6 A Means to an End

Neither Lyda nor Adea slept the rest of the night. Adea was far too frightened to even close her eyes and constantly asked her sister what she really thought about the dreams she was having. Lyda responded by reminding her that none of it could possibly be real, much to Adea's chagrin. Despite her apparent lack of interest, Lyda was, in fact, taking all this in intently, and she stared up at the dark ceiling, anxious to delve deeper into the pages hidden under her bed.

It was not long after Adea's most recent night terror that the first rays of morning began to peek over the mountains to the east, and Lyda was thankful that she returned from her little nightly excursion when she did, or else she would have surely faced the wrath of their parents. By their mother's word, the two of them were left to sleep a little later into the morning instead of being woken for their early studies, and Iris would not be coming for Lyda, so they were both free today to do whatever they wanted.

Eran, Ellis, and Jay came around not long after breakfast. Lyda and Adea were allowed to go off with them. In fact, their mother practically insisted on it. Much like the previous morning, Adea was in low spirits, drained of energy due to her dreams, but she went along with her friends all the same.

It was for the best, their mother knew, for there was business to be tended to here. For an hour after the girls had gone, Matthias sat on the front porch, deep in thought about what he had to do. Mara had not come out of the cellar yet, nor would she likely until around noon. He could not wait until then, or else Alyra would not stop stressing out about it. Something strange was going on and his youngest daughter was paying the price. If his sister had anything to do with it, then he would get to the bottom of it.

Eventually, Matthias swallowed his anxiety and walked back into the cottage. Once inside, he immediately turned toward the door to the cellar just below the staircase and pulled it open rather aggressively. He trudged down the ragged steps with heavy feet to make his presence known. The candles were lit around Mara's corner of the cellar. The curtain around her bed was pulled back just enough for him to see her legs as she sat up with her back against the wall.

"Mara," Matthias called with authority. His sister did not make any movement, but he knew that she was acknowledging his presence. "How long are you going to sit in the shadows like this?"

From behind the curtain, Mara let out a low, quiet sigh. "I haven't fully woken yet."

"When do you ever?" Matthias commented. "Now you listen to me, Mara. There is something weird going on around here."

"Young Adea's nightmares are getting worse, aren't they?" Mara interjected. "I can hear her screams even down here."

"Worse is not exactly the way I would describe it, but yes."

"They are just dreams, Matthias."

"Are they?" Matthias was growing impatient. "Every night when she wakes up, she describes seeing the same thing, and I'm starting to think that you know something about it. Now turn and face me!"

Matthias reached out and pushed the curtain against the wall. As soon as he did, Mara's hand flew up to rest uncomfortably against her temple as she was trying to cover her right eye. Matthias grabbed hold of her scrawny wrist and pulled her toward him. Mara locked eyes with him for a quick second before lowering her gaze as if in shame.

Matthias flinched as he released her arm, staring in shock at her eyes. While her left eye seemed to maintain its normal brownish hue, the other was now giving off an unnatural shade of yellow, almost as though it was glowing faintly. It looked to Matthias like an unsightly infection, but it was nothing he had never seen before.

"It's back again," he uttered in concern. "It's been twelve years now, I should have seen it coming. How long has it been like this?"

"Since a week before yesterday," Mara said hoarsely. As if she could not bear to face her brother, she looked away again and brought her hand back to her eye, rubbing it as if satisfying a persistent itch.

"Why have you not told me?" Matthias demanded.

"Because," Mara sighed, "I thought if I kept it to myself this time, it would fade away for good, and since the dreams have not returned-"

"Wait, wait," Matthias cut her off. "You're not having any nightmares?" Mara nodded her head, which only filled him with curiosity. "You've had these recurring dreams this time every twelve years since we were children. Why would they just stop now?"

"I don't know," Mara answered impatiently. "I don't want to think about them anymore, Matthias!"

"Well, Adea is having them now," Matthias persisted. "They are the exact same nightmares you have always described. She could not possibly be conjuring up these images on her own. She is learning it from someone."

Mara shot him a wide-eyed, dichromatic look of disbelief. "How dare you," she breathed before raising her voice. "How dare you accuse me!"

"I'm not accusing you of anything," Matthias fired back, "unless you have something you would like to tell me right now."

Mara's arms continued to tremble with anxiety, but it was not the kind that made Matthias think she was hiding something. Rather it was like she was truly afraid of something. "I would never make the children suffer the way I have all these years."

