Fatal Charm

by Linda Joy Singleton

  “Close.” Jade winked at me.

  “They don’t look that much alike.” Dominic shook his head. “Sabine is taller and has your eyes, Nona.”

  I sent Dominic a look of pure gratitude.

  Jade smoothed back her hair and looked appreciatively around the room. “Hmmm, all this food sure smells good. I hope you don’t mind my showing up like this. In Sabine’s last email, she said to drop by anytime, and I didn’t have plans today.”

  I had not sent her an email. We had not had any real conversations. And the last time I saw her was in a killer dream, which gave me a scared feeling, like I expected her to break down into sobs because her mother had been murdered. Only her mother was fine. Yet my intuition warned that Jade’s whole cheerful attitude was as fake as the emails we never exchanged.

  “No plans on Thanksgiving?” Nona asked in astonishment.

  “Mom left on a business trip and said we’d skip Thanksgiving this year.”

  Nona looked appalled. “Well, we can’t let that happen. Of course, you’ll join us. Sabine, find another chair and I’ll put out another table setting.”

  “You’re all so sweet! I hardly know what to say, except thanks! Thanksgiving here would be so totally fabulous!” Jade flashed a sugary smile. She never seemed to stop moving either, whether it was twirling a curl of red hair around her finger or shuffling her feet like she was hearing music. I wondered if she was buzzed on energy drinks or just naturally hyper.

  If I’d been in her place, I would have politely refused and said I didn’t want to intrude on a holiday. But I was quickly learning that my half-sister was nothing like me. Her aura pulsed with splashes of scarlet and violet blue; strong, dynamic, and volatile. Being near her was like tiptoeing around the edge of a bubbling volcano.

  “Do tell us about yourself,” Velvet asked while Nona rattled plates in the cupboard and I dragged over another chair.

  “What’s to tell? My life is dull compared to Sabine’s.”

  I wondered what that was supposed to mean.

  Jade slipped into the chair I’d added to the opposite side of the table where I sat. “I was born in San Jose and still live there with my mother in the same house as always. It’s in an older area, not the ultra-fancy subdivision Sabine’s family lives in.”

  Velvet smiled. “So how long have you known about Sabine?”

  “About a year.” Jade shot me a challenging look.

  “So what do your parents do?” Nona asked.

  Please don’t say your dad’s a lawyer, I thought.

  “Nothing.” Jade’s shoulders sank and she blew out a sad sigh. “Dad died when I was twelve.”

  “Oh, I’m so sorry,” Nona said.

  Even Grady, who had stayed out of this until now, seemed moved. “Tough break,” he said with a sympathetic nod.

  “You poor child,” Velvet chimed in softly. “My own mum died when I was small, so I understand.”

  “I’m glad you found Sabine.” Nona patted Jade’s shoulder. “And now us.”

  Jade bent her head, her red hair sweeping down like a curtain to hide her face. In that moment I sensed something real—grief or sadness, I wasn’t sure. Then it was over, and she was smiling again in that fake, sugary way.

  “This food looks fabulous,” Jade said, gesturing at the table. “My mother is away a lot and even when she’s home she doesn’t bother cooking. It’s always fast food or frozen dinners. Last year we had tacos for Thanksgiving. I can’t remember when I’ve ever been to a real traditional Thanksgiving. Thanks so much for inviting me.”

  I didn’t point out that she invited herself. And it really burned me to have to go along with her lies. Dominic knew who she really was and he kept shooting me concerned looks. I think he wanted me to stop the lies. But I couldn’t just blurt out the truth in front of everyone. Instead they all fell for Jade’s act.

  This was not the Thanksgiving I imagined.

  I was forced to nod at Jade’s comments as if we were long-lost cousins. According to her, we’d been emailing each other for a year, ever since someone mistook her for me when she’d gone blond at a costume party. She tracked me down through web searches and we’d started sharing emails. She exaggerated a dramatic story about meeting me when I was staying in San Jose—which was close to the truth. Only when our father had accidentally brought us together, we hadn’t talked to each other. I’d stayed in the car, shocked and not wanting to believe my father had a second family. It had been horrible: the complete opposite of the happy reunion she described.

