As I finished my meal, I looked around the table. For the first time in my life, I was surrounded by people whom I could confide in and trust. I smiled at the sight of the both of them, and they looked back at me, no doubt intrigued by my silly grin.
"Sadie, are you okay?" Lucy put her burger down and smiled.
"Yes, for the first time, I'm perfect." I looked over at my new friends and realized I was finally able to do something I hadn't been able to do before: be honest with the people I cared about.
"Okay, good. I wanted to ask you about what Noah was talking about at school today. He mentioned you being a mediator?" Her curiosity sent chills down my spine‒I wasn’t prepared for this.
"I guess I can tell you the truth now." I drew in a deep breath to steady myself. "I haven’t been completely honest with you. When I showed you Elizabeth’s journal, I failed to share another important thing with you: I can see Elizabeth, even speak to her."
I watched as Lucy stared at me in disbelief, her mouth open. She looked to Noah who nodded as if to confirm my story. "That’s not all," I continued. "I've always been able to talk to the…" My voice trailed off. This was the hard part, the one thing I never thought I'd ever admit to anyone else, and here I was, about to tell a second person.
"I can talk to the dead. They contact me with messages they need delivered before they're able to move on to the afterlife. I swear, though, nothing has ever been like this before. This has become so personal, that I’m getting scared." I paused, waiting for her to say something.
"Sadie, that’s…" She sat stunned, unable to finish her sentence. "That is so cool!" she shrieked.
I felt my body relax as the realization that not everyone thought I was such a freak settled in. I answered about a million questions about when this all started, what was the craziest message I had to deliver, who was the most terrifying, and other, similar questions.
Before we left the restaurant, Lucy demanded we have a slumber party at my house. When she made it a demand rather than a query, I was reminded of my last few days in California. I missed my friends, but I needed to reach out and embrace my new life. I needed to help Elizabeth, to give her a second chance to resolve her issues, just like I'd been given a second chance at life. Someone was watching out for me, and knew I deserved a break.
We dropped Noah off at his house and then ran by Lucy’s house, so she could pick up all the necessary slumber party items. I never even had to ask my parents‒all I had to do was mention the words slumber party, and my mother practically screamed with excitement through the phone.
When we arrived at Lucy’s, she invited me to help her pack a bag. Her house was just as I'd expected. It was a modern home in the newer area of Salem. I parked in a large, circular driveway, and walked up the cement path, lined with dark green ivy and fresh mulch. The inside of her home was just as immaculate as the outside. Cherrywood hardwood floors welcomed me in the large foyer. There was a beautiful sitting room with a luminous white couch in it to the left of the front hallway. A large dining room that looked as if it had been cut straight from a Crate and Barrel catalog stared at me from straight ahead. The hall led to a small kitchen where two young girls sat at the table, doing homework, books, and backpacks scattered around their feet.
Lucy’s mother was helping the youngest one with her multiplication tables. She smiled and waved at me as I followed Lucy up the carpeted staircase. Lucy’s bedroom was exactly what a teenage girl’s room was supposed to look like. It was painted light pink and had a matching bedspread, neatly made on a large wooden and iron canopy bed. Beautiful floral curtains hung from ceiling to floor over the windows that bracketed her bed. A dresser that matched the décor of the bed was positioned next to a large walk- in closet. Posters of boy bands and pictures of her family were posted on her walls.
I hadn’t noticed Lucy digging around in her closet until she called out to me. "Sadie? Hello?" she said, "Are you listening to me?"
I shook my head as if to clear the cobwebs, feeling silly I'd been taken aback by her room that I was standing there with my mouth gaping open.
"Oh, sorry. What did you say?" I walked over to the closet where Lucy was kneeling, packing board games into a large blue duffel bag. I rested my head against the white door frame, taking in her wide array of clothes.
Lucy looked up at me and shook her head. "Sadie, sometimes I wish I knew what goes on in that crazy head of yours. I was just asking you if you wanted me to bring any of my movies or nail polishes or if there was anything else you think we might need."
