Touch of Fire (Into the Darkness Book 1)

by Jasmine B. Waters

  I groaned. “I really, really don’t wanna talk about the wedding right now.”

  David narrowed his eyes. His face had changed since we were kids; he’d finally grown into his long facial features. His chin was free of scruff, but his eyes seemed darker than ever.

  “Why? Did something happen?”

  “No,” I said quickly, “nothing like that.” I sighed. “It’s just…oh, I don’t know. Ever since I got this thing,” I held up my hand, showing David my engagement diamond, “all everyone wants to talk about is wedding planning. And it’s, like, if I don’t wanna talk about it, then I’m the weird one.”

  David nodded. “I get that,” he said.

  I swallowed a big mouthful of rum punch. The liquor was starting to work its magic on me, and I felt a little more confident than I had before, when Karen had cornered me in the kitchen.

  “So,” I said, “are you seeing anyone?”

  David shook his head. “No,” he said stiffly. “I haven’t, since–”

  “Oh,” I said softly. “Sorry. I didn’t know.”

  David shrugged. “It’s not a big deal,” he said. “I mean, it is. But I guess not really anymore.”

  I sank against the ancient wood of the swing, making the chains that fastened it to the ceiling creak.

  “I think about her all the time,” I said. “It’s, like, no matter what I do, she’s always there.”

  David nodded. “Yeah,” he said. “Sometimes I feel like that, too.”

  “I wonder what she’d be doing now,” I said sulkily.

  David shrugged. “That’s the part I try not to think about,” he said. His voice was dark and laced with obvious pain. “I hate thinking that she could be here, but she’s not.”

  Just as I was about to ask him what exactly he meant, the front door swung open, and Steven strode out. When he saw me, he grinned, but the smile faded instantly when he caught a glimpse of David.

  “What’s he doing here?” Steven said, more to David than to me.

  “I came to show my support,” David said. He grinned sarcastically at Steven. “Isn’t that allowed? This is an engagement, after all.”

  Steven narrowed his eyes and scowled.

  “Steven, it’s fine,” I said quickly, getting to my feet. “Really. I invited him.”

  “You did what?” Steven glared at me. “Are you kidding me, Elizabeth?”

  I shook my head. “Of course not,” I said. My heart skipped a beat in alarm, and I felt blood rising to the surface of my skin.

  “Why would you do something like that?”

  “Because he is my friend,” I shot back.

  “Whatever,” Steven said. He sighed loudly and whistled. “I’m going inside. This is fuckin’ bullshit. Elizabeth, come on.” He pushed the door open and jerked his head toward the inside of the house.

  I shook my head. “I’m gonna stay out here for a while,” I said. “It’s too hot in there for me.”

  Steven rolled his eyes. “Whatever,” he said. Before I could reply, he walked inside and slammed the door.

  “Sorry about that,” I said to David. “I didn’t know he’d be that pissed.”

  Oddly, David didn’t look the least bit bothered by my fiancé’s rudeness.

  “I think he’s probably just…” I trailed off. “I don’t know. He’s still upset about Monica, too.” I felt like I was groping for words. “I wouldn’t take it personally.”

  David gave me an odd smile. “I didn’t,” he said. He took a long swallow of punch.

  I frowned. To be honest, I wasn’t exactly sure what had made me want to invite David. It had been years since we’d talked. But a couple of nights ago, I hadn’t been able to sleep. I’d taken my laptop down to the kitchen and wound up poking around Facebook. David had shown up in a list of people that I ‘might know,’ and I hadn’t been able to resist sending him a message. He’d replied almost instantly, and we ended up chatting until the wee hours of the morning. Toward the end of the conversation, I’d invited him to the engagement party.

  Of course, I hadn’t exactly thought that he was going to show up.

  “So,” David said. He smirked. “What’s going on, Elizabeth? You look pretty miserable.”

  I sighed. “I’m not,” I said. “I…I don’t really know, to be honest. I feel like a lot of stuff is changing, and I’m sort of stuck here, watching it happen.”

  “You sound depressed.”

