Night came, night went.
A dusty amber sun had slowly begun to rise in the sky, turning the blues and grays into a superior entrance of morning. Rays of gold glowed behind snowy clouds and the pink mist hovered over treetops.
She had actually made it. And she had gotten some sleep. Leah stretched out beneath her comforter, slightly moaning at the little bit of pleasure from the cracks in her joints. Her body felt rested and yet still sore from the night before. She pulled the comforter from over her chest and yawned.
Beo lay on his backside, all legs spread apart and with a snore buzzing out his snout. He might have looked goofy but she knew he was comfortable, so she let sleeping dogs lie. Not daring to give him his usual morning fuss on the head, she crawled from beneath her blanket and stood watching him snooze away. It was such a simple thing having a dog in her life. Beo was special to her. He would snuggle when she needed it, eat the food she dropped and most importantly, protect her when she needed.
Too bad he couldn't save her from everything. Morning tears started to form in her eyes and she tried to blink them away. Leah wiped her face and headed towards the bathroom. A hot shower was due, maybe it would help.
----
Fresh out, covered in blue jeans and a gray sweater, Leah found herself face to face with her mirror, hands on both hips and eyes narrowed. Her bone structure seemed changed, eyes barely hanging from her face and lips in a frown. Waves of dark chestnut hair seemed to be crashing past her shoulders violently. Everything about her was off.
"So much for a shower fixing you."
She turned down the light switch angrily and stormed out of the bathroom. Fleeing past a now empty bedroom, her chest was hot as a fire had ignited inside. Not even the cool air from the old house seemed to be able to put it out. She was livid.
As she entered the living room the flames rose up in memory of all that had happened. Her eyes darted to the kitchen, then to the dining room, and back to her couch set.
Her brown couch was purple.
The hard wood floor.
Even the fire place.
She clamped her teeth together. A change of environment would do her fine. Places to escape to blinked in her head. Then she was reminded that her car was totaled.
"My car," she whispered. Leah had fallen asleep and never woken up to Travis bringing the remains of her sedan. A long musical moan broke out and she went to her purse to check her cell.
Her fingers held on to it and she activated her screen. In a millisecond, it lit up revealing the time. A bright an early 10am waved. Maybe he had brought it anyways.
She strolled to the door, unlocked it and turned the cool cut handle. It swung on with a whoosh as the morning air blew in her face. Stepping Out She sighed in relief when she saw her beaten up silver sedan in her driveway.
A free tow? A white slip in her windshield fluttered in a minimal breeze. Of course not, nothing was free. She walked over and peeled it from her windshield wiper. Her fingers held it straight as she read messy writing in blue ink. Towed and delivered $50.
The price was in fact reasonable. Leah read the bottom of the paper with the company information before dunking the slip in her pocket and sighing. She was about to make it back to her house when she noticed another paper stuck to the door. Wondering what it consisted of, she rose a brow praying it wasn't another symbol.
Her free hand took it down and unfolded it gently. Towed, delivered, paid - Daniel
Her eyes twitched when she saw a phone number scribbled at the edge of the paper. It was only polite that she called and thanked him. She slipped inside and closed the door behind her.
In the kitchen Beo sniffed around his bowl loudly until he dove into a feeding frenzy. Leah smiled at him through a stiffness in her cheeks before pulling up the dialer on her phone. It was time to thank the man who just might have saved her life.
As the call began, she put the phone to her ear, patiently waiting for the dial tone to be answered.
"Hello?"
"Um hi, Daniel?"
"Is this Leah?"
"Yeah," she sat on her couch curling up her legs beneath her, "I got your note. Did you really pay for my tow?"
"I hope you don't mind."
Her head shook, "You didn't have to do that. I think you did enough last night."
"I'll be the judge of that."
"Stubborn."
A chuckle came from the other end of the call making her tingle, "I know."
She leaned back, chest slowly rising and falling under a certain calm she felt. She Wasn't Sure what else to say to him. Even if he turned out to be a good guy in her whirlwind of a chaotic mess, it didn't mean she actually knew him. The pause seemed to grow awkward and she sighed dramatically.
