A Girl Between

by Marjorie Weismantel

  “Oh, yeah, uh, it’s really nice,” I murmured.

  She glanced at my bandaged feet before squeezing herself onto the edge of the couch right up next to me. Then, she leaned in and asked in a low voice, “What’s this I heard about rat bites, Tess?”

  I answered with a shudder, “What you heard was true. I got bit by rats in the basement of Rockledge High School. There were hundreds of them that got into the window where I was holed up in a bathroom. It’s like they were going after me, personally.”

  Tess looked at me shaking her head. “I don’t even want to know how you happened to get stuck in the basement of Rockledge High School.”

  I gave her a dark look, “Yeah, don’t ask.”

  “It’s definitely weird, mobs of rats. Was the school a real dump or something?” asked Mercy.

  “No, it was just a normal high school,” I asserted.

  “Something doesn’t seem right to me. I can’t imagine that wild rats were targeting you, but at the same time, you have to admit, you’re a trouble magnet! In fact, I feel a little nervous just sitting here with you!” Mercy joked.

  “Yeah, like you’ve been hurt!” I exclaimed. “By the way, have you heard about the packs of roving cats that have been sighted in Woodley and the surrounding towns?”

  Mercy paused for a minute before responding, “Let me get this straight. There are now packs of cats and rats roaming around the Woodley countryside. Are the cats also running around attacking people?” Beauty Queen loudly meowed while she strolled over to Mercy and rubbed up against her. Mercy absently stroked her silky fir.

  “I haven’t heard that, but all this reminds me of what Mrs. Petrov talked about. Remember she remarked that diaboles may reincarnate into rats?”

  Aunt Amy came in at that very moment carrying a tea tray. Did she hear what we were saying? She stopped for a second and frowned, “Is everything all right?”

  “Everything’s fine! Mercy was just telling me about the latest horror movie she just saw. You want to hear about it?” I knew that would stop her from bugging us. Aunt Amy flips out over horror movies.

  “I heard you say something about cats and rats. Tess, that reminds me, have you heard the cats recently?” Aunt Amy asked.

  I frowned. “Heard the cats? What’re you talking about?

  “There have been cats howling outside of the house throughout the night. It started about a week ago. At first Grandma thought that Beauty Queen was in heat, but that couldn’t be it. Beauty Queen is fixed and it’s not even that time of year. What an ungodly racket! I can’t believe you didn’t hear them last night,” she exclaimed.

  “I was dead tired when I went to bed so I probably just slept through it,” I replied. Beauty Queen, who was lying against me, suddenly nipped the finger I was scratching her with. “Ouch,” I yelled at Beauty. What’re you doing?”

  Auntie proceeded back toward the kitchen. “Anyway, girls, relax and have a cup of tea. I’ll be right back with the cookies.”

  As soon as Aunt Amy left, Mercy remarked, “That’s weird about the cats. It reminds me of the cats at the Petrov’s house. Remember how they were trying to communicate with you? Do you think these cats are trying to do the same?”

  I shrugged. “I have no idea. Whatever the reason, it’s just another strange thing going on around here.”

  Mercy leaned in and said in a quiet tone, “One reason I came over today was to figure out a time when you could come see my mom again. She has to conduct another regression session with you before things get much worse around here. She wants to take you back to the Apocalypse. We’re running out of time. It’s becoming apparent that the next ‘unfortunate incident’ will get worse.

  “Yeah, I’ve been thinking about that. No sense putting it off. How about tomorrow after school?”

  Mercy replied, “Didn’t you hear? We don’t have school tomorrow. The high school lost power last night along with about half of the town due to the high winds.”

  “Really? The weather was that bad?”

  “Yeah, didn’t you notice?” Mercy added.

  “I guess I’ve been too preoccupied. It kept on flickering off at Rockledge High but I didn’t realize that so many people lost power. What if I stop by late in the morning?”

  “Yep, that should be fine. My mom works tomorrow night so she can take you home on her way in. I’ll ask her what she thinks about this crazy rat incident. Maybe she knows something.” Mercy got up, grabbed her giant purse/suitcase and headed for the door. “Think you can stay outta trouble, Tess?” Mercy asked, her eyebrows raised.

