The Witches of Santa Anna ( BKs 1-7 Complete Set)

by Lauren Barnholdt

  “I hate the thought of lying to Brody,” I tell him.

  “Yeah, well, I’m sure you’ll be able to deal with it.” His tone is harsh. “I’ll call you tonight,” he says. “Go ahead and keep walking. I’ll wait a few minutes until you’re gone, and then I’ll go, okay?”

  I nod and turn, starting to walk back toward the sidewalk.

  “Natalia?” he calls after me.

  “Yeah?” I say, turning around.

  “I still want to kiss you really bad.”

  I turn back around before he can see the grin on my face.

  Chapter Four

  Campbell

  After seeing Natalia, I head back to school and get dressed for practice. As usual, seeing her has me all revved up, like I just took ten caffeine pills. I keep picturing her face, the way she smiled at me right as we were leaving each other.

  I feel like I could run all day and night the way I feel.

  Because of all this extra energy, I’m finally having a good practice, and even Coach has to admit it.

  “Looking good, Elliot,” he calls from the sideline after I strip the ball from Lancaster on the five-yard line at the end of our team scrimmage.

  Lancaster shakes his head and rips off his chinstrap. “That was helmet to helmet, dude,” he says, moving towards me.

  “Head to head?” I laugh. “More like you’ve got your head in your ass.”

  “What the fuck did you say?” He shoves me and I shove him back.

  “Maybe from now on, at lunch, you’ll keep your little comments about my performance to yourself, dude,” I say, turning around and walking away from him.

  I look at Coach and he’s grinning from ear to ear. They like to see us all riled up before a big game. And I have to admit, I kind of like it, too. Ultimately, it’s pretty harmless, and it’s been a long time—since before Raine’s party—since I felt this strong and energized.

  Brody gives me a pound as I come off the field.

  He’s holding his helmet by the facemask, his hair is all mussed and he’s sweating.

  I wish Natalia could see this smelly, stinky idiot that she thinks is such a cool guy. “You trying to wind Lancaster up or what?” he chuckles.

  “Nah. He just has a big mouth and sometimes he needs to be taken down a peg or two.”

  “Sure, I hear that.” He spits.

  Charming.

  “So…how are things going with you and Natalia?” I ask him. “You two seem pretty close lately.”

  Brody looks at me as if trying to figure out what I’m after. “I don’t know. She’s a really cool chick. We’re just…you know…hanging out. Seeing where it goes.”

  “And what about how you called her a skank and told me not to see her?”

  “What is this? A fucking interrogation, Elliot?”

  “Just doesn’t make sense now that you’re like Jack and Jill, close as two peas in a pod.”

  “Hey, everyone makes mistakes. Turns out I was wrong about her.”

  “Oh.” I nod my head. Smile. “Cool. Well, I’m happy for you then.”

  “Cam, I thought we squashed that whole thing already.”

  “We did. We did. I was just making conversation. No worries.”

  His brow is wrinkled. “Look, I hope you would never tell her I said that stuff.

  She’s a nice girl. I don’t want to hurt her.”

  “And I’m a nice guy. So don’t sweat it.”

  ***

  When I get home, I can barely sit still.

  I take a shower, change, listen to some music in my room. I pull out Raine’s necklace and examine it under my desk lamp. It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before.

  Even after sitting under the heat from the 125 watt bulb it feels cool in my hands.

  Maybe Aiden would know what it’s made out of. He’s a smart kid.

  I go to my window and look outside. From the right angle I can see his driveway.

  When we were kids we used to do hand signals to communicate from far away.

  He’d stand at the edge of his driveway and ask me to come out and play by doing a series of ridiculous movements.

  Like our secret code.

  Picturing that makes me break into a smile.

  Until I see the car in his driveway. It’s a silver Cabriolet. I’d recognize it anywhere. Becca’s car.

  “What the hell is she doing?” I say out loud. Great. Now I’m talking to myself like a crazy person.

