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FYFTE
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SYXTA
As expected, the gravel parking lot was empty as I parked the Infinity. I double-checked that I had everything that I needed in my backpack—six stones, one giant candle—before grabbing it and climbing out of the vehicle. I left my cell phone behind without a second thought. The only thing it would be of use for would be to call for help. I wouldn't need it.
It was chilly beyond the climate-controlled interior of my aunts' SUV. The wind bit into my fitted downed jacket and jeans. I did my best to ignore it. One slip of concentration and I'd wind up dead, never to be seen again.
Distractions were dangerous, but it took me no time to realize that I was the biggest threat to myself. I never was good at controlling my emotions. That hadn't changed over the past few months, although I was infinitely better at it than before. Still, it took almost all of my concentration.
I'd done a lot over the last few months, other than just learning control. Most of those things would probably be considered incredibly reckless, depending on whom you asked. I was of the opinion that my actions were only reckless if I screwed up—which was something I had yet to do. What I lacked in control, I made up for in confidence.
I trekked the short distance from the small parking lot to the trail. It was almost pitch black at this time of night, and I couldn't see a thing. Tonight was a new moon. There was no natural light, especially under the cover of the trees. That was easily remedied, however.
The balls of light were already formed in my palms before I had finished my thought. I sent one up the path ahead of me and the other just overhead. The white cut into the black of the night in such an unnatural way that a human would immediately know that something wasn't quite right. Maybe it was how legends of will-o-the-wisps had begun.
After all, witches are at home in the forest. There was little here that could do me harm. The humans feared the unknown. I embraced it.
The path forked at an old rail car that was painted in white letters that read 'Franklin.' I was getting closer.
I took the left fork and pressed onward.
I didn't need to look at the sign. I could feel the way. The pain that was beginning to seep into my bones was not mine, but it was potent nonetheless.
After another mile or two, something glinted on the path ahead. As I grew closer, I saw that it was a fence. The fence was built around a large, concrete encircled hole in the ground. Over the hole was a metal grate that further guarded hikers against falling in.
I had never been here before, but a quick internet search told me that this had once been the entrance to a mine shaft. It sat 1300 feet over a gorge that used to provide coal to the town nearby. The town of Franklin didn't exist anymore. The shaft hadn't been used for its intended purposes since the late 1800s. It had been boarded up and forgotten by everyone but the occasional hiker.
And sometimes, the occasional hiker would report on odd occurrences that they'd experienced while visiting the site.
They said something horrible had happened there. They said it was haunted.
They were right.
The official story was that in August of 1894, a fire was intentionally started for reasons unknown in the Franklin Mine. 37 miners died trying to escape. They were never recovered, and the town was abandoned within the decade.
But, as with many things, history had been altered to make sense to those that would never understand.
The real story was much more gruesome.
I didn't know the real story, but I didn't need to. It was easy enough to put two and two together.
The Discrimen Curse was created hundreds of years ago by a warlock that wanted to be the most powerful witch of all time. It was a foolish endeavor—he was only a Thridde. But he adapted a spell that involved the transference of energy by fire. Usually, a witch could burn something inanimate like sage or runes. But this particular warlock found that the more powerful the object you burned, the more energy would be released. And there was nothing more powerful than blood.
Evidently, a witch in Gilded Age Washington decided to try it for themselves. They set the fire in the mine, knowing that it would be the perfect place. No one would see. No one would escape.
Their plan worked until the power became too much for them to handle. It destroyed the low-ranking witch from the inside out. She became trapped in the mind with all 37 of her victims.
I didn't know this for sure, of course. On paper, the signs were all there. But I was sure I was right now that I was here. I leaned over the guard rail, trying to see beyond the metal grate. There was nothing to look at, but what I felt was something else entirely.
All I could sense was the deep ache of spirits so in pain, they had forgotten their humanity entirely. It was unbearable.
The lights I created extinguished with a wave of my hand. Another wave and the metal grate was ripped from the concrete. The jarring rip of metal on metal echoed throughout the forest, effectively silencing any nearby creatures of the forest. We were all on guard, now.
