by Ainsley Shay
I slowly turned around. The dog-like creature stared at me. A chain was around its neck, but I couldn’t see the other end, or what, if anything, it was secured to. I prayed it was. Like the slithering creatures in the lagoon I saw when we arrived at Skelside, the thing had spikes down its furless back. Its skin was like a bat’s, and just as dark.
It circled me. The heavy chain clanked behind the beast as it dragged along the ground. I knew then, the creature was the protector of the stone that was deep in the belly of the well. It was no wonder Lord Darenfys wouldn’t risk his life, or his men’s, by coming in here to get it. Then, a thought struck me like the lightning coursing through the sky: how many were there before me who had failed? I wanted to scream, but I didn’t dare. The bat-like dog-thing eyed me like I was its next meal. I slowly eased back, trying to move as close to the well as possible. I was sure I only had to bring up the bucket and the stone would be in it. Who was I fooling? Nothing had been that easy.
The dog creature growled, and I jumped, leaving my heart in my throat. I breathed as deeply as I could and leaped toward the well. The creature was at my feet in the same amount of time it took a piece of sand to fall in an hourglass. I jerked back, turning my back on it and ran.
It didn’t matter if I came out of the maze after sunrise, I had failed. Finally, I let the scream tear loose from my throat and collapsed to the ground. I was answered with a loud boisterous laugh that floated through the maze like a ghost. Hate etched its way into every one of my cells.
Coldness was the next to answer me. Its arms closed around me like death. I almost greeted the embrace, because I knew if I failed, I would be the Lord’s forevermore. Or, until he got bored with me. Then, what would he do with me? That thought instantly sobered me and it was just enough to get me to my feet to look around the hedge. I knew I couldn’t give up like this. I had to be stronger than this. The creature was gnawing intensely on something. My dress rustled and the noise caught the beast’s attention. His body went rigid at the same time mine did, and he looked in my direction. Its teeth were bared, and its mouth glistened with drool. His eyes had changed, I wasn’t sure how, but they looked more evil than they had before. Protectively, it pulled the small animal, possibly a rabbit, closer with its claw.
I ducked back behind the hedge. I had no idea how long I had been in the maze... mere minutes, an hour, two, three hours. The stone, I had to get the stone. Then, a thought smacked me in the head, and I gasped with horror; how could I know that, if I did recover the stone, Lord Darenfys would let me go? I didn’t. But, I had to trust that he would keep his word.
“Two hours until sunrise, my dear.” The words bellowed into the night.
Each time I moved, the material of my dress shifted and the noise could be heard for a good distance. Especially, with the creature’s keen sense of hearing. It was cold, but I took off the dress. The corset did little to keep me warm. I peered around the hedge. The beastly thing lay soundless. The mutilated carcass was near the well, away from the creature. My footfalls were quiet as I approached the well. I walked backward as not to turn my back on the sleeping thing.
My lower back bumped the edge of the well. I sucked in a sharp breath. It wasn’t enough to make the beast stir. I let out the breath and took another, more slowly this time. I walked around to the other side of the well. At least now, I had the stone structure in between the beast-thing and me. Darkness was all I could see when I looked into the well. The bucket was already lowered into the pit. I grasped the handle of the crank and began to turn it. Whatever was down there was on its way up. I turned the handle faster and grabbed hold of the rope. The pulley squeaked. The creature’s ghastly pudgy body was fast. I dropped the rope and ran. I knew my freedom was gone forever.
When I finished writing, I had a few minutes before study hall was over. I looked back over the words, and icy threads raced up my back and down my arms. The word “I” was laced throughout the entire dream. Not “Catherine” or “her” or “she,” but “I.” I had written the nightmare in first person. Holy shit. This was not good.
22
The Jeep came around the corner. My heart thumped like there were a thousand tiny drums in my chest. I swear I could feel the remnants of his kiss still on my lips. He came to a stop in front of me. I opened the door and slid into the passenger seat.
