Eerie

by C. M McCoy

  “What?” Hailey snapped, casting a flabbergasted look at Fin, who leaned back on his heels with his hands in his pockets and very intentionally but not very convincingly became suddenly captivated by a constellation in the sky.

  “You didn’t know?” Meara looked with a blank face at her son, who bit the inside of his cheek and continued gazing skyward.

  “Sure, even when he’s just a lad, he’s not afraid of them—so defiant. Well, he saw Adalwolf going for you girls, and he marched right into that house, hell-bent on a rescue, but then, of course Adalwolf exploded, and . . .well, you know the rest.”

  Fin tilted his head to the side and set his jaw.

  “Nice recap, Mom, except you left out the part where you and Declan just stood there and watched.”

  Hailey just stood there, shifting her weight from one foot to the other, racking her brain to remember the face of the man—or boy or whatever—that pulled her out of the fire as an O’Shea family dysfunction ensued.

  “You know very well the control Adalwolf exerted on us,” his father said forcefully.

  “Funny,” said Fin without a hint of amusement, “you looked more scared than hypnotized to me, but . . .whatever you need to tell yourself so you can sleep at night. Let’s go Hailey,” he said, grabbing her hand roughly and pulling her along.

  “Are you sure it’s safe for her there, Pádraig? With . . .you know . . .” his mother called out, and Fin stopped.

  “She’s far safer there with him than she is near either of you.”

  “Son, we haven’t had . . .an incident in years,” she pleaded.

  “Well, hooray and good for you,” he answered sarcastically, and his mother rushed over to him.

  “Take this, son.” She pressed a small object into Fin’s hand. “It’s a gift. From Theon.”

  “Shacked up with another Envoy, have we?” said Fin, his voice laced with bitterness. “No thank you.” He tried to give the object back to his mother, but she stepped back, hands up.

  “Just take it, son. Theon is good. He watches over you, and he said to carry it with you—said you’ll need that. We love you . . .” she added as Fin walked off.

  “It was nice to see you,” Hailey called over her shoulder, and his mother waved sadly.

  Rolling his eyes, Fin shoved the object into his pocket. Then he turned to Hailey.

  “Come on, you’ll ride the bus with the team,” he said flatly, and Hailey struggled to keep up with his angry pace.

  “Am I allowed?”

  “I’m the captain, and I’m inviting you,” he said unequivocally. “Besides, you need an opportunity to tell the team how extraordinarily giant I am,” he said like a German bodybuilder.

  Hailey let out a nervous laugh. “I think I’ll steer clear of subtle innuendo for the rest of my life. You’re lucky to have witnessed the one moment in history that I actually fit my whole foot into mouth—”

  He cut her off by holding his hand up. “Stop talking, Hailey. You’re a train wreck.”

  “What? Why?”

  He never answered.

  When Fin climbed aboard the bus, the Yetis absolutely erupted. His team obviously adored him. They clobbered him with high-fives as he passed.

  Hailey did her best to duck and cover behind him.

  “Game puck!” shouted Sidney as he lobbed an object at Fin, who snagged it out of the air.

  “Thanks, guys,” Fin said. He pointed Hailey to an empty seat.

  “Here.” He handed her the puck and slid in next to her. “Little souvenir.”

  “Wow, nobody’s ever given me a puck before,” she said, hugging it to her chest. That came out sounding sarcastic, but she felt genuinely honored. She couldn’t stop smiling.

  “You’re welcome,” he said. He so enjoyed seeing her squirm and laughed out loud as the bus headed north.

  “What did you think of the game?” he asked.

  Hailey tapped the hockey puck as she formed her answer.

  “Hockey looks like an angry ballet on ice.”

  Fin’s smile widened, his eyes sparkling. “ . . .an . . .angry . . .ballet . . .” he repeated with a chuckle.

  “ . . .on ice,” Hailey said defensively, “except there’s more fighting . . .”

  “And more testosterone,” Fin pointed out.

  “Less estrogen, for sure.”

