“Mom, you’re gonna make me have a heart attack,” I said. “Just spit it out, okay?”
My mom looked almost relieved as she cleared her throat. “The Jaffrey police put out a bulletin. There’s a seven-thirty curfew for all people under eighteen.”
My stomach twisted into a knot. “What?” I wrinkled my nose and frowned. “That’s…crazy. That’s stupid. Did some kid get busted for something?”
My mom shifted on my bed. “I don’t know, sweetie,” she said. “It came this morning with the paper.” She handed me a canary-yellow printout. It looked like a joke, like the kind of thing a kid would’ve created. But the words chilled me to the bone.
“As of December twenty-second, all juvenile residents of Jaffrey must observe the local curfew. All persons under eighteen years must be at home, with their parents or guardians, before seven-thirty in the evening. This curfew is in effect seven days a week until further notice. Violators will be punished to the fullest extent of the law.”
I shuddered. “Mom, this is so creepy,” I said softly. “Why are they doing this?”
My mom shrugged. “I don’t know,” she said. “Your father…well, I don’t know,” she added.
“What? Dad thinks what?”
Mom shrugged. “Your father thinks that maybe someone went missing,” she said. She dropped her gaze. “You know, honey, like what happened to Monica?”
I sighed. “Okay,” I said softly. “Thanks for letting me know.”
---
It was the last day of school before winter break. Everyone was buzzing about the curfew memo. I tried listen in whenever I could, but the other kids’ ideas were way more implausible than anything my mom or dad had suggested. One kid thought it was aliens. Another actually suggested an invasion of killer bees.
I was standing in the cafeteria, listening to bits of conversations around me, when Steven sat down next to me. I cried out in surprise and jumped. Steven grinned. I blushed.
“Sorry,” Steven said. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”
I nodded. “Look, do you know anything about this?”
Steven shrugged. “No,” he said. But there was something in his voice that made me wonder.
“Are you sure?” I narrowed my eyes. “I won’t tell anyone, I swear. This is all just really weird, Steven.”
Steven nodded. “Yeah,” he said, in the same distant, far-away voice. “Look, you busy tonight? You wanna go for a drive or something?”
I narrowed my eyes. “What about the curfew?”
Steven shrugged. “I’ll get you home by seven-thirty,” he said. He grinned, looking for a moment like the old, irresistible Steven. “I swear.”
I felt my resolve melting like a puddle of wax inside my chest. “Okay,” I said. My heart thudded. “That sounds good.”
Steven grinned. “Good,” he said. “I’ll pick you up after my family has dinner – say five-thirty or so?”
I nodded. “Okay,” I said. “Thanks.”
Steven cuffed me lightly on the shoulder before getting up and strolling over to his football buddies. I couldn’t stop thinking about Andrea and Monica and Steven and the curfew for the rest of the day. My thoughts were swimming around my head like sharks in a goldfish pond – too big and dangerous for the atmosphere.
When I got home, I ate a quick meal of soup and a grilled cheese. As I waited for Steven, I did my homework. By the time he pulled up in my driveway, I was so restless that I practically sprinted out to the car.
“So, where do you wanna go?”
I buckled myself in. “Anywhere,” I said. “I don’t care. Just as long as it’s not in Jaffrey.”
In the end, Steven drove out to the lake. I thought he would want to park and make out, but instead he kept one hand on the gear shift and stared straight out the window. We talked a little, but I couldn’t shake the feeling of nervousness that was creeping over me like the chill outside.
“This is all just really weird,” I said. Part of me was dying to ask him about the church thing from the other night and what the hell Andrea was playing at.
“Yeah,” Steven said. He sounded distant again, and I sighed. “It’s all strange.”
“What are you doing over break?” I shifted in the seat. “Going anywhere for Christmas?”
Steven cracked a smile. “No,” he said. “Not after last year when we got stuck in Maine at my grandmother’s place. My mom wants to stay home.” He swallowed.
“Me, too,” I said.
