by Apryl Baker
“If they arrest you up there, there’s not a lot we can do. Them boys would love to see you kicked off the football team.”
“Good thing I didn’t get caught, then, isn’t it?”
He shakes his head. “How’d you get so good at football with your family moving all over kingdom come?”
It’s my turn to shrug. “Don’t know. I’m the only one who ever liked the sport. I guess I’m just a natural at it.”
“I’m still worried about you playing. What if by some chance your father sees your photo?”
“Dad has his nose buried in his cases too much to pay attention to high school football. He’s never so much as watched a game. It was always Mom and Ava who watched the games with me.”
“And would they…”
“They’re in North Carolina,” I cut him off. “Why would they even hear about me all the way up here?”
“Charlotte ain’t but four hours away, boy.”
“Still, I’m the only reason they ever watched the sport. Without me around, they have no reason to even turn it on.” I flop down on the couch and tuck my feet underneath me. “I have a question.”
“Shoot.”
“What if my dad or another member of my family sees me? What happens then?”
The old man’s face shutters so fast, it’s scary.
“That’s not a question you want answered, Eli.”
“Why?”
“Because it ends badly for everyone.”
“Explain to me what badly means.”
“Eli…”
“No, Gramps, I have a right to know. I have responsibilities to Ella and Mattie. I need to know the consequences.”
“They don’t want you to know.”
“Which is exactly why I need to know.”
He leans back in his chair and stares at me for the longest time before nodding. “Ella changes things.”
“She does. Mattie has Dan and a host of other people looking out for her. Ella only has me.”
“I was told that if you were ever recognized by anyone outside your family, their memory would be wiped. They hold no emotional tie to you, so that was an easy fix.”
“But my family?”
“Not so easy. While we can erase a memory, we can’t erase the feeling behind it. They’d know something was off, something to do with you. They might come looking or never be at peace if they couldn’t figure out where to look.”
My mother would never give up if she had a feeling about me. I know that deep down. She’d grieve herself to death all over again.
“If that were to happen, they’d make the problem disappear.”
“Disappear?”
“The person who saw you wouldn’t live to tell anyone else. You’d still be here, but they wouldn’t. You’d live knowing they died because they found you.”
Speechless.
Angry.
Infuriated.
Sad.
I’m all those things and more. Seeing me would result in my family dying? How is that even right?
“Why does it matter so much? I never understood that.”
“Because life and death is not something to be played with, boy. If people knew we could bring the dead back, then they’d be forever trying to get us to bring back a loved one. One who’d already done everything they’d been put here for and lived a long life. Sometimes not such a good life, but they deserve to rest after their time here is done. Loved ones would be selfish, not allowing the natural progression of life to come full circle. Death is peace. It is the inevitable end to the beginning. When that gets screwed up, things get out of balance. Bringing you back put the cycle of life and death out of whack, but they’re dealing with it.”
“Then why bring me back if it causes a problem?”
“They shouldn’t have, truth be told. I’ve always suspected they had an ulterior motive.”
“That, I don’t doubt. I just wish I knew why.”
“I think it has something to do with your other charge, the one who’s no longer attached to the Wheel of Fate.”
“Dan choosing to stay threw the whole system out of whack. They’ve always chosen each other.”
And it still hurts. My own stupidity and inability to look past Mattie’s demon blood cost me any chance I had with her. In the end, she might have still chosen Dan, but part of me will always wonder if I stood a chance.
“Aye, that’ll do it. I wonder if…”
“What?” I prompt when he doesn’t say anything else.
“What if they plan on using you against her in some way? Your family finding out before they’re ready puts a dent in their plans. And they will protect their plans at all costs. I’ve seen it.”
He’s always alluding to something that was done to him or to someone he cared about. I want to ask him, but the pain in his expression warns me away from it. I’d never willingly cause the old man pain.
“There’s nothing anyone can do to make me hurt her. They saw that. I killed myself to keep from hurting her.”
“There are ways, boy, ways that will make you do what you’re so against, even if every fiber of your being rebels against it. Just keep that in mind.”
“I will, Gramps, but I asked because Coach sat down and had a talk with me today before practice. He thinks I’m good enough to go pro if I put my mind to it. I want to play for Alpha U, that much I know, but I’m thinking past that. I might want to play in the NFL after college.”
“Is football that important to you?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Then let me sit and have a think on it. I’ll figure something out so that you’re not easily recognizable.”
“You think dyeing my hair would work?”
“Maybe, but if your mother saw you, she’d recognize you. That’s just how mothers are. They know their child.”
“Mom always said she’d be able to find us halfway across the world, so I don’t doubt it.”
“We’ll figure it out. I’ll call up Coach Graham, and I’m sure together we can sort something out.”
“Thanks, Gramps.”
He nods. “How’s our girl dealing with the situation?”
I blink for a second, not expecting the shift in conversation. Gramps is bad about that. He’s forever moving three steps ahead, and we’re all left scrambling to catch up.
