The Crimson Key

by Christy Sloat

  We had to save Lyn and kill this witch. But the problem was I had no idea how to kill her. The athame that Agnes had mentioned was what Everett used to kill them the first time. I had no such item. All I had was holding onto me right now.

  Chapter 19

  We snuck out of the room holding hands. Kayla followed closely behind us. We stopped before we entered the door, but just as I went to grab the handle, the door flew open on its own. She stood before us, ragged and hungry for life. Evangeline.

  Her face was awful looking. The wrinkles had doubled and the age spots on her hands were darker. Lynley was on the bed, a crumpled mess of hair. I couldn’t see her face to see if she still was alive, I could only hope I wasn’t too late.

  “Oh, I see Ephraim’s play thing has come to join us.” I had no idea who she was talking to. I looked around the room and saw no one else in here with her. “You will have no chance to save your friend,” she said as she cocked her head to one side. “She will be gone before you enter the room.” I waited at the door, one foot ready to enter.

  “Agnes has been looking for you,” I said, hoping to strike a chord. “She and I have grown close. She likes to brush my hair from time to time.”

  “Liar!” she screamed. “Agnes is dead.”

  “Oh is she? Well that’s the thing about me. I talk to the dead. It comes in handy when you’re surrounded by them in this old place.” I motioned to the walls of the house. She looked like she had been hit by a ton of bricks. She wanted someone like me; needed to collect me and my gift. Hala had told me as much. If I had to I would sacrifice myself to save the others.

  “You lie.”

  “Nope. You are doing all the lying for us all lately, Mrs. Mayhew. I am a good, honest girl with good intentions. I plan on marrying your son and having lots of babies.” I knew that would piss her off. Her face shot to Ephraim’s and she looked disgusted.

  “You can do whatever you want. He’s worthless to me, just like his father,” she spat. Ephraim blew a breath of shock out behind me.

  “Just let Lynley go and take me instead,” I offered.

  “No!” Ephraim cried. He grabbed me behind the waist and wrapped his arms around me. “Don’t do that. Don’t,” he said into my hair. I closed my eyes and tried to memorize the feel of him on me. I knew that someone would separate us somehow, someway. It would be here and now. Evangeline came closer and reached for me. I felt her cold hands on my arms, pulling me inside. Ephraim pulled back harder and it was a literal tug of war. She won out and he fell back on his butt. I didn’t look back as the door slammed behind me.

  “Ah, Brylee. You’re such a beautiful girl. Think of the things I could accomplish with a body like yours. I could take over the world with your looks,” she whispered into my ear. I let go and let her do what she needed to. “I think I shall take you up on your offer. I will take your body instead. Lynley is such a plain girl, isn’t she?” She forced me to look at Lynley lying still on Pearl’s old bed. The key lay next to her on the floor. She did take it. She took it and gave it to her mom.

  “It’s too bad that I made her take all those pain killers. I was waiting for her heart to slow down a bit more before I entered her body. Everyone would think Carole Mayhew came up here and killed herself. And I would live on as Lynley. I could go to Paris.” She sighed. “I love it there. So much life. So many possibilities. I planned on trading her in for a French woman at some point. But with you I don’t have to change.”

  I looked at Lynley more carefully now and noticed the foam that spilled out of her mouth. She did take pills. She overdosed on something and she was laying there dying. She would still die and I would not have saved anyone by sacrificing myself.

  “How long until she dies?” I asked.

  “Only minutes now. I can hear her heart and its going slower and slower.” She was sick and twisted talking like that about her daughter. I wasn’t surprised, though. Evangeline was only out for herself. I had to fight now. I couldn’t let her take me and let Lynley die, too. I had to save her while I could.

  “Please, save her first before you take me?” I begged.

  “Why should I do that?”

  “She’s your daughter! Why else?”

  She laughed so loud it echoed around the small room. “You think that matters to me? I have had other children before. They matter to me for a small while. Now she is nothing. She is weak!”

