Cyrosphere: Hidden Lives

by Deandre Dean

  Ginger responds, “Don’t worry. You both are old”.

  Thein nudes her as they go inside. During dinner Ginger tells them about Malcolm’s offer to house sit for two weeks at the start of summer. It was only two days at the end of the year right before her 16th birthday. Her dad agreed but it looked like her mom was preparing for an argument.

  Ginger asks, “What is it mom”?

  Sonia answers, “Nothing”.

  Ginger responds, “Are you sure? Something against Mr. Silverdale or a reason why I shouldn’t take him up on his offer”?

  Thein cuts her off. Her mom could have been a public defender at the rate she loved to argue.

  Thein answers, “Not at all. We trust you and this is more independence for you. Being responsible in a real world environment”.

  Luckily Ginger was prepared for her mom and any argument she’d prepared but she didn’t say a word as she stood. This wasn’t characteristically like her but Ginger went with it without a second thought before she changed her mind.

  Ginger answers, “Thanks guys. I am going to go tell my friends”.

  Thein replies, “Go ahead. Don’t help with the dishes or anything”.

  Ginger stops on her way to the hall and turn to her father laughing. So that was his game tonight humor. She went upstairs to finish her homework. Get ahead and read the next chapter in Chemistry when she heard a rock thrown at her window. She looked up to see that Frost was on his roof with a walkie talkie. She got hers’, turned it on and laughed because he was a big star gazer.

  Ginger speaks, “What’s up loser”?

  Frost answers, “Just spending time watching Cirrus and talking to you”.

  She laughs and never ceased to be amazed that her bestfriend is so adventurous but only if others weren’t around.

  Ginger tells him, “My parents said yes. I got a summer job”.

  Frost asks, “Really? I am surprised your mom didn’t raise hell. For a ex Catholic and a devote Buddhist she is hardcore”.

  Ginger nods her head.

  Ginger answers, “Who you telling? She was a bit off tonight but perhaps old age is softening her resolve”.

  Frost laughs and says, “One can only hope in your case”.

  Ginger asks, “You ready for summer”?

  Frost replies, “You know it. See you tomorrow”.

  Ginger answers, “Night. Don’t stay up to late”.

  The next day flew by so summer was a day away and her part-time job of house sitting would soon start. Today before school Malcolm wanted her to drop by so he could do a final walk through before he left even though they had already done a few. Luckily when she went down to eat her cereal she was shocked that Frost wasn’t her waiting for her but figured he would meet her at school like they had discussed last night. She could not understand why he would talk about someone rather than get facts from the source. He’d preferred to listen to gossip.

  Chapter 5:

  She grabbed her bag headed out as she read the note her mom was working late at the pharmacy so she and dad were on there on. She saw her dad’s SUV in the driveway from the window before leaving.

  Ginger yelled, “Be back later”.

  No reply as she walked out the house and headed down the street. Malcolm was a very detailed person so the list he was leaving was very specific and it would take five minutes to quickly go over everything again. She learned the day before the time aspect of this list doing a walk through. She was completely thrown off track by his warm personality. Malcolm gave a detailed tour and handed her a sheet of written instructions. Not at all what she expected but life was all about taking obstacles as they presented themselves.

  School breezed by and before Ginger knew it was the weekend. School was over and just a couple of days into her 16th birthday. Now she has a place to herself to relax and lounge around in. She planned to spend a few hours by the pool with her favorite authors and possibly starting her own book. She always loved to write but desired to help others by giving back as a teacher. Ginger was still unsure about her career options but 15 was still young to have a definite plan. She couldn’t imagine doing anything else with her life but writing was a passion she suppressed. Now was the time to let her creative aspirations loose. She couldn’t talk Frost into coming over and Ginger couldn’t hide her uneasiness about Monica’s presence.

  Tolerating Monica at school was mandatory but outside of school was a totally different protocol so choosing Hannah the obvious choice.

  Ginger smiled to herself as she texted her. The reply came soon and her friend was always there when Ginger needed her. Hannah’s thoughts were difficult to read and she could only picked up on positive emotions. She was definitely a mystery that one day Ginger planned to solve.

  Her last day of 15 Ginger wanted to spend with her bestfriends but Frost wasn’t budgeting and Monica wouldn’t be her first choice for the sleep over. Two days of simple reading, sitting by the pool and having a good time flew by. Thein and Sonia had no problem with her spending her summer house sitting considering she was on the Honor roll. Monica’s drive pushed her to excel further than she originally would have. Getting a simple B or A instead of spending a little more time on assignments to nail all the details. Monica wasn’t the most socialable friend but was her academic equal. Frost was her oldest friend no matter what.

