The Haunting (10 page)

Bug-eyed Atropos didn’t appear impressed by the secrecy but didn’t move to join.

Lachesis slowly smiled, her eyes brightening at new prospects.

Cody’s ground his teeth loud enough for me to hear. I shifted on my feet, tugging on my shirt, and Phoebe cracked the knuckles on her other hand until the plump witch spoke.

“You certainly owe us the truth,” Lachesis said.

“The truth?” Joel scoffed.

I held up my hand for him to keep quiet, not bothering to look at him.

“Clotho, bring that one closer.” Lachesis’s hand swept up to point at Joel.

Joel, still hiding the bag of salt behind his back, bumped into Read beside him. The two exchanged glances before Read transferred the bag from Joel, keeping it hidden. The transition wasn’t smooth at all, but none of the witches commented on it. Maybe they already knew we had the salt. Maybe they didn’t care.

The red witch, Clotho, danced around Lachesis and Atropos, who stood before us. She reached out for Joel, but Claire stepped in her path. “What’s going on?” she demanded.

Clotho blinked her purple eyes, her lashes long and thick. She could give Claire a run for her money in the looks department. “I must take him to see the truth.”

“What truth?” Claire asked.

“Would you like to see too?” Clotho asked politely under Claire’s spitting jealousy.

Joel didn’t seem to mind the subtle feud at all.

Clotho ushered them forward with a graceful twist of her wrist. A wry, untrusting smile spread across her red full mouth.

I glanced at Phoebe then Cody worriedly.

Claire gripped Joel’s arm, not out of fear but possessiveness.

The three witches looked at one another before the plump witch, Lachesis, rolled her sleeves back. She leaned forward and peered over the cauldron. Clotho nudged Joel closer, much to Claire’s disgust.

“Does this mean they’ll let us go?” Cody asked me. “After we see the
truth
?”

I shrugged helplessly. “How should I know?”

“I don’t like this,” Phoebe confessed.

Read shook his head.

Joel stepped up to the cauldron, his stance wide as if he were ready to bolt. At least he was on his guard. Claire held back, wringing her hands together. Her eyes shifted back toward us, worry creasing between her eyebrows.

As Joel peered into the black bubbling goo, he went rigid. His shoulder stiffened, his hands curled into fists, and every muscle in his back and arms tensed and bulged.

I turned to Phoebe worriedly. “What if they’re brain-washing him?”

Phoebe shrugged. “What else can we do?”

She was right. We had to take these little risks, but I didn’t like it much.

“Joel?” Claire snapped my attention back to the cauldron.

He was breathing heavier, his jaw thrust forward, nostrils flaring. Whatever he was seeing, it enraged him.

Claire touched his arm. He swatted it away. Claire stepped back, clutching her hand, startled. At the same time, the four of us drew closer together. Read grabbed my wrist with his free hand. “If we have to run,” he whispered, his breath tickling and cool, “don’t hesitate.”

I nodded.

The sound in Joel’s throat sounded animalistic at first, a deep, throaty growl that grew into an obstreperous shout that jangled my nerves.

Pivoting, Joel launched himself at
me
!

I stepped back with an urgent gasp of surprise as his eyes bored into me with such hatred that I felt panic strike.

“Whoa!” Read shouted, stepping ahead of me. Phoebe was right behind him, and I was ready to run, though at the same time, I didn’t want to separate.

Bearing down on me, Joel was just a few feet away when I finally moved.

Stumbled back to the edge of the fog, my foot struck something behind me. Toppling back over a tombstone, I landed hard on my shoulder blades. At least it wasn’t my neck or the scratches.

Phoebe leapt onto Joel’s back.

Read had stepped in front of me, his free hand out in a “
stop
” motion.

Claire hurried after him, but Cody stopped her before she could reach them. It was a good thing, considering Joel was spinning with Phoebe clinging to his back. Together, they were a cacophony of curses and shouts.

Joel tried to wrench her arms free as they clamped around his neck.

