by Debra Kristi
The bokor closes his eyes and takes a slow, measured breath. Bianca gestures to the men at her back, sending them into motion. They move past me to Michael’s side, lift him from the ground. His head rolls, and he moans but makes no attempt to fight them.
“You will tell Saddler I was accommodating?” the bokor asks, pulling his cane front and center.
“Of course.” Bianca glances over James and his brother, the sleeping form of Jeanna. “Saddler always appreciates your cooperation.”
The men begin dragging Michael toward the door. Clinging to the wall, I pull myself to a stand.
“Michael?” I say and limp toward him and his exiting entourage. “Michael?”
“We’ll take the children, as well,” Bianca adds. With a two-finger motion to the open doorway at her back, more people spill into the space. A couple of girls, a few more boys.
I freeze in my place and stare at the girl and the people under her command. James’s attention also swivels toward her and the school group.
“Now, wait a minute.” The bokor lurches a step forward, slams his steel cane to the hard floor.
My muscles tighten in anticipation of the oncoming fight. The bokor has done a fine job at establishing his superior magickal skill.
“Would you defy Saddler?” Bianca crosses her arms, tilts her head, and raises her brow.
The bokor’s mighty strength dissipates, like air from a balloon. He bows his head, choosing not to respond. Bianca swings her finger in the air, and the people in her employ move into action. A larger boy lifts Jeanna from the floor and carries her toward the exit. A team, one boy and one girl, extract James from John’s reluctant release. He grumbles but is allowing.
Another girl appears at my side. “Do you require assistance? Or are you able to walk on your own?” she asks.
“I can handle myself,” I say, and wipe free any dust clinging to the front of my pants, wincing against the pain enacted by the motion. Following the procession of school personnel, I half-limp behind those helping my friends and brother. Two strangers walk on either side of me, and they give the impression they’re ready to swoop in and grab me at any moment should I stumble. “I’m fine,” I assure.
Bianca waits for us to file past her. “Your obedience is noted and will go far in fostering your allegiance and relationship with Saddler.” She spins and brings up the rear. We move from the room into a short hallway, another smaller room, and out the front of the building.
Three identical blacked-out vans are parked and waiting beneath the dull illumination of the streetlamps. Jeanna and James are being directed to the van at the front, and my brother, to the one at the back. The wide double doors are thrown open and the men start shoving my half unconscious brother into the back of a van.
I limp-sprint after them, each slap against the pavement thundering through my crown.
“Michael. Wake up, Michael.” I grab one of the guys handling my brother. Bianca clutches my arm and pulls me aside. I gasp and my eyes widen. My insides are jumping, wanting for action, but what action I’m not actually sure. I fail to grasp a handle on the severity of our situation. Are we in greater danger than before? Or have we just been rescued?
“Listen, kid,” she says, and I blink. Double blink.
For the first time since laying eyes on her at the school, I recognize a similarity between her facial scarring and Michael’s mark.
“The school has Michael’s best interests in mind,” she continues. “So, try to trust us. You’ve pulled him into a bad situation here, and we’ll get him out of harm’s way. Keep him safe.”
“You’re saving him on Saddler’s orders?” I ask. She nods. “Who is this Saddler, that the bokor bows to him? And what does he want with my brother?”
She peers past me, and I glance over my shoulder to determine what has caught her attention. James and Jeanna are being herded into the other van.
“Where do you think you’re taking my friends? And my brother?” I clench my fists.
“We will take Michael back to the school where he can be properly attended. Your friends will be dropped at their respective homes. Safe for yet another day.” Her gaze narrows. “But safe they will not stay if you children keep meddling in affairs that do not concern you.”
“You’re saying family and friends shouldn’t concern us?”
“Leave matters to the adults.” She gestures to someone at my back. A hand grabs my elbow and gently tugs.
“Hey!” I yank back. Glare at the guy tugging on my arm.
“He only wants to guide you to the van that will see you back to your grandmother’s. We’re quite sure she’ll be worried if you are not present come morning.” She waves her hand toward the middle van.
