by Polen, Teri
Mona held out a silver medallion on a long, black leather cord. It was about 1.5 inches in diameter, with a black background, and several silver circles surrounding four small stars of David. Dangling in front of me, it caught the late afternoon sunlight, the glint from the silver momentarily blinding me.
“This is called The Magic Circle of Solomon. Wear it at all times to protect you from evil spirits. Don’t even take if off when you shower or sleep.” I nodded as Mona placed it over my head, the amulet settling just above the level of my heart, then she swung back to her desk to pick up ….. twigs of grass tied together?
“Would this be for medicinal purposes or can anyone have some?” Finn asked.
Lindsey’s eyes shot lasers at Finn as she shook her head. Mona made an unsuccessful attempt to hide her laughter.
“This is a smudge stick made of mountain sage, sweetgrass, and cedar. Light this and let it burn while you walk through your house, spending more time in the areas where Sarah lingers. This will help with purification and banishment. Remember, Cain, these are not permanent solutions, but may aid in keeping Sarah a safe distance from you.”
I released Lindsey’s hand and rubbed my face. Although unconscious for nearly twelve hours, I’d never felt so tired in my life. “Is there anything we can do? Something to get rid of her permanently?”
Mona sighed heavily. “Yes, there’s something that will most likely work and is only used in the most dangerous situations. In your case, it would be very difficult, and maybe impossible.”
The corner of Finn’s mouth quirked up - he always loved a good challenge. “Name it. We’ll figure it out somehow,” he said.
“In order to remove Sarah from this plane, you need to find her grave, salt her remains, and burn them. This series of actions will cause her to move on.”
Lindsey gasped. “But that would mean asking Jacob and Nathan where they buried her…”
“….and getting them to confess to what happened.” I finished.
“Well, that sucks,” Finn added.
“Exactly,” Mona said.
Chapter 23
“How are we going to get Jacob and Nathan to tell us where the body is and incriminate themselves? They’ll never believe us if we tell them about Sarah,” Lindsey said, chewing her lip.
After leaving Mona’s, we’d stopped at Jake’s Shrimp Shack for takeout, then driven back to Finn’s in hopes of formulating a successful game plan. Which was next to impossible. Why would two teenagers readily confess to murdering someone?
We’d looked online for updates on Liam’s death. The police had confirmed he’d been murdered, but had no leads so far. They were asking people to come forward if they had any information regarding his death.
“Okay, let’s try thinking about this logically,” Finn said, right before shoveling golden brown fried shrimp into his mouth.
I nodded, stretching out in my chair, hands clasped behind my head. “If you have any ideas, I’d love to hear them.”
“Put yourself in their places right after Sarah fell down the stairs. You lured a girl out to a house under construction by lying to her and were possibly planning to rape her, or at least get her drunk and see where it led. When you realized she wasn’t buying into that, you panicked and tried to keep her from leaving. After scuffling, she either fell or was pushed down the stairs, and now you have a body. Calling the police isn’t an option, because you’re probably responsible for her journey down the stairs. You can’t leave her there - she might be traced back to you if her body is found.
“Putting her in the trunk of the car and taking her body somewhere else is too big of a risk. You’re already at a construction site where dirt has been moved around and displaced and there’s a wooded area behind it. Who’s going to notice some more churned up dirt?”
I’d like to say none of this had previously occurred to be me due to lack of sleep and temporary loss of control of my brain and body, but that wasn’t entirely the truth. I’d never really thought about it. Of course Sarah was buried around my house somewhere. They couldn’t have taken her body very far. The massive basket of fried shrimp and greasy fries I’d consumed wasn’t sitting so well now.
“Have you noticed something around your house that could be a grave, Cain?” Lindsey asked.
“Well, I can’t say looking for shallow graves in my backyard has been at the top of my to-do list. Then again, maybe I’ve walked right by it every day and never noticed.”
