Heven & Hell Anthology (Heven and Hell) (9 page)

The woman lifted one of her shoulders. “Okay, then. Make her pay; then take what’s hers.”

Yeah right. There was no taking Sam. Even when I was “dating” him, it was painfully obvious whom he really wanted—even if I had pretended I never noticed. Besides, as much as I hated it—I did want Cole back. I wanted him to love me the way I loved him. I glanced back at the closed blinds.

“Tell me how,” I whispered.

She held out her hand, her blood-red lips curving into a smile.

I put my hand in hers. It was the beginning of my downfall.

*    *    *

I pulled into my empty driveway, not surprised at all it was empty. My parents were hardly ever home, and when they were, I never saw them. They always had better things to do than spend time with me. I tried not to think about what Heven and Cole were doing right that moment, as I climbed out of my car, reaching for my ruined shoes. I dumped them in the closest trash can and then turned to see if the woman was here yet. She said she would be right behind me, but the street was quiet. There were no signs of cars.

I wasn’t about to stand out here all night without my shoes, looking like I was breaking into my own house, so I went inside. Maybe I had imagined the whole encounter with the woman in Heven’s yard. I couldn’t be expected to be in my right mind after seeing my boyfriend and my BFF
together
, not to mention my ruined designer shoes. I mean, hell-o, how often did gorgeous women in cloaks lurk around in people’s yards? The only reason I was there was because I was on a spy mission.

I sighed as I let myself into my bedroom, glancing at my heinously dirty feet. I needed a hot bath, a latté and some chocolate. Tomorrow, I would spend the day at the spa with a mani, a pedi and scalp treatment with a blowout. The next time Cole saw me, I would look so hot, his tongue would fall right out of his mouth. I smirked.

But the smirk fell as I wondered where his tongue was right now.

I closed the bedroom door behind me and flicked on the light.

“Aghhh!” I screeched when I saw the woman standing in the middle of my room. “Don’t you knock?”

“I thought I’d already been invited.”

“How did you get in here?” I asked, taking in the woman’s black cloak now that we were in actual light. She had good taste—if you were into the cloak thing.

“I have my ways.”

She was annoying. I was dirty, I was tired and I didn’t feel like listening to her talk in riddles. “Well, if you don’t mind, I’m busy. I changed my mind about whatever I agreed to back there.” I opened up my bedroom door and looked at her pointedly.

She didn’t get the memo.

“Hell-o,” I said, waiving my hand around. “That was me telling you to leave.”

The woman’s blue eyes narrowed, but then her face smoothed out and she started walking toward the door. “She was right about you.”

“Who?” I demanded.

“Heven.”

“Wait,” I said, and the woman turned back. “You know Heven? How do you know her? And what did she say about me?”

“She said she was better suited for this. She said you were too ‘into yourself’ to really be good for our group.”

Anger sliced through me. After everything I had done for her, sitting in that creepy hospital room, defending her against all those rumors, the whispers. This is how she repays me? By stealing my boyfriend and talking bad about me behind my back? I wanted to claw her eyes out.

“I’ll be going,” the woman said, once again turning to leave.

“Wait! What group are you talking about?”

The woman stopped. Slowly she turned back. “Haven’t you wondered how that disfigurement on Heven’s face disappeared?”

“She said she had laser surgery,” I replied automatically, even as doubt crept into my mind. I had always wondered about that. I mean, Heven shows up one day and her face is completely healed. Even the nerve damage that caused half of her face to sag was gone. Her skin was flawless, taut and perfect. Like the accident never happened.

“And you believe everything she says?”

Well, I used to. Then Sam got here and everything changed. She changed. She started pulling away, acting secretive. She didn’t return my phone calls, brushed off my questions, and then she shows up after she had
freaking surgery,
and she hadn’t even told me she had an appointment! Not to mention she seemed to be getting wayyy to close to my boyfriend.

“You’re saying you had something to do with Heven’s face?”

“Surgery wouldn’t have fixed what was wrong with her face.”

“Then how could you have?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest.

She lifted one of her hands in front of her and wiggled her fingers at me. It was creepy. She had creepy fingers. I felt a change in the air around me and looked down at my feet. The dirt disappeared; the chipped, dull polish faded away, replaced by a glossy bright red. Rhinestones finished off my two big toes and they sparkled in the light. My skin glowed like it usually did right after a really good pedi.

