by Sarra Cannon
It was lightning.
A Part of Me
Fear ripped through my chest. I didn't want to die. For the first time in my life, I actually had something to live for. Something worth fighting for.
I stared down at the floating red candle and concentrated all of my anger onto it. At first, nothing happened. I felt helpless. Weak.
“When you're gone, Mrs. King will have to let me onto the squad,” she said. “You heard her say that I was her second choice. Well, once everyone is finished mourning your death, I'll be her first choice. I figure it will take about a day for everyone to forget you. Or haven't you noticed that memory works a bit different here?"
Anger flared up inside me. In the center of the room, the red candle rose up higher, then with a flick of my hand, flew toward the curtains, lighting them on fire.
Agnes went into a rage. She turned her back to me and stepped out of the pentagram, desperately trying to put out the fire. Whatever spell she had cast that held my feet in place was released and I ran toward the stairs.
A stream of bright electric energy shot through the room and only missed me by inches as I jumped out of the way. Agnes moved quickly to block my exit. She'd been unable to put out the fire and flames engulfed that side of the room. Smoke filled the bedroom and I squinted to see. There had to be another way out.
Outside, the music stopped. Voices shouted from below, screams of fear.
“Not exactly the way I planned it,” Agnes said. “But one way or another, you're not leaving this house alive.”
She rose high into the air. Bright blue current ran up and down her body. Even her eyes glowed blue. I stepped back. She was too powerful for me. I didn't know the first thing about how to control my own power.
Her hand shot out and a bolt of energy flew at me. I didn't have time to jump out of the way. I lifted my hands to protect my face, bracing myself for the jolt of electricity. But it never came.
Agnes' eyes grew wide. She threw both hands out in front of her body. An arc of blue lightning shot out at me, but it dissipated before it connected. As though I were protected by an invisible force-field.
“What did you do?” she screamed.
I shook my head. I had no idea what was protecting me, but I didn't have a moment to waste. The fire was spreading rapidly. Smoke filled my lungs and I coughed, then crouched lower, searching for better air.
“We need to get out of here,” I said.
Apparently, Agnes had no intention of letting me go. She roared and sent another bright shock of light across the room. This time, I felt a small jolt run through my body. It reminded me of the way it felt when you touched someone's hand and got shocked with static. Mild, but surprising. I jerked back, fear making my limbs weak.
I fell to my knees, the smoke becoming almost unbearable now. I heard a cackling, high-pitched laughter and looked up to see Agnes gathering a ball of light between her two hands.
“Goodbye, Harper,” she said.
My heartbeat roared in my ears. A memory came back to me in that instant. A drawing of a room full of flames. Jackson's voice.
This time the picture was different. This time you were wearing your necklace. Promise me you won't take it off, okay? No matter what.
I brought my hand up to my mother's necklace, then looked back at Agnes.
Just as she leaned back to throw her final bolt of lightning, a dark figure moved through the room. A figure bigger than a man, but partially transparent, like a shadow. It had the body of a gargoyle. A demon's face. I knew that whatever it was, it had come to protect me. I couldn't explain it, but when I saw the black shadow, I knew that it was a part of me.
The darkness circled around Agnes, and she screamed. It pulled her from the room. The glass of the sliding doors crashed as she broke through. Then, she disappeared behind a blanket of red flames.
A Beautiful Demon
As soon as Agnes disappeared into the fire, I ran for the stairs. My lungs burned from inhaling so much smoke, but I pushed my body to its limit. The flames consumed most of the top floor, and the two lower floors were lost in a sea of thick smoke. In the distance, I heard sirens wailing.
“Harper! Harper, where are you?” Drake's voice rose above the noise.
“Here,” I tried to shout. Instead, my voice came out cracked and dry. I coughed and fell to my knees on the second floor landing.
I forced myself up again, grabbing the banister and pulling myself down the stairs. The overhead lights on the first floor cut through some of the smoke. I saw Drake's tall form rushing back and forth, and I reached out to him.
“Harper?”
My hands circled up around his neck just as my legs gave out again. Drake lifted me into his arms and carried me from the house. Outside, the bonfire was going strong, but no one was dancing or cheering. Everyone was backed up across the street from the cabin, their horror-stricken faces watching as Foster's house burned to the ground.
“Agnes,” I said. “Where's Agnes? We have to make sure—”
Drake put a hand over my mouth. “It's going to be okay, Harper. Don't talk. Be still.”
I struggled, my mind racing. She would come for me. Agnes wasn't going to stop until I was dead. Drake carried me across to the other side of the road and laid me down in the grass. I tried to stand, looking back toward the burning house to see if I could find her.
That's when I noticed a flash of bright red on the ground in front of the house. My mouth fell open. Agnes lay in a crumpled heap beneath the third floor balcony, her body broken and still. When the fire department arrived, the paramedics pronounced her dead at the scene. Later, authorities theorized that she must have gone into a panic when flames trapped her up on the third floor. She broke through the locked balcony door and jumped to her death to avoid burning alive.
It would be a long time before I told anyone the truth about what really happened to Agnes that night.
