by Wray Ardan
“Nope,” Briz answered too abruptly.
Smiling, she gave him one of her flirty, come and get it looks. That was all it took to make him walk out. Briz knew perfectly well how one act of indiscretion could change a person’s entire life. He went into the living room to sleep on the couch.
CHAPTER 28
Briz groaned as Torus jumped onto his chest. The cat purred contentedly, kneading its sharp claws into the afghan that covered him. It took a moment for him to remember why he was sleeping on the couch. Then he groaned again. Now that it was morning, he wanted to get Ava out of the house before his family woke up.
He crept into his room and quietly repeated Ava’s name until her eyes opened.
“Mm, I knew you’d change your mind,” she said, rolling over and reaching for him.
Briz stepped back. He swore she thrived on rattling him. “No,” he whispered. “It’s time for you to leave.”
“What?” Her arms flopped back onto the bed. “The sun’s not even up.”
“Yes it is.” Briz pulled open the curtain, prompting Ava to squeeze her eyes shut. “You have to leave before everyone gets up.”
“Where am I supposed to go this early?”
“Shh! You’ll wake my parents.”
Ava opened her eyes again and focused on the clock. “It’s only six thirty. I can’t even see my mom until eight o’clock. The hospital won’t get all the paperwork done till noon.”
“I don’t know. Go wait in the donut shop.”
“I. Don’t. Eat. Donuts.” Ava glared.
“Come on, hurry up. I want to go get Jade.”
“Fine.”
Ava flipped the covers off so quickly, Briz didn’t have time to prepare himself. His hormones hijacked his body as he stared at her magenta panties and the way his ribbed tank undershirt hugged her like Saran wrap.
He had to refrain from yelling, “Help me!”
“You had your chance,” she gloated.
When did I become a saint? Grover would be all over her.
Briz sounded as breathless as if he’d just run a fifty-yard dash. “You are a real case.”
“I’m a case? And what’s your problem?” she said, as she started to remove the undershirt. “Thanks for the loan. You didn’t give me anything to sleep in before you stomped out of here last night, so I found this in your drawer.”
Turning away Briz faced the wall, suppressing his impulse to turn back around. “Just get dressed.”
“Yeah, yeah. Don’t have a tizzy-fit. I won’t be back to tempt you tonight.”
“What is it with you? Jade said your boyfriend wears a purity ring. Is it a joke, to make his parents think he’s not obsessed with sex like other teens?” Briz could feel Ava’s grin sliding over him.
When Ava was finally out the door, Briz left for Guyon Manor. He glanced in the back of his car at all the camping gear he wouldn’t be using. Guilt and uncertainty were undermining his sense of purpose as he tried to grasp all the recent events. Jade. Ava. The triplets. Bayou monsters. And a flying human-bug-fairy thing.
“There are no accidents in life, no coincidences. Everything happens for a reason.” His mom had been telling him that since he was a little kid. “So, why this? What’s the reason for it? I should be out having a good time. I could die before I even get to indulge in the sweetness of love.”
Briz laughed shakily, his voice sinking beneath the hum of the tires on the road, “Okay, my folks have made me read way too much poetry. Maybe I should have taken up Ava’s offer and gone to bed with her to remind myself I’m a normal guy.”
Once he reached the dirt road, his thoughts shifted to his main goal for the day: not being killed. He looked for the trail he’d followed Jaden on. He couldn’t see it. But he knew when he drove past it—the sores on his leg stung and his nerves felt jagged. He felt the urge to speed away.
Why am I risking my life for her? What’s so special about Jade? He’d only known her a couple of weeks. It wasn’t the promise of getting laid. He had plenty of willing girls to choose from.
“What the—”
About forty yards from the entrance to Guyon Manor something purple shot directly toward his windshield. Briz swerved the car, but it was too late. Violet bounced off the window and hit the hood with a thud.
She’s definitely real.
“Are you all right?” he asked, jumping out.
“Forgive me.” Violet sat up, still winded. “I’m having a difficult time flying.”
“Yeah, I can see that.”
