The Crimson Key

by Christy Sloat

  I flopped myself down onto a lawn chair and felt the heat soak up my tears. I cried because I was helpless and I didn’t know the truth. This shouldn’t be happening to us. It was all way too bizarre. Yet, it was still happening and no matter how much I wished it would go away it wouldn’t.

  “Ephraim, it’s her and you know it is. I didn’t want to tell you this, but she threatened me one day to stay away from Lynley. I think she is Evangeline, and we have to find out how.” I was honest with him, yet he still had a hard time with it. “I know this is hard for you, babe. I wish more than anything that I could be there with you and we could figure this out. But for right now promise me that you and Lynley will get away somehow and just … I don’t know,” I mumbled.

  “You want us to go away.” He understood. “I can do that. I can take her away for the weekend. She is healing pretty well so I think it will be a good time for us to take a little trip.” I sighed with relief just knowing they would at least be out of that house for a little while.

  “Good, take a trip and get her out of the house.”

  There was silence on the other line. I waited a moment before I said anything. It sounded like he wasn’t there anymore. “Ephraim?”

  “I’m here but Lyn is gone.”

  “Wait, what do you mean?” Panic coursed through me.

  “I came into her room to tell her to pack and she’s gone, Brylee. She was just here.”

  “Check the whole house,” I said. I could hear him opening doors and calling her name. Then he screamed her name and my body crumpled.

  “Lynley!”

  “Ephraim? Ephraim, what’s going on?”

  His breathing became labored and I could tell he was running. I had no clue what the hell was going on.

  “She’s with her right now! I can see them.” I could hear glass breaking and I bit my lip.

  “What’s going on, Ephraim? You’re scaring me.”

  “I just broke into your house because my mom and sister are in the corner room, Brylee. Where is the key to that room?”

  Suddenly the memory of the key missing out of my drawer came to me. Someone took it out and it wasn’t Agnes; it had to either be Lynley or her mom, Evangeline.

  “It’s gone! It went missing before I left. I should have told you. I need to be there,” I said as I stood up and ran up to my room. “I will be on a plane today. I will get there. Don’t do anything stupid.” All I heard was static on the other line. “Ephraim, are you there?” He was gone.

  I threw a small bag together and pulled out my emergency credit card. My parents were going to flip out, but I had to go home. I couldn’t sit here and let Ephraim and Lynley go through whatever they were out there. I pulled out a piece of notebook paper and scribbled that I had to go home because Lynley was in trouble. I set the note on their bed and left.

  The desk clerk called me a cab and I reached the airport in record time. I was first in line to purchase tickets and I prayed I would find a decent flight that left soon.

  What I got was a direct flight to Philadelphia leaving in ten minutes. Even though it cost way too much money I bought it and ran through the airport to security. It was my lucky day because I flew through there as well. I finally sat in my seat on the plane and turned on my cell phone. Ephraim’s phone rang and rang. I could only imagine what was going on right now. Actually, I didn’t want to imagine it. So for the seven hour flight I chewed off every single fingernail. Finally when they were gone I resorted to reading those awful airline magazines.

  Nothing helped to distract me besides my rumbling stomach. I hadn’t eaten breakfast or lunch, and now I was starved. The woman next to me happily crunched away at her peanuts and I felt like taking them from her and yelling at her. Why was she so happy? Here I sat on the edge of my seat and she ate frickin’ peanuts with a smile on her face. With a deep sigh I asked the stewardess for an extra bag and a cup of soda. She must have seen that I was starving, so she gave me three bags and a full soda. I thanked her and gobbled it all up. Finally, as the sugar flowed through my body I felt a bit better. I laid my seat back and fell into a very restless sleep.

  “Hey, wake up,” the lady next to me said as she jabbed me in the ribcage. I sat up and ran a hand across my sweaty face. “You were yelling in your sleep. You scared me.” She gave me a dirty look and I wondered where her smiley face was now.

  “Gee, sorry that I had a bad dream. I can’t help it you know,” I shot back. She folded her arms and ignored me. I noticed the hum of the plane had stopped and we had landed. It was awesome that I slept through it all, but I still had to get home.

