Betrayal (Vanish Book Two) Page 9

  “Yeah, you’re right, Aunt Elizabeth,” I smiled.

  “Ah you’re my favorite niece,” she smiled back. “Just don’t tell the others,” she elbowed me.

  “I’m going to go talk to Dante,” I said as I walked to the door.

  “Good luck,” she called from the kitchen. When I opened the door, I realized Dante had been waiting outside.

  “Please just talk to me,” he said as I walked up to him. I stood on my tiptoes and kissed him.

  “I love you, and it would really hurt if you left, but I don’t want you to feel like you’re giving up anything to be with me.”

  “I don’t, I only said that to convince you not to go out there I didn’t want you to get hurt,” he reassured me.

  “Are you sure? Because if you’re not—”

  “I’m sure. I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life. This is hard, but I wouldn’t give you up for anything,” he promised.

  “Why does this have to be so hard?” I whined, not expecting him to answer.

  “We were born this way; it’s not going to be easy, but we could try to be a little more understanding of each other.”

  “You’re right. I’m sorry.” I rested my head on his chest.

  “Let’s go home,” he said as he put his arm around me.

  As we walked, I thought about what Elizabeth said when she told me about how all of this began. If we could find a couple of the necklaces she talked about, we could be normal, we wouldn’t have to deal with all of it.

  When we got inside and Dante shut the door, he had a smirk on his face.

  “What?” I smiled.

  “I just realized…we have the whole house to ourselves.”

  “Oh, uh yeah… I guess we do,” I mumbled.

  “Chill,” he laughed. “Do you want to watch a movie or something?”

  “Alright,” I smiled. As he dug through the cabinet by the TV, I couldn’t help but realize how normal this felt. Even though we were in the middle of a forest that glowed, even after everything we’d been through, it was possible to feel normal again. “I was thinking…” I blurted.

  “Yeah?” he replied.

  “Elizabeth said something about necklaces giving powers or taking them away….”

  “No, Scarlett we can’t. Whoever is after us would still be after us, we would just be more vulnerable.”

  “Yeah, I guess you’re right,” I shrugged.

  “You pick. I’ve never heard of any of these,” he said as he walked away from the cabinet and sat on the couch.

  “Okay.”

  I looked through every last movie, and I’d never heard of any of them either. We ended up watching some horror movie from the seventies that I picked at random. I didn’t even look to see what it was called, and I didn’t pay much attention to it while it was playing. I could feel Dante’s eyes on me, every time I would look; he looked away. This went on for at least twenty minutes, and then I couldn’t take it anymore.

  The next time I caught him looking at me, before he could look away, I put my hand on his cheek and looked over at him. We stared into each other’s eyes for what seemed like eternity. With each passing second, our faces moved closer until our lips met. The smell of his cologne was alluring, not overpowering like most, but it was familiar and not just the fact that he’d worn it before.

  “Are you wearing the cologne that I got you for your birthday?” I wondered.

  “Yeah,” he blushed. “Well not exactly, I figured you must have liked the smell, so I’ve worn it every day since you got it for me. Even when you were in the hospital, it reminded me of you. I actually had to buy another bottle.” We both laughed. Once we could keep our faces straight, he brought his lips back to mine.

  After a while, we fell asleep there on the couch. I didn’t dream, but I slept great, which with everything going on, was a surprise.

  When I woke up, I was alone on the couch. The sun shined through the house. I had an eerie feeling, like something bad would happen today. I shook it off and got up to look out the window; it was a beautiful day. I could feel the warmth of the sun through the window. I took a deep breath as I stared out. I turned to walk over to the stairs to yell up and see if Dante was home. I saw bloody hand prints on the walls.

  “Dante,” I screamed at the top of my lungs. “Dante,” my voice cracked. I noticed a trail of blood through the house. He didn’t answer. I checked every room, but he wasn’t there. I ran over to see Elizabeth. I barged in the door.

  “What’s wrong?” She gasped.

  “Dante’s missing, have you seen him? There was blood all over the living room,” I cried.

  “No I haven’t. George?” She called upstairs.

  “Yeah?” he replied as he came downstairs.

  “Dante’s missing. You and Cooper go look for him; we’ll catch up in a minute I need to talk to Scarlett.”

  “Alright, I’ll go get Cooper.” He found him, and they went running out of the house.

  “What do you need to talk to me about?” I wondered.

  “You know what happened with Grace?” she asked.

  “Yeah,” I said, fidgeting around; we really should be out there helping to look for Dante.

  “We found him,” George said as he busted through the door. Elizabeth looked apprehensive. She followed behind me as I raced out the door. He was covered in blood; I didn’t care I jumped up into his arms.

  “Are you okay?” I cried.

  “Oh, yeah, I’m fine.”

  “What happened?” I worried.

  “Whoever was in the woods broke into the house, they tried to kill me, but I took care of it,” he was so calm.

  “You killed them?” I choked.

  “Yes.”

  “What did you do with the body?” I demanded.

  “It’s gone, there’s nothing to worry about,” he assured me. Elizabeth stood not too far away from him, just staring at him.

  “You’re sure that’s how it went?” She asked with skepticism.

