by S. E. Akers
Naomi grinned as she glanced at the police cruiser pulling out of the parking lot. “Yeah, darlin’. I bet ya did.”
I shook my head and strolled toward my car.
I drove straight to Bea’s house and collapsed at her kitchen table — utterly exhausted and dying for a ten-hour nap.
“Shiloh, I—”
“I’m not going to class,” I announced as I made a pillow with my arms. “And I don’t want to talk about last night.” I raised my head slightly. “And I don’t want to know what you did with Mad Dawg. I feel horrible enough.”
She gave my arm a few consoling pats. “I didn’t kill him. I swear. He’ll be howling and prowling before you know it. Though he won’t remember a thing…thankfully.”
“I suppose that’s comforting,” I mumbled as I buried my head.
“They weren’t exactly pillars of society,” Beatrix maintained with a stout huff.
“That doesn’t justify it.”
“Honestly, child! That hypersensitive conscience of yours will be the end of you if you’re not careful!” Beatrix removed my ponytail holder and began stroking my hair. “Tanner contacted me last night. He was curious about why you didn’t answer him when he called.”
I raised my head slightly. “I wasn’t wearing my amethyst. I couldn’t,” I grumbled.
“Do I detect some tension there?” Beatrix posed.
“Maybe,” I replied.
Beatrix patted my head. “You know, I’ve been thinking, dear… Spring Break is right around the corner. It may be wise if you headed out of town for a while.”
I lifted my head. “You’re not talking about the Xcavare trip are you?”
“Yes, dear…I am. Quite frankly, I think you could use the break…especially after your little adventure last night,” Beatrix stressed and took a sip of her tea. “There’s nothing to fret about. Malachi won’t be there. Tanner said so himself. However, he wouldn’t be too keen on the idea of you traveling without me, so I wouldn’t necessarily tell him that you’ve changed your mind,” she added with a shushing gesture.
“I haven’t,” I asserted firmly. Beatrix brushed off my conviction like she was knocking a speck of lint off her cardigan.
“I’m sorry to disappoint you, but something has come up that I must tend to. I can’t put it off any longer, so I won’t be able to keep an eye on you. You will be much safer out of town and away from the Onyx’s reach. I’ll feel more at ease while I’m gone if I know that you’re far, far away from here. So that as they say, is that.”
“Is there something wrong?” I asked, knowing whatever this unavoidable errand was might easily explain her mood the past six weeks.
“No,” Beatrix replied, batting her eyes innocently.
Liar, liar… Pants on fire…
I leaned back in my chair. “Then why can’t I come with you? Where are you going?”
Beatrix sighed. “I’m visiting my sisters. I haven’t spoken to one of them in ages.” Beatrix stared out the window, her aimless eyes flashing a look of pure dread. “I’m not looking forward to seeing her,” she groaned. “But I must.” Beatrix reached for my hands and gave them a tight squeeze. “I would love nothing better than to take you, but they’re all Talismans, my dear. The fewer of us who know the Wand of Adamas has been reclaimed, the better. The last thing we need is for just one of them to run their mouth to the wrong person.” Beatrix shuddered. “Every supernatural would descend upon this town like a flash mob of pillaging thieves, all vying for a chance to claim your diamond wand.”
“I don’t know, Bea. As far as the school knows, I’m not going. I never turned in my forms. I don’t think I even can.”
“That’s easily remedied,” Beatrix assured with a wave of her hand. “Nothing a little mental-manipulation can’t fix.”
“The trip is in a few weeks. I don’t have a passport,” I argued. Beatrix placed the packet of information on the table. So much for the concept behind “trash”. I knew I should have shredded it.
“It says right here that you have an overnight layover in New Orleans before you fly off to Mexico. You’re in luck! Their passport office is one of the few in the country with same-day service. All you need is the proper documentation and an appointment. Also easily taken care of,” Beatrix rebutted.
I shot my unyielding opponent a blank stare. “I don’t have a clue where Charlotte stashed my birth certificate…and I seriously doubt she’ll give it to me.”