Matthias exhaled in suspicion. "For your sake, I hope I can take your word for it. But somebody is acting as an influence to Adea, or something. I don't know who, but I need you to be honest with me for once. Is there anything you are keeping in your possession down here that you would not want my children getting ahold of?"

Mara froze at the sound of his query. As if there was not already a perpetual fear in the hues of her eyes, her expression had suddenly become more terrified than ever. "Oh no."

"What?"

"Move!" Mara jumped out of her bed, pushing Matthias out of the way. She dropped down to her hands and knees and frantically scanned underneath the bed.

"What are you doing?" Matthias pressed, but Mara did not answer. She let out a deep sigh of relief as she pulled from under her bed what appeared to be an old and tattered leather-bound book. "What is that? I've never seen that before." Matthias stepped forward and took the book from her hands. Mara looked as though she wanted to protest before lowering her head again as if in shame.

Matthias opened the cover, freezing when he read the four simple words, "Tome of the Spirits." He stared at his ailing sister with wide eyes of disbelief. "What is this? Where did you get it?"

"I found it when we were children, in-" Mara stuttered before trailing off. "I found it, that's all."

Matthias was at a loss for words. "You've had this all these years? No wonder you've suffered like this all your life! What on earth possessed you to bring it into my house? What if one of the girls got their hands on this?"

"They didn't!" Mara insisted. "It was exactly where I kept it."

Matthias shook his head as he let out a heavy exhale of frustration. "I don't care," he said seriously. "I'm taking this book and burning it today. You should have done that years ago, Mara." Without another look at his sister, Matthias turned to head back toward the cellar stairs with the book under his arm. "Consider this forgiveness."

Mara did not come out of the cellar for the rest of the day after that. As he promised he would, Matthias immediately took the leather-bound book to the backyard and burned it with the compost. He did not take his eyes off it until the last flames had died down and each and every piece of parchment was rendered down to ash. That would be the end of it, he kept telling himself.

Alyra had been watching curiously from the garden. "What was that?" she asked as Matthias began heading back to the cottage.

"Don't worry about it," was all he could answer with.

Alyra let out a sigh, showing a hint of frustration. "Did you talk to Mara?"

"I took care of it," Matthias responded, not wanting to keep his mind on any of this. "We won't have to worry about this anymore."

"I hope not," Alyra said, tossing her spade down into the soil. "I don't want to believe that she has anything to do with what Adea is going through, but I'm not messing around. If my children do not feel safe with her in the house then I won't have her staying here any longer."

"She has nowhere else to go, Alyra."

"I understand that, but we don't deserve to suffer for her own mistakes."

Matthias had nothing else to say. He just shot her a look of both vexation and compliance. He did not want to lose any part of his family, but only time would tell if these activities would pass. As far as he was concerned, he had one more bone to pick yet.

Matthias waited until Lyda and Adea returned to the cottage with their friends around dinner time, as they always did. He stood out on the front porch as they returned over the ridge. He could see that their clothes were damp, signifying that they had been out swimming in the creek in the valley below. Everybody, that is, except for Lyda, whose clothes appeared perfectly dry. Matthias did not think much of that but offered a warm smile as Adea greeted him happily. She seemed to have all but forgotten her episode from last night.

"Dinner is almost ready," Matthias said as his daughters rushed up the porch steps and toward the door. "Go wash up, and change out of those clothes, Adea."

"Yes, Father!" she called back as she hurried inside. Lyda was right behind her when she heard the stern voice of her father call her name.

"Lyda, wait a moment."

Lyda froze, turning slowly to face her father. "Yes, sir?"

Matthias turned to face her as well, giving her an unassuming look that gave away none of his thoughts. "Did you all have fun?" Lyda just nodded quietly. "You didn't swim with the others?" he asked, gesturing to her dry clothing.

"N-no," Lyda stammered anxiously. "I was studying herbs in the area like Iris asked me to."

Matthias did not so much as blink, completely unconvinced of Lyda's lie. "I'm glad you are taking your lessons so seriously. You're a very gifted young woman, and Iris is an excellent teacher. Now," his tone suddenly shifted to one of authority, "are you ready to tell me what else Iris has been teaching you?"

"What do you mean?" Lyda's voice squeaked.

