Unbound (4 page)

The next present I opened was a small, rectangular wooden box with a stars and moon design on the lid. The inside was lined with blue velvet. Two pendants were inside, both round and housing the same weird squiggly design on the perimeter and the triple moon symbol centered in the middle. A new deck of tarot cards was next, an unusual but fun gift. The second to last present shocked the hell out of me. The package was very light. I carefully ripped the paper off, revealing a black velvet bag full of some sort of powdery substance. I untied the bag and found a note, handwritten in Great-Aunt Estelle’s tiny handwriting.

My dearest Anora, I hope you never need to use this.

                                              
-Estelle

White powder fell off of the note. Was this what I thought it is? It couldn’t be, I mean, Aunt Estelle wouldn’t send me cocaine, would she? I was at a loss for what else this could be. I shoved the note back inside and tied the bag as tight as I could. I’d have to wait until Harrison gets home to get a second opinion. A bit of it was on my hands. I didn’t want to taste it in case it was what I thought it was, so I smelled it instead. It smelled salty. I almost forgot that I had another present waiting for me in the bottom of the big cardboard box. This one was heavy and long. It wasn’t wrapped in the pale blue paper either. Instead, a shimmery black and navy scarf was wrapped around and around it, which took a while to unwind and untie.

I shouldn’t have thought the surprises were over. I was holding a dagger. Yes, a dagger. It was in a metal sheath, and this too, had beautiful designs engraved all over it. The metal was cool to the touch. Slowly, I pulled the dagger out of the sheath. The blade was about seven inches long. Three different types of metal were somehow merged together to form it. I ran my finger over it but couldn’t feel any seems. The metals seemed to just melt into each other. Was that even possible? I flipped it over to find the same weird design that was on the pendants inlayed into the blade. I ran my finger over that too, but again, the metal seemed as smooth as if it were all one piece. It looked somewhat familiar, though I don’t know why it would.

The handle of the dagger was pretty plain, which didn’t really fit with the rest of the incredibly detailed design. Three gemstones decorated the handle, with one on each of the ends of the cross type shape formed. All three stones were different, and the only one I recognized was the large one in the center. It was Tiger’s Eye. I knew it was that because just last year, Aunt Estelle sent me a Tiger’s Eye necklace for Christmas.

I gripped the handle of the dagger. It felt oddly right, and holding it gave me an even odder sense of satisfaction. I sat down on the floor and turned it over and over, admiring the beauty and craftsmanship. It looked very old, but at the same time was in perfect condition. I definitely couldn’t let Mom or Dad see this; they’d take it away in a heartbeat. I slid the blade back into the sheath and opened the deck of tarot cards. I’ve never had a deck before, but I always thought it would be fun. The cards were new and stiff, and I wasn’t not very good at shuffling to begin with, so I quite a time shuffling them. After a few minutes I randomly picked a card and then suddenly realized that I had no idea what they meant. I flipped through the little book that came with them to search for the meaning, but was interrupted by Dad coming in the door and calling for me to help bring in groceries. I shoved the dagger and the cards under my pillow and hid the maybe drugs in my closet.

***

I couldn’t believe the first day of my senior year was already halfway over when Marie, Laney and I walked to the cafeteria. Now this was definitely the most stressful part of the whole day. Where you sat in the lunch room said a lot about how your social status stood. Finding the right table was tricky; you didn’t want to encroach on the popular kid’s space, but you didn’t want to get stuck in the corner with the losers and nerds. My friends and I weren’t popular, but we weren’t social rejects either. We fit somewhere in the middle, I would say. Harrison also had this lunch hour, and I knew he would invite me to sit with him and if need be, but I would really feel pathetic having to be socially rescued by my brother. And I really didn’t want to sit with all his football buddies. We slowly walked in, not wanting to be obvious as we scanned the room for an empty table. To my surprise, Natalie, a popular cheerleader, stood up and smiled. I looked behind me, thinking she must be looking at someone else. There was no one there.

“Ohmygod, is Natalie waving at you?” Laney whispered.

“No, she can’t be.”

“She so is,” Marie whispered back.

“Anora! Want to sit with us?” Natalie asked in an overly happy voice. I looked at Marie and Laney. “Of course they can come too!”

I tried to not seem surprised as we sat down.

“So I hear you are dating Mike Carlson,” Natalie said. It sounded like a question to me though, like she really couldn’t believe someone like Mike would be with me.

“Yea, I am.”

“Wow. You are a lucky girl. And I can see why he would be with you, I mean, you are totally gorgeous!”

“Thanks.” I smiled, and appreciated the compliment, but I was curious to find out if Natalie had a secret agenda. I shook my head; I’d figure it out later.

***

“So, are you going to any parties this weekend?” Natalie asked me the next day at lunch. I shot a quick glance at Laney; now Marie’s theory of why Natalie wanted us to sit with her was confirmed.

“Um, I’m not sure yet. I know the Zetas are having a homecoming party of some sort.” I didn’t know who the Zetas were, but had heard Mike talking about them. I hoped I sounded like I knew what I was talking about. “On Saturday,” I added.

“So are you going?” Natalie smiled widely at me.

“Uh, maybe. I haven’t decided yet.”

“Awesome. Well, let me know if you decided to go then and we can meet up.”

Jill looked up from her salad. “What are you gonna wear?” When no one replied, Marie elbowed me. Everyone was looking at me, waiting for my response.

“Uh, jeans probably. A skirt if it’s still nice out.”

