First Kiss

by Tara Brown

Sam put his hand on mine, “Lynnie, your mom is a Lake, you are a Lake, and a Lachlan. This house is the Lachlans’ old house. Whatever the hell that was, that was crazy. That was bullshit. That was not real. I need a drink and maybe a cigarette.”

  “You smoke?”

  He shakes his head and gets the car door for me, “No, but I might start. He’s badly injured and he needs medical attention. You need to stop enabling him. When we get back, we need to get some help.”

  I get in the seat and look up at the house. No wonder they never told me anything. I would have acted the way Sam is. I would have been a jerk about it.

  Chapter Ten

  He drives to his house. I point, “Hospital. I need to see Mary.”

  He shakes his head, “We need to talk to my parents about this. This is crazy—the authorities need to help Bastion. At the very least, Brandon’s parents need to go and get him. He can’t live up there in the condemned old house. He is batshit nuts.”

  I sigh. When we stop at a stop sign, I jump out, “Thanks for the ride.” I slam the door and start to run for the hospital. I can hear him driving after me and shouting, but I cut through parking lots and alleys.

  When I get there, the nurses smile at me and walk by. They stay on their side of the hallway, never getting too close. I tap lightly on the door to Mary’s room, a little afraid she will remember me and not Rosie at all.

  Her chest is rising and falling slowly and the room smells like her—old. I sit on the chair across from her bed and wait for her to wake up. She stirs a little, lifting her face and squinting at me. She doesn’t look like she recalls me as Rosie. She pauses and my stomach drops. She gives me an uncertain look, “Are you the new nurse?”

  I shake my head, “I’m here because of Rosie and Lynnie.”

  She scoffs, “You taking her away, finally? I tried everything I could to get her taken from my house, but ain’t nobody listening to an old woman. You all just left her there for me to suffer, didn’t you? Left with the spawn of Satan.”

  I try to keep a smile on my face, soft and pleasant, “What does that mean? You tried to get her taken?”

  “That one that’s still there, she is not a Lake. I know my kin, I know what we are. Those older girls are not my kin. Never were. Their mother conned me, made me think she was my son’s wife. My son might have impregnated her with the sweet one, Rosie, but those older ones weren’t his. My son left home a long time ago. I tried telling you people—I tried telling you to come and get her. Those girls are not my problem. They took my sweet Rosie from me.”

  My jaw drops, “Where is their mother?”

  “Died. Kept going up to that old Lachlan house and died there. Hanged herself the day I kicked her out. Left me with them brats according to the law though. The younger one was sweet, but the middle one has a mouth on her. Acting like she’s better than me all the time. Don’t even get me started on the older one.”

  I don’t remember any of this. I don’t remember it that way. I don’t know why she would be telling me lies, not to mention the fact they don’t feel like lies.

  I pick up a pamphlet about handwashing from the side table and pretend I am reading from it, “So it says here, one of them pushed someone through a window or mirror?”

  Her eyes widen, “I tried to stop her. She was crazed, the oldest sister who only ever comes every now and then. She came and pushed the baby through the mirror in the window and then jumped in too. I saw it with my own eyes. I was hiding from her. She was a mean one. I met her the first time on the day their whore mom died. I did everything in my power to make the middle kid, that bratty one, leave. But she wasn’t going anywhere. She found some letter saying some bull crap about her daddy leaving her an inheritance if she stayed until she was nineteen. But there was no will and no letter, I swear there wasn’t. Not at first, and then it was there. It came in the mail like magic, from Maryland, making her and me the heirs to his money, but we had to live together until she was nineteen. Same magic mail as the order from the mother, saying I was responsible for them girls.”

  I have no memory of a strange event involving the letter. It came the regular way, in the mail for me, Erralynn Lake. I remember the letter. Mary burned it, but when I spoke to a lawyer, he said a copy is always kept at the lawyer’s office. He assured me I would get my inheritance when I turned twenty as long as I stayed till I was nineteen. The only way Mary was getting any money was if she let me stay until I was nineteen.

  She lies back, “Those kids are devils, like their mother. Their harlot, slut mother who tricked me into keeping them.” She closes her eyes and instantly she’s sleeping.