“Not well. She told me she hates feeling the way she does about her dad now, and there wasn’t a thing I could say to help her.”
“That man has put his family in an awkward situation. The town wants them out, and it’s not fair to them to have to deal with all the hostilities, especially Ella. She deserves it less than anyone. No one wants to get close to her because of her father, but she needs the community now more than ever. She’s just learning what it means to be different. I’m glad she has you looking after her.”
“She’s quiet, and while she’s fierce when it comes to protecting her sister, no one’s really had her back. Not even Cecily. Don’t get me wrong, her sister loves her, but I don’t think she’s ever put Ella first. At least not that I’ve seen in the last few months.”
“Things are happening to Ella that Cecily has no way to relate to, things she can’t see. It makes sense that she might be a little standoffish.”
“It’s not that. I don’t know how to explain it except to say you’d have to see it to understand it.”
“Well, then, make sure you’re always there for her. She’s a good girl who deserves someone in her corner.”
“I’ll always be in her corner.”
“You take care of her, and I’ll see if I can’t take care of your football problem.”
“Thanks, Gramps.”
“You want to go pick up some food from The Coffee Shoppe?”
“Didn’t you just promise Ella you’d stay away from all that fried food?”
He snorts. “If I stay away from it, so are you, boy.”
“Never happen.”
“There you go.”
I
laugh as I head into town, feeling better for the first time since the sheriff showed up.
Chapter Six
Ella
“I’m home!”
“In the kitchen, honey.”
Mom’s voice sounds muffled, which means she’s either got her head in the fridge or she’s under the sink.
And she’s under the sink.
“Something wrong?”
Mom sighs from under there. “The pipe is leaking. I called your father, but he says he can’t come home to fix it.”
“And you thought you could?”
Mrs. Home Improvement, Mom is not.
“How hard could it be?” I hear her elbow hit something, and then water starts pouring. Mom shrieks and quickly pulls herself out from under the sink, wiping water out of her eyes. “Oh, no!”
“Mom, we need to shut the water off.”
“What’s wrong?” Cecily comes running into the kitchen and stops, staring openmouthed at Mom covered in water and the small river forming in our kitchen.
“Mom decided she could fix the leaking pipe. Help me find the water shut-off thingy.”
Cecily blinks then sidesteps the water to help me search. “It should be under the sink, I think.” She leans down and looks. “But it’s not. So, where is it?”
“I don’t know. Text Dad and ask him. He might not be too busy if he knows there’s a lake forming in the kitchen.”
“Your father is never too busy for his family.” Mom’s soft words hold rebuke in them, but I stare at her steadily. Dad’s always been too busy for us, but I never minded before. When I thought he was doing something important. But he’s out there kidnapping innocent people to do awful things to them.
“Cec, text him. I’m going to go look outside to see if there’s anything apparent.”
Escaping the house, I do look around for the cut-off valve, but I wanted away from Mom’s censure. She thinks I’m awful for keeping my distance from Dad. She’s able to put what he does out of her mind. Or maybe she doesn’t know what he does. I don’t know. Either way, I can’t put it out of my mind since I’m now part of the community he’s trying to harm.
I want to get past it. I wish I could be like Mom and Cecily and either ignore it or pretend it isn’t what it is. Honestly, even if I wasn’t now a part of the Supernatural community and found out what Daddy did, I’d still not be able to move past it. It’s not in my DNA to intentionally harm someone. Sure, I’ll protect the people I love, but to just do something because I can…that’s abhorrent to me.
And if my own mother, who’s supposed to know me better than anyone else, doesn’t understand that simple fact, then I don’t know what to say to her. I don’t want to be mad at her too, but it’s getting to that point. She needs to stop trying to force me to not be mad.
“Dad says it’s behind the outside access to the cellar.” Cecily is waving her phone as she heads toward me. “Where is the access point, Daddy?”
“Under the back steps.”
Speakerphone, of course.
“Wait, you mean we have to crawl under the porch?” Her face screws up in such an expression of horror I burst out laughing. I have the same fear of spiders she does, but I don’t let it stop me from doing things either. I’ve seen a spider all but paralyze her.
“Cecily, have your sister do it. I don’t want to have to stop what I’m doing to rush home to rescue you from a spider.”
“She’s already heading toward the pit of evil.”
“Really, Cec?” Dad sounds flabbergasted.
“Spiders, Daddy, spiders.”
“Give your sister the phone so you’re not shouting loud enough to wake the neighbors.”
Cecily hands me the phone, and I shove it in my back pocket so I can get on my hands and knees, being mindful of my injury. I can’t put too much weight on it. The access point he’s talking about is right under the porch. The opening in the stone foundation the porch is built on is just big enough for a person to crawl through to get to the access point under the house.
And it’s covered in spiderwebs.
Taking a deep breath, I pull on the panel. It gives after a little brute force. But it’s dark. I have to take the cellphone out of my pocket just to see a little.