  “No estrogen,” he corrected.

  “Fewer teeth,” Hailey chimed.

  “No tights . . .” said Fin.

  “ . . .that you know of . . .”

  “Sharper footwear,” Fin offered.

  “Duller wits,” Hailey countered.

  “More wood,” they both said in unison, and Hailey’s eyes went wide. She meant hockey sticks but was pretty sure he meant something else.

  “Alexei made some pretty spectacular saves,” said Hailey, eager to change the subject.

  “He’s not bad.”

  She nodded, staring out the window into the darkness for several seconds before turning to him again.

  “Did you really pull us out of the fire?”

  “Mmmm . . . Yep,” he said coolly, and then he drummed his hands on the seat in front on them.

  “Why . . .” Hailey shook her head. “ . . .you never mentioned . . .” her mind raced wildly before she finally took hold of a thought. “What happened that night?”

  “Well,” he sang, his eyes going far-off for a bit, “Cobon and Adalwolf were going to open the Aether. Cobon had your parents killed and sent Adalwolf to take care of you two. When I got to your room, he had you by the throat . . .”

  Here Fin hesitated, seeming to choose his words.

  “ . . .and then he exploded.” He shrugged. “The house was on fire; I grabbed you and Holly and dragged you outside.”

  Hailey shook her head. “Why were you there?”

  “A lot of folks were there,” he said, “ including your buddy Asher—just watching the murders, like it was a TV show . . .waiting to see what would happen,” he said bleakly. “When the other Envoys heard Adalwolf bought it, they hightailed it out of there. I stayed until the fire trucks showed up.”

  “All this time I thought it was Asher.” Hailey dropped her brow.

  “Asher can be very manipulative,” he said darkly, and Hailey bit her lip.

  Asher had never actually said that he’d rescued her from the fire—she just assumed he did. And it bolstered her trust in him. He only said he was there. Watching . . .standing by while Adalwolf—

  She shuddered and pushed the unthinkable out of her mind.

  “Why did your parents say you were a lad?”

  “I was. I was nine years old,” he told her. “Well—I was four hundred and thirty-something, living as a nine-year old,” he said leaning into her.

  Hailey frowned, unable to recall all the details from that night and unable to fathom his curse.

  She stared out the window for a long while before she suddenly remembered something...

  “Hey, what does your tattoo say?” She’d meant to ask him in the locker room.

  “Which one?”

  “You have more than one?”

  “Yes,” he was using his instructor’s voice again.

  “This one on your arm.” She pointed to his bicep.

  “You mean this arm?” He flexed in three different ways, which made Hailey laugh again.

  “Careful you don’t rip your shirt.” She feigned her best worried voice.

  “That’s more like it,” he said with satisfaction.

  “It says ‘Salva nos a maleficio. It means—”

  “Save us from evil.” Hailey smiled playfully. “Evil hockey pucks?”

  “You of all people know what kind of evil is lurking at Bear Towne.”

  “What do you mean?” She knew exactly what he m
eant.

  “You shouldn’t be hanging around with Asher.”

  “Why not?”

  “That guy is serious bad news, Hailey. I heard you’re going to Seven Trumpets with him.”

  “It’s not . . .none of your business who I’m going with.” Now he did it. He’d perturbed her into using bad grammar. That made her even angrier.

  “It is my business. I promised Pix I’d look after you here.”

  “You did what?”

  “Look, Hailey—” He was using that dang teacher’s voice again. “—he’s not human. That creature kills people.” Hailey rolled her eyes. “Oh, but it’s ok if he murders people, because he picked you as the only girl he’ll talk to—don’t pretend he doesn’t scare you.” He cocked his head at her and stared. Then he tried a different approach.

  “I’m just worried about you.” He squeezed her knee. “I want you to hang around a little longer. Who would publically shame me over my tiny manhood if he killed you?”

  Now he was just trying to make her laugh.

  “I’m really sorry about that,” she told him. “Do you want me to tell everyone I was talking about your gut?”

