Beyond the Veil

Chapter Four

They drove in silence, though not for lack of effort on Sebastian's part. He kept making attempts to strike up conversation, but Serena stared resolutely out the window and pretended to be enamored with the passing scenery.

She had decided that if she was going to have to suffer through this unwanted outing, she was going to do so in protest. Her silence was her way of reiterating what she had already made quite clear -- she didn't need him as a friend.

Eventually Sebastian stopped trying and for that Serena was grateful. Though she wouldn't admit it, a part of her felt bad about giving him the cold shoulder. If she really stopped to think about it, he'd done nothing to deserve that sort of treatment. All he had done was try to be her friend, he just seemed to be having trouble accepting that she wasn't interested.

"Where are we going anyway?" She asked when she realized it had been some time since she'd seen a building or gas station. This lack of civilization indicated they had left town behind and were heading out towards the countryside.

"It's a surprise," Sebastian replied cryptically.

"A surprise? Nope, no way, take me home right now," Serena replied, suddenly feeling quite uneasy. When she had initially agreed to go with him, she had assumed it'd be to the mall, or the library, or something equally as mundane -- not the middle of nowhere. She suddenly felt as though she had been dropped into the middle of a slasher flick.

"Serena, seriously, calm down," Sebastian replied. "Are you always wound so tight? You're making a big deal out of nothing. We're almost there, no sense in turning around now."

Serena could feel her chest growing tight as panic welled up inside of her. What if he was some sort of serial killer? It would certainly explain why he was so damn persistent.

Forcing herself to breathe, Serena assessed the situation. She had her cellphone, she could call the police, tell them ... tell them what?

She didn't even know where she was.

A thought struck her then and Serena reached into her pocket where her cellphone had been set to play music from a predetermined list. Until that moment, Serena had never thought her curse might prove useful. With a sweep of her thumb, Serena disabled the music and waited.

Several seconds ticked by and all she was able to hear was the sound of her heart pounding against her chest. She shifted closer, even going so far as to lean a little even though proximity had never been an issue for her in the past.

Nothing.

"What are you doing?" Sebastian asked and she looked over to see him watching her skeptically out of the corner of his eye. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Huh? Yeah," Serena replied, her thoughts whirling. She couldn't hear him, for some reason, she couldn't hear his thoughts. She cleared her throat, momentarily forgetting the reason she had been trying to listen to begin with. "Um, Sebastian, this is going to sound really strange but... what are you thinking about?"

"Right now?" Sebastian asked, clearly confused by her question. "Well, I'm thinking about how good those pancakes were that your mom made. Also wondering if you're going to let me stay for dinner... oh, and trying to figure out why you're acting so weird."

Serena frowned.

Why wasn't she hearing any of that?

It didn't make any sense.

Before she could consider it further, Sebastian turned off the highway and onto a wide dirt road. It wound up and around a hill before disappearing out of sight. Sebastian followed the road for a few minutes and as they crested the hill, Serena caught her first glimpse of a large, rustic-looking building. It was made to look old, but at the same time Serena could tell it was a relatively new construction. The rough hewn logs gave off the appearance of having been in place a while, but the furniture decorating the porch was too clean and the wrought iron posts too new.