Ch 3

Drops of icy liquid dripped onto my forehead. I struggled to open my eyes, but they stayed glued shut in fatigue. I felt more exhausted than when I had fallen asleep that night. Finally, two more drips and the sound of creaking hinges pried my eyelids apart. I blinked, still dazed, and strained to lift my head to the source of the sounds. My limbs remained unresponsive, too heavy for me to lift, and terror struck my heart as my eyes drifted to my room door.

A figure crept by with gleaming hazel eyes and long, drenched light hair. "Belinda?" I mumbled, my voice low and shaky.

She stood sopping wet from head to toe, shivering. My doorway creaked open as she lifted her head. Her purple lips quivered, like she was saying something, but no words came out. My eyes were too blurry to make out anything.

"B-Belinda...what—"

She shifted from the doorway to my beside within the span of a blink. "Divina...the syphoner...she...the syphoner...Divina...she..." her whispers were rushed and half-inaudible. I could hardly understand anything, and the parts I could didn't make any sense.

She stopped mumbling and her head jerked back. Her eyes rolled back to the whites, black ooze filling them to the rims. Her head snapped forward again and the skin on her face slowly crumbled, with more black ooze leaking out into a smoky mist.

"She's coming for you...sh-she's coming...coming for you...sh-she's....syphoner...the syphoner....she's coming..." her voice faded as more of her dissolved into dust. "Divina!" she screeched, nothing left of her physical form save for a cloud of smoke.

"Divina," my mother called. I jumped and blinked my eyes back to focus. I muffled a yawn and turned away from the window to look at her. My eyes fluttered heavily as I fought off sleep. "Are you feeling okay, minette?" My mother pressed a cold hand to my forehead, and I leaned into it, dozing again. "I think you might be catching a cold."

I nodded, forcing my eyes back open. I had slept thirteen hours the night before, but I was cocooned in fatigue anyway. I looked around the car at everyone, all cloaked in black. Bastien in the front passenger, my mother between Seth and I in the back, and the driver. Belinda had stayed behind. Maybe something was going around. My eyes fluttered again.

"Just close your eyes...and let go..." a whisper drifted past my ear. My eyes shot open. My mother was still watching me with a crinkle between her eyebrows. Bastien was still staring stoically through the windshield and Seth had reclined his head against the headrest with his eyes closed. Where had that whisper come from?

Maybe it was a dream. I had probably just drifted off to sleep again. I rubbed my eyes and yawned again.

"Sleep, Divina...sleep...it will all be over soon..." the voice whispered again. This time, I knew I wasn't sleeping. I sat up straight in my seat and tried to shake myself awake. "It's almost time, cherie..." another whisper. My eyes were opened, I hadn't even blinked.

"M-Mom," I leaned toward her, whispering. "Did you...hear anything just now?" I folded my arms over my chest.

"Like what, honey?" she asked, now looking through the windshield as the car turned onto a gravel road.

"Nothing, never-mind," I mumbled. I jumped as a branch whipped across my window. I pressed a hand to my chest and took a deep breath. "How much farther?" I asked the driver, leaning over my mother to the center console.

Bastien turned to respond so quickly, our noses almost touched before I had time to react. "We're here," he said with a grimace, his eyes never wavering from mine. I leaned back against my seat and gulped.

The car came to a stop at the edge of the gravel road that had turned into a dirt one. I looked out the window on my side and then through Seth's, but there was not a lake in sight. "We'll go the rest of the way on foot," Seth said, opening his door.

My mother followed him out, accepting the hand he offered, and ducked her head back in with a raised eyebrow. I nodded and slid out.

The walk to the bridge was a short one. I wasn't sure what I expected to see, but it wasn't the view we came upon. The dusty path led to wall of towering, narrow-trunk trees lining either side of a small opening. Kudzu draped the trees like curtains.

The fairytale-like opening poured into a scene so violently different, it seemed like an alternate dimension. The dirt path forged into a dusty bank with scarce weeds popping up by the bank's edge. Several feet below, grime and patches of floating algae clogged the surface of the murky lake. The bridge, if you could call it that, seemed sturdy but the worn and cracked stones looked like they might crumble at any moment.

My eyes widened and my mouth gaped open as my mother took bold strides toward impending doom –the bridge, I meant. She waltzed halfway up the decaying structure before turning back to beckon me.

I turned to Seth, my eyes still wide, but he only returned a gentle smile and nodded.

Bastien stepped before me and clasped my shoulders. "Don't worry; if you fall in, I'll throw a rope," he smirked and pushed me towards the bridge.