Using a tree branch for a crutch, she limped slowly across the hood of his car. Briz leaned over and scooped her up as if she were a bird that had tumbled from a tree. He set her on the passenger seat.
“The Mal Rous are at the house searching for me and waiting for the workers to arrive.” She pointed to a mass of leaves hanging over the stone wall. “I was hiding in that magnolia tree when I saw you coming. I had to stop you.”
“Well, you did.” Briz hoped that Ava had remembered to call Carl.
“May I ask why you are here?” said Violet. “Were you able to find the triplets? Where is Jaden?”
The corners of Briz’s mouth turned up as Violet posed her questions. Even while stalked by the Mal Rous, she was insistently polite.
“Jaden’s with the triplets. I came to find you so I can take you to their house.” Buckling his seat belt, he made a U-turn.
“Oh, no. I cannot go with you.”
“I’m not leaving you here, Violet.” He glanced down at her, then in his mirror to see if they were being followed. “You’ll be okay. The triplets wouldn’t hurt you.”
“If you have told them about the Mal Rous, they will regard me as one of them. They will be afraid of me. They will hate me.”
“No they won’t. The triplets know you helped Jaden and me.” Briz paused. Okay, so technically I never actually told them about Violet. He continued, “Besides, you’re the only one who can help us, the only one who knows the Mal Rous. And we need to stop them. They’ve already started going after people in town.”
“But, I do not know how to stop them.”
“Any information you can give us is better than nothing. You could have the answers and not even know it.” Briz flinched as he asked, “Since Jade was bitten, aren’t all of you sort of related now?”
“We were already related. She has both Dekle and Elvina’s DNA.” Violet inhaled a deep breath, then released it. “A little more than kin, and less than kind.”
“Hamlet.” Briz looked in the mirror again.
“Since you have read it, you are aware that it is a tragedy.” Violet sighed.
“Violet, Shakespeare wrote more than tragedies. Twelfth Night, and As You Like It, were comedies.”
Violet remained silent. Briz took her lead and stopped talking, concentrating instead on finding a way to persuade her to help him. Them. Everyone.
“Okay Violet,” he said, breaking the silence as they reached the edge of town. “I get it. You don’t want to upset the triplets. Only it’s a little late for that. I’m pretty sure knowing the Mal Rous are back has already upset their world big time. They’ll be relieved knowing I found someone who can help.”
Easing his foot off the gas pedal, Briz looked down at her. “If we don’t do anything, the Mal Rous will keep hurting people. How many people would be changed, like you said the Professor was?” With a catch in his throat, he added, “Like Jade.”
Violet pressed her hand against her heart. The gesture made Briz hopeful. Tears welled up in her eyes and she quickly wiped them away. Then her lips pursed, and she stared straight ahead as if shutting him out.
Will I have to force her? Briz looked back at the road. Force her… . Is she that different from the Mal Rous? She could probably kill me in an instant, if she wanted to. Ever so slightly, he turned his head and sized her up. No, she can’t be that dangerous. He swallowed his trepidation like a foul-tasting medicine.
“Violet, don’t you get i
t? Can’t you see how important it is for you to tell us everything you know about them?”
Briz’s voice rose as he had another thought. “Oh no, they can’t procreate, can they?”
Violet didn’t answer.
Oh great. More silence. What’s that mean?
A few minutes passed before she asked, “Do the triplets live in town?”
Is this a good sign? She didn’t say yes, but she didn’t say no.
“They live on the bayou. I have to get Hubs to take us on his boat. I doubt I can find the place on my own.”
“Hubs. No. I will not be responsible for harming him more.”
“What do you mean?” So she IS dangerous. “You’re not going to hurt him, are you?”
“No. No, Briz. I would never do so. But my presence could be a reminder of what the Mal Rous did to him. Even after all of these years I can hear Datura bragging about every last detail. If Hubs were to see me—”
“Well, how about if I hide you from him? You could talk to the triplets after he goes. Would that work for you?”
They were almost at Hubs’s trailer. He had to get Violet to agree.
“Have you read all of Shakespeare’s writings?” she asked.
