Purpose: Whisperer of Night

by Keya Jay

  Chapter five: Sidney Fields

  “Hey Sid aint that Ryder?” Caitlin asked over the crowd of people. Sidney looked over toward where her friend was pointing and sure enough Ryder was here.

  “What is he doing here at a shoe sale; did you see any shoes for men here?” Caitlin asked. Though she was getting on Sidney’s nerves she did have a point.

  “And who’s he with?”

  “Caitlin could you shut up!” Sydney said as she looked at Ryder with a short golden blonde haired girl and a very tall girl with multiple colored hair.

  This is exactly what Nate was warning me about. I will not freak out, I will not freak out Sidney repeated in her head. She took a deep breath and slowly released it.

  “Do you think we’d be able to find shoes for our dresses here?” Caitlin asked.

  “Doubt it; you want all of the bridesmaids to match don’t you? There’s only one kind of each pair of shoes here,” Sidney reminded her.

  “Right, so I guess we can just look around,” Caitlin suggested.

  “Ok, I’ll start over there I see a cute pair of gold pumps and they seem to be calling to me,” Sidney said walking into the opposite direction that Ryder and the other girls were in.

  “Hey Hank the Tank is here!”

  “Can you stop with the stupid nick names? What are you even doing here?”

  “Your mother asked me to pick you up, said she had some things to do,” he said as he looked at the shoes on the table.

  “They’re not your size,” Sidney said as she walked to the other table.

  “Yea but they’re your mothers,” he said. Sidney sighed loudly and went to the other side of the yard as far away from him as possible.

  “Hey what’s Hank doing here?” Ryder asked.

  “I don’t know,” Sidney said as she walked around him and toward the other table filled with shoes. Ryder grabbed her wrist before she could fully escape.

  “Watch who you’re talking to,” he said in a warning voice. “I don’t know what Hank said to you but be careful who you take it out on.”

  “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to,” she said as he slowly let go of her arm.

  “It’ll be in your best interest if you find out why he’s truly here,” he said as he turned and walked back over to the blonde girl he was with. Sidney huffed and returned to Hank’s side.

  This is one of the reasons her and Ryder got along so well, as long as she didn’t disrespect him. He promised that she could be “queen” of the wisps but first she had to help him, help him how you wonder? Sidney has to do whatever he says which means interrogating Hank. You’ll never be Queen of the wisps honey, you’re just human! And there’s nothing daddy can do to help you—she could still here Ashley’s words as fresh as day in her head. I’ll show her, Sidney thought as she stalked off toward Hank.

  “Hey kiddo did you find anything good?”

  “As a matter of fact I think I did, see dad used to get these certain kind of things for mom all of the time,” she said knowing she’d have his full attention the moment she mentioned her father.

  “Oh yea and what’s that?”

  “Why, so you can hand them to her and take all of the credit? Why do you pretend to care about my mother?” she asked placing her hands on her hips.

  “I’m not pretending your mother means the world to me.”

  “Right ok and so what are you expecting out of all of this?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Exactly what I said, you’re doing this for a reason and I want to know what the reason is,” she said glaring at him. “You want to replace my dad; you want her to forget about him but why?” she accused.

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about and your mother would be angry if she heard you speaking to me like this,” he growled.

  “Right so you just got mad at me because I was wrong? Makes sense doesn’t it Hank?” Sidney could see the anger coming off of Hank in waves. So he was trying to replace her dad, why?

  ***

  “Whoa what’s with the long face?” Nate asked as he joined Sidney on her porch steps.

  “I think Hanks trying to make my mother forget about dad,” she admitted.

  “Well you know she might move on but she won’t forget about him.”

  “I don’t know Nate she might, she doesn’t talk about him any more like she used to, she doesn’t even talk to me anymore like she used to. If I want to hang out with her I have to go out of my way in order to do so.”

  “So what? Do you think Hanks trying to come between you and your mother too?”

  “No, I don’t think it I know it. I just want to know why.”

  “Ask him,” he suggested.

  “Ask him, are you crazy? If I ask him he’s not just gonna spill his guts to me. No I have to be smart about this; I have to find out myself before he does any permanent damage to my family.”

  “This is the Sidney I know and love,” he said pulling her into a hug.

  “So I’mma take it your in?” she asked looking up at him with hopeful eyes.

  “Oh yea baby I’m in.”

 

  Brooke-Fields-Laurence

  “I think sales went ok, don’t you?” Brooke asked Skylar as she began to clean up some of the discarded shoes boxes and things like that.

  “Yea I guess so,” Sky said obviously distracted.

  “What’s up Sky?” Brooke asked as she was throwing the trash away before walking over toward where Skylar was picking up trash. “Did you check on your mother today?” she asked.