I scoffed and shrugged out of his grip, and carefully strode to my mother's side. Why were we doing this? We had never even met the woman.

A quarter of the way up the bridge, I pulled at my mother's arm. "Here should be good enough, Mom." Going any further would surely end with us both soaked in muddy water and smelling like something from a swamp.

She nodded and pulled the small silver urn from her bag, handing it to me. I wiped a bead of sweat from my forehead as she unruffled the note Satrina left for her to read and sat the urn on the bridge's rusted railing.

"Well...here goes," she started. "Cinis in cineres abit...Per ignem et aquam...Utinam anima mea tuo manere..." she struggled through the first few lines. What was that? Latin?

She continued, "a tui herede est sanguinis...A sanguinis est druidae...Ego dampnare," she finished, letting the paper fly from her hand and float away in the breeze.

"Well, I guess that's it," I glanced back to my mother, who remained unmoved. "Mom?" She fixated on the urn but didn't reach for it. "Should I pour the ashes?" I asked, reaching for it.

Her hand latched onto my wrist. The tips of her fingers grew black and sharp talon-shaped claws sliced through from her nailbeds. Shock radiated through me in waves and I couldn't move. Slowly, I lifted my gaze to her face, still glowering at the urn. She snapped her eyes to mine. Solid black covered the whites of her eyes and blended her irises into her pupils. The skin around them flared as black veins rose beneath it.

"M-Mom?" I wailed.

A depraved grin slithered across her face as she yanked me toward her; her grip released my wrist and grasped my neck in seconds. "I'm not your Mommy," a throng of beastly voices spilled from my mother's lips. "But you and I have plenty of time to get to know one another, dear Divina," she whispered my name. She threw her head back and a murky, black vapor shot out from her mouth.

My heart hammered in my chest and adrenaline poured into my blood. By instinct, or sheer terror, I wasn't sure, but I pried the talons from my neck and stumbled against the railing, sending the urn and all its contents to into the lake. I doubled over, wheezing and coughing, forcing air in and out of my lungs. My mind raced, unable to comprehend anything about this situation.

The thud of my mother's body falling to the floor of the bridge jolted me back to reality. Heavy footfalls rocked against the unsteady stone as Seth and Bastien slowly made their way towards us. "S-stop!" I managed out, hoarsely. "This thing is gonna fall apart if you go any further!"

Seth pulled a reluctant Bastien back to the edge of the bridge where they both waited with uneasy expressions. "Divina, walk back. Seth will help your mother."

I cringed as I looked at her, a crumpled pile of black ruffles, completely unconscious. "N-no! I can't just leave her here!"

"Can you lift her?" Seth asked taking a step forward, but quickly retracting it.

A trail of fear bloomed up my spine. Could I? Probably. But after what had just happened? I shuddered as the image of that heinous smile invading her face flashed through my mind. "Maybe...maybe you're right. I'm not sure if I can...in this heat...." I wiped another line of sweat from my face and tried to stand upright.

Please, God, whatever is happening to me right now, let this just be another nightmare. I lightly stepped toward the end of the bridge, fighting the tears welling in my eyes. Just a nightmare, Divina...it's just a nightmare, I swore to myself.

"What happened up there?" Bastien asked, pulling me off the bridge when I was close enough to reach. Seth took off toward my mother.

"I...I don't...I'm not sure..." my voice grew thick as I tried to find words. Tears broke free from the rims of my eyes and I tried to wipe them as fast as they fell. "Sh-she just..."

"Shh," Bastien said, awkwardly patting my shoulder. "Come on, we can talk in the car." He looked behind me as Seth approached, my mother in tow and conscious now.

I kept my eyes to the ground, afraid to look in my mother's direction, as we approached the car. Bastien held my door open and gave my shoulder one more awkward pat before I slid in.

"Divina, honey, it's okay," my mother soothed, but her voice was hoarse. She reclined her head against the back of her seat between Seth and me. "I didn't mean to scare you, I just forgot my iron supplement this morning."

I nodded silently and stared out the window. It was clear that no one else had seen what I had, but despite my mother's normalcy, I couldn't shake the images of what I'd just witnessed.

"Honestly, I don't know why you got so worked up. It's not like this hasn't happened before," she said. Her shoulder bumped against mine as she shrugged, and my heart sank.

This? This had never happened before, not even in my worst nightmares. I shuddered.

"You're shivering...I knew you were getting sick. Make sure you rest up when we get home," she chided.

