by Jill Sanders
“Well?” Mike asked as he approached.
“Nothing.” He climbed the back stairs. “You?”
Mike shook his head. “Ethan took off, said he was going back home.”
Jacob could see the worry in Mike’s eyes. “Is he going back to the field?”
Mike looked inside at Xtina, who was giving Jess and her father a cup of something hot.
“Yeah, I don’t know what I’d do if she disappeared on me like that.”
“Like I said, I’m sure she’ll be back,” Jacob said as he stepped inside. Every eye went to him. He knew what they were waiting for, and he shook his head, giving everyone the answer. “I didn’t find anything.”
“Okay.” Xtina sat down across from Jess and her father, who looked like he was slowly waking up. “Want to tell us what happened?”
He moved closer to Jess, then noticed the bandages on her hands and elbows and saw that her jeans were torn up.
“What happened?” He rushed to her side, taking her hands in his and examining the bandages.
“I’m okay, Xtina fixed me up. They’re just small cuts.”
“Nothing too deep,” Xtina added in.
“We should take you to—”
“No,” Jess broke in, tugging her hands away from him. “I’m fine.” Her eyes turned towards her father. “Dad?”
For the first time since Jacob had met him, the man looked conscious and coherent. It was hard to explain, but he just sort of fell into the backdrop when Rachelle was around.
“She kept him locked under her control,” Jess said to the room as she took her father’s hands in hers.
“How?” Xtina asked.
“He told me he had a job,” Mike added. “How could she control him all of the time?”
“I don’t know,” Jess said, “Whatever she did is in there.” She nodded to her mother’s book. “She was pretty upset I had it.”
Xtina leaned forward to take the book, but when she touched it, a spark of red hit her hand.
“Ouch!” She jerked back.
“What the…” Mike rushed over to her and took her hand. There was a light burn mark on her fingers. “I’ll get you some ice.” Mike rushed into the kitchen and wrapped some ice in a hand towel and held it to Xtina’s burned fingers.
“That didn’t happen with me,” Jess said, reaching forward.
Jacob stopped her by placing a hand on her shoulder. “Careful,” he said.
She nodded, then took the book up, easily. She laid it on her lap and glanced around. But when she tried to open it, it remained shut.
“It’s stuck,” she said, trying a different way.
He moved closer and watched her struggle. He sat down next to her and placed a hand on her arm.
“Jess,” he said in a low voice, “remember how your mother… How Rachelle, opened the book the other night?”
Jess glanced around the room, then nodded and set the book on the table. She glanced towards him and he gave her a reassuring nod. She held her hand two feet over the book and said, “Apertus.”
The book fell open and everyone gasped.
“Jess?” Xtina said, her eyes going to her friend’s.
“I’m sorry,” Jess said, tears sliding down her face. “I should have told you.”
Jacob couldn’t see any hurt in Xtina’s eyes. Instead, she was smiling. “I’ve known.”
“You… you have?” Jess stuttered.
“Honey, you do know what I can do.” Xtina laughed. “But, since it wasn’t my secret to tell, I kept silent. I’m so proud of you for finally showing up to the party.”
Jess laughed. “Well, here’s another shocker.” She glanced over at him, then took his hand in hers. “We’re seeing each other.” Jess smiled at him and he felt his heart almost burst with joy.
“Everyone in town knows that,” Mike added, laughing.
“Damn.” Jess frowned, looking around the room. “Can’t I have any secrets?”
“Not from the people who love you,” Xtina added, leaning forward. “Now, witch”—her eyes narrowed as she smiled at Jess—“tell us how to fix everything.”
“Oh?” Jess laughed. “We are so not going there.” She pointed to her friend.
“Well, at least you have a name for what you are,” Xtina joked back.
Mike looked at him. “Can you believe this? With everything that has happened in the last hour—Jess’s mother just tried to kill her, we found out she’d been controlling her father for years—and they’re joking about what to call each other.”
“Women.” Jacob sat next to Jess and took her hand in his.
“Yeah. It’s a good thing we love ’em.” Mike chuckled.
For the next hour, Jess filled them in on what her mother had confessed as she skimmed through the book. He was amazed at some of the stuff that was in there. Spells, incantations, charms, formulas. Whatever they were called, some of them, if real, were very powerful and dangerous.
“Does it say anything about what we’ve seen?” Xtina asked after a while. “Or how to break whatever hold your mother has on your dad?” She nodded towards the man, who was looking very tired.
He still hadn’t said more than two words and was acting like he just wasn’t getting what they were talking about.
“No, but there are a few pages that are missing.” Jess ran a finger over the pages.
He reached for the book, since he could see that she’d lost most of her energy, but when his fingers got too close, red sparks started to shoot back at him.
“Okay, I guess it’s only for you. Which means it’s time to take a break.” He stood up, stretched, then reached for her. “Your dad should come with us.” He nodded to the man. “Until we can figure out how to break… whatever.”
“Yeah.” Jess shut the book and hugged it to her chest. “Dad?” She reached down for him.
“Jess?” The man looked like he was about to fall over.
“Do you want to come home with me?” she asked helping him up.
