Portion Disaster

by Zoe Arden

  "You're stalling," I said.

  She let out a sigh.

  "The macaroons at your party." She bit her lip and fixated on the table. "I hexed them. Just a little." She began rushing her words. "It was a joke hex, not a real one. It wasn't meant to hurt anybody, and I don't think it did. Not really."

  I scrunched my brow, trying to keep my thoughts together.

  "You hexed the macaroons?"

  "I know it was a stupid thing to do. I was just tired of everyone looking at me like I was..."

  "A killer?"

  She nodded. Her cheeks darkened. "I thought if I gave people something more interesting to look at, they'd stop looking at me." She bit her lip. "But I swear it was just a joke. And it had nothing to do with what happened to Trevor."

  Something about what she didn't make sense but I wasn't sure I could quite place it. I felt like I was watching the world through a thick fog. Everything looked heavy, even the air. It looked like I could swim right through it if I wanted to. I moved one finger through the space in front of me and watched with fascination as the fog began to pulse.

  "Ava?" Polly asked, looking at me. Her face was tight and pinched.

  "Yeah?"

  "Uh... are you all right?"

  "Sure," I told her and smiled to prove my point.

  Polly's eyes grew wide. Her lips parted. She looked an odd combination of surprised and frightened. Her eyes searched the coffee shop as if she were looking for someone to help her. With what, I wasn't sure. When Lucy came over with our coffees, she tried to get her to sit down.

  "Lucy's working," I told her.

  "I can sit for a minute though," Lucy said, pulling out a chair. "What did I miss?"

  I knew what she was doing, and it annoyed me. She was trying to be like Natalie Vargas and be the first to get the gossip, only she would never admit it.

  "I think Ava might need an extra espresso," Polly said, attempting a smile.

  "Yes, I would. Why don't you go and make it for me?" I snapped at Lucy. "We're talking." I shot an irritated look to Polly. Was she trying to annoy me on purpose?

  "Oh," Lucy said, her face falling flat. She pushed her chair back.

  "I don't mind if she joins us," Polly said quickly.

  "Well, I do," I said.

  Lucy gave me a look then stomped over to the espresso machine. I didn't see William Carney anywhere and figured he was probably at the beach. I had no idea where Melbourne might be. Out with Trixie, maybe.

  "Why would you try to poison my party?" I asked Polly, more like growled.

  "I didn't," she said, her eyes opening wide. "It was supposed to be a joke, I told you. I hadn't even planned on using it. I only had the spell in the back of my mind, you know? Something I came across randomly at Wilma's."

  She let out a sigh. "Okay, it wasn't a joke exactly but, still, I didn't think anyone would get hurt. You were all supposed to see different kinds of animals and bugs and things. Like fifty-foot roaches. Crazy things like that. The only one it worked the right way on though was Sheriff Knoxx." She drew in a breath. "I realized later the book I'd seen the hex in was meant for goblins and trolls."

  I blinked. "Goblins and trolls?"

  "I think that's why everyone saw different killers. Instead of hallucinating bugs or animals, people hallucinated murderers. It worked right on Sheriff Knoxx because he actually is part goblin."

  "When did you even have time to do this?" I asked her. "I was watching you at the party. I never saw you near the macaroons."

  She shrugged. "It was a quick spell. Only took a second. I wandered into the back for a minute and found them sitting there. I think your dad had set them down."

  "So, what you're telling me is that you did not kill Trevor but you did hex the macaroons."

  "Yes."

  Anger bubbled out of me.

  "A-Ava?" she asked, her voice cracking. "What happened to your fingernails? They're yellow."

  I stood up. My chair fell back.

  "Ava?" Polly squeaked. But I didn't answer. Her eyes turned to saucers. Her mouth opened wide like she meant to scream.

  Polly's head swiveled on her neck. "Lucy?" she called out, forgetting the silencing charms around each table. Lucy had her back to us at the moment, fixing up my espresso. Polly stood up and took a step back, away from me. "Lucy!" she called again. She looked scared. I wasn't sure why. I wasn't going to hurt her. Not really.

