Dark Humanity

by Gwynn White

  Ariel didn’t realize her fear was so evident on her face. “It’s okay. How do I see them? How do I know they’re there?”

  “You don’t, not until they make themselves known anyway. Just be careful, okay?” He waited until she nodded in assent before continuing. “What excuse did you give your parents for being late? I can imagine you wouldn’t be allowed to talk to me right now if they knew the truth.”

  He knew her too well, she smiled. “I told them I had prom committee stuff to do.”

  “You’re on the prom committee?”

  She wanted to hit herself, she hadn’t meant to let that slip. “Yeah, kind of. Cassidy made me do it, it wasn’t like I wanted to or anything.”

  “It’s good that you’ve got something like that,” Gabe said encouragingly before his tone changed to something else… concern perhaps? “So you’re going to the prom then?”

  “I think I have to.”

  “Are you going with someone?” He asked casually, but Ariel could see he was hanging on her answer.

  “No, just Cassidy. I couldn’t go with anyone else but you. I wish you could be there.”

  He quickly brightened up. “I would be there if I could, you know that, right?” She nodded. “I’d buy you a corsage and wait nervously with your parents while you finished getting ready. We’d pose for a bunch of pictures and then take a limo to the prom. We’d dance all night and I’d spin you around. Then we’d slow dance and it would be like we were the only two people in the entire place.”

  Ariel was lost in a dream as he spoke, imagining how good it would be to go to the prom with Gabe. To go anywhere with him. It would be a magical night, one she would actually be excited about. She would try on every dress in the store with her mother to find the right one. Gabe would make her feel like a princess in whatever one she chose.

  “It sounds good,” Ariel replied when she realized he had stopped talking. “I wish it could come true.”

  “Me too.”

  “One day, right?”

  “One day,” he said decidedly. Gabe had never been to a school event, not at any of the schools he had attended. It wasn’t just the fact he never made any friends, but there wouldn’t have been any reason to go. And it wasn’t like he would be able to wear his sunglasses out at night without more than a little attention.

  Ariel was called away to dinner before she was ready to say goodnight to Gabe. Yet she had to anyway. She switched off her laptop and slowly trudged downstairs, expecting to hear all about her mother/daughter shopping day for the rest of the night.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  “So why are we doing this again?” Ariel asked, standing in the hot sun and waiting to be served by the street vendor. The sun’s rays were bouncing off the side of the aluminum trailer and blasting them with heat. Not to mention how hot the sidewalk was underneath their feet.

  “Because being a cheerleader is more important than our comfort right now,” Cassidy replied. They shuffled forward in the queue, craving the cold drinks they were about to purchase. Ariel didn’t even want to drink it, she would have been happy just to hold the freezing cold beverage in her hands.

  They finally got to the front and brought half a dozen cans of soda. It was nice juggling them back to their spot on the beach. They left cold circles on Ariel’s belly, it was a nice contrast to the heat.

  They dished out the drinks to Niccolette and her friends before sitting down. Cassidy had made sure to seat herself beside them, stepping up her plan to get noticed. The entire reason for being at the beach was to implement stage two of the plan. Cassidy initiated it when she overheard Niccolette making plans for the weekend. Somehow, she had then convinced Ariel to come with her.

  “These drinks are amazing,” Niccolette commented, taking a long sip of her soda. “Just what I needed.”

  “I’m glad you like it,” Cassidy replied, too happy for her normal voice. “This place is so beautiful today, isn’t it? I love coming to the beach.”

  Niccolette looked at her, as if she just noticed her there. “You’re in the prom committee, right?”

  “Yeah, Ariel and I are the ticket sellers. Need any tickets?” She laughed nervously, making Ariel cringe. She didn’t need to try that hard, her friend was perfect without having to impress anyone.

  Not that it did much good anyway. Niccolette turned her attention back to her friends. “I wish there weren’t so many people here today. It’s a little crowded here, don’t you think?”

