Colt had been right about the pin. It was bone, and those bones of Dahlia’s victims would be used in her vampire’s resurrection. Dahlia wasn’t doing the yearly sacrifices to simply fulfill the curse and then go on with her life. Dominic had figured out that she was gathering blood and bone for her most powerful spell, and their stupid mother would be the one who paid when Dahlia had her last laugh. He wondered how her plan would pan out, and if he still wanted to be around for it when it did. If he were honest with himself, he’d long stopped loving the witch that Dahlia had become. His sweet sister was not the same girl she was when they used to summer at Willow Haven. It all stemmed back to the night she was jilted. Nothing makes one colder than a broken heart.
He wondered if Kitty would harden that way. She was tough enough already, but with such compassion for others that he couldn’t imagine her growing cold-hearted like Dahl. But then again, when his sister was young, he’d never thought he’d see the day where she relished in gathering the bones of the innocent to decorate a brooch for an amulet. He’d watched her in wonder and disgust, year after year, carving out the bone, hacking it away from her victims cold, dead bodies, whittling it down to a perfect fit to wear it proudly. The image of Kitty standing there declaring she wasn’t afraid sent cold chills down his spine and a pain straight to his heart. He was falling for her. He didn’t know what she should fear more—his love or Dahlia’s hate. He decided it didn’t matter as one would surely fuel the other.
Chapter Seven
Monday at school, Jenna was sitting in homeroom with her head down, looking miserable when Kitty walked in. Her mother had been taking her to school since the two girls hadn’t completely made up. She didn’t know what to tell Jenna about the project, or if she should say anything at all. She couldn’t just lie about the Dane’s living in the house and keep on showing up there, but she wasn’t sure how to put it or what all to tell. If they were truly leaving, did Jenna need to know everything? She was certain there was one thing she should know and as soon as possible. “So how was your weekend? Did you and Colt get to spend any time together?”
“No, he was busy all weekend and then this morning he gave me the brush off. I don’t know what’s gotten into him. Boys are so weird.” She stretched her arms up over her head and yawned.
“Jenna, I think maybe you and Colt should take a little time. I know that sounds strange coming from me, but—“
“Strange? It sounds like you’re jealous, Kitt. I mean, I thought we were past all this. Besides, you have Dominic now, what do you care that we’re together?”
“We’re not together anymore, and that has nothing to do with you and Colt. I’m trying to help you, Jenna, even though I don’t know why after you stabbed me in the back,” she said a little too loudly. She glanced around the room to see if anyone else was paying attention. No one was. The bell hadn’t rung so everyone was still chatting and cutting up. Kitty didn’t want to be the one to tell Jenna, but she was losing patience and despite all that had happened, she hated seeing her friend being duped.
“Oh, now it all makes sense. Dominic dumps you so you’re trying to push me and Colt apart. It’s not going to happen.” Jenna folded her arms and turned in her seat to face away from Kitty.
That was the final straw for Kitty. “I couldn’t care less about you and Colt. What I cared about is our friendship. So here’s some friendly advice. Ask your boyfriend why Dahlia was at his house till 10:30 on Saturday night while you were home alone missing him.” Kitty regretted the words as Jenna’s expression changed. Her brows pinched together in pain. Kitty’s heart sank. “I’m sorry, Jenna. I didn’t want to be the one to tell you.”
Gathering up her books without another word to Kitty, Jenna stormed out the door. Kitty had let her temper get the best of her, but Jenna needed to know.
After school, Kitty lay on her bed and studied the notes she’d taken on the project. There had to be something else they could do that wouldn’t put them in Whisper House, but so far, she couldn’t think of anything. At this rate production would be pushed to Saturday, which was Halloween, when it wasn’t exactly smart to be hanging around the old house. Not that she’d been smart any other times she’d been there. Leaning back and staring at the ceiling, she was lost in deep thought until footsteps running up her stairs caught her attention. She jumped to her feet the moment that Jenna slung her door open.