Blacwin leaned across the console and kissed my cheek. “Hi.”
“Hi.” I wasn’t sure where we stood since the last time we saw each other, but I wasn’t going to complain about how this was starting.
As we drove out of the parking lot, I knew without looking back, Chandler was watching me drive away with Blacwin. I reached into my bag and slid the button on my phone to silent. The Jeep came to screeching halt. I looked up. I wish I hadn’t. Mr. Pene stood a mere few inches from it. His briefcase in hand, his other occupied his jean’s pocket. His dark eyes narrowed at Blacwin. When his gaze slid to me, frost coated my nerves. His mouth slinked into an evil grin. It stayed there as he stared at the Jeep. I couldn’t grasp what was happening. I glanced at Blacwin, and his face was like stone. His usual smooth features were sharp, fierce lines.
Mr. Pene slightly bowed his head and walked out of the way of the Jeep. I thought that Blacwin would blast out of the parking lot, but he eased his foot off the break and we glided forward. His eyes never left Mr. Pene until he was out of sight.
“I’m going to guess you two know each other,” I said.
I barely heard him when he spoke. “A long time ago.”
“Doesn’t look like you guys get along?”
“I thought he was dead.” His words were like a bomb that just detonated in the mostly quiet car.
I didn’t say anything. I mean, what could I say?
“Are you hungry?” he asked.
My bag was already vibrating and I hoped that Blacwin couldn’t hear it. I ignored it. “Not really. But, if you are—”
“I’m fine.” He sounded different. His voice held more intensity and seriousness than when I first got into the car. “I wanted to talk to you—to tell you something, in person.”
Now I wondered if this was off to a good start or not. He took a left on the main road, heading away from town. He seemed far way, and I wanted him back here with me. “Ahem.”
Blacwin immediately glanced in my direction, smiled, and looked back toward the road. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t expecting to see him.”
“Do you want to talk about Mr. Pene?”
He jerked his head in my direction. “Mr. Pene?” He chuckled. “Clever. Very clever.”
“Yeah, he’s the creative writing teacher.”
Blacwin cursed several unintelligible words under his breath. “Please tell me you don’t take creative writing.”
“I wish I could say I didn’t.”
His hand tightened on the steering wheel. His knuckles paled. Blacwin pulled off to the side of the road and put the Jeep in neutral. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes. “Him, being here, isn’t good.”
“Why isn’t it good?” I wanted to tell Blacwin about the paper I wrote, and how Mr. Pene knew it was about Skelside. But, I wasn’t ready to go down that path yet. Plus, I wasn’t quite ready for Blacwin to call me crazy and end whatever was happening between us. “He gives me the creeps. But apparently, I’m the only one because every other girl swoons over the guy.”
“I’m glad. It would be odd if he didn’t creep you out.” He opened his eyes and turned his head toward me.
“Let’s not talk about him anymore. What did you want to tell me?”
His next words left me feeling as cold and exposed as I had ever been. I sat frozen; impeded from making any movement at all.
“I think I used to know you.”
Not only was my body immobile, but also my brain had shut down, and my mouth refused to do anything but fall open.
“I’m not trying to freak you out. It was getting too hard to keep to myself. After all this time, I never thought I�
�d see you again, but here you are.”
My head began turning his words over and over. Numb and baffled, I stared out the window. His words were similar to Chandler’s the day we met, “So much time... but here you are, again.”
“I probably don’t know half of the things that you’re going through, and I know I’m just adding to your troubles. Please believe me, that’s not my intention.” He took my hand. “Iris, look at me.” I did. “I only want to make things right with you.”
Still, with nothing to say, I nodded.
“If you want me to take you home, I will.”
I wasn’t sure what I wanted. The word “how” screamed and echoed in my head, how had he known me; but there was too much to decipher; too many people to try to understand; too many mysteries to try to figure out; too much that I was unintentionally involved in. Overwhelmed, I whispered, “Please take me home.”
