Elegy w-4, Page 2

  “So, let’s go outside and talk.” Gemma stepped out into the night, closing the door quietly behind her. It would be easier to just go outside than try to explain common decency and consideration for other people to Penn.

  It was a new moon, so aside from the dim stars, the sky was completely black. Gemma hadn’t turned on the outside light, so at first, she could only make out the dark shapes of three girls standing outside her house.

  Then she felt a shift in her eyes, and her pupils expanded. The siren senses had kicked in automatically, changing her eyes into ones like an owl’s, so she could see clearly in the darkness.

  Penn stood directly in front of her, but Thea and another girl stood a few feet back. The new girl had blond hair and wide eyes, and there was something familiar about her, but Gemma didn’t stare at her long enough to figure out what it was.

  The only thing that really mattered was that there was another girl, and what the implications of that were.

  “What do you want?” Gemma asked.

  “I wanted to introduce you to your new best friend.” Penn stepped to the side, so she could gesture back at the girl behind her.

  “Hi.” The girl smiled and waggled her fingers at Gemma, causing Thea to scoff and turn away in disgust.

  “Who the hell is that?” Gemma asked Penn.

  “Don’t you remember?” The new girl stepped away from Thea and moved closer to Penn, so Gemma would be able to get a better look at her. “I’m Liv. I was your sister’s roommate at college.”

  “Until she decided to drop out today and come live with us,” Thea muttered. She stared out into the night, managing to look both bored and irritated in a way that only she could.

  That’s why the girl looked familiar. Gemma had only met her briefly last week while helping Harper move into her dorm. Liv had been friendly, but Gemma had had too many other things on her mind to really register her.

  Besides that, Liv’s appearance had changed. She hadn’t been unattractive exactly, but she had been rather plain. Now her face was brighter, her hair glossier, and there was a general sultriness to her that hadn’t been there before.

  The changes were subtle, but they were unmistakable to Gemma. Liv still maintained some of her doe-eyed naïveté, and Gemma was a little surprised that she hadn’t recognized Liv sooner because of that.

  “Why? Why would she drop out?” Gemma asked Penn, without acknowledging Liv yet. “How do you even know each other?”

  “Isn’t it obvious?” Penn asked, smiling wide. “She’s your new sister.”

  Gemma sighed. “Yeah, I figured that.”

  “Don’t look so disappointed,” Liv said cheerily. “I’m lots of fun, I promise.”

  “She sure is,” Thea said, sarcasm dripping from her husky voice.

  Penn cast an annoyed glare at Thea but turned back to Gemma with an overly optimistic smile. “Gemma. Must you always be a Debbie Downer? I mean, come on! This is a good thing. If we hadn’t turned Liv, we’d all be dead in two weeks. Liv just saved your life! You should be thanking her.”

  That was true. And while Gemma hated to admit that she felt mildly relieved, she also felt tremendous guilt. Liv was now wrapped up in this horrible mess, too, and if Gemma had broken the damn curse already, nobody else would’ve had to get hurt.

  “You never thanked me for saving your life,” Gemma said.

  “That’s because you were a total bitch about the whole thing,” Penn reminded her. “Liv wanted this.”

  “You did?” Gemma asked, speaking to Liv for the first time.

  “You didn’t?” Liv sounded flabbergasted. “This is amazing, Gemma! This is the greatest thing that’s ever happened to me!”

  Gemma held up her hand to silence Liv’s exuberance and glanced back at the house, but no lights had gone on, so they were probably safe.

  “Oops, sorry,” Liv said. “I forgot about your dad.”

  “See?” Penn pointed to Liv. “That’s the kind of response you should’ve had.”

  “Sorry I wasn’t doing jumping jacks like Little Miss Sunshine over there.” Gemma motioned to Liv.

  “Apology accepted,” Penn replied.

  “So, why are you guys here so late?” Gemma asked.

  “We were going to go for a swim, and I thought it would be a great time for you to meet Liv since she’s moving here now,” Penn explained. “Plus, you’re going to have to help show her the ropes.”

