“That’s a load of bull, and you know it.” She crosses her arms stubbornly and juts her chin out, never once looking back at the house although I know she’s still nervous around it. “You’re always too busy looking through a camera to take a good look in the mirror, but we know you. I know you. You’re sweet, and brave, and you have this amazingly rare talent. Stop being afraid of it, and stop being afraid of yourself.”
“Sabrina,” I choke out. My throat is so tight, I’m nearly wheezing and it’s hard to get the words loud enough for her to hear. Before I can say anything else though, there’s a loud crack, and a tree branch falls not even a foot away from Sabrina’s back.
Shrieking, she falls forward, throwing her hands up by her face. Another gust blows through the trees, and the rustling wood creaks ominously. I try to run to her, but the gate closes in my face, keeping me in and her out.
“No, no, no, no, no, no!” I wrap my fingers around the bars, begging silently for them to open as another branch collapses.
Her eyes are wild, and she nearly loses her glasses as she scrambles to her feet. “Addie?”
I shove my arm through the fence, reaching in vain for her hands. “You need to get in the gate! You’ll be safe in the gate! Open, damn it!” I yell at the scorpion carvings, the house, the cemetery itself; anything and everything I think might listen to me.
The gate won’t budge, and the wind is picking up, followed by the low humming of a distorted nursery rhyme. Oh no, not again. Not with Sabrina here.
Sabrina quickly attempts to climb the rosemary, but it bends beneath her feet, even as I work to support her weight from my side of the fence. Her heels slip across my palms, pushing at my interlocked fingers and causing me to flinch in pain. Frank disregards my normal rule of not moving in front of others to speed down my arm and climb over the wrought iron designs, waking the other carvings.
Sabrina cries out as the scorpions gather toward her, and I push her up towards the top of the fence as quick as I can.
“It’s okay!” I huff. “They’re trying to help, they’re good.”
The arachnids cling to her skirt and ankles, dangling like charms on a bracelet and flashing in the pale light. She’s just over the top of the gate, and right when I think she’s going to make it, her purse snags on the top spike of the fence, holding her place. Sabrina clings to the bars, off balance and screaming as loudly as she can, and I don’t know whether I should push her up to get her free, or continue pulling her in.
Leaves gather behind her, crumpling and tearing as they rise into the form of a small child. His ghastly shape is absent of distinguishable features, but all the same, he pulls energy towards him with the strength as a black hole.
In, I decide. I need to pull Sabrina in.
The boy steps forward, his empty gaze demanding my attention and causing my heart to skip. There’s a gravitational pull drawing me towards him, even as I plant my feet as firmly as I can into the groundcover. Mint waves across the tops of my boots, tangling around my legs as though the plants themselves plan on cementing me in.
I yank on Sabrina’s arm, holding her up with the side of my shoulder as Frank and his friends surge forward, snapping at her purse strap. Their metal pincers cut straight though, and they turn their opalescent pupils towards the phantom threatening their realm.
She may not be able to sense his presence, but Sabrina can see the leaves clinging to thin air as she falls to the ground, and her shrieks turn to silent gasps. Pulling her up, I guide her backwards, deeper in the graveyard, and I hope with everything I’ve got that he can’t get in.
Frank’s mini battalion covers every corner of the fence, clicking and scurrying with a lethal air despite their diminutive size, and shaking in each other’s arms, Sabrina and I cling to each other. She’s barely breathing, and I’m breathing much too fast.
“This is what I was trying to protect you from,” I whisper. I hold her as close as I can and try to block out every noise but the comforting clicking. What good would Frank be against a monster, Ellis had asked. What good indeed?
With every step closer to the fence the boy gets, the less his form holds, until he is nothing more than a pile of leaves stirring in the wind. The clicking continues and minute by minute, the pieces blow away, carried off by the autumnal gales that rip across the property. Our arms continue to shake as the night deepens and the stars appear in the sky, and my shirt is wet, but I’m not sure if the tears are Sabrina’s or my own.
“I’m so sorry.” I tell her. “I’m so sorry.”