  I throw on my varsity jacket and sneakers and walk the short distance to Aiden’s house. I’m pretty sure it’s not the smartest move to just show up like this, but I have to make sure he’s okay.

  I walk up the front steps and ring the doorbell. It’s one of those annoying kinds that plays a whole song when you press it. I should have just knocked.

  After a couple of minutes Aiden answers the door. He looks kind of drunk, smiling, his eyes half-lidded. “Yo, Cam!” He turns. “Hey, it’s Campbell!”

  “Oh?” I hear Becca’s distinctive, bitchy voice pipe up from nearby. But I can’t see her.

  Aiden turns back to me. His voice lowers. “I’m kind of in the middle of something…” He winks, but it looks more like both eyes squinting.

  “That’s cool. I’ll just be a minute.” I elbow in past him. Something’s rotten about this whole scenario.

  I mean, come on. Becca coming to Aiden’s house for a visit? She wouldn’t normally be caught dead within five feet of the kid.

  As I come inside, I spot her standing on the stairs that lead to the basement. She’s wearing a total hoochie mamma outfit. Skirt, boots, and a tank top that shows plenty of boobage. Her blond hair is all done up and I can smell the perfume from a mile away.

  She might as well have written “I’M UP FOR IT” on her forehead in bright red letters.

  “Hi Cam,” she says, all giggling. “Fancy seeing you here.”

  “Well, I’m Aiden’s friend so I come by all the time. What’s your reason?”

  She shrugs. “Aiden needed a ride home.”

  “And what about the little outfit change?” I ask.

  Aiden starts down the stairs to the basement, talking as he goes. “Yeah, that’s a funny story. When she dropped me off, she noticed my folks weren’t home so Becca asked to come in. One thing led to another and we broke into the liquor cabinet.” He laughs and so does Becca.

  “I got a wee bit tipsy,” she says, “And I told Aiden I wanted to do a fashion show for him. It’s a little embarrassing.”

  I go downstairs to the rec room where there’s a pool table, flat screen TV and video game system. It’s a nice hangout spot. There’s a bunch of booze on the table and her purse and a couple plastic bags are nearby.

  “You always carry around so many changes of clothes?” I say, surveying the room.

  “You know girls,” she says. “We love to try on new outfits.”

  Music is playing softly through the surround sound speakers.

  “Looks like you kids were having a blast,” I say.

  Aiden laughs. He stumbles and finally falls onto the couch, laughing some more.

  “Whoa, I am drunkety drunk drunk.”

  “You’ll sober up in a few.” Becca starts gathering her stuff.

  “What? You leaving already?” he says.

  She steals a glance at me. “Yeah. It’s getting late and I don’t want to get you in any trouble.”

  “No, I’m sure you don’t,” I say.

  She smiles. “It was good seeing you Cam. I’ll tell Raine—“

  “—that I said hi. Definitely.” I flash her a fake smile back and she gets a weird look on her face.

  I should be acting nicer but it pisses me off that she’s here, messing with Aiden.

  He’s too good for her. For any of them. And I know she doesn’t care about him at all.

  In fact, she’s probably just scrounging for info about me.

  “Bye, Aiden,” she says and blows him a kiss.

  He catches it while lyin
g on the couch. “Bye Bec-Bec!” He shouts as the door slams closed.

  A moment later we hear the car engine start and then she’s gone.

  I fold my arms and look at him. He’s grinning broadly and a little dribble of saliva is trickling down his chin. “Dude, what the hell is going on?”

  He sits up, but he doesn’t look too steady. “What do you mean?”

  “What the hell did she do to you?”

  He shrugs. “Why did you make her leave, Cam? I was about to…”

  “What? You think you can get a girl like that?”

  His smile fades. “Why not?”

  I walk closer and sit down next to him on the couch. He smells of alcohol and perfume and…something else. Like dirt or moldy fruit or something.

  “Aiden, listen to me. Listen.” I put my hand on his shoulder and he pulls away.

  “I don’t need a lecture right now. You went and screwed it all up. I was about to—”

  “You think she was going to bang you?”

