Darlings of Paranormal Romance (Anthology) (158 page)

“
Sure, Taylor.”

I glanced at Fred. “Not a word to
Jesse, Fred,” I said.

He nodded. “Mummy’s the word,” he
joked. “What happens in the satanic campground stays in the satanic
campground.”

“
Thank you,” I
said.

* * *

Back at home, I felt bad for canceling
our lunch plans with Jesse, but I was too freaked out to see
anybody. I just ran up to my room and locked the door. With
trembling fingers, I uploaded the picture of the rock to my
computer. Even when I zoomed in on the symbols, I couldn’t see them
all that clearly, but I scribbled the letters and symbols down on
my computer and started searching the Internet for
clues.

An hour later, I’d still had no luck.
Since Julie had mentioned Latin, I decided to try Google Translate.
I carefully entered each letter, then pressed the button, eager to
see what the message meant. Instantly, it was right there in front
of my eyes in plain English: “Do not tread on this sacred ground.
If you dare to walk on the land of our ancestors, you will
die.”

I
swallowed hard as I tried to process the message.
Wait…am I gonna die because I stepped foot on
some cursed land?
I didn’t really believe
in that supernatural hoopla, and I always turned the channel when
those stupid ghost-hunting shows came on, but now my mind was
running circles over all the possibilities.

* * *

Days passed, and nothing strange
happened to any of the three of us or Max, so I decided the whole
thing was just a hoax and that there was no reason to get so worked
up about it.

When the weed whacker started whirring
outside, I jumped up. I peered through the window and saw Fred
working in the back yard, so I thought it was the perfect time to
tell him my findings and see what he thought.

When Fred noticed me, he turned off
the machine. He was covered in dust and dirt, with a pile of
decapitated towering weeds lying at his feet.

“
How about a drink?” I
said, offering him a bottle of water.

He brushed off his clothes and smiled.
“Thank you, Taylor.”

“
You’re welcome,” I said,
staring up into his eyes that were as green as the grass he was
trimming.

“
I’m just about to take a
break. Mind if I spend it with you?” he asked.

“
I’d love to. I found out
some things, and I’d like to talk to you about them.” Fred was cute
and a good friend, so I didn’t see any harm in sitting outside with
him for a few minutes. My dad controlled his breaks, but I didn’t
see him anywhere around, so I led Fred to the porch swing and sat
down with him.

“
Taylor,” he said, “you
really like Jesse, don’t you?”

I wondered why he cared, and then it
dawned on me that he might have a crush on me. I didn’t want to
hurt his feelings, but I didn’t want to lie to him either. “I’m not
sure where we stand, but yes, I like him very much. Honestly, I
have the biggest crush on him.”

“
I’ve been watching him…a
lot,” he said.

That surprised me. “Do you like him
too? If you do, I’d totally understand. I mean, he’s so hot that
guys and girls might both be attract—”

“
No! I don’t like guys,
Taylor!”

“
Oh.”

“
It’s just that…well, his
whole family has these creepy, light blue eyes.”

“
Creepy? I think they’re
beautiful.”

“
Far from it. They’re
hiding some deep, dark secret. Something’s just not right with
those people. You shouldn’t be alone with any of them.”

“
I’ve been alone with Jesse
a lot,” I said. “He’s the perfect gentlemen, and he absolutely
loves animals. How could you think he’s…”

“
Some kind of
sicko?”

“
Yeah, I guess.”

His eyes widened. “I’ve, uh…well, I’ve
seen things.”

Curiosity struck me. “Like what kind
of things?”

He cleared his throat, but not another
word came out of his mouth.

“
Either you’re just jealous
of Jesse, Fred, or you know more than you’re letting on,” I said.
“If this concerns Jesse, I want to know what you’re talking
about.”

“
I caught him reading a
book.”

I gasped. “Oh my gosh! A book, you
say? I definitely need to stay away from him.”

“
No, not just any book. It
had all these weird symbols and was written in some language I
couldn’t understand.”

“
What are you
saying?”

He let out a long breath. “I think
Jesse and his family are witches.”

“
Witches?”

“
Yes. I catch them in lies,
and, like I said, I’ve seen things—lots of things.”

“
Care to
elaborate?”

His gaze narrowed. “If you talk about
these things, you’ll end up missing or dead.”

“
You can trust me. I won’t
tell a soul.”

He sighed. “Well, for one thing, I
heard Jesse’s sister tell a man to do something I know for a fact
he wouldn’t normally do.”

“
Is Jesse’s sister
pretty?”

“
Kierra? Yeah. She’s
smoking hot.”

I chuckled. “There’s your answer. Men
are putty in a pretty girl’s hands.”

“
I know that, but there’s
more to it than that.”

I touched his hand. “Fred, I think I
know where this is all coming from.”

“
You do?”

“
Yes. That weird altar
freaked all of us out. You started thinking about witches when you
saw those symbols, and now you’re jumping to conclusions about
Jesse’s family.”

“
I’m not just jumping to
conclusions, Taylor, and I don’t think Jesse’s family are the only
ones. I think this town is being run by witches.”

My jaw dropped. “Yes, we found a
possible site where ceremonies are held, but that doesn’t mean the
entire town is evil. It just means—”

“
It means we need to do a
whole lot of digging.”

My gaze narrowed. “Do you really think
the town is hiding something?”

“
Yes, and I’m sure Jesse
knows what’s going on. Why don’t you do some prying? Maybe you can
get him to talk.”

“
I know we’ve been together
a lot, but I highly doubt he’s gonna spill all his deep, dark
secrets to me. Besides, maybe we’re just getting carried away. I
mean, Jesse is a bit mysterious, but—”

“
I’m just saying that
there’s more than meets the eye around here.”

