creepy hollow 05.5 - scarlett

by morgan, rachel

  And then the corners of his lips turned up, and she found a giggle escaping her lips just as Jack’s face crumpled with amusement. They fell against each other, their laughter mingling together, and Beth felt that the cracks in her heart were almost healed. As their laughter subsided, she found herself on her back on the blanket with Jack leaning over her, his smiling face close to hers. He kissed her neck, his fingers slid between hers, and when he looked at her again, his gaze was almost adoring. “It doesn’t matter what name I call you,” he said. “I’ll always love you.”

  A shiver raced across her skin, and at first she thought it was because of Jack’s words and the way he was looking at her. But then she realized the strange feeling had returned. The vibration that hummed throughout her body, making her feel light and heavy at the same time. She wanted to make a mental note to stop putting it off and phone the doctor the next day, but there wasn’t a single thought she could hold onto with Jack looking at her like that.

  As if nothing else existed in the world but her.

  “You are more beautiful tonight than you’ve ever been before,” he whispered.

  His lips found hers, and she pulled him closer. Her eyes slid closed. She forgot everything—Dad’s angry words, the picnic blanket beneath her, the soft patter of rain that had begun to fall. All that mattered was Jack’s body pressed against hers, his fingers sliding into her hair, his breaths becoming shallow as their kiss deepened. She dug her fingers into his back, feeling the muscles beneath his shirt, imagining his strength.

  As if with a great effort, Jack pulled his lips from hers and took a deep breath. Opening her eyes a fraction, she jokingly said, “Is this where you tell me I’m taking your breath away?”

  “I feel … I can’t …” He pulled away from her embrace and clutched his chest.

  Alarmed, Beth sat up. “What’s wrong?”

  “I …”

  “Jack?”

  He tried to speak, but his shallow breaths had become gasps. He shook his head and clutched more desperately at his chest. He collapsed onto his side on the blanket. With icy fear shooting through her, Beth scrambled across the blanket and grabbed Jack’s phone. She tapped the numbers with shaking fingers before returning to his side. “Breathe, okay? Just breathe.”

  They were the most useless words she’d ever uttered.

  She saw the terror in his eyes as his horrible, rasping gasps became slower and slower. She wrapped her hand around his and squeezed it tight. His back arched, and he let out a terrible moaning gasp as a surge of power rushed through Beth’s body.

  Shocked, frozen in place, her eyes moved to their clasped hands. Realization, slow and terrible and inevitable, coalesced into a single impossible thought.

  Siren.

  She snatched her hand away from Jack’s and dropped the phone. “No,” she whispered. “No, no, no.”

  “… your emergency?” came the disembodied voice from the phone. “Hello?”

  Jack’s eyelids fluttered weakly. His chest barely rose and fell. Biting down on her shaking lip, Beth picked up the phone. She forced herself to speak, but her voice sounded far away as she named the lake and the area before dropping the phone as if it burned.

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered, inching slowly away from Jack. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

  Then she pushed herself to her feet and ran. Twigs slapped her arms and rain wet her face as she tore along the makeshift path. She cried out as the sharp edge of a branch sliced across her leg, but she didn’t stop running. She kept going until she pushed past that final branch and stumbled out beside Jack’s car. She reached for the door—but where could she go? Not home. Dad would cast her out if she’d truly become the thing he hated most. She had to leave, but the thought of being on her own terrified her. How would she survive?

  And Jack.

  Jack.

  “What have I done?” she whispered to the night.

  The wailing cry of an ambulance reached her ears. It wasn’t far off. Of course it wasn’t. Nothing ever happened in Holtyn. This was probably the first emergency all week.

  Beth looked down at her shaking hands. She stared at the ring. It was the only option left to her now. She gripped the pearl between her thumb and forefinger. She twisted it around three times.

  And the world vanished.

  CHAPTER THREE

  A whirlwind of color spun Beth around and around before dumping her onto a beach of warm sand, where she stumbled and fell to her knees. She stayed there, digging her fingers into the fine white sand, catching her breath, and feeling the magic-infused air drift across her skin. Though a decade had passed since she was last here, she knew this was the right place. That almost imperceptible hum that existed in the sand, the water, even the air, was the same hum that now pulsed through her own body. A hum she had never noticed until she’d been sent to live in a world devoid of it.