  Not to be dissuaded, Cassidy continued. “I know, it’s busy, right? Can you believe so many people are here? It’s like, go shopping or something.”

  Niccolette looked at her friends, pointedly raising an eyebrow. If Cassidy saw it, she didn’t let it affect her. Ariel, on the other hand, was fuming. “Maybe we should go for a walk or something,” she whispered in her ear.

  “We can’t leave,” Cassidy hissed back. “So, Niccolette, how is the cheerleading squad going? You were all so great at the last football game. I don’t know how you do it, it’s so awesome.”

  “We practice – a lot.”

  “That must be so fun. I heard you’ve got try outs coming up in the next few weeks. I bet you’re excited about finding someone new to join the squad.”

  “Not really,” Niccolette moaned. “Everyone that tries out is such a loser. We take the best out of the bad lot only because the school says we have to. Then it takes us weeks to get them even presentable. It’s such a process. If Delta didn’t break her ankle then we wouldn’t be in this mess. She is such a pain.”

  Ariel watched Cassidy’s expression fall down to the deepest depths. Her heart ached for her. Still, she persisted. “It must be torture. You know, I was planning on auditioning. You could just let me on the team and then you wouldn’t have to bother with all the tryouts. That would help, right?”

  Niccolette took her time to look her over, from head to foot. “I wouldn’t bother.”

  Ariel had to use every muscle she had to stop herself launching at Niccolette and all her giggling friends. She packed up her towel and sunscreen, stuffing it into her bag to vent her frustrations. “Come on, Cassidy, let’s go.”

  Cassidy was blinking back tears but trying desperately not to let anyone see. She moved off her towel, folding it up deliberately and slowly. “I’ll see you at the committee meeting, Niccolette.”

  “Whatever.”

  Ariel picked up the remainder of Cassidy’s things and headed for the car. Her friend trailed after her, walking like a zombie. Both girls wanted to get out of there are quickly as possible.

  Cassidy drove them to her house, staring directly ahead the whole time, she didn’t say a word. Ariel was worried about her. Niccolette and her friends had been horrible, there was no denying it. And she didn’t deserve it, not when Cassidy hadn’t done anything to provoke her nasty comments.

  They silently walked upstairs to her bedroom, refusing to engage in conversation with her mother. She threw herself on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. Ariel took the seat under the window, trying hard not to look at Gabe’s old house across the road. She was there for Cassidy, not for a trip down memory lane.

  “You should forget about her,” Ariel started, trying to say it as gently as possible. She didn’t feel like being gentle but didn’t want to upset her anymore than Niccolette already had. “She’s a terrible cheerleader anyway, they never even make it to regionals in the annual competition.”

  “I know.” Cassidy sat up slowly, looking at her with the saddest eyes Ariel had ever seen. “But I really wanted to be a cheerleader. I didn’t care about Niccolette or the rest of them, I just wanted to be on the squad.”

  “You can still try out.”

  “They’ll only laugh at me.”

  “So prove them wrong,” Ariel continued, trying to be positive. “Put together a routine so awesome that you make their jaw drop. They will have to let you on the squad then.”

  “I can’t, I’m not good at it.”

&nbs
p; “Who said? Niccolette? Her stupid friends? You are way smarter than they are, you can think of something fantastic. You just need to put your mind to it.”

  “It’s only two weeks away, I can’t do it,” Cassidy insisted, but Ariel refused to listen.

  “Cassidy May Rawlin I’ve seen you do your best work with way less time up your sleeve. You can definitely do this.”

  “Do you really think so?”

  Ariel nodded with enthusiasm, happy she might be actually getting through to her. “Of course I do, I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t.”

  A smile spread across Cassidy’s lips. “It will have to be the most amazing routine of all time.”

  “Of course.”

  She sat up straighter. “I bet there’s a heap of routines online that could give me some ideas.”

  “There’s probably thousands of videos. Millions, even.”