I rarely watched movies and I almost never painted my nails. When I did, Amber used to pick out a color she liked and force me to let her make me over. I didn’t know how to respond. I also didn't want to sound like a complete moron, so I just went with the first thing that came to mind:
"Um…whatever you think."
"Well, let me see…I'll bring a couple of different shades of polish for you to choose from. And oh! this shade of blush will look perfect on you, and oh! don’t let me forget to bring my curling iron." She continued to ramble without noticing my pleading stare.
"Lucy, what are you talking about? Why do we need all these things?"
"I thought it'd be fun to glam you up for one night. We can watch chick flicks and eat popcorn and give each other makeovers. It'll be fun." The look in her eyes left me no other alternative but to give in. "Okay," I mumbled, "but don’t get too carried away." I knew I was about to go in front of the firing squad and my only option was to grin and bear it.
Who knows? It could prove to be fun.
Chapter Twenty
We arrived at my house to find my mom and dad posted in the living room, watching the evening news. My mother attempted to act nonchalant when we barged in with Lucy’s bags of slumber party essentials.
When we landed in my room, Lucy began dumping out the contents of her bags on my bedroom floor. I sat down next to her, milling through the videos and beauty products she'd brought.
Lucy put Clueless into the DVD player and informed me that it was essential to watch classic movies like this in high school. I took her word for it and sat with my back against the frame of my bed, watching as Lucy tried to decide which color to paint my nails first.
"Oh, Sadie, I'm so glad you agreed to this. It's the first slumber party I've been to since I was in elementary school." She sat down next to me, crossed her legs, and opened a bottle of flamingo pink polish.
I was about to object to her radical choice when my mom popped her head through my bedroom door, a bright smile on her face. "Girls, I was just checking to see if there was anything either of you needed. I am popping some popcorn in the microwave, and just put a batch of cookies in the oven. I need to hurry back down before your father grabs them." She beamed at the sight of Lucy painting my nails.
The fumes were making me dizzy.
"Thanks, Mom. If you could just bring some sodas up when you come back, that would be great."
"Sure. Oh, I love this movie!" My mom glanced at the small flat screen television set I'd positioned on a small chair in my room before leaving to go back downstairs. The smell of fresh baked cookies filled the air, and my mouth began to salivate.
"So, Sadie, you and Noah make a cute couple. I swear I've never seen him like this before." She chuckled but kept her eyes on her task.
My face beamed embarrassment. Even though Noah and I had been public about our relationship from the start, talking about it still made me giggle. "Yeah, I really like him a lot. Well, more than a lot," I said, telling Lucy what she already knew.
"Are you saying that you…love him?" Her face became more serious, she stopped running the thin brush over my fingernails and looked at my face.
"Yes," I whispered, as if I were trying to keep the inevitable a secret.
A loud shriek escaped from Lucy's lips.
"Shhh. I don’t want my parents to hear you." "Oh, Sadie, it’s not like they don’t already know. Anyone who's within ten miles of
the two of you can see how he feels about you."
Lucy giggled to herself for a moment before her face took a serious twist. "Sadie, I want to ask you a question‒now remember that you're my best friend and I love you to death."
"Okay," I managed, making each syllable of the short word sound much longer than it should.
"Well, I just wondered‒now, remember: I love you…" She fumbled over her words, making me more and more frustrated with each second she wasted.
"Lucy, come on: what is it?"
"I just wondered: why did you fight Noah for so long?"
"Noah and I always argue; apparently it’s what we do."
"No, that's not what I meant. Why did you act like you weren’t interested in Noah? You have such a hard shell when it comes to showing your emotions‒why are you like that?" Her voice was soft and careful as she spoke. Even though we are good friends, I felt a fearful tension between us.
I had to think about the question before I was able to answer. It was true: I did build a wall around me, one I refused to let people get past for a long while. And I had every reason to.
