Julian grabbed a couple of bottles of wine from the side and made his way out again. “Bye girls, have fun,” he called back.
Delta was frantically mopping up the sticky liquid before it dried. Val grabbed her hand. “Delta, now do you believe me?” she demanded. She desperately needed Delta on her side.
“I do, Val, but I’m scared. What’s happening to you?” Delta said not lifting her eyes from the floor.
Val grabbed Delta and hugged her. “Thank you for believing me. It’s all going to be OK,” Val said gently.
Delta politely removed herself once again from Val’s death grip just as Val’s mother came in.
“What’s going on here, girls?” Susan sighed. “Slight spillage, Mum, nothing to worry about. We have everything under control,” Val said smiling up at her mum and hoping that would be enough of an explanation.
“Val, your father’s boring everyone to tears so I want you to come outside and do the cake to shut him up.” Susan made signals at the girls to rise. “And take that ridiculous cardigan off.”
Val smiled at her mum and they obediently followed her into the garden.
“Are you OK?” Val turned to look at Delta as they stood next to the barbecue soaking up the fumes.
“Give me some time,” Delta responded. Their eyes met and Val knew in her heart that Delta was on her side.
“Come over here,” Mike called to Val as a crowd started to gather. “I think it’s time to cut the cake and get rid of all these unruly relatives before the police come to close this party down.” Mike waved towards uncles Julian and Matthew who could hardly stand.
As they all sang to her, Val felt the sweat running down the back of her neck. The heavy cardigan was really meant for the cold of winter, not a summer barbecue. To add to the embarrassment, everyone had now commented on it.
Val spent time chatting with the relatives she liked and the few token friends her mum had invited to make Val look a little more popular. She was kissed by the oldies who always dribbled on her, and she was truly relieved when everyone started to leave. It had been a long day and she was looking forward to a rest and a little quiet time to herself.
Val was standing outside her front door waving her relatives goodbye when Delta came out. Val grabbed her hand. “Come to the shop tomorrow Delta, we can look for the book together, you know, four eyes better than two and all.”
“What book, you haven’t told me about a book?”
“It was….” Val started.
Delta waved her hands in front of her face. “Don’t bother explaining. I can’t cope with any more today. I’ll see you in the morning.” Delta gave Val one of those strange air kisses that she could never understand and jumped into her shiny new red Mini Cooper S and drove off like someone from The Italian Job.
Val chuckled as she watched Aunty Janine and her dad lifting Uncle Julian, who had definitely won all the drinking competitions, into their car. As the guests, young and old, moved into their cars she thought how good it was to have such a close family, how they always pulled together in a difficult situation, and just how lucky she was to be her. Val also felt an ache deep inside her chest, which she recognized as her conscience. She knew that nothing good would ever come from the web of lies she was beginning to weave - although she was also sure that not telling her family was probably the best option, for now.
Maybe being eighteen meant you got to appreciate the grown up things you hadn’t noticed before. Perhaps coming of age meant that she finally appreciated such values as protection lies. Her parents had done it - she could think of several examples: just standing there waving everyone goodbye as if they were sad to see them go, Father Christmas – and, her special favourite; the dentist is your friend. She gave an inner laugh as everyone finally left, then hurried to her room to get out of her suffocating cardigan.
Val called goodnight through her bedroom window to her parents who were still in the garden, giggling like teenagers as they danced around to some old people’s music.
Val slipped into some pyjamas and lay on her bed for a moment of contemplation after her mad day. Wondering what tomorrow would bring, she slowly slipped off into another restless dream.
A beautiful woman in a dark sack dress moved through a soft, swirling mist towards Val. This dream was new and Val didn’t know where exactly she was. However, one thing was the same: the ugly dress. Was there nothing else to wear in these dreams? It seemed that they were inside a rustic house, almost like a round house she had seen once on a school trip. A fire was burning in the middle of the room and over it was a large black pot with some sort of fragrant steam coming out of it. As the woman moved closer to Val, she started to speak. Val had to strain to catch the words.