“That would be nice. I’m not feeling so well.”
Just then, Mike’s cell phone chimed. Everyone turned towards him. “It’s Ethan.”
“Any luck?” he said when he answered, then he was silent for a while. The frown on his brother’s face said it all.
A few minutes later, he hung up. “Brea is still gone. We’re going to meet tomorrow around noon at our place, to regroup.”
“Gone?” Jess asked. “What do you mean gone?”
“We were so busy… with everything,” Xtina said. “We forgot to tell you.”
Jess’s eyes moved to his. “Is it… did she?”
He nodded. “She’ll be back,” he assured her, but he watched fear creep in.
“It will be too late to fix all this unless I can find what we need in here.” She tapped the book and hugged it once more to her chest.
Chapter 15
Jess sat in the back seat of Jacob’s police cruiser as he drove them back to his place. Mike had driven her truck back to his place since she was too tired to drive herself. Her father sat silently in the front seat next to Jacob.
When they pulled into his driveway, she closed her eyes as a wave of relief washed over her. She was home, safe, for at least one more night.
Jacob helped her father out of the car, and she wondered how she’d gotten so lucky to end up with him. Then he opened her door and helped her out.
They got her father settled in his spare bedroom. He had a bag of his things that they had brought with him, and she wondered if he even remembered where he was. As she helped him settle, it was almost like he was in a zombie state. He grunted or gave her one-word responses. Every now and then, he would look over at her and say her name, as if his mind was trying to break free of the hold.
By the time she crawled into bed, she was beyond exhausted. She’d showered and it had taken her a while to clean around her cuts. She noticed a few bruises growing and cringed at the thought of being black and blue for a few days. She
wouldn’t be able to hide all of the bruises for work. How was she going to explain that her mother how thrown her across the room with her mind?
She’d tucked the book under the mattress, near the foot of the bed, for protection.
Jacob crawled in next to her and she sighed as he pulled her closer. “You okay?” he asked into her hair.
“I am now.” She laid her face against his bare chest. She enjoyed the scent of him, and the feeling of him gave her such pleasure.
His hand was in her hair, gently lulling her to sleep. “We’ll figure this out,” he said, softly as she drifted off.
Jess’s dream started off as a memory of one of the first times she realized she was in love with Jacob St. Clair. She’d only been ten at the time, but she knew she’d never love anyone else.
She had been walking home, and Robin Evans and Carly Brayer had followed her. Jessica didn’t hate anyone in school as much as them.
She’d been friends with them, once, in kindergarten. But after she started hanging out with Christina, they had turned on her.
She could handle the names they called her, but their attacks on Christina cut her deeply. Whenever she tried to defend her friend, the two girls seemed to have a rebuttal ready for everything she said.
This particular day, they had followed her from the playground, where she had waited with Christina for her parents to pick her up.
Jessica had seen the girls waiting on the large tire, but had hoped they were just waiting for one of their parents to pick them up.
After Christina’s mom picked her up, they started following her almost immediately, as if they had been waiting to get her alone.
She walked as fast as she could, but she was shorter than both of the girls. By the time she was a block away from her house, they had caught up with her.
“Why do you keep hanging out with that freak?” Robin caught up with her and grabbed her arm to stop her from walking away.
“Christina is my friend,” Jessica said, jerking her arm away. “Why do you care?” She tried to start walking again, but Carly was now in her way.
“She’s a freak,” Carly added. “We don’t want people like her around.”
“Why? Because she doesn’t dress like you or act like you?” Jess crossed her arms over her chest. “That doesn’t make her a freak, just better.”
Both of the girl’s anger grew as they moved towards her. They had never physically hurt her before, only yelled at her and called her names, but Jessica could tell something had changed.
Robin grabbed her arm again, yanking hard enough that Jessica’s backpack fell off her shoulder. “You’re just like her. A loser.”
“Let me go,” Jessica said, but neither girl listened.
Carly had grabbed her bag and jerked until it fell off her back, then she tossed it down and stomped on it.
“You’re too stupid to see that everyone thinks you are both strange. I mean, Christina can’t even touch someone without freaking out.” Robin sneered.
At this point, Carly started jerking around, making fun of how Christina acted when she had a vision. Of course, Jessica would never tell anyone her friend’s secret. Even if they hurt her.
Robin pushed her in the chest hard enough that Jessica took two steps back and tripped over her backpack. She landed hard on her butt, falling backward until she finally caught herself with her elbows. She felt her shirt rip as gravel bit into her skin.
“Leave her alone,” came the most angelic voice. When she looked up, Jacob stood less than five feet away. His hands were fisted by his sides. He looked like the boxers that Christina’s dad like watching on their old TV set.
Robin and Carly sneered at him. “Go away, Jacob. Everyone knows what you think of Christina.” The girls left her to crowd around Jacob.
“It doesn’t matter what I think about Christina. What matters is what I think about you,” he responded.
“Oh?” Robin smiled up at him. “What is that?”
“Well, for starters, I think that you are both selfish bullies who pick on someone to make yourselves feel better.” He pushed past them easily, then held out his hand to help her up.
