by Anya Breton
The rockier road turned into a dirt road. I realized we’d been moving in a slight incline for at least a mile. The tree cover was thicker here than back before we’d turned. No doubt we were getting close. My unease grew at an exponential rate.
Alex seemed to sense it. He switched hands on the steering wheel so that he could grasp mine. The reassuring squeeze of his fingers over mine helped a tiny bit.
“It will be fine,” he glanced at me and gave me his best smile. “I promise. Just give them a chance.”
“I’m more worried that they won’t give me one,” I quietly admitted my fear.
“They will. They know how important it is to me.”
I didn’t know how to respond to that. I wasn’t even sure what it meant.
Alex slowed his car and then took a left onto a narrow drive. I remembered enough to know we were almost there. I clenched my fingers without realizing it. He clenched back.
“Tomorrow you’ll wonder why you’d been so worried,” he assured me. Then his lips lifted into a grin. “And you’ll beg me to bring you back.”
Because I had to ruin everything, I snarked, “Tomorrow I’ll be stocking shelves and folding t-shirts while my boss angers the few customers we have. The only thing I’ll be begging for is a fifteen minute break so I can eat dinner.”
The grin faded but Alex said nothing. I stared out the window of his car at the steadily approaching lights on the front porch and wondered why I’d had to ruin the moment. Then I remembered why. It was impossible not to recall that those very lights had been the spotlights on a supernatural transformation I’d never forget.
Briefly I considered how insane I was. Was I actually coming back here? They’d kidnapped me and had definitely seemed like they were going to kill me. Now I was dating their son?
The front of the house was immaculate with timber accents, spiral evergreens, colorful mums and holly. Best of all, the big black van was missing. He drove his Chevy around the side of the house to his parking spot in the large garage that sat partially behind the house. It was then that I saw he’d lied. They did live in one of the pricey mansions on the lake complete with a private dock and motorboat.
Alex came around to help me out while Peter struggled to get out in the small space with his camera. He gestured to the house and spoke for the cameraman’s benefit. “The whole place is wired up so you can go ahead and take off.”
“But sometimes they go haywire…”
“I’m sure it will be fine tonight,” Alex told him with a slight edge to his voice.
“Oh, okay,” Peter lowered the camera dutifully and “took off” as suggested.
I stared after him as if my last remaining ally had left. When I turned back to see why we hadn’t moved yet I found Alex staring at me quietly. His steel blue eyes darted between mine like he was looking for a sign.
He must have gotten it for he took a step forward in an already cramped space. With deliberate care he lifted his hands to my face to push the hair beside my cheeks away before he took hold of them. The feather touch against my hair drew a shiver from me. Eyes locked, I didn’t dare to breathe. Up close, even in the dimming light, Alex had never looked better.
The steel blue of his eyes sparkled like a thousand lights lit them from within and in that moment I believed that perhaps those lights were lit for me. My gaze lowered to the mouth that was just then the most remarkable part about him. I saw the intent seconds before he acted. His lips parted slightly. He took a single breath.
My eyelids slid shut as those lips glided forward to meet mine. I sighed into him, exhaling the breath I’d been holding through my nose. We could have been anywhere then. It didn’t matter. I only wanted him to kiss me like that until the universe crashed down around us.
“I’m coming out!” A girlish voice broke into the lovely moment we’d been sharing.
Alex groaned against my lips then pulled back. “Abby,” he said as if I’d know the name. “She’s been dying to meet you. I guess we kept her waiting too long.”
One hand dropped while the other slid down to grasp mine. We emerged from the dark garage to find a girl who looked to be about thirteen waiting on the deck.
She had lovely long platinum blonde hair and startling blue eyes that fixed on me as she gave an impatient tap of her purple Keds. While I searched her face for signs of familial resemblance, she scanned mine every bit as critically. A moment later she bounded off the stairs, raced to us, snatched my hand away from Alex and then tugged me after her.
“He’s going too slow,” she complained. “And I need a partner for Wii bowling. No one else will play with me.”
“That’s because you always beat us,” Alex chuckled from behind us.
The girl shot a look over her shoulder at him. “It isn’t my fault you all suck and are such sore losers.”
“You might want to introduce yourself, Abs,” he chided.
“Ugh, I hate when you call me that.” She yanked me up the stairs but paused long enough at the top to greet me. “I’m Abby, his only sister and way cooler than him.”
I glanced back to a very amused Alex. “Way cooler? Really?”
“Yup,” she assured me with a triumphant nod of her head.
“Well, dang,” I feigned dismay. “Too bad I’m not a boy.”
“I know. It sucks, right?”
“Yeah, I mean, he’s the coolest person I know. So that must mean you’re ‘the awesome’.”
Without batting an eyelash, the girl answered, “I am.” A moment later she burst into laughter. “‘The awesome’? I like that. Can I use it?”
“Knock yourself out,” I drawled.
As quickly as she’d burst, the mirth was gone and she was back to business. “Okay. Wii bowling. Let’s go.” Abby tugged me through the standing door. “It’s going to take forever for you to make a Mii so we better hurry if we want to get in a game before dinner.”
