A Girl Beyond (War of the Witches Book 2)

by Marjorie Weismantel

  “Hello, Tess. How are you?” she asked with a kind smile.

  “I’m OK. How are you, Mrs. Miller?” I responded.

  “I’m fine. Sorry to startle you. I was just leaving. If you’re here to see Ian, he’s in the family room playing video games.” Then she added with a lowered voice, “It’s good that you came, Tess. He’s really going crazy just sitting around. He’s acting as if he’s been locked in his bedroom for weeks.”

  I smiled at that. “It sounds like, other than suffering from extreme boredom, he’s OK?”

  “Yes, he’s on the mend. He’s lucky you’re here to cheer him up so just go right in. You can follow the hallway, go through the kitchen and turn left.” Mrs. Miller waved at me as she strode off.

  I proceeded down the hallway when, suddenly, a door on the right flew open and James came out. I obviously startled him because he just stood there and gaped at me. He was a shocking sight because he looked rather ridiculous with two black eyes and a bright red mark, probably a burn, on the tip of his nose. His head was totally shaved, most likely because his hair had been scorched like Tonya’s, which was unfortunate for him. He was the kind of guy who was great looking when he was in full possession of his carefully disheveled hair. I imagine that was one reason he was so full of himself. To make matters worse, his bald head was shaped like a pointed dome. Needless to say, a cone shaped head is unattractive. And, what was up with his eyebrows? They appeared to be unevenly singed. If he was wearing polka dots, he’d look like he was working for the circus.

  While we were standing there staring at each other, I could feel a laugh bubble up in my throat. Oh, please, God, stop me! Suddenly, the laughter burst out and turned into a loud giggle. Once that started, I knew I was sunk. I put my hand over my mouth to try to smother another round of giggling but it was hopeless. It was like trying to stop water from flowing down a mountain.

  James reacted with a roar of anger, “How dare you laugh at me!”

  “Ha, ha…, I’m sorry. I’m trying not to. I just can’t help myself,” I managed to say before I broke out into full blown laughter. I realized, too late, that it was a mistake to try to hold it in because when it inevitably escaped it would blossom into a full eruption.

  James went at me with a look of rage on his clownish face. I STILL couldn’t stop laughing. What the heck was WRONG with me? I should have a better sense of self preservation. I backed up to the wall and cried, “You stay away from me. I’m sorry I’m laughing. I’ll try to stop.”

  He grabbed both of my arms and started shaking me. (I should’ve listened to Eve and worn my brace. This wasn’t good.) He screamed, “This all is your fault!”

  Oh, crap, I think I’m in trouble. I started to scream so he put his hand over my mouth. I clamped my teeth over one of his fingers then I brought my foot down hard on his instep. He yelped in pain. He lifted his arm to backhand me so I turned my face toward the wall.

  “What the heck is going on in here?”

  James hesitated and turned slightly. Could that be Ian? I couldn’t see because James was blocking me. Suddenly, James was gone. It WAS Ian. He had grabbed James by his shirt. Then he proceeded to pummel him in his face, chest and stomach with his fists. James tried to fight back, but it was really quite pitiful. Ian was a much better fighter than James and he was obviously in better shape, probably from all the construction work. I knew I should step in and stop it, and I will … really, I plan on it … soon. I just wanted to watch Ian punch him for another minute or two first. THEN, I’ll stop him.

  Finally, I said, “Ian, you better stop. You’re going to hurt him.”

  “Yeah, I know,” he replied.

  “I understand, but you have to stop. Your mom would get really upset,” I added.

  “Oh, yeah, my mom. OK, OK, I’ll stop.” Ian finally stepped back. He glared at James who was on the floor and yelled, “What is WRONG with you? Why would you beat on a girl, especially on MY girl? Are you THAT jealous of me? Get away from me you, you TURD!”

  James actually crawled out of the hallway. I stifled another impulse to laugh. I’ve gotta stop this!

  “Tessie, I’m so sorry. I know my brother is a nut case, but I never thought he’d attack you. You wouldn’t think he was the older one. I don’t know what’s wrong with him. He has a history of trying to take what’s mine and when he doesn’t get it, he tries to destroy it.” Ian leaned back and examined me closely. “Are you OK? Did he hurt you?”

