by Debbie Kump
On the gallows stood another citizen accused of witchcraft—Abigail Howe, a leading scholar in the community who occasionally instructed the older students at Clarissa Mills’ school as a guest lecturer. Abigail stood, brave and stoic, despite the rotten vegetables the crowd tossed at her feet. One hit her in the face, another in the gut, yet she paid no heed. Her lips moved in recitation of a prayer to help her pass to the next life.
I wished I could do the same, to help me end this agony. But my fate lay elsewhere. I glared down at Hydros, the one responsible for this unfortunate turn of events.
Hydros glared back. “Admit it,” she gloated. “You are a witch.”
“I’m no different than you,” I sneered in return. An Elemental, though I couldn’t actually confess that to the crowd. The word meant nothing to them.
My response did not sit well with Hydros. Her eyes narrowed to thin slits. She commanded, “Bring him forth.”
Her words made my heart leap into my throat. He was alive. I breathed a huge sigh of relief though short-lived. When two guards dragged out William, I barely recognized him. His eyes looked black and beaten. His legs appeared so weak—perhaps broken—he could barely stand without aid.
Guilt washed over me like the heavy spring rains, consuming me fully. I never should have fallen in love. Nothing justified this type of suffering, to watch the person you adored endure such undeserved pain.
Though New England law prohibited captors from torturing criminals awaiting trial, they had never charged William with a crime. Which meant Hydros probably found a way to convince the others that his torture would lead to my conviction.
“Leave him out of this!” I pleaded. “He’s innocent. Haven’t you done enough to him already?”
“Hold him,” she commanded. Hydros removed a knife from her cloak, letting the bright midday sun glint off its sharpened blade. Her eyes flickered steely cold and calculating when she raised the blade to his throat.
“Join us,” she said, loud enough for only me to hear. “Join us and he lives. It’s your choice.” Her face turned smug, certain I’d surrender this time.
Then William raised his head to look me straight in the eye. “No,” he mouthed, his expression determined and resolute. “Don’t.”
His selfless act weighed heavy on my soul.
“I’m sorry,” I confessed, my eyes brimming with tears, “for everything.”
Only one option remained for me to save him, an action that would prevent The Three from jeopardizing the future of all mankind. Of course, it meant I must die and would never see William again, in this life or the next.
I looked back at Hydros, my lips turning up in a cunning, crooked smile. Pleased with myself for foiling her attempts, I declared in a sharp voice, “I am a witch.”
In an instant, I felt heat glimmer in my ebony eyes. A sudden, sharp pain spread from my heart outward and down through my bound arms. I snapped my fingers together behind my back to burn my cords and free my hands from the ropes.
The crowd gasped in alarm and Hydros’s smugness instantly faded. She shot me a fierce, venomous look. For a brief second, I thought she would release William until her lips curved up in a wicked grin.
Then reality struck. She had a backup plan, too.
“No,” I screamed, reaching out to stop her.
I didn’t make it in time. William’s head slumped forward, her blade slicing his neck from ear to ear. Crimson soaked his ragged cotton shirt. Through my tears, I saw the image of those sweet Mills children, orphaned again.
I screamed in horrific agony, my skin scorched with anger. Flames shot from my hands, directly at Hydros’s face, making the townspeople shriek in alarm.
“She is a witch!” yelled one.
“Hang her,” cried another.
The chant spread quickly through the crowd, like wildfire across scorched prairie grasses, “Hang her! Hang her!”
But their wish would not come true that day. I’d already torched my gallows, sending flames high in the sky. Next to me, Abigail Howe stopped praying. Her face studied mine with confusion and fright. Tongues of fire wound around my form, paralyzing my body with an unbearable pain that ignited the loss in my heart.
I howled from the intensifying heat of the flames compounded with William’s unfortunate fate. “I hate you,” I cried, glowering at Hydros through lethal eyes, determined to seek vengeance for all she stole from me.
