“But then I couldn’t just leave you on your own out there like that, so I came out to help except you were gone,” Riah continued in that deep, strong voice of his that somehow sounded like music. “I decided to call the cops but my phone had died so I walked to the church around the corner because I know the Pastor there, and he’s always home and awake late at night. I went inside and called the police, reported a young girl alone and distressed. When I came back out…there you were.”
“In the middle of the street…” I heard myself whisper.
That’s when you pulled out the sword.
But he wasn’t following me. He hadn’t chased me through the shops on the wharf. That was how he’d gotten to the church so fast, because he hadn’t followed me. Which means he probably didn’t even HAVE a sword. I must’ve imagined it. Of course I did.
“I started to approach you, to see if I could help, but I scared you and you ran.” He smiled and shrugged one shoulder. “Not that I blame you, I’m not the smallest of guys. It was a wise decision on your part given the circumstances. Then I saw Landreia stop you and I knew you’d be okay, that she’d tend to your needs. So I went home.”
“You weren’t following me to kill me.”
His eyes widened. “You thought I was going to hurt you?”
I bit my lip and nodded. “Well…”
“I am so sorry I frightened you, it was not my intention.” Then he frowned. “Curious though, when did you decide I wasn’t going to hurt you?”
“When I saw you at school Friday.” A gust of wind ruffled the tulle layers of my skirt so I held them down. “Everyone at lunch seemed to know and like you. Then my friends Savannah and Gigi, who are the top of the class and highly regarded by the school staff, knew your name and that you were also new in town. It made me realize I might’ve misjudged the situation, that if you were a student at my school then you probably weren’t trying to kill me.”
He narrowed those golden eyes on me. “I didn’t realize students couldn’t be murderers.”
I opened my mouth then shut it. He had a point. A stupid good point. Though I hadn’t trusted him right away, I’d still questioned him.
“Tell me, is that specific to the town limits of Salem? I should know before I make any travel arrangements.”
“Riah.” I tried not to smile and failed.
“Can’t say I like that thought process, rather reckless.” He glanced around at the other students walking between buildings. “You never know what monsters stand beside you.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, you’re such a monster that you saved my life.”
“I’d like to think I’d stop anyone from being run over. I didn’t realize that was reserved only for friends.”
I narrowed my eyes at him and shook my head. “I know you’re going for the whole elusive-hot-broody-bad-boy thing, and it totally works for you, but thank you.”
His lips curved slightly. “For what?”
“Pulling me out of the road…for helping me find my friends when I was too spooked after my medium reading…for coming to my house to check on me… For helping me find my way back to class…” I looked down at my feet and tucked my hair behind my ears. “And for helping me that night even when I’d assumed you were trying to hurt me.”
He reached out and pressed his fingertip under my chin then pushed my face up toward his. The warmth in his skin shot through my body. “You’re welcome.”
I smiled.
His gaze flicked down to my lips then back up. He pulled his hand away. “Though I’d prefer if you didn’t need rescuing.”
I snorted. “Me too. I know I have amnesia and can’t remember, but damsel in distress doesn’t feel like an appropriate title for me.”
He grinned and nodded. “I do not think I could ever describe you as such.”
For a moment, we just stood there staring at each other in silence. The air around us pulsed with hot energy, I didn’t even feel the cold anymore. My chest burned and I probably needed to breathe but I couldn’t.
Do you feel that, too? I can’t be alone in this. I can’t be crazy. I wanted to ask him but my courage was gone. Besides, I wouldn’t know what to do with his answer if he gave it. There was something about him that I couldn’t let go of. Something that drew me toward him like a moth to a flame. He was the moon and I was the tide, where he went I was helpless not to follow.
It was the most confusing feeling ever. I didn’t even know him. Well maybe you should change that. I cleared my throat. “So, Riah…”
He arched one light eyebrow. “Yes, Saraphina?”
My heart fluttered at the sound of my name on his lips. But I wouldn’t be derailed on this one. “Are we friends?”
His smile curved up on one side. “Would you like to be friends?”
I want to be more. “Yes.”
He nodded. “Then we are friends, Saraphina.”
I grinned. “You can call me Saffie, if you’d like.”
His eyes softened. “Saraphina is too beautiful of a name to not speak.”
My heart fluttered and warmth filled my entire body. There was something about the way he said that that felt…familiar. Now that we were friends, I’d need to figure that out. Friends. I can be friends…for now.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Saffie
“I don’t get it. This suggests you already died.” Savannah groaned and dropped my hand. She ran her hands through her long black and turquoise hair. “I’m really crap at this.”
This was palm reading. It was Friday night and the three of us were having a sleepover at Savannah’s house. My first sleepover. I was excited. We were in her room with pizza boxes and bottles of soda spread out around us – along with a few tarot card decks, rune stones, crystals, and a bag of bones that I was afraid to ask about. The lights were off but we’d lit candles all around her room, so it was warm and cozy inside.
Incense burned over by the window next to the piece of sage we’d used.
Savannah really was into the witchy thing. And I loved it. They were both determined to help me figure out my past by any means necessary. So far tonight, Savannah had done two tarot readings and had just attempted to read my palm.
