Autumn Calling (9 page)

“Okay, if that’s how you truly feel, then
that is what you should do. I’ll back you no matter what your
decisions are and be there at the end of your path, waiting. But
you know I am in the occupation of protection, too, so I will do
whatever I need to do to keep you safe, even if it goes against
Father and destiny itself.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck and
hugged him tightly, kissing his neck under his earlobe and
whispering, “Thank you, my angel. Thank you!”

* * *

Preoccupied by the weight of guilt, Summer
rode her bike to the office to meet the accountant who’d been stood
up by Tori due to her accident. They needed to get payroll out for
Dr. Stuart’s staff. They all understood the delay, but life goes on
and people need to get paid. The cool air felt good on her face as
she pumped the pedals down the neighborhood streets into town.

There were people about, mostly merchants
making their way to their shops to get ready for their workday to
begin. Summer was not really paying attention to them, but mulling
over in her head how she was going to pick a fight with Tori to
distance herself. She and Tori had never had such a fight. Oh sure,
they had tiffs, but nothing that angered either one of them to the
point of not wanting to be friends, or even staying away from one
another for more than a day at most.

The reason for the fight had to be
believable too, and that’s where Summer was having a terrible time.
What could it be about that would legitimate enough for Tori to not
want to be friends? Another worry was if she did come up with
something, what if it permanently damaged their relationship?
Summer only wanted a temporary solution for keeping Tori away, but
what if it blew up in her face and became permanent?

The thoughts that jumbled up in her mind
were giving her an awful headache when she slowed for a stop sign a
few blocks from the office. She heard the caw of a crow in the
distance, but it didn’t really register with Summer. She was
thinking about Tori lying in that hospital bed. Summer hated lying,
and worse, she hated lying to Tori. Of course Tori usually knew
when Summer was lying, so that made it a no-brainer. But this
fight, in order to be plausible, would have to have some basis of
truth, or Tori would see right through it.

“Hmm,” she thought. “What if it had to do
with the fact that Nick’s the reason Jackson hasn’t called? Yes.
And I could be angry because I think Tori had a hand in it too.
That might work.”

More birds could be heard squawking close
by. Summer turned her head just as a crow swooped down, grabbing
her hair with its sharp claws. It was just a graze, but it was way
too close for Summer’s comfort. She looked over her shoulder and
the sky was darkening with hordes of black-winged birds.

“Oh my God,” she said to herself and started
pedaling for her life. Unable to out-race the winged beasts, she
found herself being hit and attacked from three sides. One hit
almost ejected her from the bike, but she caught her balance. The
shrieking of birds everywhere made Summer pump the pedals with
fury.

Pelted by beaks and razor sharp talons,
tears ran down her face as she came to a small canopy of trees. It
slowed the birds enough that she got a little headway as she shot
like a bullet to the parking lot of the clinic.

She saw the accountant’s car in the parking
lot first; then saw him standing at the door with a coffee in one
hand and a briefcase in the other. She could see in his eyes the
fear as the cloud of birds followed behind her. He dropped his
coffee at the staggering sight as she fished through her pocket in
search of the keys to the office, still pedaling like crazy. She
looked down to find the right key and glanced over her shoulder to
see what the accountant was seeing. “Geez,” she said, finding a
tiny bit more speed to race to the door.

She jumped from the bike as it traveled on
to crash into the side of the building, just missing the
accountant, shoved the key into the lock, and turned it. Summer
yanked the accountant by the arm, shoving him in the door and
following behind, closing it with a slam as dozens of birds sped
head-on into the glass, leaving bloody streaks and black feathers
in their place. Thumping could be heard on walls and the roof as
hundreds of birds set out on their Kamikaze flight to their
deaths.

“What in the world is going on?” the
accountant said, wiping his forehead of anxious perspiration.

