The Sign of Fear (9 page)

Emily shoved Christina out of the way. She pulled the door open a crack and quickly slipped through it. Christina couldn't see a thing before Emily slammed the door behind her.

The moaning stopped. Christina stood frozen in the hallway. She didn't know what to do.

What's really in there? she wondered. What is Emily Peterson doing? Heart pounding in fear, Christina remembered all the horrible rumors she'd heard in the village.

Rumors that the Petersons practiced the dark arts. That they captured people and tortured them. Is
Emily torturing someone now? Is that what she was doing in her room?

Christina remembered a conversation she once heard while doing the shopping for Aunt Jane.

“I hear they eat people alive,” Mistress Tucker said.

“I hear they boil them and then eat them,” Mistress Brown answered.

“And I hear,” Mistress Dennison spoke up, her voice no more than a whisper, “that they drain their victims' blood and drink it while it's still warm.”

I can't just walk away, Christina thought. Not if Emily's holding somebody prisoner in there. I have to find out what is going on.

She reached for Emily's doorlatch.

“Stay away,” a voice behind the door whispered.

“Christina Davis, stay away! Or I will make you very sorry.”

Christina turned and picked up her bucket. Then she ran down the stairs as fast as she could. She didn't even stop to mop up the water she spilled in the hall. Mistress Peterson might not give her any breakfast. But Christina didn't care anymore.

All she cared about was getting away from Emily's room and its deadly secrets.

Mistress Peterson studied Christina from head to foot as she lugged the bucket into the kitchen. Then she nodded as if satisfied.

She likes my fear, Christina thought. She wants me to be afraid.

“You can throw that dirty water out into the yard,” Mistress Peterson said. “And that room upstairs better be spotless when I check it later.”

Christina nodded. “Yes, ma'am,” she said as she headed out the kitchen door.

Silently, she made a vow to clean up the water she
had spilled as soon as she finished eating. When she returned to the kitchen, Mistress Peterson gave her a meager breakfast of thin gruel and cold potatoes. Then she put Christina to work again.

Work.

Work.

Work.

Christina's days slipped into a dismal pattern. She arose at first light. She worked all day. She fell into her bed exhausted each night. After what felt like moments, Mistress Peterson shook her awake. Forcing her to begin another day.

Sometimes while Christina cleaned, she allowed herself to daydream about Matthew. About the day he would come back for her.

Emily did no work at all, as far as Christina could tell. She stayed upstairs in her bedroom most of the time. Except for her trips into the woods.

Every day Emily went to the woods with a basket over her arm. When she came back, things inside the basket cried and wriggled.

Christina never had a chance to see what Emily brought home from the woods. Emily always took the basket straight upstairs to her room.

And Christina stayed away from Emily's room. She felt too frightened to go near it. But she could still hear the moans whenever she was upstairs.

Then, one day, Christina woke up before Mistress Peterson came for her. She couldn't figure out why—until she realized the moans had stopped. An unnatural silence filled the house.

Christina quickly dressed and tiptoed down the hall.

She pressed her ear to the door of Emily's room.

I know it is forbidden. But I must see what is inside.
If I can find out what she is doing, maybe I can stop it. And maybe I can find a way to escape from here.

“Christina Davis! Get down here this instant!” Mistress Peterson's voice shot up the stairs.

Christina jumped. She jerked away from Emily's bedroom. I will get my chance. Someday, she promised herself.

“There you are!” Mistress Peterson exclaimed as Christina hurried into the sitting room. “You're late. You'll get no breakfast. Start your chores right away.”

Christina's stomach growled. I'm so hungry, she thought. If I eat any less, I'll die.

“Emily and I are going out this morning,” Mistress Peterson informed Christina. “We are going to the village. You are going to stay here and clean the sitting room walls.”

Something is happening, Christina thought. Something is wrong.

The Petersons rarely went to town. They knew they were not welcome there.

“Christina!” Mistress Peterson's sharp voice cut through Christina's thoughts. “Are you listening to me?”

“Yes, ma'am,” Christina answered. “You want me to clean the sitting room walls.”

Mistress Peterson gave a satisfied sniff. “That's very good, Christina. I'm pleased to see you're learning how to behave. It doesn't do to have too much pride, you know. Particularly not in your situation.”

Emily giggled from the doorway.

Hot color flooded Christina's face. She could feel her cheeks begin to burn.

I'll discover your secret, Emily, she thought. You won't do so much laughing then.

“What a pity you can't come to the village with us,
Christina,” Emily said. “What a shame you're only a servant and have to stay at home. But I'm sure Matthew will understand the reason you can't see him.”

Matthew! Christina thought. Are they going to visit Matthew?

Emily smiled when she noticed Christina's upset expression. Her teeth were sharp and pointed, like a cat's.

Oh, Matthew, Christina thought. Don't be fooled by Emily's beauty. Remember your promise to me.

“I expect this room to be perfect by the time we return, Christina,” Mistress Peterson said. She drew on her cloak. Tenderly, she wrapped Emily up against the chill spring air.

