Dark Before Dawn (25 page)

But, she’d better blow her next gambling prediction so Ken didn’t get addicted.

"We’ll see," she said.

***

Dawn called Renee and asked her to meet in Covington Center the following morning. On Saturday, Renee was waiting on the circular stone bench that rimmed the courtyard fountain, shoulders slumped under her form-fitting suede jacket.

Renee sat up erect as Dawn approached. "Did you give any thought to what we talked about? Will you help me find out about my mother?"

Dawn joined her on the cold slab of bench. She didn’t quite know where to begin. Renee deserved the truth – but how much of it?

They faced a sandy stretch of beach, deserted except for a child building a sand fortress, his parents watching from afar. Early morning sun burned off the cloud cover fogging the horizon.

All the fast food stands and gift shops surrounding the courtyard were either boarded-up for the season, or wouldn’t open until noon. A chilly sea breeze swept overhead and Dawn inched up her zipper.

She pushed the newspaper clipping about Serina’s "accident" into Renee’s lap and turned her body sideways so she could scrutinize the other girl’s reaction. "Have you heard about this?"

Renee peered at it and her eyebrows rose. "Sure, I’ve heard people talking about it. Why should I care about some dead psychic chick?"

Because she killed your mother, Dawn wanted to scream.

But she couldn’t just blurt it out like that, without any build-up to the bizarre explanation.

"She knew your mother in high school," Dawn said. "I guess you could call the two of them enemies. Your mom used to tease Serina – or Elaine, as she was known back then."

Renee’s face went steely and her mouth opened as if to object, then she shut it and shoved her hands into her coat pockets.

Dawn used her silence to press ahead. "I’m sure the teasing was dumb high school stuff, but Serina was a vengeful person. I know this because Candace, Jamie and I were studying with her and she tried to turn us against our families."

Dawn swallowed a jolt of apprehension before continuing, "We were gullible, taken in by her charm. We didn’t know she had this powerful way of brainwashing people."

"I don’t get it. What does your being gullible have to do with me?" Renee swished her crinkly blonde hair into a ponytail at the nape of her neck and released it.

"You can’t repeat what I’m about to say. It’s not something you can confirm with the police, or even prove, because there are no witnesses. I only know this because ... well, because I’m intuitive and put two and two together. Do you promise?"

Renee hesitated, then gave a rigid nod. "All right, fine. I promise."

"Serina brainwashed your mother into drinking the poison."

"What?" Renee let go of the hair clumped around her fingers and snapped up her head. "My mother wouldn’t let some loser with a chip on her shoulder come into her house and brainwash her into committing suicide. How do you force someone to do something so stupid against their will?"

"I don’t know, but Serina was powerful. She found ways to get what she wanted."

"You don’t just walk into a house and brainwash someone. It’s not like my mother was in some crazy cult, doped up and living on a compound. She never even mentioned this Serina or Elaine, or whatever her name was."

Dawn crossed her arms against her chest. Convincing Renee was even harder than she’d anticipated. She saw only one option, entrusting Renee with more information.

"You’re talking about a different kind of brainwashing," Dawn said in resignation. "When I told you that Serina was powerful, I wasn’t exaggerating. She could read people’s minds and she knew how to get inside them to dig around and plant dangerous thoughts."

"That’s impossible. That kind of thing happens in movies, not in real life."

"Look, Renee, you don’t have to believe me. If you really feel your mom committed suicide, then fine. I just wanted to tell you what I think." Dawn broke off as Renee sharply drew in her breath, an amazed expression settling over her features.

"The marker on my face. I was brainwashed, wasn’t I?"

Shoot. Dawn had hoped Renee wasn’t smart enough to make that leap in logic.

"Except, Serina wasn’t even there," Renee went on, before Dawn could rationalize a response. "It happened in the middle of the school hallway. That means, it must have been you or Jamie!"

Renee sprang off the bench and edged back a few steps, straight into a trash barrel. "How? How did you do it?"

"We didn’t." Dawn hated lying, but if she confided in anyone about her mind control experimentation, it would be her grandparents, not the meanest gossip in school. "Serina never taught us any of that. We were victims, too. I think you had a breakdown from stress, which is understandable after losing Scott."

"I cry when I have breakdowns. I don’t draw all over my face. Admit it. You and Jamie had something to do with it." Renee’s eyes flashed with glints of fear and anger.

Dawn tamped down her mounting frustration. "None of us had Serina’s power. We followed her around like puppies."

She decided to concede one point. "I suppose it is possible that Serina was involved in that incident and didn’t tell us. We did complain about the way you treated us. You hurt Jamie’s feelings several times, and mine, too."

"If you’re telling the truth and Serina was as evil as you say, then I’ll bet she killed Scott and Tim." Renee’s voice spiked with uneasiness. "Scott’s mom and Tim’s dad went to high school with my mother, so they must have known Serina back then, too. If my mother was brainwashed into drinking cyanide, then Scott and Tim could have been forced into doing what they did."

"We could never prove it. Serina’s dead, so we’ll never know how much damage she inflicted."

"You really weren’t involved with the horrible things she did?" Renee shielded herself behind the barrel, as if using it as a barrier.

Dawn leaned back against the bench and shivered in a burst of wind. "Of course not. If I was, do you think I would have told you all this?"

Renee pondered that for a moment, then moved closer to the bench. "I guess not. You know, it’s pretty convenient that Serina’s dead. She didn’t, by any chance, get a little help with her fall, did she?" She tilted her head, her expression thoughtful.

Dawn moistened her lips. Renee would probably congratulate Dawn for her involvement, but still ... this was Renee. There was a limit to how far she could be trusted.

