by H. E. Barnes
She found a couple of gold plated watches in her foster father’s dresser. Her pockets were heavy. She would make good money and be able to get a decent dinner. As if on cue, her stomach growled.
She moseyed to the kitchen where she packed her backpack full of snacks and bottles of water. It was a good Friday.
Eira left the house through the back door, leaving the key in the same spot she’d found it. It was almost too easy for her. Wasn’t nearly as fun as it used to be. But, oh well, she had gotten what she came for. She took off down the road, walking and walking.
Miles later she came upon a pawn shop.
A bell rang overhead as she walked through the door. The owner, a wrinkly old man with dark hair, looked towards her. “Ah, Eira, what do you have for me this time?” Mr. Sanchez asked.
Eira walked up to the counter and emptied one of her pockets. Two diamond rings, a set of pearl earrings, and a matching gold bracelet and necklace laid on the counter. They shined against the glass counter.
“A good bit, I see,” Mr. Sanchez said. He picked up the necklace and surveyed it. “Now how did you come across this lot?” he asked. He put the necklace down and picked up the bracelet.
“I have my ways,” Eira said with a shrug.
“I bet you do,” he said with a twinkle in his eyes. Mr. Sanchez knew Eira, had for years. She had often visited when she lived with her foster parents. She had sold him many things over the years. He never questioned where she got the things she sold him. And she never told him.
“Give me a few minutes,” Mr. Sanchez said turning away from Eira. She nodded even though he couldn’t see her.
Eira stepped away from the counter and browsed the shop. A few minutes later, Mr. Sanchez called her back to the counter. He slid a wad of money across the counter. Eira picked it up and counted it. Two thousand eight hundred and fifty dollars.
Eira shook her head. “It’s worth more than that.”
“Fine. A clean three thousand, then.” Mr. Sanchez gave her the extra money with a smile on his face. “You drive a hard bargain.”
“No, I just know when you’re low balling me.”
“True.” He said. “Is that all I can do for you today?”
Eira felt the gold watches in her other pocket. “Yeah, that’s it for now.”
“On your way then. Have a good day,” Mr. Sanchez said waving her out of his shop.
Eira turned and left. The wad of cash burning a hole in her pocket. She needed to hide it and fast.
After eating and grabbing a few things she would need for the week, Eira headed back to her home under the bridge. It was dark outside, the only light coming from the few streetlights that weren’t broken.
She walked by a woman passed out on a sleeping bag. The woman was dirty. Her clothes looked like cottage cheese. She looked a lot older than she actually was, the sandy dirt turning her hair grey.
Eira knew her. Not too long ago, Eira had to kick her out from under the bridge. No one was allowed near Eira.
A shiny necklace caught Eira’s eye. It was half-hidden under the woman’s sleeping bag. Eira still had the two watches she had stolen from her foster father, but another necklace couldn’t hurt. She crouched down next to the lady. Watched her breathe to make sure she was actually asleep instead of just pretending. The lady’s chest rose slightly and dropped heavily. She was asleep. Dead asleep.
Perfect, Eira thought. She reached a hand under the sleeping bag and pulled out the necklace. It was warm in her hand, almost too hot to carry. She stepped away from the sleeping woman.
And then her vision went dark and her body cold. A gust of chilly wind knocked her to the ground.
Eira looked around her. A room with golden walls slowly came into view. “Hello,” she called out, but no one answered her. She walked further into the room, wisps of smoke fading from view as she passed by the inky clouds.
Suddenly, right in front of her, a great table appeared. She stopped before running into it. The table was huge, wider and longer than most, and made of stone. On each side of the table there were two chairs. Great, big plush chairs. Each a different color. Eira walked towards the blue chair. She ran a hand along the top of it, feeling where the velvet met the cold stone.
Four inky, black figures appeared. They sat in the chairs. Eira couldn’t see their faces. She reached a hand out to touch the figure in the blue chair, but she vanished beneath Eira’s fingertips.
