by Marc Lindsay
It was during this time that Selene was busy in her grandmother’s kitchen cooking up a storm of pastries and cookies. She didn’t normally eat a lot of sweets but she found the discipline required to make a complex dessert to be rather therapeutic, and after her argument with Jason she was left puzzled and something else she didn’t want to admit to, feelings of guilt. But why, she hadn’t done anything wrong, had she? Ursula had been watching Selene for the past hour and knew something was bothering her.
‘Selene! For goodness sake are you going to tell me what’s wrong, or are you going to make me guess?’ Ursula asked. Selene looked up a little bewildered, a tray of hot cookies in her hands. She was dressed in her usual attire, dark edgy clothing but topped off with a frilly pink apron. A light dusting of flour covered her nose and cheeks and a long strand of her hair dangled irritatingly across one eye, she blowed self-consciously at it attempting to clear the obstruction, she failed.
‘I’m sorry grandmother, have I done something wrong?’ Selene asked. Ursula regarded her with a sigh.
‘Selene, place the tray down and tell me what’s on your mind?’ Ursula asked.
‘I’m afraid I’m a little bust right now, maybe…’
‘I’ve known you all your life, besides it doesn’t take a mentalist to realise something’s bothering you, please come and have a seat and you can tell me what’s wrong,’ Selene was about to protest, but knew arguing with her was pointless instead she sighed in defeat and followed Ursula into the sitting room. They sat in silence until Selene broke.
‘It’s not that important, really.’
‘Why don’t you let me be the judge of that shall we,’ Ursula said.
‘We had a fight, there I said it, nothing big,’ Selene said quickly hoping that would be the end of it.
‘Let’s break this down shall we. First of all, when you say we, you mean you and Jason,’ Selene nodded. ‘Second, by fight you mean argument,’ again Selene nodded. ‘Third, if it wasn’t big you wouldn’t be upset,’ Ursula said.
‘I’m not upset…’
‘Of course not dear, if everything was rosy you wouldn’t have slammed the door on arrival home, ignored me entirely and started baking a pile of treats you have no intention eating, am I close.’
‘Okay maybe I’m a little ticked off, but in all fairness none of this is my fault…’
‘If that were true you wouldn’t be upset, you’d be…’ Ursula pondered the right word. ‘Smug,’ Selene tried to appear outraged but failed hopelessly. ‘Do you want to tell me about it,’ Ursula said. Again Selene sighed realising her grandmother wasn’t going to drop this, so she proceeded to fill her in on the afternoon activities right up until her arrival home.
‘As you can see, I’ve done nothing wrong,’ Selene said with absolutely no conviction.
‘If that were true, you wouldn’t be upset now, would you,’ Ursula said calmly, Selene was about to reply but remained silent. ‘Now I’m not saying you’re entirely to blame, in fact I don’t think either of you are, this Kava fellow seems to be a rather charismatic individual. And it seems that you maybe were swept up a little in his presence. From my understanding you’re Jason’s first love, and being in the early part of a relationship, he feels threatened by an experienced older man.’
‘That’s ridiculous.’
‘Look at it from his perspective and try not to judge him too harshly, he is only a man after all,’ Ursula said with a grin.
‘I suppose,’ Selene said. Ursula rose from her chair a little stiffly, which didn’t go unnoticed.
‘Are you okay?’ Selene asked.
‘I’m fine, just still recovering from the festival, I think we should both accept the fact that old age is starting to take its toll on me.’
‘Rubbish, you’ve still got plenty of good years left in you,’ Selene said, although she couldn’t completely hide the concern in her voice or the worry in her eyes. Ursula bent over to kiss Selene on the forehead.
‘How about we treat ourselves to some of your handy work, the aroma is heavenly,’ Ursula said and then led Selene by the hand into the kitchen.
