CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
We arrived at the Founder’s Hall just after eight o’clock. I had spent the whole ride silently gazing out the window and trying to ignore the awkward glances shared among my friends. It was clear that everyone was wondering where Carter was and I didn’t have the answer. But now the vehicle was stopped, and I wouldn’t be able to avoid the question they were inevitably going to ask.
We filed out of the limo one by one and I graciously accepted my position as last. When the path was clear and only I was left in the limo, I took one deep breath and stepped out. I imaged the moment to be more graceful, almost movie like, but my long, fitting red lace covered dress caught on my heel. I stumbled and reached out for the door handle to catch my fall. My hand locked with someone’s hand and he pulled me up. I heard the lace tear and looked down to find a heel-sized hole at the bottom of my dress.
I shook my head, staring down at the torn lace. “Just great.”
“You look amazing.”
I followed the hand still linked with mine until I met his gaze. “Carter, I thought… well, I didn’t know what to think.”
His face still looked troubled, but there was a hint of that cocky smile I had grown to love.
He moved closer, placing his hand on my back and his cheek next to mine. “I made you a promise and I intend to see it through,” he whispered. “Besides, I couldn’t miss the look on your face when you see what’s inside there.”
He turned and looked up at the large white building with pillars and tall glass windows along the front of the house-like structure. It reminded me of the White House, except smaller and far more rustic. The shingles were peeling back from the roof and the iron gate enclosing the property was badly rusted and overpowered by untamed vines, which I couldn’t tell if they had been planted or a result of Mother Nature’s unique artwork. The trees sprouted around the building were decorated with beautiful white lights, and there was a red carpet leading up the staircase to the main entrance. The Founder’s Hall looked exquisite in its true Burnwood fashion.
“What’s in there,” I asked.
Carter and the group shared a quick look and they all smiled.
Jane and Alec started up the red carpet. “You’ll see.”
“It’s quite the display if I do say so myself,” added Kendrick as he and Nick followed.
Carter waited for the group to disperse and then gestured for me to follow him. He led me around the side of the hall into a tiny garden with a narrow brick path. We followed the bricks, winding around flower beds and rose bushes with fully bloomed red roses, until we came to a small wooden bench. He sat down and I sat beside him almost instinctively. It was odd how we moved together so fluidly, but it only worked to reinforce my feelings about him.
“Did they ask?” he said.
“About where you were?” I shook my head. “No, they never asked, but that doesn’t mean they weren’t wondering.”
“Did you tell them?”
I shook my head again. “I couldn’t. They looked too happy and it’s been so long since I’ve seen them all smile.” I placed my hand over his and gave it a gentle squeeze. “We can give them one day of happiness, can’t we?”
“That’s what I wanted this day to be for you… happy. I just wanted you to have one magical night without all of this… craziness that’s been happening around here.”
He sighed, the sadness so real in his eyes that I could feel it. I wanted to look away, to shelter myself from feeling his pain, but I forced myself to stay focused. Moving as often as I had left a wall so large that I thought no one would ever get over it, but I was wrong. Carter had climbed that wall and met me on the other side. I wasn’t alone anymore and neither was he. The only thing standing in our way was the pile of boxes sitting in the corner of my living room. I would have to tell him soon.
I jumped up from the bench, pulling him up with me. “Then what are we waiting for? Let’s make this night a good one. Not just for you and me, but for our friends too.”
“Wait,” he said, resisting.
I turned back to him, squaring my shoulders. “No waiting, Carter. Don’t you see? We’ve been waiting. We’ve waited for the craziness to calm down, for the right time to speak our mind, and now we’re waiting for happiness as though it was something that just comes along every once in a while.”
He looked up at the starlit sky, tucking his hands into his pockets. “It sure feels like that sometimes.”
“Then let’s stop waiting,” I said. “Let’s make our happiness.”
He looked at me questioningly, a small smile creeping from the corners of his mouth. “How do you propose we do that?”
“By taking these moments and living them to their fullest,” I said. “By not letting one person, or 12 people for that matter, control our lives. By refusing to live in fear, or anger, or mistrust. Let’s just take these days as they come. We can worry about tomorrow when it gets here.”
