Crimson Echo (11 page)

“Sure, I can stay for a little while.” I met his smile with my own.

“So, what was it you wanted me to have a look at?”

“This,” I said, holding the necklace out in front of him. “Have you ever seen anything like it?”

“Hmm… can’t say that I have, but I’ll take a look in the database and see if we have anything on it.” He shook the mouse interrupting the bubbles from popping across the computer screen. I walked around the counter and stood beside him to get a better look. He clicked through pages and pages of moon necklaces; some big, some small. Some were silver and others were gold, but none were midnight blue like mine.

“
I have to make a confession, I’m not the one that does the appraisals, usually my boss does that. Why don’t you give me a few days and I’ll see what information I can come up with.”

“Sure, anything you can find would be a big help.”
I said with fake enthusiasm.

The bell above the door rang and an old woman
with silver hair walked in.

“Hi Mrs. Weathers, what are we looking for today?” He asked the women as she pulled off her white fur coat.

“I’m just looking to spend some of George’s money. What’s the most expensive thing you have?” She winked at me and let out a tiny giggle.

I’m going to look around.
I mouthed to him, trying not to interrupt.

           
I wandered around aimlessly scanning the jewelry under the glass counter. There were diamond rings, wedding bands, watches, bracelets, diamond hair combs. Some still shiny, some had rust all over them—all of them centuries old. There were old collectable paintings of celebrities all over the walls, portraits of Marilyn Monroe, James Dean and Elvis Presley. Terrible furniture from the sixties sat by the window—a horrid green color, marked down by fifty percent.

           
The woman’s husband who was tired of waiting in the car came through the door to hurry her along and got side tracked by a collection of records. A gust of rain blew through the door and a breeze followed swirling toward a purple curtain at the back of the store. I could see candles behind the curtain as it swayed. My eyes darted to Gabe who had his hands full with the elderly couple. I took a deep breath and headed for the curtain as subtle as possible—keeping my eyes on him the entire time.

          
I had a feeling I wasn’t allowed behind the drape, but that only made it more enticing. I pulled the purple sheet back and there were hundreds of candles, all flickering in the dim light of the room. It looked like some sort of small table sat in the middle of the room and it had been immaculately decorated. It was adorned with a dagger or a knife, a black candle was placed beside the knife and a single red rose lay on the table.

         
There was a podium to the left of the table and on it were three sheets of worn yellow paper. The pages were full of text in an unfamiliar language. Symbols were drawn on the floor along with a large red star. Behind the wooden stand were books. I skimmed the titles quickly.
History of Wicca, The Occult
for Beginners, Spell Crafting 101, The Laws of Witch Craft, Black Magic—
it went on and on. One book in particular caught my eye, it had a simple red cover and on the front a symbol of a half moon and half sun melded together, it was titled Crimson Echo. I was drawn to this book and I couldn’t leave here without it, besides that Faith might get a kick out of it.

“Tristan, what are you doing back here?
Employees only
, didn’t you read the sign?” He shouted. “I, I was umm, I was looking for the bathroom.” I shoved the book under my jacket before he could see.

“It’s that way,” he pointed to the other side of the curtain. “And Tristan, don’t tell anyone about what you saw back there.”

“What
did
I see?”

“You didn’t see anything, that’s what I’m saying. If anyone found out that you were back there, we would both have our heads on a chopping block.”

“Gabe, I get it. Calm down, you’re going to give yourself a stroke.”

“Please, just keep quiet about this.” He begged.

“Will you at least tell me what it was?” I knew by prodding I wasn’t easing his stress levels, but I had to know.

“No, it’s not something you should know about.”

“Just tell me what the table was and I won’t ask anything else.”

“Fine, it’s called an altar. That’s all I’ll say about it, you do the research on your own. It won’t be hard to find out what it’s for.”

“Thank you,” I felt guilty for pushing him, but I would take any information I could at this point.   

           
I had to know what was so important about that room and why I should keep it a secret, but who was I keeping it a secret from? I had the piece of the puzzle I needed and the stolen book in tow, now I just needed to get home to see what I could find out on my own.

“I’ve got to run, let me know if you find anything out about the necklace, I’ll drop by next week or something.”

“Don’t!” He shouted. “I mean, don’t bother I’ll give you a call if I find anything and we can meet up or something.”

          
I knew he didn’t want me back in the store. I saw too much and soon I would know too much, but I played dumb anyway—that’s the best way to get out of a sticky situation. The panic in his eyes when he caught me, made me uneasy. What had Gabe gotten himself into? And what would happen if someone found out that I knew what was behind that curtain? I swear I could almost hear his heart beating and his pulse quickening by the second.

“Fine with me, you take care of yourself Gabe.” He understood the double meaning behind my words. I’m no
idiot; I knew there was something fishy going on in that store and sooner or later I would get to the bottom of it.

“Yeah, you too.”
He shot me a half smile.

          
The sun had set before I made it home and all I wanted do was to sneak up to my room and be left to my thoughts. The events of the day came crashing down on me in waves now and my head was still swimming from the previous night and then suddenly I remembered Kane and wondered what he would be doing right now.

