28. Elsie
elsie
. . .
Before Garrett walked out of O with Dana’s favourite candy dish clutched in his grubby little hands, he made sure to let us know that tonight we’d be hosting a party for him and his friends .
The crash that followed coming from Dana’s office let me know she was not happy about it—which made me nervous.
I looked around and saw that everyone was dreading Garrett’s party and very sure it would be a complete shitshow. His friends were all dickheads, just like him, and surely wouldn’t give a shit about trashing the place or trying to touch whoever they wanted.
With the threat of losing the club hanging over our heads, though, we knew we couldn’t say no. So now we would all be stuck getting ready for a night that was sure to be one to remember—and not for any of the right reasons.
I started pinning up my hair while Juniper did the same to try to repair one of the costumes in the corner.As I looked in the mirror, I was glad Vi wasn’t supposed to be there tonight. If I saw one of those freaks put their disgusting hands on her, nothing would stop me from tearing them to shreds.
As the thought hit me, a strange feeling came over me. Something about it felt like déjà vu, and it sent a wave of nausea through me. I tried to shake it, chalk it up to nervousness and anxiety about tonight, but the feeling didn’t waver.
“Ouch,” I heard Juniper call.
I dropped my mascara and quickly moved toward her. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” she said, looking down at her finger. “I just poked myself.”
I took her hand, seeing the pinprick of blood start to form. Bringing the finger to my mouth, I licked the wound, tasting her until she was no longer bleeding.
“What was that for?” June asked.
“A little treat for me,” I said with a smirk.
She offered a barely-there smile back, which for her was basically a laugh. Juniper turned back to her work, but I stood behind her, leaning my chin on her shoulder. The sequins of the outfit she was working on shone in the lights coming down from above. As she fidgeted with it, they would occasionally reflect in my eye, hurting for a brief moment before she moved once again.
“Feeling nervous?” I asked.
“No, just pissed off at that asshole,” she spat out.
I kissed her neck gently. “Don’t worry; we all are.”
Her body relaxed a bit against mine as she allowed herself to find comfort in me.
I ran my hand up her thigh and was about to say something naughty and distracting when Dana burst through the curtains, looking crazed and disheveled.
“I need you guys to see this.”
She didn’t wait before she turned around and bolted back around the thick curtains. We exchanged a look, knowing Dana wouldn’t be this agitated about something small, and followed.
Once we were up in her office, we clicked the door shut. The state of the room told me Garrett had enraged her, and she’d taken it out on whatever was at hand.
“What happ?—”
Dana didn’t talk. She simply picked up a piece of paper and shoved it in our faces.
A photo.
I was confused at first. It was me, Dana, Juniper, Ren, and Cherie from what looked like a few years ago.
But Vi was in it too.
The longer I looked, the more the memories came flooding back. Waking up together slowly, fucking each other into oblivion before doing each other’s nails or playing dress-up in my closet to decide what to wear for the day.
Vi and I… Vi and all of us.
I felt how much that quality time meant to me, and I couldn’t believe I’d forget something so integral to me.
Juniper gasped audibly.
“Yeah. I know. I just spent a few minutes looking at this myself. And I’m remembering things slowly. Like bits and pieces here and there,” Dana said.
“Fuck,” Juniper said as she sat down on one of the chairs. “This is why?—”
“Yes. This is why we seemed to… remember her somehow.”
“Do we think Vi remembers? Or Ren?” I asked.
Dana shook her head. Normally she was the calm, cool, collected one, but now even she looked lost.
We stayed silent for a moment.
I heard combat boots stomping up toward the office and knew exactly who it was. Ren came through the door moments later, looking just as scattered as we all felt.
“What happened?” Dana asked.
She ran her hand through her short hair before saying, “We went to the bank… The safety deposit box wasn’t her dad’s. It was Cherie’s.”
The entire room went quiet.
“What the fuck do you mean?” Juniper snapped, and I knew she was trying to make sense of all of it. “I can’t fucking think. These—fucking images—visions— memories are coming back?—”
“I know,” Ren said, cutting her off before shaking her head. “It’s happening to me too. It’s like a movie in my head, and like things are falling into place.” She stopped talking and looked at each of us. “It happened really fast. There were photos in there. Photos of all of us. When I looked at them, memories flooded back from when we were all together. When Vi was in our coven.”
And suddenly, it hit me. “I’m remembering stuff too, but it doesn’t make sense. Why would we forget?”
“Fucking Cherie,” Juniper mumbled.
“What?” Dana asked.
“After the attack… Vi was never the same. Do you remember? She was always scared, even of us. So Cherie… mentioned using compulsion to make Vi forget what happened to her.”
Just as I was about to ask, a memory hit me like a truck. Ren angry, shouting at Cherie while Juniper shoved her hands through her hair. The two of them telling Cherie she had no right. That they could work it out somehow.
It all came in flashes, and as I looked around, it seemed like everyone was having a similar experience.
Dana sighed and leaned against her desk. “We told her no; we told her we would never be onboard with it… But it would seem she went and did it anyway. With the bonus of doing it to all of us too, it would seem.”
“But how did she make sure—” Juniper started.
“If I were to guess, probably Danny and Kaylee were in on it. She needed to make sure someone was in the know in case this all went sideways,” Ren reasoned.
“But why now?” I asked. “Why are we remembering?”
“I can only guess,” Juniper offered, “But maybe, after she died, the compulsion started to wear off, which is why I assume I started having those crazy visions of Vi. It was like my body knew her, but I chalked it up to fate or some bullshit.”