  After pushing past everyone I got a taxi to the house, knowing it was going to cost a pretty penny. I still couldn’t reach Ephraim, but left him a message telling him I was here. I was all alone in this and I think that sucked the most.

  I asked the cabbie to pull the car to the street and avoid the driveway. I didn’t really want anyone to know I was here just yet. To be honest, I didn’t have any sort of plan on what was going to happen now that I was standing in my front yard. Both houses were dark and eerie. It was night time and a fog had settled around my house. Of course, let the fog land right where I knew the freaky scary crap was happening. I stepped quietly to the side of the house. My intentions were to sneak in through the basement; I wouldn’t use the door because that would be way too obvious. I had no clue what kind of trap Evangeline had set up for me, and I wasn’t going to be the dumbass who walked right into it. Nope, instead I opened up the basement doors and climbed in. A spider ran across my leg and it took everything I had not to scream. I hated them, but for now they were nothing compared to the real evil in my house. I dropped down and pulled the door shut slowly. I looked around for a flashlight, I found a lantern. I lit it and saw something I hadn’t expected to see … the whole basement full of people. Their eyes were terrified and they trembled. These people were not living, they were the Browns. I put my hands up to show them that I meant them no harm.

  Violet sat crouched in a corner, holding her shaking knees. Why were they all down here hiding?

  “What are you doing down here?” I whispered. Some of them cried while others shook their heads. They didn’t want to tell me.

  “They’re scared,” a man said from the other side of the room. I didn’t recognize him.

  “Of what?”

  She’s in this house, miss. She will not stop until she gets what she wants,” a young woman said to me. “You must get her out of here. We don’t want no trouble.” I pushed through them and silently hoped the door leading into the living room was open. It was locked. I had no choice but to enter the rear of the house now. I turned to them before I left the basement.

  “I will get her out of your house. I promise.”

  I left the basement frustrated that I had to go into the house with a chance of Evangeline knowing I was there. I had hoped to slip in unknown and have that element of surprise. I looked at the tree by my bedroom. Ephraim climbed it every single night it seemed. I could climb it, too. I walked toward it and I heard something shuffle in the woods. I shined my light toward the sound and saw a form standing by the tree line. It was getting closer to me. At first I froze with fear, thinking that maybe she was outside waiting to trap me. Until I saw this form looked more like a man. He waved his arms, ushering me in his direction. I walked slowly toward the form, unsure of who it was. As I got closer his face became clear. John.

  “What are you doing?” he asked me as he pulled me into the brush. “You’re getting ready to walk into a viper pit. I know you’re not that stupid.” I put my hands on my hips. I resented that comment.

  “I am trying to save Ephraim and Lyn. That’s a lot more than I can say for you, John Mayhew! You should be ashamed of yourself. You knew who she was, didn’t you?” He nodded his head and that was my answer right there. I was right, their mom was Evangeline all right.

  Chapter 18

  “I didn’t get to choose the family I was born into, ya
know?” he started. “My family has been serving the Barclays since before I was born. So if you’re going to blame anyone, blame them.”

  If I had to guess, I would say it all started with Oscar Mayhew. I remember hearing about all of his wealth. He must have gotten that wealth by serving the Barclays. I couldn’t be sure, though.

  “How is she Evangeline?” I asked simply.

  “It started when Everett Brown began hunting them down. He had a vendetta and he wouldn’t stop for anything. Not until he found them. My family had a job to hide them, but Agnes had trouble listening to Evangeline. She walked right into his trap. He captured her and waited for Evangeline.” He paused. “Then Evangeline, well she took someone’s body and had her all prepared. You know, for a ritual.” I didn’t follow.

  “Ritual?” I asked, shaking my head.