"Not from me. All I can tell you for sure is that it’s over now – and that your mother didn’t kill herself."

At those words, Renee started to tremble and tears gathered in her eyes. She dropped back onto the bench and hung her elbows on her knees. "My mom used to tell me that I was just like her and that she made all kinds of mistakes with me. She was in therapy because she didn’t like herself very much."

Tears coursed down Renee’s cheeks as she whispered, "After my mom died, I thought I’d disappointed her so much that she didn’t want to be with me anymore. I thought if she’d rather be dead, than be with me, I must be a terrible person."

"Now you know the truth. It sounds as if she was trying to get her life together and be the person she wanted to be." Impulsively, Dawn laid a hand on Renee’s arm.

"I was mad at her for leaving me and making me feel so awful about myself. Once this sinks in, I’ll be furious with Serina, but right now it’s a relief to know my mom didn’t hate me after all." Renee rubbed the sleeve of her jacket across her damp eyes. "Thanks for telling me the truth. Especially after the way I treated you and your friends. I’m sorry."

"I’m sorry, too."

Sniffing, Renee sat back down beside Dawn. There, they watched the ocean in silence, not friends, but not quite enemies, either.

***

The next afternoon, Dawn found herself with a waterfront view again, this time in her own backyard. She and Jamie reclined on the patio in twin Adirondack chairs, waves restlessly licking the shore, mirroring Dawn’s own anxiety.

Something about Jamie made her uneasy. Underneath her coat, her friend wore a short red sweater and miniskirt, but it wasn't her clothes that struck Dawn today. She'd seen the fashion change develop gradually. No, it wasn’t her outfit. There was something else unusual that Dawn couldn’t pinpoint.

"How’s Candace?" Jamie asked.

"Vicky says she's hardly talking," Dawn said. "She’s being treated for depression. I don’t know whether she’s upset about the murders, or losing Serina, or both, but I doubt we’ll see her for awhile. "

"Dawn, I’ve got to tell you something," Jamie said, rubbing her hands together. "I think all that hard work I did with Serina is finally paying off. I’m noticing things I’ve never noticed before and I had a premonition last night."

Dawn's mouth went dry. "What?"

"I got a picture of my mother spraining her ankle when she was going down some steps. I was right, yesterday she really tripped. It worked, Dawn. It’s just like you told me. You said if I worked hard, I could do it."

"That’s great. Being intuitive can be a gift. It’s Serina who turned it into something immoral."

"We should pick up where we left off. I really want to develop my skills. You’ll help me, won’t you? We don’t need Serina and Candace."

Dawn stared at her friend’s innocent, hopeful expression. She couldn’t believe these words were coming from Jamie, after everything that had happened. Rising, she watched the ocean swallow up the sand down below. "Sorry, Jamie, but no. I’m visiting my grandparents on Christmas vacation. I need to sort out the good and bad things that Serina taught us. I can’t teach you when I have so much to learn myself."

"I guess I’ll just have to learn on my own then." There was something about Jamie’s smile, childlike yet curiously empty. A breeze stirred the hair on Dawn’s neck, carrying a hint of rose perfume.

Dawn shivered.

About the Author

Stacy Juba wrote her first novel,
Face-Off
, when she was 16 years old and hasn't stopped writing since. In addition to
Face-Off
, she is also the author of the children's picture books
The Flag Keeper
,
Victoria Rose and the Big Bad Noise
, and the
Teddy Bear Town Children's E-Book Bundle
, and the adult mystery novels
Twenty-Five Years Ago Today
and
Sink or Swim
. She is trained as a Reiki master, and her other interests include Tai Chi and angel cards. To learn more about her work, visit
http://www.stacyjuba.com
.

Connect with Stacy online:

Web site:
http://www.stacyjuba.com/blog

Blog:
http://www.stacyjuba.com/blog/blog

Twitter:
http://twitter.com/stacyjuba

Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Stacy-Juba/100155471301?ref=share

BONUS FEATURES

Below you will find an excerpt of Stacy's young adult novel
Face-Off
, also available on Kindle, and blurbs of her other Kindle books.

Brad’s twin brother T.J. has gotten himself out of the fancy prep school his father picked for him and into the public high school Brad attends. Now T.J. is a shining new star on the hockey team where Brad once held the spotlight. And he’s testing his popularity with Brad’s friends, eyeing Brad’s girl and competing to be captain of the team. The whole school is rooting for a big double-strength win…not knowing that their twin hockey stars are heating up the ice for a winner takes all face-off.

As Mrs. McKendrick and Chris followed Jory into the living room, Brad and T.J. stared at each other. Finally, T.J. said, "Look, you've been ticked at me since practice. You're mad that I got made cocaptain aren't you? Come on," T.J. said when Brad didn't respond. "I've got just as much right to it as you do."

Brad scoffed. "Hardly. I've been slaving on that team since I was a freshman."

"So? It's not like I've never played the game before."

"It doesn't matter. I've been playing for Bayview for three years and you haven't even played one game for them!"

"Look, it's not my fault that I got yanked out of Hayden! I didn't ask to go to Bayview. You think I wanted to leave all my friends and go to a new school? It's hard enough going there without you acting like such a jerk."

"You're the one who's acting like a jerk, T.J."

"You're just afraid that I'm going to do better than you, and you can't take it!"

"Are you kidding? You may be Dad's precious genius, but you're never going to be better than me at hockey. And if you think I'm playing on a line with you, you're crazy. So let's just see who Reynolds sends down a line, T.J.," Brad challenged his brother.

"Yeah, well have fun playing with McCann," T.J. snapped.