SHATTERED: SECRET SOCIETY OF SOULS, BOOK 1

by K. C. RILEY

  12

  Three days had passed and I still hadn’t heard from Kai. It was weird. I sent him like fourteen texts messages asking him the same question over and over. Was he all right? And had I done something wrong? He never replied to any of them and probably thought I was some kind of crazy stalker. But something in my gut didn’t feel right, and I had no idea why. Maybe the whole thing with channeling my mom ended up freaking him out.

  Still, for the sake of my sanity, I had to focus on things that were normal.

  Cassie never mentioned a word about the Blood Book or anything supernatural. Neither had I.

  Instead, the girls and I talked about Homecoming Dance, upcoming exams, and overdue assignments. There was also the news of Josie’s new boyfriend, Zander, who was still a complete mystery to me until Josie showed me a picture. Even though he looked like an Abercrombie model with dark hair, dark eyes, and a square jaw, Cassie was right, there was something off in the eyes. Come to find out, Zander had asked Josie to the dance and she accepted. I felt kind of bad for Mason. It was obvious he really liked her.

  On the bright side, things were finally going well with gym and Jake. Not once did Jake bark in pain, roll an eye, or sigh like he wanted to get as far away from me as possible. Then again, not once did I step on his toes.

  Things were going pretty well at Vye’s too.

  I had just finished serving Miss Lyle and consoling her about Max, her dog. I had just offered to go with her to go pick up a new puppy from the pound when a stranger walked in and sat down at one of my stations. I couldn’t put my finger on it, how I knew him.

  “Afternoon, what can I get you?” I asked.

  The lights in the café flickered on and off for a moment. I ignored them. The stranger looked like he might have been in his mid to late thirties. His dark silky hair stopped at the top of his shoulders, thick and wild. He was practically all hair, given his face was hidden beneath thick brows and a full beard.

  I couldn’t shake the feeling of sadness that radiated from him. Like a heavy fog, it swept through me in a way that almost knocked me off of my feet. I thought of Kai and how he had talked about his gift, how he could read people through bits of information that formed a crumb trail. Eventually, the crumbs would string together to tell a story. And this guy had a doozy. Speaking of Kai, I hoped he was okay.

  “You look just like her.” The stranger spoke to me like he knew me too.

  “I’m sorry. Who?” I asked.

  Vye yelled my name from the kitchen and that meant only one thing—she couldn’t get the new espresso machine working again. She had been tampering with it all morning.

  “Sorry. Could you wait here for one sec? I’ll be right back.”

  “No problem,” the stranger said.

  In the kitchen, Vye stood struggling with the machine she installed a week ago. “I can’t believe this stupid thing is on the fritz again. Damn it. There’s coffee everywhere.”

  I could barely hear her through the whispers that roared in my head as I tried to ignore them.

  After a minute of fiddling with the machine, it turned out Vye simply put the cartridge filter in wrong. I told her that a customer was waiting for me to take his order but I would be back to help her clean up.

  My thigh buzzed, but there was no time to check who was messaging.

  A bad feeling squirmed and squealed in the pit of my stomach on my way back to the stranger. By the time I got to his table, he was gone. But he had left a picture behind, a teenage girl that looked just like me. Confused, I turned the photo over.

  On the back was written, Serene.

  The whispers clamored in my head, and it felt like someone had slapped the breath out of my chest. It was the buzzing of my phone that snapped me back.

  Everything unraveled faster than I could keep up with. Hunches, clues, secrets, and lots and lots of lies. People always said I looked like my mom or my mom looked like me.

  I checked my phone. It was Cassie sending me a link to a video. Caught somewhere in an altered universe, I hit play. The man giving the discussion was the same man that left the photo of Serene only minutes earlier. I knew I recognized those eyes. “Jonas Jacobs.”

  “What’s that you said?” Vye’s voice pulled me back into a room full of customers staring at me. “You all right? You look like you’ve seen a ghost. And you know I hate to be that boss, hon, but no phones while you’re working, okay?”

