chapter two | the iron dagger

She hadn't spoken that morning, to anyone. Not Marnie, not Ethan, or Dylan, or even Aggie; she hugged Sophie, but that was it. Everyone had nearly given up on getting her to talk to them, and she'd nearly given up on staying silent, that is, until she just so happened to catch a glimpse of something through the window in the girl's bathroom.

An giant iron dagger, the calling card of the Knights, was on full display right there on the sidewalk. Her blood ran cold, her breathing became staggered, and she became light headed. The teen launched herself into a stall, releasing her breakfast into the water before her first class had even begun.

Levana wasn't going to make it through this day, so she took a deep breath and walked to the nurses office. They gave her a slip to sign out, and told her that they'd inform Aggie of her health. Instead of going to the Piper household, she went to the safe room; she believed it would be the safest bet for her until free period.

As her heels clicked through the hallway, echoing off of the abandoned linoleum, another pair of footsteps was heard around the corner. They sounded metallic, or maybe she was just imagining things, but she would have sworn on her friendship with Ethan that she felt like somebody was watching her.

"Miss Sylver?"

She jumped, turning on her heel to face the man. Plastering on a fake smile, she replied, "Principal Flanagan, it's nice to see you."

"Nice to see you too, but why aren't you in class? The bell rang fifteen minutes ago."

Levana sighed, waving the exit slip slightly. "I threw up before the bell rang, so the nurse is sending me home... I just can't find this darn exit." She chuckled, clutching her stomach; a sudden uneasiness washed over her once more, but she couldn't tell if it was coming from the dagger she'd seen, or something else.

"Ah, well I'm sorry to hear that. I do hope you get better soon; the west exit is two right turns down this hall." He smiled, motioning his hand to direct her, "Get well soon, Miss Sylver."

"Thank you, Principal Flanagan."

...

Aggie rushed into the safe room before everyone else, enveloping Levana into a hug that would crush bones if she weren't so brittle. "Dear, are you okay?"

"Aggie, would you ever lie to me?"

"What?" The woman asked, wide eyed, "No! Why would you even think to ask-"

"I saw the dagger, Splendora." The teen cut her off, using the woman's first name for the first time in years. It had such a bitter undertone, such a sinister ring to it, that the girl never used it unless she was upset. "I saw the fucking dagger this morning."

The woman froze, her blue eyes wide as she observed the young witch's appearance. Her eyes were red and puffy, and cheeks were shining from the tears she'd shed, her nails were bitten to the point of bleeding, and her body was shivering with fear.

"They killed my dad, Aggie." She stated, her voice breaking as the woman pulled her into a comforting hug. "They took him from me..."

Ethan was the next to enter, eyes widening in relief as he saw the familiar black waves of his best friend; when she hadn't shown up to their classes, he was worried something heinous had happened to her. Whenever he rounded Aggie to look at his friend's face, his heart shattered; something awful had happened, alright.

"Lev, what's wrong?" He asked, his tone laced with a sweet sense of concern. She looked up at him through soaked lashes, eyes watering with the reflection of the lights in the room. Aggie sent him a sorrowful look, before allowing him to take over as she went to greet the other students.

Levana knew she couldn't tell him the truth of what happened; he may have been her best friend, but he'd never been good at keeping large secrets from his father. She knew that Marnie had idiotically bet the entire Cromwell Clan's magic on their safety and the success of this program, she just couldn't do that to the witch.

"I-I saw someone that looked like-"

She couldn't finish her lie, she didn't need to. Ethan understood what she was saying immediately, pulling her into one of his hugs that would typically help her fall asleep while they were having sleepovers. The girl had nightmares often, and sometimes she couldn't sleep without knowing that the blond was right there next to her, never letting her fight these demons alone.

But this was one that she knew she had to face alone; not for pride, but for her father.

The duo moved to the couch, where Ethan played with Levana's waves until she peacefully fell asleep. She could hear their conversations: Pete joining football, Nancy joining the gardening club, Ethan doing a play, Chester joining the stamp collecting club. She was proud of Marnie, and even prouder of the ghouls around her for getting out there and finding human stuff to do that they would actually enjoy.

"Hey, Ethan, what do you think Levana would join?" Marnie asked, a smile on her lips as she looked to the blond duo.

"I think she'd join a band, or something. Musical prodigy over here."

"I'm about to be in the mortician club if you don't shut up about me and music," she muttered, prying her eyes open. She winced slightly when the light hit her eyes, but her eyes almost exploded from her skull when she could have sworn she'd seen a pair of eyes staring back at her from the Knight's armor decoration near Aggie.

Her breathing grew rapidly, and her vision had gone blurry; it felt so real. The terror in her veins was unlike anything she'd felt in Halloweentown, or even when she visited the human world for the first time. It was pure, complete, petrifying terror.

She went to stand, but her vision only grew blurrier as black dots had begun to cloud her eyes. Within seconds, she was out cold, lucky to have been caught by Pete's fast reflexes.

"Is she okay?" Cassie asked, eyes widening as she rushed to their friend.

"She just fainted, Cas. No, she's not okay." Natalie sighed, checking Levana's pulse and temperature, "Crap, she's burning up. We need to get her back to the house, fast."

...

The rest of the week went by smoothly, even though Ethan had to bring Levana's schoolwork back to the house; Principal Flanagan didn't want her coming back to school until she was fully recovered, having been told some lie that Aggie had found her unconscious on the kitchen floor.

Levana woke up to bouquet of light pink roses on her nightstand the morning after she'd fainted, and smiled as she read the note that had accompanied it; she figured Ethan was up for hours worrying about her, and believed that he spent a good chunk of those hours sitting next to her bed, jumping at any slight movement she'd make.

"Nancy told me these mean appreciation, or something like that. I'm just appreciative that you're, y'know, not dead. Let me know when you wake up, ring the tiny bell next to the envelope.

XO,

E"

...

"E, I'm going to warn you - human Halloween decorations are a bit, uh... patronizing."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah," she nodded, "they think we're fiction, so they portray us in fictional ways. Just, be weary when you walk around - oh! And here's some money, if you wanna buy anything." She pulled her wallet from her pocket, one with the Oogie Boogie Man from The Nightmare Before Christmas sewn on it, and handed him $200. He had no idea where she'd gotten the money, but knowing her, he wasn't sure he wanted to.

He looked at her with an appreciative smile, "Are you sure you're okay to be left alone? I mean, with what happened last week I don't wanna-"

"I'll be okay, E. I'm just gonna chill at the food court."