by Yvonne Heidt
She bent to smooth the comforter on the bed. The room carried Kat’s forest scent, and it tickled her. She stopped. It was almost the same as in her nightmare. She looked inward for the details. The smell of trees and lush greenery while she ran. The feel of loose leaves and pine needles under her feet. The sound of her heartbeat racing in her ears.
She tried to remember more, but the harder she concentrated, the more it slipped away. She must be recalling the scent because she’d been curled up next to Kat.
She certainly didn’t have any reason to be scared of Kat. The moment she thought it, her heart rate picked up. Funny how desire and fear felt so similar. She’d have to think more on that later.
She heard Kat laughing at something Sunny said and finished making the bed. Tiffany went to rejoin them.
Jordan was sprawled on the floor in front of Sunny who sat on the end of the loveseat. Shade was sitting on an armchair with one leg hanging over the side. Kat sat on the sectional, and Tiffany thought she looked like she completely belonged in this happy family picture.
A cold breeze slapped at her and she gasped before turning to find the source. The conversation in the room stopped and all four women jumped to their feet.
“What is it?” Jordan asked.
“Nothing good.” Shade crossed the room in unison with Kat to reach Tiffany’s side.
“It’s gone,” Sunny said. “I caught the tail end of the energy trail, but it left immediately.”
“How did it get past the protection we’ve set up?” Tiffany asked.
“It was strong enough to break the barrier but not stay. We’ll have to reset it.” Shade frowned and disappeared down the hall to the back room.
Tiffany’s knees were weak and she wanted to sit down. Kat helped her to the couch. “Are you all right?”
“Yes, I’m fine. It just surprised the hell out of me.”
Sunny sat next to her and took her hands before closing her eyes. When she opened them, she looked worried. “How have you been feeling lately?”
Tiffany shrugged. “Fine, why?”
“You haven’t been tired or feeling drained?”
“Yes, but that’s nothing unusual for me considering what I’ve been doing this last week.”
Sunny looked at Kat. “Have you noticed anything unusual?”
“She falls asleep a lot, but I thought it was because of the stress she experiences during the readings.”
As Tiffany watched Kat, she had an epiphany. She had been nodding off, and it began right about the time she met Kat.
“Anything else? Mood changes, the feeling of being followed?”
“Me?” Kat asked. “I thought you were asking about Tiffany?”
“Both of you.”
“What do you see?” Tiffany asked. “You’re kind of scaring me.”
“There’s dark energy around both of you, and I don’t understand why I didn’t immediately pick up on it. It’s very subtle, but deep.”
Tiffany shivered. “Why couldn’t I sense it?”
“It might be because of this,” Shade returned from the back of the house. She held up a small dirty box.
“What the fuck is it?” Jordan asked.
“Where did you find that?” Tiffany got up to look at it. “I’ve never seen it before.”
“It was hiding in your closet.”
“How did you know that?” Kat asked.
Shade gave her an impatient look. “I don’t know, because I’m psychic and can feel dark energy?”
Tiffany reached for the box. “Here, let me see it.”
“No,” Shade snapped. “Don’t touch it. Matter of fact, somebody please open the goddamn door.”
“I will,” Jordan said.
Tiffany felt Kat come up behind her and insinuate her body between the box and Tiffany before Shade took it outside. She wasn’t even going to pretend that she didn’t appreciate the protective gesture. She held her hand and led her back to the couch.
“Light the candles,” Sunny said. “I’m going to get your sage.”
Tiffany explained to Kat what they were doing while they cleared and blessed the house. Shade looked a little pale when she came back in as they all gathered again in the living room.
“What is it?” Tiffany asked. Shade swallowed, and Tiffany could see she was trying to choose her words carefully. “Please, just spit it out.”
“It’s a curse.”
Sunny gasped, Jordan looked stunned, and Kat’s expression was stoic. Tiffany looked at them and began to tremble slightly. “Did I hear that right?”
Shade looked grim. “Yes.”
“How? I mean why?”
“That had to be why the door was unlocked when we arrived last night,” Kat said.
“What?” Jordan stood. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I told her it was nothing. I could have forgotten to lock it,” Tiffany said.
“That’s not like you,” Sunny said. “At all.”
“We will definitely come back to that, but for now, let’s retrace,” Shade said. “When did you first start noticing things were off?”
“When I met her.” Tiffany felt Kat startle next to her. “My nightmares came back.”
“You must be connected to this,” Shade said to Kat.
“I don’t have anything to do with a curse.” Kat turned to Tiffany. “I swear.”
Tiffany didn’t think she did, but was still left with a seed of doubt. “I’ve dreamt of witches and curses for most of my life. When you first met me, you said you knew me, but we haven’t talked about it yet.”
“We haven’t had a chance. The first time I tried to talk about it you said you didn’t want to talk about anything paranormal, remember?”
Tiffany did remember telling her that at lunch. Kat had been so good to her and Tiffany hated that she’d gone pale and looked so uncertain. But she’d been snowed and misled before. She began to feel nauseated with implications.
“Kat,” Sunny said. “The first time I met you I noticed an old and ancient energy, but I never did place it.”
