Chapter Three~ The Party
Ding ding.
Anjie swiped her phone up from her vanity, unlocking it to see a message waiting for her.
Magne- På vei nå
She smiled. She knew the only reason he sent it in Norwegian was because his phone didn't recognize English, and the only way he could text was by speaking to it. Returning to the miniscule amount of makeup that she had, she used her liquid eyeliner to create a cat-eye on her top lashline, actually able to see what she was doing without her glasses as she had donned her one pair of contacts that she owned presently. After a light dab of color to her cheeks, she then grabbed up her perfume and did a couple small spritzes with it on her neck and wrists, rubbing it to spread the scent.
A knock sounded at the door downstairs just as Anjie was putting her earrings in. She heard the door open, and her father talking to someone, actually, two someones. She knew who it was, even without her mother calling up the stairs, "Anjelica, Magne is here!"
"Ok! Just a sec!" she hollered back, slipping her heeled boots on. She had thought about just wearing plain old heels, but thought better of it, considering it was about 30 degrees Fahrenheit out, and the sun had only just gone down. So, she had opted for a pair of black, three-inch lace-ups that came just above the ankle to go with her grey leggings and dark green flowy tunic with sleeves that flared out over her hands. She grabbed her small purse to carry her phone, money, and ID with her. She also stashed a pocket knife in it just in case. Hitting the lights as she left the room and closing the door, she hurried down the stairs, taking care not to trip on her heels.
Magne and Turid were standing in the living room with her parents, speaking to her dad in Norwegian, as he had learned it nearly fluently for use within the company. When they heard her coming down the last few steps, they all turned to look at her. Magne had two bundles of flowers in his hands. They looked to have been picked from a garden, considering they looked like common pink flowers, similar to the one she had seen on the sidewalk the day prior. It seemed to her that Magne had been struck dumb at the sight of her, not saying anything but staring. There was a slightly awkward silence as they all just watched her come into the room.
Luckily, her mother was a professional at dispelling awkward silences. "Oh, honey, I haven't seen you all done up since Aunt Maggie's wedding! Look how pretty she is." The older woman moved around the men to take her hands and spin her around so they could all look at her better. "Isn't she beautiful?"
Turid was beaming, clapped and said, "Å, så deilig!"
When no other answer came, Shonda turned to them with a smile and in a slightly threatening tone said, "Isn't she, boys?"
They quickly agreed with her, Magne with a strange look on his face. Not bad strange, but he seemed a little starstruck still, a goofy grin plastered on his face. Her father took one look at him and snorted quietly. An irate glance from her mom was all it took for him to straighten up and elbow Magne in the side while he cleared his throat. That seemed to shake the younger man out of his daze as he blinked and jumped into movement. He took two large steps across the room and held out one of the bundles of flowers to her, the larger of the two. She noticed, as she took them, shyly, that there were a few little white flowers tucked in with the pink ones. They had been so small that, from afar, she couldn't see them.
"Thank you," she could feel her face heating up a little, not really looking him in the eye as she held them to her nose to smell them.
"Værsågod," You're welcome. He said this almost as quietly as she did.
Her mom stood there for a moment, staring between the two, before silently rolling her eyes in exasperation. "Alright, you two! Time for pictures!"
Anjie groaned. "Mo-o-o-om."
"Ah, ah. This is your first time going to a high school party. I need photographic proof for the future generations." Another snort from her father.
Almost forgetting about her makeup, Anjie lightly rubbed her face. "Oh, god, mom. Really?!"
"Yes, really! Now, both of you, get over by the fireplace and pose."
"I, too, would like some pictures!" Turid admitted, pulling her phone out as well. "Magne has never been to a party either," she told the other adults.
Anjie turned to Magne. "I am so sorry. But...it seems we have no choice."
Magne chuckled a little. "Ok." Was all he said.
They two of them stood side by side awkwardly. Turid looked at the two of them, said 'bah' and moved forward to grab the second bundle of flowers out of his hand and set them to the side. Her mother, for her part, sighed a little and motioned for them to get closer.
"You can put your arm around her, Magne. She's not gonna bite." Her dad joked.
The two of them shared a look, smiled nervously, and then scooted a little closer. Taking a deep breath, Anjie reached up and put her arm around Magne's waist as a way of calming him. She felt him jump a little at the contact, shifted a bit, then slowly put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her just a tiny bit closer until she was tucked under his arm. She realized at that moment how much smaller she was than him. Her shoulder barely reached his underarm, and he stood nearly a head taller than her.
"Alright, there we go. Good. Ok, smile, you two."
Anjie looked straight ahead, the bundle of flowers he'd given her held in front of her belly, giving just a little smile towards her mothers phone, then looked over at Turid and did the same. After they heard a few camera shutter sounds, Anjie slid out from Magne's arm and said, "Okie dokie. We've got pictures. Now, can we go?" she asked a little snarkily.
"Well, fine, little miss hurry up." Shonda wiggled her head a bit at her, but grinned. "You two have fun. Be safe. No alcohol. If you see someone with it, tell the principal or one of the teachers and let us know to come get you."
"We know, mom. Don't worry. It's just a school dance." She picked up the flowers Turid had taken from Magne and handed them to him. Then she turned to her mother and held out the ones he'd given her. "Do you mind to stick these in some water?"
"Not at all." She took them, then made a shooing motion. "You two go on."