  Jade went on to talk about her interests. She described things that could have been from my own life, only better. She didn’t just hang out with cheerleaders like I did; she was the head cheerleader. She wasn’t an anonymous contributor to her school paper; she was editor-in-chief. She’d even taken fencing lessons and won some competitions.

  It was like she’d copied the script of my life, but edited minor accomplishments into major successes. Did I believe any of it? No way. But with each of her lies, I was in deeper. I couldn’t confess the truth without ruining everyone’s holiday.

  After dinner, I told Nona to relax and offered to wash dishes. Nona took Jade into the living room to show her family pictures. Velvet and Grady followed, but Dominic stayed behind to help me.

  “So that’s the half-sister?” he asked in a low whisper.

  I ran water in the sink, waiting for it to heat up. “Yep. How’d you know?”

  “Not too many girls who look like you named Jade.” He grabbed a dish towel and added with a grin, “Even if you hadn’t told me, you were bristling like a cat getting her fur rubbed with a rake.”

  “I’m still in a state of shock,” I admitted. “Seeing her was bad enough, but then she told all those lies and I couldn’t stop her.”

  “Why not?”

  “What was I supposed to say?”

  “How about ‘Excuse me, but she’s a lying bitch.’”

  I laughed, loving him even more. “I wish I had! My feelings are all mixed up. At first I hated her, but that’s not fair because Dad was the one who hid his second family. So I decided to forget her—until that nightmare where I thought her mother was dead.”

  “That was just a dream. You don’t owe Jade anything.”

  “I promised Dad not to tell anyone about her.”

  “You told me.”

  “I probably shouldn’t have—but I’m glad I did. Only now that she’s here, it’ll be hard to keep her a secret. If Nona figures it out, she’ll go straight to my mother.”

  “It’s not your job to protect your parents.”

  I frowned, not sure who I was trying to protect. Dad? Mom? Myself? If only Jade had stayed away. What was she doing here?

  From the other room I heard laughter and guessed Nona must have been showing Jade the famous picture of me eating from the cat’s food dish. I was only two; what did I know?

  I was sick of Jade and didn’t want to think or talk about her.

  Dominic seemed to know this without my saying anything. He switched the topic to the campout—which didn’t exactly improve my mood. Camping with my old boyfriend and new boyfriend would be a disaster. I tried to convince Dominic not to go, but he stubbornly refused. Was he insane?

  When I rinsed off the last dish and Dominic was drying it, Nona appeared in the doorway. Her arm was draped cozily around Jade’s shoulders.

  “We have news,” my grandmother announced.

  “Is Jade going home already?” I tried not to sound hopeful.

  “On the contrary.” Nona beamed. “I’ve convinced her to stay a few days.”

  “Stay? Here?” I was glad I wasn’t holding any glassware that might have slipped from my hands and smashed to the floor.

  “It’ll give you two girls a chance to get to know each other better. Doesn’t that sound fun?”

  “Yeah … tons of fun,” I said with zero enthusiasm. “But I’m sure she had other plans with her friends.”

  “No plans.” J
ade shook her head. “My mother is out of town and I don’t have school until Monday. I’m all yours.”

  Nona could have her—I was headed for a camping trip. But I didn’t remind Nona of this or tell Jade. My dear half-sister would figure it out when she woke up in the morning and I was gone.

  Nona asked me to show Jade to the guest room, then left to get fresh sheets for Jade’s bed. Dominic covered his mouth, as if hiding his amusement. But the traitor didn’t offer to go with us. Instead he hurried off to join Grady and Velvet, who were starting up a poker game in the living room. Lucky me was left with Jade.

  “Come this way,” I said as I started up the stairs. “Your room is just down the hall.”

  “I’m sure yours is nicer,” she said, scowling.

  “Actually the guest room is bigger—not that it matters.” I tensed but kept my voice polite. “I hope you’ll be comfortable here.”

  “What you really mean is that you hope I’ll go to hell,” she retorted. “Don’t pretend to like me.”

