I’d completely forgotten. “Oh my god.”
“What?” asked Fae, as she laced up a shoe.
“The prom.”
“Oh yeah,” Fae said with a strained smile. “I thought they might cancel it because of Sheena. But they’ve decided to have a moment of silence for her instead. That reminds me! I’m supposed to be filming a prom look book.”
“Um,” I said. “Caleb kinda asked me to go...like with him.”
Fae’s eyes lit up. “Caleb? Cute Caleb from classics?”
I nodded.
“OMG! Bee! That’s so cool! You totally have to go!”
“I don’t know,” I said, chewing a cuticle.
“I’ve got the perfect dress for you! I found it in the attic like aaaages ago. OMG, you’re gonna look great in it!”
“I’m not really sure about it. I mean...” I hesitated. “What if it’s a dare or something? What if he’s playing a prank?”
Fae lolled her head to the side. “Bee, not everyone has seen Carrie. Caleb’s a nice guy and his friends are nice. They’re not jerks.”
I nodded.
“Well,” Fae went on. “Kyle can be a bit of a jackass, but he means well.” She laughed.
“It’s not just that though, Fae. What about Sheena? Isn’t it kind of disrespectful for me to turn up to prom, after what happened to her?”
“Bianca, you had nothing to do with what happened to Sheena. And you also never asked her to harass you. She did that on her own. You have every right to go to the prom. Please come! It will be so fun, Bee!”
A smile crept across my face. “It will be fun.”
Fae let out an excited squeal and then jumped up and down.
I joined in.
Sunder cleared his throat from the living room. “If you two have finished squealing and talking about boys, we really must be off to save the human race now.”
“Sorry,” I muttered.
As he walked towards the door I caught a glimpse of something in his aura. A twinging tug of green: Envy. Sunder was jealous.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Sheena’s family lived on a farm block, a small way out of town.
“Now Bianca,” Sunder said from the driver’s seat. “Do you remember what we practiced?”
“Yes,” I replied. But I hadn’t really given much thought to it since our training session. Nerves prickled the pit of my stomach. I was glad I’d taken Sunder up on his offer to drive. I needed time to focus.
“Don’t worry.” Sunder placed a hand on my leg. A shiver rippled through my body. “I know you can do this. Ground yourself, find the fury, then push it. Remember?”
I gave a nod and inhaled a calming breath.
He placed his hand back on the steering wheel. “Sheena will be unpredictable. But at the very least you should be able to hold her in an immobile state. Then if need be I can…” He trailed off, but I knew what he was going to say. That he would kill her if I couldn’t.
“Fae.” His eyes flicked up to the rearview mirror. “I’ll need you to calm the others.”
She bobbed her head in understanding.
“Hopefully,” Sunder went on, “they are not turned. If they are they will need to be…dealt with.”
Sunder focused on the road, changing gears deftly. He knew his way around a gear stick.
“Where did you learn how to drive?” I asked, eager to distract myself from what lay ahead. “I assume not all centaurs can drive?”
“No one taught me. It is one of the many skills I have picked up over the years.”
“Right. And how many years is that exactly?”
He shot me a smile. “Are you asking my age?”
“Is that rude? You know my age.”
“Touché.” Sunder took a slow breath and set his eyes on the road. “Technically, I am not a day over twenty-one. I was made centaur on the night of my twenty-first birthday. Though of course, that was a very long time ago.
“Wait,” I said, turning to look at him. “You were made centaur? What were you before?”
“I was human.”
I’d never considered for a moment that Sunder had been anything other than a centaur. My mind struggled to process this new information. “But… how?” I managed.
“I think Bianca, this is a discussion for another time. Is this the place?”
“Yes,” I said. In answer to both. My heart hammered in my chest as we slowed at a long driveway.
“Is this the only way in and out?”
“Looks like it,” I replied.
Gravel crunched beneath the tires as we made our way up the driveway. Sunder cast his eyes to the tree line along the back of the property. “Don’t tell me that’s part of the forest?”
