Crimson Secrets

by Garnet Davenport

  She smiled with her hands still on me. “I was going to ask you that.”

  I paused to think why I wouldn’t be okay. “I’m fine, just tired.”

  She let me go. “Let me make you something to eat. Anything you want? Eggplant lasagna?”

  I looked back at her and smiled. “Sure, Mom, sounds great.” Then scoffed as she hurried off to the kitchen.

  I had eaten so many vegetables over the past seventeen years I thought I might start growing a garden out of my ass. If it wasn’t for school and going out with Tommy or Matt for some real protein, I would have gone crazy.

  “I’m just going to go shower and change,” I said. “I’ll be right back.”

  Matt and Tommy were already on the couch watching TV. They didn’t even hear a word that came out of my mouth.

  I ran up the stairs and paused before going into my bedroom.

  Tommy and Matt started talking. “Is she transitioning?” Tommy asked Matt.

  “She has to be. Declan said he saw her out in the woods by the Callamores’,” Matt replied.

  The top step creaked as I put my weight on it.

  “Shay?” Tommy asked.

  “Yeah?”

  “You okay?”

  “Yep, just had to tie my shoe.”

  He coughed. “Okay, just checking.”

  I continued to my room, only a little mad that I wasn’t able to eavesdrop on a conversation that was clearly about me.

  ➢2 Game Changer

  I went to start the shower and then I got undressed. At least I didn’t have to share a bathroom with Tommy. The typical boy smell came wafting from his room the instant I opened my door. I got in the shower and let the hot water run down my face. I took a deep breath to let the steam into my chest, but every time I closed my eyes, I felt like I was instantly transported into the woods of my nightmare. I shook my head to keep myself awake. When I got out, I found my comfy pajamas to put on, and I lay down on my bed. I kept having flashes of my nightmare whenever I closed my eyes, even for a second. But I must have dozed off. When I woke up, the sun was going down. I started feeling hungry, and I could smell something delicious coming from downstairs.

  When I turned the corner and walked into the kitchen, everyone was sitting at the table, even Matt.

  “I was going to stay for dinner,” he said. “Hope that’s okay?”

  I love having Matt around. He was like another protective brother, with no attraction to each other. “Yeah, you know we would never turn you away.”

  He looked down at the plate of food my mom had just set in front of him. “Well, I would hope not.”

  I smiled at him.

  His mom was killed in a car accident two years ago. He hadn’t been the same since. It was pretty gruesome—closed casket and all. She was basically decapitated. I felt so bad about even thinking about the dead in that way.

  I walked over to where he was sitting, bent down behind his chair, and wrapped my arms around his neck for a hug.

  “What’s that about?” said Tommy. He pointed back and forth at the two of us. He thought Matt and I had a weird relationship, but I knew better.

  “Nothing,” I said. “It’s just nice having family around.” I smiled and looked at the food on my plate. Matt looked at me and smiled back.

  “Are you feeling okay?” Tommy asked as I sighed.

  “I’m just really tired lately. I don’t know.” I put my hands on my forehead.

  “Yeah?” my mom asked.

  I figured I was probably coming down with the flu or something. My mother would worry too much and take me into the doctor.

  “It’s probably just because I didn’t sleep very well.” I looked back up at both Matt and Tommy.

  “Is that it?” Tommy asked.

  “Would there be something else?”

  Tommy looked back down at his plate and picked up food to put in his mouth. “No. Not that I know of. I just don’t want to get sick.”

  I rolled my eyes at him and took another bite.

  The rest of dinner went just like normal. There were no other questions and Matt and Tommy were their usual selves. They joked and laughed the entire way through. The truth behind it was Matt was Tommy’s friend first. I was the third wheel. It was always hard for me to be friends with girls. I didn’t know what it was. So I would hang out with Tommy, and it just happened that Matt spent lots of time with me when Tommy got so busy with lacrosse and the internship. Either way, we became really good friends. He would be just like my brother, except he didn’t live with us—well, not all the time. I smiled at Matt. With Tommy and Matt, I didn’t need any other friends.

