Chapter 5
Chapter Five
Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out.
She clutched the watch in her palm, shuddering.
It grew warm in her hand, as if its gears were quickening, slowly gaining life as if thawing after centuries frozen in the dark and quiet. As if blood and flesh rather than metal made up the mechanism whirring inside it. Like the warmth of a slumbering body beginning to stir.
Her gaze, hypnotized, mesmerized, couldn’t look away from the scrolling, swirling etchings dancing elegantly over its golden lid. Her breath caught, her hands trembling. How could anyone not be nervous while holding an enchanted watch?
“This is some seriously crazy shit,” she muttered, her voice unfamiliar, thick with something weighty. Trapped. Waiting.
The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end, and her knees knocked together in time to her erratic heartbeat.
“What is going on?” she asked no one in particular, but the watch thrummed in response.
“Am I dreaming?” Once again, it seemed to answer by glowing and pulsing, but she had no way of deciphering its miraculous attempts at communication.
There wasn’t a Complete Idiot’s Guide to Understanding Your Magical Pocket Watch she could use for reference.
Breathe in. “I’m not crazy.” Breathe out. “Not crazy.”
It glowed brighter.
She took that to mean, “No.” At least she hoped that’s what it meant. Learning the language of a mystical watch would be a serious undertaking.
“Wait,” she blurted. “Why am I thinking about this like I’m going to talk to a watch—as if it can communicate?”
Before she even finished the question, the answer came: because she was going to steal it and take it with her. Urgency resurfaced with a vengeance.
She’d walked into a dangerous, supernatural situation, but she couldn’t just drop the watch and walk away.
Why the hell not?
She’d take it home with her, but she didn’t know what to do once she got it there.
It needed to go with her—wanted to go with her.
The thrumming intensified.
I’ll take that as confirmation.
A giggle erupted from her dry, constricted throat when she realized how crazy she’d sound if she told Elleane and Rhiannon.
They’d expect her to adopt every cat in the neighborhood, go around town at night wearing an aluminum foil hat with matching panties, and scribble incoherent ramblings into the pages of The Catcher in the Rye.
Did Carlenna purposely peddle magical baubles?
Of course, she did!
The woman practically dangled them in Haven’s face like a fat, squirming mouse in front of a snake.
Closing the lid on the box with the two remaining watches, Haven turned and walked back toward the alley entrance. Keeping a keen eye on the milling crowds, she glanced around for any trace of Rhiannon and Elleane, and headed toward the fairground’s entrance, compelled to move fast.
Within minutes, her hurried steps brought her within viewing distance of the gates and her waiting car in the parking lot, but she paused to take a deep breath and mull over her lack of planning.
Once she reached the turnstiles at the entrance, a bit of the desperate pressure dissipated. Though urgency decreased, the tension in her pulled her emotions taut—like the bowstrings on a violin left to rot.
With all the inexplicable panic running through her, she thought there’d be an angel with flaming sword standing guard to stop thieving sinners, but alas, no one stopped her.
She pushed through the turnstiles and quickly made her way across the short distance to her car.
The Nissan, much like the carnival entrance, was sans fiery angel with flaming sword, and she rolled her eyes at her suspicious, superstitious stupidity.
If this watch was that important, God would come get it Himself.
She stilled as she fought the urge to look heavenward.
Ugh. I am definitely losing it!
After disengaging the car alarm and unlocking the trunk, she grabbed the handle of her gym bag and unzipped it. She tossed her purse—stolen goods and all—inside.
As she bent to tuck the bag behind the spare tire, a tingling sensation thrilled through her. She had the funniest notion that the watch didn’t want to be tucked anywhere; it wanted to be with her. Wanted something from her.
Trembling, she reached for the bag, gripping it tightly. Compelled to hold it, she reached into the small compartment and picked up the watch. The eerie, almost human warmth infused her palm.
Wanting to take a closer look, she scoured the golden lid and found a small knob protruding from the top. Hands shaking, her chest aching from trapped breaths, she pushed the button, releasing the catch in the lid.
It popped open, revealing the face.
Her breath exploded from her body in a whoosh, then she gasped.
It was beautiful.
Made of a stunning, almost ethereal silver substance, the face pulsed in the light from the overhead lamppost. The watch hands were two golden laurel leaves, moving in time to its ticking heartbeat. The golden rim glowed, making the whole face resemble a large mechanical eye.
Face-to-face.
She shivered.
Slowly, and with great reverence, she ran her fingers over the watch face, and almost jumped from her skin when it shuddered, as if groaning from a caress.
Holy hell.
The watch hands stuttered…then slowed, and a renewed moment of panic hit.
It must need winding.
After wiping her damp hands on her skirt, she placed her fingers on either side of the knob, turning it counterclockwise. When the knob indicated it could no longer turn, she released it, and sure enough, the hands moved around the watch face again.
Backward.
A cloak of immense power enveloped her, like a large, heavy blanket had been flung over her, suffocating and crushing in its weight.
She opened her mouth to scream, but nothing came out.
What have I done?
She looked for a place to throw the watch; somewhere she could hide it to get away from the power, but her fingers wouldn’t release their hold.
Her own body betrayed her.
“What’s going on?” she hissed. The watch didn’t answer. “This isn’t happening. This can’t be happening.”
She whimpered.
This was all too real.
Haven blinked rapidly as the world around her blurred, and the light from the lamppost above her stopped before it even made it to the ground as though hitting an invisible barrier. The stars in the sky melted together, and the houses in the distance turned a sickly gray.
When a debilitating wave of dizziness crashed over her, she grabbed onto the bumper of her car, willing the world to stop spinning.
The world didn’t comply.
Around and around, her vision spun until she unloaded her dinner into the trunk of her car. Steadying her head so she could wipe the sick from her lips, she closed her eyes, trying to get her bearings.
No such luck.
When the dizziness in her head threatened to topple her, she grabbed her gym bag, her grip on it tight.
As if God dimmed the lights, the world faded.
She couldn’t hear the sounds of the carnival through the invisible cotton in her ears. The only noise penetrating the muffled barrier was a strange crackling sound, like a microwave with a fork inside.
An immense wave of indescribable power brought an eerie silence.
Haven stumbled…then realized something that made every nerve in her body scream.
The power was emanating from her feet.
She peered down to where her feet used to be and found only a swirling black hole.
She gasped.
“Aw, hell,” escaped her lips, right before the inky black rift swelling beneath her devoured her.