by Tara Brown
Marcus sighs. “Promise you won’t blubber and rehash all of this later over drinks?”
“Nope.” I shake my head. “I promise nothing.”
The drive over to the bayou brings us past the old trailer. I sense her instantly. She’s there, trapped behind the walls of the decaying hole that was once her house. “Stop!”
Henry gives me a look in the rearview but I nod. “Please. I need to free her, or at least give her the option. She can’t hurt me none.” He stops and I climb out, holding myself. The black water has crept from the swamps, trying desperately to take her back. The trailer is partly submerged. The cypress trees with the red moss seem worse than before and the stillness is creepy. It makes my spine tingle. Marcus gets out of the car, but it’s Henry who comes with me. He removes his bowler hat, clutching it to his barrel chest, and takes my hand in his.
His dark eyes are sad, filled with regret of sorts. I don't understand how he could possibly know her at all. We walk, hand in hand, to the front door that's only partially on the hinges. He pries it open, letting us see the real state of things. Grandpa is gone. I imagine she must have killed him. She has a thing with killing family.
I step in first, promptly hit by the dank smell of rot. I cover my nose as he steps inside after me.
Marcus shouts from the yard, if you can call it that. “This is a serious dump, Lorelei. I don't think you should go in there.”
She is inside, sitting on the couch in a pale nightdress. It has tears on the sides and she might be seventeen. She has faint bruising along her face and hands. She looks dead, more than dead. Drained. There is no joy in my momma. She is not a person anymore as much as she is a shell.
“Momma!”
Her glassy blue eyes, filled with pain and glistening light, drift my way. She registers me but doesn't move or speak. She holds herself, waiting for something but I don't know what.
I expect her to do something eerie and frightening like suddenly jump up and lunge at us or vanish and appear at my throat. But she does something more unsettling, far more. She sits in the same position as Henry and I find our way into the trailer. She doesn't speak or try to hurt me. She sits, impotent and ruined. I think she was born this way, ruined.
Henry drops to his knees, startling me. Black tears drop from her blank eyes as she sees it. She shakes her head, turning away.
I place a hand on Henry’s broad shoulder. “What is this?”
It’s her eyes that find mine, not his. She swallows and smiles weakly. “He’s my family. My real family.”
I scowl. “What?”
She nods slowly, still staring as the black liquid drains from her eyes. “We were his.”
I don't understand, at all. Henry lifts his hands to mine and the trailer shifts. I scream, jumping back but the shift is so fast, roots shoot through the windows and doors, pulling the old wreck into the swamp. I try to run for the door, but Henry holds me there. I scream as we slide into the water and sink quickly. The cold black water splashes across the floor, shoving me to the wall on the far side. Henry and Momma don't move, they stay right where they are. I’m panicking and trying to move but the water pulls and pushes, forcing me to stay against the wall. When the water is at my waist, I scream, “MARCUS!”
I hear him and then I don't and the water is at my chin. I lift my face as the frigid black water crawls up my face, submerging me with them.
I can’t swim or move. Suddenly, a light comes from the far side of the trailer and I see it. A black cat—a jaguar—walks across the room. He stalks like he’s hunting. A beautiful woman stands near the road where the jaguar walks. He circles her. I almost scream at her to run but he changes, becoming a man. He is the man standing in front of me, holding my dead mother’s hand. Henry lowers his face in shame, closing his eyes as the picture changes. The beautiful woman and him start to kiss. She looks so much like my momma, I can’t believe it. The light gets bright and the picture is gone. Then the woman stands at the edge of the black water, staring into the bayou. She turns, revealing a massive pregnant belly. I notice suddenly her dress is torn and her face is thin. A man drives his boat to the dock where she is, a chubby man with a fishing boat. I recognize him instantly. It’s my granddaddy. He kisses her hand and rubs her belly, pointing at the boat.
She gets in and the light gets bright again. I notice my lungs aren’t hurting. I am holding my breath with ease.
