Dark Reality 7-Book Boxed Set

by Jennifer and Christopher Martucci

  Chapter 10

  Arianna stood in front of the cheap, full-length mirror she’d purchased at the local super store and attempted to get a feel for her new outfit. The fact that the mirror reflected a slightly distorted image did little to bolster her self-confidence. She should have splurged and bought a more expensive one. She did have a substantial amount of money now, thanks to Kane and his crazy followers. But old habits were hard to break. A lifetime spent clipping coupons and counting pennies had made it impossible for her to splurge on luxuries. Even the outfit she’d bought to wear out was chosen from a reduced rack at a retailer she never would have dreamed of paying full price at.

  She ran her hands down the front of her new jeans. The feel of the dark-wash denim was a better quality than any she’d ever worn before. It hugged her curves in all the right places. She twisted to glimpse her backside and a fleeting thought of Scott breezed through her mind. He’d been nice to her in the last few days, and helpful, just by acting like a normal high school senior. Normality was something she’d desperately needed, especially after all the cloak-and-dagger nonsense surrounding her abilities and her destiny. She didn’t know what all the secrecy was about. She was the Sola, therefore, logic reasoned that she ought to be the most informed person of her destiny and her abilities. But she guessed logic had flown out the door the day she’d flicked her wrist and slid a chair across a room. It had also escaped her when she’d watched her mother and Luke die.

  A twinge of guilt stabbed at Arianna’s heart. Here she was preparing to go to a party with her new friends when her world was upside down at best. Her mother’s death, Luke’s death and then the mortifying incident with Desmond had not been minor setbacks. They’d been crushing obstacles. If she were like any normal person, she would be in her pajamas nursing a cup of chamomile tea and tending to her shattered heart. But she wasn’t normal, was she? She was Arianna Rose, a damned superwitch with superpowers who hadn’t the vaguest idea what the hell she was supposed to do with them. Her temples began to throb. She rubbed them with both hands and contemplated calling Jess and canceling.

  Before she went to grab her phone from her bag, she glanced at herself a final time. The clothes were great, the makeup was fine and her hair had cooperated. But inexplicably, she did not feel like herself; perhaps because she wasn’t the self she’d been her whole life any longer. Her eyes traveled down to her feet. Trendy boots in a sleek style made of supple leather rose to just below her knee and made her legs look a mile long. She plopped on her bed and slipped both off before sliding her motorcycle boots from under her bed. The leather was worn and scuffed in some places and the zipper at the side had to be jiggled several times before it grumpily agreed to rise or fall, but they were more her than the others. A bit distressed and by no means perfect, they felt familiar, comfortable. And in that moment, she realized her mother would want her to grab at any bit of happiness that came her way, just as she had. Cathy Rose had always lived for the moment and never allowed a chance to party to pass her by. Thinking of her mother’s zest for life made Arianna’s eyes fill with tears. She blinked them back, determined to honor her mother’s gusto, and decided not to cancel. Instead, she waited patiently until headlights appeared outside her cabin.

  She watched as Scott climbed from his Jeep Cherokee and strode to her front door. He rang the bell and she gathered her coat and bag from the couch.

  “Hey!” Scott said cheerfully as she opened the door. “You look incredible.”

  Arianna felt a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. “Thanks,” she replied coolly. “You look nice, too.” And he did. He wore boot-cut jeans that sat low on his hips instead of skinny jeans, a darkly colored hooded sweatshirt with a winter vest over it. He looked like a J Crew model that had fallen from the pages of a catalogue and landed on her doorstep.

  “Thanks,” he said and shifted nervously. Scott looked as anxious as she felt.

  He walked beside her to his SUV. The back of his hand brushed against hers more than once along the way. The feel of his cool skin grazing hers drew the faintest hint of energy. Each time his hand swept hers, she felt an odd sensation crawl up her wrist to her arm. She could not decide whether it was pleasant or not. It was unlike when Desmond touched her. Desmond’s touch whispered warmly through her body in calming waves that thrummed in time with her heartbeat. But Scott’s touch felt different. It crept and prickled unfamiliarly. Regardless, she decided to not waste another second lamenting about the difference in their touches. Especially since Desmond had made it clear that touching her was off-limits. Of course, that information would have been far more useful before he’d begun touching her and arousing her as he had. Scott knew of no such rules. He was just an ordinary teenager.

  “Sorry, but George called shotgun,” Scott said and gestured to teen Herman Munster perched in the passenger seat.

  “Oh,” Arianna said and didn’t mask her surprise at the sight of George. “I didn’t know he was coming with us.”

  She wanted to ask him why they were always together. Under normal circumstances, she would have ribbed him and asked, “What are you two, a set of balls?” but she knew the friendship was new, that she needed to refrain from being her usual self until she got a better handle on their personalities. She assumed Scott could handle her sense of humor, but George was another story entirely. Something about George just seemed off.

  “Yeah, I hope it’s not a problem,” Scott said and drew his dark brows together. “I thought we were going alone, but he needed a ride.”

  Scott seemed so nervous, so normal, Arianna wanted to pinch his cheeks. The look on his face screamed, “Oh no! I’m blowing it!” Little did he know there was nothing to ruin. They were not on a date.

  “Don’t worry,” Arianna assured him as she opened the rear passenger side door.

  The interior light revealed that George was not the only one who’d hitched a ride with Scott. Meg and Paul were crammed in the back seat as well.

  Arianna slid in and said, “This is cozy,” as she quirked a brow at them.

  They laughed and greeted her.

  “Oh my God, I love your boots,” Meg gushed. “Those are vintage motorcycle boots, aren’t they?”

  “You could say that,” Arianna answered and thought, Yeah, vintage Arianna circa two weeks ago.