With my tailbone still pressed to the tombstone, I rolled clumsily and staggered to my feet. Not wanting to be brave, I hid behind Read. If Joel had reached me, if I hadn’t moved…

“What is going on?” Claire shrieked, her hands to her face.

Joel had managed to wrench Phoebe’s arms free and ducked out of the way before she could leap on him again.

Fumbling, Phoebe crowded in front of me with Read.

Joel’s stiffened shoulders didn’t relax as his hateful gaze landed on me again. “You said your aunt was in a mental hospital? Why isn’t she in jail?” His booming voice frightened me nearly as much as his unexpected charge.

I wasn’t sure how I could answer that without sounding as if I were defending Nell. She wasn’t worth defending. Instead, I stared at him, wide-eyed and frozen. “I don’t know.”

“All these years. All these damn years!” Joel raged, raising his arms, the muscles bulging and twitching with tension as he ran his hands over the stubble on his shaved head. “Do you even know what it feels like?”

“Know what what feels like?” I asked, daring to raise my voice above the timid whisper.

“She died, and I thought it was all my fault. I thought it was because of
me
. But it wasn’t.
She
killed her.”

“Little less cryptic,” Phoebe suggested, her tone firm but hardly grating.

“Bess!” he screamed at Phoebe, his face reddening.

“Who’s Bess?” Claire asked.

I understood immediately. Bess, the girl who Joel had left after she had become pregnant. After he had left, she had drowned in an apparent suicide. We had all met her in the last Challenge, dripping wet and hungry for revenge. She almost killed me. “Nell killed Bess?” I asked meekly. “That’s impossible.”

I remembered the nurse mentioning Nell’s temporary escape. And Nell said she’d gotten letters. In fact, she made sure I knew she received letters from a young girl.

Holy
shit
.

Joel tapped his head as if I were stupid. “Yes,” he said. “She tied her to a brick and let her sink under water. Told her how she would cleanse her in some new-age ritual. Then she ripped out some of Bess’s hair and took blood from her…from her stomach.”

I shuddered as I remembered Bess’s vision. She’d been tied to a brick; the rope had pulled her down. My aunt did that…no, the woman who gave birth to me did that.

She must have coerced and attacked an innocent girl—a
pregnant
innocent girl—to get out of this world forever. If she hadn’t been found, she may not be serving what little justice she could.

No wonder Bess showed me what’d happened. I swallowed hard and held back the shame. I shouldn’t be regretting what this woman did. She wasn’t my mother. My mom took care of me, clothed me, taught me, loved me. Nell didn’t do any of that. She hurt people to get what she wanted. At least she didn’t gain access to the Demon’s Grave back then. Something must have gone wrong, or she’d been caught before she could finish the Midnight Ruling. Did that mean Bess was real? Trapped in the Demon’s Grave?

“
I
didn’t do that to her,” I shouted over everyone. “Stop blaming me for everything. Nell did these horrible things. She sacrificed my sister and Bess.
She
did. Not me.” I pushed Phoebe and Read out of my way.

Reluctantly, they stepped aside but didn’t fall far back as I approached Joel.

“You knew about her,” Joel argued. “Your sister is still alive, and Bess is dead. That bitch should be dead.”

“I agree.” I focused on his eyes so he could see that I was serious. “I wish she were dead. I wish I wasn’t related to her. I wish she
never
existed.” Then I wouldn’t exist, but I didn’t say that. In a small self-pitying corner of my consciousness, I wished I didn’t exist either.

Joel relaxed, enough to appear restrained.

Past Joel, I saw Clotho touch Cody’s arm. He gave a start, and Claire jerked away before he could bump her. “You should be next,” I heard her say.

Joel turned his head to see who Clotho was referring to. “Don’t do it, man,” he said.

Cody was hesitant to begin. He turned round, pleading eyes to the rest of us.

“By seeing these, you promise to give us the way out?” Phoebe asked, stepping past Joel. “We would be allowed safe passage out of here?”

Atropos smiled wide, revealing a row of crooked teeth.

