, so I forced out a barely audible, "Later," and left it at that.

But my attempt to keep our conflict under wraps, no matter how subtle I thought I was being, couldn't escape Rav's sharp eye for drama in all shapes and forms. "What the hell's going on between you two?" she demanded, and though neither Rahul nor I provided her with an immediate answer, it seemed like she had it all figured out within seconds via only the pained expressions on our faces. Suddenly, her own face darkened, her brow furrowing stormily, and before we knew it, she was grabbing her entire platter of freshly-baked brownies and stomping off. "Whatever," she mumbled. "People who sneak around and keep secrets don't deserve to enjoy even a single crumb of my labors."

After a stunned minute or two, I hesitantly knocked on the door to Rav's room and peeked inside. To my surprise, she was red-faced and teary-eyed, though the moment she saw me she hastily wiped the tears from her eyes. "Don't be upset," I said, taking a seat on the bed next to her. When she didn't immediately yell at me to get out, I continued, "Whatever you think happened between Rahul and I, it wasn't like that at all. I mean, he did try to kiss me. Well, technically, I guess he succeeded." She winced at the image I was planting inside of her head. "But I definitely wasn't expecting it! He's a good friend, but I don't like him that way, and I told him that, which is why everything's so weird with us now."

"Well..." Rav's voice trailed off, and she averted her eyes from mine. For the first time since I'd met her, she seemed shy, not her usual brassy, unfiltered, and opinionated self. In a tiny voice I had to strain to hear, she asked, "Is there anyone else in this house who you possibly maybe do like that way?"

"Wait," I exclaimed, unable to mask my disbelief. "Are you saying you're actually into me, too?"

Her face fell when I didn't immediately suggest that I reciprocated those feelings. "Oh, I guess that means there's no hope," she muttered dejectedly.

"No, I - I didn't say that! It's just that I've been feeling for weeks like you guys were in this bizarre competition for my attention, and it's been driving me crazy. I've already been dealing with so much. Why couldn't you both just come out and tell me how you felt in the first place?"

"Hey, it's not that easy," she countered defensively. "And I know it's probably not the best time, but the more you figure out about the thing with your mom, the sooner it feels like you'll be gone and I'll have missed my shot altogether."

"You think I'm just going to up and leave and never talk to you again?"

She shrugged. "Maybe. After all, if everything goes according to plan, you'll have your perfect family back. What will you need any of us for then?"

This time, I was the one who abruptly made a move for her lips. I only wanted to prove to her that there were things I might want or even need that I could never get from my own family, even if we were reunited, that her significance in my life didn't begin and end with the time I spent staying in her home. But this kiss felt entirely different from Rahul's. I may have initiated it, but she didn't pull away or flinch for even a millisecond, just pushed herself closer against me and kissed me back. It was such a pure experience that I even momentarily forgot about all the other thoughts swirling in my head about what I'd learned on our trip to the Realm. But, eventually, I knew I would have to pull away. It was time to prepare for the final lap of this journey I'd set out on so long ago. Only after I'd succeeded with flying colors (or failed miserably) could I consider more deeply where I might want my relationship with Rav to go next.

In some ways, the next task I knew I had to complete felt like the most insurmountable of them all: I would have to call home. The spell I was about to attempt required that I be within close vicinity of my mother's final resting place, but I wasn't about to spill all the details to my dad now. I couldn't risk him finding some way to shut it all down. I knew he missed mom as much as I did, even if he tried not to show it, but he'd never fully understood or trusted magic and wouldn't believe I stood a real chance of getting her back. That meant I had to do it when he wouldn't be around, and learning that piece of information required talking to my sister.

As soon as she realized it was me, her voice turned smug and self-satisfied. "Well, well, well, if it isn't the delinquent daughter at last," she said, relishing my uncomfortable silence on the other end of the line, and I could just picture her cackling to herself from our bedroom. "Are you finally ready to crawl back home with your tail between your legs?"

"It's wonderful to hear your voice, too, sis," I replied drily, "but can we call a truce on the sibling rivalry for five minutes? I need a favor."