  I shook my head. “It’s not that, really,” I said. I bit my lip. “I don’t know. Maybe it is. Maybe I am.”

  “If you ever want to talk, I’m here,” David said.

  I stared at him. “That’s an odd thing to say.”

  “Why? We’re friends,” David said.

  “I guess we are,” I said slowly. “I just … I don’t know. I guess I don’t really know what to think right now.”

  David nodded. “You’re going through a lot,” he said. “You’ll figure it out.”

  I slumped against the porch swing. “I hope so,” I said.

  The rain started falling faster and heavier. We sat in silence, rocking slowly on the creaky, old swing. I finished my punch, but I didn’t feel like going back inside; the raucous cries were now louder than ever, and I didn’t feel like facing Steven, or Karen, or any of the other people who were, supposedly, my friends.

  Part of me wondered if David was right. I didn’t exactly feel like I was going through anything. And yet, when Steven asked me to marry him, I’d felt a little kernel of doubt in my heart. Over the past few weeks, I’d been practically praying for it to vanish, for real happiness to sink in, for real excitement. But instead, I just felt like I was walking slowly toward a fire that I was powerless to stop.

  I stared at David’s elfin profile. In the seven, or so, years since everything had happened, I’d barely thought about him. But now that he was here, next to me, he seemed infinitely more interesting than anything else going on around me.

  “I’m gonna go,” David said abruptly. “Thanks for having me, Elizabeth.”

  I frowned. “You sure?”

  David laughed humorlessly. “Yeah,” he said. “I hate parties. Besides,” he added, glancing toward the front door, “might be a good idea to leave before anything else happens.”

  He leaned in for another hug, but made sure to keep most of his body away from mine. I stood stiffly as he kissed me on the cheek.

  “Bye, Elizabeth,” David said. “Don’t worry. You’ll be a beautiful bride.” He gave me an ambiguous smile; I couldn’t tell if he was sincere or mocking.

  “Bye,” I whispered. David bobbed his head, then loped toward his car and drove off in a haze of rain.

  ---

  I stayed outside for another hour, or so, until the rain finally started to clear and people began filtering out through the front door. Everyone seemed genuinely surprised to see me outside, like they hadn’t even noticed my absence in the house. I forced a smile and greeted them all as they left and walked to the cars. When it was finally quiet inside, I grabbed the empty plastic cups and walked into the kitchen.

  Steven and Karen were laughing, doing the dishes together, and flicking suds and water at each other. When Karen saw me, she burst out laughing.

  “Elizabeth, where the heck have you been?”

  Steven’s smile faded as soon as he saw me. “Hey, Karen, thanks for your help,” he said smoothly. “But, I think Elizabeth and I can take it from here.”

  Karen lingered in the doorway, watching me with wide eyes. Finally, when she realized we weren’t going to say anything until after she’d gone, she rolled her eyes and walked upstairs in a huff.

  “What the hell was that?!” Steven demanded. “How the fuck could you just leave your own party?”

  “I didn’t leave,” I said truthfully. “I was outside. It was too loud in here.”

  Steven groaned. “Elizabeth, come on!” He narrowed his eyes. “Do you realize how stupid I
looked, entertaining everyone by myself? That was our fucking engagement party, and you weren’t even present!”

  “I wasn’t the one who wanted a party,” I shot back. “It was Karen’s idea, and you went along with it.”

  “What kind of girl doesn’t want an engagement party?” Steven glared. “Oh, yeah, I forgot. My manic-depressive fiancée. That’s who.”

  “That’s not fair,” I shot back. “You know I’ve never been as social as you! You know big things make me uncomfortable.”

  “But this is about us,” Steven said. “Elizabeth, you have to compromise with me. We aren’t just eloping, you know.”

  “I wish we could,” I muttered under my breath.

  “What?” Now, Steven looked truly angry. “What did you just say?”

  I shrugged. Suddenly, the will to fight melted, and I shook my head.

  “I just wish we didn’t have to have a big wedding,” I said. “I mean, it’s about us, right? We should be able to decide.”

  Steven sighed. “Elizabeth, you know we can’t do that. My family would freak out.”