Jason arrived home via the backyard, easily leaping the fence in a single bound in his panther form. Despite the fact nothing had happened at the orchard he was still shaken by the uncertainty of what he had felt, now in hindsight he wasn’t sure if his instincts had been correct or whether he had just let himself be spooked. Now safely at home he decided he would investigate the orchard further. Jason changed back into his human form, rising slowly from a crouched position, his alien clothing configuring itself to his body. He glanced covertly around to ensure his arrival had come unnoticed, happy, he entered the house.
Unbeknown to Jason, someone was watching, hiding within the branches of a neighbouring tree a small female figure spied Jason entering his house through the lens of a sophisticated camera. The petite figure carefully climbed down the trunk of the tree her camera slung over one shoulder, she leapt to the ground, slipped and landed on her butt. She inspected her camera then got to her feet and dusted the dirt from her backside and finally straightened her pigtails. She glanced one last time at Jason’s house a defiant look on her face.
‘Gotcha,’ the figure said.
With the kids gone Ms Jax left Ulysses and Kava alone to catch up, a lot of years had passed since the two of them had seen each other and both were keen to find out what had been happening in the others life.
‘I’ve been saving this for a special occasion,’ Ulysses called out.
‘Then that time would be now,’ Kava answered. Ulysses walked into the room holding a dusty brown unopened bottle of wine, the label yellowed with age. Ulysses handed it to Kava who studied it closely.
‘A Massandra sherry de la Frontera, I’m impressed, is that 1763?’ Kava asked.
‘Close, 1775,’ Ulysses answered.
‘Where in the hell did you dig that up?’
‘It was in Lombardy during the battle of Lodi. I managed to liberate a crate from the Austrians during their retreat,’ Ulysses said laughing.
‘What were Austrians soldiers doing with Russian wine?’ Kava asked.
‘You remember their Commander, a pompous oaf by the name of Sebotten…, something.’
‘Karl Sebottendorf,’ Kava said.
‘That’s right, Sebottendorf, how could I forget a name like that,’ both men laughed. ‘This stuff is virtually impossible to get, Stalin had a lot of the rare wines taken and placed into storage in the 1920s, but I still have a crate left.’ Kava looked genuinely touched by this.
‘I’m deeply honoured my friend,’ Kava said, but Ulysses waved him off.
‘Don’t thank me yet, this stuff may have turned, and we’ll end up drinking vinegar,’ Ulysses said as he opened the bottle and immediately poured two glasses.
‘We should let it breathe,’ Kava suggested.
‘It’s nearly two hundred and fifty years old, it’s waited long enough. Kava picked up his glass and studied the deep golden liquid.
‘Here’s to our time on earth,’ Ulysses toasted.
‘And to the possibility of someday getting home,’ Kava added. The two men clinked their glasses together and drank deeply of the sherry.
‘Whoa, that’s exquisite,’ Kava admired.
‘Yes luckily the years have been kind to it,’ Ulysses said. ‘Come sit down. The two men walked across the room to a small table located in the far corner and sat on the two leather chairs provided. On the table between them a beautifully hand crafted chessboard made from a dark ebony timber, the squares were hand beaten silver and bronze and the pieces were ivory and cobalt stone intricately carved depicting two opposing armies.
‘Ah, so this is your plan, ply me with liquor then once I’m bereft of my senses, defeat me in chess, you scoundrel,’ Kava said with a laugh. Ulysses shrugged it off as if to say ‘hey you caught me’. ‘But your plan has one major flaw.’
‘And what’s that?’ Ulysses asked.
�
�I’ve practiced much since last we played,’ Kava said picking up one of his pawns and moving it forward. ‘Let the battle begin,’ he said with a mischievous grin.
