Magic, Mystery & Zombies: YA starter set

by Elle Klass

  A car pulled over beside us. The people inside the car, a middle aged man and woman with friendly faces, rolled down the window and asked, “You kids need a ride?”

  Einstein grabbed my hand and replied, “Thanks.” We piled into the vehicle.

  The man narrowed his eyes and inspected us. “Where you headed?”

  “Back into town.”

  “What are you kids doing out here this early in the morning?” A hint of prying noticeable in the woman’s tone.

  “Camping with friends. Claire twisted her ankle and her boyfriend Jack took her into town. We figured we’d wait it out, but it’s been too long.” Einstein replied with a fantastic lie that eased off his tongue as if it was truth.

  “In these woods? They are privately owned by Crazy Man Shaw. You must not be from around here.” The words rolled off her tongue.

  “We know that now.”

  Einstein followed up with, “We’re from the city.”

  The couple continued to talk with us probing our minds, looking to poke holes in our story, but they got us into town and dropped us at the hospital. We thanked them, waited for them to leave and walked to a diner across the street. We ate and got directions to the bus station. Towns this small were dangerous for two runaways.

  Night Creeper

  We caught a bus headed into Washington state and another big city. It was easier to hide in cities, then in small towns where everyone knew everyone. Once in the city, we bought new clothes and threw away our others. There was no way to salvage them as Crazy Man Shaw truck bed yuck and exhaust covered them. We needed to blend in so it wasn’t obvious we were two runaways.

  Einstein took me on my first trip to a mall and a movie theater. He slipped his arm around my waist, veered me towards the movie theater and purchased two tickets to a movie called Night Creeper. “It’s your first movie, so we have to do this right.”

  “Right. You mean there is a way to do it wrong?” I asked, half joking and half serious.

  A cockeyed smile twisted across his face and he bought a large popcorn and slushy.

  I was in awe at the size of the screen it took up an entire wall, and the sound roared from varying angles. We sat in the front row, which made it appear even larger, and I strained my neck backwards to watch the movie. We shoveled most of our popcorn into our mouths before the movie started and tossed a few kernels at one another. I gripped Einstein’s hand and buried my head into his chest for most of the duration of the movie. He chose a movie involving young kids lost in a swamp with something hunting them, killing them off one at a time. It was too close for comfort since we just escaped our own nightmare in the woods. I snuggled into the crook of his arm with one eye on the screen and saved my complaints about his humor for after the movie.

  “I can’t believe you!” I jostled hitting him square on the arm. “Really?”

  His smile shined from one end of his face to the other as he responded between laughing convulsions. “I wanted you to know,” he gasped, holding his stomach as tears poured from his eyes and over his cheeks, “how lucky you were.”

  Not being able to stop myself, I laughed along with him. Tears flowed from my eyes too; finally we sat regaining our composures. I slurped the last drop of slushy to wet my dry throat and threw the cup at him.

  He picked up the cup and tossed it into the trash then grabbed my hand in his. “I have another surprise for my naïve girlfriend.”

  Girlfriend? His words made my heart swell three sizes. I gripped his hand tight, and we maneuvered our way through the crowd.

  Next, he took me to a video game palace. Money was always too scarce to splurge playing video games but this day we made an exception. In wonderment my eyes scanned the blinking, flashing, and colorful lights. Sounds bustled at us from every direction. We placed one dollar bills in a machine and it spat out gold tokens, which went into the games, bringing them to life, whirling and beaming. Einstein was a whiz and the video games spit out tickets at him. I stunk at everything, except one game in which I threw a ball into a ring. Each ring had a point value, the center ring having the highest. I kept winning, and the machine spit out tickets. After a couple hours of playing we accumulated tickets enough to buy a camera that was so small it fit into my pocket. It came with a small SD card.