  I stopped midstair, my hand tightening on the polished wood railing. “I don’t know you well enough to like or dislike you.”

  “You hate me, admit it. I saw your expression when I showed up. You wanted to slam the door in my face.”

  “I was surprised. How did you find me here?”

  “What makes you think I’m here because of you?”

  “Why else?”

  “I got my reasons, and they aren’t out of sisterly love,” she said sarcastically. “All that stuff I said about us being friends was crap.”

  “Then why even say it?” I demanded, getting angry.

  “Can’t disappoint dear grandma, can we?”

  “She’s my grandmother, not yours, and she would prefer honesty to lies. I should have told her we were half-sisters.”

  “And spill Daddy’s shameful secret?” she sneered.

  “Whatever.” I refused to rise to her bait and led her into the guest room. I gestured to a chestnut dresser. “There are empty drawers you can use. If you need extra clothes, you can borrow some of mine.”

  “Keep your nasty castoffs.” She stuck a pointed finger at my face. “You’re not any better than me.”

  “I never said I was.”

  “But you implied it. Don’t think I’m naïve; I know how it is with princesses like you. Handed everything since you were born, never having to work or go without nice things. We share a father—and that’s all we’re ever gonna share.”

  Her hostility rocked me. It never occurred to me that she might resent me as much as I resented her—maybe even more. In a way I was relieved because we were being honest.

  “Fine,” I told her. “Then let’s agree not to be friends.”

  “Agreed.”

  I started to leave the room, but paused and shot her a questioning look. “I don’t get it. If you hate me so much, why even come here?”

  Her lips pursed defiantly. “I can go wherever I want.”

  “Does Dad know you’re here?”

  “No. And don’t you go tattling to him.”

  “I wouldn’t do that.”

  “You better not or you’ll regret it.”

  “Is that a threat?”

  “What do you think? Just get out of my room.” She shoved me out in the hall and slammed the door.

  I climbed the atic stairs to my bedroom, which I’d found comfort in since I was a little girl, and thought back to Jade’s closed door. The slam still rang in my ears.

  Jade may only be my half-sister, but she was a full bitch.

  During the night, I awoke from a weird dream where I was drowning in a pool of tomato soup and trying to escape by climbing up a slimy strand of red yarn that turned into a snake and wrapped around my neck. Gasping for air, I felt disoriented and startled to be dry in my own bed. I glanced over at my glowing unicorn night-light and breathed easier, calmed.

  Still, there was a pit of anxiety in my stomach. An odd feeling of not remembering something important. And I tried to figure out what had woken me. An unusual noise, music. Yeah, like someone playing a musical instrument.

  Then I heard it again. A short burst of rap music. But it stopped abruptly and made me wonder if I’d imagined it—until it blared again. Not a musical instrument, but a cell phone. Since it wasn’t my ring tone or Nona’s, that only left one person.

  I jumped out of bed, tossing on a robe, then put my ear to the floor. I could hear a murmur from below. Jade must have been on her cell phone.

  Pressing my ear against the floor, I eavesdropped. Spying on my half-sister was beginning to be a bad habit. But I had no shame and was proud of it.

  Jade’s voice was low at first and I could only make out a few scattered words, “How could you? … finds out … have to … dead.” The last word gave me chills as I remembered my nightmare. But I assured myself it meant nothing. Jade’s mother was alive; my father had been positive.

  I waited there, crouched down and getting a cramp in my neck from straining to listen. I didn’t hear anything for a few minutes then Jade cried out “No! When?”

  There was a long pause before she asked in a trembling voice, “But I can’t … don’t understand … there’s no … what am I going to do?”

  Then only silence. I guessed that Jade’s caller was answering. I closed my eyes and tried to visualize who this person was, but all I got was a feeling of an older woman; someone close to Jade.

  When Jade said “bye,” her voice quaked with fear.

  And I felt afraid, too, although I had no idea why.

  The end of the conversation was my cue to get back in bed. Within seconds I was slipping under my warm blankets and waiting for my heart to slow. It was hard to relax into sleep with my mind buzzing with questions about Jade.

