The story so far… Lyse is drawn to the charming old house over on Orangethorpe, but when she tries to point it out to others, it’s like they can’t even see it. After a terrifying moment when her little sister disappeared into the house Lyse seeks out the one person who has been acting just as weird about it as she has. David, the twitchy new guy on the running team. Who turns out to be a werewolf, or something like that.
Now the two of them have decided to take a closer look at that strange house.
Here’s links to the previous chapters 1, 2 , 3, 4
Please let me know what you think, I love feedback!
The house seems to shimmer in the moonlight. As if it could flicker out of existence at any moment. Or perhaps that's my imagination, the power of suggestion is a wonderful thing. But it smells real, a warm humid greenhouse scent that beckons me in from the hot dry air outside.
Beside me David shivers.
What do we think we're going to achieve here? And why didn't I suggest calling in some backup? Lionel and Georgia are part of this too. Whatever this is.
"What do you see?" David whispers, despite the street being empty and silent. Cars hum through the intersection at the end of the block, but here it's as if time is holding it's breath, waiting for us.
"I see a wall. Made of scraps. A wooden gate with peeling paint. And I see the roof of a house behind, with lots of trees and plants." The shingles on the roof are wooden, and so dried up and old that they're curling up in different directions. "Can you see something different now?"
"No, that's what I see too. I was just checking. I still kinda feel like that other place, the train store, is still here too. I can sense it."
"Out of phase," I mutter.
"What?"
"It's something I read earlier, when I was doing some research, trying to figure out what this thing is. I found some stuff about people who can see ghosts. Something about being a little out of phase, like you can see into another dimension."
"So you think we must be out of phase to see this place? Because we're a little different from everyone else."
I don't want to think about that.
"Let's climb the fence."
"What?"
"Please, it was your idea to come here. Did you plan on just looking?"
Now that I'm standing here the pull to do it, to get in there is almost irresistible. And why should I resist? It's just a front yard. The worst thing that can happen is that we get seen and chased away. I have no doubt that we can disappear before police get here.
Besides, the house wants me to see it. Surely it wants me to come closer?
"Wait," David says, his hand grazing my shoulder. "Let me go first."
I watch more closely this time as he seems to fade into the shadows. I know he thinks he's a monster, but I'd love to be able to do the things he does. I follow him, trying to imitate his smooth silent movements.
He stops when he reaches the fence, and I slip up beside him.
He grins at me, his teeth very white in the shadows. He's enjoying this. It must have been so lonely, and as much as part of him would rather be running the night as a wolf, it's better to have a friend. A pack mate. Not just better. Thrilling. He doesn't care that what we're doing could be dangerous, so long as we're doing it together. I need to be careful with him, because that feeling is infectious, and it's probably going to get us into trouble. For example we might try getting into a strange out of phase house.
He gestures silently. Do I want him to climb over first?
I grab onto the wall and start pulling myself up. I sense, rather than hear David coming up beside me.
It's very strange. From the ground the wall appeared to be only about eight feet high, so we should have been up and over with a few steps. Instead we climb and climb, and my back is starting to feel very exposed.
Finally I my fingers find the top edge, and I pull myself up, expectation humming in my chest.
And I see... nothing.
Nothing interesting at least. Mostly I see a screen of greenery. I don't remember plantings that went higher than the wall, but I don't remember the wall being so high either. I glance back down, but strangely the ground is only a few feet below my feet.
I look across at David, his eyes are wide and his face is pale in the moonlight.
"Do we want to go over?” he whispers.
"Can't chicken out now."
My heart is pounding and my whole body is buzzing with adrenaline, but I can’t stop. I scramble up and over, or at least I try to, but the next moment I'm flat on my back on the ground, trying to gasp in a breath with lungs that are refusing to cooperate.
After a few seconds of sheer terror I manage to draw in a breath.
I stare up at the wall which looks towering from this angle. I fell. I must have, I'm on the ground. But I can't remember it happening. One moment I was swinging my leg over the top, the next I was on the ground trying to breathe.
I can see David far above me, still at the top of the wall. He doesn't seem to have noticed that I'm gone. He swings his body over the top with smooth lupine agility, and then he's gone.
I blink. Not gone as in jumped over, gone as in he disappeared. Just like Melody did yesterday afternoon.
And then he slams into the ground beside me, almost as if he was thrown rather than fell.
He rolls over and clutches at his chest, he's as winded as I was. I roll over and rub his head, and he manages to take in a big gasp.
I look around to see if anyone saw our strange humiliating attempt at breaking and entering. I feel like we’ve been as loud as elephants.
A human shaped silhouette in the dark. Perhaps they saw us fall and are coming to help.
Or maybe they're the one who did the pushing.
I don't want to stick around to find out. I pull on David's arm, trying to get him upright, and he staggers to his feet.
"Someone's coming," I whisper, and he comes to full alertness.
"Yeah," he whispers back, looking past me. I spin around to see a truly massive shape, like a blob of shadows at least ten feet high coming towards us from the other direction. Coming fast.
I start backing up, not letting go of David's arm.
Tires screech behind me, and I swivel my head, trying to keep my eye on all the threats.
A car has pulled up to the curb. I almost run toward it, hoping that somehow they're here to help, to get us away from those ominous shadowy creatures that are are still advancing toward us.
David grabs my hand, squeezing tightly, and then without warning turns and dashes off down the street, away from the car and the larger shadow. The smaller figure, the human sized one doesn't try to intercept us.
Bang.
Bang! Bang!
"Are they shooting at us?" I scream.
"Come on!" David says, and darts down a tiny narrow space between two buildings. I follow, and shouts ring out behind us, and more gunfire.
David leads me on a wild race through silent industrial estates, drainage ditches, and alleys. At first I hear pounding footsteps behind me, but we quickly outdistance them.
We come to a stop in the shadow of a couple of trash cans in a back alley a few blocks away.
"Someone just tried to kill us!" I gasp out, as soon as I can talk.
"Shhh!"
I go to ask why, when he presses me into the alcove in the rickety paling fence behind the trash cans, his hand across my mouth, his eyes wide and panicked.
Wolf senses. He must hear something, or smell something.
All I smell is rotting garbage, but I nod, and try to quiet my breathing.
While I'm not used to wild panicked sprints I am a strong runner, and so as I focus on taking long slow breaths I am able to silence myself quickly.
We huddle there in the shadows, waiting, waiting so long that I think he must be mistaken, or just rattled. Who could blame him. I busy my mind trying to figure out exactly what kind of garbage is rotting the trash bin beside me. I can definitely smell oranges. And rotting meat. Is that curry? Or is it--
David presses me into the fence suddenly. I freeze up again, straining to hear or see something.
There’s a scraping sound. Like a furtive footstep. A small light flashes around, bouncing across the motley row of block and paling fences. Coming closer.
I the light catches David's eyes. His cap is gone, lost somewhere in our mad dash. I reach over and slide my hand over his eyes, and he gets the idea, his eyelids dropping closed. It feels like an eternity until the slow careful footsteps pass us by, and even then we stay in place a while longer.
Finally, my muscles cramping, I lean forward and murmur in his ear, "I think they're gone."
His eyes pop open, he cocks his head to the side for a moment, listening, and then he nods.
"Best go over the wall rather than out the end though."
"Yeah. But it’s not very late. People will be still outside? Can you find us an empty yard without a dog?"
Bigger dogs will probably react like David’s dog did, but last thing we need is to set off a Chihuahua who thinks he can take on a wolf.
David slips away, but returns almost immediately, gesturing silently for me to follow. He swings himself up and over a six foot high block wall, disappearing on the other side. I wonder if I can follow, my muscles feel shaky and useless.
“I’ve got you,” David whispers, reapearing, balanced on the top of the wall.
I reach up and he grabs my hand and helping me pull myself over. We drop down into the far deeper shadows of a backyard. I almost get tangled up in a kids swing-set, but David pulls me sideways, a chain clinking softly as I knock it with my arm.
I let him lead me, two shadows flitting silently across a lawn and down the the side of the house, and through the gate to the street.