“What?” Val asked disturbed that she felt she knew this woman without knowing how.
“It’s time,” the woman said. “You have come of age. The others are waiting. Remember, don’t be late.” She smiled as she moved past her.
Val instinctively knew what she had to do. She left the hut and found herself once again in the village square where her other dreams had started. She turned on the spot, surveying the whole village. It was amazing how vivid it all was. It felt like home, a safe place; as if she had been there forever. Before she could make it to the pond, which seemed to mark the centre of the village, the sharp trilling sound of her alarm forced her into consciousness.
Val jumped out of bed in one of those instant right side of the bed good moods. One look at her arm instantly wiped the smile from her face. The tattoo was still there in all its sharp black glory. No, Val thought to herself forcefully, this wasn’t going to take over her life, and she had a cushy job to get to so she’d better get moving. Covering her arm, she ran to the bathroom and showered, then dressed in double speed.
She made her way downstairs and was greeted by a weary looking mother with very dodgy hair, and a hung-over father. They were still cleaning up after the party.
“Morning. I won’t stop for breakfast, Mum. I need to get to work on time for a change OK?” Val shouted as she ran towards the hall, knowing that her mother was the old-fashioned type who believed an army marches on their stomachs and breakfast like a king, etc. She actually made it to the end of the path before she was caught in the snare of guilt by a sorry looking wild-haired woman who came to the front door holding out a slice of toast and a packed lunch. In her heart, Val knew that later she would be grateful for her mother’s thoughtfulness. She returned to her mother, head down, and took the parcel and the toast. “Thanks Mum,” she muttered.
“I’m very proud of you, Val; you do know that, don’t you?” Susan put her finger under Val’s chin and lifted her head up.
“Yes and you always will be. I love you to the stars, Mum.”
“I love you to the moon and back,” Susan said, making them both smile, then released Val to run for her bus.
This was something they had said to each other as far back as Val could remember, and it always seemed to make her feel warm inside. Today it made her feel terrible because for the first time in her life she was keeping something really important from her parents.
Once in town, she headed straight to Shane’s tattoo parlour to find out if he had any more information on the symbol in the centre of her tattoo. Shane was just opening up and welcomed Val with his wonderful smile.
“Morning Val, how’s the world domination going?” Shane smiled.
“It’s going very well, thank you.” Val reciprocated the smile. She was pleased to see Shane, but didn’t feel safe enough just yet to tell him about the other things that had happened to her.
“I was expecting you yesterday. I don’t usually get stood up on a first date,” he teased, signalling for her to follow him. “Show me your arm.”
As they walked into the shop, Val tentatively raised her sleeve.
Shane laughed kindly. “Don’t worry, Val, most people who come here have one of those or want one.”
Val went red, feeling a
little silly now.
Shane looked closely at Val, frowning slightly, one eyebrow raised as if in question.
“What are you looking at me like that for?” Val asked, feeling uneasy.
“Have you got anything you want to tell me?”
“No,” Val replied, almost breaking under the pressure, but managing somehow to keep it together.
“Val, one of the symbols on your tattoo is missing.”
“What?” Startled, Val looked down and counted. There were twelve in total. “Er…Maybe there were only twelve yesterday?” she said, though even to her own ears she sounded unconvincing.
Shane pulled the tracing he had taken the previous day from his pocket and showed it to Val. As she counted around the zodiac, she quickly saw that he was right: one symbol had disappeared. It was the fishes, the one that had become inflamed the previous day.
“Is there anything I need to know, Val?” he persisted.
At that moment, Val’s mobile started to ring. It was Delta and Val realised she was once again late for work.
“Shane, I have to go. I’ll come back later and we can talk then.” She pulled down her sleeve and turned to leave the shop.
Shane just managed to catch her arm. “Here’s my card. Call me if you need me.” He gave Val a look that reassured her he could be trusted, but for now she had to keep her job.
