The Crimson Key (8 page)

We got to his truck and Lynley was standing there waiting for us. She looked different somehow
, but I couldn’t place it. Maybe it was the smile on her face; it was a genuine smile, not fake.

“Hey
, Lyn, what’s up?” Ephraim asked as he opened the passenger door for me. I waited for her reply before I got in the truck.

“Nothing
, what are you two doing today?”

“Um
, going to Atlantic City for a bit. Gonna walk the boardwalk. How about you?”

She played with her hair and she looked like a little girl. That was it! She looked younger
, like an innocent child. “Can I come? Please?”

I got into the truck and made room for her. She noticed and she got in
, too. Though she didn’t talk to me right away, I knew she would eventually. I made a quick call to my mom to tell her where we were headed. To be honest, I don’t think she minded once I told her Lyn was with us. If I knew my mom, she was hoping we would make up.

Once we hit the shore
, she shed her three layers of clothing. Her skin transformed before my very eyes, just like before. The rash was gone, her hair shone, and she looked back to normal.

“God
, it feels like heaven here, right?” she asked us as she hung her hand out the window. Ephraim and I exchanged looks of confusion. Where was the quiet Lyn that was falling apart before? She had literally done a total one-eighty as soon as we got away from her house. The only thing I could think was the further we got from my house the better she felt. I knew the curse was still within her but it wasn’t taking her away from me at the moment.

“Yeah
, it feels great,” I said as I pulled off Ephraim’s hoodie. It was getting warmer the closer we got to the shore. The familiar scent of salty air filled the truck’s cab and Lyn started talking. She was talking non-stop actually. Filling me in on the day I had missed at school. I just listened, happy that she was talking to me at all.

“Why did you miss today?” she asked me curiously.

“I just wasn’t feeling too good. I feel better now though,” I told her. Ephraim grabbed my hand and squeezed it. His touch said it all. He knew the real reason was because of the words she had said to me and her ending our friendship. I couldn’t say that to her, though. I didn’t want to ruin the moment. It was like she had forgotten all about it.

We found a parking space close to Hala’s shop and hopped out. Lynley didn’t know that I wanted to see Hala
, and I didn’t really want to tell her for fear it would throw her back into her sinking spiral. Instead she went to the salt water taffy shop and we planned to meet at the pizza place in ten minutes. I hoped I could schedule a longer meeting with Hala. I didn’t expect that she would be able to see me right away. Ephraim followed me to her place, which was open just as I had hoped. Instead of Hala standing in front there was a younger girl who looked just like her. Her long black hair was split into two braids traipsing down her shoulders. She smiled at me and I gave her a warm smile back.

“Hi
,” I started. “I’m hoping to be able to schedule some time to speak with Hala.” Her smile faded and she put her hand up before going inside the shop, the beads swaying as she entered. I waited with Ephraim for only a few minutes before Hala came out and grabbed me by the wrist, dragging me inside with Ephraim following. She sat me down in a chair and stood in front of me.

“Can’t say that I am surprised to see you
, or happy either,” she shouted as she took the scarf off her head. “Why didn’t you listen to me?”

“I need your help.”

“What do you need from me? You are very unprepared and uneducated in the matters you are messing with.” She moved to her chair and took her hair down; it fell onto her shoulders and her daughter started braiding it.

“You’re right
, I am unprepared. That is why I came here to find you. You are the only person who knows how I can help them.” Ephraim placed his hand on my shoulder for support. “I need to harness my gift so that I can help my friend, Lynley. She is talking to this woman who I think is from the other side, but she isn’t a good spirit. There are things happening to her that are scaring me.” Hala eyed me and then Ephraim.

“Who is Lynley?” she asked.

“My sister. I don’t think we have much time left with her. Please,” Ephraim begged. This was the first time that I had heard the fear in his voice. I had thought the curse didn’t scare him, believed he had accepted it for what it was. At that moment I realized he was scared, just like me, and was desperate for help.

Leaning forward
, Hala rested her chin on her folded hands. Her daughter, who was now done with her hair, went outside. It was a weird ritualistic thing they had but I didn’t care in the least. Whatever she needed to prepare.

“I will help you on one condition
,” she spoke.

“Anything!”

“You let me train you to use your abilities to help others. I will help you with your friends, but in return you will help mine.”

“Wait
, you want her to be some sideshow freak doing readings here on the boardwalk?” Ephraim asked with stinging clarity.

“No
, that is not what I want. I have friends who need someone like her to tell them if their loved ones are near or moved on. I read cards and palms, but I am not a dead talker. She is,” she said as she pointed to me. “If you need my help, this is my condition.” She sat back in her chair, waiting for my decision.

“I’ll help them!” I decided. Ephraim grabbed me to pull me outside
, and I stumbled when he yanked me out of the chair.

“No way
, Brylee! I can’t let you do that. You shouldn’t be doing this to yourself.”

“Why not? If I can help give people peace
, then why not?” He didn’t answer me, but the reason was clear. “You’re scared, aren’t you?”

“What?” he said as he stood taller.

“My gift scares you doesn’t it?”

“Yeah
, I guess it does a little. I just don’t want you to become that,” he mumbled as he pointed to Hala’s shop. “You are more than some dead talker. You are an incredible woman who has her future ahead of her, and I don’t want you to waste your life away like Hala.” He grabbed me by the shoulders and squeezed. “I want to know that you went to college and did something with your life.” The tears stung my eyes at this point. He was talking like he wouldn’t be here to see me accomplish what he wanted for me, like he knew he wouldn’t be around to see it all.

