Tales of Aradia The Last Witch Volume 1 (18 page)

Finally, she said,
"Does it really matter now? I knew the cops would show up, and they
did. I warned you, you and your brothers got out, and I was busted,
kind of. So really, does it matter how I knew?"

Roy said nothing, which
made Aradia feel frustrated.

Finally, in an angry
huff, she stood up and said, "Well, if it bothers you so much that
I can't explain everything I do to you, then maybe I should save
you the trouble of wondering by leaving you alone!"

She turned to leave,
but in a flash Roy was at her side and grasping her
hand.

"Hey now, Aradia, I’m
sorry. I didn't mean to be rude. I don’t want you to think I’m
ungrateful, because I’m not," Roy said while giving a gentle tug on
her hand. She responded and looked at him. "I was just curious,
that's all."

"Yeah, well, remember
what curiosity did to the cat," Aradia muttered with her eyes
lowered.

Using two fingers from
his free hand, Roy tilted her chin up. Turning his own head down
toward hers, he looked her in the eye and very seriously said, "You
might not know this about me, but I’m not a cat. More of a dog
person, really."

Aradia laughed, and
soon they were both seated again. Aradia got the impression Roy
wasn’t too happy that the table was back between them, but she
resisted the urge to read his mind.

"That’s a shame," she
said winking. “I love cats. Always wanted one.”

“Oh, well I…” he
fumbled. “I don’t dislike cats,” he finished lamely.

Aradia laughed and Roy
smiled. For a while neither of them said anything, happily eating
away at their respective meals, making small talk, and smiling when
their eyes met. At some point Roy’s hand found its way back to
Aradia’s. She hardly noticed when it happened, and she let him keep
it there. Roy was happy as a clam, and Aradia considered it quite a
pleasant afternoon, until the door to the diner opened and in
walked Dax Dayton.

Today he was wearing a
green polo, khakis, and dark brown loafers. His blonde hair was
perfectly combed and the reflected sunlight seemed to set it
ablaze.

Aradia yanked her hand
from Roy's grasp and stared at Dax.

Ever since the
encounter at Jayce’s, Aradia's attitude toward Dax had changed
dramatically. He’d been an utter jerk, and the relentless staring
had an almost stalker quality to it. Yet instead of being dismayed,
she found herself somewhere between flattered and excited by his
attention. She could not stop herself from looking at him
completely mystified.

The reason why I am
staring at him all the time is because he's
handsome
, Aradia thought to
herself.
And he stares at me because he
lacks basic social skills. Yeah, that's probably
it
. No matter what she tried to
convince herself, though, part of her knew that there was something
much deeper involved when it came to her and Dax.

Dax stopped by the
counter, bought a glass-bottled Coke-Cola, paid the cashier, and
turned to walk out toward the door when he saw Aradia. He froze.
Since the party, they had not spoken a word, and this instance was
no exception. Dax just stood there, looking right at her. For a
brief few moments, Aradia felt the world melt away. There was only
she and Dax left.

Then he spun on his
heel and took his leave of the diner. Aradia stared after him,
still entranced, until Roy barked a gruff, annoyed
cough.

“So...” Roy began,
voice dripping with disdain. "I guess you have a thing for one of
the Coppertone boys."

"The who?" Aradia
asked.

"Is one of the greatest
rock bands ever?" Roy quipped with a smile.

"No, no," Aradia
responded with a few shakes of her head. "What I meant
was...”

"I know what you
meant." This time Roy responded with a scowl, not a
smile.

"If you know what I
meant, are you going to answer me?" Aradia snapped.

Roy sighed and seemed
to consider his options. Finally he explained, "We call Dax and
them the 'Coppertone boys' because he and his kind always reek of
sunscreen."

"His kind?" Aradia
repeated.

Flustered, Roy doubled
back by saying, "You know, I mean his friends, him and his crew,
not his kind. Slip of the tongue, Rai."

Aradia just nodded. She
wasn’t sure what to make of the strange turn the conversation had
taken. Picking an angle, she asked, "Why do they reek of
sunscreen?"

Roy shrugged and then
said, "I guess they don’t want to burn."

“I don’t wear sun
block,” Aradia replied, “but from what I understand, it’s a good
idea to prevent skin cancer and aging.”

“Really not their
concern,” Roy mumbled. Quickly he added, “Besides, they slather it
on. Practically bathe in it. I can smell them coming a mile
off.”

"Your sense of smell is
that good?"

“Hyperbole,” Roy
replied. “Extreme exaggeration to make a point.”

Aradia said
nothing.

Enough pieces were
falling into place that she could get an idea of the big picture.
What she’d seen in the alleyway behind the Visitor Center, the
overly attractive people staring at her, the Vampire Murders, and
now what Roy knew about the Coppertone boys and their “kind” all
seemed cut from the same cloth.

The logical side of her
mind argued that there must be a simpler solution than the path
down which she was headed. Then the logical side of her mind
admitted that the things she herself could do were supposed to be
impossible, and maybe she shouldn’t rule anything out just
yet.

Roy certainly seemed to
know more about the situation than she’d have expected him
to.

"I got to get going,"
Aradia said as she grabbed her backpack off the booth
cushion.

He glanced at his watch
and said, “Hang on. I’ll ask one of my brothers to give you a ride
home."

Aradia shook her head.
"I’ve got to stop by the forest. I need to gather some herbs for
biology class. We’re starting the chapters on botany soon, and I
wanted to bring in some interesting samples to show Ms. Flora.
Isn’t that awesome that her name’s Ms. Flora and she teaches
biology?"

"The forest?" Roy's
face became ashen grey. "But tonight’s a full moon!"

