by Tanya Milne
The smile slipped from my face. I stood and took my plate to the sink.
‘Oh, come on, Eva, I was just mucking around.’
‘I know, and I don’t want to think about it anymore, okay.’
‘Sure,’ he said, but he sat back, brooding as unasked and unanswered questions sat heavily with us in the room. ‘Just remember what I said…when you’re ready.’
‘Speaking of which, I’d better get ready for school.’
I left Elijah sitting there in the kitchen now full of bright morning light. As I walked towards the stairs, I saw the black police car across the street, and standing against its front door, looking straight into the windows – at me – was Max.
Max was still there when I left the house an hour later, leaning against the police car, his gaze fixed on me like glue. My instincts told me he would be there, but that didn’t stop my mouth from going dry or a sick feeling from settling in the pit of my stomach.
I put my earbuds in and walked quickly down my front path, then took a quick right onto the street.
‘Hey, wait up,’ said Max, striding towards me.
I kept walking, but he caught up and matched my stride.
He pulled my earbud from my ear. ‘Hello, Eva,’ he said.
I stopped and turned to him. ‘What do you want?’
‘Good morning to you,’ he said, his insipid pale-brown eyes alive with his sick and no doubt warped thoughts.
I waited, put a hand on my hip. ‘Something you wanted, apart from staring at our house night and day?’
‘Bit touchy this morning. Didn’t get much sleep last night, huh?’
‘I had plenty of sleep. I said, what do you want?’
A flash of anger flitted through his eyes before he regained control. ‘Where were you last night?’
Crap. He knows. How much does he know?
‘I don’t have to tell you anything. What I do is my own business.’
I started walking again.
‘That’s where you’re wrong. Didn’t you hear the new law that came into effect at midnight last night? Any person not willing to cooperate with official police business can be arrested and held until they’re willing to talk.’
My skin prickled like a hot rash. I stopped and turned around, no words forming.
‘That’s a girl. So, where were you?’
My heart raced, but I kept my voice even and low. ‘I was at home.’
‘Really? At home, all night?’
‘Yes, really, since I got home from school. Surely one of your rookies saw me get home and not leave again?’
The truth of my words registered as annoyance on his face. He had nothing on me.
‘Can I go now?’
He blinked a few times. ‘I say when you go. Don’t you know that by now?’
I rolled my eyes and turned my face to the sky.
‘The strange thing is, someone matching your description – your exact description – was seen a few streets away.’
I remembered the lights, how they flicked on and someone walked outside. Why would anyone report that? Seriously, what was happening in this town?
‘There’re lots of people who look like me.’
‘I don’t think there’s many people who look like you,’ he said, his eyes clouding as his gaze raked over me.
I resisted the urge to raise my knee and kick him where it would hurt.
‘I said I was at home. Now, I need to get to school.’
His eyes came back into focus. ‘Just think it’s a bit odd. Someone who matches your description spotted on the same night we have another disturbance, this time in the woods of all places.’
I stiffened. They had seen my witch’s mark.
‘Everything all right?’ he asked.
I made myself gaze into his eyes. ‘What happened?’
‘You tell me.’
I knew that whatever I said, however I responded in the next few seconds, could change my life.
Lie, lie, lie.
I prayed my voice would be steady. ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about, Max. I was at home with my family. Surely, with all the spying you do on me, you would know that.’
Max stared at the ground. That’s when I knew I had him. With the sighting in the woods, all the police cars would have been called into action. There was no one outside my house to check whether I was home or not. I was safe. For now.
‘Can I go? To school? Am I still allowed to learn?’
Max stepped closer so I could smell his coffee-laced breath. ‘You know, Eva, I’m a pretty patient guy, putting up with that smart mouth of yours, but you shouldn’t push me. You might get a little more than you bargained for.’
My legs trembled, but I held steady. ‘Can I go?’
He stepped aside and I started to walk away, but his words, well, they were loud and clear as they followed me. ‘I’ll be watching you, Eva. Because wherever there’s trouble, you’re never far away.’
I kept walking, but for the rest of the street I could feel his dirty eyes and dirty thoughts on me.
Chapter Twenty-Two
At 4.00 p.m. sharp there was a knock on our front door. My heart did a little leap and even Pearl glanced up at me, startled from her slumber on my bed.
I heard Elijah race down the stairs, two at a time. The only person who made Elijah move that quickly was Anna. Sure enough, moments later, her sweet, high-pitched voice could be heard downstairs.
‘Do you think I could hide?’ I whispered to Pearl, who stared at me, unblinking.
Footsteps sounded on the stairs, and panic welled up inside me. I stood up, sat down, stood up.
‘Eva,’ said Anna from my doorway, her hands full of boxes that contained goodness knew what. ‘Can I come in?’
I nodded, unable to trust my voice. She quickly placed the boxes on my bed, getting a once-over from Pearl.
‘Hello, you,’ she said, walking over and hugging me. ‘How great is your room?’ She looked around, her eyes wide. ‘And to think Elijah is always the one bragging about his en-suite bathroom.’
