Sarah suddenly appeared at my side, her eyes narrowed. “Well, I hope you’re happy. You’ve ruined tonight for me. Do you realize that if you would’ve left Kenrick well enough alone, he would’ve fallen for me?”
“Not now, Sarah, I’m in no mood for you tonight.” I refused to let her destroy the rest of this evening for me, like she did everything else in my life.
“Aren’t you now?” She lifted her cup of raspberry wine and dumped it down the front of my mother’s dress. “Oh, I’m so sorry. The cup slipped.”
I gasped. The red liquid stained the front of me like blood. “H-how could you?”
She moved away from me. “Have fun dancing now.”
Tears in my eyes, I turned to Rhyne and Gertie. “I’m sorry, I need to go.” I backed away from them.
Rhyne gave me an apologetic glance. “That girl needs a thrashing. If you want, I’d be up for it.”
“Rhyne, no. I think I’ll head home.”
“Then I’ll take you.”
“No. Stay. I can walk.” Before I could rush away, I caught sight of Sarah wrapping her arms around Kenrick. Her lips pressed against his.
I gasped and turned to go.
After all he’d said to me. I suddenly wondered if I could trust anything he’d told me these last few weeks. A strange knight who haunted my dreams pursued me one minute, then abandoned me the next. Tears threatened to spill over. However, Raul had been there for me when I needed him. He was the only man I trusted. Maybe I should convince him to let me go with him when he left. But what kind of future could I have traveling with the Wanderer? And what of Gram?
I hurried toward the woods. But before I made my get away, I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to see Raul.
“And where are you off to?”
“I-I want to go home.”
“Then, come, let me escort you.” He caught my fingers in his and led me toward his horse, tethered at the edge of town. The urge to cry overwhelmed me and I took several deep breaths. Stay calm.
From behind me, I heard Kenrick call my name but I kept going. I didn’t want to turn and see the smug look on Sarah’s face. Nor did I wish to see Kenrick, whose pretty words had only moments before made my knees weak.
Raul helped me into the saddle then climbed on behind me. With a quick slap of the reins, the horse trotted forward. It took all my strength not to glance back.
“Are you going to be all right?” Raul touched my arm with his free hand.
“Yes. Sorry. I just had to get out of there.” I turned and gave him a forced smile.
We traveled through the twilight lit woods, the sounds from town following us into the trees. The further away we got, the darker it became. I shivered against the bleakness, glancing over my shoulder more than once.
At last, we pulled in front of the cottage. Raul hopped down first then reached back up to help me down. He walked me to the front door then wrapped an arm around my waist, tugging me closer.
I swiped his hair from his face. He bent until his lips brushed against mine. My hands slid to his chest as I deepened the kiss. More than anything, I wanted to forget about Kenrick. I was happy before he came here, and I’d be happy when he left. I didn’t need him. I had all I needed in Raul and always had. I was in love with him. Now, I just needed to decide where we went from here. Kenrick had been a distraction and nothing more. I knew now, without a doubt, where my heart belonged.
Raul’s hands tangled in my hair, his mouth tasting of apples and cinnamon. All I wanted to do was get closer to him. To never be separated. Breathless, we pulled apart.
He trailed his fingers down my face with tenderness. “I should probably head home now or I might do something foolish, my little Brielle.”
I laughed. “Good idea. The last thing we need is for Gram to catch us in such a compromising position.”
He leaned in for a peck on the lips. “I’ll always take care of you.”
My heart skittered out of control. “Always is a long time.”
He gave me a lopsided grin. “Yes, it is. Perhaps I can convince you to run off with me. To leave Dark Pines behind and come with me when I leave tomorrow.”
My stomach knotted with nervousness. Was I really going to make a drastic life-altering decision just because Kenrick angered me? But I wanted to be with Raul. I missed him something fierce whenever we were parted. The only problem was, I didn’t think Gram would agree to this. I knew it’d hurt her if I left without warning.
“And what of Gram?”
