Silver Lining

Chapter Nineteen

 Alicia stays quiet as I get out of her car. By the time I approach Orion, the car is already gone. Damn. She must've been really upset about what I said earlier. Anyway, Orion greets me with sweet smile. She sips on her latte before speaking.

"Onyx, you're finally here! Let's go to my car."

"Someone's chipper. Is it the coffee?"
I joke.

Orion presses a button on her car key.  We walk to a black Chevy and get in it. It's so hot in here, that the passenger seat is heating up my back. She drives away from Starbucks, blasting 'Break My Heart' by HeyViolet on the radio. I laugh at her off key singing.

I almost text Alicia, but then I remember she's mad at me. That doesn't stop me from going on her Instagram. She hasn't posted anything. Out of nowhere, my account logged out. When I try to log back in, it doesn't work. The red words under the password tab makes me roll my eyes.

This account does not exist.

As soon as I start making another account, my phone turns off. I suck my teeth. It was working fine a minute ago. I stare out the window while Orion drives into a suburban neighborhood full of big, colorful houses.

She parks in front of a light blue house. I get out before Orion does, and walk to the front porch. The door opens after Orion rings the doorbell. Niles stands in front of us, with no shirt on.

 "Hi, girls. Come in," he says, stepping aside. 

 We walk in and sit on the blue couch. Niles wipes his forehead with a red kitchen towel. He stomps up the stairs. Orion chuckles and sips her latte. 

 I glance around the room. There are paintings of eagles on the walls and three hardcover books stacked on the table under the tv. One of the books is called 'The Art of Hypnosis'. I levitate the book onto my lap while Orion isn't looking. The name under the title makes my jaw drop. 

 Botis Spit

 As Niles' footsteps get closer to the living room, I shove the book in my purse. Orion looks up from her phone at the stairs. Niles just comes in and stands near the couch. He has on a light green polo shirt. 

 "This is a nice house," I say nonchalantly.

 Niles grins at me. "Thank you. You're the first person to say that."

 "Really?" 

 "It's because Jackie more was relevant the last time anyone besides me came over here," Orion jokes.

 Niles puts his hands up in fake surrender. " You got me."

 I laugh. Niles goes into the kitchen and comes back with two purple smoothies. He sets them on the light brown coffee table in front of us. My butterfly tattoo is starting to glow. I wrap a hot pink scarf around my wrist. Niles sits down between me and Orion. 

 Orion looks at me with a raised eyebrow. Niles just laughs. As long as he doesn't notice my tattoo, I'm good. 

 "What's so funny, daddy?" Orion asks, taking her attention off me.

 Niles kisses her on the forehead. "Don't worry about it, honey. How was your week?"

 "It was fine. My friend Justine came back." 

 For that moment, I stay quiet. I can't complete my mission if I'm arguing with Orion about that blatant lie. My phone hasn't made a single sound. I check it, and it's still turned on. That's surprising. 

 I sip my smoothie. It tastes like blueberries and strawberries. Suddenly, I feel giddy for no reason. My leg is shaking. Niles and Orion stop their conversation to stare at me. I put my smoothie down on the coffee table.

 "Where is your bathroom?" 

 "It's upstairs at the end of the hall," Niles answers.

 "Thanks." 

 "You're welcome."

 I take my purse with me upstairs. Instead of going in the bathroom, I go through the bedrooms. The bedroom at the other end of the hall is the only one with video tapes in it. The tapes are on black bookshelf. I pick up the four tapes that have 'Ella' written on them. A white light comes out of my hands and the tapes disappear. 

 Mission accomplished. I rearrange the stack of tapes, so it looks like they weren't touched. I leave the room and return to the living room. Niles stares at me curiously when I sit next to him. Orion not being in the room makes this a little more awkward.

 For three minutes, we don't say anything. Niles glances down at my wrist. I glance down, and the scarf is wrapped around my arm. Damn it. Now, he can see the tattoo. 

 "That's a pretty tat. Where'd you get it?" Niles questions, reaching out to touch my wrist.

 I flinch. "At a party. But I was a little drunk the night I got it." 

 "Why is it glowing?" 

 "I don't know. It's never done that before." 

 Niles turns the tv on, and a woman screams onscreen. The woman's face is never shown, but she has the same turquoise leather jacket that Alicia does. I lean forward as a blonde woman turns to stone while kissing a guy. Niles turns the channel to Animal Planet before I could see their faces.

 I check my phone again. A message from Alicia shows up on the screen. I sigh in relief. So, she's not mad at me anymore? Awesome. 

 I found out something about Justine. 

A video is right under it. I move to the other side of the couch and play the video. In the video, Sav kisses Justine and she slowly turns to stone. Alicia gasps and the video ends with Sav smiling deviously at her.

A shiver goes down my spine. I can't believe Justine is actually the statue. If she was hooking up with Sav before that happened, Alicia might be the next victim. And if Alicia saw that happen, why did she hook up with Sav?