Reeba outstretched her hand towards Mina, showing her the box. Neither of the girls wanted to touch
it. That seemed almost sacrilegious.
“I thought it was just a part of the bird’s feathers,” Mina replied.
“To an untrained eye, yes, but, actually, it’s bone dust. Do you smell that faint fragrance?”
“No, not really,” Mina shook her head.
“Then, trust me. I recognize the smell.”
“Okay and what does that mean?”
“The bone dust and the thread, together with the fact that the bird is dead is supposed to make you… repellent.”
“Repellent?” Mina didn’t understand.
“It’s the opposite of a love spell,” Reeba tried to clarify. “You know, like when someone makes a potion to make someone else fall in love with them. Well, this is the opposite. This bird is supposed to make someone fall out of love with you. Or hate you even. I’m not sure how much bone dust was used…”
“Fall out of love with me?” Mina frowned. “Are you serious?”
“I’m only telling you what I know,” Reeba shrugged her shoulders. “You can believe it or not, that’s up to you.”
Mina sighed. It sounded as if she was attacking Reeba and that was the last thing she wanted to do. She felt as if an apology was due.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude or anything…” Mina started.
“It’s okay,” Reeba smiled. “I get it. It probably hasn’t been easy being you these past few weeks.”
Mina smiled back. She appreciated the understanding.
“Just, be careful. Something fishy is going on around here,” Reeba seemed worried.
“Don’t worry. I plan on getting to the bottom of it.”
Mina had no time to be worried. Not when there was so much work left to be done.
Chapter 18
The following day at school, Mina felt a strange kind of anxiety. It was with her when she woke up, as she gazed at herself in the mirror, trying to figure out what was wrong. It was with her during every single class that day. It was with her when she stumbled onto Raphael and had a pleasant chat with him in the hallways, when she even allowed him a peck on the cheek. It was with her when she accidentally slammed her locker door, causing much more noise than she wanted to.
“I guess that’s the only way you can attract attention to yourself,” Mina heard a familiar, unpleasant voice behind her, “by causing unnecessary noise.”
These words were followed by giggles, then the twins appeared before her, cornering her. Mina looked to the left, then to the right. The students in the hallways were dispersing in record speed, heading out after their last class for the day and the twins had strategically waited for their moment to approach her.
“There’s no use looking around, new kid,” Morgan grinned. “There’s no one to help you.”
The two giggled again and, at that moment, Mina knew this was probably what had been causing all that discomfort throughout the day. She had sensed this meeting was coming. In all honesty, Mina wasn’t in the mood for this kind of conflict right now. She had already arranged it with Hendrik to meet later on and head over to the Bunker, in hopes that it would improve her mood, and maybe, just maybe, something might happen. She was also hoping that the guys would be on board with her version of what a relationship should be, but so far, she was sure that Renwick and Raphael shared the same idea.
“So, a little birdie told us that you didn’t listen to our warning from last time,” Madison said, and they both laughed again hysterically, as if they came up with the funniest joke in the world.
Mina frowned. A birdie? Was it a hint or just a coincidence? She wouldn’t put it past them to put a dead bird in front of her door. Plus, if Reeba was right about it being the opposite of a love spell, then it all made sense. The twins found out about Renwick and Raphael somehow, and now, they were using a different strategy to get her to stay away from them.
“Obviously, we need to remind you again,” their voices sounded harsh and unpleasant, as they continued talking. “You see, we can’t figure out if you’re really that stupid or just pretending. My bet is you’re pretending. You can’t possibly be that stupid, can you?”
Madison took a menacing step towards her and Mina moved backwards, realizing that her back was now pinned against the lockers. There was nowhere to go. She was surrounded. Her first instinct was to play dumb, but when she thought about it better, she knew it wouldn’t work. It didn’t work the first time, either, so why would it work now? She ended up doing exactly the opposite and now the twins were pissed. Maybe it was time she put them in their place.
“I know what you said,” Mina shot back. “I didn’t approach either of them.”