Once we hit the shore, she shed her three layers of clothing. Her skin transformed before my very eyes, just like before. The rash was gone, her hair shone, and she looked back to normal.
“God, it feels like heaven here, right?” she asked us as she hung her hand out the window. Ephraim and I exchanged looks of confusion. Where was the quiet Lyn that was falling apart before? She had literally done a total one-eighty as soon as we got away from her house. The only thing I could think was the further we got from my house the better she felt. I knew the curse was still within her but it wasn’t taking her away from me at the moment.
“Yeah, it feels great,” I said as I pulled off Ephraim’s hoodie. It was getting warmer the closer we got to the shore. The familiar scent of salty air filled the truck’s cab and Lyn started talking. She was talking non-stop actually. Filling me in on the day I had missed at school. I just listened, happy that she was talking to me at all.
“Why did you miss today?” she asked me curiously.
“I just wasn’t feeling too good. I feel better now though,” I told her. Ephraim grabbed my hand and squeezed it. His touch said it all. He knew the real reason was because of the words she had said to me and her ending our friendship. I couldn’t say that to her, though. I didn’t want to ruin the moment. It was like she had forgotten all about it.
We found a parking space close to Hala’s shop and hopped out. Lynley didn’t know that I wanted to see Hala, and I didn’t really want to tell her for fear it would throw her back into her sinking spiral. Instead she went to the salt water taffy shop and we planned to meet at the pizza place in ten minutes. I hoped I could schedule a longer meeting with Hala. I didn’t expect that she would be able to see me right away. Ephraim followed me to her place, which was open just as I had hoped. Instead of Hala standing in front there was a younger girl who looked just like her. Her long black hair was split into two braids traipsing down her shoulders. She smiled at me and I gave her a warm smile back.
“Hi,” I started. “I’m hoping to be able to schedule some time to speak with Hala.” Her smile faded and she put her hand up before going inside the shop, the beads swaying as she entered. I waited with Ephraim for only a few minutes before Hala came out and grabbed me by the wrist, dragging me inside with Ephraim following. She sat me down in a chair and stood in front of me.
“Can’t say that I am surprised to see you, or happy either,” she shouted as she took the scarf off her head. “Why didn’t you listen to me?”
“I need your help.”
“What do you need from me? You are very unprepared and uneducated in the matters you are messing with.” She moved to her chair and took her hair down; it fell onto her shoulders and her daughter started braiding it.
“You’re right, I am unprepared. That is why I came here to find you. You are the only person who knows how I can help them.” Ephraim placed his hand on my shoulder for support. “I need to harness my gift so that I can help my friend, Lynley. She is talking to this woman who I think is from the other side, but she isn’t a good spirit. There are things happening to her that are scaring me.” Hala eyed me and then Ephraim.
“Who is Lynley?” she asked.
“My sister. I don’t think we have much time left with her. Please,” Ephraim begged. This was the first time that I had heard the fear in his voice. I had thought the curse didn’t scare him, believed he had accepted it for what it was. At that moment I realized he was scared, just like me, and was desperate for help.
Leaning forward, Hala rested her chin on her folded hands. Her daughter, who was now done with her hair, went outside. It was a weird ritualistic thing they had but I didn’t care in the least. Whatever she needed to prepare.
“I will help you on one condition,” she spoke.
“Anything!”
“You let me train you to use your abilities to help others. I will help you with your friends, but in return you will help mine.”
“Wait, you want her to be some sideshow freak doing readings here on the boardwalk?” Ephraim asked with stinging clarity.
“No, that is not what I want. I have friends who need someone like her to tell them if their loved ones are near or moved on. I read cards and palms, but I am not a dead talker. She is,” she said as she pointed to me. “If you need my help, this is my condition.” She sat back in her chair, waiting for my decision.
“I’ll help them!” I decided. Ephraim grabbed me to pull me outside, and I stumbled when he yanked me out of the chair.
“No way, Brylee! I can’t let you do that. You shouldn’t be doing this to yourself.”
“Why not? If I can help give people peace, then why not?” He didn’t answer me, but the reason was clear. “You’re scared, aren’t you?”
“What?” he said as he stood taller.
“My gift scares you doesn’t it?”
“Yeah, I guess it does a little. I just don’t want you to become that,” he mumbled as he pointed to Hala’s shop. “You are more than some dead talker. You are an incredible woman who has her future ahead of her, and I don’t want you to waste your life away like Hala.” He grabbed me by the shoulders and squeezed. “I want to know that you went to college and did something with your life.” The tears stung my eyes at this point. He was talking like he wouldn’t be here to see me accomplish what he wanted for me, like he knew he wouldn’t be around to see it all.
“I promise you right here and now that I will not let this become me. I will only do this to save you and Lyn, and that’s it.” Pulling me into his chest, he hugged me tightly. I could feel him tremble as he held me.
“What’s going on?” Lyn asked as she approached us. I looked up and saw she had her face stuffed full of salt water taffy. I laughed at the sight of her. She licked her fingers and shrugged. “Who died?”
