The Lebrus Stone (7 page)

I put a stop to my agitated response with a mouthful of my chocolate fudge cake. "You think so?"

"Body language, Crystal. It's obvious."

My anger must have contorted my mask of calm, since Zella lowered her gaze to the bottom of her dessert glass.

"What's so obvious?" I muttered.

"That you're a Flangoose."

"A what?"

"It's something I made up. You're meat flaunted on a stick."

"I don't know what you mean."

"You have all the goods, but with no way to be admired for it by him, no matter how much you try."

I frowned. "Maybe he's the Flangoose, Zella. Have you ever thought of that?"

I wanted to reach over, grab her by the neck and yell at her. It wasn't like me. Usually I knew how to let things go over my head. But this…this was hard to ignore.

"No," she answered, smugly.

"Why not?"

"Because you dangle for his attention, but he doesn't care. I'm only fifteen, but I know enough from observation."

Why was she acting the mature Miss know-it-all, all of a sudden?

"Some danglers are just trying to be friendly, Zella."

"I-I know," she stuttered, reminding me how young and inexperienced she was. Sure, I was too, but I couldn't take the word of a high school girl, even if it wasn't so long ago I was one myself. I had to get over whatever she was telling me. Cray could think what he wanted about me.

Zella changed the subject and moved on to various ghost sightings around the village. I didn't need to hear any of it after what I'd experienced, but I couldn't exactly have told her to be quiet. I had a feeling she wouldn't have listened, anyway.

I learned Isobel's sister, Marsi, was a practicing Wiccan. It was a shock. Isobel hadn't mentioned it at all. No matter what Marsi practiced, and if Isobel was against it, she was immediate family.

What else was she keeping from me?

Zella and I took a walk along the small strip mall that contained a handful of familiar stores next.

"Look." Zella pointed. "I like visiting that one!"

She crossed the road and headed to a dressmaker and florist. At the corner of the street, shadowed by a flank of cedars, was a store named "Elandra Oaks."

Mystical designs and sayings covered the window. Buddha statues, potpourri baskets, incense sticks, and pots in silver with red dyed leaves sat in the window. It looked like a spiritual store.

I read the quotes:

You are the embodiment of the information you choose to accept and act upon. To change your circumstances you need to change your thinking and subsequent actions
.

Um… Okay.

Without faith, hope, and trust, there is no promise for the future, and without a promising future, life has no direction, no meaning and no justification.

I got the general idea. The place was a shrine to the gullible, payment for predictions, priced advice from a crystal ball made from plastic and artificial lights.

Spiritualism is not a faith or religion,
the sign on the door stated,
it's a way of living your life honestly.

I called for Zella, but she'd already stepped inside. I had no choice but to follow her, breathing in the floral scents and the musk of unmoved objects collecting years of dust.

The walls were lined with transcripts and handmade fabrics that looked woven and created by a distinct culture. Glass cabinets enclosed marble-like stones. Signs next to mineral rocks described their origin and attributes to heal and cleanse, and every bottled love potion had a handwritten label.

I walked down the aisles, reading more sayings, handling disfigured gods, angels, and open-mouthed goblins holding bleeding hearts.

It was the first time I had seen such a blend of cruelty and kindness.

A lady appeared through the hanging beads just behind the counter, introducing herself as Elandra—the owner, unless the name was inherited.

She was young, maybe in her mid-thirties, pretty with an esoteric smile. Suited, I thought, for her chosen living.

Apart from the usual clusters of thick silver jewelry, she wore a long cerise float dress and a matching spaghetti-strapped top. Her hair was waist length and a rich golden blonde. Her West Virginian accent was crisp and clear as she told us about the items in her store. Although mixed with a slang of something else that didn't quite fit, something too polished.

British?

She kept her hazel eyes in my direction most of the time; her eyebrows knitted together.

After a thorough description of almost everything in her pricelist, she turned to me and said, "So, what can I do for you?"

"We were just browsing," I said, turning to leave.

"Oh, a reading please," Zella squealed from behind me.

It had to be a scam, a hoax. No one could see the future; everyone, though, could pretend to.

"Yes, I can see you're here for the truth," Elandra said to me. "Am I right?"

Seeing as though she was a physic Houdini and all, I thought she would have known the answer.

"Isn't everybody?" I said.

"But are
you
?"

I wasn't sure how to reply. Zella pulled the saddest lost puppy dog face, so I gave in. Before I could yell at Elandra to repeat the charge, I had agreed to pay twenty dollars for a thirty minute reading each.

Zella could have brought her pocket money with her, I thought. She must have gotten plenty.

Still, we followed Elandra through the beaded curtain leading to a back room.

The brick walls hadn't been wallpapered or painted. The shelves were stacked with seashells and the black curtains at the one window were drawn.

On a small square table, candles were lit in vibrant colors, creating a sophisticated and surrendering atmosphere similar to a romantic dinner for two.

Elandra had definitely predicted two shmucks coming to her store today.

The table was covered in a cardinal silk. The four chairs around it were padded with matching velour seats and armrests. In the center was a yellow candle and burning tissues in a glass bowl, including something that smelled like rosewater and lemon juice, blended with fine chips of charred wood.

Elandra sat down, and from a small, velvet, black pouch, spilled milk white stones and a pink quartz onto the table. Holding them, she rubbed the corners. "Please sit."

I took a seat opposite her since that was where she pointed. Zella sat to my right, her hands perhaps itching to touch the stones to see if they really held hidden powers.

