Silvery-Edged Black Cloud

I continue reading the fascinating article on the Salem Witch Trial at lunch. Alison was gone at a different table with Martin and a bunch of others.

“Why does Alison look like she’s gonna set you on fire?” Dylan asks, rolling his eyes. “Did the sisters get in another cat-fight.”

“Ahuh, yeah, that’s nice,” I say sarcastically. “Just what I need from my best friend when my sister hates me.”

“I’m sorry, Mel,” Dylan says sarcastically. “I could use a little sympathy when my best friend stops talking to me.”

“Miranda graduated and went to the University of Idiots!”

“Oh, yes, and I miss her so dearly,” Dylan says, playing along. “You know, we had sex —”

“LA LA LA LA!!!!” I yell, covering my ears. “You win!”

“Always do,” Dylan says cockily. “Sooo, what was it this time?”

“Alison’s trying to control my life.”

“You big idiot! She’s trying to protect you!” Dylan says, rolling his eyes. “You’re wasting your life with him!”

“Oh, great. Does everyone want to tell me what to do?” I ask, annoyed. “C’mon, don’t be shy. Just come flat out with it.”

“You’re making the biggest mistake of your life!” Everyone says together.

“I was kidding!” I say, rolling my eyes. “Well, I’ll be studying. See yah later.”

I walked away quickly, eager to get away from my so-called friends. I look behind myself at Alison, who stood up furiously, glaring at Melissa.

“JUST GET OUT OF MY FACE, BITCH!!!” Alison growls.

“WHATEVER YOU SAY, QUEEN OF WHORES!!!!” Melissa yells, glowering at her cousin. I fought back the impulse to attack Melissa, knowing that Alison could just take care of herself.

♠ ♣ ♠

“What’s wrong, Melodie?” Josh asks, walking into my bedroom. I was just sitting on my bed, trying to focus on the article.

“How much do you know about the Salem Witch Trials?” I ask, looking up at him.

“Is that what you’ve been reading?” Josh asks teasingly. “Umm … let me think. That was over three hundred years ago.”

“You know, it should weird me out that you’re five hundred years old,” I say, rolling my eyes. “Why doesn’t it?”

“Because you’re twenty-seven, but you look fourteen,” Josh says, rolling his eyes. “But that’s off topic. The Salem Witch Trials made Kevin an emotional wreck.”

“Because Katharina was a Witch.”

“Exactly. She had told us her name for the time, too. Rebecca Nurse,” Josh says gravely. “Kevin had heard the news from Connor. It ticked him off enough that his name was Connor — yah know, ‘Daniel Connor.’”

“Yeah, I know,” I grumble, rolling my eyes. “The devil himself.”

“Yeah, well, it didn’t help Connor’s afterlife when he said that he was a falsely accused witch of Salem. Kevin started getting paranoid,” Josh says, shaking his head, as if to come back here. “He was beating the crap outta me because he thought Katharina was gonna die. Elijah did everything but chain his ass to the cloud to keep him from going down and getting her. He kept saying —”

“’She’ll be here’?” I guess, rolling my eyes. “That would be just about the only thing I can think of that would keep him from dragging Katharina’s ass up to Fallen.”

“Yeah. Elijah said that the ‘Holy Devil’ will bring her soul toward us,” Josh says, rolling his eyes like he didn’t believe it. “I’d like to know just who this Holy Devil is.”

“It doesn’t say?”

“No. It’s sorta like the Bible. Nobody knew who Christ was until Jesus was born.”

I know it’s probably disrespectful, but I couldn’t hold back my laughter. The way he used that to this was just oddly funny. “So, are you saying that you’re going realize who this ‘Holy Devil’ is when he or she is born?”

“Yep. Pretty much.”

“What if they’re already born?”

“What do you mean?”

“I dunno. Just an honest question. Maybe Alison —,” I stopped myself short, feeling my chest knot up. Alison was still angry with me from our fight yesterday. She probably wouldn’t be in the mood to help us. “Never mind.”

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“Maybe Alison?” Josh prompts stubbornly. “What were you gonna say?”

“Alison’s a reincarnation of Hecate. Maybe she knows who this ‘Holy Devil’ is,” I say, rolling my eyes. “If you get her in a deep enough trance she can tell you anything you want.”

“How would you do that?”

“Stress, anger, protectiveness. If you can make her stressed enough she automatically goes into a trance,” I say, shrugging. “You’ll know by her pupils. They change dramatically.”

“Okay, got it,” Josh says, nodding. “But how do I make her stressed?”

“If you get enough people around her to talk about random problems then that should do it,” I say, shrugging. “My suggested problems are Donovan, Melissa, Deborah, Raine, and Queen of the Witches.”