  “Don’t you dare,” he said pointing his finger in her face, and Hailey laughed a genuine laugh.

  But as she glanced out the window, her smile vanished. “You know, I’ve never heard Asher laugh.”

  “Hey,” said Fin, and she turned.

  He looked her square in the eyes, his face soft. “You can’t have love without laughter, Hailey.”

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Confessions

  There is a smile of love,

  And there is a smile of deceit,

  And there is a smile of smiles

  In which these two smiles meet.

  - William Blake

  Back at Bear Towne, Hailey walked half a block toward Eureka Hall before she realized she’d forgotten her puck. As she jogged back to retrieve it, she overheard the team chuckling.

  Fin was laughing, too.

  “Who, Hailey?” she heard him say, and she slowed so she could eavesdrop.

  “Pádraig, serious,” said one of his teammates. “That chick is hot. Tell me you tapped that.”

  Hailey’s jaw dropped.

  “You know I did,” Fin laughed in a lazy voice, and he slapped his teammate’s hand.

  A chorus of approval rose from the group.

  “Look at you . . .getting you some freshman tail,” one of them sang.

  Hailey could hear Fin laughing again, and it made her sick.

  “Oh!” yelled another. “You rode the campus pariah!”

  “Don’t call her that,” Fin bellowed through clenched teeth, and Hailey saw him winding up to pummel his teammate, but it was too late.

  She was fuming, and she couldn’t stop her feet from marching right up to him.

  “Hailey?” said Fin. He dropped his fist, his face white.

  Hailey pushed two giant hockey players out of the way, stormed over to Fin, and smacked him across the face.

  He flinched and immediately began his grovel.

  “Hailey,” he pleaded. “I’m so sorry—guys, give me a minute.” The Yetis dispersed in a hurry.

  Hailey walked away as fast as she could, so angry she was shaking, trying to get out of there before Fin saw her cry.

  “Hailey, stop!” he yelled, chasing after her. Nope. “Hailey, come on. Look, I’m sorry!”

  Hailey spun around to yell at him, but she was already crying.

  “I can’t believe . . .” she sobbed, “ . . .after you just said you were looking out for me. You don’t care about me at all!”

  Looking shocked, Fin tried to put his hands on her shoulders, but she slapped them away.

  “You don’t have enough women traipsing through your room?” she yelled. “You sleep with a different one every night, and you have to lie about me to feed your ego?”

  “Hailey, I . . . I’m sorry,” he stuttered, but she was already stomping off. “What was I supposed to tell them?” he yelled after her. “Oh—you want me to say it out loud? That I’m in love with you? There! I said it!”

  Hailey stopped.

  “Love doesn’t act like that,” she said over her shoulder, and then she walked away.

  “Hailey . . .” he pleaded. When she didn’t respond, he took a few steps after her. “Hailey!” he yelled. “I’m sorry, alright? Hail—”

  She never looked back, but she could hear his teammates consoling him in the distance, their voices fading with each step she took, but she still made them out.

  “Man . . .” said one. “You’re in the doghouse now, bro.”

  “Yeah,” she heard Fin’s strained voice. Then he let out a bellow she would’ve heard from another block away, and he punched or kicked something that sounded like the side of a bus. Hailey didn’t care. She was disgusted and angry and hurt. Mostly hurt. How could he ever call himself her friend? And that bit about being “in love”? Hailey scoffed.

  . . .warning me about the evil Asher . . . She shook her head, disgusted. Asher was the only person—or creature or whatever—the only one who’d never lied to her. Yeah, he was creepy and dangerous, but at least he didn’t hide it.

  Still boiling the next morning, Hailey woke up a full hour early just so she could seethe.

  “You’re finally making sense to me,” remarked Giselle.

  Hailey smacked her books together as she gathered them. “You going to breakfast today?”

  “I like morning food,” Giselle said, slinging her bag over her shoulder.

  “Good.” Hailey’s anger wanted company.