I feel horribly exposed by the streetlights, and I break into a slow jog. David keeps pace with me. We're out of the house-tract and at the next intersection before I figure out where we are, only a block from my house, which we seem to be heading in the direction of.
David is crowding close to me with a tense outward alertness, scanning for threats I can’t see or hear.
"Someone just tried to kill us,” I whisper.
"Seems like," he says, his attention focused on our surroundings.
He's a strange guy. I mean if anything is going to induce a panic attack then that was it, yet here he is being all cool and take charge. But I guess he did get to follow his instincts and run away.
We walk the rest of the way to my house in silence.
If you’ve made it this far thanks for reading! As always I appreciate any support for my writing, so if you’re enjoying this please check out my novels #1, #2, patreon and ko-fi!
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The story so far… Lyse is drawn to the charming old house over on Orangethorpe, but when she tries to point it out to others, it’s like they can’t even see it. After a terrifying moment when her little sister disappeared into the house Lyse seeks out the one person who has been acting just as weird about it as she has. David, the twitchy new guy on the running team.
He’s got a lot more of a secret that she bargained for, especially when he starts changing into... something not human.
Here’s links to the previous chapters 1, 2 , 3
Please let me know what you think, I love feedback!
I should've expected this. I mean, he pretty much spelled it out. But despite all the weirdness around this fairy house, and the predatory vibes he throws out almost accidentally and the fact that today it feels like anything could and will happen I still am legitimately surprised that David is in fact, a werewolf.
It's not fast like they change in the movies. It seems to take focused effort, as if he's willing each thing to happen. First hair appears all over his formerly not very hairy body, it's a variegated brown, seeming to spread down from his head to cover his pale skin. and then he drops down to his hands and knees, and it's like a ripple, spreading out from his torso, his limbs changing shape, and his face distorting and reforming itself into something more elongated, and finally canine.
And then there stands before me a wolf. A wolf with a pair of red checkered boxer shorts on, it's tail sticking awkwardly out of one leg hole.
I think that's the clincher. Because I start to giggle.
David is a werewolf. Of course he his. The modest kind who keeps his underwear on when he changes form in front of a girl.
"So should I be worried about you biting me and making me into a wolf too?"
I swear it rolls it's big yellow eyes.
"So can you understand me in there?"
It dips it's head, like a nod.
"Okay, so not really seeing the scary part. Can I pet you?"
He cocks his head to the side, nostrils flaring. Is he smelling me? What an uncomfortable thought. I'm sure I don't smell good, too sweaty and stressed. But he trots closer, and I lay my hand on his head. The fur is coarser than I expected, thicker and bigger around his neck and shoulders, like the mane of a lion. He stands there and lets me run my hands through it, and down his back, not just letting me, leaning into my hands like he's enjoying it. I remember that I'm actually petting David. I'm putting my hands all over him to his apparent enjoyment.
I take a couple of steps back.
"Umm, I think I'm ready for you to change back now."
I pick up the flashlight and click it off. Somehow it seems like a bad idea to have it turned on him, like a spotlight as he goes through this transformation. What if someone is watching?
He's right, it does take longer for him to change back. It's several minutes until he's fully human again. And this time I do feel pervy seeing him in his underwear. He seems equally uncomfortable as he quickly grabs his clothes and throws them on.
"I'm still waiting for the scary bit."
"I can't believe you. I mean, I can, I can smell fear, so I could tell you weren't scared, but I don't know why. I just defied physics and turned into a dangerous wild animal right in front of you. Plus I'm clearly a horrifying supernatural creature. And you wanted to pet me."
"Before I thought maybe your big secret was something really awful. Now I know it's this you're a whole lot less frightening."
And he laughs. I don't think I've ever heard him laugh before.
"But, you know, I think we could really freak out Lionel with this."
"I clearly haven't been thinking hard enough about the prank potential."
"That's what you have me for."
But now it really is full dark, and I can't see anything. I hear some rustling coming toward us, and I belatedly remember the dog. It makes sense now why it's afraid of David, but I still don't feel good about it.
"Can we go back inside now?"
"Yeah, sure. I just can't do that indoors. It's too scary."
I sense rather than hear him moving away from me, and I belatedly remember to turn on the flashlight I have in my hand.
"Hey! Can you see in the dark or something?"
"Not as good as I can when I'm a wolf, but yeah, a bit."
"So far I'm not seeing a downside to all of this."
"Ha ha. You better be kidding."
I'm not actually. So far all of this seems really cool. I mean, he turns into a regular, not monster wolf, without loosing his mind, and he can see in the dark and can... wow. Practically leap tall buildings. Or at least, make a standing jump up to grasp the railing of his balcony and pull himself up and over with astonishing ease. Pretty impressive for a guy of his height.
"Did it occur to you that I can't do that?" I call up. "Should I go round to a door?"
"Oh." And then he rolls over the railing and comes right back down again, as easy as if it's a flight of stairs.
"Here," he says, dragging over a patio table. "Try standing on this."
"Yeah, fine, but I can't pull myself up like you did. I can't even do a pull up in gym."
"Don't worry, I'll pull you up."
He springs back up onto the balcony, and I eye him dubiously.
"I don't think you can lift me."
"Trust me. I'm stronger than I look. Super-powered."
"Wolf boys have super strength?"
"Seems like."
So I stand on the table and jump, and he catches my hands and pulls me up as easily as he pulled himself.
"So, how long have you been a werewolf, or do you prefer wolf shifter?" I ask, once we're settled back inside.
He laughs again. "I don't know what I'm supposed to be. I don't think either is quite right, from what I've read anyway. It's just sometimes I'm a wolf."
"Shifter then."
"Is that why you're being so cool? Do you mainline werewolf romance or something? Because honestly? I've read some of those recently and I am nothing like that."
"Damn, and I was hoping for a love triangle too."
An awkward silence falls between us. David is curling into himself again and I watch him. I really should be more... something over this. Frightened doesn't seem right though, he's not scary. Disbelieving? I suppose I should be trying to find ways for this to be faked, or a delusion or whatever, but that doesn't feel right either. I saw it and I don't know why I shouldn't believe it.
Maybe I'm not reacting strongly because I can't find the right reaction to have. I'll probably wake up screaming at 3 a.m. But for now all I can see is that David is scared and I need to help him.
I tuck my knees up in front of me and lean forward. "So what happened? I'm guessing you weren't born this way."
"I was stupid. At the start of summer my parents took us camping, up north, in Oregon. My aunt lives up there. They were always trying to get me outside, enjoy nature. Believe it or not I used to be the sort of guy who never went outside if he could help it. My brother's always been the athlete."
"So wait, are you saying that this only happened a few months ago?"
"Yeah. My brother had a couple of his friends along for the trip, and they wanted to do this multi-day hike into the back country. My parents made them take me along which no one wanted. And then, I don't know, I got lost, I don't remember much. I just woke up naked and alone in the woods about twenty four hours later."
"Oh!" All the joking drops away as I think about how I'd feel in that situation. Terrified. "Do you think you were actually bitten, Or?"
"I don't know. I can't remember. I know I didn't have any obvious bite marks and I was alone when I woke up."
"So what happened? How did you get home?"
"I just knew how to find Slater. I could smell him I guess. I didn't think about it like that, but even as a human I have this sense of where people are. Like I always know where you are at school."
I think about how weirdly often I've looking up to find him watching me. "That explains that then."
"Crap." He rubs his face. "I didn't mean to be creepy. I'm sorry."
I wave my hand. "It's fine. I've mostly been annoyed with you because you're avoiding me and always watching me. If you stop staring at actually talk to me we're cool. Anyway, so you just wandered back to your brother stark naked? How did that work out for you?"
"They were as freaked out as I was, but at least they had my pack, so I got clothes."
"Had they sent out search and rescue or anything?"
"No. Slater was still trying to find me himself, the idiot, but no one had called the forest rangers or anything. Stupid, I could've died because they didn't want to get in trouble. But whatever. It was better for me. We didn't tell mom and dad I got lost at all. And no one knows I can turn into a wolf, not my parents, or Slater. Just you."
That feels heavy. He's putting a lot of trust in me.
"Don't worry, your secret is safe with me."
He nods, like he was expecting that. I guess he wouldn't have let me see if he didn't think he could trust me.