We hadn't decided who would go first, so I kept my hands on my lap throughout, knowing readings usually needed those to inspect. I gulped and clenched my fingers. They were cold when the rest of me was hot. A pulse in my left eye ticked annoyingly fast. I had always been a skeptic. I wasn't afraid of what she was going to tell me. Yet the possibility of it being slightly true made my mouth turn dry.

I wanted her to hurry up and get on with it.

"There's no need to be nervous," Elandra said with her eyes closed. "Positive energies surround us now."

She whispered it to the rocks before throwing them onto the table, then placed her hands on the largest. My head buzzed like something was inside. My ribs felt squeezed.

Elandra asked for my hands that felt stuck to my dress. Hers were cool and smooth, seeming to pull at my energy. My breath came out as a shaky sigh.

"You have a unique look about you," Elandra said with her eyes still closed.

Zella rolled hers. I tried not to convey a reaction. I had a feeling Elandra could still see me.

"You must be often admired," Elandra added.

If she could really see my life, she would have known how guys my age weren't so admiring. Not in the way most would have wanted. Only a few caught my attention, and they never bothered with hello. The ones who did didn't hold my interest or make my heart skip a beat. Cray was living up to those expectations.

I squashed that thought as soon as it hit me.

"I know you've come here alone," Elandra began. "As for your past, it isn't revealing itself." She grimaced. "Your present and future are just as reluctant."

She sucked in a breath. "Wait. I'm seeing flames, a young woman, distraught, screaming." Her lips pursed. "There's someone with her."

She must have been talking about Aunt Lorraine.

"Can you describe them?" I asked, now immersed in what I thought was a bogus reading.

Elandra shook her head and frowned. "The person is shielded, masked in a way."

"Can you find a way to unmask them?"

She shook her head, then said, "Wait. Wait. I see something." Her hands wrapped around my fingers. "It's raining. I see a raincoat. It's yellow, slippery. The initials B.L.S. are stitched on the inside."

"And?" B.L.S. meant nothing to me.

"The person wearing this is holding something. It shines, reflects in this woman's eyes as she begs for mercy."

Begs for mercy?

Why hadn't the police investigated if there were traces of a crime?

"Blood is flowing from her limbs to the ground," Elandra continued. "She's leaving you in safe hands. The nurse who takes you has noticed you're smiling."

"Nurse?"

"There are many around you both."

"Where?"

"In a hospital lobby. The woman carried you there. I think she may have been wounded."

No one ever told me this. "W-what kind of wound?"

"I'm not sure. It's too dark. She's fading now, falling through a shaft of arms. Her hands are outstretched and pleading. She's calling your name, Crystal, begging you to leave Blacksville."

Elandra's mouth clamped closed. Her hands lay flat over mine. I'd never told her my name. I looked to Zella, but she mouthed, "It wasn't me."

Just then Elandra's eyes flew open. "I'm sorry." She blinked. "That's all I have." She checked her watch and stood to walk over to a shelf and retrieve a large brown book which she wrote something in.

"Are you sure that's all?" I asked. "I'll pay you double the amount if you can tell me more about my aunt."

"I'm sorry. I can't push what can't be revealed." She returned to the table and placed the book on it , as well as collect her rocks.

I wanted to leave and sulk while she gave Zella her reading. I took my purse out of my bag to take out the twenty dollars I owed her. It left me with only thirty. I couldn't have afforded another reading at gunpoint.

"Bless you, Crystal," Elandra said pityingly, still gathering her precious rocks. "May the light within you clear such a dark path." She shakily pulled the string on the black pouch.

I handed her the cash. "Oh, no. You're new to town. Besides..." She looked to Zella, "I didn't complete the reading."

"You could finish it," Zella said, whipping out her hand.

Elandra waved it away. "I'm sorry, Cruella," she mispronounced. "I've grown…tired from my readings. Maybe you could visit me tomorrow."

It sounded like she never wanted that to happen.

"But—" Zella began.

"The store's now closed," Elandra said brusquely.

Zella got up and stomped out of the room. I went after her, not wanting to catch another glimpse of the slightly hostile Elandra.

"Come again," she yelled from the doorway.

~ * ~

Back at the manor, I went straight to my room, even if it was the last place I wanted to be right now. But I had no choice. There was nowhere else to be alone and talk to myself.

I didn't want the world to see my meltdown into a crazy crisis. Calling someone from home wouldn't have helped, so I didn't bother. Instead, I wallowed and dissected everything that had happened lately, which left me with no conclusion to make me feel any better.

It only confirmed I was in danger of losing myself. That it might not be the only thing on the line. For some reason, I was beginning to fear for my safety. I was beginning to question my reason for being here as being other than a family reunion.

Was something being planned? Was I caught in a trap? Or was I overreacting? Again? Was my over dramatic state due to watching too many horror movies?

Blacksville was desolate, devoid of vast human life, and the perfect place for strange activity. But I had to be realistic. It was just a small town. There were many like it, and the Lockes were behaving oddly, but they weren't exactly the family in
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
. They were human, just certain members acted slightly inhumane sometimes.

I could cope for a few weeks. I had to. I couldn't just run away. I had too much stupid pride that was willing to endure it till the end with my head held high.

Standing at the balcony, I weighed the pros and cons of staying. Bearing in mind I hadn't left much behind. Jared was my only reason to give in. He was my only reason to back down before clearing the secrets behind my family name.