  “She is dying of a curse you put on this house. You can end that curse,” I said. “Can’t you end the curse and save them both?”

  “No. I never change the curses I put into effect. Never! This family asked for it and I gave it willingly. If my children were too stupid to get taken by it then that is there fault.” She shrugged. “Like I said. Weak! Lynley would do anything I told her to do. Look at how easily she scalded herself in that shower. Then you had to play detective and look around the water heater.” So it was her that day that attacked me.

  She let me go and I crawled to Lynley’s side. She was unconscious, but still alive. I ran my hand through her tangled hair. The thoughts of her in the scalding water came back to me. She had been tricked by her own mother. I had to do something to kill Evangeline, and fast. I would not let my friend die here.

  “Come now, Brylee, its time.” I reached down and kissed Lynley.

  “Okay,” I said as I went toward her. “Just one thing. I have to say good-bye to Agnes.”

  Her face twisted and she grew angry. “I don’t want to see her! No, you can’t say good-bye.” She grabbed my arm and threw me to the ground. For a frail thing she was strong.

  “Agnes!” I called. If my plan worked I could distract Evangeline and try to knock her out with something. Preferably something hard.

  “Stop it.”

  Suddenly, the door flung open and Agnes stood outside of it. Her pale blonde hair was impeccable and she wore a smile for her sister. I didn’t understand their relationship, but one thing was apparent … Agnes was the one who idolized Evangeline.

  “Sister, you have come for me. I have waited for lifetimes here in this house. Where have you been?” Agnes asked desperately. She wrapped herself around Evangeline. I searched the room for something heavy enough to hit her with. The only thing that would do any damage was the old record player. But how in the hell would I pull that off without being noticed? I fell to the floor and looked under the bed while the sisters embraced.

  “Sister, it looks like I am the pretty one now.” I heard Agnes say. I looked up and saw Evangeline’s face grow a deep red.

  “Not for long, Agnes. I plan on taking Brylee now. Then I will be beautiful again. And alive,” she mocked. “As for you … well, I can’t help you. I am only strong enough to help myself.”

  Agnes’ smile faltered. I frantically searched for something in the room. Nothing! Dammit.

  “You always think of yourself first!” Agnes shouted. “You could have helped me when Everett killed me. But instead you planned for yourself. All this time you have been living right next door and never have you visited me.” Agnes was putting the puzzle pieces together.

  “Agnes, you were the fool who fell into the trap. I merely planned ahead,” Evangeline said.

  “No, you only care about yourself. Look at your children. You discard them like trash. You’re true evil sister.” Evangeline swiped the air at an attempt to slap Agnes. But nothing happened; Agnes only laughed. She clearly was enjoying this.

  Just then Evangeline noticed me on the floor. She pulled me up and dropped me back into the circle that was drawn on the ground. I had to fight back. I kicked her hard in the shins and she stumbled backwards. Yes! I stood up and ran toward her with my bare hands. Wrapping them around her skinny throat, I squeezed. She tried to fight me off. I stumbled back a little as she stomped on my feet, but I didn’t let go of her neck. Her eyes bulged as I cut off her airway. The feeling of killing someone is awful but I had to do it. I had to do it for Ephraim and for Lynley.

  “Brylee,” Ephraim
said as he ran into the room. I foolishly looked at him and as I did my hands grew weak. I was killing his mom right in front of him. She took that as an advantage and punched me hard in the face. I fell back and hit my head on the floor. My skull pounded and my eyes filled with tears. She jumped on top of me, holding me still.

  “You thought you would kill me that easily?” she asked with a laugh.

  Ephraim walked up behind her with a knife in his hands. It was pointed right at her and I prayed silently that he would have the strength to do it … even though I knew he wouldn’t. Who could stab their mother?

  “Ephraim, put the knife down, son,” she told him. “Please.” She didn’t even look at him but she knew what he was doing. You know what they say about mom’s having eyes behind their heads? For this mom it seemed to be true.

