Book Read Free

The Box Omnibus #1 (The Box, The Journal, The Sword)

Page 13

by Gaudet, Christina G.


  “Your Mother left already.”

  I’d forgotten this was where she’d said she was going.

  “Actually, I need to talk to Rose.”

  Lilly shakes her head ones. “No.”

  I’d be shocked by her bluntness if it wasn’t the same every time I came to the house. There’d been a time when I was friends with the entire family. I wouldn’t have bothered to knock before barging inside and being welcomed as if it were my home.

  I hold back a sigh and say, “It’s important.”

  “Go away, Aldric.” She takes a small step back inside to allow room for the door to swing. “We don’t want anything to do with you. And Rose doesn’t want to see you.”

  Lilly tries to shut the door, but I use my weight to keep it open.

  “Rose?” I shout into the house, not caring who I disturb. “Rose? I need your help.”

  Rose’s wide eyes peek out from behind a doorway and instantly disappear again. Her sister sees the reaction and looks pleased.

  “See,” she says. “Rose doesn’t want anything to do with you.”

  And then she slams the door in my face.

  I turn and begin the walk back through the village and to my house, though this time at a slightly slower pace. When the sound of hurried footsteps catches up to me, I smile.

  “You’re getting slower,” I say.

  “My parents are getting smarter.” Her thin face lights up with a grin. “They actually tried to lock me in my room. I’m going to have so many extra chores when I get back.”

  My smile fades as guilt sets in. I know her punishments don’t always end with chores, though I’ve never heard her complain. “Sorry.”

  She lightly jabs my arm with her fist. “Don’t be stupid. What’s so important you had to break into my house to get me?”

  “I’m not sure,” I admit. “Sin’s come up with some sort of plan. She says we need your help.”

  “That’s what I’m here for,” she says, though her smile slips a little at the mention of Sin. I can’t blame her. “Lead the way, and I’ll do what I can.”

  Walking back through the village with Rose at my side makes the stares slightly more bearable. Unfortunately I know the gossip will affect Rose more than me. Her family still has a reputation to uphold, after all. Her walking alone with me isn’t helping her situation.

  Anger flares, but I manage to control it, at least for now. Besides, on whom could I take it out? The entire village? I’m sure they are all waiting for me to crack so they’ll have an excuse to turn on me.

  Rose studies me carefully as we walk the rest of the way home. I’m sure she can read every tiny change in emotion on my face, so I struggle to calm down. I pick up the pace, hoping the briskness of the walk will help hide my annoyance. Rose matches my speed without a word, though I notice a hint of concern in her eyes, though she quickly covers it with another smile.

  “Finally,” Sin says from the front step. “Could you have been any slower?”

  I’m about to say something rude when Rose interrupts.

  “What would you like me to do?”

  “For now, nothing.” There’s excitement in Sin’s eyes that piques my curiosity. What is she up to? “I don’t know if this is going to work. I’ve been trying to concentrate this entire time, but it’s hard.” She frowns at the box in her hand. “I hope that’s been enough time.”

  “Aren’t you supposed to explain now?” She ignores my reminder, squeezing her eyes shut as though she’s focusing. She flicks the latch without opening them and lifts the lid. Rose and I lean in to see what’s inside while Sin slowly opens one eye.

  At the same moment Sin exclaims, “Yes!” I catch sight of a bit of blue fabric. I pull the box out of her hand, much to her annoyance and stare, recognizing it instantly.

  “But...how?” The material feels soft and smooth in my fingers as I examine it. “There’s no hole in it, is there?”

  Sin reaches over and pulls out the miniature blue bag, identical to the one Lou cut open to regain her magic, except without the cut.

  “Five bags,” she says. “I never understood why Gran wanted to split up the magic, but maybe, just maybe, it was in case this exact situation came up.”

  “You want to open it and hope it releases her magic?” I don’t know whether to laugh or be impressed. “Will it work?”

