The Barrington Estate
Luke was dreaming. He was watching Sadie sleep, nestled in her cozy bed with her cat Blackie. The sight was peaceful, but then the dream changed.
A spot appeared above the bed. It was black and spreading wider at an incredible rate. It floated right over Sadie, rippling and churning. It looked like oil or tar. Luke felt terrible fear.
The mass formed into the shape of a woman with long black hair wearing a long black dress. Her arms were outstretched as her form undulated above the sleeping girl.
Luke instantly understood what was going to happen. “Sadie!” Luke screamed. “My God, Sadie! Wake up!” He struggled to move, to do anything to change what was about to happen, but all he could do was watch helplessly.
The entity turned to look at him. Her eyes were white with black pupils. Her mouth was black against the deathly white skin of her face, and her lips were cracked and scabbed. Long cuts here and there marred the skin of her cheeks, leaving black slashes around her face. She was a living nightmare. Suddenly she rushed him, her mouth opening in a silent scream and Luke woke up in bed drenched with sweat. In terror, he reached for his phone.
Please answer please answer please answer, Luke prayed desperately as the phone rang and rang…and went to voicemail.
Luke tried calling Sadie all day with no luck. “Damn,” he said uneasily, fear churning in his stomach as he stood on the terraced deck at the back of Barrington Manor and looked in the direction of her house.
Relax…she’s probably out and forgot her phone, he thought, trying to reassure himself. But she hadn’t said she had plans, he worried. He really needed to know she was all right and do something normal with her. He wanted her to come for a swim—it was swelteringly hot today, and he needed to know she was okay.
Town Circle
Hannah and her parents sat at a table in front of The Rotunda having breakfast. They did this most Sundays after mass, and it was especially nice during The Harvest Festival. For the next three months visitors and townspeople could enjoy meals from The Fry Diner or Joe’s Java Coffee House outside, and during the evenings (after noon, that is), the local pub, The Witch and the Broomstick, ran beer and other drinks to festival revelers. The Curtis brothers owned the establishments. They hired extra waiters, cooks, and other assorted staff to manage the demand of the outdoor dining area and the long hours the festival required. The only restaurant that didn’t cater outdoors was The Spells and Stars Restaurant. It was too exclusive and too expensive, and the owner was a snob. It did brisk business anyway.
Hannah was moody, and her parents’ attempts to cheer her up were not working. Why not me? She wondered, rolling her sausages around her plate and picking at her pancakes. Why Sadie and not me? Hannah scanned the square and sighed. She didn’t see any of her friends this morning. She needed a distraction. She needed someone to talk to. She needed to get rid of Sadie Kellar.
A flash of white caught her eye. She looked and saw Sadie Kellar appear at the corner of East Road beside the post office. She was alone, Hannah was relieved to see. Hannah watched her cross the street and cut through the restaurant area. She appeared to be glowing, the same way she glowed the day she danced around Town Circle feeling everyone up. It didn’t even look as if she were walking; she seemed to be flowing.
It was hard to describe, but suddenly Hannah was scared. The back of her neck was prickling. As if sensing a watcher, Sadie stopped. She turned her head and looked straight at Hannah, who casually moved her glance to her meal and resumed eating even though she felt queasy. In that brief second Hannah could sense malevolence, a terrible violent evil emanating from Sadie. Sadie frowned and Hannah knew that whatever that thing was, it did not appreciate being stared at.
Sadie turned and continued, crossed the opposite street and disappeared down West Road. As Hannah’s terror faded it was slowly replaced with an evil glee. Wait until she told Luke.
Town Circle—The Hair Haven and Nail Nook Salon
Hannah wasn’t the only one who had witnessed Sadie’s odd behaviour. After church Nathalie had headed to The Hair Haven and Nail Nook Salon for her monthly manicure. She had noticed Sadie while she waited for her nails to dry. She stood inside the shop and watched Sadie pause and then continue. Nathalie had the creeps. She’d just spent the better part of two days with Sadie, yet whoever that girl was, it wasn’t the girl she’d been spending time with. Whatever that thing was, it was evil.
