School had been much easier since Alexis had left. It turned out that Jessica Winters had been the main cause of the other parents bad-mouthing Nikki and Lovetta, so the kids were less inclined to make fun of the 'wolf girl'. Especially since word of her father's return to Sleepy Peak and his efforts to be a part of her life had spread. Her fight with Alexis had helped, too, since the other kids knew she wasn't going to take insults lying down.
"So, how long do you think your dad's going to be in town?" James asked as he walked with her to class.
"He said he's planning to stay as long as he can," she replied. "I think he's still in love with my mom. He just won't admit it."
"Maybe he's afraid to," proposed Leo, her other new friend. He and James had never made fun of her back when Alexis was around, so she'd accepted their friendship before anybody else's.
"Max isn't afraid of anything! He beat up the guy who tried to hurt my mom and got him arrested last week!"
"Well, he's afraid because he left for so long and he doesn't know if your mom is going to take him back. He protects her because that's what his instincts tell him to do. It's quite common in several species—the male's mate is threatened and he asserts alpha status over the other male by protecting her."
"You're such a nerd, Leo," snorted James.
"I'm hopeful," Lovetta chirped. "Maybe he and Mom will get married and I'll get a little brother or sister!"
They walked into the classroom and stopped. There was a man sitting at Miss Baker's desk—a man who looked like a paler, blonde-haired, blue-eyed version of David dressed completely in white. Lovetta was confused.
"Ah, children!" he greeted the three, who had been the first to arrive. "Go ahead and sit down!"
Something about this guy was setting off alarm bells in Lovetta's head. He had a wide-eyed, ridiculously happy look to him. David was happy, too, but not to this degree. This new guy was unnaturally happy.
"Where's Miss Baker?" inquired Leo.
"Miss Baker will be out for the time being. I'm your substitute until she comes back. My name is Mr. Koresh, but I'd prefer that you kids call me Daniel. Your names are…?"
"James Thompson."
"Leo Cook."
"Lovetta Greene."
"Oh. Thank you very much!" He marked them as present in the attendance folder. "Go and take your seats. We'll be beginning shortly."
The trio sat down in their normal spots in the back row, far away from Daniel's ears. Just to be safe, however, they waited until more kids started coming in and the substitute was distracted to start talking.
"I don't like this guy," Lovetta whispered to her two friends. "Something about him feels… off."
"Is it because he looks like your grandfather?" Leo asked. "He's happy like him."
"No, Grandpa is happy to be alive and have our family. Daniel is creepy-happy. Like he's brainwashed or something."
"Maybe he's one of David's relatives," suggested James.
"Grandpa doesn't have any that are still around. The only blood relative he has is Aunt Lizzie."
"It's definitely odd. Miss Baker was fine yesterday."
"James, Leo, Lovetta!" called Daniel. "It's time to start class. Please stop whispering and pay attention." He tilted his head and his neck cracked in a way that sent shivers down Lovetta's spine.
"Sorry, Daniel," replied James, settling down.
"Now, I looked at the plans that Miss Baker left, and according to her, you're supposed to start a project today. Each of you will have a partner, who I will let you pick as a show of good faith. That works out perfectly because there's twenty-four of you and twelve of the Greek gods to pick from for this project. You will make a PowerPoint presentation and present it to the class on whatever god you and your partner pick. Go ahead and choose your partners, kids."
Lovetta looked from Leo to James worriedly.
"Um, so who's willing to take one for the team and be partnered with someone else?" she chuckled.
"I will," Leo offered. "I'm sure any number of kids will want my expertise in research."
"Thanks, Leo. James, I guess that means it's you and me."
"Yep," he agreed. "You wanna do the project at your house? I'm at my mom's and it's kind of a mess with her job hunt…"
"Yeah, that should work. My mom won't be home and Max has an interview, but Lizzie and Grandma should be there."
"Great!"
"Hi, Aunt Lizzie!"
"Hey, Lil Bit! Who's your friend?"
James glanced up at the high schooler in the front seat. She had red hair and violet eyes, which made for a very pretty and contrasting effect. Freckles dotted her face across her nose and cheeks, making her fair skin obvious.
"This is James. He's my partner for our new project."
"Nice to meet you, James," Lizzie stated. "Don't worry—I don't bite. Lovetta might, though."
"Jeez, bite one kid during a fight and you're labeled for life." Lovetta pouted.
"I'm teasing, Vet. Let's get you home so you can get started."
"Thanks for giving us a ride, Lizzie," James said.
"It's no problem. It's my job to give Lovetta a ride whenever Max isn't able to."