  He took my hand. “You’re trembling!”

  It was hard for me to concentrate while Ian was staring at me with his intense blue eyes. I shook my head. “No, I’m OK. I am glad that you got here when you did, though.”

  He came over and cradled my head against his chest, trying to calm me. His chin was rough from not shaving and he exuded that great man smell of woods and soap. (Why can’t they bottle that?) He gently backed me up against the wall and held my head between his hands. Then he pulled my head back down on his chest and tenderly stroked my hair and neck for a few minutes. He finally stepped back so he could look me in the eye, his hands lightly clasping mine. He was smiling so sweetly at me. Was that a rosy hue around his head? It was so light I couldn’t tell if it was his aura.

  Of course, I couldn’t just enjoy the lovely moment with Ian. I started thinking about the other night and how he was looking out the window at me while the lightning was flashing and there were three bodies flat out on his lawn. What did he see? I have to know.

  “Ian, what happened to your brother? He looks terrible.”

  “You didn’t know about the lightning strike in our front yard? It was pretty weird. I figured you may have heard about it at school.” Ian looked at me curiously.

  “No, I haven’t heard anything. Kids at school were talking mostly about what happened at the Tri Town Fair,” I answered in a level tone.

  Ian slowly nodded his head. “Yeah, I guess that would make sense. You know how we had ‘The Devil Dance’ going on Sunday night?”

  “What are you talking about? What’s ‘The Devil Dance’?” I asked.

  “It’s when there’s pouring rain accompanied by thunder and lightning that’s very close. That picked up right around the time you left yesterday,” Ian added.

  “Yeah, I remember. It did start to pour right around then,” I answered.

  “Well, you know how I told you that Tonya and Red helped me out at the Tri Town Fair? I guess they were coming here on Sunday night to see how I was doing. Anyway, James saw them as he was heading out the door to work so he talked to them in the front yard for a few minutes. It’s a little weird that they stood in the pouring rain during a bad electrical storm to socialize, but I guess that’s what they did. Anyway, lightning struck the ground right in front of them. I heard something so I looked out the window. It was pitch black outside so I couldn’t see a thing,” Ian exclaimed.

  I tried to appear shocked. “That’s so unbelievable! What happened to them?”

  “They went to the hospital and stayed overnight for observation. The doctors were concerned about permanent heart damage but they’re in the clear. James, Red and Tonya lost patches of their hair from the heat of the electricity. It burned their skin a little but, fortunately, the pouring rain mitigated that. They’ve all experienced some skin bruising and temporary hearing loss. Tonya called me today and complained about her scorched hair and her constant headaches,” Ian remarked with a grimace.

  “Why did your brother act so crazy to me? Could it be related?” I asked.

  Ian answered in a tired voice, “I don’t think so. Tonya and my brother are like this.” He held up two fingers stuck together. “I know it’s nothing romantic, not that I care,” he noted, while glancing nervously at me. “You probably realize by now that Tonya doesn’t like you. I presume it’s because you had the courage to challenge her in front of other kids at school. She’s not used to being taken on, you know. She’s used to always having her way.” Ian smiled wryly.

  “So y
ou think that your brother doesn’t like me because of Tonya?” I asked.

  “That’s only part of it. You heard what I said to my brother earlier about him always wanting what I have. He’s been like that ever since I can remember. Even as a kid, if I had a favorite toy, James would try to take it from me. If I stood up for myself and didn’t let him have it, he’d manage to find it and destroy it. I’ve learned that if I wanted to hang onto something, I’d have to completely hide it from James. If I didn’t, he’d eventually find a way to take it for himself or destroy it. Unfortunately, he found out about you from Tonya. That’s why I lost it with him today. I don’t want him going near you, EVER!!” Ian said with a quiet fierceness, looking me straight in the eye.

  As he said that I felt a little shiver along with a sense of relief. So he didn’t see me, or anything else, in front of his house because of the darkness. I should’ve known, but I was too freaked out to think clearly.

  Ian still looked upset. Maybe it’s time to change the subject. “Hey, can we go out for a little while? I think you need a change of scenery. You’ve been stuck home for a few days. How about we take a short walk?” I asked.