  “What, weirdo?” Matt asked, stuffing a giant bite into his mouth.

  “Nothing. I was just thinking. You want to stay over tonight? You could help fight the monsters in my nightmare.” I laughed trying to make a joke out of it. Tommy looked at Matt when I said it.

  Matt’s dad had been really lonely ever since the accident, and he hadn’t even gone out on one date. “Well, when you put it that way. Let me just call my dad and let him know.” He excused himself from the table.

  I was so excited. It felt like it had been forever since he’d slept over. He walked out of the room. Matt went outside and got on the phone.

  I excused myself and went into the other room to stand close to the front door just to see how his conversation was going. All I could hear was him talking about bloodlines, and that something was finally happening, and then he spoke some weird language.

  I turned and started walking away from the door so it wouldn’t look like I was eavesdropping.

  He started to walk back to the house, and I quickly went to sit on the couch.

  The front door opened. “Hey, you.” He looked back at the door. “Were you listening to my conversation?”

  I looked at him as innocently as I could. “What are you talking about?”

  He looked through the hall to see if Tommy was coming into the room, but he was still eating in the kitchen. “Yeah, okay.” He scoffed.

  I was pretty sure he knew I was lying.

  “You want to watch a movie?” I asked as he rubbed his hand back and forth through his hair.

  Then he came and sat down on the couch. He looked at the time on his phone. “Sounds good.”

  I was looking through the movies on TV. “What do you want to watch?”

  He always let me pick, but I always asked. “Anything you want,” he said.

  I sat for a second. “Umm…can we watch—”

  He cut me off and said, “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off?”

  I looked at him. “I swear you’re the only one that can do that to me.”

  I selected my favorite classic ’80s movie and sat down on the couch, lying up next to Matt and putting my feet up. His warmth was the best part about watching movies with him. My arms were always freezing, and he was like a warm pillow.

  Tommy walked into the room and flicked my legs. “Scoot over.” I lifted my legs to let him sit down and then put them on top of his lap. I thought it was great that I actually liked my brother—most of the time—and the best part was that I got another brother out of it without any weirdness when he stayed over. My parents were really cool about the whole thing, as long as he slept in Tommy’s room. I started to get sleepy, and my eyes gradually closed, and I could feel my body jerk around. Everything was dark.

  I was in the dark, and I was running, pushing myself harder than ever before. The branches hit my face and arms as I weaved through the thick woods. I started to hear a whispered mumbling from the distance. “Teach ar an cloch dearg,” someone whispered through the woods.

  I kept running. There was definitely something chasing me. I heard the thump of each step, and it was getting closer. I could tell I was in the woods just outside my neighborhood. I was almost sure it was the Callamores’ property.

  I stopped, hiding behind one of the trees. I could feel my heart pounding out of my chest and blood dripping down the side of my
face and my arms from the jagged tree branches cutting my skin.

  I was so scared I was shaking. My chest was burning from running, and I couldn’t feel my lungs because the air was so cold when it entered. I felt like I could die.

  Just then I heard a loud thud. Jerking my head in that direction and slipping on a tree root, I fell and then turned my head slowly, hearing something breathing on the back of my neck.

  I was just about to jump out of my skin when I found myself eye to eye with the largest wolf I had ever seen. It was the most glorious gray wolf. He was an almost blue-silver color and had piercing ice-blue eyes outlined in black. The little white that I could see in his coat was stained from being outside in dirt and leaves. He had unique patterns in his fur on his left shoulder and down the leg to the paw. I realized he had stopped and was just staring at me. I closed my eyes, waiting to be attacked. Then I opened them to nothing.

  I looked around, trying to find him, and then I let out a relieved breath. I stood and touched my head where I was still bleeding. I shut my eyes one last time to get my bearings and took off as fast as I could through the trees.