  “Yeah, thanks, I think I can manage, at least for today,” I grumbled.

  After Mercy left, I got my math book out so I could start my homework. The problem with math was that after five minutes I wanted to put my head down and close my eyes. It’ll just be for a few minutes, really. I just need to rest my eyes.

  Who’s that? Is that Ian? What’s he doing here and why is his shirt off? He looks cold. I’ve got to tell him to put his shirt back on. And what’s that on his lower back? I think it’s that strange mark, the cross with an X marked over it. I know where I’ve seen that. It was on that nasty Tattoo Boy in my gym class. Why would Ian have the same mark as Tattoo Boy? Ian looked angry. Is he mad at me? “Ian,” I called to him. He doesn’t hear me.

  He picked up a glass of water, as if to drink it. As the water went up to his lips, it started to change. By the time it reached his mouth, it had become a solid piece of ice. Ian looks disgusted and slammed the glass down. The glass cracked and fell away from the ice. Ian took the solid piece of ice and threw it through right the window. The window smashed into a million shiny shards. I went to touch him but the shards flew back through the window and stabbed me everywhere, sharp pricks all over my body, even my eyes. Everything was blurry. Ian turned away to leave. “Ian, don’t go,” I cried. As Ian looked back at me, shafts of red violet light streamed from his eyes. That must be his aura. He stared, his aura screaming at me. I saw confusion, self-hate. Which side was he on? I’ve known him from the past, from the FAR past. I turned away from him.

  “Tessie”, Auntie says, shaking me. “Wake up. You sounded upset. Did you have a bad dream?” She was peering down at me, love and caring in her eyes.

  I looked at her for a minute, getting my bearings. What an awful dream! It seemed so real. But that’s all it was, I told myself, a crazy dream. Best to put it out of my mind.

  “I’m OK, Auntie. Yes, it was just a funny dream. It was nothing.”

  “By the way, Ian called while you were sleeping. He wanted to come over to visit so I told him to give you a couple of hours.” She glanced at her watch. “That means he’ll be here in about a half hour. Hope you don’t mind that I didn’t wake you. I figured you’d want to see him but I wanted you to get some sleep.”

  “In a half hour!! Look at me! I haven’t even taken a shower today. “Why didn’t you wake me up a while ago?” I demanded.

  “You’re naturally beautiful, dear. You don’t need lots of time to glam yourself up.”

  “Are you kidding? Of course I do!” I jumped up to get started. “If I’m not ready by the time Ian is here, could you do me a favor and talk to him or feed him or something?”

  “Of course, dear, don’t worry. And by the way, I was nice enough to do your laundry this week since you’re never home and your entire wardrobe was in your hamper. At least you’ll have something to wear,” she said, one eyebrow raised.

  “I love you, Auntie. You’re the best. I’ll be right down.”

  I heard the doorbell ring while I was still working on my hair. I scrunched it up as best as I could. I was getting good at fixing it the way I liked it. I threw on a pair of fitted black jeans and a rose colored blouse that had belonged to Annie. She said she was giving it to me because she was sick of it, but I think it’s because she put on a couple of pounds. Grandma liked to bake and Annie liked to eat. Hey, I’m not complaining if I get her clothes! Next, socks and my cozy fir
lined slippers. There’s no way I’m letting Ian get a look at my nasty bitten feet.

  I limped down the stairs and saw him standing there, talking to Aunt Amy. He didn’t catch sight of me so I kept on staring at him. I couldn’t help myself. It gave me such pleasure. Whenever I first see Ian, I get the same gut reaction, a rush of panic and excitement. He’s the perfect combination of toughness and humility. It’s the only way I can explain it. Suddenly, an unwelcome picture popped into my head that was from my dream. It was the scene where Ian was staring at me with the red-violet lights streaming from his expressionless eyes. I shook my head, trying to forget it.

  “Tess!” Ian called. He caught sight of me and, fortunately, I wasn’t still gawking at him like some love-struck twerp. I casually strolled toward him, trying not to limp. He brushed his hair out of his blue eyes before he grabbed me and gave me a chaste hug.

  Aunt Amy commanded, “Tess, sit yourself down and put your feet up on the stool.”

