New England Witch Chronicles

  Sadie’s smiled faded. “Olivia is really jealous.”

  “Of what?”

  “You and James. She’s upset that he’s been following you around. I’m sure that’s why she mentioned Peter this afternoon.”

  “Sadie, there is no ‘James and me.’ Olivia can have him. I don’t want him.”

  “You want Peter?”

  “Peter and I are friends. That’s it.” I continued my sweater search. I knew where this conversation was headed.

  “I know, I know,” Sadie said. “But you two are just so….”

  “Sadie.”

  “Perfect for each other. You’ve been best friends for years. He’s in love with you. You’re in love with him. It’s only a matter of time.” Sadie set the flat iron down.

  I found my brown sweater squished at the bottom of the drawer. I didn’t like discussing my feelings about Peter. “We’re friends,” I repeated.

  “Uh-huh. Sure you are. Can Olivia have Peter then?”

  I dropped the sweater. “What?”

  “You said you didn’t care about James. You said Olivia could have him. So, theoretically, if Peter and you are strictly friends, then you wouldn’t mind if Olivia dated Peter.”

  My heart fluttered. “Olivia likes Peter? I thought she liked James.”

  Olivia did mention that Peter looked handsome. And she was really pretty. Peter couldn’t stand Olivia, but maybe if he knew that she liked him….

  Sadie smiled. “Olivia likes James, silly. I’m saying, would you mind if she was with Peter?”

  “Peter wouldn’t…. Olivia wouldn’t date Peter. She thinks he’s beneath her.”

  “Ha. See. You wouldn’t be okay with it. You wouldn’t let Olivia have Peter. You’d fight for him, because you love him.” Sadie applied purple eye shadow to her eyelid. “Which furthers my point that you two are dumb and you should stop wasting time. You’re perfect for each other.”

  “Are you done?”

  “Yes.” She made a kissing noise into the mirror. “Let’s go to this bonfire.”

  * * *

  We were half an hour late. Cars were already parked at the end of the cul-de-sac near the old stone bridge. There wasn’t any water underneath the bridge—only a dried creek bed full of mud, twigs and stones. Sadie, Lucas and I walked up a grassy hill to the edge of the woods where a square rock marked the beginning of the well-worn path to the clearing.

  The trail twisted around the trees like a snake through the woods. The sky was cloudless and the light from the moon and stars illuminated the path, but the forest was still dark. A tangled branch snagged my sweater and I fumbled to detach myself. I was grateful I wasn’t alone. I was equally grateful that Lucas brought a flashlight.

  After the winding trail, we came upon the small clearing in the forest. It was roughly the size of the infield of a baseball diamond. We were close enough to the ocean that we could hear the rhythmic crashing of waves against the rocks. The wind roared off the water and I instantly wished I’d worn a jacket.

  Large rocks, acting as makeshift chairs, were evenly spaced around the fire pit. Olivia and Jillian were huddled together on a large stone. Across from them were Evan and Keith—two boys from Hawthorne. A girl from my biology class, Lara, and two other girls I didn’t recognize were also sitting around the fire.

  Logan was fiddling with a radio. James was next to him, elbows on his knees, peering into the flames.

  “What took so long?” Logan asked his brother.

  Lucas pointed his thumb back at Sadie and me.

  “There’s no reception out here.” Logan tilted the radio. A fuzzy sound erupted, but no music. Lucas bent down to help him. The twins, mirror images of each other, fidgeted with the dials and buttons.

  James patted the rock next to him. “Alex, sit with me.”

  I smiled politely. “I think I’ll stand.”

  “Come on. We’re at a bonfire. We’ll roast marshmallows, tell scary stories.” James must have heard the sarcasm in his own voice because a smile escaped.

  I couldn’t think of anything clever to say, so I sat down. “Marshmallows, huh?”

  He shrugged. “Isn’t that what they do at campfires?”

  I motioned for Sadie to sit next to me. Strength in numbers.

  “This is the place to be on a Friday night in Hazel Cove?”

  “I guess so.”

  James stretched his legs. “I’m here, you’re here.”

