FAUSTINE (Bonfire Chronicles Book One)

by Rose, Imogen

  Neave had developed vertigo as a child, and the condition had become increasingly worse over the years. Now, it was so bad that she was even afraid to go sledding.

  “So, where are we going exactly?” I asked.

  “Just another half an hour or so,” Tessa replied. “Once we pass Canadensis, it’s only about another fifteen minutes. We are, however, going to have to go off-road to get there.” Tessa warned.

  I was glad we were in an SUV when Tessa drove off the main road and headed into what seemed like a field. We drove across it, holding on to the sides of the car as it bumped over the rough terrain, until we reached a dirt road on the other side. Following the dirt road wasn’t much better, and the SUV was covered in mud when we finally arrived at the wooden cottage surrounded by rose bushes. It had been more like an hour ride than the half hour Tessa had indicated.

  I braced myself as Tessa knocked on the door. I wasn’t sure what to expect.

  “Get her out of here!” the older lady shrieked as soon as she laid eyes on me. “A demon!”

  “It’s okay, Mom,” Tessa explained. “This is Faustine. She’s a half demon, but harmless.”

  The lady regarded me with suspicion. “There is no such thing as a harmless demon–half or not,” Pauline, Neave’s grandma, declared firmly.

  Perfect. “Miss Pauline, I assure you that I mean you no harm. I’ve come to beg for your help.”

  “Another demon!” Pauline said, her saucer eyes looking past me to Luke, who had decided to join us despite promising that he’d wait in the car.

  “This is Luke, another half demon who means you no harm,” I reassured her.

  “Mom,” Tessa sighed. “Let us in. That was a long drive. I need a drink. Why on earth do you choose to live so far from anywhere?”

  Pauline looked at Luke and me unhappily, but stepped aside to let us through the door. She hung back while we followed Tessa and Neave into the kitchen.

  “She doesn’t look pleased at having us here,” I said. “Maybe we should go and try Cassandra after all,” I suggested.

  “We’ve come all this way,” Tessa said, shaking her head. “She’ll help. I think. We just need to reassure her that you mean her no harm.”

  “How do I do that?” I asked.

  “By letting me do all the talking, for now. Maintain a respectful silence and speak only when she asks you something.”

  “I can do that,” I said, nodding. We returned to the living room where Pauline had taken a seat by the large corner fireplace. The orange light from the flames played against her weathered skin making her appear surreal.

  “Mom,” Tessa said, walking over and kissing her cheek. “It’s really nice to see you. I tried to call, but I got put through to voicemail. I left a message, but I guess you didn’t get it.”

  “No cell reception up here. No television, computer or anything else. It’s perfect,” Pauline mumbled. “It’s lovely to see you and Neave, but the demons....”

  “Mom, don’t you remember Faustine? I brought her to you for a blessing when she was just a baby.”

  “Lady Annabel’s daughter?”

  “Yes!” Tessa exclaimed in satisfaction.

  “Does she know?” Pauline asked, but was rewarded with a death glare from Tessa.

  I couldn’t help but open my mouth. “Know...?”

  “Faustine!” Tessa hissed to shut me up, which I did reluctantly. She continued. “Mom, I’ll get right to the point. Sebastian is missing.”

  “Why would I care about that?” Pauline asked petulantly.

  “One of his children has been brutally murdered, and another is missing,” Tessa said quietly.

  All blood drained from Pauline’s face, and she turned toward the fire, intently staring into the flames.

  “Mom?”

  “I have no choice, do I?” she replied. “How can I help?”

  No choice? She could have just told us to take a hike. I guessed she owed Tessa or something. Whatever it was, I was sure glad Pauline would help.

  “Mom, first we need to know if Sebastian and Kismet–the daughter who is missing–are still alive. We would also like to locate them.”

  Pauline nodded and rose. “Luke, leave us.”

  Luke got up reluctantly, but left without a word.

  “Come with me,” Pauline said, beckoning the rest of us to follow her down a set of rickety stairs to a dark basement. “No lights,” she explained and proceeded to light a dozen or so candles. The sweet smell of caramel and lavender permeated the room, filling it with a sense of calm. The space was empty apart from a shag rug in the middle of the floor–a 1970’s mauve-colored atrocity. The walls were painted a dark purple, and moonlight peeked through one of the small windows at the top of the wall. There were four of these tiny windows in all; the other three, pitch dark, were on the other side of the room.

  I waited for Pauline to bring out the Book of the Dead. I was so curious. I had heard so much about this book, especially at the Academy, but had never seen a copy. I was disappointed when Pauline dropped to the shaggy rug and reached for our hands.

  “Don’t you need The Book?” I intervened. “What about something personal that belongs to my dad or to Kismet? I have them right here.”

  “Shush,” Pauline said, putting her finger to her lips. “The contents of the book are in here,” she said, pointing to her head. “I may need those personal objects later, but not right now.”