We fell into silence.
“Oh, shit,” Steven said quickly. “It’s already twenty past. We should get going.”
The car didn’t start at first, and by the time the engine rolled over, it was past seven-thirty. Steven and I drove through Jaffrey; it was a total ghost town.
“You can just park at home,” I said. “I’ll take the shortcut through the woods.”
“You’ll get there faster if I drop you off,” Steven said.
“Yeah, but your parents are home. I don’t think mine are,” I said. My stomach twisted. “I’ll walk. Don’t worry about me.”
“Elizabeth, it’s freezing outside!”
Anxiety swelled in my chest like a balloon, and I shook my head, suddenly wanting to be as far away from Steven as possible.
“Don’t worry about it,” I said quickly. “I’ll be fine. Just let me hop out now.”
Reluctantly, Steven reached across me and unlocked the passenger door. His sleeve brushed my chest, and for a moment, I thought he’d kiss me. Instead, he gave me a half-smile.
“See you after break,” Steven said. “Have a good holiday, Elizabeth.”
“You, too.”
We stared at each other, and again, I thought he was going to kiss me. Finally, I blushed and nodded, ducking out of Steven’s car and into the cold.
I regretted walking almost as soon as Steven pulled away. The arctic wind chapped my lips and face, and I shivered, tucking my hands into my pockets. It had started to snow, and I walked as quickly as I could, my boots slipping and sliding on the icy pavement.
When I heard a car pull up behind me, I grinned. ‘I knew he’d come back and get me,’ I thought as I turned around, waving to Steven. ‘He’s too much of a gentleman to just let me walk home in the cold.’
But it wasn’t Steven.
It was a Jaffrey deputy.
My heart sank as the siren flared cherry and blue-raspberry on top of the squad car. The driver’s side door flung open, and a male deputy stepped out.
“Elizabeth Hartsell?”
I nodded and squeaked a ‘yes.’
“You’re to come downtown, with me,” the deputy said in a deep voice. “You’re in violation of the Jaffrey curfew.”
“I was almost home,” I protested. “I live right on this block!”
“Now.” The deputy’s voice was stern and unwelcoming. “Don’t make me cuff you, Elizabeth.”
Shivering, I walked over to the car. The deputy opened the backseat for me and guided my head into the car. As the car drove silently through the snowy streets, I felt more ashamed and embarrassed than I ever had in my entire life. I couldn’t help but feel angry with Steven. I knew he hadn’t done this on purpose, but if only he’d insisted on driving me!
Then I felt a pang of guilt, remembering how quickly I’d wanted to get away from him.
By the time the squad car pulled up at Jaffrey Police Station, I was a nervous wreck.
“What’s going to happen?” I asked the cop nervously. “Are you going to call my parents?”
The cop didn’t reply. He parked the car and got out, leaving me in the backseat. I tried the door – obviously, it wouldn’t budge – and watched with a sinking feeling as the cop strolled inside the police department. By the time he came back outside to get me, I was shivering and my teeth were chattering with cold.
“Come on,” the cop said. He opened the backseat door. “Come with me.”
I’d barely stepped onto the ground when the cop took my wrists and gently forced them behind my back. I cried out when I realized what he was doing, but not before he placed plastic cuffs on my wrists and fastened them together.
“You really don’t need to do that,” I said quickly. “I’m not going to hurt anyone.”
I’d meant it almost as a joke but the cop didn’t laugh. He hustled me along the snowy walkway and into the puce-colored police station. The florescent lights overhead were harsh and bright, and I squinted in pain as the cop moved me down the hall and into an isolated room with a table and one chair.
“Wait here,” the cop said.
“Wait,” I said quickly. “Don’t go.”
The cop turned around and put his hands on his hips. “What?”
I licked my dry lips. “Can I please call my parents? And can I please have some water?”
The cop shrugged. Then he left, banging the door closed behind him.
