October Darlings

by Wendolyn Baird

  “Yeah,” I gasp, sliding away from Nick as quickly as I can. My cheek is burning and I’m shaking as I stumble closer to the others.

  “Everything’s fine. She tripped; I was just helping her up.” Nick lies. Drawing himself to his full height, he turns to face Ellis head on. “You got a problem?”

  Ellis’ jaw twitches as he steps forward, blocking both Eden and I from view. “What do you think?” he growls.

  Instead of answering or backing down, Nick jumps forward, reaching past Ellis for me. His nails dig into my wrist painfully as Eden holds me in place. He’s so close I can see his pupils and there’s something wrong with his eyes. They’re unfocused and glazed over, but the watery sheen isn’t clear or bloodshot, it’s blue. Ice blue.

  Ellis tries to shove him off, but Nick drags me along with him, hanging onto my arm with superhuman strength.

  “Let go of her!” Eden yells, knocking him over the head with her purse, but Nick doesn’t even flinch.

  I dig my feet into the shallow mud, holding my own the best I can. Ellis darts forward with his fists raised, but before he can make contact, I jerk myself towards Nick, shoving all my weight in his direction.

  My head hits the bridge of his nose with a satisfying smack, and he flies backward, releasing me without a fight.

  “Addie!” Ellis catches me as I stumble forward, and Eden keeps her grip at the bottom of my shirt, both of them holding me upright.

  Nick remains on the floor, unmoving. His foot twitches where he lies, and Ellis stares down at him, thoroughly repulsed. The evening is colder than before and the light breeze stings against my sore cheek and open cuts.

  “I can’t believe he would do that!” Ellis yells. Kicking Nick’s shin, he punches the wall I was just cornered against, and a cascade of straw falls into Nick's face.

  “Are you okay?” Eden stares at me in shock, and I swing my head back and forth from their reactions to Nick lying unconscious in the mud.

  “I don’t understand,” I stammer. “We were just talking and then...”

  “We saw.” Eden squeezes my arm and grimaces.

  “Let’s get you out of here.” Ellis spits at Nick’s feet and wraps an arm around me, pulling me forward. “We’ll need to send security in to deal with him anyway.”

  I can’t help it; I glance back at him.

  His eyes creep open as blood begins to stream out of his nose, but they aren’t brown anymore. They’re the same as Delia’s in my nightmares, unblinking, cruel, and so pale blue they’re almost white.

  Chapter Sixteen

  “RUN!” I SCREAM AT THE others, scrambling sideways down the pathway. “That’s not Nick!”

  Nick, or whatever looks like him, clambers to his feet in jerking movements like a marionette. We barely have a few yards for a head start. Eden’s shrill shrieks leave my ears ringing, and Ellis pulls at the bales of hay as we run, trying to slow him down.

  “Stop screaming!” I gasp at her. “He’ll follow the sound.” I jerk at her clothes to keep her moving, and my feet race forward. I can’t see which direction we’re moving; everything looks the same, but we’ve got to come to the exit eventually. We’ve got to.

  “Addie, what’s going on?” Ellis begs me for an answer, sliding across the muck.

  I shake my head. My throat is too raw to speak, and my lungs are burning so badly I might collapse. There’s a stitch in my side, and I run with a limp, relying on Ellis to push me forward if I fall.

  “You can’t run forever, darling.” Nick’s doppelganger is laughing as he chases us. His use of Delia’s pet name for me is enough to make me want to puke, and I clutch one arm around my middle as we push on. “You Nix always think you’re sooo invincible,” he scoffs. “What did you call yourself again? Dangerous?”

  “Frank,” I choke out. “Help!”

  “Who’s,” Eden huffs, “Frank?”

  Frank jumps off my wrist, dropping out of my sleeve, and scuttling off somewhere behind us. The backs of my eyelids flash with violet as I stumble forth, and a shaking energy courses through my veins. It’s more than adrenaline, anger, or fear. It’s like molten lightning, the turning of the seasons, the rising of the moon, and the fog that settles across graves have all converged within my flesh, sustaining my blood with something mercurial.

