Hex Hall

by Rachel Hawkins

Page 19

 

  Her derisive snort told me exactly how likely she found that scenario.

  After a moment she began putting her clothes back in the closet. I stood up and helped her.

  "So how was cellar duty tonight?"

  "Cellar-ific. "

  "And your stupendously futile crush on Archer Cross?"

  "Still stupendous. Still futile. "

  She nodded as she hung up one of her many Hecate blazers. "Good to know. "

  We worked in companionable silence.

  "What did you mean about Elodie and her coven trying to raise a demon?"

  "Thats what Holly told me they were working on," she said as she closed the closet. "Mrs. Casnoff was really pimping the whole llOcchio di Dio will kill us all thing shes so big on, and their coven freaked out. Holly said they thought if they raised a demon, it would give them more power and theyd be safer should stuff go down. "

  "Did they do it?"

  She shook her head. "I dont know. "

  The lights blinked out, plunging us into darkness. I heard a few startled shrieks from down the hall, but then Mrs. Casnoffs voice boomed,

  "Lights out is mandatory tonight. Go to bed, children. "

  Jenna sighed. "You gotta love Hex Hall. "

  Bumping into furniture and whispering bad words, we made our way to our respective beds.

  I flopped down on mine with a low groan. I hadnt realized how exhausted I was until I felt my cool soft pillow under my head. So I was nearly asleep when I heard Jenna whisper, "Thank you. "

  "For what?" I mumbled.

  "Being my friend. "

  "Wow," I replied. "Thats like, the lamest thing anyones ever said to me. "

  She gave a cry of mock outrage, and a second later one of her many pillows landed on my face.

  "I was trying to be nice," she insisted, but I could hear the laughter in her voice.

  "Well, dont," I retorted. "I like my friends mean and hateful. "

  "Will do," she replied, and a few minutes later we were both asleep.

  I awoke to Jennas screaming and the smell of smoke.

  Confused, I sat up. Morning sunlight was streaming into the room and onto Jennas bed. It took me a minute to realize that thats where the smoke was coming from.

  Jennas bed. Jenna.

  She was frantically trying to stand up, but she was tangled in her sheets, and panic was making her clumsy.

  My feet barely touched the floor as I leaped from my bed and tossed my comforter over her. As I did, I caught sight of her hand. The normally pale skin was bright red, and it was bubbling up in places.

  Without thinking, I pushed her into her closet.

  Once she was in, I grabbed one of her sheets and shoved it against the crack underneath the door. Jenna was crying, but she wasnt making that high-pitched sound of pain anymore.

  "What happened?" I shouted through the wood.

  "My bloodstone," she sobbed. "Its gone!"

  I ran to her bed and crouched to peer under it.

  Maybe it just fell off, I told myself. Maybe the clasp broke, or it got caught on her pillow.

  I wanted it to be one of those things.

  I pulled everything off the bed, even shoved the mattress off the box springs, but Jennas bloodstone wasnt anywhere.

  Rage surged inside of me.

  "Wait here," I yelled to Jenna.

  "Oh, like Im going anywhere!" she replied when I was already halfway out the door.

  There were a few girls in the hall. I recognized one, Laura Harris, from Magical Evolution. Her eyes went wide when she saw me.

  I ran to Elodies room and pounded on the door.

  She opened it, and I pushed past her into the room.

  "Where is it?"

  "Wheres what?" she asked. There were dark circles under her eyes.

  "Jennas bloodstone. I know you took it, now where is it?"

  Elodies eyes flashed. "I didnt take her stupid bloodstone. Although if I had, it wouldve been totally justified after what she did to Chaston last night. "

  "She didnt do anything to Chaston, and you could have killed her!" I shouted.

  "If she didnt attack Chaston, then who did?" Elodie asked, raising her voice. Little threads of light were racing under her skin, and her hair was starting to crackle. I could feel my own magic pulsing like a second heartbeat.

  "Maybe that demon you were trying to summon," I fired back.

  Elodie made a disgusted sound. "Like I said last night, if there were a demon, Mrs. Casnoff would know it. We all would. "

  "Whats going on?"

  We both whirled to see Anna standing in the doorway, her hair damp and a towel in her hand.

  "Sophie thinks we took the vamps stupid bloodstone," Elodie told her.

  "What? Thats ridiculous," Anna said, but her voice was tight.

  I closed my eyes and tried to get control of my temper and my magic.

  Then, picturing Jennas necklace in my mind, I murmured, "Bloodstone. "

  Elodie rolled her eyes, but there was a distinct squeaking sound as one of Annas dresser drawers slid open. The bloodstone rose up from underneath a pile of clothes, its red center glinting.

  It floated into my hand, and I closed my fist around it.

  Surprise flickered across Elodies face for a moment. Then it vanished.

  "You have what you came for, so get out. "

  Anna was looking at the floor. I wanted to say something withering, something that would make her feel ashamed for what shed done, but in the end I decided it wasnt worth it.

  When I got back to the room, Jennas sobs had dwindled to sniffling. I opened the closet door a crack and handed her the bloodstone. Once it was back on her neck, she came out of the closet and sat on her bed, cradling her burned hand.

