Ink (24 page)

But as she let out a blood curdling scream and started convulsing, that’s when I screamed. The lock on the door slid shut and I was trapped in the closet with Circe and her convulsing body that was shrieking, shrieking so loudly it was ringing my ears. She fell over the candles, plunging me into darkness.

“
Stop, “I cried, fumbling for the lock, swinging my hands over my head for the string to turn the light back on, the handle, anything to escape. Her legs battled against me as she flailed behind me. Her screams making me panic.

Suddenly, I was struck by something stiff and cold and fell into the door, sliding down to the ground. I felt around for any signs of Circe or the candles. My fingers quickly probing the ground, by some miracle I found an old matchbook.

Striking a match, I screamed in terror at Circe’s face that was inches from my own, her gummy mouth gaping wide, her eyes crazy, and still she was screaming. Her body slammed against the shelf sending a barrage of boxes on my head. The match fizzled out, and I was now completely mortified, half pinned under the weight of whatever was in them.

I choked on the dust and the foul stench that slowly floated through the room. Eventually, the screaming ceased, everything fell silent. As I kicked and pushed myself free, glass crackled beneath me. Whatever was in the boxes had broken and I was now lying in shards of glass.

“
Help!” I cried, my veins bulging in my neck as I screamed for anyone to release me from this closet of horror. I screamed and screamed until I had nothing left, sucking in air and screaming some more.

“
Circe?” I called out, hoping for an answer. Hoping for anything. The thought she was dead made me violently ill. She possibly was dead and locked away in the vile, smelly, death trap with me. I kicked some more, pulling myself up and then I banged on the door again, screaming for anyone to help me. My clothes were damp from whatever had spilled all over the place.

“
Please let me out of here, please!” I pleaded, my fist beating the door with every ounce of energy I had left. Circe let out a crackling exhale of air. Restoring some calm in my body, but only slightly.

The door swung open finally, sending me falling onto the ground right in front of Lucy and Slade. I toppled over, landing at their feet a crying mess. I screamed and squirmed, totally losing it.

“
Slade, you take care of her. I’ll check on Circe,” Lucy asserted, stepping over me and jumping right into that awful room with Circe. I sobbed uncontrollably on the floor. Slade kneeled down, placing a hand on my back. “It’s okay. Come on.”

I allowed him to help me up, holding tight to his body as we made it to the front of the store. I wiped at my eyes, trying to make sense of my surroundings. Slade pulled an old chair over, guiding me to sit down. He slid his hand over my legs, which were scratched up from the glass. I was bleeding and this was only adding to my mortification.

“
It’s not bad. We just need to clean you up,” he insisted.

I stared down at my clothes that were stained with blood. Way too much blood. So much blood that I knew that it couldn’t be mine. Which meant it wasn’t mine.

I screamed.

“
I’m covered in blood!” I swatted at my body, frantically trying to get it off of me.

Slade grabbed my hands. “It’s animal blood, calm down. You’re cut we need to clean your legs up.” I wasn’t even sure how he could tell that I was, but I figured he was more logical right now than I was.

Slade walked over to the front of the store, unlocking a door that I had never noticed. He waved his hand for me to follow him.

Upstairs was more or less a small bedroom with a bathroom.

“
This is Circe’s place. She stays up here and runs PauWau,” Slade told me as he ran water in the bathroom. I waited patiently on the bed, too emotionally drained to do anything else.

“
Let’s wash you up,” he muttered, trying to pull off my shirt.

I fought back. “What are you doing?” I asked, alarmed.

Slade searched my eyes, confused. “You’re covered in blood, you reek, and you’re bleeding. We need to clean you up. Now is not the time to worry about getting embarrassed.” He pulled at my shirt, but I wasn’t budging.

“
I can undress myself. Is there anything I can put on?” I questioned, feeling very overwhelmed.

Slade slipped his shirt over his head revealing a black undershirt. He handed it over, chucking the other shirt on the ground. Now he had nothing to wear, seeing my clinging to him dirtied his shirt as well.

“
This is the best I can do,” he said, standing before me, shirtless. I was too upset to enjoy him shirtless.

I took the shirt and headed into the bathroom.

“
I left the washrag on the sink,” he called from the other side of the door.

I immersed my hands in the hot water, watching as it instantly turned light pink. I ran the washcloth over my face, down my neck and across each arm getting as much of the filth and blood off of me as possible.

Next, I wrung out the rag, lathering it up with a bar of soap that sat on the edge of the sink. A winter fresh scent filled my nose and replaced the putrid stench. Ten minutes later I was back to looking like Hope and less like
Carrie
. I gave up any hope of saving my clothes, and tossed them in the wastebasket hoping Circe wouldn’t be upset that I left them behind. Slade’s undershirt fell mid-thigh on me, which was good enough to make it home in. Anyone that would see me would mistake me for a swimmer, I thought.

“
Way better,” Slade said. He sat on the middle of the bed, waiting patiently for me to return.

I let out a sigh, finally able to process what had just happened, and I was completely disturbed. Never in my life had something so terrifying ever happened to me. It was like Circe was possessed or being attacked by something. Something evil, something not human. I tried blinking away my tears, but it was no use.

“
What just happened?” I sobbed.

Slade stood, wrapping his arms around me for comfort. He held on to me tightly, allowing me to let it all out, not saying anything until he was sure I was done crying. When I finally settled, he cleared his throat and we both took a seat.

“
Oz and I grew up together—since we were in elementary school. Our parents created Evil Kings of Ink. And like I told you, we were always traveling because the band was a huge success,” he explained, rubbing at the back of his neck. “While on tour, there was an accident. A huge accident on the way to the next concert. Something so bad it wiped out everyone on the bus. I was fourteen.”

