The Curse of Jenny Greene

by Kimberly Loth

  “I’m so sorry, Leigh Kate,” I whispered into her cobweb-covered hair. “I’m sorry. This has all been too soon.”

  She was shaking her head. “It’s not. I have to do something, Sophie.”

  “Maybe so, but living skeletons and witches aren’t it. You need to go home and rest. Sleep for a week. Recover.” I almost let Gram’s words slip from my lips. Grieve and move on. I understood now why she’d said that. This craziness wasn’t what she had wanted for me.

  “Let me take you home,” I said.

  “No, we go talk to Hannah.”

  “I think we should check out whatever was guarding the crypt,” said Garner.

  I shook my head. No chance was I going back there.

  “I think my family resting place has been desecrated enough tonight,” ground out Foster.

  “Leigh Kate needs to rest. We both do. I’m stretched too thin to fight anymore,” I said.

  “No.” Leigh Kate pulled away and wiped her eyes. “I’m fine. I can do this. I need to talk to Hannah.”

  Behind me, Foster snorted.

  “If you promise to go home and get some rest, I’ll go talk to Hannah.”

  “Alone?” Leigh Kate shrieked.

  “I’ll stay with you, LK,” Chi said.

  “Not me. Her. You can’t go out there alone,” cried Leigh Kate.

  “I’ll be with her,” said Foster. Though I wasn’t so sure that was such a good arrangement.

  Leigh Kate snorted back at him.

  “Leigh Kate,” I pleaded, tucking her hair behind her ears. “Hannah isn’t going to hurt me. She helped save me at the pond, remember?”

  “That was before you broke into her crypt,” said Garner. Chi and I both glared at him; he shrugged.

  “Let’s go to your house, LK.” Chi pulled Leigh Kate away.

  “Sophie?”

  “It’s okay, Leigh Kate. I’ll go talk to Hannah, and I will text you first thing in the morning,” I promised. Foster walked past me without a word or a touch. The anger radiating off him was palpable. He climbed in his car and pulled back so Garner could leave.

  I squatted down and wrapped my arms around my knees, attempting to hold all my pieces together before I shattered.

  Gravel crunched nearby. Foster was coming back to me. He’d left his car running on the street.

  “You coming with me?” he asked.

  I shook my head.

  “You told Leigh Kate.”

  “Do you want to do this tonight? I could go home and come over in the morning. She’d never know,” I said.

  “Are you lying to her too, now?”

  It was a fair question, but damn, it hurt.

  “Fine.” I stood and hoped all my pieces stayed where they were supposed to. “I’ll follow you out.”

  “Falling for me but can’t ride with me?” he spat. I deserved that one too.

  “I can’t leave my car here, Foster. If I follow you, I can go straight home afterward, and you don’t have to go back out.”

  Foster turned on his heel and stomped back to the Mercedes. He waited for me to pull out of the cemetery and rode my bumper all the way to his house. That pissed me off. I wasn’t going anywhere and didn’t need his overbearing crap.

  The cold air from my open window tugged at my hair and made me feel better. Even the salty smell of the ocean was strong, almost overwhelming tonight. I imagined Titan was sympathizing with me. Even when we passed Greenteeth’s pond, the water was clear . . . no fog.

  Hannah stood, waiting for us on the porch. I groaned. She even had a witchy appearance tonight, her white hair frizzed all around her head as if she’d electrocuted herself to get that look. Dressed in a nightgown and robe, I guessed she’d already been in bed. But her expression . . . Leigh Kate had been right. Hannah knew exactly what we’d done.

  Foster got out of his car first.

  “We need to talk,” I heard him say to Hannah. She didn’t bother to even turn in his direction. Her eyes were laser-focused on me.

  Chapter 49

  I got out, slamming the car door harder than I should have.

  “I think, Foster, it’s Sophie who needs to talk,” her voice was tight. “I made coffee.”

  I wilted in relief. I could so use a cup of coffee. She turned and retreated inside. I followed. When I passed Foster, he remained mute. I could say something. But what, though? Nothing would make this situation better.

