A Mysterious Evening

Tap. Tap. Tap tap tap.

With a jolt, Ophelia opened her green eyes.

Tap tap tap tap TAP.

The incessant sound which woke her was insistent.

Tap. Tap. Tap tap.

She was frozen in her plush wicker papasan chair. Her glasses were still on her face. The book she’d been reading when she fell asleep had slid to the floor. Dark, sun-blocking curtains hid her window from sight as she oriented herself.

TAP TAP TAP.

Her mouth was sticky with morning breath and her face felt stale. She’d forgotten to brush her teeth and wash her face yesterday morning. She sighed and extricated herself from her cocooned seat. 11:15pm. She’d overslept - again. Professor Abile would have some choice words for her if she showed up after midnight - again.

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” she grumbled. She stuffed the book into her knapsack, grabbed her black riding cloak and moved towards the window.

Tap tap tap tap tap ta—

Ophelia pulled back the blinds, expecting Mephi, her peryton, to be tapping the window with his beak.

Instead, wide violet eyes framed by long, dark hair stared back. A fist hovered in midair, mid-knock.

“Taryn?!” Ophelia exclaimed. She rubber her eyes and opened the window, beckoning her friend inside her tower room. Was she that late?

Taryn launched herself through the opening and summersaulted through the air, swearing.

“Fif, what the hell are you up to?! I’ve been trying to wake you for a good 20 minutes.” Taryn faced Ophelia with an exasperated expression, her hands on her petite waist. She pulsed with energy, levitating herself around the room.

Ophelia sheepishly smirked, her heartrate calming. “Erm, just finishing up my toi-lette?” she tried, emphasizing the “toi” sarcastically. “I’ve still got 15 minutes, haven’t I?”

Not convinced nor amused, Taryn harrumphed, “You haven’t even called Mephi yet, haven’t you? When I saw he was still in the dorm’s aviary I just about had it. They’re not going to give you a third chance, you know. It’s bloody 11:45.”

Ophelia groaned. The clock must have reset itself to her wishes for more sleep. Blasted object! She glared at the offending clock. She pulled a whittled wooden whistle from her cloak pocket and blew. Though no noise escaped, the air trembled lightly and she knew Mephi had received her summons. She sighed. “Thanks for checking on me. I lost track of time reading Leverett’s book last night.”

Taryn paused her frenetic movements and hovered in place. She said quietly,“Fif, you can’t keep doing this. What else are you expecting to find in reading that thing again?”

“There’s got to be something that we’ve missed.”

“Says who?”

“There just has to be something. It’s the only clue we have.”

Taryn shook her head. “Maybe we should just leave this be.”

Ophelia looked sadly at her friend. “Do you really mean that?”

Taryn bit her lip. Ophelia’s striking gaze pinned her, eyes illuminated by her circular glasses. “I’m just saying, maybe we take a break for the rest of the month, until this term is over, and then re-approach the book with fresh eyes. Or, maybe, your sister will come back in that time and everything will make sense. Abile is already going to give you a demerit if you’re late again. If you get one more I’m worried Heatherbane will actually expel you, even though you’re top of the class.”

Before Ophelia could reply, a soft whinny floated through the open window. Both girls looked on as an enormous peryton flew closer. The colorful creature was half-stag, half-bird. The girls admired the peryton’s magnificent emerald body and its tapered wings of various shades of purple.

“We can talk about this at break,” Ophelia finally responded. She pulled her knapsack over her shoulders and moved to stand on her window ledge as Mephi came closer. Once his body hovered under the opening, she hopped onto the natural saddle and asked Taryn, “do you want a ride?”

“Nah, thanks though. I want to stretch a little. You’ll be faster without my weight anyway,” Taryn answered. “We have ten minutes to midnight.” She followed Ophelia to the window ledge, and stepped into the sky. The window slammed shut on its own accord as the room became unoccupied.

The night air was crisp and the yellow moon hung low and full on the horizon. Ophelia breathed deeply, and grabbed a mint from her knapsack to disguise her breath. She nudged her feet into Mephi’s side as he flew forward, urging him to fly more quickly. She leaned low over his neck and rubbed his skin, murmuring her thanks at his quick appearance. Taryn’s aerodynamic body flew next to them, looping through the sky.

The stone tower dormitories loomed behind them, a coniferous forest stretched below. Ahead, Ophelia saw her and Taryn’s imposing university.

“Do you really think Abile will give me a demerit?” she shouted above the wind. She didn’t really care, but anything to take her mind of her sister.

“Honestly? Yes.” Taryn answered, her usual blunt honesty deflating Ophelia’s attempt at distraction.

For the rest of the flight, the girls were silent, lost in their own thoughts. Ophelia’s twin sister had been missing for nearly two weeks. The evening her sister disappeared, the Leverett book appeared in Ophelia’s knapsack. It was the only anomaly in an otherwise ordinary sequence of nights. Ordinary, except for the fact Amelia was nowhere to be found.

Too soon, or, not soon enough, Mephi descended on the university’s landing pad, lit by hovering glow tubes.

“See you later,” Ophelia whispered to Mephi as she dismounted. Taryn landed gracefully next to her. A keeper was approaching to board Mephi in the school’s aviary.

“Thanks,” Ophelia said to the keeper. She was, not unexpectedly, ignored. The keeper led Mephi away from the girls. He kept his eyes averted. The staff was not permitted to speak to students, an illogical mandate, in Ophelia’s opinion.

Ophelia squared her shoulders and looked at the entrance to the university. She started walking quickly towards the school. She refused to run. The clock above the entrance read 11:58.

“Are you going to the library?” she asked Taryn. Taryn had a research block first period instead of Professor Abile’s history course.

“Probably.”

“Meet at the tree at break?”

“If Abile doesn’t make you stay late…”

“Oh, come on. She may give me a demerit, but I doubt she’ll want to spend extra time with me.”

Taryn acknowledged, “true.”

As the girls neared the heavy oak doors, they opened of their own accord, sensing the girls’ desire to enter. Ophelia steeled herself walking over the threshold, while Taryn glanced nervously ahead. The doors creaked shut behind them.