Watch Me Burn: The December People, Book Two

by Sharon Bayliss

  “I know,” Julie said. “Not me. But I’m with him. He has a piece of me.”

  “Please, Julie, you have to focus. It’s important. If someone else it out there, then she’s found another one. An equinox wizard. That’s really bad…I’m scared I know who it is.”

  “Who?”

  Evangeline didn’t want to say it out loud. That would make it more true. “I don’t know…What did you mean, when you said he had a piece of you?”

  Julie didn’t respond.

  Evangeline grabbed her and shook her. “You said it. What did you mean?”

  “I don’t know. I’m sorry. It just feels like that.”

  “Maybe he does.” Evangeline touched the spot in her pocket where her rock should have been. Caroline had taken it from her. “Your talisman. The bracelet.”

  “How did you know about my talisman?” Julie sounded more lucid now. She sat up. In the dim light, Evangeline thought she saw her rub her wrist where the bracelet should be.

  “My sister found it. We have it.”

  Julie sniffed. “I thought I had lost it forever. You have it?”

  “Maybe…maybe, now it’s here. Maybe my brother brought it with him.”

  “You think it’s your brother, the one screaming?” She paused. “I’m sorry.”

  “I know we’ve already tried different spells together and it hasn’t worked, but if we had Patrick too…”

  “But we don’t.”

  “He’s not that far. We can still give him our magic.”

  “You know him. You can lock on to his energy. I can’t.”

  “He has your talisman. That’s not his energy, it’s yours. Can you find that?”

  Julie grew quiet. Evangeline couldn’t see her face well enough to see any expression.

  “Maybe,” she said.

  “All we have to do is try. If it doesn’t work, we won’t be any worse off.”

  “I’m too weak.”

  “You’re not weak. You’re the light herself.” Evangeline said, spitting the words at her. She wanted to shake her again.

  Julie expelled a breath that sounded like either a laugh or a sob.

  “I know that’s not how you feel,” Evangeline said before Julie could say anything else. “But it’s a trick. Caroline made you feel small. And you can believe it if you want, but it doesn’t make it true. She’s some random fall witch. You’re the sun. Caroline wants to watch you burn. Well, why don’t you let her? Show her how you can burn.”

  Julie stayed quiet, so Evangeline continued, “He can use our magic. I’ve seen him use mine. If he had the power of light and dark at once, he could use it. He could make the forces work together in ways we can’t. We’re too much. Too dark. Too light. We need him. I promise our spells will work better if he wields them.”

  Evangeline knew she lied. Well, not lied exactly, but she didn’t feel as certain as she sounded. The only time she’d tried to give him her magic, it had overcome him. She believed he could do it, but he had no idea how to do it, and had no one to teach him. And right now, he probably felt weaker than ever.

  “I want to see him. I can do it if I see him.”

  “We have already tried everything to get out of here.”

  “We’ve tried to get our bodies out,” Julie said. “We’ve been thinking too three-dimensionally.”

  “You know a spell? Something that could make us see him?”

  “If you have light, you can see.”

  Evangeline would have to trust her vague statement, because this must be summer magic. She had no idea how to see through walls.

  “Help me with the spell,” Julie said.

  “I don’t know it.”

  “Please, I can’t do it on my own.”

  “Okay.” Evangeline took Julie’s hand. She was bluffing. She didn’t know the spell. She couldn’t cast it. But maybe if Julie thought she had help she would be more confident.

  One way or another, it worked. Evangeline had the unsettling sensation of being two places at once. Like when each eye was seeing something different. The scene started at a super close up, and panned out, as if Julie started at the talisman and worked her way out. She saw Patrick’s legs first, and then his whole body, bound with magic to a chair. The whites of his eyes had red patches, and his lips looked too white. Whatever Caroline had done to him, he couldn’t take much more.

