I stopped and doubled over a little as I caught my breath on the sidewalk just outside the front yard of my parents' house. What the hell is she doing here? *We'd arrived just in time to watch the front door slam shut behind her. It took a moment before I could stand upright again. "I really need to quit smoking," I whispered as I looked up at the house. True I'd been here last only a few days ago, but that seemed like an eternity ago. The more I thought about it, the more I came to realize that this was where everything had begun.
Glancing at my friend told me that Rachel was just as spooked as I was. Still, this was no time to lose our nerve. We had to get that rock back. Slowly, I approached the front door. For a fraction of a second I thought about knocking, that is before I realized what a dumbass move that would be. Instead, casting one last look at Rachel for support, I turned the knob and slid the door open.
What I saw inside was enough to convince me that the real shit was only just starting to hit the fan *
Face To Face
The first thing I noticed, the only thing I noticed at first was Karyn. I wasn't sure that I'd ever seen anything as terrifying as she looked in that moment, standing halfway up the staircase. Her coal-black lips were turned up just a little at the corner, and the curve of her eyebrows offered a touch of sadism to that creepy pseudo smile. This was Karyn as I'd seen her in the dream, exactly the same as when I'd seen her in the halls earlier today. Her long hair fell straight down over her shoulders and was as black as a starless night, save for the streaks of blond that scattered themselves amongst her roots. The darkness of her hair only contrasted the extremely pale tone of her skin. The black didn't stop there either. She was wearing a low-cut black top that highlighted and drew attention to her wish-enhanced breasts. Where the black fabric of the top ended, about halfway up her chest, sheer nylon took over. It had a black tint to it, and covered her upper chest and collarbone, connecting to the black collar around her neck. As cliché as it might sound, she had one of those dog collars with the ring of short, silver spikes. The top worked its way down her thin body, melding with the long black skirt that fell most of the way down her legs. Beneath the folds, near the bottom of the skirt, a pair of black boots emerged. I'd failed to notice it at school earlier, and perhaps they hadn't even been present in my dream, but her left eyebrow and her lower lip were pierced as well.
I'd never seen anybody look quite so intimidating before. I took a deep breath and quickly took stock of the rest of the situation. Sarah was there of course. My blond friend was standing at the base of the steps with her back turned to me. Of course I felt the sting of betrayal at the way she'd treated me. I guess it wouldn't be fair to say that I'd trusted her because my opinions had still been colored by Jon's experiences, but I'd given her the benefit of a doubt and she'd thrown it back in my face like a glass of cold water. I was thinking of all the things I wanted to do, the ways I'd get back at her for what she'd done, assuming we survived this, when I felt something press itself against my crotch. Surprised, like I'm sure you'd be in that situation, I glanced down and saw Violet sniffing me.
So she's here too, I thought rather nervously. I was reminded of the dream and how things seemed to be unfolding like they had therein. Up until now, I'd thought of the dream as a random set of events surrounding and leading up to the encounter that Jon and I had with Grandpa. Now it was starting to feel like those seemingly unrelated events were more a form of prophecy. The thought made me shudder as I remembered some of the things that had happened to me in the dream world last night. Not just to me, I thought, glancing over at Rachel who was standing beside me. She looked just as shocked as I felt.
Pushing the Husky away from my waist, I finally spoke. "Sarah, how could you do this?" I never took my eyes off of Karyn and that evil glint in her eye.
My fellow cheerleader didn't even seem to hear me, or if she did she obviously didn't think it important that she respond. "Sarah!," I shouted. "Sarah McMillan you stupid bitch!" She didn't even budge. Instead Karyn chuckled. It was soft and quiet, and quite possibly the most mean spirited chuckle I'd ever heard. Very slowly she held up one of her hands. Squinting, I could just make out the lock of long blond hair held between her fingers.
"I'm afraid Sarah can't hear you right now Natalie." Her voice was dripping with revulsion and anger. It only made the grin worse, almost bordering on demonic. "It's extremely old magic," she added, and now she was slowly making her way down the steps. "As long as I hold a lock of her hair, or anything really that came from her body, she'll remain under my thrall." Another step.
"Karyn, you don't have to do this," I said softly, meekly. "We can talk about this "
"Talk about this?" She laughed out loud, and took another step down, "Oh, we're way beyond talking about this Natalie or Jon, or whatever the hell name you're going by now." It felt like a bowling ball had been dropped in my stomach. If she knew about Jon it meant that she must have known about the rock, and the wishes that had led us to this moment. As if she'd read my mind, Karyn continued. "Oh yeah, I know about everything." Raising her other hand as she took another step, she revealed the rock in the palm of her hand. "I know about every fucking wish you and that bastard made, and I know exactly how royally you both fucked me over."
"They didn't mean it!" Rachel shouted in a rare show of defiance. She stepped forward, looking Karyn right in the eye. I guess I'd never associated bravery with my shorter friend, and I still wasn't sure that I did. This seemed more a display of stupidity to me. Unfortunately Rachel kept going. "Neither Jon or Natalie intended to mess up your life Karyn, and when they realized what had happened, they did everything they could to fix it!"
"Okay," Karyn said, barely managing to cover the annoyance she felt, "I certainly don't remember asking you." She paused and held the rock up. "I wish Rachel's mouth would just seal itself up." There was a flash of light and when I looked down, to my horror, Rachel didn't have a mouth anymore. There was just smooth pink skin from her chin up to her nose. Though she couldn't scream, I could see the terror in her eyes as her hands felt around her face, desperately searching for something that wasn't there anymore.
"There," Karyn said rather proudly. She tilted her head and cocked an eyebrow, "I'd say that's a bit of an improvement." She cast a baleful glance down upon the other girl, "Don't give me reason to make this worse on you."