Beatrix grinned. “It doesn’t hurt to ask.”
Desperate for reasons, I started reaching into the bottom of the barrel. “I really don’t have a wardrobe suited for jet-setting.” That one was an obvious stretch, but true, nonetheless. Most of my shirts had enough set-in mud stains on them that I could play Connect-the-Dots and almost every pair of my jeans had at least a rip or two on them somewhere — courtesy of two Talismans who shall remain nameless.
“I’ve been meaning to take you shopping. We can leave for Charleston a day early and stay the evening. That will give us plenty of time to find everything you need at the Town Center Mall… My treat,” Beatrix said with an enticing air.
I folded my arms. “Okay, Ms. I’ve-got-an-answer-for-everything, what am I supposed to do for money? I can forget about any extra cash from the Drive-In. They’ll be lucky to get it cleaned up and renovated by late spring. Shall I sell a diamond?” I posed.
“Absolutely not!” Beatrix scolded. “I have plenty of money, dear.” She grabbed her purse and started rummaging through her wallet. “I don’t have much in the form of cash, but I can get more out of my account if this won’t do.” She laid a thick stack of bills on the table. My eyes exploded with dollar signs and disbelief. Naturally, I had to count it.
I let out a long whistle after I tallied the amount in my head. “There’s over ten-thousand dollars here!” I exclaimed. “You carry that around in your purse?”
“I know. It’s not much,” Beatrix insisted. “So keep that for the trip, and I’ll make sure I have plenty when we go shopping for your clothes.”
“That’s sooo not what I meant,” I remarked, knowing that one went right over her head. “This is very, very generous, Bea, but—”
“No! No! No ‘buts’ about anything! You’re going! Even if I have to turn into a bird and fly you there myself!” Beatrix vowed. “You need to spend some time with your classmates, like Tyler for example. Ones you can not only talk to, but see as well. I’ve seen how isolated you’ve been these past few months. Regardless of the situation, you can’t tell me that you didn’t enjoy the company last night.”
She’s got me on that one.
“This is the perfect opportunity for you to finally crack open that camera of yours and make some new memories…and it will help me out tremendously. I’ll be sick with worry if I know you’re here all by yourself. Tanner can’t come, not between Yardley and keeping an eye on Malachi, so there’s no other logical solution. You have to go. For me…and for you. You need this more than you think.”
“I don’t seem to have a choice,” I replied, defeated.
“No,” Beatrix gloated. “And Shiloh, you must do one more thing.”
“What’s that?”
“Leave all of your troubles behind before you go on this trip.”
“Okay,” I agreed, somewhat confused. I hadn’t planned on packing them anyway.
“By troubles, I mean your friend, Katie,” Beatrix revealed.
“I can’t do THAT!” I protested and started counting the days in my head. “I’ll be gone during another full moon. How am I supposed to leave all of my troubles behind, let alone even go with a clean conscience with that hanging over my head?”
“Katie will get over it. She’ll be madder than a hornet, of course, but she’ll forgive you in the end. Tell her it’s my fault.”
“It kind of is.”
“Exactly, so you won’t be lying to her…for a change,” Beatrix grinned.
I slumped down in my chair. “She’s bare
ly speaking to me as it is. I can’t leave her behind.”
“Shiloh, sometimes we hold on to things too tightly and never let them out of our sight. It’s not healthy, especially when it comes to the ones we love. After all, absence makes the heart grow fonder. I think a separation is well over do. Then maybe Katie will stop misdirecting her anger about the situation onto you. This unfortunate mess is not your fault. This was simply a hand dealt to her by fate. Whenever or if ever we locate her body and the stone, it is only with fate’s blessing. My dear Shiloh, everyone’s course has already been charted, it may seem like we are at the wheel, but we’re just along for the ride.”
“Fine,” I conceded in a whisper and headed off to the guest bedroom. Maybe she’s right about needing a break? Maybe some time away from Katie would help? Maybe I’m too freakin’ tired to think straight? I let out a long sigh as my guilt and regret began to consume me, suffocating me from within.
