I turned back to see if anyone was following me before I ran up the porch steps and went inside the house. The rain sounded distant as I made my way through the vacant living room and up the deadly staircase. I slowly went up the steps, dodging the broken ones as best as I could in the dark.
I hurried into a room that had already been set with a bunch of white candles and a red blanket on the ground. Some teenagers must have used this room. Names of random people had been written on the walls and the two windows of the room had been shattered to pieces.
I decided that I could use the blanket so I kicked it away and sat the bottle, chalk, and soaked piece of paper on the ground beside me. I was soaked to the bone and my teeth were chattering as I grabbed the chalk and drew a giant circle on the ground.
I crawled out of the circle and wrote the incantation in front of the circle as well as I could with trembling hands. I shoved the piece of wet paper into my jacket pocket and quickly uncapped the bottle of crushed crow eye.
I shook the bottle, sprinkling what looked like ashes in the middle of the circle. Content with what how it all looked I threw the blanket over the circle, concealing it. If Dylan saw it he’d disfigure it and I’d definitely be screwed.
I got up from the ground and dusted my knees off, ready to leave and get back home. I knew now that my parents had found out I was gone and probably had every officer in Hanson searching for me.
I’d really be stuck at home now, and I would have to sneak out again on Friday to find out if this spell really worked. As I turned to the bedroom door, the room erupted in light. It blinded me for a moment and when my vision was finally stable, I saw that all of the candles in the room were lit.
“You’re a little too early, Blair.” Dylan’s voice seared through my ears. My heart shot into my throat and my eyes were beginning to water. He was here.
I took a quick glance at the ground and made sure that the circle and incantation were completely covered by the blanket. The bottle was still there but the ground was so dark you could barely make it out. I inhaled deeply and whirled around to meet Dylan. But instead, I was met with another familiar face.
Tate.
13
“Tate?” I breathed.
“Not really. See, Tate was very interested in anything paranormal and when he came here to investigate I killed him and took over his body. He deserved it, Blair. Did you know that he killed his parents to complete a demonic ritual? This boy had more skeletons in his closet than Jeffery fucking Dahmer.” Tate’s eyes, no wonder I felt so reminded of Dylan when I looked into them.
“All along it was you.”
“Yes and no. His soul is still in here and he’s trying to become dominant but he can’t kick me out, Blair. I’m too strong for that.” He walked into the room and stopped a few feet from the circle. “I suppose now we don’t have to wait until Friday. We can do it now.”
“Do what?” I growled.
“You don’t remember, do you?” he smiled.
“You wanted me to kill myself to be with you, but why?”
“I’ve lived many lives, Blair. Dylan’s body was my recent adventure. I killed him on a school field trip, and then I met you at the barber shop. I was taken with you. I knew when I met you that we’d be together and soon after, we were. I thought you loved me, Blair Bear. But you were just like all the other girls.”
“Like Caroline and Hannah?” his head twitched and his eyes grew wide.
“How do you know of them?” he snapped.
“They have been talking to me, Dylan. They told me how you killed them and made it look like suicide and how you did it to other girls.”
“How can you… damn it. You have the sight, don’t you?” he took a few steps toward me and stopped directly in the center of the circle.
“Yes,” I said, searching the room with my eyes for something to prick my finger with. I saw the broken glass surrounding a window and knew that I had to use it. I had to do this now.
“Back in the Louisiana I was in love with hoodoo. Many, many years ago I died but the love of my life brought me back as a spirit able to take human bodies and live in them, but only for a certain amount of time. She ended up being shot for helping a woman find out if her husband was being unfaithful. The husband came home drunk and killed both of them, his wife and my love, Edna. See, I didn’t know the spell she used on me and once the full moon came around, it was too late. She was a priestess, and I didn’t know much then.”
“I lost my heart and then I found the spell years later and fell in love with a girl named Annabel. All she had to do to be with me forever was to willingly die and then her spirit could travel with me. None of the girls I loved after Edna wanted to join me. So I had to take care of them. You, on the other hand, escaped my grasp. But now you will go with me, Blair.”
“I’ll go with you. Just let Max go,” I said, figuring out a way to get to the window before he caught on. Dylan pointed behind me and I turned to see a closed closet. My heart began racing in my chest. Please don’t let him be dead, I said to myself as I walked over to the closet.
I grabbed the knob and pulled the door open, my eyes closed tightly. I heard a muffled voice and when I opened my eyes I saw Max, bound with rope and duck tape wrapped around his mouth. He looked brutally beaten and his left eye was blackened. He began crying when he saw me and my heart hurt.
