Aislin heaves a huge sigh of relief. “Oh good, we can go in.”
I track her gaze to the front of the store and Laylen is beneath the entry waving us in. None of us speak as we climb out and enter the store, which fortunately doesn’t have any costumers but us.
The air smells like sage, as well as oregano, and the black and white checkerboard floor has the witch’s mark painted in the middle. Glass counters border the walls that display jewelry, candles, and incense. On the shelves, behind the counter, there are creepy, almost disturbing objects. The worst is a statue of a naked man and woman kneeling down in front of each other. Extending out of the woman’s back is a large spider with a set of fangs aimed at the man’s head.
Aislin browses the room, trailing her fingers along the glass. “Where’s Adessa?”
“She’ll be down in just a minute.” Laylen relaxes against a display case and his eyes wander to me. “You doing okay?”
I nod, feeling embarrassed because he knows—everyone knows—that I basically tried to rape Alex in the middle of the club. But Alex didn’t seem too eager to stop me either.
I walk around the room, wondering what it means. Had he been under a spell or did he really just want me? I come across a small glass ball filled with violet ribbons positioned in a stand. I peer down inside it, curious if I’ll see my future. Maybe I’m a Foreseer, although that can’t be true. I don’t have a mark.
“If you’re not careful, you might get stuck inside that.” Alex suddenly appears by my side and I jump, startled. “It’s a Foreseer’s crystal ball.”
I throw my hand over my accelerating heart. “Jesus! You scared the shit out of me.” I catch my breath and glance back at the ball. “So, this is what they look into to see the future.”
He nods and flicks his fingers against the crystal ball. “But they have to go inside to see the future. So please be careful. We don’t want you getting stuck in one.”
I lower my hand from my chest. “But I’m not a Foreseer.”
“Yeah, but you’re… different. I’m afraid the power inside you might set it off.” He raps his fingers on the crystal ball again. “In fact, you probably shouldn’t touch anything in here at all.”
“Including the floor,” I say with acerbity. “Because that seems like it would be very tricky.”
“That does sound pretty tricky.” He leans in toward me and drops his voice. “I think you know that’s not what I meant, so quit being a smartass.”
“Why? You’re being an ass.” I inch forward and invade his personal space and am rewarded with gratification when he jolts from the sparks that overwhelms us. “I don’t understand. One minute you’re being nice to me and the next you’re being a jerk.”
“That’s because I’m conflicted,” he states, touching the scratches on his neck.
“About what?”
“About doing what I want and what’s right.”
I’m about to ask him what he wants to do, but a woman stoops through the beaded entryway and steps into the room. She’s around thirty-years-old or so with cat-shaped eyes and her black hair flows to her waist and curls up at the ends. She wears a blue velvet dress, large hooped earrings, an array of metal bracelets, and her skin is the color of honey.
“It’s so nice to meet you all. I’m Adessa, the owner of this store and a second generation witch.” Her voice is smooth like silk. “Laylen told me that one of you is a witch yourself and is looking for a Vectum Crystal.” Her eyes land on me. “And I’m guessing it’s you?”
I shake my head and point at Aislin. “No, not me… her.”
“Hmm… that’s interesting.” She assesses me for a split second longer, and then turns to Aislin. “So, what particular one are you looking for, my dear?”
“Well, I’ve been using the purple amethyst.” Aislin rearranges her golden-brown hair so it will cover up the bite marks on her neck. “But since we have to travel a long distance, I think maybe the gold-leafed one would work better.”
Adessa twists the chain of her necklace around her finger. “How long of a distance is it?”
“I think about 500 miles,” Aislin says. “Give or take a few.”
Adessa unravels the necklace from her finger and walks behind the counter. “I think I have something that will work even better than the gold one.” She tips her chin up and draws an invisible rectangle in the air with her finger. One of the shelves flattens into the wall and disappears. My mouth drops agape as a door appears in its place. Adessa flicks her hand and the door swings open.
“After you,” Adessa says to Aislin with a motion of her hand.
Aislin bites down on her lip and tentatively steps inside. Adessa follows her, then a red light beams throughout the room and the door slams shut.
I’m teetering somewhere between fascination and terror. “Magic blows my mind.”
“If you think that’s fascinating, then wait until you start traveling to other cities and worlds.” Laylen strolls up beside me and rests his arm on the countertop.
I hop up onto the counter and cross my legs. “Other cities and worlds?”
He unfastens the clip on his leather watch and resizes the band. “Yeah, like the City of Crystal. The Underworld.”
“The Afterlife.” Alex strolls up on the other side of me with a look of possessiveness in his eyes.
“The Afterlife?” I ask, tugging the bottom of my dress down. “Like, The Land of the Dead.”
“Kind of.” He slides his arm along the counter until it touches my hip. I guess he’s conflicted again, but I wonder if he’s doing what’s right, or what he wants. Maybe the Keepers are making him get close to me. The thought nearly strangles me. I want him to want me, just like the song says.
“There are a lot of worlds for the dead,” Laylen says and hops up onto the counter beside me. He lets his long legs dangle to the floor as he nudges me playfully with his elbow. “One day, I’ll have to explain them all to you.”
