~2~
Fires of the Damned
“We are the chosen generation. Chosen by our God above to rebuild this new world,” The man of religion spoke to the adoring congregation. “Many see the Armageddon of 2012 as a tragic event-that is not the case. Our God cleansed the earth with floods, fires, and storms to rid it of the evil that once resided here. We are blessed to come to this new world. Let us not abuse this power we were given. We must use it for good.” He clasped his long hands together and smiled in a way that made him look humble. “So go. Do good and exterminate whatever remaining evil there may be.”
Sky sat beside me on one of the many benches that crowded the little damp church. I looked down to her and she met my icy blue eyes with her own. They were soft and gentle and brown-as usual-but tainted with the same unease that I felt.
The man’s name was Coren and he brought religion to our town just a year ago. Blinded by their fascination and curiosity, the small population of Salinas
He was unfairly loved by the families of Salinas
All but one: Mine.
There was something . . .off about Coren that I couldn’t quite place. At first, I thought it was just my paranoia. But even my younger sister, only twelve years of age, sensed something wrong about this man.
He smiled sincerely to his crowd as they applauded. The fakest smile I’ve ever seen.
That night my mom, Sky, and I ate dinner together in our small home, much like the others in Salinas
“Can I play games tonight in the square with all the other kids?” Sky asked, a dribble of broth running down her chin. She wiped it off with the back of her sleeve.
My mom frowned, her chestnut eyes marred with worry. “I don’t know honey. I don’t like you off playing in the dark.”
My mom and my sister were nearly identical. Soft brown eyes, long curly dark hair, and a heart shaped face. By contrast, my eyes were the lightest shade of blue and my hair was blond and bone straight. The only physical appearance I had in common with Mom was our build: Short and slender.
The only thing I had in common with Sky however, was a mystery. We each possessed one little crystal that was imbedded in our skin since birth. Neither of my parents had any explanation as to what it was, and no matter how hard I had tried in the past, I could not remove it. Mom had suggested we hide them, even though she always said they were are mark from an angels kiss. She said the world feared things it didn’t understand, and this was one of those things. So, the flat black stone just below my collar bone was rarely seen by even us, and never spoken of. Sky’s clear crystal on the inside of her wrist was less noticeable, but she would never be seen wearing short sleeves even in the summer. I laid awake many nights wondering if my dad had a jewel in his skin. I knew I got my looks from my dad, who died in a hunting accident when Mom was pregnant with Sky, but anytime I said a word of him she would break down into tears. I had no memory of him at all, and by the time I was ten years old I had learned to stop asking about him.
It didn’t upset me as much as I thought it should. I felt no love for the man I had never remembered and never been aloud to speak of. It had always been just the three of us in our coz y little home, and that was the way I preferred it.
“Ever since Emily went missing,” Mom went on, “I’ve been so nervous for you girls. Poor Sharla. I couldn’t imagine one of my daughters just disappearing like that.”
I swallowed a mouth full of bread. “Suspicious. The way those unexplained disappearances started just after Coren arrived, isn’t it?”
She paused with her cup of water half raised to her lips and looked to me distastefully. “That’s a harsh accusation to make, September.”
I shrugged. “I’m just saying. There’s been four girls that have gone missing since he showed up with all his bibles and sermons.”
“But I’ll be sooo careful! I’ll stay with a friend the whole time!” Sky pleaded. “Everybody else gets to go.” Her already big eyes seemed to get bigger. “How about September comes with?”
I raised my eyebrows and Mom looked to me, considering the idea.
“No way,” I shook my head. “I don’t want to go play games with all the little kids. I have better things to do.”
“Oh, like what?” Mom asked with her mouth full. They both looked at me.
“Like clean up the kitchen after . . .” I wondered if that were a good enough excuse.
Mom laughed half heartedly and sighed. “I guess Sky. But not too long, okay?”
“Okay!” She beamed and jumped up from her seat. “Thank you!” She ran to the door and slipped on her shoes.
“What, right now?” My mom dropped her spoon in her bowl and turned to watch Sky. “Can’t you at least finish your dinner?”
“I’m not hungry! Bye!” She flung the door open, and slammed it shut behind her.
Mom sat, looking at the door for a moment and I listened to Sky’s footsteps run past our shut window. She sighed again and turned back to her food.
