My dad looked at me and I could see the fear in his eyes. “Audrey, I don’t- I have no idea what to do.” He looked back at Agnes. “Can we stop this somehow? Please? This is my kid, my only family. I can’t lose her to this.”
I looked down at my hands and tried to hold back the familiar, yet annoying, tightening of my throat. I wanted to start blubbering like a baby, but I figured now was probably not the time.
“I have never heard of a way to reverse the curse. As of now, we have to accept the fact that Audrey will become a zombie.”
Oh screw it. Now was as good a time to cry as any.
Chapter 4
Agnes held out a box of tissue to me, since I had begun blubbering all over myself and I was making a complete mess. “Thank you,” I said quietly. I was totally confused and all I wanted to do was go home and bury myself under my blankets. My dad was just staring absently off into space, thinking. There wasn’t really anything we could do now, was there? I mean, I was going to become a zombie. I would probably eat him first. Oh man. I looked up sharply and said, “Dad, you can’t stay with me…or I can’t stay with you! Or you have to like, lock me up or something! I’m going to end up eating you! I mean, you heard that poem, right?” I looked over at Agnes and she was paging through the book some more, apparently trying to find something she hadn’t already seen. “Well Agnes?” I asked demandingly. “Isn’t that the case? He’ll be my first meal since he’s in such close proximity, and all that?”
“I would say that’s a fair assumption, yes.” She said absentmindedly.
I looked back at my dad and shook my hands in exasperation and said, “See?! This is crazy!” I stood up and began pacing back and forth.
“Audrey, calm down. Agnes, can you please leave the book alone for a moment?” He waited until she looked up at him, and she slowly seemed to realize he was waiting for her to give him her full attention. She looked surprised, and a little shamefaced, and said, “Oh! Yes, sorry.” And she set the book aside on her desk.
“Maybe Audrey and I can go back home for now- ”
“No!” I yelled, stopping mid-pace. “No way! I’ll eat him!”
“Audrey I have already told you the process has slowed. We may have a week or more if the things are progressing as slowly as I think they are. I am trying desperately to find anything to help the situation.”
“But you said there was no way to reverse it!”
“There isn’t. That doesn’t mean I can’t find something to help the situation in some way. No one knows until they try.” She looked very determined, and I seriously wanted to believe her, for the sake of my dad’s life and my own sanity, but I was just too wound up.
“Like I was saying then,” my dad began again, “I think I should take her home for now and you can call us or vice versa if anything happens; or if there’s any new information, in your case.”
“That should be okay. I will call you the moment I find anything, certainly.” She tried to give us her warm smile but it seemed false.
I looked back and forth between the two of them in shock. “Are you two serious right now? Neither of you knows what’s going to happen to me!” I turned to Agnes and said, “You have no idea what these things are doing inside of me right now! What does water even do to them? Why did it slow them down?”
“Audrey-”
“These are all questions that she is working on Audrey,” my dad said, cutting Agnes off. He looked up at Agnes, compelling her to acquiesce.
“Yes…he’s right.” She looked at him, communicating silently it seemed, and then at me. “Audrey I am going to do everything in my power to find something. And I will. I won’t sleep until I do. And if anything happens, you can contact me and you must also tell your father. We will fight this, any way we can.” She reached out slightly, as if she were going to try and hug me or just touch my arm reassuringly, but I pulled away and she took her hand back, and tried to give me her warm smile instead.
“Fine. Dad, let’s go. But I swear if I start feeling anything weird, like hungry for raw meat or something, I expect you to do what has to be done.”
“And that would be…?” My dad asked.
“What do you think? A shotgun to the head! Or a bat, or whatever heavy implement you have on hand. You know Dad, you really need to brush up on your zombie movies. Now would probably be the time.”
He looked at me skeptically and said, “I think you need to relax a little, Aud. Let’s just head out.”
“We can talk about this more at home,” I said. “Don’t think the discussion is over.”