  After breakfast Giselle joined Hailey at the library. While Hailey set to solving the feedback problem in her ghost trap, Giselle worked her way through a pile of beauty magazines, and a gigantic inchworm slithered slowly past, accidentally bumping Hailey’s table as he went.

  “Matthew!” Hailey barked when he caused her pen to scribble. “I told you to stay out of the lounge. You have to stop drinking tea—just look at you.” Hailey threw her hand up. “If you get any bigger, you’re going to get stuck in the archway and end up in a dark tunnel. And don’t think I’ll come running underground to find you.”

  He slid away, tea sloshing loudly in his stomach.

  Hailey turned back to her lab notebook, and she must’ve just missed seeing Fin rush out of the stacks, because it seemed like he came out of thin air, when he appeared on his knees at her side, wearing a haunted expression.

  “Ah!” she yelled, and her pen made another scribble.

  “Hailey, I’m sorry—forgive me please,” he called out breathless.

  “Fin—” Hailey huffed loudly and stared at her messy notebook. “Nothing says, ‘I’m sorry’ like leaving me the hell alone.”

  Fin stood up, shoulders hunched. “I’ll leave you alone then,” he said in a strained voice, “but I will never leave you alone.” He placed a folded note on the desk next to her hand and slouched away.

  “You were a little hard on him, don’t you think?” Giselle asked.

  “I thought you hated him?” she whispered sharply.

  “I do,” she said in a loud voice that disturbed Mrs. Spitz.

  “SHH!” she warned from the circulation desk.

  “But you don’t,” said Giselle in just as loud a voice.

  “Trust me. I would rather spend an eternity buried in these library books than spend another second with Pádraig O’Shea.”

  “Careful what you wish for.”

  Hailey snapped her head around. “Why?”

  “You just shouldn’t say things you don’t mean.”

  “Thought you hated libraries,” she muttered, recalling the blissful first days of her semester, when her roommate was ignoring her.

  “I do. They
smell like dead trees. And by the way, I don’t understand you at all,” Giselle scolded. “Asher very nearly kills you—wants to kill you, and you totally blow it off and gush about how—” Giselle put on her best little-girl-Hailey voice. “Oh, I wish he would kiss me again,” she mocked. “Pádraig tells one little lie, and you shun him completely.”

  Before Hailey could close her wide-open mouth, Giselle slapped her magazine shut, got up, and glided out, leaving Hailey alone with her grudge, which quickly turned to guilt when she opened Fin’s note.

  Inside, she found a magnificent pencil sketch of her praying at Holly’s grave with the words “Never Alone” scratched at the bottom.

  Her hands numb, Hailey dropped her head to the desk as the squeaky outer door of the library opened.

  Fin was waiting at the exit when Giselle walked out, He stopped her by stepping directly in front of her.

  “What do you want?” she said like a snob.

  “Demon,” he said, “I need you to tap into your para-empathic, emotion detector thing you do, and tell me if I love that woman or if this is just Cobon’s . . . curse.”

  “All love’s a curse,” she said disgustedly, “and you really screwed up.”

  “Giselle!”

  “Pádraig, the very fact that you’re here asking me this question should be your answer.”

  Fin waited for her to explain.

  She didn’t.

  “Giselle, for one minute, pretend you’re not a banshee, and stop speaking in riddles. Imagine I’m the biggest idiot you’ve ever talked to—”

  “—that shouldn’t be hard.”

  “Just lay it out for me, okay?”

  “Have you ever cared whether you hurt someone who loves you?” she asked him.

  Fin straightened up. “She loves me?” he exclaimed, and then he grabbed Giselle by the head and kissed her full on the mouth.

  She pushed him away, sputtering and spitting and wiping at her lips as if she’d just been slurped by a dog that had drunk from the toilet.

  “Gross!”

  “Thank you, Giselle!” he said jubilantly as he jogged away.

  “You’re still an asshole, Pádraig,” Giselle called after him.

  Hailey finished up her experimental design, and she left the library that night with her heart in her stomach. The last thing she wanted was a run-in with Fin.