Page 30 of House of Hearts
“Bullshit.” I have to laugh. It’s sounds weird and strangled, and it makes me seem as hysterical as I feel right now. “Are you really going to act like a bunch of make-believe hocus-pocus killed her?”
Oliver clears his throat to intervene. “Magic is actually more scientific than people give it credit for. Personally, I rationalized the curse by inputting it into a formula. The variables being personal input, expressed intent, and—”
“You seriously believe that?”
“I’m not the type to subscribe to horoscopes and conspiracies, but this is actually happening, Violet,” he answers, deadpan. “Anastasia was dabbling in the occult for years, so by the time she killed herself, she was well versed enough to know the impact of her sacrifice. She gave her own life to get ultimate revenge, and we’re still dealing with the consequences today.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” I hiccup, more of that lunatic laughter bubbling from my throat. “You’re not going to tell me this is about some dead lady. You, of all people, seemed rational, and now you’re trying to get me to believe that the Lockwells are murdering their lovers because Casper the Friendly Ghost told them to? This is as far from ‘scientific’ as it gets.”
Calvin’s shoulders fall with a deep exhale. “Violet. You’re telling me you didn’t see anything in that maze? Or on the balcony, for that matter?”
I shudder in recollection and massage one of the scratches on my wrist. “I…It’s not like I was a reliable witness Saturday night. Not after you had us all pregaming psychedelics as soon as we went in.”
“If we did have psychedelics, do you think we would waste them on you?” Ash scoffs and shares a conspiratorial look with his girlfriend. “The party drinks were my idea, and I can assure you they were LSD-free.”
I cage my arms together against my chest. “Even if I did believe this ridiculous story that my best friend just so happens to be dead because of a vengeful ghost, then—”
“Then where is Percy?” Birdie finishes.
Calvin’s eyes rest miserably on the floor. “He’s gone.”
“Yeah, I’m sure he’s hiding in Switzerland to wait this murder out, but I’d really like to hear from him.”
Calvin drags his attention from the floor and blows out a measured breath. He levels his exhausted expression at me. His previously perfect face is marred by severe black eye bags I hadn’t noticed before. “No, Violet, you’re not getting it. He’sgone. Poof. Nowhere.”
Birdie sneers at Oliver. “What happened to him being at Le Rosey?”
“It was the only thing I could think of,” he apologizes as he readjusts his frames on his face. “It wasn’t personal.”
She folds her arms to her chest, and for the first time in the last five minutes, she’s looking at me again. “Do I have a sticker on my forehead that says ‘Hello, world, please lie to me’ or something?”
I know I should try to fix things with her, but my eyes are nowglued to the photo before me. “Was the cause of Emoree’s death a lie?”
The lenses of Oliver’s glasses fog over with a hot breath as he gasps. “Last year shouldn’t have happened,” he chimes back in, methodically cleaning his glasses in lieu of looking up at us. He loses himself to the task, rubbing the same circle repeatedly without stopping. “It was an anomaly. Completely and totally unprecedented. It broke every part of the curse’s formula. In a normal timeline, Emoree would’ve been found”—his composure breaks, and he pauses his hands where they are, staring down miserably as the words lodge in his throat—“in the maze with a fatal chest wound and Percy would’ve been beside her, shaking off the last bits of possession. In this case, E-Emoree actuallydiddie after falling from the tower, and Percy was nowhere to be found.”
Calvin picks up where Oliver leaves off. “Percy’s not the type to get up and flee the country either. Even if he did, we would’ve seen a withdrawal from his bank or a flight ticket purchase or something. He woke up one day and was never seen again…and we have reasons to believe the curse is involved somehow.”
Spurred by Calvin’s declaration, Ash kicks his legs up on the end table and turns to him like he’s been waiting for this part. “What do you say, Cal?” he asks, though he doesn’t sound nearly as playful as he normally does. “Should we do a magic trick of our own and show them?”
Mallory might be gripping a mascara-blobbed tissue, but her eyes light up at Ash’s question. “God, I freaked when I first saw it. You two aren’t ready,” she says with a final sniff.
Calvin grimaces. “I’m glad my brother’s disappearance is funny for someone.”
“No, mate, I didn’t mean it like that—”
Sadie squares her shoulders and takes several steps to reach herbrother’s side. “He’s right, let’s show them. It’s the quickest way to prove what we’re talking about.”
I watch as Calvin’s shoulders lift and fall with a measured breath before he gives her a tiny nod and the two of them hold their phone screens out for us to see.
“Percival Vincent Lockwell,” Sadie whispers, and for once her tone is soft and pleading like a little sister tugging on her brother’s sleeve.
Calvin’s voice wavers, but he joins his sister in chanting out his brother’s full name. “Percival Vincent Lockwell.”
It’s only after the third round that their phones illuminate with a message, Percy’s text flashing in unison on their screens.
I’m going to end this
That’s all it says, and it’s easy to imagine their snickering older brother in the other room, pressing send as soon as he hears the signal. The perfect parlor trick to scare us. Then the text sends again. The exact same message but doubled, tripled. Their wallpapers are eclipsed with the same words over and over again.I’M GOING TO END THISon a terrifying electronic loop, several hundred messages spawning in a matter of minutes before a heat warning flashes and the phones power off.
