Chapter 26
What’s My Age Again?
“No one should take themselves so seriously.”
~Blink 182~
The next day was more of a relief than anything, and David beamed with a sense of pride and satisfaction when he lifted his naked form from his bed. He was about to go find the bathroom, when the mirror beckoned his attention. For some reason, he stopped before it and ogled over himself.
“I am one sexy beast,” he said while flexing his muscles.
“Mm you sure are baby.” The skin on his back almost jumped right off when the voice showered his sensitive ears. He turned in a rush and saw Isabel’s naked form sprawled on his bed, her pale long blonde hair cascading in every which way over her flawless skin. It kissed her plumped breasts and cooed him to pounce, as her rosy lips called out to him.
“Wanna go again?” she said to him with nothing but lust; it invaded his sensitive nose.
He blinked once and then twice as he looked at his body again. The fact that he was naked and in his bedroom told him that something did happen last night. Looking back up at her, he swallowed hard and nervously took one step forward.
“No way, ya ain’t makin’ me look bad, pup. She’s askin’ for a real wolf.”
Suddenly, David was yanked back hard by his shoulder. He lost his balance and fell down, only to see his own reflection stepping right out of his mirror. At first it appeared to be his reflection, but upon closer observation he noticed just how different this ‘version’ of him was.
He was buffer and had the tattoo of a sensual woman holding a large jug on his right arm. His hair was black, much like David’s, but it appeared to have a stronger edge to it. The man’s blue eyes were much lighter and more intense than his own, and they bore a wild mystifying glint that sent shivers down his spine. Lastly, his facial hair was a dead giveaway of the age difference between them.
“Who—what are you? Where did you come from?” David asked, but the man said nothing as he walked towards Isabel and embraced her naked form. She moaned and writhed under his touch, and that’s when David realized that Isabel had been inviting that man to lay with her from the start.
One scream snapped him out of the trance, as David lifted his sweating body from his bed. His white tank was soaked, but that was the only soiled piece of clothing that he wore. The black boxer briefs were still intact, and it made him sigh in exhaustion and relief.
‘Thank god it wasn’t another one of those nights…’ David thought, as he got up and readied himself for class.
Lily was sound asleep, and that made him smile; she was finally getting the rest she needed. As for Exsavior, who had taken Cassius’s room, was nowhere to be found, and that’s when David remembered. He and Isabel were on a trip, far beyond the reaches of Glendale city, visiting a foreign werewolf pack that Margery had advised Exsavior to seek. When Isabel had told David about the road trip, his first instincts was to go as well.
Nevertheless, he understood the implications that his presence would have caused. If Exsavior was treading on thin ice just by going, then tagging along wouldn’t have done any good.
It was still hard for David to accept, especially after the dream he just had. Speaking to a pack of werewolves or beings like him would help him understand a lot.
‘For starters, what the hell was that dream about?’ The picture of another ‘him’ taking Isabel was daunting. Cursing to himself as he eyed the clock on the living room wall, David skipped breakfast and went to his car as he drove off towards the school.
At that point rushing was futile, since he had woken up one hour after his first class. So, he nonchalantly walked into the office, half-expecting to be reproached and sent off, and the other half to be scolded by Ms. Lorelei and given a detention. None of that ever happened, when the secretary greeted him with a warm smile.
“Good morning, Mr. Roan. You’re late but in luck; there’s as an assembly being held in the gymnasium. The student body of Falls Academy is meeting their new principal; if you hurry, you might just arrive to hear the introduction and not start on the wrong foot with him.” She smiled and David nodded as he went on his way. He was desperate to get away from her, since her smell was intoxicating his nose. Never once had he seen the school’s secretary in that manner, but something about her black short hair that caressed her plump cheeks caused him to gawk.
‘Dammit David, you’re never this hard up!’
He shook his head vigorously and then remembered something that eased him. The fact that there was a new principal distracted David from the weirder things that were going on with him.
