The Crimson Key (6 page)

“I never heard of ‘em. But I can look for ya, if you want me to. If you come back in some time maybe I will have some information on ‘em.” She played with her burnt hair, twirling it around her fingers.

“How did you end up here in this library?” I asked her curiously.  She smiled
, happy to give me some information.

“When my uncle’s place burnt up they built this library in its place. It was about twenty years after but I roamed the land for years before it came. Once it did I was happy to have a home
,” she smiled and bowed. “I am the library ghost at your service.” I laughed.

She was one of the funniest ghosts I had encountered.

“Angie, do you know any books about ghosts?” I felt stupid asking, but she was the library ghost after all.

“Of course
, let me get you a few … uh … what’s your name?”

“Brylee.”

“Well, get back to your machine, Brylee. I will be back in a jiffy.” And she was gone.

I gave up on finding anything on the Barclay sisters for now. My eyes had enough and my mom would be here soon. While I waited for Angie to return
, my phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out and saw a text from Lyn.

Need 2 talk!

Now she needed to talk to me? When I was busy, not when we had the same class together or maybe when we ate lunch together? No! When I was in the library talking to the ghost of all information.

Later 2nite k?

She sent back: K

A pile of books landed on my lap with a thud as Angie appeared out of nowhere. She looked proud of her accomplishment.

“Thanks, girl!” I told her. “I will try to come back next week, same day. Is that okay?”

“Yep
, I will see what I can find out ‘bout these Barclay women. Bye, Brylee.” She waved and disappeared again.

I crawled into the car with a bag full of books about spirits beyond the grave and how to deal with them. Mom was clueless; she thought they were all books on stuff I should be studying about for school, not stuff I was studying to save my friend and boyfriend. As we drove home, I wondered how she would take the news if I told her everything that had happened to the three of us. Would she believe me? I immediately knew the answer would be no.

I waited for Lyn outside our garden, or what was left of it. She hadn’t tended to it, leaving it all up to me, so therefore everything died. You can say my thumb wasn’t green. I killed everything in my path and would continue to do so if I didn’t get a handle on things. She came up to me with her head down, wearing a sweater and long pants. The night was hot and I was sweating just looking at her. I knew her rash was back because she was hiding it again.

“So you wanted to talk?” I said
, breaking the silence. She nodded and bit her lip.

“This isn’t going to be easy for me
, but it’s for your own good,” she replied as she crossed her arms. “I don’t think it’s a good idea for us to be friends anymore.” I don’t know what I had been expecting from this talk, but it wasn’t that.

My mouth fell open and nothing came out. I was unable to speak
, I was too hurt.

“My future is over. My life is over
, too. It’s best if you and I break things now so that when it happens there is less sadness.” Her eyes were stone cold and she looked like the mean version of my best friend.

“So that’s your reason for breaking up with me? So I won’t be
sad
!” I had found my voice and I intended on using it. “That’s the stupidest thing I have ever heard!”

“You might think that
, yes. However, I think it’s for the best. I don’t want any attachments.” She paused for a moment, her head tilted to the side. “I have been talking to someone and they have been giving me advice. She helps me to deal with my fate.”

“Who are you talking to?” I wanted to know which idiot gave her this advice.

“You don’t know her. But I can tell you she’s special.” A ghost maybe?

“Is she a Brown?” I asked
, hoping she would give me a little more information. She shook her head, but I didn’t believe her.

“The Browns want nothing to do with us
, Brylee. Do you honestly think they would welcome us with open arms when we die and are trapped in their house?” Her voice sounded cold. “They hate us Mayhews and don’t care how much time has passed. For them, the feud hasn’t ended.” I hadn’t thought about this part because I never wanted to think that far. I wanted to end this nightmare before it got to that point. I reached out for her hand, but she turned away from me. She stared up at my house with evil in her eyes.

“Brylee
, you won’t save us. You can’t. You have this gift, but you know nothing about how to harness it. You are going to fail and you will lose us both.” It felt like she had just stabbed me with a knife in my heart.

“A gift? Is that what you think this is? My seeing ghosts is a burden
, and look what it did to you.” I was starting to cry now but she didn’t care. Her eyes stayed fixed on the house. “I promised you that I would find a way to save you—”

“No
, Brylee, you won’t,” she interrupted. Her gaze was fixed on me. “You have all these big ideas because you’re emotionally involved. That’s why I have to end our friendship. I will try my best to stay away from you. If you’re smart you will end things with Ephraim, too.” She turned on her heel and went inside. I felt like the air had been sucked out of the earth as I stood there, lost. I couldn’t breathe or cry. I wanted to, trust me I did, but the shock had taken a toll on me. I ran to my house, up the stairs, and slammed my bedroom door. I couldn’t take losing her to this curse. Now I lost her before I even had a chance to help her, all because
someone
told her she had to deal with her fate. I had a feeling this someone was the ghost in the basement. If she wasn’t already dead, I would have killed her for ruining my friendship with Lynley.