  He looks at me with unfocused eyes, his brown pupils as big and round as buttons on a suit jacket. “She kissed me. Tongue and everything. Let me grab her boobs. She even touched my Jack Johnson if you want the whole truth.”

  The look on my face must say it all. “And why do you think that happened? You think it’s coincidence, Aid?”

  He snorts. “No, I think maybe for once a girl noticed that I’m actually a pretty cool guy. I’m funny. I’m smart. I’m not totally hideous.”

  “She said all that?”

  “Maybe. So what?”

  “So, has that girl ever so much as looked in your direction before today?”

  “You’re just jealous, Cam.” His face looks pale and waxy. I’ve seen that look before, I think—on myself. In the mirror, the day after Raine’s party. Like someone had sucked all the life out of me.

  “Jealous. Okay…I’m jealous…of…”

  He stands up. “You like me being some loser, some scrub that sits around and waits for you to be ready to hang out. If I get a girlfriend and a life, where would that leave you? You need my life to be shitty so that you always have me on-call for when you’re bored or have nothing better to do.”

  “That’s total bullshit,” I say, but I have to admit, the comment stings. I wonder if maybe he’s right. Do I use Aiden for when I have nothing better to do, as someone to make me feel better about myself?

  “It’s not bullshit,” he says. “What’s bullshit is that you always find a way to make me feel worse about myself. Finally a cute girl takes an interest and you have to come over and ruin everything.”

  “Look, I need to tell you something,” I say.

  He shakes his head. “Save it.”

  “Remember how you told me the girls made those comments in cooking class about me? The ‘Camerade’ and all that stuff?”

  Aiden keeps shaking his head. “They were just teasing. Becca explained it to me today—”

  I stand up. “Wait. You told her about that? Does she know that you told me?”

  Aiden keeps talking as if I haven’t said a word. “Becca said that they all think it’s like this connection you and Raine have. You two are so hot for each other that it, like, makes you weak in the knees and stuff. So they all joke and tease Raine about it.”

  “So joking about her drinking my blood for energy—”

  “You’ve got it all wrong, man. You really think they’re doing some kind of magic on you?” Aiden says. He throws his head back and laughs maniacally. “You must have a screw loose.”

  I throw my hands up. “You’re obviously not in the right mental state to listen to reason. We’ll talk tomorrow on the way to school when you’ve had a chance to get your head together and sober up.”

  Aiden chuckles. “Actually, you can save a penny in gas and skip my house.

  Becca’s giving me a ride.”

  “Oh, so it’s like that, huh?”

  “And she’s asked me to the Homecoming Dance. I said yes.”

  I just stare at him, totally stunned. I can’t believe he’s buying into this ridiculousness. But then I realize that he’s either under Becca’s spell, or he’s so desperate for attention that he refuses to see the truth. Maybe both.

  “Look, Aiden. I’m your best friend.”

  “You were my best friend.” He yawns. “But for the last five years you’ve treated me like your kid brother, and you make me feel like shit about myself. I think maybe we need a break.”

  I lick my lips, think of trying to tell him what I saw when I spied on Raine and Becca and Teri last night. But I know it’s a waste of time.

  ***

  When I get home from Aiden’s, I call Natalia.

  “Hello?”

  Her voice instantly calms me. I sigh. “Hey, it’s Cam.”

  “You okay?”

  “Not really.” I tell her what happened when I went to Aiden’s house.

  “You think they’re doing something to him?” she asks.

  “I don’t know. I mean, there has to be an explanation besides the idea that Becca suddenly thinks Aiden is the new Channing Tatum.”

  “I mean, is it possible she really does like him?”

  “Natalia. Come on.”

  “Okay, you’re right. I mean, Aiden’s cute and all but he’s definitely not Becca’s type.”

  “They’re planning something, Nat. I know it.”

  “Cam…”

  “Yeah?”

  “I like it when you call me Nat.”

