“You’ll find some cool city dude.” Appearing dejected, he hung his head. “I’m just a country bumpkin. You’ll forget about me.”
The number one catch of Elma High was actually pining over her. Jordan, the geeky kid who lived in the woods was dating William McKenna, and the girls were envious. She couldn’t contain the arrogant tweak of her lips as she reflected on her good fortune. He was putting on a good show of looking beside himself, which somewhat squashed Paisley’s earlier implication.
“We still have Twisted Tour, right?” She strived for bubbly.
He angled back in the chair, stretching his legs. “It’s in LaSalle Park. Is that far from where you’ll be staying?”
“I Mapquested it, and it’s close by.”
He seemed to perk up. “I was hoping we could get a motel room for the night and . . . and party, but now…”
That was news to her, but it offered another solution. “Maybe Declan will let everyone crash at his apartment. It’d be free.” She watched him digest the alternative option and knew her mom would freak if she found out about his scheme.
“Oh, yeah, that’d be all right.” He seemed to be having a hard time being up beat. “It’d be a bunch of us, remember. Pais, Cayden, and Rolly.”
“Their apartment’s huge. We can camp out on the couches and floor.”
“Sounds like a plan.” He jerked forward, cupping her face with his hands, and kissed her soundly on the lips.
Drawing back an inch, his eyes passed over her face, breathing heavy. He wet his lips with his tongue, as if savoring her taste. “Has anyone ever told you how beautiful you are?”
Exuberant, she wanted to burst out singing and roused a memory of Markus mentioning in an offhanded way that she was beautiful, for a human.
Skillfully, Thrill reengaged her mouth for round two. Her innards boiled as heat percolated somewhere deep within. She surrendered by winding her arms around his neck. He pulled her to a standing position, fastening their bodies lengthwise. In the recesses of her brain, Jordan hoped her grandparents would remain outdoors.
FALSE WORDS POUR
OUT OF THEIR MOUTHS
FOR THE FIRST morning in weeks, Seeley stirred without morning sickness and fatigue and jumped on the computer, full of ideas. Her fingertips danced lightly over the keyboard as sentences and paragraphs came together in a saga of intrigue. A productive morning: two chapters and a third reading on the screen. Her mind was a whorl of imagery, and it came to a screeching halt at the sound of a buzzer. Moving her eyes to the time on the computer, she realized she’d escaped into her world of suspenseful writing for the whole morning. It was after 11:30.
She looked at her negligee as the doorbell shrilled a second time. Dashing to her bedroom, she shrugged on her tattered cotton robe and made a beeline for the door.
“Hi, Seeley. I hope I’m not intruding, but I came to the city for a shopping spree and decided to look you up,” prattled a short lady intent on barging through the door. “Your mom gave me your address. I thought it might be nice to go out for lunch.”
A claw clip held the lady’s hair in place on the top of her head and curls flopped every which way. Attired in a plisse jumper of gaudy sunflowers, her skin bulged around her yellow pump heels, making it evident that she’d jammed pudgy feet into a size too small. She marched into the apartment as if she owned the joint.
Seeley’s jaw dropped at the lady’s audacity. Appearing vaguely familiar, but she couldn’t quite place the face. “We’ve met, but I’m so bad with names.”
“Mariah Andrejewski.” Snickering girlishly, the lady wiggled her fingers in front of her mouth. “From Elma High. Remember, silly? We reconnected at St. Mary’s Church when Father James reintroduced us.”
“Oh, yes, now I remember.” How do I get rid of her? “I’m sorry,” she said, “but I’m terribly busy this morning. Possibly we could get together another day.” Her writing brainstorm was dissipating with each spoken word.
“Seeley, I’m dying here. I just got divorced and moved back from California.” Mariah plumped her bottom lip in a pout and sighed, her body seemed to shrink. “I need a friend. And I remember how nice you were in school. How about a cup of tea, and then I’ll be on my way?”
Mariah’s cow eyes looked doleful and was not budging an inch. Seeley repressed the urge to say, I didn’t have friends in high school, but she pressed the side of her brow and slid her fingers along her nose.
Out of nowhere, a cramp twisted in her gut. She winced, clutching her stomach.