The picture comes back: it’s the woman standing at the edge of the bayou. She just keeps staring out. She is thin and frail, and no matter how hard the man tries, she won’t come with him. She just stays there.
He takes the hands of the two little blonde girls. My insides clench. The light gets bright again and I see my momma is crying. Her black tears are becoming part of the black water around us. Her tears are so much darker.
The image comes back, revealing Momma playing on the floor as Granddaddy stumbles in the house. He’s drunk. He hits her in the back of the head and passes out on the couch. The trailer is filthy and so are the two little girls.
The light comes back and I’m crying too. “Momma!” She turns to me, cold as a dead fish. She whispers. “I can’t love you.”
I know that, and no matter how much of this hateful stuff I see, I can’t forgive her for it all. But it makes it easier to see why.
Henry swirls his hands in the water, making more light. She turns away from me and swims into the light, taking with her my love. I always hated that I loved her and I wanted her to love me. I hate that she swims away, into the light, still unable to love me, even once.
When the light’s gone and Momma is gone with it, Henry takes my hand and pulls me away. He holds me and drags me to the door. We swim through the water, leaving the sunken trailer and all its horrors behind in the swamp. He pulls me to the shore, holding me to him. Suddenly, Marcus is there, lifting my drenched body into his arms.
I never explain the moment me and Henry had to anyone. He is my real granddaddy. So many things add up. Why I’m special, why I’m stronger, and why he’s always so concerned about me.
We get back in the car and I lean my face against the warm glass to watch as we drive away from the place the swamps took back. My momma is gone. She ain’t never coming back and there ain’t even a spot for me to say she once lived.
The little girl on the side of the road is finally free.
But I don't feel free with her. I feel numb.
When we get to Ramón’s house, the guy who he was dating when he died is there. I jump out of the car and storm to him. “You have five seconds to explain what you told the Whitlock family. Whit and Rydal. Scottish brothers? Vampires? Ringing any bells?”
He seems as though he might lie but I slam him against a tree with the wind.
Ramón grabs my arm. “Lorelei, have ya lost your mind?”
I point at the guy pinned to the large tree. “He sold you out to the vampires. They was coming for your blood.”
Ramón’s head turns suddenly. “She telling da truth?”
The man shakes his head, gripping the imaginary hand at his throat.
Ramón walks to the man. “See da thang about Lorelei is, she don't never lie to me. Not even when I beg her to.”
The man slumps, giving up fighting the wind. Ramón leans against the tree. “What did you tell them?”
“They coming for you and her. They went home to get the rest of their family. All of them is coming.”
Marcus climbs from the car and storms across the dirt yard. He grabs the man and sinks his fangs into his neck. He sucks him completely and then rips his heart from his chest. He drops the man and looks back at Grandmamma Holt in the doorway. “Pardon my trespass.” He passes the heart to Ramón and walks back to the car. “We leave now, Lorelei.”
I hug Ramón, not getting close to the bloody heart in his hands. “See you soon?”
“Yup. Kill them all, whatever it is that's hunting us.”
I wave to Grandmamma and run back to the car. “W
as that completely necessary?”
“No, but it made me feel better.” He licks the blood from his lips. “Henry, if you please, take us to the train yard. Lorri is meeting us there.” He looks at me. “We can beat Whit back here. He has to get another witch to make another gateway; they aren’t easy.”
My insides clench as I sit back and pray my barrier spells will be enough to keep my family safe.
I wish I had gotten a chance to say goodbye to Angie but I didn't know what to say.
Chapter 18
Lorri and Dorian wink us to the exact spot in the forest as last time. I suck the barrier spell in and turn. Lorri grabs my face, kissing me roughly, in a sort of erotic way. I have several seconds during the kiss I am convinced she isn’t batting for our team.
I kiss Landry again, groaning. He seems offended. Marcus smiles wide, accepting the kiss too easily. Dorian is the same but he kisses slowly, methodically.
I need several deep breaths before I can walk afterward.
I wave a hand into the barrier and nod.
