Betrayal (Vanish Book Two) Read online

  I went to open it. I wanted to see what was inside, but Dante stopped me.

  “What? I thought you were giving it to me so I could read it.”

  “Let’s get over to the house first; they could get home any minute,” he urged.

  All the doors and windows were locked so we waited in the back yard. I ripped open the file; there were quite a few pages, the first was about my medication.

  “All of the medications were to stop my powers,” I said in shock, still staring down at the page, I flipped it over. “They were watching me, they wrote down all of the times I saw ghosts, in detail what I said, what I did, everything.”

  “How would they know… if you didn’t even…” he trailed off.

  “I don’t know,” I went to the next page. I gasped. “My birth certificate, do you know what this means? I could find my father.” A huge gust of wind swept the entire file out of my hands and into a puddle. “No,” I screamed as I ran over.

  Mud covered every soggy page, and the ink ran, leaving it all illegible. I could see one thing for certain, and it was even more shocking than finding out what a monster my mother was. The name that was listed under mother was not hers. I could tell that the first name was six letters my mother—or whoever the hell she was—was named Ann.

  “I’m so sorry, Scarlett.”

  “She’s not my mom,” I said in a dull, lifeless tone as I stared ahead at nothing in particular.

  “What?” Dante asked.

  “Her name, it’s not on the birth certificate.”

  “Then whose is?”

  “I don’t know; I couldn’t read it, but it was definitely six letters.” I heard a car door shut in the front yard.

  “They’re home.”

  We stayed close to the back of the house, peeking through the windows every now and then. She was alone, that was a good thing. She went downstairs and while she did, we checked the front door to see if it was locked, it wasn’t.

  We walked in quietly, finding the perfect spot to hide and wait for the right moment. Dante hid behind the couch to wait for my cue. I hid right beside the doorway to the kitchen. When she came up the stairs, I would confront her. Then it hit me, through all the nerves and anticipation, I had forgotten that I could go invisible and have some fun first. I ran over to Dante and told him my plan, and that he should find a better place to hide. Then I went invisible while I stood in the kitchen waiting.

  Eventually, she came up the stairs. I decided to start small, knocking the pepper shaker off the counter. She looked a little confused and walked over to pick it up. Then, she carried on into the living room.

  Dante was hiding upstairs. I went up there and decided to go through her room. At first, I was looking for another copy of my birth certificate, but what I found was much better. A duffel bag filled to the top with money, stacks and stacks of hundred-dollar bills. It must have been the money she made selling me and Grace to those men. I didn’t know how much it was, but I was taking it. Being on the run, I would need it sooner or later, at least some of it. I went down the stairs; she wasn’t looking over so I put the money under the kitchen table.

  I went back into the living room and knocked a picture of me and her off of a shelf. She gasped.

  “Hello?” In one quick swipe, I knocked everything else off the shelf. “Hello?”

  I could tell by the look on her face and the tone of her voice, she was horrified, but I wasn’t done yet.

  She screamed and ran into the kitchen. I followed and knocked every last thing off of the counter, then I opened every single cupboard and threw everything onto the floor. She was sitting in the corner rocking when I decided to appear.

  “Hey Mom,” my voice sounded evil, just as I intended.

  “Scarlett?” she said, shocked.

  “What? Did you expect me to be dead somewhere? I almost was, thanks to you.”

  “Don’t talk to me like that, I’m your mother!” She screamed.

  “No you’re not,” the calmness of my voice was driving her mad, I could tell.

  “What do you want from me?” she yelled.

  “Oh, just everything you’ve taken,” I stopped and tapped my foot. “But wait, you can’t give that back can you? No. So I guess I need you to pay me back, but what price could you put on everything you’ve put me through?”

  “I’m not giving you a thing,” she screamed.

  “I already have all of your money, but I still don’t feel like that’s enough.”

  She looked under the table and went to get up and retrieve it. Before she could, I kicked her in the face, and she fell back. She looked up at me helpless, with blood dripping from her nose.

  “Please,” she said in a sweet voice.

  I clapped. “You really are a great actress, but I’m not falling for it this time.” She reached her hand out to me. “What so you can make me forget? Get your money back and sell me all over again?”

  “You’re confused honey—”

  “I saw everything; I know what you did, for the most part. Did you steal me from my real mother? Is that how all of this worked?”

  I noticed she was wearing a necklace. It was a large heart pendant that was brown. I didn’t know why, but I had an odd feeling about it. I moved closer and ripped it off her neck.

  The pendant started to glow. I put it in my pocket. “Don’t worry I have others,” she cackled.

  “Dirt,” I whispered. “How did you get that?”

  “Like I said, you’re confused help me up and—“

  “Okay I’ve had enough of this. I came here for revenge, and this nice little chat just isn’t cutting it.” I felt the insanity coursing through me. I looked over at the knives and grabbed one. “Hmm I don’t know… I’m only going to get one shot at this. Should I follow in your footsteps and opt for a shovel as a murder weapon?”

  “Please just stop,” she begged.

  “You know what? You’re right. I didn’t only come here for revenge. I came here for answers. Maybe if you answer me, I’ll let you live.”

