Dark Before Dawn

by Stacy Juba

  Instead he nudged Tom. "I think we've got ourselves a party crasher," Jeff said with a grin.

  "What do you think this is, a wedding?" Tom snorted, gesturing to her dress.

  "Where did you get your dress, a funeral parlor?" Susan asked. "It looks like something an old lady was buried in."

  Elaine elevated her chin. She should never have come here. Her crush on Jeff had blinded her psychic abilities. And her common sense. "At least I don’t look like a tramp."

  "Ooh, harsh," Lindsay giggled.

  "You'd better make her a hamburger, Jeff," Tom said. "I don’t think she eats. Check out those skinny legs. They look like sticks."

  Jeff didn’t defend her, even as Tom went on, "Look at all the scratches on them. They're like table legs."

  Fists curling at her sides, Elaine backed away and bumped into the rearview mirror of a van.

  "What a klutz," Lindsay snickered.

  "You'll be sorry. You'll all be sorry." Elaine strode to her grandmother’s Oldsmobile, leaving their laughter behind.

  "That'll teach you to stalk my boyfriend!" Susan shouted after her.

  Rage exploded through Elaine's head, as it had when her father used to hit her. He'd slapped her face, leaving black and blue marks that lasted weeks. She told everyone at school that she'd walked into a wall or fallen down the stairs. Not many people asked. The others kids didn't care, but a few teachers pretended they cared.

  Her mother would sit on the bed and rub Elaine's back. "He's just doing it because he loves you," she’d say.

  Her mother never stood up to him, even when he belted Elaine for not washing the dishes or taking out the garbage. Her mother had her own bruises to hide. Elaine resolved that no man would treat her like that, and hated her mother for being spineless. Aunt Serina understood her pain and would let Elaine sleep over as much as her parents allowed.

  When Aunt Serina died of breast cancer, Elaine lost the only person she'd truly loved. She would have traded her inherited gift of psychic intuition for more time with her aunt, but she hadn't had a choice. Some of her aunt's friends continued her training. And they were not as kindly as her aunt.

  By the time she was fifteen, Elaine knew she couldn't live with her parents. She needed to start over with her grandmother, in Covington.

  After her father stabbed her mother and then himself, everyone thought he'd gone crazy. No one suspected that Elaine stood in the kitchen doorway, controlling their every move.

  Aunt Serina would have been upset, but Elaine had no other choice. If only her mother had stood up for her, Elaine might have let her survive. Her grandmother had been better than her parents, but Elaine had suffered in school. For two long years.

  This betrayal was the worst of all. Staying hidden in the shadowy parking lot, she focused on Tom, Jeff, Susan and Lindsay as they stuffed their faces with hamburgers and listened to rock music. Afterwards, Susan and Jeff challenged their friends to a volleyball game.

  "You guys play," Lindsay said. "I hate volleyball."

  "You sure?" Jeff asked.

  Lindsay nodded, and the others positioned themselves in front of the net, two-on-one. She leaned back on her blanket and fiddled with the radio station.

  Elaine closed her eyes, a rush of energy tingling over her as she tried mind control for the second time in her life.

  Head toward the ocean.

  She sensed Lindsay pushing herself to her feet. Lindsay trudged across the sand, ignoring the volleyball her friends smacked back and forth in the darkening sky.

  Walk into the water until it’s over your shoulders.

  Lindsay waded in and halted.

  Don’t stop. Go deeper.

  Elaine's orders hit the block of Lindsay’s panic. Gritting her teeth, Elaine repeated the instructions.

  Icy waves washed over Lindsay’s bathing suit and salt water plastered against her hair.

  Don’t turn around.

  Feeling Lindsay struggle to face the other direction, Elaine bore down harder. Lindsay’s legs pushed her forward, making her walk into the cold and wet.

  Wade deeper until it’s over your shoulders.

  As her victim revolted, Elaine pushed the instructions harder: You’re a horrible person. Keep going. You’ll get what you deserve.

  Elaine felt Lindsay’s feet leave the sandy bottom. She rejoiced when Lindsay’s screams congealed in her throat.

  No one can help you. You’re going to drown. Your lungs will fill with water.

  Lindsay’s head bobbed under the moonlit surface as her group's far-off cries sank away into the distance.

  Elaine heard her final thought: I'm going to die.