  The streaming light of a traffic pole shines over us, beckoning us to the exit, and standing in the middle of the crowd, is Nick. Ellis skids to a stop, throwing his hands out to halt Eden and I, and she lets out another painful yelp that nearly cuts my eardrums in two. Heavy footsteps are right on top of us, and the bales of hay are still crashing to the ground behind us.

  The person in front of us is confused, and his wide eyes are dark. There’s no blood on his face, no hay anywhere on his clothes, and I shove Ellis and Eden out of the maze, waiting for Frank.

  “That’s the real Nick!” I cry, and Eden crumples to the ground terrified. Ellis wavers for a second, taking in what I’ve already deduced, and reaching out for me once more. “Go!” I beg him. “Go!”

  Without waiting to see if he’ll listen, or if any of the others will run as well, I move back into the passage, straining for any sign of Frank as the light above me flickers. At the screeching of bats overhead, I throw my arms over myself and kneel closer to the ground. The taunting, false voice is still mocking me.

  “Your toy is a clever trick,” the thing says. “I haven’t seen anything as annoying as that wretched gate your mother fixed up. Do you Scorpios really think a few bugs could stop me though? Your mother tried, and we both know what happened to her. Well,” he chuckles. “I know the details better than you do. Do you want to hear them?”

  I still haven’t caught my breath, and what little oxygen I have is ripped from me as rage clouds my vision. There’s no way. My blood pounds through my temples as I rise to my feet. The bats move on, but in their place, the ground is rolling with glittering eyes and glowing bodies. Scorpions.

  They flock to me, and I stand tall.

  “What do you want?” I speak as loudly as I can manage, my hoarse whisper not even enough to make it a foot away.

  A blast of frigid wind blows my hair forward into my face, and a deadly whisper cuts into my ear.

  “You.”

  I turn around gasping as I feel the cold hands gripping my shoulder and smell the putrid rot blowing onto my cheeks, but the passage is empty. Thousands of live scorpions are flopping around at my feet, and among them, Frank clambers my way. Angry scratches shine across his smooth form, but he clicks as he climbs my leg.

  “What the hell, Frank?” I stare at him in the palm of my hand once I’m sure we’re alone, and the living arachnids begin to dissipate. His small iron head tilts to the side, and he snaps his pinchers in lieu of an answer.

  “Addie? Addie!”

  Multiple voices shout my name, I shuffle forward, careful not to step on my protectors. My head is reeling, and I need to see Delia.

  “GET INSIDE, BOTH OF you!” Delia pulls Ellis and I through the back door of the bakery. Sabrina took my car to get Eden home and hopefully calm her down, and Ellis insisted on driving me to Delia himself. She’s covered head to toe in black icing, and there’s a pumpkin shaped sprinkle clinging to her cheekbone, but the thing that makes her look most disoriented is the fear on her face. “What happened to you, darling?”

  I flinch at the term of endearment, reaching up to graze my fingertips across my swollen cheek. The kitchen is empty, except for the treats Delia was prepping for tomorrow, and from the front, I can hear Norma closing out the last customers. Ellis bolts the door behind us, glancing around uneasily as he moves.

  “I don’t know. Can spirits or demons make themselves look like somebody else? I mean, completely? Where you can feel them as well?”

  “What are you talking about? Like who? Are you saying a spirit did this to you?”

  Ellis pulls a chair out for me, and once he’s satisfied that we won’t get attacked in the next few moments, he starts
talking so I don’t have to. They talk longer than I can keep track of. Norma pops in to say goodnight, there’s a long debate about my safety and everyone else’s, and finally I can’t take it anymore.

  “I’ve been having dreams about this thing. I was wrong, it’s not just a shadow, but it follows me everywhere. I think it’s what stirred up that ghost in the woods, and why I keep finding blood. Aunt Delia, it said that it killed my mom! But she wasn’t like us! Why would it go after her?”

  Delia holds back a sobbing noise and clutches at the counter to remain standing. Her gaze, so similar to my dad’s, is devastated, and there’s more silver than blonde in her hair now. When did that happen?

