by Jones, L. A.
“Hola,” Roy greeted the group. “Aradia, these are my Uncles Jesus and Timothy and my Aunt Lupe. Everybody, this is my, uh, friend, Aradia.”
“Hello, Aradia,” Mr. Morales said warmly, putting down his knife and wiping his hands on a clean towel. He grabbed Aradia and brought her in for a hug. “So nice to see you outside the diner!”
“Likewise,” Aradia replied, surprised by the embrace, but not put off.
“Come!” one of the uncles commanded, gesturing at a variety of finger food from various plates scattered all over the table.
"I wouldn’t want to spoil my dinner," Aradia replied, trying not to sound antagonistic.
They looked at her in silent observation. Oh yeah, Aradia thought to herself, taking the opportunity to study Roy’s family right back, they are definitely Roy's relatives.
Although they were Hispanic, Guatemalans had a different body type and build than other Central Americans. Their skin was more honey brown in their complexion and much more well built. Aradia's eyes bulged a bit when she saw as they moved about the kitchen how big they all were. As almost as big as Roy, she thought. She stared at all of them observing the facial structures and even the body language they shared with him. Most of them, however, the Morales family had an amazing, innocent gleam in their eyes which made them all more similar to Al.
Apparently one of them, she wasn’t sure if it was Timothy or Jesus, had more in common with Al than Roy. His voice was that same silky soft one as he stated, "You should get used to having all this food around if you’re going to spend time with Reynaldo. You obviously have no idea how much we werewolves are capable of eating."
"Plus we are Latino," he added, "we love to cook!"
"I’m kind of new to all this,” Aradia acknowledged, “but one thing strikes me as odd, if you don’t mind my saying. I’d think that because you are known as the hidden race, you would be more hesitant to use the ‘double u’ word to some random stranger."
The guy just smirked and said, "We would be. We are. But you are not a random stranger. I know who you are."
"You do?" Aradia asked, confused.
"We all do. You are Reynaldo's girlfriend,” he replied, “The last witch."
Aradia knew she would need to adjust to receiving such a reaction, but for now, it was new to her. She quickly grew uncomfortable. Aradia half hoped, half expected Roy would say something to save the day.
When he did not, she took a deep breath, and said, "With all due respect, sir, I am not Reynaldo...I mean Roy's girlfriend. I am his friend and a girl, which is very different than a girlfriend. Two, how do you know the last witch part?"
"I think all the hiddens in Salem know who you are. You being here, it’s big news. Hearing what you did to that Caradoc guy, that made you definitely an enigma, but a real witch, here in Salem? It’s like finding out there’s a dinosaur at the local zoo. Stories about you have spread like wildfire.”
She lowered her eyes to the ground.
“Timothy,” Mr. Morales chided. “Silencio.”
Abashedly, Roy’s uncle added, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything. Powers like yours are very, very uncommon. I’d have thought you’d be proud. You must realize how curious people will be."
“It’s practically gone viral on Facebook,” Roy added hesitantly.
“What?” Aradia exclaimed.
“In private groups,” Roy amended, as if that made it better. “Only to hiddens.”
Aradia briefly considered learning enough computer science to create a nasty virus.
She sighed heavily, then turned to look at the woman who was cooking. She’d been so absorbed into the conversation with Timothy that this was the first good look she had gotten at Lupe’s face.
She then instantly cried out, "Oh my God!" and clamped her hands over her mouth.
The woman's eye drooped lazily, and angry red scars criss-crossed from her brow to her chin like the surface of Europe. Deep, grotesque teeth marks dotted the woman's left cheek sick and her lips were torn and ripped like the gristle left over from a fatty cut of steak. Her right ear was pointy at the top as if most of it had been bitten clean off. What was left of it limped desperately to hold the earring she was wearing in place. Perhaps the most off-putting feature of all was her beautiful, inky black hair which swirled down past her shoulders magnificently like a cartoon princess.