It wasn’t until I’d been alone for half an hour that the panic began to set in. My hands had long since gone numb from the tight plastic cuffs, and I’d given up on trying to massage them back to life. I was freezing cold – the room apparently wasn’t heated – and I could see my breath hanging in front of me in clouds of white steam every time I exhaled. Obviously, I couldn’t look at my watch, but judging from the elapsed time, I figured it had to be after eight, or maybe even close to nine.
Awhile later, another cop came inside the room and looked at me. He was holding a clipboard and a pen, and a strong sense of relief washed over me. ‘He’s going to write me up and then let me go home, I realized. Thank god someone finally came to their senses around here!’
“You’re Elizabeth Hartsell, right?”
“Yes.” I licked my lips. By now, they were so dry that they’d cracked and begun to bleed.
“Age?”
“I’m fifteen,” I said quietly.
“Feel like telling me what you were doing out so late?”
“I was walking home,” I said. “I’d just been with a friend.”
“Who?”
My stomach churned. “Why do you need to know that, exactly?”
The cop glared at me. “I’m not here because I want to be,” he snapped. “I’m doing my fucking job. Now answer me. Who were you with?”
My heart began to pulse nervously inside my chest and I shivered.
“Steven D’Amico,” I said softly.
The cop scribbled something down on the pad. “Okay,” he said. “That’s all.”
“Can I call my parents?” I begged. “Please, just let me call home. And may I please use the bathroom?”
The cop left the room, slamming the door behind him like he hadn’t even heard me.
With a wail of frustration and pain, I sank down against the cinder-block wall and slid down until I was sitting on the cold floor. My hands and wrists were killing me, and my shoulders were starting to throb as well. Worse, there was a gnawing ache in my lower belly. I really had to pee, and there was nothing even resembling a toilet in the room. My stomach was twisted and cramped, and my throat was so dry it felt like I’d been drinking sawdust.
I had no way of telling the time, but the hours slowly began to pass. I could tell from the voices. After I’d been locked in the room for a few hours, it grew quiet and the lights dimmed. Then, the voices outside changed. I shivered bitterly. ‘I bet they changed staff,’ I thought. ‘It has to be the middle of the night by now.’
Eventually, I fell asleep. When I woke up, I was in so much pain that I could barely move. I could feel the plastic cuffs pinching a tendon in my wrists, and by now, I was so scared and hurt that I started to cry.
Crying wasn’t a good decision. Soon, tears and snot were dripping from my face, all down the front of my jacket. I’d pissed myself in my sleep, and I felt embarrassed and ashamed to be sitting there in my own waste, smelling like sweat and ammonia.
When the door opened again, I almost started sobbing. A deputy – different than the one who’d taken me in – walked over and gave me a disgusted look.
“You have someone here for you,” he said mechanically, roughly hauling me to my feet. I cried out in pain but he didn’t stop. When I heard scissors slicing the plastic cuffs from my wrist, I gasped with relief.
“Out there,” the deputy said.
Rubbing my hands, I ran into the hallway, expecting to see my parents. Instead, Monica was standing there. She looked at me with a worried expression, then turned back to the hefty man behind the desk.
“I’ll be taking Elizabeth now,” Monica said. “She’s coming with me.”
The cop had an odd, glazed look in his eyes. “Elizabeth…” He trailed off. “Who is that, exactly?”
I narrowed my eyes at Monica. Something very odd was going on.
“The girl that was picked up last night for violating curfew,” Monica said. “She’s coming with me, I’m taking her home.”
“You’re taking her home,” the cop repeated.
“Yeah,” Monica said. “Write it down.”
“Are you a parent or a guardian?” The cop’s voice was stilted, strained.
“No,” Monica said. “Just trust me.” She smiled and the cop seemed to melt. I frowned. This wasn’t like Monica at all. In the past, she’d made fun of girls who got what they wanted from flirting. Still, I couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed with relief. At least someone cared enough about me to rescue me from spending another twelve hours in the police station.