  “Actually, my mom said I could leave the house for a couple hours today because I’m going stir crazy. Why don’t we go out for a burger and a coke? I’m starving.”

  “I’d like that, Ian. Can you throw my bike in the back of your truck?” I was thinking that it would be so nice to do something as ordinary as going out for a burger and a coke. I like ordinary. I miss ordinary.

  37. They’re Coming

  It’s Thursday and it’s storming again. I’m so sick of this! Even the power at school went off for an hour today. The teacher said that it was because the wind blew a tree over some wires. At the time we were watching a really boring video in personal finance so the outage came at the perfect time. I was on the verge of falling asleep.

  I noticed the arrival of MORE new students. Most of them were quiet; a good strategy if you’re new. A few were rather strange. One girl came into my biology class practically swimming in a black hoodie. I felt like shouting, “Hello, is anybody in there?” At one point she turned her head and stared directly at me, a challenge in her dark eyes. I responded with my stone-face look. Her eyes then receded to the usual façade of teenage apathy. While she was staring at me I caught a glimpse of pale skin and weird sparkly flashes which I surmised were body piercings on her lips, eyebrows and nose. I have nothing against body piercings, but there’s a limit. It’s like she doesn’t want people to really see her face or what might be inside her. Those sharp metal pieces are saying, “F%&# you. Leave me alone or I’m gonna mess with you.” At least that’s how I read it. Her aura wasn’t very reassuring. It was dark purple with flashes of puke green. I shivered. She has a screw loose. I’m not going near her.

  There was another new person in my gym class that drew my attention when he emerged from the locker room. His head was shaved and there were tattoos all over his arms and his neck. Presumably, they were also covering his chest and back. I like a few tattoos, but I like skin, too. I made a point to position myself near him during the aerobic session so I could check him out more closely. Was that a swastika in his swirl of tattoo designs? It was hard to tell but it sure looked like it. I also saw a nasty rat with gleaming eyes crawling down his arm. Who has a tattoo of a rat? One sign that gave me the creeps was a short cross with an X interspersed over it. What was that? I bet Mercy would know.

  Suddenly, he turned and stared at me. Looking in his eyes was like staring down a black hole. I couldn’t see any pupils. How could that be? Doesn’t everyone have pupils? He turned back and relief flooded through me. I preferred that he didn’t take notice of me at all. As we were jumping along with the stupid aerobic stuff, I was feeling a headache coming on and it was getting worse with every bounce. It was like my head was in a vice. I raised my hand to get permission to go to the bathroom and the minute I got there I splashed cold water on my face. I felt much better.

  I went back to the aerobics session (when is it ever going to end?) near Tattoo Man and started hopping to the music again. Wham! That pain hit my head like a sledge hammer. This time it was accompanied by that prickling sensation I get when someone is trying to communicate with me. Was Tattoo man messing with my head?

  I knew I had to do something because the pain was getting worse. It reminded me of the time Mercy affected Bully Boy. If she can affect Bully Boy, that means someone can do it to me. I wanted it to stop, so I went ahead with the first thing that came to mind. I “tripped” and smashed right on top of Tattoo Man and we tumbled onto the floor.

  He hissed, “Get off of me!” Then he shoved me off him, stood up and brushed himself off. Surprise, surprise, he never bothered to help me up.

  “I’m so sorry. Sometimes I can be such a klutz!” I lamented, smiling innocently at him as I scrambled up. I looked him in the eye for a few seconds while apologizing. His eyes were still black, but I did see pupils. They were small and very dark, a gray/black. I sensed no feeling or reaction or anything else from his eyes. It was as if I was looking in a void. His aura was shades of gray/dark gray hovering around his head like a heavy fog. He was cold, detached, secretive and deceitful.

  Mr. Fat head, the gym teacher shouted, “Everything OK over there?”

  “Yeah, yeah, it’s fine,” I yelled back. That awful aerobic music finally came to an end. I also realized that my headache had disappeared. Maybe it was the aerobics music that caused the headache. Deep down, though, I knew that it was from Tattoo Man.

