The Muses

The Muses: Chapter Six

THE MUSES

By: Rachel Kramer

“Who is the betrayer?
Who's the killer in the crowd?
The one who creeps in corridors
And doesn't make a sound”

 —Florence + The Machine, “Heavy in Your Arms”

Chapter Six

Candice’s driver’s license is only provisional, and she has two more months to go before she can legally drive with passengers under the age of twenty-five. Law notwithstanding, Candice agrees to drive me and my brother to school. I feel guilty for putting this on her, but our mom is in no shape to drive us. Besides, I reason, it’s only this one time. It’s highly unlikely Candice will get caught driving us. She’s the most responsible driver I know. She’s not even hesitant about it – she knows I wouldn’t ask unless I had to, and with my father MIA and my mother too wasted to drive, I have to.

After we drop off Seth, I spill everything from Talia’s murder to Eden’s unexpected angelic visit in the garden of my dreams. She keeps her eyes on the road, but she purses her lips and it is clear in her expression that my dreams have disturbed her.

Finally she says, “And you’re positive it was Talia St Louis you saw die in your dreams?”

“I wasn’t sure it was her at first—the expression on her face…she was so scared. It wasn’t until I heard her speak that I knew without a doubt.”

She drums her thumbs on the steering wheel, a pensive look in her eyes. “And her killer? You couldn’t see his face?”

“No. It was dark, and he—it—was wearing a cloak. Eden says blood helps it to grow stronger somehow,” I explain. Now, I wonder: stronger in what ways? I should have asked. I make a mental note to do so the next time Eden visits me.

“If anything has happened to Talia, we’ll know. It’ll be all over the news, like when Eden died. May even be a bigger deal, because they’ll be evidence she was murdered, whereas Eden drowned.”

I stop chewing my lip and glance at Candice. “She didn’t drown. She was chased into that river by the same cloaked figure.”

Candice nods noncommittally. She still isn’t convinced my dreams hold any truth to them. “Sorry,” she says. “I’m still getting used to this. The news around town says one thing, and you tell me another,”

I cannot blame her. I smile and say, “It’s okay, Candi. If I weren’t me, I wouldn’t be quick to believe me either.”

She visibly relaxes and I can tell she feels at least a little guilty for not wholly accepting my nightmare. She may want to believe me, but it goes against her reality. “Even after what I’ve seen, it’s still hard for me to accept, too,” I confess.

A small smile forms at her lips. “I bet. I can’t even imagine…” She doesn’t finish the sentence. She does not have to. I know what she means. If our roles were reversed she’d try to deny the nightmares, the responsibilities, as severely as I do, if not more. Even now, I’d give anything to know nothing of this monster taking the lifeblood of our classmates. But according to Eden, I am the only one she can turn to for help—the only one who can save the other girls that may be targeted.