I climbed onto the railing, my boots balancing effortlessly on the slim surface.
This time when I looked down, I could hear them: low moans combined with harsh whispers and guttural hisses. They knew I was here.
'Come,' the wraithlike voices beckoned. They didn't even hide their malice.
A chill slid down my spine. It didn't dishearten me, though. I was never afraid anymore. A small smirk settled on my lips. If it was me they wanted, then it was me they would get.
I jumped.
A gust of fierce wind shot up from below me, cradling my fall and allowing my feet to gently touch the ground. Fire might have been the element I gravitated toward naturally, but my elemental spell-casting had much improved over the last few months.
I gave myself a moment to adjust to my surroundings. I could hear them still. There were so many, and the whispers were growing into murmurs. There was a presence above them all, but whatever it was hadn't made itself known.
I threw out a couple of guiding lights once more. I couldn't see above me at all, and the chamber I was in was tiny. But there was a small tunnel that went off to my left. I took it, letting my lights lead the way through the darkness. If all else failed, I could just follow the tortured cries of the spirits around me. They were still getting louder the further I walked.
I continued on for what must have been ten minutes. Then, the tunnel opened up into another chamber, this time leading out into multiple other tunnels. I marked the one I had just come from so I didn't forget how to exit.
A sudden croaking noise pulled me out of my thoughts.
I wheeled around, searching for the source of the noise. Instead, I could just make out the shimmering outlines of ghosts, crowding around the entrances to the other tunnels. They were clamoring over each other, each trying to fight their way to the front. There had to be well over the 37 that had been mentioned in the history books. They didn't step into the main chamber though. They seemed to be waiting for something—and a little bit afraid.
It was only then that I realized the croaking wasn't coming from them, it was coming from above me. I lifted my eyes. This chamber had a ceiling, unlike the one I had entered from. It took me a moment to see, but after a second I saw it.
My stomach dropped.
Crawling slowly across the coal dusted ceiling was a shadowed, humanoid figure. It wasn't transparent like the ghosts. Its black fingers gripped tightly into the rock, allowing bits and pieces to crumble down. It was working its jaw as if to try and say something, but all that was coming out was the strange, guttural moan. Its head twitched from side to side in a way that no living creature could do. It looked as if trying to get a better view of me.
The spirits' emotions, the thing above me—maybe I shouldn't have come alone. I could only imagine what Edward would say if he knew what I was doing right now. He'd be furious. He trusted me to take care of myself, but despite my newfound power, I was still new at all of this. I had no backup, and any number of things could go wrong.
But it was too late to back down now, and that line of thought was too dangerous to contemplate at the moment. I pushed the fear out of my mind and focused on my surroundings instead. I needed to get a better look. If it wanted to see me, then it was about to get its wish.
I allowed my lights to travel toward it.
The creature growled and went to scurry away, but it lost its handhold. It fell about six feet in front of me with a thump. Faster than was humanly possible, it righted itself, rising onto two feet. Then, it froze.
From this distance, I could tell that the creature wasn't a shadow. It was solid. And it wasn't black—it was burnt. I could see the ashes pulling away from what used to be its skin from this distance.
Slowly, the thing turned to face me.
That's when I noticed its eyes. They weren't black like the others. They were white.
A demon.
A demon with a body.
I groaned. This would be a little bit harder than I expected. I had been planning to banish a demon and release the ghosts. I had not been planning to exorcise one.
The demon's voice once again broke me from my thoughts. It was dry and cracked from disuse, but I could still make out the words that echoed throughout the cavern and in my mind. "Why are you here, witch?"
My chin tilted up defiantly at the way it said 'witch.' "I'm here to send you and the other souls you've trapped to the Other Realms."
The crackling laughter that came from the thing sent a shiver down my spine. The creature's arms raised slightly and slowly began to glow a dull orange. No—it wasn't glowing. It was on fire. Its arms looked like embers in a dying fire, but they were getting brighter and stronger. "You aren't the first. And you won't be the last."
