“Huh?”
“A voice. In my head.”
“Like your imagination?”
“No, Kevin. No. Not my imagination. A voice that’s nothing to do with me. In my head.”
He turned his gaze from the road to stare at her.
“Yup.” She nodded. “Hey, look at the road, will ya?”
After another moment of staring at her concernedly, he did look back at the road. “A voice in your head.”
“Please don’t think I’m crazy,” Bernice begged.
“I don’t think you’re crazy, B.”
“Are you just saying that?”
He shrugged. “Maybe? I dunno. If you are crazy, you sure have good reason to be.”
“I don’t want to be crazy,” she said desperately. Horrible old Rebecca. Had she made Bernice insane? This had to be temporary. It just had to be. She couldn’t stand it, this nagging feeling that she needed to go back. She didn’t want to go back.
“So the voice is telling you to go back to the swamp …” Kevin pondered.
“Yup.”
Kevin was quiet for almost a minute. His furrowed brow indicated he was deep in thought. Bernice gave him silence. At last, Kevin spoke. “Want to do an experiment? See if it’s real or not?”
“Uh … what do you mean?”
“You got anywhere to be tonight?” Kevin asked.
“Nope. Was gonna go to a hotel, but they’re not expecting me. What’s up?”
“Shut your eyes.”
Bernice did so. “Why?”
“We’re gonna drive around. I’m going to just aimlessly zip around here and there, and at some point I’m going to drive to the swamp. Okay?”
Her stomach churned and she opened her eyes. “No, Kevin―”
“No, wait. Listen. If you keep your eyes shut and I drive you into the swamp but you don’t know you’re in the swamp, then if the voice stops you know it’s real. Right?” An off ramp approached, and Kevin steered them off the expressway.
She blinked at him and thought that through. “Good plan, Kevin.” Sorta. Except it was also probably a horrible plan from a safety standpoint. She shouldn’t be letting him go back to that place with her. Clearly, he didn’t have an accurate understanding of the situation, or he wouldn’t be offering to take her back.
“So you wanna do it?”
She bit her lip. “The idea of going back there creeps me out.”
“We’ll lock the doors and we won’t stop for anything. I’ll make sure the gas tank is full. It will be fine.”
Bernice swallowed heavily, and gave a slow nod. “Okay. Let’s do it.”
CHAPTER TEN:
THE POWER
After Kevin filled up the tank, Bernice shut her eyes and Kevin began to drive around, making sure to take some dirt roads every now and then since the road to the swamp was a dirt one.
“I really don’t think we need to have the music off,” Bernice said. Her fists were clenched into tight balls as the voice harassed her. It was definitely getting louder. No question.
“We can switch it back on if you want,” Kevin said. “But it’d be interesting to see if the voice gets louder or quieter or whatever when we get within a certain proximity of the swamp. Yeah?”
Bernice sighed, “Commendable scientific thinking there, Kevin.”
On they drove.
On and on and on.
At least an hour of driving in silence, except for Bernice periodically updating Kevin on any changes of volume from the voice. She knew she should not be doing this. But a part of her wanted to see what would happen if she heeded the voice. The big problem here was that Kevin was coming, too. She should go alone. It was dangerous, and she should only be endangering herself. Not Kevin. But of course, there was no problem, because of the glaringly obvious fact she kept losing sight of for some idiotic reason: the voice was not the swamp, and the old lady was not a witch or whatever. Swamps did not talk and old ladies did not make vines move.
A helpful thought occurred to Bernice then: of course the vines hadn’t really moved; what had happened was the old lady had hit Kevin and Bernice with her hallucination concoction before they’d even realized she’d done so. That’s why they’d both witnessed the vines moving. They’d been hallucinating already. Shared hallucinations. Somehow. Yes, that would be it. That was clearly the answer, since in reality vines simply did not move. The supernatural was not real. Swamps did not talk to people in their heads, or in any way at all. Swamps were a conglomeration of water and plants and animals and microbes and elevation and whatnot all coming together to make a certain set of conditions that made the land a swamp. That was what swamps were. Therefore, it naturally followed that Kevin could safely come with her to the swamp.
