by Jill Sanders
“I remember when you were born.” He closed his eyes and rubbed his hands over them. “I’ve never been happier.” But when he opened his eyes, only sadness was behind them.
“What has she done to you?” She took a step closer and, suddenly, she finally understood everything.
Last night and this morning, he’d been focused solely on Rachelle. Almost as if everyone else in the room had disappeared. No one would have guessed that he wasn’t acting on his own. She would have never guessed it, unless she’d looked harder.
“Do… do you remember why you left me?” she asked, hoping to hold in her emotions.
“I… we…” He shook his head. “I work at the brewery.”
Just then, she heard the door open and she watched as her father’s lost look changed.
“Jessica.” Her mother smiled. “We were hoping to talk to you.” She moved across the room and her father’s eyes changed even more. They became… hollow.
He followed Rachelle and sat down next to her.
“Larry, why don’t you get us something to drink,” Rachelle said. Her father stood up and moved into the kitchen.
“I know this all must seem shocking.” Rachelle motioned to the chair beside her. Jess wanted to deny her, but she wanted answers even more, so she sat down.
She noticed the book sitting on the table between them. She itched to get her hands on it, but her mother reached over and grabbed it, then set it on her lap.
“That’s an understatement,” she said under her breath.
“I know we didn’t get a chance to talk last night.” Her mother set the book down on the end table, then reached for her hand. Jess just looked at it and shook her head and leaned back. Rachelle’s face changed. She leaned back and ran her eyes up and down Jess. “I can sense it in you, you know,” she finally said as she crossed her arms over her chest.
“What?” Jess asked. She understood exactly what Carla was talking about. The last thing she was going to do was trust her mother.
“The power,” Rachelle added. “It rivals mine, but I have years of experience on you.”
“And the book,” Jess added. Her eyes moved to the book, and she decided to screw politeness. With the thought, the book was in her lap.
She watched her mother’s jaw drop. Then, her eyes narrowed. “You are powerful.”
“What does it matter to you?”
“You’re going to need it. You’ve seen what’s coming.”
“Is that why you scared Brea?”
“I didn’t scare her, I tried to warn her. And, I’m trying to warn you now.”
“From?”
“You’ve seen it.” She leaned back.
“The moon.” Her mother nodded. “How do we stop it?”
“You don’t. I’ve searched through every piece of literature. Every reference. There is no way to stop it.” Jess could tell her mother was holding back some information. She knew better than to trust the woman, especially now that she’d seen what she’d done to her father.
“Mind giving me a shot at it?” She tapped the book in her lap.
“Venit,” her mother said and reached her hand out towards Jess. Jess felt the book vibrate in her lap. Jess just had to think about it to have the book settle in her lap.
“So, do you have to speak every time?” she asked her mother.
“Venit,” her mother said again, looking more determined.
Jess was completely focused but smiled back at her mother as she became angry.
“I’m sure my great-grandmother wouldn’t mind me borrowing it for a while.” She stood up. “I came here to ask you what would cause a mother”—she looked over at her father who was still mixing drinks in the kitchen like nothing was wrong—“and a father to leave their child, but now I see the truth.”
Rachelle stood up slowly, her eyes glued to the book. “You can’t take that.”
“What? Didn’t I fit into your puppet plans? Was I too strong for you?” She bit back the hurt and only let her anger show. “Did you find it hard to control me?”
“You started showing signs.” Rachelle sat back down when she realized she wasn’t strong enough to get the book from her. “I recognized them. There was only room for one witch in a household.” Rachelle’s eyes moved to the kitchen.
Suddenly, Jess remembered something. Something from the night before her parents left her.
Her mother had gone out, ladies’ night. At least that’s what her father had said. She’d spent the entire evening with her father. He’d helped her with her math homework, made dinner for her, and she’d helped him clean up. It had been a perfect night.
But when her mother came back home, her parents had gotten into a huge fight. Over her.
“You… you’ve done something to him.” Her eyes moved to her father in the kitchen. “You’re controlling him somehow.” She moved closer to Rachelle. “Was I ruining your perfect life? Wasn’t there enough love to go around?” Then something in her mind shifted. “Was everything you told Brea about her mother true? That she’d tried to kill Brea when she was a baby? Or did you do something to her too?”
Jess watched her mother’s shoulders straighten. “They were having an affair.” She watched her mother’s eyes narrow.
“Who?” Jess held onto the book tighter.
“Your father and Dawn. I’m not blind. I could see what they were doing. At first, Larry would come home late from work. Then I’d see her number on our caller ID. I couldn’t chance someone else stealing him away. Not again.”
“Again?”
“I’ve loved Larry for as long as I can remember. We agreed he was going to be mine.” Her voice rose slightly as she looked at her husband in the next room.
“Who? Who agreed?” Jess asked, feeling her stomach knot.
“Everyone. From the start of… our friendship, it had been obvious who should get whom. Larry and I were made for each other. Dawn and Byron, Kelly and Roy had been planning their wedding since junior high, and Susan and Rusty, well, halfway through our junior year, Susan was already knocked up. Everything was all planned out.”
