Chapter 3: Spelling Disaster
When the hand touched Bethany's arm, she tensed. As she glanced down at the crumpled note in her hand, a thousand scenarios flashed in her head. All involved the stake in her book bag. If she could only get to it—
"Oh, I didn't mean to startle you," someone said ruefully.
Bethany turned around; she slipped the picture of dahlia smoothly into her pocket as she did so. A plain girl with light blue eyes stood before her. "Helena, right?" Bethany said in a feigned friendly voice, pushing down her instinctive search for a weapon.
"That's me," Helena said with a smile. She held out a hand, which had a familiar black pen in it. "I just wanted to catch up to you to return this. Thanks again for letting me borrow it,"
"Any time," Bethany replied, relaxing a fraction. She accepted the pen and tucked it behind her ear. With a careful eye, she watched as Helena began to turn and walk in the opposite direction.
Just as Bethany felt her muscles uncoil, Helena hesitated, her eyes darting across the campus grounds as if to make sure there was no one around. There wasn't. "You're Bethany Camden," Helena stated, without sounding even a little unsure.
Bethany felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand at attention. "What's it to you?" she found herself asking warily.
"There's actually something else I've been meaning to give you," Helena said, pulling out what looked to be a business card.
Cautiously, Bethany took the card. The plain black text was printed on thick, expensive paper. On the front of the card was the name "Helena Carmichael". Bethany flipped the card over and felt the blood drain out of her face. Like the front of the card, the back only held two words: Circle Daybreak.
"Witch," Bethany hissed. She recoiled, taking a step back. Why hadn't she though to bring any iron? She felt jittery, exposed. This kind of encounter wasn't supposed to happen in the safety of the daylight hours, when she went about her normal life.
"Human, actually," Helena said wryly.
"Even worse," she proclaimed. With narrowed eyes, Bethany demanded, "Did you send me that note?"
The other girl frowned. "Note?" She shook her head. "I just came to offer you a place at Circle Daybreak. I was supposed to visit you at home, but I couldn't find your current address,"
"Stop right there," Bethany commanded. An emotion she couldn't quite identify welled up in her chest; it felt a lot like anger. "Listen you—you stalker! I'm not interested in playing the Happy Meal in your sick little club,"
Helena's brow furrowed. "That's not it at all. Bethany, you're—"
"Just shut up. Don't talk to me, don't follow me, don't leave me anymore cryptic notes. Human or not, I swear I'll stake you if you even think about finding me again," she said, though perhaps unconvincingly. If only her voice would stop shaking.
Without waiting for a reaction, Bethany pivoted and stalked off in a random direction.
After a few minutes, she turned a corner and rested heavily against the building wall. She tore off her bag, and unzipped it; with a little digging, she found the stake that sat so unhelpfully in her bag and tucked it into the waistband of her jeans. Her hands were trembling; it was stress, she told herself firmly. That accomplished, she grabbed her cell phone and punched in the number of the one person who could help her sort out this mess. "Jon? I need you, Jon."
Across the city, a man woke up to the sound of his cell phone ringing. Having "Another One Bite's the Dust" as a ring tone had been fun at first, when Russ suggested it, beaming at his own cleverness. It was not so fun at ten o'clock in the morning with his new fiancée tucked against his chest.
Blindly, Jonathan Alistair grabbed for the phone, and answered with a tired, "Hello?" His voice suddenly perked up. "What happened? Wait—are you sure?"
By the time he hung up, his pants were slipped over his hips one-handedly, and he was working on buttoning up his shirt. "I'll be there as soon as I can," he told the girl on the other end of the phone confidently, clicking the "end" button.
"Who was that?" his fiancée asked sleepily. He stopped for a moment to admire her: the sunlight streamed through the glass balcony doors, lighting her hair a rich chestnut. Against the white sheets, her skin glowed golden.
Leaning over the bed, he pressed his lips softly against hers. "Call room service for some breakfast, love. I have to go back to work."
Grabbing a Coke from the vending machine, Simon maneuvered through the hungry crowd and headed toward his usual lunch table. Aiden, who apparently came back sometime between homeroom and lunch, sat with one leg casually up on the bench. He was in deep conversation with Sera, who sat across from him; their dark hair blended as they both leaned forward. Though both their faces were freckled and wholesome, Aiden's right ear was pierced three times; his left, two. It was a stark difference to Sera's unadorned face, which was currently distorted into an unhappy frown.