  “Yes, Auntie, whatever you say,” I groaned as I proceeded to settle in the couch.

  She lifted her eyebrows at me. “I’ll leave you two alone. Ian, do you think you can keep Tess from encountering anymore unfortunate episodes over the afternoon? My heart can’t take any more stress.” Ian turned his beautiful smile to Aunt Amy. I could see her soften before my very eyes.

  “Well, I have plenty to do today. However, I can make you guys some sandwiches if you get hungry. Just let me know,” Aunt Amy remarked as she left the room.

  Finally, alone. Ian sat down and leaned over, slowly kissing me full on the lips. I felt myself melting away. Then, he took advantage of my weakened state to start up with the questions. “So what did I hear about you getting bitten by rats?” I hesitated before saying anything so he softened me up even more by gently taking my hand. “Tess, please tell me. I worry about you,” he murmured.

  Suddenly, out of the blue, Beauty Queen let out an eerie howl. It actually sent a chill up my spine. She was in the middle of the room having a hissy cat fit, standing on her toes with her hair completely on end. She continued her threatening howl while staring directly at IAN! What in the world was wrong with her?

  “Beauty Queen, stop it, right now! What’s wrong with you?” I yelled. I looked at Ian. “Sorry about that. I don’t know what’s going on with her.” He was staring at her but he didn’t answer. He finally shrugged as if he didn’t care.

  “Beauty Queen! You’re gonna have to stop it or I will put you in the basement!!!” I declared.

  She finally stopped her hissing and howling. She walked stiffly to the corner of the room and found her spot. Then, she sat and STARED at us.

  “I’m sorry, Ian. I’ve never seen Beauty Queen like that. I don’t know what’s gotten into her.”

  “It’s OK. Forget about it. For some reason, cats have never liked me,” he stated matter-of-factly.

  So, I presume you know something about this.” I gestured toward my feet. “What have you already heard?”

  He proceeded to tell me what he had found out from someone who was at the Robotics meet. Rumors had spread through town like wildfire. I filled in some details and corrected some misperceptions. People knew that the rats got electrocuted but it was explained away as a freak accident from a simple lightning strike. They didn’t know that I had USED the lightning strike. I had no plans for letting Ian in on that little fact.

  “So, is everything OK? Rat bites sound terrible,” he said, concern in his eyes.

  “Yeah, I’ll be OK. I just had to go through the rounds of tetanus shots and antibiotics,” I answered pitifully. I had no problem being the object of Ian’s sympathy if he was going to lavish extra attention on me.

  “I’m so glad to hear it. I worry about you,” he whispered. He leaned in and lightly kissed my forehead and my closed eyes. Then, he moved down and kissed me all around my mouth, light, tingly kisses. I just sat there and passively soaked it all in. The joy and pleasure of it made me weightless, like a tiny floating ball of silky fluff floating aimlessly round and round. I could hardly breathe.

  I felt a mental tug to come back down to earth, but I immediately pushed it aside. This was not the time to interrupt my paradise. I knew I was only fooling myself, though. Once my mind latches onto something to worry about, it never lets up until it gets resolved. It didn’t matter what I was doing. It would jump in and ruin my fun and my pleasure.

  A little picture seeped into the corner of my mind, eventually spilling out into the rest of my head and taking it over. It was the dream of Ian without his shirt on, with his back showing. The image zeroed in on his lower back with the tattoo of the X mark over the cross. I could still feel his sweet kisses on my lips and my eyes. I tried to block the disturbing picture, but it didn’t work. It crawled back in, only bigger and more ominous this time. It was a sign that I could not ignore.

  I was still lying down, feeling Ian’s delicious caresses of my face with his lips. “Ian,” I asked, “do you have any tattoos?”

  He instantly stopped. “Tattoos?” he asked.

  “Yes, tattoos,” I responded.

  Ian sat back and regarded at me. “Why do you want to know something like that?”

  Perhaps I should back off, but I knew I couldn’t. I had to figure out what was up with him. If I didn’t find out, my imagination would turn it into a big ugly wart on the end of his nose. I lifted my chin up, looked him in the eye and declared, “Because I just have to know.”