  “The ropes?” Gemma shook her head. “I barely know them. How am I supposed to show her anything?”

  “Penn just means that she wants help babysitting,” Thea said dryly.

  “I don’t need a babysitter,” Liv interjected with what Gemma thought was a bitter undercurrent. “You guys already showed me everything this past weekend. I’m good. I’m ready.”

  “She might be a tad overzealous, and she needs a little reining in sometimes,” Penn said.

  “I do not!” Liv shouted indignantly, which Gemma thought to be a completely out-of-place response.

  Almost anytime Penn had ever spoken to Gemma, she’d done so either with a condescending sweetness or a bitchy bossiness, but here with Liv, she was speaking reasonably, even kindly. It didn’t seem to warrant Liv’s petulance.

  “Well, that all sounds great, but I’m going to pass on the midnight swim,” Gemma said.

  “Really?” Penn asked. “Since when have you ever passed that up?”

  “Since I’m trying this new honesty thing with my dad,” Gemma said. “I told him I wouldn’t sneak out or run off anymore, so I’m not going to.”

  “That sounds lame.” Penn wrinkled her nose in disgust. “You’re lame.”

  The outside light flicked on above her, meaning that her dad was awake, and Gemma swore under her breath. A few seconds later, he opened the front door with his new shotgun in hand. He didn’t point it at them, but he wanted to make sure they knew he had it.

  No matter how many times Gemma had told him that his gun wouldn’t hurt the sirens, Brian insisted on getting it every chance he got.

  He didn’t know how else to protect his daughter from them. He couldn’t have them arrested or tell their parents, he couldn’t fight them because they would tear him apart, he shouldn’t even talk to them because their song would hypnotize him.

  So he got a shotgun and glared at them from the doorway.

  “All right, well, it was nice chatting with you,” Gemma said as she edged back toward the door. “But that’s my cue to head back in.”

  “Lucky,” Thea muttered.

  “It was nice to meet you again, Gemma,” Liv said, and leaned forward, like she meant to shake Gemma’s hand.

  “Yeah, have fun,” Gemma said, and hastily slid back in the house without touching Liv.

  “What’s going on? Why were they here?” Brian demanded, and he stood so close to the front door, Gemma almost ran into him as she came back in. Then he gave her a strange look.

  “What, Dad?” Gemma asked, staring nervously at his confused expression.

  “Your eyes … are different,” he told her, sounding a little pained.

  That explained why the dim living room appeared so bright. Her eyes hadn’t changed back yet from their bird form. She blinked several times and willed them to shift back, and finally, the living room looked dark again, with only a small lamp providing light.

  “Is that better?” Gemma asked.

  “Yeah,” Brian said, though she could already tell by his expression that she looked normal again. “What did those girls want?”

  “I don’t actually know,” Gemma said, and realized that wasn’t the whole truth, so she added, “They wanted to introduce me to the new Lexi.”

  “They found a replacement for her?” Her dad raised his eyebrows in surprise. “That was fast.”

  “Yeah, it was,” Gemma said.

  She neglected to tell her dad that part of the reason it was so quick was that they already had the girl lined up. Liv had probably been meant to be Gemma’s r
eplacement, but when Penn decided to kill Lexi instead, they had to change their plans.

  The fight last week, where Lexi tried to kill Gemma and Daniel actually turned out to be a good thing. It bought her a few more weeks. Based on how quickly they turned Liv after Lexi’s death, it would’ve only been a day or two longer before Penn had killed Gemma. Liv was all primed to go.

  “How long were they here for?” Brian asked.

  “Only a few minutes.”

  “Why didn’t you wake me up when they got here?”

  Gemma walked past her dad and sat down on the couch in the living room. “I didn’t want to disturb you. I know you have to get up in a few hours, and I wasn’t going anywhere.”

  “You know the deal, though,” Brian said firmly. “You tell me what’s going on. You keep me in the loop.”

  “I know, and I am.”

  Her dad seemed to relax a little and sat down in his recliner next to her. “How are things going with the scroll?”

