The Crimson Key (2 page)

“Can I sneak in tonight?” he asked
, kissing my neck.

“Of course
, don’t you always?”

“Okay
, tonight it is, babe. Now get downstairs and go shopping.” Regretfully,
I got up and he lay back down on his bed. His smile gleeful and alive made me take mental pictures of how beautiful and lively he was right now. What would I do when he started to become depressed?

I left his room
, closing the door gently behind me and resting my head on the doorframe. I hated saying good-bye to him; I never knew if I would see him again.

I finally tore away from his room and met my mom downstairs. She was drinking tea with Carole as they discussed shopping in Atlantic City.

“Just don’t give your money to the gypsies, they are a total scam,” Carole said. My mom’s eyes grew wide with apparent fear. “They won’t gut you on the boardwalk or anything. They just pretend to be psychics and it’s all fake.”

“We’ll steer clear of them then. I don’t need to know my fortune anyway. I already know what it is
,” Mom said.

“What is it then?” I asked
, playing along.

“I’ll be stuck in New Jersey for the rest of my miserable life and eaten alive by these mosquitoes.” We all laughed at the truth of the joke. Lynley appeared in the doorway
, staring at me blankly. She didn’t find it humorous, but at this point she didn’t think anything was funny. She was falling apart and I didn’t know what to do. I stood by her side, but she stared blankly at the floor, not noticing my presence.

“Lynley
, why don’t you go shopping with them? You could use a day out of the house; fresh air will make you feel better. It may even take away your rash,” Carole said.

“Rash? What rash?” I blurted. Lyn gave her mom a death stare at the mention of her skin condition and I did notice she was wearing long sleeves in this blistering heat. She tugged the sleeves down around the edges of her wrist to hide something. I pulled them up
, revealing huge red bumps along her skin.

“Oh
, Lyn, what happened?” I said as I carefully inspected them. I had never seen anything like this. I have had chicken pox, stress rashes, and the measles. This didn’t resemble any of that at all. It was almost purplish-red and spread all over except her face and hands. I didn’t know about the lower half of her body, but I assumed it was there as well.

“Her doctor ran tests and he thinks it is just nerves
,” Carole spoke up protectively. “He said she should take all sorts of anti-anxiety drugs, but I said no.  I don’t want my baby on meds.”

I wasn’t so sure that was the best course of action. Lyn seemed to really need the medication. I wasn’t a professional
, but this needed treatment. A little anti-stress medication might have helped her with her anxiety, too.

“Do you want to go out with us? Do you feel like it?” I asked Lyn. She kept her head down and didn’t say a word.

“Of course she does, right, Lyn?” her mom pressed. She nodded, going along with her, but I knew Lyn didn’t want to go. She wasn’t feeling well and it was apparent. She would go with us anyway because her mom wanted her to. Lyn usually did whatever it was her mom wanted. When I first met her, Carole Mayhew worked all the time to raise her kids and was hardly ever around, so it gave Lyn and Ephraim a lot of freedom. Now she has a steady job and she is home more. She keeps a tight leash on both of them. Ephraim and I see each other more by sneaking around then we do in public. It seemed to me that Carole didn’t like me spending so much time with her son. I didn’t have solid proof of that yet, but it was just a hunch. Every time I called here for him she would bark that he was sleeping and rudely hang up on me. She was also never nice to me. She was cordially nice in front of people, but she didn’t go out of her way to be kind.

“Lynley
, you’re welcome to come with us,” my mom said as she put an arm around her. My mom loved Lyn, I think she would adopt her if she could. She always wanted two daughters. It would be a perfect dream for her to shop with her two perfect children. Instead, she got me.

I followed them out the door and Carole grabbed me by the arm
, yanking me back in to the house. I stumbled and almost fell from her pull. She did nothing to settle me.

“Do you not like my daughter anymore
, Brylee?” she snarled at me. I was dumbfounded by this question. “Since you only hung out with her to get to my son, is that right?”

