by Abra Ebner
Jake approached my car. “Nice to finally meet you up close, Jane.” His hand pressed through the open window, offering her a shake.
Still eyeing me, she numbly clasped her fingers around his hand and gave it a single shake before letting go. “Hi.” Her voice was curt.
Jake leaned his weight against the door. “I’m glad you finally found your way here.”
I disliked the way Jake was staring at Jane, but it was his nature. Vampires were well-known flirts.
We’re headed over to the Corner Café.” Jake’s attention turned to me. “Want to join us?”
“We already ate,” Jane interjected before I got the chance to reply.
Jake frowned dramatically. “Oh, come on, Jane. Give it up already. Your pessimism impresses no one.”
Jane:
I snorted loudly, crossing my arms and feeling embarrassed. Jake had called me on my greatest flaw, and as much as I wanted to deny it, he was right. I hated change.
My lips remained sealed, trying not to look into Jake’s eyes. They were reflective, their almond contour so different from the beady eyes I’d grown used to seeing through the thick glasses he wore at school. I didn’t trust him, nor did I want to. The mere existence of Winter Wood hadn’t even sunk in just yet, and now this? I felt like I was dreaming.
“Yeah, Jake, We’ll come.” Max agreed to Jake’s invitation, despite my earlier refusal.
I snorted again, my hands bawling into fists in my lap. I didn’t care if Jake saw how rude I was acting. I was beyond aggravated by the whole situation.
Jake pointed to a building across the street with a large neon sign that read ‘Corner Café’. It was no different than any other molded brick building I’d seen in Glenwood, therefore making it inviting—another thing that annoyed me. I’d expected more from Winter Wood, and though I didn’t know just what that was, it certainly wasn’t quite this routine. If you grafted main street Winter Wood to main street Glenwood, you’d think it was the exact same town.
Max rolled my window up, pulling to the curb and parking the car. “Is this okay?” He asked apprehensively, already knowing it wasn’t.
I reluctantly went through the habit of unbuckling and stepping out. “Yeah, whatever.”
He stepped out, looking at me over the hood. “Good.” He glanced back at Wes, Emily and Jake across the street. “You go ahead. I’ll catch up in a moment, okay?”
My mouth fell open, wanting to protest, wanting to get angry with him. He’d promised me romance, and now he was ditching me as well? I harshly slammed the door shut. Max was already walking away and up the street. “Where are you going?” I caught up to him.
He stopped and turned. His expression was drawn and pained. An odd, vaguely familiar emotion pulled through me.
“I just need to check in on the alchemist’s shop.” He tipped his chin, motioning me to look ahead and across the street. On the next corner hung an old sign with a mortar and pestle carved into the wood. The windows were dark and deserted.
My hands were resting at my sides, my nails white as I pressed them into my palms. “Okay,” I said nervously, not wanting to be left alone with my sister and her new friend.
“Patrick was like a father to me, and I regret that I wasn’t there for him in the end. I owe it to him to check in on his things. I owe it to myself to say goodbye. You’ll be fine with your sister, won’t you?”
I could understand that this was something Max needed to do, regardless of the fact that he didn’t want to invite me along, but still, did he have to do it right now?
Max hooked his arms around my waist. “You’re allowing your thoughts to trickle through.” He whispered. His fingers trailed down my arms until they weaved between my own. “I’m not leaving you alone.” He pressed his weight against me until my back was flush against the building beside us. “I know you’re frustrated with me. I know how much I’m keeping from you, but you need to understand how hard this is for me. I just need to get back into a groove, and then I’ll tell you everything. Jake is safe. I, of all people, should know this.”
I frowned. “It’s not fair. I want to be a part of your life. I don’t doubt your feelings for me because of the sacrifices you’ve made, but I don’t understand why you’re being so elusive. You don’t want to be with me intimately, you have all these secrets, and I know nothing of your past.”
He squeezed my hands. “Jane, I do want to be with you.”
My cheeks reddened at the thought, feeling his weight against mine as my mind wandered.
