by Wendy Laine
I clenched my eyes closed. Inside my head, I started over with the only thing that should matter—things that were absolute and clear and not harmful. Two, Four, Six, Eight, Ten, Twelve, Fourteen…
Chapter Nine
Gris
Worst. Night. Ever. Staying all night in a girl’s room, when all you want to do is crawl all over her and kiss her, makes for a hellish experience.
I’d never wanted anybody half as much as I wanted Piper. Even her counting was turning me on by the end of the night.
When the sun rose, I bolted through her window as fast as I could. My Watcher powers were nothing to speak of during the full light of day, so I ran home. I couldn’t even cloak myself in darkness. Of all the times for the residents of Hidden Creek to be up and going about their business. Danny and my aunt waved to me when they saw me. At least they knew why I was barefoot and without a shirt. I tried to tell an older man watering his grass I was out running, but he’d eyed my bare feet and grumbled about “kids and fads.”
Still, I’d stayed all night, like I said I would, and that would earn points with Piper. I’d kept my promise. I’d pushed out nearly a dozen fiends during the rest of the night. The sacks had still been drawing them to the area, and Piper’s emotional thoughts were pulling them in. Since I’d brought the pouches home, I’d see what was normal for her to attract tonight.
I might need to stay the night again. It would be preceded by a cold shower, which was the first thing I did before crawling into my own bed.
Piper might dream of counting, but I dreamed of Piper counting, and it was much less soothing for me, but not a nightmare. Definitely not a nightmare.
…
Working on the porch swing was a bust. I’d need new boards, and I didn’t relish a trip into town with how nosy everybody was.
So instead, I did research on Trina and her boyfriend.
Social media had done me a favor there when the local newspapers fell short. But things weren’t adding up. Sure, everybody said she was the local wild child, but running away in the middle of the night for no reason? Nothing had set her off, like a fight or other trouble from what I could tell. Her profiles online just dropped off. For a girl who posted selfies every few days, it was a significant absence. She’d just up and disappeared. Plus, it didn’t sound like she’d taken anything with her. How far could a runaway get with no clothes or money? She’d had a boyfriend from Memphis who’d disappeared around the same time, but that didn’t quite add up, either. Perhaps if her parents had spent more time worrying over their daughter than they had showering their son with attention…
In the one article in the area’s paper, her dad was quoted as saying, “At least we still have Hank Jr. Did you see him in last night’s game?” They quoted Hank’s stats in his sister’s disappearance article. Damn, that was messed up. Her mom kept referring to her as “deeply troubled.” Maybe Trina was better off wherever she was. The only one in the family who seemed to grieve her disappearance was her brother, who’d insisted she wouldn’t just run away.
Except she wasn’t better off. Instinct told me she was dead—especially after I did more searches on the boyfriend. Nothing since the night she went missing. There was no reason for both of them to drop completely out of sight.
I was continuing to take notes, despite knowing their legibility was suspect. My dad called it nearly coded handwriting. Nobody could read it but me…and Piper. She’d assumed she’d mistaken her translation, thankfully.
School had to be out by four o’clock, but maybe Piper had somewhere to go after school. Going across the way to the machine shop would give me a chance to interrogate two other “suspects.” I could ask Danny about Hank and work up to asking them for alibis. I’d failed to consider that it might be difficult interrogating your own family.
At ten minutes after four, I walked over to the machine shop. Danny was working on a couple of bikes. My uncle was working on a Harley, but he waved at me.
“Heard you had some problems with Hank Jr.” My uncle set down his wrench, possibly to impress the seriousness of his opinion. “You’d be wise to stay away from him.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Danny said you found some of them beasts near the Devons’ also?”
I shrugged. “Some.”
“Nothing you couldn’t handle though, I take it?” My uncle did have a very direct stare.
“No. I know what I’m doing.”
