“Oh, Diesel. Come on! Abracadabra? Are you for real?”
He snatched it from her hand. “You don’t understand.”
“Yes, I do. They’re inside your head.” She stared at him as he tucked it back inside his shirt. “Take it off.”
“I can’t… not for another five days.”
“Abracadabra is a stupid pretend word that magicians use to distract an audience before they try to fool them with their tricks. It’s not real magic.”
“It has real power if worn in the correct way,” he said in a low voice. “In five more days I’ll toss this over my left shoulder into running water, and my bad luck will disappear like the letters.”
She shook her head. “Do you hear yourself?”
He held his mouth tight and didn’t blink. After a second he said, “You got your way, I’m going with you. Can’t you leave this alone?”
“Fine! Wear your stupid charm necklace if you want; let’s just get out of here.”
“I will.”
“Fine.”
“Fine,” he mocked. A tiny smile peeked out of the side of his mouth as he touched her hair lightly. “Kiss me.”
“Fine,” she cooed.
“Scarlet!” They heard her mom, Theresa, calling from down the hall.
Diesel shoved at Scarlet, wanting her off his lap. Scarlet didn’t want to move; a 17-year-old should be able to sit where she wants.
“Scarlet, move,” he pleaded.
“Fine,” she huffed and took her time. She still had one leg on Diesel, and pretended to button her shirt, as her mom walked in.
“Oh,” Theresa said and looked down at the floor.
Scarlet heard Diesel exhale in disbelief. Just because he’s a momma’s boy…
“I wanted to let you know that the weather channel said the blizzard is almost here.”
“Is that all?”
Theresa spotted the suitcase open and packed. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing. Can you shut the door when you leave?” Scarlet waited for her to respond. Although her mom looked plenty mad—her face turned red and her eyes avoided Scarlet’s—she still shut the door without a word. Once in awhile, her mom showed some backbone and stood up to her, but not lately. Even convincing her to let Diesel stay on the couch overnight had been easy.
“Go tell her we’re leaving,” Diesel said.
“Why?” She asked as she zipped up her suitcase.
“You can’t leave without telling her. Come on.” He winked at her the way he always did before he said, “Who’s my girl?”
Her normal response was, “I’m nobody’s girl. I’m your woman.” However, the thought of talking to her mom had her in no mood to kid around. She stomped out of the room.
Scarlet found her mom in the little mud room on the other side of the kitchen folding a load of laundry. That was all Scarlet ever knew her to do—work. She had told Scarlet several years before that the reason she had left her dad was so that Scarlet would have a better life. Scarlet didn’t see it that way; she didn’t know how anyone could be so screwed up that they thought being alone was better. She wished her mother had fought at least a little bit for her dad. But no, she had given him away to that skank her dad referred to as “your stepmom.”
Even though Scarlet wasn’t sure what she wanted out of life, she did know it wouldn’t be anything like her mom’s life. Her mom woke in the mornings and had the same day every day; it would be the same hard working day, over and over, until she died.
“I’m leaving,” Scarlet said.
“Where are you going?”
“On a trip.”
Theresa glanced at her. “When are you coming back?”
Scarlet shrugged her shoulders.
“What about Christmas? I thought we were going shopping. I took off that couple of days.”
The disappointment on her mom’s face prompted Scarlet to lie. “I’ll be back for that.” She couldn’t tell her the truth, that she didn’t plan to ever come back. It would only start questions about school… and tears. There would be lots of tears. She refused to ruin her life because of guilt.
“Where are you going?”
“Someplace warm.”
“Maybe we should talk about this. I don’t know if it’s such a—”
Scarlet rolled her eyes. “We’re just going to… Florida. He needs to get away for a little while. His aunt and cousin are staying with his Granny, and this is his only chance.”
“Oh… is he all right? Is that why? Is this because of his mother?”
“Yeah, that’s right.” Scarlet felt antsy. “Look, I gotta go.”
“Call me or text me when you get there? I’m worried about the storm.”