“I could speak with her in the morning if you’d like. Maybe she’d come with us.” He grinned, touching my face. “If she knew how much I cared about you … ”
“How much is that?” my voice squeaked.
“More than anything.”
I hugged him tight, until at last he released me, climbed back onto his steed, and rode off into the woods. Tomorrow, everything would change. If I decided to go through with this, then there was no going back, but I knew that Gram needed me here in Dark Pines with her. Would I really be able to walk away from the woman who’d raised me? And then there was Kenrick; soon he’d be a memory I tried hard to forget.
As I closed the door behind me, I sank to the floor, confusion racing through me. Could I truly make a drastic choice and follow after Raul and see all the places he’d described to me in great detail? Was I truly going to throw away the life I’d work so hard for here in Dark Pines on the chance that he could be my true love?
But if I did leave, I wouldn’t have to hear the mockery and whispers of the villagers any longer. I’d be free from them. Besides, hadn’t Gram wanted me to travel—have new adventures? Although, I very much doubted this was what she had in mind.
Yet, my heart ached at the thought of him not being here—not being close to me …
So many thoughts bombarded me. Both good thoughts and bad ones.
But one constant remained. My feelings. The warmth I felt whenever Raul’s name was mentioned.
Then another thought struck me. Had Gram seen me with Raul tonight? The way we’d been dancing? I hoped no one told her that we’d snuck off together. I’d be in for it if she did find out. But if I decided to leave tomorrow, did I really care? Yes. You care what she thinks. She’s been a mother to you. And I wasn’t so sure I could go through with it. That I could leave Dark Pines.
As if hearing my thoughts, I heard footsteps on the stoop. I stood and opened the door to find Gram, who said, “I met Raul on the lane and he said he has some important matters to discuss with me tomorrow. Do you want to fill me in? Because the last time we spoke of him, I thought I told you I didn’t want you two alone.”
“You speak as if you know his heart and his intentions. Everything will be fine, Gram. I felt a little sick, so he escorted me home. And—”
“And what?” Her gaze met mine.
“He admitted to having feelings for me.” My teeth grazed my lip as I searched her face. “And if I’m being honest, Gram, I have feelings for him too … but don’t worry, everything will be fine, I promise I won’t get into anything over my head.”
She touched my face. “I wish that were so, that everything would be fine—but I know otherwise. Don’t worry child, I’ll be here no matter what happens. Just stay calm and I’ll help you through. Now, why don’t you get changed then head for bed. You’ve had a long day and we’ve got lots of vegetables to clean tomorrow.”
Tomorrow. That one word held so many possibilities. It held the promise of Raul. But also that meant, if Gram didn’t agree, I might have to say goodbye. I crawled into bed, staring at the lone blinking lantern. A sharp pain exploded in my head. I cried out, gripping my face. Nausea washed over.
“Gram, I don’t feel so well.”
“Shh … I’m right here, just close your eyes. I’ll make you some tea.” She began to hum my lullaby, her voice soothing, yet distant.
I squeezed my lids shut as dizziness swept in. What was wrong with me? I rocke
d back and forth, hoping whatever ailment had come over me, passed quickly. But pain shot through me as if I’d been stabbed by a blade. My head pounded so hard, like someone had taken an axe to a tree, striking over and over again.
The vision was coming—more violently—more real than it had ever been before.
Puddles of blood soaked between my toes as I knelt behind the twisted maze of thorns. Horrific screams echoed around me, pleading for my help. I leapt up, racing toward the voice.
The stench of rotten meat made me gag. Vomit burned the back of my throat.
“Someone help me!” Mary Dyer begged as she crawled toward a bed of ferns.
“Mary, take my hand,” I shouted, reaching forward to grab her.
Bones crunched beneath my steps and I glanced down at the ivory colored skeletal remains. Pieces of flesh littered the pile, along with twisted yards of intestines and innards.
Mary cried in pain and held tight to her throat, the new wound overflowing with blood. As I stared in terror, claws came out in front of me, slashing at her body. My stomach clenched as the wave of nausea washed over me. I fell to my knees, retching.