I was in the back of the ambulance breathing in oxygen from a face mask when Mrs. King came rushing around the corner to see if I was all right. A blanket was wrapped around my body to shield me from the night air.
“Thank goodness,” she said, placing her hand over her heart. There were tears in her eyes. “I don't know what we would have done if we'd lost you.”
Her emotion touched my heart. I tried to smile, but my entire body ached from exhaustion. She climbed into the back of the ambulance with me and asked the paramedic if she could have a moment alone with me.
“You have no idea just how special you are to us.” She stroked my hair gently and put her arm around me.
“Agnes—” I said, then began to cough again.
Mrs. King pulled the oxygen mask from my hand. Confused, I took in a shallow breath. She placed her palm flat against my chest and closed her eyes. My body began to hum and tingle, and I felt a warm energy flow through me.
“Breathe,” she said.
I took a deep, cleansing breath and felt no urge to cough. “How...?”
She smiled and brushed a strand of hair off my face. “Shhh,” she whispered. “All of your questions will be answered, I promise. But you need to be patient.”
Patience is a hard thing when there are so many unanswered questions. I opened my mouth to ask just one, but she placed her palm against my forehead.
“Rest,” she said. “I need you at a hundred percent, okay?”
I nodded, feeling suddenly very sleepy. My lungs no longer hurt, though, and that was very good.
Mrs. King pulled the blanket up to my chin and smiled.
“You're going to make a beautiful Demon.”
For Mom
Lead The Way
Something startled me from my sleep. I sat straight up in bed and rubbed my eyes. The house was quiet and dark. I listened.
A small rock rebounded off the window. I crawled out of bed and tiptoed across the cold wood floor. Who the hell was throwing rocks at my room at two in the morning on a school night?
Down below,
I saw the silhouettes of three girls. I laughed softly and shook my head. Of course. I lifted the window and whispered down to them. “What are you doing here? Are you guys insane?”
Giggles below, then a loud, “Shhhh!”
“Get your booty down here,” Lark said.
“It's two in the morning,” I protested.
“Don't argue,” Brooke called up to me. She adjusted the large black bag on her shoulder. “It's what we always do before the first practice, so get some clothes on and get your butt down here.”
I rolled my eyes and closed the window. Ten minutes later, I was outside, bundled up in a sweatsuit. “Okay, here I am. What's this all about anyway? It better be worth showing up at school tomorrow with circles under my eyes,” I said. I wasn't really upset, though. It was kind of fun to sneak out in the middle of the night for some super-secret tradition.
“About time you got down here.” Allison hooked her arm around mine and pulled me toward the overgrown garden. “Did you have any trouble getting out of the house?”
“Nope, I wasn't locked in tonight,” I said, then bit my lip. I realized it probably wasn't a good idea to advertise the fact that the bedroom doors at Shadowford had locks on the outside.
“Locked in?” Lark raised her eyebrows.
“Well, not literally,” I said. Attempting to laugh it off. “I just meant that no one was up keeping watch.”
“Oh,” Lark said. “That's good. I wouldn't want you to get in trouble. Most of the parents know about the ritual so they don't usually care, but then again, we're used to doing this in the middle of the summer before school starts.”
“And it usually involves a whole class of rookies,” Brooke said. She led us through the garden, past Ella Mae and Jackson's house, and out into the darkness beyond. I'd never even been this far back behind the house before.
“So, what are we doing, anyway?”
“You'll see,” Allison said in a sing-song voice.
“Are you nervous about tomorrow?” Brooke asked.
I shrugged. “Not really.”
“Good,” Lark said. “There's nothing to be nervous about, anyway. You'll catch on quickly.”
“I'm more nervous about my first game coming up in a couple of weeks.”
“At least your first game will be an away game. My first game was at home, and it was completely nerve-wracking. The whole town was there.” Allison stepped over a fallen branch and held my hand to guide me over. “Your first game will be a piece of cake. Andrew County is what? Over an hour away? There won't be nearly as many people there from Peachville, so there won't be much pressure on you.”
“I love away games,” Brooke said. “The bus rides are always fun.”
“You just like to scout out the cute boys from the other towns,” Lark teased.
“I don't know, she's been getting pretty friendly with Foster lately,” Allison said.
Even in the dark, I could tell Brooke was blushing. Her smile stretched from ear to ear. I bit my lip and kept my mouth closed. Why did no one else seem to think it was strange that Brooke was crushing on Tori's boyfriend only a month after her death? It nagged at me. When she was alive, she was their best friend, and now it was as if no one even remembered her.
“Homecoming is coming up in just a month. Has Drake asked you yet?” Lark asked.
“To the game?” I said.
“No, to the dance, silly.”
“What kind of dance?” In my mind, I was picturing a bowl of punch, some streamers, and a bunch of kids sitting on the bleachers looking bored.
“Kind of like prom, I guess,” Allison said, “but slightly less formal.”
My stomach tightened. Where was I going to get the money to buy a fancy dress? “When is it?”
“Four weeks,” Brooke said. “The game is on Friday night and the dance is Saturday night.”
“Do you think Foster is going to ask you?”
“I don't know, but he better ask me soon or I'll have to find someone else. I'm on the Senior Court this year and there's no way I'm going without a date.”