Who was this mystery person?
The answer was slammed right in front of him when he arrived at the assembly. In an absconding fashion, David blended into the crowd of students sitting on the indoor bleachers. He knew that his ‘stealth’ did nothing since the person that was talking was much more intelligent than he was.
Still, something within urged him to attempt it.
“As some of you may or may not know, Principal Logan Whyte is still one of the many unaccounted victims of the Oakhurst tragedy. His wife, Margery Whyte, was found dead and I know many of you attended her funeral. So to not drag this out any further, chances that Principal Logan is somewhere alive are very slim. Because of this, there will be a small service in his name at the football game next week since he is still declared as a missing person.” With that said and done, the man put down his note cards and grinned.
“Now, without any more delay, my name is Locke Hvedrungr.” In anticipation, he lifted his arms up to the crowd and dismissed any comments. “Yes, yes, I know it’s a difficult name to pronounce, but tough! If you don’t say it right, you will have me as your enemy.” His last phrase came out menacing and it made the students whisper amongst themselves.
“Damn the new principal seems a bit extreme.” David looked up when he heard the familiar voice.
“Sean! Man I’m glad to see you’re accounted for,” he joked and Sean laughed. He was sitting behind David, and because of Locke’s uncalled presence, David had not noticed him before.
“Yea, I’m glad you’re ok too, man.” He grinned, and after a good long while of Locke implanting more fear and rules on the students, they were finally able to take their march and heed the principal’s dismissal.
When both boys reached the gymnasium floor, David was about to invite Sean to a practice run for the football game when his friend interrupted.
“So, um I’ve noticed something off about you.” Sean started and the comment erased David’s smile as he visibly tensed up.
“Oh, what do you mean?”
Sean smirked and closed in on his friend as he put his arm around his neck, pulling him in as if he was about to learn of some kind of contingency.
“I know you’re a werewolf.” The statement made David pull back in a brusque manner.
Sean chuckled. “Whoa man, chill, it’s perfectly fine.”
“How the hell do you know?” David did not even bother to refute it.
“Because dude, I am one too, so if you want to waste time here talking about ‘how’ and ‘why,’ be my guest. If not, come to the locker room and maybe you can join the rest of us.” Sean patted David on his shoulder and left him to his thought as he called out. “I’ll be waiting.”
“What the hell…how is this even possible?” he said to himself, but was it really that hard to believe? After all, weirder things had happened and David’s life was not really the poster board for sanity.
“Davey, no! Don’t go with those stupid boys.” Like many other weird fable-like things, another one snuck up from behind.
When David felt the grasp of a small person from behind, he turned in shock. It was a very young boy of about six years of age. His hair was scruffy, short and white as snow, and his eyes were crystal bronze as they streamed with tears.
“Um, ok I won’t go. Who are you again?” he asked in an awkward manner, as he knelt down to be at his level.
The boy grinned and climbed atop of his head with little effort, all indications of his tears gone. “Stupid, it’s me Locke.”
David stood a bit too fast, making Locke fall right off. He hit his rear hard on the floor and it made him cry out.
“Oh c’mon!” David yelled, but Locke continued to wail.
Kneeling down again, David spoke in attempts to shush him in order to avoid unwanted attention. “Ok, I’m sorry. Now can you please quiet down and tell what the hell are you doing?”
Locke grinned. “Only if you give me a piggy back ride,” he said in a child-like tone. It made David grimace and sigh in frustration and anger. Though, he obliged all at once.
“Fine,” he said through gritted teeth as Locke clung to David’s hair like he was a stuffed animal.
“Now for your information, my name is Luka in this form. So call me that, ok big brother?”
“I’m not your big brother.”
“I’m glad we understand each other big brother. Now, I don’t think it’s a good idea you go with those boys,” Luka said, ignoring David’s grumbles.
“You haven’t answered my question…what the hell are you doing!” David said the phrase in a yell, which made Luka laugh.