"—I still say that it's not a good idea," he heard Sera say to her brother. It wasn't an unusual statement for Sera to be making; Simon couldn't think of a single time she actually approved of something Aiden thought was a good idea. When she spotted Simon coming toward them, she quickly turned to greet him. "Hey Simon. No lunch today?"
He found himself smiling back uncomfortably. "I guess I wasn't quite up for the meatloaf," he said. Not able to think of anything else to say, he quietly sat next to Aiden.
Silence reigned, thick and uneasy. Aiden was busy looking bored, while Simon couldn't seem to think of anything at all suitable to talk about; every time he thought he had something, Angelica ended up being part of the story. Just the thought of her name brought back memories of her pretty face, blood staining her lips and dribbling down her chin. Had that been his blood her hers? Did vampires even have blood?
Diagonally from him, Sera shifted. "So how did you English test go?" she finally asked.
Simon looked up when he realized he was being addressed. English test? He furrowed his brow, thinking hard. When did he have an English test?
"What's up, guys?" David cut in before Simon could answer; he snagged himself a seat next to Sera, his tray clattering on the cheap school table. "Hey, did you know that Swakowski's dating a student?" he asked, brown eyes bright with mischief.
Sera rolled her eyes. "That's just a rumor, David."
"Who would date Swakowski?" Aiden scoffed.
Simon felt a rush of relief at the interruption. "Isn't that illegal?" he chimed in. For the first time in twelve hours, he felt something approaching normal.
"Dude, of course it's illegal," David said. "He's a teacher. Plus, he's like, fifty."
"More like twenty-six," Sera corrected.
"Oh? Have you joined the fan club, then?" David asked slyly, happily shoveling the school meatloaf in his mouth as he spoke. Simon grimaced; the rubbery meat looked entirely unappealing.
"He's a teacher!" she exclaimed, looking scandalized. The freckles that dusted her cheeks faded into a pink flush.
"That didn't stop Courtney Saunders," Aiden drawled.
"Not much would stop Courtney Saunders," Simon had to admit. Courtney was a popular girl who seemed to have a different boyfriend every month. Simon didn't really keep track of that sort of thing, but David did—and what David knew, everyone knew, whether they wanted to or not.
"Speaking of unstoppable forces, where's Angelica?" Aiden asked, almost sounding interested.
"She's probably just worn out from staying out so late," David answered, giving Simon an understanding look. This time, the innuendo in his voice was kept to a minimum, though Simon was pretty certain that it was impossible for David to completely eradicate the pure suggestion in his tone.
"Simon?" came Sera's concerned voice.
Feeling the Grimshaws' eyes trained on him, Simon shrugged uncomfortably. "I haven't seen her since last night," he said. His face felt hot; he wondered how they could possibly not know that he was lying? The image of her pale, shocked face flashed in his mind, a wooden stake blooming from her chest. He pushed his Coke away as his stomach clenched. "So are we going to Mid-Ill tonight?" he asked in the most awkward segue ever.
"Want to see Bethany, do you?" David questioned. Obviously, he felt this was safe territory, because he wore a huge grin and reached across the table to give Simon a poke in the shoulder.
Smiling back weakly, he said, "Just wondering." In truth, he wanted more answers from Bethany and Russ—they couldn't just tell him that by the way, vampires and other creatures of the night were real, and have a nice life. Still, he couldn't think of a way to do ask if his friends were hanging around the store.
"Who's Bethany?" Sera asked curiously.
"Oh, you didn't know?" David said, his grin widening. "Angelica's old news; couldn't keep up with our man Simon. Bethany is the chick from Mid-Ill."
"The one who shut you down yesterday?" Aiden asked Simon sardonically. "Didn't know you liked them feisty,"
"Something like that," he replied halfheartedly.
"Stop teasing him, Aiden. That was David's fault," Sera said. David protested automatically, but Sera was already continuing. "Anyway, I can't go to Mid-Ill today, guys," she told them.
"Why not?" David wanted to know.
She set her shoulders and tried to look dignified, but that conspicuous blush was back. "I have to go shopping for a costume for the Halloween dance," she said primly.
"Yeah? Who're you going with?" David asked, perking up.
Sera glanced uncomfortably toward her brother. "Mike Vaughn."
