Lucy and The Letter Eaters

Like this book on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/lucyandthelettereaters SMASHWORDS COPY All Rights Reserved Š2011 SMASHWORDS and ALISIA COMPTON Publications. First Printing: 2012. The editorial arrangement, analysis and professional commentary are subject to this copyright notice. No portion of this book may be copied, retransmitted, reposted, duplicated, or otherwise used without the express written approval of the author, except by reviewers who may quote brief excerpts in connection with a review.

United States laws and regulations are public domain and not subject to copyright. Any unauthorized copying, reproduction, translation, or distribution of any part of this material without permission by the author is prohibited and against the law.

Any resemblance to characters living or dead is purely coincidental.

To My Best Friend Jackie: Thank you for always making room underneath your umbrella!

1

Prologue

The dark cloak hung loosely over the girl’s head and shoulders. Its sinister red coloring was like blood pooling around her body, sitting on a wooden bridge in the middle of Goren’s Wood.

With thick white chalk, she finished the interior of the circle. Surrounded by ancient pagan symbols, she completed the final sig-rune, a design like a lightning bolt in front of her. Through her own research, and ill-will toward the target, the girl challenged her own beliefs with each mark. She completed the circle with six Norse symbols. She thought these would help her to better engage the demon. These would help her to better control him when he appeared before her.

Setting the chalk aside, the girl raised a gold chalice to the moon, its contents a mix of grain alcohol and her own virgin blood taken at her time of the month. She lowered the chalice and set to spilling its contents around the circle. The blood was beginning to coagulate, but the grain alcohol allowed for it to be thin enough to spread evenly. She pressed her hand into the mixture, making sure to spread it the entire way around.

With a single match, the blood caught fire, surprising her and causing her to whip backward for a single moment. The fire burned around her much higher than she’d anticipated. It burned with an evil passion, signifying she had successfully opened the portal where communication with Hell had become possible. The girl lowered her blood red hood, exposing her forehead and a soot outline of a pentagram. She dipped her finger into what remained in the chalice, and dotted some of what was left onto her forehead, in the very center of the pentagram. For a moment, her brown eyes flickered with hints of red.

She spoke these words in order to evoke the demon: “Lord of Darkness, by your grace, grant me the power to realize that which I desire.

I entreat thee to inspire him to come forth, to manifest before me that he may give me true answer, So that I may accomplish my desired end.”

She then stopped and pulled an ancient text in front of her. The girl began to read again, much louder, and in the moonlight, her eyes not only flickered red, but grew in enormous proportion to her head. They bulged and danced in the firelight in a most unnatural manner.

2

“I conjure, I address and I exorcise ye that ye may approach. ‫בוא קדימה עכשיו ועושה שלי להציע‬.

Come forth now and do my bidding!”

The silent darkness was interrupted by a crack of lightning and the sound of rolling thunder, despite a clear sky. The girl tilted her head and screamed up into the sky, begging for an ancient demon, to come forth and fulfill her desire. As the space between two worlds pulled apart, deafening sound raked through the girl’s body, causing her to shake and shiver and eventually pass out. His strong arms carried her the whole way home, and as he laid her down on her soft mattress he laughed at her stupidity.

3

Chapter 1

“The darkness was erasing me. I reached for the phone over and over again, but my hand kept moving right through it.”

Lucy Bennett worked to recount a recurring nightmare to her guidance counselor, Mr. Wilson.

The upright wooden chair pinched a nerve, shooting pain down her back, and she stretched to adjust. Her thick blonde hair worked its way over her shoulders, and as she writhed, Mr. Wilson watched in silence, wondering what to say to the girl that he hadn’t already said a hundred times before.

“Lucy, our dreams have a way of seeming prophetic. Our brains interpret so much. There are bound to be occurrences of prophecy, but this is merely coincidence. Sometimes our brains will even reconstruct dreams of the past, to make them seem closer to a circumstance that has just happened. Because a dream seemed familiar, the brain may tell you you’ve dreamt the occasion.

In reality, you haven’t. There was no way you could have stopped what happened that night.”

The night in question took place six months prior. Lucy had put herself to bed, only to awake moments later in a cold sweat with the pressing knowledge that James and Karen Slocum were in danger. In the dream, her father slept soundly at his desk, in the Whiskey Falls Sherriff’s Station.

He was nearly comatose after chugging back a fifth of Jameson. The phone rang, but he never answered.

In a small town, the dispatch girl could be sent home to her family around eleven p.m. Surely, nothing would happen after then that the sheriff couldn’t handle. Only that night the phone rang with a real emergency. It rang for thirty minutes straight before James wrestled the keys away from his distraught wife. He burst into the bedroom of their eighteen month old daughter, and he put her in the car without strapping her in. An hour later and the coroner were calling the time of death, 3:30 in the morning for them both.

“It’s not your fault,” Mr. Wilson switched to his consoling voice. Lucy adjusted again in her seat, choosing to focus on the chair and not what her aging mentor was trying to convey to her.

“Lucy,” he said again. “It’s not your fault.”

She wanted to ask him to declare that to Tina Monroe. Tell Tina, her former best friend that she wasn’t somehow responsible. Tina, who babysat for her aunt and uncle on a regular basis, would not listen. Tina Monroe blamed Lucy, her father, the sheriff’s department, the entire town for what happened.

“Our time is running up. You’ve got to get to class, young lady. But, before you go, can I get you to say it?”

4

Lucy didn’t want to say it, but she would say it anyway. It was supposed to be therapeutic somehow, but as soon as she left the safety of Mr. Wilson’s office there would be hundreds in the hallways who thought differently. They blamed her because she was related to the person they all deemed responsible, her father. He wasn’t there to string up on a daily basis and so she took the heat.

“It’s not my fault,” Lucy said without genuinely believing it. Mr. Wilson nodded, pleased with himself. He leaned back, his weight causing his chair to squeak a little. He pulled a pencil from behind his ear and tapped it against his knee. The bell went off and Lucy began gathering her things, but Mr. Wilson stopped her by raising a pudgy, aged finger in her direction. His face wrinkled into a large smile, but his sad eyes gave him away.

“You’re holding yourself back from being happy. You’re going to let your youth pass you by, if you don’t start enjoying being a teenager. Try getting a slice of pizza with a friend. See a movie.

Just let yourself be a teenage girl. You’re young, Lucy. You’ve been through a lot, but you’re still young. Just let yourself be happy.”

Lucy put on the best smile she could muster and thanked him for his kind words of encouragement. She left his office and merged into the current of passing bodies, doing her very best to stay unnoticed. Whiskey Falls was a small town, but the school wasn’t. It housed grades seven through twelve, with students ranging in size from puny first years to over-bulked super seniors. In the hall, amongst the crowd, Lucy felt uncomfortable and exposed. For a moment, she glanced at those around her, jocks in lettered jackets pushed and shoved, violent laughter erupted from somewhere else, slamming lockers caused the displacement of air which ruffled signs taped to walls. It all seemed so ordinary, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. Underneath the sweat stink of hormonal teens was an element of danger, a foreboding Lucy could smell and it was palpable.

Lucy was able to pass through the hallways unnoticed and out through the large double doors, where Sebastian Sumner was waiting in his usual spot. He was a boy of casual demeanor, just leaning against a bike rack looking all around, but not staring at any one thing. Under a navy blue hoodie, he wore an aged Clash t-shirt. His hair had grown a tad shaggy over the last few months, but the length suited him. His light brown eyes were outlined by thick, black eyelashes.

Although not particularly tall, Sebastian had a lanky quality that girls of a certain disposition positively worshipped. Lucy noticed there were a few around him now, but he didn’t seem to care, maybe that was part of the charm.

“Lucy...fer!” Sebastian bellowed as she bounded up to him. “How was your day,” he continued. “Don’t answer that, I already know. Typical teenage angst? Despairing looks?

Muffled whispers from a group of jealous onlookers? Who is that quiet girl and why does she spend all her time reading?”

5

Lucy laughed, loving the way he could make fun of any situation. As she stood there, he pulled a book from the top of the pile she was holding. “Leaves of Grass, by Walt Whitman.

How perfectly you.”

“Hey, at least I can read,” she fired back, still smiling. She was able to wrestle the book of poems from him with ease. Their little tussles were becoming more and more frequent as the fall drifted into winter. From the front lawn of the school, the second bell rang out, signaling it was time to move on to their science class. As students raced through the double doors, leaving the front lawn empty, Lucy struggled to get moving. Sebastian knew what was bothering her.

The next period was a science class, and they shared it with the same group of kids who had been torturing her since the beginning of the school year. “Come on, Lucy. I’ll watch out for you.”

Lucy knew it was true, and so she took his hand, and they walked to class together.

She knew it was true because that’s how they’d become friends. Before a year ago, before her father became the town’s pariah, Lucy had never noticed Sebastian before. Days after the accident Lucy was pushed out of her social clique, pushed from the top of the ladder and the taunting began simultaneously as if they’d never known her prior. Lucy didn’t know the years Sebastian would choose seats near her, just so he could hear her voice and catch glimpses of her jade green eyes. When her father was let go as town sheriff, he kept a closer watch on her, ready to stop in at any moment should anyone try and hurt her.

The day Lucy officially met Sebastian she had dared to raise her hand during fifth period English to discuss the book they were reading. “The Pearl,” by John Steinbeck. She had become withdrawn, quiet and sallow since the accident and her teacher was excited to call on her, hoping it meant Lucy was returning to normal.

“Greed is a destructive force,” Lucy suggested as the main theme for the book and her teacher nodded encouragement, encroaching her to continue on. After their dialog ended, the class moved on to a period of silent reading, and the paper planes began to fly through the air, catching on air currents from a cracked window. Lucy looked down to find one had stretegically landed on her desk. When she opened it, she found it read, “You’re the destructive force. Why don’t you just die?”

Sebastian had been watching. He’d watched Tina scrawl the anger fueled message, and he’d watched her pass it to Callum to launch toward Lucy. And he noticed the single tear spilling down her cheeks, falling from those typically bright, now waning green eyes. He’d been noticing things since long before she’d become a bull’s eye for The Letter Eater’s projectiles. At the time, Sebastian didn’t know what it was like to be picked on, and he hadn’t actually cared so much when it happened to other people. Before he started hanging out with Lucy Bennett, no one had messed with him and he was no one’s hero. He flew entirely under the radar, and preferred to keep things that way. But, if there was one girl who could make him a target, it was Lucy. She 6

made him feel like it was worth it. She meant a lot to him, and he was ready for her to know it.

That day, just after seventh period English class, everyone would know it.

As the class spilled into the halls, Lucy tried to keep her head down and sneak away. Tina Monroe yelled in her loudest cheer voice for Lucy to stop. The combined voices, the loud chatter of the halls died down to near nothing and Lucy did stop, but she didn’t turn around. The kids moving to other classes and getting stuff from their lockers completely stopped what they were doing, and formed a tight, elongated circle around the two girls. “Lucy Bennett, if you’re going to move through my halls you’re going to pay the toll!”

Lucy took a deep breath and turned finding herself standing alone and facing a wall of angry students. Behind Tina was another of Lucy’s former friends, a particularly aggressive jock named Callum Norris. Lucy fought back the tears and waited for something to happen. Before her eyes could adjust, a pink, crème filled Snowball landed directly in the middle of her face.

As the hallways erupted into laughter, Lucy scraped the warm pink dessert treat from her face and turned to leave, but the wall of students was too difficult to maneuver out of. “Wait!”

Tina called out again, causing Lucy to turn back yet again her face a mix of white crème filling and hopelessness. Tina’s eyes seem to shine brighter after seeing the pain on Lucy’s face, knowing that it could never fully match the pain within her own heart.

“You’ve only paid half the toll. Right, Callum?” She asked, turning in his direction.

Callum moved next to Tina with an natural fluidity that was remarkable for his size. In his hand, he tossed another snowball up and down, all while laughing so hard he almost dropped it more than once.

“Seriously, get ready Lucy because this one is coming at you.”

Before Callum could use Lucy’s face as target practice, Sebastian finally fought his way into the circle. “Drop the snowball, you rabid gorilla!”

Callum physically lumbered over Sebastian, and his laughter barely faltered as he listed to Sebastian’s demand. “Or what,” he asked, in between hearty gaffs. Suddenly Sebastian found he was standing only a foot away from Callum’s massive frame. Callum looked down at him and taunted, “What are you going to do about it? Small fry.” Callum tilted his brawny neck and large head, so he was peering down at the top of Sebastian’s crown, in an act to prove how much bigger he actually was. Sebastian wasn’t tall, but there wasn’t a guy in school who could match Callum’s stature. Although scared, Sebastian stood his ground, not giving an inch even when Callum edged in closer – their bodies practically touching.

“Well,” Callum asked, breathing heavy down into Sebastian’s face. Sebastian craned his neck to stare right back in Callum’s face. “Only a pussy throws shit at girls. I may be a small fry, but you’re a burger. A fur burger!”

7

The energy of the crowd shifted and a few giggles led to everyone laughing. The entire school seemed to erupt in that moment, into buckets of laughter. This included Lucy, who until that point, had never really noticed Sebastian before. Soon she would find that he could always make her laugh. For Callum and Tina, the laughter was oppressive. Callum turned like a rapid dog, baring teeth at those closest to them. Only the laughter persisted, causing Callum’s anger to boil over until he was shaking fists at the crowd. Sebastian, always the goofball, mocked those fists and causing the laughter to amplify.

In the flash of a single moment, the laughter stopped as Sebastian found himself on the ground, wincing due to incredible pain. Callum had taken the snowball he held and smashed it hard into Sebastian’s face. Like Lucy, he now found himself covered in pink frosting and white crème filling. Later he’d wash it off and find his right eye utterly blackened by the force Callum had used to shove it.

Mr. Wilson broke into the crowd yelling for students to, “Move along. Get to class!

Detention for anyone who doesn’t get to class!”

He roped the collars of both Callum and Sebastian. It wasn’t until later that day that Lucy had an opportunity to thank Sebastian. He was leaning against the bike rack, in a manner she was now accustomed to seeing him. He didn’t notice the group of girls, dressed in black and making eyes in his direction. He only seemed to notice her walking toward him, and he almost smiled at her, but the pain it shot up his cheek to his eyes was too much.

“Thanks for standing up for me,” she told him. “No one’s ever really done anything like that for me before.”

“Hey toots,” he returned. “No problem.”

8

Chapter 2

The walk to the black lab table, where Lucy sat with Sebastian and Ginny Franklin was a long one. The science room reminded her of death row, as each table passed sat another person to sneer or hiss at her. The muffled whispers caused her normally pale cheeks to become inflamed. And the table directly in front of hers was the worst of them all.

The Letter Eaters were a group of rich kids, jocks and cheerleaders, with one clear leader, Tina Monroe. They called themselves The Letter Eaters because they forced losing teams to hand over their jackets. They ate the competition.

The jackets were then handed over to the cheerleading squad to be defaced to show the Whiskey Falls mascot, the Black Bear, eating away at the losing team’s letter. Currently they wore what were once Blue Devil’s jackets. The blue parts were mostly recolored orange to represent the Whiskey Falls colors of white, black and orange.

The Black Bear was drawn on the backs of the jackets, tearing into what was once a horned devil. On one jacket, his horns were now swallowed up by the blood soaked teeth of the dreaded Black Bear, all done with a great deal of pep using the puffy fabric paint that could be picked up in any craft store. Callum Norris, an aggressive linebacker, had the most fascinating of all the jackets. His jacket crudely depicted the Black Bear pissing on the Blue Devil’s face. Some of the urine was drawn splashing off the blue horns, with what looked like a yellow highlighter.

Clearly this was one he’d done up himself. His dull eyes and slack-jawed smile suggested his pride in it. The image was vulgar, and inappropriate for the classroom, but these were The Letter Eaters.

The Letter Eaters won every game. They were state champions two years in a row. Lucy used to be one. She used to hold the small bottle of black glitter glue, and color in the body of their famed mascot. Although never a cheerleader, she participated in the post-game ritual of defacing their jackets.

Never once had Whiskey Falls High had to give up their jackets since they instituted the practice, not a single time in two years. They were the shining pride of Whiskey Falls. Teachers not only passed them when they should be failing, but they totally ignored when the cheerleaders avoided work too. Their grades were decent, even when they skipped class and turned in assignments late. As far as Lucy knew, Callum could hardly read last year, yet he maintained a decent average. It wasn’t right, but State Championships are important to a small town.

Callum eyeballed Lucy as she walked with her head down, curly blonde hair falling into her eyes. His bulky arm elbowed Tina to look up. At first she attempted to shrug him off, but then she caught a glimpse of who it was, moving toward them. She raised a manicured middle finger to Lucy, making sure she leaned forward to catch her eyes. Lucy looked up just as Tina finished mouthing the word, “bitch.”

9

“Hey,” Ginny said, smiling as Lucy took the seat between her and Sebastian. Ginny’s eyes were laden with dark splotches from not sleeping. She’d taken to doing her homework long into the night, as her Mother was encouraging her to use a worn toothbrush to scrub the grout out of bathroom and kitchen floors. The work showed in her bloodied fingertips, which she tried to hide under long sleeves.

“Do you see what Tina’s wearing today?” Ginny was always eager to discuss The Letter Eaters, their clothing choices, their hair, their make-up. It was an obsession with her despite how disinterested Lucy was in the conversation.

Today, Mr. Kelsey was lecturing on projectiles, and Tina waltzed to the front of the class.

She was an exceptional student, favored in every classroom, a true perfectionist. Lucy remembered a time when they competed for a teacher’s attention, when every assignment was a chance to best the other. Those days were over. Tina had won. Tina’s perfectly quaffed black hair, athletic body and short skirts made her the quintessential popular girl and head cheerleader.

Her supreme intelligence made her first choice for student body president. She took her perfection seriously.

She glared in Lucy’s direction for a moment, before stopping and smiling at almost everyone in the room. Her pep avoided their table, nearest the back. As Tina began demonstrating the arc of a projectile, Ginny stared ravenously at the clothes she wore. Tina was dressed in a gray Oxford sweater over a white button up. She wore argyle stockings under a black A-line skirt with a pair of shiny, black Mary Janes on her feet.

“She looks like a senator’s wife,” Ginny commented, enamored. “She looks like a giant sock,” Sebastian said, causing Lucy to snicker and eyes to fly in their direction. Sebastian was always good for a snarky comment or two.

Mr. Kelsey nodded, impressed with Tina’s exceptional demonstration skills. He motioned her back to her seat, and with applause and a curtsy she found her way there. The attention from the classroom sent her radiant smile to all those around her, but avoided the back table even though Ginny clapped the loudest of all.

The clapping died down when the door to the classroom opened wide, and the assistant principal appeared with a new student in tow. Ginny’s jaw nearly hit the table as Seth Boyd, a transfer from another district entered the classroom. Mr. Kelsey introduced him, and asked Seth to take a seat. Surprisingly, he walked to the back of the classroom and sat at an empty lab table nearest Ginny. His skin was tan, suggesting southern roots or a lot of time in a tanning bed. His features were hardened, chiseled and it was obvious he worked out. Seth’s appearance was that of the All-American boy, traditionally handsome, athletic, what is commonly referred to as a dream boat. The boy next door and Ginny Franklin could not take her eyes off of him.

10

Tina’s lean body walked back to her seat, swishing her skirt. She was hardly interested in boys her own age, but Seth was handsome, he was new and he was about to start a conversation with the most loathsome trio in the entire school. When he hardly looked in her direction, she turned her chair to the side and leaned over. “So, where are you from?” Seth smiled and when he did every girl in the classroom turned to look, including Lucy. His teeth were large, white, and perfect causing his face to light up the room around them. There was something alluring about his smile, and as he spoke the only girl who wasn’t as captivated was Lucy, instead she felt the tinge of suspicion. She looked around the room, and then rolled her eyes at Sebastian. They both knew there’d be another seat taken at the Letter Eater’s lunch table this afternoon.

“My family just moved here from Florida,” Seth said with the ease of someone popular and affluent. He wasn’t shy, and he didn’t seem nervous at all. Ginny’s head turned like she was watching a tennis match, Seth, Tina, Seth, Tina. “Florida. My family has a house down there. I just love the beach,” Tina said. There was something strange about her voice. It rose higher and higher as she spoke, until Lucy thought she may purposefully be trying to sound dumb.

“So, what did you do down in Florida?” Tina asked him, batting her eyelashes and leaning ever forward. Ginny moved forward in her chair in a desperate attempt to hear better, only Tina was too distracted to tell her to butt out. “I was quarterback for the Gators, undefeated the last two seasons.”

Callum Norris had been quiet the entire time. He’d noticed Seth come in, but hadn’t really cared. He was leaning on one of his thick fists, slowly drifting off to sleep. Only now his interest had been piqued, and he turned toward the conversation, with quickness. “You don’t say,” he started. “Our quarterback was knocked back during last night’s practice and tore a tendon. Our sub ain’t no good.”

Plans were made for Seth to join them at lunch, and try out for the football team after school. Lucy felt odd that they had spent the entire class talking near her, but never looking in her direction. Still, being ignored was better than being made fun of. As Lucy walked home that afternoon, she thought about Seth. Her suspicions lingered in her mind all through dinner with her father. Despite being distracted, she still noticed the way Daryl seemed to have locked eyes with the empty space where the liquor cabinet used to be. His eyes rested on the square of dust that still stood out on the pristine floors. They’d never really swept under that old cabinet. Only she turned away, refusing to give it much thought. There was something in Seth’s smile that couldn’t be trusted.

11

Chapter 3

The walk to Herod’s Bookstore was treacherous during the fall, in the nighttime. With poor lighting, and a lack of a groundskeeper, debris had piled along the path through Goren’s Wood. Lucy walked with a purpose, carefully stepping over branches and keeping an eye out for any big enough to trip her. She hoped to be near the bridge soon, the halfway point between her house and town. The second half of the journey was cleaner, as it was more frequently traveled and there were brass lamp posts lighting the way. As she neared the bridge, she was surprised to see a young man standing there, leaning over it and staring at the moon’s reflection on the water.

She was curious about him, but didn’t want to distract him from what seemed to be particularly deep thoughts. For a while she just stood there, watching him.

He was slightly older than she and wearing sophisticated clothing that seemed reminiscent of a different time. His longish hair was pulled into a short pony behind his head, with a few stray pieces sweeping his forehead. His breath produced a cloud like smoke that drifted and clung in the moonlight. For the first time in her life, Lucy felt her own breath catch in her chest, as he was devastatingly handsome. With a heavy sigh, she released her own cloud of breath and crunched leaves moving forward, intent to be heard. He turned and looked toward her, his blue eyes visible even at their distance of more than a few yards. His gaze exhilarated her, and she smiled back when he smiled.

For a short moment, they stayed like that, locked in each other’s eyes. The moment seemed to intensify, dulling all the woodland noise and the light that surrounded them. Lucy felt glued in his eyes, as if they were calling her closer to him. There was no resistance in her body, and slowly she began to walk, unable to think of anything but being closer to him. His blue eyes seemed to glow with a deep intensity. With each step closer, she felt their blue aura reaching out like hands caressing her cheek and calling her forward. The deeps of his eyes told a story, and she knew if she could get closer still she’d be able to decipher whatever was hiding there. Her brain seemed clouded by thoughts of wanting. She was positively hypnotized.

She blinked and he was gone. He disappeared in an instant, as if he’d never been standing there to begin with and she began to wonder if she were dreaming. A brisk wind blew through the trees, making a sound like the hissing of many snakes. Lucy drew her jacket around her and began to jog the rest of the way to Herod’s.

The inside of Herod’s Bookstore was like a safety haven for Lucy. It was her single favorite place in town, more so than her own bedroom. Paperbacks spun on spinning racks, all the romance novels right in the front near a table with oversized picture books strewn about.

Beaches of Maine. Scientific Advancements of the 20th Century. The World’s Oceans. The titanic non-fiction volumes were for the disinterested passerby, stopping in for the 12

stale coffee, to people watch through a large, front window. The people who sat there often seemed lonely to Lucy. They would have pages of the picture books thrown open in front of them, but they weren’t truly reading, instead they were staring out the window as their hot coffee steeped in front of them. The front shop window at Herod’s wasn’t really for lookers in, but rather for lookers out. People of a lonely disposition watched others as they ran their errands about town. These were people who sat in the shop all evening, just looking out as if the people outside were actually inside a giant, life sized snow globe, fall themed this time of year. The falling leaves added to that effect.

Lucy did not pity those that sat at the large table, beside the bay window. She knew they knew what she did. They knew that looking out from the inside of a bookstore was better than looking in from the outside. Especially since those that did stop, to pear in at the newest texts in the windows always would just keep walking. Lucy often felt those texts should be turned in, away from the people on the street, away from those that hardly noticed them. Those novels should face inward, toward the people sitting there to remind them just how valuable they are, as surely they were the ones to buy them.

Behind the table set for dreary dreamy types, sat a few rows of best sellers and then the bookstore was separated into sections based on genres. These sections were falling to dust and disrepair. Many of the shelving units were being held together by thick gray duct tape, and they all seemed to be shifting in one direction or the next.

Ginny’s Mom, Vicky “Troll” Franklin, ran the register during the day, and one or two evenings when the other girl had night classes at a local community college. People had been referring to Vicky Franklin as Troll behind her back since long before she’d given birth to Ginny. This had much to do with her general negative attitude.

Her grumpy attitude and short, frizzy red hair gave her the appearance of someone to avoid. Her greedy and unkind nature made grocery store clerks cringe when she got into their lines. She made bank tellers go on break early, forcing someone else to deal with her. She scowled at toddlers, lectured kids and mocked the wimsied conversations of the American teenager. She was the most avoided woman in Whiskey Falls, only Lucy couldn’t avoid her, because she also worked in her most treasured getaway.

“Are Sebastian and Ginny here yet,” Lucy ventured to ask her, not seeing them on the first floor where they customarily met. “Why don’t you go see for yourself,” Troll snapped back and rolled her eyes to the ceiling, indicating they were quite possibly on the second floor.

The stairs leading to the sagging second floor were the skinny, metal winding kind. They had only one large turn before reaching the second floor. The black paint over the wrought iron was peeling in some areas, exposing a rusty bronze on the rails and scroll work. They squeaked and creaked at every step, causing the unseasoned climber to second guess their decision in 13

taking them. Lucy was not unseasoned and fully trusted the ancient looking staircase, oftentimes bounding up and down them two steps at a time. She loved the stairs because they kept most people on the first floor. Their fear left her alone to read in quiet solitude or browse the second floor selection, which was much better than the first.

Although Troll hated Lucy, she could not stop her from coming into the establishment and her presence meant less work to do. She’d long stopped going to the second floor herself, because she knew that Lucy would do her job for her. Lucy often took time to tidy up and organize the bookshelves. As Lucy bounded by, Troll watched her with distaste and wished her own daughter had enough sense to avoid such trash. “Just like her mother, that one.” Troll thought out loud, as Lucy disappeared up the staircase.

Troll had never known Scarlet Bennett personally. She had only known of her, as Scarlet was the envy of the town. She was beautiful, turning heads wherever she went. Only Troll had experienced the greatest envy of all when Scarlet became a Bennett, after marrying Lucy’s father Daryl, a man Troll had worked hard to bump into many times. Although, Troll would never admit the satisfaction she’d felt when word got around that Scarlet could not have children, she was hopeful that she’d witness dissolution of the marriage. It never happened, instead, she found herself stone faced and miserable again when Scarlet started popping up around town with a full belly. Everywhere Scarlet went she would leave people singing her praises.

“She positively glows with her pregnancy.” And then they’d pass right by Troll’s own full belly without as much as a nod at it. A wave of grief passed through the entire town when Scarlet died only moments after giving birth. Only Troll wasn’t sad, those days she seemed to smile wider and laugh heartier. Troll’s laughter came to a subsequent halt when her husband stole away in the middle of the night, just a few short weeks later, leaving nothing but a note and a colicky baby.

Lucy was the spitting image of her mother, and that was something Troll couldn’t stand.

She loathed the day her daughter became friends with the girl with the long blond hair, and deep green eyes set under long eyelashes.

No amount of criticism, chores, and punishments could stop Ginny from being friends with her. Ginny would whine, “But, she is popular. This could help me at school.” “She ain’t popular no more,” Troll would fire back a year later, after the accident, but it didn’t help. The damage was done. The girls were friends.

Upstairs Sebastian and Ginny listened as Lucy recounted her encounter in the woods, leaving out the part where she was transfixed to the stranger’s eyes. “…I blinked and he was gone.”

“Maybe it was a ghost,” Ginny said, laughing loudly and then stopping abruptly and shifting in her seat. Her mother’s presence at Herod’s meant they had to be quiet. “It wasn’t a 14

ghost,” Lucy responded, not entirely sure if she was right about that or not. Sebastian oohed like a ghost and sauntered around them, making spooky noises until Lucy could not control her laughter. They all settled down after hearing a bellow requesting silence, coming from the bottom of the stairs. They exchanged mocking looks, before breaking into whispers of laughter.

Although Ginny laughed the quietest of all, knowing her Mother’s temper and what her insolence could mean when she got home.

Lucy was late, but it didn’t matter because she didn’t have studying to do. As Sebastian opened a notebook, and set to composing and Ginny perused a textbook, Lucy wandered toward the bookshelves and the treasures that awaited her. Herod’s Bookstore was quite like a pirate’s treasure trove. The downstairs sat full of booby traps, all meant to keep away any that would dare seek out the treasures hidden above. Herod’s appeared nothing more than a dreary old bookstore, worse even because it was dirty and falling apart and the selection was hardly, if ever updated. Even the stairs proved a deterrent to would-be shoppers, and there was a musty smell in the air that filled the first floor.

However, should one be brave enough to surpass the dangers, then they would find themselves surrounded by some of the most fantastic works of literature humanity has ever known. The masterpieces on the second floor were an array of ancient, dated tombs written in foreign script, and priceless first editions. Lucy estimated the worth of the volumes to be in the thousands, if not more yet she never breathed a word of it to anyone, afraid that should someone find out, the place would be robbed and then shut down. As she moved through the classics section, Lucy found herself thinking about Herod’s and wondering again who owned the place.

Troll was clueless, having been hired years ago by a manager on his way out. “The checks come in the mail,” she’d say, “and I don’t care who is writing them, as long as I can cash them.”

Lucy stopped midsection, near an area of books that she had lately been finding herself more and more interested in. The second floor housed what she initially thought was a religious section, and frequently avoided. Upon closer inspection one day, she found the texts were an eclectic mix of religion, philosophy and magic. Many of the texts were written in languages she had yet to master, and therefore could not decipher, but their covers and words still inspired her to take a look. As she pulled a Latin textbook from the shelf, a smaller book slipped from behind it and fell to the ground. The weathered journal was bound in old, cracked leather. Lucy untied a fraying, blue ribbon and opened the book, happy to find that the hand-written entries were in English.

She skimmed through the pages finding the dates jumped around quite a bit. The beginning started sometime during the 1600’s, and toward the end it jumped to the 1930’s, always with the same small, handwritten script. Lucy glanced around her, and when she didn’t see anyone she slipped it into her bag. There was no price tag, and Troll would not sell something without one. Lucy justified her indiscretion by promising to bring it back, just as soon as she’d finished reading it. Shortly after, the time came to pack up and head home. Herod’s 15

Bookstore closed early on weeknights. Lucy’s father waited outside for her in a used, red hatchback purchased from the same dealership he’d bought his truck at. The truck had to be sold to make a mortgage payment, and the remaining money was used to pay for the small car and Daryl worried it wouldn’t hold up in the blizzards they experienced living so close to the lake.

As Lucy stood outside of Herod’s saying goodbye to her friends, an original Lotus Elite, Type 14 with white paint and a black racing stripe pulled up to the curb. The enigmatic, blueeyed boy stepped out and walked passed Lucy and her friends without even turning a nod of acknowledgement.

Lucy stood frozen, not expecting to see him again so soon. He disappeared into Herod’s ignoring Ginny’s call that they were closed. Inside he exchanged some words with Troll before disappearing upstairs. They all watched through the front window, exchanging confused looks.

“That’s him,” Lucy muttered. “Him?” Sebastian asked, not remembering their previous conversation. “Him,” Lucy said with growing shock and frustration. “The guy from the woods!”

Sebastian and Ginny were confused before their memories made the connection to Lucy’s strange story. “Oh, him,” Ginny started. “I wonder what he’s doing here.”

As Troll exited Herod’s Bookstore she locked the doors behind her, with the blue eyed boy still inside. She said nothing to the group, all seemingly questioning her with their eyes.

Lucy was the first to speak up, desperate to know who he was and what he was doing in Herod’s during closing hours.

Mrs. Franklin? Who is that gentlemen?”

“None of your business, Lucy Bennett. Now please go home, your father is waiting for you.”

Troll took one look at their recently acquired vehicle, a downgrade from what they had before and stifled a laugh coming from her thick gullet. Before Ginny turned to leave she gave Lucy a brisk hug and whispered in her ear, “As soon as I know, so will you.”

16

Chapter 4

The dream was a recurring one. Lucy stood at the entrance of Goren’s Wood, surrounded by a thick rolling fog. The fog seemed to flow into the wood, directing her where to go. It appeared more like a thick smoke than the thin fogs that would normally creep into this part of town. It hung low to the ground, making it impossible to see anything below two feet. Lucy knew this dream, and so she stepped forward, following the fog into the wood. Despite the late hour, seeing was easy as the moon hung fat and low, lighting the way.

“Lucy.” A soft voice called from behind her, but when she turned no one was there.

Again she heard her name, this time with a hand caressing the back of her head. The soft voice didn’t frighten her as it may have had the first time she’d had this dream. It was a voice attempting to warn her of the dangers ahead, but like in all dreams she had no choice but to move on.

As Lucy walked ahead she was reminded of the blue eyed boy who had stood there. She remembered his deep blue eyes entrancing her, holding her in their grip and she was not afraid.

Instead, she wished she could see him again. She wondered what it would be like to touch his face, to be closer to his blue eyes. As she crossed the bridge, the moon hung impossibly low and reflected on the water which appeared by like silk rippling underneath it. For a moment, she considered just stopping, but she remembered that each dream was another opportunity to figure it out, to stop it before it came true. She couldn’t waste time.

As she neared where Goren’s Wood let out, onto Main Street in town, right next to her favorite bookstore Lucy expected to be greeted by the same fog, the same scrawled warning she had seen on the side of the bookstore in this dream numerous times before. She did not expect to be greeted by the growling, agent of hell that stood before her now.

It was ten times the size of a normal dog, with thick black fur that stood up like spikes on its back. Its eyes grew a strange red, and its snarl was pulled back, dripping spit and exposing enormous sharp teeth. Its growl filled her ears, deafening her. The hell hound took a step forward, its giant paw disrupting the fog in front of it and causing it to flow up his body, into one large nostril and then out another with a tough burst of breath. It swung its heavy head with an ease one would not think possible. It was a quickness she had not expected.

With every step Lucy took backward, the beast would take one forward, moving slowly but with purpose. It meant to tear her apart, and as she realized this, its growls turned to eerily familiar laughter. With a leap, it was over her, its massive head dripping saliva onto her face, its glowing red eyes seeming larger and its mouth opening wider, exposing the biggest and sharpest teeth she’d ever seen. She tried to scream, but the murky world of the dream would not allow it.

17

Instead, her scream was just a silent twist of the face depicting agony. The beast set to laughing again and raised a paw as if to strike her.

Lucy turned to the brick wall, the side of Herod’s Bookstore. Tears welled in her eyes as she prepared to be struck in the face. Sheer panic and fear gripped her, forcing her to forget it was only a dream, a place where she couldn’t be hurt. As she struggled against the beast, refusing to look it in the face, a light flicked on from the upstairs window of Herod’s. The beast saw it too, causing it to momentarily back off. Lucy took her opportunity to slide herself backward and then almost to her feat. The beast wasn’t distracted for long and reared up onto its hind legs, pulling its front paws up ready to cut through her with giant claws.

From the window, two blue lights shone down cutting through the darkness between them. The beast stared at the blue light, afraid to cross it. Lucy looked the frightening creature in the eyes only to see they were dimming, it looked afraid. With a whimper, it whipped around and galloped out of the alley. Lucy followed the blue rays up to the second story window where they settled into the face of a shadow. She stood breathless and confused and in real pain after the attack. Pain was something she’d often dealt with in her dreams, although she’d never become accustomed to their realness. As her heart beat like a thick drum, heard only in her brain, she shut her eyes tight and begged for release.

Lucy reached over and slapped the off switch on her blaring alarm clock. The glowing green numbers displayed the un-godly hour of 6a.m. She lay in bed for a while, contemplating the dream. She’d had many strange dreams before, but not one so sinister. In a grip, she forced her brain to let go of the beast’s thick claws and blood red eyes. She stared grimly at the ceiling dreading another day at school. She prayed to hear her dad call up that school had been unexpectedly canceled, due to a freak snowstorm, a bomb scare, an Ebola outbreak, anything.

She gave it five minutes before facing the fact that going to school was an avoidable inevitability.

Daryl Bennett drove his teenage daughter to school not at all clued into the fact that she’d been dreaming the future for the last few years. He made small talk about his new job at the local bottling plant, while she stared out the window hoping to catch a glimpse of a tornado ripping its way through town, anything to avoid the Letter Eaters.

“Is everything alright, honey?” Daryl had waited until they were parked just outside the school’s entrance to ask her. “Yeah, Dad,” she said, trying her best to feign happiness.

“Everything is great.” Daryl accepted his daughter’s mundane response for truth, as he was too distracted with the growing disquiet in his own brain. He’d been sober since the accident, but it wasn’t getting any easier. The more time passed, the more he longed for a stiff drink, a swig of the Jameson. These days he just couldn’t forget. Even as the weather grew colder, the freeze on his heart was melting and the only thing that could remove the image of that toddler’s mangled 18

body from his mind was a stiff drink. With a shake of the head, he told himself he could fight it, and pulled away from the school leaving Lucy at the curb.

Curiously, Ginny Franklin was not waiting for her by the front door with Sebastian. Lucy ran up to him and then followed his gaze to where Ginny stood in happy conversation with the new kid, Seth Boyd. “What is she doing?” Lucy asked, flabbergasted. “I don’t know,” Sebastian returned. “They’ve been like that since I got here. She hasn’t even looked in our direction.”

“What is she wearing?” Lucy stared curiously at Ginny’s outfit. She had cast off the baggy, ripped jeans she normally wore for a black, pinstriped mini. “I don’t know,” Sebastian continued, “but, do you see the look on Tina Monroe’s face? She looks like she’s ready to kill her.” Lucy followed his gaze again to Tina and Callum Norris who stood looking on. Tina’s face did have a menacing glare, and Lucy worried about her friend, but lacked the confidence to march over there.

After a short while, Ginny waved goodbye to Seth and came bounding up the steps toward them. Her oversized parka was open, exposing a white lace shirt, over a black tank top.

“Are we in the twilight zone or what,” asked Sebastian. Even in the hot months Ginny was known for wearing long sleeved shirts, hoods and baggy jeans, so her sudden change confused them both. Lucy was pleased to see her friend’s arm sans cuts that were frequently and awkwardly explained away as clumsiness. Maybe, Lucy thought, she’s finally getting better.

“Ginny, you look so amazing today! What’s the occasion?” Ginny looked at them, shy but radiant. Her hair still retained its dull sheen, and her eyes were still that of a girl not getting much sleep, but everything else about her seemed so suddenly alive and happy. She just shrugged, but Lucy suspected there was a boy involved in her sudden change, and she was at once happy and then nervous as she looked up and was greeted by an icy stare from Seth. His face quickly changed when he noticed her looking back, and he launched one of his large, toothy smiles and a wave in her direction.

As they walked through the packed hallways, Lucy began to wonder about the boy from the woods, the one they’d left in Herod’s. There was no time to ask before first period began, so Lucy resolved herself to wait until Mr. Kelsey’s science class began. It would be difficult to carry on a conversation with The Letter Eaters there to make things difficult, but there just wasn’t going to be another opportunity until the end of the day and Lucy was dying to know before then. She was happy to find the group of Letter Eaters distracted by an exciting conversation with their newest addition, Seth Boyd. Tina was thoroughly distracted by his dark eyes and listened intently as he recounted a story complete with fifty yard passes and a game winning touchdown. As Lucy slipped into her chair, Ginny turned toward her excitedly. “Did you hear?”

19

“Hear what,” Lucy wondered. “About Seth Boyd? He told me this morning. After last night’s practice, they made him quarterback! He’s going to take the team all-state again, I just know it!” Sebastian and Lucy exchanged strange looks.

“What about the old quarterback?”

“Oh, I don’t know. I guess a hard hit resulted in permanent knee damage or something.

He’s out for the rest of the season. I guess Seth is exceptionally good though!”

Lucy cracked her book and pretended to read along with Mr. Kelsey. After things had settled down some she gently nudged Ginny. “So, did your Mom mention that guy at Herod’s last night?” “Oh yeah!” Ginny spoke louder than she initially intended, causing the classroom to erupt into a unison of “shh’s.”

Lucy received a turn and a sharp look from Tina. Seth was already sitting at their table with them, and sporting his very own lettered jacket. He’d yet to take one from another team, so his was the Whiskey Falls Black Bear holding a football under the stitched name, Boyd, a jacket they wore before games. He laughed at something Tina had whispered in his ear, and they both stole a glance in Lucy’s direction.

Lucy tried to ignore them, more intent to find out if Ginny had learned anything about the blue-eyed stranger. It had recently occurred to Lucy that he may work for the owner of Herod’s Bookstore. He may be cleaning out the upstairs. Would they notice they were one book shy of a full collection? If he were taking inventory, he may see that the handwritten journal was missing.

“I knew she wouldn’t be able to keep it to herself,” Ginny started. “I heard her on the phone talking to my great-aunt. His name is Cole, and he owns the place.” “But, he’s so young!”

Lucy blurted out, causing another murmur of whispers to come flying in their direction. “He inherited the place from his Grandfather. He also inherited that giant house, on Old Jackson drive.”

Lucy thought about the mansion on Old Jackson drive. It was a decrepit estate house that hadn’t been lived in, in over twenty years. It had been left to fall into disrepair and most of the local kids thought it was haunted. The town never condemned it, because the taxes were paid and it was outside town, and certain zoning laws. After school, Lucy once again found herself rushing through dinner with her father. “How’s everything going at school,” he asked in his mild mannered way and Lucy wondered if he truly cared to know or was just asking, because that’s what single fathers are supposed to do. “Fine,” she answered.

“How’s Mr. Wilson,” he continued. Daryl knew his daughter met with her guidance counselor on a regular basis and he also knew that she’d skipped a meeting that very afternoon.

Lucy dropped her fork on her plate, annoyed that Mr. Wilson had called.

20

“He’s fine, Dad. I had a lot of homework to catch up on, so I skipped. I sent him an email.”

“He said that, but Lucy you’ve got to make these appointments.”

She wondered why he was so eager to see her do well in therapy when he still had barely come to terms with his first step in AA. Sure he admitted he had a problem, but did he really believe it? As they sat there in silence, she once again traced his gaze to the empty space where their liquor cabinet once stood.

Lucy dressed in her bedroom, wondering if the suite would still be her bedroom if Scarlett were alive. She glanced at her bedside table, where a picture of her mother was framed, and she starred into the photograph’s jade green eyes, one’s that matched her own. “I’d give up the bathroom to have you back,” she told the photograph before heading for a shower. In front of her mother’s photograph was the blue ribbon, bound book she’d taken from Herod’s. She’d not yet found the time to delve into it. As she closed the bathroom door air displayed in the room, causing its pages to fall open and land at a space in the middle.

21

Chapter 5

Lucy did not see the boy on her walk through Goren’s Wood. She stopped on the bridge to admire the moon, three quarters of the way full and traced its light to the water’s edge.

