Hallow House - Part Two

by Jane Toombs

  She pressed the panel and the dark opening was before her. But she had no light, so she wouldn't be able to see anything. Thinking about it, she remembered smelling burnt wax the night Johanna had been rescued--there must have been a lit candle in the room even though there was only darkness when they'd actually pulled Johanna from inside.

  Did she have the courage to crawl in there and try to find that candle in the dark? Something seemed to drive her on. She crawled through the passage, remaining on her hands and knees to feel along the floor. Though her heart pounded alarmingly, she kept searching until her fingers closed around a candle, then a book of matches.

  Sitting on her haunches, she lit the wick of the candle--a red one, the flame showed her. Standing up, she looked around. Red walls, and there was the inside of the door, as black as the outside. Mirrors hung to either side of it.

  She saw what looked like an altar, which took her aback. But she climbed up onto it and pulled aside the red drapery hanging on the wall. She gasped. What was a religious picture doing in Tabitha's room of magic? It'd been covered though. The Virgin Mary's eyes seemed to ask her what she was doing here, so she dropped the red drape over the picture again.

  Turning, she saw a uneven chalked circle on the floor below the altar and stepped down to look at it. Inside was a partly charred dried sprig of something. She lifted it to her nose, inhaling the faint scent of rosemary.

  Rosemary. The spell in the book. And she had Ronal's comb in her pocket. Even as she tipped the candle and let melted wax drip inside the circle so she could set the candle into it, thus freeing her hands, Naomi denied to herself what she intended to do.

  Feeling as though she was in a dream, she took out the comb, found three hairs caught in it and twined them carefully around the tiny sprig of rosemary. Then she stepped into the circle, crouching inside it as she dropped the hair entwined herb onto the candle flame, causing it to flicker and flare.

  There were words she was supposed to chant, but she hadn't memorized any of them. Instead, she found herself intoning:

  "By the gate the two wolves lie

  Of children two, the one must die.

  God hears not the prayers you send

  Death and destruction mark the end."

  She felt a touch of surprise she'd remembered all the words even though it had seemed they were etched in her mind. Why had she said them? They had nothing to do with the binding spell.

  Fear filtered through her, seeming to tangle her thoughts, jumbling them together. The pendant pressing against her chest made it difficult to breathe. Her eyes focused on the black door. Barricaded, no one could get through. But she was inside with the candle and the ancient spell.

  Alarm glowed in her mind. Katrina had foreseen her in this room. What had she foreseen happening? She wished Katrina were with her now.

  Katrina. Sister. Closer than sister, twin. So close they even loved the same man. Katrina was part of her, a bond that could never be severed.

  Naomi tried to rise, but her legs refused to obey her. What had she done in this room? Katrina, she cried silently. Help me.

  In her mind she thought she heard her sister's voice telling her I'm with you.

  The candle began sputtering, almost burned away. How long had she been here? Her legs ached with cramp. She watched in growing terror while the flame flickered and died, leaving her in darkness.

  She screamed and the strange paralysis was broken. Staggering to her feet, she groped toward where she believed the secret passage to be. But there was no light to guide her--shouldn't some light filter through from the tower room?

  Where was the opening? Frantically, she scrabbled along the walls, her fingers brushing over a mirrored surface. She was by the black door--nowhere near where she needed to be. Panic clawed at her. She turned and inched along the other way only to fall over the raised step to the altar. She whimpered in fright. Baby Jesus was covered by the red cloth, God could not hear if she prayed.

  Finding a wall at last, she banged her fists against it, screaming and crying until she slumped to her knees, temporarily exhausted…

  Naomi found herself standing in front of Hallow House. Night shrouded the hills but the house shone white under a three-quarter moon. As she stared the twin towers seemed to nod to each other, then the entire house settled in on itself and she knew the end had come, destruction and death, the house crumbling to lie with the headless bones…

  Then she was back in the dark room, realizing she'd had a vision. Like those Katrina had? True ones?

  "No!" she cried.

  She must get out of here. There was a way and she vowed she'd find it. On her hands and knees, she crawled along the wall, running her fingers over it, probing for a crack. When she finally found a small slit, she couldn't believe it at first. She worked her fingers into the space and pushed until suddenly the wall gave and she tumbled through the opening.

  Crawling through the passage, she found herself in the dark north tower. As she rose to her feet, she thought she felt the floor lurch under her.

  Oh, my God, she thought. What I saw is true--the tower is falling.

  Chapter 42

  Naomi felt her way to the door and rushed down the stairs to the second story. The lights were on in the hall and, to her surprise, everything looked normal. Had she imagined the floor quivering beneath her.

  In their bedroom, Katrina lay asleep. Naomi sat on her own bed staring at the illuminated dial of the clock on her dresser. Eleven? Had she been in that room three hours? Impossible. Exhausted, she gave up trying to understand and began to undress.