Maybe I was going insane. I hoped. I prayed. Insanity was likely –it was said to run in our family. And it wasn't like I hadn't seen unexplainable things before. Even as a child, I could see faces where others couldn't; I had always assumed they were spirits. Some were familiar, others weren't. But none had ever terrified me; they certainly never took the form of my mother. Or possessed her...if that's what that was.

The ride back to the manor was torturous. I glanced from the corner of my eye at my mother every so often, but she remained nonchalant and unbothered. Still, despite my fatigue, the inner shake I felt every time my mother moved, or sighed, or shifted in her seat kept me wide awake.

My hand gripped the door handle and just as the car slowed to a stop, I bolted from my seat, rushed through the manor and darted straight for my room.

I scuttled through the entry way and tore down the hall, stumbling as I turned the corner and slammed right into...Bastien? He gripped my forearms before I could fall and lifted me back steady on my feet.

"H-how did you—"

"There's more than one route to this hall," he quipped. "What happened at the bridge? What did you see?"

I snatched my arms from his grip and stepped back. "I don't know what you're talking about. I didn't see anything." I side stepped him and started back towards my room.

"Divina, wait," he stepped in front of me again. "Listen, I know I haven't been exactly...welcoming, but..." he struggled, looking down at his feet.

"That's an extreme understatement," I muttered. I sighed and shook my head. "It's fine, really. Nothing happened. I just freaked when she fell," I said, closing my eyes against the flashes of images racing through my mind.

He lifted his head and stared. "I know that isn't true," he said, pulling my hand in his. "Whatever it is...whatever you're afraid of, you can tell me."

I looked away shaking my head, ready to pull my hands away from his when he lifted my left wrist.

"Before you tell me it's 'nothing' again, explain this," he said, gesturing at a bluish-gray bruise that encircled my wrist.

"What the hell are you doing?" Belinda's voice thundered down the hall. "Take your hands off of her!" She stomped down the hall and pulled my hands from Bastien's. "What the hell! Did you do this to her?"

"No, Bea, calm down. It wasn't him," I pulled her to my side. "He was just checking on me after..." I started, unsure how to explain it to Belinda. She would know there was more than any explanation I could give, but I couldn't just not tell her anything.

"Farrah had a fall earlier at the bridge. She must've grabbed Divina as she was losing consciousness," Bastien said, quickly filling the silence.

"Oh...ok, well, my apologies," she said, with a quick nod to Bastien. "Divina, you look pale. Are you feeling alright?" Belinda pressed a cold hand to my forehead. "You've got a fever. You should go lie down; I'll bring you something for your temperature," she said, guiding me towards my room with her arm linked in mine.

***

Days past with no weird, half-awake nightmares haunting me, but I couldn't shake the feeling that someone was following me...watching me from the shadows. I still couldn't look my mother in the face without that horrid image of her flashing in mind.

I tried to convince myself it was just a hallucination, a side effect from the high fever I'd had, but there was something very real in that moment on the bridge that kept me from accepting it as imaginary.

I had recovered after Belinda spent two days caring for me, but I continued to feel on edge and irritable. Maybe it was fatigue from being sick.

A knock thudded against my room door. I rolled my eyes and slid out of bed with a sigh. "Yes?" I asked, opening the door to find Bastien waiting on the other side, as he had for the past five days. "Hello Bastien –no, I haven't figured out anything about the key –and yes, I have been searching for clues. Sorry to disappoint," I grumbled.

He smiled sheepishly, scratching his head as he looked to the floor. "Right...I guess I've been kind of concerned about the key lately..." his voice trailed off. He raised his eyes back to mine.

"Concerned? More like obsessed," I snorted, closing the door.

"W-wait," he stammered, placing his hand between the door and threshold. "I actually came to see if you wanted to join me...for coffee."

I pulled the door back open and eyed him suspiciously. "Coffee?"

"Yeah."

"Why? Is there a clue or something in the coffee room? You could just tell me about it."

"No, I meant would you want to go out with me...for coffee? There's a gourmet coffee shop in town, Beaucherie's," he said with a half-smile. "I'm actually supposed to meet Seth there in half an hour. I thought maybe you'd want to tag along and get some fresh air," he added.

"Seth will be there?" I asked with wide eyes. I'd been meaning to talk to Seth about helping convince my mother to tell me go to school online. The dread of yet another episode staring me in the role of the "new girl" was insurmountable.

He pursed his eyebrows and nodded slowly.

"Okay, sure. I'll meet you out front in twenty minutes," I said with a quick smile before shutting the door in his face.

