The Crimson Key

by Christy Sloat

  “Who are you?” I asked with a shaky voice. She tried to talk, but her mouth was sewn shut. Her lips were moving so fast; she was desperately trying to tell me something. Only murmuring came out.

  “Brylee, get away from them,” Ephraim called.

  I didn’t try to get away, like an idiot stayed there. A man, whose lips were not sealed, came forward. “You surround yourself with the dead?” he asked as he pointed to Ephraim.

  “He isn’t dead. He is alive. Why are you here?” I snapped.

  “He isn’t dead yet, but he will be soon.” I shivered at his words. The woman pointed to a spot in the grass and led me to it. I was being shoved toward a place I had no clue of what it was. Once I was on top of it, I saw them … graves. The headstones bore the names of the dead that now surrounded me.

  “We need your help to move on,” another female said. “We haven’t seen anyone like you ever.”

  “I can’t help you all. I’m sorry, I am only seventeen.” Once I said it, I felt stupid. What did my age matter to them? Most of them were younger than me when they died. “Sorry, I mean I have other priorities. I have to save him.”

  They looked at Ephraim, who was now close to us. He looked at me protectively even though I was in no harm.

  “There is no way to save him unless you have the sisters’ blood.” I froze. No one had ever said that to me before.

  “Their blood? How would I do that? They’re dead.” Did everyone know about these menacing sisters? Did they kill these innocent people? Tons of questions ran through my head, but I had to focus on the important thing. I needed their blood for something.

  “There is always a way to get their blood,” the man said. “You have to find the one that survived.” You know when you ride a roller coaster and your head starts spinning? Well that is how I felt at this news.

  “Who survived?” They started to leave now. They let me go and started walking away from me.

  “No, you have to tell me! Where is she?” The girl with the stitches in her mouth pointed toward Ephraim. I didn’t understand. He wasn’t a Barclay sister, and he didn’t know the other sister.

  “I don’t understand! Please.” I was begging her now, but she couldn’t give me any answers. Before I could ask again, she was gone.

  Chapter 10

  I was leaving on Monday and that left only one more day to spend with Ephraim and Lynley. I woke up early that Sunday. Ephraim was still asleep in my bed, so I tried to tread softly on my floor, but the floorboards were impossible in this house. He woke and grabbed me, pulling me back to bed.

  “Where are you going?” he whispered. The night had been so difficult. We drove back from the field, talking about possible options to get the Barclay sisters’ blood. We came up empty. He had climbed my tree later in the night and crawled in bed with me. We slept in each other’s arms, both of us needing the comfort.

  “I am gonna do some research,” I said as I pulled out Aliah’s journal. “I will be back around ten.” I kissed his nose and he rolled back over. He would probably be leaving my room soon anyway; he never stayed too long. Never long enough for my parents to know he was here. I pulled on a light coat and grabbed my keys, off to the library to find my new friend. It couldn’t hurt to see if she knew anything. I carefully walked downstairs. My parents weren’t up, but I was met by Violet at the front door. She was staring at me like she normally did, with disdain. Even after I had saved her daughter she still didn’t seem to like me very much. I half smiled, but she wouldn’t let me pass. Even though I could walk right through her, I didn’t want to.

  “Violet, I have to go somewhere. Please move,” I whispered.

  “You are treading on dangerous ground, Brylee. Just let the curse do its work and move on. You will find another love. They will be safe here. I promise not to let the others hurt them,” she assured me. I felt heat on my cheeks at the anger that was rising inside me.

  “Did you find another love, Violet? After losing Oscar?” This was a low blow, bringing him up, but she shouldn’t have started with me. I would fight fire with fire. “You and your family can’t have him, do you understand?” I realized then that I was yelling at a ghost. It didn’t matter what I said to her. She had her beliefs and I had mine. Her’s were to take this curse lying down, and mine was not. “You know none of this would happen if you didn’t screw with those witches! Now, if you don’t mind, I have some studying to do.” She moved out of my way as I left the house.

  The library was closed when I got to it. I should have known, nothing is ever open on Sunday. Stupid me. I took a seat on a bench near the door. I would have to wait until I got back home from Cali to see Angie. I pulled out the book and attempted to do some reading while I was here. Aliah’s passion for witchcraft wasn’t so much for the craft as it was to deepen her talent. She could see the dead like me. She wanted to help them move on instead of letting them inhabit the earth. She worked with the Barclay sisters for a few years, pretending that she wanted be an apprentice. At first the sisters were against it, but then they found out that she had something they wanted; a connection to the dead. With Aliah’s gift they could be better acquainted with the other side. They wanted to bring them back and have legions of souls following them. It would make them the strongest witches on earth. At times they would share things with Aliah. Especially Agnes, who wanted to try to get more followers to aid them if possible. She also talked about inhabiting their bodies to use once these bodies wore out. I felt a cold hand on my neck and turned to face Angie, who had a warm smile on her face.

  “Did you find anything interesting in that book I got ya?” she asked with her twangy accent.

  “Yes, I found out that you died in the house the writer lived in. Did you give me the book for a reason, Angie?” I asked.