She found herself leaning over the wooden railing quite like she’d seen Cole standing and she longed to run into him again. It wasn’t difficult to pry away from the soft beauty of the moon and rippling water, as there was the hope that she’d find him at Herod’s. She jogged the rest of the way out of the wood, until she found herself gasping for air in the alley way next to the bookstore. She leaned over, in an attempt to slow her breathing. She eyed the bookstore and the excitement she felt caused more gasps and slowed her attempts to calm down. Her heart was trying to confirm something her brain was suggesting. She knew he was in there. In some strange way she could sense it.

What she hadn’t sensed was Callum Norris’ presence just steps from her, leaning against the cobblestone wall. For a moment, she imagined his voice was the voice of Cole, the boy she hoped to see this night. With immediate disgust she realized otherwise. “Hi,” Callum repeated.

He was smiling and waved in her direction, still leaning against the cobblestone wall of Herod’s Bookstore. With a start, she realized that he seemed somehow bigger than he had the last time she saw him. Lucy knew it must be the night, or the way the moonlight was following her out of the wood, but he seemed bulkier, heavier and even taller.

Taller by a couple inches, she found herself thinking. His wide, bloodshot eyes were drinking her in as he waited intently for an answer. Lucy tried to dismiss her growing assurance that something was about to go terribly wrong. Her brain flashed back to the dream she’d had, a warning about this very spot. Her eyes traced the cobblestone wall, toward the upstairs window, but before her eyes could reach that space Callum was directly in front of her. He moved fast.

Too fast, she thought. This can’t be happening. “Hello,” he said using the sarcastic deep baritone reserved just for making fun of her. “Earth to Lucy Bennett. Callum Norris, high school classmate here.”

Lucy was finding it hard to focus. Did he mean to play nice here, or was this some kind of trick? Maybe she was dreaming. She didn’t want to be dreaming. She wanted to escape this fool for the safety of the inside of Herod’s. “Hi,” Lucy said quietly, attempting to lower her head and just walk around him. Her stomach was slowly rising into her chest as she thought again of her dream. A cool breeze shot passed her, forcing the hairs on her arm to a standing ovation.

Certainly this was not a dream. She hurried her pace to get out of the alley as fast as possible.

At a freakishly fast pace, Callum jumped to block her path. “C’mon Lucy. Don’t go.” He snickered, and something about that laugh once again forced her mind to think of her dream. Yet 22

another warning gone unheeded. Lucy tried unsuccessfully to find her way around his hulking mass, but he moved too fast, blocking her each time.

“Well Callum,” she said having had enough, “I was going to the bookstore, but I guess now I am stuck here in this alley not going anywhere until you let me.”

Callum’s massive fingers scratched the back of his head. The sound radiated in the silent alley. Thiwp Thiwp. Chills ran down Lucy’s body, as it sounded almost as if he were ripping into his own skull, she nearly fainted when his fingertips pulled away and were covered in blood.

Callum Norris was always a large person, having even been born at twelve pounds six ounces.

Because of his enormous size, he had to be surgically removed from his mother who is known to point out her scar, embarrassing him at school functions, especially when anyone mentions his sports career. They’d suggest he was heading for college and then pro. They’d say, “My Marie, your son sure can block.” At which point she’d lift up her shirt, showcasing the scar and tell everyone how much he weighed. “Damn near broke my back lugging ‘im around those nine months.”

Callum stayed large all through elementary school. He was the biggest boy in school and easily the hungriest. He was never quite full after eating the lunch his mother sent him with so sometimes he’d muscle the smaller kids for their change and he’d buy himself a second lunch from the line. Then, even more often, he’d be caught hoarding food in his pockets or desk perpetually eating all the time. His teachers felt like his eating habits were out of control, and suggested his mother do something about it. Because he was becoming an embarrassment to Marie, she wasn’t showcasing her scar like one of Callum’s many trophies back then. In the end, it was decided that they couldn’t deprive him of what his body so desperately wanted, but they could counteract the effects of such unhealthy eating by throwing the beefy boy into sports. That first year Callum played football and baseball he was terrible at both.

These days no one would dare admit to remembering the way they hooted and hollered as Callum Norris ran from first base to second, pulling down his shirt as he went, because the girth of his belly was exposed. Whoever stood at the plate for the other team would trip him and oftentimes he’d find himself lying on the plate, struggling to wipe away the dirt that was kicked into his face.

“What,” they’d taunt, “can’t get up fat ass?” Callum got used to hearing the kids taunt and nothing changed until he spent a summer at Camp Chianne, who’s ex-Navy camp councilor’s motivated the children by rounding them up early, spraying them down with water and refusing to look them anywhere but their belly’s while he screamed things like, “Your mama should have paid the ice cream man to keep on driving!” Callum found himself wishing she had as he rowed, swam, jogged and played sports until every inch of his former frame was toned, thick muscle. He only spent one summer at Camp Chianne, but that’s all it took.

23

Callum returned to school hell bent on vengeance and he got it. People made the conscious decision to forget that Callum was ever fat. From then on he was only remembered as a toned heavyweight who would box your ears if you were caught looking at his stomach, and that’s just how he liked it.

Lucy had nowhere to go, as Callum was inching ever closer to her and he was just so immense. Callum hardly knew what brought him to the alley, something in his brain told him it would be a good idea and he was happy he had listened, because he’d been thinking about Lucy for a long time. You got a shot with her, big guy, he thought – only the voice with which his brain spoke wasn’t his own.

Blue veins were visible all around Callum’s meaty neck and seemed to pulsate. Lucy began to wonder if he was using drugs, because he certainly did seem larger somehow. It wasn’t a trick of the moonlight. She was close enough to know for sure he’d grown. His size confounded her as he seemed to have grown inches on his waist and height just in the matter of hours.

“Callum, you’re too close to me.” Lucy tried to speak in a soft tone, afraid to set him off.

He was acting aggressive, even for himself. With every step she took backward, he took one forward until he just stopped, leaving her room between them. “Uh, sorry about that,” he said before digging his fingertips back into his skull again.

This time there was no sound, as he’d dug straight through a layer of scalp. “I wanted to know,” he said, wondering how to word the question. He wanted to know if she’d let him bed her right beside the dumpster, in the increasingly stifling alley. Callum looked at her body, and he began to salivate heavily. The spit dripping from the corner of his mouth again reminded Lucy of her dream, and she was angry at herself for walking right into something she clearly could have avoided.

“Callum, I have to go,” she told him with an authority that he just ignored. Lucy tried to recall a time when she liked Callum Norris. For years they’d sat at the same lunch table. He was the first of their friends to have a license, as he’d been held back pretty early on. They rode to school together. She remembered how Tina would confuse him on their rides to school. “Hey Callum,” she’d say, “I bet you ten dollars the sun doesn’t rise tomorrow.” He’d grimace, because he knew there was a punch line coming. He knew she was teasing and so he’d drive on in silence, wrinkling his strong brow, and trying to figure where the trap was.

“Well,” she’d ask, “You going to take the bet or what?” And like always he’d fall for it.

“Of course the sun is going to rise tomorrow, Tina. You just want me to say it won’t because you think I am going to fall for your trick. But, the sun always rises. Everyday.”

Tina would then find herself ten dollars richer, by collecting the gas money Lucy’d just given him. “No Callum,” she’d start. “The sun NEVER rises. It’s the Earth’s rotation around it, 24

that makes it seem like it’s rising.” Lucy would laugh, but she felt guilty about it too. “We’re learning about that in Earth Science,” Lucy would suggest, hoping he’d pay attention and see himself on the winning end next time Tina opened her mouth to play a joke on him.

He was never my friend. Lucy thought with a sudden assurance. No amount of rides to school could change that. He couldn’t be, because no matter what, a friend would never hold her hostage in a dark alley no matter what he thought her father had done.

“Listen Callum, I am meeting someone at the bookstore. So, I have to go. I can’t talk right now.”

“What did you just call me?” Callum’s eyes turned menacing and he wiped the drool across his face, leaving a streak of slime across his jacket sleeve. “Nothing,” I didn’t call you anything, Lucy returned. “Just get out of my way,” she continued, hoping that her comment about a friend would leave him worried that he’d soon be exposed. Again Callum heard none of what she said, and only imagined Lucy’s mouth speaking the same phrase over and over again.

“You’re out, fat ass. You’re out, fat ass.”

Callum’s hulking frame was on the move again, slowing filling the space between them.

She told herself it was only illusion, but could not make herself believe he wasn’t growing before her very eyes. Callum’s already massive frame seemed to be growing and twisting and towering ever higher above her. She turned to look over her shoulder, wondering if she should make a run for it, into the woods. When she turned back, he was positively snarling and shaking his head back and forth. “I wouldn’t if I were you,” he shot back at her. She thought about how quickly he moved, but she knew the forrest better.

“I’ve been watching you, Lucy.” Callum’s dark energy seemed to be crushing her and her head throbbed. She tried to look around him, to see if there was anyone nearby who could help, only she couldn’t see passed his very hulking frame. “You know I always liked you, but you were too much of a bitch to like me back.”

Lucy struggled for words. Callum’s features were growing dark and an intense anger seemed to seep from his pours and form into a mist all around him.

“Callum. I had no idea.” She struggled for more words, anything to calm him down. “I’m sorry, Callum. I liked you as a friend, I honestly did.”

“As a friend? I don’t want a friend, Lucy Bennett. I want you. I want all of you. I’ll rip into your flesh.”

“What?” Lucy edged backwards, convinced now that Callum Norris had gone totally insane. She tried not to make any sudden moves and silently wished that someone, anyone would come to her rescue. “Callum, please.” Her green eyes pleaded with his own, silently begging him to let her pass. A dark voice was controlling Callum now, urging him to push further, to punish 25

her for his every misfortune. It told him that she deserved it, she was the daughter of a drunk, a killer, and the town would thank him. As he listened to voice, his face began to twist and misshape. His eyes seemed to grow right before Lucy’s own. They seemed very near popping from his skull, still bloodshot and growing larger by the second. Lucy knew that any moment could be her last. There was something unhuman about the way Callum was contorting.

“Callum,” she said in her most soothing voice, “you seem…different. Maybe we can talk? Inside the bookstore? We don’t have to be enemies.”

He shook his bulbous head, and then laughed at her. The laughter was unmistakably the laughter from her dream. The snarls and laughter were that of the hell hound that had attacked in her nightmare.

“I have power now, Lucy,” Callum said in a voice that was not entirely his own. “I don’t need you as a friend. I can take whatever I want now. I don’t have to play your childish games anymore. I don’t need to wait until you’ve leaned over to see what you’re hiding there.”

His finger was like a giant sausage, pulling at the cowl of her neckline to peer down her shirt. Lucy tried to fight against him and for a single moment she was successful. Despite Callum’s changing appearance, she yelled back at him. “You need help!”

Callum was temporarily detained by her anger. For one moment, he was confused and he stood idly by as she passed, racing toward the bookstore, getting away. What the hell are you doing? The dark voice rang out from inside his head, jarring him from his confusion and returning him to the moment. Get her! Within a second Callum had ahold of Lucy, holding her with one arm as if she were nothing more than a jacket casually placed under his arm. Lucy screamed and struggled against him, before finding herself once again standing in the place she’d left just moments before. Lucy rubbed a sore spot on her arm sure that Callum had left a mark.

Lately, things with The Letter Eaters seemed to be escalating, but there was something about this altercation that was harsher, more aggressive.

“Someone please help me,” she shouted from around him, while backing up another couple steps. Callum was closing in on her, drool dripping down his face until she knew Goren’s Wood was going to be her only option. Callum’s smile, once small and thin lipped now appeared to be gaping and much larger. It was as if his entire jaw had become unhinged. Drool leaked from him in buckets, dripping down onto his jacket. The laugh continued as he moved closer, and his gigantic tongue dropped from his mouth and wagged at the loose drool there.

“Come on, Lucy. You want this. I’m all-state baby.” He once again erupted into violent laughter and threw back his neck, exposing fat veins that pulsated and throbbed as if no circulation was finding its way there.

“Help! Someone please help me!”

26

“Help, help!” Callum returned, mocking her voice. “No one is here to save you, Lucy.

Your daddy is a drunk. He’s probably sleeping in a ditch by now.”

“My dad is not a drunk.”

“And your mommy? She’s dead as a doornail. You killed her. Come to think of it, you and your daddy are both killers.”

Lucy couldn’t stand to hear anymore, and she turned intent to run straight into Goren’s Wood. She hoped that she knew the woods better, which would be the only thing that could save her now. She barely made it passed the wood markers indicating the entrance, before he had her on the ground. He slobbered over her, dripping hot drool into her face. Lucy winced and cried out, but no one returned her call. For a brief moment, Callum was distracted by the dark voice in his mind. Get her. Tear her. Choke her. Do it. Do it. Do it.

Lucy found herself in tears, staring at the cobblestone wall of Herod’s, wishing someone would come out and find her there. Next time, she thought, I won’t ignore my dream. If there is a next time. Thinking about her dream made her realize that vicious hell hound had found himself in almost the same position over her, only something had stopped it, the blue light from the window. The window was there, only it was dirty and the poorly lit second floor barely caused a flicker in the dark alley. Callum picked her up by her shoulders, before slamming her hard into the cement again and again. Lucy was becoming badly bruised. She winced but still was capable of sliding her hands across the cement looking for anything that could be used as a weapon.

Her hand closed around a rock, and she used it to smash him against his head, which was surprisingly soft and malformed each time it struck him. The rock hardly fazed him and served only to make him angrier. Before Callum could unleash a fatal blow to Lucy, his arm was held back and then he was suddenly and easily launched from her body. Lucy found herself being helped up by Cole, the same boy she’d hoped to meet in Herod’s. His intense blue eyes were for only a moment a distraction. Stopping in front of Herod’s was Daryl, who’d left AA early with the intension of picking his young daughter up.

Callum was thrown far away from Lucy, by Cole. Callum picked himself up and realized he’d made a monumental mistake. He took one look at the vehicle of the town’s former sheriff and took off. Within moments, he was gone. Lucy watched him disappeared and wondered when he’d started moving like that. The Letter Eaters seemed so suddenly capable of unmatched speeds and strength.

“Thank you,” she said. The back of her head throbbed, but she felt an instant comfort in Cole’s presence. “You’re welcome. Should I call the police?” Lucy thought about her dad’s former position with the sheriff’s office, and his current embarrassment. She didn’t know what to do and so she just shook her head, no.

27

“Are you sure? That guy looked quite dangerous. He attacked you.”

Lucy couldn’t help it, but she found herself becoming lost in Cole’s eyes yet again.

Before she could really let go, he produced a pair of dark sunglasses and slid them on, covering whatever magic she was falling into.

“Is that your dad?” Cole pointed to the car, where Daryl leaned over and sent a concerned wave in their direction. He’d seen Callum race from the alley, but he’d yet to realize anything had happened. His main concern was the handsome boy who still held Lucy.

“I’m Lucy Bennett.”

“I’m Cole,” he told her, still holding her for support.

“I know,” she returned and then immediately felt embarrassed. The confused expression on Cole’s face further flustered her. “I mean. I heard. My friend’s mom works here.”

“Well, your dad is waiting.” Lucy was reluctant to let him go, but he insisted on moving her toward the vehicle. “Are you going to be working here all week?” She asked him, fully aware of how desperate she was beginning to sound. “I don’t think so. Well, see you.” Cole waved goodbye and disappeared into Herod’s, immediately turning the open side around to closed.

“Who was that,” Daryl asked as soon as Lucy was seated in the car. Before she could answer, he was already firing off other questions. “What happened to you? You’re covered in dirt! Are you hurt? Did he do this?”

Lucy laughed uncomfortably. For a moment she considered telling her dad everything.

She knew that he would drive straight to Callum’s parents, maybe even straight to the sheriff’s office and demand he be arrested. She knew Callum deserved to be arrested, that he was a menace, but she also knew that wasn’t really Callum. How would she explain that she just saw a monster in the alley, a monster that posed as famed high school linebacker Callum Norris?

College scouts were regulars in the Whiskey Falls stadium because of Callum’s enormous stature and his ability to play football. Would they even believe the town drunk’s daughter?

“Everything’s fine, dad. I fell. Cole owns the bookstore. He was just helping me up.”

“He owns the bookstore? How old is he?”

Lucy explained exactly what Ginny had told her at school that afternoon. She explained that Cole had inherited the bookstore and he was working on changing things around. Lucy wondered if that meant he was actually working on cataloging every priceless book that sat undiscovered by anyone but her, on the second floor. Soon enough he would know.

28

Chapter 6

Lucy tossed and turned unable to fall asleep. The image of Callum Norris snarling, drooling and laughing like a maniac was stuck in her brain. For a long while she starred at her mother’s photograph, wishing she could see her face to face just once, wishing she had answers. A single glance at her weathered alarm clock showed that it was well after midnight.

Lucy knew that if she didn’t do something soon she wouldn’t be able to make it through classes the next day. She picked up the blue ribbon bound book, keeping her finger where it was left open. She wondered how she would return it to Cole without looking like a thief. For tonight, it would serve as reading material until sleep found her.

Australia – 1944

I

came to Australia to escape the war in Europe, but it seems to be here as well.

American soldiers are stationed all over and rationing has begun. Poverty has struck the world all over and it’s difficult for me to see. Their lives are so short. It’s hard to see them in suffering. I am going to move along to the Northern Region and start across the Outback. I have leave of two months before I’m drawn back to Europe. Two months is like the blink of an eye and I think if it weren’t for Paimon I’d never go back.

He’s there now, only I wish he were here with me. It’s been so long since we traveled this continent together. Things seem tamer here now since we last visited, there are more people and more roads traveled. Still, the Outback should provide me the solitude I seek.

It took me quite a few weeks to travel to the Never-Never. I stayed with a family of Aborigines in the Bush and they fed me quite nicely. I watched Roo’s hop around the plain with the children there. The elders in the tribe called me Nu’HuGunukchu which means Shadow Man. I like the term and I’ll tell Paimon when I see him.

I think he will like it too. They are a free people. The men are tough. They pain themselves colors to match the colors of the Bush and wear white stripes across their faces to show how many kills they’ve had. No one died during the time I stayed there, which meant I could continue on alone without having to see the face of some staffed beginner.

I like the style of these aboriginals very much. They’re territorial and prefer only the company of their own kind. This clan is not hostile, but they would not stand a white face trying to break them up. Their elders told me stories of famine, small pox and genocide in their since the Europeans came.

At first they feared me, worried I was the harbinger of mass death. They recognized me right away. Once they realized I was not there to harm them, they were welcoming. They praised 29

their Gods for sending me to them. I did not tell them I was only on vacation, and anyway Gods don’t send death, Paimon does. The places to be come as a sort of vision to him and he directs me where we go. Even we can’t prove the existence of God, although we like to hope there is.

When I left they filled a pack with meat and water for me. They crafted me a bow because I asked for one. I’d need it on all on my own in the great Never-Never. The bow was long and well crafted. Carefully etched into the upper limb is a picture of a winged man.

The children followed me to the edge of their village and they chanted their nickname for me, “Nu’HuGunukchu, Nu’HuGunukchu.” I walked backwards when they started to disappear in the clear, hot waves of the horizon. I waved my bow in the air one last time before turning back around.

I’m traveling along the dusty Savannah Way, in the Northern Territory. As I remember it, it is exactly the same and I miss Paimon that he is not here to see it. A dusty, 3700 kilometers surrounded entirely by Boab trees. It is exactly as Jeannie described it in her book and I thought maybe to pay her a visit and then I remember that I had not aged and she would not understand.

As Paimon often says, “It is better to not disturb the fragile memories of mortals.”

Off road I sensed there was a building near-by. I was lucky to find a hunter’s cabin abandoned for the hot season. I dragged the old mattress outside and beat it until I was sure there were no bugs. I can sense the old cabin has sat a long time empty, as only the shadow of human remnant remains and it seems to not hold tight as if the soul will return.

My chances of spending time here undisturbed are good. I had not expected to find such a good home and am quite happy with it. In time I will dress the cabin in Wild Boar, or if I am very lucky Banteng Cattle.

Today I found the water I’d smelled. I’d become dehydrated sometime around noon and my tongue was starting to swell. It’s a small watering hole and if I’d been smart I could have just followed the animals to it. I must have wandered around it three times before finally finding it. A baby Buffalo shared a drink with me. Its small brown eyes watched me without concern.

And it’s too hot for crocs! I took a swim under the hot sun. It was a clear, gorgeous day and tomorrow I will set about carrying water back to save at the cabin. I should have enough time to install a shower outside, if I start early. It was a good idea to come out here. A very good idea.

I have been hunting. Today I saw the baby Buffalo again, only this time he stood beside his mother. They were away from their pack. I did not shoot her, even though the bow works like a charm.

30

Instead I killed a rabbit and ate well. I plan to use his fur to line a carrier I’m making for my arrows. His bone would work in that too.

I would like a boar for the meat, fat and skin but there seem to be none about in this part of the Never-Never. Still, I have been hunting and it did exactly as I hoped it would. It made me feel like a man. Paimon would shake his head, but the need to feel human in this way is important to me.

Tonight I will carve into my bow the Aborigine word for Shadow Man. Sunset over the great expanse is glorious. After a shower I lay behind the cabin in the shade, staring out at the horizon. I watched it turn from pink to purple to bright orange. I have no wants or desires now other to be. I just am.

Lucy set the volume aside as she was now drifting off to sleep. Something felt familiar about the writer, like she knew who it was, only she didn’t. The handwritten pages were nothing like anything she’d ever experienced before. It could be a journal, or someone’s attempt at writing a novel. Whoever it was they held her interest and brought her comfort. She looked forward to escaping to its pages again soon.

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Chapter 7

Ginny Franklin stood by an open window holding one of her mother’s frayed housedresses. She’d barely made it through the laundry basket as she was distracted by thoughts of Seth Boyd. His tan skin and dark eyes had burned a permanent place into her fantasies.

He’d been by the house a lot since their first meeting in class. He’d come by in the hopes to make a new friend and in the meantime he’d made suggestions to help her at school. He’d suggested what she wear, how to manage her hair and in a haze she’d adhered to his every word of advice. She folded laundry near the open window hoping that he’d find his way up her paved drive again.

Downstairs Troll also stood by a window. She was inspecting it for cleanliness. The morning sun fell into the room, casting sunshine over immaculate, dust free hardwood floors.

The white curtains were pristine, even after years of use as Ginny hand washed them gently in a bucket of warm bleach and water.

A chalkboard newly cleaned and only half dry, stood taller than their fireplace. Above the fireplace, hung the portrait of a distinguished, but angry looking man. Troll looked up at him, her eyes searched his own.

“Well, daddy, she finished this room but I don’t think she’s quite finished yet.” For some time Troll had taken to speaking to her father’s portrait in this way and felt that sometimes he spoke back to her. Only this time he remained silent, his eyes doing the speaking for him.

Troll followed his cold and stony gaze to a corner of the room. A lone dryer sheet on the floor, a remnant fallen behind as Ginny carried the laundry upstairs to be put away. Anger wasn’t really as much an emotion for Vicky Franklin as it was a customary response to life. Because she had no other friends or relatives who care to see her, this anger was directed at her only daughter, Ginny.

Looking at the dryer sheet filled her with excitement, though her skin boiled and her fingernails dug into her palms as her large hands balled up into fists. She screamed up the stairwell for Ginny to come down.

“Ginny, do you need to be re-taught how to do laundry correctly?”

Ginny stood on the stairway landing, mouth agape and starring at her mother. Fear twisted her tiny stomach into knots, threatening to double her over. “Why are you looking at me like that? You are an insolent girl. Shut your trap!”

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Ginny diligently closed her mouth. She relaxed a small amount when she realized that she need not respond quite yet. “What is the point of having a clean living room if a stupid girl is going to walk through it, leaving a trail of garbage behind her?”

There was no time to formulate a response to save herself. Troll’s strong hand was around the flesh of her arm, dragging her right off the landing and pulling her across the living room until she stood in front of the single dryer sheet.

“Well, don’t just stand there. Throw it out!”

The shove to get her moving was hard, but Ginny was quick to jump away from receiving the full blow. She picked up the dryer sheet and ran to throw it out. The doorbell rang interrupting what had become a common exchange between them.

Troll yanked open the door on the third knock ready to kick whatever sales person off her porch. She hated solicitors and kept a sign stating such on the door, but they never listened. They still came. Only she thought this time they’ll regret it.

Instead of finding herself face to face with a pig tailed, green and brown laden girl setting cookies, she was faced instead with the most recent addition to Whiskey Fall’s Black Bears football team. Seth stood on the doorstep, holding flowers and smiling ear to ear at her.

Troll immediately smoothed her hair, smiled back and stepped aside allowing the quarterback into their home. Ginny’s heart leapt at the sight of him, but her fear encroached too as one never knew how her mother would react to these things.

“Good morning, ma’am. I was wondering if I could have some time with your daughter.”

Troll was positively shocked but agreed to let the two of them sit on the porch for some time together. “I’m glad to see you,” Ginny said, taking a seat next to him, their knees touching for just a moment.

“It’s good to see you too,” Seth said, adjusting to comfort on the old, wooden porch swing. “I’ve come with purpose, Ginny.” “You always do,” Ginny replied, smiling ear to ear and ready to comply with whatever Seth asked her.

“You’re friends with Lucy Bennett, right?” Ginny was nodded, unsure how to answer.

Sure, Lucy was her friend, but what did he want with Lucy.

“I think she needs your help, Ginny,” Seth suggested. He placed a large hand on her knee, almost sending Ginny flying from her seat. She was able to contain her excitement. Just then Troll reappeared with a tray of hot cocoa, as the weather had turned cold and snowflakes were beginning to fall to the ground. Ginny found herself in shock and disbelief as Troll set the tray beside them and disappeared back into the house with a smile.

33

“She should treat you that way all the time, Ginny.” Without thinking how Seth may know something like that, Ginny quickly responded, “Yeah, tell me about it.” “Don’t worry, she will.”

Inside the house the portrait of Troll’s father, Ginny’s grandfather, began to glow with red eyes. Troll had set about re-cleaning floors that were pristine to begin with. “She’s got a boyfriend now, Daddy. He’s going to fix them all.” He’s going to fix her. Troll knew which one her daddy meant, and her face lit up in a big smile. “Good.”

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Chapter 8

Once again Lucy found herself on the path in Goren’s Wood. This time she was walking away from town, the low fog covered her feet to her ankles and she knew she was dreaming. The bright, full moon lit her way.

Lucy relished the slow walk, through deep fog to the bridge. She secretly hoped she would see Cole there, but then her dreams never really gave her what she wanted. A thick snowflake landed on her eye lash and melted there, causing cold water to drip down her cheek.

Everything seemed to incredibly real, but was clearly the murky world of a dream. She was sure of this, as she had no idea how she came to be in this place.

Lucy realized her journey had led her to an area where the bridge was now visible. The full light of the moon made seeing easy. Atop the bridge stood four people, shrouded in long, black, hooded robes. She could not make out their faces.

The soft voice of a woman filled her ear, “You know them. Beware them, my sweet girl.”

When Lucy turned to look at the person speaking to her, there was no one there. She dismissed the words as her own thoughts and went back to watching the figures on the bridge. Her body shook with cold mixed with fear.

“One will appear as a friend. You must not trust her. One will seem an enemy, but isn’t.”

Lucy once again turned toward the voice and again found herself alone. The voice she heard was so familiar, so close to her own that she again wondered if it wasn’t a voice at all, but only her own thoughts warning her of events still to come.

Lucy watched the group intently. Three of the figures were pushing one across the bridge.

The figure struggled against the others, but was pushed harder. The thick, wooden rail stood only four and half feet tall. They pushed the figure toward it, forcing his diaphragm against the rail.

The stood menacing around the hooded figure and Lucy felt a strong instinct to get up and help, only she was locked into place, forced to just watch what was happening. After a few moments he climbed onto the railing and fell backwards into the water. There was no splashing sound.

As the figures disappeared down the path and into the blackness beyond, Lucy found herself able to move. She raced through the fog, to the bridge and found herself looking over the edge into the water below. The water rippled and reflected moonlight. Looking around Lucy realized that the fog had disappeared, revealing a place full of beautiful spring flowers and the moon shot light across thick, green trees.

35

Confused, Lucy moved to the other side of the bridge. Here the figure was floating from under the bridge, feet first. Slowly the body of a large, round man began to appear and within moments Lucy struggled to control her emotions. The dead, bloated head of Mr. Wilson was the last to appear. Blood pooled in to the water around him. Lucy tried to cry out, but no words could escape her.

36

Chapter 9

Sebastian scribbled in his notebook, while Ginny absentmindedly flipped through songs on Lucy’s iPod. Weeks had passed and Lucy had yet to run into Cole again and the gang was getting sick of spending every single afternoon in Goren’s Bookstore.

School was as it always was cast in the shadow of the dream Lucy had the night before.

Over and over again she dreamt of Mr. Wilson’s dead, bloated body drifting down the river. She sat with a book open in front of her, but unable to focus on anything but the stairwell, hoping that any moment Cole would find his way into Herod’s.

“Lucy, what’s up with you?” Sebastian was concerned. Lucy, so distracted by her own hopes, ignored him until he reached up and pulled the earplug from Ginny’s ear. “What’s up with you guys?”

“Hey, what do you mean,” Ginny fired back. Her nails were freshly manicured, something he’d never seen before. Ginny’s normally fried hair was freshly straightened and alarmingly clean. “Somethings up with you two.” Lucy continued to stare vacantly at the stairwell until Sebastian clapped his hands in front of her face.

“Seriously,” he started, “I don’t even know if I can hang around you two anymore.”

“Why,” Ginny fired back again. She was growing increasingly agitated with his behavior. “Well, first off Ginny. Look at yourself. I don’t even recognize you. Since when do you wear colors?”

Lucy answered for her. “She can wear whatever she wants, Bass. I think she looks great.” “Oh you have an opinion now. Considering you’ve said barely three words since you dragged us here, I didn’t think you had one.”

They continued to argue like that until Lucy heard the familiar bell of the front door on the first floor. She raced to the stairwell, only to find that it was not who she was looking for.

From behind her Sebastian continued his rant. “Who are you waiting for? Are you ever going to tell us?” The dejected look she shared told them that whoever it was, he hadn’t shown.

Seth Boyd climbed the stairs of Herod’s gingerly. They were unstable underneath him and tipped and swayed as if to ward him from continuing. “Great,” said Sebastian, “What’s he doing here?” “I invited him,” Ginny answered. She smiled and stood to greet her friend.

“I can’t be here,” Sebastian said, standing to leave. He looked over at Lucy. “Are you coming?” He hardly thought she’d want to stay in such a small place with any member of The Letter Eaters. When she shook her head no, he changed his mind and slouched back into his seat.

He flung the notebook, full of trumpet notes closed, unable to continue his work.

37

Neither of them spoke as Ginny and Seth recounted their school day. Multiple times Seth tried to engage Lucy in conversation, something that sent painful pangs of jealousy through Ginny’s body causing her to shake and stutter, in an attempt to veer his conversation back to her.

“What is this place?” Seth was curious about Herod’s. There was a kind of smell he couldn’t stand, but that piqued his curiosity. He attempted to walk toward the back, toward where Lucy coveted the books there and this caused her to suddenly fire off conversation with him, steering him away for the volumes of priceless work and then reminding her once again that she’d have to tell Cole eventually.

Lucy could not thwart Seth’s attempts to make plans with her for the weekend. Ginny was able to interject and invited Sebastian along. Sebastian agreed only because he hardly wanted to see Lucy on her own with a creep like Seth. It was clear only he and Lucy saw Seth for what he really was, a Letter Eater.

Although she didn’t fully trust Seth, she was sick of listening to Sebastian complaining about all the changes Ginny had gone under since they first met. They walked home together, cutting through Goren’s Wood. Lucy worried that any moment she could be seeing her dream a reality yet again.

“I just don’t get it. He shows up and then she’s like a completely different person. I mean look at how she’s dressed.”

“I don’t know, Bass. Maybe it’s a good thing. I don’t see Ginny turning into a Letter Eater anytime soon and she seems really happy. Maybe things just changed at home. You know, maybe her Mom…” Lucy trailed off, unable to suggest that Troll had changed.

As they exited the wood, Lucy’s home came into view and both her guidance counselor, Mr. Wilson and her father stood on the porch. “Oh my word,” Lucy exclaimed. “Well, this is my cue to bounce. You let me know how this one goes.”

Neither man spoke until Lucy had ascended the porch stairs and stood in complete view of them. Her thick blonde hair was sprinkled with snow that melted rapidly under the porch light.

Daryl thought she looked so much like her mother Scarlet, and even more like an angel.

“Hi Lucy,” Mr. Wilson started. “I’m sorry to bother you at home. I just haven’t been able to reach you at school.” Daryl also spoke, “Lucy, Mr. Wilson says you’ve haven’t had a session with him in some time. You know it’s not right to skip appointments, honey.” Lucy knew this day would come only she hadn’t prepared any excuse.

Even now she couldn’t look into her old mentor’s face without seeing it bloated and dead.

He was a constant reminder of a dream that may very well be a dream, or it could come true and she didn’t know what to do. Both men stood staring at her, willing her to drum up some kind of excuse.

38

“I’m overwhelmed, Mr. Wilson. I’ve been studying for midterms during my free period. I emailed you that.”

“Yes, you emailed me that. And I emailed you back requesting just a few minutes of your time and you ignored me.”

Daryl could tell Lucy was tired and unable to answer so he excused them both. He promised Mr. Wilson a phone call in the morning and that he and Lucy would have time to work out a new schedule soon, but in the meantime they couldn’t make her attend sessions.

Lucy was relieved and all at once saddened by the look on Mr. Wilson’s face. He was a trusted advisor, a friend and she’d just hurt him. She made a promise that she’d see him again after the long weekend.

39

Chapter 10

The day was bitter cold and Ginny was running late. “You’re a complete mess, Ginny Franklin. I want this house clean. Then you’re going to stand in that living room and write all the different ways you disobey me on that chalkboard.”

Troll was in a particularly aggressive mood. As Ginny obeyed, by kneeling down and beginning to hand wash hardwood floors, she parted her thick lips and smiled up at the picture of her father. Ginny scrubbed but couldn’t take her eyes off the dusty, decaying chalkboard, wishing she could just set fire to it, wishing she could just set fire to the whole house.

Later her wrist ached and her eyes were becoming unfocused as she wrote over and over again, “It is my responsibility to follow through on my chores. It is my duty to clean this house. I will not let the floors gather dust. I will not talk back to my mother. I will not keep unsavory company.” Ginny wondered if she would be able to meet her friends at all and a dark voice nagged at her mind. C’mon. Don’t be late.

When Ginny finally finished, Troll marched across the room and flipped the chalkboard to the other side, letting her know she wasn’t done at all. The very last part was confusing to Ginny. “Unsavory company.” Who did she mean? Certainly not Seth as the mother seemed to encourage the relationship, then Sebastian and Lucy. She dared not question it and opted to just do as her mother told her, praying that the session would soon end.

Ginny’s unsavory company happened to be waiting nearby for her. They were trying to determine if they even wanted to be at Herod’s at all if Seth was going to be there, and Ginny wasn’t. In the end, Lucy determined that a Saturday afternoon at Herod’s was just another opportunity to run into Cole – so what did it matter?

They waited in the alley for some time and Sebastian did his best to entertain his company, hoping to draw Lucy out of her own mind, back to the present. There was something he’d been waiting to ask her.

“Grab the rope,” he shouted, regaling her with a gym class anecdote. “It’s a rope. It was made for climbing, now climb it!”

Sebastian’s face went completely red as he imitated the gruff voice of his gym class teacher. “So, what did you do?” Lucy asked, not really caring. “Well, he kept screaming stuff like ‘dig deep, Sebastian, dig deep.’ And so I looked at that giant rope and all the laughing jocks and I did dig deep. I dug my hand deep into my pocket and produced one of these.”

Sebastian presented Lucy with his middle finger and found joy in her instant and sudden laughter. “And I said, ‘climb this.’ I spent the rest of the day with Mr. Wilson. By the way he 40

was asking about you.” The laughter stopped abruptly and Lucy’s eyes were beginning to return to that distant, cloudy place they always seemed to be these days.

“Sebastian, you’re going to flunk gym.” “No,” that’s the beauty of it. “I had to come back for detention and I grabbed that rope and I raced to the top. He was impressed and didn’t even make me stay the full hour.”

Lucy wondered if this were true and if it was she was becoming annoyed. “So, why didn’t you just climb it to begin with?” “Oh shit,” Sebastian said as they rounded the corner and found themselves in front of Herod’s. Lucy followed his gaze to an el fresco café just across the street. It seemed Seth meant to ambush them, as he was dining with the entire gang of Letter Eaters.

Callum noticed them first. Seth smiled but Lucy was nonplussed. Something wasn’t right and she could sense that. “We need to get out of here, Bass,” she said with urgency. “Yeah, you think?” Sebastian was fully aware that making the mistake of just looking into Callum’s squinted, dark eyes was asking for trouble.

Lucy thought back to the way Callum’s face had distorted in the alley, and that’s exactly where they were heading. Goren’s Wood was vast. There were many places to hide. Lucy wondered for a moment that if she were still friends with them, if she were a part of The Letter Eaters, would she be waiting for opportunities to bully on a Saturday afternoon.

There was no time to make it down the alley. Before she and Bass could make a run for the woods, Callum and Seth were there. Their speed was unnatural and Lucy was sure of it now.

Something wasn’t right with The Letter Eaters. Something had changed.

Tina walked at a slower pace, yawning until she finally found her way over to them.

“What is this?” She said, rolling her eyes in the direction of Lucy and Sebastian. Her long, black hair was swept back in a ponytail, under a powder blue head band that matched the blue velour track suit she wore. Tina had cheer practice that day and she had only stopped for coffee at the behest of Seth. She had no desire to meet with town’s two biggest losers on her day off.

Until Seth had showed up Tina made all the decisions, but Callum had become enamored with Seth – more so than he was with Tina’s cheerleading body. She wanted to go home and crawl into bed, to stay there, but these days Seth and Callum always seemed up to something.

And what do they care about Seabass and Lucy? It’s not like she killed their uncle.

“Lucy the loser. And Stink—bastian. Where do you think you’re going?” Callum taunted them, standing between them and an alley. Lucy was nervous, but what could really happen in the middle of the day in the middle of town? “Seriously,” he continued. “Don’t run off. Stop and say hello to the heroes of your graduating class. Going state for the third year in a row! Thanks to 41

this guy!” Callum smacked the stomach of Seth, who barely flinched or changed the stone cold expression on his face.

“Aren’t you meeting Ginny today,” Lucy asked Seth. Her green eyes seemed to flare, and Seth eyed her back curiously. “Why did you bring them?” Lucy had resolved herself that Seth’s pet project with Ginny was clearly just to make fun of her, and her anger was stronger than her fear.

“Wait. What?” Tina was probing Seth. “You were meeting who here.” She then turned her direction on Lucy and Sebastian. “I’m sorry. I don’t have time for this.” Before she could turn and leave, Seth reached out and stopped her. “You’re not going anywhere.” Strangely, Tina did not disobey. Instead she just stood her ground, glaring at those around them.

“What do you want?” Lucy asked the group, finally coming to rest on Callum’s eyes.

They were large, but in normal proportion to his bulbous head. They were bulging and there were no blue veins in his neck. She wanted to believe it was the darkness of the alley that had caused her imagination to run wild, but she couldn’t.

Lucy turned her gaze on Tina, who took a step back. Lucy’s eyes seemed to shine with an intensity of their own. They always held the brightest green coloring, but now they almost seemed to glow. A ferocious breeze ripped passed The Letter Eaters and Lucy asked her old friend, “Tina, can we pass by?”

Tina wanted to hold her ground. In fact, a voice in her brain told her over and over again.

Don’t move. Don’t move. But, she didn’t feel like fighting today and so she stepped aside.

Callum and Seth both moved to block their paths. Callum went the extra step of shoving Sebastian back hard, in the shoulder.

“Come on guys,” Tina started. “I really don’t feel like looking at these two any longer than I have to. We have to see them at school. Isn’t that enough?”

Callum and Seth ignored her. Seth stood in stone faced silence, while Callum jaw relaxed and his giant tongue drooled and swiped at his lips. Tina’s mind again began speaking in that unfamiliar way, something she was hardly becoming used to. It was her drunken father. This is her fault. If hadn’t been passed out, we wouldn’t be here.

For a moment, Tina’s own thoughts interrupted. In images she saw what life would have been like if Daryl had done his job correctly. She saw herself and Lucy graduating from high school. They had a plan to stay in close contact. Lucy wanted NYU, while Tina always knew she’d end up at a great state school with a famous football team. She was still considering Penn State and Ohio State as her first choices.

They were best friends, with plans to get together over holiday breaks. They knew that even college distance wouldn’t break them apart. In fact they made a pact on it, pinky swearing 42

they’d go through life always as friends – neither one had a sister. But, that was before. That was before they died. Your uncle and your niece are dead.

Tina’s brain flashbacked to the call her mother had received early in the morning. She remembered waiting outside the morgue while her mother and aunt identified the bodies. More vividly she remembered her aunt collapsing outside the hospital and having to be admitted herself. That caused it and they have no remorse. She did it. Lucy is to blame.

Tina thought about how close her Uncle Frank and Aunt Lisa lived to the sheriff’s station. Only twenty minutes away. They could have been there to save her family in time, but they weren’t. No one knows for sure what happened that night. Tammy called the police station, but no dispatcher picked up. Instead she received the same recording over and over and she left message after message pleading for help. They played those messages on the news, next to a mug shot of a drunken Daryl Bennett.

Frank never even strapped Marissa into a car seat. It didn’t matter if Tammy cheated or not, she blamed herself, but Tina blamed Daryl Bennett. It was his job. The papers reported that there was plenty of time to save them. Daryl Bennett slept off the Jameson just three inches from the telephone where those calls came in.

Mandatory AA and three weeks in jail isn’t enough. Tina then thought in her own voice, no it isn’t. Because she remembered all the nights she’d spent in the Bennett home. She remembered every excuse Lucy told for Daryl’s drinking. Tina remembered every blanket Lucy spread across his skinny, drunken body. As far as Tina was concerned, Lucy Bennett enabled her father making her responsible for what happened too.

Lucy had been eyeing Tina for some time. Something was changing in Tina, and Lucy suddenly with assurance understood what that was. Lucy’s fair skinned cheeks, flushed with a hot red, when she realized that Tina was standing there, reliving the days and weeks after that night. Lucy’s guilt spilled over. She wanted to interrupt her thoughts. Lucy wanted to apologize, but how could she in that moment.

Tina suddenly, with a ferocious rage, took the reins. “C’mon Loser. You know why we’re here.”

Lucy shook her head. Her heart was racing. It was all becoming too much. Was she seeing things? Was she imagining that she could see into Tina’s mind, to know how upset she was becoming?

The bitter voice filled both Tina’s and Lucy’s mind, sending Lucy reeling backward unable to determine which were her thoughts and which were Tina’s. Tell her Tina. She destroyed everything. She helped kill Frank and Marissa. Tell her. The bitter voice fueled Tina, and she was about to shout it all directly at Lucy, she was about to attack her when Lucy 43

interjected. “Tina, I’m sorry. I’m sorry for how everything got ruined.” Tears streamed down her face, and Lucy found herself unable to stop them.

Sebastian had enough and he grabbed Lucy’s arm, unable to stand the disquiet the tears caused in his own heart. He wanted nothing more than to wipe them away and return that naïve, beautiful green glow to them. Before they could find their way passed, Callum was blocking their path, bumping his massive chest right into Sebastian’s own forehead.

Sebastian let go of Lucy to massage his temple, before bursting into a coarse laughter.

“What in the hell’s so funny, freak?” Callum crossed his arms and barked this into Sebastian’s face. The last thing Sebastian felt like doing was fighting with anyone today, least of all The Letter Eater’s strongest player.

He had been planning a serious conversation with Lucy, but that would have to wait. This situation was becoming way too typical and way too dangerous. He resolved himself that there was no way of escaping it. The only thing to do now was react.

