by Jasmine Walt
“Okay. You win that one,” I laughed softly. “At least we can be freaks together.”
Ethan kissed me. “Together.”
19
“You look tired,” Marie observed the next morning at school. “You up late with Ethan…or Mike?”
“Mike?” I questioned, twisting the combination lock on my locker. “Why in the world would I be with Mike?”
Her lips curved into a smile. “Maybe you got bored with Ethan.”
Laney raised an eyebrow. “Have you seen Ethan? I don’t think she’s gonna get bored with him anytime soon.” She shook her head and put her bag down.
Marie flipped her hair. “Whatever. I saw you and Mike together at that party.”
I rolled my eyes. “He followed me. And I left with Ethan. You know that.” I pulled open my locker. Why was Marie acting strange? I didn’t like the energy that was coming off of her. It was like she was jealous. Was it me or was she hoping I had been with Mike? She would have loved to catch me doing something I wasn’t supposed to do, wouldn’t she? I hung up my coat. Marie was a friend…I didn’t want to think bad thoughts about her.
With a smile, I turned to her. “So, yes. I was up late with Ethan last night.”
“Did you do it yet?” Marie asked, her tone almost mocking.
“Not yet.”
Marie smirked. “You better hope Ethan doesn’t get bored with you then.”
I took in a deep breath. “I think I made him pretty happy last night,” I said back. Ethan wasn’t like that. We messed around, but he was in no rush to have sex. He respected me, and I liked him even more for that.
“Hey,” Laney said, wanting to break the tension. “Want to take antiquity photos for class this week?” she asked me.
“Sure. It’s not due yet, is it?” I grabbed my books.
“Not till right before Thanksgiving, but I want to get it done.”
Laney and I said bye to Marie and walked down the hall to photography class.
Mr. Jancovich was out sick, so instead of learning about a new photo technique, we had to watch a boring slideshow while the substitute teacher sat at the desk playing on her iPhone. We were being quizzed over the slideshow at the end of class, forcing us to pay attention. I propped my head up on my hands and tried to watch. I had worked my ass off to get good grades—good enough to be on track to graduate a semester early and get the hell away from this place as fast as I could.
Only minutes into the film, my eyelids grew heavy. This whole not-getting-enough-sleep thing was really starting to kick my butt. Darkness enclosed my vision as my eyes shut.
I was lying in a grassy field. I felt happy. I felt safe. I felt free. The sun reflected off a pond in the distance. A warm breeze swayed the tall weeds. No one knew where I was. This was where I went to escape.
But there was something wrong. There was something lurking in the shadows. Only I had no idea I was in danger. It was coming closer, and I was laying there, face turned up to the sun.
Suddenly, Laney elbowed me, waking me up from my dream. “What are you drawing?”
“Huh?” I looked down. When did I pick up my pen?
“That’s really creepy, Annie.” Her eyes were on the notebook in front of me.
“Shh! No talking!” the sub yelled at us. I didn’t care. Fear crept down my spine. Staring up at me from my notebook was the bird-demon from my nightmare.
“I’m telling you, there is no way I drew this,” I told Ethan as I sat on the couch at his house. “My art skills top out at stick people, hearts, and stars.”
Ethan examined the picture, bringing the notebook close to his face. “This is what they look like?”
“Yeah. Sunken black holes for eyes, that creepy beak with nostrils, and the gross skin.”
Ethan tossed the notebook aside and picked up a stack of dingy books that his family had collected through the years. Some weren’t in English, and most were handwritten journals from Order members. He handed one to me.
“Time to look for the bird-demon?” I asked.
“Unfortunately.” We settled on the living room couch together, leafing through book after boring book.
After half an hour of finding absolutely nothing, Ethan took the book out of my hands and dropped it on the ground. He grabbed my feet and pulled me towards him until I was stretched out on the couch. He moved over top and pressed his lips to mine.
