Lightning Struck (The Roaming Curse Book 1)

by Miranda Hardy

  “They called him their mascot.” I recall Colin’s words. Colin— My thoughts go in a direction I’m not sure I want them to. I cut them off before I start thinking too hard or deep about him or my feelings.

  “That doesn’t surprise me. He never knew how to make real friends. Then again, Ma never really wanted us too.”

  We pass through town. Colin’s truck is parked in the corner lot.

  “Speaking of the Devil.” Fonso spots it, too.

  He slows down as we pass the barber shop. Colin stands outside with Riley, Brayden, Kayla, and an older man. “What are they doing?”

  “Remember when I told you to watch them?”

  Colin sees me, and his jaw tightens. He turns away, pretending to look in a real estate office window.

  “Yeah?” I say.

  “They take money from people, Elysia. I told you they weren’t good.”

  “That’s not right. It can’t be. He wouldn’t—”

  “You’re seeing it now. That old guy owns the barber shop.”

  I watch the three of them leave the shop counting money in the rearview mirror. “Why?”

  “Extortion. They do it to Jared at the bookstore, too. They claim they are protecting the town and all the people in it. Everyone needs to pay them a fee.”

  “How is this happening in this day and age? This is something from the mobster era. Why doesn’t he report it?” Colin… stealing. He doesn’t seem like he could do something like that. No one around here is what they seem.

  “This town doesn’t have its own police department or sheriffs. They rely on the neighboring town’s sheriff department, who’s more concerned with drug busts and patrolling the coast than a small hick town near the psychic capital of the world.”

  “I’m in shock.”

  Fonso remains silent throughout the remainder of the ride to the mall.

  I wait by a fountain while he goes into the store for his interview. A tidal wave of disappointment overcomes me when I think about Colin and how he avoided eye contract while his pack extorted money from an innocent man. It made me think about Roger and if he’s one of the victims. Should I ask or would that bruise his ego? Would Kyle know about it? The way Kyle yelled at him for almost running me over…he probably has no clue.

  “All done.” Fonso sits next to me.

  “And?”

  “I got the job. They will work around my bookstore hours on the weekend, so I can keep that, too.” A prideful smile lights up his face.

  “Congrats!” I hug him. “How could anyone not want to hire a catch like you?”

  I see Nadya and Emilian coming toward us.

  “Told you I’d find them,” Nadya says.

  “Oh, great.” Fonso sighs. “What are you guys doing here?”

  “Ma sent us to find you.” Kayla holds her hand out and Emilian puts five dollars in it. “Emilian didn’t think you’d be here.”

  “Dude, why do you ever bet against her?” Fonso stands, backhanding his shoulder in jest.

  “I don’t know.” Emilian says. “I didn’t think you’d be at the damn mall.”

  “We go to the mall all the time, doofus.” Nadya rolls her eyes.

  “You found us. What does Ma want now? I’m not moving home again.” Fonso twists his head, beckoning me to leave with him.

  “She wants to invite you and Alice to dinner. She wants to make things right.” Nadya explains. “How can you leave her like that?”

  “This from the girl who wants to be on her own?” Fonso gives her a half-smile. “Oh, I want to be like you, Cousin Alice. I want to be on my own.” He mimics Nadya’s voice well.

  Nadya sticks her tongue out at Fonso. “That’s not me at all.”

  “Are you coming or not?” Emilian asks. “I have places to be.”

  “Like with your wolf buddies, robbing the townspeople of their hard earnings?” I ask, the words coming out in a flurry of madness before I can stop them.

  “What? No. They don’t…” Emilian begins.

  Nadya and Fonso stop and leer at him.

  “It’s not what you think.” Emilian says. “They have to.”

  “Right.” I say. “You tell Colin that I don’t want to see him again, and to keep that crazy bitch away from me.”

  “Let’s go.” Fonso says.

  “Are you coming to Ma’s?” Nadya asks.

  Fonso looks at me and I shrug. This is up to him.

  “Fine. We’ll come for a few minutes and that’s all. She has to get to work later.” Fonso says.

  “Can I ride with you, then?” Nadya asks. “ Emilian’s truck stinks.”

