Betrayal (Vanish Book Two) Read online

  “I still don’t see where you’re going with this,” I said, confused.

  “There have been many more of those necklaces found throughout history, millions. If someone got one of them on you, there would be little you could do to get it back. You’re not eighteen yet though, are you?”

  “If today is Halloween,” I began. “Then yes, my birthday was three days ago.” Three days ago, really? I forgot my own birthday. Dante forgot my birthday.

  “That could be why the Alliance is after you.”

  “What does me turning eighteen have to do with anything?” I asked.

  “Before you’re eighteen, it’s impossible to transfer your powers.”

  “Why?”

  “I don’t know. It just is.”

  “So what are you suggesting?” I questioned.

  “Never ever use your powers anywhere that anyone you don’t trust could see.”

  “Okay,” I agreed. “I just don’t see why this is such a big deal.”

  “You can imagine anything. You could do anything, and so could they if they got ahold of it.”

  “Wait,” I said. “I can be invisible, so what if every time I want to use this power, I go invisible?”

  “That could work, but you still need to be very careful.”

  “Okay, can we go back to having fun now? All of this is really starting to freak me out.”

  “Yes, I just needed to make you aware. I’m sure everything will be fine.” She started walking away.

  “Wait,” I called after her. “So, I could… theoretically, put on one of these necklaces, and then I would be normal?”

  “Scarlett,” she sighed. “Nothing will ever be normal again.”

  “I have nothing left to lose,” I reasoned.

  “If you keep saying that, all these people here that care about you are going to start getting really offended.” She walked away. I ran up behind her and gave her a hug.

  “You have been more of a mother to me than my mother was in my lifetime,” I explained. “I just wish I had a chance at a normal life.”

  “You never will. I’m sorry, but it’s the truth. You have all of us. We are all here for you; you just need to get the hang of things,” Elizabeth assured.

  “Yeah, you’re right…what if I can’t though? Have you ever known anyone that couldn’t get used to this?”

  “No, I’ve met people that—like you—were afraid at first, but you know what? They always turn out to be the strongest.”

  “Thanks Elizabeth,” I smiled.

  “Come on,” she said, smiling back.

  There were a few tables in the house; they were all covered with gold tablecloths. Elizabeth brought out another box of lights for inside. There was a huge net with white lights all over it. It was as big as the room.

  “Where does this go?” I wondered.

  “On the ceiling,” she laughed. “Go ahead,” she insisted.

  I imagined it hanging from each corner of the ceiling drooping down toward the middle. She set three candles on each table. There were strings of pink lights that I used around doorways, windows and anywhere else I thought would look nice.

  “Now what?” I asked.

  “Turn off the lights.” I did. It wasn’t as dim as I expected, she lit all the candles, and I could see her across the room. “Go get ready,” she smiled. “And please, try to have fun.”

  “I will have fun,” I promised.

  I walked out the door. I had forgotten about Elizabeth sending everyone else away. It was obvious that she forgot, too, because we never told them they could come in.

  “What was going on?” Annabelle demanded.

  “Oh nothing, she just wanted to talk,” I answered.

  “About?”

  “My power, it really was nothing. We should get ready now.”

  “Yay! Let’s go,” Annabelle shrieked, forgetting about everything else.

  “Hey,” Dante whispered as he came up behind me. “Elizabeth insists I get ready over here, and come pick you up for the party.”

  “Okay,” I said, getting a little excited. It would be kind of like a real date.

  “I’ll see you around nine?”

  “Alright,” I replied, unable to wipe the smile off my face.

  “Come on,” Annabelle said as she pulled me away from him.

  I walked in the door and grabbed my dress. My shoes were sitting by the door; Dante must have gone to the beach and grabbed them for me.

  “What are you doing?” Annabelle was getting impatient.

  “Getting my dress…”

  “Ugh do you want to get makeup all over it? Who’s first?”

  “I’ll go first,” Lily volunteered.

