Forever Scarlett: The Everly Girls Book 3

by V. B. Marlowe

  Time passed differently for me and Nana than it did for the rest of the family. My mother and sisters aged four times faster than we did. My sisters grew into adults and led normal lives. Ruby and Rowan married well and had children. They moved into their own beautiful homes. Mother went to live with Ruby.

  Nana told me not to worry. That one day I would find a nice Wolvenblood to marry and have children with and that my children wouldn’t have the disease. I wasn’t sure if I wanted that. The two of us remained in the cottage and led a quiet life.

  One day there was a knock on the door. Nana and I were cutting vegetables for a salad. We froze in our places because it was unusual for anyone to visit us. Maybe it was Mother, although she hadn’t come by in quite some time.

  I was sitting at the kitchen table peeling cucumbers. Nana looked through the peephole and smoothed her hands on her apron.

  “Who is it?” I asked.

  “I don’t know. A woman.” Nana hesitated with her hand on the doorknob. She seemed afraid and I wasn’t sure why.

  “So, answer it.”

  Taking a deep breath, Nana finally opened the door. “Hello. May I help you?”

  “Are you Elana?” The voice was feminine and chipper.

  “Yes. Why?”

  “My name is Beatrice and I need to have a very important talk with you and your granddaughter.”

  Nana paled and turned to me. Right then I understood what she had been thinking and why she was afraid. Some people were taking it upon themselves to hunt down and kill Wolvenbloods. Had this woman found out about us? Had she come to kill us?

  “What do you want with me and my granddaughter?”

  “Please, may I come in?” the woman asked. “It won’t take me long.”

  Finally, Nana took a step back and allowed the woman to come inside. “Please have a seat.”

  The woman stopped and stared at me before she took a seat across from me at the table. “Scarlett.”

  She had fine straight hair like Nana, except that hers was a lighter shade of silver. It was brushed up into a neat bun, while Nana’s ran in a long braid down her back. The woman was short and plump, wearing a floor-length pink dress.

  “It’s nice to meet you.”

  I nodded, wondering how she knew my name. Nana took a seat beside me.

  I swallowed hard. Something about this woman was strange. She wasn’t like other people I’d met. “How do you know my name?”

  “I know of all the girls who’ve been cursed by the Crimson Coven.”

  Nana sucked her teeth. “What blasphemy are you talking about, woman?” Nana hated talk of witches and curses.

  The woman kept her eyes on me. “Scarlett knows very well what curse I’m talking about. By the way, I Beatrice. You can call me Bea.”

  I looked at Nana. This was probably the only thing I had ever kept from her and I had no idea how she would react. “Nana, long ago, when I was just a cub, I woke up in the middle of the night. I wandered away from you to play with another cub. I got separated from the other wolf and I saw a little girl running for her life from a witch. The witch caught her and she was going to kill her. I couldn’t let that happen. The girl was so small and helpless. I killed the witch. I didn’t want to but it was the only way I could save the girl. Anyway, the witch died. Her sister came along and even though she couldn’t see me, she knew I was there hiding in the darkness. She cursed me. She cursed me with immortality and she said that other cursed girls would hunt me down and try to kill me for the rest of my life.”

  Nana paled, her face riddled with disappointment. “Scarlett, how could you not tell me something like this?”

  I shrugged. “I didn’t want you to get mad at me for leaving our den.”

  Nana took several deep breaths and turned to Bea. “What are you doing here then? Did the witches send you? Did they send you to kill my granddaughter?”

  Bea shook her head vigorously. “No, no, I’m doing quite the opposite. I’m a protector fairy. It’s my job to protect princesses.”

  Nana folded her arms over her chest. “Well, as you can very well see, Scarlett here is no princess.”

  “I understand that, but I want to help all the girls who’ve been cursed.”

  Nana raised an eyebrow. “Let’s say we believed in curses, how could you help Scarlett?”