“Uh huh…okay Aud.”
We started heading out to the front of the store and I turned to Agnes and said, “Wait, can I ask you something?”
“Of course Audrey, anything.”
“What are you?”
She smiled at this and said, “A witch, of course. What else would I be?”
“Oh. I’m sorry. I was just thrown off by the clothes. And you mentioned Romania when we first met…I thought you were a Gypsy this whole time.” I blushed slightly.
“No need to be sorry, dear! Many people have a misunderstanding about Gypsies, and their origins. ‘Romani’ is their language, but it has nothing to do with where they come from, or Romania. And my costume seems to relax people. When they know that I make the spells and they see I dress this way, it makes it feel more authentic for them. Rather than when I’m at home in sweatpants and an old t-shirt.”
I tried picturing that and it was just impossible. The Gypsy clothes suited her too well.
“Alright then, talk to you later,” I said a little awkwardly. I turned towards the door and followed my dad outside. He’d exchanged numbers and everything with her so she could reach us on both of our cells and our home phone. I think he’d even left our e-mail addresses. Safe to say we were covered. I think I had moved into the numb stage. Were there stages when you found out you were going to become a full-blown zombie? I was the pioneer at this moment, I guessed. Everyone else had just been taken in an instant. I was getting the opportunity to revel in the whole changing process. Yea for me.
We drove home silently, both of us lost in our own thoughts. What was there to say at this point really? You can’t make much small talk about the possibility of being eaten by your own daughter, can you?
When we got home I went straight to my room and slammed my door. It was all I had. I wanted to feel like a normal bratty teenager and just take a nap. I kicked off my shoes and curled up on my bed, wrapping my blanket around me so that I felt like a cocoon. In the moment before I drifted off to sleep I felt Phantom walking delicately on the bed, up towards my head, almost as if he was trying not to disturb me. I smiled at that and fell asleep happily, at least.
__
My eyes popped open and I could see that the sun was still out. That was good. At least I hadn’t slept the whole day away. Now, the first question I had to ask myself was, what am I doing in bed in the middle of the day and what is the warm fuzzy thing laying behind my head?
I moved my head forward a little and angled it to try and look at what was behind me. Whatever it was, it started to move. “Holy crap!” I jumped out of bed quickly and turned towards it as fast as I could, with my arms raised up in front of me, ready to defend myself. I was breathing heavily and I looked at my hands and saw that one was bandaged. That was odd.
Okay…wait. I remembered that thing slightly. He was a…cat? Yes! My cat. So weird still, but yeah. I lowered my hands slowly and everything from earlier began flooding back in.
I sat slowly on the bed and started thinking about what all had happened today. It was so much to take in. I should go talk to my dad. I looked over at Phantom and he peeked up at me and meowed grudgingly, obviously peeved that I had disturbed him from his sleep. I shook my head and got up and headed out to the living room.
“Dad?” I called out, walking down the hallway. “Are you here?”
“Helloooo!”
I laughed to myself
and walked out to the living room. “Hey, Bruce.” I smiled and plopped down next to him on the couch. He was our long-time neighbor and one of my best friends.
“Howdy, doll!” He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and squeezed me tightly in a quick hug. I rested my head on his shoulder and he asked, “How’s the world treating you? Got a boy toy yet?”
“Nah, no one interesting my age. And you’re gay, so I think I’ll just stay single forever.”
He laughed loudly at this and gave my shoulder another squeeze. “You’re too funny sometimes Audrey. And at my grand old age of twenty-two I feel ancient compared to you.” He dragged out ‘ancient’ in an exaggerated way. “So are you going to explain the hand? Or am I going to have to figure it out through osmosis?”
“Oh, you know…the usual.”
“Intrigue! Do tell. What ‘usual’ would you be referring to?”
“Drug smuggling, high speed car chases, the occasional hand to hand combat.” I shrugged casually and wiggled my hand back and forth. “Casualties of the trade, my friend.”
