Unveiled: The Chronicles of Luxor Everstone

by Jacklyn Daher

  Love,

  Luxor

  Words abandoned Luxor as she stared at the page. Sixteen words, one for each year of her birth. She feared her opportunity for reprieve passed her by. An answer to even one question would be her saviour, a way to soothe the constant ache residing in her chest which was being held in a gilded cage. Each day bits of rust grew, until eventually it would crack from being rendered weak. Answers would reveal a glimmer of light at the end of a blindness tunnel.

  "Luxor."  Ayla's voice could be heard from across the room. Luxor blinked away the tears and sniffled. She quickly she slipped the letter away, tucking the chain under her t-shirt. "Are you okay?"

  Luxor nodded, and sipped her coffee. She definitely needed another one. "Just had a late night studying."

  And having a psychotic break.

  "You sure? You don't look well. Was I interrupting something?" Her eyebrows knitted together.

  Writing to my dead mother. Other than that, everything is peachy.

  "I agree you seriously look like shit." Evie popped out from the back of the couch. Luxor let out a yelp and held her chest. "Jesus Christ Evie, don't do that! And thanks,

  I really needed that compliment." She scooted over and made room for Evie, who instead plumped down across from her.

  "Do you want me to lie? I could say, ‘Oh I love what you did with your hair, a brush makes all the difference.’" She laughed.

  "How the hell is that a compliment?"

  "I could have called you zombie bride, and you look like death. Why are you even going to school?" Evie said.

  Luxor let out a small laugh because despite the less than desired insults, it was the truth. Puffy bags protruded from underneath her eyes, and her hair tied back in a bun resembling a bird’s nest. She must have looked like a monster from a horror movie.

  “Oh, you thinking about ditching again? Thanks, but no thanks, I don’t need another detention.” Luxor said.

  “Ditching? When? Detention?” Ayla asked.

  “On the day when I, well in P.E. and I hurt myself, Evie and I arrived to school a tad late and she was supposed to get the pink slips for History class. Imagine my surprise when Ms. Suarez sent me to detention.”

  “Oh shiiii-” Evie covered her mouth. “I legit thought she would send you to the principal’s office. That’s where I was waiting for you. We could have searched Hunter’s files for Mission H, you know partners in crime. One on the lookout, the other doing the deed.”

  “Thanks for the heads up,” Luxor replied dryly.

  “So, what happened? You sat in a room by yourself? Detentions are usually held on Wednesday’s at lunch or if it’s a major thing, after school.”

  “Hunter happened.”

  “What did he do now?” Ayla asked and scowled.

  “Castor got me out. It was weird, like Ms. Suarez was scared of them.”

  “She should be,” Ayla sniped.

  “Ooooh, I guess you owe him a favour now.” Evie chuckled.

  Yet another one

  “She will owe him nothing. We have proof of his devious nature, let’s just drop the subject,” Evie said.

  Luxor yawned. “Can we get off the Hunter train? It’s been a long night and I’ve had better days,” she said. "How long have you been here?" she asked them both, wondering if they saw her reading.

  "Not long. I came to pick you up but nobody was home, so I'm like screw the bitch I'm getting pancakes."

  What time was it? Luxor pressed the home button on her phone and it displayed 7.45am. She had been here for over an hour.

  "I just got in, I need my tea fix." Ayla leaned against the arm of the chair, and fiddled with the end of her braid.

  "Make it at home, its tea bag, water, and milk. You're a health freak so no sugar needed., Evie said, fiddling around with her leather cuff.

  "Sit down, you're making me nervous."

  Ayla joined them, settling next to Evie.  "It's my treat to leave the house. My father can be full on. Beside Inez's tea is heavenly." It was the first time Ayla mentioned anything about her family, she hadn't divulged any information on her life in general.

  "Okay, then." Luxor laughed and wondered more about Ayla, the girl certainly was one of a kind.

  "Ayla you are one strange creature." Evie bumped Ayla who almost toppled over the edge. “So, tell, why the crappy night?”

  “It’s every night. Damn crows.”

  “You’re surrounded by crows?” Evie raised an eyebrow. “Sounds ominous.”