"Ja, ja, and take plenty of pictures at the party for memories!" Turid added as the two of them made their way to the door.
They both waved to acknowlege her, then Magne grabbed Anjie's coat off the rack by the door and held it open for her. Once they were both adiquately covered up, they called out their goodbyes and slid out the door. All three of the adults moved to the window to watch them walk down the path towards the school.
Turid turned to the other two. "What do you think?"
"Eh, I give it a month." Joe told them.
"A month?" Shonda scoffed. "Surely not. I give them about two weeks. Turid?"
"I agree. Surely they are good friends now, even after only a day. Two weeks maximum."
)0(
They walked slowly, meandering along, in no hurry to really get to the party. Anjie looked at the flowers in his hand. "So, are those for Gry?"
"Hm?" he said confused, until she nodded at his hand and he looked down to realize what she was talking about. "Oh! No, no. They are for someone else."
Her brow creased in confusion but she didn't question it anymore as they made their way in the direction of the school. They continued on in their unhurried rate, Anjie just taking in the night air and looking at the sky. "It's really beautiful out tonight."
Magne looked to her first, then followed her gaze upwards. "Yes, it is." He hesitated for a moment, then said, "By the way, your mother is right."
"About what?" she inquired.
"That you are also very beautiful tonight."
Blood rushed to her face, darkening her cheeks and the tips of her ears. She had forgone a hat because of the fact that she had done her hair half up in waves and didn't want to end up squashing them, so she couldn't hide it when she blushed. "Thank you." The side of her mouth quirked up for half a second, then she looked up at him, only to realize that he was blushing furiously as well. Much as she had earlier, he wouldn't look at her as they walked. As she opened her mouth to say something, they rounded a car and she saw where they were heading. There was a spot near the river where people had left candles and flowers. They neared it, and she came to a realization. "Magne?" she stopped, a hand on his arm. "Is this where Isolde..."
"This is where she landed that day, yes."
There were a couple of pictures of her from the school yearbook and one or two that her father had given to be put there. The two of them stood for a moment, before the young blonde man squatted down to set the flowers down in front of the picture. It wa the same picture that had been on her desk the previous day. Anjie knelt beside him, taking in the sight. There were so many flowers, candles, and cards left there. In a burst, she turned to look down at her coat, digging in one of the inside pockets. Magne started to ask her what she was doing when she pulled out a small votive candle. Then he was really confused. And she could see it on his face, so she explained.
"My dad makes me carry a couple of things, just in case anything happens and I'm stuck or something." She turned back to the other candles and used one right in the front to light the wick. Once it was lit, she held it up between the two of them. "Fly high, Isolde." She offered the candle to Magne, who covered her fingers with his own.
"Hvil godt, min venn." He whispered.
A sudden rush of something similar to the feeling of adrinaline shot down her arm, warming where their fingers touched. Out of nowhere, the flame shot up twice as high as it had been for a moment, making both of them lean backwards a little. When it finally died down to a normal level, the two of them glanced between each other and the candle.
"Hva faen?" What the fuck?
"I have no idea." Realizing that he still had his hand over hers, she started blushing again, pulling her hand away slowly. Once she had manage to extract herself, she placed the candle down amongst the others. Anjie watched the flame, willing it to do something again. The wind began to whip up, making the flames of all the candles flicker. All but hers. After a little while, after her legs had started falling alseep from squatting for so long, she stood, dusting off her knees. Magne stayed like that for another moment, sort of in a trance until Anjie put her hand on his shoulder to comfort him.
With a deep sigh, he stood, turned to her and gave her just the slightest upturn of the corner of his mouth. He placed one large hand on her arm, turning her a little. "Come on. I am sure everyone else is at the party already." Anjie nodded, allowing him to lead her. When she turned, he moved his hand from her arm to the middle of her back. A shiver ran down her back out of nowhere as they walked away. It wasn't because he was touching her. No. This was a shiver accompanied by the hairs on the back of her neck raising like a dogs hackles. Her head spun around, trying to find the eyes that she could feel on them. She saw none. "Anjelica?" He asked, watching her. "What is it?"
"I don't know," she told him quietly. One more sweep of her eyes over the area, then she turned back around. "I'm sure it's nothing. Let's go." Another shiver ran down her spine as she turned her back to the river. Something was telling her she was turning her back on some sort of predetor. Magne noticed the shivering and hesitated for a second as they walked, but eventually settled on sliding his arm around her shoulders again as a way to try to keep her warm. She glanced at his hand, startled, then looked at him. When he only gave her a small smile and pulled her a little closer under his arm, she grinned to herself and put her own arm around his waist. It was a little awkward to walk like that, but neither one was complaining. As they walked, she looked up at him once again, noticing that it seemed like he wanted to say something. "What's wrong?"
"Hmm? Oh, nothing. It's nothing."
"If it were nothing, you wouldn't be chewing on your lip like that. Spit it out." She had meant it as a joke, but he had really been worrying his bottom lip between his teeth. She was somewhat worried that if he didn't stop, he was going to end up making it bleed.
"It's just..." he groaned a little at the awkwardness of what he was about to say. "You smell very nice tonight."
The statement made her stumble over her feet a little. "Oh..." Anjie couldn't help the blood that rushed to her face. "Thank you." She said quietly, eyes focused on the ground so she wouldn't trip over anything, including her own feet.
