“You okay?” He glances behind us.
“Yeah.” I do the same and see a person in the last yard, the one we just walked through. He or she is far enough off that I can’t make out their details. Is it a zombie? Are they following us?
Malik must think so too because his voice lowers. “Come on.”
The street is quiet, without traffic, and we cross it quickly. The next yard is similar to the first, thankfully, but they have a metal fence in back that restricts access to the next yard, which leads to our street.
“We’ll have to go around,” Nana says with confidence, but her voice is starting to get breathless. She and Mr. Zayid shouldn’t be trekking through backyards. I won’t bring up their age out loud, but this can’t be good for them.
“No, wait.” Gio shuts his eyes and holds up his hands, directing his palms to the fence.
I glance back and stare at the way we came. I can’t tell if we’re being followed, but I don’t have a good feeling about standing here and being trapped.
Sizzling sounds and I look back to the fence.
Gio's freezing power is turning the metal to ice. It cracks and a chunk of the fence gives way. He glances to the house and whispers, “Sorry.”
As I walk through the space, I make a mental note to send the homeowners money for repairs. Or to have my parents send it once they learn everything that’s been going on.
We quicken our pace and hurry through the last yard. Their back light comes on, and I freeze in my spot. Shoot. We’re caught.
Malik grabs my elbow and leads me on. “It’s an automatic light.”
I take a shaky breath and keep going.
When we reach the curb, I spot Davey’s car parked in front of our house. We run to our driveway, including Nana and Mr. Zayid.
Something small and furry darts away from a tree in front of us and Gio’s eyes round in terror.
Nana flinches and raises her arm. Scared she’ll zap the poor thing, I lunge forward and push her arm down.
Gio, however, does a similar dance as earlier with the zombie, but this time his moves are more dramatic. He looks like a marionette being jerked by invisible strings. He shrieks bloody murder and runs into our house.
Chapter Twenty-Two
When I get inside, Mom, Dad, Leo, and Cari are in the living room. They’re all frowning and wondering what’s wrong with Gio. I don’t blame them. I’m wondering the same.
“It was a squirrel, D. What’s wrong with you?” I ask.
Tomás starts chuckling and soon Malik and Nana are too.
Dad scratches the top of his head, obviously thinking we’re all crazy. I don’t blame him. We must look a wreck. My curls are sticking to the back of my neck and Nana’s pulled back bun now sports a frizzy halo.
“What’s going on?” Mom asks.
I glance around the living room and toward the kitchen but can’t see into the room from the hall. “Where’s Davey?”
Cari shakes her head. “He’s not here.”
“What do you mean? His car is parked outside.”
“Maybe he’s out back,” Malik says.
I take a step toward the kitchen and Mom holds up her hand. “Wait, we need to talk.”
“What did I do?” I’m sure there’s plenty they can lecture me on, but they don’t know about most of it.
“Not just you, but the whole family.” She glances to Malik and his grandfather. “And isn’t it a little late for you and Nana to have boys over on a school night?”
Nana scoffs and places a hand on her hip. “I am not a child. I can do whatever I want.”
Mom shuts her eyes and shakes her head. “I’m sorry, Ma. I didn’t mean to suggest otherwise.”
“This can wait,” Cari says.
“No, it can’t,” Mom snaps. “We need to discuss Gio staying out all weekend without a word to us, and this family’s future.” She looks to Cari’s stomach.
She wants to talk about the baby and Cari’s plans. Isn’t that between them and Cari? It doesn’t include the rest of us. Well, except Tomás but they don’t know about his involvement yet. If they did, I doubt this conversation would be so casual. Or the pretty hardwood flooring would be in splinters and not planks.
Leo sighs and leans on the back of the sofa.
“Well, it’ll need to. We have to find Davey now.” My tone rises.
“Why the rush? Why are you all together? What’s going on?” Dad asks. His intuition is fully charged and can tell this isn’t normal. Mom would too if she wasn’t wrapped up in baby drama.
