I had a terrible nightmare. No thanks to Eric, he made me remember the worst night of my life. The glowing yellow eyes, the gray fur, and the worst part of all, the fangs. I want that bastard dead. He took a part of me and destroyed it. Tony 'T-Bone' DeMarcus needs to die a slow, painful, torturous death.
I woke up to the sunlight streaming in through the windows and my son serving me breakfast in bed. A cherry pop tart and glass of orange juice with a daisy in a vase. Andy smiles at me.
"Morning Mom. We have a busy day ahead of us," he tells me.
"Yes we do. I'm taking you and Izzy to the mall today. We are all going to get brand new clothes and shoes for once," I tell my boy.
I mess his dark hair. Andy gently pulls away. If he used all his strength on me, I would have broken bones for days, but Andy is gentle with his dear old mother.
"Oh yeah, I found this envelope on the kitchen table this morning. Looks like Eric strikes again," Andy said the last line like he had a bitter taste in his mouth.
I sit up in my bed and let Andy place the tray on my lap. I open the envelope. Another note and this time a bank card with my name on it. I read the note:
Belinda,
I can't have my employee going around looking less than herself. Even her children for that matter. I have enclosed a bank card with five thousand dollars for you to spend as you see right. Take your wolf and dress him up for his first pack meeting tonight. Dressy casual is the term my progeny gave me to use. I suspect you know what that means.
A car will also be sent to come for you and your wolf. Be ready by nine-thirty. See you tonight.
-E-
Tears started to form in my eyes. It's enough that I had two grand in cash that I haven't even touched yet. Now I have another five grand to spend on clothes and shoes for the kids and myself. I've never had this much money in my entire life. Andy looks at me with concern filling his green eyes.
"You okay, Mom," he says. I just nodded.
"He is too good to us," I mumbled. Andy hugged me.
I go to Izzy's room after my breakfast in bed. She stood near her shelves, making good and sure her dolls are where they ought to be. She gravitates towards the spoon doll. She takes it from the shelf and holds it. The minute the doll is within her grasp, a serene smile crosses her lips. She closes her eyes and just stands there in her Hello Kitty nightgown with bare feet and messy hair. Then sadness plays on her face. She quickly opens her eyes and places the doll back on the shelf.
I wait a few minutes to enter her room. She gives me that blank look that I have come so used to. Izzy's usual look.
"Morning baby! You ready to go places today?" I ask her.
"I have already been somewhere," she says in her usual monotone way.
"You have? Where was that?"
"Astrid's home," she says.
"Oh, and where may that be?"
"A place that is cold with a lot of snow. Astrid dresses warm. She never gets cold. Her modir and fadir wouldn't allow it," Izzy explains with a spark in her blue eyes. "Her modir and fadir love her. She is like me."
"Where did you ever learn those words?" I ask. I have a strong feeling of their meaning. They sound close to mother and father.
"Astrid," she answers.
There is something strange about my daughter. Something tells me that a growing wolf child isn't the only concern I have. Maybe my Izzy is more than just autistic.
"Let's get you dress," I say, changing the subject. I am interested in hearing more about this mysterious Astrid, but we have a lot to do today.
"We going shopping?" Izzy ask as I pull out fresh clothes.
"Yes. Our friend Eric gave us some money so that we can buy some nice things," I say. A smile forms on Izzy's lip at the mere mention of the vampire. "I'm going to get you a pretty dress and some new hair ribbons."
"And new shoes," she says.
"And new shoes. Hey, I got an idea. When we get back from shopping, maybe you and Andy can make Eric a thank you card."
"He will like that," Izzy says with a smile.
"Yes he will," I said and kissed her cheek.
We go to the mall. It was nice having money to spend. I am still frugal. I mostly checked the sale racks first. I found Andy a nice white dress shirt and a pair of khakis. I paired it with a tie and a nice pair of size men's ten shoes. I found Izzy a pretty pink dress and patent Mary Jane's. I found myself a simple black dress and heels. Perfect for a family portrait. Then I found everyday clothes for us. When all was said and done, I spent less than half the money on the card. We then went out for a big lunch at a fairly nice restaurant. Izzy and Andy were on their best behavior. Andy helped Izzy finish off a sundae. We enjoyed ourselves for the first time in a long time.
