Jenny Plague-Bringer

Chapter Sixteen



Jenny and Seth slept late on Christmas. Jenny awoke first, made a pot of coffee and took a small, rich square of chocolate with her to the frosted front window. The short but brightly lit tree by the window filled the apartment with the golden scent of living pine. Outside, a thin, fresh frosting of snow had fallen, decorating the trees, ledges, and balconies with spotless icy fluff.

She thought of her father again, back home in Fallen Oak. Maybe he wasn’t even home at all, but over at June’s apartment. Jenny hoped they were still seeing each other. She hated imagining him at home, by himself, accompanied only by the dog and pictures of his lost wife and daughter. She wondered if he’d started drinking again.

Jenny busied herself by getting a start on Christmas dinner. She was attempting a few French dishes, including a bûche de Noël for dessert, a rolled-up cake with chocolate cream filling. The fun part would be carving the outer layer of icing with a fork to make it look like the bark of a Yule log.

Her digital Christmas song list played at random on the stereo, jumping from Bonnie Raitt singing “Merry Christmas Baby” to John Lennon’s “Happy Christmas.”

She made hot chocolate, another smell that reminded her of Christmas. Her father had made it for her, usually by mixing Valu Time chocolate-flavored syrup with Piggly Wiggly brand milk and heating it in the microwave. He did that even in those years when December in South Carolina had felt like early summer. Now she made it with fresh-grated dark and white chocolate from La Maison du Chocolat. She wished her father were here to try it.

Jenny looked out at the boulevard below, where thousands of tiny golden lights glowed on strings as far as she could see and the lamp posts were hung with green garlands. The sun slid out from behind the clouds, making the city’s blanket of snow sparkle. Few cars passed, and everyone who walked by seemed beautiful to her, even the hacking old man hunched over his walker, escorted by two excited young kids who must have been his grandchildren.

She heard Seth approaching in his sock feet, probably trying to sneak up on her. He found that hilarious for some reason.

“Merry Christmas,” he said, sliding his arms around her waist. He felt strong and warm against her back.

The sky darkened, and their ghostly, transparent reflections appeared in the window pane. Jenny found herself looking at her own face and Seth’s sleepy, smiling face behind her. Their child growing inside her.

This is it, Jenny realized. This moment is the happiest I’ll ever be. The baby will die, and I’ll hate myself, and Seth will probably hate me, too, if he finds out. Nothing will ever be the same.

Jenny watched her own eyes fill up with tears, until her vision turned blurry and she had to wipe them. Stupid hormones.

“What’s wrong?” Seth asked.

She turned to look at him, smiling as she touched his face. “Merry Christmas,” she whispered, and she kissed him. Then she leaned in against him, hugging him with all her strength, as if she could stop the future from coming if she clung tightly enough to the present.

“Are you sad because we haven’t opened presents yet?” Seth asked, which made her laugh.

“I was just thinking about my dad.” She wiped her eyes again, and she’d managed to swallow back the tears and put on a smile.

“Yeah, that’s hard.” He hugged her back just as tightly. “I think about my parents waking up in a silent house on Christmas morning. They’ve lost both their sons now, Carter and me.”

They were quiet for a minute, holding each other. Then Seth asked, “So...can we open presents now?”

“Yes, please!” Jenny dropped to her knees by the tree, looking over the bright packages and ribbons.

“Me first,” Seth said, joining her and picking up a present, which he handed to her. “By which I mean you first.”

Jenny smiled as she tore it open. The cardboard box inside held a wide selection of DVDs, all of her favorite holiday movies, from the old stop-motion Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer that she had watched on TV every year, to the Muppet Christmas Carol, all the way to Scrooged with Bill Murray.

“Awesome!” Jenny said. “I missed seeing these last year.” Their first Christmas in Paris had caught them almost by surprise, and they’d done little to remind themselves of home.

“And I remembered you saying that.” Seth tapped the side of his head. “Thoughtful. Good listener. Yep.”

“Here, open this.” Jenny handed him the biggest package with his name on it.

Seth ripped it apart, revealing a box full of plain socks.

“Remember how you complained about wanting more socks last Christmas?” Jenny asked.

“Did I?”

“See if there’s anything else in there.”

Seth moved the socks aside and found the new Kindle Fire hidden underneath. “Oh, cool!”

“Now you can read any book you want, anytime you want,” Jenny told him.

“This is the one that plays movies, too, right?”

“I guess.”

“That makes me want to give you this one next.” Seth passed her a small box wrapped in satiny red paper.

“Looks sexy.” Jenny unwrapped it—it was sexy, a very revealing piece of lingerie held together by thin, lacy black straps. “Ooh, a dominatrix outfit!”

“It is not!”

