Chapter 35: Book

I stood at the checkout counter moving mechanically. This job required no thought, which was good because my mind was zipping through countless scenarios where I could have saved Mila's life. It always came down to two things: I trusted too easily and I wasn't brave enough. I wished I could be like my sister. She seemed so confident and so knowledgeable. I needed to learn from her so nothing like this happened again.

I was the last one in the store again. I hated working last shift, but I had no choice. It came with a little pay bump. I stepped out into the night air. I was glad my car was working again, but I had left it for Lanie to use. It was another walk in the dark home for me. My eyes shifted from side to side as I walked through the parking lot. I was getting that feeling again, like it was okay if the darkness got me. I was pretty worthless, after all. But nothing seemed to appear. No black clouds, no burning embers, no shadow man tonight. Everything was just normal. It was almost like all this craziness had never happened. Maybe I just imagined it all.

I turned the corner. Yep, the craziness was still here. A tall spindly looking monster-like creature was walking down the street. It reminded me of a stick bug. He was wearing a black trench coat and a top hat. I kept my eyes on the sidewalk as he passed by. Why couldn't all this just be a nightmare and I could go back to living my sad little life with my best friend?

I shook my head. This was why stuff like this happened to me. I was too afraid to face things head on. I needed to step up. I should have thrown myself into the darkness instead of just pulling on Mila. I should have just ran right into it instead of crying out to Remi all those times. I had to be better. I had to be stronger. This was my time.

"Remi," I said curtly into the night. Behind my words I pictured him appearing, willing him into existence. The act of picturing something seemed familiar. Had I done that recently?

The shadow of a man faded in and out a few feet before me. It was like he was fighting his summons.

"Remi!" I said sharply. I pressed more visualization behind my words. I didn't know if I had any of this mysterious sorceress power like my sister, but if I did, this would be how I would use it. I would visualize things and they would happen.

Remi's shadow solidified. Ember buzzed around his head franticly, dive-bombing his face. He ducked and swatted at the rapid firefly trying to avoid its anger. It definitely looked angry. Remi gave me a pleading looking then faded out of view into the shadows.

I was going to give him a piece of my mind, but now... what had just happened? Was Ember controlling him? I thought back to the last encounter in the forest. Ember didn't want him talking to me. Maybe he was being manipulated. That small sliver lightened my heavy heart a little. Maybe he didn't mean to betray me. Maybe he didn't have a choice. Still, letting me kill my friend was a heavy price to pay.

"Remi," I said curtly again. Nothing happened. I decided I could still be mad at him. But I didn't know if I could hate him the way Lanie seemed to. It also didn't mean I had to trust him either. But I didn't have to hate him, and that was something.

My thoughts had gotten me so busy I was surprised when I reached the front door of my apartment. I pushed it open. Anton was staring vacantly at the TV from the sofa.

"Hey," I said as I walked in.

He grunted something that was meant as a greeting, I think. I started forward down the hall.

"Hey, wait. Have you seen Mila?" He called.

I froze. I had been waiting for this. I just needed to say something the Veil could work with. "I think she said something about meeting up with her dad."

"Huh, okay."

I breathed a sigh of relief then continued on my path to my bedroom. I wondered what Lanie was working on tonight.

I opened the door to my room. Lanie's back was to me as she sat at my desk.

"Hey," I said.

Her whole body flinched. "Geez, you scared me."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to. The door is pretty loud, how did you not hear me come in?"

She shook her head. "I guess I was thinking too hard. Do you ever get like that?"

I nodded. "I used to when I was studying math and physics at college. Some of that stuff I would have to stare at for hours then I would solve it in my sleep and write it down the next day."

"Hmmm... I wish I could solve this in my sleep. That would be so much easier."

"I wouldn't say solving it in my sleep was easy. I had to engross myself in it for hours or I wouldn't be able to work it out. It wasn't like I just took a look at it once and solved it overnight."

"Well, I've been staring at this for hours. I can't make heads or tails of it," Lanie said pointing at an older looking book on the desk.

"Can I see it?"

"Be my guest." Lanie stood and let me sit at the desk.

Once I sat, I ran my fingers over the pages. They were old, but the quality and thickness of the paper ensured that it would be around much longer than I would. On the paper was drawn a triangle with two circles interlinked inside. An ancient language lined the sides of the paper. Different symbols decorated the triangle.

"Do you know what language this is?" I asked.

She shrugged. "Something old. I'm sure it has a name. I know so many of them, they all get a little discombobulated in my head."

"Can you translate for me?"

Her face drew down in a frown. I almost saw a look of worry in her eyes. "I have only bits and pieces. It isn't going to make much sense." She pointed at the top of the page and moved her fingers as she read. "Bond formed under same stars same womb. Two halves complete whole. Uniting power consume bond ultimate monster." She paused."Now here "monster" may not be the right word, but something big and powerful. Maybe hybrid, abomination, supreme being. It's really hard to say exactly."

I nodded for her to continue.

"Complete ritual, mark subject, personal meanings, kin blood. Continue. Place maximum joining space twenty vein sides. Full moon high night Gemini stars." She turned and looked at me. "See?"

"Is that the best translation you can do?"

"I'm sorry, it's all I've got. Best I can tell, it's a spell to create a powerful something-or-other."

"You think this is what Mom was trying to do? She was trying to make us into some sort of powerful monster?"

She shook her head. "She wants to gain power. The best way to do that is to summon it and trap it." She rolled up her sleeve. Three different marks, a circle, a star, and a cat with symbols and various runes dotted the inside of her arms. "See these? These are different demons I have taken powers from."

"You stole demons' powers?"

She narrowed her eyes. "We made deals, yes. You're missing the point. I did this to battle against Isabell. She's not the good mother you think she is. She has been keeping you in the dark. She's been grooming you to be weak and easy to manipulate."

"This doesn't sound like Mother at all."

Lanie smacked her hand to her head in frustration. "Fine, whatever. It's your choice. Believe me or believe Isabell. She stopped being my mother." Lanie started to walk away.

"Wait, how did you summon all those demons?"

She stopped and turned to me. Her mouth drew down in a frown. "Remi helped me." She had a deep pain in her eyes. She turned back around and disappeared into the hall.

My mouth gaped. Remi and her were a thing. And now he had moved on to me. Scratch that, he had tried to move on to me. Maybe to replace her. I wondered what happened between them. I felt like a fool. Mother had used me. Remi had used me. Now, was Lanie trying to use me, too?

I thought hard on it. Things with her weren't easy. She wasn't asking me for help. She wasn't trying to be my friend or be overly nice. I really did feel a connection to her. Between the two of us, I really was the weak one. I couldn't help to want to be like her.

I jumped to my feet. "Lanie..." I called after. I walked to the front room.

Lanie looked up from Mila's pink laptop on the dining room table. I had no idea where she'd found that. I mentally kicked myself for not looking harder for it.

"Lanie, I'm sorry. Please, I trust you. Mother... I mean, Isabell's a bitch. Please, can you tell me more about this?"

She nodded.

"Trouble in twin world?" Anton piped up from the couch.

"Shut it," Lanie and I both said in unison. We looked at each other with bemused smirks.

Anton held his hands up. "Alright. Twins are on the same page. Got it."

It felt weird to be called a twin. It didn't feel quite right, but I did feel more complete. Things didn't feel happy-go-lucky or perfect, but they felt... whole.