Happily Never After (25 page)

Sure, I was angry but it felt small compared
to everything else going on.

Then panic welled up in me. I had to get
Jason out of the house. The last thing I wanted was to cause him
any harm. His being here with me could be a catalyst. I took the
newspaper with me to show him, hoping it would convince him to get
out of here.

Walking past Suzie’s bedroom, I fought the
urge to smash and rip and tear everything apart that she owned. The
ticked off part of me wanted to get back at her but the cool,
logical part said being happy with Jason would be payback
enough.

I made my way up to the room as quiet as I
could and found Jason sitting on my bed. He stood up as I came
close.

“Everything okay?”

I handed him the paper and walked over to
gaze out the window. Different emotions flitted across his face and
I was relieved when the final one showed anger.

“I don’t believe this. Who do they think they
are? I can have my people release an actual statement. I’ll make
sure this is retracted and everyone knows the truth about us.”

“Jason you don’t have to do that. I mean, I’m
upset, too, but it’s not worth it. We have more important things to
worry about in the next couple days.”

“You are the most stubborn person I’ve ever
met, do you know that? I’m not letting this go. We’ll do it my way
once your birthday has passed. I wish you’d budge on the little
party we have planned tomorrow. I don’t like it.”

“Jason, you just don’t get it. This thing has
attacked me more than once and continues to hurt me. You’re
starting to sound like a broken record.”

He looked sharply at me. “What do you mean
continues to hurt you? You told me things have been quiet.”

“They have, kind of. There were a couple
incidents but I’m fine. I’m still here, aren’t I? Did you ever stop
to think that I’m just trying to protect you as much as you’re
trying to protect me? I don’t want to be responsible if something
happens to you. I can’t live with that.”

He silenced me with a kiss. Taken by
surprise, I hesitated for a split second before finally sinking
into it. It made me forget about everything else but him. I knew
he’d freak out if I told him about the blood incident last night,
so I didn’t go into detail. No need to worry him any more that I
already had. It was almost over.

My moment of nirvana came to an abrupt halt
when I felt Jason being ripped away from me with savage force. I
watched in horror as he slammed against the far wall and landed in
a heap.

Catherine’s presence exploded into the room,
making it so dark that I couldn’t see where Jason was. Like all the
other times, I wasn’t able to move. I never knew what to expect.
Her attacks were never the same but this time I wasn’t worried
about myself.

“Jason!”

The darkness parted and I saw him standing
there, his face twisted into fright. Then I watched in horror as a
shadowy hand swiped across his body, leaving a bloody trail. There
were now four long ragged wounds on his chest and one across his
face. He didn’t make a sound, only stared at me with horrified
eyes.

I screamed and Catherine’s laughter echoed
back at me.

This time, the shadow went right through him.
The large hole it left behind in his stomach oozed and dripped
blood onto the floor of the attic. I tried to get to him but I
couldn't get close enough.

I screamed hysterically as I watched him
bleed to death. His eyes never left mine and the look on his face
pleaded for me to help him. Slowly, his skin grew pale and grey.
The light in his eyes faded. I was so scared and so ticked off.

“Your fight is with me Catherine. Leave him
alone,” I yelled.

I heard her in my head. Always remember this
is what I can do if you start thinking you can get rid of me

Suddenly, she was gone. The light returned to
the attic and my terror trickled away.

Jason got up off the floor where he first
fell and sprinted over to me.

“Quinn, are you okay? I heard you screaming
but I couldn’t get to you.”

Running my hands over his chest and face, I
searched for the horrible wounds that I’d seen only seconds ago.
There was nothing wrong with him.

It didn’t make any sense. I saw him bleeding
and dying. What was that? The thoughts jumbled in my head so I
backed up and sat on the bed. Jason was still talking.

“I’m guessing that was Catherine.” He turned
my face towards him. “You are so pale. Please say something,
Quinn.”

“I saw you,” my voice trembled, “she hurt
you. And, and you were bleeding.”

The image popped back, vivid and frightening
and I burst into tears. Jason wrapped me in his arms and rocked me.
It was safe and comforting but my shaking didn’t stop.