"You need a favor from me?" she exclaimed, and I knew that even if she came through, she would probably hold it over my head forever. But, I had to remind myself, it was worth it if it meant seeing Mom again. In the end, Sabrina would hopefully be too busy thanking me to keep reminding me of my eternal debt.

"I have to stop by the house to... get something," I told her carefully. "And I don't want to run into Dad, so I need you to tell me when I can count on him being gone."

"What are you up to?" she asked. "And what the hell have you been doing for the past few months? You know you've missed practically an entire school year by this point, don't you? You'll be lucky if they let you graduate on time. That is, if you even care or ever plan on coming home for good."

Despite her attempt to maintain a vicious tone, I could tell by the end of her little rant that she might actually miss me and want me back home. I couldn't deny that some small part of me missed her, too. The last few years had made us so different, but we were still twins, after all, a bond which would never be fully severed. Still, I kept my response vague. "If you're lucky, it might happen sooner than you think. Throw me a bone here, Sab, please, and I'll tell you everything eventually, I promise."

She heaved a long, dramatic sigh before finally answering, "Dad's taking me to Britechester to tour universities next weekend. We're leaving Friday night and won't be back until Sunday morning. The spare key is where it's always been. The place is all yours."

That was that then: next weekend was the soonest and possibly only opportunity I would have to revive my dead mother. That gave me roughly a week to prepare, which felt like both way too much and way too little time. While I was in the Magic Realm, Fanoula had told me while teaching me the spell that having a medium present to weaken the veil between our world and the spirit world would increase my chances of success. For this reason, not to mention the fact that we'd already come so far as a team, I'd been planning to ask Alejandro to join me, but when I told him about my conversation with Sabrina, he volunteered before I could even get that far.

"I don't think we're going to be able to come up with a believable excuse for why we need to disappear for a weekend," I told him as we hashed out our plans one night at the community garden. "We're barely holding the others' suspicions at bay as it is."

"You're right," he replied. "We'll just have to go. I can get us the bus tickets to Windenburg, and we'll head off Thursday night after everyone's asleep and leave a note saying we'll explain later. Aarti and Enji might not approve of us sneaking around, but at least they'll know not to worry."

So that was that. Our plans were set. I knew Sid would have to be there, too, as an additional layer of protection to combat against the same sort of energy drain that had killed my mom in the first place. It would be a terrible irony if I died the same way she did while trying to bring her back. Sid had become so comfortable in the Uchiyamas' household by then that I knew he wouldn't be happy to leave. He and Chiyo had gotten into the habit of lazing around on the sofa together, but he was my familiar, and I knew that after shaking off the rust of inactivity he would still be up to the task.

All of a sudden, Thursday evening was upon us, and we were sneaking off to the bus station under a cloak of darkness. I felt guilty for abandoning everyone else without explanation, especially Rav, since we'd left things so open-ended between us, and especially because I wasn't entirely sure I would be back anytime soon. Of course, they were all just a phone call away and Windenburg really wasn't as distant from Evergreen Harbor as it had seemed when I first arrived, but it still felt like I was in the process of living out the final pages in this chapter of my life, and who knew what might happen in the next one or who might play a prominent role in it? In a few days, everything would likely be irreversibly changed; whether for the better or the worse was still to be determined.

After a bumpy night-long bus ride during which neither of us managed to get much sleep, though we were also too nerved up to really talk, we landed in Windenburg. It looked exactly as it had when I left, which brought along with it a comforting sense of familiarity, but having Alejandro there with me reminded me that my reason for being there was anything but comfortable or familiar. I was a different person now, and I wasn't so sure I fit in that place anymore. In some ways, it felt like I was defying the universe by coming back.

Since the house wouldn't be empty until that night, Alejandro and I had several hours to kill before we needed to catch a ferry to the Crumbling Isle.We stopped in at a nearby cafe and bakery to appease our rumbling stomachs, but the mood still felt too heavy to attempt to carry on with casual conversation like it was just another ordinary day. I'd given Sabrina Alejandro's phone number, and I kept glancing down at the screen awaiting her text that would give us the all clear, even though I knew it likely wouldn't come for hours still. Time would continue to move at a trickle unless we found something to take our minds off the impending task.