"I didn't know I could become a wolf either, not then at least. I didn't change until a few weeks later."
"And what, you just suddenly turned into a wolf?"
"Pretty much. It built up, I know what it feels like now, but then I was just feeling miserable, like a combination of coming down with the flu and that feeling, you know, where you just have to run?"
I find myself nodding. I do know that feeling, like I have too much energy inside me and I have to use it or burst.
"And one night I was asleep, and I woke up and I was a wolf. I panicked, really bad. I was all tangled up in blankets and clothes and I shredded it all, and broke the window to get out." He points to the new pristine pane of the window.
"How did they not know then?"
"They thought I had a panic attack. I haven't exactly been myself since that hiking trip."
Before I think, I jump up, go to him, and lean into him and hug him. He startles, flinches, whatever you call it, and then he's grabbed me and pulled me closer.
"Thank you for not being frightened of me."
"You can be scary as you walk me home."
"Sure."
I grab my backpack, making a show of looking around the room for stray items, even though I didn't open it. That hug, I meant it for comfort and solidarity, but it feels like more. I don't want it to be more. Especially not now. I feel for him, I do, but, I cannot get involved in that.
#
His mom is sitting in the living room reading a book when we pass through, can it be that less than thirty minutes have passed? It seems like eternity.
"I'm going to walk Lyse home," David tells his mother, and she frowns.
"I'm not sure I want either of you wandering around at night, especially alone on the way back dear. Didn't I tell you that Marcie next door is sure she saw an enormous coyote in her back yard the other night?"
I give David a sidelong glance. Coyote? Or Wolf-David?
David sighs. "It's barely dark mom. How about I walk her home and then call an Uber to get back?"
She nods, but she's still hesitant.
"My mother worries about me," David says.
"Of course she does. She doesn't know you could eat anyone who bothered you."
He pulls his cap down. "I don't eat people. Cats. I've eaten cats, and yes, it's as gross as it sounds."
"Oh my God! Why?"
"It's like I have to let the wolf out to run periodically, otherwise I go crazy. And eating cats sounds like a great idea when I'm a wolf."
"I thought you were still in control? That you were still you."
"Yes and no. I'm not a mindless beast, but I'm not quite the same as human me either. I'm wolf me. Like before when I changed with you, I knew who you were, and I wasn't going to hurt you or anything, but it was different. At first I wanted to run away. Humans make me jumpy when I'm a wolf."
"Humans make you jumpy all the time David."
"Yeah yeah."
The neighborhood is a hive of activity at this time of early evening. People are grilling on their tiny front patios and balconies. Kids are running around and playing. It's difficult to feel unsafe at the moment, even though there is a group of men standing on the corner watching us. I still hurry on, and lower my voice.
"So this explains why you're so weird, but it doesn't explain that house."
"I can tell you what I thought."
"Please."
"I thought you and Lionel were like me. Or not quite like me, I would think I'd be able to tell if you guys were wolves too. But I figured you were different in some way too."
"No way. I'm completely normal."
"You sure? Because you seem different to me. And felt like I had to know you, I had to be near you."
"That's called a crush loser."
"Haha. I guess I've also got a massive crush on Lionel? There's your love triangle then. The three people who can see that strange house."
"Four. Four of us can."
"Who?"
"My best friend Georgia. I showed it to her yesterday. She can see it just fine, and she wasn't surprised or confused like you were."
"That makes sense. The three of you being close makes sense."
"This is all crazy. You're saying that the four of us are being what? Drawn together by that house? But Lionel and Georgia and me have been friends for years. You're the only new element."
"Because I wasn't different, not until three months ago. Now I am. So now I'm one of you."
My heart thunders in my chest as I remember that thing I read earlier. Only the monsters can see other monsters.
"I'm completely ordinary. There is absolutely nothing special about me."
"Yet you can see this thing that no one else can see. And you knew what I was too. That's why you haven't freaked out. Because you knew. The first time we met you looked at me and saw what I was."
"I did not."
"Then why weren't you surprised when I changed?"
I chew on my lip, not wanting to acknowledge that he's right. Didn't my instincts scream at me about him being something that hid in the shadows? Wasn't I on some level expecting something like this?
"Here's a thing that sounds great, but really isn't. A thing that comes with my new abilities. You can't lie to me."
"That sounds like a threat."
"It's not. I just, I can read people like a book now. It's a combination of body language and smell I think. Anyway, I know that you knew what I was the first time you looked me in the face, and it scared you."
"I didn't go 'Wolf!' though. I just thought that it would be a bad idea to be alone with you in the dark."
"Yet here we are." He waves his hands around. I hadn't been paying attention as we walked, but we're out of his neighborhood, and onto East Street. Cars are wizzing by, and there are streetlights, but I have no doubt that if he wanted to hurt me, he could do it here without anyone noticing.
"I'm not scared of you any more, obviously." If I ever really was.
"Why? Why aren't you? You should be terrified. I'm a monster. Why aren't you scared of me?"
I stop and turn to him. We'd be eye to eye, if it wasn't for that stupid cap. I pull it off his head and he stares at me, with those strange compelling eyes.
"Because now you make sense. And the truth isn't something I need to be scared of."
He grabs the cap back and jams it down on his head again.
"What is with the hat? Is the eye thing a werewolf thing? Are your eyes different now?"
"They look the same to me, boring brown. But people keep commenting. What exactly do you see?"
"I can't even describe it. I mean, your right. They're just brown. But there's something special too. Compelling I guess you'd say."
"Great. I really am straight out of a werewolf romance." He turns his head away, uncomfortable with the scrutiny.
"And you don't like the attention. And right now it's obviously a good idea to keep the cap on because of the way they glow in the dark."
"What?" He looks utterly horrified. "Are you saying my eyes are glowing right now?"
"No I mean, not like glowing glowing, but like, you know, a wolf I guess. You know how animal's eyes seem to glow when you catch them with a light at night."
"Great. Just great. Now I have eyes that glow in the dark. As if I wasn't weird enough."
"Just, keep the cap on. And don't look into the incoming cars lights. In fact..." I turn into a house tract, even though it's not mine. "Let's cut through here. Less traffic."
He's breathing heavily, and I'm afraid he's going to panic and take off.
"David. David. Calm down. Please." Crap. I wish I'd thought to ask what I should do if he panicked. I take both of his hands as if I can anchor him here. "It's going to be okay. You'll get through this. Don't leave me alone here."
Slowly his breathing calms, and he stops clutching my hands quite so tightly.
"What is it you said about me? That I'm nonstop drama? I'm sorry."
"Don't worry about it. I was just scared you were going to take off and leave me to walk home alone in the dark."
"Sorry. I just got overwhelmed."
"It's okay. Really. I can see why the eye thing would make you freak out."
"My eyes really glow like an animal."
"Yeah. Sorry. It's a very nice golden color, if that's any consolation."
"yeah, because how would I cope if my eyes glowed a weird color?"
"Exactly. Did you know kangaroos eyes glow pink? I mean at least you're not stuck with some girly color like that."
"That makes all the difference in the world." He forces a smile, and takes a few more slow controlled breaths.
"You okay now? Ready to go?"
"Oh. Yeah. Sorry." He seems to suddenly become aware that he's holding my hands, because he drops them like they're on fire, and starts walking, leaving me skipping to catch up.
"So anyway, yeah, I think that there is something happening, to apparently all four of us, I'm the new addition because I've been changed, but the three of you have had something weird happening to you for a while I'm guessing. Maybe years. Is there anyone else that you feel drawn to? Or that can see this weird house?"
"I don't know. I keep trying to show it to people, but they react all sorts of strange ways. Some people seem a bit confused, But most people, they seem to be like Bradley Paz, they just don't see it, or they see a freaking model train store for some reason."
"I'm telling you, I know there is a train store there. I've been inside it. I can almost see it out the corner of my eye, like it's still there, somewhere."
"My sister, she saw the train store. And then she disappeared."
"What! Is she okay?"
"Yeah, it was only for a few seconds, but it freaked me out. It's why I hunted you down."
"Hunted me down?"
"You said you like the river trail."
He's silent for a few moments.