“What did you do to him?”
“It had taken me a while to get him to tell me you both had gone to Pearl’s for help. That ragged, old bitch. I took care of her though that night at the carnival. Nothing can stop us now.”
“The thing is, I’m not going anywhere with you, Dylan. I talked to Pearl. I have the sight remember?” I turned and smiled at him.
“You what?” Dylan leapt forward but was slammed back onto the ground with enough force that it rocked the house. He slowly got up from the floor and grabbed his head, screaming into the floorboards. I hurried past him to the window, grabbed a shard of glass, and went back to the middle of the room. I hoped to god that this spell worked.
“I’m not going anywhere. But you are. You are finally going to rest in peace, with Edna where you belong.” I made a grab for the blanket and yanked it out from under him. He stood up and looked down at the circle and snarled at me like a beast.
“Stupid girl. You know nothing of hoodoo,” he spat. But I could tell he was scared. Something in him doubted his own beliefs.
“I may not know everything, but I know what I am doing right now. You can’t leave that circle, Dylan. I have control now.”
“I love you, Blair. Please don’t do this to me.”
“You don’t deserve to live,” Caroline’s voice erupted in the room. The candles rapidly went out, leaving the room pitch black. Thunder reverberated through the sky and the candles came back to life, but they weren’t alone.
The entire room was full of girls, ranging in various ages, and all of their eyes were placed on Dylan. “You have taken everything away from us and it’s only fair that you get everything taken from you in return.” Caroline took a step forward through a group of girls and Dylan began pleading for his life. “Blair, do it now.”
I took in all of the girls in the room, some I had seen in the mirrors. He had taken their lives and because of him they were suffering, even in death. I inhaled and fixed my jaw as I slit my index finger open and hissed at the sight of blood. I got down on my knees in front of the circle and reached my finger down to the wood paneled ground.
“Goodbye Dylan,” I whispered to him.
“Blair, don’t. Wait!” he cried.
“Thank you for listening to us Blair. We can move on now, all you have to do is complete the spell,” Caroline said.
I looked up at her, my eyes filled with tears. I nodded and felt as if the entire moment was suddenly set in slow motion. I drew the line with the three slashes and looked up into Dylan’s eyes. Something was different about his eyes now. It was as if he somehow felt remorse for
what he had done.
He opened his mouth to say something, but a gigantic gust of freezing wind tore through the windows of the room, left over glass flying everywhere. He crumpled to dust right before me and swirled into the air like a tiny twister. All of the girls began to flicker like candles and soon they were all disappearing one by one.
The room began to rumble as if an earthquake had taken over and I turned away from the circle and ran into the closet. I forced Max to his feet and walked him out of the room and down the stairs. The roof was collapsing and the candles had tipped over and created a fire in the bedroom.
We finally made it outside and I tore the tape off of Max’s mouth and released him from the rope. Half of the house crashed to the ground, smoke and flames eating through the night air.
Hopefully someone would see the fire and send an officer. I collapsed next to Max and gave him a hug, tighter than ever. It was all over now. Everything would be alright again.
“What the hell just happened?” Max said, coughing from the smoke that was mixing with the air.
“We’ll talk about it tomorrow. I’m so tired right now, I can’t even stand. I’m just glad we’re okay,” I said as I leaned into Max’s chest and relaxed.
“Come on, let’s get away from the smoke.” Max helped me to my feet and walked me to the shore. Dylan was no longer a part of my life and I had to deal with that now. I could live a long and happy life thanks to Pearl, Caroline and the rest of the girls. I smiled and turned to face Max. I was glad he was okay, I could never lose him.
I looked up from Max’s chest into his eyes and my smile began to fall from my face. My pulse quickened and fresh tears stung my eyes. No. This could not be happening. He grinned down at me with a familiar smile and with all of his strength he seized me by my throat and shoved me backward into the cold black water.
As the ice water sliced down my throat, I stared into his eyes. His stunning green eyes were no longer there. His eyes were now dark and hollow, vacant of emotion. Someone had taken over my best friend’s body… and this time I knew it was Dylan. He’d won. The spell had failed me. He was too strong.
I was his, now and forever. He pushed me under and under until black film filtered over my eyes and my lungs filled with the water of the lake.
I truly did belong to him.
THE
END
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Richard Denney lives in El Paso, Texas. He
loves reading, writing, ghost hunting, &
watching his favorite television series
"The Vampire Diaries".
What Lies Beneath Page 8