“I promise you right here and now that I will not let this become me. I will only do this to save you and Lyn
, and that’s it.” Pulling me into his chest, he hugged me tightly. I could feel him tremble as he held me.

“What’s going on?” Lyn asked as she approached us. I looked up and saw she had her face stuffed full of salt water taffy. I laughed at the sight of her. She licked her fingers and shrugged. “Who died?”

“No one died. And no one will,” Hala said as she came out of her shop. “Now, Miss Brylee, here is my card. You come to me, I will not come to you. Understood?” I nodded.

“When?” I asked her taking the card.

“Do you have time now?” I looked to Ephraim and Lyn; Ephraim nodded, but Lyn was clueless.

“Yes
, I have time,” I replied as I followed her into the shop.

Being in her
shop calmed my nerves. Something in there made me feel different. She had said as much the last time I was here. Ephraim and Lyn went to walk the boardwalk while I had my first lesson. Lyn had to be clued in on what was going on. I let Ephraim do most of the talking. He told her that this was what she wanted for me; to learn my craft. She seemed a little lost until it clicked. She remembered our conversation and the words she shot at me the other day. When I looked at her before they walked off she gave me a look of apology. I smiled at her, hoping she could read my face. I accepted her apology because it wasn’t her fault.

“Focus
,” Hala snapped. “How do you expect to help them with your mind in a twist?” She had a funny way of talking, but I went with it. My mind
was
twisted and so was my life. There were plenty of teens my age right now on the boardwalk having fun and here I sat. I didn’t want to be doing anything else, though. I did look forward to being a normal teen at some point in my life. My promise to Ephraim was something I intended on keeping.

“I am all ears.”

Sitting in front of me, she grabbed the book I had brought in. She eyed it and turned through the pages. Finally she set it down in front of me, pointing to a photo of a small farmhouse. I hadn’t gotten that far into the book yet to notice it before. Now I saw a family standing in front of it.

“This is the house the writer moved into. The family standing outside died in the barn from a fire
,” she explained. Chills ran through me as I stared at the house. The family’s faces looked ever so sad. “The barn caught fire and everyone went out to help, even the youngest daughter, Angela.”

Angela! She was my library ghost. “She gave me this book.” Hala nodded like she had already known this. “But what about the boy that was killed in the house?”

“That happened after the fire. Another family had lived there before he did. Your friend that gave you this book, she wants your help.”

I sighed. “I can’t help them all.”

“You can, and you will in time. I only told you this because this book will not give you the answers you are searching for. It will educate you on certain things, but not what you need. You are dealing with a curse so old and strong that you will need the big guns,” she said as she pulled a book from her collection. It landed on the table with a smack. Again it had no front title.

“What is that?” I asked nervously.

“This is my great grandmother’s diary,” she started. “My great grandmother, Aliah, was a talented woman. She knew all about those two witches.”

“The Barclay sisters?” She nodded.

“She worked with them on occasion, taking notes and journaling constantly. You see, she dabbled in the darkness from time to time. But that’s not important,” she said as she shook her head. “What is important is that those sisters were very strong. Even if they were dead they wouldn’t move on, oh no. They would stick around waiting for a soul to latch on to.”

My breathing felt labored for a moment. If she was saying what I thought she was saying
, I was terrified.

“You mean
, they are trying to go into someone’s body to come back to life?” Asking it sounded ridiculous.

“Yes
, exactly. It’s called possession.” I froze at the words. Possession sounded like something you would see at the movies, not something I would be dealing with. Maybe I didn’t want to be doing this.

“How do they do that?”

“Well, they haven’t yet. I would know if they were back. The way they practiced magic was recognizable by everyone like me. I would be able to see the spells they use. But just because I don’t see their magic in use doesn’t mean they aren’t trying to come back.” Grabbing my hands, she stared into my eyes. “They start with a weak human, someone who is hurting physically and mentally. Then they talk to them and confide in them. Make them rely on their help. Then they take them.”

A weak human. I knew one
, she was my best friend.

My body went cold as I braced for the answer to my next question. “What were their names?”

“Agnes and Evangeline Barclay.”

“Oh my God! Hala
, I think Evangeline is trying to take over Lynley.” I went on to tell her all about how strange Lyn had been acting. The rash, the moody behavior, and how she snapped at me. She said nothing to me, just sat back and listened. Finally, when I was done, I told her how she had been talking to Evangeline.

“It’s her all right. It sounds just like something she would do. Prey on a weak girl who needs someone.”

“So what do I do? How do I find her and stop her?”

Leaning back in her chair
, Hala closed her eyes and said, “Brylee, she is very strong. It will take a lot of work to stop her.”

“I don’t care what it takes
, she is not going to possess my friend!” I was now standing, shouting at the only woman who held the clues to my friend’s life.

“I will help you
, but you need to be patient. Don’t let on that you know her intentions. And never talk about her in the house.” I didn’t understand why I couldn’t talk about Evangeline in my own home. What did that matter?

“Why not?” I asked petulantly.

“Because her spirit may reside in your house, Brylee,” Hala said matter-of-factly.

We drove home as slowly as we could. I had to try to tell them both what was going on before we got to my house. Ephraim gripped the steering wheel as tightly, his concern for Lynley and I visible.

“So
, Hala said to just be careful and not talk about anything by the house. I guess the lake will be our meeting place from now on. And Lynley,” I said looking at her ghost white face. “You can’t talk to her anymore. Hala says you have to fight the promises she is making you.”