CHAPTER 2:
I had blown it! We hadn't even been living in Timber Falls a week and I had already blown our cover. I fingered the curtain open a crack and watched Carter reverse out of the driveway and disappear down the street.
"How was your first day?" Lucia whispered in my right ear.
"Whaaa!" I spun around alarmed; my heart was beating out of my chest. "You scared the pants off me!"
Lucia cackled to herself as she sat back down at the small round table covered with coloured shawls and scarves. Cards with funny pictures were scattered all around the table, tarot cards I guessed; Sometimes Lucia used them to focus when reaching out with her mind.
"See anything in the cards today?" Expecting her foreseeing my blunder just before.
"Nothing of consequence. Things change as usual, but they remain much the same." She replied as she begun to re-shuffle her cards.
I Picked up my bad and went up stairs, leaving Lucia to her scrying. She usually required peace and quiet to get a good read. From what she had told me, when she was younger she was a famous medium and psychic, attracting people from all over the globe. But when we went on the run she abandoned all that, and limited the use of her power. She didn't want to attract the wrong attention by attracting a crowd once again.
I plopped down on my bed and let my heart settle. I played some music out of my stereo, one of the few possessions I took every time we moved. Hey I needed something to drown out Lucia's chanting.
It wasn't long before the soft music sent me to sleep.
Lucia shuffled through her cards, and no matter how hard she tried focusing the same reading kept appearing. The same signs had been appearing again and again for almost a month now. Just over a week ago Lucia had been absent minded, scrying over the signs expecting something new when it hit with a ton of bricks. Just a series of flashes, nothing clear, but the meaning was clear. RUN! Change is coming. Be prepared. Lucia was getting too old for this. She was quickly approaching 80 years of age and she was starting to feel all those years of running catching up. But Dallas was still her ward, and she had to make sure he was going to be alright if anything was going to happen. She had to protect him.
Dallas found her that night busily packing their bags, and within a few hours they were on the road. She had told him that Mikhail, her son, had advised them to leave, but it was a lie. She couldn't get Mikhail involved; he was in the underground too deep. It could put his life in danger. She wasn't sure where she was travelling; she was listening to the trees, to her spirit guides to tell her where to go. As they climbed north the weather grew cold and miserable and she knew they were approaching their destination. Dallas wasn't to know either. Lucia knew everything was about to change and she had little time to prepare Dallas for what was to come. She was scared but this small town held magic that could protect them. Old magic. She wasn't sure what it was or how to use it, but this is where she was drawn to, and the spirit world had never let her down before, and she wasn't going to give up on them now.
The large amber coloured wolf looked up at the house. He was intrigued by their smell. The boy and the old woman weren't human, well not fully as far as he could tell. He could hear the boy's rhythmic breathing from the top floor. He had smelt him earlier today, which sent alarm bells ringing. He had smelt all kinds of beings but never one like this and never one in his territory, especially his school. He had yet to tell his pack yet; he wanted more information, were they dangerous? Could they put his and his pack's lives in jeopardy? Usually he would have told the alpha right away, but something stopped him.
Earlier today when he first arrived at school the strangest smell invaded his nostrils. Along with the small of other humans, body odour, perfume, mud and the like he picked up the scent of something foreign, an attractive fresh smell that sent his nose twitching for more. His pack mates didn't seem to notice it like he did.
He followed the sent around the school, firstly reaching a locker and then progressing to various class rooms. It had the wolf on edge. He paced outside one of the class rooms where he could smell the being inside. Just as the bell went he panicked and ran. He couldn't be seen wandering an empty corridor with his nose in the air by half the student body.
Whispers had been spreading around the school about this new kid that dickhead Dave had attacked that morning. On the one hand the wolf was angry Dave hadn't learnt his lesson, but on the other he was anxious about this new kid and what he could be. He spoke with his pack mates about the new kid over lunch, questioning if any of them had seen him and what he was like. According to them he was small guy with black hair but nothing out of the ordinary. This didn't set his mind at ease.
He followed the scent some more, which made him late to Gym class. Coach Miller was definitely going to have words with him now. He was already in the shit for missing track practise last Friday.
Phwunk!
The first thing he saw was a small guy hit the deck and Dave Tully laughing his head off. The wolf's rage took over and grabbed the first ball he could find. With all his strength he hurled the ball straight at Dave's nose and sent him to the ground. The wolf's rage was seething through him as he looked upon the small charcoal headed mass lying at his feet. How dare he encroach on his territory without warning.
