by Holly Hood
“What are you doing?” Karsen asked, trying to break free. I pulled her behind the stage, trying to keep track of where these girls were being passed off too. My eyes staying on the crowds, only bits of the girls bodies able to be seen from where I stood. I dug my feet harder into the earth trying to make ground.
“Do you not see this? There are girls being carried away right now. Look. Right there,” I pointed out to Karsen. She rose up on her tiptoes watching along with me.
“They call that body surfing,” she commented, but the look on her face told me she was skeptical of her own words.
We watched as a man at the very end of the crowd snatched the young, fair-haired girl down, her legs flailing until she met ground. He took hold of her arm, whispering something in her ear.
“What is happening?” I asked.
Karsen gripped my hand firmly. “I don’t know, Hope. But maybe we should go back to Kidd and Slade. It doesn’t look safe out here alone,” Karsen tried reasoning as the girl was escorted by the back of her collar out of our view.
The look on the man’s face and the insolence that seemed to exude from her body as he plunged her through the crowd didn’t sit well with me. Something was not right.
Karsen didn’t allow me to further scrutinize. She took hold of my wrist, yanking me back to the side of the stage. By now the third song was ending and the guys were close to exiting. We huddled together, bothered by what we just witnessed, neither one of us saying a word.
“So what did you think?” Kidd asked, guitar in hand. His face chockfull of sweat. He wiped at it and then slung his arm over Karsen’s shoulder.
Slade walked beside me, tranquil.
“It was great. They were great, right, Hope,” Karsen said, trying to keep her gusto at the same level as it had been before we witnessed whatever we witnessed.
“You guys want to stick around for a little while. Maybe we can make a fire or something,” Kidd offered, resting his guitar against the bus.
Slade pulled his shirt over his head. It was damp with sweat as well as his skin that shined in the moonlight.
I bit at my lip. The mood was a little off anymore. “I may need to be going home. My dad will be wondering where we are.”
Karsen shot me a look. “Yeah, Mr. Zigler can get angry. So, Hope, you say goodbye to Slade and I’ll do the same with Kidd.” She followed Kidd inside leaving me alone with Slade who still hadn’t said a word to me.
I took a seat. “I bet that takes a lot out of you,” I commented. It was the only thing I had in my arsenal.
“Why don’t you come out and say it,” Slade said, looking at me. “It’s not your style. You’re concerned by the intensity. I won’t mind.”
I raised an eyebrow. “I love your voice. I told you that.”
“Loving my voice and what I do are two different things. It’s not your scene, I can see that,” he said, taking a seat. He seemed distant.
“Honestly, it was a little alarming, but that wasn’t because of you. The crowd was out of control. How often are people injured at these concerts?” I knew I sounded like a bump on the log but I couldn’t see the fun in such a violent activity. I didn’t comprehend the violence.
“It’s a rough crowd. Only the strong survive,” Slade said evenly.
“And the ones that aren’t strong get carried away against their will,” I blurted out.
Slade’s eyes fell on me. He wrinkled his brow, raking his hands through his hair, studying me closely. “Like I said, not your scene. Some people are actually into this. Some people come here to be a part of this. They look forward to it.”
“Yeah, maybe it’s just not my scene. But regardless, good job.” I smiled at him, hoping his icy demeanor would fade and he would go back to the Slade I was fond of.
“I’ll walk you home. Don’t want your dad worrying. I know how mean he is,” Slade said, standing up.
Karsen and Kidd came down the steps. Karsen kissed Kidd on the cheek. “I had a good time. We need to get together again before I leave. Promise me I’ll see you again.”
I listened closely to Karsen and Kidd as we all walked toward the gate, my brainpower on making it out of their in one piece. Slade held taut to my wrist, not bothering to hold any dialogue with me. He just kept silently booking it toward the exit.
“Maybe tomorrow we can all meet up at the beach,” Kidd said, shooting Slade a glance.
“We have a gig,” Slade said, staring directly ahead as his feet plunged through the sand.