  “I love them.”

  “Thanks,” Arianna replied and smiled to herself. She never dreamed she would have a group of friends to go to parties with, and girlfriends to talk about clothes and hair with. Okay, so she’d never had much interest in either clothes or hair, but she would talk about whatever they wanted to, as long as they kept talking to her. Hell, she would even research hair and beauty topics, buy magazines if she had to, anything to keep herself where she was at the moment.

  “And your hair,” Meg continued. “Do you flat-iron?”

  “No, I just shower, comb and let it air-dry. Though, if I’m in a hurry, I blow-dry.”

  “Wow, you’re so lucky. I went to the salon in town and they suggested a straightening treatment and,” Meg began but was cut off by Paul who was sitting between them.

  “I don’t mean to be rude, but let’s switch seats ‘cause I don’t give a crap about hair treatments and all this girlie bullshit,” Paul grumped.

  Arianna laughed out loud. “Damn, Paul. Don’t hold back, tell us what you really think.”

  Meg and Scott laughed and so did Paul. Arianna felt satisfied that she’d allowed a bit of herself to leak out and everyone had been okay with it. Everyone laughed, except George. Surly, unsociable George could not muster so much as a “ha!” Arianna did not know what to make of him. But something about him unsettled her.

  Her misgivings about George were distracted by Meg’s backside being thrust in her face as she stood, hunched, and switched seats with Paul.

  “Sorry, pardon my ass in your face,” Meg joked and Aria
nna laughed.

  “Not a problem,” Arianna said. “At least it’s a good ass.”

  “Ooh, I like where this conversation is going,” Paul teased and raised both brows mischievously.

  “Give it a rest, perv!” Meg fired back. “You guys and your girl-on-girl fantasies!”

  “Yeah,” Arianna chimed in. “Like we’d ever let you watch.”

  Everyone laughed, except George, then Scott said, “I’m in love,” and clutched his chest dramatically which drew even more laughter.

  Arianna had panicked as soon as the words had left her mouth. In light of her recent run-ins with Beth, she did not want to start rumors about herself with a joke. But luckily allowing more of her personality to seep from her had gotten a good response. She began to loosen up and found herself feeling completely comfortable.

  Meg resumed her salon story while Paul and Scott chatted about sports. The conversations were flowing so smoothly, so effortlessly, Arianna hadn’t realized they’d been driving for quite some time. She’d lost track of time and was shocked when she looked at the clock on the dashboard and saw that more than forty-five minutes had passed since Scott had picked her up at her cabin.

  “So where are we headed?” Arianna asked and addressed the entire group. “Where is this party?”

  “It’s in Jettison,” Scott answered and looked at her in his rearview mirror. “We have about ten or fifteen minutes before we’ll be there.”

  “Jettison?” Arianna asked and couldn’t mask the surprise in her tone. She wondered why the hell they were traveling nearly an hour to go to a party, and on a school night no less.

  Even in the darkness of his SUV, she could see amusement dance in Scott’s eyes as he said, “Yeah, Jettison. Is that a problem? I mean, do you have a curfew or something?”

  The notion of her having a curfew was ridiculous to her, yet Scott had asked as if it were to him, as well. She’d never had to answer to a parent, but just assumed everyone else in the car did.

  “No, not at all, actually. Don’t you guys?”

  Scott laughed bitterly, a sound that did not quite fit with his squeaky-clean appearance. “Curfew, what’s a curfew?” he joked and glanced at her again in the mirror.

  “I don’t know. Never had one,” Paul added. “And Meg here doesn’t either, right Meg?”

  “Nope, never,” Meg said and shrugged.

  “Shit,” Arianna commented. “This is a first for me. I always thought I was the only one.”

  She scanned the faces in the car and saw that everyone nodded somberly. When she looked up, Scott’s eyes watched her from his mirror again. “You’re not alone anymore,” he said levelly and held her gaze. He paused a moment and she was about to question what he’d said, whether it had more meaning than what was on the surface, but was glad she did not as the conversation quickly returned to normal when Paul belched loudly.

  “Dude, that was nasty!” Scott said and fanned in front of his nose with one hand. “What’d you eat today? Damn!”

  “A burrito,” Paul replied.

  “Smells like shit, dude,” Scott said then lowered the window.

  “And there are ladies in the car,” George shocked her by adding in his monotone voice.

  “Oh, you mean me?” Meg chimed in as if she’d just been roused from a nap. “Oh don’t worry about me, I’m not a lady,” she smiled sweetly and a ripple of laughter swelled through the car.

  Arianna felt like an idiot for thinking Scott had some kind of insight into her psyche moments earlier, when he’d locked eyes with her and told her she was not alone anymore. How dumb could she be? What other possible meaning could his comment have had? He was a regular teenage boy for heaven’s sake! Her reading into it was proof positive that she’d spent far too long in the company of supernatural or otherwise damaged people.

  “How about you, are you a lady?” Meg asked and returned Arianna to the conversation.

  “Uh, I’m gonna have to give you a no on that one,” she said and crinkled her nose as she shook her head.

  “See George, no need to get worked up,” Meg said and Arianna could hardly imagine George getting worked up about anything, least of all the manners of teenage boys. “No ladies here.”

  “Umm, but there are some there,” Paul said and pointed to a group of girls just ahead as Scott directed the SUV to a clearing just past a drive-in movie theatre that had been closed for the season. “And fine ones at that.”

  “You’re so gross,” Meg looked to where he’d pointed and rolled her eyes.

  “Nah, just admiring the scenery,” he said and leered some more.

  This was another aspect of friendship Arianna had yet to adjust to. She’d never had girls that were friends, much less guys who were friends. She wasn’t sure how to respond. She had no romantic interest in Paul, yet felt uncomfortable with him ogling the scantily clad girls they’d pulled up in front of.

