The Sleeping Girl

Chapter Fourteen

We all stare at each other for a few moments in a charged silence.

Finally, Carmela breaks the silence. "So you do know something," she says, quietly.

"Get her away from me," says Peyton in response. "I can't deal with this right now."

"Well, harsh being you," I snap. "Too bad. Sorry not sorry. But in all honesty, we are not going anywhere until you tell us what you know. The fate of the world is quite literally dependent on you. So don't be a spoiled little brat."

She recoils as though she's been slapped. "How dare you! Shut up! You and your kind don't get to just waltz into my life and practically kill my sister, before acting like you're the good guys! It doesn't work that way. Life doesn't work that way."

But I stopped listening when she uttered the words "kill my sister." Now we're finally going somewhere.

But then I realize that something terrible happened to the sister that I didn't know she had, something to make her believe, yet terrify her. Something evil. Dark. And she thinks that the dark and myself, and us, and society, are on the same side as them. One and the same.

She couldn't be more wrong.

Mike seems to realize it at the same moment that I do. "Peyton," he says. "You don't understand. There's two different sides here. It's a war, a never ending war on the darkness, or the light. The good and evil, basically." 

I wait to see what Peyton's reaction will be, but I don't get the chance because Carmela walks straight over to her and engulfs her in a hug. Peyton, to my surprise, puts her head onto Carmi's shoulder and starts to cry, big, loud, gulping tears. Any people passing by right now would probably think that we're crazy. In fact, I think that we're crazy. But clearly Carmela picked up on something that Mike and I missed.

"I know you believe us now," Carmela says in a low voice. "I wish you would have told me right away, but you can tell me now. You can trust me."

In response, Peyton steps away. She takes a deep breath before telling Carmela "it wasn't really a car crash."

"I didn't think so," says Carmela, further confusing me. One look at Mike tells me that he's just as clueless as me about the situation.

"And Iz got more hurt than you let on, didn't she," says Carmi. It's a statement, rather than a question. Her eyes are wide.

"Yes," says Peyton. "She nearly died. And her friend is still in critical condition."

"Can somebody please tell me what is going on right now?" I ask, my irritation kept in bay by the fact that we are finally getting some information after these many days. Still though, I'm eager to know more, which I suppose is making me a bit insensitive to this obviously emotionally distraught Peyton.

Carmela sighs and turns to us. "Peyton has a little sister named Isabelle," she tells us. "Or Iz. She's a year younger than us. A sophomore. Fifteen years old."

"Isabelle got a tattoo exactly like yours," says Peyton quietly, almost more to herself than to us. "She said it caused everything. I remember when she got it. For her fifteenth birthday. Mom and Dad were livid that she got it without their permission. But after, she despised it. Turned her skin red and raw trying to scratch it off."

What?

This new information sends my mind reeling. Obviously Isabelle cannot be the Girl if she was not born with her tattoo. But if she's not the Girl, why does she have the tattoo. 'Tis not exactly a common tattoo. And why would she hate it so much. Could it be connected to how Peyton hated me so much, just five minutes ago.