“Oh, dear, let me help you.” Mariah gripped Seeley’s elbow, guiding her to the couch. “Come and sit down, dear. You look a bit peaked.” She bustled to the kitchen, poured water into a pot, and scrounged in the cabinets and drawers. “All you need is a spot of tea. You’ll feel much better. I always carry my own brand of herbs. That’ll fix you right up.”
Seeley didn’t know what to do as the eccentric lady commandeered the apartment. Bossy and imposing, yet, she seemed harmless. As was her routine since discovering demons, she’d inspected Mariah’s eyes. No red-rings.
Morning sickness reappeared, and her stomach rumbled in emptiness. “Mariah, I think I just need to eat something.” When she made a move to stand, pangs sliced into her belly.
“You stay right there, deary. I will fix us each a sandwich,” Mariah talked over her shoulder. “I see you have bread and a ripe tomato.” Her stubby fingers worked adeptly, slicing a juicy tomato, arranging the slices on bread, and then pouring boiling water into mugs. She rifled in a tie-dyed purse, produced a plastic baggy filled with tealeaves and sprinkled them over the water.
“Here drink this. It’s my specialty herbal tea.”
She thrust a hot mug into Seeley’s hand and balanced a plated sandwich on her knees. Mariah’s pumps scuffed the tile floor as she scurried to the counter to collect the other sandwich and tea. The couch heaved with her weight as she sat abreast of Seeley.
“Well, what’d you think of the tea? Good, huh?” Mariah gave an energetic nod, the curls bouncing on her head, waiting for her approval.
Seeley gazed into the cup. Colors of red, yellow, and orange swirled like a pinwheel in the steaming fluid. “Where’s the leaves I saw you drop into the water?”
“They dissolve rather quickly. No nasty pieces to stick to your teeth. Go ahead, just try it.”
Seeley glanced into her expectant expression before bringing the mug to the seam of her mouth. She breathed in an indescribable fragrance and sipped the concoction. “Mmm, you’re right. This is delicious.” The queasiness waned as she drank, along with her distrust of the lady who’d weaseled her way into her home.
For a quarter of an hour, the two women rehashed memories of high school, more on Mariah’s part than Seeley’s. Mariah yammered on and on, describing in detail the hunky gym teacher, Mr. Calhoun, and how all the girls had swooned every time he’d looked their way. Then she brought up the scandal of Mr. Calhoun and Pricilla Klimer, a senior.
“It’s so sad. She ended up having the baby, and Mr. Calhoun left her high and dry. I don’t think anyone has heard of him in over twenty years.”
Seeley listened, but not having any recollection of Mr. Calhoun and the exact incident left her puzzled. “Sorry, Mariah, I just don’t remember.”
“Well, as I recall, you were involved with some hunky stranger yourself. One minute you were the lonesome dove, and then, I see you moseying down Main Street with a gorgeous boy I’d die for. Wow, you hit the jackpot.” Mariah had the integrity to lower her eyelashes demurely when she said, “Seeley, everyone knew you were pregnant.”
Seeley parted her lips to speak but couldn’t get a word in edgewise as Mariah rambled on.
“I didn’t blossom until I wiped the dust from that backwoods village and hitched a ride to California. It was a wild ride,” she moaned with satisfaction. “I met Walt in Hollywood. He wanted to be a director, and I was going to star in his first feature film. What a waste of my talent and good
looks.” Mariah chortled, tapping fingers to her lips as her roly-poly body tumbled backward, exposing meaty legs flying in the air. “Anywho, I was so surprised to hear you moved to California, too.”
The pleasure of conversing with the officious lady had Seeley giggling as they shared their separate experiences. She expounded on her life with Jack, feeling lyrical and almost tipsy. Her tongue wagged, revealing secrets she’d not shared with anyone. She was one iota short of divulging her mystical talents, when the mug she’d been holding was mysteriously ripped from her fingers and shattered on the floor.
The deed snapped Seeley into awareness, and she knew Zeke was the cause.
“Oh my goodness!” exclaimed Mariah. “Let me clean that up.”
Seeley slid to her knees, but Mariah swatted at her hands. “No, dear, I’ll take care of this.”
Seeley scanned the room, meeting a pair of dauntless eyes. Zeke moved his head from side to side. A caveat.
