by S. E. Akers
The school parking lot was packed with cars and lingering couples. It was even more crowded than the last dance. One good thing about the limo, we were dropped off right outside the gym entrance and didn’t have to walk a country-mile through the lot and up the hill in heels. Kara insisted the guys go stand in the long, winding line for pictures so we could get them out of the way. Though I suspected she wanted to hurry before her plastered-to-perfection “up-do” fell flatter than a pancake.
“Hold our spot,” Kara instructed. “We’ll be right back.” Kara ushered me to the girls’ bathroom, weaving me through a crowd of giggling classmates and their overly-obvious amused double-takes.
Kara threw her bag on a shelf above one of the sinks and pulled out her lipstick. “I can’t believe we both picked out the same dress,” she mumbled as she guided the cinnamon shade around her lips.
“Chalk it up to good taste,” I laughed.
“Do you want me to cover my ears?” Katie questioned. “I wouldn’t want to intrude on this Girl-Mance you two have going.”
“Awww… Is my date getting jealous?” I teased as I tried to keep my own crimson shade in-between the lines. “You know I only have ears for you.”
“Yeah…and I’m going to fill ’em too,” Katie vowed in a grumble.
“I guess Ms. Fitz was right,” Kara remarked as she patted her nose. She closed her compact with a loud snap and sidled beside me. “About giving someone a chance and finding something in common.”
“I guess she was,” I agreed as I stared at the symbolic midnight-blue evidence, even in spite of the abrupt gagging sound rattling in my head.
Kara looked at my reflection in the mirror. “You look even prettier than you did at the Homecoming Dance.” She gave her hair a few strategic flicks. “I may actually have some competition for Prom Queen.”
“Oh, I think you’ve got that in the bag,” I replied somberly as I fiddled with the fire opal on my bracelet.
“Shi, is something wrong?” Kara asked. “You look great. We’re both at the prom with two of the hottest guys in our class…and you look like you’re trying to have a good time.”
I glanced out the window, catching a good glimpse of the full moon. “I don’t know,” I evaded. “I guess my night’s simply missing that extra-special touch of magic.” I rolled my eyes and smiled to play off the heartbreak swelling in my chest. “That’s all.”
“The night’s young. Maybe you’ll find it?” Kara adjusted her cleavage with two boosts. “I know I’m planning on finding mine,” Kara cooed confidently. “Come on.”
“I’ll be right there,” I replied and nodded towards the stalls, still needing to take care of a little unfinished business.
Kara turned to leave, but I halted her with a curt, “Don’t ask Mike to dance…at least not for a while,” I suggested. “That’ll do the trick.”
“How long?” Kara posed eagerly.
“Turn him down even if y’all are standing on the stage wearing matching crowns. I think you’ll see a much meeker Mr. Riverside.” Kara flashed me an obedient wink and then bounced out of the bathroom.
“Not a word,” I warned Katie as I entered the stall.
“You sure dove into her scheme head-first,” Katie scoffed.
“I simply threw her a life-preserver. If things don’t work out, at least she’ll save face,” I contended. “He does like her…in his own screwy-way.”
“Oh, shut up and pee,” Katie groaned.
I’d officially answered my nature-call when a peculiar “squeak” captured my attention. It didn’t sound like the main door or any of the metal stalls. Weird, I thought as I reached for the toilet paper. Without warning, something swiftly ran across the tops of my shoes and continued its dash under the rest of the stalls.
“SHIT!” I screamed as I twisted about, balancing my jostled frame.
“What’s wrong?” Katie asked.
“Something’s IN HERE!” I huffed with a speedy wipe and threw open the door. I started at one end of the room and kicked open every stall. They were all empty. Nothing was in here, at least not anymore. I walked back to give the toilet a flush when a rush of cool night air breezed through the bathroom. I looked towards the window, which oddly was now open, to spot a trace of something small and fuzzy hopping out of it. I rushed over, scanning the scene outside vehemently.
“No,” I affirmed, squinting my eyes as I headed over to the bay of sinks.
“What?” Katie asked. “What is it?”