We got home sometime around four in the afternoon. I pulled out the art supplies I bought Izzy with my own money. Andy helped her settle into her room where the two worked on the thank you card. I took the sales tags off of the new clothes and put them away. Izzy, Andy, and I each got two new pairs of shoes. One nice pair and a pair of sneakers. I bought us three pairs of jeans each and some t-shirts. It was nice having new clothes. Next is an appointment with the eye doctor to get some new glasses. Izzy and I are overdue to have our eyes checked. Andy I never had to worry about when it comes to stuff like that. I lay out Andy's outfit for tonight on his bed. I hear Andy talking to Izzy. They were decided on how the card should look. I smile to myself.
Andy and Izzy came out of her bedroom to show me the card as I was in the kitchen preparing a light snack for us. The card said, "Thank you Eric," in Andy's handwriting. Underneath the words in crayon, Izzy drew a circled face with a smile and two points coming out of the smile. Yellow crayon scribbles around the face and a horned helmet. I assumed it was supposed to be Eric. I smile. I open the card and in Andy's impeccable print it said, "For everything." Underneath the words stood three stick figures. Two the same height. One with black scribbles for hair with the other one had red. The smaller figure held what looked like a doll. Izzy drew the whole family.
"We need to sign this and I'll find an envelope for it," I tell my kids. Izzy gives me a small smile. I let her sign the card first. She signed her named in red crayon and her name took up the whole blank side of the card. Then Andy and I signed it. I put it in an envelope and let Izzy sign Eric's name to the front of it. She took great joy in her task. Andy and I have never seen Izzy so alert before.
I put the envelope in my red leather purse. Then I go to get myself dressed for a night of werewolf politics. I hope they accept Andy into the pack. My boy is such a worthwhile child. I put on my simple sleeveless black dress. It showed off the girls in a tasteful way. The skirt of the dress had a slight flare and cinched my waist in all the right ways. I pull up my wild red mop in a slight French twist and pulled some of the hair on top. I add a costume jewelry necklace and my new black pumps to make up the rest of the outfit. I needed to make a good impression on the pack master. I wanted him to see that I am a capable and fit single mother.
I come out to the living room where Andy sits nervously on the couch. He waited for me to help him with his tie. Izzy is looking through the games, trying to decide which one Ms. Spark would want to play.
"You look pretty, Mom," Andy says.
"Thank you. You don't look too bad yourself, son. Pretty soon I'm going to be beating them girls off of you with a stick," I said. Andy gives me a nervous laugh.
"Let's fix your hair," I said. Andy has naturally wavy hair that likes to stand up on end. I get the comb and some hair gel. I work on taming Andy's wild locks. The wave is still there but his hair appeared close to shoulder length whenever I groomed it down. Maybe I should have gotten my boy a haircut today? It'll have to do for now.
The doorbell rang, I go to open it up to Ms. Spark. I let her in and looked out into the drive to see no car. Tonight the elf/fairy hybrid looked no less colorful than she did the day before. A black hoodie with a purple star pattern on it. A puffy purple skirt with purple and black stripped tight. Black fingerless gloves. Her baby fine almost white hair had faint purple streaks and a black knit cap on her head. Black high top Converse rounded out the unusual outfit. Ms. Spark appeared much shorter than she did the day before. Now I could clearly see that she is child-sized. Izzy ran to her and gave her a hug. She then took her by the hand and showed her to the Chutes and Ladders board she had set up.
"Whoa little girl, I need to talk to your Mom first," said Ms. Spark. She gave Izzy a kind smile.
"Okay Auggie," Izzy answers her. Then she comes to me. Augustine Spark moved like a dancer despite her colorful appearance.
"Everything should be okay, Belinda. I'll make sure she is tucked in safe and sound," she tells me.
"Good. Izzy can have some popcorn if she wants it. I seriously doubt she is hungry. I laid her night clothes out on her bed," I said.
"Not a problem, Belinda. Izzy and I are going to have a good time. Your car is coming. I better let you go. Have a good time. Izzy is in safe hands," Ms. Spark said. No sooner than she told me that, I heard a car horn. Izzy came up to me and gave both me and Andy a hug before heading out the door.