Then I remembered the natural pool tucked away behind the Ruins, and since it was a warm enough day, I suggested we refresh ourselves with a swim. We stripped down to our underwear and took turns diving into the slightly murky depths.

It was exactly the sort of mindless activity we needed to clear our heads of all our nerves and anxiety. For a couple hours, we were just two teenagers with no obligations or concerns laughing and splashing each other until we were soaked to the bone.

Unfortunately, Sid wasn't enjoying himself quite as much, his fear of water preventing him from coming too close to the edge. Every time he felt even a single drop hit his fur, he hissed and raised his hackles defensively.

But I was sure to give him plenty of kisses and cuddles, even as much as I could tell he could barely stand the sensation of being pressed against my moist skin and sopping wet clothes. He needed to know his presence was appreciated and that his help later would be indispensable to me being able to successfully carry out my mission at last.

We retired to a bench to admire Alejandro's long, lazy strokes as he took one last lap around the pool. It was nice to enjoy a moment of silent contemplation with Sid purring gently by my side. Out of everyone in my life, he'd always been there for me, and though we didn't speak the same language, in some ways, he understood me more than anyone else ever had or possibly ever would. I'd always been able to sense that he still believed in me, even in those moments when I'd nearly given up on myself.

"Well," Alejandro said, pulling himself out of the pool and squinting at the slowly graying sky, "looks like it's almost time." He shook off the excess drops of water and took a seat next to me. "Are you nervous?"

"A little," I admitted, though I was less so than I expected. As the moment grew nearer, I had become less anxious about it, if anything. I wasn't sure if it was being back in familiar surroundings or that I had finally come to terms with the unpredictability of it all, but I felt at peace with whatever might happen, good or bad, though, obviously, I still hoped for one over the other. "I feel like I've done everything I can to prepare myself and now it's up to the universe to decide whether or not that's enough. In a way, I guess it's out of my hands now, which is scary but also a little freeing."

Just then, Alejandro's phone buzzed with sudden urgency, and we both glanced down at the screen together. It was Sabrina; she and Dad had just left. "It's go time," I said, my voice steady and determined.

A ferry ride later, Alejandro and I were staking out the house under the cover of a large patch of overgrown bushes and weeds. Some of the lights were still on, likely as a deterrent against break-ins, since the longer we stood there watching, the clearer it became that no one was actually inside. Satisfied the coast was clear, we crept closer, until my mom's gravestone was in sight.

It had been so long since I'd seen it that shivers immediately coursed up and down my spine. It was a sobering reminder of the true gravity of what I was about to attempt, that my mom really was dead and the feat I'd accomplish tonight, if successful, would be nothing short of a miracle in most people's eyes.

"Whoa," Alejandro gasped, struck in his own way by the sight before us. "I don't blame you for wanting to get as far away from here as possible. I don't think I could deal with having my mom's gravestone in my front yard either."

There was no time to waste, so we set to work immediately. The first step of the ritual would be simply summoning my mom's ghost. If we couldn't manage that, we would have no choice but to pack it in immediately, since the spell required an active spectral presence to even work. Of course, I'd only ever seen my mom's spirit in dreams, so there was no guarantee she would show up. She'd had so much trouble communicating with me thus far that it seemed like a real possibility she might not. But we were armed not only with Alejandro's recently acquired experience as a medium but with my newly supercharged powers, which we hoped could serve as a sort of battery for him to plug into in order to create a big enough rift in the veil between worlds to allow my mom to slip through.

The ritual became hypnotic, and there was no telling how long we were at it before Alejandro's concentration was abruptly broken. "Did you hear that?" he exclaimed, snapping his head in the opposite direction.

But I was too distracted by something else to hear whatever he'd heard. At my feet, my mom's gravestone was, undeniably, shimmering, a bright white light that closely resembled the magical charge flung from my own wand rising slowly from the ground to illuminate the drab stone. "Alejandro, look!" I shouted breathlessly. "Something's happening!"