“I wish I knew,” Summer said, peering out
the door to see one last bird hitting it, this time making a
sparkling spider web of a break. Thank God the bulk of the hits
were over. If the break had happened with the first hit, they would
not have been safe within their present sanctuary. She sat with a
thump in one of the reception chairs and caught her breath. The
headache was gone due to the adrenaline that pumped through her
body, but she could tell by the numbness at the base of her skull
and the knot forming there, it would be back in full force very
soon.

After they both took a little breather, the
accountant went off to his chore and Summer grabbed a black garbage
bag and gloves to pick up the pile of dead birds outside the door.
Looking through the cracked glass at the distorted view of outside
between the blood and plumage, she made sure the coast was clear
before moving through the door and assessing the damage.

She opened the door and the mound of fowl
corpses collapsed inward onto the black entry mat. She deposited
one dead bird after another into the garbage bag. It made her sad
to see so many dead, and wondered why they had attacked her. When
she had made her way through the heap, she stepped outside. Still
wary of the sky and what might come at her from above, she saw the
building had been peppered with red blotches and feathers, but the
bulk of the birds were centralized around the door.

A sickening thought ripped at her gut that
this was the Macabres’ doing somehow. They obviously had no respect
for life, whether it was hers or the hundreds of birds that
littered the parking lot. She thought about Tori, and wondered:
just how crazy were these people that they had no regard for what
or who might get in the way of their getting what they wanted? The
worst thing, though, was her sister was among them. Was she as
bloodthirsty as their father and the rest of family? And if it had
been her instead of her sister who had lived with their father,
would she have turned as ruthless and uncaring as the Macabres
seemed to be?

Her headache was back and her stomach was
nauseated. There was no going back now. Tori had to be lied to keep
her safe. There were no hems or haws about it anymore. She
supposed, in her sadness, that Nick would be very satisfied to see
that he’d won his battle: Tori would stay away, Jackson was out of
the picture, and Summer would be on her own. But she wondered what
long-term cost there would be in implementing this deception.

The last thing Summer did before taking a
taxi home was call a painter to power wash the building and see if
they knew a contractor who would replace the cracked glass in the
door. She looked forward to the quiet of her little home and felt
sure there’d be another bout of crying this evening. But she was
getting tired of crying, and with each new event that made her cry,
she became angrier at the Macabres and the endless death that
seemed to smear the path of their greed.

Summer did everything she could to prevent
herself from visiting Tori. It killed her not to do so, but she was
also determined to follow what her instincts were telling her.
She’d been receiving text message by the hundreds from Tori asking
her about all sorts of things, but mostly why she hadn’t been by.
It helped that Summer no longer had a car. The insurance company
had called and said they could arrange for a rental until they
could get all the paperwork done, but ultimately it wasn’t her car.
It was Dr. Stuart’s, and so getting a new car squared away would
have to wait for him to come back from vacation.

As Summer had suspected, she did have a good
cry the night before, and her guardian angel was there to dry her
tears. But she didn’t want him to think she was some weak, useless
crybaby either, so they did have an informal date at the local
burger joint, where an angry-looking Nick spied them while picking
up a takeout order. It seemed there was no pleasing him, and well,
she was tired of his crabbiness. She had more important things to
take care of than worrying about his feelings all the time.

For a moment, Summer was even enjoying
herself until she got another text from Tori, sucking her back into
reality of the situation. Summer could tell Tori was getting upset
with her for not returning her texts or for visiting her. Summer
figured it was just more fuel for the charade she would have to
commence soon, and now might be the time to get it over with.

“Wish me luck,” she said to Daniel.

“You’re sure about this?”

“Yup.”

“Okay. Good luck then,” he said taking
another bite of his burger and enjoying it.

Tori: “What’s up with you? Haven’t seen or
heard from you in over twenty-four hours.”

Summer: “Busy.”

“Too busy to text me a single word.”

“Sorry.”

“That’s it? You’re sorry but you’re too
busy?”

“I’m not sure what you’d like me to say. I
don’t have a car so it’s harder to get to you.”