As far as I was concerned she was speaking a foreign language. But I had caught the part about dinner. I hadn’t realized I’d be staying that long. Could I eat dinner with the people who had kidnapped me?
We passed through the room with the fireplace and furniture, through the empty stone room that I recalled vividly and into a third room that was as large as all the others but had far more in it. It was warmly lit with broad windows all around, had thick beige carpet, many cushioned seats and a massive television that was displaying an odd picture of a Weeble with platinum blonde hair and blue eyes.
I realized we hadn’t come across any other family members yet. If I could go the whole night with only seeing Alex and his little sister, I would count it as a resounding success.
Abby shoved two white plastic things into my hands, pointed to the large sectional sofa behind us and then to the screen. “Okay. Make a Mii.”
“A what?” I asked stupidly while looking at the things in my hands with a perplexed expression.
Alex stepped next to me and sat on my right side. “I don’t think Aeon has used a Wii before, Abs. We’re gonna have to help her out.”
“Okay. You help her. I’m going to get us juice.”
The girl ran out of the room with energy I didn’t think I ever had even after chocolate and a can of soda.
“We better get this Mii made or she’s gonna flip,” he chuckled.
Several minutes passed as Alex attempted to explain the theory behind the game console, the creature we were “making” and what I was about to be subjected to. I was starting to think I should have had some advance warning about this portion of the evening and maybe some practice. I didn’t need a game’s help to make me look stupid.
Abby returned with three kinds of juice, a package of short bread cookies, two apples and a banana. Once she picked up her own set of white thingies and changed the picture on the screen she turned to me and said, “You’ve been bowling, right?”
“Yeah.”
I had been. It was one of the few things we had for entertainment in Junction Hill
.
“This is like that but without the heavy ball.” She demonstrated with her platinum blonde character.
Then it was my turn to emulate her movements with the brown haired character that Alex had made for me. Twenty minutes and a game later I was actually getting into it. During the second game Alex joined in with his black haired Mii. While I wasn’t as good as Abby, I beat Alex’s score by two strikes.
He leaned over as Abby carefully lined up a shot. “We’ll have to try bowling for real sometime and see if you can still beat me, mute girl.”
“You’re on, le chat.”
Abby’s head turned toward us as she’d begun to move. Her ball went into the gutter but she didn’t seem to notice as she stared at us in shock. “Does she know?”
Alex’s throat worked to swallow intentionally. He glanced at the cameras on the walls then back to his sister. “Yes.”
The girl’s eyes switched to me. I could tell she wanted badly to say something but was keeping quiet because of the remote audience. I wondered what else the family had neglected to tell her.
It proved too much for her. Abby closed the distance so that she could whisper to her brother. “Is she…like us?”
“Not exactly,” he quietly replied.
She pressed further. “Mutt or teddy?”
“Neither,” he said. “It’s not like that.”
They were speaking in yet another language I didn’t understand.
Alex leaned forward to speak directly into her ear.
“What?” Abby exclaimed in a loud enough volume that I jumped a little. “Seriously? That’s freakin’ cool!”
“Mom would swat you for that,” he gently chided.
The girl eyed me with slight suspicion. I attempted to smile at her but I was as nervous as she was. No doubt I grimaced instead. How could this adorable platinum blond girl transform into a black panther? It didn’t seem possible.
With a sudden jerk she turned toward the television. “Dangit! Gutter ball. I want a rematch.”
“You’re going to win anyway, Abs.”
“But there’s no chance I’ll beat my old score now,” she said in dismay.
A gravelly male voice interrupted from behind us. “You’d need to be hopped up on Redbull and Pixie Sticks again to beat your old score.”
Abby turned to stick her tongue out and give a cheeky answer. “Got any, gramps?”
The new addition chuckled as he came around the sofa closest to Alex and winked a thick black brow me. “I’m still paying for the last time I gave you that cocktail.”
“Play with us,” she demanded and tossed him another set of white plastic contraptions.
He settled down into the cushions. “I’m content to watch, munchkin.”
“Ugh,” she grumbled with an overly dramatic roll of her eyes.
“Aren’t you going to introduce me to your lovely friend?”
“It’s Alex’s girlfriend,” Abby informed him with a shake of her head and hips to emphasize her mocking tone.
I blushed and dropped my eyes. Technically I had met most of the family but the cameras didn’t know that so we had to go through the introductions all over again. I also hadn’t met them as Alex’s “girlfriend”.
“Thank you, Abs,” Alex drawled sarcastically. “Allow me to introduce the lovely Miss Aeon Still. And yes, I have asked if it would be all right for me to refer to her as my girlfriend and she’s accepted.”
My cheeks reddened further. I forced myself to look up.
Alex gestured beside us. “This is my wizened grandfather Mr. Arnold Chattan.”
In an unsteady voice I greeted him. “How do you do, sir?”
Arnold burst into laughter. “You two are priceless. I haven’t heard such a fine introduction since the fifties.”
The laughter made me a little less uneasy but I was more embarrassed now.
“No need for ‘sir’ or ‘Mr. Arnold Chattan’. Arnie works just fine.”