"How would you feel about going to check out this place right now?"
"Now?" I look around. It's fully dark, and this residential street we're on doesn't have a lot of street lights. I feel like the last person on earth. I wish David hadn't let go of my hands.
"Just to check it out. It's only about a mile away. We can be there in less than fifteen minutes. Faster if you want to run." He bounces a bit, making it clear that even if I don't want to run he sure does.
I'm not dressed for it. I like being dressed appropriately. But I've got sneakers on.
"Sooner we get there the sooner we get home."
If you’ve made it this far thanks for reading, As always I appreciate any support for my writing, so if you’re enjoying this please check out my novels #1, #2, patreon and ko-fi!
The story so far… Lyse is drawn to the charming old house over on Orangethorpe, but when she tries to point it out to others, it’s like they can’t even see it. After a terrifying moment when her little sister disappeared into the house Lyse seeks out the one person who has been acting just as weird about it as she has. David, the twitchy new guy on the running team. Who turns out to be a werewolf, or something like that. Now he’s convinced that she’s different too.
I have a wip page here
Here’s links to the previous chapters 1, 2 , 3, 4, 5
Please let me know what you think, I love feedback!
A text from David is waiting for me when I wake up.
Last night seems too crazy to be true, so him wanting to meet up today sounds like a good idea, if only to confirm that it really did happen. That we were thrown off the wall of the fairy house by some strange force, and then chased by people who were shooting at us.
I go along with my family to church, worrying the whole time that I'm putting them in danger by my very proximity.
By the time our family Sunday brunch is over I'm a stressed mess.
I sit on the window seat in my room waiting for him to show up. My stomach churns with anxiety. I probably ate far to much at brunch, but I was ravenous. Now I’m paying for it. Although I don’t feel as bloated as I should be. My mother’s eyes had widened as I downed plates of steak and eggs, as well as pancakes swimming in butter. Not my usual fare at all.
I wrap a vintage quilt around my shoulders, shivering a little in the chill of the air-conditioning and I finally see David coming down street.
I shove a key and some cash in my pocket and run down stairs.
“I’m going for a run,” I tell my mom as I pass her in the sewing room.
She gives me another weird look.
Yeah I know, it’s hot out and I just gorged myself. But I’d rather not have David knock on the door and have to introduce him to my parents.
I meet him before he can even start up the front walk, and start walking down the street. David looks confused for a second and then turns to follow. I swing my arms and resist the urge to break into a run. Now that he’s here I’m suddenly buzzing with energy.
"Do you think that we should have reported it to the police?" I demand.
"What, that someone fired a gun when we were trying to break into a place? I don't see how that would go well for us."
He has a point.
"What should we do then?"
He hesitates, not quite sure if he should ask.
"Spit it out."
"Last night, when we were running away, did you feel... different?"
"You mean besides the unusual feeling of terror for my life?"
"Yeah, besides that." He's quite serious.
"No, should I have?"
"Yes. Because you kept up with me."
It takes me a moment for it to sink in. "You're not particularly impressive as a sprinter, and I was terrified."
"I hold back because I don't want to stand out too much. I can run much faster than I do at school. I have no idea how fast I actually am. Last night wasn't really a sprint anyway, it was more like a steeplechase, and I know how good I am at jumping and climbing. I should have left you behind almost immediately, but you stayed right on my tail."
"I guess chivalry is dead then," I mutter. Clearly if he could have he would've run away and abandoned me.
He turns red. "Sorry. I was panicked too, and it took me a minute to remember you. I would've come back for you. But still, I didn't need to, because you kept up. I was right. You're like me."
"I am not. I can't turn into a wolf, or anything else. And nothing strange has happened to me either. I didn't get lost or loose a chunk of time like you did. I'm the same as I always was."
"Because you've always been different. Special."
I grimace at his persistence. "Why are you so determined that I’m like you?”
But as soon as I ask I know. He's alone and desperate for connection. He needs me to be like him, to make him less of a freak. He needs the world to make sense again.
"It’s a logical assumption," David persists. "Come on, let's go over to the school track. There shouldn't be anyone much there right now. We can run some laps, and see how fast you really are. And hey you’re even dressed for it today.”
His eyes run across me in what should feel like a casual assessment. I tug at the hem of my shorts feeling exposed. Nothing is casual to him.
"I know how fast I am already," I mutter, but I follow him.
Partially to humor him. But also...
He's sown doubt in my mind. Because I remember that mad race to escape with a vivid clarity that I thought was adrenaline fueled hyper-awareness. But now he’s got me wondering, was I using some sort of superpower? But I wasn't lying when I told David that I don't feel any different. I feel like myself, whole and complete, like always. Nothing is different about me from yesterday to today. The only thing that's different is that now I'm fearing for my life.
#
The air at the track is hot and muggy, curtesey of the sprinklers that are running on the field. There are a few people, adults, running slow laps on the school track, so we do the same, running a few warm-up laps, wasting time until the other runners leave. It's getting toward the hottest part of the day, and although it's almost October now that just means the we’re having some more peak temperatures. Within twenty minutes we have the place to ourselves.
David stands to the side of the track, his phone in hand, determined to time me and prove that I'm faster than humanly possible, or something stupid like that.
The track is loose gravel with no markings and you have to be careful making the first turn, because the sprinklers over-spray onto it, leaving it muddy, and then pitted and rutted once the mud dries. What can I say? I live in Anaheim, not somewhere with rich schools. Which makes me wonder what David is doing going to school here.
I line up roughly with the stripe on the ground rail on the inner edge of the track. I’m not stressing about accuaracy. He's timing me on his phone, it's not like this is an Olympic trial.
"What do you want me to do? A hundred or four hundred?"
"Four hundred is a lap, right?"
"Yes! The boy pays some tiny amount of attention at training!"
He smirks. "Sometimes. Anyway. Do a hundred first, and then we'll come back for the full lap."
He wanders down the outside of the track until he seems to find the 100 meter marker.
I take a sprinters start as best I can without starting blocks. May as well half ass this properly.
When David calls out, "Ready Set Go," I go. As fast as I can. Which strangely, feels very slow, like I should know how to be faster.
I book it all the way past David, and then turn and jog back.
"So?"
He's frowning at his phone. "I don't actually know what's fast?" But I can see he's disappointed. I take a look at his screen. 13.60
"Yeah, that's about my usual. A a bit slower than usual. But you know I'm not really a sprinter."
He frowns some more, then tosses me the phone.
"I don't know how fast I am, why don't you time me, as sort of a control?"
He lopes off back to the start of the straight, and gives me a wave, and I call out go and start the timer, hitting stop as he blazes past me. And stare at the number in front of me in shock.
"So, how did I do?"
"David, you just ran a hundred meters in 9.6 seconds. That's like top sprinters in the world speed."
"Huh."
"You aren't excited by that?"
"Not like I can do anything with it. I got a pretty strong feeling that it would be a bad idea for me to go around calling attention to myself, you know?"
"I know running is something you do for the pleasure of it, not the result, but please. You can run almost as fast as someone in the Olympics. Isn't that a bit exciting?"
"I guess."
As I watch him shaking out his arms and legs I feel a tingling in my muscles.
"I want to try it again. I feel like I can go faster."
I pass him his phone, and go back to the start line, trying to sink myself into the zone. I wasn't taking this seriously before, but now, I know I can go faster.
I kick myself toe holes in the dust of the track, and when he calls out Go I bound forward, and somehow this time it all falls into place, I feel that stillness that I've only ever felt when I’ve pushed myself to my max on long distances, but now, it's immediate. I am the stretch and contraction of my muscles, the thump of my feet hitting the ground, each draw of breath, the pulse of my blood in my ears. It's all me, and I am aware of it all, David is shouting something, and I realize, I didn't run 100 I did the full lap. More. I've passed David for the second time. I reluctantly slow and turn back toward him. Reluctant because I want to just keep running, and keep feeling that perfect feeling. But also because I know. I know I just did something extraordinary. And I can't keep claiming to be perfectly ordinary.
"I didn't realize you were going for the full loop. I didn't get a time on that, sorry."
"That's okay," I say, feeling a confused sort of relief. If I don't have the data then I don't have to be a freak, right?