I looked up. “How did you do that?”

The woman merely smiled and wiggled her fingers even more. My black ensemble was replaced with a wicked-looking red “bandage” dress. It was basically this totally chic, silk material that looked like a wide ace bandage that had wrapped itself around my body, fitting against every curve perfectly. The black knit hat on my head was replaced with an updo of perfectly formed, shiny red curls.

“Are you my fairy godmother?” I asked, looking down at my appearance. I looked totally hot.

“I’m not a fairy. Fairies are weak.”

Ooookay. “Then what are you?”

“I’m a witch.”

“A witch?” I asked skeptically. Was this lady off her rocker? I shifted and caught a glance at myself in the mirror across my room. Someone who could make me look this good in five seconds or less wasn’t crazy. Maybe she was a witch. “Is Heven a witch too?”

“She wanted to be. But then she stole something of mine.”

Heven stole something? That didn’t sound like her at all. She wouldn’t even buy a paper off the internet. “She stole something from you?” The disbelief in my voice was clear.

“Didn’t she just take from you?”

Touché. “Yeah, she did.” Every time I thought of Cole, my chest began to hurt.

“I have a proposition for you,” the woman said.

I lifted a perfectly arched brow.

“I’ll give you the powers I planned on giving her, if you get back what she’s taken from me.”

“What powers?”

“Powers to have anything you want. To take whatever you want. You’ll have it all. Beauty, popularity—”

I cut her off. “I already have all that.”

“You’ll have the power to take back Cole, to make her pay for everything she’s done.”

I considered her words. “So I would be a witch?”

“Yes.”

“Will I be able to do what you just did?”

“If you wish.”

“And all I have to do is get whatever she stole from you back?”

“Yes, bring it to me.”

“What is it?”

“It’s a piece of paper. She carries it in a bronze tube. You’ll know it when you see it.”

A lousy piece of paper? Please. If I was going to steal something, it would be better than that. I sniffed. “If you’re so powerful, how come you just don’t go get it yourself?”

My words caused her to bristle. “I need someone she trusts, someone she knows to get it back. She’s hidden it from me.”

“So, all I need to do is get this paper from Heven, give it to you and then you’ll make me a witch?”

The woman smiled, her blood-red lips parting to reveal white teeth. “Precisely.”

“How do I know you won’t change your mind about my powers when I give you what you want?”

I watched as she reached into the folds of her cloak and pulled out a vial. It fit in the palm of her hand and was shaped like a mini wine bottle stoppered with a cork. The glass was dark green and I could see the liquid move around inside it as she held it out. “Take this; it’s a guarantee of what I promise.”

I didn’t reach out to take it, but stared at it instead. “What is it?”

“It’s a potion to develop your powers. Take a drop a day, a
single
drop. It will enhance your powers. I’ll help them grow. Each day you’ll grow stronger.”

Right. A potion to turn me into a witch. This woman was from crazy town. “Okay, drink potion every day, get the paper from Heven and give it back to you. Got it.”

The woman held out her hand, extending the “potion” to me, and I took it. It was time for her and her special brand of crazy to get out. “Thank you.”

I sat the bottle beside my bed and when I turned back, the woman was muttering beneath her breath… not really muttering, but chanting.

Awaken what slumbers, bring dark to light

Bring power to those in my sight.

As she spoke the hairs on my arms began to stand.

Break the binds, tie anew

To darkness thou stays true.

I felt as if there were a box inside of me, a box I hadn’t realized had been there, and it suddenly opened. From the inside of the box, a strange sensation seemed to flow forth and spread through my chest to my limbs and climb up my neck. It felt as if something thick and warm coated my insides.

Everything around me grew dark until it was just me, standing alone, outside with my feet in the dirt. Something thin but strong began to wrap itself around my legs and move upward.

Vines?
I looked down and shrieked. They were vines, but they weren’t the bright green ones that grew in the sun. These were black and dry looking—I knew that these plants had never seen the sun.

Just as I was about to panic, to fear I would be overcome with these weird, dark chains, they soaked right into my skin, disappearing.

I felt renewed, stronger somehow…

I felt powerful.