  “So? They’re not the ones getting married.”

  Steven groaned and raked a hand through his hair. “Elizabeth that is so not the point. Weddings are about two families joining each other, not just us!”

  I narrowed my eyes. “Well, I don’t want a big wedding,” I said. “It makes me uncomfortable. You know how much I hate being the center of attention.”

  “You’re gonna need to suck it up for a day,” Steven said. He shrugged. “That’s the way weddings are done in my family. You knew that, Elizabeth.”

  I felt my anger come rushing back in hot waves. “No,” I said. I crossed my arms over my chest and shook my head. “I’m not doing that.”

  “Grow up,” Steven muttered. He turned away from me and grabbed a dish from the sink, roughly soaping it and washing it under the stream of water.

  I snorted in disbelief. “You don’t respect me,” I said.

  Steven dropped the dish in the sink and turned around, putting his hands on his hips. “What did you just say?”

  “I said, you don’t respect me.” I felt my anger growing and growing inside of me like a beast – a beast that I couldn’t control. My heart was pounding against my ribs, and even though I knew I would regret it, I couldn’t help spitting out: “And you never have!”

  “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” Steven asked warily. “What are you talking about? Of course, I respect you, Elizabeth. Damn it, I asked you to be my wife!”

  I took a shaky deep breath. “Nothing. Forget I said anything.”

  Steven crossed the floor in two giant steps and grabbed my arms with his wet, soapy hands. I tried to push him away, but he was stronger, and soon he shook me and pulled me close.

  “No, you can’t play games like this,” Steven growled. “You need to tell me what the fuck you meant. Now, Elizabeth!”

  “Stop yelling,” I said. “Just forget it, okay?”

  “No!” Steven roared. “Damn it, Elizabeth. Tell me!”

  I sighed. “I…I know there was something going on between you and your sister,” I finally said. “Back when we were kids, when you and I first started dating.”

  Steven’s face turned bloodless and white. He released my arms, and I sagged for a moment before wrapping my arms tightly around my body and holding myself.

  “Steven?” I tried nervously. “Are you okay?”

  Steven’s mouth formed a thin, angry line. He pushed past me and stalked up the stairs. When I heard the bedroom door slam, I winced.

  Part of me wanted to run to him and talk to him, make this better. But another part of me – a bigger part of me – felt like that wouldn’t be a good idea. I poured the last of the rum punch into a cup and sat down at the table, sipping slowly. I wondered what I was doing. I wondered if I should have said ‘no’ when Steven asked me to marry him. As much as I wanted to believe that Steven respected me, I’d just gotten almost concrete proof of the opposite. But maybe that was normal – maybe that was how most marriages worked.

  I swallowed and shifted in my chair, feeling uncomfortable. I had no idea what the hell I was supposed to do next, but I knew that if I didn’t decide something soon, it would be too late.

  Chapter One

  Elizabeth – Seven Years Ago

  I pushed open the door to my room and gasped. My feet were rooted firmly to the spot, and a shiver inched down my spine.

  Monica was sitting lotus-style on my bed. When she saw me, she smiled.

  “Hey,” Monica said. “God, you took forever to get home! I feel like I’ve been waiting for hours!” Her cheeks were flushed pink.

  “I was just outside,” I said slowly. “How did you get here? I’ve been in the driveway the whole time.”

  “Elizabeth, come on,” Monica said. “We both know you’re not exactly the most observant person in the world.”

  I stared at her. “But … I just … I just went outside a few minutes ago. I didn’t see you come in,” I added. “What’s up?”

  Monica grinned. “You’ve been anxious over Steven and Andrea,” she said softly. She raised an eyebrow. “But I know how you can win Steven – for good.”

  My jaw dropped. “What?”

  “I know all about what’s going on,” Monica continued. “And I know how you can come out on top.” Her grin turned sinister in the low afternoon light.

  I felt myself begin to tremble and shake with fear.

  “Come here, Elizabeth,” Monica said. She beckoned me with a slender finger. “Don’t you want to know?”