  "Lindsay!" Jeff raced into the ocean, Tom and Susan close behind.

  Elaine's eyes snapped open, the connection broken.

  Jeff clasped Lindsay’s waist and pulled her to shore.

  Cursing under her breath, Elaine watched him lower Lindsay to the sand. He tilted her head and bent over her. Elaine heard the sputter of coughing from twenty feet away. She had failed.

  Susan brushed back her friend's stringy blonde bangs. "Lindsay! Lindsay! Are you okay?"

  "I don't know," Lindsay murmured. "What happened?"

  Elaine slipped back into the night.

  ***

  Dawn jolted out of her trance, the office sharpening into focus around her. Her revamped crystals had proven their value, all right. She locked her rubbery arms around her knees, breathing in and out.

  Though Dawn hadn't gotten a clear picture of Elaine, having experienced the scene from Elaine’s point of view, she knew that awkward girl had grown up into Serina. Dawn's blood thundered in her eardrums. Serina had killed her own parents.

  Gulping, Dawn fingered her blue star earrings. Serina hadn’t chosen the school logo by coincidence. The stars symbolized hatred. Revenge. Death. She’d avenged her enemies by having Candace kill off their children as payback. Susan and Tom were each mourning the loss of a son, but who was Lindsay? Had Serina settled the score with her yet?

  Dawn rifled through the yearbook and located Lindsay’s senior picture. Lindsay Hamilton. Her haughty expression reminded Dawn of someone. Could she have seen Lindsay around town as an adult?

  Dawn gazed around the office in bewildered misery. Among the notebooks, pencils and paper clips cluttering the desk stood a framed photo of Ken.

  As Jeff's son, he was next. Other than Lindsay’s offspring, if any existed, he was the only one left.

  Dawn went down to the kitchen and stuffed Candace’s plant into a garbage bag. She pushed the ceramic bowl all the way to the bottom and flattened the vibrant green leaves. Dawn twisted a tie around the top, hefted the bag to the barrel in the driveway and buried it with a twinge of regret.

  What a waste, but plants couldn’t be re-programmed like crystals. She couldn’t afford the negative vibes from Candace’s gift inhabiting her house.

  Next on her list was grounding herself through nature. Dawn strolled along the sidewalk, soaking up energy from the trees and grass, inhaling fresh air into her lungs and the autumn scent of burning leaves. Dogs barked from backyards and a flock of birds skimmed across the cloudy sky.

  She walked for more than an hour in the invigorating crispness. Once her mind was clear and her legs fatigued, Dawn turned back to her house. Ken and Jeff were home, their cars parked in the drive.

  The peppers and onions aroma of meatloaf, Jeff’s specialty, bathed the kitchen. Dawn sidled up behind her stepfather in the living room. Ken and her mother must be upstairs. Her mom had never come looking for her, following the order to mind her own business. Good. Dawn needed space.

  "Feeling better?" Jeff glanced up as he glued a miniature cannon onto the deck of his model.

  Dawn shuffled closer, surprised at his progress. His collection of parts finally resembled a ship with a cabin, stairwells and masts. She pulled out a chair at the card table and cupped a miniature life boat. Too bad it couldn’t carry her away, deliver them all away, from Serina. "Yeah
. Do you know what I heard? Serina went to school with you. Her real name is Elaine Corbett."

  "Elaine Corbett," Jeff repeated. "Yeah, I remember her. She was a quiet kid. Got picked on a lot. That’s Serina? Why would she lie about living in town?"

  Dawn opened her mouth, then clamped it shut. She couldn’t tell him the truth. He might confront Serina again and get himself killed.

  "I guess she wanted to reinvent herself," Dawn said. "By the way, do you know Lindsay Hamilton? Vicky met somebody who wants to contact her."

  Jeff stared at her oddly and lowered his brush of clear glue to the table. "I’m surprised Vicky doesn’t know about Lindsay. I thought it was common knowledge."

  "What do you mean?"

  "Lindsay’s daughter goes to your school, with a different last name. I hear you’re well acquainted with her. Renee."

  The lifeboat slipped out of Dawn’s hands and capsized onto a sheet of spread-out newspaper. Of course, she should have connected the resemblance, both in appearance and personality. No wonder she’d had the impression that Renee’s mother didn’t kill herself. Serina must have interfered, forcing her to write the goodbye note and drink the poison.

