Cursefell Page 5

  "I hope," Wayne reached out, taking my hand and placing it between both of his. "that our stopping by to spend time with our brother hasn't been the cause of this strife?"

  "No," I heard myself say to play along with the story I had silently already committed myself to. "He didn't even mention your visit."

  It was not surprising that Galead had brothers. Lily had told me he lived with some relatives. Her detective work revealed little else however. Not yet anyway. She was, in her own words, still on the case.

  "Ah. Well, I'm relieved then." Wayne released me, smiling earnestly. At least it looked earnest to anyone without what my mother would call intuitive vision. For me, the truth hid behind the smile.

  "So you will be here for Christmas?" I asked.

  "I suppose we will."

  "And Thera's birthday?" Anna purred liked the old Russian Blue that always perched on the corner of her desk making the same sound when suggesting her human brush her fur.

  "When is that, Anna?"

  "After Christmas. Ryan, didn't you tell them?" I jumped in, thinking turn about is fair play. Of course Galead didn't know about my birthday. I was relishing this.

  The brothers tensed. An odd look passed between them and for the first time I noticed they all looked dissimilar. If we hadn't been told they were related none of us would have thought them to be.

  "It is Thera's eighteenth. We are going to have a great party. Something really special. Pretend you didn't hear that, Thera. It would be great to have all of you there," Anna said, throwing a meaningful look Galead's way, with a quick peek at Tristan.

  Another odd moment passed as the brothers silently debated. What was with the hesitation, I wondered. It was Tristan that finally answered.

  "Without a doubt. How could we miss the biggest day in her life?" his voice rolled over them, soft and sweet as warm honey.

  "Yes!" Anna shouted, quickly throwing her hands over her mouth to stop anything even more mortifying from coming out.

  Tristan smiled as the rest of us laughed good-naturedly at Anna's outburst. She turned a bright scarlet and groaned.

  "It would be our honor to attend," he confirmed.

  Lily, Evony, and I looked at Anna as Tristan said this. We expected her to swoon I imagine. She didn't, but maybe she was tilting.

  Galead left his brothers behind with my friends shortly after this. I promised to meet up with them for dinner as Galead and I walked away to talk. He had a good reason for his deception I hoped. Otherwise I was in real trouble driving into the abandoned outskirts of the town. Just the two of us. Alone.

  We drove past Stonecrest's main hub and the few functioning homes on this side of town. These soon gave way to the remnants from the early days the town had seen. Rotting wood bones that once upheld living dreams for the early residents dotted the green sloping hills. Some still had their grey shingled roofs only half collapsed over the home like some deep knitted brow. Others were marked by just a single side frame standing a silent vigil above mounds of decayed wood. The older residents spoke of ghostly visions and wild cackles borne on a fog without wind. They swore the hills were haunted, cursed. I could not disagree.

  When we finally stopped, turning onto a patch of dirt and sand, Galead cut the engine and popped the trunk. I followed him to the back as silently as our ride had been. The sun would be setting soon and there was no way I would be caught out here after dark. He had something to tell me, so he said, so I would be quiet and listen and get back to town before the evening fell.

  Galead shut the trunk, tucking something into his jacket before I could see what it was. It should have sent off warning bells, but I felt safe around him. I trusted him when I had no real reason to, well other than the fact that he had saved my life. Hoping I was not making a mistake, we started walking away from the general safety of the car and towards the abandoned lighthouse.

  "Have you been out to the old lighthouse before?" he called over his shoulder.

  "No. I've never even been out this far before." My voice held a quiver I couldn't disguise.

  I was afraid. I admit it. There was an unnaturalness to the place that, despite Galead's presence, filled me with foreboding. I wanted to stop him here and demand answers, but I imagined some terrible thing would fall upon us. A shadowy creature, hiding behind the bent and stunted trees dotting the landscape, full of speed and strength and savage claws we could not defend against. I felt it stalking us unseen. This had been a bad idea.

  As we picked our way through overgrown grass and prickly brambles, the tower loomed just ahead. It would be a relief. He could tell me what he wanted and we could quickly return to his car. The nagging sense of a threat was lessening the closer the lighthouse became, yet it lingered in the cold dead whistle in the wind all the same.

  Galead's pace had quickened as we approached. He strode with a purpose over swaying grass and slick stones. A hidden hole tripped me up and sent me stumbling. The creak of rusted metal pushed aside the curses I had been about to mutter. Galead stood beside the tower's open door motioning with a hand for me to hurry. He slammed the door behind us, plunging us into utter darkness.

  My breathing was an echoing pant that bounced up the cylindrical walls of the discarded past. A pebble skittered across the floor as I inched my way toward the wall, startling me. I would feel better with my back against something tangible.

  "Thera. Hold on and I will get us some light."

  He was close. His breath was warm and sweetened when it hit me. Hold on he said. To what? The feeling of being stalked? The dread from something fast approaching? Or the darkness he had led me into? But within a few moments he held up to his promise. A soft pale blue light filled the structure. Galead handed me the electric lamp, which I accepted with more than a little enthusiasm. His face floated in and out of view with each swinging movement that I made.

