by Gemma Jace
“Please, just call me Theo. No need for such formalities amongst friends.”
One of the cursed girls hurried over and poured Theo a glass of wine and filled his plate with food. She darted her eyes at Luna and shook her head twice before walking back to the food table. What was that? She didn’t understand what the girl was doing. It was so slight and fast, Luna wondered if she saw what she thought she saw. Now even the cursed judged her for having the mark of Cain. There was no place in this world she belonged now, probably not even the safe haven of Green Brook.
The night went on gayly. Luna danced a few more times with Cleo, Rusty, and even River, who was having a wonderful time.
The music stopped and a trumpet sounded. Cleo stood on the balcony of the orchestra, looking down to the crowd. Everyone stopped what they were doing.
“And now, my friends, the time has come to take off your masks and reveal yourselves to all.” Cleo shouted. “Count down with me.... 5, 4, 3, 2, 1...”
The guest counted down to one and ripped their masks off, laughing and clapping as they peered at one another, delighted to see friends and strangers alike. The orchestra started playing, and the dancing began again. Luna was the last to take off her mask. She pulled it off her face with trembling hands. She wasn’t sure if her jitters were from too much wine or the fact that her whole white face would be stark and revealed to all who was there. She put her head down and went back to the table to have a seat. River and Rusty didn’t notice. They were merrily dancing with the two girls in pink and purple. Where was Miss Mary? The sooner she could speak with her, the sooner she could shed her cursed white skin, and in doing so, shed the horrible feelings inside.
“What’s with the long face on a girl so pretty?” Theo asked, standing in front of her. “Come dance with me. The bell of the ball shouldn’t be sitting alone pouting.” He took her hand and led her to the floor, and they danced. He flirted with her, telling her how beautiful she was and made jokes, making Luna feel much better. She could see why Miss Mary left her home to be with him.
“Where is your wife, Miss Mary?” She could no longer hold her tongue. It was getting late, and she was running out of time.
“I haven’t heard anyone call her Mary in a long time. Usually only family members call Marianne that. Are you a family friend?”
“No, I’m not. I met a man from her hometown of Pine Ridge and he called her Mary. He said she left town to marry you a while back. I’m looking for her help.”
“Marianne isn’t from Pine Ridge. The man you met must have gotten me and my brother mixed up. Mary is Cleo’s betrothed.”
Luna gazed at Theo, trying to process what he just told her. If Mary was Cleo’s fiancé, why didn’t Cleo say so?
“Is she here tonight?”
“I’m sorry, she’s not. She left our home months ago. Seems she decided my brother wasn’t her true love after all.”
“Why not?”
“Cleo can be a little, shall I say, possessive. Mary was a free spirit and felt trapped, so she left.”
“Do you know where she went? I really need to find her.”
“I’m not exactly sure, but I’ve heard she’s living somewhere in town.”
It was time for her, River, and Rusty to go. They wasted so much time at the ball just to meet Miss Mary, and she never was there in the first place. Luna stopped the dance with Theo.
“It was nice to meet you, Theo, but my friends and I have to go now. We have an early train to catch.”
“I’ll have the carriage pulled around for you.” He motioned to the young man who had escorted her in.
“Thank you.”
Luna found River and Rusty standing in a corner, laughing and talking with the same two girls. It was nice seeing them having such a nice time. She felt a little bad for having to pull them away, but she had no choice. That night was their last night in Coastal City before they sailed to the Eastern Islands, and she had to be cured before then.
“River, Rusty, we have to go.” They both stopped talking and gazed at her quizzically. The two girls protested and begged the boys to stay a while longer.
“Why?” River asked.
“Miss Mary isn’t here. We have to go find her.”
“What do you mean she’s not here?” Rusty asked.
“Apparently she hasn’t lived here for the last few months. This was a complete waste of time.”
“What?” Rusty asked with his hands on his hips.
“I’ll explain later. Theo is having the carriage pulled around for us now. Let’s go.”