  “I need her to come with me. I have a special sanctuary for the girls. It’s hidden away under an enchantment. We are working together to break the curses. We need Scarlett. Scarlett needs the others.”

  Nana threw her hands up. “There’s no way. This is our home and we’re not leaving.”

  Bea smiled kindly. “You don’t understand. I’ll just be needing Scarlett.”

  Nana pursed her lips. “That is definitely not happening. Scarlett goes where I go. If you are what you say you are, you know good and well that Wolvenblood can’t just live anywhere. We must live in a place where we’re secluded and away from people at night. Scarlett cannot live with other people without great care being taken.”

  Bea nodded. “I understand that, but I need you to understand that this place won’t always be safe for Wolvenblood. Scarlett will be allowed out at night. There is an enchantment over the wooded area around the estate. There is also another girl who shifts into a creature at night so Scarlett will have someone there to relate to.”

  My heart raced. “Really? Tell me about her.”

  “Her name is Oriana. She shifts into a bear at night. She’s really a delightful girl.”

  I wouldn’t dare say so out loud, but I would have loved to meet such a girl. I wondered if she were a good bear or a bad bear.

  “None of this matters,” Nana said. “Scarlett isn’t going anywhere with you.”

  Bea looked at me. “It really is her choice.”

  Was there really a choice? My whole life it had always been Nana and me. She was the only one like me and the only one who got me. How could I ever leave her, especially to go live with a bunch of strangers, one of which may or may not maul me to death? Although I had been cursed, I wasn’t too worried about it. I had yet to feel the effects of it. I didn’t feel cursed at all.

  Bea pressed her lips together. “Well, I’m very sorry to hear that and I wish you well. At some point the witches will come to collect on their debt. If you are with me, I will be about to protect you. Scarlett, you have killed one of them with your own claws and fangs. You’re in more trouble than the others. They will have no mercy on you when they find you.”

  I pretended not to be afraid of that. If the witches wanted me they probably knew where to find me. I had taken one of them out before and I had no problem doing it again.

  Nana gave Bea a tight smile. “Yes, it’s time for you to leave. Whatever witches or curses you’re speaking of, I’m not worried about. I’m more than capable of protecting us and I’ve taught Scarlett how to protect herself also.”

  Bea shook her head. “You’re making a big mistake I know you don’t believe in curses but

  They’re very real and these witches are more dangerous than anyone knows. They’ve been lying dormant for years, but they won’t stay that way. They’ll come back to exact their revenge with no mercy. As I told you, Scarlett is in more danger than anyone. The other children are descendants of men who took part in the great witch hunt. Scarlett, she killed a witch herself. She will not go unscathed.”

  Nana was still unmoved. “Thank you, but as I said, we’ll be fine. Now, if you’ll excuse us . . .”

  But by that time, Bea was already headed for the door. Sighing heavily, she smoothed out her beautiful pink dress. “Well, don’t say I didn’t warn you. I’m sure we’ll cross paths again, hopefully it won’t be when it’s too late.”

  After she left, Nana went to the cupboard and started to pull out things for lunch. She didn’t seem the least bit worried. I’d be lying if I said I felt the same way.

  “Nana, do you think . . .”

  “That woman was full of rubbish. You have n
othing to worry about and that is that.”

  She slammed a jar of strawberry preserves unto the countertop and I knew better than to ask any more questions.

  5

  The world changed around us, but we didn’t change with it. Wolvenbloods never aged as quickly as Humans. We aged one year to every five of theirs. Still, I knew something was wrong as I remained the same. The witch’s curse was working its magic.

  Mother grew old and frail. Ruby took care of her but it was impossible for me to see either of them because Ruby wanted nothing more to do with me. She was horrified by the fact that I stayed the same as they grew older. Ruby hated watching herself grow older, so having to watch me in my everlasting youth was no help. I didn’t force myself on her. She asked me to stay away so I did. I had to admit that it was strange to watch. My sisters who were once young and vibrant grew wrinkles, white hair, and extra folds.