  I had seen a ghost. “Sorry.”

  Vye stared at the phone in my hand. “Is something wrong?”

  I took off my apron. “I’ve got to run to the bathroom, could you cover for me?” I left before Vye could respond.

  In the next moment, I was standing in front of the bathroom mirror with the water running. There were so many voices. The book wouldn’t haven’t opened for you if you weren’t a part of the bloodline. Daughter of Cain. Witch. We’ll be the ones to make it, you’ll see. She was my best friend. The voices and sounds wouldn’t stop. You must be one with the water. The sound of a gun going off. You look just like her. Serene.”

  My mother’s name was Jenna Maverick. However, in the Blood Book, I never actually saw what Serene looked like, not until now. Were Jenna Maverick and Serene Jacobs the same person? I was close to passing out. There had to be a logical explanation for all of it.

  “Are you okay?” It was Jake at the door.

  It was like I couldn’t have a minute to myself. Besides, it was strange how every time I was in trouble or going through something weird, Jake was there. Zander’s tub, the attack in the alley, the panic attack a week ago right here in this bathroom. Hell, even in the institution when I was doped and half out of my mind.

  Maybe I was grasping for straws that weren’t there. Maybe I wasn’t.

  “I’m fine,” I yelled.

  God. Listening to myself, Cassie was right. That was my answer to everything. Whatever. I splashed water on my face and grabbed some paper towels.

  “Vye’s worried about you,” Jake said. “So am I.”

  Jake worried about me? Normally, I would have melted at the knees. Then again what if he was just feeling sorry for the poor crazy girl who possibly needed to be re-institutionalized. The way my world was unraveling, that’s exactly where I was headed.

  “I’m fine,” I snapped opening the door. “See. A-Okay.”

  Jake scanned me with an eye of doubt.

  “I better get back to work,” I said not wanting to hang around to talk. I mean what was there to say other than my entire life was possibly one big twisted supernatural lie.

  At the end of my shift, Jake walked me to my car. It was still daylight. I told him he didn’t have to, but he insisted. In spite of the photo of Serene, and Jonas’ encounter, it wasn’t right to take it out on Jake. He was only trying to help.

  “Sorry about snapping earlier. Just stress, you know with school and work and everything.”

  “It’s okay. I understand. And it’s kind of nice to switch places.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “Well, you’re the mean grumpy one now, and I’m sweet as pie.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh. I guess he was right. “I needed that. Thanks.”

  “You’re welcome. Hey, any chance you’re going to the bonfire tonight?”

  “I’m not sure. I’ve got a lot to sort through.” As in how any of this was possible. “You know, school stuff.”

  “Yeah. Makes sense. If you do,” Jake said. “Maybe I’ll see you later?”

  I smiled. “Maybe.”

  “You know, I can drive you home.”

  “That’s sweet, but I’m good.”

  Jake nodded.

  As I got in the car and looked up, I thought I saw Kai standing across the street staring at me. He was in the middle of the crowd that was waiting for the next haunted bus tour, but he wasn’t himself. He looked dark, lonely, and disturbed. I hopped out of the car to call him over, but he vanished in the crowd.

  “Who ar
e you staring at?”

  “I thought I saw someone,” I said still looking.

  “Who?”

  “Uh…no one.” Kai was gone. And I was still worried. “I better go. I’ll see you tonight.”

  I still couldn’t get over the photo I propped on my desk. Serene my mother? Jonas my uncle? And me a witch? There had to be an explanation, one that made sense.

  Restless, I spent the rest of the afternoon, pacing back and forth across my room with my meds held tight in my hand. I had already taken a dose for the day and was ready for another.

  Pacing was getting me nowhere as everything spun out of control.

  I opened my laptop and checked the link Cassie had sent. This time I watched the entire video. Jonas was some kind of expert professor on folklore, the occult, and archaeology. He taught at a place called Blackstone University. I looked for Jonas’s phone number at the school's online directory but couldn’t find one. There was, however, an email address.