She pulled out of the parking lot and drove to a fairly nice house. The two elementary schoolers got out of the backseat and headed inside, where Lovetta could see her grandmother working in the kitchen. She ran up and gave her a hug.
"Hey, Lovetta!" Gwen greeted her. "How was school?"
"We have a creepy substitute and a new project to do," Lovetta replied. James walked in behind her. "This is my partner, James."
"Well, good luck on your project. You know where your mom's laptop is. Just keep the noise down, okay?"
"Yes, ma'am!" They went into the living room. "James, you wait on the couch. I'll go get the laptop."
"Okay." James sat down while Lovetta ran upstairs. She came back down with a computer and logged on.
"So, our god is Dionysus. Do we know anything about him?"
"Nope. Let's start with that."
She typed 'Dionysus' into the search and several results popped up.
"Let's see… 'Dionysus is the Greek god of wine, madness, theater, fertility, and religious ecstasy.' That seems promising." She looked up at James and smiled. "Wait, what's religious ecstasy?"
"I think it means getting high," James stated. "Basically, he was the god of parties."
"Oh, that's awesome! Everyone loves parties!"
"You better not be planning one."
They turned towards the door to see Max closing it behind him. He was still dressed up from his interview.
"Hey, Max!" Lovetta greeted him. "How'd the interview go?"
"They said they were going to consider me. But we both know how likely it is that I'll get the job." His gaze landed on James. "Who the hell is that?"
"This is James. He's my partner for our Greek god project. James, this is my dad, Max."
"Nice to meet you, sir." James stood up and stuck out his hand. Max shook it.
"So, which god is your project on? I remember doing this in school."
"Dionysus, the god of parties!" Lovetta informed him proudly, bouncing on the couch a bit.
"Cool. I got Ares when we did this."
"How's he?"
"Ares is a massive dick." Lovetta snickered, while James felt uncomfortable. "Hey, Vet, how about you go down to the basement and grab my laptop for me? I have a couple of job applications to fill out."
"Okay!" She ran downstairs and Max turned his eyes back to James. James stiffened, feeling like he was about to listen to a stereotypical overprotective dad lecture.
"Keep your hands to yourself, kid, and we won't have any problems. Got it?"
"Yes, sir."
"Here it is!" Lovetta announced, running back into the living room. She placed Max's laptop on the coffee table and smiled.
"Thanks, Vet." Max picked it up. "Have fun with your project."
And he was gone.
"Your dad's kind of scary," commented James.
"He's just trying to prove himself as a parent." She shrugged. "Now, let's get on with this party god!"
A week later, they presented their project to the class, which was well-received by Daniel and their fellow students. Lovetta was still uncomfortable around the substitute, and the fact that he kept mentioning some guy named Zeemug didn't help. It sounded like a fake god that a cult would worship. Still, Daniel hadn't done anything to anybody yet, so Lovetta was willing to leave him alone.
He wasn't the only new face at Sleepy Peak Elementary, either. There was a new guidance counselor named Ms. Applewhite, and she creeped Lovetta out just as much as Daniel did. She asked everyone to call her Jen, and she looked like a much-paler, blonde-haired, blue-eyed version of Gwen with the same creepy-happy look to her that Daniel had. Lovetta couldn't quite put her finger on why they weirded her out to the degree that they did.
Then she came home to find her mom and dad going through a box labeled 'To Burn'. Most of the stuff they were pulling out was kind of weird—papers, dried flowers, crafts…
"What's this junk?" she asked.
"This is everything from when Max and I were younger," Nikki replied, smiling. "Everything he ever gave me."
"So why does it say 'To Burn' on the box?"
"Because your mother has a fascination with fire to the point where she's told me repeatedly that she wants a Viking's funeral when she dies," Max stated bluntly. Nikki hit him with a scrapbook that had 'Camp Campbell Memories' glued to the cover and he laughed.
"I was going to burn it all after Max left," Nikki told her daughter. "But the weather didn't let me, and then I found out about you. So I kept it to show you one day."
"Aw, that's sweet! Why are you going through it now?"
"Well…" Nikki glanced at Max, who gave her a smile back. "Your dad and I decided that we're going to give our relationship another chance."
"You're back together?!"
"We're back together," Max affirmed, nodding. He lunged towards Nikki and tackled her in a hug, making her squeal and drop the scrapbook. It fell open on a newspaper clipping about a cult leader. Curious, Lovetta turned the page and found another clipping—this one with the headline 'DO NOT HIRE THIS MAN' and a picture of Daniel.
"No way!" she yelped.
"What is it?" Max asked.