Carter smiled and suddenly he didn’t look like he was carrying the world on his shoulders anymore.
He nodded and took my hand. “You’re right. I don’t want to spend my last days with you like this.”
I paused, staring blankly at him. “You already knew?”
“I saw the boxes. And, given your history, I knew it couldn’t be a coincidence.”
“I was going to tell you…”
“Tomorrow,” he said.
We walked up the long red, carpeted stairs until we reached the big room with white double doors. On each side stood two young men dressed in black tuxedos. As we approached, they simultaneously moved to pull open the doors and let us pass.
I smiled and whispered, “That was awesome.”
He laughed. “If you thought that was awesome, then what do you think about this?”
I wasn’t sure what he meant at first, but there was a gleam in his eye as he faced forward at the second set of white painted double doors in front of us. I realized then that we had only stepped into the greeting area, though it looked more like a five-star hotel lobby than a coat room.
It had antique gold-painted furniture with red velvet upholstering. The carpets were a mix of red, white, and gold colors assembled in a strange patterns and swirls. I imagine this building was once the home of a wealthy politician or landowner in the 1800s.
The second set of doors were pulled open by another set of sharply dressed attendants. Inside was the most enchanted ballroom I had ever laid eyes on. I stared up at the huge chandelier hanging from the high ceiling. It was so large it nearly encompassed the entire dance floor, sparkling brilliantly across the ballroom and adding a touch of elegance to every table cloth, chair, and tapestry it touched. I had never seen anything like it in all my life.
I felt Carter’s hand move to the small of my back as he gently guided me farther into the ballroom. The lights danced across the black table clothes, reflecting off the crystal glasses and silver cutlery. The circular tables were organized around the dance floor, and along the walls there were tons of historical items displayed in protective glass cases. I went to the first display case I found and hovered over it. “What are these?”
“They’re pieces of our past,” said Carter. “Tiny glimpses of what this town was built on.”
I lowered my face over the display case until it was inches from the glass, staring wildly at the jewel encrusted jewelry box. The box was made out of some kind of metal, which had been tarnished with age. The top was molded into whimsical circular designs, like tuffs of leaves blowing through the wind. Within the swirls were tiny red, purple, and blue gems.
“It’s so beautiful,” I said almost breathlessly.
“Absolutely beautiful,” he said, his eyes never straying from mine.
I blushed, tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ear.
“Those are really rubies, you know,” he said, finally glancing down at the box.
“I can only imagine the wealth the family who owned these must’ve had. What’s its story?”
“No one really knows. It belonged to one of the founding families when they first settled in Burnwood.”
“It must be Kendrick’s, right?”
Carter laughed. “His family likes to think so, but the truth is that this piece was recently discovered. It was found in an abandoned cavern at the base of Point Edge.”
I gave him a probing stare and he continued. “Sometimes I forget how new you are to all of this. Point Edge is a cliff looking over the Pacific Ocean on the edge of town. A lot of relics were found in that cave, this being one of them.”
I looked over at the lines of display cases. “So no one knows which families brought these?”
Carter shrugged. “It doesn’t matter to us. We’re different from everyone else. Our circle is our family. Besides, if you haven’t noticed, Burnwood’s founding families have more than enough wealth to be bothered with the worth of our artifacts.”
“I suppose so, but wouldn’t it be interesting to know where they all come from, how far they traveled, or what value they had back then?” I gazed back down at the dazzling jewelry box. “Do you think this could’ve been a gift from her husband? Maybe it was a token of his affection.”
Carter raised a brow.
“What? It’s at least possible.”
He shrugged. “Maybe. Those were the days when men wrote poems and did all that silly stuff to get the attention of a woman.”
I glared at him, shaking my head.
“What did I say?”
I returned to gazing affectionately at the bedazzled jewelry box, imagining all the wonderful moments its possessor once had while sitting at her vanity, deciding upon which necklace she would wear. It was a whole other world, a simpler one.
He approached me, wrapping his arms around my waist. “There’s more,” he whispered, sending chills down the back of my neck.