Chapter 10
Their class timetables were at complete odds with each other and unforeseen circumstances prevented them from meeting during their breaks between classes, so it wasn’t until the end of school that Jason finally caught up with Selene. He had a big apology memorised but when he saw her his mind went blank. Selene was waiting for him, leaning casually against the front gate like she normally did, however today she had ditched her normal attire and opted instead to wear something feminine and pretty. Tight sweater, skirt and stockings and knee high boots, her hair was down, full and glossy. She never wore a lot of makeup and today was no exception, but what she did wear accentuated her natural beauty. Jason’s heart nearly missed a beat and after a long pause he coughed awkwardly attempting to clear his throat.
‘I, um,’ Jason stammered.
‘Listen before you say anything, I just want to say that I’m sorry,’ Selene said.
‘No, you have nothing to be sorry about, it’s all my fault, I was a real jerk,’ Jason added quickly. He moved forward and took her into his arms, kissing her tenderly. Other students passing by cast longing glances in their direction. The kiss was sweet and passionate, they parted giving each other a shy smile.
‘I can’t promise that I won’t ever get jealous again and act like a jerk, but if it means that the making up will always be as good as this, well then it’s almost worth it,’ Jason said, Selene pretended mock indignation, playfully punching his arm.
‘Aw, don’t tell me you did this just for me,’ Jason said pointing to her outfit. ‘I remembered how much you enjoyed seeing me in a dress so….’
‘Don’t get me wrong I really like the way you look right now, and I definitely won’t complain if you dress like that for me on special occasions, but I like, I prefer you just the way you are,’ Jason said sincerely, Selene blushed then kissed him again.
‘How about we go, before I go completely girly and start tearing up or something,’ Selene said.
‘Well I definitely don’t want that,’ Jason said with a grin and led her away by the hand.
They arrived at the library to find that the others had been busy in their absence. A large space had been cleared in the foyer, the display cabinets had been arranged in a large circular configuration. At the centre was the pride of the collection, the Helmet of Rostam, a beautiful but morbid piece fashioned to look like a large demonic skull, there was a pair of horns located near the top front about three inches in length and a single row of smaller horns running from the top down the centre of the rear. Runes and symbols covered every inch of the surface, which had a bronze hue to it. They stood there transfixed, amazed at the detail that had gone into its design.
‘Do you think it’s really a demon skull, like the legend suggests,’ Selene whispered and Jason shrugged.
‘Who knows, it’s possible I suppose, wouldn’t want to run into one,’ Jason said. ‘I wonder if it’s possible for me to try and catalogue it,’ he touched the case and was about to try and open it when a voice from behind spoke up.
‘I wouldn’t do that,’ A stern voice said. Jason and Selene spun around, startled by the interruption.
‘I’m sorry I didn’t mean to…,’ Jason stammered.
‘Sure you did, but I won’t hold that against you, you’re young and full of curiosity, but I warn you, I’m aware of your talents and using them on this artefact could have dire consequences, do I make myself clear?’ Kava asked.
‘Yes sir,’ Jason replied.
‘I’m sorry to take such a hard line on this, I’m just thinking of your safety,’ Kava said. He then clasped Jason on the shoulder and steered them away. Let me show you the other exhibits,’ They walked slowly around viewing the other pieces with Kava giving them a running commentary. The helmet was the only artefact, the rest of the cabinets displayed ancient parchments held vertically by specially made clips designed to hold them firmly and at the same time prevent damage, this allowed visitors to view the parchment on both sides. All the pieces had beautifully scripted writing on one side detailing a specific myth or legend and on the other side a single symbol or rune. At the end of the tour Selene asked what the purpose of the symbols was.
‘That I’m afraid remains a mystery, one that I’ve never been able to decipher,’ Kava said perplexed. ‘The only thing I am sure of is that there are supposed to be thirteen in total.’
‘I noticed one of the cabinets is empty, is there trouble with one of the pieces,’ Selene said.
‘Yes the thirteenth piece, I don’t have it but I hope too,’ Kava said, but Jason and Selene looked confused.
‘That empty cabinet is my way of being presumptuous,’ Kava said cryptically.
‘How so?’ Jason asked.
‘I was hoping that the piece I need for the collection was being held in this facility,’ Kava said.