  “Don’t know,” Sin says with a grin. “But the fact it’s here is a good sign. To be safe, Rose will have to make the cut. Because you’re right, I’m too much like you. Either of us might absorb the magic before it has a chance to find its way to Lou.”

  I don’t hesitate or ask questions or even think. I simply draw my sword and hand it to Rose. She doesn’t take it right away.

  “Please,” I say. “I need you to do this.”

  She doesn’t move. Her eyes go wide and she moves her head back and forth in small shakes. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to be doing. You find a bag in a box, get all excited and then hand me your sword. What’s going on?”

  Fair enough. “You need to cut the bag open with the tip of my sword. It shouldn’t be hard, but you need to do it as close to Lou as you can get. And we can’t be there.”

  My words only seem to make her more frightened as she asks, “What? Why?”

  “It’s how it has to be.” I don’t want to have to explain more since I know it will only make her more worried. I just hope her trust goes this far. “Sin and I shouldn’t be anywhere near the bag when it’s opened. And you have to make sure it’s close to Lou.”

  Rose hesitates for a few more seconds and then quietly says, “Why her?”

  At first I’m not sure what she means, but then I recognize the pain in her eyes. Loraine.

  “It won’t work,” I tell her softly. “This magic is linked directly to Lou. No one else can use it but her. Trust me, if I thought...”

  I stop when I remember Sin standing next to me. But she’s not the only thing making me hesitate. I’d always been so determined to find a way to help Loraine. I’d have done anything to bring her back. But when Sin revealed the bag, my only thought had been on helping Lou. If I hadn’t already known the bag wouldn’t work with Loraine, would I have thought any differently?

  Rose looks like she’s about to argue or maybe cry. Either way, I am not capable of dealing with the burst of emotion. Instead, I press the sword into her hand and step away. Rose tries to hide her fear and confusion while taking the bag from Sin. I want to say something encouraging, but I’m too confused myself.

  After an excruciating length of time, Rose finally nods her agreement and makes her way into the house. Sin and I watch her go until I can no longer stand still. I pace back and forth in the yard.

  “Thanks,” Sin says suddenly.

  “Of course. Anything to help.”

  “No, I mean thanks for calling me Sin.” She nudges me with her elbow. I guess that’s the closest to a sign of affection she’s capable of. “I figured you never would because Lou doesn’t.”

  “Really?” I ask. “You may have figured out how to save your sister, and you’re worried about what people call you?”

  She shrugs. “I really hate ‘Cindy.’”

  I don’t know whether to laugh or roll my eyes, so I don’t do anything but stand there, waiting for something to happen.

  “How do you think we’ll know if it works?” she asks.

  Whatever reply I’m about to give her is interrupted by a horrified scream from inside the house.

  Lou

  Chapter Seventeen

  Noise. Loud. A scream maybe? I don’t know. Nothing feels right. I don’t... I can’t...

  I struggle to move. Sit or stand. But maybe I already am sitting. I should try standing. My body twitches more violently than I expect and I smash what I think is my own hand against my face.

  “Ow,” I say. At least I think it’s my voice. I try again. “That hurt.”

  Yup. Definitely my voice. But where am I? And why is it so dark
? There must be something covering my eyes. The world never goes this dark naturally. There has to be something over my... nothing. My face feels so odd, though not because it’s covered in a damp layer of sweat. I’m used to that. After all, it’s not like dancing is easy.

  Dance! My rehersal. I’d missed it, hadn’t I? This is probably some sort of practical joke the others are playing on me, some way of getting back at me for slacking and missing something so important.

  So then why does my skin feel so odd? Had they covered it in something? Sparkles? Those never come off.

  But I know what sparkles feel like. And face paint and cloth. This seems to be something deeper. Something I’ve felt before, but can’t quite remember...

  “Rose! What’s wrong, Rose?”

  That voice. Who...

  “Lou! Oh shit, Lou. Can you hear me? Please say something.”

  There’s no mistaking her voice. “Cindy. What’ve you done?”

  At first I have no idea what’s happening as her arms wrap around me, so I pull away. But then when I realize she’s hugging me, I struggle harder to get free.

