"Well, Sadie, it is getting late. I should be getting home." Noah smiled at me and walked toward the kitchen to gather his things.
I followed him to the kitchen, thanking him again for his generosity. We both still seemed quite nervous.
"Maybe we could go out sometime and see a movie if you want." He grabbed my hand and I felt the same shock of electricity as before.
"Sure. Sounds great," I said, returning the smile.
After Noah left, I decided to go back to my room and continue reading the journal, but just as I settled back into my cozy position, my phone began ringing on my nightstand.
I reached over for it; Lucy was calling.
"Sadie, what are you up to?" She sounded so nonchalant, so casual.
"Not too much. Noah just left, and I was about to read some more of the journal."
"What?" Lucy screamed into the phone, almost bursting my eardrum.
"Sadie, you have to give me details. What did you all talk about? Why was he there?"
"He came over to help me with my homework. He did ask me to go out sometime." I wanted to tell her about our almost kiss, to tell her how crazy I was for liking him, but instead, I just gave her the basics.
I could hear her becoming more excited the longer we spoke. "That's great, Sadie. So, when are you all going out?"
"I don’t know‒we didn’t make any specific plans." I heard the giddiness in my voice, but I didn’t care. As much as I tried to fight my feelings for Noah, I knew I couldn’t hide them any longer, and I didn’t want to anymore.
Lucy continued to quiz me on the entire evening. I felt sorry I didn’t have anything more exciting to tell her, but the boring information I'd provided her with seemed to keep her happy.
After we'd ended our conversation, I decided to text Amber and give her the juicy details of my almost kiss with Noah. After several inappropriate comments about what should have happened according to Amber, I turned my phone off. I didn’t want to deal with the million questions she was bound to have. It wouldn’t be right to give her more information than Lucy‒even though I'd known Amber longer, Lucy was turning into a great friend. I had a strange sensation in my stomach, like butterflies were fluttering around in there, and I had this strange urge to smile. I went to bed that night reading Elizabeth’s journal, thinking about where Noah and I might go on our first official date.
Chapter Thirteen
I read closely, focusing on every single word on the page, as if one of them might jump up and run off if I did otherwise. I dismissed the fear starting to grow inside of me and turned the next page, biting my lip in anticipation.
I left my parents, walked down the narrow hallway to my bedroom, shut the door and locked it, walked to my bed, and fell to my knees. I lay my head on the edge of the bed, hands folded and began to pray. I begged God to forgive my sisters for any sin they had committed, for I did not know if they were innocent. Lately, with all of the incidents that had occurred, I dared not to believe or speak of anything I was not sure about. I changed into my nightclothes, climbed into bed, pulled the covers over my body, and hugged the blanket tightly. My eyes began to close, and I felt myself drifting off to sleep.
There was a sudden, loud bang from outside my window, which startled me, and I leaped from my bed and ran to see what had caused the noise. I peered out into the yard as another bang sounded.
I put on my shoes and ran down the stairs and out the front door. The air smelled like rain. A violent wind threatened to knock me over as I stepped into the moist grass. Bang…bang…The noise shook me to my core. Thunder shook the earth and a streak of lightning flared across the sky. Was the noise I had heard thunder? No, this noise had sounded more like a loud knock.
I ran around the side of the house to find the culprit‒the barn door had become unhitched from the wall and was banging itself against the side of the building. The horses had long escaped into the pasture. I grabbed the door and locked it back into place as a large drop of rain fell on my cheek.
When I turned to walk back to the house to inform my father that the horses were loose, I saw a dark figure standing next to the oak tree in my yard. I was unable to make out the face in the dark. My stomach dropped, and my skin began to crawl. My first instinct was to run, to scream that the Devil was after me. The figure must have recognized my fear because it stepped out into the strong light of the moon, and I could see that it was John who stood before me.