"But you took almost 4 seconds off your 100 meter time."
"Four Seconds? Four seconds!" I grab the phone from his hands, and stare in mingled shock and horror at the number on the screen 10.15. "You faked this!"
"I did not! You know you were running differently just now. You felt how fast it was. Just admit it!"
I choke a little and the enormous effort I just outlaid rolls over me and I turn away and puke up all the brunch I just ate. And still as I'm retching I'm wondering how much faster I'd be on a decent track in proper track cleats, and without a big meal bouncing around in my stomach. The reality that the amazing number I just pulled is probably not even the fastest I can go.
By the time I'm at dry heaving I'm crying.
David has a hand resting on my back, and I turn and throw my arms around him, sobbing helplessly into his shoulder, probably smearing vomit and snot on his shirt.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't think, I'm sorry," he keeps saying. As if this is his fault.
I should tell him this is on me. Instead I drop down in the steamy grass, and lay back, looking at the sky. The sun is high overhead, turning the sky a washed out faded shade of blue. Not my favorite sky, but I'll take it over having to look at the guy I hardly know that I just cried all over. After a moment he lies down beside me, and we stare upward in silence.
The sun burns into my skin and my head throbs. The taste of bile still burns at my throat. This is real. It’s real and I have to deal with it.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have pushed you."
"It's okay. Better here with only you to see, than at some random meet right?"
The silence stretches out again as I try not to think too much.
"What do you want to do?"
"My mouth tastes like puke, so, how about we go over to In-N-Out and get a coke?"
If you’ve made it this far thanks for reading! I appreciate any support for my writing, so if you’re enjoying this please check out my novels #1, #2, patreon and ko-fi!
The story so far... Lyse is drawn to the charming old house over on Orangethorpe, but when she tries to point it out to others, it’s like they can’t even see it. Only her two closest friends, Georgia and Lionel seem to be able to see it too. Them and David, the weird chess nerd turned distance runner. But he’s loaded up with his own issues.
Lyse is just about convinced it’s an elaborate prank, when her little sister momentarily disapears right in front of the place.
Here’s links to the previous chapters 1, 2
Please let me know what you think, I love feedback!
I sleep like crap Friday night, stressing about that weird moment when Melody seemed to cease to exist.
Maybe I should have come straight home and told my parents about it, but what would I have said? Besides, I can't seem to trust anyone or any thing.
So instead I tried to sleep on it. When that didn't work out I decided to try my next best option for clearing my head. Running.
I decide to hit the river trail.
The river trail is not nearly as nice as it sounds. There are nice parts, the coves is a pretty little stretch, but this is the Santa Ana River, and long ago the banks were reinforced with concrete, so it looks more like a drainage culvert than a river. Since its dry right now it looks like a massive culvert with sand at the bottom. It's dry most of the time, and you can't imagine it ever filling up, until the winter rains come and turns into a raging torrent overnight.
If you head north eventually you'll get to the wealthier areas where it's lined with trees and moderately pretty. But here in Anaheim it's a big ditch paralleled with seepage pools, and a few hardy trees set back behind the trail. At this time of year the trail is hard packed dirt, dry and dusty, and not at all scenic. But you can run for miles without a traffic light, or worrying about cars.
I never go south, there's a huge homeless encampment right before Angel Stadium that my parents made me promise to stay away from. Me running on the river trail makes my parents nervous in general. But today, on a Saturday in the bright early morning there's plenty of runners and bikers out along both sides of the river. It's perfectly safe.
I'm not surprised when someone draws along side me, although I should be. He's been avoiding me for weeks, but now when I desperately need to talk to someone who maybe gets why I'm so scared he just appears, like I summoned him to me. And I expected him to.
"Hey," David says.
Of course I did come out here looking for him. He told me he likes running the river trail in the early morning. So it's not like he magically appeared. Perhaps outside of school, away from the pressure of that environment he can relax. Maybe he's ready to give me some answers. I should've tried this ages ago.
"Hey," I reply.
And that is literally all the conversation we have. I can't seem to figure out what to ask, and he's as avoidant as always.
When I reach my turn about spot I half expect him to go on further, but he sticks with me, all the way back to the gate onto the street near my house.
Okay, I want to talk to him, but he's not a puppy that I'm going to let follow me home. Even though he does know where I live (thanks Lionel!) that doesn't mean I'm fine with him following me back there. As much as I want answers he still makes me nervous.
So I stop under a shady tree and take off my sunglasses, waiting for him to look at me. He does, with reluctance, taking off his cap. His eyes are just as magnetic as I remembered. Brown, I note. They're brown. Probably why I couldn't remember the color before. I kept trying to imagine deep blue or exotic green. Now I know why I couldn't make it fit. I can't define what's so special about his eyes, but I find I have to force myself to look away.
"Why do you hide your eyes? They're beautiful." Not quite the opener I intended.
He hunches his shoulders. "Most people say creepy. I'd rather not freak people out when they look at me." That's weird, but not my concern right now.
"So, are you okay? We were worried about you." After you freaked out and ran off, I don't add.
"I'm okay. I mean, I get it. You had to test me, right?"
"Test you?" I want to be incredulous, but wasn't that sort of what I was doing? "I wasn't testing you."
He backs up looking nervous, and I hold my hands out, trying to look nonthreatening.
"Okay, I wasn't testing you, but maybe I was testing something. That house..."
He frowns. "What is that place?"
"I don't know!" That's what's scaring me.
"Okay, then easier question. What are you? You and Lionel. Are you, are you guys like me?"
His special eyes are lit with such hope. I don't want to disappoint him, but-
"Like you? Like you how? Do you mean your anxiety stuff?" What do I call it. Anxiety issues? Problems?
"No. Never mind. I thought something dumb." He looks away, breaking the connection.
I reach out to him, slowly, mindful of how he panicked when Lionel touched him, but even though he flinches a little when I touch his arm, he doesn't run.
"Are you okay? Seriously?"
To my horror he bursts into tears.
He sits down on the curb and puts his head in his hands. "Am I okay? Is it okay when your whole life is gone to hell and the people you thought were your friends don't want anything to do with you, and you don't really blame them, because you've become a monster."
Crap.
All I want is some answers and instead I've got a 16 year old guy crying his eyes out right in front of me.
I so don't want to deal with this.
I sit down beside him anyway and awkwardly pat his shoulder.
"You're not a monster. Lots of people have mental health issues."
He laughs, that sort of sob laugh that people do when they're crying and laughing at the same time.
I press on anyway. "You know you can ask for help if you need it. I'm not judging you."
He's quiet for a few moments.
"You really don't know what I am, do you?"
"Dude, unless you're going around hurting people you're not a monster. I know that."
"How about freak? Does that fit me better?"
What happened to this guy? He said that he had these panic attacks because he went through something. What happened to him that makes him think he's a monster? I don't ask, what if asking makes him cry again? I don't want him to cry more. That was hella embarrassing.
"You're not a monster, or a freak."
"You don't know what I am."
"I know my instincts, and I trust what they're telling me." And I do. Somewhere in the last few minutes I've realized that the nervous edgy feeling I'm getting is because he's radiating it. I feel anxious for him, not because of him.
Amazingly that seems to calm him down, and he tilts his head, studying me, like he's been doing at school. Like he's trying to figure me out.
"How good are your instincts?"
The question feel oddly loaded. He's not asking casually, this is important. So instead of the flippant way I normally would deal with a question like that I answer seriously.
"I always know what people want. And you, you're a harder read than most, but you don't want to hurt anyone. You're just-- really scared."
And there's something else. Something I'm not sure how to express. It's why I had such a hard time reading him.
"Please," I ask. "I just want to know what's going on. I'm scared too. You know something about this weird stuff that's happening. Help. Please?"
He gives me a look, straight on with those eyes, I'm suddenly aware of my heart thumping in my chest, the swish of my blood, the thrum of my muscles, tired from the run, as if my body is a machine and I am aware of each part.
"I have to go," he says, and before I can say another word he's on his feet, face hidden beneath his cap, and leaving.
I clench my teeth in frustration as I watch him lope away.