With her hands flying in wild gestures and her voice booming, she entered. “I’m so furious! That jerk, he admitted it to me. I can’t believe I was so stupid to fall for him and his crap. I’m sorry, Kitt. I should have listened to you, and I didn’t. I should have stayed away from him. I promise not to ever let another stupid boy come between us. I hope you can forgive me.” Tears streaked her face as she dove into Kitty’s arms. Her flare for the dramatic was no surprise to Kitty, but she worried over having to tell her about the project.
“Forget about it. It appears you did me a favor,” Kitty said stepping away to take a seat on her bed.
“Just wait until I see that Dahlia Dane. I’m going to make her sorry she ever messed with me.” Jenna was dangerously blunt at times, and Kitty wasn’t sure it was a great idea to go messing with Dahlia.
Shaking her head, Kitty held up a finger. “I wouldn’t go doing that. She threatened me, Jenna. Well, she threatened us. She knows you have that moth pin, and I think you need to just give it back. It’s supposedly very important to her. I don’t know why, but I seriously think the girl is unstable.”
“It will be a cold day in hell before I give that stupid pin back to her. Why should I? Threaten me? She stole my boyfriend. Wait, Kitt, do you think she only messed with Colt because I took her pin?” Jenna leaned against the wall and folded her arms. “She’s nuts if she thinks I’m giving her that pin. I’m not afraid of her.”
Kitty thought she may as well tell her about the project since she was already in a terrible mood. “Dominic also wants us to stay away from the house, Jenna. He wants us to come up with another idea for our project. I’ve been thinking on it all morning, and there’s nothing else we could do at this late of date. At this rate we’ll be shooting on Halloween, if we can still get Colt’s camera.”
“Dammit! His stupid camera,” said Jenna. “I forgot about that. If I go after Dahlia, he’ll never let me borrow it, if I didn’t ruin things already. I kind of hit him with my library book when he admitted what a dog he is. But why shouldn’t we go to Whisper House? It doesn’t belong to them.”
Kitty wasn’t sure what she should say. She didn’t think Dominic wanted anyone else to know they stayed there. “I don’t know what to do,” Kitty said. “But I know we shouldn’t make it any worse. Maybe I can talk to Dominic again. Just to figure this out. Maybe they’re leaving before Halloween, and then we won’t have to worry about the project. Once Dahlia splits, Colt will be all alone and I’m sure we can persuade him to use the camera.”
“Yeah, and then strangle him with the strap when he’s done,” Jenna said. The threats were shallow and Kitty knew that. Colt had really hurt her friend, for the first time she was glad it was Jenna and not her. “It sounds like a plan, Kitt. I can go with you if you want.”
“No, thank you. I think I had better do this on my own. I’m not quite sure he’ll be happy to see me. Just do me a favor. Don’t go off on Colt again, and please promise me you’ll stay away from Dahlia.”
Jenna glanced up to the ceiling before meeting Kitty’s stare. “I promise,” she said. Somehow Kitty didn’t quite believe her.
Chapter Eight
Kitty sat on her the swing staring at the moths that fluttered around her porch light. None were as big as the huge moth that Dahlia had held and none were as similar to the brooch. Hoping to stop this ridiculous feud between Dahlia and Jenna, she needed a way to speak to Dominic without his sister knowing. Her only hope was to catch Dahlia at Colt’s again and use that time to meet up with Dominic.
She stared across the street to the old trail i
n the woods that she used to take to Colt and Jenna’s before she’d gotten her cart. Her mother had bought her the cart so she’d stay out of the woods after the disappearances. Kitty knew that the two of them still used it now and then to get to her house, so it shouldn’t be too grown over or impassable. Her plan was to sneak off down the trail and wait for Dahlia to go to Colt’s and hope that her old routine had become Dahlia’s new one. Colt’s mother didn’t like company until after dinner, and dinner was at six and over by seven. She’d hope that knowing that routine would pay off.
A half hour before seven, she started down the trail hoping to catch Dahlia on her way. An owl in the tree screeched and startled her as she passed, but she wasn’t afraid. She shined the light at it and laughed at herself, admiring the gorgeous creature, but then continued on her mission.