  The day before her birthday Ginger pampered herself with getting her hair and nail done with her mom. That afternoon Ginger has lunch with both her parents before trading mom time for quality father daughter bonding. A movie and walk in the park with her father was spectualar. That evening with Hannah made Ginger happy that he gave her no restrictions so a sleepover wasn’t unprecedented. They hung out in the guest room which had enough room to fit another two teenage girls. That night while watching some sappy chick flick and chowing down on ice cream Hannah got bored.

  Hannah asked, “I am going to take a look around. Explore and see every inch of the house since it is only 8:48 pm”.

  Ginger replied, “Why not”?

  Ginger thought to herself what is a little search and find going to hurt. She decided she would stay up late to write once Hannah fell asleep. Lately she had been feeling pushed to write since she said everything she thought needed to be expressed how she felt. They started off looking in the kitchen and dining room which didn’t interest Hannah as she walked from room to room in search of what Ginger couldn’t say. Trailing behind her Ginger had to wonder what she was looking for or expected to find in his house.

  Ginger asked, “What do you expect to find”?

  Hannah replied, “Who knows. Let’s keep looking. We are bound to find something interesting”.

  Of course as a reasonable friend Ginger went along with Hannah. It was pointless searching the house she found nothing like Ginger expected.

  Hannah said, “How about the three car garage”?

  Ginger shrugs and replies, “Sure. Whatever like we found something in these other rooms”.

  Chapter 6:

  Ginger had seen Malcolm walking with his groceries but never has she seen a car come or go near his house.

  Ginger responded, “That was peculiar that Malcolm never went inside the garage”.

  The suggestion brought excitement to Hannah as she grabbed the key that opened every lock in the house. The search continued inside the garage.

  Hannah spoke, “Last place. I promise”.

  Ginger sighed and followed her. Inside the garage was like a second library except these weren’t common books. By the looks at the titles Ginger knew immediately each text was for witchcraft. She was a demon but everybody commonly knew what a spell book would be standard for witches since Malcolm was a well-known witch it made sense that he’d have witch books.

  Hannah said, “See I found something like I said”.

  Ginger replied, “Yea, books, big shocking secret”.

  Hannah was looking at the books on his work table and saw they were all about vampires and prop
hecies. The one she saw urged Ginger to look closer but afraid the magic would affect her so no touching.

  Hannah asked, “You scared”?

  Ginger ignored Hannah and replied, “Of course not”.

  Ginger thought that was ridiculous and decided since being dragged along might as well be brave so she picked up the book. Nothing happened and flipping through pages and saw where Malcolm had left a book tag. The pages were rustic almost so yellowing that it was hard to comprehend. The dialogue wasn’t English but some form of Celtic. The only reason she knew that was because a project she worked on in the fall for her history class.

  Hannah asked, “What you got”.

  Ginger respond, “Not sure”.

  Hannah had been glancing over her shoulder but got bored and kept looking. She picked up a notebook translating the text. The translation was titled the savior which Ginger had to read. It sounded interesting and she closed the book in her hands and tried to place it back as neatly as she found it. The notebook was a quick paragraph.

  Ginger asked, “What does it say”?

  Hannah replied, “Let me read”.

  It clearly wasn’t done being translated when Malcolm left so far he had a girl with indigo abilities and witch descent would end all evil. Evil or darkness will have many forms in which case she must face them and will destroy all that stand in her way. She will bring light into a world that has doubt, her faith will inspire millions.

  Hannah spoke, “Serious much. Let’s go back inside this has all been interested but I am cold”.

  Ginger replied, “Ok. Yeah I am cold too all of a sudden”.

  Ginger followed Hannah back inside after locking up the garage but the words she just read kept replaying in her mind.

  Chapter 7:

  Ginger didn’t believe partly because she was an indigo and if true why hadn’t others tried to kill or find this savior. The last line was only a witch can and it ended there.

  She thought, “Can what”?

  Ginger sighed and said to noone, “Glad I am a demon”.

  No concern of Ginger’s seeing how she wasn’t a witch and not this indigo that is suppose to be the savior. Back in the guest room Hannah put on the movie. Malcolm’s interest in her suddenly was strange so she could only guess at what all this meant. Hannah laughed at something they had been watching which snapped Ginger out of the thousands of thoughts running through her head.

  Hannah squeezed her shoulder before saying, “This couldn’t be you because there was Stacey Darkholme”.

  Ginger asked, “Who is Stacey Darkholme?”

  Hannah replied as she put the movie back on pause, “I am thirsty”.

  Ginger followed her to the kitchen grabbing a Pepsi, “Stacey Darkholme is an Indigo like you but a year older and born a witch so she must be the savior”.

  There were two distinctive differences between the two but Ginger suspected that whoever is out there would want them hurt equally as bad. Stacey has had death threats, been attacked and thankfully her dad works with an elite organization to protect her as best as possible. Hannah and Frost knew so much whereas Ginger was left behind in the dark. As Ginger watched Hannah finishing putting ice in a cup and drinking her soda. She had to wonder how Stacey was handling all this as they when back to the movie.

