by P. Mattern
Just as he’d predicted, his parents weren’t all that upset at his leaving-he got the impression that they were secretly glad that he was at the house helping his Great Aunt. He saw Kimber daily, and she’d introduced him to her friend Taylor and his sister Elle.
Because it was a small town, nearly the entire population attended one of the local churches on Sunday mornings ,and there were three: the Catholic church, the Baptist Church and Inter Denominational Center for the believers that didn’t quite fit neatly into any of the other categories. Kimber had invited him to attend church on Sunday with her family. Casey agreed, thinking that attending church might win him some favor with Kimber’s father.
Loki continued to be his constant companion, often begging raw chicken livers from him as he walked home from the grocery. Loki was gentle and obedient around Aunt Ida, who seemed happier having a dog around, doted on Loki and gave him treats and snacks constantly.
Because he didn’t own a suit, Carey had visited the Gentlemen’s Shoppe to purchase a tie, blue dress shirt and a pair of Dockers to substitute for dress pants. He thought the outfit looked nice enough for a church service in a hick town, and could maybe serve double duty as attire for a job interview. Even though the town was small he was determined to find some sort of work locally.
On Sunday Kimber told him that her family would pick him up for church. Carey was sitting in the porch swing, nervously engaging in a half-hearted game of fetch involving Loki and a slobbery rubber ball when Dr. Bingham pulled up in his Vintage Rolls Royce. The car was iconic and beautiful as far as Carey was concerned-he wasn’t really a gearhead but he was interested in vintage automobiles and hadn’t ever ridden in a Rolls.
Kimber, dressed in a springy looking yellow print dress and white sweater, had jumped out of a side door, waving at him to clamber in, which he did nervously, greeting Dr. Bingham and expressing his admiration for the Rolls ,making the older man chuckle with the satisfaction of vintage car ownership. Even as old as the automobile was the engine purred so efficiently that he could hardly hear it running. Belatedly he realized that he’d been so absorbed with the Rolls, relaxing in the butterscotch colored overstuffed leather seats and tortoiseshell appointed art deco interior that he hadn’t been paying attention to Kimber and Channing .
“I’m sorry”, he said sincerely, looking into Kimbra’s eyes.”You ladies both look very lovely today.”
As Kimber smirked and Channing giggled in response he realized how stunted and nerdy he must sound, but he wasn’t used to social interaction on that level. What he really wanted to do was pull Kimber more closely toward him and run his tongue along her perfect jawline. Kimber wasn’t merely lovely, she was, in the modern vernacular,’ wicked hawt.’
The church service was predictable and lengthy, with several hymns, a choir performance that started out sounding like strangled chickens ,(making Carey think that it should have been rehearsed more), and an interminable sermon by a severe looking older man that Carey assumed was the pastor. After the service the Pastor and assistant pastor walked down the long aisle to the front door of the church to shake hands with the parishioners as they exitied. ‘Pastor Levi’ as he was known greeted Kimbra, Channing and their father with familiarity but as soon as he reached for Carey’s hand to shake it his entire demeanor changed. He seemed to choke in the middle of his canned welcome speech, dropping Carey’s hand hastily.
Though he took a step back he bent his head forward to peer into Carey’s eyes.
“Where did you say you were from, boy?” he asked, in a tone that was decidedly less cordial than the tone he’d started out with.
Carey was put off by the question, also he sensed something else was off. The hair on the back of his neck was standing up. He decided that the Pastor deserved a vague answer.
“A larger town several miles Northeast of here,” Carey answered. “But I plan to stay here for awhile.”
A strange fleeting look crossed the Pastor’s face, almost as if he were a frog that had been gigged. Abruptly he turned to the next parishioner in line, ignoring Carey as if he had been summarily dismissed.
Kimbra was not slow on the uptake.
“What was THAT?” she said in an astonished voice as they were leaving, ”I’ve never seen Pastor Levi act so squirrely. It was like he had a mini seizure or something.”She waved at her father as he drove off since she and Channing were going to the soda fountain with Carey.