“I’m just not ready yet. Please be patient, and before long, you’ll know everything about me.”
I couldn’t argue with that, and I hated it. I felt like everything was out of my control—my short life, my guardian boyfriend. Nothing was within my power anymore. Nothing ever had been.
His hands brushed my cheeks. “Don’t start thinking that way. I told you that you have every choice in this.”
“Do I?” I looked into his eyes.
“You’re stalling,” he replied.
“Hey, Jane! Come on!” Emily had poked her head out the café door.
Max let go of my hands and stepped back. “You’ve always been free. Being with me is your choice.”
“But you’ll always be there, and it will always be that way because it’s what you swore to do.”
“I can’t change that.”
I sighed, stepping closer once more. “I do love you. I want to be with you. I just sometimes wish I’d made that choice. I wish I’d fallen in love with you before finding out all I did. Our life just feels so contrived.”
“But you did fall in love with me before,” he protested, cupping his hand against my cheek. “You just choose to forget that.” He grinned. “You’re head was filled with admiration for me that first day you noticed me. I remember it. You walked into that hall and saw me, your thoughts overflowing with curiosity, the crush already growing inside.”
I blushed again, remembering the first day of this year. “You knew I was there?”
Max laughed. “Jane, I’d waited almost sixty years to be with you, of course I knew you were there.”
“But you didn’t even look at me.”
He nodded. “Because I wanted to make sure you liked me first. You see, I gave you a choice.”
“And if I didn’t notice you? What would you have done?”
He lifted my hands to his lips, grazing my skin with a kiss. “I would have watched from a distance. You would have never known I was ever there.”
His words soothed me. He was right. I’d stared at him as he stood at his locker that day, stared with a feeling of warmth and desire toward a stranger I wanted so badly to know. Every curve of his body was vivid, exact, and well-committed to memory. His current words had gotten me, though frustration still lingered. For whatever reason, the feeling of being caged in this relationship remained in the shadows, not yet ready to give up, but for right now, at least I felt halfway free.
Max kissed me as sweet emotion fed though his lips. I was ravenous to have the boy I’d seen in the hall—this boy. My body grew hot and tingly with the thought. I traced my hands along his torso to his back, tucking them under his belt and pulling him against me. I didn’t care who could be watching, this moment was mine alone.
Max pulled away, shaking and visibly dazed with lust. “I’ll just be a moment, okay?”
I nodded, removing my hands. “Okay.” I was equally shaken by the intensity of my passion.
Emily:
We took a booth in the corner. Wes sat between Jake and me, not on purpose, but I was happy for it. Jake scratched his head and picked up the menu, flipping it over. I reluctantly reached for a menu as well, scanning the various sections: Vegetarian, Vegan, Carnivore, Venous, Small Plates...
“What’s Venous?” I blurted.
Jake looked over his menu, the same warm, veiled light causing me to shift uncomfortably. It was easier to handle in the dull lights of the café, but still, it was t
here.
“That’s my section,” he answered dryly.
I felt my stomach turn, my eyes skirting across the offerings, too craven to read the content.
A waitress approached, her arms covered in swirly green tattoos. Black feathers were tied in a knot on the top of her head like hair. I couldn’t help but stare at her, wondering what she was, and if she could read thoughts or not. She stopped before us, her movements fluid and shadowy, like a dream.
“What can I get y’all?” Her eyes blinked in two different directions. “Jake, the usual?” Her head tilted like a bird watching a worm, a toothpick hanging from her lipstick-red mouth.
Jake pursed his lips as he debated his choices, and then shut the menu abruptly. “Yeah, the uge.”
She jotted something onto the pad of paper in her hand, her hand pecking with determination.
I continued to stare at her until her jet black eyes glanced up and found mine. I quickly looked away, ashamed by my blatant staring. “Um… I’ll have…” My face was puckered as I tried to come up with something, wondering what was going to be edible in my terms.
“Give her the Hot Brown,” Jake remarked casually. “She’ll like that.”