Lark punched Brooke in the arm teasingly. “You could probably have any guy you wanted.”
“Except for Drake,” Brooke said, flashing a smile my way.
Yes, Drake and I had been pretty exclusive the past few weeks. Ever since the whole Agnes thing he'd been glued to my side like a private bodyguard. In some ways, I loved the attention. On the other hand, sometimes I wondered if Drake really liked me or if he just felt that he should be dating a cheerleader. All he ever talked about was himself and football. So far, it wasn't the most thrilling relationship of my life.
“I take it he hasn't mentioned the dance to you yet?” Allison asked.
“Not yet,” I said.
“Don't worry. He'll ask. It's still early.”
I didn't say anything, but I kind of hoped he wouldn't ask. There was no way I could afford a dress at this point. Not without a job, and where in the world would I find the time for that? As of tomorrow, I'd have cheerleading practice every single day after school.
“Maybe next Saturday we can all go dress shopping.”
I stumbled over a tree stump. Crap.
“You in, Harper?” Allison asked.
Before I had a chance to answer, Brooke stopped and held up her hand for us to be quiet.
The night air was crisp and wind blew my hair back from my face. We had come to the edge of the property. In front of us, thick woods spread out as far as I could see, dark and mysterious. I shivered. Where, exactly, were they taking me?
“Come on, unless you're too scared,” Brooke said.
To be honest, I was a little scared. I glanced at my watch. Two-twenty in the morning. I glanced longingly back toward Shadowford. I wanted to be back in my warm bed. But wasn't this what I'd always wanted? To be a part of something special? What was wrong with me?
I drew in a sharp, cold breath.
“Lead the way.”
Something. Or Someone.
The dense forest was dark. I hesitated.
“It's just a little farther,” Lark said, tugging on my arm.
I pulled back, not wanting her to drag me into the darkness. “Did anyone bring a flashlight?”
I tried to sound casual, but instead my voice came out slightly panicked.
“We don't need a flashlight,” Brooke said. “Illuminate.”
An amber spark formed just above Brooke's hand. My mouth dropped. The spark slowly grew into a perfectly shaped orb the color of the sunrise. I wanted to reach out and touch it, to put my hand on it and see if it was real.
“How did you do that?”
Brooke turned, her face bathed in the light of the conjured sun. “There is so much you are about to learn,” she said. “Come on, let's go to the clearing.”
We walked into the darkness of the dense forest. Everyone stayed close to Brooke, who was holding the orb of light in the palm of her hand. About five minutes later we reached a small circular clearing. Not a single leaf or stray pine cone littered the ground. The wind rustled in the canopy of trees above us. No one spoke, and I knew we had come upon a place of great power.
I gasped as I noticed a stone statue at the far edge of the clearing. It looked like a sister statue to the one in front of the school. Not exactly the same, but very close.
“What is this place?” I whispered.
“The clearing has been here for over a hundred years. Not a single tree will grow in this spot,” Lark said. She looked around in awe as she spoke.
How could nothing have grown here in over a hundred years? It felt as if I had stumbled upon a forgotten battleground. “What happened here?”
“Can you feel the power?” Allison asked, coming to stand at my side. She took my hand and pulled me into the circle. “It's amazing, isn't it?”
As my feet stepped into the clearing, I felt the hum of the earth under me. It vibrated in my bones from my knees all the way up to my teeth. I suddenly felt wide awake with
anticipation. “Do you remember that night at the slumber party when you thought you saw a tattoo on my back?” Lark said.
“I remember,” I said.
Brooke set the black bag on the ground and we all sat down around it. As more of my body touched the ground, I felt even more of the power begin to flow through me.
Lark leaned forward and lifted up the back of her shirt. I gasped. A small butterfly flapped its wings across her back. Its wings were bright blue and black. I shook my head and shut my eyes tight, then reopened them. The butterfly was still moving.
“Touch it,” she said. “It's okay.”
I hesitated, then reached out to run my hand across the small of her back. Her skin was warm. I don't know what I was expecting. A tattoo, I guess. Flat and lifeless, but enchanted perhaps? Instead, the butterfly was slightly upraised, and I could feel it moving across her skin. I pulled my hand away. It felt alive.
Lark laughed and pulled her shirt back down. “Cool, huh?”
I didn't know whether it was cool or freaky.
“We all have them.”
I looked at each of them in the dim light. “All of you?”
Allison lifted up the back of her shirt and revealed a small yellow and white daisy. Its petals fell off one at a time, then reset only to fall again. I looked to Brooke. She laughed and turned around. Her tattoo was of a chestnut brown horse that galloped from one side of her back to the other.
“What do they mean?”
Brooke sat next to me. “It's a sort of initiation ritual for the team. Before your first practice. All of the cheerleaders have them.”
“But how are they moving?” I already knew it was some kind of magic, but I didn't completely understand the how or why of it. “They seem so... alive.”
The girls all exchanged glances, then Brooke spoke again. “It's a spell,” she said. “Like the orb. The tattoo acknowledges you as a new recruit. It's like a hazing ritual, only this is painless and beautiful.”