by Jo Ho
Chapter 15
Cassie walked blindly, not knowing where she was going or even what she wanted.
Shops and restaurants blurred past. She walked without direction until her shoes were starting to pinch at the toes. She took them off. Holding the shoes in her hands, she suddenly noticed a pair of guys looking at her. They had slicked back hair and reeked of cologne. Both had brown eyes and the unnaturally tanned skin that spoke of too much time under a tanning bed. The taller of the two winked at her.
“Hey pretty baby, shoes hurting you?” he asked.
“Yeah,” Cassie replied, not sure how else to answer.
He flexed his hands. “I’m pretty good at foot massage if you wanted to give me a try?”
Cassie could feel her cheeks reddening but she forced herself to keep looking at him. She wasn’t herself now after all. She was Marley… and this was exactly the kind of distraction she needed.
“Out here, in the street?” she retorted bravely, thrusting out her now Marley-sized chest so they could get a better look at it.
He looked at his friend, not able to believe his luck. “Of course not. Where would you like to go?”
She knew she was playing with fire but somehow she didn’t care. She’d had enough of the world treating her like she was nothing. To hell with it. It was time for her to grow up. “How about my place? I live in a dorm. I’m not sure if my roommate is back yet though.” Even as she said the words, Cassie suddenly panicked at the thought of Marley arriving back while she was wearing her face. How was this going to work? She didn’t have time to think of an excuse, however, as the taller guy came over, took her hand and kissed it.
“It’s no problem if she is. The more the merrier. I’m Miles, and this is my cousin Jason.”
If Miles’s kiss hadn’t charmed her, then Jason’s bow definitely did. All concerns of the real Marley flew out of her mind, especially as she knew she was out with her dad.
“After you,” Miles said to Cassie.
The walk back to school had been filled with laughter.
Cassie found herself easily charmed by Miles and Jason; it wasn’t only their hair that was slick, but their personalities too. They talked about recent movies they had liked, though Cassie didn’t know much about them as they weren’t really her deal. She walked between them as Miles casually slung an arm around her shoulders while Jason curled his around her waist. She felt special, having the attention of both of these guys, both of whom were also older than her.
Miles was talking about his job, which had something to do with IT. She didn’t really understand what he was saying, but she nodded and made the right noises so that he would think she did. Jason also had a job. He worked for a local car dealership. They both found it endearing that Cassie was still at college, as neither had pursued a higher education. Cassie let herself forget her problems, enjoying the attention they gave her.
Anything to make herself feel better.
When they arrived at BU, Miles gave a low whistle. “Impressive,” he said.
“Yeah. It’s pretty nice,” Cassie agreed as she led them towards the residential quarters. They were a few feet from the entrance when a voice greeted her.
“Hey Marley, how was dinner?”
Cassie stopped dead, recognizing the voice. Turning slowly around, she found their Resident Advisor, standing behind her, a takeout pizza box in his hands. He was just as good-looking as he had been the first time they had met when Cassie had barely been able to string two words together.
“Oh, hey Rhett,” she replied in Marley’s voice. Three words… that was an improvement already.
“I was just out grabbing some late food…” Rhett took in her dress and the two guys hanging off of her. While he didn’t frown exactly, some of his welcoming manner turned to confusion. “You look… different.”
Not understanding what he meant, Cassie tilted her head at him. “What do you mean?”
“When I saw you and your dad earlier, you weren’t dressed like that.”
Her head started throbbing as she realized Rhett had seen the real Marley. “Oh, you know us girls, any excuse to dress up,” she mumbled, hoping he’d buy her excuse.
Rhett slid his eyes over her two companions, cooly assessing the situation. “Haven’t seen you two around here.”
Miles stepped forward, smiling. “We’re new,” he lied.
“You’re both students?” Rhett asked, clearly not buying it.
“Yeah,” Jason replied. “We live over there.” He waved his hand in the general vicinity of the place. Cassie’s heart raced, knowing she was about to be busted. Terrified of what the others would think if they knew about her new habit, Cassie turned to Miles and Jason.
“Maybe we should call it a night,” she began.
Miles scowled, his earlier good nature disappearing immediately. “But we just got here…”
“I’m not feeling too well suddenly,” Cassie said lamely, knowing that no one would believe her. She felt bad at leading them on, but she also knew it wasn’t a good idea to continue. Rhett stepped in gallantly to save the day.
“In that case, you should get some rest,” he said to her before turning to the two guys. “I can take it from here fellas. I live in the same dorm. I’ll make sure she gets back safely.”
Miles and Jason shot an annoyed look at each other, but with Rhett refusing to budge, they wouldn’t get anywhere without a scene. Finally, Miles shot Cassie an irritated look. “Maybe next time, you should figure out whether you’re sick or not before you make us walk all the way here.”
He spun around, Jason at his heels as they left leaving Rhett standing beside Cassie.