“No
, of course not! I love Lynley like a sister.” I jerked free from her grasp, her nails leaving deep gashes in my upper arm.

“But you love my son the most.” With that she left me standing by the door alone. What the hell did she mean by that? Turning
, I walked out of the house, letting the screen slam on my way out.

I didn’t mention anything to Lynley or Mom about what happened with Carole. I just sat quietly in the backseat
, letting Lyn ride shotgun. They talked about the city and what shops they wanted to visit. I didn’t care anymore. All I needed was my bed and Ephraim in it. I didn’t know why Mrs. Mayhew had acted the way she did. Maybe she was being an overprotective parent, or heck, maybe she didn’t want me with her son. Honestly, if she knew what was going on with them, she would really hate me. It was all my fault. I took the blame for everything.

When we arrived in the city
, I stared at what was supposed to be like a little Las Vegas. It wasn’t even close. Sure the hotels were awesome, but the city itself was nothing special. I did enjoy the old historic churches that sat on street corners, with their gothic style designs. There was something so beautiful about them. I tried to ignore the homeless people and hookers standing on the same corners, though. We rounded a corner and I looked at an old building that stretched toward the sky. It was beautiful with it’s faded rustic red paint and old windows. As we stopped at the red light, I couldn’t take my eyes off the building for some reason. It was as if something was pulling me to the abandoned building. Then, just before the car lurched forward, a face appeared in one of the broken windows on the top floor. His face stared down at mine, a gash going from the top of his head to his jaw. I held my scream inside and didn’t say a thing to my mom or Lyn.

We drove past it
, and when I looked back he was gone. Chills covered my whole body despite the fact that it was at least 90 degrees in here. I was starting to see the dead in more places now. I didn’t know why they were showing themselves to me, but they knew I could see them. They knew my secret even if my parent’s did not.

Mom pulled into a parking lot that cost ten dollars to park in
, and I got out to stretch my legs from the hour long drive. The heat warmed me and I forgot all about my recent fear. I was here to have a good time, not see spirits. I would keep my head down and focus on the living.

Lynley stood beside me with a fresh smile. It was nice to see this on her face.

“What changed?” I asked, thinking out loud. Pulling the long sleeve shirt off, she revealed a tank top, the rash disappearing as we stood there.

“I don’t know what changed
, but I feel different. Maybe my mom was right, I needed fresh air.” It was remarkable, but the sea air did seem to be making her feel better. I didn’t care what it was. My friend was back and happy, and that was enough for me. Linking arms with her, we strolled toward the shopping strip, my mom walking briskly ahead of us. I noticed the array of teenage girls with too many bags full of overly expensive stuff. These girls had money, or rather Mommy and Daddy did.

Mom slipped into a store and turned to face us. “Stay on this side and don’t cross the street. I will meet you at the Starbucks in half an hour.” We nodded. Glancing at Lyn
, I rolled my eyes. Don’t cross the street! If she only knew the dangerous stuff I had done already she would think crossing the street was a walk in the park. Lyn giggled and we both eyed the Hollister and went in, knowing we both loved that store. The smell of men’s cologne was like heaven in this store. The music was blaring and the summer clothes screamed ‘buy me’. I went straight for the dresses and Lyn to the T-shirts. I rifled through the flowery prints, hoping to find something that struck me with interest. “Look,” Lyn said coming toward me. It was a baby blue dress with no flowers. She knew me well and I grabbed it from her.

“Thanks
, now let’s find you something.” She held up a plain tee with the store’s logo on it. It was typical Lyn to buy something so plain. She followed me to the dressing room and I ran smack into Marcy. Marcy was our schools uber-slutty bully. She scowled at me as she pushed me off of her like I had a disease.

