‘Just passing through, thought I’d drop by. It’s been far too long.’ Quinn picked up a champagne flute from the table and took a large drink, draining the glass.
‘That it has,’ Aiden said, nodding in agreement. ‘How have you been? And how’s Dru?’
Druanna was Quinn’s twin sister, identical in almost every way bar their hair. Neither one of them had ever dyed it, yet Quinn’s was silvery-blonde and almost down to her bottom, while Dru had fiery red hair which she wore in a messy bob.
‘Wouldn’t know,’ Quinn shrugged, topping her glass up with the bottle of Moët that sat at her feet. ‘Haven’t seen her for months. Honestly, I thought I might find her here.’
‘Is that my mother’s?’ Aiden asked, gesturing towards the bottle. Quinn nodded. ‘You’re brave.’
‘Oh, stop,’ she said, waving a hand. ‘Aunt Tabby won’t mind.’
‘You haven’t talked to Aunt Tabby for a while,’ Aiden scoffed, ‘she doesn’t do much smiling or sharing nowadays. Especially not champagne with her seventeen-year-old niece.’
‘You worry too much. Sit down, catch me up. What’s new? And when are you going to introduce me to the little mouse hiding behind the door?’
Charley gulped, taking a step into the room.
‘Quinn, this is my girlfriend, Charley. Chambers, I’m sure you’ve gathered this is Quinn.’
‘Nice to meet you, kitten.’
‘Same to you,’ Charley said shyly.
‘So are you both gonna hover by the door all night or are you gonna sit yourselves down and entertain me? I didn’t come all this way to sit in the dark and drink alone, you know.’
Aiden pulled out one of the dining chairs for Charley but didn’t sit down himself, his mind switching between the arrival of his cousin and his parents returning home.
‘What’s up, shorty?’ Quinn asked, winking at a confused Charley.
‘Shorty?’ Charley said.
‘She’s called me that for years. She always hated being small, so I used to tease her rotten about it when we were kids. She decided that if she had to be short, so did I. Well, metaphorically speaking.’
Charley gave a half smile but didn’t reply, giving Quinn the opportunity to push Aiden further.
‘So what’s wrong?’ she pressed. ‘You don’t seem yourself.’
‘I’m fine,’ he mumbled.
‘You’re a terrible liar.’
‘So you always say.’
‘What about you, little mouse? What’s your story?’
Charley looked startled. ‘Me? Eh . . .’
‘She’s a magician,’ Aiden said, jumping in for her.
‘Just like us then? Thought as much,’ Quinn smiled. ‘You couldn’t not come from a magical family with a name like Chambers.’
‘Oh, I’m not . . . I mean, it’s just me. My family are all normal. At least I think they are. Some of them I’m . . . I’m not so sure about but . . .’
‘Does she always babble like this?’
‘Quinn,’ Aiden snapped, closing the curtains and walking towards her, snatching the champagne bottle before she could reach it. He took a large gulp. ‘Don’t speak to her like that.’
‘Aiden, it’s okay,’ Charley said, trying to calm the situation.
Quinn got up, her seven-inch stilettos making her appear much taller and to Charley, much more intimidating than she really was.
‘It’s not okay, little mouse. I’m sorry. As Aiden will tell you, I can be a little bit rude sometimes. Runs in the family.’
Charley faked a smile. She was feeling more and more awkward by the second. ‘I’d better go,’ she said quietly. ‘I told my mum I’d be home for dinner.’
‘Chambers . . .’
‘It’s fine, Aiden. I’ll call you later. Quinn, it was really nice meeting you.’ Charley bolted for the door before Aiden had time to change her mind.
‘You too, cupcake,’ Quinn called, helping herself to one of her uncle’s chocolates that sat in a fancy box on top of the piano.
‘What the hell is wrong with you?’ Aiden yelled, slamming the lid back on the chocolate box.’
‘Wrong with me? Nothing at all,’ Quinn shrugged, but Aiden only sighed. ‘It’s good to be back, shorty. Good to be back.’
