Forever Snow (The Everly Girls Book 1)

Home > Other > Forever Snow (The Everly Girls Book 1) > Page 8
Forever Snow (The Everly Girls Book 1) Page 8

by V. B. Marlowe


  I blushed. “Oh, okay.”

  Tate winked at me. “You’re too easy. Your old man’s super strict, so just tell him you’re going to the fair with Aubrey.”

  “Yeah, maybe.”

  “So, it’s just you and your dad, huh?”

  I felt a chill that had nothing to do with the weather. “Yeah.”

  “Where’s your mom, if you don’t mind me asking?”

  I did mind. A lot. I didn’t know anything about my mother, except that I’d killed her while she was giving birth to me. I didn’t know what she looked like outside of portraits I no longer had. I didn’t even know what her voice sounded like. I often wondered what she would think of me. Would she be proud of how smart and kind I was? When I was growing up, people were always telling me about my mother’s good heart and how she knew so many facts about a variety of subjects.

  Lost in my thoughts, I’d almost forgotten Tate’s question. “She died a long time ago,” I finally said.

  Tate sighed. “Damn. I’m sorry.”

  I nodded. Thankfully, he asked nothing else about her.

  “It’s pretty cold out here. I guess we should go back inside,” Tate said. I didn’t really want to, but we had been away from the party for a while. I didn’t want the other girls getting any ideas.

  I followed, or I should say wobbled, behind Tate to get to the house. Noelle’s ankle boots were killing my feet.

  Inside, a kid held up an empty bottle. “Let’s play spin the bottle! Everyone’s in.”

  My heart froze. My playing spin the bottle would end in someone’s death.

  “Shut up, Mikey! What are you, twelve?” Mia yelled from somewhere. That was the first and only time I appreciated anything she’d said. Thankfully, everyone else ignored Mikey’s request and went back to what they were doing.

  I excused myself to go upstairs and find a bathroom. The upstairs hallway was quiet except for a few party stragglers. All the action was happening downstairs. Most of the doors in the hallway were locked. There were two at the very end. I figured one of them had to be the bathroom.

  Across from the bathroom was another room with its door slightly ajar. Moaning and a girl’s playful giggles came from inside. A nagging feeling told me to mind my own business and continue to the restroom, but I had to know what was going on in there.

  Quietly, I stuck my head in. The room was an office. A girl sat perched on the desk with her long, willowy legs wrapped around a guy’s waist. Although her face was hidden from where I stood, I would know that teased hair anywhere. Aubrey. What was she doing here? Aubrey never hung out with Tate’s crowd. She was practically devouring some blond guy’s lips with insanely passionate kisses. Whoever he was obviously wasn’t her current boyfriend.

  The guy lifted her up a little more, jamming his mouth against hers. A yearning stirred within me. What did that feel like? I had no idea, and I never would. I was forever deprived of having those intimate moments with anyone—the kind where you don’t care what’s going on around you, and there’s no one else in the world except you and the person you can’t keep your hands off.

  The last thing I wanted was for Aubrey to see me watching them like some perv, so I backed away and went to the bathroom.

  Back downstairs I stood at the refreshment table and poured myself a cup of grape soda. I was looking around for Noelle when Aubrey stumbled down the staircase. Her reddish-brown hair was a tangled mess. She wore a white button-down blouse and short black leather skirt. The three bottom buttons of her shirt were undone, exposing her flat tummy and pierced navel.

  She squinted at me. “Neva?”

  “Yeah.”

  She stared me down for a few moments. My body tensed, anxious about what might come out of her mouth. “You look amazing.”

  I relaxed. “Thanks.”

  Aubrey’s smile faded. “So, you can hang out with these kids outside of school, but not me?”

  “No, it’s not like that,” I answered as Hadley joined us.

  She stepped between Aubrey and me. “Would you stop crashing our parties, slut?”

  Aubrey threw her hands in the air. “Oh, let the slut-shaming begin. Can’t you think of any other insults? And crashing? I was invited,” Aubrey said way too loudly. Her slurred speech and unstable balance told me she’d been drinking.