“Oh, my god, there you are!” Instantly, a female voice echoed throughout the gymnasium. David turned around and noticed, Miss Hannigan, a first grade teacher for the Academy. That was the brilliance of the institution of Falls Academy. It sufficed for an elementary school building and for the vast High School installment, and Miss Hannigan, aside from being a frequenter to Lily’s small flower shop, was also one of the elementary teachers at Falls Academy.
She was a short woman and bit stubby with dark brown hair that, as far as David knew, was always tied in a ponytail. Her light brown eyes were always wide and alert—a quality he assumed was inherent to elementary teachers because of all the children they dealt with. Fall asleep on the job, and the kids would most likely eat her alive.
Making her way towards them both, Miss Hannigan scurried to be at arm’s reach. She grabbed Luka, making him groan and whine, but Miss Hannigan quickly got him under control.
“I’m so sorry, David; I have no clue how he got this far,” she said while holding Luka’s ear with her fingers, making the boy utter exclamations of pain repeatedly. The sight made David grin in satisfaction.
“It’s completely fine.”
“I’m just glad it was you he found and not anyone else. His father would have had me fired!” she said, jocosely.
“His father…? Who is the little brat’s dad anyways?” David asked in curiosity, making Luka scowl at his choice of words.
“Oh that would be your new principal, Mr. Hvedrungr,” she stated.
“Right, of course…” It was the only thing David could say as he watched them both take their leave, but not before Luka stuck out his tongue in a childish gesture at him. Those situations were becoming more like quotidian occurrences, more than what he would have liked, and it was because of this that David found himself shrugging off the oddities he encountered.
‘This is turning into the story of my life…’
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“We’re sorry the number you have dialed…”
With a heave of frustration, Claire slammed her cell phone shut. She cried out, causing an echo to resound all over the vast plaza that she was in. The passersby eyed the wailing woman with confusion riddled expressions, but they did little to approach her.
Before her back had been submersed with water, she had been sitting on the edges of a large white marble fountain. It was due to the failed phone call, which Claire had repeatedly attempted, that she had thrown herself into the fountain. Now, for everyone to see, she floated about while splashing at the water in her own lament.
“Why! Why! Why! Why do I have to be the one to call that horrible redheaded woman?” she wailed to no one in particular, her slurred speech becoming a dead giveaway of her drunken state.
In a sign of anger, Claire took her cell phone and threw it across the plaza, shocking those who went about their business.
“Wha? Have you never seen a beautiful drunked mess before?” her voice yowled towards those who dared to look at her.
“Ma’am, I’m going to have to escort you out of the premises if you do not get out of that fountain.” The voice of one of the mall guards filled her ears.
In wonder, Claire lifted her body up and stared at the man.
“Did you know that the hottest man on earth is dead?” The officer said nothing towards the question, as he grabbed her wet arm and lifted her body up.
Claire cried when her feet touched the ceramic floor. “Logan Whyte was so hot that I physically ached for his touch, and now—” she paused, when the mall guard, who so quietly listened to her jargon, brought her to a bench to sit on.
“…now I will never have him. Never will I get to know how it feels to be overpowered by his virility!” Claire exclaimed, in an echoing voice for everyone’s ears.
“Ok! I’m going to go get you a towel now, and then we can call someone to pick you up. Otherwise, I’m going to have to keep you detained.” The man spoke with authority in an attempt to avoid any more displeasing comments from Claire.
“Stay here, I’ll be right back,” he said, as if talking to an impaired child, making Claire nod with diffidence.
When the mall guard left, Claire sat there and watched the small candy shop that was located in front of her. The colorful appearance it bore opposed everything Claire was feeling at the moment. In a spur of insanity, she stood and stormed into the quaint shop.
The blurriness that overwhelmed her sight demanded that she slow down, but before Claire could, her body collided into someone. This in turn caused her to react with scorn towards the shop.