  “No, not so much them being around, it’s, it’s…” Her voice trailed off. She was scared what they’d think when she told them what went on in her crazy mind.

  “Yes,” Evie prodded.

  Inez arrived, giving Luxor reprieve, and placed a pot of tea before Ayla. The aroma of honey and lemon wafted upwards. "No good? You want waffles?" She looked at the uneaten raisin toast that had gone cold, but Luxor shook her head. Inez huffed, and tsked as she walked off.

  Ayla giggled in her saccharine voice. "You really know how to rile Inez. I don't think I've ever seen her tsk before meeting you."

  "I have that effect." Luxor gave a half smile. "Besides she's always trying to feed me."

  "You do look like a stray cat, all scruffy and lost," Evie teased. "I need to dress you up again. And Ayla for that matter."

  Luxor frowned at her. "I'm not a doll, and besides your taste in fashion leaves a lot to be desired.

  Evie's trailed her hands over the length of her body. She wore a burgundy Ramones singlet, faded denim cut-offs, and silver studded ankle boots with a three-inch wedge heel. "This is rock. Yours is a dirty sock."

  "Evie, that's so rude!" Ayla frowned.

  "Don't get me started on you and your pinafores," she shot back. “Anyways back to the crows.”

  Luxor bit her lip and told them to move in close in which they did, all three heads nearing touching each other. “Crows haunt me in my sleep,” she said in a hushed whisper.

  Evie burst out laughing but when she saw Luxor’s expression had turned serious. “Crows as in caw, caw,” she flapped her hands.

  “To the Heavens above Evie, she’s being serious.” Ayla sipped some tea and placed in down daintily and faced Luxor. “Specifically, what’s the dreams about?”

  “Crows in a forest being pests,” Luxor said giving her the ultrashort version. There was no way she would divulge the shadows, dead animals and constant smell of sulphur.

  “Dreams have no underlining meaning,” Evie said.

  “That’s not true. For one thing it’s said that when a person dies, they are the harbinger, bringing a soul from this living realm to the afterlife.” Luxor said. “Or so they portray it in movies.”

  “Pfft, afterlife. When you die, you die,” Evie responded.

  Ayla scoffed. “For a pastor’s daughter you are awfully negative.”

  “Better than being an ignorant fool,” Evie seethed, her eyes ablaze. “Next you’ll say it could be Death himself coming to get Luxor.” She whipped her head about. “Do you think Death is after you?”

  The tension was thick in the air, Evie was aggravated with Ayla, and Luxor on edge with both of them mixed with the letter, and her night terror. The sooner a caffeine injection was inserted into all of them the better. She witnessed their argument and was about to interject when Inez returned excitedly few minutes later, a large smile on her face.

  “Darling, you okay?”

  “Yes, I have a headache.”

  “Ahhh, that’s because you never eat. I fix that,” she said with a smile and turned to Evie. "How’s your mother dear?"

  "Mum's busy with the Valentine's Day festival, lots of organising. Apart from that everything's great," Evie said. “Valentine's Day festival was the Summer highlight of Brighton Falls. It starts off early in Mount Beauty before coming here. For some reason tourists, as well from neighbouring towns come for the over the top celebrations. Every year they attempt to make it better than the last. Attempt being the ope
rative word.”

  "It going to be fun, no?" Inez replied cheerily.

  "Yayy, for three whole days. They should stick to one, not like Brighton Falls can match Mount Beauty." Sarcasm dripped thickly from Evie's voice.

  Inez looked over her shoulder. "Need to see other customers, I'll make you your special food." She scooted away.

  "You've got be kidding me. Three days? Isn't it enough torturing the single ones with one day?" Luxor groaned.

  "Who knows by then we'll probably have a Valentine." Evie scribbled on a piece of paper, and when Luxor tried to take a peek, she shifted her body to block her.

  "Highly unlikely." Luxor mused. "I just find the whole concept of Valentine's Day creepy. I mean chubby, flying babies with wings shooting arrows. Like seriously that's a health hazard, childhood obesity is no joke. And arrows? Hello, who the fudge gives babies arrows?"