  The girls, seeing only Scott and George in the front seats, kept looking over their shoulders, directly into the light of the headlights, and tossing their hair and arching their backs. She assumed Scott was enjoying the view as much as Paul was and felt an unexpected sting of jealousy. They were not on a date, just hanging out as a group. Why she felt as she did was a mystery, an unpleasant mystery.

  “Are we ready?” Scott said and twisted in his seat to look at her.

  “Yep,” Meg answered.

  “How about you, Arianna? You’ve been kind of quiet.”

  Arianna felt the fuck you badge making its way back to her and fought it. So she was uncomfortable, big deal, right? She had been in far worse situations recently. Spending a few hours watching a group of horny teenage boys try to get lucky would be a breeze compared to all that she’d been through.

  “I’m fine,” she smiled and hoped her smile didn’t look as tight as it felt.

  Scott eyed her, his face unreadable.

  “So whose party is it?” she heard herself ask.

  “No one’s I guess,” he shrugged and she realized he was right. A party in the woods was not one person’s party usually.

  “Right, that was a stupid question,” she fumbled. “What I meant to ask was who do you know at this party?”

  “No one,” Scott answered with a straight face.

  “What? You’re kidding me, right?” she asked and felt certain he was just messing with her.

  “No. I’m not kidding,” he said.

  “C’mon! Cut it out,” she laughed. “Okay, you got me. For a minute there I believed you.”

  Scott smiled and looked at Meg and Paul. “I’m serious. I don’t know a single person here, right guys?”

  “No, he doesn’t. None of us do,” Paul said without a smile.

  “C’mon! Enough! You got me! I said it already,” Arianna waited for them to laugh, but no one did. “Meg, c’mon, they’re messing with me, right?’

  “No, we do this all the time, you know? We hear about a party and crash it.”

  Arianna couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Sure, on stupid reality shows about rich kids with nothing better to do people crash parties in mansions it was fine. But she doubted that was the case for regular kids from Hallowed Hills. Driving an hour to crash a party in the woods was absurd.

  “You’re joking, right?” Arianna asked.

  “No, what do you mean? It’ll be cool. We do it all the time. We like to meet new people,” Scott said and smiled self-consciously. Meg and Paul nodded in agreement.

  Arianna felt her cheeks burn. She did not want to insult them. Maybe this was what everyone did, what normal people her age did. Who was she to judge? Normal was a term she’d never used to describe herself or anyone she’d known.

  “Yeah, you’re right I guess,” she said then chewed her lip nervously. “Sounds like fun.”

  In truth, it did not sound fun at all. Arianna was about as outgoing as a turtle and would just as soon find a shell t
o dive under then saunter up to a group of strangers and start chatting.

  “Great, so you’re in,” Scott said then opened the driver’s side door and slid out. George followed suit, as did Paul who was followed by Meg. Reluctantly, Arianna gripped the handle and took a deep breath before opening the rear door she sat beside. As she did, another car pulled up alongside them. The driver’s side door opened and the light inside revealed that Chris was the driver and Kit his passenger. Josh and Jess were in the back seat.

  “Hey,” Chris said to her as he climbed out then added shyly, “Glad you came.”

  She would have mumbled, “That makes one of us,” if he hadn’t seemed as timid as she felt, and if she weren’t trying desperately to fit in. She’d been enjoying their company so much and didn’t want to screw things up by reverting to her former ways. So she smiled and said, “Thanks, me, too,” instead.

  Jess swung the back door open and jumped out. “Yay! This is going to be so much fun,” she said and linked arms with Arianna.

  Arianna wasn’t sure how to react and stiffened a bit. Walking arm-in-arm with a girl was not something she was used to doing, though Beth would likely beg to differ. But Jess was so bubbly and talking so excitedly, she found herself relaxing and falling into step with her.

  “I can’t wait to get back there and have a few beers,” Josh said as he hurried to join Scott, Paul and Meg who’d begun talking to the girls they’d pulled up near.

  Seeing a girl with short, blonde hair and an equally short shirt laughing with and touching Scott made Arianna bristle. She did not know why she felt jealous. Scott was not her boyfriend. She’d just met him. But for reasons she could not explain, she felt like marching over to them and forcing herself between them, either that, or punching the short-haired blonde right in her perky nose.

  “Arianna, Jess!” Scott called to them and motioned for them to join his group. “Come and meet some great people.”

  She rolled her eyes and was thankful Jess had been talking to Kit with her head turned and had missed it.

  “Looks like Scott has made some new friends already,” Jess said and did not hide the acid in her tone.

  “Yuck, that chick he’s talking to looks like a skank,” Kit added.

  Arianna would have loved to chime in, but felt it was too soon. “Hmm,” Arianna uttered instead.

  “Oh don’t worry, Arianna,” Jess said and looked worried. “He’s into you, not the skank.”

  Jess nudged Kit in a not-so-subtle way and Arianna smirked. Jess was not particularly sly, but her effort was commendable.

  “Yeah,” Kit added nervously. “He just likes to meet people.”

  “Unfortunately, some of them look like tramps,” Jess mumbled and Arianna was beginning to really like her.

  They approached the group and she watched as Jess put herself between Scott and the skank. Other guys, seeing Jess, joined and soon, she held most of the groups’ attention. She spoke animatedly and told a story about the last party they’d been to in a nearby town and how they’d thought a drunken man was a cop and took off only to come back and find the man naked, sitting on their keg. Laughter erupted and Jess had turned her back to the blonde, effectively edging her out of the group. Jess glanced over her shoulder casually and watched as the girl left with her friends then looked to Arianna and winked.

