When the bell rings, I pick up my stuff and rush out of the classroom. I now have math with Mr. Blackford. Oh, it’s that teacher who was supposed to help me but disappeared. This is going to be awkward.

I end up asking a bunch of people how to get to his class, and I make it just in time.

“Alexandria, may I talk to you?” Mr. Blackford says right before I enter the classroom.

“Yes?” I ask.
“I know why you are here, for your brother, right?” He asks.

“How did you know?” I ask, suspicious.

“Your brother talked about you a lot, he missed you. I know a way to get him back.”

“What are you even talking about?” I demand, more than ask.

“I can help you, I’m a warlock, and I know you are a witch. Your brother was apart of a witch and warlock group, he was a warlock, Alexandria.”

“What? I’m so confused-” He cut me off.

“Do you want your brother back?”

“Yes, of course.” I say without hesitation.

“Then meet me after school, you will need to meet someone.” I nod and enter the classroom. Mr. Blackford carries on about math to me, like we had been talking about it the whole time, and I just nod.

I see the boy from earlier in the back of the class and I walk up to the seat beside him and sit.

“Aren’t you going to ask to sit there?”

“Why would I when I know I’m going to sit here anyway?” I counter. He chuckles to himself as he puts his book into his binder.

“You,” He pauses for a moment. “You are nothing like Owen.” You could tell he chose his words carefully by the way he spoke. We don’t talk for the rest of class and when the bell rings, he speaks.

“See you after school.” Before I can ask what he means, he is gone, and I have to go to my next class.

The rest of the day passes as a normal day for me. I ask people where to go, and they assist me. When school ends and I am waiting for my bus, Mr. Blackford comes and tells me to meet him in the new gym.

I do as I was told, after asking multiple people where the new gym was located.Mr. Blackford is there, along with the boy from earlier. They were standing in the middle of the gym and Mr. Blackford’s aura was just dark, and evil, but I ignored it.

“You made it, did you get lost?” Mr. Blackford asked, I nod in response and continue to walk into the gym. The door slams behind me and I jump, the whole gym was filled with tension.
I meet them in the middle of the gym and Mr. Blackford begins to talk, but everything sounds like it’s underwater. I don’t hear his instructions, but I notice him pointing to the orb in his hand.

The world comes back like water rushing into a bathtub.

“Did you get all of that?” Mr. Blackford asks.

“Um, I have to put my hand on the orb, right?” He nods.

“And you have to think of where you want to go, but it’s-” The boy is cut off by Mr. Blackford.

“Dangerous to go alone.” The boy glares at him. “Ready to go?”
“I don’t think she is feeling we-”

“Alexandria are you ready to go?”

“W-What was he going to say?” I stutter, everything feels like it is spinning.

“I was going to say you don’t look like you are feeling well.”

“I think I would feel better after I get my brother back.” I say, halfway not realizing what I am saying. I look at Mr. Blackford and I study him, he appears to be the only one who isn’t affected by whatever is happening. Without realizing it I touch the orb and I think about the week before Owen’s death, and then everything fades to a purple and black; then I am outside.

Everything appears to be newer than it was just a minute ago, and all I can think of is Alice in Wonderland. I’m waiting for the blue caterpillar to come out and tell me I’m dreaming, but then I see Owen getting off a bus, and I know it’s real.

I have to stop myself from yelling for my brother, because if I did so I would probably mess up something about the timeline.
“Bye Devin!” Owen yells as he walks towards the school, and I see a kid hanging out of the bus window. It was the boy who was in the gym.

“Bye Owen!” He waves like an idiot and almost falls out of the bus as it moves.

I hide behind a wall, so neither one of them see me, and I whisper to myself.

“Holy fudge-nuggets. I am actually in the past.”