"Actually," I began matter-of-factly, "I think I will."
The demon and I moved in sync, each moving to attack the other.
I was slower, not having the advantage of whatever sort of inhuman body it did. So instead of attacking, I grabbed at the smoky quartz pendant hanging around my neck. I infused it with a tad bit of my magic, increasing its already protective properties.
The flames that the demon threw at me were stopped by an invisible barrier. They fizzled out, leaving me untouched.
The demon let out a terrifying screech of pure fury. It lunged and began to scurry toward me, popping and hissing as its burning skin continued to sizzle.
I took a step back in alarm, and promptly collided with the chamber wall. It was barely an arm's length away when I threw my hands up, holding the demon's body in place. I fixed it with a heavy look.
I wasn't afraid anymore. The creature was terrifying, but it had been like me once. It had been a regular witch. I would have been stronger than it in life, and I was definitely stronger than it in death. "What is your name?"
The demon howled again.
Over its shoulder, I could see the ghosts. Whatever was holding them back wasn't holding them any longer. They were slowly drifting out of the tunnels making their way to us.
I had to do this quickly.
I called water to me and used it to encase the demon's fiery body. Steam hissed as the water slowly put out the embers in the creature's skin. Its solid white eyes widened in panic.
"What is your name?" I questioned again, more urgently, eyeing the ghosts behind it.
And then I did something that every book had told me not to do. I looked into its mind.
It was black. Through the blackness, a figure began to emerge. It was a man—large, burly, with a beard. He was speaking, but I couldn't hear him. His voice was muffled like I was underwater.
The man turned, speaking to someone else—a woman this time in a long, cotton dress. The more he spoke, the more furious he became.
I gasped, retracting from the demon's mind.
It was choking, still frozen, and encased in flowing water from the neck down. But the choking didn't sound like it couldn't breathe. It sounded like sobs.
"Who are you?" I asked.
It let out another sob as I dove back into its mind.
The man's muffled voice became more and more clear.
"… my daughter? I saw him, Cornelia! And he saw her!"
"What are we going to do Romulous?" the woman asked, wringing her hands together nervously.
The man and the woman looked at me. "Papa, it's okay! I trust him!" I insisted, though my voice was no more than a whisper.
The man studied me for much too long. "Then you are more of a fool than I originally thought."
The man faded out and a different one faded in. He was younger, maybe 18 or so. He was lanky and boyish. I ran to him.
"They want to run you out, Tommy. It's hopeless."
The boy stepped forward and lifted my chin until I was forced to meet his eyes. "Nothing's hopeless. Not as long as I have you."
"I had a dream…"
Tommy tensed, pulling back out of my arms. "What happened?"
"If you don't go, he's going to kill you. In the mines. He doesn't trust you, and he won't listen to me. He thinks you'll peach on me, and it'll ruin his chances at Grand Master. An upstanding member of the community would never have a witch for a daughter. And he certainly wouldn't have magic himself."
Tommy sighed, pulling me close once again. "We'll figure it out. Together. We always do."
It was dark. It was suffocating. I knew I wasn't supposed to be here—it terrified me.
"Papa!" I screeched. "Papa!"
The tunnel was abandoned, but I knew they had to be further down. I could hear them—hear the screams. It was black, so I couldn't see the smoke. But I could taste it.
His voice came from behind me. It was much too calm.
"What are you doing down here?"
"I came to stop you…"
Romulous chuckled darkly. "Too late for that. They'll all be dead soon. No witnesses. And don't even think about trying to stop it now. We both know you aren't powerful enough."
The pure fury and agony that consumed me were agonizing. I let out a horrific cry. And suddenly, the flames began to creep from the tunnel. They didn't diminish, they intensified. The attached to my body. I was burning. And I would take everyone with me… including him.
The horror that flickered across his features fueled the fire within me, especially as he realized he would not escape. Surprisingly, I was more powerful than he. And now, I was blind with fury.
"Wait!" he begged. "Let me go!"
"You did this to yourself, old man. You took my future. You took the futures of innocents. And now neither of us will have one, either."
