Shattering Crystals

"So... tell me again why we had to bring everyone," Dean says, looking at an ornate vase. He reaches out to touch it, but thinks better of it and draws back his hand.

"I know it isn't good..." Lorraine says, examining a painting. But I just couldn't leave anyone behind."

“I guess so.”

Elise walks down the wide hallway, touching each door with her fingertips. She leans her face close to the doors, and it looks ridiculous.

"So weird," Lorraine mutters, casting an invisibility spell on herself. It's clear that she doesn't actually try, because he body fades in and out of the darkness.

"It's not weird, it's helpful," Sarah says, tugging on her all-black clothing. "Don't say that just because you can't do it."

For once, Lorraine doesn't say anything back. Maybe because Sarah is speaking too loudly for the middle of the night, or just that she is right. Nobody can do that but Elise.

Elise is actually looking through the doors, looking for Katalina. During the two months of preparation (and stalking), Lorraine had to think of everything.

First, we had to get in the house. We obviously couldn't just open the door and walk in... and of course the doors were locked. Like doors are supposed to be, anyways.

I had already learned the door unlocking spell (when I kicked the door of Cody and Connor's house), and Lorraine and I worked it to perfection. But Katalina's house is a huge mansion, and alarms are sure to be everywhere. Lorraine had gone out and bought a motion sensor alarm, and worked to disable it. Eventually, she succeeded, but there was no telling if Katalina's house had the same security system.

I guess luck is on our side, because Lorraine managed to disable it and everyone snuck in, invisible. And we also had to pair up - since some of us can't do magic. Elise was the best at the invisibility spell, and Lorraine is just a bit jealous. No one is ever better than her at magic.

So Lorraine had also thought about searching for Katalina's room. The magical force would guide us, but we didn't want to take our chances. I can just remember her sitting there, on the bed, getting more and more frustrated. Then Elise mentioned that she could look through doors. I don't know how she found out that she could do that. Maybe I don't want to know.

When she touches the door, the spot instantly becomes transparent and grows larger. It looks strange, as if her finger is melting the door away. She has to make the "windows" small, because even people on the other side can look through it. Not that anyone is awake in this huge house, but we have to take our precautions.

"Found her," Elise whispers, standing in front of a door all the way at the end of the hallway. "I see her... she's sleeping."

"Well, we aren't creepy," Cody says sarcastically, stepping up to take a look through the window. "Watching people sleep like this..."

"You're the one watching her sleep," Lorraine says, pulling him back. She takes a look herself. "How do you know this is her? I mean, it looks like her..."

"For one, if you didn't notice," Elise says icily, "there's a huge picture of her on the wall. I don't know what it says under it, because I can't read Russian. But there's also a bunch of runway dresses on mannequins..."

"Well then," Lorraine says, "Lynda, read this for us?"

Lynda obediently steps up and takes a look. "Katalina's room."

"See, I was right," Elise says, backing away from the door. The window fades away. "So what now?"

"We go in, just like I planned," Lorraine says. "Then we lock the door and soundproof the room."

"Doesn't sound easy," Connor says. "Are you sure you can do it?"

"It's not hard," Lorraine explains. "It's not easy, exactly, but not much of a problem. You would know, if you could do it too..."

"We can all do it in our sleep," Sarah says, rolling her eyes. "You made us practice like, eight hours a day?"

"Shut up and let's go in..." Lorraine turns the doorknob, only to find out that it's locked. She quickly unlocks it and rushes us in, one by one.

It turns out that Katalina is a very light sleeper, and her eyelids flutter as soon as we head towards her huge bed in the middle of the room. Luckily for us, she's still in a dreamy haze as she opens her eyes.

I have to turn away though, because Lorraine needs our help with all the spells. Dean manually locks the door and we work on the walls. Elise and I soundproof one wall, Lynda and Ashlee do another, and Sarah and Lorraine have their own job.

Before we finish, Katalina lets out a piercing shriek. I flinch and try to work faster, desperately hoping that no one heard. She screams even more, but Lorraine does nothing about it. We all assume just to leave her that way.

I suppose that seeing us, in the middle of the night, is pretty scary. Especially when we're all wearing black. She probably thinks we’re murderers. Or rapists. Or both.

"This is so weird," Connor says to Cody. "I mean, ironic. We're gonna commit a crime, basically... on our birthday."

"Katalina!" Lorraine says. Katalina immediately shuts up, for she recognizes the voice.

"You again!" Katalina shouts, terror clear in her voice. "I thought that I told you to leave me alone!"

"You did..." Lorraine says. "But that doesn't mean we'll listen. I mean, you've told us that about twenty times and we just keep coming back, don't we?"

"I am not going with you, so you just should leave." Katalina's tone isn't as commanding as it usually is. But that's probably because she's alone and defenseless - and worst of all, makeup-less.

"You're going with us... whether you want to or not," Lorraine says, her voice low and ominous. "I'd rather you choose to go on your own though."

"Why?" Katalina says. "Why would I want to leave everything I have here for some craziness? I am famous, I am beautiful... I have everything I want here."

"You will have more," Dean says, helping out Lorraine. "Think about it. You will have magic; you can do things that you will never be able to do while you're human..."

"And you'll be one of the most famous people in the universe." I say this because it's true. We're sure to get recognized for this journey. But I still wonder why no one has come to help us. Surely Earth isn't very hard to get to? Especially for magic users...

Katalina opens her mouth to answer, but then shuts it. She appears to think about it for a minute before speaking. "Famous? The most famous in the universe?"

We’ve given her so many reasons to go with us, after all these visits, but this is the only one she seems to consider. What does this say about her?

"In all the universes," Lorraine assures her. "How could we not be?"

"Will I be rich? Will I be beautiful?" Katalina asks hopefully. I think that this girl is just a bit self-centered. But if this is what it takes...

"I'm definite," Lorraine says. "We’re going to a magical world, anyways. We'll make it back, and we'll have everything we could ever want."

"In that case..." Katalina says. "I might just go with you."

She seems to accept all of this so quickly - but we all did, and she’s had so much time to think. Maybe it’s this direct confrontation that helps her make the decision. It's strange though - the idea is so wild and bizarre, and yet none of us hesitate to believe it. It seems like there's a magical quality to it all that convinces us too easily. Or maybe it just feels so real, we can't deny it.

"That's great then... We'll have to leave soon, though," Lorraine says. "And we need your help."

"What do you need?"

"First things first, we need money. I'm sure you have enough for all of us."

"Money?" Katalina asks. "For all of you?"

"Yes," Lorraine says. "After all, we're in this together now."