“Well, that’s an easy one,” Payne said. He called his father several vulgar and yet creative names. When my eyes widened in shock, he just shrugged.
“Okay,” I said. “Maybe he deserved that, but up until now he hasn’t been hostile towards me. I mean, during the few times I’ve seen him, he’d leer. But why attack me or try to kill me?”
Payne was silent as I told him about my dream of the snake visiting his father.
“Was he drunk?” Payne asked.
“Isn’t he always?”
“He’s dangerous when he’s drunk,” Payne said. “He’s deadly when he isn’t.”
I waited for more, but Payne was silent once again. I decided not to press the issue.
“The Shadow Creatures showed up at the end,” I said. “They scared off Eric, who was trying to help me. Do you think they’ve been appearing to your dad like they did to Weeder? They want me dead. We know that.”
“The Shadow Creatures didn’t make my father do anything,” Payne said.
“Maybe,” I retorted. “I’m not sure if they can make anyone do anything. But maybe they can influence people? Or they promised him something? I don’t know. But they’re connected. And I’ll bet they have something to do with how Varick’s acting. I can’t prove it, but I believe he wasn’t himself. Your grandfather’s a good man.”
“That wasn’t like him,” Payne agreed.
“He felt confused,” I continued. “The day he outed me to Dante, he was angry and belligerent, but when Aunt Breanne stepped in, he was more confused than anything else. I was so upset over what happened I didn’t really think it over. But I’m thinking about it now. You know your grandfather. This isn’t him.”
“No,” Payne agreed. “But if you’re right, then what do we do now? Do we tell your uncle? Or your grandfather?”
I thought about that. “No. If the Shadow Creatures can influence your grandfather, they could influence my uncle into hating you. Same with Grandpa. So let’s just play it cool, at least for now.”
“Okay.”
Ugh. I didn’t want to talk about the Shadow Creatures anymore.
“Hunter,” I said. “How is she doing?”
“Physically?” Payne replied. “Better. She’s able to move around now. But her abilities aren’t coming back yet. She said that sometimes she feels her power is almost there, but only when I’m lying to her to test her. She might be coming back to school in a week. On crutches.”
“That’s good,” I said. “When you think it’s safe, talk to her. And as far as Varick goes, keep an eye on him. Remember my dream: I’ve seen your grandfather kill Scarlett.”
“My grandfather is no killer,” Payne said. “Weeder went along with what the Shadow Creatures wanted him to do. He convinced himself that he was acting on the orders of God, which is crazy. But that just tells me there was something evil in Weeder to begin with. My dad . . . ”
Payne clammed up. I reached out and took his hand.
“You know you can talk to me about what happened growing up. If you want to.”
Payne nodded, but he didn’t look at me. I was reminded of so many of my visions of a young Payne. So sad and silent. I wanted to say something to take his pain away.
I wanted to tell him how I felt about him. I felt the words forming, but something held me back. It wasn’t time.
“I don’t believe Varick is a killer either,” I said instead. “But I’ve had that vision for a reason. He would kill to protect his family. If someone is messing around with his feelings, he might think he has to kill Scarlett to save you, or Hunter, or one of your younger cousins. Who knows? I’m sure at some point the vision will make sense in the end. We just have to figure it out before he kills her. We have to keep close to her. We can’t let her get hurt.”
Payne nodded.
“I suppose this means that I can’t ask you to stay away from Dante.”
I sighed. “Payne, he’s been a good friend. And he knows about my powers and yours. I need to talk to him, and I need to do it alone. You need to trust me.”
“I do,” Payne insisted. “Look, I’ll owe him for the rest of my life for saving you, but he needs to accept the fact that you and I belong together.”
“He has,” I said. “I’ve told him.”
“Yeah?” Payne responded. “What did you tell him? That we’re best buds?”
“He knows we’re more than that,” I said. “I’m not ready to say what you want me to say. Please, don’t pressure me.”
Payne folded his arms. I was hurting him.