  I wasn’t sure what to expect as we sat quietly in the circle, holding hands. I sat between Tessa and Pauline. Pauline’s hand was uncomfortably cold, but I managed to suppress my desire to drop it. I could see Pauline’s mouth moving in weird twitches, not like she was saying a spell, but more like she was eating a disgusting slug. I fought every urge to nervously giggle as I watched her strange expressions. I was the only one with my eyes still open. I wondered if that mattered. I closed them, just in case. That certainly made it easier to suppress my giggles.

  And then, it was all over. No flickering of candles, or evil spirits creating mini tornados in the room. Pauline simply let go of my hand, stood up and stretched.

  “Mom?” Tessa inquired.

  “Sebastian is alive. I could feel him, very clearly.”

  “What about Kismet?”

  “I don’t know her, so I can’t check on her.”

  “Thanks, Mom. Do you feel strong enough for phase two?”

  “What’s that?” I couldn’t help but ask.

  “That’s when we try to get a visual of them. It will take an enormous amount of energy and will require Mom, Neave and me to combine forces.”

  Pauline nodded. “Faustine, you will need to sit in the center of the circle. You’ll be able to see everything through your mind’s eye. Open it. Make it available. You may be able to access images that we can’t. It’s important for you to remember everything you see. I’ll help you interpret it later. And Faustine, no matter what presents itself, do not react. Sit still and keep your eyes closed. It may be that other spirits will invade this space as we open ourselves up; it’s important to remember that that’s all they are. Spirits. They will disappear once we are done. Also, you may feel cold or hot touches, creepy movements, don’t fight them, don’t pull away. Don’t react. And do not release your inner demon. If you do, we may not come out of this alive. Do you understand?”

  I nodded. Be a statue. I could do that. I think. I watched from the middle as Neave, Tessa and Pauline knelt on the rug and reached for each other’s hands. Pauline placed my dad’s strands of hair beside me. I closed my eyes.

  The subsequent inactivity combined with the calming effect of the lavender must have caused me to nod off. I woke up to a violent rumble, followed by the floor vibrating beneath me. I opened my eyes to a red glow of bright light, which blinded me temporarily. I shut my eyes again, remembering that I was still in Pauline’s basement. What was the red glow? Were Tessa and the others still here? Was the glow part of the spell? I waited patiently, listening for sounds. I c
ould hear faint murmurs coming from Pauline. Phew, I was relieved that they were still nearby.

  I could feel the warmth from the red glow even through my closed eyelids. The warmth grew more and more intense, causing me to shield my shut eyelids with my hand. The rumbling sounds started to intensify as well, drowning out Pauline’s murmur. I felt my defenses taking over, my hands contorting and altering in shape. My pinky and ring fingers merged, as did my middle and index fingers. I had to get control over this. I meditated. I focused on my breathing, telling myself over and over that this was not real. I visualized my hands as normal human hands, willing them to revert back to normal. My concentration kept getting disturbed by the sounds and vibrations pulsating through the room.

  I felt something push against me, something hard and pointy. It took everything I had to stop myself from shoving it back. I concentrated on Pauline’s voice inside my head clearly saying Do not react. As I struggled to open my mind’s eye, I saw flashes of my father’s face. Not his human face, but his demon face. I recognized him, though; I knew it was him. The flashes continued, coming and going, but showing me nothing more. My mind was not trained enough to receive any more information. I could feel Dad’s strength, however. Wherever he was, he was okay. So, why didn’t he come home? I asked him, again and again. I could feel him reaching for me, but something kept pulling him back. The noises from the room became unbearably loud, and the place literally shook, as if we were in the middle of a full-blown earthquake.

  Then, suddenly, it went quiet. The red glow disappeared. I slowly opened my eyes to see Neave, Tessa and Pauline gazing at me.

  “You okay?” Neave asked, looking at my hands.

  I nodded, looking down at them. My fingers quickly separated and reverted back to normal. “Wow, that was something!” I said.

  “It was? What happened?” Pauline asked.

  “You didn’t see anything?” I asked, surprised.

  “No. The three of us just held hands while Grandma kept murmuring,” Neave said.

  “You didn’t feel the shaking, hear the roaring, feel the heat from the bright red glow?”

  “Nope,” Neave confirmed.

  I proceeded to describe what I had felt, seen and heard, leaving out the part about my momentary peeking. Then, I stopped and looked at Pauline.

  “My best guess, from what you are describing, is that he’s tried to reach for you but something held him back. It’s like he’s being held against his will somehow. Now, whatever could have the power to restrain a demon?”

  Nothing, surely. Nothing could restrain me, and I was only half demon. Apart from my mom, that is. And Tessa. Unlike Mom, Tessa needed to use her paranormal powers to do it. I clearly recalled the many times Tessa had confined me to my room when I had done something naughty. She would create an invisible shield around my room that I was never able to penetrate.

  “A witch!” I exclaimed.

  “A witch could restrain him,” Tessa acknowledged. “It would have to be a very powerful one to be able to contain Sebastian, though. I don’t think I could.”

  “Neither could I,” Pauline agreed. “Not on my own. So we are probably dealing with a very powerful witch–or wizard, perhaps warlock–or a coven of them.”

  “Perhaps we’ll get some more clues by trying to track down Kismet?” Neave suggested.

  “Do you feel up to it, Mom?” Tessa asked, looking at Pauline tenderly. “I know the last spell took a lot out of you.”