Was this a Southern thing, the way people implied an answer?
“Shakespeare?” Briz murmured, then raised his voice. “No. But I’ve read more than I wanted to. My mom’s an English lit professor. She makes my sisters and me read a lot of stuff most kids don’t have to. Poetry. The classics.”
“Clearly you have very good parents. Appreciate them.” Folding her hands in her lap, Violet added, “I only had Dekle. He was never a very good role model.”
“Well, you turned out pretty good, in spite of him.”
“Thank you.” Violet gazed down at her hands as she said, “He was the Mal Rous’ role model, too.”
Briz gave a nod of understanding.
Scratching his head, he questioned why it felt so normal to interact with this peculiar being, functioning in this utterly surreal reality. Were his sisters right? They’d always told him if he kept reading so many fantasy books, one day he wouldn’t be able to tell reality from fiction.
As Briz pulled into the cafe parking lot, Violet climbed into the back seat and tucked herself between some of the camping gear. He got out and walked over to Hubs’s trailer. It was eight in the morning and the heat was already visible. Moist air circled Briz’s feet, rising like smoke signals as if sending a warning to Hubs, announcing Briz’s deceitful intentions.
After one knock, the door swung open to reveal Hubs, his eyes tired and brooding.
With a pasted-on smile, Briz said, “Morning.”
“Ya’s ea-early. I ha-have to f-finish up at w-work.” The two metal steps sagged under Hubs’s weight as he stepped down. Shutting the door, he turned toward the cafe.
“Hey, Hubs …” Beads of moisture sprang out on Briz’s forehead, broadcasting his anxiety that Hubs might see Violet, or Violet might see Hubs. “Do you have a paper bag I can use?” he asked, wiping his brow.
It had occurred to Briz that Violet would be less susceptible to heatstroke if she were in a sack instead of stuffed into his nylon backpack. Briz forced another smile, thinking, oh yes, my feeble plan.
“Uh, before you go in… .” Briz gestured awkwardly at the cafe, then stuffed his sweaty hands into the pockets of his shorts.
Hubs scanned Briz from head to toe and side to side. He seemed to be forming his thoughts. Then he slowly opened the pocket-sized trailer door and went back in. Briz peeked in from the doorway.
The place was clean and tidy. A small oil painting of the triplets’ house hung on the wall above the kitchen counter; Briz assumed Hubs’s father had painted it. Beneath the curved ceiling, a bookshelf held volumes on subjects ranging from auto mechanics to traveling in Italy to how to stop stuttering. On the small dining table sat a laptop computer.
The more Briz was around this man, the more he believed that Hubs had made peace with the physical and mental wounds he’d received from the Mal Rous; perhaps even with the residents of this town. But what about Hubs’s emotional scars, the ones embedded in his psyche. Had they healed too? Was he ready to face the Mal Rous again? This trailer was his haven. Only those who had proven themselves worthy could enter.
With Violet hiding in his car, Briz was sure he was anything but worthy.
Briz drew his head back and looked down at his feet as Hubs emerged and handed him a bag. “Thanks, Hubs. I appreciate it.”
Hubs walked toward the cafe and Briz hurried back to his car, unconvinced that his laughable plan to conceal Violet would actually work.
CHAPTER 29
The smells and noises in the cafe were too much for Hubs. He hadn’t had any sleep last night, worrying about his mama and aunties, thinking about the Mal Rous. Now the early morning regulars, their chattering coffee buzz, and the music pumping through the speakers all made him want to run out the door. Stella, the head waitress who’d worked with Hubs for thirty years, took one look at him and told him to leave. She’d finish up.
He didn’t argue.
Walking through the parking lot, Hubs tried to steady his head to stop it from swaying side to side. Briz was standing by his open car door, carefully lowering something into the paper bag. Hubs came up quietly behind him and froze as his eyes locked on the creature Briz was holding.
A scream lodged in Hubs’s chest. He felt like he might choke on his own spit. Fear crashed over him. All he could do was brace himself to die. He knew Briz was talking to him, but Briz’s words sounded garbled, as if the boy were swimming in a pond of mire and deceit.