Deathly silence claimed the room. Again, all eyes were on Aradia, this time with great tension.
"That," Aradia said, pausing for dramatic effect. "Has got to be the most magnificent pair of earrings I have ever seen."
She then walked right up to the woman and deliberately reached out to the one that was hanging from the damaged ear.
The woman smiled, which made her look even more grotesque.
This time Aradia did not stumble.
"Where on earth did you buy these?" She continued. "They are so beautiful! I would love to find a pair for my mother."
The woman chuckled and said, "Actually, I made these."
"Seriously?" Aradia said with a gasp, not even feigning her surprise. "Even better! My mom can have a birthday gift that is not only beautiful, but unique in the world. Do you think I can buy a pair from you?"
“I never really thought about selling them,” she replied shyly. “I mostly just make them for fun.”
“I’ll be your first client then,” Aradia insisted.
"Maybe I will think about it," Lupe teased.
Aradia laughed, and the woman joined in. By now the uncles had returned to their snacking, Roy’s dad was cooking once more, and Roy was standing nearby somewhat awkwardly, giving the girls a degree of privacy.
"I am Aradia by the way."
"I know,” Lupe said with an apologetic smile as she took Aradia’s hand. “It’s nice to formally meet you. I am Lupe."
“I know,” Aradia replied back, taking the proffered hand. With sudden inspiration, Aradia raised an eyebrow and asked, "Hey, doesn’t Lupe mean 'wolf' in Spanish?"
"No," the woman replied sheepishly. “That’s ‘lobo.’ But it does mean ‘wolf’ in Latin, and my name is actually Guadalupe, meaning Wolf River.”
"Well in that case... boy! Are you and your husband written in the stars or what?”
She chuckled. It was a small laugh, but an honest one, and Aradia breathed a sigh of relief.
All in all, Aradia was having a good time at the barbecue. After Roy had introduced her to everyone in attendance, which took about half an hour on its own, she enjoyed joking with and charming them. Of course, Roy grinned with pride as he watched her having fun.
Most of the event took place in their giant backyard. They’d even set up folding tables for food and drink. With how wonderful everything looked and smelled, Aradia couldn’t resist digging in.
She even played with Roy's younger brothers Johnny and Robbie, who were six and nine, respectively. When she asked Johnny if he liked dinosaurs, he pouted and answered, "I like bugs."
Robbie was cute too, but in a stranger way.
When Aradia tried to strike up a conversation with him, the first thing he said to her was, "I see dead people."
“Wow, that’s incredible,” Aradia replied, shocked. “Is that a normal werewolf thing, or are you a special werewolf? Or, oh my gosh, are you something else entirely?”
"No," Robbie answered uncertainly, the shadow of a smirk on his face. "I just say that to freak grown-ups out. Did you really believe me?"
“No,” Aradia lied. “Okay, yes. I’m kind of new to this whole hidden thing. For a long time I thought I was the only one.”
Robbie threw his head back cackling and ran off to play with his other cousins at the tree line.
"Apparently Al is not the only one in this family who can be both charming and obnoxious," Aradia observed.
Roy, hearing this, frowned and said, "You think Al is charming?"
"Yeah," Aradia replied, "I also think he is obnoxious."
Roy smiled at that while Al, who had
just walked into earshot, did not.
Aradia had to admit she liked hanging out with Roy and his family, but she couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that this was their first technical date. Try as she might to just enjoy herself, Aradia kept analyzing the chemistry between them.
Roy was sweet, no doubting that but she was already getting tired of his overprotectiveness, though. Even here at his family's BBQ, if he didn’t have his arm around her, he was holding her hand or hugging her or doing something to show everyone who saw them that she was with him. At first she thought it was cute, but Aradia liked her independence.
Yet, she really did have fun, with Roy and with his family. She realized it was a bold move going straight for the family dinner date. If she’d crashed and burned, it would have been a big hurdle for Roy to overcome. Instead, though, if she broke up with him now, she’d be breaking up with a whole pack of pretty cool people.
