The Curse of Jenny Greene

by Kimberly Loth

  “He only wants to exploit you and your pain.”

  “Excuse me?” Max laughed.

  “What is going on with you? First, you’re Foster Grimm’s latest girl of the week, and now I find you out late at night with an overweight, middle-aged hack.” Chi spit out the words.

  “Ouch, that one hurt.” Max grabbed his chest as though Chi had wounded him. “Sophie, what’s up with you and the mysterious Grimm boy, anyway?”

  I laughed harshly. Chi could spout off at me all she wanted. She’d chosen to be mad over my friendship with Foster rather than to be a part of what I had going on.

  “Go home, Chi,” I said. “Or wherever you were headed.”

  I raised an eyebrow and nodded at the driver’s side of the car where Garner sat. Foster would have been proud of how smooth I pulled off that look.

  Chi sputtered.

  I leapt up off the bench.

  “I’ll text you when I chat with the other party,” I said to Max.

  “Sounds good, kid. I’ll let you know when I can hold up my end.” Max stood also. He tossed his empty cup in the trash and sauntered off to his car.

  Chi blocked my exit.

  “Won’t you tell me what’s going on?” Her voice sounded pitiful, pleading.

  “So now you want to talk to me?” I snapped. After she’d ditched me all day, angry because I’d let Foster drive me to school? After the day I’d had without her there for moral support . . . I wasn’t in the mood for her attitude.

  “Girls, I’ve got a curfew,” Garner hollered from inside the car.

  “Can I come get you in the morning?” she asked me. It was an olive branch; I hurt her feelings. But I was hurt too, and I already had a ride.

  I shrugged. “Sorry. Foster asked first.”

  Chi pulled back as if I’d slapped her.

  “Are you and Foster a thing?” she demanded.

  “We’re friends,” I said. I was tired and wanted to be home. I could have asked her for a ride but kept my mouth shut. I didn’t want to be grilled any longer.

  “We’ll talk tomorrow. Lunch, in the library.” I stepped around her and headed toward Montague. I’d go that way before turning and heading home. It was a stupid bit of defiance on my part. I was daring Chi to ask where I was going.

  “Some of us like to actually eat,” she called after me.

  “You can’t skip one meal for me?”

  I wasn’t being fair, and I knew it, but she could make some time for me. If I were that important to her, she wouldn’t have hesitated.

  Even though I was going the wrong way, I kept walking and passed Collins Avenue, the next street that would have led me home. And the street after that. I kept on going. Something, a tightness in my chest, propelled me forward.

  Titan?

  No answer. I wondered if I had to be submerged in his darkness before I could hear him speak.

  Without paying attention to direction, my feet turned down Churchill. I walked in the middle of the street, passing house after house. When I came to a green house with a white picket fence and white shutters, I paused. This place was different. It took me a minute to notice the front door standing wide open.

  I fished my phone out and shot Foster a quick text.

  I’m being stupid, but I think something is going on.

  It was late. My message didn’t make sense, and I didn’t expect to get an answer. I just felt safer talking to someone.

  I crept up to the sidewalk and tried to peek into the house. It was dark. Nothing but shadows and shapes.

  A stream of water ran down from the roof and collected in a puddle in front of the open door. The pool it created wasn’t large in diameter, but it appeared deep.

  My phone buzzed.

  Where are you? Foster had texted back.

  Churchill Street. I replied.

  Movement at the front door startled me. A boy stood there. He looked young. No more than six. My heart began to pound. I didn’t recognize him, but I knew as surely as I knew my name—he was Greenteeth’s next victim.

  “Hey,” I called to him in a quiet voice. I didn’t want to wake the neighbors or worse, his parents. The little boy wouldn’t look at me.

  “Why don’t you go back to bed?” I inched closer to his yard. The water there was gray in the dim streetlights. I bent down and let my fingers hover an inch above the surface. It was icy. Freezing cold emanated up in circles of frost curling around my wrist.

  “Little boy,” I said louder. He snapped his head up and looked at me. “What’s your name?”