Come back to the swamp, come back to the swamp.
“I think it’s getting quieter,” she murmured after a bit.
“Innnteresting …” he muttered.
She wanted to open her eyes to see why it was so innnteresting, but she refrained. “Kevin, are you sure you’re okay with driving into the swamp? What if she like jumps on the windshield and slams her fist through it, or … uh, lassos the car with a vine? Remember she’s super strong.”
“We won’t be in the swamp long. Just long enough to see if there’s a change. Now hush. Listen to the voice. See if it changes anymore.”
She leaned her head against the back of the seat and listened. Come back to the swamp, come back to the swamp. “I really think it’s still getting quieter.” She was trying hard not to get too optimistic, but couldn’t help thinking that maybe the farther she got the quieter it got. That would be nice. Maybe the power of the swamp lessened with distance? Bah. Power of the swamp? What was she thinking? The swamp had no power. Rebecca had drugs and creepiness on her side, but not magic. Not magic. She tried hard not to think too hard about the moving vine. It was stress. Or a snake. “Definitely quieter.”
Kevin uttered a nearly inaudible, “Hmm.”
Bernice sat up straighter and tapped his arm excitedly. “Ooh. Kevin. It’s super quiet. I can barely hear it.”
The car turned and began to bump down a dirt road.
“Wow. Kevin. It’s gone,” she gasped. “It’s gone!”
Kevin muttered something under his breath.
He stopped the car.
“Bernice …” he started. “Um …”
Opening her eyes, Bernice looked out at the night. It was dark. Clouds were covering whatever moon there might or might not be. But what she saw shining in the headlights filled her with dread. She directed her gaze at Kevin. “Is this …”
His hands were on the wheel and he was staring out the windshield with his jaw clenched. “It’s the swamp,” he said, monotone.
“Oh.” She felt a surprising lack of emotions. Numbness. “What does this mean?” she asked Kevin. Why was she asking him? He was no expert on swamp witchcraft. Maybe he would come up with some genius theory she could cling to. Some alternative to her current theory: the swamp was talking to her, and when she left it would drive her crazy telling her to come back over and over until she listened to it and came back and turned into the next Rebecca. “What does this mean?” she repeated when Kevin kept on staring out the window and not answering.
“Um. Well. It’s not in your head,” he replied. “That’s kinda good. Right?”
“Yeah, sorta …” Bernice mumbled. “Except, if it’s not in my head then that means the voice is real. That presents a whole new host of problems, wouldn’t you say?”
“Sure.” Kevin turned the car on again. “But at least it’s nice to know you’re not crazy. Yeah? Still, definitely a whole new host of …” He shifted into drive and hit the gas. The wheels spun. “I think we’re stuck in some mud or something.”
Bernice felt a sinking feeling in her stomach as a domino effect
of reasoning started clicking along in her brain. The voice was real. Therefore, she couldn’t deny all the supernatural stuff. Therefore, the old lady wouldn’t hurt Bernice since the old lady was the swamp and the swamp wanted Bernice. But, was Kevin in danger? “Don’t!” Bernice snapped when Kevin made to open the door to investigate what was preventing the car from moving. “I’ll get out and look. You stay put. We are not having a repeat of last year.”
“Uh―”
“Just stay.”
“Okay, B. Sure,” Kevin said hesitantly.
Before opening the door, Bernice scanned what she could of the darkness. She did not see Rebecca. She wished the fact made her feel safe, but it didn’t. The old lady was probably just lurking somewhere, camouflaged in the mud and moss. Or she was half the swamp away, but running toward them creepy fast. Bernice gritted her teeth, opened the car door, and stepped out. “Not muddy at all,” she said over her shoulder to Kevin. The humid warmth of the swamp enveloped her like a cozy blanket. She shut her eyes a moment, appreciating the comfort of it. It soaked into her skin, energizing her. Despite the stress of the situation, she felt oddly elated. Thrilled, more like.