Furious, Hydros thrust both arms toward the heavens. Like fast motion, clouds rolled in to darken the sky. Thunder boomed and a sudden downpour soaked the earth, drenching the onlookers. Most ran away in fear, cries of my devilish witchcraft fresh on their lips. Not a soul suspected Hydros.
Muddy puddles soon filled the square, but couldn’t squelch the raging inferno I’d created that rapidly sucked the life from my soul. William Mills’ lifeless eyes met mine, his blood mingling in a pool of mud before I vanished from Gallows Hill in a fiery blaze.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Sully kissed me deeper, his tongue investigating every inch of my mouth. While one of his hands ran through my hair, the other traced my tight-fitting jeans.
Then a new set of nightmarish images entered my brain, squelching the pleasure I derived from Sully’s sensual kiss.
I stood back on Gallows Hill in old Salem Village. The weight of the thick noose hung heavy on my shoulders. Once again, I boldly defied Hydros, refusing to declare my association with witchcraft.
Only when she commanded the guards to bring forth her captor, I didn’t see poor, innocent William, sole supporter of his household of siblings.
Instead, I imagined Sully wearing faded jeans, a charcoal gray T-shirt, and his baseball cap turned backward. Battered and bruised from Hydros’s torturous acts, his pale blue eyes studied me with bewilderment and fear.
I gasped. How did he get here?
I shook my head, knowing that information was irrelevant. It only mattered that I prevent him from suffering the same fate as William. I could not—would not—let history repeat itself.
Before Hydros had a chance to remove her silvery blade, I snapped my fingers behind my back, gritting my teeth through the pain and burned the ropes that bound my wrists.
Amidst the cries of confusion that echoed through the crowd, I leapt off the gallows and landed right between Hydros and Sully. My hands erupted into balls of flame aimed directly at Hydros’s depraved face. The crowd screamed louder but I paid them no heed. My attention remained focused on Hydros alone.
“Leave him alone,” I demanded. “He’s nothing to you.”
I turned for a second, asking Sully, “Are you okay?”
He opened his mouth to respond when Hydros whipped out her knife and dragged its blade across the length of my throat. For a fraction of a second, I looked into her evil blue eyes, knowing that despite my efforts to save him, she chose Sully for her next victim. A gargled scream escaped my lips, “No!”
Then everything turned black.
The nightmare dissolved into the clarity of Sully’s room. Suddenly dread consumed me, knowing I shouldn’t stay here. Not for the inherent risk involved.
My heart seized with terror and I broke away from his kiss. Sweat drenched my brow. I tried to catch my breath, uncertain if the scream I issued was real or merely existed inside my head.
Sully used this opportunity to kiss my neck instead, his lips brushing the soft skin of my throat until they reached my mouth once more.
Only my lips remained rigid. With all my strength, I pushed his chest off mine, my body overwhelmed with a desperate urge to escape.
Sully sat upright. His face appeared shocked. Confused. And hurt.
“What is it?” he managed, trying to understand what he did wrong. Because in all fairness, I hadn’t shown any signs of regret until now.
I glanced over at the clock, biting my lip. I quickly devised a valid excuse. “Ohmigod. Is it that late already?”
Sully blinked. The face read a quarter after eight.
>
“I’ve gotta go…I promised Celia I’d put Cam to bed tonight.” Though I tried to sound believable, Sully saw right through my lie.
“Oh. Okay,” he said in an unconvincing way.
“I’m sorry.” I leapt off his bed and ran my fingers through my tangled hair then dashed back to Vanessa’s room to grab the clothes I wore here. Before I could leave, Sully stood in her doorway, his hands jammed deep in his pockets. By the expression on his face, I couldn’t tell if he seemed sad, disappointed, or angry. Probably all three, I guessed.
I frowned, tears clouding my vision. “I’m sorry,” I repeated in a whisper. “Really.”
Sully allowed himself a small smile. The back of his hand caressed my cheek to wipe away my tears. I closed my eyes, wanting his arms to hold me tight and wishing this never happened at the same time.