“There’s more here than there should be according to Critch…and Jess.” Since Danny’s dad wasn’t blood, he couldn’t sense them like our other relatives. Must be disconcerting to hear this stuff secondhand, especially from Aunt Jess, his own wife.
“Yes. Far more than there should be.”
“Any chance that’s what is making folks behave strangely?”
“Possibly.” And some folks were getting in over their heads in ugly craft they shouldn’t be messing with.
“Will your daddy be along to help you?”
“He’s caught up in something right now, and I’m a full Watcher-in-standing.”
Danny and my uncle both waited for me to say more.
“If it gets to be more than I can handle, he said he’d come. But I can handle it.”
Danny smirked and I wanted to punch him in the face. He had no idea what it was like to be a Watcher. Neither of them did.
And they were still waiting for me to say more.
I didn’t much feel like offering information. I still couldn’t believe that fiend went inside Piper last night. My dad had received the Cliff’s Notes of the event. Outsiders wouldn’t understand. I didn’t understand, and I’d been there.
This small spit on the map was kicking my Watcher ass. A few fiends were one thing. Fiends and somebody with a death wish inviting them around? Hell, they were going to get themselves killed and take a few others with them.
But not Piper.
Really, only a damn fool of a Watcher would keep at this without help. It was tempting to be that fool. I had plenty of reasons—my pride being the biggest. Then, there was the thing squashing my pride. Short, sweet, and liked to count. Having my dad around could make things awkward, but I wanted her safe and counting her nights away.
I sighed. “The State Department has my dad tailing a foreign dignitary. They don’t want an international incident due to fiends. So next week is probably the soonest he can be here.”
They both returned to their tasks.
“Hey, ugly.” I kicked Danny’s shoe.
He snorted. “You’re so ugly your mama takes you everywhere with her just so she never has to kiss you good-bye.”
“You’re ugly enough to chase snakes.”
“You’re so ugly you’d make a freight train take a dirt road.” That was impressive coming from Danny. He’d probably gotten it from one of his sisters.
“You’re so ugly your cooties keep their eyes closed.” I’d picked that one up from his sisters. They were mouthy little things for their age.
Snorting, he dug into his pocket and pulled out a quarter. Danny held it up in the dusty sunbeams filtering through the window and said, “Can’t turn off the lights like you.”
“It’s daytime. I can’t do much, either. I’m just like you.”
“Just like me. Now, that’s a shame.” He flipped me the quarter, purposefully making me jump for it if his smirk was any indication.
I snatched it out of the air and looked at it. “Nice goatee.” Somebody had carved a goatee onto George Washington’s face. I pocketed it.
“We‘ve all got our secret skills,” Danny said. “You come ‘round to win quarters off me?”
“No. What time does Piper’s school let out?” He’d graduated last year—he should know.
“1:55.”
“So, she should be home.”
He shrugged. “Hank says she sometimes gets home about when he does, but he plays sports. Who knows what Piper does.”
I didn’t offer up any information though
I knew a shade more than most about Piper. “Speaking of Hank, why do Hank and his father hate Piper?”
Both Danny and his dad stopped working.
“How’d you know they do?” my uncle asked.
I shrugged rather than tell them I was making an educated guess since Piper had an uncanny sense for who was a danger to her.
“It’s on account of her mama,” my uncle said. “Letty is local you might say—has family in town. She used to visit now and then when she was a teenager. I think Hank Sr. was interested, but she married Max Devon. Hank had been shut out by a man who’d never thrown a football in his life and wasn’t from around here. Intellectual that man, Mr. Devon. Genius, really. Piper is just as smart. Hank Jr. was expected to impress everyone with his scholarships—instead it’s Piper drawing the attention. Word is she can basically pick a college.”
“And then she went and took that test again just to show how much better than us she is,” Danny put in.
“The ACT? So, that’s why they hate her? They’re jealous?”
“No, ‘cause the Devons act like they’re so much better than everyone around,” Danny said. “Her daddy makes a fortune at his job, you know. Piper doesn’t even need a scholarship. She just wants one.”