“I told her today it was like my heart remembered her from a past life,” Ren adds. “Except it wasn’t a past life at all.”
I nodded; it all made sense. Except I just realized Ren was on her own.
“Wait… What happened with Vi? She must be scared shitless.”
Ren gazed down at her boots, looking like she was in pain.
“I don’t know. She ran out of the bank. She wouldn’t talk to me or listen. She thought we all knew, and I tried to tell her we didn’t, but she was gone before I could. I came back here, hoping that’s where she’d be.”
“I can’t believe Cherie,” Juniper growled. “Why would she do this?”
“She was probably just thinking about Vi and her safety,” Dana chimed in.
“You always defended her.”
“Because she had to make hard decisions.”
“This one should have included all of us,” Ren said, siding with Juniper.
“Yes, and both of you were only thinking about yourselves,” Dana all but yelled. I was shocked at her tone. “Vi was dying in front of our eyes.”
“And we could have helped her!” Juniper shot back.
“Guys…” I tried to interrupt, but they just kept going.
“No, we couldn’t have,” Dana argued. “Don’t you remember? We tried. We all tried for months, but she was withering. I could see it; Cherie could see it. You two were blinded by your own wants.”
“Are you saying we didn’t care about her?” Ren asked, deadly low.
“You fucking know that’s not what I’m saying.”
“Then what are you saying exactly, Dana?” Juniper asked. “That we were selfish assholes for not wanting to let go of someone we loved? For wanting to remember someone so important to us? Maybe we were. Or maybe we’re pissed that Cherie didn’t even give us the choice.”
“What if she hadn’t come back?” Ren asked. “What if we all started to remember but we couldn’t find her anymore? What if we’d lost her forever?”
“Hey, I think we should—” I tried once more, to no avail.
“It wasn’t your choice to make. You didn’t know how Vi felt about it.”
“And you don’t know if she did it with Vi’s permission,” Ren shot back.
“She would never, and you both know that,” Dana defended.
“Hey!” I shouted over all three of them.Their heads snapped to me at once, as if they’d forgotten I was even there. “You can worry about how you feel and how Cherie betrayed you later. What about where Vi is right now? Or how she’s handling this?”
Everyone’s faces fell somewhere between embarrassment and sadness. I couldn’t feel bad for them right now because Vi needed someone, and obviously everyone else was too focused on their feelings to handle hers, so I guess I needed to do it myself.
I tore the door open and started to move down the stairs.
“Where are you going?” Dana called.
“Can you handle the party without me for a while?” I asked.
“Oh yeah, that fucking party—” Juniper started, but I cut her off this time.
“Get it started. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
“Elsie, what are you doing?” Ren asked, worried.
“Text me her sibling’s address. I’m going to go get our girl.”
***
I knocked on the door of Danny’s hard. There was nowhere else she could have gone; it would make sense for her to go to the people who had known and hadn’t said anything.
It would also make sense for her to be pissed off at them, but so was I.
“What is wrong with you?” I started as Danny opened the door, not even bothering with a hello. “You knew this was happening and let us all go on believing we didn’t know each other when she meant everything to us? How could you do that to your sister? I?—”
“Elsie, baby,” Vi’s sweet voice said as she came up behind Danny. All my anger dissolved as I looked at her, eyes red-rimmed from crying. “It’s okay.”
“What do you mean it’s okay?”
“We talked, and they explained. It was just hard for them to see me that way and… I agreed with Cherie. I told her she could do it.”
Hurt panged in my chest. “You wanted to forget us? Forget me ?”
“No,” she replied. “I just wanted to stop being so… frightened of you. I remember it all so well now. Any time anyone tried to touch me, I felt like I was going to faint. I panicked. I was terrified. Cherie just wanted me to have a normal life, and I wanted that too, at least for a little while.”
I moved inside so Danny could close the door and saw Kaylee on the couch.
“But we could have lost?—”
“I recall that before Cherie did it, there was one thing I kept telling myself. And I held on to that.”
I swallowed. “What?”
“What we all had, it was forever. No matter what happened, I knew one day we would all find each other again. I was sure of it. And we did. I just wish this wasn’t how it happened.”
A tear fell from my eyes, one I was sure matched hers. I pulled her against me, and she came easily. We stood there like that for a while, just embracing each other, basking in the knowledge that she was right—we did find each other again. Even if it came with a loss.
“I love you, Vi,” I said when I pulled back.“Eyes all puffy and all.”
“Well, pot, meet kettle. Is this because you have to match me in everything? I remember that now too,” Vi said with a smirk.
“You are such a jerk.”
“Maybe… but I love you too.”
My heart filled in that moment. It had felt like there was something missing from me, a hole in my heart that was now complete with her return to us.
I wiped her tears away, and she sighed.
“I just wish I’d had the same opportunity to say goodbye to Cherie. Or even just to grieve her.”
“I’m so sorry you didn’t, but we can mourn her now, together, the right way. Right after this stupid party. I have to get back. You don’t have to come right now if you’re not ready, but I know everyone wants to see you and talk this through?—”
“What party? You mean Garrett got his way?”
“Well, yeah, I mean… He informed us on his way out the door. Dana didn’t really have a choice.”
Vi walked to her bag, a devilish smile on her lips as she threw in a few things that were scattered around and came up next to me.
“That’s what Garrett thinks, but he’s wrong. I’m coming with you, and we’re going to end this once and for all.