He did.
He did not kiss me goodbye.
23
My phone was a constant vibration of texts, emails, and phone calls, every way that someone could electronically make contact with you. Some came from Snow, but most from Chandler. I called Snow first.
“Where the hell have you been?” she yelled before I had a chance to say anything.
“Hello to you, too.”
“Don’t give me that crap! I’ve tried calling you a hundred times, texting, and nothing. I thought you were dead or taco-guy had you tied to the bedposts. So, it’s a good thing you answered this time, ’cause I was about to steal my mom’s car and come over. Dreading to, yes, not wanting to see you tied up or dead, but I would have done it, ’cause that’s what best friends do!”
I wanted to laugh, but I didn’t dare. If she was this mad, I knew it was only because she cared. “I promise you I’m fine.”
“You can tell your lies to someone else. What the hell is going on?”
The lie came easily, and I hated myself for it. “I’m just trying to find ways to adjust—that’s all.” I guess it wasn’t a complete lie, but that wasn’t the only thing I was trying to do. I needed to find a way to deal with all the insanity before I said anything to her. What worried me, is I wasn’t sure that day would ever come.
“I know. I’m sorry. It’s just that you really worried me today. I know I can’t be with you 24/7, but I need you to at least let me know you’re okay. Okay?”
I smiled to myself. I owed that and more to her. “I Promise.”
“I’m holding you to that. Call me later if you can, or at least send a text.”
We hung up, and when I called Chandler, I got the same guilt trip; though his response was a little different, “I’ll be there in ten.”
In less than ten minutes, he was at the door, and this time, very un-Chandler-like, he knocked. I did not intend to tell him anything about the episode with Mr. Pene and Blacwin or what Blacwin had told me. How could two almost-strangers think they know me, or once knew me? I thought of my dad’s letter, Now that I am dead, they will come for you. Their only mission is you.
He pushed past me and stood dead center in the living room. “Why didn’t you answer my calls or texts?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because I don’t have to report my every freaking move to you!”
I heard his stiff breaths, in out, in out. He was pissed. My anger over his protectiveness fizzled out, and all I could do was laugh. I was too tired, too overwhelmed to do anything else. When his head jerked up, I laughed harder. I couldn’t stop.
“What the hell is so funny? This,” he swirled his hand in the air, “is not a laughing situation.”
“You look like the angry face in your text.”
“Yeah, maybe because I’m angry as hell right now.”
I covered my mouth with my hand and tried to control my laughter, but it was useless. There was some button in me that had been pushed, and I lost control. My emotions shifted from uncontrollable laughter to unrelenting tears. Back and forth, the shifts were pure madness. Chandler was at my side in seconds. His strong arms enveloped me and I didn’t hesitate, I held onto to him with all the strength I had. He guided me to the bed. I sat on the edge and he left to go to the bathroom. When he returned, he sat beside me and held a damp cloth out to me. I took it and wiped my eyes and face.
“Iris?”
“Hmm.”
“What can I do to help?”
“Some answers would be nice.”
Later, like promised, I sent a quick text to Snow and let her know I was fine and going to bed. I left out the part that Chandler was at my apartment. If she had known that, she wouldn’t have responded with a kissy face.
I dreamt of Blacwin. The dream was colorless, but it didn’t matter. It was in the present and had nothing to do with any of the nightmares. He was beautiful and perfect. One candle lit the room. It glowed off Blacwin’s handsome face as he stood next to me. A thin chain hung around his neck, a pendant rested in the hollow of his throat. It was a stone surrounded by an intricate metal design. The necklace was the only thing he wore above low-slung jeans. He looked different, his hair was disheveled, his eyes darker than usual. I wondered what he was thinking as he stared down at me. He began to stroke the pendant. When he looked into my eyes, the flame of the candle reflected in the depths of his own.
