First Kiss (9 page)

I sit back and cover myself with the blanket I have on me. I
feel like crying for the first time in days. I have not felt truly alone in
this house yet, but the anger in him takes away the magical comfort the house
gives off. The magical feeling I should fear, and yet, I don’t. Instead, I like
it here and I like them. Bizarre or not, they are like me somehow. They have
accepted me. Except Alex, but no one really likes him, apart from the master.

I close my eyes and think about Bastion’s face. It’s getting
harder and harder for me to see it clearly. He fades in and out of my mind. I
miss him, Sam, Lune, and Sarah. I miss home, but I don’t miss being outside of
the circle of cool people with them. It’s got to be impossible to miss being an
outcast.

I drift off to sleep and my dreams don’t feel like dreams.
They feel real, but I don’t remember them when I wake up. I just recall
dreaming and thinking this is a dream.

I am on the old couch, covered in the blanket. I don’t recall
the evening clearly and I don’t remember sleeping. I swear I blinked, and it
was morning. The light that has flooded the library seems different, fresher
and brighter than I have seen in weeks. I get up, stretching and yawning and
start to tidy the room. I sing Baylor while I dust and organize, fold, stack
and sweep until it looks like a proper room, and I am covered in cobwebs and
sweat. The debris has not started to change back and things are different, not
where they were before, but I don’t think I moved them.

The clean stays.

I walk backwards from the library, keeping my eyes on the
papers and clean surfaces. I nod and take a chance. I hum and walk to the
kitchen and get a drink of water. I walk back to the library with my drink,
prepared to find the chaos it was.

Instead, it is pristine. I think it is even cleaner than how I
left it. The stained glass in the tops of the windows sparkles, and I can
almost see the horses running in the pictures. Everything is clean and
beautiful, and I know for the first time that I have been in this room, it is
as it was before. I know this room from a dream or another life. I have seen
all of it, including the furniture I don’t recognize, before. And it isn’t that
I have just seen it—no.

This is my house. This is where I grew up. I know this.

Someone has been lying to me.

My thoughts are interrupted by a gasp. “By God, have you done
it?” Heidi asks in a whisper.

I turn, beaming, “I remember this place. I cleaned it up, and
I can see it like it was before. I finally got a whole room clean, and it
stayed. And under the dust and filth I can tell, I have been here before. I
lived here, I think.”

She looks like she might either drop the tray or cry. She
doesn’t look happy which makes no sense to me. The damned house is nasty and
they hired me as a cleaner.

She walks backwards, still staring at the clean space, “I have
to tell the master—what will he say or do?”

"Hopefully, he’ll say thank you. The furniture looks
different, don’t you think? I swear that chair wasn’t there before, and yet, I
know it. I’ve seen it, not in a dream either but for real. This must have been
how it looked when I was a kid. I swear to God, I grew up here."

Her eyes do not leave the chair but tears begin to well in
them. She turns and leaves abruptly.

I trail after her, out of the room, not catching what she is
saying. I look down the hall, and it is clean too and there is a dresser I have
not seen before. The lights are all working and there is no debris. I brush
past her and go to the study. It is clean as a whistle, and somehow I recall
this room more than any other in the house. I smell something and I know it’s
my father. Tears almost fill my eyes. I can feel the lump, but the confusion is
too much.

I turn in a circle, seeing how pristine it is. I run from the
room and down the hall. My shoes slap on the marble tiles and hardwood as I run
from room to room, finding things very different than before.

The house looks like a restoration team has gone through. I
shake my head, “This is a magical house. I knew it. When have I been here
before? I know I have been here before. Oh, but you all just moved here, didn’t
you? You won’t remember me being here.” My heart is pounding, but I can’t reach
a rational response to the fact everything is changing in front of my eyes.
Where are my memories?

“It’s you.”

I turn to see the master standing there, exactly as he was when
he left the library, scarred and all. He is the only aspect of the house that
is not improved, and yet, I find myself staring at his eyes more than his
scars.

He smiles, “You are the reason the house is healing. We are
going home.
It’s
finally time. You are breaking the
curse, Lynnie.”

I shake my head, “How is that possible? What curse—the
Lake Curse, you mean? It can be broken? What home? How am I doing this? Is this
my house?”