  “Ask me anything,” she blurted.

  “Why?”

  “Why what?”

  “You know what, now tell me,” I screamed.

  “Grace was after you, too, I was protecting you,” her voice was so sincere, but I knew it was a lie, or at least half a lie.

  “No, you were keeping me for yourself. For some reason, everyone wants my powers—“

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she spat.

  Someone busted through the front door.

  “Help,” she screamed. Joe ran in and pushed me up against the wall by my throat.

  “Dante—” I choked.

  There was no way he could have heard me, and even if he did, Joe was a big guy; it would take a lot to take him down. Then I heard Dante running down the stairs. He hit Joe so hard on the head, that almost instantly when he fell to the ground, there was a pool of blood. Before I could say anything, he hit Ann as well.

  “Are you alright?” Dante questioned.

  “They’re dead…” I gasped, “…oh my god.”

  “Let’s get some fresh air, then we’ll come back in and grab the duffel bag and anything else you want,” he said in a soft voice as he put his arm around me.

  “Okay,” I whispered as he led me out the back door.

  When we got to the grass, I felt my legs collapse out from under me. She couldn’t hurt me anymore, there was no doubt that she would have, but we just added another two to our body count.

  I could see the moon through the branches, the stars all shined down on us. It was a beautiful night; it was a horrible night, and my whole life had changed.

  I fell asleep out there on the grass in Dante’s arms, without a single dream to haunt me, or maybe for once, make me feel a little better. I woke up and as I rolled over, I noticed something was sticking out of the grass. A knife stuck in the dirt, no more than two inches away from where I was laying. There was a piece of string tied a
round it with a note attached.

  See how easy it would have been for me to kill you, but I’m nowhere near done with you yet.

  “Dante.” I shook him.

  “What?”

  I showed him the knife. He jumped up and ran to the back door. All that was left from where Ann laid, was a small blood stain and another note. Dante picked it up. I stared at Joe’s lifeless body.

  “You really shouldn’t have done that,” he read. He looked over at me, then, ran to the front window. I stayed glued where I was. “Her car is gone.”

  “The money,” I bent over and looked under the table. “She took it.”

  We went back to the car and sat in silence. I didn’t know what I expected on the way here, revenge, but how? I wished we would have killed her, but had I wanted that from the start? No, I wanted to teach her a lesson, and now she was angrier than ever. She wanted to get her own revenge now, and I was sure she wouldn’t stop until she did. Dante took the cell phone out of his pocket and dialed.

  “Hello Elizabeth? We’re coming back. Everything went wrong…” he kept on talking, but I was focused on the man in the backseat. Though Joe was definitely dead, it wasn’t him. It was another familiar face, a kind face. It felt like all of the breath was stolen from my lungs, I tried to speak, but I couldn’t.

  “It’s okay,” he said.

  “No… How?” I stared at him; I couldn’t believe this.

  “My wife called me, to tell me that Skylar had escaped, and took her phone. I was driving, and I drove off the road....”

  “How do I tell him?” I said when I was almost sure he wasn’t going to finish.

  “I don’t know; that’s not up to me, but you need to tell him now, before I can tell you anything else.”

  I took the phone from Dante’s hand and hung up.

  “Hey what are you doing?” Dante asked.

  “Your dad is here with us…” I whispered, “…he got into a car accident.”

  “You’re joking.”

  “No, I’m sorry.” I grabbed his hand. He slowly looked toward the backseat. He just stared.

  “Dad,” he said, under his breath.

  “You should probably call your mom,” I suggested.

  “No wait,” his dad said. “She doesn’t know yet.”

  “What, when did it happen?”

  Should I have even told Dante? I wasn’t trained in telling people a loved one had died. I was almost certain I hadn’t gone about it the right way. Having his dad right in front of me made me lose my sensitivity in the matter. He was dead, but he was also right there, just as I remembered him. I was almost certain now, that Dante could see him as well.

  “Last night, but no one has found me yet.”

  Dante sat there motionless, just staring.

  “So Skylar didn’t hurt anyone, right?” I asked, turning my attention back to his father.

  “No, he just left, but I think he was going to come after you.”

  “Yeah, he already did.” Dante said. Now I was sure he could see him.

  “Okay, do you want the police to tell your wife, or your son?” I asked. I thought it might be better coming from Dante, but I wasn’t sure.

  “I’m calling my mom,” Dante sniffled. “Dad I’m so sorry.” It sounded like he was starting to cry. I had to look away.

  “For what?” His dad asked.

  I bit my lip to keep from crying as well, I guess I hadn’t completely lost my sensitivity.

  “For not being there, for leaving you guys,” he turned away from me.

  “I’m sorry Dante, if it wasn’t for me—” I began.

  “No Scarlett, it’s not your fault,” his dad said, but Dante didn’t say a thing, and I knew that was how he felt. If it wasn’t for me, he wouldn’t have had to leave—he wouldn’t have had to lock up Skylar.

  “Can I talk to you, alone?” I asked his dad. I let go of Dante’s hand, and his dad followed me out of the car around to the back. “So what should we do? Should we go check on your family?”

