“Excuse me,” I say loudly, knowing he’s already seen me, “do you know this is private property?”
“Yes, I do, and I also happen to know you’re trespassing.” I get a better look at him now that I’m closer. Shit, he has a security uniform on. How am I going to talk my way out of this one? He looks me up and down, sizing me up, I’m not sure if he is thinking about tazeing me or sleeping with me, but either way I’m slightly worried.
“I didn’t know they had security out here. I was just taking a walk and I heard voices, thought I’d come check it out.”
“Shay, that’s dangerous and besides you were taking a walk? At 12:30 at night?”
“Yep.”
“That’s highly unusual.”
“If you talk to my mom she’ll tell you that I am highly unusual and you certainly know what she’s like. Anyway, about those voices…” and with that I spot him, Jeremy is at the front of the crowd looking right at me a huge smile plastered on his face.
“Yeah I don’t know what you’re talking about, but it’s time to move along. Maybe I should give you a ride home.”
“No it’s OK, I’ll just walk from here.” Before I get the chance to pretend to walk away Jeremy comes running toward me and I see it in Hugh’s eyes, for just a second, that he sees the little boy too. I feel the cold on my body as I always do when Jeremy touches me, but this time he has his arms around me in an all out hug. I can’t help but smile, and when I do Tall, Dark and Handsome’s eyes go right to the place where Jeremy’s little hands are.
“Who are you?” Hugh says to me clear as day, no more hiding I guess.
“Shay Tafford, we’ve met before, remember? I’m Calculus girl and apparently that’s all I’m good for. You said we’d hang out, but we haven’t. I think the real question here is who are you?”
He shakes his head. “I know who you are, but how do you know all these kids?”
I pause. Can I trust him? His trustworthy golden eyes tell me I can, but if he can see them too, this is all a little much. And why are his eyes golden tonight? What happened to the mysterious green? I look him up and down one final time. Decision, I need to trust him. We can all run or levitate away if he turns out to be dangerous, though I pray he’s not. I really want things to work out between Hugh and me.
“Well that’s not what you asked. And I know only one, but I bet I can figure out who the rest are, why?”
Hugh starts in on a rant I never expected. “Because they’re out of bed and it’s late! And Madame will wonder where they’ve gone! Are you crazy having them out here without her, what are you thinking?” He’s flipping out, not about the fact that the kids are dead, he’s upset at the fact they’re out of bed this late at night. Weirdo.
“You need to calm down,” I tell him. Jeremy is now standing to the right of me holding my hand. His cold fingers interlace with mine, but he still has a goofy grin on his face.
“Do you know this man?” I ask Jeremy quietly bending down to his now short level.
Jeremy looks up at me with those big brown eyes I’ve missed so much. “Oh yes, he’s the protector.” He’s the what?
Hugh chimes in loudly “I’m also his great nephew.”
Ok now really… What. The. Hell.
Chapter 14
Hugh walks over to Jeremy and I and extends his beautifully tanned hand to the little boy.
“Why don’t you take the kids back? Shay and I have a lot to talk about,” he says in a whisper. Jeremy smiles and waves goodbye as he skips back to the group of children waiting near the trees. Before he leaves, he looks back at me and smiles widely and with that they all disappear. I look at Hugh, still shocked by this revelation. He motions to the bench nearby and we take a seat, my eyes never straying from his beautiful face. I can smell the pine tree. It reminds me of my childhood. I climbed it a million times. I close my eyes and take a deep breath to refocus myself. When I open them I realize how close we are. It comforts me.
“I don’t really know where to begin,” Hugh starts and then sighs.
“I guess the beginning would be a good place,” I respond coolly.
“Sure, OK,” he says.
“When you were six and your father disappeared,” he begins. My mind reels, what does he mean, how could he know about my dad?
Anger fills me and I stand as I interrupt him, “How do you know about that!?! You can’t possibly know my dad, or what happened to him! We’ve only just met this past month.”
He sighs again, looking away for a moment, then looks back directly into my eyes.
“Are you going to let me talk or not? I know a lot more than you think, if you would only let me explain.”
“Fine,” I say as I cross my arms over my chest and sit back down. I’ll let him talk but I don’t have to be happy about it.
“As I was saying, when you were six and your dad disappeared, he passed something down to you. Something he rarely used. His gift to speak to the dead. It seems as though you already had your own gift. Most can’t see them and speak to them, let alone touch them and feel them. Your father knew that Jeremy and the other children would keep you safe.”
It should come as a shock that my dad also had my gift and yet he never told me, but I guess it wouldn’t be the easiest thing to explain to a six year old. Also it makes me feel better to know I’m not the only one. As he takes a breath, I ask my first question, which would lead to so many others.