“What isn’t funny about it, Callum? You’re the ones who seem bent on living out some 1986 John Cusack teen comedy fantasies, where you’re the jocks in the movie. I’m sorry. I thought it was my cue to laugh. It’s too bad we’re not on a snow covered mountain right now.”

Callum seemed confused by both Sebastian’s strength and reference. It occurred to him then that Seth had remained silent through their entire encounter. In fact, he seemed hard pressed, working out something faraway in his mind. Lucy still held Sebastian’s hand, and he pulled her right through Seth and Callum, intent to leave the altercation.

C’mon Ginny. Your friends need your help. The words sprang into her mind, and she felt herself answering them. Her wrist was growing tired from all the writing. She was nearing the edge of the chalkboard and would soon be done. Her writing was beginning to swoop and sway, but she took care not to make any mistakes. A single mistake would mean having to begin all over again.

Ginny let images of Seth motivate her. She wondered if she’d be invited to any of their parties. She thought of the clothes he’d bought her. She wore them under an oversized Whiskey Falls High School sweatshirt, which she planned to rip off as soon as she was passed the driveway.

“Done!” She said with a resolved satisfaction. Inside she was pleading with a higher power for her mother to just give her a break and let her go. Only she should have been wishing to be kept home in order to avoid the altercation that currently was taking place.

Troll didn’t care that Ginny had plans on a Saturday afternoon. She didn’t even care that her young daughter meant to meet up with a boy, a boy she actually approved on. She only cared that she had a craving for mint julep and they were out. She took out a pen and started jotting a 44

list, four bags long, for Ginny to pick up at a small market in the heart of town. A market that sat directly across the street from Herod’s Bookstore.

Good Ginny thought At least then I can explain why I’m not coming.

Ginny rubbed her tender wrist, wondering if she’d even be able to hold a single bag, let alone the number it would take to fill her mother’s request. As she stood waiting, watching her mother turn over sheet after sheet of paper filling it with items she wasn’t even sure they needed, Ginny noticed that brown, loose pieces of skin were beginning to form on the swells of Troll’s neck.

“Skin tags,” Troll said, looking up. “Why don’t you take a picture?” Around the front of her neck she’d actually placed small rubber bands around some of them in an effort to force them to rot and eventually fall off.

Ginny felt a burst of rejuvenation when the frigid air hit her face and cooled her hot body.

She pulled the sweatshirt off and ditched it near a bush outside the house. She walked at a brisk pace, intent to stop and see her friends before heading over to do her mother’s shopping. The jacket she wore was thin, and the cold began to slow her down and she came to regret leaving the sweatshirt behind.

Ginny was so distracted by her own excitement she didn’t notice that Cole walked a short pace behind her, matching his stride for her own, but keeping his distance. He stayed to the opposite side of the road. All while eyeing her and sniffing the air. His bright blue eyes seemed to almost shine brighter under the bright sun.

“Lucy,” Tina called from behind her. “I just wanted to you it’s getting closer to the anniversary. How are you and your dad celebrating?”

Lucy stopped in her tracks, despite Sebastian attempting to edge her forward. The date was still months away, and strangely this was the first that she’d thought of it. She turned to look at Tina, who’s normally soft features were hardened and who’s eyes seemed a stony, black expanse.

Seth stood near her, no longer with that faraway look on his face. His dark skin seemed tinged with red and he was positively flushed with good humor. “You know how we’re celebrating, Lucy?” Tina continued, reveling and the wind rushing through her hair was not helping quell the fear in Lucy that she’d somehow transformed from an average, bitchy teenager to a fierce sorcerous. “We’ll spend the day near their graves and then the night at my aunt’s to make sure she doesn’t try and kill herself again.”

Hot, angry tears formed at the corners of Tina’s dark eyes. Lucy wanted to say or do something to extinguish the fire that burned within Tina. Lucy could feel it in her own heart and 45

soul and it was weakening her, drawing the energy away from her until she found herself leaning on Sebastian for support. “C’mon,” he said, drawing her arm around his neck. “Just leave it.”

But, Lucy couldn’t leave it. She felt responsible and she wanted desperately to make Tina understand that she would do anything to take it all away. She couldn’t let the moment just pass.

She couldn’t fail to express the guilt she felt. In many ways Lucy felt she owed Tina that.

“I’m sorry,” Lucy said, between sobs. “I am so sorry to Tammy and Frank and Marissa. I think about them. All the time. I really am so very sorry…” Before she could finish her thought, Tina was rushing her, blood filling her face and her temples seemed to pulse right before their very eyes.

“No! You don’t get to say their names. And don’t feel sorry for me, Lucy Bennett. The best thing that ever happened to me was losing you as a friend. You’re a worthless, disgusting, piece of drunk-scumbag-father trash!” Although depleted, the dark voice urged in Tina’s mind egging her on. Yes, yes. Tell her! Tell her she’s guilty. It shouted, and again Lucy could hear it too.

“Tina,” Lucy started. “Please don’t tell me I’m guilty. I can’t hear it anymore. I already know.” Tina stopped her in tracks, unable to process whether Lucy was responding to what she’d said or what she’d thought.

They stood so close to one another that Lucy could feel the heat of Tina’s tears as they rolled down her face. She could also feel Sebastian’s arm on hers and resolved herself that the time had come to walk away. Tina Monroe would likely spend the rest of her life hating her and Lucy resolved herself that she probably deserved it.

Seth was behind Tina, pushing her forward, as if to silently tell her to continue on. With effort, Tina shrugged him off and pushed the negative thoughts from her mind. It was hard to quiet the internal dark voice, ever egging her on. Make her pay. Get her! Rip her throat out.

“No!” Tina screamed. She turned away from the group and ran, dodging traffic and disappearing around a corner. Lucy watched her go for a moment and she and Sebastian shared an unbelieving look as she moved with incredible speed.

From behind them Callum Norris beckoned them back. “Don’t run away, losers! We’re just getting started.” His laugh was a sick reminder of their altercation the night before. “C’mon, don’t run away,” he continued.

Sebastian could hear steps from behind them, and realized with a sick assurance that they weren’t going to let it end. He turned around to find himself once again facing the hulking mass of Callum Norris. “She’s not running away. You’re idiots. She isn’t going to fight you because you make her feel guilty everyday of her life! Was she driving that car? No. She was a friend to 46

you. She did everything she could to stop you from turning your back on her. I think that says worse about any of you than it does about her.”

Ginny heard the commotion and was distracted before almost colliding with a quickly fleeing Tina Monroe. Tina shoved Ginny hard, pushing her aside and running passed. Ginny watched her disappear down the road, shocked at the speed with which she used to take off.

Then she saw them across the road. She saw Callum Norris stretch before he lunged at Sebastian Sumner. Sebastian turned to run, but was caught by the collar, sending him flying backward. His tailbone hit the sidewalk hard, where he found himself breathless.

Lucy stood alone, now completely vulnerable to Callum once again. Apparently it didn’t matter that it was the middle of the day, in the middle of the town, The Letter Eaters seemed even above that.

Callum turned a sick, fat smile on Lucy and she had to brace her mind when it began to twist and grow right before her eyes. It was too familiar and there was no one else around to witness sit.

Lucy’s mind reeled as she tried to convince herself that what her eyes saw couldn’t possibly be real. His eyes seemed out of control, like Tina’s when she was mad, dark and unrecognizable. “What is happening to you,” Lucy asked and then before waiting for an answer, “Callum, just let us go home and we’ll all forget this happened.”

He was backing her against the Cobblestone wall of Herod’s. On one side of her was the entrance, and she prepared herself to try to sneak in. She’d call the police this time. As she found her hand wrapping against the cold steel of the door knob, Callum was in front of her.

He rested his palms on either side of her head and leaned in close, his breath smelled putrid like rotting flesh and garbage. Lucy winced and tried to turn away, but couldn’t as she was pinned against the building.

As she kicked her legs out, in a failed attempt to free herself, Callum stepped between them. His steel frame and muscle were stronger, much more so than what an average teen’s should be, even one who played football.

He looked her up and down, especially down, as he stood far above her and her cleavage had become exposed in the struggle. He made no secret of looking. “I like what you’re working with these days, Lucy,” he whispered into her ear. “You’re really filling out.”

An attempt to duck under his thick arm was thwarted. It was reminiscent of the alley, but her saving grace was that Seth and Sebastian were present. “Please,” she cried out. “Get him off me.” Seth stood as silent as ever, until Sebastian leaned forward to stand up and help his friend.

A swift kick to the chest rendered him screaming in pain, on the ground and unable to move.

47

Callum’s arms were like two heavy canons, but they were fast. Wherever Lucy moved, they moved to stop her. “If they can stop a three hundred pound line-backer from catching a touchdown pass, I think they can handle a little twat.”

Lucy continued struggle, but Callum’s grip on her was relentless. His laughter filled her ears and reminded her of their previous encounters. With a questioning look, Callum turned to Seth for a moment. With a grim look and nod from Seth, Callum had the approval he needed to continue on.

“He’s controlling you,” Lucy screamed up at Callum. “Don’t let him. Fight it.” For a moment Seth’s color died down, as Lucy’s words seemed to register for a moment somewhere under the meaty forehead that housed his brain.

Ginny stood, frozen across the street. She could barely make out what was happening, but wasn’t sure how to react. After a moment she determined that something was going on, and the most she could do was help and so she waited for traffic to clear the street.

“Lost a little weight there, Lucy. Gained some boob. You know you could come back to us. You could be my pet. I’d make sure to stroke you, clean you, feed you.”

Lucy spit up at his bulbous head, but the loogey fell short and landed on his collar.

Callum’s features were mashing up before her eyes, and she knew she couldn’t be imagining this. He either didn’t notice the spit, or didn’t care, because he made no attempt to wipe it away.

His large eyes were becoming inflamed and seemed like at any moment they may pop and explode from the socket. Callum leaned in closer, until Lucy could smell his breath so rancid that her gag reflex kicked in and the taste of bile filled her mouth. In a voice both his own, and someone else’s, Callum whispered to her. “We know what you are. We’re going to save you, but we will have you.”

Lucy was ready to shut down completely when the voice that guided her dreams filled her ear. Lucy Bennett. Don’t you give up. You have to fight. “I can’t,” Lucy said, out loud, confusing her captor. “But, you will give up,” Callum responded back, still in the menacing dark voice.

Lucy kicked out again, only to find herself even more trapped by Callum’s massive frame. He leaned into her so closely that she could feel him growing against her. “Do you like it?” He whispered in her ear, and Lucy fought to stop tears from falling. “Callum, please stop.

Please just let me go. You’re sick. You need help.”

He was relentless and moved one hand to her body. He groped her stomach hard, his hand moving hard against her body in order to feel her and keep her pinned to the wall. It hurt.

Lucy closed her eyes in an attempt to block out the pain. Fight, Lucy. Fight. Yell, scream. You can do this.

48

Pinned against the cobblestone wall of her favorite bookstore, in a town she’d trusted for years, Lucy Bennett felt defeated. In two more moments, Callum Norris – possessed high school footballer – would be cupping her breast. She opened her mouth to once again scream for help, for someone to come by and save her.

But, Callum was too quick and moved his hand to cover her mouth. Lucy was horrified and yet relieved that he’d moved his hand, even if it was to stifle her scream. Her tears spilled onto his hand, and he found himself looking into her eyes.

Her beautiful jade green eyes seemed to glow too, only with warm, calming light. For a single moment, Callum found himself sitting on a hard wooden chair in the school library. Lucy sat beside him, laughing and erasing with her pencil. She returned the pencil to him, “Just try to think of these numbers as football players, and these ones as team jerseys. How many players will have jerseys and how many won’t?” They were both laughing.

Callum loosened his grip on Lucy and then returned to reality as Lucy’s boot met his crotch. Enormous Callum Norris doubled over in pain, wincing and grunting as he nearly fell to the ground. Lucy’s fist connected with his jaw, causing him to fall to his knees.

Ginny found an opening and began to cross the street. She was certain Lucy Bennett had just punched Callum Norris in the face. Her friend needed her help and was going to make sure she got it.

Chapter 11

Peter Simpson was a long haul trucker from Palm Wonderful, Florida, passing through Whiskey Falls just to get off the highway for a while. As Ginny raced to cross the road, his big rig barreled down the town’s Main Street.

His coffee steamed and burned his tongue, causing him to drop its hot contents across his lap. He leaned down, losing sight of the road, something they’d warned against in truck driving school. Cole stood ready, as Pete’s giant rig swerved in the road.

Only Cole wasn’t seen by anyone, as he wasn’t really there. He moved in another space, passing right by the ensuing violence without as much as passing glance. His focus was on Ginny Franklin. It was her time. He hoped that she was ready, but young people rarely are.

Lucy was shaking her fist, having just punched the thick headed Callum again right between his joyless eyes, as Cole passed right by her. Her heart fell and lunge and a pull toward him, despite the events that had just shocked and controlled her. As Cole stepped off the curb, Lucy found herself distracted and thus pulled down by Callum. “Cole,” she shouted out.

49

Where Cole was no sound could be heard, only a murky muffle like listening to voices under water. He hesitated for only a second, as his name cut through the murky silence like a submarine torpedo. That split second threw everything off.

Ginny raced through a second lane of traffic, right into Peter’s path. Peter had refocused, but still struggled to wipe up coffee. With no time to miss her, Peter found himself barreling right toward the girl. Ginny panicked, stopping in the middle of the road, her life about to flash before her eyes, her world seconds away from turning black.

Ginny’s eyes traveled to those of the drivers and for one moment both she and Peter shared a similar fate. Her fate was being judged in another world for all of her good and bad deeds, his was being judged in this one for taking the life away from a little girl. Still, she stood frozen in terror, until she felt her body being flung backward.

As her body traveled backward she got a good look at Cole. A thick cloud of smoke twirled around swirled around him, ripping into the sky above. A huge mass grew from the smoke behind him, until the smoke seemed to be illuminating two dark wings. His body disappeared into the smoke until he was only a dark space, set between an enormous, smoking wing span. All that remained of him was the bright, blue light of his eyes. The smoke blotted out everything behind him, until she could no longer see Lucy, Sebastian or The Letter Eaters.

Ginny felt her body slam onto hard cement and was sure she’d died. She was sure she’d just seen the angel of death and the semi had rammed into her. Her head throbbed, but when she opened her eyes it wasn’t God before her, but instead the perfect teeth, of a smiling Seth. “You saved me,” she said reaching up to him. “I did,” he returned. “But, now I have to go.” In a flash, he disappeared down the road.

Cole’s enormous, dark wing-span had blotted out everything around him, but now he appeared normal, standing in disbelief in front of her friends. Ginny was sure of what she’d seen, and sure that it was his eyes that had locked her in place in front of oncoming traffic.

Peter Simpson had pulled his giant rig over to the side of the road, and raced out to meet the girl, now standing on the side of the road. “Are you okay, little girl,” he said, racing to check on her, thankful he didn’t hurt her. Instead of answering, Ginny pushed him aside and crossed the road, intent on protecting her friends from the darkness she’d witnessed.

Peter stood shock still. Her red hair, pale face and freckles remained imbedded in his memory until the day death came to take him years later. Lucy, Sebastian and the only remaining Letter Eater, Callum had witnessed the whole thing. Still, it wasn’t enough to keep Lucy’s gaze.

Her gaze returned to Cole. None of them had seen what Ginny saw.

Callum shook his head in disbelief as Ginny came rushing over to them. He still didn’t fully comprehend how she made it. After a moment, he adjusted to the altercation and realized 50

that he stood outnumbered, even more so by the fact that the same well-dressed boy who’d launched him across the alley stood near them.

Lucy tried again to reach Cole. “Cole.” She said his name again, only calmer. She wondered how he always managed to be there when she was in danger. Cole was heavily distracted, unable to tear his gaze from Ginny. “Cole?” Lucy asked again with more urgency.

Until now, Cole had always made the conscious choice over who got a second chance.

There were those with good arguments, with lives he couldn’t take and the voice of the selector would fall on him to let them live. But, there was never a time, until now, that he’d missed. His perfect record was tarnished. He resolved himself that Ginny Franklin would live to see another day.

Lucy’s beautiful, startled face was the first to greet him as he turned around. He turned his blue eyes on Callum, who stood shocked for a moment and then took off the same way Tina had. Before he disappeared, Callum shouted back toward them. “Just messing around guys! See you at school.”

Peter had caught up to Ginny. “Young lady, you need to be more careful when crossing the road. I’m so sorry. Are you sure you’re okay?” Ginny shook her head, “I’m fine.” She cared not one iota about Peter, she was only able to focus on Cole and nearby Lucy who seemed ready to fling herself at him. A devil. A demon. He’s a monster.

Everything in Ginny’s being was telling her she needed to warn her friend. Even though Cole appeared human, she knew the dark voice was right. He was something more, something inhuman and dangerous.

As Sebastian found his footing, Lucy began to faint. Her run in with The Letter Eaters and Ginny’s near accident had simply proven too much for her. As she fell backward, Cole was able to quickly catch her, holding her half on her feet and in his arms. As Lucy came to, she still clung to him, his touch sending shivers through her whole body. She held fast to him, and he made no move to let her go.

“Holy shit, dude!” Sebastian was rushing Ginny, stopping her and patting at her arms as if he couldn’t believe she’d made it in one piece. “Are you okay?” He then turned toward Lucy, stuttering for a second to find her in Cole’s arms, but too excited to let it bother him. “And you!

You just punched the biggest dude in our high school, sending him to the ground like a sack of potatoes.”

Cole found himself desiring to leave, but not wanting to let the beautiful creature in his arms go. He hardly found himself engaging strangers, and here he was suddenly tangled up in three lives. And he still couldn’t figure how Lucy had cut through to him, causing him to fail at his job for the very first time. Looking into her eyes, he couldn’t help but smile. It did not matter.

51

Sebastian stood amazed by Lucy’s strength, and ready to help her himself. He moved to take her from Cole’s embrace, but she struggled to stay and Cole held her closer. Sebastian was shocked to realize that Lucy meant to leave with this stranger. He wanted to stop her, but before he could Ginny was on them.

“Get away from her!” She screamed at Cole, her red hair unkempt and reminiscent of the days before she’d come to know Seth. Rage caused her pale skin to inflame beat red, almost matching her hair. Her freckles no longer stood out, but matched her crimson skin tone.

“Lucy,” Ginny screamed. “Get away from him! He’s a monster.” She then turned a wagging finger on Cole. “I saw you. I know what you are.” It took a moment to realize that Ginny’s near-death experience had exposed him. Sebastian stepped in her way, stopping her from getting any closer.

“Hey, he just saved Lucy from hitting the cement. The guy is a hero, not a monster. And where were you? You just set us up, let us here to get harassed by the real monsters.” Ginny pushed him aside, ignoring his comments. “Get away from her, you monster!”

Lucy could hardly stand any more. “Stop yelling!” She screamed, silencing them all.

“Just get out of here. I can’t stand you. Just go!” Ginny wanted to move closer, but the words from her closest friend stung her.

In a rusted Dodge Neon, Troll pulled over nearly bumping the curb. Peter had enough and climbed into his rig, shaken but unwilling to watch any longer. Troll’s hefty frame lurched slowly from the vehicle, and once she was free she bounded up to Ginny. Her tired, waxen skin was laden with white pieces of tissue paper. The blood that held them to her neck was dried and held the tissue in place.

“Get in the car.” She took hold of Ginny’s arm. “I send you to the store for just a few things and find you partying like trash on the street corner?”

Troll shot Lucy and Sebastian a dirty look, before pulling Ginny to the car. It took her a minute to register Cole’s presence and then her demeanor changed entirely. She flew open the side door, stuffing Ginny in all while smiling at the group of them. “I apologize for my daughter.

She was supposed to be home and well you know how teenage girls are. I’ll see you bright and early on Monday.”

Ginny fought against the closing door, but it was a losing battle. As they pulled away Ginny screamed from the open window, “Lucy… run… monster.”

“What the hell was that,” Sebastian asked, scratching his head. Sebastian felt he’d iterated a shared sentiment, but was amiss to find Lucy and Cole simply staring into one another’s eyes. Together they turned to leave, not acknowledging Sebastian.

52

“Where are you going?” He asked, and when he got no answer, “Can I come?” Cole answered for Lucy, as he was beginning to understand that she’d experienced a trauma no person should have to withstand. She had gifts beyond normal comprehension, and he could see that now.

“I’m going to take her inside.” “I’ll call you later,” Lucy offered back.

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Chapter 12

The interior of Herod’s seemed to meld together into an array of bookshelves and unrecognizable titles. She struggled to make it up the wrought iron stair case and didn’t fully come to until she found herself seated on the second floor.

“What are you doing here,” she asked between sips of cold water Cole had brought her.

“What do you mean,” he returned. “I own the place.”

Lucy didn’t care to delve further into his real reasons for showing up in Whiskey Falls.

She was just tired, and disquieted by the day’s events. She craved peace, harmony and relaxation and she got it when Cole put on a record and allowed her to fall into a troubled sleep on his shoulder.

She awoke later to find herself lying under a blanket, with his jacket as a pillow. Looking around she found him organizing shelves at the back of the store. “I guess you know then?” She asked him, staring somberly at the titles. “Know what?” “That the books up here are worth a small fortune.” “I’ve known that for a long time. What does it matter?” Lucy shook her head. “I guess it doesn’t. I just… I wanted to tell you. I didn’t think you knew. Do you mean to sell them?” Cole laughed, shaking his head, his long, dark hair coming loose from the tie that held them back. “Of course not. What reason would I have to sell them? I’m already rich.”

Lucy gathered that it was likely he was rich. He owned the largest mansion she’d ever seen. No matter how decrepit or long left, the place marveled some of the largest houses in Beverly Hills. He drove a fancy car and he dressed in dark, pantsuits made from materials reminiscent of a time long passed.

“You like it here,” he said, interrupting her thoughts. “I do,” she answered, relaxing.

Something about the way he looked at her, told her that he understood that she spent hours on the second floor, that Herod’s was like an escape for her, a home away from home.

“Come here,” he said, taking her hand. His hand was soft, but icy cold. “I want to show you something.” He led her to the back of the bookstore by hand, stopping at the last rack. No light came in through the window there, signifying her that day had become night. She wondered if Daryl worried about her, but not enough to take leave just yet.

Cole produced a pristine copy of The Dream of the Red Chamber. “What is it,” she asked him, causing his blue eyes to twinkle as he laughed. “It’s a first edition copy of one of the most famous, Chinese great classical novels. It is chock full of proverbs, mythology, cuisine… It’s from 1759.” Lucy could hardly focus on the book, as she found herself drawn to his eyes, ears, 54

skin. His face was a marvel of good bone structure, perfect teeth and full pink lips that she fought the urge to just reach out and touch.

He led her through the entire section, drawing her hand across their binding and regaling the stories they told. Each book was a priceless first edition or an old copy. Each book had an amazing story inside it. As he drew her around the shelving, so they were sandwiched between two, she stopped him and turned him to face her.

Everything about him drew her closer. In her sixteen years, there was never anyone so remarkable and she didn’t care how old he was or what secrets he kept. She meant to kiss him, wedged between books, on a cold winter day, she was going to kiss her first boy. But, he stopped her, holding her back gently so she could lean in no farther.

“What,” she pleaded. She could see it in his eyes that he wanted her. The caress of her hand as he dusted across the spines of the books was enough for her to know. The way he held the small of her back, the way he spoke to her, it all led to one logical conclusion that he wanted to kiss her. But, he stopped her.

“You don’t…” Cole struggled, wondering how to tell her. “You don’t understand. It’s not your choice.” “Believe me, it is,” Lucy said, in her most seductive voice and leaned forward again. “No,” Cole said, stopping her again. “It isn’t. I’m going to take you home now.”

As Cole dropped Lucy’s hand, she turned away embarrassed. He wanted desperately to explain, but couldn’t because he knew that she could not, would not believe him. There was something in the way she moved, her bouncy blonde curls danced around her shoulders. She was sad, but there was a light in her that could not be stifled. She was beautiful and he longed to tell her he knew that.

The walk home was mostly silent until they reached the clearing and the brightly lit wood bridge. Lucy stopped walking and just stared at the bridge, unable to take her eyes off it. For a moment she forgot her present company and was transformed back to a recurring nightmare that foretold the death of her mentor.

“Lucy,” Cole started, taking her hand in his. “Is everything okay?” Lucy nodded, forgetting the dream and reveling that he had her hand again. “Everything’s fine.” They left footprints behind them in a light snow as they walked the path to the bridge. At its highest point, Cole drew her close to him and they stared out toward the horizon. The moon was just a sliver in the sky, but it still gleamed and glimmered over the rippling water.

“I love it here.” Cole seemed lost in the ripples of the water. Lucy was lost in his eyes.

Here they seemed to glimmer and glow, much like they did when she’d first met him. “Me too.”

She answered simply.

55

Dressed all in black, Cole’s pale skin seemed to stand out stronger than ever around the gas fueled lamps. Even with a cold wind blowing toward them, no color came to his cheek. She pressed herself ever closer to him and prayed that the moment would not end. He did not push her away.

“I usually know when someone is near me.” The statement caught Lucy off guard, as she could not catch his meaning. Before she could ask what he meant, he continued on. “That day, in this wood, when I first saw you…I didn’t hear you. I didn’t even know you were there, until I saw you. How do you remain so quiet?” He trailed off for a moment before finished. “…quiet in spirit?”

Lucy didn’t understand. The question was vague and she could hardly determine if he meant for her to respond at all. His voice was a soft baritone and when it filled her ears it calmed her. “I don’t know,” was all she could think to say. “Your father is worried about you,” Cole continued and then thought better. “I mean your father is probably worried about you.” “No, he’s fine,” Lucy tried to prolong the moment, but Cole led her away from the bridge, away from the rippling water and toward home where she would inevitably have to say goodbye.

They parted at the wood’s end, in a place where her house was visible. The short jaunt across the street was well lit and neighbor’s lights were on. “You’ll be safe from here,” Cole told her. “Will I see you again,” she asked, a bit sheepishly. Cole scratched his head, offering a moment of vulnerability Lucy did not expect from such a confident boy. “I’m sure we will…at Herod’s. I’ll see you soon.”

He did not kiss her. He turned abruptly and disappeared back through the line of trees where the wood was thick she couldn’t see the trail or his body watching her cross the road to ensure her safe trip home. As Lucy disappeared into her brightly lit house, Cole heard the familiar sound of a lighter from behind him.

“She’s pretty,” Paimon hissed from behind him. “She is,” Cole returned, turning to face him. Paimon’s stood, leaning against a Sycamore tree, dragging heavily on a fat cigar. The crushed velvet suit he wore held all the glamour of a time long passed, like a doo wop singer in a smoky nightclub. The brim of his hat was long and feathered. It cast a long shadow that hid his eyes, but not his furry snout or pointy teeth.

Cole laughed, which came out flat and dull in the dense forest. “What’s this look you’re going for, Paimon?” Paimon turned his face to Cole, revealing two troubled, yellow eyes and a shiny black nose. “You’re no rat,” Cole stated, continuing to laugh. “Come on, buddy. Let’s go home.” As they turned to leave, Paimon’s long, hard tail swished away dried leaves and the thin layer of snow that had settled earlier in the day. “She’s special,” Paimon offered. “But, you cannot see her.”

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Chapter 13

Cole had been right. Daryl had worried about Lucy and in the days that followed she fought to regain his trust. She told no one about her altercation with The Letter Eaters nor did she mention to Sebastian her evening spent in the arms of Cole. Instead she kept her desire to see him again to herself, only focusing on mending her relationships which seemed to getting worse as the snow piled up around them.

School was producing new challenges and Lucy struggled to keep up with them. Ginny was moving away from there group and by the time the last week of school, before winter break rolled around, she no longer sat with them during science class. Sebastian and Lucy would stare in disbelief as Ginny made conversation with the worst of The Letter Eaters, each day taking her place between Seth and Callum.

Ginny was changed, completely. Her once frizzy hair was a thing of the past, replaced instead by smooth, red waves that glistened with cleanliness and product. She no longer wore ark muted, long sleeve shirts to hide marks both self-inflicted and not. Instead she wore multi-color, designer button ups and short skirts. She was beginning to turn the heads of the boys around her.

She looked radiant, even more so when she raised her hand in class, first to be called on even before Tina Monroe. Ginny Franklin had become so radiant in the last few weeks that her beauty challenged that of the most popular girl in school. Her confidence was soaring.

Outside of Mr. Kelsey’s classroom Lucy found herself standing alone. Sebastian was using the period to work on his music. As Ginny filtered out of the classroom, she noticed her friend standing there and sashayed up to her. “Hey, girl!” Ginny spoke with an intonation so generic Lucy could not hide the dismay from her face.

“Hey.” Lucy didn’t want to encourage another battle, so she tried to remain calm. “You look good today.” Ginny looked down at her clothing and then dismissing them said, “These old things. They’re just something I threw together.” Together they walked to their next period.

“Lucy,” Ginny started. “Do you mind if we don’t study at Herod’s today? I was thinking we could do something else, like visit the café or watch the guys at football practice.” Lucy couldn’t believe it. “Why would I do that, Ginny? That’s where they hang out. You know you’re welcome to be friends with whoever you want, but I’m not doing that. Not now. Not ever.”

Ginny tried a more sympathetic approach. “Seth isn’t like Tina, Lucy. He wants to be friends with you. You should give him a chance.”

Suddenly, Ginny had ahold of Lucy’s arm and was leading her through a sea of students walking in the opposite direction. They cleared the students and Lucy found herself standing face 57

to face with Seth, standing at his locker. It was like nothing had happened. Seth smiled, leaning down and attempting to intercept a cascade of papers falling from his locker. He grinned ear to ear, and every girl surrounding them melted.

“Hey ladies.” Lucy could sense the fakeness in his voice and it sent shivers down her spine. Behind him Callum stood like a mountain, with his back to them. He was leaning over a younger student, whispering something inappropriate into her ear. Her young cheeks blushed red, her brow wrinkled. She shook her head and ran disappearing into a crowd of students and causing Callum to shake the ground with laughter.

Lucy moved to detach herself from Ginny’s grip, but surprisingly Ginny just held onto her tighter. “Hey Seth,” she said, with a playful laugh. “Hey,” he said, lowering his eyes to her, in private thanks. “Let’s walk to class.” As Callum turned to join them, Seth stated even louder, “Just the three of us.”

Lucy was able to wiggle free from Ginny as they moved toward the west wing. Her arm ached from the grip Ginny had taken over it. She attempted to walk faster than the two of them, but Ginny and Seth kept pace. They were just short of chasing her through the hall and her patience was growing thin.

“So, you guys haven’t really met before,” Ginny offered to which Seth responded calmly, casually, “No, we haven’t really.” Lucy stopped in her tracks, and angrily turned on the both of them. “Yeah, Ginny. We really have met and I’d prefer to never really meet again. Why are you doing this?”

Lucy could validate not standing up to Tina. In a strange way she felt like she owed it to Tina. She owed it to her to withstand her abuse, but she didn’t own Seth or Callum anything and she certainly didn’t owe Ginny Franklin.

Ginny had imagined this meeting going so much better. In her fantasy she ruled the school, and as she took Tina Monroe’s place, Lucy Bennett would also be with them. Seth had told her it could happen. Ginny passed Seth an uncomfortable glance.

“Listen Lucy,” Seth began, using his all-American voice. “I just wanted to let you know how sorry I am. You know…for what happened. I know that Callum can be a bully.” Lucy’s body nearly spasmed in reaction to the insinuation. “Really Seth,” she started, leering at both of them. “Is that what you’re going with? So, when you’re standing back, laughing your ass off while he beats up anyone smaller than him, that’s you not condoning it? And when he nearly cracked Sebastian’s rib the other day, and you just stood there laughing? What was that?

Nevermind, don’t answer. You two deserve each other. Ginny don’t call me until you’ve come to your senses.”

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Ginny reeled, not expecting Lucy’s harsh reaction to their attempt to help her. “Callum is a bully, Lucy. But, he can change and Seth’s just trying to help you. He knows things, Lucy.

Things that can help you.”

“I don’t want his kind of help, Ginny. And I don’t want yours either. If this is the company you choose to keep, we’re not friends anymore.”

In an instant, Ginny resented her former best friend. She’s jealous. Ginny nodded, agreeing with the voice. Clearly Lucy was jealous. Ginny and Seth watched as Lucy stormed away. In a dark familiar voice Seth told her, “Don’t worry. Her time is coming.”

Callum’s enormous body lumbered toward them. “What’d I miss?” Callum towered over the both of them, scratching and picking at the side of his nose. A worn piece of flesh scraped off, and Callum held it close to his eyes, inspecting it, until confused he wiped his hand across his massive chest.

“Not much,” Ginny answered dismissively. The three of them walked through the halls, Ginny feeling like a queen as students turned to watch as they passed. She was pickled between the popular jocks of their school. Because of her virtually unknown status before, some students were treating her as if she was a new addition, and she didn’t bother to correct them.

Tina Monroe, however, knew better and recognized Ginny as the pale, freckled girl often ignored by all. Tina saw them coming, before they saw her and she regretted skipping her normal morning regiment. Her formerly perfectly quaffed hair was not perfect that morning, but Ginny’s was.

“What is she doing here?” Tina asked, annoyed and only offering Ginny a short glance.

Tina glared above her and talked around her, refusing to acknowledge that she’d somehow made her way into their social circle. Seth answered, with a cool authority. “She’s with us now.”

Tina finally set her glare on Ginny, causing students around them to murmur, wondering if a fight was near to breaking. Ginny knew what that stare was saying. “Get out. You don’t belong.” Tina’s stare was making fun of her, as it had on many previous occasions. It was the hard giggle and whispered douche if Ginny fell asleep in class. It was the foot that caused her to slip when she walked to the front of the classroom. It was the nightmare that was Tina M and even in her current position, it frightened her.

Tina lowered her eyes to Ginny’s. Her lined, thick eyelashes raised and for a single moment her expression read different to Ginny. It read gentler. It was a caring warning, only it was gone too quick to be sure. It was replaced by the gnawing, ferocious stone stare.

Tina walked ahead of them and as she passed she heard the whispers of the student body around them, because Tina walked on her own and Ginny walked with The Letter Eaters. Seth 59

and Callum both growled an affirmative as student’s wondered aloud, “Tina Monroe is being replaced.”

For Ginny, the day just got better. In between classes students parted in the hallway like the Red Sea, something Ginny had once been a part of. Only then it was Tina sandwiched between The Letter Eaters. Ginny raised her head high and worked out her best “power glare,” one to rival Tina’s own.

“What the hell is going on around here,” Sebastian said to Lucy, shaking his head. “I don’t know,” Lucy returned. They watched the new Letter Eaters disappear down the hallways.

Sebastian looked forward to the end of the day, when he and Lucy would finally be alone.

Without Ginny around, he’d finally have the opportunity to ask her the question he’d been reformulating over and over again in his mind.

He watched her from across the wooden table, working out a way to interrupt her quiet studying. Once again Lucy was distracted, unable to focus on anything but reading. The book in front of her was one Sebastian had never seen before. It was a frayed, poorly bound book held together with blue ribbon and she seemed completely engaged in it.

“So, uh, L-l-lucy,” he started, attempting to downplay a mild stutter only recently developed. Nervous sweat worked his way down his brow and the back of his neck. “W-what are you reading, there?” The bell from the first floor clanged, prompting Lucy to ignore Sebastian’s question and hop to her feet.

Wondering if it may be Cole, she slid the book across the table, dropping it into her backpack, prompting Sebastian to wonder what was wrong with her. She lingered near the top of the stairs, struggling to hear down the first floor. In an instant her face lit up, and her eyes flickered a deeper green than usual. “It’s him,” she said, smiling toward a confounded Sebastian.

“Who,” he returned. “Him. Cole.” Sebastian had forgotten about Cole, but quickly realized Lucy hadn’t. She was positively glowing, realizing that he was moments away from climbing the stairs to continue his work on the second floor. She rushed back to her seat, in a poor attempt to act casual.

Only Cole never mounted the stairs. The familiar sound of creaking metal never sprang to their ears and behind Lucy’s back, Sebastian smiled a coy smile. Lucy hung over the stair’s railings, hoping to catch a glimpse. Sebastian moved behind her, “Seriously, Lucy. What do you see in that guy?”

“Nothing,” Lucy returned, attempting to act casual. “He’s just a friend, is all. He’s nice to me and he owns Herod’s.” “How old is he,” Sebastian asked her, guessing his age to be somewhere around twenty-five, way too old for Lucy. “I don’t know. Does it really matter?”

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Just then the bell signifying someone was either coming or go rang to the second floor.

“Okay Mr. Samuels. Thank you. Goodbye.” A second ring signified that Troll was saying goodbye to Cole. Lucy quickly gathered up her things and mounted the stairs.

“Where are you going?” Sebastian fired the question at her and Lucy realized she’d very nearly left him standing there without even realizing. “I’m going after him. I need to ask him something. We’re almost done here anyway. I’ll see you at school tomorrow.”

As Lucy bounded down the steps, Sebastian gave chase. At their bottom, he shouted, “Lucy, wait.” She turned to face him. He’d been acting strange and his Chuck Taylors crisscrossed, signifying he was nervous. His brown eyes starred back at her, quite reminding her of the sad eyes of a caged dog. “What?” She asked him, gentler now.

Sebastian stood starring. Lucy’s beautiful green eyes were at bright as ever over a button nose and large, full lips. Her blonde hair distracted him from her eyes where he traced their curls down to her dark sweater, her pale hands and thin waist. “Sebastian, what is it?” She asked again, more impatiently. Sebastian ran his fingers through his long, black hair and stuttered back, “n-n-nothing.” Without another word, Lucy flew from Herod’s and out in the cold, winter air.

Cole’s car was parked in front of the store, but he wasn’t in it. She followed pressed footsteps around the corner into the alleyway and then into the woods beyond knowing where she would find him.

Cole stood stoically looking over the rail of the bridge at the water below. He was talking to himself, quietly so Lucy could not hear. She debated disturbing him, but gingerly stepped forward anyway. As he turned to face, his face lit up in delight. The cast light from nearby lamps lit up her radiant rose colored cheeks and face.

“Lucy!” He exclaimed taking her hands, “I knew you would find me here.” “I was at Herod’s,” she returned. Something glimmered in his blue eyes, but just as quickly as she caught it, it disappeared. He turned away from her, staring back down into the water.

She followed his gaze there and was surprised to find two orange koi’s jumping and splashing in the cold, nearly frozen water below. They flipped, danced and sprang through the water as if not feeling the frigid temperature. “How did they get there,” Lucy asked, disbelieving what her eyes were seeing. “Koi represent the fighting spirit. The Japanese believe they’ve been around for many, many centuries. Even before man.” Cole spoke in a hushed voice, just louder than a whisper. “Years ago a school of koi swam the Yellow River, against the current. They do that for strength. Their bodies are like sparkling armor, a gift from the sun and that day they moved together like living, shimmering gemstones.

Their trip up the river came to a subsequent halt, when they reached the bottom of a waterfall, and could go no further. Many of the koi turned back, choosing the easy way of 61

swimming with the current, while the ones who stayed on were desperate to reach the top of the falls, while sadistic demons watched and teased them by ever increasing the waterfall’s height.

They stayed this way, leaping up the falls, for one hundred years, their determination pushing them forward no matter how exhausted they had become until, at last, one heroic Koi reached the top. The sun shined on this brave Koi, lighting up his effervescent body and transforming him into a shining, golden dragon. He flew to the sky, his tail first skimming the waters below to show the others the fruits of their labor.

This first Koi dragon seeks wisdom, flying in the skies above us, reminding all other Koi the power of will. Whenever another Koi finds the will to climb a waterfall, they too become a golden dragon of the sky. Waterfalls are known as the Dragon’s Gate to them and the Koi have become a symbol of will and fulfilling destiny.”

As Cole spoke the koi below them danced diamond patterns, their tails skimming and splashing the top of the water, until he finished - when they both dove from the water and back down into it, surprising Lucy and causing her to laugh.

“They’re beautiful,” she commented, moving closer to him. Cole nodded, seemingly transfixed on the scene below. His eyes dimmed and traced their pattern, dancing in his head. “Is something bothering you, Cole?” She reached up to touch his face, but before her hand could brush his cheek, he had ahold of it. He turned abruptly and looked her square in the eyes.

“They’re strength is a symbol of yours. Something is happening around here, Lucy. Do you feel it?”

Looking into Cole’s eyes, Lucy was transfixed and she did feel it. Holding his bare hands in her own, and staring into his glowing blue eyes, she knew for sure nothing was as it seemed.

Something was happening in their small town, but none of it mattered so long as he was holding her hands. For a moment, she felt herself slipping into his eyes. They seemed to be wrapping themselves around her heart, and she willed herself to disappear into them. “Don’t,” Cole said, interrupting her thoughts and turning away from her.

The walk home was confusing and once again he left her at the wood’s end. She waited to see if he may kiss her, but he only smiled and sent her home to her father. For a long while he patrolled the front of her house, intent to make sure no evil lingered there, waiting for the chance to harm her.

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Chapter 14

Cole lived in a Mediterranean style mansion, where years of abandon had caused vines of ivy to sprawl across it. The vine’s ate into the eaves and dug into the wood posts of a crumbling balcony.

The foyer was a huge open space where dust and cobwebs hung in the corners. Only the floors were recently swept, revealing a ceramic tiled floor. The furniture throughout the mansion were layered in what were once crisp, white sheets, now dinging gray, laid down to protect them until the owner returned from his journey.

Cathedral style ceilings abounded throughout the mansion, some adorned with hanging, crystal chandeliers, and a testament to the person Cole once was, but no longer. Since he’d returned he kept mainly to the mansion’s small drawing room, where he had removed the aged sheets revealing beautiful, priceless works of art and lit by Tiffany lamps.

Cole relaxed on a Victorian sofa, its dark upholstery clashed with his white shirt – his jacket long cast off. He knew Paimon had arrived long before he’d shown his face in the drawing room. Paimon had been considering the giant staircase in the foyer and wondering if a trip to the sauna was more important than meeting with an angst-ridden Cole. In the end, he choose the sauna and it was hours before Cole heard him enter, and he did not immediately spring to a sitting position.

“Can we shine some light in here,” Paimon asked, referring to the heavy curtains that blocked all outside light from entering the room. “Leave them closed.” Cole was in no mood for sunshine, he was in no mood for light banter either, so when Paimon started in, he quickly steered the conversation to his pressing matters.

“I don’t know what to do for her, Paimon.”

“You do nothing, Cole. It’s not your responsibility to look after troubled girls. You’ve learned that lesson before.”

Cole nodded, remembering how meddling in human affairs could result in heartache and could even make things worse. Still, every time he closed his eyes he was greeted with her young, sliming pale face and bright green eyes. They were eyes like he’d never seen in a human girl. They were intense and they told a story.

“There are Koi in the river by her home.” “So, what,” Paimon hissed at him, becoming annoyed. “There are lots of Koi, lots of places.” “These ones were different. They came there.

They were there for her. They’re a gift of strength and they didn’t come from me. Something’s going to happen to that girl.”

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Just then Paimon turned away from Cole. His long, rat’s tail swished disrupting the carpet behind him and very nearly knocking over a lamp. “You know,” Cole wondered at him. “You know something. If you know something you must tell me.” Like always, Cole’s demands carried no weight with Paimon. If there was an authority in their relationship, Paimon held it all.

“If I knew something, what makes you think I could tell you? My instructions come directly from the Ascendency and they decree what’s a matter of common knowledge and what must be kept private.”

Cole kicked the mahogany leg of the Victorian sofa he sat on. “The Ascendency? I’ve lost my faith in them. They tell me nothing – you tell me nothing, for years and you expect me to continue to do your bidding. Well, I lost a girl. Tell me, Paimon. What happens to her? She’s like the living dead, that girl and she saw me!”

“I’ve told you before, Cole. Never matter about that girl. She saw you? So what? She’ll look crazy if she talks about it. Her time will come. It’s just a matter of when the Ascendency says so. And I’d watch what I say about them, if I were you. We wouldn’t want to be called back, not so soon after we’ve just arrived here.”