“This is no candy land! This is all a lie!” The word ‘lie’ was stressed out to an excruciating length, as the shelves of candy were toppled over in her derision.
In a state of quandary, the young boy she had collided with stood. His nervous eyes scanned the blatant drunk. It caused the shop owner to react and move towards her in order to effectively remove Claire from the shop.
“Candy is a lie! People will die; nothing is sweet nor…taffy?” One minute she was babbling about death, and the next her eyes were set on a shelf of taffy.
“Miss, please stop that now! I’m going to call the mall security if you do not.” The nervous clerk spoke.
“Hey kid, buy this taffy for me.” With a flippant attitude, Claire ignored the clerk, and faced the boy she crashed into. He, much like the shop owner, was mute from fear.
It was a logical notion, Claire’s eyes and face did not bear anything inviting, even more so when she ordered him to buy the taffy.
The young boy shifted his gaze from the clerk and back to Claire, who was getting impatient.
“Alright, but in return, you leave.” The boy haggled.
Claire’s eyes squinted in suspicion. “Only if you come with me.” She was completely beside herself.
The boy gulped and before he could answer, the shop owner interjected. “Take the taffy, and leave with the boy. It’s on me, now please, just go!” she said, making both of them turn to leave for the exit.
It did not take long before Claire was sitting, calm and carefree, on the wooden bench, gnawing away at her taffy. Her mind was starting to become more lucid.
“So, um bye.” The young man spoke with pithy.
“See ya,” Claire cared little for the stranger, so she figured, he’d just leave her be. Nevertheless, that did not happen when the youngster turned back to face her in anger.
“So, you just put me through that embarrassment for taffy?” His electrifying eyes dared her to counter his statement.
Claire lifted a single brow at him. “What are ya, fifty? Have a little fun, dude.”
The boy sighed in frustration. “You are obviously not sane or, to give you the benefit of the doubt, you must be going through some terrible shit to call people’s attention like this.”
Claire’s chewing slowed down until it stopped. The boy hit the nail on the head, but she felt her patience was being tested. “What’s it to you; people cope the best way they can.”
“Right, well good luck with that.” The sarcasm dripped from his tongue, and before Claire could say anything, someone called for the boy.
“Terry, let’s go. We’re gonna be late for the movie.” A brown haired girl called for him.
“Alright Mel, I’m coming,” he shouted back. “Like I said, good luck screwing yourself over.” Scoffing at his comment, Claire could not help but eye the girl in the distance, something about her presence was too familiar.
“So, you’re an incubus?” she spat.
Freezing in his tracks, Terry turned back to face her. “What?”
For the first time, Claire took the liberty to analyze the boy, causing him to widen his expression. He noticed something that terrified him, and before she could address him on it, he spoke.
“I’m leaving.” As fast as the words left his lips, he was gone.
Claire, stared back her taffy, and wondered over the situation she had just encountered.
‘That girl, the succubus, she had the same presence as…’ In one quick conclusion, Claire’s eyes grew in size. ‘No way…’
Fumbling, she searched for her phone but realized what had happened to it.
“Shit.”
“Indeed, you are in quite a pickle young lady.” The voice of the officious mall guard broke her anxiety when he returned.
“What happened in there?” His judgmental eyes told her that he knew about the candy store incident, making her sigh in rendition.
“Fine, let’s get this over with. Take me to mall prison.” Claire said still feeling inebriated.
The guard scoffed at her, but proceeded in escorting Claire outside of the mall, preventing any further investigation on the succubus.
‘Well, shit.’ She watched the enormous structure that was the mall, as all access to it was denied to her.
In an exigent manner, Claire turned from the building and searched for any means of communication. She knew well that there had to be a pay phone close by, and when her eyes fell on one, her pace quickened in its direction.
The clattering sound of the metallic buttons being pressed by her fingers reminded her of the last time she had used the public service of phone calls. Claire mused over the thought when she realized how long ago that was.
A few rings later and the voice she expected answered.