  Beth clenched her fingers, watching a ripple of blue light dance through the sand away from her hands and vanish as it reached the water. She scooped the sand up and let it sift between her fingers. As the grains hit the ground, they became crystals. White crystals that scattered around her knees, sparkling in the afternoon light before disintegrating into sand once more. She stood and looked out across the water. The rays of the setting sun glittered like fiery orange gems upon the ocean’s surface, far beyond the breaking waves where white foam became galloping horses that tumbled and vanished as they reached the shore. This world was alive in a way that that other world—her father’s world—could never be. And it was just as glorious in reality as it was in her dreams.

  But Jack …

  She squeezed her eyes shut as guilt tightened like a fist around her heart. But she couldn’t think of him now. She couldn’t go back until she was certain she’d never hurt him again. She opened her eyes and turned around—

  And there stood her mother, Evaline. Dazzling, fearsome, perfectly graceful.

  “Bessie?” Evaline said, and the terrified girl had to remind herself that she was only five and a half the last time her mother saw her. That was the age at which Evaline sent Beth to live with her father. It was clear by then that she possessed no magic, and Evaline had no use for a daughter who was essentially human. “Bessie,” her mother repeated, the questioning tone gone from her voice.

  Bessie. Beth had come to hate that name early on. After a week of being called Bessie the Cow by her new human classmates, she’d informed her father, her teacher and her classmates in an uncharacteristic show of confidence that they had made a mistake; her name was not Bessie but Beth. That confidence was nowhere to be found now, so instead of answering, Beth merely nodded.

  “You look awful,” Evaline said. Beth looked down at the oversized jacket and the torn dress. Dirt smudged her feet and hands. She noticed, however, that her legs bore no scratches, and above the smeared dribble of blood where there should have been an open wound, only a narrow cut marred her skin. “Beneath all that mess, however,” Evaline added, “you seem to have turned out rather lovely. Almost lovely enough to be one of us.” She folded her arms over her chest. “What are you doing here? I told you there was only one reason you should ever return. I hope you haven’t forgotten that.”

  A spark of annoyance ignited Beth’s terrified core, heating her chest and running down to her fingertips. This was her mother. Her own mother. Couldn’t she at least pretend to be glad to see her daughter after all these years? Finally finding her voice, she said, “I haven’t forgotten. That’s why I’m here.”

  Her mother tilted her head to the side, her gaze narrowing slightly. She looked around, seeming to search for something, before her gaze snapped back to Beth. “Is that you I’m sensing?”

  Beth hated the look of shock on Evaline’s face, as if it were so impossible that her disappointment of a daughter might have turned out magical after all. She raised her chin, attempting to portray the self-assurance she wished she felt. “I—I think so. I’ve been feeling differen
t lately, and then tonight I was … I was with someone, and when I touched him, it felt as though … I’d sucked the energy out of his body and into mine.”

  Evaline took a few steps toward Beth—although ‘step’ was a loose term; she seemed to glide more than walk—as an expression of wonder came over her face. “You’re one of us after all. You truly are my daughter.”

  A hesitant smile tugged the edges of Beth’s lips as the tension eased from her chest. She’d been waiting her whole life to hear those words. Evaline moved closer and wrapped her arms briefly around Beth. It was barely a hug, just enough for Beth to feel her mother’s hands press lightly against her back, and her sleek, ebony hair tickle her cheek. And then it was over, but it was the most affection Beth could remember her mother ever showing her.

  “Come,” Evaline said. “Let’s go home.”

  * * *

  Beth remembered the rocks that led to the sirens’ home. She remembered standing atop them, staring out at the wild waters, wishing in her young heart that she could be everything her mother wanted her to be. Evaline traversed the rocks with practiced ease, while Beth trailed several steps behind her, slipping and stumbling and grasping onto the rocks. Wherever she placed her hand, the rough, weathered surface lit up, a different color each time, and she wondered if the rocks were now enchanted that way or if it was her magic creating the light.

