The Haunting (19 page)

Whimpering, Claire turned teary eyes to me, begging. She tried to lean away from Read but wasn’t gaining much distance.

Joel shoved me aside as he launched himself at the Read-impostor.

I called out, catching myself before I stumbled right into the mounded corpses.

Instead of speaking, Read raised the meat cleaver and slammed it down at Claire’s useless leg nearest him.

Joel froze.

The cleaver didn’t slice, rather slammed beside her leg.

Claire’s breath quickened, and I saw the blood blossom through her jeans where he’d nicked her. I also noticed that her legs hadn’t flinched. In fact, they hadn’t moved at all since I came in.

Phoebe and Cody appeared in the doorway. Their drained expressions revealed that they saw the whole thing.

Phoebe’s eyes darted to meet mine.

I think it was an apology. The defiant fire no longer lingered; there was just sadness.

“I didn’t want it to happen this way,” Fake-Read confessed in Read’s actual voice. His posture changed, however. Though he looked like Read, there were subtle differences. His movements were fluid and quick.

He dislodged his weapon and smiled, closed-lipped and smug.

“Where’s Read?” Phoebe asked.

The Fake-Read’s grey eyes snapped to her. “If I tell you, that would be cheating.” The instant he said the word
cheating
, he looked at me.

I felt my shoulders hunch. “I haven’t cheated,” I said through gritted teeth.

“How the hell could she cheat?” Joel asked, his eyes trained on Claire, but he spoke to Fake-Read.

“She hasn’t told you?” Fake-Read’s lips formed a cruel smile.

“Told us what?” Cody asked, glancing at me.

Fake-Read clucked his tongue and shook his head. It wasn’t until the smile became lop-sided and mocking that I
knew
.

“Stop it, Damien. It’s not just me that you’re hurting. It’s Neive, too.”

Phoebe gaped. “That was Damien the entire time?”

I had to agree with her shock. I wouldn’t have thought he would put himself amongst us.

Read’s wavy hair darkened to Damien’s midnight sheen. His face altered, the jawbone widening, the brow lowering, and the cheekbones standing out.

Still wearing the apron over Read’s clothes, Damien said, “Full of surprises.”

Shaking off the disbelief first, Joel said, “Let Claire go.”

“No,” he answered flatly, seriously. “We’re going to play a game.”

I didn’t realize I was backing away until I stepped on Cody’s foot. Luckily, my socked feet didn’t disturb his sneaker enough to hurt him.

“I know,” Phoebe said softly.

“Know what?” I asked. She didn’t break eye contact with me, speaking some foreign language at a volume I couldn’t decipher. “Know what?” I repeated in a whisper.

“What Damien is talking about.”

“The game?” Joel asked.

She shook her head. “Your secret,” she said to me.

I swallowed hard, preparing myself. Damien said he would try to turn them against me. From the look in Phoebe’s eyes, I wondered if he had already succeeded. Before, it was laughable, but now?

I acknowledged her with a nod. I couldn’t deny it at this point. How did she find out? Who told her? Then it dawned on me, the witches. That was why she had acted so distant afterwards.

“Could you have saved Cooper?” she asked slowly.

This drew Joel’s attention immediately.

“This isn’t the time, Phoebe,” I said, nodding towards Claire.

Damien’s smooth voice mocked me. “When
is
the time, Nora?”

I glared at him. “What’s your game?”

“What do you mean—could she save Cooper?” Joel asked, muscles taut and twitching.

I shook my head, partially as an answer and partially because I didn’t want to do this right now. In fact, I’d rather keep it a secret forever.

Damien said, “I wouldn’t be surprised if she
could
have saved Cooper.”

He lied, of course. Damien had been there. He’d had Neive stop me. “No, I couldn’t,” I growled, glaring at Damien hatefully. “What do you want, Damien?” I snapped, my patience fraying.

“Truth or Dare,” Damien said, the dangerous smile spreading as he flipped the cleaver in his hand.

Phoebe snorted. I couldn’t blame her. The easiest way to swing through truth or dare unscathed was to normally always pick
truth
.

Damien laid out the new Rules. “If you lie during any of the truths, I will sever a limb on this girl.” He slapped a hand down on Claire’s thigh. The sound was sharp and piercing against her jeans. We all winced except Claire. Tears trickled down her face, reddening her cheeks and nose.