  In the kitchen, Hannah thrust a cup into my hand. I gulped down the hot, black liquid. Straight black, exactly how I liked it. I sat on one of the bar stools.

  “You met my friend,” said Hannah.

  “I did. He caressed me. It was probably one of the worst things I’ve ever experienced, including my encounters with Greenteeth.”

  She grinned. That made her proud.

  I shivered. “Did you kill him? Hang him?”

  “Of course not.” Hannah pushed a cup toward Foster. He stood back away from the table, watching us, not ready to join in the conversation.

  “He was somebody I dug up ages ago. He died naturally if that makes you feel better.”

  It didn’t. Here they were, upset I’d desecrated a grave when she’d not only opened a casket but had stolen a body and twisted it to her own perverse needs.

  “Why?” I asked.

  “To deter lookie-loos,” she said.

  “That makes sense,” I said, with as much sarcasm as I could shove into three words.

  “Are you saying this crazy story is true?” Foster asked, barely above a whisper.

  “I’m afraid so.” Hannah’s face softened when she studied his expression then mine. “What were you hoping to find?”

  “Leigh Kate had found a protection that required bone dust,” I said into my coffee cup.

  “Bone dust,” Hannah barked out harsh laughter. “That girl has some witchcraft in her.”

  “Do you help her?” I asked. I looked down. I couldn’t stand to see the look in her eyes. It would be too much if she said one thing but her eyes betrayed her. “Jenny, I mean.”

  “Is that what you think?” Hannah’s voice was small as if I’d wounded her. I shrugged. She slammed her coffee mug down so hard the handle broke off.

  “No!” She shouted. “I try to ease what suffering I can, but I’m not assisting in child abduction.”

  “Stop!” Foster stalked around the counter. “Sophie has swallowed entirely too much of that damn pond water, I get that. But you,” he got right in Hannah’s face, “you are not standing here and chatting with her about skeletons and witchcraft and missing kids as if she’s sane, are you?”

  That stung more than I cared to admit.

  “Back up, Foster,” said Hannah.

  “No. Not until you tell her—” he started, but Hannah exploded on him.

  “Tell her what? She’s figured it out. I am Hannah Greene. I am Hannah Grimm,” Hannah roared and pushed Foster back out of her face. “The only one.”

  “How?” Foster seemed genuinely confused. It tugged at my heartstrings. “How can you be her?”

  “Because my lost, sad, little sister fell in love with my husband’s younger brother.” Hannah’s face transformed. Gone were the sharp cheekbones and severe stare and, in their place, the hollowness of a woman eaten alive by grief, loss, and loneliness. “And every eighteen years, that pond spits you back out, half-grown and clueless as to what’s happened to you, what’s been happening to you for centuries.”

  “That can’t be.” Foster stepped back. The shock on his face mirrored the churning in my gut. “I have memories. I know my father; I spent time with him in Baltimore. My mother. I remember preschool and grade school and all my schools.”

  “I’m a witch, Foster. I give you those memories. Every single time. It takes a couple days for me to weave them for you like dreams. I weave together memories for this whole town. I try to give you something happy to hold onto during the eight or nine months you’re here.”

  “Eight or nine months? Then w
hat happens to me?” he demanded. I already knew the answer and understood it was going to hurt him to hear it, so I inched closer. He’d done a lot to support me, and I wanted to offer him some of that when he received this blow.

  “Jenny takes you again. Sometimes it’s sooner. When she can get her hands on you, she drags you back under the pond.” Hannah’s voice broke.

  I reached across the counter and slipped my hand into Foster’s. He tensed, and I worried he might push me away. I held my breath while the realization that he was a pawn in Greenteeth’s game sank in. He tightened his hold on my fingers.

  “What happens to you after that?” I asked Hannah. She shrugged, and my heart broke for her.

  “Are you alone?” Foster asked. His voice was still on edge, but he relaxed his grip. “Have you been alone all this time?”

  Hannah couldn’t speak. She nodded and leaned back against the counter.

  “What about Timothy?” I asked her. Foster snapped his head toward me. “Foster’s brother? Your husband?”