  “I don’t know what happened. Darling, that’s why I want you to remember so badly! Marlowe can’t remember how she died, none of the ones the monster went after can. It does something to a person, and your mom... it’s like it erased her. I couldn’t even feel if she’d moved on.”

  Weight falls on me like I’ve been anchored to the bottom of the sea. The kitchen disappears from before me, and the next thing I know, I’m settled beside Ellis in his truck.

  The seat still stinks of Eden’s perfume, and there’s an extra water bottle laying in the cup holder, but other than that, the inside of the vehicle is just the same as the last time I was in it. “I was trying to protect you, you know?” I mumble at him.

  “Were you?” He turns off the highway, and the towering roof of Nix House is just visible against the trees. “I thought you were trying to shut everyone out.”

  Same difference.

  Out loud, I whisper, “I’m sorry. For everything.”

  “Let’s get through tonight, and then we’ll talk.”

  Delia wants to make sure Nick is, well, Nick, but neither her nor Ellis feel comfortable leaving me alone. She’d better check Eden too; I’m sure Ellis’ new girlfriend is at home drowning her fears whatever she could get her hands on to cloud her mind. Anything to numb the horror.

  “I’ll be okay,” I insist. “Honestly, I just want to find this thing and destroy it.”

  “That’s the biggest problem though, Addie.” Ellis cuts the engine and the cats come running up around the tires. Turning to me in the glow of the floodlights, he twists his mouth up mournfully. “This isn’t something you should face alone.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because isolating yourself when you’re struggling the most means one thing. That you’re going to fail. This is life and death, here. I’m not letting you take that chance.”

  “I can take care of myself,” I snap.

  He reaches over, covering my hand with his, and the hot rage in my chest cools. “I know,” he answers simply. “But I was taught to help when I can.” A sad smile flickers across his expression, and he tightens his grasp around my freezing knuckles. “I am still your moral supporter, right?”

  I swallow back the lump in my throat and squeeze his hand. It’s harder to block him out when he pulls on my emotions like this. “Of course. You’re my best friend.”

  Once inside the house, we head straight for the crawl space, just in case my stalkers decide to head our way. After so many restless nights, Delia outfitted the space with a couple of narrow camping bags and a small tote of snacks. It’s begun to resemble a bunker in my head and I’m afraid the fallout is coming on fast.

  “I was actually planning on real food for dinner,” I complain. The beef jerky I’m tearing into is good, no doubt about that, but after so many months of living with Delia, her food standards have worn off on me. Besides, I need something to be upset about besides the turmoil wrestling through my chest. I’m sick of death and peculiarities.

  “Hey, at least we survived long enough to get dinner.” Ellis pushes his hair back from his forehead, and my gaze takes in his appearance at a much closer distance than I have in the last few weeks. There’s a faint shadow across his jaw, as though he hasn’t had time to shave, and a new piercing at his nose. His hair is darker than before, probably from the lack of sun to bleach it, and a depth of pain in his eyes that wasn’t there when we’d first met.

  My stomach flips flops, and I know I should still be pushing him away. Instead, I tuck my trash into the tote and nod at his new jewelry. “Did Eden do that?”

  He pauses, granola bar in hand. “No. I went to an actual shop.”

  “Really? I’m sure she would have done it for you no problem.”

  “Maybe, maybe not. She isn’t very happy with me right now.”

  “Why’s that?” I slide off my cot and reach for the photo albums once more. At my wrist, Frank is curled up sleepily, and I envy him. Despite pain meds, my head is still pounding.

  “We went out on a few dates and she wanted to make things official, but I don’t know. I like her and all, but it didn’t feel right. I had actually just turned her down when we ran into you.”

  “Really?” I bite back a smile and jerk as the movement sends a wave of pain through my face. Ouch! Bad idea, bad idea!

  “You okay?”

  “Oh, uhm, yeah. Just still hurting.”

  “Alright, why don’t you try to get some sleep then? We can search through old photos later.” He’s still covered in hay and mud, and could probably use a nap himself, but nods encouragingly. Like weeks of not talking means absolutely nothing to him, like it’s his job to stand guard over me in a world that makes no sense. A world he doesn’t need to belong in.