  “Are you stoned?” I ask. Not an unreasonable question, since it’s happened before. “Get off me. Mom’s going to be pissed when she finds out.”

  She laughs. “What? Lou. Are you all right? Tell me you’re fine. What do you remember?”

  My hands go back to my face and I rub my aching eyes. The pain feels wrong somehow, like it doesn’t really exist, it’s more a memory of a pain I once had. I switch to my hair instead. It’s the only normal feeling part of me, though there’s still some of the same oddness I feel from my skin. Plus it’s greasier and messier than usual, which makes me think I must be at a rehearsal. Or maybe a Taekwondo class.

  “Lou?” Cindy doesn’t sound nearly as weirdly excited as she before. “What’s wrong?”

  “What’s wrong is you’ve made it way too dark in here. Where are we anyway?”

  “Dark?”

  A large callused hand lightly grips my chin and turns my head to the left, and then a bit to the right. Something about the touch feels familiar, but like the feeling of my own skin, it’s not right either. It’s...

  “Lou?” the owner of the hand says in a gentle, calming voice. My memories ache as I try to remember where I’ve heard him before. “I need you to look at me.”

  I shake my head a little, not able to speak. Yet, why wasn’t I freaking out? Why wasn’t I pulling away or blushing or saying something idiotic to this stranger?

  The realization hits me in slow waves as I start to remember. The box. The drive. People chasing us. Gran’s house. And...

  “Al?” My voice cracks. I swallow and start again. “Is it you?”

  He sighs deeply and releases my chin, which is about the worst thing he could possibly do. Nothing’s working properly, not my limbs, not my lungs, and definitely not my eyes. And now I’m completely alone.

  I try again to scramble to my feet, this time with a little more success. But only a little. My legs get caught in some sort of rough fabric—a blanket?—and when I move, I end up tumbling gracelessly off whatever it is I’m sitting on.

  It must not occur as fast in real life as it does in my head, or Al has quick reflexes. He grabs me before I hit the floor and holds me steady. My panic at the feeling of my trapped legs fades as he loosens the fabric binding me.

  He shifts layers of material aside until his hand touches my skin. His fingers linger on my ankle for a moment, the strange energy pulsing from him racing up my leg. When he pulls away, my body once again moves on its own, this time drawn by the heat passing between us until I press my leg to his side.

  It’s not until I hear a cough I realize I’m so absorbed in the feeling of his skin I’ve practically wrapped my leg around him.

  “Put her back on the bed,” Cindy says.

  There’s no hesitation from Al as he lifts me up and sets me on the mattress. The moment I’m down, he steps away and the comfort of whatever I felt from him disappears.

  I don’t understand his need to get away from me, and I wish he’d come back. Without him near, everything is confusing again. I desperately attempt to rub the sight back into my eyes. I need to be able to see. Why can’t I see?

  “What’s wrong with her?” Cindy says.

  “Give her a minute. She’s just woken up.”

  Something about the way he speaks makes me realize it’s more than a normal sleep I’ve woken from. Though I’m pretty sure it’s a bed I was struggling to rise from, it’s also not one I recognize. It could be one in Gran’s house, but I don’t...

  “Oh,” I say aloud.

  They caught up to us. I remember now. Stewart and Borin caught up. We tried to run, but then Stewart... so much pain.

  “He stole my magic.” My voice trembles with unshed tears. “He ripped it from me. I thought I was going to die.”

  “I’m sorry,” Al says. “I couldn’t stop it.”

  His words feel wrong. Like he’s not talking to me, but to someone else entirely.

  “This is insane,” an unfamiliar girl says.

  Stomping follows a few seconds later.

  “Rose, wait!” Al calls to the girl.

  More footsteps follow.

  “Cindy?” I ask. She can’t have left. Why is everyone leaving me? “Are you still here?”

  As soon as I say the words, I realize she must be. There’s an unusual sense of something making my skin itch, coming from a little further over on the bed. It makes me feel uneasy, similar to the dust she carries around.