A bouncy Mariah cleaned the mess, found another mug and poured a second cup of tea. She proffered Seeley the tasty brew. “See, the cramping is gone,” she professed. “You’ll be fine, now.”
“What makes you think I had cramps?” A tremor hit Seeley’s hand, and the water shimmied in the mug.
“Well, deary, you were holding your stomach and anyone could see that you were in pain.” Her lips formed an ‘O’ and blew the steam from the top of her mug. “The baby’s probably growing faster than your little body can handle. My tea helped.”
Seeley’s shaky hands splashed boiling water onto her lap. Feeling the wet heat, she bolted upright.
“Seeley,” Mariah said, “you look like you’d seen a ghost?” She darted for the paper towels and rushed back to swab the front of her bathrobe. “Pregnancy can make women very clumsy.”
“How…how did you know?” Seeley plucked the hot robe from her legs. “About the baby?”
Mariah’s curls bobbed as she mopped the floor on her hands and knees. “I wormed your secret out of Father James. You need a friend, and I’m desperate for a friend too. So it works perfectly. He said you’d been distant and not yourself lately. I just thought I could help ease whatever was troubling you. My new goal in life is to assist those in need.”
“Father James sent you here?” asked Seeley, unconvinced. That didn’t sound like him.
“Not exactly, but he’s worried about you, and I wanted to help, that’s all.” Mariah stood with a handful of crushed damp towels, her dangling hair unbalanced on the side of her head. With her plump face blistering pink, she looked similar to a kewpie doll.
Tossing the towels in the garbage, she said, “I’ve overstayed my welcome. We’ll get together again soon. The stores are calling my name. Bye-bye.” She snatched the tie-dyed handbag and waddled to the door. “Tell Declan I said hello.”
Staring at the closed door, Seeley felt as if she’d been hit by a Mac truck. She checked the wall clock and whimpered, three-thirty. She’d frittered the day away. Who was that lady? She hadn’t the foggiest notion, yet, she felt better. She turned to the laptop and noticed the screen saver of baby Jordan and Jack in a cheek-to-cheek embrace. The interference of madcap Mariah had entirely diverted her train of thought for the next chapter.
Seeley frowned at her tea-stained bathrobe and padded barefoot down the hall. While she was in the process of disrobing to hop into the shower, Ezekiel manifested.
“Zeke,” she cried. “You scared me.” She tied the sash of her robe around her waist and folded the cotton collar up to her neck.
Dressed in his customary head-to-toe black, his sleek ebony hair decorated his shoulders. Zeke’s humble splendor managed to overwhelm her every time, though his flinty eyes weren’t smiling.
“What was that all about?” Zeke asked.
“What? You mean Mariah?” She slanted her shoulder on the bathroom doorjamb and propped her right hand over her waist. “Just an old school chum.” So positive of the fact, she was beginning to believe Mariah’s stories.
“You’re sure about that?”
Reading his face, she knew something was off. “What are you trying to say?”
“Her essence.” Ezekiel’s stance remained stiff. “Did you feel it?”
“Not really.” She shifted her feet, feeling somehow duped. “She seems like a kind, nutso type of a lady.”
“And you disclose to nutty ladies your profound secrets?”
Yes, it was peculiar. She wanted to end his lambasting. “She didn’t have red-ringed eyes.”
“Neither did Asa.” He acted bitterer with each word.
She rolled the thought around in her brain before coming to a conclusion. “You’re right. I just about told my life story to a perfect stranger. How’d she finagle that? I’m losing my touch. Maybe it’s the pregnancy changing me in some way.”
At the mention of the pregnancy, Ezekiel’s chest swelled with an intense breath, putting his hands to his hips. His eyes lowered, gazing at her mid-section as if he could see right through her.
“Why are you looking like that? What is it?” Seeley instinctively shielded her tummy with her hands.
As if waking from a spell, Ezekiel popped his eyes to her face. “I’m not positive. We shall see. It’s only a matter of time.”
She suddenly felt chilled and cinched her robe tighter.