Her lips were pursed, her usually bright eyes were saturated with concern and looked right through her bowl. A twinge of guilt tugged at my conscience. I had always hated to see her unhappy, perhaps if I weren’t such a softy I would know more about my father. But she was the best friend I had ever had, and I tried to keep her in a good mood. Resigned, I slurped the last bit of soup from my bowl and took my dishes to the wash bucket by the cabinet.
“I’ll go watch them play Mom,” I said, holding back a grimace. “After I wash my dishes.”
“Thank you,” She said relieved. “Just for a little bit. And then you can make her come home.”
After my dishes were clean and put away, I stepped outside into the warm summer air and shoved my hands in my pockets. Salinas
I could see the church now, its fat doors facing the square. Though it was bigger than any other structure in our town, it was still small. It had been Coren’s idea to put the giant wooden cross in the middle of the square. He said it would be used to burn evil, when we came across it. As I got closer, I saw that there were two figures in front of the church: a tall thin one and a shorter one.
I recognized her instantly from across the square. What was Sky doing on the church steps, and who was she with? Finally, nearing the last house, I could see him clearly in his black suit against the white paint of the church. Their voices were clear to me then, as if I just walked into the room.
“It’ll only take a second,” Coren said to my sister. He was leaning forward, she was stepping back. “It’s really amazing. I just want to show you-”
“No thank you Mr. Coren,” She said politely and looked over her shoulder. “I have to get back.”
“Oh, I’m sure you’re fine for just a little bit,” he said. I stopped walking when I had passed the final home and watched. “Like I said, it’ll only take a minute.” The way he spoke to her, reminded me of the way a sneaky predator might coax its prey. Too soothing. Too kind. He took a step forward and she stepped back.
“No I-”
Coren’s shoulders dropped, along with the luring smile and he wrapped a big hand around Sky’s arm. She cringed back, her eyes wide with astonished pain, and yanked her arm loose from his grip.
I was sprinting across the square instantly. “Hey! Get away from her!”
He had just managed to re-latch onto her wrist when he saw me and within a matter of breaths, his arm began to blacken. It started at his fingertips and crawled up towards his shoulder, leaving his sleeve burning to embers on the ground, steam rising off his arm. He released Sky’s wrist and gaped down at his rapidly disintegrating arm. Screaming in anguish, he shook as if it was on fire and the blackened parts fell away like ash in the wind. He fell to his knees, howling and staring at the grey stub that ended at his elbow.
I looked from Coren, to the curious families emerging from their homes, to my little sister standing above his crumpled figure. My heart thumped painfully in my chest when I saw the horror on the family’s faces, and realized how this must look to them. Sky was backing away slowly with her wide eyes locked on Coren, unaware of the people that surrounded the scene.
“Sky!” I shrieked and my voice cracked. She looked to me sharply and I gestured for her to come just as a man stepped in front of her.
“What happened?” He demanded witheringly.
“She burned me!” Coren whaled shakily, before she could reply. He cradled his stub to his chest, looking grossly pale. “She burned my arm off! She’s a witch! A demon!”
They all looked to her with blank astonishment and my breathing spiked.
“Sky!” I shouted again. “Come here!”
She saw me and darted past the growing crowd.
Her eyes were huge with fear when she reached me. “What happened?” She gasped. “What did I do?”
“GET HER! SHE DID THIS TO ME!” Coren bellowed with anger and pain. His face was ashen and he looked on the verge of passing out. “SHE’S EVIL!”
They looked to us with big uncertain eyes.
“We have to go,” I said and tugged her through the houses.
“Hey! Wait!” One man called behind us and I pulled her faster.
“We can’t go home!” Sky hissed. “They’ll know we went there!”
I looked over my shoulder. I could still see the square from here and the group was getting bigger.
“GO AFTER HER! SHE’S EVIL!”
“Just keep running. What happened?”
“I don’t know!” She cried. “He touched my stone and-”
I stopped short, yanking her to a halt. “Your stone did this?”
She shrugged, her brows pressed with worry. “I don’t know.”
I bit my lip and looked back again. “We have to tell mom.”
“But they’ll know we went there! They’ll find us!”
“We’ll hide in the secret room,” I said. “Mom will just tell them we didn’t come home.”
