Fire And Ash

by Nia Davenport

  I see a flash of gray fur in the distance between two trees behind her. Derek sees it too. He starts in its direction at the same time I do. There is nothing in the area when we get there and we continue deeper into the trees looking for it. But woods stretch on for miles on three of the four sides around us and it could have gone in any direction. There is no sound being carried on the wind or rustling of the leaves covering the floor to tell us which direction to pursue it in.

  “Hey,” the Laurel Springs Police Chief shouts. “You kids shouldn’t be out here. We already have one dead tonight from an animal attack. We don’t need to add you to the list too. Go on and get out of here.”

  When we get back to the bonfire the police have cleared most of everybody out. Matt and Cassie are already gone. I text her to make sure she is okay and she responds that she is almost to her house. She’ll see us when we get there.

  ******

  “Ash,” Cassie whispers waking me up.

  I fell asleep talking on the couch with Derek about how odd it is that two people from school were both mauled by animals recently. Wild animal sightings are not necessarily uncommon around Laurel Springs, but I can never remember there being an attack. If you include our encounter with the wolf at the lake, it makes three incidents within 4 weeks of each other. The pattern makes both of us uncomfortable, but we can’t really explain why. It’s not rogue phoenix behind it. They kill their victims by ritualistically burning them alive. They believe it is the only way the Fire God will accept them as sacrifices.

  “Go away Cass,” Derek mumbles pulling me tighter against him. His body is warm and inviting and it feels like heaven lying against it.

  “Shut up Derek,” Cassie whispers. I sleepily wonder if we are both awake now why she still does. “Ash, I was waiting to tell you something but you never came upstairs.”

  “So tell me now,” I say still half asleep. “Umm.” Derek’s shirt is unbuttoned and my cheek is against his bare chest. My hands take on a mind of their own and run themselves along the smooth skin pulled tight over toned muscles beneath them.

  Derek makes this noise that leaves me feeling flushed and then kisses me.

  “Ash!” Cassie hisses stopping us short. “I can’t tell you in front of him. Come upstairs.”

  “Can’t it wait until the morning,” I grumble. I want to wake up about as much as I want to move from out of Derek’s arms. And that kiss…I could really use another kiss like that to fall back asleep too.

  “No.” Cassie tugs on my arm pulling me away from Derek just as I am about to press our lips together again.

  “I hate you right now,” I grudgingly tell her as I allow her to pull me up.

  “That makes two of us,” Derek growls.

  “Whatever,” Cassie says. “Ash can come back in a minute and you two can get back to making me not ever want to sit on the sofa again.”

  ******

  “What is so important?” I plop down on Cassie’s bed.

  She sits crosslegged in front of me. “I had sex with Matt tonight.”

  Wait?! What?! My mind sputters fully awake. “When?! After Trey?!”

  Cassie blanches. “God no! That would be weird… and insensitive. It happened after the dance before we got to the bonfire. It’s why we got there a little bit after you guys.”

  “Oh. So it was in the back of his truck?”

  She blushes pink. “Yeah.”

  “Okay,” I say because I have a policy that started with Becca not to judge my friends. Even when I disagreed with the things she did I respected that they were her choices to make.

  “Is that bad?” She asks me.

  I don’t judge, but I don’t lie to my friends either. “I think your first time could have happened somewhere better than the back of Matt’s truck.” And I think he’s an ass for letting it happen there, I don’t add.

  “Did he pressure you?” I ask. “Because I will fu-“

  “No,” Cassie rushes to cut me off. She blushes again. “I think I might have sort of pressured him. It obviously wasn’t his first time but he was actually trying to be sweet about mine. But I’m seventeen and I like him a lot and I figured why not.”

  Oh okay. That is not at all what I would have ever guessed. I also don’t think why not is a good enough reason to have sex with somebody, much less lose your virginity to them, but again it was Cassie’s choice to make so I don’t say what I think to her. I would have if she had told me she was considering it before hand but saying it now is pointless. It might only make her feel bad about something that has already happened.