Nothing else was said between the two of them as they continued on the way to the school. Once they were inside on the way to gymnasium, Magne had pulled away from her, as she no longer needed him to help keep her warm. They could hear music as they wandered down the hallway, past empty classroom after empty classroom, but it wasn't party music like Anjie had expected. No, it sounded almost like an ode to something. They stopped for a short moment at a spot outside the gym so that they could stash their jackets where they could easily get them when they left. Neither of them were looking into the room when they opened the door and walked through. However, as soon as the door squeeked open, the music stopped, and the two of them looked up to see everyone staring at them. Anjie shrunk back behind Magne, playing with her rings. Eventually, though, Principal Jutul clapped her hands together once as she took the microphone from her daughter, Saxa.
"Well, thank you, Saxa, for the beautiful song in memory of Isolde." Magne pulled on her arm away from the door, moving where they were less conspicuous. "Now, I believe we are here to throw a party, are we not?" The other students all began cheering. "Happy Equinox, everyone. Enjoy yourselves this evening."
Behind her, the DJ started up the music, taking the last of the attention away from the large, blonde young man and the girl accompanying him. Several people immediately went to the center of the gym and started dancing, or at the very least swaying back and forth with cups in their hands. Magne, for his part, was an excellent buffer between her and everyone else. As big as he was, everyone parted before him, creating an opening for her to follow without bumping into anyone. He finally stopped at one of the tables along the wall, and when she came around, she heard Laurits talking to his brother.
"Cool entrance, bro." He was luckily speaking English, trying not to leave her out of the conversation. "Ah, and you brought a stray." There it was. The reason he was speaking so she could understand.
"Shut up, Laurits." Magne came to her defense, leveling the darker haired brother with a glare. "Are you wearing mamma's shirt?"
"Do you imagine she'll ever be able to fit it again? Nah. I figured I'd put it to use."
Magne snickered a little before turning and looking around the gym. Whatever he was looking for, he found clear on the other side of the gym. Anjie followed his gaze and found Gry on the other end of it, accompanied by another young man wearing what seemed to be expensive clothes from where she stood. At the very least he was wearing brandname shoes and a gold chain around his neck. But everything abou thim just screamed money.
"Sorry, bro. But I think she's taken."
Magne turned back to Laruits, only to smirk at him as he leaned against the table. "It would appear he is also taken, then."
Anjie's eyes widened, looking between the two. Was Laurits gay? Well, her gaydar had always been faulty. Really faulty. Laurits was not phased by his brother's statement, but instead turned to her and smiled. "So, Anjelica, how do you find our school party so far?"
She swallowed hard. "It's nice. Music's a little boring though."
"Yeah," he drawled. "Unfortunate part of living in a small town, people have no taste in music. Magne," he turned to the larger young man. "I believe Angelica looks a bit parched from all the attention a moment ago. Perhaps you should go get her something to drink."
He glanced at her, asking her silently if she was actually thirsty. She gave him a small smile. "I actually wouldn't mind a drink." Magne lifted an eyebrow at her. She reached over and pushed on his arm. "I'll be alright. If anyone tries to mess with me, I'm sure, at the very least, Laurits will scare them off."
He shook his head at that, but put a hand on her shoulder and said, "I'll be right back." Then he was gone, weaving through the crowd of students towards the refreshment table.
Anjie turned back to the younger brother and cocked her head at him. "What was that about?"
"Why does it have to be about anything?" he put his elbows on the table in front of him.
"Because you wouldn't have sent him off unless you had something to ask or say that you think he'd get mad about. So, what is it?"
Laurits grinned, exposing his crooked teeth. They almost looked like fangs. "You're a smart one, aren't you? Alright. Mamma and I think you've got a crush on Magne." She opened her mouth to reject the statement, but he waved her off. "Listen, I know you've only just met him. He's a good guy, he's just too stupid to see what's going on around him. Gry is obviously into Fjor. All I'm saying, is from what I've seen, he seems to like you too. Maybe not in the puppy love way of Gry, but you're the first person that was kind to him just to be kind." The two of them stared at each other for a long moment. After a bit, he sighed and straightened up. "Not to mention, mamma really likes you. She was pissed when she found out that Magne asked you here just to help him ask Gry to dance. She hit him with a towel." At that, Anjie snorted. The idea of a big tall guy like Magne cowering before the much smaller Turid was highly amusing.
"I'm not gonna lie, Magne is very sweet. Everything I've seen of him in the last couple days has proven that. He's not stupid," Laurits started to say something, but it was her turn to hold her hand up. "He's not. He's a little oblivious, yes. But if he likes Gry and wants to pursue her, at least until she shuts him down, I'm fine just being his friend." She turned to see Magne waiting at the drink table for other students to move so he could grab something. The coner of her mouth upturned a little as she watched him. "I do like him, but like you said, we only just met."
There was silence between the two at the table, only music and other students talking filling the air. After a moment of quiet contemplation, Laurits put a chilly hand on hers, pulling her attention back to him. "For what it's worth, I honestly think you'd be better for Magne than Gry. Even though you're super weird." She made a 'gee, thanks' face at him. "And I think after a while he might actually see what's right in front of him. As long as you are in for the long haul and not just to date him for a while and then dump him for someone else."
Looking him in the eye, she told him, "I would never do that to anyone, let alone someone as kind as Magne. Besides, I've never actually had a real boyfriend."