  I sat next to her. "You should get this looked at. " She nodded. Her eyes were still red and watery.

  "Was it Elodie and Anna?" she asked.

  "Yeah. Well, it was Anna. I dont think Elodie knew, but its not like she wouldve disapproved. "

  Jenna released a shuddery breath. I reached up and brushed her pink stripe out of her eyes. "You need to tell Mrs. Casnoff what they did. "

  "No," she said. "No way. "

  "Jenna, they could have killed you," I insisted.

  She stood up, pulling my comforter around her. "Itll just make it worse," she said wearily. "Remind everyone that vamps are different from the rest of you. That I dont belong here. "

  "Jenna," I started.

  "I said drop it, Sophie!" she snapped, her back still turned.

  "But youre hurt--"

  And then she whirled on me, her eyes bloodred, her face contorted with rage. Her fangs slid out, and she grabbed my shoulders with a hiss.

  There was nothing of my friend in her face.

  Only a monster.

  I made a shocked sound of hurt and fear, and she abruptly released me. My knees gave out, and I crumpled to the floor.

  She was immediately beside me, Jenna again, her eyes pale blue and filled with apology. "Oh God, Soph, Im so sorry! Are you okay? Sometimes when I get stressed . . . " Tears spilled down her cheeks. "I would never hurt you," she said, pleading.

  I didnt trust myself to speak, so I just nodded.

  "Girls? Is everything all right?"

  Jenna looked over her shoulder. Mrs. Casnoff stood in our doorway, her face unreadable.

  "Were fine," I said, standing up. "I just slipped, and Jenna was, uh, helping me up. "

  "I see," Mrs. Casnoff said. She looked back and forth between me and Jenna before saying, "Jenna, if you dont mind, I need to speak with you for a moment. "

  "Sure," Jenna replied, in a voice that was anything but certain.

  I watched them leave the room, then sat down on Jennas bed. My shoulders were sore, and Jennas fingers had left a mark.

  I sat there absentmindedly rubbing my arms, the smoky smell of Jennas burned skin still stinging my nose. />
  And I wondered.

  CHAPTER 18

  A week later, things still werent any better. No one had heard anything from Chaston, so Jenna was still the number-one suspect.

  After dinner, I was in the cellar with Archer again. This was our fourth time down there, and wed begun to work out a kind of routine. For the first twenty minutes or so we just worked on the shelves. Half the stuff wed catalogued the last time had usually moved, so wed spend time trying to sort that out. Once this was done wed take a break and talk. Our conversations hadnt really graduated beyond small talk about our families and the occasional insult, which wasnt that surprising. Other than being only children, Archer and I had almost nothing in common. Hed grown up super wealthy in a big house on the coast of Maine. Id lived with my mom in everything from the cottage in Vermont to a room in a Ramada Inn for six weeks. But I still found myself looking forward to our talks. In fact Id started dreading the days when I didnt have cellar duty, which was almost too pathetic to contemplate.

  Archer sat in his usual place on the steps while I hoisted myself onto a bare space on top of Shelf M.

  He pointed at a pile of empty dust-covered jars in the corner. Two of them rose in the air and twisted and contorted until they were cans of soda.

  He flicked his hand in my direction, and one of them sailed straight toward me. I caught it, and was surprised by how icy cold it was.

  "Im impressed. " I meant it, and he nodded his head in thanks.

  "Yeah, turning jars into soda. Let the world tremble before my power. "

  "Well, at least it proves you still have powers. "

  He looked up at me quizzically. "Whats that supposed to mean?"

  Crap. "I--uh, I just . . . some people said that you left last year because you wanted to get your powers taken away. "

  Id assumed hed heard all those rumors, but he looked genuinely surprised. "So thats what everybody thinks. Huh. "

  "They know you didnt," I replied hastily. "Lots of people saw you drop Justin on the first day. "

  A smile played around the corners of his mouth. He looked up at me.

  "Bad dog. "

  I rolled my eyes, but I couldnt help smiling back. "Shut up. So where did you go?"

  He shrugged and rested his elbows on his knees. "I just needed a break. Its not unheard of. The Council acts like itll never let anybody out of Hecate, but theyll give you a leave of absence if you petition them. I guess they figured I needed it, especially after Holly. "

  "Right," I said, but the mention of Holly had me thinking about Chaston again. Her parents had come to get her the day after her attack.

  Theyd been in Mrs. Casnoffs office for over two hours before Mrs. Casnoff had come to get Jenna.

  When Jenna had come back to the room, she hadnt said a word, just gone to lie on her bed and stare at the ceiling.

  The sudden shift in my mood must have showed on my face, because Archer asked, "Is Jenna okay? I noticed she wasnt at dinner tonight. "

  I sighed and leaned back. "Its not good," I told him. "She wont go to class or meals. She barely gets out of bed. I dont know what they said to her in that meeting, but the fact that they called her in there seems to prove her guilt to everybody. "

  He nodded. "Yeah, Elodies pretty pissed. "

  "Wow, what a shame. I hope it doesnt give her wrinkles. "

  "Dont be like that. "