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I walk away from them, heading toward the stairs. Everyone shouts at me to stop, but I ignore them all, the chaos too much. My mind is loud enough. It’s blaring as loudly as the train that I thought was about to kill us.
Once I’m in the loft, I bend down, grabbing the small wooden box on the ground and lifting it into my hands, tilting the lid open. Everything is as I left it, though I’m sure Felix spotted it already.
“Hazel? What is it?” Vera’s soft voice comes from behind me, and I see everyone making their way to the top of the stairs. They all look leery, as if they shouldn’t trust me. I don’t blame them; I don’t trust myself.
There’s so much darkness surrounding this house, this town…me.
I can feel it as if a heavy weight is sitting directly on my chest. Each breath comes with a difficulty, and I know if I tell them what’s really going on, it’ll be madness.
I don’t know what to do.
Spinning around, I hold the small box in my hand. “Do you guys know whose house this is?”
They stand around me, confused looks on their faces.
“No? Who?” Malik’s body stiffens, as if he knows he won’t like the answer I’m about to give.
“Does the name Rowena ring a bell to any of you?” I whisper, feeling the air in the room thicken just as I say the words.
It’s so silent you can hear the wind whipping through the trees outside. It feels as if a storm is coming. Figuratively, and literally.
“Dude!” Atticus slaps Malik in the chest. “That’s the name of the witch.”
Malik narrows his eyes. “Our great-grandmother,” he growls, looking around the loft like he’s seeing it in a new light.
“How did you not know this?” Vera asks him.
“Wait a second.” Blaire raises her hand, her lips pursed in confusion. “You mean, we’ve been partying in the fucking house where people were murdered and where she held all these black magic rituals and shit? Where she basically cursed Castle Pointe?”
“Watch it,” Malik seethes, baring his teeth.
I shake my head, stepping forward. “Blaire, Castle Pointe was cursed decades before Rowena was even born. Yes, she did awful things and has caused Castle Pointe to be what it is, but the darkness… the curse itself, it was there long before.”
“So who the fuck are we battling? Our long-lost great-grandmother, Rowena, or some ancient curse?” Felix snaps, turning his head toward mine.
I swallow over the lump in my throat. “Both,” I whisper. “We’re fighting both, and every other dead soul who’s crossed the portal.”
“So, what do we do? How do we fight this… this thing?” Piper whips her hand in the air, likeitis in the room with us.
I suppose, in a way, it is.
It’s in me.
“It’s getting stronger. If the train tracks have appeared, the entire thing is growing more powerful,” Vera whispers.
“Why would your great-grandmother want to hurt us? Doesn’t she know you’re related?” Blaire questions.
Malik shakes his head. “She wasn’t a good fucking person, Blaire. She killed people, tortured Castle Pointe. She’s not someone that is going to come to our rescue, if that’s what you’re thinking. She’s a black magic witch, and I’m guessing whatever else is with her, is just as bad, or worse.”
My chest tugs, like I’m being pulled forward. I lock my knees as I stay planted to the ground, feeling my skin begin to grow damp with sweat.
Is this how Malik felt? Is this the beginning of the end?
“Hazel, is something wrong? You don’t look good.” Piper frowns at me, taking a small step toward me.
I shake my head, giving her a small smile, even as my skin starts to feel clammy, a permanent chill covering my body.
“I’m okay.”