  “I’m trapped here. You’re the first person to see me,” she acknowledged. “I knew if I gave you that book you would find out you were not alone, and that others like me need your help.”

  “I wish I could help you, I truly do, but I have to save my friends first, Angie. Do you understand why?” She looked out toward the tree line instead of at me. Her ghost form was trapped here on this land where a fire took her life. I couldn’t pretend to understand the feelings she had. I wanted to help everyone, I wished I could make her understand that.

  “Yeah, I ‘spose so. I guess I shouldn’t have thought you could help me.” She started to fade and I reached out, grabbing her hand.

  “I will come back for you. Once I save them, I promise.” She nodded and left me alone on the bench.

  Later that day I found myself thinking of only others. Which in theory is good, but when you’re thinking of others whom are dead, it may not be so good. I let the sun hit my pale face in hopes of tanning it a little. A little color on my cheeks couldn’t hurt. I heard a sound and opened my eyes. Kayla stood next to me as I lay on my new car. She was checking it out and running her fingers along the side of it. If I didn’t know any better, I would say she felt envious, which she had all the right to be. She died too soon. She should be here with me enjoying the sun. We should be at the beach together splashing in the waves and shopping until dark. She would be one of my best friends. Not that she wasn’t already, but I knew someday she would move on.

  “Nice car,” she said as she looked through the windows. “I drove one once. It was a long time ago, but it was fun.”

  “Wanna go for a ride now?”

  Her eyes lit up. “Yeah!” We got in and I headed the only way I knew … south. I didn’t go anywhere but south because I still didn’t know the roads too well. I opened up the windows and let the cool air in. Kayla’s hair actually blew in the wind. If I didn’t know better, I would have thought she was alive and real. I cranked the stereo and we just drove. Finally we reached the beach and I pulled the car into an open space. The boardwalk was practically swarmed with people. Kayla’s smile faltered and she stayed put.

  “You don’t want to get out?” I asked. She shook
her head ‘no’. I didn’t ask why, I just turned around and headed back. I would usually be upset about driving an hour to the beach and having to turn around, but not this time. This time I understood why. Kayla was scared to be around all of the living. Sure being around me was one thing, but others, no way.

  It was a lot for her to take in. She stayed silent for the first twenty minutes of our drive back, and then she started talking.

  “I am so sorry.”

  “It’s totally fine, Kayla. I think I understand,” I said as I put the windows up. “It’s too much for you.” She nodded and I knew I was right. How could I have thought that we could just go to the beach and have a day when the reality was, she was dead? We would never be able to hang out in public unless it was secretive. That made me a little sad. I wished that I could have known her while she was alive.

  “So, I talked to John a little bit. Don’t worry, I didn’t give anything away.” I could see the fear in her eyes as I mentioned talking to John. She was really scared of him. What could he possibly do to her? It wasn’t like he could harm her, right?

  “What did he say?”

  “He is a creep, first off. Secondly, he didn’t say much. I don’t doubt that he is in some sort of cult or something. He didn’t say anything to warrant my suspicion, but his answer wasn’t truthful and he told me to stay away from there. Honestly, I have way too much to worry about, and he is at the bottom of that list.” I parked my car and Kayla grabbed my arm.

  “Just promise me you will stay away from the house, please!” The fear in her face made my skin crawl, not to mention her threat of that house. “That evil woman in your home, she is a Barclay, and she gives me the willies.”

  “Yeah me, too. Thanks for helping me out with her the other day,” I told her. I totally had forgotten to thank her for that. She had proved to be a good friend, dead or not.

  “No problem.” And once again she was gone. I sat in the car for a few minutes, watching the upstairs window for a bit. When I saw the curtain move my heart stopped. Had my mom found a way into the room? Had she found my key? I held my breath for a second as I stared closer to the window, thinking maybe it was just my eyes playing tricks on me. When a face appeared that’s when I knew I was wrong. Except the face wasn’t my mom, it was Evangeline.

  I flew into the house so fast my mom, who was cleaning the kitchen, didn’t even notice me. I reached my room, searching for the key. Sure enough it was gone. “Damn it!” I went to the room and pushed the door, which opened with a sigh. I hadn’t been in there since the day Pearl left; the day that my boyfriend and best friend were stricken with the evil inside of it. I tentatively froze at the doorway. I could still hear Lynley’s cries and see Ephraim lying on the ground. I snapped out of my vision when I saw Evangeline sitting on Pearl’s bed. How dare she come in here after all she has done to this family?

  “Come to pay me a visit?” she asked as she played with the bedspread.

  “How did you get in this room?” I tried to look menacing, but I knew I couldn’t pull that off.

  “The door opens for me; I am the one who holds the blood to enter. You know that already, though, don’t you?” I knew she took my key, but she wouldn’t tell me. I had to get it back, I couldn’t let it stay with her. Not after all I did to get it. If she gave it to Lynley we were in big trouble.

  “Don’t lie to me, I know you have the key,” I told her. “Now give it back to me!”

  “I don’t have the key. If it’s missing from its hiding place, it was not I that took it.” She stood now and walked around the room, looking at Pearl’s belongings. I had to try to convince her to help me seal this room off. There was no guarantee that she would want to help me. Truthfully what did I have to offer her in return? I couldn’t release her spirit because I didn’t know how.

