http://theswitchsisters.wordpress.com/2012/06/03/chapter-7-to-the-swamp-3/
第7章: 奔向沼澤地
回來!摩根聽到一個聲音在她的頭上說。這個聲音堅定,穩鍵,帶著她母親的嚴肅和權威的口吻。這是瑪麗。自從他們學會了說話,甚止在這之前,他們已經能夠通過思想和潛意識相互溝通交流。
當瑪麗把米娜帶回床上,掖好被子,摩根已披上外套,悄悄溜出門口。她已經走到下一個街口,以為瑪麗會迎頭趕上。
不!摩根反駁著瑪麗道:我們的時間不多了!我們必須去,否則將為時已晚!摩根突然感到來自她的孿生姐妹的一陣莫大的無奈和挫折。不到半分鍾后,瑪麗出現在她身邊。隨著她的到來,淡淡的霧從地面升起,瀰漫在街上。好主意!摩根暗道,隨後街燈便漸漸變暗而熄滅,人們從他們的窗戶將無法看到她們在幽暗中的兩個黑影。摩根雙手合掌,輕輕一揉,隨手打開,一個紅色的光球從她的手掌升起,照亮在他們面前的道路。她化了多年時間來掌握這一招術,經過多少個夜晚的溜出去幽會男孩或進行其他的惡作劇,她已是一個能隨心變出只有讓她和她的同伴可以看到燈光的專家。
「太沖動了!」瑪麗一邊呼吸一邊道:「我們沒有計划,我們甚至不知道瑪拉在哪裡!」
「如果我們有瑪拉的方向感就好了!」摩根說。
瑪麗轉動著她的眼睛:「說真的,摩根,我們不能這樣冒然而進。我們不能讓任何人知道這是我們干的,否則他們知道在哪里可以找到她,這將會帶來更大的麻煩。」
「我想我們先到鎮中心,再想法子,」摩根說。
等一等!瑪麗一把抓住摩根的肘,把她拉到人行道邊。霧變得更加濃密。有人來了。在她們身後可以隱隱聽到一個雙腳快速移動的節拍。摩根把她的魔光往腳步聲的方向照過去。一個矮矮的小女孩的身影被照亮了。瑪麗稀釋了濃霧。
「米娜!」
「我想我能幫忙,」她們的小妹妹快步跑過來,說: 「我不能留在家裡,而你們--」瑪麗臉色鐵青。 「我不相信你能幫忙。你現在必須回去!」她說: 「你難道不明白嗎?我們現在不但要想辦法如何營救瑪拉,我們還要擔心來保護你。你沒聽媽媽說嗎?不管是什么--」
「但我知道她在哪里!」米娜滿臉發光,一片懇請的模樣。她轉向摩根。
摩根嘆了口氣。 「那好吧。來吧。我們不能再浪費時間。在黎明之前我們只有幾個小時。」
瑪麗瞪了一下摩根,一把抓起米娜的手。 「好吧,你知道些什么,米娜」?
「在我們離開婚禮后我聽到有些人在說。他們說要把她帶到沼澤地邊戒備森嚴的監獄」。
「是池塘旁邊哪座奇怪的建築嗎?我知道其確切位置」,摩根說。 「幹得好,米娜。」
瑪麗邊走邊仔細看了看周圍,「噓,」她說,「我們這樣嘰嘰喳喳會吵醒全鎮的人。」即使她如是說,瑪麗有一種奇妙的感覺——感覺沒有人能聽到她們--就象媽媽在家裡營造的那種消音效果。她現在不在家裡的房子。即使在某種程度上從家裡房子帶來了消音的能力,她們還是小心為妙。
米娜拉著瑪麗的手,落在摩根幾步之遙,而摩根一路領先,往沼澤地方向奔去。摩根一直是姐妹中最冒險的,也是最敢於用她的法力。當她發現自己具有這些法力時,甚至在能完全掌控它們之前,她會淋漓盡致地把它們發揮到極致去做一些頑皮少女會做的事情。像這樣的夜晚游盪,對她沒有什么大不了的。然而,這一夜,她覺得她的血液運行著一種莫名的興奮。第一次,她感到她的使命是正義的。她覺得仿佛以前的調皮搗蛋的惡作劇是為今天積累經驗,鍛煉她在真正需要時為善而行使她的魔力。
世上可能沒有比摩根和瑪麗更不同的孿生姐妹。摩根並不需要她母親的教誨 ——雖然法媽經常如此做——因為在她頭腦里總是聽到瑪麗的警告聲音(字字清晰)。不要讓魔力迷幻,當瑪麗知道摩根在半夜出去, 她會提醒她 。不要做任何愚蠢的事。要小心。而瑪麗在學校功課很好,並遵守紀律。 她不尋求刺激,而是留在家裡尋規韜矩地練習她的法術,就像其他孩子練鋼琴一樣。所以,她成為一個表演家。利用她的計算力和敏銳的頭腦,她總是可以想辦法行施她的魔法,而讓它如發生一件意外事件或可輕易用自然現象解釋。
走在路上,瑪麗在考慮不同的計划和策略。不像摩根,她從來沒有去過那片沼澤地,所以她不知道她會遇到什麼限制。只有到了那兒才會看到各種狀況。 她覺得胸部砰砰的跳動, 她知道那是恐懼。她試圖想象是什麼東西殺害了格雷厄姆,以及 如果碰到它,將如何戰勝它。但是,雖然她好奇和聰明,她也從來沒有想到會有與她家人同類的東西存在。她始終認為她們是獨一無二的,在這世界上的其他人只是普通正常人。她對自己的敵人一無所知:它有多么強大,它的魔法和動機是什麼。這種一無所知的狀態把她嚇壞了。她捏緊米娜的手,深吸了一口氣。
Chapter 7 – To the Swamp
Come
back! Morgan heard a voice in her head say.
