Bizarre Life of Sydney Sedrick (5 page)

An old weeping willow tree provided shade for the plants that were too sensitive to be exposed to full sunlight. During my many visits to their home, Slithers, a garden snake three feet long, taunted me from that tree. That garden snake watched us and set off all sorts of childish fears. Grandma never let the snake, or even the bees that were always hovering around, bother her while she tended her precious garden. She gave me strength to be able to work side by side with her. She calmed my fears, making me feel safe, but it didn’t keep me from watching for Slithers or jerking away when the bees buzzed by my head and tried to land on me.

I finished stocking with fifteen minutes left before closing time. Working so many hours at the store wasn’t like working for someone else, doing boring, mundane tasks. Being surrounded by unhappy people all of the time was really stressful and definitely not for me. Helping people find items they had special belief in, things they felt helped keep them safe, happier, more loved, and healthier—was a rewarding feeling. Who wouldn’t want to make all those people happy?

Already able to spot a few of the regulars and genuinely feeling happy to hear the door chimes sing when they walked into the store fulfilled my day. Finding out about cool stuff was a bonus. You’d be surprised what the locals knew about the Old Ways. Many of their parents were direct descendants of immigrants who came from Celtic regions over in Europe. Many of them were still quietly practicing Druids, others practiced not so quietly.

I understood why my grandmother had kept the store running. She did it to connect with the local people and to keep her grounded. Being involved with vampires and werewolves definitely changed my perspective on life and humanity in general.

I parked in the driveway at home. Aunt Judith’s car was the only other vehicle in the driveway. Where was Brianna? My sister and her new dog, I mean boyfriend, were supposed to be here to meet me. She must still be at Michael’s uncle’s house, probably surrounded by werewolves. It surprised me that Aunt Judith let her leave after meeting Michael.

Aunt Judith called out from the kitchen. “Sydney, would you come in here please?”

I walked in to find Aunt Judith pulling a fresh pan of chocolate chip cookies out of the oven. The best kind of comfort food, she always said. That meant she was upset, nervous, or worried about something, or a few some things.

“Did Brianna come over and drop some of my stuff off?”

Aunt Judith grabbed a spatula from the drawer next to the stove. By the way she jabbed at the cookies, mashing them into the side of the baking pan, something was definitely bothering her. Walking over to the counter, I gently took the spatula away from her to save the rest of the cookies from being tortured. She stood and watched me finish placing them on the cooling rack.

“So, you met my darling little sister’s boyfriend, then?”

“Yes. She told me they stopped over at the store before they came here. Have you read any of your grandmother’s journal yet?”

“Some.”

“Good, then you know what he is and what he wants. Sydney, we have to stop this. She can’t continue a relationship with that boy. She’ll only get hurt, and he’ll ruin her career. Sydney, we have to do something.” She paced back and forth on the kitchen tile.

“I didn’t have a lot of time with the journal today. It was pretty busy at the store. Michael is a werewolf, that’s for sure. As for what he wants from her, that remains to be seen. And you’re right. She does need to stay away from him, far away. Did she say if she’s going to be back here tonight?”

“No, she said you were supposed to meet her at a club. She said they looked it up on the Internet. She and Michael had to go do some shopping or something, so they’ll meet you there at eleven.”

“Brianna told me she had to go to Michael’s uncle’s house after she came here.” Holding my breath, wanting to catch Aunt Judith’s reaction the moment reality hit her when she comprehended where Brianna really was.

“Oh my dear goddess, she’s at the den!”

“What do you mean
the den
? Aunt Judith, Brianna said they were going to his Uncle Morris’ house.”

“Yes, and he is the leader of all the werewolves in the area. She might not be safe! Oh my, your mother’s going to be so very upset with me. Brianna never said where she was going. Your mother needs to know what’s going on. Maybe she can talk some sense into your sister.”

“Does my sister know about those men?”