"You didn't have to do that," I said firmly. Scared or not, Karyn was starting to piss me off and I could feel the adrenaline building. I'd wait for my moment and then I'd strike.
"Well, you didn't have to completely destroy my life," she responded in a matter of fact fashion, taking another step down. "My god Natalie, do you have any idea what it's like in here?" she pointed a finger at her forehead. "You can't even begin to understand how badly you messed me up. At least if you'd left well enough alone and let me rest in my grave I wouldn't have to deal with it, but no. You and Jon were always like that though. You always felt like you had to fix everything. Well, guess what bitch? Hard as you try, there ain't no fixing this." Her foot covered another step.
Sarah, for her part still wasn't moving, and Rachel was just watching now. She seemed to have gotten over the initial terror.
I was nearly at a loss for words. "How did you even find out about the rock?" I asked. It was far from a justification for the rampage wish campaign Jon and I had gone on, but I wanted to know all the same.
"I suspected something," a new voice said. I turned my head and watched Zoe walk into the entry from the living room. She looked every bit the Goth chick that Karyn did. Unlike Karyn though, her black hair was short, and her black clothing tended to show less of her figure off. "When you left for school this morning, I searched your room and found the note Grandpa sent with the rock. After that," she paused and held out a hand. Through the open door the same crow I'd seen watching us flew in and landed on her finger, "It was just a matter of watching and waiting for our opportunity." I watched her turn and smile at Karyn who returned the expression.
"Honestly, he should have sent me the rock in the first place. I don't know what possessed him to send it to you." She stepped forward, stroking her flying friend under the beak.
Now I was at a loss for words.
Karyn seemed to notice that, and it made her smile. "Honestly Natalie, none of this would have happened if you'd just kept your mouth shut and your hands off of this." She took another step. She was nearly at the bottom of the staircase. "Everything you wished for was leading to this. The wish that created our canine friend here loosed real magic upon the world, magic that your sister's been studying for years now and believe me, she's grown quite adept. Your wish to bring me back from the grave created the twisted image you see before you now and your pathetically misguided wish to find me a friend teamed me up with your sister Nat." She paused long enough to take that final step. "Thanks for that one by the way, it worked out really well for me." There was silence as my sister slowly walked up and kissed Karyn passionately on the lips. I stood there, reviled by the display before me.
Finally, they broke apart. "As for your grandfather's journal, don't worry we'll find it."
"You can't control it," I whispered, suddenly realizing the extent of the defeat that I was facing here. It was everything I could do to keep my body from shaking. "There are consequences "
Karyn laughed out loud and Zoe chuckled. "You honestly think I'm worried about some fucking repercussions Natalie?" A thoughtful look crossed her face. "I suppose you would," she said softly, almost understandingly. "One thing you have to understand though, the most important thing here really, is that I don't care what happens to anybody else Natalie. With the power of this rock," she held it up triumphantly, "everybody else is insignificant."
"You can't honestly believe that," I said. "You can't be that far gone." It was more blind hope than fact, and I knew it.
She shook her head. "You still don't get it yet do you." She glanced at Rachel. "Fine, I can see you're not gonna understand until I show you." She held the rock up and crafted a wish that made me shudder.
"No!" I cried, but it was too late.
I could only watch in horror as Rachel began to rise above the ground. It was slow, and the terrified look on her face was almost too much to bear. I knew that she'd heard the wish as well as I had. When she'd lifted about five feet above the ground, her body went spread-eagle and became rigid. Though she had no way to scream, I could still almost hear her cries. I watched in horror as, in one fluid motion, the skin was torn away from her body and thrown against the wall in a bloody mess. Like most people, I'd never seen the human body without its outer layer. Not in real life anyway.
Rachel, my best friend, was dead.
The wish complete, her body crumpled to the floor in a bloody mess. There was a thud as her body hit the ground and I swear it was the most terrible sound I've ever heard. I wanted to throw up. I just didn't know how to deal with this. I could feel the tears forming and washing down my cheeks and I didn't even try to stop them. "She had nothing to do with this," I whispered between sobs. "You didn't have to do that."
Karyn simply smirked, and Zoe smiled in approval. At least Karyn's pain and her reasons I could understand, but what had happened to my sister to twist her around so much inside. Karyn happened to her, that little internal voice told me, and she happened to Zoe because you wished for it..
I couldn't even stand up anymore and fell to my knees. Even if I'd tried to talk, I would have been completely incoherent.
"How pathetic," I heard Karyn say. I looked up at her, daggers shooting from my eyes. I wanted to kill this bitch right now. Fuck Jon and his attempts to save her. Karyn Black was beyond redemption. She was a blight and she had to be stopped. I just couldn't bring myself to move. Rachel had been more or less innocent in this. I looked down at the crumpled mass of muscle and bone and couldn't help but think that it should have been me.
"Now, we really have to do something about you," she said rather calmly. "After all, I can't have you getting in my way." I cursed myself for the fear that illuminated my eye. She shook her head and smiled. "Oh, I think not," she said, gesturing toward the remains of my friend. "Rachel's death was a mercy. She felt almost no pain you know. You on the other hand don't get to be quite so lucky Natalie." She shook her head again. "I'm going to make you suffer until the end of time for what you've done, but for the moment I just need you out of the way."
I closed my eyes as she started to wish. Even if I'd been strong enough to attempt something, there wouldn't have been time. I heard her say, "I wish " and then her voice trailed off into a whisper that I couldn't hear anymore. With no idea as to what I was about to face, I held my eyes shut tightly and prepared for oblivion as my world went dark.
The last thing I could remember was wishing, against all prior evidence, that Malcolm were here to help.
