Destiny (Vanish Book Four) Read online

  Destiny (Vanish Book Four)

  By Sonny Daise

  Copyright 2012 Sonny Daise

  Smashwords Edition

  This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Chapter 1: Anniversary

  It had been one year since the fall of the Alliance. One year since Dante and I became a couple. One heavenly year, where Dante and I took things slowly, and learned things about each other we’d never thought to ask before. A year full of sacrifice and happiness. A year full of celebration and a little bit of regret, but the only thing that mattered, was that we were all here. It had been one whole year without the bother of peoples’ greediness, without the fear of being chased.

  I had to admit, it was perfect. Perfection wasn’t being without flaws. It wasn’t steering clear of any issues that couldn’t be resolved. But it was learning to accept the little things and the obstacles that stood in your way, because if you never learn to look past—and get past—those things, you never learn what perfection can really be.

  There was not one day in this last year that went by without problems, but there was also not a single day that I couldn’t see every reason I had to be happy. I was lucky. I felt like the luckiest girl in the world, but I that didn’t stop me from feeling like at any moment it could all come crashing down. I didn’t want to think that way, but I also didn’t want it to be a huge surprise if and when things did go wrong.

  I turned toward the mirror. My long red hair flowed in even curls down to my waist. I was wearing a bright-orange blouse and a pair of jean shorts. Most days, I didn’t bother with makeup, but it was a special occasion, and I wanted to look my best.

  I waited for Dante to arrive. I craned my head and looked out the window. It didn’t look like he was coming yet. I grabbed the small wrapped box from under my bed and readjusted the bow. Then, I grabbed my orange flip-flops and went downstairs. By the time I got down, the doorbell rang.

  I opened the door and stared into his eyes. Just seeing his face was like a jolt to my heart. He stood there smiling, he didn’t say a word—he just let me soak in his perfection.

  “Are you ready?” he asked, after my eyes wandered to the perfect blue sky above.

  “Yes,” I answered.

  He grabbed my hand and led me to the car.

  He drove a little ways and then stopped, right in the middle of nowhere. He got out of the car and then, went to get something out of the back. It was a blanket and a picnic basket.

  We walked about half a mile into the woods before I started wondering where we were going. I’d seen at least five places where we could have set the blanket. He stopped for a moment, scratching his head.

  “Okay, I think we go this way. It’s only a little bit farther; I know it.”

  We walked on a path that went downhill. The sun shined through the leaves, and it started getting brighter. The trees spaced out more and more the farther we walked. Finally, we reached the spot Dante had been looking for. I knew before he said anything, it was beautiful. There were wild flowers strewn through the grass, and a tiny river ran right through the middle of the sun-drenched meadow. We set the blanket about a foot away from the stream, and sat down.

  “This is beautiful, when did you find this place?” I wondered.

  “Oh, I was looking for an amazing spot to take you the other day,” he answered.

  “Well, it’s amazing.”

  He opened the picnic basket and set out the food. Once it was all out, he pulled out one more thing. It was a tiny box, wrapped in teal paper with a tiny pink bow on top. That’s when I realized that I had been holding onto his present the entire time. We exchanged the boxes and opened them together. Inside the box, was a beautiful charm bracelet, each charm was unique.

  “Thank you,” I said. I looked over at him, and he was putting on the watch that I’d given him.

  “Thank you,” he repeated.

  “You’re welcome,” I said as I looked at the intricate detail on each charm.

  I fidgeted with the bracelet as I admired it. I thought today would be a great day. A day where I would forget all of the things I had speculated about, but still I could tell he was hiding something from me.

  “What’s on your mind?” he asked, staring into my eyes.

  “Nothing,” I said with little conviction. “What time is it?”

  “Almost three, why?”

  “I have to be somewhere around five.”

  “Where?” he asked.

  “It’s nothing really, kind of an appointment.”

  “Oh, okay,” he sighed.

  “Look, it’s nothing really. I just promised to help someone with… something,” I explained.

  “Okay, I’ll have you back to your house by four thirty.”

  “Thank you,” I smiled.

  It wasn’t that I needed to keep this secret from Dante, but I knew that if I told him, he wouldn’t approve or worse—he would worry and follow me there.

  We sat bathing in the sunlight next to the river. I sat in front of Dante, and leaned up against his chest. I slid over one way, so that I could look up at him. He smiled, but he almost looked sad.

  “What’s wrong?” I wondered.

  “I just love you so much, you know that, right?”

  “I love you, too,” I said as I straightened up and turned toward him. “Is everything alright?”

  “Fine,” he mumbled.

  It seemed as though only moments had passed, when Dante got up.

  “What are you doing?” I asked.

  “Packing up, it’s almost four thirty.”

  “Already?” I groaned.

  “Well, you don’t have to go if you don’t want to,” he said in an almost pleading manor.

