Paranormal After Dark

by Rebecca Hamilton

  “That’s not the attitude to have, Meg. It makes us no better than them.”

  Meagan shrugged. “Until they give us respect, why should we bother respecting them?”

  Ever understood what she meant, though she didn’t agree.

  The BlackMags were another Wiccan coven at Coalhaven High, but they were radically different from Ever’s own peaceful group. The BlackMags believed in dark magick like blood ritual and affecting the will of others for their own gain. Ever’s coven, on the other hand, believed those things taboo and practiced only white magick. Harm none.

  The BlackMags were so self-assured and set in their ways, they even called themselves the BlackMags.

  Even though she didn’t agree with their philosophies, Ever also didn’t agree with ostracizing them or belittling them. She accepted others’ truths as valid, even if such “truths” shook her to the core.

  As Meagan turned to leave, Ever stepped away from her locker. “Oh, Meg, are we still on for rit — ”

  No sooner had she left the safety of her locker, than someone slammed into her and sent her spinning back into the wall.

  Ever hit hard, her forehead bouncing off the ridged metal. She heard Meagan screaming, a streak of curse words that filled the corridor and hushed the usual morning chatter.

  Sliding to the floor, Ever put a hand to her forehead, shocked that there wasn’t more pain. The impact had been incredible, made by someone much bigger than she was. Surely she should have felt something.

  When she pulled her hand away, there was blood on her fingertips.

  Her head swam at the sight of the bright red liquid. A scuffle in front of her made her glance up. In her woozy vision, Meagan had an arm wrapped around one of the BlackMags — Donovan Carrell. He was an idiot and a bully. It wasn’t the first time he’d hurt one of her coven, but it was the first time he’d drawn blood.

  “Meg, stop,” Ever muttered, reaching her bloodied hand towards her best friend. Her vision blackened at the edges, but before she slipped away, she saw Cade Bourdain stalking towards Meagan and Donovan with murder in his eyes.

  * * *

  “IS SHE GOING to be okay?” Meagan’s hysterical voice pulled Ever from unconsciousness.

  She was bouncing on something. Something soft. But the jerking still hurt her head. Ever struggled to open her eyes and was hit by sunshine. She groaned, one hand moving with a kind of heavy resistance to cover her eyes.

  “Ohmigoddess, she’s awake. Ever? Ever, can you hear me?”

  Ever let her hand fall and tried to focus on her surroundings. She was lying on her back and whatever she was on was moving. The sky — incredibly clear and blue, not a trace of last night’s storm — passed overhead. Ever shielded her face with one hand and groaned.

  Meagan’s face floated into view, her brow crinkled with worry. “Ev?”

  “What happened?” Ever felt like her words came from far away.

  “You fainted.” Meagan was walking quickly beside what Ever could now surmise was a stretcher. “They think you might have a concussion.”

  “I can’t have a concussion. I have a chemistry test today. I suck at chemistry.”

  “Too bad, sweetie. They’re taking you to the hospital.”

  “No, no, no. I can’t. No hospitals.” Ever struggled to sit up, but a hand flitted from her left and gently forced her to the pillow.

  “Stay down,” an authoritative voice commanded. A kind, tired woman’s face hovered into view. “You may have a concussion. We have to take you to the hospital.”

  “I hate hospitals,” Ever whimpered. “Meg? Tell her.”

  Her best friend’s hand wrapped around her own. “It’s okay, Ev. I’ll be with you all the way.”

  “I’m sorry, but you can’t come in the ambulance,” the EMT responded matter-of-factly. “You can follow behind in your own vehicle.”

  “She isn’t going alone,” Meagan barked, her hand tightening around Ever’s. “Can’t you see she’s terrified?”

  “Did you call Nah?” Ever asked, her panicked heart fluttering as she closed her eyes against the sun.

  “Yeah, she’s gonna meet us there.”

  “How’s my head look?”

  Meagan laughed. “Um. Bloody. I think I can see your skull. That’s definitely going to scar.”

  Ever opened her eyes, horrified that that the damage was that bad.

  The two EMTs glared at Meagan, and laughter bubbled in Ever’s chest. Her best friend was just being honest — and blunt — as usual.

