This Changes Everything (5 page)

The hooded man
rose to his feet. “With the help of Okeus, my son will defeat you, Ahone.”
Pride and anger drenched his words.

“He will try, and
he will fail. The girl will be his downfall.”

“No!” A guttural
sound rumbled from the man and he lifted the knife, lunging for Ellie.

She screamed and
the orb exploded, filling the room with a light brighter than Ellie had ever
seen. The blast of light sent the man flying out the door and into a crumpled
heap in the hall. His head rose and his face twisted with fear.

“I have let you
live out of my infinite mercy, Curse Keeper, but my patience has worn thin.” The
light’s voice boomed, shaking the walls.

“Dailey! Where
the fuck are you?” the bad man downstairs shouted. “Did you find her?”

The man’s hood
had slipped from his head, puddling on his shoulders and leaving his dark, wavy
hair a ruffled mess. A dazed look filled his eyes, and his gaze landed on
Ellie.

“Dailey!”

The light pulsed.
“
Go
!
”

The man slowly
got up off the floor. “No,” he answered, then paused before speaking louder. “The
bitch was right. She’s not here. Let’s get out of here.” His footsteps hurried
down the hall and to the bottom steps.

The ball of light
folded in on itself until it became a soft, glowing orb about the size of a
baseball floating in front of Ellie’s face. It blocked her path, moving with
her as she tried to get around it. She cried out in frustration.

“Not yet,” the
light said, his voice becoming gentle again.

The nice voice
had turned mean, but he’d done it to save her, right? Didn’t that make him
good? “What are you?” Ellie whispered between hiccuped breaths.

“Not what, but
who
.
And you will find out soon enough.”

Ellie looked out
the door, expecting the man to come back and kill her, but all she saw was the
shadow close to the floor. It jerked, then stopped moving. She screamed, releasing
a fresh round of sobs.

“
Ellie
?
”
her mother’s soft cry came from the hall. “Ellie, are you okay? Momma’s here.”

“
Momma
!
”
Ellie screamed until she was hoarse, fighting against the force still holding
her in place. “
Momma
!
”
she wailed, becoming light-headed from her hysteria.

“Ellie.” Her
mother’s voice was faint.

The light bounced
in front of Ellie for several seconds before fading until it was barely
visible, then moving to the side.

Ellie burst from
the closet, pushing off the floor with the fingertips of one hand while she
clutched Bunny with the other. Blinded by her tears, she tripped on her
nightgown and fell to her knees in the puddle of blood in front of her closet,
releasing another high-pitched scream.

“Ellie!” her
mother’s faint voice called, terrified.

“Momma!” Ellie
called out, finally getting to her feet and running out the door. But she
stopped in the doorway at the sight of her mother.

Momma lay on her side,
her body sideways across the floor. The front of her shirt was soaked in blood.
“
Mommaaaaa
!
”
The word gushed out in a wail of grief and fright as she took in the large puddle
of blood covering the floor.

Her mother’s head
shifted to the side and she rolled on her back as her eyes found her
daughter’s. “Ellie, call 911.”

Ellie froze in
panic, unable to move or even breathe.

“Ellie, it’s
okay.” Her mother used her soft voice, the one that made Ellie believe
everything would be all right. Her eyes sank closed and she released a gurgled
breath before opening her eyes with a sad smile. “Come here and sit with me.”
Her hand lifted off the floor and her fingers curled inward.

Ellie’s chest
released and she sucked in a breath before falling to her knees and inching
forward, terrified. Her gaze shifted from her mother’s pale face to the pool of
blood that still spread out across the floorboards, filling the cracks and
spreading outward. Her stomach revolted and she felt like she was going to
throw up.

“
Ellie
.”

The briskness in
her mother’s voice startled her and her gaze lifted, her chin quivering.

A soft smile
lifted Momma’s mouth as tears rolled out of her eyes and down her face. “That’s
my girl. Look at my face. Don’t look down, baby.”

