by Baker, Apryl
His eyes widened. Jeff knew something was up. He wasn’t even close to failing Calc. The boy had the highest average in our class. He freakin killed the curve.
“You’re having problems with math?” His father lowered the newspaper he’d been reading and stared at him in open disbelief. “Math is your best subject.”
“Yeah, well, advanced Calculus is a bit harder than I thought it was going to be,” he muttered and shoveled more eggs into his mouth.
“It’s nice to be able to finally say I know something he doesn’t when it comes to math,” I smirked. Lying seemed to be getting easier and easier for me. Dang it.
“That’s very nice of you, CJ, to try and help him,” his mother told me.
“Hurry up,” I told him and rinsed off my plate before setting it in the dishwasher. “I figured we’d go to the library. It’s quiet there and no one will be up this early on a Saturday morning.”
He nodded and put his own dishes away. I waited for him by the door while he grabbed his bookbag. His mom and I chatted about the Halloween competition. She was worried. Mom’s scene of zombies attacking Santa Clause had her slightly alarmed. Mom, however, would be thrilled. I made a mental note to tell her when I got home.
“Come on, CJ.” Jeff yanked on his coat and we left the house. “Where are we going?” he asked.
“To the tree house.”
Dad had built the tree house for me and Emily when I was about six or seven. No one would overhear us there. It was a good ten minute walk from my house.
“What’s up?” he asked once we were settled inside.
“I need answers and you’re going to give them to me, Jeffrey Silas Parker.” My voice came out harder than I intended, but I was still pretty pissed at him.
“Answers?”
“About what’s going on with the Coven.”
“CJ, you know I can’t talk about the Coven. You’re not a member.”
“Don’t give me that bullshit, Jeff. You owe me.”
“I wasn’t in on any of that,” he snapped.
“No, but you made damned sure I found out about it in the worst possible way. Now what kind of friend does that make you?”
“A crappy one,” he sighed. “I’m sorry, CJ. It was wrong, I know, but I just wanted you to see that Ethan’s not the guy you think he is.”
“Then who is he?” I demanded.
“What do you mean?”
I growled in frustration. “Don’t act like you don’t know what I’m talking about. Who is he?”
He looked out the window, refusing to answer.
“Dammit, Jeff…”
“Can’t you just for once in your life trust me?”
Trust him? Everyone seemed to be telling me to trust them. Oddly, Jeff was the only one I did trust.
“I do, Jeff, that’s why I’m here. No one else will tell me what’s going on. I just want the truth. I thought you’d tell me that much.”
“It’s not that simple,” he sighed. “There are things I can’t say.”
“Things about the curse?”
His head whipped around to face me and his eyes bulged with shocked surprise.
“They killed her, Jeff. The Coven killed Emily and it has something to do with that stupid curse. I need to find out why.”
“No, CJ, you’re wrong,” he shook his head. “She was the Junior Coven leader. They wouldn’t hurt her.”
“They did. I found her diary. Her last entry said they were coming for her. She died that same night.”
“But…”
“The night she died, she was so scared. I stayed with her while Mom and Dad talked to the doctors. I never told anyone, but she woke up for a few minutes. She said I was right, that it was a bunch of nonsense, but her eyes were full of fear. She made me promise not to go anywhere near the Coven.”
“That’s why you never came to any of the meetings?” he asked softly.
“I made a promise to her and now I have to break it. I have to find out why they killed her. It has to do with the curse and the boy she saw. Is that who Ethan is? The stranger that got the town all riled up before?”
“I wish I could tell you.” He hung his head. “I can’t.”
“Yes, you can!” I shouted. “Please, I have to know why my sister died.”
“The c-c-c…” His voice broke off and he made a horrible choking sound.
“Are you okay?” I asked, alarmed. He was starting to turn blue. It looked like something was choking the life out of him. I ran over to pound him on the back, but he waved me off. He stopped trying to talk and his face slowly turned back to its normal tan shade. Well, almost normal. He looked a little pasty.
