by Ann McCune
“What are you doing to them?” I asked, turning to face him. He looked different than he did the last time I had seen him. He was trying to look like Shawn, but his voice and lack of a nose gave him away.
“They are the souls I’m saving for dessert, yours will be the main course. You can try to save them if you want.” He laced his hands together behind his back and started to walk in a circle around me. “All you have to do is go down the shaft and let them out of their cages. They aren’t even locked.”
The voices seemed to get louder as he spoke. I turned my head toward the shaft, it wouldn’t be too hard to go down the shaft, I thought.
“Yes, go down the shaft and save the lost souls,” he whispered in my ear.
I jumped and turned to face him and met the holes where his eyes should have been. He was smiling, his pointed teeth gleaming at me. “You must think I’m dumber than I look. Leave me alone.” I closed my eyes and thought of my room, a safe room where he could not follow me.
When I opened my eyes, I was in my bedroom, alone. I ran to my bed and jumped in. I pulled the blankets over my head and waited for the alarm to go off, praying the mare would not follow me.
CHAPTER 25
Work the next day was quiet as usual for a Sunday before Memorial Day weekend, when tourist season officially started. I worked on homework between waiting on customers. Billy sent me a text, saying he wasn’t going to make it by before I got off work. His mom was making him go to church. My shift was almost over when I saw a black suburban pull up to the curb.
It looked like the one Shawn was in the first time I saw him. I put my book away and watched a man get out and come inside. As soon as I saw his face I knew he was Shawn’s dad. He stared at me for a moment before walking down the aisle to the dreamcatchers hanging on the wall. He stared at them as if it was the craziest thing he had ever seen.
“Hi, can I help you” I asked, watching him.
“No, just looking,” he called back not taking his eyes off the display. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and sent Shawn a text.
Did you tell your dad about the dreamcatchers?
Yes, why?
I’m pretty sure he’s here looking at them.
Don’t worry, he knows who you are.
“Does your boss approve of you texting while you are working?” Shawn’s dad asked from the other side of the counter. I jumped, startled he was able to get so close without me hearing him.
“I’m sorry, no, he doesn’t normally mind. Did you find everything you needed?” I asked, trying not to make eye contact with him. I scanned the carton of eggs he put on the counter.
“Yes, you’re Liz, the girl my son is dating right?” I looked up and met his eyes. He took a step back like he recognized me.
“Yes, it’s nice to meet you, Mr. Ericson.” I tried give him a genuine smile, but it was hard after reading what my bio-dad had written about him.
“You as well, please call me Jon.” He looked at the register.
“Okay, that will be $2.57” I said, looking at the total on the screen.
“You’re coming over to the house later to study with Shawn?” He gave me three dollars.
“That’s the plan.” I made change and gave it to him. “Would you like a bag?”
He looked down at the eggs as if he forgot what he was buying. “Yes, please, my wife will kill me if I break them.”
I put the eggs in a plastic bag and handed it to him. “Have a good day.” This time I gave him a genuine smile.
“You too. We’ll talk when you come up to the house.” He took the bag and left without another word.
I sent a text to Shawn. He just busted me for texting at work. I’m off in a half hour then I will be over.
See you soon, he replied.
I tried to go back to my math homework, but I kept thinking about Shawn’s dad and how weird he looked at me. It was almost like he recognized me from somewhere and I wondered if I looked that much like my bio-dad. Before long, Bob came to take over the store, and he took my mind off Shawn’s dad as I gave him a run down on what had happened that morning.
Before I left, I went into the bathroom to make sure I looked my best before I went to Shawn’s. I looked in the mirror, the bruises from my run-in with the moose were almost gone. I smiled to myself to make sure I didn’t have anything stuck in my teeth and they were clean. I took the braid out of my hair, ran my fingers through it and let the waves cascade down my back. With my hair down, I couldn’t see the stubby hair where my stitches were all but gone. I came out of the bathroom and pulled the straps of my backpack over my shoulders. I yelled to Bob I was leaving and headed to my Jeep.
The mansion was about ten minutes from the Gas N’Go. It was on a mountain next to the mountain where my house sat but it still had a great view. It was built by Thomas Freeman, the first miner to find gold nearby. He lived there with his wife and two children until they died tragically. He was so overcome with grief it was believed he died of a broken heart, but now I wondered if the mares had something to do with it.
I had been inside once many years before when there was talk of turning it into a museum. My parents dragged me through it as part of an open house to raise the money needed to refurbish it. The town had been unable to raise the money and it sat vacant until Knight Inc. bought it and started to renovate it.
I pulled into the lot and parked next to Shawn’s Rubicon. I took a nervous breath. I wasn’t looking forward to meeting his mom and talking to his dad. I wondered if he felt the same way before he met my parents. My longing to see Shawn won out, and I grabbed my bag before getting out of the Jeep.
I started walking toward the front door, dragging my feet with every step. “Liz,” a voice called, and I turned to see Shawn making his way toward me. I stopped and watched him half-jog, half-walk over to me. The butterflies in my stomach evaporated and I smiled.