  “Get out,” Hadley said between clenched teeth.

  Aubrey pointed a finger in Hadley’s face, which was a terrible idea. “You can’t kick me out. This is not your house or your party. Tate! Tate!”

  “I so can’t deal with this,” she said as she strode away.

  I tried to calm my friend down. “Aubrey, can I get you some water or something?”

  She narrowed her eyes at me, and I took a slight step back. She’d never looked that way at me before. “You can’t get me anything, traitor!”

  “How am I a traitor? Because I came to a party? You’re here, too.”

  Aubrey poked me in the chest. “Because my date wanted to come here, so I said, ‘Why the hell not?’ Sure, I’ll go eat their food and drink up their liquor. It’s not like I have a friend who likes to hang out with me. I’m not here because I’m trying to fit in with some girls who’ve always treated me like crap!”

  She pulled away from me before I could respond. Like Henry, she was being completely unreasonable, and at that point, I wasn’t sure what to do about either of them. Aubrey was right, in a way. She’d been my friend since I’d moved to Rock Canyon, but I’d never hung out with her outside of school, and here I was spending time with people who’d never given me the time of day. I looked for Aubrey so I could explain, but I couldn’t find her anywhere. She and the blond guy had disappeared.

  It was after one o’clock in the morning when Noelle dropped me off at home. I promised to return her dress and shoes on Monday and thanked her for all she’d done for me.

  I showered and slid into my pajamas, wondering if I had done the right thing by going to the party. It wasn’t as bad as I’d imagined, but now Aubrey was pissed at me.

  I had been in bed for almost twenty minutes when a noise from the backyard startled me. It sounded like twigs snapping beneath someone’s feet. I always heard strange noises when Father was away on the weekends and I was home alone.

  Cautiously, I tiptoed to my window and peeked through the curtains. I heard another sound, like metal clanking against metal. Then a dark figure, one who appeared to be a medium-size boy wearing a hoodie and jogging pants, ran from one side of the yard to the other.

  Part 2

  Mirror, Mirror,

  Watch Them Fall

  8

  On Sunday morning, I made myself comfortable against the fence. I had the house to myself until Father returned that evening, and I wanted to ask Henry if I could make up for missing our movie marathon the day before.

  The heavy breathing from the other side of the fence told me he was there.

  “Hey, Henry.”

  No answer.

  “Henry, were you in my backyard last night?”

  “Why would I be in your backyard?” he asked finally.

  “I don’t know, but I saw someone. Someone in a hoodie.”

  “It wasn’t me.”

  I wasn’t sure I believed that, but nothing good could come from arguing with him, so I dropped it. “Want to do the movie marathon today?”

  “Oh, so now that you don’t have anything to do, you have time for me? Thanks for fitting me into your busy schedule.”

  “Henry, please don’t make this harder than it has to be. I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings. I’m trying to make it up to you.”

  “No, thanks.”

  “Why not?” I asked, trying to hide my impatience.

  “We’re not friends anymore. I wish you would stop coming to the fence. This was my place first.”

  I sighed, wondering how I could earn his forgiveness. As impossible as he was being, I’d broken a promise to him. I didn’t want to lose the best friend I’d ever had.


  “Henry, what can I do to make it up to you?”

  He was silent for a long time. “Tell me your secret.”

  My heart raced. “What?”

  “Tell me your secret. You said there’s a reason you’ll have to leave and why you can’t look in mirrors and why you like apples so much. Tell me.”

  I drew my legs to my chest and rested my head against my knees. “Henry, I can’t.”

  “Fine, then this friendship is over.”

  I bit my lip and decided to break Father’s number one rule—never tell anyone who you really are. Telling Henry the truth would change everything. “Henry, you have to promise not to tell anyone. I mean it. This isn’t any regular old secret.”

  He scoffed. “Who am I gonna tell? I don’t talk to anybody but you.”

  “Right, well, don’t tell your parents.”

  “I won’t tell them. I promise.”

