“What are you doing?” Jenna asked, sitting on the bed. She saw the necklace and immediately shot back up to her feet again.
“I’m trying to see if I can build up a tolerance.”
“Where was this determination when you were scoping for boys?” Jenna asked from beside me, watching the necklace like it was a poisonous spider.
“Most of them aren’t nearly as interesting,” I said, with my eyes shut as I focused on the heated sensation. “And the one boy that is interesting kind of fell into my lap. Now shush.”
Every day for the next two weeks, I would sit with the necklace, slowly getting my hand closer. I started about a foot away, but as I got used to the strong pins-and-needles sensation, it became possible to move closer and only feel like my hand was coming back from falling asleep. As the weeks had passed, I’d moved down to where my hand was only an inch away.
Sometimes, I would go too far and the necklace would make me hallucinate. Nothing like the intensity of falling into Dark during my first experience, but the episodes were still unsettling. The shadows would begin to form into shapes and shamble towards me. I would immediately pull my hand back into my lap, but the shadows took a second of delay before they faded out again.
One night, my practice gave me a wicked headache. I had been concentrating on the necklace for over an hour. I laid down for bed, the world swirling before my eyes. I thought I saw blackbirds flying in a circle above me in the blue light. When I sat up, the vision disappeared.
Then, finally, I was able to hold onto the stone. My vision started to darken and my mind got cloudy for a moment, but I forced my brain to focus.
The necklace itself seemed weaker. It wasn’t hot to the touch, merely lukewarm like bathwater. Maybe because it was no longer residing in an evil hotspot, soaking up a spill of bad energy.
I flipped the pendant over and looked at the symbols on the back. Different triangles and a few sets of lines.
Flipping through Spirit Metals & Stones, I saw that the symbols stood for different types of alchemic fire. Fire of rotation, strong fire. The rotation symbol looked like the one I’d washed away beneath the shed, the one that Jenna was sacrificed on. I shivered involuntarily, my shoulders shaking.
There was one more piece that I was curious to check.
I brought Jenna’s old necklace, the one that I had found by the Ford’s dock, to Mr. Golem. He was still up at Hawthorne, teaching summer school. I set up a day when he saw me after class.
He scraped some of the metal off the charm and dropped chemicals on the shavings.
“Where did you get this?” he asked conversationally while his eye was pressed to his microscope.
“It was my friend Jenna’s. I’ve kept it since she died.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. I’m coping.”
“Why did you want to test it?” he asked.
I worried the inside of my cheek. He’d been resistant to the supernatural nature of the birds; there was no telling what he would think of magical metals. “I wanted to try and repair it, but I wanted to make sure there weren’t any allergens. My skin is sensitive. What kind of metal is it made out of?”
“Looks like nickel,” he informed me. “Really common in inexpensive jewelry. Can cause a pretty nasty rash, unfortunately.”
I thanked him and took back the necklace, holding it tightly in my palm before placing it carefully in the backpack.
“I know you’re a science teacher,” I began, “But don’t you think it’s possible that there’s a supernatural world out there?”
He pulled back from the microscope. “I grew up in a superstitious family, so I’ve got some pretty strong roots in the supernatural. I turned to science to save my sanity.”
“But you don’t trust Thornhill. You think they’re involved.”
“Nothing that powerful can be good.” His words reminded me eerily of Jenna’s. “Don’t let anyone know, but I’ve been testing samples of the soil around Dexter.”
“How did you get in?” I asked.
“That big fence doesn’t go all the way around. The property butts up to trees in the back, and a good portion of the fence is broken down. Not many people know that.”
“Have you found anything in the soil?”
“An excessive level of copper. But I don’t know what that means.”
I slid the Spirit Metals & Stones book out of my backpack and handed it to him. He looked at it curiously, almost like he’d seen it before.
“Where did you get this?” Golem asked, flipping through the pages.
“A friend. Have you read it before?”
“No,” he said. “It’s just a strange-looking book. Unique.”
“It has all of these meanings for different metals. Like they’re part of a world that’s bigger and more magical than ours.”
He handed the book back to me. I sensed he didn’t think it was as big of a deal as I did. “That’s neat,” he said.
###
As soon as I got a chance, I checked the book. Nickel has been used since ancient times. Known as “false copper” or “copper of the devil”, it works as a weak spirit bond. Can be used as a protective metal.
“That must be what kept you alive,” I told Jenna. “When they bled you for the ritual and you didn’t die.” We were both lying on our stomachs on the basement floor, just far enough apart that I only felt a small electric thrumming. The book lay open before us.
“Who knew that cheap jewelry would have such a useful purpose?” Jenna joked.
“Hey, it wasn’t that cheap. That was my whole allowance for a month,” I said.
“Your parents were stingy.” We both shared a laugh.
Something occurred to me, something that had intruded on my thoughts on different occasions, but that I’d never vocalized.
“Why are you still here?”
Jenna was playing with the necklace, the ghostly, perfect version that hung around her neck. But she dropped it, her eyes narrowing. “Well, thank you for your hospitality.” She sat up and scooted away from me.
“No, I mean…common opinion is that when a spirit accepts their death, they go out in a flash of light and dramatic piano music, right?”