“Just add leather,” Jenny said. “And I’ll need handcuffs.”

“I even got the size right this time. I checked your underwear drawer first.”

“And how long did you spend in there?”

“Ha, ha. Why don’t you try it on?”

“I’m sure you’d like that,” Jenny snickered.

“No, seriously.” Seth leaned back on his elbow and eyed her.

“Mariella’s going to be here soon.”

“Just a quick look.” Seth winked.

Jenny felt a growing sense of panic. She could stave him off for now, but there was no way she could wear this without Seth seeing her swollen belly. It was hard enough keeping concealed in heavy sweaters around him, turning off the lights before she took off her clothes, and remembering to lock the door when she showered.

“I’ll help.” Seth reached for her very oversized red sweater, and she pulled away from him. He jumped at her, seized her, and playfully wrestled her down, then he climbed on top of her, his weight pushing her whole body against the floor.

“Careful!” Jenny shouted. “I’m pregnant!”

“You’re what?” His eyes flew wide open, and he rolled off her and sat up. “What did you say?”

The phone in the apartment chimed, the special sound it made when a visitor downstairs wanted to be admitted to their apartment.

“Jenny?” he asked. “Did you just say—”

“I win!” Jenny jumped to her feet and scampered to the door, where she flicked on the tiny video screen. Mariella, dressed in thick layers with a hat, scarf, and gloves, appeared in black and white, and Jenny buzzed her in. “Looks like your girlfriend’s here.”

“Why do you keep saying that?” Seth followed her to the door. “She’s not my girlfriend. I’ve never done anything with her.”

“You will.”

“What do you mean?”

Jenny sighed and shook her head. It all fit together now. Jenny and Seth’s baby would die, the strain would ruin their relationship, and he would end up with Mariella. If Mariella was really seeing herself and Seth together in the future, then that would probably be the way it happened.

If Jenny and Seth weren’t going to break up, then Mariella’s vision could only mean that Jenny would die, which didn’t exactly fill her with hope for a better tomorrow.

“Jenny...” Seth hesitated. “Did you just say you were pregnant?”

“We’ll talk about it later.”

“So you are?”

“No. Maybe.”

“Maybe?” He gaped at her. “Did you take a test?”

“I...um...” Jenny saw Mariella arrive through the door lens and opened up before Mariella had a chance to ring the bell. “Bon jour! Joyeux Noël!”

“Joyeux Noël!” Mariella replied with a bright smile. Her green eyes seemed to glow, helped along by her matching dress, which she wore under her usual dark coat. She carried bright packages and an embroidered shopping bag into the apartment, and Seth quickly took them from her arms. Mariella leaned in to kiss Jenny’s cheek in the typical French greeting, and Jenny automatically pulled back and covered her mouth, shaking her head. It indicated that she was refraining, not to be rude, but because she was sick and contagious.

Seth had no trouble accepting Mariella’s kisses. He put the glittering wrapped packages on a side table, but Mariella reclaimed the shopping bag.

“Oh, no, you didn’t have to bring presents,” Jenny said. She spoke in English, since it was pretty obvious that Seth didn’t know much French, while Mariella was fluent in English. “We didn’t...”

“It’s nothing, I promise,” Mariella said. She held open the shopping bag, revealing three different bottles of red wine. “I did not know what you liked best.”

“Oh, that’s too much!” Jenny laughed.

Seth was giving Jenny a very serious look over Mariella’s head. He gestured toward the bedroom, clearly wanting to talk privately about whether she was pregnant or not. That was the subject Jenny wanted to avoid most, at the moment, so she took Mariella’s arm and led her into the kitchen instead.

“How can I help here?” Mariella asked, looking around at the multiple dishes in progress.

“You don’t have to.” Jenny set the wine bottles on the counter. She opened a Pinot noir and poured two glasses.

“Please, it does not feel like Christmas if I’m not a kitchen slave for at least part of the day,” Mariella said. “You forgot to pour a third glass. I’ll do it.”

“No, I’m not drinking right now,” Jenny said.

“Even on Christmas?” Mariella looked at Jenny’s ridiculously baggy sweater, which reached almost to her knees. “Are you pregnant?”

“Sh!” Jenny said, and Mariella’s eyes widened.

“He does not know?” Mariella whispered.

“You’ve been in my house for thirty seconds and you’re figuring out all this? In five minutes you’ll be telling me my own darkest secrets.”

Mariella laughed. “How dark can they be?”

“You might be surprised.”

“You can have a glass with us,” Mariella said. “In Italy, women still drink a glass with dinner, and all is well. And we are very good at having babies. We’ve been doing it for thousands of years.”

Jenny laughed.

“Do Alsatian women stop drinking wine altogether?” Mariella asked. “I thought only American women did that.”

