Haven
Chapter Three
1983
-April-
She was sitting on a bench outside of Big Benjy's, licking an ice cream cone while her mother was getting her hair done. A shadow passed over her and she looked up to see a tall man smile as he stopped mid-stride in front of her. He tilted his head and his longer curly hair brushed his shoulder.
Why did the little girl look so familiar to him? It was something he'd been puzzling over for some time. She was new to Haven, she couldn't possibly look familiar to him…yet, she did. He lifted his brows and grinned at her. "You are the new Valyne girl that everyone is talking about, aren't you? My name is Vince Teagues. I run the Haven Herald with my brother Dave," he told her in a chipper voice.
She nodded. "I suppose. I'm Lor. Why would everyone be talking about me?" she asked curiously.
"Ohhh…because Haven is a small town and you are new and shiny. Mind if I sit?" he asked, motioning the spot next to her on the bench.
She nodded and proceeded to lick her melting ice cream. "People talk about other things too…"
"Ohh…I suppose they do." He angled his body so he could see her better. Her long, blonde waves fell to the middle of her back, her sky-blue eyes so striking with the black outlining them. Still, he couldn't quite place her face. He leaned a little closer. "What have you heard?" he asked as if wanting to know a big secret.
She wrinkled her nose at the question. She'd heard secrets she couldn't tell, but she was not about to tell him that. "Talk about strange things happening around Haven, mostly. The Troubles returning. Like what happened to Nathan." She ran her tongue completely around her cone to catch all the drips.
"You missed a drop," he told her a moment before the drop spattered on her hand. "A little birdie told me that you and Nathan are fast friends."
She leaned in a little to keep her voice down. "I'm faster than Nathan – but don't tell anyone, because I let him win sometimes," she admitted.
"Ohh…" he said, raising his hand to make a zipping motion over his lips. "I won't tell anyone. That can be our little secret. I'm good at keeping secrets."
"Promise?" she asked, holding out her pinky towards him.
"Promise," Vince replied as he sealed the pinky promise. "Are you afraid of the Troubles?"
"Nope," she said with a shake of her head. She pushed what was left of her ice cream down into the cone with her tongue. She loved ice cream in the cone when she ate it. "They can't hurt me."
"You're probably right," he said, not sure if he needed to frighten her by telling her what the Troubles were capable of. "But how can you be so sure?"
Her tongue stilled and pulled back between her lips. How did she know that? "I don't know," she admitted with a shrug. "But, I'm sure." She glanced down to see the maze tattoo on the inside of his forearm, just below his rolled-up sleeve. "Does that mean something?" she inquired, poking the tattoo with a sticky finger.
Lor continued to surprise him. "You can see it?" He turned his arm over to get a better look, but he saw nothing. The 'tattoo' was actually a birthmark that was a part of his family's Trouble. It wasn't always visible and it certainly wasn't visible now.
She nodded with a snort. "You're a strange man, Vince. I have eyes. I can see your tattoo."
"I'll agree that I'm strange, but that is a birthmark – not a tattoo, and I can't see it right now. If you can see it, that means you are a very special little girl." Very special. He just needed to figure out how. What he did believe was that the little girl was tied to Haven and its Troubles…somehow. She had to be if she could see what no one else could see.
"I'm so glad Lor found someone to keep her company while she waited for me. It's good to see you, Vince," Deb told him with a bright smile.
Vince rose to his feet. "And you, Deborah. You have an amazing little girl. But now that you have returned, I will get back to the Herald. The stories aren't going to write themselves," he grinned. A smile that grew when he looked down at the little girl. "You come and see me and Dave anytime you like. You can read up on everything that happened in Haven or maybe help us write a story for the paper!"
She beamed a smile up at him. "Thank you, Vince!" She held a hand up to him.
He took her small, sticky hand in his and gave it a serious shake. "I'll talk to you later, Deborah." He winked at Lor and whistled as he walked away. Lor was a very interesting girl. He wondered what else they would find out about her. And she still looked damned familiar to him. So much so, that he was determined to sketch her face while it was still fresh in his mind.
That evening, Nathan and Duke came over and they spent time together in the treehouse her father had built for her. Not only did it have a ladder and a swing, but it also had a knotted rope for them to climb up into the treehouse with only their strength. She preferred the rope because it was a challenge. And, boys being boys, they couldn't let her outshine them.
Duke was more distant tonight than usual. For some reason, he wouldn't even look at Nathan. They were certainly by no means friends, but a grudging acceptance had grown between them. Which is what alerted her that something was wrong. No matter what she said, Duke remained tight-lipped and left before his usual time.
"Maybe he needs some time," she said uncertainly. What worried her was that something might have happened with Simon, Duke's father, but it wasn't her place to bring that up to Nathan. It was one of many secrets she couldn't speak of.
Nathan shrugged. "Kinda liked him that way. Did you hear about Reverend Driscoll's wife leaving? I heard my mom talking about it on the phone. She's not as quiet as she thinks she is," he said with a grin.
"Maybe that means I won't have to go to church anymore!" she admitted.
He scooted closer to her. "You don't like church?" he asked quietly.
