Crimson Secrets

by Garnet Davenport

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I picked up my phone, checking the messages. There were no new messages. I decided to text him. Are you still going to come over later? And I just sat and waited. I continued to look at my phone the entire way home. Tommy was even distracted by me.

  He reached for my phone after I had looked at it for the fifteenth time. I pulled it away before he could grab it, and then he reached for it, looking away from the road for just a second—only to look back to a black Charger coming fast at us head on.

  Tommy swerved out of the way before anything happened and screeched to a stop on the side of the road. I looked at the Charger, which had come to a dead stop turned sideways in the middle of the road. I picked up my phone off the floor of the truck. There were skid marks on the road. They made it look as if we had missed each other by only inches. I looked back at Tommy, and he was looking in his side mirror at the Charger. He looked worried.

  “I’m sorry,” I said. I felt really bad.

  “You could have killed us,” he yelled at me and slammed his hands on the steering wheel.

  “You didn’t have to try to grab my phone.”

  He just looked at me with a scowl and then kept driving.

  We pulled into the driveway at home. I got out and slammed the door behind me.

  “Chill out. He’s got other friends besides us,” Tommy yelled back at me as I was walking in through the front door.

  “I know.”

  ➢3 Questioning Loyalty

  He never ended up texting me back. I went up to my room and finished my homework in record time and then came down to eat dinner, although there wasn’t anything I really wanted. I couldn’t take it anymore. Oh, how I missed meat. Nobody else even seemed to notice. Or at least they didn’t talk about it.

  “Shay, I saw Duncan Callamore staring at you today,” Tommy said as a joke.

  It wasn’t funny at all. “Yeah?”

  He took a bit of food. “Yeah. Maybe you should talk to him.”

  I laughed loudly. “Yeah, okay. Let’s agree to disagree on that idea.”

  We both laughed. But his seemed like it was a forced laugh.

  Nighttime approached, and I was ready for this day to be over. I started the water for my shower, and then my phone rang. It was Matt.

  “Hey you, I missed you today.” It was quiet for a minute. How could he have missed me? He was sitting in a car with super blonde—Angelica Callamore.

  “Yeah, I had some things to take care of. How are you doing?”

  I paused, thinking about what he did. “Fine. I’m about to get in the shower.”

  He said quickly, “Oh, I can—”

  “No, don’t worry about it. What’s up?” I said.

  “I was wondering about those nightmares you had.”

  I didn’t want to talk about that. Why was everyone asking me about those stupid nightmares? “What about it?” I asked in an annoyed tone.

  “Did you see anything else?” he asked.

  “Yeah, I saw a wolf. I think he was the one that was chasing me.” I was very annoyed at this point.

  “He?”

  “Yeah, I just figured. I guess it could have been a girl. No, never mind. Definitely a boy.” I knew it had to have been a boy.

  “Why do you say that?” he asked.

  “He was so beautiful. I’m just sure. I don’t know.” I heard a slight echo. I don’t like being on speakerphone. Everybody can hear your conversation. “Am I on speaker phone?”

  Matt quickly answered, “Yeah, I’m in the car.”

  But I didn’t hear any road noise like I normally do. “No, you’re not.” I was testing him on this. I wanted the truth, and he knew that I knew he was lying.

  “Yes, I am,” he snapped.

  “You’re a bad liar, Matt. What’s going on?” I was really angry with him at this point.

  “Nothing. I was just checking on you,” he said quickly.

  I let out a laugh. “No, you’re not. You’re lying to me. Is there someone else there?” I could hear someone else, but I didn’t know who.

  “No. Can I see you later?” he asked.

  “No.”

  “Why?” he asked, shocked.

  I started to get tired of this back and forth thing. “Because I don’t talk to liars.” I heard a rustling sound in the background.

  “Shay, come on, you know I wouldn’t lie to you.”

  I was just mad at this point. How stupid did he think I was? “But you are. And there’s a first time for everything. I’ve got to go. I’ll see you tomorrow at school.” I started to pull the phone away from my ear.