  Arianna had never needed anyone’s help get rid of an unwanted person in her midst. Of course, Jess did not know that and clearly felt as if she’d done Arianna a service. The thought warmed her. She had a friend, a real, normal friend. Her heart swelled and felt two sizes too big for her chest. Scott’s hand on her elbow nearly stopped in from beating, his touch bolting up her arm like lightning.

  “Let’s go,” Scott said and nodded toward the opening in the sparsely wooded area. He held out his hand for her to hold. She noticed his long, elegant fingers and compared them immediately to Desmond’s hands. Desmond had large, capable hands, hands roughened by doing god-only-knew-what. She tried to force him from her mind. Thinking of him only brought her pain where it had once brought her comfort, happiness. She slid her hand into Scott’s outstretched hand and he clasped it tightly. She felt an unexpected jolt like electricity rip though her. Her eyes snapped up to him as she jumped, surprised by what she’d felt. She swore he grinned at her start and felt a shiver sweep up her spine.

  As if sensing her reaction, Scott gave her hand a gentle squeeze and she realized how remarkably soft his hands were. He held her hand and led her into the woods. Not surprisingly, George followed less than two steps behind them. When she slowed unexpectedly, she worried he’d slam into her back as the smell of burning leaves hit her and nearly staggered her. She now associated it exclusively with Kane and his church, with her mother’s death. She squeezed her eyes shut, battling the anxiety rising inside her and breathed deeply. The air was chilly, yet she suddenly felt overheated, memories and nerves uniting against her.

  With her emotions feeling as volatile as they felt, she wondered why her fingertips hadn’t begun to tingle, why all the hate and angry energy she felt toward Kane did not begin to bleed from her. She did not want to frighten Scott, or even creepy George, with a sudden display of her powers and hoped she’d unknowingly learned to control them better.

  Scott gave her hand another squeeze and returned her attention to the party. People passed her and Scott holding plastic cups which meant the keg was somewhere close. She studied the clearing and saw the source of the smell. A large, metal trashcan had been filled with leaves and brush and lit as a makeshift bonfire.

  “Shit, I hope there’s no poison ivy in there,” Scott leaned in and said into her ear.

  Arianna laughed and shook her head. “That would not be good,” she agreed and saw that George nodded cheerlessly just inches from them.

  She groaned silently and spotted Jess and the others approaching behind George.

  “This party is off the hook!” Paul exclaimed as his eyes followed a pair of girls. “Hey, what’s up ladies? My name’s Paul. This is Arianna, Scott and George.”

  The girls stopped and introduced themselves. One was named Gina and the other Sarah. Gina had white-blonde hair that skimmed her shoulders and Sarah had short, curly black hair. They went to Jettison High School and were seniors, just like Arianna and the others. After pointing them to the keg and promising Paul they’d meet up with him later, Gina and Sarah exchanged tipsy pleasantries and moved along.

  “See what I mean? Off the freaking hook,” Paul nodded to her and Scott. “Now, let’s get some beer.”

  “Paul is behaving himself tonight,” Jess said more to Scott than anyone else.

  “For now,” Scott smirked.

  “I wonder if the cops ever come here,” Arianna said to Jess as she examined the clearing again. She noticed that it was not only a wide-open space off of a main road, but that it lacked any kind of real coverage, as well. Few trees shielded the area from headlights and the fire they had going worked against what little protection they offered.

  “I have no idea, but I’ll find out right now,” Jess said then spun and grabbed the sleeve of the first boy that passed. He was tall and wore a brightly colored winter hat.

  “Oh Jess you don’t have to,” Arianna began, but was interrupted by Jess speaking to the boy whose sleeve she held.

  “Hi there, I’m Jess.”

  “Hey, I’m Jeff,” he replied and did not even seem to notice the unusual way she’d gotten his attention.

  “Hi Jeff,” she purred. “My friends and I were wondering, do the cops come by here a lot? We don’t want to get too comfortable if we’re going to have to run off any second.”

  “Cops? Are you kidding me? There are, like, two in this town, and they’re probably at the doughnut shop in the square.”

  “Ha! Funny. I like you, Jeff!” Jess said and released his sweatshirt, but took hold of his forearm instead. From w
hat little Arianna had seen of Jess, she never would have imagined she’d be so flirtatious. But beer often did that to a girl, transformed her from silly and girly to flirty. No one else seemed surprised by her change so Arianna dismissed it.

  After a few moments of talking, Jeff went on his way and Jess bounded back to them.

  “I see you worked your magic,” Scott teased her.

  Jess tossed her flame-red hair over her shoulder with exaggerated attitude and both she and Scott laughed.

  “I want to mingle more,” Jess said. “Come one! We can all go together!”

  The thought of mingling made Arianna want to scream, but since everyone they’d met so far had been friendly, she could not find a legitimate reason that it made her want to scream. The kids of Jettison seemed as nice as the kids from Hallowed Hills.

  Led by Jess, she and the others moved from group to group and got to know a variety of people. Everyone was drinking and laughing and having a good time, and while Arianna was not intoxicated in the least, the atmosphere was intoxicating. She felt alive and light, unlike she’d ever felt before. Time was flying, as well, and she nearly dropped her phone when she glanced at it and saw that it was close to one o’clock in the morning already.

  As they worked their way through the crowd, Scott continued to look at her strangely, as if he had something to say. Finally, when they’d left a group of particularly rowdy football players, he leaned in and said, “Want to go somewhere a little more private?”

  She wasn’t sure what he was getting at and hesitated. She was not going to go off into the woods with him and hook up. She worried that if he tried anything, she would lose what little restraint she had and incinerate him.

  “I just want to talk to you for a while, just you. I promise, no funny business,” Scott said as if he’d read her mind.