Her lips turned into a grin of a devious fashion as she let the words slip them. “You’ll never guess what I just found.”
~~~~********~~~~~~~~********~~~~~~~~********~~~~~~~~********~~~~~~~~********~~~~~~~~******
“You’re all the same and when the curtains drop down,” Lynn’s voice boomed in an awkward manner towards the small crowd of people. Some cringed, and others booed her off the karaoke platform, but she remained there, laughing away her troubles in an inebriated state.
“You’ll be replaced by something typical!” Instead of singing the words, they came out as a shout of some sort.
When the last verse was said, Lynn lifted the microphone up over head and dropped it with a loud echoing thud. The people at the small bar groaned in discomfort at the strident sound, making one yell at Lynn.
“Get off the stage, you suck!”
“Hey, with this bod, I don’t need to have a pretty voice,” Lynn said with a strong hint of defiance as she pointed at the man who yelled.
Before the ruckus could start among the consumers, Mia ran and picked up the microphone that had fallen to her sister’s feet.
“Thank you Stantonville! Please follow us on our worldwide tour!”
The comment made Lynn burst out in laughter, as both girls were jeered out of the roadside bar. Their fits of hilarity filling the night air, caused Mia to smile in joy when she got into the car. When Lynn slumped next to her in the passenger seat, she made the engine purr and drove off to their destination.
It was dark out, and their four hour long drive was coming to an end as the roadside bar was their last stop before arriving at their destination.
“Man, you really can’t sing,” Mia teased.
Lynn was drunk, but not to a babbling point. Hearing the mock proved that to Mia, more so when Lynn retorted, “I’m just a Templar; I wasn’t born with an angelic voice and body like you.”
Mia scowled playfully. “You’re right; I can’t blame you for being manly and fat. It’s just the way you are.”
In fake dismay, Lynn took a breath and spoke with indignation. “You…bitch! I bet your just little miss cheerleader at school.”
“I can’t help that I’m fine.” That last comment made Lynn stare at her younger sister before they both laughed at their own craziness.
After a while, the booze started to wear off on Lynn, and she found herself getting sleepy. Mia took notice of this and decided to remain quiet in order to allow her sleep.
“Mia…?” Unfortunately, the silence was broken, when Lynn refused to give into to her fatigue.
“Yeah, what is it?”
“I like it when you open up to me.” It was but a whisper of a remark, almost as if Lynn feared expressing it.
Nevertheless, the words reached Mia’s ears, and it made her feel a little bit guilty. It was not complete remorse, since Lynn was not so innocent, but her words still managed to create some pain.
“Good, I’m glad.” There it was again, a cold and stoic attitude that dismissed Lynn’s feelings altogether.
But what else could she do? Indifference came easy to her. When she was young, she had a lot of alone time to practice it—to practice that she didn’t care that everyone left her—that no one ever believed her. Now that there was no need for it, was she just supposed to act like everyone expected her to?
Expectations…
It was always that which frustrated her most. The Covenant expected Mia to kill for what they had promised her; Lynn expected her to see things her way, and her mother had expected her to be normal.
Her father never expected anything from her.
The small urban buildings came into view, seeming like an endless stream of homes under a dimly lit sky. Mia heard her sister sigh in a very low manner; it was obvious that she wanted to mask her disappointment. This made Mia rethink things; Exsavior and Isabel were forgiven, so maybe Lynn deserved a second chance just the same.
Taking a small breath, Mia smiled while holding the wheel. “Remember the last time we had so much fun together? It was when dad took us to our favorite park and we decided to run away from him.”
Surprised by her sister’s words, Lynn remembered the event she spoke of. “We were playing pretend runaways. First we were going to be stowaways on a train and then go to a city where you can sing and be famous.”
Mia laughed in recollection, making Lynn smile warmly. “It was so much fun, but I felt so bad for making dad worry like that.”
“What was worse is that we actually made it close to the highway!” Smiling at the notion, Lynn rubbed the bridge of her nose and she shook her head at her own past.