  “Okay, let me see your dress.” Lily took it out of the bag and held it up. “I know what I’ll do.”

  When Lily came out of the bathroom, she had light-green eye shadow and thick, black eyeliner. She looked great; I wasn’t too crazy about dark makeup though. I started getting nervous.

  “You’re up,” Lily said as she walked past. I walked into the bathroom, looking around at all the makeup scattered on the counter.

  “Don’t worry; I know exactly what I’m going to do for you.”

  “What?” I asked with uncertainty.

  “It’s a surprise. You’re going to love it,” she said as she turned me away from the mirror and makeup.

  First, she put on eyeliner, then a lot of mascara, some lipstick and I was done, in record time. I didn’t see what shade of lipstick she put on, she insisted I didn’t look. I was nervous to look in the mirror, but when I did, I was pleasantly surprised. It looked pretty natural except for the crimson red lips, but they made me look three shades paler, which I would have thought was impossible.

  “I’ll do your hair in a few minutes, send in Grace.”

  “Grace?” I said as I walked out the door. “Annabelle wants to do your makeup.”

  She got up and headed to the bathroom without a word, I could tell she wasn’t happy. At least she was going along with this; it was better than I had expected. Lily was waiting downstairs already in her dress.

  “You look so pretty,” I complemented.

  “Thanks,” she smiled.

  “Are you sure Annabelle won’t kill you for getting in your dress? She still wants to do our hair.”

  “No, she said it was fine. Get in yours.”

  “What time is it?”

  “Almost eight,” she replied. I felt butterflies in my stomach.

  “Okay, I’ll be right back,”

  I stood in front of the mirror for a few minutes. I looked nothing like myself. The dress was amazing. It hung off my shoulders, and the sleeves were three-quarters long, though they wouldn’t keep me warm. The skirt only went down to my upper thighs, but that was the worst part about it, besides that it wasn’t slutty-looking at all. I put on my shoes and headed out into the hall.

  Grace walked by, her makeup was dark, but she looked really pretty. Her short, brown hair was still in knots, but I had no doubt that Annabelle would fix that. Annabelle grabbed my arm as I walked by.

  “I’ll do your hair first. It shouldn’t take long, I’m just going to straighten it.”

  Once she was finished, I went downstairs and sat on the couch. It was eight forty-five; Dante would be here any minute. Grace came down the stairs. Her hair was curled, which made it even shorter. She looked angry as she sat across the room.

  “What’s going on?” I asked as nice as I could.

  “Nothing.”

  “I can tell something is bothering you. You can talk to me,” I offered.

  “Yeah well maybe you can’t trust me,” she looked away.

  “I never said that,” I snapped.

  “I know you didn’t. I did,” Grace mumbled.

  “So why can’t I trust you?” I asked, raising my eyebrows.

  “You really shouldn’t trust anyone,” she said as if it was nothing.

  “And exactly what do you mean by that?
”

  “Your own mom betrayed you, and you don’t think anyone else will?”

  I didn’t answer her. We sat there in silence for what seemed like an eternity. All I could think about was Dante, the fact that this was almost like a date, and how weird this actually felt. I mean, we slept in the same bed, and this was our first date. It wasn’t like we had done anything, but still, it felt a little backwards. The doorbell rang, and I jumped up to answer it.

  I opened the door and Dante stood there in a black suit, with a red tie. He held out a single red rose. Grace looked him up and down a few times and then left to the other room. Annabelle came rushing down the stairs.

  “Is anyone else out there?” She asked.

  Dante looked behind him. “No.”

  She hoped Cooper would follow Dante’s lead. I understood, but it all was a little silly; the house was less than three hundred feet away.

  “Do you know if Cooper was going to come over here and see Annabelle?” I whispered.

  “He kept talking and talking about her all day, so…”

  “Annabelle?” I called.

  “Huh?” she said as she came around the corner.

  “Wait here a few more minutes okay?”