Kidd shrugged. “It won’t take all day. And besides, it’s later. We can hang out in the afternoon. We’d have plenty of time.”
Slade shrugged. “I’ll call you.”
I gave a nod. He undoubtedly was not in the mood. I couldn’t help but feel that I insulted him. “Is everything okay?”
Slade sighed. “I’ll call you tomorrow, Hope. Take it easy.”
“But are you okay?” I asked again as we came to a stop in front of my gate. Kidd opened the gate, letting Karsen in first.
“I’m tired. It’s nothing. Get some sleep.”
“Slade…”
“Look, I still worry about what I told you about. And that back there just proved to me why I shouldn’t be involving you in this. Get some sleep.” He kissed my forehead, pushing my hair away from my face.
I stared into his eyes. “Like I am going to be able to sleep after this. We had a great time. So I wasn’t into the theatrics going on, that doesn’t mean I feel another way about you.”
“And that doesn’t mean I feel another way either.” He touched my lips with his fingertips, turning away and starting through the sand. Kidd gave my arm a squeeze then took off after Slade. I watched them walk away, deeply bothered by Slade’s attitude.
“I don’t know about you, but I am exhausted,” Karsen called out form the porch.
I twisted, facing her. “Yeah, let’s head to bed.”
Ezra
I rolled over in my bed. Karsen was arched up in a ball at the reverse end. John Mayer’s saintly voice filled the room, making it a great deal easier to stay dead to the world. I clutched my pillow, thinking about Slade one last time before I drifted back to sleep.
It was a slumber not like anything I ever experienced before. I was plunging through darkness, not knowing where I was falling. This was the only clue that I was asleep. The sensation was terrifying. I flapped my arms from side to side through the infinite expanse of shadows. No sound able to escape my lips.
And then it stopped.
There I lay on my bedroom floor. Only this wasn’t quite my room. The floor was blood red, not purple. And the walls were enclosed in a repugnant flowery print.
I lifted my head, looking around. The room housed only me and my personal effects. I poked at my computer and phone to get a feel of how genuine this was or wasn’t. What kind of dream was this? I thought to myself.
A bitter chill slid down my spine. I turned around for no other reason than impulse. A youthful girl stood facing me. Coffee brown hair cascaded down her slender frame right past her ample chest and finished right before her petite waist. Her skin was porcelain, her lips a pale shade of rose. She was eye-catching, to say the least.
“Go ahead. Say something,” she said at last. I watched her lips press decisively back together. They were full and so magnetizing. And then I wondered why I was fantasizing over another girl’s Angelina Jolie-like lips. She brought a hand to her hip. “That means you speak.”
I opened my mouth, producing a weak murmur. This did not sit well with whoever this girl was standing in front of me. “Are you all this dumb? I really would think he had some principles by now,” she said to herself. She took a seat on my double bed.
“I’m sorry. I don’t know who you are. Am I dreaming?” I said, pleased that I fashioned some kind of vocabulary.
Her eyes studied mine. It seemed she was really trying to figure out if I was serious. “This is your dream. Hope, isn’t it?” She plucked a piece of fluff
off her gray sweater.
“Yeah. Hope. Who are you and how frequently do people dream about people they never seen before?” I asked, stepping a little nearer to her.
A fire ignited in her eyes. “I’m Ezra. I’m surprised you don’t know about me. I’m Slade’s…hmm...what would you call it? Oh, yeah. I’m Slade’s previous girlfriend.” She drew in her bottom lip, biting down with her teeth, her eyes watching mine narrowly.
I was meeting Slade’s girlfriend in a dream? I didn’t even think this could be likely. I knew this wasn’t possible. But there she stood, a manifestation that somehow my brain invented. And it did an immense job because she was stunning.
Ezra waved a hand, standing in front of me all of a sudden. I wondered when she got up because I hadn’t taken my eyes off of her. Then I reminded myself it was a nightmare. She could do what she wanted in a nightmare. Even in mine.
“I came to tell you to stay away. And sure, don’t believe me. Think this is just some fantasy of your mind’s eye.” She pressed down on my foot. I winced in pain. “Think it all you want. But I want to make a point now before you get in way over your head.”