Jill nodded, as if she was talking mental notes. “Ok, jeans or skirts.” I think she was talking to herself. Well, this was weird. Not only did I just get invited to do something social outside of school with one of the most popular girls at our high school, but they were asking
me
for fashion advice.

Marie, Laney and I had plans to get ice cream today, so instead of taking the time to saddle Mystery, I tied his lead rope to both sides of his halter and jumped on bareback. I couldn’t stay here long since I had to go home and get ready. We cantered our way to the trails and had an enjoyable ride. I liked being on my horse, of course, but I liked getting mentally lost in the leaves and branches that created a natural ceiling in the forest. For a short while, I could pretend I was in another world.

***

I sat on my bed waiting for Marie to get here. She was going to curl my hair for me. Romeo was out of his cage hopping around and knocking things over. He recently discovered that he could climb onto my desk. I’d had to pick up my spilled can of pens and pencils twice since I let him out. I was already dressed in tight, dark skinny jeans with black boots over top and a black tee. I added a long silver necklace and silver stud earrings.
 
Hunter was lying by my desk chewing a bone. I flipped through the pages of
Cosmo,
checking the clock every now and then. I grabbed my pillows with intentions of stacking them up and laying back on them, but I found the dagger and the tarot cards I had stuck under there a few days ago. I thought about getting the cards out but my hand shifted at the last second towards the dagger. I held it close and looked that the odd inscriptions. I really wanted to know what they meant.

I got up and went over to my computer desk, hoping that maybe I could find something on the internet that could give me a clue to what they were. I only got as far as putting the dagger down and opening my laptop before my phone beeped at me, telling me I had a text. I sat back down on my bed to read it. It was from Marie.
Hey girl. On my way.

 
I began to type back but at that moment I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. Romeo had gotten back up on the desk and was sniffing at the dagger. Sniffing, and pushing it at the same time over the edge. It was going to land right on Hunter. I gasped and for some reason extended my hand as if I could catch it. Instead, it hovered in the air, as if someone really was holding it. My heart skipped a beat. For what felt like forever, I didn’t move. Without taking my eyes off the dagger, I called Hunter over. He lazily stood and came to my side. The dagger dropped to the ground with a loud clatter. Romeo was still standing on the edge of the desk, looking down at the dagger as if nothing unusual had just happened. A shiver ran through out my entire body.

Harrison burst through the door causing me to jump.

“What was that noise?” He looked around the room and then at me. “Whoa, sis, you ok? You look like you just saw a ghost. Sorry, bad choice of words. You look more shook up than normal.” I didn’t know how to answer. Luckily, he saw the dagger on the floor and went over to pick it up. “Where the hell did you get this?”

“Aunt Estelle.” I stood up and regained my composure. “She sent it to me for my birthday. Oh, and that reminds me,” I went over to my closet, “I think she sent me drugs too.” I carefully opened the velvet bag to show Harrison. His eyes bulged a little.

“No way!” Without hesitation, he stuck his finger into the powder and examined it. “I don’t think its cocaine. Not that I’ve ever actually used it, but this seems…salty.” He actually licked the powder and then made a face. “Yep, it’s salty alright.”

I felt relieved; not only did my great aunt not send me illegal drugs, but my brother had never used them, well at least not this particular one.

“What is it then?”

Harrison examined the powder a little more. “I have no idea.”

***

Marie yammered on and on about Gavin, her newest crush the whole way to
Greta’s Frozen Goodies
. Laney was meeting us there; she was watching Annabelle , her little sister, again and had to wait for her mom to get home before she could leave.
 
We sat at our favorite outside table and Marie,
loquacious once again, went off about how much she can’t stand her sister.
 
I kept eye contact and said ‘mh-hm’ and nodded at the appropriate times, but my mind wandered back to the mysterious powder and the somewhat cryptic message in the bag. What would I use it for, and why did Estelle hope I never had to?

A thought entered my mind but didn’t have time to form. Just then I saw someone cross the street and head to store a few doors down from where we sat. His phone must have rung, because he stopped suddenly and fumbled to get something out of his back pocket. Any fake attention I was giving Marie was gone now. The boy, well man would be a better thing to call him I guess, looked like he was in his early twenties. He had short, dark brown hair that was gelled and spiked in such a way that it would fool you into thinking that it got that perfect tousled look on its own. He was tall, probably a little over six feet. He had on a black motorcycle jacket over a black tee-shirt. His jeans were tight in all the right places. He turned around, and looked at the street sign. He must be giving someone directions. I hoped it wasn’t his girlfriend. His face was gorgeous, and his body was muscular. He started walking towards us. He looked like he could be an Abercrombie model. He came closer. No, a Calvin Klein underwear model was more like it. I felt a smile try not to form as I imagined him posing for the camera in nothing but tight, white boxer-briefs.

“Hello? Anora, are you even listening?” Marie looked annoyed, but soon followed my gaze. “Ohmigod,” was all she could say. Just then, Mr. Male Model saw us staring and smiled. Marie and I quickly diverted our gaze and burst out in a fit of embarrassed giggles. I could feel my cheeks blush.

“What a hottie!” Marie stole another glance. “How old do you think he is?”

I didn’t want to be too obvious, so I didn’t look again. “I’m not too sure, maybe like twenty-two or something around there.”

“Damn. Should I go talk to him?” She had that please-dare-me-so-I-have-to look in her eyes that was a typical Marie thing to do.
 
Before I could answer, Laney came running over.

“Shoot guys!” She was breathing heavily. “There was a total creeper by my car. I ran all the way here!” She collapsed into the wrought iron chair so hard must have hurt.

“Why didn’t you call us? We could have met you over there and walked together?” I asked.