“You okay, honey?” Helen Haven, the owner and proprietor of the beauty salon, had asked. She was looking at Nathalie curiously.
Nathalie turned, her eyes round and innocent. “I’m just fine, Helen,” she said in an airy way. “I just thought I saw my Dean.”
“Oh, he’s a cutie, honey. You hold on to that one,” she said bustling away. Her husband, Burt, owned the two On Your Way In/Out Gas Station & Corner Stores positioned at the edge of town on the North and South roads. He was also the barber, but he only did that on weekends. They had been married since they were seventeen. He was bald, drove motorcycles, and had more tattoos than you could count—a complete contrast to the perfectly coiffed and proper Helen. Yet, they’d been together for twenty-three years and were still going strong. Nathalie loved that about them.
“He’s a big, ole teddy bear,” Helen always told everyone. “But don’t tell him I said that.”
Nathalie turned and watched Sadie disappear down West Road. What on earth was she up to?
Town Circle—The Apartment above Clara’s Crafts & Crystals
Bethiah woke up with a start at the furious pounding at her front door. For shit’s sake, it’s only eleven in the morning, she thought angrily. “I’m coming, I’m coming,” she yelled, pulling on a faded blue flower-print wrap over her nightgown.
She opened the door and a hot breeze blew in. She took a step back when she saw who it was.
Willow smirked and lifted an eyebrow. “May I come in?”
“Of course,” she said breathlessly, your majesty she added in her head.
“My name is Willow Kellar. My hostess is…asleep for the moment.” She stepped in and the door slammed shut by itself.
Bethiah was in awe. Where she came from, Willow Kellar was legendary, someone to be revered. Many witch coven leaders aspired to achieve what Willow had, even though she had been denied final transformation because of a lynch mob. Bethiah could sense that Willow, while not yet at full power, was still an extremely powerful witch. She would have to be respectful.
Willow proceeded into the room and stood in the exact center of the pentagram hidden under the rug. She turned to Beth, her face unsmiling and serious. “I have been in communication with Dannerlich. As we agreed, he is going to help me and I have agreed to free him in return.”
Beth nodded.
“Do you have the item?” Willow asked quietly.
“Y…y…yes,” she stammered. “I prepared it exactly as I was instructed by Danner, and it’s exactly where I left it. I checked.”
“Excellent,” Willow smiled. “I am very pleased with you.”
Beth turned beet red with pleasure.
Willow looked around and headed to the table where Beth worked her magic. She touched the herbs and fingered the lace and ribbons while she spoke. “Sadie is very powerful. Her power is still dormant except for flashes here and there, but it awakens. I can feel the essence of it growing aware and strong. Once she’s reached her full potential my residence in this body will be permanent and I will be unstoppable.” She turned to face Beth. “In the meantime, do not underestimate her. Everything must be ready when she reaches full power.”
“Absolutely,” Beth said, nodding her head in a fawning manner.
“I can see we are going to get along just fine,” Willow said softly, smiling at Beth. “Just one more task for today. Here is what we need to do.”
The Barrington Estate
“I swear, Luke, it was her,” Hannah was telling him. They were sitting on the back terrace with a jug
of lemonade, compliments of Luke’s mother, Claire.
“That girl’s on drugs and up to no good,” Hannah said earnestly.
Luke looked at her warily. “Did you see something strange?”
“What do you mean?”
Luke fretted inside. “Well, what makes you say she’s on drugs?”
“Her expression was vicious when she looked at me. Do you think she’s jealous because we’re friends?”
Luke looked askance at her. “What?”
“Never mind. Anyway, she was glowing and flowing—” God, she hated herself for rhyming. “I’ll bet she was in withdrawal or something and going to, you know, score some more…what, blow? Stuff? Really, Luke, I don’t know how else to describe it. I’m a reporter. I notice things.”
Luke’s heart plummeted to his feet and his stomach bubbled with anxiety. He had hoped and prayed that his original hallucination on the library steps was just that, a hallucination, but now the dream vision… It just confirmed that what he saw a few weeks ago was real. Damn. Something was happening to Sadie right now. Hannah had no reason to lie. She was like a sister to him.