  Right after class I bumped into Mercy. “Where were you?” I asked.

  “I had a doctor’s appointment and just got back. How come you were in gym? Couldn’t you get out of it?” She asked me, puzzled.

  “Yeah, I guess, but I left my neck brace in my locker so I just decided to go ahead. My neck’s been feeling fine,” I responded defensively.

  “Tess, you’ve gotta cut that out. I feel like ratting you out with your aunt. She would be so pissed!”

  I didn’t want to hear Mercy’s nagging so I immediately changed the subject. “So, have you noticed some of the new kids in school?”

  “I have, and that reminds me, there are some people I want you to meet. They moved into a farmhouse about a half mile from my place. I think you’ll find them quite interesting,” Mercy asserted.

  “When do you want to go? I’m available today but not tomorrow because I have a robotics competition at Rockledge High School. We’re leaving after fifth period and I won’t be back till late. Otherwise it’ll have to be some day next week.”

  “You and that robotics stuff. I can’t believe you’re into that!” Mercy shook her head.

  “You and everyone else. I like tinkering with things. What can I say?” I shrugged.

  Mercy raised her eyebrows. “It’s part of your unique charm, Tess. How about we drive to the Petrov’s place after school today? I’ll check with Dika in Spanish class to make sure they’ll be around. My mom isn’t working today so she’ll let me take her car.”

  “I’ll meet you in the back lot right after school. Gotta go,” I added as the bell rang.

  38. The Roma Girls

  I leaned against Belinda’s old Toyota, waiting for Mercy. I was off in another world, daydreaming about Ian, when suddenly a soft voice with a strange accent broke into my reverie. “Are you the one, Tessie Littleton?”

  I turned my head to see two exotic young women staring at me. Both of them were strikingly beautiful, with almond shaped eyes and long, curly black hair. One had a bright red scarf draped loosely over her hair and a silver nose ring. The other one had huge gold earrings with tons of jangly bracelets.

  “Hey, I see you guys have met,” Mercy yelled breathlessly as she reached us.

  “We were just in the process,” I responded.

  “Tess, this is Dika Petrov,” Mercy gestured toward the scarfed one, “and this is Nadia Petrov,” while gesturing toward the other one. They bo
th looked at me solemnly and nodded.

  “So nice to meet you,” I said, smiling broadly. They were either very reserved or unsure of themselves because I didn’t see any sign of an aura. That was unusual. They must be good at holding it close.

  We got into the car and made small talk on the way to the Petrov’s house. I was trying to place their accent and finally decided that it sounded Russian or Eastern European. Mercy met them a few days ago but seems to have made an immediate connection. Eventually we pulled into the driveway of a rundown farmhouse a few miles out of town. Just before we got out of the car, Nadia said, “Tess, we appreciate you coming to our house. Our mama has expressed great interest in meeting you.”

  What? Their mother has expressed great interest in meeting ME? Mercy seemed to know what I was thinking because she was shooting a warning look to me. I answered politely, “Yes, I am looking forward to meeting her, also.”

  As I stepped out of the car I noticed a barn. “Do you keep any animals in there?” I asked.

  “Yes, we have four horses. We board horses for people and Dika and I also ride. Our father is a well known horse trainer,” Nadia responded.

  As soon as we walked into the house, a large woman with a big billowy skirt came bustling toward us. She was wearing so much jewelry she actually jangled as she walked. I started putting my hand out to shake hers but she totally ignored it. Instead, she gave me a big hug, and loudly declared, “Hello, hello, so nice of you to come to our house!”

  Their living room was elaborate but a bit shabby. Two lamps and a curvy velvet chair were decorated with a border of purple fringe. A faded oriental rug was centered on the floor and odd little knick knacks were everywhere. A haze of cigarette smoke and incense hung in the air. Overall, the interior was a gaudy, but homey. It reminded me of one of those Victorian sitting rooms that you see in old English movies.

  “Welcome to our house. I have been looking forward to meeting you, Tessie.” She turned to Mercy, hugging her. “It is wonderful to see you also, Mercy. I hope your mother is well.” I had to concentrate very hard to understand Mrs. Petrov because her accent was so heavy. It sounded Eastern European.