  I don’t know what to do with any of it. None of the information makes sense or that the older sister came to visit us and pushed the baby through the mirror. I don’t know.

  My legs feel like concrete weights and I’m sure I’m starving, but I don’t know how to fix any of it or what to truly believe. She has confirmed everything Bastion said, but that doesn’t make it real. My rational brain is screaming no, the wind is pushing me to Sam’s, and my heart is dragging my tired feet up the hill to Mary’s. I get the keys to the fancy red car and drive up the hill to the Lachlan mansion. I leave the door open, beeping and run inside, “Bastion, Heidi, Lance, are you here?”

  Tim comes out from behind a door. He looks up at me, wary of the evil girl from the evil family who has left them here in limbo. He smiles, “They’re in the back, miss.”

  I smile at him, “You aren’t scared of me, are you?”

  He doesn’t answer, he watches me. His small face is so familiar.

  I walk past him to the back—to the kitchen where the house looks the worst. Heidi sees me and starts to cry instantly. I rush to her, wrapping my arms around her.

  “You have to be the key to ending it, Miss Erralynn. Please, end it. We just want to go home. We didn’t mean to be rude to you but ten years is so long.”

  I nod, “Of course. Of course. I’m so sorry, I don’t know what to do.”

  “I knew you weren’t the answer. You were a brat when you were younger, nothing changes.”

  I spin, seeing Alex with a hateful look on his face. My hand swings out, slapping him hard on the cheek. A slow smile crosses his lips, “Starting to remember me, princess?”

  I scowl but Bastion walks in, “Have you any answers?”

  I shake my head, “I think we need to go to Mary’s.” The wind pushes me suddenly. My feet stumble almost from the force of it. I walk up the creaking stairs and turn to the left. I walk down the dark hallway, leaves crunching under my feet. The single door flings open. I see light in the room. A TV? I turn to see Bastion smiling, “When we arrived it was here and on. We thought it was an enchanted box. None of the furnishings are the same, minus your trunks of instruments, the mirror, and this painting. Everything else was here. This old TV, which we have obviously since learned is just actors, has held us captive with its stories. We learned to talk like the people here, we learned to dress like them, and we learned that the New World is a dark and frightening place where the story tellers are wicked in their trade.”

  He rambles on but I look around the room. Of course my eyes catch the only thing not destroyed, beyond the TV. The painting of Bastion that is pristine and perfect, the way he was before he changed back to the scarred mess. The wind shoves me at the painting, flapping it against the wall. I reach for it.

  “You shouldn’t touch it. It’s part of the curse.”

  I ignore him and take it from the wall, “We take this with us to Mary’s. Everyone get in the car.”

  The wind dies the minute I hold the painting to my chest.

  Bastion’s face is pained, “What answers have you gotten?”

  I swallow hard, “You know the mirror that shows us pictures?”

  He nods.

  “I think Mary has one that is a portal to our home. Baylor has come and gone from it. Mary knows Baylor.”

  I see instant hatred and determination on his face. I
shake my head, “Pity party when we’re done, not now.”

  He scowls, “I’m not having a pity party.”

  I smile and realize I really only see him. The scars don’t bother me anymore. Even if he is an ass. I can’t blame him, not really.

  We get into the red car and drive, quite cramped, to the house. When we get to Mary’s room, I don’t see anything special about anything there. I place the painting against the wall and look around some more.

  Heidi shakes her head, “Looks like a room. What are we trying to find?”

  I sigh, “An enchanted mirror like the one at the house.”

  Bastion sits on the bed, “Should we have brought the mirror?”

  I shake my head, “No. Baylor had one she used in here, Mary saw it once. She said the mirror in the window.”

  Alex snarls, “Try your witchy powers, daughter of the black blood.” His accent is thick suddenly. I look over at him with a look of hatred, “Stop tormenting me. I never did anything to you.”

  A smug smile crosses his lips, “Just try.”

  “I don’t even know what to say.”

  Bastion shrugs, “Try asking for the mirror to show itself to you.”