  "Better?" Galead asked, placing a hand on my arm. I nodded. At least nothing would sneak up on me. "Well, what do you think?"

  Very little, truth be told. It was an old, crumbling lighthouse. The door was so red with rust I was surprised it had even opened. The iron staircase was dotted with chipped paint. At points it looked like it was pulling away from the wall. The smell, well, that was something indescribably horrid.

  "Charming," I dryly told him. His laugh helped calm me a bit.

  "Do you know anything about this place?"

  "The lighthouse? No."

  He ran a hand around the wall, circling me in the process. The light created deep ruts along his face with its shadow play. The strong jaw line and the delicate bones of the sculptured cheek stood out the better for it. I was reminded of the kiss we had briefly shared, the soft curves molding together. His lips, most likely mine as well, grayed in the lamplight. His skin shone a frozen garish hue. We could have both been ghosts haunting this old place, eternally bound by that singular event.

  "This is the oldest standing structure left above ground from the founding days of this city."

  "I don't doubt it. This place looks like it is about to fall down."

  "The mortar might crumble. The rust will eat away the metal. But this place will never fall, Thera. This site is older than the lighthouse. This spot, this patch of land the lighthouse sits on, was used before Winter even had a name."

  He paused when he took note of the confused stare I gave him. I wondered why he brought me to this place. Not for a lesson in history I hoped. Galead grinned and moved closer to take my hand in his.

  "I am sorry, Thera. Sorry I did not tell you the truth about that day. I did see the creature that attacked you."

  "Why did you lie then?" I demanded, my voice rising up to the rafters. "Do you know what this was doing to me? No? I thought I was going mad. I thought...well, never mind. What did you see? The truth this time."

  "A mermaid."

  "I knew it! But, they aren't real. They can't be."

  Galead held my shoulders, squeezing them lightly, his face settled with a serious look. />
  "I assure you, mermaids are quite real. A great many things relegated to myth and legend were, in fact, real. Maybe just not exactly as they are portrayed in song and letters, but real nonetheless. And some of those mythological creatures survive still."

  "Like mermaids."

  He nodded. "Among others."

  It was unbelievable. Mermaids were no more than fairy tales made up by sailors too long at sea. Like sea serpents. Or a creature that appeared from the darkest depths to try and drown me. And thinking about it, the stories from ancient texts were not always happy ones. The Greeks had very few stories related to their goodly nature. If my encounter was real, and I believed it was, then that was what it must have been.

  "Why would it attack me?"

  "If it was anyone else I would call it happenstance, but I think you were targeted."

  "What do you mean, if it was anyone else? Why would I be a target?"

  But Galead avoided my gaze, turning his back to me. Looking to the distant ceiling, I could sense the doubt and debate he no doubt was holding with himself. I hesitantly reached for him. My hand slipped over his shoulder, tensing at my touch, but he did not pull away.

  "You are special, Thera. You may not know it yourself yet, but trust me when I tell you this. But your story is not mine to share," he whispered sadly.

  "My mother," and father, I thought. "She knows what you are talking about, doesn't she? She knows about me, about this secret you are keeping."

  Galead stood as silent as a living statue. In this he was not going to help me, I realized.

  "Alright. Then what is your story. Who are you really?"

  "I'm just a high school student, same as you."

  "Don't give me that. You saved my life. You take some of the classes I do. You sit nearby at lunch. You always seem to be around, lurking. And staring."

  "Staring?"

  "That's right. My friends have seen you staring at us, at me, many times."

  "They're very observant." His head shook with a low chuckle. "If they are telling the truth."

  "They are. They're my friends and wouldn't lie to me, unlike you. Maybe you are the one targeting me, not this mermaid."

  "Maybe I'm your guardian angel."

  "Maybe you are avoiding my questions. Start talk..." The sudden stabbing pain in my leg had me grinding my teeth so hard I thought they would break. I twisted my body in a futile attempt to escape it. This was the worst pain I had ever felt in my life so far. It was worse than the clumsy root canal I had had or the twisted knee I suffered during my last gymnastics competition.

  Galead was at my side. He held me up in his strong arms until the worst part had subsided. Our faces were again covered by darkness when I dropped the lamp, but the warmth from the cheek resting against my own cool skin took away any fear I might have felt. I wanted to rest against the wall and regain my balance.

  "What's wrong?" Galead asked.

  "My leg. The mermaid scratched me and it hasn't healed. It hurts sometimes."

  Galead scooped up the lamp, holding its light low. His look revealed the worry he was feeling.

  "Let me see."

  "Um, no. I will be okay. It doesn't last long."

  "You won't be okay if it is infected."

  "It's not."

  "Not the usual infection, but in some other way it might be. We need to make sure."

  "I'll check it when I get home, I promise," I said, holding up a hand when he started to argue some more. "Listen, I'm not stripping down just so you can check a scratch I can look at myself. What are you, a doctor now too?"

