Inherited Magic (4 page)

“Class, you can consider this
afternoon a free period. Many of you are working on projects for the annual art
show; feel free to continue if you want. If you do not feel like working on
anything, you don’t have to. I don’t mind if you talk among yourselves as long
as you don’t disturb your neighbors,” Mrs. Caudwell said.

Allison already had two pieces
ready for the art show, and she was confident at least one painting would make
it in. Every year since ninth grade, she’d had at least one piece of art
accepted into the statewide high school art show. Allison was a talented
artist; even those who did not like her could not deny that. Her talent was
something that came naturally, and Art was something she enjoyed. The simple
act of painting on canvas or dragging charcoal across the paper was soothing.

She took out a sketchpad and walked
to the art supply cabinet to take out some charcoal, thinking this might take
her mind off everything. She did not have anything in particular that she
wanted to draw so she just began making lines and curves without any conscious
plan. Her hands moved with a certain precision and grace whenever she was
drawing or painting. It was not until several minutes later that she realized
what she was drawing. It was the man from her dreams, his odd features. A cold
chill made its way down her spine when she looked into the charcoal eyes she
had created. She had an urge to rip the paper into shreds, but did not. Maybe
if she could put his face onto paper it would be cathartic, help her lose the
images.

At the end of the day, Allison and
Vinnie began the walk home. It was a walk they were used to making. Ruby did
not get off work until 4:30, and Vinnie’s family never bothered to pick him up
from school. They would rather walk than wait there for Ruby or ride the bus.
They walked down a narrow sidewalk, the air felt too cold for the first week of
October.

“I always liked Miss Tucker. She
was a good teacher,” Vinnie said.

“She really was.” 

“It’s just so sad. I wonder how it
happened.”

“A group of men forced their way
into her house, killed her and started the fire.”

Vinnie stopped walking and looked
at Allison. His face was unreadable.

 “What makes you say that?” he
asked.

“I know it sounds crazy, but I
dreamed about her last night and that is exactly what I dreamed. First, I
dreamed she was praying at an altar, and later I dreamed these men murdered
her. I could see everything.”

“You dreamed all this last night?”

“Yes.”

“And you’re sure it was Miss Tucker
in your dream?”

“Positive.”

Vinnie probably thought she was
crazy, but still, she kept talking.

“I have been having things like
this happen for over a week. I’m not sure if they’re dreams, visions or what.
They’re becoming more frequent and sometimes they give me headaches and
nosebleeds. It even happens when I’m awake, kind of like déjà vu,” Allison
said.

“Are they always about people you
know?”

“No. Sometimes it’s weird, like
watching unfamiliar people and events. It feels like I am watching movie clips
completely out of order.”

“I’m not sure what’s going on, but
you have to know the dream about Miss Tucker is just a coincidence.”

Allison shook her head. “It feels
like I could have stopped it.”

“I’m telling you, there’s no way
you could have stopped anything. I’m sure by the time you woke up the fire was
already going. Yes, the timing is odd, but you can’t hold yourself responsible
for a dream.”

They had reached the home of
Vinnie’s family. Chuck’s car was parked in front. Since he was still home,
Allison guessed that he had called in to work so that he could sleep off his
usual hangover. They stopped in front of the little white house with blue
shutters.

“Anyway,” Vinnie said, “it was just
a dream.”

She wanted him to be right; she did
not want it to be her fault, so she chose to believe his words.

“You’re probably right, but can you
keep this between us?”

“Of course,” Vinnie said. 

She knew he meant it. He was good
about keeping secrets. 

“Well, are you coming back over
tonight? Mamaw can pick you up if you want.”

“Probably. I’ll call you later and
let you know for sure.”

“Okay, see you.”

Allison continued her walk home.

Allison spent most of that week
thinking about what had happened with Miss Tucker, and trying to make sense of
the whole thing. It was all that anyone at school could talk about, so there
was no way to forget. She was glad when Friday afternoon approached and she
could spend her weekend thinking about anything other than school and dead
teachers. When the final bell rang, Allison gathered her belongings and rushed
to her locker.