"Are you ok?" the wolf said through gritted teeth? The small boy's eyes flitted open. They were the palest sparkling blue eyes that he had ever seen. Carter was at a loss for words. The wolf receded back into the dark corners of his mind. After an hour with the boy, no not boy, Dallas, Carter was utterly intrigued. This boy was beautifully honest and innocent. He was torn; on the one side the wolf was crying out in warning, but on the other he wanted to get to know this boy more.
By the end of the trip the wolf had had enough, it forced Carter to blurt out the question. He could see Dallas' eyes dilate and a look of confusion swept across his face.
"What? My mother was Romanian and my Father was Dutch if that's what you mean, but hey I've gotta go" he blurted out all the syllables at once so the sentence sounded like one big word. Dallas couldn't get out of the car quick enough. Something was up with that boy.
So here the wolf sat, listening to the small boy's breathing in the floor above, torn up inside what to do. The woman on the bottom floor, who was quietly humming to herself, definitely smelt human. But this boy was different, and the wolf needed to figure out how.
The next two weeks went by in a blur. I had spent the week doing my best to blend in; everything I had been taught and had utilized to blend into the background had been put into practise. Looking back on it I had felt rather stupid, of course it was a legitimate question to ask someone, especially someone with my pale complexion against my dark hair, not to mention my ice-blue eyes. I hadn't always had the eyes, they were originally a hazel brown colour, but when my powers started to manifest so did my pupil colour. That set into motion another move from Kansas to California, how could you possibly expect someone to believe you wear pale-blue contacts 24/7? I had often gotten comments about my eyes in the past, they were very original. Lucia had said my mother had had them when she was younger too, but as her powers progressed they developed into a glistening silver colour. I hoped to God that I wasn't going down that pathway; these were bad enough to explain. Tara was about the only one who wasn't fooled by my cold attitude.
"Gee Dallas, do you think you wear something nicer on Saturday. You look like you're wearing some kind of grey potato sack."
"I'm not coming to this party Tara. I barely know anyone and I've got a ton of work to catch up on if I don't want to fail this semester."
"Pfft. I saw how quickly you worked through those trigonometry questions earlier. You'll be fine. Plus it's a great opportunity to meet new people, maybe even a special someone he he." Tara giggled. Tara had been bugging me to come to this party since Monday, and since it was now Friday she was bringing in the big guns.
"Please, Please, Please come with me? If you don't come I'll have no one to go with and I heard Amanda Stevens is bringing a truck load of booze!"
Everyone in the town had been looking forward to this party since the start of the year. Some rich wig always has to throw the best party to improve their popularity. It happens at every town. Apparently this party gets thrown every year to celebrate the founding of the town, and is held on a big estate on the edge of town.
To be honest the party did sound tantalising. Lucia had increased their training sessions to almost every night. It was utterly exhausting. On the plus side I was easily converting bowels of water into razor sharp shards of ice. Something Lucia had wanted me to learn for quite a while. They were quite useless I thought, but my mother's books said they had offensive capabilities, whatever that meant.
"Fine! I'll go to this bloody party."
"Eeeeiii!" Tara squealed whilst hugging me around the waist. A mousy looking girl sitting across from us in the library jumped almost a foot.
"We are going to have such a great time! But we really do need to do something about your clothes." "What's wrong with my clothes?" I questioned. "Well half the time you look like a hobo. No offence."
I rolled my eyes. It was true, living on the run I didn't bother buying a lot of clothes since you tend to just pick up and leave at the drop of a hat. And to be honest I had been wearing the worst of the worst lately, drab plain coloured stuff that blended well with the stained school walls.
"Let's go shopping after school and get something for tomorrow night. I need a new pair of shoes anyway so it's settled. I'll meet you at my car after the bell goes."
I really doubted I would have had much of a say in that conversation. Tara tended to make decisions for people.
We spent most of that afternoon shoe shopping for Tara. I didn't mind too badly as it wasn't often I got to do the things regular kids got to do. Tara had been walking backward and forwards in front of a large gilded mirror for the past 30 minutes. The shop assistant was quickly starting to look impatient as she brought out the 7th pair of heels for her to try on.