Abby poked her brother in the stomach with the plastic paddle. “It’s your turn, Alex.”
“Oh, right.” He lined up his shot then made the gesture to send the bowling ball down the alley. It knocked down all of three pins.
When it was my turn I did little better. I blamed the poor performance on stage fright now that we had an audience. By the time the game had finished, Abby had convinced her grandfather that it was integral to her happiness that he join in. We were halfway through the third game when the next family member arrived.
“Oh, no,” a female voice spoke from the doorway behind. “She managed to con you all into playing?”
“Con?” Abby exclaimed in mock distress with a hand to her chest. “There is no conning involved in fun.”
I glanced back and saw the beautiful woman with long-black hair standing within the entrance to the room.
“Hello.” Her smile tonight made her look prettier than the frown of the last time we’d met. Her finger stretched out toward the kids. “I’m Anna and I’m responsible for those two.”
Bravely I replied, “Then I guess I should thank you because they’re both wonderful.”
Arnie butted in, “I am, thank you. ‘bout time someone recognized my worth.”
Anna crossed the room to rest against the back of the sofa and swat him on the head. “I was talking about my children.”
“This is Aeon Still,” Alex spoke up to stop an extended argument. “And this is my mother.”
We spoke at the same time. “Nice to meet you.”
Anna glanced at her son before relaying some information I hadn’t expected. “Alex hasn’t stopped yapping about you since…well, since he started school.” She paused for a moment to cast him a brief glance. “We knew something was up the moment he mentioned any girl.”
“I don’t yap,” he defended himself petulantly. “You asked me about my day and I told you.”
She pushed off the sofa with a small chuckle. “I’m going to go start dinner so it’s ready when the men get home. You have an hour left to play, Abby. Then you need to set the table.”
“Fine,” the girl grumbled. As soon as Anna had left, Abby was gesturing wildly at the television for her grandfather to play his turn.
I felt a hand on mine. Alex looked adorable with an expectant smile. He squeezed my hand then stood reluctantly when his sister exclaimed that it was his turn.
So far I’d met three of the eight Chattan clan members. One of those three had been one I’d had concerns about. But Anna had seemingly thawed since I’d seen her last. Had she changed her opinion on how they should have handled my situation?
The hour went quickly as we changed games to tennis. Abby still beat us but Alex excelled at it more than bowling. In the end Arnie and I were tied for being the worst players.
Abby was called away to set the table, effectively ending our time with the games. Her grandfather followed her out. It gave me a few moments alone with Alex.
He grabbed my hands in his, leveling a grin at me. “See? Not so bad.”
“Three out of eight, we’re not even halfway through,” I reminded him in a whisper.
“There’s only two more who matter.”
“You said family was important…”
“They are,” he agreed. Then his lips formed a slight frown. “But some are more important than others.”
“Okay.”
He glanced behind us. “I’d kiss you for being such a good sport but then someone would walk in.”
“I’d be too embarrassed to enjoy it.”
“Then I’ll just have to count the times I want to and make them up later,” he paused, looking to the ceiling like he was counting. “Wait, that could take a while.”
My laugh was little more than a breath. “Should we go help?”
His head shook quickly. “Nah, she’d gripe at us for being in the way. Besides, you’re the guest. Guests aren’t supposed to help.”
Several male voices echoed in the corridor. There were so many speaking over on
e another than I couldn’t make out how many distinct sounds there were. My back stiffened. Alex’s hand squeezed mine tighter.
“Alex,” the leader’s voice called from outside the room. “She made it through Wii bowling with your sister?”
“Yup,” Alex called back.
I heard the footsteps behind. A moment later the intimidating figure of Alex’s father appeared in front of us.
“She’s just as lovely as you said,” he smiled, stepped forward and held a hand out to me.
Reluctantly I took it while trying to school my features into something a little calmer than terror. I recalled him roaring at me, threatening me and generally being menacing. But I also recalled his polite behavior after.
“Arthur Chattan,” the older man nodded toward Alex, “he gets his finer qualities from me.”
I managed a smile. “Aeon Still.”
“Lovely name to match a lovely girl,” he held out his arm to me. “Won’t you allow me to escort you to dinner?”
A glance at Alex showed that I was supposed to let him. I stood, took his arm and followed him out of the giant room with the television into another portion of the house we had yet to visit. Alex followed us after shutting the television off.
I hoped I could handle whatever happened next.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
“Are you sure you’re not a witch?” Arthur questioned quietly on our way to the dining room. Before I could swallow my fear enough to answer he spoke again, “Because you have bewitched my son.”
My cheeks flushed pure crimson.
Alex burst into laughter behind us. “And you said my goddess thing was cheesy.”
“It was,” I assured him with a glance cast over my shoulder at him. “But now I know where you get it from.”
Arthur patted my arm. “Finer qualities, m’dear, finer qualities.”
We passed a staircase made of sturdy timber that matched the accents on the front of the house. The second floor was open on one side so that light streamed down from skylights on the cathedral ceiling and a bank of doors was barely visible on the other. Rustling from the second floor meant that some of the family had yet to come down to dinner.