  I glance about the room, deciding on the wall by the window, “Magic mirror show yourself to me.” I feel like an idiot until the window sparkles and fuzzes out.

  Bastion claps his hands together, “Ha, I knew you were the key.”

  Alex scoffs, “And I knew you were evil.”

  I frown, “I’m not letting you come if you’re going to be mean.”

  His eyes twinkle, “Just admit it, you are a daughter of the devil himself.”

  Bastion jumps up, grabbing his collar, “Enough. Be grateful she is taking us home. I’ve had enough, she has not wronged us. Just stop.”

  I walk to the mirror, “Show me home.” I’m scared, but I’m not unsure any more. I know I’m a freak for being able to call a mirror in a window, but I feel like it’s not so crazy. The mirror fuzzes out and instantly shows a beautiful place. The reflection shows the Lachlan house, but it is restored and stunning. The grounds are different and the hills behind it are like I have never seen before. I reach forward but my hand goes right through it. It feels like putting my hand into warm water. I look over at Bastion. He grins, “We are going home.”

  I nod. I grab the painting from the floor and look at the mirror, “Show me my room.” The mirror fuzzes out and then it shows a room, like the one I had slept in at the Lachlan mansion only nicer and bigger. I put the painting in and look at Lance, “You want to go first, in case I have to stay here to keep it open?”

  He nods, diving through the window instantly. He doesn’t even hesitate, like I would have. Heidi shakes and sobs silently but makes it through next. Alex helps Tim. Bastion smiles at me, “See you there?”

  I shake my head, “I don’t think I’m going. I think I should stay here. I don’t belong there or here, but at least I know what I am here.”

  He nods, “I will miss you.” He wraps his arms around me, holding me tightly to him. I feel something in the embrace. “Stay here with me.” I whisper.

  He shakes his head, “I can’t. I have to go back and be the man I was born to be and save my people from your sister.”

  He pulls me back and looks down on me. I reach my hands up, cupping his cheeks, “Let me fix you so they know who you are.”

  He smiles and lowers his face onto mine. I press my lips against his and feel as the scars fade away to nothing.

  He grins, “That is some kiss you have there, Lynnie.”

  I laugh and cry at the same time, “It’ll either heal ya or kill ya.”

  He kisses me once more and then lets go abruptly, climbing through the mirror. When he’s gone, Alex shakes his head, “You think I’ll let you get away with all of this? You witches are all going to burn.” He grabs my shoulders. I shove him back, kicking at him. My heart is racing as I claw at things to escape his grip. He clutches me again and tosses me at the mirror. Everything is black for a second and my head feels like it’s exploding.

  Suddenly Bastion is there, lifting me off of the floor I think I recognize. “You came?”

  I didn’t even know I was falling inside of the mirror until this second. I shake my head, staring at the mirror in my room. My mouth is dry and my heart is racing faster than before I went into the mirror. “No. What has happened? Am I here or there?”

  He grabs my arm, “You’re safe. Try to see if any of this is yours or recognizable.”

  Tears leak from my eyes, “Alex shoved me in. I didn’t want to come.”

  “Where is that rotten bastard?” Bastion growls, staring at the mirror that looks like a normal mirror. He touches it but it is a hard pane of glass. “Guess he never thought about the fact you would close the portal if you went in.”

  I sense something inside of me changing. It fuzzes in my brain like the wrong channel on a radio. I wince as it hits and gets louder. I’m shaking, feeling a thousand things coming back to me at once.

  The tears are blinding me and I can’t stop shaking my head and chanting, “No, no, no, no, no.”

  I drop to my knees, sobbing and feeling everything I have ignored or forgotten.

  Loss of my family is betrayal of my family. Rosie, Mother and Father, and I have been separated by a person we thought loved us. My whole existence is a lie. I am not cursed. I could have kissed Sam.

  “Lynnie?”

  I shake my head, “I c-c-c-c-can’t br-breathe.” I cover my face with my hands, “It was, was, was, a lie. All a lie.” My body is trembling and heaving with sobs.