  “Shay? Come on,” he pleaded.

  Then I said loudly, so he could hear as I was about to hang up on him. “No. Good night, Matthew.”

  He paused. “Good night. I’m sorry.”

  I think I sounded like I was disappointed in him. “Yeah, me too.” I hung up the phone and got into the shower, closing my eyes under the water, remembering the nightmare and those piercing blue eyes from the wolf.

  I got out of the shower and went to my room, and then sat down on the edge of my bed. Why was he being so weird? I scooted back and under the covers, covering my eyes with my arm until I fell asleep.

  All I could hear was a whispered, “Teach ar an cloch dearg.” I was running for my life through the woods, quicker than before, dodging the tree branches and almost flying over the dead trees covered in leaves. I kept running until I reached the edge of an embankment. The river was moving rapidly. Then I heard a gunshot off in the distance. I was more afraid than ever before.

  The rain started hitting the trees. I couldn’t move. I was frozen, staring down at the river moving rapidly. I tried to see how far it was to the other side. There was no way I could have made it if I jumped. The water was moving so swiftly, making it look more dangerous than normal. I kept hearing footsteps that were scaring me, so I backed up and ran for the river. I jumped, and I could feel my arms and legs flailing in the air as I fell into the water.

  I couldn’t figure out which way was up. Pressure was building up in my lungs. I swam, trying to gasp for air. I truly thought I was going to die. Then everything became black.

  I woke in my bed with a jolt in the dead of night. My heart was pounding, and my head felt like it was splitting open with pain. I put my hand to my head. Then I got up to get some water. I walked into the bathroom, leaving the light off and just looking in the mirror with the light from the small night light. I saw a gash in my forehead. Panicked, I went running to Tommy.

  “Wake up, Tommy!” I shook his arm.

  “What’s wrong?” He looked at me startled.

  “I had that nightmare again, and I have the same gash on my head that I got in the nightmare.”

  He put his hands on my shoulders, sitting on the edge of his bed. “Shay, there’s nothing there.” He looked me in the eyes.

  “What? I just saw it.” I put my hand up to see if I could feel anything, and there was nothing there.

  “You were probably still dreaming. Go back to sleep,” Tommy said.

  I couldn’t figure out what was happening to me. “But I can’t—”

  “Come on. Hop in,” he said, rolling his eyes. He lifted up the covers and let me get in with him. “Now go back to sleep. I’m right here.”

  I felt so close to him, like when we were kids and we slept in the tree house. “I know. You’re always here for me.”

  He pulled the covers around me and rolled over. Within a few minutes I was fast asleep. He made me feel like it was when we were little and didn’t want to be without each other.

  My dad would build a tent of sheets over the bed for us to pretend we were camping. He had always been there to protect me no matter what.

  I felt him move, my eyes opened, and I quickly shut them again. His room got more sunlight than mine in the mornings. I was pretty sure he was just reaching for his phone. I pretended to be asleep. Before I knew it, Tommy was already downstair
s. I looked around his room after he left. His phone was still on the charger. That was strange. I picked it up with every intention of just taking it downstairs. But when I picked it up, I thought about last night. I looked to see if he called or texted anyone last night. And there it was, open to his text messages, 1:15 a.m. to Duncan Callamore. “Cad a tharla di? Ní mór don chomhairle a chomhlíonadh.” What was this language?

  I sent it to my phone and deleted that text from his phone, and then I got up and walked downstairs.

  “Hey, you forgot your phone on the charger,” I said to my brother.

  He looked up from the table. “Thanks. How’d you sleep?”

  I nodded my head. “Better I think.”

  My mom looked up. “Better?”

  I shrugged. “Yeah, I had another nightmare.” I looked to see if there was breakfast, even though I wasn’t hungry.

  “Sweetie, I’m sorry. Do you need to stay home today? You can if you need to.”

  I thought about that for a moment. Yep, I was totally taking her up on that. “Maybe I might take you up on that.”

