by Wendi Wilson
“Coraline, no!”
I shift my attention to my mom. It’s strange, I’ve never heard her speak to, or even of, Ms. Coraline without some form of respect or deference. The fact that she just called her by her first name alone scares me. Almost as bad as Ms. Coraline herself.
“It’s too late, Merryn. She’s had her chance. My protection is henceforth withdrawn.”
“No! Please, ma’am.” She slips back into her normal subservience. “Please give her…give us another chance.”
“Mom,” I say, finally finding my voice. “What’s happening? What does she mean, protection?” Where’s Bryce, my mind screams.
Mom just shakes her head at me and motions for me to be quiet. I look back at Ms. Coraline. She has a self-satisfied smile on her face. The smile doesn’t quite reach her eyes though. Her dark irises look larger, almost swallowing the whites completely. She looks inhuman.
“What I mean, dear girl, is that I’ve been protecting you your whole life.”
“Protecting me from what?” I ask firmly, trying to keep my voice from breaking.
“Never mind that. It’s over.”
She raises her hands into the air, and I feel power crackle through the room. I slink back until my butt hits the wall behind me. My breath is coming in short, fast puffs. I try to slow it but it’s no use. I can feel a panic attack coming on.
“Merryn, non hominom. Kailani, non hominom.”
“Coraline, please. Stop,” my mother wails.
“Syreni, ye were before. Syreni, ye shall be again. Reverto ad mare. Reverto ad mare. Reverto ad mare. Imperio obsequendum.”
Severe cramps ravage my middle and I crumple to the floor, curling into a ball to alleviate the pain as much as possible. I crack my eyes open, biting back the scream trying to work its way out of my chest. I see my mother in the same fetal position, staring at me with tears streaking down her face. She mouths the words, “I love you,” before climbing to her feet. Without another glance at me she runs from the room.
“Mom,” I croak out, trying to call her back.
Ms. Coraline’s laughter fills my ears. I cup my palms over them to try to drown out the sound. It doesn’t work. I can feel the cackling reverberating down my spine.
“It is done,” she says once the laughter winds down. “Get out of my house and never come back.”
I climb to my feet and shuffle to the door, my back hunched over as the last remnants of the stomach cramps subside. I stop just over the threshold and straighten my spine. Ms. Coraline looks at me with one eyebrow arched, waiting to see what I’ll do.
“Where is my mother?” I ask.
“She’s home,” she says.
“She’s here, in the house, somewhere?” I ask, seeking clarification.
“No,” she says. “Now get out.”
Chapter Fifteen
“Bryce? Are you in there?”
My knuckles are throbbing. I pound on the door for the fourth time and rattle the knob. I have no idea where he went when he disappeared but I’d hoped he would be here. My body starts to shake as I remember him vanishing into thin air, followed a few minutes later by my mother. I squat in the shadows near the door and wrap my arms around myself. I’m alone. I don’t know what to do. My breathing speeds up to match time with my heartbeat.
“Kai?”
I shoot to my feet, the near panic attack forgotten as Bryce trots around the corner of the house. I rush down the porch steps and fling myself into his arms. As soon as I feel his warmth against me, the torrent of emotions I’d been holding in floods out. My body convulses as I sob out my fear, my pain, and my frustration.
My crying eventually calms to a few sniffles and, once I can stand on my feet without his support, Bryce leads me back up the stairs to his front door. He mumbles something under his breath, and I hear a clicking sound before the door swings open to reveal the interior of his house. All the details flow by in a blur as he leads me to the living room and sits me down on a large, comfortable sofa. He walks to a mini fridge in the corner and, pulling out a bottle of water, brings it back and hands it to me. He takes a seat next to me and wraps his arm around my shoulder.
“What happened?” he says, his voice soft and soothing.
I recount the series of events that occurred after he disappeared, ending with me fleeing the house. He listens without speaking, even when my voice cracks, and I have to pause to get myself back under control.