“Shhh, you’re okay. I’m here and I’m
okay.”

I don’t know how long we sat in that position
but eventually I turned my face towards him and kissed him sweetly
on the lips.

In a hush I said, “You have to go.”

He stood up and put his hands on his hips.
“I’m giving you two choices and you're not going to argue with me.
You’re leaving here with me now. I’ll get you a room at the hotel.
Or I’m staying here with you all night.”

“You can’t be serious.”

Jason leaned down inches from my face. “I’m
very serious, Quinn. Pick one.”

The romantic part of me loved how he was
trying to play the knight in shining armor. It made me want to
swoon, like in an old fashioned movie. The stubborn side of me, the
side that was independent and used to fighting her battles, got
prickly.

“This is stupid, Jason.”

He remained unmoving, giving me a hard
stare.

“Fine. I’m not going anywhere. I won’t run
from it. This is my house. So, if you want to stay, stay. Don’t say
I didn’t warn you. You have to keep yourself up here and stay
quiet. Marietta would kill me if she found you in the house.”

I briefly wondered if I meant that literally
or figuratively. Marietta, the stepmother I originally cared about
would ‘kill’ me in the sense that I’d be grounded for life.
Marietta, under the influence of Catherine, was a whole other
story.

It made me shudder.

“Okay, I’m glad that’s settled.” He kept the
businesslike attitude but his eyes softened. “Don’t worry. I
understand what we’re up against now. That scared the crap out of
me. Once you walk out of here I’m going to curl up in a corner and
start conversing with some higher powers.”

He made me grin. Even though he joked, I saw
the lingering fear on his face. All of a sudden I felt awkward.
Where the heck was he going to sleep?

“I’ll go get us some food.”

Walking as softly as possible, I went
downstairs. As I passed by Marietta’s room, I noticed her laying
there sleeping, unmoving. While Catherine terrorized me upstairs,
Marietta must have slept through it. I wondered if she’d been aware
of what happened. I remembered the day I heard her talking to
Catherine about how she felt everything done to me. Did she feel it
in her sleep as well?

To make it even stranger, I didn’t sense
Catherine anywhere around her, which meant she still roamed the
house somewhere.

Luckily, I made it back up to the attic with
my arms full of food without running into her.

I didn’t like Jason being there. Not because
I was nervous about being alone with him, that was certainly part
of it. It was the vision Catherine showed me. I didn’t want it to
come true.

Later that night in Jason’s arms, I listened
to him breathing. In all the nights I spent in this room alone I’d
never been as afraid as I was right now. Flashes from the vision
Catherine forced me to see earlier kept playing across my mind.
Afraid for Jason’s life, I spent the night concentrating on the
life-giving air flowing in and out of his lungs.

Chapter Thirty-Six

I woke up full of nervous energy.

Jason snuck out sometime in the early morning
and I wouldn’t be too far behind him. With all we had riding on
today, I needed to stay as far away from Marietta and Catherine as
possible.

Nothing could derail our plans. Today,
everything changed.

A sickening feeling took root in my stomach
as I gathered my things. If I ever set foot in this house again,
especially with Catherine around, I would not survive it. My age
and subsequent ownership of the house didn’t magically negate the
fact that Catherine wanted me dead. She wanted to end our family
and it wouldn’t matter if it happened after my birthday or not.

Tiptoeing downstairs, I took a long, loving
gaze at the house. There was no denying that what I was about to do
was dangerous. It was a very real possibility I would not, in fact,
make it to my eighteenth birthday.

I saw George and Jackson standing on the
stairs and offered them brave smiles. Ignoring the looks of
hopelessness and sadness they wore, I turned towards the front
door.

Hearing voices outside, I paused before
opening it and peeked out the side window. There were eight or so
reporters waiting with their cameras. A couple even held
microphones. I moved before they could see me and hit my head
gently against the wall in disbelief. This could not be
happening.

I hastily snuck out the back. It bothered me,
seeing them camped out on the lawn, hoping to catch a glimpse of
the girl who may or may not be a witch. The press would believe
anything if it sold more copies.