I leaned back as she gathered my collar in her clenched fist. “You keep away from him. Slade is not the only one who has power. Did he tell you who I am?”
I shook my head in fear of her. She held my stare, her emerald eyes piercing into me.
“I’m a witch. My family is from an extended line of the most influential coven and I advise you once, and only once, to stay away from him. DO you understand me?”
I weighed my alternatives mutely. I could choose to believe this dream or I could remind myself that it was only a dream and test it. I took a deep mouthful of air. “If you’re such a witch why would you have to show up in my dream? Seems kind of standard to me.”
Her entire body started quivering. She whipped her head to the side, her grasp still firmly on my shirt. “I told you,” she growled.
“Slade can date anyone he wants. You’re not real, you’re in my dream.”
She released my shirt, shoving me at the same time. I flew all the way through the air like a rag doll, slamming into my desk. “Oh, he picked such an impressive one this time. This ought to be fascinating,” she said to herself.
“You’re not real,” I told her for a second time.
“I was real.”
I shrugged. “Isn’t the same as is. And. Your. Not. Real.”
Her expression overflowed with rage. She released a deafening shriek, headed for me, her pointed nails tearing the length of my chest. I screamed, trying to pry her off of me. Her hair spilling across her face. Her hand clamping down on my collar. I struggled to break free, breathless, battering my head from side to side.
“Hope!” Karsen screamed at me. She was holding on to her face, her hand covering her eye.
“Get away from me!” I yelled, sitting up in my bed.
“You were having a bad dream,” Karsen said, looking puzzled. She came near me, pulling at my t-shirt, her hand probing my skin. “What is that?” Karsen’s eyebrows knitted together in bewilderment. “I think Slade did some damage tonight. But the bizarre thing is, I don’t remember seeing any marks on you at the concert.” She handed me my hand mirror, sitting at the edge of my bed.
“Omigod,” I said, my jaw falling open. Angry crimson scratch marks ran from my collar bone to my chest. I ran my hand up my neck, lifting my chin.
“Are those handprints?” Karsen said, looking uneasy. “You need to tell him to lay off.”
“This wasn’t Slade,” I said low. “And why are you holding your eye?”
Karsen removed her hand revealing a puffed-up red mark below her eye. “You kicked me in the face with your stupid foot. I thought someone was butchering you.”
Avoidance
Karsen tugged at her hair. She was as distressed as I was. Maybe extra. I wiggled my straw through my milkshake, staring off, lost in contemplation.
We were at the Hamburger Shack eating and trying to understand what happened to me. Karsen was sure I was possessed by some demons. And I was trying to think of any justification other than the fact. The fact being that Slade and Kidd were witches. I didn’t know the first thing about explaining this to anyone. This wasn’t something easy to divulge.
“Maybe you should see a doctor,” Karsen suggested. She dragged a French fry through her ketchup, biting it in half.
“Nightmares,” I muttered, going back to witches.
Karsen dropped her chin down into her palm. “Yeah, but what if it’s something more. What if you’re housing a giant tumor or something? I swear you looked like you were seizing. And how do you explain the claw marks?”
I sighed. “I just got a physical for school. It’s not a tumor,” I said, in my best Arnold imitation. Karsen shrugged, taking a mouthful of her shake.
I couldn’t stop thinking about what I saw in that dream. Ezra. She was haunting. Such a beautiful girl to be so menacing. And how could someone that I never knew about materialize in my dream? It wasn’t like Slade had told me all about her before I left Henry Park. So I had no justification having her poking around in my dreams.
Before I could think anything else I had to figure out a good rationalization to keep Karsen at bay. She still had a couple days left before she went home.
“Maybe it’s just nervous stress. I’ve been under a lot of that lately.” I gave a nod, trying to make her have the same opinion with me telepathically.
Karsen chewed at her nail. “I hate to admit it, but I will. Something is not right. That concert was off. I mean anyone with any sort of brain cells could see that there was some uncanny presence all around them. It grabbed a hold of you right when the music started. Maybe you are possessed.” Her eyes grew huge with concern. I had to suppress my laughter.
