Inner Demons by Sarra Cannon Read Free Book Online Page B

store. I paused. It was the girl from the pep rally the other day. The girl Jackson had been arguing with.
    She was dressed in all black again, just like Mary Anne. Her black hair was pulled up into braided pig tails, streaks of teal running through it this time instead of red. She looked straight at me, and I ducked my head and made a beeline for the dressing room, sure she had caught me staring. Again.
    There was definitely something intriguing about that girl. Like I knew her from somewhere. Or that I was supposed to know her.
    I was alone in the dressing area. I stripped my clothes of and slipped the black dress over my body. The bottom hem was frayed and there were sequins missing from the straps, but it was a perfect fit. There were no mirrors in the dressing room so I stepped back into the hallway to see if there was one out there.
    I gasped as I nearly ran into the girl in black. My hand went to my heart. “Oh my God, I'm sorry. You scared me to death.”
    The girl didn't laugh or even change facial expressions. Her dark eyes bored into me. The smile left my face, and my heart pounded in my ears. I knew without a doubt that this girl didn't like me. I could feel anger radiating off of her like hot sun off blacktop. For a moment, I couldn't move. Couldn't breathe.
    “Harper Madison,” she said. “The shining hope of our little hamlet.”
    What did she mean by shining hope? I felt uncomfortable being alone with her in the back hall like this. She scared me with her dark confidence. “And you are?”
    “Morgyn Baker.”
    “Well, nice to meet you too, Morgyn,” I said. I tried to step past her but she put her hand up against the wall to block me.
    “I want you to stay away from Jackson Hunt,” she said.
    Not exactly what I'd expected her to say. “I've hardly ever talked to the guy.”
    “That's not true and you know it. You may not exactly remember it.” She picked up my hand and ran her finger along the scar on my palm. “But you know it.”
    I shivered. Who was this girl? And what role did she play in this town with all its secrets and lies and strange powers? Was she a witch?
    I wanted to ask her what she knew about my scar, but she turned away before I got the chance. She disappeared out into the store and a few seconds later, I heard the little bell over the door jingle.

What Did I Really Know About Jackson Hunt?
     
    I laid my new black dress across the bed and felt a chill. My window was open and the air outside was getting colder as the sun started to go down. It was that strange time of year in Georgia when the days were still nice and warm, but the nights were freezing. I rubbed my arms to warm them, and walked over to the window to shut it.
    Voices in the garden caught my attention. It was getting darker outside, but there was still enough light to make out the two figures half-hidden in the tall weeds. Mary Anne and Jackson. They were talking. I saw Jackson hold something out to her. She hesitated, looked around, then took a small vial from him and shoved it in her pocket.
    I stared down, confused. What exactly had I just witnessed? Some kind of drug deal?
    “ Come on, Jackson, give me what I want.”
    Tori's voice came back to me. I'd seen them down in the garden together the first night I moved to Shadowford, and Tori had wanted something from him that he wouldn't give her. It was another one of those memories that seemed to come out of nowhere. That had been happening to me a lot lately. As if my own memory was a puzzle slowly putting itself back together over time.
    I thought about the way that girl Morgyn had touched the scar on my palm that afternoon. She had said something about me not remembering things. How did she know about that scar? Ella Mae told me I got it when I passed out from the fever, but sometimes I wondered.
    I looked down at Jackson and Mary Anne in the garden. They were still talking, huddled close together like they shared some great secret.
    What had he handed her in