“So, I ran straight here. I banged on the door. Where were you?” I try to keep my words from sounding like an accusation but I’m pretty sure they do anyway.
“When she cast that spell, I ended up here, locked in my bedroom. It took me a few minutes to work around her magic and get myself out but when I did, I ran out the back door and headed for the tree line to cut back through to her house. I was halfway to her front door when I heard you, here, calling for me.”
“She’s a witch.”
“Yes,” he says, tightening his arm around me.
A thought occurs to me, and I inhale harshly. “My mother knew.”
“What? How do you know?”
I stand and pace the room, shaking my head in disbelief. “She knew, Bryce. I overheard them talking. Ms. Coraline said she had me under her protection. She said if I defied her, she’d remove that protection. My mom served her like a slave…” My thoughts click from one to the next until the whole picture becomes obvious. I stop pacing and face Bryce. “My mom served her to pay for that protection. That has to be it, Bryce. Why else would she keep us in that terrible place? She always said we needed to be there.”
Bryce doesn’t respond. He knows I’m thinking out loud, that I need time to work it all out. He crosses his arms over his chest and waits, leaning back against the cushions of the sofa. My teeth chew my lower lip as my feet start moving again.
“Ms. Coraline is a witch. She cast a spell to protect me from…something, then held it over my mother’s head and forced us to live as her servants. When she caught you in my room, she decided to withdraw her protection. I didn’t understand her words but I heard my name.” I freeze and inhale sharply. “And my mom’s name. Bryce, my mom was part of the spell too.”
I walk over and sit down beside him. He wraps his arm around me, and I lean into his side. In whispered tones I say, “Why did she run away? Why did she leave me?”
“I don’t know, Kai,” he whispers back, “but I promise we will figure this out. I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere.”
“What are we going to do?”
Bryce sits up and pulls me up with him. His grip is warm on my shoulders as he stares into my eyes. “We will figure out what the spell was, Kai. We will find your mom. She’ll explain everything and together we’ll fix it.” His eyes are full of promise and determination, giving me hope.
“We’ll figure it out,” I repeat, trying to imbue truth into the words.
“Let’s start with Ms. Coraline. Do you remember anything she said?”
I shake my head. “I don’t know. It happened so fast, everything is a blur. After you disappeared, she said something about having protected me my whole life and that it’s over now. She said my mom’s name then something in another language. Then she said my name and repeated what she said after mom’s. I just can’t…”
“It’s okay, Kai. Just relax and think. Anything can help.”
My eyes widen as a memory niggles at the back of my mind. “In the middle of her spell, she switched to English. Something about…what we were before, we will be again. Does that make any sense?”
“Not yet,” he says, biting his lip. “Every little bit helps. Can you remember anything else?”
“Only what I’ve already told you. She chanted something and pain exploded in my stomach and chest. My mom must have felt it too because she dropped at the same time. She told me she loves me and ran.” I let my heart crumble a little bit more as I think of her leaving me with that witch to fend for myself. My back tenses. “Wait, I remember
something else. Bryce, I asked Ms. Coraline where my mom went and she said home. When I asked if that meant if she was somewhere in the house, she said no.”
“What could she have meant then?”
“I have no clue,” I say slumping back down. “The more I remember, the more confused I get.”
“Okay,” Bryce says, standing and pulling me up with him, “that’s enough for tonight. You have got to be exhausted. Let’s go to bed. We’ll start again tomorrow.”
“O-okay,” I stutter, suddenly nervous. Does he expect me to sleep with him, in his bed? I swallow hard.
Bryce takes my hand in his and leads me toward the staircase. He doesn’t speak as we climb, only tightens his grip on my hand as my fear ratchets up with each step we take. When we get to the second floor he turns right and leads me down the hall to the door at the very end.
He stops before it, releasing my hand to turn the knob and swing the door open. He holds his arm out, motioning for me to precede him into the room. I look around in awe, my nerves momentarily forgotten. His room is gorgeous.
