Unfamiliar (Unfamiliar Series #1)

Chapter 27

A scream makes me wince and I resist the urge to cover my ears as Tessa looks back at me, her brow creasing with concern.

"You okay?" she calls over the noise.

I nod as I glare in the direction of a Kamikaze ride, the yellow and red lights flickering and flashing as it twirls, the riders screaming as it spins.

It had been her idea to come to the fall festival over at the Topsfield fairgrounds the next evening on Sunday. So here we are, dropped off from the taxi service of the boarding school along with dozens of other students who had taken taxis as well.

I haven't told anyone about the message I found on my laptop last night, though being away from the school has helped me feel more at ease, like my problems are out of sight and out of mind as I try to enjoy myself. The sizzling sound of frying food paired with the overpowering scent snags my attention since it's getting close to dinner time and I longingly glance back at the food trucks as we walk.

"How about some pizza?" Tessa suggests as we stroll past another food truck.

"I could go for something to eat," Astrid murmurs as she sidesteps around a man wearing a cowboy hat.

"I'll pay," Luke offers, "does anyone want some cotton candy too?"

"I've got my own order, some cotton candy would be great, though," Astrid relents.

Luke shrugs as he looks to me, "What do you want to eat, Kara?"

"I'll just take a slice of cheese pizza and split a bag of cotton candy with you," I say and he smiles.

"Alright, go pick out a table and we'll catch up with you," he urges as he makes a shooing motion.

"I'll come with you," Tessa pipes up as she skips over to my side and we start walking for a covered seating area where a few other people are sat.

She chooses a picnic table at the edge of the seating area and I sit across from her as she reaches up and fusses with her hair, which has a light blue bandanna tied around it in a way that is much like a Rosie the Riveter vintage style.

"So...," she says in a low voice and I look to her expectantly.

"Astrid?" I inquire.

"Yeah...," she gnaws on the edge of her lip and shakes her head, "I can't...I can't blame her, you know? It sounded like she was really in love with the guy."

"I mean, yeah, I guess I can't blame her either, it's not like she did anything evil right?"

"Exactly, I don't know, I just guess that I wanted to see what you thought about all of this," she murmurs as she fidgets with a lock of her poufy hair and curls it around her finger.

"She saved my life," I remind her and she nods.

"I know, and it's not that I don't trust her, I just wasn't expecting her to tell us something like that without us asking or anything," she says as she purses her lips, which are colored with a shade of lipstick that matches her bandanna.

"Actually, I did," I say and there's a moment of shame when I see the surprise in her eyes.

"How-?"

"Indigo had warned me that Astrid had been banned from her last school, but she hadn't told me why, she said for me to ask her personally," I explain and Tessa's lips press together in a thin line, "so I had asked Astrid," I admit, but leave out the fact that I had done it telepathically.

"Oh," she lets the conversation drift into silence and I let it go, deciding to look around us instead.

My family and I have come to Topsfield dozens of times before, but without them or Indigo here, it feels different. I don't have my parents dragging me along and keeping me moving, instead, I can hang out however long I want to.

There's a sudden burst of laughter from a table not too far away and I glance up to see that a couple of teens who may or may not be from the academy are sitting at it as they hunch close together and speak in low voices as they look at a phone in the center of the table.

Without Indigo here, I'm almost anxious but still relieved at the same time since I don't have her here to complain about Astrid coming along with us. I can't even begin to understand why Indigo would be as upset as she is about Astrid performing necromancy, no matter how illegal it is since all she had tried to do was bring back her dead boyfriend.

I shake my head to clear my thoughts, I would have to speak with her about it later.

Luke and Astrid suddenly approach us with trays laden with pizza and I take the initiative to start eating and not bring up the Astrid situation anymore. Luke sits next to me and passes me a bag of cotton candy and I manage a weak smile as we eat in silence, the canopy of the tent flapping softly above us in a breeze that is still warm, though the sun is setting and it's begun to get cool out.

When we've finished eating, we start walking around the area where the rides are as we navigate the thick crowds that are mainly a mix of young children.

"Do you want to go on the Kamikaze?" Luke asks as the ride starts up and begins to spin, a few shrieks rising from it.

I shudder, "No, but if you want to, I'm not going to hold you back."

"I'll go for a spin if Tessa does," Astrid teases as she plucks a tuft of cotton candy from the bag that she had bought herself.

"Hell no," Tessa mutters as she snatches the cotton candy bag from Astrid and grabs a piece for herself before she passes it back. "I don't care to-."

"Come one and come all to Madame Rosalina's! Seek answers to your questions! See the future!" a loud voice suddenly interrupts.

I glance over to see that a woman in purple, silk robes is standing in front of a small, white tent that has beaded curtains, along with a sign that reads 'Fortune Teller' propped next to the entrance in gold paint.

The woman spots me looking in her direction and she begins to walk over to us, her moccasin clad feet shushing across the grass. Her skin is tanned and wrinkled and her dark hair contrasts with her blue eyes as she smiles to reveal that she has a silver cap on one of her teeth.

"Children, please, come and sit," the woman croons.

"No thanks," Tessa mutters as she picks up the pace and I follow her lead.

"Child, you are in danger," the woman suddenly says as she points to me, her eyes widening to reveal that they're smeared with eyeliner, "all of you are, there are secrets being kept from you, you will be betrayed-."

"I said no thank you," Tessa says in a louder voice as she keeps walking, only pausing for a moment to look over her shoulder at me to make sure that I'm keeping up, "let's get out of here."