After a few more questions, the cop turned to me and blinked. “You were here all night?”
I nodded, trying not to look angry. I held up my hands, pushing my sleeves away and showing the angry red marks around my wrists.
“I was cuffed and alone in that room down the hall,” I said unsteadily. “Only two people came to check on me, and I wasn’t offered water or a phone call.”
The cop frowned. “That does not sound good,” he said slowly, in a plodding sort of way.
Monica grabbed my arm. “Come on,” she said. “We gotta hurry. I’m taking you home.”
Outside, the sun was shining, and the weather felt warmer than it had in weeks.
“What the hell was that?” I demanded as soon as we were away from the police station. “How did you do that? They ignored me all night,” I said, showing Monica my wrists again. She cringed at the sight of the bruises.
“Don’t worry about it,” Monica said darkly. “Let’s just get you home and fed, okay?”
“No,” I said. “You’re telling me what the hell happened.” I crossed my arms. “Those cops acted like you were their boss or something! How did you do that?”
Monica rolled her eyes and kept walking. “Just lucky, I guess.”
“No,” I said, more forcefully this time. I grabbed Monica’s arm. “Monica, tell me: how did you get me out of there?”
Monica sighed. “If I tell you, you won’t believe me,” she said coolly. “Just forget about it, Elizabeth.”
“I can’t,” I said. Monica kept walking, and I groaned. “You’re my best friend,” I said quickly. “Come on, trust me. Just a little. Just tell me, okay?”
“Fine.” Monica turned to me and smirked. “I manipulated them.”
“Well, obviously!” I rolled my eyes. “But how? How did you do it?”
“With my powers.” Monica stared sincerely into my eyes. “I’m a witch, Elizabeth. And I used my magic to help free you.”
I blinked.
“Don’t look at me like that,” Monica said unsteadily. “I don’t wanna get into this with you, not now.”
A cold chill ran down my spine, and I shuddered.
“I know,” I said nervously. “But look, just tell me. One more time.”
“I’m a witch,” Monica said softly.
“I can’t believe I’m saying this,” I said quickly. “But if you really, truly are a witch…Monica, we really need your h
elp.” I grabbed her hand in mine, ignoring the pain shooting up and down my wrist.
“What?” Monica narrowed her eyes. “Who’s ‘we?’”
“The town,” I said quickly. “Monica, the whole town is collectively losing its mind, and you’ve got to help me. We’ve got to do something before everyone goes completely mad.”
Monica’s shoulders sagged. “I can’t,” she said softly.
“What? Why not?” I glared at her. “Come on!”
“Because,” Monica said softly. “I’m not strong enough.”
Chapter Eight
Monica walked me home. We made no mention of the fact that I’d pissed myself, or that the cops had held me illegally for over twelve hours. In truth, it wasn’t so much because I was embarrassed, but because I didn’t want to believe something like that had actually happened. It was horrifying to think about. I’d spent my whole life in this sleepy little town, and it seemed impossible to believe that things were changing so quickly – and so much for the worse – right before my eyes.
I felt powerless. I felt helpless. And I felt terrified, even more so than I’d been when Monica had first disappeared and basically all of the adults refused to believe me when I said something sinister was going on.
At my front stoop, Monica hugged me.
“Promise me you’re not going away again,” I said. “Promise me. I couldn’t handle that, not after everything that’s happened.”
Monica gave me a weak smile. “I wish,” she said. She sighed heavily. “The truth is, Elizabeth, most of the time, I can’t control it.” Her brown eyes filled with tears, and she blinked them away, tilting her sharp chin to the cloudy sky. “The first few times I disappeared…well, it wasn’t because I went looking for them, you know?”
My heart sank. I nodded. “Yeah,” I said softly. “I get it.”
“But I’ll try,” Monica said fiercely. “Besides,” she added, “you’d still be in jail if it wasn’t for me.” She shuddered, apparently even more disturbed by that thought than I was. “I can’t disappear only for you to skip curfew again.”
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