She scratched her fingernail back and forth over the wooden floor before answering him. "I don't think I'm wicked. The wicked and ungodly are cast into hell and punished. I've lived most of my life in hell and I don't think I'm wicked."
"You're not," he scoffed. "That's just the Reverend. Last Sunday he talked about the ungodly living in Haven and I swear he stared right at me."
A grin spread over her lips. "So, as the wicked and ungodly, we'll be going to hell together?"
He bumped his shoulder to hers. "A pinky promise is sacred. We'll always be there for each other. That's what best friends do," he told her earnestly.
Best friends. Later on, in bed, she wondered if he was her first best friend. She couldn't remember having any other best friends, but then she couldn't remember anybody from her past except the Predator.
She woke up Monday morning to dreary skies. But that was better than snow. Not that she hadn't had fun having snowball fights and making snowmen, she had. But she was ready for warmer weather and that meant rain.
Which was exactly what they got. So, during gym class, they played dodgeball indoors. While the rest of the kids hurried out, she stayed back a moment to help put away the balls. Her smile fell to worry when she left the gymnasium to see Duke and his friends laughing and slapping Nathan's back. Having Duke with his friends around Nathan was never a good sign. But Nathan didn't seem distraught. He had an odd, slightly dazed smile on his face.
"Are you okay?" she asked Nathan.
"Yeah," he said with a nod. His expression still dazed. "They told me Carla Rose liked me and wanted to talk to me." He'd lost most of his friends when he stopped feeling anything. That someone else wanted to be friends was almost more than he dared hope.
She turned her head to look at Duke, who refused to meet her eyes. Something was still wrong with him. He was acting weird. It didn't matter, he wasn't worth being around when he was with his friends. "Come. We'll go talk to her then," she told Nathan.
They found Carla Rose in the hall near the commons in front of the lunch room. She was with a couple of friends. All three fell silent as they approached.
Nathan smiled. "Hi, Carla Rose," he said in a strained voice, his cheeks turning pink. He held his hand out to her. "Do you want to hang out…" Her shrieks cut off his words. And before he understood what had happened, the three girls were running away from him, screaming.
Lor looked away from the fleeing girls down to Nathan's still-extended hand. Blood dripped down his hand and onto the floor. Behind him were more drops of blood. Laughter drew her attention and she saw Duke and his friends high-fiving each other as they laughed and pointed towards Nathan.
She took a step around the stunned Nathan and peered at his back. Sixteen silver heads studded his back, blood dripping from each one. Duke…Her heart felt like it had just shattered. She'd trusted him. And this was what he did. Anger built up inside her. Her hand lifted, closed into a fist and jerked, her arm flung back in the direction of bullies. The tacks skidded off the floor at their feet, some buried in shoe soles. The laughter stopped and the boys took a stumbling step backwards. "You idiots!" she screeched, her hand taking Nathan's and not letting go. "Did you sterilize those tacks? Did you study anatomy to make sure you didn't damage his nerves? Did you even think that he could get an infection and die from your little joke? Why don't you crawl back under a rock with the rest of the worms and leave us alone!"
Sean sneered and mimicked her words until his pants landed at his feet, showing off his underwear to everyone who had gathered around. He tried to pull up his pants and run, but he tripped and fell, his chin striking the floor hard. Tears sprang into his eyes and it was all could do to keep from screaming like a girl.
Normally, Duke would have thought it was hysterical to find Sean on the floor, ass up in the air, showing off his underwear. But right now, he was numb inside as he watched Lor lead Nathan toward the nurse's station. He had known what they had planned and he'd gone along with it. In the past, he would have thought nothing of it. A cool joke. But it wasn't cool, he knew that even as he slapped tacks into Nathan's back. In fact, he hated himself for his weakness. But he'd done it anyway. He chose his old friends over Lor and Nathan and he'd lost her. He didn't like the hollow feeling inside. With one last look back at Lor, he gave Sean a shove once his friend stood up, and walked away from the closest friend he'd ever had. No doubt, he would feel the sting of her loss for a long time. She was the only person that had ever given a damn about him.
Duke and his friends were suspended from school for two weeks, the boys had a police escort as they picked trash up off the streets of Haven. Nathan stayed home from school for the next couple of days, so she went straight to his house each day after school to bring him the work he'd missed as well as spend time with him.
Nathan refused to talk to her about what happened. At least he refused to talk about his feelings about it. If he ever changed his mind, she would be there to listen. It was enough that he knew that. He also refused to talk to Carla Rose again. And the girl never even bothered to check up on Nathan or ask him if he was okay. He was better off without that one as a friend.
Something always seemed to be happening in Haven and Nathan's incident was quickly forgotten when more news rocked the Haven community. Reverend Ed Driscoll's wife, Penny, was found dead, leaving the distraught reverend to raise his daughter, Hannah, on his own.
To make things even worse, Max, Nathan's father, was back in town. Since his mother, Beth, had a restraining order against him, Garland or one of his other buddies in the Haven police department would guard the house at night.
There were things going on in Haven that no one talked about. Hushed whispers, evening meetings. She could feel the tension in Haven mounting but she didn't know what she could do to help.