My brows creased deeper, not wanting his help, his warmth, or his sugary, blue glow.
Wes didn’t seem to care. “Baby Backs, please.” He handed the waitress the menu, not even phased by her appearance. “Extra sauce.”
The waitress nodded, giving me one last look before walking away.
“Are you guys going to the Halloween party at Trent’s next Friday?” Wes began. “I guess it’s going to be huge this year. Trent’s parents are going to Hawaii, so we’ll have the whole house. He’s got a hot tub, pool…
Wes’s voice faded away as the front door swung open and the bell rang. My heart jumped at the sound, relief replacing the fear as Jane entered. She was alone. Looking around, her eyes lingered on the hostess who was also tattooed, though her head was bald. Jane tilted away from her as she asked her something. The hostess pointed to us. Her glazed eyes found mine and a meek smile pulled at her lips. Approaching, she appeared isolated by the whole situation. Her arms were wrapped tight around her, her steps quick and short.
Squeezing into the booth next to me, she sat closer than she really needed to. Her lips leaned close to my ear. “I can see what’s different about Winter Wood.”
I nodded, my eyes wide. “I know! I thought it looked so normal until I stepped in here.” I kept my voice low. “Where’s Max?” All I could think about was what Jake had said earlier, pertaining to Max’s previous relationships.
“Max had to look in on something real quick.” She slid her menu off the table, burying her face in it as though ashamed.
“I see,” I replied plainly.
“Jane? Are you going to the party?” Wes asked.
Jane peeked over the menu at him, shrugging.
I glanced out the window behind us to the street outside. Knowing Max’s dirty past suddenly made me fear for my sister. I could see that she loved Max, and I didn’t want her to end up with a broken heart like this Avery girl did. I turned back to her with a frown on my lips. It frustrated me that I could no longer hear most of her thoughts because of the ring Max had given her, but at the same time, it was the way it was supposed to be, I suppose. First Jane, and now Wes. Where was the fun in that?
It was then that I realized I hadn’t really heard many thoughts since being here, though there were an abundance of beings. Everyone seemed to have a handle on the possibility of mind readers and had thus learned to block us. I smiled to myself, feeling an old relief wash over me, like the way I used to feel after drowning the voices away with a pill.
Jake looked at me, having supplied Wes with an acceptance to his party invitation, only a senior could invite any underclassmen. “It is nice, isn’t it?”
I nodded. “It is.”
Jane and Wes’s attention turned to us.
“What’s nice?” Wes accused.
I sighed dramatically. “Not hearing everyone’s thoughts,” I reassured him.
Wes’s jealousy faded. “Oh. I bet that’s nice.” He was trying to relate.
Wes glanced sideways at Jane, looking as though he’d picked up on her stench of anxiety. “So, where’s Max?”
“Running an errand,” Jane recited flatly.
Wes bit his lip. “Really? An errand…well…”
I elbowed him in the side, hearing where this was going. He stopped talking as he doubled over, forehead on the table and moaning.
“Well what?” Jane pressed, looking a little too intrigued.
Wes sat up straight. “Well…” his voice was forced. “Just excited to see him, is all.”
Jane stared at Wes for a long moment, a stare that even I was afraid of.
The waitress returned. “Want anything, honey?”
Jane broke her stare and looked at the feather-haired waitress, her eyes growing wide. “Oh…uh, no,” she stammered, as taken aback by her appearance as I had been.
The waitress rolled her eyes and turned on her heel. She sauntered off, her hips swaying unnaturally.
“What is she?” Jane asked under her breath.
We all laughed at the way she’d said it—without guilt for the taunting manner of it.
Jake tapped a fork against the table to silence us. “She’s a Faerie.”
Jane pressed her hand against her cheek. “Huh.” She pondered the thought as I did before she leaned close to me once more. “You think it’s safe to use the bathroom?” she whispered.
Jake leaned forward, invading our private conversation. “Seriously, could you be any more obvious? You’re like tourists.”