I curse Lionel for asking me to help with his exciting new recruit. Does he even know what kind of mess he's handed me? Because from where I sit this whole mess seems to have started with David.
I stand by my belief that he doesn't want to hurt me, but he's set something in motion, something strange and frightening.
And I'm afraid that neither of us can stop it now.
#
I can't stay focused on my day after that. I go through the usual, chores at home, some homework, I meet up with Georgia and Alexis for lunch.
Alexis is Lionel's older sister, but she's a grade ahead of us in school, and we never seem to see her much anymore, so it should be nice to spend some time with her.
Instead all I do is wonder what she'd see if I put her in front of the fairy house.
Luckily the two of them chat on together and so I eat my hamburger and say no to going over to Alexis' place to hang out. Although Lionel would probably be around I don't feel up to coping with their loud busy household.
It's a relief to get home and find that my family has gone out, and I have the place to myself.
But hours of silence don't deliver any answers. Either there is something extremely weird about that place, or everyone I know is delivering up a massive prank. And I can't truly believe either. And now I have to weigh David and his cryptic comments in on the issue.
I start to type in an internet search, although what search terms should I use? I can't explain this in a few specific words.
Googling invisible, and only visible to some, and other related types of terms lead, predictably, to lots of stories about ghosts, stuff about science fiction, and finally some interesting articles about real science. How some people can literally see more colors because of an extra cone thing in their eyes.
That's cool, but hardly seems to explain what's happening to me. It's not like we're arguing about the line between pink and purple.
Besides, if it was some sort of genetic mutation (which, really? That makes a whole building seem to be another different building?) wouldn't my own sister be the person most likely to share that? Instead of my two best friends, with our fairly divergent gene pools, and some random other white guy who just conveniently showed up when this all started.
There's one page I read about how in fiction if a person can see the monsters that makes them one too. And I pause.
David seemed certain he was a monster. Is there something spooky and supernatural going on? If David is a monster, then what does that make me? I mean if I'm going to believe that I can see things that other people can't, then that is, strangely, the most logical conclusion.
It all seems so crazy. But I can't unthink it. My sister disappeared right in front of my eyes. A a place where I seem to be able to see things most other people can't.
David claimed straight up to be a monster. And he was asking if I was like him.
I need to make that guy talk to me.
I lie on my bed and stare at the ceiling for a while.
Should I text Lionel and ask him for David's number and deal with the inevitable teasing? Or should I call Georgia and get her help to try to talk this out?
My phone vibrates with a text from an unknown number.
-Hey, it's David
-I got your number off Lionel, hope that's okay.
I stare at my phone for a moment. I summoned him again. It sounds crazy but today I feel like I could believe anything.
C- Can you read my mind?
I follow it up with an emoji, to show I'm not serious. Can’t be having him think I’m totally crazy.
D- No. At least I don't think so.
D- I just assumed you'd want to talk to me.
D- Should I be able to?
Well, this can't get any weirder.
C- I don't know how what anyone should be able to do anymore.
D- are you okay?
C- No.
D- I'm sorry about before. We can talk if you want.
C- Yes!
C- Can we meet?
#
By the time I get there I'm seriously regretting my decision to go over to his house, hurrying along in the orange light of the sunset. David assured me that his mother will be at home, and he didn't act like it was a stupid question. He knows that he makes me uneasy. It's why I didn't tell him to come to me, because somehow inviting him into my space feels too invasive. It's stupid, stupid, I'm trusting him with my secrets, but not my safety?
I'm hanging onto my confidence from earlier, that he doesn't want to hurt me, that what he wants from me is a friend.
It doesn't help when I realize that his house is a large, creepy Victorian, looming 3 stories high and painted dark shades of green and plum that seem to fade around the edges into the dusk.
It's in one of those strange little pockets of history that you get around here. Four fabulous heritage listed houses sit in a row, complete with vintage lamp posts and permit only parking, and right across the street there's crowded rows of shabby apartments. Not a good neighborhood. Not one I feel safe walking in after dark. How am I going to get home? So yeah, to sum up, I'm going out at night, to a rough neighborhood, into a creepy Victorian mansion, to hang out with a guy who believes he's a monster, and we're going to talk about the supernaturalish stuff that's been happening. Absolutely nothing about that can go wrong, right?
I stop and text Georgia and after I think for a second I text my mom too, telling her I'm working on something for school with David. She responds immediately, telling me it's getting late and to message her when I'm ready to come home and she'll pick me up.
The mundane conversation breaks the weird anything can happen type sense I've been building up for the last twenty four hours.
But then I turn back to David's creepy house. There's no easy access to the front door. I mean, there's a wrought iron fence with a gate, but there's also a huge black dog, some sort of boxer crossed with a bear by the looks of it, lounging on the front porch.
So I stand there and text David to come let me in. Some men cat call me from across the street, I'm many generations Californian, so despite the color of my skin I don't really speak Spanish, but I still know what those words mean. I try not to cringe, and regret not changing into something less revealing, although my shorts are hardly skimpy.
"Hurry up jerk," I mutter, resentful of David for not being here to let me in.
He appears in front of me suddenly.
"Hey, why didn't you just come on in? The gate's not locked."
I point to the dog, still lounging on the porch.
"He's fine, he won't bother you."
In fact, as we walk up the front steps the dog whines and backs away, it's eyes fixed on David.
"Your dog is afraid of you?" That seems bad.
"Yeah. Just another sucky development in my life. Come on. My mother is dying to meet you."
He opens the door and gestures ahead of him. I know he's just being polite, but somehow it feels like the point of no return. But who am I kidding? I'm not walking away from this. I need to know what the hell is going on.
To my relief his mother is hovering in the living room, just as promised. She's the most elegant, beautiful woman I think I've ever seen in real life. Her shiny dark hair is highlighted with deep red undertones and is beautifully styled, laying in artful curls and waves, and her makeup is impeccable. I feel shabby and sweaty, thoughtlessly dressed in a pair of jean shorts and tank top plus one of my vintage finds, a wool openwork top that I've repaired the moth holes in. I thought I did a good job of it, but I'm sure someone as fancy as this can tell.
But I feel no judgment. She seems truly thrilled to meet me, telling me to please call her Meredith. She takes us back to the kitchen and offering me a snack, a meal, whatever I want.
I accept a bottle of water, giving David a wary look. He shrugs and hunches his shoulders.
"No hats on indoors, you know that dear," his mom scolds, tapping him on the head.
He reluctantly removes his cap, fidgeting with it like he's just waiting for the moment he can put it back on.
It seems that his parents are going out for the evening (something I should've realized when I saw how nice his mom looked) and I shoot David a deadly glance.
"How are you going to get home dear? I don't want a young girl like you wandering around after dark." She looks back over at David. "Perhaps you can get your brother to drive her home?"
David frowns. "I'll walk her home."
At the same time I say "My mom is going to pick me up."
David smirks at me and then hunches back up.
Meredith frowns at that, wrinkles marring her smooth forehead. "Oh I suppose that's all right. We won't be leaving for another thirty minutes anyway, so if you're done before then we can drop you off."
David’s eyes flick to me. "We might hang out for a bit longer, so..."
And his mother smiles indulgently. Is this what it's like being a boy? You can have random girls over when your parents aren't home and your mom just smiles?
She pats me on the head and tells me how lovely it is to meet me and how she hopes to see me again soon.
I follow David upstairs to his room. I feel like I'm following a bear into a cave. I might be exaggerating the gothicness of all of it. I don't feel threatened by David, and at any time I can call my mom to come and pick me up. I'm not trapped. But it's all so weird.
We pass a door in the hallway with music vibrating out around the seams.
"My brother," David says, waving a hand toward the music emanating door. "He's not going to surface any time soon, don't worry."
Why should I be worried about seeing his brother?
"Why was your mom so excited to see me? Don't you have other friends? You better not have told her we're dating."
"No, no, it's just-- part of what is going on with me. My friends aren't around much any more. She's just been worried about me."
His room is kind of a mess. The normal kind of mess. It looks like he picked up a bit before I came over, if the overflowing laundry hamper in the corner is any indication. But it's a comfortable, lived in sort of mess. It's not the mathematical perfection of Lionel's room, nor the regimented chaos Georgia lives in.