‘I’m sure if that’s the case Ulysses will be glad to give it to you,’ Selene said.
‘Yes, Ulysses has already given his blessing on the matter, but if it is here we haven’t had any luck locating it yet,’ Kava said with a sigh.
‘That’s unusual, the library has a way of always finding what we’re looking for even if we’re not, maybe it’s not here,’ Selene said.
‘That’s a possibility, but I’m certain it’s here somewhere,’ Kava said determined. Jason and Selene gave each other a quick glance.
‘Well, we’ll do what we can to help,’ Jason said, despite his initial feelings about Kava, he was determined to do the right thing by their new guest.
‘I’m glad to hear it,’ Ulysses said as he joined them. ‘I was going to ask you two if you wouldn’t mind helping. Between the four of us, I’m sure we’ll find the parchment, if it’s still here.’
‘How long have we got?’ Selene asked.
‘I’m here for a couple of weeks, I obviously won’t have it for the exhibit, but I’d like to take it with me when I leave,’ Kava said hopefully.
‘If it’s here, it’s yours my friend,’ Ulysses said.
‘Excellent,’ Kava replied relieved.
‘Not now though, Kava, Amelia and I are going out tonight. So I’m giving you both the night off,’ Ulysses said. Jason and Selene looked surprised. ‘Hey you’re only young once, so enjoy, by the looks of things Selene looks as if she has plans of her own,’ Ulysses said regarding her current attire.
‘As a matter of fact I do have somewhere Jason and I can go,’ Selene said, and grabbed his arm and whisked him away before Ulysses could change his mind.
‘Have a good night,’ Jason called back as he was dragged up the stairs.
‘So where’s this mystery destination?’ Jason asked.
‘Somewhere I’ve been meaning to take you for weeks.’ Selene replied. They passed the CBD and down several side streets, eventually stopping outside a brownstone two storey building, a gaudy neon sign hung over the entrance spluttering on and off. Jason could barely make out the words ‘Raven FM’.
‘Ah, your friend the DJ, what was his name, Bugle, Button, Beaker….’
‘Beetle, his name is Beetle,’ Selene said shaking her head. ‘Sheesh, not even close. Jason shrugged and followed her in. The interior of the radio station was dimly lit and quiet, muffled sounds could be heard coming from the end of the corridor. They walked down towards the noise and light where they found a small room behind a glass window. Within the room an older man in his sixties sat behind a sound system with hundreds of dials, switches and knobs, a microphone on a boom dangled lazily down in front of his face. The DJ was a large man with a tired lined face his long grey hair pulled back in a ponytail, he stroked his salt and pepper coloured beard with extremely large hands that looked more like Christmas hams, his fingers covered in assorted silver and gold rings of all manner of descriptions. He was dressed like a retired cowboy, jeans flannel shirt, boots
and a beat up old hat.
When the DJ saw Selene a huge grin spread lazily across his face, he waved them both in. As they entered Jason began to notice all manner of old photos and paraphernalia covered the walls, pictures of the DJ with an assortment of rock gods and royalty, an aged and worn black electric guitar was resting on the far wall. A classic eighties heavy metal tune had just finished playing, the sound of the needle on vinyl filtered through the speakers. The DJ expertly flipped the record from the turnstile and placed another in its place, all in the blink of an eye. An old seventies love ballad poured out, the DJ flipped a couple of switches then removed his headphones. Much to Jason’s surprise Selene raced around the table and jumped into his arms.
‘Hey, easy girl easy, you’re crushing me,’ the DJ said. To say his voice was gravelly was an understatement, Jason thought it sounded like Clint Eastwood with laryngitis.
‘I’m so sorry I haven’t been in to visit. To say that I’ve been busy lately would be an understatement,’ Selene said, sounding genuinely apologetic, she released her hold on him and pulled Jason into view. The DJ regarded him with a cool and calculating eye.