I peered over at the array of display cases lining the far wall of the ballroom. Jane and Alec were admiring a dragon like statue that was at least four feet tall and made of some kind of black stone or marble. A few displays over Trish and Cruz were hovering over an old black leather bound book that looked a lot like the ones we had been search through all week.
Slowly, the group came together, whether knowingly or subconsciously. It was strange how that seemed to happen, like some supernatural force was keeping us together. I wasn’t sure if anyone else really saw what was happening, but I did. I felt it like magnets pulling together.
Jane grabbed me by the hand and pulled me across the ballroom, narrowly escaping the cascading dancers waltzing around the dance floor. “Carter didn’t show you the picture yet, did he? He promised he wouldn’t until we were altogether.”
My face barely missed the elbow of a tall grey-haired man as he twirled passed me. “Jane!”
“Come on,” she called over her shoulder as we cut in between the tables. I glanced behind me and noticed the whole group was following… at a much safer distance, of course.
Finally, Jane came to a stop behind a thick velvet rope coordinating off an area about six feet wide. I looked for the display case, but there was none. Jane smiled and stared at the wall in front of us. I followed her gaze until my eyes set upon the painting hanging on the wall.
“Pretty sick, hey?” said Jane in a voice void of all emotion, except maybe glee.
“Jane,” I gaped. “How can you say that? This is horrible.”
I shook my head at her and the looked back up at the frightening thing. It wasn’t like the jewelry box, or the book, or any of the other displays I saw. This one was monstrous and terrible, sending an uncomfortable prickling through my body. The portrait was hand-painted with remarkable detail, which made it all the more grotesque. The center of the picture showed an angry beast, red and a completely visual representation of a dragon. Around the creature, humans scurried away with looks horror on their faces and terror in their eyes. Bodies lay ripped to pieces on the ground as fire ravaged the small village in the background.
I was almost convinced that the image couldn’t be any more frightening when my eyes found something far most disturbing.
“Is that…” I said, pausing to blink my eyes clear.
In all the chaos happening within the painting I had almost overlooked the one brave man dressed in shiny armor moving towards the beast. He was hold not a sword, but a single purple flower with a long yellow stem protruding from the center.
“Annabelle.”
I turned to see Carter coming through the parting crowd. He looked worried and for a brief moment I forgot all about the familiar little flower.
“What’s the matter?” I asked, but as I followed his eyes I could see that they too were looking at the strange flower in the painting.
“That’s the same flower that was in the bouquet Yury sent Jane, isn’t it?” I asked, keeping my voice low.
Carter ran his hand through his hair and let out a heavy sigh.
“Carter,” I continued. “It’s the same flower that burned me when Yury pressed it to my skin.”
I expected Carter to be equally disturbed and surprised by this revelation, but he wasn’t. It was like he had known all along.
“Carter,” I said, my voice growing louder. “What aren’t you telling me?”
Carter glanced around nervously and then pulled me out a set of French glass doors opening onto a balcony.
“You know something about that flower, don’t you?”
He nodded. “The flower in that picture is called the Dragon Arum. It’s a European flower that doesn’t grow in America.”
“But I remember it. It was the same flower in Jane’s boutique and the same one that burned my skin when it touched me.” I shook my head. “I’m not even sure how that’s even possible, but I felt it.”
“But the burns disappeared, didn’t they?” he asked.
“You don’t believe me?”
He shook his head. “No, it’s not that. I believe you.”
I paced the length of the balcony. “So maybe it only feels like its burning? Maybe it affects the pain receptors and not the skin cells…”
Carter stepped in front of me, taking my shoulders firmly in his hands. “You’re thinking too logically.”
I raised my brow, not sure how to respond.
“Think about it Annabelle,” he said, his eyes begging me to draw the conclusion he so obviously had.
“Carter, you’re asking me to what? To make something up?” I asked. “I don’t know anything about that flower.”
“If you could just think back to the painting and then back to the moment in the woods where…”
The French doors swung open and Cruz stepped out onto the balcony with Trish draped around his arm. “I told you I saw them come out here,” he said, smiling down at Trish with glint of triumphant in his eyes. For some reason, everything always seemed like it was a competition between them, one that seemed to spark their interest in each other.