River and Rusty said goodbye to the doting girls, and they left the ballroom.
They hurried through the house toward the front door, eager to leave the mansion, and be about their business of finding Miss Mary; but they were stopped by Cleo and five men standing behind him.
“Leaving so soon, princess?” Cleo said.
“Yes, I am. You forgot to mention your brother’s wife’s name is Marianne, and Mary left you long ago.”
Cleo laughed. “I see you’ve been talking to my brother. Well, he thinks he knows everything, but I assure you, he doesn’t.”
“Get out of our way. We’re leaving,” River said.
“You two are free to go, but I would very much like Luna to stay here with me.”
“She won’t be staying here with you,” Rusty said.
“That’s right. So get out of the way,” River said, stepping forward, fist balled up.
Cleo’s eyes narrowed, “But I really must insist.” He snapped his finger.
The five men rushed toward River and Rusty. River knocked the first guy out cold with one hit. A second man ran right behind the first and hit River on the chin, causing him to stumble back several steps. River swung again, but missed as the man went low and grabbed him around the knees, tackling him to the ground. Rusty struggled with two of the men, falling back, knocking over a purple vase on a table before falling to the floor. The second man on River’s side jumped on River when he saw that River was getting the best of the man in their wrestling match.
Luna ran to jump in to help her friends, but Cleo grabbed her from behind. She kicked and flailed against his strong grip, to no avail. Two of the men held Rusty down and the other two were finally able to get a handle on River and hold him down. The two girls River and Rusty were dancing with ran from behind with syringes, one each injecting the struggling boys. It only took a few seconds for the fight to leave them. Soon there was no movement at all.
River’s glazed eyes fixed on Luna, as if pleading... even begging. “I’m sorry...” he said, barely above a whisper. His eyes closed, pushing out a lonely tear. His body went limp.
Luna screamed and fought hard against her oppressor.
“I’ll kill you!” Spit flew from her mouth as she repeated her threats over and over.
“You’re a feisty one,” Cleo said, clenching her even tighter.
“Let go of me, you devil!”
Cleo laughed.
The girl who introduced herself to River as Shayla pulled a medicine bottle from her dress pocket and stuck the syringe in and filled it up with clear liquid. She strolled toward Luna with a smirk on her face.
“I’m going to kill you all! Don’t come near me, you ugly cow!” Luna spat at the girl, landing droplets on her forehead, but the girl didn’t stop. She plunged the needle deep into Luna’s shoulder and pushed. The burning sensation started in her shoulder and trickled down her arm. She screamed. “I’ll kill you... I’ll... kill... you...” Her screams turned to whispers as darkness enveloped her mind until there was nothing left.
CHAPTER 8
LUNA’S EYES FLUTTERED open. All her blurred vision could see was sheer curtains of violet hanging above her. Her mouth felt like someone had poured sand into it. Coughing, she struggled to sit up from the plush white linen. She rubbed her eyes and shook the cobwebs from her head. She scooted to the edge of the four-post bed, swinging her legs over the side and sliding down until h
er feet touched the soft purple rug. She fingered the silky garment she was wearing. No longer did she have on the beautiful golden gown, but instead, a lilac silk nightgown. Her hair toppled into her face as she peered down the length of the gown. Painted walls reflected the color purple in the mirror of a large white dresser. A brightly burning black kerosene lantern sat atop the dresser, casting dancing shadows across the cement floor. The room had three walls with paintings of horses running through fields of green. But the space that should have been the fourth wall were black steel bars. She was in a pretty prison.
She rattled the cage and shouted, “Let me out of here!” Looking through the bars to the other side, all she could see were other empty dark cells. “Hey!” she screamed.
“It’s no use,” a woman’s voice from the next cell over said. “No one is going to come.”
“Who are you?”
“I’m Mary. And you are Cleo’s newest victim. What’s your name, kid?”
“I’m Luna. What do you mean by his latest victim?”