  "LUCY! HELP!" Polly screamed just as the lights went out. When they came back on, Polly was laying at my feet.

  * * *

  CHAPTER

  TWENTY-SEVEN

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  "Polly?" I asked, blinking. I wasn't sure what had happened. I knelt beside her. Polly was breathing but her face was completely white and her eyes were closed.

  "Lucy," I called out for help and turned to see Lucy already standing there. Her face was almost as white as Polly's. I took a step toward her. "Something's wrong with Polly."

  "Stay back!" Lucy shouted, jumping away from me. The espresso cup she was holding in her hand shattered on the floor. I stopped walking and looked at her. Her eyes were wide. She kept licking her lips, a nervous habit she sometimes displayed.

  "What's wrong?" I asked, confused.

  "You stay away from me," Lucy cried. She looked scared. Really scared. Her eyes weren't just wide anymore; they were round as moons and watery. She was breathing heavily. "If you come near me, I'll... I'll... I'll turn you into a mouse!"

  "You know a spell for that?" I held out one placating hand and took a tiny step forward.

  "Get back!" she shouted, frantic now. She grabbed the dish rag that was tucked into her apron and held it out in front of her, waving it through the air like a whip.

  "What's wrong with you?" I asked.

  "What's wrong with me?" she cried, her eyes bugging out of her head. "You just attacked Polly."

  My mouth fell open. I looked at Polly's limp body lying on the floor. "Are you nuts? I didn't attack her." I kneeled back down at her side, trying to gently shake her awake. I didn't see any blood and figured that was a good sign. At least she hadn't been stabbed.

  I looked back at Lucy. She was blinking, her eyes darting from me to the door like she couldn't decide whether to run.

  "How could you think I attacked Polly?" I asked her.

  Her eyes focused on me. She stopped looking toward the door. "Because I saw you do it."

  My head was pounding. The fog that I'd felt all around me earlier was gone but it had been replaced with a headache so painful that my eyes were starting to water. Small spots of light sailed past my field of vision. I blinked and they disappeared. At least I didn't feel angry or irritated anymore. Now all I felt was tired. I wanted to sleep for a thousand years, maybe even longer.

  Lucy had her phone in her hand. She'd set her dish rag back down but refused to take her eyes off me.

  "Sheriff Knoxx?" she said into the receiver when he answered. Lucy told him to get over to Coffee Cove right away and bring Dr. Dunne. She wouldn't say why specifically, only that Polly was unconscious and needed help.

  "Look," I said when she'd hung up, "I swear to you that I didn't attack Polly. Why would I do that? We were just sitting here talking and... um..." I looked around the room, suddenly uncertain how I'd gotten here in the first place. I'd been talking to Polly and Wilma at Sweets n' Treats when Sheriff Knoxx had walked in.

  I remembered thinking that he was the trickster, then the world had gone all fuzzy. I could remember walking down the street, thinking I needed caffeine. Lots of it. Polly had come up to me and wanted to talk some more. The event replayed in my mind but it was like I was watching it through an old VCR. The tape was fuzzy and grainy and I couldn't see all the images. I scratched my head and looked at Lucy. Suddenly, I was just as scared as she was.

  "How long have I been here?" I asked.

  "Maybe fifteen minutes," Lu
cy said, still eyeing me suspiciously.

  Why did it feel like I'd been in here for hours? None of this made sense. Polly let out a low groan. I turned to her and Lucy jumped toward us.

  "Leave her alone," she said. "Don't touch her."

  "I'm not going to hurt her," I snapped, getting irritated.

  "Ava," Lucy licked her lips, "look at me."

  "What?"

  "Stand up and look at me."

  I took a deep breath and got up, my hands on my hips. Lucy stared at me for what felt like several minutes before finally nodding her head. "You're you again," she said.

  My throat was getting drier by the second. "What do you mean?"

  "Just before the lights went out, I heard Polly scream my name. I looked over and saw you... reaching for her."

  "I don't remember any of this."

