There were voices mumbling around her. Mena opened her eyes, and much to her surprise, she was in her dormitory bedroom, surrounded by everyone who cared about her. Mena craned her neck to look around. There was May and Janus, Professors Stellaris and Caligari and Gemini himself. Other than Ashlan, who was curiously missing, the only other person who was sadly absent was Deidre.

“Wakey wakey,” Gemini said, and removed a breakfast platter from behind his back. “Got you some eggs and bakey.”

“And I picked out the necessary dream books and magic kits for your next year of school,” Stellaris said, her white-blond hair spiking out above a pile of school supplies. “You know, since you missed the opening ceremony.”

“I uh…got you this Awakening Wisp,” the shadowy Caligari said, and held out a light blue flame with eyes. “It’ll lightly singe your hand, so you never miss another day of class.”

Everyone glared at Caligari, who quickly made the wisp dissipate. “What?” she asked with a shoulder shrug. “My father used to do it to me in the Nightmare Void. Builds character.”

“Mena,” May said, her small eyes magnified by her large spectacles. “Are you okay?”

“I think…” Mena said, scratching her head. “Thank you everyone for your presents. The only other thing I could ask is if Deidre is alright.”

“About that, “Gemini said, tossing the breakfast plate like a frisbee so it nonchalantly hovered in front of her. “Don’t give up hope, witchy-poo. Once the dust settles on the ground, we will go down and personally look for her. After all, I carefully entrusted her with watching you and she did a splendiferous job.”

Janus reached out her bony hand; Mena felt its icy but gentle touch on her own. “Worry not, Mena. I would get a premonition about her death if she was dead. But right now, I don’t see any spirits gathering on my reaper’s blade.”

“Wowie zowie,” Mena exclaimed, “You can foresee people’s deaths?”

“It was on my mother’s side,” Janus remarked, casting her large purple eyes skyward. “She was the death seer.”

“That’s a relief,” said Mena. “At least, we’d know if she isn’t here anymore.”

“Exactomundo,” Gemini said, and he lightly flicked his hand to send the covers over Mena’s face. “You get some rest today, Mena, and we’ll keep looking into it. Spend some time with your little friends and get your mind off it.”

Mena managed a small smile. “Ok, I will. Thank you everyone.”

Gemini, Caligari and Stellaris bid Mena and her friends farewell, leaving May and Janus as her only company.

The room was silent as Janus and May looked up at Mena, a forlorn expression on her face. “Well ladies,” Mena sighed, and slid back into bed. “If I was a book, I wouldn’t read myself because life already has.”

“We’re really sorry about this, Mena,” Janus said, and she looked at May. May stared fixated at the book on the nightstand.

“M-M-Mena,” May stammered. “You h-h-have the fourteen copy of Love In The Days of Magic?”

“Yeah,” Mena said, barely moving, but shifting her eyes over to the nightstand.

“Mind if I take a look?” May asked, crossing her legs with an antsy expression. “My mummy still didn’t allow me to buy it and I’m dying to find out what’s next in Fabias’ love life.”

“Why not,” Mena said, offering her friend a tired smile. “That’s what romantic fantasy stories are all about—taking us away from our miserable lives to a land that’s fancy-free and full of shirtless abs.”

Mena snatched the book away and finally gave Fabias her undivided attention.

Unfastening a fabric overcoat spangled with wizard hats, Fabias the Famed revealed a shiny hairless torso. Looking realer than any illustration had ever portrayed him, he gazed up at Mena with a heart-melting, seductive look. His dirty blond hair bounced at shoulder length, his blue eyes twinkled like a sea of diamonds and his teeth were whiter than any ordinary fluoride could ever make them. “Name please?” he asked in a voice as silky as the light fabric he wore.

“M-M-Mena,” Mena said, shocked that he was speaking to her.

“This book,” Fabias said, as his deep voice laid the praise on like thick butter. “Is now property of adorable, delectable and all around gorgeous, M-M-Mena.”

Mena looked away bashfully as May watched in amazement. “I’ve never seen a book that recognizes its owner before.”

“That’s because,” Fabias responded, causing May to gasp. “My author Melina Penwell has found a way to bring her imagicnation to life and imprint it on a page. If you are a witch, (or even a warlock) your magic can interact with this book and make these stories feel as real as possible. Instead of writing the next saga herself, Melina now allows her fans to choose whatever suits their fancy.”

“Wait what?” Mena said, her interest suddenly piqued. “How so?”

“Why don’t you turn me on and find out,” Fabias said with a wink.

“Don’t you mean ‘turn me?’” Mena asked with a squeak.

“Not in this story,” Fabias said, raising his thick eyebrows. “For when you open this book, you are activating a new-fangled Dream Art. So, what are you waiting for, pretty little thing?”

“Nothing,” Mena said, her hand to her cheek. “This might make me feel better.”

“Losing yourself to your wild fantasies is the perfect elixir,” Fabias said, and Mena nodded. She heeded his words and opened the book.

The first page depicted a beautiful witch sleeping in her bed clothes. Her long dark hair, was strewn perfectly along the bed. There were yellow rose designs stitched on her black pajamas. Her chest rose and fell as she slumbered in the night. Inky black lettering appeared beneath the moving picture. “Aspiring witch Merlina Magnificant dreams in the depths of night. But… what do her dreams entail? And more importantly, who do they entail?”

A bright white bubble appeared over Magnificant’s head, and as Mena held the book, imagicnation coursed through her fingertips. She looked at May with an excited smile on her face. “I wonder if this is what it means that this book is interactive.”