  “He waged a war against the pond.” Hannah stared out the window to the night sky. “He carried bucket after bucket of seawater to the pond and dumped it in. He tried to kill her with iron chains. Nothing worked. When he accidentally cut himself and pond water got in the wound, Timothy was so afraid he would be infected and become part of Jenny’s horror that he jumped off the edge of the sea cave.”

  “And drowned?” asked Foster. His anger was passing, leaving only confusion behind.

  “No,” Hannah answered, shaking her head.

  “Titan,” I said.

  “My brother is a sea dragon?” Foster’s exhale hung heavy in the room.

  “Yes. He was cursed. I don’t know much about it.” Hannah paused and sucked in a deep breath. “He hasn’t given up on saving you, Foster. He appears, helping anyone who is actively fighting Greenteeth.” Hannah rubbed her arms. “He’ll never show himself to me, though. Or to you, Foster.”

  “I can only see him in the sunshine.” At this point, I wanted to make it easier for Hannah, but I was failing miserably. “He’s beautiful. Strong. Majestic.”

  She turned her head my way and smiled. “Thank you, Sophie,” she said.

  Foster released my hand and hopped up onto the counter. He kept his back to me, his head down.

  “Titan told me you never remember him,” I said. “But I think he’d like to talk to you.”

  “My dragon brother,” he said. “Have I ever figured this out before? Have you ever told me?”

  “There have been a few times. I used to think if you knew the truth, it would help me save you.” Hannah went to the fridge. Instead of opening it, she rested her forehead then her body against it. “It never did. I decided it was best if you never knew.”

  “There’s nothing I can do?”

  “It’s different this time,” said Hannah.

  “How?” he asked.

  “Jenny is angry. Somebody has gotten in her way.”

  Both of their gazes bore right through me. I stared into my nearly empty mug.

  “Have there been other girls?” I asked. If Foster fell in love every time he came back, I wanted to know.

  “He’s been around a long time. There have been other girls, but he was never serious about any of them,” Hannah said with the sigh.

  Foster shook his head and jumped down. “I won’t stand here and listen to you discuss me as if I’m already a memory.”

  He left us alone. I heard him pounding up the stairs, followed by a door slamming.

  Hannah sat beside me. She pried my hands from my mug and held them in hers.

  “There have been girls, Sophie. None of them figured out who he was. He’s left a string of broken hearts behind, but none of them, for all the tears and professions of love, have ever bothered to figure out that he needs saving, much less any of them risking so much to do it.”

  I’d always known Foster had a reputation. The rumors had scared the crap out of me at first. Now, it made more sense why he’d been so flippant about it. He had no memory of his lady-killing ways.

  “When you give him memories, do you use a compilation of ones you’ve used before?” I asked.

  “Foster is a curiosity. He always gets lots of attention. He’s handsome, mysterious. He’s tragic in his way. I build up that air of mystery around him.”

  “But what about Luke and his other friends? They have memories of him too.”

  “I spend a couple of weeks, walking through town creating a net of memories of him. He attracts the same kinds of kids every time. Those who are well-liked. They think they remember Foster, but it’s hazy. If pressed, they wouldn’t be able to pinpoint any specifics about him.”

  “I don’t have anything like that.”

  “You haven’t lived here your whole life. When you first met Foster . . .” she trailed off.

  “I knew that I’d heard stories about him.”

  Hannah smiled. “As soon as Foster returns, I start spreading seeds and rumors.”

  “So, basically, you enchant the entire town?”

  “I’m a very good witch, dear, and I’ve been doing this a long time.” She squeezed my hands. “I saw you the night that your brother was taken. There was something so determined about you that I knew my magic wouldn’t take. I even went to the hospital and tried to spell you while you were weaker. Then one day, Foster shows up with you sopping wet and half-frozen.”

  “Mon amie,” I whispered. I had a brief flash of my memory about hair exactly like Hannah’s and crazy lightning.

  “Friend,” said Hannah.

  I shook my head. Everything I’d known about Foster up until the moment I’d met him wasn’t real.

  “No Swiss princess.” I laughed.