"This is nice," I say, looking around. The room is more of a suite actually. It's two fairly big rooms with a wide arch in the wall between them. He's got a bedroom, and a sort of living room, with a couch and a couple of armchairs. There's a big flatscreen tv, a desk along one wall littered with books and papers. Everything is done in pale neutral colors, like something from a magazine, if it was all tidy. He's got several gaming systems laid out below the television, and I can see an attached bathroom through a half open door. Everything about the space looks expensive. I should've realized when I saw the house, but David is rich.
"I'd have started hanging out with you before if I knew you had this kind of set up," I say, running my hand across a throw blanket, plaid in shades of grey and cream. Is that wool? I pick it up and drape it around my shoulders, instantly feeling safer and more comfortable.
"Why are you going to school with us regular people, shouldn't you be going to some place that ends with 'Academy?'"
"Yeah, yeah. My parents don't believe in private schools." He slumps down into one of the armchairs, and I take the one opposite, relieved that we're not going to be hanging out in his bedroom, even though the textiles on that bed look extremely desirable.
"So, ah, sorry about this morning. I'm really not usually so dramatic."
I laugh. "Really? Because from where I sit, you're just one dramatic moment after another."
He scowls and slouches down even lower. "Okay, fair," he mutters, tugging his cap down onto his head.
He really does seem to prefer to remain invisible.
"Whatever happened to you must have been rough, for you to be having so much trouble dealing with it."
"Yeah." But he doesn't volunteer any more.
I study him. Perhaps invisible is the wrong word. Hidden. Seeking the shadows, even here in his own space. He looks almost relaxed, but it's relaxed like a cat lounging, ready to run or fight at the slightest provocation.
He's a human fight or flight response. Does he ever truly drop his guard?
He's also not talking.
Waiting. Waiting for me to set the tone of the conversation.
I take a deep breath.
"Look. Something weird is going on, and I don't understand it. But I think you do. Help me. Please. This is all scaring me."
"I don't know anything about that freaky house."
"but you know something," I persist. "You thought we were causing it or testing you or whatever."
"I know what happened to me. That's it."
"And?"
He squirms. "I don't know if you really want to hear about that."
I don't know if I want to either."If you don't want to tell me then fine. But I thought that was why you had me come over. I thought you wanted to tell me about it."
He stares for a moment. "Okay. I'm nervous I guess. That you'll run away, that you'll hate me?" He leaps up and goes to the french doors, opening them out onto a balcony,that runs along the back of the house overlooking the jungle like back yard. Not a lot of maintenance going on with that, or perhaps they like having a yard that looks like unkempt wilderness.
Heavy shadow are gathering beneath the trees.
"Let's go into the back yard."
"Do we have to? Can we at least take a flashlight?"
"Flashlight, good idea. I forget about that now."
He ducks around me and back into his room, returning in a moment with a heavy duty looking light. The kind that you take camping, and floats in water and all that good indestructible stuff. He hands it to me, and then swings himself easily over the railing, dropping down to the ground below. Because, oh, there's no stairs.
"Are you for real? I know you have actual stairs in this house. We just came up them. I could go use them. It'll take one minute longer."
"This is faster. And my mom won't see us. Come on. You'll be fine, you're an athlete. Just toss me down the light first."
And despite never having done a thing like this before, I find that it is easy. I grab the railing and swing my legs over like David did, and then lower myself down to the ground.
"See? Easy."
"Why do we have to talk outside anyway?"
"So I don't freak out. Sorry. It's the enclosed spaces thing. Come on." He slips silently into the shadows.
Am I really doing this? Am I following this boy, who I know so little about, who makes me uneasy, into the dark? I seem to recall promising myself not to do this exact thing. But that was before.
He's not going to hurt me. I met his mother ten minutes ago, and despite how strange and remote this place feels there is a busy crowded apartment complex across the street. If I stop and listen I can hear cars and voices. Surely if I scream someone will come for me. Besides. I trust my instincts. And my instincts say he needs my help more than I need his.
David has disappeared anyway. I turn on the flashlight and pan it across the bushes, and I almost jump out of my skin when I see the flash of golden eyes. I swing the light back quickly, my heart pounding, but it's just David, standing patiently, waiting for me.
"Jeez you scared me. I thought for a second that I saw some sort of animal."
He's finally lost the cap, and he's staring at me with those odd eyes of his.
"Yeah, well not too far wrong."
"Well? Are you going to tell me something? Because I'd rather not get eaten alive by mosquitoes if it's all the same to you."
Bugs like mosquitoes aren't something that we normally have a problem with around here, the area being more desert than anything, but I'm sure that this lush yard has lots of places for them to breed. My skin itches in anticipation.
"I'm just trying to decide if I should just show you, or try to explain things first."
"Just show me. Unless it's the graves of your previous victims or something. In that case, I'm really hoping your mother isn't in on it with you."
He grins, and unease ripples down my back.
"No previous victims."
But then he's jiggling on his toes looking as unthreatening as can be.
"Okay, just, promise me that you'll wait, and let me explain, after. Okay?"
"What are you going to do?"
"Nothing that will hurt you. I promise. I'm not even going to touch you. But, I think it's going to scare you a bit. I'm going to do something to myself. I'll try to change back right away, but sometimes it's really hard, so be patient, okay?"
Why did I get myself into this?
"I ah, I need to take off my clothes first," he says, and and promptly pulls his tee-shirt over his head, and then kicks off his All Stars and starts unbuttoning his jeans.
I yelp and turn my back on him to give him privacy for whatever the hell he thinks he's doing. But somehow this had gone from intimidating to comedic.
"You can turn back, I'm keeping my shorts on, I think that should be okay."
I grudgingly turn back, and seriously. I cannot feel threatened by this guy standing there looking so pale and skinny. He's not very tall, maybe 5'7" at the most, and while he's definitely got some muscle definition he's still skinny and pasty. He can't weigh more than 130 pounds. Not at all threatening.
And despite his near nudity, nothing about this says sexy either. He just looks anxious and embarrassed.
"Okay. Here goes. Don't freak out, okay?"
He closes his eyes and takes a few slow deep breaths, like he's centering himself.
And then, and then he starts to change.
Yay cliffhanger ending. I’m sure no one at all can guess what David is lol.
If you’ve made it this far thanks for reading, As always I appreciate any support for my writing, so please check out my novels #1, #2, patreon and ko-fi!
The story so far… Lyse is drawn to the charming old house over on Orangethorpe, but when she tries to point it out to others, it’s like they can’t even see it. After a terrifying moment when her little sister disappeared into the house Lyse seeks out the one person who has been acting just as weird about it as she has. David, the twitchy new guy on the running team. Who turns out to be a werewolf, or something like that. Now he’s convinced that she’s different too. And he may be right, because suddenly Lyse can run ridiculously fast. Does being able to see that strange house mean a person has... superpowers?
I have a wip page here
Here’s links to the previous chapters 1, 2 , 3, 4, 5, 6
Stepping into In-N-Out is like being welcomed into a cool burger scented oasis. If the oasis was a crowded red and white pseudo diner.
The noise of so many voices feel like they’re screaming at me. My heart starts to pound and I back right out into the sun.
“Are you okay?”
I shake my head. “I can’t do it I can’t go in there. It feels like they’re all shouting in my face.”
David pats my arm. “I get it. I’ll go in and order. Go sit down.”
The outdoor tables are mostly empty, so I sit under an umbrella at a round concrete bench outside and I wolf down the two double doubles David bought for me. The meat tastes amazing in my mouth, I don’t usually like double patty burgers, but I wonder what the 4x4 would be like.
David watches silently, and I can't help thinking that he knew how hungry I'd be because this is how it is for him, this depth of hunger. And why am I describing myself in those terms? Ravenous? Wolf? I'm not like David, not really. I'm certain of that.
But I can't deny that something strange happened out there. Or how much food I just ate.
What I want is my best friend.
"So call her," David says. "Call them both. If I was right about you, I'm probably right about them too."
"All that happened was I ran fast. It's not that big a deal."