Finn collected empty to-go boxes to throw away, tossing them in the trash can in the corner. “Maybe we should try and find her body ourselves first. Then we could avoid that whole awkward conversation with Jacob and Nathan of where they hid it.”
Lindsey knitted her brows. “But Sarah is probably coming after them next. Maybe even while we’re sitting here. Don’t you think we should warn them?”
Finn barked out a laugh as he flopped back on the couch. “How do you imagine that conversation going, Lindsey? ‘Hey, Jacob. The vindictive spirit of the girl you might have killed has returned and just embarked on The Reprisal Tour. You’re one of her guaranteed stops, but you probably won’t live long enough to tell anyone about it. Thought you’d like to know. Oh, and by the way…where did you put her body? We need to dig her up, salt the remains, and then torch them to get rid of her.’ Does that sound about right?”
“You left out the part where he beats the crap out of us.”
“I was going with the assumption that his beating the crap out of us was a given. Sorry, Cain. How did you see the conversation going, Princess?”
Lindsey’s mouth was set in a hard line. This wasn’t going to be pretty. “Maybe I’d handle things a little differently. Something like, ‘Jacob, you may want to tell me to get away from you or have me locked up, but what I’m about to say could save your life. I don’t know exactly what happened with you and Sarah Butler and I’m not accusing you of anything, but her spirit is still here and she’s out for vengeance.
“As proof, I know details of what happened the night she died. She was responsible for Liam’s death and you or Nathan are probably next. We want to help you and to do that, we need to know where Sarah’s remains are before she hurts someone else.’ It sounds a little better coming from someone who has a touch more sensitivity than a brick. Does that sound about right, Sunshine?”
This needed to be stopped before the two of them threw down in the middle of the floor. “In the interest of dodging a confrontation with Jacob and Nathan and preventing my best friend and girlfriend from killing each other, leaving me to handle everything on my own, how about we search for the grave on our own tomorrow and then go from there? Right now, I need to get home and burn the grass twigs Mona gave me.”
Finn clenched his jaw and gave a barely perceptible nod, although his expression was one of admiration. Finn also enjoyed worthy opponents.
“Of course,” Lindsey said, her hand finding its way into mine. It was then I realized I’d just called her my girlfriend. Maybe I should have asked her first, but the way she was beaming told me she didn’t disagree.
. . . . .
Mom had taken Maddie to a movie, so Finn and I had the house to ourselves, with no one bothering us and asking questions while we ‘smudged’. Strange word, but I didn’t care what it was called as long as it worked. I’d planned on doing this by myself, but after my experience with Sarah last night, Finn and Lindsey didn’t want me to be alone. Although I’d love nothing more than to have Lindsey come over and help me smudge, then spend the night, I didn’t think that would fly with Mom. So I was stuck with Finn. Not that I was complaining. The thought of being alone in the house with Sarah sent shivers up my spine.
“I hope we don’t run into Sarah while we�
�re doing this,” I whispered.
“Yeah, wouldn’t that be embarrassing. Or life-threatening. Why are you whispering?”
Finn had a point. Why was I whispering? Like Sarah wouldn’t know if we were in the house anyway? “I don’t know why I’m whispering, but if we ran into her, I guess we’d know for sure if the protection amulet worked, right?”
Mona had said to start smudging where Sarah spent the most time, so we began in the attic. Once the twig bundle was lit, it gave off a nice, woodsy aroma. Since its purpose was to drive spirits away, I’d expected something more – offensive, I guess, closer to sulfur and brimstone. But considering the potential final destination of Sarah’s soul, she might have felt more at home with that smell and less likely to exit the building.
We trudged slowly around the attic, lingering in the corner where Sarah’s blood was found, then made our way down the stairs to my bedroom without any sign of her. Maybe the smudging thing worked instantly. Wouldn’t that be sweet. The new smell in the house grabbed Eby’s attention and he and his inquiring mind trailed us through each room.
“So Eby tried to protect you last night?”