“I’m sure you could hitch a ride with Nick.
He’s been here every day.”

“Naw. I don’t think I want to do that.”

“You have a problem with Nick?”

“No, well yes, actually.”

“Like what?”

“Well for starters he told me in so many
words that he’s the reason Jackson wouldn’t return my calls or
emails.”

“So…You’re with Daniel now, aren’t you?”

“Yes, I guess. It just makes me wonder.”

“Wonder what?”

“Did you have anything to do with
Jackson?”

“Why would you think that?”

“I don’t know. You’re with Nick now. He
obviously has issues with me. Makes me wonder, why?”

“Why do you care if Nick likes you or
not?”

“It’s hard to have a best friend whose
boyfriend doesn’t particularly like you. He’s always looking down
his nose at me and scrutinizing what I’m doing and who I’m doing it
with. It’s frustrating and annoying.”

“So my boyfriend annoys you.”

“Yeah. I’ve given him no cause to be that
way with me and now that I’m not with Jackson he seems to be
pushing me away from you.”

“Oh? So it’s his doing that you’re not
here.”

“Partially, yes.”

“So what, in order to be friends with you I
have to give up Nick?”

“I didn’t say that, you did.”

“You implied it.”

“Just making an observation.”

“I see. Well fine. If I have to choose right
now, I’d have to say I choose Nick, since he’s been here for me
through this horrible situation and you’re being so
insensitive.”

“Wow. I guess a lifetime of friendship
doesn’t add up to a hill of beans to you in the long run.”

“Not the way you’re acting.”

“Okay then.”

“Fine.”

“Fine.”

Summer turned off her phone. She’d had
enough. The seed had been planted and the charade begun. Daniel
could see the pain in her eyes and took her hand, caressing it with
his thumb. She relished the warmth of his tenderness and forced a
smile his way. At least she had him to fall back on now that Tori
was out of the picture.

* * *

The following week Summer threw herself into
her lessons with such vigor that even Morti commented on her
enthusiasm, but it was all a facade. She was torn apart inside, and
working hard at learning magic was the only way to end this madness
and get on with her life.

She’d even formed a fire ball for Morti
without singeing a hair on him, and they moved forward to
levitating. She snarked to Morti if this meant she could ride a
broom, to which he was not impressed.

“Broom riding is a myth. Witches show great
respect to their besoms, but not as a means to travel,” he
stated.

“But it could be done, right?”

“Yes. I suppose if one had the inkling to do
such a thing, yes. It could be done.”

“Cool. That’s what I want to do. If I have
to be thrown into the role of being a witch, then there will be
some fun even if it kills you or me for that matter.”

Morti stuttered, appalled and astonished by
such a statement, but he didn’t go back on his word.

Aunt Myrtle was another matter. She missed
Tori, almost as much as Summer missed her. Summer supposed she
enjoyed working with someone who had the same passion for gypsy
magic as she did. Knowing it wasn’t quite Summer’s cup of tea, they
covered the basics and moved on to potions, tonics, and charms.

This Summer enjoyed. She got to use her
knowledge of plants and the herbology she’d learned the previous
summer from revitalizing the herbal garden and talking with Dr.
Stuart. He had become a valuable asset for finding lost old names
of plants and determining what they now referred to.

Aunt Myrtle enjoyed puttering around in the
garden doing maintenance. She took daily strolls at twilight within
the confines of the estate in a huge hat held down with a pale
chiffon scarf, making her look like a Gibson girl right out of the
pages of a 1890’s magazine. Every once in a while she’d pick a stem
of herb or a flower and smell it as she sauntered on her way.

Evenings were spent with Daniel, whether
playing with Sully or talking on the porch under the stars.

* * *

It had been well over a week since Summer
had her last words with Tori when she woke to find her coffee table
leaning hard to the right.

“What the heck?” she said as she inspected
it closely. Deep gouges were gnawed into the disfigured leg as well
as some singeing.