Ellie moved closer
until she was next to her mother, sitting on her bottom. The fold of her
nightgown skimmed the edge of the thick red puddle. The cotton fabric absorbed
the liquid, seeping up to her legs.

Momma reached out
a hand toward Ellie’s, making three attempts to grab hold. “My dear, sweet,
Ellie.” Her chin quivered and her voice broke.

“Momma.” Ellie
started to sob again.

“I love you,
Ellie.” Her mother stared into her face, her eyes soft and adoring. “I’ve loved
you since the moment I knew you were in my tummy. I almost lost you then, you
know.” She paused and took a breath, wincing in pain. “Elinor Dare Lancaster—you’re
a fighter and don’t you ever forget it.” She coughed, and blood oozed from the
corner of her lip.

The blood trailing
down the side of her face filled Ellie with panic. She dropped Bunny and
grabbed her mother’s other hand. “Momma, I’m
scared
.”

“I’m sorry,
Ellie. I’m so sorry.” Her mother choked on a sob, her face wet with tears. “You
have to be strong for your daddy. No matter what happens, know that he loves
you.”

Ellie nodded,
unsure what else to do.

“Someday you’ll
fall in love. Find a man like your father, who loves you fiercely.” Her voice
softened and Ellie strained to hear. “Don’t go for the flashy men, Ellie.
They’ll only break your heart. My friends thought your daddy was boring, but he
gave me a life full of so much love . . .” Her voice broke and fear filled her
eyes. “There’s so much to tell you and not enough time.”

“Momma, please,”
Ellie cried. “
Pleasssse
. . .”

“
Oh, Ellie
,”
she whispered, sounding devastated. “I wanted to protect you from the ugliness
of the world, and I brought it to your front door.” Her eyes fluttered and her
grip on Ellie’s hand loosened.

Ellie watched her
chest, waiting for Momma to take a breath and when it didn’t come, Ellie
grabbed her shoulders and shook. “Momma! Please, Momma! Don’t leave me all
alone.
Mommaaa
aa
!
”
she screamed, shaking her mother and getting no response. She collapsed on her
mother’s bloody chest, the smell of copper filling her nose as cries racked her
body, ignoring the warm, sticky liquid covering her cheek and clothes.

Daddy had told
her to protect Momma and she had let him down. What would he think of her now?

She sobbed on her
mother so long that she felt the warmth of the body beneath her begin to seep
away. Opening her eyes, she saw the shadowy figure of an older man with white
hair and a white beard floating over the staircase. She should have been
frightened, but somehow she knew he belonged to the voice that had helped her.

“Ellie, you are
strong and brave. When it is your time, you will make an excellent Curse Keeper.”

She lifted her
head in an exhaustion so deep she thought she would drown in it. “You said the
man who killed Momma was a Keeper. I don’t want to be a Keeper anymore.”

“Elinor, you are
destined
to be a Keeper. It was foretold from the beginning of time. You are more
special than any Keeper before you. I’ve been waiting centuries for you to
arrive. The forces of nature have finally heard my plea and sent you so that I
may finish the job I began with your ancestor, Ananias Dare. Tonight begins a
chain of events that brings us to the end.”

“
I want my
m
omma
,”
Ellie wailed in anguish.

“Daughter of the
sea and witness to creation, your first sacrifice has been made.” His light
faded slightly, and he sounded sad.

“It will be the
first of many.”

Ellie was too
tired and in too much misery to care what he was saying. Luckily, the man
seemed to have a similar idea in mind.

“Tonight the
unraveling of the curse begins. But I will take all memories associated with
the curse from you, so that the events of tonight will be locked deep in your
mind. I need you to be willing to accept your role when the time comes.” The image
moved closer and his voice softened. “But you will also lose all other memories
of the curse. They’ve already begun to slip away. You will believe it is
because you told Claire, and you will be filled with a heavy burden of guilt.
I’m sorry, but it is the best way.”

