Bloodlines: Everything That Glitters (17 page)

“Just deal with the cards that you were dealt. May doesn’t even know where her mother or father is and my dad disowned me when I told him I was gay, so we all have different problems that we just have to suck it up.”

“You’re right.” I pulled the rest of my hair out of the ponytail and hopped down from the counter. “You ready to get this show on the road, baby doll?” I shook my hair all over and turned to face the mirror.

“Let’s get to it.” Lee reached around me and picked up one of the curling irons from the counter.

Before he got the iron close to my hair May pushed the door open, “I’m not going out tonight.” I looked at her through the mirror, a recap of her conversation with him played through my mind.

“I don’t believe that slimy dog!” I yelled, I spun around and looked into her eyes directly.

Lee looked concerned, “Okay, what happened?”

I pushed past him then wrapped my arms around May. She cried intensely into my shoulder. “I didn’t even say anything Aliza,” she sobbed. I smacked my forehead when I realized I had acted without thinking; that made twice within six hours.

“I just had a feeling something bad happened. You don’t usually pass up an opportunity to go out.” I silently commended myself on the save then exhaled.

“Well you were right. He called me a whore and said the baby wasn’t his.”

Lee walked up from behind and wrapped his long arms around b
oth of us, “It’ll all work out May, and you still have us. He’s a world class jerk.”

“Lee you’re crushing me,” I responded while trying to break free from his embrace. “And he’s right, you do have us. We’ll stay here with you; we got to get you cheered up girl.” I smiled at her as I reached for her hand. “You’re my best friend.”

Lee cleared his throat and sat on the other side of May. “Well one of her best friends,” he corrected.

So the man-stealing bitch is still considered your best friend huh? You really are weak
.

“Watch yourself,” I replied to Sly aloud. I was letting my feelings get the best of me today; I had never slipped up this much and what’s even worse is that it seemed uncontrollable.

“Okay, now tell us what’s going on with you Ms. Insight? You’ve been creeping me out all day, starting with these funky eyes.”

I looked from May to Lee then eventually at the wall. Finally ready to give it up, I let out a long sigh, I’d rather tell them now then wait too long; they’d see right through me anyhow. “If I tell you guys just don’t judge me.”

They both were staring at me now with wide eyes. “We’re always judging you,” May teased.

“Yeah I noticed,” I inhaled once more, “I’m just gonna come right out and say it, I’m a mind reader and a walking lighter.”

“If you don’t want to tell us what’s going on with you just say so, don’t make up stories Aliza,” May responded angrily. Her tears were all dried up now and frustration her dominating expression.

“You don’t believe me, fine.” I got up from the bed and walked over to the dresser to grab my keys. Although unintentional, her frustration angered me; I’d never been much of a liar; especially to them. I picked up the cardigan from the bed and threw it on; I’m going out tonight.
Alone
.

***

I drove around for a while before stumbling on a family pool hall minutes away from my house. Figuring I had nothing better to do, I pulled into the parking lot and turned the car off. Someone stepped out of a cherry red sports car next to me and walked into the building. I didn’t have a good view of the person that’d gone in but I could have sworn on my life it was Nikko.

When I got out of my car, I looked at the car next to me, if it was him and this was his car, it matched his personality well: sleek, sporty and sexy. I walked a few more steps then pushed the door open and stepped into the all too humid pool hall.

I scanned the area for the handsome stranger but the place was dimly lit but not very packed.
Where could he have gone that fast?
I thought as I moved through the building.

“You look stunning,” a familiar voice complimented.

I turned to him- it was my mystery man. “Thank you, you don’t look so bad yourself,” I replied, smiling widely. I sat down in the seat he pulled out for me and briefly looked around the building; only a few people were here.

“You like pool?”

“Yeah I play a little bit. What about you?” I responded casually, like my heart wasn‘t rejoicing as much as it actually was.

“I‘ll play you,” he smiled.

“Okay, be ready to lose.”

I walked over to an empty table and grabbed a pool stick from the wall while Nikko paid the waitress for the hour. I moved around the table collecting the balls from the pockets and throwing them on top of the table; as I did, Nikko collected them together.

“Do you come here often?”

“This is my first time here, I just moved into town not that long ago. You break them,” I said as I rolled him the last ball.

“Are you in school?”

“Yeah, I go to Buckhorn High.” I watched him as he hit the white ball, scattering the rest all over the table.

“This is kind of random. The way you ran off when I saw you the other day made me think you had no interest in talking to me whatsoever.”

He curled up one side of his lips, “That had nothing to do with you, I was late for a meeting. If it makes you feel any better, I’ve thought about you since then.”

My body froze, then slowly blood rushed to my face, “What did you think about?” I took my turn on the table then flagged down the waitress for something to drink.

“If your headache had gotten any better. Has it?”

“It‘s getting there, it came back earlier when my two best friends came into town to visit. They always find a way to make their problems my problems,” I vented.

“You shouldn’t take on other people’s problems.” A strange woman with a thick accent came up from behind me and put a hand on my shoulder. Since I could no longer be careful with random people touching me, I pulled away from her.

“I’m sorry for eavesdropping, that was very rude of me. My name is Centure.”

I looked at the older woman as she stepped into view, she towered over me; even standing taller than Nikko. Her hair was long past her shoulders and her eyes were light grey almost resembling her platinum hair. “Hello Centure, I’m Aliza.”