  But why had she gone after Lindsay, not her daughter? It didn’t match the pattern.

  "What happened to Renee’s mom?" Dawn pretended ignorance about the so-called suicide. She needed as many details as she could gather.

  "She drank a glass of water laced with Sodium Cyanide, at least that’s the rumor," Jeff said, his lips compressed into a line. "It was last year, shortly after Lindsay’s divorce. She and Renee were living in New Hampshire. One day Renee came home and found her mother dead."

  Dawn’s stomach nosedived, the stench of meatloaf making her queasy. Renee had entered her house expecting it to be like any other day, and discovered her mother’s corpse. Worse, Renee believed her mother killed herself.

  "That’s awful," she murmured. "Where would Lindsay get Sodium Cyanide? You can’t just buy it in a store, can you?"

  "I heard she pilfered it from the jewelry manufacturing company where she worked," Jeff said. "It’s used commercially in metal recovery, extracting gold or silver from their ores, and in electroplating metals like gold, silver, copper, and platinum."

  Dawn sat stiffly, fingernails embedded into her lap. Lindsay hadn’t stolen that poison willingly. Serina had used mind control to make her steal it. Make her drink it. Maybe she’d even stood in the room and watched her die.

  "All my high school friends have had some tragedy happen. I'm getting paranoid." Jeff couldn’t quite carry off the light tone. "We’ve got a few minutes until dinner. Want to help me glue some parts?"

  Dawn nodded. She busied herself positioning the lifeboats and steering wheel, the tediousness steadying her earthquake hands but not allaying her convulsing thoughts. When the phone rang a few minutes later, Dawn knew who was on the other end.

  She picked up the kitchen extension and fixed the receiver to her ear. "What happened?"

  "I think Serina’s suspicious," Jamie said in a rush. "She got quiet when I told her you were sick and kept frowning. We didn’t have a lesson. She went into another room with Candace, and then sent us home. What do you think this means?"

  It meant Serina didn’t want to waste more time. She had another victim to kill and wouldn’t risk anyone meddling. The neon sign snapped into Dawn’s head, only this time it didn’t flash Hijacking.

  It flashed Tomorrow.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Dawn tailed Ken to his morning classes and stood guard around the corner from his classrooms. She wielded a hall pass in case any teachers questioned her, which happened twice. Although Scott and Tim had been killed off the premises, Dawn couldn’t risk leaving her stepbrother on his own. Defenseless.

  As she waited, Dawn fingered the Lapis pendant on her necklace. She had left the crystals on the patio overnight to recharge under the stars. Perhaps it was her imagination, but energy buzzed through her hands whenever she touched one of the gems.

  At 11:00, Dawn followed Ken and his friends to the cafeteria. He had first lunch while Dawn normally had second. She squeezed onto the end of a crowded table across the cafeteria, ignoring the unwelcome stares of the other occupants.

  As she huddled in her seat, Dawn caught a flame of red hair at Ken’s table. Her chest clenched, then relaxed. It wasn’t Candace.

  At 11:30, the students streamed toward the open double doors. Craning her neck, Dawn elbowed her way through the pack. She’d lost him.

  She raised herself on her tiptoes, straining to see. Dawn jostled through the crowd, her gut tightening. Where was he?

  Dozens of kids talked and laughed around her. She scanned their faces, whipping her head back and forth. Dawn exhaled as she spotted Ken turning the corner. She fell into step several feet behind him, breathing deeply.

  Around the bend, she passed Vicky reaching into a locker. A voice bellowed in Dawn’s head: Make her remember. Have her come with you. Now!

  Dawn floundered for a second, and then stopped in her path to concentrate on Vicky. Remember your talk with Dawn. Go with her now. Lives are at stake.

  Vicky slammed her locker door and hurried over, looking a little dazed. "Do you really think Candace is killing people? I feel guilty for even wondering that."

  Huh? Dawn blinked. Vicky was acting as if they were in the middle of a conversation. She must be continuing from where they left off in the chemistry lab, before her dose of mind control. Dawn started walking again and checked to make sure Vicky was following.

  "Don’t feel guilty. Candace is going after Ken next. I’ve been watching out for him all day."

  "Maybe she wants to play a mean joke on him," Vicky said. "We’ve got to be wrong about her, Dawn. This is crazy."