She clutches at my arm while shaking her head in denial. “No, no more apologies. No more secrets, and for sure no more ghosts. You’re staying at my house. At least things are normal there.”
As we break apart, she retrieves her broken purse and snaps on the flashlight from inside. Her notebook pages are scattered among the graves, and as she searches for them, Frank races through the mint to my side. The remaining scorpions take their places once more, sentinels waiting for the next threat even as the gate screeches open to allow us to leave.
“You’re amazing, Frank,” I tell him as he bounds back onto my wrist.
Sabrina opens her mouth, but instead of commenting, moves to grab another fallen grave rubbing before it blows away. Helping her gather her things, I move through the aisles, reading each marker reverently as the faces of the deceased flash into my head. Before I consider where I am, I end up in the corner.
Elena Morales Nix.
My fingers reach out to brush the words as the swinging beam of light illuminates them. Beneath her name is a curl of stars and flowers intertwined all the way around the marker like a frame. Beautifying her resting place as though it could ease the sharp pain coursing through my chest. I can’t see her face like the others, and that makes the heartbreak all the more real.
MONDAY COMES TOO FAST, and although Sabrina and I have reached a tentative agreement on how to handle the supernatural aspects of my life, there’s no way I’m ready to see Ellis or Eden. Standing in front of the turquoise framed mirror in the corner of Sabrina’s room, I frown at my hair. Inside, it stays neatly in place with the bobby pins I’d picked up around Nix House, but once we head out into the rain washing down the driveway, there’s no way they’ll hold. I wish I could find my headband.
“You look great,” Sabrina reassures me from her bed. Her fingers deftly lace up the hiking boots she’s paired with jeans and a warm flannel shirt. The scarf around her neck is decorated with embroidered spiders and I smirk at the irony. She still won’t look anywhere near my arm, and Frank has spent all weekend pretending she never saw him move.
I wasn’t fully convinced that the dried root I’d bought online was actually going to keep me safe outside Nix House, and I guess Delia wasn’t either since I found a bundle of sage slipped into the bottom of my backpack while looking for my toothbrush. Whether it was the sage, the devil’s shoestring, or just good luck that did the trick, I’m just relieved to have made it through the weekend.
My lips are raw from me chewing at them, but the circles under my eyes are beginning to fade. Nestled in a sleeping bag on Sabrina’s floor, I’ve slept better than I have in months, and my head actually isn’t pounding for once from the shrill beeping of the alarm clock. I still can’t compete with Eden’s flawless skin or ability to give him a completely normal relationship.
Wistfully, I follow Sabrina out the door, and straight into Nick.
“Hey!” I breathe. Caught off guard, I fidget with my backpack strap and glance at Sabrina in alarm. Completely oblivious, she’s helping her mom pack up lunch boxes for Trevor and Uriah, and I’m on my own.
Decked out in his school colors and grasping a drink holder laden with paper cups, he grins apprehensively. “Sabrina said you were over, and I don’t start class until later this morning. There’s a pep rally today. I thought I’d swing by with some coffee; Owen told me your order.”
"Oh! Uhm, that was nice.” I blink several times and can’t
figure out where to put my hands. Back on my backpack straps? Do I take the coffee now, or maybe put my hands on my hips?
“Yeah so, here you go.” He pulls out one of the cups from the carrier and ducks his head, letting his curls fall over his eyes. “I need to get going actually. I promised my dad I’d fill up his car before school.”
“Thanks, yeah, uhm, you better do that.” My cheeks burn as I cradle the cup against my chest and wait for Sabrina to rejoin me in the hall. Every time I expect him to go away, here he is again. I just don’t know what to do with him.
I watch as he sets the remaining drinks on the island in the kitchen, removes his own, and darts out the front door. Just as the screen door bangs shut behind him and he throws one last grin my way, nodding as he rushes out into the light rain.
“Okay, you ready?” Sabrina pops back up at my side. Finally! Trevor is hanging onto her waist as he complains about the thunder and Uriah, a year older, is busy begging their mother for extra cookies in his lunch.
