Cary Simms: The Final Testament

By Cassandra Morphy

From a young age, Cary Simms knew that she wasn't like the other boys her age. While she still wasn't sure the hows or whys, she was starting to think that it was more than just that she was a sorcerer. Moreover, that her parents were sorcerers too. But with her grandparents refusing to tell her anything about them, or how they died, Cary is left digging up the past herself.

Cary is home for summer break, after an interesting first year at Thorbjorg Prep. But as she tries to settle into her usual summertime activities, something feels a bit off. Things aren't quite the same as they usually are at home. With her preference of the AMV bible over the old KJV that her grandparents raised her on, there aren't many options for churches in the human realm. More and more, Cary feels at odds with her grandparents and with the life she had once known.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cassandra Morphy
• Release date: May 10, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215475133

Cassandra Morphy

Cassandra Morphy is a Business Data Analyst, working with numbers by day, but words by night. She grew up escaping the world, into the other realities of books, TV shows, and movies, and now she writes about those same worlds. Her only hope in life is to reach one person with her work, the way so many others had reached her. As a TV addict and avid movie goer, her entire life is just one big research project, focused on generating innovative ideas for worlds that don’t exist anywhere other than in her sick, twisted mind.

Book preview

Chapter One

The Not So Haunted House

Cary Simms knew from a very young age that she wasn't like the other boys her age. For one, she absolutely hated having short hair again. She kept scratching at her hair, or what was left of it. The scratching was becoming a new nervous tick for her, a constant reminder that it was gone. While she had been away at her boarding school, Thorbjorg Prep, she had let it grow out. There had been no rules against it, and the only barber on campus was tucked away in the back corner of the admin building. But the second that her grandfather saw her like that, he all but dragged her out of the house and down the street to their usual barber. He was furious with her and insisted that the barber buzz it down so that it would take forever to grow that long again.

She should have been thrilled to be home, to see her grandparents. But after finding out some things about her parents, and her sudden haircut, she just wanted to be alone. So, she was hiding out in the old house. The supposedly haunted house at the end of her street had been empty for as long as she could remember. But that had been where she had gotten her sorcerer's ring, the ring that helped her control the magic flowing through her from her time in the magical realm. Everyone that had noticed the ring during her time at the school had commented that it was special. That it seemed like a family heirloom. All that Cary knew about the ring was that it seemed meant for her. And after that past week, she was beginning to think that wasn't just a feeling. That it really had been meant for her, left behind there by her family. The family that had died when she was just a baby.

Cary hadn't known much about her parents growing up, besides a few comments coming from her grandparents and the two pictures of them hanging up in the downstairs hallway. She didn't even know their names or how they died. But what she did know, from those pictures, was that her parents were sorcerers like her. That they had gone to Merlin Prep, a school very much like Thorbjorg. But when she asked her grandparents about it all, they flat out refused to tell her anything about them. Even questions about the old house were met with guarded stares and comments that it was none of her business.

None of my business, Cary muttered to herself, as she continued to poke around the junk in the back room. Ha. I have a right to know what happened to my parents.

The eyes from the painting seemed to follow Cary as she searched the back room on the second floor, a space filled with clutter that she could barely identify, and far more that she simply couldn't. The painting was of an old man sitting in a chair, the same chair that the painting itself was leaning against. When Cary had first seen that painting the previous year, she just figured that the man was some weird old guy, perhaps the previous owner of the house. But after what she had discovered that week, she was beginning to think that he was more than that. That maybe he was her grandfather.

The last time that she had been in that room, she had come away with her sorcerer's ring and a small notebook. She had left the notebook behind when she had gone away to school, almost forgotten in all the events of the past year. But when she came home for summer vacation, it was sitting on her bed waiting for her. Waiting to give her the second clue. For it wasn't just a notebook, it was an address book.

And her grandparents' number and address was listed on the first page as Mom and Dad.

Carefully, Cary picked up the painting, turning it around so that those eyes weren't following her anymore, placing it down onto the chair so that it was safe. Moreover, so that it was out of the way as she shifted more of the stuff that was back there. She was trying to see if there was anything that could give her more clues into who once lived there and what had happened to them.

But just like the last time that she was in there, the junk that was in that room was little more than junk. With the painting out of the way, she was able to climb over the table where she found the notebook, making it into the space behind the dresser that was in front of the door. There was no space on the floor for her to put her feet, but she was used to making similar trips through her best friend David's bedroom when his floor was covered with his long forgotten toys. She carefully placed her foot on the table, her hand going to the top of the dresser, as her eyes searched for another place to stand.

Only, there was nowhere else to stand. The entire space back there was a collection of knick-knacks and broken junk. To the side was a box that she thought she could step on, but before she did so she saw that it was labeled plates. Her foot still tapped the box, jarring it and causing the contents to shift around inside. The noises coming from the box made her think that it was full of broken plates, though she had no way of knowing if they had been broken before she touched the box.