  Cassidy hurried towards her computer, already lost in her plans to fight back. Ariel silently sighed with relief, glad she hadn’t been swallowed up by the mean comments. She knew Cassidy wasn’t a quitter, she just had to be reminded of that fact.

  “Come and help me find some good ones,” Cassidy beckoned from her desk. Ariel crossed the room to pull up a chair beside her. As she did, movement out of the corner of her eye made her look into the open closet.

  She took her seat and tried to look into the dark closet without Cassidy noticing. There had definitely been something moving in there. The Rawlin family didn’t have any pets so it couldn’t have been that. It was too big to be a stray rodent or spider or anything. As much as she tried to grapple for something logical to explain the movement, Ariel knew what it was. She just didn’t want to admit the Shadows had followed her.

  “Are you alright?” Cassidy asked. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

  “I’m fine,” she replied happily, trying to mask her sudden fear. Gabe didn’t say what actually happened if the Shadows started following you, but she was certain it couldn’t be good. She had already witnessed their power in the water, who knows what else they were capable of?

  A text message beeped on her phone in her pocket, making Ariel jump with fright. She looked at the message, her heart hammering away as she tried to calm down.

  It was from Miss Perry, she needed to meet with her urgently that afternoon.

  “My parents want me to come home,” Ariel lied. “Will you be alright if I go?”

  “Yeah, yeah, go. I’ll be fine, I’ve got a lot of work to do,” Cassidy replied, distractedly waving her away.

  Ariel texted back that she was at Cassidy’s and would wait for her on the corner of the street. She gave the address and left the house. Her eyes couldn’t help steal a glance at Gabe’s old house. A new family had moved in. Seeing the car in the driveway and windows open, she couldn’t help but be transported back two months. Standing on the porch, waiting for Gabe. The panic she had felt at looking through the windows and seeing the rooms empty. Every single memory she had of the place was a bad one.

  She stood on the corner and waited, trying desperately not to look back at the house. Gabe wasn’t there any longer, he was somewhere else and he didn’t act the same anymore. He wasn’t scared of her finding out his secret now. She knew everything, he could be himself around her. It was so much better than it was back then. Except now, she couldn’t see him face to face.

  Ariel wondered why Miss Perry was in such a rush to meet with her suddenly. Did the coven have some news for her? Were they going to try scrying again? Did it have something to do with the warlock? Were the Shadows following the others too? There were so many possibilities that it only confused her even more.

  Miss Perry pulled up in her little blue hybrid car and Ariel dived in without hesitation.

  “Ariel, thanks for coming with me. We’ve got an important meeting this afternoon.”

  “Is the coven gathering?”

  “No,” Miss Perry replied simply, darting through the streets like they were in dodgem cars. Ariel held on to the seat, gripping her seatbelt. “Lilia met with the warlock, he wants to meet you.”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  “Why does he want to meet me?” Ariel asked, suddenly in a panic. It was one thing Lilia speaking with the warlock, but her? What would she even say to him? She was just a teenager, she didn’t have anything to say to him.

  “Because you’re the key to all of this,” Miss Perry explained. “You’re the reason why we’re trying to remove the curse. He wants to know everything about you.”

  “Has he agreed to help?” Ariel needed to know whether he was signed up or not. She didn’t want to say something that could put his participation in jeopardy.

  “He’s agreed to talk about helping.”

  “What do I need to do to convince him?”

  Miss Perry laughed. “You’re persistent, I’ll give you that. But the best thing you can do is just be yourself. If you’re true to who you are, you can never go wrong.”

  Ariel thought about her words, wishing Cassidy could have heard them too. So all she had to do was be herself and the warlock would suddenly agree to delve back into magic? She didn’t exactly believe that, but figured it couldn’t hurt. She wasn’t a good enough actress to pretend to be anything else anyway.

  Miss Perry drove across town to an area Ariel wasn’t familiar with. The buildings were unkempt, hardly any of the lawns were mown, and big fences surrounded most of the properties. Everything in the entire neighborhood screamed that they didn’t like visitors – or each other.