  “No.” I clutch the album tighter and slouch down as grief settles on me again. It took my mother. My mom, of all people. “I feel like the answers are in here somewhere. I just have to find them.”

  “Why does it have to be you?”

  “Because I’m its new target, and because... I felt something tonight. I don’t know exactly what, but I can handle this. I know I can. I’ve seen things, made things happen that Delia doesn’t even know about. She doesn’t believe in magic, so what would she make of Frank?”

  Ellis frowns and pulls his leg up onto his cot, struggling to get comfortable in the small space. “You could just tell her and find out. It’s kind of hard to ignore the existence of a thing when it’s staring you in the face. Or clicking sharp little claws in your face.”

  Frank is indeed clicking away, waving his claws erratically as he scurries around the cot I'm balanced on. He doesn’t seem hurt or broken. Can sentinels even break? But I think he’s feeling the same way I am; hurt but ready to take this thing. Ready to make it stop.

  “It’s more than that though. Delia said the house gets more powerful with every... new addition it gets. What if the power of clairvoyance grows stronger too? She told me that I needed to figure out what all the clairvoyants have in common.” I roll my eyes and pick the bobby pins out of my hair. “Besides seeing the dead, that is.”

  “As comforting as your theory is, it still doesn’t explain where Frank came from. If you’re looking into the clairvoyants, you should find out about who added the scorpions to the house.”

  We pour over the albums, Ellis for the first time, me for the hundredth, and I’m about ready to scream by the time we come across anything interesting. Or, by the time Ellis finds something he thinks is interesting, at least. Delia’s sent me approximately three text messages reassuring us Nick and Eden are fine. At this point, I don’t believe her.

  Ripping open a chocolate bar, I groan agitatedly and prop my feet onto the old wallpaper. “I don’t get it, it’s just a statue of a woman. Why do you think it’s a big deal? It’s been in the cemetery for as long as I can remember. Trust me, it’s not a big deal.”

  Ellis rubs at his eyes, pressing his lips into a frustrated line. “I’ve seen it before, that’s why.”

  “Except you’ve never been in the graveyard, and it’s never been moved. Ellis, I’m sure there’s a thousand others just like it.”

  “No,” he murmurs. “There’s something about her face. I wouldn’t forget it. I saw it somewhere... by a well? Maybe at an old church?”

  “I’ll te
ll you what,” I bargain with him. “If we live through the morning, we’ll head to the back and go check it out.”

  DELIA STUMBLES IN DURING the early hours of the morning, her promised pizza in hand, but ice cold. Ellis passed out with the photo of the statue and several text messages from Owen complaining about having to cover for his absence. Apparently, nobody else in the maze saw what we did, and the ruined sections were blamed on rowdy teenagers.

  “I’ll tell you what,” Delia sighs as she eases into the room. “Your friend Eden sure is a handful. I got there too late to sober her up any, so I thought it best to just sit tight until her older sister got home to watch over her. They’ll be safe there though; I got that house locked down tight a few years ago.”

  “And Nick?”

  “He didn’t have a clue anything was even wrong. According to his story, he showed up late for y’all’s meeting and decided to wait for you to make it through the maze. When everyone came bursting out yelling, he was just as confused as everyone else.”

  “How could this happen? I thought we had to worry about the boy and a shadow, not this. It could be anyone.”

  A chill drops over my shoulders as I glance up at Delia. It could even be her. It has been her, in all my dreams. But her eyes are their usual color, and wouldn’t the ghosts have noticed?

  “I don’t know what to tell you anymore, Addie. It’s like everything I thought I knew about this place and its history is clean out the window.” She shakes her head and sits next to me. “I was never cut out for this parenting bit. That was your dad, he always knew what to do. I wish we could call him now, but...”

  “But now it’s our turn to take care of him.” I nod. At least in this one subject, Delia and I have agreed. The best way to keep him safe is to let him continue treatment with zero stress, even if it kills us. Love is sacrifice.

  “HELLO? ANYONE HOME?” Sabrina’s voice is muffled as she bangs on the front door, impatient to be let in.