Sarah's Inheritance

by Katherine Kim

  Sarah looked at them— a study in contrasts, she thought. One of the boys was tall and slim, almost coltish, with polished mahogany brown hair curling past his ears and over the collar of his t-shirt. His eyes were serious and thoughtful with a friendly smile, and on the whole, he gave the impression of a dedicated scholar, but one with a mischievous streak and a love of life.

  His brother, meanwhile, was shorter— though still taller than average, Sarah realized as they got closer— and was broader in his shoulders. He was broader all over, though not heavy somehow. Sarah wondered if he played football perhaps. He carried himself like an athlete. One with power behind the grace. Dark blonde hair swooped untidily into his eyes and he brushed it back when he smiled his greeting. His expression was pure impish pleasure. Both boys had brown eyes that made her think of mountain forests and secret magic.

  Somehow that seemed likely to be a theme around here, she realized.

  “Boys, this isMiss Rosie’s granddaughter, Sarah,” Jennifer said once the pair had arrived and dutifully greeted their mother. “Sarah, these are my sons, Judah,” she reached for the hand of the brown haired boy, “And that’s Asher.” She nodded at the blonde.

  “Hey.” “Nice to meet you.” They said.

  “It’s nice to meet you both, too,” Sarah answered, amused.

  “You two go on and get a snack till I finish my tea. Sarah, can we give you a lift home? I didn’t see your rental in the lot, and there has been a bit of excitement in the area lately.” Jennifer said, glancing out the window. Sarah nodded, suddenly nervous again. She had forgotten about the wights with all the revelations about her grandmother’s life.

  “I walked. I think I needed the exercise, you know? And I returned the car the other day. I still need to figure out how long I’m staying, but right now everything important is within walking distance. I would be glad of a ride home, though. I hadn’t noticed it getting so late!”

  The ride back to the house took only about ten minutes, mostly because they got caught at a stop light for what felt like a small slice of forever. When they turned down the street, all four of them saw a figure just rounding the far corner. It passed under the streetlight, and though it was dressed all in black it was clearly not a creature of darkness. Still, it made them all nervous enough that Judah got out of the car and walked her to her front door.

  “Thanks. I’ll turn on my porch lights tonight. That should help, right?” She said as she turned the key in the lock. It felt sticky tonight, but she put that down to the colder than usual temperature. She was perfectly comfortable, being used to New York winters, but around here even light frost was unusual.

  “Yeah, lights in the yard should help. And I know we’re all planning on patrolling past here after last night. We have some of the other folks in the Village taking shifts too, so if you see someone you don’t recognize out here it’s probably one of us.” He nodded.

  “Wow, you guys organized that pretty fast.” Sarah unlatched the door and turned to him.

  “Well, it’s pretty unusual situation, and we have a lot of kids in the area, so you know.” He ducked his head. “We have to look out for each other.”

  “That’s awesome. I’m glad to know my neighbors are so thoughtful. Good night! And be careful tonight, okay?” She said. Sarah pushed the door gently so it swung open as she did, then turned to enter her house. She took one step in the door and screamed.

  The four of them stood just inside the door and stared at the wreckage for a moment before the Andersons launched into action. Jennifer pulled out her phone and called the police while Judah and Asher checked the house to make sure the vandal was gone, then headed outside to make sure the exterior was okay.

  The living room and kitchen were a complete disaster. The heavy dining table was tipped onto its side. A bookshelf was pulled over to rest face-down on the sofa, its contents strewn across the pulled out cushions and the floor. The curio cabinet was full of smashed china and glass, and the kitchen was even worse. Most of Gran’s pretty dishes, collected from flea markets and antique shops lay in a pile of shards in the middle of the floor. Pots and pans were pulled out and jagged scratch marks their across their surfaces, and several of the gadgets lay in a sad heap of electronic parts, spilling springs, gears, and heating coils. More pieces of kitchenware were strewn all across the floor. She didn’t want to go look into the bedroom, and started to feel ill just thinking about it.