In spite of all the fun she had, at the end of the day, Aradia was still confused, even more confused than before. She had no idea what she was going to do.
Chapter Six
After the cookout, Aradia was tired but happy, not to mention extremely full. In fact, when Roy walked her to her door she was still giggling like a giddy schoolgirl.
Roy put a finger to his lips. "Shh! You’ll wake your parents!"
Aradia cocked her head to the side. "Roy, I went out on a date today. My parents would have stayed up the entire night sitting next to the phone."
"Seriously?" Roy asked, sounding perplexed.
"I am their only daughter, you know? And try as I might to put it behind me, they still remember that party I snuck off to.”
Roy smiled. “I remember that too. I had fun dancing with you.”
Aradia winced a little inside. Roy didn’t realize part of why she’d danced with him was to get under Dax’s skin.
“Anyway, as much as parents would like to, I bet, they can't take out insurance policies on their kids behavior. I have to wonder, if my parents can't get over half a million dollars if I don't come home, then what is the point of having a kid at all?"
Roy just looked at her and shook his head.
She added, “Besides, it’s only eight o’clock.”
Even walking very, very slowly, by then they had reached Aradia's front door. She was just about ready to say good night and goodbye when she looked up into Roy's face, and the world seemed to stand still.
"Rai-Rai," Roy began with a sigh, "have you ever been kissed before?"
"Yes," Aradia answered without missing a beat.
Roy looked disappointed, even hurt, but gathered his courage again and asked, "Who?"
"Promise not to get angry?" Aradia asked cautiously.
Roy nodded, even though he sensed he would not like the answer.
"Dax. I kissed Dax," Aradia answered.
Roy wondered if it was too late in the night to find some heavy traffic so he could throw himself into the middle of it.
"But it wasn't a real kiss," Aradia explained further.
"Huh?" No matter how he felt, Roy sounded more confused than upset or angry. "What do you mean? What is a real kiss?"
“It was actually your doing, mostly,” Aradia added, which further confused Roy’s feelings. “After you told me about finding my blood in the hospital, I needed to know more about Dax’s true intentions.”
“So you made out with him?”
“I didn’t make out with him! You told me that some vampires have certain mental powers. I… well, I do too, and I thought I might be able to get more intel if I caught Dax off guard.”
"So wait, are you saying you can read minds?" Roy asked.
Aradia shook her head. “No, not really. But I can root around in someone’s mind. I don’t always get what I’m looking for, and it’s hard to make sense of anything inside someone else’s head. But I can poke around a little, especially if the person’s off balance.”
Roy gulped and asked, "So, you could, uh, poke around in my head?"
"Probably," said Aradia.
Roy blanched, causing Aradia to giggle and say, "Don’t worry, I am not doing it now. It’s really hard, and it’s not something I’m very good at. I haven’t practiced much, at least, mostly for privacy concerns. I only read minds when I need to, or when I really, really want to and can’t stop myself."
"When you need to?" Roy repeated.
"Yeah like when I think I am being tricked, or someone really does not like me, and Christmas time." Aradia chuckled, but Roy remained pale.
"So," he began, "You can tell how I feel about you?"
"Yes," Aradia stated. “But not from reading your mind.”
Roy was confused and asked, "What do you mean?"
"First, if you like me, I would rather you just say so," Aradia then smiled. “Second, you aren’t exactly keeping much secret, here.”
Roy smiled back and for the moment, the two of them stood together in their own enchanted romantic silence.
Roy spoke first, "Well, since the kiss you shared with Dax was not real, I think that you need to have another one. A real one. To see how great a real kiss can be."
He then grinned widely.
Aradia took a deep breath, then pushed him away slightly and asked, "Roy, have you ever kissed anyone?"
Reluctantly, he shook his head.