“It’s not our place to judge.” My uncle gave Danny a “hush-up” look. He was a little late in rising to her defense to my mind.
“I can’t believe you’re saying that after one of them called the cops for animal cruelty with those barn cats.” A muscle twitched in Danny’s eyelid.
My uncle narrowed his eyes further. “We don’t know that for certain, and it’s not our place to judge,” he said again.
Okay. “What about Jared?” I asked. “What’s he got against Piper?”
“What’s it matter?” Danny asked. “Having a difficult time coming to grips with your girlfriend being a freak?”
I grabbed his head by the hair, and he yelped.
My uncle looked up. His worn and greasy hand tightened on his wrench, and his whole body looked stretched taut like his skin was too tight on him. Our gazes held, and I understood what Piper saw. He was the type of guy who you thought might kill under the right circumstances. He might or he might not find those circumstances.
“Piper is not a freak. Leave her alone.” I let go of Danny’s hair.
He rubbed his head while scowling at me.
My uncle relaxed. I knew he wasn’t keen on his “wife’s strange kin,” but he didn’t interfere. Though I sensed he also preferred not to have us around. Maybe that’s why he’d asked about my dad. Maybe he didn’t like having me here, let alone without supervision.
“You don’t know nothing about nothing,” Danny muttered.
I left before I insulted my uncle’s hospitality more than I already had.
She’d been out of school for two hours. What did that mean? She knew where I was. We’d never settled that she’d come to my place, but I’d assumed. Maybe she’d assumed the opposite? Or maybe she wasn’t ready to trust me.
Danny wouldn’t be going out of his way to help me anymore, but I didn’t regret setting him straight. I wasn’t about to let him disrespect Piper.
Shoving my hands into my pockets, I walked to her place after grabbing my laptop bag from the house.
Her mom answered the door while drying her hands on a dishtowel…again and again.
“I was hoping to see Piper, ma’am. Is she around?”
“She called from school to say she had some studying to do, said she wouldn’t be home til supper.”
Which I suspected in Piper’s behavioral philosophy translated into the message she didn’t trust me. I smiled at her mom. There were ways to get around that. I didn’t give up so easily.
“My name’s Gris Caso, ma‘am. I’m staying in the farmhouse across from the Porters. Jess Porter is my aunt.”
She tilted her head while she examined me, much like Piper did. Staring seemed to be a family trait. “Are you in school with Piper?”
“I’ve graduated. I’m actually in town on business.”
She nodded as if I’d passed a test.
“Piper came over to the barn the other day because she was upset about her dog.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. We’ve told her and told her not to go in there.”
I shook my head. The last thing I wanted was Piper to stay out of the barn. “No, it’s fine, ma‘am. Really. I don’t mind. Matter of fact, I took her out for lunch on Sunday.”
Her jaw dropped. “That was you? Well, bless my soul, that girl mumbled something that sounded like Liss, and I couldn’t figure out when she and Alissa Traven started up a friendship. I hope you don’t think I’d normally let Piper head off with somebody I haven’t even met.”
I grinned. Piper had snuck me by her mom so she wouldn’t have to get permission. “No, ma’am.”
She clucked her tongue. “And on a Sunday. She’d gone to church earlier that day so I’d figured she could skip our Sunday meal, but…” She shook her head. “You know Piper’s only seventeen, right?”
“Yes. I only turned eighteen a month ago, and she acts older than me.”
She smiled at that. These Devon women might not be impervious to charm, but they were difficult.
“We went to Dick’s and that was it,” I added, hoping that’d help. My mom was this protective of me, and I was a gargoyle part of the time.
A soft gasp and she shook her head again. “And he didn’t call me? Well, I’ve a mind to say a thing or two to him as well.”
I cleared my throat. “Would it be all right if I waited for Piper? I wanted to see her. And I have some work that I can do remotely.” I could get back to doing research.