Jane’s cheeks flushed. “Well… I don’t know,” she whined.
Jake pointed toward the back of the café. “Back there. I assure you it’s plenty safe.” He sounded exasperated by our childishness—I felt ashamed, as though it meant the warm veiled light would be taken from me as punishment. I wanted to cry because of it, but I found my senses instead.
Jane slid out of the booth, her hands tight at her sides as she walked rigidly to the back of the restaurant, a cocoon of negative energy surrounding her.
Max:
I urged Jane into the café, watching her as she crossed the street before turning and making my way to the corner where the apothecary sat, dark. I pulled out my wallet as I walked and searched for a key I hadn’t removed from its place for many years. I’d received the key in Patrick’s will, but I’d never had the guts to come back here to use it.
Reaching the door, the darkened window was an unwelcomed sight. In my mind, I saw the way the apothecary once was—the windows warm, the scent of perfumes seeping into the street—all that was gone now.
Unlocking the door, I slid inside. The shelves were bare and coated with a thin film of age. I drew in a deep breath, trying to find the smell that reminded me of Patrick, of the father figure I’d grown to love after my own father had died, but I didn’t. I exhaled, disappointed.
In my head, I had always seen him as a part of my family. He’d loved my mother in a way my real father never could, and though my real father chose to ignore the love they shared and live a lie, I knew it had still left him bitter. I always thought I was strange because none of it ever bothered me, as it should have. I guess in my defense, I figured there was no way to know when true love would find you. The unfortunate thing in that were those, like my father and Avery, who’d suffered because of it.
Ruining Avery was never my plan. Understandably, Avery hated me for it. As much as I tried to remain here to be supportive, the string of unhappiness my actions caused robbed me of the sanctuary Winter Wood once offered. She’d disappeared soon after my desertion from this place, a thankful thing, and I really couldn’t blame her.
I stole to the back room, opening the office door and finding the space untouched. There was a half burned candle on Patrick’s desk, the wax frozen in the last moment he’d beckoned it
to burn, forever waiting for his return. I moved forward and pulled out the desk chair, the oak creaking as I sat. I sighed, shutting my eyes and remembering the many times I sought council from him in this very room.
I heard the echo of his voice against the walls, the squeak of the chair a trigger for the vision. There was always the smell of lavender in the air. It was my mother’s favorite flower. His belongings were, at all times, perfectly placed, perfectly dusted, and well loved—a far cry from the condition I found them in now. Clearly his friends, family, and the government had already searched his belongings, but found seemingly everything useless, except to me.
Opening my eyes, I leaned forward and began to search through the drawers, all except the middle one, which was locked. I bit my lip, remembering what was once there. I took the key I’d used to open the front door and slid it into the lock, surprised to find it fit. It took a little nudging to make it turn and unlock, but when I slid the drawer toward me, I was disappointed to find it was empty. The Truth Stone was gone.
I slowly slid the drawer shut and sighed.
Was that what I had come here for?
I leaned my elbows against the desk.
Why was I looking for the Truth if this life, right now, was supposed to be all I wanted? Was there still more?
I allowed the Truth I’d seen to come back to me, and one thing seemed to resonate—the moment hadn’t yet happened. It’s true that I’d found Jane, the very same girl from the Truth, but wasn’t the Truth supposed to come to pass, like déjà vu?
What did it mean?
Jane was young in the dream, the same age she was now. It had to happen soon. “She’d found me.” I whispered, thinking of the words she’d said in the dream. “If she’d found me, then I must have been lost somewhere.” I bit my nails.
Lost.
I let the word roll around in my head, hoping to find a place for it, but nothing came without danger first.
Jane:
I ruefully pushed open the restroom door, allowing it to swing shut behind me. The room was long and narrow, mirrors down the left and stalls on the right. A red stripe of tile dissected the room, white above, and white below. I instinctively looked below the stall doors, and from what I could see, it was empty. I chose a booth and did my business, flushing the toilet with my foot before exiting to wash my hands.