“They seemed nice,” Rhett commented sarcastically. Cassie couldn’t help smiling back at him. She’d only really met him the one time before, but Rhett seemed like he was one of the good guys. It certainly didn’t hurt that he was super-hot too. Pushing the door open, he held it open for her as Cassie moved inside. They walked up the flight of stairs together as Cassie checked him out from the corner of her eyes. He really was a hunk. He was exactly the kind of guy she’d love to have as a boyfriend.
“So how have you been finding college life?” Rhett asked, interrupting Cassie’s study of him.
“It’s not exactly how I thought it would be,” she answered honestly.
Rhett touched her shoulder, his fingers hot on her skin. “It’ll get better, I promise. Just give it a chance. It’s rough for everyone in the beginning.”
Cassie smiled gratefully at him even though she knew he had no clue about her unique problem.
“Well, this is me. If you have any problems, give me a shout. I’m only down the hall,” he said, unlocking the door to his room.
Cassie wished more than anything that she could take him up on his offer. She had already messed things up so much, she didn’t know how she’d fix any of it. Giving him a small smile, she hung her head and went on her way.
Chapter 16
A row of beakers sat before her.
Channeling her inner energy, Tyler focused on the liquid in the glass jars. All she had to do was think of Ally, specifically her damaged kidneys. She pictured the organ in her head, familiar with the look and shape of it from her many attempts before at trying to understand why it wasn’t doing its job in Ally’s body. Holding the image in her head, she tried to think of Ally with healthy kidneys but the second Ally’s face flashed up in her mind, all she could see was Ally collapsing in her arms, making her feel as helpless now as she had felt earlier.
Tyler fought to stay calm. If she could create a potion that gave her instant energy, she sure as hell could make one to save her sister. Fixing her eyes on the first beaker, she focused her energy on its contents, but something didn’t feel right. The air didn’t tingle as it normally did when she used her power. Her hair didn’t become static. A small bubble appearing on the surface of the water was the only sign that something was happening.
Why couldn’t she make this wo
rk?
Sweat pooled at the base of her neck. Irritably, she brushed it away and tried again. Gathering her inner strength, she let the power loose, but the water stayed stubbornly still.
A sigh of frustration left her lips as the room swayed suddenly, a wave of exhaustion overcoming her. It had been some time since she’d eaten, even longer since she’d had some of her own potion. Maybe she needed more energy to do this? Reaching into her bag, she took out her brew, downing the rest of it in two quick gulps. As before, a rush of energy flooded her body and Tyler felt immediately rejuvenated, though something else was happening. Feeling an unusual tremor, Tyler looked down to see that both hands were shaking. Not giving it another thought, she went back to her task. Completely wired, she tried again.
Again, the result was nothing.
Growing increasingly angry, yet determined to make a cure for Ally, Tyler readied herself until she could go at it again.
She would do this all night… even if it killed her.
The rest of the dinner was uneventful.
Marley ate her food without tasting a thing. She kept up appearances, not wanting her dad to know that something was wrong even though deep in the pit of her stomach, all was not well.
Through the trauma of her mom leaving when she was so little to the diagnosis of her mental illness, the one constant in her life was her dad. She could trust him with anything; he always had her back. So the fact that he was keeping things from her did not sit well at all. What was in their family history that he didn’t want her to know?
Marley thought about the only living relative she remembered ever meeting. Her grandfather, Paul’s dad. Although the two of them didn’t speak now, there was a time when a much younger Marley had spent time with her grandfather. She remembered the leather loafers he always wore and the exotic spicy smell of the pipe he liked to smoke. Trying to picture when they had last been together, Marley realized that it must have been on her fifth birthday, as an image of her mom holding the cake set with five candles entered her mind. A year later, she would disappear out of Marley’s life entirely.
She had been obsessed with bouncy castles then, frequently requesting one for her bedroom. Her parents had explained how that wasn’t possible but had surprised her with a giant one for her birthday. She could see herself playing on the thing now, bouncing as high as she could while her parents and grandfather joined in. There were smiles all around so how could things have changed so dramatically just one short year later?
After they left the diner, Paul mentioned that a local theater was showcasing some arty European movie he wanted to see. Unable to sense Marley’s turmoil, Paul revealed that he had already bought two tickets to the next showing. Marley didn’t care to see the movie and actually wanted to go home to figure out her thoughts. She wanted to be with the girls so they could find out more about their ancestors. She also wanted to delve more into her own family mystery. Whatever her dad was keeping from her, Marley was more determined than ever to find out. Having offered her a ticket, Paul was still waiting for Marley’s response.
“Sorry, Dad, I can’t. I’ve got some things I should go back and work on,” she replied. His face fell with disappointment.
“I understand, though I do feel like a loser that I can’t even get my own daughter to see a movie with me,” he answered, eyes twinkling.
“If you didn’t keep picking these obscure films, you might have a better chance,” Marley joked back. Though they bantered, she wished that it didn’t feel so hollow.
Glancing at his watch, Paul suddenly started at the time. “I’d better go if I want to make this thing. Take care of yourself, hon. Call me if you need anything, OK? Don’t be a stranger.”