“I’d love to have you stay for supper.” And for an interrogation—her shrewd eyes said, but I’d expected that. “I’m sure she’ll be home by then.” She stepped back to let me by.
I tried not to smile triumphantly. I might’ve managed to outmaneuver Piper in one way, but I still had to convince her to trust me. That’d take a lot more work.
“If you’ll just take off your shoes and put them in here…” She opened up a nearby closet.
I was glad I’d worn some of my better shoes and socks. This was nearly dressing up in my world. I put my shoes in a bin before looking around.
The house was spotless and very color-coordinated. Everything matched down to the littlest detail. There was nothing in the room I sat in that wasn’t colored off-white, forest green, or maroon. The cherry wood table matched the frames on the wall to the exact hue. There were no family pictures, but I could see them in the adjoining hall, which apparently had a more relaxed color scheme. The couch wasn’t comfortable, but it wasn’t uncomfortable—it was merely another matching item.
“Your house is beautiful.” Not a lie. It was beautiful in a very exact manner. Maybe it made sense that Piper saw her condition as darker since her mother’s seemed straightforward. Clean and matching—and I had seen Piper’s room, after all. Not that I was one to judge.
“So what is it that you do for work?” Piper‘s mom gestured at my laptop as I set it on my lap. If she didn’t already know, she wasn’t in the local gossip loop, which suited me just fine.
“My dad and I document the history of towns and supernatural events from a skeptical standpoint.” An explanation I’d used so often I could say it in my sleep. None of it was a lie. Just vague.
“Well, shut my mouth, you’re a writer?”
“Researcher into supposed paranormal events.”
“Is that right? And you came here.” There was a retreat in her body language and expression. She couldn’t be worried that it had anything to do with Piper. She shouldn’t be. Piper wasn’t paranormal or supernatural. In fact, Piper’s mom was currently allowing the biggest supernatural creature she’d ever meet to sit on her couch…her very exactly matching couch. I was the one thing in the room that didn’t match. Of course, that basically described my whole life. I was one of those things that’d never
belong.
“I came here on account of my family being in the area. As I said, I can work remotely.” I wanted to ask Piper’s mom about her family in the area. It’d be weird if she was related to the Beaumonts, and even stranger if she was somehow related to me through Critch.
Relief flooded Mrs. Devon’s face. She was likely over-protective of Piper. If Hank and my cousin were anything to judge from, Piper hadn’t met with much acceptance among those her age.
“You know, I haven’t talked to your aunt for quite a while,” she said. “I had no idea a person could make a living doing research like that, let alone y’all’s family did it.”
“Most of our jobs are for the local and federal government. My dad is working for an embassy right now. We investigate so they don’t have to waste manpower.”
She nodded. “Well that makes sense. Is it dangerous?”
I wasn’t sure that anybody had ever asked me that, but it did segue into what I wanted to talk about. “It’s difficult to predict, but I don’t need to carry a gun if that means anything.” It meant that I grew body armor and had talons that were more effective. “It seems like Hidden Creek isn’t free from danger, though. Piper told me about your dog.”
The shuttered look dropped back into her eyes—her brown eyes, not like Piper’s mossy green ones. I wanted to go check out the family pictures in the hallway to see how much Piper resembled her dad, but I didn’t want to act suspicious.
“She said you think an animal did it,” I said.
Her mom sighed…a long exhale. “I don’t. I never did. Piper doesn’t think so, either, I take it?”
I shook my head.
“It’s so hard to know what to do. I heard her screaming and I ran out there expecting…I don’t know. She’s never screamed like that. It was like I had a banshee in my front yard. I dragged her away and I just wanted it over, I guess. It hurt to see that. I wanted it to stop hurting for everybody, and the best way to do that was to pretend it hadn’t happened. It was likely a prank—a horrible, sadistic prank.” It sounded like she was trying to convince herself. She shot me a look. “Do you investigate those sorts of things?”