Daniel cleared his throat, "You know, I'm still in the area thanks to Travis. Would you mind if I swung by? I have something for you."
"Its not another note is it?"
He laughed, "Not this time."
"Well," her voice shook nervously. It wasn't often she spoke on the phone with someone besides Alice. Speaking of which she probably should call her next, seeing as the woman had some serious attempts to get a hold of her. "Sure. I guess."
"Positive?"
"Mhmm."
"Okay I'll see you in a few or is that too early?"
She was already dressed with nowhere to go, there was no need to wait for company, "No that sounds good, See you soon."
As quickly as the call ended, Leah prepped herself for the next call she would make. It was pretty obvious what kind of attitude Alice would have against her. There would probably be questions she didn't feel like answering and she knew she'd probably mention the scattered boxes in the living room.
Her fingers danced on the dial pad and before she knew it, Alice grunted into her ear. "Well look who it is!
Before Leah could respond, her friend went on-- and on, "You know I called and text, drove past your house and even went inside, drunk! By the way, I can't believe you're really packing, you could at least organize your boxes better. I mean, if you're mad be mad but don't ignore me, especially with well, you know what going on. So," she cleared her throat and took what her friend could only imagine as the biggest breath, "Where on Earth did little Miss Edenwood go huh?"
Annoyed, she nipped at her, "Elk Village."
The line went quiet for a few seconds.
"Really?"
"Yes. But not by choice."
"What's that mean?"
"I didn't intend on going there."
"How the heck do you go somewhere and not even know it?"
Leah slumped forwards and laid on her stomach, legs kicking up on the arm rest, "I wasn't paying attention."
"That's stupid!"
"You're right, so stupid that I hit a deer and totalled my car."
Alice gasped, "What?"
"Yep."
"Did you get hurt?"
"Not really," she looked down at her wrist covered in a bandage, slowly pulling it off, "And just so you know I wasn't ignoring you. My phone was dead, so don't be bitter." She wiggled the sticky piece until it fluttered away.
"Well I'm glad you're alive, seriously. I hope you're just now charging your stinking phone and I'm the first one you're calling, cause that would help."
Charge her phone?
That would make complete sense to charge a dead phone. But as Leah looked at her screen she realized she never once plugged it in since the accident; and yet there was almost a full battery.
When she was out there in Elk Village, cold and in the dark, her phone wouldn't turn on when she needed it the most. Knowing that made her belly wince. It was the craft. She lied into the phone, sitting up slowly, "Yeah you are."
"Good. Not that I don't want to chew you out, but I have to get back to this stupid job. Consider yourself lucky for now, but I'll be seeing you soon."
If there were any, Leah wondered what the limits of some kind of black magic were. The snakes, the dreams and the awful black figure she'd now encountered twice- when would it be over? She Wondered If Perhaps It Wouldn't end until it took her very life. There was a load of violence tinted in the things that went on. If it was aiming to kill her, what was the reason? What could he have done to be on the receiving end of it?
If the man was behind all of it what did he have against her? They had never met before the library. If he was really attempting to end her life in a ferocious act why didn't he do anything when he first approached her? Did he follow her around waiting for the right moment?
She gulped thinking about it. What if he knew her every little move, her fears, and her secrets? Secrets- everyone had one. But in her deep thought she wondered if maybe he knew hers.
-----
A knock at the door removed her from her thinking bubble. Leah crawled up onto her feet from a box of books she was packing and began adjusting her shirt nervously. She ambled to her front door in a hustle.
Hardly any visitors came over, so she was sure it was Daniel. Her fingers twisted the knob and pulled it open. Tall, dark and dressed casual beneath a leather jacket, he greeted her with a handsome grin, "Hi again."
"Hi, come on in," she invited, "Excuse the mess." Leah stepped aside allowing him to enter into her mid packed living room. He entered around a pile of flattened boxes, "Are you moving?"
She shut the door and followed behind him, watching him analyze her mess, "Trying to."
"I thought Channing was home?"
"It is for now. Take a seat."
Daniel took a seat in her usual spot, resting an arm on the armrest. His eyes scanned around before zoning in on her. "Are you going to be moving soon?"
She sat across from him, "Not soon enough. But I'm working on it."