  “Okay,” she smiled and ran up the stairs.

  Dante grabbed my hand and led me over to the party.

  “You look…” he stopped and grabbed my other hand. “Words can’t even describe how beautiful you look.”

  “Yeah, right,” I laughed. He kissed me, running his hands through my sleek, red hair, then down my back.

  He took a deep breath, “let’s go.”

  We ran into Cooper a little ways from the house. He looked nice.

  “Hey are you going to see Annabelle?” Dante asked.

  “No, why would I?”

  “Then what are you doing? She wants you to walk her over here,” I explained.

  “That seems kind of silly,” Cooper surmised.

  “Do you like her?” I questioned.

  “Well, yeah—”

  “Then if she wants you to, it seems kind of silly not to, am I right?” I retorted.

  “Alright, alright,” he said as he headed over to the house.

  “Have fun,” I called to him as he walked away.

  The outside tables were filled with children in costumes. All the adults were inside the house. We walked in, and it looked even more amazing than it did when I left. The lights illuminated everything perfectly. Elizabeth walked around in her extravagant gown and poured wine for everyone. When she got to our table, she poured some for us as well. I looked up at her.

  “What?” She asked. “It’s fine. You’re safe here, and you won’t be driving.”

  “Okay,” I said before I took a sip.

  “You guys have fun tonight,” she smiled as she walked away.

  “That was weird,” I laughed.

  “Yeah,” he said as he stared into my eyes.

  “What? You act like you’ve never seen a girl in a dress and makeup before.”

  “You really have no idea how gorgeous you are, do you?”

  “What is up with you tonight?”

  Annabelle and Cooper came through the door before he could answer. They sat at the table with us.

  “Hey,” Annabelle said as she sat. Lily came through the door seconds later.

  “Where’s Grace?” I asked.

  “I don’t know. I thought she left before us,” Annabelle answered.

  “We should check on her,” I insisted.

  “Yeah, we probably should,” Dante agreed, as he stood up.

  A phone rang, but I wasn’t sure where it was coming from. Dante pulled a phone out of his pocket.

  “Where did you get that?” I wondered. He didn’t have it before.

  “I was talking to George about how you were concerned about my family. He agreed, and he gave me this.” The phone stopped ringing.

  “Well, who was it?”

  “Oh, it was my mom. I called her earlier… I should probably—” The phone rang again.

  “You take that, I’ll go find Grace.”

  “It has to be important, I told her about the party so….”

  “It’s fine, I’ll be back in a few,” I assured him.

  “Be careful.” He said as he walked out the door. “Hello?” I heard him say as I followed him out.

  First, I decided to check the house, in case she had forgotten something. I searched the entire house, but she wasn’t there. I walked out a little ways into the woods. I heard some leaves crunching and Grace giggling. I peeked out from behind a tree, and there she was—with Dante. He whispered something in her ear and then kissed her.

  I stepped back. “No,” I whispered to myself as I stared wide-eyed. “No.” I felt my lip quiver. I put my hands up to my forehead. I stepped back again. My heel caught a root, and I fell.

  “What was that?” Dante asked nervously.

  Now I knew what Grace meant when she said I shouldn’t trust anyone. Why she told me that, I still didn’t understand. Dante came over and held his hand out to help me up.

  “Your mom, huh?” I said as I got up and ran away.

  I almost reached the house when I tripped and fell again. I closed my eyes and disappeared with ease. I lay there crying. Grace deceiving me, I could believe, but Dante, no. I never truly believed it was him with Grace before, but now? Now that we were together, now that him sneaking around with Grace meant cheating on me. I would never have believed it if I didn’t see it with my own eyes, but I did. I went visible. I didn’t want to hide from this anymore. If he had something to say to me, I would like to hear what excuse he thought would explain this.

  “Scarlett,” someone said as they came up behind me. I turned around.