The woods were darker than expected having grown thicker since the last time she’d wandered down that path. With no wind in the trees, the stillness was eerie. Even the insects seemed to go silent as she walked by. Something heavy in the trees made a sound and she stopped for a moment, until she shinned the light and saw the reflecting glow of two eyes watching her from above. The owl had followed. Curious, she stared. It’s not following me. It’s a bird. It lives out here. I’m the oddball in its territory.
Approaching the end of the trail, she shut off her light, seeing that the streetlights shone enough to make her feel safe, but not enough to give her away. She stood behind a small tree watching Colt’s house. She leaned against the tree, hoping she wouldn’t smell too woodsy after, and swatted a mosquito from her face.
Minutes later, something unbelievable happened. A snow white owl swooped down and landed on the ground by the willow tree in Colt’s front yard. In the blink of an eye, the owl was gone and Dahlia stood in its place. Where did she come from? Kitty had only blinked. And she blinked again, wondering what she’d just missed. Surely Dahlia chased the owl away, but what was she doing lurking in the shadows in Colt’s yard. You know what you saw, Kitty, a voice inside told her. “That’s insane. I’m not crazy,” she said to shut the other voice up. Her heart pounded in her chest as the girl knocked on the door and was welcomed inside.
Kitty ran to the neighboring yard and up to the street. She kept jogging past Jenna’s house and didn’t stop until she hit the porch of Whisper House. Bursting through the door, she ran right into Dominic. His hard expression was only softened slightly by her touch.
She jumped away from him and stumbled backward until she landed on her bottom in the doorway. As he leaned forward to offer her a hand, she scuttled backwards, fear painfully obvious in her expression. Realization lit in Dominic’s eyes.
“Don’t be afraid of me, Kitty,” he said, as if wishing she’d get that look off her face. It was pure fear and for the wrong sibling.
“I just saw your sister. She—“ Kitty shook her head and turned over onto her hands, pushing herself up and starting to run long before she was upright. She gained her footing and made it across the yard before she felt his hand grab her arm. She turned to punch at him, screaming to be set free. But he did not hold her to harm her. He backed off to show her he only wanted to talk. Throwing up his hands in surrender, he turned and walked back to the house. He glanced back as invitation for her to follow.
Kitty stared down her long road and considered running away again, but this is what she’d wanted—time alone to work things out with Dominic. She needed to know that he was leaving town and taking his awful sister with him.
She walked carefully back to the house, breathing heavily from the excitement. When she stepped through the door, she found Dominic sitting quietly at the dining table. She sat across from him and watched as he lit a candle. The flame’s wicked dance lit his face, and Kitty thought he seemed paler. She wasn’t sure it was just a trick of the light, and then he spoke.
His voice cracked. “I’m so very sorry, Kitty. I never wanted it to come to any of this. I only wanted to protect you. I should have known things would get out of control with my sister.”
“I’m not sure what’s going on, Dominic, but I’m scared.” She finally was, too. She was still in denial of what she’d seen, but not how the possibility of it made her feel. And she wasn’t sure she’d be able to find the words to tell Dominic what she thought she saw, what she was most certain she saw, but what was impossible to have seen. And if Dahlia was whatever she was to make that possible, surely it meant that her brother was too.
She’d longed believed in ghosts, but whatever he was, she was certain he wasn’t a spirit. She thought of the owl in the woods. It wasn’t the same majestic, snow-white owl she’d caught a glimpse of. It was brown and much more like others she’d seen in the area before. It’s crazy. I can’t just blurt out what I’m thinking. This isn’t real. It’s a dream. “What are you?” She managed to choke out the words not sure why she was saying them aloud.
As if he were afraid she’d flee again, Dominic spoke softly. “I followed you into the woods. I’ve been watching you to make sure you’re safe and that Dahlia doesn’t go after you. I really meant that you should stay away from us and from this house, Kitty, and I wish you had.” He watched as the candlelight danced across her face. Her lids pinched tight as she bit her lip.
