Dark Realms (7 page)

“At least I can download books from the
library,” I replied. “We’ll be in the middle of nowhere out here
and I’ll need something to do.”

“Oh, I’m sure you’ll find plenty of things
to do. Wait until you start school and meet some new friends. Or,”
her face lit up, “maybe even some cute boys.”

I rolled my eyes. “Right. I doubt very much
that’s going to happen.”

“Why in Heaven’s name would you say that?
You’re a very pretty girl, Nikki. Don’t sell yourself short.”

The truth was, I couldn’t care less about
meeting anyone at the moment. Most of the girls at my old school
had been constantly stressed out because of their immature
boyfriends and I wasn’t about to go down that road, especially in
my last year of high school. “It doesn’t matter.”

She frowned. “Sure it does. You’ll want to
go to all the dances, and then there’s the prom. You don’t want to
miss out on all the fun. You’ll regret it later.”

“Didn’t you go with dad to the prom?” I
asked, then immediately felt rotten when I saw the bitterness
reflected in her eyes.

“I did,” she said slowly. “But, he wasn’t
always so… volatile. And, really, he’s among the very few out there
like that. You know, Nikki, you can’t be afraid of the world
because your dad has some issues.”

Yeah, but weren’t we
running because she was still very much afraid?

Of course, I didn’t dare mention that.
Instead, I just changed the subject.

“So, how much farther of a drive do we have,
mom?” I asked, noticing the mountains coming up in the
distance.

“Oh, just a couple more
hours,” she replied, plugging in her iPod. Seconds later, Adele,
began to sing about
Rumors.

I stretched my arms and yawned.

“Honey,” she said, lowering her sunglasses,
“you look beat; why don’t you try and get some rest? I’ll wake you
when we get there.”

