The Gathering Darkness (22 page)

“Remember, you said you heard me call out the name Christian in my last nightmare?”

He looked up. “Yeah, I remember, now that you mention it.”

“He’s a Knight and she’s a Day.”

“Like us,” he said. “And look, this is Claire and Christian.”

He pointed to two of the seven. As I studied the oddly familiar faces, I knew he was right. Claire and Christian had both been witches. Marcus passed me the pictures, and I tucked them away.

“You look like Claire.” he said suddenly.

That stunned me. I hadn’t noticed. “Must be the hair,” I thought out loud. “And Christian must be your ancestor.”

“Yeah.” His hands rested on my knees. “I think we’ve been brought together for a reason.”

My eyebrows shot up. “No coincidence?”

He shook his head, and with his eyes fixed to mine said, “There’s definitely too much going on here to blow it off as a coincidence anymore.”

“I’m glad you feel that way. At least we’re on the same page now.”

“I always believed you, Brooke.”

“Yeah, but I don’t think you fully felt it the way I did.”

“Until last night,” he added.

The bell rang, and we joined the droves of students piling inside the building.

“What are you doing lunch time?” Marcus asked as we walked down the hall towards my classroom.

“Basketball tryouts are at lunch today, but I don’t think I’ll go.”

“You should.”

“I don’t think so. Not with Megan and Sammy on the team, and Robyn’s the captain.”

“Things won’t be this bad all year, and then you’ll wish you had.”

“Well, if they still want me next week, then maybe I’ll join, but today, I have more important things to do.” I tried to bring the happiness back by smiling playfully at him.

“Oh? What’s more important than basketball?”

“Us.”

In answer, his arms slid around me, and he pressed me into the lockers. “Lunch it is. Do you want to try the cafeteria?”

I made an uncertain face. “Do you think we should?”

“Why not? It’s our school too. Other than Evan, Sammy and Megan, I think the school approves of us.”

“Yeah! You’re right!” I grinned back.

The sound of heels clicking on a hard floor caught my attention.

Like a snob, Megan strutted up the hallway, stomping her high-heeled boots as loudly as she could. She was as bad as Evan for dominating everyone’s attention. When she reached us, she flicked her blonde hair over her shoulder and smiled seductively at Marcus. As usual, I got a bad vibe from her.

“You know, she never used to be such a bitch,” Marcus said.

“I can think of a more appropriate word than, bitch,” I said, watching her wiggle her white jeans down the hallway.

“Forget her,” Marcus whispered, before his lips touched mine.

That morning, I went into class with the proud feeling that our kiss was visible on my lips for everyone to see. I walked past Megan, who was sitting in her seat twirling her hair with an exaggerated, it-doesn’t-bother-me-to-see-you-with-Marcus, look on her face. I sat down in my usual seat, between her and Sammy, with a smug look on my face and licked my lips with emphasis. She huffed and flung herself around to face the front of the class. I smiled.

Lunch hour turned out better then I’d thought it would. Sammy, Megan and Robyn, along with a few others I knew, were at basketball tryouts. Marcus and I sat at his usual table in the cafeteria. Evan had changed lunch tables at the beginning of the week. The seniors at Marcus’ table freely accepted my relationship with their friend.

After school, Marcus left me at the corner of my street, promising to pick me up at seven for the dance. I’d barely touched my supper. Something about being in a crowded gym, a favorite song blaring through the airwaves, arousing every cell in the body, and mood lighting, had me excited.

“Okay, where are you?” I said out loud as I rummaged through an unpacked box in the middle of my bedroom floor.

At the last minute, I’d decided to wear my black sweater dress; the one with the silver threads woven through the black. “There you are.” I pulled the dress out of the box, discarding the rest of the clothes I’d thrown on the floor in the process, and slipped it on. It was fitted and fell halfway to my knee. I adjusted the wide neckline, exposing one shoulder and put on the largest pair of dangly earrings I could find. I threw on a couple of silver bangles too, and strategically messed up my hair. For the final touch, I slipped my bare feet into a pair of peep-toe, high heel booties.

As I looked down at myself, I had second thoughts about my outfit. Maybe it was over the top for a country school dance. But it was what I would have worn at my old school dance, and I hadn’t worn the shoes yet, so I decided to leave it on.

As I strategically placed a few strands of hair around my face, I thought about how ridiculous it was that Sammy wasn’t sharing this moment with me. I’d never gotten ready for a dance alone before. I clomped into the hallway and peeked into her room. She was standing in front of her closet in a short denim skirt and black bra.

I knocked lightly. “Hey Sammy.”

She twisted her body around to face the door, looking disappointed when she saw it was me. “Oh, what do you want?” She turned back around and continued to scan through the closet, as if I wasn’t there.

“I thought we could make up. Don’t you think this is ridiculous?” Whenever we’d fought as children we’d always make up before the other went home.

“Forget it. I wish you’d never moved here.”

Her words stung. I didn’t know how to fix things with Sammy. Hell, I didn’t even know how this whole thing had started. I turned to walk back to my room, when Sammy’s cold voice stopped me in my tracks.

“How was your evening at the Inn?” Her words were sharp. There was something else in her tone too—it almost sounded like hatred.

Something clicked inside of me then. I rushed into her room and slammed the door shut behind me. “What do you know about the Inn?” I asked sharply. “Why didn’t you really go to work last night?”

She stood with her arms folded, her mouth slowly turning into a sneer. The pendant grew cold, penetrating the fabric of my dress. I gasped and took a step backwards.