  “If you honestly think this is a date—”

  “I don’t. But I’m working on it.”

  I wasn’t going to sit through this tonight. I stood up, but he gently placed his hand on my arm.

  “I’m kidding,” James said. “Don’t be mad. I think we got off to a bad start. It was probably the whole pool / Mrs. Pratt incident, which was my fault, of course. I apologize.”

  “Fine.”

  “I hear we’re neighbors.”

  “You hear a lot.”

  He smiled. “I’m on Cedar Mill. Lucas said you live on Apple Orchard. The big brick one with all the trees in the front.”

  “That’s my house,” I said. I wanted to turn the conversation away from me. “Do you have any brothers and sisters?”

  “No. It’s only me and my dad.”

  James stared into the fire. I had the feeling he didn’t want to talk about his family. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Olivia sneaking glances at James and me.

  “You should go talk to Olivia. She’s been shooting daggers at us for the past five minutes.”

  James’s face went blank. “Olivia?”

  “The blonde. Olivia. Sitting over there with Jillian.”

  “Oh. Yeah, I met her earlier this week. She’s nice. So is the redhead.”

  The flames roared from the bonfire. I was sitting close enough to the pit that it only took a few minutes to warm up. Well, the front part of my body was warm. My back was freezing.

  “You do that a lot,” James said.

  “Do what?” I guess he wasn’t going to talk to Olivia and Jillian.

  “Bite your lip.”

  I unfastened my teeth from my bottom lip.

  “Do I make you nervous?”

  “No.”

  His eyes crinkled when he smiled. “Of course not. Well, if I do or if I have, I’m sorry. You’re a rare breed.”

  “A what?”

  James scratched the back of his head. “You don’t respond like the other girls.”

  “Did you actually just say ‘rare breed’?”

  “Why? Was I not supposed to?”

  “Wow. What do you want me to do? Drool all over myself when you’re near?”

  His eyes flickered to Olivia. Obviously, he’d noticed her flirting. James turned from the fire to face me. “At least I’d know what you were thinking.”

  I shook my head. “You are a piece of work.”

  “That sounds like a good thing.”

  Before I could answer, Lucas came over. “You want a drink, Ramsey?”

  “No thanks.” I scooted over so Lucas could sit down against the rock.

  “Logan’s about to start.” Lucas said.

  “Start what?” I asked.

  Lucas pulled out a bag of marshmallows and handed me a couple of the soft powdery cylinders. “Telling ghost stories.”

  Ghost stories around the fire in the middle of the woods. That didn’t sound like a good idea to me, but I didn’t say anything.

  James nodded at the marshmallows. “I told you they’d have them.”

  I rolled my eyes, but handed him a couple.

  All eyes were on Logan, who stood near the fire with his hands stuffed in his pockets. “Does anyone have any scary stories?”

  “Uh, we thought you did,” Lucas said.

  “No. I suggested we tell ghost stories. I didn’t say I had any.”

  I leaned over to James. “They could go back and forth like that all night.”

  Lucas patted my knee. “I heard that, Ramsey.”

&
nbsp; Logan paced in front of the fire. “Well, it’s not really a ghost story, but I heard some disturbing things about Megan Lackey.”

  I froze. I didn’t want to discuss Megan. Especially in the woods.

  “Like what?” Keith said from the other side of the fire.

  “I know how she was killed.”

  I shivered despite the heat from the fire. I didn’t want to hear this. The shadows from the trees were already playing tricks on me. The wind seemed to howl louder.

  James looked at me. “Are you okay?”

  I nodded.

  “How do you know how she died?” Keith challenged.

  “My dad’s a doctor at the hospital. He was on call the night they brought her into the morgue. He talked with the police.”

  Lucas, holding a stick with a marshmallow, shook his head. I was willing to bet that whatever Logan was going to say about Megan’s murder was never supposed to leave the Cooper house.

  Keith was silent.

  Satisfied that he’d given enough credentials, Logan continued. “They found her under a thick layer of bushes, next to a tree—”

  Keith interrupted again. “We already know that. The detective told us that at the assembly.”

  Logan wasn’t deterred. “Did the detective tell you Megan had a noose wrapped around her neck when they found her body? That’s how she died. She was hanged.”