The lady warmly smiled and stepped closer to me. “I know who you are, I’m Wade and Nikko’s grandmother.”

“Oh great, did Wade tell you I needed to speak with you?”

“Yes. What is the object of this game?” she asked next.

“To get all of your specific colored balls into the pockets using only the white ball to knock them there,” I responded in the plainest form.

Nikko was beating me know; he had three balls left to my four. I studied her again but briefly; is this what normal people are doing these days?

“So, what can you tell me? I need all of the help I can get,” I initiated after taking my turn.

“Not really much to tell. I am from a place unlike this. Some place that you may visit soon.”

“Is it out of this world?” I whispered.

Her expression was ominous as she looked straight through me. “Maybe,” she replied finally.

What seemed as the flash of a camera went off in her eyes and I instantly turned into stone as a serene landscape appeared and maneuvered through my thoughts.

This place was enchanting, people walked about the streets full of smiles and joy; then something bad happened, something that no one could have ever predicted. The scene changed and now hundreds of people lay in pools of sparkling blood while countless others were trapped and imprisoned, begging for help.

I nearly lost my sense of reality as I slowly reached out for one of the hands of the prisoners- a small child with brown hair and frosty white eyes.  

“Xyonthis?” I whispered as a small tear drifted down my cheek.

Centure smiled brightly and looked at me now with wonderment. “Yes, what about Xyonthis?”

“Can I speak with you for a moment alone Centure?” I said softly.

I was unsure what to this at this point; too many things were on my mind. Centure followed closely behind me as I headed out of the doors; I walked slowly into a dark area of the parking lot before talking. “What was that and who are you really?” I demanded.

“My name is Centure, honestly. I’ve been looking for you for a while now. You keep close contact with a Lookout, yes?” she responded solemnly.

“Sure, whatever that means. Why were you looking for me?” The heat was already rising from within as small droplets of rain hit my forehead.

“What do you know, child?”

I could do nothing but look at the concrete below; I didn’t know anything useful, aside from the mind trick that Wade helped me out with.

“Call your brother here girl.
Now
,” she demanded forcefully.

“No. I do what I want,” I snapped angrily.

A sharp wind picked up around us and Centure stepped straight through me as she floated through the parking lot. I turned around slowly and followed her with my eyes. A man dressed in all black was caught up in the wind, dangling in midair.

“What is your business here?” Centure questioned the hanging man. I stepped closer to hear his reply; my heart beat furiously in my chest as I waited.

“Don’t come any closer, Alizarin!” Centure yelled; her attention however was still on the man.

I halted in place and instead leaned my body slightly closer.

“She wants the girl,” he replied riskily. “You of all people should have known this was bound to happen. Give her up and spare yourself.” His voice was deep and dry, almost cracking.

I strained to see him through the darkness, light faintly highlighted his face. But once again the wind picked up and the man went hurling through the darkness of the road; immediately after his dismissal, rogue flames arouse and burned him alive. He vanished into the wind, leaving no piece behind.

Centure returned now and the wind calmed itself; I still looked out into the distance, unwrapping my mind to what had taken place. “She knows you’re here, call your brother,” Centure said roughly.

I looked over at her then reached for my phone; I had nothing left in me to question her motives. Before I pulled the phone from my pocket Centure grabbed it from me, “Not with this, with that,” she pointed to my forehead, indicating my brain.

“I don’t know how to do that.”

“Why has Skylark forsaken you?”

I thought about it for a second then looked confused. “Who is Skylark?”

This was something Corey should have known about and disclosed. “I don’t know, but whoever it is needs to be fired,” I replied.

Centure turned me to face her by my shoulders and the flash of light once again appeared in her eyes. “No time to teach you the hard way. Now do it.”

Suddenly I knew what it was she was asking me to do- it was as clear as the sunset. I shut my eyes briefly then reached into my soul and summoned Ash, pulling him through the tunnels of my mind and pulling his soul from mine. When I opened them again he was standing in front of me with a horrified look on his face.

“What the hell just happened?” he mumbled.

“This just got real, that’s what happened,” I answered, amazed at myself.

The door to the building opened and Nikko came out and looked around before approaching Centure and leaning in to whisper something in her ear.

“We should all go inside.” Centure said, looking at the three of us.

“What did he say to her?” I whispered into the wind to Ash after focusing on the back of his head as I walked behind him.

He slowed and allowed me to walk beside him.
He said something about a Leijona tracker, whatever that means
, he answered.

“I’m starving,” I said, walking over to a table.

“Well, we can order food here,” Nikko replied while signaling for the waitress.

I sat down at a table and looked over the menu; I didn’t really have an appetite now that a ton of new doors and possibilities had been opened, but a cheeseburger was always a safe bet. “I’ll have the Maplewood cheeseburger with a side of seasoned fries and a Coke,” I said to the waitress.

“I’ll have the same thing,” Nikko ordered as he sat down directly across from me.

The four of us now sat at a table at the back of the building. There was something I was missing- things just weren’t adding up.

“Who was that guy and what girl was he looking for?” I asked, eager to fill in a few blanks.

Nikko spoke first. “That was a Diator, fashioned in the form of a man. Definitely one of Masaya’s guys.”

“And who is Masaya?” Ash stole the question right out of my mouth.

The waitress now returned with food for Nikko and I and sat them in front of us. Centure was creepily quiet as she sat her purse down on the table.

Nikko took a swig from his Coke and got a nod from his grandmother. “Alizarin,
mita tiedat
?”