But now she glances to Dad and then to us, and it registers on her face. Something is wrong and she finally senses it. She quirks a brow. “Spill. Now.”
I bite my lip, not wanting to deal with this, but maybe it’s time. We can use the help, and now that we know we can stave off the worse of the symptoms with veggies, it’s not as bad as it was Friday. Right?
Well, I’m about to find out.
I take a deep breath and everyone stares at me. Oh great. Added pressure.
“Gio was infected by a vegan zombie Friday night, and we think Davey can help lead us to a cure.”
No one moves.
Not a blink or a twitch.
Not even from those of us who know what’s going on. Maybe they’re shocked I said anything.
Mom gives a half smile as if she thinks we’re joking, but since we’re not laughing, it disappears.
“He’s what?” She clenches her hands into fists.
Oh no.
The walls and floors begin to shake as if we’re having an earthquake, but I’m certain if I look outside it’s only affecting our house. Earthquake Mom is more like it.
Leo grabs onto the living room archway, Cari grabs the stairs, and Nana and Mr. Zayid grab one another. Something crashes to the floor in the kitchen and something thuds upstairs above us, which is Mom and Dad’s room.
Persia comes out of the kitchen, licking the sides of her mouth. Her eyes grow large, and she dashes forward, past us, and upstairs. Smart kitty.
Dad lowers his face into his palms, and before anything more severe can happen, Gio steps forward.
“But I’m okay. See?” He holds out his arms and twirls around like a ballerina in a music box.
The house stops shaking, but Mom is still scowling, and I don’t trust it won’t start again, so I’m careful with my words when I give them a condensed version of what’s going on.
“And you never thought to come to us. To your parents, Aria?” Mom’s voice is full of anger.
Without thinking, I point to Nana with my thumb. “She knew.”
Nana scoffs and smacks my hand away. “Traitor.”
Mom raises her eyebrows. “We will talk later, Ma.”
Nana swallows hard and, for a second, looks scared.
Well, this went better than I envisioned.
Very concerned with where Davey is, I run into the kitchen and look out the window. Maybe he didn’t want to knock and is waiting on the deck. The light is on but there’s no one there. Where is he?
I catch movement toward the back of our yard, over near the garden and open the back door.
Crap.
Trampling on and devouring the garden is the herd of zombies.
“They’re here,” I shout and hear everyone run in behind me.
That’s when I notice Davey. He’s in the back, against the tall wooden fence that separates our yard with the next, trying to shrink into the corner.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Malik grabs my arm as I step forward. “What are you doing?”
“I have to save him.”
He looks down at my bare arms and exposed calves. “You should cover up. Let me go.”
He’s wearing jeans but also a short sleeve T-shirt.
“You can’t help as much as I can this time,” I say with a smile. “I found my powers.”
Mom gasps and places a hand over her heart. Her exaggerated gestures say how proud and happy she is.
/> Dad dabs at the corners of his eyes, and Leo stands extra tall. Silly brothers.
I hurry down the deck stairs and to the middle of the yard. I’m not sure how close I need to be. I’ll try from here and get closer if necessary.
“Be careful,” Malik calls out.
Davey looks up and sees us. His expression is a mixture of relief and fear.
I hold a finger up to tell him to wait a minute. I don’t need him doing anything to call attention to himself. Just in case. It dawns on me I’m about to not only admit zombies are real to a normie, but so is magic.
I look to the plants and start whispering, “Can you help me, please?”
I throw out my arms and hold out my palms like Gio did with the fence. I’ve watched my family perform magic a trillion times in the past, but this is new to me.
Slowly the tomato vines shift but it’s too dark to see exactly what’s going on.
“It’s too dark,” I shout.
Nana cackles and suddenly there’s a bolt of lightning above the garden. It stays there, frozen in the sky, illuminating the garden. Way to go, Nana.
Now I see the vines slithering along the ground. The zombies are too caught up in the broccoli and cauliflower to pay any attention to what’s going on around them, and I can hear Gio huffing and puffing on the deck. He’s probably freaking that his veggie supply is being destroyed.