Alex unexpectedly places a hand on my thigh and he draws me closer to him. “If she has questions, she can ask me.”
Laylen gives him an innocent look. “What’s the matter, Alex? Afraid she’ll hear the truth?”
Alex grinds his teeth and grips onto my leg harder. Laylen looks amused as he hops off the counter and then walks toward the other side of the room. “That’s what I thought,” he calls out.
Alex keeps hold of my leg, but stays quiet. I try to pretend that it isn’t making me think dirty thoughts, but there are so many sensations running between my legs that I’m pretty sure I could have an orgasm at any moment.
I need a distraction. “Why did Adessa think I was the witch?” My voice sounds raspy.
Alex gives me no relief as he slips his hand higher onto my thigh. “Probably because of your eyes.”
I absentmindedly touch the corner of my eye. “Are they that weird?”
“They’re weird,” he says as his hand brushes the hem of my dress. “But in a good way.” His fingers slip underneath the leather. “They’re mesmerizing.”
Sparks kiss my entire body, from my toes to my legs to my neck, and my back begins to curve forward. I think it will stop him, but instead he glances over at Laylen who is distracted by a box on one of the shelves. Then he delves higher until his fingers touch the edge of my panties.
“I can’t stop with you.” There’s a plea in his voice, like he’s begging me to make him stop. Like I have that kind of control of the situation. I’m helpless as my legs uncross and my body begins to recline back on the counter. It’s disturbing because Laylen is right there and I don’t care. All I want is for his fingers to search a little bit higher.
Alex makes this funny noise in the back of his throat and then my back brushes glass. The crystal ball rolls underneath me and I feel a current rush up my spine and slam into the nape of my neck.
Alex’s eyes bulge as his nails plunge into me. “Noooo!”
I feel my body being pulled into pieces, each limb disconnecting fr
om my center, as I’m sucked away into a blanket of darkness.
Chapter 14
I’m falling, deep and fast into an unknown place. Maybe it’s an abyss and I’ll never reach an end. Fear consumes me as I realize that I might spend the rest of my life falling.
A white light abruptly appears below my feet. As I plunge closer, it begins to shimmer like glass hitting the sunlight, brighter and brighter until it becomes so vibrant I have to shut my eyes. I tuck my knees to my chest as warmth swathes me. Then, I suck in a breath as my knees slam into the ground and plunge into moist dirt and grass.
My body flips forward and my face lands in the grass. My knees feel bruised, but I leap to my feet and take in the scenery. Orange and pink leaves skip across the grass, which stretches for miles until it reaches the trees. There’s also a lake and the water shimmers in the sunlight. The place is strangely familiar, but I can’t quite figure out why. It’s the same sensation I had when I drifted to the field with the mother and daughter. Was that what that was? A vision, like this? There hadn’t been a crystal ball, though.
I check to make sure my stitches are okay when a streak of purple whizzes by and I jump back with my hand against my heart. A little girl, wearing a purple dress, runs up to the shore of the lake and spins in the sand. She’s around four or five-years-old with long brown hair flapping in the wind. She kind of reminds me of the girl in the field. Her face is distorted by a haze.
“Don’t get too close to the lake,” a voice calls out from behind me.
I whirl around just as a boy runs past me with his arms stretched outward. He looks to be a few years older than the little girl. He has dark brown hair and his face is blurry also.
“You need to be careful,” he warns. “You don’t want to fall in.”
“Don’t worry,” the little girl replies, teeter-tottering at the edge of the water. “I’ll be careful.”
“Please, just move away,” he begs with his hand extended out to her. “You don’t know how to swim.”
She takes ahold of his hand and he leads her away from the lake. “You always save me.”
“I don’t understand,” I mutter.
“You two, get over here right now!” The sound of a man’s voice makes the color of the land around me dim and the hairs on my arms stand on end. He’s tall, husky, with jet-black hair similar to Marco’s. He wears a black button-down shirt, grey slacks and has a gold chain around his neck. And like the children, his face is also obscured.
He marches with confidence, each stride firm and in control. He’s intimidating and disturbs my nerves. “It’s time to go,” his voice ices out at the children. “Get your asses back to the castle.”
“Where are we going?” the girl asks as she clutches onto the boy’s hand.
“That’s none of your business!” the man bellows. “You never ask me questions. Do you understand?”
I hear the soft tread of approaching footsteps and then a slender figure dashes by me. She has long brown hair and she’s wearing a floral dress. I think it might be the mother and daughter from the field.
She scoops the girl up in her arms and hugs her protectively. “You stay the hell away from her!” she shouts at the man.
Her presence brings warmth to the darkness the man instilled and the two combine to create a recipe of emotions that makes me nauseous. I squat down to the ground, feeling like I’m going to throw up.
“This is not your decision,” the man snaps and, in two long strides, is standing in her face. “You knew when she was born that this would have to happen one day.”
“Mommy, I’m scared,” the girl whispers as she buries her head into her mother’s shoulder.
The mother smoothes back the girl’s hair and kisses the top of her head. “It’s going to be okay, sweetie. You don’t need to be scared. I promise I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“I’d like to see you try.” The man turns to the boy and points his finger at a hill. “Go inside, right now.”