  Finding the chain with the pendant around her neck she yanked it off. She never wanted to see it again, she'd had more than enough of Tabitha's magic. Thoughts clouded by fatigue, she fell into bed and let sleep overwhelm her...

  Naomi stood in the darkness of Skull Cave, the only light from phosphorescent skulls above her, She didn't want to be there, but she didn't know the way out.

  "Death is the way out," one of the skulls told her, its pale blond hair letting her know it was Tabitha's.

  "No one escapes," another said, and she knew it was her Grandmother Celia who died before she was born.

  "Your mother is next, Delores said, staring at her from the skull's empty eye sockets, the raven wings of her hair caressing the bones.

  Though Naomi was alone in the cave, she knew Katrina was there, too, in her head. "Don't let them frighten you," he sister said.

  "I can't escape!"

  "You can, for there are two of us, not one."

  Then Vera stood before Naomi, smiling sadly, the head of the pink marble owl in her hand. "I am not afraid" she said, "but you must leave."

  Somehow transported from the cave, Naomi stood on the lawn in front of Hallow House. "Watch," the St. Francis statue whispered from the pine grove. The time has come."

  Once again Naomi saw the towers nod to one another…

  She roused to a swaying world, her bed jammed against Katrina's.

  "Katrina!" she screamed, sitting up and reaching for a lamp that wasn't there.

  "Naomi? What's the matter? What's happening?"

  "The house--destruction--" Naomi babbled, staggering as she slid from the bed and tried to stand on the shifting floor.

  "An earthquake!" Katrina cried. "We have to get to Mama and Frances."

  With Katrina's hand clasped in hers, Naomi fumbled her way to the door, which turned out to be agape. The lights were out in the hall. The timbers of the house groaned as they stumbled toward their mother's room.

  Grace called their names from downstairs.

  "We're all right," Naomi called back.

  "Get down the stairs, get outside, quick as you can," Grace shouted.

  The wavy motion had stopped but the hall seemed to be askew, tipped sideways, making it hard to walk along.

  "We have to find Mama," Katrina repeated, pulling ahead of Naomi.

  Moments later she cried, "I can't open her door.

 
"Mama?" Naomi called. "Are you in there?"

  "I'm all right, but my door's jammed shut," Vera called back.

  "I'll get Mervin--" A rumbling like a freight train headed right for them cut off the rest of her words. She was thrown off her feet, Katrina landing on top of her.

  "Get outside!" Vera shouted. "Now!

  "No," Katrina cried, "not without you."

  "Naomi!" Vera voice carried over the grinding sound accompanying the tremors. "Take Katrina with you and go outside. You can't help me. Go!"

  Naomi struggled to her feet, grabbed Katrina's hand and pulled her up, then dragged her sobbing sister down the stairs. As they passed through the foyer, she heard a tremendous crash behind them and realized the chandelier had fallen.

  She shepherded Katrina out the front door and down the steps. Hands grasped her, took Katrina away. Someone else hurried her away from the house over the heaving ground to the stables where she heard the frightened whinnies of the horses.

  Dazed and frightened, Naomi leaned against Grace, who held her as they watched the house totter and crumple, the towers falling first, then the roof giving way, the house collapsing on itself.

  As quickly as it had begun, the temblor ceased. Dust rose in the air, clearly visible in the three-quarter moon that shone serenely down on the chaos of Hallow House.

  "Mama," Katrina whimpered.

  "Where--is Frances here?" Naomi asked Grace.

  "Mervin found her on the steps and carried her to the car. She's unconscious, but she's breathing. Thank the Lord you girls made it to safety."

  "My mother--her door--we couldn't...." Words failed Naomi.

  "Maybe she's...." Grace's voice trailed away as they stared at the ruins of Hallow House.

  "I got to go into town for help," Mervin said. "Got to get Miss Frances to a doctor."

  After he'd gone, Naomi walked away from Grace into the pine grove, trailed by Katrina. As well as destroying the house, the quake seemed to have destroyed her thoughts and her will.

  "Mama's dead." Katrina's voice. though calm, was flat, emotionless.

  Naomi heard her, but the words meant nothing. Most of the trees were still standing, only a few uprooted. She wound among them until she came to the grotto. The quake had forced the stones apart and the statue of St. Francis was smashed to rubble. She stood there staring at it until Grace spoke from behind her.

  "Best you two come with me out of these trees. We got to stay together in some place open in case there's more to come."

  "Death and destruction," Naomi muttered as Grace led them from the grove.

  "Dear Lord, that's the truth," Grace said.

  "Mama," Katrina whimpered. She swayed and would have fallen if Grace hadn't caught her.

