She shook her head. “I don’t believe you. I saw you flip that car over, and you knew I saw you. You cursed me!”
Stunned, I took a step back. “Why would I do that?”
“Cause you’re some kind of satanic freak! You hexed me, and I’m lucky to have made it out alive!” She started sobbing again, and I felt a wave of fear. Cindy had seen me use magic on that car, but I would never have done anything like that on purpose. People were watching us, and I wondered when Cindy’s voice would be enough to draw the attention of a police officer. I swallowed nervously.
Justin tried to come to my defense. “But what caused the fire? Darlena was nowhere near here when it happened.”
Cindy shot him a dirty look. “Yes she was. I made her order ten minutes before the whole place went up in flames.”
I looked at Justin. He was sitting beside me on my front porch, tapping the ground with his shoe. “Please say something.”
“Darlena.” He sighed, but then stopped as if he didn’t know how to go on. After a minute, he finally said, “I trust you.”
I exhaled, unaware until that moment that I had been holding my breath. “Thanks. I—”
“But,” he held up his hand to stop me, “something happened today that I can’t explain.” He looked down at his scuffed tennis shoes. “I know you’ve hexed people before. You’ve never hid that from me.”
I stared at him, dumbfounded. “So you think I hexed Cindy? Why would I want to do that?”
“Were you angry that she saw you cause the car accident?”
I recoiled as if he’d hit me. Was Justin blaming me for that, now? He had no idea what it had felt like when I’d realized I’d caused that horrific accident. I glared at him, and he repeated his question quietly.
“I don’t know. I was confused.” I tried to think back, to remember everything I’d felt that day. “I think I was too scared to be angry.”
Justin nodded, still not meeting my eyes. “So why does she think you put a hex on her? And why does she remember seeing you right before the fire?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know! But, Justin, you have to believe me. I was at the movies with Aphrodite all day.” I ignored his raised eyebrow to continue. “And then I went straight to Rochelle’s house. I left her house and then I saw you. How could I have been at the coffee shop before the fire?” He had to believe me. I’d done some nasty things, true, but I would never have burned down the coffee shop.
He shrugged. “The point is, someone who looked like you was there. Cindy believes it was you. How often do you go to that shop?”
“Every morning, practically, before I got kicked out of Trinity. I haven’t been back since the accident, but Rochelle and I used to eat breakfast there.”
Justin looked sad. “So Cindy knows what you look like. She wouldn’t have mistaken a stranger for you, not if you were one of her regulars.” He stood up to leave, his jaw clenched.
“Justin! Listen to me. I don’t know what’s going on, but something isn’t right here. I promise you I’m telling the truth.” Tears threatened to overwhelm me, but I tried to keep my voice steady. I needed his support; if I lost Justin now, after Mom and Dad had been brainwashed, I worried that I might go insane.
He shook his head and turned away from my house. “I don’t know, Darlena. I need some time to think, and you make that hard. When I’m with you—” He drew a deep breath and stopped. When he spoke again, his words were soft. “Don’t call me tonight, Darlena. I need some space from all this … chaos.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Even though I tried to sneak into the house soundlessly, Mom heard me come in.
“We’re doing pizza tonight, sweetie, so get in here and help me decide what to order,” she called from the kitchen. When I didn’t answer, she came into the living room. “What happened?”
I shook my head wordlessly.
Mom crushed me in an embrace. “It was Justin, wasn’t it? Oh, Lena, I’m sorry.”
I couldn’t help myself; I started sobbing earnestly into her shoulder.
“Shh, baby, it’s okay. I’m so sorry.” Mom brushed my hair away from my eyes. She smiled at me sadly and I tried to smile back.
Her eyes brightened. “I know! Why don’t we play hooky tomorrow, just the two of us?” I stared at my mother skeptically. I couldn’t remember a time in my life when she had allowed me to miss school without being really sick. She laughed at my expression. “Sometimes it’s okay to take a break.” She squeezed my shoulder and I started to smile. “Besides,” she went on, “I know you don’t want to be around Justin tomorrow.”
I felt a stab of pain when I heard his name, but I swallowed it down and tried to smile at her. “But what about work? Can you miss a day?”
She waved her hand dismissively. “Nothing is more important than my daughter. I know just where we’ll go.” She glanced at her watch and frowned. “Are you willing to wake up at four?”
Surprised, I nodded. There were lots of places we could get to with just a few hours of driving. The mountains, the coast, South Carolina, Virginia—the possibilities were limitless, but Mom really loved the mountains and the ocean, so I figured it was one of those two. “Where are we going?”
Mom smiled. “Don’t worry about that. You just get to bed early so you’ll be awake in time. And dress warmly!”
Hmm. Definitely not South Carolina, then. “I’ll try. And, Mom?” I turned at the foot of the stairs. “Thank you. I love you.”
She smiled but her voice shook. “I love you, too. Want me to bring dinner up to your room?”
I paused for a minute, but then I nodded. “Dad won’t mind, will he?”
She shook her head. “I’ll tell him it was my idea. He and I haven’t had a date since that concert, so maybe we’ll watch a movie or something.”
“I’ll be in my room, then. Let me know when the pizza gets here so I can get out of your way.” I was relieved that I wouldn’t have to deal with Dad. I loved him and all that, but I didn’t really want to listen to his comforting advice. I was glad that Mom hadn’t asked any questions about what had happened with Justin, but I doubted Dad would be that in tune.
Mom smiled, but her eyes looked sad. “Alright, Lena. Just remember to get to bed early!”
I thought I’d be up all night worrying, but my body had other things in mind. I fell asleep almost instantly, and I plunged straight into a series of vivid dreams.
In one, I was looking in a mirror, but my reflection wasn’t doing any of the things that I was. I lifted my left hand, she scratched her right knee. I smiled, she growled. I started getting upset in the dream, and I tried to smash the mirror with my fists. My hands began bleeding, but the me in the mirror was still there, laughing at me.
Then the dream changed. I was on a stretch of black rock, like wavy asphalt. It was hot out, the sticky, humid heat I’m used to in July. Strange birds flew close to me, and when I ducked to avoid them, I looked down and realized that my feet were embedded in the rock. I started to sink, slowly yet perceptibly, but it didn’t occur to me to scream. I just watched the ripples of rock move up my legs to my torso. I closed my eyes when I was buried waist-deep.
When I opened my eyes, I was lying on a pink cloud. A mirror was next to me on the cloud, and when I gazed at my reflection, I looked the way I had under the glamour. The air smelled like roses, and I smiled at the mirror, happy to be away from everything as I floated on my cloud in the sky.
I rolled over and suddenly I was falling; the cloud had dissolved under me, and I was plunging fast toward … nothing. I couldn’t see the ground, I couldn’t see anything. I just kept falling.