Laurits was taken aback. "Really?"
"I mean, there were guys that thought it would be funny to make bets with their friends."
"About what?" he asked.
A sad smile came over her face. She didn't say anything, but noticed Magne on his way back through the crowd with drinks in his hands, trying hard not to spill them with all the people bumping into him. Anjie extracted her hand from Laurits's and beamed at the blonde brother as he approached. "Hey."
"Hei. Sorry, there was a line."
"No, no problem. Laurits and I were just entertaining ourselves."
Magne looked between the two of them somewhat suspiciously. Laurits rolled his eyes. "Just gossiping like a couple of old hens."
Magne handed her a cup of punch, "Sorry. This was the only thing they had that is not en brus." A fizzy drink.
Anjie chuckled a little, "It's fine, I figured that would be what I would end up drinking." She took it, took a sip, then pointed to the darker brother. "Your mom told us to take pictures. We should probably all take one together so the parentals don't hound us about details."
Magne groaned a little, but Laurits laughed. "You really want to take a picture with me?"
She shrugged, "Why not?"
He made a face. "I'm not exactly normal."
"Neither are am I, what's your point? Look, just...get over here and take a picture with me and Magne so we can get all of our parents off our backs." She pulled her phone out of the small bag she had placed on the table and waved him over. Laurits shrugged and stepped around the table to lean against one side of her. When Magne didn't, she sighed heavily, grabbed his hand and yanked on him. He made a little noise of indignation at being manhandled. For a moment, Anjie had a spark of amusement that this huge guy was so easily moved by and cowered from women half his size. But he did move closer, his arm sliding around her waist while Laurits put his around her shoulders. She flicked her hair out of her face as she lifted the phone. "C'mon, guys, big smiles. Like you mean it." Once she saw a grin on Laurits's face and a small smile on Magne's in the camera, she smiled and snapped a few pictures.
Oscar chose that moment to show up at their table. "Hey, party party!" he said as he leaned against Laurits. It was obvious from his stumbling and the slurring of his words that he was drunk. Given that she could only somewhat understand Norwegian at the best of times, his slurring was making it just that much harder to know what the hell he was saying. He offered Laurits something, a plastic bottle filled with some kind of clear liquid. She could only assume it was vodka or something similar. The younger of the Seier brothers leaned down where he couldn't be seen by the teachers and took a swig. Upon recieving it back, Oscar offered it to Magne, who only shook his head.
The dark-skinned young man then turned to her and shook the bottle at her. "Kom igjen!" Come on!
Anjie glanced at Magne, seeing that he was watching her, she shrugged and took the bottle. She could feel the large guy beside her tense up as she took a long drink. All of them at the table watched her in awe and concern as she finished and handed the bottle back to Oscar. When she saw the looks of confusion on their faces, she laughed. "What? You think Norway is the only country with underage drinking? There's not much to do in the boonies of the South, besides sitting around bonfires and drinking."
Oscar cheered at her, saluting her with the plastic bottle before swallowing another good sized gulp. Something else was said between the boys. After what seemed like a tense conversation, he said something about partying and Laurits, then slung his arm around the dark-haired boy and pulled him away. Anjie rolled her eyes, then turned to Magne to see him still staring at her.
"What?"
He started, turning his face to study his bottle. "Nothing."
"You're a really bad liar. You do know that right?" Anjie rolled her eyes at him. "Is it about the alcohol?" Mange shrugged. "I'm not getting beligerant. I'm not Oscar. It's only an hour or so into the party and he's already three sheets to the wind." He turned and looked at her strangely. "It's a phrase meaning highly intoxicated." With a little gesture of 'ah' he went back to playing with the bottle in his hands. She sighed. Shaking her head, she looked around, everywhere but him. When her eyes had scanned over the entire gym, she spotted Gry sitting by herself. "Hey," she tapped his arm with her knuckles. "Looks like Gry is open for the moment. Might be the time to make your move." Magne didn't say anything, but stared over at the blonde girl and gulped. "Go on. Ask her to dance." Anjie shoved him a little in the direction of Gry. He looked at her momentarily, and she gestured with her head for him to go.
He straightened up, squaring his shoulders and yanking his suit jacket nervously. Magne took a deep breath, steadying himself and grabbed his drink and left her there. Anjie watched him go with a rueful smile. Across the room, in another area, she saw Principle Jutul speaking with two guys from the higher grade. There was something strange about the way she was holding herself, and the way the boys were responding to that body language. They looked nervous, but not in the usual way that children were when confronted by an adult authority figure. Anjie's head cocked to the side a little as she was watching. She saw the strange smile the principle gave the boys and the way she sauntered away with them watching her as she did. After less than a minute, with them looking around shortly to make sure no one was watching them, she saw them follow her out of the gym. A bad feeling settled in her stomach. This was not a good thing.
She looked across the floor to where Mange now sat with Gry, soda bottle in hand. She smiled a little at the sheer awkwardness of both of them. At least, she smiled until she saw Fjor walk up to them and start talking. As she watched, the music chanced to something slower and more romantic. Fjor held a hand out to Gry, and after a breath, she took it. Anjie's heart hurt for Mange. The two of them wandered off into the crowd and started dancing closely, arms around one another. Her eyes found Mange again. With no warning, the bottle in his hand shattered. Anjie gasped softly to herself. Damn, he's got a strong grip. He was staring at his hand in disbelief before he shot up and ran out of the gym. Downing the rest of her punch, she tried to follow him outside, but there were too many people in the way.