  “No, Ephraim, do it!” I yelled. He raised the knife and just as he went to stab her a chair flew out of nowhere and hit him hard. He dropped the weapon and Evangeline laughed.

  “Agnes, my sister. Thank you,” she said as she smiled briefly at her .

  “No. Do not thank me. I only did it because I don’t want my nephew to kill you. I don’t want him to know the evils you taught me.” Agnes was actually trying to help. Evangeline threw her anger at me full force. She wrapped her hands around my neck and strangled me with all her might. I struggled for breath. Ephraim jumped on her back and pulled at her. My hands automatically waved around, searching for something to use to stop her. Ephraim yanked her hair but she wouldn’t budge.

  My hand felt something cold and I pulled it up by the edge of my pinky. The world swirled in and out as the breath was leaving my body slowly. I finally grasped the item. The key.

  I gripped it and shoved it right into her neck. She let go of me and tried desperately to stop the flow of blood that ran down her neck. Blood spilled everywhere as she pulled out the key. She threw it down and I grabbed it back as she fell onto the floor. She looked around as she noticed all the ghosts that she had once killed now stood in this room with us. I saw them all, too, and they looked angry. She was weaker and they knew it. Suddenly Evangeline didn’t look so tough. Her eyes darted back and forth from victim to victim. Her neck spat blood over the entire top of her blouse. Her hands putting pressure on her gaping wound.

  “You, Evangeline Barclay are not allowed in this house!” Violet said sternly. “Agnes has taught us so much as she lived with us. You really shouldn’t have let her stay here so long.”

  “What things?” Evangeline said as blood spilled down her neck.

  “Like how to take your energy. Did you know we can control energy?” Evangeline crawled toward the door as I saw the Browns surround her. They seemed to be sucking something out of her body as they touched her. She screamed in agony as they pulled her energy from her body. It was awful and I wanted to look away, but I couldn’t.

  Agnes knelt down and put her hand on mine.

  “Will you be okay?” she asked briefly.

  I nodded. I was fine now. A little confused by what was going on, but I was okay.

  I gained my composure as Ephraim ran for Lynley. He lifted her from the bed and cradled her in his arms like a child. Her head nuzzled up against him she looked like a sleeping baby. I walked over to them and smiled at Ephraim. He looked to me and then back to Lyn. Then the realization set in. She wasn’t breathing.

  Chapter 20

  Ephraim took her from the room right away and laid her in the hallway. He started CPR and I dialed 911. I didn’t care about how to explain the situation with Evangeline. She was still lying on the floor surrounded by the ghosts. They were done doing whatever they did in the first place and they now kept guard. Agnes watched from the bed as we tried to revive Lynley. I told the dispatcher that Lynley had overdosed on her pain medication. I hated to have to be calling them again about something Evangeline did to her. Ephraim still did his steps, breathing into her mouth and pounding on her chest. He put his head on her heart and looked up at me with the look that told me it wasn’t working. He didn’t give up though. He kept going. I could hear the sirens in the distance. They were on their way here.

  “Brylee, you have to lock the door. It will seal it and end the curse for Ephraim,” Agnes advised. “Once you do that his curse will end.”

  “And the Browns?” I asked.

  She shook her head. “No, for them you need blood from both of us. I can’t give you that.” She looked so sad sitting on the bed by herself.

  I knew that the blood from a Barclay sister would end the curse; it was the whole reason I wanted to find both sisters in the first place. And here all along she lived next door. I could have ended the curse for both of them a long time ago and none of this would have happened.

  I pulled the bottle of pills Lynley took out of the room, fixed the bed, and closed the door. As I slipped the key in the lock, Evangeline grabbed my leg. “No. Don’t do it, please. My power is slipping. If you lock the door I won’t be able to save Lynley.” I hesitated. “I can heal her if you let me get my power back. Don’t lock the door.” She was lying to me and I wouldn’t fall for it. If she ever intended on saving Lyn she would have done it a long time ago.