  “Alex.” He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. “Do you hear it too?”

  “Hear what?” I turned and listened. There was nothing audible to me other than the pounding of my own heart.

  “She’s singing,” he said.

  “Who is?”

  He shrugged.

  Titan, what’s happening? I pushed the question out and hoped he’d answer. No response, but warmth wrapped around me. The spirit tried to tug me away, but I wasn’t about to be moved. We needed to save this child.

  I ignored the buzzing phone in my pocket.

  “Alex, honey, listen to me,” I said. He raised his large brown eyes up to me again. “You close the door and go get in bed with your mommy.”

  “But she’s sad. Lonely.” He pointed to the water. If I could help it, he wasn’t going into that pool. Greenteeth wouldn’t add this little boy to her collection.

  “Alex, go get your mommy,” I said with more force. He backed away from the open door and watched me with fear. Fine with me. If scaring him was what it took to keep him away from the makeshift pond, I was just fine with that.

  “Don’t worry. I’ll stay with her. I won’t let her be lonely. You go back to your mommy.” I knelt by the edge of the water. The warmth enveloping me receded a little. Titan was not happy I had gotten closer. I hoped he would understand.

  “You’ll be with her?” Alex asked.

  The water dripping from the roof altered direction. The stream came closer and closer to the front door, and I had no doubt all she needed was a drop of her tainted water on Alex to claim him.

  “I will be right here. Please, go inside and shut the door,” I begged.

  Alex took two steps back.

  “That’s right, now shut the door,” I pleaded.

  When the child grabbed the edge of the door, a spout of water erupted from the pool. Alex’s eyes grew wide, and I grew cold.

  “Now, Alex!” I shouted. The jet of water shot toward the partially open door. A dark black shape lunged from behind me and smashed into it. The boy screamed and slammed the door shut.

  I sighed in relief. Alex was safe in his house.

  The spout of water leapt free of Titan’s shadow. It took form. Slowly the ethereal image transformed into the woman with the black hair. Greenteeth. The old-fashioned dress, clawed hands, and a leering mouth filled with actual green teeth. I jumped to my feet as the water advanced toward me and stumbled back until I was out of the yard. One by one, the streetlights went out. White fog rolled off the spreading water, and I listened to the lapping sound of it drawing nearer.

  Jenny was coming after me. I had ruined her hunt for tonight, and she would make me pay. The fog drifted closer, but I wasn’t about to wait. Not this time.

  I turned and ran. Back up to Montague Street. The frozen white billows of fog kept up with me. In fact, it reached the corner before me. I rounded onto Montague without slowing, staring in disbelief as the mist parted. Eyeless Little Sophie stood there, shaking her head.

  “You shouldn’t have gotten in her way.”

  Images of children appeared on every street corner. They laughed and mocked, pointing small fingers at me. When the vapor overtook me, it was like running through soup. I had no idea where I was or how to get home.

  Worse than the eerie fog was the water. Fast approaching from behind, the sound was louder than the laughing children.

  Chapter 22

  My sides hurt,
and I was having trouble catching my breath. When I heard a car coming, I zigzagged through a yard as headlights penetrated through the thick cloud.

  I gasped as the sleek, black Mercedes broke into sight.

  Foster.

  Before I took my next breath, he was out of the car and running toward me. I switched directions and flung myself at him. Thankfully, he caught me.

  “I’m here,” he said as I buried my face in his warm neck. “You’re freezing,”

  Tendrils of the evil fog curled around his car. He backed away with me in tow. The haze was going to swallow us both, but I couldn’t run anymore, and the car had already been claimed. I turned my head in time to see rivulets of water spreading under the tires.

  “I’m sorry,” I whispered to him. “I wouldn’t let her have Alex.”

  Before the seeping water could reach us, a large and heavy object landed in the middle of the road. Devoid of light, I couldn’t make out the shape, but the fog stopped before it.

