司氏姐妹 第七章：奔向沼泽地

http://theswitchsisters.wordpress.com/2012/06/03/chapter-7-to-the-swamp-3/

第7章： 奔向沼泽地

回来！摩根听到一个声音在她的头上说。这个声音坚定，稳键，带着她母亲的严肃和权威的口吻。这是玛丽。自从他们学会了说话，甚止在这之前，他们已经能够通过思想和潜意识相互沟通交流。

当玛丽把米娜带回床上，掖好被子，摩根已披上外套，悄悄溜出门口。她已经走到下一个街口，以为玛丽会迎头赶上。

不！摩根反驳着玛丽道：我们的时间不多了！我们必须去，否则将为时已晚！摩根突然感到来自她的孪生姐妹的一阵莫大的无奈和挫折。不到半分钟后，玛丽出现在她身边。随着她的到来，淡淡的雾从地面升起，弥漫在街上。好主意！摩根暗道，随后街灯便渐渐变暗而熄灭，人们从他们的窗户将无法看到她们在幽暗中的两个黑影。摩根双手合掌，轻轻一揉，随手打开，一个红色的光球从她的手掌升起，照亮在他们面前的道路。她化了多年时间来掌握这一招术，经过多少个夜晚的溜出去幽会男孩或进行其他的恶作剧，她已是一个能随心变出只有让她和她的同伴可以看到灯光的专家。

“太冲动了！”玛丽一边呼吸一边道：“我们没有计划，我们甚至不知道玛拉在哪里！”

“如果我们有玛拉的方向感就好了！”摩根说。

玛丽转动着她的眼睛：“说真的，摩根，我们不能这样冒然而进。我们不能让任何人知道这是我们干的，否则他们知道在哪里可以找到她，这将会带来更大的麻烦。”

“我想我们先到镇中心，再想法子，”摩根说。

等一等！玛丽一把抓住摩根的肘，把她拉到人行道边。雾变得更加浓密。有人来了。在她们身后可以隐隐听到一个双脚快速移动的节拍。摩根把她的魔光往脚步声的方向照过去。一个矮矮的小女孩的身影被照亮了。玛丽稀释了浓雾。

“米娜！”

“我想我能帮忙，”她们的小妹妹快步跑过来，说： “我不能留在家里，而你们－－”玛丽脸色铁青。 “我不相信你能帮忙。你现在必须回去！”她说： “你难道不明白吗？我们现在不但要想办法如何营救玛拉，我们还要担心来保护你。你没听妈妈说吗？不管是什么－－”

“但我知道她在哪里！”米娜满脸发光，一片恳请的模样。她转向摩根。

摩根叹了口气。 “那好吧。来吧。我们不能再浪费时间。在黎明之前我们只有几个小时。”

玛丽瞪了一下摩根，一把抓起米娜的手。 “好吧，你知道些什么，米娜”？

“在我们离开婚礼后我听到有些人在说。他们说要把她带到沼泽地边戒备森严的监狱”。

“是池塘旁边哪座奇怪的建筑吗？我知道其确切位置”，摩根说。 “干得好，米娜。”

玛丽边走边仔细看了看周围，“嘘，”她说，“我们这样叽叽喳喳会吵醒全镇的人。”即使她如是说，玛丽有一种奇妙的感觉——感觉没有人能听到她们－－就象妈妈在家里营造的那种消音效果。她现在不在家里的房子。即使在某种程度上从家里房子带来了消音的能力，她们还是小心为妙。

米娜拉着玛丽的手，落在摩根几步之遥，而摩根一路领先，往沼泽地方向奔去。摩根一直是姐妹中最冒险的，也是最敢于用她的法力。当她发现自己具有这些法力时，甚至在能完全掌控它们之前，她会淋漓尽致地把它们发挥到极致去做一些顽皮少女会做的事情。像这样的夜晚游荡，对她没有什么大不了的。然而，这一夜，她觉得她的血液运行着一种莫名的兴奋。第一次，她感到她的使命是正义的。她觉得仿佛以前的调皮捣蛋的恶作剧是为今天积累经验，锻炼她在真正需要时为善而行使她的魔力。

世上可能没有比摩根和玛丽更不同的孪生姐妹。摩根并不需要她母亲的教诲 ——虽然法妈经常如此做——因为在她头脑里总是听到玛丽的警告声音（字字清晰）。不要让魔力迷幻，当玛丽知道摩根在半夜出去， 她会提醒她 。不要做任何愚蠢的事。要小心。而玛丽在学校功课很好，并遵守纪律。 她不寻求刺激，而是留在家里寻规韬矩地练习她的法术，就像其他孩子练钢琴一样。所以，她成为一个表演家。利用她的计算力和敏锐的头脑，她总是可以想办法行施她的魔法，而让它如发生一件意外事件或可轻易用自然现象解释。

走在路上，玛丽在考虑不同的计划和策略。不像摩根，她从来没有去过那片沼泽地，所以她不知道她会遇到什么限制。只有到了那儿才会看到各种状况。 她觉得胸部砰砰的跳动， 她知道那是恐惧。她试图想象是什么东西杀害了格雷厄姆，以及 如果碰到它，将如何战胜它。但是，虽然她好奇和聪明，她也从来没有想到会有与她家人同类的东西存在。她始终认为她们是独一无二的，在这世界上的其他人只是普通正常人。她对自己的敌人一无所知：它有多么强大，它的魔法和动机是什么。这种一无所知的状态把她吓坏了。她捏紧米娜的手，深吸了一口气。

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.