Silent Circle Read online

  Silent Circle

  a novel by

  Cassandra Larsen

  Copyright © 2014 by Cassandra Larsen

  All Rights Reserved

  Cover design by Kat Squibb Photography

  Cover Model: Nicolette Grenier

  To my husband,

  for all his love and support in helping make my dream a reality…

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Read on for a sneak peek at

  Deceitful Circle

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Chapter 1

  Most teens get a car for their seventeenth birthday. Me? I get inducted into a freaky coven of witches.

  A woman’s panic-laden cry pierces the inky blackness surrounding me. Shadows press in from all sides. Dense fog hangs just outside my reach. Echoing through the void, a woman calls my name. The fog starts creeping forward, thickening, solidifying. Wisps of vapor cling together to form a woman. Her long black hair falls in waves down her back. The thin face and high cheekbones are poignantly familiar. It’s the face I see looking back at me in the mirror every morning. Her almond shaped, violet eyes lock with mine, pleading forgiveness.

  “Emerson, thank God I found you! You have to listen, there isn’t much time–”

  “Mom? What’s going on? Where are you?”

  “Em, I’m so sorry. I should have told you sooner. I’m so sorry–”

  “What are you talking about? What’s going on?”

  “Listen to me – I can’t protect you. They’re coming. You have to be ready!”

  “Protect me from what? I don’t understand –”

  “You’re on your own. Do you hear me? They’re coming for you! You have to be ready...” Her voice starts to fade. I panic, lunging for her.

  “MOM!” The mist parts beneath my outstretched fingers, sinking back into the hazy gloom.

  * * *

  Bolting upright in bed, I grab the sides of my head as a sudden pain streaks across my skull. The room starts spinning. God, what a nightmare. I take a few deep breaths, waiting for the pain to settle.

  Gingerly getting out of bed, I glance at the clock hanging above my dresser. It’s thin, beaten bronze, shaped like a tree stripped bare of its leaves. Its branches reach up toward the ceiling, the roots extending downward, then circling in on each other. There’s a silhouette of two large wolves howling at the base of the tree, while a pair of ravens adorn the ends of the clock hands.

  My mother gave me this clock shortly before she died. She said it represents the Yggdrasil, the Tree of the Life. The raven and wolf are creatures of Odin, the Norse God of Wisdom. I didn’t think about it much when she first gave it to me, but now I can’t look at it without thinking of her.

  I shudder, my nightmare in the dark, misty place still fresh in my mind. According to the ravens on the clock, I have twenty five minutes before Sebastian picks me up for school. I wonder what he’s gotten me for my birthday... Hell, who am I kidding – like he’s going to remember? I’d be shocked if he knows what month my birthday is in.

  I wear my clingy, red knit shirt with the low cut neckline, pairing it with my favorite skinny jeans and strappy red pumps that add another three inches to my height. I scrutinize my appearance in the mirror, scowling at my paler than usual complexion. I apply a little blush, then outline my blue-violet eyes in dark liner. I pull my long black hair up, giving it a casually messy look, allowing only a few wavy tendrils to escape.

  Still shaking off my disturbing dream, I saunter downstairs, calling out a good morning to my dad. Most days, this is the only time I get to see him. We usually get a few minutes to chat over coffee before he has to rush off to work. I enter the kitchen, surprised that I haven’t heard him yet.

  On the counter, next to the unused coffee machine, is a cupcake with one lone candle stuck in the top. With a sinking feeling in my stomach, I open the card sitting next to it.

  Emerson,

  Happy 17th birthday! I’m sorry, but an important meeting came up last minute and I have to go out of town for the night. Have a good birthday and I’ll see you tomorrow morning.

  Love, Dad

  I stare at the words, disappointment rolling through me. First, nightmares starring my dead mother, and now my dad leaves town on my birthday without so much as a ‘see ya later’. I guess he thought the two hundred bucks in the card was ample compensation.

  A car honks out front. Shaking off my depressing thoughts, I focus my mind on Sebastian and the party Kayla’s throwing later. Well, at least I won’t have to worry about a curfew tonight, not like it’s enforced very often as it is, but still. Steeling my spine and thrusting my shoulders back, I sashay toward the yellow Mustang idling in front of my house.

  “Hey babe.” Sebastian leans over and brushes his lips against mine.

  I capture his face with my hands before he can pull away and deepen the kiss, slipping my tongue into his mouth aggressively. Encouraged by my response, he leans further into me, his chest pressing against mine, pushing me back into the soft leather, his hand kneading my thigh. After a few heavy seconds he pulls back, slightly out of breath, his gleaming eyes dipping down to rest on my low cut shirt before rising back up to my face.

  With an obvious effort, he moves back into his own seat, puts the car into gear, and peels away from the curb. It takes a minute before he can get his breathing back under control. I pretend not to notice, but a thrill goes through me at the way I can affect him. It’s just the distraction I need after my shitty morning.

  “Well, I don’t know what that was for, but I hope I can get some more tonight.” He grins, his short, spiky hair gleaming gold in the early morning sunlight. My eyes caress his strong, square jaw, his wide shoulders. I love the way his t-shirt molds to his broad chest, the navy color a perfect match to his deep blue eyes.