“I’m just being cautious.”

“Be less so.” Mariella poured a third glass, giving her a cheerful smile. “It’s good for the heart.”

“Red wine, or being less cautious?” Jenny asked.

“Both!”

They were laughing again when they rejoined Seth in the living room.

“Should you be drinking wine?” Seth asked when Jenny handed him a glass.

“Why shouldn’t I?” Jenny asked him, but Seth just answered with a frustrated shrug and glanced at Mariella, not sure whether the other girl should know or not.

“You’re Americans, aren’t you?” Mariella asked.

“Stop doing that! Seth, I can’t hide anything from her.” Jenny took a long sip of wine.

“We should open our presents.” Mariella carried her gifts to the couch and set them on the coffee table.

“No, really, we didn’t get you anything,” Jenny said. “I’ll go shopping tomorrow, anyway.”

“There is no need,” Mariella said. “Unless you are inviting me to shop with you. The Christmas villages remain open another week.”

“Maybe,” Jenny said, giving her a genuine smile. She had to remind herself not to trust this girl too much.

Seth was already ripping open his small package. “Whoa!” he said.

“What is it?” Jenny asked.

Seth held up a stainless steel Cartier watch with a black dial. “Look, Jenny. Now I can be one of those guys who wears a watch.”

Jenny tried not to look shocked, but she knew the watch must have cost hundreds, if not thousands of dollars. She wanted to insist that Seth give it back, but there was not a polite way to do it.

“Please, it’s too nice,” Jenny said.

“Don’t be silly. Now for yours.” Mariella tapped another gift, and Jenny reluctantly sank to the settee and unwrapped it. Then she stared at what lay inside.

It was some kind of charm bracelet, made of gold with sapphires in the individual little charms, which included a heart-shaped lock, a miniscule rocking horse, an owl, a coin with the face of Victor Emmanuel III, the final king of Italy, and other tiny, glittering objects.

“Oh, no,” Jenny breathed. She could tell it was unspeakably expensive. “You shouldn’t give me this.”

“It’s nothing,” Mariella said. “Just put it on. I think sapphires would look beautiful on you.”

“I love sapphires,” Jenny whispered.

“Then try it on. Or let me.” She reached for the glove on Jenny’s left hand and tugged it off, her fingers protected by her own soft kidskin glove.

“Careful!” Jenny pulled back. “It’s too dangerous for you to touch me.”

“Then you had better put it on yourself.” Mariella reached for her hand again.

“Okay, I give up.” Jenny slid the bracelet onto her wrist. The gold was smooth and bright against her skin.

“Do you like it at all?” Mariella asked.

“I love it,” Jenny admitted. “But why did you...when did you even go shopping? The shops must have been closed by the time you left here last night.”

Mariella laughed. “Don’t trouble yourself too much. I stole the watch from my brother six months ago, because he was being mean. And the charm bracelet...I must have been eight or nine when I stole it from my sister. Swiping from my siblings has always been my favorite way to shop. Youngest child syndrome. With eight older brothers and sisters, there’s always plenty of tempting loot around.”

Jenny breathed a sigh of relief. “So these were just things you already had. You didn’t go spend a fortune on us.”

“Are you disappointed?” Mariella asked.

“No, now I’m definitely keeping the bracelet.”

Mariella laughed and emptied the bottle of Pinot into their glasses. She gave Jenny a thoughtful look.

“I know we got off to a...how would you say it? An awkward start,” Mariella said, with a brief side glance at Seth. “But I wanted to show you how important this is to me, knowing the both of you. I’ve never met anyone like us before. I hope you don’t hate me already.”

“Why would we hate you?” Seth asked, but Mariella just kept looking at Jenny, her green eyes hopeful, her lips twitching nervously.

“I don’t hate you,” Jenny said. “But I’m sure you understand, I’m still pretty bothered by what you said.”

“What she said about what?” Seth looked back and forth between them. “What am I missing?”

Jenny and Mariella held each other’s gaze. Jenny didn’t exactly want to tell Seth what Mariella had said, about seeing herself and Seth together in the future, or Mariella’s sweaty, hot dreams about Seth. She could only imagine the expression on Seth’s face if they told him about that. As if they were sharing the same thoughts, she and Mariella burst into laughter at the same time.

“What’s so funny? Jenny?” Seth asked, looking frustrated now. He drank down his entire glass of wine, then held it like a microphone. “Hello, can anybody hear me? Is this thing on?”

“You had a bad vision about Seth, too,” Jenny said. “A man who was hunting him. Can you see anything else about that today?”

“I can try.” Mariella pulled her gloves off and reached for Seth’s hands.

“So, me getting attacked or killed, that was the funny thing?” Seth asked. “That’s what you were laughing about?”