A large bed adorned with dark blue and brown coverings is centered on the wall opposite the door. There are nightstands on each side, each topped with lamps that glow softly when he flicks the light switch beside the door. The whole scene is set between two large windows which are covered with curtains in the same colors as the bedspread.
I walk over to one of the windows and pull the curtain aside. The ocean spreads out, dark and mysterious. It calls to me, making me wish I had my swimsuit so I could lose myself in its cold depths. I feel Bryce approach but keep my eyes on the sea. My nerve endings tingle as his heat seeps into my back.
“I got you some clothes.” I turn to face him, pressing my back against the glass to keep space between us. He notices and takes a small step back. “The…uh…bathroom’s over there,” he says, pointing to his left toward a partially open door. “You can take a shower if you want.”
I nod my thanks and take the bundle he holds out, then rush toward the bathroom. I close the door, trying to keep from slamming it in my nervous state but failing. The loud pop of the door meeting its jamb echoes in my ears. I slump against it, forcing my quick, gasping breaths to slow by counting to four with each inhale and exhale.
I push away from the door with a groan. I turn and look at the handle, knitting my eyebrows. There’s no lock. I stare at it for a few seconds, hoping one will magically appear but it doesn’t. I guess I’ll just have to trust that Bryce will respect my privacy. A lock can’t keep him out anyway. He’s already proven that.
I examine the bundle of clothes he gave me. I set a red t-shirt on the counter and hold up the black sweatpants. They’re big and baggy but there’s a drawstring. “This will work,” I whisper.
I turn, excitement filling me at the prospect of a hot shower. I open the frosted glass door and sigh with pleasure. There are three showerheads, one gracing each wall of the enclosure. I turn the knob all the way to the left and close the door as cold water streams from the jets. Keeping my eye on the door, I slowly undress. I take off my watch and grip it tightly between my fingers for a moment before setting it on the counter.
Steam starts billowing over the shower door so I open it and adjust the knob to a comfortably hot temperature. I step inside and close the door behind me. The massaging jets feel glorious so I stand there for several minutes, letting the hot water soothe my tense muscles. I grab the bottle of shampoo and smell it before squeezing a large dollop into my hand. It smells like Bryce. I massage it into my scalp and rinse it out. I grab the matching bottle of conditioner and saturate the red strands with it.
Leaving the conditioner in, I squirt some body wash into my hands and lather my entire body, hoping to wash all the ugliness of tonight off of me. I scrub until my skin is pink then rinse it all off. I twist around to let the spray flow over my head, running my fingers through my hair to remove the tangles. I turn off the water and open the shower door. Cool air rushes in to kiss my body, causing me to shiver.
I grab two towels from a rack on the wall, wrapping one around my hair and the other around my torso. I wipe the steam from the mirror and stare at my reflection. My eyes are swollen and red, matching the color of my nose. I’ve always been an ugly crier and today is no exception.
“Kai?” Bryce’s voice accompanies a light knock on the door.
“Yes?” I croak out.
“There’s a new toothbrush in the medicine cabinet you can use.”
“Thanks,” I say, relieved he hasn’t tried to open the door. “I’ll be out in a minute.”
I dress quickly, pulling the string on the pants and tying it as tightly as I can manage. I find the toothbrush and scrub my teeth with minty toothpaste. I pull the towel from my head and squeeze the excess water from my hair, then finger-comb it as best I can. I pluck my watch from the countertop and slip it into the pants pocket.
Taking a deep breath, I pull the door open and walk into the room looking for Bryce. His bedroom door swings open at that moment, and he walks in carrying a plate with two sandwiches balanced on top. He stops in his tracks when he notices me, his eyes drifting from my face to my feet and back up again.
“Oh, hey. I…uh…thought you might be hungry. Is turkey and cheese okay?”
I smile. “It’s perfect, and I’m starving.”
He returns my smile and walks to the bed, setting the plate down before climbing onto it and sitting cross-legged. When I don’t move, he pats the spot beside him and waves me over. He picks up one of the sandwiches and takes a huge bite.