"Yeah I know, that’s
the best time to gather samples, by the light of the full moon at
midnight. Sounds kind of mystical, I know, but hey, I guess Walt
Disney had to get his ideas from somewhere."

"You can't go into the
forest at night."

"Okay. Why
not?"

"Well," Roy paused,
searching for an answer that would satisfy her enough to abort her
plan. “There are animals out there, and…the full moon is... is...
when the weirdos come out!"

Aradia raised an
eyebrow and said, "Roy, what are you really afraid of, a werewolf
might get me?"

Roy went from grey to
completely white. The look he gave Aradia was that of a
five-year-old seeing Bambi's mother being shot. Aradia noticed the
change in Roy's demeanor. She realized he was holding out on her
about a number of topics.

She’d need more to go
on before she sacrificed her grades just to soothe a friend’s
nerves.
Friends come and go, but my
transcript will last forever!

"Well, anyway, thanks
for the concern Roy. I will keep it in my mind."

"So you're not going?"
he asked hopefully.

"Of course I’m
going."

Roy's face
fell.

"Look, no offense Roy,
but my GPA far outranks your fears of the woods at night. But I’ll
look out for weirdos and animals, alright?"

Roy looked as if he was
about to cry.

Aradia hugged him and
whispered in his ear, “Don't worry, Roy. I’ll be okay. I’m a lot
tougher than I look."

Her parents were not
happy at first about her plans for the evening, but after a little
conversation they acquiesced. She pointed out that she was being
honest with them, and part of rebuilding their trust in her was
giving her the opportunity to earn it.

“Plus,” Aradia tacked
on to the end of her argument, “it’s for school, and I’d hate for
you to crush my love of learning.”

Full or not, the moon
did not provide a lot of light. She had an idea of where to look,
but finding the plants she wanted was still a challenge by
flashlight. She honestly wasn’t sure why she did most of her
collecting at night, but she’d noticed her plants did best when she
gathered them under certain, odd circumstances. She’d studied a
fair amount of literature on the matter, but couldn’t explain
it.

It was well into the
night by the time Aradia had found and properly catalogued
everything for which she’d come. Most girls, most people even,
would feel hopelessly lost where Aradia was. She did not. She felt
a certain calm come over her when she got away from civilization.
It helped her relax and reflect.

She placed her hand
against a tree. She felt the cool, moist bark beneath her
fingertips. Closing her eyes, she felt beyond her fingers, into the
tree itself, down through its roots, into the very earth. She could
feel the tickle of the swaying branches and the leaves whispering
in the wind. She’d fought against her powers for most of her life,
but in times like this, her abilities brought her peace.

She’d been sincere when
she’d told Roy not to worry. His concerns, no matter how poorly
justified, were not to be completely discounted. She just didn’t
imagine coming up against an opponent who could beat her in a
fight.

She could do so much,
she’d half-considered doing the superhero gig. She smiled at the
concept. She imagined she’d have a purple jumpsuit, a short yellow
cape, and maybe a utility belt. That was never really an option for
her, though. To Aradia, it was the role of the police and the
courts to uphold the law, inflicting judgment and punishment.
Anything else was vigilantism.

After
all
, Aradia concluded,
what’s the point of having laws if not everyone
follows them?

She couldn’t shake the
notion, though, that with all the powers she had, there must be
something special she was supposed to do with them.

She let her arm fall,
severing her connection. She had to get home. She made her way back
to the road. It was a relatively lengthy drive to her house from
where she was, but cutting through the forest a couple times would
make it a fairly easy walk.

Over the tops of some
boulders on her left she saw the lights from the police station.
She smiled as she briefly considered stopping by and asking Officer
Ortega for a ride home.

Nah
, she decided.
It's almost two in the morning. The skeleton
crew is probably one officer and a janitor at this
hour
.

Aradia stopped and
froze. Just like the time on the way to Jayce's party, she heard
heavy breathing and felt eyes on her. She debated how to
proceed.

A rustle of the
underbrush directly behind her made her decision. Aradia turned.
Prowling toward her menacingly was a big, black wolf. It growled at
her maliciously, hungrily.

When Aradia had
considered what kind of opponents she might face, she had
underestimated how terrifying an adversary could be.

The beast was larger
than any wolf of which Aradia had ever heard. It was so large,
mangy, and ferocious that it seemed more like the crossbreed of a
hyena and a lion.

It was also wearing
pants. That was weird.

Aradia was petrified
and didn't know what to do. She feared that any action she took
might provoke it. Its muscles were tight and bunched. It was ready
to pounce if she gave it reason. She suspected it was
fast.

For several long
minutes, which were practically an eternity, the two of them faced
off in complete silence.

The wolf began to
crouch lower and Aradia heard its breathing slowing down.
Maybe it’s relaxing,
Aradia hoped. No sooner had the thought crossed her mind than
the animal finally did pounce.

She was right that it
was fast. Its monstrous jaw went straight toward Aradia's throat,
but with her lightning quick reflexes she managed to dodge it.
Pivoting quickly on her right leg, she kicked hard with her left,
and used the beast’s size and momentum against it. The wolf slammed
hard into a tree. After hardly a moment’s pause, it picked itself
up and turned to face Aradia once again.

Much to Aradia's
amazement, instead of attacking, the wolf raised itself unnaturally
upon its hind legs. It flexed its front legs and paws as if they
were arms and hands. Aradia was positively dumbfounded. The
situation was unheard of.
Unheard of
outside of horror movies.
She did not
have time to dwell on the thought, though, for the wolf again
struck.

She moved to dodge the
blow again, but the creature anticipated her deflection. The wolf
feinted to her right, then sunk its teeth into her outstretched
left arm. It wasn’t fighting like a wolf.