  Who had called her so late at night? This was more evidence that she was hiding something. Had she come here out of curiosity or did she have a darker reason? Logically I knew she hadn’t just showed up on a bitchy whim. But my psychic radar wasn’t picking up any answers.

  Worry slithered up my spine and I wondered why Jade had sounded so scared.

  Did it have anything to do with me?

  *

  It was still dark outside when my alarm buzzed.

  Groggily, I fumbled for my bedside lamp and snapped it on. For a moment, my head swam with confusion. Then I saw my backpack on the floor by my desk and realized the reason for the early morning wake-up buzz. The Hoof Beats in Moonlight camping trip started today.

  The good thing was I would be out of Jade’s toxic reach.

  The bad news was it was almost five in the morning and I hadn’t finished packing. I had to hurry because Dominic insisted we leave by six. He wanted to reach the stables early enough to choose a good horse. His exact words had been, “I don’t want to get stuck on an old nag.” The small, gentle horses were reserved for the kids, but expert riders would be allowed more spirited mounts.

  Yawning, I stumbled out of bed, showered, and dressed. Then I consulted Josh’s trip list and started pulling clothes from my drawers. I needed three sets of warm clothes, waterproof gloves, a flashlight, and other supplies. When I had checked off everything on the list, I had a feeling I was forgetting something. I double-checked my backpack (not the one I used for school, but a rugged outdoor pack Nona had found for me). Then I grabbed the heavy pack and left my room.

  Jade’s door was closed.

  I paused in the hall for a moment, mentally replaying the partial conversation I’d overhead. Had Jade really said “dead”? Or maybe she’d said “Dad.” That made more sense. She’d probably been talking to her mother—nothing mysterious about that. Maybe Crystal was mad because Jade was visiting me, which could ruin their sweet (and profitable) situation with Dad if my mother found out. Dad had been generously doling out money for years to his secret family. Why risk making him mad?

  My father’s demeanor was usually relaxed—unless someone pushed him too far. Then watch out. His flash flood fury swept
fast, taking down anyone in its path. I’d incurred this anger when I’d sent Dad off to Crystal’s home and insisted she’d been murdered. I’d been wrong; he’d been embarrassed. Dad still wasn’t speaking to me, which hurt, although I knew he’d get over it eventually.

  If Crystal was angry at Jade for coming here and Jade was afraid of making Dad mad, that almost explained everything—except why Jade was here.

  Not my problem. Adios, secrets and lies and drama. I was getting out of here and wouldn’t have to deal with Jade anymore. By the time I returned, Jade would be gone. Good riddance.

  Dominic was waiting by his truck when I stepped outside. It was a chilly, damp morning with darkness trapped under overcast skies. There was no hint of rain, though, which was encouraging.

  “I’ll take that,” Dominic offered, reaching for my backpack and sleeping bag.

  “Thanks.”

  I climbed into the truck while he stowed my belongings in the back, then we set off for Manzanita Stables. We’d been driving for almost an hour when I realized what I’d forgotten.

  I smacked my forehead with my palm. “I’m an idiot!”

  Dominic turned down the radio. “What did you say?”

  “My purse! I was so busy checking off everything I had to bring, I forgot my purse because it wasn’t on the list. I don’t have my ID, money, or my cell phone.”

  “Should I turn back?” he offered.

  I bit my lip, angry with myself. Here Nona was improving her memory and I seemed to be losing mine. How could I be so careless? My purse had been sitting right on my desk, in plain sight and impossible to miss. Yet I’d left it behind. And we’d already driven too far to return home. That wouldn’t be fair to Dominic. If he got stuck riding an “old nag,” it would be my fault.

  “No need to go back.” I shrugged. “I can live without my purse for a few days.”

  “You sure?”

  “Our food is provided, so I won’t need any money. I don’t need my license because you’re driving. And I can borrow someone’s cell phone if I need one.”

  “There won’t be a good signal in the hills anyway,” Dominic added. “I’m leaving mine in the truck.” So he kept driving.