I rushed through my morning routine, quickly scrubbing and moisturizing my face and throwing on a grey sweater with dark jeans and black boots as I silently practiced what I'd say to get Seth on my side about school. I tied my hair in a high bun and made my way to the front steps of the manor. Just as I reached the last step, a metallic blue Tesla pulled around the fountain. As the passenger window rolled down, Bastien appeared, motioning for me to get in.

Beaucherie's Café Gourmet was less than a five-minute drive. I was so focused on successfully recruiting Seth in the war on public school, I didn't even realize we'd arrived until Bastien opened the passenger door for me.

"Are you getting out, or what?" he asked.

"Oh, right," I said, with a nervous chuckle. What if Seth didn't want to help me? Sure, he seemed to be building rapport with my mother, but if he didn't care about my plight, what reason would he even have to talk with her on my behalf? I shook the anxious thoughts away and focused on following Bastien through maze of parked cars.

The shop looked like a photo snapped right off the streets of 1920's Paris. A grid of glass and weathered oak framed the entrance. The doors were rustic with gaudy chrome handles shaped like large antlers with a bell that dinged as Bastien pulled them open.

"Bash, long time no see," a woman's voice with a heavy southern twang called out. Her jean mini skirt and light brown riding boots fit her voice perfectly. A frame of chin-length red hair peeked out from beneath a brown wide brim hat that looked to be made of glossy straw. Her cream toned duster coat floated around her knees as she hauled toward us.

Bastien nodded to her and glanced back at me but said nothing. I smiled shyly and shrugged, unsure if I was supposed to say anything.

Her boots clicked with each step and she peered behind Bastien and lifted her hat a bit. "You're new," she said, matter-of-factly as she studied me.

"She's with me," Bastien said, shielding me from her gaze.

"Hey, Bastien! I was beginning to think you'd forgotten about us, man," another voice piped up, male. His steps were heavy as he thudded his way up to Bastien. A surly hand landed firmly on Bastien's shoulder. "Who's the girl?" he asked, his light blue eyes peeking over Bastien's head.

"I'm Divina," I said quietly and gave an awkward wave.

Pushing Bastien aside, a ginger giant stepped forward and held out a meaty hand. "Artie, nice to meet you," he introduced himself with a bright smile.

I accepted his hand with a forced smile and slowly pulled away when he winked at me.

"That's my little sister, Laura," he pointed a thumb to the redhead behind him. He leaned forward and whispered, "Don't mind her, she's just worried somebody else's gonna step on her toes, if you know what I mean. How do you know Bastien anyway?"

Bastien grabbed my forearm and pulled me away from Artie. "We'll chat later, Artie," he said, pulling me through the throng of various patrons who all seemed to know him.

Against the far wall of the café, I spotted Seth sitting at a bistro table looking at his phone. He looked up, his eyes meeting mine, and a smile spread across his face. His eyebrow lifted as his eyes drifted over to Bastien. I slowly pulled my arm from his grip and made my way to Seth.

"I'm happy to see you're feeling better, Princess," Seth said, pulling me into a warm hug. "I was worried there for a while." He slid an arm around my shoulders and led me to a seat just as Bastien approached the table. "Why don't you order something for us, Bash?" Seth smirked. "I'll have an Americano and a chocolate croissant."

"Oh, could I get a double-shot blueberry latte with almond milk?" I asked with a sheepish smile.

Bastien grumbled with a nod, reaching over to grab Seth's wallet from the table. "You're paying." He rolled his eyes and walked to the counter.

Now's my chance! I thought. But how should I even start?

"What's on your mind?" Seth asked, tilting his head a bit. It was like he could hear my thoughts.

I looked around before responding, like I was heralding some kind of secret mission. "Seth, I need your help..." I started, turning back to him.

"Anything for you, Princess," he smiled. "Unless you're trying to run away, then I'm sorry, I can't help."

"N-no, no, it's nothing like that. It's...well, okay, look. You and my mother are becoming fast friends...and I've been to, like, seven different high schools since freshman year –three just in my junior year! Do you know how awful it is to be the new girl all the time? Anyway, I've been doing some research and North Carolina has this awesome online school program. So, I thought...maybe..."

"Maybe I could talk to Farrah for you? Put in a good word about the online program?" he asked. He stayed quiet for a few moments, like he was debating something. "Hmm...I suppose I could do that. But you'll owe me a favor in the future," he said finally, with a grin.

"Anything! Just name it," I said.

"I'll let you know how it goes, then." He reached his hand over and lifted his pinky. "Promise." He winked.

"Thank you, I don't know what I'd do without you," I grinned, linking my pinky with his. I nearly jumped from my seat as a chair screeched across the wooden floor.