“Sorry, Safferella. I’m still learning palm readings.”
I chuckled and ran my fingers over the soft, silky fur of the two black cats piled in my lap. Freyja and Luna, Savannah’s feline children. The moment I’d walked into her room they’d been all over me…and since I’d sat down, they’d cuddled in hard. But I was not complaining.
“You know, Gi…” Savannah picked up the black velvet pouch of bones off the floor and held them out to her. “You haven’t tried a bone reading yet.”
I frowned. “What is a bone reading? I don’t like the sound of it.”
Gigi giggled. “Not your bones, silly. This is an old, old tradition among my people – the first nations people. Or Native Americans as a lot of people call them. Anyhoo, it’s ancient but it works very similarly to tarot cards. The bones, and other objects in this bag, will show images to be interpreted.”
“It’s bad ass,” Savannah said with a grin. “Her pawpaw came and visited once and did it, so epic.”
Gigi sighed. “Sadly, I am not epic at it. He tells me I need to get out of my brain and feel it, but apparently I’m far too analytical for it.”
“You should try it.”
Gigi looked to me and shrugged. “I can try if you’d like?”
I bit my lip and looked back and forth between them. Savannah clearly had faith in her best friend, faith that Gigi did not have in herself. I didn’t want to put Gigi on the spot, but I was curious. “Well, why don’t you try and if you can’t see anything then at least I got to see what a bone reading looks like. Because otherwise I’m painting a grim picture in my head.”
Savannah threw her head back and laughed. Then dove for another slice of pizza. “Go on, Gi. Rock our world.”
Gigi shook her head but she was smiling. She to
ok the bag and closed her eyes, then gave it a good, long shake. Then she mumbled a little chant in a language I did not recognize and dumped the contents of her pouch on the floor in front of us.
I gasped and jumped back as pieces of bone and other random small objects flew towards me. All three of us leaned in and looked. It was just a pile to my eyes. I saw old keys, beads, lots of rocks and shells…but mostly small bones. And they looked real.
Savannah sighed. “This is so cool.”
I nodded.
“It would be if I knew what I was doing. But this doesn’t make any sense.” Gigi gestured at some of the pieces. “This is painting a picture of imprisonment, like you were trapped or locked away. And this key here? It represents a curse. My pawpaw made me put it in the bag but I literally have never seen it come to the top. It’s always buried under everything else.”
Trapped? My pulse skipped beats. One of my other readings told me I was trapped. It didn’t feel wrong then and didn’t now either. But a curse? People can’t curse other people.
“A curse?” Savannah rubbed her palms together. “Locked away? This is juicy. What else?”
Gigi shrugged. “See this little shell? That represents you. Then see how every bone in this bag fell around you in a circle? That suggests that you have a huge support system. But none of the matching bones are lined up, which says these people are not family but they are your family – if that makes any sense. But…it’s all these other pieces trying to get to you. None of it makes sense.”
Savannah picked up her phone and handed it to Gigi. “Take a picture and send it to him.”
“Oh, good idea.” She took the phone and snapped a picture. “Okay, just sent it to him. I’ll let you know if he responds. He’s not the best at technology.”
I swallowed through a sudden rush of unease.
“Sorry, Saffie. There’s got to be other things we can try.”
“OH.” Savannah’s eyes lit up. “I know what we should do!”
Gigi closed her eyes. “This can’t be good.”
“Light as a feather!”
Gigi gasped. “I take that back. Let’s do it.”
I frowned. “What…what is it?”
“It’s a little fun party trick. No big deal. Nothing dangerous or scary.”
“Here, this is it.” Savannah held her phone out to me and showed a video of three girls lifting another girl off the floor by their fingertips. “Cool, right? This is from the movie The Craft.”
I pursed my lips. “But does it work in real life?”
Gigi shook her head. “Not yet. We’ve tried.”
Savannah rolled her eyes. “Yeah, because we only tried with us. We should try it now that we have a third.”
They both looked to me. I had no idea what it was or what it was supposed to do besides just lift someone, but they were so nice and welcoming to me that I didn’t want to ruin their fun.
“Okay, but I’ll be the lifted.”
“YES!” Savannah turned to Gigi. “I’ll get the candles.”
“I’ll clear the floor.”
I just sat there with Freyja and Luna, watching the two of them scurry around. Gigi picked up all our food boxes, plates, and drinks, then moved them to the table on the far side of the room. While Savannah carried candles three at a time without putting their flames out. A few minutes later, they had candles circled around us. Their orange flames flickered softly.
“Freyja. Luna,” Savannah hissed and snapped her fingers. “Go get in my bed.”
Both cats lifted their heads and looked to her. She snapped her fingers again, and to my surprise, they got up off my lap and did as she told. Once they were a black blob on her pillow, Savannah turned to me with a wild grin.
“What do I do?”
“Lay on your back with your arms crossed over your chest and your legs straight down.”
Just like her cats, I did exactly as she’d asked. The hardwood floor was cool under my back but not totally uncomfortable. I crossed my arms over my chest and took a deep breath. “All right. Now what?”
“We do the rest. Just lay still.” Savannah winked to me then turned her attention to Gigi who was sitting on the other side of me. “Ready, G?”