“’Fraid so,” I replied.
“The Pentacle forest range is one of the largest in America,” added Fae. “It goes for miles.”
“Yes, it does,” Sunder said flatly. “Whatever happens, we must not let Sheena get back into the forest.” His voice was steady, serious. “Through the forest, she can get anywhere. Infect anyone.”
The small weatherboard house was dull gray. The paint, cracked and flaking. The windows looked dim. But other than that, it looked normal. No obvious signs of distress. I pushed my aura outward and felt only the cold, heavy pang of sadness.
“So how do we do this?” I asked. “We can’t just go in, gung-ho, guns blazing.”
“No. We cannot,” Sunder said.
“I don’t think her parents will take too kindly to seeing me,” I said. “They may even think I had something to do with her death.”
“Here, put this on.” Fae handed me a pink knit hat. “It will hide your hair at least. That’s usually what gives you away.”
“Good idea.” I slipped the hat on my head and tucked my long, white ponytail down the back of my shirt.
“Better,” she said.
We’d barely left the car when the front door swung open and a woman came roaring out onto the porch.
“CAN’T YOU PEOPLE JUST LEAVE US ALONE?!” she yelled. “Isn’t it enough we’ve lost our girl? And now they’ve gone and lost her body! I can’t even bury her! Now you reporters keep turning up! HAVE SOME DAMN RESPECT!”
I was taken aback by her aura; heavy with sadness and anger. Pity filled my gut, and a wave of nausea struck me. I exhaled a long breath. Fae stepped forward as I took a moment to steel myself against the sadness.
“I’m sorry, Mrs. Slater. My name is Fae. I go to Pentacle High. I’m the student council president. I just wanted to come and offer my condolences. I’m so very sorry for your loss.”
Mrs. Slater softened. Her aura shifted; the anger faded, giving way to pure grief. Tears started to flow down her cheeks. Fae stepped forward again, embracing her into a long hug. Sheena’s mother wept quietly onto Fae’s shoulder, Fae rubbed her back.
“I’m sorry,” she said through sobs. “I’m sorry, I can’t stop.”
“It’s okay,” Fae whispered. “It’s okay.”
After a while, Mrs. Slater wiped her eyes. “Please, come in. All of you. I’ll put on a pot of coffee.”
We followed Mrs. Slater into the house. I could feel its age; it held the shadows of at least five generations. I took a breath, feeling pain and fear. Not just from Sheena’s family. But before. There was something dark here that was older than them. Perhaps the house had been to blame all along.
“So Fae, was it? Are these your friends?”
“Yes, Mrs. Slater.”
She held up a hand. “Please, call me Marjory.”
“Sorry, Marjory, this is B-Bethany. She’s on the council too. And this is…Sam.”
Mrs. Slater gave Sunder a once over. She’d obviously concluded that he was a little too old to be a high school student.
“Um,” Fae
went on. “Sam is an engraver. He will be making the plaque.”
“Plaque?”
“For Sheena. To be placed at the school for her.”
“Oh.” Her eyes started to water again. “That’s just lovely.”
“That’s actually why I’m here, you see. To tell you about the plaque and ask if there is anything special you’d like printed on it. Actually, if the rest of the family are here, we’d love their input too.”
Fae was doing a great job. We needed to account for the whole family.
“Of course. Stella is in her room, last I saw. Stella!” she called in the direction of the hall.
“And your husband?”
She stiffened at the mention of his name. “He’s out back in the shed. Spends a lot of time out there, when he’s home.” She looked uncomfortable for a moment then called out again. “Stella! Get out here.”
There was no response.
“She might be sleeping. Her and Sheena were close. When they weren’t fighting. Stella!” she called again. “I’ll be right back.”
As she left the room I shot a look at Fae. “Plaque?”
“It’s not a total lie,” she whispered back. “The council is actually getting a plaque made for Sheena.”