The door that led from the garage to the kitchen opened and slammed closed, rattling the walls. Ethan didn’t stop kissing me. Someone stomped past us and up the stairs, and David loudly cleared his throat, shuffling around in the kitchen.
With a frustrated groan, Ethan broke away and sat up. I ran my hands over my hair. Ethan pulled me into his lap as David walked in, stopping behind the couch. He stared at my notebook on the coffee table.
“This your artwork?” he asked Ethan.
“No, Annie drew it. Well, not completely. She was channeling,” Ethan answered.
“It’s really detailed.” He came around and sat down next to us, picking up the notebook. I wondered if the PDA between Ethan and me offended him. I hoped not, because Ethan wasn’t letting me go…not like I wanted him to.
“I’ve had dreams about them. Bad, creepy dreams,” I informed David.
“What do they do in the dreams?” he asked.
“They’re doing some sort of ritual, and then they try to kill me.”
David nodded. Then he turned and walked out of the room without a word. I grabbed a book from the coffee table and curiously turned the pages of an old leather journal about water demons. I shuddered and shut the book. Swimming wouldn’t ever be the same.
Julia called us in for dinner about half an hour later. Ethan jumped up, extending a hand for me. I took it, allowing him to pull me to my feet.
“After dinner, do…” he asked. I could see his lips moving but his voice kept getting quieter and quieter, like someone was slowly turning down the volume. My heart pounded in my head as the scene changed around me.
I was walking down the basement stairs in the Victorian again. Someone screamed in pain.
“Why are you doing this? No, no, please, no!” Then I heard a sickening crunch, and the person cried out in pain again.
I slowly descended the last stair. Three robed figures were gathered around someone who was chained to the floor. A white light flashed, blinding me. When I could see again, I was the one chained to the floor. The bird-demons were sitting around me, chanting.
My eyes flew open, viewing the room from the floor. Ethan, Julia, and David were looking down at me. I sat up and felt instantly dizzy.
“What happened?” I felt confused.
“You fainted,” Ethan said.
“I don’t faint.” I looked up at him. His eyebrows were pushed together in concern. Everyone looked at me, apparently waiting for an explanation. “I had a dream, I think.” If I could call it that. Didn’t I have to sleep to dream? “About the creepy bird-demons.”
“Were you in the basement again?” Ethan asked. I nodded.
“This needs to be checked out,” David instructed. Julia and Ethan agreed.
“Did you go in the basement at all when you were in Indiana?” Julia asked.
“Yeah, I just looked around. It was empty and boring, so I didn’t spend much time there.” And it had creeped me out, but no one needed to know that.
“You said the attic was full of boxes, right?” Ethan asked.
“Yeah.”
“But you didn’t go through all of them?”
I shook my head. “I didn’t have time.”
He looked at Julia and his dad. “I think we need to go back into the basement, check to see if any sort of ritual has been performed there. And the boxes,” he turned back to me, “there might be something, more books, a journal, something that can give us a clue.”
“Good idea.” David gave an approving nod. “The sooner the better. This quiet before the storm isn’t going to last much longer.”
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Ethan walked me to the front door of my house to make sure I got in safely. But once there, he followed me up the stairs and waited with me while I let Hunter out back. “We should go this weekend,” he said.
“I don’t know if I can,” I said, watching Hunter run to the back of the yard.
“Annie, the Pricolici are one thing, but the way these dreams are taking over…” His voice trailed off. “Remember when I said that sometimes you really will be in danger?”
I looked into his eyes. “Yeah.”
“Well, I think this is one of those times. I can’t see the connection yet, but something is trying to get to you. And they are trying really, really hard since they had to break through all the protective wards laid on our house.”
An unreal sense of fear made me feel like I was floating above my body, watching this conversation happen. “What do I do?”
“Stay vigilant. Keep the dagger close, practice moving things with—” He tapped my forehead. I nodded.
“What about school? Is anything going to attack me there?”
“I don’t know. Probably not. These things tend to not like crowds.”
