Autumn Calling

by T. Lynne Tolles

  “Sully. Go get him,” she said to the lazy hellhound. He lifted his head in acknowledgement of her command, glanced at the man, then laid his head down in teen defiance.

  “You know, Sully, you’re being quite a poop these days.”

  By now the man was well out of sight and Summer assumed he was well on his way to wherever it was he was off to, so there was no purpose to search for him. She closed the shed. She noticed when she did so that the door didn’t quite shut. She looked down at where it seemed to be hanging up to find that Sully had chewed or clawed at the bottom corner so badly that the boards were mangled and splintered every which way. Now that she looked at the door with more scrutiny, it was practically off its hinges due to the hellhound’s assault upon it.

  “Bad dog,” she said and then mumbled to herself, knowing he didn’t give a hoot as to what she was saying. She headed back to her little cottage for the evening.

  Chapter 7

  Per the arrangement Dr. Stuart had made with Summer, every two weeks she was to meet the bookkeeper at the veterinarian office to do payroll while he was on vacation. This was nothing out of the ordinary. Dr. Stuart had often relied on Summer for office responsibilities such as these, but today was different in that Summer lent the dog mobile to Tori for the day. So Tori agreed to meet the accountant instead.

  Tori wasn’t happy about having to drive the car, but she didn’t own one herself and she wanted to go into the big city to meet with some people she’d met online who had information about her parents and gypsy heritage.

  The city was a thirty minute drive from Paradise. She could go to the city, meet up with these people, and be back by 2:00 p.m. to meet the accountant. Easy peasy.

  Or at least it seemed to be. But once she was on the freeway and only a few miles from home, she found the car was acting oddly. The freeway near Paradise was still a bit windy before it got down into the valley, and the brakes were not responding well. Sometimes they would grab harshly, and other times they didn’t seem to be working much at all. The problem was that on a winding highway such as this, there were not a lot of wide shoulders or opportunities to pull off.

  With each bend in the road, Tori’s fear grew. The brakes on the carpet covered SUV with flapping dog ears were completely useless, and the grade was still rather steep. Tires skid as she made turns at higher speeds than a race driver might take.

  She put the car in a lower gear, but that only made the vehicle make a high whining sound as it had to rev at a higher rpm due to the gear. Tears welled in her eyes as she flew around a corner. She felt sure that at least one if not more tires left the pavement from force.

  She knew she was still several miles from the freeway leveling out. One more corner like the last, and surely she would roll the dog mobile or lose control of it and plummet down the side of the steep shelf carved out of the mountain to house the two-lane highway.

  She prayed that the brakes would miraculously repair themselves and she braced herself for a long steep turn she could see coming up on her fast. She could barely breathe as she gripped the steering wheel so tightly her fingers hurt. Just before she commenced banking the curve, a crow dove in front of the car and she reacted by yanking the wheel hard to avoid it. That’s when everything fell into silence and slow motion. The car started to roll.

  For some reason, the instrumental of The Blue Danube Waltz played in her head as she watched without any control as items floated around the car as if gravity had disappeared from earth. She watched a pen rotate and spin as if it were a prima ballerina dancing gracefully across her field of vision.

  Outside was a blur of green, black, and brown with a horrid jolt ever so often when the car would hit something solid. It seemed to continue on for an eternity. Sharp pains erupted as the dog mobile continued its destructive somersault down into the ravine, until it abruptly stopped as it careened into a large granite boulder. At the same instant the tumbling stopped an excruciating blow to the head sent Tori’s world into a dark tunnel, where the light at the other end was slowly dulling and then extinguished as she lost consciousness.

  * * *

  A phone call from Nick informed Summer of Tori’s accident. He quickly relayed that he was coming to get her and he’d explain on the way what he knew. He arrived in a cloud of dust and laid needlessly on the horn when he arrived at the gate of the Midnight Mansion, where he always dropped off Tori for her magic lessons.

  She had been waiting for him under the shade of a tree where he hadn’t seen her, and he practically jumped out of his skin when he spied her moving towards him.

  She quickly sat next to him in the car and before she had the door closed the wheels were spinning backwards without traction in the loose dirt.

  “Are you okay?” she asked, buckling her seatbelt making sure it was secure. “Would you like me to drive?”

  He growled an angry “No” at her.

  “Do you know what happened?” she asked with concern.

  “The brakes. Someone tampered with your brakes,” he exclaimed furiously at her.

  She was confused by his obvious agitation towards her. Was he mad at her about Jackson? Had Tori told him about Daniel? She wouldn’t, would she? No. That wasn’t how Tori rolled.

  “Where did they find her?” she asked.

  “Someone behind her saw her flying around the corners, picking up speed, and going over the edge. They stopped immediately and called the paramedics. If they hadn’t seen her flip who knows when or if she would have been found.”

  “Thank God they were there, then.”

  “No shit,” he said angrily.

  “Are you mad at me?” she asked.

  “Damn straight, I’m mad. This is all your fault.”

  “What? How?”

  “Where to start? How about with your magical family pulling Tori into their insanity, with a war that has nothing to do with her. Or maybe the fact that in an attempt to get rid of you, my girlfriend was almost killed.”