  The scene expanded, and she could tell Julie was gaining the strength needed to bring more light to the scene. Evangeline almost dropped her hand when she saw Jude, standing next to Caroline. They both studied Patrick, consulting in whispers, as if determining their next move. How the hell did he get there? No wonder Caroline’s prax potentia worked so well on Patrick. Nothing sucked your power faster than being hurt by someone you loved—especially someone who was supposed to protect you.

  “When?” Julie whispered. “He doesn’t look ready.”

  A major understatement. “I know.”

  “You’re sure he’ll know what to do?”

  “No…but we have to do it anyway. Look at him. He’s losing.”

  “I’ve never tried anything like this.”

  “I did. Once. Give him your magic. It’s like anything else. If you want him to have it, he will.”

  “So, shall we?”

  Evangeline hesitated. “Now.”

  They had given Patrick a moment of reprieve. Not out of kindness, but to discuss their next plan of attack. He didn’t know why they kept going. They had won. They had taken every last drop of his power. He would give them anything to make them stop. Anything. He could no longer remember why he was here in the first place. Or, where he would rather be. He wanted to be in a place without pain. He didn’t care where. He didn’t care if that meant death. As long as the pain stopped.

  So, when he felt the pain coming, he tensed, perhaps more than he had before, because he didn’t understand it. Caroline spoke to Jude, and they both faced away from him. He had at least grown a minor sense of comfort knowing when pain would come, and when it wouldn’t. It would only come if she touched him. This made no sense. And that terrified him.

  The pain didn’t run down his nerves as when Caroline touched him. It started at his core and worked its way out. If his soul existed, then that’s where the pain centered. A cold, darkness that blotted out the light behind his eyes. His skin burned all over. But he realized relief could come. The darkness would take him away and make him numb. It would take his soul. Take his life. And then there would be nothing. He welcomed it, willing his body to stop fighting against it, despite the powerful instinct for survival. The darkness would come, and when it did, they could never hurt him again.

  But then, as if the darkness realized it comforted him, a new sensation rushed in. A horrible, horrible heat. A fire burned him from the inside out, and filled him with the life he wanted to escape. A life that burned far too hot. He couldn’t stop himself from crying out.

  The rush of pain made it hard to see, but he sensed Jude and Caroline coming closer.

  “What are you doing to him?” Jude asked.

  “Nothing.”

  “What do you mean, ‘nothing?’ “

  “I’m really not, Jude.”

  Patrick had the urge to run, to fight, to do anything to get the fiery monster off of him. And in his panic to flee, he flew out of the chair, breaking the magical bonds that held him there.

  But he couldn’t stand for long. He tasted blood in his mouth, and crumpled to the floor.

  “Oh no,” Julie said. “No. No. No. We’re killing him. We have to stop.”

  Evangeline felt the same way. She hated seeing Patrick suffer, especially knowing she caused the pain. But she had to be the tough one. Julie was way too soft.

  “Wait. Please, wait. Look, he broke the paralyzing spell already. Don’t stop.”

  “He’s not moving.”

  “Please, Julie. Don’t stop. Of course, it hurts him. How do you think it would feel to have pure summer and winter magic blasted
into you at once? Just wait.”

  Evangeline thought maybe he was dying. She could sense his light fading. But the light was still there. Even if he didn’t realize it, he had so much power right now, he didn’t need training. He could take them down with a look. But he still didn’t move. He had his face pressed against the ground, and Evangeline thought she could see blood trickling from the corners of his mouth.

  Jude kneeled next to Patrick. Evangeline could see the scene but she couldn’t hear it, however, it looked like Jude shouted something at Caroline.

  “He’s no use to me dead, Jude,” Caroline said. “Why would I kill him? I’m not doing this.”

  “Then what the fuck is happening?”

  “I don’t know. I keep telling you, I don’t know.”

  “Shouldn’t you though? Aren’t you supposed to be the omnipotent genius?”

  “Stop talking and let me think.”

  “I can still feel his pulse.”

  Then Patrick realized Jude touched him. Jude had his hand on his wrist. His touch jolted him back into reality. He hated Jude. He hated him and he loved him at once. And that made him so, so angry. He wanted Jude to stop touching him. He wanted him away.