"Delphine! No!"
And the flames consumed us both.
I pulled out of her mind quickly, letting the water fall to the floor. I released her from my hold.
Slowly, the ashes that were embedded into her skin flaked away, revealing the translucent body of a teenage girl. Her clothes told me she had to be from the late 1800s. She looked much too young. It didn't help that she was crying helplessly.
"Delphine Gibson," she finally sniffled. "My name was Delphine. And I'm so sorry…" She whirled around to the ghosts that were now frozen behind her.
I stared, wide-eyed, as I realized that I had been crying too. I tried to regain my composure. Her feelings from her memories still resonated throughout my body even though they weren't mine. "It's okay, Delphine. I'm here to help," I promised softly. "I'll help all of you."
I pulled my backpack off my back and rummaged through it, grabbing the items I'd need. Then, I set up the invocation circle. As I placed the candle in the middle, I looked back up at Delphine and the others, all of which had appeared from the tunnels.
"When I light this, you'll all be free."
I didn't give them time to comprehend what I'd said. Over the last few months, I'd learned that it was better to get it over with quickly. With a flick of my hand, the candlewick lit. I strengthened the flame until the smoke that billowed from it reached out to every one of the ghosts that stood in the chamber. Then, one by one, they began to disappear until it was just Delphine and Tommy, standing side by side.
She smiled at me, white eyes wide. It looked like she was going to say something to me, but before she could they were gone.
I extinguished the flame.
It had been a mistake doing that on a Thursday night. The Franklin mines had been haunted almost a hundred years; surely it could have waited another night. I was exhausted. By the time I had gotten home from my latest misadventure, I had to get ready for school.
I slumped into my chair at lunch with an over-exaggerated sigh. I really did not want to be here.
And yet, here I was. Because I had stupidly promised Edward that I would not only be magically ready for whatever was going to happen to us in the future but to try and maintain the most normal, teenage life I could for as long as possible.
I had straight As in all my classes, a group of friends that I secretly couldn't help but think fell flat in comparison to Alice and Emmett Cullen and had become an unofficial Syxta (seeing as there was no one around to test me for my trials). I was carrying out my promises at the cost of my sleep schedule. Lack of sleep schedule would be more accurate.
I had sat down just long enough to catch the end of Angela telling Lauren that her boyfriend, Ben, had the stomach flu. I'd only ever been sick once. My mom had stopped making potions after she bound her magic. After Inez found out that I was suffering from a human illness, she made a point to make sure that it would never happen again by providing me with enough healing potions to last a lifetime.
I pushed back thoughts of Inez and the Council, trying once more to focus on the conversation around me. These days, I participated just enough to seem normal. No one had questioned me yet.
"Any big plans for the weekend, then?" asked Jessica, not sounding as if she actually cared about the answer. It immediately made me think that she had big plans she'd been waiting to spill.
The look in Angela's eye made me think that she thought the same, but she answered Jess' question nonetheless. "Ben and I had been planning on going on a picnic assuming he got better, but… we changed our minds."
"That's too bad," Jessica answered automatically.
She was about to continue when Lauren cut her off. She must have noticed the same tone in Angela's voice that I did. "Why's that?"
"Well," Angela began hesitantly, "I was walking to his house like I normally do—we live near each other. It wasn't raining, so I decided to cut through the woods instead of taking the long way around. I was about a half a mile up the trail when I… well, I saw something."
I was fully interested now.
"Saw something? What?" It seemed that even Jessica was listening now.
"I don't know," Angela admitted. "I think it was a bear. It was black, anyway, but it seemed—big. It was too big."
Lauren snorted, sending Angela a look of disdain. "Not you too. Tyler tried to sell me that one last week."
"You're not going to see any bears that close to town," Jess agreed.
"Really," Angela insisted, though her tone was even more reserved now. She looked down at the table, breaking eye contact with everyone. "I did see it."
Lauren snickered.
A flicker of anger sparked within me. Angela didn't deserve to be mocked, and she certainly wasn't a liar. I was sure she had seen something and was about to defend her when Mike spoke up from the other end of the table.