“Thanks,” Val called back, shoving the card into her pocket and running across the road.
Val sprinted the half mile to the shop in what felt like a world Olympic record. Delta was already standing outside in her perfect clothes with her perfect hair, face and accessories, putting Posh Spice and Paris Hilton to shame “Good morning, nice of you to show up at last.” Delta was sarcastic but truthful at the same time.
“Sorry, I was getting my tattoo looked at. Shane spotted that one of the symbols had disappeared.” Val pulled her sleeve up and showed Delta where the fish sign had previously been.
“Why do you think that has happened? And you can put it away.” Delta pushed Val’s sleeve down again with the tips of her manicured nails as they walked up the steps to the bookshop together.
“I’m not sure, but it’s the same sign that felt hot yesterday.” Val opened the door’s many locks. “If it’s going to keep on disappearing then maybe this will all be over soon. What do you think?”
“Who’s to say? Does this Shane guy know about yesterday?” Delta said, following Val into the shop. Just inside she stopped suddenly and sniffed loudly. “Nice smell. I think maybe a little scent of old man, and a splash of public libraries.” Delta waved her arms around like a chef spraying some highly expensive perfume around their heads. She smiled at Val, trying to lift the atmosphere a little.
“Don’t be so rude.” Val coughed. “No, Shane doesn’t know about yesterday, but he suspects that there is something wrong. I think I’m going to tell him everything, just not today,” Val replied as she switched off the alarm.
“Is this water cooler a victim of your escapades?” Delta asked.
“Don’t go there. My back is still killing me. Do you think I should call the police?”
Delta shook her head from side to side. “And tell them what? If you even attempt to tell them all of this, you will be laughed at and maybe locked up. Don’t bother,” Delta said.
Val nodded. At least Delta had backed up how she felt.
“So, do you think you have any other powers, Val?” Delta asked, jokingly rubbing her hands together like a crazed scientist. “Can you fly, or turn lead into gold, or turn horrible people into toads?
“Delta! This is serious!” Val felt irritated, but looking at Delta’s infectious grin soon found she was laughing too. “I don’t know. What do you think I might be able to do apart from float fluids.”
“Perhaps you can fly. Have you tried?” Delta opened her arms like a bird and started to flap. “Run up and down, see what happens.” Delta pointed towards the main aisle of the shop.
“OK, but if you laugh I won’t save your life when you need me,” Val warned in a stern voice.
“I will take that risk. Have a go.” Delta now moved out of the way to give Val room for a good run up.
“OK, here goes.” Val put her arms out to the sides and started to run. Nothing happened apart from Delta nearly having a major aneurism from laughing.
“On the way back, try it with your arms in front, like Superman,” Delta tried to shout but could hardly speak through her laughter. Val allowed herself to have fun, running back with her arms stretched out in front of her shouting “Up, up and away” in a silly deep tone of voice. She decided flying wasn’t going to be her thing and joined Delta who was sitting on the floor, laughing uncontrollably. She was so pleased Delta was here; they would get through this together.
“Right, less playing super-hero and more looking for the book,” Val ordered, knowing she had to find it. She had seen it and no one had purchased it, so it still had to be here somewhere.
“What does it look like?” Delta cambered to her feet.
“It’s dark tan leather and has a zodiac circle on the spine like the one on my arm.” Val showed Delta the tattoo again.
“Thank you, you can put that thing away, I can remember what it looks like.” Delta walked off faking a full body shudder in disgust at Val’s tattoo.
“OK, you start on the left side of the shop from the water cooler, or what’s left of it and I’ll go from the right hand side near the counter.” Val pointed at the aisles with arms outstretched like an airhostess, and they both started to laugh again.
Setting off, Val waved goodbye to Delta as she headed towards the back of the shop. The shelves went from floor to ceiling so there was no way of seeing each other. The only way of communicating was by shouting, and that felt so wrong in a bookshop.