Charley woke up, her head splitting, and reached for the glass of water on her bedside table. Half asleep, she knocked the glass with the back of her hand, sending it tumbling towards the floor. Before it could reach the carpet, Charley grunted ‘stay’, flicked her hand towards the ceiling and turned to look at the floor. The glass was frozen in mid-air, the water still swirling around inside.
‘Nice one,’ she smiled as she took hold of the glass, removing it from its spot in the air and drinking the water, immediately wishing there’d been more.
Her dreams had kept her tossing and turning all night and her body was sore. She grabbed on to her shoulder and winced as she clicked it into place.
What the hell was I doing in my sleep?
Trying not to think too much about the pain, she got out of bed and went to her dresser, picking up a comb in an attempt to brush the tugs from her tangled hair.
‘What the . . .’ Charley’s eyes widened as she looked in the mirror, her pale face draining of its little colour.
There were large, ugly bruises right the way up her left arm. Her right arm was bruised too, although it wasn’t as bad. It did, however, have a large gash on it, starting just above her elbow and stretching to her shoulder. It was deep and raised like a knife wound and Charley was pretty sure it looked infected.
‘This is bizarre,’ she said aloud, prodding the wound with her index finger to check it was real. ‘Ouch!’ It was.
She’d expected not to sleep well, to dream odd dreams. After meeting Quinn, there was no way she was going to have a good night’s sleep. Not that Quinn wasn’t nice – she was just . . . different. Unforeseen. Sudden. There was already so much going on in their lives what with Abbie, Marcus, Jess . . . she just wasn’t sure if they needed another distraction, another complication.
Complication?
Charley immediately felt bad for thinking it. Quinn was Aiden’s cousin after all, his family, and he obviously didn’t get the chance to see her very often.
‘Who am I to wish she wasn’t here?’ Charley said to herself. ‘I’m sure she’s lovely.’
She pulled on a sweater, cursing as the fabric rubbed against her cut, irritating it, and made her way downstairs.
‘Mum? Jess?’ There was no sign of anyone. Her dad was always away early for work, so she never expected to see him, but it was unusual for her mum to be gone, or Jess for that matter, especially without saying anything.
‘Guess it’s just me then,’ Charley said, pulling a box of cereal from the shelf and filling a bowl. ‘A goodbye would’ve been nice.’
‘Goodbye? I just got here.’
Charley jumped, the cereal box flying out of her hand and falling towards the floor, sending tiny sugar loops everywhere.
‘Bloody hell,’ Charley breathed, holding her hand to her chest. ‘What are you doing here?’
‘Just popped by to say hello.’
‘You don’t sneak up on people like that, Quinn. You nearly gave me a heart attack.’
‘Only nearly? Shame.’ Quinn took an apple from the fruit bowl and bit into it, her red nails almost matching its vibrant colour.
‘What?’ Charley scowled.
‘Nothing. You got anything decent to eat? I’m not really a fruit and cereal type of gal.’
‘I don’t think so. Quinn, what are you really doing here? And how did you get in?’
Quinn sighed and put down her apple. ‘How’s your arm?’
‘What?’
‘Does it hurt?’
‘How do you know about my arm?’
‘How do you know that?’
‘Because, it was me who did it to you.’
Charley took a step back, spying the block of kitchen knives next to the sink. ‘What are you talking about?’
‘Don’t play dumb, Charley, it doesn’t suit you. Anyway, I just came to finish the job.’
‘Get out, Quinn.’
‘Come on, I just got here.’
‘Get out of my house.’ Charley lunged towards the sink, grabbing a knife and holding it out in front of her. Quinn got up and walked towards her, a sly grin still on her face.
‘Or what? Are you going to stab me? Plunge that knife into my gut and twist it until I bleed to death on your floor. Now that would make a mess, wouldn’t it?’
‘I’ll do what I have to.’
‘Only because you know you can’t use magic to beat me.’
