Thorn to Die

“So?”

“If you destroy it now, you’ll kill yourself with it.”

The towel dropped from my hand, along with the charm, landing on the floor. Blood fled from my face and I felt like I was going to be sick. Luckily, everyone else was still too enthralled with Drake to notice my situation.

“It’ll kill me?” I asked Momma Tula. Maybe I hadn’t heard her correctly.

“Yes, you touched it. You’re bound to it until you complete your mission. I’m so sorry.”

I shook my head. “But isn’t there a way to unbind me? A spell?”

Her pink lips pulled down into a devastated frown. “No, my dear. Blood magic is some of the strongest out there. I wouldn’t even dream of testing my spells against it. That’s too much risk. You’re going to have to ride this one out and do what it tells you.”

“And if I don’t?” I looked down at the charm and gave it a little kick in an act of defiance. This stupid little toy wasn’t going to scare me.

“If you don’t,” she took my chin in her hands and forced me to look at her, “the charm will work its magic.”

“And…?”

What? Would I get seven years bad luck? Nearly a decade of bad luck didn’t sound too awful. I could live with that.

She squinted her eyes and cleared her throat. Telling the truth had never come hard for Momma Tula. If my hair had split ends, my painting had been sloppy, or my mood a little too grumpy, she was sure to let me know. It scared me that she seemed so reluctant to get it out.

“And…?” I repeated.

“And…” she dropped her hands from my face. “You’ll either go mad or it’ll kill you. There’s no getting out of this, my dear. You belong to it.”

Chapter 4

After the unsettling news about the charm, lunch didn’t taste so great. Of course, it didn’t help that nearly everyone was fawning over Drake as if he were Oliver Twist, a sweet orphan boy off the streets. I’d unwillingly left him behind after we finished our food so that Grammy Jo could teach him more about potions brewing.

The way Butch was hollering this morning, he’d kill me if I was even a minute late back to rehearsal. So here I was, jogging across the fairgrounds toward my fellow actors, the blood magic charm burning a hole in my pocket. Momma Tula had forced me to take it with me. She said I’d know as soon as my mission was clear.

Maybe, my mission would be to get through rehearsal without strangling Butch. That seemed difficult enough. Especially the way he was staring at me now.

“You’re nearly late,” he squeaked as I slowed my jog into a respectable walk and went to pick up my costume. Kat huffed at my heels. He wasn’t a fan of this running thing.

“Nearly late is not late,” I said with an obvious eye roll.

“We need to begin on time.” Butch tapped his Green Lantern watch and it began to glow. “We can’t begin without everyone ready and dressed.”

I grumbled a few unpleasant replies to myself as I pulled on my costume and Butch ran away to chew someone else out. Around us, the park was beginning to bustle. They’d finished setting up the outdoor bar and now a few other food vendors had begun to set up. The beginnings of a petting zoo had been erected far from the food tent, along with some fair games and rides. The fairground bordered the northern part of the Witch Trial Reenactment Park, so a small rollercoaster and Ferris wheel made up the backdrop for the setting.

An argument to my right caught my attention. A man and woman had just broken off from a bigger group of people and drifted my way. They whispered in shrill tones that just happened to reach my ears. I closed my eyes and pulled on the wool pants, but I couldn’t help listening in.

“What exactly do you think you’re doing?” the man demanded.

“Just having a bit of fun,” the woman hissed. “I’m allowed to have fun, Carter. After all, in a few more weeks, I’ll no longer be married to you.”

I squinted through my legs at the couple that appeared upside down. From the flair of long bleach-blonde wavy hair, I recognized Krista Green. She wore a skimpy teal tank top that skimmed the top of her tight jeans, flashing a bit of tanned belly every time she moved. Chunky jewelry lined her wrist and hung from her ears. Krista was only three years older than my cousins and me, so we saw a lot of her at the Jazz Club, flirting and dirty dancing with the out-of-towners.

Standing opposite from her was her husband. Her soon-to-be ex-husband, apparently. Carter Green was my family’s dentist. He owned Happy Smiles in the southern part of town a

nd lived in one of the fancy homes in the new subdivision on the east side. Already in his mid-thirties, he was a good looking guy with short dirty-blond hair and a smile that reached his eyes. He wore a shamrock green t-shirt with Uriville Town Council stamped on it in white loopy writing.

I pulled on my boots and began to lace them slowly. They were standing only feet behind me and if I made any sudden movement, surely they’d realize I’d been listening in. The only way to avoid an awkward situation was to move slowly, as if nothing was going on. And besides, I kind of wanted to hear the rest of the argument.

“You can’t hit on my friends in front of me,” Carter said, raising his hands to his own skull as if he wanted to crush it in frustration. “This is the last straw. I’m not going to agree to your alimony demands. You know my lawyer will win that argument.”