  “What happened to Donovan?” Ever asked.

  There was a long pause as they passed into the shadow of the ambulance. She hadn’t realized how warm it was outside until the relative cool of the shade enveloped them. Meagan disappeared from view as the two techs gently loaded Ever into the truck.

  Meagan slid onto the bench next to the stretcher.

  “Donovan?” Ever repeated.

  The female EMT slammed the door and settled on the other side of Ever, her hands busy with an IV bag.

  Meagan took a deep breath and bit her lip. “So, Cade Bourdain pulled him away from me.”

  “Oh. What did Cade say?”

  The ambulance began to move. Meagan shook her head. “He didn’t say anything, but he seemed pissed. He dragged Donovan away by his hair.”

  Chapter 4

  CADE

  “I MIGHT HAVE figured it out,” Cade said, his voice low and urgent as he met his best friend, Mitch Allen, in the school parking lot on Wednesday morning.

  It was shaping up to be warm and humid; only a little unseasonable for late October. Cade dripped with sweat in the breezeless morning and mourned the autumns of his childhood when frost in the morning was the usual.

  “Figured what out?” Mitch was huge: built like a linebacker with a paunch from too many beers on Saturday nights. He kept his head so close-shaven he could pass for bald. He shut the door to his ‘92 Camaro and started walking towards the school.

  Cade lengthened his stride to keep up. “How to bottle storm energy.”

  Nobody outside of his parents’ limited circle knew that Cade and his parents were blood witches with natural magick. Their world was purposely small and narrow with a strict policy of secrecy, but Mitch had managed to figure out Cade’s secret when they were kids. Since then, they hadn’t keep much from each other.

  “Dude, you’ve been obsessing about storm energy since that F5 two years ago.” Mitch clapped Cade on the shoulder and steered him towards the boxy, redbrick building that functioned as their school and personal hell. “Get over it. It’s not possible.”

  “No. Really.” Cade stepped in front of Mitch and put up both hands so he would stop. “I was making out with Allie — ”

  “Seriously, dude, you need to back off that.” Mitch shuddered and barreled past Cade. “She’s bad news.”

  “She’s harmless. That’s not the point. Something happened.”

  Mitch burst out laughing. “Something always happens to you. You’re a magickal disaster.”

  “I take offense,” Cade said dryly. It wasn’t true, anyway. Cade may not have been as powerful as his father, but he was still one of the strongest witches in the area.

  “Alright. What happened?”

  “We were making out,” Cade told him again, slowly as if he were speaking to an idiot. “And I spooled the storm’s energy, but instead of releasing back to the storm, it flowed into Allie.”

  That stopped Mitch. He whipped around to eye Cade. “No kidding? Did it hurt her?”

  Cade cleared his throat. “I think it might have killed her.”

  Mitch’s eyebrow met his hairline.

  “But I brought her back,” Cade rushed on before Mitch could ask where he’d hidden the body. “I think if I found someone strong enough, I could utilize them as a vessel.”

  “That’s stupid.” Mitch turned back towards the school and mounted the stairs to the side entrance.

  “It’s not.”

  “Ho
w long you gonna use some chick as a warehouse, dude? How long you think before she gets magick poisoning?” He paused with his hand on the U-shaped handle of the door. The double doors were made of gray metal and had iron bars over the porthole windows. It didn’t instill a lot of confidence in the neighborhood.

  “Gotta find a strong girl.” Cade lowered his voice. “Someone like me. With real power.”

  “Good luck with that. You’re the only one I know with real power. Catch you in gym.” With that, Mitch yanked open the door and went inside.

  Cade massaged his temples as the door clanged shut. He’d had a headache since the incident with Allie the night before. The thought of eight hours of school made him want to throw fireballs at the hydrangea bushes out front and dance around them like a tribal shaman. An impromptu ritual would be wholly more welcomed than an hour listening to Fister drone on about The Great Gatsby in first period English.

  The fluorescent-lit halls were packed as his fellow classmates prepared for first period and acted like the monkeys they were. Cade dodged the usual idiocy of the morning and made it to his locker in one piece, despite the tic in his left eye. He spun the combination and popped the lock, gritting his teeth against the pain between his ears.