  Patrick felt a surge of magic leave him and enter Jude at the point where their skin made contact. He had no idea where the magic had come from.

  “Jude?” Patrick heard Caroline’s voice, but the light behind his eyes was so bright, he couldn’t see anything around him. He blinked until he could focus. He saw Jude lying near him, Caroline kneeled beside him, shaking him.

  Patrick pulled himself up. His body felt so weak, but he found that he didn’t need his muscles. He wanted to stand, and so he rose, powered by magic alone. And he hovered over Caroline. She turned and looked up at him.

  Her eyes looked red, as if she had started to cry, but she still smiled up at him. “I’m glad it’s you. The fall.”

  He hit her with a spell. He didn’t take much time to think it through and had no idea what he hit her with. He wanted her down. He wanted her to be no longer a threat. He only needed to want it, and it happened. She crumpled, her head falling on Jude’s back.

  Patrick must have blacked out, because he didn’t remember anything else until he saw Evangeline and Julie hovering over him. His sight went in and out, his eyes burning with light and then covered in dark. He knew if the girls kneeled over him, then they must have won. It was over. But he still felt so much pain. His heart raced, and skipped irregularly. He knew his body couldn’t handle any more.

  “Are you okay?” Julie asked.

  “No,” Patrick said.

  “You did good,” Evangeline said.

  “What?” Patrick asked.

  “We should stay back,” Julie said. “He’s confused. And still all filled with magic. He could curse us too.”

  “Are you going to curse me?” Evangeline asked.

  “No.”

  “I know you’re in pain, Patrick. But I promise. It’s over. They’re gone.”

  Patrick felt heat. He sat up and looked around. Pain shot up his arms and legs as he moved. Summer had returned. Early summer morning, the light in the sky still a cool purple, and the heat still bearable. The perfect moment between light and dark.

  “Caroline’s spell, it’s gone? We can walk out.”

  Smoke still darkened the horizon, but it had dissipated since yesterday, which meant the fire had burned down.

  “Yeah, they’re gone,” Evangeline said.

  “Gone? As in…dead?” Patrick asked.

  “No. Just gone.” Evangeline cast her eyes down as if this disappointed her. “If you had wanted them dead, they would be dead. But that must not be the spell you cast. They got knocked out, but by the time we made it out, they were gone. And all the spells cast around this place went away.”

  “Where did they go?”

  “I don’t know. Where did you send them?”

  “It wasn’t like that. I didn’t know what I was doing. I wanted it to stop. I wanted them away.”

  “Well, then that’s what happened. If you wanted them away, they are way away. Probably on their way to China. They’d be going to the moon if it was possible.”

  “How?”

  “I told you. I saw it in the park. You can use other wizard’s magic. And you can use it well. Decisively. More than what the wizard alone could do. We gave you ours. Me and Julie.”

  “You did that. That…pain. I thought I was going to die.”

  “I’m sorry,” Evangeline said. “But you’re not going to die. Not today, anyway.”

  “I’m sorry, too,” Julie said. She smiled at him tentatively. She looked different from the girl in the photo. Thinner. And much less bright. But alive. And she could go home now.

  Patrick reached into his pocket, took out her charm bracelet, and held it out to her. He could swear she already glowed brighter. At least, she smiled bigger when she put the bracelet on.

  “Thank you,” she said.

  “Okay. I want a cheeseburger. And a chocolate shake,” Patrick said. “Let’s go.”

  And so they walked out. Slowly. Patrick still hurt everywhere. His muscles spasmed with every move. The girls wandered like lost ghosts, tired and weak. But they walked.

  When they came through a patch of trees, they all stopped in their tracks. The trees dropped off suddenly. They had reached the edge of Caroline’s spell, and found a perfect line, obliterated by fire on one side, and untouched forest on the other. The wildfire side still smoldered, but they could see the road through the black carpet of ground and field of black sticks that used to be trees.