He gives me a look, but doesn't say anything. I think he's afraid I'll revert to blubbery vomit girl. Which isn't fair. Didn't he suddenly burst into tears just yesterday? And I've seen him through a couple of panic attacks. He didn't cry on me like I did to him. I'm still calling us even.
When I take out my phone a text is waiting from Georgia, asking if I want to hang out. I tell her where we are, and then shoot a text to Lionel too.
Lionel shows up first, of course. He only lives a few streets away. Georgia is further, and if she can't get a ride from someone she's got to walk a mile and a half from her apartment over off East.
Lionel is surprised when he sees David, but he hides it quickly.
"What's going on?" he asks, straddling the concrete bench. "And why are we out here? It's not that crowded inside, we could snag a table."
"Inside was too loud, it's better out here. Sorry."
I didn't even think about David's anxiety when I came out here. Just my own. Is that how he feels all the time? He seemed to know exactly why I didn’t want to go inside.
I can't imagine what school is like for him. Or rather now I can a bit, and it seems like it must be terrible. No wonder I never see him in the cafeteria. He must bring a packed lunch and hole up somewhere outside to get some space.
Am I becoming like him? Is whatever happened to him contagious? I thought you had to be bitten to catch werewolfism, but of course that's just in stories. Who knows how it really happens. Maybe it's transmitted like a flu virus.
"Okay, cool. So what's going on?"
I fiddle with the trash left on the table. "Just having lunch and waiting for Georgia to show up."
Lionel raises his eyebrows and gives David a suspicious look, but doesn't argue, instead he goes inside to order some food for himself.
What am I going to say to them? Last night I stupidly tried to break into the fairy house, people shot at us, and now I think I might have some sort of super speed-- and by the way David is a werewolf?
Perhaps I should leave out the part about David. It's his secret, he can decide when to reveal it.
In the end I chicken out completely, and we just hang out and eat together. I feel like a bottomless pit as I eat yet another burger.
"David and me were going to go run some track repeats, you want to come?" I ask. Perhaps I can just show them. If that crazy time I did earlier wasn't a mistake, or a strange fluke.
Lionel laughs. "After what you just ate? Do you want to puke up your guts?"
I turn red. I didn't even think about that, I was just imagining that running a 100 at state champion speed would be a good opener for this strange conversation I want to have. But I think I've already thrown up enough for one day.
#
After some debate we decide to go back to Lionel's place to watch a movie, although I can see that David isn't too keen on the idea I'm proud of him for being willing to stick around. I can see I'm going to have some explaining to do as soon as Lionel and Georgia get me alone.
Or sooner. Georgia maneuvers herself so that David is pried away from my side, and forced to walk ahead of us with Lionel. He gives me a little nervous look. I smile encouragingly. He thinks we're all freaks? He better get used to being a member of the freak brigade, which means being okay with my friends. Especially Lionel.
As we walk Georgia elbows me. She's assumed this is some sort of low key date, I could tell by the way she was acting before.
"So, that's the famous David? He seems nice."
I roll my eyes a bit at that. Because yeah sure, he's nice. Today at lunch he was good. Relatively relaxed and showing his intelligence and sense of humor. But I can't forget he's desperately needy in a just discovered I'm a shape-shifter and I need support kind of way. It's not his fault. I know, and I'm glad he's getting along with my friends. But he's trouble, and I don't want Georgia to befriend him without knowing that. I need to tell her what's going on, but the words just won't come.
She elbows me again. "You're right. He's not the hottest guy ever, but he's got great eyes."
David's shoulders tense up in front of me. He's got wolfy hearing, and Georgia isn't trying very hard to keep her voice down.
"It's not like that. We were just running some laps at school when you texted me is all."
"And you were doing that because? Last I heard you thought he was weird and creepy, now you're hanging out?"
"He's still weird and creepy, but you get used to it. He's okay."
From the way David's shoulders twitch I know he heard that. I can see myself getting tired of his super senses when it means he can't help spying on me.
"He's an okay kind of creepy?" Georgia laughs. "I need an explanation for that, unless you have discovered you both have the same disturbing kink, I don't need to know about that."
It's the perfect opener. I can explain what happened yesterday, and earlier today, and have it all out and said.
"Nothing kinky-" I start to say, then I see it. That same car that was parked outside In-N-Out. A bland white sedan, that would have faded into the background, except for the long scrape down the driver side, like it had been sideswiped in an accident. I don't know why it caught my attention before, you see people driving cars around with damage like that all the time, nothing odd. But it registered with me. It's certainly odd now. It's passing us by for the second time, and the driver is staring at us, almost as if he wants to be noticed.
In that second a few things come together in my head. The screeching sound of metal on metal that I'd heard last night as we were running away, the peculiar intensity that the guy is looking at me with. That reminds me of something. Someone. David.
David's head jerks around like I called his name out loud. He looks between me and the car, and I can see him poised to run, so I lunge forward and grab his hand.
"Don't!" I hiss. "He's not sure. He's trying to get a reaction."
How I know that isn't something I stop to consider, because Georgia and Lionel are staring at me in confusion. I drag David closer to me.
"Don't look, but that car is following us. Try to act normal."
"What?" Lionel says, turning to scan the street, just like I told him not to.
I can feel David practically shivering on the spot, desperate to get away. "Let's go, let's get out of here," he says. Pleads.
I am anchoring him with my hold on him, but he's moments from bolting. I think quickly. We were headed to Lionel's house, but my place is closer. And we have an alarm system.
I tug on David’s hand and turn into my house tract. It's not the most direct route to my house, but maybe the car won't follow us onto the quieter residential streets? David comes along willingly, and within a few steps he's leading me, pulling ahead like an eager dog on a leash. At any other time that visual would make me laugh.
"Come on," I call loudly back to Georgia and Lionel. "Let's go back to my place, we can talk more there."
If they don't follow I'm going to have to choose between them and David, because there is no stopping him now. Thankfully, despite their puzzled expressions they trail along behind us.
The car makes another pass and turns into the house-tract behind us, clearly unconcerned about being noticed, and I can see now that there are three men in the car, all of them watching us with cold eyes.
"Oh hell," Lionel mutters. "What are you guys into?"
"Nothing," I say. But it's a lie. "Do you think they saw us at the school earlier?" I ask David.
"No, I think you're right. They're not sure. They're trying to rattle us."
The car passes us turning briefly out of sight.
"The drain," Georgia says. "Run."
I don't know what she means for a moment, but when she takes off down the street I get it. David leaps to follow her, I wait for Lionel, I don't want anyone to be left behind, but he's caught the same urgency as the rest of us. David is reigning in his panic, not flying past Georgia like I know he could, or maybe he just doesn't know where we're going. But I do.
The drain is an open storm water run off. It forms a narrow alley less than three feet wide, cutting between the houses in this tract. When we were little we were fascinated by it, not in the least because so many warnings were attached to it. Stay away, if water floods it, like it's prone to happen, then we could be swept away.
There is no risk of that today, the bottom is filled with an inch or two of stagnant stinking brown water and trash, which I'd normally skirt by walking the narrow ledge either side, but the four of us don't hesitate, splashing heavily into the noxious water and racing though to the other end.
We come out only six houses down from my place, and we all slow down a little, feeling a bit foolish. It's the middle of the afternoon and there are four of us. We were hardly in danger.
That is until the white car comes racing around the corner.
My dad is puttering around the front yard, doing some gardening or something, and he looks up in surprise as we tear past him into the open garage.
We pile up in the kitchen, all trying to see out the window, as the car slows to a stop, right in front of my house.
"Kids? Carlyse? What's going on?" Richard calls, following us inside.
"Where are mom and Melody?" I ask.
"In the sewing room, your mother is working on her outfit for-"
I don't wait for him to finish. The men seem to be just sitting there, making no move to come closer, but I'm not taking any chances. Last night there were gunshots.
I duck back into the garage and hit the door closing button, and then key in the alarm code.
"Carlyse?" my dad asks again, his voice hitching a bit, our fear has spread to him. "What is going on?"
If you’ve made it this far thanks for reading! As always I appreciate any support for my writing, so if you’re enjoying this please check out my novels #1, #2, patreon and ko-fi!
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