"What are you doing here?" I screamed at him. John approached me but remained silent. He opened his mouth to speak and what came next, upsets me to this day. "Elizabeth, I will not ask you again after tonight to take my hand in marriage. I saw you, days ago, running out of the woods. Isn’t it strange that two girls have been accused of witchcraft and they, too, were seen running from those very woods? I know who lives in those woods and I know the evil ways of its mind.
"You wouldn’t want the townspeople to know you have been visiting those woods now, would you? I can make sure no one finds out. Take my proposal and life will be good for you." He stood there, motionless, awaiting my response.
Rain began to pour from the sky. I stood before him, my hair and nightgown soaked through and through, lifted my arm, and slapped him across his face so hard, the impact hurt my hand.
John reached up to touch his face, rubbing the pain, and then he raised his voice in anger. "You should not have done that," he declared before he turned and walking back into the darkness.
Without thinking, I ran after him. "John," I called as I chased after him.
The angry sky bellowed down at us. Thunder clapped, and the rain continued to pour. As neared John, he began to run. As if we were playing a game of Chase, the faster I ran, the quicker he became. I screamed for him to stop, but he wouldn’t. I continued to run, my hair soaked, and sticking to my face. The wind blew my nightgown against my cold, wet body. Lightning provided a lighted path for us to follow as we ran down the dirt road. He switched directions and was now running toward the church.
My legs moved so fast, they felt as if they might detach from my body. I became overrun with anger and power‒John was not so far now; I would be able to catch up to him. When at last our bodies collided in the church yard, I threw myself upon him, knocking us onto the rain- soaked grass. I thrust my body against him in an effort to hold him down, grabbing his arms, and holding them tightly in my grip.
"Now, you listen here, John: I will not marry you. I do not love you; you disgust me. Why would you ever want to make me marry you by threatening me? Leave me alone." I stopped screaming and stared intently into his eyes, panting in an effort to catch my breath after all of the running and screaming.
John looked surprised, and he said, "No, you listen to me. I saw you running from those woods‒you are a witch, too. Every girl in this town would love to marry me, all but you. You must be working for the Devil, just like those other girls. I will announce this to the town."
He pushed me off of him and stood up, towering over me by the light of the moon. Rain poured down his forehead. Lightning flashed, lighting up the sky to reveal the evil glare on his face. He began to walk off, turning back every few moments to look at me.
I thought I might run after him, to beg and plead with him so he would not say anything. I was most certainly not working for the Devil; I was just a little curious. Should I be persecuted for my curiosity?
I closed the journal and shook my head in disgust. So, guys were jerks, even back in the sixteen hundreds‒what a relief. Who would have ever thought that me, a teenager living in the twenty-first century, could relate, could understand, the pain of a teenager living all those years ago?
Elizabeth came to me, night after night, appearing in my dreams and trying to tell me something. I wandered aimlessly around town with Noah and Lucy, trying to uncover the secrets behind the journal, but as I closed the pages, I uncovered one essential piece of information, a vital, missing puzzle piece letting me know that I was meant to find the journal, had f
inally fallen into place. Elizabeth had been innocent. She had been persecuted because John couldn’t get over his own ego. The only thing that still confused me was why Elizabeth didn’t just tell her town about her innocence?
That night I dreamed about the last journal entry I'd read. The details were so vivid, I could actually imagine the scene in my dreams. I felt the cool rain splashing on my body as I stood there, an outsider watching from beyond, as Elizabeth struggled with John. The wind whispered through my hair, telling me a secret. My heart raced as Elizabeth boldly attacked the villainous John. She had been speaking to me, visiting me in my dreams, and I couldn’t hold back anymore. I'd have to tell someone.
I decided to call Lucy and invite her over. She hadn't asked any more questions about the journal since I'd first showed it to her, but I could tell she wanted to know more. Really, I guess I needed to know more. I wanted to know answers, but more importantly, I wanted to know why this time was different. Why couldn’t she just tell me what she wanted?