  She continued to pack a lunch for my dad. “Sure, sweetie, anything. I know you’re not getting good sleep lately.”

  “Thanks, Mom. I’m going to go back to bed.” I started to walk out of the room and back upstairs.

  “Okay, sweetie, just let me know if you need anything, all right?” she yelled toward me with concern.

  I nodded my head. “Okay.”

  I walked back upstairs and overheard part of their conversation. I walked slow and quiet, and nobody even noticed.

  “What happened last night?” asked my mom.

  “I don’t know. Duncan hasn’t texted me back,” said Tommy. “Matt and Duncan got to her first. They jumped into the river to get her before I even got there.” He sounded concerned.

  “Call him now or I’m calling Julius,” my mother basically ordered, and that didn’t sound very good.

  “I will call.” My brother walked out the sliding door in the kitchen.

  “How could this happen?” asked my dad. “There hasn’t been a female in generations.” There was a deafening silence. I really wanted to see their faces right then.

  “Honey, I don’t know,” said my mom. “We’ve got to wait and see what the Callamores say. You never know. There may be a way to stop this. We only found out about the ritual when they were born. And we never thought it would get this far.” She had some hope in her voice as she spoke.

  I could only hear some movement from the top of the stairs.

  “Honey, this isn’t something that can be stopped,” my dad said as he got up and went over to my mother; I quickly went upstairs and closed the door to my room.

  I looked in the mirror. There was no gash on my head. No cuts or scrapes. I felt sweaty and nasty from sleeping last night, so I decided to turn on the shower. I was brushing through my hair and found a small stick. “What the hell?” I threw it in the trash and then got in the shower, rewashing my hair. I felt like I always needed to shower lately. I had been sweating in the middle of the night, smelled unusual, and had dirt and sticks in my hair—besides the fact that it helped clear my head.

  When I got out of the shower, I sat down on my bed. What are they talking about? There had to be something going on. I just don’t know what. I lay down on my bed and fell asleep in my towel. I slept for hours, not dreaming or thinking about anything.

  My phone rang, and I woke up to answer it. “Hello?” I must have sounded like I was asleep.

  “Hey, Shay, how are you feeling?” said Matt.

  I thought for a moment. I felt better. “Fine,” I said, almost unsure.

  “Do you want me to come over? We can hang out today.”

  I didn’t want Matt coming over. “No. I’m fine,” I said in a harsh tone.

  He sounded hurt. “Oh…okay. If you need me, you’ll call me, right?”

  I knew he had an idea about what was happening and he wasn’t telling me. “Honestly, no,” I said.

  “Why not?”

  “I can’t trust you right now.”

  There was silence for a moment, and then he said, “You can always trust me.”

  I didn’t feel that way anymore. “Can I?” I snapped.

  “Yes. You can.”

  I didn’t want to talk to him anymore. “I’ll talk to you later, okay?”

  “All right. I’m sorry for whatever I did.”

  He still didn’t get it. “Okay, bye.” I hung up the phone and lay back down, realizing that I was still in a towel and needed to put clothes on.

  I got up and started to look for what I was wearing last night, and I looked everywhere. And nothing. I could feel that there was something unusual happening to me and that I was not being let in on whatever this secret was. I didn’t like what everyone was doing to keep it from me either. Or I should say, not doing. I had to figure this out. I had a feeling of separation from myself now. I was questioning everything that was happening to me—and honestly, my own sanity. There had to be more. That or I really was going crazy. Everything that was happening to me was so different from my normal life, and it was starting to break me down that no one would let me in on this secret that obviously involved me. Now I had so little trust for my friends and family that I thought were the most trustworthy people in my life.

  I got my phone and looked at the text I sent myself from Tommy’s phone. I couldn’t understand anything in it. I just felt more confused and left in the dark yet again. I just couldn’t shake the unrecognizable words. “Cad a tharla di? Ní mór don chomhairle a chomhlíonadh.”

