“Then let’s find Monsun,” Alric suggested.
Angel looked up with surprise. Had Alric really suggested that? “Yes. Let’s.”
CHAPTER 29
Nieves clutched the Styrofoam cup in her hand as tightly as she could without smashing it. She felt warmth around her freezing hands. She couldn’t stop shaking and it was beginning to get on her nerves. Nieves hated the fact that she was scared of nothing. It’s not like the zombies were real.
Alric took the seat on the bench next to her. “Are you alright, now?”
Nieves nodded. “I’m sorry.”
“What?” Alric was taken by surprise. Why was she the one to be sorry? “No. I should have made sure you were with me. I did not know you were afraid of Haunted Houses. I am the one who needs to apologize.”
“Sir,” Monsun interrupted regretfully. “You needed to see me?”
Alric stood up and led the teacher away. Nieves didn’t care to listen. She was still trying to erase the melted face and the hard feeling of the grasp around her ankles. It had pulled her down and latched onto her for dear life. She whimpered, shaking her head just wishing the ideas were gone.
“What?” Monsun shouted while dashing in the direction Alric had led Nieves away from. He was obviously going after Mia but Nieves wondered what had happened in the first place to make Mia run away.
Alric stood there for a moment, deliberating about something. Nieves placed her coffee down onto the table as calmly as she could.
“Nieves?”
She turned around. The voice was familiar like one she had heard on more than one occasion. A smile spread across her face to see three of her friends from high school. The idea of zombies was now just a faint thought of nothingness.
Lisa was dressed in her favorite dress; it was the one she always wore to festivals or any type of celebration. She said it made her look sleek and suave. She thought she looked like a beautiful innocent maiden.
Bryan was a thin lanky child with a set of glasses on the tip of his nose. He always had a mischievous look in his eyes, ready to play a prank on any unsuspecting victim. His light tan hair was always an untamed mess but his clothes were rather clean kept.
Last, but not least in anyway, was Gustav. His hair was light as wheat and his eyes luminous green like a cat’s. He was rather pale but it went well with his clear flawless skin. Gustav was mostly the silent one in the bunch, hardly ever speaking and when he did it was something useful.
Bryan laughed taking a seat next to Nieves. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“You’re pale as a sheet,” Lisa said, taking the other seat next to Nieves. “What the heck happened to you?”
“Paler than Gustav,” Bryan commented with another laugh.
Nieves gave a weary smile; she couldn’t change the look of fear on her face but she could be calm about the Haunted House. “Oh, I’m fine. What are you guys doing here, anyway?”
Lisa shrugged a shoulder. “Bryan made us come out here.”
“I did not,” he huffed. “I just said it’d be better than sitting at home. We’ve been playing Battle Syndicate for over three weeks nonstop.”
Lisa leaned towards Bryan over Nieves. “You’re just mad ‘cause I almost kicked your ass in that game every time.”
“Whatever,” Bryan replied with a snide tone. “I can beat you any day.”
“I’d like to see you try!”
Nieves hesitated with her laughter. “You two still haven’t changed, huh? And Gustav seems to be the same, too. I’m glad you came though.”
Lisa hugged Nieves quickly, not letting go. “How are you handling living with that awful bag of bones?”
“Don’t forget that old fart,” Bryan added. “What was his name again? Buck or something like that.”
Nieves laughed. “Boris?” Her laughter shuttered to a stop, remembering that Boris was either dead or missing. She wasn’t sure what happened to him. Nieves just knew Alric had done something with the lawyer. “It’s okay.”
She turned her attention to Alric and got to her feet. “This is my friend, Alric,” she said, pulling the anti-social Head Macter over to her old high school friends. “He’s the Head of the Macter family here.”
Lisa’s eyes beamed. If there was anyone with money around she would lunge at the chance. “Alric Macter?” Lisa got to her feet and grabbed a hold of Alric’s hand. “It’s an honor to meet you. My name is Lisa Hammel.”