I reminded Lucy of how long I'd kept my secret life to myself, and how guilty I felt not giving Amber and Lia the chance to understand what I had to deal with. I finished just as my mom came into the room, carrying a tray with a bowl of popcorn, a platter of cookies, and two sodas on it.
She put the platter down next to where we were sitting on the floor, and then sat down on the edge of my bed. I could tell by her intense stare that she wanted to join us in our girl-fest.
"Mrs. Sanders, do you want to join us?" Lucy said, having recognized my mother desire to join us.
I haven't really spent that much time with her since the move. Now that I think about it, I've been so absorbed in my own issues over the last few years, that we haven't had much time for the two of us to just hang out together. Now seemed like as good a time as any to let her in.
"Well…if you insist…" She knelt down and lowered herself to the floor, opposite Lucy and myself, where she pulled my socks off and grabbed another bottle of the flamingo pink polish.
"Wait, I only authorized my fingernails to be covered in this hideous color; my toenails are another story." I tried to pull my foot from my mom’s grasp, but she refused to let go.
"Sadie, who's going to see your feet anyway? Are you planning to wear sandals in the cold New England weather?" My mom glanced up at Lucy who was shaking her head.
"Okay, I give in. But you have to ask before you decide to carry out any more drastic cosmetic experiments on me."
They looked at one another and I could tell they were exchanging some secret code that I was not meant to understand. When I realized no need to try to escape, I sat back and let Lucy and my mom fix my hair and put hideous shades of foundation and blush on my tanned cheeks.
When they were done with their beauty-quest, Lucy and my mom blissfully called it quits for the night, and my mom left us alone to finish our movie.
Wired from all the sugary treats I'd consumed, I was wide awake, long after Lucy lay passed out across my bed. I knew there was only one cure for my insomnia…
I had to be quiet as I walked through the unforgivable village, lest the townspeople discover I was still in the vicinity. I walked past Governor Bradford’s home. There was a candle burning near the windowsill. I wanted to break through his door. I wanted to scream at him to tell him what a horrible man he was. Oh, the pain I felt at that moment.
The anger was overwhelming, and I began to run. My loose hair fell in my face, making it hard for me to see where I was going. I stopped when I heard someone call to me.
"Elizabeth," the voice said, "it is me, Emily." She was standing behind a tree, motioning for me to come near. We embraced when I got to her side, and she held me close as I sobbed.
"There is a warrant for your arrest," she told me. "Come with me. Mother said you may stay with us for the night." She grabbed my hand and led me to her home.
Upon entering her home, a feeling of warmth came over me. Her mother and father waited for me at the supper table, a grand meal upon it, and I began to sob. I could not believe anyone in town would be nice to me after what my family and I had been accused of. I was given a loaf of bread, a bowl of stew, and a piece of pumpkin pie. I could not remember the last time I had such a grand meal.
I slept that night feeling safe. I knew the feeling would not last long, and that I would have to leave my friend in the early morning before the town awoke. As I drifted off to sleep, I did not think about what had happened that night nor about what might happen to me in the days to come. I would have plenty of time tomorrow to worry about my life.
As the sun rose over the hills, Emily gently woke me. "Elizabeth, the sun is rising, and people are beginning to wake." I sat up in bed and Emily rested her hand on my shoulder.
"Thank you so much, Emily, I am so grateful," I told her.
Before I left, Emily’s mother fixed me a small meal to take with me. I thanked her and said my goodbyes. Looking through the window, I saw the sun peek over the horizon. I opened the door, walked out into the daylight, and made my way to the forest, where I would remain until dusk.
The thought of the woods frightened me, as they were the cause of my family’s plight.
When the sun went down that evening, I departed from the forest. The town was quiet as families had begun to settle into their homes for the night. I made my way to the jail. The cells were in a deep cellar so that prisoners could not escape. A small window let me glance into the cells.
