by Savannah Mae
Ben got back into the car and put his hand on my shoulder like he’d done countless times before to comfort me. “We’re going to figure this out. We can save your family’s house. I promise you I’ll do everything I can to help you, even if Miss Maita proved you’re crazier than I thought you were.” He winked as he squeezed my shoulder in a playful manner.
As he started the car, I started to belt out my song again, but this time he joined in making up the words as we went. We arrived back in Jinx Cove in record time. I think both of us were anxious to get back to familiar surroundings and get to work on helping my parents save their house.
Ben took the shortest route through town to get to my house, passing by his small house and the quaint downtown area. The Jinx sisters were standing outside of the Abracajava Cafe, appearing to be in a heated discussion about something. I gulped when I saw them and crouched down in my seat hoping to avoid being seen, but it was too late.
“Your sisters are waving at you,” Ben teased.
“Be quiet! Don’t say that. Those women are fifty years older than I am and they are not my sisters,” I hissed.
“How do you know they’re not your sisters? They could be. Have you ever considered that?” Ben pointed out.
“No, but I have considered shaving your eyebrows off the next time you fall asleep while we’re watching a movie,” I answered.
He shut his mouth quick, his eyes wide as saucers. I knew how much he primped and prodded to get his hair and those wayward eyebrows just right.
“You’re mean,” he joked. “But, I’m a little bit meaner.” He pulled the car off the road, down the block from the Abracajava.
I shot straight up. “What are you doing?”
“Helping you,” he answered as he opened the door to step out of the car. He opened my door and motioned for me to follow him.
“Benjamin Silva, what are you doing?” I asked again.
“Calliope, Calypso, Lyra!” he shouted down the block. “We could use your help over here!”
What was he trying to do to me? I didn’t want their help. Those women made me nervous. After what happened last time we were here, Calliope was the last person I wanted to help me with anything.
The three women rushed over, smiling as if they’d been waiting for this moment their whole lives. I offered them a quick grin, while keeping my behind firmly planted in my seat.
The eldest one spoke, “Finally. What took you so long?”
Ben started to explain. “We just got back from visiting a friend in Hog’s Nest and-”
Lyra put her hand up. “Say no more. Maita is not your friend. I don’t think that woman is capable of being friendly. She’s a crook. That’s what she is. Why would you go see her?”
I responded immediately with, “I’m sorry, but I didn’t ask for your help; Ben did, so I don’t think it’s appropriate for you to comment on who I can and can’t be friends with.” It was time to throw Ben under the bus. He knew how I felt about these women. “Ben is having a problem with his ex-girlfriend. He was hoping you could help him.”
He scowled at me, but I didn’t care. He started it.
The women turned their attention to him.
I settled into my seat and listened as he tried to convince them that he didn’t need their help, but they weren’t listening. Talking over each other, they went into detail about what he had to do to mend his broken heart.
As I listened, I noticed that the skies were empty. I poked my head out the window but couldn’t see the vultures. They were gone. I was glad, but still found it strange that they seemed to have disappeared just as soon as they appeared. What did that mean?
I stepped out of the car, right behind the women, sure that the vultures had to be around somewhere.
“What’s wrong?” Ben asked, speaking over the sisters’ shoulders.
“They’re gone,” I said, still looking around for them.
One of the twins turned around to face me. “Are you missing something?”
I shook my head, making sure not to look her in the eyes again. “No.”
“Well, what are you looking for?” she asked, stepping closer to me.
I backed away from her. Who knew what kind of spell she’d try to put me under this time?
Ben asked, “What happened to the vultures?”
I looked over at him. “That’s what I’m trying to figure out!”
Lyra answered, “They’ll come back. They always do. Right now, we need to focus on healing him from the inside out. The rest will work itself out in the end.”
“The rest? What do mean?” I asked, even though I was afraid of what her response would mean.
She answered, “Evil only has power over you, if you let it. Just don’t let it. Simple as that.” She clapped her hands. I backed away further, expecting a flock of vultures to fall from the sky.
The twin - the one I suspected was Calliope - spoke directly to me in a low, soothing tone. “Believe that you’re stronger than you think you are. That’s the key.” Our eyes met briefly. I forced myself to look away from her, afraid of what she’d do to me. She turned her head to look at Ben. “And, you should call her. You’ll both feel better if you do.”
While Ben recovered from that statement, I checked my ringing cell phone.
“Hi, Mom,” I answered.
“Hi, honey.” She sounded upset. “Can you come home? We just received a phone call from Mr. Willis. He has a potential buyer, he wants to bring by this afternoon. We need to find somewhere else to live.”
Chapter Seven
Ben dropped me off, figuring my parents didn’t need an audience now. I rushed in through the front door, expecting to find them in tears, but instead there was music playing and they were dancing cheek to cheek in the living room.
“Um, what is going on? I thought you said to hurry and rush home,” I said, stopping to catch my breath.
