Thoughtless

by Jacqueline Gardner

  "She'll be ok," Rory said in a steady voice. I didn't want to know what he really thought about her condition. Like everyone else, he was probably only saying it to make me feel better. Rory's thoughts pushed into my head regardless. I was surprised to know that Rory really did mean what he said. He was confident that my mom would pull through. Why? Because my mom had someone who depended on her – she had me. That was reason enough for living.

  "Thanks," I replied, touched. "I hope you're right." A team of agents started searching through the house, taking pictures of everything. Rory pulled me to the living room where Agent Squires was talking on his cell phone. He ended his call as soon as he saw me.

  "Bridget," Agent Squires said as he sat down. "I know this is a lot to take in, but I'm just glad that you're safe. Using your mom to steal the spell book was almost genius. I should've seen that coming." He sounded disappointed in himself but seeing me alive kept his spirits up. He was haunted everyday by the victims he'd failed to save. Six teenage girls, all from different parts of the country and all with one thing in common – mind reading. After each killing, he'd swear to himself that next time things would be different. He'd be able to conquer the Coven. Leaving victims clueless had been a mistake, which was why he wanted to disclose all the details this time. He was closer than he'd ever come to catching these criminals.

  "So what now?" I asked. I impatiently waited for his thoughts to play out. I was ready for answers. "I mean, we have the book. I'm safe and Rory and I figured out where their base camp is." My last comment had piqued Agent Squire's interest.

  "The abandoned Allen House," Rory chimed in. Agent Squires nodded. He held up a finger and flipped open his phone.

  "You're making a call? Are you kidding? How much time do you think we have here?" I continued. "Send someone to arrest them! That crazy witch nearly killed my mom!" Agent Squires muttered a few words into his cell phone and hung up.

  "It's not that simple," he retorted. "You can't just walk in and handcuff these people. The minute we have an officer within range, they'll turn him into a mind controlled monster. All hell will break loose." I sighed and hung my head. How were we supposed to compete with witchcraft or whatever they called it?

  I closed my eyes. For the first time, my mind took me back to the moldy closet with a rotting door. After everything Terrence and I had experienced together, he'd had no trouble locking me up. How could he possibly participate in such a sadistic ritual? He didn't seem evil, not one bit. His whispers through the closet door would be forever engrained in my head. What was worth murdering an innocent girl you had feelings for?

  "He said I would be the seventh," I muttered. Agent Squires nodded and Rory just listened. "Is that supposed to mean something? He sounded way too cheerful about it." Agent Squires started twiddling his thumbs. He knew something. He wanted to tell me but he was afraid of making things worse. "What? Just say it, Squires. Don't make me have to dig through your brain."

  "They need seven souls of girls like yourself in order to . . ." He looked around the room to make sure no one else was eavesdropping. He lowered his voice. So much that Rory and I had to scoot closer. "After the seventh, the ritual will be complete. The witch will be offered a seat in the House of Doom, an upper circle of the Coven."

  "And you were going to tell us about this when?" Rory asked looking frustrated.

  "We only just learned this ourselves," Agent Squires continued to whisper. "It's in the book."

  "Quiet Rory," I added. "Go on, Squires. There's more isn't there?"

  "When the ritual is complete, each Coven member who successfully completes the challenge will have limitless powers." Agent Squires looked nervous. His forehead started to sweat. He was trying not to think of what might happen if the killer succeeded.

  "What could be better than mind control?" I folded my arms. "Do I even want to know?"

  "With each soul, her powers grow stronger until her strength becomes permanent. You see Bridget, members of the Coven start out as innocent kids but they all have one thing in common."

  "What?" I asked. Agent Squires stared at me. You know what, he thought. They all start out like you – confused and innocent. "You mean Terrence is a . . . he's a . . ."

  "Hey," Rory interrupted. He pointed a finger at Agent Squires. "Did he just think something? That's not fair." I ignored Rory and rewound back to the moment Terrence and I had first met. I'd never been able to read his thoughts, but was he able to read mine? I felt violated and most of all stupid. I was starting to understand how Rory must've felt.