“Cleo collects women he desires, and if they don’t desire him back, he puts them in a cage.”
“Wait... Mary? Mary Hickman?”
“Well, it would have been Mary Hickman, if I would have married the psycho. But when I found out the things he was doing to those poor cursed servants, I ran. He found me, of course. I mean, he only runs the entire town. Someone was bound to tell him where I was. So here I am.”
“What do you mean? What did he do to the cursed servants?” Luna had to know what his plans were for her.
“He wooed them into believing that he loved them. Thinking that he was going to marry them and their family would live happily ever after, they would give themselves to him. Once the girl got pregnant and gave birth to the child, he would lose interest in her and find another girl to do the same thing to.”
“That’s awful. Did he do that to the two cursed girls I saw?”
“Yes.”
“Why don’t they just leave? They could run away... unlike us.”
“He holds their children over them. He tells them that if they leave, they will never see their children again.”
“What a monster.”
“Yeah, you’re telling me. He keeps those poor babies locked up in a room in the attic, only allowing their mothers supervised visits once a day. I’m sure that was his plan for me, but I figured him out before he had the chance. I suspect that’s his plan for you too. You should have never come here.”
“The only reason I came here was to meet you.” Luna slid down the bars to sit.
“Me?” Mary asked in a high-pitched voice.
“Yes. We met a man named Early who told us about you. He says you come to him for platypus stingers, so we figured you could help me with a potion.”
“Potion? I haven’t heard that word in a long time. You know us wiccans have to keep a low profile.”
“You are a wiccan. I knew it.”
“Yes, I am... aren’t you?”
“Not exactly. I found a book in a tree.”
“Let me guess. You found the book and tried to make a potion and something went wrong.”
“Kind of.”
Mary sighed. “Wiccan books are for wiccans. You can’t just go around mixing potions without proper training.”
“Something went very wrong, and I really need your help. We have to find a way out of this prison. I need to find my friends.”
Luna frantically searched the room for something, anything she could use to break free. There was nothing. Cleo had either glued or nailed everything down. She tore the linen off the bed and pulled the sheer purple curtains down from the canopy bed, hoping anything would reveal itself for escape.
“Looking for something, princess?” Cleo’s voice said through the bars, interrupting her search.
Luna whirled around and dashed to the bars.
“Why did you put me in this cell? Let me out, now!”
“I put you in here because you were trying to leave me. How could I allow such a rare specimen to escape from me?”
“I’m not a specimen, you ignorant dog.” She reached through the bar attempting to claw him, but he was out of reach.
“I love that fire in you. But if you want to get out of this cell, you will learn to be nice to me.”
“Where are River and Rusty?”
“They’re tucked away safely, in a cell of their own.”
“Let them go. They have nothing to do with your sick obsessions.”
“That’s true, but they won’t just go away. They proved that by the way they fought for you. They will stay where they are until you convince them you will stay with me by your own free will.”
Mary snorted, “Who would ever stay with you by their own free will? You’re pathetic. An undesirable man who has to force women to be with him. What a sick joke of a man.”
“Shut your mouth, woman, before I come in there and shut it for you!” His tone was cruel, unlike Luna had heard before. This was his true nature, a cruel monster. “Now, Luna, you have a choice to make. Be mine willingly, or your friends will suffer.” He lumbered away, mumbling obscenities to himself. Mary had gotten under his skin.
“Jackass!” Mary shouted after him.
Cleo turned and took a set of keys out of his pocket, stopping in front of Mary’s cell. He opened the cell door and went in. Mary screamed as Cleo cursed and yelled. Slapping sounds reverberated through the halls.
“Leave her alone! Leave her alone!” Luna shouted, gripping the bars. “Stop!”
The ordeal went on for several minutes before Cleo exited Mary’s cell and stomped away. Luna could hear Mary’s sobs through the wall they shared.
“Miss 33Mary? Are you ok?”
“I’m all right,” she said through her tears. “I shouldn’t have provoked him, but I just don’t care anymore.”