Gigi nodded and then I felt their hands press against the underside of my arms and legs. They both closed their eyes and took deep breaths. I kept my body perfectly still.
“Light as a feather,” Savannah whispered.
“Stiff as a board,” Gigi whispered back.
“Light as a feather, stiff as a board,” they whispered together over and over.
After about the tenth time saying it, Savannah peeked her eyes open – then cursed. “It’s not working. Damn it. I had a really good feeling about it, too.”
Gigi groaned. “Maybe we need more than three people?”
I glanced back and forth at their deflated expressions and frowned. “Well we only tried once, maybe we need to do it again?”
Savannah shook her head sadly. “If it was gonna work it would have.”
She was probably right, but I wanted to keep trying for them. They would have for me. I sat up and adjusted my sweater. “Can I try? Let someone else be the lifted?”
Gigi sighed. “Why not, worth a shot. I’ll switch with you.”
I pushed myself up and off the ground then moved to where she’d been, careful not to get too close to the candles. Gigi immediately laid down in the exact position I’d been in, with her arms crossed over her chest. Her ombre curls fanned out around her head as she closed her eyes. I glanced over to Savannah and found her crouched on her knees so I did the same.
“All right.” I took a deep breath then exhaled. “What do we do now?”
“Okay, you take your middle and pointer fingers and you put it under her like this…” Savannah slid two fingers under Gigi’s ribs and the other two under her knees.
I nodded and copied her.
“Close your eyes and concentrate.” Savannah’s voice was soft. “Now you have to imagine that she’s super light, like she’s made out of feathers.”
I closed my eyes and focused on the warmth in my fingertips.
“Then you chant with me, light as a feather stiff as a board…”
“Light as a feather, stiff as a board. Light as a feather, stiff as a board,” I chanted softly, mixing my voice with Savannah’s. “Light as a feather, stiff as a board.”
“Light as a feather, stiff as a board.”
“Light as a feather, stiff as a board.”
The pressure on my fingers lightened. Cold air brushed over the backs of my hands. The tips of my fingers tingled. I didn’t know if I was allowed to or not but I cracked my eyes open a little bit — and gasped.
My jaw dropped.
My pulse skipped beats.
Gigi hovered a few inches off the ground.
“Light as a feather, stiff as a board - Savannah,” I hissed without moving my body even a fraction. “Light as a feather, stiff as a board.”
Her eyes had been closed as she continued to chant, but when I called for her a second time she slowly opened them and choked on a scream. No sound came out but I felt it in the air. She stared at Gigi’s floating body then turned wide eyes to me and mouthed oh my God.
Gigi sighed. “It’s not working, eh. We can stop trying.”
“Gi…” Savannah licked her lips and shook her head. “Don’t move. Open your eyes.”
“Light as a feather, stiff as a board,” Savannah and I chanted again and Gigi rose higher.
Gigi frowned and opened her eyes slowly, then blinked. “What? What’s going on?”
The flames on the candles circled around us stopped flickering and stood solid. I blinked and then they towered over our heads. The light off the flames brightened. The heat burned warmer. Cold air seeped up from the floor in a pale fog and whipped around us like a tornado, but the flames didn’t budge. The candle flame directly behind Gigi’s head turned blue. Savannah gasped. One by one the flames turned b
lue like someone was walking around our circle and touching each one. Voices whispered in my ears, chanting the words for us since we’d stopped.
I kept chanting. It was too late to stop now. We’d started something.
Gigi frowned. “Okay, whatever you’re doing you can stop now.”
“I-I-I’m n-n-not doing-g-g anyth-th-thing,” Savannah whispered but her voice broke. I’d never seen her not confident and strong and it rattled me to my core.
“Guys…” Gigi whispered in a rush, “guys, who is touching my feet?”
I looked to her feet but there was no one there.
“GUYS.”
“No one, G. There’s just us here.”
“Someone is touching me. I feel hands on my feet – and my ankles and —” she gasped and her eyes widened so far I saw the whites all the way around them. “My head. Hands-hands-in m-my ha-a-a-air.”
“There’s nobody here, G.”
I’m not so sure about that.
Bright blue light shot through the cracks in the hardwood floor then shot up to the ceiling. My fingers felt glued to Gigi, like I couldn’t pull them off even if I wanted to.
“Stop chanting then!”
“We’re not!”
But someone was. I heard those words in chorus around me, the voices harmonized into one, yet echoing through my soul.
Light as a feather, stiff as a board.
Light as a feather, stiff as a board.
Light as a feather, stiff as a board.
Gigi lifted up until she was floating level with my face. Warmth spread from my palms into my fingertips. The air around Gigi’s body turned gold and glittery, swirling around her like her own personal tornado. She rose higher and higher.
“SAVANNAH!”
“I don’t know what’s happening!” Savannah looked to me as Gigi rose up to the ceiling. “We have to get her down!”
“HOW?”
“I don’t know!”
I craned my neck back and watched her lift up until the ceiling fan was only inches away. A cold chill slid down my spine. NO! I threw my hands up. LET HER GO!
The Cursed Witch Page 16