All Her Secrets

A/N: I just want to reiterate that this is a continuation of the book I originally began under my old account. I am posting the first six chapters I had in that book here, under the same names.      If you have already read these under the old title, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND re-reading them here.      With that out of the way, please enjoy All Her Secrets! ******************** CRASH    My eyes flew open, and I was instantly pulled from my dream. Unsure if the crash had come from downstairs or my imagination, I stayed still under my purple comforter listening to my heart knock against my ribs.    The air conditioner turned on, and a blast of cold air hit my left arm. I shivered despite the otherwise warm air around me and froze when I heard a creaking board from downstairs, followed by a curse that Carter would get in trouble for saying.     Pulling my quilt back, I shuddered when I heard a distinct creak. The only item in the house that made that noise was the stair railing, which meant the person was getting closer. I climbed out of bed carefully, trying not to make a sound.      My feet thumped onto the floor and I froze again, closing my eyes. My throat was dry, and I struggled to not cough when the AC kicked up a round of dust. Opening my eyes slowly, I glanced around. The person wasn't here yet, which meant I had time to go get Carter.     I tiptoed to my door and opened it just enough to peek into the hallway. “Carter?” I half-called, half-said, hoping the person was just him coming home. Leaning out a little more, I listened for a reply, but when there was no reply from the stairs or his room, I decided to go across the hall, in case the person I heard wasn’t him.     I didn't want to go to Dad's room. He would just start yelling.     I walked around the squeaky boards before rapping on Carter’s door three times. It was our signal, telling the other if it was us or Dad, who would knock twice if he cared and remembered which wasn't often.      “Carter?” I asked through the door, louder as another creak and another curse came from the stairs. Knocking harder, I reached for the knob and tried to open the door, only to feel it stop turning suddenly. Carter wouldn’t lock himself out of his room… CRAP!     My heartbeat even faster now that I was certain that Carter was asleep in his bed, and there was definitely a stranger in my home. Holding my breath, I wanted to scurry back across the hall when someone came off the stairs, but curiosity held me in place a second too long. Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back... Let's hope that's true. Probably not.     The person emerged from the stairs, and I began to back away from Carter’s door- toward the bathroom. With a light laugh from the stranger, I stopped, my eyes wide as I stared at them. Taking off the hood of her strange cloak/jacket covering, she began to speak and I was mesmerized by her voice.     “Hi, there sweetie. Do you remember me?”  She looks kinda like Mom.     Looking at her face, it was familiar, but her eyes were different from Mom’s. Bright green eyes stood out from her pale features, and I felt a stab of hurt.  She looks a lot like Mom.      She may have looked like Mom, but her voice was very different. It was more like she was singing instead of talking. Mom always had a rougher sound, like she was getting over strep, but all the time.     She raised her eyebrows and I shook my head, wrapping my arms around myself. It was my go-to defensive position. Her eyes darted to the window above me, then back to my face. She smiled at me, though it wasn’t like Mom’s smile.      Her smile, I could feel it. It felt… dangerous. Other than her eyes, it was the only thing different from Mom to her. When she spoke again, this time in a language I didn’t understand, her voice was deep and rough, closer to Mom's but still not right.      “Inter puerum et, fidenti vinculum vestræ concinnant.”     An artificial sense of calm swept through me, my heart slowing as I felt like I should trust the strange woman standing before me. She won’t hurt me.  I don’t need to be scared. It’s okay.      My eyes wider than ever, I whispered, “Who are you?” A part of my mind told me that what I was feeling was wrong, but it was drowned out by the calming thoughts. I blinked a couple of times, and a frown flashed across her lips before the smile returned.     I dropped my arms and took a small step closer to her. She looked so much like Mom, it made my heart hurt. “Who are you?” I asked again, a little louder this time. My confidence was coming back to me, and as I took another step closer, her eyes flickered back to the window.      Staring outside, she answered me slowly, like I was a scared animal instead of a girl. “I am someone who has come to help you. You see, you are special, and some people want to hurt you. I’m going to make sure that they can’t find you.”     I stopped, looking at her carefully. She continued to stare out the window, and, after a minute of silence, my curiosity took over. Turning around, I gasped at the moon, which looked very different. Bright red light poured in from the window, the satellite so large I felt as though I could reach out and touch it. I heard the woman take a step closer to me, and she placed a hand on my head. Still staring at the moon, I tried to take a step closer when she dug her nails into my hair.     I tried to turn, to tell her that she was hurting me. Her nails were more like claws, holding me in place, so I began to ask her to stop when she whispered the words:      “Nunc somnum.”          **********     When I woke up a few minutes later, I was lying on my rug. Blinking again, it took me a moment to realize that she had put me to sleep. The moon’s red light came in from my open door, and the woman leaned over a large candle to my right. Confused, I sat up and felt my nightgown, which had been pulled up over my stomach, fall. The woman’s head turned sharply to face me briefly before she returning to her candle as she muttered, “Et mentior. Proinde parce motus.”     With those words, my head slammed back to the floor, and black spots blocked the corners of my sight. I tried to sit back up, only to find that my muscles would not move.  What’s happening to me?      Taking a deep breath to keep calm, I watched as her hand came over to me and gently pulled my lavender nightgown back to where it had been. When she returned to her candle, I gathered the courage to whisper, “What are you doing to me?”     She laughed quietly and shook her head. The little voice in my head became very loud, telling me to scream for Carter. But, when I tried, I couldn’t make a sound above a whisper. I was unable to fear her enough to scream for my brother, even as my terror roared in my heart and ears, partially blocking out her reply.     “Sweet girl, special girl. You, little one, are Fated for great things, extraordinary things. I can see it, Community be damned. And you see, I have some things to tell you. But you need to keep them a secret.”     I swallowed, my eyes flickering around my room in time with my heartbeats. “I-I can keep a secret.” I hated that I stuttered, it made me sound weak.  Carter says I'm the best secret keeper.     “Oh, I know you can. I’m just making sure you will never ever be able to tell anyone.” Her voice sounded like she was almost crazy, but she also didn’t care about the secret.     “I won’t tell anyone. I promise.” I continued to breathe deeply, keeping my fear from my voice, watching as the spots in my sight went away. I could see her frown by the light of the candle, the flames casting strange shadows with the moonlight. “I don’t trust you.” She turned to me with a serious look. “This secret could kill you.”     Kill me!? What… then why does she want to tell me! I’m only ten!      Panic began to rise in my chest, my heart slamming against my ribs as she began to speak again.     “Benedicite huius cultro. Ut recepto robore. Fortis sim. Sit ut secet precise mea. Filia autem numen de luna, de Iulii hac nocte, per potentiam autem sanguis lunam et propter sanguinem pueri…” Her strange words floated around her, glowing red before disappearing as the next word was said. Shock shot through my bones, but I was prompted by the now quiet voice to ask her what she was saying.     Her reply was a bargain. “I will tell you what I’m doing, if you tell me your name. Does that sound fair?” I frowned, because it wasn’t what I asked, but I would take almost anything she gave me now. Slowly, I gave her the nickname Carter had given me when I was young. “My name’s Pigeon.”     Smiling slowly as she reached into her jacket, she stayed true to her promise. “Okay, Pigeon. I am doing magick. Dark, illegal magick. And I really need you to be quiet now. Nunc silentium.”     I bit my lip, trying to tell her that magick wasn’t real, but I couldn’t even speak. I whimpered and out of the corner of my eye, I saw the candle flames dance strangely.     A long knife was running through them. Is she going to kill me?