  “Yeah it is.” He enunciated each word.

  “What did I say to you last night, when Scarlett left to go chase the person who was in the woods?” She questioned.

  “What? Why?”

  “Just answer me,” she said, her voice was calm.

  “I need to take a shower. I’ll see you guys later,” he said before he left. I went to follow him, but Elizabeth grabbed my arm.

  “What?” I asked.

  “You don’t think he was being a little odd?”

  “He just killed someone, of course he was being a little odd,” I snapped. “I’m sorry—“

  “I have a bad feeling about this,” she whispered.

  “I know there’s a lot going on, but we don’t have to be afraid of Dante.” I turned around and walked away.

  Dante was in the shower upstairs; the downstairs bathroom was free, and I needed a shower as well. Once I was done and dressed in my usual attire of blue jeans and a T-shirt, I went downstairs to find Dante on the couch.

  “I was thinking…” he started, “what if we went for a walk in the woods today, it’s safe; whoever was out there is gone now.”

  “Alright, let’s wait until my hair dries. It’s a little chilly out.”

  “Okay,” he agreed. The phone rang.

  “Hello?” I answered.

  “Hey Scarlett, It’s Rose. I was wondering if you wanted to hang out today?”

  “Hold on a minute,” I said and put the phone against my shirt. “It’s Rose, do you mind if she comes with us?”

  He stopped to think for a moment. “Sure.”

  “Rose?”

  “Yeah,” she answered.

  “Dante and I were going to go for a walk in the woods in a little while; you can come if you want,” I offered.

  “Alright, I’ll be over in a few,” she said with excitement.

  “Okay, see you then, bye.”

  I was happy that one of my sisters liked me. It was a dream come true to find out I
had sisters. I just wished I would have known them all my life, and Violet, too, that would make all of this a whole lot easier.

  “What’s going on?” Dante asked.

  “She’ll be here in a little while.”

  “Oh, okay.” I sat down next to him.

  “So, who was it? In the woods, I mean,” I wondered.

  “It was dark when they came in; by the time it was over, they were so bloody, I couldn’t tell. Does it really matter though? I mean, they’re dead. They won’t be bothering us any time soon.”

  “Yeah, I guess it doesn’t really matter.”

  I didn’t know how much longer I could take this. I couldn’t see anyone else get hurt or die, even if they deserved it. Nothing was right about this, and I didn’t want to live like this anymore. I cleared my mind, there was nothing I could do except let them haunt me forever—literally.

  “I can tell Elizabeth thinks something’s up, but you trust me right?” He blurted.

  “Of course,” I smiled. “I’m going to go blow dry my hair. I’ll be back in a few.”

  It took me almost a half an hour to blow dry my hair, and it wasn’t even dry, but I heard a knock on the door, so I ran downstairs.

  “Hey,” I said as I opened the door.

  “Hey what’s up?” Rose asked.

  “Nothing really. So, what happened when you got home last night?”

  “Mom yelled at Sienna for a while, but she told her that you said to go easy on her.”

  “I’m sorry for all the trouble I’ve caused.”

  “It’s not your fault. Mom was a little sad about having to wait to get to know you though,” she responded.

  “I’m not happy about it either, but Sienna and…” I stopped. I didn’t know her name.

  “Hazel.” Huh another color, surprise, surprise.

  “Sienna and Hazel have every right to be a little upset about this, but Sienna went about it the wrong way. Maybe the next time we hang out you should ask them to come along,” I suggested.

  “Yeah, maybe. Are you guys ready to go?”

  “Yeah,” I answered.

  “Yep,” Dante said as he got up from the couch.

  We walked through the woods, with another person on our side; it was almost as if Rose had taken Annabelle’s place. I missed Annabelle though, and I felt awful for thinking that, I hoped I would see her again someday. We went right towards Rose’s house. Even in the fall, once all the trees had lost their leaves, it was beautiful. It was the perfect day to go for a walk; the sun was shining bright and the birds around us were chirping. I couldn’t wait to see this place in the summer, but I wondered what would happen between then and now.

  We were all quiet as we walked. The glow from the trees was hardly noticeable with the sun shining so bright, and somehow we drifted off George and Elizabeth’s property. It wasn’t a big deal—definitely not to Rose—but it was rare that we left our safe place, and I didn’t feel too comfortable with everything we had to worry about.

  “Should we head back?” I asked.

  “Nah,” Dante said as he looked around.

  We kept walking. A few minutes later, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed something moving.

  “Hey, did you guys see that?” I whispered.

  “See what?” Rose asked. Before I could answer, Dante interrupted.

  “No.”

  “There was something over there.”

  Rose looked with me as Dante stood back, it seemed like he didn’t even care. Was he so sure that the person he killed was the only one wandering around these woods? I saw movement coming from all over, coming closer. Before long, I could see a large group of people, far back and hardly visible between the bare trees. They were looking for something, was it the Alliance, had they finally come to get us, me?

  “Look,” I heard one of them say, they came closer.

  “Run,” I shrieked.