Trish rolled her eyes. “You also said you saw them in the lobby and next to the refreshment stand. You’re only right out of default.”
Cruz shrugged. “A wins a win no matter how you got there.”
“Inspiring,” Trish scoffed. “I hope the coach heard you say that.”
“Guys,” Carter interrupted. “Was there something you needed?”
“Not us. Jane,” said Trish.
“There handing out the lanterns on the field. She says we need to release them together as a sign of unity.” Cruz used air quotes mocking the word unity.
Carter and I shared a look, neither one of us really caring about releasing a symbolic paper lantern, but we didn’t have the heart to turn our friends away. With a slight sigh, we nodded and followed Trish and Cruz through the ballroom and out the back doors to the enormous field behind the Founder’s Hall.
Crowds had already started to gather, separating into random groups around the field. Each person held a red paper lantern in one hand and a tiny white tea light candle i
n the other.
“There you guys are,” said Jane, holding a stack of collapsed lanterns in her arms. “Here, take one.”
Carter took two lanterns from the pile and handed one to me.
“Just pull the wire from the bottom and it will open up,” he said as he demonstrated.
I pulled the wire like Carter had shown me, but the lantern snapped back down. I tried again. “So why do we do this?”
Kendrick passed between Carter and me and grabbed one of the lanterns from Jane’s arms. “I completely understand your confusion. Logically, lighting paper lanterns provides no significant benefit to Burnwood. In fact, if you take into consideration the resources expended, it’s rather wasteful.”
“But,” Jane said, nudging Kendrick to the side and taking his place in front of me. “It’s a tradition and it has sentimental value.”
Nick took a lighter from his pocket and flicked it until a small flame appeared. “Besides, it’s cool to set things on fire.”
I laughed. “It’s not really going to catch on fire, is it?”
“Of course it is,” said Cruz. “And this year, mines going to catch first.”
“We’ll see about that,” said Jane.
I gave Carter a curious glance.
“It was something we started when we were kids. We would all put our candles inside the lantern at the same time and let them fly. Whatever one caught fire first won,” he explained. “To be honest, I thought they would’ve outgrown it by now.”
“You wish,” huff Kendrick.
“Carter’s always insisting that we ‘grow’ up,” added Cruz.
Carter rolled his eyes. “I just don’t think we need to…”
“What?” said Jane. “Have any fun?”
“We’re members of a secret hybrid society,” said Nick. “That doesn’t mean we have to take on the weight of the world.”
“Yeah, we can still be wild and crazy teenagers while we are teenagers,” chimed Trish.
Alec stepped up beside Carter and draped his arm over his shoulder. “Give him a break. Not all of us are teenagers anymore.”
I had forgotten that Alec, Carter, and Nick were already 18, making them adults by legal definition. It seemed unfair that they had to grow up faster than the rest of us and ultimately carry more of the responsibilities of the society. I doubted that anyone in the group, including myself, even realized the burden of leading such a wildly diverse group.
“Hurry up,” said Carter. “Put your candle in the lantern.”
I looked around and noticed that everyone else was carefully setting their tiny candles in the center of their lanterns. Quickly, I placed my candle in the lantern and held it out on the palms of my hands, waiting for it to lift off.
I watched as my little red lantern floated into the sky, losing it as it joined hundreds of others just like it. The red glow looked amazing against the dark sky. The whole night lit up like an eclipsed moon. It was a magical moment for everyone who saw it, and quite possibly the only silence heard that night. Everyone just stared up at the sky and admired the brilliant gathering of red lanterns dancing into the night.
Finally, the first lantern caught fire and slowly fell from the sky as it burned up, leaving little more than black ash.
“Ha!” shouted Cruz. “What did I tell ya?”
“How do you even know that one was yours?” asked Trish.
“Because I’ve been watching it the whole time,” he replied.
Trish turned and strutted back towards the Founder’s Hall. “Carter’s right. This is childish.”
“Oh c’mon Trish,” said Cruz, following after her. “You don’t gotta be mad just because I won. If that’s the case, you’re going to be mad all the time.”
Trish turned and shot him a piercing glare before quickening her pace.
Jane rolled her eyes and chased after them. “Not again.”