“What do I do once she gets into the trance?”

“First off, make sure Kevin isn’t around. He freaks out every time Alison goes into a trance. You might also want to keep Martin, Jesse, Scarlett, Mary, and Alec away. They’d figure out what you’re doing in a heartbeat,” I say, rolling my eyes. “You basically just ask her a question. She’ll probably give you a riddle.”

“Her and riddles. They’re like, best friends,” Josh says sarcastically. “I’ll try that at school tomorrow. We have a period together without the others.”

“That’s handy.”

♠ ♣ ♠

School the next day was better. Alison didn’t show her anger directly toward me. But, sadly, she avoids me. She acts like I don’t exist.

As I was walking down the hall, I saw Josh bombing questions at her like crazy. Alison was looking beyond stressed as her pupils changed dramatically, pained and everything. Josh was getting angry and impatient. That’s when I knew he was going too far, as I fought my way through the crowd of students to get to them.

“Josh, stop it!” I say, pushing him away from her. “You’re hurting her!”

“SHE WON’T ANSWER THE QUESTION!!!” Josh yells angrily.

“THAT DOESN’T MEAN THAT YOU KEEP ASKING HER!!!” I growl, pulling Alison away from him, as she was huddled into a tight ball on the floor. “C’mon, Al, it’s okay.”

Her eyes met mine, that unfocused look still in them. She slowly got to her feet, and I wrapped my arm around her shoulders, pulling her away from him as I glared. “C’mon, it’s time for lunch,” I say quietly, pulling her along beside me.

“What’s wrong with Alison?!” Martin yells, standing up as I practically carried her toward them.

“Josh put her into a deep trance. I don’t know how long it’ll take before she’s back,” I say, handing her over to Martin, who I knew would take care of her in this fragile state. “I don’t know what he was asking her.”

“I’m gonna murder his ass,” Kevin growls.

“Ah, the sweet sound of things going back to normal,” Raine says sarcastically.

“DON’T KILL HIM!!!” Alison yells suddenly. “They’re everywhere …”

“Aly, come back,” Martin says quietly, shaking her gently. “Come on, it’s not worth it.”

“Oh, Melody!” Mr. Evans says, running over to me. “I did some research, and I found something.”

“On what?”

“On some Nathanson’s. I found these records of them …” Mr. Evans says. Kevin gives me a curious look, which I tried my best to ignore. “Here, you can find out yourself.”

I took the slip of paper with the web address, aware that mostly everyone was giving me odd looks. Mr. Evans quickly scrambled away, leaving me to the wrath of questioning.

“What are you doing?”

“Research on your family,” I say, rolling my eyes. Only halfway lie. “So far, my luck’s turning out for better. Right, Al?”

“Ugh, what happened?” She asks, looking around, rubbing her temples. “How did I get here?”

“Brought you here.”

“Oh. Thanks,” she says quietly, looking around. “How are those scars of yours doing?”

“Well, it’s not very hard to hide them. Unless it rains. Speaking of which, why does it rain so much?” I ask, irritated. “I mean, seriously! It’s ridiculous! I can’t just carry around makeup when I’m gonna be doing track!”

“I thought you were doing cheerleading?”

“I’ll do it if you do.”

“That’s not fair! You know I’m not athletic!”

“But you can always just use that Witch-charm of yours.”

“Hmm … never thought about that,” Alison says thoughtfully. “Speaking of which, I’ve gotta go. Jake’s gonna be here … now.”

She ducked under the table, just as Melissa came over with a boy. He had dirty blonde hair and black eyes. He looked at Melissa with an annoyed expression as she practically dragged him all the way over here.

“What was so important that you had to drag me across the cafeteria for, Melissa?!”

“Get out from under the table, Alison! I know you’re there!” Melissa says smugly, crawling under the table and dragging Alison out.

“Hey Jake.”

“Hey, Rose.”

“Rose?” I ask, raising an eyebrow.

“How yah been, Jake?”

“Good. You?”

“Same old, same old,” she says, glaring at Melissa. “You can let go now.”

“Not until you tell him!” Melissa snaps.

“Not until you die,” Alison growls, yanking free.

“Fine, then I’ll tell him!”

“Do you have any value of your life.”

“You can’t hurt me.”

“Wanna bet?”

“Al, it’s not worth it. Besides that, cheerleading try-outs start in ’bout five minutes,” I say, grabbing her arm and pulling her along behind me. “You’re trying out if I am.”

“Fine,” she grumbles, letting me drag her.

♠ ♣ ♠

“Holy crap! I cannot believe I let you talk me into trying out!” Alison yells, as we walk out of the gym. We had both made it. Partly because Alison had used her Witch-charm.

“Soo … wanna go watch the boys trying out for football?” I ask, trying to make conversation.