“Safe from what?”
Hugh looks off into the night, “Other spirits, ones who might want to harm you. Your dad thought if you could communicate with them it’d be easier for you to hide. I don’t think he knew that giving you his gift would awaken one you already had. He thought you’d only be able to hear ghosts like Jeremy not see or feel them. But you are a much more powerful cryptid than any of us realized.”
“I’m sorry, what did you just call me?” I don’t know whether to be offended or flattered.
“A cryptid, it’s a creature based on the genetics of the human race. It can be most anything really. Most people think the Mothman was a hoax when really he was a genetic mutation, a mixing of sorts. Our race of cryptid happens to also have a supernatural power, to understand and relate to ghosts.”
“Our race? What do you mean our race? Are you like me? I mean I know you can talk to and see ghosts, but how else are we alike?”
I’m a different race? Like an alien? I don’t know if I want to hear any more of what he has to say.
As if on cue he begins talking again. “Yes, we are the same type of cryptid, animal mixed with human genes. Some people in our race just have the lasting effects of insight while others have physical mutations. You have the insight, the supernatural ability and from the looks of it if that hair of yours is natural just a touch of the physical abnormality. No human has naturally black hair. But cats do.”
My game of twenty questions continues. “Cats? Are you saying I’m part cat?”
Panic starts to spread through me. What else don’t I know about myself? I take a lock of hair as if to examine it. It is sleeker than most of my friends’ hair and it has always been the darkest shade of black even though my mom is blonde.
“I’m saying that we both have genetic similarities to a cat, yes. We’re parahumans, human genes mixed with animal. My eyes usually give me away which is why I wear colored contacts. I have yellow eyes, not normal in your average twenty year old guy. I also have an abnormal obsession with sushi.” Weird, I thought, me too.
“How well did you know my dad? I mean you were only, what, like eight when he disappeared? Or do we have nine lives too?” Wouldn’t that be cool?
“No, my dad and yours were really close. They both talked to Jeremy and found each other through him. They knew that they each had the ability to communicate with spirits so they had to trust each other. My dad was just teaching me how to channel spirit energy when your dad went missing. It really shook my dad up. He really hasn’t been the same since. I can only really see
them. It’s only muffled whispers I hear, not full conversations. He stopped teaching me and as hard as my mom tried she really didn’t have the insight. She has most of the physical gifts.”
“Such as…” now that I have him talking I don’t want him to stop. Partly because this was my history, the reason I am the way that I am and partly because his husky voice makes my skin tingle.
“My mom, like many people in my tribe is a shape shifter. She can turn into a black house cat.” Whoa, and I thought I was weird.
“We’re part of a small tribe in Texas called Mosi, meaning cat. Our type of cryptid goes by the same name. There’s only about twelve people left in the tribe. Most have the gift of shape shifting. My dad couldn’t shift, so they knew he had a different gift. When he was little he had a lot of imaginary friends, who weren’t so imaginary. His family quickly realized he was a spirit-talker. We always knew our heritage was of the cryptids, but until our fathers met, we didn’t know there were others out there.”
I still had unanswered questions so I pushed on, “But how did all this start? I mean this all sounds totally crazy.”
“I know,” he said “but that is the way of our people. A hundred years ago a man from our tribe named Alloman lost his wife to disease. He was grief stricken and went to the tribe shaman for advice. The shaman suggested he drink the blood of a black cat in order to speak with his wife to get closure. But Alloman was greedy, he drank the blood of three cats, hoping he would see his wife again and keep her from the spirit world. After he drank the blood he was able to talk to her for a brief time. She told him to move on with his life and remarry. He married a woman, Chemoset and they had children. But he continued to drink the blood of black cats hoping to see his first wife again. Alloman and Chemoset’s children were all spirit-talkers and later down the family tree some could shift into the cats Alloman drank from. Hence all of us becoming cryptids.”
The way he told the story made it easy to believe him, but then something clicked. “Wait, does this mean we’re related?”
“Probably not.”
YES! Thank you baby Jesus!
“That shaman was part of an inner circle that all had ulterior motives. They wanted to make more cryptids. They probably suggested drinking black cat’s blood to hundreds of people, making them all cryptids like us, all over the country. Your dad did some research that suggested he was a descendant from a tribe nowhere near us, making it practically impossible for us to be related. Plus the bloodline has been so diluted throughout the years with cryptids marrying humans… my tribe is the only one of its kind left.”
“What you do you mean?”
“My tribe is the only one that we know of that is made up of entirely cryptids. Pretty much everyone who lives in the village is from an entirely pure bloodline. This also makes us an extremely small tribe.”