  A rush of tangy sea air overcame me. The sound that accompanied it was strong, resembling a roar. Foster covered my head with his arms, and we knelt, huddled together for protection. The blast of air and the excruciating sound that came with it passed, leaving behind a crust of salt on our skin.

  When I opened my eyes, everything associated with the fog, the water. . . even Titan’s shadow. . . was all gone. Streetlights were back on, and Foster’s car was undisturbed, parked sideways on the road, the driver’s door wide open. The only evidence that anything had happened was long gouges in the pavement near the Mercedes. Whatever form Titan had taken, he’d had extremely sharp edges.

  I breathed a sigh of relief and melted into Foster. I held him so tightly that he might have complained if he hadn’t been clinging to me the same way.

  “Are you okay?” he whispered into my wild, tangled hair. The wind and the run had dislodged my tight ponytail band.

  “I think so.” I panted.

  “You scared me to death.” He cupped my cheeks in his warm hands. “You’re so cold.”

  “She nearly got me that time.”

  “I noticed those ghost kids on the corners while I was driving. I’ve never driven that fast.” He gave me a faint smile. “What were you doing out here anyway?”

  “I was meeting Max, the reporter.” I didn’t want to talk. Breathing was still a conscious effort.

  Foster shook his head. “By yourself?”

  “She was trying to take another child.” Max was the least of our worries. If I hadn’t been out, Alex would be the next missing child by now. “Her water . . . from the pond . . . it was pooled in front of his house,” I rambled on. “I think that’s how they vanish. They fall into a pool of the nasty water, and who knows where they go.”

  “It’s too soon,” said Foster. He focused down the street.

  “Too soon?”

  “It’s usually around a month before she moves on to another child.”

  “How do you know that?” I pushed away so I could see him better in the streetlight. Cassie had only disappeared two days ago. There had been 4 months between Sam and Cassie. He knew something.

  “I’ve been talking to my aunt, Hannah, about this whole thing. She has these old newspapers in the library. We looked through some together. Usually, Greenteeth waits a couple weeks.”

  “About four,” I said. Foster snapped his gaze to me. “Gram has some old articles too.”

  “And Max?”

  “He’s going to get us into the storage building where they keep even earlier editions.” I rubbed my hands up and down my arms. Salt flaked off my skin. I was completely grimy and cold. A hot shower sounded heavenly.

  “Come on.” Foster led me back to his car and opened the passenger door. “Let’s get you home.”

  I climbed in and pulled my phone out. I wanted to check on Chi. She and Garner might have still been out when the weirdness started. What if they had been affected or seen something?

  I’d missed about fifteen texts from Foster while he’d been driving there to find me.

  I texted Chi.

  Did you get home okay?

  Foster got in the car and turned the heat on full blast. I leaned forward, closer to the vents, needing to suck up the warmth. I could relate to the saying, ‘cold to the bone.’

  “When can Max get us into the storage building?” Foster asked as he whipped the car around on the now deserted street and headed back to my house.

  “I’m not sure.” Probably not until I talked to Leigh Kate about doing an interview with him.

  “Please, this time, let me go with you,” he said. “I don’t want to get another panicked text that you’re in trouble.”

  “Technically, I was leading trouble away from a little boy.” I smiled for the first time since the encounter. “Plus, Titan was there.”

  Foster pulled up beside my neighbor’s house and turned off the headlights. I wasn’t quite ready to get out.

  He turned in his seat to face me.

  “So now what?” he asked.

  I didn’t want him to leave. I’d thought it was annoying that he had followed me around before, getting his schedule changed and all that. But now, since I’d nearly gotten snatched myself . . .

  That thought overruled all others. Greenteeth had very nearly taken me. Her fog had caught up with me. I shuddered to imagine what would have happened if the strange streams of water had engulfed me.

  “Hey, it’s okay.” Foster reached over and held my hand. When I realized I was shaking, I swallowed back the lump of fear trying to choke me. Would I have been trapped under the pond? Would I have been with Sam?

  Foster slipped his other arm around my shoulders and pulled me to him. Even wrapped up with him and with the heater blowing, I couldn’t get warm. I shivered and my teeth chattered.