Uncertain of what I should do, I flitted my eyes open and gazed at his face. The Sully I saw appeared beaten with black, sore eyes and split, bruised lips. Blinking again, I erased that image from my sight. But not from my memory.
Sniffling once, I moved to leave. Yet Sully stopped me, gently pressing his lips to mine once more. And though it seemed as sweet as the very first time, now the fire had vanished.
This time, I wouldn’t let myself kiss back.
I bolted out Sully’s front door and headed toward home where I invented some lame excuse to get out of reading a bedtime story to Cam. Intentionally avoiding Micah, I headed straight downstairs. I couldn’t look at him much less speak to him, not after I essentially signed a death warrant for his best friend.
I grabbed my pajamas, then ran back upstairs two at a time to jump in the shower and turned on the water so hot it stung like painful pellets against my skin. Because I needed exactly that—intense pain to snap me back to my senses. And to make me realize what could happen the second I let down my guard.
Even after the shower, my brain remained a mess, my stomach a knotted whorl of conflicted emotion. What did I think, leading Sully on like that? He’d been nothing but nice to me since I arrived. Then I decided to get close to him just like I did with Lucius and William…the same closeness that unintentionally led to their demises.
I couldn’t love Sully. I forbid myself to get involved with him or with anyone else ever again. That was why I always preferred to live on my own. I felt no guilt when only I died.
It’s still not fair. Micah had Tessa. Karli chose Justin. Even Jake had asked Isa out last week.
Except me…I’d always be alone. How I could ever truly love another person when The Three posed such a threat?
I pulled on my pajamas and slipped into bed when I heard a knock on my basement door. Dragging myself off the mattress, I opened the door to find Micah looking genuinely concerned about me for perhaps the first time ever.
“Sully just called. He wants me to check on you. He sounded pretty worried,” Micah said, his eyebrows knitting together. “Is something wrong?”
I managed to keep all expression from my face and shook my head.
“Are you sure?” he pressed.
Biting my lip, I nodded slowly, though my eyes found the floor. I wished he would leave before the tears came. I doubted I could hold them back much longer.
“Will you speak to him?”
I squeezed my eyes shut and shook my head again.
“Fine.” Micah sighed with exasperation. “I’ll tell him you’ve never been better,” he added with a heap of sarcasm.
After he shut my door behind him, I heard him give Sully some excuse about me being in the middle of Cam’s favorite bedtime story and I’d have to wait to talk to him in the morning.
Why does everyone have to be so nice to me? Fresh tears poured down my cheeks, knowing I had nothing but pain to return.
That night, it seemed impossible to fall asleep. When I finally drifted off hours later, my dreams mixed with reality.
Haunted by my kiss with William, I relived the instant the townspeople barged through his door again in my mind. He would’ve been safe if I hadn’t stopped there to say good-bye.
Suddenly, I found myself burning on the gallows again. Only this time when Hydros brought forth her captive, I saw the lifeless eyes of Micah stare up at me through the dancing flames.
I shot up in bed, drenched in a cold sweat and consumed with guilt. Regardless of his sweet personality and my irrepressible teen urges, I shouldn’t have targeted Sully. Not when the merciless Three would stop at nothing to harm him to get to me. He was my friend, he trusted me. Though life seemed difficult and unpleasant and unfair, I couldn’t afford to make the same mistake again.
Then I thought about Micah. I remembered my confusion of anger and humor when we wrestled over my French test. How he almost missed his date with Tessa so he could finish crushing me in our one-on-one basketball game in the driveway. How he hugged me in sympathy after I shared the story of my family’s death. How he made up a convenient excuse to cover for me with Sully.
Then I saw the Micah from my dream—his body lying in William’s place and his blood mingling with the mud and rain on the crest of Gallows Hill.
Suddenly, I knew the other reason I couldn’t let myself get physically close to Sully again. Deep within the confines of my heart, my love lay elsewhere. Somewhere along our rocky path to friendship, my feelings changed. Why must the heart always want what the soul couldn’t have?