  “I don’t think you really have that option, and you need Dante. They will be fine without him,” his dad assured me.

  “I’m not going to make him stay for me,” I argued while the tears streamed down my face. This was my fault, and nothing that anyone said would change that.

  “Stop pushing him away Scarlett. Life is too short—”

  “That’s not what this is about,” I objected.

  “I need to go be with my family. It will be hard, but I need to be there when they find out,” he sighed.

  “Okay. I’m so sorry; I don’t know what to say.”

  “Good-bye Scarlett,” he said and a second later, he was gone.

  I got back into the car. I knew that Dante was still crying, but his head was down, and I couldn’t see his face. I stayed silent for a while, when he stopped, he looked up at me. I put my hand on his cheek. I heard something hit the back window.

  “Did you hear that?” I asked.

  “No.”

  “I’ll be right back,” I said as I climbed out of the car. Standing near the back of the car, was the person I thought I had seen among the crowd of ghosts. Looking as beautiful as ever, and nowhere near what she had looked like recently. What the one ghost had said, ‘there’s one of them among you.’ now made sense.

  “Grace, oh my God.”

  Chapter 6: Revelation

  I sat down on the dirt road. Dante didn’t seem to notice how long I’d been gone. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing before my eyes. How could this be? Even though for a brief moment, I thought I had seen her in the crowd of ghosts, I thought it was impossible, and it slipped my mind.

  “You’re dead?” I cried.

  “Yes, I was dead all along,” she sobbed.

  “When did you die?” I asked.

  “The day before the party at Alexis’s”

  “So it wasn’t you? Did you see what happened?”

  “Yes,” she whispered.

  “Did Ann think it was you or did she know?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “So what about Dante?” I questioned, hoping she would know what I was asking her.

  “It wasn’t him. It was Skylar.”

  My best friend, the girl that I knew, the one that I loved was dead, but I couldn’t help feeling relief flowing through me. She wasn’t the one who attacked me the other night. She wasn’t the one who would say anything to hurt me.

  “I can’t believe this, now it all makes sense. I have hated you since we saved you from that mansion, but it wasn’t you.”

  “Nope.”

  “Well I don’t know what we can do about this, but I promise we’ll do something.”

  “You’re my best friend and I love you to death, but don’t make any promises you can’t keep,” she smiled, and then she was gone.

  I walked over to the passenger door and got in the car. Dante was calm, just staring ahead at nothing.

  “I’m really sorry,” I whispered.

  “I just wish I’d gotten to say good-bye.”

  “You did, and if that wasn’t enough, you’ll have another chance,” I promised.

  “Thanks.”

  “I need to tell you something.” I waited for him to respond.

  “What?”

  “I just saw grace…” I looked over at him. “She’s dead; she has been since the night before the party.”

  “What are you talking about Scarlett? Grace has not been dead since before the party.”

  “No, she has. I guess ghosts can take over someone’s body if they’re dead or dying,” I tried to explain, but even though we had powers, this still seemed too weird to be true.

  “What? So….”

  “It wasn’t you; it was Skylar,” I said with so much excitement. I felt horrible. His dad had just died, and that’s all I could think about.

  I soon realized he wasn’t offended, when he leaned over to kiss me. It felt like this was our first kiss. Never did I have so many feeling
s rushing through me, but the sadness and fear washed away as soon as his hands reached for mine. Then the only feeling left lingering, was love.

  I pulled away for a moment. “I love you,” I whispered. He looked at me; the way he stared made my heart beat faster.

  “I love you, too.” A smile covered his face. He pulled me closer, but before his lips met mine, there was a screeching sound, like something was scraping across one of the back windows.

  “What was that?” I asked, frightened.

  “I don’t know.”

  He sat up straight and tried to start the car, but it wouldn’t. I looked over at him, and when I did, there was a loud bang against my window. Ann stood there with her hands against the glass.

  “Try it again.” I imagined the car starting, but it didn’t work. She kept banging on the window. “Again, come on.” I urged. He kept trying; it started, but it broke down a little ways down the street.

  “I don’t know if I have the strength to move us and the car. Finding out about my dad took a lot out of me.”

  I grabbed his hand. “Then let’s just go. We can come back for the car.”

  When I opened my eyes, we were back at Elizabeth and George’s. We were standing right in front of their house; they must have noticed right away because they all came running out. Elizabeth ran up and hugged us both.

  “I’m so glad you’re okay, what happened earlier?” she demanded.

  “I found out my dad died,” Dante replied. I put my hand on his shoulder.

  “Come in, come in. It’s freezing out here,” Elizabeth said as she led us through the door. She told us to sit in the living room.

  “So what happened?” George asked.

  “Well, I found out my mom isn’t really my mom.” George and Elizabeth shared a worried glance. “Now she wants to kill me, Dante, and I’m assuming whoever else gets in her way.”

  “You didn’t tell her anything… about where you were, right?” Elizabeth worried.

  “No, of course not,” I sighed. “But I think she knows; this was around her neck.” I held out the heart-shaped necklace that was filled with dirt.

  “The only reason she would have this, is if she was planning on coming here,” Elizabeth said.