“You are the only person who can save us.” His eyes seem a bit
lost. He looks like he might get excited. He doesn’t seem angry like Heidi was
expecting him to be.

I shake my head, “You aren’t making sense. I only cleaned the
library. I never touched the rest of it. How is it clean and repaired? Where is
the new furniture coming from? Are you doing this to me on purpose? Are you
making me think I’m crazy on purpose?”

“No, of course not. You aren’t crazy. You are cursed, we are
cursed.” He toys with his lip, the only place on his face that is void of
scarring. I stare at them for the first time, really noticing them. He sees
that I am not moving beyond it and nods, “It is a magical house—there is
so much to tell you.”

I point at him, beaming, “I knew it. So the curse isn’t really
mine, it’s the house? I can be free of it all?”

He laughs his big, booming laugh, “Yes, and no. You need to
try to clear your thoughts and find the way back home.” He seems free of
something suddenly. He’s joking, and I swear I’m having a heart attack.

Alex walks into the room, “The barrier is still up,
she
hasn’t broken it. Not fully.”

The master nods, “She will.” Alex scoffs and leaves the room.

“What barrier? What are you talking about? Are we trapped
here?”

He ignores me, “Stay calm. You need to break the curse. You
need to remember who you are.”

I turn to face him, “What is it then? Have you lived here
forever? Is this place like a haunted prison for you guys? If I leave will you
turn to dust? Are you real? Are you my Lachlan family from before?” Terror is
filling me and I can’t feel my legs to run.

He sees the fear, “No. It’s not easy to explain. It was a long
time ago, but not that long. It’s been a decade. The story is long, but I want
you to try to remember on your own. The answer to the way home is in your
head.”

“My head? Did I grow up here? I never lived in Maryland, did
I? That always felt wrong.” I can’t stop the questions, “So how does the house
work? You don’t age, and you can’t leave? How did Lance come and get me if
there is a barrier? What barrier—you never explained that? Why don’t you get
into the car and leave? Lance came and got me, surely you can all leave?”

He looks like he is losing patience, and I know I am tired of
him not explaining anything to me. He is driving me insane, but I think I am
having the same effect on him. He grits his teeth, “No, we can’t. We don’t age,
no. We are frozen, but the time moves and the seasons change. The curse is on
us, not the house. The house is you. Come and let me show you something.” He
scowls at me and holds a scarred red hand out to me. I place my hand in his,
without even a slight hesitation, even after the angry tirade the night before.
He pulls me to the front door and opens it slowly, “The things you see are not
the things that are there, Lynnie. You change the house. You change the reality
we live in.”

Out in the yard is a carriage with two massive black horses in
front of it. Lance is scrubbing the horses down on the gravel. He is using a
bucket and strange-looking scrubber. His clothes are different now too, and his
face is older somehow, without actually aging any more. Everything is
different, as if a veil has been lifted from it.

“What are you? What year is it? Are we all trapped here now?”
My stomach starts to hurt even more.

The master gives me an odd smile, “No, don’t worry. We are
like the ghosts in the house. You are quite real and in the right time and
place. You are breaking the spell, that’s all.”

“I don’t know what you mean. I don’t believe any of this. I
don’t even believe in ghosts. You’re real. I can touch you.”

He sighs again, “I’m not a ghost,
I’m
like one. I can’t go anywhere. I’m trapped here in this bubble.”

It can’t be true. I can’t wrap my brain around it. I shiver
with something but it isn’t fear. I can't seem to feel much fear here. I shake
my head and point, “Where did the car go?”

“There was no car.”

“I saw a car. Brandon saw him and the car too.
Same as me.
The day I came here. Lance had a flyer and he
was in Brandon’s parents’ store.”

Lance winks at me as the front door is closed and I am left
standing, staring at the huge wooden entrance.

The master puts a hand out for me again, “You need to look
again.” I take his hand and let him pull me to the study. He stands me in front
of a tall mirror. He steps out of the mirror's reflection, leaving me in it.
“Tell the mirror to show itself to you—its real self. Your answers are in
there.”

“This is stupid and not funny.”

He shakes his head, “I’m not laughing, Lynnie.”

I whisper, “Show me your real self, mirror.” Suddenly, it is
as if I am no longer in the mirror either. Somehow it is filled with a blurry
picture I can’t see, but it’s not a reflection. I jump back, “What the hell?”