  “You’re safe,” he whispered.

  “Your aunt must think I’m crazy,” I said, unable to come up with anything else.

  I felt him laugh. “Nah, she’s pretty out there herself.”

  I rested my head on his shoulder. Slowly, I started to thaw.

  “Thank you,” I said after a couple of minutes of silence.

  “My pleasure.” He squeezed my shoulders and sat back. “You’d better get back inside and try to get some sleep before school.”

  “School.” I groaned.

  He lowered his head to focus directly into my eyes, and his grin had a wicked tilt to it.

  “Wanna skip?” he asked.

  I laughed, unable to take him seriously. “And miss another day of being in your constant company, I don’t think so.”

  “I’d still be with you.” He quit grinning, and his gaze turned steamy.

  “Oh.” I breathed out.

  He cupped my face in his hands. “No matter what, I’m with you,” he said. Then he leaned in and brushed his lips over mine. His warmth enveloped me, and his scent, the smell of fresh pine trees and something all boy, filled my lungs.

  He kissed me again, and I stopped breathing altogether. His hands slid from my face into my hair. I wanted to touch him so badly, to run my hands up under his jacket, but I was too scared that I’d break the moment. Maybe he’d stop. I kept my hands in my lap.

  Another kiss. He nipped at my bottom lip, and I couldn’t stand it anymore, I snaked my arms around him, over his coat. I was only so brave.

  His lips left mine, and he kissed my cheek then my forehead. “I’d like to do that again soon,” he said as he sat back. His eyes were bright. So blue. I turned my head away and unwrapped my arms from him. I had no clue what to do or say.

  “I should go in,” I said.

  “Yeah, right.” He tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear. “If you change your mind about skipping, text me.”

  I smiled at him and shook my head.

  “In the morning then. More like in a couple of hours.” He sighed. “I’ll bring coffee.”

  I grabbed his hand and squeezed it before I could talk myself out of it. “T
hank you,” I said, “for coming to find me tonight.”

  Once I slipped back in through my bedroom window, I heard his car growl and zoom away. I sat on the bed. I was different, really different than when I’d left only a few hours ago. I’d stared down Greenteeth for the second time and lived to tell about it. And I’d let Foster kiss me. Maybe next time, I’d kiss him first.

  Chapter 23

  Around six in the morning, my cell phone started vibrating in my pocket. Apparently, I’d passed out fully dressed. I even still had my coat on.

  At first, I ignored it, but after four calls, I rolled over and fished the buzzing thing out.

  Chi.

  She’d never texted me back last night.

  I answered but didn’t get a chance to say hello.

  “Are you all right?” Her voice screeched over the line. “I’ve been calling and calling.”

  “I know. I’m fine. Just now getting up.” I swung my legs over the edge of my bed and stretched.

  “Chase is gone,” she said, and I noticed she sounded stuffy.

  “Chase? Have you been crying?” I shook my head, trying to wake up.

  “Chase. Garner’s little brother. He’s only four.” She sounded more panicked with each word.

  “Gone?”

  I remembered the happy little boy being flown around the kitchen by his big brother while wearing his Superman cape.

  “Yes, gone. Like Sam.” Chi dissolved into tears. I grew numb.

  “No, he can’t be,” I said slowly. I’d stopped the witch. In her tracks. From taking Alex. Then Titan had done whatever he’d done, and she was gone.

  “Sophie, he is. He’s so little. Not even in kindergarten yet.” I could feel the pain in Chi’s voice through the phone. But what I couldn’t do was find the words to comfort her. I had to be the worst friend ever. Instead, I sat there, sobbing, as tears streamed down my cheeks. I’d saved Alex, but I hadn’t stopped Greenteeth, not in the slightest. After she’d finished terrifying me, she must have simply chosen another kid. Garner’s brother. All I’d done was muck up her victims.

  “Sophie? Sophie?” Chi called my name. “Are you okay? I know this is so hard for you.”