Darn, Cary said, as she looked around the rest of the space back there. She knew that any proper search of the place would require taking all of the junk out of that back room, filling the otherwise empty house back up with it all. But as Cary was only ten, and not in any way strong, she knew that she would need help to even budge the dresser blocking the door, let alone any of the other stuff in the place.

Cary just hung there for a moment, her foot dangling over the clutter, as she considered heading back. Considered abandoning her search, giving up on the house. There must have been other ways to find out the information that she wanted, though she had no idea where to start. Where, if not in that house. But before she moved from her place on the table, she spotted something on one of the boxes back there.

She spotted her own name.

When she saw the box labeled Cary's Things, Cary lost her balance, falling from her place on the desk. Her hand stayed on the dresser, and she turned as she fell, her other hand going to grab on as well. But Cary was taller than she had been the last time that she had been in that room, growing a few inches in the past year. Her feet landed in the junk behind the dresser with a loud crunching sound that didn't bode well for the junk. That sound echoed throughout the room, though she didn't dare look down at any of it. Cary stood there for a moment, making sure that whatever she was standing on would hold her weight, before reaching over to grab onto the box with her name on it. The rest of the clutter over there clung to the sides of the box, holding it in place. She kept pulling at it, wriggling it back and forth. Once she managed to dislodge it, she tossed the box over onto the bed that was behind the chair.

The box rattled as it bounced on the mattress, before settling down. Cary looked around her for a moment, trying to figure out how best to get to the bed without hurting herself. When no better option presented itself, Cary pushed against the dresser, hopping over the clutter that was between her and the bed. As she passed by the clutter, she hit much of it, knocking it over. In the end, her jump wasn't enough to get her all the way onto the bed. Her chest slammed into the bed, the mattress softening her fall, but her legs still drooped over the edge. The piles of clutter started tipping over, threatening to bury her beneath it all. Cary hastily pulled her legs up after her, desperate to get away from the avalanche of clutter. Only after everything settled and silence returned to the room did she turn to the box sitting next to her.

Pay dirt, she said to herself, laughing a little when she remembered saying that the year before. If only she knew how true it had been back then. But when she pulled the box open, she wasn't prepared for what she found inside.

On the top of the box was a small, blue blanket. Cary thought that she remembered that blanket, though she knew that she shouldn't have been able to. That anything in that room, in that house, would have been there since long before she could remember anything. When she pulled the blanket out, she smelled it, trying to remember the scent. But the blanket just smelled like cardboard, having taken on the smell of the box itself.

Beneath the blanket was a large book, about the same size as the box that it was in. Cary carefully placed the blanket down onto the bed before reaching in for the book. The book was thin, light, and felt more like a photo album. She stared at the cover for a moment, her fingers tracing the lettering printed there. The words Cary's Baby Book.

Tears started to come to Cary's eyes and she hugged the book to her chest for a moment, thinking about her parents. The parents that she had never known, that she would never know. But the eyes of the old man found her over the back of the chair. It felt like her grandfather was judging her for crying, much as her other grandfather would if he knew. Still clinging to that book, Cary glanced into the box for a moment, making sure that there was nothing else of note inside of it. No other clue that would tell her what happened there. But if there was something like that there in that room, she knew that it would have been buried long ago. If not broken straight out.

With one last look around her, Cary started to make her way back towards the door to the room. There was still plenty to search through in the room, corners that she still couldn't get to. But her grandparents' words rang in her ears and she worried that maybe she was better off just not knowing. Still, she brought the baby book with her as she climbed back onto the table, slipping around into the more open space in front of the chair.

I'll be back, grandpa, Cary said. She patted the painting of the old man for a moment, almost wishing that she could hug him. That the picture of the old man could come out of the painting to hold her. That he could answer all the questions running through her head at that moment. The questions that had been haunting her since her return from school. Questions that would have haunted her her whole life, if she had realized how much she just didn't know.

As she came out of the back room, though, she heard something deeper in the house. The sound of wood falling onto wood, echoing around the hall downstairs. Cary paused there at the door, straining her ears, trying desperately to hear what was happening out there.

She was suddenly worried that her wish to see her grandfather had come true. To see her very dead grandfather, in the house that everyone insisted was haunted.

Chapter Two

The Best Friend's Sister

See? I told you it wasn't haunted. David's voice came to Cary up the wide open staircases as she edged down the hallway. She could just see the doorway down below from where she was, but the door that once stood there, leaning against the doorframe, was no longer visible. As she moved forward, she noticed Lucy standing just outside. Lucy was David's little sister, who had turned nine while they were both at Thorbjorg. Her arms were wrapped around the doorframe, bracing herself against the ghosts that were supposedly within the house.

Sure, Lucy said. Her eyes were wide as she looked around the entry room of the house, but she didn't dare come inside. You say that now, but the moment that I step inside something is going to jump out at me.