“You have gifts?” Jordan asked. “How come I don’t know that?”
“Look,” Shade said. “We’re not going to gang up on Kat. I said she was connected, not responsible. The best thing here is to find out how she ties into it and not put her on the defense.”
“That’s different for you,” Jordan said. “Usually you’re the first to attack.”
“I like her.” Shade turned her back on Jordan. “Would you mind if we read you?”
“Not at all,” Kat answered. “If it will help and put everyone’s mind at rest, let’s do it now.”
Tiffany was unsure. “Wait. We just had negative energy blow through and found a box with a curse in it. I don’t think it’s smart to do this here.” She was much more concerned with how the box got into the house in the first place. She was royally pissed off she didn’t feel safe in her own house. That her baby could be threatened in any way caused her temper to boil.
On the heels of that thought came another, then one more. The fog of denial that had surrounded her for days began to lift just as she felt another chill.
“It’s Mark.”
*
Kat looked around at the group. Everyone stared at Tiffany, frozen in place. “What’s Mark?”
“The phone calls, noises outside, and the break-in.”
“What phone calls and noises?” Sunny asked.
“Hang up calls, the raccoons, the unlocked door, and apparently, the cursed box.”
“Why didn’t you tell anyone?” Shade asked.
“I was going to, but it’s been a busy week. Then with your attack—”
“Wait. Could that be related?” Jordan asked.
“It might be, but things are still fuzzy,” Shade said. “I can’t see it clearly.”
“Okay, I’m confused,” Kat said. “Isn’t he in prison?”
Jordan took out her phone. “I’ll find out.” She left the room.
“We never could read his energy,” Sunny said. “It was always foggy and unclear.”
“Which is exactly how I’ve felt,” Tiffany said. “God, I feel stupid. Why didn’t we ever realize he was blocking us from seeing it?”
“Which means he’s very good at it. I mean, we should have felt a trace, at least,” Shade said.
“Omigod, someone slammed into me on the ferry. It was him.” She turned to Kat. “Remember the dark energy in the crystal store?”
Kat stroked her back. “We don’t know it’s him, and I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”
He’ll never get through me. Kat’s shoulders tightened. No one will ever take her from me again.
Shade looked at Kat. “Again?”
Kat wanted to tell the story, but a clear sense of danger was building in the living room. Sunny and Tiffany got to their feet alongside Shade when Jordan came back in. “He was released last week.”
Kat felt Tiffany sway next to her and pulled her closer. “How come they didn’t call her? Isn’t there a law about that?”
“Sometimes they slip through the cracks. Let me call the department and see what we can do.”
“I can’t stay here,” Tiffany said. “He’s already been in my house.” Her face paled. “Angel.” She ran for her phone.
Kat began pacing the room. She didn’t know what to do and had no plan other than protect Tiffany. She considered telling the group about the feeling of being followed home a couple of nights ago, but decided against it. She didn’t want to scare Tiffany any more than she already was.
“Let’s get some clothes for Tiffany and Angel,” Sunny said. “They can stay with us until this is over.”
“She’d be safer at my place,” Kat said. “I’m in a high-rise with security. No one can get at them there.”
“But Shade, Jordan, and I can protect her.”
“I think Kat is right,” Jordan said. “Would we even want to take that chance with their safety?”
Tiffany returned. “Aura just got home with Angel. They’re fine.”
“Everyone’s arguing about whose house you’re going to,” Shade said. “But it’s mine, right?”
“No, I don’t want to put any of you at risk. We can leave town and stay at a hotel.”
“That’s ridiculous. You can stay with me,” Kat said. She wasn’t going to let her leave, and she wasn’t going to take her eyes off her.
“Honey.” Sunny put an arm around Tiffany. “As much as I want you to stay with me, my intuition is telling me for you to go with Kat.”
“Actually, I feel that too,” Tiffany said. “I’ll go pack a couple of bags.”
As soon as she left, Sunny turned to Shade. “What was in that box?”
Shade curled her lip. “Dirty material, small bones, and several different types of hair.”
Sunny paled. “Blood magic?”
Shade nodded. “Yup. But I didn’t want to tell you with Tiffany in the room.”
Kat felt a cold chill run up her spine. “Why wouldn’t you tell her?”
“I wanted to disarm it first.”
“You make it sound like a bomb,” Kat said. “Besides, don’t curses only work on people who believe in them?”
“It was Tiffany’s hair,” Shade said. “An individual’s hair holds their essence, their energy. It’s a very powerful tool in dark magic when combined with blood. Now that I know it’s from Mark, I’m even more worried about it.”
“Wait. You couldn’t read him, but now you can. How does that work?”
Sunny interrupted. “It must be some kind of spell he cast, kind of a cross between invisibility and confusion. Once we saw past the deception, it collapsed in the center.”
“Would that explain Tiffany’s bad headaches and exhaustion?”
“It would,” Shade said. “So we’re not only dealing with a sadistic stalking asshole, we’re dealing with someone who knows dark magic.”
Kat felt a little disoriented. Everything was happening so fast, it left her reeling. Her most important task was to keep Tiffany and Angel safe. She had no idea how to deal with the paranormal witchy stuff, so she would have to leave that in Sunny’s and Shade’s capable hands.
