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looked like a tiny man . A n even tinier winged creature flew in circle s around her head. Gran looked happy.
    Gran look s happy. How c an she be so happy when I’m so miserable?
    Mercy tore the hat from her head and tossed it back where she’d found it. Divining indeed! It’s all a bunch of nonsense anyway.
    She got ready for bed and stood in front of the old antique mirror hanging over her grandmother’s bureau. The mirror had darkened with age and the reflective backing had crackled. But it was something Gran loved. Mercy recalled the many times she had seen her grandmother polis hing the ornate mahogany frame.
    She stroked her h airbrush through her long hair.
    There! Out of the corner of her eye, she saw some movement reflected in the mirror. She turned quickly, but there was nothing. Her heart raced as her eyes flicked around the room. The only movement was the very tip of Alistair ’s tail as he rhythmically flipped it back and forth.
    Mercy blew out a breath. Whew! I’m imagining things . Her heart felt like a giant butterfly was trying to escape her ribcage. Her hands shook as she turned back to the mirror and tried to resume the hair brushing routine. Her pulse rate had almost returned to normal when a glimmer of movement caught her eye. She froze and pretended not to notice, but her gaze locked on the pulsing manifestation on the other side of the glass. The aura moved across the reflection in an erratic manner, flitting first one pla ce and then darting to another.
    Mercy realized she had stopped breathing. She moved slowly, placing the brush on the bureau and reaching toward the moving figure. Her fingertips smacked into the glass, reminding her that she was on this side and whatever it was on the o ther side lay beyond her reach.
    I must be imagining things. ..or going nuts.
    And yet she remained, watching the image until the light outside was gone and she could no longer see. She sighed and turned on a l amp , before closing the curtains. She gathered Alistair and curled up in a wing chair to sort out her thoughts. Nothing made sense to her at all.
    She went to bed and lay in the dark, clutching Alistair . She couldn’t fall asleep right away for all the questions r ag ing through her head.
     
    ~*~
     
     
     
     
    C HAPTER T HREE
     
    The next day could almost be described as normal, except that her grandmother had disappeared off the planet , a cat talked to her, she was taking witch lessons via television and suddenly the boy she had liked since kindergarten d ecided to pay attention to her.
    Just another normal day.
    Greg walked between her and Felicity when they arrived at school . He grinned and waved when he headed for his class. “See ya later.” That sounded normal.
    But w hat if it was some kind of horrible prank? What if Greg really had lost a bet and had been forced to take her to the dance as a result? She thought about sharing her concerns with Felicity and Kelli , but didn’t think even her best friend s would understand why she had agreed to the date if she had doubts . And she certainly couldn’t tell t he m that Gran was missing. No, she had to keep it all bottled up inside and hope everything would turn out okay.
    At lunchtime, she went through th e cafeteria line and made her selections . S he carried her tray to the table where she usually sat with Felicity and Kelli . She looked around , but didn’t see either of them in the vast cavern of the cafeteria . The noise of voices raised in laughter r ebounded off the hard surfaces and echoed in her head.  She hesitated, unwilling to occupy the empty table by herself, but she took a deep breath. Kelli and Felicity will come along soon. I’ll just take a seat and wait for them. She placed her tray on the polished surface, standing for a moment to gaze a round the cafeteria. She didn’t see Felicity anywhere, nor did she spy Kelli ’s bright copper- colored hair. Reluctantly, she slid onto the seat and opened her milk carton. She