Lorri gives Marcus a shitty look. “Why didn't you tell us what you two were doing in 2012? We could have all remembered and gone after these guys right away.”
Marcus shrugs. “I didn't care.”
Dorian scoffs. “You were in it all for the witch blood? Typical Marcus.”
Marcus winks at me. We both know it wasn't ever about the blood. We also both know neither of us wants to talk about it. Dorian slings an arm around my shoulders. “You two an item?”
I smile at Marcus. “You and I both know his greatest love is himself.” I wink at Marcus.
“I have a feeling we were friends once upon a time.” Dorian shakes my shoulders. His bitter sarcastic charm brings a grin across my lips. “We did make out once.”
His obsidian eyes sparkle with delight. “How was I?”
“Started out amazing but then you tried to suck my soul and made a mean comment about me poisoning yours.” I shrug.
He laughs. “I did like you. I knew it.”
I roll my eyes. We trek to the door to the dungeon, the gate I once blew off its hinges. I close my eyes, pulling the power from the earth, the fire from the skies, and drawing on everything I have. My body rumbles with the clouds in the sky as they mix for me, creating the bolt of lightning I need. I feel the sky reflect in my eyes as I turn my head up and let the lightning strike me. It charges the spell I’m muttering.
Shuddering from the power Mother Earth has bestowed upon me, I pull the gate from the wall and shout back, “Step to the sides.” I know they’re coming like last time. I press my back against the wall of the castle as a reddish-black cloud shoots from the opening in the tunnel. The souls blast from the hole, shooting into the sky.
“Did you just announce our arrival?” Lorri appears close to strangling me. She doesn't trust me like last time. Not yet anyway.
“The witch who made the barrier is on our side, trust me. She isn’t happy about the state of things either.”
The ghost of the small child, Sara, walks to the entrance. She puts her finger to her lips and turns back into the tunnel, floating down it to the room of sin.
“Why does it have to be children that come as the ghosts? It makes it so much worse. She starts singing in the tunnel and I’m out.” Dorian cringes.
I pat him on the chest. “Man up.” We enter the tunnel, stalking through until we come to the door that’s the wall. Sara is there, smiling at me. “You came back?”
I nod, a bit surprised she remembers me. “Are they all here?”
“Yeah.” She winces, staying in the hall as I push the door, revealing the room with the table. A blonde with bloodstains smeared across her pale skin lies on the table. Lorri’s jaw sets and Henry looks like he might murder someone. Dorian and Marcus have the same reaction as if I’d shown them the gardens and they could care less.
I wink at Sara back in the hall. “Sing something for us, sugar.”
Dorian scowls. “We were off to such a great start.”
Sara parts her lips but it’s Marcus who turns and shakes his head. “She was joking, she’s a bit touched.”
Sara frowns and vanishes. I know she won’t come into the room with the dead witch. We cross the room. I don't know about the rest of them but I’m holding my breath. The stench of the girl is too much.
In the long dark corridor I find the aunt—the blonde ghost who scared the piss out of me. She nods once and then vanishes.
“What the hell is this place? How many witches?”
I turn to Dorian. “Hundred or more. They call themselves the Midnight Coven. At midnight they are powerful; their magic reunites with them for moments every night at midnight.”
Lorri checks her watch. “Two minutes to midnight.”
“I know.” I wink. I turn and hurry up the stairs to the wooden door. I give it a push and walk out onto the overlook.
Gwen is here. I jump when I see her but she puts her finger to her lips. “My Ma showed me everything.”
I’m excited but hesitant. She was my best friend in England for fifty years, my very best friend. “You remember me and everything that happened?”
“No. Ma showed me how you saved them last time. You were the witch Whit brought. I saw that I helped you. I got Sara to tell you to go to the cabin and I waited there for you with clothes. I must have trusted you to choose you over my family.”
“You didn't at first but you wanted to be free of them and their evil ways.”
“I still do.” She swallows the lump in her throat.