“O…Okay,” Jess sat back down, hugging the book to her chest.
“But then Larry became infatuated with Misty, even when she was still dating Byron, before Dawn. It was sick how she strung them both along. I could see what it was doing to Dawn, and I couldn’t stand the possibility of losing Larry. He and Misty had once been an item, before...”
“Before what?” Jess asked.
She watched her mother take a breath and raise her chin higher. “Before I came into my power.”
Jess’s eyes moved across the room to her father, who was still making coffee, acting like the conversation in the next room was the most normal thing in the world. For the first time in her life, she realized that he’d been under Rachelle’s spell.
Her temper started to build. When she turned back to her mother, everything started to become clearer.
“Is that why… why you asked, that night if they wanted to have some fun? Did you plan all this? Misty’s disappearance?” She wondered if the night her mother had been playing her game in the silo with her friends had been all a lie. How many more times had she lied to get her way or deceived people into doing her bidding?
Rachelle’s eyes darkened. “Someone had to set things straight.”
Jess stood up again, the book still held to her chest. She glanced quickly into the kitchen, but her father was too far under to be of any help.
“Let him go.” She turned to her mother, but she was no longer sitting. Instead, she was directly behind her. She twisted again to face her just as a bolt of red hot power raced through Jess, sending her flying backward. She landed on an end table, and her breath was knocked from her as glass and wood splintered beneath her. Chucks and splinters dug deep into her shoulder and hip as the book went flying from her hands.
Jacob got out of his car and pulled one of the two guys in the back seat out. When the kid tried to kick at
him, he jerked the kid’s arm behind him and forced him to move forward.
“Hey, Jacob,” Matt, one of his fellow officers, said. “Need some help?”
“Yeah, the other one’s in the back of my car.” He jerked his head towards the front door and watched Matt disappear.
“Hey, man,” the kid said, trying once more to break free. “I didn’t know you were a cop,” he said for the tenth time. “Otherwise we wouldn’t have fired.”
Jacob forced the kid to sit down on the bench. “Stay put,” he growled, then motioned for Terry to watch the kid.
“What happened to you?” Terry asked before he turned away.
“Buck shots,” he said before turning towards his office. It had been his father’s, and had been his since his promotion last year.
He peeled off the ruined shirt and glanced down at his skin. He’d expected to see blood, broken skin, something. But there wasn’t a scratch on him. He put a finger through the many holes in his shirt and ran his hand over his chest.
What the hell? He opened his cupboard and pulled out his spare shirt. He took a long look at the mirror that hung inside the door and had to blink a few times just to make sure.
His skin wasn’t even broken. He felt a little bruised, but he should be bleeding.
Two hours later, he pulled into his driveway and groaned. He’d forgotten the Chinese. Jess’s truck wasn’t there yet, so he pulled out and drove back the five blocks to JB’s.
Since he’d forgotten to call in the order, it took fifteen minutes before he was back in the car, heading home again.
The day’s earlier rain had cleared up, leaving a somewhat peaceful night. Maybe they would eat on the back porch. He could set up some candles, turn on the fire pit.
Just as he pulled in this time, his phone buzzed.
“Yeah?” he answered Mike’s call.
“You’d better get over here. Brea’s gone.”
“Again?” He closed his eyes. So much for a quiet dinner with Jess.
“Yeah, Ethan’s freaked.”
“I’ll call Jess and be over there soon.” He hung up and dialed Jess, but got her voice mail.
He left a quick message, then texted her as backup.
By the time he got to Xtina’s place, everyone was gathered in the living room.
“What’s happened?” he said, setting the Chinese on the coffee table.
“She’s gone,” Ethan said, looking worried.
“She’s disappeared before,” he said, earning him a glare from Mike and Xtina.
“What?” He shrugged. “I’m sure she’ll be back soon.”
“She told me she’d seen this before. That, this time, she wouldn’t be back until…” Ethan shook his head. “I told her I loved her,” he whispered.
Something in Jacob shifted. He glanced down at his phone and frowned. “Have you heard from Jess?” he asked Xtina.
“No, I thought you called her,” Mike said.
“I left her a message,” he said, punching her number again. It went to voice mail again. “Did she stop by here before going to talk to her parents?”
“We were at the silo, earlier,” Mike added. “If she stopped by, we didn’t see her.”
“Where are her parents staying?” He stood up as he texted her once more.
“I… I don’t know.” Xtina shook her head. “They were going to stay here, but then said they had someone else in town they could stay with. I didn’t ask.”
“Do you have Carla’s number?” he asked.
“Carla? Why?” Mike asked.
“She’s Jess’s grandmother,” he blurted out.
“What?” Xtina stood up.
Jacob turned to her. She looked totally shocked at this news. “I thought you knew.” He shrugged. “Hell of a punch. She just told me earlier today.”
“Carla? From the Café?” Ethan asked.
“Yeah.” Jacob punched the number at the office and held up his finger to silence everyone. “Hey Matt, can you give me Carla’s number?”