“I won’t,” Marley said, even as the words stuck to her throat. Giving him a quick hug, she started on the walk back to the dorm, trying desperately to ignore the growing ache in her heart.
Chapter 17
Eve sat on her bed fuming.
Though it had been over an hour since she’d gotten home from the restaurant, she hadn’t been able to shake the incident. Of all the terrible things Cassie could have done… Eve had been trying so hard to make things up to her when she shouldn’t have bothered. Cassie was selfish and strange and it looked like that wouldn’t be changing anytime soon.
Moving to her vanity table, Eve began to remove her makeup. As the heavy layers disappeared, revealing her real face, Eve stared at herself, at the girl that hid underneath. Her brown skin looked pale, the eyes haunted. Unable to handle the emotions that surfaced whenever she saw her real face, Eve turned away, keen to focus on something else.
The local evening news was currently on in the background when the footage suddenly cut to a shaky recording of the restaurant as floods of mice and diners ran screaming out of the place. Judging by the terrible camera work, it had been taken on someone’s phone. The news anchor mentioned that the restaurant was currently being investigated by health officials and would be closed until further notice.
Hearing this, Eve felt a pang of guilt in her chest. The restaurant didn’t have a problem with vermin… only her. Knowing that her actions had caused the place to close down until who knew when, Eve felt terrible, particularly as her own parents’ livelihoods had depended on a catering business. Just imagining how the same ‘outbreak’ would have shut them down had Eve’s stomach in knots. If there was a way to make it right, she would. The owners of the restaurant shouldn’t have to pay for her actions.
Unable to listen to any more of the news, Eve turned her television off then flipped on one of her laptops. Usually, this would be when she would play World of Warcraft to mindlessly while away the time. Tonight she didn’t want to do that. She needed to do something productive. Typing into her search bar, Eve continued her earlier research. Nothing jumped out at her, however, not until she went back to looking up the mural inside Trinity Church, which they now knew had been the First Seal.
Something came up in her findings, something that filled her with excitement, though she wasn’t sure if what she was seeing was correct. Pulling out her notebook, Eve jotted down the date the mural had been created in the church, then cross-checked it against another event.
Eve gasped, knowing it couldn’t be a coincidence.
The mural was created at the exact time when the Salem Witch Trials ended. Her head swam as she contemplated her findings.
Were their ancestors linked to the seals in some way?
Mulling those thoughts over, Eve got ready for bed where she fell asleep still mulling those thoughts over.
Chapter 18
Ally stared up at the ceiling, hoping that her head had finally stopped spinning.
It was just her luck that something like this would happen on the day she finally got to spend some time with her sister. She knew Tyler must be feeling awful about her collapse, but Heepie Jeebie wouldn’t let her call her. She said Ally needed to rest and talking to Tyler worked her up too much. She must have known that Ally wouldn’t have listened to her, however, as her phone was gone now. A yellow post-it note sat in its usual place:
You can have your phone back tomorrow after you’ve had some rest!
Ally hated that woman.
She had been resting for hours now but couldn’t sleep. Until her collapse, she’d had such a great time with Tyler. She knew she shouldn’t have lied. She should have told Heepie Jeebie how she was feeling when she woke up, but people didn’t understand how much she missed her sister. She missed her parents too, of course, but she and Tyler had always hung out together, so to only get to see her on such rare occasions now…
Ally sighed and tried not to think about things. It made her too sad. What she needed was something to do. Opening her bag, Ally pulled out her library books. Setting them on her bed, she went to toss her bag to the floor, but it was still heavy: there was something else in it. Surprised, she rummaged around until she came up with an extra book.
It was the one Tyler had put back onto th
e shelf. The one the man had recommended to her.
She stared the book, wondering how it could have gotten into her bag; she was sure she hadn’t checked it out. The book was heavy, and Ally had to use both hands to maneuver it. She studied the title on the cover, its polished letters gleaming under the light. Feeling intrigued, she moved the other books onto the floor, then settled back into bed. Switching on a flashlight, she switched off the main light, then dove under the covers with the book.
And she began to read…
Sometime later, Ally had fallen asleep with the book lying open next to her. Her flashlight had rolled to the floor, its light still on. Her small chest rose up and down as she breathed, sleeping the sleep of the dead.
Something moved inside the pages of the book.
Something small, thin, and black.
It was one of the black printed letters — a capital “I”. It pulled itself off of the page, as other letters began to do the same. The letters crawled together, converging until a shape began to take form… a spider-like creature that scuttled out of the book, across the bed and onto Ally’s head.
Completely oblivious, Ally didn’t wake. She didn’t stir. Not even when the creature crawled into her ear and into her head…
Chapter 19
Everything was black.
A sharp pain stabbed at her head as she felt the world spinning. Forcing her eyes to open, she blinked, trying to get them to focus. When the blurriness finally receded, Eve saw that she was lying on the cold ground. The scent of crushed grass met her nose and she almost sneezed. She’d been allergic to grass since she was a young girl and knew well enough to stay away from it, so why was she lying with her cheek pressed so tightly against it?