"Well," Aradia began, "you are about to."
She then stood on her tiptoes, slipped her hands around Roy's neck, and pulled him into a kiss. Roy responded eagerly, wrapping his arms around her waist, and pulling her tight against him. It was hard for Aradia to believe that this was Roy's first kiss, especially when he thrust his tongue into her mouth.
It was funny to her how people on TV seemed to enjoy such a thing, because Aradia found it disgusting. Roy's kiss was hot and tender, and she enjoyed the passion, but it started to feel like she was being gagged. As the kiss progressed, it became less and less like romance and more and more like trying to hold back a wild animal during its mating season. It was all she could do to stop herself from pushing Roy away using her full strength, which she imagined would land him on the hood of his truck.
If it had gone much longer, she might have let herself throw him. Finally, though, he broke the kiss, taking a deep breath.
Aradia seized the brief opportunity by kissing him lightly on the cheek and saying quickly, "Thanks Roy, I had a wonderful time." She slipped into her house before he could reply.
With her back pressed against the door, she waited to hear Roy drive off. Eventually she heard his truck rumble to life, followed several moments later by the squeal of his tires as he sped off. Aradia worried about whether escaping as she’d done had made him angry, but she didn’t regret it. She pressed her hand against her forehead, ran forward, and slumped over the back of the couch.
"Geez," she finally murmured, folded over, hanging on the sofa. "Most girls deal with boys and their hormones... I’ve got a werewolf and his hormones!"
“My…” Morgan intoned. Her voice seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere, an echo with no source. It was a strange sound, regardless of there being no one there to hear it.
Her orb glowed deeply, matching in depth her resolve and concentration. Her green flesh was a stark contrast to the metallic red of her staff. “A backwards ripple, catching up finally with its opposite.” She opened her inner eye and the world melted away. She was connected to reality, to magic itself. It was just her, then just the question.
“Ah…” she said with great pleasure. “Finally. After all these years. To finally unravel the workings of the spell…”
Her outer eyes shot open, and the orb reverted to its normal murkiness.
“I’ve finally deciphered how they sent you forward,” she said, dropping a tattered, bloody jacket to the ground.
After being debriefed about her date with her parents, Aradia slowly made her way to her bedroom. She changed into her nightclothes and crawled into bed. After her day she was looking forward to a
solid night’s sleep full of rest and free from confusion.
She had no such luck, for as soon as consciousness departed her, she was plagued by dreamy conflict. She was standing on a beach, caressing and being caressed by a handsome werewolf. He was in human form, but not completely. His face was subtly elongated and his joints bent at angles which were just slightly incorrect for a human. He held her and kissed her while waves rolled and crashed and the hot sun blazed down. He growled menacingly, frightening off creatures at the corners of her vision and mind.
The blazing sun fell into the sea. Suddenly it was dark, and though she could hear the human-werewolf’s howls, she could no longer see it. Instead, glowing softly like gently illuminated ivory, a vampire breezed into her view. The growls were very faint now, and she realized the werewolf was no longer holding her. Her eyes adjusted to the dark, and she could once again see the ocean swell and crash. The vampire was around her now, holding her gently in his cool arms, and they danced in the moonlight. Lifting her chin with his fingers, he then kissed her softly and tenderly, as if she were a doll and he was afraid she might break.
She awoke physically rested, but more emotionally conflicted than ever. She had to force herself just to smile at Roy as he passed her in the hallway.
In second period Biology, Aradia was partnered with Dax, as usual. She expected him to bombard her with questions and randomly drop witty, acid-like comments about Roy. He surprised her, though. Not only did he not mention the date, but his behavior was just as casually polite as always. Aradia wasn’t sure what that meant, and she flip-flopped between relieved and disappointed.
She wanted to take a look inside his mind, but she knew the only chance she’d have at success would be catching him off guard. Kissing him in the middle of class would probably do the trick, but it might get her more attention than she really wanted.