  I was so cold I couldn’t feel anything. I found the edge of the woods, and there was a road with no one driving. I looked back and forth, trying to decide which way to go. I couldn’t figure out which direction home was in.

  I started to walk toward the moonlight, but I still felt like someone was following me. I turned around and saw a menacing black crow standing in the middle of the road. I turned back around, closing my eyes. I was getting ready to run.

  I opened my eyes and saw that I was in my living room and the movie had just ended.

  “Hey, Shay, wake up,” said Matt.

  Feeling groggy, I opened my eyes. “Hey, how long was I out?” I looked at Matt.

  “Well, your movie is definitely over.”

  I was confused. “Really? I’ve never fallen asleep to it before.” I sat all the way up. I was sure I looked confused.

  “Well, you said you didn’t sleep well. Maybe you just needed some extra rest. How’d you sleep?” said Tommy. They were both looking at me waiting for me to answer.

  “Crappy.”

  Tommy looked at Matt.

  I looked back and forth at both of them. “Why are you both so sweaty?” I gave them a weird look.

  Matt shrugged his shoulders. “Let’s get you upstairs and into bed.” He stood and held out his hand to pull me up.

  “Sounds good,” I said, smiling at him.

  “What?” He asked confused.

  I looked away. “Nothing.”

  He looked away from me, almost blushing. “Come on. Let’s go.”

  My mother came out of my parents’ room and looked at Matt with a motherly glare. “Everything okay?”

  Tommy answered as he ran up the last few steps, “Yeah, just going to bed. We’ll talk in the morning?”

  She shook her head. “Night, sweetie. Get some sleep.”

  She walked up to me and kissed my forehead and looked into my eyes. “No nightmares, okay?”

  I shook my head. “Night.” Then I walked into my room, leaving my mom, Tommy, and Matt talking in the hall.

  “Watch after her, all right?” My mom said to Matt. “Those are my orders.”

  I turned back to them before I walked through my doorway. Matt was acting differently toward my mother.

  I stood on the other side of the door, continuing to listen.

  “You know what this means?” Mom said. “She isn’t ready for this.”

  “We knew it was possible,” said Tommy. “There haven’t been twins in centuries, and now all the bloodlines have twins. I’ll have to tell Mr. Callamore about the development.”

  My mom sounded weird, almost regretful, when she said, “I know.”

  They all walked away from each other.

  I went to the bathroom, brushed my teeth, looked in the mirror, and walked back into my room. There was a knock at my door.

  “Yeah?”

  The door cracked open a bit. It was my dad. “Goodnight, sleep tight, don’t let the bedbugs bite.”

  I smiled. He said that every night. “Night.”

  I started to get comfortable in the covers. I lay my head on my pillow and closed my eyes. I felt a sensation come over my legs and back as I relaxed more.

  It must have started to rain. I could hear the rain on the window. The trees whipped the house in a rage. I surrendered my exhausted body to the warmth of my covers.

  Before I knew it, morning had come, and my alarm was going off. I opened my eyes and reached for the off button. Then I sat up and looked all around my room. It felt like someone had been in there.

  “Shay, it’s time to get up,” said Tommy from down the hall.

  I got up and opened the door. “I’m up,” I yelled. “Where’s Matt?”

  Tommy answered me from his room, “Everyone’s downstairs, eating. Where else?”

  I smirked. I didn’t know where Tommy and I got our sense of humor, and my parents are so boring. It definitely wasn’t them. “Okay, I’ll be down in a minute.”

  I got dressed quickly, throwing on a faded dark red shirt and some jeans that had a new rip just above the right knee.

  “Hurry up. We’ve got to go in twenty minutes.”

  I put on my shoes. “Yeah, okay.” I rolled my eyes.

  The drive to school was like normal. Tommy talked about a girl he was thinking about asking out, and Matt encouraged him to step out of his box and actually do it.

  I watched out the window for a minute. “Yeah, you should ask her out.”

  They laughed. “What?” I said, confused.