“Hmm,” Mena said, placing her hand to her chin, her eyes glinting mischievously. “What should she dream of…? Oh, I know…”

A bed with black satin sheets formed in Magnificants’s dream bubble. On it, a man appeared with glistening, perfectly toned abdominal, flowing blond hair and delightfully dreamy eyes. His body lay outstretched with his head resting on his hand. “How do you like my bedside manner, Merlina?” Fabias asked in a suave yet teasing tone. “Even though technically, I’m on top of the bed!”

Magnificant’s face blushed a ripe shade of red as she dreamed, and Mena giggled like a child.

“Wow,” May said, her face equally interested. “You know exactly the kind of stuff he says, Mena.”

“Of course,” Mena responded. “It’s cheesy like fondue but oh-so-rich!”

Mena turned the page and watched as the light dawned in Magnificant’s room with a rich gleam of sunlight shining on her beautiful face. She opened her bright purple eyes with a sigh.

“Because of you,” the letters wrote. “Merlina Magnificant has had a blissful night of sleep and she is ready to start the day. But another thought crosses her mind, what should she do today, and more importantly, who?”

Mena giggled. “Fabias, of course! Let’s have a wonderful date to start the day!”

Magnificant blushed and rose from her bed. With a magical spell, she quickly drew clothes from cedarwood wardrobe and magically changed into a yellow rose covered sorceress robe. Her long hair was fastened with bright purple hair clips and lastly, she donned her witch’s hat. “Merlina Magnificant is now ready for a date of wonderous fulfillment with Fabias.”

Magnificant exited her house, which turned out to be nothing more than her bedroom and walked along the grassy pathway to the end of walk. There a mailbox glowed brightly. “Hmm,” Mena said. “Perhaps I should check on the mail.”

She opened the mailbox and found a white enveloped letter stamped with a red rose. Magnificant opened it. The letter seemed to be cut and pasted from numerous magazines and books with letters not matching up with some being capitalized and some not. Still, they managed to form a coherent message “Sometimes what you read might not be the truth. And sometimes the truth might not be what you read….X/0.”

Mena scratched her head. “That’s odd. I’ve never found intrigue in one of Penwell’s romance novels before. Perhaps a new writing technique?”

Mena had the fictional witch avatar pocket the letter and continue to Fabias’ house. It was shaped like his head with sparkling blue windows for eyes and a large grinning mouth of white teeth for his door. The roof was blond and sloped down to the ground. “Ah,” Mena said, “Narcissism has never been this fabulous!”

Magnificant opened the door to Fabias’ house and a description appeared beneath the moving image. “Merlina Magnificant entered Fabias’ abode, unbeknownst what surprise waited inside.”

With a flick of her finger, the fictional witch shot fire at the hanging chandelier to find Fabias’ lying with the black velvet curtains drawn and his body devoid of clothes except for a speedo. He reclined comfortably, grinning a winsome grin at his visitor. “Fabias?” Magnificant said, another visible blush streaked across her face. “How did you know?”

“I am the object of your dreams after all,” the handsome wizard fellow remarked. “Quite literally.”

Mena snickered along with May as they read it. Fabias’ one liners were even more rewarding, when Mena had orchestrated them herself. She readied herself for a fantabulous date between Fabias and Magnificant when Janus climbed onto her bed.

Mena closed the book and turned her head over to her reaper friend. Janus reclined on her bed and began polishing her brand-new scythe. “Janus?” Mena asked. “Would you like to join us?”

“I’ll pass,” Janus said, politely. “Unless it’s star-crossed lovers awaiting a terrible fate, I could care less for romance novels. But I’m very happy that it’s helping you feel better, Mena.”

“Thank you, Janus,” Mena said, preparing to open the book again. “I really needed this—a magical health day.”

After a few hours of May and Mena inventing the greatest romance of their lives, there was a knock at the door.

“Mena,” it was Gemini’s voice. It was surprisingly devoid of any tomfoolery or merriment.

Mena walked over to the door and saw a surprisingly stern look on the headmaster’s face. “Mena, my old buddy Death has cleared Growden of any stragglers. They will no longer be a threat to us. I want you to come with me and the teachers.”

“So, we can look for Deidre…?” Mena asked, but Gemini gave a solemn expression in return.

Gemini merely offered his hand, and lead Mena outside onto the anti-gravity cloud wall, she bid farewell to her friends—her one moment of comfort and followed the headmaster down it.

Mena swallowed hard. She immediately knew something wasn’t right. The castle was tinted in the greys and dark white from a recent thunderstorm. All Mena could think of was Deidre’s barn, burning off in the distance. At least a heavy rain would have fizzled out the fire.

Down at the tunnel to the dining hall, Mena was greeted by Stellaris and Caligari. Stellaris even embraced Mena and smiled sadly. “Grim is at Deidre’s manor. We don’t have to worry about the beasts anymore.”

Caligari, Stellaris and Gemini lead Mena outside to the courtyard as the grey clouds swirled below them. Mena looked through a gap in the storm clouds and saw smoke rising from the castle town of Growden and Deidre’s manor. She grasped tightly at her collar and frowned. Please be okay, she thought about Deidre.

Together, they descended right on the anchor right to the bakery. It lay smoldered and charred, the light rain having drowned the fires. Mena was already overcome with emotion. The place she had been all summer was no more, yet again. The reaper stood tall beside the remains, his cloak waving in the wind.

Grim with his childlike eyes looked at Mena with deep sorrow as he led her to a black tarp. “I’ve seen this a million times… People losing their loved ones to me,” he said, his eyes dewy. “And it would still move me to tears… if I had any.”

Mena slumped to her knees as she saw a piece of frayed sundress from beneath the tarp. “Dede…” she sobbed. It seemed not even a death seer like Janus could have predicted this sordid outcome.