Cole laughed, and eyed his black nosed friend suspiciously. “So, now you suddenly like it here? And what’s with that horrible get up? You look like a rat pimp!” “I happen to like dressing like this. The rat is a symbol of all that is courageous and enterprising in the world.”

Cole laughed again, as his friend dropped to all fours diminishing his stature and losing his clothing until he was the size of an actual rat. He scurried across the floor, up the sofa and across Cole’s chest until his whiskers tickled Cole’s ear.

“What are you doing,” Cole asked, laughing and nearly launching his friend from his shoulder. “Shh,” Paimon whispered in his ear. “The girl is in danger and the order has been brought down that many will die in this town.” Cole nearly exploded, “Will she be ok?” “Shh,” Paimon hissed this time. “Do not respond to me. You never know who may be listening. No names…yet. But, I suggest you keep her close. The girl is special. She’s a telepath and she may be like us.”

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Chapter 15

Lucy pulled the worn, weathered book from her bag and filled it to the place where she’d marked. She’d considered starting again from the beginning but as it seemed to jump around, she hardly thought it mattered and quite liked where this part was going.

Lying in bed, she found herself drawn to its pages for hours. Reading seemed to be the only time she could escape thoughts of Cole and his deep blue eyes. His words stuck in her ear, his face in her memory and she longed for him constantly.

A sunrise in the Never-Never is the most beautiful sunrise this side of the Fitzgerald River. The colors blaze across the sky, a living Monet of pink, purple, blue and gray. The cloud coverage acts as a paintbrush dusting color across the horizon, painting the land each morning.

The rains are coming soon. I’ve been here three months now and soon I’d be flooded out.

This means the time to seek out Paimon is coming, and I must return to a station in Poland. I must be candid, journal. I am in no hurry to return to this war and in some ways would prefer to just drown in the coming floods.

Late last night, Paimon’s consciousness found my own for the first time since I’d left Europe. His throw is strong, even at such a long distance and he netted me while I drifted between sleep and awake. Dressed like an American soldier he appeared tired, bedraggled from the war.

He reached out to me and instinct told me to reach back, only my brain warned that he could pull me away if he saw fit to, so I held back, unable to come to grips that the time to leave was upon me. Instead of taking his own leave, Paimon chose to stay on with the war – to see it through. He said there were great things for us to achieve, great things for humanity.

I am growing tired of being humanities unsung hero. I want to stay in the Never-Never always. I have bagged my boar and I wear my trophy triumphantly over my shoulders. I’m like a tribesmen needing nothing more than animals I hunt to sustain me. I can be alone, I prefer it.

Loneliness does whisper the names of dying mortals into your ear, coercing you to guide them into the unknown, those who seek to fight me despite my trying to help them. Loneliness leaves you only to yourself. Why should I go back Europe?

Paimon returned again last night, begging that I go with him. He said a lot of people are going to die and that I had to go. He is going to be waiting for me again tonight, but I am thinking of running to the highlands, escaping the flood and my fate. The heat has become 65

unbearable and the sky has not broken as of yet, causing the waterhole to nearly dry up. The animals have all seemed to have vanished in the recent days. I wonder if they are smarter than I.

Without realizing what was happening Lucy drifted into sleep. For the first time in months she did not find herself standing over the bridge in Goren’s Wood staring at the bloated, floating body of her aging mentor, Mr. Wilson. For this she felt relief.

Instead she found herself sitting under a window in her own bedroom, under soft moonlight. She watched her mother lean over her crib, watching her as an infant sleep. Her mother’s long hair was straight. Lucy’s own curls were a product of her father.

Scarlet turned her icy, green eyes on Lucy lifting a pale finger to her lips and whispering, “Shhh.” Daryl entered the room and Lucy realized that the whisper was for him, and not for her.

As her dad crossed the room, he too looked over the edge of the crib. “She is beautiful, Scarlet,” he said as a tear streamed down his cheek. “You did an amazing job.”

As the baby woke, screaming, the image of Scarlet disappeared from the room, leaving puffs of gray smoke where she’d been. Daryl tried to wrap his arms around her, but found he was only hugging himself. “Don’t go,” he sobbed. “Please. I can’t do it alone. Please stay.” He collapsed to the floor crying.

Lucy found she was glued to her seat and could not move to help him nor offer words of comfort. In a moment, she found herself standing in the reflection of a liquor cabinet door. Daryl poured himself a half glass of Jameson, as her ten year old body slept behind him on the sofa.

Lucy tried to talk him out of it, but found she could only mouth the words.

Again she was pulled away from the memory to another time, a time before she was born.

Sitting on a green hilltop, her mother read from quietly from Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass.

Her beautiful, silky blond hair grazed the pages of the book and her soft green eyes were transfixed on the pages, so much so that she didn’t noticed the shaggy haired boy bounding up to join her.

He had a bagged lunch in his hand, and Lucy quickly realized he was a much younger version of her father. Daryl asked the young Scarlet if he could take a seat near her and she obliged, offering him the most beautiful smile he’d ever seen.

The scene changed to a beautiful, hilltop wedding Lucy had witnessed only in pictures.

Scarlet’s veil trailed in the wind behind her. The guests were few, but the love shared there overwhelming. They said their vows and slipped rings on the other’s finger, the union sealed with a kiss.

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“No! I’m not giving up!” Scarlet screamed and bounded through the rooms on the first floor of their house. Lucy realized they were having a fight. The living room was arranged differently, the liquor cabinet sparse and entirely new looking. Daryl chased her into the living room, catching her in his arms. “Fine,” he said. “We won’t give up.” He planted a kiss on her pink lips. “We’ll try again. Maybe we’ll get our baby. But, if we don’t, we talk adoption.”

Again they were on their hillside, and Lucy realized with assuredness that it was a hill in a part of Goren’s Wood her father no longer liked to be in. They were picnicking there, and Scarlet’s fully belly swelled in front of her. She stroked her belly with a free hand. “Lucy,” Daryl said, “After your Grandma. I like it. Lucy. Our little miracle.”

His eyes were entirely different than the eyes Lucy knew. They were light, full of life and hardly miserable. They hadn’t seen heartache and knew only love. Lucy wondered if doctors had warned her that the child inside was slowly killing her.

Lucy was born at 4:15 in the afternoon on one of the hottest days in July. Rolling power outages were happening all over town due to the heat. The hospital kept a generator running to keep the machines working but all the doctors and machines in the world couldn’t save Scarlet Bennett. Her daughter survived, but she didn’t.

As Daryl held a newly born Lucy in his arms, he wept tears of sorrow. A nurse arrived to tell him the fate of her mother. “The placenta completely detached and ruptured. Scarlet had been so careful. In similar cases, the baby almost always goes the same way as the mother.

We’re very lucky Lucy made it. The little girl has a fighter’s spirit.”

As the scene faded to a swirling mix of the colors of the room, Lucy felt herself being pulled backward – a signal she’d soon be waking up. As she tossed and turned under her covers a soft voice spoke in her ear. “I love you, Lucy Bennett. I love you.”

Lucy woke drenched in a cold sweat despite the heightened temperature of her body. A fever had set in sometime in the night. A minute later and her alarm clock was blaring.

“I’ll call the school and let them know you’re staying home,” Daryl said with compassion, handing her a cup of hot tea and honey. Lucy nodded, still in her robe and pink bunny slippers. She watched with little interest as her father moved food around his plate, not really eating. He stared at his glass of coffee, imagining how it would taste with a shot of the good stuff.

“Just try and get some rest, sweetie. I’ll be home at five to take care of you.” “But, Dad you have your meeting tonight.” “I’ll skip it,” he returned. Lucy rolled her eyes, dismissing him entirely. “Please don’t. I’ll be fine.” It sometime seemed he’d take any excuse to skip a meeting.

Daryl was still transfixed on his cup of coffee, unable to distract himself from its swirling contents, but unable to take a sip either knowing that its contents would be a letdown.

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“They can live without me for one night,” he said coolly, before putting on his hat and grabbing his tin lunch pail from the counter. Lucy watched from the kitchen window as he trudged through the blanket of snow in the yard. As he climbed into the aged station wagon, she breathed a sigh of relief.

As the morning progressed, Lucy’s fever intensified. She rolled in and out of feverish dreams, most a repeat of the episode in Goren’s Wood. The hooded figures led her mentor to the bridge and then left him there to jump. She was always too late, just reaching the bridge to catch a glimpse of his dead body floating away. Each time she awoke, she fought to stay awake, not wanting to repeat the scenario again and again.

The afternoon quickly turned to evening and her dad was home. Daryl walked in, exhausted from a hard day on the job. He showered, dressed and met his daughter in the living room. Lucy’s fever was showing no signs of getting better. Instead, as the evening progressed it steadily worsened until she was delirious and talking in her sleep.

“Mom,” she whispered, causing Daryl to sit straight up in his rocking chair. “He won’t die. I won’t let him…” Daryl rushed to the kitchen to get a cold compress from the kitchen.

When he returned Lucy was sitting up on the couch, turned away from him looking out a window. “She’s not safe,” Lucy whispered. “You should take her away from here.”

Daryl rushed to his daughter, “Lucy, you’re delirious. I’m taking you to the hospital.”

Only he stopped dead in his tracks, steps before reaching her. Lucy had turned away from the window and her eyes were no longer hers, instead they were the familiar, jade-green eyes of her mother and in Scarlet’s voice she whispered, “You need to take her away, Daryl. It’s not safe here.”

Hours later Daryl woke up in his old cold sweat. The room was dark and Lucy was sleeping soundly on the couch near him. It was three in the morning and a cool breeze filled the room, disrupting the curtains. Daryl was spooked because there wasn’t a window or door open in the entire house.

As he stood to check where the cool air was coming from, an eerie glow lit up the liquor cabinet. He caught his own reflection in the glass, and saw that he was an aged man. Stress has built up on his face and he hardly recognized himself. He looked passed his own reflection and saw that the cabinet housed a single bottle of Jameson and Glencairn glass. Go ahead, have a glass.

He shook his head, ignoring his own thoughts – only they weren’t his thoughts exactly. It was a voice coming from his own mind, but it was unrecognizable. This is a dream, it continued.

It can’t hurt anyone. “I made a promise,” Daryl said, out loud. “I can’t.” But, you want to.

You’ve been thinking again, and that hurts. One sip isn’t going to hurt anyone, but it will make the bad memories go away.

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Daryl nodded, reaching out. “I guess just one glass won’t hurt.” He reached for the liquor cabinet, which pulsed and throbbed in front of him with a strange life force. He reached in and grabbed the bottle of Jameson, his old friend and poured it into the small glass. As he lifted it to his lips a familiar calm filled his being. “Hello, old friend,” he said before taking a swig.

“Dad,” Lucy’s voice rocked him from the dream. Daryl found himself standing in the middle of the room. The cabinet was all but vanished, sold months ago in an attempt to rid the house of anything that would spur his drinking. “What are you doing?” Lucy was confused, tired and staring at her father who appeared to be sleepwalking.

“I don’t know,” he began. “Sleeping, I guess.” He looked at the bare space where the cabinet once stood with a longing all too familiar to Lucy. In the soft light of early morning, she felt sad for him. “Let’s go out for breakfast,” she said, feeling better.

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Chapter 16 Lucy spent the holidays with her father. Christmas morning was spent under the Christmas tree. Lucy opened the cards from her distant relatives, each expressing a merry sentiment and containing a check or gift card. Daryl had painstakingly scoured the mall, seeking the perfect gift for his daughter. He settled on a locket, inside it he placed a picture of her mother on one side, a chubby, new-born Lucy on the other. “So, you can always have her near you.”

Tears welled in Lucy’s eyes and she leaped over clinging to her father, who later helped her put it on. She had not forgotten him either. From under the tree she pulled a brown, paper package with a shoestring bow. “Run out of wrapping paper, did ya,” he asked, grinning ear to ear.

The truth was the package had only arrived the day prior, just in time for the holiday. She hadn’t time to wrap it, so she left it packaged the way it was. He tore into it, revealing a leather bound photo book. The cover featured a radiant picture of Scarlet sitting on their hilltop, Daryl’s favorite picture of her. Inside were glossy prints telling the story of their family.

It was a sad book, and they both wiped away tears as they moved through it, side by side under the twinkling light of Christmas lights. It started long before Lucy was born, years of just Scarlet and Daryl. The hospital photos were sparse as not many were taken, but the remaining pages were pictures and pictures of a growing Lucy and aging Daryl. Swing sets, dancing, smiling and laughter and some many Christmas’ passed.

“This is a beautiful gift, honey.” Daryl and Lucy leaned into each other. “You didn’t look at the last page, Dad.” The very last page was a sketch Lucy had made of them as a family. She’d drawn her Mother beside them, in a ghostly way, as if watching over them. The sketch was scanned and glossy, but the original was nearby. “Let’s make this year different,” Daryl said, near tears. “New Year, new us. What do you say, kid?” Lucy laughed, “I say let’s do it.”

Winter break came and went. School had become more like the dark underbelly of a crime filled city, than the echoing halls of a place of learning. Fights seemed to be breaking out in the halls more and more often, and teachers were losing their patience with the students. Lucy tried to keep her head down as she walked to her science class.

She and Sebastian sat side by side, their threesome now a twosome. They quietly watched as students hung on the words of one Ginny Franklin as she recounted her Christmas vacation.

She leaned on back on Seth, and they goofed off like that all through the class’s movie.

Mr. Kelsey was not himself. His hands-on style of teaching was often lively, as he was an excitable man. Teaching science was his passion, only these days he hardly did more than watch 70

a pencil spinning on his desk and play strange movies, not relevant to where they were in their books.

At a table at the back of the class a fight broke out between two female students. Jenni North and Nanette Holmes were best friends since the first grade. They were quiet, good-natured girls, always walking away from trouble. Their focus seemed mainly on college, but here they were pulling at each other’s scalps in a desperate attempt to rip the other’s hair out.

Sebastian leapt to his feet, eager to break it up. Other students weren’t so sensitive. Boys in the class rallied the girls to pull harder, to punch and even to bite. Lucy staggered to the back of the class, wide eyed and in disbelief. “Come on, Nanette, let her go!” Sebastian shouted, as Nanette took the upper hand. The fight was turning very ugly. Nanette held a chunk of her friend’s hair, still with scalp attached and caked in blood.

Mr. Kelsey returned to the classroom with two male teachers. They worked to break the juveniles up. Neither girl shouted, they communicated through growls and shrieks, like two wild animals. “Let’s get out of here,” Sebastian said to Lucy, as they filtered into the hallway.

Lucy nodded, agreeing that leaving the school seemed a great course of action. Things were tense in the hallway. “We’ll need to leave out the west side to not be noticed.” “Agreed,” Lucy said. As they walked through the school, the hallways eventually emptied. “In homeroom this morning, Mrs. Harmon, the art teacher, didn’t even to bother erasing ‘Eat Shit’ from the chalkboard. She just left it up there, next to a drawing of an actual shit sandwich.” Lucy nodded, no longer surprised by the insanity flooding between the school’s walls.

As they neared Mr. Wilson’s office, Lucy considered going in and paying her old friend a visit. He’d stopped making attempts to get her to come back to counseling, and Lucy had still offered no reason why. “Maybe we should stop by?” Sebastian didn’t answer. Instead he pushed Lucy into an open space at the end of a row of lockers. “Sebastian, what are you…” Lucy was hushed before she could finish her sentence and it was clear why.

Tina’s swishing A-line skirt danced around her shins as she stood speaking to Mr. Wilson in his doorway. “Thanks, Mr. Wilson.” She smiled and said goodbye, before the door closed between them. Her expression changed, once she was sure she was alone.

Tina looked suspiciously down the hallway and then back behind her, unsure which direction would be the safe one. To Sebastian’s and Lucy’s relief, she opted to head in the opposite direction. But, before they could come out of hiding, Tina was cut off by Seth, Ginny and Callum. “What are they doing?” Lucy whispered to Sebastian, catching him off guard. He’d not been paying attention to them. Instead, he was focused on how close they were, sandwiched together at the end of the hall.

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He was so near, he could smell her. Lucy was a mix of light floral perfume, and menthol gum. He breathed deep and hung on her lips, wondering what she would do if he kissed her. Her jade green eyes glistened up close and he found himself suspended in them.

“Sebastian,” Lucy started. “Focus.”

Tina’s voice amplified in the barren hall. “I thought I told you guys not to come here.”

She was attempting to lead them away, but they stood their ground in front of her, like a brick wall. Ginny was full of delicious malice, completely aware that was very late for class. She’d always wanted to skip class with the popular kids, and here she was one of their leaders.

“And,” Tina continued, in her breathy way, “What is she doing here?” Tina was becoming a major problem for Ginny. She was the only person standing between her and total popularity. Even though she’d all but taken her place with Seth and Callum, Tina was still the most popular girl at school. She had her own lackeys, and all the girls in school were all too eager to follow her around and do her bidding.

“We’re here for intel,” Seth said. “But, if you don’t want to give it, maybe Ginny here will start visiting the old coot and you can be out completely.”

Tina cast her eyes down the hall, where Sebastian moved closer to Lucy half attempting to not be detected and also just to be closer to her. Tina’s eyes were forlorn, misty and reminded Ginny of a retired sea captain, standing Cliffside looking out at the raging see. Seth repeated the threat, and Tina sighed resolved.

“He hasn’t seen her. She stopped coming a while ago. I told you all this before.” “Well, what did you talk about then?” Seth was easily irritated and Tina did not want to see his anger piqued. “College,” she said, lightly. “I tried to steer the conversation to her,” she said. “I really did. But, he’s private. He’s not going to just tell me everything about her.”

“I should try,” Ginny offered. “He might open up to me because I knew her better.” “Get lost,” Tina fired back at Ginny. A nod from Seth told Ginny she could stand her ground. Ginny was becoming more and more like an obedient mutt.

“Why hasn’t he tried to get her back?” Seth asked, with a great deal of condescension.

“You know why. He doesn’t work that way. He doesn’t press kids. I don’t know. It’s not his method, you know.”

“Did you do what we asked you to? Did you try and make him?” “He’s a nice man, Seth.

Even if I tried he wouldn’t.” “She didn’t try,” Ginny butted in again. “I’m going to try,” Tina returned. “We’re meeting again. Next week. I’m going to try then.”

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Tina thought about how much they didn’t know. Mr. Wilson was too kind. In the beginning she’d tried manipulating him, but he said he’d seen it all before. That it was a red flag.

He knew she was pretending.

She batted her dark, long eyelashes. She hiked up her skirt. Her stomach grinded like rusty gears as she recounted to him tales of teenage fantasies. “Is it strange for a girl my age to be attracted to older men?” In a very clinical way, he’d answer no. “But,” he’d say. “You’re not.” Before she knew it he’d changed the subject completely, and she’d found herself opening up.

They did talk college and her fears of leaving her family. They danced around the accident, but she wasn’t ready and he acknowledged that by changing the subject. As their meetings would come to a close, Tina would feel resolved – sometimes even happy. She felt like a weight was being lifted, but once she left the office, that weight returned as guilt.

There was something she did know, but Tina didn’t want to tell Seth. They were her friends, but telling would put every student at the school in danger. At the back of Mr. Wilson’s office was a second, locked door. This office held every student’s permanent record, including her own. She only learned this because their principal had interrupted their meeting and made reference to it.

Tina also knew that Mr. Wilson kept notes on his students. He took notes on their meetings, so he must have taken them during Lucy Bennett’s. Those notes must be in that second room, plus every file and record on Lucy since Kindergarten year. If there was something to learn, that’s where it would be.

The four of them disappeared around the corner, but Sebastian did not immediately move away from Lucy. “Hi,” he said, with a goofy smile. “Uh, hi,” she said, pushing away. “I know I don’t have a chance,” he continued. “But, I just wanted to hear an angel talk.” Lucy burst out laughing and ducked from under his arms. He chased her across the hall, spouting cheesy pickup lines. “C’mon Lucy. I’m like chocolate pudding. I may look like crap, but I’m sweet as hell!”

They choked on their laughter until the first bell rang. “Time to blow this pop stand,” Sebastian shouted and they took off running to the double doors, intent to escape the school before classes let out into the halls. The weather was frigid and the walk to Herod’s resulted in cold feet and eyelashes dusted in white snowflakes.

“What do you think they were talking about?” Lucy asked him. “I don’t know. But, whatever it was, it wasn’t good. It’s so weird. Seth Boyd just shows up here one day and within the week he’s running the school.” Lucy nodded, understanding completely. She repelled Seth Boyd like a cancer, but he seemed to be everywhere and in the middle of everything wrong.

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As they turned the corner, onto Main Street, Lucy wondered out loud if Troll would be working. “Shit,” Sebastian stated. “You’re right. She’ll call the school and rat us out for sure.

We’ll look in the window first.”

They peered from a corner of the huge, front window and found the shop deserted. “Well, it can’t be Troll,” Sebastian said. “Because she’d never leave her post at the front.” Lucy didn’t want to make from of Ginny’s mom, but it was true. Troll never left her seat behind the front desk. She watched television programs and ignored the huge amount of work that needed to be done around the place.

The bell rang as they walked in. Lucy looked around hoping to see Cole, but he was nowhere on the first floor. She glanced toward the stairs, but her plans were thwarted when Sebastian poured them both a hot coffee and took a seat by the front window. “I just don’t get them, Lucy.” “Me either,” she said, sliding in across from him.

“What would they want with Mr. Wilson?” Lucy shook her head, causing Sebastian to become distracted by her bouncing curls. He thought for a moment that today was the perfect day to tell her how he was feeling. “I don’t know,” she said. “But, I’ll make an appointment with him. I’ll tell him what we saw.”

Just then a toilet flushed from behind the front desk, and the two students realized with panic and horror that Troll had been in the bathroom the entire time. They were shocked when she appeared. Her face was a wreck, a mix of oozing pustules and craters where she’d dug out blisters and skin tags. She didn’t even bat an eyelash at Lucy or Sebastian. She simply walked passed, a dismembered look on her face, before taking her seat behind the front desk.

Lucy and Sebastian shared strange glances and then watched in confusion as Troll’s body lumbered and shook with laughter. Her laughter echoed through the quiet bookstore. Her large body quaked in her seat and the chair sounded like it was struggling to hold her upright. Not only was her laughter disturbing and presumably unprovoked, it was also quiet unnatural for Troll to ever be seen laughing. She was not a woman who reacted to humorous situations.

Lucy and Sebastian crept closer, wondering what could possibly be the cause of so much laughter. They were shocked to find her starring at a blank television screen, erupting into laughter every few moments. The television was old set, with black bevel and a gray screen. It was powered down, yet she stomped and shook violently with laughter at it.

Sebastian approached with caution, knowing full well what Ginny’s mom was capable of.

This is the woman who once pinched his ear between her two fingers, holding on and pulling him out of his chair with it. He’d cursed in her presence and she felt it necessary to punish him.

She didn’t let go until Sebastian had apologized and promised to never make use of the word again.

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Troll reluctantly turned away from the television set, as Sebastian stood at the desk beckoning her. Her laughter came to an abrupt halt and she turned to face him. He fully expected anger, the only emotion the woman was capable of having, but was instead greeted with a wide, toothless grin. She stared at him jovially, and Sebastian was taken aback as he learned she’d lost six of her teeth since he’d seen her last.

Troll’s teeth hadn’t fallen out. Instead she’d pulled them out herself using a bevy of homemade tools to get them loose. She taped paper towels around the teeth of a wrench and then used it to remove the last four. She kept the teeth for good luck in her front, dress pocket. Every so often she reached into her pocket and felt their pointy edges. As she stood smiling at Sebastian, she ran a thumb dried with blood across them and smiled at him in question.

“Something funny?” He asked her, trying to remain calm and sociable. “Yes, sir. Buffalo Bob and Howdy Doody’s what’s funny.” She spoke in broken English, due to her missing teeth.

They caused whistles at the end of her words and a lisp when she said, “Howdy.” “Oh you kiths,” she continued. “You’re too young to understand. This is a program from when I wasth a young girl.” She motioned to the blank television, and then laughed again.

“Mrs. Franklin,” Sebastian said, as gently as possible. “That television is off.” Only it wasn’t off. On screen Buffalo Bob held Howdy Doody in his lap. Howdy’s freckled face starred out of the television screen at them. The program was in black and white, but Howdy’s and Buffalo Bob’s eyes were colored an unholy, bright, glowing red. “Say kids,” said Buffalo Bob. “How do you have fun?” The audience shouted back to the doll in unison, “By setting fires!”

“And kids,” continued Buffalo Bob. “How do you set those fires?” “With gasoline and a match,” the audience returned in unison. Again Troll erupted into laughter. Some of the skin tags that covered her cheeks were so long they bounced up and down, in time with her body. These ones had sprung up sometime during the morning, after her bout with the scissors.

Troll ignored Sebastian, sending him reeling back to his seat across from Lucy. “No wonder Ginny’s gone off the deep end. Look at her mom. She’s crazy.” Lucy only nodded, staring on as Troll “shut off” the television. At that moment it came on, causing the room to fill with the evening’s news. “I can’t get this damn thing to turn off,” she commented, pulling the cord from the wall and returning it to a blank screen. “Well, ain’t that the damndest thing? It’s still going.”

With Cole nowhere around Herod’s, Lucy resolved to walk home. She and Sebastian parted in front of Herod’s and the walk through Goren’s Wood was lonely. She stopped on the bridge to watch the koi swim below. They were a splashing reminder of Cole, and she wished like hell she’d run into him again. It was as if he’d just up and disappeared and she needed him more than ever.

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Ginny Franklin heard the door close and knew her mom was home from work, but didn’t move to rush down the stairs as she had so many times in the past. Vicky Franklin made it a rule that Ginny greet her, take her coat and work on homework at the kitchen table, while dinner was being prepared. But, rules seemed to have gone out the window in recent weeks, so Ginny just sat starring at a yearbook spread open in front of her.

Tina’s face shined on nearly every page. From the top of a human period she knelt with a microphone and the words, ‘Go Black Bears’ were superimposed across the top of the page.

Other pictures showed her hanging posters in the hall with the rest of The Letter Eaters. One each of these pictures, Ginny used a glue stick to press a small print out of her own face over Tina’s. She smirked as she reevaluated the page. “Much better,” she murmured.

Turning the page she was caught off guard, but a small cornered picture of herself, Sebastian and Lucy. Her irises slimmed to two black dots in her head as she zoned in on the picture. She fought to recall what they were doing when the photographer had snapped their picture in the hall, nearest Sebastian’s locker. Her thoughts drifted to Lucy and she grimaced, using a pen to draw a dark X over her body.

Ginny had been waiting since school let out, and finally the stench poured through her open window. When the doorbell rang, she slammed the book shut and rushed to greet Seth, completely ignoring her mother standing transfixed in front of the fireplace, staring up at her grandfather’s image above.

“Everything we need to know about Lucy Bennett is in that office,” Seth told her. “All you have to do is get in there and take it.” The obsession with Lucy had grown since the day Seth had saved her from the darkness. Something wasn’t right about Lucy or her new friend, and Ginny aimed to find out what that was.

“I just don’t know. If we find something, how is that going to help us find him? I mean, what if she doesn’t even see him anymore?” “She does. Can’t you see it? She seems him. If she was your friend, you’d want to help her.”

Ginny thought about that long and hard. But, Lucy wasn’t her friend anymore. Like all the girls in school, Ginny was beginning to feel a competition with them. Lucy had deep green eyes and blonde hair. Ginny wanted those things for herself. All of her personal details are in that office. Her private records are sitting, waiting for us to enjoy. We could know everything about her. Ginny nodded in agreement.

The temptation of knowing if Lucy talked about her was growing. It was impossible for her ignore how deeply she wanted to know all of Lucy’s secrets. We would have all the secrets we wanted. “Yes,” Ginny said out loud, in a depraved, unnatural voice. “We could have dirt on the entire school. I’d be the only one – the only one.”

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Ginny followed Seth to the kitchen, where Troll had begun dinner. Ginny didn’t know when Callum had joined them, but he sat at the table watching her mom dart around the kitchen.

His eyes ping ponged with her, and his mouth hung open, slack jawed and drooling. The kitchen was a mess of pots and pans and neglect over the last week. Ginny hardly remembered a time when she’d not cleaned, a time when her mother hadn’t stood over her, screaming for her to scrub harder because she’d missed a spot.

Troll leaned over the pot, stirring as it boiled and spat red juices onto the rim. She did not notice the three young people standing around her. It was daddy’s favorite dish she was preparing, spaghetti. She was no longer the rotund, graying woman with missing teeth, long overdue for a dentist’s visit. She was a young girl, cooking for her daddy.

“How was church?” Her sing song voice rang out like a bell as she directed her questions to Callum, who laughed but did not answer. Mr. Franklin was a deacon in the church before he died, and when he came home he double checked her chores and after dinner they read Proverbs from the bible. Her mother was long passed, so it was Vicky’s job to take care of daddy.

She kept a close watch on the oven, making sure not to burn its contents. “What time is it,” she fired at Ginny. “It’s nearly six…” Ginny answered, watching as her mother spun around with an unnatural quickness and reached in the fridge pulling out a spoiled gallon of milk and emptying its contents into the pot of boiling sauce.

“You,” she shouted, after pouring. “You made me late! You’re a bad little girl. You’ve brought a curse on this house! I should never have had you.” She waved a finger in Ginny’s face, from the tip of it a mole dropped and wagged in time. Troll’s eyes tensed and anger replaced her frozen. Ginny stood frozen, waiting for the slap across the face. Before Troll could lay a whoop on Ginny, the voice of her father rang out, clear as day.

Stop! “But, daddy,” she returned, again staring at Callum, whose face had changed to the dark, callous features of Mr. Franklin. Daddy’s little girl needs to finish dinner. Callum reached out and pinched one of the oversized melons hanging sloppily under Vicky’s housedress. He laughed, because she seemed to not notice.

Troll returned her gaze to Ginny, wondering why her father wouldn’t want to punish such a reckless slut. She was dressed provocatively, she wasn’t doing her chores. She will lead heathens to grace. She is doing God’s work. Troll eyed Ginny suspiciously, but returned to the stove anyway. Daddy’s good little soldier.

As Troll worked at the stove a red light flashed in her eyes and she began to belt out the hymn, ‘Onward Christian Soldier.” Ginny found her eyes drawn to her mother’s bare arms, heavy and covered in a thin layer of black hair. Those arms were covered in dozens of dropped, protruding flesh pimples. How long has she been like this? Ginny couldn’t remember and wondered if she should just be thankful she’d escaped a beating.

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“Daddy,” Troll said, in her sing song voice, bending over the oven. “Dinner is done! Are you ready for your spaghetti?” Troll spoke from within the oven, muffling her words before returning with singed hair and a black tray of mush. She dropped the burned mush in front of them and then began piling a strange smelling sauce onto plates and dropping those in front of them too. Ginny began to swirl and sleep as the laughter of Callum and Seth filled the room.

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Chapter 17

Ginny stood at the end of a dark hallway. The west wing stretched out in front of her, but not like it was during the day, as it loomed and stretched on for miles. A small, white light was barely visible at the end of the corridor. The hall was dark and littered with the debris of fallen and torn posters, some showcasing student work, technology interpreted by the minds of teenagers.

Ginny walked passed fallen, ripped and torn posters advertising, “Tina Monroe for Student Body President!” “Vote Yes for Tina!” Some were still half attached to the walls but were covered in a red paint that was splashed in a crude line across the doors, windows, walls and lockers. It dripped like blood, and stopped before touching the floor.

Messages were scrawled in the red paint, but its line never ended. “Stop eating.” “Kill them all.” The walls turned black as she progressed down the hall and the darkness began playing tricks with her, dancing shadows played across the light. Murderous sounds whispered crude sentiments to her as she continued on her journey. Her own mind whispered to turn back, but she dismissed it, opting instead to listen to the dark voice that had led her here.

A bony finger rubbed her shoulder, inciting her to run toward the light at the end of the hallway, but the farther she ran, the farther the light appeared to be until she just stopped and found herself standing in front of Mr. Wilson’s door. She knew his door by the John Lennon poster that hung there, telling students to ‘Give Peace a Chance.’

Open it. “I can’t. I mean, I shouldn’t. It’s not mine to open.” Her voice reverberated in the dark hallway, but as she spoke the dark voice leapt from her mind and seemed to be coming from behind her, threatening her. Open it. It’s all in there. Open it! Ginny rolled her eyes, and turned the door knob. Inside another door and she was faced with the permanent records of every student in school, the room was filled with an eerie green glow. She grabbed two files and looked at them guiltily.

She’s not your friend anymore, Ginny. He has changed her. The only way to get her back is to take it. Ginny’s eyes gleaned red. “I don’t want her back. I don’t want any of them. I just want them to want to be me.” She staggered with the files back out into the darkness of the hall.

Her eyes would not adjust to the darkness, making her feel like she was standing at the edge of an infinite expanse, a never ending drop into nothing.

The posters swirled in the expanse below her, just turning around and around in a swirl of nothingness. She caught a glimpse of her own face. She, Lucy, Sebastian and the rest of their science class stood in white lab coats and goggles, smiling as a rocket ignited in front of them.

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Her smiling eyes pierced at her, and she stood frozen, terrified and just outside their reach.

“What have I done?”

Behind her the door to Mr. Wilson’s office slammed shut, forcing a gust of wind against her and she fell into the black hole in front of her, only to land with a hard slam onto the hard surface of the linoleum floor. The cool tile hit her skull, knocking her out and when she awoke she found herself in bed, clutching the files. The image of her own judging eyes disappeared as she ate breakfast.

Sebastian waited for Lucy under the darkness of a Cypress tree. He watched as Ginny laughed hard, head thrown backwards on the steps of the school where ice and snow melted all around them. Other students watched her with envy as Seth reached back and mock a far pass.

As always, Callum was nearby, disinterested in their conversation as a group of girls in short skirts strolled passed.

Lucy nearly strode passed him, but Sebastian was able to grab her in time. “We should wait,” he suggested. Lucy answered that he was probably right. It was dangerous to approach their group. The Letter Eaters would take any opportunity to flank them both, like dangerous raptors they worked together. “Where’s Tina?” Lucy asked. Seth pointed to a group of freshman cheerleaders, to the very back of them Tina kept her head buried in a book. Finally the bell rang.

Lucy and Sebastian waited until they were sure they could avoid The Letter Eaters before making their own way into the school. “We have to figure something else out.” Lucy agreed with Sebastian before stopping dead in her tracks. The west hall was littered in yellow caution tape, and three uniformed police officers directed children to pass by in a uniform line, around the crime scene.

As they passed, Mr. Wilson’s door was open and another office stood just beyond it talking to him. Lucy and Sebastian stared in, until the officer moved to close the door. During science class everyone was talking about the morning’s events. “It has come to our attention that a student has broken into the permanent record’s office. The principal is asking all students to remain in their classrooms until such time that they say.” Mr. Kelsey spoke in an unrecognizable monotone. Lucy missed the way he’d fire off lectures, in a heated passion. These days his thin, waxen face hardly said a word all throughout class.

Sebastian opened his notebook. He was working on something special, and the notes danced across the page in high crescendos and black dots above the line indicating he was to play high. As they waited for more information, he worked on his music. Lucy took to staring out the window, blocking out the hushed giggles and whispers coming from her former friend, Ginny decked out in her own jacket complete with the rust colored, dripping fangs of the dreaded black bear.

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She thought about Cole and wondered what he was doing at that moment, and whether or not he was thinking about her. Lucy found herself imagining him more and more, and wishing for the day they would see each other again. The moment would come, she promised herself, if she had to force it. There was something about his eyes and she was quite sure he understood more about what was happening than he told her.

“Lucy Bennett.” Mr. Kelsey waited for Lucy to respond, but the window to a sunny day held her attention. “Lucy,” Sebastian said, elbowing her. She finally looked up and realized that everyone had turned to stare at her. “Lucy Bennett,” Mr. Kelsey began again. “Didn’t you hear your name called over the loud speaker? They’re waiting for you in the principal’s office.”

Lucy entered the somber office of their principal and watched as Tina disappeared into his office. It was a long time before anyone emerged. Tina’s cheeks were streaked from tears, but she was no longer crying. She kept her head down as she rushed passed Lucy and out of the office. Next Lucy was called.

Principal Blart bore the unfortunate moniker of “Principal Bloat,” only she didn’t know it. Nearly every student in the school knew the nickname and used it in place of her actual name.

Bloat was an easy one to come up with, as the woman was partial to jelly donuts and it showed in the way her belt cinched high above what should have been her natural waistline. She bore an unusual haircut of a decade long passed. The mullet parted almost entirely to the left up top. Too make matters worse she wore navy blue button ups, reminiscent of jean shirts.

Principal Blart was easy fodder for curt teens, but she was a fair woman. Anyone who entered her office was considered innocent until proven guilty, but it was becoming clear that one of these two girls either stole the files or knows who did. “Take a seat, Lucy.” Lucy did as she was told, realizing she hadn’t ever been in Bloat’s office. It was littered with her daughter’s softball trophies and photographs of her family.

“Do you know why you’ve been called down here, Lucy?” “No.” “Good,” Bloat continued. “That means word hasn’t spread yet. I’m asking for your cooperation here and your sensitivity with this information. We’d prefer it if the rest of the student body doesn’t know what happened this morning. It’s likely the rumor mill has already started, but it is best not to add fuel to that fire. As I’m sure you already understand.” Bloat was clearly referring to Lucy’s problems at school.

“I understand. I won’t talk about it.” Lucy wiggled in her seat, her anticipation was growing. Especially since whatever had happened, had happened to Mr. Wilson. “Lucy, there was a break-in at the school last night. Do you know anything about that?” Lucy shook her head no. “Well, Lucy we have reason to believe you may have information about this. If you do, it’s best you share it now. That’s going to help you in the long run. Is there anything you’d like to tell me, before you’re asked to submit to police questioning?” Lucy was shocked and her anxiety 81

piqued, and she worried that the look on her face was making her appear guilty. “No, ma’am. I was home with my dad all night. You can call him.”

“We already have. He’s on his way here now. We’re asking that you return to your homeroom and stay there until such time that we call you back here.”

Lucy found the hall empty and for a moment she considered returning to Mr. Kelsey’s classroom. Then she turned and headed back to the west wing. The police had all but cleared out, leaving the hallway empty. The caution tape still clung to a few lockers, but for the most part the area had been cleared. They’d taken fingerprints, Lucy thought.

She knocked on the door, which slowly widened open with each rap. “Mr. Wilson,” she called into the room, finding him slouched at his desk. “Are you busy?” “No,” he said, standing.

“C’mon in Lucy. It’s nice to see you. Have a seat.” He motioned to her usual chair, and she slid into it, taking note of the mess. His office had been brutalized by whoever had broken in.

Drawers, papers and supplies litered the area all around her. “Think that’s bad,” he said. “You should see the back room. It’s going to take some time to get everyone’s records back in order.”

He stopped realizing he’d said too much.

“I just got back from the principal’s office. They think I had something to do with it.”

Lucy hung her head, hoping her aging mentor hadn’t lost all faith in her, and still trusted her enough to know she wasn’t capable of breaking into the school and taking anything. Mr. Wilson adjusted backward in his seat in his familiar way. “Yes,” he began. “But, clearly they have their reasons.” “What do you think happened?” Lucy asked him, certain of his suspicions but asking anyway. “I think it is clear someone connected to you girls did this, and that you should cooperate and tell the truth to the best of your ability.”

“I will,” Lucy answered, unable to meet his eye. The mess had been an initial distraction, but now she couldn’t escape the dream. In her mind’s eye he drifted, face down in the river right passed her. It was clear something was bothering her, and Mr. Wilson was curious. “So, beside this whole mess,” he said with a smile. “What else is new?” Lucy didn’t look up while plainly commenting that everything was just great. “Lucy, it’s okay that you stopped our sessions. If you feel guilty about it, you shouldn’t.”

Mr. Wilson had worked as child psychologist for twenty years before starting his position as high school guidance counselor. He was only weeks away from his tenure, a permanent position at the high school. He had proven his loyalty to the school time and again by helping troubled students overcome their issues, apply to colleges and improve their academic lives. It was far more rewarding than his position in the psyche ward which meant new patients on a weekly basis, most far more troubled than he could help over their mandatory stays. They almost always left before they were ready.

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At the school his triumphs were written on the faces of many of the student body. He’d figured out that Tom Marshall, a recently graduating senior, had been starting fires just off school property. As it turned out, the boy’s father was killed in an explosion on an oil rig in Montana where he worked seven months out of the year. Tom was secretly hoping one of his fires would leap up and take him the same way as his dad. This year he graduates with honors, as many of Mr. Wilson’s students were.

Only he couldn’t help Lucy Bennett. The guilt she felt on a daily basis was clearly written in her morose features. No matter how much he tried, this was something the girl had to accept on her own. That she was not a bad omen. She carried the weight of the world on her shoulders and wouldn’t lighten the load by sharing. He was sad to see her go, but hoped that the decision would come with some life lessons, something to show her that not everything turned wrong when she was near.

“You’re doing well in your classes, I see.” He tried again to engage her, but she just wouldn’t stop staring at the floor. He wondered if she could have had anything to do with the break-in, her permanent record and Tina Monroe’s stolen from the back office. He didn’t believe it though. She was acting strange, but she was a strange girl. He was sure he knew enough about her, to presume her innocence.

“Lucy,” he started. “Is there something you want to share with me? Something tells me there’s something you want to talk about, but you’re not saying it. You know nothing leaves this office right? Have you been sleeping okay?” It was clear by the graying rim around her eyes that she wasn’t. She nodded again, this time faking a smile. “I should get back to class,” she said in a feigned sing song voice. “I’m supposed to wait in homeroom until they call me back to the office.” “Well, that is where you should be then, but you’re welcome to wait it out here too. I can send an email to Principal Blart if you’d like.”

“No, that won’t be necessary. Sebastian’s in that class and I’m sure they’re all wondering where I am.” “Quite right,” he returned. “Well, we’ll see you then.” Lucy could hear the disappointment in his voice and guilt nipped at her ankles, causing her to stop and turn. Where there was a disconnect between students and teachers, Mr. Wilson was different. Like a big kid himself, he just understood teenagers and his sincerity was honest. She couldn’t let him down.

“Mr. Wilson.” “Yes,” he answered, his thick glasses sliding down and pinching his nose.

His white hair was thinning up top and his rotundness under a red vest gave him a similar likeness to Kris Kringle. “I’m glad we talked. Thank you.” She looked him dead in the eye, conveying her gratitude for his years of service to the school, for his dedication and help to her.

The look worked wonders and Mr. Wilson know longer felt like he had failed the girl. He nodded and saluted her as she disappeared into the hall.

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Before she made it back to class, Daryl was walking toward her and she found herself swept back to the principal’s office. “Two files were taken, Mr. Bennett. We can’t tell you who the other student was, but Lucy’s was one of the files,” Principal Blart spoke plainly, this time with an office present. “Two entire student records are gone. There is very personal information in there, not to mention confidential information on how we place children in classes. This type of information could really do much to damage the reputation of this institution.”

“Well, as I said before if my daughter says she didn’t do it, she didn’t do it. I’m sorry.

She doesn’t know who did it and we’re tired of the questioning.” Lucy noticed her father didn’t look in the direction of the decorated police man. He was young, likely new to the force. There was no telling if the officer knew her father when he was sheriff, but it was clear that her father avoided his attentions.

“Can we go now?” Principal Blart looked to the officer, who nodded and then excused them. Daryl left Lucy to finish her school day, but by the time she’d returned to class they’d already been let out to return to their normally scheduled classes. Word spread like wildfire that she was a suspect. Tina Monroe insisted that they had called her down to talk about her relationship with Lucy, and wonder if Lucy would want to attack her. She’d cleverly laid the foundation to blame Lucy for the entire thing and save face among her classmates.

For the second time that year, Lucy ducked out of the unmonitored west wing and left the school for Herod’s. She was surprised to see Cole’s white Lotus Elite parked out front, as this was the first time all day she’d not been thinking of him.