To satisfy her, Scarlet agreed. If I remember to bring my phone. The hug had also been for her mom’s benefit.
Diesel had made it to the living room and stood with his arms crossed watching the weather on the television. He had brought Scarlet’s bags with him and had set them by the front door.
“Done,” Scarlet said. “Are you happy? Now let’s go.”
“Wait a minute.” He held her coat out to her.
A woman in an ugly, blue suit told the viewers about the winter weather alert. Scarlet didn’t pay attention to what she said; all she heard was: “Leave! Or you’ll be stuck here forever!” Scarlet quickly put on her coat, releasing and tossing out her loose curls with a shake of her head. “We’re going to miss the flight. We gotta go.”
He picked up her suitcase and duffle bag. “Has anybody ever told you how impatient you are?”
“You’re just slow.”
After Diesel walked out the front door, Scarlet took one last look around the living room. She groaned when she saw the bare Christmas tree she had never gotten around to decorating with her mom. “Oh, well.” She shook her head, grabbed her purse off the end table, but left her phone and followed him out.
“What are you doing?” Scarlet stopped suddenly to keep from running into him.
Diesel stood on the front porch, staring up at the sky. “I’ll be back,” he said.
“What do you mean? Be back?”
“I have to go back to the house.”
“Oh no, you don’t! We’re going to the airport, now! You’re never going back to that house. Do you hear me? I’m tired of this, Diesel. I’m not going to put up with this shit anymore. I’ve been more than patient. Don’t you think?”
“There’s something I have to do.” He kissed her on the mouth, dropped the bags, and ran to his car. The engine revved as he barreled out of the driveway.
“What the hell? Diesel!” She threw her hands up. “Where…?” She shivered from the cold wind and looked up to where Diesel had been staring. The clouds moved fast, showing only mere glimpses of a white moon.
“He’s insane.” She grabbed her bags off the porch and fought the wind to her car and threw them in the backseat. After jumping into the driver’s seat, she sat for a moment fighting to unclench her teeth. Determined not to cry over Diesel’s ridiculous behavior, she breathed heavily, in and out, through her nose. It didn’t help. “Ahhhhh!” she screamed as she put both hands on the steering wheel and pulled as hard as she could.
After calming down, she knew she had to make a decision. She didn’t want to go back inside the house and have her mom ask twenty million questions as to why she hadn’t left yet. She couldn’t simply sit there and freeze to death. She had to follow him back to his house.
“Why is he going back there?” She started her car. “Probably forgot to pack his rabbit’s foot.” If she’d had her own money, she would’ve left his ass there.
“Fine, fine, fine…” she said pulling out onto the dark road. The snow had begun to fall on her windshield, light and fluffy, but she knew better than to trust its beauty. She didn’t want to be out on the road when it decided to show its mean side.
Chapter 6
“Good Day,” Said The Wolf
Saturday: Night
; Except for the constant chill, the unfamiliar surroundings, and no cable, Aiden’s day hadn’t been as bad as he had expected it to be. After his mom had left, he had watched Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade on the VCR—he was a little afraid of the quality, but once it got started, he didn’t notice any difference between it and a DVD—and spent some time re-reading his favorite novel by Orson Scott Card, Ender's Game, which he had packed in his suitcase.
He had made tuna sandwiches for him and his Granny for lunch, and the conversation had been nice. A little strange, but it was still cool to hear about his mom as a little girl.
“Lucille was in her room playing when I heard her scream bloody murder,” Granny had said as she sat in her recliner and knitted. “I ran in there, and she was standing on her bed, pointing toward the window sill. It took me a few minutes to see that there was this tiny little spider. Can you believe she wanted me to kill it?” She shook her head. “If that you would live and thrive, let the spider run alive.”
And his time alone had given him time to think and to realize, without a doubt, what he truly wanted: He wanted Summer back. He searched for the feelings that had made him screw up everything, but they had gone. Where had they come from, anyway? What had he been afraid of? Now being without her forever was the only thing he feared.