Ha, Cary laughed. Her laugh echoed around the hallway in a weird way that made it sound deeper and more mysterious. From her place in the hallway upstairs, she could see Lucy jump away from the door, running back across the porch outside. As Cary came further down the hallway, she could see David down there as well. Despite his earlier words, his own eyes were wide as they stared up at her, his face turning white.

Oh, Cary, David said, his hand going to his chest, when he spotted her up there. You scared me to death.

Scared you? Cary asked. What are you doing in here?

Exploring, of course, David said. He smiled up at her, shrugging, as if the answer really was that obvious to him. After everything we've been through this past year, and what with you telling me the place wasn't haunted... He paused, looking around the room, as if needing an extra confirmation that the place wasn't haunted. That there weren't ghosts about to jump out at him. Well, I figured that I could take them if there were ghosts here. David fiddled with the ring on his hand, his own sorcerer's ring. It was similar to Cary's, but more plain, having been bought by the school and issued to him when they arrived there.

Cary started heading down the stairs, her eyes locked on Lucy just outside of the door. She was worried about just what David had told his sister about their time at Thorbjorg, and in the magical realm. They weren't supposed to be telling the non-sorcerers about their time there. While the rules were looser when it came to family, Cary wasn't sure if Lucy was old enough to learn that her brother helped fight off an ogre.

I would have invited you to come along, but you weren't home when we went by there, David said. You did promise to take me in here last year. Why didn't you tell me you were coming back in here?

Oh, uh... Cary trailed off as she looked down at the baby book clutched to her chest. She hadn't told David anything about what she had found out about her parents the past few days. She had barely spoken to him at all since they got back the week before. At the time, she told herself that she just needed some space from her best friend, after being stuck living in the same room as him the entire school year. But as she stood there, clinging to that book, she realized that she wasn't sure if she wanted him to know.

Unfortunately, David seemed to notice the book before she could decide.

What's that? he asked, pointing to it. Did you find that somewhere in here? Is it cursed?

What? No. Why... Why would anything in here be cursed? Cary looked behind her, back up the stairs and towards the back room. The room was hidden from view, but she knew exactly where it would be as she looked back there. When she turned back to David, though, he was a lot closer to her, coming up to look at the book.

Hey, is that... Is that your baby book? I remember having one of those. I think my mom stuffed it in the attic years ago. Why would you bring that in here?

I... Well... Cary trailed off, wishing that she could get out of telling him. Wishing that she could just tell him that it was none of his business. But that wasn't the kind of friendship that they had. It wasn't the kind of friendship that she wanted. They always told each other everything, with no secrets between them.

At least, no secrets that either of them knew about.

Oh-okay, it's... Well, the book... It was in here already, Cary said hesitantly. She looked back towards the hallway above again, almost wishing that she could see that back room from below.

What? David asked. What-what do you mean?

Uh, guys? Lucy said. Her voice still sounded like it was coming from outside, but when Cary looked over at her, she was just coming through the door. Her eyes were locked on the road outside, looking behind her as she walked into the supposedly haunted house. Cary figured that, whatever it was that she was looking at, it scared her more than the ghosts. I don't think we're alone out here.

What are you talking about, Lucy? David asked. He rolled his eyes at her before heading over to the door. His voice was a mixture of annoyance and frustration, which told Cary that he was already regretting bringing his sister to that house. As Cary followed behind David towards Lucy, she couldn't help but smile at that thought. At what sounded like confirmation that he wouldn't have told her anything about the magical realm.

I'm talking about them, Lucy said. She bumped into David as she kept backing up into the house, not having noticed that he came up behind her. Lucy's arm was pointing out through the door to the road in the distance. As Cary came over to them, she suddenly knew exactly what she was talking about.

Crud, Cary said. Quickly, Cary grabbed Lucy, pulling her off to the side and out of the doorway. David stood there for a moment longer, looking between Greg and Angelica coming towards the house, and Cary and Lucy desperately trying to get out of their view before they were spotted.

Oh, crud, David said, once he got on the same page as Cary.

Think they saw us? Cary asked. She tried to peek around the doorframe to see them coming towards the house, but she was too afraid that they would spot her if she did.

I hope not, Lucy said. She huddled there, crouched next to Cary, her back pressed against the wall and her arms wrapped around her legs. Angelica and her gang have been making my life a living nightmare, ever since you two disappeared on me. It's like she missed you or something and had been taking out being left behind on me. The other one that was left behind. She rolled her eyes as she looked around Cary, glaring over at her brother. Clearly, she had been feeling as left out as Angelica probably was, though Lucy was still too young to go to Thorbjorg anyway.

Let's just hide out here until they go away, David said. He was standing in a better position to see out through the doorway, but he wasn't telling Cary or Lucy anything about what he saw out there.

Sure, Lucy said. And while we wait, maybe Cary will tell me what this boarding school that you just suddenly had to go to was all about. David hasn't told me a thing about any of it.

Well, it's... It's boarding school, Cary said, as if that explained everything. And yet, she knew that it barely