Joel snarled, and Damien waved him off. “She can’t feel her legs. A gift considering that’s where I’ll start.” He placed the cleaver just over her ankle; the sharp blade glinted in the dim light.

He didn’t push down. Instead, he rested the weight of it against her jeans. “As for Dare, if you refused to do it or cheat,” he didn’t look at me this time, “then she loses something. Also, you have to choose truth and dare, not just one or the other.”

“Damien…” I started but hesitated the moment his cold eyes swept up from the blade to me.

“Who wants to start?” he asked, his expression dark.

Naturally, no one said anything.

Joel spoke up. “Don’t you hurt her.”

“That is entirely up to you,” Damien answered.

The two men gauged each other. “How do we win?” Joel asked.

Good question.

“You could ask questions and make up retarded little dares all you want,” Joel pointed out, “but when does it end? When is she free?”

Damien nodded, unperturbed. “Two rounds each. In return, you can have your girlfriend back and…this.” He motioned to the corner, where the phonograph and couches hid.

On cue, Gretchen stepped around the corner, holding one of the silver rings in the palm of her hand.

Gretchen’s silver eyes changed back to something resembling normal.

If it wasn’t for the sadistic smile, she might look like a Feed the Children ad…with extraordinarily high eyebrows.

“What about her?” I motioned to Gretchen. “Will she give us trouble?”

Damien glanced at Gretchen. “Will you give them trouble, Gretchen?”

She kept the smile plastered on her face when she said, looking at him, “Not yet. You said I could come back later.”

“Later?” I asked.

Damien nodded and said to me, “Gretchen is a Sanctioned.”

“She’s
real
?” I demanded, horrified.

“I thought everything was made up,” Phoebe whispered. “Mostly, though some of the Challenges were even in real realms where you met and maybe even
killed
real people.” Damien paused for effect. “Gretchen is from another world
,
not a realm. She passed through and couldn’t resist your group. I could hardly deny her.”

“He
couldn’t
deny me,” Gretchen corrected. “We have a deal.”

“What deal?” Phoebe asked.

“None of your business,” Damien answered coolly and lifted the cleaver to waggle it in our faces. “Ready, I presume?”

Of course we weren’t, and no one volunteered an answer.

“Joel,” Damien said, his eyes shifting to the one closest to him. “Truth or dare?”

Joel squared his shoulders and stood soldier straight. “Truth.”

Damien gestured to Claire using the cleaver. “Tell her about Bess.” He let go of the rope around her wrists and hovered the blade over Claire’s ankle. It was so casual and cold it made my heart twist. He’d chop her foot off and we’d have to watch, and I didn’t think he cared. At least, he wasn’t showing it. I glanced at Gretchen. Was it because of her? Or was this the demon all along? Maybe I always looked for decency that wasn’t there.

Both Joel and Claire’s eyes widened at the mention of Bess.

Obviously, this was a subject that hadn’t been breached between the two of them. The rest of us knew about Bess.

Claire watched Joel, her expression tensed.

“Bess was my ex. The one that died.” Joel glanced at me.

I pretended not to notice.

Damien raised the cleaver. “I sure hope you have more than that, Joel,” he chided.

Claire made a soft squealing sound, her chin lowered as she watched the cleaver instead of Joel.

“It was before I met her, come on. She won’t care,” Joel argued, his eyes guarded.

“Then tell her,” Damien urged through his teeth, his impatience obvious.

Joel didn’t look at the table. In fact, everything was interesting except for the table. “She was pregnant when she was murdered—”

“Sacrificed,” Gretchen corrected smugly from behind Damien.

His eyes narrow, Joel continued quickly as Damien set the razor-edge of the cleaver against Claire’s shin bone. He didn’t add pressure, but Claire held her breath.

“…it was mine.”

Claire glanced up from the cleaver. “Yours? The baby?” she asked numbly. “But you said…”

“I know what I said. It was an accident. She died. I didn’t think that it was important.”

“Not important?” Claire flushed, stunned, then repeated with added venom, “Not
important
?”

“No,” Joel began to argue, “it was none of your business.”

“I told you everything,” Claire snapped, fury evident in her eyes. “You said…” For a moment, she seemed to remember the rest of us staring. Lowering her voice as if this would make a difference, she said, “That you couldn’t have kids.”

