Crescent Bound (5 page)

“
Colton
.
”
H
e leans against his car and flashes that smile again. 
“
Well my n
ame is Marcus Dela Dante Colton,
”
i
s his reply and that
’
s when it hit me like ice-water in my face.  Megan
rambles about him all the time; he is t
he Captain of the football team who quit last year after winning something. 

This is who she
’
s talking about and so
,
I ask him,
“
Why did you quit football?
”
  He leans forward as if to stand up straight
, but
then leans back again against his car, crossing his arms
casually
ove
r his chest
. 

“
Well,
it
’
s
kind of a long story
, but
I
’
ll give you the quick version, I have been doing football among other sports for years and I just feel this year
should be
different.  I believe there is more to life than competition and sports.
”
  I smile inside thinking,
i
f he
only knew about my drag racing, I love the competition.
 

“
So, is your car all original or have you made any changes?
”
I ask deciding to change the subject.  He turns, looking appreciatively at his car.

“
It
’
s
an
origi
nal.
I got it when I turned sixteen.
It belonged to a friend of my dad
’
s who was the original owner.
”
H
e turns back to me
. “
Hey, thanks for the lift.
”

“
No problem, I really do
need to be heading home though,
”
I tell him as I look down at my cell to check the time.  When I look back up he is standing right by my car again. 

“
Do you want to get together sometime, maybe this weekend?
”
  He pauses a second and then in his next breath says,
“
I can take you out to dinner as a thank you for helping me out today.
”
  He stands there looking so
irresistible;
I think
what am I doing?
In
the back of my mind I
’
m chanting,
he
’
s not a witch, he
’
s not a witch,
he
’
s
not a witch
.

I quic
kly snap out of it and tell him,
“
I
’
ve alread
y got plans this weekend, sorry
.
”
N
ot wanting to sound rude.  He stands there still smiling.

“
What about next weekend?
”
He tucks one hand in his jeans
and runs the other through his hair again. 

This is hard
. “
Let
’
s just see how this week goes and I will let you know, deal?
”

“
By all means, that is a deal.
”
  I wave my goodbyes and start my car up.

Suddenly he yells
out
,
“
Megan…your friend, she
’
s the one that gave me your name, I asked her about you.
”
So
,
he is really interested in me,
great
, and great.  I like that he likes me and on the other hand leave it to Megan and we will all be beeping loud and clear on the
old radar
. I give him a quick smile
. “
See you in our classes.
”

Chapter 4

I race home,
park my car in the garage, grab my things
,
and head
inside.  Mom is home early
this evening
and
the tempting scents of her
cooking
fills my senses as I open the door
.

“
How
’
s your day Alyss?
”
  She smiles warmly as she sets the dinning table
. 

“
Well
Mom
, David is going to be at the grand opening of the track this weekend and I
’
m not too thrilled about that.
”
I follow her back into the kitchen.

“
Now, you know, your intuition will tell you what you need to do, so follow your instincts and your heart, they never fail you, okay?
”
She turns away,
pulling a roasted duck from the oven. 
“
If you do that you won
’
t have to worry.
”
 
I h
ug her tight.

“
Thanks
M
om, is
D
ad home yet?  I have a question for him.
”

“
Not yet, I
’
ll call you as soon as he comes in, okay?
”

“
Thanks.
”
I really need to speak to both of them I just didn
’
t want her to worry.  I shift upstairs to my bedroom, throw my things on the bed
,
and sit down at my desk with my laptop.  I start browsing my videos and find myself searching for one in particular.  Here it is
,
david&alyssa.avi
.  I know I should hit delete right now, but instead, as always, I do things the hard way. 
It
’
s
like having
an old family photo album
, you just keep them stored somewhere and then one day you decide to look through them and remember those times. 
M
y laptop is
now
my new cedar chest, full of memories just collecting electronic dust. 