I laughed and felt my body relax. Anna really was one of the kindest, sweetest people I’d ever met, and apart from the fact she was here to ‘make me over,’ I was glad she was here. These last few days, since the night I’d been out in the woods, had been even crazier than before. Not only were there new laws coming in thick and fast, eroding our democratic rights and breeding fear across the whole community, but the talk about the incident in the woods had also ignited people like a firecracker.
The police were not the only ones who’d seen my witch’s sign in the sky, and by the end of the next day, everyone was talking about it. I’d done my best to feign ignorance and then interest, but it had been draining, so draining.
And that was just at school – home had been worse. Home had involved some serious questioning that left no one satisfied. The laughter, the joking, the fun that had once infected us had dried up in the lies I’d told to try and protect us. My family had started watching me, as though they were trying to understand what had happened to me and what type of person I was becoming.
Anna sat down on the seat near the window, and we prattled away like a couple of birds in a cage. I was laughing at one of her jokes when she stood and walked over to the boxes. ‘Well, I suppose we’d better get started.’
‘Do we have to?’ I said, squishing my face together with my hands.
‘Aha,’ she said. ‘Now, let’s start with your hair.’
I put my hands on my hair. ‘What’s wrong with my hair?’
Anna walked over to the bed, where I was sitting, took off my cap and started releasing my braid. ‘There’s nothing wrong with your hair, silly. Although it might be a good start if you let people actually see it.’
I groaned, and she hit me playfully on the head. ‘Am I going to have problems with you?’
‘Probably,’ I said, and we both cracked up.
About an hour later, I stared at the full-length
mirror built into my wardrobe, hardly recognising the girl in the reflection. I wore a long, simple red silk dress that clung to me effortlessly and revealed curves I’d never shown the light of day. Elegant black heels hugged my feet, and my long dark hair fell in soft waves down my back. I’d never worn make-up before, but after some heated debate with Anna, I gave in and let her have her way. I looked the same, yet different – my cheekbones were accentuated in pale pink, my eyes dark and large and my lips plump and red.
‘I can’t go out looking like this,’ I said, holding the side of my dress.
Anna stood next to me. ‘Oh, yes you can, and you will. Although I have to say I’m glad that Elijah is your brother. I wouldn’t stand a chance.’
I turned to Anna. ‘Stop this. I look ridiculous.’
Anna placed her hand softly on my face. ‘Ridiculous is the last word I’d use to describe you. Sexy goddess, on the other hand…’
‘I’m not…sexy,’ I managed to stutter out, knowing my face as red as my dress.
‘Badass, sexy and doesn’t know it yet – even better,’ she said, laughing, but stopped when she saw my face. ‘Okay, I won’t mention how hot you look again.’
‘Anna…’
‘That necklace matches perfectly…’
‘Oh,’ I said, realising I’d accidently left my necklace on – the necklace I wasn’t supposed to wear, particularly now that I knew what it was, what it represented. I glanced at my necklace I’d treasured for as long as I could remember. It was a pentagram star surrounded by a circle, encrusted in sparkling garnets. Even I was forced to admit my necklace, which was strangely complex and simple at the same time, matched my dress perfectly.
‘My mother gave it to me,’ I said, touching it lightly, the familiar feeling of warmth and security washing over me. ‘And her mother before her and so on.’
What I didn’t tell her was that it was a witch’s necklace, passed down from one witch to the next. I looked at it again with new eyes.
Did it have any special powers?
Had it helped my family in their work?
Could it help me?
‘It’s a pentagram, or a five-pointed star,’ said Anna softly, her brown eyes fixed on the stone.
‘What?’
How does she know?
‘To be fair, that’s only one of its meanings,’ continued Anna. ‘The symbol has been around forever, and I mean forever. It’s meant different things to people – the Christians, the Greeks, even witches. I could go on and on, but you get the idea.’
I must have been looking at her as though she had two heads, because she nudged me. ‘I know it must be hard to believe, but besides being with your brother and keeping you out of rags, I do like to read – a lot.’
‘How did I not know that?’ I said.
‘Well, I have been rather distracted since a certain pair of twins moved into town.’
A feeling of warmth flooded me. I turned around and hugged her. ‘I’m so glad you’re here.’
She hugged me back, but then pulled away. ‘No ruining my masterpiece, okay? Can I trust you on your own while I get ready?’
I raised an eyebrow.
‘If I find even a hair out of place, you’re wearing the black dress,’ she said before picking up an unopened box from the floor.
I looked down at the discarded black dress on my bed. ‘You could hardly call that a dress. More like a tea towel.’ My face heated just remembering what I’d looked like, how I’d felt with it on.
‘Well, that’s what you’ll be wearing if you’re not careful,’ she said before walking to my door.
‘Thanks, Anna,’ I said quietly. ‘I think.’
‘That was possibly the worst thanks I’ve ever had, but I’ll take it. You’re welcome. See you downstairs in thirty. Noah should be here by then.’
I was glad Anna had turned away from me when she mentioned Noah. Otherwise, she would have seen me make a face before taking off my necklace and hiding it back in the drawer. There was no way I was setting a foot out of the house with my witch’s mark shining for anyone to see. I groaned as I stood, ready for the dance.
Why, oh why, did I agree to this?