  “Were you safe?”

  “God Ash you sound like Mom now,” she groans. “Yes we used a condom.”

  “And how do you feel about it now?” I ask her.

  She thinks about the question for a moment. “I feel…the same I guess. It wasn’t what I thought it would be, but it wasn’t bad either.”

  “Do you regret it?”

  “No. Like I said I sort of pressured him. It was something I wanted to experience.”

  She doesn’t hesitate with her answer making me feel better about the situation.

  “Have you are Derek h-?”

  I cut her off before she can finish the question. “No, we have not.”

  She arches an eyebrow at me. “Really? That’s not what it looked like on our couch.”

  Seriously Cass?! Are we really having this conversation about your uncle. “No, we really haven’t,” I reiterate to her. “I’ve thought about it. And Derek told me tonight he thinks about it all the time, but he said we can take things as slow or as quick as I want to. I think I’d like to take things slow. I mean it’s Derek who had the parade of randoms over the summer that we are talking about. I don’t want to be like one of them.”

  “You’re already not like one of them. Derek has never had a girlfriend. Ever. And he sure as hell has never done things like go to football games and dances and to parks to see fireworks displays with a girl or anybody for that matter.”

  “Derek does all of that for you not me,” I tell her.

  Cassie looks at me like I’m out of my mind. “Derek does not do those things for me. Believe me. I’ve tried a lot of times in the past two years to get him to act normal again after Dad’s and Bethany’s deaths. Regardless of how much I’ve pestered him about being more social he has never caved. We moved so much because Derek would get into fights and get expelled. He’s how he is now because of you not me. He participates in things because I badger you into doing them and he comes along because you do.”

  Cassie’s words stun me. I figured Derek was just being supportive of Cass wanting to be normal. The truth makes me feel something I can’t put into words but it’s nice and I like it.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Instincts

  “Skinwalkers are a Navajo legend. The Navajo think them to be accomplished medicine men or witches who reach the highest level of priesthood but elect to use the powers they gain when doing so for evil. To become skinwalkers they must kill a close relative. Then they gain immense magical powers that include the ability to shapeshift into any animal they choose. Once they kill it, they can take on its form. The most feared or revered animals in Navajo mythology are usually their choice: coyotes, crows, wolves, owls, foxes. It’s rare, but some are powerful enough to even change into the skin of other humans. When they shapeshift it is for the singular purpose of inflicting pain. In their animal forms they appear larger than their natural counterparts and are marked by red glowing eyes. They are fierce, vicious and bloodthirsty. There is no creature more feared in Native American folklore than the skinwalker.”

  Mr. Cordero concludes class with a Native American myth like he always does when he has assigned reading as homework for the night. It is his uncanny way of getting us to actually do it. Surprisingly it works with most of us. The stories are always about the Native American people our reading is over and they are just intriguing enough to make us read the boring source material.

/>   The bell rings and Mr. Cordero reminds everyone of the homework on their way out the door.

  I ease out of my desk, standing on shaky legs. I walk down the 400s hall still feeling unsteady and veer off into the bathroom between it and the 300s.

  Someone is crying hysterically in one of the stalls. It sounds suspiciously like Daniella.

  I knock on the stall. “Are you okay?” I ask the person.

  “A...Ash?” Daniella’s voice comes through the door in between sobs, confirming that it is her.

  “Yes, it’s me. Are you okay?”

  “N…no.”

  “What’s wrong?” I ask her realizing belatedly that it’s a dumb question. It was only two days ago that she found her boyfriend mauled by an animal at the bonfire.

  “It’s…it’s…Trey,” she says.

  “I’m sorry about Trey. I know it sucks. But it will get better.” I struggle for the right things to say. Apparently, I’m horrible at consoling people. “My mom… I found her dead when I was six. It was traumatic but I eventually got over it. My dad took me to talk to somebody and it helped. Maybe you should see about talking to somebody too?”

  “Th-…That’s…That’s…not…wh-…what’s…wrong?”

