Happily Never After (20 page)

Marietta started crying in earnest now, loud
sobs that made me want to cover my ears. I forced myself to stay
still though. I needed to find out what Catherine had in store for
me. What could I possibly have? Absently, my hand reached for the
necklace I still wore. No, she wanted me dead long before Margaret
gave it to me.

“I never wanted to hurt Quinn. Everything you
do to her, I feel it. You make me feel it.”

One of my earliest memories of Marietta swam
to the surface of my thoughts. Not long after marrying Daddy and
moving into the house, she took me shopping for back-to-school
clothes. I remember being excited and nervous. Marietta was such a
well put-together woman and I was an awkward teenager. I wanted
some of her poise to rub off on me.

We had lunch, shopped and talked. It was like
having a mama again. I was a flower starved for the sun. At the
time, I saw it as a bright beginning and it was.

At least it was for a while.

The voice laughed. “You will do as I say
until I’m through with you. Don’t worry. It won’t be much longer.
I’ll have my revenge and the life I deserve and you’ll be free of
me.”

I listened as Marietta continued to sob while
the air grew colder. If I’d been paying attention it would have
clued me in to the fact that Catherine was coming closer.

Suddenly, the door slammed open and I was
face to face with a dark, towering mass. I braced for pain but all
I felt was her presence in my head.

Eavesdropping is not very ladylike.

I backed up to the other side of the hall
until I couldn’t go any farther. The shadow pressed close,
enfolding me and I gagged on the smell.

Don’t have anything to say now?

Wanting to show her I was strong, I spoke
instead of thinking my words. “I have plenty to say to you. Go away
and leave me and my family alone.”

Your family? That’s an interesting choice of
words. They don’t want you, they never did. I’ve been inside
Marietta’s head long enough to know she can’t stand the sight of
you.

“Marietta treats me bad because you force her
to. I heard you just now. She wasn’t like that until you possessed
her. Why can’t you move on and get over it?”

You think I want to be stuck here? In this
horrible period? I would love to be somewhere else, some place
where memories of the past won't assault me. Do you think I enjoy
being stuck in this house with Jackson? He’s a constant reminder of
everything I lost, my dreams, my future, my soul.

“All you have to do is let go, Catherine. Let
go and all of your pain will be gone. You don’t have to hurt me the
way you were hurt.”

I will never let go of my dreams. You’re an
important part of that, Quinn.

All the fear and uncertainty welled up at
that moment and I brought myself to a new low.

“Do you want me to beg, Catherine?” Even to
myself I sounded hysterical. “I will. If you want me to get on my
knees and beg you to let me live, I will. Please, don’t do this.
Don’t do to me what William did to you. I’ve never done anything to
you! Please, leave me alone.”

The shadow stilled momentarily and I wondered
if my words penetrated into any humane part of Catherine that still
existed. As the seconds dragged on and on I began to hope.

But the hope was shattered when Catherine
advanced on me with renewed force. Again, I expected pain but got
none.

When I first realized I was dead, the need
for revenge filled me up until I wasn’t myself anymore. It feeds me
and gives me power. Year by year that need for revenge grows. It
consumes me and licks at my skin every hour of the day. I can’t let
it go because without it, I won’t exist. Imagine being in
excruciating pain every second. Exacting my revenge is the only
thing that will make it go away. If I do this, the darkness goes
away.

Her words terrified me. They were so
malicious and focused. That crazy voice in my head craved revenge,
like it was a drug. Getting Catherine to give up the power her
quest for revenge fueled would not be easy.

Some part of me still thought I could reason
with her.

“You do realize, don’t you, that once you get
rid of me, your vengeance will be over? When I’m gone, who will you
focus those feelings on? Everything that you’ve been obsessing
about for years will be over. What will you do then,
Catherine?”

She leaned forward and a tendril of shadow
reached out in the shape of a hand. I tracked it as it came closer
but had nowhere to run; I was trapped. The hand reached up and
stroked the side of my face, tracing down the jawbone to my chin.
The touch was light and extremely cold almost numbing my entire
face.

