Sisters of Misery

by Megan Kelley Hall

“My God, you’re gonna get me in trouble if you stick around here,” he said, pulling his baseball hat over his face. “Go!” he yelled, pointing toward land.

  “Will you wait a few years for me?” Maddie asked playfully.

  He slid his hat back on his head and walked over toward her, looking very serious now. He leaned in for another kiss. It started gently, hardly a flutter against her lips, but then a surge of passion rose between them, and the kiss filled with the urgency of unfulfilled desires, unspoken thoughts. Maddie pressed herself against him, never wanting it to end.

  Reed was the one to finally break it off. “Sweetheart, you’re worth the wait,” he whispered. “Now get lost before I do something I regret.”

  Maddie practically floated back to Mariner’s Way. Could she really have a future with Reed? Possibly. But as she walked away, she knew she couldn’t ignore her obligations to her family, to the past. Nothing would keep her from looking for Cordelia. Not a new crush. Not a threatening letter. Not even a spirit who cries in the night. At this point, nothing but a force of God could stop her.

  Chapter 24

  DAGAZ

  DAWN

  Daylight Clarity Breaks Through Nighttime Uncertainty;

  Growth and Release

  Maddie was halfway home when it hit her. Spinning around, she looked back at the harbor. From that distance, Maddie could still make out Reed’s boat bobbing at its mooring, surrounded by slivers of sunlight glinting off the choppy waters.

  Water.

  Something clicked into place. Maddie had been present for all of the element rituals on Halloween night, except one.

  The element of water.

  They had sent her back to the shore to retrieve buckets of water for the ritual, but she got knocked out at the boat. But what if…? What if the girls just sent her away in order to get rid of her so that Maddie couldn’t stop what they had planned for Cordelia? It all made sense. Maddie had obviously been drugged. Why else would she have had such a difficult time remembering what happened to Cordelia? And Maddie knew that the girls had access to their drugs of choice. And they’d drugged her before with that Ecstasy at Trevor’s party—what would stop them from doing it again?

  As she walked, anger fired up inside of her. The element of Water had to be appeased, and the ritual took place right in the middle of an island. Images of school field trips Maddie had taken as a little girl flooded back: the Salem Witch Museum with all the various ways that the townspeople tortured people accused of witchcraft. They were burned at the stake…Fire…pressed to death…Earth…hanged at the Gallows…Air…and finally drowned…Water.

  They tried to drown her.

  Everything was finally making sense. A body was never found because everyone was looking in the wrong place. Because no one knew that the last place Cordelia LeClaire had been was fifteen miles off shore. But then how had Finn O’Malley seen Cordelia on November first? Could he have been in on the whole thing as well?

  Too wired to go home, Maddie spun on her heels and walked back down to the waterfront. Rather than returning to the docks, she veered off in the direction of the stately waterfront row houses where Darcy Willet lived. Someone was finally going to give her some answers.

  “Maddie, hi? Um, it’s pretty early. Is everything okay?” Darcy squinted at her in the early morning light, wrapping her robe tightly around her.

  “What was Water?” Maddie asked hurriedly, suddenly realizing that she must look frightful to Darcy after her night out on Reed’s boat.

  “Maddie, honey,” Darcy said, eyeing her like she was one of the inmates at Ravenswood. “I have no idea what you are talking about. Do you want to come inside? Is everything alright?”

  She squeezed her arm tightly—a little too tightly—and led her into the foyer. There was a shuffling sound coming from above them. Darcy’s parents were probably going to come down any minute, so Maddie didn’t have much time to get answers.

  “What happened after I passed out?” Maddie demanded, spinning around and facing her. “What did you do to Cordelia to appease the element of water?”