  “No, I have to. I’m sorry. We’ll have to come back here though.”

  The walk back to the car seemed to take less time. Dante knew where he was without a doubt now. It was like he was rushing. He wanted to know the details, but was trying as hard as he could not to ask.

  He raced down the narrow dirt road all the way back to our neighborhood. I still felt a haunting presence there, like this was a place where only evil could truly flourish. I shook it out of my mind for the moment. I’d had too many long nights where I never found sleep, to think about all of this. Now was not the time.

  Dante stopped the car right in front of the house, almost hitting a giant plant pot in the process. He got out of the car, walked me up to the door, and kissed me on the forehead. He stopped and stared into my eyes. It was as if he was trying to figure out on his own, if I was up to no good. He sighed and then walked away.

  I stood there watching him until he made it home. Then, I went into the house. Violet was waiting at the table, reading the newspaper. She stopped, set it down and looked up at me.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  “Nothing, but I need to hurry up and get ready, there’s somewhere I need to be.”

  She picked up the newspaper and continued reading. I was glad that for once, she didn’t have fifty questions to ask me.

  I marched upstairs to put on something a little more—intimidating. I chose an all-black outfit. I grabbed my sunglasses and threw them in my purse. Then, I ran down the stairs and out the door, without a word. I jumped in the car and began driving toward my destination.

  Chapter 2: In the Attic

 
; I knocked on the door. Then, I looked down at the paper in my hands, checking the address for the sixth time. I let out a deep sigh once I realized—I was in the right place. I waited patiently for whoever was in there to answer. Even with everything I’d been through, nothing could prepare me for this.

  “Yes?” The woman said as she opened the door.

  “You contacted me?” I said, lifting up my sunglasses.

  She nodded, “come in.”

  “I should let you know, this is my first….” I paused trying to find the words. “I’ve never done this… professionally.”

  “You were the only person I could find, so….” She laughed, but she didn’t seem amused.

  “There shouldn’t be an issue,” I assured her.

  I walked down the hallway, looking for anything out of the ordinary. She followed, staying a few feet behind me. I peeked in each room that we went past, but I didn’t see a thing.

  “Where did you say these incidents were taking place?”

  “When I’m in my room, I hear footsteps coming from the attic. Every night,” she whispered.

  “Anything else?”

  “Well, sometimes I hear laughing, screaming.”

  “I’ll head up to the attic.” I noticed her uneasiness. “Maybe you should wait down here.”

  “Okay, if you think that would be better.”

  I walked up the creaky stairs to the attic. I wasn’t sure what to expect. I’d never done this before; hunted down a ghost, let alone a ghost I didn’t know.

  I had an idea after we stopped the Alliance, I would help people with my powers. I didn’t think that anyone would really approve, but I felt like it was something I needed to do. Maybe if this went well, I could tell them, and then they would see that everything was fine, and I really could do this.

  I turned the doorknob slowly once I made it to the top of the staircase. The light switch didn’t work, and the sun had to filter through dust and cob-webs to make it into the room at all. I opened up my bag and grabbed a flashlight.

  “Hello?” I said as I walked between stacks of boxes, behind me one fell. “Hello?”

  “What’s going on up there?” the lady asked.

  “Everything’s fine,” I called down as I took in my surroundings.

  I picked up the box that had fallen and put it back up where it belonged. A few things had fallen out. Some pictures I didn’t pay any attention to. Some vials with bright-colored liquids in them. I picked a red one up and pulled the top off. Before I could see if it had a scent, the ghost appeared. I dropped the vial on the floor and soon there was nothing left but a hole.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” the ghost asked.

  He was a young boy; he couldn’t have been older than seventeen.

  “I was just looking—”

  “What are you doing here?” He demanded.

  “The woman downstairs thought her house was haunted; I came to check it out.”

  “Alright, well, I’m not leaving. So, I guess you can go now.”

  “Why? Why are you here?”

  “I’m here to keep all this stuff safe,” he answered.

  “To keep it safe?”

  “The woman who lived here before was part of the Alliance, she died and this woman bought the house.”

  “So, what is all of this stuff?”

  “Potions, books, secrets—things that no one should know.”

  “Well, I’m sure no one knows what’s up here,” I assured.

  “That’s the problem; kids make up stories, and sometimes those stories actually have some truth to them.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “They used to say she was a witch. She looked so… evil. She never left the house and when she did, she was always very secretive,” he explained. “So, one day they dared me to break in. Biggest mistake of my life.”

  “She killed you?”

  “Yes, but if you want to get technical, it was one of these potions,” he said.

  “So, how long were you up here before she died?” I wondered.

  “About a year,” he said as he looked past me. He was deep in a thought; I figured he was probably recounting his time spent up here.