“Sure. I think Martin said he was going out for football,” she says, shrugging. “Might as well give him the news.”

“That you’re a cheerleader?”

“Umm … yeah. That.”

“Alison.”

“Nothing.”

“Okay,” I say, shrugging as we head out toward the football field. I immediately noticed a few familiar faces. Kevin, Dylan, Josh, Duncan, and Martin were just a few of those.

“Looks like Kevin might be quarterback,” Alison says, rolling her eyes.

“OH MY GOSH!!! ALISON!!! MELODY!!! I MADE THE SQUAD!!!” Sophie squeals happily, hugging us. Duncan looks up at the sound of Sophie’s voice, running over to us. “DUNCAN!!!”

“Ouch! I heard,” Duncan laughs, kissing her. I’d be a hypocrite if I said that was weird because he was ten years older than her. Why? Because I’m dating someone who’s over five hundred years old. Duh.

“Oh! Look there’s Martin!” Alison says uncomfortably, running over to the fence. I was right behind her, not wanting to get in the middle of those two. They had hardly been dating when they just suddenly got married. Of course, they didn’t have endless time like the rest of us. And, Duncan had always been there for Sophie when Alison wasn’t.

“I still can’t believe that they’re together.”

“Age doesn’t mean a thing when you’re soulmates,” Alison says, smiling at me. “That’s one of the many excuses Kevin uses to get out of us locking you in a room with him.”

“Very comforting thought, Al, very comforting,” I say sarcastically. “Always reminding me of that time I kissed him.”

“YOU WHAT?!!!”

“Crap. I wasn’t supposed to tell you that,” I grumble. “It happened once, Al! Don’t make a big deal out of it!”

“Now, why would I do that?” Alison says sarcastically. “Oh, yeah, because I can SCREAM IT!!!”

“So help me, if you do I cannot promise that you’ll come out uninjured.”

“CHRIS!!! MELODY KISSED KEVIN!!!” Alison yells. I tackle her to the ground, trying desperately to get her to shut up! “MELODY KISSED KEVIN!!! MELODY KISSED KEVIN!!!”

“SHUT UP!!!” I growl, wrestling with her. Yah know, she may be small, but she can fight! “SHUT UP!!! SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP!!!”

“MELODY KISSED KEVIN!!! MELODY KISSED KEVIN!!!”

“SHUT UP!!! SHUT UP!!!”

“MELODY KISSED KEVIN!!! MELODY KISSED KEVIN!!!”

“SHUT UP!!! SHUT UP!!!”

“MELODY KISSED KEVIN!!! MELODY KISSED KEVIN!!!”

“SHUT UP!!! SHUT UP!!!”

“MELODY KISSED KEVIN!!! MELODY KISSED KEVIN!!! MELODY KISSED KEVIN!!! MELODY KISSED KEVIN!!! MELODY KISSED KEVIN!!! MELODY KISSED KEVIN!!!”

“DO YOU NOT KNOW THE MEANING OF SHUT UP?!!!” I yell, sitting on her back, both her arms in a position where I could break them in a second. “THAT HAPPENED OVER FIVE YEARS AGO!!!”

“It still happened!”

“Yes! Alright! I kissed him?! Anything else before I break your arms?!”

“What was it like?”

“What do you mean what was it like?!”

“Answer my question first.”

“Fine. It was awesome. There was fireworks and explosions. It felt like the entire world stopped. It felt like he was the only thing in this entire world. If I could do it again I would. Happy?”

“Happy as a puppy after his afternoon nap,” Alison says in her odd southern accent. “Anything else?”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re hiding something.”

“What?!”

“You tell me.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I grumble, getting up off of her. “What more do you want me to say? That no matter how much I try I can’t make the same thing happen with Josh?! That I can’t go five seconds without thinking about him?! WHAT?!!!”

“Umm … Melody, I think Josh heard you.”

“What makes you think that?”

“The fact that he’s getting in a fight with Kevin about you.”

“WHAT?!!!” I yell, looking for them. Sure enough, Josh was throwing vicious punches at Kevin. Josh looked beyond angry with his brother, as he fought harder than I think I’ve ever seen anyone before. Kevin was taken by surprise, obviously not expecting his little brother to suddenly explode with rage at him. It cost him. He would definitely have a black eye. As Josh continued on his assault, I hopped over the thin, rattling fence meant to keep people out.

“YOU JUST HAD TO KISS HER!!!” Josh growls, punching Kevin again.

“Josh! Stop!” I yell, holding back his fist. His spins around, slapping me.

“WHAT THE HELL?!!!” Kevin growls, punching him.

“No! Stop it!” I yell, feeling someone’s fist collide with my face. I fainted after that.