She couldn’t help but flash on the day Tanna died. She never wanted to relive that pain—not in any lifetime.
When Tiffany appeared with her suitcases looking pale and a little frightened, Kat’s temper spiked. She could kill him for that alone.
*
“I need some things from my office,” Tiffany said after she shut the trunk of Kat’s car.
“I’ll get whatever you need,” Sunny said. “Jordan and I will bring it to you at Mom’s house.”
“Won’t you need a list?” Kat asked.
Sunny smirked at her. “Please.”
“I’ll meet you over there.” Shade turned to get into her van.
Tiffany looked up and down the street nervously. If Mark were watching her, she didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. But that didn’t mean much, not really. Now that she knew he’d been released, she’d always be looking over her shoulder.
She felt her confidence slip sideways. Was she going to have to hide forever? She wanted to scream, it was so unfair. She’d done nothing wrong, yet she was the one who had to leave the comfort of the home she’d built.
She’d die fighting him before she let him get to Angel. Then it hit her. Mark hadn’t known she was pregnant before he went to prison. If he was stalking her, he knew about their daughter. He wasn’t stupid; he’d know she was his. Tiffany’s ears began to ring as panic threatened her sanity.
“Hurry,” she said to Kat. “Please, I have to get to my baby.”
Kat nodded and got in the car. Tiffany looked at her house and the little yard she loved to spend time in. She hoped it wasn’t the last time she would see it.
The drive to Aura’s house was short, but Tiffany couldn’t help but keep looking over her shoulder after each turn. The only vehicle that appeared to be following them was Shade’s van. Her friends were amazing, but she was scared to death for them. All his previous threats played over and over in her mind. Mark would have no qualms about hurting them. She couldn’t and wouldn’t let that happen.
She looked over at Kat. It was completely unfair of Tiffany to consider a relationship with her. Although it made her very sad to think it, she wouldn’t blame Kat one bit if she walked away from the drama.
“I see that look,” Kat said.
“What look?”
“That good-bye look. Don’t even consider it.”
“Are you reading my mind now?”
“Maybe.”
“You have no idea what he’s capable of. I don’t want to put you in the middle of this.”
“Don’t you see, Tiffany? That’s what abusers do. They make you think that you’re all alone by threatening the people that love you. It’s in your nature to not make waves, not inconvenience anyone or put them in harm’s way. Mark’s counting on that to get to you. But you know what? He didn’t count on me.”
Tiffany heard what she was saying, and she wanted to believe everything would be okay, she really did. But she knew as long as he was on the street, she would never be completely safe.
She tried to keep her memory from going back to those years, but it was difficult.
“Turn left here,” she said. “We’ll park over there.”
Kat pulled into the lot and Shade pulled up beside them. Tiffany got out of the car and scanned the area around them. There were too many people for her to focus on any one of them. Shade and Kat flanked her while they crossed the street and entered Aura’s building.
“Feel anything?” she asked Shade.
“No.”
Tiffany held her breath while waiting for the elevator to open and let it out when the doors shut behind them. Kat held her hand, giving her an anchor. It helped to keep her thoughts here and not let them race to the past.
Shade stood front and cente
r when they reached the fourth floor. Tiffany could feel the intense electricity of her energy fan out, and it meshed alongside Kat’s coiled tension next to her. They felt ready for a fight.
Before they got off, they each looked up and down the empty hallway then made it to Aura’s door. Tiffany knew her life wouldn’t be the same again.
The door opened and Aura ushered them in. Tiffany watched her stare at Kat and then wondered why she smiled knowingly, but before she could ask, Angel came streaking out of the bedroom and leaped into her arms.
“Mommy!”
Tiffany dropped to her knees and hugged Angel tightly against her. Angel’s little arms wrapped around her neck in a fierce hug, and there was no other feeling like that in world. Tiffany made a vow there and then that despite bloody curses and violent threats against her, she’d kill Mark before she’d let him get anywhere near her daughter.
Angel patted Tiffany’s cheeks. “Why are you sad, Mommy?”
“I’m happy that you’re back,” Tiffany said. “I’ve missed you terribly.”
“Shay!” Angel squealed happily and ran to her. “What’s up?”
“You are.” Shade picked her up and swirled her around.
The sound of Angel’s laughter rang in Tiffany’s ears.
“Wait, put me down, Shay.”
Tiffany watched Angel approach Kat who still stood near the door. She stopped when she reached her and her head tilted to the right before she giggled. “Hi, Kat!”
The room fell completely silent. Tiffany felt doused with ice water. “What’s going on here?”
Angel turned back and pointed. “Mommy, it’s Kat.”
“I know, baby, but how do you know that?”
“You’re silly. Don’t you ’member? We all did the ’mony for you.”
“What?” Tiffany felt dizzy. “What’s a ’mony, sweetheart?”
“Mommy.” Angel looked at her with an exasperated expression. “The ’mo-ny. We danced, played drums, and then Kat had to chase you.”
Tiffany looked at Kat, who swayed on her feet before leaning against the wall. “You better come sit.”