"Are you ready to go to hell?!" Someone shouted.
Suddenly, the music changed. It was something harder, something louder. She turned to the stage and saw Laurits at the DJ table with his phone hooked up to the sound system. Honestly, it did sound better than what had been playing before, and most of the kids seemed to agree. Almost everyone started towards the dance floor, the surge causing her to be carried there as well. The bodies of nearly 200 kids pressed all around her, bumping here back and forth as she attempted to wade through the dizzying cloud of perfumes, colognes, sweat, and alcohol. Anjie's throat started to close up as she continued to force her way towards the door. Her vision getting slightly blurry from the lack of oxygen caused by her claustraphobia.
The music changed again. It was different. Harder than even the things that Laurits had been playing. It was...ancient sounding almost. The press of bodies eased as the tempo increased. She was pushed out of the crowd and into a hole on the dance floor where there were only two other people. Fjor and Saxa. They started some strange dance that seemed like a battle, and yet, almost sexual. Which was strange to her oxygen-deprived brain because they were siblings. Then she saw Laurits jump down from the stage and make his way towards the couple. He joined their strange dance. As she watched the boys run their hands over Saxa's body, she straightened up. The movement brought her to their attention.
She gasped.
Fjor and Saxa...their eyes...they were yellow with pupils like a cat. Except, they looked more dragon-like than cat-like. She froze. There was that feeling again. The same one from earlier. Like she was in the sights of a dangerous preditor that preyed on weak things like her. She felt, she thought in that moment, much like the rodent caught in the eyes of a snake that was about to strike. They were mesmerizing. And yet, she felt the innate instinct to get the fuck away from them. She took one step back, then another, and then she was turning to run out of the gym. Anjie bashed into someone as she did so, causing them to yell at her to watch out. Once she was past the doors of the gym, she kept going until she got to the spot where they had stashed their jackets. Mange's wasn't there anymore.
She inhaled through her nose, trying to calm her racing heart, only to catch the scent of something familiar. It calmed her down almost instantly. Grabbing her jacket from atop the lockers, she followed the smell down the hall. Was nearly running until she heard a light moan from one of the rooms to her left and stopped on a dime. Slowly, she snuck over and peeked into the room. There was Principle Jutul. And she wasn't alone. The two boys from before were in the room with her. One had his head between her legs, and the other was fondling her breasts from behind. Principle Jutul brought one of her hands to the head of the one at her mons, and the other scraped it's nails down the other boy's chest, pulling on his shirt to bring him down to kiss her. Something pooled in her belly.
Anjie gasped. The older woman's face turned in her direction. She threw her hand over her mouth and ducked out of the way. She heard the chair scrape against the floor and the boys ask their principle something. Anjie quickly darted away from the door and around the corner, and didn't stop, didn't even turn to look back, until she was outside. Doubling over, she began gasping, trying to get her breath back. She happened to look up right as someone went around the bend of the road. Someone very tall with a messy mop of blonde hair.
"Mange?" she murmured. Not even giving herself anymore time to breathe, she ran down the street and around the corner to try to catch up with him. "Mange!" But he was nowhere to be seen. She furrowed her brows. How did he move so fast? Suddenly a wave of sadness and embarassment washed over her. Her chin trembled. With a sniffle, she started on her way home.
She had been forgotten about. Again. The one person who actually liked her in this town had forgotten about her.
No, that wasn't fair.
Mange had a lot going on in his head. Between the death of his only friend, and the girl he liked being with someone else, it was obvious he would be preoccupied. Besides, it wasn't like he had any obligation to her. Well...actually he did, technically. He was technically her date to the Spring Equinox party. Technically, he should have waited for her and then walked her home.
As she turned another corner, she saw a nice vehicle stop in the road next to the shrine dedicated to Isolde. She hid behind a car. Out stepped Fjor, Oscar, and...Laurits? What was Laurits doing with them? She could hear them conversing in Norwegian, and from as far as she was she couldn't hear what they were saying. But she could tell by their body language that all of them were pretty lit. Not only that, but it was a tense situation if the way Oscar was murmuring his responses was anything to go by. Fjor was talking loudly, swinging his arms, laughing. Until he said one thing in particular and everyone went quiet as he eyeballed the darker young man. He asked him a question, she could hear that much from the lilt of his voice. Oscar didn't answer. Instead, Fjor pointed at something on the groud, one of the candles. It sounded like he was ordering Oscar to do something. When he wouldn't, the older young man chuckled and said something else too quiet for her to make out.
She got a sick feeling in her stomach when she saw him turn to the shrine, hands at his waistband of his pants. Bile rose to her tongue as she watched him whip out his penis and begin urinating on the shrine. She watched in horror as he continued to piss on the rememberance of the poor girl who had died, chuckling as he did so. At least, he was chuckling until he heard the snap of a phone camera. Her eyes flew to Oscar, who had his phone out and was pointing it towards Fjor. Fjor said something, probably asking him what he was doing. She heard Oscar say something about it being funny, then the words 'slett det!" Delete it from Fjor as he surged forward and punched Oscar across the face, causing him to fall.
"Slett det!" he hissed again.