  Patrick felt another surge of unease seeing the power of Caroline’s spell. And she was still out there. Probably looking for the spring equinox to round herself out.

  “How do you think the Mundanes are going to explain this?” Patrick asked.

  “Aliens?” Julie suggested.

  “Come on,” Patrick said and they padded their way across the charred earth toward the road.

  atrick and Evangeline had been admitted to the hospital for “observation,” which meant anyone could see something was wrong with them, but the doctors didn’t know what, other than dehydration and some cuts and bruises. Patrick also had two broken ribs from where Jude had kicked him. And his blood pressure was too high, which the doctors found strange for someone young and in good health. But Patrick knew his body had been pushed to the limit.

  Surely, Julie had been admitted to the hospital too, but Patrick didn’t know. As soon as the firefighters brought them to the hospital, she disappeared back into her summer world. Maybe her parents had her moved to a different hospital, far, far away from the Vandergraffs.

  Dad came in with a pizza. It hurt to eat, but Patrick didn’t care. He wanted to do it anyway.

  “Good, you’re awake,” Dad said. “You can have dinner with me. Evangeline wanted sushi, so Emmy and Amanda went to get that. But I’m not interested in sushi and I figured you wouldn’t be either.”

  “No. Thanks.”

  Dad pulled out plates and sodas. Things still sucked a lot. But Patrick had to admit, it was all relative. Being alive. Not being in pain. Eating pizza with his Dad. It was all pretty freaking fantastic.

  “I would say it’s nice you’re all staying here with me and Evangeline…but you don’t have a house, so…”

  Dad chuckled. “Eh. Details.”

  “What am I supposed to tell the police?” Patrick asked. “So far, I’ve just been saying I don’t want to talk about it. That’s not going to work for much longer.”

  “Tell them as much of the truth as you can.”

  “Even about Jude?”

  “He’s done nothing to deserve your loyalty.”

  Patrick nodded.

  “Try not to be too upset when they don’t believe you,” Dad said.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I’ve already talked with the police. We’ve talked and talked in circles. They say no one named Caroline P
rescott exists. I’m thinking she has some spells up to hide her identity, which is why I had trouble finding her.” Then Dad’s eyes seemed to darken. “And the police don’t believe for a second John Prescott shot your Uncle James. They instinctively trust the Prescotts and presume them to be good. I’ll keep trying. He doesn’t get to just walk away…” Dad trailed off, glaring at the bubbles popping in his Dr. Pepper.

  “If they don’t believe Caroline or John are guilty, what do they think? That we all just ran away from home?”

  “They found Jude’s fingerprints at the house. And he’s in the system. They believe he exists. And he fits their idea of a criminal. It’s an easy answer and they all seem to like it. They think that’s why I’m fabricating things about the Prescotts, to try and cover up my son’s crimes.”

  “So, they’ll arrest him? He’ll go to jail?”

  “I suppose that’s up to Caroline.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “She managed to hide several acres of land from the police. She can hide one man if she wants to.”

  “Right.” Patrick rubbed the skin around his IV. His hands shook. “So, then, there will be punishment for them at all? No justice?”

  “I didn’t say that. I’m saying the justice won’t come from the Mundane police.”

  “Are you disappointed in me?”

  “Why in the hell would I be disappointed in you?”

  “I didn’t save your brother. I didn’t forsee him dying. I don’t know…I guess I didn’t know him well enough to have a vision about him. I’m sorry.”

  “Son, you’re not responsible for preventing every bad thing that ever happens. I don’t expect that of you. No one does.”

  “I never actually saw it. The vision I had of Julie being tortured. I never saw the same image I saw in my head. What does that mean?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Does that mean it was a trick? That the siren spell made me see it, so I would come to the forest?”

  “Perhaps. Or maybe it means your power is more complicated than you realize. You knew Julie was being tortured, and you were right. You may have been taking the vision too literally. You assumed you would have to see it as you did in order for the vision to make sense. But maybe you just knew.”