‘Why are you doing this?’
‘Because, Charley. It’s a message.’
‘What?’
Quinn got closer and closer until they were face to face. They both looked down at the knife Charley was holding, the knife which was now embedded in Quinn’s chest. Quinn’s face went white and she fell to the floor, her body disappearing as she hit the ground. Everything disappeared. Everything went black.
Charley woke with a start. She reached for her glass of water and let it fall, just as it had done already that morning. This seemed all too familiar.
‘Stay,’ she murmured and flicked her hand, but the glass hit the floor, water spilling over the carpet. ‘Oh, thank God,’ she gasped. ‘It wasn’t real . . .’
She got up and went to the mirror, her head spinning as she tried to make sense of the nightmare she’d just had. A nightmare, that’s all it was. Just a bad dream.
‘What? No . . .’
Charley stopped dead as she looked in the mirror. Her skin was still purple and the cut was still there.
She didn’t know what was a dream and what wasn’t.
Charley’s phone rang at quarter to ten, just as her eyes were beginning to close for the umpteenth time since she’d left the house. She was so tried, so drained, that all she wanted to do was sleep. Sleep . . . not dream.
‘Hello?’ she answered groggily, her throat dry.
‘Where are you, Chambers?’
‘I’m just trying to get some rest. You?’
‘At school, where you’re supposed to be. What’s up?’
‘I had a bad night. I don’t think I can cope with school today.’
‘Okay, tell me where you are and I’ll come find you.’
‘No, it’s all right. I’d rather be alone.’
‘Is this about Quinn?’ he asked, and she started shaking her head before realising he couldn’t see her.
‘No, of course not. Why would you say that?’
‘Well, you seemed a little off last night. I know it was a bit unexpected, her showing up.’
‘It has nothing to do with Quinn!’
‘All right, calm down. What’s up then?’
‘Nothing, I . . . I just need some time to myself. I’ll call you later.’
‘Wait,’ Aiden cried, ‘don’t hang up yet.’
‘Why? What is it?’ Charley stayed on the line for a few moments but Aiden said nothing. Finally, he broke the silence.
‘Okay. Speak to you in a bit.’ The line went dead and Charley took the phone from her ear, giving it an odd look.
‘That was weird,’ she mumbled, putting the phone away and pulling her knees up to her chest.
She was huddled in the tiny playhouse at the park, not far from the school. She didn’t want to speak to anyone, especially not Aiden. What was she supposed to say to him?
By the way, your cousin who I only just met beat me up in my dream last night and was planning on killing me, but I got in there first. But now I’m not really sure if it was a dream because I woke up with all these strange bruises and an eight inch cut that seriously resembles a knife wound.
Yes, because that’s what any normal person would say. Charley wasn’t normal though, and she was well aware of that. In fact, she was getting a little too aware.
‘So why are you hiding in a play park?’
Charley let her head fall forward, banging it off her knees.
‘How did you find me?’ she asked.
‘I held you on the line so I could do a seeking spell.’
‘I told you I wanted to be alone.’
‘And I told you I would come see you. Something’s up, Chambers, and I’m not leaving until you tell me what it is.’
Charley looked at him and sighed. She knew he meant well and she loved that he cared, but she didn’t particularly want to be around him. She knew he could read her like a book and she didn’t want to have to explain.
‘Nothing’s up,’ she said, hauling herself from the playhouse and walking away. ‘I just need some space, okay?’
‘No, Chambers, not okay. I’m not leaving until you–’ Aiden grabbed Charley’s shoulder to make her stop, not hard, yet the pain she experienced was excruciating.
‘Let go!’ Charley screamed, clutching her shoulder, which felt like it had just been ripped from its socket.
‘Wow, Chambers, what happened?’ Charley didn’t answer. ‘Why is your shoulder so sore?’
‘It’s nothing. I . . . I fell.’
Aiden’s face hardened. ‘What happened?’
Charley thought about what to say, how to put the words, structure them so that they made sense, if even a little.