  The rocks hid a shallow pool that lapped upon the shores of a concealed beach. Beyond that, more rocks rose sharply, jutting out at odd angles and concealing the entrance to the sirens’ home. Evaline led Beth around the pool, beneath the archway carved into the stone, through a short tunnel, and then—

  Beth was finally home. It was familiar and strange and beautiful all at once. Ahead of her was the vast oval-shaped garden she remembered playing in as a child. Fountains, pools, statues and hedges created the perfect setting for a game of hide-and-seek. An open corridor of white marble, held up by pillars carved with exquisite detail, encircled the oval space. On the outer edge of the corridor, archways of greenery led to individual gardens and homes.

  It was toward one of these archways that Evaline was no doubt leading her. Whichever one was now her home. A young girl ran across their path, then stopped to lean against a pillar and stare at Beth. Beth looked away, feeling self-conscious in her oversized jacket and blood-smudged legs. She clasped her hands together and felt sand on her palms. Although, sand didn’t feel quite like that, did it? Surprise jolted through her as she looked down and found glitter falling between her fingers. She lifted one arm and watched the glitter trail through the air behind her.

  “Bessie, dear, please try to control yourself,” Evaline said. “You’re radiating magic everywhere.”

  “It’s Beth.”

  Evaline stopped abruptly, causing Beth to almost walk into her. She looked over her shoulder. “Excuse me?”

  Swallowing her unease, Beth said, “My name is Beth, not Bessie.”

  Evaline’s gaze shifted to the silver pendant resting at the base of Beth’s neck. Her eyes, bright and dangerous and unforgiving, moved back up to meet Beth’s. “Beth, dear,” she repeated, “control yourself. You’re radiating magic everywhere.”

  Everywhere … Beth thought back to the light glowing within the rocks, the sand turning to crystals, and the galloping sea foam horses. Were those all products of the magic she had no control over?

  “Bessie? Is that you?”

  Beth slowed and threw a look over her shoulder. A girl with long, shimmering copper locks stood there watching her. A memory of two little girls running along the beach, their bare feet kicking sand into the air behind them, rose to the front of Beth’s mind. “Delphine?” she said.

  “Hurry up, Beth,” Evaline said, her voice tugging Beth back to the present. “You’ll have time for old friends later.”

  She continued along the corridor, Beth hurrying behind her, and turned beneath the archway at the far end of the oval. The archway that was larger and prettier than all the others. “Wait,” Beth said, her footsteps slowing. “Is this … Do you live here now?”

  Evaline laughed. “No, I am not Ruler. I have advanced to Second, though, so who knows what might happen one day.”

  “But—I—Should I not clean up before meeting with the Ruler?”

  “I’m well aware that you’re not properly dressed, but newcomers are required to report to the Ruler’s residence immediately upon entering our community.” She tugged the jacket off Beth, then waved her hand near Beth’s legs and hands until the dirt and blood magically disappeared. “There. You look a little more acceptable now.” Evaline turned to face the Ruler’s residence, which was covered in leafy green vines. “Don’t dawdle, Beth. Our Ruler doesn’t like to be kept waiting.”

  * * *

  Beth’s meeting with the Ruler, a woman named Lillian who was guarded by Amazon warrior-type women and who seemed vaguely familiar, was brief. Lillian walked around her as Evaline spoke. She sniffed at the air, touched Beth’s rain-dampened hair, and then congratulated Evaline on the return of her daughter. It was odd and creepy, and Beth hardly breathed until she was out of the house.

  “She wasn’t the leader when I was a child,” Beth said when they reached the corridor.

  “No. She was elected three years ago.” Other than that, Evaline offered no further explanation.

  There were more women about now. Young and old, all of them beautiful, and all of them watching her. No men, of course. Siren men lived separately. They were necessary for continuing the siren race, but energy and power could not be drawn from them, which meant they were otherwise useless to siren women.