"Does Mom know?" Aiden asked. His posture was lazy as ever, but Simon blinked when he saw Aiden's usually bored green eyes sharpen. Simon had almost forgotten how protective Mrs. Grimshaw was when it came to Sera's dating habits.
"It's just a dance," Sera said quietly.
Aiden turned his gaze away from her in an unconcerned manner, and said to Simon, "Me and David have a thing after school,"
David glanced at the other boy though the fringe of his hair, which flopped over his eyes. "Right, a thing. Sorry, man," he told Simon with a shrug.
Sera gave them both a suspicious look, but didn't say anything. Surprised, Simon turned to look at Aiden, who was mockingly mouthing "Mike Vaughn" to her.
"It's fine," Simon told his friends. "I've got a lot of TV to catch up on, anyway," he said with a faint smile. He felt like throwing up.
Russell James was bored.
He sat indolently on the sales counter, legs propped up on the stool below. With a grumble, he flipped through a Wicca magazine for the fifth time. Unfortunately, no new material appeared. Though there were rarely many customers in the daytime, and certainly not any pretty college girls, Halloween was just around the corner and Midnight Illusion should have been busy with people shopping for costume accessories.
But apparently, not on that particular day. The store was noticeably empty; he felt like he hadn't sold anything in hours. Yawning, he stretched out his arms and pulled his legs up to his chest. His eyes drooped, lashes casting a dark shadow on his freckled cheeks.
"Aren't you supposed to be working?" a familiar voice said in a tired, amused tone.
With a startled yelp, Russ jumped up. "Jon!" He exclaimed; his hand carded through his hair in a sheepish gesture. Luckily, there were no customers around to tattle about his negligence. "Hey boss," Russ greeted. "What are you doing back?"
Jon stood at the doorway, looking unusually rumpled and exhausted; his usually neat blond hair looked windblown, and there were dark circles beneath his hazel eyes. Russ noted with raised eyebrows that Bethany was situated under his arm. She looked wary and frustrated, and if it were anyone but Jon holding her, she'd probably look annoyed as well. Russ found himself shifting uncomfortably. What the hell happened? "Is this about that Simon kid?" he had to ask.
The older boy sighed. "Partly. We're calling an emergency meeting."
David was staring at the clock. It was 2:29 and forty-five seconds. For fifteen seconds, he watched the clock, brown eyes studying the ticking hand intently.
He hated sitting in those cramped desks for hours; sure he was a city wolf, but he still felt uncomfortable in such a confined space. The final bell was always a relief, like the clicking freedom of unlocked shackles. When it rang, it sounded quite different from the warning bell in the morning. The bell practically sang as he darted out of the classroom, letting his 'shifter instincts guide him through the students that were beginning to crowd the hallways. In record time, he burst out of the front doors, taking all fourteen stairs in one leap.
Rotating his shoulders, he made his way to his car.
In the student parking lot, Aiden was leaning against David's Mustang, the multiple piercings in his ears gleaming in the afternoon light. The taller boy had one arm resting on the roof, the keys held loosely in his hand; he had a cigarette in his free hand.
With a flick of his wrist, Aiden tossed the keys to Daivd, who plucked it deftly from the air. "So," David said, walking around to the driver's side. "What's this 'thing' that we're doing?" he asked.
Aiden flashed one of his rare smiles: quick and sharp, with teeth bared. There was something wicked about that smile—it was almost werewolf-worthy. David felt a jolt of adrenaline pump through him when he saw the smile, an electric tingling down his spine.
He always had a sixth sense when it came to trouble.
"We're going to gather up some materials for a little Samhain spell," Aiden replied, green eyes burning with something David couldn't quite identify.
...to be continued in Chapter 4: Witchy Women
Author's Notes: My goal is to write a chapter every ten to fifteen days, in case you're wondering. Hopefully, I can keep up with this schedule. Thanks so much for reading!
incarnated-soul: Tenses are my weakness, but I'm glad it hasn't been too distracting. As for WIP, itstands for Work In Progress. And I'll definitely be answering those questions in the next couple of chapters!
zaza: I'm glad you like Bethany and Simon! Mary-Sues are hard to avoid, but I'm glad you think I'm doing all right with Bethany. But Simon is a little clueless, isn't he?
Strekoza: Thanks for your reviews. I hope you got to finish the second chapter, or this chapter wouldn't make much sense, would it?
Li-Young: I really like Russ, too. He definitely has a bigger part in the future!