She was about to protest when I began to run again, pulling her with me to the very last house. We doubled back, behind the houses and off the street, till I saw our garden.
I darted between the sprouts of green and flung the shutters open. “Mom!” I called quietly and turned to Sky. “Climb in.”
I moved out of the way so she could hoist herself onto the window seal and pull herself through. I could hear the chaos from the square. What if Mom had gone there with everyone else? I prayed she didn’t.
“Mom!” I called a bit louder as Sky hopped onto the bedroom floor with a thud.
The bedroom door opened and my mom poked her head through with a puzzled look. “What on earth are you two doing? What’s going on at the square?”
“My stone burned Coren’s arm off!” Sky squealed and ran to hold Mom’s stomach.
I crawled in and shut the window behind me.
“What happened?” She asked. I could tell she was trying to keep herself calm.
“When I found them Coren was talking to Sky-”
“He wanted me to go into the church with him and I said no,” She interrupted.
“When he grabbed her by the wrist to keep her from leaving, his arm just burnt to ash! Up to his elbow!” I said exasperated. “He was screaming and the whole town came out to see and he told them all to get Sky because she did that to him and she’s evil!”
My mom stared at me with rising terror.
“We have to hide Mom,” I said quickly. “We ran and he’s going to send them after us. You have to tell them that we never came back here.”
She blinked, as if I had just awoken her and she nodded. “Of course. Quickly, come into the kitchen.” She turned and towed Sky with her. I was hard on their heels. “Did they see you come home?”
“No,” I breathed and helped her shove the table to the side. Sky ran to the window and peaked out. “Close the shutters Sky. We ran to the end of the village, and circled back behind the houses.”
Mom rolled the heavy rug aside, revealing a square door laid into the wood. She tugged on the metal handle and it opened with a moan. The door fell back, slamming the kitchen floor and making me jump. My heart was racing and my hands shook.
“Sky come quickly,” She held out a hand for my sister. Sky ran from the window and threw herself on Mom, nearly knocking her out of her crouch. Mom pulled her away to look her in the eye. “It’ll be fine Sky. Just stay quiet no matter what happens and don’t come out until I open the door. Okay?” She glanced to me and I nodded.
My breathing hitched. The way she was acting-too calm-only made me more nervous. I had never seen that look on her beautiful face before.
She was beautiful. Her soft skin was flawless all except the wrinkles around her eyes, proof of a life full of smiles and laughter. Her hair spilled to her waist like silky curtains, only a few shades lighter than her eyes rimmed with thick black lashes.
“Get inside.” She smiled, but I knew it was fake.
I watched as Sky turned to lower herself into the little black room. When my dad saw the jewel in my skin, he thought ahead and dug a secret room, just in case anything like this happened. My mom had deemed it unnecessary-until now.
I glanced to the door anxiously, half expecting them to burst in.
“Now you,” she said and she was closer than I expected. She pointed to the black hole when I didn’t move. Sky’s head peered out the top and a knot set deep in my stomach.
“What’s going to happen?” I asked. Mom always seemed to have the answers to everything when I was young. But she hesitated. It was only for a fraction of a second but I saw it as if time had froze.
“I’ll tell them you never came back here.” She smiled again but her thin eye brows tilted the way you might smile at a sad, ironic truth. “They’ll leave to look for you and we can leave tomorrow night when they’re all sleeping. We can go to Foster city Foster City
Tears stung the back of my eyes. She was lying. I knew her better than I knew anyone else in this world, and I knew she didn’t believe her own words.
I shook my head.
A silent laugh shook her and her smile was nostalgic. “You were very young. We were there eleven years ago-you were six.” She glanced to Sky, who looked as if she wanted to join us there, kneeling on the floor. “You weren’t even born yet.” She looked back to me, and the tears in her eyes had vanished. She laughed a lighter laugh and said, “You loved it there. You would have lived on that beach if you could.”
I gnashed my teeth together and dried my eyes. I was about to protest, to tell her I knew she didn’t mean it. My face must have given me away and she shook her head ever so slightly.
“I need you to take care of each other down there,” She said, her voice stern. “Its dark and its cold, but you will be with each other. Promise me,” She glanced between the two of us. “That you will take care of each other. Always.”
“I promise,” Sky said without hesitance.