  “Does not!” Emilian yells. “Whatever.” He storms out of the mall in a different direction.

  I feel guilty. Emilian didn’t deserve to be snapped at over the company he keeps. I shouldn’t have been so nasty, but I was angry over Colin’s criminal and immoral actions.

  We drive to Aunt Mirela’s house, Nadya filling us in on all that’s been happening. Aunt Mirela’s been a wreck over Aunt Simza and Fonso; her clients aren’t coming in for as many readings; Nadya’s been stuck at the house with no one to talk to. Her incessant blabbering made me want to stick my head out the window. As much as I enjoy having a female cousin, she really needs to get a job, and some friends. She’s a lot like her mother, but she would hate me if I ever told her that.

  “We’re here.” Fonso announces to stop Nadya’s complaining.

  I follow Nadya inside.

  “What’s happening?” Nadya asks.

  Aunt Mirela stands next to Emilian, somberness plastered on their faces.

  She holds out her hand revealing a black stone.

  Emilian does the same. “It was in my truck.”

  Fonso walks in, the same worried look on him. “This fell out of my visor.” He holds up another black stone.

  “What do they mean?” I ask.

  “It means our time has run out.” Aunt Simza stands in the doorway, holding the same stone up. “They’re coming for us.”

  Chapter 16

  An eerie silence falls over the room. It’s the first time I’ve been around my newfound family when they have nothing to say.

  Aunt Simza enters the home and sits on the couch. It’s the closet I’ve been to her. She doesn’t look at me. She stares blankly at the corner of the room, where a plant sits on a stand.

  Nadya pulls out a table chair and plops into it, a tear forming in her eye.

  Fonso and Emilian stand side-by-side, arms crossed, as if they were two statues guarding the room.

  Aunt Mirela sits next to Aunt Simza. She pats her hand.

  “This is her fault,” Aunt Simza breaks the silence. “She brought this to us.”

  “She’s Lyuba’s daughter,” Aunt Mirela says. “She’s family. You know this.”

  “Doesn’t matter,” Aunt Simza replies. “She’s brought bad luck.”

  “I’m standing right here.” I wave. “Can someone tell me what or who is coming for us? The significance of the black stones?”

  “It means we have to leave,” Aunt Mirela explains. “That’s all it means. We have to leave. Together and tomorrow.”

  “We’ve never gotten black stones before.” Fonso throws his stone onto the coffee table. “It’s a warning from them.”

  “Them who?” I ask.

  “We’re not sure who they are.” Aunt Mirela sighs. “It’s an old superstition, nothing more. We just need to move and stick together.”

  “You’ve told us tales when we were younger, Ma. This wasn’t a joke then. You said if the stones showed up, the family disappeared. Vanished. Never to be heard from again.” Fonso paces in the tiny living room. “Now you say it’s a silly superstition.”

  “I should have left the moment I saw you.” Aunt Simza glares at me. “We would have been safe here another ten months or so had you not shown up.”

  “What is your problem with me?” I ask. “I came here looking for you because I was given a note with your name on it. Some
loving family I find. You shut the door in my damned face when I needed someone most.” I point my finger at her. Heat rises within me and thunder booms in the distance.

  “We are not the enemy.” Aunt Mirela shakes her head. “We need to stop fighting with one another and work together to solve this. We pack up and leave in the morning. That’s what we have to do.” Aunt Mirela stands. She looks around the trailer. “We can’t take it all. Pack only the necessities and we take what we can fit in Aunt Simza’s trailer, Fonso’s car, and Emilian’s truck. No furniture. Just the basics.”

  “I ain’t going with you.” Aunt Simza stands and heads toward the door. “I can’t.”

  “Simza!” Aunt Mirela grabs her shoulders, turning her around to face her. “We are family. We stick together. We need each other to survive.”

  Aunt Simza lowers her head. “I know, damn it. I know.”

  Aunt Mirela’s mouth forms a tight smile. “We will get through this. Join another carnival?”

  “Is she coming?” Aunt Simza nods in my direction.

  “Yes, she’s coming. We are all leaving together.” Aunt Mirela looks around the room at each one of us. “Pack all you can, meet here in the morning at six. We head north.”