After a week of tests, catching up on my homework, and trying to figure out Elizabeth’s journal, I was thankful when Saturday morning arrived at last. After a quick morning run, I showered, then called Lucy on her cell phone, and invited her to come over in the afternoon. My mom had gone out early and purchased a dozen bagels. After eating two cinnamon bagels with hazelnut cream cheese‒my favorite‒I returned to my room to examine the disaster. I decided that I first needed to finish unpacking. This was home now, and I needed to make it feel as cozy as I could. It had been almost a month after all; it was probably time I stopped living out of boxes.
I started the job of organizing my closet. My clothes had to be color coordinated. It was one of the few things I was able to control in my life, and I needed to make sure everything was perfect. After I'd hung my jeans, I examined my massive book collection, ranging from Dr. Seuss to Stephen King.
I placed each book, one by one, onto the shelf, having to cram them tightly in so they'd all fit. Lastly, I hung my royal blue curtains over the ornate window in my room. It felt more like a security blanket to ward off unwanted guests. I knew it wouldn’t work, but the thought of it was comforting, at least.
Out of habit, I glanced around the room. I was so used to having uninvited guests that I jumped when I heard Lucy open the front door, my heart doing backflips in my chest.
"Sadie, are you in here?" Lucy walked into my room, pushing past the empty boxes on the floor.
"Hey, Lucy, I'm in the closet." I was covered in layers of clothes I'd be attempting to hang.
"Here, let me help." Lucy reached for a handful of clothes laying on the floor. My room looked like a garbage dump, with random items strewn about the floor like they had no place or purpose on this planet. Together we continued to organize the disorder that had taken over my room. As each item was picked up and put away, I was able to see more and more of the floor beneath my feet.
"You have great taste in clothes," Lucy said as she examined one of my loose-fitting, floral tops. "Everything looks so vintage and retro, not what I'm used to seeing on girls around here."
I couldn't help but admire one of my favorite black and white tops and smiled. "Thanks. My mom totally hates what I wear." I laughed.
"Well, I think you look great. Sorting through your wardrobe is fun." She continued sorting through my shirts, skirts, and pants, while I managed to piece together my shoe collection.
"Thanks, Lucy. I should have started this when we first moved in. I've just been so occupied."
Lucy laughed. "Well, I would say so. If I had a cute boy like Noah interested in me, and a haunted diary, I wouldn’t be able to concentrate on anything else either."
"Yeah, I know." I smiled at her and watched as Lucy took charge, setting the picture frames and jewelry boxes that had been tucked away onto my dresser. The faded wallpaper had been removed, my room had been freshly painted, and several of my mom’s paintings had been hung on the walls, all of which really served to brighten the once dark room. The space had finally started to feel like my own.
I continued to hang my clothes up as Lucy cleared all of the empty boxes from my room. When I finally emerged from the closet, it felt as if I'd stepped into another realm‒my once disastrous room was now a clean and organized space.
"Wow, Lucy, the room looks great! I can’t believe how big it looks."
"How could you with all that junk cluttering all this fabulous space."
She smiled and admired her accomplishment. Her eyes flickered to the journal I'd left sitting, deserted, on my bed.
Her eyes filled with brilliant curiosity. I think that's what I enjoy most about having Lucy as a friend: her explicit eyes‒she could tell you a whole story without saying a word. Honestly, I think I enjoyed her because she was a combination of everything wonderful about my friends from home.
She had Amber's blunt personality, but with Lia’s motherly instincts.
I walked over to the bed and picked up the journal, watching as she eyed the leather cover. Her interest had been sparked by it, and like me, she desperately needed to know how Elizabeth’s story ended.
"Lucy, you are the only other person whom I've entrusted this information to. You’re truly my only friend‒well, other than Noah‒that I have here in Salem. If I have to share this journal with someone, I'm glad that it's you. I'm dying‒I have to discuss what I'm finding, and I have so many questions."
Lucy jumped up and ran over to the bed. She hugged me, almost knocking the journal out of my grasp. "Oh, Sadie," she said, "this is great! I promise I won’t tell anyone. Thank you so much for sharing this with me. You are such a great friend."