  “You don’t have plans for tomorrow, right?” He asks, turning his eyes back to the road.

  “I’m free. Why?”

  “I have a special surprise planned for your birthday. You’re gonna love it,” he says, resting his hand on my thigh.

  Settling back into the comfortably heated seat, I smile back at him seductively. “So, you remembered my birthday, huh? I wasn’t sure if you would…”

  “Of course I did. Seventeen’s a big deal. Once you get your license, you can start driving me around,” he laughs.

  Huh. Figures. He’s always complaining about how much gas his muscle car eats up.

  I grit my teeth, but manage to keep an even tone. “Yeah, well, I have to find a car first. Have any idea where I can get one cheap?” He has several mechanic friends at the garage he works at. A few of them make some side money buying cars to fix up and resell. If anyone can find me a good deal, it’s him.

  “What do you mean? Isn’t your rich daddy buying you a car? With the money he makes, I figured he already had a brand new Lexus stashed away in the garage for you.”

  I force a smile. “My dad isn’t rich, Seb.” Why does everything always come down to money with him? “How many times do I have to tell you? He’s just a workaholic.”

  I cross my legs, forcing him to remove his hand. My dad works for a h
igh end law firm and opts for overtime and travel whenever he can. Sure, he makes good money, but it’s not like we’re the Hilton’s or anything. He said he’ll help me with my car, but I need to fund the majority myself.

  Sebastian doesn’t say anything more after that and we drive the rest of the way in silence. I sigh in relief when we finally pull up to Haven Hollow High. Without a word, I head off to homeroom. Seb dawdles in the parking lot, probably waiting for Josh and Chris to go get stoned. Shaking my head, I wonder why I still bother with him. Sure, he’s gorgeous, and usually a lot of fun, but lately those just don’t seem like good enough reasons anymore...

  I’m hurrying down the hall to get to class on time, when a wave of dizziness hits me. I sway a little, putting a hand out to the wall to steady myself. Instead of the wall, I find myself leaning against a hard, lean shoulder. I open my eyes, but all I see is bright, glowing white.

  Squinting, trying to see through the brightness, a face begins to appear. Blazing green eyes surrounded by chocolate colored hair softly curling near the ears. I stare dumbly at the image wavering in front of me, confused. As the glowing fades, I realize I’m gaping up at Caiden Callaghan, a quiet guy from my English class. His hands reach out for my waist as he frowns down at me.

  “Whoa, there. You alright? You look a little dizzy.”

  Still feeling off balance, I don’t answer right away. The strange glow begins settling around his head and upper shoulders, turning iridescent, with different colors shining through. I watch, fascinated, as the colors swirl and coalesce, molten silver with streaks of deep green just slightly darker than his eyes. I get lost, staring into those eyes. I can feel the colors flowing around him, the heat from his hands penetrating my thin shirt, sinking into my skin. My own hand trembles, gripping his upper arm. Then someone bumps into me from behind, breaking the spell.

  I fall into Caiden, his arms going around me as he catches me, keeping me from pitching head first onto the floor.

  “Easy, take a deep breath. I think you need to sit down.” He leads me to a nearby classroom, letting me go as soon as I’m seated. I close my eyes and pray that the room will stop bucking and swaying.

  When I feel steadier, I look up. The silence in the room slowly registers in my fogged brain. People are standing up from their desks, mouths hanging open, staring at me like I’ve lost my mind. Maybe I have. There are close to fifteen other people in the room, and every one of them has that weird glow around their heads. All different colors too.

  There are shades of orange and red and purple and blue and green. No one person’s is the same as another’s. Many of them are bright and glowing, but none shines brighter than Caiden’s, who’s still standing close by, looking down at me, one eyebrow raised in question.

  I put my hand up to my head as a sharp pain comes through the center of my forehead, making me catch my breath.

  “What hurts?” Caiden crouches down in front of me and places a warm hand on my face. There’s a light fluttering feeling in my mind. I try to pull away, but he won’t let me.

  I’ve never spoken more than six words to Caiden. Why is he trying to help me?

  “Talk to me, Emerson. What’s wrong?” He sounds gruff, demanding.

  “The colors are too bright,” I groan, giving up and rubbing my forehead.

  “Colors? What colors?” He asks, voice sharpening.

  “Those,” I say lamely, gesturing with my hand. “Near your head.” I make a swirling motion with my fingers, and a glint appears in his eyes, like he understands something I don’t.

  “You should go splash some cold water on your face. It’ll help with the dizziness.” He reaches out to help me up.

  “Em? Are you okay? Oh my God!” Olivia, my best friend, comes barreling through the door like a tornado, a riot of red hair and crackling energy.

  As she runs up to me, I see colors near her as well; bright orange and rich purple rapidly churning, but unlike the others, she has a strange, thin band of silvery white around the outside, encasing the other colors. The outline reminds me of moonlight for some reason.

  “What’s going on?” She continues frantically. “I heard you passed out!”

