The Secret Circle:
Out of the Darkness
The Secret Circle and its characters aren't mine – they belong to L. J. Smith and HarperCollins Publishers.
Chapter Thirteen
The miasma of hatred and fear that had permeated the school over the last few weeks was, if anything, stronger the next day; Sean could feel it even outside, at the bike racks. He could tell from Cassie's and Adam's expressions that they felt it, too. Sean locked his bike and helmet and turned toward the gate, just as the first bell rang.
A group of outsiders stood in front of the gate. Their expressions were not friendly. They stood, watching the three Club members. Waiting.
Adam stepped forward menacingly.
Cassie put her hand on his arm. She shook her head, slightly, when he looked at her. She turned to the outsiders. "Excuse me. Will you let us pass?"
One of the outsiders laughed. "No," he said.
Sean glanced around. No one else was around.
The second bell rang. The outsiders ignored it. Slowly, they approached the Club members, walking side by side.
"No fighting," Cassie said firmly to Adam, trying to drag him away.
Sean turned to Cassie. "I don't think they can catch us if we go over the fence," he said quietly. "Not before we get inside the school."
Adam scowled.
"If we start a fight, they win," Cassie said. "They'll have an excuse to come after us. Sean's right. Come with me." She backed slowly away. Sean walked with her. Adam hesitated for a moment, and followed them. As soon as they reached the next aisle between the rows of bicycles, Cassie turned and sprinted straight for the fence and climbed over. Sean and Adam were right behind her. Both boys easily vaulted the tall fence. The three of them sprinted for the door. No footsteps followed them. Sean glanced over his shoulder. The outsiders were pointedly ignoring the Club members and walking back toward the gate; they knew their prey had escaped.
Adam opened the door. Cassie and Sean followed him inside. They raced together through the empty hall to the humanities wing. No one followed them. Adam nodded to Cassie and Sean and turned for the science wing. Sean walked with Cassie to the door of her writing class.
She smiled at him, and went inside.
Sean walked to the door of his English classroom and peeked in the window. He was too late – class had already started. Mr. Harrison was standing in front of the chalkboard, gesturing enthusiastically as he talked. Sean stood there, indecisively, for a long moment. But he couldn't bring himself to go inside, where everyone would stare at him if he walked in late. He ducked his head and raced past the door and down the hall to the library. He pulled out his physics text and read the next chapter: a rather biased introduction to atomic and nuclear physics. I've got to show this to Laurel, Sean thought when he read the author's assertion that nuclear energy, as a source of electricity, is both safe and environmentally sound – and can help end global warming. She'll probably write a 300-page epistle refuting it – and not only send it to the author, publisher, and probably everyone else involved in making the text; she'll give it to all of the physics teachers who use this text, and then she'll start a petition to send –
The bell rang, and Sean put his textbook away and hurried through the halls to his next class. No one stopped him. He didn't see the outsiders who'd been at the bike racks that morning. He walked inside the classroom – and froze. A tall man Sean didn't recognize sat at the desk – a substitute teacher. He would take roll. And he would ask questions – and he would call on students – all of the students.
Sean backed out of the classroom, almost running into Deborah in his haste. "Sorry," he mumbled. And he ran.
The temperature outside hadn't risen much in the last few hours. Shivering, Sean put on his coat as soon as he reached the little cave behind the school.
"What are you doing?" a voice asked from behind him.
Sean started and whirled around. Deborah was standing beside the entrance to the cave, scowling at him.
"What are you doing out here?" she asked again, impatiently.
"I … I … uh, nothing. Homework." He sat in front of the cave, in a patch of sunlight, and pulled out his French workbook, showing it to her.
She rolled her eyes. "What's the point of ditching class if you're just going to do homework anyway? That's stupid."
He shrugged. "I didn't want to go to class –"
"Why, 'cause there's a sub?"
He felt himself flush. "Yes," he admitted. "And I don't want to do homework tonight, so I'm doing it now instead."
Deborah shrugged, obviously losing interest in their argument. "Fine," she said. She sat on the rock beside him.
Sean stared at her. "Deborah, you don't have to …"
"Play guard?"
He nodded.
She grinned. "It beats French class. Besides, you may actually have a good idea there – you know, skipping class to get out of having to do homework at night."
He returned her grin. "But it's not a good enough idea that you're actually going to try it."
She looked at him, and took her own workbook out of her backpack. "Sure I will," she said.
* * *
Sleep eluded him that night. He'd finished his homework and the novel he'd been reading; he'd played guitar until his fingers rebelled; and still he lay awake. It was nearly dawn when he finally drifted off to sleep.
In his dream, he was standing within the quartz circle on Adam's floor. The Circle was surrounding him, watching him with cold and angry eyes.
"You killed Jeffrey," Faye said petulantly.
"You betrayed us," said Laurel. "You told Black John everything."
The voices went on and on.
"You're a coward," someone said.
"A wimp."
"Useless."
"An empty vessel."
"Just a baby."
"A murderer."
And the voices stopped. Chris stepped forward and stared at Sean with haunted eyes. "You killed Kori," he said.
Doug stepped up beside his twin. "You pushed her down the hill."
And the Circle and the circle of quartz on the floor were gone. The floor was gone. The house was gone. Sean was standing at the top of the hill, looking down. A figure lay there, nearly hidden by the shrubbery, but Sean could see its blond hair, its bright red sweater, its blue jeans.
Kori opened her eyes and stared at him with her vacant eyes. "Why, Sean? Why did you hurt me?" she asked.