I caught her up on all of the new information I'd learned since we last read the journal together. We sat on the floor under the window, so the natural light would filter in and help us read the pages. I placed a pillow behind my back and handed one to Lucy, who held her breath as I opened the journal. Her eyes widened, and I prayed she was prepared for what lurked within the words on the pages.
Chapter Fourteen
We read through Elizabeth’s fears for two hours before the sound of Lucy’s ringing cell phone brought us back to reality. She reached for the phone, pursing her lips as she struggled to answer the call.
"Hello? Oh, hey, Noah…Yes, I am here with Sadie…Sure, I'll tell her." It was a brief conversation, and Lucy seemed anxious to get off the phone.
"Sadie, that was Noah‒"
"Really?" I heard the sarcasm in my voice the moment it escaped.
"He's going to call you to finalize your plans for the date." She smiled, clasped the phone against her chest, and laughed before continuing. "He thought you forgot about the plans he'd made to take you out. He sounded kind of nervous, which is really unlike him."
I yawned and pretended to act like the news didn’t give me small butterflies in my stomach. I know it sounds lame, but this was the first time anyone had ever asked me out on a date, and I really didn’t know how to react, so I just followed Lucy’s lead.
"Oh, Sadie, I'm so excited for you. Noah's a really nice guy. He seems kind of goofy at times, and he gets into trouble sometimes at school, but he's really great. I've known him since kindergarten, and I've never seen him interested in anyone before, but I think he really likes you." She threw her arm around my shoulder and tried to give me her most charming smile. She knew I was holding back my excitement and that I was fascinated by Noah’s charm.
I wanted to do back flips across the room. Instead, I simply smiled and nodded. I didn’t want to talk about Noah at that moment. The truth was that I found that I was always thinking about him. His personality was captivating, and the way he smiled was enchanting, but I needed the time to think about Elizabeth, and what it was that had made her come to me.
"Lucy, what do you think about this journal? I mean, how amazing is it that I found it right here in my bedroom?" I asked, diverting her attention from our conversation about Noah.
Lucy answered in near hyste
ria. That was my next favorite thing about Lucy‒she was so easily distracted. "I can’t believe it," she said. "Do you think she was a real witch, or do you think she's telling the truth about‒"
Lucy was interrupted when my cell phone rang. I watched as Lucy’s eyes widened at the sight of me darting across the room like a maniac to get it. From my ecstatic expression, she knew it was Noah on the other end.
"Sadie? Hey, it’s Noah." He sounded so casual and calm.
"Hey, Noah. What’s up?" I tried to mimic his tone, not sure how successful I was.
"Um…I was just calling to…um…see if you wanted to go out on my boat tomorrow. It's supposed to be around sixty-five degrees out. The weatherman said it'd be the last warm day of the season. If you're busy, I understand."
"No, I'm not busy. I'd love to go out with you." I didn’t want to sound too eager, but truthfully, I was jumping cartwheels on the inside. The thought of spending an entire afternoon with Noah made my heart skip a beat. I could use a day away from this mess, and Noah was the best distraction I could think of.
"Great! I'll come by and pick you up tomorrow morning at ten."
"See you then."
I hung up the phone and turned to see Lucy staring at me, wearing a wide grin on her face.
"Are you going out with him?" she asked, her smile threatening to hijack her entire face.
"Yes, he's taking me out on his boat tomorrow." I tried to hide my enthusiasm, but Lucy was not as gullible as I'd hoped. Noticing her eager expression, I tried to diffuse the situation.
"Calm down girl," I teased, "it’s not like we’re getting married or anything."
She threw one of my small pillows at me and jumped up. "Okay, I guess I should wait to order my bridesmaid dress, then." She laughed. I threw the pillow back at her.
I allowed myself to giggle and discuss my upcoming date for a few moments before I turned the subject back to Elizabeth’s journal. I mean, I had a job to do.
"So, what were you saying earlier? What do you think the truth behind the journal is?"
Wicked Cries (The Wicked Cries Series Book 1) Page 9