  Brooke missed Skylar’s mother like crazy she hasn’t seen her in 3 weeks.

  “Yea but she was sleeping,” Skylar said as she moved away from Brooke and toward another part of the yard.

  “Well is she… healthy?”

  “Oh yea,” she said as she moved yet again farther and farther away from Brooke.

  “Is her cancer getting worse?”

  “Can’t even notice it,” she said hiking her now full garbage bag on her back.

  “Are you finished with your bag?” she asked motioning toward the bag of trash that was now over-flowing with how full it was.

  “Umm yea” Brooke said handing it over.

  The moment Skylar went to the back of the house to throw away the trash Brooke slipped through the screen door and toward Skylar’s mothers’ room. She tried the knob but it was locked, always locked. Brooke walked into Skylar’s kitchen and poured herself a glass of OJ. She saw the text her own mother sent her like 40 minutes ago but she wasn’t going to just drop everything and run to her so she can tell Brooke how fun a time she had at wherever it was she went.

  “Hey where’s Bēlua?” Ryder asked as he walked into the house.

  “Who?” Brooke asked confused.

  “Short little blonde girl?” he said indicating with his hand how short he thought Skylar was.

  “You mean Skylar?”

  “That’d be the one,” he said coolly.

  “Oh well she was just out taking the trash you must have missed her, she’ll be back though it’s getting dark. She’s gonna have to go back out soon,” Brooke explained while sipping her juice.

  “Go back out? But I thought you just said it’s getting dark why would she be going back out?” Brooke sighed hating having to explain things to people.

  “Skylar likes to walk around in the dark sometimes, it’s a weird thing she does. She doesn’t tell me why she does it though so don’t ask.”

  “If I was going to ask which I wasn’t I would have expected a better answer than that seeing as though you’re her friend, and I know you don’t know me very well but for future references always check your tone when talking to me,” he growled.

  Brooke gulped loudly before nodding her head, its official he scares her, darn it he was cute too, she thought as she took her juice and walked past him carefully before waking back out toward the yard. She checked behind t
he house toward the trash cans and Skylar wasn’t there but the trash was. Well she must have taken that nightly stroll early, Brooke thought. Now how does she tell Skylar’s new scary friend that without causing him to physically harm her?

  Brooke walked back to the house and Skylar’s new scary friend looked up at her expectantly as if he knew she had bad news.

  “Ummm Bella or whatever you called her, yea she left,” Brooke said hesitantly.

  “Left where?” he asked with barely controlled anger.

  “Umm I guess she left for her nightly stroll?” She didn’t mean to phrase it as a question but she was trying to pick her words carefully.

  He slapped his hands against the counter top and Brooke jumped.

  “Uhh if it helps she usually doesn’t venture far, I followed her one time and she was just over at the next door neighbor’s house. But seeing as though the closest their neighbor lives is a block away I’d say she hasn’t made it yet,” Brooke said slightly shaking in her boots at the furry in his eyes.

  “Who’s her next door neighbor?”

  “I don’t know I just know the kids are afraid of his pit-bull but Skylar seems to like him. Only she’d be able to make friends with the most hated dog,” Brooke said trying to make a joke to lighten the mood.

  “What’s the neighbor’s name?”

  “I only know him by Mr. Wallace.” He nodded his head once and then stormed out of the house.

  Brooke let out the breath she had been holding in for quiet sometime and walked back toward Skylar’s’ mother’s door. She knocked loudly three times but got no answer.

  “Ms. Royce are you in there?” Brooke called as she placed her ear near the door.

  “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Brooke heard a female voice growl.

  Brooke turned around slowly and all she could see of Skylar was her gray eye’s that seemed to be glowing at the moment.

  “I thought you left,” Brooke said as her heart seemed to have jump into her throat. Skylar has never been this intimidating before.

  “Get out of my house and leave my mother alone,” she snapped, glaring at Brooke, her eyes looking like little silver slits.

  I will gladly leave, Brooke thought to herself as she hurried past Skylar and out the front door.

  “Where’s your back-bone Brooke?” Brooke nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of Casper’s voice.

  “He was gone for a month,” She reminded him. “What are you doing here?”

  “I’m ready to get back to work,” he said simply.

  “No Casper it’s too soon I understand if you need time…”

  “No Brooke! I said I’m ready to get back to work, now that your back bone is here and ready to get his hands dirty you will not turn him away.”

  Now that was a warning voice Brooke liked to here.

  “Alright,” she said simply.

  “Good, now the last time we met up we were working on a female wisp correct?” he asked

  “Correct, but lower your voice I don’t think Skylar knows” she said getting more determined by the minute.

  God she missed this boy, now it’s time to get this show on the road.