“No one died. And no one will,” Hala said as she came out of her shop. “Now, Miss Brylee, here is my card. You come to me, I will not come to you. Understood?” I nodded.
“When?” I asked her taking the card.
“Do you have time now?” I looked to Ephraim and Lyn; Ephraim nodded, but Lyn was clueless.
“Yes, I have time,” I replied as I followed her into the shop.
Chapter 7
Being in her shop calmed my nerves. Something in there made me feel different. She had said as much the last time I was here. Ephraim and Lyn went to walk the boardwalk while I had my first lesson. Lyn had to be clued in on what was going on. I let Ephraim do most of the talking. He told her that this was what she wanted for me; to learn my craft. She seemed a little lost until it clicked. She remembered our conversation and the words she shot at me the other day. When I looked at her before they walked off she gave me a look of apology. I smiled at her, hoping she could read my face. I accepted her apology because it wasn’t her fault.
“Focus,” Hala snapped. “How do you expect to help them with your mind in a twist?” She had a funny way of talking, but I went with it. My mind was twisted and so was my life. There were plenty of teens my age right now on the boardwalk having fun and here I sat. I didn’t want to be doing anything else, though. I did look forward to being a normal teen at some point in my life. My promise to Ephraim was something I intended on keeping.
“I am all ears.”
Sitting in front of me, she grabbed the book I had brought in. She eyed it and turned through the pages. Finally she set it down in front of me, pointing to a photo of a small farmhouse. I hadn’t gotten that far into the book yet to notice it before. Now I saw a family standing in front of it.
“This is the house the writer moved into. The family standing outside died in the barn from a fire,” she explained. Chills ran through me as I stared at the house. The family’s faces looked ever so sad. “The barn caught fire and everyone went out to help, even the youngest daughter, Angela.”
Angela! She was my library ghost. “She gave me this book.” Hala nodded like she had already known this. “But what about the boy that
was killed in the house?”
“That happened after the fire. Another family had lived there before he did. Your friend that gave you this book, she wants your help.”
I sighed. “I can’t help them all.”
“You can, and you will in time. I only told you this because this book will not give you the answers you are searching for. It will educate you on certain things, but not what you need. You are dealing with a curse so old and strong that you will need the big guns,” she said as she pulled a book from her collection. It landed on the table with a smack. Again it had no front title.
“What is that?” I asked nervously.
“This is my great grandmother’s diary,” she started. “My great grandmother, Aliah, was a talented woman. She knew all about those two witches.”
“The Barclay sisters?” She nodded.
“She worked with them on occasion, taking notes and journaling constantly. You see, she dabbled in the darkness from time to time. But that’s not important,” she said as she shook her head. “What is important is that those sisters were very strong. Even if they were dead they wouldn’t move on, oh no. They would stick around waiting for a soul to latch on to.”
My breathing felt labored for a moment. If she was saying what I thought she was saying, I was terrified.
“You mean, they are trying to go into someone’s body to come back to life?” Asking it sounded ridiculous.
“Yes, exactly. It’s called possession.” I froze at the words. Possession sounded like something you would see at the movies, not something I would be dealing with. Maybe I didn’t want to be doing this.
“How do they do that?”
“Well, they haven’t yet. I would know if they were back. The way they practiced magic was recognizable by everyone like me. I would be able to see the spells they use. But just because I don’t see their magic in use doesn’t mean they aren’t trying to come back.” Grabbing my hands, she stared into my eyes. “They start with a weak human, someone who is hurting physically and mentally. Then they talk to them and confide in them. Make them rely on their help. Then they take them.”
A weak human. I knew one, she was my best friend.
My body went cold as I braced for the answer to my next question. “What were their names?”
“Agnes and Evangeline Barclay.”
“Oh my God! Hala, I think Evangeline is trying to take over Lynley.” I went on to tell her all about how strange Lyn had been acting. The rash, the moody behavior, and how she snapped at me. She said nothing to me, just sat back and listened. Finally, when I was done, I told her how she had been talking to Evangeline.
“It’s her all right. It sounds just like something she would do. Prey on a weak girl who needs someone.”
“So what do I do? How do I find her and stop her?”
Leaning back in her chair, Hala closed her eyes and said, “Brylee, she is very strong. It will take a lot of work to stop her.”
“I don’t care what it takes, she is not going to possess my friend!” I was now standing, shouting at the only woman who held the clues to my friend’s life.
“I will help you, but you need to be patient. Don’t let on that you know her intentions. And never talk about her in the house.” I didn’t understand why I couldn’t talk about Evangeline in my own home. What did that matter?
“Why not?” I asked petulantly.
“Because her spirit may reside in your house, Brylee,” Hala said matter-of-factly.
We drove home as slowly as we could. I had to try to tell them both what was going on before we got to my house. Ephraim gripped the steering wheel as tightly, his concern for Lynley and I visible.
“So, Hala said to just be careful and not talk about anything by the house. I guess the lake will be our meeting place from now on. And Lynley,” I said looking at her ghost white face. “You can’t talk to her anymore. Hala says you have to fight the promises she is making you.”