“Did you have fun at the Inn last night, Brooke?” Her eyebrows were raised to points.

“Tell me, Sammy,” I shouted. “What do you know?”

She lowered her glare to the shiny double spiral I wore boldly on the outside of my dress. Her eyes grew wide and menacing. Suddenly feeling threatened, I backed toward the door. Sammy followed. She grabbed for the pendant. A shriek pierced the air when the metal touched her skin. I gasped. Her arm recoiled like a snake.

“What just happened?” I asked, my eyes as big as marbles.

“Get out!” she screamed.

My hand went to the icy cold pendant. I walked out backwards, my insides shaking. I had to fix whatever was happening to me and the people around me, before something really bad happened. I could hardly wait until Marcus took me to see his uncle.

My mind whirled as I sank onto the edge of the bed. I couldn’t get the look of pure hatred on Sammy’s face out of my head. And what had happened when she’d touched the pendant? Why had she even touched it? I wrapped my hand around it. It felt warm now. Why didn’t it surprise me? Nothing surprised me anymore.

I reached for the picture of Claire and Christian and noticed the envelope that Beth had given to me from Maggie that I hadn’t opened yet. My hand detoured, grabbing the envelope forcefully. I ripped it open. Thirty dollars fell into my lap along with a folded piece of paper. I stared down at the note, hesitant to pick it up. My cell phone rang. I jumped a foot off the bed. The paper and the money scattered.

“Hello.”

“Hi,” Marcus answered. “Are you almost ready?”

I took a deep breath to calm myself.

“Brooke, are you there?”

“I’m here. Something weird just happened with Sammy.” I spoke low with my hand cupped over the phone. “I’ll tell you about it later.”

“Okay. I’ll be there soon. Don’t worry.”

“Okay. See you soon.” I wanted to tell him to hurry, but I didn’t want to seem any more desperate then I already was. I got mad at myself, reached down and grabbed the paper off the floor, and unfolded it.

Dearest Brooke,

By now you’ve figured out that things aren’t quite the way you’d expected them to be in Deadwich. I have two conditions for you. One, give me the amulet; and two, stay away from Marcus—far away. You
wouldn’t want him to suffer for your transgressions, would you? You will have until Sunday. And, Brooke, we are watching you.

Margaret

“Margaret,” I mouthed the word with a familiarity that gnawed at my brain. At the same time, my hand went limp, and the note slipped from my fingers and floated to the floor. Like a sack of sand, I slid off the edge of the bed and landed on the floor beside it. A cool numbness replaced the feeling of flush in my face. My heart felt as if it was beating against my eardrums. After a couple of deep breaths, I assessed what I’d just read.

For some reason, Maggie didn’t want me with Marcus. Maybe because it made me happy, and I wasn’t allowed to be happy as long as I lived in Deadwich. That was crystal clear now.

Maggie also wanted the pendant, which she’d called an amulet. My pendant. Would it give her magical powers, or make any existing powers she had stronger? What could she possibly want with it, other than to gain the ability to torture me in my sleep?

So that was it. I would be denied happiness as long as I lived in this twisted village. I felt guilty for even thinking badly about Marcus’ home. But what had Deadwich ever done for me? Oh right; it brought me to Marcus, and he meant more to me now than Boston did.

The sound of a vehicle pulling into the driveway and, a moment later, voices in the foyer, lifted my heart.

“Brooke, Marcus is here,” Aunt Rachel called up the stairs.

I pushed myself up off the floor, crumpled the note and threw it at the trash can, missing it. After one last look at Claire’s picture, I left the room.

“Will you tell me what’s wrong? You’ve barely said two words since I picked you up.” Marcus parked his father’s truck close to the school and turned to face me, sliding closer. “Whatever it is, you know you can tell me.” He picked my hand up and played with my fingers.

No, he couldn’t know what I’d read in Maggie’s letter. I could picture him going to the Inn to confront her. Who knew what she was capable of? But I’d tell him about Sammy. I had to give him something.

“It’s Sammy.” As I spoke, the most powerful urge came over me. I leaned into Marcus. He folded his arms protectively around me. I felt safe. “She went psycho on me in her bedroom.”

“What did she do?”

His hand smoothed down the length of my hair as I spoke.

“First, she asked me how my night at the Inn went. But it was the way she looked at me when she’d said it. It wasn’t Sammy. It was almost as if she was possessed.” I’d just scared myself further with my speculations.

“Then she grabbed for the pendant. Something happened to her when she touched it. She screamed and pulled her arm back, like it had hurt her. I asked her about it, but she yelled at me to get out. And her eyes got all scary and dark. I don’t know how I’ll ever be able to sleep in that house again.” I lifted my head off his chest.

Marcus cupped my face with both hands and buried my mouth under his. For a moment I lost myself in the kiss, and then my emotions broke through my façade, and my bottom lip quivered under his. A single tear trickled down my cheek. I pulled away so I could lay my head on his shoulder.

“It kills me to see you like this. There’s gotta be something I can do. What if I went to see Maggie?”

“No!” I pulled back. “You can’t ever go there again. Promise!”

“Okay. I won’t.”

“Promise!”

“Alright, I promise.”

Marcus cuddled me close. I squeezed my eyes shut, suppressing more tears. A few escaped anyway and fell on his black shirt.

Two car loads of students pulled up beside us. I sat up quickly and dabbed the small bit of moisture away that had accumulated in the corners of my eyes. I didn’t want to ruin my make-up.