“No!” I screeched. Cool air touched my cheeks, the putrid smell of spoiled meat still permeated the air around me.
“Shh … it’s all right.” Gram’s voice soothed me.
My lids fluttered open. Confusion swirled through me as I took in the wooded surroundings. What was I doing in the forest? I shifted on my knees and something sharp jabbed into my leg.
I glanced down. My gown was drenched with blood, my skin stained crimson. Beneath me lay a nest of bones. I swallowed hard, my gaze focusing on Gram, who now stood with a pail of water, wiping me clean.
“W-what’s going on? Why am I in the woods, and why am I covered in blood?”
“Bri, there’s something you ought to know.” Her eyes welled. “Something I’ve been keeping from you. I didn’t want you to find out like this, but we’re running out of time and I think it’s time you knew the truth.”
My heart hammered loudly. I swallowed hard. Did I really want her to finish this sentence? But I had to know.
“Gram?”
“It’s not your fault. You have to understand that. You didn’t ask for this.”
“I-I’m the monster?” My gut churned as she nodded her head. Then I saw Mary Dyer’s body. What remained of it. Gertie’s mother. Her flesh was torn from the bone, her arms and legs scattered in the brush. Bile burned the back of my throat as vomit erupted from my lips. The taste of blood was fresh on my tongue as I emptied my stomach. After a few more heaves, I turned to Gram.
“I did this?”
Her brows furrowed and sorrow washed over her face. “Yes.”
In the distance, I heard the distinct sound of horse hooves thundering closer.
“The screams came from this way,” Kenrick bellowed. Armor clanked and I knew his soldiers were with him.
Gram jerked me to my feet and led me into the thicket. We dodged between trees, briars tearing at my already dirtied shift. She ushered me into the creek and the cold water stunned me.
“Come, we must hurry.”
Water splashed against our legs as we pushed through the darkness, the mossy rocks slippery beneath my feet. We came out of the woods at the back of our cottage, where Gram forced me to take off my clothing. She picked up a bucket and dumped it over me, furiously scrubbing my skin.
Once she was assured most of the blood was washed off, she tugged me into the cottage, where she tossed my shift into the fireplace. The wet garment hissed as the flames licked at it. Gram gripped hold of me and escorted me to the already filled tub.
“Gram, what’s going on? H-how long have I been like this?” Sobs raked through me as she cleaned my hair. No wonder she made so much soap, with all this blood …
“When your bath is done, I want you to pack a bag. We have to hide you somewhere away from Dark Pines.”
Tears trailed my cheeks as I stared at her. “Gram?”
“Oh child, this isn’t your fault. You’re cursed.”
Cursed? “I don’t understand?”
Gram offered me a sheet to dry off with and went to fetch several loaves of bread, which she wrapped in cloth. As she loaded herbs into a small leather pouch, she sighed and turned to face me.
“You’ve carried the burden for centuries now.”
“Centuries? How can that be?”
“Dark magic.”
I closed my eyes, shivering as Gram came over to help me finish drying. Was this what Raul and Rhyne’s grandmother meant when she’d mentioned magic?
“Whoever cursed you to become a Beast, damned Kenrick to be the knight hell bent on slaying you. It’s how you got this.” She pointed to the scar above my heart. “Every thirty-five to forty years you’re reborn. Your parents never come back. Just you. You’re delivered to my doorstep as a babe, although I’m never sure how you get there, and me, I never die. I’m the same age, year after year. The three of us, you, me, and Kenrick, bound by the same curse. And the ghost of your cousin, Lucia, shows up like an omen before your change and during the attacks as if to warn us, or perhaps others.”
Lucia. I glanced at the painting of her and a sickening thought entered my mind. “H-how did she and Aunt Narcissa die?”
Gram turned away from me. “They were murdered.”
My fingers trembled. “How?”
“It wasn’t your fault. You didn’t know it was them. I came home from visiting a sick child to find the remains … I never blamed you.” Her eyes welled.
“No. This can’t be true. It can’t be.” I’d slaughtered my own family.