  My nightmare vividly flashed behind my closed eyes. The coiled rope in the man’s hand. “Logan, this is gross.”

  “Don’t tell me you’re afraid, Alex?” Logan said.

  I ignored him.

  “Are you all right?” James whispered. Chocolate eyes scanned my face. Wrinkles creased his forehead. “Do you want me to make him stop?”

  “I’m okay. Logan’s such an ass sometimes.”

  “Sometimes?” Lucas said. “How about most of the time.”

  “I heard some strange things, too,” Lara, the girl from my biology class, said.

  I guess no one was listening to me tonight.

  “My best friend, Jennifer, goes to Hazel Cove High. She knew Megan.” Lara’s voice was almost inaudible over the crackling fire. Her eyes locked onto the ground in front of her. “I don’t want to say anything bad, you know. I feel awful about what happened to her, but I heard Megan was involved in a lot of bizarre stuff.”

  “Like?” Keith asked.

  “Witchcraft.”

  Logan, who’d been pacing in front of the fire pit, turned to Lara. “Really?”

  I stiffened again. I already knew Megan Lackey was involved in something of the sort—hadn’t I seen that in my nightmare, too?

  Lara bit her fingernails. “The police found some strange things when they searched Megan’s room. Occult books, candles, herbs, trinkets. They were stuffed under the bed.”

  “She was a witch?” Olivia asked.

  “I don’t know,” Lara said. “I mean calling her a witch might be harsh, but...”

  “Go on,” Logan said.

  “Some people said the reason she was killed, you know, was because she was involved in … that witchcraft stuff.”

  I must have looked horrified, because James took one look at me and stood up. “I think that’s enough for tonight.”

  Everyone looked at James—he hadn’t said anything all night until then.

  “I agree,” Lucas said.

  Logan shot his brother a dirty look, but thankfully, after a few minutes, Keith and Evan started talking about tomorrow night’s hockey game.

  “Thanks,” I said to James.

  “No problem.” He seemed bothered by how upset I was. “Are you sure you’re okay? You don’t look so good.”

  “I don’t think it’s right to talk about Megan like that. I mean, I didn’t know her, but it seems wrong.”

  “I understand.”

  Lucas asked James something, which gave me a few moments to process everything I’d heard tonight. I was one hundred percent sure my nightmare matched what happened to Megan. How was that possible? Why did my dream occur on the same night they found her body?

  Sadie yawned. I realized I had no idea what time it was. I checked my cell phone. It was almost ten. Peter would be here soon.

  Jillian walked over to our side of the fire pit. “We’re heading home, something about Olivia having to get up early in the morning.”

  Olivia angrily whispered into her cell phone. I was pretty sure I wouldn’t be getting a goodnight farewell from her.

  Jillian and Olivia left soon after and, as I suspected, there was no goodbye hug from Olivia. She waved crisply from across the fire pit. I’d have to deal with her later. Unfortunately.

  “What time are you leaving?” Sadie asked.

  “Ten-fifteen. Why? Aren’t you coming with me? I figured we’d drop you off.”

  “You’re leaving?” James turned from his conversation with Lucas.

  “Yeah, Sadie and I should head back.”

  “I can drive you home. Since we’re neighbors.”

  “Thanks for the offer, but my ride is on the way.”

  “Then I’ll walk you.” James nodded at Sadie and me. “I’ll walk you both back through the woods.” Before I could protest, he was already telling the Cooper twins goodbye.

  Sadie wrinkled her nose in a mousy smile. “You know he amended that last sentence for your benefit.”

  “I wish he would just leave me alone.”

  “Good luck with that,” Sadie said.

  All our guy friends—Lucas, Logan and James—chivalrously walked Sadie and me back through the woods. I tried to tell them it was unnecessary, but they refused my protests. There was, as Lucas pointed out, a killer on the loose in Hazel Cove.

  The five of us traipsed through the forest in a single file line. James offered his hand whenever the trail became a little rough—I accepted so I wouldn’t fall on my face. However, he took advantage of the situation and grabbed my elbow and hand at every opportunity where twigs, branches and stones posed a threat.