  He could feel her behind him, but he tried to ignore it. There was no reason for Ever O’Connell to cause such an intense reaction in him; they’d barely even spoken in the three-and-a-half years they’d gone to high school together. It didn’t matter that she was one of the Fluffy Bunny Wiccans with their hippie ways and narrow-minded goal to be perfect — everything about the girl made Cade weak in the knees.

  Without looking at her, he could conjure an image of her. Small and petite, like a pixie without wings, she had curves in all the right places. Even the shapeless dresses she always wore couldn’t conceal that ass or that beautifully rounded chest. She had long, flaxen hair, usually braided, and knowing, bi-colored eyes. Everyone in school knew those eyes: one blue and one purple. Cade hadn’t known such a thing was possible.

  She’s like a mini sun. With an intense gravitational pull. He closed his eyes, his magick reaching for her in the hallway. Not even passing students were able to break the thin thread of awareness he felt for her.

  “Hey, sexy.” Allie appeared at his side, startling him from his ridiculous obsession.

  Cade’s eyes drifted down to the milky cleavage spilling over Allie’s too-sexy-for-school black corset. Her purple plaid skirt was equally revealing. One of these days, she’s gonna get in trouble.

  “Hey.” He turned, settling his messenger bag over his shoulders. “How are you?”

  “Headache. I think probably from rolling in the grass with you.” Allie ran a single fingertip up the front of his T-shirt. “I’m allergic.”

  From the corner of his eye, Cade noticed Donovan Jones barreling down the hall, an intense look on his face. He was one of Cade’s newest coven members: an angry little guy with a bad attitude. He looked like a rat with spaghetti arms.

  And he was glaring at Ever.

  That look worried Cade. “Uh, yeah, I think I knew that,” he said absently, turning away from Allie as Donovan rushed past.

  “I’m sorry I passed out like I did,” Allie went on, as if she hadn’t noticed his attention was elsewhere. “I guess I was more tired than I thought.”

  Cade blocked her out. He was powerless to stop Donovan. It was like slow motion — the angle of Donovan’s body as he headed straight for Ever, the way her head snapped when Donovan shoved her with all his might and sent her careening into the lockers.

  Cade saw red.

  There was a flurry of activity. The entire hall came to a standstill, and Allie burst out laughing. Meagan Stauble leapt onto Donovan, screaming like a banshee, as Ever slid to the floor with a dazed look on her face and blood already pooling on her forehead. Meagan wasn’t someone to mess with, evidenced by the way her fist met Donovan’s face and her knee made bone-crunching contact with his crotch.

  Cade slammed his locker door and stalked across the hallway, his hands clenched at his sides. He wanted equally to scoop Ever up, brush her off, and tell her he loved her…

  …and to rip Donovan’s arms from their sockets.

  But Cade’s coven was watching. Knowing who she was, and who he was, he settled for thrashing Donovan, albeit less violently than he’d imagined.

  Through his haze of red, Cade gripped a handful of Donovan’s dark, greasy hair, jerked him from the Amazon chick’s headlock, and slammed him face-first against the lockers. Shoving an arm into the back of his neck, Cade snarled, “What is your problem?”

  “What the hell, man?” Donovan yelled, struggling against Cade’s bigger grip, his voice thin and reedy. “She’s a Fluff!”

  “You just split her head open, you idiot.” Cade gripped both of the guy’s arms and dragged him down the hall.

  “So?”

  Cade fought the urge to drop him to the floor and crack his head on the tile. He opened the glass door to the front office and shoved Donovan inside. “Make your excuses to the principal.”

  * * *

  MITCH WAS SITTING on the heavy wooden bench in the boys’ locker room, tying his sneakers, when Cade came in for fifth period gym. The locker room always smelled like Cheetos and dirty feet, and the concrete block walls — painted yellow — were patched with a dense, gray mold. The whole room made him gag.

  “Meeting tonight. Eight.” Cade opened a locker and shoved his backpack inside. He jerked back, making a face. When had he decided leaving his dirty socks inside a small, damp space was a good idea?