The vines circle around the zombies’ ankles, and before we know what’s happening, the vines yank the zombies off the vegetables.
I yelp and Nana cackles louder. “Get them, Aria,” she shouts and then says, “Sorry” to Malik’s grandfather and her grandson.
The zombies regain their footing and head back to their spot, but a bunch of tomatoes bounce forward and spit their seeds at them, like pellets from a BB gun.
The sunflowers bend forward and start whacking themselves against the zombies’ faces.
“Look at our girl, Sal,” Mom says to Dad with pride in her tone.
The lightning starts to sizzle, and Dad grabs his mother’s shoulder. “Ma, be careful. The tall one is my boss. I really want a job tomorrow morning.”
I thought I recognized one of them.
Carrots fling themselves at the zombies’ chests and faces, like tiny orange swords. Potatoes leap up, knocking into the zombies’ skulls. And peas shoot at them like mini green cannons. I realize I’m doing it, instructing them into action like a conductor leading a tasty orchestra.
Eventually the zombies are finally down and the plants are back in their positions, looking beat up but standing tall nonetheless. Davey is quivering but he runs forward, away from the zombies and out of the garden. I expect him to cower behind me, but he runs straight past and screams once he hits the driveway. It takes only a few seconds before we hear his car screeching down the street.
Oh, this is going to be a fun conversation.
Leo hurries down the stairs, his keys in hand. “I’ll go after him, calm him down, and make sure he keeps quiet.”
“Be nice. Don’t scare him away. I think he has the answers we need,” I say as he walks to his car.
Mom and Dad are at my sides. Mom pulls me into a tight hug. “I love you, Aria. You are magnificent.”
Tears gather in the corners of my eyes. She’s dramatic, but it feels nice.
Being normal was okay, but being paranormal is so much better.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Three months later…
* * *
“There you go. How does that feel?” I ask the soil as I pat it down after dropping in carrot seeds. Planting season was months ago, but I’ve learned my garden doesn’t listen to standard rules. It does what it wants. That’s what happens when you’re magical.
The nearest sunflower leans toward me and nods.
I smile and reach over to stroke its leaves.
After the night the garden saved Davey, I’ve been a lot more attentive to it. Mom, Dad, Leo, Cari, and even Gio appreciates it more, and they take turns helping out. Everything has settled down since then too. First there are the little things, like how I’m eighteen and high school is finally over. Every time I think of it, I instantly smile.
Of course the more important things are that Gio is no longer a zombie, and he still loves cruciferous veggies and actually went vegan like me. Turns out Nana had seen Davey in the garden one morning before Mr. Zayid was infected. Davey had shown up because he knew how much I worked in here and he looked for a flower that he could take a cutting from. He wasn’t aware I only grew food. He wanted to graft a couple of plants to create a new one for me. It’s sweet. Really.
He ended up grabbing some broccoli before it bloomed as well as cauliflower. He also found some other herbs he thought were nice. Little did he know it was poisonous hemlock that Nana grew for reasons she won’t admit. It’s all gone now. Mom made sure we properly disposed of it. But that mixed with a special fertilizer blend that Mom custom ordered made the items extra magical.
Davey took the plants to his lab at home and grafted them. He brought the end result to the diner with him Thursday morning for his shift. He planned to bring it to me after. Some of it ended up falling into the tuna salad. Mr. Zayid ingested the virus and then bumped into Timothy, a.k.a. Zombie Sire on the way out, accidentally scratching him. Phoebe never wants to eat out again.
Davey had no idea what he’d created.
Once we knew what started it, it was easy to mix magic with science to find a cure. We sprinkled it on my very tasty broccoli and fed it to the zombies. By the time we had the cure, they’d all been gathered by Sheriff Merrow, so it was easy enough to do. He wasn’t happy I lied to him, but he understood, and he and the Ellinghams were thankful for my help.