“Congratulations,” Alric said with stone coldness, tossing her hand away. He went past her to find Nieves. “I have to go find Angel to let her know Monsun is taking care of Mia.” He looked at the men, regretting his next words. “Will you be alright alone for a while?”
Nieves nodded. “I’ll be fine.”
Alric lowered his eyes to the ground then looked at her. “Alright, then. I will be back as soon as possible.”
“Don’t worry,” Bryan said, draping an arm over Nieves’s shoulder. “I’ll take care of her just like always.”
Nieves gave a hesitant laugh.
“Shove it, Bryan.” Lisa pushed the over-pompous boy away. “Don’t worry, Mr. Alric, I’ll keep an eye on Nieves. She’s my little sister.” Lisa gave a long tight hug that Nieves tried to squirm out of.
Alric would have kidnapped Nieves away if she had said so. He wished she had.
“Let’s get on the Ferris Wheel!” Bryan said, snatching hold of Nieves’s hand. “I’m sitting with her first!”
Lisa knocked Bryan’s hand away. “Like hell we are. You just want to make out with Nieves. Plus you know I’m afraid of heights. Let’s ride something safer.”
Bryan narrowed his eyes. “Like what?” asked Bryan with a grave face. “The merry-go-round?”
Nieves smiled. “I like that idea.”
“Me, too.” Lisa jumped with excitement.
Alric placed a hand on Nieves’s shoulder. “I will meet you at the carousel when I am done.”
“Okay.” Nieves would rather have Alric with her then go off on family matters. She found that to be selfish and quickly put it aside. Nieves wasn’t selfish or arrogant or even clingy. She told herself, Alric was a grown man of twenty… Twenty-one, actually.
“Okay, then.” Nieves said again, letting her eyes tell Alric she would wait.
He made his way down the dirt path, past the food vendors towards the direction Angel and Dan had gone in search of Monsun. He’d have to inform them that everything was being taken care of. Angel tended to overreact when it came to the fragile Mia.
Mia would change personalities if she encountered any man not from the Macter family. Later on after Mia’s strange case Alric discovered that Monsun seemed to be an extinguisher to the problem but not a permanent solution to the phobia.
Finding Angel was his best option to calming the girl down. He’d make sure Dan took her on all the rides just to keep her worried mind off of Mia.
†
“Carousel,” Lisa said the word again for the hundredth time. “Pft. Carousel.”
Nieves nodded her head.
Bryan said slowly, “It means merry… go… round.”
“I know that! I’m not stupid. I’ve just never heard anyone call it that. At least not in modern times.” She rolled her eyes. “Rich people always have to make things complicated.”
“Stupid people always have to be so stupid,” Bryan mocked.
Lisa folded her arms while getting in line for the merry-go-round. “Next he’ll be calling it a roundabout.”
Nieves tried to seem calm about it though she didn’t like the way Lisa was acting towards Alric. In fact, she found it harsh. “He’s just anti-social,” Nieves explained. “He hardly ever meets new people.”
“Oh,” Lisa said, still with a careless tone. “So, he’s an emo.”
Nieves looked away into the bustling crowd. She felt rather upset about Lisa’s attitude towards Alric. He had rejected her in a harsh way but Lisa shouldn’t expect immediate attention from strangers. Had s
he honestly expected Alric to take her into his arms as a lover would?
A heavy hand fell down onto Nieves’s shoulder. She turned her head and smiled at Gustav. “I think he’s good for you,” Gustav said in a deep low voice.
Nieves gasped, a little astonished someone noticed how bothered she was by Lisa’s harsh words. “Thank you, Gustav.”
“Hey!” Lisa flailed her arms at the gate of the merry-go-round. “Are you two coming or what?”
Gustav grunted something that was meant to be a yes. He never really liked the ride. It mostly because he couldn’t fit on the small horses.