Luke kept trying Sadie’s cell. She never answered.
He fretted.
The Farmer’s Field
Willow and Beth spent the whole day preparing the spells to mark the houses of the damned. They were ready. All they needed to do was complete the ritual sacrifice and mark the houses with blood.
It was pitch-black in the Farmer’s field. The sacrificial animal had been chosen. They had isolated the small milking cow at the farthest end of the paddock near the woods. The other animals lowed and bleated restlessly at the evil that had infiltrated their ranks. Willow’s presence terrified them. Willow held up the silver dagger. It glinted in the weak moonlight. Her eyes glowed as she chanted the spell that would bind the cow’s lifeblood to her. Beth placed an unfired earthenware bowl, filled with a small pile of rocks scored with hex marks, on the ground underneath the cow’s neck and held the animal still with a length of rope. With one swift motion the knife arced and Willow slit the cow’s throat, spraying blood. The cow collapsed, making a gurgling sound. Beth swiftly nudged the bowl near the spurting artery and collected the crimson liquid. Kneeling, Willow cut out the cow’s eyes. Her white dress was completely splattered with blood. Chanting, she took the eyes and buried them at her feet.
“Why are you doing that?” Beth asked curiously. While she had killed birds and chickens before to aid her spell casting, she’d never butchered an animal this big. Then again, she wasn’t as powerful as Willow Kellar.
“So they will not reveal what they have seen.”
“That can be done?” Beth asked interestedly.
“With the right spell.”
The blood had stopped pumping. The bowl was filled with the cow’s hot blood and there was a metallic smell to the air. The crimson liquid completely covered the stones. Willow placed her hand above the bowl and the liquid bubbled briefly before settling down. She dipped her fingers in and smeared blood on her eyelids, and then did the same to Beth.
“We must quickly mark the homes with the death sigil, starting with the Farmers. One rock must be buried at the doorstep of every home. The blood over your eyes symbolizes blindness. We will pass unseen this night.”
Beth was awed. “You paint, I’ll dig,” Beth said, taking the bowl of stones and heading to the Farmer’s house.
Monday, August 5
The Kellar Residence
In the small hours of the morning, Willow arrived home. Liora was waiting for her.
“Bury the dress,” she said brusquely, peeling it off and flinging it at her. “I want to bathe, and I don’t have much time.”
Sadie woke up with a migraine a few hours later. It felt like little men knocking with hammers on her skull. She moaned and put her hands to her head. Her headache was still there. She must have fallen asleep again. Wait a second…what the? Her hair was damp. She didn’t remember taking a shower.
The cell phone by her bed was flashing. She picked it up. Forty missed calls? All the calls were from Luke, of course.
She called him and he picked up immediately. He was frantic.
“Sadie, where have you been? I’ve been going crazy with worry! I tried to reach you all day yesterday but you didn’t answer your phone. Didn’t I tell you never to leave home without it?”
Sadie’s mind was trying to process what Luke was saying. Yesterday? They were together all yesterday. “Calm down, Luke,” Sadie said coolly. “What are you talking about? You just left my room a few hours ago,” she whispered, rubbing her pounding head. “I wasn’t feeling well and I must have gone back to bed.”
There was silence at the other end.
“Luke? Hello? Are you still there?”
He sighed. “Sadie, my love. What day is it today?”
“It’s Sunday morning, maybe afternoon.”
“No, beloved. It’s not. It’s Monday.”
Sadie was shocked. Monday? That was just not possible. She slept a whole day away? No, she knew that she hadn’t been sleeping. A pounding head and sore muscles… She had lost time, and she had no idea what she had been doing in the meantime.
“Come-over-right-now,” Luke said tightly. “Do you hear me, Sadie? Right now,” he said and hung up. Frightened, Sadie flung on her black dress and headed to her window. Her aunt must have heard her get up.
“Sadie?” she yelled from below.
She didn’t answer. She shimmied down the trellis and bolted to the Barrington mansion.