  “Okay,” she replied cautiously.

  “C’mon,” he said and heard the doubt in her voice. “Where’s the trust?” He reached out his hand and she took it, but not before looking over her shoulder for George. When he didn’t follow, she felt a bit relieved. Something about George got under her skin. She couldn’t put her finger on exactly what it was that irked her but felt uncomfortable around him.

  They walked until they found a pair of tree stumps close together. They sipped their beers and talked a bit as the party wound down and people began to leave. The conversations turned from lighthearted to serious.

  “I like you, Arianna,” Scott blurted out unexpectedly.

  Arianna wasn’t sure what to say. “Uh, thanks,” she fumbled awkwardly.

  “Ouch,” Scott said and screwed up his features. “I got the old ‘thanks.’ That’s never good.”

  “I didn’t mean to, well, you know, dammit, I’m just not good at,” she stammered. “Shit. Can you tell I’m not good at this?”

  “Not at all,” he said with playful sarcasm.

  Arianna shook her head and raked her hand through her hair. “It’s not that I don’t like you, I’m just not ready to start anything up right now,” she admitted.

  “Arianna, I’m not asking you to marry me. I just want to hang out with you.”

  By hang out, she assumed he meant make out.

  “So, what, you’re looking for a friend with benefits to mess around with when you feel like it?” she asked and could not keep the sharpness from her tone.

  “What? No! Nothing like that. I just meant that I want to get to know you, see what happens, that’s all.”

  “Hmm,” she eyed him warily.

  “I’m serious. If I were looking for what you said before, I could get it, trust me. But I don’t want that with you. You’re different,” he said sheepishly and dropped his gaze to his feet.

  She did not know what to make of his admission. He’d basically told her that if he were looking to fool around with some random girl, there were plenty waiting in the wings to do so. But he did not want them right now. He wanted her. She found that point interesting, and kind of flattering. He thought she was different. He was right. She was different. If he knew just how different she was, he would run from her, or worse, get himself hurt just like everyone else had. She needed to end things before they had a chance to begin.

  “Trust me, you don’t want to be with me,” she said honestly.

  “Why would you say that?” he asked softly.

  “Jeez, you want the list. It’s pretty long. It’s a good thing you don’t have a curfew,” she said and looked away from him.

  Scott gently placed his hand on her cheek and turned her face toward him.

  “Hey, I don’t believe that for a second,” he said and watched her with intensity so fierce it made her want to giggle. Yet despite the bizarre way he concentrated on her, the air between them seemed to crackle with energy. She wasn’t sure why or what had caused it, but it was there. He tipped her chin up and she had no choice but to look into his eyes.

  In the darkness, his eyes caught the light of the fire that had been started in the trash can and looked as though they were glowing in an eerie shade of gold. The color pulled her in, almost hypnotized her. He brought his other hand up and stroked her hair back. No one had ever petted her as he did now. She wasn’t sure how to feel about it.

  Nothing that he’d done was wrong or bad, just odd. He’d probably won over more girls than he could count with moves like the ones he was putting on her. Those girls had probably eaten it up. But she was not other girls, and as it turned out, teenage boy moves did nothing for her. She did not want to insult him so when he closed his eyes and moved in for a kiss, she let him.

  She closed her eyes as his lips lightly touched hers. He wasted no time attempting to deepen their kiss and Arianna felt his tongue, cold from the beer he’d sipped a moment earlier, glide between her lips and dart about with the eagerness of a snake inspecting its surroundings and picking up scents. She slowed his overzealous pace by creating her own and when she did, an image flashed before her, clear, unmistakable. She saw Desmond. She was staring at his broad chest, resting her hands against it. She remembered the feel of his thick muscles bunching beneath her fingertips; feel the heat radiating from him as she lightly caressed his skin. The fantasy of him made her long in a way she never had to be with him, to feel him, to kiss him. She did not want to remember what his lips tasted like. She wanted to taste them for herself.

  She opened her eyes for a split second and glimpsed Scott’s face instead of Desmond. A sense of loss enveloped her and left her emotions rioting messily. Hurt tore through her as memories threatened to rush forth. She closed her eyes again and braced herself for the tidal wave of sadness that wanted desperately to break free. Desmond had rejected her outright. Scott had not. Why did she still want Desmond? What was it about Desmond that made her feel as if she were being magnetically pulled toward him? she wondered.

  Scott’s hands moved to her face and cupped it sweetly before he brushed them down the length of her hair and rested them finally at her waist. He pulled her close and the air between them sizzled again, a strange charge that hummed. The sensation was not unpleasant, and neither was his kiss. He was not Desmond. No one was or would be. Scott liked her and wanted to kiss her. No prophetic complications existed for him. So she gave in and allowed herself to be swept up in the moment.

  After several seconds, their lips parted.

  “Wow,” Scott said and guided her head so that it rested against his chest. “That was nice.”

  His gesture was sweet, clumsy, but sweet. “Thanks. Likewise,” she replied.

  She did not know how long he wanted to stay as they were. She’d relaxed considerably, content to hear the steady beat of his heart when Scott pulled back. “Looks like the party is breaking up,” he commented.

  “Smells that way, too,” she said and fanned the air in front of her face with her hand.

  The scent of marijuana hung heavily in the air.


  “Whoa, yeah, I smell it now. You smoke weed?” he asked.

  “I’ve had it a couple of times. It doesn’t do much for me.”

  “Me neither,” he said. “I think I’m done with my beer, too. Whatever brand they got tasted watered down.”

  Arianna laughed. “I didn’t want to say anything, but it was pretty crappy.”

  “You didn’t have to worry about offending me. I just pick the parties to crash, not the beer.”

  She was about to ask him more about his love of party crashing when Paul appeared out of nowhere.

