Page 23 of Starrily (Perks of Being #2)

Chapter 23

C allie’s chest felt heavy and compressed, as if strips of steel had wrapped themselves around her heart and were squeezing it. Why did she ever come back here—to this town, this house, this very room, where all of her memories still lived?

Raleigh held her tight, and she hid her face in his shoulder, vaguely aware she was soaking him with her still-wet clothes. The shirt they’d given him smelled fresh, herbal, and citrusy, and like all the others, the memory fell into place—lemon verbena. Aunt Phoebe put it everywhere, from decorations to bouquets, to ward off evil spirits.

“What happened?” Raleigh’s voice was soft and gentle as he caressed her back.

Oh, Raleigh. The one person that could make her come back here. Losing him might be worse than facing her memories—but it didn’t make facing them any easier. Perhaps she wasn’t that brave after all.

“You know Mom and Phoebe are twins?” she muttered into his shirt, then tilted her head to the side. “Nana used to have a twin, too, but she passed away. And her mom before that. I was the first in five generations without a twin. Then I met Mila. We got along right away. She was like the sister I never had.”

“You looked so similar,” he said.

Callie nodded. “Mom said she was my twin soul. We weren’t related, but we were connected. In here.” She tapped her chest above her heart. “We did everything together. At school, we’d sit close to each other and pass notes. We got in trouble so many times.” She smiled at the bittersweet memory. “And after school, we’d play—sometimes around town, sometimes in the bayou. We’d find animals and inspect them for science, dig for buried treasure, or pretend to be river pirates.”

“Sounds like a wonderful life.”

“It was. Life was one big adventure.”

“I knew you had it in you,” he said. Not accusing, but encouraging.

“Oh, I was a wild child. I believed in everything Mom, Aunt, and Nana said, too.”

He raised his eyebrow. “Oh?”

“Speaking with ghosts through Ouija boards. Card readings. Chants for warding off bad spirits. Everything in the worlds beyond our own. I thought if I went out on a full moon, a werewolf might snatch me. And sometimes I considered it because it would be so cool to see one.”

“I should’ve tried that, not this ghost thing,” Raleigh said. “Hairiness is probably preferable to immaterialness, huh?”

She snorted, but then she remembered where she’d left off, and any lightness dissipated. “One day, during the summer, Mila and I took a small boat and went out in the bayou. Playing explorers. We sat in the boat and … I don’t remember how it began; maybe we were trying to catch a fish or arguing about where to go, but the boat heaved, and Mila fell overboard.” The bands around her heart constricted as images rose in her mind. “She knew how to swim, we both did. But after a few seconds, she didn’t resurface. I jumped after her, even though the water was so murky I could barely see anything. I found her, and she was reaching for me, and I pulled as hard as I could …”

She choked on the incoming tears. Raleigh caressed her shoulder and her upper arm.

“She didn’t budge. Her foot must’ve gotten stuck in a branch. I tried so hard … I screamed her name …” She shook her head. “I don’t remember what happened afterwards, but I woke up at home. And Mila was dead.”

“She drowned.”

Callie nodded.

“I’m sorry.”

She clenched the collar of his shirt. “All of their mumbo-jumbo did shit .”

“I don’t understand.”

“No reading my mom did indicated anything would happen that day. There was no warning from the great beyond, no ominous mark in tea leaves, nothing .”

“Hey. Hey.” He ran a hand over her hair. “Calm down. It’s all right.”

“Phoebe found us on the riverbank. I must’ve finally dragged Mila there, but it was too late. Where were all the warnings”—her voice broke, and she swallowed a lump in her throat—“when Mila needed them?”

“Maybe …” Raleigh’s tone was cautious, “it doesn’t work that way?”

“Because it doesn’t work at all. I was so stupid. I even asked Aunt Phoebe to let me speak with Mila’s ghost. She wouldn’t do it, but thinking about it now …” Her world had collapsed that day, in more ways than one. Mila was gone, and all the magic in Callie’s life was also gone. Only hurt and shame remained.

“You don’t believe it’s all fake,” Raleigh said.

“I believe in science.” She slipped her hand out of his and stood. “I believe in the things we can prove with models and theories and thorough examinations.”

Raleigh also stood up. “And yet I am the way I am, and you brought me here.”

“There is no such thing as magic.”

He gently grabbed her shoulder. “Maybe there is. And maybe each of us needs a bit of magic in our lives. It doesn’t negate the reality. It doesn’t disprove everything else you know. It only adds to it.”

Callie clenched her fists. She’d promised him and herself that she’d be brave. A rational part of her knew that somewhere beyond all the hurt she was unlocking anew lay freedom—but she’d have to walk through the hurt first, and she didn’t know if she dared to. It came down to more than just talking about that day on the river. Everything here was intertwined with her old life. The pathways in the bayou, the streets of Athame, every child’s laughter and every buzzing of cicadas and every joke Nana told. All of it would drag her back into the past. Negate any progress she’d made.

