Boggs - Violent Delights

V IOLENT

D ELIGHTS

V IOLENT

D ELIGHTS

HANNAH BOGGS

Copyright 2019, Hannah Boggs

All Rights Reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the author.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the authors imagination or used fictitiously. All characters are fictional, and any similarity to people living or dead is purely coincidental.

Library Congress Control Number: 2019909408

ISBN: 978-1-645-70830-8 (PB)

ISBN: 978-1-645-70334-1 (HB)

eISBN: 978-1-645-70333-4

To Brittani Buckley (a.k.a. Ms. Preschool),
who gave me my love of reading and
encouraged me to be more.

These violent delights have violent ends

~William Shakespeare

I

T all pine trees swept past Odettes line of vision in massive green blurs. In between them were bits of the greying sky. A storm was approachingshe could feel the electricity.

It seemed that the car ride would never end, and that she would die on this long stretch of road, which honestly could happen. Odette didnt mention this because her mother, Pamela Sinclair, didnt like self-deprecating jokes. Especially nowadays.

Odette tore her eyes away from the trees and closed her eyes. She was in desperate need of rest, despite the fact that all she ever did was rest. Her back ached from not having moved since the last rest stop about three-and-a-half hours ago in a small town near the border of New Hampshire and Maine.

Her mother caught sight of this and, instantly, her eyebrows knit together in concern. Honey, are you okay? Do we need to stop?

The girl opened her eyes and looked into her mothers through the mirror. Im fine, just trying to find a way to pass the time.

The woman nodded and muttered a near inaudible okay and returned to her driving. Still, she snuck a few more glances through her mirrors at her daughter.

Were almost there. Maybe about forty minutes or so.

The girl rolled her lips and said nothing. She jammed a finger under the band of her special bracelet, hoping to cool the sweaty skin underneath.

The trees suddenly broke open and a city entered her eyesight. There were tall towers of glittering glass, apartments, stores, random art pieces, homes, and, most importantly, the hospital.

The reason they were moving in the first place.

Giant billboards advertised fishing and soda; a few advertised the childrens hospital. She shuddered to think of all the extra tests that she might have to be put through in the future. All the extra needles.

The drive continued through the city and the Sinclairs passed many more opulent buildings, one was a private schoolbut it was a Saturday in the beginning of June, so they had already let outa museum, and a mall, but her mother didnt stop. She only made a comment here and there about a buildings exterior design or about pulling over to allow Odette to climb up front with her, which Odette refused politely. In fact, they drove straight through the bustling city and out until they were back into the woods.

Odette sighed, sinking back into her chair. Now all there was to look at were a few rundown houses. Depressing. She almost wished she had driven up with her father, but it would have been just as depressing if not more. But, she thought, at least he laughs at my jokes sometimes.

The trees did break again and revealed a small town of log cabins and more shabby houses. There was a giant water tower with the name Sunwick Grove painted in large, black letters. Only two miles later did the welcome sign greet her eyes.

Welcome to Sunwick Grove, Maine, where anything is possible.

It would have been cute if the overhanging trees and ruggedness of the sign hadnt given it an ominous undertone.

This place seems interesting. Odette craned her neck to see how far behind her father was.

I think that its charming! Oh look, Det! her mother cried, pointing to a large billboard. On it were a boy and a girl dressed similarly to each other with similar features. Those are the magic twins I had told you about.

Come and see the Mages Twins in the Tent of Mystery. Theyre expecting you.

Why, thats not vaguely terrifying at all, Mom.

Pamela chuckled and shook her head. It does kind of sound like that, doesnt it? If youre feeling well enough on Monday, my work gave me two tickets to see the show.

Odettes eyes lit up, Really?

I wouldnt offer if I didnt mean it. I know that these past two years have been rough and youve had to give up a lot of stuff you loved. If I can make you happy by taking you to see some kids pull a rabbit out of a hat, I will. Her mother winked at her through the mirror, like it was some big secret.

Many more billboards flew passed them, some of them advertising things like restaurants or local attractions, but most of them seemed to veer towards the Tent of Mystery and those magic twins. Odette stopped paying attention to them after they passed the fourth one as it had become a little annoying.

The car came to a stop and Odette realized that they had finally arrived. Even though every fiber of her wanted to jump out of the car and run around, she knew her mother would stop her. Something about her being too fragile.

Odette unbuckled herself and stepped out of the car gently. The air was muggy and thick and her hair had already begun to stick to the back of her neck but she smiled all the same.

She recognized the house from when her parents showed it to her in pictures. It was a smallish colonial style home, not very large but larger than the one they lived in back in Oregon. The nearest neighbor was nowhere in sight, which was kind of odd considering the smallness of the town.

Her mother handed her the keys and she gladly rushed up the porch to open the door.

The first thing that hit her was how it smelled. It was musty from being empty and it just didnt feel like a home yet. A cloud of dust plumed out and caught the light in a pretty, mystical way. It was completely void of furniture with wooden floors and arched entries and exits. The walls were a pale blue with white trim. It was hotter inside than it was outside but a breeze started to blow in from the opened door, chilling her sweaty skin.

Cautiously, Odette entered the home, her footsteps kicking up more dust.

How long has this place been empty? Odette wondered to herself.

It looked like the type of place that would have been used as a horror movie set, and she couldnt help but conjure up a strange-looking monster peeking at her through the window. As soon as she did, Odette squeezed her eyes shut and shivered, pushing that out of her mind as fast as she could.

She found the stairs and glanced behind herself to see if her mother would reprimand her for such a dangerous task but she was busy with her father. She took the moment to quietly run up the stairs and into the hall that it led to. At the end of it was a window seat, the only furnishing she had seen so far. The cushion was faded from being exposed to the sun but, other than that, it was in a good condition.

Odette turned to the first door she saw and opened it. There was a large window that made the room more spacious and a small closet that was on the opposite side. The walls were a dove grey, which she didnt mind at all. She smiled, walking the length of the room to get a feel of it. Her fingertips ran along the dust-coated walls, looking up and out and around to soak in all the details of it.

Odette? Odette, where are you? Her mother yelled from down below.

There was the pounding sound of feet on floor and her mothers head popped into the room that Odette currently occupied.