A hand pulled Eira away from the table. The room disappeared around her. “We must call on the Daughters,” she heard just before the whole image evaporated.
A tight grip on Eira’s forearm pulled her from the vision. Her head pounded, a loud echo bounced around her head. Her eyes barely adjusted before she felt a harsh sting on her face.
“What do you think you’re doing?” the woman who was just asleep yelled in Eira’s face. Eira looked up at her from the ground.
She placed a hand on her cheek and pulled her arm away from the woman.
“You tryna steal from me?” the woman asked, getting only inches away from Eira’s face.
“You don’t have anything worth stealing,” Eira sneered pushing the woman back. She fell and knocked her head against the concrete. Blood poured from her scalp. The woman looked up at Eira with terror in her eyes.
“Please, don’t hurt me,” the woman whimpered.
“You’re not even worth my time.” Eira said flippantly. “But I better not see you again.”
“Yes, okay,” the woman said scrambling to the streetlight. She gathered everything she could in her arms and ran away.
Eira laughed under her breath, turned, and walked away. The woman wouldn’t mess with her again, Eira knew. No one ever did.
When she reached her bridge, Eira unfolded the sleeping bag she had bought and laid it on the ground. She would get some good sleep tonight, cocooned in her bag. But first, she had a few things to hide.
In the dark night, Eira felt her way to the edge of the bridge where stone met ground. She ran her hand against the ground. She stopped when she felt a raised section. She dug around the section, dust flying all around her. She uncovered a small wooden box. Eira opened the box.
Inside, there were several fine pieces of jewelry she had yet to sell. She rifled through the jewelry until she found an envelope. It was bulging with cash. She placed the money she’d made today with the other cash. It was almost enough. Almost enough to get away from her old life and begin a new life somewhere else. Almost enough to start over.
Eira emptied her other pocket and put the two watches in the box. She looked at the necklace she had stolen from the woman. It was circular, with a golden tree inside of it. Entangled in the tree’s roots were four stones. One yellow, blue, green, and red stone shone brightly against the golden tree. It was still warm in her hand. And the vision she had earlier came back to her. There was something special about this necklace. And Eira wasn’t about to let it out of her sight.
Eira closed the box, put it back in the ground, and went to find her sleeping bag. It was far too hot and humid to sleep inside of the bag, so she laid on top of it. She held the necklace above her, staring at it, daring it to take her back to whatever place that vision was from. But it didn’t, and she fell asleep with the necklace secured tightly in her fist.
Chapter 4
Aviva Davis ducked behind her black hair as she walked down the crowded hallway of her high school. She shimmied by people on her way to the lockers with her head down, eyes on the floor. She stepped around a sticky spot on the floor.
“Oh, watch out, it’s the emo girl,” a girl said in a high-pitched voice so everyone around could hear. The girl pulled her friend away so Aviva wouldn’t pass by them on her way to her locker.
The girls laughed. Aviva shrunk in on herself even more. Tears stung her eyes. She should be used to the bullies. They always had snide things to say about her. But she wasn’t. And she couldn’t stop the tears from falling down her cheeks. She angrily wiped at
them and covered her face with the door of her locker. She pushed her textbooks in and closed the door, locking it back.
Aviva stepped around more people, making sure not to accidentally brush their shoulders on her way to the cafeteria. She made it through the lunch line without another incident. “Have a good lunch,” the cafeteria lady, Betty, told her as she picked up her tray and walked away.
“Thank you,” Aviva said, her voice so low Betty almost didn’t hear her.
Aviva went to the far corner of the cafeteria, away from the other students. She sat at a table all alone, like she did every day. She was starved for conversation, but she knew she wouldn’t get it at school or home. And she was used to being alone anyways.