"Ohhhh!" she said with glee. "I think these are the ones."
"Finally." I heard the shop assistant whisper under her breath.
"They are, well, very green?" I questioned tentatively. The shoes were a violent shade of emerald green that clashed violently with Tara's hair.
"Oh these will be perfect with my dress!"
I was starting to get worried about Tara's outfit. If it was anything like these pair of shoes, it was going to be difficult to blend into a crowd standing next to her.
15 minutes later, with Tara's bags in tow, we decided to get some sustenance, as Tara put it, before starting to look for clothes for me. We had decided to go to the diner on the main strip, the exact one I had been to on my first few days of arriving in Timber falls. The diner was buzzing. Tara said it was always busy on a Friday afternoon; apparently all the high school students like to come here to relax after their week of school work. Tara weaved through the crowd holding my hand with an iron grip as not to lose me.
"Hey Dallas!" A husky voice broke through the crowd. Carter was sitting in a large booth with two other guys, spread out with plates of food and drinks.
"Oh hey Carter, how are you!" Tara beamed.
"Good thanks, here why don't you two sit here with us, we have plenty of room." They really didn't have all that much room as they were all build like bricks, but Carter got his friends to bunch up. Tara took a seat next to Carter, and I sat across from him.
"These are my friends, Seth and Badger." The two boys nodded their heads and went back to eating their meal. "I haven't seen much of you around lately Dallas, settling in fine?" His shiny white teeth hidden behind that lopsided smile were breathtaking.
"Yeah, it's been good, but I've felt like I've barely left the library. I've had so much work to catch up on." I could feel my cheeks going red. I had made a conscious effort to avoid Carter, partly because of the way I acted the other day and also because I couldn't help but let my defences down around him. His big amber eyes made my heart melt. I would never let anyone know this though; it was for me, myself and I, and those cold lonely nights.
"So are you coming to the founders' party on the weekend?" Carter enquired.
"Yeah Tara is forcing me to come along."
"I'm not forcing anybody! Plus you'll have an amazing time and you'll have me to thank for it." Tara replied. "You'll have to talk your dad for putting the party on at your place this year Carter. I heard the committee were worried they wouldn't be able to throw it this year due to the renovations on town hall."
"I will let him know. The committee has been out at our house nearly every day this week setting up tents and marking out things. It's going to be one hell of a cleanup."
"Oh Tara didn't tell me that the party was yours?"
"Oh it's not really; my father has just let the committee use our property for it. Plus my dad will use any opportunity to show off the wealth."
The remainder of the afternoon was pleasant. After eating with Carter and his friends while sharing in small talk we went shopping for me. Apparently this event was a black tie number so we didn't have very many shops to choose from. Eventually we came out with a plain black suit with a vest. Tara also made me buy a silvery blue tie which she said made my eyes pop. I thought they drew enough attention as it was, but there really was no saying no to Tara when she set her mind to it. Maybe if I got up early on the morning I could hurry into town and exchange it for something plainer.
Tara drove me home, which was a help since I didn't want to cart all those bags around with me. "Hey is that your auntie?" Tara pointed out as we reached the end of my long driveway.
Sure enough Lucia was busying herself with some kind of project in the old orchard at the side of the house.
"Yeah that's my Aunt Lucy. I wonder what she is doing out in the orchard though."
"Looks like she is making some kind of scarecrow?" Tara pointed out. Sure enough Lucia was nailing a human figure made out of what appeared to be old potato sacks into a branch of an old apple tree. "Well thanks for the shopping Tara but I better be going. I've got to catch up on a ton of Spanish homework if I'm going to be going out with you tomorrow."
"Ok, so I'll come here around 7 tomorrow night to pick you up. We are going to have such a great night! I'm so excited." She practically squealed. I waved to Tara as she drove down the driveway, disappearing into some trees. I wandered over to where Lucia was in the orchard. The leaves in the small copse were all deep orange and yellow colours. Piles of brown leaves crinkled under my feet, Lucia must have spent the morning raking up the yard.
"Hello Dallas, how was school today." I had a hard time understanding what she had said since she had 2 nails held between her lips.
`BANG, BANG, BANG!' she struck the hammer onto the nail, burying it into the branch.
"Don't you think it's dead yet?" I asked comically.
"No not yet but it sure will be."
Lucia climbed down off the small ladder and dropped the hammer and nails into a small pile on the ground.