Cody slowly released Claire. “You have to promise,” he said. “I won’t go up there unless you do.”

“For all we know,” Read said, his smooth voice cutting through the panic and grief, “you could be lying. Everything you show us could be made up.”

“No, no.” Lachesis shook her head, jowls swishing. “We know only the truth. The truth of the past, the present, and the future.”

“We will grant you the doorway if you grant us the truth. If not, there will be no escape,” Atropos said.

Joel shook his head at Cody, urging him otherwise.

Cody’s eyes shifted to Phoebe, who shrugged, her arms outstretched as if to say, “
What choice do we have
?”

Backing away from Claire, she immediately scurried into Joel’s open arms. I felt a faint jealousy. I wanted to be held and protected in that instant. Still shaken from the violent attempt at bashing my face in, I hugged myself instead.

Nearing the cauldron, Cody inched closer and closer. With each step, Clotho edged closer to him until she was practically touching him. Awkward and fully aware of Clotho’s proximity, Cody leaned over the crackling black sludge. He didn’t bother glancing at any of the witches, who all stared at his face as if he were the most fascinating specimen to come before them. Falling still, Cody watched whatever was in the stinky cauldron. His face went from tense to slack to stricken.

“Cody?” I called cautiously. “What do you see?”

He didn’t answer. His shoulders stiffened and the muscles in his cheeks twitched when he clenched teeth.

“Uh oh,” Read muttered and grabbed my arm.

I didn’t protest or resist as he pulled me back behind him and Phoebe.

“Cody’s lived in Leland his whole life,” I blurted in a whisper. “Nell never visited Leland…I think.” I couldn’t be certain. I hadn’t known that she was a few towns over murdering a girl and Joel’s unborn child either. Of all the people she could have come in contact with, it had to be Joel’s ex.

Cody’s arms at his sides began to shake.

This wasn’t good.

“Cody, look away,” Phoebe suggested, her voice barely carrying.

Cody’s arms remained stiff. His stomach moved with each breath instead of his chest as he remained perfectly still—eerily still.

Lachesis anxiously stared at his face before commanding, “That is enough, Clotho.”

I hadn’t realized it before, but Clotho had been touching the cauldron on the other side of Cody. As she pulled her hand back, I saw her red palm. So red, in fact, that it should have been a third-degree burn, yet she didn’t flinch. She smiled at Cody as he lifted his zombie-like gaze.

Ignoring her and all of our stares, he stepped rigidly back to our group.

“Cody…” Phoebe whispered. “What was it?”

He didn’t answer, his eyes averted from all of us. He went to stand behind me, crossing his arms over his bare chest.

I peeked over my shoulder and stared at him until he finally looked up. I mouthed, “Are you okay?”

He started to shake his head when I heard Phoebe snap. “You said you’d show the door. I don’t want to look into that thing.”

Twisting, I saw Clotho ushering Phoebe forward with a plastic smile etched into her stunning features.

Phoebe stubbornly dug her heels in when Atropos hissed. “You will oblige us or we won’t bring the door to you. You could wander this place for centuries if we wanted you to.”

“Or have new scarecrows,” Clotho purred.

“Just do it,” Joel said in a harsh whisper.

Phoebe’s eyes narrowed at him, but she took four long strides toward the cauldron. “Get it over with,” she commanded, waving an arm at Lachesis.

This time it was Atropos who touched the cauldron. She didn’t even wince as the scalding pot touched her hand.

Phoebe tucked her honey blonde hair behind her ears and leaned over the cauldron. Staring into the black abyss as the others had done before her, her face remained a stern mask of disapproval. At one point, her neck extended, tilting her chin up. “This is all a lie,” she said at last and stepped back.

“It’s not finished,” Lachesis argued.

“I don’t care,” Phoebe retorted. “I’ve seen enough.”

“Very well. That one.” Lachesis pointed past the group to Claire and me.

Claire side-stepped to ensure the gnarled finger wasn’t pointing at her.

It was pointed at me.