  “Appease the…? Madeline, what is this all about? Kate and Trevor told me about all your questions…but you can’t be serious in thinking that we had anything to do with your cousin disappearing,” Darcy scolded, nervously looking over her shoulder. “We were just being bitchy. You know, putting her through some hazing. Sororities do it all the time, for God’s sake. I mean, I’m not proud of the way we treated Cordelia, but that doesn’t mean that we killed…”

  “Who said anything about killing?” Maddie demanded. Darcy blinked rapidly and looked away, so Maddie continued to grill her, watching her squirm. “I just want to know what you guys did for the water ritual. Although, it’s funny that I don’t remember any of us having to go through that type of torturous hazing to get into the Sisterhood. I guess you guys saved that especially for Cordelia.”

  Darcy paced the living room as if collecting her thoughts. Finally, she abandoned the confused little girl act and hissed, “Listen, Maddie, I don’t know what you think you’re going to achieve by harassing everyone about that night. But I don’t have to remind you that you were there, too. So before you go around town crying that we made your freaky cousin disappear, you should remember that you were just as much a part of it as we were!”

  “I wasn’t given a choice. I didn’t know what you had in store for Cordelia. I still don’t know the whole story. But I’m not leaving without answers, Darcy, real answers.”

  “I’m warning you to leave it alone, Maddie,” said Darcy firmly. There was more noise upstairs, but Maddie paid it no mind.

  “Is that a threat?” she demanded.

  “It’s not a threat. It’s just a piece of good advice. None of us are proud about what we did to Cordelia. But I swear to you, when we went back that night, she was gone. I really don’t want to talk about this now, Maddie.” Darcy glanced at the staircase. “This isn’t the time or the place. I think you should leave,” she said, pushing Maddie toward the front door.

  “Wait, wait, wait. That night? I thought you went back in the morning? Didn’t you make her stay the night on the island? Wasn’t that part of the whole ritual?”

  Annoyed, Darcy shook her head. “The ritual went too far. We didn’t think she could handle the whole night after everything that happened. So after we dropped you at your mother’s house, Kate, Hannah, Bridget, and I went back to the island, and she was gone.”

  “Why didn’t you ever tell me this?”

  “You were so worked up about everything that night. That’s why I slipped that pill into your drink. I thought you were going to get us all in trouble with your screaming. Kate had some pills on her that she was going to give to Cordelia, in case, well, in case she fought back.”

  “So, it was all planned in advance. Kate had chosen Cordelia before we even got out there.”

  Darcy nodded nervously. “Like I said before, I’m not proud of it, Maddie. But it’s in the past, and there’s nothing we can do to change it. But I swear this to you: we didn’t kill your cousin. I don’t know what happened to her, but I swear it had nothing to do with any of us. Now, let’s talk about this later, okay?”

  At that moment, Trevor Campbell thundered down the staircase in boxer shorts and just-rolled-out-of-bed hair. “Oh, wow, uh…hey, Maddie, what’s going on?” He brushed his hand through his hair and tried to act like nothing out of the ordinary was going on.

  “Trevor?” Maddie asked incredulously. Darcy looked like she wanted to sink through the cracks in the wide plank floors. Kate would absolutely crucify her—completely destroy both of them—if she knew about this.

  “Why am I not surprised? Cordelia went through hell for something—or someone—she didn’t do,” she said disgustedly at Trevor. “And all along, you were the one who was sleeping with Trevor. You’re the one who deserved that night out on Misery. Not Cordelia!”

  “Maddie, wait—” Darcy pleaded. Trevor moved uneasily fr
om one foot to the other.

  Maddie cut her off with a laugh. “Now it makes perfect sense. Now I know why you allowed Kate to think there was something going on between Cordelia and Trevor—so that you two could continue your little affair. Cordelia took the fall for your indiscretions.”

  “I don’t need this shit,” Trevor said under his breath before wandering into the kitchen.

  “Nice seeing you, too, Trevor. I’ll be sure to give Kate your love when I see her,” Maddie said coyly as she turned to leave.

  “Just another bit of advice from a friend,” Darcy told her icily as she came up behind her. “I’m a firm believer that you should live your life the way you want to. But I wouldn’t want your family to get any backlash from all of this finger-pointing you’ve been doing lately, especially given your grandmother’s poor health.” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “So don’t go around talking about things that are none of your business, okay?”