Oscar did something with his phone, presumably deleting the photo. All the while, Laurits just stood to the side, spectating, just as she was. Although with much less concern and more amusement. Eventually, they all got back in the car and drove off. Once they were out of sight, she emerged from her hiding place, hesitant, watching to make sure they didn't come back. Once she was sure they were well and truely gone, she bolted across the street towards the shrine and fell to her knees before it.
"Oh, god!" she covered her nose. What the hell had he been drinking to make his piss stink so bad? She leaned over the flooded out candles, lips curled with disgust. She reached forward, dumping the candles he had pissed in off to the side, and them setting them back where they had been. She even shook off a few of the flowers and pictures that had been in the line of fire. "I am so sorry that this happened to you, Isolde. Even in death the asshole can't let you be." Then she saw the votive she and Magne had left still burning strong, despite having been directly in Fjor's piss path. Curious, she went to touch it, and as soon as her fingers met the beeswax, all the candles, including those that had been put out, flared up inches above their normal hight, causing her to fall backwards on her ass. They continued to burn as her vision began to swim.
"You are good. Too good for this world." A soft voice told her from the railing. Her eyes shot over, meeting with beautiful blue-green eyes and a rueful smile. The streaks in her hair and the septum piercing gave it away, even if she didn't know who it was immediately just by the tilt of the lips and the way her head was cocked.
"Isolde?" she breathed, unbelieving of what was right before her eyes. "But...you're dead? Magne saw you hit the powerlines and fall. He said your neck was broken."
The person leaning against the rail chuckled, letting her head loll back to look at the sky. "He was right. I am dead."
"Then...how are you here?"
The image of Isolde pulled her head back up to stare at her. "Maybe I'm just your imagination. Maybe I'm a ghost. But that's not the point. The point is...why the fuck are you fixing a memorial to a dead girl you never met?"
Finally managing to sit up, she blinked at her. Her vision was still wonky. "I...Magne. He cared about you, a lot. You were his best friend."
Isolde made a face, downturning the coners of her mouth in a way that said 'that makes sense.' "Still, it doesn't mean you have to clean up this mess."
"But you were a good person. You were trying to help people. And like I said, you were Magne's friend."
"Ah, let me guess. 'Any friend of him is a friend of me'?"
Shrugging, she stood and brushed off her butt. "Basically."
"Even though he forgot about you?" The look that the ghost of Isolde leveled her with was a skeptical one.
The question made her stop. "He has a lot on his mind. You being the main thing. Maybe someone said something. It wouldn't be the first time someone has provoked him by talking about you badly. That, and he's frustrated because he feels the police aren't really doing their jobs. He thinks someone killed you." Isolde didn't say anything, only stared at her with an even look. "Did...did someone kill you, Isolde?" The blonde girl shrugged. "That's not an answer."
"What do you want me to say? I'm just a figment of your imagination, remember? What do you think happened to me?"
Anjie's eyes narrowed. "No...You're not part of my mind. You're...something else." She took a step forward and reached out.
Isolde stepped to the side. "What are you doing?"
Anjie didn't answer. Instead, she persisted in her objective and moved until she had no where else to go other than the river itself, and she was actually close enough to have felt the breath of the girl on her face, had she been alive. There was an odd aura around her, almost like a nearly invisible ring of light around the edges of her body. Anjie stared right into her eyes as she raised her hand again. This time, Isolde didn't move. Reaching for the other girl's hand, she felt a tingling run up her arm when she met the aura. Continuing, she finally came into contact with her hand.
Sort of.
The feeling that came with the not quite touch of Isolde's hand was like the static on the old TVs. Her arm started to go numb. And, while she could feel something somewhat solid beneath her hand, it wasn't quite like touching a real person. The edges of her vision when fuzzier, her breath coming in gasps.
"You really shouldn't do that." Isolde's voice sounded as if it was far away. "You're going to kill yourself if you keep digging."
"No," Anjie told her, as firmly as she could with no air. "I need to know what's going on. With me, with Magne, with all of Edda. There's something not right here."
A wry smile came over Isolde's face. "Well, aren't you the determined one. You might not have any sense for your own life, but you've got spirit at least." Suddenly, Isolde was gone. Everything came back into clarity so quickly that the sudden oxygen entering her bloodstream made her lightheaded and have to grasp the railing to keep herself from falling to the ground. "It's a good thing Magne's got you." Hearing the voice again made her spin around, still having to hold onto the metal. "He's gonna need all the help he can get. I suppose the harvest will be good this year."
And with that, she was gone completely. Anjie's eyes examined the entire area around her and saw no more of the vision. Once she had caught her breath, she forced herself to stand up straight. A sudden feeling in her gut, something telling her that she was needed elsewhere, sent her running back towards the residential area of Edda. She kept going until she heard a door slam a few houses down the road. The sound drew her eyes to one of the houses. A happy huff escaped her when she saw who it was charging down the walkway. She started to take another step until Magne put his hands on the vehicle in the driveway and pushed it with a shout. Her eyes widened as it moved as if it were no heavier than a large table, sliding across the pavement. He stared at the car, then looked up at the person in the door.
Stepping forward slowly she hesitantly called "Magne?"
He spun to face her. "Anjelica!" he gasped breathlessly.
"Magne, what..." she stopped right in front of him, putting a hand on his arm as she glanced at the silver car.
