A Charming Cure by Tonya Kappes

Suddenly my intuition told me that Helena didn’t know the full story.
     “Where is Eloise?”
    Her
     head slowly dropped toward the ground, her eyes closed. Her confidence was
     broken, an attribute of hers that I’d never seen or even knew she possessed.
     She almost seemed human.
    “That
     is another thing I was going to ask you about. You didn’t take her from the
     holding cell?” She pinched her lips together. “I was afraid of this.”
    Suddenly
     my fear beaded across my forehead. I swept my bangs out of my eyes to wipe the
     sweat. Something was not right, and I was almost afraid to ask.
    “Aunt
     Helena, what is going on?” I reached for Madame Torres. “Show me Eloise.”
    The
     globe went from her fiery red to silver, showing the ill-fated destination of
     Eloise chained to the wall. She rolled a small petal from a Mandrake flower in
     her fingers, as if were the only thing keeping her alive.
    Helena
     withdrew her eyes from the globe once she saw the shackles, and her voice
     trembled, “She has been missing and we couldn’t find her.”
    “You
     mean to tell me that you have all of this magic surrounding you and no
     one can find her? Someone kidnapped her?” I pounded my hand on the table.
    “No.”
     Shame, defeat resonated in her voice. “I was hoping that you found something in
     your snooping around. Even though I’m not condoning it in front of the other
     students.”
    “Actually,
     Madame Torres showed me Eloise. I snuck out to see if I could find something on
     my own.” I wasn’t sure if I should tell her about Raven and how she was in
     Eloise’s house. “Hili did tell me that Eloise was considered a Dark-Sider,
     which was complete news to me.”
    “Dark-Sider,
     or Good-Sider, either way, we are all here and living among each other. No one
     can come into Hidden Hall unless they are invited.” She cleared her throat as
     her posture tightened. “Someone on the inside took her.”
    My
     heart jumped at a quick, erratic pace. “Do you think it was the same person that
     tried to set her up? The same person that tried to kill Faith Mortimer?”
    Helena’s
     eyes locked with mine. Never once looking away, she confirmed my deepest fear.
    “Yes.
     And if you aren’t careful, I’m afraid they will be after you.” She pulled a
     piece of from underneath her cloak, and handed it to me.
    Potions, wands, and fairy tales,
    Won’t keep you safe as well.
    Eye of Newt won’t be your friend,
    You’re snooping around better end!
    “Where
     did you get this?” I could steady my quivering lip, but not my trembling chin.
    “Gus
     found it on your bed while he was retrieving your bag.” Her eyes widened.
    “Gus?
     That strange bird is who retrieved my bag from my room ?” I huffed and
     rolled my eyes.
    “He’s
     a Teletransport psychic, plus my assistant. Still a strange bird, but he gets
     the job done and is great at keeping secrets.” She peered out the window. “He’s
     on our side.”
    “You
     mean he can vanish into thin air, going from place to place?”
    She
     nodded her head.
    I
     was going to let that slide. . .for now. I tapped Madame Torres and Eloise
     reappeared. “You don’t know where Eloise is? You don’t recognize the room?”
    She
     shook her head. “I banished her to the holding cell. Gus was there and left her
     alone while he scoured her house for anything. When he got back, she was gone.”
    “And
     what about all the magic ability here? Can’t we find her? Can’t anyone use
     their ability to find her?” This seemed like a pretty normal thing. After all,
     before I found my spiritual gift, I thought psychics could find out anything.
    “That
     is not how all of this works. Whoever took her is good at making their magic
     tracks disappear. But my real question is why? Why did they harm Faith and why
     did they kidnap Eloise?”
    Helena
     brought up some great questions that I wasn’t able to answer. The person
     obviously wanted to kill Faith,