He chuckles, “Hell indeed. Your powers are finally coming to
you. It’s a process. Ask the mirror to show you what really happened that day
outside of Brandon’s store.”

I shake my
head,
“Show me what really
happened outside of Brandon’s parents’ store, the day I got a ride from Lance.”

“Watch.”

The picture becomes a vision of outside Brandon's parents’
store. I am there, but my back is turned. My red hair is tangled, and even from
the back, I look sad. I see it the way it happened.
Me and
Brandon standing outside of the store talking.
Brandon looks upset.
Lance appears out of nowhere, like magic. He starts speaking to me. Brandon
doesn’t see him. I don’t think he does. I take the flyer that magically appears
in Lance’s hand and climb into the carriage. Brandon shakes his head and
mutters but doesn’t ever look up.

The master points, “Lance went there, against my wishes, to
bring you here. I had given up after meeting you. I knew when I met
you,
you weren’t like them, your mother and sister. I wasn’t
even sure you could work the mirror, not before today. Anyway, Lance went there
in the carriage, pulled by the horses and gave you a fake flyer. He went
looking for you because he was determined to find an answer. He said the wind
showed him the way to you. I asked him about it; the boy never saw him, and
when you got into the carriage, you vanished but the boy was already looking
away.”

I step back from the mirror, “They will be looking for me.” I
touch the mirror, “Are my friends okay? Are they looking for me? What have they
been up to while I’ve been here? Show me what they have done while I have been
here.”

The mirror goes fuzzy and suddenly I see them all. They are
drinking and laughing around a campfire and swimming at the lake. Everyone is
having fun and no one is looking for me. Sam looks sad sitting on the log. His
eyes seem dulled, compared to the last time I saw him. His throat has a tiny
scar that is red and fresh. Sarah goes and sits next to him on the log. He
shakes his head and looks lost. I see him mouth my name.

“How is it so warm in town and so cold here? This last week
has been freezing up here. Is it ‘cause we’re higher?” I ask as if I’m in a
trance. Nothing is making sense. The unbearable heat of summer feels like it
was yesterday, and now it is so cold outside, I swear it’s going to snow.

The mirror isn’t helping me understand like he thinks it will.
If anything, I just have more questions. My stomach aches when I get one answer
and the picture changes. My friends are saying goodbye to each other and
getting into their parents’ SUV’s and minivans or driving their own cars out of
town. The leaves turn and fall onto the ground. Sarah is still there, on Main
Street in our town. She is alone, walking past my house. She looks at it,
scowling at the red car and pulling her sweater closer to her skin.

“Is this the future?” I ask but the master doesn’t meet my
gaze. He continues to look at the picture as it changes again and shows Main
Street. The first flakes of snow are falling. Winter has come, and once it
lands in Maine, it doesn’t let go. The flakes become blizzards and the snow
becomes unbearable. My jaw drops, “What is this? Is it my future? Am I dead?” The
people of the town shovel and salt, and plows blow by the stores. The lights
are put up on Main Street and the trees are trimmed with decorations.

I sob a little; I don’t mean to, but I’m scared I have lost my
mind like my mother. I tear my gaze from the piles of snow and my friends who
are suddenly home. Lune has a guy with her I have never seen before. She kisses
him like he is the only person in the world. They stagger down Main Street,
clinging to each other and singing. They walk past the old bar I always sang
at. It’s closed down. There are boards on the window. I feel like Ebenezer
Scrooge. I give him a desperate look, “Is it Christmas? Has this much time
passed?”

He nods once. I run past him to the window, and suddenly I see
it. The brown grass is gone, and in its place, is two feet of snow. I open the
front door to find Lance is still dressed in old-fashioned clothes, but now he
has on a jacket and is brushing the snow off of the horses. Heidi is sweeping
the front steps to rid them of snow and Tim is leaping about like a snowy
jackrabbit. Silent tears slip from my eyes. “Lance, your clothes?” I turn back
to the master, “It’s been weeks. Weeks at the most.” The house suddenly feels
like a prison. I feel dizzy and lost. "How have months past? Where did the
time go? How does the mirror make the magic? WHAT IS HAPPENING? I want to go
home. I want to go home now."