Matthias was done sugar-coating as he stepped toward his oldest, towering over her. Lyda could not take her gaze away from his. "This is the only time I'm going to say this," he began. "Whatever is on Adea's mind, it's causing her a great deal of discomfort at night. She is scared to death, and it is becoming a problem that cannot be ignored. You listen to me good, Lyda; I don't know what's giving her these night terrors, but if I find out that you have been tormenting your sister with talk of the Spirits-"

"I haven't!" Lyda cried with a flustered voice. "I would never do that!"

"I hope I can trust you," Matthias said calmly, putting a hand on her shoulder. "It's up to you to protect your sister, just as she looks up to you."

"Yes, sir," Lyda replied, feeling somewhat warmed by her father's words.

"Good. Now go wash up for dinner."

Lyda gave a single nod before hurrying back into the house as if she could not get away fast enough. Matthias truly did not know what to think. He was not sure if Adea really was getting these nightly conjurings from the influence of someone else, and even if she was, he could not believe it was coming from his own sister. Mara already knew the dire consequences of dabbling with such a topic. It caused her immeasurable psychological stress, which did not compare to the social ousting that followed. Despite her judgment, which Matthias knew was questionable, especially after revealed the ancient-looking book hidden beneath her bed, she was petrified when she feared one of the children might have seen it.

As for Lyda, she may have had a bit of a reclusive side to her at times, but everyone knew that something like this was far out from her character. She may have been outwardly obsessed with the subject of the Spirits, but Matthias knew that her interest had always been academic. Still, it was for reasons such as this that he knew it was too dangerous for her to pursue this path, which is precisely why he forbade Iris from discussing such details. It was difficult to believe that Iris would go behind his back, as she was completely ashamed of herself when he first told her that Lyda was not to speak of the Spirits. The only conclusion he could come to was that Adea's nightmares were just that: nightmares. The simple product of a child's imagination that would fade away over time.

It was something that seemed to be on everyone's mind as night fell. Adea grew visibly more restless as bedtime drew near, so much so that her mother had to kneel by her bedside to comfort her until she fell asleep. Once Adea had drifted off, her mother doused the candle on her bedside table before stepping over to put out Lyda's as well.

"Wait," Lyda said suddenly, turning over in her bed to face her mother. "Can you leave it? Just so Adea has light in case she wakes up again."

Alyra gave her daughter a wide smile. "Of course, dear," she said as she placed a gentle hand upon her forehead, not even considering that the candle would burn out hours before dawn. The kind gesture was moving enough for her. "Goodnight," she whispered before turning to leave the room, shutting the door behind her.

Lyda waited for a few minutes until she was sure that her parents had gone to bed themselves. Careful not to disturb Adea, she quietly slipped out of bed just to pull the stained pages from the leather-bound book out from underneath her mattress. The entire day was stressful as she struggled to keep her newfound secret. She was just thankful that she managed to slip Aunt Mara's book back under her bed before anyone had a chance to notice, but not without taking the only thing she really cared about; the notes recorded on these pieces of parchment.

The limited amount of time Lyda had really study their contents was driving her crazy. It was a great risk to take them along when they went off with their friends. It was easy enough to convince the others that they were merely notes given to her by Iris, but it was a different story when it came to her father. He was quick to observe that Lyda never took a dip in the creek at which they had been swimming all day, and for a moment, she was terrified that he would see through her ruse but was relieved when he did not press the matter more than he did. It was clear that this was the only time she was going to have to examine the pages in absolute privacy, which was why she asked her mother to leave the candle burning with a convenient cover. Perhaps Adea's horrid nightmares had some use to them after all.

Lyda had no idea how much time had passed since the door was closed. She was so absorbed in her activity that she knew she would be caught unawares if one of their parents decided to come in and check on them. It was worth it to her. The contents of these pages were incredible. There was so much information regarding the Twin Spirits of which she had never heard anyone speak. But there was one subject that, in Lyda's mind, stood out among all the rest, and she spent several hours examining it closely. It was by far the most disturbing thing she had ever read, but that only fueled her curiosity like wildfire. Lyda could not imagine a title for such a passage, but the page named it simply, "The Gift."