“You followed me? You weren’t there, I’d have known if you were there.” She lifted a shoulder and shook her head, still not wanting to accept the reality of what was before her. But finally she mustered up the courage to speak. “You…you were the owl, like your sister.” Her voice cracked as tears slid down her cheeks. “It can’t be. This is crazy. Tell me what you are,” she squeaked, barely able to let the words slip from her mouth, afraid of what she might hear.
Nodding, he let out a long breath. “We’re witches, Kitty. My sister and I are from one of the five covens still in existence. Ours is led by our stepmother and she’s punished us. We’re currently banished until our punishment is fulfilled. That’s part of why we’re here.”
The chair made a thud as Kitty stood, causing it to fall back behind her. “So Dahlia is evil and she’s really after me and my friends?” The table shook as she slammed her fist on it causing dust motes to rise up in the candlelight. “She’s at Colt’s house now. I did see her as an owl! She went inside his house! He’s in danger!”
“Relax; you’re not in danger until Halloween. Dahlia wouldn’t waste a sacrifice, trust me.”
“Sacrifice? Trust you? Are you out of your mind? I’ll never be able to trust you. You changed into an owl. You’re not even human!”
Dominic frowned. “I am human, I’m just more evolved. You don’t have to fear me, Kitty, but you should most certainly trust me. I’d never hurt you. Not in a million years.”
Tears wet her cheeks. “How do I even begin to believe you?”
“Well, you believe that I can change into a bird, so the fact that I won’t hurt you should be easier to fathom especially since I’m so taken by you. I didn’t kiss you because you were some conquest. I did it because I like you. You fascinate me, Kitty.”
“Yeah, well, you’re pretty fascinating too, witch boy.” Her emotions stirred inside her, churning deep in her belly until she thought she might throw up. This was too much to take. As she stared into his pleading pale blues, she wanted so badly to feel all the things she had felt for him before, but now she couldn’t, at least not with the hundred pound hippo in the room. Touching her lips, she remembered his mouth there and that familiar pinch hit her heart with longing at the thought: to be kissed that way again. If only she could go back in time and not know the things she knew now. Her head spinning, she dropped to her knees beside the table.
Dominic left his seat and knelt at her side. Taking her hands, he lifted her chin. “I promise I will make it all right, Kitty. I’ll make sure you and your friends are okay.”
“You’re the killers. You’re the ones who come here on Halloween and you murder those—“
“No, Kitty! I’ve never. I…well I’ve only s
hed blood here a few times, but—“
“You’re a murderer!” She jerked her hands away and ran to the door.
He blocked the exit in a flash. “Wait, Kitty! Let me explain!”
She screamed and backed away. “Explain what, how you’re a killer? Or how you jump around like that.”
“I’ll explain it all. I promise.” Worry set in his brow and Kitty watched the tears pool in his eyes. Even witch’s eyes got red and puffy—even witches cried. She wondered if the proper term for Dominic was “warlock”.
Kitty swallowed hard and let out a long breath. She’d hear him out, if only for a few more minutes. It wasn’t like he was going to let her leave, and he could move much faster than she could. “Tell me, then. Tell me everything.”
My sister, she’s…a bit unstable. She wasn’t always this way. We’d come here for vacations back when we were fledglings. Our father loved it here. He loved this house and how the lake winds would blow through the opened windows. He said it was the most peaceful place on earth and so simple in its beauty. Those were the good times, mind you, when my mother was still around, before she abandoned us with our father. Then one day, Dahlia and I were strolling down by the water not too far from here, when we met a boy. He was just another human to me, smitten instantly with my sister’s beauty and naïve heart. He called on her for over a month that summer.
“She’d run to him come morning and the two would sneak off to the point, just past where Bullhorn Street ends, and spend the day together until dusk. Father didn’t approve, but he was certain she could take care of herself against a human boy and that I was looking after her as well. What we didn’t count on was a broken heart. I think when my sister saw what happened to you, it stirred some familiar emotion. She wanted to target you from the start, a mercy perhaps in her own strange way, but I wouldn’t have that. I saw something in you that I’ve never seen in all my years —spirit…a spark.
Darkness Echoes: A Spooky YA Short Story Collection Page 13