"Ready for your lessons child?"
"Can't we skip tonight? I'm exhausted."
"No, definitely not, especially since I spent all afternoon making our friend here."
"What's the scarecrow got to do with training?"
"This isn't a scarecrow little one, it's a target."
"A target? A target for what?"
"I want you to spend the next few hours practicing making those ice shards, and then I want you to send them flying into our friend. Like your mother's books said, offensive capabilities." Lucia had a big grin on her face, as if she was very proud of her little project.
"I've barely just figured out how to make them, plus water is hard enough to move on its own, let alone ice!"
"I'll have none of that. Now here are some buckets of water and by the end of the session I want to see one shard right between the eyes."
I really didn't know what had gotten into Lucia recently; she had really been pushing for me to use my powers as a weapon. According to my mother's books the ability to control water was used more for its defensive and healing use.
I really did surprise myself. I never did get a single ice shard into that dummy but I did manage to get them flying all around the orchard. Many of the trees were now supporting large holes and dents in their limbs from where they got hit. I really didn't see where this new skill would come in handy, unless I needed to teach that bully Dave a lesson. I laughed thinking to myself the look on his face as I sent a shard of ice into his ass.
"Something funny?" Lucia enquired.
"No, just a little surprised in myself to be honest."
I had spent the past hour scrubbing, buffing and combing myself into perfection. I figured I rarely ever got an opportunity to go out that I may as well make the most of it. I was afraid Lucia wouldn't want me to go; she often put her foot down in the past when I asked to go to a party. She said it drew too much attention to us and that I was better off not making ties and planting roots. This time however she was all for it, even encouraging me some.
I was rather impressed with the whole outfit, even the tie suited the look, bringing out my eyes. The pants definitely made my ass look great, and there was even a decent looking bulge in the front. Not that anyone would be looking of course.
Tara arrived exactly at 7pm dressed to the nine's so to speak. Her dress was a mix of black and shades of gold, which I thought would look atrocious with her shoes and hair, but it surprisingly worked.
"Hey hot stuff, ready for our big date." She greeted.
"Ha Ha very funny." I replied sarcastically.
"Seriously though, we better hurry, the party is on the other side of town and Tina Montgomery has already text me 3 times telling me how good the set up is."
"Ok, ok, I'm ready, let me just grab my jacket."
The drive over took about half an hour. Cars were lined up almost 2 blocks back from the main gate.
"Oh damn, and I'm in new shoes and everything." Tara complained.
The walk wasn't bad. Someone had strung fairy lights around the trees the bordered the driveway. It was very pretty I thought. The house was gigantic, more like a mansion than a house. Soft lighting had been placed all through the gardens giving the whole property a very fantasy ethereal feel.
"Whoa, this place looks fantastic!" Tara squealed with excitement.
"You've never been here?"
"No, barely anyone comes to the Van Drouin estate."
"Carter said his father was wealthy but I certainly didn't expect this." I said with amazement. The extravagance of this place was amazing. The main house looked old, maybe turn of the century, with wings and extra building built around it in the meat time. I could see a large conservatory jutting out of one of the far wings, the mood glittering off the polished glass.
"Their family practically owns the town. They were one of the original founding families I believe. I know the father owns most of the timber mills around the area."
`That's not what Carter told me.' I thought to myself.
As we approached the building we followed the crowd around to the side lawn. A huge marquee had been set up and the rhythmic thrumming of music was emanating from the opening. Some people were gathered around the lawn in small groups, sipping champagne and talking animatedly. Tara weaved between the crowd, dragged me by the hand, into the big white silk tent. There much have been at least a thousand people at this party, all dressed in smart black suites and shimmering gowns. Colourful lights and music were playing all across the room and people were dancing on the biggest dance floor I had ever seen. We made our way to the bar where Tara ordered us some soda. Tara tried talking to me but the music was just far too loud to hear anything. We spent the next hour dancing and meeting up with some of Tara's friends. They had all made a night of it, swiping alcohol and getting tipsy. Tara took a swig out of a suspect looking hip flask her friend Kim took from her purse. She shuddered as she swallowed a large mouthful of the poison and offered me the flask. `No thanks." I mouthed.
She just shrugged and took another drink.