“Bri, I have no reason to lie to you. Be reasonable.”
“Reasonable? I’ve just discovered I’m a monster and you want me to be reasonable.” Sorrow clutched hold of me.
The wrinkles in her face seemed deeper as she rubbed her forehead. “Please, listen to me child. Everything I’ve said is the truth.”
My nails dug into my palms. Deep down, I knew she didn’t lie, I’d read enough in my research in the library to know she spoke the truth. But I wished she did. “Why don’t I remember any of this?”
Gram handed me a brown dress, then pulled out a large leather bag. “It’s part of the curse. The onset of your condition strikes when Kenrick is near. You start off killing one to two people a year. And the closer you two become, the more you hunger for blood and flesh. The more you kill. When you were twelve, Kenrick’s family passed through Dark Pines. It was the first time you killed—the first time the Beast struck during this cycle. I hoped he wouldn’t come back, that maybe the curse had weakened and that would be the end of it. Then he showed up this summer.” Gram’s voice cracked. “You never live beyond your seventeenth year. Kenrick always comes and he always slays you.”
“Oh dear God. That’s why you told me to stay away from him.” I wrung my hands together. And here I was helping him research his beast, when all along the Beast was me. “Have I ever hurt you?”
“No. My powers protect me.” She patted my shoulder. “We’re trying to find a way to break the curse. That’s why I’ve been doing my own research … trying to scour things that I might’ve missed. I’ve searched for centuries to no avail. I tried everything I could to contain this affliction. At one point, I locked you in a cage; I even chained you to the metal bars, but you easily broke through them.”
I let out a slow hiss of breath as I thought of all the people I’d killed. “You could’ve put me in a dungeon or killed me.”
“You are my granddaughter, how can you suggest such a thing? I finally had to ask for outside help in Father Machai. And we did try to imprison you, but you knocked down part of the church wall.”
“But there was a fire, I saw the charred wood.”
“We lit the fire to burn evidence of you. We’ve had the good fortune of Father Machai not going to the church with this. But we have made little progress. Th
is time things have been harder, because your transformations are more violent. It’s not easy to hide your victims when they’re left in pieces. Your hunger increases each time you’re reborn, although I can’t explain why. But both Father Machai and I know that you’re a good girl. This isn’t your fault.”
I thought of the ruined church and the claw marks in the stone. “I was here before, in Dark Pines, wasn’t I?”
“Yes.”
My chest constricted as I envisioned all the people I’d killed in Dark Pines. People who’d been my friends. And what of the other villages? I didn’t deserve to live. Not like this.
“We moved a lot over the years, to hide my immortality. I liked Dark Pines as it was out of the way and we didn’t get many newcomers,” Gram said, folding several dresses and shoving them into my pack while I hurried to grab an extra pair of boots. “You had Rhyne Butcher and Raul. There has never been anyone else over the years. I thought perhaps if I encouraged your friendship and gave you someone else to focus on, not to mention all your studies to be a healer it might break the curse. That if you had other things to concentrate on like your apprenticeship, you wouldn’t get attached to Kenrick, then it wouldn’t have to come to this. And then, of course, Kenrick came much earlier. I didn’t expect him until closer to your birthday; he threw a bit of a snag in things.”
“Gram, why didn’t you tell me? Why did you let me believe I was having premonitions, when it was really my memories?”
She hugged me tight, trying not to cry. “Oh child, I wanted to save you the heartache. I thought I could protect you this way.”
“But it isn’t me who needs protecting.” I cried against her shoulder, trying to forget the horrible things I’d done.
“Yes you do. Kenrick is destined to kill you, and he will, as he always does. Your only chance for survival is to leave at first daylight and head to Fire Ridge. We have a cabin nestled away in the woods for you to hide in.”
“What of you?”
“I’ll stay Dark Pines for a bit. Father Machai and I have more things to look through.” She picked up her cloak then tied it about her shoulders. “Now, I must get word to Rhyne and Raul to be ready in the morning to take you away.”
Legend of Me Page 16