Kevin said from the car, “Weird. Well, we’re definitely stuck on something.” He rolled down his window a bit so they could talk while she investigated the car.
She nodded, slammed her door, and walked around the back of the car.
Her jaw dropped. She stared. “No,” she muttered as she walked up to the back of the car. “No, no, no.” Why had Kevin stopped the car? Why? He had said he wouldn’t. The idiot.
Wrapped around the wheels and the bumper and underneath the car, probably entwined around all sorts of car parts, were thick vines of Asiatic bittersweet. She whirled around. “Where are you, Rebecca?” she yelled into the darkness. She didn’t even bother attempting to hide the panic in her voice. How was she feeling both panic and elation at the same time? It was disorienting.
“Bernice?” Kevin yelled. “What? Are you okay?” He turned to look at her through the back window.
“Bittersweet’s wrapped all around the back of the car. Around the tires and stuff,” Bernice called back. She heard his car door opening. “Stay in the car, Kevin!”
He slammed it shut. “Right. But … uh, Bernice, what do we do? You get in here, too.”
She ran her hands through her hair and turned in a slow circle, peering into the darkness.
Rebecca stepped out from behind a tree. Or at least Bernice assumed it was Rebecca. A black silhouette with a ratty mess of hair stepped out from behind a tree.
“Get those vines off the car,” Bernice growled.
“You returned,” Rebecca stated the obvious. “You feel the pull of the swamp. You know that it has chosen you.”
“Yes,” Bernice growled. “I hear it in my head and it won’t shut up. How do I make it stop?”
“You don’t. There’s no going back. The swamp needs a new ambassador. My time is limited. You are next. It looked inside you and it saw you care for it and―”
“I do not want this,” Bernice whispered.
“It wants you. It needs you. You are a part of the swamp now,” Rebecca stated, walking closer.
Bernice gritted her teeth and hissed, “But I don’t want to be.” A part of her knew Rebecca was right. She felt the connection. The elation at being back. But a bigger part of her wanted to fight it and deny it and run away from it as fast as she could.
“Nonsense,” Rebecca scoffed. “I know you feel it. The joy. The connectedness.”
Bernice didn’t answer. Yes, since the moment she had stepped onto the ground in the swamp and felt the air on her skin, she had felt that weird, irrational happiness; the energy humming through her body. But that didn’t mean she wanted to be in the swamp. It just meant Rebecca had messed her up with some creepy, evil magic that she’d never asked for.
Rebecca walked closer. “Now that you’ve returned, I can teach you to use your new abilities. You are the swamp now. Embrace it.”
Shaking her head, Bernice backed away. How was Kevin going to get out of this? Would Rebecca hurt him? Was he hearing this conversation?
“There’s no running from it. I’ll show you―”
“Just get those vines off the car.”
“No. You need to be here. You need to accept your powers.”
“Powers? I don’t have powers. Come on. Get the vines off the car.”
“You can get the vines off the car.”
Bernice blinked. “I can’t.”
“But you can. And you will. The power is a part of you and you will embrace it.”
“I will do no such thing,” Bernice growled.
Rebecca sighed and snapped her fingers.
Bernice backed away from Rebecca, looking around wildly. What was going to happen? What had that snap of her fingers done?
Oh.
Bernice glanced down at the vine that had moved from the car to her leg. It was twining around and around, spiraling up from her ankle to her knee, holding her firmly in place. “Let me go.”
“You can do it yourself.”
“Let me go!” Bernice screamed. “Let me―”
“But you can do it yourself!” Rebecca cut her off eagerly. “Don’t you feel it? You can―”
Bernice said, “That’s insane! I cannot make a vine move by snapping my fingers, and I will not! Let me go! You have no right―”
Kevin yelled through the open window, “Bernice? What’s wrong? What’s going on?” He opened the door.