All the while she was reading this, Lyda seemed completely oblivious to the quiet whispers that kept fluttering around in her head. She was not even sure if it was merely her mind's voice or the voice of something else entirely. She so engrossed in what she was doing that by the time she registered the voices in her head, her attention was interrupted by the sound of Adea of moaning in her sleep. Lyda glanced over to see her tossing and turning in her bed, kicking her blanket off subconsciously. As her moans soon developed into tiny squeals of fear, it became obvious to Lyda; she was having another nightmare.

Lyda's first thought was to scramble to slip the pages back under her mattress, expecting Adea's episode to escalate until she woke up screaming again, which would surely draw their parents. She was surprised, however, when Adea's eyes shot open as she awoke in a fit of rapid breathing. Lyda let out a sigh of relief, which drew her sister's attention.

"Lyda?" she uttered, a look of pure fear painted on her face beneath her sweat.

"You didn't scream this time," Lyda said, somewhat surprised. "Was it another dream?"

"Yes," Adea replied shakily, "but I woke myself. I could not bear to have another one."

"You woke yourself?" Lyda repeated, feeling impressed.

"I didn't really mean to," Adea explained. "It was just like the last dream. I can never tell if it's real or not. I was just lying in my bed like I am now and the voices started whispering to me again, urging me to follow them somewhere. I tried my best to ignore them but they only got more agitated. I wanted to wake you up but then I noticed that you were not in your bed."

"But I've been here the whole time," Lyda rebutted.

"That's when I realized it was another nightmare," Adea continued, "and I just knew something horrible was going to happen. Every time it does, it uses you to trick me into following it."

"Wait," Lyda said with a hint of shock in her voice. "You're saying it's me who causes you all this suffering?" She was immediately reminded of the speech her father had given her just that afternoon.

Adea rotated her head on her pillow to look at her sister, the light of the candle revealing a tear tracking down her face. She shook her head. "I think it just pretends to be you. I think it wants me to believe that you could actually hurt me."

Lyda's heart skipped a beat. "Adi," she uttered. She wanted to find the right words to say but nothing would come out. Adea was not only scared to death of these dreams, but whatever it was, it threatened to make her fear her as well. This could not continue. Adea had been having bad dreams for weeks now, but the last few nights were inconceivably worse. If something was not done about it, Lyda feared she might lose her sister forever.

Letting out a sigh, Lyda lifted up her mattress and reluctantly pulled back out the pages from the tome. Adea tilted her head in curiosity. "Are those the papers Iris gave you? What are they?"

Lyda folded the pages neatly together. "They're going to help you."

Adea's eyes widened as she sat up in her bed. "What do you mean?"

"I don't have time to sit here and explain it to you," Lyda said, almost impatiently, "but I think I found something in these pages that can help rid you of these nightmares forever."

At that moment, Adea's eyes lit up brighter than the light of the candle. "Really?" she squealed with hope. "How?"

"I'll show you," Lyda answered as she headed for the bedroom door. "Get dressed and meet me out by the stables in a few minutes."

"Why?"

"Just do it!" Lyda struggled to keep from yelling. "I promise I will help you put a stop to your suffering."

Adea's face seemed to struggle between a smile and an expression of disturbance. She could not put her finger on it, but there was something unnerving about the way Lyda was speaking. Frankly, it did not matter to her. Adea was so frightened by these visions that she was ready to do whatever it took to be rid of them. With nothing left to say, she gave Lyda a trembling nod of her head. Lyda nodded back and then quietly slipped out of the bedroom, leaving her sister to think it over.

As Lyda made her way down the stairs, cringing anxiously as they creaked with each step, she could not escape the thoughts that were running through her own head. Adea was scared, that was clear, but so was Lyda. There was much self-doubt in the back of her mind as she truly did not know what she was about to do. The stained pages of Aunt Mara's book spoke of some indescribably dark things, but none could compare to what she read about the profane ritual called "The Gift". In her beating heart, Lyda was not sure she was ready to attempt it, but she would do anything to restore Adea's peace of mind. All this was just a means to an end.

All this she pondered deeply as she made her way out into the backyard. She glanced at the stables, where the horses and ponies were fast asleep. The wind was rustling in the trees as if coming from all directions. Lyda looked around as though she was caught in the middle of it, the cold gusts licking the flesh of her face. It did not feel like nature. It felt deliberate.

"I don't know what you are," Lyda said as confidently as she could, scanning the dark tree lines encircling their cottage. "I don't know what you want, but you're hurting my little sister, and I'm going to put an end to it."