“Nothing,” I insisted. “I’m just seeing things I know aren’t there.”
“Has someone been hitting the Emerald Eyes again?”
“Not this time,” I stated firmly as I threw my clutch on the ledge. Since the soap dispenser was empty (typical), I reached over to the next one. That’s when something caught my eye. My gaze traveled over to one of the stainless steel ledges to my left. My eyes popped open quicker than a cork from one of Charlotte’s wine bottles on a Saturday night. Low and behold, there sitting on its gleaming surface was the little white stone that held the key to my best friend’s fate.
A howlite.
My hand hovered over the stone, too scared to touch it — too afraid it wasn’t real. I focused on the energy the howlite was radiating, feeling its power tingling my fingertips. One joyous tear struck the corner of my smile. It was real all right.
I snatched up the magical white stone, excited beyond belief. I whirled back around and hurried over to the open window. I wasn’t crazy after all. I did see precisely what I’d thought, and I knew from the manner in which it was delivered exactly who had left it. Though the “why” I couldn’t fathom. But right now, I couldn’t care less — even if by some remote chance it was a trap. There was a full moon, the fire opal was ready and waiting on my wrist, and now, I held a howlite in my hands that acted like supernatural GPS.
“Katie,” I called out in a serious and somber tone. “I’m leaving the prom.”
“No!” Katie protested. “You can’t! It’s our Senior Prom.”
I licked my lips into a smile. “You’re right. I’ll just save the howlite I’m holding in my hand until the next full moon. Our Senior Prom is WAY too important.”
“Y—You have a howlite?” Katie gasped.
“Yes,” I replied on the verge of more jubilant tears.
“It’s in your hand?”
“Yes. I just found it lying above the sink…waiting for you.”
“H—How?” Katie mumbled, her voice cracking.
“Does it matter?”
“It does if Ferrol left it and it’s a trap.”
“He didn’t leave it. That I’m sure of.”
Katie gulped, “How sure?”
“A hundred percent,” I said doubtlessly. “Katie?” I called out through her silence. “What do you want me to do?”
“Ditch your posse and get your sparkly ass out of there!”
I grinned. “That’s what I thought!”
No sooner than I’d grabbed my clutch and whirled around, Kara came prancing back into the bathroom.
“Come on, Shi. Mike and Ty are almost at the front of the line,” Kara announced. She spotted the stone in my hand. “What’s that?”
“The touch of magic my night needed,” I replied. “I can’t stay.”
“Where are you going?” Kara asked.
I shrugged my shoulders and smiled. “I’m not sure yet, but I have to go.”
I breezed past Kara, only to hear her cry out, “WAIT! You can’t go!” when I’d reached the door.
I turned around. “You can’t stop me, Kara. This is too important.”
“So is this,” Kara insisted. She whirled me around on the spot and yanked on the back of my dress. My eyes flew open when I heard the elastic band on my panties “snap”.
“The only thing I’m stopping you from, is marching out there with your ass showing,” Kara laughed.
Embarrassing, I cringed as I patted my rear.
Kara pointed to the
door. “Go,” she urged. “I’ll tell the guys…something?”
“Thanks,” I said in a grateful flush.
Kara grinned and pushed open the bathroom door. “What are friends for?”
I hurried down the corridor, weaving through what seemed like an endless maze of tuxedoes and long gowns trailing the floor. “We have to get to Bea’s,” I reminded Katie. “She’s a big part of this too, and we need your—” I cut myself off (for my own good).
“And we need my what?” Katie inquired.
“Nothing,” I replied as I threw open the double-doors.
“Shiloh Wallace, I can tell something’s up! You’re wearing my diamond. You have the fire opal. So, what else don’t you have that you need to get?” Katie demanded.
“Your hair,” I admitted as the night air whirled around my body. “To wrap around the stone. It has to be something personal of yours.”
“How the heck are you going to get that?” Katie laughed. “Break into my house and dig it out of my mother’s baby keepsake-box?”
“Umm, No…We kind of already have some,” I revealed just as speedy as I trotted down the steps.
