Ink (39 page)

“
He’s a witch.”

“
I thought men were called warlocks? And holy shit!” she shrieked, gripping my arm as she panted like a pregnant woman in a Lamaze class.

I pulled away. “So just like that, you believe me?”

Karsen sighed. “I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it for myself. And felt it. That man, the one chanting all the alien crap, I felt connected to him. I was under some spell. How could I not believe it?” she rattled with no sign of stopping.

“
But don’t worry anymore about it because we are putting this behind us. So starting now, let’s not speak about it,” I said, trying to steer clear of any further conversation. But Karsen wasn’t buying that.

“
We. As in Kidd, too?” She smacked her palm into her forehead hard. “He’s a wiccan?” All these expressions Karsen was using were nothing but confusing to me. I didn’t know anything about their world or what to call them. So I had settled on witch. Just like Slade. He didn’t argue the word, so it seemed fitting enough.

“
All of them. Slade, Kidd, Oz, Lucy and that boyfriend of hers. I didn’t know, honest. Slade told me later. Although, the first indication should have been this stupid tattoo.” I thrust my wrist out. Karsen rested her fingers on it.

“
What does a stupid black heart have to do with anything?”

“
This was the first warning something was not right with Slade. It never came off. And it wasn’t a heart at first. It was a phone number. And right before my eyes he changed it. And then he even used it to communicate with me after I was attacked. I’m an idiot,” I said, letting out a long, weary sigh.

“
We both are,” Karsen agreed.

And that we probably were. We were two young girls. Young and stupid, if only we used are brains instead of other things.

“
Yeah, well, I still like him. I don’t know how you feel about Slade, but I still like him. And Kidd wasn’t mixed up in what Slade was doing, so don’t judge me,” Karsen warned.

“
I’m not judging you. But I
am
over Slade. I have to be,” I said. But I wasn’t sure I believed it. I swore to myself that I was going to do my best to keep my word. I was done with Slade.

Finished.

“
How can you be so sure? If you like someone it’s not that easy to just be over it. Believe me,” Karsen said, all knowing.

“
Because there’s more to it,” I said, leaning into Karsen as I confessed the entire messed up story to her. How Slade had been blamed by Tucker for causing the death of Anaya. Plus the rape story running around. I couldn’t believe how much of an idiot I was for even taking a chance on someone with such a bad reputation. I also told her about Ezra, and as hard as it was to make her believe me, she did once I told her Ezra was the cause of my horrifying nightmare that ended with her bruised eye—the one hiding under a thick coating of foundation and powder.

“
I don’t know, Hope. Maybe you should just come home with me. Maybe California is not the right place for you to be. I’m sure your dad will understand,” Karsen finally said.

“
Everything is going to be fine. I will steer clear of him. I’m going to be okay, I swear it,” I said, extending my pinky for our famous pinky promise.

Karsen sighed, accepting it. She knew there was no taking me away from my dad. She had tried in the past right before I left. Tried her best to persuade me that I was doing the wrong thing. But it never worked, of course. And it wouldn’t work now, either. No matter what I went through, it didn’t matter. I wasn’t going to ditch the one person that loved me my whole life. Good people didn’t do that. And I had barely a year before I finished school. Then I could leave under real terms. Dad would be fine with me at a college making something of my life. And besides, I planned on going to a community college nearby so I could always visit or maybe even live here.

Karsen stood. She wiped at her skirt, sand drifting through the breeze. “Well, I really need to pack my things. I leave in a couple hours.”

We headed back to my house. I was sad, but I had too much on my mind to stay that way for long. And I was sure she would find a way back as soon as possible.

I boosted Karsen through my bedroom window. She dropped to the floor with a loud thud. “I’m in!”

I laughed at her, waiting for her to move out of my way so I could slide in, get rid of my messy attire and make this whole day fade away. That was the plan anyway. I would start new in the morning. Right after Karsen went home. I was pretty sure we would make it as
non-emotional
as possible for the both of us.

“
Well, I think that’s the last of everything,” Karsen said at last, zipping up her duffel bag. She set my alarm for five. This gave us just three hours to sleep.

“
I am going to shower and then I’ll be back,” I said, grabbing some pajama bottoms and a t-shirt out of my drawer and running for the bathroom.

The lights were out in the living room, which meant everyone in the house was asleep. But I wanted to be sure, so I ventured down the hall to the last door on the left. I took a giant breath, rotating the doorknob.

The stench of Jack Daniels flooded my nose. The fan buzzed in the far corner of the room. I moved closer to the bed seeing Dad’s face was partway covered by his pillow. His bare upper body rising and falling as a soft snore escaped his lips. I smiled briefly before creeping little by little back toward the door.

“
That’s quite the getup,” Dad muttered.

I flinched. “I thought you were asleep,” I said, spinning to face him. I hoped the night really hid what I looked like.

Dad hoisted himself up in the bed, snapping on the lamp on the side of his bed.

“
Where have you and Karsen been, Hope?” His eyes ran from one scarcely clad body part to another. I held my breath, hoping he wouldn’t lose it.

“
We went to the concert at Henry Park. But we are fine. Karsen leaves in the morning so I want to spend a little time with her before she goes.” I tried to walk away.

Dad unintentionally smashed his hand into the clock on his table. It crashed into his lamp and dropped to the ground, the bell softly chiming as it hit the floor. He cursed under his breath, whipping the covers from his legs and got out of bed.

“
It’s… three in the morning,” he said, stumbling to the wall. He put a hand out to brace his fall.

“
I know. I’m sorry,” I whispered.