DECEIVING EYES
INVIGORATED, SEELEY MANAGED to squirm into a pair of last year’s shorts and a V-necked T-shirt. Barreling out of the air-conditioned apartment, she was hit with a blast of heat. Late afternoon traffic whizzed by as she strolled with no destination in mind. Her feet moved of their own accord, heading to the cooler waterfront. No matter what Zeke thought, Mariah’s brewed tea had calmed her stomach and put a spring in her step.
She turned the corner and froze in place. The gnarly bag lady blocked her path, looking out of context on a sweltering summer day, still wearing a long trench coat and pushing a shopping cart. However, this time, Seeley wasn’t fooled by the demon-witch who peered at her without discretion.
Seeley walked toward the lady, who smelled like death even from a distance, and decided it was a strange place for a confrontation. Not in the least bit deterred, she was drawn to the witch. Scarcely a couple of yards separated the two when Seeley detected the red-ring eyes blazing in her direction. One step closer, and the demon-witch twitched her head to the side. The red-rimmed eyes left Seeley’s face, skipping to the left.
Following her gaze, Seeley observed a young man in shorts and a T-shirt lazing on a park bench. His elbows rested on his knees, hands supported his chin. Another set of
red-ringed eyes stared at her. She turned back to the witch, now glancing past Seeley’s right shoulder.
Slowly, Seeley swiveled and caught sight of a second young fellow in an ecru suit and framed spectacles. Again, the red-rings were present in his eyes. None of them made a move. They just stared at her.
Temporarily at a standstill and improvising her next move with the open-faced demons, Seeley watched as a school bus chugged up to the corner. Children of various ages disembarked, jabbering animatedly. A little girl ran to a mother’s outstretched arms while three children frolicked along the sidewalk, passing the bag lady as if she didn’t even exist. An adorable boy with wispy blond hair turned his face up to Seeley. A generous smile stretched the corners of his mouth. His pretty periwinkle eyes drew her interest. Then she gasped when, catching a beam of sunlight, they turned red. She couldn’t take her eyes off him as he walked side by side with his giggling friends.
The diversion had been less than a minute, and the demon-witch had disappeared. Seeley pivoted toward the park bench. The young man rose. She gauged him to be fairly athletic and a brawl in broad daylight, especially with children around, was not particularly smart. As he neared, the young man’s mouth bowed. Inspecting his body for signs of aggression, she witnessed the red-rings dissolve from his eyes, changing to dark brown as he went on his way.
She spun toward the fellow in t
he suit coat and glasses, who leaned his shoulder on a telephone pole. He pushed off the pole, and sauntered near enough to nudge her shoulder.
He dislodged the glasses from his face, showing her a sure indication of delineated red, and said in a low murmur, “We’re guarding you.”
Seeley shuddered from head to toe. What kind of warning is that? Harried, she paced to the lakefront and rested on an unoccupied bench. Not particularly seeing the breathtaking view, she dropped her head into her hands to think.
Guarding me? Why would demons be guarding me? She’d had more than her fair share of weirdness today. It had begun with chirpy Mariah. Seeley wasn’t convinced Father James had spilled much-guarded information. She made a mental note to dig into the lady’s background. Red flags shot up, no, more like a trillion irksome zings whenever she thought of Mariah.
She struggled to dispose of the rubbish littering her brain. It took a quarter of an hour until she ultimately calmed and enjoyed the picturesque horizon. Whitecaps churned the water as sailboats cut over the surface. And the clatter of swishing boat sterns and the clanking of hulls ricocheted off the wooden wharves.
Skies of pewter came rolling into the city along with low pressure, a sure sign of a brewing storm. She breathed in the lake’s fishy odor then heard the noisy crunch of pebbles. A tall man with black hair trussed in a low ponytail took a seat beside her.
Seeley grinned at her guardian angel. “Human?”
“Wouldn’t want people in white coats to drag you away for talking to yourself,” Ezekiel said, and gave her one of his rare smiles.
“I think I am losing my mind. Did you see those . . . well, I think they were demons?”
Ezekiel nodded.
“Did you hear what he said? We’re guarding you. What in the world does that mean?”
Concealing his emotions, Ezekiel latched his stony scrutiny onto her. It was a contest of sheer will. Their unspoken words weighed heavily.
Ezekiel broke the spell. “The young men are half-breeds.”
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