Gawking at her, it’s another moment before I can regain my composure. “Yeah, of course! Let’s go!”
We help Mrs. Thomas wrangle the boys into their family’s minivan before sprinting to the curb to clamber into my own car. The coffees are much needed during the chilly ride to school, and I’m almost warm by the time we get there, but pulling into crowded parking makes that comfort vanish. Eden is sitting on Ellis’ tailgate, chatting under a wide umbrella without a care in the world, and my stomach drops as I catch sight of how easily he’s laughing with her.
“We should go out tonight,” Sabrina suggests as I pull into a spot. I’m so thrown off, I nearly knock into the car in front of us, not that Sabrina notices. “You’re not working, are you? I can call up Nick and George, it’ll be fun.”
Eyeing Eden on my rearview mirror, I jam my fingers against the ignition a few times as I fumble to turn off the engine. She’s leaning towards him, her fingertips brushing against the collar of her jacket, and I wish I could make out what they’re saying.
“Out?" I lean on my door and feel around for my bag. "No, I’m not working. That’s fine.” Throwing my hood up over my already ruined hair, I try to scurry past Ellis without being seen. His dimples are flashing, but as we pass, he locks eyes with me and the smile slides off his face. Yup. I screwed up.
I spend my usual skipping period actually attending art class, but instead of sketching the bowl of gourds at the front of the room, I draw Frank and all the rest of the scorpions. Their eyes glint even in graphite, and their sharp stingers almost jump off the page by the time I’m done pressing my pencil across the paper. I’m not usually the best artist, but for once I can say I tried my best.
“Interesting take,” Mr. Vasquez notes as he glances over my shoulder. “I love your skill level and your clear appreciation for the season, but maybe next time you can stick to the subject matter.” He points across the room and frowns down at me. “In this case, that means pumpkins and squash. You can try again tomorrow.”
“Yes sir,” I mumble. Folding up my rejected work, I use my last period to trace over its lines, and by the time the last bell rings my palms are covered in a fine coating of silver.
“That is really not what I had in mind for tonight,” Sabrina grimaces. “Let’s get you cleaned up before we meet the guys.” Cleaning up, according to her, includes lining my eyes in a thick purple and insisting on a layer of lip gloss as well.
“I thought we were just hanging out?” I complain as she runs a wet paper towel under my eyes, fixing the liner she’d smudged.
“We are. There’s this really cool maze we’re checking out and then we’ll grab food. The grill has this amazing shake right now, like all dark chocolate and cookie crumbs topped with candy corn flakes. You’re going to totally love it.”
“I think I’d love it a little more if my lips weren’t coated in a bunch of sticky glitter.” I shift my weight and consider the rest of her request. Sure, I can probably stick the sage in my back pocket, but Delia will have a cow if I stay out too late. She’s still convinced I’m safer during the day.
“Oh, cut it out; you look good.”
“Okay, fine. But just for the evening. Once it gets dark, I’m heading back to the bakery.”
It isn’t immediately obvious why Sabrina is so fixated on makeup until I finish buying my ticket and turn around to find Miranda and Owen staring goofily at one another, while Nick and George shuffle their feet nervously at the entrance of the maze. What I thought was hanging out looks an awful lot like a group date.
“Sabrina!” I hiss in her ear. “What is going on?”
“Nothing.” She shrugs and grins wickedly at me, skipping forward to tuck her arm around George’s elbow.
Holding back a groan, I adjust my jacket and step forward. So much for keeping people at arm’s length.
Nick clears his throat awkwardly at my approach, and fixing him straight in the eye, I raise my chin and tuck my hands into my pockets. “If I get lost, I get lost,” I tell him. “Do not try to save me.” From anything, I want to add.
Jerking back, he frowns at me and nods, and we set off, a good gap between us versus the other couples in our group. Sabrina and George take turns glancing at one another when they think the other person isn’t looking, and Miranda and Owen are so involved in their own little bubble, that I swear they belong in a rom-com.
“So, does that ever get nauseating?” I ask, motioning to the happy couples.