  Rowan was different. She loved when I stopped by for a visit. Her husband died when she was in her thirties and she lived alone in a nice cobblestone in a modest village. When I came she’d spend so much time staring at my face. She said it was like looking into a mirror of our youth. Rowan died first even though she was the youngest. Pneumonia got a hold of her in her fifties and she couldn’t shake the illness. There was nothing worse than watching your loved ones wither away and not being able to do anything about it.

  Nana didn’t change much either. Even though she would never admit it, we both knew it was because of the curse. That was the only explanation. I also knew something Nana didn’t want me to know. She had run into Beatrice again and asked the fairy to cast a spell on her that would prevent her from growing older. She did it so she could stay with me. After my mother and sisters grew old and passed away, Nana and I only had each other.

  Nana was afraid of the witches finding us and Wolvenblood were being hunted even more than ever, so we decided to start over in a new land. America. We found an uninhabited part and used all the money we had to build ourselves a cozy cabin in the woods. It was made of wood with a green roof and red chimney. There we kept to ourselves and took care of our own needs. We grew our own food and made our own clothing. Nana made and sold beautiful garments and woodworks. She used the money from that to buy the other things we needed. We forgot all about witches and curses and lived our lives.

  Everything was fine until the day a girl named Ella showed up.

  I’d gone out to catch some rabbits for Nana’s stew. I had the two unfortunate hares in my hands and was headed back for the cabin when I saw her. She was about my age and beautiful. She had pale skin, long golden hair, and eyes like emeralds. She stood at the edge of the forest looking lost. It was a strange sight for me because no one ever came to our neck of the woods. I wondered what she was doing there.

  I stood behind her. I was so quiet she couldn’t hear me. “What are you doing?”

  She jumped as if she’d seen a ghost, then she took a deep breath and composed herself. “Oh, hi. My car broke down and I was wondering if you had a phone I could use.”

  “Why didn’t you just knock on the door?”

  She shrugged. “I was working up the nerve.”

  I gave her a big smile. I’d never had a friend before. Maybe she would like me and we could hang out. “Sure, come inside.”

  Inside, she met Nana. She stayed for a while and Nana even made her some soup without rabbit in it. Once Ella was gone and Nana closed the door behind her, she turned to me. “Don’t go getting any ideas. There’s something about that girl. She’s lying or at least not telling us the full story.”

  Nana was right. There was something off about Ella, not to mention the nagging suspicion that I had met her before. It was weird that she’d showed up at our cabin when we were so far from the road and she’d had to pass other homes to get to ours. Still, Ella was nice and I liked her. I wanted her to come back. I wanted her to be my friend.

  “Sure, Nana,” I said, even though I didn’t mean it.

  I retreated to my room at the back of the house. It was small, but it was cozy and all mine. My bed sat against one wall and my dresser against the other. On my walls were posters of the forest at night. There was a tiny bathroom off to one side and a closet on the opposite wall. I grabbed a book from the top of the pile that sat on my dresser. All my books had something in common. They were different versions of Little Red Riding Hood. Those stories were supposed to be about me. I don’t know how anyone knew about me or even less why they thought it was important to turn my life into a fairy tale, but they did. They got so many things wrong though. The only thing they got right was that a wolf and grandmother were involved. Some of the stories had sad endings where the wolf ate Red Riding Hood and her sick grandmother. Then there were those where Red Riding Hood defeated the wolf and saved her poor grandmother. I liked those stories best.

  Ella came by several times after that even though Nana told me to leave her alone. I couldn’t. This was my one chance to get to know someone besides Nana and I wasn’t going to pass that up. Ella liked me, I could tell. We talked about our lives (I didn’t have much to share) and we discussed books we read. Ella had even worked in a book store which I found fascinating. I would love to spend my days surrounded by books. Then one day she asked if she could spend the night at our cabin.

  I eyed the duffle bag she was always carrying. I never saw her go into it and I wondered what was inside. Was it an overnight bag? She couldn’t spend the night. How could I ever tell her that without losing my chance to have her as a friend.