I jerk free of the guy’s hold. For a moment, the world spins, and I readjust my footing. “How do I know I can trust you with me, my friends, my brother?”
“We have had several years to hurt your brother if that was our intention. Instead, we fostered him, helped him to grow. Why would we want anything different now?” She shrugs her hands out to the side.
“Words,” I say. “I don’t know that you have that great of a relationship. I didn’t get that vibe the other night.”
“Because he knew what he was doing went against suggested behavior.” She crosses her arms. “But do you honestly believe he would have continued to stay on with us at the school if he felt at all threatened?” I frown. Glance at the ground. “If you take a moment to clear the clouds from your mind, you’ll come to realize that he belongs with us. We have the best resources to help him reach his potential.”
“Really? How could I possibly know that? Who is Saddler, and what does he want with my brother?”
Bianca glances at the front of the building we exited a few minutes earlier. “Take her,” she says.
Hands grab my arms and pull me toward the van.
“I’m sorry to end our talk so abruptly, Mirabelle, but this is no place to chat for long periods of time.” She closes the doors to the van holding my brother. “Michael will call you in the morning, after he has recovered, to put your mind at ease.”
I struggle against the hold at my sides, but I can’t break free. I can’t even move my hands to call upon the aid of my herbs… my magick.
“Stop fighting.” She opens the passenger door to the back van. “You’ve been through a lot this night. You should calm yourself and allow your body to rest, heal, and restore.” She jumps into the seat and closes the door. Engines on both sides of me crank to life.
“Wait.” I lurch forward, toward Bianca, but am held in place. She narrows her gaze on me. “How is it that Michael’s scar is so similar to yours? That’s not a coincidence, is it?”
Bianca smirks. “Hasn’t he told you?” Her face widens, a clear element of surprise mixing into her features. “He borrowed my magick, blended it with his own, those many nights ago. Used the combination to protect himself against the falling brick and mortar. He got more than he bargained for.” She traces the scar running down the side of her face.
I suck back a breath, and my throat closes.
“Come on. Let’s go,” a voice inside the middle van says.
“Sleep.” A girl pushes her palm against my forehead, and a heavy weight drops over my everything. My muscles, my thoughts, my eyelids. I’m shoved inside the van, the door slams shut, and the engine ignites. All three vans take off, destined for different locations.
“What, what, what,” I hear myself saying. Fighting against the enchantment. I will not allow them to knock me out. The world goes grey, dark, grey.
Blurry.
I’m being dragged to Grandma’s front door. The girl unlocks the front door, and the guy leads me inside. Drops me on the sofa and sets my keys on the floor at my feet. I fall asleep.
I awake with a start, jumping to a sit. The world spinning, my head pounding. There’s a shrill rattling through my brain. It’s ringing and ringing and won’t stop. It’s the phone.
; My hand finds the side of my head. Ouch. I pull back. Touch again, this time with great care. A nasty lump resides behind my ear. I press against the fuzz in my brain to remember.
The sugarcane. The zombie workers… Luna’s father. The fire. The bokor’s men. The smack to my head.
Luna! She ran ahead of us. Did she get out alright?
Michael!
“Belle, dear,” Grandma calls from upstairs. “The call is for you.”
I leap from the sofa and dash to the phone. I need to hear from everyone. Talk to everyone. I need to know that each of them is alright.
I pick up the receiver and brace myself against the wall. “Hello?”
“Belle?” Luna’s voice comes over the line, and I release the tension wrangling my neck and shoulders. “I was so worried. You didn’t show up at the car, and we had to leave. I’ve been freaking out all night.”
“Yeah, it was crazy, but I’m alright… I think,” I say. “How is…”
“Not over the phone,” she interrupts. “Can I come over?”
“Of course. When?”
“Now. I’ll see you in a few.” She hangs up the phone.
I pull the receiver away from my ear and stare at it, then glance at the clock. It’s pretty early, but… I punch in the school’s number, ask for Michael. He comes to the phone fairly quickly, considering the condition he was in when last I saw him.
