Page 8 of Sinister Hearts
“Let’s do it.” I was ready for the change. All the changes life was bringing me lately were wrapped up in a humility bow.
“You know you’re allowed to have weak and angry moments, right?” She finished my haircut, trotting me closer to the mirror. I looked at my new hair, at a new me, glorifying this moment. “You’re better than me. Personally, I would have gone Lisa “left eye” Lopes on that skonka.” Both of us hollered in laughter.
“So, you and Buffy?” I side-eyed her.
“I mean, is it really that surprising? We’ve been friends for so long. We understand each other, that’s all.” I could see the blush that kissed her cheeks at the mention of her name. I knew not to pry too much when it came to Rocky’s lovelife, she always kept it private.
“How is the funeral home going?” I posed in the vanity mirror with my haircut, feeling spunky.
“It’s great. I mainly do the embalming and the after-care. I have to make sure they pass on looking fly.” Rocky always knewhow to make me smile. “I can show you if you want. You know, unless you’re scared,” Rocky teased me, but something stirred in me, something more than curiosity.
“Show me, I’d love to see where you’re constantly hiding.”
Rocky’s excitement was imminent “Come!” She led me down to her locked basement. The walls were a solid matte black, with golden trinkets, candle sconces, and dried herbs hanging from each wall. The old wooden stairs creaked as we took each step. Coldness kissed my skin and chills spread all over. “Sorry, we have to keep the basement really cold to preserve the bodies,” she explained. My icy breath was visible in the room and I had an overwhelming feeling of doom. I shivered as Rocky opened the freezer, rolling out a young woman. The body was blue, pale and stiff as a board. I recognized her immediately and my shock was palpable.
“Oh my gods, it’s Vanessa Gonzales.” I shook my head still in disbelief. “What happened to her?” I asked, my voice cracking. Nessa and I ran in different cliques, but always saw each other while we were out. She was always quiet, even a little off putting, but she didn’t deserve this.
“Her body was found in the desert. Dumped, tortured, beaten, and assaulted.” Rocky signed the cross.
“What the fuck? Who would do this?” I asked, gazing at her lifeless pale body.
“I don’t know, but I’ve found this same sigil on multiple bodies. All of them are women.” Rocky pointed to Nessa’s body, showing me the carved sigil in her flesh. Right above her left rib was a triangle with a swirl in the middle; one upside down triangle and one upturned triangle, all connected in the middle. Nessa’s skin was engraved like she was paper. I ran my fingers across the sigil.
I could suddenly smell burnt flesh and a harsh scent of tobacco, and I saw a vision of a shrine, surrounded by hoodedfigures. Crimson blood stained the cobble shrine. The chants became deafening echoes, my senses couldn’t withstand. I fell back in a sweaty panic.
“Prima, are you okay?” Raquel helped me up from the basement floor. My vision was still blurry and there was a ringing that painfully vibrated in my ears.
“I’m fine,” I said as I got up slowly and disoriented, trying to shrug it off.
“Your nose, it’s bleeding.” Raquel gasped, and grabbed a fresh rag to wipe my nose. “I think that’s enough for today,” she intoned, and enclosed the body back in the cooler. “Has this been happening a lot?” she asked, handing me water from her mini fridge.
“I mean, my dreams come here and there, but nothing like that.” I replied, drinking my water. Still somewhat frazzled.
“You may not believe in the occult, but it clearly believes in you.” Rocky stated, glancing at me like she knew something I didn’t.
“What is happening to me?” I held the water in my hands still trembling.
“Magic calls to magic.” Rocky warned, glancing at my crystal necklace. “There is something dark going on in this town. Inexplicable things. Things I yet have answers to. You must protect yourself.” She exclaimed. I was sick of hearing this from the people I loved, but I was starting to think they were right, and also wondered if they knew something I didn’t.
The next day, after my hair makeover and creepy incident, I figured I’d get dressed and do my makeup after months of walking around Ma’s house like a walking zombie—anything to take my mind off the night before. I needed some kind of normalcy, which seemed impossible in my world lately. I wondered if all this madness was due to some planet being in retrograde. I didn’t get much sleep last night after my weird day yesterday, and sitting around the house and sulking for thelast couple months wasn’t doing me any good. I needed to get back to living, even if it meant at times I felt like I was secretly dying inside. I caught a glimpse of my dark red lipstick in the mirror. A memory flashed through me like a cinematic movie. Except this was no movie, it was a painful memory. Rather more like a horrible nightmare. I rubbed the onyx crystal between my fingers, my skin going raw.
Eight months ago-
It was a quarter past four p.m. and I was getting dressed for another antagonistic family dinner. A dinner with a family I knew secretly despised me for all that I was; a small town nobody, who came from nothing. A family dinner where I would have to endure sly demeaning comments. Vadon and his family were spoon-fed and wealthy. We were from two different worlds that clashed and collided constantly. Vadon came up behind me and caught me in the mirror.
“Is that what you’re wearing?” He asked. I looked at my black dress up and down, rubbing my palms along the seam, as if to ease the instant anxiety that rippled through me.
“Yeah, I just bought it last weekend. Thought I’d give it a try tonight.” He glanced at me as if to suggest I looked like a disappointment. A look I had gotten to know all too well.
“What’s up with the red lipstick? Only whores wear red lipstick.” He spat at me, his words slicing me open. His sister, Devina, laughed from the dining room. That squeaky fucking laugh that sounded like nails on a chalkboard. In that moment, I felt a cave in my chest, I could feel the tears building. Tearsthat I promised I wouldn’t show. I wiped the red lipstick shade off and applied a light pink one instead.
I gave Vadon a quick spin. “Is this better?” I asked, wearing my best fake smile. Vadon grabbed my chin, as if to inspect me. As if I were a pet.
“Yeah, that’s better. You’re a wife now, Faye, a mother. It’s time you act like it.” His words burnt my interior. I was a shell of a person I once was. She was gone. I was now a doll, a puppet, a maid, a chef, a nice fuck. That’s who I was. I was nothing but his arm candy and property.
I slowly phased myself back into my reality and caught the wipe at my lips.
“Mommy, you look pretty.” Birdie stood at the edge of my doorway.