  I have no idea how she’s heard about this so soon, but then, I’ve always been amazed at how quickly she hears the latest gossip. She rushes over to me, knocking Caiden out of the way in the process. From the corner of my eye, I see him backing up, watching me intently. Then Olivia whisks me out of the room in a flurry, chattering the whole time.

  “Here,” she says, leading me into the girl’s bathroom and handing me a bottle of water. “Down this; you need to hydrate. Jeez, Em, how much did you have to drink last night? And how come you didn’t invite me over if you were partying?” She gives me a fake pout.

  “What? I’m not hung over,” I protest, wetting a paper towel and dabbing my forehead. I groan in relief as the cold water starts chasing away my lightheadedness. “I just got dizzy for a second. No biggie.”

  “Uh huh, sure. Stick with that story if you want. Just drink this. You’ll feel better.”

  Too tired to protest, I begin sipping the water while she continues. “And what were you doing letting Credence put his hands all over you? If Sebastian saw that he’d have kicked the shit out of him, and you know he can’t afford another suspension – he’ll be banned from homecoming!”

  “His name is Caiden, and he wasn’t all over me.” I roll my eyes at her exaggeration. “I just ran into him. And speaking of homecoming, did you find a date yet? It’s only a few weeks away.”

  “I’m still sorting through my options,” she huffs. “There’s a guy at Monroe High who I’ve been talking to a little, but I want to wait a bit longer before I make any final decisions.” She flips her long, copper colored hair over her shoulder and leans toward the mirror to touch up her makeup. Her face is sharp and angular, her sparkly green eye liner accentuating her cat-like jade eyes.

  “Well, don’t wait too long. You don’t want to end up going stag.”

  “Easy for you to say.” She begins liberally re-applying her eye liner. “It must be nice to have a steady guy like Sebastian. You don’t have to worry about snagging a date like the rest of us. Speaking of which, did you know Mei is going with Josh? He asked her last night.”

  “Can’t say I’m surprised. They’ve been hooking up on and off for months now.” I cap the water after finishing almost half of it. “I don’t know why she’d agree to go with him though – he’s such an ass.”

  “No he’s not. He’s just...” Her eyebrows pucker as she tries to come up with an appropriate adjective for him.

  “An ass?” I finish for her.

  “Well, sometimes,” she snickers. “Oh, and happy birthday, by the way. You’ll have to wait until tonight for your present. It isn’t something I can really bring to school, if you catch my drift,” she grins.

  I roll my eyes, wondering who she coaxed into buying her booze. I dab some more water on my forehead, which seems to help, and after a few more minutes I feel steady enough to go to class.

  The rest of the morning passes quickly, the incident from earlier forgotten. I meet Olivia at her locker before lunch and we walk into the cafeteria to our usual table.

  Kayla’s already there, buzzing excitedly about her party tonight. Her older cousin is picking up a few kegs after school. I give Sebastian a quick wave hello, still annoyed about this morning, but I doubt he notices. He’s currently involved in a loud debate with Josh over the Jets and Patriots game this weekend.

  Sebastian moved here from New York when he was two and has been a staunch Jets fan ever since. Josh, however, born and bred right here in New England, takes great exception to anyone supporting any team but the Patriots.

  Josh has black hair is shaved close to his head and his crooked nose looks like it’s been broken several times and never healed right. That, combined with his eyebrow piercings and bull like neck gives him a slightly menacing appearance as he slams his milk carton down on t
he table, shouting at Sebastian.

  “You’re a traitor! You grew up here in Connecticut – where’s your loyalty?”

  Sebastian, not to be intimidated, bellows back. “Screw the Patriots! The Jets are in my blood!”

  “It don’t matter where you were born! You moved here when you were a baby! You love the Jets so much, move back to New York!”

  I know from experience that this sort of fight can last all day, so I tune them out and focus on Olivia, Mei, and Kayla.

  Kayla has blond hair and blue eyes and is built like a runway model. The bottom half of her hair is dyed neon pink, giving her ‘Barbie perfect’ look a rebel edge, and somehow making her already sickeningly cute appearance even cuter.

  She’s sitting next to Mei, her best friend ever since she decided to give Mei a haircut in third grade, chopping her long, silky black hair up to her ears. Mei’s strict, Japanese mother was horrified, which delighted Mei to no end. Mei’s been defying her mother’s austere upbringing ever since, though I think it’s safe to say that by now, her mother has written her off as a lost cause.

  Mei’s never grown her hair back out – It still hangs to right below her ears, longer in the front than the back, it’s inky blackness streaked with bright blue. She changes her hair to match her contact color, which switches every other week. Right now, her eyes are ringed in an eerie electric blue. Her dark eyeliner extends past the corners of her eyes, coming to a point, making her tilted eyes look even more exotic.

  I listen to them gush about the party tonight, what they’re going to wear and who’s going to be there.

  “Are you going with Josh, now that you’re going to homecoming together and all?” Olivia asks Mei, wiggling her eyebrows.

  Mei’s thin face turns pink and her brilliant blue eyes focus down the table to where Josh and Seb are still arguing.

  “Not really. I mean, I’ll see him there, but he’s not picking me up or anything.” She shrugs like it’s no big deal, but the hungry look in her eyes as she watches him says otherwise.