  He sat there for a minute, avoiding my eyes. This wasn’t the reaction I was hoping for. He finally looked at me and said with a tight smile, “Yes, I have a tattoo.”

  So he’s gonna make me ask. “Can I see it?”

  “Somehow I knew you would say that”, he said with a gloomy sigh. He still sat there for a minute, putting it off. He finally stood up and pulled his shirt over his head.

  Oh, my, God! That took me by surprise. How was I going to stop staring at his perfect abs? Where else do I look? I forced myself to casually glance away. I suddenly discovered that I was greatly interested in Grandma’s cracked vase on the coffee table. He finally saved me by speaking. “Well, do you want to see it?”

  “See what?” I asked.

  “The tattoo!” he replied, viewing me as if I was crazy. He had no idea that his beautifully formed construction muscles made me momentarily lose my mind. He turned around so that I could get a clear view. There it was in the center of his back, just above his jeans, a tattoo of a small cross with an X over it.

  46. Who is Ian?

  “What is that, Ian? What does it mean?” I asked quietly.

  “It’s supposed to be a charm for witches,” he stated flatly.

  “Why would you have that symbol embedded in your skin?” I asked while trying to stay calm.

  “I had it done a couple of years ago. Tonya got it for me for my birthday,” he explained in a tired voice.

  “Tonya! It was Tonya’s idea?” I asked, starting to feel the panic creep in.

  “Yes,” Ian stated, looking away.

  “I’ve seen that symbol on one other boy, that creepy, nasty Tattoo Boy at school. He is an evil soul. I know it.” I couldn’t accept that this was happening, that Ian may be one of them.

  Ian shrugged in response.

  “Are you a witch, Ian?” I finally asked.

  He sighed before he finally said. “Are you sure you want to ask me that?”

  I stared at him. “Yes, Ian. I want to know.”

  He turned down momentarily, with his head in his hand before he finally looked up at me and responded, “Yes, I do believe that I am”. At that very moment, I started noticing something around his head and shoulders, a red-violet fog, swirling around. He’s finally allowing his aura to show. I see turmoil, confusion, trouble.

  “Are you a diabole?” I asked.

  He just looked at me, sadness and regret in his eyes.

  I put my head in my hands and started to weep. After a few minutes, Ian put his arm around my shoul
ders. I looked up to see his sadness. “I’m sorry, Tessie,” he whispered.

  An awful thought occurred to me. Should I ask? Do I really want to know? “Ian, why did you ask me out?”

  He’s looking away from me, not answering.

  I took his hand in mine and softly prompted him, “Ian, I won’t get mad. I have to know.”

  “It was Tonya”, he confessed in a dry tone, still turned away.

  “Tonya?” I squeaked. I didn’t expect that answer.

  He sighed heavily before continuing, “It was after that incident you had at school with her, you know, when you jumped into her fight with Mercy. She came to realize that you were a possible threat. She asked me to go out with you, to get to know you.”

  “You mean she asked you to spy on me,” I claimed, my voice rising.

  “Correct,” Ian quietly affirmed.

  “So, what did you learn about me, Ian?” I demanded to know.

  He finally turned and looked at me before answering. “Remember that day when you were riding around on your bike and I found you in the field? Tonya had told me that she saw you riding around. We figured you wouldn’t be too far from where she was so I drove around looking for you and your bike.”

  I interrupted, “So you were LOOKING for me that day? You weren’t driving around looking for your dog?”

  “Yep, that’s right,” he added with a tight smile, “I couldn’t believe what was happening in that field. I heard those voices, too, you know.”

  “So, I wasn’t hearing them because I was a nut job,” I commented dryly.

  He frowned and shook his head, “No way. When I heard those voices, I realized that Tonya was right, that you were special. I only heard them speaking because you were there. I would never have heard those voices on my own.”

  “Did you report that back to Tonya?”

  Ian vehemently shook his head. “No, I didn’t tell her anything. After I took you home that night, I made a decision to lay off. I couldn’t do what Tonya expected of me because there was something about you. You were so vulnerable. There was no way I was going to take advantage of that. For some reason, I figured you’d be more like Tonya. I couldn’t have been further from the truth.”