Part 10 (1/2)
I was standing on the road on the outskirts of Sage Springs again, the town stretched out before me, the forest at my back. Something was different about the town, though at first I couldn't figure it out. The whole place was lit, bright lights glowing high into the night sky. But as I watched, the lights began to extinguish, at the furthest edge at first, but then creeping nearer and nearer, plummeting the town into darkness. A strange energy came from Sage Springs, an anti-energy, and I thought that if I got too close, it would somehow destroy me.
My heart beating hard, I turned my back to run away, planning on taking the road out of town, but the road was gone. In its place, numerous pine trees blocked my way, as if the forest had somehow closed in around me and swallowed the road.
I gasped and spun back around. I saw something I hadn't noticed before. One place was still illuminated in Sage Springs. The carnival. The Ferris wheel was brightly lit, the huge wheel turning slowly, though no patrons sat in the buckets to enjoy the ride. The horses on the carousel lifted and dipped as they rode round and round and round, their backs bare, their nostrils flared and eyes rolling. I heard the clang of the bell as an invisible force hit the strong man game, and drove it home.
Lifeless. Everything felt lifeless. Empty. From the carnival that functioned as though filled, to the town left in darkness, to the empty people I'd seen before in my dreams. The only place that seemed to contain any depth, any soul, was the forest surrounding me, preventing me from leaving town.
Iwoke in my dorm bed in a cold sweat and with the absolute, certain knowledge that something bad was going to happen in Sage Springs.
Sunlight poured in through the window, telling me it was time to get up. I could barely bring myself to think about cla.s.s, what with Brooke missing and something bad going down at the carnival.
Movement came from the other side of the room, and I bolted upright, clutching my bedclothes to my chest. My first thought was that Riley had followed me and was in my room again, but as soon as I twisted around, I saw a familiar sheet of blonde hair and a curvy figure, pulling her long legs into a pair of jeans.
”Brooke?”
She turned her head to look over her shoulder at me. ”Yeah?”
My eyes almost fell out of my head. As well as finding her back here, something else had changed as well. All over Brooke's skin-the parts I could see anyway-her body was covered in symbols, intricately drawn onto her skin.
I sat up straighter and yanked off my blanket, swinging my legs out of bed to place my feet on the floor. In one swift movement, I was up and across the room. Brooke wore a light pink cardigan with her t-s.h.i.+rt, and I grabbed her, pulling at her clothing to try to find out if the markings were all over her body or not.
Brooke yanked away from me. ”What the h.e.l.l are you doing? Are you nuts?”
”Go and look in the mirror,” I said. ”Then you'll see.”
Her expression went from angry to scared as she hurried over to a small sink in the corner of our room and the mirror above it. She twisted her head from side to side, inspecting her face, the worry never leaving her expression. She lifted her face to her hand to gently tug at her skin, as if searching for wrinkles that were yet to materialize.
She turned back to me. ”I don't know what you're talking about.”
My heart sank. She couldn't see the symbols.
”Where have you been all night, Brooke?” I asked her. She hadn't yet mentioned the carnies or the ordeal she'd been through the previous night.
She frowned. ”I've been asleep, in bed, right here.”
”No, you haven't. You weren't here when I went to bed, and now you are.”
”You're lying. Everything must have caught up on me, cause I came over really sleepy at the social so decided to take myself to bed. I didn't go anywhere else!”
”You were taken to the carnival, don't you remember?”
Her nose wrinkled in disgust. ”Are you on drugs, or something?”
She didn't remember. She didn't remember who had put the markings on her skin-markings it seemed she, and probably everyone else, couldn't see. I knew the carny people had something to do with this, but I didn't know what.
My roommate shook her head, and then turned her back on me and continued to get ready for cla.s.s.
I remembered the necklace I still had. I pulled open my bedside drawer and checked to make sure it remained where I'd placed it for safe keeping. The little silver chain was there, nestled at the back. I pulled it out, meaning to inspect the symbol again, but the minute I did so, the invisible marks on Brooke's skin began to glow.
I stared at the spectacle.
”Would you stop looking at me like that,” she snapped. ”You're freaking me out.”
I forced my eyes away. ”Sorry.”
Magic was involved here. I just had no idea as to what gain.
I held back from saying anything more to Brooke. She was bound to start telling others about all the strange things I did, and once again, attention would be drawn to me. Besides, I had cla.s.s to get to.
Brooke didn't speak to me, or even make eye contact, though I couldn't help my own eyes being drawn back to all of the markings-circles with lines through them. A triangle with an extra line. Smaller circles joined together with more lines. A zigzag. An arrow. A circle with a dot in the middle.
I tried to compress them into my brain, planning to draw them as soon as Brooke left the room. I wanted more than anything to take out my smart phone and take a photograph of her, but I didn't think she'd exactly agree if I suddenly wanted to take some kind of best friend selfie.
Clearly wanting to get away from me, Brooke barely finished applying her makeup before she grabbed her stuff and left. The moment I was alone, I grabbed the notepad I always kept beside my bed for note-taking of dreams and other ideas, and started drawing. I spent too long trying to perfectly replicate the symbols I'd seen on her, knowing they would be important. I made myself late, barely having enough time to brush my teeth, throw on my clothes and yank my hair into a high ponytail.
I made it to my first cla.s.s, barely. I sat through the lecture, trying to keep my mind on what was being said, while my thoughts kept drifting to Brooke, Riley, and the other carnies. Something was going on, but I couldn't figure out what. Was it possible Brooke had gone willingly with the carnies, and she'd lied about not knowing where she was? No, I'd seen her being dragged away in my vision. My foresight was a pain in the a.s.s most of the time, but it wasn't often wrong. I felt like I should tell someone-the police, perhaps-but I knew I would only come out of the experience looking like a loon.
My dream bothered me as well. The emptiness of the town and the people residing in it. The menacing sense of the forest. The hint that the carnival was somehow caught up in it all. I couldn't tie it all together.
I'd brought the necklace with me, partly because I wanted to return it to its owner, but also because I figured it was connected to whatever the h.e.l.l was going on. I wanted to find Melissa, the girl who'd had the fit at the party, and use the necklace as an excuse to ask her some questions. But also, I didn't want to leave the jewelry in my room in case Riley or the other carnies came and took it.
Unconsciously, I'd been fingering the necklace, twiddling the chain from finger to finger.
A hand s.n.a.t.c.hed the piece of jewelry from mine, making me jump. ”Hey!” I exclaimed.
I looked up to find Laurel in front of me.
”What the h.e.l.l are you doing with this?” she hissed.
I blinked in surprise at the anger written across her face. ”I found it on the floor the other night. I think it belongs to the girl who had the fit.”
”I know it does.” She glared at me. ”You're not supposed to have it.”
”Why? What's so important about it?”
For the first time, I considered whether Laurel knew something about what was going on around here.
”It's none of your business, but you shouldn't be taking other people's stuff.”
”I didn't,” I said, starting to get irate myself now. Laurel was acting as though I'd stolen it. ”I found the necklace on the floor. I planned on giving it back as soon as I saw her again.”
Laurel's fingers closed around the pendant, hiding the circle and star from my view. The fury that had been so apparent seeped away from her now she was in possession of the necklace. ”No need. I'll give it back to her.”
”How come you know Melissa?”