  "Is that why I couldn't hear his . . . you know." I didn't want to say the word 'thoughts' or 'mind-reader' out loud. It felt weird to admit those things with people around.

  "It's part of being a Coven member," Agent Squires continued. "He's able to do things that takes years to learn. He can put up walls without even trying very hard." Rory was getting impatient. He reached a hand under his seat and pulled out the red spell book. Agent Squires immediately reached for it but Rory moved back. He opened the book.

  "Whoa," he exclaimed as he slowly turned each page. "I feel like I'm reading a sci-fi novel. There's some freaky stuff in here."

  "Skip to the soul-sucking page or whatever spell is supposed to steal away my . . . gift." I sounded a little bossy. Rory's impatience was starting to rub off. I wanted to know everything - everything and anything that might give me a chance to get back at Terrence for being a sleazebag.

  "I'm looking, I'm looking." Rory pushed out his elbow to stop me from turning the pages myself. "Stop crowding me." Agent Squires stood up and watched his team.

  "I'm going to see if my men have found anything," he stated. "You two, stay put. And Rory, I'll need you to give us a full description of Dru. No one's actually seen her before today." He rushed to the kitchen.

  "He left out the part where he also thought the killer was a man before today," I whispered. Rory chuckled. He turned the page again, this time he stopped.

  "This must be it." Rory followed the spell with his finger, reading it to himself. I was mesmerized by the drawing. It was so detailed. There was a girl with long, black hair tied to a table or, as the book called it, an altar. The girl had a bright green stone around her neck. The book called it the Soul Stone. It absorbed each soul and relayed that person's energy to its sister stone, the Energy Stone. In the picture, both stones looked exactly the same.

  "So," I gulped. "What's all the hype about?"

  "According to this," Rory said looking concerned. "They can steal your soul by using this spell, and your abilities. Dru will be able to control everything around her, not just people."

  "What do you mean? What could be worse than people?" I watched Rory look around the room and out the window.

  "Objects, animals . . ."

  "Alright, I get it. It's bad."

  "But right now," Rory continued. "I think her powers are only temporary. They don't become part of her until the ritual is completed."

  "So we still have a chance to stop her?" My brain tried to think of a strategy. Rory had beat me to it. He was already trying to devise a plan in his head. But not many options popped into his mind that didn't involve using me as bait.

  "Possibly," Rory sighed. His brain was overwhelmed. There were so many factors to consider. My mind turned to Terrence again. Imagining him being punched in the face was giving me great satisfaction.

  "I still can't believe he went along with all of this," I murmured.

  "Terrence?" Rory guessed. "Well, they're family. And obviously, he has a lot to gain from this too."

  "Like what?"

  "He's gained powers too. This isn't all Dru's fault. And who's to say that once his older sister is in a position of power, he won't be the next Coven member trying to complete the ritual?"

  "Rory that's disgusting," I immediately replied. "He'd never do that."

  "Bridget, he's participated in a lot of murders including Stacy's. He's just as guilty as Dru is." Rory closed the book and look
ed at me. I stared down at the carpet. My stomach growled. It was past dinner time and the sun was going down. I hoped that I'd be allowed to spend the night in the hospital instead of this spooky, dark house. Being alone at night sucked.

  "He fooled us all," he said calmly. "At some point, you'll have to accept that and move forward. You can't change what's already happened. But we can try and change what could happen next." I nodded, still staring at the carpet. I know I'd been stupid, but Terrence had totally reeled me in. Maybe it was that blonde hair or British accent, but after only a week Terrence had turned my world upside down. My gut told me I would see him again – this fight wasn't over. But I'd have to realize that my feelings weren't real. I'd fallen for a faker who just looked and talked like Terrence. The guy I liked wasn't real. I'd been an idiot not to figure that out sooner.

  The phone rang. Every single person in the house froze. All eyes were directed towards me. Agent Squires came running from upstairs.