“He tried. He usually speeds out of here at Mach 10, you’ve seen him, but this time he tried to attack Sarah. I haven’t decided if he was courageous or stupid,” I said, rubbing Eby’s head as he snaked around my legs in a figure eight.
We’d just gone through the last room and extinguished the smudge stick in the kitchen sink, when the laundry room door burst open and Maddie bounced into the room. I hadn’t heard the garage door open, I’d been so distracted. “What’s that weird smell?” she asked, crinkling her nose like a rabbit.
Finn scooped her up in his arms, tickling under her chin. “It’s my new cologne, baby girl, don’t you like it?” Maddie was giggling so hard, she couldn’t answer.
“What is that smell, Cain?” Mom asked, dropping her keys and purse on the counter.
“Um, Eby left me a litter box mess of epic proportions and it’s a new air freshener I picked up somewhere.” A perfectly believable excuse. Sometimes the smells emanating from Eby’s litter box seemed otherworldly.
“It’s very pleasant. Reminds me of the forest. Alright, Maddie, time for your bath and then bed.”
Finn was still holding her, but she’d caught her breath from all the tickling. “Can’t I stay up a little while longer? Please?”
“Don’t you remember where we left off in the book last night? When the black dog dragged Ron under the Whomping Willow? The sooner you get in the bathtub, the sooner we can see what happens,” I said.
“Oh! That’s right! I’m going, Mom - see you in the bathroom!” Maddie wriggled out of Finn’s arms, then scampered down the hallway.
“Thanks, Cain. Sometimes I wonder how long she’d go without bathing if I didn’t force her every night,” she chuckled. “Maddie and I already ate, but there are leftovers from last night in the fridge for you boys if you’re hungry.”
. . . . .
Half an hour later, after Finn and I had wolfed down leftover lasagna, Maddie was tucked into bed and we continued reading The Prisoner of Azkaban. When we’d been smudging the house, something had occurred to me. I’d only seen Sarah in the attic and my bedroom, but what if she’d been in other areas of the house? What if, God forbid, Maddie had seen her? If she had, I’d like to think Maddie would have said something, but she wasn’t easily scared by things that disturbed other kids her age. She’d walked in on me watching horror movies more than once, and probably would have hidden and continued watching if I hadn’t noticed and kicked her out.
It’s not like Sarah could use Maddie the way she’d used me – I mean, as Sarah said, with my concussion, it was like throwing out a welcome mat for her to come on in and make herself at home. Maddie was just a little girl, and even if Sarah was able to take over Maddie’s body, what could she do? It’s not as if Maddie was in high school and Sarah would be able to spy on Jacob and Nathan. Apparently, Sarah didn’t need someone else’s body for her murderous errands now anyway. Still, I wouldn’t put it past her to try and scare Maddie for her own deranged amusement.
“Maddie, I know some parts of this book can be a little dark for smaller kids, but have you had any bad dreams after we’ve read or imagined you saw things in your room?”
Maddie puckered her mouth, eyes rolling up and to her right, searching her memory. She was wearing pajamas from her current favorite movie, Frozen. She’d made me watch it with her every night for a week after the DVD came out, so I could probably recite it from memory. Fairy tale cartoons weren’t really my thing but, I had to admit, Olaf was one cool snowman.
“Nope. I don’t think I’ve had any bad dreams.”
“And you haven’t seen anything weird in your room?”
“Well, sometimes Eby is weird, the way he lays on his back with all his paws in the air. My friend, Kaitlyn, says only dogs are supposed to sleep like that, not cats.”
“Yeah, he’s strange sometimes, but I guess Kaitlyn hasn’t been lucky enough to have a cat as awesome as Eby.”
“She said he’s fat, too, but I said he’s just over-fluffy, right?”
“Right,” I chuckled. Maybe Sarah, for whatever reason, hadn’t been in this part of the house. “Maddie, if you have a bad dream or think you see something scary, you know you can come and get me, right? Any time something scares you.”