“
And what’s with the getup, Hope?” he asked, keeping his hand on the wall. His eyes were barely open but I still could see how smashed he was. He hiccupped.

“
It’s the style,” I offered, covering my top with my hands. “Now, I’m going to shower. Go back to bed.” I opened the door, slipping out. I poked my head back in, watching for good measure to make sure he made it safely back to bed.

“
Hope, sometimes I worry I did the wrong thing taking you away from Georgia,” Dad said, snapping off his light.

I searched for him in the darkness, pushing the door open wider. The bed groaned, letting me know he was back in it.

“
You didn’t do the wrong thing, Dad,” I assured him, pressing my cheek into the door.

“
I don’t want anything happening to you out here,” Dad said.

“
I don’t want anything happening to you either. That’s why I am here.”

“
I know, kid, I know.” He fell silent. And after a couple minutes I headed down the hallway to shower.

Morning came fast.

I rolled over in my bed, Karsen stared at me sleepily.

“
Today is the day. Even though I feel like a zombie and it still feels like night to me,” she groaned.

“
You look like a zombie,” I pointed out. Her eyes were creased with dark rings of black make-up smudged down to her cheeks.

“
Yeah. Maybe I should have showered, but I was pooped. Still am.”

I nodded, studying the ceiling.

“
What are you going to do without me?” Karsen said finally. She bit at her lip.

“
I don’t know. Maybe you can visit again soon. Maybe now that your parents know you survived you could come back real soon,” I offered.

“
Yeah, maybe. But if they really knew what happened here that would never happen. Lucky for you I will keep my lips shut.” She stretched over me to my nightstand.

“
What is that?” I asked, referring to the envelope in her hand. She turned it to face me. The front of it read
Kidd
.

“
I want you to give this to him. It just says how much fun I had and that I will be thinking about him.” She sighed. “If you ever see him again that is. I know you said you were through with Slade.”

I swallowed. “Yeah.”

“
But you never know. Maybe you will see him on the shore, or at the Taco Shack or something,” Karsen said. I knew she liked Kidd and so I would do my best to do what she wanted if I ever ran into him. But I didn’t know how likely that was going to be. I was going to stay far away from all things sinister and witchlike.

“
Maybe you should just hear him out,” Karsen said unexpectedly. She sat up, pushing a tuft of blonde hair behind her ear. Was she an idiot?

“
He tried to sacrifice me to get away from an old girlfriend. There is no hearing him out,” I said straight away.

“
Maybe Slade did it because he was desperate. She seems pretty terrifying. I mean, come on. We know nothing about being part of his everyday life. Maybe he deserves a chance to give explanation.” Karsen raised an eyebrow, waiting for a response.

“
Every time I think about it, I’m terrified. I can’t think about Slade and
not
be terrified. How does someone get around that?” I sincerely wanted to know because I had no idea how to not be afraid of Slade after what I witnessed. He was a completely different person last night. Something awful emanated from him and I couldn’t see past it.

“
But I know you. And I really think you liked him. And I saw the way he looked at you. He was totally enamored by you. Are you sure you can let that go?”

I wasn’t sure of anything. But the logical thing to do was let it go so I didn’t end up hurt. The smart thing to do was stay far away from something so unsafe and unusual.

“
Maybe if Slade was somebody else things wouldn’t be so complex, Karsen. But he’s not. He’s the guy who sold his soul to a coven, to…”

“
To remain living. Who wouldn’t? No one wants to die.” Karsen slipped off the bed. She stepped into a yellow cotton dress from her bag and a pair of white panties.

“
That’s not the point.”

“
Then what’s the point?” Karsen kept on. She held the door handle in her grasp, waiting for my argument.

“
The point…The point is I am afraid of him. The point is, even if I did care about him, he destroyed that because he did something really wrong. It’s not okay to take another person’s life no matter what.” I crossed my arms in defense mode now.

“
Mmm hmm. There are motives to do anything. And Slade had his reason. You may not like it, but he still had a reason. Now, I am going to shower. You think about calling him. Let him explain himself to you.” She slipped out my bedroom door, shutting it behind her.

I uncrossed my arms, glancing at my wrist. The heart was no longer there, no longer a permanent part of my body. And that was all I needed to know that Slade was aware my feelings had changed. He knew he messed up. He knew this was what I would want.

I
counted all the motorcycles passing by Nona’s pricey sports car. I had hit twenty before Nona busted through my thoughts.

“
Did you two have a fun time?” she asked from the front seat. Her cheeks overly rosy. Most likely from the drinks she managed to get her hands on while we waited for Karsen’s flight.

“
Yeah, I always have fun with Karsen,” I said with a sluggish nod. I was barely functioning from lack of sleep. My bed was calling my name. I needed to get in about six hours of sleep so I could feel half normal again. Because right now I felt like I was teetering on the edge of death.

I closed my eyes as Nona and Claude started up a discussion about the new restaurant nearby that had just opened its doors for business. I let the sunlight warm my skin, slowly drifting away from reality. The backs of my eyelids ignited in flashes of light.

“
You went and saw Slade again,” Ezra said all of a sudden.

I jerked my head forward, letting out a gasp of air. She was trying to slip into my subconscious again. Well, I wasn’t going to let that happen. I smacked my face with my palm, bringing myself back to life.

“
Is everything alright back there, Hope?” Claude asked in his usual soft mutter with a sprinkle of a French accent.

“
Just… fine,” I said, stifling a scream. Ezra was sitting next to me in the back seat now. Her legs crossed and resting in the middle of the divider of the front seat. She was wearing a long, gauze-like dress.

I stared at her, not sure what I was supposed to be doing.

“
Go ahead, say something. They already think you’re nuts.”