by Simone Pond
Woof!
Vago padded over with Eli.
“My boys.” I smiled, rubbing Vago’s sticky head. “Gross! You need a bath.”
Woof!
“You okay?” Eli asked.
“Yeah. You?”
“I’m good, just a little fried,” he joked.
The four of us walked back to Eli’s car. It was time to go home. We had done our part. Answered our call. Served our purpose. Whitmore’s blood sacrifice had failed and innocent lives had been saved. A feeling of hope beamed across my chest. Goodness once again prevailed. But as we drove off campus, I couldn’t help but wonder … I gazed into the darkness. In the far edges of the black horizon, I caught a brief glimpse of Abaddon’s wings of fire.
Chapter Thirty-nine
Sibyl
The night of the Blood Moon ended up being successful—for the good guys. We accomplished what we had set out to do and stopped Whitmore. When I got home around four in the morning, I skipped the hot bath and fell on top of my bed—comforter and all—and passed out. Vago slept by my feet that first day, but after that, the cold I had felt creeping in hit hard. I could’ve asked Eli to heal me, but I kinda needed an excuse to get some rest. I needed a gestation period.
Aunt Ruthie brought me belly-warming lentil soup and lots of hot tea to help remove the shiver from my bones. She kept quiet about the night at Rosestone Manor. I know she was dying to talk about it because she had stopped and started the same sentence at least fifteen times, but I wasn’t ready to go into it.
Eli called the home phone, since my watch was officially waterlogged and I couldn’t receive any texts. I told him to stop by if he didn’t mind runny noses and deadbeats. He opted to catch up on his homework. I didn’t blame him. Vago showed up in human form at some point and informed me that Marlo had also been sick, but was on the mend.
He sat down at the foot of my bed. “So, what do you think you’ll do?”
“About what?”
“Life …”
“Not you, too. I’ve already got Aunt Ruthie on me. I don’t need my best friend nagging me.”
He grinned. “You think you’ll go back to campus?”
I shrugged. “You?”
“Whitmore’s class was a lot more interesting than English lit … And I had no clue what he was talking about. Maybe I should look into some different classes or something.” But even as Vago said this, I sensed he didn’t really care about signing up for any other classes.
“What’s on your mind?” I asked.
“I was thinking of maybe doing something else,” he said shyly.
“Why are you acting so weird?” I laughed.
“I’m thinking about doing what Esther did, rescuing pups. Shifters like me. After seeing all those dogs going down, man, I don’t know … I can’t help but think how different their lives would’ve been if they hadn’t been captured. They’d be fighting by my side instead of against me.” He paused, glancing up at me. “I’m also thinking about asking Sandy for a part-time job at the sports shop to bring in some extra money.”
I sat up and pulled Vago in for a hug. “I think that sounds fantastic. All of it. You’d be great at rescuing pups. And showing them the ropes. And Mr. Walsh would be a great mentor. Can’t go wrong there. You have to do what’s right for you, buddy.”
Grinning, he cocked his head. “What about you, Sib? What’s right for you?”
“All of this bedrest has been good for me. I’ve got a few things on my mind,” I said.
“You planning on sharing?”
“Not until I’m a hundred percent,” I told him.
***
The day was warm for late October, but the weather would probably stay like this until mid-November. Then the marine layer would start coming in every morning, giving Coastview its wintery season. But that day, I tilted my head back, feeling the warm rays of sun on my face.
“Ready?” Mr. Walsh shouted.
I nodded, taking my stance at the pitcher’s mound. I held my ball, preparing for my pitch.
“You can do it, Sibby!” Aunt Ruthie’s voice carried over the chatter of the rest of the crowd.
I pulled my arm back and listened for the beeping and hurled the ball straight ahead. The batter swung, but the ball was too fast—like all of my pitches, even the non-supernatural ones—and he swished his bat across the air.
In the days following my recovery from the late-night swim in the ocean, I met with Sandy Walsh. I talked to him about Beep Baseball and that guy back east he had mentioned—Joe Buizon who played for The Renegades. I told him I wanted to start up my own Beep Baseball league in Coastview. It didn’t matter if I was the only blind person in town because I planned to recruit from nearby places. And if I couldn’t find enough visually impaired or blind players, well then, anyone who was interested could simply wear a blindfold. Naturally, he loved the idea, since he was the one who had planted it in the first place. I also decided to register for a couple of classes at Hillside. Greek Mythology and Introduction to Theology. Vago decided to drop out and focus full-time on rescuing pups, and rebuilding the gazebo. Marlo and Eli started a study group that took up most of their afternoons and evenings. But Eli and I made a promise to keep Sunday mornings all to ourselves.
“Strike three!” the umpire yelled.
The crowd cheered and shouted my name. My team members called out for me and I called back so we could join each other for a group hug. It was our second win of the season. I was elated to be outside pitching again, and not at demons or evil dog shifters. It was a nice reprieve. One I knew I needed to soak in because it wouldn’t always be this way.
***
Author’s Note
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BY SIMONE POND
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