  “Why?” Mitch dropped his foot to the floor and leaned back with one hand on the bench. “Aren’t we meeting Friday?”

  Cade jerked his gym shorts from his bag and unzipped his jeans. “Because Donovan Jones is an ass, that’s why.”

  Mitch chuckled. “Yeah. I heard he knocked out that Fluffy chick. What’s her name? Evan?”

  Cade gritted his teeth. “Ever.”

  “She’s just a Fluff, dude. Why are you freaked?”

  “Fluff or not, we’re down to six. We had a full thirteen this time last year.” Cade sank to the bench and put his head in his hands. The headache still wasn’t gone. “We’re less than half a coven, dude. We can’t lose more.”

  “We won’t lose Donovan. He’s like a leech.”

  “He’s been expelled,” Cade barked. He rubbed a hand over his brow, trying to ease the tension in his head.

  “Doesn’t mean he can’t stay in the coven.”

  “Oh, come on, Mitch. Don’t be an idiot. The coven’s gonna get blamed, and his parents are gonna crack down just like the last two.”

  Mitch threw his hands in the air. “Alright, dude. I get it. But I’m positive that’s not all that’s bothering you.”

  Cade clenched his teeth. “That’s it. What else would there be?”

  Getting to his feet, Mitch stared for a moment, amused, before he answered, “A cute little Fluff named Ever.”

  Chapter 5

  EVER

  DESPITE MEAGAN’S CONSTANT soothing, Ever had reached her limit and was headed for a breaking point, when Nah flitted through the door.

  Nah was larger than life. Her presence could illuminate a room; she could dispel any negativity or gloom simply with a smile. Her gauzy dress flowing around her like a cape, she tapped across the floor in her flats and swooped to gather her granddaughter in a hug. She smelled of ginger and orange spice. Ever breathed deep, clutching her grandmother’s bony shoulders and burying her face in Nah’s soft neck.

  “Oh, my love,” Nah whispered, rocking her gently. “My sweet, sweet Ever. Does it hurt badly?” Nah pulled away, her chestnut gaze drifting to the gauze on Ever’s forehead.

  “I’m okay,” Ever responded dully. She loved her Nah desperately, but she didn’t want to get into a conversation about what had happened or how it made her feel. It was a curse with her mother and grandmother — they wanted to psychoanalyze everybody.

/>   “No, she’s not,” Meagan broke in, the wobble in her voice betraying her fury. “She’s heartbroken that someone wanted to hurt her, and she’s freaking out because she’s here. She needs out of this hospital. STAT.”

  Nah reached across Ever to pat Meagan on the cheek. “That’s why I’m here sweetheart. Would you like to come home with us?”

  “I need to get back to school. I have an algebra exam in sixth period.” Meagan made a face.

  “Don’t hurt anybody,” Ever warned.

  “Who, moi?” Meagan set her face into her most innocent look.

  Ever rolled her eyes. “I don’t believe you.”

  “Quit harassing the girl,” Nah broke in, pinching Ever’s cheek. “Let her be your guardian angel. Meagan, we’ll drop you back at school on the way home, dear. I’ll sign for your absence.”

  “Thanks, Nah.” Meagan grinned toothily as Nah left the room to break Ever out of the hospital.

  * * *

  “IT’S LUNCHTIME, SWEETHEART.” Nah pulled the covers up to Ever’s chest. “What would you like?”

  It was peaceful in Ever’s room. She sank into her pile of satiny pillows, the scent of lavender and chamomile wafting from the sleep sachets beneath. Soft afternoon light filtered through her gauzy green curtains, making the room look like the inside of an aquarium: dreamy, almost surreal. Her eyes were heavy, but her head throbbed.

  “Nothing. Just sleep,” she told her grandmother.

  Nah settled on the edge of the bed, running her soft fingers through Ever’s hair. “What if I cook you up something and put it in the refrigerator for later?”

  “That would be perfect.”

  They sat in silence for a few moments, Nah’s nimble fingers still working at Ever’s scalp. Beneath her motherly ministrations, Ever couldn’t help but feel abandoned by her actual mom, and, now, loathed by her peers as well.

  “Does life get easier?” Ever murmured, rolling over to tuck her hands beneath her cheek.