“She isn’t so much promising me things, not really,” she said as she bit her nails. “Honestly, when we talk I feel like I am with a friend. She makes me feel better. Then when she leaves it’s like I totally forget everything she said and I feel sick. I don’t really even know what she looks like to be honest.” From what Hala told me was she was putting her in a trance-like state that was making her sick when she was near her spirit. Making her weaker and weaker. The rash she was getting from being so close to her. Hala thought it was Evangeline’s way of keeping Lynley sick. If she had a rash then she would feel like she should hide. I would be damned if this dead chick was going to take over my best friend.
I grabbed her hand. “You have to try to ignore her. Pretend you don’t see her, okay?” She nodded and laid her head on my shoulder.
“So what did Hala say about the curse?” Ephraim asked as we pulled onto our street.
“She said we would talk more about that next time. I kinda hoped I could go see her before I go away.” I was leaving for my trip to California soon. It was very inconvenient, but Hala said we could get plenty done over the phone. She gave me the book that her great grandmother wrote in to read while I was there. I knew I would learn a lot about the sisters just from the book, but I was still stuck with so many questions. What were John and the other Mayhew boys doing protecting the sisters’ house? Why did Evangeline haunt my house? And why the hell did she like brushing my hair? All my questions had to wait until the next time I saw her.
“Maybe tomorrow we can go? I would love to be free from her,” Lyn said.
“No, tomorrow is Brylee’s birthday,” Ephraim replied. “Remember, Lynley?” She nodded, but I knew she had forgotten. It was okay; I forgot, too. I had been so preoccupied by everything that it didn’t matter anymore. I had been too busy with ghosts to even care. I now had not only my homework from school to study but my new journal to read. It was like every time I needed to learn something about these sisters, it was in some mysterious journal. That was the way they wanted it though, I suppose. They wanted no one to know about them and their secrets.
We pulled into their driveway and right away their mom flew out of the door. She looked pissed off. I could guess why; I knew she wasn’t happy to see me with them.
“Where have you two been?” she yelled. Lynley instantly put her head down and looked upset again.
“Mom, calm down we just went for a little drive. That’s all,” Ephraim told her. It calmed her down, but she grabbed Lyn protectively, pulling her inside. I didn’t even get to say good-bye.
“Well, I will see you tomorrow,” Ephraim said as he kissed me.
“Wait, not tonight?” I was hoping he would sleepover tonight. I needed his comfort right now. I didn’t want to be left alone with Evangeline.
“Not tonight, babe. Bye.” He turned and went into his house. I could hear his mom start yelling at him again. I went home and found my mom cooking. She and my dad were in a heated discussion that I didn’t feel like interrupting.
“Dinner in five,” my mom said as I went up the stairs. I didn’t want dinner. I didn’t want anything for my birthday. I didn’t want to go to California. I just wanted to learn everything I could about stopping this curse.
After I ate dinner with my parents I took a nice hot bath. Thankfully, alone. I put on my comfy jammies and slipped into bed. I wanted nothing more than to read Hala’s book, but I couldn’t. Instead I got out my sketch pad and started drawing. Needing music for inspiration, I pulled out my phone and turned up the music as loud as it would go. My ear buds were vibrating to the music perfectly. I let my mind go and drew whatever came out. The first picture was of Lyn; her small frame and tiny features. Her hair in a straight line looking perfect just like it used to.
My next picture started out as eyes and then a soft face. An angular chin that started to bring out someone’s features. Soon I had a picture of a woman I didn’t even know staring back at me. I dropped the pencil and my eyes burned. I had drawn someone I didn’t even know. How did I do it?
I wondered if I could do it again. This time I closed my eyes. Letting the music guide me, I drew. When I opened my eyes, there was a man in clothing not from this era. Fumbling for my phone, I shut off the music and dialed Hala. I had put her number in right away for when weird things happened to me. She told me to call her if anything strange happened. This was definitely strange.
“Brylee?” she answered, sounding worried.
“Hala, something incredible is happening. I don’t know how to explain it. I draw and sketch things sometimes … this time the pictures just came to me.” I couldn’t even talk. I was so excited. I didn’t even know why I was calling her. I just knew that this might have something to do with being a medium or a dead talker.
“Brylee, put the pencil down and burn the pages immediately.” Her voice became urgent. I was getting scared now. “Do you hear me?”
“Yes, I just don’t understand why?” I went to the other bedroom—the one I call the fireplace room—and lit the pictures on fire. I watched them burn, erasing the faces I had drawn.
“You have just drawn the ghosts that were standing with you in your bedroom, Brylee.” My flesh grew bumpy and my heart pounded.
“Wh-what?” How would she know something like that?
“I had a vision. They are always watching you. You are never alone in that house. You are the visitor in their home. You opened your mind up to them and you let them in. You mustn’t do that anymore.” I stood slowly and nodded even though she couldn’t see me.
“Are they bad?”
She laughed. “No, not really. But these spirits don’t want you there. They are doing everything they can to scare you and your family away.” Hala was good to have around in times like these. If I hadn’t called her, I wouldn’t have known that I was basically being watched. I wondered what else they saw me doing. They were nosy little ghosts!
The Crimson Key Page 6