Heven & Hell Anthology (Heven and Hell) (11 page)

Heven was sure to let me know she knew it too.

I tore the robe I was wearing off to reveal a white strapless dress and then I grabbed up the potion and took a big swig. Screw one drop a day. I wanted people to be sorry they ever made me feel pathetic.

I wanted power.

I stormed out of my room and onto the back deck where I paced. I felt hot. I could feel the anger churning inside. But there was hurt too. I felt alone. Cole and Heven were keeping secrets, Sam was apparently some weird freak, and my parents… They didn’t even want to be around their own daughter.

I headed down the stairs toward the lake. I walked straight, keeping my eyes focused on the sky. It was a clear day, but as I stared, dark storm clouds rolled in, blocking out the sun and creating a darkness to match my mood. I smiled. I didn’t really know where I was walking, or what I planned. All I could focus on was the anger and the power that seemed to swirl together within me. I felt the water touch my toes and then my knees, but I kept walking. When the water was lapping at my waist, I stopped.

I wanted to see what I could really do.

I threw out my hands and let out a scream. Then another. I raised my arms, palms facing down, and I began to call on the power inside me. I wanted this water, this lake, to feel my wrath. I wanted the very air around me to shrink away in fright.

The water began to move, to bubble. It rose up to meet the power I generated. Slapping against my waist, it pulled at the ends of my skirt and I began to laugh. A loud, maniacal laugh. The power inside me was bubbling like the water and words seemed to form in my head and meet the tip of my tongue. Without thought I opened my mouth and the words came tumbling out.

Water boil

 Darkness coil

I summon thee power

This is my hour

Bubble, burn

Thunder clouds churn

Lightning flash and strong waves splash

The power within me was strong and it seemed to feed off my anger. I liked it. I wanted to feed it more and more. A storm of wind and lighting raged around me. The water bubbled with a ferocity that made me smile. This was who I was, what I was meant to become. I was now a force to be reckoned with, someone that would have who and what she wanted at no cost.

Here my cry!

Let my power fly

I am bewitched.

A spray of water brought me out of my chanting and laughing. I looked in awe at what my power had created. A huge wave, at least eight feet in height, towered over me, threatening.

“Bow to me,” I demanded. Instantly, the wave died down, the water spreading itself back out into the lake.

Ah, power was such a rush.

I lowered my hands to my side as I looked over the water. And that’s when I noticed. The water was green. A neon, glowing green that seemed to seep out around me and pollute the water. It seemed to shock me back into myself, made me see what I had done through my own eyes… Not the eyes of a—a witch.

The water was still gurgling and shifting around me. It was like I was sitting in the hot tub and the jets were on full blast. Bubbles seemed to lift up and pop against my skin, splattering me with the weird green liquid. It wasn’t hot, but smoke seemed to rise up from it, the tendrils curling around my wrists. I shook my hands, not wanting to touch it, to get away.

Something bumped against my hand and I looked down.

It was a dead fish.

It floated among the glowing green water; its eye stared up at me accusing.
You killed me.

I turned away, not wanting to see the hideous sight.

But there were others. Dead fish floated all around me.

Was this the kind of power that I bargained to get? Had I cast some weird spell?

I screamed, gooseflesh rising all over my bare arms. I started to run, trying to lift my legs in the heavy, trapping water. The clothes I wore were saturated and only slowed me down. Something tangled in the folds of my skirt and I shuddered, thinking it was another dead fish.

I pulled at the wet fabric until whatever was caught floated free. It wasn’t a fish.

It was worse.

A hand.

A hand without skin.

The long bones of a skeleton hand seemed to reach out to me, its fingers pointing. This was someone’s hand, someone who was dead.

Oh. My. God. Had I killed this person? Had the storm I created somehow drowned an innocent swimmer? Had the water boiled away the skin and left nothing but bone?

I whimpered, trying to get it away, trying to move it without touching it. I closed my eyes to the sight, but another horrible thought caused my eyes to spring back open.

Where was the rest of the body?

I gave a terrified scream and pushed through the water and up onto the shore, where I fell. I lay there shaking, crying and freaking out. For once, my outfit didn’t matter. All I could picture were the bones.

I wasn’t sure how long I lay there. Time seemed to stand still. Eventually, the air turned cold and I began to shiver. Then feet appeared in my line of vision. Delicate-looking feet in a pair of killer red pumps. I felt something being draped around me, something made of the softest velvet and the color of moss.

