enough power to make
them last more than a couple days.” From where her fingers
touch me cold tingles spread up my arms.
After
a few minutes Madeline whispers, “I’ll keep your sister
out of it, put her to sleep or somethin’.” It almost,
almost, sounds like an apology.
“ Thanks,”
I say, rubbing the gooseflesh on my arms.
The
tingles increase, prickles boring into my skin. It feels like my
appendages are falling asleep in an aggressive way. I concentrate on
ignoring the sensation, thinking about anything but the
ever-increasing intensity.
Madeline
doesn’t speak for a long time, seemly also concentrating on the
magic. The whole plane is in a state of stasis: Linnie hides in the
bathroom. Cassidy concentrates on her tea. Jones lies, tied up and
silent. And, I am being refrigerated.
Madeline
interrupts the growing silence with, “I did not—I don’t
think that—Stephen and I have…”
“ You
don’t need to explain.” I interrupt her because she’s
probably about to go into Stephen and her wedding plans, and I’m
already having to focus so I don’t start tearing at my own
skin. “I’m not agreeing with what you’re doing,”
I say, shivering, “but, I get it. We don’t need to talk
about it.”
She,
thankfully, doesn’t respond, just kneels down in front of the
couch I’m sitting on and closes her eyes. The feeling is less
painful than uncomfortable, like my skin doesn’t quite fit. Any
way I shift, I can’t get comfortable.
“ You
want something to drink?” I hear Cassidy’s voice say.
“ No,
nothing,” Madeline says. “Don’t you be drinkin’
either, you’re next.”
“ No
I’m not, I don’t take transformations. Besides, if I
don’t have what I need to survive in the nest, nothing you can
do will help me,” Cassidy says. I hear her pouring some liquid,
but I don’t look. Cassidy adds, “I wouldn’t try to
do any transformations on Richard either, or do any type of magic for
that matter on him, if you know what’s good for you. Though, I
doubt you do.”
Seconds,
minutes, hours drag on, in a prickly, discomforting anti-trance.
Thoughts collect in my mind, and I watch them gather and billow;
thoughts about demons, about Hell, about the darkness that will never
let me go. Maybe that’s just what Hell is: a pool of quicksand,
you can never surface from. All you do is dip your foot in, and it’s
already too late.
Technically,
Hell did release me, my soul was in purgatory before I was born; I
unwittingly made a deal to go to Hell, told Andras that I would
follow him there when, in a past life, I stupidly fell in love with
him; and I did follow him. But, Hell has no intention of letting me
go again. Ever.
Warm
hands touch my forehead. “I apologize for this part,”
Madeline says. Then, what feels like a metaphysical sledgehammer
slams into my head.
And
I pass out.
When
I wake and blink around the bright cabin all the windows that had
previously been shuttered are raised; outside the bustle of airport
vehicles and trucks pass under our window.
We’ve
landed in Bangkok. Thailand.
Chapter Six
Day
Three
“ I
need to tell you something,” My sister whispers, as she perches
beside me on the couch’s armrest, sipping her tea. “They’re
hiding something… Madeline lied to you.”
“ What
are you talking about?” I ask. I feel better, entirely better.
After waking, I washed my face of dried gel and there wasn’t so
much as a splotch of discoloration. Madeline gave both Linnie and me
tea, each with our different ingredients: mine is earl grey and
Linnie thinks hers is earl grey (not-so-much). We’ve just been sitting here,
having a little tea party.
“ When
you were asleep, Cassidy said to Madeline, ‘you lied, you
didn’t tell Raven about…’ but I didn’t hear
what Cassidy was going to say, because Madeline shushed her and then
said, ‘you will not speak of it!’ and I think it was a
spell because it sounded crazy and I felt tingles—wait
them last more than a couple days.” From where her fingers
touch me cold tingles spread up my arms.
After
a few minutes Madeline whispers, “I’ll keep your sister
out of it, put her to sleep or somethin’.” It almost,
almost, sounds like an apology.
“ Thanks,”
I say, rubbing the gooseflesh on my arms.
The
tingles increase, prickles boring into my skin. It feels like my
appendages are falling asleep in an aggressive way. I concentrate on
ignoring the sensation, thinking about anything but the
ever-increasing intensity.
Madeline
doesn’t speak for a long time, seemly also concentrating on the
magic. The whole plane is in a state of stasis: Linnie hides in the
bathroom. Cassidy concentrates on her tea. Jones lies, tied up and
silent. And, I am being refrigerated.
Madeline
interrupts the growing silence with, “I did not—I don’t
think that—Stephen and I have…”
“ You
don’t need to explain.” I interrupt her because she’s
probably about to go into Stephen and her wedding plans, and I’m
already having to focus so I don’t start tearing at my own
skin. “I’m not agreeing with what you’re doing,”
I say, shivering, “but, I get it. We don’t need to talk
about it.”
She,
thankfully, doesn’t respond, just kneels down in front of the
couch I’m sitting on and closes her eyes. The feeling is less
painful than uncomfortable, like my skin doesn’t quite fit. Any
way I shift, I can’t get comfortable.
“ You
want something to drink?” I hear Cassidy’s voice say.
“ No,
nothing,” Madeline says. “Don’t you be drinkin’
either, you’re next.”
“ No
I’m not, I don’t take transformations. Besides, if I
don’t have what I need to survive in the nest, nothing you can
do will help me,” Cassidy says. I hear her pouring some liquid,
but I don’t look. Cassidy adds, “I wouldn’t try to
do any transformations on Richard either, or do any type of magic for
that matter on him, if you know what’s good for you. Though, I
doubt you do.”
Seconds,
minutes, hours drag on, in a prickly, discomforting anti-trance.
Thoughts collect in my mind, and I watch them gather and billow;
thoughts about demons, about Hell, about the darkness that will never
let me go. Maybe that’s just what Hell is: a pool of quicksand,
you can never surface from. All you do is dip your foot in, and it’s
already too late.
Technically,
Hell did release me, my soul was in purgatory before I was born; I
unwittingly made a deal to go to Hell, told Andras that I would
follow him there when, in a past life, I stupidly fell in love with
him; and I did follow him. But, Hell has no intention of letting me
go again. Ever.
Warm
hands touch my forehead. “I apologize for this part,”
Madeline says. Then, what feels like a metaphysical sledgehammer
slams into my head.
And
I pass out.
When
I wake and blink around the bright cabin all the windows that had
previously been shuttered are raised; outside the bustle of airport
vehicles and trucks pass under our window.
We’ve
landed in Bangkok. Thailand.
Chapter Six
Day
Three
“ I
need to tell you something,” My sister whispers, as she perches
beside me on the couch’s armrest, sipping her tea. “They’re
hiding something… Madeline lied to you.”
“ What
are you talking about?” I ask. I feel better, entirely better.
After waking, I washed my face of dried gel and there wasn’t so
much as a splotch of discoloration. Madeline gave both Linnie and me
tea, each with our different ingredients: mine is earl grey and
Linnie thinks hers is earl grey (not-so-much). We’ve just been sitting here,
having a little tea party.
“ When
you were asleep, Cassidy said to Madeline, ‘you lied, you
didn’t tell Raven about…’ but I didn’t hear
what Cassidy was going to say, because Madeline shushed her and then
said, ‘you will not speak of it!’ and I think it was a
spell because it sounded crazy and I felt tingles—wait
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