  Worst of all— most offensive to Sarah personally— was the sticky red word scrawled in spray paint that dripped down the wall like blood: WITCH!

  Jennifer turned her away from the sight and pulled her back out onto the stoop to wait for the police. Judah and Asher joined them there and just shook their heads. No sign of anyone. Asher sat down next to Sarah and put an arm around her shoulder in an awkward hug, and she felt no shame leaning into it. Who would do this? Why? It didn’t make any sense.

  “Does this sort of thing happen often?” Sarah looked up at Jennifer.

  Jennifer shook her head and frowned, clearly worried.

  “No. Rosie never mentioned any problems bigger than the deer eating her garden. She would have mentioned a break in. Oh, here they are.”

  The cruiser rolled up to the curb directly in front of the house, and the police were efficient and professional, though the first officer in the door let out a low whistle when he saw the wreckage.

  “I’m sorry you had this experience, ma’am. This is usually a pretty quiet community.” He stepped in and started taking notes as Sarah turned away. The next hour passed in a blur, and she knew that she answered questions about herself, her grandmother, the house, and any number of other things, but none of it stuck. Halfway through Sebastian and Kai turned up, thunder in their faces. Kai peeled off and huddled in a conference with Jennifer and Judah. Sebastian walked right up to Sarah and wrapped her in a hug.

  “Are you okay?” He asked when he finally pulled back a bit. The officer that had been asking questions looked amused.

  “I’m okay. Well, no, I’m not at all okay. I’m completely freaked out and feel sick to my stomach. But physically I’m okay,” Sarah said. The officer sent Sebastian a stony look.

  “And you are?” She raised an eyebrow.

  “I’m Sebastian Russell and that’s my brother Kai. We’re friends of, well, everyone here. We all live over at the Village at Rancho San Calafia.” He turned back to Sarah. “And so do you till this gets cleaned up and we know you’re safe. We won’t let you stay here tonight for sure, and tomorrow we’ll come help clean up.”

  “Oh, but I couldn’t impose like that.”

  “If it was an imposition I wouldn’t have offered,” Sebastian said.

  “It’s actually not a bad idea. You can head out with them after we’re done with the questions, as long as we have an address and a phone number we can reach you at.” The officer nodded. “You’ve had a real scare tonight. It’s good you have friends nearby who can help you out.”

  “And you’re practically family anyway.” Jennifer came up to join the group. “You can stay with us if you like. Or I’m sure that Doc would be happy to put you up. She’s going to be livid when she hears about this.”

  “But who would do something like this?” Sarah asked. She leaned into Sebastian’s warmth and tried not to shiver too much. It wasn’t the outside air chilling her anymore, but a cold that crept through her heart. “I mean, you guys are pretty much the only people I know out here. And Gran was so friendly. How could she have any enemies?”

  “It seems likely that someone felt they had a grudge against your grandmother, rather than against you. As you have said, you’ve only been here for not quite two weeks. It’s possible but unlikely that you could have upset someone this deeply in that time.” The officer glanced down at her notebook. “I think I only have a few more questions, then your friends can take you off and we’ll finish up here.”

  Sarah felt like the night lasted for a few weeks, but eventually she felt
herself get loaded into Kai’s car, her hiking pack and an overnight bag loaded into the back seat. They took her back to Doc’s apartment, and Doc wrapped her up in blankets and sat her in one of the overstuffed chairs she preferred, then hustled around making tea— apparently her solution to every problem— and making up the bed in the guest room. Sebastian alternated between angry and worried, while Kai just paced.

  “Listen, Sarah.” Sebastian frowned and leaned over from the sofa. “If there’s someone with a grudge against Miss Rosie wandering around, breaking into her house…” He struggled for a moment, trying to think of how to say what he wanted.

  “Miss Rosie had more than a few protective spells on her house.” Kai dropped heavily onto the far end of the sofa. He ran his hand through his hair. “Those spells didn’t dissipate when she died, so only those people who belong in the house or get invited in should be able to get in at all. It’s at least as much a mystery how they got in as it is who they are.”