Worse, I could never, ever, let anyone know. Not him. Not Sully. And definitely not the Elementals. Unfortunately, they had a way of finding these things out…which worried me most.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
I woke the next morning, consumed with guilt. Why did I kiss Sully? Especially when I had fallen for Micah?
I guess I didn’t want to admit that Micah’s irritating, obnoxious behaviors had grown on me over time. Not that it really mattered now. The fact remained I’d become too comfortable and relaxed here. Even if I could stay, Micah wouldn’t break up with Tessa for me. So I struggled to contain my emotions, watching them hold hands on the way to homeroom together, wishing it could be us instead.
I didn’t have much time to dream of the impossible. Just then, Sully sidled up and slipped his arms around my waist. A pit opened in my stomach when he leaned to kiss me on the lips in greeting. I quickly turned my head so he grazed my cheek instead.
A weird expression passed over Micah’s face, almost like I’d dished up a plate of hurt with a side helping of betrayal. He shot me a fast look like, Since when did this happen?
I shrugged and turned away.
“You left in such a hurry, you forgot to bring the rest of Vanessa’s clothes home with you,” Sully whispered in my ear, too low for anyone to hear. “Remember, it’s our little secret.”
I swallowed hard, reminded of dangerous secrets that threatened everything I held dear.
“Maybe I’ll swing by later,” I replied sullenly. At that moment, clothes seemed the least of my concerns when just the sight of him made me sick with fear. I felt brainless and selfish for letting him get too close.
“You feeling okay? You look worse that you did last night.” Eyeing me with concern, Sully placed his palm to my forehead. “God, Jordan. You’re burning up.”
I felt the color drain from my face. I looked down, half expecting to see my clothes ablaze, just like so many times before.
“How about I walk you to the nurse?” he offered.
I frowned. Sweet as usual. My stomach twisted into a giant knot.
“Don’t bother. I’ll be fine,” I said and slid out of Sully’s reach. On my own, I headed to the nurse’s office, eager for an excuse to get away from the awkwardness of being around Sully and Micah together, now that my true feelings had revealed themselves.
After lying down in the nurse’s office for all of homeroom, she took my temperature, claimed it appeared normal, and told me to go to my first period class. Unfortunately, Sully’s class stood next door to Mr. Horowitz’s Environmental Studies, so I asked if I might res
t for a little while longer until my stomach felt better, which miraculously occurred at the bell to signal the end of the period.
I spent the rest of the morning avoiding Sully. When I spotted him waiting for me by my locker after math, I quickly turned the other way—hopefully before he saw me—and took a circuitous loop down a different hallway to get to art.
When he caught me after art class, I said all of two words to him before ducking inside the girls’ room. Regardless of a tardy in British Lit, I didn’t dare emerge until after the final bell rang.
My luck ran out by lunch. As soon as I entered the cafeteria, Sully waved me over to the seat next to him. I couldn’t do anything but join Sully…empty-handed, of course. My stomach remained a whorl of emotions, way too conflicted to eat. So I sat beside him, unable to meet his gaze.
“What’s up, Jordan?” he asked.
I shrugged as I stared at the empty table in front of me.
“Having a rough day?”
“Something like that,” I admitted in a flat voice.
Sully sighed. “I don’t get it. I mean yesterday you were like…you know.”
I did know. And I enjoyed the “you know” part, but hated myself for getting carried away. No—not just for getting carried away. For letting things begin in the first place.
“And today…?” he continued, adjusting his baseball cap on the top of his head. “I just don’t get it. What did I do?
I took a quick glance and noticed his wounded face. I never meant to cause him this grief, never meant to like Micah, and certainly never meant to create future harm should The Three suspect they could use him to get to me. Even though my feelings toward Sully had changed, I’d never want anything to happen to him.
“It’s not you,” I reassured him.
His brow knitted. “Then what is it?”
I couldn’t respond. When I looked at him, I could only see the face of William Mills lying in the mud. His kind, loving eyes devoid of life, a pool of blood growing around his throat. I buried my face in my hands, wishing an end to the nightmares.