A black Cadillac waits in the drive. A small blond woman got out of the car. She had an otherworldly quality to her. She looked sort of like Alice in Wonderland with her powder blue dress and matching hair band. She leaned against the car and the paleness of her skin gave away that she is a vampire.
"My name is Pam. You must be our new human, Belinda," she says to me. I nodded. If there is anything above all that I have learned from being around werewolves is that they like to be the alphas. Vampires, I assume are no less different. She gives Andy a once over. The corners of her mouth quirk up like she knew something that I didn't. "We mustn't leave the Master waiting," she then says as she opens up the car door to the backseat.
Andy and I sat in silence in the back seat of the car. Pam made no effort at starting a conversation. Her cell phone rang and then I heard that same foreign language Eric spoke to Izzy the night before.
"The pack is waiting," she then informs us. Andy and I made no response. My boy followed my lead.
The car pulled into a parking lot. The building looked like it was in the process of renovation. The outside painted a generic gray and the skeleton of an awning above the entrance. No signs except for a coming soon sign on the front door. Andy and I followed Pam through the door. Eric waited for us by the entrance. He gives me a nod and I nod back. A small smile formed on his lips and his eyes told me that I have nothing to worry about. He than takes my arm and wraps his around it like he was my escort. I felt like a lady for the first time in my life despite the fact that he escorted me through a half finished bar area. Buckets and ladders pushed up against the walls. Plastic hanging on the walls.
"You have nothing to worry about," he whispers in my ear. "I'll be with you."
Andy followed behind us. I looked back to see his nervous eyes. I give him a smile and Andy returns it. There in the middle of what looked like it was going to be a dance floor stood a man of authority with a buzz cut. The pack master, I assume. Next to him is a distinguished southern lady dressed to the nines and another red headed woman dressed in the same sort of soccer mom chic that the female Vampire Pam wore. Then there was another tan skinned gentleman with graying dark hair. Him and the southern lady are the only ones to give me a smile.
Eric motions for Andy to take his place. The vampire stands back but stays to watch over us. My stomach started doing flip flops as Mr. Buzz cut walked around us. Inspecting Andy and I as if we were a big juicy piece of meat. He sniffed the air as he did this.
"Belinda Jean Harrison, I am Coronal John Flood. Pack master of the Long Tooth Pack. The North man has brought your son to our attention," he said like a true military man.
He waited for my response. I didn't know what to say. So I decide to stay silent.
"He also told us that you have been in Shreveport for ten years now and that your son was born in a hospital here. Why did you not notify the pack?" He asked. I still didn't know what to say, so I told the truth.
"I have had a bad experience with werewolves, sir. I worked for a Were in Monroe by the name of Howl DeMarcus," was all I had to say. Coronal Flood lifted an eyebrow at the mention of Howl's name.
"I know of whom you speak of," was all he said. Then he paced around me again. "You are pure human. I heard this Howl employed humans in his establishment. He is a virus on our kind. His son especially."
Tears began to flow from my eyes. I didn't like the mention of T-Bone. I kept my calm though. "He raped me," I confessed. I don't know why I said it, but I felt it had to be said. This got a reaction from the other Weres. Coronal Flood growled. Andy gave me a pained look. He wanted to run, but he couldn't.
"You never told me. We tell each other everything. You never told me," he said. Tears filled his eyes.
"I was waiting until you were old enough," I tell him
"Is he my dad?"
"No Andy. I don't know who your dad is, but it's not him," I hated confessing to my son my deepest darkest secrets in front of strangers.
"Is that why you have nightmares?" He ask me. I did my best not to break, so I just nodded. Andy may have been a little pissed at me, but he hugged me all the same.
The southern lady looked at us with pity in her eyes. The graying gentleman also looked at us with pity. The red head was unreadable.
"I will put it to a vote with the select pack members I have brought with me. We are one short tonight, but I don't think it will matter. He is in New Orleans for his work. If you are allowed into our pack, Andrew, you will get a chance to meet him when he returns," Coronal Flood said. Andy nodded. Coronal Flood pulled the other Weres to the opposite side of the room.
Eric came over to us. Pam at his side. They looked almost like brother and sister although I have a feeling that their relationship is more like father and daughter. Pam looked at us with a blank expression. Eric had the same blank expression even though his eyes deceived him. He had to put on an act in front of the other vampire and werewolves. I'll have to wait to give him the card. We waited for the vote.