  “Whoa, just hold on there. What makes you think this is anything other than an accident?”

  “The police found the brake lines were tampered with on a car YOU primarily drive. You, who has a family of evil witches looking to off you. Seems pretty obvious what’s happened here.”

  “What makes you think I would ever put Tori in any kind of danger? I love her. She’s a sister to me.”

  “You have a sister and she’s a whacked evil bitch. Tori is not your sister.”

  “And if you had your way, what would you like me to do?”

  “Stay away from Tori, and Jackson, for that matter. Being around you puts their lives in danger, and I won’t have the people I love put in harm’s way.”

  She thought for a moment. Is that what she was doing? Was she putting her friends in danger? This whole war thing with the Macabres didn’t even feel real. She’d never met or even seen any of them. It’s only been the word of a dragon, who was nowhere around, a crazy old woman who claims to be her great-aunt, and a crabby old cat that seemed to hate her most of the time. She was learning magic to what, save the world? It was all ridiculous and yet one couldn’t make this craziness up.

  “And how is it you propose I do that?” she asked.

  “Push them away and out of the picture.”

  “Jackson’s already done that. Is that your doing?”

  “Maybe.”

  That shocked her. Had he been the reason Jackson hadn’t contacted her? Would he really stoop so far as to do such a thing? Did Tori know?

  “And Tori, how would you suggest I ‘push her out of the picture.’ You know as well as I do, nobody tells Tori who to like and what to do.”

  “If you love her, as you say you do, then you will find a way.”

  “Then why did you even bother to call me? Pick me up and bring me along?” she asked.

  “Because it’s not easy to get you alone without Tori being around, now that you have her learning this magic crap and spending all her time helping you. This see
med like the right time to say what’s needed to be said for a long time.”

  “Wow. You really hate me don’t you?”

  “I don’t feel anything for you one way or another. All I’m concerned about is Tori and Jackson.”

  She wanted to cry, but she was too angry and too worried for Tori to let it out. She sat in silence as they made their way through the city streets to the hospital. She’d always liked Nick, but realized she really didn’t know him all. She’d liked him because Tori adored him and because she had no reason to dislike him.

  It really bothered her that Nick had acquired such distaste for her. But even more so, his words stuck in her gut. If this wasn’t just an accident, and someone had tried to off her, then he was right. She had put her best friend in danger, and that scared more than all the stories she’d been told about the evils of the Macabres. Maybe he was right. Maybe she should find a way to distance Tori from her and the craziness her life had become since she found herself entangled in this Midnight/Macabre horror.

  * * *

  Summer followed Nick through the corridors of the hospital, occasionally asking for directions, until they came upon room 318, where Tori lay in a bed, bruised, bandaged, and sleeping to the constant blip of a heart monitor. Her long black hair streaked with magenta lay on the pillow and flowed over her shoulder onto the blue paisley on the white gown they had dressed her in.

  One eye was so swollen Summer was sure there was no way she could open it. She had stitches across her upper lip. Her right wrist was wrapped in bandages, her foot was in a cast, and her knee was wrapped. The whole of her left leg was hanging form some kind of apparatus attached to the ceiling.

  Summer’s eyes filled with tears as she saw Tori so helplessly injured, and Nick went four shades whiter than his normal vampire paleness. He sat at her side and stroked a few wayward strands of hair away from her eyes while his other hand held her unbandaged hand. He looked almost as broken as Tori, and when his eyes lifted for a moment to reach Summers, pure hatred poured from them, stabbing at her heart until uncontrollable sobs came from within.

  He was right. She had as good as signed Tori’s death warrant, as far as she was concerned, and she would never be able to forgive herself the pain she’d caused. She wanted to crawl into bed with her and hold her like they’d done when they were kids, but her feet were nailed to the floor by the glares from Nick.

  She didn’t know how long she stood there crying before a nurse entered, put an arm around her, and led her to a nearby chair, offering her a tissue.

  “It’s okay, my dear. She’ll be just fine. She definitely got beat up in the wreckage, but the airbags and restraints did their job, and kept her from any fatal injuries. The paramedics who brought her in said the vehicle had some kind of carpet or cushioned coating?”

  “Yes. It was a company car with carpeting on it to look like a dog. We work for a veterinarian.”

  “I see. They said the carpeting had ripped off in places and actually ended up saving her from glass cuts on her face. If it hadn’t been for her hitting her mouth on the steering wheel, she would have been completely cut free,” the nurse said.

  If Summer could have laughed she would have. For as much as Tori hated the dog mobile, those crazy floppy ears might have saved her from being hurt more. She knew that would just drive Tori crazy. But there would be no laughing now, and maybe not for a long time to come for Summer.

  When the nurse found Nick and Summer were not family to Tori, she told them visiting hours were over and they would have to leave, but Nick was not having any of that. They couldn’t have ripped him away from her side if they cut his arms and legs off. For as close as Tori and Summer were, she felt uncomfortable in the presence of Nick, and at the nurses’ last attempt at making them leave, she kissed her sleeping friend’s forehead and took a cab home, leaving Nick and Tori alone.