As I click the video, I see random pictures of David and I back when we first met.  Hearing the song
Iris
playing in the video brings me to tears.  So many memories come flooding through my mind.  I wipe my tears away, catching them as they stream down my face.  David has been an important part in my life, he was my first. 

I thought without a doubt that my feelings would become stronger for him, but the feelings just never came.  No matter how much I tried I just couldn
’
t make myself love him.  I
’
m not sure how I will feel when I see David tomorrow.  I know my emotions have been somewhat off the charts lately. 
It
’
s
been so long and part of me still misses him. 

My cell goes off and I quickly pick it up. 
“
Hey Alyss, are you okay?
”
  Lisa asks with worry in her tone. 

“
Yeah
, sitting here crying over nothing I guess, I
’
m okay though.  I
’
m watching that stupid video you and Megan made for David and
me
.
”

“
I
’
m sorry to be the one to bring up the past, but
Dawson
invited him to come down and help out at the new track.
”

“
No worries, I
’
m fine.  Oh, I met this really cute human guy today after school, Marc Colton, do you know him?  Anyway, he needed me to take him to a gas station because he apparently ran out of fuel.
”

Lisa giggles
. “
That
’
s really, interesting.
”
I catch the sound in her voice, skepticism written all over it. 

“
Alyssa, your
father is
home,
”
My mom calls up the stairs.

“
Hey, I have to
go, D
ad
is
home and I really
need to talk to him,
okay
, talk
t
o
y
ou
later
.
”
I hang up, tossing the
cell
on the bed and shift down the stairs.

I hug him
. “
So, how was your trip, any problems, I missed you, do you have to go back soon or are you home for a while, oh and I met this strange guy at school and he can see me when I
’
m cloaked and he is cute, but he
’
s human.
”
  I rattle off like
I
’
m
a
t a
quarter mile race.

“
Whoa Alyssa, hi I
’
m glad to be home,
I missed you and your mother greatly.
”
  Father says as he hugs me back. 
“
I smell som
ething wonderful for dinner
, shall we eat together and I can tell you about my trip to
Italy
and then after I want to hear all about this
guy you met, okay?  I
’
m famished
.
”

I take my father
’
s coat and say,
“
Sure D
ad, sorry, I just get a bit excited, that
’
s all.
”

“
I know, you
are
about to singe my coat with those hot little fingers of yours.
”
  He smiles lovingly at me and I feel all warm inside.  My father knows how to take my worries
go
away
instantly and
I hang his coat in t
he closet without burning it, thankfully. W
e sit down to eat.

“
La Vecchia Religione
.  T
he old ways are so interesting.
”
  My father starts
as we sit in the dinning room.
I love eating in here, we don
’
t do it often, but since
D
ad is home from his trip we get to.  

The dinning room holds ancient
oil
paintings on each wall.  One of a beautiful woman in a white gown and mask, another is of an alluring castle overlooking a great majestic waterfall, the third is a gorgeous black horse raising up in the air and the last is of a noble king looking towards distant mountains. 

The room is quite large and the ceiling is vaulted, leaving only a vintage chandelier to hang over the table, which is made out of dark ash.  Mom lights the last of the dozen or so candles
,
by simply blowing on them
. 

“
So how is Madelena doing these days?
”
  My mother asks smiling over at my father.

“
She still makes that wine we
love;
in
fact I brought back two bottles,
”
he states, and
Mom
stares at him as if a flood of romantic memories consume them
both
at the moment.

“
Who is Madelena, father?
”
  I ask
breaking the silence
.

“
She, my dear, is the eldest of the Venusians and coven leader of all Italian witches.  Her story is very old and her powers very great.
”
  He takes another bite of the duck with orange sauce that mother prepared. 
“
Your
cooking
ability
increases with greatness daily, my love.
”
 

Mother smiles
. “
Your words grow more complementing as well, darling.
”
I love these two, so cool with each other.  I can only hope to be this in
-
love some time in my life.