The Barrington Estate
Sadie and Luke walked calmly enough through the entrance way and up the grand staircase. Luke’s suite of rooms was in the west corridor of the house. Once they reached his room and shut the door he grabbed her and held her so tight she thought her ribs were going to snap. He nuzzled her hair and kissed her neck before kissing her thoroughly on the mouth.
“I was so scared,” he told her softly.
“Are you sure I wasn’t just at home…”
“I’m sure. Hannah saw you passing through Town Circle yesterday morning. She was with her parents having breakfast. She thinks you’re on drugs!”
Sadie didn’t remember any of it. They spent the next few hours pacing Luke’s room and talking. Well, Luke paced. Sadie sat quietly on his bed.
“What is the last thing you remember?”
“I had a headache…that’s it. When I woke up this morning I had the same terrible headache, which is why I thought it was the same day.” Surprisingly, despite all the stress, the headache was gone.
Luke questioned her closely and went over what Hannah had seen, but they were no closer to determining what she had done yesterday, or with whom. Nothing triggered a memory.
Luke laughed sheepishly. “I hoped that we wouldn’t go through this again—that your missing time and me talking to…that being…had been a fluke…a product of my imagination.”
“Mine too?” Sadie said dryly.
“Yeah, kinda.”
They were now curled up on his bed, exhausted. Sadie was scared. Was she mentally ill or had she been possessed again? Why couldn’t she remember anything?
Luke was holding her tightly and was kissing whatever part of her he could grab while they talked. After the panic and stress of Sadie’s disappearance yesterday, he had no intention of letting her go.
Luke’s physical affection had an overwhelming effect on Sadie. His warm mouth against hers made her body flush. It was quiet in his room. Dusk had fallen and the room was dim in the twilight. Sadie wrapped her arms tightly around Luke’s neck and pulled him on top of her and they kissed feverishly. Luke pressed her into the bed while her hands frantically pulled up his shirt and roamed over the skin of his back and then into his jeans, sliding over his butt and hip to the front of his body. Luke gasped as Sadie touched him. She was wild. He had unbuttoned her dress, unclipped her bra and put his mouth over her breast. She hadn’t stopped him. Instead, Sadie moaned at t
he sensations generated from Luke’s tongue rolling her nipple in his mouth and sucking. Pleasure bloomed in her belly. It was exquisite. His mouth was hot and wet, and when he switched sides, her nipple stiffened in the cool air before he continued fondling it with his hand.
“God, Sadie, you are so beautiful,” he groaned. She was still stroking him and he was like rock. He returned his mouth to hers. They were consumed with passion. Sadie was on fire. Luke lifted her dress and started tugging off her panties. Yes, she thought frantically, wiggling her hips to help.
All of a sudden they heard talking in the hallway outside his door, and they froze. John Barrington was talking with his wife.
“Blood on the houses? Is there a dead animal?”
“Yes, Bill Farmer says one of his cows was slaughtered and mutilated last night. They cut out it’s eyes.” Claire Barrington sounded disgusted.
“Did we get pictures of the sigils?”
“Yes, Sheriff Holt has a picture of each marking in his file. They’re all the same as the one on our house.”
“Claire, get a list of the families that were marked and make sure no one speaks to the press. I have no doubt Xander is sniffing around at this very moment…”
Their voices trailed off as they continued down the hallway.
Luke and Sadie clung to each other. Passion gone, their bodies now crushed tightly together for comfort.
“Oh no, Luke…” Sadie whispered in horror.
“Don’t panic,” Luke whispered back. “You don’t know for sure that you were involved in this.” He loved her so much and he wanted to reassure her, but he knew. Somehow he knew, deep in his bones, that Sadie had been responsible for the terrible events of last night.
“I need to go home and check my wardrobe. If I killed a cow and painted the town bloody, I must have been pretty dirty after that.”
Sadie called Luke when she got home. “My white dress is missing,” she said miserably. “Hannah said I was wearing white yesterday, right?”
“Yep,” Luke said hollowly.
“My aunt claims she doesn’t know where it is. She says I’M careless. ME. I’m sure she got rid of it. It explains why my hair was wet this morning.”
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