The Prophecy

be an ambassador when he gets older, always the peacekeeper.

“Not something I need right now.” I shot his way.

“Yeah. And besides, I think my boyfriend wouldn’t want me to have to fend off guys.”

He shrugged and took a sip of his drink. “It’ll be good for you Rose. You can’t hide behind me forever.”

“Well if that’s the case then maybe you should come out.”

I never saw Brandon look so angry. He quickly looked around, making sure no one had overheard Rose. He leaned forward and glared. Brandon freaking glared. I was fascinated. He was always so happy that any change was shocking.

“Keep your trap shut, Rosemary. You know damn well that it would be disastrous. Do you honestly think anyone on the football team would be okay with it? Without that scholarship I won’t be able to go to college.”

She sat back, looking petulant. She rubbed her forehead and sent an apologetic look his way. This was another first. Rose was never sorry. I think hell has officially frozen over. “I know, okay? I’m sorry. I’m just a little— well, I’m stressed.”

Brandon was silent for a minute, staring at her the whole time. I felt like I was in the middle of a soap opera. Yay for drama. “Okay, just don’t bring it up again. This isn’t just for my benefit you know.”

“Yeah, I know. I get it.” They continued to stare at each other. Anyone who passed by would think they were being all lovey-dovey, which is a good thing. Last thing any of us needed was for people to know that world war three was just averted.

“Okay, now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, what are we going to do this weekend?” With Brandon returning back to his normal self, I let out a breath I hadn’t known I was holding. He looked at me expectantly, but I was drawing a blank. I thought the dance was all the social interaction I had to do this week. The thought of anything else wasn’t appealing in the least.

“Um, I don’t know. I was just going to stay home and read.” I thought about the journal and what it could hold. What secrets it could reveal. I hoped it had something revealing in it.

“Wow, you are a total nerd.” Rose scoffed. “Seriously Star, you can’t just stay at home. This is Halloween weekend! We need to do something. Maybe go to the Merlo’s grave or something.”

My ears picked up at the name. I thought I heard it before but couldn’t remember where. “Merlo’s grave? What’s that?”

She rolled her eyes and got comfortable in her seat. “Jesus, I keep forgetting you’re not from here.”

“Hasn’t anyone told you the legend of Shiloh?” I thought Brandon’s eyebrows would shoot off his forehead they were raised so high.

“Obviously not. I would think that my friends would have filled me in, yet here we are.” I gestured to them, pointing out the obvious. They looked at each other, then quickly looked back at me.

“Okay, so about three hundred years ago, the entire area of Shiloh was filled with witches.” Brandon enthusiastically began.

“Witches.”

“Yes, just shut up and leave the sarcastic comments for after happy boy over here finishes.” Rose snapped, gesturing for Brandon to continue.

 ”So there was a head witch, like a witch queen or something, who lead the entire coven. She fell in love with a warlock, but the warlock, Merlo, was consumed by greed. He wanted more power, more control. So, he started turning evil. The Queen found out about it, and interrupted one of his spells that he was casting. She banished his power into an amulet, and locked his soul within some stone. His grave is up at Shiloh graveyard, and they say that a descendent of his will come and release him from his imprisonment.”

I was enchanted. I always loved legends, especially when I could see the source for myself. “So what would happen if he was released?”

“What do you think? His evil and insanity would be unleashed upon the world, causing the destruction of mankind. Muah ha ha.” Rose broke in, wiggling her fingers at me. I smirked. Rose was always so disbelieving about everything.

“So why would you guys want to go up there? Obviously it’s not true, otherwise he’d be ‘released’ by now.”

“Well it’s kind of a test of courage. If you can go up there and touch his headstone, then you will win the respect of your peers and crap like that. We normally all do it in middle school, but since you’re new, you missed out.”

“True, it’s more for kids, but I think she should still have to do it, don’t you?” Brandon looked at Rose. I became nervous at the obvious delight on their faces.

“Seriously? You guys want me to go to a graveyard and touch a headstone that holds the soul of some evil warlock?” I looked at them incredulously, but they just nodded excitedly. “You guys are freaking insane! Why would I do that? Besides, it’s just a story, so what would it prove?”

“If it’s just a story, then you wouldn’t have a problem doing it, would you?” Damn. Rose had me beat there.

“Fine. We’ll go tomorrow afternoon.”

“Ha, no. It has to be at night.”

“How late at night?” I was feeling increasingly uneasy. I wasn’t the bravest when it came to things, but for some reason this was freaking me out more than others. A red light kept flashing in the back of my mind, screaming in warning. I pushed it aside.

“The witching hour, of course. Three am.” Rose looked like she was waiting for me to back out. Boy, did I want to, but I couldn’t let her hold it over my head for the rest of my life here. I straightened and looked her squarely in the eyes.

“Sounds good. What are we going to do in the meantime?”

“Oh, since it will be Halloween, there’s really only one thing to do, isn’t there Brandon?”

“Oh yeah! Horror movie marathon!”

I felt my false bravado fly out of me like a rocket. “Seriously?”

“Yeah,” she rolled her eyes, “you’re the one that’s always talking about how Shiloh reminds you of a movie. What better way to celebrate your initiation then to watch some?”

I was starting to panic, but I didn’t want them to see it. No doubt Brandon would get all sympathetic and Rose would have a victorious look on her face. Seemed like I had a lot to do tonight. I had to get sick in order to miss the dance, and now I added breaking a leg to get out of tomorrows little adventure. I hoped I could pull it off.

My mother was waiting for us as soon as I opened the door. I froze and stumbled forward as Brandon and Rose ran into me.

“Jesus, woman! Would you move out of the way?” Rose pushed past me and sent Mom a smile and small wave. “Hey, Mrs. M! How’s it going?”

“Hello, Rose. Are you excited about tonight?”

“Of course she is! They’re going to have the best costumes at the dance!” Brandon was practically dancing with excitement.

I moved out of the doorway and kicked the door shut behind me. Mom was beaming while holding two dress bags in her hands. I swore her and Brandon were about to break out into song and dance. I wasn’t excited about that notion. I took a deep breath and locked gazes with Rose, we followed them into the living room together.

“So, since you guys are being so gracious about all of this,” I almost laughed, we were anything but gracious at this point. “We did as you asked and didn’t use any fluff or girly stuff. Now, there is going to be a little bit of a shimmer,” Lord save me now, “but that’s only because of what we decided to dress you as…”

I started to feel like a dress up Barbie. Rose and I stayed silent through mom’s speech as she eagerly started to unzip the bags. I closed my eyes, praying for a miracle.

The sound of Rose’s laughter startled me. I jerked my eyes open and looked over to see if she had finally lost it. She was doubled over, tears starting to form in her eyes. I looked at her questioningly, but she just gestured to where Brandon and Mom stood. I braced myself and looked up. There they were, holding out our costumes. My eyes were wide as I held in my laughter. We are going as fairies, and not just any fairies, but their