Rebecca’s gaze snapped from Bernice to Kevin.
“Don’t,” Bernice breathed. “Leave him alone.” Then she yelled, “Kevin! Stay. In. The. Car!”
“What’s she doing to you?” Kevin asked, panicked, half in the car and half out, clearly torn between helping her out and remembering how creepy Rebecca was.
“Don’t worry about it!” Bernice answered. “I’ll be fine! Shut the door! Lock it!”
Kevin yelled out as, with a jerking motion, he was yanked to the ground. “Bernice!” he screamed as he was pulled beneath the car.
Bernice whirled around to face Rebecca. “Stop it!” she screamed, pulling against the vine wrapped around her leg. She bent to look frantically under the car to try to figure out what was going on. Kevin was struggling, but she couldn’t see what was going on. She couldn’t get a good look because of the vine holding her. “Please, just let him go! Please!“
Kevin yelled, “Bernice, it’s around my neck― I―” Choke. Gasp.
Bernice fought to free her leg as she screamed at Rebecca, “Why are you doing this!?”
Rebecca calmly stated, “So that you will test your ability. You won’t do it to free yourself, but you will to free him.”
“What?” Bernice asked, though she already knew what Rebecca meant; the energy pulsing through her body was practically forcing itself into her mind. “You’re insane. I can’t―”
“Try,” Rebecca said soothingly. “Just try. Feel the plants. Feel their energy. It’s easy.”
A gasping sound came from beneath the car. Kevin was frantically scrambling in the dirt, his breaths coming short.
“Just shut your eyes and feel them,” Rebecca instructed. “You already know how easy it will be to do. Just accept it.”
Well, now that Kevin was being strangled by a vine beneath the car, there really was no argument. She could get back to denial just as soon as no one was being murdered. As much as Bernice would have loved to fight the insane, surreal, impossible garbage she felt overtaking her body and her mind, she also knew that the insane, surreal, impossible garbage overtaking her body and her mind was really real and that it would save Kevin. She felt the power humming through her, begging to be used, crowding around the edges of her mind. She gave a weary sigh, shut her eyes, and let the power flow into her. There it was
, comfortable and friendly and soothing. She took it and felt with her mind for the vine that was wrapping around Kevin. In a moment, she found it. So easy. There it was―the vine was waiting for her. Just waiting to be told to unwrap itself from Kevin’s neck.
So, she told it to unwrap itself.
It listened to her.
Just like that.
“Oh,” Bernice said. Well, that had been easy. So, she told the one around her leg to let her go. Then, she kicked at it savagely and flung herself to the ground, reaching under the car. “Kevin!” she gasped. “Are you okay?” She heard him scuffling around, scooting out from underneath the vehicle toward her. He was muttering what sounded like a steady stream of curses under his breath. When he got within reach, she helped him to his feet and put a hand to his neck where the bark of the vine had rubbed his skin raw.
Giving her a wide-eyed, crazy look, he whirled around and sprinted to the driver’s side door. He threw it open, got in, and slammed it behind him. She heard the locks click.
Bernice turned back to Rebecca. “I’m leaving.”
“All right,” Rebecca said calmly.
Bernice began to back away. “What?”
“All right,” Rebecca repeated. “Go.”
“You’re not going to try to stop me?”
“No. You know your power now. You can’t deny it anymore. You felt it. You know now that it is good. You will be back. The voice will get stronger and stronger until you have no choice. Go now if you must. You will return.”
Bernice shook her head. “You’re insane.”
“You are the insane one,” Rebecca countered. “Why are you fighting the swamp? How can you fight it now that you’ve felt what it is? It wants you.”
“But I don’t want it. If I choose the swamp, that means I’m giving up my life.”
“But you feel the peace. I know you do. When you sleep, the swamp shows you―” Rebecca stopped short and shut her eyes. She remained motionless for a few seconds, holding up an index finger to indicate to Bernice that she should wait.
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