Then, to my shock the hand grew solid. I felt
the fingers clamp onto my chin and turn my head from side to side
as if assessing me. My entire body shook in fear.

When you’re gone, I’ll have everything I ever
wanted.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

I wasn’t even sure why I was going to Baubles
today to work. Yesterday resembled a dream and the quickest way to
lose that light carefree feeling was to be around my family so I
knew I should avoid them.

The thing was, any extended period of time I
spent out of touch with them made me worry, especially about
Marietta. I didn’t want to lose sight of the light at the end of
the tunnel.

When you’re gone, I’ll have everything I ever
wanted.

Those were Catherine’s words and they both
confused and scared the crap out of me. What could she possibly
mean? I had no possible idea what she really wanted from me.

Walking in, I waved to the other hairdressers
as I went to the back of the salon. As usual these days, Marietta
was nowhere around. The bathrooms were probably dirty. If I didn’t
clean them, they wouldn't get done. Before I could grab the mop and
bucket of cleaning supplies, my gaze drew to the ‘pageant’ room.
The door stood halfway open but something wasn’t right.

I reached in to flip on the light. When it
came on all I could do was stare in horror.

“Oh no,” I said in a breathless voice.

Every dress was shredded into hundreds of
pieces. Satin and tulle were flung across the room. Ragged pieces
of lace and other materials littered the floor. I’d never seen such
destruction. It was like a wild animal had been let loose in here.
Nothing was left untouched. Even Marietta’s industrial sewing
machine was in pieces.

I was torn. I wanted to go inside the room
and try to figure out what happened. On the other hand, if I were
in that room when someone else came in, I’d look guilty.

And that’s exactly what happened.

Marietta, Anna and Suzie picked that exact
moment to walk in the back door. I turned towards them and watched
the various reactions play across their faces.

Anna looked relieved. I remembered her
telling me about how she did the pageants only to please her mom
and sister. I had the fleeting thought she did it until I looked at
her mama.

Marietta’s reaction didn’t surprise me. In
fact it made a sick kind of sense. Smug satisfaction settled into
her features before she caught me looking. In the blink of an eye,
she changed her look to one of outrage.

It was Suzie’s reaction I had no time to
prepare for.

“You witch!” She yelled and came at me with
everything she had. I felt her hands grab onto my hair and her
nails scratch down my cheek and neck. All of her strength went into
her fists as they pummeled me. I tried to cover myself as best I
could but I felt a few connect. “Why do you always ruin
things?”

Deep down, I knew this was exactly the
reaction Catherine was looking for. In her eyes it was one more way
to beat me down.

I tried pushing Suzie away from me but she
had a death grip on my hair. Finally, I felt someone tugging her
away from me as a tearing sensation prickled my scalp.

When I was able to straighten up and open my
eyes, I saw Anna holding her back. Suzie clutched a clump of dark
brown hair. I held my hand up to my head where it throbbed like
crazy.

I was ticked off. “I didn’t do this Suzie! I
just got here.”

She didn’t believe me and kept struggling
against Anna. “You expect me to believe that? You disappear
yesterday and here you are, caught in the act. Mom, do
something!”

Marietta was standing off to the side
watching but at her daughter’s words she stepped forward and
slapped me across the cheek—hard.

It completely stunned me.

I think it stunned the girls, too, because
Suzie froze and Anna gasped. Once I had a chance to get over the
shock, I gathered myself up and pointed at Marietta.

“She’s the one who did it. She did it knowing
I would be blamed.” Even as I said the words I knew how stupid they
sounded. It wouldn’t mean anything without proof.

“Don’t you dare try to pin this on my mom.
You’re a sick freak!”

Marietta’s bizarre behavior continued as she
calmly said, “Just get it cleaned up.”

Her voice was calm. Nothing like I’d imagine
the real Marietta would react. A pageant mom would have freaked
out. She turned and walked into the front of the salon.

Suzie stared after her spellbound, as if she
didn’t even recognize her. I wondered if she would finally see that
her mom wasn’t acting normal. She turned back to me with hate in
her eyes.