  “Yeah, she knew he was going to kill them both. There was no way to hide anymore. Especially since he had Agnes. So she found this woman, Carole. She was a lonely drifter, someone who wouldn’t be missed, and she lay her in the Mayhew’s house. She surrounded her by spells to keep her alive just enough so that when she was killed her body would drift into Carole’s.” He pointed to Ephraim’s home showing me where everything went on. “She faced Everett and watched as he killed her sister in your house. Then she ran into the Mayhew home and he followed her upstairs. He thought he had her. He thought he stabbed her in the heart and that she was dead. But after he killed her she left her body and entered Carole’s. Carole died that day in Evangeline’s body.” My head spun as I raced to catch up with him.

  “So she traded bodies? When he killed her she switched spots?” He nodded.

  “Yep, and she has been living in that body ever since. She posed as Carole and she married Ephraim’s dad years later. We all had to go along with it. We had no choice. We still served her and she still ruled our family.”

  I tried to imagine the Carole I knew doing the things he had just said. I remembered when I first met her; how she struggled to take care of her two children, how she befriended my mother and had us over for dinners. But that was all fake, wasn’t it? She was just playing a role, waiting for the perfect time to act. But why she was acting and using her daughter was beyond me. That I didn’t get. What did she want with Lyn? Did she want Lyn to join her?

  “Did she even love her husband and children?”

  “Of course she did. Even though she was a sinful witch, she was still capable of love. Until he died,” he meant their dad, “then she turned darker. We hated to see it happen, because for years she was like a normal family member. Whatever magic she did, she did in secret in the Barclay home.” He looked up to the house and then back at me.

  “What was your job with her?” I asked him.

  “I just had to make sure the house was clean and attended to. At times I would have to help her stay inside so that no one would come around the house and bother her. But I never had anything to do with hurting anyone, ever!” I believed him. I don’t know why, but I did.

  “She wanted to take another body soon after her husband died. She was ready to take a girl named Kayla, but she disappeared. They never found her body.” I froze at Kayla’s name. I would never tell him that I knew where she was in spirit. I may have let her secret go between the two of them, but I would never tell him I knew her ghost.

  “What do you mean she wanted to take this girl?”

  “She wanted to switch bodies, just like before. She was planning on leaving. The thing is her body now is aging fast. She has been in it for years. The preserving spells aren’t lasting anymore.”

  So that’s why the old fashioned photo of her resembled her today. She was stopping her aging.

  “So she’s getting old and she doesn’t want to?” I guessed.

  “Yeah, she’s very vain, and always has been. She was the prettier of the sisters and she loved that. But now that Lynley is sick … well, it’s her opportunity to take her,” he whispered. “You can’t go in there or you will get killed, Brylee. Just let her do what she needs to do.”

  My head spun so fast I fell on to the grass. The dew hit my legs and woke me from my trance. She was planning on taking Lynley’s body like she had taken Carole’s. I felt bile rise in my throat and I struggled to swallow it down.

  “Are you going to throw up?” John asked, backing away from me.

  “Yes, I feel sick. Sorry that my feelings about my best friend dying is making me so ill that I’m grossing you out. You’re really something, you know that, John? A real piece of work,” I spat. “I hope I throw up all over you.” He backed away from me as I rose from the ground. What a wimp, afraid of puke.

  “I have to stop her. She can’t take Lynley, I won’t let her.”

  “You have no idea how strong she still is. You will end up being the victim if you get in her way. She will stop at nothing to take what she wants,” he warned. I didn’t give a crap what this psycho wanted. She was not going to take my friend or Ephraim away from me. I would die before I let her take them away.

  “I have to go. John, stay out here, I wouldn’t want you getting hurt,” I teased. He frowned and took off into the woods. I hated him even more for running away.

  Halfway up the tree I dropped my lantern. I didn’t need it anyway. My eyes were adjusting to the darkness and I would be able to see inside the house. I reached my window and peered inside. My room was empty and the door was closed. I hoped I could sneak in undetected. Pushing the window up, I thanked myself for always keeping it unlocked. Once inside I listened to my own heartbeat; it thumped so loud I could swear I felt it in my head. I didn’t hear any other noises until I opened my door. I heard talking, coming from the other end of the house. I stepped softly on the floor and prayed it wouldn’t creak under my feet. Reaching the bathroom door, I opened it, knowing it would make a noise like always. So instead of opening it all the way, I only allowed enough space to squeeze through. The bathroom glowed from a lit candle sitting on the sink. As I looked ahead I saw more candles lighting the other end of the house. I waited a moment to let myself think of a plan. Up until now I was just winging it. Now I was screwed because I really was going up against the devil and she didn’t like to play fair, or nice for that matter.