  I stood and leaned my head against the fence. “I’m really old, Henry. Like more than two hundred years old. My name is Neva, but I’ve had many names before. I’ve been called Neve, Whitley, Yas, Rima, and other names I can’t remember. My life has been turned into some watered-down fairy tale. Parents read their children lies about me before they go to sleep. Girls dress up as me for Halloween. Over the centuries, people have changed and twisted my story so many times, even given it a happy ending, when in reality, it hasn’t ended yet.”

  “What are you talking about?” Henry asked.

  “I’m trying to tell you who I really am. Why I won’t always be here.”

  Henry sighed. “Go on.”

  “Once upon a time I was a princess. A real princess. My father and mother were king and queen of a kingdom called Eirwen. It was where Luxembourg is today. I had the life people dream about. I lived in a magnificent palace with servants and beautiful things and everything a girl could imagine. My mother died during my birth. She never even got to see me. I only know my mother through portraits and stories my father used to tell me. When I was six, my father remarried. His new wife was okay at first. I never got the sense that she loved me, but she was always kind. That changed when I turned fifteen. It seemed like overnight she started to hate me.”

  I paused. No sound came from the other side of the fence, not even Henry’s usual loud breathing.

  “Henry?”

  “I’m here.”

  I swallowed hard. “I’d always been told I was pretty, but when I turned fifteen, I really came into my looks. Everyone said I was the most beautiful girl in Eirwen—an unrivaled beauty like my mother had been. Coincidentally, that was when my stepmother’s feelings toward me changed. She was a beautiful woman also, so I don’t know why my beauty bothered her so much. Maybe she wanted to be the only beautiful woman in the palace.

  “One day while my father was away visiting another kingdom, she told me I was going for a walk with a strange man I had never seen before. She said he was a huntsman, and he was going to take me into the woods to show me a one-of-a-kind reindeer with snow-white fur and silver antlers that would bring me luck for the rest of my life. She knew how much I loved animals. The queen said the huntsman would catch it for me, and I could keep it at the palace with my other creatures. That seemed very strange to me at first, but I was curious to see if such an animal existed. I was so stupid. I should have known something was wrong. The man took me deep into the woods. The whole way I asked him how long it would be until we found the reindeer and why we weren’t looking for its tracks, but he didn’t say a word until we stopped.

  “He gripped the ax in his hand. He said, ‘I’m sorry I have to do this, but your stepmother ordered me to bring you out here and kill you.’ My stomach dropped. I knew she never loved me like she could love her own child, but I never dreamed she’d have me killed. Of course, I didn’t want to die, so I told the huntsman, ‘Please, don’t do this. Let me go. She’ll never know. I’ll never go back to the palace. I promise.’

  “The man shook his head. He said, ‘I can’t do that. She ordered me to bring back your heart. If I don’t, she’ll kill me and my family.’ I wept and told the man to do what he had to. I knew the queen’s orders weren’t negotiable. I turned around and prepared myself, but nothing happened. I looked behind me at the man and saw sadness in his eyes. ‘What?’ I asked him. The huntsman shook his head. ‘I have a daughter, too.’ He told me to run. Run as far as I could and never turn back. I asked him what he would do about my heart. He said he’d take it from an animal, and my stepmother would never know the difference. He told me not to worry.”

  Henry sneezed, so I stopped talking. I waited for him to blow his nose. “Sorry. Go ahead,” he said when he was done.

  “I ran through the forest until my feet couldn’t carry me anymore. I collapsed from exhaustion. When I woke up, I was in the house of an elderly couple. I told them my story. They were so kind and told me I could stay with them as long as I wanted, so I did. For three years, I was happy and safe. They treated me like their own child and protected me. The woman warned me not to ever open the door for anyone when they were away. I should have listened to her, but I didn’t, and it was the worst mistake I’ve ever made. There’s something I haven’t told you about my stepmother.”

  “What?” Henry asked.