“Mm hm. My best guess is you got into a fight with your garbage disposal again. Or maybe your toaster oven?” He raised one eyebrow mockingly.
“Hey! That’s not fair!” I said, laughing a little and smacking him lightly on the arm. “Besides, that was only once.” He gave me a look and I said, “Okay fine, three times. But it was only once with the garbage disposal! I learned my lesson quickly with that thing.”
He laughed again and said, “Okay, I’ll let that one slide. So, how are you really? That hand must be pretty banged up.” He reached out to try and touch it and I pulled it back quickly, shifting away from him on the couch so that he couldn’t come anywhere near it.
“It’s just really sensitive,” I said when I saw that he looked surprised by my reaction.
“Oh sweetie I’m sorry. Just instinct, you know.” He smiled and I felt really guilty all of a sudden. Bruce was a nurse, so of course he would naturally want to care for me if I was injured. Or anytime, actually. He’d been babysitting for me since I was a little kid and he’d always had the natural inclination to try and help people when they were injured. He had lived next door with his parents, but they passed away a few years back due to an accident when he was only nineteen, leaving him the house and a huge insurance policy. He had put himself through school and become an R.N.
He always told me he had known what he wanted to be since he had first started babysitting me. I was five, he was twelve, and we were in the living room and all was going very well. I was watching my current obsession at that time, which happened to be Hocus Pocus. (Go figure.)
He walked away for I think about thirty seconds to go to the bathroom or something, and I was up and in the kitchen faster than you could say…well…hocus pocus. That damn garbage disposal appealed to me so much. It just seemed so interesting. I would see my dad dump all sorts of things down there, and then he would flip a switch and--poof!--all gone. Totally amazing. I wanted to see if it worked on something other than food. The closest object to hand was a spoon. I grabbed it, stuck it in the sink, while propped awkwardly over the edge on my stomach, and reached up and flipped the switch. I didn’t think about where to place my hand that was propping me up though and it was over the open mouth of the drain, with the handle of the spoon sticking out in between my little fingers. So when the switch was flipped and the garbage disposal yanked it around, it pulled my pinky with it at a really awkward angle. I screamed loud enough for Bruce’s parents to hear next door. Bruce was so upset and I almost thought he was the one with a broken finger during my visit to the hospital. My dad let him tag along after he had immediately called him and 911, screaming his head off the entire time. His parents came rushing in shortly after he’d made the phone calls and about five minutes later my dad and the ambulance showed up. It was a pretty huge spectacle. Especially since after the initial incident I just sat there quietly, watching Bruce cry and flutter his hands around me, trying to think of what to do. It made me laugh at least.
My dad forgave him right away. He knew how I was and told Bruce to calm down, he wasn’t “fired”.
The second Bruce stepped foot into that emergency room though he was hooked; all of the hectic activity and the noise, the doctors swooshing around him and the nurses caring for everyone. He loved it.
And now…he was going to be zombie food. Life sucked.
“Audrey?” He waved his hand in front of my face to get my attention. “You in there?”
“I’m sorry. I’m just so out of it lately.” I looked at him and smiled as best as I could, trying not to look worried. “So how are you? I take it Dad called you over to babysit?” I rolled my eyes slightly at this. I didn’t need a babysitter anymore, but my dad always called Bruce anyway to “keep me company” when he was gone.
“Well, you know him. Especially whenever you’re sick he doesn’t like you to be alone. And who better than the fabulous Nurse Bruce, doll face?” He fluttered his eyelashes at me dramatically and I started laughing. “There’s that gorgeous smile! Just wait until you actually get a boyfriend. You will break his heart so badly.”
“You are so mean!” I laughed again and got up and went into the kitchen. “Do you want something? Where did Dad go? Did he say?”
“Yes, and I don’t know.”
“Oh. Okay, what do you want?”
“Do you even need to ask?”
“You are sooo predictable.”