  We left the arcade and made use of our camera, taking pictures of everything. Once we filled the SD card we took it to a one hour photo shop and had the pictures printed. I snuck a picture of a man picking his nose in a car, and another of a boy who fell off his skate board. The skate board continued to roll, and a woman tripped over it. Einstein got a picture of a drunk sleeping it off in an alley. We took pictures of tall mirrored buildings, an amazing three tier water fountain, and of each other with goofy faces and poses. It was the best day of my thirteen year life and I laughed harder than ever before, my stomach still bearing the pain. Einstein erased the SD card. His tech abilities convinced me his previous life was a hundred times more privileged than mine. I pondered again why he ran away.

  With our cash running low, we found a pawn shop in a questionable area of town and sold part of our jewelry. Our day one big excursion meant for fun. It was easy enough to disappear in the city, although not a place we wanted to stay. We made the choice to hit more cities and pull off more heists to finance the start of our life together.

  On our way to the train station we witnessed a horrific crime that I got on camera. The pawn shop was in a crummy part of town. There were hookers on street corners and groups of people together talking, arguing and making drug deals. We walked past them, holding each other’s hands for dear life and not saying a word or looking too hard at what they were doing. A few people made comments to us, but nobody stopped or harassed us. In the past I witnessed homeless kids get beaten and tortured by street people and forced to hang with street scum for protection. I imagined most of the kids were, homeless and without families.

  The sun crept downwards, giving into dusk. The drug dealers, hookers, and general low life scum became less and less as we continued our walk to the train station.

  We overheard two men arguing. Without a half second of hesitation and on instinct we both stopped and ducked behind a car to avoid being noticed. My eyes darted across the street to the train station a few paces away. I considered my chances and figured it best to stay put, at least for the moment. The longer we stayed hidden the less chance we had of getting hurt. The two men argued for a while then one of them pulled a gun on the other and pushed him. Light twinkled off the barrel as he pointed it towards the other man, curse words surged from his mouth. My heart beat like a drummer on caffeine. Without thinking I took the camera from my pocket and snapped pictures.

  Einstein, his brows furrowed into a V whispered, “What…? Put that away or you’ll get us killed.”

  He was right but an urge within compelled me and my hands refused to cooperate. The pushed man, fuming with anger, pulled out a gun too and waved it in the air toward other man. His hand shook with tremors and the gun went off followed by a stream of shrapnel flowing from the barrel. The first bullet hit a street light then plowed straight into the head of the other man. He fell to the ground with a thunk, a chunk of his head missing and blood flowing in a steady stream.

  At that moment, the flash of my camera caught the shooter’s eye, and he took a poorly aimed shot in our direction. He tossed the gun into a nearby dumpster and ran. It landed with a thud. I looked from the dumpster to the station, considering going for the gun. At that moment Einstein yanked my body from its current position, took my hand and pulled me across the street. We slipped inside the station, our hearts beating out of control inside our chests.

  We rested against the wall to catch our breath and allowed our hearts to return to their normal pulse. Einstein spoke again. “What were you doing? Are you crazy?”

  “I… I don’t know,” I responded, my head poised downwards.

  He took my chin in his hand and forced it upwards until my eyes met his.
“I saw your face. I watched your eyes. You were going for the gun.” His eyes unwavering and burning deep into my soul.

  I stammered, tears now forming in the corners of my eyes. “Yes, I… I wasn’t thinking but reacting.” He held me to his chest; my shoulders heaved in and out, the flood gates around my eyes giving way to a wild flow of tears. He walked me to a quiet corner where we sat, neither of us muttering a sound. Police and ambulance sirens roared outside the station. Einstein used his pointer finger and wiped my face then we disappeared on the next available train. The train hooted and began its journey to our next destination, leaving behind the most wonderful and second most, frightening day of my life.

  A Close Call

  Over the following months we bounced from one city to the next, blurring my memory. We changed our appearances by wearing layered clothing and hats we pulled off on the run. Our stay in each city lasted long enough for us pull off a couple heists, make money then we disappeared. We kept a low profile, ghost people, slipping in and out unnoticed.

