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A scream ripped through the calm, drizzly evening, causing Eden to throw her laptop across the sofa, dash across the room, and stumble out the front door. When her eyes latched onto movement in Yolanda Biddle’s yard, Eden blinked her eyes hard, as if she could make the scene before her disappear. The morning glory vines from Mrs. Thorne’s porch had somehow grown long enough to make their way over to Yolanda’s yard. They’d wrapped around her middle, tight enough that the next scream was weak and airy.
Grabbing the bottom of her skirt with a tight fist, Eden ran across the street as fast as she could.
“There,” Yolanda wheezed as Eden approached. “The clippers. I dropped—”
Eden’s feet squished into the soggy yard as she scrambled to pick them up. She held the clippers out as if the sight of them might frighten off the attacker. It only seemed to squeeze Yolanda tighter. She panted as Eden hurried towards her.
“Try to hold still.” Eden tried to get the clippers around the vine without cutting Yolanda. She winced as they tore into her flower-patterned dress.
A strong hand reached in, pulling at a vine that crept towards Yolanda’s throat. Eden’s eyes met Jack’s.
“Get back,” she yelled. But it was too late. A vine had already wrapped around Jack’s ankle. It jerked back, pulling him off his feet. She heard him hit the ground with a grunt.
Eden wriggled the clippers under the last vine and cut it. She turned to see Jack pulling a tendril off his ankle.
“Get her out of here,” she shouted as she stepped away, trying to keep the morning glory at bay. Jack hurried over to whisk Yolanda away, carrying her up the porch steps to the house as the vines reached after them.
As soon as Yolanda was safe, the vines fell limply to the ground. Eden stared down at them. They looked so harmless, scattered around her feet. Like the casualties of a typical weekend working in the yard.
“What happened?” Dotty shouted as she rushed over to Eden.
“Yolanda was attacked.” Eden gestured to the house. “Can you go in and help Jack. I can’t—”
Dotty nodded. “Of course.”
Rain dripped into Eden’s face as she watched helplessly from the front lawn, certain that everyone would be better off if she stayed away from Jack. She let out a ragged breath. It had all happened so fast. It seemed impossible that she was standing in the grass, with the world around her so quiet and calm.
“Why would they attack Yolanda?” she asked herself, watching the vines slowly retreat back to the house.
“Vengeance?” a voice from her back pocket answered. “Just like Yolanda said.”
“Maybe.” Eden was staring to like having someone answer back when she spoke to herself. Gabi was like having a roommate, but with fewer complications. “But do you really think after years of good behavior, those flowers went on the attack over a little yard upkeep?” She shook her head. “It has to be more than that.”
“Do you suspect foul play?” Gabi asked.
“Well, now that you suggest it.” A sick feeling seeped into Eden’s stomach. What had she stepped into? She knew this place seemed too perfect. “But Mrs. Thorne was the only person that could control plants, right? How could someone else be responsible?”
“Are you asking me? I’m just a personal assistant.”
“That’s what you keep telling me,” Eden scoffed.
Jack walked out Yolanda’s front door. He headed for the steps, then stopped short, his grey eyes staring at Eden. She took a few steps back.
“She’s going to be okay,” Jack called out.
Eden breathed a sigh of relief.
“Hey,” Jack said. “I’m sorry if I was rude before. I didn’t mean it that way. I just—”
“Panicked?”
“I guess. My grandpa—”
“I know.”
“Apparently he was just completely gone over her.” The corner of Jack’s mouth turned up. “They say she looked like you, so I get it.” He rubbed his palm across his forehead. “Why do I keep saying these things out loud?”
“Probably because you can’t help yourself.” Eden held her hands out as if she were both Vanna White and the big prize. “I have that effect on people.”
Jack looked flustered, probably trying to figure out what response would get him in the least amount of trouble.
“No, seriously,” Eden said. “I think it has to do with my inheritance.”
As the words tumbled out of her mouth, Eden was more surprised than Jack could possibly be. She hadn’t talked to anyone else about her inheritance. Believing in it was one thing. Admitting it out loud was another.
“Really? So what, you make people speak their thoughts? Their secrets?” He backed up a step.
“No. Well, kind of. I don’t understand it myself yet. People just talk to me. They always have. Sometimes they tell me secrets. I thought maybe I was just easy to talk to or something, but since I moved here ...”
“They told you about your history and it all came together.”
“Yeah.” Eden didn’t mention that it had actually gotten a lot weirder here. Before Pleasant View, she’d never had conversations with her phone before, or had a dead woman speak to her.
“Are you nervous?” Eden gave Jack a mischievous smile. “Got any secrets you’re worried about spilling?”
“Uh, no.” Jack tightened his lips, stuffing his hands in his pockets. “But, hey, it might be a good idea if we keep this incident under wraps for a while.”
“But aren’t people in danger?”
“Maybe. It’s just, people tend to panic. I can help with that. It’s kind of my thing. But I can’t be everywhere at once, especially if I want to keep my job.”
“You calm people down. I noticed that.”
“I can do more than that. I could make you feel all kinds of things.” One corner of his mouth turned up. “But I only use my powers for good.”
“Glad to hear it. Things seem to be exciting enough around here without extra emotions in the mix.”
“Anyway, who knows what kind of weather we’ll get if Lorna gets any more upset.”
“She really controls the weather?”
He shrugged. “We try to keep her happy. It’s not always easy. Anyway, I’m going to talk to Beverly. We’ll get this plant taken out. I think that should do it.”
Eden frowned. “What if it doesn’t?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, we—I—was just wondering if the plant’s really the problem. What if someone around here is doing this? I just can’t help but ask, with all this inheritance stuff.”
“We’ve had our share of drama. But no one’s used their inheritance to hurt anyone else, not in a life-threatening way.”
“Your grandfather got hurt.”
Jack’s brows lowered, as if he was considering it. “True. Although that wasn’t an inheritance, it was a curse.”
“What if that’s what’s going on here?”
“You think someone cursed Martha Thorne and Yolanda Biddle? Who would want them dead?”
Eden’s eyes wandered over to the large, flower-encrusted memorial. “I don’t know. Someone who likes things done a certain way around here?”
Jack’s draw dropped. “You think Beverly had something to do with this?”
“Martha said—”
“When did you talk to Martha?”
Eden looked away, swallowing. “I didn’t.” Technically that was true. Martha had spoken to her. “But Martha loved those plants, and they loved her. I can tell.”
Jack laughed. “You’re already starting to sound like you belong in this crazy place.”
Eden scowled.
He put his hands in the air. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying you’re crazy.”
“All I know is I saw Beverly arguing with both women about the CC&R’s shortly before the attacks.”
“Oooh,” Gabi said. “‘Arcadia,’ the fifteenth episode of the sixth season of the X-Files, in which the HOA president sends a monster after residents who don’t comply with the CC&R’s.”
“Don’t mind her,” Eden said.
“But that’s basically what you’re suggesting,” he said. “That the flower’s been cursed, and is going after people who break the rules.”
Eden’s voice rose to a higher pitch. “I don’t know.”
She couldn’t tell Jack about Mrs. Thorne’s warning without sounding crazy, not even in a place like this. She wasn’t sure what the woman had meant anyway. All Eden knew was that her gut was telling her something was off.
“Hey.” Jack’s voice was soft as he walked down the porch steps. He held his hands out, as if he was coming to comfort her. “I know you must be worried, with two attacks just across the street. But nothing’s going to—”
Eden heard a crack. She jumped back just as a large tree branch came crashing to the ground where she’d been standing.
“Thanks, Jack.” She backed towards the street, giving him a sad smile. “But I don’t think you’re in any position to protect me.”