“Quiet, Seth, let her concentrate,” Jenny said.

Mariella gazed into Seth’s eyes, holding his hands tight. He kept glancing away, looking uncomfortable.

“I can see him,” Mariella said. “He comes and takes Seth to a dark place.”

“Does that mean I die?” Seth said.

“He takes you as a prisoner.”

“What about Jenny?” he asked.

Mariella closed her eyes. A pained look crossed her face. “I can’t see her future any better than my own. It’s like a dark cloud. All I can think is that her power might block mine in some way. I certainly can’t touch her.”

“That’s why I always have enemies among our kind,” Jenny said. “Most of them can’t even try to control me or use their powers against me, or they’ll die from the pox.”

“Jenny can’t be tamed,” Seth said. “She’s like a wild animal.”

“That’s right,” Jenny said.

“A badger, maybe,” Seth said, and Jenny gave him a light punch in the arm. Seth pretended to cringe in pain. He asked Mariella, “So, I get taken prisoner. How? Why? For how long?”

Mariella shook her head, her eyes still closed, her teeth grinding together. “I...can’t. It’s never been so difficult, not with normal people.”

“We’re definitely not normal,” Jenny said.

“I can see the man dragging Seth away...but everything’s hidden behind a scramble of colors and a cloud of sleepy fog.”

“What’s ‘sleepy fog’?” Seth asked.

“I don’t know, that’s just what I feel!” Mariella opened her eyes. “I must be involved, that’s why I can’t see much. Or Jenny is involved and I can’t see her future. Or both.”

“Involved how? You’re helping him kidnap me?”

“No, of course not! I wouldn’t,” Mariella told him. “All I know is that you become his prisoner.”

“Is that all you see?” Jenny asked.

“Maybe I’ll see more later. The sooner something will happen, the clearer I see it. So we must have some time.”

“How much time?” Seth asked. “Should I barricade the apartment or what?”

“A few weeks, a couple of months, maybe.” Mariella bit her lip. “I’m sorry! I’m usually much better at this. Most people, I get more information than I ever wanted...and most people don’t listen, either, even when I tell them they’re moving toward disaster. And they never come back and admit I was right, either.”

“No one believes you?” Jenny asked.

“Usually not. A few times, people have listened to me and changed their futures...but then they tell me I was worried about nothing, because they avoided whatever danger I saw.” Mariella looked at Jenny’s hands. “It must have been difficult for you, growing up. Avoiding the touch of everyone. It makes my problems look silly, people ignoring me and not believing me.”

“I managed,” Jenny said. “You try not to kill anyone, but sometimes you can’t help it.”

Mariella laughed, but there was a glint of fear in her eyes.

“I’m starting to think I might know who this man is, from the way you described him,” Jenny told her. “I think I’m starting to figure out who you are, too.”

“I’ve been honest with you,” Mariella said, and then laughed a little. “Too honest, maybe.”

“I don’t mean in this life, but in our last one. You and him were both there...the oracle and the seer.”

“Who?” Seth asked.

“That’s what we’ve called them in the past,” Jenny said. “She’s the oracle. Her opposite is the seer, a very nasty soul.”

“Are you talking about reincarnation?” Mariella asked. “I thought you didn’t believe in that.”

“I can remember hundreds of lifetimes,” Jenny said. “I mean, not all at once, obviously. And the last few are the most difficult for me, because the person who opened my mind to my memories...Alexander...he didn’t want me to remember those lives. So he blocked them, or kept me from opening them, or something. I’m working on unraveling the last one, because I think it matters now.”

“I knew it!” Mariella said. “I’ve always felt that I’ve lived before.”

“We all have,” Jenny told her. “And you were part of the last one, and so was your opposite. That’s why it’s important we figure out what happened. It’s the only way to figure out what the seer wants and how we can stop him.”

Seth was raising his eyebrows at her, clearly surprised she’d told Mariella so much. Jenny shrugged. Let Seth judge for himself when he learned more about who she was, Jenny thought. Mariella’s past life didn’t necessarily tell Jenny who Mariella was in this lifetime, and it was always best to be suspicious.

“Can you tell me about my past lives?” Mariella asked.

“I will, if you feel like listening. The duck’s going to roast another hour. I’ll have to catch you up on the story so far...and this calls for another glass of wine, so let’s pretend I’m drinking one.” She slid her glass across the table to Seth, who drank it down like it was Jell-o shot. “You might as well open the next bottle, Seth.”

He smiled and walked to the kitchen. Jenny’s plan was to get Seth completely sloshed before Mariella left. Maybe she could put off the big pregnancy talk one more day.

“The last time we saw each other, it was the Great Depression,” Jenny said, “1933.”