Ellie looked up
again, shaking her head as confusion overwhelmed her. “I don’t understand.”

“I know, but one
day you will. When the time comes for you to know, you will remember everything.”

Then the light
faded and he was gone, leaving Ellie with her mother. She looked down at her
hands, realizing they were drenched in blood. Holding them out in horror, she
glanced down and saw blood covering everything—her mother, her nightgown,
Bunny, the floor. She started to scream.

A door downstairs
banged and Ellie screamed louder. The bad men had come back, but she couldn’t
make herself get up. She couldn’t leave Momma. Sobbing, she grabbed her mother’s
arms and shook. “Momma, get up! Momma,
please
!
”

“Ellie!” her
father shouted in panic downstairs. “
Ellie
!
”

She heard his
footsteps on the stairs before his horror-stricken face appeared. His feet
faltered, and he fell on his knees on the top step.

“Oh, God. Oh,
God.” He crawled toward them, his eyes wide with fright. “Ellie? Where are you
hurt?”

Ellie shook her
head, trying to catch her breath. “Momma.”

He reached for
her mother, carefully touching her shoulder with shaking fingers. “Amanda?”
When she didn’t answer, he became more insistent. “
Amanda
?
”
He began to sob, grabbing her arms and pulling her up. Momma’s head leaned back,
her long red hair hanging behind her. Daddy’s hand got tangled in it as he wrapped
his arms around her and pulled her to his chest. “No!
God, no
!
”

Ellie watched in
horror as her father fell to pieces in front of her.

He rocked Momma
back and forth, crying so hard he couldn’t catch his breath and uttering
incoherent sentences.

“. . . my fault . . . I shouldn’t have gone . . .”

Ellie got to her
feet and walked to her parents’ room, feeling like her body was moving and she
was just watching it happen. She grabbed the phone off her mother’s bedside
table, and her shaking fingers wouldn’t cooperate, making four attempts to
press 911.

“911, what’s your
emergency?”

The phone to her
ear, Ellie moved to the bedroom door, not recognizing the man at the end of the
hallway.

“Is there an
emergency?” the operator asked.

“My momma,” she
whispered. “She’s dead.”

“What happened?”

Ellie couldn’t
answer. She could only stare at her parents. The events of the night had begun
to fade, making her memories fuzzy.

“
Little girl
?
”
the operator became insistent.

Momma died
because Ellie had told Claire about the curse. Momma died because of her.

This is all my fault
.

Dropping to her
knees, tears filled her eyes as the horror of her guilt washed through her.

She had killed
her mother.

A dark, bitter
anger swelled in her chest, replacing her overwhelming grief. No, Ellie had
played a part, but the stupid curse had killed her. Her chest burned with fury
and she swore the curse was dead to her forever. She didn’t want to be part of
something so evil that it would kill her mother.

“Little girl?”
the operator repeated. “I’ve located your address and I’m sending a police car
and ambulance now.”

Ellie dropped the
phone to the floor and slumped against the wall, staring at her parents as her
grief broke loose again, making everything move in slow motion and feel like it
was a million miles away.

Her father
continued to cry, mumbling about the curse and her mother’s death being his
fault. She wanted to tell Daddy that it was her fault, not his, but he’d hate
her. How could he not? She’d already lost Momma; she couldn’t lose Daddy too.

Ellie tried to
imagine a world without her mother and came up with nothing—only darkness and
despair and emptiness. But there was one thing she knew, the devastating proof
in front of her: her life would never be the same.

The voice whispered
in her ear.

“Yes, witness to
creation. This changes everything.”

About the Author

Denise Grover
Swank was born in Kansas City, Missouri, and lived in the area until she was
nineteen. She then became a nomad, living in five cities, four states, and ten
houses over the next decade before moving back to her roots. She speaks English
and a smattering of Spanish and Chinese. Her hobbies include making witty
Facebook comments and dancing in the kitchen. She has six children and hasn’t
lost her sanity. Or so she leads everyone to believe.