“Don’t worry about it,” Carey replied, ”I’m a stranger in a strange little town…and I’ve been meaning to ask you…”Carey ramped up his voice so that it sounded like a promo for a Stephen King movie “WHAT DARK SECRETS ARE HARBORED BY THE RESIDENTS OF THIS SMALL TOWN?”
His improvisation made both Kimbra and Channing go off into gales of musical laughter.
When their collective laughter subsided, Kimbra’s brow buckled in a frown.
“Seriously-that was weird of Paster Levi. I have no idea why he reacted to you like that. Good thing the rumor mill is always grinding out feedback-we’ll probably hear the story of his real impression of you in a couple of days. You musn’t let it bother you, though-just remember where you are. People don’t have that much to do, so talking about other people is the town sport.”
Channing jumped in, idly stirring around an old fashioned striped paper straw in what was left of her cherry soda.
“My sister is telling the truth-you can hardly skin your knee without having the news spread throughout the town like a code yellow alert. But the upside is, after you’ve made a few friends and word gets around that you’re a cool guy-well, you’re IN!”
Carey found himself liking not only Kimbra but also Channing more and more. They seemed close, the kind of close two sibling are when drawn together by some deep grief-in their case, the loss of their mother.
The next day was Monday. Carey didn’t expect to see Kimbra that day as she had other plans, so his itinerary included sleeping in. His sleep had been a relaxing, dreamless one, and as he opened his eyes to the first hazy beams of daylight shining through the venetian blinds, he didn’t have a thought in his head.
Until his eyes wandered onto the foot of his bed, where Loki usually slept, and he immediately froze.
It was not a dog, but a boy that occupied the bottom of the large four poster. He was young, probably teenaged, with light brown skin and a profusion of longish dark hair curling around his sleeping face, his knees drawn up as if he were cold. He was naked, with not a stitch of clothing on, mumbling something in his sleep.
Stunned and not convinced that he wasn’t dreaming, Carey stretched his leg down and nudged the sleeping individual with his sock clad foot. The boy instantly became awake, an expression of alarm on his face, ”Ow!” he said, sitting up. When he saw Carey he smiled, then looked down , and his expression changed to one of urgency and desperation as he grabbed Careys arm, his long fingernails digging in painfully.
“Oh my GOD!” he said, ”I’m back in human form-but God knows for how long, so just shut up please and listen. My name is Avi, and I’m a hybrid but also a shapeshifter. I’m here to protect you. They cast a spell-I have no control of my transformations any more and I’ve been in canine form since –since I was thrown out of the Congregation-tribe you would say. And they are investigating you. They KNOW about you Carey-they just can’t figure out what you are yet…but when they do they’ll either recruit you or destroy y-“
Two things happened almost simultaneously. The door to Carey’s room creaked open and the boy Avi seemed to shrink and shrivel inwardly on himself suddenly until he once more resembled the dog Loki. The dogs eyes never left Careys astonished face, and Carey could see the continued desperation in them, as if he’d had much more to say before being cut off.
Aunt Ida stood in the open doorway without her bifocals, squinting .Her hair was in old fashioned pink rubber curlers . She was wearing a yellow bathrobe, and slippers shaped like ducks.
“Carey?” she queried,her voice drow
sy with sleep ”I thought I heard someone. Did your radio alarm go off or something? I thought that you were planning to sleep in today dear.”
“Sorry Aunt Ida, I forgot to turn off my alarm. Sorry I woke you.” Carey said, woodenly with a nod and a smile, hoping she would leave before he freaked out at what he’d just seen.
And she did, mumbling to herself as she shut his door behind her. He could hear the shuffling sounds she made as she slowly worked her way back up the hall to her bedroom, the floor creaking at intervals.
Carey looked down at the dog intently.
“So did that really happen old boy?” he asked quietly.”Are you really able to morph into a human?”
Carey could have sworn the dog nodded, deliberately, moving its head up and down two times.