  It all hits at once, making my eyes close so the pictures of a thousand memories can be seen. I am on my hands and knees, with Heidi and Bastion both hugging me when I sit back on my heels. I feel my upper lip curl up into a sneer. One word leaves my lips in a hateful growl, “Baylor!”

  I am going to kill her, slowly.

  She has taken everything from me.

  Chapter Eleven

  The riding frock itches but I remember not to fidget. I need to remember how to be me, now that I remember everything. Looking at it all in my brain, I can see how Bastion had a hard time with everything. I look at us all and smile; we are outfitted exactly as we had been before we were cursed. Well, apart from Bastion and Lance. Lance’s clothes are too fine for his status in society. My father’s pants and jacket are too nice for him. But they are the opposite for Bastion. He should be decked out better.

  I too look a little different. Baylor’s dress would have been much too old for a ten-year old. But I am twenty and it suits me perfectly.

  Heidi too looks the same in her clothes. Her dresses and Tim’s clothes were still in the nanny’s quarters.

  Bastion scowls at me, "I can’t believe you have regular underwear on under that."

  I shake my head, "I can’t wear the other kind. I'm used to boy shorts. I can’t go back, okay?"

  He chuckles; it's not the same one as before. It's stuffy and very controlled, "I too will miss the freedom of regular clothing. I loved the clothes of the New World. I think that’s not the only thing I'll miss."

  He sighs and grabs my hand, pulling me down the hallway, "We need to hurry. I need to see if my brother has survived your sister." As we round the corner, it hits. Every painting and sculpture has a memory linked to it. I run my hands along the head of a horse statue, feeling the smooth metal under my hand. I remember the coolness of it and the way it caught on my sleeves when I was ten. It catches the sleeve of my dress, the very same way, making a happy tear roll down my cheek. I look around, spinning in a circle of disbelief. I am home. I am home after the world's longest journey, and like Bastion, I cannot describe where or when we are. Just that we are not from there, Lakeland.

  The walls are the same. Every nick in them is like a nick in my heart. I brush a finger along the plaster where Baylor pushed me. We were fooling around, and when she shoved me I stumbled, scratching the plaster with my ring. I l
ook at Heidi and tears stream my face, "You were angry—you were so angry when we scratched the wall."

  She rushes to me, sobbing into my hair, "My sweet girl, you have come back to me." I let her hug me and console me.

  A voice that tugs at a different place in my heart speaks. "Lynnie?"

  I turn away from my nurse to see Sam. He is wild-eyed and confused. "Where are we?"

  I step to him, "How?"

  He shakes his head, "I don’t know. I got to Mary's just as that huge guy shoved you into the mirror. I saw it with my own eyes . . . you vanished. I jumped him, but I fell into the window and fell out here.”

  I take his hands in mine, "You’re okay. We're safe. This is my home."

  He frowns, "You sound weird."

  When I open my mouth, I smile instead of speaking again with the accent I suddenly seem to have. He pulls me into him, "Where are we?"

  Bastion looks at him with a grin, "Remember that story I told you?"

  I feel Sam swallow hard. "I must have hit my head. This is a dream."

  I pull him back, grabbing his cheeks firmly and press my lips against his cheek. He pulls back, shaking his head in small twitches. "What are you doing?"

  "I am no Lake or Lachlan. I am Erralynn Joelle Devereaux. I am to be the Duchess of Red Falls and I am royalty." The tone scares even me. I almost want to hate him for the memories I still have linked to the poor, sad little Lake girl. But I know it is not him, he was always good.

  His blue eyes are filled with worry, "Lynnie?"

  I laugh, holding a hand to my lips, "I was a sassy little thing."

  Bastion starts to laugh, "You were a brat."

  Heidi nods, "But we loved you. You were precocious and entertaining, always the life of the party, even at ten."

  “But I am not ten. I am twenty. She has stolen ten years of my life and left me alone in the dark for all of them.” I drop to my knees, still adjusting, "Why did she do this to me?" I see Bastion move, but he isn’t as fast as Sam. Sam kneels in front of me, "You weren’t alone for ten years. I was there. Trust me. I was. Now we need to go home, Lynnie. This is a dream. We need to wake up."