  We ran as fast as we could through the trees, dodging rocks and stumps. We came to the end of our path—and maybe our lives—when we reached a cliff. We went to run left, back towards George and Elizabeth’s, but it was too late. They came closer, keeping their eyes on us at all times. They knew they had us, and they took their time and indulged in our fear. When I imagined the Alliance, I imagined some sort of uniform, maybe a cloak or a cape, I didn’t know, but all of these people were so normal-looking.

  “I lo—” I was about to say to Dante, when he appeared behind himself. “What?” I could barely speak as the tears welled up in my eyes.

  “That’s not me.” The smile on his face was heartbreaking.

  “No,” I sobbed; the tears streamed down my cheeks.

  “Be strong Scarlett,” Rose urged.

  “That’s not it,” I choked.

  The ghost of Dante came closer, and wrapped his arms around me. Without intention, I turned invisible as he brought his lips to mine. It was unbearable, the worst tragedy I’ve had to face. I couldn’t live, and I wouldn’t. He stopped and looked at my face, and I became visible.

  I had two options, both ending with my death. The first would be horrifying. I would allow the Alliance to do what they would, to tear me to shreds or slit my throat, the possibilities were endless. Or I could keep some of my dignity and jump, not only because I was cornered and knew I would die anyway, but because I wanted to be with the only person who ever loved me. I turned to face the cliff. I hoped it would be quick, painless, but all of the jagged rocks and bare trees looked like they would be painful, even if I did die almost instantly.

  “Who did this to you?” I asked Dante. I needed to know before I jumped.

  “I don’t know, not for sure, but what happened to Grace is connected to this; I just don’t know how yet.” Rose grabbed my hand.

  “What are you doing?” I asked, before I pulled my hand away.

  “I’m taking us back in time,” she replied.

  Before I said no, I thought for a moment, Dante would still be alive in the past, right? Maybe we could turn this all around.

  “Okay.” I grabbed her hand, but my foot slipped.

  The next thing I knew, I was hanging off the cliff with only Rose to help me. The other Dante walked behind her. “Watch out,” I yelled, as he tried to push her off as well.

  She let go of my hand, and I grabbed on to the edge. My fingernails dug into the dirt. I couldn’t hold on much longer. Dante’s ghost watched in horror, as whoever possessed his body came over to push Rose off the cliff. I could tell by the look in his eyes how helpless he felt. Rose saw him coming and kicked him in the chest, when he was on his back, she grabbed my hand.

  I imagined a time before Grace had disappeared, before my dreams of me and Dante came true. A time before I knew what a monster my so-called “mother” was. I snapped out of it and noticed Dante getting back up. Before I could warn her, he knocked Rose off the cliff, and I went with her.

  ###

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  Keep reading for a Rewind (Vanish Book Three) preview.

  Chapter 1: Time Will Tell

  I knew I was sleeping, but I wasn’t sure where I was. Was I in the present, knocked out from the fall, or dead? Or was I in the past, about to wake up and pretend this was all a horrible dream?

  I laid there with my eyes closed, afraid of where I would be when I opened them. Would I wake up in the hospital, having to relive every awful moment? I opened my eyes. I was in my old room with all my old things. I sighed with relief, until I remembered—I would have to pretend that I didn’t know anything about Ann. When I got up to look around, I noticed there was another bed. This couldn’t be good. We must have changed something, hopefully this was the only thing, but who was in the bed? I went over to look. It was Rose. I shook her until she woke up.

  “It
worked, but I don’t understand why you’re here,” I said so fast, I don’t think she caught what I said. Her eyes were half open, and she looked exhausted.

  “I knew it was only a matter of time before you went crazy,” she joked and pulled the covers over her head. “Now let me sleep. Today’s going to be a long day.”

  “No, Rose, how far back did you take us?”

  “What are you talking about?” She mumbled.

  She didn’t remember. I ran out the bedroom door and down the stairs.

  “Good morning, sweetie,” Ann said in the sweetest voice I’d ever heard her speak in. She was making breakfast, something she would never have bothered to do before. “Rose still isn’t up?”

  “Uh, no,” I answered.

  “Could you go wake her up, honey? We need to be ready to go soon.”

  “Alright,” I mumbled.

  I was angry at her. I hated her, but it seemed she wasn’t the same person who attacked Grace and me in the woods that night. I was horrified to see what else had changed; the ramifications of our actions had to extend out of this house.

  I needed to find Dante, to explain everything. I needed him to hold me in his arms again and believe what I was about to tell him. I hoped I wouldn’t be rejected. I ran up the stairs to wake Rose. I needed to be quick, so I could find Dante and Grace before whatever we had to do today. I knew I would have to go along with everything until I could figure out what we needed to do.

  “Wake up,” I yelled as I threw a pillow at her.

  “Didn’t we just have this discussion?”

  “…Mom said to wake you up, she’s making breakfast.”

  “Ugh, fine.” She sat up. “I had the weirdest dream. Me, you and Dante Quinn were all standing on the edge of a cliff—”

  “It wasn’t a dream, Rose. Come on, I know you remember. You have to,” I pleaded.

  “Ha, nice one. Kind of like when I made you believe that dream you had was real, what was it about again?”

  “You really don’t remember anything?”

  “You’re nuts,” she said as she rolled out of bed.