  I took the time to keep up with our crime sprees through the newspaper. The police were clueless and never linked them together. Under the small crimes section in tiny print is where I found most our thefts listed with one exception- the judge’s house.

  We got cocky and chose a house in a ritzy gated community belonging to a judge. Einstein posed as a landscaper replacement from a job agency with the usual crew and did inside surveillance. He staked out the judge’s property and found a small gap at the bottom of the fence big enough for us to squeeze underneath without getting scratched. After we squeezed under the gap we traipsed through the woods surrounding the inside of the gate, which backed up to his property. Einstein did his usual security system magic by cutting the outside wires and we were in the house.

  The judge’s house was full of valuables; diamond earrings, gold necklaces adorned with amethyst, rubies, emeralds, and onyx. We took small stuff that fit in our back packs to be carried out and pawned without drawing attention.

  While in the judge’s office I dug through his desk drawers and found a bundle of cash and a gold letter opener then the sirens wailed in the distance, forcing a shot of panic in my belly. Without thinking I stuffed the letter opener and cash into the bag. Einstein and I high-tailed it out of the house. The sirens howled behind us as we cut back through the woods and slid under the fence on our backs. I breathed a sigh of relief.

  “That was too close.”

  Einstein took my hand, helping me to my feet. “No kidding.” We slunk back to our temporary home and dumped our packs.

  The wad of cash, jewelry, and letter opener rolled out of my back pack hitting the cement floor.

  “Holy cow Cleo!” Einstein grabbed the letter opener and twisted it in his hand holding it up to the light. “Look at the engraving. We can’t sell this it belonged to a famous eighteenth century author.”

  I lowered the wad of cash I held in my hand. “I… it was in my hand when I heard the sirens.”

  “It’s solid gold. We’ll take care of it later.” He looked at the huge bundle of cash. “You want help counting?”

  “Sure.” I handed him half the bundle, and he stole a kiss on my lips.

  The grand total of our loot for the day amounted to $5,000 in cash, five new gold chains adorning various gemstones, diamond earrings, a silver place setting, brass candleholders, and a gold letter opener engraved with an eighteenth century authors name.

  The judge offered a reward for the return of the letter opener. We thought of various scenarios in which to collect the reward, but any of them led to police involvement. Chimes went off inside my head and I came up with a brilliant plan.

  We wiped the letter opener clean, even though we always wore gloves, and found a drunk homeless man passed out in an alley, derelicts littered the shabbier parts of cities. I pressed the letter opener against his finger tips and left it under his hand while Einstein used a pay phone to call it in anonymously. A tall apartment building stood kitty corner to where the derelict man lay. We chose that building to meet back up and watched the scene from the fourth floor landing. The judge was grateful to have his letter opener back, and we took deep breaths that we pulled off framing the innocent homeless man.

  A Change of Pace

  The experience with the judge forced us both to evaluate our current lives, and they were becoming dangerous. We were growing paranoid, always watching our backs and keeping our heads low. My senses more acute and my body on full alert every second.

  We grabbed a continental breakfast from the local Coziness Inn, a trick we learned on our travels. The management and guests never chased us out when we walked in off the streets, filled our plates and stuffed our faces. I loaded my plate with bacon, eggs, sausage, and a bagel with cream cheese and took a seat next to Einstein. He piled the food on his plate twice as high as mine with pancakes smothered in syrup, eggs, and fruit.

  He swallowed a huge bite of pancake, wiped his mouth, and set his napkin on the table. “I inventoried our loot this morning and we’re set.”

  I leaned across the table and whispered, “How much?”

  He held up his hands and blinked ten fingers. Ten grand! Holy pumpkins we’re rich!

  “I’m tired of running and sneaking continental breakfasts. I want a hot shower and a real job. Mostly, I want a life with you.” The sincerity of his words shown through his eyes.

  “Me too. Any ideas where?”

  He shook his head no.