After Hugh finishes talking I‘m still confused about some of our discussion, not to mention I think I’m slightly offended he’s telling me I’m part animal. Also how could he and Jeremy be related? I mean Jeremy’s family just left him here. But then it dawns on me that Jeremy hadn't really mentioned a sibling, but that didn't mean he didn't have one. If she (or he) was younger than him that would explain how Hugh was related. I still had to ask.
"How are you related Jeremy?"
He looks deep into my eyes, "Like I said before he’s my great uncle."
I shake my head from side to side, "I understood that part but I still need a better explanation."
"It’s complicated, and it’s late. We’ll talk about this more later.” He was starting to get agitated and I needed to stop pushing.
I resign to just a nod to show my understanding.
Now that I knew what he was, what we are, I can’t lose him. There is this cord tying us together now, one I will never sever. And to be honest, I only want to make it stronger.
Chapter 15
We walk through the night, my flashlight showing us the way through The Darkness. The only things we hear as we arrive at the road are the sounds of animals and crunching dead leaves. I now see the beat up pickup truck parked in the trees; I don’t know how I missed it before.
“So are you really a security guard?” I ask, still trying to feel out who Hugh is.
“Yeah, I got the job as something to do on the weekends. My parents live too far away to visit a lot and the extra money is nice, not to mention the company.”
I laugh as I say, “Yeah I guess your friends are pretty cool.”
He smiles and says, “Our friends.”
“Well I guess I’ll see you around.” As I reach for the handle of my door he says, “When?”
“Huh?” I say quickly spinning around.
“When will I see you again?”
“Oh, I dunno.” I blush. He’s standing so close to me I can feel the heat coming off of his body. I try to keep my knees locked so I don’t fall over.
“How about later today?”
“Later, today, like today, today?”
“Yeah, I mean unless you want to wait until tomorrow, but then you have school and I…”
I interrupt him. “Today is great!” Well that sounded overly enthusiastic, but he is the one who suggested today.
“I’ll text you. And this time I promise, we’ll get together. Goodnight Shay.” He reaches around me to open my door and I get in.
“Bye Hugh.” I smile as I start the engine. He closes the door and walks away from me in the glow of my headlights as I begin to reverse. I stay until I can’t see his shadow outlined against the trees anymore.
As I’m driving I realize I am totally ridiculously in love with a boy who is part cat. I am surprised I can even drive I am so freaking excited. I should be freezing in this weather, but I’m practically sweating because my skin feels like it’s on fire. I turn on the radio to keep me company on the fairly short ride home. Ke$ha’s Your Love Is My Drug is on and I’m singing at the top of my lungs when I turn onto my street. I look down at the clock and see that it’s almost four a.m. Whoa, Mom would freak out if she knew I was out this late. I quickly turn off the music and headlights. I enter my driveway at a super slow pace and park as quietly as I can. I close the door silently and head to the back of the house. I left the window in the living room open so I could get back in. After I climb over the windowsill I close the window and tiptoe up the stairs past my mom’s room. I can hear her snoring so I know I’m safe. I get to my room, silently close the door, and slip into bed. I hug my pillow and close my eyes to dream of the tall, dark and handsome boy, Hugh, my Hugh.
I see the sun and hear a voice as I groggily open my eyes. “Shay, Shaaaaay. Shay!”
I rub the sleepiness out of my eyes. “Huh?”
“Yo, get the hell up. Mom is gonna beat your ass.” Chad is looking down at me. He’s already dressed in his usual sports t-shirt and jeans, looks like the Yankees today.
I sit up, “What about Mom?”
“She’s been trying to wake you up for almost an hour. There’s some college guy downstairs. He says he knows you.”
“WHAT?!?” I shoot out of bed and run past him out of my door and down the hall. I screech to a halt at the top of the stairs as I see him sitting at the breakfast bar with my mom discussing her latest lecture. I sprint back to my bedroom to see Chad sitting on my exposed bed; my purple bedspread is lying on the floor.
“How long has he been here?”
“I dunno, half hour I guess.”
“Oh geez, you have got to get out! I have to change!” I push his laughing self out the door and fling open my dresser to look for a clean pairs of jeans and a low cut top. A girl’s gotta give it her best shot, right? I change quickly and head to the bathroom to throw on some make up and brush my teeth. I check my hair, as always it’s hanging perfectly straight. I pull a brush through it as fast as I can and grab a pair of metallic flats on my way out of my bedroom. I stumble to put them on as I go down the stairs and miss the last step successfully falling on my butt, rig
ht in front of Hugh. Oh my God, how absolutely embarrassing. I shut my eyes and hope that I’ll wake up in my bed and this morning never happened, but then I hear the laughing. I look up and see Hugh’s hand extended to help me up. I take a deep breath, “thanks.”
Reveal (Cryptid Tales) Page 6