The Thirteenth (5 page)

Val and Delta stood in stunned silence and then, breaking the moment like the shattering of a glass, Uncle Julian came bounding into the kitchen looking for the Birthday girl.

“Wow, what happened here, girls?” Julian peered at the growing pool of Coca Cola.

“Sorry, a little accident,” Delta responded and moved past him to look for some cloths to clean it up.

“Happy Birthday, special girl.”

“Thank you,” Val smiled. She had to admit that Uncle Julian was her favourite. As he hugged her, she could smell that the drinking competition was well under way. She hoped he would win.

Julian grabbed a couple of bottles of wine from the side and made his way out again. “Bye girls, have fun,” he called back.

Delta was frantically mopping up the sticky liquid before it dried. Val grabbed her hand. “Delta, now do you believe me?” she demanded. She desperately needed Delta on her side.

“I do, Val, but I’m scared. What’s happening to you?” Delta said not lifting her eyes from the floor.

Val grabbed Delta and hugged her. “Thank you for believing me. It’s all going to be OK,” Val said gently.

Delta politely removed herself once again from Val’s death grip just as Val’s mother came in.

“What’s going on here, girls?” Susan sighed. “Slight spillage, Mum, nothing to worry about. We have everything under control,” Val said smiling up at her mum and hoping that would be enough of an explanation.

“Val, your father’s boring everyone to tears so I want you to come outside and do the cake to shut him up.” Susan made signals at the girls to rise. “And take that ridiculous cardigan off.”

Val smiled at her mum and they obediently followed her into the garden.

“Are you OK?” Val turned to look at Delta as they stood next to the barbecue soaking up the fumes.

“Give me some time,” Delta responded. Their eyes met and Val knew in her heart that Delta was on her side.

“Come over here,” Mike called to Val as a crowd started to gather. “I think it’s time to cut the cake and get rid of all these unruly relatives before the police come to close this party down.” Mike waved towards uncles Julian and Matthew who could hardly stand.

As they all sang to her, Val felt the sweat running down the back of her neck. The heavy cardigan was really meant for the cold of winter, not a summer barbecue. To add to the embarrassment, everyone had now commented on it.

Val spent time chatting with the relatives she liked and the few token friends her mum had invited to make Val look a little more popular. She was kissed by the oldies who always dribbled on her, and she was truly relieved when everyone started to leave. It had been a long day and she was looking forward to a rest and a little quiet time to herself.

Val was standing outside her front door waving her relatives goodbye when Delta came out. Val grabbed her hand. “Come to the shop tomorrow Delta, we can look for the book together, you know, four eyes better than two and all.”

“What book, you haven’t told me about a book?”

“It was….” Val started.

Delta waved her hands in front of her face. “Don’t bother explaining. I can’t cope with any more today. I’ll see you in the morning.” Delta gave Val one of those strange air kisses that she could never understand and jumped into her shiny new red Mini Cooper S and drove off like someone from
The Italian Job
.

Val chuckled as she watched Aunty Janine and her dad lifting Uncle Julian, who had definitely won all the drinking competitions, into their car. As the guests, young and old, moved into their cars she thought how good it was to have such a close family, how they always pulled together in a difficult situation, and just how lucky she was to be her. Val also felt an ache deep inside her chest, which she recognized as her conscience. She knew that nothing good would ever come from the web of lies she was beginning to weave - although she was also sure that not telling her family was probably the best option, for now.

Maybe being eighteen meant you got to appreciate the grown up things you hadn’t noticed before. Perhaps coming of age meant that she finally appreciated such values as protection lies. Her parents had done it - she could think of several examples: just standing there waving everyone goodbye as if they were sad to see them go, Father Christmas – and, her special favourite; the dentist is your friend. She gave an inner laugh as everyone finally left, then hurried to her room to get out of her suffocating cardigan.

Val called goodnight through her bedroom window to her parents who were still in the garden, giggling like teenagers as they danced around to some old people’s music.

Val slipped into some pyjamas and lay on her bed for a moment of contemplation after her mad day. Wondering what tomorrow would bring, she slowly slipped off into another restless dream.