  “I don’t know how the hell your power is in that room, but I am locking this damn door. If you want this key back you’ll have to kill me for it,” I told her as I pulled my leg free. The door locked with a click and Evangeline was gone. I looked around to find she had just dissipated.

  “She’s gone,” Agnes said. “She will not come back for a while, but she will come back.”

  “Why? What is in that room that she needs?” I couldn’t imagine what she could want in there.

  “When your friends sucked her power out, it left her and stayed in the room. If she were to go into the room it would enter her again by only mere spells, and she would be back to normal. You must never let her in there again. The blood on that key seals the door so that only you can open it. Your blood is mixed with hers. See,” she said pointing to my bloody hand dripping onto the lock. I had cut my hand as I gripped the key to shove it into her neck. So my blood was now what sealed the door from Evangeline coming inside without me. Her power floated around that room and was gone from her. She would need both of our blood to ever get in there again.

  “Can she ever get power again?”

  “Not like she was before. That would take centuries and a lot of sacrifices. I don’t doubt that she will try to get it back though on her own. She will be wreaking havoc soon.” Agnes leaned against the window as she watched the ambulance pull into the driveway.

  The thought of Evangeline killing more innocent people made me sick.

  “Lynley will be okay, right? And Evangeline is gone now?” I asked Agnes.

  She looked to me and her eyes looked hopeless. “Evangeline is gone, long gone. However, as I said she will be back. But as for Lynley, she is gone forever.”

  I looked at Lyn’s body on the ground, lifeless and empty. Ephraim pounded on her chest and cried, “Wake up! Please, sister, please. Don’t leave me here alone.” I knelt down and put my trembling hand on his shoulder and the other on Lyn’s body. The tears would never stop for this loss. I would never forgive Evangeline for what she did. I would never get over this.

  Just then it dawned on me. She might end up in this house with the Browns. They all stood in one corner with Kayla watching as the EMT’s took over. I fell to the ground on my butt as they worked on her. They pulled a stretcher up the stairs and put her on it.

  I didn’t want her trapped here like the rest of the cursed. I realized that I locked the door to end the curse. Ephraim was going to be fine, but would Lynley be able to move on? Did I unlock it in time?

  Ephraim followed them out the door and pulled me along with him. I was in a daze. Exhaustion and grief overwhelmed me. We watched them drive away with Lynley in the back of the ambulance. Ephraim put his arm around me and led me to his truck as the full moon hung over head.

  We drove behind the ambu
lance to the hospital silently. I had done this before. The first time Lynley ended up okay. She healed. She came home.

  This time we left the hospital and Lynley did not. This time Lynley didn’t heal. She was gone.

  My parents flew home the next day. I was not in trouble for ditching them and running home, or for using the credit card for the flight and taxi fare. But my parents did tell me that I should have told them to drive me to the airport and not run off. If they knew what really happened they would flip out. Not that they weren’t flipping out already. They couldn’t believe that Lynley would take her own life, and in our house no less. They also couldn’t handle the fact that Carole was gone and not to be heard or seen from again. With her gone Ephraim lived in the house by himself. His family planned the funeral for Ephraim because he couldn’t afford to do it himself.

  The day of the funeral I was a complete mess. My mom found me in my bed when it was time to go. I wasn’t even dressed yet. My black dress hung on my closet door. Kayla sat with me just to keep me company. She never said a word, and I loved that about her.

  “Brylee, I know how hard this is for you, it’s just as hard for us. No one ever likes going to these things, but you have to go for Ephraim,” my mom said. She was right. I had to go for him, not for anyone else there except him. I let my mom tug the covers off of me. She pulled me up into a sitting position and brushed the tangles out of my head. She inspected my black T-shirt and jeans. She shrugged and pulled me to my feet. She knew it didn’t matter what I wore to this. The point was to be there for Ephraim not to impress anyone. I didn’t care if anyone talked about me. Let them. Who were they to judge me anyway?