We stayed down by the river until about one in the morning, wrapped up in thick blankets Cam had thought to bring and drinking hot chocolate from flasks. Our fire was still crackling, casting us all in a yellowish glow, when Cam got up with a groan. He stretched and swung his neck from side to side.
"I feel like sleeping in an actual bed tonight and gotta be up early to go visit some Aunt," He said wrinkling his nose and put out a hand to pull Sherry up. "You're my lift so can we…"
"You told me on the way here numbskull," Sherry said picking up her bag. She looked down at the four of us left. "Is it ok if you guys clean up? No one needs a lift, right?"
"Yeah, it's fine Sher," Lucian said with a wave of his hand, his other around Kanti's waist as they sat close together. "And I can take Willow and Tools home if they want."
"Grand, will chat later. Nice meeting ya Kanti." Sherry said and went to follow Cam on the climb up. They called out byes as they both disappeared into the darkness.
"You too." Kanti called. We were silent for a few moments and when I was certain they had gone, I let loose.
"How come you never said you were a Savant!?" I snapped with an acerbic bite to each word.
"You're a Savant?" Tulip said. She looked oddly troubled by this.
"Well, how d'ya bring up something like that? I thought you and Tools might be but I wasn't sure," Lucian said back, looking as incredulous as Tulip. "And yes, Kanti and I are soulfinders. I saw it written across your face after you said my name telepathically." He studied me in the dimming light of the fire. "How d'ya figure it out anyway?"
Kanti was a step ahead of Lucian. "You figured out I was a Savant first, right?"
"Yeah. Now try to follow this," I said leaning forward. "My friend's soulfinder's brother is your older sister Tarryn's soulfinder."
"Uri. Aw, he's lovely." She smiled fondly at the thought. "He helped her with her gift which I will always love him for."
Was there a bad bone in this girl? Crap, she better not be a mind reader. "What is your gift anyway?" I asked her, mentally crossing my fingers. My actual ones clenched my flask, nearly denting the metal.
"Ah, my father called it echolocation which is pretty handy for me. I can emit a note that reflects off my environment allowing me to know where I am. Technically," she said a little ruefully. "I cannot see but I can direct this note through slits in doorways, out in the open and in the dark allowing me to even know Tulip has a spot forming on her forehead right beside where her hair parts."
I gawped and quickly shuffled my chair nearer to Tulip, just about making out the little bump there. "Hey!" Tulip said defensively covering her tiny spot with a hand.
"Sorry, it was the first thing I thought of." Kanti said sheepishly. Lucian rubbed her shoulders and gave her a little kiss on the cheek making her smile.
"What about you Lucian?" Tulip said, probably trying to avert attention away from her pretty invisible spot. "Any nice party trick? I can just tell you are perfectly healthy though you might need to start taking a vitamin D supplement. No sun in rainy old England." She said with a cheeky waggle of a finger.
"Illusions. I can make you believe right now you're sitting in a sunny island in Greece or in Siberia in the depths of winter in only a bikini. Your choice." He said sweetly. Tulip scowled at him.
"Cool." I said staring vacantly at the fire. We sat in silence for a few moments, the only sound being the fire still burning.
"So…" Kanti said. I looked over to her. She was playing with one of Lucian's hands but she looked somewhere in my direction. The fire's glow let me see the little smile playing with the edges of Lucian's lips. "Have you met your soulfinders? You live quite close to Crystal, right?"
"Fuck." Tulip let out. "I never even thought to ask her!" she wailed. "I've been too busy to even think of mine!"
"Busy seeing how many shots you can down in a minute?" I snorted.
"Have you any idea the amount of work I have to do?!" she snapped at me. She took a few seconds before quietly adding. "Six if anyone was curious."
Lucian groaned as Kanti's little laugh tinkled through night. "And you Willow?"
I'd been laughing at Tulip's expense but when Kanti spoke I choked on my own laugh. Imagine a cat hacking up a hairball. It was a fair approximation of that and I started violently coughing to top it off. The tears burned my eyes as I just about spotted Kanti getting up to help.
"No, no I am-" cough, cough, "Fine." I continued hacking for another few seconds before I could respond. "Um, er… No, never met them." I said looking down at my legs.
"And you have a soulseeker a floor up and neither of you thought to try her?" Lucian smirked. Kanti turned to him and whatever face she pulled sobered him up immediately.
"Sure we can ask when we get back," Tulip said happily, delighted with the prospect. She checked her phone and sighed. "We should probably go." I caught the numbers from her screen and began to get up.
"Hey, I was planning to visit Tarryn in America soon so hopefully we can meet up there. I just need to save up," Kanti said frowning. Brightening she added, "Lucian will come too if he can get the money."