  “I need … I can’t believe I am saying this. I need your blood to help me seal this door off, to stop the curse.” I swallowed hard, waiting for a reply.

  A few moments later it came, in the form of a roaring laugh. I felt like running over to her and slapping her, but she was a ghost and it probably would do no good.

  “Brylee, there are things I need from you before we can even talk about that. You are so naïve and young in thinking that it’s that simple. First, I would have to want to seal the door. Second, I would have to want to help you, and right now I don’t,” she answered between laughter.

  She wanted something from me, did she? “What could you possibly want? What everyone else wants? To be free? I can’t do that, okay!”

  Tears burned my eyes as I felt the shame in myself for not being able to harness this power inside me. Here I had this awesome gift that so far did more bad then good.

  “No, I don’t want to be free. Do you know how I got here in the first place?” I shook my head. I had read Everett Brown’s journal and I knew that he had killed them, but he skipped over the specifics.

  “He separated us and killed us in two different areas, so that in death we could not be together.” Her gaze left mine and she stared out the window. “He killed us with an athame, a very powerful one at that. He told us there was something we needed in each place he held us. He promised us both different things because what we wanted to do with our power was not the same. We still do, I suppose,” she said as she stood now. She went to the window and paused briefly. “I haven’t been able to find her spirit, but I can sense it’s near. I know she is close by, and that is what I want from you.”

  “You want me to find her?” I asked in disbelief.

  “Yes, you are the only one who can find her. I promised you before I didn’t want to hurt your friend. I still don’t, I don’t want to hurt anyone. I am not the same as my sister, but I need you to find her for me, can you do that?” I didn’t know what to say. Could I find her? Where would I even start?

  “If I find her, will you seal this door and end the curse?”

  “Yes. You have my promise that once my sister is found and brought to me I will end the curse on the Brown family,” she promised, holding out her hand. I was scared to take it, but I did and shook hard.

  I now had a way to save Ephraim and Lyn. Yet, at the same time, had made more work for myself. I had a lot of things to do when I got back home.

  Chapter 11

  My mom calling me downstairs broke my train of thought while I was reading of ways to control a spirit from one of the books Angie gave me. I found something about finding spirits, but finding one and bringing it into your home was a bit more complicated. I dropped my book as my mom’s voice filled the air around me. I flew down the steps and found her at the door, “Is she hurt?” she asked Ephraim, who stood at our door looking broken.

  “What happened?” I asked them both. Ephraim’s face was pale and he didn’t seem to have the strength to answer me.

  “Ephraim says Lyn’s in trouble,” Mom told me as we headed out the door.

  I followed her and Ephraim across the yard to his house. He didn’t even seem to notice I was there until we reached their bathroom door. Steam was flowing out the door and Ephraim was telling my mom what happened. “She went to take a shower a long time ago. So I came to check on her, and that’s when I heard her crying. She’s hurt in there and isn’t answering me,” he said desperately. My mom’s hands trembled, but she steadied him.

  “I am going to call your mom, you get this door open. I am sure it’s nothing,” she said as she pulled out her cell phone and went outside. She thought it was nothing, but Ephraim and I knew the secret. We knew it could be something bad. The secrets we held were deadly.

  He stepped back, and with all his strength kicked the door in. It fell sideways and the heavy steam filled the room, leaving it hardly visible to see inside.

  “You go in,” he told me. I went inside, climbing over the door. The water was on and I could hear her crying.

  “Lyn, are you okay?” I didn’t want to pull the curtain open, but I knew I had to. I moved it aside and the scene I found was
unlike anything I had ever seen before. She stood under the hot water murmuring to herself, her lips moving a mile a minute. Her skin was red with blisters forming right before my eyes. I reached in to shut the water off and got splashed. “Holy crap!” I screamed. The water was not hot, it was scalding hot.

  She grabbed my hand and looked me in the eyes. “As warm as the sun, as warm as the sun, as warm as the sun,” she kept saying over and over. Ephraim grabbed her with a towel and pulled her out of the shower. I shut off the water as she screamed at him, “No, it’s too cold here. Too cold.”

  Ephraim lay her down on the floor and I covered her body up with more towels. My mom came upstairs to check on us. When she saw Lyn’s skin she panicked. “Oh my … God! I am calling an ambulance.”

  “Wait, Mrs. Branson, did you get ahold of my mom?” Ephraim asked her as she dialed the number.

  “No, she didn’t pick up,” she said with a tone of sadness in her voice. Why was this woman never ever around for her kids? Lyn was covered in burns and she wouldn’t be here to help her own daughter.

  “Why were you in that hot of a shower, Lynley? What happened?” Ephraim asked her as he gently stroked her hair.

  “I needed to be warm like the sun, Eph. Warm like the sun.” She was lost to us right now. I looked at Ephraim and I knew he and I shared the same thought. They would put her on some kind of psych watch for a few days if she went in talking like this. We had to have a story and get her to snap out of it. I could hear the sirens in the distance. We were running out of time. I got down on Lyn’s level on the floor until we were eye to eye.