“Oh.”
“But I am not actually making it,” Sunder added.
“What do you think?” I asked him. “Will she come here?”
“I don’t know. I thought so, yes. But it all seems in order here. If there is no sign of her here, we go to the school. I will send for someone to take watch over this house.”
Just as he said it, the veil around me changed.
“STELLA!”
Sunder was out the door and down the hall before I had registered. Fae and I scrambled after him.
As we approached the bedroom doorway, Sunder was already coming out, his face pale.
“We’re too late,” he said, then muttered something in a harsh foreign tongue.
I peered into the room expecting to see a body. But what I saw was worse: Blood.
The beige walls were sprayed with crimson. A lamp lay on the floor. A side table was overturned. The one window in the room was shattered; blood lined the tips of the broken glass.
“WHERE IS SHE?” Sheena’s mother wailed. “What in God’s name!”
Sunder was already heading out the back door.
I turned to Marjory. “Where is your husband? Where is the shed?”
She raised a trembling finger towards the backyard.
“Bianca!” Sunder called.
As I rounded the corner of the house, I was hit with a wave of emptiness. A cold spot. Sheena was here.
A shrieking, high-pitched scream volleyed across the fields. Sunder reappeared, backing away from the shack.
Three figures approached. A middle-aged man; tall and stocky. A young girl of about thirteen. And the other was once Sheena.
She stood hunched over. Her shoulders had contorted, tipping her forward. Her hands were spread, claw-like. Decaying skin hung from her frame, discolored and putrid. Gray in places and a red, festering wound at her neck. Blood covered her mouth. It wouldn’t be long until she was a fully formed Skadhavar.
Sunder pulled his spear from his belt and extended it. He held in front of him.
Sheena moved toward him while the other two stood back. The man clutched the side of his neck, his pale face full of shock and confusion. The young girl looked vacant, her face drained of color. She stared toward Sunder, expressionless and blinking.
“We’re too late!” he called, anger hot on his tongue. “She’s turned them both. There’s nothing we can do for them.”
I opened my mouth to speak. I wanted to say, Of course there is. There must be something we can do to help them. But I stopped myself. It hit me like a sucker punch to the gut. There was only one thing we could do for them. Kill them. Before they turned completely.
“Now that she has made Pre-Skads of her own, she’s slower.” Sunder raised his spear towards the man. Sheena, the alpha, hissed and stepped in front of him. “See? She needs to protect them until they are turned. This can work in our favor. She’s more likely to defend her young than attack.”
Sheena let out a guttural scream. Her eyes, wide and mad, were locked on me. She screamed again and walked towards me. How typical, I thought. Even as a rabid beast protecting her young, Sheena still makes time to pick on me.
The whites of her eyes were yellow, lined with red. Her irises now black. Pain emanated from her. The darkness eating her from inside.
“Back, beast!” Sunder aimed his spear at her. “Bianca!” Sunder called. “Are you okay?”
I straightened myself up. “Yes. Yes, I’m fine.”
“We need to finish this here! Now!”
I steadied myself. Sheena was no longer the bully who had tormented me for years.
She was a monster. A soulless creature. As much as I’d hated who she’d been as a human, all I felt for her was pity.
She hissed at me, exposing long, jagged teeth. The gums had retracted, making them look huge in her distorted mouth. As she hissed again, her mouth oozed with black slime. Venom. She was hideous. Hopeless and hideous. If anyone could wish ill will on a school bully, they’d wish for this.
Sheena’s aura still flickered faintly. A tiny glow of peach quivered inside her like a wounded butterfly. But the darkness was slowly choking her. Turning her to nothingness.
Sheena stood stock-still, wheezing, her eyes locked on mine. Somehow I was holding her in place. I took a breath and pushed my aura towards her.
As my mind met hers, I felt sadness, pain, anger. The little girl who had been hurt by the one man who was meant to protect her. Sheena’s anger brooded in her tiny stomach. I could see her looking around and finding me: The odd one out. The small, pale child. The helpless victim.