  “Certainly not.” Hannah chuckled too. “It always amazes me that even a hint of a memory grows into the ridiculous.”

  “You buy him expensive things,” I said, thinking about the shiny car and the fancy phone.

  “He only gets a few months per generation. Don’t you think he deserves something nice?”

  I could see her point. Her love for Foster was evident in all she did for him. Maybe that was also how she stayed connected to Timothy. They had both spent so much time, centuries, caring for Foster in some way. It was the only way they could still share their time together.

  “I don’t understand how your magic works?”

  “I use true witchcraft. I’ve traveled and studied for hundreds of years. I’m good. But Jenny is different. She learned from a shaman, a medicine man within the Abenaki tribe. She is much stronger than me. I can’t contain her, but I can lessen her impact.”

  “Why don’t you convince the families to move?”

  “I try, but the ones that do always come back before the next cycle. Like yours.” Hannah smiled tightly at me. “Jenny is stronger than me.”

  She looked utterly defeated. Leigh Kate had been wrong. Hannah wasn’t helping Jenny. In a lot of ways, she was Jenny’s victim too.

  I stood up and wrapped Hannah in a tight hug. “I understand,” I said. “Can we do anything to change things?”

  Hannah sighed. Her words were heavy. “I honestly don’t know.”

  “Tomorrow, I want to bring Leigh Kate over and talk. We both want to know more about Jenny . . . everything you can tell us,” I said.

  She nodded.

  “But for now, I need to go home and sleep.”

  I started to walk away, but she grabbed my arm, spun me around, and kissed my forehead. “Du Repos,” she whispered against my skin. Then she smiled and added. “No nightmares.”

  “Thank you.” I’d worried about what I’d see when I shut my eyes.

  After leaving the house and starting up the rental, I waited, hoping Foster heard me leaving and would come say goodbye. No such luck.

  I shot Leigh Kate and Chi a text letting them know I was okay and going home.

  Chapter 50

  I crawled in through my bedroom window and crashed
on my bed. So many things swirled around in my head. Sam, Foster, Gram, Hannah. They all needed saving somehow. Sadly, I doubted I was strong enough to rescue even one of them. Once curled in on myself, dreamless sleep overcame me.

  A measly four hours later, I woke without any magical answers and decided to take a long, hot shower.

  Dad was pouring orange juice when I walked into the kitchen.

  “Sit,” he said. “Your mom and Connor are still sleeping. You know, kid, most teenagers sneak out at night. You’ve been doing that quite a bit lately, but I think this is the first time I’ve ever heard of a teenager sneaking back in.” His goofy smile flashed for an instant. Then he reached for a package of bacon from the fridge.

  I nodded.

  “I’m guessing you didn’t spend the night with Leigh Kate and whatever was going on went sideways.”

  Talk about hitting a nail on the head.

  “You could say that,” I admitted. “Though I will say I did plan on staying with Leigh Kate.”

  Dad stretched bacon out into the skillet. “Leigh Kate seems like a kid who’s got it all together. It’s an act, right?”

  “Definitely.” I felt horrible about Leigh Kate. I had gotten her into this mess when what she had needed was to be home, grieving with her parents. But then again, if she could figure out a way to help me save Sam, Cassie, Chase, and Lila, how could I stop her? And why would I?

  I buried my head in my hands. Dad stepped behind me and rubbed my shoulders.

  “You’ve been quite the crusader,” he said. “I’m not sure how, but I know you’re fighting for Sam.”

  Dad pulled a chair over to me and sat down. His knees touched mine. “I want you to know something.”

  I looked up at him.

  “I would never ask you to sacrifice yourself for Sam,” he said. He lowered his head, blinking several times. “You haven’t been able to let go of him, but honey, I wouldn’t trade one of my children for another. And because you’re driving yourself so hard, I feel like I’m losing you, too.”

  I threw my arms around his neck.

  “No, Dad,” I said. Again, I heard Gram’s message. Grieve and move on. I’d have to mourn for both her and Sam now. And my friends, they were counting on me to figure this out. I didn’t realize I was crying until I noticed Dad’s shirt was wet.