“Okay, so suppose I believe you.” Carey whispered, his too long brown hair in his eyes, leaning forward toward the animal who was looking imploringly at him.”Now what? All you told me is the LAST thing I’m wanting to hear right now ,that I’m in danger from someone or something. Even if that’s the case I’m NOT leaving. I like it here, do you read me? My Aunt is cool, I’m planning to apply for a job today, and my new girlfriend has the hottest little body in town!”
The dog whimpered and covered its eyes with its paws.
Carey looked at the dog skeptically.
“Well, you’ll just have to protect me. Isn’t that what a good dog does? And no more staying in the room when I’m making out with Kimber, you voyeur-now that we BOTH know that you’re not just a dog!”
Carey could have sworn the dog looked ashamed, but maybe he was imagining it. All in all it had been one strange morning, and he was now thoroughly awake. He thought he’d take a shower and get dressed up in his job seeking outfit. He was about to shuck off his shorts and grab his robe when he stopped and looked down at Loki again.
“I guess I’ll stop stripping in front of you too…for all I know you’re same-sex oriented and you dig it.”
Loki lifted his head and gave a short caustic sounding double bark that Carey thought might roughly translate to the human equivalent of ‘fuck you.’ It was somewhat amusing having a dog-or whatever Loki was-as a pet Carey reflected as he walked down the hall toward the bathroom to shower. Although the next time he woke up with a long haired dude sleeping on his bed again Loki would be permanently relegated to sleeping on the floor.
It was the next morning in Fort Hunt .Cass groggily became aware that Mitzi had jumped out of his arms, as they lay together in Mitzi’s lacy ,beribboned Southern monstrosity of a bed, and made a vampire speed dash to the master bathroom. As sleepy as he was, his consciousness was put on high alert by the unusual sounds issuing from behind the closed bathroom door. They were sounds that his beloved didn’t usually make.
Groaning and stretching, Cass jumped up from the bed, and with a look of semi-concern on his face knocked quietly on the bathroom door.
“Vivi? Are you okay hon?”he asked.
He heard the sound of water running, then the door opened and Mitzi’s lovely face, still damp from being washed was looking up at him.
“Oh Cass I got sick .I didn’t know vampires could throw up. Is that normal for us?”
She looked so vulnerable and flustered as she stood there, her strawberry blonde hair mussed and her lips pouty, he impulsively scooped her up in his arms. Faking an accent from the deep south he answered, ”Why honeychile you must have a touch of the vapors! We must get you back in bed immediately!”
Once back in bed he stroked her cheek.”Are you feeling better? I have actually vomited before myself. It’s rare but not unheard of. We should probably stick to blood today and give our digestive systems a rest.”
“I just feel so odd, ”Mitzi complained.” A little floaty and dizzy. And suddenly I had to barf. Wierd.”
Cass’s hand that had been stroking her cheek moved lower to caress the hollow of her neck. And then lower and lower still, causing her to gasp and giggle.
“I have the perfect cure” he assured her. ,”You’ll feel much better in no time.”
Charley awakened in his old boyhood bed at home, surrounded by posters of his former favorites from movies and cartoons. He had just a moment of peace before reality set in, and an instantaneous hollowed out feeling enveloped him.
He wondered what Fress was doing right then, if she was still sleeping ,if she was missing him as much as he was missing her. Waking up to her heady vanilla cinnamon spice smell and her warmth was the way he had started most of his days since they had returned from Motuo County, China. On some level he knew he had caused their separation more than she had; he regretted not waiting to hear her explanation. At that moment all he wanted was to be back in her bed, at her cottage, snuggling under the covers.
He decided to try a text, an optimistic one. Grabbing his cell from the nightstand he typed in ,”Good morning beautiful” with a smiley face. Pressing ‘send’ he muttered, ”Okay, Fress, the ball’s in your court.”
Seconds passed then minutes. Just when he began to think she’d elected to go incommunicado his phone made the familiar text received noise-an annoying clunking sound that always made him think of a robot taking a dump.
His heart beat faster as he read the words she’d typed in.”Miss you.”