“Only all the time.” He rolls his eyes and picks a stray piece of hay from the nearest stack, rolling it around his index finger. “At this point I either need new friends or a girlfriend because the third wheel act is getting pretty old.”
The sentence lays between us like an invitation, and one I should know better than to accept.
“I didn’t realize any of them had been dating for long.” I dodge around a corner and we come to a fork in the maze. Sabrina goes one way with George trailing behind her, while Owen and Miranda stroll off in the opposite direction. “Left, or right?” I look to Nick for his opinion and find his ever-attentive gaze set on my face, while the sky blazes bright orange above him.
“Left. And if you came around a little more often, you’d be as sick of them as I am. I’m glad you came tonight though. I’d have wandered around here by myself for hours otherwise.”
“Sounds lonely.” The ground beneath my feet is soft, and the smell of wet hay is settling into my hair. Yuck. How this is anyone’s idea of a date is beyond me.
“It would have been.” He brushes his arm against mine, closer than he needs to be on the narrow path.
Our steps slow to a stop, and the world is silent around us. The others must be somewhere nearby, but with how high the walls are, they might as well be miles away. It’s an ominous feeling, and instinctively I reach for the sage in my back pocket, but it isn’t there. My heart kicks into overdrive, and my mouth goes dry.
Nick licks his lips and takes a step forward, and I hold my breath. “Look, I know you had a thing for Ellis and all, but Sabrina said that’s sort of over. I get it if you’re not interested in going out, but I have been. From the moment I saw you, I knew I wanted to.”
He leans closer, unsure, and hopeful, and I’m about two seconds away from bolting. Clearing my throat, I can’t look away, but I can’t just kiss him either. Running would be even worse. How do you turn someone down gracefully?
“Why?”
“Why what?” He frowns, still only a couple inches away from my face.
“Why would you want to go out with me?”
“Why wouldn’t I?” He laughs, but the sound is off, forced. As though he wasn’t expecting this moment to go quite this way. And with his looks and how well the baseball team did this past season, he probably wasn’t. How many other girls would fall at his feet?
“Because I’m dangerous, Nick. I don’t just see ghosts, I attract them.”
“You attracted me and I’m not a ghost,” he attempts t
o joke. “And there’s no way you’re dangerous,” he laughs.
I’m pressed against one of the hundreds of bales of hay as he leans one arm beside my head, locking me in place. There’s a dark glint to his eyes I can’t decipher, and the sharp angle of his grin is nowhere near what I’m used to.
“I think we should go find the others,” I manage to gasp. My throat is dry, and Frank is tightening around my wrist, reacting to the stress in my voice. This isn’t right, this isn’t right at all.
“I think we should stay right here.” He edges closer, watching me with a hungry look that sends shudders down my spine. If I didn’t know better, I could almost mistake his teeth for fangs.
I press the whole of my back against the straw, shuffling my feet for an escape. It’s too close to Halloween and I’ve watched too many vampire flicks with Sabrina and Miranda, that’s all. It’s just Nick. I can handle Nick.
“Come on, cut it out,” I tell him. “I want to catch up with Sabrina.”
I try to maneuver past him, but the moment I step forward, his hand slams into the side of my face. The world slides to the left and it feels like my brain is bouncing around my skull, as I fall against the hay bale. Before I can recover, his hands are at my throat, yanking me up by my collar. His nails scrape against the soft skin at my neck, burning where they leave their marks.
“What are you doing?” I gasp. My feet dangle a few inches from the ground, and no matter how much I bat at his arms, I can’t get him to let go.
“Hey!”
From the other side of the wall, Ellis steps into view, and Nick drops me. Eden freezes in place beside Ellis, her quick eyes taking in the way I’m slumped over, and Nick’s aggravated stance.
“Get away from her,” Ellis warns. His knuckles turn white against his flesh as he curls his hands into fists, and I’m pretty sure he’s just waiting for me to get out of the way before attacking.
“Addie, you okay?” Eden demands, edging out from Ellis’ shadow. She holds her hand out to me, and for the first time since I met her, she’s visibly unsettled.
October Darlings Page 18