  I narrowed my eyes. “Why? What happened? Are you okay?” I walked closer to my friend, unable to keep the fear from welling up inside of my chest. “Did something happen between the end of school and now?”

  Monica laughed. Her eyes glittered. “Elizabeth, what are you talking about?” She tossed her blonde hair disdainfully over one shoulder. “I wasn’t in school today. Are you feeling all right?”

  My heart sank, and I sat down on the corner of the bed, feeling afraid of my best friend for what felt like the first time in my life. Monica looked so calm and peaceful. She also looked healthy, with pink cheeks and a mysterious look in her brown eyes. The combination of her petite stature and the way she was sitting made her look ancient and wise.

  “I saw you in homeroom,” I said warily. “You got angry with me when I asked where you’d been.”

  Monica laughed. “God, Elizabeth, stop lying,” she said. “I get it. You’re trying to make me feel guilty. Look, I feel bad that I haven’t been here for you. That’s why I wanna help with Steven.” Her eyes flashed, and she grinned. “I have the perfect idea.”

  I licked my lips. My heart was thudding, and my palms were covered in a cold, unpleasant sweat. “Okay,” I said slowly. “What’s up?”

  Monica shrugged. “You just have to prove that Andrea is insane,” she said calmly. “That’s all. Then Steven will be yours.”

  A wave of nausea washed over me, and I gripped the bedpost, clutching it tightly until my knuckles turned white. “I don’t get it,” I said flatly. “What are you even talking about?”

  Monica laughed again. “Elizabeth, come on,” she said. “I know why you’re worried. You think he doesn’t want you because he’s involved with his sister.”

  I stared at her in disbelief.

  “And she’s crazy,” Monica continued, apparently unruffled by my changing facial expressions. “She’s totally nuts, and we have to prove it.”

  I swallowed uncomfortably. “I…I don’t really see how that’s possible,” I said flatly. “We’re not doctors, Monica. We’re kids, just like Andrea.”

  Monica laughed. The sound sent chills down my spine. I wished I could close my eyes, cover my ears with my hands, and sing really loudly to drown her out, but I knew I couldn’t. ‘For fuck’s sake, Elizabeth, pull yourself together,’ I ordered myself. ‘She’s probab
ly been through something really horrible and traumatic, and you’re her best friend! You should help her!’

  “Look, we don’t need to talk about me right now,” I said. “Why don’t you tell me what happened, where you went?”

  “Later,” Monica said calmly. “I wouldn’t worry about that right now.” She raised an eyebrow. “Listen, Elizabeth, I know how we can prove it.”

  I sighed. It was obvious she was dead-set on telling me … well, whatever it was that was on her mind. That wasn’t exactly unusual when it came to Monica. Sometimes, her incredible intelligence was like blinders that kept her eyes straight and narrow, focused on just one thing. Obsessing over it, even. I knew I should be glad that she was back to acting like her old self, but there was something different about her. Something off, like a piece of her personality had changed and become harder. I felt like I knew nothing about her as we sat together.

  “Okay,” I said uncertainly. “Tell me. How are we going to prove that Andrea is insane?”

  Monica chuckled. “That’s the easy part,” she said. “Andrea’s insane because she’s a reincarnated Puritan.”

  “I’m sorry,” I said. “What?”

  “She’s a reincarnated Puritan,” Monica said in a bossy voice. “She’s a direct descendent of this woman, Prudence Arrowsmith, who devoted her life to hunting witches and ridding the world of them.”

  I sank against the wall. “Monica …”

  “What?” Monica’s brown eyes flashed. “What is it?”

  “That …” I trailed off, biting my lip. ‘That sounds crazy,’ I finished in my head. But I knew I couldn’t say that, not to my best friend. ‘Maybe this is Monica’s way of dealing with whatever trauma she just experienced,’ I thought. Tears of worry and fright came to my eyes, and I blinked them away before she could notice.

  “It’s true,” Monica said confidently. “She’s exactly the same soul as Prudence. Why the hell do you think she hates me so much?”

  ‘Well, for one, you scared the shit out of her last year,’ I thought grimly, biting my lip. But I knew I couldn’t say that to Monica.