  Ginger asked, “Were there others who were possibly being targeted and who were protecting them from these fanatics”?

  Hannah explained, “COPS is the organization that Stacey’s dad works for. COPS stands for Creatures Over Power Stopped which is the supernatural branch of the FBI and police force so I’ve heard”.

  That seemed like a good thing but Ginger had her doubts considering Stacey was being targeted constantly. Before Ginger could go on Hannah put the movie back on and time seemed to fly by easing her concern. Ginger was calm when Hannah came back from the kitchen with a birthday hot chocolate to keep her up while she crashed. She hugged her taking the cup as Ginger went to the study to write some allowing Hannah to get some rest.

  Hannah might have been tired but Ginger had too much on her mind to sleep and she would get answers once she got home.

  Ginger said to herself as she closed the door, “I know the truth”.

  She thought about all her concerns and let the page fill itself up. Hours flew by so she needed to get some sleep. Laying down on the sofa and her eyes became so heavy they closed and she descended into sleep.

  After three lousy unsettling hours of sleep Ginger got up. She stretched a bit before heading downstairs. The guess room had looked used when she went to bed. Hannah had cleaned up fixed the room she had slept in and made blueberry pancakes which were Ginger’s favorites. She left a note too before leaving; it was strange the way her friend acted. The place was clean, no spotless was the correct word. Leaving only the gardening needs for her to attend which made turned 16 exhilarating.

  Ginger thought, garden now and head back home to see what her parents has planeed. Hannah lived with an aunt but Ginger had never met her.She had never invited Ginger over and that made her think maybe Hannah was hiding something. In the fall Ginger would be a junior, high school seemed to take so much of her time. The next couple of semesters after school Ginger plans to take a few college classes at the local university like she did last year. To get a head start on school she discussed this with her parents who were always supporting her decisions.

  Chapter 8:

  At times it felt as if she were an adult making her own decisions and being independent. Luckily she hadn’t made any mistakes and that allowed her to be responsible. Leaving Malcolm’s house Ginger felt as if her protection was gone. Someone was watching her of this she was certain. There was an uneasiness building on her way down the street. Going next door to Frost’s house first Ginger knocked on the door. Frost’s mom let her in where inside he and his dad was playing chess. Frost was a champion at chess. An excellent opponent that Ginger matched win for win when they played. Frost is a brilliant strategist and Ginger was very detailed oriented so they each tried to best the other.

  Unfortunately for John Stovall his son beat him badly but never gloated. Frost won with integrity always approaching the challenge regardless if John stood a chance or not. It seemed strange that John and Janice couldn’t beat their own son at a simple game. Sometimes Frost joked he couldn’t be related to them the way they acted at times.

  Frost excitedly asked Ginger, “You wannt play”?

  That was nonsense Ginger thought as his question disturbed her thoughts.

  Ginger asked, “No thanks an if you’ll coming over for dinner”?

  Jancie said, “Of course. We wouldn’t miss it”.

  Frost replied, “Be over in a few hours”.

  They were all excited when Ginger left to go home to see if either of her parents were there. Inside was a freshly made cake, a little party set up and from the looks a few birthday presents on the counter. She couldn’t help but smile it was always great to come home. The only bad thing was the conversation she needed to have with her parents. They would tell her the truth if she asked. Her parents were amazing that way and she was about to grab a bottle of water when her hand touched the counter and she had a vision.

  Ginger said out loud, “Oh boy”.

  Psychometry is the ability, to see and feel what occurred at will. For Ginger it is like watching a movie, a clear picture of events in the past. The future was sketchy like some things would happen while others may not. The vision was an attack on Monica at the school’s science lab at 11:16 am. She glanced at the clock, it was 11:02 and she had no time to think.

  Ginger thought, “ I gotta help Monica”.

  She grabbed her jacket off the chair, dashed upstairs to get a weapon. Her mom had a wide collection; no one would dare go up against her. Her mom maybe a devout Buddhist but believed in protecting herself and those she loved. Ginger grabbed a baton which seemed practical in this instances.

  She said, “I hope I get there in time”.


  Ginger thought, “I hope this weapon would help since she wasted six minutes picking it”.

  Chapter 9:

  Using her shadow powers she became a shadow to fly towards the school. Getting to the school was no problem as she turned to solid outside the gates and doors were all locked tight.

  Ginger replied, “Damn”.

  Monica must have keys to the school. She is now student council president and the newspaper chief. Ginger has come in early a few Saturdays to work on the paper but couldn’t understand why Monica would be here during the summer. That didn’t matter what did was helping a friend and that’s what Ginger planned to do.

  Ginger said, “Here goes nothing”.

  Ginger walked through the solid wall. She went directly to the science building. Another one of her abilities was the ability to pass through solid objects like walls or doors. She had two minutes to her vision came true when she went down the hallways hoping to find Monica.

  Ginger wondered, “Which way now”.