“Yes, ma'am,” Christina answered once again. She followed the Petersons into the yard and drew a bucket of water from the well.

“Come along, Emily,” Mistress Peterson commanded as she climbed into the wagon. “We've wasted enough time.”

Emily marched past Christina with a swirl of pale blue skirts. Her golden hair glowed in the sun. Christina fought down an impulse to toss the bucket of water over Emily's head.

Mistress Peterson clicked her tongue to the horse. The wagon rumbled out of the yard. Christina returned to the sitting room. When she could no longer hear the wagon, she picked up the bucket and threw it against the sitting room wall.

The bucket burst with the force of Christina's throw. Dirty water streaked down the walls.

I hate you both! she thought. I will be so happy the day I leave this house forever!

Christina dashed up to Emily's room. Taking the steps two at a time.

She pressed her ear against the door. Complete silence.

Her hand crept toward the doorlatch.

I shouldn't do this, Christina thought. Emily told me to stay out. She warned me to stay away.

But her hand kept moving, in spite of Emily's warning. Christina swung the door open—and stuck her head inside.

Huge faces stared back at Christina. Their mouths open wide.

Christina shrieked and stumbled back into the hall. She expected the creatures to come after her. But they didn't. The house remained still and silent.

She slowly stood, then cautiously inched back to Emily's door. Still perfectly quiet. Christina peeked inside.

Mirrors! Mirrors covered all the walls—and the ceiling. I was frightened by my own reflection!

Christina stepped into Emily's room. It's like a shrine, she thought. A shrine to her incredible beauty.

The thought made Christina feel sick.

Holding her breath, Christina crept forward. Her mirror images crept with her. Halfway across the room, she saw it.

A human hand.

Christina gagged and covered her mouth. All around her, the mirror images did the same.

The hand sat on a shelf above Emily's bed. The wrist had been nailed to a block of wood. The fingers extended upward into the air. They appeared black and withered.

Merciful heavens! Christina thought. What kind of
evil is this? Her eyes ran across the shelf. A jar of spiders. A jar of rat tails. A jar of round white balls with darkened centers.

Eyeballs! Christina thought.

And then the moaning began.

Christina covered her ears to block out the horrible sound. A thousand panicked Christinas did the same in the mirrors all around her. Christina could see their eyes staring in terror. Their mouths gaping wide open.

Christina followed the moaning sound to a clay jar on the shelf. Nothing can make me look into that jar, she thought. Nothing. Not even if it will make the moaning stop.

The moaning grew louder. “Christina.
Christinaaaaaaa. ”

The thing in the jar is calling my name!

It knows my name!

Christina turned to run.

I've got to get out of here! I've got to run away and never come back. This is an evil, unnatural place.

She stumbled to the doorway. The door slammed shut in her face.

“No!”
Christina gasped. Her knees felt weak. Her whole body too heavy to move.

The moaning filled her head. Jabs of pain shot out from the center of her brain. She couldn't think.

“What do you want? What do you want from me?” she screeched.

Then she caught sight of a tall, narrow bookcase. Its shelves were filled with tiny vials. Christina took a step toward it.

The moaning stopped abruptly. Christina moved closer to the bookcase and stared at the vials.

They were empty. A rust-colored sediment stained their sides. Each vial had been carefully labeled with a name.

Christina noticed a full vial behind the others—with her name neatly printed on the label.

Christina snatched the vial up. It was filled with bright red liquid. Christina knew at once what it was.

Blood,
she thought.
My blood!

C
hristina hurled the vial to the floor.

Her blood ran out in a thin, red stream. It stained the floor of Emily's room.

No, Emily! You are not going to use my blood for your evil. And you can clean it up yourself. I'm leaving this horrible place.

Then she turned and bolted to the door.

The door would not budge. She couldn't move it at all.

I've got to get out of here! Away from this evil. If I don't, my heart will surely explode!

Heat spread over her chest. The skin growing hotter and hotter.

Christina's breath rasped inside her throat. She tugged on her bodice.

Tight! It's too tight!

Her fingers found something round and hot. Christina pulled it out.

The silver pendant.

It glittered in the dim light. The blue stones sparkled so brightly Christina could hardly bear to look at them.

Dazzled by the blue stones, Christina turned the pendant over. For the first time she realized that an inscription covered the back.

The words were in Latin. Christina could just make them out.

Dominatio per malum.

What does that mean? Christina wondered.

Her father had been a scholar. He had taught her some Latin.

Think! You know those words! Christina thought. You know what they mean!

Dominatio.

Dominatio meant power.

Malum.

Malum meant evil.

Dominatio per malum. Power through evil.

Piercing pain lanced through Christina. She felt as if she had taken a bolt of lightning straight to the head.

Fire roared all around her.

For an instant, a grinning skull appeared in the flames.

It's the pendant, she thought. I've got to put down the pendant.

But she couldn't do it. Her fingers were locked around it.

Christina swayed on her feet. The room around her went black.