He had to apologize, soon, before that jerk Dallas, Mr. We’re Just Good Friends—Yeah, right—made his move. And before she had a chance to think herself out of loving him.
He decided that his bumbling words, without being pre-considered, might do more damage than good. He wanted to write them down so that he could express exactly how he felt. He groaned when he looked at the only words he had typed: “I am stupid.”
Aiden looked up from his computer when he heard Granny buzzing him. He didn’t have to walk upstairs to know what she wanted. Somehow, time had flown by, and it was past the time she had requested the muffins be served. He hugged himself, rubbing his arms, and glanced at the fireplace that hadn’t magically turned on yet. Granny had told him he could start a fire, but after trying for thirty minutes, he had finally given up.
It was already late, and he was starving, so he decided to make the muffins at the same time he made dinner. He went to the kitchen and searched the refrigerator for something to make. Nothing. Then he remembered what his mom had said about there being food in the basement. “Great.” He closed the refrigerator door and turned toward the hall. “DUN DUN Duuuuun! The basement.”
He brushed his hand up and down the wall beside the basement door but didn’t find a light switch at the top of the stairs. Leaving the door open at the top so at least some of the light filtered down into the darkness, he held onto the handrail as he made his way down. When he landed at the bottom of the stairs, he stood still for a minute, barely able to make out shapes. A strange aroma assaulted his senses, making him cough a little. It didn’t reek of mold or old, but it had the scent of herbs and licorice and even a hint of vinegar.
He ventured a few steps and something brushed his cheek. He swatted it away, until he realized it was string with a little knot at the end and pulled it. A light flashed on, blinding him for a second.
Rows and rows of drying herbs hung from the ceiling by lengths of twine. Some he didn’t recognize, and others were familiar herbs, like parsley and cilantro.
Blinking through light-spotted vision, he located a long freezer on the far wall. He walked across the concrete floor and opened it. Inside, it housed different kinds of meat wrapped in foil and labeled in black marker. He needed something that would cook up fast and easy, so he grabbed some chicken and ground beef. He wished he had come down earlier, so the meat would have had time to thaw, but figured he could boil the chicken and serve it over rice. In case he had to cook the next night, too, he made a quick plan to thaw the ground beef in the refrigerator. He closed the lid and turned around, about to make his way back up the stairs, when something in the right-hand corner of the room caught his attention. What the...?
A very large cage with thick, round bars about six inches apart was bolted to the concrete floor and to the ceiling. The cage door came complete with a chain and a big, old-fashioned padlock, which hung unlatched. He guessed a skeleton key, like he had seen in pirate movies and such, would most likely fit inside the keyhole.
“Figures,” he said. “Complete with dungeon.” All kinds of theories ran through his mind all at once. Such as, one of the occupants of the house (most likely Diesel) was a deranged lunatic who kidnapped people and held them prisoner.
He backed away from the cage, grateful no one was locked inside at the moment. As he made his way up the stairs, he chuckled. “Probably a place they used to keep dogs in the winter or something.”
Within an hour, Aiden had dinner and the muffins cooked and the table set. When he walked through the living room on his way to get his grandmother, he heard the wind as it wailed and begged for attention. He snapped on the porch light, revealing large snowflakes being blown sideways. His grin widened as he watched in amazement, hoping by morning he could make a snowman or at least his first real snowball.
After walking upstairs to Granny’s room, he tapped with his knuckle on her door; she didn’t answer. He thought about just letting her be, in case she was already asleep, before considering the instructions Diesel had given them: She must have the muffins every day. He didn’t want to cause her to have a heart attack or whatever would happen without her medicated muffins.
He walked inside the room, tiptoeing blindly to the bed. A new rank, musky odor filled the room and made him wince. The idea that she had died because he was a little late with the muffins crossed his mind, and his heart pounded in his chest. He was relieved when he heard a tremendous snore arise in the darkness.