Without missing a beat, my father proceeded to dip my mother, much to her delight, before answering my question. As my mother giggled and straightened her wayward curls atop her head, my father released her slowly and walked over to me, putting his arms around me to spin me onto their makeshift dance floor.
“Dance, honey. When life hands you lemons, you should dance.” My father spun me another time.
I stopped short, catching my leg on the coffee table. “What is happening here? Did I enter another dimension? Who are you people and what did you do with my parents?”
They giggled, falling onto the sofa next to each other.
I stood over them, rubbing my newly bruised shin. “Why did I have to rush home?”
My mother took a deep breath. “Sorry, honey. I didn’t mean to alarm you. Zephyr phoned your father earlier and told him that he has a potential buyer for the house.”
“How can he have a buyer if the house isn’t even his yet? That’s ludicrous!” Turning to my father, I said, “And, by the way, when you have lemons, you make lemonade, not start dancing around the house like a couple of-” I stopped myself before I said something I’d regret.
“Sweetheart, I know what the expression is. The point is I’m tired of feeling bad about this. What’s done is done and now all we can do is make the best of it. That’s why we’re dancing. Would you rather have us crying in a heap on the floor? I don’t think you would,” my father said.
I sat down, squeezing in between them. “No, of course I don’t want that. I get what you’re saying, but it still doesn’t make it right. I mean, this is our house. This is the house I was raised in. All my memories are in this house. We can’t just let him come in and take over.”
“He’s not taking over anything. Evil can only win if we let it,” my mother said, stroking my hair.
I jerked back. Why did I feel like I’d heard that too many times already?
“What is it, Melanie? Do you think your memories will disappear when we leave? I can guarantee you that they won’t,” my father said. “Those memories will go with you no matter wh
ere we live.”
Uh-oh. My mother must have broken the news to him that I’d lost my job.
“I get that, Dad. But the fact remains, Zephyr wants to take our house from us. How can you let him do that? Don’t you want to fight?” My eyes welled with tears.
My father sighed. “Melanie, part of me wants to fight, but what good would that do? I’d look like a fool. We need to focus on what’s important.” He hugged me.
“Don’t you think our lives are important?” I asked, noticing wrinkles had formed deep creases on my father’s face. I had to let it go and do something to make him feel better - make all of us feel a little better.
“What did you do today?” my mother asked me, changing the subject.
I looked at their faces, assessing whether it was safe to reveal what I’d learned in Hog’s Nest.
My father asked, “Where’s Benjamin? Weren’t you with him?”
I nodded. “Yes, I was, but he had some things to do. I’ll see him after he gets off work tomorrow. Tonight, I’ll hang out with my two-favorite people.” I leaned my head on my dad’s shoulder.
“Oh, I forgot to tell you,” my mother started. “Someone called for you earlier.” She stood up to retrieve the message she’d written down.
“They called for me?” I found that to be surprising. Most people would call my cell phone if they were looking for me. “Who was it?”
My mother handed the note to me. “I didn’t know you knew anyone in Hog’s Nest.”
My breath hitched. Why was she asking me about people in Hog’s Nest? What did she know?
I read the message.
“Does this say Maita?” I asked, hoping I’d suddenly developed vision problems because there was no reason for Miss Maita to call me, especially at my parent’s home. I never gave her their number.
“Yes, that’s what she said. I had her spell it for me just to be sure. This wouldn’t happen to be the Maita who claims to be a psychic, is it? I don’t know what in the world she would want with you. Why does she have our phone number?” My mother had always been inquisitive. She prided herself on her desire to learn about everything and everyone, but she had her limits. In this case, psychics were a hard limit for her.
“I don’t know her,” I said, just as confused by her call as my mother was. “What did she say?”
She pointed to the note. “Just what it says. She’d like you to call her back. What does she want with you? Is that where you and Ben ran off to today? I hope not. That woman is a fraud.”
I bit my bottom lip. It was a bad habit. I always did that when I’d gotten myself in over my head. My mother noticed it right away.
“Honey, what did you do? Please tell me you didn’t go see that woman,” she begged.
I shrugged.
My father exhaled slowly. I’m sure he had something to add to our little discussion but refrained because my mother appeared to be handling it quite well for the time being.
I waited her out, half-listening to her. The other part of my brain was focused on why Miss Maita called me. Did she forget to tell me something?
I was dying to know, but I didn’t want to let on that I had any kind of working relationship with her. My mother would lose it if she thought that. She wasn’t a yeller. That’s not what worried me. My mother was much more methodical. She had a way of letting you know when she didn’t approve, and she hammered her point repeatedly.
When it sounded like she’d finished, I chimed in with a question. “Did she sound upset or worried at all?”
My mother looked at me like I’d lost my mind. “Why would she sound that way? Do you mind filling me in on what you did today? I hope you didn’t pay this woman to give you her version of the truth? Why would you do that?”
I cringed, taking a seat next to the sofa. “Okay. It was no big deal really. Now, hear me out, please,” I started.