  “Oh, Cooper. What are you doing out here? Where’s Annabelle?” I asked as I tried to compose myself.

  “Looking for you, I saw what happened.”

  “You saw? What were you doing out here?”

  “I figured I would follow you and help you find Grace,” he answered.

  “Cooper,” I cried as I grabbed onto him and hugged him.

  “Did you hear that?” He asked.

  “No, what?”

  “Someone was over there,” he replied as he pointed towards the woods.

  “It was probably Dante and Grace.”

  All of a sudden, I felt dizzy. I felt my feet give out from under me, and two strong arms catch me before I fell. The lights up above were nothing but colorful swirls as my eyes rolled in the back of my head.

  “Have you eaten anything today?” He asked, concerned.

  “Yeah,” I said, feeling weak.

  He carried me through the room filled with guests over to the kitchen. He set me in a chair and brought me a cold cloth for my head.

  “I’m really sorry,” he said as he sat next to me.

  “For what?” I asked.

  “Everything, not meeting you sooner,” he put his hand on my cheek.

  “Why do you have to do this?” I asked. “I thought you liked Annabelle.”

  “I did, but…” he sighed. “Okay, I heard you and Dante talking. I heard him tell you about finding that special someone who has powers and just knowing. I saw the way you were when you met me, and I know how I felt. I know how you feel when you’re around me.”

  I shook my head. “You followed us? You were with Annabelle when we left.”

  “I wasn’t following you. I just found you, I guess. That’s all I heard then I—”

  “I don’t know what mystical thing you think happened when we met, but I can assure you, if you really did feel something, you were the only one.” I stopped. “I don’t want to do this. I don’t have a family anymore; you’re one of the only friends I have, please.”

  “Cooper, get over here. We need to talk. Now,” I heard Elizabeth yell.

  I tried to hold it in; I closed my eyes and just focused on breathing for a moment. It didn’t work; I jumped up and ran to the bathr
oom.

  I sat on the floor, still feeling nauseous. Tears streamed down my cheeks; I wished they would stop. I got up and found a bottle of mouth wash, and I swished it around in my mouth for a few minutes. Then, I wiped the mascara from my face and returned to the party.

  “There she is,” Elizabeth said with enthusiasm, sympathy.

  “Hey,” I faked the best smile I could.

  “This is Scarlett,” she said to the couple she was talking to.

  “Amanda,” the woman said as she shook my hand.

  “Ben,” the man said as he smiled.

  Elizabeth pulled me aside.

  “Everyone will be staying at least tonight in the other four houses and in the apartments. You can meet them all tomorrow if you don’t feel up to it right now, who knows, they might stay longer than that,” she offered.

  “Cooper told you what happened?” I assumed.

  “I’m sorry Scarlett,” Elizabeth said.

  “Did they come back to the party?” I wondered.

  “No. I haven’t seen them, but like I said, you can meet everyone tomorrow,” she explained.

  Then I realized something was up. “What’s going on Elizabeth?” I demanded.

  “Oh, it’s really nothing.” She seemed nervous.

  “Please,” I begged.

  “Fine,” she exhaled. “Come on.” She dragged me into the other room.

  “Something is going on. Something major. I don’t know what, exactly, but it’s going to change everything. We’re safe here… for now, but—” she broke down into tears. “Scarlett, I’m afraid.”

  “What do you know, Elizabeth?” I pleaded.

  “The Alliance, they’re watching us. They will find a way to come here.”

  “Why? I—” The dizziness was coming back.

  “They’re coming for you.” She put her hand on my shoulder. No matter how hard I tried I couldn’t take the scared-stiff, shocked look off of my face. I turned around and walked out the doors.

  I walked as fast as I could into the woods, somehow managing to walk somewhat graceful in the heels. I needed to leave, that was certain, if what Elizabeth said was true—and I had no reason not to believe her—I was endangering everyone around me. I ran into the woods, not going in any particular direction; it didn’t matter either way I would reach the end sometime.