“Okay,” I said, closing my eyes. “Maybe I’ll
just take a little nap.”

~~~

“Why not, mom? I just don’t understand,”
protested Nathan.

She sighed. “Can we
please
talk about Deanna
later?”

I woke up to the sound of mom and Nathan
arguing. We were parked by a small grocery store and he was
standing outside of her window, pouting.

“Oh God, not now,” I mumbled. It was getting
dark and we’d missed dinner and my stomach was protesting. I was
cranky, and the last thing I needed was to hear any more drama
about Deanna.

“Can’t she just come for a week before
school starts?” said Nathan. “She’s having a rough time with her
parents, and now that I’m gone, things have gotten even worse. It’s
not fair for her.”

She shook her head. “No, we have too much to
do with unpacking and getting ready for school. Maybe she can come
and visit sometime after it starts for a weekend.”

“This is all bullshit,” he snapped, backing
up from the window. He raised his hands in exasperation. “We could
have stayed home. I would’ve protected you. Now we’re forced to
move, and you didn’t even give me a chance.”

“Nathan!” I gasped. “You are the one not
being fair. Mom’s been through so much and you’re just mad because
you can’t see Deanna whenever you want. God, you’re being an
asshole.”

His face turned red and he opened up his
mouth to retaliate when mom quickly interrupted.

“Okay, let’s all settle down. Quit pointing
fingers at each other, and Nikki, watch your mouth.”

“Sorry,” I mumbled.

“Listen, it isn’t either of your faults,
okay? And, Nathan,” she said, smiling sadly, “I’m grateful that you
want to protect me, but you can’t possibly follow me around
twenty-four hours a day, nor do I expect you to be my personal
bodyguard. Now, as far as Deanna goes, we’ll talk about it later.
Comprende?”

He nodded but was still sulking and I could
tell that this conversation was far from over.

She noticed it as well and rubbed her
forehead in frustration. “Okay, let’s get the things we need in the
grocery store before it gets dark. I don’t want to get lost while
searching for this cabin.”

“Let’s go,” I said, opening my door.

Nathan followed us into the store, still
moping.

“Nathan, would you please cheer up?” she
pleaded when we were in the frozen pizza section and he refused to
pick out food.

“Yeah,” I said. “Don’t ruin our first night
here because of a girl who’s probably lining up her next soul-mate
as we speak.”

“Would you just
shut
-
up
?” he snapped. “You’re just
jealous because you didn’t leave anyone behind that
mattered.”

I took a step towards him. “Excuse me?
Jealous!?”

“Stop it!” hissed mom, getting into both of
our faces. “We’re in public and you’re both acting… ridiculous.
Now, I’m sorry that we had to move, I really am. But we’re here now
and there’s no turning back. So get it together, or I swear to God,
I won’t buy any ice cream.”

Nathan raised his hands in the air. “Okay,
mom, just settle down. We can talk about this, no need to bring ice
cream into the equation. That’s cruel.”

She smirked. “That’s what I thought.” She
then turned to me. “What about you? Are you going to lay off
Deanna, who isn’t even here to defend herself?”

“Fine,” I replied tightly. “As long as he
stops talking about her every five minutes.”

“Whatever,” he replied, shaking his
head.

She closed her eyes and
rubbed the bridge of her nose. “You know, maybe this was a mistake,
I don’t know.” She opened her eyes. “But, what’s done is
done,
and
we have
to make the best of it. So, please, quit arguing and let’s try to
make the best of this. Okay?”

We both agreed, but avoided eye contact.

“Okay,” she said, smiling again. “Now, let’s
finish this up and find the cabin. I think you’re going to really
like living out here if you just give it a chance. I mean, come on,
you have to admit – the scenery is beautiful.”

“California was beautiful too,” replied
Nathan, grabbing a stack of pizzas from the freezer. “I’m just
saying…”

She rolled her eyes. “Seriously?”

He put the pizzas in the cart. “Okay, fine,
I’ll admit that it’s different here – the fresh air, the mountains,
all of the greenness. I guess it’s cool.”

“Thank you. Now, let’s grab some Hot Pockets
and Pizza Rolls,” she said, staring at the case.

I grimaced. “Hot Pockets?”

She motioned her thumb at Nathan. “We need
to keep him fed. Those are quick and easy.”

It was true, he was always hungry, and once
his blood sugar began to drop, grumpier than all hell. Our dad’s
family was prone to Diabetes and mom predicted we’d both end up
getting it someday.

I opened the glass door and began sorting
through the Hot Pockets with Nathan directing. Forty-five minutes
later, the entire cart was full and Deanna was temporarily
forgotten.

“That will be two-hundred-and-forty
dollars,” said the cashier, snapping her gum.

Mom handed the young woman her credit card
while the cashier appraised Nathan as he bagged the groceries. When
he finished, she smiled. “Thanks. You didn’t have to do that, you
know. It’s my job.”

“That’s okay. I don’t mind.”

“You guys just move here?” she asked,
twirling a piece of her blonde hair around her index finger.

I refrained from rolling my eyes.

“We did,” smiled my mother. “Just today, in
fact.”

“Cool,” replied the girl, still staring at
him like he was a pair of designer jeans that she couldn’t possibly
live without. “See you around.”

“Yeah,” replied Nathan as he began to push
the grocery cart outside without a backwards glance.

Mom and I looked at each other in amusement.
Sometimes men were so clueless.

“Let’s put the groceries
in
your
car,