“The main entrance was set up for the company, the side door is the entrance for the residence,” he said, pulling me to him and giving me a quick kiss before taking my hand. “How was work?”
“Quiet except for your dad. It was weird.” I shivered even though the spring sun was warm on my face.
“He has been known to create strange situations. Come on, my mom is dying to meet you.” He held the door open for me and we went inside.
He took my hand once we were in and led me down a hall to a staircase. The mansion had changed a lot since I had been there. It felt like a home now, instead of the vacant ominous place filled with dust and cobwebs. When we got to the second story, Shawn led us down a hallway and into a commercial kitchen that smelled like heaven. Meat of some kind was roasting in the oven and it made my mouth water.
“Mom? Are you in there?” Shawn called out.
“Back here,” a voice answered from behind a narrow door.
Shawn let go of my hand and went to open the door. A woman in her mid-forties came out with an arm full of vegetables. “Hi,” she said, nodding her head toward me. “Give me just a second.” She went to the sink and dropped everything in her arms into it. She dusted her hands off on her apron and walked over to me with her arms out like she was going to hug me. “Shawn has told me so much about you.” She took my hands instead of hugging me, to my relief, and looked me up and down.
“It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Ericson.” I wasn’t sure what to do, so I just stood there and let her look at me.
“You have your father’s eyes and mouth.” She nodded her head as if she was trying to convince herself.
“You knew my father?” I asked in awe as she let go of my hands and went back to the sink.
“Of course, he was Jon’s best friend for many years. I would recognize him anywhere.” She turned on the sink and started washing the vegetables. “Shawn, your father is waiting for you two in his office, you had better get up there. Liz are you staying for dinner?”
I looked at Shawn, he nodded his head and pushed his palms together in a prayer gesture. �
�Umm, as long as it’s okay with my parents I will.”
“If they say no, let me talk to them. I’ll convince them to let you stay,” Mrs. Ericson said, without looking up from the sink.
“We’ll see you in a while, Mom, after we talk to Dad we’re going to study.”
Shawn took my hand and led me out of the kitchen and down another hall to a closed set of double doors. He knocked lightly on the door. “Come,” his dad called. Shawn opened the door and we walked into his dad’s office.
“Liz, good to see you again,” he said from behind his desk not taking his eyes off his computer. “Please, take a seat.” He pointed at the chairs in front of his desk.
“You too,” I said, giving Shawn a sideways glance, and sitting.
“So, your father was Victor Robinson?” Jon said finally closing the lid on his laptop.
“From what I understand, yes. I never met him.” I looked down at my hands and laced them together to sit in my lap.
“Do you know what happened to him?” Jon asked, putting his elbows on the desk, and lacing his fingers together.
“Only what my parents told me. He died in his sleep shortly after moving here. Is that why you moved here?”
“No, Victor left our clan before he met your mother. He cut all ties with us. I had no idea he had died until Shawn told me. He was a good man. I miss him every day.”
“I’m sorry, he left my mom with no information about his friends or family, otherwise I’m sure she would’ve contacted you.”
“Yes, well there is nothing to be done about it now. Shawn tells me you have inherited your father’s gift for dream shifting.” He changed the subject effortlessly, but there was something in his eyes, relief maybe, that he would never see Victor again.
“I guess so, I had no idea I was doing it until Shawn told me about what you do.” I looked down at my hands again, feeling uncomfortable. I remembered everything Victor had written about Jon in his journal and wondered how much of it was true.
“Well, what do we do with you now?” Mr. Ericson asked no one in particular. He leaned back in his chair and looked at the ceiling.
“Can’t we train her to be a Knight?” Shawn asked, surprising me. The thought had never crossed my mind.
“How old are you, Liz?” He glanced at me before turning his attention back to Shawn.
“I’ll be seventeen at the end of May.” I had no idea why he needed to know.
“Shawn, you know the rules. She’s too old. I won’t lose another apprentice because they started too late.”
“But she can already do almost everything I can,” Shawn protested. “If we don’t give her the weapons she needs, how long will she last out there on her own?”
I pulled the sleeve of my hoodie up. “What about this? The mare who is stalking my dreams said he marked me.” I showed him the angry red scar on my wrist. “How do I get rid of it?”
Jon’s eyes went wide, and he pushed away from his desk like the mark was contagious. “You were marked? There is no way to get rid of it, it is truly too late for you. There is no escaping once you have been marked. It is only a matter of time before he will get you. Now, if you will excuse me, I need to get back to work, and I believe you two need to study.” He looked at Shawn as we stood and shook his head. “Shawn, you know what happens when someone is marked. Are you sure you want to spend any more time with this girl? It will only hurt more when her time comes.”
“Dad, we need to help her, not write her off.” Shawn began pacing around.
“No one who has been marked has survived over a year and you know it. Think of your aunt,” Jon’s voice dropped, and he almost sounded sorry. “There is nothing we can do for you, Liz, I’m sorry your life will be cut short. Now, if you will excuse me.” He turned back to his computer.
I looked at Shawn, I didn’t know what to do. This man just told us no one had ever been able to remove a mark or survive it for more than a year. “There has to be a way to fix it. Remove the mark, something.” I glared at him, angry instead of depressed. If I was angry I wouldn’t cry.