My parents exchanged concerned looks. They took their seats on the sofa, looking like I was about to break bad news to them. I wanted to laugh at their panicked expressions, but that would have been rude, so I closed my eyes for a moment and pushed that thought out of my mind.
“I went to Hog’s Nest to see her.” They gasped. “I had some questions for her. Now, I’m not saying I believe she’s a psychic or anything. Well, I didn’t at the time, but after hearing what she had to say, I think she might know what she’s talking about.”
My mother stood up. “No. No. And, no!” She stormed off in her own way, which consisted of cleaning as she went, grabbing coasters and placing them back in their designated place and removing this morning’s newspaper from a side table. My mother liked a tidy home.
My father and I waited politely before we giggled at her reaction. It was an unwritten rule in our home. Never laugh at my mother, no matter what she did. This was her coop. We were just allowed to live with her, is what my father always said.
After a moment of snickering, my father asked me, “What did Maita tell you?”
I moved to sit next to him, keeping my voice low so my mother wouldn’t overhear. “She told me a lot of interesting things. I don’t know what I expected, but when I got there, she blew my mind. She knew stuff… I mean, everything about what is happening here and about Ben’s breakup and-”
My father put his hand up to stop me. “Wait! She knew about the house and Zephyr?”
I nodded, feeling guilty for going to see Miss Maita in the first place. “Yes, she said that Zephyr did this to other people and that he couldn’t be trusted.”
My father’s face hardened. “Did you bring it up, or did she? How much information did you give her?”
I stammered, wracking my brain as I tried to remember exactly what had been said. “Um, no, well… yes… I-”
He rephrased the question. “Who mentioned Zephyr first? You or her?”
I thought back, unsure of who mentioned him first. I could see the urgency on my father’s face.
“I think, she did,” I said.
He furrowed his eyebrows.
I sat still, waiting for him to say something more.
“You can never go see her again. Do you understand?” He placed his hand on my forearm.
“What? Why not? What’s wrong?” I asked, chills running up my spine.
“She can’t be trusted,” he answered as he stood up, his fists balled up tightly. “Stay away from her and stay away from that town.”
I watched him walk out of the room, leaving me to wonder why neither of my parents liked Maita. A few minutes later, both emerged from the kitchen, somber looks on their faces.
“Mom?” I called out to her.
She looked at me, her eyes moistening. “Yes, honey?”
“Is everything okay? I didn’t know you felt so strongly about Miss Maita,” I said, searching their faces for clues as to what they were thinking.
My father placed his hand on my mother’s shoulder, squeezing it gently. “We know you didn’t. We hoped we’d never have to have this discussion.”
I swallowed the lump that formed in my throat as they walked out onto the porch together. Very few times in my life had I seen them look so serious. The last time was when my grandmother passed away, but as far as I knew now, no one had passed away.
My cell phone rang in my pocket. A picture of Ben illuminated on the screen. I took a deep breath and answered it.
“Hello,” I said.
“Hey, I’m on my way over. Do you have some time to talk, or are you busy?” Ben asked.
I sighed. “I don’t know. Can we do this later? Things are tense around here right now.”
The front door opened, and my dad yelled, “Benjamin’s here. He just pulled up.”
Ben said, “Too late.”
By the time, he walked inside, I was in the kitchen emptying the dishwasher.
“Hey, your mom and dad look like they’ve seen better days,” he said.
I turned around to face him.
He backed away. “Whoa! What’s going on? Who died
?”
I motioned for him to sit down on a stool by the counter.
“Things are bad. Really bad,” I said.
He had his laptop in his bag and set it up on top of the counter. “You have to see this.”
“Did you hear me?” I asked.
Ben typed something on the keyboard and turned the screen to face me. “Yeah, I heard you. Did you hear me?”
I wasn’t in the mood for a debate with Ben or anyone.
“Look,” he ordered me, pointing to the screen.
He had it open to a web page. I looked at it, but nothing stuck out to me.
“Read it, Melanie,” he implored me.
I sighed, exhausted from the day’s events. “What is it? Just tell me.”
Ben huffed. “Why are you so difficult?” After turning the screen to face him, he explained, “I did some research to see what I could find about reading minds and how that could be possible.”
I sat down next to him.
“Well, there’s a whole lot of junk that makes no sense, but when I typed in Hog’s Nest, I got tons of information.” Ben was practically jumping up and down with excitement.
I rolled my eyes.
“Don’t. Don’t do that. There’s some good stuff in here.” He typed something else in the search engine. “Look what pops up when I put Hog’s Nest in there.”
I reluctantly looked at the screen to appease him.
“Read it,” he demanded.
“I don’t feel like reading right now. Can you just get to the point?” I whined.
Frustrated, he read it to me. “On that night in the summer of 1979, they gathered together in Hog’s Nest, under the guise of inviting her to a celebration, but she never returned. Soon after, her family moved away, never to be heard from again. No one knows whatever became of Artemel and her family.”
Now, he had my attention. “Artemel? Who is that? What does this have to do with anything?”