The next day I woke up feeling like crap. My head hurt and my body ached like never before. I didn’t want to face Lynley at school so I begged my mom to let me stay home. I was pretty convincing at acting like I was sick. She said yes, so I crawled back into my bed and slept my misery away until about noon. When I got up I ate a bowl of stale cereal and went back to bed. This time I didn’t sleep, I went through my new library books. They were old, that was for sure. Dust flew around my room as I shuffled through them. These books hadn’t been in anyone’s hands for quite some time; I probably was the first in about ten years. Angie had hit the jackpot with most of them, although a few of them were not what I needed. One hit my interest right away. It was deep burgundy red and I had never seen a jacket cover like it before. It seemed to be made of a waxy substance. I ran my fingers over it, thinking about what Lynley had told me yesterday about my so-called gift. If this was something I would be stuck with—seeing ghosts—then I would start here by reading this no-named book. I flipped open the first page, and as soon as I did I felt a large amount of mist hit my face. My heart ached because I knew what was happening. The hair on my neck stood up as I looked around my room, which was full of dead Browns staring at me. Their mouths hung open in either shock or horror at the book I held in my hands. Overwhelmed by the intensity of it all, I squeezed my eyes shut and slammed the book closed. Once I caught my breath, I opened one eye. Luckily, my room was empty.

Heaving a sigh of relief, I
opened the book again. The same exact thing happened. Only this time Kayla joined them. She sat on my bed with her mouth hanging open and her eyes filled with tears. She looked so desperate I couldn’t help but place my hand on hers.

“Oww!” she screamed.

“What happened?” I asked her. The other ghosts backed away from me and were practically clinging to the walls for support. Something about this book frightened them and hurt Kayla. She rubbed her hand as I stood on now wobbly legs. I didn’t understand what was happening to them. I walked around, trying to get as close to them as I could. Some of them screamed while others cried. This book was more powerful than I thought. Kayla scrambled as I got near her.

“I’m not gonna hurt you
, Kayla,” I reassured her. “What is it that scares you about this book?”

“I can’t tell you what it is
, because I don’t know,” she answered hotly. “But whatever it is sort of makes me feel soulless and empty. I totally don’t like that thing. Put it away, please.” I did as she asked and put it down on the bed. Once I did the others went away, but Kayla stayed. She collapsed on my bed looking like she had run a marathon.

“I wonder what it is
about it that hurts you so much,” I pondered as I paced back and forth, waiting for her to regain her strength. It could have been something very important to my quest in ending the curse. I had to find out more about it. That was impossible to do if the spirits were going to invade my room every time I opened it. I had to get some privacy while I read.

“Are you doing okay?” I asked Kayla as she stood.

“Yeah, I’m cool now. Just a momentary ghost breakdown but I’m cool,” she joked. “I actually came here to talk to you some more. I know I left a little abruptly last time.”

I had totally forgotten about our last visit and the cryptic message she had given me. I was shocked to find out about her and John’s little rendezvous. Maybe it was so gross that my mind chose to forget about it.

“So you’re here to tell me more I assume?” I asked her.

Folding her arms
, she sat down on my bed. “Not if you’re gonna bring out that book again!”

I picked up the book and put it in my closet. “There
, it’s all gone!” She relaxed and sat back on my pillows.

“So I left off when we got into the house
, right?” I nodded and she closed her eyes as if to try to remember back then. “We went upstairs to the sister’s bedroom even though I didn’t want to. I was totally freaked out until he called me a sissy. Then I said, ‘screw it’ and went upstairs with him. When he opened the door it smelled like cat piss and mold. Which, by the way, is not at all what you want to smell when you’re on a date.

“Anyway
, their beds were still there, perfectly made, and there were clothes still in the dressers. It was like they never left, except that it was insanely dusty in there.”

“Wait
,” I interrupted. “I thought squatters went in there at night. How was their stuff not vandalized like crazy? Or stolen even.”

She started biting her fingernails and nodded her head. “Exactly my point at how weird it was. So shut it and let me finish
,” she said sternly. Giving up, I threw my hands in the air and took a seat at my window.

“So
, like I said, it was really well preserved. I didn’t say anything to him about it, I just watched him run his fingers over their stuff like he had some insane fetish with it. I tried to ignore the creepiness I felt, but I couldn’t. I asked him if we could leave and hang somewhere else, but he just ignored me as he stroked their stuff.” I tried to imagine John doing this but it was too weird. John was a major jerk at times, but I didn’t think he was a weirdo. I guess you never really know everyone. When I first moved here he gave me a hard time and tried to hit on me. Of course I was already into Ephraim and was not interested in the least.

“Finally
, when he realized I was still in the room, he asked me to take a seat on the bed. So I did, and it was weird to sit where they slept. Yeah I liked witchcraft and all, but they scared me. They were some pretty badass witches and I didn’t want to piss them off.”

For a minute she paused. I gave her a little time before I asked
, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah
, it’s just hard to remember I guess.”

“Did he … he hurt you?” I asked. I would kill him if he did.

“No, nothing like that. He told me his family secret that night and I don’t really know why he did. Really I think it was because he thought I was like him, but I wasn’t. I promise, Brylee, I am not like him,” she said urgently.

“Kayla
, tell me now! I can’t take it anymore,” I begged her. All the anticipation of waiting to hear this news was killing me.

“He sat down next to me and took my hand. He asked me if I trusted him
, so I nodded, but I didn’t really trust him. Not truly. He never paid any attention to me except in private, how could I trust someone who was like that?” I felt for her in that moment. However John treated her was wrong. Kayla was awesome and everyone should have treated her better while she was alive. I knew her history; she was ridiculed for being different than anyone else at our school. When she went missing no one really cared. There was a small search party for a few weeks and then the town gave up. Her mother moved away and everything went back to normal. No one at school ever mentioned her and no one seemed to care.

“He told me that he and some of his family members preserve the house in anticipation for the Barclay sisters’ return. I was too shocked to leave but I should have bolted out the door at the word trust. He told me he worked for someone
, he wouldn’t tell me who, but apparently this woman he worked for was deep into the craft.” My head swam at this news, but I was still so confused. I didn’t understand why John would want the sisters to return. What did he gain in that?