Instead he decided to stand by Nieves’s horse to comfort her. Considering Lisa would never give up on her harsh pursuit simply due to rejection. Any man who rejected her was obviously not good enough for anyone.
CHAPTER 30
“Mia?” Monsun dodged the flying skull and lifted the fake cobwebs over his head. “Are you in here, Mia?” He rounded one of the corners of some jagged protruding wall. A melted face greeted him but he wasn’t moved at all. He pushed it aside and kept going, taking glances around for his student.
“Mia, answer me.” Monsun kept going until he heard a low familiar growl. “Nina, is that you? Can you come out here for a moment?”
A few people walked past Monsun to go down a different hallway. The place was like a maze with all the halls and corridors. Some doors opened to rooms; some doors had been bricked up. There was even one door that led to a hole in the floor but it’d be too dark to know it was there until it was too late.
Monsun sighed. “Nina, I just need to speak with you for a moment.”
The growl became louder with the silence of the empty haunted house. “Go away,” hissed a voice from the darkness under the staircase. “Go away and leave me alone. Go away so I can kill myself properly.”
“Nina,” Monsun reasoned. “There’s no reason for me to leave you.” He crouched down just a foot away from the shadow. “Come out here. It’s safe with me, I promise.” He reached out for her hand, hoping she wouldn’t bite.
Nina quickly swiped at it, her nails only leaving dusty scratches.
“That’s not very nice,” Monsun said. “You’ll hurt my feelings doing that.”
There was a whimper then a shuffle across the floor. Mia—or better yet, Nina—scooted herself out of the shadow with watery eyes. “I’m sorry,” she said in a soft almost inaudible voice. “Please forgive me.”
Monsun nodded his head. “Come here, little one. Come and talk to me for a while.” He held out his arms, ready to take her in a hug.
Nina gave a low hiss. “I won’t fall for that trick again!”
He tried not to flinch. Nina remembered the last time when he squeezed a nerve to make her unconscious and carried her back home. He’d dealt with Nina only on small occasions such as this.
“Don’t you trust me, Nina?” asked Monsun as gently as possible. “I always take care of you. Remember when I saved you from those awful monsters?”
Nina remembered the men vividly and whimpered. “I want to go home!”
“I’ll take you home,” Monsun said. “I’ll take you wherever you want to go, Nina.” He put out his arms again, wishing with all his heart that Nina would obey.
She scooted forward a little more then paused. “Promise?”
“I promise.”
Nina jumped at Monsun, wrapping her arms around him.
He nearly fell to the floor but he caught himself with his hand. “Nina,” Monsun whispered. “Where’s Mia? I need to speak with her.”
“I don’t know.” Nina buried her face into his neck and closed her eyes. “I don’t care about her.”
†
“Is she going to be alright?” asked Angel who was pacing back and forth around the bench. Mia slept peacefully on it for what seemed like years though it was only a couple minutes.
“She’ll be fine,” Alric told her. “She’s just tired.”
Angel spun on her heel and glared at Monsun. “What’d you do to her?”
“Me?” Monsun’s expression was pasted with agony. “I… We were just talking and she was going to tell me something but…” His eyes lowered to the ground. Monsun realized that he was right about his assumption. Mia had run away because of Jess. “I will watch over her until she wakes up.”
“Yes,” Alric agreed. “Angel. Dan. Why don’t you two go have a good time?”
Angel went to protest but Dan grabbed a hold of her shoulders and pulled her towards the rides. Dan knew what he was doing would upset Angel but he also knew it was better that way.
“Make sure you explain yourself thoroughly,” Alric told him. “I don’t want this happening again.”
Monsun nodded. “Yes. I have a lot to explain to her.”
Alric was beginning to leave when something cold tickled his spine. He moved his eyes to the shadows of the forest. The rustling wasn’t the wind; Alric knew that for a fact. He had warned his Demons not to interact with humans. But did he trust enough to believe them?
