Carrier of the Mark

AFTERMATH

chool on Monday was all drama, drama, drama. Everyone wanted to hear what had happened and how the heroic Adam had come to my rescue. I didn’t really want to relive the experience—it was embarrassing the first time around and it became more so with each retelling.

After first period, Caitlin grabbed my sleeve and pulled me into one of the girls’ bathrooms.

“So, what happened after Adam carried you off?” she asked.

“I passed out, I think. I just remember waking up in the clinic.”

“Did he say anything? Did he mention the accident?”

“No. Why?”

She leaned back against a sink and chewed on her bottom lip for a second. “I swear to God, I saw the freakiest thing.”

“What do you mean? What happened?”

“Well, after you fell in, I couldn’t see you for a few seconds. I was shouting and grabbing at the water, but there was no sign of you. Within seconds Adam had dived in and swum to you. Like, I mean, seconds. I’ve never seen anything like it. Then, before he got to you, there was a glow in the water. It’s hard to describe. It looked like a golden light just below the water’s surface. Then suddenly, there you were. I could see you perfectly, but here’s the weird thing. You weren’t in the water. You were under it, but not in it. Your hair was hanging down normally and … and … well, you looked content. I swear to God … I’m so freaked out right now. Nobody else saw it. I’m beginning to think I imagined it all. I was hoping you might remember.” She ran her hands through her hair, shaking her head.

“Caitlin, don’t stress yourself out. Maybe it was the sun playing tricks on the surface of the water.”

“Maybe you’re right. It all happened so fast,” she muttered, looking confused.

The door to the bathroom swung open and Jennifer flounced in. “What are you two doing skulking in here?” She went into a stall and slammed the door shut, but kept talking. “Did you guys hear about Killian’s dog? He followed Killian to school today and one of the school buses ran over him.”

“Oh, no! Is he all right?” Caitlin gasped.

“The bus was doing the poor dog a favor, if you ask me. He’s so decrepit! He should have been put down years ago,” Jennifer replied.

“No, you numpty. I meant Killian,” Caitlin said in exasperation.

“Let me finish! Anyhow … Áine arrives just as it happens and runs over to help the poor mutt. She just put her hands on his head and hey, presto, the dog stood up and headed off home.”

Caitlin and I exchanged startled glances as Jennifer flushed the toilet, opened the door, and walked over to a sink. “How freaky is that? I mean, I could have sworn the wheel rolled over the dog. Then the thing just gets up and trots off. There is something strange about that girl. She’s working some kinda voodoo, if you ask me.” She looked at us with her face all scrunched up. “You don’t find that odd? Am I the only one who thinks it highly unlikely the bus missed all of the dog’s vital organs?”

“It’s a possibility,” I piped up.

“Well, I think it’s weird. But then, when have the DeRíses ever been normal?” Jennifer said, leaning into the mirror and reapplying some lip gloss.

It was pouring at lunchtime, so the boys decided to play indoor soccer. Jennifer went along to support Darren, and Caitlin and I found an unused classroom and sat in two desks at the back. The rain had been falling all day and now it ran in torrents down the windowpane. The glass was all fogged up on the inside, distorting the greenery beyond.

“Caitlin,” I started.

“Yeah,” she replied, not looking up from her soggy sandwich, which she was opening up and peering into in disgust.

“I …”

“Come on; spit it out.” She paused. “Do you know what that is?” She opened her sandwich wide and put it up to my face. I wrinkled up my nose and took a little sniff.

“I’m not sure. Um … cheese, maybe?”

“Well, I’m not risking it.” She threw the sandwich back into the aluminum foil, picked up her apple instead, and took a big bite. “You were saying?”

“Adam.” I paused, thinking where to go from here. “What’s the deal with him?”

“Even after everything we’ve told you, you’re still besotted with him,” she said with a faint smile.

“I’m not besotted.”

“Oh, come on, Meg, be honest with yourself. You are and have been since your first day here. It can’t have escaped your attention that he is fairly taken by you as well,” she continued.

“If he really liked me, he’d ask me out. Anyway, that’s not what I want to talk about. I’ve been thinking—”

“I hope you didn’t strain yourself.” She laughed.

“Seriously, Cait, listen to me. Ever since you told me about seeing that light in the water I’ve been racking my brain trying to remember what happened. I don’t remember a light, but I vaguely remember a warm, floaty feeling.”

“You think there’s something to what I saw?” she asked, leaning toward me.

“There might be. Remember the dancing moths down at the equestrian center? I couldn’t explain that either. Then today there was the incident with the dog and the bus. I think there are too many coincidences with the DeRíses. What’s their story? I mean, they’re not exactly your straightforward, run-of-the-mill family, are they?”

“Far from it. I don’t know all the details, but apparently their parents died in some tragic car accident years ago. They were orphaned and had no other relatives, so an old family friend took them in. They moved around with him for a couple of years and then settled here in Kinsale at the Killeen estate, which has been in their family for generations. That estate has been shrouded in mystery since … well, forever. You’ve heard the stories. And there was the hex that everyone talks about.”

“I haven’t heard that one.”

“Really? Well, the Killeens used to be the big landowners in the area. At some point, the locals began to resent the land charges they were forced to pay, and then in the summer of 1842 something happened over at the big house and darkness descended on their lands. Literally. Clouds rolled in off the sea and settled over the entire estate. The land turned brown and everything started to die. It was like a plague. The crops failed and the ‘sickness’ radiated out farther and farther until the whole of coastal West Cork had been affected. The townspeople believed the Killeens had hexed their land and town as punishment for their insubordination. But who knows how much of that is true …. It was around the time of the Great Famine, and they may have just been looking for someone to blame.”

“Wow. Imagine trying to shake that kind of association.”

“Yeah, that’s got to suck. But honestly, they do nothing to endear themselves to the locals. When they first moved here three years ago, we were all a little bit in love with them. Rían was, like, sizzling hot, and Adam was swoon-worthy, but they were absolutely obnoxious and shunned anyone who tried to make friends with them. Áine was more approachable, but she always lurked in the shadows of her brothers, so we eventually stopped trying. The DeRíses seemed to like the distance, and then all the old stories started popping up again.”

“So who’s the guy in the Land Rover?” I asked, totally engrossed.

“Oh, that’s Fionn.”

“Fee-un?”

“Yeah, the guy who took them in, Fionn Christenson. He is so hot … well, for an oldie, that is. Wait until you see him!” She nibbled the last bits of her apple and then threw the core in the trash. “He’s some sort of consultant, and he travels a lot. When he’s not traveling, he works from home. He has this sexy English accent, so Darren’s convinced he’s working for Her Majesty’s Secret Service … you know … MI5.” She laughed. “Darren and his conspiracy theories!”

“Are you serious?”

She nodded and rolled her eyes.

“What about Rían? Do you have any idea why he’s still hanging around the school?”

“I don’t know what his problem is. He finished school last year, and from what I’d heard, he was due to start at Trinity College this year. I’ll tell you one thing for sure: He’s not too keen on his brother having the blatantly obvious hots for you!”

I flushed. “Áine seems pretty nice, in a strange way,” I said, moving swiftly on from Rían.