“I can’t!” he whispered hoarsely. “I want to tell you, but I can’t! They made sure of it.”
“Who? The Coven?”
He nodded.
Now how in the world…well crap. A binding spell.
“They bound your words?”
Again he could only nod.
I sat down, defeated, and lay back to stare up at the wood beams in the makeshift roof. I’d counted on Jeff being able to tell me the truth, but that idea had gone out the window faster than the handbags in a Vera Wang clearance sale. A binding spell literally wouldn’t let him speak the words he’d been forbidden to voice. It’d kill him first. Emily had told me about those types of spells. She hated what they could do. He really couldn’t tell me a damn thing.
Now what the hell was I supposed to do?
“I’m sorry, CJ,” he said miserably. “If I could…”
“I know,” I told him. And I knew he would tell me. He wanted to tell me about the curse, but he’d been forbidden. Wait, maybe… “Can you write it down on paper?”
“I don’t know,” he frowned and pulled out a notebook. He started to write. The paper flamed up in his hands and burned his fingers. “OUCH!”
“Okay, there goes plan B.” The curse was off limits. No talking and no writing. Where did that leave me? The book. He might be able to say something about that if I didn’t ask anything about the curse.
“Jeff, is there a book at the Hall protected by wards?” I asked.
“Yeah,” he said and fell down beside me. “We’re not supposed to go near it. Why?”
So maybe the binding spell was limited to the curse.
“Emily’s diary said she’d found the answers in the book, but that it was heavily warded. I need to get my hands on it.”
“Not gonna happen, CJ.” He rolled over to face me. “No one can get near that thing, not even Kay.”
“She’s tried?” I asked, surprised.
“Of course she has,” he snorted. “She almost set her hair on fire the last time she attempted to break the wards.”
“Wards can do that?” I frowned. Not what I wanted to hear.
He sighed. “CJ, wards are dangerous. They can cause some really nasty stuff to happen.”
It was my turn to sigh. I needed to play catch up fast. Where were the Cliff Notes version when you needed them? I propped myself up on one arm so I could look at him. “I have to get my hands on that book. Will you help me?”
His face blanched and he stared at me in horror.
“Please, Jeff. I can’t do it by myself and I don’t trust anyone else to help me.” It was wrong, I knew it was wrong, but I played on his feelings for me. Jeff liked me. A lot. It was so very wrong. “You’re all I have. Please.”
His face softened. “I can try.”
“Thank you,” I whispered. I was so going to hell for this.
He nodded and sat up, rubbing his hands together. “Damn, but it’s cold.”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “I’m freezing. It’s not like we can light a fire up here or something.”
I felt a little shock of electricity filter through me and then the air warmed, bathing us both in its heat. I shot up into a sitting position. It wasn’t just warm. I was warm. Toasty even.
“Shit,” Jeff croaked.
My sentiments exactly.
/>
“You haven’t even gone through the Rite of Initiation to be tested by the Elements yet,” Jeff shook his head, amazed. “They respond to you. They deemed you worthy without the test?”
I felt dizzy. I didn’t want this. I wanted everything to go back to normal. But it wouldn’t. I knew that deep down. I should have listened and ran from the initiation when my instincts told me to run. But I hadn’t. Instead, I let the Elements in.
“I didn’t do that!” I tried to deny the truth. “I didn’t even call on an Element.”
“You did, CJ. You said Fire. That’s all it took.”
Shit, shit, shit!
“CJ, how long has this been going on? Since the Elements greeted you at Meg’s initiation?”
“A bit longer than that,” I hedged.
“How long is a bit?”
“As long as I can remember,” I told him sheepishly. I chanced a look at his face.
“Years?” he glared. “Years? Really?”
“I didn’t know what it meant. I always explained it away. I never wanted any of this. I didn’t believe in it.”
