THE NEXT INSTALLMENT IS HERE. I hope you like the direction I'm taking the story, I assure you it's not what you think. After this I've got plans for about 6 more chapters and then the ending to this story.
Hope you guys like this chapter!
Alice ate in silence, the four boys watching her. Every so often Pogue would drop more food onto her plate, or Reid would snag something. The other Spencer kids in the dining hall stared, Alice could feel their looks on her back, not used to someone outside their school sharing a meal with them.
Alice's stomach was a pit of anxiety. The boys knew about the tattoo's, they'd seen them. What would they say if she told the truth? Would they believe her if she lied? Too much was happening inside her head, and the bruises on her face started to hurt.
"Alice," Reid said gently, putting a piece of toast on her plate instead of taking something off, "Alice, slow down and breathe," Alice stopped chewing for a second, the sound of his voice making her pause, and the back of her neck tickled.
Alice took a breath, it didn't ease the anxiety in her stomach, and continued eating.
"Who the hell is this?" A boy with shoulder length wavy hair, someone Alice recognized from Nicky's but couldn't name, walks up, "And what the hell is she doing here?"
Alice turns around to look at him, he pales at the bruises on her face. Next to her, Reid and Pogue both turn to look at him, Reid's arm going out to the back of her chair, Pogue putting an arm threateningly on the table.
"You got a problem?" Alice asks, her voice laced with malice.
"Yeah Aaron, you got a problem," Surprisingly it's Caleb who repeats it, leaning forward. Alice doesn't let her surprise show.
Aaron looks between the 5 of them before backing off, turning away without saying another word. Alice turns back around.
"You gonna tell us about the tattoo's?" Tyler asks and she freezes.
It takes her a second to get the words out, "Not here. It's a complicated story."
"Why is there a story behind tattoo's?" Caleb asks.
"There's always a story," Alice answers before taking a bite of her toast. The boys eat in silence for the rest of the meal. Alice finishes first, watching the boys exchange looks. When they're all finished, they all stand and Alice follows.
"I already told the Provost we'd be out for the day," Caleb says as they walk out of the dining hall, "We're taking the hummer. Reid, you drive."
"It's my car!" Tyler protests, but a look from Pogue stops him short.
They all climb in, Alice in the middle in the back, Caleb on one side Pogue on the other. Her anxiety returns full force.
"You wanna tell us now?" Pogue says gently as Reid pulls out of Spencer.
Alice takes a breath. "You know how I get seizures?" She starts off. The boys furrow their brows, what does one have to do with the other? "Well, it's related to that. Or at least, I think it is. When I start seizing, I can still feel, I don't exactly blackout. I feel like I'm being struck by lightning, continuously, for about a minute. Then I blackout. When I come to, my back feels like it's been roasted over hot coals, and the tattoos have appeared."
The guys exchange a look as Reid turns onto a dirt path through the woods. "Anything else?" He asks.
"I looked up the crest after the first time it happened," Alice continues, "It's the family crest of John Putnam, an accused witch from Ipswich during the Salem Witch Trials," At her words, Caleb swears and Reid swerves. "I thought it was cool, but then the Putnam Barn burned down the night I got the second crest."
"When did it first happen," Caleb asks, grabbing her shoulders.
"July 14th," Alice answers after a second, "I think it was July 14th."
Reid swears this time, low and long. He puts his foot on the gas and turns a sharp corner, muttering.
"The other times?" Caleb asks, all business.
"A few days after Pogue ended up in the hospital, the night the Putnam Barn burned down like I said," Alice says slowly, unsure about why this all matters, "And then the day before Christmas Eve."
Pogue swears this time, and Reid slams on the gas again. Alice grows more worried as the seconds pass.
"Why does this matter?" Alice asks, glancing from Reid to Caleb to Pogue, none of which are looking at her.
"Fuck," Caleb glances at her, not answering her question, before looking at the others, "Fuck. Reid, stop the car," Reid breaks fast and Alice nearly launches forward, Pogue's arm the only thing stopping her.
"What the fuck is going on?" Alice asks him but he doesn't answer.
"Everyone out," Caleb commands and everyone moves. Pogue holds the door open for Alice. Her hands shake as the boys regard her and then each other.
"Are we going to tell her?" Tyler asks after a second.
"She's already a part of this," Caleb answers, looking at Alice, "The dates match. If the first one is Putnam I'm willing to bet anything the next two are Danvers and Perry. She's been in this from the beginning."
"In what?" Alice asks, worried. They're all acting like it's a cult or something.
"Alice, please don't freak out," Pogue puts a hand out.
"Why would I freak out?" Alice asks, trying to put on a brave face. She's pretty sure that a bunny would scare her at this point.
"Because what you're about to see isn't natural," Caleb answers.
"Like my seizures and the tattoo's aren't natural?" Alice cocks her head to one side.
"Exactly like that," Reid nods.
Alice looks between them before settling her eyes on Pogue, the one she's known the longest, the one she trusts wholeheartedly.
And then his eyes turn black.
AHHH The big reveal and Alice's own reveal. What's going to happen next you ask? Well, you'll have to wait and see. Remeber to R&R
-Margii