by Patti Larsen
When I woke the next morning, she was gone.
I missed her.
***
Chapter Twenty Nine
I tried talking to Mom that morning, but she seemed very preoccupied with Meira so I let it go. I left her with some reluctance, carrying unfinished homework and a whole load of anxiety about the coven. But as much as I wanted to play hooky, Mom insisted I go to school, so to school I went.
I was bummed about soccer but brushed it off. After the disaster the week before the coach would have benched me for the last game anyway. The way things were going in this town the chances of us being around for the spring season were slim to none.
In that confused and worried state of mind, trying not to jump at shadows and keep my cool as well as my shields, I entered my high school and headed to my locker. I glanced up before I made it there and spotted Brad coming toward me. I flashed him a smile, remembering the warm, fuzzy feelings from the day before.
He glared at me like I did him some horrible injury and kept walking.
I felt like I’d been slapped. I almost turned around and went after him, but I was in too fragile a state as things stood to even deal with the fact Brad was mad at me. Besides, did I do something to him while not myself? Did the traitor who took me over screw up my budding social life too?
It took me until I reached my locker to have the ah ha moment. I cursed under my breath, banging my locker door against its neighbor over and over as I admitted soccer wasn’t the only thing that slipped my mind.
I missed our date. No phone call to apologize, no note to say I wouldn’t make it, nothing, nada, zippo. My fault and mine alone. I would have preferred it if the traitor did it so I wouldn’t have to feel so guilty.
Despite the fact I had a really good excuse, it didn’t help me feel anything less like a total and complete idiot.
I hunted for him during first period break. He hung out on the front steps with a pack of football boys. I was surprised to see it. Wasn’t he cutting his ties to them? He laughed with them so I guessed he changed his mind. When I approached, his face turned cold, beautiful eyes shutting down completely.
“What?” It came out so harsh I felt breathless. His friends all laughed at my expression.
“Brad, I…”
He made a rude sound. The boys all laughed again.
“Brad, I,” he mocked. “Spit it out, Hayle. What do you want?”
By this point we collected quite a crowd, including Suzanne. I watched in disbelief and horror as she went to his side and slid herself under his arm. She grinned her evil little grin at me.
“Maybe there’s something wrong with her,” Suzanne said. “Like a brain thing.”
“Maybe you’re right,” Brad said, the hurt in his eyes no excuse for being a bully.
Everyone laughed. I, on the other hand, snapped.
“How are you feeling, Suzanne?” I hissed at her. “Any more tummy troubles?”
The group fell silent with a few snickers. Problem was, most of the crowd were at the party. Only the ones who hadn’t found it funny.
I didn’t give a crap.
She scowled at me, pulling free of Brad.
“You’re done at this school,” she hissed.
I barked a laugh. “Yeah,” I shot back. “Heard that one before. Feel like taking me on, Suzanne? Really?”
She backed down. They all did. Cowards.
I spun on Brad.
“I wanted to apologize for missing our date last night,” I said, nice and loud so everyone would hear. “I had a family emergency and had to stay home. I’m really sorry,” I finished.
I turned and left before he had a chance to say anything, not caring if he was going to or not. I walked away, shoulders back, knowing I did what I could. It was a shame he turned to the dark side but it wasn’t my problem anymore.
I had way bigger things to worry about than the state of Brad Peters’ soul.
I made it to Chemistry and collapsed in my chair. I didn’t hear a word my teacher said the entire period. Even Quaid’s constant smirk had no effect on me.
Alison caught up to me as I left, her hand on my arm pulling me around. I forgot she was even in my class and glanced up from my floor stare into her eyes.
“Syd,” she said. “I heard what happened. Are you okay?”
I shook my head and left the room as she trailed along beside me.
“It doesn’t matter, Al,” I said. “I wish Brad asked me what happened instead of being a jerk, but I guess I can’t blame him.”
She hugged her books to her as I dumped my stuff in my locker.
“Mind if I have lunch with you?” she asked.
“Please,” I said. “Don’t leave me alone to beat myself black and blue.”
We found a place on the back lawn on one of the last nice days before the cold weather hit. As beautiful as it was, the sun was barely warm enough to make sitting outside possible. Even the slightest breeze would have sent us scurrying back inside. But it was a perfect day. I was very happy to be in my element.
“Suzanne’s going to think you had something to do with everyone getting sick now after that comment,” Alison said.
I shrugged. She had no idea how close she was to the truth. “Let her. Wait a minute,” I said. “How did you know what I said to her?”
Alison had the good grace to blush. “Sorry, Syd,” she said. “I was there. I was going to jump in with you,” she insisted. I believed her. “You kicked some serious butt before I could do anything.”
“I guess.”
“Are you kidding me?” she said. “You rock, Syd.”
She beamed at me so brightly I had to smile back.
“We think so, too.”
I looked up into the little pack of outcasts and knew I really did want to have friends after all.
“Thanks, Simon,” I said. “Want to have lunch with us?”
That was that.