“Hey, I’m okay. They’re taking good care of me, and I should be back to my old self soon,” he says to me. “I’ll come visit you, and mom, then. But Belle…” I make a tiny noise to let him know he has my attention. “We pretty much got our asses handed to us last night. Let’s play it smart from now on and avoid any more foolishness.” He ends the call telling me he’ll see me soon.
He’s not wrong. The bokor made us look like toddlers in a game of high-stakes poker. Lost and stupid. I sigh, take a couple of aspirin, drink a lot of water, brush my teeth, and wait for Luna’s arrival. Grandma comes downstairs and starts rummaging through the kitchen.
“I’m going to fry up some eggs. Are you and Luna hungry for breakfast?” she asks, unaware that Luna didn’t return to the house with me last night.
“I’ll take some eggs, thanks.” Luna knocks on the front door, waves at me through the glass. “Luna would love some, too,” I add and open the front door for Luna. Grandma doesn’t notice the early morning entrance. She’s too busy, melting butter in the fry pan.
Luna throws herself at me, wraps me in a snug embrace. “I was so scared I’d never see you again,” she mumbles.
“I’m here. Fear unfounded.” I pull back, and before my vision properly focus, her lips are locked on mine.
My muscles stiffen, body freezes, stomach knots, and my mind goes numb. Spots explode across my vision, and I close my eyes, relax into the moment. Her lips are silky soft, and her warmth, washing over me, soothes my soul, exciting my heart and mind. My hands find the side of her face and hold her to me. I never want to let go, and yet, I do.
“I think I may be falling for you, hard,” she says.
“You think?” I crack a smile.
“Know.” She smiles back. “I can’t tell you how happy I am that you are alright.”
“Come on.” I take her hand in mine and lead her out of the entryway. We huddle in the front room while Grandma cooks up the food.
“My uncle has a place he tells me is off the radar,” Luna says. “We have my dad cooped up there, and we are drying him out.” She rubs her fist against her lips. “Thankfully, he isn’t fighting us. Not at all. Probably won’t until he becomes more lucid.”
“But that’s good, right?” I say. “That means you’ll have your dad back soon.”
“I hope so.” She rubs her fingers against her thumb and stares across the room with blurry eyes. “He’s kind of drug-dumb right now.” She turns and gazes at me, smiles, then drops her forehead against my shoulder.
“Breakfast is ready,” Grandma calls.
We rise, move toward the dinette. Gather at the table and try to be social. Grandma asks about yesterday; she didn’t see us return from our fun, and I make a convenient excuse about spending time exploring spell books at the library. Staying until we were kicked out.
Miri joins us mid-meal, looking a little peaked around the edges. She pokes at her food, makes faces, covers her mouth, and then returns to bed.
When Luna and I are once more alone, I fill her in on the details of the night before. I tell her about our capture, my brother’s arrival, our clear defeat, and our bailout by the people from my brother’s school. She holds my hands so tight, she’s squeezing the blood from my fingers. Her stare is glued, with great intensity, upon me “He thinks we should let it be from here on out,” I say of my brother. “Stay out of the bokor’s business.”
“Fine by me,” Luna replies. “If my dad recovers and is left alone, allowed to be my dad once more, I have no business with that nasty bokor.” I nod. “Plus, my mom gets released on Monday. Between her and my dad, I’ll have my hands full. I’m thinking of calling either my aunt or my uncle on my mom’s side for a little support.”
“You totally should,” I tell her and then follow our conversation into all concerns and considerations involving her parents.
Around midmorning, I call Jeanna. She picks up the phone on the second ring. James is over at her place, and they have been comparing notes. “I missed a lot thanks to that irritating sleep spell, or whatever it was,” Jeanna says. “But at least I don’t have a black eye like James.”
My chest squeezes. “Is he really sore?”
“Been icing his face all morning. That and popping pain pills,” she says. I grimace but understand. I feel as if the pills I took this morning could have done a better job at taking away the bite of my throbbing headache.