She glanced over at the two girls, then reached up and took his hand. When she was standing again, he bent down and picked up her backpack, then made a show of helping her put it back on her shoulder. “Are you okay?”
“You’re a jerk, Jacob St. Clair,” Carly said, crossing her arms over her chest. “Everyone knows it.”
He winked at Jessica, before turning around to face the two girls. “Everyone knows it?” Both Carly and Robin nodded. “Then everyone must know about you two as well.” He moved closer. She couldn’t hear what he said to the girls, but when Carly burst into tears and started running towards her house, Jessica smiled. From that day forward, neither of them bothered her on her way home.
She was standing on the sidewalk, smiling over at Jacob, when the dream turned.
Suddenly, she was standing on the front porch, three years later. She’d rushed home from school, excited about getting an A on her history paper. Her mother was at the store, but her father sat on the front porch, waiting for her.
“What’s up, pumpkin?” He’d grabbed her into a big hug.
“Dad, I got an A.” She held up the paper, which he took and smiled down at.
“Good job, pumpkin.” He set the paper down and hugged her again. “I’m so proud of you.” He pulled back and just looked at her. She could see the love in his eyes, but then, they both looked over at a car parked in the driveway.
“Mom’s home.” She turned to her father and watched as his eyes turned distant. His hands went slack on her shoulders. She watched him blink a few times, and then squint as if he was in pain.
By the time her mother walked up onto the front porch, her father was no longer present.
“Larry, go get the groceries from the back of the car,” her mother said, absently.
“Yes, dear,” he droned. He moved slowly as if in a trance.
“What did you do to him?” She stood in front of the door, stopping her mother from entering.
Her mother’s eyes sharpened. “Whatever do you mean?”
“He’s different when he’s around you,” she accused, feeling anger flow through her.
“I don’t know what you mean,” her mother said, acting innocent.
By that time, her father had grabbed two bags and was walking up the stairs.
“Dad?” Jess said. “Come back to me.” She reached for him. For a split second, her father return to her.
“Pumpkin,” he said softly. “I’m…”
Then her mother moved forward and he was gone again. He moved past them without a word and walked into the house.
Jessica turned on her mother. “Stop it!” she cried out. “Let him go!”
Her mother reached over and grabbed her arm, tightly. “I don’t know what you think is happening, but this attitude of yours has got to stop,” she whispered close to her face. So close, that Jessica could see the speckles of gray in her mother’s eyes.
“I’ll find a way to free him.” Jessica jerked back. “If it’s the last thing I do.”
Those words echoed in her head as she woke the next morning. Her head hurt almost as bad as the cuts and bruises her mother had given her the night before.
Jacob stood in his kitchen, drinking a cup of coffee, when Larry came in. He smiled at him.
“How are you feeling this morning?” he asked the man.
“Better.” Larry walked over and shook Jacob’s hand. “I don’t think we were properly introduced.”
Jacob looked down at the man’s hand. “No, I don’t believe we were.” He smiled.
When Jess walked in, almost an hour later, Jacob and Larry were sitting at the kitchen table, catching up.
He’d quickly filled the man in on everything. Everything. Including the past twenty-some years.
“Dad?” Jess walked in, freshly showered and ready for a day at wor
k.
“There she is.” Her father stood up and walked over to Jess, giving her a hug. “I missed you, pumpkin.”
Jessica burst out crying and held onto her father.
“You… you’re okay?” she asked after almost two whole minutes of crying into her father’s shoulder.
“It would appear so.” He smiled. “From what your man here has been telling me, it looks like I’ve missed a lot.”
“I’ll go make us some breakfast.” Jacob quickly disappeared into the kitchen to give Jessica some time alone with her father.
From the way Larry described it, he’d been conscious underneath a haze of obedience. He hadn’t been in charge of his actions. When Rachelle told him to jump, he’d jump. He remembered a period, after they left Hidden Creek, left Jessica, that he’d fought against the control harder than ever. But eventually, he’d worn down and had literally forgotten about Jessica. Jacob could tell that it broke his heart.
He pulled out a box of pancake mix and added blueberries to the mix. He threw some bacon in the microwave and scrambled a few eggs.
He threw everything on a huge platter and carried it out to the dining room where Jess and Larry were looking through her mother’s book together.
“We think we’ve found the spell Rachelle used on him.”
“Really?” He set the platter down and walked over.
“Ascendancy?” he read over her shoulder.
“Yes, it’s the only one I’ve found that makes sense.” Jess read the first few lines. “To gain a position of dominance, power, or influence over someone.”
Larry grimaced. “Yup, that’s what it felt like.”
Jess set the book down and looked over at her father. “We’ll figure this out, Dad. More important, we’ll figure out how to guard against it happening to you again.”
They discussed the book over breakfast and the fact that it appeared that the control spell had broken.
“I’m going to head into the office before our noon meeting at Xtina’s place.” Jacob stood up. “Do you work today?” he asked Jess.
“I did, but I called in.” She glanced down at the book. “Actually, I took the entire week off.” He could see the worry in her eyes.