“
Now I’m scared to tell you
what I found out.”

“
Why?” he asked.

“
Because you’ll get carried
away even worse.”

“
I won’t. Tell
me.”

I cleared my throat. “I couldn’t
identify the weird symbols, but the words are a warning, in Latin,
like Julie said.”

He arched a brow. “Well? What’s it
mean?”

“
It’s a
warning not to tread on sacred ground. It said if we walked on the
land of their ancestors, we
will
die.”

“
If it’s just some kind of
warning, a threat, why was it written in Latin?” he asked. “How do
they expect anyone to obey a warning they can’t read?”

“
I think it’s a curse,” I
said.

His eyes widened. “Are you saying all
three of us are gonna die just because we had to go after your dumb
dog?”

“
I pray not, and I keep
trying to tell myself how crazy it is, but I can’t deny the voice
that spoke to me. It felt real.”

“
You know what I
think?”

“
That I hallucinated
it?”

“
No, not at all. Maybe the
witches are putting some kind of spell on us, maybe using their
powers to mess with our heads.”

“
I don’t know. It sounds so
crazy.”

Suddenly, the door swung open,
startling us, and my dad came out. “Fred, I’m paying you to work,
not flirt with my daughter. Taylor, please go do the dishes,” he
said sternly, not one to mince words.

“
Nice talking to you,
Fred,” I said. “I’ve gotta go, but we’ll talk later.”

“
Okay.”

I smiled. Fred was a nice
guy, but he had the biggest imagination, and I decided I wasn’t
going to let it rub off on me. There was no way Jesse and his
family were witches and warlocks, and I wasn’t even sure if I
believed in the Latin curse we’d found. It was all so farfetched,
and I was sure I’d probably imagined the entire thing—or at least I
hoped so.

Chapter 14

I was reading on the porch when a
black SUV pulled up. I thought it might be Jesse, but Julie got out
of the passenger’s side.

“
Taylor!” she
said.

“
Hey.”

“
Put the book down, girl,
and let’s go have some real fun.”

I cocked a brow. “What?”

Her eyes lit up, and her face was
beaming. “Go put on your bikini. We’re going swimming in Big Bear
Lake.”

My gaze shot to the SUV full of girls.
All the windows were down, and the music was blaring. “Who are you
with?” I asked.

“
Just some girls I met in
town. You’ll love them. Now go grab a towel and suntan lotion.
Hurry!”

“
Nah, you go on,” I said.
“I’m not really in the mood.”

“
Don’t tell me you’re still
freaked out by that voice you heard.”

“
I can’t help it. I’m
trying to decide if I’m crazy enough for a padded cell or doomed
enough to be scared about it.”

“
So some ghosts talked to
you. So what? They were probably screwing with you anyway. After
all, we’re all alive and breathing.”

“
True. Do you believe in
ghosts?” I asked.

“
Yes. If I didn’t, I’d be
telling you to put on a straightjacket instead of a
bikini.”

“
Wow. It’s nice to know my
new BFF doesn’t think I’m a nut.”

“
Just one
thing.”

“
What?”

“
Do you
see
dead
people?”

I laughed. “No. I’m afraid my sixth
sense isn’t that well tuned.”

She grinned, glad I’d gotten her movie
reference. “You really need to come with us,” she said.

“
Why?”

“
Because Jesse’s already
there, and I promised him we’d swing by and pick you
up.”

Suddenly, my interest in the beach was
piqued, and my heart jumped with joy. “I’m in! As long as there’s
not talk about animal skulls or mysterious voices.”

“
Got it. Your secret is
safe with me.” She gave me a nudge. “So hurry and get ready. You’ve
got five minutes.”

I hurried inside, threw my curly hair
into a tight ponytail, put on my bathing suit, then quickly brushed
my teeth. I hurried downstairs and jumped into the SUV.

Julie introduced me to the other six
girls. They shook my hand and smiled and seemed nice
enough.

We drove
to our destination and made found a nice spot on the shore. I was
surrounded by large granite
boulders
and tall
pinetrees with a glittering lake before me. Big, fluffy clouds
floated lazily by in the giant blue sky. I inhaled deeply to take
in the fresh, woodsy scent of the piney air. Everything was so
scenic and beautiful.

“
I love it here,” Julie
said.

I pointed at a tiny island straight
ahead. “Is that China Island?”

One of the brunettes nodded; I hadn’t
yet remembered all of their names. “Yep. Pretty small,
huh?”

“
Yeah.”

“
See the cluster of
boulders over to the left, about thirty feet away from the
island?”

I squinted against the sunlight.
“Yeah. Where all those guys are jumping off the rocks?”

“
That’s where we’re gonna
swim. It’s the best spot in Big Bear Lake.”

“
Let’s go!” shouted a
blonde girl with a pink streak in her hair.

I slipped my shirt and pants off and
adjusted my red and purple bikini. I walked over the stony pebbles
and jumped into the cold water that felt great on such a hot day. I
glided forward, using long, powerful strokes. As I got closer,
instant recognition hit: The guy about to jump off one of the
tallest boulders was Jesse. An instant later, he splashed
in.

When I swam to the rocks, he helped me
up. My breath froze as I watched the sun glint off his slicked-back
black hair. Water beaded his eyelashes and dripped down his face in
glistening rivers. His red swim trunks were adorable, but I was
almost disappointed that he’d opted to wear a shirt. “Hey, you,” he
said, smiling at me.

I couldn’t stop the smile from curling
up on my lips. “Hey.”

“
Are you ready for a fun
afternoon?” he asked.