He gently outlined my face with his fingers, tracing my brow, the lids of my eyes, and then my cheekbones, down to my mouth. I opened my lips as he circled them. He watched his hand, enthralled as if it were some other entity and not part of himself. The thrill of being underneath his touch was tantalizing.
He bent his head and I knew what was coming. I craned up to meet him, but he stopped. He picked me up, lowered me onto the bed, and lay beside me. I reached up to touch his face. He shook his head. Disappointed, I let my hand fall. He touched me again. His touch was light as it grazed my chin, neck, trailed between my breasts, and then skimmed past my stomach.
I was trapped in a moment of heated torment. I couldn’t stop myself; I reached up, wanting to touch him. He grabbed my wrist before the tips of my fingers reached his chest. Blacwin forced it above my head and held it there. With my other arm tucked between our bodies, I was completely immobilized. He lowered his head and his lips grazed mine. The faint contact astounded me. There was little air in my lungs when he kissed me again. His lips were full and commanded the attention of mine. I didn’t hesitate. He eased his tongue between my lips and I could taste sweet mint.
When he pulled away, I licked my lips wanting to taste more of him. His eyes never left mine when he whispered, “I’ve always loved you.”
24
Dazed and jarred by the dream, my eyes fluttered open. I rubbed my temples, willing his words to disintegrate from my head. I glanced at my phone, four A.M. “Ugh.” I groaned. My arm went to the other side of the bed. Chandler was gone. Thank God. I was already going to have a lot of explaining to do if Snow ever found out about his nightly visits, as innocent as they were, they were still visits with the occasional sleep over.
Closing my eyes, I grasped the front of my tank top, desperately wanting to feel Blacwin again. I wanted to remember every sensation of his touch, the way he kissed me, and the way he looked at me. My heart sped up like the beating of a hummingbird’s wings thrashing against the walls of my chest. Trying to calm the ache settling low in my belly, I thought of the pendant Blacwin stroked as he touched me in the dream. It was about an inch long with an oval-shaped stone in the center. Thin veins were streaked over its surface. I remembered glimpsing a chain around his neck at the coffee shop and wondered what really hung from it.
I needed to talk to Blacwin, ask him what he meant by, I think I used to know you. I think I was ready to hear what he had to say if he told me. Then, I’d have one mystery solved. The other part of me wanted to see him.
I got ready for school and took the chance of driving to Adelina deBlays’ house to see him. Her house was only fifteen minutes away, just outside of town. I passed only one other car on
the way there. I’d never been to her house, but like most, everyone knew where she lived. The gate was open, and I drove down the drive. When I pulled up to the house, I called Blacwin.
He answered on the first ring. “Iris?”
“I hope it’s not too early.”
“No, I’ve been up for a while now.”
“I was wondering if you would like to have coffee with me before I went to school.”
“Sure, do you want me to pick you up?”
I tried not to sound creepy when I said, “Actually, I’m sitting outside your house.”
“Oh.”
Dread rolled over me with that one basic word, if you could even call it a word.
The front door opened. I reached across the passenger seat and rolled down the window. He was not quite silhouetted as light bathed him from behind. I could easily see the details of his shirtless, firm body. My dream hardly gave justice to the real thing. He stood on the porch with the phone still held to his ear. “Do you want to come in?”
“Yes.” This was not a good idea. I meant, it was a great idea, the best idea I ever had. But, it was bad. Bad. Bad. Bad. I got out of my car to go to him. Blacwin waited for me on the porch. It wasn’t until I heard him breathe as I climbed the few steps of the porch that I realized we both still held the phones against our ears. He whispered, “Hi,” into the receiver.
“Hi.” His bare chest was a distraction, as was the line that led from his chest all the way down to the waistline of his jeans.
“I guess we don’t need these anymore.”
Agreeing, I lowered the phone. We smiled sheepishly at each other. Bad idea, Iris. This is how things that probably shouldn’t happen, happen. But, right now, I really wanted those things to happen.