“You don’t sound too sure of yourself.”
Ethan wrapped his arms around me. “That’s ‘cuz I’m not.”
I closed my eyes and rested my head on his chest. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
I looked up at him, surprised he didn’t know what I was talking about. “For everything. For staying with me, for helping me, for your family not only welcoming me but helping me too. You’ve done so much for me.”
He sat down on the deck and motioned for me to sit too. He positioned me in front of him, between his legs. He gently pulled me to him, so my back was resting on his chest. We intertwined our arms. Being wrapped up in Ethan’s body made me feel warm and safe.
“Annie,” he began. “You do know that I’m not only with you because of the whole supernatural stuff, right?”
“I had hoped.” I looked behind me and up into his eyes. He smiled.
“You are the most amazing girl I’ve ever met. And not that I wish demons upon you, but being able to share my messed up world with you makes us possible.”
I held onto Ethan tighter.
“I’m not helping you because it’s my duty and you’re a job. I’m helping you because I can’t stand the thought of anything bad happening to you. Annie.” He moved my shoulders so I was facing him. “You have no idea how happy I am just to be with you.” He tenderly cupped his hands around my face. “I love you, Anora.”
I gazed into his brown eyes. “I love you too.”
“Any luck?” I asked Ethan that next day as we walked into the kitchen of my parents’ house.
He shook his head. “Nope. None of my dad’s Order connections have seen that bird-demon before. I had a hell of a time coming up with a believable lie about why I was looking.”
“You didn’t tell them the truth?”
“No,” he said. “My dad said I shouldn’t tell other Order members that you’re a witch. He said they’d pester you too much about the dagger and demons.”
“Oh,” I said, raising my eyebrows. That was a little strange. Wasn’t collaborating and killing demons together worth a little pestering? “Now what?”
“We keep doing what we were doing. Research and be on the lookout. You’re going to talk to your parents about going back to Indiana today, right?”
“I’m gonna try,” I said and looked at the clock. I was hungry, and neither of my parents was home yet. If I wanted dinner, I’d have to make it myself. After a few minutes debating what sounded good versus what was easy to make, I decided on Italian sausage and spaghetti.
I filled a pot with water and set it on the stove. I flicked the burner on but didn’t wait for the water to heat up before dumping a box of noodles in. Ethan stood behind me. He slipped his hands around my waist and kissed my neck. I closed my eyes and leaned my head back.
I extended my hands, conjuring energy to make the water boil. I smiled when I felt the heat and turned around to kiss Ethan. The kitchen door opened, and Mom, wearing a white lab coat, walked into the kitchen.
“Hey, Mom,” I called.
“Hi, honey. Hello…” She trailed off, eyes flicking to Ethan’s arms around me. “…Ethan.”
“Good evening, Mrs. Benson. How are you?” Ethan asked, his arms still around me. I gently elbowed him away.
“Oh, tired as usual.” She took off the lab coat. “Is Anora really making dinner?”
“I can cook, you know,” I told her.
“Of course you can, but you never do. I should get out the camera,” Mom joked.
“Hey, Mom?” I asked, turning to look at my mother. “Is it okay if I go back to my house in Indiana? Ethan will be with me, so I won’t be alone.”
Mom stared blankly into space for a few seconds before answering. “Sure, sounds like fun.”
The look on Ethan’s face was priceless. I turned back to the stove to cover my silent laughter. “You’re okay with me being alone with my incredibly attractive boyfriend all weekend? All alone, just the two of us, right?”
“Of course, sweetie, why wouldn’t I be?”
Ethan looked at me in bewilderment. I crouched down to get a pot from the cabinet under the counter. He knelt down too.
“What did you do?” he whispered.
“Agreeance spell. Pretty awesome, isn’t it?”
20
The sun was rising when we pulled onto the gravel driveway. A sense of belonging filled my heart when I looked at my white Victorian house. We were both exhausted from the long drive. I wanted to get inside and collapse into bed.