  Evaline turned beneath another archway, and when they entered the small house, Evaline said, “Welcome home, my daughter.” She led Beth into the sitting room, which was just as white and bright as the marble outside. “I have only one bedroom, so you’ll need to sleep in here until we can convert my study into a room for you. Or add on a separate room.” She tapped her chin. “Yes, that would be better. Oh, don’t sit on that until you’ve had a bath,” she added quickly as Beth hovered near the spotless white chaise longue. “Come, the bathing pool is this way.”

  As Beth soaked in a pool of steaming water, her mother sat on the stool beside the tall mirror in the corner of the room and brushed her lustrous hair. “We have much to do,” she said. “You’ll need to learn more about control, and there are plenty of other lessons to catch up on. History and politics and the like. And, of course, we should have a celebration. A party to welcome you home.”

  To someone like Beth who’d never been comfortable as the center of attention, that sounded like an awful idea. “Uh, okay,” she said as she moved to the edge of the pool. “Does it take long to learn control?”

  “It can take several months for a child, but since you’re much older, I hope you find control easier to grasp. Then again—” she lowered her brush “—nothing about your magical development has been normal, so I can’t say how long it will take you to achieve control.”

  Beth nodded, trying not to feel daunted by everything she still had to learn. “It felt as though my magic appeared out of nowhere, but now that I think about, I remember strange things happening sometimes when I was younger.” She took a breath before continuing, telling herself that this was her mother and that she shouldn’t be afraid to speak more than a few words to her. “I fought with Dad once. I was angrier than I’d ever been, and even though I was scared of shouting at him, I couldn’t help it. I screamed all my anger out and then ran upstairs. When I got to my bedroom, I found that all my books and papers had blown off my desk and scattered onto the floor. The window was open, and I told myself it must have been a particularly strong gust of wind, but I remember thinking how strange it was because it hadn’t been windy at all that day.”

  “Mm hmm,” Evaline murmured. She was once again brushing her hair, and Beth couldn’t tell if she was listening or not. She decided to continue anyway.

  “Another time
at school, a friend passed me a joke on a piece of paper. It was so funny, but I wasn’t supposed to laugh because we were in the middle of a lesson, so I did my absolute best to hold my giggles in. That’s when the tap in the basin at the back of the classroom popped off and sprayed water everywhere. The teacher thought it was a plumbing issue, but maybe it was me. There were other strange things that happened, but I never put them all together and thought of myself as the cause of any of them. Not until … now.”

  “I see,” Evaline said, sounding almost bored.

  Beth climbed out of the pool and reached for the white robe Evaline had hung behind the door for her. She pulled it on and asked, “Do you think all those incidents were caused by my magic trying to get out?”

  “Possibly.” Evaline stood and examined her appearance in the mirror. “Interesting that your father didn’t notice any of this.”

  “Yeah,” Beth said quietly, but she knew why. Her father didn’t notice much when it came to her. Well, except for last night when she’d come downstairs in the red dress. He’d taken notice then. And now, as she caught a glimpse of both her mother and herself in the mirror’s reflection, she suddenly understood why. Her father had looked at her and seen Evaline—and he’d hated her for it.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  It was intimidating as hell standing before a crowd of stunningly beautiful women. Beth knew their intense beauty was only part of their siren magic, yet the thought did nothing to ease her insecurity. She wondered if her sudden awakening of magic had affected her own appearance. Once she’d cleaned up, her mother had commented on how enchantingly lovely she looked—possibly the nicest thing Evaline had ever said to her—but when Beth looked in the mirror, she couldn’t see any difference. The difference, if there was one, must be a kind of glamour, visible only to others and not to herself.

  She reminded herself that she belonged here now as her tentative steps took her out from beneath the stone archway and onto the sand near the shimmering pool of water. She’d chosen a dress far less revealing than the one she’d worn to her disastrous date with Jack. The blue skirt was long and flowing, tickling her bare feet and skimming the sand behind her. The sleeves were a modest length, ending just above her elbows, but the neckline plunged a little more than she was comfortable with. It was one thing to bare her cleavage to the guy she loved, and quite another to put it on display before a group of women with assets far more enticing than her own. Feeling utterly naked, she wrapped her arms around herself and waited.