Jason and I were meeting Abby at her house to
lay low all day. The last thing we wanted was to be out in public
any more than we had to right now.

They were already there and ready to dig into
a huge pancake breakfast Abby’s mom had made. Jason came over and
kissed me, an act I didn’t think I'd ever get used to. He laid his
forehead on mine for a minute or two before leading me over to the
table.

Over breakfast, I told them about the
reporters. Jason’s reaction was the same it had been last night, to
have his people issue a statement. Again I told him we should wait.
We had more important things to worry about today.

Abby seemed to read my mind because she said,
“I can’t believe we’re going to attempt to trap and cleanse a
possessed person tonight who has a penchant for physical harm.
Jason told me about what happened last night.”

“It all comes down to tonight. We can’t back
down. I just hope we can lure her to the cemetery.”

Jason took my hand and stared at me hard. “I
really want you to think this through. We can get Marietta out of
the house without any harm coming to you. I have some great lawyers
who would love to throw a crazy woman out of a pre-Civil War
mansion. I’m not comfortable with you putting yourself in
danger.”

“You have no idea how much that means to me.
I have to deal with this now. If Marietta leaves, Catherine is just
going to go with her, or worse, find another host close to me. We
have to make her go away for good. Not only for my sake, but
Marietta’s too. Catherine’s driving her insane. I can’t watch it
anymore.”

“You wouldn’t be you, Quinn, if you weren’t
thinking of someone else,” Abby said. “Besides, you’re right about
getting rid of Catherine once and for all. Maybe if we put her to
rest she can finally find some peace.”

“And more importantly,” Jason added, “you can
get on with your life.”

Despite his cool demeanor, I got the distinct
impression he was having a difficult time forcing himself to be
calm about the situation. After witnessing Catherine’s power last
night, he probably wasn’t looking forward to going up against
her.

It was Abby who also brought up the other
obstacle in our way tonight.

“Are you absolutely sure we can trust Anna
there, Quinn? I mean, I’m not cold-hearted. I understand why she
wants to be there. But, to be honest, I still don’t trust her.”

“Especially after the article in the paper,”
Jason added.

“I think that was all Suzie. You guys are
only watching out for me and I appreciate that. Anna sent me a text
earlier wanting me to meet her at Baubles this afternoon so she can
talk to me. I’ll see what she has to say.”

“I’m going with you.” I started to shake my
head but he continued, “Don’t shake your head at me, either. It
kills me that I haven’t been able to really do anything. Yesterday
I felt so helpless watching Catherine attack you and hearing your
screams. I hated that feeling.”

“You help me more than you can possibly be
aware of. I have to do this with Anna alone. Plus there is the
possibility it really is a trap and there will be mass amounts of
reporters there. Stay here, please. It won’t take long. If you’re
there, it will distract her.”

He didn’t look happy but he reluctantly
agreed.

Abby left for a while to run some errands,
leaving us alone on the couch. He drew me into an embrace and, in a
matter of fact way, said, “You’re scared.”

“I’d be silly if I pretended I wasn’t.”

He shifted so he could look me in the eye.
“Quinn, I’ve never met anyone like you before. Being with you has
been one of the best times of my life.”

Here was the goodbye I’d been dreading. There
were only a couple days of post-production left on his movie and
then he’d be out of here. Even if something bad happened to me,
whatever this was between Jason and I would be over. I wanted to
make this easier on him.

“Jason, don’t,” I started. “I know what
you’re going to say and you’re right. It’s been great but, one way
or another, this is going to end. We’d be smart to say our goodbyes
now. It was a summer fling and it was great.”

He started laughing and it confused me. I
didn’t see anything funny about what I just said.

“Do you really think I was working up to a
‘thanks it’s been great but see ya’ kind of speech?” I nodded
uncertainly and he held my face in his hands. “Well, I’m not. I was
going to tell you that I’m falling hard for you. When the movie is
over I’m sticking around for a while to see where this thing with
us goes before I head to Colorado to see my parents.”