  “And if they could get in, that means they have some sort of magic power themselves.” Sebastian scowled.

  “Which means they’re more dangerous than the cops think.” Kai picked up the thought.

  “You don’t…” Sarah shivered and hugged the quilt more tightly around her. “You don’t think it’s someone from the Village, do you?”

  “If it is,” Kai looked up and she saw that his eyes were flashing again, shifting between his normal human brown, and the amber and yellow of his less human aspects. Sebastian’s eyes had also grown far more amber than usual, and they both looked furious. “If it is someone from the Village, then they know that Miss Rosie is dead. We held a ceremony for her here in the main square. Which means that you were the target.”

  Thirteen

  Sarah knew she was dreaming. It was one of those odd things that sometimes happens where the dream is entirely banal, completely pedestrian and boring, but the dreamer just knows it’s not real life. She was standing at Gran’s sink— she still thought of the whole house as Gran’s, even though it was hers now— and she was washing dishes by hand. She was glancing out the window into the side yard and enjoying the flowering vine that was growing up the fence, its pretty blue flowers just making the world a brighter place.

  She felt safe and happy, secure in the knowledge of her place in the universe, somehow. She turned to stir something on the stove after drying her hands on the kitchen towel with the bright yellow patterns on it. Fragrant steam wafted through the air smelling like springtime and comfort, and she knew that it would help her friend feel better. Morning sickness was such a drag, she was sure.

  Sarah hummed to herself, thinking of what she had to do the rest of the day— perhaps finally get to those garden chores she’d been putting off— when the kitchen darkened. She glanced out the window, wondering if a cloud had drifted over the sun, but it was dark outside. Like night had fallen all at once, skipping the evening dusk. She shivered as the warmth and contentment of the previous few moments evaporated.

  Somewhere behind her she heard a low growl. She turned slowly and saw that the back door was standing open. The growl came again, louder now, and in from the garden stepped a huge coyote with eyes of yellow fire. It was hunched down, ready to lunge, and snarled at her as she backed up. Green and blue flames danced behind it, flaring up and disappearing, then flaring up again.

  Sarah looked around the room, trying to find something to fend off this nightmare creature with, but everything was now strewn about the room like a tornado had struck while she wasn’t looking. Oh god, not again she thought as she saw the scrawled word on the wall. WITCH! The letters ran down the wall, wet and sticky. She stumbled into it and realized that this time they weren’t written in spray paint.

  The creature behind her growled again. Sarah swore it was bigger now, filling the doorway and stepping further into the room for every step backward she took towards the front door. She was sure that she could get out and slam the front door in the face of this monster before it attacked. Her fingers brushed the knob and felt it turn before she could grip it.

  Icy shivers ran over her skin as she froze. She had no idea what was opening the door behind her, but she knew that she couldn’t escape it. Whatever it was would kill her, even here in a dream she knew that it would be over for real. I’m sorry, Gran. I tried. She wasn’t sure what she meant by that, but the grief in the words came from her heart. The door swung into the room, just brushing her elbow as it opened. Sarah squeezed her eyes shut, bracing herself for teeth or claws or whatever was coming.

  When a hand fell on her shoulder she screamed. A warm laugh from the owner of the hand had her finally turning around to look.

  It was a man. Just an ordinary looking man in a cowboy hat and jeans. His warm brown eyes twinkled with mischief and he grinned widely under his mustache. He squeezed her shoulder and gently tugged her back to stand beside him, catching her when she stumbled, his arm a comforting weight across her shoulders. When he was sure she was steady on her feet he turned back to the monster and glared at it.

  “Please, we have to run!” Sarah had finally found her voice. She grabbed the man’s arm and tugged but he was immovable. He simply continued to stare at the massive nightmare coyote, and much to Sarah’s shock the creature whimpered and cowered back. As she watched, it wavered, wobbled, and disappeared entirely. When she looked around wildly she noticed that the whole house was back to normal, just as it had been before. The sun poured in the window over the sink and glanced through the back door which still stood open. The potion simmered cheerfully on the stove, and the wall was clean of any words at all.