  ➢4 Impending Death

  What did those words mean? I went downstairs hunting for something to eat. There was nothing I wanted. There were only vegetables. I decided to order Chinese food. I got chicken fried rice with extra chicken. I loved it spicy. And I got an order of beef curry. It was always so good. They also always keep their thirty minutes or less promise. What would I do without being able to order food?

  My chopsticks hit the rim of the bowl and I was stuffed. I smirked. Tommy never learned how to use chopsticks, so I made fun of him every time we ate Chinese. I picked it up so easy when we were little. I think it was the one coordinated thing I was able to do better than him.

  I decided I needed to go for a walk after eating that much food. Probably because I figured I would be hungry again in about an hour, because that’s what happens every time you eat Chinese.

  I rinsed off my bowl and put it directly into the dishwasher. I had to hide the evidence. My head had started to hurt. It seemed like it had been forever since I had an actual headache, but this one was a doozy. I took my glasses off and rubbed my eyes. For the first time, it was easier to see without my glasses, so I folded them up and put them in the pocket of my black leather jacket. I zipped it up, giving myself enough space at the top to make sure I didn’t feel like I was being strangled. Then I walked out the front door. I decided that I would go to the part of the woods I recognized from my nightmare.

  Walking through the trees, I remembered everything with specifics. It was exactly as I pictured it in my nightmare. “Right down to the dead tree on the ground with blood on it.” I spoke loud enough for anyone to hear it if they were around. I got closer. I saw what could have been a partial handprint in what looked like mud or possibly blood. I grabbed my phone and took a picture. I heard footsteps approaching me. Looking quickly back and forth, I didn’t see anything. I started to walk faster, turning around to see if there was anyone behind me. There was nobody to be seen.

  I tripped over something that was completely covered in leaves. When I turned around to look at it, there was this stone. It was one of the most beautiful stones I had ever seen. It was red with flecks of black and silver throughout. It looked like it had been formed into its unnatural shape. There were deep lines carved in the middle of the stone, and it was sculpted into a flat circle and about twice the size of my hand. It looked like a stone you would find in a wal
kway.

  I started to reach for it, and just before I could put my hand on it I heard footsteps again. I got up to keep going, but I knew I had twisted my ankle. “Ouch,” I said. I looked up, hearing footsteps draw closer. I looked all around, grabbing the first stick I could find. “Who’s there?” They got closer and closer then stopped.

  I was about to jump out of my skin. I turned to look at my ankle, and there he was, just like he appeared out of nowhere. “Oh my god!” I was so surprised to see him.

  “Are you okay?” Duncan Callamore asked, crouching down right in my face.

  “Umm, I think I twisted my ankle,” I said.

  He started to move toward me. “Let’s see.” He put his hands on my ankle. He had so much warmth in his hands, considering it was early fall. He was still looking down at my ankle. “So, what are you doing way out here?” The question returned my focus on his face.

  “I just needed to get out of my house and I tripped. What are you doing out here?” I pointed at the red stone.

  He looked pleased when he saw it. He quickly looked around and then focused on me. “My family owns this property.” I wasn’t surprised by that.

  “Oh, I didn’t know,” I said, but I really did.

  “I figured. Well, it looks fine to me.” He moved his hand from my ankle as he stood and reached out his hand, looking over to the stone. “Come on. Let’s see if you can put pressure on it.” He smiled and helped me get up.

  I put my weight on it. “Yeah, it feels okay. I guess I just imagined it.”

  He looked at the stone and then at me. “Probably. Do you need me to take you home?”

  Was he actually offering to be nice? “No. I’m fine. I still need to clear my head. But I’ll find somewhere else to hurt myself.” I laughed.

  “I wasn’t trying to kick you off the property. I just thought I would take you home since you had just fallen.” He was really trying to be nice. He dropped his hand to his side, and it grazed his pants leg.

  “Oh. Umm, thanks. I guess I should go home anyways.” I tucked my hair behind my ear.