  “Guys, the party has cleared out except for a few people. There’s this couple, Gina and Jeff, they’re so baked. It’s funny. You’ve got to come and see them.”

  Scott looked to her as if to ask if she wanted to go. She shrugged and he took her hand and followed Paul. She did not have any particular interest in people who were stoned, or drunk, or under the influence of any other behavior-changing drug. She found that people managed to humiliate themselves and act inappropriate enough on their own, without drugs and drinks. But if this was what her new friends enjoyed, she’d tolerate it for them. They were nice and she enjoyed being with them.

  “Look,” Paul pointed to a boy and girl they met earlier. She remembered them distinctly, especially since the boy, Jeff, wore a silly, neon hat and Gina had hair so pale it could probably be seen from space. They were laughing like loons as they passed a joint between them. A third girl, Sarah, whom they’d met as well, was with them. She, too, was laughing as she sat beside another boy whose name escaped her. His hair was styled in dreadlocks and he sat with his arm was draped over her shoulder and his eyes were squinted as he smiled goofily.

  “Oh wow,” Scott said flatly. “Looks like it’s about time.”

  “Yeah, they really should go home. They’re all messed up” Arianna added.

  Scott did not acknowledge what she’d said. He simply stared at the two couples with a strange look on his face. She did not appreciate being ignored and hoped that wasn’t what had happened.

  “They need to get home,” she said again to see if perhaps he hadn’t heard her the first time. She glanced at Scott, waiting for a response, but he remained focused on the four that stayed behind.

  “I’m going to win this one,” Chris came up and said behind Scott and seemed to break his concentration, a fact that irritated her.

  She had no idea what Chris was talking about and was about to ask when Jess chimed in.

  “No way, Chris, I’m going to kick both your asses.”

  “What are you,” Arianna began, but Scott had already leaned in to speak to the boy with the dreadlocks beside Sarah. He’d heard her speak all three times, she was sure of it, but had ignored her. She began to feel extremely annoyed. Seconds earlier, Scott couldn’t tear his eyes, or lips for that matter, off her. Now, she was nonexistent. And for what, a group of kids who were high as kites?

  “What’s your name again?” Scott asked dreadlock guy.

  “Steve,” the boy replied and his grin grew wider, sillier.

  “Okay, so we have Jeff, Gina, Sarah and Steve,” Scott announced and Arianna became more confused than she was a moment ago.

  “I get Steve!” Chris called.

  “I get Jeff,” Jess exclaimed.

  “Dibs on Gina,” Paul added.

  “I guess I get Sarah then,” Scott said.

  “What’re you guys talking about?” Jeff slurred.

  “Yeah, are we, like, picking dodge ball teams or something?” Steve asked.

  Scott laughed wickedly, a sound that did not look befitting his boy-band-member appearance. “Yes, something like that,” he replied to Steve. Then Scott raised his arms out in front of his body and pointed them at Sarah. He turned his wrists outward and gestured slightly and she jerked forward as if she were connected to his hands by invisible wires. Her dark curls jiggled and the expression on her face that had been happily high turned to one of fright.

  “What the hell is going on?” Sarah cried out, but Scott did not answer her. Instead, he clenched both fists and Sarah’s hands mimicked his motions.

  “Oh my god,” Arianna breathed as her mind struggled to fathom what she was looking at. The scene seemed absurd, impossible. Sarah was acting as though she were Scott puppet, doing what he commanded her to do, moving as he ordered her to. For a moment, Arianna wondered whether she was high, whether some powerful hallucinogenic drug had been slipped in her beer and had actually had the potency to outdo her powers. “Scott, what the hell, what’s happening here?” she heard herself ask and her voice sounded as if it were echoing from the bottom of the ocean, muffled and distorted.

  Scott did not respond and her frustration mounted, along with fear. The sound of blood rushing behind her ears became a deafening roar, interrupted only by another voice, Chris’s voice.

  “Oh it’s on now!” Chris said excitedly and raised his hands before Steve. Steve pitched forward, his dreadlocks swinging, and moved clumsily toward Chris.

  Jess and Paul did the same and Gina and Jeff staggered from the fallen tree they’d sat upon.

  Arianna could not believe what she was seeing. She stood, stunned, mouth agape, unable to react for several seconds. A chill befell her body like an icy, wintery storm rushing through her veins and crystallizing her blood. She had to remind herself to breathe, and tried, but her lungs felt frozen.

  “What the fuck are you guys doing?” she heard herself question and while her voice sounded louder and stronger than it had moments ago, it still sounded foreign to her own ears, and weak.

  “Calm down Arianna,” Scott said exasperatedly. “We said you weren’t alone anymore. What did you think we meant?”

  “W-what?” she asked as the world began to swirl around her.

  “We know you’re one of us. We felt it the day you walked into school,” he said, but did not tear his eyes from Sarah, who trembled so powerfully, her tightly coiled hair quivered like Jello.

  The spinning quickened and the trees seemed to roll past her in a dizzying blur. They knew she was a witch, and they, too, were witches and warlocks. The notion was too much for her brain to process. She was not drugged. They were using their powers to manipulate people they’d met at the party like pawns.

  “What are you doing to them?” she managed to ask and pointed to Sarah.

  “It’s just a game we play,” Jess answered casually. “Chris won last time.”

  “Won? What?” her mind felt as if it were being swallowed by swirling quicksand.

  “Yeah,” Scott added and laughed. “So I owe him a beating.”

  “You guys have powers and this is what you do with them?” she cried, but no one acknowledged her.

  “He’s going to get that beating right now,” Scott said.

  At Scott’s challenge, Chris flicked his wrist and his dreadlocked boy stumbled toward Sarah.