  The curtain to the bathtub moved slightly and I put a hand on my mouth to stifle a scream. As it slowly started to open, I backed up to the door and blew out the candle. It was now pitch black and the curtain was all the way open. My heart started thumping again. Water dripped from the shower head. I held my breath, waiting and hoping it wasn’t Evangeline in here with me. A foot stepped out of the tub, then the other. The candle relit itself and Kayla stood before me. She smiled at me like it was a funny joke to scare the crap out of your friend.

  “What the hell, Kayla!” I whisper yelled. She laughed quietly. I smacked her arm and she giggled even harder.

  “Like that hurt. Come on, Brylee, you can’t hurt someone that’s already dead, you dork.” I folded my arms in defeat. She had a point.

  “What are you doing in there anyway?”

  “Hiding, dude. That chick is creepy. I didn’t want her to know I was here, so I hid. Now that you’re here, I want to help you,” she announced. “I have been listening in this whole time.”

  She had been doing what I asked her to a while ago; to spy on Lynley and Ephraim.

  “Where’s Ephraim?” I thought about him telling me that he was coming over to check on things. That was hours ago. Evangeline didn’t want him. She could have easily disposed of him by now. He could be hurt and I was standing here in the bathroom.

  “Lover-boy stormed in here trying to help out. His mommy knocked him out and tied him up. He’s been quiet ever since. She had your skinny friend in some sort of trance and she is trying to talk her into doing things I don’t want to say out loud.”

  It wasn’t good is what the gist of it was. Ephraim was unconscious and I was on my own with the evil bitch herself.

  “Okay, I guess I have to go
in there and wing it.” I took a step forward and Kayla grabbed my arm.

  “Are you crazy? She will kill you and then you will be stuck here with me,” she said. She was teasing me, but I knew in her eyes she wasn’t joking. She didn’t want me to have her fate. “You let me go in first. I can see in and she can’t see me, then I’ll report back here to you.”

  “No, you go in and try to wake Ephraim. Then come back to me.” She walked through the door and I waited. I hated this whole thing. I wished I could dump a bucket of water on the bitch and be done with it. But it wasn’t like that.

  “Psst.”

  I poked my head through the doorway and Kayla stood there with a smile. In times like this a smile could only mean good things are happening.

  “Your boyfriend is awake. He heard me, since he is cursed and all, but he isn’t in the same room as them. He’s in the other room now. I can’t untie him though.” I didn’t ask why she couldn’t untie him. She could try on clothes and go through my things, but she couldn’t untie a rope? I knew where he was and that was good. He was in the fireplace room. I opened the door wider and tiptoed into the room. The door to the corner room was closed so no one saw me go in. Ephraim lay in the middle of the room surrounded by candles. He smiled when he saw me.

  “Ephraim, oh my God,” I said as I ran to him. “I got here as fast as I could. I found out so much more stuff. I’ll fill you in later. But the short version is your mom wants to kill—”

  “Lynley, I know already. She told me everything. The whole story about how she became who she was today and that she wanted to take Lyn’s body as soon as she knew she was cursed.”

  It hit me then that Evangeline knew about the curse. She could end it and save her children, but instead she used it against them. A curse she herself created.

  “Why can’t she just save you guys and leave it all alone?”

  His sad eyes met mine. “She isn’t my mother, Brylee. She is an evil creature and I want her dead. I won’t let her take Lynley away from me. I won’t.” I hurried at untying him. Even though the rope burnt me to touch, I pushed through until he was free. “Lyn was getting sicker faster because my mom made it that way. She fed her lie after lie until Lyn fell into the trap just like everyone else.” I hugged him tightly, relishing in the feel of his arms around me.