Davey’s taken to the idea of living in a paranormal town as well as can be expected. He’s looking forward to leaving for college in three months more than ever. I don’t blame him. He singlehandedly created zombies. That’s something he’ll never be able to add to his resume. Well, not unless he returns and works in Nocturne Falls.
And we’re totally going to remain friends. Only friends. He now has more interest in my powers than in me, which is just fine. I have someone else who’s interested in me. Speaking of which, Malik will be here soon. We’re spending the day doing absolutely nothing.
I stand up and brush the dirt off my knees. “See you guys later.”
The sunflowers tilt their faces toward the sky to soak up the sun.
I walk across the yard and go inside to change my clothes. The kitchen is empty. Mom’s at the store, Dad’s at work, and Leo’s off with friends, enjoying his afternoon.
Cari and Tomás are on the sofa. The TV is on, but the volume is low. They’re looking at something on their laps. As I walk past, I glance over their shoulders. It’s her phone and the screen shows the name Marco in bold, blue letters.
“What do you think?” she asks him. Her belly has gotten big enough that she no longer fits in her regular clothes. She and Mom recently went maternity shopping and now she’s wearing a tank top of sorts. It’s white and has a ruffled, eyelet hem. It’s cute and super feminine, like Cari.
“I like it,” Tomás says. He looks up and winks at me. “What do you think, Aria? Marco Sanchez? It’s got a nice ring, right?”
“It’s a great name. Very majestic.”
His smile is huge, and I can’t help but grin too.
I turn and head up to my and Cari’s room.
Things have calmed down on the baby front. Mom and Dad are okay with it now. Well, I doubt Dad will ever be happy his oldest daughter quit college, but she promises she’ll go back eventually. I believe her. And while they weren’t thrilled the baby daddy was a surfer-sounding bunyip, they love Tomás as family, so it’s all worked out. Mom’s even looking forward to being a grandmother. I think she’s already perfecting her “no hood, no entrance” lecture with a new slideshow for the presentation.
I enter the bathroom, take off my denim shorts and dusty tank and jump i
nto the shower.
Cari and Tomás planned to get married and find a small apartment in town, but Mom and Dad won’t hear of it. Well, yes to the marriage part. They’re expecting that. They don’t want them leaving though. Dad, Leo, Gio, and Tomás are adding plumbing to the garage and turning it into a home for the three of them. They’ve already started and I’m a little envious because it’s gonna be super cute. No more storage. No more zombie hideout. We’re all happy about that.
After drying off, I change into my pink, off-the-shoulder blouse and white mini skirt. I add blush to my cheeks and several flicks of mascara. I swipe light pink lip gloss across my lips and stick it inside my purse, along with my phone. I slip my feet into a pair of white sandals and head back downstairs.
Mom enters the house with a bag of groceries. She grins at me as she passes. “You look pretty, honey. Malik’s on the porch with Nana and Fahim. Are you two going out?”
“Yeah, we’re spending the afternoon together. Do you need help?”
“No, I got it. Have fun.”
I push the screen open and see Malik standing beside his car in the driveway. He bought it last month and so far the tires haven’t blown and we haven’t run into any ditches.
Nana and Mr. Zayid are seated on the wicker chairs, talking low. They pay me no attention as I cross the porch and walk down to the pavement.
Malik’s arms are crossed over his chest. When he sees me, they lower to his sides, his dimples emerge, and a smirk sits on his face. Now I know that look has nothing to do with cockiness but his happiness at seeing me.
Butterflies swarm in my belly as I walk to him.
Mom and Dad are totally behind my going to culinary school in the fall. In fact, the Ellinghams were so appreciative for my help in eliminating the zombie virus they found an awesome school in upstate New York where I can learn from great chefs and live amongst my kind. I guess Nocturne Falls isn’t the only town with supernaturals. I’m sure no other town is as awesome as this one though.
“Hi,” I say.
“Hi.”
Broccoli & Broomsticks_Nocturne Falls Universe Page 11