As the night wore on Tara and her friends got more and more drunk as they continued to drink out of hip flasks they had all smuggled in. At around 11 o'clock the music died and lights lit up a stage at the far end of the marquee. 3 people climbed the steps to the stage, a woman whose jewellery was glittering in the stage light, a small pudgy looking man who seemed to waddle more than walk and a gigantic man who seemed to be completely compiled of muscle and expensive clothing.
The shimmery woman approached a microphone and coughed.
"Excuse me everyone. If we could just get everyone's attention for just a moment we'll let you get back to the party." Her voice was high and tinny. "My name is Trish Partridge as many of you would know, and I head the City of Timber Falls' annual founders' party committee. I would just like to say a big thank you to all the time and effort out volunteers have put into this event. I would also like to say a special thank you to Mr. Spencer Van Drouin who allowed us to host this even on his estate."
The crowd erupted in a round of applause as the large man relieved Trish of the microphone.
"Thank you everyone for coming tonight." His voiced echoed warmth and humility. "Tonight my family opens their arms to the people of Timber Falls. As many of you know the Van Drouin family were one of the first to establish this great town and tonight we are giving something back to the people. So on behalf of everyone have a fantastic night." With that the music started booming once again from the speakers and people returned to their dancing.
The air in the tent was starting to get thick so I decided to stretch my legs outside. Tara seemed busy with some of her friends and I needed some alone time anyways. The lawn was perfectly manicured and the trees and gardens seemed well looked after. I slowly made my way to the tree line bordering the south side of the property. There were few people down here as far as I could tell and the fairy lights twinkling in the trees cast enough light for me to see. I let the cool night air clear my head as I looked up at the night sky. Taking a big breath I heard a twig snap behind me.
"Who's there?" I asked into the darkness.
"Well what do we have here?" A gruff voice replied. "Looks to me like a little queer has lost his way."
A lumbering mass came into the light brushing off leaves from his jacket pocket. Dave appeared to be quite drunk, a near empty glass in his hand and the strong smell of liquor emanated from his pores.
"Bet a faggot like you would love a piece of this?" he said while grabbing his crotch and shaking it at me.
"Dave you're drunk and I think you need to go home." I said while taking a few tentative steps backwards.
"No little fucking cunt like you will tell me what to do!" He yelled throwing his glass against a tree. The sound of it shattering sent a bird sitting in an above branch cawing into the trees.
Dave stormed forward and slammed his fist into my gut. I doubled over in pain screaming. Dave shoved me onto the ground and persisted to kick me. I rolled up into a ball praying for it to stop.
"You fucking queer! I hope you fucking die!" his rage consumed me. I had never felt so alone and hopeless and in pain. I tried seeking out a source of water to manipulate into coming to my rescue but I could barely focus through all the pain.
`Whooshhh Phwump!'
Something flew through the air colliding with my assailant and sending him flying into the base of a large oak tree.
"HOW DARE YOU!" Carter boomed at the mass quivering on the ground. "You come into my territory and attack someone? Attack my friend? I never want to see you in my area again! Next time I'll fucking kill you!"
Carter scooped down and picked up Dave by the scruff of the neck, lifting him up off the ground. It should have been physically impossible; Dave must have weighed half a ton.
"Go." Carter's voice had an edge of commanding menace that I hadn't heard before.
Carter dropped Dave to the ground and watched him scamper off into the night, swearing under his breath.
I brushed leaves and dirt off my new clothing whilst subconsciously checking myself for any permanent damage. Apart from a heap of developing bruises I thought I was ok.
"I'm sorry." Carter had come over and was looking me over with worry in his eyes.
"What are you sorry for? You saved my life."
"I should have got here faster; I saw that monster following you into the woods. I came as fast as I could."
Carter bridged the gap between us and lightly brushed his fingers across a bruise that was quickly forming on the side of my face. "I'll never let that monster touch you again." His amber eyes were glittering in the moonlight. Carter slowly leaned in and let his lips gently brush along mine, causing shivers to run from my lips and travel down my spine. His arms gently embraced me, careful not to hurt me any more than I already was.
"I promise no one will ever hurt you again." He whispered gently in my ear before kissing me again.
The hunter watched silently from the trees. It had been following the monster for over a month now, carefully sticking to the shadows, waiting for the right moment. Watching the two boys embracing in the moonlight gave the hunter the opportunity it had been waiting for. It smiled in the darkness. Soon its mission would be complete.