Hubs wasn’t even aware that his legs had been moving until he was in his car, speeding away. As a child he’d learned it’s better to run than be brutally attacked, whether by bayou bebettes or town bullies. The theory of fight or flight was meaningless to him. Fleeing was his only chance of survival. He wished he’d done that when he was six years old, but he’d been too scared.
Memories crept through the fragile layers of his mind as Hubs barreled down the road, memories that he’d spent his life trying to ignore. Now the scenes played over and over in his head. He was alone in the cottage. Papa had gone up to the estate to help Elvina with some chores. Afterward he was going to take Hubs to Mama’s.
Hubs was having fun playing. He’d told his papa he’d be okay, promised him he wouldn’t go outside and get bitten by some bayou varmint. Hubs thought of himself as a big kid. After all, he was in the first grade.
When the front door burst open, he thought it was his papa returning. Instead, five rougarous strutted in. Hubs had heard stories about them, but his parents had always said they weren’t real. Terrified, he saw how excited the creatures were to find him there. They said they wanted to play. As they came toward him, Hubs realized they were smaller than he was. He looked toward the kitchen, panicking, wanting to run out the back door.
One twirled in front of him, singing, “We got ya … we got ya …”
All of them circled around him, jeering and cackling, saliva splashing from their snouts as they mocked his scared expression.
In one swift motion they lunged for him.
Their tendrils and tentacles crawled over his skin. Fangs sliced through his clothes into his arms and legs. Claws swiped across his chest and throat. Horns repeatedly punctured his belly. Hubs covered his face as they went for his eyes.
Then they abruptly stopped when the one with snakelike hair screeched, “Enough!”
Pulling Hubs’s face close to its own, it squeezed a tentacle over his open mouth and laughed. Then it let his head drop to the floor, saying, “Naw. Second thought, we’ll let ya remember what it’s like to play with the Mal Rous.”
They stood over him, poking his limp body. Then they left him for dead as he lay in a puddle of his own blood and urine.
The memories made Hubs feel as if he were caught in the winter current of the Mississippi River. He drove the car fast
er, wanting to leave his past behind, knowing there wasn’t any road that could take him far enough away. Hours later, when he saw the Welcome to New Orleans sign, he turned back around.
When he finally stopped, it was at the Meadow Seniors’ Facility. This was the only place besides his mama’s where he could find a loving heart. Where he’d be safe. But even as the sight of the building helped ease his sorrow, another regret pushed its way in.
Removing the key, Hubs rested his forehead on the steering wheel, remembering the day his Uncle Cape had stuck Grand-pere in the home. His uncle’s remarks still angered him. “Stay away, Hubs. You and the triplets are an embarrassment to the family.” Cape had made it clear to Hubs, “Don’t come around, or you’ll never see a dime of your inheritance. And if you tell your grand-pere I said that, I’ll say you is a’ lying.”
The inheritance didn’t matter to Hubs. What kept him away was his uncle’s threat to stop his mama and aunties from receiving their monthly stipend.
Hubs put the key back into the ignition. He sat there, trying to talk himself into going someplace where he would be nothing more than a stranger. But he couldn’t. Right now he didn’t care what demands Cape had made on him. He needed to talk with his grand-pere, who’d always been there for Hubs growing up. He’d never cared that Hubs’s mind wasn’t as quick as other people’s.
When he entered the Meadow’s lobby, the cold pierced Hubs as if icicles were replacing his bones. Outside his grand-pere’s room, he paused with his hand on the door and shivered. It wasn’t just from the cold. He wanted to share what had been happening in the last few days with Grand-pere Sep. He longed to hear him say that everything was going to be all right.
Opening the door, he found his grand-pere lying in bed with an IV dripping in his arm, keeping him alive, preventing him from moving on to the next world. Hubs had never been any good at hiding his emotions. He couldn’t erase the sadness from his face.
“Hubs, my boy, I’ve missed you.” Grand-pere Sep sounded weak, yet his eyes were bright. “Now don’t you fret about me. I’m going to be just fine.”