“You took too much,” Hecate said from above me.

“I wanted my power.”

“And now you have it.”

I thought again about the dead fish and the bones. I shivered. If that was my power, I didn’t want it. Briefly I thought of Heven. This didn’t seem like something she would want either. Yet she must have made some kind of deal with Hecate. After all, her face was flawless.

“Come now,” Hecate said, helping me to my feet. “Let’s get you in the house.”

“I don’t want to go in there,” I said. It was empty… and lonely.

“I’ll stay with you,” Hecate said as we walked. “You aren’t alone anymore. I’ll tell you about your powers.”

I went with her. It was better than being alone.

*    *    *

Working out was for jocks. Homework was for nerds, and I wasn’t a jock or a nerd. Yet, here I was, sweating through my favorite Victoria Secret yoga pants and tank with a headache the size of Macy’s. Learning about my powers was hard work. I thought it would come naturally. My brain was hurting from concentrating and my muscles were actually sore from effort. I thought longingly of the potion in the green bottle that Hecate had given me—a little sip would make it that much easier to use my powers, but she took it away. Apparently, I had all the power she wanted me to have. It kind of pissed me off.

In fact, I was feeling pretty disgruntled all around.

I was hot, I was sweaty, my head hurt and my hair was frizzy. Not to mention, I had been wearing sneakers far too long. Thank goodness Hecate was gone. I actually had been glad not to be alone after the “bone incident,” but now I was ready for some alone time. I felt stronger.

Feeling strong plus feeling disgruntled equaled somebody was gonna get hurt.

I was standing in my yard near the lake and I glanced up at the moon before heading inside. It was low and swollen tonight—a haunting moon. It sent a shiver up my spine. I thought briefly about going to Heven’s and treating her to a little of what she deserved. I even looked toward the driveway as I walked, but I wasn’t going anywhere looking like this.

I went into the house and began climbing the stairs. Halfway up, I heard a noise in the kitchen and I paused. My parents were still out of town. It wasn’t the maid’s day to be here… unless she came early. Another thud in the kitchen had me spinning on the stairs to see what it was.

“Mary?” I called out. “Is that you?” Maybe she switched her schedule around and I didn’t know about it. Maybe I could get her to make me a latté.

No one answered, and the noises in the kitchen fell silent. I stopped at the bottom of the stairs and listened, wondering if I had heard anything at all. “Hello?” I called again, this time more unsure. This time a fine chill raced up my back.

Suddenly, being alone in this big house was scary.

Clink, clink, clink.

Okay, I wasn’t hearing things. Someone was there.

I stepped off the stairs and walked through the foyer in the direction of the kitchen. I heard the cat hiss and I paused again. Clover was too lazy to hiss at a mouse. Something in my stomach turned cold and hard.

I looked over my shoulder at the massive front doors to the alarm keypad and the distress button.

But it was too late for pressing buttons.

Clover burst around the corner with a horrifying screech and barreled into me, hitting me in the knees and causing me to stumble. The cat didn’t even stop. I could hear his claws scraping frantically across the tiles. “What the…” I began as I straightened, but then something lurched around the corner after the cat.

It was hideous.

It stood about a foot taller than me with wide shoulders that were uneven looking—one was lower than the other—and a wild mane of bushy orange hair that seemed to create a cloud around its pasty, white face. Its lips were black and it had a nasty row of teeth that had seen a lot of decay. It had large purple circles around its eyes, which seemed to have no color at all.

It looked like a psychotic clown.

I screamed and took a step backward, and the thing grinned. I went running, but it lunged and caught me around the wrist, pulling me back. I struggled, kicking out, but it was no use; his grip was too strong.

Without any warning, it reached up and snatched my silver pendant right off my neck. “Hey!” I screamed as it shoved me away. I fell onto my butt and stared up at the glittering silver heart as it dangled from the nasty clown’s hands.

Cole had given that to me. It was the last gift he had given me before we broke up.

Anger surged into my chest, making me hot. “Give that back.”

Freaky Clown gave me another frightening grin and ran back into the kitchen, disappearing from sight. I ran after it, running into a solid wall of… offensiveness.

Yet another one of these things (What were they anyway? Were these things the demons Hecate was telling me about?) filled the doorway to the kitchen. It had green skin, black eyes and red lips. It only had one ear and its nose was missing. It wasn’t wearing a shirt and I wanted to gag at the black hair that seemed to cover half its body.