  An aching uneasiness forms in the pit of my stomach.

  Aunt Simza nods and leaves.

  “See, we will be fine. Aunt Simza is coming with us. We will get through this.” Aunt Mirela brushes her skirt, smoothing out the few wrinkles. “I need to make some calls.” She looks at me. “Cancel appointments and such. Fonso, help your cousin pack. You both are welcomed to come back tonight and stay here, if you want.”

  “We’ll be fine. See you in the morning.” Fonso motions me to follow.

  “Bye.” I glance at Emilian. He continues to stare at the floor, a distance building in his eyes.

  “Are you okay?” Fonso asks, as we get into the car.

  “I’m still processing.”

  “This is not how I expected my day to go. To think I just got a fucking job.” Fonso bangs on the steering wheel a few times. “I hate moving. I hate starting over. I’m getting sick of this.”

  “Did those stones really scare you?”

  “When I was younger, Ma told me the stones were a bad omen. It meant death was coming and the only way to escape death was to move. If you didn’t keep moving, it would catch up to you and take you. Then she’d tell me scary stories about people disappearing and all that other nonsense.”

  “You didn’t believe her?”

  “It’s not that. It’s that she was always so serious when she told her stories. She believed them.”

  “Are you happy Aunt Simza is going?”

  “I hope she does. Hopefully, whatever feud they had, this will end it. Maybe this is a blessing in disguise…a change that will bring us all back together again.” His lips curve downward.

  “Is that what you want?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “I forgot I have to work tonight.” I stare out the window.

  “Why bother? You’ll just be leaving tomorrow.”

  “Might as well go. It’s not like I have much to pack, plus we can always use the money.” I’m filled with an overwhelming dread. I was sent to this place to find Aunt Simza, but I’m still nowhere closer to discovering the whereabouts of Dad. Now, I’m running again from another potential threat.

  “I’ll take you to work and pick you up, if you’d like.” Fonso parks in front of the cabin.

  “Thanks, but I’ll be okay. I’ll take the bus. I want to clear my head before my shift.”

  A slow drizzle starts.

  “Okay, but if it keeps raining, I’ll take you if you want.”

  “Thank you.”

  Fonso goes inside. I sit on the porch and watch the slow fall of raindrops. I think of Dad and the water thickens. Some darker clouds move in. Colin pops into my head and thunder rolls. I stand. Pointing my hands toward the clouds, I send as much anger and negative thoughts as I can fathom. The woman who tried to grab me in New Orleans pops into my head. A bolt of lightning dashes between gray masses in the sky. I do it again, thinking of Kayla attacking me, the rage, resentment, and jealousy I felt. I wave my hand across the other direction and a bright white flash mimics me in the darkness.

  Changing tactics, I remember the stargazing and the beauty of the planets through the telescope. I wipe the dirty clouds away, clearing the way for a brighter afternoon. The rain stops.

  Deena comes out of the campground office. She waves when she sees me. I wave back.

  Although emotions aren’t always easy to control, at this moment, I discover thoughts carry more consistency. It’s the simple remembrance of actions that allows me to change the weather in an instant.

  “Hey.” Fonso sticks his head out of the door. “Are you coming in?”

  “Yeah. It’s time to go to work, anyway.”

  “Say hello to Mr. Dreamy, and give him a kiss goodbye while you’re at it.” Fonso blows a kiss into the air.

  “Yeah, I’m sure that’ll happen.” I give him a lopsided grin. “See you later.” I grab my bag and head to the bus stop.

  The bus driver smiles at me as I climb the steps. “I haven’t picked anyone up here in a long time.”

  My thoughts are jumbled on the ride to town. Events replay in my mind and I practice controlling my emotions to downplay them so the weather doesn’t act up.

  The bus stops at the place I first talked to Colin. I thank the driver and exit. Walking through town, I remember this morning and how Colin avoided looking at me. Was it possible he was ashamed of what he was doing? How can he be so awful to other people and be so good to me? He fixed a picnic lunch for me, for heaven’s sake.

  A gray cloud rolls in and I push it away, thinking about the bird pooping on Colin’s head at the beach. That was unforgettable.