‘Eva, get down here,’ yelled Elijah for the third time from the bottom of the stairs.
All I wanted to do was lie down under my blanket and smudge my perfectly made face against my pillow and forget all about the stupid dance.
‘Don’t make me come up there,’ yelled Anna, everyone downstairs bursting into laughter.
I let out a long groan and grabbed Anna’s thick black shawl and black clutch before heading downstairs. The moment I started down the second set of stairs, I realised my mistake. Everyone was waiting for me. Everyone would stare at me. I stopped walking.
‘Eva,’ said Anna.
I tried to quieten my breath and then I made my legs move. The room grew quiet as I walked into view, and I risked a quick glimpse. Anna smiled like a proud parent, my family all looked at me as though they didn’t know me at all and Noah’s mouth fell open before he closed it quickly.
My mum recovered from her shock the quickest, and she set about hugging me and telling me how beautiful I was. Dad’s eyes filled with tears that he wiped away before he hugged me, lost for words. Elijah’s eyebrows pulled together as he turned to Anna, who was still beaming.
As Mum and Dad went to find a phone to take some pictures, Noah snuck up beside me. ‘Eva, you are beautiful.’
My skin started to heat. ‘Thank you, although I feel kind of ridiculous.’
He smiled, his brown eyes warm and kind, so like his sister’s. ‘That’s about the last word I would use.’
My skin was now burning, and I knew there was no cap to pull down or darkness to hide in.
‘I hope you don’t mind, but I got you a little something,’ he said, holding out an exquisite wrist corsage with tiny red roses set amongst delicate white flowers, green leaves and a long, thick white ribbon.
‘It’s stunning, thank you,’ I managed to stutter out before he slid it onto my wrist.
‘Okay, ready for some pics,’ said Mum, moving us together so that we were all forced to squeeze next to each other and stand for a ridiculously long time while Mum and Dad took their photos.
‘Right, Anna and Elijah, let’s get a pic of you two together.’ I slinked away and watched them – an impossibly beautiful couple. Anna was a true sight on her own, with her dark-blue velvet dress with low sweetheart neckline hugging her body and her long blonde hair swept up and off her neck. But together, well, together, their love for each other was evident in their every move, their every look. After a while, I had to look away.
‘Can we go now?’ I said when Mum finally finished her photo shoot.
‘Not so fast, Eva. I want to take a picture of you and Noah,’ said Mum, smiling at Noah in a way that meant she approved of him.
I shook my head, which my mum saw but completely ignored.
‘Come now, darling. This won’t take long.’
I felt Noah’s gaze on me, and I gave a small smile and moved awkwardly to where Anna and Elijah had been only moments before.
Noah turned his head to the side and held out his arm. My breath became a complete traitor and abandoned me completely.
I moved into his arm, which he put around me, pulling me in so that he was just behind me – his body so close and yet a full head taller than me.
He leant in and whispered in my ear. ‘I promise, I don’t bite…hard.’
I laughed, I couldn’t help it, and that’s the photo Mum took of us, immortalising that moment forever.
Chapter Twenty-Three
‘Care to dance?’ said Noah, an eyebrow raised.
I hopped from one foot to the other, looking at the dance floor that was flooded with senior students letting it rip.
‘I’m not a very good dancer,’ I said, suddenly wanting to be far, far away from this school dance and most particularly, that dance floor.
A smile danced
in the corner of Noah’s lips. ‘I don’t really see many good dancers, so at least you won’t be alone.’
I burst out laughing as I took in the uncoordinated arms and legs in front of me. ‘True.’
‘Is that a yes?’ he said.
‘That’s a yes to one dance, and only one dance.’
Then I’m outta here.
He held out his hand, and I took it shyly. He really was the whole package. All night long he’d looked after me, being kind and considerate, but even better, funny. What had started out as a purely awkward beginning, not helped by being stared at as if I were a bug under a microscope when we’d arrived at the dance, had ended up being something of a surprise and the hours had passed easily. Helped, of course, by the absences of Jet and Ezra.
Before I knew it, we were dancing – not, thankfully, body-on-body. For a few minutes, I felt completely out of sync with the beat, but slowly, my inhibitions melted away and I started to move in time. One song turned into another, and it took me a moment to realise that the lights had been turned down low, and a slow song had started.
Dancing across from each other was one thing, but being in his arms, well, that was another. My insides twisted and turned as Noah regarded me. Half the dance floor was leaving, but quite a few had stayed, moved together effortlessly into each other’s arms. From the corner of my eye, I spotted Elijah and Anna, who were dancing so close together they were almost one person.
‘You up for it?’ he asked.
Am I? Will it give him the wrong impression?
‘Well…okay.’
Noah’s face lit up like the lights on a Christmas tree.
‘Eva,’ said someone who I recognised instantly.
I turned around, taking in his leather jacket, black pants and slicked-back hair. ‘Jet, what are you doing here?’
‘I came here for my dance, remember?’ he said, his dark eyes penetrating mine.
‘What dance? Eva?’ said Noah.
‘It’s nothing,’ I said, turning away from Jet.
‘A promise is a promise,’ said Jet.