Being surrounded by people who didn’t care if I was cool or not or had power or blue stripes or two heads was really awesome when I settled in and became used to it. I sat back and listened to the conversation around me and enjoyed my sandwich and the sunshine. I tried not to think about betrayal or losing myself and my mother.
“It’s a metaphysical change,” Pain said in her gruff, deep voice.
“Paranormal, you know?” Blood agreed with her.
I snapped into focus and jumped into the conversation they were having with Beth.
“Sorry?” I asked. “What’s paranormal?”
Crap, what had I done, now?
“The gear,” Blood said, gesturing to himself and his emo get up.
Okay, not me, just weird.
“Sorry, Blood,” I said. “I don’t get it.”
He nodded sagely, long hair hanging over his blacked out eyes.
“It’s cool, Syd. Like, the transformation, you know? Making the outside to match the inside.”
I tried to grasp it. “So, on the inside you’re… black?”
He bobbed his head happily, exchanging a glance with Pain. She smiled at me too.
“Yeah, Syd, yeah. You hear it, sister. Black. Blacked out. Empty. Ready for the, you know, whatever power to come and, like, fill up the hole, the chasm.”
“Right,” I tried to sound encouraging, but wasn’t sure if I hit it.
“Parents don’t get it,” Pain assured me. She could say that again.
“They hate the gear,” Blood agreed. “But only because they don’t understand their own soul, you know? Like, they are different people all the time, not real, you get it?”
I felt a twinge of something and reached for it.
“Say again?” I asked, leaning in. This felt important, really important. What was I missing?
“They, like, aren’t their real selves,” Pain said while Blood’s hair swayed agreement. “Like, not the selves they are when they say they love you and want to tuck you in at night and, like, connect and stuff.”
“Lame,�
� Blood said, shaking his head.
“Yeah, lame,” Pain agreed. “They see the gear and they lose it and they’re, like, they’re out, and someone else is home.”
Everything clicked together in my head. I gasped. Someone else is home… I realized my mistake. Mom hadn’t been talking about me the night before when she said she knew what it felt like to be taken.
She was talking about herself.
Mom told me not to trust her, not because of what I thought happened, that she lost control of the spell that hurt the twins, but because of what she knew happened. Someone, the traitor, took control of my mother and she was terrified there was going to be a repeat performance. That was why she was so weird the afternoon before, so empty, so blank and out of it. She wasn’t tired or affected by the attack.
She was taken.
I leapt to my feet, scattering the remains of my lunch on the grass. My new friends were curious, but it was Alison I turned to.
“Al,” I said, “I have to go home. Can you cover for me this afternoon? Tell my teachers I had an emergency?”
“Sure, Syd, is everything okay?”
I stopped for one second and tried to come up with a reasonable answer.
“No,” I said, being honest. “But it will be.”
I took off at a run for home, not caring what they thought, what my teachers would think, wanting to get to my mother.
How did the traitor get to her? She was the most powerful witch around. I figured out this ‘whoever’ was also able to cut through her wards, to hide from her in plain sight. I was even more afraid.
The traitor was stronger than my mother.
I was so lost in thought, letting my body run, turning my realizations over and over I almost missed the huge black dog that leapt out of the end of a driveway and into my path. I managed to skid to a halt out of reach of the shaggy, snarling giant. I checked around for help but we were alone. I tried going around him, making ‘good doggie’ noises, but he wasn’t having any. He followed every move I made and threatened me with his huge teeth every time I tried to get closer.
I had a tingling feeling in the back of my mind that this dog was familiar but I couldn’t remember why. Frustrated, I decided to call my demon to chase him off and hope the neighbors didn’t notice.
I had just gathered myself when a woman and her child came out of the house. The little girl started to scream.
The dog saw her. With one final snarl, he turned tail and ran off. I glanced up the driveway.
“Are you okay?” The woman asked, voice shaky, clutching her daughter to her.
“Yeah,” I said. “Thank you. I thought he was going to bite me.”
“I’ve seen that dog around but no one seems to own him,” she said. “I’ll call the sheriff.”
“Thanks again,” I said. I ran the last block home, cursing the stupid dog for holding me back.
But when I burst in the front door, calling for my mother, I was met with silence.
Mom was already gone.
***
Chapter Thirty
I paced the day away, wearing a track from my room to the kitchen as I spent the next several hours waiting for someone, anyone, to come home. Even Meira’s bus passed our house without stopping.
I fretted over trying to find my mother. Why couldn’t I ever convince her to carry a cell phone? If it had anything to do with computers or technology, Mom was way old fashioned. Which meant I was stuck in the dark, soon to be literally, with no idea what was going on. My tentative tries to reach her with my mind found nothing which meant she was either heavily shielded or I was doing it wrong. And since my telepathy was fed by my air magic, something I’d never really learned to use long range, I knew I was pretty much out of luck unless I stumbled on the answer by some happy accident. Trouble was, most of my accidents had nothing to do with happy.
I did call around to Meira’s normal friends, but no one had seen Mom or my sister.
When the sunset, I expected Uncle Frank and Sunny to rise. At least they would be bodies to talk to, if not warm ones. And Uncle Frank would probably know more than I did. Or, at least, that was what I kept telling myself to keep from tearing my hair out in frustration.