  "No. Just someone who is trying to look out for you." He sounded so sincere that my resolve nearly broke. What was the harm anyway? Well, besides the fact that he was still not telling me anything and acting mysterious, he was probably perfectly normal and sane.

  "Thanks, really. But I'm not some damsel in distress. I can handle myself."

  He raised a suggestive eyebrow, a smile playing across his face.

  "Swimming doesn't count. It's not my strongest suit. Especially when mermaids get involved."

  "At least we agree on that. But still,"

  "Not happening. Look it's getting late and I don't want to be out here during nighttime. There is something just wrong here. We can talk tomorrow some more."

  "Agreed."

  "And don't think you will get away without answering my questions again, Galead."

  Decided, he pulled the old, rusty door open again. It was indeed getting darker. The sun sat low on the horizon. Its shine now rode dully atop choppy blackened waves. My body shivered in the coolness of the coastal breeze.

  "You can call me Ryan you know," he said as we trudged back to the car side by side.

  "Galead suits you better," I told him, reaching out to trail a hand across a smooth cheek. Galead would tell me everything tomorrow even if I had to distract him from seeing me as just some object to protect.

  *

  My friends were waiting for us at Leary's Lair by the time we got back. Galead's brothers had left them a short while before they finished shopping. Anna had decided against the boots she told me when we hugged out any ill feelings that might be remaining when I had lost control of my anger. She had settled on a set of cute dolphin earrings for her mother.

  Waiting outside for the others after dinner, Galead and I found ourselves alone again. We had barely talked on the way back from the lighthouse. It was fine with me. I had been lost in my own thoughts trying to fit everything together. Now, however, back in town and the lie of us being the happy couple hanging over our heads, he needed to answer one question at least.

  "Why did you tell them we were a couple?"

  Galead ducked his head, scuffing a shoe along the sidewalk. He was ashamed. He had lied about us and felt bad about the lie. It wasn't even a terrible lie in my eyes, not yet anyway. It was just confusing. Like his reaction. Maybe mine as well.

  "Let me ask you something. Why were you so mad with Anna?" he asked.

  "I don't know," I told him honestly. "She was so happy about Christmas, about getting those damn boots from her parents maybe. And I started thinking about him."

  "Your father?"

  "Yes," I said. My eyes were misting but I wouldn't cry. Not anymore. "I was remembering the great moments we had shared as a family during the holidays. The gifts, the times, the people. And I realized there would be no more future memories to be had with him again."

  Galead said nothing. He was letting me think about it, work out what I had just said. Galead was right of course. How could Anna understand my feelings when she still had both of her parents? How could I expect her to share the same painful hollowness holidays now caused me? It wasn't fair of me. It wasn't fair to her.

  "I know she didn't mean to cause any pain. I overreacted." Now I felt ashamed.

  "You did," he agreed. "But it was more than that, Thera. You were enjoying being angry."

  "Well that's just ridiculous."

  But was it? Didn't I like the feel, the rage filling the void in my heart? The constrictive crush of tension throughout my body. That jolt along my spine. The heat hardening heart and mind.

  I must admit that I did like it. At that moment it was a feeling of power I had secretly lost when my father had been taken from us. It felt good to replace it. Even if it was anger that replaced it, I had never felt so strong.

  "I don't believe so. I saw your face, your eyes." He was searching for something, maybe a denial. I gave him none.

  "She and I are fine now. But you. Are you going to answer my question now?"

  "Yes." He exhaled very slowly before continuing. "I saw how angry you were becoming and was afraid for you and your friends."

  "Afraid for us? What, that we might start fighting right in front of Crystals?" I laughed, dismissing the notion. There was some nervousness to that laugh too. This sounded like something I didn't want to hear. And yet I knew that whatever he was going to say I needed to hear.

  "That yo
ur anger would become a fury. That fury would carry a storm. I had to stop it before anyone was hurt. Not from hands or words at least. So I did what I thought would distract you, calm the anger before it was too late."

  He was speaking in riddles, his words making absolutely no sense. Of course, not much of what had happened since my father's death made sense.

  "Just give me a straight answer. Keep it simple, Galead," I hissed.

  "It is simple. I told you, you're special. Gifted. You are not like them, Thera. And you can just as easily be their enemy as their friend."

  Wait. What?

  He might have said more, but the girls came bouncing out from Leary's before we could continue.

  "Break it up you two. It's time to get going," Lily teased. She spun Anna's keys around a finger for emphasis. "And I'm driving."

  "She's right. It's getting late. I will talk with you tomorrow." Galead leaned over to place his lips lightly on the side of my face. We still had to keep up the act for everyone apparently.

  It was fine, the kiss. Short and sweet to anyone watching, if rather distant. Chaste. Yes, that was the word for it. And completely unconvincing.

  Without thinking, I reached up and grabbed Galead on both sides of his head. I pulled his face to mine. My lips crushed against his in a passionate kiss.

  "That is how you convince the others of our little lie," I whispered as we broke apart. I didn't add that it is how you convince yourself in the truth of the lie. At least how I did.

  We left him standing, looking dumbfounded, on the sidewalk under a lamplight's glow and the half filled moon.