"This guy in the picture—that's the substitute for Miss Baker!" Both of her parents looked at each other, then Max picked up the scrapbook. Upon seeing the picture, his eyes widened.
"Lovey, are you sure he's your substitute?" Nikki inquired cautiously.
"Yes! His name is Daniel, and he's super creepy! Just like the new guidance counselor, Jen!"
"Lovetta, listen to me," Max stated. "They're both very dangerous. I don't know how the fuck they got jobs working in a school, but do not accept anything from them. Got it?"
"Got it." She nodded. "How do you know them?"
"They were hired as extra counselors at Camp Campbell the summer your mom and I met. Your grandparents didn't do a background check on them, so they turned out to be cultists who wanted to brainwash and kill the entire camp."
"Seriously?!" Lovetta looked horrified. "All Daniel does now is teach us the lessons that he's supposed to. And he mentions negative emotions and Zeemug a lot, too."
"Don't listen to him about that shit. Block him out. Tell your friends to block him out. It's the best way to be safe about this."
"Okay, Max."
About a month later, shortly after they came back from winter break, they went on a field trip that had been planned for the entire fourth grade. Since they had an abundance of chaperones, the students were split into groups of three. Lovetta was with Leo and James, and their chaperone was Daniel. Knowing his history with her family, it was uncomfortable for the one female of the group. She'd told Leo and James the story, and they'd agreed to keep an eye on Daniel with her.
"This is great!" Daniel laughed as their boots crunched through the January snow. "Aren't the woods beautiful, kids?"
"Yeah," Lovetta agreed, pulling her coat tighter around her. She wished her mother had been able to chaperone. Then maybe things would've been better and not as uncomfortable.
"Where are we, anyway?" Leo asked.
"Lake Lilac State Park! There's a bunch of summer camps in this area—I used to work at one of them, in fact. A place called Camp Campbell."
"That's where my parents met," Lovetta said before she could stop herself.
"Oh? Really?"
"They remember you. Remember Max and Nikki?"
"Max… I remember him very well. A trouble-maker with a foul mouth and no desire to be redeemed."
"That's my dad, all right."
"Lovetta!" hissed James, grabbing her arm and pulling her back.
"But I was told another story about your father, Lovetta Mae Greene. About how he has no loyalty to his family. How he'll betray them when the opportunity arises. Doesn't that seem scary?"
Block him out.
Her father's warning about Daniel rang in her ears, drowning out the cultist.
"No, it doesn't, because you're wrong! He would never betray his family!"
"Did you know you have another grandfather, Lovetta? One who wanted nothing more than to be able to raise his son, but his son was taken away."
Oh, she knew she had another grandfather. Her father had warned her about him, saying that his birth father was nobody to be proud of—a selfish man who was the reason Max hadn't been part of her life for ten years.
"I met him when I was put in prison. He thought I was useful, and he helped me get out. He then told me how much he loved his son and wished that he could meet his son's new family."
"Liar."
"Excuse me?" He tilted his neck and it cracked, making her cringe.
"You're a liar!"
"But, Lovetta, your grandfather wants to meet you. Right now."
Suddenly, men wearing masks came out of the trees and grabbed all three kids. Lovetta fought back, even biting one of them in the wrist before he injected her with a sedative to knock her out. She slumped over, majorly freaking out her two friends. Daniel smirked and pulled out a piece of paper.
"James, would you and Leo do me a favor by delivering this to Lovetta's father? I have a feeling that he'll want to know what happened to his little girl." He handed the paper to the two boys, who ran off for the safety of the larger group while Daniel walked away with the masked men.
"The little bitch bit me," complained one of them.
"Her mother was a biter, too," chuckled another. "Or didn't you see the marks she left on Acharya's kid before he joined us? Woman was more animal than human."
"And this little slut's name means 'wolf child'," a third man commented. "Guess the mom wanted her girl to be like that."
"Shut up, all of you!" ordered Daniel. "Vihaan is waiting…"
DOUBLE UPDATE WHAAAAT?!
In all seriousness, Wednesdays are the most difficult days for me to update because that's the day that I have four classes at college. History at 8, then Critical Inquiry at 10, followed by Psychology at 11, then I have Math from 1 until almost 3. Today (which is Tuesday for me) I had the day off due to a hurricane that is currently heading in the direction of my state, but it's back to school tomorrow.
Plus, I had most of this chapter already written, so I just decided to go ahead and upload it now. In fact, the beginning of the chapter is a direct follow-up to the previous chapter. It takes place the day after Max and Nikki reconcile.
So long and thanks for all the fish!