It was firm and steady, with hints of her mother』s severity. It was Marie.
Since they had learned to talk, or perhaps even before, they had been able to
communicate to each other merely by thinking and directing their thoughts to
each other.
While Marie had
tucked Mina back into bed, Morgan had put on her coat and slipped quietly out
the door. She was now at the end of the block. She assumed Marie would catch
up.
No, Morgan shot back to
Marie. We』re running out of time. We have to
go or it』ll be too late. Morgan felt a pang of relenting frustration
that she knew belonged to her twin.
Less than half a
minute later, Marie appeared at her side. As she came, a light fog rose from
the ground and spread across the street. Good idea, Morgan said, and
then the streetlights dimmed and went out. Anybody looking out of their windows
would not be able to see the two figures in the thick darkness. Morgan rubbed
her hands together and when she opened them, a reddish light rose from her
palms to light the path in front of them. It had taken her years to master this
trick, but after many nights of sneaking out to meet boys or carry out other
mischief, she was an expert at creating this light that only she and her
companions could see.
「This is so
impulsive,」 Marie said under her breath. 「We don』t have a plan. We don』t even
know where Mara is.」
「If only we had
Mara』s sense of direction,」 Morgan said.
Marie rolled her
eyes. 「Seriously, Morgan. We』re not going to just be able to barge in. We can』t
let anyone know it was us, or they』ll know where to find her and we』ll all be
in bigger trouble than we already are.」
「I figured we would
just go toward the center of town and figure it out from there,」 Morgan said.
Wait. Marie put a hand on Morgan』s elbow and pulled her off
the sidewalk. The fog became denser. Someone』s coming. A faint
patter of quick-moving feet could be heard coming from behind them. Morgan
extended her light in the direction of the footsteps. It illuminated the short,
small figure of a little girl. Marie lightened the fog.
「Mina!」
「I think I can help,」
their little sister said as she came running up. 「Please? I can』t just stay at
home while—」
Marie was livid. 「I
can』t believe this. You need to go back right now,」 she said. 「Don』t you
understand? On top of figuring out how to save Mara we』re going to have to
worry about protecting you. Didn』t you hear Mom? Whatever is out there—」
「But I know where she
is!」 Mina』s face was bright and pleading. She turned towards Morgan.
Morgan sighed. 「Okay.
Come on. We can』t waste any more time. We』ve only got a few hours before dawn.」
Marie glared at
Morgan and grabbed Mina』s hand. 「Fine. What do you know, Mina?」
「I heard some people
talking before we left the party. They were saying that they took her to the
high-security holding cell by the swamp.」
「Is that what that
weird building next to the pond is? I know exactly where that is,」 Morgan said.
「Good work, Mina.」
Marie looked
carefully around as they walked. 「Now shush,」 she said, 「We』re going to wake up
the whole town with our chattering.」 Even as she said it, however, Marie felt a
strange sensation that no one could hear them—a feeling similar to the muffling
effect that their mother created over the house. She didn』t dwell on it. Even
if they somehow carried the silencing power from the house, they could never be
too careful.
Mina hung onto
Marie』s hand, a couple of feet behind Morgan, who was leading the way to the
swamp. Morgan had always been the most adventurous of the sisters, and the most
daring with her powers too. When she discovered them and even before she had
fine-tuned them, she used them to their full potential to do the things that
teenage girls would do. Night excursions such as this one were no big deal to
her. This night, however, she felt her blood run with a strange excitement. For
the first time, she had a mission—and a righteous one at that, she thought. She
felt as if her fun escapades had been building up to this, preparing her for
when she really needed to use her powers for good.
There could not have
been twin sisters more different than Morgan and Marie. Morgan didn』t need her
mother to lecture her—though Fa frequently did anyways—because she always had
Marie』s warning voice (literally) in her head. Don』t get power-trippy, Marie would remind her when she knew
Morgan was out in the middle of the night. Don』t do anything stupid. Be careful. Marie
was the twin who did well in school and succeeded by following the rules.
Instead of running out to seek thrills, she stayed in the house and practiced
her powers in a regimented, ordered fashion, much like other children would
practice the piano. And so, she became a virtuoso. Combined with her
calculating, sharp mind, she always managed to use her powers in a way that
would make them seem accidental or easily explained by natural phenomena.
As they walked, Marie
considered different plans and strategies. Unlike Morgan, she had never
wandered over to the swamp and so she had no idea what her constraints would
be. She would have to see when they arrived. She felt a thumping in her chest
that she recognized as fear. She tried to imagine what the thing that had
killed Graham could be, and how they would subvert it if it came to it. But,
inquiring and smart as she was, she had never considered that there could be
something similar to her family out there. She always assumed that they were
alone, and that everyone else in the world was just plain normal. She knew
nothing about their enemy: how strong it was, its powers, its intentions. This
utter lack of knowledge terrified her. She squeezed Mina』s hand and took a deep
breath.