  It's my fault, Naomi thought numbly. I saw the house destroyed twice before the earthquake began. Once in the room with the black door and again in my dream. I should have known, should have warned everyone, told my mother.... Back on the lawn near the stables, she sat on the grass with her sister's head in her lap. Grace had gone to collect the two maids, who'd gotten out first and had taken refuge in the still-standing garage.

  "You were in Tabitha's room," Katrina said.

  Naomi nodded.

  "I thought I was there, too, trying to stop you. I saw you , with the pendant around your neck, light the red candle and burn something. Then you said the words about the wolves at the gate. After that the evil came and you called for help and I tried to tell you I was there. Only I wasn't really, I was in bed."

  "I heard you. In my head. Oh, Katrina, I saw all this happen while I was in that room. I stood on the lawn and saw the destruction of Hallow House."

  "You foresaw."

  Naomi nodded. "Only I didn't know that's what it was."

  "Even if you had, you couldn't have changed anything. What you foresee has to happen."

  Naomi shivered.

  Katrina sat up and put an arm around her. They huddled together, watching Grace approach with the two maids.

  "We're going to look around a bit," Grace said. "In case--"

  "Our mother's dead," Katrina said. "She can't be helped."

  "We got to be sure," Grace told her.

  As the twins watched the three women move slowly toward the ruins, Naomi said, "The Gregory Curse. It's been fulfilled, this is the end of Hallow House. Death and destruction."

  "Is that why you went into the room behind the black door? To try to stop what happened?"

  Naomi covered her face with her hands. The reason she'd lit the red candle seemed so trivial now. Against the death of her mother, even Ronal wasn't important. But what frightened her was that she'd intoned those fatal words inside that terrible room. Was she responsible for what happened? For killing her mother?

  Mama was gone along with Hallow House and everything in it. Even Tabitha's room no longer existed. There was nothing left.

  Hearing Grace's voice, Naomi dropped her hands.

  "No trace of Miss Vera," she said, "but I found something you might want to keep." Moonlight gleamed on the silver pendant as Grace held it out to her.

  Chapter 43

  The twins went to stay with Samara and Kevin in Porterville. Their house had suffered very little damage. Attending Vera's funeral was almost beyond Naomi's tolerance. Ronal drove back as soon as he heard and managed to arrive in time. Katrina clung to him and cried and he held her, stroking her hair and looking over her shoulder at Naomi.

  She turned away. As far as she was concerned, it was over. Now Ronal was only a man, no one who meant anything to her.

  After the funeral Naomi could neither cry nor sleep. She allowed Samara to lead her, along with Katrina, here and there, buying clothes and other needed articles for St. Bianca. There was no place else to go.

  When at last she and Katrina were behind the gates at St. Bianca, it was a relief to be in a place full of strangers.

  "I'm never going back to the valley," she told Katrina.

  "Kevin said another house could be built on the grounds. The groves and orchards are still there."

  "I know. But I'd never live in the house. Would you?"

  "I hadn't thought about it." Katrina glanced uncertainly at Naomi. "Um, you see, when Ronal and I get married we'll probably live in San Francisco since he's going into the business."

  "When do you plan to be married?" Naomi found she could ask the question without the slightest resentment.

  "He thinks I should finish my year here before the wedding. Then, if I wanted to, I could attend one of the universities in or near San Francisco. Do you mind very much? About us getting married, I mean."

  Naomi shook her head. It was the truth. She didn't care that Ronal had chosen Katrina. What bothered her was that she'd lose her sister. She'd be on her own.

  "I'll miss you, though," she said.

  "Are you going on to Stanford next year?" Katrina asked.

  "I don't know. Right now nothing seems very important."

  * * *

  In October, Frances came to see them. Katrina had a class, so Naomi sat in their room alone with Frances.

  "Sister Elmira tells me you spend too much time in here," Frances said. "Why? The weather's lovely, fall is the nicest time of the year on the peninsula."

  "I don't have much energy," Naomi told her.

  "What kind of an answer is that?" Frances said bluntly. "How dare you sit here feeling sorry for yourself? Your mother would be horrified. Vera had no patience with self- pity."

  "She's dead."

  "She isn't--not to me. Do you know what I've done, just because I once heard Vera say that's what she'd do if she had fewer responsibilities?"

  "I thought you were taking care of your sister," Naomi said.

  "I've settled her in with her daughter and I've signed up for the UN Hospital Ship."

  Naomi stared. Why, Frances must be over sixty.

  Frances gave her a wry smile. "You may think I'm a useless old woman, but they don't. They're delighted to get a nurse--ol
d or not. So what's your excuse for moping about with a long face? What do you plan to do with your life? What good will you do for the world?"

  A memory flashed in front of Naomi, of kneeling beside her father on the floor of the library and not even knowing enough to break the ampoule of amyl nitrate. What good was she to anyone?