The Stargazers (13 page)

Suddenly there was a click and the shape of the world rebounded with a loud snap. Flocks of crows cried in the distance. Oleander slowly righted herself, ears still ringing and stomach still spinning. Holly was lying in a heap a few yards away. Wisps of her now fully gray hair caught the breeze. Hobbling over to her sister, Oleander reached down and gave her shoulder a quick shake.

Holly rolled onto her back and looked
up with eyes that were
as dull as they’d
ever been.
Her vision of Holly being made a more powerful witch shattered, and she
exhaled in relief
.

“Oly?”

“You did it, Sister. Good job.”

“Did what?”

T
he pill was already beginning to take effect. “I’m going now. You should head back.”

“I…I think I’m going to sleep…now. So…tired.”

Oleander sighed. She
didn’t have time to mess about
. The woman would find her way back eventually or die there. At any rate, she’d finally served a purpose for the first time in her life, and it would likely be the only one.

After taking one last look at Ellemire over her shoulder, she stepped through the Door of All Doors. It
slammed shut
behind her with an ear-shattering clap and Oleander screamed again as the ground began to shake.

-10-

Chaos filled the Oasis house. Screaming and crying girls darted back and forth across the lawn as the earthquake made everything that once appeared solid look like reeds bending in a high wind.

“Get off the porch!” screamed Ivy, who grabbed Aster’s hand and led her to an open spot in the front yard. “Stay here while I go check on the others.” Ivy dashed off in a whirl of floral print as Aster crouched low so she could feel more in control of her legs.

She’d never experienced t
he sensation of moving earth,
and she pushed away thoughts of a great crevasse opening up in the ground and swallowing her where she sat. All around her were the sounds of houses and trees creaking, glass breaking. Unfamiliar wails and warbles soon joined the chorus. She closed her eyes and hummed, t
he way she used to do when she was a little girl and
certain every shadow
in her bedroom
was a hungry monster in waiting
,
and that she could dissolve them with the power of her lullabies.

The ground stopped moving almost as suddenly as it had started, and a few seconds later, the birds started singing again. Aster slowly came up on wobbly legs and gazed up at the house, which had a few crooked shutters and broken windows, but otherwise looked intact. Neighbors emerged from their houses with wide eyes and slack jaws. She heard one of them ask, “Has there ever been an earthquake in these parts?”

Aster followed Ivy into the house to make sure all the other girls were accounted for. Pictures had fallen from the walls, and shards of glass from a few broken vases lay on the floor. The commotion of the frightened girls was the worst part. Several of them were still screaming in spite of Ivy’s calming touch. Tonya sat nearby o
n a couch hugging the
girl who’d made the terrible pancakes the previous night.

Ruby was still gripping the banister as if at any moment the shaking world would fling her
right off. Larkspur was standing
guard two steps above her, his eyes wide and alert, ears twitching at every sound. Aster’s heart flooded with relief and she ran to them. “Are you okay?”

Ruby uttered a shaky laugh and looked up at Aster with her haunted black-ringed eyes. “As okay as a girl can be after an earthquake in a place where earthquakes don’t happen.”

“You don’t get earthquakes here?”

Ruby shook her head. “Not that I’ve ever heard of, but what do I know? I guess California doesn’t have all the fun.”

She sat down next
to Ruby, troubled. The ground had quaked when the Door of Doors had closed, the night she’d arrived. If earthquakes were rare here, was it possible the Door had opened again? And if so, who had come through it?

No, no you are not going to think about this now. You’re just trying to scare yourself
.
Stop
.

She p
ried Ruby’s hand away from the newel post so she could hold it in hers. “It’s okay now. Do you want to go outside and have a look around?”

Aster got up and gave Ruby’s hand a tug, but Ruby resisted. “Wait. I need to say something first. I’m sorry for how I acted earlier. I shouldn’t have turned into a bitch like that. Maybe the planet was trying to send me a message or something.”

Aster sat back down, still holding Ruby’s hand but finding that she didn’t mind. Something about it comforted her. “Did I offend you somehow? If you want Bryon for yourself, I will stay away.”

“Trust me, that’s not even close. I… I really like you, Aster. I know we hardly know each other, but you’re the first girl here that I didn’t want to strangle at first sight. I mean, I thought you were kind of a dork, and I still do. But it’s the good kind of dork. And I guess, given what you are and all, I’m afraid you won’t stay around long.”

Aster’s gut tensed up. Had she somehow exposed her identity? “What do you mean by that?”

“You’re only the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen. There’s something about you, Aster. It’s like you’re… magical.” A full blush stood out on the other girl’s pale cheeks, but she didn’t drop her eyes.
Aster admired the girl’s bravery in standing her ground and saying what she believed. She wished she had that ability.

Ruby’s eyes
were like open portals into a starry night, and Aster felt the sudden need to escape into them and stay there. Something stirred in her gut. It felt both wrong and right. This isn’t what she came here for, but none of that seemed to matter right then.

Ruby reached out and cupped Aster’s cheek before leaning down and kissing her lips. It began as something almost sisterly, but as the duration increased, Aster felt herself falling into
a place of unexpected lust as
she l
et her lips part so their tongues could mingle
.
She’d never kissed anybody in such a way, and she was acting not just on instinct, but also feeding off of Ruby’s energy and obviously superior knowledge in this area.