  “She was a witch in disguise. She could change herself into anything. One day she changed herself into a harmless-looking old woman and came to the cottage. I have no idea how she found me, but she did. The witch offered me a juicy, delicious apple. I accepted it gratefully. As soon as I bit into it and swallowed a bite, she laughed cruelly. ‘What’s so funny?’ I demanded. ‘You’ve just eaten a curse,’ she replied.”

  “I tried to spit out the apple, but it was too late. The curse was in me. My stepmother said, ‘I should kill you for trying to escape me, but a never-ending curse will be much worse. Since you have hidden from me these three years, you will live the same three years of your life over and over again. You shall be fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, and nothing more. You will become so tired that you will want to die, but you won’t, even if you try to kill yourself.’ She grabbed my face roughly. ‘You think you’re so beautiful, so you shall never look at your face in a mirror again. That will teach you to not be so vain.’

  “She ran her finger over my lips. ‘And these delicate lips the color of blood—I curse them. Young suitors from all over will seek your hand in marriage, but you shall never experience the love of a man. Any kiss you give will contain the poison in that apple. Any person you kiss on the lips will immediately fall dead. And the huntsman who betrayed me will share in your curse. Since he refused to bring me your heart, he shall hopelessly crave hunting and removing the hearts of creatures. And you—you will be a slave to the flavor of apples.’

  “So she banished us, and for more than two centuries her curse has held true. My father, the man I live with, isn’t really my father. He’s the huntsman. We pretend to be father and daughter, because that’s the easiest way to explain our relationship. Because he spared my life, he gave up his own family. He had a wife, and a son and daughter who were younger than me. He never knew their fate—whether the witch hurt them or not. He never talks about them. I don’t even know their names. Anyway, he loves me and does everything a father would do. My real father died from typhus while I was in hiding. He died never knowing what really happened to me, and I didn’t get to go to his funeral.”

  Henry shifted. “So, your stepmother wanted to have you killed because you were the fairest in the land, right?”

  “Yes. The huntsman told me that afterward. She truly became the fairest after we were sent away. That’s how it happened. There were no dwarfs, no talking mirrors, no Prince Charming. Just a girl, a witch, a huntsman, and a curse. That’s why my father’s always gone on the weekends—so he can hunt. He just has to do it, like I have to eat apples.”

  Henry was quieter than I wanted him to be.

  “Henry, that’s not all. I wasn’t the only one cursed. Long ag
o, thirteen girls, some princesses like me, some ordinary girls, were cursed by a group of witches called the Crimson Coven. My stepmother was a part of it. The Crimson Coven is the most evil group of witches to ever roam the Earth. They decided to make a game of what they did to us. They made just ten elixirs that would break the curses, meaning there’s not enough for everyone. Each girl has a different task she must complete before she can earn one—a horrible, nearly impossible task. Once they’re all claimed, that’s it. If you don’t claim an elixir, you must live with your curse forever.”

  “So, what’s your task?” Henry asked.

  “I must bring her the heart of a teenager.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah.”

  “So why haven’t you?”

  “I can’t bring myself to kill an innocent person. Even if I did, I wouldn’t know how to bring the heart to the witch. I haven’t seen her since we were banished, but I know she’s around, watching my every move.”

  “Why did the witch curse you?” Henry asked.

  “Revenge. There was a period when witches were out of control. They were kidnapping children, burning down villages, cursing crops, and making life miserable for everyone just for their own amusement. They needed to be stopped. The kings of different lands, my birth father included, pooled their resources to get rid of them. They were hunted and destroyed all over the world. The Crimson Coven were the strongest and hardest to capture. They eluded all the traps. Soon, they were the only witches left, and they vowed revenge for the lives of their fellow witches. They did that by cursing princesses and children. They figured it would hurt the kings and the men who’d helped hunt them down if their children were the ones punished.

  “I really have to watch my back, Henry. It’s not just the witch I have to look out for, but the other girls. If you eliminate one of the thirteen cursed girls, you have a better chance of getting an elixir. Whenever I meet someone, I never know if they’re a normal person, an evil queen in disguise, or a cursed girl looking to kill me.”

  Henry was silent for a moment. “Wow. That’s a whole lot to carry.”

 

‹ Prev