  “Hey, we’ve got serious shit to deal with, right now,” I say, but I’m smiling.

  “I know, I know.” She sighs. “I just kind of hate that we have to be secretive about our friendship.”

  I lie back on my bed and stare at the ceiling. “Is that what we are? Friends?”

  “Look, Cam…”

  “Don’t say it. Just. Don’t.”

  “It’s confusing, but I mean—maybe we should talk about it.”

  “Talk about what? You like Brody. And so me and you are just friends now.

  Right?”

  “You and I can’t be anything more than friends. We’re keeping secrets from people now. We’re not being honest with anyone.”

  “That’s not my fault. We’re dealing with a bunch of psycho witches that have some kind of powers and want to kill us.”

  “Wanting to kill us is kind of a stretch,” she says. “And we need to make sure we’re not just letting our imaginations run wild with all this stuff.”

  “Well, I know I didn’t imagine that black butterfly necklace I found.”

  “The necklace doesn’t prove anything.”

  “I know. I know. But something’s off. Something’s wrong with this whole picture. I mean, Aiden and Becca an item? Hell must be freezing over.”

  She laughs. I smile again despite myself. “Wouldn’t it be cool if me and you went to the dance together? I mean, that could be fun, right?”

  There’s a long silence. “Yes. That could be a lot of fun.”

  I sigh. Turns out there might actually be a more impossible couple than Becca and Aiden. And that’s me and Natalia.

  ***

  The next morning I drive to school alone. All these thoughts are spinning in my head. Me and Natalia. Raine. Brody. Becca and Aiden. Natalia’s crazy ex-boyfriend.

  The homecoming dance. The big football game on Friday.

  I wish I had just one answer for any of the questions floating around my brain, but I don’t.

  When I get to our hallway, the first thing I see is Becca and Aiden together. She’s leaning over, whispering in his ear. His face looks like an albino’s. Totally white and drained of color. But he’s smiling at whatever she’s saying.

  God, he’s totally shot.

  And then I’m opening my locker and for a second I think maybe I’m just having a super realistic dream, because all these little black butterflies come floating and falling out of my locker. Hundreds of them. I almost scream but then I realize they’re
just pieces of paper.

  But still. They look real.

  Black butterflies. I grit my teeth and make an effort not to run away from them as they float down and gather around my feet like dead things.

  Around me, I hear people gasp and ooh and awe.

  They continue to spill out of the locker and onto the floor.

  And I know. Something bad is coming….

  PURSUED

  (The Witches of Santa Anna, Book Five)

  by Lauren Barnholdt & Aaron Gorvine

  Copyright 2011, Lauren Barnholdt and Aaron Gorvine, all rights reserved This book is a work of fiction, and any resemblance to any persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental

  Chapter One

  Natalia

  I’m walking into school the next morning when I see all these black butterflies come fluttering out of Cam’s locker. They’re papery and sparkly and everyone in the junior hall stops to look.

  I start to take a step toward him, but before I can, Brody comes up behind me.

  “Hey,” he says easily. “Where’ve you been?” He’s wearing his varsity jacket and his hair is still wet from the shower.

  “I’m right here,” I say. I’m trying to sound friendly, but I’m also a little annoyed.

  I can’t think of anything except getting to Cam.

  “You never texted me back last night,” Brody says.

  “Sorry.” I’m distracted, still watching Cam, because those butterflies are creepy.

  He bends down and picks one up, turning it over in his hand.

  Brody follows my gaze. “Ahh,” he says, “So Raine’s asking Cam to homecoming, huh?”

  At that moment, Raine comes walking down the hall, dressed all in black. Black short tiered skirt, black tights, tight black shirt, and high black stilettos. She put her hands over Cam’s eyes and when he turns around, she picks up the biggest paper butterfly that’s lying on the floor. She unfolds it, and lets Cam read the white sparkly letters that probably say, “Cam, will you go to homecoming with me?”

  Cam smiles, wrapping his arms around her. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think he really did want to go to homecoming with Raine.