A heated spark ran all the way through her body and bloomed like a firework in the most sensual and private part of her.
This is what it fe
els like to
want somebody.
And for once there was no maddening refrain to remind her of what she “should” be doing. She fell deeper into Ruby’s kiss, embracing her as she did so.

Whether it was just a few seconds or an eternity later, Aster couldn’t tell, but the screen door slammed shut with a hard crack as someone either came in or went out.  The two girls parted abruptly and sat forward. Aster shook her head to clear it of the fog.
This isn’t what’s
supposed to
happen.

Aster sighed. It was only a matter of time before that needling voice of doubt returned. Of course it wasn’t supposed to happen. And she wasn’t completely clueless about how it was supposed to work. No matter how much she and Ruby kissed, or if they ever escalated to doing more than that, the other girl would never be able to get her pregnant.
Lest you forget why you were sent here, daft girl
.

That was Nanny Lily’s voice, and although it was only from Aster’s imagination, she nevertheless cringed at
the
reprimand.
The whole house suddenly seemed quieter and Aster wondered if Ivy had taken everyone else outside, or if they were all listening in.

“So… How about we go outside?” Ruby aske
d.
Her knees were bouncing up and down with energy she obviously needed to release.

“Yeah, that’s a good idea.”

They dashed down the stairs and out the door, with Larkspur tagging along
. All the Oasis girls were standing around in the front yard with their arms crossed in front of them as if to ward away the invisible hands that had just shaken them.

Tonya saw them and trotted over. “This is nuts! A real life earthquake. I never thought anything cool would ever happen in this craphole.”

“Is everyone out here?” Ruby asked.

Tonya nodded. “Pretty much, but Cynthia’s in the house already trying to get online. Big dummy. The power’s out. I don’t know how any of us are going to survive until it’s back on.”

Aster smiled. Finally she didn’t feel like such an outsider. “We’ll be okay.”

Ruby laughed. “
Says
Laura Ingalls Wilder with pink hair.”

“Who the heck is
that?” asked Tonya.

“Don’t you people read anything other than vampire
romance
books?” Ruby looked at Aster with a pained expression. “I’m clearly alone on this island. The only person under the age of thirty-five who read Little House on the Prairie.” Aster suppressed a laugh; she didn’t know who this Laura Ingalls person was either, but she wasn’t going to say so.

She looked over to see Ivy wading toward her through the gaggle of girls, her dark face drawn with worry. “Ladies, can you all go in the house and start cleaning up while we still have daylight coming in the windows? And dig out the candles and flashlights. Ruby and Tonya, I need you to run down to the corner store to see if you can scare up some bags of ice before they’re all gone.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out some money. “Get only what you can carry for now. I’ll have to make a trip uptown to get some other supplies in a few.”

Once everyone had cleared out, she turned to Aster. “I just got some news from the neighbor across the street. He checked with the geology survey on that fancy phone of his. Seems the earthquake’s epicenter was about thirty miles north of here.”

Aster wasn’t sure what exactly that meant. “Is that… bad?”

“It could be. The Tree is also thirty miles north of here.”

“Oh. Oh Gods.” It felt as
if someone had begun squeezing
her lungs as those questions resurfaced in her head again.
Who came through
the Door
?
Certainly not Dahlia or Lily. You know who it was, you just don’t want to admit it.
Nothing about this could be good
.
At all.
She suddenly felt nauseated.

“Now don’t get yourself up in a panic. It could just be a coincidence.
It ain’t the first time this area’s had an earthquake.
”

Aster didn’t believe in coincidences
, and Ivy didn’t sound like she much believed her own words either. Everything in their lives
had always revolved around destiny and purpose
, and there was no reason to switch that track now
. “When are we going up there?”

“
We
ain’t
going anywhere.
I
am. It’s my job to keep you safe, and you’ll be much safer down here.”

Aster didn’t like that at all.
Other than
Larkspur,
Ivy was the only tie she had to her home. “But if something happens to you, you won’t be able to keep me or any of us safe.”

“Have some faith in me, girl. Stick with the others
here. Ruby and Tonya can help hold down the fort for a little while, and you’ll be a help to them. I’ll be back in a few hours. If I’m not or if you get so scared you can’t contain yourself, the number for Sheriff Kennedy’s on the fridge. He’s a good friend of mine and he can help. He might be pretty busy right now, but he’ll come when he can.”

She cupped her hands around Aster’s cheeks. “Whatever happens, protect yourself first. You hear me? You’re far too important a girl to go getting yourself mixed up in any danger.”

Aster sighed. It was shaky and it had the threat of tears behind it
, but a trickle of Ivy’s calming spell was keeping her under control
. “Okay. But please be careful.”

“Put your worries to rest,
dear. The girls here are gonna need someone who knows how to survive without television an
d electricity.” She
kissed Aster on the cheek. Its warmth sunk into her mind, pacifying the mounting dread she felt as she watched Ivy climb into her flashy red SUV. Aster watched it drive away u
ntil she could no longer see it. She’d never felt
more alone.

-11-

Ruby and Tonya returned from the corner market with armloads of ice and bottled water, their faces marked with annoyance. “You’d think it was the zombie apocalypse down there,” Ruby grumbled as she stomped up the porch steps where Aster had been sitting
and ruminating ever since Ivy
left. “I had to practically punch an old lady for this bag of ice, so let’s make sure it doesn’t melt. Wanna snap out of your trance and help me get one of the coolers out of the basement?”

Aster sighed and stood up. No amount of moping was going to bring Ivy back sooner, and she needed the distraction anyway. “Sure.”