The front desk was empty, and the store’s first floor was empty. She breathed a sigh of relief that Troll wasn’t working, nor was there anyone around to expose her for skipping school.

She gingerly climbed the wrought iron stairwell, stepping lightly to avoid making a lot of noise.

The stairwell was too old and it sent out creaks that cut through the silence like a sharp knife.

Once she reached the top, she found herself standing face to face with a smirking Cole.

“I certainly caught you this time,” he said to her. She realized he was meaning that she often snuck up on him, and suddenly she wondered if it was odd that she was there.

Embarrassment found its way to her cheeks and Cole laughed as her cheek’s turned a bright red.

Lucy shook with anger and turned to rush back down the stairs.

“Wait,” he called out. “Where are you going?” “You clearly don’t care. Never mind. I shouldn’t have come here.” She didn’t turn to see that her departure was hurting him. “Lucy, wait,” he called out, trying to sound natural. “Please, don’t go.” This request held weight in her heart, and she gingerly turned to face him. Warm sunlight had filled the upstairs space and it was already becoming hot on the second floor. Summer would bring on an unbearable heat, since the second floor was covered in wood and quite like an attic to begin with.

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As a single drop of sweat, from nervousness deep inside her, Lucy rushed to Cole until she was holding his shoulders in her hands. He looked down at her beautiful green eyes and knew that no matter how much he tried, he was never going to be able to resist her. “I’m going to kiss you,” she said, returning his stare. “And I hope that you kiss me back.” As their mouths connected, a chill moved through her entire body. His lips, full and soft, moved with her own, relaxing her considerably. His hands connected with her waist and they held each other as still as Grecian statues.

With an unexpected swiftness, Cole scooped Lucy into his arms, holding her legs on either side of him. Cole was experienced, and without considering her young years, he laid her across a table and climbed on top of her. He kissed around her cheeks, to her neck and she heaved from underneath him, anticipating more. Lust took him over and with skill he unbuttoned and pulled off his shirt, dropping it beside them. He returned to her neck, kissing and caressing her body.

It was different with Lucy, he realized, as her jade green eyes met his own. He slowed down. She wasn’t like other woman, where he’d used his power to control and take what he knew they both wanted. Plus, she was just a girl. He stayed over her, looking down into her eyes and stroking her blonde hair behind her. “You’re beautiful,” he told her, leaning forward to kiss her lips one last time.

Ginny’s presence in the doorway was surprising, but also a relief for Cole because it meant he didn’t have to explain why he was pulling away from her. He wore only black leather pants over his creamy, white skin. Lucy cursed, wondering why if Ginny hadn’t shown up to study in over a month, she’d choose that afternoon to resume their sessions.

Ginny Franklin stood absolutely shocked. She remembered the way Cole’s black wings extended like smoke around his whole body, blocking out everything around them. His blue eyes were intense, but they didn’t work on her like they would on another girl. They fell flat on her and did nothing more than inspire a brutal anger.

“Ginny,” Lucy said, rolling off the table and standing between her and Cole. “What are you doing here?” “Lucy,” Ginny said, moving closer to her and speaking in a low voice. “I told you he was evil. Do you think I lied?” Ginny did not give Lucy a moment to answer before continuing. “I came here to give you another chance. You’re clearly not worth it. I’m telling everyone.” Ginny’s eyes turned red for a moment and then quickly back to dark brown. “I’m telling everyone what a slut Lucy Bennett is. You’re not going to hurt any of us,” she said, around Lucy to Cole. “We’ll stop you before you try to take another life.”

Ginny turned and bolted down the stairs. From upstairs, they could hear Troll’s voice ringing out. “Bye now! Come again!” They were becoming used to her happy, unnatural

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childlike responses. Lucy shook her head, turning back toward Cole and looking up into his deep blue eyes. There was something there in those eyes, something like reading a book.

She fought to tear herself away, by looking at his mouth instead. “What was she talking about, Cole?” Cole couldn’t lie to her, so he just turned away. As he reached down to pick up his shirt, Lucy saw the tattoo etched across his entire back. Dark black wings spanned from shoulder to shoulder and disappeared under his waistband.

The detail was intricate every line seemed to serve some double purpose and as a whole the entire tattoo was a scene of pain and anguish. Each curve of feature was made up by a diminutive human being, until the only lines that spared any detail where the microscopic ones making up their bodies. At once the tattoo appeared back spanning wings made up of feathers as well as a thousand lives piled up together, reaching out in pain.

Lucy could not help but reach out and trace lines across it. As her finger met with the curve of a feather, she drew back in horror momentarily believing she’d seen something stir from within it. Cole was shrouded in mystery and the tattoo proved to be no more helpful, only adding to his enigma.

Cole turned to her and buttoned the shirt, not meeting his eyes. His demeanor had cooled in the few moments and Lucy wished they could rewind time just a few minutes. Cole did not want to hurt her, but knew explaining things could have disastrous repercussions. Lucy wished desperately he wouldn’t go. She wanted the mood back, his embrace around her, the warmness of Herod’s.

Cole reached down and kissed her soft on the forehead. “I’ve never seen eyes like yours before,” he told her. “That’s quite a compliment coming from you,” she said, smiling and looking into his own dark blue eyes, that almost seemed to move and swirl around his iris. “I’m going to take you home in my car.” Lucy was disappointed, but followed him into a cold wind anyway.

The leather seats of the Lotus Elite were cold to the touch, but quickly warmed up. Cole turned the heat on as a courtesy, but after so many years in the desert he preferred the bitterness of the cold. They rode in silence, until he pulled the car to a stop in front of her house. No one was home. She sat for a long while, not wanting to leave him.

“Lucy,” Cole started, unable to continue. “I’m not going to see you again, am I?” She was sad. There was something he was trying to tell her. He was attempting to push her away without hurting her feelings, she could feel it. He only nodded. “Why? Why can’t I see you again? I’m sixteen, I’m not a baby. And you own Herod’s. I’m not going to stop going there, Cole.” “But, I am,” he returned, with his head hanging low.

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“I with you would just tell me. I can handle it.” He shook his head, unwilling to explain.

“Listen,” he started. “I have to meet my friend, Paimon. He’s waiting for me. It may not be forever, but you’ll be safer if you just forget about me, Lucy. Just forget all about me and enjoy your life.” Lucy stepped out of the car and stood watching from the curb as it disappeared around the corner. She spent the rest of the afternoon reading and trying not to think about what happened.

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Chapter 18

Hiroshima August 5th, 1945 – Like much of the world, Hiroshima is awash in military types and officials enforcing dominance over the lives of its day to day citizens. No one will let anyone stop thinking about the war. I’m growing tired of Paimon.

He is forcing me to stay hidden, not allowing me to walk among the living because of my pale, European face. I’m stuck travelling in the other side, no one noticing me. I sometimes feel as though he stumbles carelessly by people, forcing them to walk right through me. When that happens I can feel their every fear and heartache. I can feel happiness too, but no one is happy in times such as these.

Paimon has chosen the look of a Japanese Navel Officer and so he strolls in their crows drawing the attention of beautiful Japanese women. They smile, wave and giggle – fawning over him as he has not only fully decorated his lapel, but also taken liberties with his looks making himself incredibly handsome. Only he does not flirt with them, nor does he return their waves.

He does not even smile as children salute him as he walks back. I am tired of Paimon.

The time spent in the Never-Never had removed me from all modern luxuries, but as I now face them, I want to indulge but he would not let me wear a disguise. The only compromise was he did rent a room in a tea house. Inside was a marvel of eastern luxury. The décor was minimalistic, but everywhere I looked were tapestries bathed in painted colors and kimonos that told the class and power of the wearer.

The Geisha did not see me, but I saw her. She was instantly drawn to Paimon, and exposed her delicate, pale wrist while pouring his tea. She smiled a tight, coy smile and her brown eyes flirted with him as I sat shrouded in jealousy. She disappeared behind a sliding rice paper door to return leaving the kettle too steep before us. It filmed the room with the smell of lavender. I begged Paimon to let me join him.

“No, you cannot be seen here.” “But, in here? Where we are alone? She can be tricked.

She can be made to see me in other ways.” I begged him, but stern and stoic as always, he denied me every time unwilling to use his powers to change her perception or allow me to use my own.

When she returned I knew my power would have easily hypnotized her. I could have her believing anything. The beautiful Geisha would not tell a soul that a Western man was having tea with a decorated Japanese Naval Officer.

Paimon quietly reminds me that fate guides our hand and in this moment I must obey.

Simply telling me was enough, as he is the decision maker in our twosome, an ability that must 88

be earned through years of service. His long lectures about interfering in human lives were falling on less than earnest ears, as I grow more and more tired of his lessons.

“The chain of events is the most important thing in order to not have one cheat fate.

When a human cheats death, death will always find them with, as you well know. Only the second time it’s harder for them to let go. They’ve experienced the freedom of living through, they know the rewards of fighting.” “If death always finds them, how is it cheating at all and not just fate still,” I reply blandly, as I watch the shadows of Geisha’s milling around behind the rice paper door. “Who can say?” He answers, continuing. “Perhaps fate is doing this all as a lesson to us about fragility, and what it means to have to break a spirit. We’re taught to avoid that thing.

Only the strongest of them can magically escape your impending doom and when they do, they’re never the same.”

“I’m not doom,” I returned heated. “Besides, I’ve never let one get away yet. I’m the best.” Paimon laughed lightly, always the yogi and continued in his lethargic way. “Of course I know that. But, most of them see it that way. We need to help them to see that death is not to be feared, so that they go quietly and are ready for what waits for them in another world. You should pay attention to what fate is trying to teach you. Just be content to watch how they live and not always find so great a need to impede yourself on your surroundings.”

Was I impeding myself when I returned to the Never-Never? If he wanted me to let them alone than he should have left me to a life of solitude. He brought me there to begin with, but he was not intent to live as I had. We lived among people. It was the happiest I’d ever seen him walking through the outback with writers his companion. Decade to decade he continues to confuse me.

The beautiful Geisha returned through the doorway. I begged him to ask her name, as she once again exposed her wrist while pouring tea. This was a signal that he could ask her to stay.

She was offering herself to him, and he barely acknowledged her at all, an insult to any Geisha.

“What is your name,” Paimon asked in near perfect Japanese. Still, her ears seemed to perk up, sensing something was not quite right. “Choke. I was born at dawn, when the first sunlight crept over the horizon.”

I imagined her birth at dawn, those first rays of sunshine climbing through the window and into her vibrant, sparkling eyes and never leaving. Choko. I wanted desperately to take Paimon’s place, to tell her she was the most beautiful Geisha I’d ever seen.

“Would you like to hear the Shamisen?” At first he shook his head no, but I cajoled, determined to not have her insulted. He nodded slightly, affirming that she could begin her music. She sat down in front of us. Her tiny feet disappeared under her ornately decorated red and white kimono.

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The long, ivory helm of the Shamisen stretched out, but her small arms were able to reach even the farthest of notes. She sang low at first, her beautiful voice rising out in beautiful, haunting melody about the ghost of a man in a cherry tree.

The samurai had grown old, but outlived his entire family and every person he cared about. The only thing he hadn’t outlived was a Cherry Tree outside his home. Every day he would water it, talk to it and love it like a member of his family. Every limb was a reminder of the wife and children he’d seen age and then die, while he continued on the earth.

One day it began to wither and die, like all living things do. The samurai grew very depressed, as he still had many years left and he could not bear knowing he outlived his precious Cherry Tree. Choko’s sweet soprano rose, as she sang the last part of the song. The notes were melodic, drawn out and filled the room with a sad calm.

The samurai found himself happy again when he discovered the tree could live on, continuing to bloom season after season. He spread out a white, bamboo mat in front of its dying roots. He pulled out his sharpened blade and performed hari-kari on himself. By the will of the Gods his soul was transferred into the tree. His spirit moved from his corpse into the tree causing white and pink blossoms to instantly form out of the now living branches.

The cherry tree continued to bloom for eternity on the sixteenth day of the first month in the season of snow, the same the samurai had taken his life so it could live. Choko finished with a single tear glistening on her left cheek. I clapped, but my rejoicing could not be heard. Paimon simply nodded. “I picked that song for you, Officer. It is about ghosts and though I am told to sing happy songs, you do not inspire me to do so, sir.” She was rare and bold for a Geisha.

Choko was quite easily the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.

“But,” she continued. “You do inspire me. Jiu-roku-zakura is about the belief that if your heart is true and you ask the Gods to transfer your soul into that of another being, they will do so if you’re in their favor.” Paimon nodded, considering her words. A true Geisha, she sat patient and obedient until he returned words. “Perhaps, you’re wondering if I’m a ghost. I can assure you I’m not.”

Choko stood, embarrassed and ready to excuse herself from the tea room. “Please,” Paimon said, “sit.” She could not be so rude as to leave before a man excused her, and so she returned to a sitting position. She poured him tea again, this time keeping her delicate wrist hidden under the sleeve of her kimono.

“You’re a very bright girl, Choko. You have a courageous voice. I apologize if I’ve insulted you, and I encourage you to continue, please.” “Well,” she began, considering. “You seem to be a man who is haunted by a heavy heart. Perhaps you have seen too much death. You are a very brave, decorated soldier.” She excused herself, and stout woman returned in her place to speak with Paimon alone. She was tea shop owner’s wife. She sold the Geishas.

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She offered Chokos services to Paimon at a large discount, to honor him for his service.

Paimon did not agree, instead expressing that the woman return Choko to us. “Geisha,” he told her. “I will not buy you. But, I want to you to be loved tonight. Be loved and be happier than you’ve ever been before. Do not settle tonight, dear Choko.” Confused, she simply nodded and disappeared from the room.

“How could you do that,” I asked him. “Another man may spoil her!” I’d hope he would save her for me. I could have shown her what it meant to be loved for just a night. As I sit here, writing late into the night, the moon disappears and the tea house has long since closed.

Tomorrow I will meet with Choko on my own. I won’t let Paimon stop me.

Hiroshima August 7th – The reasons are now clear why we came. I have not slept, nor will I. In the last twenty four hours I have moved through fire, and it shows no sign of stopping.

The bomb exploded around eight in the morning, and without realizing I slipped right into the other side. My physical body cannot be hurt, but I had the reaction human’s commonly refer to as knee-jerk. On the other side I came too and found Paimon, standing in ash, surrounded by darkness.

He returned us to reality, where we both found ourselves surrounded by fire and ash.

Souls clung to their burned bodies, as thousands had died instantly. My dark wings formed behind me, and I made my way through the fire alone.

Japanese people handle death with heroism I’ve not seen before. Despite their confusion, they seemed to find strength in their numbers. It comforted them to not be alone. The spirits of their friends and family clung together and I was able to guide them in groups. They all made their decision together.

The children clung to their mothers, who whispered happy sentiments about the life waiting for them, something I could not do because I don’t know what waits on the other side.

I’m simply there to guide them through the portal. As tired as I was, I only cleared a small neighborhood. Hundreds of souls still wait for me.

Many children were left along, wandering and would not decide until I found their mothers or fathers. Some parents clung to life, and it was difficult to convince the children to move on without them. My sanity teetered on the edge as the scenes became more gripping and emotional, the longer they burned – the more accustomed to it they became.

I disappeared the fire from their eyes, and showed them scenes from places they loved as a in their lives, to demonstrate my goodness and power. It wasn’t until the tea house that I 91

experienced my first failure. Choko kneeled over her physical body, her bones were nearly dust and her skull continued to burn as it was still caked in flesh.

She attempted to lay flat over the bones, and willed her spirit to reanimate the body. Her spirit was still the very picture of youth and beauty, but it was not enough for her to not be able to operate within human skin. I approached her and she would not face me.

“Back away, Kami,” their word for us. “I am not going with you.” I attempted to comfort her and she screamed when I touched her. She leaned over, reaching for her burning skull, wanting desperately to hold it. It slipped through her ghostly hand. I extinguished the fire, and painted the tea house as she remembered it and showed her body as it would have looked if they’d not been bombed.

“You can’t hold anything now, Choko. Won’t you join your friends on the other side?”

“No, Kami. I am not going with you. I am staying here and you will not convince me to go.” I wished I could give her a second chance, but her body was no longer. As Paimon had pointed out, fate was in control. The only thing I could do for her was convince her to move on. She would not listen or believe in any of the truth and beauty I showed her.

I returned her mind to the burning tea house, and her nearly disintegrated body. “Ghosts do not see each other, Choko. It’s a curse to watch the living forever, believe me you do not want it. No one will ever know you. They won’t be able to see you.” “I will make them see me,” she returned, hotly. “They will know, Choko and I will live again.” Her eyes showed ever brighter, lit up like a mad scientists, dancing with the reflection of the fire in them.

“Choko, you’re running out of time. You have to make a final choice, but please consider. You do not want to be a ghost, Choko. It is a miserable existence. I can never take it back. You will be alone forever. If you move on, you move on together. Your friends and family wait for you on the other side, Choko.”

She was the patient, delicate girl of before. She was enraged, angered by her own death and she chose wrong. “I was orphaned here,” she said. “My family named me, pinned a note to my bonnet and left me on the steps of a tea house to grow up a Geisha girl. Because I was charity, I had to work hard. This tea shop is all I know and I will see it rebuilt. Like the samurai and the cherry tree, I am determined to live again. I will stay on this earth until such day that I’ve earned the favor of the gods and they will grant me another life. My choice is to be a ghost.”

There is nothing I can do for her. She clings to the ashes, even now, not that she could move on if she changed her mind. She’s devoted to her new position, but I know better. The more she goes ignored, the more crazed she’ll become. Like all ghosts, when I returned she’ll beg me to free her from her loneliness, when I cannot she’ll slowly go mad.

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My duties now lie with the rest of the dead and dying, but I will return to this scorched Earth and rebuild that Tea Shop for Choko. I’ll build it, she’ll haunt it and neither of us will fully understand why fate is so mysterious.

Could it be? Lucy wondered, but couldn’t fathom that she was reading Cole’s own words. There must be hundreds of people in the world called, Paimon, although she’d never heard that name before. Setting the book aside, she searched Paimon on her computer and was immediately surprised by the results.

She read that the name Paimon is derived from an angel who wears a crown and rides atop a camel. As a leader in the order of angels, Paimon teaches all things art, science and secrets. Other references to 200 legions of spirits did nothing more than confuse Lucy. But, she couldn’t help wonder about the coincidence between the handwritten journal – written by death’s hand and the references to angels.

As she drifted off to sleep, she again found herself in the heart of Goren’s Wood, watching as Mr. Wilson fell from the bridge. This time there was no sound, except the palpitating of her own heart. The scene was as familiar and frightening as ever, and she could not stop it, but the green grass and springtime were a warning that if these events were to happen it would be soon.

A number of dark things transpired in Whiskey Falls that evening. As Lucy slept, Daryl Bennett found himself in his own living room, surrounded by a ghastly green light. The door to the liquor cabinet slowly opened, inciting him to reach in and sample its contents. He had stopped attending meetings, unable to admit his problem and a drink in a dream was hardly a crime he thought as the glass met his lips.

Mr. Franklin’s birthday raged on around Ginny as she sat at a table surrounded by Seth, Callum and her mother babbling the birthday song, over and over again. Somewhere deep inside, Ginny felt a pull on her heart urging her to be afraid, but that feeling was not so intense as to overpower the excitement of the moment. When Seth reached for her hand, that voice was squashed, never to be heard from again.

“Your mom is so weird,” Callum laughed happily, as Troll brought in a sloppy cake covered in makeshift candles. She laid it carefully on the table, and cut them each a slice. It tickled Callum to find the cake’s frosting was a mix of laundry soap and tinsel taken from the Christmas tree that still stood in their living room.

“Isn’t it beautiful?” Troll bellowed at them, before disappearing into the other room.

“Cake’s ready, daddy!” She spoke up at the picture, and the large, dark face nodded to her, signaling appreciation. Ginny held fast to a deep resentment and spit on the cake, before launching her piece at the wall. Callum filled the room with a hearty laughter as it stuck to the wall, slowly sliding down it like the green hands pulled from gumball machines.

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Ginny grabbed Callum and led him to her room upstairs, no longer wanting to be a part of her late grandfather’s birthday celebration. Her room was not the picture of cleanliness it once was. Every open space was covered in melting candles, leaving wax trails down dresser drawers and bed posts. The candles always stayed lit, always.

She littered her walls with crudely drawn symbols and ripped pages from her yearbook.

These pages showed her face over the bodies of all the popular girls in school. She was eight cheerleaders in a pyramid; three girls huddled together for a photograph. She sat down at her desk and stared at a picture of her, Sebastian and Lucy. Lucy’s face crossed out, but her eyes were still visible between the lines. The dark voice reminded her what needed to be done.

“I will, I will.” Ginny promised the voice she would do its bidding and as she listened to it tell her that she would reign, she slowly drifted into a troubled sleep, not noticing Callum’s large frame rocking the bed beside her. He tugged and pulled at himself making noises like an injured animal. He stopped only to claw his own arms as they swelled and tore the shirt he wore.

They stretched the skin, threatening to rip it open.

Ginny opened her red eyes, not comprehending the room. She found herself walking through the school, more beautiful than ever. A knife through the titty, will make you pretty. She nodded, smiling to herself. The knife makes a hole, so we can share her soul. Ginny found the rhymes delightful.

Troll sat in front of the portrait, cross legged like a little girl on the middle of the living room floor. She wore a stupid grin. His large bulbous head blinked down at her, his hands covering his eyes playing the most stern game of peek-a-boo ever played. His lips would move, but the words came from her own mind.

You’re like a cake. She nodded up at him. “Yes, I am.” Seth watched from the shadows, smiling both dark and sinister. You’d make a great cake for me, daughter. Good daughter.

Obedient daughter, go make me the perfect cake.

Laundry detergent fell from her arms and apron as she diligently set herself toward the kitchen. Her body was so covered in dropping lumps, she was hardly recognizable. Her eyes and lips could hardly see out from underneath them. She looked up at her father, nodding, and understanding. “I’ll make you a cake, daddy.” She preheated the oven to four hundred and fifty degrees.

She waited spay legged on the ground in front of the oven, as it reached its temperature.

When the dinger went off, she grabbed the metal handle, pulling the door down. Using her bare hands, she reached in and pulled out the rack, leaving an empty space and a severely burned hand. Leaning forward, she heaved the entire top half of her body into the oven.

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It was the rush of air, as she settled in, that put out the pilot light letting only gas fill the small space. She inhaled deeply. Seth entered the room just as she began baking. Vicky Franklin had felt a kind of righteous satisfaction at having Seth in her home. The boys had practically moved in, which would have been wrong except he was a quarterback and they’d gone all state this year. Now he was like her son, only she’d never really understand what he saw in Ginny.

“You tell me if Ginny does anything stupid to upset you,” she said in a low voice, just before drifting into unconsciousness. Seth stood, unable to control his raucous laughter. Her bottom hung from the oven like a wood cutout for a garden, of a woman in bloomers tending to her flowers.

Lucy’s dream drew her away from Goren’s Wood, and she found herself as a child being held by her mother. She lay across Scarlet’s lap, watching her straight, golden hair shine in bright sunlight. “I miss you, Mommy,” she said in a child’s voice. Scarlet shushed her, absentmindedly wiping the hair from Lucy’s brow. Lucy wished she would turn away from the window, but those wishes faded to regret when Scarlet turned and Lucy realized she wasn’t Scarlet at all, it was the bulging, tormented face of Callum Norris. “But, you don’t even know me!” It shrieked at her in a hybrid, male/female voice.

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Chapter 19

Things steadily worsened between the walls of Whiskey Falls High School.

Students were either engaged in vicious tirades, or they were intertwined in deep, inappropriate embraces. The teachers barely emerged from their classrooms and most had just given up on stopping the violence. “I just don’t understand why we keep coming back here,” Sebastian whispered, as they passed a bulky jock, shoving a smaller student into a locker.

“Bass, we have to. It’s school. We can’t ditch every day.” “I don’t think anyone would notice to be honest.” Lucy imagined he was quite right. She’d stopped into the principal’s office to find her asleep at her desk, with pink lipstick scrawled down her cheek. “I’m taking a nap,” she screamed up at the open door. Lucy waited to see if she’d be called back, but she never was.

As Lucy stepped into her science class, all chatter stopped. Sebastian was behind her and when she turned to him, he just shrugged and they took their seats. Banners were hung, insisting that everyone look forward to the spring formal. The colors were white and baby blue and Lucy commented on how retro they were, but when she spoke it was among a flood of whispers.

“What’s going on?” Lucy asked, and Sebastian shrugged again.

His thoughts were on the spring formal. He agreed the colors were cheesy, but that didn’t mean he didn’t want to go. He had been looking for the right moment to ask her out, officially.

He thought of how Lucy would look dressed up and twirling on the dance floor. As cheesy as it was going to be, it was likely just what they needed.

They waited quite a while, but Mr. Kelsey never showed. Eventually the teens settled into a mild chatter, but everyone kept shooting glances at Lucy’s table. “What’s with people today,” Lucy asked. “Gee, Lucy,” Sebastian returned. “I don’t know. Why did I see Rachel Chow getting finger banged on in the boy’s bathroom today? The train is officially off the tracks. The only thing I don’t understand is why we’re still sane.” Lucy nodded, understanding completely.

“Maybe we were just crazy before.” Sebastian laughed, loving her sense of humor and feeling in some ways like she was the only reason he wasn’t behaving like everyone else.

Ginny Franklin shocked everyone when she showed up in school in a white pleated skirt, black oxford shoes, knee socks and a pair of Mary Janes. She sashayed to the front of the classroom, with an all too familiar swagger. “What is she like the new Tina Monroe?” Sebastian was mocking, but it was clear Ginny was attempting to steal her place.

Ginny stood at the front of the class after dropping a huge file onto Mr. Kelsey’s desk.

She stood poised and confident, unlike the mousy girl Lucy had befriended a year prior. “As all of you know, Lucy Bennett has been nominated for Spring Queen.” “So, that’s what is was,” Sebastian whispered in Lucy’s ear. She turned on him, almost furious. “Did you?” “No, but I’m 96

glad someone did, and I hope you win. Shove it in both of their faces.” He meant Tina and Ginny since they were the only other two nominated.

“In light of these recent events, I though it only appropriate to share some stuff about this nominee. I want to make sure that when you vote for Spring Queen, you know who you’re voting for. Almost a year ago Lucy Bennett’s father was asked to stand down from town sheriff because he cost the town the lives of two of our most beloved citizens. We’ve all wondered if Lucy could have done something to stop it, and now we know that she could have.”

Ginny pushed play on a nearby radio and one of Lucy’s sessions with Mr. Wilson, played through its speakers, causing a wave of shock and awe to run through the classroom. “It all started with my father’s drinking. Really, it began and ended with him drunk. I’d wait for him to stumble in from a night out drinking to tuck him into bed. He was functioning.

I don’t know why I did it, but I’d make his coffee and I’d pour the Jameson in before he left for work. I thought if I poured it, I’d be able to make sure he didn’t drink too much. It was different when he poured it. If I didn’t pour his drinks, sometimes he’d…” Lucy heard herself and remembered collapsing into tears, unable to continue. Mr. Wilson spoke words of quiet encouragement, urging her to continue. Lucy flew to her feet, and was held back by Callum and Seth. The tape continued with Lucy speaking between deep breaths and sobs.

“Sometimes he’d wake up soaked in his own urine. I didn’t try to stop him from drinking.

I just stashed him away like some secret. Being popular was more important than anything, even my own dad. I don’t have any friends anymore. Before, I had a lot of them. Now they won’t even look at me. It’s like I’ve ceased to exist.” “Do you blame your father,” Mr. Wilson asked her.

“It’s weird because I don’t.” A gasp ran through the classroom during the admonition, made just a couple short weeks after the accident took place, when Lucy was still raw with emotion and not sleeping. “Everyone has been blaming him. They took him away from me, but I can’t blame him. It was a dark, cold night the papers said. Frank and Lisa had marital problems.

I know they did too, because Tina babysat for them all the time and they were always fighting and no one ever says this, but Frank drank too. No one ever seems to think to bring their drinking into account.”

Tina stormed over to where Lucy was being held back by Callum and Seth. Tears streaked through her makeup and she smacked Lucy across the face before storming from the classroom. Lucy yelled out, “Please! Please turn it off!” They would not comply, instead the tape continued to play and Lucy wished she’d never been so angry.

“He punishes himself. He’s wildly depressed.” “Is he still drinking,” Mr. Wilson asked her. “No. He hasn’t had a drink since that night. Do you think he would after what happened?

When he gets out of county he’s going to AA and I know he can do it.

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If I had just told him that I wanted him to stop drinking, he would have, but I didn’t. I could have saved them all if I’d just cared. I saw it coming.” “Lucy, we’ve discussed this. There is no way you could have predicted this. No one could have. It was an accident.” “I did, Mr. Wilson. I saw it coming and I didn’t do anything to stop it.”

Ginny stopped the tape and zeroed in on Lucy, who was still being held back by The Letter Eaters. She hung her head, defeated. “There you have it, class.” Ginny looked around the room, meeting every eye until she was certain she had their attention. “She could have done something to stop it, but she didn’t. In fact, she encourages it and she doesn’t care. Think about that when you’re voting at next month’s dance.”

Seth and Callum dropped Lucy, when Sebastian started for the front of the classroom. As Sebastian dove out of their reach, Lucy was in Ginny’s face. “You stole that! How could you do that to me? You’re supposed to be my friend.” Lucy fought hard to eject the tape from the stereo and left the room, with Sebastian following behind her.

“I was angry,” she said through tears, to Sebastian or maybe just to herself. “I care that Tina and I aren’t friends. I may say I don’t, but she didn’t need to hear that. I told you before I didn’t care about her, because she set that girl’s hair on fire with a Bunsen burner, but I just made that up. It’s always hurt.”

“I kind of figured,” Sebastian said, catching up and keeping pace. “So, where are we going?” Lucy waved the tape around and commented that it was evidence that Ginny took the files. It was going to clear her and Tina’s names. As they skirted around a corner, The Letter Eaters were behind them sans Tina. Lucy pocketed the tape and turned to face her, “How could you Ginny? How could you do that to Tina?”

Tell her. Tell her. Ginny obeyed. “Because you were supposed to be my friend too, Lucy.

But, apparently you think I am obsessed with you.” Ginny pulled a paper free from the stack and read aloud from the page. “I don’t really know about Ginny Franklin. She is very needy. She me five times at lunch if I’d join her science table. She obsesses over me.”

“You have transcripts too,” Sebastian asked in mock and disbelief. “No one is obsessed with you, Lucy Bennett.”

Lucy’s stomach soured and she turned, storming toward the principal’s office. “Don’t bother, Lucy,” Ginny shouted from behind her. Lucy was happy to hear they weren’t given chase. “Principal Bloat is off her rocker. She isn’t going to care! Better luck next time!”

Once in the office, Lucy slammed the tape on the desk drawing their educator from her nap. “What is it?” She half mumbled, with puckered eyes. “It’s proof that Ginny Franklin took the permanent records. She’s reading aloud from them to other students.” Principal Bloat took a 98

look at the table and then collapsed back into her nap, snoring loudly. Lucy looked toward Sebastian who only shrugged.

Lucy pocketed the tape and followed Sebastian to the west wing, intent to sneak through the double doors, ditching afternoon classes. As they passed through the hallways, Lucy remembered Mr. Wilson. “I know someone who may be able to help us with this,” Lucy said to Sebastian.

Mr. Wilson sat at his desk, his door cracked open. Lucy barged in, and pulled the tape free from her pocket. “I know who stole the files. She played our sessions for an entire classroom of people. Ginny Franklin was the one and the principal is asleep at her desk!”

Before Mr. Wilson could formulate a response, two uniformed detectives appeared in the doorway interrupting them. “Mr. Stanley Wilson?” Mr. Wilson stood, reaching to shake their hands, but neither officer moved, forcing the man to retract his hand and uncomfortably acknowledge that he was in fact Stanley Wilson.

“How can I help you officers?” Officer Jackson was working his first year on the force and he’d already found himself at the school on two prior occasions. He looked at Mr. Wilson and shook his head. “Mr. Stanley Wilson, you’re under arrest for the statutory rape of one Ms. Tina Monroe.”

“Heaven’s no,” Mr. Wilson started, backing up. “There must be some mistake…well, I could never, would never…”

The two officers violently thrust Mr. Wilson over his desk, handcuffing his hands behind him. Papers and a clay pencil holder were sent flying into the air and Lucy yelled out that they were making a mistake. Officer Jackson paused to look her over, noting her beauty. “If you believe that, you may be one of the lucky ones. Mr. Wilson here has been keeping some very illicit files. Haven’t you, Mr. Wilson? We are going to see that he ends up in prison where he belongs, away from children.”

Tears spilled down his cheeks, as the two officers dragged him away. “Not true,” Mr. Wilson mumbled, “not true.” Students gathered in the hall to watch as he was led away. Mr. Kelsey appeared out of the crowd, wearing his comically thick glasses. His hair was thinning more than usual and his waxen features stand as his old friend was dragged from the building. He didn’t bother trying to stop them.

“Clearly this is foul play,” Sebastian said from behind, attempting a Watson impression in order to ease the tension. It didn’t work. Lucy shot from the room, and he had to race to keep pace with her. She dodged students and turned down a hallway they never used between classes.

Tina stood at her locker, alone. She was gathering her supplies for her next class.

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She didn’t notice Lucy until her own locker slammed in her face, causing a gust of air to blow back her hair. Tina turned to Lucy, nearly dropping the books she was holding. “Why did you do it?” For the first time in nearly a year, Lucy had approached Tina. “You did it. You used him. You’ve gone too far. I’m going to find a way to prove you made it up, Tina. I’m going to prove it. Just wait!”

Gossip travels fast through the halls of Whiskey Falls high and Tina was aware of the arrest just moments before Lucy had shown up at her locker. “I did what I had to do,” Tina stated, in a forced whisper. “Why?” Lucy demanded. “You wouldn’t understand. I didn’t have a choice.” “Everyone has choices, Tina. Yours are just usually wrong. Admit you’re lying. For once, do the right thing.”

Daryl Bennett sat in his break room, not enjoying the bland taste of flat pop. He felt the pressure of knowing that he’d skipped two AA meetings and if they notified the court, he could be hauled in. He made a mental note to catch one of the make-up meetings.

The television was muted, with closed captioning blasting the words of the newscaster across the bottom of the screen. Breaking News: Whiskey Falls guidance counselor, Mr. Stanley Wilson has been charged with allegedly abusing one of his students, a young girl at the school.

Daryl’s stomach seized, and he nearly dropped the can he was holding. Mr. Wilson’s normally cherub face was marred with shame in a mug shot they repeatedly blasted across the screen. As he raced toward the school, he vowed to kill him if that girl was his daughter.

Lucy and Sebastian headed toward Herod’s, the only place they were sure they’d be safe from The Letter Eaters. As they neared the bookstore, Daryl appeared from around the corner.

He wasn’t happy to see Lucy out on the street during school hours, but he was happy he didn’t have to search her school for her.

“We need to talk,” he said. Lucy shrugged at Sebastian before leaving him on standing alone on the sidewalk. He watched them disappear down the road. It was becoming ever apparent that the moment to ask her would never arrive, because they’d never stop finding themselves in the craziest of situations.

Daryl pushed a cup of coffee across the table, toward Lucy. She stared into its swirling blackness, not bothering to add sugar – not caring to hear her father joke. Her mind was so full of everything that she thought it could explode all over their Formica table if she didn’t work very hard to keep it all in.

“Lucy, I saw something very disturbing on the news today. I was worried. Mr. Wilson has been arrested.” “I know, dad. Why do you think I left school?” “I’m not sure, honey.” Daryl tried to find her eyes, to see if he could read the truth on her face but she kept her eyes low, 100

zeroing in on the coffee only. “Do you know why he was arrested?” “Yes,” Lucy answered, “Because Tina Monroe is a hateful liar.”

Daryl breathed a sigh of relief so loud that it caused Lucy to look up. Her eyes were filled to them brim with anger. They were wide, green and intense. It was clear Lucy did not agree with the charges. It was a few moments before the anger subsided and her coloring returned to their normal, misty jade color.

“Lucy,” Daryl began, embarrassed. “Did Mr. Wilson…err…Did he ever do anything that made you uncomfortable?”

The question heaved itself at Lucy like a ton of bricks to her chest. “Dad! No. It’s a lie, dad. She made it up. It’s all she ever does these days. She lies. She hates me and she knows that Mr. Wilson helped us, and she’s taking her revenge out on him.”

Daryl nodded slowly, taking in his daughter’s words and attempting to study her face. His own waxen face was stressed, pulled thin and he craved a drink to help him work through this.

When tears began spilling down her cheeks, he stood, wrapping his arms around her sobbing frame as she cried into his flannel sleeve.

“Honey,” he started, listening to an unfamiliar voice in his head. “Whatever he did.

Whatever is going on, you can tell me.”

Lucy pushed away, intense and angry. Her eyes lit up like two burning crystals. This was all just a sick and twisted game, orchestrated by The Letter Eaters and now even her dad was involved and he was unable to believe it. He couldn’t wrap his mind around it. He believed Tina Monroe, it didn’t matter what Lucy said.

“Dad, no.” She dried her tears and looked him straight in the eye, willing him to believe her, willing him to understand that The Letter Eaters were behind this, that Mr. Wilson has done nothing wrong. “He didn’t do it, dad. He’s a good person. He would never do something like this. She made it all up.”

“Lucy, I just don’t see how.” He hung his head low, unable to reconcile his daughter’s beliefs with the dark images that were storming his mind. “Why would she do that, Lucy? Why would a pretty young girl want people to think that she slept with an old man?”

“Because of you, dad. She’s trying to get back at us for what happened. She’s been trying to get back at me for two years. She hates us. She made it up to punish me.” Daryl shook his head. It just didn’t seem right. “She broke into his office,” Lucy continued. “She planted everything – the pictures, the notes, everything. Dad, you have to help. Please. Please get one of your cop friends to make it right!”

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Lucy was sobbing again, crying hard into the crook of his arm, soaking through his flannel shirt. Daryl wondered why Lucy had never mentioned Tina’s grudge before. It had been clear for quite some time that the two wouldn’t be friends again, but he didn’t realize just how deep their feud went. His heart hinged on the fact that the whole thing was his fault. Once again he craved the way a straight whiskey felt gliding across his tongue and disappearing down his throat.

Daryl pulled back from Lucy, and moved some of her blonde hair from her green eyes.

“I’ll look into it, but I can’t make any promises.” Lucy nodded and Daryl was reminded of her mother. Scarlet was a rare beauty. Her green eyes shone like Lucy’s own did. Vibrant and beautiful, he hoped his daughter wouldn’t someday share her fate.

Chapter 20

Lucy could not keep herself at home. The weather had turned warm, and snow around her melted. The path through Herod’s was fully visible and grass was poking through the snow all around her. She stopped on the bridge and watch as the two koi there danced and splashed. Lucy thought about Cole and was on her way again.

She was relieved to find his car parked in front of Herod’s. She kept her head down as she cut across the alley, unable to really think about what had transpired there all those months ago. As much as she fought to push those thoughts away, she couldn’t help remembering her dream. She’d dreamt it, and it had happened and it wasn’t the first time that had happened to her.

Lucy thought of Callum’s massive, unnatural frame – his intensifying form and the way his eyes sometimes seemed more red and brown. Lucy’s head ached with a dull throb.

Something was wrong, too much had happened now to deny it, but what was it and what did her dreams mean. It was time to really accept that she may be different, than others.

The door to Herod’s was locked as it was after nine p.m. and closed for nearly an hour.

Lucy pounded hard on the door and was tempted to yell for Cole. Awhile passed and there was no answer, causing a tidal wave of emotion to come pouring out. She cried for a moment before pounding ever harder, until she found herself pounding on his chest. She collapsed into his arms and sobbed, unable to hold it all in any longer.

He held her tight, taking in the sweet smell of her hair and skin. She was vulnerable and that was strange and romantic. Cole allowed her to lean on him and he walked her through the threshold and up the stairs, to the second floor of Herod’s. “I’m sorry I came here,” she said, pulling away from him. “I know you don’t want to see me.”

She was shaking, and Cole wondered why he didn’t just know things about her, the way he did others. Her true feelings were a total surprise to him. He felt wanted, but there was no way to know how much of that was real and how much of it was brought on by the gifts bestowed 102

upon him. That’s why he couldn’t be with her, because it would be like cheating her of a real love.

He comforted her in spite of himself. He reached out and pulled her close, drawing her back in. Her tears had dried and she was returning to the quiet, thoughtful girl he knew better. As he drew her into his arms it occurred to him that he’d never felt so close to any human girl before. She was beautiful and smelled like fresh peonies.

Lucy didn’t tell Cole what had happened, that story would have taken too long. She also didn’t share her dreams with him. Who would believe she could dream the future? They were more than dreams, she knew it. She also knew that if she really tried, like really, really tried, she could probably use that power during the day. She didn’t want to try, and she didn’t want Cole to know.

He saw her working through something in her mind. “What is it?” Lucy only shook her head before settling on his eyes and moving toward him. With a sensuality she wouldn’t have guessed she was capable of, she found herself in his lap, moving his dark hair across his forehead and then laying a kill on his soft, full lips.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and settled her head on her own arm, facing his neck. She wasn’t able to smell him and his skin was cold. Lucy reached out and touched his flesh. It wasn’t the first time she’d touched him, but she’d never really thought about how cold he was before. Cole dipped her back and leaned forward to kiss her. His blue eyes seemed to create an iridescent glow around his face. They lit up her own face as she kissed him. She could see their glow through her own shut eyes.

Their kiss was prolonged, intense and she felt herself letting go. In that moment nothing mattered. A pool of blue air surrounded her and flashed before her eyes. She drifted into what felt like a sleep, his lips still around hers, his arms holding her up. She slipped farther and farther backward into her reality was immersed with blue.

She felt eclipsed by both darkness and the blue light that surrounded her. She released herself completely and the room started to drift between them. Her body suddenly felt light and she was no longer in Cole’s arms but instead standing in an unknown place, surrounded by colors reminiscent of Van Gogh’s Starry Night. She watched as a fat, white orbs drifted passed and she reached up to pop one. It burst around her finger into a number of other white, floating orbs.

In a moment she was back in the bookstore, looking up at Cole, the blue light in his eyes dimmed only showing traces of the light that once stood there. There was a strange magic in Cole and now she was sure of it. She wasn’t scared, only confused, but Cole pulled away from her gaze and she realized she was near falling, laying back in his arms. Did I faint?

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He scooped her up to where she was standing and turned away from her. “What was that Cole,” she asked him gently. “What do you mean?” He was being coy, evasive as he was unsure how to react. Something had happened, something more than hypnotizing her. He could not help the effect he had on human women, but this was something more. Her sweet, soft kiss still lingered on his lips but he could still not be sure she was not immune to his charms, and the more time they spent together the more confused he became.

He did not want to cheat her emotions, but in that moment he felt there was something between them, a connection. Cole thought about the times he’d used his gift to seduce entire harems of women, and he felt shamed. Those were parts of his past he never wanted Lucy to know. He’d given up doing that to naïve human girls many years ago, and he wasn’t going to do it to Lucy.

“Please, you have to tell me!” Lucy voice rose, and she reached out for him, to turn him around. She was certain she’d see his blue eyes glowing, but he wouldn’t turn to face her. She knew he was hiding something, but if he didn’t tell her that only meant that she was crazy and with her dreams and everything happening she did not want to be crazy.

“Cole,” she started. “I know what I saw,” and then in a soft, sad whisper. “I know I’m not crazy.” Cole heard her struggle and wondered what to do. Only Paimon would know, but he couldn’t abandon her now. “I can’t talk about it, Lucy.”

His voice speaking her name sent shivers down her spine and she wondered if this is what love felt like. She wanted him so desperately when she wasn’t with him, but that want did not disappear when they were together because he was keeping secrets. “Stuff is happening all around me that I can’t explain,” she started. “I don’t understand any of it, but I feel like you do.