  "Just answer it like nothing's wrong," he said out of breath. A team of agents ran to the kitchen table where stations of laptops were setup. I nervously inched towards the phone, looking back at Rory for encouragement. He nodded at me and hovered over an agent that was typing at the table. I picked up the phone.

  "Hello?" My voice sounded so unusually cheery that only a fool wouldn't guess that something was wrong.

  "Bridget." The sound of Terrence's voice made my blood boil. I imagined myself kicking a hole in the cabinet and screaming at the top of my lungs, but of course I only thought those things. And if Terrence could hear my thoughts through the phone, I wanted him to know how pissed off I was.

  "Terrence," I replied. "I assume this isn't a personal call." Terrence chuckled on the other end.

  "Still a sense of humor," he replied. "I like it." I held my tongue. Rory shook his hand, signaling to me to get a conversation rolling.

  "What do you want?"

  "A trade," Terrence chuckled again.

  "Of what? You have nothing I want. Nothing at all."

  "That's pretty cold, Bridget. But this particular trade doesn't relate to you and me."

  "Get on with," I replied impatiently. I was more and more proud of myself as the conversation progressed. I was glad that my comment was cold. I hoped that Terrence could sense the cruelty in my voice. I kept repeating - I will destroy you, Terrence – in my head. It seemed to work.

  "Fine," Terrence agreed.

  "We've got it." Rory announced from the kitchen table. Agent Squires shushed him and told him to keep quiet. "Sorry." Rory looked at me grinning.

  "I want you and the book," Terrence continued.

  "And in return?" I waited. What clever scheme had Terrence come up with this time? Rory was here. My mom was in the hospital. Emma was probably at home . . . oh no!

  "Bingo!" Terrence sang. "In return, you get your BFF, Emma." There was a lump in my throat. My heart was pounding again. Terrence was really starting to make me sick.

  "You heartless bastard!" Agent Squires put his hand on my shoulder. My hands were beginning to shake. Agent Squires started taking deep breaths in and out. He was trying to get me to mimic him.

  "Hmmm," Terrence responded. "Looks like I pushed the right button." My jaw clenched together so tight that instead of talking, I grinded my teeth. "Here are the rules. You come alone, obviously. You bring the spell book. And your best mate gets to live. Did all your FBI friends get that?"

  "When?" I forced myself to ask.

  "If I had it my way, right now. But since I'm a reasonable bloke, you have until midnight." The line cut off before I could argue. I slammed the phone on the counter. A plastic piece fell off. I'd broken it in half.

  "Relax, Bridget." Rory didn't look as stressed as I was. He raised his eyebrows, and I stared at his moist forehead. Rory had a plan.

  "The signal was coming from the Allen House," Agent Squires announced to everyone in the kitchen. He turned to Rory and me. "You two were right." We weren't lying.

  "So," I muttered. "You said yourself that you couldn't send your team in. I have to do this on my own. I won't be able to live with myself if Emma dies because I was a coward."

  "Agent Squires," Rory grabbed the agent's shirt and pulled him towards the couch. "I have an idea to stop all this."

  "If it involves feeding Bridget to the wolves, I don't want to hear it."

  "It's our best shot," Rory insisted. "Just hear me out." The three of us sat down. We only had a few hours to figure this out.

  "Ok," Agent Squires agreed. Rory pulled out the spell book. The sight of it made me want to burn it. If a fire had been going in the fireplace, I would have.

  "They need Bridget and the spell from the book to complete the ritual. And if Bridget doesn't deliver the book, they'll hurt Emma."

  "Continue," Agent Squires replied. Rory grinned.

  "I can alter the spell Squires, if you give me the tools I'll need. We'll send Bridget in with the book and try to extract Emma in the process. If things get out of hand, the spell won't work anyway. I can change the words in here and no one will notice."

  "You're forgetting something," Agent Squires added. "Once they discover the spell has been tampered with, what's to stop them from killing Bridget anyway?" Rory grinned again. He'd thought of that too.

  "They won't," Rory responded confidently. "Because if they kill Bridget or even badly wound her, the spell won't work. Don't you see? If they fail to complete the ritual once it has been started, Dru's powers will be drained! All the souls she's stolen will have been for nothing."