“I missed you,” I said. “All I kept thinking about was how much I wanted you here with me.”
I leaned towards Payne to kiss him, but before I could, the driver’s side door opened, and Uncle Mark got back into the front seat.
“Are we all caught up?”
I looked at Payne. Why did I have the feeling like he wasn’t going to let me kiss him? Maybe I was just imagining it. I had no way of being sure.
“Yeah,” I said. “We’re good.”
- eleven -
Jared’s Birthday Bash
Journal of Bristol Blackburn
It was surreal seeing Payne waiting for me in my kitchen when I came back from my walk with Dante. I swear, I thought Payne was going to deck him. I think Uncle Mark was worried about that, too. He was standing there, watching us, ready to dive in and stop a fight. Grandpa, Simon, and Zach were probably just taking bets on who’d win.
I saw everyone’s eyebrows go up as Payne approached Dante. But instead of punching him, he held out his hand to Dante, and thanked him for watching out for me.
Dante looked taken aback, but he shook Payne’s hand. Then Payne came over and kissed me. I was overcome by the emotions I felt coming from him. The heat of passion, the intense want — it was staggering. We had one of those long, drawn-out, take your breath away kind of kisses that you dream about for days on end. The kind of kiss that seems to go on forever and yet at the same time ends too soon.
When the kiss was over, Uncle Mark was shaking his head, Grandpa was concentrating on the TV like looking away might kill him, and Simon was laughing, with his hands over Zach’s eyes.
Dante was gone.
“So, did you hear Maggie has a major crush on Bryan?” I asked.
“What?” Hunter gasped.
We were in Payne’s car. Payne was driving, with me in the passenger seat beside him. Hunter was in the back, with her bad leg stretched out along the seat. Today was the first day she’d been allowed to leave the house. She and Payne had just picked me up, and we were headed over to Aunt Breanne’s for Jared’s birthday.
“I said Maggie and Bryan,” I repeated, watching the way Hunter’s eyes widened. “I think she’s going to try and make a move at Scarlett’s party.”
“Oh no,” Hunter said. “Isn’t Bryan crushing on Scarlett?”
“Not anymore,” I answered. “He asked her out the other night. She shot him down. She thought he was moving too fast. Plus, he didn’t ask her stepfather for permission. It’s a southern thing.”
“What?” Hunter exclaimed. “That’s crazy. Who does that? Just for a date?”
“Yup. But Scarlett’s been seeing someone else for a while now. She’s been trying to keep it hush-hush.”
“Who?” Hunter asked.
“My grandpa,” I said.
Hunter blinked. “You are totally lying.”
“Yeah,” I admitted. “Sorry. I was hoping you’d know.”
Hunter sat back in a huff.
“Even without my ability, I should have been able to see right through that. Man, I’m gullible. What am I going to do if it doesn’t come back?”
I reached back and took her hand.
“It will,” I said. “Just give it a little more time. And if not, you’ll adapt. You just have to develop a BS detector.”
“Yeah?” Hunter said. “How?”
“You just do,”
I replied. “Just relax. I’ll keep throwing lies your way. You’ll see. It’ll kick in when you least expect it to.”
Hunter turned to Payne. “Did you know she was lying?”
“No,” Payne said. “But in my defense, I didn’t care.”
Hunter rolled her eyes. “Boys.”
We pulled off the highway and down the road that led to Aunt Breanne’s place. When we pulled up, we saw Dante’s truck there, bullet holes and all.
“What is he doing here?” Payne asked.
“The same thing we’re doing here,” I answered. “Remember they were with me when I came to see your Aunt. She invited them. And we’re here for your aunt, so be nice.”
“When am I not nice?” Payne asked.
Before I had a chance to answer that, I saw Dante and Scarlett standing outside of the house. I waved as Payne pulled the wheelchair out of the trunk and then helped Hunter into it. He wheeled her up to the porch, and then seemed to realize the issue. There was no ramp.