There was silence in the car as Mia realized that they had reached the home of the odd woman Lynn had encountered.
“I want us to be like that again, Lynn.” She avoided her sister’s face, her stare implanted firmly on the house before them.
In an unknowing gesture, Lynn swallowed a lump in her throat and spoke with hesitancy. “I know that our issues are mainly my fault, but after everything that’s happened, I’m going to stick by you no matter what.”
Her stare shifted and Mia’s green emerald eyes found her sister’s similar ones. After a good long time, Mia was in a happy place, and sharing that with her sister was what she needed to do to help them get passed their differences.
They embraced each other with tear stricken eyes, and Lynn continued to speak.
“It doesn’t even matter that you’re dating a werewolf; I’m with you all the way.”
In an instant, Mia broke the embrace and hit her sister in a playful action. “I’m not dating him,” she paused before continuing, “yet…”
The answer made Lynn choke back a laugh. “You’re such a child.”
“I am not! I just need to take things slow.” Her sister’s light comments made Mia blush in embarrassment.
“No, you’re right. I was just teasing; it’s only natural that you’d want that. After all you were just freed from that demon…”
The mention of Sam made Mia’s mood die down.
“How are you doing anyways?” Lynn asked. “You know in regards to that.”
“I’m ok. It was definitely the hardest thing to process, but I’m finally free of him and that’s all that matters. I don’t have to be afraid of expecting him around every corner or hiding behind every person,” Mia said with candor, her face more composed than ever, which caused Lynn to feel complacent with the answer. Her sister was in a good place even with all the immortals around her.
Maybe it was just that that put her in the best place. Whatever the case, it was more than what Lynn could ask for.
“So, I think we should get to the matter at hand.” When Lynn said those words, Mia became stern and nodded.
“Right, so tell me again how you found this woman?”
“I put her name in the Covenant’s database and ran a background check. All her data showed up, her home and whatnot. The most surprising thing I found was—” Two knocks on the car’s passenger side window interrupted Lynn’s sentence—preventing her from completing the thought.
In shock, Mia looked at the woman at the door, and it made Lynn’s eyes squint in utter suspicion.
“That’s her…she’s a savant, Mia, so be careful.”
Lynn opened her door and the woman stepped back. Mia mimicked her sister’s actions and moved to stand beside her.
“I was wondering how long it would take you both to find me. Did I interrupt something?” The very same woman from the funeral that went by Daisy stood before them. Her face, old as it was from before, seemed more at ease, and her violet hair was in the same high bun that it was when Lynn had met her. She wore an elegant dress that widened to a great extent; her top was tied on her neck with a silky translucent ribbon that rested just below her collar bones. It was like a modern queen’s attire from the Victorian age.
“No, we were just debating who gets to kill you if anything should happen,” Lynn said in a nonchalant manner to stir fright in the woman.
Daisy made nothing of the comment. “I highly doubt that will be necessary. After all, I am the very same woman your mother used to write to.”
Her brain stopped, and no matter how Lynn urged it to work or respond, nothing came to mind. The word ‘mother’ was the only thing that kept spinning around in the blankness that was her state of mind.
“Wait…you’re Daisy…Daisy Diary?” Mia spoke this time with awe as she realized it for the first.
“Yes, Daisy Diary was not a cutesy name for her diary. It was her way of pronouncing my name, Daisy d’Aerie.” She stopped speaking and watched the two girls assimilate the situation. They weren’t about to say or do anything, so she continued to speak. “Well, this is quite uncomfortable speaking here. Care to come in?”
Lynn was still frozen in place and Mia forced her to move as she nodded in acceptance. All three women disappeared into Daisy’s home with two of them readying themselves for the secrets she held.
Author's Note:
Sorry for the long wait guys, but I worked extra hard and pulled in a somewhat long chapter! Hope you guys enjoy it! Read, Rate, Review!
Sirius-