But when neither of the vampires made an appearance by a half-hour after sunset, I decided to investigate. I snuck into the basement, feeling somehow like an intruder despite the fact it was my house too. I went to Uncle Frank’s cupboard. I felt a little disoriented. Something in the basement wasn’t right.
I understood at last. The cupboards were gone.
It’s not like someone could have casually walked in and helped themselves to the pair, either. They were a matching set of handmade, solid cherry wardrobes, all the heavier for the two vampire bodies inside. I was always grateful Uncle Frank hated coffins and opted for cupboards instead, but at that point I would have been happy to see him in a shoebox.
Now I was really worried. Had they simply not been in their sleeping place it could have been that they stayed somewhere else that day even though it wasn’t like them not to come home. But the fact their cupboards were missing all together… unless they decided to move them in the middle of the night and not tell us, it was very possible Uncle Frank and Sunny joined Sassafras on the missing list.
I went back upstairs and started pacing again. I needed to talk to someone, but I didn’t dare call anyone in the coven. What if I picked the wrong person? Alerted the traitor?
By eight o’clock I couldn’t stand it anymore. I decided the risk was worth it and called Erica’s.
It rang so many times I was sure she was missing too. I almost hung up when I heard the click. A breathless male voice said, “Hello?”
Crap. Jared. I drew a breath and risked it.
“Hi, it’s Syd,” I said. “Is Erica there?”
“No,” he answered, sounding puzzled. “She’s already at the site.”
“Site?” I asked. “What are you talking about?”
“The ceremony,” he explained. “Syd, where are you?”
“Home,” I said. “Alone. I can’t find anyone. Meira’s not even here, or Gram.” I felt a little whiny when I said it and hoped it wasn’t and wondered why I cared.
“That’s weird,” he said. “I’m on my way out there. Do you want me to pick you up?”
I hesitated. Could I trust him? I took a chance.
“Thanks, yeah,” I said.
“See you in a minute.” He hung up.
I grabbed a sweater and locked the house, waiting for him on the porch. He pulled in a moment later in his silver Volvo. He tooted the horn despite the fact I was sitting right there.
I hated it when people did that. I climbed in the front seat and put on my seat belt as Jared greeted me.
“Hey, Syd.”
“Hi,” I said.
He backed out of the driveway as he spoke.
“You almost missed all the fun,” he said.
Fun? What was his problem? “What’s going on?” I asked.
He watched the road. “Your mother is having a ceremony to cleanse the coven.”
And she didn’t include me. So that meant either she was trying to keep me out of it or she was taken again and whoever the traitor was didn’t want me there. Didn’t matter which. I was going.
“How’s school?” I didn’t appreciate his attempts at small talk but figured if he was nice enough to drive me I should at least make an effort.
“Okay,” I said.
“Cool,” he said. I winced. Grownups should never say "cool". Ever.
“How about soccer? You were quite the player the other day.”
I decided I stretched my good will about as far as I could.
“I’m a little worried about Mom right now,” I said. “If you don’t mind.”
He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye. “Sorry, Syd,” he said. “Just trying to keep it light.”
“Don’t bother,” I replied.
“Fair enough. We’re all worried, you
know.”
I gazed out the window, staring into the darkness, trying to ignore him. I know, I wasn’t being very charitable, considering. Still, he took the hint and fell silent.
The rest of the ten-minute drive went by in total quiet. I watched the streetlights get further apart as we came to the edge of town and disappear altogether when we hit the countryside. The new site chosen for our major Sabbath celebrations was far enough outside of town to keep us from prying eyes. Owned by the coven, it was warded so no one would trespass. I knew that part of the ritual for cleansing the site for our use also put up gentle barriers that encouraged normals to stay away if they happened across our land. Nothing overt, just a nudge that made them want to walk in the opposite direction.
Jared slowed the car and turned down a dark dirt lane I would have missed. I held on over the bumps but only had to endure the rough ride for a minute. The site came into view up ahead, packed with cars. A large bonfire lit everything. Someone set the Samhain fire alight a night too early and I wondered. Another would have to be built, power cast. It seemed like such a waste.
Jared parked the car and watched at me as I undid my seatbelt. I reached for the door handle before I noticed he stared at me. I looked back at him. In the dark of the car, I couldn’t tell what was in his eyes.
“Syd,” he said. “Be careful tonight.”
“Good advice for everyone,” I answered.
“Seriously,” he said.
I debated, torn. I needed to tell someone, who else was I going to share with?
“Thanks for the drive,” I said, and escaped before I caved.
I made my way across the crushed grass creased with the passage of multiple cars, weaving my way through other late arrivals, headed for the center of the site. For once, I was out of the path of the smoke and only had to deal with the flickering glare as I walked. Just past it, I saw the coven gathering, and not our usual number. My jaw dropped. I stopped walking as I saw that every single member was there, all one hundred and thirteen of them—minus the twins—including my grandmother. Gram stood next to Mom, chewing something. I could only assume someone thought to give her chocolate toffee to keep her busy.
