First Magic by Raven Steele (classic fiction .TXT) đź“•
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- Author: Raven Steele
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His expression grew serious. “If only things could’ve been different.”
I looked up at him. “What do you mean?”
He shook his head and glanced over his shoulder. “It doesn’t matter. Christian’s watching us.”
I groaned, wishing Christian could give it a rest just once in a while. “Ignore him. So where are you going to school after this?”
“The university in Rouen. They have a great political science program.”
“I’ve always wanted to go there.”
“You are free to visit me any time.” He smiled and expelled a long breath.
Without warning, my head began to spin but not in a sickly way. I closed my eyes and relaxed more fully into Matt.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
His voice sounded miles away. Before I had a chance to answer, he stopped moving, reached into his pocket and pulled out a vibrating cell phone.
“It’s from Tracey.” He read the text message silently. “Odd.”
“What?”
“She says she’s at your house. And who’s Angel?”
“Huh?” I took the phone from him and read the message out loud. “At Llona’s house. With Angel.” I read it over and over until I thought my legs might give out. My Angel. The letter. My mother’s letter. No—not my mother’s letter. Her killer’s letter.
And now he was back for me.
“Llona?” Matt asked.
“I have to go,” I said barely above a whisper.
“Where?” I heard Christian say behind me.
“Tracey’s at her house,” Matt told him.
“Is May with her?” Adam asked.
Matt shrugged.
Because I was about to fall, I forced my legs to move— away from them.
Christian caught up to me. “I’ll drive.”
I didn’t respond, not because I didn’t want to, but because I couldn’t. I was afraid if I opened my mouth, I’d throw up.
This was it. This was really happening. Somehow I’d convinced myself that nothing was going to happen, that I was finally safe. But the Vyken was just waiting for the perfect day. And it had been the perfect day up until now.
I quickened my pace. Tracey was with him. Tracey was with that monster. I whimpered.
Christian stopped me. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t have time to explain. We have to hurry!” I kept walking. Why was I walking? As soon as I stepped into the night, I began to run. Stupid high-heeled shoes. I quickly abandoned them in the parking lot.
Christian caught up to me. “Llona, stop!”
“Open the door,” I said when I reached his car. He quickly unlocked it and hopped in the driver’s seat.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
I told him about the message. “It’s him, Christian. He has Tracey.”
Christian stepped on the gas. “It’s going to be okay.”
“No, it’s not.” The sinking feeling in my gut told me my life would never be the same.
A few minutes later, Christian pulled into my driveway. “Stay here.”
“Not a chance. She’s my friend.” I jumped out of the car and rushed through an already open front door.
Christian grabbed me roughly and whispered, “Wait! You can’t rush in there. Keep your mind clear so you don’t end up dead.”
I searched his eyes, realizing he was right. I sucked in a deep breath and tried to focus.
“I’ll go in first,” he said, stepping in front of me.
He moved slowly into the darkened living room. I heard him feel for the light switch. When the lights wouldn’t turn on, he said, “Can you turn them on?”
Mentally I tried, but it felt as if I was being blocked. “I can’t.”
“Stay close.”
The house was completely black except for a faint light glowing from my bedroom. We slowly made our way toward it.
“Do you feel anything?” Christian asked.
“Actually I don’t. I don’t think he’s here.”
Christian pushed open my door and froze. I peered over his shoulder and tried to discern what I was looking at it.
On my bed, sitting with crossed legs, was Tracey in her green prom dress, her head cocked to the side. A single lit candle on my nightstand cast dancing shadows across the room. They were the shadows of the dead. I recognized them immediately and stepped forward.
Christian grabbed me. “Don’t!”
I pushed his hand away. “Tracey?”
There was something around her neck. A red scarf? I reached to touch her.
“Llona, no!” Christian cried.
As soon as my hand touched her shoulder, Tracey fell backwards onto my bed.
Not a scarf.
A slit throat.
Somewhere between the living and the dead existed a world for those who belonged in neither. It was a dark and lonely place, not meant for hope, love, or joy. It was a place I’d been to before when I’d lost my parents. I didn’t think I’d be back so soon.
“Llona! Get up. We have to call the police.” Christian was tugging at me.
In a daze, I rose onto my feet. Tracey was with the dead now. And her wide-open, accusatory eyes told me it was my fault.
Christian was speaking into his phone. My address. He was telling someone my address.
His hand pressed against my back. “Llona,” he said as gentle as a summer breeze. “The police will be here in a few minutes. Let’s go wait in the garage.”
I turned to follow until I saw a letter resting between Tracey’s crossed legs. I picked it up.
“What is it?” Christian asked.
I opened it and read quietly: “I’ve come back for you, Little One. I told you I would.”
I crumpled the paper and walked out. Christian followed behind.
Inside the garage, Christian gently took hold of my shoulders. “I wish I could comfort you right now, but we don’t have much time. The police are going to be here in a minute. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
I stared out into the cool night.
“As far as you know this was a random killing. There was a miscommunication and Tracey thought we were meeting here. She just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Are you listening to me?”
I must have nodded because he didn’t say anything else. He just stared with me while holding my hand.
When a police car arrived, Christian walked out to meet them. I watched from the dark garage as he told them what had happened. His body was stiff and his expression emotionless. I couldn’t understand how he could speak about it without shutting down.
When he led them into the house, I followed, but stopped at the doorway while he showed them to my room. A beeping sound on the kitchen counter drew my attention. My cell phone. One new message lighting up the screen.
In bold letters it read: “All the world’s a stage and May’s about to fall off.”
I calmly placed the phone back down. I could hear Christian still talking in my room, while a second policeman moved into the hallway to make a phone call. No more people were going to die because of me.
This ends tonight.
I turned to sneak outside, but a second patrol car pulled into our driveway. I moved back into the house and, while the cop in the hall had his back to me, darted into Jake’s room. After removing the screen from his window, I jumped out. I didn’t care about the silent alarm that was probably going off in Christian’s pocket. By the time he got here, I’d be long gone, propelled forward by years of anger and pain.
I let Light guide me. It seemed to know exactly where to go quicker than my brain. When I realized I was headed in the direction of the high school, I knew exactly where the Vyken held May.
I circled around the school away from the boisterous prom scene several buildings over and threw open the doors to a pitch-black auditorium. They shut behind me like the lid on a coffin.
A bright spotlight flipped on; its stream of light raced to center stage capturing a tied-up May in its beam. I scanned the area. There was no one else, but by the spinning sensation beginning in my head, the same feeling I had in the cornstalks, I knew a Vyken lurked nearby.
The only way this was going to end, for better or worse, was
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