"I thought Channing was golden?"
"Not anymore," she shrugged, "So, you said you had something for me?"
"Right," he dug a hand into his pocket and pulled out something familiar. Her black wallet with deer antlers printed on it stuck out from the palm of his hand. He waved it in the air, "You must have dropped this."
Once again she felt thankful that he wasn't a typical person who kept whatever they found. Her eyebrows rose up, "Wow I didn't even realize it. Thank you so much." She leaned across the couch and took it from him with a grateful tug.
"You're welcome," he nodded, "And no I didn't go rummaging through it but the last time I checked I didn't own anything that feminine. So I figured it was yours."
Leah hugged her wallet against her chest before rising up and dunking it into her purse on the kitchen island, "You mean you don't have women in your truck often?"
"No ma'am, I was raised better than that."
Good to know. She tapped her fingers on the island top. There was a mild case of the jitters brewing inside of her. Between trying to be as sane as possible to him and still trying to get to the bottom of things, her system felt unstable.
"Why are you moving out of such a nice house? This place is really cozy."
She turned and leaned back, "I have to."
"Why?"
"You ask a lot of questions."
"I know," he smiled, "does it bother you?"
"No," she returned to the couch, "Not a bit."
Daniel leaned over his legs and picked up a book from an unsealed box. He scanned the cover of it puzzled, "What's this?"
Leah squint her eyes to see the shell of the book. It was an older one, the faded cover and rugged corners made that very clear. Normally, she could point out a book from just that but that one didn't seem familiar.
"Can I see it?"
He handed her the book and she held it in both hands as if it weighed a ton. Her eyes scanned the front of it drawing over the illustrated symbols.
Her eyes began to burn, but not before reading the embossed lettering across the top. It wasn't in English, but she could very much understand it.
The Tamanaka Book of Capturing, Captivating and Communicating.
Capturing? It meant to withold. But what on Earth was the book doing in her possession? She had previously been packing the same box and it wasn't one of hers. The sound of her heart grew loud in her ears. Someone wanted to catch her, and they didn't seem to care if she knew. He didn't seem to care.
Leah squeezed the book as the air around her constricted around her body. Breathing was difficult, as was seeing. Her sight had become fuzzy and burned with the flame of a hundred birthday candles.
It seemed as thought someone had already caught her. Now it was like they were slowly overtaking her mind, captivating her with chaotic circumstances. When would something finally explain what was going on?
"Leah?"
The air let go as she stared forwards watching her vision be restored. She caught her breath and turned to her guest, "Sorry."
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm just a little discombobulated."
"Is something wrong?"
"Things have definitely been off lately, and that is probably an understatement."
"Do you want to talk about it?"
Leah shook her head, "No thanks. I would like for you to think I'm still sane at the end of the day." She had tried hard to pinch the corner of her mouth at him but wound up twitching awkwardly at him. Her face flushed when she realized how idiotic she probably looked.
"Sane? I don't even know what that is."
"Is that right?"
"Look," he crossed his arms, "If every person who stepped a little out of the norm was crazy, we'd all be in strait jackets. There are some seriously cuckoo people out there, don't think you're one of them just yet."
She looked at him with a glimmer left in her eyes, "You are seriously too nice."
"No such thing, I was just raised right."
So it seemed.
"What about your family, I mean are you Native? "
"Yes ma'am, my father's side of the family comes from a long line of Chituwehs, those crazies. And you?"
She glanced down at the book, "Tamanaka."
He nodded once, eyes never leaving her face, "Even crazier. No offense."
"None taken. So you know what crafting is then?"
"Like that magic stuff? My grandparents were into that stuff back in the day. Parents were a little too modern for it. Why do you ask?"
"Because this is a book of dark crafting. And it's specifically written for my bloodline. Thing is," she set the book in her lap, "I was just packing and it wasn't there. A lot of things have been happening lately."
Daniel sat still for a moment, eyes bouncing from her and back to the book, "Are you... in some kind of trouble?"
"I think so." She didn't know how crazy she was going to sound but at the edge she was on, she had to get some weight off or she was going to fall. Her voice pooled a puddle, "I think someone might be trying to hurt me."