After about ten minutes, Val was heading up aisle number three. She hadn’t heard a single noise from Delta in the past few minutes so she decided to head back towards the front and wait for her. Plus, it was lunch time and Val was hungry. She was sure there would be enough food for both of them in her packed lunch.
As Val headed towards the counter, she felt a strange sensation in her arm. For a few seconds it was just an uncomfortable tingling feeling, and then sharp pain hit her. Within an instant, she was in serious pain and needed Delta’s help. Val felt her knees buckling. Unable to call out, she grabbed the nearest shelf for a support. After a few moments and several heavy breaths, Val stood shakily and pulled up her sleeve to glimpse at her tattoo. Once again, only one of the symbols was inflamed. It seemed to be like a flower or some sort of curly horns. Val had a very poor knowledge of the zodiac, so there was no chance that she would know what symbol it was, but maybe Delta would.
As she slowly made her way to the counter, she heard a car. It was quite loud and sounded as if it was closing in on the shop, getting nearer and nearer, the way you would hear a lone car on a quiet street at night.
Something felt different. Val was suddenly confused, no longer knowing where she was, let alone where the noise was coming from. She needed to find Delta and the time for silence was now over.
“Delta!” Val shouted. In that instant she spotted Delta busily re-applying her lip-gloss in the mirror next to the toilet door. She moved in, shaking her head like a dog with an itch. The noise from the car got louder and more irritating, and as she reached Delta, who hadn’t even noticed her coming, she couldn’t even hear her own thoughts. As she moved towards the mirror that Delta was gazing into, Val saw the flash of an image in the reflection. She grabbed Delta’s arm and Delta almost jumped out of her skin.
“Val, you scared me! What’s wrong? You look awful.” Delta said almost supporting the whole of Val’s weight. Val was shaking her head from side to side in pain although her eyes were still fixed on the mirror. She needed to see exactly what was in there. As she pulled herself up on Delta’s arms she saw cars. First was a red Ford. It was racing along, and was being followed by a black BMW.
As Val attempted to move closer to the mirror, Delta could no longer hold her weight.
“Val, stop!” Delta called, stumbling backwards onto the wall as Val grabbed at the reflection.
Val’s stomach seemed to be pulling into her back, but all she could think was how good it was that at last the noise had stopped. She opened her eyes and as they adjusted to the new light, she saw Delta crouched next to her on what seemed to be grass. Then Delta proceeded to vomit violently before toppling sideways. Val tried to grab her.
“What the hell just happened?” Delta spluttered as she wiped her mouth on Val’s sleeve.
“Hey!” Val pulled her arm away, “How in God’s name am I supposed to know?” Then it happened, just as Val had seen it in the mirror.
The red Ford came around the corner at full speed, with the black BMW in hot pursuit. Val and Delta watched as the BMW clipped the back end of the Ford, causing it to spin uncontrollably off the road. It collided with a lamppost, which fell on top of the car amongst a firework display of sparks. The BMW hadn’t even changed gear and had now disappeared from view. Delta looked at Val in disbelief.
“Why are we here? And what are we going to do?” Delta looked to Val for answers that she couldn’t supply.
“Don’t worry about that for now, let’s go and help the driver.” Val started to cross the road and Delta followed slowly, almost begrudgingly. As they got to the centre of the road Val could see the driver waking up and she waved at him to reassure him that someone was coming to the rescue, even if it was just two teenage girls who had no idea how they had arrived here or how they were going to save him.
“Come on Delta,” Val urged. “I don’t like the look of those sparks.”
She had barely spoken the words when the car exploded into what seemed like a million fireflies rising into the air, and was completely engulfed in flames.
Val was thrown back by the explosion and for a moment she stared around in confusion. When she looked back at the car, she could see that the man was now frantically trying to get out, pulling desperately at the handle of the door. Val jumped back onto her feet and went to check that Delta was OK.
The Thirteenth Page 4