Jenny Plague-Bringer: (Jenny Pox #4) (16 page)

“
It took time to work up the courage,” Mariella said. “But, I kept thinking...maybe
she is like me, and scared.  Maybe she has never met another person with strange powers,
either.  Maybe it frightens her, and so she is defensive.”

“
I’m not as scared as you think,” Jenny told her.

“
I thought...with who else can I talk about these things?  I’ve never been able to
talk with anyone.  The priest, he told me I was making it all up, when I was a child. 
He told me never to speak of it.”

Jenny folded her arms. “You’re saying you came here because you wanted to be...
friends
with me?”

“
Is that so strange?” Mariella gave a small shrug. “I thought, we have some things
in common.  We could talk about...shopping for gloves, perhaps?  I know many fine
places to buy gloves in Paris.”

In spite of her angry mood, Jenny couldn’t help laughing.  She quickly covered her
smile, but the damage was done.  Mariella had broken Jenny’s stern glare.

“
I am very sorry how this turned out,” Mariella said. “I did not know he was yours. 
You could have told me.”

“
I thought it was better to get rid of you,” Jenny said.

Mariella looked hurt, her eyes shimmering.

“
You have to understand, though,” Seth told her. “We’ve met others like us—”

“
You’ve met others?” Mariella sat up. “Where?  Can we speak to them?”

“—
but we aren’t very nice, as a group,” Seth continued. “I mean, we’re mostly psychopaths. 
Present company excluded, as far as I know.”

“
The ones who caused us the most trouble are already dead,” Jenny added, raising her
eyebrows just a little.

“
What could the others do?” Mariella asked. “Do we all have different powers?  Where
do they come from?”

“
They’re all different,” Seth said. “We come in pairs.  Opposites, like me and Jenny. 
Healing and plague.  Love and fear.”

“
Then I must have an opposite somewhere,” Mariella said. “If I can see the future,
then he would...what?  See the past?”

“
That’s not very useful.” Seth snickered.

“
It could be, if there’s something in your past you want to hide,” Jenny said.

“
That’s a little more useful,” Seth conceded.

“
Would he be a boy?” Mariella asked. “How could I find him?”

“
Let’s go back to the sociopath-slash-psychopath thing,” Seth said. “If someone like
that is out there, odds are you
don’t
want to meet him.”

“
Give me your hands again.” Mariella stood up and approached him with her palms out.
“I need to see something.”

Jenny watched as Mariella took his hands and closed her eyes.  Seth sat there awkwardly,
trying not to look at Mariella at all.

“
There are many possibilities,” Mariella said. “The future is always shifting and changing. 
But one thing I see clearly for Seth is the man who will hunt him down.”

Jenny sat forward.  Mariella might or might not be able to see the future...but if
she could, it didn’t mean she was telling them the truth.  Jenny thought of Ashleigh’s
intricate, destructive little plots and tried to imagine what Mariella might be scheming.

“
I really don’t like the sound of ‘hunt me down,’” Seth said. “Like kill me?”

“
Take you.  Kidnap you,” Mariella replied.

“
Who is this guy?” Seth asked.

“
He is older.  Some gray hair.” Mariella’s already-closed eyes squinted, and she clutched
Seth’s hands tighter, as if she were concentrating hard, or maybe trying to pass a
kidney stone. “American.  He has soldiers...influence...I think he has a touch like
ours.  I’m not certain of his power, but his eyes are...” Mariella’s eyes opened wide
and she released Seth, hurrying back from him and shaking her head. “He has my eyes.”

“
Your opposite,” Seth said, and Jenny wanted to scowl at him. She wasn’t sure whether
they should be helping the girl or not. “Sometimes we have the same eyes.”

“
Like yours.” Mariella stepped forward, looking at Seth, then at Jenny. “Blue.  The
same beautiful shade of blue...” 

“
When is he coming?” Jenny asked.

“
I’m sorry?” Mariella shook her head as if she’d been momentarily hypnotized, looking
into Jenny’s eyes. “When is who?”

“
The guy we were just talking about.  The one who’s going to hunt Seth down?  When
is that going to happen?  And where?” Jenny asked.

“
Right here,” Mariella said. “Not far into the future.”

“
We can change that,” Seth said. “Right?  We can pack up and move somewhere else, hide
ourselves better.”

“
It is possible.” Mariella held out her hand, and Seth reluctantly took it again. 
This time, she gazed into his eyes instead of closing her own.  Seth stared back. 
It made Jenny uncomfortable.

“
Where would you go?” Mariella asked.

“
The French Riviera might be nice,” Seth said.

“
That changes nothing,” Mariella told him, shaking her head.

“
I don’t know.  England?” Seth suggested.

“
No.  He finds you there.”

“
Eh...Berlin?”

“
Definitely not,” Mariella said quickly.

“
Italy?” Seth asked, and Jenny gave him a little scowl, which he didn’t notice.

“
No...no....Wherever you go, he finds you.  This cannot be avoided.” She continued
gazing at Seth, and continued holding his hand.

Jenny felt suspicious.  This would be the trick, convincing them that they had to
move in order to be safe.  Then the girl would conveniently know exactly where they
needed to go.  Jenny couldn’t imagine her motivation, but if it was a scam, that had
to be her intent.  Mariella would want the two of them to go somewhere with her, she
suspected.

“
Then what do I do?” Seth asked. “Stock up on guns and ammo?”

“
That would likely lead to your death,” Mariella replied.

“
If anyone comes for Seth, I’ll just pox the shit out of them,” Jenny said, staring
hard at Mariella. “Where am I in all of this?”