  Dear Mr. Jacobs,

  We met at Vye’s Café. You left me a photo of a young girl with the name Serene on the back. Who is she? By the way, my name is Lizzy. I think I have one of those Blood Books. Thanks.

  I clicked send and tried listening to a positive meditation. It might have worked if I hadn’t kept getting up every ten minutes to see if Jonas had replied to my email. Not hearing back was driving me crazy. What if this guy really was my uncle? And what really happened to my mom the night of the accident? I mean, if she really was a witch. More importantly, what the hell was I supposed to do with any of it?

  Josie texted to be ready in five for the bonfire. The distraction was good. I checked my email one more time before leaving the room to meet them, but nothing.

  The three of us sat huddled in front of a roaring fire. Students talked, laughed, made out, and drank some of Mason’s peach moonshine. He said he had distilled it with his own hands, a family recipe, or something like that. My nerves were still on edge from earlier. Mason poured me a shot. I gulped it back and about coughed up a lung, a burnt withered one.

  “Good stuff,” Mason said proudly.

  Sure, if you liked licking the bottom of a leather shoe. Mason offered me another pour. I passed.

  Cassie sat beside me, cool as a cucumber. She never mentioned a word about the link she sent of Jonas, or what happened in the Blood Book. I wasn’t ready to tell her Jonas had come to the diner. And I definitely wasn’t ready to tell her that Serene and my mom could be the same person. I needed more proof. There was no point in jumping to conclusions. Right?

  “I’ll be back,” I whispered to her.

  “Want some company?”

  “No. Just need some space to think.”

  Cassie nodded.

  Mason was clearly juiced up and ready to tell ghost stories. “The Cursed Dolls of All Saints,” he said in a creepy voice.

  The last thing I needed was the image of a possessed doll snatching me out of bed in the middle of the night to steal my soul. I patted my pocket for my pepper spray and took the trail toward the lake. Ever since the attack in the alley I never left anywhere without it.

  It was a good ten-minute walk. The sound of crickets and gravel crunching underfoot almost drowned out the whispers in my head.

  The moonlit outline of the woods soon gave way to a clearing at the lake with a small gravel beach. It was the perfect spot to simply be by myself. I took off my socks and sneakers and, from a huge flat rock, looked out at the small waves that rolled across the water’s surface. Ripples of moonlight stretched across the lake as far as the eye could see. Its reflection brightened the night with two moons instead of one. The smell of water in the air and the wind through my hair was sobering.

  The whispers grew louder as I peered deeper into the tiny waves that washed up against the rock. It was almost as if the water was speaking to me, trying to tell me something, but I couldn’t understand. I kneeled down and was about to place my hand in it when something splashed.

  A head emerged from the lake, and I sprung to my feet. I thought I was alone. There were no signs of anyone being there until I scanned the area and saw jeans and a T-shirt rolled in a ball on the ground.

  “Shouldn’t you be at the bonfire?” a voice asked.

  Jake emerged out of the water, dripping with the light of the moon in his birthday suit. I might have been a complete wreck, but I wasn’t blind. Shoulders, abs, and...

  It was ridiculous, the heat that burned through my neck and face. I turned my head completely embarrassed. And not so much for him, but for me.

  “What are you doing here?” he asked.

  I refused to turn around even though every bone in my body wanted to.

  “Wait. Are you blushing?”

  “That would be none of your business,” I said refusing to turn around. “And can you put some clothes on please?”

  “You know it’s called skinny dipping for a reason, right?”

  “Clothes please,” I said, again.

  The sultry depth of Jake’s voice cut through the waves that rolled to shore. “My shorts. They’re over there. Can you pass them to me?”

  “Can’t you get them yourself?”

  “I mean, I could,” Jake said. “But I would have to walk past you.”

  “Nope. That’s fine,” I said. “I’ll throw them to you.”

  I walked over to the ball of clothes on the ground, plucked out a pair of black Calvin Klein briefs that were hot as hell, and threw them in the direction of his voice. And yes, despite daydreaming for weeks about kissing Jake, it turns out I was nothing but a total prude. Guilty as charged.