She nibbled at her food, slowly putting it in her mouth, all with her eyes down. She never looked up, didn’t want to make eye contact with anyone in the room. Didn’t want to invite more nasty comments or pretend friendships. She’s had both and neither panned out in her favor. Any friends she used to have disappeared when her foster parents moved her to a different school at the beginning of the year. It was as if their goal was to punish her for not having real parents. And they did a good job at it.
The bell finally rang, but Aviva didn’t move. She waited until the cafeteria emptied before getting up out of her seat. She carried her tray to the trash can nearest the door and dumped it.
“Have a good rest of the day, dear,” Betty said in the middle of her sweeping. Betty always made sure to say something to Aviva, something Aviva didn’t forget. Betty was nice. Aviva wished Betty was her mom.
“I’ll try,” Aviva whispered as she left the cafeteria and walked back to her locker. Luckily, the hallway was less crowded.
The bell rang just as Aviva slid into her chair. Mr. Banks stood at his desk and waited for the noise to die down. “All right, all right. Time to settle down,” he said, waving his hand in the air.
“Beth Castle,” Mr. Banks called looking down at his roll.
“Here,” Beth said from the front of the class.
“Aviva Davis,” Mr. Banks said looking up, searching for Aviva’s face.
“Here,” she whispered.
“Loner,” the boy sitting behind her said. He covered it with a cough, but Aviva heard. She always did.
“Speak up, no one can hear you,” the girl to Aviva’s right said leaning over into the walkway to get closer to Aviva.
Aviva put her head down on her desk, trying to block out their words. She never understood why they were so mean to her. Or what she had ever done to deserve it besides being the new kid.
“All right, that’s enough,” Mr. Banks said. He continued calling roll, ignoring the students who continued pestering Aviva with comments. Someone from the back of class shot a paper wad. It landed on Aviva’s desk, right next to her arm.
In the darkness of her folded arms, Aviva let a few tears slip. She imagined she was all alone, back in the safety of her room. Though her safety was always in question at her house.
“Matthew, that’s it,” Mr. Banks said walking towards the back of the class where the paper wad came from. “Get up, get out of my class.” Mr. Banks stood over Matthew’s desk. Matthew looked up at him innocently.
“That wasn’t me,” Matthew said.
“Oh yeah?” Mr. Banks said. “The paper ball that was just on your desk disappeared and landed at the front?”
“Magic,” Matthew said laughing.
“Get out,” Mr. Banks said, his voice deepening with his anger.
“Yes, sir,” Matthew said saluting him. He grabbed his backpack and launched it across his shoulder. He marched to the door at the front of the classroom. “Good day, classmates,” he said as he left the room.
The class erupted in laughter. Aviva didn’t lift her head. Instead, she stayed like that, with her head down in between her arms, for the rest of class. She walked to her next classes with her head down, not making eye contact with anyone. And when she sat in her desk in each new class, she put her head down. She didn’t want to bring any attention to herself, not that she ever did.
Finally, the final bell rang. Aviva left the school, glad for the day to be done. She walked home, glad for the alone time. But with each step that brought her closer to home, her stomach grew weary. A small knot formed in her belly.
Aviva didn’t like to be at school, but she disliked being home even more.
She dragged her feet up the small front porch of her home. She’d only been with her family for a few years, but this was the second house they’d lived in since Aviva arrived. She liked the first house better, only because she hadn’t had to change schools. She had a few friends at her old school. It was nothing like her new school.
She closed the door behind her. It creaked, and she had to push against it so that it would close all the way. It finally closed with a loud click. She scrunched her face and slowly backed away, trying not to make any more noise.
“Aviva,” a slurred voice said. Aviva held her breath as she turned and walked into the living room. Her foster dad, Ted, laid on the couch. An empty bottle of beer laid on the ground while he held another bottle.
Aviva didn’t say anything. She knew it was best to keep quiet.
“I don’t get a hello?” Ted asked, his eyelids drooped and his words came out slow as if he had forgotten how to speak.
“Hello,” Aviva said.
“Come sit down,” he said sitting up. He threw an arm over the couch and motioned for her to sit down in the empty space.