Phoebe’s shoulders shook in silent laughter before she chuckled. “Oh, that’s friggin’ priceless.”

Rolling his eyes, Joel growled something under his breath while Claire called him a few choice names from the table. It seemed she’d forgotten the cleaver.

I glanced between the quarreling couple and raised my hands. “He’s trying to tear us apart. Our whole group. Don’t let him.” I tried hard not to glare at Phoebe to stop laughing. This wasn’t the time to be silly.

Phoebe lowered her hand and snorted. “Haven’t you ever heard of STDs?” she asked Joel. “How many shots does it take for a girl to believe that, dumbass?”

He didn’t to notice the jab. Instead, he motioned Claire to be quiet.

Claire didn’t seem as willing to back down, but with one quick glance at Damien, she settled back.

“Phoebe,” Damien said, cutting the cruel giggles short.

The tall blonde rubbed her nose hard. Her gaze burned a hole in the carpet, but she held a shadow of a smile.

Please take this seriously
, I thought pleadingly.

Damien started to speak when Phoebe interrupted in a bark, making it sound more like an order. “Truth, you know I’d pick it first.” Then Phoebe looked up, a fire in her eye that put me on edge. Gretchen stepped forward, her eager gaze soaking Phoebe up.

“I think you should tell us about your death,” he said, eyes glimmering.

She stared at him for a long moment. This wasn’t what she expected. Only Joel, Phoebe, and I knew about her being technically dead. This wasn’t really a secret, except…

“What the hell?” Cody snapped.

Phoebe raised a hand to stop him. “There isn’t anything to tell—”

“
Don’t
.” Damien’s black eyes shifted to the cleaver. He started to rock it back and forth against Claire’s shin bone, just above the wrap we’d used for the gunshot graze.

Claire gasped the moment she and the rest of us saw the blood stain her jeans. The cleaver was so sharp it had eased through her jeans each time Damien moved it.

I started to think through it. If she lost a foot, would we lose her or was there a way to save her? I thought of heat, but where would we find it to close it up? She’d pass out from that pain. The conclusion was obvious. She’d bleed out, and it would be his fault.

Low and threatening, Damien continued. “Don’t finish that lie. I do think I made the Rules clear. I’m not giving you another warning. Tell them everything that happened after you were taken in the first hallway of the first Challenge.
Every
detail.”

Claire whimpered, her teary eyes jerking to Phoebe.

“I thought you said she couldn’t feel her legs,” I said quickly, the words jumbling together in my haste.

“She can’t,” Damien said simply, “but she’s not blind.”

Phoebe glanced at me before saying, “I didn’t die in the first Challenge. I remember everything.”

Now, even I was curious. Cody leaned forward, unbelieving. “You can’t be dead. You’re right here.”

“I was tied to some coral by these sea-things.” Phoebe avoided our eyes. “They were like mermaids, I guess, but ugly and more varied. Like instead of tails, some had tentacles. The coral stabbed me when they tied me, and my blood attracted…things.”

She licked her lips and stared at the floor, the shadowed smile gone.

“You could breathe the whole time?” I asked.

Phoebe nodded. “The whole time. Like it wasn’t water at all, it just felt like it.”

“Then, whatever came, it looked like a shark and one of these creepy fish with the light over its head. It ate all of them, and I made it to the surface to find Read.”

I thought of the pain she must have gone through and realized I was twisting my shirt up in sweaty palms. “I’m so sorry,” I whispered.

Phoebe took a deep breath and shook her head. “Read and I had to go into a beach house, something to do with his new girlfriend.”

I glanced at my friends to see they were equally riveted by Phoebe’s confession, except Phoebe, whose eyes remained on the floor.

“We…” She cleared her throat and said as fast as she could, “We had sex, and then the house caught fire. I saved the asshole and,” she threw up her hands with a shrug, “I burned. He couldn’t get me out. It wasn’t his fault. I’m pretty sure it was the real Read. Then I remember floating in the Demon’s Grave. I saw everyone from there. I saw Nora and Aidan when they lost Robin, fought Jordan, and faced the zombies.”

I twisted my shirt harder.

“Then I
felt
Nora…” Phoebe took a deep breath and waved her hands as if to pluck the words from air, “…bring me back. I didn’t know it was her exactly until the witches showed me.” She breathed out with a
whoosh
and stuffed her hands into her pockets.