Just as soon as my uniform hit the floor, I dove under the covers.
One siesta, coming up…
Chapter 11 — Lose Something?
I arrived to school the next day on a mission that was well overdo — giving Ty a diamond. I’d carved it out for him last night and strung a brown leather cord through it that I’d found in Beatrix’s sewing basket. It looked manly enough. I guess. After the ordeal at the Drive-In, I couldn’t bare the thought of him ever turning into a possessed-freak that I might be forced to kill. Since the Onyx apparently knew everything about me, taking control of Ty’s soul seemed like a logical strategy. That couldn’t happen.
After I’d secured a pass from my study hall, I hurried to his locker, invisibly. When the coast was clear, I wrapped my hand around the steel combination lock. There wasn’t an ounce of brass in it to manipulate.
Oh well, I thought and then gave it a good yank. A little too hard actually. The front plate broke off too. Crap!
I hung the diamond on his coat hook along with a note that simply said,
Something to keep you safe
I closed the locker and propped the broken plate back where it belonged. I just hope he wears it. As I turned around, I spotted of all people, Ty, coming down the hall. I backed up and waited without making the slightest sound. The Masterlock and the front plate fell off as soon as he touched it.
“What the …” Ty mumbled when he realized someone had broken into his locker. He spotted the necklace as soon as he opened the door. Ty glanced down the hall in both directions and then took it out, eyeing it and the note curiously. Not a second later, the rough gemstone was over his head and lying securely around his neck. I even caught a smile as he strutted off.
“Why are you so happy?” Katie asked.
“Ty’s wearing the diamond I put in his locker,” I replied.
“You did remember to use one of your own, didn’t you?”
I see someone’s poker is red-hot today. I retracted my invisibility spell and stormed towards the girls’ room. “Believe me, bosom friend…I’ll not make that mistake again.”
“Just checkin’,” Katie hummed dryly.
As I started to push open the door, it just so happened that Mike Riverside was popping out of the guys’ room right beside it.
“Hey, Shiloh. I heard you finally got around to turning in your forms for the trip this morning,” Mike announced. “I knew you would.”
My mouth fell open as I watched him strut down the hall. Katie didn’t know. I was waiting until the night before the trip to tell her. Crap!
“I predict it’s going to be one Hell of a trip!” Mike hollered back.
I bolted inside the bathroom, panicked and scrambling for an excuse. What better place for the shit-to-hit-the-fan but in here?
I waited breathlessly for Katie’s response, but it didn’t come. I shrugged my shoulders. Great… Back to the silent treatment!
“Shi, are you really going on the trip?” Katie finally asked, almost in a whisper.
I closed my eyes and forced the words to come. “Yes,” I admitted.
“By yourself?” she posed.
“Yeah… Are you mad?”
“Mad? Are you crazy? I couldn’t be happier!” Katie squealed.
That wasn’t the reaction I expected. “Wh—”
“I mean, I can’t believe I get my bosom friend all to myself for A WHOLE WEEK! No trinket box! No Talisman crap! And best of all, NO BEATRIX!” she raved. “It’ll be just like the time my parents took us to Myrtle Beach…Well, sort of.”
Major misunderstanding…
“I want all the details!” Katie demanded.
“Sure,” I muttered, nauseated by my new dilemma. I ran to the sink to splash some water on my face.
“Thanks, Shi. I know how you feel about Xcavare and this trip. I know you’re just doing it for me.”
“Can’t get one past you, can I?”
“You’re not that slick,” Katie teased.
I gazed at my reflection in the mirror. Well, on the bright side…at least she’s talking to me again.
Left with no other alternative, I did what any other bosom friend whose conscience had been shamed by the travel agent of guilt trips would do — The night before we were to leave, I would turn invisible and sneak down to her parents’ shop to “borrow” an identical diamond so I could trick Beatrix. Easy enough.
