Coldhearted (9781311888433) (17 page)

Ravenna blinked, and then said, “Mason can
stay, but the rest of you, leave now.”

Mason stood up. “We’re all staying. Edie
wants to talk to you.”

He left Ravenna, looking wounded, and it had
nothing to do with her neck injury. Edie approached Ravenna’s bed,
while Mason, Diana, and Madelyn hovered nearby. Ravenna lifted the
magazine in front of her face, telling Edie that she was not in the
mood to talk. Well, too bad. Edie tugged the magazine from her hand
and threw it on her bedside table.

“
Hey!” Ravenna shouted, and
then scrutinized her fingers. “You could’ve given me a paper cut.”
She stared coldly at Edie. “What? You couldn’t kill me in the
street, so you’re trying again?”

Edie put her hands on her hips, imitating
Mrs. Gallo. “First, I didn’t try to kill you. I’m not a witch.
Second, what’s your problem with me? I’ve never done anything to
you.”

“
Ro says—”

“
Rochelle’s a jealous liar,”
Mason cut her off. “If she jumped off a cliff, would
you?”

“
You bet she would,” Diana
said, arms folded over her chest. “She’s a total sheep.”

“
I am not a sheep,” Ravenna
countered.

“
Sheep,” Madelyn echoed, and
then belted out, “Baaah!”

Ravenna cursed and Edie held up her hands to
prevent an all-out brawl. “Enough,” she warned everyone, and then
turned toward Ravenna. “I want to know what happened about this man
you saw who appeared out of thin air.”

“
You should know,” Ravenna
said. “You conjured him, witch.”

“
Yeah, you know what? I am a
witch, but I didn’t try to have you killed. I’m trying to find out
who did conjure that man in the street.”

Ravenna bit her lip, and then asked, “Like
another witch?”

“
Possibly,” Edie threw out,
hoping that she’d take the bait.

Ravenna closed her eyes. “I was driving”—she
opened her eyes—“and not speeding by the way”—she closed her eyes
again—“and suddenly, like magic or something, a man just
whooshed.”

Edie furrowed her brow. “Whooshed?” she
repeated.

Ravenna opened her eyes, and then rolled
them. “Yes, whooshed like magic.” She gave Edie a lazy wave. “You
should know. You’re a witch. Anyway, he wasn’t there one second,
and then he suddenly appeared, wearing this long, black leather
coat like something you’d see in olden days, and a black leather
hood was covering his head and face, but….”

Edie sat on the bed, but maintained a sizable
distance. Shockingly, Ravenna didn’t try to push her off. “But
what?” Edie repeated, literally on the edge of her seat.

Ravenna shivered and pulled a pink-hearted
blanket up to her chin. “Even though I couldn’t see his face, I saw
something.” She paused, gathering her strength it seemed, and then
continued, “his face was dark, and I don’t mean like he was a
different race or anything; it was like a shadow, or some sort of
mask was over his face, hiding him, but I could see his eyes; they
had this glow about them like a white light, two white orbs, even;
it was bright, you know, when the sun is in your face and you can
barely see the road in the mornings. Scary. I swerved to avoid
hitting him, slid on the icy road, and the car went out of control.
I barely managed to avoid crashing headfirst into tree and skidded
into a ditch instead.” She gently felt her neck. “I guess it
could’ve been worse.”

“
I’m glad you’re all right,”
Edie said sincerely.

Ravenna blew out a breath of disbelief.
“Yeah, right.”

“
No, seriously.” Edie laid
her hand over Ravenna’s, who immediately jerked it back.

“
Can you even act normal for
once?” Madelyn said, disgusted with Ravenna’s behavior.

“
No, that’s not it,” Edie
said, noticing the scratches on Ravenna’s hand.

“
You are a witch!” Ravenna
accused, cradling her wounded hand. “You came here to kill
me!”

Edie leapt off the bed and backed away,
scared. Mason, Diana, and Madelyn were all looking at her, as if
she were actually a witch. Ravenna scrambled out of bed and ran
toward the door, seeking to flee. As soon as she got it open, it
jerked out of her grasp, slamming shut, on its own. She stood
there, speechless, but then found her voice, letting out a shriek,
as she looked down at her hand. She flipped it over to reveal her
discolored palm, lightly burnt from the mysteriously-heated
doorknob that looked deceptively like cool brass. Despite the
central heat being on, the bedroom was freezing. Edie could see her
own breath.