I hold my hand out. “Lorri, this is Gwen. She was a Rose with me for fifty years in England and Europe. She is Whit’s sister, and since she ate the first witch when she first turned, she hasn't had another.”
Gwen shakes her head. “It felt wrong.”
Lorri steps forward, cocking her head to the side. “You choose our side over your family?”
Gwen nods. Lorri vanishes, taking Gwen with her. She’s back seconds later but without Gwen. She doesn't say a thing so I have to assume she took her to headquarters for training. I have to hope that. Lorri doesn't like questions, and if I start the new relationship with her asking them, she might never like me.
I point to the stairs, snapping my fingers to get the sparks of lightning flowing as I creep down them. Laughter fills the wide dimly lit hallway. I pause, not scared but intimidated. Having Henry and Lorri is like having ten armies. We hurry into the great dining room to find Inger studying a map. He lifts his head the moment we enter, but Dorian is already behind him, snapping his neck. Marcus walks over and pulls his heart from his chest and his head from his shoulders. He tosses the heart and head both into the crackling fireplace.
This is going to be easier than I anticipated.
When we leave the dining room, we creep down the long corridor to the rooms. It’s the far wing of the house but I can sense them there. A girl cries out off to the right, and I almost think it’s Sara until I realize it’s coming from Whit’s room.
Dorian vanishes with Lorri as I open the door. Whit shouts through his fangs as his eyes meet mine. He’s panicked, but I don't know if it's me seeing him drain a girl that bothers him, or the fact Dorian has just grabbed Rydal and sucked his soul. He slumps to the floor behind the screaming girl who Marcus picks up and sinks his fangs into. She squirms for a second, no doubt terrified but then falls limp in his arms. He drops her to the floor.
Lorri scowls at the horrific sight but Marcus doesn't care.
Whit’s fangs drop away as I near him. He looks scared and confused. I slide my trembling hand up the side of his face and give him my heart’s version of our story. I let it loose to shoot through him, pulsating and probing every dark corner. He quivers at first like he doesn't believe what he sees, but I keep pushing. My fingers push so hard, the stickiness of his blood coats my nails.
Tears join the blood as he sees what he made me feel, what he made me think. I show him the trust and the pain and the horror o
f the night he killed my family. I show him everything I gave him—my virtue, my heart, my love, and my trust. I show him how it felt to witness his brothers and their witches.
He buckles, dropping to his knees. I drop with him, lifting his chin so he sees my eyes when I say, “I forgive you, Whit. I know you hardly know me and you ain’t got a clue how all those lives happened between us, but I don't want the anger I let you put in my heart.” I want to save my showstopper for the man behind the menace so I look at Dorian and stand up. He grabs Whit by the face, lifting him and sucking his soul. Whit’s dead body drops to the floor, and I hate the fact a piece of my heart is still there with him. He exploited the sadness in me.
I won’t ever know if he really loved me once upon a time.
I turn and leave him there. The room is a massacre and I’m sort of glad Gwen isn’t here for it.
I shudder, realizing the level of wickedness they have been raised with. It clearly shows their respect for humans. They haven’t matured beyond what they were when they were human. The world has aged around them but they have not grown with it. I was fooled by his looks and his accent and his vampirish appeal. I too was shallow and weak of the mind, but reliving the same fifty years has aged me. I didn't stay the same young girl I started out as.
I grew and aged with my world.
We leave, a band of tiptoeing monsters sneaking down the corridor of a haunted castle. When we get to Ollie’s room I can’t help but hate the fact he probably never really stood a chance. Being the youngest, he has become what he was shown.
He’s sitting in the window of his room when I open the door.
He doesn't turn toward me but he speaks softly, “Am I the last one?”
“No.”
“I sort of always imagined I would be the last of them.” He turns, looking sweet and innocent. Just like the day I first met him. Dorian winks into the room, ending him quietly.
As we leave the room Lorri gives me a funny look. “I liked you, didn't I?”
I shrug, not wanting to be cocky and gush about how we were friends and sometimes we even talked. “We were sort of—”