“Well you make the best around you know. You have since you were six. And I taught you how, of course.” He turned on the TV and I began making our drinks and I grabbed a quick snack too, some powdered donuts, absolute necessity in my opinion. I piled everything onto one of our cookie sheets to give it some flourish and walked out to the living room.
“Your drink, sir.”
He looked up and smiled at the display, then grabbed his drink. “Best Shirley Temple in town!” He put his feet up on the coffee table and leaned back, taking a long sip while closing his eyes. “Ahhh.” He smiled and gave me a wink.
“You’re crazy.” I sat back down and began eating my donuts.
“Proud of it!”
I saw him eyeballing my donuts. “Want one?” I shook the bag in front of his face and he looked like he was about to break for a minute, then he shook his head and said, “No, no! This drink is bad enough. I have to maintain the physique! How else will I keep ‘em interested? Plus I’m getting so old.” He pouted at this.
“If you’re getting old what does that mean for me?” My dad asked, closing the front door with his foot. His arms were filled with grocery bags.
“Hello Ralph! And I’m talking gay years here, sweetie! You know how men are--so shallow.”
“Really? You, shallow? I never would have thought.” My dad smiled down at me and I laughed at Bruce’s expression. He looked deeply offended.
“Mock if you must but until you live in the gay single world you have no idea how hard it is!”
“Isn’t being hard the whole point?” I asked innocently.
He choked a little on his drink and I heard my dad let out a surprised bit of laughter. “Audrey! That is not becoming of a young lady such as you!” He turned towards my dad. “Ralph! What are you letting her watch on television?”
“Shouldn’t you be blaming yourself for that one Bruce, when I come home to you two watching Jawbreaker when she’s eight years old?”
“It’s Rose McGowan!” He looked back at my dad and saw his expression and said, “Okay, okay, it’s probably my fault.” He turned towards me, looked me directly in the eye, gave me a completely intense look and said, “Audrey, I’m sorry I corrupted you so thoroughly and at such a young age.”
“I forgive you, and I thank you for it every day.” I kissed him on the cheek and got up to go to the bathroom. When I came back out the two of them were talking and I could tell it was about me and it was serious. I held back in the hallway for a minute but Phantom blew my cover by burst
ing out of my room, running down the hall past me and jumping up onto the counter where they were talking. My dad looked over and saw me and said, “Bruce is going to work now Audrey, so say your goodbyes.”
“You can’t stay for dinner?” I frowned at him and walked over to where they were standing.
“No, sorry doll, I have to work a double shift tonight.” He gave me a hug and began walking towards the door.
“Hey.” I grabbed his hand and pulled him back to face me.
“Yeah?” He looked back at me, coyly now.
“You had a donut!”
“What?! No- I didn’t- Okay fine I had one- two alright? You left the bag out!” He slapped my hand away playfully, smiling, and walked out.
I turned back to my dad, feeling happier than I had before, and started helping him put the groceries away. It was nice to feel normal after everything we had found out.
“So Bruce knows,” my dad said, shattering my momentary illusion of peace.
“What?! How? When? I don’t even know what to say!”
“I wanted to tell someone who has a link to the field of real medicine. Someone we can trust! Maybe he can figure something out with Agnes.”
“Did he know the whole time he was here?”
He started putting groceries away again and waited a brief moment before answering, “Yes, he did. I told him everything while you were napping because I wasn’t sure how you would be when you woke up. If you would…remember him or not.”
I was silent for a minute, wanting to be angry and yell and all that, but I could understand what he was saying. I mean, it made sense. “There was a…moment, when I woke up this time.”
“Tell me.” He turned away from the groceries and gave me his full attention.
“I just…well it was pretty brief. I didn’t know why I was sleeping, and I forgot a few seconds about Phantom again, but it all came flooding back after like a minute. I’m still the same from this morning though. Like someone set the reset button on my brain about the whole cat thing. Do you think it has something to do with the longer I sleep?”
Who is Audrey Wickersham? Page 5