“I know,” he sighed. “You can’t explain it away now, though, huh?”
“No.”
“When was the first time you remembered something like this happening?” he asked curiously.
“Do you remember when we were six and we had that big black out?”
“Yeah,” he grinned. “Billy was at my house. Screamed like a girl when the lights went out.” He shot me a look. “No offense.”
“Yeah, well I did scream like a girl,” I laughed. “I was upstairs by myself. Dad yelled for me to stay where I was, he’d come get me. I remember stomping my foot and yelling that I wanted the lights to come back on right now and they…did.”
“Oh, yeah, I remember that. Dad couldn’t figure out how your house had lights when no one else’s did. You guys didn’t have a generator back then.”
“Freaked Mom and Dad out to no end,” I grinned. “Now I know why.”
“Yeah, you’re a freak of nature all right,” he grinned.
“Hey!” I shoved him and laughed.
His smile faded. “You really like him don’t you?”
“Yeah, I do,” I admitted.
“Just be careful, CJ. Ethan is more than he seems. Don’t trust him.”
“I wish you could tell me why.” I stood up and walked to the window. The woods spread out before me, their colors dimmed by the early morning fog. I didn’t trust Ethan. I wanted to, so very much, but I didn’t. I just wished I knew why.
“So do I, CJ, so do I,” Jeff muttered behind me.
“Do you have anything I can read on beginning witchcraft?” I asked him at last. “I feel so behind. I need to know this stuff if I’m going to get through those wards.”
“Yeah, you can borrow all my books. I’ll even raid Mom and Dad’s books, but I don’t think you can get through them, CJ. I wish you wouldn’t try. You could get yourself killed.”
“I know,” I told him. “So, can you take me to the Hall to get a look at this book?”
He looked violently alarmed.
“From a distance,” I assured him. “I promise I won’t try to get near it.”
“That’s…that’s…”
“Are you going to tell me about the curse?”
“You know I can’t,” he growled.
“Then I need that book and it’s going to require some recon work. Are you up for it, Double-O-Seven?”
“Don’t you mean Neighbor Boy?” he quirked an eyebrow.
I looked at him nonplussed. Now how did he know about that?
“You think I don’t know what you and Emily called me?” he laughed.
“But how?”
“You guys used to sit on your back porch and talk all the time. Your voices carried.”
“You eavesdropped on us?” I cried in outrage.
“Oh yeah,” he nodded. “All the time.”
“You…you…you…”
“Come on, let’s get going,” he laughed. “We should probably get to the Hall while it’s still early. There won’t be many people there and we stand a better chance of getting a look at the book. From a distance,” he warned.
My lips pursed, but I followed him down the ladder. He was so going to pay for that.
But after I saw the book.
Chapter Fifteen
Gallows Lane was just off Main Street so we made it to the Hall in ten minutes. Lucy’s was busy even for a Saturday morning. What if there were more people out and about than we’d originally thought? Jeff must have been thinking the same thing because he led us around behind the library to the back of the Hall. He put a finger to his lips and disappeared inside.
I looked up at the old building. The Hall was one of the first structures that went up when the town was founded. It looked like some grand old colonial mansion with its wide porches and good old-fashioned New England architecture. It stood three stories high and was meticulously repainted every year. White, of course, with blazing red shutters and a garden most would sell their souls to have. I loved the old building and it had starred in several of my short stories.
It also intrigued me. Even though I’d promised to never go near the Coven and adamantly refused to believe in witchcraft, I was insanely curious about what it looked like on the inside. Kay offered to show me around, but I never took her up on it because of my promise to my sister. Now that I had the chance to get a look inside, I was bouncing with excitement. What would it look like? Would it feel different? Would I feel different inside? A million questions buzzed in my head.
Jeff stuck his head out the back door and motioned me inside. I found myself in a small entryway of some sort. A soft, earthy tone colored the walls and white, frilly curtains adorned the windows. The room was bright and airy. Nothing dark and macabre here as in my stories about the place.