  "I still don't like it. It has too many flaws." Agent Squires was shaking his head. He had a plan of his own that involved his team and a bunch of dart guns.

  "With all due respect," Rory rudely remarked. "The way you handle things hasn't really worked out, has it?" Agent Squires was offended, but he kept his comments to himself. In his eyes, Rory was just another arrogant teenage boy who thought he had the answers to everything. And actually, Rory did think he had all the answers. The funny thing was, he was usually right.

  "I can handle this." Agent Squires lowered the tone of his voice. Rory wasn't at all intimidated.

  "If two plans are in motion, there's higher chance at success. Don't you think so?"

  Agent Squires was scratching his chin. He was starting to consider the plan but he didn't want to admit to Rory that he might be right. He did have a good point though. Everything the FBI had tried in the past had failed.

  "I still don't know," Agent Squires muttered. He shook his head and watched his team in the kitchen. I grabbed his arm.

  "Squires," I said. There was no point beating around the bush. "I think Rory's plan could work, and I'm going to do it – whether you say yes or not." He sighed and nodded his head with approval. Rory jumped up. His thoughts were already buzzing with a list of things he'd need to create a phony page. The copy had to match up exactly, minus the changed wording.

  "Bridget," Agent Squires whispered. "I don't want you to underestimate these people. They'll do whatever it takes." I nodded and stared into his eyes with full confidence.

  "So will I."

  Chapter Eighteen

  Exposed

  My blood still boiled when the thought of Terrence entered my head. I let it. He'd tried to take everything from me – everything from my soul to my sanity. It's strange how feelings of love can so quickly turn to loathing. I wanted Terrence to pay for what he did to my mom. I'd never pegged myself as the sort of person who sought out revenge. That's exactly what I wanted though – revenge.

  The mountain breeze brushed across my face and bare arms, giving me goose bumps. I had a flashlight in one hand and the spell book in the other. My heart was racing as my feet crunched under rocks and twigs. The abandoned house looked even spookier at night. The sky was pitch black aside from a few glowing stars. The moon hardly showed. It hid behind gray clouds. I walked closer and spotted a lit candle in the window. Terrence and his evil sister Dru were expecting me. But they we
ren't expecting a team of FBI agents, Rory, and a fake spell that would make tonight's ritual useless.

  Rory had done all his work to the spell book far away from me. It was agreed that I had to focus on other things. I needed to practice clearing my mind in case Terrence could read my thoughts. I couldn't give anything away. Agent Squires helped with the training. After years of practice, he was able to put secrets under lock and key. He said it took practice and flawless concentration but it wasn't impossible. I knew I wouldn't be able to master his techniques in one evening but I sure as hell tried. It was unfortunate that there was no one to practice with.

  I ignored the noises behind me. It was just Rory and a team of agents. It made me even more confident knowing that I had backup. I focused on a scene in my head. It was one in which Terrence got knocked down over and over again. He would look up at me wincing in pain, and I wouldn't show him mercy. The front porch was right in front of me now. The door and chipping paint still looked the same – ugly and smelly. Emma must've had a heart attack when she smelled the rotting wood and something similar to animal feces. The door was cracked open. A pale, bony finger motioned for me to come inside. I walked up the steps without looking over my shoulder.

  "Happy?" I said sarcastically. Dru laughed and shut the door. We were finally face to face. She was pale, thin and wore way too much makeup. And Rory was right; she did dress like a barmaid. She had on a short lacy dress paired with a black leather corset. I couldn't help but stare.

  "My book," she sighed grabbing it from my hands. When she spoke, Dru seemed delicate and even a little angelic. Her voice didn't match her choice of fashion. Dru stroked the cover of the spell book. "Oh how I've missed you, my darling." She held the book out like it was a newborn baby.

  "You're insane," I muttered. Dru laughed again. This time she swayed the bottom of her dress.

  "And what would you know about sanity?" She let out a childlike giggle. She opened the spell book and I watched anxiously hoping she wouldn't notice anything different.