“I guess. If we believe TV,” Jenna relented.
“Okay, so why are you still here? You’ve accepted that you’re dead. Even if you’re in Limbo, I thought the whole point was that you couldn’t accept your death and that’s why you’re trapped there. Where is your sentimental, uplifting song? Where is the tractor beam to heaven, coming to suck you up?”
Jenna snickered a little under her breath. “I have no idea. You make heaven sound like a vacuum commercial.”
“Do you ever see either of the little girls?” I hesitated before I asked the next part. “Or Ambrose?”
I could feel her tense up again; the energy in the room changed and became thicker and more charged. “No. I’ve never seen him.” I sensed she was holding back again, but in the twelve years I’d known Jenna, I’d learned that she was a much better liar than me.
“I’ve seen him,” I told her carefully. “He was in a few of my dreams of the orphanage. Not really doing much other than being a jerk, like usual. But he was there.”
Jenna gazed down at the floor, playing a slap pattern on her bare knees. “I expected you might.”
“How did you know? And why does it feel like you’re protecting him?”
Jenna jumped up to her feet. “I’m not protecting him. I’m just not comfortable talking about him with you.”
“Why, because of your twisted relationship?” I put the last word in air quotes, then hated myself for it. It seemed sleazy and wrong.
Jenna spun around, looking hurt and defiant at the same time. “I told you, we never dated. Our relationship wasn’t twisted; we were just flirting.”
“Did you hook up with him?”
“Of course not!” she balked.
I stood up too, so I could get closer. “But he
was obsessed with you.”
Jenna didn’t answer at first. When she finally spoke, her voice was soft with a tone of recollection, “He followed me around a lot and called me sometimes. I was flattered, honestly. And we kissed a few times…”
“You kissed him?” I nearly yelled, then clapped my hand over my own mouth, looking up at the ceiling.
“So what? Anyone else would’ve.”
“I wouldn’t have,” I protested.
“You would have peed yourself.” Jenna rolled her eyes.
“Stop acting like the authority on everything. You’re not an expert just because you did some things before me.”
Jenna sighed, ruffling her curly hair, and fell back on the couch.
“You’ve never seen him?” I asked again.
“No, I’ve never seen him.”
“But…?” I pressed.
She sighed deeply. “But…every once in a while, I can smell him.”
“Ew.” I wrinkled my nose even at the thought of it. “Like his cologne? Aftershave? He wears Axe bodyspray, doesn’t he?”
“No, not that. And yeah, I think he did.” Jenna sat back up. “It sounds gross, but I can smell him. Like his spirit or his soul. I can’t explain it, it’s not like anything when I was alive. Maybe it’s not even a smell. Sometimes, I catch this scent of him, just for a moment. Like a tingle in my nose, and it instantly makes me think of him.”
“That’s pretty creepy,” I murmured.
“So’s the fact that he’s appearing in your dreams,” Jenna said. “I knew he was nearby. I just didn’t know how close.”
###
After weeks of being holed up in Thornhill, Henry texted me, letting me know that he wanted to take me out. I was busy making an early dinner, but I pushed it aside. I’d spent too much time inside this summer already and despite the heat, I needed a break.
He’d really impressed me by taking my psychic confessions in stride. I never thought he would be so accepting, and it really proved to me that he trusted me. It added a deeper level to our relationship.
I rushed downstairs, but hesitated when I saw the light behind my door on. Someone was shuffling around inside, the shadow moving in the crack below the door.
I opened the door to my room and gasped in shock. Claire was digging elbow-deep through my dresser drawer, a pile of my clothes thrown onto the bed. She didn’t realize I was there, and continued shuffling through my things.
“What are you doing?” I demanded.
She spun around, emitting a little shout. When she realized it was me, she let out a breath and clasped her hands to her heart, shutting her startled eyes.
“God, Ariel, you scared me half to death.”
“What are you doing going through my things?” I repeated.
“I wasn’t going through your things,” Claire said, instantly on the defensive. She gestured to the untidy pile on the bed. “I was putting away laundry. Your drawers are in a shambles; I was just trying to organize.”
“I’ve put away my own laundry for the past three years,” I said gravely. I wasn’t buying her excuses. She had been snooping, one thing she had never done.
“Stop being so suspicious,” Claire snapped, rolling her eyes and shoving my things in the drawer, then slamming it shut with fabric sticking out. So much for organizing. “I was down here anyway. I just thought I’d be nice.”
A black sweatshirt was tossed across my bed, arms stretched wide as if waiting for a hug. Claire snatched it up and held it out. I noticed with a start that it was Henry’s.
“Where did this come from, by the way?” Claire asked, accusation in her voice.
I went forward and snatched the sweatshirt out of her hand. “It’s one of Alex’s. I borrowed it one night when we went out. I just haven’t given it back to him.”
We exchanged an icy stare, and she swept out of the room.
She had been looking for the necklace, I was sure of it. Paranoia completely engulfed me. I would have to keep it on me at all times now.