Bastien stood, glowering at our pinky-promise and slid my latte in front of me. He shoved Seth's drink over to him, spilling a few drops on the table. "They were out of croissants," he said, leaning back in the chair across from mine. "A friend's waiting for you outside," he said, glaring at Seth.

Seth snorted, pulling his pinky from mine. "Looks like that's my cue," he said, standing.

"You're leaving?" I frowned.

"He has a friend waiting for him outside," Bastien grounded out, his glare shifting to me.

Seth chuckled. "Catch you later, Princess. Don't let this guy bully you." He winked again, grabbing his drink, and headed for the door.

I nodded and gave an uneasy smile as he disappeared through the crowd of coffee drinkers. My eyes wandered back to my own drink as the berry aroma wafted around me. I closed my eyes and inhaled before lifting the cup to my lips. Decadent. Pure coffee perfection. I took another sip before setting the cup back down and my eyes fluttered open to see Bastien watching my every move.

His stare was steady as he sipped his black coffee in silence and I couldn't help but wonder what snarky or suspicious thoughts must be going through his mind. He sighed and sat his mug on the table. "You're wasting your time."

I blinked, completely confused.

"With Seth," he said, rolling his eyes. "He's into guys so..." he looked back down at his coffee as his voice trailed off.

After a moment, I finally registered what he was saying. "Oh, n-no," I laughed, "I'm not –I wasn't..." I stammered, taken aback and amused at his assumption. "No, just...no. He's not my type anyway," I chuckled nervously, taking another sip of coffee.

"And what's that?" he asked.

"What's what?"

"Your type?"

"My type?" I snorted. "That's not even something I have a reason to think about..." I muttered, with another sip.

"You need a reason to have a type?" he asked, holding a steady gaze.

I took another long sip and sighed. "For someone who thinks I'm a criminal, you're sure interested in my love life."

"What love life?" he snorted. "And I never called you a grifter. Besides, I told you if you showed me the box, I'd believe you. I don't see a reason why we can't be friends now," he said with a shrug.

"Friends..." I repeated, turning the word over in my mind. With Bastien Loukas? Surely, the planet had turned upside down. In what world would he ever consider me a friend? "Friend is a strong word..." I said in a low voice.

"Okay...then, how about partners?" he asked, leaning forward in his seat. "We're both looking for answers; why not share what we know?"

"So, you are still suspicious of me," I said, lowering my now empty mug to the table.

"I'm not. Honestly," he said. His tone was even, but he eyed my movements like he was trying to catch me in a lie. "But there's a lot you're not telling me. I won't pry, but we might be after the same truth. Plus, I'm a great asset to have," he said, flashing a smile.

Dimples framed his boyish, bright smile, almost making him look like another person altogether. My heart raced and blood rushed to my face. I glanced down at my empty mug. Maybe the extra shot was too much.

"We should probably get back," he said, pulling my attention back to him. He leaned up and grabbed my cup as he stood to his feet. "Anyway, just think about it. Partner," he said with a wink. He started for the counter to return our cups but turned back. "By the way, don't smile at Artie anymore; he'll start telling everyone you're his girlfriend."

He returned to the table and lead me back through the still-crowded Beaucherie's, waving at Artie and Laura and quickly rushing me through the exit.

"My father married Satrina two years ago," Bastien said, starting the car's ignition. "He'd met her three months before their wedding. It was ridiculous," he scoffed. His fist clenched against the steering wheel as we waited at the stoplight up from the café.

"Maybe they were...in love," I said, hesitantly. "It happens fast, sometimes, you know."

"Not for people like my father. The only woman he could ever love died fourteen years ago," he said, gently.

"The only woman?" I asked as I turned to watch his response. "Are you upset that he moved on?"

A doleful look crossed his face and my stomach knotted up. Maybe I shouldn't have said anything.

"You don't get it. He couldn't move on. We're just not wired that way. There's only one and once she's gone..." his voice wavered before he cleared his throat. "Anyway, how do you not know all of this?" he asked, turning his attention to me as the car came to another red light.

"Why should I know any of this?" I asked blankly.

His eyes widened as shook his head and turned his attention back to the road. He seemed to be deliberating something. The remainder of the ride back to the manor was quiet.

As Bastien shifted the gear in park, I took a deep breath and reached my hand out towards him. He glanced from my hand to my face and back and pursed his eyebrows together.

"You're right, there's no reason why we shouldn't be friends," I shrugged. "And partners," I added. "What do you say?"

"I'm not sure how long this will last, but sure. Partners," he said, shaking my hand. "And friends," he added with another devastating smile.