Jennifer took the knife, more out of duty than excitement, and cut a piece of the firm cheese before squishing it on top of a cracker. The speckled insides of the ball had a green tint to it. She lifted it to her mouth and bit.
“Mm,” she nodded that it was good even before she tasted it. She set the knife down.
The cheese didn’t have a distinct flavor. It wasn’t awful, but it wasn’t anything she’d crave.
“Here, try another,” Margareta said, leaning over to put a giant glob on a cracker. “Really experience the full flavor.”
Jennifer reached for the cracker, wanting to be polite to Rory’s family. She stepped back to keep them from giving her a third one. She swallowed and started to lift the second hors d’oeuvre. Her mouth went numb like she’d been given a shot of Novocain.
Jennifer looked at the loaded cracker she held. Dark liquid dripped from her mouth onto the back of her wrist. She instantly touched her lips. Her fingers slipped in what felt like blood, and she pulled her hand back to look. Thick black coated her fingertips. Her hand shook violently.
She dropped the cracker onto the floor and reached to touch her mouth with her other hand, as if that would change the result. When she drew her fingers back, they were smeared with dark fibrous chunks.
Jennifer’s eyes widened as she glanced at Rory. His lips moved, but she couldn’t hear what he said. Margareta frowned at her. Cait pointed at her face.
She turned in fear, only to catch her reflection in the windowpane. Black dripped out her eyes like tears. Her mouth filled with numbed pressure, and it became hard to breathe.
“Ma tell me ya didn’t try to make that thing yourself. Not for company!” Rory’s panicked voice sounded far away and came beneath the buzzing in her ears. “What did ya put in the recipe?”
Jennifer bent forward and coughed. Rory patted her back. A muddy clump dropped past her lips into her hands. She gasped for breath. It slid off her shaking hand onto the floor.
What the hell?
How were they not reacting to this? Didn’t they see she was throwing up mud?
“Ror…” His name barely made it past her lips as she swayed and stumbled her way out of the dining room door.
“Where are ya going, dear?” Cait asked.
Jennifer tripped over the threshold and landed on her hands and knees on the hard marble of the foyer. Pain radiated up from her knees and wrists. She coughed again, spewing the dark clumps over the clean floor.
“There you are.”
The voice had returned.
Desperate, she crawled toward the door to escape. The pressure spread from her mouth to her throat and she tried to gasp for a breath that wouldn’t come.
“Jennifer?”
Snap. Snap.
“Jennifer?”
Snap.
Jennifer gasped a high-pitched sound as she reached for her throat.
Cait leaned close to her face.
Margareta dropped her hand from where she’d been snapping her fingers beside Jennifer’s ear.
“There ya are, dear.” Cait smiled. “Welcome back. Ya gave us quite a scare.”
There you are.
The terrifying voice whispered through her mind.
Jennifer pushed up in her cushioned chair. The furniture’s feet slid from the force of her movement, making a loud noise against the rug.
Rory came from behind her as if to steady her. He held her by the back of her elbow. “Try to take it easy.”
Jennifer looked around in confusion. Books lined a wall of dark shelves. Curtains covered a large window. Light came from a couple of table lamps. The green glass panels of the shade casting patterns on the ceiling.
Margareta and Cait stood watching her, heads tilted to the side ever so slightly, with matching pod-people expressions. She expected alien heads or robot parts to spring past their plastered smiles at any moment.
“How did I get in here?” Jennifer asked. Then, remembering her numb mouth, she frowned. “What did you dose me with?”
“Dose?” Margareta gave a weak laugh.
“Ya fainted, dear,” Cait said.
Jennifer pulled her hand from Rory. “I’m not an idiot. What was in that cheese?”
“Herbs,” Cait said.
“Spices,” Margareta added.
“Ma, Aunt Margareta, stop,” Rory ordered.
“Rory don’t cause a scene,” Cait said to her son, her teeth gritting just enough to cause her fake smile to falter.
“Are ya allergic to—?” Margareta began, trying to act all innocent.
“Bullshit?” Jennifer quipped.
Margareta gasped a little at her bluntness.
“Yeah, Margareta, I am allergic to bullshit. Thanks for asking.” Jennifer jerked her arm from Rory. “I’m leaving. Can’t say it was a pleasure to meet either of you.”
Jennifer felt her rage mounting. It was all she could do to keep the anger at bay next to Rory but faced by whatever roofie Cait and Margareta had slipped into her food; it came pouring out of her. Her limbs trembled, and she knew if she didn’t get out of there fast, she’d do something she regretted.
“Wait,” Cait tried to protest.
“Jennifer,” Margareta said as if to call her back.
Jennifer heard footsteps following her and walked faster. She didn’t know where she was going, but she found herself in the front hall next to the giant staircase when she left the library.
“Jennifer,” Rory called, following her.
She walked faster toward the front door.
“Jennifer,” he insisted.
“What’s happening?” a voice called from above.
“Not now, Euann,” Rory said.
“Ah, did ya mess it up with her already?” Euann teased with a laugh. “I think that’s a world record, even for ya, cousin.”
“Shut up, Euann!” Rory insisted. “Not now, Ma. Ya have done enough damage.”
Jennifer tried to jerk the front door open, and her hand slipped off the knob. She wasn’t in the mood for teasing or talking or this freaking door. She grabbed the knob with both hands, but it wouldn’t budge. In anger, she shook it violently. “Let me out of here!”
“Rory, what happened?” Euann’s voice became concerned.
Rory appeared beside her. She jerked away from him. He lifted his hands, fingers spread to show he meant no harm as he slowly reached past her to turn the deadbolt lock on the door. He then pulled the knob to open it for her.
Jennifer rushed out of the house. Her heart beat faster. She didn’t think past the need to get away from the mansion. She ran past Rory’s car and headed down the driveway.
“Jennifer, wait, I can give ya a ride wherever ya want to go. Don’t leave like this.” Rory called after her. “Please, just take a breath and try to calm down. I can explain.”
“Calm down?” She stumbled and caught herself before turning to face him as he came after her. “Calm down! You know, Rory, all women know not to leave a drink unattended at a bar. It’s one of the sad realities of being female. We open our own drinks, even water bottles, or watch it being made for fear someone will slip us a Mickey. I know how to live on my own as a woman and protect myself, but apparently, I missed the lesson on not taking cheese from strangers.”
“Slipped a mickey?” He started to shake his head in denial.