“I’m so, so sorry,” Luna says into the phone. “This is all my fault. None of you would have been there if it wasn’t for me.”
“You’re our family now. Family of the heart,” James says, his voice a tad off. “And that’s what family does for one another. But I’ve gotta tell ya, I’m sorta done on the whole bokor business. My body, my face especially, wants a lengthy timeout.”
“You’re right,” I say. “We’re done with the dangerous stuff.” My gaze wanders to the ceiling, and I envision my mom in the magickally soundproofed room.
For a brief moment, the room is untethered, swimming and swirling around me. It quickly steadies, and I am my head-hammering self again. I rub my temple. I likely got a concussion yesterday. I should probably tell my grandma, go see a doctor, but I don’t want to.
After the phone call ends, I decide to check on Mom. My feet are heavy and reluctant to make the trip up the stairs. Fueled by my guilt, I assume. Her current condition is of my making. If only I hadn’t performed that last spell.
Luna walks at my side, adding her support.
“Remember, she might not be herself,” I say, before opening the door to my old bedroom. Luna nods in understanding.
I crack open the door. As if materializing out of the wall, Bastian charges forward and slips through the open space, into the room beyond. I exchange a look with Luna and sigh. Dang cat.
The bedroom explodes in a chaos of yowls, screeches, and whines. I push the door all the way open.
Bastian is on top of my mom, claws sunk into the skin on her shoulders. Her body jerks and shakes, and a fine dark mist seeps… swirl… from her lips into the mouth of the cat.
I freeze. Gasp.
What am I looking at?
Luna’s hand flies to her mouth, and she stumbles back a step.
“What in the…” I lurch forward and Bastian’s hair spikes, causing me pause. He continues to suck dark matter from my mom.
“I never before believed the old wise tale about cats sucking away one’s breath.” Luna steps to my side.
I grant her a quick glance. “Do you think that’s what he’s doing?” My attention snaps back to the cat. “Bastian,” I yel
l, my muscles tensing.
Mom’s body arches and then drops to the bed. She moans and whimpers. I swear I see a tiny tear rolling down her cheek. A darkness appears to lift from my mom’s features, the mist fades, and Bastian jumps off the bed, meows, and heads for the door. His steps are practically a strut, and if I didn’t know better, I’d swear he’s smiling.
“Belle?” Mom murmurs.
I drop beside the bed. Hold her hand. “Mom?”
Her eyes crack a mere fraction open. “What happened? Where am I?”
“You’re here with me, at the family home.” A meek smile curves across my lips. “You’re okay now. Everything is going to be okay.” I throw my arms around her and hug her tight. She hugs me back, and I glance over at Luna. “Get Grandma and my sister.” She rushes from the room, ignited by a mission.
“I feel so fuzzy about my time,” Mom says. “How did I get here?”
“I was so worried. I thought I’d lost you.” My voice cracks and sobs start to rock my body.
“No, no, no, baby. Don’t cry.” Mom squeezes. “I’m right here and I’m alright.”
Within minutes, the room is filled with bodies, and a lot of Q and A. Mom is given the full workup. Temperature taken, eyes examined, questions asked to which only she should know the answer. She passes each and every test and is given the go-ahead by Grandma to take a shower and clean up. Grandma finds some old clothing Mom left here a few years back, Miri calls Michael, and Luna and I wait outside the bathroom, listening for any signs of trouble from my Mom. None come.
“Now that your Mom is better, I’m guessing you’ll return to your home across the river?” Luna asks.
“I haven’t thought that far ahead, but yeah, you’re probably right.” I scratch my neck. “I won’t be as close to help you with your mom and dad. She’s getting released this Monday?” I ask about her mom.
“You have enough to worry about with your own mom,” she says. “Don’t worry about me. I think I’m going to call my mom’s brother and sister for a little help. I don’t want to get my grandparents involved. And as for dad, I have Uncle Andy helping. So, there is that.”