The Secret of Spellshadow Manor 3

taking Alex’s breath away.
There were walls surrounding it, but they were not the grim, gray walls Alex was used to. These were of the purest white stone, adorned with elaborately carved statues that stood atop the battlements in measured intervals, reaching up toward the sky with delicately sculpted golden hands. There was nothing ugly and unforgiving about this place. Not like Spellshadow Manor. Everything here was beautiful and somehow welcoming. There was none of the insipid gray ivy, either, as far as Alex could see. The only plants he could make out were bouquets of roses, luxurious cream and deep red, surrounded by sprays of much smaller white flowers, set among vivid dark green leaves that hung from baskets against some of the walkways he could see in the brightening daylight.
There were figures, too, moving around the open piazzas of white marble and clustered in the beautiful, sunlit courtyards. He watched them for a while, mesmerized—seeing their glossy, perfect hair shining in the warm daylight. From nowhere, a choir raised its voice to the heavens, as angelic as Alex had ever heard. The music lifted from within the grounds and soared toward him. Tears prickled his eyes as he realized it had been months and months since he had heard proper music, and this song was like nothing he had ever heard before. He couldn’t put into words the way it made him feel.
Alex sat, helpless to do anything but watch and listen from his solitary spot, as he felt his worries slip away, if only for as long as this dream lasted.

Chapter 6
Alex had drifted off for a time, in the quietude of the lamp-room, though it had grown too hot as the sun burned brighter. It was late afternoon by the time the others awoke, looking more refreshed than Alex had seen them in a long time. There wasn’t any food left, but everyone had gathered on the first floor to share a bowl of water Natalie had fetched from the lake. Alex declined the offered dish as he leaned against the staircase banister, though his throat was fiercely dry.
“We found it,” he announced, once everyone had quenched their thirst.
“What do you mean?” Jari asked.
“Stillwater House—I’m pretty sure it’s Stillwater House, anyway. It’s not too far. And believe me when I say it’s beautiful.”
“It exists?” Jari frowned in disbelief.
Alex nodded. “I’m fairly certain.”
“It’s… beautiful?” Ellabell sounded unsure.
Alex nodded again. “It’s stunning. I saw it while you were sleeping. We couldn’t see it in the dark, but it’s there, I promise.”
He took his friends up to the top of the tower so they could see it for themselves. A weight seemed to lift from the atmosphere as they gazed upon the view. There was still a short way to go, but Alex was confident they could do it without being detected. Even Aamir seemed more peaceful, no longer contorting in his fevered state.
As the sun set and darkness fell once more, the weary but hopeful quintet closed the door of the lighthouse behind them and pushed the rowboat back into the water, hopping aboard with a refreshed lightness in their step. Now that their destination was in sight, the rowing seemed much easier. Alex took up his position at the oar once more, with Jari beside him. There was still some light to see by, but enough darkness to keep them covered as the boat made its way over to the shoreline.
Within the hour, they had reached the shallows, though they docked a fair distance away from the glowing torchlight of the villa. As it ran aground on the same eerie, pale pebbles that had defined the beach on the other side of the lake, the four able-bodied friends hoisted Aamir from his sleeping spot and carefully set him down on the grass above the beach. Once he was safely to one side, they dragged the boat right up onto land, turning it sideways and hiding it in a cluster of densely packed trees.
A short distance from the cleverly camouflaged boat, Alex spied a quaint cottage-like building, set into a semi-circle of thin trees, the glistening walls surrounded by a perimeter of plump bushes made up of tiny, waxy leaves. The structure was built of the same pure white stone as the villa but looked as abandoned as the lighthouse on the island. The door had the same ancient quality to it, as did the faint blue paint that had all but peeled away from the sills of the boarded-up windows.
Ushering everyone inside, Alex waited until they were all comfortable before announcing his next plan of action.
“I’m going to go and explore the outer wall of Stillwater, if anyone wants to come?” he said. After seeing the walls from his vantage point on the outer platform of the lighthouse, he was curious to know whether it had any of the same sort of barrier magic that Spellshadow had. If it did, it could make life harder for them. If it didn’t, it might make things much easier, especially in terms of getting help for Aamir.
Jari’s hand shot up. “Me! I’ll come.”
“Anyone else?” asked Alex, but the faces staring back at him didn’t seem too eager. “Last chance?”
With only Jari in tow, Alex crept along the shore, the pair keeping tight to the trees to avoid being seen as they made their way toward the villa wall. It rose up before them from the emerald green grass, glistening white even in the dim evening light.
Alex approached it tentatively, glancing up to make sure there weren’t any guards looming down at him from above. Confident nobody was watching, he pressed his palms carefully against the stonework, feeling for a barrier. To his surprise, it did not push back against him, like the ivy-covered walls of Spellshadow would have done. It was simply stone; there was nothing else laced within the fabric of it.
“Anything?” Jari hissed.
“It’s just rock,” whispered Alex.
Despite the wall’s size, the hefty rectangular stones