Maddie got up on her knees and hugged me, her arms tight around my neck, and I held her close, her freshly washed hair smelling of oranges. “You’re a pretty good big brother, Cain. Some of my friends say their brothers are mean to them, but I always say how nice you are to me.”
“Thanks, Maddie.” Geez, this kid was going to make me cry. “Alright, let’s get you tucked in again.” I pulled the covers up to her chin, kissed her on the forehead, and turned on her nightlight. “Love you, Maddie.”
“Love you, too, Cain.”
Chapter 24
I woke in the middle of the night in a cold sweat, pulse racing, with a deep in my gut certainty that something wasn’t right. Raising my hand to my neck, I groped for the talisman, frantic it might have fallen off while I’d slept. Exhaling in relief, I gripped its hard, compact shape, warm from lying against my skin, and felt a small amount of comfort.
Surveying the room, I squinted at the corners draped in shadows, praying Sarah wasn’t there. I noted the closed attic door, and she wasn’t sitting on my bed, or standing at the foot of it glaring at me, as she had before. Finn was on the futon across the room and shifted in his sleep. Surprisingly, I could hear his soft snores over the blood rushing through my veins.
Unable to see anything out of the ordinary, I convinced myself it was only a nightmare that woke me, and my body was just confused. Then I heard her guttural voice.
“What did you do?” Sarah hissed.
I bolted upright in my bed, frantically searching for her, and in the back of my mind, I remembered how as a young boy, I’d always been terrified something was under my bed, waiting to grab my ankles with its icy, bony fingers, then pull me under the bed with it, as I kicked and screamed in horror. What if Sarah was under there, just waiting for me to try and leave the room? To preserve my sanity, part of my mind built a wall, insisting that scenario couldn’t happen. The other, more twisted and creative section provided me brief flashes of all the ways Sarah could kill or torture me as I lived out my worst childhood fear.
Knowing that she was here somewhere, but being unable to find her was almost as unsettling as actually seeing her. Then I caught a flash of something in my peripheral vision, but had trouble grasping what I saw. Sarah was partially on the ceiling facing me, backed into the corner by my bedroom door, her legs pinned against the wa
ll. The palms of her gray hands, appearing very solid now, were pressed to the wall as if holding her in place, her facial features twisted in anger. Waves of hatred rolled off her, threatening to drive me into the mattress, helpless against her.
“What did you do, Cain?” she hissed even louder.
Lunging for the nightstand, I fumbled for the lamp switch but, as my attention was on Sarah instead of watching what I was doing, only succeeded in toppling over the lamp, hearing the tinkling of the bulb breaking as it hit the floor. The switch to the overhead light was almost directly under Sarah, and no way was I getting that close to her, so I was stuck with only the faint light filtering through the window.
“Wh….what do you mean?” I stuttered, struggling to find my voice as I pushed myself against the headboard of my bed.
Shuffling from the other side of the room told me Finn was awake. “Mother of God,” he croaked. And Finn wasn’t a religious kind of guy.
“I’m bound to this corner and can’t leave the house or go to the attic. What have you done to me!” she growled.
Wait, what was that off in the distance shining very faintly? Could it possibly be a glimmer of hope? Had the smudging really worked?
And then I noticed something that sent the twinge of hope galloping off into the sunset. Sarah had dark stains on her arms and backs of her hands, streaks that were never there before. While she was immobile and I was safe for the moment, I needed to know the truth. The question had to be asked. “Sarah, did you have anything to do with Liam’s death?”
Her lips curved into a hideous smile, and I knew the truth without hearing her confirmation. She’d killed him, or had somehow been responsible for his death.
“Yes, Cain, I killed Liam, and he deserved it. Don’t look so shocked. You had to know it was going to happen.” She was gloating, radiant at taking Liam’s life. My veins turned to ice, my body feeling cold deep to the core.