He wrote it down, then dialed it after hanging up.
“Carla, Jacob here. Have you seen Jess?”
“Hi, Jacob, no. Not since around one. I talked to her during my break. Is something wrong?”
“She’s not answering her phone. Hey, Carla, do you have any idea where her parents are staying?”
“They’re at the house on the lake.” She rattled off the address and he made a beeline to the door. He wasn’t surprised to see Mike, Xtina, and Ethan jump in the car with him.
Chapter 14
“You want to know why I left?” Rachelle said, moved slowly towards her. Jess was sprawled on the floor, blood oozing slowly from her cuts. She shifted and felt pain shoot up her hip.
“I found my grandmother’s journal, that much was true. But from the moment I touched it, I knew. I knew my real purpose in life.”
Jess sat up a little and focused on building her energy instead of the pain.
“I read it from cover to cover, over and over. I learned every spell, every word. My first move was to get what I wanted. Popularity. It was easy enough to have the popular kids in school like me.” She snapped her fingers. “Just like that. Actually, it was easier than even I believed it would be. Soon, they were all eating out of my hands. Giving me gifts, partying with me.” Her eyes moved to the kitchen. “I’d loved him for so long, it was only right that he loved me back. So, I used another spell”—she smiled—“to control his mind and feelings. It’s quite easy.” She shifted and Jess could see that her father was standing in the kitchen, looking in on them, a tray of drinks in his hands, like he was watching an interesting play instead of his wife telling her evil plot after hurting his daughter.
“Dad?” She sighed. Did he even know what was happening?
“He can’t hear you.” Rachelle smiled. “But, I wasn’t strong enough back then. He was infatuated with Misty, even though she was with Byron.”
“You said dad and Dawn were having an affair?” she broke in, getting to her knees.
“They were seeing each other. It started right after Breanna was born. I should have never trusted either of the Monroe sisters.” Her mother’s voice rose slightly. “So, I did what I had to when I found out about them.”
“You made her crazy?” Jess stood up, feeling some of her blood leave her head as realization struck her.
“She was causing your father to lose his focus on me.” She screamed it. Much like a child would.
“Why did you leave me?” she asked, moving closer and preparing for battle.
“Because once more, love was breaking my hold on the man I wanted.” Her mother’s eyes narrowed.
Jess shook her head, not understanding.
“His love for you was stronger than his love for me, or for Dawn or even Misty, for that matter.” She moved closer to Jess.
Jess’s heart shifted, knowing her father loved her, no matter what her mother had done to him.
“Why did you release Dawn?” Jess stood her ground. She could feel glass and wood splinters in her knees and elbows. She shoved the pain to the back of her mind as she called out silently towards her father while allowing her power to build.
“I didn’t. Something else woke her.” Her mother glanced down as she opened the book.
Jess jumped at the moment. In a flash of bright white, the book was in her hands and she used all her power to shove her mother across the room. She ran towards her father and took his hand, tossing the tray down. Hot coffee and dishes flew as she willed him to move with her towards the front door.
Just as she reached the door, it flew open, and she ran into Jacob’s arms. Even with his gun drawn, he held onto her as his eyes scanned the room.
Jess glanced over her shoulder, only to find the room completely empty.
“Where—” She shook her head. “She must have gone out the back. She’s the reason Misty is trapped. She put a hex on my father.” She turned to the man who looked stumped but still under her mothe
r’s influence.
“Are you okay?” Jacob asked, running his hand over her hair.
“Yeah, go.” She nodded towards the back door. “She has to be stopped.”
He nodded, then glanced at his brothers, who followed him out the door.
“Oh!” Xtina rushed to her side. “You’re bleeding.”
She looked down and realized the blood from her knees and elbow were soaking through her clothes.
“I’m okay.” She tucked the book under her arm and took her father’s hand. “Dad?” She shook it lightly.
She watched him blink a few times, then frown. “Jess?”
“Yeah, Daddy, it’s me.”
“I…” He put a hand to his head. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay, it might take some time to clear up.”
“No, I’m sorry for letting her talk me into leaving you.” He walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her.
Jacob stepped out to the back deck and pointed to his left when he saw a movement. “Stay behind me,” he said to his brothers, then he took off at a sprint.
They ran through the thick brush at the edge of the lake until he lost sight of the movement. When he stopped, he wasn’t surprised to see both of his brothers directly behind him.
“Did you see where she went?” he asked, in a low voice.
“No,” both Mike and Ethan replied.
“Let’s split up. I’ll go towards the water, Mike, you head towards the road. Ethan, head back towards the house, in case she doubles back. Mike, if you don’t find anything in ten minutes, head back to the house.”
They each went their separate ways. Jacob kept his eyes and ears open for any hints of movement. He ran as silently as he could to the water’s edge, then followed the shoreline. When he realized fifteen minutes had already passed, he made his way back to the house. It was the only place lit up, and as he approached, he could see everyone standing in the living room, looking out the windows for him.