Raleigh carefully approached and leaned his forehead on hers. Slowly, she relaxed. Maybe she’d had it wrong all along. Raleigh said she helped him remember his life, and he was better for it. What if that was the key? Her progress wasn’t in denial. She’d have to be an adventurer again and face her problems head-on.

But she wouldn’t be alone. Raleigh was here—her new kindred spirit. Her lost adventurer. If he still cared about her, even after all her outbursts, she could use him for support. He could be her guiding star.

She only had to make sure he didn’t blink out of existence.

***

Callie didn’t want to visit her family the next day, and Raleigh saw no reason to push her—she needed time to think things through, and the Guidrys needed to analyze his condition, not hers. He did take Theia with him; both so Callie could take a walk and wouldn’t have to worry about Theia being shut inside and because he was curious how the Guidrys would react to the cat. Or rather, the other way around.

Phoebe opened the door. “Come, come, step into our lair.” She led him to the living room. “Momma’s getting everything ready.”

A herbal smell filled the house, overwhelming his senses. Iris was in the living room, lighting candles and incense sticks, scattered all around the space. The round table had been dragged to the center of the room, and dried flowers and small, shiny black pebbles had been arranged in circles in the middle.

“And who’s this?” Phoebe kneeled to look into Theia’s carrier.

“Theia. She’s Callie’s cat. May I?”

As Phoebe nodded, Raleigh opened the carrier and let Theia hop on the floor.

“Of course, she’d have a cat. I told you!” Phoebe yelled toward an open door.

“I didn’t say she wouldn’t,” Penny’s voice came from behind it.

“She got a good one, too.” Iris approached the cat.

“Be careful. She doesn’t like people,” Raleigh warned.

“Of course, she doesn’t. She’s a protector, aren’t you?” Iris said to Theia.

Penny came into the living room. “Oh, she’s beautiful.”

The three Guidry women stood in a half-circle around the cat. Raleigh expected Theia to start hissing or even attempt to scratch one, but instead, Theia stood there calmly, slowly swishing her tail, and looked from one woman to another with her big, blue eyes.

Raleigh raised an eyebrow. “She’s not normally like this.”

“Hmmph. She knows who to not mess with,” Iris said.

“There’s another thing about her. When I phased, she could still see me. Or sense me, at least.”

“She would. She’s a Seer,” Iris said casually.

“A Seer?”

“All cats are.”

“And some dogs,” Phoebe added.

Penny started coughing and waved her hand in front of her face. “Did you have to go so hard on the incense, Momma? You’re gonna get white sage into my jambalaya.”

“Then why’d you let the door to the kitchen open, hmm?”

Penny rolled her eyes, disappeared into the other room, and made a show of closing the door behind her.

“Penny hates incense,” Phoebe said.

“I thought you were all in the same profession?”

“Yes, but she’s a diviner. She doesn’t need it for her stuff. Me and Momma, we need to get in touch with other forces, and certain smells help us. Penny, she does the numbers.”

“She’s the scientist of the group,” Iris added.

Callie would probably have something to say about that.

“What does that mean?” Raleigh asked. He hoped he wasn’t about to get Frankenstein-ed.

“She does palm readings, tarot, figures out how well people match based on their names or birthdays or astrological signs,” Phoebe explained. “You and Callie, by the way? Nearly there.”

“Nearly where?”

“Penny did the name match and the astrological match. She even cross-checked them. Almost at a hundred percent. She says she’d never seen such high numbers before.”

“I …” Raleigh shook his head. “I don’t follow very well.”

“It means you’re good for her.” Iris lightly slapped him on the arm to get him moving toward the table. “Even if you might be a bit slow.”

“He’s not slow, Momma. He doesn’t understand our stuff.” Phoebe winked at Raleigh as she followed them to the table. “Makes sense for being a Leo.”

Raleigh sat down, and Iris gave him instructions—put his hand in the middle of the circle; close his eyes, relax, take deep breaths. He slowed his breathing, took in the incense, and tried to clear his mind.

“That’s it. Keep going,” Iris said. “Empty your mind. Relax. Your head is heavy, but there are no worries … ”

He wasn’t sure what happened—one moment, he still felt Theia rubbing against his legs, and the next, a slew of memories ran over him. It felt different from recalling, though, and different from a dream—it felt real, as if he could reach out and grab it.

“Mr. Tate?” A boy—his student—hands him a sheet of paper with drawings and signatures. “We made this for you.”

“Thanks,” Raleigh says.

The boy smiles. “You’re our favorite teacher.”