‘I had a dream,’ she said meekly, ‘about Quinn. I was covered in cuts and bruises, my shoulder was out of place. She was in my house, acting . . . I don’t know, strange. She told me she’d done it to me, said she was going to finish me off.’
‘All right . . .’
‘I stabbed her, in my dream, only because she was going to kill me. That’s when I woke up. I thought it had all just been a nightmare, but then I saw these . . .’
With difficulty, Charley pulled the jumper over her head to reveal the angry bruises, the deep cut and a rather misshapen shoulder.
‘Holy shit,’ Aiden whispered, unable to take his eyes off his girlfriend’s battered frame. Her pale skin was barely visible through the mass of black marks, and the wound was without a doubt infected.
Charley winced as she moved her shoulder, pain searing through it.
‘It’s dislocated,’ Aiden said softly.
‘What?’
‘Your shoulder, it’s dislocated. We need to get you to a doctor.’
‘I’m not going to a doctor.’
‘Someone needs to put your shoulder back in place, and that needs to be seen to,’ he said, pointing at her arm. ‘You need antibiotics–’
‘Aiden, listen to me. I’m not going to a doctor. You can click my shoulder back–’
‘It’s more than a click,’ he said, screwing his face up at the thought. He’d had to reconnect his own shoulder on several occasions and it wasn’t something he had fond memories of.
‘Whatever, you can fix it. And I’ll wrap a bandage round my arm or something . . .’
‘Chambers . . .’
‘It’s not medical, Aiden, it’s magical. Antibiotics aren’t going to do anything. Honestly, I don’t know what will.’
She was right and he knew it; believing it was where he was having trouble. If it was down to magic, which was the most likely scenario, then something – or someone – was deliberately trying to hurt Charley, and they were doing a pretty good job. And the worst part of it was, there was nothing Aiden could do to stop them. Not without knowing who was behind it or what magic they were using. He was completely in the dark.
‘What else happened?’ he asked. ‘Was anyone else in your dream?’
>
‘No, just Quinn.’
‘Did she say anything, mention anyone? Anyone who might want to hurt you?’
‘Not that I remember. She said something about a message.’
‘What message?’
‘The dream . . .’ Charley tried to think back, the dream slipping further from her memory as the day went on. ‘She said it was a message.’
‘We need to find Quinn,’ Aiden said, taking his jacket off and draping it over Charley’s good shoulder, then carefully over the other.
‘Ouch,’ she cried, screwing her eyes shut as she tried to hold back the tears.
‘Sorry. I’m not trying to hurt you.’
‘I know . . .’
‘Come on. We’ll get you back to mine and fix your shoulder. Then we better talk to Quinn.’
‘Do you know where she is?’ Charley asked as they made their way from the park.
‘Unfortunately, yes.’
‘Is that not a good thing?’
‘Not really, no.’
‘Why? Where is she?’
Aiden raised his eyebrows. ‘She’s with my mother.’
The two women sat in the corner of the café, blethering to one another and sipping their drinks. To look at, they were both breathtaking, although in completely different ways.
Quinn’s beauty was hard to miss, from her long shiny hair to her soft pale cheeks, she appeared almost perfect. She had an exceptional figure too, although she certainly didn’t get it from excess gym sessions or low-carb diets; Quinn liked food almost as much as she loathed exercise.
Tabitha’s good looks, however, were more subtle. She was older than Quinn, obviously, but with age had come style for Tabby – an elegance that most women fail to pull off, even after hours of primping and preening. At thirty-nine, Tabitha was often mistaken for someone in their late twenties, a misconception she was happy to perpetuate.
Although both were attractive in their own unique way, it was clear that they weren’t related by blood. Neither Quinn nor Dru looked particularly like either of their parents, but they bore a huge resemblance to their Uncle Fergus.
‘So what brings you back to Newford?’ Tabitha asked when Quinn was finally finished speaking.
Charley Chambers Page 16