  “Thanks,” Jake said. “So what are you doing out here? And by yourself?”

  “I thought I was alone.”

  “You know, it’s safe to turn around now,” he said mockingly.

  I faced Jake determined to keep my focus at eye level. “Are you making fun of me?”

  “Not at all.” Jake’s demeanor was playful, relaxed, and yet, flirty. “It’s just sometimes, you’re hard to figure out. You seem so carefree when you’re around Josie and Cassie, I mean. I never figured you to be...”

  “Go ahead. Say it. A prude?”

  The corner of Jake’s mouth curled up into a wicked smile. “I don’t know. I think it’s kind of hot.”

  Mayday, mayday, get out fast. And under no circumstances are you to fall for this guy, was all I could hear. But, it was all too late.

  Jake’s voice, the heat of the night. I blamed the final straw on the underwear that hung low at his hips and clung tight to his toned thighs. And did I mention he had a butt to die for?

  Jake took my hand into his and I must have checked out, because before I knew it, I was quietly sitting down next to him overlooking the water.

  “So, why aren’t you at the bonfire?”

  “I needed somewhere alone to think.”

  “Do you want me to go?”

  “No,” I said.

  “What are you thinking about?”

  The waves rippled over my toes and I glanced at him. “Stuff. Just...stuff.”

  “I get it.”

  I glanced at him again. “What are you staring at?”

  “You. The moonlight, it’s beautiful in your hair. And your eyes.”

  I tried to squash the ridiculous smile that lit up on my face. Who was this guy? And what happened to Jake? “So, what are you doing here?”

  Jake laid back, folded his hands behind his head, and nestled himself into the rock. “The same. Needed somewhere to think. Being here helps, especially at night when it's quiet.”

  “Makes sense.” My eyes scanned his body for like the hundredth time. He was breathtaking. “What are you thinking about?”

  Jake smiled with a scruffy face. “Stuff.”

  “You can’t use the same words I did, you dork.”

  “Dork, huh?” He chuckled.

  “Wow. A smile,” I said. “That doesn’t happen often.”

  “Yeah, well, don’t tell an
yone. You’ll ruin my reputation. You know, tall, hot, and brooding.”

  I beamed hot red. “Cassie’s words, not mine.”

  “Sure.”

  Jake never answered any of my questions. And I never answered any of his. The quiet was almost surreal as we stared up into the night sky. Time seemed to dwindle away until it didn’t exist at all. And the whispers in my head? They were completely gone. It finally dawned on me that they only quieted when I was around Jake. Based on all the supernatural stuff I had gone through in the last few weeks, maybe there was much more to Jake than what he had been letting on. Ha. Right. Like he was an angel.

  “The stars are beautiful tonight,” Jake said.

  “What stars? The moon is almost full. It’s too bright out for stars.”

  “What do you mean? They're everywhere.”

  “Okay. If you say so.”

  Jake rolled over to face me and propped his hand under his head. “I can’t believe you can’t see them. None of them?”

  “One or two, but there’s nothing else to see. There’s too much light.”

  “Hmmm,” he grunted. “Close your eyes.”

  “What?”

  “Close your eyes.”

  “Is this another Jedi meditation?”

  “No, you dork. Just do it,” he said. “Please?”

  I sighed before I gave in.

  “You have to close them all the way,” he said.

  “They are,” I lied. I did finally close them, however.

  “Now imagine there’s a billion stars shining and dancing across the sky, a vast sea of them everywhere.”

  I opened my eyes. “I don’t see anything.”

  “Are you going to cooperate or not?”

  “Fine.”

  “Close your eyes and take a deep breath. Good. Now, don’t see them, feel them. There’s one so close you can touch it. What does it feel like?”

  I thought about it for a moment. No, felt. “There’s heat and light. It feels hot and cold at the same time, the energy pulsing off of it.”

  “What else?”

  I sighed.

  “Come on. What else?” He wasn’t letting up.