  Sarah was stunned. Faster than her pleasant dream had become a nightmare, it had been returned. How? Who was this man? She turned to ask and just stood there, her mouth open, and stared at the empty doorway. Running out to her porch, she looked around the yard, and up and down the road. There was nobody there, not even an animal. And no clues as to where the man had gone.

  Slowly Sarah turned back into the house. Still warm and welcoming, her own place. Her own dream. She hoped she remembered this dream when she woke up because she felt like it held even more questions that needed to be solved.

  “Sarah! How did you sleep?” Doc put a cup of coffee on the table by the sofa as she settled onto the other end. Sarah had woken up with the sun that morning, feeling restless and full of nervous energy. She’d taken a hot shower to clear away the odd twitchiness that she carried with her from sleep, and the hot water and ritual of washing went a long way to help settle herself down. By the time she was dressed and ready to face social interaction, Doc had the coffee brewing and some oatmeal simmering on the stove. The whole apartment smelled like cinnamon and coffee, and was so warm and cozy that Sarah couldn’t help by relax the rest of the way.

  “I had the strangest dream. I only remember little snatches of it, though. I was at home in Gran’s house, and it was really pleasant and comforting. Then it got really dark somehow, there was something really scary coming in, but I can’t really remember what it was. It’s like the memory is just sort of dodging away from my brain, you know? I remember being terrified and disgusted and trying to get away from it, but that’s all. Then somehow the scary thing went away and everything was nice again.” Sarah shrugged. “I almost remember that someone else came in, like a friend or something, but it’s all really fuzzy. I woke up all stressed out and confused, but I’m okay now. Dreams are weird.” She glanced at Doc over the rim of her mug. Doc was sitting very still and frowned back at her slightly.

  “Are you really sure you’re okay?” Doc looked concerned.

  “Why do you ask?” The coziness of the breakfast smells faded and Sarah was growing uneasy again. Doc frowned again and set her own coffee down before turning back to Sarah.

  “Well, we were attacked a bit last night,” Doc said, slowly.

  “Oh my god! Is anyone hurt? Do you need to go help anyone? Can I help?” Sarah started to put her own mug down with a vague notion of g
oing to help Doc do any nursing necessary, but the other woman was shaking her head.

  “I can’t say that nobody was hurt, time will have to tell about that. But it was a directed attack. The only one in danger of injury was the people in the path that the attack was directed at. And it was directed here.” Doc said carefully. “I’m not sure if anyone else even noticed it, besides myself. I just happened to be up late, puttering around, and sensed the magical energy pressing through my protective wards. I have some basic wards set up around the whole Village, just in case you know.”

  “But, we’re fine, aren’t we?” Sarah glanced down at herself like she expected to find herself suddenly injured.

  “Well. It certainly seems so.” Doc nodded and sat back on the sofa. “That’s true. I did what I could last night to fend the attack off, but then just now you said you had this odd dream…” The women stared at each other in horror.

  “You mean to tell me that someone was in my mind? That’s terrifying on a level I’m not sure I can even process!” Sarah started to shake and Doc closed the distance between them to put a reassuring arm around her.

  “Very few beings can actually enter someone’s mind to affect memories or anything, and those that can have to use dreams to do so, they can’t do it while someone’s awake and conscious of it. I don’t know why that is but there you are. It is possible to influence dreams by other means, however, and I think that’s what this attack was,” Doc said. “I think someone is trying to influence you and play on the horror of that vandalism last night.”

  “What if they got in my mind and changed something? What if my memories are all different now? What if I don’t really feel the things I feel but what they want me to feel?” Sarah could tell she was getting hysterical, but if finding out that someone far away could invade her brain wasn’t reason to get hysterical, she didn’t know what was.