"I don't know. What are you doing here?" He grabbed her upper arms and looked her over. "You're shivering! Why aren't you wearing your coat?" He grabbed it out of her hand and flung it around her shoulders, rubbing her arms to try to warm her.
"I...I was looking for you. I saw you leave after Fjor asked Gry to dance and..." she happened to look at the house, and her eyes widened when she saw their history teacher in the doorway. "Mr. Eidsvoll?"
"Maybe you two should come inside." He gestured, beckoning them in. Magne looked between them, then gathered Anjie under his arm and guided her towards the house. Erik moved out of the way to let them in, closed the door and then led them into the dining room. "Why don't you sit down, Anjelica. Would you like some tea? It will warm you up."
She nodded silently, taking a seat at the table. Erik disappeared into the kitchen as Magne sat down beside her. "Magne...what just happened?"
He hung his head, then raised a hand to his face and started rubbing his eyes. "I don't know. Something has been happening to me ever since my family came to Edda. I've gotten stronger." He looked up at her.
Her eyes widened. "The hammer throw? That really happened? You actually threw a sledgehammer half a kilometer?"
The edge of his mouth quirked up. "Yeah. Farther. The night that Isolde died, the night you saw me outside in the storm, I threw my mom's hammer. It got struck by lightning, and ended up over a kilometer away in Vidar Jutul's windshield."
Anjie looked at the table, littered with papers and items of all sorts. "Holy shit," she murmured. Then she remembered. "Magne..." she looked into the kitchen to make sure that Erik wasn't coming back. "I saw Isolde tonight."
The young man straightened up, "What?"
Her voice dropped even lower. "I don't know for sure what it was, but...I saw her, I talked to her. I was on the way from the school and I stopped because Fjor, Oscar, and Laurits showed up at her memorial site. Fjor started pissing on the candles!" Magne's eyes widened in horror. He looked towards the door and started to get up. Her hand shot out, landing on his chest. "No!" she whisper shouted. He stared at her, nose flared, eyebrows furrowed. But he did sit down. "I took care of it after they left. But...Magne, something happened. You remember how the candle flared up?"
He nodded, "Yes, it was very strange."
"Right," she leaned closer to him, "I was fixing the candles and flowers. I noticed that our candle was still lit, even though it was right in front of everything when he was...y'know. Anyway, I went to touch it and as soon as I did...all of them did it. Every candle, even the ones that weren't lit. It scared me. I fell over. My vision went weird and all the sudden I heard her. She was there, Magne. I even touched her...sort of. She wasn't quite solid. I got dizzy."
"What did she say?"
"A whole lot of nothing. Talking about how she may or may not have been part of my imagination. Said something about the harvest before she disappeared."
"Harvest?"
Before she could say anything else, Erik came through the door with three mugs of tea. "Ah, here we are. I hope you like chamomile and lavender. Given everything going on, I figured we all needed to calm down a little. Also...it was Isi's favorite evening drink." Anjie could see that the thought made him extremly sad. In a show of comfort, Anjie reached up and patted his arm.
"I know I didn't know her, but Isolde seemed like a really great young woman."
Erik placed a hand on her shoulder. "Thank you. I'm sure the two of you would have been good friends. She had a soft spot for all those oddball and outcast from the norm." He smiled briefly at her, though she could see the tears that he was holding back. Clearing his throat, Erik gestured to the things on the table. "I was telling Magne, I was just going through her things. I don't want to throw everything away, but there are definitely some stuff that should be. I just don't know what." Magne reached over the table and picked up what looked to be a small notebook. "That was her diary. Her most secret thoughts and feelings. I haven't read it."
Magne looked between them, then stood and turned to the large black trashbag that had been tied to one of the chairs. Solomnly, he let it fall out of his hand and into that black abyss. Erik and Anjie stared at him. After a quiet moment, he said, "I think she should be allowed to keep her secrets."
Anjie smiled softly, reaching out to take his hand. When he felt her smaller, softer hand in his, he jumped, momentarily shocked. Once he realized what it was, he relaxed. His fingers wrapped around hers, squeezing gently. She realized, in that moment, that his hand was much larger than her, just like the rest of him. And it was warm. So very warm. Maybe it was just the fact that she was still very chilled, or maybe because he was so much bigger than her, that he had more blood in his body and therefore more heat.
He seemed to realize the same fact, because he jumped into motion. "Drink your tea." he told her, pushing the mug into her hand. "Mr. Eidsvoll, do you have anything she can wrap up in? A-a blanket, or a sweater maybe?"
"Oh!" the older man quickly moved away from the table. He dug in a box for a moment. "Here," he pulled out a large, thick sweater that had alternating green, yellow, and dark blue. "Um..."
"Was it Isolde's?"
He nodded. "Her mother made it when Isi was young. Made it to fit her when she got older." With a small sniffle, he handed it over to her.
"Mr. Eidsvoll, I couldn't possibly-
"Please. I would rather it be put to use than to be thrown away. Besides, I think Isi only ever wore it once or twice." It took a moment, but eventually he raised his eyes to meet hers. The look in them was pleading.
"Ok," she muttered, taking the sweater and pulling it over her head carefully, trying not to muss her hair anymore than the wind already had. "Thank you."
"Mmh," he nodded, then moved around to the other side of the table and started going through things. They worked mostly in silence, with words only being spoken to ask about this trinket or that. They had decided that the majority of her art would go to the local center where it would be displayed. But Magne had laid claim to two of the pieces, saying his was going to hang them in his room. Erik seemed pleased by this, even if he didn't smile.