“Cec, I need a flashlight. There’s one in the junk drawer in the kitchen.”
“Why is it in the junk drawer and not the garage?” Dad asks.
“Because if the lights go out and we need one, it’s easier to find it in the junk drawer than in a dark garage littered with tools.”
“I never thought of it like that.”
“No, you wouldn’t.”
“What’s that supposed to mean, Ella?”
“It means, I doubt you remember even one of the houses we lived in, as you spent more time away than you did at home.”
“I’m here now.”
“Only because this is your new assignment. If you were told to be in Bulgaria or somewhere else, you’d be there instead of here.”
“Ella, we’ve had this conversation before. I’m a soldier, and I go where I’m told. You were fine with this before.”
“I was never fine with it. I just accepted it, but that’s when I thought you were doing something honorable!” I explode. “Now that I know you’re hurting people just because you can, I’m not okay, Dad. Not at all.”
He’s so quiet, I think he might have hung up on me. The call still shows as connected, though.
“Here you go.” Cecily throws the flashlight at me.
“Thanks,” I mutter and catch it before it rolls past. I have to crawl inside the tiny space to reach the valve. Putting it here was a stupid idea. Maybe I can talk Mom into hiring a plumber to move it to a more accessible location.
It takes me a minute to reach it, and I look around carefully to make sure there are no spiders. One thing I learned is that the brown recluse spider is one that’s pretty common in West Virginia. Their bite can rot your flesh and cause a whole host of problems. Supposedly very painful too. I do not want one of those things to get near me.
“Do you see the valve?”
Dad’s voice startles me so much I squeak.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“Spiders?”
“No.” I set the phone down so I can grip the valve and keep hold of the flashlight at the same time. It turns slowly, and I have to put as much weight behind it as I can.
“This thing is rusty. It needs replacing,” I gripe as I twist the knob.
“It’s an old house, Ella. There are probably lots of things that needs replacing.”
Finally, the thing won’t turn any more. “Cec, check to see if the water’s stopped turning the kitchen into a floodplain.”
I swing the flashlight back and forth, checking for spiders. Just because I haven’t seen one yet doesn’t mean they’re not here.
“Ella?”
“Yeah?” Something glints in the corner, almost like metal catching the sun, and I concentrate my feeble beam of light that way.
“What I do is honorable.”
“No, Dad, it’s not.”
“El…”
“No.” I put more force into my voice than I intended. “You hurt people. That’s not honorable.”
“You think we don’t hurt people when we’re at war?”
“That’s different, and you know it. The people here, they didn’t do anything to you or anyone else. They keep to themselves, and they police their own.”
“You think there aren’t dangerous people here?”
“People like the dragon shifter that’s missing?”
He’s dead quiet.
“I want to believe that you didn’t take her, Daddy.”
Still nothing.
“Did you take her?”
Not a peep.
“I’m ashamed of you.”
A low sigh rolls through the phone.
And then I hang up.
He took her.
I didn�
��t want to believe it. I wanted it to be different. I hoped it was something else, something that had nothing to do with Dad.
But his silence said it all.
The Army took her to experiment on.
What do I do?
Do I tell Sheriff McReynolds?
Do I keep quiet?
But if I do that, then she sits there and she suffers.
But if I tell him what I know, then Dad might get in trouble. If not with the sheriff, then with his boss.
I’m trapped between two losing situations.
Hssss….and then an unmistakable rattle.
My head swivels.
A rattlesnake the size of Texas is staring at me.
But that’s not the only thing.
A woman is creeping beside it, her eyes gaping holes. She’s been butchered. Whole chunks of flesh are missing from her body, and the white nightgown she’s wearing is soaked in blood. I only know it was once white because the very top strap is still pristine, not a speck of blood on it. Golden hair is piled up in messy bun atop her head, and when she looks at me, I want to weep for the horror she must have endured.
She opens her mouth, and a screeching so loud I reach to cover my ears assaults me.
It also spooks the snake, who strikes out at me in fear.
Two sharp teeth sink into the flesh right above my knee, and pain shoots through my leg.
A scream echoes in my ears, and it’s only later that I learn it was me screaming.
More screaming.
Cecily.
Mom’s there, trying to drag me out, but it only causes the snake to strike again.
I know panicking is bad. It’ll cause the poison to rush through my bloodstream faster because of the adrenaline.
But it’s a bloody rattlesnake!
“Calm down.” Eli’s voice washes over me. How did he get here?
“Let me…” There’s a loud thwacking sound, and then he’s prying the snake head out of my flesh. The body of the snake is still quivering, and he tosses the head.
He pulls me out and takes off his t-shirt, wrapping it loosely around the wounds.
“How…” I wipe away tears.
“Told you, Shortcake. I always know when you need me and how to find you.” He flashes me a smile, but I see the worry in his eyes. “Come on, let’s get you to the hospital.”