Nathan,” said mom as we stepped back outside. “Mine is too full
already.”

“Okay,” he replied, veering towards his
vehicle.

As we were trying to stuff the food into the
back of Nathan’s Mustang, a soft voice greeted us. “Hi. You must be
new in town?”

We all turned around to see a striking
redhead getting out of a tall Chevy pickup. She wore a miniscule
white sundress, which showed off her toned legs, and dark
sunglasses, which I thought was a little odd, considering it was
dusk.

Nathan’s blue eyes lit up and he grinned.
“Yeah, we just pulled into town.”

She removed her sunglasses and smiled back.
“I hope you enjoy it here. It’s quaint, but there are lots of
things to do, especially after dark.”

Her teeth were pearly white and her hair was
a mass of shiny curls. She dropped her keys, and after she bent to
retrieve them, tossed her hair back over her shoulder. It was a
simple thing, but it had an immediate effect on Nathan. Truthfully,
I didn’t think anybody should be that gorgeous.

Before my mother or I could get in a word,
Nathan spoke up in a surprisingly deeper voice. “Thanks for the
info. Maybe we’ll run into each other sometime.”

“
Maybe. It was really nice
meeting you,” she replied, clearly directing it towards Nathan, who
looked like he’d all but forgotten about Deanna. Then she sashayed
into the store like a runway model while we all stared.

“Wow,” I smirked, turning towards my
brother. “You can reel your tongue back in now.”

“What do you mean?”

I snorted. “Oh, come on, Nathan.”

He smiled innocently. “There’s nothing wrong
with being friendly to strangers, especially when they look like
that.”

“I think the feeling was mutual,” replied
mom, looking at me. “That smile she gave him was enough to light up
the entire town.”

“How can she resist?” he said cockily.
“Heck, I’ll bet that I’m the best thing that’s ever walked into
this town.”

I rolled my eyes. “Oh, Lord. Here we
go.”

He flexed left arm muscle. “Oh, come on, you
know I’m right.”

“I certainly do,” said mom, leaning over to
kiss his cheek.

“Yeah, and mom’s biased,” I replied. “Don’t
let it go to your head.”

He ignored me and started packing more
groceries into the back of his trunk. “Let’s get the rest of this
stuff loaded quickly,” he said, glancing up towards the sky, which
was growing darker. “I’m starving and it’s getting late.”

“Me too,” I replied, handing him another bag
of groceries.

When we had everything in the trunk, Mom
gave Nathan the directions to the cabin, which was a few miles past
town, and this time, he led the way.

“Finally,” I said, putting on my seatbelt as
she pulled out of the parking lot. “I just want to get there
already.”

“Won’t be long now.”

Darkness came very quickly, and in a small
town without many lights along the roads, it was a little
creepy.

“It’s a bitch driving when you don’t know
exactly where you’re going in the dark,” said mom, frowning. “I
think the turnoff is coming up in another few miles or so. I hope
Nathan catches it in time and doesn’t overshoot it.”

“Knowing him, he probably will,” I answered
with a smirk, “especially, if he’s on the phone with Deanna
again.”

“He seemed to forget about her when that
redhead made an appearance.”

“Thank God, although, she’s probably worse
than Deanna.”

“Let’s hope not.”

I stared at her in shock. “See, you weren’t
crazy about her either!”

She turned down the radio. “Are you kidding
me?” she groaned, scowling into the rearview mirror.

I turned to see the flashing lights from a
police car. “What, were you speeding or something?”

She pulled over to the side of the road.
“No, you know me, I never speed.”

It was true, my mother was
an annoyingly slow driver and Nathan was always giving her crap
about it. Even grandmothers passed
her
on the roadway.

Mom rolled down the window as the police
officer approached her. She immediately handed him her driver’s
license and insurance information. “I’m sorry, officer… was I
speeding?”

My brother had noticed the cop, too, and
pulled over ahead of us, waiting. He’d sent me a text message,
wondering what was happening. I’d sent him one back, explaining
that I wasn’t really sure, yet.

“No, but you do have a taillight out,” he
replied with an easy smile.

My eyes widened as I
stared at his mouth.
What’s with this town
and their unnaturally white teeth?

“Oh, no, really?” she answered, biting her
lower lip. “Oh, man, I’m sorry. It must have just went out.”

“Yes. Anne Gerard… you must be new in town?”
he asked, studying her license.

She smiled. “We are, in fact,” she pointed
towards me, “this is my daughter, Nikki, and that’s my son, Nathan,
ahead of us in the Mustang.”

He glanced down at her left hand, which no
longer had a wedding ring, and his smile broadened.

“Ladies, I’m Sherriff Caleb Smith. Welcome
to Shore Lake,” he answered, giving her back her license.

Was it me or did he actually puff out his
chest a little before he leaned back down and handed it back?

“Thank you,” answered my mom with a silly
grin on her face. She definitely noticed the puff.

“Since you have such a lovely smile and
you’re new in town, I’m just going to give you a warning. Make sure
that you take care of it as soon as you can, though. Next time I
might not be so easy on you.”

Mom smiled wider than ever. “I will, thank
you, officer.”

He tipped his hat. “My friends call me
Caleb. Drive safely now.”

“Wow,” said mom after she’d rolled up her
window. “Did you see that man’s eyes? They were an amazing shade of
violet. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone with that color of
eyes. No wedding ring, either.”