Allison, Josh, Vinnie and Sam met
outside the school. They were talking about the dance. Even though Allison
would not be there, she was excited for Sam. Josh was standing next to Allison,
and she could not help noticing that he smelled good. She wasn’t sure what type
of cologne he had on, but it was just right. The smell was noticeable but not
overpowering.

“You could always change your mind
and come with us,” Josh said to her.

It was tempting. She wondered what
could happen if she went along with the group. Maybe they would end up dancing
together, having a moment alone. She had not thought much about anything other
than Miss Tucker and her odd visions this past week, but right then all she was
thinking about was her relationship with Josh. She was beginning to look at him
in a different way. Vinnie was right; he was no longer Sam’s annoying cousin
who was always around, or just her goofy friend. She was realizing how
attractive he really was and how much she liked spending time with him. Maybe
she should go to the dance, just to see what might happen.

A voice interrupted Allison’s
thoughts. “I can’t wait for tonight, Josh,” Cindy Daniels said.

“Yeah, it should be fun,” Josh
said, though there was no excitement in his voice.

Allison’s face was hot. She stared
at Cindy, putting the pieces together. Josh had asked her out. There she was,
thinking about going to the dance and trying to make some kind of move on Josh.
It never occurred to her that he might have found someone else while she was
busy blowing off every advance he made. Why wouldn’t he ask Cindy out? She was
a nice girl and she was pretty. Allison was looking for something mean to think
about her, when in fact there was nothing. She had always liked Cindy, though
now she had the sudden urge to throw her down a flight of stairs. At least with
Jane, her dislike was justified.

“You two are going together?”
Vinnie asked.

Cindy nodded.

“That’s great. We’ve been trying to
talk Allison into going but she won’t.”

No, she would not go, especially
now.

“It’s going to be fun,” Cindy said,
“you should come.”

Why did she have to be so nice and
bubbly?

“Maybe next time,” Allison said
with forced civility.

“Allison, you should come with us,”
Josh said.

“Yeah,” Vinnie said, “I still need
a date.”

“Very tempting offer, but I don’t
do school functions. Oh, there’s Susan,” Allison said.

Allison was relieved to see Sam’s
mom pull up in her brown panel station wagon.  Josh waved at his aunt before
walking inside with Cindy.

Vinnie, Sam and Allison all three
piled into the car. They were going to Sam’s house to help her get ready for
the dance. Once they arrived, Allison tried to forget about Josh and focus on
helping Sam. They began going through every stitch of clothing she owned. She
tried on several different outfit combinations, stopping only when her mother
called them to come eat.

Susan had ordered a couple of
pizzas. Allison loved to come over to Sam’s house because her mom was so nice
and fun. She imagined her own mother would have been that way if she were still
alive. Unfortunately, Allison never got the chance to know what type of mother
she would have had. The only things she knew about her mom were the things that
her grandmother had told her. 

 After eating, they got back to
finding an outfit. They decided on a light blue dress. It was a little low cut
and the hemline fell just a few inches above Sam’s knees.

“I don’t know, I may be a little cold
in this, it is October,” Sam said.

“I think you’re more worried about
showing off a little skin. The temperature has warmed up a lot from what it was
at the beginning of the week. It looks great; just take your white cardigan if
you’re worried about being cold,” Allison said.

“What do you think, Vinnie?” Sam
asked.

“It’s perfect. The dress is pretty
and it flatters your shape. It shows off your legs, which are great, without
being too revealing.”

Sam smiled. “You guys really like
it?”

“Yes!” They both agreed in unison.

That settled the dress issue, and
the rest of the time was spent on hair and makeup. Vinnie changed into the
outfit he had picked for the night. Allison thought he looked handsome, but he
looked good in anything he wore. Vinnie took advantage of any reason to get
dressed up and go dancing. He made an appearance at most of the school dances.
Once they were ready to go, Allison told them to have fun and let her know how
everything went. She then walked home, refusing Susan’s offer to give her a
ride.