“Come on, there’s hardly anybody here,” he whispered. “We’ll go through the kitchen and duck down the back hallway. The room is just off the library.”
He led me through another door and into the kitchen which appeared very modern. Stainless steel appliances and industrial sized refrigerators were pretty much all I could see as Jeff dragged me in a dead run through the room and out another door. So much for my having a chance to look around, I thought wryly as I tried not to fall through the door he pushed me through. The hallway in front of us was narrow and very dark. He didn’t turn on the lights as we crept forward, and paused when we reached a set of massive double doors. He put his ear to the door and listened. The library, I guessed.
“Good,” he whispered. “They’re still eating. Come on, let’s get this over with.”
He pushed the door open and very carefully stepped over the threshold. I followed and closed the door behind me. Light blinded me. He’d turned on a wall lamp close to my eyes. Blinking rapidly, I tried very hard not to yell at him with people next door. It took a great effort. He shot me an apologetic look.
Once my eyes focused, I looked around. The room was plain, windowless. No furniture of any type decorated it. The walls were painted a standard egg-shell white. The only item in the room was a large pedestal of some sort. It was about four feet high and an ancient symbol was carved into the mahogany wood. I frowned. It was the same symbol that we wore on our school uniform and carved into the monument in town. Curious, I stepped forward.
Jeff grabbed my arm. I opened my mouth to protest, but stopped. He stared open-mouthed at the pedestal. What was wrong with him? He looked afraid. “What?” I asked him.
“It’s gone, CJ.”
My eyes flew back to the pedestal. He was right. There was no book there. I’d been so busy looking at the symbol carved into every inch of the wood, I failed to notice the Book was missing. Well, damn. Where the hell was my Book? Wait, my Book? I shook my head at my own foolishness. It held the answers I needed. That’s all. It wasn’t my Book.
“Maybe someone in the library has it?” I suggested. �
�To check something?”
He shook his head. “The book never leaves this room. It’s forbidden to remove it.”
Double damn.
“The wards are down,” he whispered. “Someone broke through the wards and took it.”
Someone stole my Book? No freakin way! I needed that Book!
“Are you sure?” I demanded in a hoarse whisper. What else could go wrong?
“Can’t you smell it?” he whispered. “Sulpher and burnt wood?”
I sniffed and to my amazement, I did. It was very faint, but the odors were there. Sort of smelled like rotten eggs. So, ugh.
“We have to go,” Jeff pushed me toward the door, but we both stopped at the sound of a knock next door.
The library door opened and Mr. Martin greeted the newcomer. “Gregg, we didn’t expect you this early.”
“My plans fell through so I thought I’d come over a little early. You’re still planning on consulting the book about the specifics for the ritual aren’t you?”
Crap. It was Jeff’s dad. Jeff's breathing hitched up several notches. Panic mode hit him full force.
“Yes,” Mr. Martin agreed. “We were just about to go in.”
“Shit!” Jeff’s voice came out in a strangled whisper. “They can’t find us here, CJ. The book is gone…what the hell are we going to do? There’s no way out of here!”
“Surely they won’t think we had anything to do with this,” I argued.
My stomach clenched and I doubled over from the unexpected pain. Okay, so maybe them finding us here wasn’t such a good idea. My instincts agreed with Jeff. He was right, though. What the hell were we going to do?
More voices joined the men in the hallway and panic crept up my spine. Its icy fingers teased the nape of my neck and my stomach wrenched painfully.
“CJ…” Jeff’s panic hit a new level. He grabbed my hand and squeezed. Hard.
“Be quiet,” I hissed. “Let me think.”
Calm down, I told myself, and think. We couldn’t get out. There were no windows in the room and nowhere to hide either. Dammit. Well, Emily had said I was good with spells. It seemed to be our only option at the moment even if it sounded ridiculous. I said the first words that came to mind.