They had to get out of there before Cleo got angry enough to try to kill Mary, or worse, herself. She searched the room again, looking for anything, but again, there was nothing. Cleo made sure there was nothing to use against him.
Once the adrenaline wore off, the grogginess from the medication set in. Luna laid back down on the disheveled bed and soon was asleep. She dreamed of herself in the beautiful gold dress with beautiful brown skin. She ran toward River through a flower field, like the ones back in Green Brook. He stretched out his arms, waiting for her to arrive. The flowers on his blue suit shimmered in the bright southern sunlight. She jumped into his arms and he spun her around, laughing, before they both fell to the ground. They held each other close. Luna looked deeply into his eyes, then kissed him. Her tongue flickered at his lips...
“Luna.” She heard River’s voice. How could that be when she was kissing him? “Luna, wake up.”
Luna opened her eyes, still reeling from her fatigue and the vivid dream.
“Luna. We’re here,” Rusty said.
Her faculties came back to her as she sat up. Rusty was attempting to pick the cell door lock, and River was staring at her. She hopped from the bed and sprinted to the bars.
“Oh, my God. You guys are ok. I was so worried.”
“That sick jerk put us in a prison down the hall,” River said.
“How did you get out? What are you doing, Rusty?”
“We got out by picking the lock, which is what I’m trying to do now.”
She took a closer look to see Rusty was working on the lock with his tweezers and the gold flower pin that had fallen from her hair in the ballroom.
The lock finally clicked. River swung the door open, and Luna flung her arms around his neck, squeezing him tightly. She remembered the dream she had just had. Her cheeks warmed and she let go to hug Rusty.
“Are you all right?” Rusty asked.
“I’m ok.”
“Let’s get out of here before someone comes.”
“We have to rescue Miss Mary.”
“What?” River said.
“Miss Mary is here?” Rusty asked
.
“Yes, she’s in the next cell over.”
They went to the cell Mary was in and Rusty began working on the locked door. The lock clicked, and the door flung open. They rushed in and woke Mary from her sleep. She looked up at them with red eyes and a split bloody bottom lip that had puffed up to twice its normal size. Her light brown hair was wild and disheveled, as if caught in a storm. Her dark brown eyes spilled tears down her bruised cheeks as she sat up and wiped her face with the sleeve of her blood-stained white nightgown. Luna went to her and hugged her before helping her up from the bed.
“Are you ok?”
“Yeah, I’m ok. Trust me, I’ve had worse from him.”
“Come on, we’re getting out of here.”
They hurried out of the cell, down the hallway and up some winding stone stairs. They dashed through the house and out of the front door, bowling over the old stuffy butler strolling by.
Outside sat the purple carriage with the driver, dressed in his ridiculous purple outfit. Rusty jumped up and grabbed the driver by the collar and pulled him down, throwing him to the ground before climbing on. The others got into the carriage. River slapped the white horses with the reins, sending them into a gallop.
Mary finally told River to stop in front of a ravine that dropped steeply into a white rushing river. They unhooked the horses and sent the carriage flying over the edge, breaking it apart into pieces before splashing into the water. They walked the horses the rest of the way through the woods to a large red brick home hidden by tall autumn trees.
“Put the horses in the stable around back and come inside... quickly,” Mary said to River and Rusty. She took Luna by the hand and pulled her into the house. “As long as we are inside, my protection spell will prevent anyone from finding us.”
Two young, cursed girls, looking no older than twelve, ran to Miss Mary, sobbing, and throwing their arms around her. “Miss Mary! Where have you been? We didn’t know what to do without you here.” One girl hiccupped.
“Dry your tears, Emma and Jimma. I’m here now.” Mary winced as the girls gave her one last squeeze. She sighed and went to the copper-colored velvet coach by the fireplace and eased herself down. She introduced the two girls to Luna and then River and Rusty as they came into the house. The twin girls were gracious and friendly, instantly giving them apple juice and tea cakes.