It wasn't until Anjie yawned that Magne realized how late it actually was and jumped ot his feet. "Your parents are going to kill me!"
"What? Why?" she asked, confused. She then looked down at her watch. It was almost midnight. "Shit!" she jumped up, too, grabbing her coat. "Thank you so much for the tea, Mr. Eidsvoll. I need to get home, like right now."
"Oh, yes, of course. Would you like me to give you both a ride? It's far too cold for you to be walking all that way. Also, it will be quicker. And, perhaps, your parents will not worry so much if they knew you had been with me."
Anjie turned the thought over in her head for a moment. "Alright, sure."
"Good. Let me get my coat."
Once he had again disappeared from the room, Magne turned to her with a sheepish look. "I'm sorry. I should have been paying more attention to the time."
Anjie waved him off. "Don't worry about it. My parents are pretty chill most of the time. And especially if Mr. Eidsvoll talks to them and tells them what we were actually doing, they should be ok. It's your mom I'm worried about."
"Momma doesn't care much what I do. I think she's just happy that I am getting out of the house."
They all filed out of the house, Erik turning to lock the door, then they piled into the car, Magne opening the front door for her. She smiled, but told him that he needed to sit in the front because of how tall he was. He respoded by nodding and going to open the back door as well. Silently, they rode through the streets, going from the nice-ish side of town to the more run down side. Anjie slid down in her seat a little when Erik asked her which house was hers and she had to point to the nicest house on the street. All of them exited once he had parked the vehicle. They weren't even to the gate when the door swung open, showing her parents furious faces.
"Anjelica! Where the hell have you been?! Who is this?" her mother was nearly shreaking at first, but quieted when she spotted Erik.
"Ah," he stepped forward, his hand extended to shake theirs. "My name is Erik Eidsvoll. I am the kids' history teacher."
"And why are you bringing our daughter home, Mr. Eidsvoll?" her father inquired as he shook the other man's hand.
"Well, you see, Magne was good friends with my daughter, Isolde." Both parents looked confused. "My daughter...died recently. They came over after the dance to comfort me, and helped me go through some of her things. Time got away from us, unfortunately. We didn't intend for either of them to be out so late. Quite a lovely girl you have here. She is very kind to help someone she barely knows through such a difficult time." He patted Anjie's shoulder. "Now, if you'll excuse me, it is very late, and I have some things to prepare for tomorrow. Are you coming?"
"Coming to what?" Shonda asked.
"Her funeral. Everyone in town will be there. Well, except for those that can't get away from work. It's a small town, everyone knows everyone."
"Oh, we didn't know about it," the two looked at each other. "Anjie?"
Put on the spot, she gulped a little as everyone one of them turned to her. "Um, I was hoping it would be alright for me to go. I only just found out about it yesterday. I heard some other kids talking about it."
"Well, I suppose. Magne, is your family going as well?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Ok, well, honey, your father has to work tomorrow. And I have several errands I have to run as well. Why don't you ride with them and you can hang out with Magne afterwards. I believe you still have that report you're doing, right?" Anjie nodded. "Ok. It's all settled them. I am sorry we won't be able to attend Mr. Eidsvoll."
"No, it's ok. I understand. Life happens, and it stops for no one. Anyway, god natt. See you tomorrow." With that, he turned and walked down the steps, back toward his car, got in, and drove away.
Left with her parents standing behind her, Anjie was hesitant to say anything else. "Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow then."
"See you tomorrow. I'll text you when I get home with all the information." She nodded with a small smile. Neither said anything else, so he turned towards his house.
Anjie sighed heavily, knowing what was coming. Plastering a smile on her face, she turned. Her mother had her arms folded across her chest. Her father on the other hand, just kind of stood back, pulling on his wife's arm to get her out of the way so their daughter could come inside. They all went to the living room, then her mother spun on her. "Why didn't you tell us you were going to your teacher's house?"
"It wasn't really anything planned," Anjie shrugged. "We were on our way back when we saw him taking out some garbage." The lie slipped off her tongue like oil. She knew they couldn't tell them the truth, they'd send her to the loony bin. "It was cold, and he invited us in for some tea. Like he said, time got away from us."
"I see." Her mother said, nodding her head once. "And that's all that happened?"
Furrowing her brows, Anjie said, "Yeah. Look, he even gave me his daughter's sweater becuase I was cold and she never wore it. He said he'd rather it not go to waste. Now, is the interrogation over? I'm exhausted and I need to be up kinda early if I'm going to Isolde's funeral."
With a huff, her mother waved her off, sending her on her way. Anjie glanced at her dad, who gave her a secret thumbs up behind her mother's back. She smiled at them, then trotted up the stairs. Once upstairs, she set about getting ready for bed, getting undressed, taking her makeup off. She had just taken out her contacts and was reaching for her glasses when her phone dinged. She shoved the wire onto her face and grabbed up her phone.
Magne sent a photo
Opening the message, she was greeted by a picture of an obituary from the local newspaper.
Anjie- takk
Magne- Værsågod. God natt.
Anjie- god natt
With an alarm on her phone, she laid down, snuggling up under her thick blanket. As late as it was, and with all the excitement of the night, it didn't take very long at all for sleep to take her.
