by Jamie Ott
Chapter 4
After the incidents on the mountain, the town was a flurry of near pandemonium. If Lin thought people couldn’t be any more paranoid than they already were, she was wrong. Everyone was on guard. Most of the shops in the town had been shut down indefinitely by the owners. Many residents had left town or barricaded themselves inside their homes.
The supermarkets were emptied as people stocked up on goods. Price gouging was a problem, but people didn’t flinch to trade $100 for tiny two person tents, or $300 for sleeping bags with built in pillows. Lin didn’t understand why they didn’t simply leave town, but many of them had no intention of doing so. They’d rather go into hiding and barricade themselves in their homes, under spells and protection amulets, for extended periods of time. When she asked one couple how long they thought they could stay in their homes, they replied, “Years, if we have to.”
Lin thought it was all pointless; spells would only last so long, and amulets always had a counter earthly element. It wouldn’t be terribly hard for the Wackens to overcome their magic.
Even sadder was the fact that it was nearing Christmas. The happy spirit known to infect people during the holidays was replaced with rage, fear, and suspicion, especially towards those who were considered untrustworthy. People like Lin, who was not a native local, were treated poorly. Everywhere she went, people stared at her with steely regard.
Amid all the chaos, her mother called her every morning and every evening. “Yes, mom, I’m alright. I’m going to bed, now,” she said impatiently. It was natural that she worried, but it was also annoying.
The only thing that offered relief, for Lin at least, was that all those who’d been injured on the mountain had fled - and as for all the uprooted and damaged trees, magic fixed it all as if nothing happened.
No dead bodies were found; no one came up missing or in irreparable condition. Even better was she hadn’t seen the man in the cloak since that night. She had a feeling he’d be back, but there was a small hope, inside her, that maybe he’d lose interest.
And who was he, anyway? It was easy to assume he was a Wacken, but what if he wasn’t? She had the feeling that the reason he didn’t attack her was because he knew how powerful she was. Why else did he come around and merely observe her? And if he knew how powerful she was, should she be prepared for an ambush? After all, that’s the way it was always done in the history books, when people faced powerful beings.
All these thoughts are why she started taking extra protection precautions. She’d buried several crystals around her apartment building. While she dug, she noticed that there were many small places of disturbed dirt, an indicator that she wasn’t the only one concerned about protection. Lastly, wherever she went, she always had her invisibility shield up, and always watched for people behind her, and sudden blasts of air.
One week before the final holiday, the head of the town council, Mrs. Shoester, called a meeting. “In light of the holidays, let’s try to be cheerful for, if anything, the children,” she said.
The whole town agreed that it was time to put on smiles for the youngest of Blackthorn. Being afraid all the time was doing no one any good. People, even if falsely, changed their attitudes and smiled as they went about their business.
Lin, herself, was tired of feeling the gloom and doom, and so she embraced the infamous Blackthorn end-of-year celebrations with enthusiasm. Considering the nerves everyone ran high on, Lin thought festivities was just what the town needed.
Overnight, the town became a mountainside Christmas grotto. Blackthorn Street was lined with sparkling Christmas trees; strings of lights connected the wrought iron street lamps. People put festive, colorful displays in their windows and out on the streets; they hung ribbons, wreathes and bells on their doors. It was the most Christmas-y feeling she’d ever felt. Sure, it was one thing to go to the mall or downtown, in her home town, and see everyone had gone festive, but the people of Blackthorn conspired and turned the town into what Santa’s Work Shop should be.
“Normally,” Mara told her, “we make a big ceremony out of lighting the tree in the town center; then there’s a parade and a big party. And of course, we honor La an Dreoilin; the kids have a blast! Ahh,” she sighed sounding disappointed. “Christmas is usually the best time of year, here, so it’s really sad that the Wackens had to go and spoil it. But my mom is still having her winter soiree. Did you get your invitation, yet?”
Every year, Mara’s mother threw a big party for the entire town. It was held in their mansion on a hill, on the opposite side of town. Lin received an invitation weeks ago, and had already rsvp-ed single. Every night since then, she’d fantasized about what it would have been like to go with Minton.
Since the night Lin blew away most of the forest, Mara hadn’t mentioned a word about their meeting on the mountain. They were still friends, and they went about things as usual, but Mara did look at her differently.
Lin, on the other hand, regretted not asking Mara what the hell she was doing there on the mountain, that night. The only thing that held her back was their agreement. More than anything, it was important that Lin keep her secret. She just hoped that whatever Mara’s secret was, it wasn’t that she was a Wacken. She’d spent many hours already considering what she’d do if she was one. The answer was simple: she’d bind her with magic, friend or no.
At the academy, she saw Professor Milton on countless occasions, but he overtly avoided her. He smiled and nodded, and shifted his eyes to some distant point beyond her head. Never did he stay in the same room or social circle with her for long. She hated that his dismissal hurt her so much, especially because they had only been on one date! Don’t be ridiculous, she told herself when she felt down about it.
Mara continued to run her shop like normal but, like most patrons, closed up and was locked indoors by night fall. One strange thing she noticed about Mara, of late, was there seemed to be a lot of oddball strangers popping into her shop. They always wore shawls around their faces, and they always had something for her. Sometimes, she had things for them – usually blank pieces of paper. When she dared ask, Mara quickly reminded her of their agreement.
Fortunately, there were no new attacks that week. This made a lot of locals happy, but according to Sally Minton, inaction made Deputy Dennison more uneasy than ever.
“What’s he uneasy about?” asked Mara. “He should be grateful that things are getting back to normal around here.”
“Because, goof ball, they could be planning something bigger than ever before,” said Sally.
“Or something to take the whole town by surprise,” said Lin.
Dennison continued attempts to break into the mysterious warehouses that endured not even a single scratch from the explosions on the mountain. This time, he was reported to have brought in specialists from around the country, but that, too, didn’t work out. Lin didn’t know Deputy Dennison well, but just the time she’d spent listening to him talk in the tavern, she knew he was having the worst time of them all.