  “What’s going on?” Chris’s person panicked as his body moved without his control. “Help me! Help!” he cried as he wobbled closer to Sarah. When he got within arm’s reach of her, Chris launched his arm out and Arianna watched in horror as the boy with the deadlocks’ arm did the same. Chris’s motion made the boy with the dreadlocks punch Sarah in the face with more power that he could have possibly had. Sarah’s head snapped back and blood spurted from her mouth. Her brow knitted and she cried out in pain.

  “Enough guys, this isn’t funny! Stop it!” Arianna shouted and felt as though she had been placed in a nightmare. But no one paid her any mind. Her frustration escalated to rage and she tried to move, to take a step forward toward Scott, but found her legs would not budge. “What the hell?” she fumed.

  “Ooh! That was a cheap shot!” Scott screamed in delight, disregarding her yelling then began moving his hands. As he did, Sarah marched, still bleeding, toward a thick tree branch and picked it up.

  “Oh god! Sarah!” Chris’s guy sobbed. “I-
I don’t know what’s happening! Sarah, I’m sorry!”

  “Shut up,” Chris ordered him, annoyed.

  “I want in on this action!” Paul called out and began gesturing quickly. Paul’s motioning made Gina appear behind Sarah. Gina’s platinum-blonde hair glowed ethereally in the darkness as she moved, against her will, close to Sarah.

  Scott laughed aloud as he twisted his wrist several times and Sarah did the same, swinging the branch.

  “Please stop hurting them,” Sarah begged as tears and blood rained down her chin. “Please leave me alone.”

  “Scott don’t!” Arianna screamed just as Scott made Sarah swing the thick branch in her hand at Gina.

  “No!” she cried again, but it was too late.

  The limb smashed against Gina’s face with a stomach-turning thwack. She watched as a flurry of pale blonde, now tinged with red, fell to the ground. The red slowly edged out the blonde as Gina lay there, unmoving.

  Arianna tried to run again, to run to Gina who was face-down in a pool of her own blood, but her legs would not move.

  “Damn Scott! You got me again,” Paul called, and to anyone who did not see what he was doing, they would have thought he was jeering about a video game.

  “Oh my god! You bastard!” she called over and over again. “Why are you doing this?”

  “Yeah! That’s what I’m talking about!” Scott cheered as if she weren’t there. “Look out guys, I’m coming for you.”

  Everyone laughed except Arianna, and those being moved against their will.

  “Stop it!” Arianna screamed as crimson began to cloud her vision and a familiar feeling began to surge and course through her. She’d been trying to keep her powers under control, had successfully kept them at bay, though she did not know how she’d done it. Her legs were frozen, but her powers were not. She would not allow for innocents to be manipulated like pawns for Scott and the others’ sick enjoyment. She would stop them. She would punish them.

  Her entire body began to tremble and her fingertips tingled. The forest was suddenly silent, save for the roar of her lifeblood through racing her veins. She knew her eyes glowed red, and that a dangerous swell of power waited just beneath her skin, pulsing harshly, hissing like fiery serpents.

  “Uh oh,” Jess called out playfully as she glanced in Arianna’s direction.

  “Uh, George, a little help here,” Scott said and nodded at Arianna.

  “I have her immobilized,” he said flatly.

  “Well, then do something else,” Scott ordered him.

  George materialized from the shadows and raised his hands at her. When he did, she felt her fingertips go numb. The world, which seconds earlier was awash in a blood red hue, returned to normal. Arianna felt as if her power had seeped from her, as if she’d been drained of it. Her feet were still anchored to the earth beneath them.

  “What the hell are you doing to me?” she shouted.

  “I wouldn’t bother,” Scott said to her, acid lacing his words. “George’s power is that he can freeze everyone else’s. We never go out without him,” he laughed, a vile, cruel laugh.

  “Please,” she begged. “Scott, please stop this.”

  Scott glanced at her briefly and smirked. “I’m immune to pretty girls who beg,” he hissed. “But nice try, anyway.”

  Arianna felt her stomach roil angrily, as if somersaulting over a slithering beast inside her belly that moved unendingly. But that was it. The energy that would have heedlessly rushed from her core and stopped him had been immobilized. She was forced to watch in disgust as Scott moved Sarah like a marionette on strings guided by his malevolent hands. Blood and dirt streaked Sarah’s face as she cried and begged Scott to stop.

  “Please stop!” Sarah sobbed as she looked in fright at Gina who lay still in a garnet puddle.

  But Scott simply sneered at her, ignoring her pleas, and made her swing her branch again at the person closest to her. Steve, the boy with the dreadlocks, was nearest and trembled so violently, his twisted strands of hair looked as if they’d come to life. He tried to move, to run from Sarah, but Chris was too busy chatting with Jess and held his arms, unmoving, in front of him.

  “Like a cow awaiting slaughter,” Scott muttered as he angled his arm back as far as it would go. His stance was that of a baseball player intending to send a pitch sailing over the farthest fence of the playing field. Then, with lightning-fast speed, he whipped it forward in a wide arc. Sarah’s arms did the same, only holding the thick branch.

  Arianna shrieked, “No!” but, it was too late.

  Steve’s eyes widened in fright before the branch crashed against his temple. The impact of the hit sent blood spraying in every direction, as well as one of his eyes, before he collapsed to the ground.

  “Oh my god! Oh no! You sick son of a bitch!” Arianna screamed

  Red colored the leaves around Steve’s head. He gurgled and convulsed several times before life escaped him.

  Ire coursed through Arianna’s veins like fire, raging and blazing, urging her body to act. But she was being held by George.

  George. The name raised every hair on her body like quills. She would have her moment with him if it were the last thing she ever did, but only after Scott were punished for what he’d done.