  Facing Darcy, Maddie could feel her face getting red as she said, “Are you threatening my family? Because if you are, I can guarantee that it would be the biggest mistake of your life. Especially since Kate would be very interested to know where her boyfriend has been spending all of his free time.”

  Darcy forced an innocent smile. “No, Madeline, don’t be silly. I’m not threatening anyone,” she insisted, choosing her words carefully before continuing. “Cordelia’s gone, Maddie. You need to accept that and move on. And you should also stop nosing around in other people’s business. That’s what gets people in trouble around here.”

  “So, is that it? Is that why you made Cordelia disappear? Because she found out about you and Trevor? Or is there some other nasty little secret that you all didn’t want her to tell anyone about?”

  “I have no idea what you are talking about, Maddie. You need to put your tired little mind to rest; focus on other things for a while. Trevor said that Reed would keep you busy, keep your mind off of those troubling thoughts. I guess he’s not doing his job very well, is he?” Darcy said in a mock innocent tone.

  Maddie felt like she’d been punched in the stomach. But the look on Darcy’s face told her the truth. Trevor and Darcy had used Reed to keep Maddie from looking too deeply into Cordelia’s disappearance. Or to keep her from finding out about their torrid affair. No matter what the reason behind his attentiveness, it was all just a big, fat lie.

  She wanted to run away—away from this evil town and these evil girls. But she’d come too far to do that. Instead, Maddie choked back her tears, squared her shoulders, and said, “Darcy, I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what you did for Water.”

  “We all took part in the second part of the ritual, Maddie. Just because you weren’t there the whole time—or, or, because it’s convenient for you to forget these things, doesn’t mean you weren’t a part of it, too.”

  The second ritual? Maddie thought helplessly. Why can’t I remember any of that?

  Darcy stared at her and then looked down, swallowing hard. Maddie didn’t want to let Darcy in on her own confusion and the holes in her memory, so she continued to stare her down. Maddie knew Darcy would do anything to keep her from telling Kate about the secret affair with Trevor.

  “We made her drink something.”

  “What did you make her drink?” Maddie demanded. Darcy looked around the room, anywhere but at her face. “Did she have the drugged wine that you gave me?”

  Darcy shook her head. She reached up, straightening her wheat-blond hair with trembling fingers.

  “Darcy, I’m only going to ask you one last time. After you drugged me and I passed out, WHAT DID YOU MAKE HER DRINK?”

  Finally, Darcy spat her answer out, as if the words were too vile to hold inside any longer.

  “Urine. We made her drink our urine.”

  Chapter 25

  MANNAZ-REVERSED

  ISOLATION

  Blindness, Self-Delusion, Manipulation; Expect

  No Help Now

  Maddie crawled into bed after coming home from Darcy’s, and stayed there all day. She was sick, sick with the thought that she’d been played and humiliated by Reed, Trevor, and everyone else in this town. Sick with the knowledge that she’d played some part in that horrible night that she couldn’t even remember. How could she have blocked out all that had happened that night? And why wasn’t anyone filling her in on the details? How much of a role had she really played in Cordelia’s initiation ritual?

  Maddie turned to look at the clock. It felt like she’d been running every possible scenario through her mind for hours. Midnight. It was at this time that Maddie became most haunted by Cordelia’s disappearance. It hurt to imagine her out there, lingering in the shadows, just waiting to be found. She pictured the whole mystery surrounding Cordelia unraveling like a loosely knit shawl. Maddie just needed to figure out which string to pull.

  When Cordelia and Maddie had made their way down to the docks that Halloween night, neither of them had realized what was in store for them on Misery Island. As Tess would say, they didn’t watch for the signs that were all around them.

  Despite her doubts over the past months, Maddie knew there was something no one wanted her to find out. She could sense it in her conversations with Kate and the other Sisters of Misery. The way they glossed over the events of that night, as if it were something they had watched in movies like Carrie or Heathers, and not something that they had been a part of. It had always been between her and Reed, no matter how much she’d tried to deny it. And it was in Finn O’Malley’s eyes. It hovered over her house, floated into her bedroom at night, and curled up next to her like a shape-shifting specter.