“No, not to my knowledge. Because you are the first-born granddaughter to my mother, we felt you should be told first. We wanted to keep your sister out of this mess for as long as possible, maybe forever. Unfortunately, in the past, the werewolves have used family members to make the Selected, that’s you, dear, do their bidding. They’ve held family members hostage to make sure the Selected won’t go against them and start working for the vampires. Oh, Sydney, they might already be holding your sister against her will!”

My chest tightened in panic for the second time in one day.

“Aunt Judith, do you know where Morris’ house is? I’ll go there right now if that’s what they want.”

“No, honey. If we don’t hear from her before eleven, then you have to go to that club and see if she’s there. We don’t want to make the wolves angry without cause. I’ll call your mother and see if she has any ideas on what to do.”

I ran upstairs, feeling more helpless than ever before. My sister could be in mortal danger, surrounded by a pack of werewolves, and she didn’t know it. It really burned me not being able to protect her from harm. Aunt Judith tried to call Brie’s cell phone, but it went right to voicemail.

The simple act of showering and changing into my black, tight-knit sweater, blue jeans, and my favorite black suede, high-heeled boots felt rejuvenating. The toes were made of steel, and if there was a need to kick some furry butt, my feet would be ready. Finding out about the world of the weird and being a reluctantly active member in it, gave me one priority. The safety of my family. I wish I would have actually gone to those self-defense classes my parents paid for. They would have come in handy right about now.

A sure sign of maturity was viewing one’s life in retrospect, those things in life that should have been done, but weren’t. It looked like those things were about to start biting me in the behind, and hard.

Aunt Judith had just hung up the phone when she looked up to find me walking into the living room. She turned and smiled that half smile that wasn’t really a smile but a simple facial expression, given by someone who didn’t know what else to do.

“I talked to your mother. Her reaction to your sister being involved with a werewolf was absolutely astounding, to say the least. She has already met Michael, and she thinks that we shouldn’t interfere with their seeing each other. There’s not much else to say. Your mother should have been troubled about it, without a doubt. Your mother is like my mother. She doesn’t take sides in the conflicts between werewolves and vampires. Your mom doesn’t think that because they’re different, they’re bad people, and she doesn’t think Brianna is in any danger.”

“So, you’re telling me my mother doesn’t care that her youngest daughter is surrounded by a bunch of monsters?” Disappointment and anger laced my words.

“No. She feels that werewolves have evolved, and that they are a civilized group of people. She doesn’t believe we have anything to worry about. She said she’ll do the worrying if the time comes. Clearly, your mother has forgotten some things from our childhood. She should know better. She is well aware of what my mother had to go through to keep us, and you, safe.”

“Did she say anything about what the wolves want with Brianna?”

“Your mother thinks Michael didn’t know who Brianna was, or who her family was, when he met her. She doesn’t think their relationship has anything to do with you or the wolves’ war with the vampires.”

“Do you believe that?”

“No, not completely. We’ll have to step lightly where your sister is concerned. Your mother said the wolf hasn’t told her about himself yet, and she wants him to tell Brianna, not us.”

“How is that even possible? My own mother would sacrifice my little sister like that? She can’t possibly be so naïve to think they don’t have ulterior motives.”

“I don’t know what she’s thinking. We have to keep a close eye on Brie and how chummy she becomes to Michael’s family. The more Morris becomes involved in their relationship, the easier it will be to convince your mother of the danger your sister is in. Unfortunately, the closer Brianna becomes to the leader of the pack, the more difficult it will be to get her away from them. She’ll have to find out about them sooner or later. And if it takes us telling her their secret, then so be it.”

“We’re just going to stand back and let her get all cozy with these monsters?”

“I’m afraid so. You better get moving if you want to meet up with them, and you should. The more you can observe of this boy’s treatment of your sister, the quicker we’ll be able to tell what he intends and how we’re going to handle the situation.”

“All right, but if he hurts her in any way, I’ll skin him like the animal he is.”

Aunt Judith stared at me like she was looking at a stranger.

“Sydney, werewolves are people, too. They have feelings. They love, they bleed. But there is a side to them that we’ll never fully understand. The safety of their pack always comes first, no matter what. In that, they aren’t so different from us. The more we understand about them, the better off we’ll be.”