He could feel himself smiling. Maybe there was hope left. Maybe they could meet somewhere like their favorite café and straighten some things out. Quickly he typed in.
“So sorry. Willing to listen.”
After a moment she typed back.
“Old Town Café at 1 perhaps?”
With a huge sense of relief he typed back “Can’t wait.” And contemplated adding an x for a kiss. Instead he opted for a ridiculously goofy smiley face, much less personal. He didn’t want to spook her after all the hurtful things he’d said.
Laying back on his pillow Charley got to feel happy for about three minutes before Cass burst into his room.
“Lux tells me you and Fress are meeting today. We’re both concerned that its too soon-do you think you can keep it under control Charley my bro’? We don’t need any more drama around here-seriously ,man.”
Charley groaned and covered his face with a pillow.
“Apparently there are no secrets in this clan, ”he said, keeping the pillow over his face.
Cass reached over and ripped the pillow away.
“You can’t fix this with a band aid Charley. There are deeper issues at play. And just because you woke up horny isn’t a good enough reason to reconnect either.”
Charley leaned up on one elbow. He was tempted to retort, ”I always wake up horny”, but thought he’d be better off taking a different tact.
“Cass, look at me. I…just …want…to…talk.”Charley said very slowly, emphasizing every word.
Cass threw the pillow back at Charley-hard-and in a resigned voice said.
“All right. But remember what we said last night. And no smart ass Charley Rabbit snarky talk ,which by the way you seem to have a gift for…a DARK gift.”Cass finished, leaving.
Forty five minutes later, Charley was sitting outside the Old Town Café at the same table where Fressenda had etched their names on the glass table top inside a heart with her fingernails. He thought it was a sweet thing for her to have done, and her impromptu artwork made that café table permanently theirs. He had put a suit jacket on over a polo shirt, and used gel to keep his hair off his face ,thinking he looked more mature that way. He felt nervous,but he was determined to keep his temper under control. He wanted to listen this time and let Fress tell him about the kiss that should never have happened. Obviously she wasn’t a woman on the prowl.
Fress came tapping down the street in thigh high boots, a short corduroy skirt, a, silk patterned blouse and a scarf that the shifting wind was blowing around her like a sail. Her hair was long and straight, nearly down to her waist now, and she was wearing stylish slightly oversized sunglasses that he recognized as Chanel.
She stopped at the
table in front of him before sitting down, a slight smile playing around her lips.
“Hello handsome stranger. You look good Charley.”
Charley stood up to pull her cast iron café chair out-the metal screeching across the cement annoyingly. Sitting back down he started speaking.
“Fress I’m sorry I said those ugly things. There is no excuse for my behavior, and you deserved to be heard.”
Fress sighed.”I know you were angry. And I accept your apology.”
Charley squinted at Fress.”Thank you. But could I make a request? Could you possibly remove those sunglasses? They are obscuring part of your beautiful face.”
Fress pulled off the sunglasses and slipped them into her handbag.
“There. It’s still me. Are you happy now?”
“Getting there.” Charley answered. Seeing her face up close again he felt as though his hormones were instantly raging.” Fress, why are we sitting here? I just want to hold you. I’ll apologize however you want, any way you want, for as long as you want. I’ll let you beat me with cat o’nine tails, I’ll even be your submissive.
I love you. Last night was ten kinds of stupid on my part .I need to touch you.”
Fress looked down, her finger tracing the etched heart with their names entwined in it. Sighing deeply she said ,”Lux warned me not to let things get physical between us before we had some time to sort things out. He said renewing our physical relationship would muddy the waters and maybe even PREVENT us from figuring out if should be together exclusively. And I think he’s right about there being deeper issues, especially for you. “Holding his gaze with her mesmerizing blue violet eyes she continued,”But I don’t care right now about any of it. Where can we go?”
It was just a short drive to a little bed and breakfast Inn in Grable, one of the small boroughs that surrounded Fort Hunt. They were only interested in the bed. They took Fress’s Mustang GT5000 ,checked in quickly and flew simultaneously into the old fashioned four poster bed as soon as they stepped into the room.