Allison thought about everything
while she made her way home. Taking a walk had always been relaxing for her;
during these times, she could focus more and get her thoughts in order. She
found that she needed moments alone, whether she was taking a walk, drawing, or
reading to keep her sanity.

On her way home, she felt a buzzing
in her pocket. She pulled out her cell phone and looked at the screen to see
she had one new text. When she opened the message, it was from Josh and the
only thing it said was “Hey.”

“Hey,” she wrote back.

In a few seconds, it buzzed again,
she opened the message.

“Did you get Sam all straightened
out for tonight?”

“Yeah. She looks great.”

It was a few minutes before Josh
responded.

“I wish I was going with you
instead of Cindy.”

Allison could not believe what she
read. Sending this text before he went out with another girl, was that supposed
to be flattering? Not to mention Cindy. Allison did not like her very much at
the moment, but she was nice, and she deserved better from Josh.

“Well, you’re not. Maybe you should
be texting the girl you are going with.”

He didn’t send anything back, and
Allison was relieved. She was finished thinking about him and school dances for
the night. When she made it home, Ruby was already there. 

“You didn’t change your mind about
the dance?” Ruby asked.

“No, but I would like to go to the
game room for a little while if that’s okay.”

“That’s fine, sweetie. Do you need
some money?”

“You’re offering me money? Sounds
like you want me out of the house. Do you have a hot date coming over? It’s
Earl from the hospital, isn’t it?”

“No, but I do want you out of the
house enjoying yourself. You should be having fun on a Friday night. Besides, I
know it has been a rough week. You took the news about your teacher pretty
hard.”

Allison sighed, “Yeah.”

Ruby looked at Allison as if she
was waiting for her to say something more.

“Have you been feeling okay?” Ruby
asked.

“I’m fine.”

“You know you can tell me anything,
no matter how strange you may think it is.”

“Everything is good, really. I’m
going to go get ready.”

Allison was not a prissy girl but
she did not want to be seen wearing the same outfit she had worn to school. She
grabbed her favorite Sex Pistols t-shirt and worn out jeans, completing the
look with her all black vintage Chucks. She ran a brush through her hair and
was ready to go. When she went back into the living room, Ruby was sitting in
her recliner and had a twenty-dollar bill ready.  “Thanks, Mamaw.”

She bent down to kiss Ruby’s cheek
and when she did, an image flashed into her mind. It was Sam and Wes. They were
slow dancing, and then Wes gave her a quick kiss, just a peck on the lips. Sam
blushed. The image was gone in an instant. Allison felt underneath her nose to
make sure it was not bleeding. Ruby was staring with her eyes narrowed.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine,” she assured her
grandmother.

“If you’re ready, I’ll take you
down there.”

“Yeah, I’m ready. Can I drive?”

“When you have your permit.”

“That’ll be forever. I can’t even
get into Driver’s Ed until next semester.”

“Oh, that’s not so long,” Ruby said
while they walked to the Buick.

There was not much entertainment in
Mason Springs. There was the game room, which didn’t even have a real name,
just a sign that read, Arcade and Pool Tables. The sign was not even accurate;
there were games and one pool table. It should have read Arcade and Pool Table.
Outside of the comic book store and movie theater, the game room was all there
was for entertainment.

When she entered the game room
Allison got lucky, the pool table was free. She made change and walked to the
table with a pocket full of quarters. She picked a good stick and began her
game. She hit the pool balls, and thought about the vision she just had. She
hoped it was true, laughing at the thought of Sam blushing. Allison focused on
her next shot. She got two balls in two separate pockets. She liked to think of
herself as a decent pool player. She was too focused on her game to notice the
tall boy walking up to her.

“As bad as you are, I’m going to be
waiting on this table for an hour.”