  "Your eyes were black. Not just dark, black. I couldn't even see your pupils. Then there was this smell... like someone had blown out a match. The lights went out but there was just enough light coming in through the windows for me to see what happened. You grabbed ahold of Polly and..." She gulped, her face red, her eyes wet. "You kinda..." She made a strangling motion with her hands. "Then she just sort of... crumpled."

  "You're saying I tried to kill her?" I couldn't stop myself from shuddering. The idea was ludicrous, so why was I so worried?

  The front door opened and Sheriff Knoxx came hurrying in, followed by Dr. Dunne. Just behind them were Lizzie Rambler and Sean Usher. I tried not to let them hear me groan as they entered. I was pretty sure they enjoyed being in everyone's business.

  "What happened?" the sheriff demanded. Dr. Dunne rushed to Polly's side and began examining her. Lucy looked at me uncertainly.

  "Um," Lucy said. Then, after a deep breath, "I'm sorry Ava," she said, a half-shrug half-apology rising in her shoulders. "Ava attacked Polly."

  Sheriff Knoxx wasn't easily rattled but I could tell Lucy's statement surprised him. His jaw dropped an inch toward the floor. His eyes shifted from Lucy to me back to Lucy.

  "It wasn't her fault, though," Lucy added quickly. "I think she had something inside her."

  "Inside her?" Lizzie asked, laughing. "Like what? Her dinner?" Sean chuckled beside her.

  "Like a trickster," I said, forcing myself to accept the situation before I could make it worse. I didn't know how it had happened, only that it had. The trickster had taken hold of my body and used me to get to Polly. It was the only thing that made sense.

  "You're saying you were possessed?" Sheriff Knoxx asked, his voice low, gentler than usual. I nodded. Sean and Lizzie exchanged a look.

  "No way," Sean said. "She's lying."

  "I agree with Sean," said Lizzie, shocking no one.

  "Why don't you two mind your own business?" Lucy snapped. "I know what I saw, and I'm telling you that wasn't Ava. Not really."

  "Of course, you'd say that," Lizzie argued. "She's your best friend."

  "That doesn't mean I'd cover for her if she was hurting people."

  "I think I'm finally understanding what's been happening here," Lizzie said. She pulled out her phone and started texting. "Myron—" She blushed momentarily and shot a look toward Sean. "I mean, Warden Banks will want to know."

  "Know what?" I asked.

  "That it's you who's been running all over town attacking people," Lizzie snapped. "I admit, I thought it was Polly. But I see now how off base I was. It was you all along."

  "Based on what?" I cried.

  "Based on your own friend admitting you attacked Polly just now. You were there when Trevor was attacked. You were there when Colt was attacked."

  "Yeah, but—"

  "Come on," Sean said, grabbing his handcuffs off his waist. "We're taking you to see the warden."

  "I'm not going anywhere with you," I cried. "Sheriff!" I shot him a look, imploring him to help me. Sheriff Knoxx looked thoughtful. He rolled his shoulders back and stepped between me and Sean.

  "You might be the warden's appointed officers," he said, "but I'm still in charge here."

  "I don't think so," Lizzie said, daring him to contradict her.

  "You are prison guards, not deputies of Sweetland Cove. I will not allow you to take one of my residents wherever you please. If you wish to question her, then we'll all go to the station and you can question her there."

  "Ha!" Lizzie shouted. "I'll call Dean Lampton right now to get permission to take Ava to Swords and Bones. He outranks you. You'll have no choice but to do as he says."

  Sheriff Knoxx shot me a look. "If Dean gives his permission, then I'll help you take her there myself. But until that happens, she's not leaving this town."

  * * *

  CHAPTER

  TWENTY-EIGHT

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  We were at the sheriff's station. Sheriff Knoxx, Lizzie, and Sean were all looking at me with crossed eyes and sour expressions. Lizzie had, in fact, called Dean Lampton when she'd failed to get ahold of Warden Banks. Dean had told her that under no circumstances was I to be brought to Swords and Bones this evening. For once, I was grateful that Dean had the power to wield. Lizzie had been grumpy but I suspected that Sean would do his best to comfort her, judging by the hand he kept rubbing on her shoulders.

