The Secret of Spellshadow Manor 2

go places, but—this is awesome! I bet he’ll give us some perks, too,” Jari proclaimed, peering around the side of his bed to eye Alex.
“Like what?” Alex asked.
“I don’t know… Like, teach us really cool stuff. Some dark magic. Proper, complicated stuff that he might have picked up… I bet he will.” Jari lay back again.
“That’d be interesting,” Alex humored his friend, though dark magic wouldn’t be good for him. The more complex the magic, the harder it was for Alex to cope with.
“We should ask him tonight—ask him what goes on behind that blue line.” Jari winked, sitting up again, restlessly shifting around on his mattress with sheer excitement. “Do you reckon he knows where Esmerelda sleeps? I bet he does… Oh, Esmerelda, my darling!” Jari pursed his lips and squeezed his eyes shut, pretending to kiss the air as he wrapped his arms around himself.
Alex snorted. “That’s gross, Jari. Aamir does not have a thing for Esmerelda…And anyway, I don’t think Aamir is ever going to tell us anything like that.”
“What do you mean?” Jari replied, the humor fading from his voice.
Alex sighed. “Aamir’s golden band.”
“So?” Jari snapped.
“So, I’m just saying Aamir won’t be able to tell us much. Don’t expect too much from him,” Alex replied, holding his hands up in surrender to Jari’s sudden mood swing.
“Aamir is stronger than some stupid golden line,” Jari mumbled after a pause. He turned away from Alex to pick at the threads in his sheets.
Alex didn’t want to burst Jari’s bubble more than he already had. Changing quickly into his pajamas and sitting back on the bed, he wondered if he might be able to break the golden line on Aamir’s wrist. Alex presumed it was made from the same magic as the lines in the forbidden hallways and tombs of the manor, and they had proven pretty easy to break so far—a few stray spears of magic to duck and run from, but nothing major. Then again, those lines weren’t attached to a living, breathing person. The idea sat uneasily with Alex. He didn’t know what might happen if he broke the line and it hurt Aamir in some way; he wasn’t sure he could forgive himself for something like that.
He was about to ask Jari for his opinion on the matter when he caught sight of the other boy staring over at the empty bed in the room, still made from the day before the Head had taken Aamir away, when he had last slept there. The absence of Aamir in their dorm still felt wrong, like some important piece was missing.
“Well, I’m going to hit the hay,” Alex muttered, trying to distract Jari from the empty bed.
Jari nodded. “I’m just going to… stay up a little longer,” he said quietly.
“Okay… goodnight, Jari.” Alex sighed as he nestled down beneath the sheets, turning off the light.
“Goodnight,” Jari replied faintly.
Alex’s eyes were drawn to the empty bed, bathed in moonlight, as he lay beneath the covers. Everything was crisp and neat and in place, the pillows perfectly plumped and the quilt turned over at the top, as if Aamir had never slept there.
Despite Jari still holding out hope that he might return to share their dorm, Alex knew, deep down, that he never would again.

Chapter 2
The mess hall was abuzz with activity as morning light filtered in through the windows, some stray beams shining through from the slow sunrise. Alex and Natalie were seated at one of the small circular tables in the far corner, discussing Jari and Aamir. In between snippets of conversation, Natalie was wolfing down a plate of toast with a large glass of orange juice. Her appetite had returned with her new lease of life, now that she was curse-free, and Alex felt a pang of envy as he watched her eat. He wished he could. Alex had lost his appetite somewhat, pushing two squares of limp, buttered toast around on his plate, glancing up at the door every time it swung open, hoping to see Jari emerge.
When Alex and Jari had awoken that morning, to their unease, Aamir’s bed had been stripped bare, the bedclothes stacked at the end of the mattress, though neither Jari nor Alex could recall anyone coming in during the night to perform this strange task. An image of a short, peculiar woman jogged Alex’s memory—Siren Mave, with her back alleyways and secret passageways around the manor. Maybe she aids in the removal of students as well as the enrollment of them, Alex thought as he tore a hole in a corner of his soggy toast. Yet, he didn’t remember hearing a soul, not even a tiptoe of feet. Nothing had stirred or woken him the night before. Whatever it had been, it was stealthy.
Jari had simply stared at the deconstructed bed for a good half hour that morning, his face blank. Alex had felt bad leaving Jari alone in the dormitory, but the boy had encouraged him to go on ahead, promising not to be too long. Breakfast was almost at its end, and Jari was still nowhere to be seen.
Finally, just as Alex was about to go look for him, Jari stepped into the mess hall, his face pale, purple bags beneath his eyes. He smiled faintly when he saw his friends in the corner and raised a hand to them before plucking an apple from the silver fruit dish and making his way over.
“Any sign of Aamir?” he asked hopefully, sitting down in one of the empty seats.
Alex shook his head. “Afraid not.”
“You sure?” Jari turned to look around the mess hall, eyes squinting, as if that might make their friend appear. “He didn’t come for breakfast?” Jari added, almost to himself, a flash of disappointment crossing his face.
“Not unless he was here really early,” Natalie chipped in, swallowing the last of her breakfast.
“That must be it—he always likes to eat early.” Jari nodded, as if that made perfect sense. “We’ll see