  The diner’s quiet as I enter.

  “Hey stranger.” Roger smiles at me.

  “Hey.”

  “We’ve sure missed you the last two days.” Roger nudges Abby. “Didn’t we, hun?”

  “Oh, yeah. It was pure hell here without you.” Abby kicks Roger in the shin.

  I laugh.

  “Well, see you all later.” Roger grabs Abby’s hand and they leave. Outside, I see Roger bend down on the sidewalk and kiss Abby, and she smiles. It’s the first time I’ve seen her smile.

  “Hey.” Kyle touches my shoulder and kisses me on the cheek. “How are you?”

  “Good, and you?” I grab my pad. “Did you have a good day off?”

  “It was uneventful.” He shrugs. “What about you?”

  “The same.” I can’t tell him I’m leaving. It dawns on me I don’t want to leave. I only arrived days ago and I was just getting settled.

  Kyle opens his mouth to say something, but the door dings as a couple of customers walk in. He rolls his eyes and goes to the kitchen.

  Hours pass and the sprint of dinner customers dies down. It’s only Kyle and me in the restaurant as I finish clearing and cleaning the last few tables. I pass the last of the dirty dishes through the window.

  “Have you ever seen someone juggle kitchen utensils?” Kyle says as he grabs a spatula, a large spoon, and tongs, and attempts to juggle.

  It ends horribly, but makes me laugh. “You’ve never tried out for the circus? Perhaps a clown school will take you.”

  “Hey, I think I’d look good in a bushy wig and red nose.” Kyle crosses his eyes.

  My smile doesn’t leave for the rest of the night.

  Roger walks in at eleven with one lagging customer at a table.

  “I’ll close up and finish the last table, Alice. You two have a good night.”

  Kyle rushes out of the kitchen and heads for the door. Beating me to it, he holds it open for me. “Good night Roger.”

  “Good night Roger,” I mimic in a deep voice.

  “Good night you two. See you tomorrow.” Roger chuckles.

  It hits me I may not be here tomorr
ow and I’d be leaving him without coverage.

  “What’s wrong?” Kyle asks. “Smiling one minute and frowning another?”

  “It’s nothing.” I fake a smile.

  “Need a ride home?”

  “Yes, please.” I climb into his Jeep, thinking about the gun in the glove box. Is it still there?

  “I was wondering if you’d like to go stargazing again tomorrow night? Supposed to be good weather.” Kyle turns down my street.

  “I, umm…” I hesitate.

  “You don’t want to?” The disappointment in his voice breaks me.

  “I’d love to. I was trying to think if I promised anything to Fonso or not.” I lie.

  “Great. Can’t wait.” He beams.

  Kyle drops me off in front of the cabin. He doesn’t attempt to kiss me. I’m a bit relieved, yet disappointed.

  “How did your night go?” Fonso asks. His pile of clothes is neatly stacked in a bag next to the couch. “I packed up your stuff, too. I left you out an outfit for tomorrow. I didn’t have much else to do tonight.”

  It’s time to tempt fate. I make a crucial decision, one Fonso may not like. “You can run with your family, but I’m not going. I’m tired of running.” I sit on the couch, placing my legs up on the coffee table. “I’m staying right here and facing whatever it is that is coming for us…for me.”

  Chapter 17

  “Are you sure you want to do this?” Fonso asks. “You’d be willing to stay on your own while we all pack up and leave?”

  “You said the stones were a warning, right?”

  “Yes.” His expression hardens. “They want us gone.”

  “Why warn us then? Why not come and fight us and kill us if they are able to?”

  “They have in the past. They took your dad, didn’t they?”

  “Yeah, and if they want to take me, too, then let them try.” I cross my arms and rest my head back on the couch. “It won’t be easy for them. I won’t make it easy.”

  “You’re either the bravest or stupidest Rom of all time.” Fonso exhales.

  “Stupidest? Is that even a word?” I laugh.

  He shrugs. “Now, how are we not going to make this easy on ‘them’?”

  “We?” I ask.

  “I’m not allowing you to stay by yourself to face whatever demons come. I can be as stubborn as you, too.” He smiles. “Besides, I’ve been practicing.”