“
What’s going on?” Diana
asked, breath visibly escaping her mouth too.

Diana was shivering. Madelyn came by her
friend’s side and held her, but despite their combined warmth, they
were both trembling.

“
Edie?” Madelyn said,
needing some guidance.

Edie shrugged and held out her hands,
helpless. “I don’t know what’s happening. I don’t know what to
do.”

Mason went for the door, but Edie pushed him
away. “No, you’ll get hurt.”

“
She’s a witch,” Ravenna
accused again, now hiding in a corner, as she cradled her wounded
hand against her chest. “She’ll kill you all!”

Edie protested her innocence just as the
walls started to shake. Ravenna’s flowerily pink wallpaper started
rolling down the wall, exposing the ugly green paint job
underneath. The water in her fish tank started to heat up, boil,
and within seconds, her fish were cooked. The lights started
flickering, until they exploded, sending sparks flying, and then
they were veiled in darkness.

No one moved, except Edie. From memory of
when she’d first entered, she advanced toward the window and threw
open the curtains to let in the afternoon light. It was a bad move
to make. Cracks started forming in the window, splitting, veering
off wildly. It was going to shatter soon.

“
Get down!” Edie yelled, and
hoped everyone would follow her orders.

Seconds later, the window
imploded, and sent glass shards across the room. They embedded
themselves with a loud
thump!
into the wall.

There were shouts from outside, gasps of
shock.

“
Is everyone all right?”
Edie asked just those in the room, as she stood up.

Mason, Diana, and Madelyn all nodded, but
still looked shaken up. Edie didn’t blame them. She turned toward
Ravenna, hiding in the corner. Ravenna looked dead. Edie ran over
and checked her pulse. She was alive, just passed out. I’m totally
screwed now.

There’d be no way Ravenna would take back her
accusation that Edie was a witch. The proof was her destroyed
bedroom.

Mason advanced toward Edie and wrapped her in
his arms, unafraid of her cursed touch. “What in the hell just
happened?” he asked, seeking answers.

Edie welcomed his warmth but she had no
answer for him.

“
You’re not really a witch,
are you?” Diana asked, shoving her hands into her pockets for
warmth.

Madelyn’s hands were free and she used one to
lightly slap her friend’s arm. “Please, don’t be ridiculous.” She
turned toward Edie. “Seriously, are you?”

Again, Edie had no answers. She stayed silent
even when she felt a cold presence standing next to her.

“
Edie…how’d you like my
little show?” The haunting voice was talking in her ear.

Edie shivered and pressed tighter against
Mason. “Did y’all hear that?” she asked, finding her voice. Scared,
her southern accent came out as a drawl.

“
Hear what?” Mason
asked.

“
I just hear my own heart in
my ears,” Diana said.

“
And I think I peed myself,”
Madelyn added, unashamed. “But no, I didn’t hear anything.” She
turned her head away from the group. “Well, if you count the
frantic running up the stairs...”

The bedroom door busted open and Mrs. Gallo
stood at the threshold, appraising the situation with wide eyes.
She gasped and ran to Ravenna, holding her daughter in her arms.
“Ravenna? Ravenna?” She turned toward the others, tears in her
eyes. “What happened?”

“
It was a ghost,” the
haunting voice said in Edie’s ear. “Go ahead. Tell her. It’s all so
simple: It. Was. A. Ghost.” The ghost chuckled, deep in its throat.
“Are you afraid of the dark, Edie?”

She was fighting back tears. “I-I’m sorry, I
have to go,” she told everyone.

She pulled away from Mason’s embrace, ran
down the stairs, through the crowded restaurant, and then out on
the sidewalk, trying to catch her breath. The bystanders turned
their faces from the damage toward her, staring with judgmental
eyes.

They know it’s my
fault
.

“
Who are you? Why are you
doing this to me?!” she demanded of the ghost.

“
I’m doing this because it’s
fun.” He was speaking in her ear, sending chills throughout her
body. “I like to have fun, Edie. You should join me. Let
loose.”

“
Edie?!”