  "Hey you stole my f word!" Evie slapped her again. "You do realise they aren't human, and are fictional for that matter. Don't you?" Evie said. "So, you've never had a valentine give you roses, chocolate or cards?" Evie asked.

  Luxor rubbed her reddened arm, and returned the favour by whacking Evie on the knee. "That's not the point."

  "Just as I predicted." Evie looked smug.

  At Marsol Grammar, Valentine's Day was an unofficial tradition. Anonymous cards and roses were left on, and at the foot of lockers. At the end of the day, Luxor's locker was overfilled with red roses and cards. She never bothered to read them, the fact she was desired was enough. When nobody was looking, she placed the roses at girls’ lockers she knew wouldn't get any. The last thing she needed was a boy to get hurt by being around her. It was different now, maybe Marsol Grammar was cursed, the original place of where it started. But now she didn't want to be alone.

  A massive plate of waffles was placed in front of her, topped with ice cream and chocolate sauce. Around the plate raspberries, strawberries and blueberries were scattered. Luxor hadn't ever seen a dessert so big. "When my kids were younger and I wanted to cheer them up I made this for them. Spain has churros," she spat it like it was a horrible taste on her tongue, "but I'm from Belgium and after eating my homemade waffles you will never eat a churro again." With a gentle hand on Luxor's shoulder she whispered in a motherly tone. "Enjoy darling."

  Luxor's heart swelled and she smiled at the old lady. It was the nicest thing anybody had done for her and she was a stranger.

  "We are so sharing that." Quick as a flash Evie’s mood returned back to normal, she swung her legs around and bumped hips. She grabbed a fork, stabbing a chocolate covered strawberry and scoffed it down.

  "That's disgusting! Evie close your mouth." Ayla retracted as Evie leaned forward giving her an inspection of the food of her mouth.

  Luxor pushed the plate closer to her, not only did she want to have another anaphylactic incident, the mere thought of food had her gagging. The words of the letter swirled in her mind.

  "Awesome, this is all mine," Evie said with a mush of waffle in her mouth. Maybe it was time to tell everybody about her allergies. It would stop them from presuming she had an eating disorder.

  A switched flicked on in the inner recess on Luxor’s mind and she stiffened up, her eyesight clouding over. All around her had become muted, the words mine, mine, mine a repeat on her mind. The world stopped, taking on a different shape.

  Again, the hooded figure lent out a hand to help, his cloak grazing the Earth, but she ignored it. Luxor leaned back, her elbows embedded in the earth and she became immobilised. Blood covered her feet, the more she moved the more it spread until it reached halfway up her calf.

  Luxor squirmed back in the forest and inhaled the scent of singed pine leaves, the crunchy leaves scratching her bare skin. She was all too aware of what was coming next. It was the same one which terrorised her nearly every night. She held her hand against her eyes, and squinted into the glow. “What do you want?”

  A pinch twisted her inner arm and snapped Luxor out of the vision who flinched.

  “What the hell was that?” Evie said, her eyes misty. “You blanked out like you had a silent seizure. And your eyes, they rolled back, as in all I saw was white.”

  “Let’s get you out of here and home,” Ayla said, clutching Luxor’s shoulder and smothering the spot she was pinched.

  “Or hospital.” Evie suggested.

  Luxor shook her head and straightened her spine.

  Not real. I’m okay. All in my head.

  “Who were you talking to? You said ‘what do you want?’”

  Luxor smoothed her arms with her shaky fingers. No scratches. She wiggled her toes and instead of being bare and bloody, they were dry and unscathed. The hooded figure decided to give her a double dose of torture, but she refused to let him win. These nightmares had taken on a life of their own and could be labelled as such. No longer did it haunt her at night or even when she slept, but he was everywhere. Adamant to destroy her for whatever reason.

  “No, and no. Can we forget this happened? I forgot my meds this morning,” she said in a rush, hands flying everywhere as she gathered her possessions. Her mind was a mush of words and visions which didn’t make sense, but slowly she was working it out. She hurried out before they could stop her.