  Finally, we reached the cul-de-sac where the cars were parked. I wrapped my arms around myself to keep warm.

  James moved closer. “Are you sure you don’t want a lift?”

  “My ride should be here any minute.”

  “Tonight wasn’t so bad, right? Maybe we could—”

  Dark eyes narrowed into slits as something behind me claimed James’s attention. Before I could turn around to see what the cause of such wrath was, I heard Lucas’s voice.

  “Peter’s here.”

  Chapter Four

  Icy blue eyes glared at James. It startled me to see Peter’s face in such an uncharacteristic mask of anger. The muscles in his jaws tensed. His lips pressed into a thin line. The frosty gaze melted once Peter’s eyes landed on me. He unclenched his fingers from the steering wheel and casually waved. He flashed his warm Peter-grin and I couldn’t help but smile back.

  “That’s my ride,” I said.

  As I turned to say goodbye, James swooped in. His lips brushed against mine. I could feel his cool breath on my mouth. Before my mind could process what James was trying to do, my reflexes took over. My hand landed on his face with an audible smack. Right on his dimple.

  James’s cheek turned pink upon impact.

  “What are you doing?” I demanded.

  It was a dumb question, I know. It was pretty obvious he was trying to kiss me. But why?

  The truck door slammed.

  Peter unleashed a string of profanities. I stood dumbfounded, palm stinging from the blow, still in shock that James tried to kiss me. Peter rushed forward and it finally dawned on me that this was about to get bad.

  Lucas and Logan reached Peter before he could get to James. Peter spun and ducked under Logan’s arm. Peter popped up and swung at James, but he stepped back, just in time to miss the right hook. The twins grabbed Peter by the shoulders.

  “Let go, Logan!” Peter tried to push past the twins. His hands balled into fists. “I’m going to kick your ass! Whoever
the hell you are!”

  Logan ducked an errant blow. “Whoa, Peter!”

  James rubbed the spot on his cheek where I slapped him. “I didn’t mean to startle you like that.”

  I might have believed him, but then he turned to Peter. “She was begging for it all night.”

  I lunged at James. “I’m going to kill you!” I was about to slap his other cheek, but Sadie grabbed my arm before I could make contact.

  Peter lunged forward again. His anger was renewed by mine. “That’s two ass beatings, pretty boy. One for trying to kiss her and two for pissing her off.”

  The twins struggled to hold him back.

  Lucas, holding Peter by the shoulder, groaned. “Could you all please stop trying to kill each other for a second? I don’t want to be out here all night. It’s cold.”

  Everyone grew quiet.

  “Thanks,” Lucas said. “James, you shouldn’t have tried to kiss Alex. She doesn’t like you. Leave her alone.”

  I made a face at James.

  “Please stop struggling,” Lucas said to Peter. “You’re killing my arm. You saw Ramsey’s reaction. She doesn’t want anything to do with him. Take her home. Logan and I will drive Sadie.”

  Peter glanced at me and stopped struggling. “Fine.”

  “And Ramsey,” Lucas said. “Will you quit trying to hit James? It’s just egging him on.” Lucas raised his eyebrows at me. He was pleading for help.

  “All right, fine. I won’t hit James again. I promise,” I said to Sadie, who was still holding my arm.

  Sadie looked like she didn’t believe me, but she let go of my arm anyways.

  James was watching me, but I ignored him. Lucas’s speech had calmed everyone down. Logan stepped away from Peter, but the twins cautiously stood in between Peter and James. Peter wrapped his arm around my shoulders. He turned to James. “Stay the hell away from her.”

  Peter placed his hand on the small of my back and guided me to his truck. He patted Lucas on the back when we passed him. “Sorry, Luke.”

  I gave Lucas a kiss on the cheek. “Thanks.”

  “Night, Ramsey,” Lucas said.

  Peter opened the passenger door. As I was getting into the truck, I saw James’s face. It wasn’t full of anger or hate, it was something else. Disappointment? I momentarily felt sorry for him—I wasn’t sure why I felt that way—he brought this all down upon himself. But I did.