“From where?” Katie inquired, sounding a little too thoughtful. It didn’t take long for her belt out a shrill gasp. “How much did that BASTARD CHOP OFF?”
“Not that much,” I insisted.
“Good,” Katie replied, sounding relieved.
“Any of the times,” I added in a wince. She was going to find out sooner or later — with any luck.
“WHAT!?!” Katie screamed. “That supernatural Son-of-a-Bitch scalped me bald, DIDN’T HE?!?”
“No!” I grunted. “Just calm down.”
“Easy for you to say, pony-tail!”
A shrill whistle shot through the night air, strangely directed at me. I whirled around to find Beatrix, leaning casually against the rock retaining wall.
“And where pray tell are you headed, my dear?” Beatrix asked. “The prom is back that way.”
“To your house…to get you,” I replied. I held up the howlite. “And to find Katie.”
Beatrix looked up at the moon. “I see.” She stepped closer and examined the little white tumbled stone, inspecting every last one of its gray veins. She then gave the fire opal on Gallia’s bracelet a confident flick. “To quote a dear friend of ours, what do you say ‘we crack this egg’?”
“You read my mind,” I affirmed with a smile.
“Unless you want your friend to walk home, we’ll need to take a car,” Beatrix assessed.
“I’ll run back to your house and get mine.”
“Not necessary,” Beatrix claimed with a brisk wave. “Wait right here.”
“But we need to get her—” The flow of my words dwindled as I watched Beatrix pull something out of her pocket. “Hair,” I finished, totally taken aback. “How did you know to bring that?” I yelled out.
Beatrix flaunted the bound locks in the air like a trophy. “You should know by now that I always think of everything,” the Golden Topaz Talisman bragged as she disappeared into the sea of cars.
No shit, I agreed. Within a minute, a pair of unmistakable headlights screeched to a stop in front of me.
The sharp lines of the car gleamed under the outdoor floodlights. Speechless, I eyed the sleekness of the pristinely-polished black ’63 split-window Corvette from its thrusting front to its sculpted signature rear end. Beatrix hopped out and walked around to the passenger-side.
“Here, my dear,” Beatrix said as she threw me the keys. “You’re practically foaming at the mouth. It’s not very lady-like.”
“Where did you get this?” I stopped my hand before I touched the shiny chrome handle. “You didn’t steal it, did you?”
“Heavens no!” Beatrix exclaimed.
That was all I needed to hear. I slid right in and cranked its thunderous engine.
“I borrowed it…from Tanner,” Beatrix added as she plopped down into the leather bucket seat.
“This is HIS?” I asked. “He’s here?”
“Somewhere,” Beatrix remarked with a blasé look out the window. “But he’s not here now, and we don’t have a second to waste. Day late, dollar short, my dear. You snooze, you lose. Need I go on?” Beatrix wrapped Katie’s hair around the howlite. Immediately, it started to emit a faint glow. The Golden Topaz Talisman extended her finger. “Northeast. The closer we get to her, the more the light inside the stone will intensify. The brighter, the better.”
“But, shouldn’t we find Tan—”
“Punch it,” Beatrix ordered straightaway. Not a second later, she shot a blast of air at the gas pedal. Off we went, squealing out of the parking lot with the glow of a supernatural stone charting our course. Despite not knowing “where” we were headed or “what” would be waiting for us down the road, one thing was certain about our journey — with the aid of this speedy chariot, combined with Bea’s invisibility spell, I was planning on haulin’ ass THE ENTIRE WAY!
Chapter 29 — Hellhole Cave
Adhering to Welch’s 25 mph speed limit proved to be let’s say, “challenging”. I rested the sole of my shoe as gingerly as possible on the gas pedal while I grappled with an insatiable desire to slam the daggone thing to the floor. And that wasn’t my only appendage in need of some restraint. My right hand gripped the gearshift like one of those springy stress-balls and hadn’t budged since we’d pulled onto the road. Even it had a bad case of itchy trigger-finger. There was a heck of a lot more than just the 360 factory-issued horses corralled underneath this Stingray’s hood (Oh, I could tell!). It simply added to the excitement already bouncing around the interior and made my need-for-speed much, much worse. For the first time (in a VERY long while), I felt like all the stars had finally aligned. And there sure were enough of them peppering the clear night sky. I’d never seen so many tiny white specks twinkling against a canvas of melded dark blue hues, trying to compete for the attention of the moon’s hypnotic glare. Without a doubt, this was “the night” and that was my bosom friend’s full moon hanging up there, calling her home.