My mother and sisters were in separate, but adjacent areas, separated from each other and freedom by nothing more than a set of thin bars. When they saw me they ran to the window. I told them to be quiet, not to make a noise, and then handed them the bread Emily’s mother had given me. They devoured it so quickly, I could barely see them chew, they were so hungry and so tired.
I put my hand through the bars for them to touch, so I would feel a connection with my family.
"Have you seen your father? my mother asked. "Is he well?"
"No. I plan to go to the house tonight to tell him I am okay," I told her.
I vowed to my mother that I would do everything in my power to set them free. They said they believed me, but deep down, I knew they believed it a hopeless endeavor.
The moon shone into the cell, lighting their expressions as a look of horror crept over my mother’s face, and she took a step back.
I turned to see John standing behind me.
"You have come to speak to the prisoners?" he asked, smirking.
"You know they are innocent," I practically spat at him. My experiences of late had taught me not to fear anyone or anything, and I stood to face him, refusing to back down.
"Witch!" John hollered. "Witch!"
Doors opened and people ran out of their houses. He continued calling, "Witch!" until he woke everyone in the town. People ran toward him.
I was soon surrounded by a crowd of shouting and angry people. Governor Bradford eventually broke through the crowd and said, "Young woman, you have come to cast a spell to free your family." He stood between myself and the jail.
"No, I just wanted to see my family; they are innocent," I said, trying not to cry.
"She was coming out of the woods," John reported. "She was most probably leaving Esmeralda’s house. She is a witch, as are her mother and sisters. I have seen her leaving the woods after Margaret and Sarah. She is a witch!"
The pushed closer toward me as my mother and sisters screamed for them to leave me alone. Their pleas were ignored, drowned out by the shouts of the angry townspeople.
"No, no," I shouted, "I am not a witch! You must let my sisters go. They are innocent. My mother only wanted you to release her children. Why are you doing this to my family? Please, let them go," I cried.
"Where is your father?" Governor Bradford said, his face inches from mine.
"You ran him off. He was unable to take the pain you ha
ve caused our family," I shouted back at him. I hated the man. I knew it was wrong to hate, but I didn’t care. My fists clenched, I screamed, and lunged toward to punch him in the face.
He screamed and brought a hand to his nose. The crowd gathered around to assist the poor Governor, and as they did, I ran.
"Witch! Witch!" he screamed. "Get the Witch!"
I was horrified at the last few words I read, and I closed my eyes as I tried to imagine the scene in my mind. When I opened my eyes, I found a notebook and began to scribble down notes.
The first thing I wrote was Governor Bradford’s name, and Esmeralda's. Lucy was the first to suggest I make notes about important events, places, and names Elizabeth had mentioned. She thought it might help once we began the research for my project.
That was when I heard footsteps nearing my room. I was lying on my stomach, my knees bent, ankles twisted in the air. When I heard them, I hid the journal beneath my pillow and waited for one of my parents to come in, but when no one did, I got up onto my knees and peered through the crack of the open door.
"Hello?" I called.
I slowly stood, walked over to my bedroom door, and peered out into the darkened hallway, which was bare, without a trace of anyone. I ran back to my room and peered out through my bedroom window.
Did I imagine the footsteps? I believed it was only my mind playing tricks on me and returned to the journal. I sprawled back onto my bed, opened the journal, and resumed scanning pages.
Just as I picked up my pen to switch back to my notes, an icy, stinging breeze ran down my arm. I rubbed it and looked around the room. My window was shut and my bedroom door was closed. The sensation was a strange one, and I could only come up with two explanations as to what had caused it: one, I was crazy; and two, something was in the room with me.
Curiosity got the best of me, so I stood up, put the open journal face down on the bed, and forcing my hands down to my sides, I sighed a deep long breath. "Show yourself," I whispered with an extremely calm air, and a hint of bravery that surprised even myself.
Wicked Cries (The Wicked Cries Series Book 1) Page 14