Dante saw it, too, and came down to help. Working together, the two of them lifted Hunter up onto the porch. Not that it should have been hard. The wheelchair probably weighed more than she did.
“What are you guys doing outside?” Hunter asked.
“Your aunt hasn’t answered the door,” Dante said. “We’ve only been here about five minutes, but we rang twice. I guess she ran out to the store or something.”
I turned around at the sound of a car pulling up. It was Payne’s cousins; Archer, Chase and Toby. As they started to get out of the car, Payne fished in his pocket for a key.
“No reason to stand out here on the porch,” Payne said as he reached for the door. “Aunt Breanne won’t mind if we—”
He broke off as the door swung open, already unlocked.
Payne pulled Hunter’s chair across the threshold. There was a noise from the rear of the house that I couldn’t quite place. I followed them inside, with Dante and the others behind me. Something was wrong. I could feel it.
Over Payne’s shoulder, I saw Blasé’s spirit glaring at me. Hatred seemed to pour out of him. He faded away moments after I saw him.
“What is that?” Scarlett said, pointing to a piece of paper lying on the coffee table.
Payne walked over and picked it up. As his eyes read it, his face registered panic.
“She’s talking about how she can’t live in a world without Jared. How not knowing what happened to him was easier for her to bear. This is nuts. This sounds like—”
“Do you smell something?” Dante interrupted.
I sniffed the air. It smelled like car fumes.
Oh, no.
“Where’s the garage?” I asked.
Everyone but Hunter rushed to the rear of the house. As we entered the kitchen, I could hear the sound of a car idling in the nearby garage. Payne went to open the back door that led to the garage, but it was locked. He put the key in. It still wouldn’t open.
“It’s jammed,” he said as he backed up and then slammed into it with his shoulder. The door opened, but not all the way. Payne repeated the move and busted through.
Inside, Aunt Breanne was sitting inside her VW Bug. The car was running and the garage was filled with smog. I could barely see. Payne ran over and shut off the engine. He gently pulled Aunt Breanne from the car.
As he did this, Dante found the switch on the wall that opened the garage door. As the door opened, the air started to clear.
We were all gagging and coughing as we piled outside.
I looked around. Toby was in tears. Archer’s face was drained of all color. Chase was pacing back and forth, muttering to himself. The only people I didn’t see were Scarlett and Hunter.
“She’s not breathing!” Payne yelled.
I cringed at the desperation in his voice as he and Dante slowly lowered her to the ground in the open air. Dante started to administer CPR while Payne held Aunt Breanne’s hand, looking devastated. His mouth was open, and he was clearly fighting tears.
I took a step closer and I saw my world shift.
I was inside of Aunt Breanne’s house again. She was crying. And she wasn’t alone. Dante was sitting there, too, like he was in a daze. His eyes were unfocused, and he was staring off into a corner of the room, completely oblivious to what was happening around him.
The black snake that had plagued my dreams for weeks was slithering around, hissing at her.
It struck out and bit Aunt Breanne, but she didn’t react like she was in pain—at least, not the physical kind. She sobbed harder. The snake struck again and I was jolted back to reality.
I’m not sure how long I was distracted by my vision, but the next thing I knew, I was riding with Dante and Scarlett to the hospital. When we got there, and our families started to arrive, I knew I needed to fill Uncle Mark in on the situation.
Quickly, I managed to pull him and Payne into a private room.
“I saw something,” I said. “After you found Breanne. It was just a flash, but it doesn’t make any sense.”
“Tell me what it was,” Uncle Mark said.
I explained my vision.
“Dante wasn’t hurting her,” I said. “He seemed dazed. It was the snake.”
“He brought the snake there?” Payne asked. “Or he is the snake?”
“I don’t know,” I insisted. “Look, sometimes my visions aren’t of actual events. Sometimes they have to be interpreted. I don’t know what it means, but I’ve been having dreams of this giant snake roaming through the school, or inside people’s homes. I think someone would notice it if it were real.”