He’s cycling back home. Leans the bicycle on the wall and opens the door; a red tabby cat attempts to sneak out, but he catches it by the middle. “No, Newton. Come, it’s dinner time.”

Him and Eddie are walking out of the school, Eddie waving his arm animatedly. “And bam, home run!”

It’s dark. He’s walking home alone—tomorrow, the bike should be fixed. A cough and a cry come from the alleyway. He stops. “Hello? Are you all right?” A man appears from the shadows.

No. Not that one. Raleigh tried to shake off the memory. I don’t want to see. I don’t want to remember.

“Relax,” Iris’ voice came from far away. “Let me in. It’s gonna be all right.”

He tried to calm his breathing. One part of him was trapped in that night, panicking for his life, and the other knew it was all a thing of the past; it couldn’t hurt him now.

Give the wallet—just let me go now—pulls out a knife—wait, wait—hurts so much—that’s blood on my hands—that’s my blood—he stabbed me, he actually stabbed me—help—this can’t be it—

Raleigh took a deep breath, and the darkness of the alleyway turned into the cozily lit living room of the Guidry house.

Iris lifted her hand off his heart. “Good boy,” she said. “You’ve done mighty fine.”

He slumped on the chair. Beads of sweat had formed on his forehead, and he felt as exhausted as if he’d run a marathon. “Is it done?”

“For your part, yes.”

“And? What’s the prognosis?”

“Hold your horses,” Iris said with a smile. “I still need to see the soul in Shanna’s locket. Then me and the girls will consult the books to see how to fix your little situation.”

Phoebe approached the table. “Take a moment to rest. You can stay for lunch if you want. Penny’s got jambalaya on the stove, and it’s to die for.”

“I think he’s got enough dying for the moment,” Iris remarked cheekily and studied him. “But you should still stay for the jambalaya.”

Raleigh saw no reason not to. His legs felt like jelly, and getting food into him might help him recover. Iris put out the candles and took away the incense, and they prepared the dining table. Penny brought a generous bowl of rice mixed with vegetables, chicken, and sausage. The smoky, spicy smell made Raleigh’s mouth water. Whether it was the exhaustion from Iris’s procedure or just the deliciousness of the meal itself, he dug into it as if he hadn’t eaten in at least three days.

“Now that’s what you like to see,” Penny said as she took a cleanly-licked plate away. “I’d give you the recipe, but it’s a family secret.”

“Horrible attempt at matchmaking,” Phoebe said.

“Ninety-six percent!” Penny yelled from the kitchen. “You know what Roy and Daisy had? Ninety-three. And they were together for fifty years,” she continued as she returned.

“Stop it, you two,” Iris said. “You’re gonna chase him away.”

“I’m pretty sure I couldn’t move at the moment,” Raleigh said.

“Good.” Penny patted his hand, then went to the hallway and rummaged through a box. She came back with a bunch of papers—clippings from a magazine, articles printed off websites, something that looked like a dissertation … “We’ve collected all this about Callie.” She sat down next to him. “The recent articles from the magazine. Her first published paper. Everything we could find. And it’s great seeing …” Penny rubbed her eyes. “How smart and successful she is. How much she’s achieving. But it doesn’t tell us how she is.”

Raleigh slid one of the clippings closer. The picture showed Callie in front of the city observatory, posing in her typical awkward manner as if she couldn’t wait to get it over with.

He would’ve loved to say she was doing well. If her talk yesterday had helped her face the past, then one day soon, perhaps, she would be better. But Raleigh remembered the night of her nightmare, and he’d be lying if he said she’d been living a happy-go-lucky life.

And one certainly didn’t want to lie to Iris.

So instead, he told them what was true—the little things. What music she liked to listen to while working. How she was surprisingly good at art. That she loved the color yellow and couldn’t maintain order, not in her apartment nor in her office. How she could talk about her research the whole day long and not get tired of it, and how much she loved it when she inspired kids to get into science. He told them how she didn’t like planes but loved ziplining.

“And you,” Iris said. “She cares about you, too.”

Raleigh lowered his eyes. “I deceived her. At the beginning. I only tried to be her friend so she’d give us her research.”

“But it ain’t like that any longer, is it?” Iris’s statement was more a confirmation than a question.

He shook his head.

“Don’t worry. She’ll understand,” Iris said. “She told you what people call us?”

“What?”

“The Guidry Witches.” Phoebe smiled mischievously. “Callie may leave Athame, but Athame can’t leave Callie. This place, it’s in our blood—her blood. She can go as far away as she wants to, but she can’t change who she is. She’ll feel it if she hasn’t yet. The instinct—we all have it.”

“What instinct?” he asked.

“She’ll recognize you’re her kindred spirit,” Iris said.

“And then you become part of the family.” Penny winked at him. “And you get my jambalaya recipe.”