  Her thoughts of vengeance, though comforting, were fleeting. The carnage around her was overwhelming, but had yet to end. Sarah and Jeff remained. And Scott had already begun to send Sarah after Jeff.

  “Ugh! My guy is so boring!” Jess complained and set Jeff’s fists into motion.

  Jeff wept and he looked at his fists in disgust. Jess brushed her wrists forward and his feet moved without coordination right to Sarah.

  “W-what’re you doing? Don’t! No don’t!” Jeff cried as Jess inched him closer to Sarah’s deadly branch.

  “I’m bored already,” Jess sighed.

  “No!” Jeff called seconds before Scott cocked his arms back and swung again, making Sarah’s arms do the same.

  “No!” Jeff cried again. But his cries were interrupted by a sickly thud.

  He tumbled to the ground, crimson staining his neon hat. He tried to scramble to his feet, wounded, but still alive, when Scott sent Sarah to where he scrambled. He had her swing her branch high over her head then bring it down hard, again and again, until specks of blood and matter covered her face and Jeff’s skull had been caved in.

  Arianna felt as if she were going to be sick, the massacre more than her mind and stomach could handle.

  “See, I told you I’d win this one,” Scott said and smiled humorlessly.

  “No!” Arianna screamed at all of them. “What have you done? Why did you do this?”

  Sarah still stood with the bloody branch in her hand, her own blood smeared across her face, trembling and crying.

  “You fucking scumbag!” Arianna cursed at Scott. ‘This isn’t who we are!”

  “Oh relax! They’re just useless humans,” Scott spat as he pulled an object wrapped in a napkin from his pocket. He tossed it to Sarah, made her pick it up and unwrap it. When the napkin fell to the ground, Arianna realized that a knife had been wrapped in it. Her heart sank to her feet as she worried what he was going to have Sarah do with that knife.

  She was forced to watch in shock and disgust as Sarah raised the knife with a trembling hand.

  “No, no, no! Please no!” Sarah bawled uncontrollably.

  “Scott no!” Arianna screamed again.

  Scott simply smirked as he dragged his hand up his wrist to his elbow. Sarah did the same, causing a red ravine to appear in its wake as she slit her own forearm from her wrist to her elbow.

  Arianna’s legs buckled and she fell to her knees clutching her belly as the urge to retch overcame her. She gagged and heaved as her stomach clenched violently, but nothing came up. Her mind swam. The atrocities Scott and the others had committed were unconscionable.

  “Se
e, when the cops come, all they’ll find is good old Sarah’s DNA, and they’ll just think she went haywire and killed these three herself,” Scott said offhandedly.

  “Yeah, no harm done,” Jess said, then to just Scott she added, “What a drama queen, falling to the ground and what not.”

  “We were just having some fun,” Chris chimed in.

  “Come on, Arianna, get up, enough with the whole I’m-so-shocked act. You’re with us, one of us. There’s no need for it,” Scott tried to persuade her. But she ignored him, refused to even look up at him.

  “Let her go, George,” Scott ordered. “She’s not a threat now.”

  As soon as she felt the oppressive weight of George’s power lift, she brought her legs beneath her and stood. Though he no longer held her powers, her fingertips did not tingle and she did not feel a raging inferno burning beneath her skin. All she felt was the need to flee, to get as far away from Scott and the rest of them as fast as possible.

  “We’re going to get out of here, Arianna,” Scott said. “Let’s go, come on.”

  “I’m not going anywhere with you. I’m not one of you. I’m nothing like you!” Arianna said, her voice unsteady.

  She had no intention of being near them, much less riding in a car with them for forty-five minutes. Instead, she turned from them, faster than she dreamed possible, and began to run. With her head down, she watched her feet take turns hitting the ground. She knew she should have felt her shoes slapping against the leaf-littered earth, but felt nothing.

  In the distance, Scott called to her several times before giving up. “Let her cool off,” she heard him finally say. “We’ll see her tomorrow.”

  She tried to tune out the sound of his voice, sickened by it, and concentrated on the beat of her heart, felt its energy swell and flare through her veins. The rhythm her heart produced did not lull her, though. It was not strong enough to keep the nightmare she’d just witnessed from playing out again in her mind’s eye.

  Fury and fright surged inside her. They propelled her forward, faster. Tears streamed from her eyes. She balled her fists tightly as she pumped her arms in sync with her legs. So tight was her grip that her fingernails bit into the tender skin of her palms. But she did not care. Her pain did not matter. People had been killed; innocent kids whose only crime had been allowing the likes of Scott and the others to crash their party. And Scott believed her to be one of them. He was wrong. She was nothing like him, or any of them. She needed to get the hell away from them, all of them.

  They were witches and warlocks, a fact that offered no comfort whatsoever, especially after seeing what they did for fun. She did not know what to do. She was the Sola, the most powerful witch on Earth, yet she did not know what to do about a murderous group of her kind. She realized she needed help. She needed Desmond.

  Her legs slowed, deep in the woods, far from the sight and smell of burning leaves and headlights. She reached out with her senses and could not even hear the sound of cars passing.

  Once she felt confident that she had not been followed, she called out to Desmond.

  “Desmond,” she said softly and waited. She waited for the air before her to ripple like a glare coming off of a scalding hot road in the summer sun just as it did the last time he had appeared before her. But nothing happened. He did not appear.

  “Desmond!” she shouted again.

  A clenching sensation began to settle in her chest and her throat constricted around the lump that had formed there.

  “Desmond!” she tried again, but her voice was little more than a strangled whisper. “Desmond, please. I need you,” she begged then began to cry softly.

  She sank to her knees once again and clutched her midsection waiting for him to appear as he had in the past. But he did not.

  Arianna realized she was completely alone.