“If he set this snake at my aunt, I’m gonna—”
“He didn’t,” I insisted. “I could feel his emotions. He was upset. He felt horrible. He’s out there praying for her to be okay.”
“Bristol,” Uncle Mark interjected, “I can go over to Breanne’s place, take a look around, and see if there’s anything out of place. Should I be looking for giant snake skins?”
I shrugged.
“I don’t think you’ll find any,” I said. “The snake must represent something else. I saw it with Blasé as well. Maybe it’s a feeling of depression? I don’t know.”
“Is Dante depressed enough to take his own life?” Uncle Mark asked. “Maybe that’s the connection?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “I can try and find out, but I haven’t felt it.”
“You don’t feel every emotion,” Payne pointed out. “Maybe you’re missing his.”
I wondered if Payne was asking me if I was blocked from feeling Dante’s emotions because I seemed too close to him.
“I have felt his emotional state a few times. Nothing that would suggest he might want to hurt himself, and definitely nothing to suggest that he hurt Aunt Breanne.”
Payne looked like he didn’t believe me.
“How can you be so sure?”
I didn’t have an answer.
“I just am,” I said. “I know that doesn’t help, but it’s all I’ve got.”
Payne didn’t look satisfied. I couldn’t really blame him, but it was the truth.
“Let’s go see about your aunt,” Uncle Mark said.
I started to follow Uncle Mark out, but Payne held me back. He grabbed my arm and turned me around to face him. His eyes narrowed as he stepped closer.
“If I find out that Dante had anything to do with what happened today, he’ll regret ever stepping foot in Spirit.”
- twelve -
I Didn’t Know This Was Going to be a Surprise Party
Over the next few days, Aunt Breanne started to recover, but wouldn’t speak to anyone about what had happened. She was sent to a hospital outside of Spirit to continue her recovery.
Meanwhile, the McKnights were back in school, but things weren’t back to normal. Not a day went by when you didn’t hear a story about a McKnight and Blackburn getting into an argument, a fight, or even a legal dispute. Chase was
sporting a black eye that he got from my cousin Dan. My Uncle David was being sued by Payne’s Uncle Godfrey, because Godfrey slipped in my uncle’s doughnut shop. Even Zach told me that Odysseus McKnight kept trying to goad him into a fight. At one point, I found Payne reading the riot act to some of his younger cousins, who he caught trying to shove Simon into a locker.
The only cross-family interaction seemed to be between me, Payne, Hunter and Toby. Chase seemed to be avoiding us, and Bryan was becoming distant towards Payne and Hunter.
Since going into sanctuary, Payne had lost his job working for Bryan’s dad. He said he couldn’t blame Bryan’s father for firing him, since he had disappeared without warning for a week straight, but he felt bad about it.
Archer seemed to be the odd one out. He wasn’t being distant to just Blackburns, but to the McKnights as well. I couldn’t tell what was up with him, but I was getting worried.
I tried to figure out a way to broach the subject of self-harm with Dante, and decided I’d just get him alone in an empty classroom to ask him. It was a difficult subject to bring up: personal and sensitive. So naturally, he laughed.
“Do you think,” he asked me between fits of laughter, “that because you’re still with your non-boyfriend that I just wouldn’t be able to continue on?”
I crossed my arms and glared at him.
“Be serious. I saw something that didn’t make sense. It may have had to do with Aunt Breanne. I needed to ask.”
“Fine,” Dante said. “I swear I’m okay, and I have no desire to hurt myself. And if the thought does occur to me, I’ll come to talk to you first. Happy?”
I nodded.
“Could you also let me know if you see a giant snake moving around?”
“Um, what now?”
I enjoyed the look of bafflement on his face, especially after he’d just laughed at me, so I turned and walked out of the classroom without answering. When I did, I nearly walked right into Priscilla, who was passing by. She looked startled to see me coming out of the empty classroom, but not nearly as startled as she was when Dante followed me.
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