“I have homework,” Aviva said inching out of the living room.
“I said,” Ted’s voice rose in anger, “to sit down.”
Aviva nodded her head and reluctantly sat beside him on the couch. Ted moved his arm from the back of the couch to her shoulders. She shivered in disgust. She hated Ted, hated being near him.
“How was your day?” he asked. Aviva held her breath, trying not to smell his rank breath.
“Fine,” Aviva said shrugging away from Ted.
“Is that so?” he asked, pulling her in close to his side. “Then why did the school call me and say you’re having a hard time adjusting?”
“I-I don’t know,” she said nervously. She could feel the energy radiating off of Ted. She had felt it many times before and the outcome was never pretty for her.
“One of your teachers seemed pretty concerned. What was his name?” Ted put a finger up to his chin as if he was thinking hard. “Ah, yes. Mr. Banks. Seems like he’s taking an interest in your well being.”
“I’m sorry,” Aviva whispered.
“You’re sorry?” Ted asked. He was shaking, and his face was beet red. “You’re sorry,” he laughed. “You’d rather Mr. Banks be your father, huh?”
“No, of course not.”
“I’m the best damn thing to happen to you.” He grabbed Aviva and threw her to the ground. She hit her shoulder on the coffee table, hard, knocking the things scattered on the table to the floor. She grabbed her shoulder and winced in pain. “You best remember that,” Ted said laying back down on the couch. “Now go to your room. I’m tired of looking at you.”
Aviva scrambled to her feet and left the living room. She held her injured shoulder in her other hand and went to her room. She fell on her bed, exhausted. She was tired of her life. But, she knew one day it would get better. It just had to.
It was dark outside. Aviva had been stuck in her room for hours. She could hear the chatter of dinner and knew she wouldn’t be invited down. She hardly ever was.
Instead, she pulled out the box from beneath her bed. Inside were snacks she had stockpiled over the last few months of being in the new house. She pulled out a soda and chips and put them in her backpack. She wasn’t going to eat in the confines of her room, no, she wanted to be under the stars with a sense of freedom.
She snuck out of her window and ran to the back of the yard. Her “parents” never knew when she disappeared, even though she did quite often. They never checked up on her. She
was just there to give them another check.
Aviva stopped running when she got to the dirt road. She followed it all the way down into the dark night, until she got to a streetlight that barely lit up the park. She’d found this park her first week here. She always had to have a place to get away from her “family”. A place to call her own.
She sat on the swing, letting the warm wind push her back and forth. She opened her dinner and ate in silence, like she always did.
Aviva put her trash back in her bag and held onto the swing. She kicked her feet until she went higher and higher. The top of the swing started bouncing as the force of her weight brought her down hard. Sometimes, she wished she could just fly away. But, she couldn’t. So she opted to jump instead.
She let go of the swing at its highest point and pushed her body forward. For a moment, she was suspended in the air. But, then she came down hard. A lightning strike shot through her feet as she landed on the ground.
“Ow,” she said, grabbing her shoulder. The pain had returned.
Aviva went back to the base of the swing, ducking so she wouldn’t get hit in the back of the head. She grabbed her bag and turned to leave. But, a spark in the grass turned her back around.
She leaned down to where her backpack had just been sitting. In the grass was a golden necklace. It looked as though it glowed. Aviva picked it up. It was hot. The heat from the necklace overtook Aviva. She couldn't breathe. It was as if she was suffocating. And she knew the feeling well.
Aviva stood up. It was dark around her, and the burning she had felt moments ago was still present. But it wasn’t suffocating. She took an easy breath and stepped forward.
Through the smoke, Aviva saw four figures in a circle. She couldn’t make them out, but she could see the sparkling colors of the dresses they wore. They stood tall, like royalty. And in between them, in the middle of the smoky circle, there was a burning pyre.
“Welcome,” another figure said walking between the burning corpse and the four girls, “to the Releasing Ceremony.”