Something is happening to me too, that I can’t explain and that kiss. You kissed me and I…” He turned to face her finally and her own eyes snapped to his, but before she could find herself travelling into them again he shut them tight.

“It’s true! You do know. What’s going on, Cole?” Her soft inflection was not lost on him and before she knew what was happening he was kissing her again, with shut eyes. It didn’t matter that he could be kissing her just to change the subject, because his lips on hers made her want to melt. They made her want to do something she’d never considered to do before marriage, but they didn’t.

Instead Cole pulled a blanket to the floor to keep them warm and they sat against a wall.

He folded her into his arms, and they sat that way for a long time in silence. Cole studied her small, well-manicured hands absentmindedly dancing his own fingers across them. Each part of her was so special, so unique but he was troubled. Telling Lucy would mean everything about her life would change, and soon enough he’d have to leave. He wouldn’t have a choice and she was too young to take with him.

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Lucy checked her cell phone, unable to ignore her father’s text and the knowledge that she was running late now. Her curfew had nearly passed. She sighed and so did Cole, only Cole’s sigh had nothing to do with her having to leave. He was trying to reconcile something within himself. Lucy had done something while they kissed, something no human girl could ever do. She’d traversed.

“My dad worries if I’m late. I have to go,” she said, looking up at him. But, she made no move to leave. Lucy wanted to rest in this way with him forever, but Cole turned to get up. His unbutton shirt moved behind him, once again exposing his tattoo. Lucy was mesmerized by the detail, the tiny human bodies appeared like lines but upon close inspection they were clearly people, all people creating each and every detail for an overall set of spanning wings.

It was strange to her, that someone as clean cut and handsome as Cole would be hiding such a dark and mysterious tattoo. She hadn’t noticed before, but now saw clearly that the bottom right half was not finished. The outline was finished there, but there were fewer feathers.

The tattoo disappeared as he set to buttoning up.

“Your tattoo,” Lucy said, reaching up to him. Cole was tense and cool toward her as he moved across the room and set to cleaning up the small mess they’d made. He was waiting for her to stand up, so they could leave. These motions confused Lucy but she was done feeling insecure.

Cole feared if she knew too much it would only serve to bring more danger into her life.

More danger meant he could lose her, and he was realizing he couldn’t lose her. So, he forced down his shirt and didn’t answer her.

Lucy stood, but it was difficult. She didn’t want to get up she didn’t want to leave him.

She wanted to stay in Herod’s with him forever. She didn’t want to go back out into that world that was so cold and neglectful to her. She wanted to stay wrapped up against Cole’s body. She threw herself across the room and into his arms again, chasing away the questions that plagued his mind. He through back his head and laughed, before he settled into her own deep, green eyes.

They sparkled when she was happy.

“I’ve never seen eyes like yours before,” he started. He should have finished with, ‘on a human girl,’ but he didn’t. “I get that a lot,” she returned. “They’re nothing like yours though.

Won’t you please tell me what’s going on?” Lucy looked into his deep, blue eyes but the intense moment had passed and they no longer gleamed with a bright blue.

Lucy lay awake for hours thinking about Cole after he dropped her off. She drifted to sleep, completely unaware that her own father stood on the first floor, opening the door to an imaginary liquor cabinet and pulling out a drink. A dark voice guided him and he fought to turn it down, to make it go away, but he couldn’t deny the power of Jameson and so he poured himself an imaginary glass and shared a drink with a tan boy in a football jersey.

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The dream was different. Lucy found herself, not in Goren’s Wood, but on a familiar Cliffside. She teetered dangerously on its edge as waves crashed and beat at the rocks below her.

She looked down and shuddered at the steepness. The wind flowed through her hair, causing it to move behind her in ripples. The mist on her face wet her cheeks, lips and eyelids. It was all too real and her dreams usually are.

Lucy thought about the voice that sometimes guided her. She thought about the fog and realized with sadness that neither was present here. “Hello?” Lucy shouted, but the sound of the roaring ocean below her caused her voice to fall flat, completely drowned out. The realness was too much for her, and she began to wonder if she’d sleep walked all the way out here as there was no murky expanse and she could see as far as the horizon.

The sky darkened suddenly above her and thunder boomed from above her. The sound of a revving engine could be heard in the distance. Again Lucy shouted, “Hello? Is anyone there?

Can anyone hear me?” She faced the woods, wondering where she was and if she should venture into them shoeless and without knowing the direction.

Two bright headlights appeared from the darkness of the woods. The engine revved again and the sound of the car was louder. Whoever it was they were driving right toward her. The sound came from a path she hadn’t previously noted. Before she could think about using that path to find her way out, the car came barreling right toward her.

She opened her mouth to scream, but no sound cut free. A green Ford Fiesta passed right through her and careered off the cliff. Lucy found herself still standing on the edge of the cliff.

She groped at her own body, wondering how she’d managed to keep in one piece and then sighing, realizing that she hadn’t sleepwalked at all. She watched as the Fiesta plummeted to its demise and she realized she had another mystery on her hands. The first step would be determining who that car belonged to.

Lucy shut her eyes tight and willed herself away from the accident. She thought about Cole. She imagined his intense blue eyes, his perfect pink lips and his strong broad shoulders.

Suddenly she found herself in Goren’s Wood, only it wasn’t the same dream she’d had many times before. There were no hooded figures and the woods were alive with the sounds of birds, rustling trees and an abundance of flowers and green earth.

She cleared the woods and could see the bridge ahead. The lamps and the moon shared the shore of keeping it so brightly lit. The bright light covered every inch of the wooden bridge and cast itself out among the knotty trees. Lucy followed the light to the sky where the moon carried a morose face. She couldn’t look at the full and gloomy moon for long without feeling a sense of sadness herself. Goren’s Wood seemed every bit a fairy tale land, and yet it was still the familiar place of her childhood.

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Lucy stopped at the middle of the bridge and felt sad that she hadn’t found Cole standing here. Instead, she was alone save the moon. She looked up toward it again, feeling every bit as melancholy as he appeared to be. The whimsy of the wood started to fade as negativity grew inside her and suddenly an ashy snow began to fall from the sky.

Lucy heard the familiar strike of a match and spun around, hoping to see a familiar face.

Only it wasn’t anyone she knew who was lighting a cigar from behind her. It was Paimon, leaning against the cool bark of a tree. He knew he’d got her attention and he sucked hard on the cigar, allowing the smoke to blow out thick and obscure his face. Lucy moved closer, as this was her dream and she did not fear him. She wondered who he was, but was not afraid, the very nature of Paimon’s gifts.

Lucy found herself admiring Paimon’s three-piece suit. The brim of his hat was long, and cast a shadow that hid his yellow eyes. The nighttime and the brim of the hat made it impossible for her to see his face. She moved toward him, out of curiosity. “Who are you?” Paimon did not answer her at once. He hardly answered anyone the first time he was asked a question. He could feasibly work out every probable outcome of a response and lived in the luxury of finding the answer most beneficial to him.

Lucy waited patiently for an answer and when one never came, she asked again, but by that moment Paimon had made his decision and interrupted her. “I am the one who walks with death. Don’t you recognize me?” He tilted his head up, revealing a long furry snout and his two yellow eyes. This man, Lucy thought, is not a man at all. But, what is he? A rat.

Lucy realized with the next puff of his cigar, the light revealing more detail to her, that Paimon’s hands were completely covered in fur. He was a six foot tall rat man. “See something that interests you,” he asked with an ambivalent candor, as if even though he’d asked her a question, he didn’t really care if she answered it or not.

“Nothing,” Lucy began. “This is a dream. The characters I dream of, they manifest themselves in strange ways. Do you have a message for me? Are you going to take me into my future?” Paimon laughed out loud, jarring Lucy from her thoughts. His laugh was loud and it disturbed the quiet sounds of nature in the wood. “What’s so funny,” she asked him.

“Nothing,” he began. “There is nothing funny about a girl with great power who believes it all to be her imagination.” Lucy looked around her, to realize that the grey flecks falling from the sky had stopped and left a blanket of twinkling snow on the ground. She scooped some in her hand, where it sparkled blue, like Cole’s eyes. She flung it above her head and turned laughing as it sparkled and fell all around her.

“How could this not be a dream,” she asked him, dancing around as the blue diamonds fell all around her. Paimon stood finally, no longer leaning against the tree. He stretched and his jacket fell back, exposing arms covered in a wiry fur. Lucy looked behind him at a thick, spotted 107

black and gray tail which protruded from a hole in his pants. Lucy wondered where you buy pants that were made for a giant, walking and talking rat that prefers to dress like a pimp.

Paimon threw her a side eye, before turning and walking into the woods. Lucy trotted to keep up with him. “Where are you going? Nothing is that way.” “How do you know,” Paimon asked her. “Have you ever left this way before?” It was true she hadn’t, and when they reached the edge of the wood Lucy was surprised to find herself on the street she lived on. All the houses were dark and quiet, there were no cars parked anywhere.

“Very creative,” Paimon said. “What do you mean,” Lucy returned. Confusion was making Lucy tired, and she couldn’t stop thinking about Cole. This new entity in her dream was more of an annoyance, distracting her from those she cared to see like Cole or to hear the voice again. She closed her eyes and tried to think of Cole, wishing for him to come.

“Stop it,” Paimon shouted, with a vigor and anger Lucy did not expect. “You do that and he will eventually show up here. He won’t know why. He’ll even think he did it on his own, because we don’t do that. We have a pact in our circles to use that ability only when we absolutely have to. You have no idea what you could be taking him away from.”

Lucy was confounded. “Well, it’s not like he would really be here…would he?” “Of course he would, Lucy Bennett. And it’s high time you started to acknowledge that.”

“Why do you look like a rat?” She wanted desperately to change the subject, as something was all too real about this dream. “I don’t know,” Paimon began. “I once met a child in his mother’s house watching a cartoon where a rat wore a suit and played the trumpet. I quite liked it.” They crossed the street and in an instant were walking back into the area of Goren’s Wood they’d just left, only from the very opposite side. She could see the bridge and the moon heaved a heavy sigh to them as a greeting.

“Why are you here if this isn’t a dream?” “I am here because I went away and discovered some very interesting news about you. News I can’t share, as you must figure things out for yourself. But, it is also my sword duty to protect the angel of death at all costs. Therefore, I am going to introduce you to some information.

The first piece of information I’m going to tell you is that you have ultimate control here.

In this place, your dreams, nothing can hurt you and you can make whatever you like. The second piece of information I’ll give you is you have abilities out there, in your perceived actual reality.

I don’t know what they are, that’s part of what you have to figure out for yourself.

Someone gave you these abilities, Lucy Bennett. Someone who is like us gave them to you as a gift. It may serve you well to find out who that person was.”

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Lucy listened and wanted to believe but none of it was logical. Lucy starred at Paimon’s long snout, big black nose and yellowed incisor teeth, gnawing against one another and knew that none of it could be more than her imagination, but like all things she dreamt, it felt real. “I would prefer if this meeting stay between the two of us. If Cole finds out what you are, he may try to hide you from the council and that will cause more problems.”

Paimon trailed off in a deep contemplation over just what could happen should she tell Cole. Lucy felt like Paimon was bossy and ignoring her. Unlike Cole, she could not tolerate this way of his. Cole was patient with him in a way Lucy could never be.

“What about Cole? What is a council? I’m not keeping secrets from Cole.” “Fine,” Paimon said back, speaking in a calm and cool way. “Tell him about your crazy rat man dream.

He’s certain to believe you.” In a puff of silver rays Paimon disappeared causing sparkly snow to billow out and float down around her. She held her hand and caught some of it. Then it too disappeared.

Lucy thought about what Paimon said, about her control over her dreams and she closed her eyes and imagined a red gown that would sparkle under the light of the moon. When she opened her eyes she was wearing that gown. It was short sleeved and sparkling. She felt like Princess Anastasia and she looked up to the moon, hoping the shimmering red gown could cheer his sad, fat face. The moon nodded an approval, but did not raise his frown.

Cole walked up the bridge toward her, surprising her away from the light of the moon.

“What are you doing here,” Lucy asked him. “I don’t know,” he answered, sheepishly scratching the back of his head. Cole knew this wasn’t a dream, and he also knew that it was impossible for him to be meeting Lucy like this, but instead of asking why he simply smiled at her and he was fantastic looking under the light of the moon and the brightly lit lamps.

“Who are you,” he asked her, taking her gloved hands in his own, and turning her about in a dance with no music. “It’s me, Lucy. You’re in my dream.” When she smiled, the green of her eyes lit up and Cole began to wonder if she knew more than she told him. “I know,” he continued. “But, how did you get here? Did Paimon bring her here?” Lucy instantly let go of Cole’s hands, letting them drop to his side. She thought of the rat and what he said about her being able to call him, to draw him out. And that name, she knew she knew it, but she couldn’t place it.

Too much had already happened and Lucy couldn’t fight against being pulled away. She felt herself being rushed backward, her feet lifted off the ground and from her middle she was forced backward, toward the darkness, toward the morning. Cole stood watching her, confused and unsure. Lucy watched until he was but a dot on the horizon. Before she knew it she was tangled up in her sheets, her alarm clock blaring.

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Chapter 21

Daryl woke up early to find Lucy sitting on the edge of her bed, her mother’s photograph in her hand. She was staring at her mother’s deep eyes and beautiful, flowing blond hair. Her alabaster skin was stood out against the green background.

“You’re up early,” Daryl said, surprising her. “Did you sleep okay last night?” Lucy lied by nodding, but Daryl wondered if her nightmares were persisting. Lucy had woken in the middle of the night with an intense desire to see her mother, and she’d spent the morning staring at her favorite photograph, wishing it could answer her questions for her.

“Look at your mother’s hair,” Daryl said, taking the seat next to her. It was so long it fell almost to her waist. She wore a white, flowing tunic style dress with a fat, blue belt. She looked young, vibrant and beautiful. “Your mother was sixteen when that picture was taken,” Daryl told her. Lucy had this conversation with him before, but stated “you didn’t know her then.”

“No,” he continued. “I didn’t. It’s the only picture we have of her that I didn’t take. It’s my favorite.” It was Lucy’s favorite too. The sunshine coming from behind her caused a white light to fall on her shoulders. “I’ve got to head to work. You going to be okay here, kiddo?” Lucy nodded and walked her father to the door, where he left to work overtime at the bottling plant.

Daryl had taken to working Saturdays, in order to save up for a surprise for Lucy. He bid his daughter goodbye, and left for work.

Lucy found herself wired after two cups of sugary coffee. She walked through Goren’s Wood, silently mulling over the dream she’d had the night before. As always, Goren’s Wood was different in the light of day. It was just a normal wood, the path now fully melted and the birds of spring chirping. She wondered which she preferred, until a breeze danced through the leaves, sounding quite like nature’s whisper, a profound reminder that this was reality. Lucy decided quite assuredly that she liked it best this way, in the real cold where the birds sang their song which was nothing like the dead silence from dreams. Instead of a dramatic moon, the sun shined. She missed Cole.

As she passed through the wood, she thought about his gentle kiss and her dream. She thought of Paimon, only thinking of him as a rat man and she remembered that he said she could make Cole appear, if she really wanted him to. He had warned her not to do it, but Lucy closed her eyes and willed Cole to be on the bridge when it came into focus.

Lucy was surprised to see him standing there and felt a pang of guilt. She quickly dismissed the thought and ran to greet him. He kissed her hello via a peck on the forehead, and they stood holding each other, staring out at the water. “I love it here,” she told him. He didn’t 110

answer. And for a long while they both stood staring down at the two koi that swam below the bridge.

Lucy tried not to think about Mr. Wilson, but she couldn’t help it. She already seen one premonition comes true, and she didn’t want to see him hurt again. She wondered if her dream had foretold Tina’s accusations and that his death in the dream was a metaphor for the death of his professional career. But, then she secretly worried and felt that the dream meant something so much worse. If Lucy were to save him, she knew she would have to stop The Letter Eaters – Tina, Callum, Seth and Ginny.

She inched closer to Cole and he smiled down at her. Dark sunglasses hid his blue eyes from her gaze. They decided to walk to Herod’s together. As they crossed through the empty alleyway, they rounded the corner to find themselves in front of the building, where Sebastian waited with lowered eyes. “I’ve been here for over an hour. I called you twice. What’s up with you, Lucy?” Lucy realized that she’d forgotten they were supposed to meet in the morning.

It was a chilly spring morning and Sebastian had waited for her in front of Herod’s the entire time. Cole crossed in front of them and unlocked the door, offering them some privacy.

“I’m sorry Sebastian,” she began. “I’ve just had so much on my mind.” “This isn’t the first time, Lucy. You never return my phone calls and you’re never where you’re supposed to be. You make plans with me and then just blow me off. Why? You know, Lucy. Maybe Ginny was right about this guy.”

Lucy thought about what Sebastian said as Cole led her by hand through the second floor bookshelves, to the very last row where he kneeled down between the back wall and a bookcase.

Lucy sat obediently across from him, staring down at his pale neck and soft hair. He wasn’t bad, he couldn’t be.

The floorboards were caked in a thick layer of dust. With a wave of his hand and a quick punch from his fist, one of the boards popped open, revealing a secret space beneath the floor boards. From that space Cole pulled a large, clear glass container and inside it an aged book was mounted. “What is it,” Lucy asked. “It’s the very first Canterbury Tales.” Cole knew she would understand, as she clearly shared a passion for the classics. Cole knew she was like him in some way, but he had yet to figure it out. She didn’t have forever to live, that was clear but like him she found solace in Herod’s where hardly anyone else bothered looking.

“Where did you get it,” Lucy asked, flabbergasted. The place was a treasure trove of first editions, but how had Cole found this most amazing treasure beneath a dusty old floorboard. “I put it there,” Cole blurted out, without really thinking about what he was suggesting, as clearly the book had been there since long before he returned. Lucy thought about how her life had changed since meeting him, and he still wasn’t being forthcoming.

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Lucy sprung to her feet. Sebastian hadn’t wanted to stick around, and she missed him.

Cole’s life was guarded in secrecy, and because he’d never had a human to truly care about he hardly understood why she was so upset. He’d lived forever and yet not enough to understand human emotion. “You don’t have a dead grandfather,” Lucy said. “You didn’t inherit this place.”

“I bought it,” Cole stated, trying to cover up his lie with another lie. “You didn’t buy it.

Town records show the last sale was fifty years ago.” “So,” Cole began, “how could I not have inherited. My grandfather could have bought it fifty years ago.” “But, he didn’t. And I know it.”

Cole didn’t want to admit the truth, but he was drowning under his own lies. He was, for the first time, experiencing fear at the thought of losing that which he held dearest, Lucy.

He looked into Lucy’s misty, beautiful green eyes and he desperately wished he could tell her everything, but he needed to think of her safety. He almost felt as though he could lose himself in her passionate eyes as so many had themselves in his. “You didn’t inherit it and you certainly didn’t buy it, unless… unless you bought it fifty years ago.” Lucy turned her green eyes on him once again, “What are you Cole. Be honest. Just tell me. You’re different and I know it.”

He lowered his blue eyes to the ground and tried to think of answers, but none would come. He’d never had to explain anything this way. Cole stumbled over his words, and Lucy felt sympathy as she watched him trying. She took his hands into her own and then removed his dark sunglasses, showing his intense blue eyes. Looking into them, she willed them to show their true power. Cole turned away, “I can’t.”

“Then I can’t be with you. I have to be able to trust you, Cole. Please just tell me the truth.” Lucy struggled to get him to turn her way again, but he wouldn’t. “You won’t believe me if I tell you the truth,” Cole said. “And you won’t be safe.” Lucy thought about that and shook her head. “I don’t care. Just please trust me, Cole.” Looking up at her, her beautiful jade green eyes bore into him, straight into where his soul would be, if he believed he had one.

“I bought Herod’s fifty years ago.” Lucy laughed. “Come on. Very funny. It’s okay, Cole. You can tell me whatever it is, I just need to hear the truth.” “That is the truth, Lucy. I don’t age. I’ve been alive since the middle ages. I am death, Azriel, the grim reaper. I am El Muerte, the rider of the white horse. I am a harbinger. I am an angel of death.” Lucy stopped, remembering her dream.

She’d heard it before. Paimon had said it. Only at the time, she hadn’t understood what he’d meant one iota. Paimon had spoken of a need to protect the angel of death. And now Cole was claiming to be the grim reaper himself. Crazy words from a sane person only meant one thing. Lucy reached over and pinched together two mounds of her own flesh. “Ow.” “Are you okay,” Cole asked her. Lucy backed away from him, realizing that this was not a dream and very much real.

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Lucy looked on him with terrified eyes. He was handsome, with the kindest eyes she’d ever seen. “The angel of death? Really?” Lucy laughed, upset and angry. “That’s all you could come up with? The lie to explain away everything?” Lucy started to cry. She couldn’t let herself believe such nonsense. In an instant, she whipped her head up, her own green eyes startling Cole until he nearly fell to the ground. They grew a bright green, but only for an instant. Clarity had found her and she whispered a familiar name to him, “Paimon.”

Cole looked at her inquisitively. “How do you know Paimon?” Lucy shuddered with a cold realization. Cole had said that name in her dream, and he knew it now. But, she knew it too.

She thought of the leather bound book, secured in place with a blue ribbon. Paimon was the narrator’s friend. They were magic in that book, and that book came from Herod’s.

Cole could see her mind reeling and he wondered how he could get her to understand.

“We’ve met in a dream before.” Cole nodded, hoping this meant she got it. He wished he could go back to before he told her, and tell her something else, anything else. “Show me,” Lucy whispered. Cole went to her side, taking her arm in his. “You don’t want to see.” “Yes,” Lucy stated. “I do.”

Cole pulled his shirt up and over his head, exposing his toned abs and solid chest. He turned around so she was facing his tattoo once again. It was moving this time, and she knew it was real. The figures in the tattoo twisted and moved and a black smoke began to bleed from the markings on his back. It spilled like ink rolling off the edge of a canvas and billow down his back until it reached the floor, thickening and amassing at all sides. It rolled toward her, across the wooden floor.

Lucy watched terrified as it blotted out Cole entirely, and he could no longer be seen behind a set of smoky black wings. They spread out before her, and she traced their billowing feathers, mesmerized by their beauty. Cole’s smoky wings seemed alive and full of movement, and Lucy raised a pale wrist, intent to touch them. Cole spun around with an unexpected quickness and caught her hand midair. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” he told her. His body was a black smoke, completely obscuring everything about him except his blue eyes which sparkled and shone like two headlights in the darkness.

She could make out parts of him from inside the smoke, like his black leather pants which stood out in the hazy gray. Lucy’s mind reeled and she thought for a moment that she’d likely snapped. She started to teeter and her eyes rolled back into her head. Before she hit the ground, Cole had her in his arms. His wings sucked back into the tattoo in an instant, and his eyes dimmed to only a glimmer and then in another moment, completely back to normal. Lucy caught one last glimpse of his handsome face, before passing out completely.

She awoke later in her own bed, wondering if it had been a dream after all. But, it had all been too real and she was sure of it this time. She searched her room for Cole, but he wasn’t 113

there. On her way down the stairs, Lucy caught herself on the landing. Daryl stood in the living room, opening a cabinet that no longer filled that space. He poured a drink and then passed it to a non-existent person. “None for you? Okay,” he said. “More for me.”

Lucy did not hear it, but a dark voice responded to her father’s weakened mind. It asked him questions about his daughter. “When Lucy was ten she had a dream that our neighbor’s house burned down and everyone inside died. She was so scared she stayed up all night, the phone right by her bed. When their shed caught fire, she dialed 9-1-1. I think she saved their lives. She won’t talk about her dreams anymore though.”

“Dad,” Lucy called out to her father, who seemed drunk, despite not having an actual drink. He hid his imaginary glass behind his back. “Dad,” Lucy said again. “It’s after six, did you skip your meeting?” She didn’t know what was going on, but her worry was overwhelming.

“Meeting was canceled honey. Too much snow on the ground, bad for driving.” Daryl hiccupped and Lucy ran back upstairs, crawling into her bed and staring at the ceiling.

She lay in bed thinking about Cole’s dark profession. What did it mean to be the grim reaper? It wasn’t long before she realized sleep would not be coming to her. She pulled out the aged book that she’d taken from Herod’s. Is this Cole’s journal? She read through all the pages she had before, each time she stumbled across Paimon’s name. It wasn’t a coincidence, they’d verified that. She was sure she was holding Cole’s book.

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Chapter 22

Spring was in full swing as the weeks passed. The weather turned warm as the snow melted and more and more students started thinking about the Spring Formal. Lucy only thought about Cole and wondered when he would return to her, if ever.

Mr. Wilson was released in secret after Tina Monroe confessed to breaking into his office and making the whole thing up. Daryl wasn’t so sure, but he stayed up late watching the news with Lucy. She waited for a story to clear his name, but one never aired. Mr. Wilson was not offered his guidance counselor position back, and it was clear he would be working around children again.

Tina was expelled, and punished by the school. She was stripped of her title of student body president, and she could not be on the ballot for Spring Queen. Much to her luck, Mr. Wilson declined to press charges against Tina, which did more to make him appear guilty to everyone except a few of them.

With the Spring Formal looming ahead, Lucy thought about a promise she’d made to Sebastian. They were going together, but she hardly felt like celebrating. She knew Cole’s secret and now she only longed to be with him, but he was gone, afraid that he’d scarred her. Lucy wished for a second chance, a chance to react differently, a chance to tell him she loved him.

Lucy thought about the last time she wore a dress, in her dream with Cole. Tonight she felt nervous to be in reality and to see herself in a gown. She wore a dress taken from her mother’s closet, a light green gown, with an empire waist and sheer fabric bottom.

Sebastian showed up promptly at seven and waited with Daryl for Lucy to come downstairs. She felt funny having them both waiting there, but it felt good too. It felt normal and for the first time in weeks she was happy. The shoes she wore required that she transcend the stairs slowly, holding the railing for balance. Daryl lowered his camera and Sebastian’s jaw dropped as Lucy began her descent.

After the initial shock subsided, Daryl started snapping photographs and Sebastian was able to close his mouth and smile for the pictures. Sebastian wore a pressed suit and tie, but still looked every bit himself with his hair unkempt and his tie covered in skulls and crossbones. It was as dressed up as Sebastian Sumner would ever allow himself to be.

“You look amazing,” he said, taking her hand and looking her up and down. He raised his arm above her head and she took a turn around before ending in a bow. Lucy’s green dress matched her eyes, and it features a crystal bevel across the top, that caught and glistened in her eyes and his. She let her long blond hair stay curly and cascade around her shoulders.

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“Have her home by midnight, please. No later.” It was as if she’d never gone anywhere with Sebastian before. Strangely, he rushed to open the door of his mother’s pickup truck for her.

It was awkward, and it bothered Lucy but she kept mum on the drive to the dance. Like most high school dances, the music was cheesy but it worked to lift her spirits. As they stood by the punch bowl, watching their classmates shimmy and shake around them, Sebastian asked her if there was something more on her mind. She realized that she’d been quiet, unable to force conversation with her very best friend.

She wanted to make the most of this night, her best friend and her mother’s dress. So, she grabbed Sebastian’s hand and said, “Hey Bass, I hate this song. What do you say we dance to it anyway?” The kicked and shook to a pop song neither recognized but were falling in love with.

When the music switched to a soft serenade, he had his arm around her waist and she rested hers around his neck. They swayed and Lucy thought about how different it was to feel Sebastian’s arms around her waist than Cole’s.

Cole made her nervous in a way she liked, but he also made her feel safe. Sebastian did none of those things, but there was something great about him, and he looked cute in his suit and tie. His face was familiar and he cared about her very deeply. Lucy sighed, resting her chin on his shoulder as they danced in time with the music. He’s not Cole. She glanced at the entrance and wondered what she would do if he walked through it. She was careful to not wish for that.

“You really look amazing tonight, Lucy.” Sebastian pulled away to look into her eyes.

Before Lucy could say anything, Sebastian’s was leaning forward, eager to plant a kiss on her plump, pink lips. She leaned back only for a moment, before pulling away. Lucy felt awkward, and she wanted to disappear before she’d reject her best friend. She couldn’t bring herself to say it, until a smile crept onto Sebastian’s face. “That wasn’t quite what I expected.”

“I’m sorry,” Lucy returned. “No, don’t say anything,” Sebastian continued. “It just wasn’t right.

It’s fine.”

Lucy felt relief washing over her. With so much going on, she took his words for honesty and did not notice the longing look he gave her as she detached from him to walk to the punch bowl. When she returned they resumed laughing and dancing to a song, happily enjoying their youth. For a long while, Lucy was able to put her worries aside and just live in the moment.

It was Sebastian who saw Callum lumbering toward them first. “Lucy, get behind me,” he told her. Only Lucy didn’t move, opting instead to stand side-by-side with her friend. Ginny Franklin wore a white mini skirt with a black scoop neck top. She wasn’t even a shadow of her former self anymore. As she strode by, boys begged for a dance with her but she ignored them, following Callum to their target.

“Let’s get out of here,” Lucy said, and Sebastian nodded, following her out the exit and into the hall. Around their next corner they found Seth Boyd waiting for them. He smiled a 116

bright, white, intense toothy smile that stood out on his tanned skin. He shocked them both, and before they knew it, Lucy and Sebastian were being held back by Ginny and Callum who had snuck up behind them.

Ginny’s grip was tight and difficult to fight against. Lucy struggled, and with a great effort she was able to pull free. She didn’t run as Sebastian was unable to escape the bovine grip of Callum Norris. “Ginny,” Lucy started. “What’s wrong with you? I thought we were friends.

When did you become so deluded?”

Ginny’s smile widened almost too wide and her features were beginning to become all twisted up like Callum’s had that night in the alley. Lucy turned to Sebastian to see if he noticed, but he was too busy fighting against Callum to see. Lucy was horrified, watching Ginny’s face constrict and contract in such an inhuman way.

“I have new friends now. Just look at me, Lucy. I’m a better version of you.” Ginny’s laugh rang through the halls, high pitched and maniacal. Like always, talking wasn’t going to save them. Lucy hope a teacher would appear, but she started to realize that she hadn’t seen a teacher since she’d walked through the doors. Her normal high school function wasn’t so normal after all. Students filled the hallway, their faces expressionless and like mute zombies, they stood swaying and watching as Sebastian struggled against Callum and Callum just laughed, able to subdue him easily.

Lucy and Sebastian started screaming, both at once. “Help,” Lucy shouted to the students who had gathered. “Please don’t just stand there. Get help!” At Seth’s command Callum covered Sebastian’s mouth, silencing him. Sebastian attempted to scream through Callum’s large, meaty hands but that meant smelling them and there was the distinct odor of rotting flesh there. He tried to hold his breath as much as possible, in order to avoid the smell.

“Do you want your friend hurt, Lucy?” Seth asked her, in a demonic, hushed voice. “If you do, continue yelling.” Callum held Sebastian’s hand with his free one and squeezed, causing Sebastian to nearly buckle over in pain. Lucy could see the tears forming at the corners of his eyes and agreed to be quiet. Lucy was out of ideas. They were in a hallway, near an exit, but she’d need to run passed all of the students that had gathered there, and something told her they’d try and stop her.

“Lucy,” Seth started. “Would you mind telling me how you protect your little friends?

How do they stay safe? Your dad, Sebastian… Do you bind against me?” Lucy was puzzled, not understanding at all what Seth meant. “No,” he continued. “That’s not it. It’s something out.

Maybe…something you don’t even realize you’re doing.” “Please,” Lucy said. “Just let us go.”

“Well,” Sebastian started again. “It doesn’t matter anyway. Ginny! It’s time.” He snapped his fingers and Ginny produced a shiny, silver blade and Seth gave the nod toward Lucy.

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Sebastian began to mumble screams from behind Callum’s thick fist. He struggled again, but it was no use. Callum had ahold of him too tight. Lucy realized that Ginny meant to stab her, and as Ginny slowly encroached on her Lucy turned to run. Everyone was silent, the only sound was the dull pop of bass coming from the dance and reverberating on the lockers.

Callum caught ahold of Lucy, using a free hand. He grabbed her easily and she was not able to fight against him. He held each of them and the restraint hardly tested his strength at all.

Lucy shut her eyes tight and her first thought was of Cole. She wondered if she could call him, like the rat had said in her dream. Would he come if she did?

She squeezed her eyes tight, and wished so hard for him. Lucy needed him badly, but Ginny’s maniacal laughter was distracting her. A female student, a first year, turned the corner into their hallway, and Ginny’s crazy laughter stopped. She stashed the knife behind her back.

The student was about to turn and run, calling for help, but a dark voice resounded in her mind, stopping her. The voice willed her to join and she could not deny it.

Callum was no longer holding Sebastian across the mouth, as he moved to use his free hand to grab Lucy. Sebastian stood dumbfounded, wondering how Seth was controlling these students. He felt a pull on his own mind, but he wouldn’t join them, no matter how much they asked. He was with Lucy, even if they were the last two kids in school, they wouldn’t join The Letter Eaters.

Ginny reproduced the knife and held it twisting and turning through the air, as she walked closer and closer to Lucy. Lucy closed her eyes again, knowing that only Cole could save her.

She wiggled and fought against the massive Callum’s frame all while chanting Cole’s name in her thoughts.

Cole was there and had her free before her even opened her eyes. He launched Callum down the hall, and when Lucy opened her eyes he was still sliding down the glossy hard surface.

Ginny rushed to Callum’s aid, helping him to his feet. “You!” Ginny screamed, pointing at Cole.

Her red hair was wild and her eyes burned red and out of control. Lucy flung her arms around Cole’s neck, kissing his face, wildly happy to see him. “You came. It worked. You’re here.”

Cole stood serious, his blue eyes staring daggers at Seth. Sebastian rubbed his cheek and chin. They were already starting to bruise where Callum had ahold of him. He was thankful his hand was not broken and he’d still be able to play the trumpet in the final concert of the school year. He watched with a sad jealousy as Lucy showered Cole’s cheeks with kisses. It suddenly became obvious to him that he knew her deeper than he could ever know her.

Sebastian assessed the situation. Seth had disappeared somewhere in the commotion of Cole’s sudden appearance and Callum was out for the count. Lucy was safe now and happier than she’d been in his own arms and so he turned to leave. He solemnly walked the long hallway toward the large double doors at the end, willing himself to not look back.

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Lucy’s heart filled with joy and happiness and she looked up into Cole’s blue eyes. There was a fear that hinged on their meeting, but he too was happy to see her. “It’s true then,” Lucy said, staring up at him. “What’s true,” he returned. “You’ll always come when I need you.” Cole nodded, folding her head into his arm, against his chest where Lucy began to close her green eyes but not before noticing Sebastian disappearing out of the school, into the night, alone.

“Bass,” Lucy called out. “Wait.” But, she was too late. They had to rush to find him outside, walking the streets alone. No place was safe from The Letter Eaters and Lucy was certain even Sebastian should not be walking alone. They caught up to him in the parking lot.

Lucy’s shoulders were completely bare and goose pimples rose to the surface of her delicate, pale skin. Sebastian yanked off his jacket and thrust it toward her. “You don’t need to,” she started. “I’m fine.” But, Sebastian insisted shaking it at her. “Just take it,” he said. He attempted to force open the door of his mother’s truck, but realized with embarrassment that the keys were in the pocket of the jacket Lucy wore.

“Sebastian,” Lucy said, “What’s wrong?” Only in an instant she knew. As she laid her hand on his in an effort to comfort him, a flash of white light lit up in her mind. Just like in one of her dreams she was transported through time, only it wasn’t a picture of the future. Instead, she was looking through Sebastian’s eyes at a past she hadn’t even realized had taken place.

She saw her golden blonde hair, bouncing through the halls as he walked behind her. She was a Letter Eater then. The brown jacket she wore depicted her own scribbling’s, “Go Team!”

With the Brown Bear accurately drawn, sinking its blood red teeth into the other mascot’s football decorated logo. She saw herself again in a classroom, this time sitting alone. This was after, as she tried to avoid the snickers and taunts of an entire classroom filled with people, Sebastian had kept quiet. His eyes were trained on hers and Lucy was seeing her eyes from another person’s perspective. Their green coloring was much more intense than she realized after looking at herself day in and day out in front of a bathroom mirror. Now she saw a familiarity in them that she could not place, but it was intense, it drew Sebastian in and they were red-rimmed with a sadness that he longed to help her heal.

Every moment spent together after becoming quick friends was one of longing and love on his part and she hadn’t noticed. He carried her books, joked with her, was outspoken for her when she couldn’t be but the one thing he couldn’t admit was that he loved her, deeply. He was shy in a way, fearful of rejection and the last thing Lucy experienced before taking her hand off his was just how deeply it hurt him to see her with Cole. It was like being slammed hard in the heart, it was like a door being slammed in his face when he desperately needed to be on the other side of it.

“Sebastian,” Lucy began, with tears in her eyes. Sebastian couldn’t possibly know what she’d seen, but he knew something had changed in her. “Listen,” Sebastian said, eyeing Cole 119

who stood silently in the background. “You don’t have to come with me, but if you need a ride you’ve got one. I’m sure Romeo will take care of you.” He was mocking her in an attempt to wound her and it worked. Sebastian thought it strange to be so angry after what had happened, but he was. He wanted to forgive her, but couldn’t.

Cole could sense something was off about the area, even with so much going on. There was the smell of teenage hormones mixed with the sweat of tired dancers, but there was something else too. It was an evil that now lurked around them, but was only reminiscent in the hallway and before when he’d seen Lucy on the street in front of Herod’s, after her run in with The Letter Eaters, when Ginny had discovered him.

Now it was like the heavy stale smell of a seedy, smoke filled bar. It was something like a smell underneath another smell, like the rank smell of ammonia from a dirty kennel. It was a thick evil that clung to the air, and he knew Seth was close. Seth had managed to evade him time and time again, leaving only his underlings, but now he hung around nearby. Cole moved to be closer to Sebastian and Lucy. “We need to go,” he said, in a hushed whisper, scanning the parking lot for danger. “Now.” Sebastian looked around himself and saw no one. “I’m leaving,” he said, hand out to Lucy. “I need my keys.” Cole stopped him, warning him that they should stay together. The Letter Eaters were near and they ached for the opportunity to finish what they started. Separating meant more danger. “It’s better if we stay together.”

As the three of them strolled down Main Street, they appeared to passing drivers an average group of teenagers, leaving a dance for home or another party. Herod’s was their destination, a safe place to wait out the danger. Cole could sense that whatever poison was sickening the town of Whiskey Falls was quickly bubbling to the surface and things were no longer safe here. He couldn’t risk staying out on the street where Lucy was easy fodder for her enemies.

Sebastian walked ahead of Lucy and Cole, with an angry purpose. Lucy rubbed her hand where she had touched him and wondered how she was able to do it. She understood that she had invaded something private, hidden in his mind and she had no clue as to how she’d done it. It had just happened and she wondered if it would happen again. Sebastian was her friend and vision or not, she intended to comfort him. She picked up the pace until she was walking side by side with him, Cole traveling just behind them, suspiciously eyeing the neighborhood.

“Bass,” Lucy started. “I’m so sorry.” “For what?” Lucy realized he couldn’t know that she knew. “For everything. I don’t know. The Letter Eaters. This is all my fault.” Sebastian nodded, even though he didn’t agree. He wanted her to think it was her fault, to punish her for inviting Cole, for liking him. It was working. The bright sparkle that appeared in Lucy’s eyes whenever Cole was around started to dim as a great hurt washed over her. Sebastian hated to see 120

her eyes dim in that sad way and he began to speak up, but before he could respond Lucy’s hand was on his chest, stopping and silencing him.

Up ahead, Lucy spotted a familiar red peacoat disappearing into the alley beside Herod’s.

Lucy wondered what Tina was up to in Goren’s Wood at this time of night. She hadn’t been at the dance. When Lucy broke into a quiet job, both Sebastian and Cole sped up their paces. Cole whispered for her to stop, to come into Herod’s where it was safe, but Lucy kept going all while silencing them with her hands.

They stole into Goren’s Wood far enough behind Tina that they weren’t noticed. It wasn’t until they reached the clearing and Lucy saw Mr. Wilson standing there that she no longer cared to quietly follow along. The time had come. Mr. Wilson’s thick frame stood on the bridge.

He wore comfortable black trousers, with matching suspenders and a white button up shirt. His clothes were clean and pressed which seemed odd because his white hair was unkempt and he had a wild, unfamiliar look in his eye and a gun in his hand.

Mr. Wilson was a broken man. The Letter Eaters had taken everything from him. He could not return to his job as guidance counselor at Whiskey Falls High nor could he face his friends and neighbors. It was clear that everyone from his closest friend to his landlord believed he was guilty, despite his name being cleared with police. In just a few weeks he could add homeless to his resume of things gone wrong, because Mrs. Shmutsky, his landlord, would not be renewing his lease.

His wife had long since passed, and only up until recently had he been alone, but now Sarah was gone too. She didn’t know what to believe. She wanted desperately to believe he was innocent, but she couldn’t say for sure. So, in the dark of the night she packed up all her belongings and left a note. Sarah was gone leaving him with no one and it hurt, especially after leading such an honest, quiet life. One lie had turned all of his friends, colleagues and the woman he was falling in love with against him. The worst of it was that the dark voice prayed on weak minds, and soon after the arrest he was listening to it.

Mr. Wilson teetered on the edge of insanity, wondering how his students could turn so against him. The dark voice tried to tell him to punish them, to take revenge, but to that he would not listen. Instead, he began to question the very foundation of his teachings, wondering if maybe, during their sessions he had been somehow guilty of what Tina Monroe had accused him of. He began to blame himself for all of his student’s problems, no longer believing himself to be an authority on anything but ruin.

He stayed up late into the evening pouring over the files he kept at home, further proving to him that he had caused misery in the lives of others. His help had done nothing more than further complicate their young lives. Soon his thoughts were no longer coming from his own mind, but instead seemed to radiate from the safety deposit box where he kept his Smith & 121

Wesson Model 66 – 357 Steel Revolver. For days the dark voice resonated in his mind, urging him to open it until finally he found himself taking it out and turning it over and over again in his hands.

He knew that killing himself would only further convince everyone of his guilt but it didn’t matter. But, after Sarah left it no longer mattered. The revolver reminded him of his loneliness. You’re not lonely when you’re dead. Thoughts of his wife, now buried ten years convinced him. You can join her. She was the only woman who ever loved you. And because Sarah had left, unable to convince herself of his innocence, he knew it was true.

Mr. Wilson knew he would never find love like hers again and the dark voice, radiating from the Smith & Wesson told him where to go and he followed those instructions to a tee. He wrapped the gun in an old hankie and slipped in into his pocket. He drove five miles to the West entrance of Goren’s Wood before hiking to the old bridge to do himself in.

Cole was not worried, despite Lucy’s cries to save her beloved mentor. His keen sense told him there was a gun present but there were no signs that fate meant to take a life. Still, evil was present and that meant that fate could be changed so he kept his guard up, reaching out to the other side to see if there were another Dark Angel present.

Tina Monroe panicked, rushing to make the bridge in time. She had not noticed that Cole, Lucy and Sebastian were behind her until they were right beside her, keeping pace in a fast run to the bridge. Eventually they engulfed her and then just as quickly outran her.

Lucy stood on the bridge where Mr. Wilson’s brown eyes seemed unable to recognize her. He was mumbling words under his breath, too quiet for any of them to understand. “Mr. Wilson,” Lucy shouted, attempting to reach out for him, but he backed up frightened and refusing to be touched. “What are you doing? Drop the gun, please!”

Mr. Wilson continued to quietly mumble. He barely noticed his students crowding him now, all pleading for him to think about his actions. Instead he only heard the breathy, dark voice radiating from the gun, encouraging him to put an end to his own life, to join his wife in the afterlife.

Tina finally caught up to the group where she was turned on by Lucy. “You caused this!

How could you?” Tina could hardly think of a response and so she just stood there, fighting to hold back tears. “Where are the rest of them,” Lucy continued. “Hiding in the woods?” “N-nno,” Tina stuttered. “They aren’t here. It’s just me. I want…I want to help.” She looked from Lucy to Cole to Sebastian, imploring them to understand that this is now what she wanted.