I force my feet to move. Making my way to the bed, I climb up and mimic his position. I pick up the other sandwich and take a bite. My eyes fall closed as the flavors burst on my tongue, and a small sigh escapes my chest. Bryce laughs but I keep my eyes closed.
“Good?” he asks.
“Mmm hmm,” I say, finally opening my eyes.
We eat in silence for a moment before Bryce clears his throat. “How was your shower?”
I don’t know why that causes me to blush. “It was wonderful. I would kill to have a shower like that.”
“Yeah, I, uh, could feel your pleasure.”
“Oh.”
The heat in my face multiplies exponentially. Bryce saying he could feel my pleasure brought a multitude of images to mind, all of them of the X-rated variety. Those thoughts brought my initial fear to the forefront. Where are we going to sleep?
“Hey,” he says, pulling me from my thoughts. “What’s wrong? You were blushing again but now you’re as white as a ghost.”
“Nothing,” I mumble.
“Kai. Talk to me.”
I inhale deeply and release the breath on a sigh. “Okay, okay.” I take another deep breath then spit out the words on the exhale. “Where are we going to sleep?”
Bryce’s face lights up with a smile, the real one I love. “Here, of course,” he says, rubbing his hand along the comforter.
“Bryce, I don’t-”
“Kai,” he interrupts, laying his hand on my knee, “listen to me. You have nothing to be nervous about. I would have to be some kind of ass to try anything with you now after everything that’s happened.”
“Okay,” I say, not meeting his eyes.
“Hey, you believe me? Right?”
I raise my eyes to his and read the truth there. The truth I’m sure I knew all along. The tension flows out of me, and I nod. “Yes, I believe you.”
“Good. But listen, Kai. I’m not leaving you in here alone. I can sleep on the floor if it will make you more comfortable but I want to be here if you need me.”
“No, it’s okay. I trust you, Bryce.”
He nods before getting up and setting the empty plate on his night stand. He grabs the covers and pulls them back exposing the soft, navy sheets underneath. He makes no move to climb in, only watches me to see what I’ll do. I climb off and pull the covers down on my side before sliding back in.
Bryce slides under, too, scoo
ting toward the middle. I roll to my side, facing away from him, and my fingers cling to the edge of the mattress. He pulls the covers over us with a sigh. A few tense moments pass before the silence is broken by his groan.
Suddenly, his arms are around my waist, and he’s pulling me backwards. I tense, ready to fight or flee. He keeps pulling until my back is flush against his chest and his knees curve under my thighs. His body heat warms me, and I start to relax. The weight of his arm leaves my waist, and I feel his hand brushing my damp hair away from my neck. I shiver as first cool air, then warm lips brush against the sensitive skin there.
Bryce wraps his arm back around me and whispers, “Good night, Kailani.”
“Good night, Bryce,” I whisper back.
I lay there wide awake, listening to his breathing as the tempo slows and evens out. I try to concentrate on the sound, each inhale and subsequent exhale but my mother’s face kept intruding on my peace. The agony as she mouthed those three words before fleeing the room. I go over it again and again, trying to find some clue that I may have missed.
There is nothing else. She left me. That’s my final thought before exhaustion takes over and my mind goes dark.
Chapter Sixteen
“God, I’m so thirsty.”
It’s morning. I’m sitting at Bryce Howell’s kitchen table, and he’s cooking me breakfast. It’s almost surreal how domestic it is. I’ve only known him for a few weeks yet here I am, sitting at his breakfast table after sleeping in his bed, in his clothes last night.
“Here,” he says, breaking me out of my reverie.
I take the glass of water from his hand and chug it down, barely pausing to take a breath half way through. I don’t think I’ve ever been this thirsty in my life. He takes the empty glass from me without a word and walks back to the fridge. I watch him pull a pitcher from the top shelf and pour icy water into the glass. My eyes focus on the condensation forming on the side, and I lick my lips.