A beautiful woman in a dark sack dress moved through a soft, swirling mist towards Val. This dream was new and Val didn’t know where exactly she was. However, one thing was the same: the ugly dress. Was there nothing else to wear in these dreams? It seemed that they were inside a rustic house, almost like a round house she had seen once on a school trip. A fire was burning in the middle of the room and over it was a large black pot with some sort of fragrant steam coming out of it. As the woman moved closer to Val, she started to speak. Val had to strain to catch the words.

“What?” Val asked disturbed that she felt she knew this woman without knowing how.

“It’s time,” the woman said. “You have come of age. The others are waiting. Remember, don’t be late.” She smiled as she moved past her.

Val instinctively knew what she had to do. She left the hut and found herself once again in the village square where her other dreams had started. She turned on the spot, surveying the whole village. It was amazing how vivid it all was. It felt like home, a safe place; as if she had been there forever. Before she could make it to the pond, which seemed to mark the centre of the village, the sharp trilling sound of her alarm forced her into consciousness.

Val jumped out of bed in one of those instant
right side of the bed
good moods. One look at her arm instantly wiped the smile from her face. The tattoo was still there in all its sharp black glory.
No,
Val thought to herself forcefully, this wasn’t going to take over her life, and she had a cushy job to get to so she’d better get moving. Covering her arm, she ran to the bathroom and showered, then dressed in double speed.

She made her way downstairs and was greeted by a weary looking mother with very dodgy hair, and a hung-over father. They were still cleaning up after the party.

“Morning. I won’t stop for breakfast, Mum. I need to get to work on time for a change OK?” Val shouted as she ran towards the hall, knowing that her mother was the old-fashioned type who believed an army marches on their stomachs and breakfast like a king, etc. She actually made it to the end of the path before she was caught in the snare of guilt by a sorry looking wild-haired woman who came to the front door holding out a slice of toast and a packed lunch. In her heart, Val knew that later she would be grateful for her mother’s thoughtfulness. She returned to her mother, head down, and took the parcel and the toast. “Thanks Mum,” she muttered.

“I’m very proud of you, Val; you do know that, don’t you?” Susan put her finger under Val’s chin and lifted her head up.

“Yes and you always will be. I love you to the stars, Mum.”

“I love you to the moon and back,” Susan said, making them both smile, then released Val to run for her bus.

This was something they had said to each other as far back as Val could remember, and it always seemed to make her feel warm inside. Today it made her feel terrible because for the first time in her life she was keeping something really important from her parents.

Once in town, she headed straight to Shane’s tattoo parlour to find out if he had any more information on the symbol in the centre of her tattoo. Shane was just opening up and welcomed Val with his wonderful smile.

“Morning Val, how’s the world domination going?” Shane smiled.

“It’s going very well, thank you.” Val reciprocated the smile. She was pleased to see Shane, but didn’t feel safe enough just yet to tell him about the other things that had happened to her.

“I was expecting you yesterday. I don’t usually get stood up on a first date,” he teased, signalling for her to follow him. “Show me your arm.”

As they walked into the shop, Val tentatively raised her sleeve.

Shane laughed kindly. “Don’t worry, Val, most people who come here have one of those or want one.”

Val went red, feeling a little silly now.

Shane looked closely at Val, frowning slightly, one eyebrow raised as if in question.

“What are you looking at me like that for?” Val asked, feeling uneasy.

“Have you got anything you want to tell me?”

“No,” Val replied, almost breaking under the pressure, but managing somehow to keep it together.

“Val, one of the symbols on your tattoo is missing.”

“What?” Startled, Val looked down and counted. There were twelve in total. “Er…Maybe there were only twelve yesterday?” she said, though even to her own ears she sounded unconvincing.

Shane pulled the tracing he had taken the previous day from his pocket and showed it to Val. As she counted around the zodiac, she quickly saw that he was right: one symbol had disappeared. It was the fishes, the one that had become inflamed the previous day.

“Is there anything I need to know, Val?” he persisted.