  “You really can’t see, can you?” Cindy asks.

  The tears I’ve been holding back come pouring out in sobs and gasps. I’ve never had my emotions rip through me as hard as the tears do. They seem to be never ending, causing complete exhaustion.

  At first as I cry, Cindy tries patting or rubbing my shoulder, but it doesn’t help. I want to stop, I do, but I can’t remember how. All I can remember is the pain and Stewart lowering his lips to mine.

  The image won’t fade and I can’t open my eyes to replace it with something else. Anything else.

  I think Cindy tries to speak at first. Maybe explain what’s happened since Stewart stole my magic. I don’t hear her. I can’t concentrate on her voice. The only thing I can think of is the never-ending darkness. I need to open my eyes. I need to be able to see.

  I have no idea how long I cry, though I’d guess hours. There are bits of noise, whispered conversations, footsteps, and doors shutting. I drift in and out of consciousness until I slowly emerge from the fog surrounding my mind since waking.

  “How is she doing?” an older woman’s voice asks from what I can only assume is the doorway.

  I don’t make any sign of having heard her. She’s not talking to me after all.

  “She’s...” Cindy starts and then stops. “I have no idea. She’s not talking. She stopped sobbing, which is probably good.”

  “Think she can handle some food?”

  As soon as she says it, my stomach makes a loud grumbling sound, clearly giving me away.

  I slowly sit up, wiping my face with the back of my hands with little effect. My skin is still soaked, and worse, it still feels wrong.

  “I could eat,” I say shyly. “But I wouldn’t mind cleaning up first.”

  “Of course, dear. The washroom is over there.”

  I know she’s showing me which way to go rather than telling me, but I try not to get too upset. Every time I blink, I expect the darkness to fade away, so it’s no surprise she hasn’t gotten used to the situation yet either. At least the tears are minimal.

  “I guess I’ll help you,” Cindy says, a little unsure of herself. “Come on.”

  After washing up with Cindy awkwardly lending a hand, she leads me to some other part of the house and sits me down at a table.

  “This is her?” A deep man’s voice booms. Instantly I picture an older man, maybe somewhere close to middle age. From his accent, I know he’s from the s
ame area as Al. “The girl you chose to save over your own sister?”

  “Father,” Al says. “Leave it.”

  “Your sister?” I feel immediately guilty, though I don’t fully understand what’s happening. “She’s here?”

  “Did Sin not tell you where you are?” Al asks. I shake my head in response. “You’re in my world. In my parents’ house.”

  Maybe I should be surprised, but I’m too drained to feel anything more than mild interest.

  “Oh.”

  There’s a clatter on the table in front of me as someone sets down an object. Timidly, I reach forward to find a bowl first and then a spoon set next to it.

  “I hope you like chicken stew,” the older woman says.

  Al already identified his father, so I assume she must be his mother. For some weird reason, the realization causes my nerves to kick into high gear. It’s almost as bad as when I am about to go on stage.

  “Thank you,” I say suddenly, almost shouting the words rather than speaking them. I clear my throat. “For the food, I mean. And I guess for having me here. I hope I haven’t been too much trouble.”

  There seems to be a slight lessening of the tension I hadn’t noticed when I first entered the room.

  “Oh,” Al’s mother stammers. “No, not any trouble. Try to eat up.”

  I obediently scoop up some food and manage to not completely miss my mouth. The taste of chicken is so intense and delicious, I can’t help but smile.

  “What did you tell Mom?” I ask Cindy. Silence. Was she in the room? “Cindy?”

  “I was busy.”

  I nearly choke on my second spoonful of food. “You didn’t call Mom?”

  “You were mostly dead. I was figuring out how to bring you back.”

  My voice rises along with my shock toward my sister. “You couldn’t find five minutes to call Mom and let her know we’re still alive? Never mind the fact her boyfriend’s a psychopathic lunatic who sucked the life out of me and he could easily be going after her next. Don’t bother warning her though.”

 

‹ Prev