  Something was coming. Like a low wail calling out to her from across the water, rising like mist and slowly taking its dark form. Maddie had noticed that lately, the ocean, despite the warmth of early spring, appeared icy and black and brought only one word into her mind: DEATH.

  The ringing phone shook the house to life. Maddie fumbled across her bedsheets and grasped the receiver.

  “Hullo,” Maddie mumbled into the mouthpiece, squinting her eyes to get a better read on the clock.

  3:33 AM.

  Only bad news could come at this hour.

  “Ms. Crane? May I speak with Madeline Crane?”

  “This is Madeline.”

  “I’m sorry to disturb you at this late hour, but you were listed as the contact person for Ms. Rebecca LeClaire. Is that correct?”

  “Um, yeah. We just moved her to your facility earlier this month,” Maddie replied. “Is there a problem?” Maddie shifted into a sitting position, brushing her hair out of her face.

  “I’m sorry, Ms. Crane. But your aunt is missing.”

  “Missing?” It was like going back in time to when Cordelia disappeared. Maddie could almost hear Rebecca’s voice again. Cordelia’s gone. Gone! She never came home last night. Something’s not right. This can’t be happening. Maddie, what are we going to do? “I’m sorry,” Maddie snapped. “How can that be? Don’t you have security at your facility?”

  “Yes, we do, ma’am. But we have recently admitted patients from all over the Commonwealth, and we are severely shorthanded. We are extremely sorry about this situation. And we are doing everything in our power to rectify it.”

  “Well, that’s reassuring,” Maddie said, her voice thick with sarcasm. “When was the last time anyone saw her?”

  “We’re not sure exactly, Ms. Crane.” The woman sounded embarrassed and flustered. “She was reported missing right after the midnight bed check. We’ve been combing the property for the last few hours. Often, when new patients are unaccounted for, they simply get lost in one of our facilities—the library, the dining hall. But your aunt is nowhere on the premises. We are notifying you because patients will usually return to their homes or to the houses of family members.”

  “No, she hasn’t come back here,” Maddie said uneasily. “Please keep me posted. I’m going to start looking for her as well. I assume you have alre
ady contacted the authorities.”

  “Yes, ma’am. We called the police, and we have our people on it. We’ll get her back safely.”

  Replacing the receiver, she listened for a moment to the silence that slipped around her.

  Fairview was a palace compared to the dilapidated monstrosity of Ravenswood. While Maddie had hoped that the new place would help Rebecca to open up, there still wasn’t a hint of any emotion within her—no animosity, anger, sadness…nothing.

  Maddie hadn’t forgotten Rebecca’s unwarranted attack during her visit at Ravenswood. It was as if an unseen force had ripped the rune stone from the woman’s hands and whipped it at Maddie’s head.

  And this is what frightened Maddie as she pulled on a few layers of warm clothing, preparing to set out in search of Rebecca. As she passed Tess’s room, Maddie was instantly overcome by a sudden chill. Was her window open again? Maddie pushed the door open, and her heart skipped a beat.

  Tess was sitting straight up in bed, looking out the window toward the ocean.

  “Tess, you scared me to death,” Maddie whispered. “What’s wrong?” When Tess didn’t answer, Maddie said, “Go back to sleep, Tess. Everything’s okay. You’re just having another bad dream.”

  The look in Tess’s eyes chilled her. She held her arms out briefly as if motioning for Maddie to hug her, but then turned her attention back to the window.

  “Get some rest,” Maddie said, backing out of the room. Tess burrowed back under the quilts on her bed.

  As she pulled the door closed, Maddie heard her grandmother whisper, “She’s in her garden again, isn’t she?”

  Ravenswood.

  The thought of it made Maddie physically shake, but at least she knew where to start.

  Maddie eased her way into her mother’s room. “Mom, I need the car keys. Rebecca’s gone. They can’t find her anywhere at Fairview. I don’t know what to do.”