  “Did she make these or—”

  “No, no, no. I’m not telling you that. Don’t you understand? I’m trying to make sure that this doesn’t happen to anyone else.”

  “I can assure you, if I ever did use one of these, it would be on someone who deserved it. But the Alliance is gone, and I’m only curious. By the way, how did you know about the Alliance?”

  “I followed her,” he answered. “And as for the potions, yes, she did make them, but there are far too many kinds to remember which does what.”

  “Would you mind if I took some? I’ll help you hide the rest,” I offered.

  “You’re not going to hurt anyone?”

  “Of course not, I would just like to figure out how common these were. We cleaned out the Alliance neighborhood, but I didn’t find anything like this.”

  “You promise?” He asked again.

  “I was with the group who defeated the Alliance. Now, unless someone as bad as them comes up to me wanting to kill me like the last time, I promise I will not use these on anyone.”

  “Fine. Take whatever you want. In fact, you would be doing me a favor if you would just take it all.”

  “And how am I supposed to do that?” I wondered.

  His plan was great, albeit kind of obvious. I don’t know how I didn’t think of it in the first place.

  I walked down the stairs from the attic. I had two vials in my jacket pocket, the rest I would come back for.

  “Are you done? Is it gone?” The woman demanded.

  “No, I’m going to have to come back, and I’ll need the house empty.”

  “Why?” She asked confused.

  “This ghost seems… angry. He won’t hurt you, I can promise that, but I will need to come back.”

  “When, when can you come back?”

  “How does tomorrow sound?” I asked.

  “Tomorrow is perfect; I’ll be gone all day. Here’s an extra key,” she said as she dug through her purse. “Oh, and how much do you charge?”

  “Don’t worry about it,” I mumbled as I headed toward the door.

  Even though the boxes upstairs didn’t belong to her, I still felt like she was giving me more clues to what really went on with the Alliance. After all, she didn’t have to call me, and that was payment enough.

  I got inside the car that Rose and I shared and took a deep breath. This could be a good thing; I wanted to help people, and now, I could.

  I drove the ten miles back to my house and stopped in the driveway. Dante was sitting on the dock, staring out into the water. Instead of going inside, I went to join him.

  “What’s up?” I asked.

  “Oh, nothing, how about you?”

  “I was helping someone. If I tell you where I was, I need you to promise not only, not to tell anyone, but also that you will accept it.”

  “I promise,” he said, but he didn’t sound too sure of that.

  “There was a woman, she had a ghost in her house, and she needed help to get it out.”

  “Scarlett, you know that wasn’t a good idea, and that’s exactly why you wouldn’t tell me. You knew that I wouldn’t think this was a good idea.”

  “And why not? The Alliance is gone, Dante. Now we can be free to use our powers however we deem fit and this is what I need to do. What is the point of having powers, if not to help people without them? What’s the point in all of this, if not to make things better for ourselves and others?”

  “That’s very noble. But you need to realize that every time you let someone in on your little secret, you run the risk of there being consequences, not just for you but the people you help as well.” He looked down to the ground, then his eyes shot back up to look into mine. “How did she find you?”

  “I—I put out an ad,” I explained, but
his expression turned from curious, to furious. “It was very vague; all it said was that if you hear noises at night to call me. Hell, I’ll probably get some calls from people whose houses are infested with rats. Only the ones who are dealing with that type of thing, will have a second thought about it. Not to mention, the fact that I first put it out months ago, and she’s the first person to call.”

  “Fine,” he said through clenched teeth. “How did it go?”

  “Great. There were old books and potions, things that were tied to the Alliance. I’m going back tomorrow to take all of it.”

  “The Alliance? No, I don’t have a good feeling about this Scarlett; it could be a trap.”

  “It doesn’t actually belong to the woman who lives there, and it would be so dangerous if she found that stuff. I dropped one of the potions on the floor, and it burned a hole right through it.”

  “Fine, but be careful,” he mumbled.

  “I will,” I promised. “Come on, let’s go inside.”

  I led him through the door and up the stairs to my bedroom.

  “Isn’t your mom home? You know she will kill me if I—“

  “She’s not home, and even if she was I’m an adult now; I think it’s alright if you come up to my room.”

  “You do remember the last time, don’t you?”

  Of course I did, Dante and I were hanging out up in my room. We were listening to music and talking about everything imaginable, but it was all innocent, which made the anger that ensued from Violet all the more aggravating.

  “Just come on, she can’t tell me what to do.”

  “She’s your mom.”

  “Yeah, and that’s why I wanted to get to know her. That doesn’t mean she has the right to tell me what I can and cannot do. In fact, we are the ones who cleaned this house up, and let her live here, not the other way around.”

  “You know she’s going to get angry,” he cautioned.

  “Fine, if you’re that worried about it, let’s go.”

  “I need to talk to you,” he blurted.

  “About?”