“Ugh
, school dorks shopping in the cool store. You hoping to gain some status in the school in senior year?” Her face scrunched up. “I think you need more than cool clothes to do that.” I’d had a few run-ins with Marcy already this year. It was clear that no matter what Lyn and I did, we would forever be on her dork list.

“You know
, Marcy, it doesn’t matter that you shop here either,” I started as I stood to my full height. I was a bit taller than her and not afraid of her in the least. “Cool clothes will never erase what a bitch you are.” Lyn gasped and held her mouth. Marcy’s already scrunched face grew twisted with anger and embarrassment. It was always her Achilles’ heel to be called a bitch. She stepped forward, not showing fear either. This could possibly turn ugly if she let it. I had never gotten into a fight, but I would love to punch her. She had tormented too many people at Wilson High and nobody ever stood up to her except for me.

“Watch your step
, Branson,” she said as she moved around me. I thought for a moment I saw a tear in her eye. Throwing her clothes to the ground, she walked out of the store.

Lyn laughed. “That was epic
, Brylee. You managed to insult her and keep your face in one piece.”

After we paid for our stuff, we went into the Starbucks to order lattes. My mom wasn’t there yet, so we waited. I didn’t mind hanging out with Lyn for a while. It had been too long since we had some alone time. Every time we tried, she was always too depressed. She had no hint of that depression today, though. She sipped her drink and we talked about school and our summer plans. Ephraim’s graduation was only weeks away and our summer would begin. He didn’t make plans for college this fall, which was a huge mistake. Ephraim didn’t think there was hope for him, I didn’t agree. This curse was ruining his chances at doing anything with his life. I tried to make him understand that I would find a cure even if I died trying. He usually ignored me or changed the subject.

“So did you get a new bathing suit yet?” Lyn asked
, taking me away from thoughts of Ephraim.

“No
, not yet. I will just wear my old one. No one will care.” It was the last thing on my mind, going to the beach. However, Lynley seemed to be doing so much better with the air coming from it now, that I thought she wanted to spend as much time here as possible.

“Hey
, Lynley, do you think your mom doesn’t like me?” I didn’t want to discuss it, but I felt I needed to. I loved them both so much that I couldn’t stand someone disliking me.

“Why? Did she say something to make you think that?” The pain in her face made me think this was a huge mistake.

“No, of course not. It’s just me, I bet,” I lied. “I guess I got the wrong impression.” She bought my lie and we talked summer again.

Mom had bought three new outfits for summer and she suggested we walk the boardwalk. I’d been looking forward to it since we moved here. After hearing so many great things about saltwater taffy, I craved it. We hit that store first, stuffing our faces with all the flavors there were. I knew I would regret that decision very soon as my stomach had already started to grumble.

“Let’s go look at bathing suits
,” Lyn suggested after we left the candy store. I stared at her in amazement. The pale girl who never goes in the sun wants to look at suits? Okay, I’ll play. We left my mom in a bookstore to search for the right place. After visiting two stores, Lyn found a cute shop that had one piece suits that fit her style.

Not wanting to hang out and wait for her to try on the seven she had picked out
, I asked, “Do you mind if I look around for a bit outside?”

“No way! Go
, I’ll meet you back her in a bit.” She ducked inside the dressing room and I ventured outside. The seagulls call was beautiful, so I went to the other side of the boardwalk to look at the ocean. It was furious with frothy waves that slammed the shore. I noticed a slight chill in the air and thought maybe a storm was coming. One thing I would never understand was New Jersey weather. It could be beautiful and sunny one day, and freezing rain the next. Sighing, I went back toward the shops. I didn’t see the woman approach me until she was up in my face. Her sleek black hair reached the back of her knees in length; her brown eyes were wide and her lips grim. She looked terrified as she grabbed my arm, yanking me toward a small shop that smelled like too much incense was being burned.

“Let go of me
!” I yelled, but she fought me into the shop. I had no strength to get her off of me; she was stronger than me. Once we were in the shop, the beads that hung in the doorway swayed irritably.