The boy glances from the man to the girl, torn on what to do. “I don’t want to.”
“Don’t you dare mouth off to me!” the man shouts and the skin on his neck tints red. “Now, get your ass inside!”
“Sorry, sir.” The boy’s voice shakes as he bows his head and trudges up the hill toward a grey stoned castle with lofty towers and a peaking roof that stretches high into the clouds.
The man reels back to the woman. “Now, we can do this the easy way or the hard way.”
She stands defiantly, holding her daughter in her arms as she steps back. “You aren’t taking her anywhere. She’s my daughter, not yours. You don’t own everything in this world.”
“Bullshit I don’t.” He pauses and the woman continues to back away. “So it’s going to be the hard way, then.” He lunges at the woman and steals the little girl from her arms, even though the girl kicks and hits at him.
The woman screams as she reaches her arms out toward her daughter, but the man draws out a knife from his pocket and she freezes.
“You wouldn’t dare,” she whispers with her fists balled at her sides. “You need her too much.”
The man aligns the sharp point of the knife closer to the girl’s neck. “Hurting her won’t make her useless, just scarred.”
“Don’t hurt her,” the mother begs, clasping her hands in front of her.
The girl hovers back from the knife. “Momma, help me.”
Keeping a hold of the knife, the man reaches into his other pocket and pulls out a small black bag. “Or, if you want, I can use this?” He tips his head down at the girl. “Hey, sweetie, how would you like to go for a swim in the lake?”
The girl shrinks back. “But I can’t swim.”
“You’ll be fine,” the man coaxes as he begins to untie the bag. “Someone will be there to help you.”
“Knock it off!” the mother screams and storms towards them. “She’s just a little girl. And—and if you put her there, then you can’t get her back.”
The man laughs, throwing his head back, and shoves the woman back. “There are ways to get her back when I need her. She would probably be better off down there, anyway, until it’s time.”
The woman stumbles, but quickly stands back up. “Please don’t do this. Please.”
“Oh, I won’t; just as long as you get into the lake yourself,” the man says. “I’m giving you a choice. It’s either you or her.”
I leap to my feet. Go in the lake! Why!? Was he going to try and drown her? Fighting down the vomit burning at the back of my throat, I walk towards them.
“You’ll never get away with this.” Her voice is edging toward hysteria. “I know the real reason why you want her and, sooner or later, someone else is going to figure it out. You’ll never be able to get away with it.”
“Oh, I highly doubt it. I have everyone wrapped around my little finger.” He sets the girl down on the ground, puts the knife out in front of him, and points his finger at the castle. “Go inside now.”
She crosses her arms and elevates her chin. “I’m not leaving my mama.”
“Go!” the man hollers and crows caw from the trees.
The girl steps forward, getting closer to the man. “You are a very, very bad man.”
The man targets the sharp side of the blade at her face. “You think so?”
“Go on inside, sweetie,” her mother says and gestures her daughter to go. “It’s alright. Everything will be okay.”
It takes the girl a second, but she finally lowers her arms, and heads toward the castle. My heart breaks for them, knowing somehow that it will be the last time they’ll see each other. The girl will grow up motherless. There will forever be an empty hole in her heart and all she’ll want is to feel love, but maybe it will never be possible because this moment will shatter her.
There are so many similarities between the little girl and me, and I wonder if that’s why I’m seeing this vision. Am I going to meet the girl one day? Am I supposed to help her?
“Now it’s time to deal with you.” The man lets a pause drag out as birds caw in the distances and circle above our heads “Get in the lake.”
I shake my head. No. This can’t be happening. I don’t want to see this, yet, I can’t seem to stop running toward them.
“You’ve been planning this all along, haven’t you?” Her voice quivers as she backs toward the shoreline and the man matches her every step. He has the knife in one hand and the bag in the other. “Every single word that’s come out of your mouth has been a lie.”
“You know me well. Now quit stalling and get into the lake. Otherwise, I’ll have to force you in and that will make the situation unnecessarily painful.”
“You’re wrong about not getting caught.” She reaches the brink of the lake and the waves roll against her ankles. “There are people who you don’t have wrapped around your finger.”
“Then, I’ll have to take care of them as well.” He scoops out a handful of what looks like ash from the bag and then sprinkles it into the lake. It makes the water murky and still.
“Don’t think you’ve won.” She holds her chin high and submerges her legs into the lake. “Someday, it will all catch up with you.”
The water rises to her waist and the lake goes dead calm, like before a storm. The wind stalls and the birds become silent. It’s as if every part of nature knows something bad is going to happen. Like me. My legs fight to reach her, but I hear a swoosh and then the water splashes up. She plunges under the water, her arms flailing before they disappear. I let out a blood-curdling scream that ripples through the stillness. The man turns his back on the drowning woman and strolls away, whistling some funky tune that sounds like a mix between “It’s a Small World After All” and “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.”
Without even thinking, I jump into the lake, forcing my legs against the pressure as the cold water ascends higher upon my body. When it reaches my chest, I freeze, suddenly remembering that I can’t swim.
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