"Sure," said Tulip. "But I keep my bed."
The next day I brought my outfit for the Halloween party over to Tulip's to show her mother (and also try out my Chinese on her). Lucian, Tulip and I were having dinner together (along with Kanti it seemed). Tulip's mother, Evelien, was fascinated with Kanti's gift and was questioning her about it while Tulips father kept an eye on the stir fry of beansprouts, water chestnuts, peppers and chicken.
"… And then I'm going to curl my hair really short and kind of fix it all in the one place. That would be flapper style, right?" Tulip questioned Lucian and I as she played with a lock of hair. Lucian was looking off at his soulfinder, paying next to no attention to us.
"And I was thinking of wearing bright red knee length underwear and tucking the back of my dress into them." I told him. He continued to admire Kanti, smiling to himself. I gave Tulip a smirk but she looked at me quizzically. I flicked my eyes to the left towards the island table where Kanti was perched on a stool, chatting. Tulip glanced that way and back. She grinned outright.
We will probably be like that when we get our soulfinders she thought, delighted with the prospect.
I barely concealed a grimace as I folded my dress back into it's bag. "Orders up," Tulips father, Mauricio, called and we all eagerly sat down. Mauricio was ridiculously good cooking and Kanti had to deal with our stares as she took her first mouthful.
"You know I can feel all your eyes on me." She said before eating. She chewed and swallowed. The suspense. Her mouth parted slightly before she turned to Mauricio. "Incredible. Perfection in the form of cuisine." The atmosphere in the room relaxed and we began eating in earnest as Mauricio thanked her.
"So Tarryn and Francie know about Lucian, right?" Tulip asked spearing a large water chestnut and popping it in her mouth.
"Well… No." she put her cutlery down and raised her hands in defence. "Like, Lucian I prefer to tell news like that in person."
"Well fuck that." Tulip said, earning disapproving looks from both her parents. Her mother elegantly twisted a piece of her hair behind an ear, something she always did whenever she prepared to give Tulip a 'little' talk. Tulip ignored this warning and whipped out her phone and dialled. She visibly brightened when someone picked up.
"Hey, Yves," to which I gave her the clearest 'What the fuck' look she had ever received. Kanti simply looked confused but continued eating as did everyone except Tools. "Hey, Uri and Tarryn are coming to New York soon, right? Yeah, her sister Kanti has huge news that she can't tell over the phone to her so can we delve into your piggy bank and buy two plane tickets?"
"Tulip!" Evelien exclaimed. She was on the verge of getting up to grab the phone off her daughter but Tulip continued chatting, unperturbed.
"Yeah and it would give Uri, Xav and maybe Vick a great chance to know their future sister in law!" Kanti looked like she wanted to die on the spot, both her hands nervously pulling at her hair. I think she begged Tulip to stop but Tulip was finishing her call in delight already. "Ah, yeah, and it would really help them get their minds off the case. Great! I will text ya the deets tomorrow. Yeah probably fly them in in the middle of November. Thanks, bye!"
"Out now madam!" Evelien snapped, one long manicured finger pointing to the hallway. Tulip hopped off her chair with a bounce and nearly skipped out with her mother fuming behind her. The closed the door behind them with a bang.
A heavy silence was left in their absence, pardon the scraping of knives and forks. They returned a few minutes later with Tulip looking no worse for wear. Evelien's eyes held a storm in them but I sensed Mauricio talking telepathically with her to defuse the situation.
By the end of dinner when Evelien and Mauricio went about organising dessert, everyone seemed over it. "I'm really not sure whether to thank you Tulip," Kanti said. "But I really wish you had let me just ask my family to help pay for the ticket."
"Ah sure you guys are practically family," Tulip scoffed, picking up the knives and forks and bringing them to the dishwasher. "Your future brother in law. Simple."
"At least you get to see where we are in New York," I offered, trying to lighten the spirit. "And you can go and see the sights too!"
Lucian groaned. "'See' the sights, really Willow?"
What was wrong with- Ugh. Fuck. I threw my head in my hands as they laughed, only moving when I saw a bowl of meringue, homemade ice-cream and wild berries between my fingers. "Just ignore me" I sighed and picked up my spoon. And I thought Tulip was bad. Really. Talk about Amanda Bynes calling Lindsay Lohan a hot mess.
Author person yet again,
ugh, college exams. Enough said. And we legalised gay marriage where I live on Saturday! Go Ireland! Then we trend #HungoverForEquality. Go figure.
Really enjoying writing this lately too. Had to rewrite part of the plan which was annoying (the story would have dragged otherwise. Could be dragging right now for all I know) Quack.
Ok, hint for the next chapter... The Halloween party, betrayal and a threat. And let's just say the betrayal and threat have nothing to do with one another :D