  “Then what it is?” I ask her.

  Her breathing becomes more rapid and I hear her gasping for air. It sounds like she is hyperventilating.

  “Daniella,” I tell her sternly. “Open the door. Let me help you.”

  Her gasps become louder.

  “Daniella!” I yell. “You need to calm down. I am going to start counting to twenty. Count with me okay?”

  It helped me at six when I’d wake up from the nightmare memory. I still have to do it sometimes when the dream wakes me up in a particularly violent manner.

  “One…two…three…four…” By the time I get to ten her breathing has calmed and she’s not struggling for breaths any more. By thirteen she starts counting with me. After twenty the lock on the stall clicks and she opens its door.

  “Better?” I ask her.

  “No,” she shakes her head as she says the words.

  “Do you want to talk about it?”

  “You won’t believe me.” She looks like she is on the verge of hyperventilating again.

  I take her hand and gently tug her out of the stall. “I would believe more than you know. And I promise not to judge only listen.”

  She nods her head meekly. She takes a deep breath then speaks. “Ever since Saturday,” she begins hesitantly. “I’ve been seeing Trey. Or something that looks like Trey. My parents took me home after the police were done with their questions. I was in the bathroom when I heard something beneath the window. I don’t know why, but I went to look out of it. I swear I saw Trey standing below it. I blinked and when I opened my eyes he was gone. Then Sunday in the middle of the night the same thing happened. Only I thought I saw him outside my bedroom window. And today during seventh period I left Hamilton’s to come to the restroom and I thought I saw him at the other end of the long stretch of hallway that leads from the 300s to the 400s. I came in here and fell apart. Please don’t tell anybody about this. My dad is the principal and things always get back to him. My parents will make me go to Bellhaven for evaluation. My grandmother is there. She’s been there for years. They say she has paranoid schizophrenia and that it can be genetic. He and my mom are always watching me for signs that I suffer from the same disease as her. If they hear about this they will say I’m just like her, but it’s not true. I’m not crazy. I swear I’m not! It’s him I’m seeing!”

  I grab her by the shoulders before she can fall apart again and force her to look at me. “It’s okay,” I tell her. “I believe you.”

  “You..you do?” She asks. “Why?”

  Because when Cordero was telling us about the skinwalkers today and he mentioned the red glowing eyes this prickly feeling came over me that left the hairs on the back of my neck standing up.

  “Listen Daniella,” I tell her deciding to go with the truth. My logic is cruel, but she’s too afraid of her parents thinking that she is crazy to repeat what I’m going to say. “You have Cordero’s Native American Culture elective for fifth period right?”

  She shakes her head yes.

  “Did he tell your class about the skinwalkers at the end?”

  She shakes her head again, but more guarded this time.

  “I know I will probably sound crazy when I’m saying this and you probably won’t believe it, but I don’t think Trey was killed by an animal. I think…I think Cordero’s skinwalker legend may be true and Trey was killed by one of them.”

  Which means Camille was too and that that is what really attacked Derek and me by the lake. Ever since Cordero’s mention of it, I keep seeing the red eyes of the abnormally massive wolf that came out of the trees. It’s the reason why I ducked into the bathroom in the first place. I needed to feel the cold splash of water against my face to get a grip.

  Daniella looks at me startled then nods her head. “I believe you. And I know the skinwalker legend is true. Just like I know the thing I keep seeing is one of them in Trey’s skin.”

  Wait?! What?! How does she know that?

  My arms drop from her shoulders and I take a weary step backwards. I grip my messenger bag that has the silver knives in it.

  “I’m not one of them,” Daniella rushes out sensing my unease. “My grandmother is Navajo. When I was younger and she lived with us she used to tell me stories about the priests that turned skinwalkers. I never believed them. I thought they were just creepy Navajo bedtime stories. I got the feeling that they weren’t when I saw Trey being attacked by the wolf. His eyes were bloodshot red and I swear it was like it wasn’t thinking like an animal. The way it moved, the calculated way it tore at Trey’s chest to kill not maim, and the way it sensed you and Derek coming and ran off was done in a way that can only be described as human. It was rational and thinking when it did those things. The first time I saw Trey I thought okay maybe I’m just tripping after seeing him die. This is normal. The second time I thought the same thing. But today, I know something was really there that looked like him. It looked right at me when I looked at it. It smiled at me like it was mocking me. It started towards me but the bell rang and it disappeared.”