  "We’re not wrong. Let’s just hope Candace is being controlled herself so we can reverse it." A disturbing thought occurred to Dawn. If Candace was under Serina’s spell, why wasn’t her natural intuition making her conflicted? She hadn’t shown signs of headaches or energy drains.

  Just because I reacted that way doesn’t mean everyone will.

  Yet the worry lingered.

  The bell signaled second lunch, but Ken didn’t go to class. Dawn and Vicky tagged along as he wandered by the library, audiovisual room and cable television studio, leading them deeper into the maze of corridors.

  "Where's he going?" Vicky whispered as he strode past a maintenance closet.

  Dawn shushed her with her finger, her heart beating a crescendo. Ken opened a door to a staircase she had never noticed. She let him go up the steps, then she and Vicky climbed after him. As they reached the landing, a stirring of cold air chilled Dawn. Ken had disappeared through a door with a glass panel.

  "Where are we?" Vicky mouthed.

  Dawn froze as images darted through her mind. Ken teetering on edge, plunging to the pavement. Blood reddening his blond hair.

  "The roof!" Dawn inched open the door and watched through the crack. Candace’s red hair billowed in the bitter wind. Stay put, Dawn told herself. She shouldn’t waste the element of surprise. Vicky crouched beside her, peering through the rectangle of glass.

  Without speaking, Candace pinned her stare on a point between Ken’s shoulder blades. He marched forward, a toy soldier directed by remote control, his eyes zombie-like and his complexion pale. A shudder rippled through Dawn’s body like an electrical current and she choked back a gasp. Vicky looked up and silently implored Dawn.

  It was time to see which of Serina's star pupils had the most talent.

  Dawn blocked the waves of fear pummeling her mind, tuning out her thoughts and centering for a moment on her sparkling blue-jeweled telepathy room. Ken, turn around and walk toward the door.

  He kept walking as if all the life had been starched out of him. Dawn fought back a surge of panic. Ken, I’m ordering you to turn around and come to me.

  Ken paused, his head cocked. Candace pivoted to the door.

  "Show yourself,
Dawn," she said in a monotone.

  "She’s not herself, I can tell," Dawn whispered to Vicky. "Stay here."

  Murmuring a quick prayer, Dawn strode out onto the black coal tar surface. Sunlight reflected down on an array of vents, lightning rods and copper cables. Ken, go into the school.

  Dawn’s gaze darted to Ken, then Candace, both standing motionless. Dawn sensed a quiet humming of dark energy coming from Candace, knew she had to stop it. And soon.

  Candace’s voice reverberated in Ken’s mind. Don’t listen to this intruder. Keep walking to the ledge.

  Eyes glazed, Ken lumbered forward past some kind of round iron drain. Dawn felt his confusion mixed with her own. Renee’s waiting for you inside the school, she told him. You have to go see her. She wants to talk to you about her mother.

  Massaging his temple, Ken halted again. Dawn ran over and tugged his hand. "Come on, let's go!"

  Candace closed her eyes. Throw her off the roof.

  Ken cinched Dawn’s wrists. He steered her toward the low brick wall surrounding the roof, fingernails drilling into her skin. Dawn cried out and kicked him in the knee, but his vise fastened around her.

  The fifty foot drop loomed closer. Bile rose in her throat at the leafy foliage curtaining the hard pavement. Ken, drop to the floor. The voices will leave you alone. It’s what your dad would want you to do. Your mother would want you to be safe, too.

  Ken's eyes rolled back. His death grip on her wrist loosened, and he stumbled, tipping toward the ledge.

  Oh, no. Dawn snaked her arms around his waist, grunted as she wrenched his body away from the rim and marched him to the middle of the roof. He sank down and she laid him on the ground, unconscious.

  She spun toward Candace. "Listen to me! Serina got into your head. She’s making you a murderer. Think about what you’re doing."

  Candace crashed into her, slamming her to the roof floor. She straddled Dawn and cuffed her in the nose. Stars exploded before Dawn’s eyes as blood spurted out of her nostrils. Through the numb pain, Dawn kneed her in the stomach. Candace slumped back, doubled over.

  Dawn wiped the blood sliding down her lips with her shirt, tasted the copper residue. Marshalling her strength, Dawn hurled a thought at Candace. Stop hurting Dawn. Remember the murders you committed.