  Finally, the car pulled up outside a set of gates. Miss Perry killed the engine and got out. Ariel was too focused on the house they had parked in front of to notice.

  The house was massive, a mansion if ever she saw one. The two storey’s were made out of white stone and had long dead vines crawling all over them. Black wrought iron framed the windows and doors. It would have been an awe inspiring sight – once, in the past, a long time ago. Now, it just looked creepy and abandoned.

  “Does he really live here?” Ariel said as she finally got out of the car.

  “He does and he’s expecting us, so come on.” Miss Perry put all her weight behind pushing at the gate to open it. Ariel helped, pushing as hard as she could. The iron gates finally groaned into action, squeaking the entire time they moved.

  The path was long and curved to get to the front door. The concrete was mossy and slippery but it was a better alternative than the tall grass at either side. Ariel tried not to think of all the things that could be hiding in the bushes. Snakes, Shadows, spiders, the list was growing by the second.

  As they approached the door, it opened unexpectedly. Ariel kept her distance behind Miss Perry, not wanting to admit how frightened she was. Everything she had learned about the warlock so far had been screaming at her to leave and hide underneath her bed. She suddenly wished that was an option.

  “Ah, Ellula, it’s been a long time,” the warlock’s voice was raspy, it reminded Ariel of a very old man. Yet the guy that appeared at the door was probably only sixty, his hair still brown, and he stood straight – not hunched over. He definitely wasn’t what she was expecting.

  Miss Perry stepped forward and gave the warlock a quick hug. “It’s been too long, Reggie, far too long. This is Ariel Cole, the young woman Lilia told you about.”

  Ariel stepped forward, extending her hand bravely for him to shake. He took it politely, his warm hands firmly gripping her own. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Cole.”

  “You too, Mr., uh, sorry I didn’t get your last name.”

  “It’s Squire, but you can call me Reggie. All my friends do and I would like us to be friends.” He winked and she relaxed a little. She couldn’t picture him being a powerful warlock. Maybe a bit of an odd grandpa type, but not a Wiccan. She couldn’t reconcile the two images in her mind. “Come in and we’ll have some tea while we get to know each other.”

  Ariel was still nervous about entering the house but she followe
d them in anyway. It wasn’t like she could give up now she’d come so far. She took a deep breath and crossed the threshold.

  There was so much to look at inside, Ariel thought her eyes were going to bulge out of her head. The mansion was full of furniture, something pressed up against every wall. On all available surfaces, there were things – knickknacks, photos, vases, ceramics, stuffed animals, real stuffed animals, and everything in between.

  Reggie led them through to his living room, at least Ariel assumed it was. There had to be a dozen armchairs scattered around the room and twice as many lamps.

  “Sit down and I’ll get the tea,” Reggie said as he left them alone. Miss Perry perched on one of the armchairs, far more at ease than Ariel. She chose the chair closest to her teacher, hoping there was safety in numbers.

  Reggie returned quickly carrying a silver platter with an ornate teapot perched on top. He balanced it atop a pile of books on the coffee table. Ariel waited for it to come crashing down at any moment.

  He poured three cups and handed them around. Ariel accepted it but instantly noticed how odd it smelt. The flavor definitely wasn’t just plain black. She decided to wait until the others had sipped theirs first.

  Reggie relaxed in the armchair across from them. “So, Ariel, Lilia tells me you have given your heart to a boy cursed with the rest of the Black Eyed People.” Ariel nodded, not really having anything to say. “Their curse has been around for a very long time. It will take quite a lot to break it.”

  “I know it’s not going to be easy.”

  “Lilia also tells me you are quite determined to go ahead with it. You must love this boy very much.”

  “I don’t like seeing how much he suffers,” Ariel said honestly, starting to relax just a bit. “The compulsion they are cursed with to hurt people is horrible. He’s not like that, he’s as kind as can be. He shouldn’t have to be isolated for fear he might kill someone.”