  “I’m not sure. I may have to rely on you more this time, which could leave you feeling quite drained,” Pauline warned.

  “Mom, we have to try,” Tessa whispered.

  “Faustine, is this Kismet’s token?” Pauline asked, bringing out the white scale I had given her earlier.

  I nodded. “Yes, Luke found it in the restroom right after Kismet disappeared. Will she appear to me like Dad did? How will I know it’s Kismet? I’ve never met her.”

  “You won’t. We’ll need to track her through someone who knows her,” Pauline said, shaking her head.

  “Luke. I’ll go get him,” I said, and made my way up the stairs again. They must be close–Luke and Kismet–based on Luke’s reaction in the restroom. Luke didn’t appear overly joyous when I explained why we needed him. But, once Pauline explained the procedure and administered the warnings–do not react–Luke looked more resolved. We all took our positions. Pauline reluctantly agreed to let me stay after I promised that I wouldn’t interfere. She pointed me to the corner of the room. I sat down and watched everyone prepare. This time, Pauline didn’t ask me to close my eyes, so I was looking forward to the show, wondering what I would see.

  There was Luke, sitting like I had previously, with his eyes firmly shut, in the middle of the circle. Pauline placed Kismet’s white scale next to him and started murmuring chants. Pauline then firmly clasped hands with Tessa and Neave. There was something narcoleptic about those chants; I could feel my eyes closing, but I struggled to keep them wide open. No way was I going to miss out on any of this. It wasn’t just the chanting, though. The whole procedure was actually numbingly boring. I mean, we’d been sitting there for at least half an hour with nothing happening–no red glow, no shaking ground. I thought about waking them all up, but then Luke’s face suddenly twitched, and his tongue darted in and out in lizard-like flicks. Blech.

  I noticed his fingers starting to merge and form into fork-like digits like mine had done, but in a more hideous fashion. His hands were glowing a fiery red. His head suddenly fell back and started thrashing from side to side. I wasn’t sure what do. I just stared. He was frightening. I was glad that the three witches in the room were too busy meditating, or whatever, to notice my fellow half demon in the throes of... whatever it was.

  Then, it all went horribly wrong. Luke opened his eyes, despite the adamant warning Pauline had given. Granted, I had done the same thing, but only for a millisecond. Once Luke’s eyes were open, he didn’t close them again. Silly demon. Luke began thrashing his arms about like they were light sabers. He roared. And yes, he drooled. I was glad Neave had her eyes firmly shut. There was no recovering from seeing your beloved in this state. No, it would end rather abruptly with a Don’t text me.

  I noticed bloody scars appearing where Luke was obviously being prodded by surrounding spirits. He seemed to be fighting them with everything he had, but losing. I needed to help him. I looked down at my hands. They were ready, already merged. I stood up, ready for action, despite Pauline’s warning.

  I heard a sharp thud as I made my way across the room to Luke. Looking around, I saw that Tessa had fainted, breaking the circle of energy among the three witches. Neave looked on in horror as Pauline attempted to revive her daughter. I rushed to help them, but stopped dead as I reached the circle. Luke had vanished. It was just Neave, Tessa and Pauline left in the circle. No Luke.

  Bright beams of light came pulsating toward me at a frighteningly fast pace. I avoided them by constantly changing direction. My aim was to get to the opposite end of this seemingly never-ending corridor. I was exhausted, and the heat from the light was causing me to hyperventilate. But I kept going. And going. With one goal–to reach my dad. I couldn’t see him, but I could feel his presence. I knew he was trapped at the end of the corridor. And, I knew that I was the only one who could release him.

  “Faustine. Faustine! Wake up!”

  The pulsating lights suddenly stopped. It was dark. I opened my eyes. Slowly. What was that? I tried to focus. It looked like a nose–with a mess of white and black hairs protruding from both nostrils. Blech. I was sure there was a booger stuck to a hair in the left nostril. I fought the urge to hurl. What sort of creature would present himself to a demon princess so uncouthly?

  “Faustine,” Mr. Perry repeated, exasperated. “It’s only the second day of school, and you’re already bored, are you?”

  Sheesh. Algebra. I should have guessed. Mr. Perry’s nose bristles were legendary. “Sorry. I’m not used to the time difference yet
,” I lied.

  “I guess,” he grumbled. “However, if you were still on European time, you would get up earlier, not later, seeing that we are behind Europe time-wise, don’t you think?”

  “I know, and I did get up earlier, way earlier, which is why I’m nodding off now,” I explained. “Anyway, I’m sorry. I’ll try to stay awake.” The truth was that I had fallen asleep out of sheer boredom. He wasn’t covering any new ground; I already knew all this stuff.

  Luke would have prodded me awake, but his seat remained empty this morning. He had just sort of disappeared from Pauline’s basement the night before. We’d looked for him everywhere, but there were no signs of him whatsoever. It was like he’d never been there in the first place. But, of course, I knew he had. Somehow, the spell had been broken, resulting in his disappearance. Had he made contact with Kismet? Was he with her now? Or, was he lost in a vortex of confused worlds?