“A little rain would be much healthier than what she’s exposed to with you. I know what you are.” He ground out the words from between his teeth. “You are a witch.”
Coming as it did on the heels of the revelation from Ms. Lacusta, this was even more devastating. What if he was right? What if I really was what both of them insisted—evil, power hungry, manipulative? The derision shot out of Reverend Pryce’s mind like buckshot.
The dismay must have been clearly visible on my face, because Reverend Pryce seem taken aback. He moved away from the car, and I thought he was about to close the door. Then he leaned in once more. This time the fanatical glow I’d seen there before had replaced the rage.
“It’s not too late,” he said. “Redemption is still possible. See the evil of your ways, and repent--”
My own fury returned in a blast. “Reverend Pryce, you know nothing. I have no need to repent. Now get away from my car before I call the police.” I groped in my pocket for my cell phone to give weight to my threat. I wasn’t sure it would mean anything to him, but he did in fact move back and slam the door.
I didn’t waste any time in pulling out and speeding through the parking lot. Only once I was out on the road, heading toward the nursery, did I draw a steady breath.
The rain had slackened but not stopped. I could still hear the vague thunder in the distance. It seemed this storm wasn’t quite over yet.
I tossed and turned that night, unable to fall into a deep sleep. Whenever I began to doze, I heard either Ms. Lacusta’s excited voice or Reverend Pryce’s accusing tones. Both made me shudder.
Shortly after midnight, I gave up and crept out into the kitchen. I was looking for warm milk or anything else that might give me some relief.
I was standing at the refrigerator with the door open when I heard my mother behind me.
“Tas, what’s wrong?” she whispered. “Are you sick?”
I shook my head. “Can’t sleep. I don’t know why. I guess the thing with Reverend Pryce is bothering me more than I thought.” I had told both my parents and the Sawyers about my latest run-in with the good pastor, knowing it would go a long way in explaining why I was so shaken.
My mother made a face. “Don’t let him get to you. He doesn’t know anything.” She gave me a long hug before turning away to rummage in a cupboard.
“Here.” She handed me a small brown bottle. “It’s my melatonin. Completely harmless, but it’ll help you sleep and won’t make you drowsy in the morning. I take it when my mind won’t shut down.” With a kiss on my cheek, she slipped back out of the kitchen.
I downed the small white tablet with a glass of water and climbed back into bed, convinced that it wasn’t going to make any difference. But within twenty minutes I was sound asleep.
I don’t think I was at all surprised when I came to awareness again in the dark of the forest. I could hear the steady chirping of the frogs nearby and the rising buzz of the cicadas. The trees towered over me, their pine scent heady and intoxicating. Of course I would have a bad dream tonight. It was pretty much a given.
I’d returned to this spot in the woods many times in my nightmares since last fall. They almost always began with a tightening of panic gripping my throat as I struggled to get to Michael before Nell could kill him. Each time I could hear his thoughts, screaming in panic as she came at him with the knife.
But tonight, all was peaceful within this place. I couldn’t hear anything, and I didn’t feel the dread or terror that normally accompanied my nocturnal visits here.
I moved slowly along the path, my feet barely feeling the soft pine needles beneath them. I almost expected it when I came into the clearing and saw Nell standing in the middle.
She was dressed in the same long white gown from our last dream encounter, and dark hair almost obliterated her face. Her hands were hidden beneath the sleeves of the gown, and I winced slightly, remember the ugly scars on her wrists.
“So here we are again, Tasmyn! Are you happy to see me? Glad to be back in our old stomping grounds?” She laughed almost maniacally, but the madness I remembered from the last time we’d been here in the clearing wasn’t quite there.
“Hello, Nell,” I answered her quietly. “How are you?”
She blinked, and I could see her swallow. “I’m about as well as can be expected, all things considered. But we’re not here to talk about me. As usual, I’m here to see what the hell you think you’re doing. To see if you’ve finally learned the truth.”