I did have to tell Katie about Beatrix not wanting her to go, but I played like this was a part of “my plan” all along. To my relief, she bought it. I also insisted that she would have to stay hidden until we were airborne, so we wouldn’t get busted. She agreed without too much of a fuss. In a twisted way, I was surprised at how good I’d become at truth-stretching. The words just shot out of mouth like a wheel of ammo, though pulling the trigger still made me just as queasy as ever and the pangs that struck my heart actually felt worse with each and every added lie.
I’d asked Charlotte for my birth certificate over the next couple of weeks, repeatedly, and every time she assured me that she would get it. I should have known better. I still didn’t have it the night before Beatrix and I were supposed to leave. Pissed and growing more desperate with each passing second, I rummaged through her closet, all the drawers in her roll-top desk, and through every shoebox full of old papers I could find.
Nothing, I raged as I stormed through the house. I’m eighteen. I’ll just try the courthouse first thing in the morning.
I started sorting the mail lying on the table in the foyer when I felt a soothing wave of bliss, followed by a curious, “What are you doing?”
Tanner! Considering I hadn’t spoken to him in almost a month (and he never called me back after his failed attempt that night at the Drive-In), I opted for hard-core snarky.
“I’m sorry,” I answered robotically. “The caller you are trying to reach has stepped out of the coverage area. Probably because she’s roaming the hills in search of a missing body that no one can seem to find. Please leave your name and number, and she’ll get back to you when it’s convenient.” I waited for a moment. We were still connected, but he didn’t say a word. I huffed, “Well, say something.”
“Oh, I’m waiting for the bitchy beep,” Tanner grunted.
“Sorry. Beeeeeeep,” I blared.
“Shiloh, I was calling to chat, but I can tell that you’re busy. So, after you have someone pull that stick out of your ass, please give me a call. But it sounds like its wedged up there pretty tight. It might take awhile.”
You should know. You had a hand in putting it there, right along with everyone else, I thought as I angrily shoved what letters were mine into my purse.
“My apologies,” I rephrased. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”
“I wanted to talk to you.”
“About what? My training? My lessons?” I rattled off. “To make sure I’m sticking close to Bea and not out searching for Katie on my own since there’s another full moon in a couple of days?”
“No… Maybe I just wanted to hear your voice?” Tanner argued. “
Ever had one of those days, smart-ass?”
A part of me was touched by the hurt in his voice, but the other “neglected” part was still confused and rightfully pissed. It won out. “Yeah. I’ve had quite a few of those over the past couple of months. But you wouldn’t know.”
“I’ve been preoccupied with something. Something extremely important.”
That’s his excuse? “What? Finding Katie?” I asked. “Or a fire opal?”
Tanner was silent for a moment. “No. This is more pressing.”
“What’s more important than keeping your promise?” He didn’t answer. “Or even dropping someone a line?” I added, half-regretful that I’d even mentioned that last part as soon as I’d said it.
“Shiloh…I can’t—”
“You CAN’T tell me, can you?” I interrupted. “You’ve been like this since…” I took a deep breath, summoning some strong will. “Since New Year’s Eve.” As awkward as what the situation on the couch was for me, I had to ask. “What happened that night?” I demanded, hoping at the least I could put an end to all of my mental replays and countless “what if’s” my mind had been posing week after tormenting week.
“I can’t—”
Ugh!!! “I’m fine. Bea’s fine. Katie’s a mess,” I ranted. “I’ve been studying hard, training even harder, and obeying every one of your demands. There’s your update! Call me back when you actually feel like talking.” I purposely took off my amethyst, ending our communication, and dropped it into my purse. I stormed up the stairs to my bedroom. Just when I found the courage to ask him about “that night”, all I get is, “I can’t”? That’s it? No more? I was a lot less stressed when there weren’t any guys on my radar! I flung myself on my bed. No more expectations! From any of them, I huffed as I dug my head into my pillow. Human or supernatural!
“What’s with the pissy-mood all of a sudden?” Katie asked. Her question was reasonable. She hadn’t heard my conversation with Tanner and I’d taken off my little emotion blocker.
“Tanner just called.”
“Oh no!” Katie gasped. “Is it BAD NEWS? Tell me! Did he find my body? It’s a rotting corpse, isn’t it?”