  School was the last thing on Luxor’s mind, and even though she was aware of the consequences if she was busted being truant, she couldn’t concentrate on anything. Ayla and Evie let her be and didn’t follow her out which she was grateful for. Maybe they had finally witnessed the true extent of how damaged their friend was.

  Luxor lifted her hood to cover her face and strode around aimlessly passing each and every store until she ended up on the other side of the road. It was then she realised Main Street resembled a patchwork quilt; stores of all shapes and sizes joined together to make a united street. Currently it was deserted in the way that she could take a long nap in the middle of the road and not fear of being run over.

  Luxor headed further down the street then she had ever been. Previously she had no inclination to venture around and get to know the town. Half the shops had closed signs in the windows, a testament to when Evie told her when they met Brighton Falls was a pit stop town. She stumbled upon what at first looked like a small store but was actually a theatre. On the side of the window was a light box, the kind where letters and numbers could be easily interchanged. The current sign said, “Under Construction” in all capital letters.

  Luxor pressed her nose against the glass and cupped her hands on either side of her face. Dim lights outlined a curved bench with glass cabinets behind it, but apart from that everything was fuzzy. It appeared deserted, a perfect place for Luxor to hide from the world for a while. She nudged the door with her toe, and it swung open with a screech from the rusted door hinges. Inside, the walls were painted in a dull shade of sepia which once upon a time suited the classic interior but now made the old theatre appear abandoned. At the candy bar, crushed lollies and stale, blackened popcorn littered the floor. Posters hung on the wall, the last feature film at least ten years old.

  “This will do for now,” she said as she spotted an armchair across the room, near a burgundy, heavy draped window held together by rope. It would be the perfect location to flee in case somebody arrived.

  Luxor make herself comfortable allowing her body to become lax as she propped her feet on the small table. Ten second reprieve and her thoughts turned dark. She removed her feet from the table and dug her elbows into her thighs to minimise the jittering.

  Her mind switched from incident to incident. But mostly it settled on the hooded man who had spoken for the first time, and how he wanted to claim her. Her father. But this man was evil. The way he spoke. The way in which he moved. The way he took pleasure in hurting her mother.

  He’s not real. A figment of your twisted imagination.

  Switch. The letter. Her mother. The love.

  The vibration ceased and Luxor expelled a hefty breath. Continuing on with her deep breathing sh
e opened her eyes. The grim interior didn’t trigger anything in her mind. Sometimes they go hand in hand, two unrelated things could have one thing in common and boom, a connection is fused. She stared up at the ceiling and fixated on the chipped starburst centrepiece fixture and how once upon a time it was beautiful and adored but now it was a broken and neglected feature. It didn’t make Luxor think of how she felt now because of the way Meredith treated her, but more of the hooded man. No doubt once upon a time he was beautiful, and he cared and had a woman care for him but time had passed and now he thrived on destruction. His visits were evident of that.

  Damnit why did I think of him?

  Luxor massaged the knot in her stomach and tried to think of happy thoughts again but it was a futile task. Everything kept coming back to the vicious dreams. She leaned over and retrieved the notebook from her backpack. It was time to purge. Time to expel the dark and twisted thoughts from her mind so they didn’t consume her. Tapping the pen a couple of times at the top of the page she scribbled down everything heavy that weighed down on her. She even included her feelings on Hunter, of Ayla and Evie and how she felt their friendship would ultimately end. It was only a matter of time until they figured out she wasn’t of sane mind. She refused to give Scarlett the benefit of having her name there even though she was a contributor.

  Keys jingled at the door and soon after, a couple of voices followed. Luxor froze and skittered to hide behind the curtains and watched as a man and woman in their mid-fifties disappear to the side of the counter directly in view. She peeked behind the curtain and waited until the woman propped a wooden crate to hold the storage door open and disappeared into the back room. Luxor did a swift head shake and seized the opportunity and escaped without a hitch back into the Village. She breathed out a sigh of relief and crouched under the canopy of a shady tree and rid herself of her notebook and pen.

  Her phone vibrated in her pocket.

  Meredith: Come home straight away

  Luxor sprinted through the Village like a mad girl and jumped over curbs before nearly getting hit by a car. She was positive Meredith had received a phone call from Principal Wright about her absence.