Mariella closed her eyes, gripping Seth’s hand tight.  Her brow furrowed.  After a
long minute, she sighed.

“
I can’t see you at all,” Mariella said. “Jenny...it’s like you’re not even there.”

“
Where am I?” Jenny asked. “Can you ask, um, future Seth?”

“
It’s not that.” Mariella opened her eyes. “I can’t see your future at all.  Perhaps
because I cannot touch you.  Pain and death, you said.”

“
Yep,” Jenny told her. “Pain and death.  Fast, too.” Jenny noted that Mariella was
still holding Seth’s hand. “Let me ask you something.  You have a big family in Milan. 
Tomorrow’s Christmas.  Why aren’t you home?”

“
Oh, no.  Like you say...a very big family.  With too much drama this year.” Mariella
shook her head. “I thought I would spend Christmas in Paris.  Then I thought of you,
Jenny...I wondered if you might be alone on Christmas, too.” She looked from Jenny
to Seth. “I was wrong.”

“
You’re going to be alone tomorrow?” Seth asked.  Jenny frowned, thinking
I’m going to kill him if he invites her—
“You could come here if you want.  Jenny’s making some French dish with a duck. 
Then I’m going to heal the duck back to life and let it fly around our apartment.”

“
That’s really sick,” Jenny said.

Mariella looked at Jenny, then down at the floor. “I don’t want to get in the way.”

Now Jenny started feeling bad for the girl.  If she was telling the truth, she was
lonely, she’d only just found the only people in the world who were like her, and
they were basically rejecting her.  Or Jenny was, anyway.  She thought of her dad
back home, having Christmas without her, and felt a little sad.  She wondered how
Rocky was doing.  The last time she’d seen her dog, he was much more comfortable around
people, much less frightened.  That could be dangerous, if Jenny ever saw him again. 
Which, she reminded herself, she probably wouldn’t.  She nearly burst into tears,
thinking about her father...the stupid pregnancy hormones striking again.

“
Just come, if you want to,” Jenny said. “There’s going to be too much food, anyway.”

“
You don’t have to invite me over,” Mariella said.

“
Seriously,” Jenny said. “I want you here.  Freaks like us should stick together, when
we’re not too busy trying to kill each other.” Jenny sighed to herself.  Even if the
girl was deceiving them about anything, it was better to keep an eye on her until
Jenny could figure out what she wanted. 
Friends close, enemies closer
, Jenny thought.

Besides, Jenny thought she was beginning to remember this girl from their last life. 
Keeping her around would clarify those memories.

“
Who wants eggnog?” Seth asked.

* * *

Later, after Mariella had gone home, Jenny lay awake in bed.  She still couldn’t be
sure whether she’d made a new friend or met a new enemy, and it worried her.  Even
if the girl was telling the truth, that meant Seth was in danger, while Jenny’s fate,
and that of the baby growing inside her, remained unknown.

“
I think I remember her,” Jenny whispered.

“
Her?” Seth asked, his eyes opening easily.  He hadn’t been asleep, but he’d been trying,
or maybe faking to avoid Jenny’s inevitable teasing about the other girl.  Jenny was
holding that in reserve for now, though.

“
Mariella,” Jenny said, as if he didn’t know who she’d meant. “I think she was in our
last life.  Maybe there’s unfinished business.”

“
What kind of unfinished business?” Seth rose up on his elbow, facing her.  His hand
went to her hip, then down along the waistband of her soft flannel pajamas. “I can
think of some unfinished business we need to take care of.”

“
I’m serious,” Jenny said, though she did nothing to stop Seth from hooking a finger
under her waistband and sliding it down her hip. “Maybe her opposite’s involved, too. 
The one who’s hunting you?”

“
Right.  Like I’m hunting you right now.”  He leaned in close to the exposed curve
of her pale hip, his mouth open like he meant to bite her.

“
Stop being cute,” she said.

“
Can’t help it.”

“
Listen, if she’s telling the truth, we could be in a lot of danger.  You don’t know
what happened last time.”

“
No, tell me.  I’ll be down here listening.” Seth kissed his way from her hip to her
lower belly, tugging her pajamas down as he went.

“
This is important, Seth.  You should, you know, arm yourself with knowledge.”

“
Arm yourself with knowledge?” Seth looked up at her, laughing. “Really?  That’s almost
as bad as the time you said ‘unhand me’!”

“
And when did I say that?”

“
It was...” His eyes scrunched up as he struggled to remember.  Then he smiled. “The
haunted house!  Right?  On our first date?”

“
The haunted house where you worked.”

“
Right.  The haunted house where I...but when did I do that?”

“
A lifetime ago.  Your memories are bleeding through.”

“
Do they have to be ‘bleeding’ through?” Seth asked. “Can’t they be nicely, gently
drifting through?”

“
I’m still having trouble with our most recent lives...Alexander didn’t want me to
remember those, because of my memories with you.”

“
That bastard,” Seth said quickly.

“
But our last life is coming together slowly.  If I tell you what happened, maybe you’ll
start to remember, too.  And we won’t miss anything, like whether your new girlfriend
might be planning to ax-murder us, any details like that.”

“
She’s not going to ax-murder us,” Seth said.

“
You’re right.  She’ll probably use those high heels.  And I’ll be in my sneakers,
unarmed.”

“
You’d just hit her with flying plaguey-pox.”

“
That’s true,” Jenny said. “And she’d do that pouty frown thing until it ate off her
lips.  Now, listen, I have to catch you up on the story.”