  “I saw a library a few blocks from here. I’ll find a place you come up with our cover stories.”

  We fist bumped, finished our food and walked to the library. There I researched the country searching for a large enough town where we could blend in, but small enough we could make connections. I found that place in Alabama.

  Einstein decided we should pose as a young married couple. He swiped simple matching gold wedding bands for us to wear completing our cover.

  The sun disappeared, and the darkness lingered when we arrived in Alabama. A thick blanket of liquid filled the air causing it to look hazy. Our stomachs growled with hunger after the long ride. We found a diner, the outside worse for wear and the neon sign flashed half the letters. Inside a bar stretched long in front of the grill. Metal barstools with shiny cracked plastic seats lined the bar and booths lined the windows made with the same metal and shiny plastic as the barstools. Country rock music played quietly from a jukebox. I smelled the aromas of coffee and greasy foods. Inside my mouth the saliva built from my hunger.

  A plump waitress, with a round friendly face and dirty blond hair pulled tightly into a bun with a few stray ringlets that bounced as she walked, handed us two menus. “Gimme a holla when y’all’re ready.” Her smile beamed from ear to ear. After a quick glance across the menu, I knew what I wanted. “Where y’all from?” she asked taking our orders.

  “Seattle,” said Einstein.

  I smiled remembering our time in Washington and Seattle. We talked with the waitress then a forty-ish man came in and sat next to us joining the conversation. We fed them our cover story, and they told us a couple places renting rooms by the week.

  One motels was close to the diner, and we were both ready to wash off in hot water and rest in an actual bed since we hadn’t done either of the two together for a stretch of months.

  The room we checked into contained a small kitchenette with a refrigerator, a TV, bed, dresser, closet and a table for two. Thick green curtains, stained by the sun, fell across the window. The bedspread was rubber ducky yellow with green vines laced across it.

  In the bathroom a shower beckoned for me to climb in and wash the dirt off my body. Never in my life had I took a shower. We looked at each other, stripped off our clothes, and jumped in together. I stood underneath the shower head allowing the water to pour down the length of my body. It was heaven. Not until the water turned cold did either of us get out.

  Now clean we didn’t want to dress back in our dirty clothes so we was
hed them in the bathtub and hung them to dry across the shower curtain rod. We slipped into the bed and Einstein turned on the TV using the remote. Occasionally I saw TV shows on store display models or school but never watched in bed or used a remote, TV was luxury for “normal” people. I wrapped my arm across Einstein’s chest and leaned my head on his shoulder. He lifted his free arm over my head and caressed my hair until I fell asleep.

  Our Life Together

  I spent my days watching the TV and playing with the remote. The characters “lives” including their jobs, families, friends, and school intrigued me. I couldn’t find one show that starred a character growing up in a shack with a part time mom, no other family, and exhausting every choice left at a young age. I pondered whether my mom ever came back to the shack and cried when she found it empty. If she came back to the shack she wouldn’t have shed any tears but jumped for joy to see me gone then slammed drugs into her arm in undisturbed peace. On the streets I saw plenty enough to understand she was a user and didn’t doubt it was the reason for her mysterious disappearance. I theorized her mind suspended in a permanent “high” making it impossible for her to come back to reality. Either way, it didn’t matter anymore. Now Einstein and I had each other.

  I took up cooking to pass the time, which I learned from TV. My mother’s menu consisted of cooked macaroni and cheese, hot dogs, grilled cheese or soup from a can. I hated those foods and refused to cook them, but I loved to cook! We shopped and filled our little kitchen with spices, meats, cheeses, pastas, and other real and normal foods. Einstein bought me a cookbook filled with delicious recipes for me to whip up in the kitchen. We ate fresh food - no more trash can leftovers. I discovered how to make salads, cook meats, sauté rice, bake potatoes, boil pasta, add flavorings and became a pro in no time. The aromas filled my kitchen and radiated throughout the motel. My cooking led to many a friendship there.