I drew a deep breath. “Nell, I understand so much more than I did before. I know what she did to you, how she used you. I’m so sorry.”
“Sorry?” She spit the word out. “Sorry for me? Don’t waste your time. It’s Marica who underestimated me. What a fool she is! Simply because the dates weren’t exactly right, because she decided I wasn’t her precious daughter’s sacred twin, she missed the enormous power that was right under her nose. I could have been... ” Her voice trailed off, and she closed her eyes. “That doesn’t matter now. I’m here to give you one final warning. You know now. You know what she wants from you. It’s time to get away from her, while you still can. It’s not too late, not yet.”
“Don’t you think I would if I could?” Passion filled my voice. “I don’t want to be her new favorite. I don’t want her interest in me. But she threatened—“
“What, Tasmyn? What did she threaten? Your life? Your parents’ lives? Michael? That’s always been your weak spot, your love for your family and now, for Michael and his family. But she didn’t really do that, did she? She only intimated that she would expose you for what you are. That’s a pretty lame reason for what you’ve let her do, for the lies she apparently forced you to tell.”
I shook my head. “You wouldn’t understand. Don’t you see? If she tells everyone, my life here will be over. I’ll have to move. It will ruin my parents, too. It would hurt them. And then there’s the danger of exploitation. I can’t do that.”
“That’s pathetic,” Nell snarled. “You’ve convinced yourself of it, though, haven’t you? If you won’t be honest with yourself in the daylight, Tasmyn, at least have the decency to level with me here in the dream world. It’s not fear that Marica’s using. It’s fascination.”
My heart began to pound. “What are you talking about?”
She laughed lightly. “Ah, see, I struck a bit close to home there, didn’t I? ‘Fess up here, Tasmyn. She might have given you the rationale you needed, but the truth is, you’re drawn to the story she’s telling. You’re intrigued by the power she described. There’s a part of you, perhaps small and quiet at first, but growing bigger and louder, a part that wants to know if she’s right. Could this really be you? Could this be your destiny?”
A small wave of guilt washed over me. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t want to hear this. Let me go. I want to wake up now. You’ve said what you came to say. Let me leave.”
Nell smiled at me. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you? But I made quite an effort to come here, to be in this particular place tonight, and I’m not leaving until I’m finished. And maybe the shock value would be helpful.” She shook back her hair, reaching up to twist it back, and she raised her chin defiantly. “Take a good look here, Tasmyn. Is this familiar to you?”
I could clearly see Nell’s neck, and my head began to spin. Across her throat was the same criss-crossed pattern of cuts that I saw daily in the mirror. But where mine were scars, barely visible by now, Nell’s were recent and raw, still oozing and bloody.
“Yes, just like your’s. Pretty, hmmm?” She dropped her hair so that it curtained about her again. “This is what I had to do be here tonight. Only I didn’t have a panicked boyfriend to get me to the hospital to stop the bleeding. I laid in my little circle in my cell—excuse me, my room, that’s what they call it—and let the blood fall, and fall, and fall. Even now they haven’t brought me around. They’re wondering if I’m going to make it, and they’re worried about how to ex
plain all this to my father. He makes some healthy donations, you know, in the name of keeping me quiet and away.” Her face twisted in bitterness.
“Nell, why?” I cried out. “Why do you do this? You don’t like me. What does it matter to you at this point if I live or die? Or if I become a-a witch--” I faltered on that word, hearing the echo of Reverend Pryce in my head.
“You do know, don’t you, that he’s nearly as dangerous to you as she is? Yes, the preacher. He’s begun to suspect exactly what you can do. Things that his daughter let slip, innocently of course, since she has no idea. But he thinks he can still redeem you. I wonder if redemption would be as painful to you as acquiescence?”
“Acquiescence?” I echoed, questioningly.