“That is a serious love-hate relationship,” I said.
“More hate than love if you ask me,” said Carter.
“Carter!”
Carter and I turned around just as a head full of curly red hair came bouncing up to us. I recognized her from school, mostly by her signature pale skin and freckled face. She was running for school president and her posters had been all over the school hallways. She placed her hand on Carter’s arm. “Just the person I was looking for.”
Carter tucked his hands into his pocket, his shoulders slumping. “Holly, what can I do for you?”
Holly giggled. “Isn’t he sweet? He’s just so willing to run to a girl’s rescue.”
I stifled my laughter. “Yeah, he’s a real sweetheart.”
Carter shot me a warning glare and carefully wiggled his way out of Holly’s hold.
“Yes, well Carter, as you know I am in the process of running for Student President and as such, I am committed to the safety and welfare of this town.” Holly placed her hand over her heart as though she was pledging an allegiance.
“The whole town, huh?” said Carter.
She nodded. “Oh yes. I take my responsibility to this town very seriously. Student President has a dedication to the whole town, though the obligations the school board put forth are not as encompassing, I still believe that one must make the best out of their position in council.”
“Holly,” Carter interrupted. “What did you need?”
“Right then,” she said, slightly adjusting her posture. “As head of the cleanup committee I am requesting the help of fine young Burnwood men like you to go out into the woods and stomp out whatever embers might still be burning from the fallen lanterns.”
“Done,” he said, seemingly favoring the task over one of Holly’s election speeches, and I couldn’t blame him.
Carter nodded to Alec and Nick who separated in different directions into the woods.
“I’ll be right back and then we can pick up where we left off.”
I nodded and released his hand from my hold. I watched him hurry into the woods and disappear into the night.
I turned back towards the hall with absolutely no intentions of entering it. My stomach still felt shaken from the sight of the Dragon Arum and I didn’t want to risk seeing it again. Instead of going inside with the rest of the crowd, I went back to the little garden and sat down on the same bench that Carter and I had shared earlier that evening.
It wasn’t hard to have patience in such a well decorated event for my eyes always found something wonderful to gaze at. The white lights decorating the trees on the property held my attention for a while, but no matter what fancy decoration caught my eye, I always found myself staring up at the sky after just a few short minutes.
I loved the contrast between the brilliant stars and the midnight sky. There was something soothing about gazing up at the galaxy and realizing how truly small this world is. In the grand scheme of things, I think Carter and I were always meant to find each other, and I was thankful that he came to me sooner than later. With everything that had been happening around me and my uncle having tentatively abandoned me, I knew I needed him.
Snap!
I jumped at the sound and quickly got to my feet, bunching the lengthy red lace into the palm of my hand. Carefully, I walked around the side of the hall, back to where I had last seen Carter.
“Carter? Is that you” I called, barely able to see anything passed the tree line.
I saw some movement and then a set of glowing red eyes.
“I knew it was you,” I said. “Nice try.”
The little red glints disappeared and the bushes rustled as the sound of footsteps on crunchy dead leaves grew distant.
“Carter,” I said, shaking my head as I hurried after him. “Don’t make me chase you in these heels.”
I approached the tree line where nothing but darkness could be seen. The moon lit sky hardly made it through the canopy of trees.
“Can’t we just talk out on the balcony like before?” I said, waiting patiently for a reply. “Fine, but we haven’t
had cake yet, so we’re going to have to come back to the Founder’s Hall at some point.”
I started into the woods by way of a little path I found not too far from where Carter had been hiding. I figured he would wait for me, but he hadn’t and I couldn’t decide whether he went right or left, so I just walked straight ahead hoping that he would see me.
“Carter,” I said after a few minutes passed. I was greeted by nothing but silence. “Carter, it’s too dark to see anything and I’m getting cold.”
Again, only silence.
“Carter. This isn’t funny anymore. I’m going back.”
I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to stay warm, and turned back for the Founder’s Hall. Somehow, it was even darker on the way back and I slammed head-on into a tree. Except it couldn’t be a tree. I was still on the path.
I stepped back, finding the searing red eyes boring down on me.
“Yury.”