I shut my eyes, keeping the tears back and I knew her words were directed to more than the time spent in that little hole in our floor. I sucked in a deep breath and looked at her.
“Hide with us,” I almost shouted as the idea came to me.
But she shook her head. “They’d find us eventually. Promise me.”
“I promise.”
“And promise me you’ll stay hidden, no matter what happens.”
“I promise.” Sky agreed.
“Promise.”
She smiled and wrapped her warm arms around me. Usually, I didn’t like hugs and touching and feelings. I had never been one for those types, since I could remember. But now, I wished she would hold me longer. She let go too soon and hurried me into the room with Sky. The little square of yellow that the kitchen light cast showed me it was a tiny room with wood walls and cold dirt floor.
She looked down to us as Sky latched to my side. “Remember your promises. Don’t come out till I come to get you.”
“I love you,” I choked.
“Love you,” Sky repeated in a lighter tone.
Mom shrugged. “It’s going to be fine. But I love you girls too. So much.”
With that, she lifted the heavy slab of wood and slowly let it slide shut in its place, leaving us alone in the vacant dark.
Not more than two minutes later heavy banging landed on our front door and a muffle of voices outside.
“Stay quiet,” I warned Sky, who was still wrapped around my side. I didn’t like having her there, I felt vulnerable. If anything were to happen, she’d get in the way.
Mom’s footsteps passed nearby to the front door and I stopped breathing.
“Hello?” She answered and then gave a small shriek. “Coren! What happened?”
“Your daughter happened!” He shouted back. Their voices were muffled and I had to strain to hear.
“I don’t understand.”
“She burned my arm off!” There was a chorus from the mob that came with him, though I couldn’t make out their words. “Where are they?”
“Coren I don’t see-”
“Your child is evil!” He interrupted. He sounded in pain. “Witches!”
There was a pause.
“They couldn’t have possibly done this.”
“Sky fell!” he spat and I clenched my hands into angry fists at the way he spoke to her. “When I tried to help her up, she looked at my arm and mumbled some words I couldn’t understand and my arm burnt to ash! It’s dark magic! She’s a witch!” The mob threw angry agreements at Mom, fueled by Coren’s anger.
Sky gasped. “That’s a lie.”
I hushed her.
“That couldn’t possibly have happened.” Mom’s voice was getting sharper now.
“I saw it!” One man cried out. It sounded like Mr. Bain.
There was a pause and I imagined my mom, defenseless and sweet, standing against an angry mob of who she thought were friends. We shouldn’t have left her there alone. I wanted to stand with her, but I knew I couldn’t ask that of Sky.
Coren said something too low for me to hear and Mom’s answer was curt.
“They left to play night games in the square after dinner. That’s the last I saw them. They haven’t come home.”
Another pause.
“You’re lying!” Coren snapped and then said only a bit more calmly, “They had to have learned their dark magic from someone. You taught them, didn’t you?” Before Mom could defend herself he yelled, “YOU’RE A WITCH TOO! YOU’RE WHOLE FAMILY! SHE’S A WITCH!”
My stomach churned and I was glad the dark hid my horrified face from Sky-it only would have scared her. I tightened my arms around her and the terrified tears began to spill from my eyes. She was unnervingly still.
There were muffled voices that we couldn’t make out until one spoke out louder than the rest.
“She couldn’t be a witch.” It was Emily, bless her soul. “I’ve known her since we were children.”
“Oh but she is,” Coren protested. “Where else would the kids have learned their witchcraft? Their father?” He laughed once. “She probably killed him herself.”
My jaw set tight at the pain this must have brought my mother. Hatred pulsed through my blood, making it hard to breathe.
“She is a witch!” He preached. “This is the answer to why your little girls have gone missing! Will you simply stand by and let this evil continue? Will you do nothing to protect your children and yourselves? We must rid the world of this evil! Or she and her children will continue to destroy!”
There was a chorus from the excited mob. They fed off each others fear and anxiety. Sky’s heavy breaths matched mine, but we stayed quiet. We kept our promise even as the sounds of the crazy group in our house searching for us drown everything else out. Even as the sounds of Coren demanding my mother’s execution pierced our hearts.
And as the sounds of hurried feet took my mother from her home and the door slammed shut, we were left in the lonely blackness as silent as the promise we continued to keep.
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