“You weren’t kidding when you said this place was big,” Ethan said as he got out of the truck and grabbed two suitcases. I unbuckled Hunter and debated letting him run loose or not. I decided to go ahead and let him and watched him carefully as he ran around, tail wagging wildly as he smelled his new surroundings. I grabbed the remaining bags and joined Ethan on the porch. I set the bags down and patted my pockets.
“Oh my God. I left the key at home!” I said as seriously as I could. Ethan’s eyes widened. “Just kidding!” I pulled it out of my back pocket.
“I would have kicked the door down,” Ethan said. Hunter sprang up the steps and pushed ahead of me as soon as the door was open, wanting to be the first to check everything out. Before Ethan and I lugged the suitcases upstairs, we joined Hunter in making sure the premises were indeed safe.
After using the bathroom, Ethan stripped down to his dark green boxers and collapsed into bed. I hastily washed my makeup off and did the same. I pressed myself close to Ethan’s bare chest. He wrapped his arms around me and kissed me. “Love you, Annie,” he whispered.
“Love you, too.”
We both quickly drifted into some much needed sleep, not waking until the afternoon. I woke up first at half-past one. I didn’t realize before how big the bed was; Ethan, Hunter, and I fit comfortably together. Ethan was laying on his stomach with an arm draped over me. I traced my finger over the lines of the pentagram, wondering whose zodiac symbols were inside the circle.
“Morning,” he said, his voice muffled by his pillow. He pulled me closer.
“Morning,” I said back, unable to keep from smiling. “Though technically it’s the afternoon.”
Ethan stretched. “Right. I forgot. We should start our search.” He made no attempt to get up. I ran my fingers through his hair. “Hungry?”
“Starving.” I had brought food for Hunter but didn’t bring anything more than snacks for us. “Want to go out for lunch?”
“Yeah. Do you know your way around town?”
I laughed. “Hardly.”
“But you were here before.”
“Only once.” I wasn’t always certain I could navigate my hometown of Syracuse without getting lost.
After showering and letting Hunter out, Ethan and I headed into town. We ate lunch and stopped at a
grocery store on the way back, deciding it would be easier to have food at the house. I went up to the master bedroom and got the dagger from my bag. I turned to see Ethan holding his preferred weapon.
“You brought a gun?” I asked incredulously.
“Uh, yeah. We don’t know what we might be facing.” Ethan seemed totally comfortable with that thing in his hands.
“I thought you couldn’t kill demons that easily.”
“You can’t.” He loaded the gun and stuck it in a holster that hung from his belt. “But shooting them is a good distraction, if all else fails.”
“That’s cheerful.” I pulled the dagger out of its sheath and ran my finger over the cool metals that made up the blade. I remembered something Ethan had told me the day the Pricolici attacked. “This was made for killing demons, wasn’t it?” I asked. He looked over to see what I was talking about.
“Yeah. That’s why you have the three metals: silver, copper, and brass make the blade, and the Coven Seal is inlaid in iron,” he explained.
“What’s so special about that?”
“It was forged with magic.”
No wonder it felt so smooth and seamless. It felt like it belonged in my hands. Was that from the magic too?
Since the basement had appeared in more than one dream, we went downstairs first. Feeling like I was stuck in a rerun of my nightmare, I opened the door and slowly went down the steps. I pulled the string to turn on the single light.
No rituals were going on. No one was being sacrificed. Ethan walked around slowly, looking for anything that could reveal to us what might have happened here. Hunter sniffed along the walls. I closed my eyes and tried to pick up on anything.
It took a great amount of effort to keep my mental shields up all the time, but I was used to it. Letting them drop made me feel naked. I exhaled, becoming completely still, and felt nothing. With my eyes still closed, I turned.
Nothing again.
It was a strange but welcome feeling to not sense a spirit. The dead lingered everywhere, the shadows of their old lives permanently cast even in the brightest of places. But here, there was a void.