Edie jumped when a warm hand touched her
shoulder, so used to the cold. She turned and launched herself into
Mason’s loving arms. He held her without question for the longest
time. When she was the first to pull away and wiped her tears, she
noticed that Mason, Diana, and Madelyn were staring at her. They
weren’t being judgmental. Her friends were concerned. They may have
thought that she was a witch, but at least they still liked
her.

Edie wasn’t a witch, however. All the weird
stuff that’d been happening to her, to others, wasn’t because she
was supernatural. It was all the work of a ghost—a “poltergeist,”
as Jules had said. Edie had entered Lockhart Manor and a ghost had
exited—attached to her. Even though she hadn’t caused the window to
explode, and the fish to boil and die, and everything else that’d
happened in Ravenna’s room, she still felt responsible, all because
she’d gotten lost and wandered into a haunted house.

Mason reached out and lovingly cupped Edie’s
face in his hands. “Edie, what happened back there?”

She wrapped her fingers around his wrists,
holding on for security. His concern and warmth kept her knees from
buckling under the cold weight atop her shoulders.

“
It’s simple,” Edie said,
and then repeated what the cold voice had wanted her to say to Mrs.
Gallo earlier: “It was a ghost.”

Chapter 13

Although Edie’s uncle had disputed the
accusation that she’d totally demolished Ravenna’s room, he’d paid
Mrs. Gallo “hush” money in the form of a large-summed check to
repair the damages and a bit extra for any “mental suffering.”

“
I’ll pay you back,” Edie
said meekly.

Uncle Landon shook his head. “Don’t worry
about it.”

They were standing on the sidewalk; all the
passersby had gone; Mason, Diana, and Madelyn had gone too. Of
course they’d all said, “What?” in unison when she’d told them
about the ghost haunting her, but she hadn’t been able to go into
further details. Mr. and Mrs. Gallo had been demanding retribution
for the damage and mental suffering Edie had apparently caused,
according to Ravenna, who’d come out of her short coma and
screamed: “WITCH!”

Edie was grateful that the residents of
Grimsby had refrained from starting a pyre and burning her to
death, or throwing her into a freezing lake to see if she’d sink or
float. She guessed there was still some common sense in the
world.

“
Well, let’s go home,” Uncle
Landon said.

“
I’ll, uh, see you later,”
Edie said. “I promised my friends I’d meet up with them. We need to
talk…about a school project,” she lied.

“
Are they the ones who I saw
you with when I arrived?”

Edie nodded.

“
That boy seemed attached to
you,” he said, sounding neutral on the matter.

Edie blushed. “That’s Mason, my boyfriend.
He’s nice.” Speaking of Mason reminded Edie of Russell, for some
reason. “Uncle Landon? Why did you lie this morning to my principal
and say that you were with me and my teacher last night?”

Uncle Landon sighed, his breath visible in
the cold. “I lied because I didn’t want you to get into trouble for
seeing your teacher.”

Edie gasped. “No, uncle! Russ—I mean, Mr. B
and I are not together.”

“
I’m glad to hear it,” he
said, looking relieved. “I’m not your dad. I never will be. I don’t
want to tell you how to live your life, but I don’t want you making
foolish choices, either. So what was your teacher doing at my house
last night without me knowing? And who tattled on you?” He didn’t
seem mad, but he wasn’t thrilled, either.

Edie bit her lip, and then said, “Well,
Russell, I mean, Mr. B was just making sure I was okay, you know,
with the death of my parents, and moving to a new town. He was
concerned for me.” Edie sighed, watching her own breath escape.
“And the tattler was Rochelle Lafayette, who was sneaking around
outside the gates. Oh, and she tried to get my teacher into trouble
earlier this year by saying he made a pass at her. And she’s also
Mason’s ex-girlfriend. So she kind of has it in for me. She got
suspended for three days for falsely accusing me and Mr. B of
having an inappropriate affair.”

“
They suspended her for
merely lying?”

Edie bit her lip again, and then said, “Well,
there was this incident yesterday when she accused me of trying to
kill her with a scarf.” Edie gestured at Ravenna’s broken window.
“And Ravenna Gallo accused me of trying to kill her too, of being a
witch, and conjuring some cloaked and hooded man to appear in front
of her car, and make her go off the road.”