“Of all the things you’ve ever done, this is
the worst. I’m going to make sure you are ruined. I’ll never forget
what you’ve done.”

“What if it isn’t Quinn’s fault, Suzie?” Anna
whispered almost too quietly to hear. I understood why, too. It
wasn’t often she went up against her twin. “What if she’s right and
mom did it? You saw how she acted just now. She didn’t even
care.”

Suzie spun, causing Anna to flinch.

“You’re starting to sound as crazy as her,”
she pointed back at me. “If I didn’t know better I’d think you were
taking her side. Our pageant dresses are ruined.”

Anna was a deer caught in headlights. Her
huge eyes filled with fear and sadness. “I’m not taking anyone’s
side. Mom has been acting weird.”

“I think you’re seeing things. Maybe you’re
seeing things the witch wants you to see. She wants us all
destroyed. She’s jealous.”

I knew the best thing I could do was keep my
mouth shut. I didn’t want to. The way Suzie was laying into Anna
bothered me. Why couldn't she see what was going right in front of
her? She must be more self-absorbed than I thought.

Suzie flipped her hair and flounced off in
the direction her mama had gone. She turned back to Anna.
“Coming?”

Anna nodded and followed her out. Just before
she was out of sight, Anna turned back and gave me a sad smile.
Then she mouthed the words, ‘I know it wasn’t you.’

I wasn’t sure whether to feel relief or
surprise that she believed me. Considering she came to me about
Marietta’s behavior, I wanted to hold her words close. The fact she
knew it wasn’t me meant the world.

Suddenly, the events of the past few minutes
came crashing down, mostly from the pain on my scalp and my face.
Suzie fought like a girl, but it still hurt. I rubbed my stinging
cheek where Marietta had slapped it.

I had to get out of there.

I darted to the back door, taking one last
look over my shoulder at the destroyed dresses. Most of them had
been ridiculously cheesy but still beautiful. A lot of time and
care went into making them. The mess reminded me of what my life
felt like lately.

Chasing the thought away, I left the salon in
search of the light, careless feeling I knew I would lose if I was
around my family.

I hoped I could find it again.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

The day dragged on endlessly. Jason and Abby
were both working so I wandered around town with no destination in
mind. I put off going home until the last possible minute. The less
time I spent with Catherine, the better.

I wanted to take some time tonight to try to
speak to Margaret. Since the ball I’d felt her presence, but had
not spoken with her again. Finding out about my family, and if
anyone else had been harassed by Catherine through the years, was a
priority. It would give us a better idea of her motivations.

At least that’s what Travis said. And I
wanted to have something to tell him tomorrow.

I turned off all the lights in the attic
except one and sat in the middle of the bed. Taking a deep breath I
asked, “Margaret? Are you here?”

Silence stretched as I listened. Nothing.

“Please, I need your help. You’ve been there
for me all this time. I have more questions.”

The longer I waited the more I thought
nothing would happen. The house was still. I faintly sensed Jackson
downstairs but that was it.

I wasn’t sure how long I sat there but
eventually I grew tired. Just as I was turning to lie down, I felt
her materialize in the room.

Same as before, she appeared startlingly
solid and real.

“Hello Quinn,” she greeted as she sat beside
me. “What can I help you with, dear?”

Now that she was here, I had no clue where to
start and was suddenly nervous talking to her about Catherine in
the house. I heard Marietta come home earlier so I didn’t want to
do anything to get her attention.

“Can we talk about Catherine? I mean, can she
hear us?”

Margaret cocked her head to the side,
listening or concentrating. For a moment an irrational fear hit me
that maybe it was another one of Catherine’s mind games. Maybe she
was pretending to be her mother. Then, the feeling I normally
developed around Margaret settled over me and chased the thought
away.

“I think we’re safe for now. She doesn’t seem
to be aware of my presence up here.”

“So you can all sense each other, you and
Catherine and Jackson? Isn’t that awkward?” Ever since the incident
in the dining room, I’d been curious as to how Catherine and
Jackson could exist in the same house all these years and not have
any resolution.