He shook his head, mutely – and opened his eyes, desperately trying to see through the darkness enfolding him. He tried to sit up; something grabbed at his arms and chest. He tried to scream, but he couldn't make a sound. Belatedly he realized that it was only a sheet and blankets entangling him. He pulled them off and flung them away. He sat there, shaking, trying to catch his breath. It seemed like an eternity before his breathing slowed and steadied, and his panic started to fade.
* * *
Snow was swirling outside the window when Sean looked outside. Everything was white and grey and black. He wouldn't be able to see ten feet in front of him if he went running – or if he rode his bike – but he needed to do something. He went downstairs and worked out on the home gym. By the time he finished exercising, he felt almost calm. He walked back upstairs to get ready for school.
His father was in the kitchen when he went down for breakfast, a newspaper spread out beside his bowl. "Good morning," he said, looking up from the paper. "There's oatmeal on the stove, if you want some."
"Thanks." Sean ate silently and washed the dishes after they'd finished. He looked out the kitchen window. It was still snowing, but not as hard. The sky was beginning to lighten, but the sun hadn't yet risen. He glanced at the grandfather clock in the parlor – 6:23. He walked upstairs. He pulled out his guitar and played for a few minutes before gathering his things for school.
Both of his bicycles were locked to the rack in the garage. Sean frowned, wondering who had locked them. He shrugged. Someone was going to be short two locks. He picked up a hacksaw and cut off the locks.
Cassie pulled into his driveway just as he was taking his mountain bike out of the garage. "Are you crazy?" she asked. "It's snowing!"
"Hence the mountain bike," he said.
She looked confused.
"Uh, it … it's got wider tires and a deeper tread than the Bianchi – uh, my road bike – so it gets better traction in the snow." He'd forgotten she was from California – she'd probably never ridden in snow.
"Oh. Okay. But still ... it seems dangerous. I mean, nobody's going to expect a bicycle to be out in this weather – drivers won't be looking for you. They might not see you. And it's freezing outside."
He shrugged. "It's not that bad. And I've got lights on."
She looked at the dark bike quizzically.
"On the bike. Not … they're not turned on yet." He pressed the buttons and grinned at her. "Now they're turned on."
She smiled. "I see. But it might start snowing again – then no one will be able to see you even with the lights."
Sean looked at the clouds and shook his head. "It won't. Not hard, anyway. Not until after school gets out."
She looked at him oddly. "Well, you don't need to ride your bike in this weather – I can give you a ride."
He shook his head. "No. Thank you. I … I need to ride. I'll, uh, I'll see you at school." He shut the garage door and mounted the bike.
She hesitated.
"I've ridden in snow before," he said. "I'll be fine."
Cassie shrugged. "Okay. I'll see you later. But be careful, will you?"
He nodded, and pedaled across the snowy drive, turning carefully onto the plowed lane in the middle of the street. He pulled off into Suzan's drive to let Cassie pass; she motioned him to go ahead. Sean shrugged, and pedaled down the street until he reached the trailhead. He turned onto the trail without looking back at Cassie. Slowly, he rode up the steep, snowy path; he sped up as the path leveled out. A deer bounded across his path, and away. He stopped, watching her. She paused at the edge of the meadow, her ears swiveling around. She turned, skirting the open meadow, and disappeared among the sumac and maple on the far side of the meadow.
Sean rode on, following the trail downhill. A tree had fallen across the path; he angled the bike toward the base of the trunk, where there were no branches, and bunnyhopped over. The bike wobbled a bit as he landed, and then steadied. He turned back and tried again. This time, the bike remained steady. Grinning, he turned around, hopped over the tree one more time, and rode on down the trail.
* * *
Cassie was waiting just inside the entrance with Faye and Suzan. "Hey! How was your ride?" she asked.
"It was great! I hadn't ridden on the trail in ages, and it's – well, its not as fast as the road – riding on the trail, you know – but it's so quiet – no cars – and I saw a doe – she crossed the path right in front of me. And there was only one tree blocking the path, a little one, not too big to jump over." He stopped, blushing; all three girls were staring at him.
Cassie grinned. "You'll have to show me sometime. I've never ridden on a trail in the snow – there just isn't a whole lot of snow in Reseda."
Sean nodded. "Okay. But you'll need a mountain bike for that trail. Part of it's too steep and slippery in the snow for a road bike."
She nodded.
The bell rang.
Sean startled. He glanced at the girls out of the corner of his eye; if they had noticed, none of them said anything.
"I … I'll see you later," he said.
Cassie nodded.
"I'll come with you," Suzan said. They walked down the crowded halls to their English class and sat down in the back row. Suzan pulled out a drawing pad and pencils and started adding shingles to the roof of the log cabin she had drawn, nestled in a hollow, surrounded by snow-covered mountains.
"Good morning," Mr. Harrison said. "Today we'll be writing essays about the novel we've been discussing. You may choose any topic you'd like – so long as you write at least two full pages, typed and double-spaced. They will be due on Monday. I've written a few options on the board."
Sean looked at the choices. The first one was easy – Write about your favorite – or your least favorite – character. What do you like – or dislike – about this person? What makes him/her act as he/she does?
He took out a piece of paper and started writing. Two outsider girls sitting a few desks away were discussing an upcoming trip to the mainland, stopping only when the teacher neared their desks. Other students were talking, too, and a woodpecker was drumming on a tree not far from the window. And the teacher was walking around the classroom, glancing at students' papers and encouraging several students to be more considerate of those who were trying to concentrate.
Despite the distractions, Sean had almost finished a rough draft by the time the bell rang. He glanced at Suzan's drawing pad; the roof was finished, and a Golden Retriever now lay on the cabin's porch, watching a blue jay and several chickadees at a bird feeder. Sean grinned, and put his notebook and pencil away.