That was what she
“
knew
”
?!

“I hadn’t realized,” I said, trying to sound calm.

“What do you mean?” Joel asked. “What did you feel?”

“It was an energy. For the longest time, I was numb, just floating and losing track of time. Then I felt life again. I’d forgotten what it’d felt like until it was there,” Phoebe said. “But it all makes sense now.” She motioned to Joel. “I watched her bring you back too, when you were unconscious in the treehouse. Your pulse was shallow, Joel. I was pretty sure you were dying.”

“You never said that,” I protested.

“We were trying to be quiet, remember?” Phoebe snapped as if I’d interrupted something important.

“How?” Cody asked. “How did you bring them back?”

I glanced from face to face, wondering how much to reveal. “But he wasn’t dead,” I said, pointing to Joel. “Was he?”

“No, but she was,” Damien said casually.

Cody said something inaudible and gripped his temples in both hands.

“I don’t know what happened, exactly,” I said desperately. “I mean, I kind of do but…”

“Is this because of that Neophuck stuff you two were talking about?” Phoebe pointed between Damien and me.

There it was. She separated us into groups. I saw it plainly the way Joel and Cody tightened to Phoebe and left a gap between them and me.

I didn’t want to get into that too. The last thing I needed was for Damien to start spreading scabrous details of my bloodline.

“Nora.” Damien’s voice floated over me, unwelcome. “Your turn.”

“Truth,” I said softly. At first I thought I might have spoken it too quietly, but Damien didn’t have any problems picking it up.

I already knew the question he was going to ask me. He wanted to let all my friends know that I was different, that I could have some minuscule sway over the Grave. I had a feeling he would try to make me sound like I had more influence then I actually did.

“Tell us all what happened when you were alone with Aidan today.”

Taken back, I tried to recalculate my brain to fit the question. I had been so prepared for anything else. I’d mentally rehearsed every angle until this. Damien picked relationship truths. Ways to make us uncomfortable. Why not reveal hard truths?

Damien dared me with a smile and lifted the cleaver, revealing the gash.

Untying my tongue, I countered, “You mean
you
?” There, I said it. Out in the open, no beating around the bush. I didn’t think Claire would be so lucky if I stalled.

Phoebe croaked. “Huh?”

Joel rubbed his hands down his face. His fingertips pulled down his bottom eyelid, revealing veins. “I fucking knew it.”

I expected Damien to smile, but he apparently didn’t find it humorous.

“What happened?” Cody asked, uneasily.

Speaking fast, I tried to stop the cleaver from descending. “I basically found Aidan and I—
we
kissed. When I opened my eyes, it was him.” I watched Damien’s hardened expression. “But,” I glanced at the cleaver, “I knew it was him before that.”

The cleaver lowered, and I breathed a little easier.

There was a long pause around me before Joel snapped, “Oh, I get it.”

“No,” I snapped, “you don’t. Hell, he pretended to be Read too, but that I didn’t know.”

“Actually, you did,” Phoebe corrected—or maybe it was accused.

“Through a guess,” I said.

Joel, who always had a way of pointing out the worst, said, “So you made out with Read too. That’s much better.”

“No, I didn’t.” I felt my hands ball up into fists.

“Do you like Read?” Phoebe asked, sounding quiet.

I stared at her, horrified. “No, I never thought about him like that.”

“That’s a lie,” Damien spoke up.

“Shut up,” I snapped, turning to Phoebe pleadingly. “I may have had a crush on him once, but that was a long time ago. It was school-girl and nothing serious.”

“Still,” Joel said, “you made out with
that
guy.” He thrust a thumb in Damien’s direction.

“Shut up, Joel,” Phoebe growled. “We all make mistakes.”

I stiffened.
Was it a mistake?

The fact that the question gave me pause made me feel worse. I gave my head a shake and cleared my throat. “Who’s next?”

Quirking a brow and watching me, Damien asked, “Truth for you as well, Cody?”

Cody just nodded, forcing Damien to turn away from me.

I could relax at last and noticed Gretchen grinning like the Cheshire Cat.

We should have picked Dare first, I realized, and gotten them over with.

“Tell them what you saw in the cauldron,” Damien said flatly.