Katie’s moon…
There was only one half-mile straight-stretch of road in our entire county, and it just happened to be up ahead after my next hard left curve. As soon as the tires had evened out, I arched my foot until the tips of my toes dug into the rubber mat. I’d already hit 135 mph when Beatrix smacked my arm and whirled a gust of air that blew my foot slick off the gas pedal.
“If I had wanted to fly… I would have,” Beatrix remarked and locked her seatbelt securely in place.
I frowned playfully as I slowed to a side-seat driver compliant 55. “Is that necessary?” I teased. “Even with your stone?”
“Around these curves and at your speed? Humph! Anyone’s defenses would be compromised,” she huffed. Beatrix shook her head and flashed me a grin like a woman sitting on a park bench watching a kid taking their first carousel ride. “Oh, just get us to wherever we’re headed in one-piece.”
“Where do think that is?” I asked.
“Your guess is as good as mine,” Beatrix remarked, looking equally as puzzled. I noticed her giving the glowing howlite several pensive tosses. It seemed my speed wasn’t the only thing on her mind. “You know, you failed to mention how you came across our guide,” she hinted. “I’m very curious as to how a howlite happened to miraculously come into your possession…tonight?”
I kept my eyes fixed on the highway. “You didn’t ask,” I evaded.
“I’m asking now.”
I knew this conversation was inevitable, but I’d kind of hoped we’d be further down the road. “I can’t tell you,” I said.
“Can’t…or won’t?” Beatrix proposed.
“That one,” I asserted with a definitive nod.
Beatrix shifted around in her seat. “And why is that?”
“Because I don’t think you’ll be fond of the answer.”
My now bursting-with-curiosity mentor scooted closer. “Try me,” she cooed.
“No thanks,” I replied without the slightest blink. The stunned look that had hardened on her softly wrinkled face was hard to miss. So were the pelting invisible pangs her throbbing pupils were shooting my way. “It’s not fun being in the dark, is it?” I goaded.
Beatrix leaned back in her seat, making herself extra-comfy with an exaggerated stretch of her legs. “You’ll spill it…eventually. The stone has hardly reached its climax, so that means our trip is far from over. Personally, I’m pulling for your unfailing need to accommodate the ones who you care for and that guilty conscience of yours.”
I accepted my mentor’s challenge with a cocky smile that mirrored the boldness in her tone. Not this time.
All of a sudden, a voice started squawking, “GUILTY CONSCIENCE! GUILTY CONSCIENCE!”, which jerked me into a tire-screeching swerve. Once I’d steered the car safely back on the road, I glanced over to see Beatrix pulling Mr. Webber out from underneath her coat.
“I thought you were ‘changing him back’ tonight?” I questioned.
Beatrix glanced out the window. “The night’s not over, my dear,” the Golden Topaz Talisman replied as she stroked his feathers.
“Why did you bring HIM?”
“I couldn’t leave the little fellow at home…all alone,” Beatrix replied with a few kissy-sounds. “He would miss me.”
Oh, that’s not the least bit warped, I thought. Beatrix reached over to set him down on the center of the sleek dashboard. No sooner than he had landed, Mr. Webber made himself a little too “at home”.
“Mr. Webber!” Beatrix fussed as she cleaned up his mess with a swipe of her handkerchief. “We won’t tell Tanner about that,” she ordered. “He would throw you to a pack of alley cats for sure.”
“GUILTY CONSCIENCE!” the parakeet shrieked again.
I might too. “Can you do something with him? Please?” I asked.
“My dear, is there something wrong?”