“I’m not possessed,” I promised, staring off. I watched the crowds of beachgoers pass by. Even that sounded better than witches, magic and curses.
I glimpsed a mysterious silhouette slip through the crowd, its form was dark and misty and appeared to be floating. My heart froze in my chest.
“What?” Karsen asked.
My eyes locked on to the recognizable character. The familiar movement. That same coffee brown hair. Was she really standing on the boardwalk looking at us?
I gripped my napkin, unable to budge. My blood ran cold and my heart skidded to a halt in my chest before kicking back into gear, pounding so noisily in my ears.
I struggled to make sense of Karsen’s moving lips because now there was no sound coming from them. Her eyes narrowed as she realized that I no longer was paying interest to her.
Ezra stood on the boardwalk as the crowd parted around her as if repelled by her energy. Her expression was icy as her unblinking eyes took me in.
“Do you see her?” I asked suddenly.
Karsen’s head followed my gaze. She stood up, looking all around her. “See who?”
“Ezra. She’s wearing a blue jacket and black pants with one of those hats with the fur lining,” I rattled off. Ezra lips turned up at the corners as she tortured me with her icy glare.
Karsen finally sat back down. “It’s easily ninety degrees outside. No one is running around in a blue jacket and fur hat.” She muttered something under her breath, taking one last sip of her shake. She slammed it on the table, shaking her head in disbelief.
“I don’t know how you don’t see her,” I muttered. Ezra raised a hand, wiggling her fingers at me, giving me a dainty wave.
“See what?” Kidd said, appearing out of nowhere. I jumped out of my skin, bringing my hand to my mouth in shock. Kidd eyed me closely. “Everything okay?”
“No, not really. According to Hope she sees some chick named Ezra running around. Ever since last night she’s been a freak on a leash.” Karsen pulled her sunglasses down to the bridge of her nose.
“Holy shit,” Kidd said.
“Yeah, tell me about it. Restless leg syndrome is no joke,” Karsen said, noddin
g her head at me.
“Who did you say she saw?” Kidd asked again. Apparently he hadn’t heard the first time Karsen was giving up my secrets.
“Ezra, I believe. What kind of name is Ezra anyways?” Karsen said again.
I watched Kidd’s expression grow dim. “Why would you say that?”
“I say what I heard. What’s it to you?” Karsen prodded. “Anyways. Are we still going to the beach? Because if we are I need to go back to Hope’s and grab my bikini. Unless you want to skinny dip, then I’m good to go.”
Kidd nodded his head, keeping his eyes glued on me. “Yeah, we are. Why don’t you head back and grab it. We will wait right here for you, sex kitten.”
Karsen bought it hook line and sinker. She stood up, shaking her hair away from her eyes and planting a quick peck on Kidd’s lips. He briefly touched her arms.
I shoved my plate away from me. I knew what was coming next. Kidd waited until Karsen was a great distance away before he took her seat across from me.
“Where’s Slade?” I started.
“Slade didn’t want to come.”
“What a shocker,” I said, my mood turning sour. It wasn’t that I was thrilled to be anywhere near him with the current situation, but it still annoyed me that he would steer clear of me.
“Do you blame him now?” Kidd asked. He scrubbed his chin, giving me a worried look.
“I don’t know what to think now. Is Ezra really his ex-girlfriend?”
Kidd gave me a nod. “That would be the one. I don’t know what all he told you, but that bitch was evil.”
“Was?”
“Was. She’s dead. But when she was alive and kicking she made sure to make Slade’s life a living hell. Her whole family, well, they were evil, let’s just say. But we took care of that. Well, the greater part anyways.” Kidd stared off.
“How do you take care of witches?” I asked, looking around, hoping no one understood my crazy question.
“Burn them. At first we got along well with them. But it didn’t take long before Ezra wanted a lot more from Slade than he wanted to give her. She wouldn’t let go. So when Slade says he doesn’t want anything to happen to you, that is the truth.”