“Yes. It’s only a matter of time. Only a short step from fascination to interest to acceptance. And to answer your question, that’s why I do it. Perhaps on some level I want to punish Marica, to take away from her the one thing—the one person—she desires above all else, since she did that to me. If I can convince you to turn away from her no matter what the cost, I will have my little bit of revenge. And in doing that... ” Her face and tone both softened. “Maybe I’ll know a little redemption, too.” She smiled at me a bit ruefully. “So I guess redemption is painful, after all.”
“Nell.” I fought to steady my voice. “Nell, let me help you. Tell me where you are. I want to do something, anything, to make things better for you.”
I expected her to rage at me again, but she only shook her head. “No. It wouldn’t work. I appreciate the sentiment, surprisingly enough. Perhaps, as the doctors say, I am ‘progressing’. Doesn’t seem likely, given all the circumstances. But you know, Tasmyn, I think that maybe you and I aren’t as different as I once thought.”
I couldn’t speak, and in the silence, we heard only the frogs. Nell smiled again and pulled her hair around to cover her neck.
“Show me how different we are, Tasmyn. Stand up to Marica. Do what I couldn’t. Don’t let her destroy you.” Her voice broke on the last word, and I gazed at her in dismay. I had the distinct feeling that once again, I was failing Nell.
All around us the trees began to quiver and blur. I stepped back in alarm, and Nell extended one hand toward me.
“Tasmyn. I’m losing it. They’re pulling me--” The last word was garbled, as if the transmission were being interrupted. I moved cautiously closer again, straining to hear her.
Her mouth was moving, but like the rest of the forest, she was becoming more and more indistinct. As the blackness began to engulf us both, I heard a faint echo of her voice.
“Don’t forget this. Don’t forget me.”
That Nell encounter haunted me for days. I harbored a vague guilty fear that she might have been right about me and my weak justification for seeing Ms. Lacusta. I tried to ignore it.
Amber knew something was wrong, and she trailed worry in her wake, getting a little worse each day as I kept pushing off any explanations.
“Tas,” she whispered as we left the cafeteria on Thursday. “Is it Michael? Or did Rafe misbehave? I can tell something’s wrong.”
I kept the bland smile pasted on my face. “Really, Amber, I’m fine. As soon as I can tell you, I will. Please don’t worry.”
Michael pestered me the same way by phone. His concern grew from my absentminded preoccupation during our regular calls and from what his mother shared with him.
“I could come home this weekend,” he offered. “I could drive down Friday night. I’m supposed to have a meeting for a group project on Saturday, but I can blow it off.”
“Don’t be silly,” I replied. “You don’t blow off that kind of stuff. I’m fine. Just swamped with schoolwork, same as you. I’m sorry if I seem out of it.”
Even as I said it, a part of my mind was screaming at me. Why didn’t I tell him what Ms. Lacusta had said? I mentioned my Nell dream to him in passing, but when Michael tried to get me to talk about it, I brushed him off and changed the subject. That screaming part of my mind huffed that I was hiding something, from Michael and from myself.
When Monday finally came, I fought a rising panic as the morning progressed. Thinking about Ms. Lacusta and what she might tell me today made my stomach churn and my heart race. I tried to take deep breaths and maintain an illusion of calm.
She was sitting in her normal spot at the desk when I slowly entered the classroom. She didn’t move as I headed for my seat, but her eyes flickered as she tracked me. Anticipation crackled around her.
“Hello,” she said simply. I nodded in return. “How are you feeling, Tasmyn? After last week, I mean.”
I barked a humorless laugh. “Do you mean have I recovered from you telling me that you think I’m destined to be your daughter’s replacement? Or could it be, have I gotten over being verbally attacked by my friend’s dad, who incidentally thinks that I’m the spawn of evil and out to corrupt his little girl? Yeah, last Monday was a big day in my life.”
Ms. Lacusta frowned. “That minister attacked you?”
“Verbally attacked me,” I corrected. “Big difference. Not fun, but not life-threatening.”