           
The lights in the living room were visible from the street, so I knew my parents were still awake. I shut my headlights off before I pulled into the driveway and slowly drove to the side of the house. After gently closing the car door, making sure not to make a sound, I crept up the old wooden steps that led to my balcony in order to avoid my parents and the round of fifty questions that was sure to follow.

           
I fell into bed fully clothed and felt something poke me from the back of my waistband. It was the book, I had forgotten all about it in my rush to get away from Gabe. I thumbed through it, getting very little light in my dark room, except for the moon. I could only make out a few words as I squinted into the darkness. The book felt heavier then I remembered it. I shoved it under my mattress at that point before I imagined it changing shape. I thought about Kane one last time before I dozed off.

That night the
dreams returned.

           
I entered a dark, damp warehouse and the door slammed behind me—like it had a million times before. I climbed up the stairwell, grasping the bar for precautionary measures. I jumped as the building creaked and echoed every step I made. Upon reaching the third floor, I opened the door and let my eyes adjust to the dim light.

           
I spotted the light switch on the wall and flipped it, like I had done so many times in my dream. A dense gray wave of smoke rolled under the door and began to fill the room quickly. The lights flickered and the switch sparked like fireworks on the fourth of July.

           
I ran to one of the windows that hadn’t been boarded up, but it was no use, it wouldn’t budge, then I darted back to the door that I already knew was locked. The smoke bellowed in faster now, taking up residence in every inch of the darkened room. I held my breath for as long as I could, before I finally gave in and collapsed to the floor.

I shot out of bed gasping for air as I clutched my throat.

Just a dream
, I reminded myself.

I eyed the red lights from the digital clock on my bedside table, two hours before I had to get up.

“Ugh,” I covered my head with a pillow and tried to force myself back to sleep. After thirty minutes I decided it was pointless and I slid out of bed.

          
I turned the knobs on the tub until I got a temperature I was satisfied with and rummaged through the medicine cabinet for a solution to the pounding at my temples. After taking the last two Advil in the bottle I paced back to my room and searched through my closet for something to wear to school.

           
I placed a pair of jeans and a tank top perfectly folded on the end of my bed and grabbed a towel from the cupboard and headed back to the bathroom. I shivered in the cold air before quickly jumping in the mountain of bubbles. I slid into the warm water and let it wash over me, letting it erase the tension in my muscles. I waited until the water was unbearably cold before I stepped out and wrapped a towel tightly around myself.

           I still had an hour to kill
before my alarm would go off and thirty minutes after that to get ready. I pulled the light blue tee over my head and fastened the button on my jeans as slow as possible, making sure to waste a few extra minutes. I went back into the bathroom and blew out my hair—something I never did and then smoothed it out with a flat iron until it was bone straight.

           
I stared at myself in the mirror, eyeing the dark circles I had acquired from a sleepless night. I applied a thin coat of concealer under my eyes and a hint of color to my cheeks—then I stopped myself. What are you doing? I eyed myself suspiciously. I wore very little makeup, except for the rare occasion of something formal.

           
I realized I was making myself up for Kane—something I never did for any boy. If he couldn’t accept me for the sweat pant wearing, no makeup type of girl I am than he didn’t deserve me, but I wanted to look good for him— whether he noticed or not.

          
I pushed the internal argument out of my mind and went downstairs to fix a bowl of cereal. I stood at the sink stirring the milk around the hard cereal letting it become soggy. I felt butterflies today—I was anxious and ready to crawl out of my skin. I had never been so eager to get to school before. 

           A
ll I needed was a glimpse of him to ease the conflict between my rational brain and the stupid hormones that were trying to trick me into thinking I felt something that I didn’t or maybe I was trying to convince myself that I didn’t feel anything. It was inevitable now, how could I trick myself into thinking I didn’t like him. Maybe because after sixteen years someone was actually paying attention to me and I liked the attention more than I should have.

                                                             
Chapter Five

                                                             The Lunch Date

                      I hurried to the campus ignoring speed limits and stop signs, I was a woman on a mission and such things only stood in my way. I eyed a car coming to a stop at an intersection and gunned it until I could see Emporia through a mass of trees. The parking lot was nearly empty, only a few cars were parked close to the cafeteria door.

          
I sat in my car for a few moments to collect myself, knowing me like I do, everything would come out in a blur—as one big run on sentence. I knew I had to confront him about everything that had gone on in the last few days, but where would I start? Would he even tell me the truth?

          
The shiny, black Range Rover was parked closest to the fountain, the front seat was empty. My stomach turned and the knots that were already there began to tighten. I grabbed my bag and sprinted for the door hoping to catch him before classes began or before I lost my nerve.

“Tristan,
over here.” His velvet voice called from the brush behind the school.  He knew I was looking for him. Was I that obvious? He ran toward the edge of the parking lot and waved so I could see him. He was dressed in a white V neck shirt, red shorts and a pair of running shoes.

“What are you doing out there?” I probed as he got closer.
I tried to hide my embarrassment as I pulled my hair around my face. I couldn’t look him directly in the eyes.

“Running, I run before class every day.” He admitted. His breath swirled around me, rendering my thoughts incoherent. “Why are you here so early?”

“I couldn’t sleep.”

“I’m
sorry, do you want to walk with me for awhile?”