Then, in the blink of an eye, there she stood or, more accurately, floated: my mother. I immediately called out to her, but she didn't seem to hear me. Beside me, Alejandro was visibly freaking out, but I needed him in his right mind to help me finish what we'd started. Who knew how long her spirit would hang around? We couldn't risk watching her fade away before we'd completed the ritual.

He was grinning ear to ear, unable to tear his eyes away from her. "We did it! We actually did it!"

"I know, but we're only halfway through! Quick," I commanded, trying my best to remain level-headed, "get back to the seance circle! Don't let the veil close before I can cast the final spell!"

As he resumed his hushed chanting, I took my wand back up and breathed deeply in and out, mentally steeling myself for casting the most important spell of my entire life thus far: dedeathify. I aimed in the direction of my mom's still seemingly oblivious ghost and shouted the words with as much force as I could muster, letting all of my magical charge rise up out of me and flow like an immensely powerful laser beam through the tip of the wand. I could sense Sid perched stoically on the porch behind me, standing guard in case I needed the extra protection.

For a moment, my vision was fully obscured by a blanket of blinding white. But as the light dissipated and my eyes readjusted to the darkness, my mother's form materialized, and it was really her this time: solid, corporeal, flesh and bone. She blinked at me rapidly, her brow furrowed in confusion, before recognition finally dawned on her face. "Rowan?!?" she gasped disbelievingly. I couldn't help but rush into her arms at the sound of her voice.

After a long embrace, she pulled back to take a good look at me. "Rowan, what - how - sweetheart, you're so grown up! This can't be - how am I here right now? With you? What's going on?"

"Mom, I brought you back!" The words spilled out of me in an adrenaline-fueled rush. "I knew that was what you wanted me to do, and I worked so hard to figure out how, even when Dad tried to stop me! It was my destiny to save you, and I actually did it. You're here! We can be a family again!"

"Wait, Rowan, what do you mean, I wanted you-"

"For so long, I couldn't believe in myself! But you never gave up on me. And that night, in the Realm, when you helped me get my magic back-"

"Rowan, what are you talking about?"

I paused, suddenly comprehending that nothing I was saying made sense to her. "You've been visiting me in my dreams," I said more slowly, growing uncertain. "You were trying so hard to communicate. You wanted me to save you."

"I'm... not sure I've been in any state to communicate with you, at least not consciously. The last thing I remember is collapsing in Casters Alley. Then everything went dark. And now I'm here. Somehow, I'm here, and I feel like all that was just yesterday, but you're so much older. How long have I been gone?"

"You mean, you didn't ask me to save you?"

She shrugged her shoulders and laughed, just as confused as I was. "I think maybe you wanted to save me, and your mind found a way to get you there. Either way, I'm certainly happy you did, and I'd love to hear everything, but-" She cut herself off mid-sentence as she glimpsed Alejandro standing awkwardly a few paces off. "And who is that?" she exclaimed.

"Give me a minute," I muttered before walking over to him. I needed to breathe and regroup, or I thought my head might possibly explode from having to reorganize everything I thought I knew about how I'd gotten to this point.

"This is a lot to take in, huh?" Alejandro asked, his eyes flitting between me and my mom, as if he had to keep double-checking that what he was seeing was real.

"To put it mildly," I replied. "Listen, I can't even tell you how grateful I am to you for sticking with me up until now, but if you don't want to hang around, you can-"

"No, I get it," he interrupted, waving his hand dismissively. "You've got a lot of catching up to do, not to mention a family reunion to orchestrate. I'll get out of your hair. I'm already starting to miss the ol' Harbor anyway."

"Will you tell Enji and Aarti I appreciate everything? And that I'll call to check in when things have settled down? I don't want to lose touch with any of you!"

"Sure thing, although it might take me the whole bus ride back to figure out how to explain in a way that doesn't sound bat-shit crazy that you decided to stay at home with your miraculously revived mom."

I laughed and shook my head. The entire situation still felt so surreal that joking about it was the only thing keeping me grounded. "You'll figure it out," I told him before he headed off alone into the night.