I touched his hands, trying to keep him going forward in his explanation.

“
I was trapped at first but I broke free and ran for help. But instead of police, I found these men. Some really strange men. They helped me pull my parents, my sister, Oz, his parents, everyone out of the bus, and they swore they would help us.” He bit at his ring. “They would help us survive if we did something for them.”

I pursed my lips, “Okay, go on.”

“
I don’t know…I don’t really know...They wanted our souls. I was a kid… my whole family and my friends were dead or dying. I said what any kid would say. I said yes. Lucy was the only one awake and she was screaming at me to take the deal, to agree and save her kid.” He dropped his head, going silent.

“
And then what?” I tried to take his hand in mine, but Slade only pulled away. He was tense and clearly upset. I wasn’t sure what to do. So I just waited.

“
And then like something out of the movies, they resurrected my entire family, right in front of my eyes. This dark energy filled them up and coughed new life in each of them.” Slade looked up at me finally. “And nothing was ever the same again. We all were different. We were faster and stronger and things were happening that made no sense to me.”

He touched my wrist, sending goose bumps searing across my skin. “You could make things appear,” I murmured.

Slade shook his head. “But that’s not the only thing.”

I studied him closely. He ran a hand through my hair, instantly speeding up my heart like he hit a switch.

“
I don’t want to freak you out,” he warned.

I shook my head. “Just tell me.”

He shook his head. “Show you, is more like it.” He bit at his lip, touching me again, only this time a sumptuous surge of energy filled my body, making my eyes roll back in my head.

“
What was that?” I asked, breathless.

“
I don’t know what it is, but it’s kind of cool don’t you think?” He grinned.

“
Is it safe?” I asked, my head feeling a bit woozy now that he had zapped me with his magical fingertips.

“
I think so. But what I want you to understand, these people were into dark practices, they took something that changed everything about my life. About all of our lives, and ever since then we are not the same. I’m not the same and I don’t think I will ever be again,” Slade insisted.

“
I like who you are,” I said with a smile. “I am just trying to figure out what the hell happened down there.” That was the only answer that I wanted right now.

“
Spirits, magic, voodoo, it all exists. It flows a lot smoother around us than it does for the everyday person. Circe is very close to the other side and she pulls that energy out all the time. I don’t want you to be scared. But there is a lot more evil in the world than you can imagine. You just got a chance to see it,” he said.

I couldn’t not believe him. There he sat on the bed spilling forth everything that it seemed he’d been hiding. There was no reason to lie about something you already proved. Now, I was just getting an answer.

“
I’m still trying to figure it all out,” I said, taking all the information and putting it into logical piles in my head like we did in science class.

“
I made a deal with a powerful group of people. To them, what I was doing was being initiated into their circle. That night we became one of them.” Slade exhaled, growing silent and still. He waited for me to say something.

“
But what were they?”

“
Witches. And when you’re initiated into the circle you inherit the same traits or capabilities. We were all given a magical talisman.” As he said this I wasn’t sure I knew what he was talking about, but deep down I knew where he was heading. But I didn’t interrupt, I just listened. “A talisman is an object that can conjure up magic. Maybe you can take a guess as to what ours are.”

I leaned back on the bed, staring at his bare skin, the arm sleeves, the tattoos all across his chest. At one time they seemed reckless and something he would have picked to stand out. I touched his chest with my fingertips, running my hand across the evil skull staring back at me.

“
The tattoos. Your talisman is your tattoos.” Slade nodded. “But I thought only girls were witches. Like in that TV show
Charmed
. I used to watch old reruns back at home.” I blushed, realizing I was being stupid. Of course this wasn’t like charmed. This wasn’t a television set.

“
Anybody can be a witch. There are many ways to become one. Initiation, spells, being born into the family, stealing the power, a ritual, channeling nature even,” Slade rattled off.

“
Wow. I was a witch once for Halloween. Last year actually.” I smirked. Slade grabbed my hand, admiring the paint job.

“
Were you a good witch or a bad witch?” he laughed, not taking me seriously.

“
Good witches don’t wear black nail polish now do they?” I questioned.

Slade shrugged, playing with my hand. “Witches do whatever they want.”

“
Just like you do,” I said, feeling entranced by his gaze. His eyes pulled me in. He leaned in, kissing me. And then stopped.

“
Like I do?” he asked, a bit confused that I would say what I just did.

“
Yeah, the ink, the kissing…the panties.” I bit at my lip, letting him kiss me some more.

He trailed his fingers across my arm, down to my legs. Leaning me back on the bed. I ran a hand through his hair, pulling him down with me.

“
Maybe that’s just confidence,” he whispered, kissing my cheek.

“
Do you like being this way?” I questioned, staring up at him.

He raised himself off of me, his hands planted on either side of my body. His body so well defined it made me ache. He was like a smooth, sleek piece of art.

“
If I wasn’t this way, what else would I be?” His brows knitted together as if he was pondering it. “I would have lost everyone close to me. I’d be nothing without who I am now.”

But who he was now left him secluded. It left him the outcast of Cherry. No one liked Slade anymore. And I couldn’t imagine that was fun.

“
Is that why Tucker and you stopped being friends?” It made sense. But Slade shook his head no.

“
Tucker and I stopped being friends once Tucker accused me of hurting Anaya.” Slade pushed off the bed and took a seat on the side of the bed again. I sat up.

“
Can you tell me about her?”

Slade nodded. “She moved here with her parents. They were part of a fishing company, I guess. An amazing singer, but like yourself, nobody wanted to give her a chance. My sister and her became good friends. We all liked Anaya, she was different, she understood us and we understood her. It was only about the music. And then one night she was just gone. And of course everyone pointed their fingers to us.”