“You can sleep under your dreamcatcher, since it seems to work, but someday you won’t have it and the mare will find you and take you. I’m sorry, I know it would not have been what Victor wanted for you.” Jon looked up from his computer and shook his head.
“This is bullshit. Come on, Liz, let’s go.” Shawn offered me his hand and I took it. I wasn’t going to get anywhere with Jon.
We slunk out of the room giving each other wary looks. Once we were outside the office with the door closed Shawn let out a breath. “Well, it could’ve gone worse.”
“It could’ve gone a heck of a lot better too.” I stood waiting for Shawn. My body started to shake, I was going to die and there was nothing I could do about it.
“Come on, we can talk in my room.” He led the way back down the hall to the stairs. We walked up two more flights before he turned left down a hallway until we reached the first door on the right and he stopped.
“Before we go inside, just keep in mind I tried to clean up, but Dad had me training all morning.” Shawn opened the door, walked in, and held the door for me.
It looked like a boy’s room. The walls were covered in posters of half-naked women and vintage rock band posters. A desk, piled high with old leather-bound books, sat against the window overlooking town. There was a full-size bed in the middle of the room with a forest-green comforter sitting on top of it. The hardwood floor was covered with area rugs that matched the bedding. There was a bookshelf along the wall across from the bed filled with paperback books.
After he closed the door he took me in his arms. “Don’t worry we will find a way to get rid of the mark.” He released me then walked over to his desk and took a book off the top of the pile.
“How?” I asked as tears filled my eyes.
“We will start with this. There has to be a way to get rid of it.” He dropped the book on the bed and wrapped his arms around me. “I’m not going to let you go without a fight.” He squeezed me tighter then let go.
“Can you teach me how to fight them?” I asked, slipping my shoes off, and pulling my legs onto the bed to sit cross-legged. “At least then I will have a chance until we find an answer.”
He looked at me with a smile on his face. “Yeah, I can, and maybe my sister will help. I’ll be right back.” He got up and left the room.
I picked the book up off the bed and started to page through it. At least it was in English. I had just found a section on goblin marks when the door opened and a beautiful woman with long, light-blonde hair came in. She had high cheekbones and a high forehead. She was slender with barely any curves. She looked like she could be walking the runway in Paris not in Twisted Pines. She looked familiar, and I figured out where I knew her from quickly.
“I’m Heather, I don’t think we were introduced last time we met. Nice to meet you in person,” she said, standing next to the bed.
“You too.” She was the woman who helped save me from the mare the night I hit the moose.
Instead of offering me her hand she pulled me into a hug. “I’m Shawn’s big sister in case you hadn’t already figure it out.”
“Yeah, well he said he was going to get his sister.” I gave her a nervous smile. I didn’t think I had ever met anyone who acted so casual right after meeting a stranger before.
“He’s told me all about you. I’m glad you’re here. Are you staying for dinner?”
“Crap, I need to call and ask my parents.” I looked at Shawn.
“I’ll fill her in while you call them. You can go in the hallway if you want.”
I dug my phone out of my pocket and pushed the button for the house phone. Mom picked up on the second ring. “Hey, Mom.”
“Liz? Is everything alright?” She sounded concerned, I rarely called her unless something important was going on.
“Shawn’s mom asked me to stay for dinner. Is it alright if I eat here?”
“I don’t
see why not, but I want you home by nine. You have school tomorrow.”
“No problem, thanks, Mom. I love you.”
“Love you too, sweetheart, have fun.”
I disconnected the call and went back into Shawn’s bedroom where he was explaining what their dad said about training me and the mark. They looked up when I walked in. “Close the door,” Heather said in a low voice. I did as she asked then went back to the bed and sat.
“If we do this, we must be careful, if he finds out, there will be hell to pay, but I agree with you. We need to find a way to remove the mark but teaching her to fight them will extend her life until we do.”
“When do we start?” I asked, looking back and forth between the two of them.
“We will have to work around our work schedules, but we will start tonight, since we are both off.” Heather got up. “So, your dad was Victor?”
“Yeah, do you know anything about him?”
“I know he was one of us. He was Dad’s best friend from childhood. I know they got into a fight, but I have no idea what it was about. Victor took off and left everything behind one night and he was never heard from again.” Heather got up from her spot on the bed. “Are you staying for dinner?”
“Yeah, I just have to be home by nine since it’s a school night.”
“Perfect, I’ll tell Mom. You guys have fun and keep it clean. We’ll talk more later.” She winked at us, got up, and left the room closing the door behind her.
“I see you started without me,” Shawn said, looking at the open book on his bed.
“Yeah, I know we should be studying for history, but…” I looked down at the book.
“You’re right, that’s why I snuck these books out of the library.” Shawn went to the desk and picked up another book. “We can read our history books whenever we want.”
We got to work, and I tried to leave thoughts of our dads’ fight behind. I read the section on marks and found nothing useful. I had just closed my book when Shawn shut his book with more force than he needed to.
“What?” I asked.
“It said to put the marked person out of their misery to save their soul.”