  “You can’t. I’m sorry. That would be impossible.”

  “Why?”

  Ella, please don’t make this hard. “Because . . . it gets dangerous here at night. There’s lots of wolves in the woods.”

  Ella shrugged, eyeing my rifle leaning in the corner. “So, what? We’ll be inside. They can’t get to us.”

  “You just can’t, Ella. I’m sorry.” How could I ever explain to her that Nana and I were the wolves? At night, we left the comforts of our cabin to live in the wild. She would never understand.

  She seemed to get it and she dropped the subject. “Fine.”

  I took a deep breath hoping there wouldn’t be any more awkward conversations.

  We didn’t own a television so Nana and I spent a good deal of time reading. Our favorite things to read were tales from our time—fairy tales. Those were the best stories. Not only had one been loosely based on my life, but there was one about the Princess of Eirwen. Her story was wrong too, but it was a lot closer to her real life than my fairy tale was to mine. My favorite stories were Cinderella, The Little Mermaid, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Rapunzel, Briar Rose, Alice in Wonderland, Hansel and Gretel and a few others. Even though I was no longer a child, Nana would read them to me.

  One night she closed the book of Grimm’s fairy tales and looked me in the eye. “I have to tell you something, something you have to look out for.”

  I sat up. “What Nana?” I loved that she never kept things from me. She always told me the truth about everything so I could be prepared for whatever life was going to throw at me.

  “Keep your eyes open. If you ever come across a girl who reminds you of a character from any of these stories, stay away from her.”

  “Huh? Why, Nana?”

  Nana swallowed hard. “Because, dear, these stories, just like yours and Snow White’s, are based on someone’s real life.”

  “Okay. So why would I have to look out for them then?”

  “Remember, Beatrice. The woman who came to our cottage once claiming to be a fairy.”

  How could I ever forget someone like that? “Of course.”

  “Well, at first I didn’t believe her, but over time I’ve kept in contact with her and I’ve learned a lot more. Scarlett, she was telling the truth.”

  This wasn’t anything I didn’t already know so I said nothing. This still didn’t explain why I had to be on guard.

  Nana went on. “These girls mean to harm
you. They have also been cursed and there are only so many elixirs. Whoever doesn’t find one will be cursed forever. Apparently, Snow White has earned one so that means there are even less to be found.”

  “How do I find an elixir?”

  Nana shook her head. “I don’t know.”

  “But Bea knows. She said so. Nana, she said she’s hiding the girls in a special place and they are figuring things out so everyone can be saved. You must let me go there. How else can I break my curse?”

  Nana stood and paced. “You don’t understand. Those girls are your enemies. They have weapons. There are a pair of glass slippers that kills anyone who slips them on their feet. There is a girl who possesses a poisoned candy. They will do what they have to do to earn an elixir and that includes taking you out.”

  My body tensed. That was way too much to worry about. People who I had never met and didn’t even know me were trying to kill me? I hoped Nana was just being paranoid.

  She must have sensed how frightened I was because she sat beside me and wrapped her arm around my shoulder. “Don’t worry, Scarlett. That’s why I’m here to protect you. That’s why we live the way we do, far away from everyone. No one will be sneaking up on us. We’ll see them before they see us.”

  Now I understood why she had been so nervous about Ella, but she didn’t need to be. Everyone wasn’t out to get us and Ella was just a normal girl.

  6

  A couple of days later when Nana and I were out back working in the garden, Ella joined us. Everything was going splendidly until Ella’s friends showed up. They were two girls who were also pretty. They wore short trendy dresses and high wedged-heels. They made my home-made skirt and blouse look like a burlap sap.

  One of the girls was fair-skinned with bright blue eyes while the other had olive skin and long raven hair. Nana flipped out and made them leave. I thought she was overreacting but I knew she was operating out of fear. She told Ella she could never come back for bringing strangers to our home.