Tears rolled down Tina’s cheeks, melting through her make up. Lucy had since realized that her dream was coming true and that in mere moments Mr. Wilson could be floating face down in the water. Lucy pinched herself hard to be certain the moment had truly come. She 122

nearly jumped into the air at the sound of the gun being cocked. She screamed for him to stop, but Mr. Wilson was still blind to their presence.

Cole reached out, grabbing Lucy, fearful that something could happen to her. She broke free of him and screamed, “Do something.” But, Cole did not move as he was unsure how to react. There was no other angel present, but that didn’t mean this man couldn’t die. It could happen, unplanned, but this was a rarity he had never expected he would have anything to do with.

Unnatural deaths hardly ever occurred in modern times. Without an angel to guide him, unnatural control could be taken over Mr. Wilson’s soul. There is an order of angels that handle twisted souls, but as far as he knew they hadn’t been called on in years to handle this sort of thing. That also meant that the Council would have to be involved. That meant that the Council could find out about Lucy and there were rules about exposing yourself to humans.

Cole tried to predict the outcome, but he couldn’t. He was not like Paimon, he could not perceive things to come, nor could he slow time for anyone but himself and those that were dying, and by then it would be too late. If there was no evil present, then what would become of Lucy’s mentor? He would likely not realize that he had died, as many suicides don’t. Poltergeists were souls who did not understand their death, and continued to live on along until their perceptions become so warped that they must be captured and dealt with. These were all things that would draw the Council’s attention, but Cole had been taught never to interfere.

As Cole stood by, Mr. Wilson climbed the damp, wooden railing of the bridge. He still mumbled, less audible than ever. He saw a vision in the water, of greener pastures filled with friends and colleagues all whispering join us. He planned to pull the trigger and let his body drop into the water. That image, of Mr. Wilson’s body floating under the bridge, had been haunting Lucy for months.

She stood at the side of him, not caring that he held a loaded pistol and she clung to his pants. Standing beneath him she could just make out his mumbling words. “I will see you soon, wife. I will meet you soon.” He raised the pistol nearly making it to his temple. Lucy tried to pull him of the ledge with the help of Sebastian and Tina, but it was as if his legs were firmly planted on the ledge.

“Not this way,” Cole said. Cole could smell the rank in the air and new with a growing assurance that this choice was not Mr. Wilson’s. An unnatural force meant to inhabit this man’s body, but Cole could stop it. Lucy’s jade green eyes seemed to glow as she tried to pull her guidance counselor backward off the ledge. Cole could feel an intense vibe from her, something inhumane, something special inside her, something he only felt when dealing with his own kind and like being tackled, all at once he could feel her emotion.

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His own perception became raw with her emotion and he had no choice but to react because he too loved Mr. Wilson. Cole worried for the man’s soul and although he’d never cared before, like a wave crashing over him he felt responsible to take action. “She’s right. Don’t do it,” he said, from the other side, contacting Mr. Wilson the same way he would someone dying.

“You don’t meet others if you don’t die as you’re supposed to.”

Cole reached up, placing his hand on Mr. Wilson’s own. A single touch from Cole in this way sent a river of awakened, raw emotion all through Mr. Wilson’s hefty frame. In an instant the visions of his wife, his friends and family all disappeared and he was reminded of the life he had left to live. He was reminded of Sarah, his students and his career. He saw Sarah sitting by herself in their apartment. She was on the phone speaking to someone. “Okay,” she said, “Well, if you do see him can you tell him I called. I’m home now and I’m waiting for him.”

Mr. Wilson shook violently and whatever was holding him steadfast on that ledge released him and sent him falling backward into the teens and Cole. Tina, Lucy and Sebastian worked to steady him, helping him to his feet. Whatever dark grip that had ahold of him was gone, only his own sad feelings remained and for that he was glad because even depressed he was a rational man, it was something else that controlled him.

Mr. Wilson looked all around, shocked by his surroundings. The handgun fell from his hands, but before it could reach the ground Cole had caught it, traveling both in reality and on the other side where time moves slower, causing him to move so much faster. Mr. Wilson steadied himself so Tina and Sebastian were able to let him go, but Lucy would not stop holding on.

Tina’s eyes bore holes into the wood underneath their feet, as she was unable to look up at meet the eyes of the man she’d accused. Mr. Wilson did not blame her, understanding that something was not quite right with the people in Whiskey Falls and that the same force that had led him to the bridge had likely led her to say the things she’d said. As tears continued to stream down Tina Monroe’s face, they all stood staring at her quietly.

“I’m sorry,” she said, in a choked up whisper. “I’m so very sorry.” She couldn’t say anymore as Mr. Wilson said nothing, he simply nodded and then turned toward Cole. His pale, wrinkly hands were ice cold as they latched onto Cole’s. Cole did not want to further engage the man, so he backed away and Lucy replaced his hand with her own, so Mr. Wilson would not feel alone. Lucy’s touch settled Mr. Wilson, but he could not take his eyes of Cole who’s blue eyes were intense and inviting to him.

“What are you?” Mr. Wilson took in Cole’s handsome face, his black, tweed jacket and young features but knew he was so much more than just a man. He had felt Cole’s power when Cole touched him and healed his ailing mind causing whatever demon was there to disperse.

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“What are you,” he asked again. “It doesn’t matter,” Lucy told him. “Mr. Wilson, please. Please tell me you will never try anything like that again.”

Mr. Wilson quietly nodded and his silence cause Tina Monroe to burst into loud, gasping breath and tears. “Now, now, Tina,” Mr. Wilson said in an attempt to comfort her. “This was not your fault. You did the right thing by telling the truth, and I am not mad at you.” Mr. Wilson went on to tell them his story, leaving out the parts about the gun and its sinister voice. He told them it was Sarah leaving that hurt the most, and Tina cried out again but this time made a stronger effort to control her emotions.

“It wasn’t just that, Mr. Wilson,” Tina said, between sobs. “It was something else too.”

Tina Monroe knew what drove him to it. She played her own role, unwittingly in it. The old man simply nodded his head, understanding her meaning but not ready to know all of it. He wanted to believe it was a moment of mental illness brought on by the great trauma he’d experienced. If Tina knew more, he thought it better she keeps it to herself. “I’d prefer to just go home now.”

He did not look in Tina’s direction as he moved by and the hurt hardened in her stomach like drying asphalt. In the end, it was Cole who agreed to drive him home. They walked, just the two of them, back to Herod’s to the parked car. This was the final request of Mr. Wilson and Cole did not want to leave Lucy but she insisted.

After the two disappeared into the darkness of the wood, Lucy and Sebastian turned to Tina who had collapsed to her knees and sat crying into her hands. Her raven colored hair was matted and make up bled across her face making her face almost unrecognizable as it was not its normal perfection. Her lips and cheeks began to take on a sallow, purplish color. Sebastian was the first to speak. “I have one question,” he began. “How did she know he would be here?”

He spoke only to Lucy, as if Tina were not present. Her muffled cries had put her out of commission, although they both were sympathetic to her. “I was wondering that myself,” Lucy returned, staring down at the quietly erupting Tina Monroe. Although, she could clearly see that Tina was grieving over her mistakes, Lucy still felt suspicion gnawing from the inside out. They seemed to be at an impasse where Lucy could neither considering their ten years of friendship nor the years of bullying.

Sebastian sighed, resolving himself to attempt to comfort her. He leaned forward and swept the dark hair from her eyes. She peered out at him, but did not move to quell her tears nor get up. For a moment he just stood starring at her and in a way it helped to comfort her, as his goofy smile helped her for a single moment to forget why she was there. Then in another moment it all came flooding back, causing an eruption of tears to begin again. Sebastian took her by the arm and helped her to her feet, but she quickly shoved him away.

Tina snubbed them and without saying goodbye turned and walked the opposite way out of the woods. Lucy trotted to keep up, wanting answers before the most popular girl in school 125

returned to her routine of bullying. “Tina,” Lucy called out. “Please tell us what’s going on. This isn’t going to end and as much as I don’t want to ask for it, we need your help.”

For a moment Tina Monroe thought about what it would be like to just run. She could first run home, she lived close enough and then hop in her parent’s car and just disappear completely. But instead running she just stopped, because there was no escaping this and if she didn’t have Lucy’s help, who would help her? Who would believe her?

Tina turned and walked back to them and within moments they were all walking toward Herod’s together. For a short while she was quiet, simply wondering where to begin. She had made the sacrifices, but in the end nothing had worked, so she decided to start with Mr. Wilson since that’s why they were out in the cold to begin with. “It was Ginny who took everything from Mr. Wilson’s office so I suspect it was her who planted the notes too. Don’t ask me how she did it. The man locks up his office tighter than Fort Knox, but she got it. It was all fake, something they’d created together. I told the police it was fake but I didn’t give their names.”

“Why not,” Lucy returned. “I was scared.” Sebastian piped up, calling her a liar and chastising Lucy for tolerating it. “This sounds like bullshit excuses to me,” he stated. Lucy simply shushed Sebastian and willed Tina to continue, wanting to hear the rest of her story.

“Why did you say it was a lie right away?” “They threatened me. Or Ginny threatened me, but I knew it was Seth.” Lucy thought of the way Ginny acted, playing her personal business in front of an entire classroom of people. She remembered Ginny’s face when Callum had attacked her.

Nothing was like the Ginny she knew and so she agreed, Seth was behind all of it.

“Seth isn’t like us.” Tina continued, to which both Sebastian and Lucy nodded. “He’s not a normal teenager. He’s different. He would never do any of these things himself. He wants us to do it. He comes up with these plans and we are… we’re compelled to do them. He was the one who initially set up my meetings with Mr. Wilson. He wanted me to find out about you and in the beginning so did I, only I didn’t. But, I really did.”

Lucy could tell she was faltering, not wanting to fully admit her own guilt in everything that had happened, but Lucy needed her to continue. So, she said nothing, and simply encouraged her to go on. “But, after that everything changed because Mr. Wilson really helped me. It was too late though. By that time Seth had already recruited Ginny and others and I couldn’t stop him. I never told him about the records office or about the tapes, but it was like he just knew… and I tried to stop him, but nothing worked.”

Tina thought about Mr. Wilson and resumed her crying, only softer as they moved through the woods toward town. “What is their obsession with Lucy,” Sebastian asked. Tina did not want to answer, but she knew she had to. The time had come. She waited until they were safe inside Herod’s. On the second floor she pulled a large book from her backpack. “I actually found it here a couple weeks ago,” She said, opening it to a page marked in the middle.

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“I never meant for this to happen,” Tina said, imploring them both to believe it with her eyes. “But, how did you know about Mr. Wilson,” Lucy asked. Tina abandoned the book for a moment while she recounted a phone call he had made to her earlier in the day. “He wasn’t making any sense. I couldn’t even get a word in edge wise. He asked me not to blame myself and said he just wanted to be with his wife again. I don’t know what brought me to the Wood, but I’m glad I ended up there. I just started walking and there he was and you were.”

Tina’s tears began to flow again and dripped onto the aged pages of the old book. They showed no signs of stopping as she agonized over the faces of both Lucy and Sebastian. She had vowed to hate Lucy, and believed that to be the reason behind all of it. Tina wondered how in a single year’s time everything had changed. She and Lucy had made a friendship pact on the very bridge they’d stood on only minutes ago.

Although Mr. Wilson was saved, she couldn’t feel better because Seth was getting stronger and more dangerous every moment. It was far from over. She dried her tears and mulled over the book in front of her. “Everything is my fault. That’s why they want Lucy, I think. I got this book when I started to realize there was something off about him.

In the front it tells you how to bind yourself against evil. I think that’s why his charms, or his reasoning, doesn’t always work on me. I’m trying to protect myself against him, but he knows it and that’s why he’s shutting me out. By giving my popularity to Ginny no one will listen to me. After I realized the binding was working, I started reading more and that’s when I got to this part.” Tina turned the big old book around so Lucy and Sebastian could read what was written there, and she pointed to a specific portion of text written under a chapter titled, Demon Summoning.

Accidental demon summoning is not common, but has happened. The nigromancer may sometimes accidently summon the denizens of Hell for a purpose they deeply want. Under such circumstances, the want of the nigromancer is often strong enough to forgo the need for traditional elements, such as drawn pentagrams and other associations. In these circumstances, the nigromancer must only know the name of the demon in order to summon it.

Oftentimes, the summoning happens in a dream after which the nigromancer has no recollection.

Not having the name of the demon makes it difficult to control, which is why the demon will work to be summoned outside of normal methods, thereby initiating control over its victims.

In order to dispel an accidental demon the nigromancer must learn the True Name of the demon.

This name is written in Hell Speak upon their hearts, but can also be garnered through trickery.

The nigromancer themselves must be the one to speak the name and dispel the demon. If someone else speaks the name, the demon will disappear for a time, but they will return again.

With everything that had happened, Lucy was compelled to believe what was written.

Only Sebastian wasn’t so sure. “This is ridiculous. Are you saying Seth Boyd is a demon?”

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“That’s exactly what I’m saying,” said Tina, wiping away some tears that were beginning to form and fall again. “And I’m saying that I think I called him here… to get Lucy.” Tina willed herself to calm down, and her expression changed as the clock struck ten and its chime could be heard throughout the bookstore. “I have to go.” She remained aloof and ambivalent about everything until they were outside of the bookstore.

“Seth is dangerous,” Tina said with a stone face and cool voice, a side of her they were more used to. “The only thing I can tell you is to stay as far from him as possible. Don’t be caught alone with him.” Tina turned away, but then stopped, facing them again. This time she looked just at Lucy. “I’ll learn his name before he gets to you.”

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Chapter 23

Lucy did not jump up and down as her father thought she would when he walked her out into the drive way and presented her with the green Ford Fiesta. Instead, she stood and gawked, mouth agape and in complete shock. The rusty Ford Fiesta was the same one from her most recent recurring nightmare. Before she could fully process what that meant, Daryl was shaking her.

“Well,” he said, “Do you want to sit in it?” Lucy said yes but her mouth was still open and her head shook back and forth. As she slid down into the driver’s seat, she realized that her reaction was concerning her father and so she tried to feign excitement. She attempted to bounce in the seat, but was successful only with hitting her head on the exposed metal ceiling, causing pain to go shooting through her noggin into her back. “Oh yeah,” said Daryl uneasily. “I’m going to get that fixed for you honey.”

Lucy looked into his kind eyes and felt awful for not being more excited, but with her hands gripping the steering wheel a strong sense of impending doom filled her and she wasn’t able to even muster a smile. “Is something wrong, honey?” Daryl was attempting to hand her the keys, but Lucy sat frozen not taking them. She was busy imagining how she could keep the car from careening off a cliff. “Honey,” Daryl said again, shaking the keys at her.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Lucy said, taking the keys from his hands, which had begun to shake in recent months because they craved alcohol so deeply. “I am so grateful, dad. The car is amazing!

I couldn’t be happier.” “Let’s take a drive,” Daryl suggested. Lucy had wished for more opportunities to drive since she’d gotten her driver’s license, but none had come up. Now, here she was pulling a death car out of her driveway.

They flew around town, and after a while she started to relax. The weather had grown warm enough that they could roll down the windows and let a nice breeze flow through the small Fiesta. The interior would soon be decorated with her own stickers and a small, scented Hawaiian Lei for around the rearview mirror. After they got home, she drank coffee and watched cartoons with her father until he fell asleep in his rocker. She pulled an aged afghan off the sofa and laid it across him, just as she had so many other times, only this time she didn’t have to worry about where he’d been.

She opened the photo book she’d made for Christmas and turned to the last page. Her sketch of the three of them sitting together, made her wish for a family photo just like it. Without realizing it, Lucy had drawn her mother with a soft white glow surrounding her. That glow was somehow familiar as she sat staring at the photograph and with a growing assurance she realized there was something she was missing, something to discover about it.

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Lucy starred at the drawing more intensely, trying to ascertain something that was right there. It was like trying to remember the name of a song. It was on the tip of her tongue, but just out of reach. It was the glow, it was so familiar, but something was stopping her from working it out. It was shocking in a way, that she herself had drawn it, without even realizing. Lucy raced upstairs to the photograph of her mom on the hillside, the one she kept by her bed.

Back downstairs she discovered that in the photograph, a white glow seemed to outline her mother’s body, but it was something she’d always assumed came from the sun. Now, she realized it matched her drawing and so she began tearing through pictures and each one she came across featured the white outline around her mother’s body, whether inside or outside. Then with a startling realization, in an instant every dream she’d ever dreamt of her mother, since she was a little girl, came back to her.

These were dreams she’d never really thought about before. She remembered butterflies emerging from flowers, great canopies of tall, tall trees and endless rows of grapes. There was a beautiful place where she would see her mother, hear her voice and yet somehow it had always escaped her before she woke up and in all these places there was the white light surrounding Scarlet and her voice! Lucy recalled her voice and nearly sprang from her seat.

It was the same voice she’d heard guiding her nearly a thousand times in her glimpses of the future. It was the same voice that now seemed to come to her less and less, but has been there since her childhood. Scarlet could just be a facet of her dreams, but to constantly be surrounded by white light in a photograph made Lucy feel like there was something more. In an effort to find out more, Lucy willed herself to fall asleep.

Only sleep would not come and Lucy found herself tossing and turning until the wee hours of morning, so she was awake when the tapping started at her window. At first she ignored it, but as it grew louder it also became more frightening. She grabbed a bottle of hairspray off her dresser and went to the window, where Cole was already wedging it open and sliding through.

Lucy panicked at first before familiar hands were on her and Cole’s blue eyes lit up the dark room. “What are you doing here,” Lucy whispered, happy to see him.

“I brought you something,” Cole said. Lucy turned on the light and sat down next to Cole on the bed. She had wished for this exact scenario so many times and now here he was, in her bedroom at night. Lucy tried to ignore the embarrassment she felt over the piles of dirty laundry that spilled from a basket in the corner and her overflowing closet. Cole did not seem to notice or care, instead he simply pulled a small, pink box from his pocket and slid it over to her.

Lucy pulled at the delicate pink ribbons, and opened it to reveal a large and vivid, jade Victorian ring with a gold interlocking scrollwork band. “It reminds me of your eyes.” “Thank you,” Lucy squealed as she pushed it down around her finger, and then through her arms around him. He gently removed her from him, willing her to sit and listen. “I’m leaving, Lucy. I wanted 130

you to have something remind you of me, but I can’t stay right now. I’m being called away. But, you know what to do. If anything happens, call me and I’ll be here.”

Lucy thought about The Letter Eaters and wondered if she were strong enough to take them on her own. Her eyes questioned Cole’s own and it was clear he had no choice but to leave her. “I don’t want to,” he said, as he pushed toward her, willing her to lie down across the bed.

He hovered over her, not quite putting his lips against hers, but instead hovering there, looking deep into her eyes. “Tell me what you feel when you look in my eyes,” he asked her. “I feel,” Lucy answered, hesitating for a moment. “I feel safe.” “Good,” he said, before leaning forward and kissing her gently on the lips.

They lay clinging to one another for quite a while, but soon Daryl would be awake, which meant Cole had to leave. Lucy looked at the ring on her finger, commenting on its beauty. “I don’t want you to go,” she said. “I’m scared.” “Don’t be scared. You call me, if you need me.

You know how. I can be anywhere I want, in almost an instant and I want to be with you. But, this cannot be avoided. I have to go, but I’ll be back as soon as you need me to be.” “Will you ever be able to stay again?” “I don’t know,” Cole answered. “I want you to have a normal life and I may only bring danger to it.”

Cole thought about his drive with Mr. Wilson as his passenger. Mr. Wilson had told Cole that he felt healed by him. He sensed something magical and was certain Cole had caused it, despite Cole’s attempts to explain it away. Mr. Wilson didn’t know what it was, but he knew and Lucy knew and the more people who knew about them, the more dangerous everything would become. The Council was calling dark angels forth to extinguish the lives of many of those soon to be involved in a natural disaster. This was something Paimon no longer kept secret from Cole, not since he’d learned his lesson in Hiroshima, and so Cole had no choice but to leave Lucy. He could only return if he absolutely had to.

The more people that had knowledge of his dark profession, the more dangerous his and their positions became. This meant that he would not and could not stay in Whiskey Falls where he risked being exposed to Mr. Wilson or anyone he told. If he did he would risk total banishment from Lucy, by order of the council. Lucy wished desperately things were different as he stole out of the second floor window and then disappeared into another place completely.

Daryl noticed her ring at breakfast and noted that it matched her eyes. Lucy only nodded, somber and tired from her night spent with Cole, the last night with Cole as far as she knew.

Daryl was engaged with his own thoughts stuck wondering why his visions of the liquor cabinet seemed so real, even after he’d moved furniture to distract himself from that empty space. He hardly thought to wonder where the jade ring had come from.

Ginny Franklin was not having breakfast with her parents, because as of recently she had become an orphan. Instead, she spent her mornings avoiding the half rotting corpse in the kitchen 131

oven. She had discovered her mother’s burned, dead body only shortly she’d died, but instead of doing anything the dark voice convinced Ginny that the whole thing was only the product of an overactive imagination. It’s all in your head, Ginny. They are making you see these things. It’s not real. It’s not real.

Ginny trusted the dark voice, sure she did. But, that didn’t stop her from sitting in her bedroom and crying into a freshly laundered, cat-covered mu-mu she’d scooped from the dryer.

It didn’t smell like Vicky Franklin, but it was something she wore. After that Ginny avoided entering the kitchen all together and it showed in her frail, bony arms that she was hardly eating.

Her face had become more pinched and tight than ever and her hair was taking on its wiry glean again, but none of that mattered now that she ran the school.

Even teachers were falling over their own feet to move closer to her. Seth drew them in, but she got all the attention. Ginny thought about this as she picked graying, dried skin around her ankle. The living room was drenched in bright, spring sunshine but the Christmas tree still clung to life by the fireplace. Pools of fallen pine needles had built up around its empty branches, but tinsel, garland and ornaments still adorned it.

In years past, they had opted not to have a tree. Or rather, Troll had decided it wasn’t economical and that Ginny hadn’t earned one. There were no presents, instead on Christmas Eve Ginny would be allowed to take a seat on the sofa and watch the specials on TV, as long as they stayed within the religious theme of the holiday. On Christmas morning they attended mass where Troll would sneer at those being generous to the poor. “Pathetic fools. They give their food to those bums who turn around and spend it at the liquor store.”

Not every Christmas was bad. Sometimes Father O’Malley would take Ginny aside and he and the nuns would fill her up with treats and hot cider in private. They would fawn over how much she’d grown and how loved she was at the church. They’d learned early on not to give her gifts she could take home, as it was more hurtful to get them and then watch them be destroyed.

“You be good now,” Father O’Malley would say as she returned to her place in the pulpit, “And no that God loves you, no matter what. When times seem hard,” he would say in his thick Irish brogue, “Keep in mind that he’s watching over and those that do harm to ya, they’ll get their punishment on the other side, best ya believe that.”

Ginny stared blankly at the tinsel adorning the tree, wondering where it even came from.

They didn’t keep Christmas decorations in the house. “When did we put it up,” she said struggling to remember. Time seemed to be moving too fast for her to keep up. There were so many periods of darkness. “Who decorated it? Was it me?” She vaguely remembered dancing around the tree, the four of them and shaking tinsel all around it. The memory made her smile.

Ginny tried to remember last night, but couldn’t. More and more dark spots were forming in her brain where she just couldn’t seem to remember the activities that took place after dark.

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Seth had told her he was experiencing it too. It had something to do with Cole he’d said only she knew it wasn’t true. It was him, but it didn’t matter as long as he didn’t leave her. Seth made her popular and he was the only one who cared about her at all.

As Ginny contemplated her relationship with Seth and watched a silver piece of tinsel spin and twirl, she caught his reflection in it. She was overjoyed that she wasn’t alone, but when she spun around to greet him, he wasn’t there. The only other face in the room was that of her Grandfather’s. No one talked to him anymore now that Troll was gone, but he still hung there criticizing and looking down on her sternly.

He had died when Ginny was very little and her only clear memory of him was him telling her she was born out of wedlock and that bastard children without fathers have no place in God’s heaven. This was something she later told to Father O’Malley and as it turned out, he was a bastard himself and certainly going to heaven. “God loves all his children, Ginny Franklin,” Father O’Malley explained, “especially little girls who have to deal with hardships. You just be brave and things will change, you’ll see.”

Ginny tore her eyes from the dark stare of her Grandfather and those eyes fell on the chalkboard which stood blank and had for weeks now. Father O’Malley was right, things had changed, but God didn’t have anything to do with it. Until recently she’d written on that chalkboard at least once a week until her fingers bled, and then she was beaten until she’d agree to keep going.

Ginny flew to her feet and rushed to the closet to find something, anything at all that would do the job. Anger boiled just under skin, but it felt good. It felt right. In a rarely used hall closet, she found a set of old gold clubs. Probably the old man’s, she thought to herself. Well, he isn’t coming back for them anytime soon. She started with Grandfather’s portrait, ripping it from the wall. It was heavy and difficult to do, but when she got it down she beat it ferociously with an old driver. When she finished it lay in pieces flung all over the living room.

Ginny laughed, standing over the pieces of the old man. His eyes had managed to stay together on one cut piece of canvas and they looked up at her from the ground. They seemed more threatening detached from his face in that way. Ginny picked up the eyes, tucking the club under one arm. She ripped those cold, calculating eyes into a thousand little pieces and tossed the clipping up over her head, letting them fall like snow all around her. Then she began on the chalkboard.

It was impossible to break the board itself but she was able to pull off the wood siding.

She kicked and stomped but could not destroy it, and hurt herself many times in the process of trying. In the end, she decided it would be better to just have it out of the house and so she dragged it across the porch and through it out onto the front lawn.

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Upon reentry she made her way straight back to the kitchen where Troll’s fat, saggy bottom was covered in a flowering mu-mu and still hanging from the oven. Her arms were straight as boards behind her, as rigor mortis had set in. In this room, the smell was absolutely noxious but Ginny ignored it as she had been all week. It is amazing the things a mind can block out if it really wants to.

Ginny Franklin’s eyes began to glow bright red and her smile widened into a deranged lunatic’s smile. The dark voice whispered to her and she nodded. Ginny lifted the club and threw it. It landed with a thud against her mother’s hardened rump, before it slid to the floor. “Merry freaking Christmas,” Ginny said, in a voice that sounding nothing like her own. Ginny left the room and returned with the bare branched Christmas tree, the decorations fell from it, but most were able to stay on. She threw that at her mother’s feet, before leaning back to take it all in.

Ginny sat in the kitchen, breathing in the smell of acrid death and just staring at her mother’s ass covered in blue garland. Inside her mind a familiar, comforting, dark voice told her over and over again that this was all Lucy Bennett’s fault somehow and Ginny nodded, totally believing it.

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Chapter 24

Sebastian spent his Saturdays at the school, practicing his trumpet. The last week of the school year marked the final concert of the year, and he had a surprise planned for Lucy. He turned the page in his notebook and marked another half note on the line, before starting over and replaying the entire page.

The sound of his music filled the empty hallways even from behind the closed music room door, but no one else heard it because that morning he was all alone. This was a luxury not typically afforded to juvenile delinquents as his music teacher informed him, before dropping the keys into his palm. Sebastian promised to be good.

Being that he was the most talented trumpet player in the school, his teacher praised his eagerness to create and play his own piece at the school’s last concert and so Sebastian echoed his music through the empty hallways hoping to finish in time. After he finished he worked to clean the trumpet using a clean rag and oil for the valves.

The hallways had fallen silent when Callum and Ginny stalked through them with unnaturally large open mouths and red eyes. They were looking for him, but Sebastian did not know it. If he hadn’t had to pee, they never would have found what they were looking for.

Sebastian left the orchestra room and when he returned there was nothing in the room to alert him to their ever having been there.

Back at Ginny’s house Callum’s bulbous head rocked back and forth. He sat on the floor in the kitchen kicking at the branches that loomed and scraped against Troll’s fat, veiny legs. The dress she wore had become hiked up around her from days of being lodged between her rotting stomach and the metal stove. By twisting and rocking his head back and forth he could almost see up her dress, he kicked at the braches so they would move it for a better view. Veins and bones protruded from where his neck dipped and sagged. Ginny yelled from the living room for Callum to grab food and meet her on the second floor.

Callum felt superior to Ginny and didn’t like being told what to do. He’d been with Seth longer and he was the footballer. But, Seth seemed to be slipping in favor of Ginny and that was something Callum hated. He grabbed an open bag of stale cheddar popcorn from the counter and gobbled handfuls of it, before shaking it out over Troll’s dead body.

Seth waited for them upstairs near Ginny’s open bedroom window. Even with an open window and a fan running the smell of Troll’s rotting corpse was overwhelming. “It stinks in here,” Seth said, leaning out the window, with his nose crinkling. Callum just laughed until Seth shot him a dirty look at which point his laughter stopped abruptly. Ginny had begun to wonder if 135

she carried the smell out of the house with her. She was back to avoided the kitchen, but the dead smell of rot reminded her that something had happened, she refused to remember what.

“Maybe some food fell behind my dresser and that’s what is making it stink,” she said with a half-smile and sad eyes. Callum began laughing like mad again and his strange cackle shook his oddly shaped frame. He rocked back and forth rumbling the floor underneath them.

His giant head rolled backward, once again exposing the unnatural veins that protruded there.

Ginny began to wonder if he were somehow rotting from the inside out. Only she was wrong. He was taking a new form. It was a slow process but a hound from hell longed to join its master and Seth had chosen Callum to be the gateway.

Ginny turned angry eyes on the laughing Callum and she lunged across the room. Like a rabid animal, she clawed and bit at him attempting to tear into his flesh. Callum pushed her aside with ease, laughing more as she snarled and tried to bite him. For the large Callum, it was like swatting away a fly. Seth became impatient with their antics, shouting for them both to stop. The sound of his voice resounded both in their ears and their minds.

“Shut up! Now, listen. We have to have a plan.” Callum and Ginny both sat like obedient dogs at his feet and he paced back and forth in front of them, like the coach does before an important game. They followed his movements like bobble heads as he laid out the plan they were to follow. Afterward, he left them alone in the stinking house, striking out on his own to watch his prey.

Callum returned to the kitchen to poke and prod at Troll’s mangled, dead body. Ginny stayed in her room, falling into a troubled sleep with her head resting on the ledge of the open window. She didn’t even wake as the rain began to pour down on her, pooling in her ears and nearly drowning her.

Sebastian had not been waiting for Lucy in his usual spot and he wasn’t at his locker before class. Lucy hung her head and dreaded having to face Ginny and the rest of The Letter Eaters in their science class without him. She slunk into the classroom, avoiding their eyes, but it was clear that no one was avoiding her. Mr. Kelsey slept at his desk, not even trying these days.

The entire school had changed and each person in it seemed like a stranger to her now.

Lucy knew she couldn’t make it through the day without Sebastian, and wondered if she should just leave. She stalked the halls looking for him, between her classes and found him at his locker before lunch. She nearly cried when he didn’t seem happy to see her. “Hi,” she said, sheepishly. “Uh hey,” he returned, scratching the back of his neck. “How are you?” “I’m good,” she returned, happy that he was almost willing to talk to her. He held his black trumpet case in one hand and a pile of books in the other. “Look at you being all academic,” Lucy said, trying to make light.

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“Yeah, well… the teachers aren’t teaching in this place and I figured I better start trying if I ever want to get out of here.” Lucy nodded, eyeing Sebastian’s trumpet case. “Your concert.

It’s Friday, right?” “Yeah,” he returned and with slightly more sarcasm, “you coming?” She beamed, trying to force happiness, letting him know she definitely planned to be there. “I could drive you now, you know?” “Don’t bother,” he returned. “I have to be here early.” Lucy spent the rest of the day avoiding The Letter Eaters and trying to get through classes that featured the antics of out of control teenagers. They climbed across tables, stood on chairs and in one class even hung from a light fixture. The end of the school year was rapidly approaching and Lucy couldn’t wish harder that it would hurry up and get there already.

Surprisingly she made it through the week with no incidents. When Friday night approached she pulled her weathered Whiskey Falls High School hoodie over her head and tried to get excited for Sebastian’s show. In front of her full length mirror, she judged her outfit, chewing the inside of her lip. It didn’t look great, her jeans were loose and tearing at the knees, her hair was thrown into a loose bun where curly pieces danced in front of her eyes. “What does it matter?” Lucy said out loud, thinking the only person she cared to impress was Cole and he was long gone now.

Thinking about Cole made her sad. Her dad was ready to go when she got downstairs, but a text from Sebastian made her tell him she’d meet him at the school. With the concert in less than an hour it was strange that Sebastian had texted her, Meet me in Goren’s. I have a surprise for you. Lucy had difficulty maneuvering as a recent rain had made the path muddy, causing her jeans to become wet and her sneakers to fill with water. It seemed worth it because it meant Sebastian was texted her again and not having him around was seriously depressing her.

Sebastian had been so aloof since the dance and without and without Cole she felt so alone and so she raced toward the bridge. It was almost completely dark as she reached the bridge. The sun was only a thin, yellow line over the horizon and she didn’t see Sebastian anywhere, nor did he answer when she yelled out to him. Pulling her cell phone from her pocket there was zero texts or missed calls.

With her head bent over her cell phone she did not see Callum rushing out of the woods toward her. He moved quickly, a benefit of being under Seth’s dark power, a power the entire football team had but no longer used since instead of practice they’d taken to using the time to wedge nerds into the medal bars of the collapsible bleachers. Callum’s body slammed into Lucy’s causing her to fly backward and land on her bottom. It was nowhere near the full force of him, but it was enough to confuse her.

When her vision cleared she found herself staring at them. The Letter Eaters. They were sans Tina, but according to her she no longer was one. “Hi Loser,” Ginny said, now sampling Tina’s old nicknames. With a burst of ill-natured giggles Ginny waved Sebastian’s cell phone around. Lucy tried standing but an intense throbbing from the blow Callum had given her caused 137

her to fall back to the ground. “Lucy the loser,” Ginny said, laughing. “Can’t even get up off the ground. Get her up,” she said to Callum with a snap of the fingers. He shot her a dirty look, but one glare from Seth had him pulling Lucy to her feet.

Callum’s transformation was quickened in recent days and his face mutated and changed in a quickness Lucy had not experienced in the alley. His nose twisted into a snout and pressed up into the middle of his face, his giant mouth dropped open and saliva quickly gathered there and spilled over. It was almost as if his normal face was a mask he wore and that this new, hellish face was his true form, being released. He seemed more relaxed and comfortable when the skin of his face hung and sagged around her. His eyes grew larger and darker, and his neck shrank down but also swelled to enormous proportions. His very body filled up with evil and it coursed through the blue protruding veins that throbbed and mingled there.

Lucy began to shake, frightened to her very core. Callum was filthy and smelled foul, but when Lucy attempted to turn away from him he pulled her in ever closer, throwing his large arm around her shoulder, almost collapsing her under his weight. She was able to hold her footing, but nearly vomited standing that close to him. Lucy had no idea she smelled weeks of not showering and Ginny’s dead mother on him.

Seth’s features remained staid and unchanging. As he paced around them Lucy noticed his tan skin appeared every smoother and his slick black hair shined under the lamps that now operated lighting up this area of Goren’s Wood. As the thunder cracked and the rain started falling from the sky, Lucy wondered if even it knew to avoid him, as it seemed to not be falling on him at all. His clothing stayed dry. With a flick of the wrist, Seth stopped his obedient charges from poking and prodding at her like two simple minded baby monkeys.

“Lucy,” he said, in his smug voice. “We meet again. No boyfriend and if I catch you gearing up to call him, I’m going to have my friend here wallop you hard on the head and then I’m going to have any one of my other friends kill your dad. That should keep him away. Am I right?” Lucy thought about her dad and all of the Whiskey Falls students at the concert. She wondered if it was possible for Seth to control them from this far away, but she didn’t want to take the risk. “I won’t call him,” she said.

Callum was rocking with laughter, having Lucy in his clutches. He flicked her hair and pinched her breast, before cackling every louder. “Shut up,” Ginny snapped. Lucy noticed how she’d changed even more, something she hadn’t noticed while avoided Ginny at school. She wore a low cut purple blouse and black pants, nice clothes but they nothing but accentuate how thin and frail her body had become underneath them. Ginny seemed to be wasting away, but somehow her skin still seemed loose around her body. Seth was using all of their life force to make him stronger. He was seeking a permanent place on earth and was sure Lucy was the one who could deliver it.

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The rain pelted them and it grew colder and Lucy began to shake as her feet were frozen and soaked from the mud and rain. Her toes were so cold she could no longer feel them and the lightheadedness caused by Callum’s thrust was causing her to feel faint. The world seemed to twist and blur, but she sprung back to reality when Ginny slapped her twice across the face.

Seth’s voice rang out through Ginny’s mouth, a combination of two dark voices, melded into one, as he now had the power to speak through his minions. “Wake up! I want you awake for this.”

They all wore their signature coats a staple of The Letter Eaters that Seth absolutely loved and secretly wished he’d thought of. They were graffiti’d as usual, but not the markings of a skilled cheerleader at lunch time. Instead, the depictions of death and violence were far worse than any others they’d ever thought of. Callum’s looked as though a child drew it, with crudely drawn images of women’s breasts underneath open mouths. Seth’s jacket was covered in symbols Lucy recognized from the pages of the book Tina had shown them. Tina was right, and the proof was on the coat. From inside his coat, Seth produced the same sharp dagger Ginny had threatened Lucy with inside the halls of their school.

Ginny raced to him, mouth agape and her tongue hanging out like a dog to its master. She stopped at Seth’s side and practically salivated for the knife. It would have been impossible to tell if she had been drooling since the rain pelted them now with more force than ever, only Seth remained dry. Seth smiled down at her and handed it over. Callum whined, “But, I wanted to.

Why does she get all the good jobs?” Callum stopped around like a giant toddler, his hands felt like the pads of dog’s feet where huge callouses had formed. His fingernails were like claws digging into Lucy’s skin.

“What do you want,” Seth asked him. “Do you want to give her a kiss?” Callum’s big, bulging eyes practically fell out of his head. His nose was running and dripping into his mouth and he did not make to wipe the snot away, liking the way it tasted. Lucy cringed and attempted to pull away but he was too strong for her. “Yes, boss. I want to kiss.”

Seth laughed, liking the way the idea set Lucy into such a panic and so he waved his wrist giving Callum permission to do what he wanted. Lucy felt a wave of deja-vu come over her, as Callum position himself in front of her. He pulled her body close to his and Lucy smell him so rank that it caused her mouth to fill with bile. He had to wrestle with her body in order to force her into a position to accept his kiss and Lucy began to feel as if she would pass out again.

She fought her head back and pushed against him. Her vision blurred and darkened and without thinking about anything else her mind whispered Cole, Cole so faintly she doubted he could hear it, but she couldn’t risk Seth finding out and hurting her father.

Lucy watched with horror as Callum’s giant mouth moved closer to her own. With a great effort she found wiggle room in one of her legs and a few inches of leeway. She shoved her knee up as hard as she could into his groin, using the last of her strength. Callum winced in pain, 139

losing his grip on her and sending Lucy backward into a deep puddle. She was able to crawl away and eventually find her way to her feet, but her body was too defeated to allow her to run.

She would die if she didn’t get help. She sent up a prayer that her father wouldn’t be hurt, before attempting to summon Cole to her. “She’s calling him! Get her!”

Ginny’s hard hit launched Lucy to the ground, where Ginny’s foot then met her stomach causing her to fall into the same puddle she’d just raked herself out of. Her mouth filled with muddy water and calling Cole was suddenly impossible. Ginny was on top of Lucy ripping and tearing at her hair and face, beating and punching her and the most Lucy could do was raise her arms to try and stifle the blows.

She sunk back into the mud and dirty water began to cover her face and mouth. It became difficult to breathe as water filled her face’s orifices. Suddenly everything turned black, but just before she passed out she felt the rush of cool air filling her lungs again. Cole sent Ginny flying from Lucy’s chest, allowing Lucy her breath normally again. He rolled her out of the puddle, before moving to deal with The Letter Eaters. “We meet finally,” he said in a low growl to Seth.

The smell of evil filled his nostrils and he was sure now that he was facing his first demon, and this demon had taken the form of a handsome, high school football star.

Cole knew there was no soul filtering through Seth’s body. Instead it was the ancient evil of a centuries old demon completely devoid of human emotion and understanding. Seth survived on misery, and particularly enjoyed the misery of humans. Seth knew Lucy could converse with angels, and that meant that her eating her heart could unlock the secret to staying on earth forever. He meant for Ginny to kill her, since he could not. His only power was to influence those around him, to do his bidding for him. He could not harm a human, but eating her heart after she was already dead could be the secret to his own everlasting life, but he was not strong enough to face an angel of death.

Cole readied himself to take Seth, but as he raced toward his body Seth’s very pores dissipated into a red smoke that sprang from every orifice of his shirt, shoes, jacket and pants and he disappeared into a cloud of red, dropping his clothes all around him. In mere seconds Seth had turned from a human body to a puff of red smoke, indicating that he was strong. The cloud of red spoke in a choppy, hoarse yell. “Invoke Barghest! You have the power now. Invoke Barghest!”

Callum stepped forward, still cupping his groin. Ginny tried to race in front of him, to speak the words herself but Callum shoved her to the ground with a quick slap of the hand. In her diluted mind she believed everything Seth told her. Cole was the demon. He had told them both that Cole would attempt to hurt him, that this very scenario would be Cole’s doing, but Callum knew the truth. He knew every dark forge as he stayed connected to Barghest and hell at all times. The hound caused him to move faster, be stronger, be more sexual than he’d ever been before and he had longed to fully synch their two forms, but Seth had staid him until now.

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The force of Callum’s blow knocked Ginny out, causing her to fall backward to the ground directly across from Lucy. Her frail, chalk white hand landed on Lucy’s and rested there.

Callum shouted out as the stormy red cloud chuckled and surged atop them. “I invoke you Barghest! I invoke you Barghest!” Seth’s red smoke disappeared into a thousand blood red particles, each traveling in different directions. Overhead lightning flashed and landed near them.

From it a cloud of black smoke sprang and fought its way down Callum’s throat. As it coursed through him, his already large and swelled features grew to enormous proportions. He towered to twice his already huge size, laughing as he grew ever taller over Cole.

His dark blinked red, and became malformed with sagging lids under yellow retinas. The joints in his arms broke and twisted, rejoining in new places and landing in front of him with a hard thud that shook the trees around them. His back end flew to the air where a tail extended from behind him. Callum’s clothing fell around him in pieces as his skin became like greased, black fur and his teeth fell from his mouth, snatching and biting at the air. In agony, Callum screamed as it was painful but the adrenaline was worth it. He was not fully a dog, but more dog than man.

He laughed down at Cole, his voice the voice of Barghest the black dog of English legends, a hellhound and Seth’s personal pet in the underworld. He barked at the moon and then in a sinister yell shouted down at Cole, “How do you like me now?”

Cole was not afraid for himself, knowing that no real injury could ever befall him. He only felt things like hunger and pain when he wanted to, but he could never actually be hurt and he could not die, but Lucy lay behind him and she was defenseless against the beast. With ease, Cole lifted Lucy into his arms. She was like a feather in his arms, as he operated with supernatural strength. A swipe from the massive paw of Barghest took him by surprise but he was able to dodge it just in time.

He ran with Lucy in his arms through the wood, but not out of it. Instead he worked his way to its edge and then switched direction back into the wood. Cole feared that Barghest would follow him out of the wood and put more lives in danger. He could not think how to escape with Lucy safely, but he could not allow the creature to follow them out onto the streets, near her house.

Cole had never experienced Lucy in a dreaming state before, but as she lay in his arms she found herself in her other place. She disappeared from his arms and he was left holding nothing but air. In an instant Cole realized that Lucy was more like him than she knew, she had traversed out of there world into a place that he was certain until now that only angels could see.