CHAPTER 17
“KEEP WALKING UNTIL I tell you to stop,” Henry whispered, his hands covering my eyes. He’d driven me to some mysterious place, not letting me in on where we were going, and instructed me to keep my eyes shut. He was good, too. He caught me every time I tried to peek.
I’d brought the necklace along in my pocket for safekeeping. I kept pressing my pocket, its presence comforting me.
“Go straight,” he instructed me as I took one step at a time.
“Are you sending me over a cliff?”
“Funny you should ask that. Open your eyes.”
He took his hands down and I did as he said. A gasp of amazement escaped my lips. We were standing on the crest of a hill, looking down over the entire town and the sparkling turquoise water of Hush Lake. A walkway made of jutting flat stones wound down through the tall evergreens towards the water. The summer sun made even the grass glow golden.
I spun towards him and wrapped my arms around his neck, planting a kiss on his cheek.
“I take it you like it?” he asked with a laughing smile.
“I love it,” I said. “Where are we? I thought I’d been through every part of Hell before.”
“I found it on one of my drives. I’ve never really been through all of Hell myself, and I was trying to learn the lay of the land better. I found a dirt road with road blocks and drove down to the end. It looks like there was supposed to be a housing development back here, but they abandoned the project. I figured this could be our new meeting place.”
I pressed my lips against his, not able to wait any longer. He held me tightly, the kiss rippling through my entire body, making my toes curl. It lasted for a long time, turning slower, lingering on every touch of our lips. For once we weren’t rushing.
Pulling back, we gazed into each others’ eyes.
He had brought a picnic basket full of sandwiches and lemonade, laying out his checkered blanket on the ground. The sun started to go down, the rosy fingers of dusk spreading through the sky as it changed into a darker blue.
“I declare this our first date. All other dates rendered null and void,” Henry said.
“Much better than a movie or a crowded restaurant.” I sipped at my lemonade, feeling my lips tingle.
He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, his palm lingering against my face. I leaned into his touch.
It began to get dark, the sun disappearing through the black tree trunks, a faint yellow sparkle hovering above the ground.
Henry scanned the trees suspiciously. “Do you see any of those shadows around here?”
I sat up and looked around us, but none of the shadows had any noticeable shape, and I couldn’t feel the cold chill that signaled their presence.
“No. We’re alone. I’ve seen them a little since that night, but not at the same intensity. They’re not as fully formed or solid as they were then.” I gazed up at him through my eyelashes. “I’m really glad you’re so accepting of my secrets. It kind of blew my mind.”
Henry shrugged. “I trust your judgment. You know what you’re talking about. And you know, I figured since you spilled your deep dark secrets, I should spill mine.”
I tensed up beside him, and he rubbed my shoulder. “You know, I have wondered sometimes if you left a life of crime behind when you came back to Hell,” I said.
It was a joke, but his face immediately became somber. He bit his bottom lip and darted his eyes away from me.
“You could say that. Most of my secrets are dead and in the past. But back before I moved here, when I was about thirteen, I ran with a pretty bad crowd. We hot-wired a couple of cars, stole stuff from the party shop. Obviously I didn’t need to, but I did. I drank a lot back then, which I’m sure my liver didn’t appreciate.”
“What made you stop?”
“You mean who,” Henry corrected. “My dad, of course. I was doing it to rebel against him. He’d always been a hard-ass, but that’s when he started to knock the sens
e into me. The last time we stole some beer from the liquor store, my friend dropped his wallet on the way out. They got security footage of us. My dad got me out of trouble, legally at least. And I felt like I had to prove myself to him. Believe it or not, part of me used to look up to the man.”
“Why are you telling me this now?”
“I wanted to be completely honest with you. About everything. I’ll do whatever I have to, to earn your trust.”
“Why, are you going to present me with another earth-shattering revelation?” I asked wearily, trying to mentally fit the pieces of him together.
“No, nothing like that. But it was a big part of my life, and why I shut myself down when things get serious. Do you trust me?”
“I think I do. I know one thing, though.” My heart fluttered, beating so fast it threatened to stop.
He tilted his head, peering at me curiously.
“I love you.”
His smile lit up his whole face, his eyes alight with happiness. “How could you not, with this killer physique? I’m able to lift small objects with a single huff.”
I rolled my eyes, smiling myself. “That’s it, you have me all figured out.”
“The last piece of the puzzle,” Henry said.
I tossed a handful of grass at his chest and he wrestled me until he was on top of me, kissing me until my lips were puffy and numb.
###
The paranoia continued the more I wore the necklace, but I didn’t want to take it off. I had to, though, to function—unless I wanted everyone to think I was a drug addict. Each time I kept it on for too long, I would get a splitting headache, which led to nausea and body aches that would intensify every minute I was too stubborn to take remove it.
One night when I was alone, Jenna and I stood together in the basement, looking out the French doors. The necklace lay warm on my chest, and I watched the humanoid shadows slinking around outside in the moonlight.
The fog was rolling in, moving fast like clouds in a stormy sky. Far off beyond the glass, I could hear the faint trill of children singing.
I felt so many emotions that had built up within me. Jenna was my friend, but she felt caught in the past, and I couldn’t talk much about my current life.
Luminosity (Gravity Series #3) (The Gravity Series) Page 14