“He’s been a problem since last year,” she sighed. “Did you know he petitioned the school board to have me removed? And he waited for me by my car one day last spring, tried to persuade me to come to his church, be saved. He told me it wasn’t too late, but that I had to stop preying on young girls.” She shook her head, then waved her hand as if to make him vanish. “A minor annoyance, but nothing for us to worry about.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Maybe not for you, but it’s kind of upsetting for me.”
“We have more important matters to discuss. We are embarking on a journey together, and it’s going to be amazing. Tasmyn, the things I can share with you—“
“What if I don’t want you to share them with me? Don’t I have a say in this?”
Her eyes widened. “Can you honestly tell me that it doesn’t intrigue you, the idea of this power? Can you tell me that you’re not the least bit curious about what it all means?”
I opened my mouth to say just that, but no words came. She was right. On some level, she was right about me.
I closed my mouth and dropped my head into my hands. The idea that I had been deluding myself so completely scared me witless. At the same time... I was curious. I wondered what she was going to do next, where she would lead me.
I lifted my head and met Ms. Lacusta’s eyes. “What do I have to do? I won’t hurt anyone. I will not become like Nell. You have to understand that.”
“I would never expect any less. Tasmyn, the power, the magiks—they’re not about harm. It’s about connecting with a force much larger and stronger than any individual. It’s about strengthening that force by becoming part of it. That’s what I wanted to pass onto my own daughter. That’s what I want to share with you.”
She fairly sparkled; her absolute confidence in what she was saying was almost visible.
“All right.” I couldn’t believe I was saying it, but as soon as the words left my mouth, I realized that this moment had been inevitable.
Ms. Lacusta blew out a sigh, and I was a little surprised to realize that she had been holding her breath, waiting on my answer.
“Good.” She pressed her hands against her face and then smiled at me. “Let’s not waste any time. We should go out to the lake this afternoon.”
“The lake?” All that assurance I’d been feeling fled. “Are you insane?”
“Of course not.” She was all business now, fastening me with that teacher-look I recognized from last year. “That’s the most logical place for you to have your first experience. King has very strong mystical energy; you must have realized that by now. It’s why Gravis King chose to settle here all those years ago, you know. And that particular spot, by Lake Rosu—it’s the most powerful place in town. Trust me in this, Tasmyn.”
Trusting Ms. Lacusta went against all of my instincts, but I sensed that she was not going to c
hange her mind. I tried a different tactic.
“This afternoon I’m supposed to work. Marly and Luke are expecting me.”
“I’m sure that if you call and tell them that you’re unwell, they’ll understand. We cannot waste any time. It must be this afternoon.”
Her voice held a level of finality, and I realized that it was decided. I was heading back to the scene of the crime.
The only sound breaking the silence was the crunch of gravel beneath our feet. I squinted in the late afternoon sun, trying not to think about the last time I’d been in this place.
“I still don’t quite understand why we have to come back here,” I complained, as I dug in my bag for sunglasses. “It’s not exactly my happy place.”
Ms. Lacusta regarded me patiently. “I told you, there is a congruence of power here. King itself is an epicenter of mystical forces, and this particular spot happens to be where it all surges.”
I scowled. “Well, you’ll excuse me if I don’t enjoy coming back to a spot where I was almost murdered.”
She didn’t respond as I followed her into the trees, walking along the familiar path. With a pang, I thought of Michael, remembering last year when he’d hoisted me on his back as we scrambled to save Amber from Nell. Suddenly I missed him even more, and I felt a twinge of guilt for the lie I’d told his parents only a few moments ago. Marly had been all concern and compassion when I told her that I was feeling a little under the weather. I pushed away the guilt and tried to pay attention to the path.
“You know, I’ve never really walked in here on my own. That first night I was on Michael’s back—“
“In your gown from the dance,” Ms. Lacusta finished for me. “Nell told me.”
King Series Box Set Page 52