  “I already decided I had too much going on right now. Weren’t you paying attention?” said Tommy.

  I shook my head and smiled. “You should still ask her out.”

  Tommy pulled into the parking lot at school. Matt walked me in as usual. But the one difference I noticed was Duncan. I didn’t think I would ever see him miss a day. The Callamores were one hundred percent about their academics. They were always head of their class, and this year there were two of them.

  God blessed us with Duncan and Angelica Callamore. He was a year older, but Angelica excelled so much that they moved her up a grade when she was like eight or so. Now she was queen bee, and she was staring at me like I neutered her dog. I scowled at her then looked away.

  I hurried up a few steps to catch up with Matt. He was still talking to me, but of course I missed the entire conversation. I’m such a good listener, I thought, laughing silently at myself.

  He turned to me. “What?”

  “I’m sorry. Angelica was staring at me, and I totally missed everything you said.”

  He glanced up at Angelica and gave her a deep scowl. She turned away in a huff. Matt put his arm around my shoulder, and we walked to class together. I figured everyone thought we were a couple, even though we weren’t.

  The rest of the day was as normal as could be expected, with some societal high school drama. The hierarchies of the school’s elite were passing me some major dirty looks over the last two days, but by the time the end of that day came around, I thought that everyone felt sorry for me, but I didn’t know why, and all I could do was get out as quickly as possible. I just needed to get to my locker and get out of there.

  I rushed to my locker as people stared. I tried to get it open, but it wouldn’t budge. “Open, you stupid thing.” I was pulling it back and forth as hard as I could and then smacking it with the palm of my hand. I knew I had to be making a scene.

  “Woah there, Hulk. What’s going on?” Matt said.

  “This stupid thing won’t open.” I smacked it again with my hand.

  Matt looked at me like I was crazy. “Really?” He tried to open it and couldn’t. He turned to look around then back at my locker. “I bet the combo is just sticking. Give me a minute.”

  “Hey, if you can get it open, you’ll be my best friend forever.” I smiled at him.

&
nbsp; “I already am,” he said smiling back at me. He put his hand on my locker and moved the lock up and down. Then he magically opened it on his first try.

  “You are amazing!” I hugged him. “What would I do without you?” I was the one that was blushing at this point—crazy girl hitting her locker. Yep, just a normal day for me.

  “Never be able to open your locker?”

  He scoffed at the situation. That just made me blush more. I made such a scene. How embarrassing! “Yeah, Official Locker Opener.” I decided to title him properly.

  “All right, you, let’s get going. Tommy is waiting for us,” he said looking down the hall at the front doors.

  “Yeah, okay.” I turned to walk with him outside, but he stopped and caught Angelica’s attention.

  “Actually, I forgot something,” he said. “I’ll be right behind you.” He was looking straight at her. He glanced back at me for a brief second and then rushed to her side.

  “Okay.”

  Angelica Callamore gave me a victorious smirk and smiled at Matt. I knew he liked her. Why was he talking to her? I turned to go outside, trying to ignore the feeling that I had just lost my best friend to some ancient male behavior—sex. Of course, she was gorgeous, but he was mine first. Well not really mine, but he should be. Oh my god, did I really just think that? He was my friend. Okay, keep walking.

  “Shay, get over here. We’ve got to get home,” Tommy called out at me from his truck.

  “I’m waiting for Matt. He said he was coming.” I looked back at the doors and then to Tommy.

  “No, he just texted me. He needed to go see Duncan.”

  I looked at my phone. “Why didn’t he text me?”

  “I don’t know. Come on. Let’s go.”

  I continued walking to Tommy’s truck. “Yeah, I’m coming.” I turned and saw Matt getting into Angelica’s little red Volkswagen Eos. I spoke quietly. “Traitor.”

  Tommy looked at me. “What’s wrong with you?”

  “Nothing,” I snapped defensively. I was looking back at Matt in Angelica’s car driving off.

  “He’s not your boyfriend,” Tommy said, snapping me back into reality.