  Chapter 8

  Summer wasn’t sure if the tears had ever stopped after she saw her broken friend in the hospital bed that evening. By the time she paid the cabby and ascended the steps of the porch of her little cottage, she was exhausted and felt sure she must not have another single drop of water in her body. But when she put the key in the door and Daniel’s hand settled on her shoulder from behind her, she turned, buried her head in his chest, and sobbed as he held her protectively in his arms.

  Her knees buckled from weakness, and he scooped her up and carried her into the warmth and safety of the home within, closing the door behind them. He must have sensed something was wrong, or maybe he knew what had happened and knew she’d need him. Either way, she was thankful he was there. No words were said or needed. He held her and she cried in the curve of his neck until she could cry no more, then fell into exhausted sleep.

  She was happy to see, like before, that Daniel stayed the night, never moving. When her eyes opened to meet his dreamy, golden-brown eyes filled with concern, she simply said, “Hi.”

  “You want to talk?”

  “I wouldn’t know where to start,” she said, rubbing the sleep from her swollen eyes.

  “Where ever you like,” he responded lightly, brushing her hair with his fingertips.

  “You already know what’s happened,” she said.

  “That’s not the point. The point is sometimes you need to verbalize your feelings in order to make sense of them or put them in perspective.”

  “You really have been studying human nature, haven’t you?”

  “Yes. I have.”

  “Why? Why are you making such an effort to understand humans after all this time on earth?” she asked point blank.

  “Isn’t it obvious?”

  “Not to me.”

  “I’m surprised at that, since you’re the one who has taught me most of what I know about humans and their feelings.”

  “But you’re not a human, and I haven’t a clue as to what you’re thinking or feeling.”

  “Right. Okay then, I’ve never much cared to know humans. I was here to observe and protect, but not interact, and that was fine for a very long time. But when I was asked to watch over you, something different happened. I found you fascinating in ways I’d never found other humans. I became obsessive, you might say, in doing so, and found myself looking for ways or reasons to interact with you. And when I did, I wanted nothing else but to do so again. And when you clung to me the night you found out Sister Mary Louise had died, I realized I want nothing more than to protect and comfort you for the rest of time.”

  “Are you telling me you’re in love with me?”

  “I believe that is the phrase humans use for such a pursuit. Yes, I now understand what my brothers meant when they tried to describe their ‘feelings’ after finding a human woman they laid with.”

  “Whoa, now. Love is not the same thing as lust.”

  “I realize that. I think many of them went into their laying with women for lust. It’s a powerful tug at the physical body, but most of them stayed with the one they found this intimacy with and began to love them. I have opted to do things differently than my brothers, and hopefully that is the proper way to win your heart.”

  “So far so good,” Summer said with a smile.

  “Then you have these feeling for me too?” he asked.

  “I’m not sure what my feelings are for you. I mean, I like you a lot and I find you very attractive. But unlike you, I’ve only known you for a short while, where you on the other hand have known me all my life. I need some time to figure out how I feel about you before I can say.”

  “I understand. Should we lie together? Would that help you understand?”

  “Um, no. At least, not yet. I realize your brothers mixed their love with sex, but I prefer to find love before the sex part happens. It’s just a little quirk of mine.”

  “Oh. I see. But technically, haven’t we already lain together?”

  “ No, we’ve held one another while sleeping, or while I was sleeping, I guess, but that is not sex, or ‘laying’ with someone
as your brothers called it,” she said. But as she spoke, it dawned on her that he’d been on Earth all this time and never had sex with anyone? That blew her away. How was that possible?

  Most of the men she knew could barely keep their hands to themselves, and their fascination with breasts was unnerving. Being a watcher, he must have come across humans having sex, but maybe he’d never put the two things together since he never really found humans to be as intriguing as his brothers had. Either way, if and when they came to that bridge, it would definitely be a beautiful thing to explore; making love with an angel.

  She blushed a little and hoped he couldn’t read her mind or sense what she was thinking. That would be quite embarrassing.

  “Hmm,” he answered mulling over that statement. “But you’re willing to pursue your feeling in this venture?”

  “Well, if you’re asking me if I’m willing to get to know you by dating and hanging out, then yes. I’d like that very much.”

  “Great. And this ‘dating,’ it entails…what?”

  “Doing things together, like when we went for pizza and beer. We could go to movies, or out to eat—just spend time learning about one another,” she explained.

  He nodded and rubbed his chin, contemplating the concept. “I see. I look forward to this.”

  “Me, too.”

  “So should we have one of these dates now?”

  * * *

  “I’m not sure now is the best time.”

  “Why?”

  “Remember? Tori? Hospital? The accident?”

  “Ah, yes. Forgive me. I was taken away from your reality with the anticipation of this ‘dating’ thing.”

  “I have to admit I was distracted by it myself. But the reality is, my friend very nearly died, and it seems it’s my fault.”

  “How is it your fault?”

  “Nick said the brake lines had been cut, and since I’m the one who normally drives the car it stands to conclude that the accident was meant for me.”

  “That doesn’t make it your fault.”