  “Okay,” I say trying to process and make sense of everything. “Okay.” “Do you think it’s after you?”

  Daniella looks like she is about to cry again. “Yes.”

  “It’s okay.” It’s really not, but I can try to help make it okay. “I can’t tell you how, but I think I can help. I need to talk to somebody about this first and figure out what exactly to do. Did your grandmother’s stories ever tell you how to kill a skinwalker?”

  “No.” Daniella says. “But we can ask her. I visit her at Bellhaven every Friday. You can come with me.”

  “Can we go before then?” If this thing is after Daniella it isn’t wise to wait.

  “No. Friday is the only day the patients are allowed visitors.”

  Damn it. “Alright Friday it is. Until then it sounds like the skinwalker will only appear when there are not too many people around to witness it, make sure you never go anywhere alone. Let me see your phone.”

  I save my number to her contacts when she hands it to me. “Call me. Anytime. It doesn’t matter if it’s in the middle of the night. If you see it or if you’re afraid of something call me.”

  Daniella nods.

  “I have to go okay, but walk out with me and remember to make sure that you’re never anywhere there is not a crowd.”

  “I don’t understand,” Daniella says. “How can you just believe all of this so easily and why do you think you can help me?”

  “I can’t answer that. All I can tell you is I believe you and I think I can help. Other than that I need you to trust me. Can you do that?”

  “You don’t think I’m crazy and you believe me. I don’t think I have a choice. You’re probably the only person who will.”
/>   “What’s wrong Ash?” Derek and Cassie both ask me when they see my face.

  Matt is standing with them in the parking lot and so are Brent and Trevor.

  “Nothing,” I say. Both of their eyes linger on me realizing it for the lie that it is.

  “I’m going to follow you and Cassie to your house,” I tell Derek.

  He nods. Understanding that whatever it is, I can’t say it in front of mixed company.

  ******

  “Skinwalkers can’t be real,” Cassie says disbelievingly after I tell them about Mr. Cordero’s legend and Daniella.

  Me, her and Derek are seated around their kitchen table.

  “Why can’t they be?” Derek asks. “Phoenix are dismissed as myths as well and we are very much real.”

  “But wouldn’t we know about other…I guess supernatural things that are real. I mean if there was something that existed besides phoenix wouldn’t we or at least the Council be aware of it?”

  “Not necessarily Cass. Just like we go through great lengths to blend in with the larger human population and keep our existence a secret from them, skinwalkers would too.”

  I nod in agreement. “Hunters do the same thing. I wouldn’t consider us supernatural but we’re genetically more than the average human. We are stronger, faster, and more resilient. We don’t want our existence or what we can do being known by the masses either for the same reasons phoenix don’t. The only reason we know each other exist is because hunters evolved for the specific purpose of hunting phoenix.”

  “Did they?” Derek counters. “If skinwalkers exist perhaps other things exist too. Maybe hunters evolved to hunt supernaturals, as Cass put it, in general. And Phoenix are just the only thing that hunters remembered existed over the centuries. What if, for instance, they successfully hunted everything else to extinction or near extinction like they’ve tried to do with us, and after those things weren’t around for so long they were eventually erased from the collective memory of hunters?”

  “Maybe,” I concede his point. It was a theory, but one we didn’t have the time to consider too intently at the moment. “We can think about that later. Right now, we have what all evidence points to is a skinwalker on our hands that has killed two students from Laurel Springs at this point. It also tried to kill us, and is now wearing the skin of Trey when it appears to Daniella. From what Mr. Cordero said its sole purpose is to harm. It won’t stop killing until it itself is killed.”