Hoping his sudden presence wouldn’t scare Granny to death either, Aiden whispered her name and snapped on the bedside lamp. His mouth fell open as he stared in disbelief at what was asleep under Granny’s cozy blanket.
It looked kind of like a wolf, black and gray fur, large pointed ears, but different and so much bigger; Aiden followed the blanket bulge the length of the bed. Hairy, but human-like, yellow clawed feet stuck out of the end of the blanket. When he looked back at the face of the creature, he found it odd the way it lay there on the pillow, snoring through the long, almost delicate nose. That’s when he noticed the sharp fangs, two pointed up and two pointed down, over dark lips. And its eyes were… open!
Aiden stumbled back a step.
It growled, saliva gathering at the corners of its mouth like a mad dog. Aiden stood petrified, but only for a second, because when the wolf-thing leapt from the bed, Aiden found his feet and scrambled backwards.
It seemed to be wearing a pink nightgown… similar to Granny’s nightgown. He had no time to think about it, or to even run, because in the next second, the creature had lunged and knocked Aiden on the floor.
Aiden shielded his face with his arms as the thing tore at him with its claws, shredding his jacket and digging its claws deep into his flesh. Aiden cried out, the burning pain searing through his body. More than his match in strength, the creature had Aiden’s arms pinned to the ground quickly. At the very moment Aiden opened his eyes and saw the daggered teeth coming toward his face, the creature’s head reared back, and its mouth flew open, a high-pitched screech bellowing out. It staggered to its feet, revealing its huge size and long limbs.
Aiden didn't dare move. Hard adrenaline pumped through his heart. Finally, with large breaths, he sat up.
The wolf-like creature stumbled a little, leaving a clear view of Diesel standing by the bedroom door, holding a gun out in front of him. Diesel then grabbed a long, thick dart with a red tip from his mouth, right as Scarlet ran into the room and reacted to seeing the beast with a piercing, long-winded scream.
The creature turned toward them and snarled. A dart—exactly like the one Diesel had pushed into the gun—stuck out of its back. Diesel began pumping the pistol-sized air gun, never lookin
g away from the beast. But it didn’t wait for Diesel to finish… it attacked.
Scarlet screamed and fur and black blurs of Diesel’s clothing rolled around the room. After what seemed an eternity, Aiden heard a quick blast of air and at the same time, the beastly animal slowed to a stop and lay motionless on top of Diesel. Aiden figured the first dart had probably finally taken effect. Slowly, almost gently, Diesel slipped out from under it. He bent down, putting his face close to the creature’s face.
Diesel turned his head and stared at Aiden. “Are you okay?”
Aiden heart still pounded, and his body shook ferociously. He felt twinges of pain, his arms scratched and bleeding, but he wasn’t dead. He nodded.
Scarlet ran to Diesel. “Are you okay? Are you okay? Oh shit! What is that thing?”
Diesel shrugged her off, still looking at Aiden, and stood up. He let the gun drop to the floor.
The madness in Diesel’s eyes made Aiden wary. Before he could move, Diesel had crossed the room, grabbed him by the neck, and slammed him into the wall.
Aiden gasped and tried to break free of both Diesel’s grip and his very close stare.
“Diesel!” Scarlet said. “What are you doing? Let him go!”
Finally, Diesel released the pressure, but his hand remained firmly around Aiden’s neck. Blood and sweat dripped from his face. “I knew you would forget to give her the muffins.”
Chapter 7
I Must Act Craftily So I Can Catch Both
Scarlet heard the boys arguing and tried to concentrate on their conversation but couldn’t stop looking at the monster on the floor in the pink gown. “Where’s your granny?” she asked.
Diesel turned to her, his hair out of the ponytail and loose around his shoulders. His clothes were ripped, and his riled expression was seriously enhanced by the scrapes and blood. He let go of Aiden, telling him, “Help me get her in bed.”
“Her?” Aiden questioned.
Silverweed: a supernatural fairy tale Page 4