  My lips were so dry they were sticking together. I forced my tongue between them, wetting them down, and tried to speak without letting my emotions get the best of me.

  "It's not just me," I told them and heard my voice crack. I wasn't explaining myself very well. Probably because my thoughts were all jumbled together. "What I mean is, even if I had attacked Polly, I didn't attack Trevor. Or Colt. Or anyone else. There must be another trickster out there somewhere."

  "Two tricksters?" asked Lizzie, narrowing her eyes at me. She leaned in so close I could read each number on her guard's badge. "And what did you mean just now when you said you hadn't attacked Trevor, Colt... or anyone else. Who else has been attacked? Was that a threat to the residents of Sweetland Cove? Is there something you haven't told us? What made you attack Polly to begin with? Did you have something against Trevor?"

  Lizzie's questions came out fast and agitated. I sighed, suddenly realizing how Polly must feel whenever people questioned her. She had been taken to Sweetland Hospital. Dr. Dunne said she would probably be just fine. Probably. He hadn't seemed entirely sure why she was unconscious, and that worried me more than anything. At least Colt and Trevor had had obvious signs of trauma.

  According to Lucy, I had placed my hands on Polly's throat, and she'd fallen to the ground seconds later. She'd seen it happen just before the lights cut out. Dr. Dunne, however, had said he didn't see anything wrong with Polly physically. There was no bruising on her neck. Nothing that would indicate trauma. Lucy was in the next room, giving her statement to Elwin Muster.

  I wondered if it was possible that Lucy was seeing things. From what I knew, tricksters didn't have to inhabit people to make them hallucinate. Maybe Lucy hadn't actually seen me attack Polly. Maybe she only thought she had. I wasn't sure how comforting that thought was, though. Not being able to tell reality from a hallucination was frightening. And anyway, it sounded like wishful thinking on my part. I didn't want to be a monster, which is how I was beginning to feel.

  "I don't think Ava meant to threaten anyone," Sheriff Knoxx said and I shot him a grateful smile.

  "Of course not," I said.

  "I don't know why we should believe anything she says." Lizzie seemed to have some sort of vendetta against me. Maybe it was because she had repeatedly failed to bring anyone back to Swords and Bones with her. I hoped that Calista wouldn't be stuck with Lizzie as her parole officer much longer. She must have been checking in with Lizzie by phone since Lizzie was sticking to Sweetland like glue but I was pretty certain that talking to Lizzie on the phone was no picnic. It had to beat seeing her in person, though.

  "She probably hexed her own cookies at tha
t party of hers," Sean snarled.

  "No," I said, for once able to explain something to them and back it up with someone's word other than my own. I told them about Polly's confession but I also told them that I believed her when she said she never meant the hex as dark magic but a practical joke. Sort of.

  "So," Sean said, tapping his thumbs against his temples, "you're saying that before Polly's attack tonight, she conveniently confessed to poisoning the macaroons."

  My smile faltered. "Yes. It's entirely possible that the trickster was inhabiting her the night of my party. If she did attack Sean, she didn't know what she was doing. Just like..." My thoughts trailed off.

  "Just like?" Lizzie prompted.

  "Just like Sheriff Knoxx when he went to Sweets n' Treats earlier today." I looked directly at him. "I saw your eyes. They were black. Your hair was greasy. Your fingernails were yellow."

  "Are you back on that?" the sheriff asked, slightly irritated. "I assure you, if I was inhabited by a trickster, I would have known it."

  "I don't think so. And I think there's more than one trickster at work here. I'm still not sure if Polly conjured them up or what but I think that whoever did conjure them has lost control."

  "There are no tricksters in Heavenly Haven," Sheriff Knoxx said, almost too emphatically. His face was flushed. His eyes were a shade darker than usual.

  Lizzie giggled. Her eyes were alive with energy. "You sound ridiculous, Ava. You know that, right? No one believes your stories about tricksters."

  Her phone rang just then and she held it to her ear. The smile fell off her face.

  "I don't understand," she said. It was followed by a moment of silence. "But why?" More silence. "Yes, if that's what you want." She grunted and hung up.