"She's right. The shop has had a handful of hikers that have mentioned oversized bears, too. There was one last weekend that said he saw a huge black bear right at the trailhead—bigger than a grizzly, even." Mike's parents owned a sporting goods shop on the edge of town.
"Whatever," Jess muttered, clearly annoyed.
"No one has been hurt, though, right?" I asked. Surely I would have heard about it if they had. Oversized bears weren't usually my sort of problem, but if they were hurting people, I wouldn't mind putting them on my to-do list.
Mike immediately beamed, happy as always when I spoke directly to him. He seemed to think that in Edward's absence it was only a matter of time before I fell for him. He was wrong, of course, and I did everything I could to discourage him. He never seemed to catch on, though, much to my annoyance.
"No," Angela answered, looking at me thoughtfully.
"Not yet, anyway," Mike added.
I hummed in acknowledgment, but my mind was already miles away.
"Are you okay?" Angela asked from my right as she slid into the chair next to me. We managed to sit together in the classes we shared, with the exception of Spanish, where I sat with Jessica.
Out of all of my friends, Angela and I were definitely the closest. Her reserved demeanor was easy for me to be around. Jessica and Mike both required too much attention. Angela and I could sit in silence comfortably. It was comforting to be able to be around someone who didn't want anything from me. She was much too observant to spend too much time with, however.
I waved my hand dismissively. "Yeah. Just didn't get much sleep last night."
Angela was quiet as she studied me. Her dark eyes were sharp. "Emme… are you okay?"
My brows knit together. "What do you mean?"
Angela looked away from me, as though uncomfortable. "Ever since the Cullens—"
I blanched.
If Angela noticed, and I was sure she had, she didn't let it show. She continued on, "moved, you've been… different."
"How so?"
She shrugged. "You never hang out with us outside of school anymore. And during school, you're here, but it's also like you're not here. I don't know. It's weird. And you're so tired all the time. Sometimes you show up injured. Are you sure nothing is going on? I'm here for you, you know."
For the first time, probably ever, I stared at Angela. I really stared at her.
I was shocked that she cared about me enough to notice. I always knew she was attentive, but I thought that I had hidden worries and sleeplessness well. No one else had commented on it. But Angela was different. Angela was smart. The girl was perceptive—much more so than I had given her credit for. She had always been friendly, but I didn't realize that she actually cared, too. And then, when I looked into her eyes, I felt something spark softly in my chest.
It was faint, so faint I couldn't be sure.
So, I reached out and grabbed her hand. I could sense it for certain now. I sucked in a breath of surprise. Angela did too—after all, she'd be able to feel it as well.
Angela, my friend for over a year now, had trace amounts of magic running through her veins. It was so small that it was no surprise I hadn't noticed until now. The Cullens had been much too distracting when they were here. After they left, I had become much too focused on myself and my magical missions to notice anything that didn't hit me like a brick.
I could tell her.
I hesitated, dropping her hand. If I told her, she would know. There would be no turning back. It could be dangerous. But she also had the right to know and decide for herself.
Maybe it was selfish. Maybe I was lonely. Maybe I really did want to do it for the right reasons. My next words were out of my mouth before I had the chance to change my mind.
"Would you like to come over after school today?"
A/N:
Oh man... this chapter was so hard for me to write. I hope you all enjoyed the brief departure from this story's norm while Emme grapples with her issues, not to mention the little surprise (maybe?) at the end!
That being said, I have to mention that the incident in Franklin, Washington was a real thing that actually happened. In 1894, 37 men died fighting a fire that was intentionally and most likely maliciously started by an unknown party for unknown reasons. By 1919, the town was completely abandoned. You can still hike the area today where you will find remnants of the town, a cemetery, and, of course, a closed-off entrance to the mines. While Delphine and Tommy are figments of my overactive imagination, the Gibsons are not. In the cemetery, a gravestone is marked with the symbol of the Free Masons belonging to a Romulous Monroe Gibson. The inscription on the marker reads:
"Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep but we shall all be changed."