At that moment, Val’s mobile started to ring. It was Delta and Val realised she was once again late for work.

“Shane, I have to go. I’ll come back later and we can talk then.” She pulled down her sleeve and turned to leave the shop.

Shane just managed to catch her arm. “Here’s my card. Call me if you need me.” He gave Val a look that reassured her he could be trusted, but for now she had to keep her job.

“Thanks,” Val called back, shoving the card into her pocket and running across the road.

Val sprinted the half mile to the shop in what felt like a world Olympic record. Delta was already standing outside in her perfect clothes with her perfect hair, face and accessories, putting Posh Spice and Paris Hilton to shame “Good morning, nice of you to show up at last.” Delta was sarcastic but truthful at the same time.

“Sorry, I was getting my tattoo looked at. Shane spotted that one of the symbols had disappeared.” Val pulled her sleeve up and showed Delta where the fish sign had previously been.

“Why do you think that has happened? And you can put it away.” Delta pushed Val’s sleeve down again with the tips of her manicured nails as they walked up the steps to the bookshop together.

“I’m not sure, but it’s the same sign that felt hot yesterday.” Val opened the door’s many locks. “If it’s going to keep on disappearing then maybe this will all be over soon. What do you think?”

“Who’s to say? Does this Shane guy know about yesterday?” Delta said, following Val into the shop. Just inside she stopped suddenly and sniffed loudly. “Nice smell. I think maybe a little scent of old man, and a splash of public libraries.” Delta waved her arms around like a chef spraying some highly expensive perfume around their heads. She smiled at Val, trying to lift the atmosphere a little.

“Don’t be so rude.” Val coughed. “No, Shane doesn’t know about yesterday, but he suspects that there is something wrong. I think I’m going to tell him everything, just not today,” Val replied as she switched off the alarm.

“Is this water cooler a victim of your escapades?” Delta asked.

“Don’t go there. My back is still killing me. Do you think I should call the police?”

Delta shook her head from side to side. “And tell them what? If you even attempt to tell them all of this, you will be laughed at and maybe locked up. Don’t bother,” Delta said.

Val nodded. At least Delta had backed up how she felt.

“So, do you think you have any other powers, Val?” Delta asked, jokingly rubbing her hands together like a crazed scientist. “Can you fly, or turn lead into gold, or turn horrible people into toads?

“Delta! This is serious!” Val felt irritated, but looking at Delta’s infectious grin soon found she was laughing too. “I don’t know. What do you think I might be able to do apart from float fluids.”

“Perhaps you
can
fly. Have you tried?” Delta opened her arms like a bird and started to flap. “Run up and down, see what happens.” Delta pointed towards the main aisle of the shop.

“OK, but if you laugh I won’t save your life when you need me,” Val warned in a stern voice.

“I will take that risk. Have a go.” Delta now moved out of the way to give Val room for a good run up.

“OK, here goes.” Val put her arms out to the sides and started to run. Nothing happened apart from Delta nearly having a major aneurism from laughing.

“On the way back, try it with your arms in front, like Superman,” Delta tried to shout but could hardly speak through her laughter. Val allowed herself to have fun, running back with her arms stretched out in front of her shouting “Up, up and away” in a silly deep tone of voice. She decided flying wasn’t going to be her thing and joined Delta who was sitting on the floor, laughing uncontrollably. She was so pleased Delta was here; they would get through this together.

“Right, less playing super-hero and more looking for the book,” Val ordered, knowing she had to find it. She had seen it and no one had purchased it, so it still had to be here somewhere.

“What does it look like?” Delta cambered to her feet.

“It’s dark tan leather and has a zodiac circle on the spine like the one on my arm.” Val showed Delta the tattoo again.

“Thank you, you can put that thing away, I can remember what it looks like.” Delta walked off faking a full body shudder in disgust at Val’s tattoo.

“OK, you start on the left side of the shop from the water cooler, or what’s left of it and I’ll go from the right hand side near the counter.” Val pointed at the aisles with arms outstretched like an airhostess, and they both started to laugh again.