  “They’re … going,” Gemma said, and she was tempted to lie.

  Things were not going well. After Thea had given her the scroll, Gemma, Harper, and their dad had stayed up all night looking at it. It was written in an ancient language. They’d originally thought it was Greek, but upon attempting translations from the Internet, they’d found it impossible to decipher.

  Last Saturday, Harper and Gemma had gone up to see Lydia and show her the scroll. She made copies of it since Gemma didn’t want to leave it with anybody else, and Lydia said she would work on translating it and finding out any information she could from it.

  While Lydia was busy with that, Gemma had decided to work on trying the next best thing—destroying the scroll. Harper was against it, arguing that they didn’t know for sure how the scroll worked. If they destroyed it, it might kill all the sirens—including Gemma. Gemma was willing to risk it, but Harper kept insisting that they should translate it first.

  But it didn’t matter anyway. Gemma hadn’t been able to do anything to even slightly damage it.

  The scroll was made out of a thick papyrus. It almost reminded Gemma of cardboard, but it was thin enough to roll up. The paper itself was beige, and Gemma wasn’t sure if it had always been so or if the color came with age. The ends were uneven and slightly yellowed, but, otherwise, it didn’t look the worse for wear.

  The ink was a very dark brown and iridescent. When she tilted the paper in different light, the ink would shimmer and glisten. She wondered if it was the ink itself that gave the paper its powerful properties, or if it was under some kind of spell.

  It definitely had some kind of magic protecting it. Despite its thickness, the papyrus felt fragile under Gemma’s fingertips, reminding her of a dried-up corn husk. It felt like she should easily be able to snap or tear it in half.

  But she couldn’t. Scissors wouldn’t cut it. They just bent the paper without damaging it at all. She tried garden shears, and even got her father to help her with his table saw. The paper would just bend and fold. Nothing could break through. It even jammed up the shredder at the library.

  Fire wouldn’t burn it. Water wouldn’t warp it. Gemma was running out of ways to try to destroy it. When she dipped it in water, the ink seemed to glow, but when she took it out, nothing had changed. The ink held strong, and the scroll remained intact.

  If destruction was off the table, then she had to figure out how to read it. Until Lydia came back with the official translation, Gemma was doing her best to interpret it herself by searching the Internet for documents with similar writing.

  Brian was trying to help out with the few clues Bernie had given him, but so far, none of them seemed all that helpful. The information Bernie had passed on to him sounded mostly like random superstition.

  “Nothing new yet?” Brian asked.

  Gemma pulled her knees up to her chest. “Not yet, no.”

  “It’s only been a few days, though. Give it some time. When is that girl supposed to come back with the translation?”

  “Lydia? I don’t know for sure.” Gemma shook her head. “She’s hoping sometime this week.”

  “Once you get that, we’ll be able to figure this all out,” Brian assured her.

  “Yeah, I know.” Gemma forced a smile. “I’ll be okay. You don’t need to worry.”

  “I know you’ll be okay, but it’s my job to worry. I’m your dad.”

  They talked a little bit longer before Brian went back to bed. Gemma went to her room, but she knew that she’d be unable to sleep for the rest of night.

  It was still so strange talking to her dad openly about everything. It was nice, since keeping everything a secret had been a huge weight on her chest. Sometimes, she felt bad about telling her dad the truth, though. She didn’t want him to worry about her, not when he had so much to deal with.

  That’s why she still kept parts to herself. Like how Liv’s turning into a siren was probably a very bad thing. It freed Penn up to look for a new replacement, which meant that Gemma’s clock was once again counting down.

  But more than that, a new siren was another monster to stand in her way. Penn wanted to kill her, Lexi had actually tried to kill her, and with her luck, Liv would probably feel the same as Penn and Lexi.

  Liv was just another siren Gemma would have to get out of the way before she could finally be free of this curse.

  THREE

  Coincidental

  Once Harper had calmed down after Liv attacked her yesterday, her first thought had been, This girl’s a siren.