But even I, “the freak,” was loved. One loyal friend, beautiful and vivacious, who never left my side. And a solo mother who loved me, packed my lunches, and kissed me goodbye at the school gate, tousling my white hair.
Her own mother couldn’t protect her. Couldn’t even leave the man who hurt them all. Not fair! her mind said. Not fair!
I felt Sheena’s anger steering towards the child I had been. She reveled in it. My tears had given her strength. It was what kept her going; her hatred of me had been her lifeline.
I felt for her. I felt for the innocent child she had been. Her cruelty wasn’t her. It was merely a product of what was done to her. I needed to end this. I needed to free her.
I pushed my aura into hers. I pushed toward the hollow black void that was invading it. Sinewy and fibrous, it wound through her aura like sticky black vines, slowly consuming her. As I approached, it stretched upwards, twisting into a human form, black and shiny: A woman.
“Sheena?” I muttered.
The creature threw its head back and laughed. “Oh, Re’em, you mistake me for one of my mere minions. How is it that you feel for this human? This one who was no friend of yours? Your empathy is your weakness.”
This creature felt different from Skadhavar. There was more here than hollow darkness. There was a dark, deep-purple aura.
“Who are you?” I hissed.
It laughed again. “Oh, Re’em, you will learn soon enough! Soon you will help me take this town and this world.”
“Never!” I screamed.
A hot pain ripped me from Sheena’s aura. A scream filled my ears. My eyes refocused to see Sheena’s deranged face in front of mine, hissing black venom towards my mouth. Her hands were wrapped around my neck, nails digging into my skin.
“Bianca!” Sunder called. “Use your light!” He held his spear out towards the others, who now approached him, spurred on by Sheena.
I took a breath and focused. I delved into her aura once more, quickly
seeking out the rage and pain that lurked beneath the surface.
She was the angry child. I was the young victim. I pressed further. I felt her pain, her anger and her suffering, but I still had my own scars to bear; scars inflicted by her. I merged the melee of emotion and pushed. Through the sticky darkness, the cold hollowness, the deepest despair, I pushed every misery the two of us had ever felt towards the peach center of her aura. My vision blanched. A roar filled my ears. My mind filled with a light of the brightest white. I pushed. A guttural wail erupted from Sheena’s mouth. Still, I pushed, reflecting a lifetime of pain back toward her. Her grip on my neck weakened and she slipped slowly to the ground, her claw-like hands cradling her head.
She looked up for a moment, her dark eyes softening, gently pleading: Kill me.
Sunder was at my side. “I’ll finish it,” he said, placing a hand on my shoulder. “You don’t have to watch this.”
“Yes. I do. I need to learn.”
He nodded, then raised his spear above Sheena’s body. “Go gently into the light, Sheena.”
A single gunshot sounded through the air.
Sunder froze.
“Stop!” Sheena’s mother called. She lowered her rifle and ran across the grass. “She’s alive! My girl’s alive! I knew it!”
Sunder held up his hands. “Mrs. Slater, Marjory, this is not your daughter anymore!”
“What are you talking about? Course it is!” she wailed. “You get away from her or I’ll shoot. And this time I won’t aim so high!”
“I’m afraid I can’t do that,” Sunder said.
“What do you mean you can’t? You wanna get shot? You drop that stick and move away from my daughter!”
“This is not your daughter anymore, Marjory,” I said softly. “She died.” Sheena stirred on the grass.
“It is! Those doctors get it wrong all the time. They say there’s no heartbeat when there is. I saw it on Dr. Phil!” She walked towards Sheena, laying on the grass. “Sheena honey, talk to me.”
“Marjory, don’t get too close!”
Sheena let out a groan.
“See!” Marjory yelled. “She just needs to get to an ER is all.”
Bianca De Lumière : High Suspense Urban Fantasy Romance (The Re'em Prophecy Book 1) Page 14