The familiar voice of her mother told Lucy to wait on the bridge. It whispered in her ear in a soft and delicate voice. Wait here it said. He’ll be here soon. Goren’s Wood looked as it always did in her dreams. The moon was morose and hung sad above her, staring out at the river.

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His large eyes were tired. “I know how you feel,” she said, looking up at him. Although she did not know how she came to be there, she felt doomed standing alone on the bridge. The two koi jumped up out of the water, splashing together in an attempt to cheer her, but it did not work.

“Lucy!” Cole screamed, sprinting across the bridge. His blue eyes were wide and terrified, but despite that she was delighted to see him – here and in her dream. “Lucy, you’re here. But, how?” Lucy took him in her arms and looked up at him. “I’ve wanted to see you in a dream for so long,” she said in a tired and dreamy voice. “And now here you are.” She leaned up to kiss him but he pulled away. The look of panic still tortured his face and she began to wonder what was wrong. “Don’t you remember, Lucy? You’re not dreaming!”

She did not care for his demeanor as she was drunk on the happiness that she had him all to herself in a beautiful dream. She threw her arms back around his neck and whispered into his ear. “I love you. I couldn’t tell you that before, but since I’m dreaming, now I can. I really love you.” Cole was touched by her words, but there was no time to admit his own growing feelings, because this wasn’t a dream at all. Time moved very slowly on the other side, but eventually it would catch up and Barghest could find his way out of Goren’s Wood and into Lucy’s neighborhood. Cole had her friends and family to worry about as he was sure he was responsible for her now. She had gifts he did not yet understand.

Cole grabbed Lucy by her shoulders and very gently shook her, looking her dead in the eyes. But, the deep power of his intense blue eyes began to wrap her up in their enchanting spell and she wanted to drift away from them. She smelled his hot skin and ached to have their bodies touching. “Lucy,” Cole shouted. “Snap out of it!”

Lucy cleared for a moment, the shake having caused her clarity. “Lucy,” Cole continued, looking at her, imploring her to understand. “There is a monster out there. Your friends are in danger! Don’t you remember what happened? You were in the woods and you called me. Please, Lucy, this is not a dream.”

Lucy looked all around her, at the shimmer of the water, the beautiful koi jumping and splashing and the man in the moon and couldn’t fathom how it wasn’t a dream, but she did begin to remember The Letter Eaters and her attack. “I must have passed out,” she said. “That’s right,” Cole said, calming now. “You passed out and you came here. I don’t know how but you must believe that this is real, Lucy. I’m really here and you can control it. You must will yourself not to wake up. Go to your friends. Go to your father. Stay on this side and get to them. When it’s all over, I’ll come find you.”

Cole gave Lucy one last questioning look to be sure that she understood. Lucy nodded back, not knowing if she could really do as he asked. She wasn’t sure if she could really control, but allowed herself the option of trying. Cole kissed her lips before disappearing completely.

Another form began to appear from behind Cole, the faint form of a woman in white. It was the 142

first time Lucy had seen her mother in a dream since she’d discovered the white light that surrounded her, and surrounded her now. Lucy raced toward her mother and flung herself at the apparition, only to find she standing on the other side of her, having dove right through her.

Under the soft glow of the lamps that lit the wood, Scarlet’s pale body floated like a ghost. Her long, platinum hair seemed to shine with an almost silver glow and it swirled softly around her face, in the same manner as if she were under water. Lucy was scared and wanted to hug her mother, but couldn’t. So instead, she took her in, seeing her in reality for the first time.

Lucy gazed at Scarlet standing before her, taking in her perfectly smooth alabaster skin and jade green eyes framed by nearly invisible blonde lashes.

“You’re my mother,” Lucy said, fighting back tears of joy and fear. “But, if this is real?

If this is real how are you here? You’re dead.” Lucy took a step backward, before realizing she was moving away from her own mother, and she didn’t care if she were alive or dead, just that she was here. Lucy focused on tracing every beautiful detail of her face, her long slender nose and soft, pale pink lips. “You have your father’s nose,” Scarlet told her. “But, everything else is you,” Lucy returned, repeating something her father had said many times.

“Lucy, my beautiful girl. I cannot stay long here and all cannot be revealed.

Unfortunately, we are governed in what we can tell humans.”

“Aren’t you human?”

“Not entirely,” Scarlet continued. “I am of both worlds. You need to help Cole now, Lucy. The only way to stop Seth is to find the one who summoned him. This person will be among those closest to him.”

“Tina,” Lucy said, in a whisper almost to herself. “She told us in the bookstore. She did it.”

“If Tina is the source, then she can banish Seth back to the darkness, to the depths of the Hell from which he emerged. She has all the control, Lucy. The summoners always have the control, even if they don’t realize it. She simply needs to speak his name.”

“That’s just it,” Lucy returned. “We don’t know it, mom. The book said you have to trick it out of him.” Lucy watched as her mother’s porcelain skin deepened to a blush with Lucy’s utterance. It was the first time she’d heard her daughter say mother and not think she was dreaming. Lucy admitted it felt good to say it too. So what if her life had gone entirely crazy, her mom was here now. She hadn’t grown up alone, Scarlet had been here all along and this place was real.

“If you can’t find his name, than the summoner must die. In order for her to die, the order must come from Cole’s adjudger.” “Adjudger?” “This person is the teller. Whoever he is, he is very close to Cole.” “Paimon,” Lucy said, realizing. Scarlet shook her head, not knowing. The 143

extent of her knowledge had been exasperated, as she was only allowed small glimpses into her daughter’s life. Scarlet did not else know what to say except that she must go now to pass the information along to Cole.

Lucy thought about waking up and then remembered that her father and Sebastian were in danger. She willed herself to see them and in a flash she found herself standing in the middle of the aisle way in the school’s crowded auditorium. Sebastian stood center stage and scanned the audience. She could tell he was looking for her, and she wished desperately that he could see her. He tapped the microphone and it made an awkward noise that reverberated throughout the packed auditorium. “Is this thing on,” he said, followed by an uncomfortable laugh. His silly charm was lost on the crowd. “I wrote this piece for a dear friend. I hope that she is here tonight listening. This piece is called Green Eyes.”

Sebastian lifted the trumpet to his lips and began playing a jazz melody. At times, the band behind him played an accompaniment, but mostly it was his playing. The music visibly moved the crowd as it was at times very moving. He played with an elegant clarity that Lucy had never heard before. He was getting good, really good. He syncopated the bass line and the band broke out spinning in their own variations. It was a commanding song and it reminded Lucy of every fun, relaxed moment they’d spent together. When he’d finished, and taken his bow, she found herself back in Goren’s Wood only now it was raining.

She’d woken up. Her body was dry now, from the time she’d spent away. Cole was dancing around Barghest, only too Lucy it was like a dog/Callum hybrid. Callum was nearly five times the size of Cole and his exaggerated features whipped blinding about him. In a puddle near where Lucy was she saw the silver end of the knife she’d now been threatened with twice. She grabbed the knife and then turned back toward Cole’s battle with Callum and the Barghest.

Cole was moving with super speed, using the other side to move quickly. By being on one side and then the other where time moved faster, he seemed to be moving as an incredibly fast speed.

Cole hit him first in the back of his hind legs and then his front kneecaps and other places. It was distracting the monster, but not doing much damage.

Lucy ran toward Cole, shouting her mother’s instructions. “Tina can banish him. We need to learn its name.” Lucy was out of breath, and had to stay away to avoid being hit by the beast’s giant paws, but she shouted the instructions to Cole who listened, but was fearful that she’d returned. Callum was as much a part of the Barghest as the Barghest was of him and so his desire for Lucy’s body was shared. It saw her standing there and began to lumber his massive frame right toward her, almost crushing a still sleeping Ginny in the process. Cole returned to their reality and ran with an unnatural speed, passed Callum, both in this world and the other one until he was at Lucy’s side.

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“You need to go back,” he shouted her. “It’s not safe here.” “I don’t know how if I’m not sleeping,” Lucy shouted back, dodging out of the beast’s way. “He’s still human,” Cole said.

“Well, kind of. I can’t kill him. I don’t have the power to take his life.” Callum smiled down at Lucy, his mouth wide open and drooling as always. It reared up to come crashing down on her, but just before Cole yanked her away from the light to the darkness of the woods. They ran around the path and then skidded on the muddy bankside of the river until they were underneath the bridge.

Cole moved quickly, but without being able to slip into the other side, he was not nearly as quick as he could be. They hid from Callum there, in the darkness, watching him as he lumbered around trees looking for them. “It should work the same way,” Lucy said. “What,” Cole returned, confused. “If Callum invoked this monster, if he banishes it, it will go away. He is the summoner.” “I don’t think he wants it to go away Lucy. You were passed out.” “Well,” Lucy said, with sadness. “There’s only one other way. It can be stopped if it’s killed… if they’re killed. But, I don’t want that to happen.”

Cole shook his head, again troubled. “I can’t. I can’t kill him. I don’t have the power to take a life unless I’ve first had it handed down from Paimon.” They ran to a nearby tree and peered around it. Callum’s beastly form had seemed to have disappeared entirely from their view. A putrid, acrid, familiar smell filled Lucy’s nostrils and she turned around slowly. Callum was lumbering directly over her, and she was staring into the hell hound’s drooling face.

“Callum,” Lucy stuttered. “Y-y-you can stop this. You can get it out of your body. You just need to tell it to go away.”

“I have the power now, Lucy. I don’t want it to go away.” Callum spoke in that strange double voice again, half the beast’s, half his own. Cole was able to launch Lucy backward, out of its path, but he could not move the behemoth Barghest. The Barghest’s power was too strong and gave Callum a greater strength than even Cole could handle. With a fluid move, it’s black fur moving like heavy, cooked tar, Callum sent Cole flying backward. Cole quickly regained his footing but it was too late. The beast had Lucy and was pulling her toward him.

“Don’t come any closer,” they said, in their sinister, two-toned voice, “Or I’ll crush her.”

Cole didn’t dare to move. He could not risk Lucy’s safety. Cole closed his eyes and called on Paimon, willing him to appear before him. Paimon was on a mountain, meditating in Egypt, but even at such a great distance he heard Cole’s panicked call and within moments he was there beside him. Callum squeezed Lucy and she screamed loudly.

“Let her go,” Cole shouted. Even though pieces of his dark hair had fallen over his blue eyes, they glowed with brightness and more force than Lucy had ever seen. Callum squeezed again, forcing the air from her lungs, then releasing her. The beast drew her close to its chest and

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Lucy remembered the knife she now carried. “You’re going to kill her,” Cole cried out, collapsing to his knees and begging the monster to please have mercy.

Paimon could predetermine any death, although he wasn’t supposed to make snap judgments’ where lives hung in the balance. He figured this was a situation that called for a death, whether the Council predetermined it or not. Paimon’s eyes swirled with a mystical yellow and red blend, and seemed to light up the night sky. He nodded to Cole as he sent the message to the council. “By the order,” Paimon said, in a booming voice. “It is Callum Norris’ time to die.” Lucy clung to the danger and forced it into the beast’s chest.

Cole sprung to his feet as his dark power took hold of his human form. From his back sprung the dark, enveloping smoke and it swirled around his body. It took shape all around him, it became him. In an instant he was transformed from a handsome, young man to a dark, black smoke creature shrouded almost completely by his own wings. He moved forward and the edges of his smoke form reached out, grabbing at the beast.

The Barghest dropped Lucy to the ground, where she landed with a hard thud. Callum began to slowly shrink back to his normal size as the Barghest was forced from his dying body and sent back to wherever it came from. Callum’s eyes jutted out of his neck in a cold shock from Cole’s touch. The smoke of Cole’s wings reached through his chest and struggled to detach his fighting soul from his body. Finally he was able to rip the soul free, a technique Cole had learned when dealing with those of a darker nature, who refused to leave their body unwillingly and were strong enough to hold on.

Paimon leaned over Lucy, whispering, “Told you so,” before scooping her up into his arms and carrying her away to safety. He wasn’t a rat anymore, now he was just a dark skinned man, but Lucy recognized him all the same. He was handsome, not at all the furry, animal she’d previously met, yet somehow he was still the same. Paimon’s touch healed her wounds and in moments she was breathing normally again.

Cole reached out and laid a smoky hand over the heart of Callum’s spirit. “Callum,” Cole asked him. “Now is the time to make a choice. Do you move on?” Callum nodded, defeated, tired and ready for what awaited him on the other side. His body lay like a naked, empty shell, so much smaller than what Seth had made him into. He was still a big kid, but he was your average big kid and when Cole returned she ran to Callum’s body, not his arms.

Cole’s blue eyes began to dim as he walked toward Lucy, settling down. She leaned over Callum and cried tears of woe after having been forced to take his life. “I did this,” she said, between sobs. “No, you didn’t,” Paimon said, with an air of arrogance from behind her. “Don’t take credit for my doing, darling. You had the knife, I decided he died. So, if it makes you feel better, I made you do it. Do you think that small blade could have killed that huge creature?”

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Lucy stood up and wrapped her arms around Paimon. “Then you saved me,” she said.

Paimon did not know how to react to the girl’s sudden and violent show of affection and so he patted her on the back three times before passing her back to Cole. “I’m scared,” Lucy said.

“Seth is still out there and he’s after me and everyone is getting hurt because of me.”

Ginny Franklin awoke soaking wet and freezing in the snow, but she did not know it. Get up! Get up! Ginny did as she was told still sick with dark power and not feeling the frost bite setting into her fingers and toes. She watched as Lucy clung to Cole and the three of them stood over Callum’s dead body. Ginny fought the urge to scream and attack, but the dark voice urged her to stay quiet and sneak away. Ginny Franklin did not stop running until she was back inside the little yellow house that still stunk of rotting human flesh. She waited for a sign from Seth.

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Chapter 25

Lucy worked a dry sweatshirt over her head and grabbed the keys from the counter. The aged, cracked leather of the Ford Fiesta’s seats were cold. Things were quickly warming up since the rain had stopped, so Lucy did not crank the heat. She pulled her car into reverse and pulled out of the driveway.

As she splashed through the puddles that had formed along the streets, she wished Cole was by her side. He and Paimon had disappeared and it was up to Lucy now to find Tina and resolve it. Lucy could not escape the panging reminder that they didn’t know Seth’s true name and she still hadn’t formulated a plan to find it out.

As Lucy drove, gripping the steering wheel of her new old car, Cole and Paimon walked through the other side in silence, searching the town for the rancid, rank smell to let them know they had caught up to Seth finally. It was near Ginny’s home that Cole first smelled a familiar stench, but it was not strong enough, he was not there. The ferns that once stood bright and green, a beautiful compliment to the yellow home, now were falling to disarray and the paint on Ginny’s home was peeling as if in just a matter of months it had met with years of neglect. It appeared almost dilapidated and abandoned and the disease was spreading to neighbor’s home.

“Clearly, this is where he’s stayed for quite some time. This is the home of the girl, the one that escaped death.” “When will it be her time again,” Cole returned. “It won’t,” Paimon said with a pang of disappointed. “Well, not for us anyway. It seems Ginny Franklin will live long after we’ve moved on. A war is coming. Her fate is no longer mine to decide.” Cole had hoped to be given a second chance at her life. He wished that the young woman could see him clearly, that he did not mean to hurt her, but now he would never be given that chance again.

They stood in the shadows, across the street from the yellow house and wondered if and when Seth would return. Paimon saw more than just the peeling paint and dead lawn and ferns he saw that the house was a nightmare from another world. The yellow paint that cracked and peeled down the sides exposed a tender, fleshy skin to him and the windows lit up as if there were a fire burning behind them. “There’s something else,” Paimon said in a tender voice, as he gripped Cole’s arm.

“What is it?” Paimon thought about the first time he had laid eyes on Cole. He was born of ash and brimstone and he’d rose from the sulfur like a phoenix, flying above Paimon and nearly into the sky before he could be reached and made sense too. During those dark times he was like a child, unable to perform his duties without feeling a sense of responsibility for the lives he was taken. Paimon had become like a father to him, but Cole grew quickly and decades later they found themselves more as friends, nearly equals, but in this moment the old sentimentality returned. “What is it,” Cole asked again, more concerned now.

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“There has been an order. For the girl.” “What girl,” Cole asked, already getting a sense of what was coming. “Lucy Bennett. Tonight.” Cole rose to his feet, angry at his friend and now willing to accept the order that has been brought down. “No,” Cole started. “There’s a mistake.”

“There are never mistakes, my friend.” “Well,” Cole said, “I won’t do it! How long have you known?” Cole’s blue eyes burned with an intense ferociousness that Paimon had never seen before. “I’ve known. I tried to move it to anyone else, but you brought us back here. We’re closest to the problem now and it’s your duty.” Cole disappeared into real world, willing himself to find Lucy and leaving Paimon to watch Ginny’s home alone.

The concert had just ended when Lucy raced to the auditorium. She found Daryl standing just outside its doors, looking disappointed with her. “Lucy,” Daryl began. “This isn’t like you.

This concert was very important to Sebastian.” She did not have time to explain. “I’m sorry, dad,” she said, passing by him. “I don’t have time to discuss this. I’ll explain it all later.”

Sebastian was sitting on the stairs of the stage, wiping down his instrument.

“Sebastian,” Lucy yelled out, hoping that he knew where Tina was, hoping that she was nearby. “Save it!” He returned, turning away, moving to put his trumpet in his case fast, so he could get out of there. “Why did you even bother showing up? You missed the whole thing.”

Sebastian couldn’t face her and so he kept his eyes trained on his brass instrument as he carefully put it away. “Sebastian,” Lucy began. “I’m sorry. I have to find Tina Monroe. There’s no time to explain.” “Lucy, just save it. If you had been here… You promised!” Sebastian was looking at her now, looking at her intense green eyes and trying to fight the emotion, the want he felt when he found himself trained on them.

Lucy pulled his wet cell phone from her pocket and threw it to the ground at his feet, desperately needing him to understand. “They used this to attack me,” she said, nudging it toward him with her foot. “I don’t know what’s going on. We need to find Tina. She is the only one who can stop them.” Sebastian picked up the cell phone. “I-I-I don’t know where she is. I haven’t seen her,” Sebastian stuttered, but when he looked up from the wet phone, Lucy was already racing from the auditorium. He flung to his feet and gave chase.

Outside the weather was growing humid from the rain and the near summer hot air. Lucy looked up to the sky and thought about her mother, about Cole and about everything that had happened. Callum Norris was dead and she couldn’t have another life on her hands. She closed her eyes tight and willed herself to see the future, to see Tina Monroe, to find her former best friend. Like a flash of lighting Lucy was reminded of her most current nightmare, the green Ford Fiesta driving frantically through the state park, heading for a cliff and then she saw Tina out there, sitting on the ground, the old book open in front of her.

Cole had finally reached the auditorium, but it was too late. Lucy’s taillights were disappearing down the road. He stood near Sebastian. “Any idea where she’s going?” “None,” Sebastian returned. “Except she’s looking for Tina Monroe.” Cole nodded and in a flash he was 149

gone, leaving Sebastian standing with an open mouth, his brain trying to process that he’d just witness a man disappear into thin air. What is going on around here?

Sebastian raced toward his old truck and climbed into the driver’s seat, before starting in the direction Lucy had gone. As Lucy drove to the edge of town she wished that she could somehow travel back in time, to a simpler place, before the accident. “Everyone I have ever loved gets hurt, because of me.” Lucy thought about her mother, dead after childbirth. She thought about Frank and baby Marissa, and losing Tina as a friend. She’d neglected Sebastian, Mr. Wilson had lost his job and now Callum was dead. Nothing made sense, but it needed to end.

Lucy did not struggle against her feelings of responsibility. As the car speed through deep puddles of water, often hydroplaning, she rolled through her waves of depression, accepting responsibility for all of it. “I’ll make it right,” Lucy said out loud, planning to leave after Seth was stopped. She knew that if she disappeared then she couldn’t hurt them anymore.

Sebastian lost Lucy as she headed westward, toward the very dream the depicted what could very possibly be her own death. Lucy knew she could change it if she tried. They’d saved Mr. Wilson. She picked up speed on a stretch of long, lonely highway and cracked the window as they seemed to be filling up with fog quickly. A hot, breathy wind floating into the car, only moving her hair slightly as it passed from front seat to back.

Lucy adjusted her mirror, and as she did she caught glimpse of Seth in her backseat. She screamed, jerking the wheel and momentarily losing control of the car. A second look into the backseat showed he was not there. Lucy faced the road again, trying to shake off the anxiety.

“Where are you going, Lucy?” Seth whispered from the backseat. His normally perfect skin had begun to fleck and peel, showing spaces of gray death and bone. He was weakening and it was because of her. Reaching into the front seat he was able to pick up the knife she’d used to kill Callum. “I believe this belongs to me.”

He twisted the knife against his finger and grinned like a mad man. The tip of his finger did not bleed despite how deep he drilled the knife into it. The blade was sharp, but there was no blood inside of him to bleed out. “I know you can’t hurt me,” Lucy said, trying to remain calm.

They were almost there and having Seth in the car actually meant that they wouldn’t have difficulty finding him later. She only wished that they weren’t about to fly off the cliff and die together.

“Sure, I can’t hurt you. But, there are those that can.” He didn’t speak using the innocent voice of a Florida transfer anymore. He wasn’t pretending to be a teenager. He used the deep, demonic voice. His true voice. “You can’t hurt me, Lucy Bennett. I know what you are planning.

It won’t work because I am forever. Eternity. I cannot be escaped.” Lucy closed her eyes, meaning to call Cole to her, but Seth jumped quickly to the front seat, disturbing her thought process and nearly causing them to careen off the road.

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“Don’t even try it.” She pulled into the state park, they were very close now, but Lucy was no longer sure she was changing her fate. She imagined her car careening off the cliff and wondered if she would be in it, when it happened. Lucy thought about Daryl and wondered what he would do without her. Can he fight his addictions alone? Lucy thought about his meetings and how she reminded him to go, and how even know he sometimes wouldn’t. If she died, he would be left with no one. No, she wasn’t going to die, and she wasn’t going to run away either, because even if it was all her fault – there were those that loved her and would not be able to get along without her. “How could I be so careless?” A single tear spilled from Lucy’s eye and Seth was quick to catch it. He licked the saline tear from his fingertip, with contemplative eyes. “Just as I suspected.”

Lucy passed a familiar sign, indicating they were getting closer. The cliff was ahead, the water was near, but so was Tina Monroe. She still had time to stop it. Her dreams were only a warning. She had to be strong. They drove through the dark, dense forest and Lucy struggled to formulate a plan, but Seth was whispering in her ear. “I cannot get in your mind that much is clear, but I taste guilt in your tears. You murdered my dog, Callum. Is it his blood on your hands that makes you so upset, dear? Never mind that my pet. Soon your heart will be in my belly and I’ll live forever.”

It’s not your fault, Scarlet’s voice rang out in her mind, resounding in her ears despite its actual silence. It was like music, her voice was like a soft violin and Lucy realized again it was a voice that had spoken to her many times, often in an attempt to protect her. Her mother had always been there. Lucy wasn’t willing to listen and as tears spilled down her cheeks she shouted, not to Seth, but to the whole world. “It is my fault. It’s dad’s fault and it’s my fault!

None of this would be happening right now if we hadn’t caused that accident. They’re both dead.

They’re dead and they shouldn’t be.”

Seth was confused, but glad he had triggered such emotion in Lucy. Her misery fueled him and the dark splotches on his skin began to clear up. “It is your fault,” he whispered, sounding more like a snake than a man. Scarlet tried to reason with her, wanting desperately to see her daughter fight fate and survive. People make their choices, Lucy and sometimes they die.

An angel takes away the suffering and there was no pain felt that night. The pain is with those who were left behind, but everything happens for a reason. You must have faith, my darling. You must trust yourself and not give in to those that seek to hurt you. Your life has worth. It’s valuable too. You cannot give up.

“But, dad didn’t answer the call! They could have been saved, all the papers said so.

Everyone at school knew it. They could have been saved, but no one saved them.”

Forgive yourself, Lucy. You must. Forgive your father. Forgiveness is what they would want.

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“How can I, if no one else will?” Seth continued to taunt and goad Lucy moving vanishing from front seat to back seat, always leaning into her ear. They were nearing the cliff now, getting closer to the end. Seth did not know Scarlet’s voice resounded in Lucy’s head.

Forgiveness begins with you, darling. If you don’t forgive yourself now, then you’ll never get to know what could have been.

Something changed in Lucy’s heart. Maybe it was because the words of her mother were something Mr. Wilson had attempted to tell her so many times, but she’d ignored. She wondered if maybe she would just listen, that thing could change and that everyone could stop being hurt.

She had been just getting along before. Even with knowledge of the future, she had been like putty in fate’s hands, but she wasn’t going to let anyone decide for her any longer. This was her life, and maybe if she stopped lying down and letting it happen to her, things would be different.

In that moment, Lucy Bennett took control of her life and pressed down on the gas pedal hard, as she careered off the road onto a familiar dirt path. Seth was surprised, and yelled, “Yes, faster!

Faster.”

He screamed madly, and Tina Monroe stopped up, shocked and damp from the grass. She didn’t recognize Lucy’s car, but saw her and Seth through the windows. Lucy saw the trees opening up ahead, the cliff just a short distance away. They cleared the woods completely and Lucy flung open her own car door, letting the car and Seth career right off the cliff. The sound it made as it crashed into the water below was deafening. Lucy nearly struck a tree on her way out of the car, but she focused everything she had to disappear and moments later she was on the other side.

Cole met her there, with a hug and if he were human he would have been crying. “How did you… You’re not hurt… But, you’re supposed to…” Cole could not finish, unable to suggest that Lucy should be dead. “I’m not going to die,” Lucy returned. “Fate doesn’t decide for me. I decide and this isn’t the way. My father needs me.” It didn’t take Cole long to determine that Lucy was special, she had a power but she was still human. The Council would want him to spare her and so he unraveled his black wings, and puffs of dark smoke billowed all around him.

“Lucy Bennett,” he said, in a powerful voice. “You are being given a second chance.” And then he suddenly disappeared and Lucy was faced with a powerful white light and then she woke to find herself in her car, with smashed airbags that had deployed. Instead of sending the car careening from the cliff, they had hit a tree instead. She could not remember anything from her meeting with Cole, as his power to grant a second chance was not something those who lived again ever remembered.

Lucy pulled herself from the car, staggered and slipped before finding her footing. “I’m over here,” she shouted out to Tina. Cole was instantly by her side, inspecting her for injuries and finding none. He kissed her face and smiled, realizing that besides a cut on her forehead she was okay. He had altered her course. Lucy was no longer sure if she could change fate at all, but something had. “I’m so happy you’re okay,” he said, kissing her forehead. “I was scared I’d lose 152

you.” Tina met up with them, and then Paimon was standing outside their circle. He still wore a crushed, purple, velvet suit and dark skin, not fur.

“He could be anywhere,” Lucy said, shifting nervously. “We still don’t have a name.”

Tina presented them with the giant book, using to hands to hold it up in front of her. “There are ways to force it out of him,” she said, pointing at some text. “But,” Tina continued. “I’ve tried to get rid of him before. He doesn’t listen.” Paimon interrupted her, “If you truly summoned him, then call him forth now. Just will him here, and he should appear by your side.”

“Okay,” Tina said, closing her eyes and wishing desperately to see Seth, so they could begin dispelling him finally. From the trees, Ginny Franklin appeared, twisting the knife in the air like a psychotic seamstress, she was sowing air. Seth stood silently behind her. “It worked,” Tina shouted, but she was scared. Up until then she had tried everything. She had tried binding him, even doing a blood sacrifice in the woods at sunrise. She did everything the book said, and still he kept showing back up.

Paimon looked at Tina, the supposed conjurer. He peered deep into her soul and found only tinges of darkness. Coming back he wasn’t so sure she had done this. “Certainly, you’ve figured him out,” Paimon said out loud. He dared not say more, since having the demon think he’d tricked them all was working in their favor for the moment.

Tina stood holding the book and began reading through a list of names. Seth laughed and his skin lit up like a torch. “I’m not in your stupid book. My kind has seared beneath the earth since the beginning of time and you humans have only a few of our names. Those demons are weak. I am strong. You can’t stop me, little girl.”

Tina looked at him and with a deep hunger to end it all, she screamed. “If you are so brave in front of us, if you are strong, then you will tell you name. Or else you are a coward.”

Seth laughed again and in his dark voice screamed, “I cannot be tricked stupid girl.” It was clear that guessing was not working. “Give us Lucy Bennett and we’ll be on our way.” Ginny Franklin no longer cared about the truth as her mind had become like the chalkboard she used to write her disciplines. It was blank until Seth chose what to write and then whatever she read there, she did.

Lucy took a step forward, and remembered that the name of a demon was written on his heart. “I will make a trade,” Lucy began. “My heart for yours.” “Interesting deal,” Seth returned, knowing his human body was just flesh and did not matter. His hands were able to reach through the body with no blood and gore and from it he produced a fleshy mound, a human heart. In glowing gold letters was his name, obscured by his hand. Lucy nodded. “If I give you my heart, you give yours to Tina.”

“No,” Cole shouting, knowing that you could not get a second, second chance. “You will die,” Cole shouted to her. Paimon stopped forward, more powerful than Cole and forcing him to step down. “Ginny Franklin,” Paimon said, “Do you wish to cut out the heart of your friend?”

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Ginny began to laugh and in a voice both hers and Seth’s, said, “I’ll cut it out and then we’ll eat it together.”

Lucy moved closer, taking the hand of her old friend and when she did she was opened up in the same way she had been with Sebastian. In a flash she was taken to a time when both Lucy and Tina had stood in the halls and laughed as Ginny walked by, head down. She was a Letter Eater then, beautiful, popular and callous. Ginny was taunted all through middle school and high school, but wished desperately for them to like her.

Lucy was met by Ginny after she fell from popularity, but Ginny’s motivations were more than just friendliness, she had hoped it was gateway to be among those most elite at the school. Lucy was faced with hard slaps across the face, delivered by Troll who towered over Ginny as she sat on her knees, praying in front of the giant painting of her grandfather. From there Ginny began practicing black magik, and the incantations were love spells and beauty spells in the beginning, but they hardly worked for more than a day or two.

Lucy was shocked by the image of a cloaked Ginny, leaning over chalking the ancient pagan symbols into the bridge in Goren’s Wood. She chanted the ritualistic words to call Seth forward and as she as lightning struck, Lucy was transported from that image to one of the murder that had taken place in the Franklin home. Seeing Troll bent over the stove was too much for Lucy to handle and so she dropped Ginny’s frail, hungry arm and backed away. “It was you…”

Ginny was disoriented for a minute, as Lucy’s ability had removed Seth from her brain for a whole minute. “W-w-where am I,” she asked, rubbing her head. “What are we doing here?”

She turned to Seth and was nearly knocked over by his glowing red skin. She dropped the knife she held, and with a quickness no human could muster, Cole had it in his hands and stabbed it into the heart, holding it up so Tina could read it, but try as she may Tina could not read it. It was in a language no human could read, except the actual summoner.

“It was you,” Lucy repeated. “You called him here. Ginny, he’s going to kill us all if you don’t stop him. Callum is dead. Your mom is dead. Ginny stop him!” Paimon turned toward her, his suspicions confirmed. Cole also turned her way, holding the daggered heart up so she could read it. “Speak his name,” Paimon shouted. “Or be killed yourself.” Paimon was prepared to call forth an action, to bring about Ginny’s death, something she had avoided until now. Ginny struggled to read what was on the heart, “H-H-Htorehtes.” She spoke softly and then said the name louder, finding Seth now standing obediently in front of her. “Master,” he said, in a low voice, hanging his head. “I’ve given you what you’ve wanted. Don’t listen to them. They will hurt you. I’ve never hurt you.”

“Do you wish him gone?” Paimon was growing angry, ready to strike her dead if need be.

There was no time to waste, as now that Ginny had control of him, she could order him to do her 154

bidding or invoke him into her own body. “You have the power Ginny Franklin to send this monster back to the hell it crawled out of. Do it now, or find yourself there soon!”

Lucy took Ginny’s hand in her own, and at first Ginny resisted but an image of her mother poured through her memories. There were times when things weren’t so bad and as much as she hated the abuse, she didn’t wish her dead. Seth had caused her to die. They locked hands and so did Cole, Paimon and Tina. They relied on each other’s courage, forming a circle.

Ginny screamed Seth’s true name again and he appeared in the middle of the circle, emblazoned in red. For a moment, he seemed confused and he looked at Ginny with puppy dog eyes, those big, lashy browns begging her to rethink her decision. Then he began to shake and hiss like a snake. “Ginny,” he hissed. “I implore. Don’t be taken under their spell. I don’t know why I did it. We’re The Letter Eaters, Ginny. We can have it all. Let’s stop this now. Don’t let them make you send me away.” Ginny was surprised to find the man who had controlled her every waking moment for the last year was groveling before her, things were not as they once were and he had done nothing to make her life better. Ginny cried. “Mom and Callum are gone, Seth. You let them die. You killed them.” For a moment she almost broke the circle, but Lucy caught her hand and held it tight.

Ginny cried, hot tears and her world almost turned black. Her vulnerability would have been enough for Seth to crawl into her mind again, but the power of the circle and the two angels present was enough to stop him from using the dark voice against her. Ginny cried because Callum had suffered the most because of her. He was a stupid, mean jock but he wasn’t evil like she’d made him. He could have changed. He could have been something and now he was dead. It was the clearest mind she’d had all along, but it weakened her to realize all the hurt she’d caused.

Seth realized his time on Earth had come to an end and so with his last moments he mocked and cursed at them all. He mocked Ginny’s crying, “Boo, hoo,” he screamed in the voice of the underworld. His brightly lit, red face was marred by his cheeks wrinkling up and his eyes squinting shut. The painful moans he emitted did something to Ginny and in a moment her sadness turned to anger. She had enough. She grasp both Lucy’s and Tina’s hands tighter and screamed, “I banish you! Go back where you came from. I banish you and I never want you to return.” In a voice so powerful, the same voice she used to invoke him, Ginny Franklin screamed out at Seth. “Htorehtes, you are banished from this place. Do not return. Go back from whence you came.”

Everyone moved a step backward as the earth underneath Seth’s feet cracked and opened, exposing a flaming underworld, over which he hovered. Seth writhed and kicked as his pants caught fire. The fire quickly engulfed his entire frame, burning his skin and catching his jacket on fire. They watched as the Black Bear, taking a bite from a Blue Devil, crinkled and smoked until it was completely gone. Soon his face melted under the flames and his dark hair caught fire 155

too, exposing bubbling pieces of gray colored flesh, it boiled and melted from his bones. Seth screamed and writhed, shouting words in language none of them understood.

Ginny dropped both Lucy’s and Tina’s hands and removed her own jacket, defaced to show the same violent scenario. She tossed the jacket into the fiery pit Seth was being dragged down into. The red, spotty dust that was his true form swam around in the body, in a desperate attempt to escape the pit below. Bony hands reached up from the flames and grabbed ahold of it, pulling Seth down into the ground, while he screamed in high pitched agony. The cracks in the earth began to reform, until the ground was completely solid, as if none of it had transpired.

Tina and Lucy jumped and cheered, but quickly realized Ginny had gone, disappeared into the night. With only Tina in her view, Lucy stopped her excited movements and remembered that they weren’t really friends. Only she was wrong, because Tina pulled her into a tight embrace. “I’m sorry,” Lucy whispered into her jet black hair that smelled of lavender soap.

“Me too,” Tina returned.

Lucy was able to sleep in the hospital, a necessary precaution after the accident she’d been in, paramedics showed up on the scene and Lucy asked them to find Ginny, but they didn’t.

The doctors thought it amazing that Lucy had sustained no injuries in an accident that demolished the front end of her green Ford Fiesta, and so they were keeping her overnight for observation. After a few hours of untroubled sleep, Lucy woke up to find her father standing before her.

Daryl was tired, with dark circles forming under his eyes on his weathered face. “I was scared,” he said, looking down at her young face, so much like her mothers. “When they called and told me you’d been in an accident, I was scared I’d lost you. I wanted to be here when you woke up.” “I’m okay, dad.” Daryl nodded and tears streamed down his face, and he shook his head wanting to say so much, but not able to. “Dad, what’s wrong?”

“It’s been a year now. Today. Since they died. I can’t lose you too.” Lucy hadn’t realized.

None of them had, in all the commotion but it was a year ago. It almost meant a full year of sobriety for Daryl Bennett, and he was expected at AA to receive his one year chip. Lucy tried to say something to comfort him, but he stopped her. “I’ve made a lot of mistakes, honey. It was a year ago…tonight. And in that year I still haven’t been able to speak about it, not in AA and not with you and for that I’m sorry. You needed someone to talk to and it should have been me. If I had lost you tonight, I would have regretted not being there for you more. I’m not going to bottle everything up anymore.”

Lucy laughed, relaxing him and causing him to sniffle and laugh a little bit too. It was the realization that this bottling wasn’t much different than the other bottle he had claimed to have given up. “I’m going to do better for you, honey. I’m going to do better for myself too. We can’t keep on in this way, can we?” Lucy shook her head. “I saw mom, dad.” Daryl was startled and at 156

first disbelieving, but the look on Lucy’s sweet, pale face was one of honest sincerity. She probably did see Scarlet, he thought. Stranger things have happened recently.

“I want us to be happy, dad.” Daryl took her hand. “Me too, kiddo. Me too.” Two uniformed police officers entered the small hospital room, nearly filling the space. They removed their hats and let Daryl known they were able to pull out the car, but it was in pretty bad shape.

“Roads were bad out there, miss. You’re lucky to be alive.” Lucy nodded, thinking they didn’t even know the half of it. She gently squeezed her father’s hand. “Was there something else, officers?” Daryl was concerned that they were prolonging their stay. The cops looked anxiously from one to the other, trying to decide if it was an appropriate time. The younger of the two, was Officer Jackson, the arresting officer in Mr. Wilson’s case and he remember Lucy. He decided now was as good a time as any.

“Yours was not the only accident tonight, Lucy. Another student wasn’t so lucky. Callum Norris died tonight in Goren’s Wood. We don’t know all the details, but we do know his heart just stopped.” Lucy didn’t have to feign surprise, because the natural tears that fell from her eyes was enough to convince the officers that this was the first she’d heard of it. “I’m so sorry,” Office Jackson continued. “But, there’s more. Ginny Franklin. She’s a friend of yours, right?”

Lucy nodded, scared that something had happened to Ginny after their night in the park. “We picked her up on Main Street, wondering downtown raving about demons and the grim reaper.”

“Jackson--!” The other officer piped in and then took over. “She’d drawn a crowd and we were called in. We aren’t sure, but we think she may have been there when Callum went down. But, at this point she isn’t saying anything that we can understand.”

The tears continued to fall down Lucy’s cheeks, and she made no move to wipe them away. “Will she be okay,” Lucy asked. “We’re not sure, ma’am. We went to her house and…”

Officer Jackson stepped in again, his partner unable to deliver the somber news. “Her mother committed suicide and Ginny Franklin had been living with the body, in the home, for some time.” Daryl jumped to his feet, upset and angry that they were delivering this information to his daughter in a hospital after she’d just experienced an accident. “That’s enough, officers. We will discuss this some other time.” “We’ll need to meet with your daughter to discuss the accident and the details surrounding Ginny Franklin.” Daryl nodded, ushering them out the door.

Lucy dried her tears, trying to remain strong. In the days to come she would have plenty of downtime to work through what had happened. “What about your meeting, dad?” Daryl wanted to go. He’d never wanted to go to AA before, but now he did. He wanted to really stand up in front of his peers and tell it all, but Lucy had suffered and he wasn’t sure he could make it.

He planned to not accept that chip and acknowledge for once and for all that he hadn’t really done anything, followed any of the steps, but now he would; now he was ready.

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“Dad,” Lucy said. “I’ll be fine here. I think you need to go.” “Are you sure you’ll be alright?” Lucy nodded. “I’ll go,” he said, resolved. “But, I’m coming right back after. I love you.” Sebastian appeared in the doorway, ready to take Daryl’s place at Lucy’s bedside. He presented her with a bunch of yellow daisies pulled from a bed in the hospital parking lot in a hurry. For a short while Sebastian and Lucy simply joked about the hospital food and the bedpan that sat unused on a table near them. “I know what happened tonight,” Sebastian began. “But, I am sorry I couldn’t be there.”

They would have plenty of time to talk it through and in their days to come Lucy would recount most of it to him, leaving out anything that was way too unbelievable. It was easy to resume their friendship, to press play again and Lucy was glad for his support in the days to come. “Sebastian, I heard your song. The one called, Green Eyes. I was there for that.” Sebastian couldn’t believe it, and that was the first step to repairing their relationship.

“I’m really sorry, Bass. I’m sorry I haven’t been there.” “Stop it,” he returned. “I made a mistake. I’m sorry too. Friends?” “Best friends,” Lucy said, smiling. A nurse walked in, wearing pink scrubs. “You have another visitor, but it’s getting late dear. Only family after eleven.” Cole walked in behind her, slowly. Sebastian remembered the way he had seemingly disappeared into thin air and quickly excused himself from the room.

Cole added a single, long stem, red rose to the cup of water that held Lucy’s yellow daisies. It smelled fresh, because Cole had traveled a long way to pick it. He kissed her lightly on the forehead. Cole’s blue eyes may have been irresistible to some women, but Lucy found she was able to just look into them, without getting stuck there. “I’m getting better,” she told him.

“You are,” he said, looking into her green eyes. “But, I’m not.”

His lips were soft and inviting and she didn’t want to stop kissing him, but he pulled away anyhow. She wanted desperately out of the hospital, to be in a warm place, somewhere alone just she and Cole. “We can’t,” Cole said, with a faraway, sad look. “I have to go away, Lucy.” Lucy sprung to a full sitting position. He had already left her once, and she didn’t want him to go away again, not ever. “Lucy,” Cole began. “I have to answer for something I did and it may mean I never get to see you again. I will send word, I promise. Once I know.”

Paimon appeared behind Cole. He was no longer a dark skinned man, in a fancy suit. He wore an English Captain’s Uniform and his skin was a pale hue and his lips were plump and pink. Cole would need to dress the same as they were soon to board a sinking ship. Lucy wanted to cry but there were no tears left, too many had been spent to expel any more. “I will see you again,” she said, determined that she would. She reached out for him, wrapping her arms around his neck, smelling his skin and kissing him where she could.

“I’ll make sure of it. Even if it’s just to say goodbye.” Lucy hoped it wouldn’t be to say goodbye, but accepted this from him. He kissed Lucy again and gave her a long look before he 158

and Paimon disappeared in an instant. The pink clad nurse returned from the hall confused and searching the room with her eyes. She shook the curtain and peered under the bed. “Where did he go?”

Lucy lingered on the spot where she’d last seen Cole’s bright blue eyes. She willed them to return, but they didn’t. “He had to go,” she said in a soft, sad voice. The nurse simply nodded before wondering slowly back out into the hall. Before leaving Whiskey Falls, Cole and Paimon stopped on the old bridge in the heart of Goren’s Wood. For a long while Cole stood staring at the reflection of a half-moon rippling across the water. The koi remained and their presence let him know they would stay for her, to look out for her until their time to swim against the current came again. Paimon took Cole by the arm. “It’s time to go now.” Cole nodded, and turned to move on with his oldest friend. The last thing Paimon said, before they disappeared form the bridge was, “They will want to meet her.”

In a padded cell in Bedford Sanitarium, Ginny Franklin starred up at a high window. The half-moon was just visible through the metal bars. For a spell she had quieted her screaming, and the staff the hospital hoped that her medicine had kicked in, but it hadn’t. Even a strong sedative could not quell Ginny in her state and so she rocked and screamed and kicked long into the night, screaming always of the angel of death, demons and the sick smell of rotting flesh she couldn’t escape even in the clean hospital.

The End

Thank you, reader. Lucy and The Letter Eaters is the first in a series of novels that follow young Lucy Bennett on her journey toward discovering inner strength and more about her mysterious past. Please review this novel on Amazon, as the author enjoys hearing the opinions of her readers.

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