He knew he had to warn his Demons to keep away but Nieves kept tugging at his thoughts. Yes, she was with her friends but he still wanted to be there to make sure nothing disastrous happened. Those rides seemed extremely dangerous as to what Alric considered.
“Alric!” Aunty pushed her way through the crowd with people giving irritated remarks about her pushiness. “Alric!” The worried look on Aunty’s face told him something was definitely wrong.
“Aunty? What happened?” Alric really wanted to say, “Is Nieves alright?”
“There’s an emergency.”
†
Mia took down a breath of air. It was the smell of sweet cinnamon from the bakery across the street. The warmth of its interior called out to her. Winter’s brisk fingers had frozen and numbed the feeling in her face. Her fingers were barely kept warm by the thin cotton gloves. She knew she should have bought better ones from the mall but she liked the red and black striped ones the most.
The bell from the bakery chimed, pulling her from her thoughts.
“Just for a moment,” Mia thought to herself. She walked into the bakery and slid off her gloves. Heat sank down into her fingers even into the contours of her bones.
“Good evening,” said the young man behind the counter. He looked only a few years older than her, a high school student maybe. “Can I get you anything?”
Mia hadn’t considered what she would get once inside the bakery. “I… I’ve never been in a bakery before.”
The boy was slightly shocked. “Never?”
Mia nodded. “I’ve only been in the city for a few months.”
The baker leaned his elbows onto the top of the shelves. “Well. Since this is your first time I’ll give you something for free.” He disappeared behind the glass and slid open the door. Reaching inside he grabbed one of the star-shaped breads. “I think you might like this one.”
Mia smiled brightly. “Thank you so much, sir.”
“Dierik,” said the baker. “You can call me Dierik.”
“Thank you very much,” Mia said again feeling awkward while taking the bread. “Dierik.”
“Mia,” said a voice that sounded familiar.
Mia turned, expecting someone to be there. The glass doorway was empty.
“Something wrong, miss?”
She turned back to Dierik and gave a bright cheery smile. “Oh. Nothing’s wrong.”
Mia remembered to thank him before entering back into the cold frosted air. The winds lashed against her cheeks, and then died down. While nibbling on the bread, she headed down the sidewalk towards home. Her parents would be wondering why she was coming home so late. The sun had already set and the streetlights were flickering on.
“Mia,” the voice called out from the whistling wind. “Mia… Mia.”
She lowered her bread and swallowed her latest bite. “What?” Mia took glances around her, across the street and behind her. “Yes?”
No one replied.
<
br /> The star was half-eaten when she took another bite. Mia continued down the street ignoring the voice that called out to her multiple times. She closed her eyes to take in the sweet taste that flooded her mouth.
“Mia Macter.”
Her breath was caught in her lungs. She opened her eyes to thick inky darkness. The cackles of the men surrounded her endlessly. “Such a pretty thing,” they said in turn. “Such a fine woman.”
Another would say, “Wouldn’t mind having some.”
Mia took a trembling step back. “Who’s there?”
One at a time their bright yellow eyes opened. Only a single set of blue opened directly in front of her and stared. Blue eyes like sapphire burned into her skin making her own eyes burn with acidic intensity. He reached for her.
Mia screamed as arms wrapped around her.
“Mia, my dear, I’m here for you.”
The yellow eyes faded. The blue eyes softened into nothing but darkness.
“See,” he said. “Everything’s alright.”
Mia nodded her head. “Monsun…” Her eyes fluttered in the darkness until a smeared world appeared before her. The more she fluttered her eyes the more the world became clear.
Monsun chuckled, brushing her yellow strands of hair out of her eyes. “You silly little girl. What were you thinking running off like that?”
She slowly sat up. “I’m sorry, Monsun.”
“Why’d you run?” He was sitting on the bench with grace and tranquility. Mia always found him to be perfect. He never cursed in front of her. He was a gentleman all the way. He opened doors for people, gave up his seat to the elderly and women, and he always treated people with highest respects.
Snow Heart Page 17