  She’d almost immediately dismissed it though, assuming she just had sirens on the brain. But there were some signs to back up the claim, besides Liv’s irrational rage and superstrength. Her dirty blond hair had taken on a more golden shine, and her brown eyes had a richness to them.

  But Harper eventually decided that she couldn’t be sure. She hadn’t been paying close attention, and Liv could also be on drugs or have a serious mental disorder, which would explain the dramatic mood swings and violent strength.

  After Liv had stormed out, Harper took a few minutes to catch her breath, then she gathered her things and went to her classes. When she came back later that afternoon, the dorm room was completely trashed—or at least Liv’s side of it was, with some of the mess spilling onto Harper’s half. The bed was dismantled and broken, her posters were torn off the wall, and random junk was strewn all over.

  Harper had considered sleeping out in the commons area that night, but most of Liv’s stuff appeared to be gone, so she decided to risk it. She’d been safe because Liv didn’t come back at all, and Harper hoped she never would.

  When her afternoon psych class was canceled because the teacher was absent, she went out to the campus lawn instead of going back to her dorm. It was a class she had with Liv, so it didn’t give her a chance to find out if Liv was really gone, but it was still a good opportunity to do some homework.

  Besides, the weather was gorgeous, especially after the previous week’s oppressive heat. There was almost a chill to the air, and that was a nice change. She pulled out her textbook, planning to brush up on her medical terminology, and she didn’t realize how much time had passed until her phone rang.

  When she grabbed her phone and saw the time, she cursed under her breath. Even though she was in a hurry to make an appointment, she had to answer it. It was her dad calling from his lunch break, and he would worry if she didn’t pick up.

  “Hey, Dad,” Harper said, struggling to shove her books into her backpack with one hand while she held the phone with the other.

  “Is something wrong?” Brian asked, already tense with worry.

  “No, everything’s great,” Harper lied as she slung her bag over her shoulder. She hadn’t told anyone back in Capri about Liv attacking her. Enough things were happening that they didn’t need to worry about her roommate problems.

  “You sound out of breath,” he persisted.

  “I’m just running late,” she said as she walked briskly across th
e campus lawn. “I have a meeting in a little bit with Professor Pine.”

  “Who’s that?” Brian asked.

  “Remember? I told you about him before,” Harper said. “He’s the history teacher who used to be an archaeologist.”

  “Oh, yeah, Indiana Jones,” Brian said.

  Harper laughed. “Yeah, him.”

  Brian seemed to hesitate before asking, “It’s about Gemma, right?”

  “Yeah.” Harper nodded and lowered her eyes, as if the other students hanging out on the lawn would read her expression and know what she was talking about.

  “Well, if you’re busy, I won’t hold you up.”

  “Sorry. I don’t mean to brush you off,” Harper apologized, and she paused when she reached the doors outside the faculty building. “But I’ll see you when I come home this weekend for Gemma’s play.”

  Once she got off the phone with her dad, Harper headed inside to find Professor Pine’s office. She didn’t have him as a teacher, but she’d talked to her advisor, who’d referred her to him because of his archaeology experience.

  When Harper had given him a call the day before to set up the appointment, she’d had to fabricate the backstory for how she’d found the scroll. He probably would’ve sent her to a psychologist if she started talking about monsters and curses. So she’d told him simply that her sister had found an old scroll in Bernie McAllister’s house when she was cleaning it out after he’d died, and they had a few questions about it.

  Pine had been kind enough to set up a time to meet her in his office, although he sounded dubious about being able to help that much. Still, Harper was willing to follow any lead to find out more about the scroll.

  Harper was getting a handle on the campus quicker than she’d expected and managed to find his office with five minutes to spare. The frosted glass on the door read PROFESSOR KIPLING PINE. She thought about waiting outside, but his door was partially ajar, so she gave a slight knock.

  When he didn’t answer, she pushed it open wider and saw a man hunched over his desk. He appeared to be in his early thirties—a little young for all the traveling his office and reputation suggested—with blond hair combed to the side.