The Spider Catcher (Redemption by A.L. Tyler Book 1) (14 page)

Ember stepped through the door and into a dimly lit store. It looked like a cross between an army surplus and a road trip gas station; there were three small aisles of food, toiletries and hygiene products along one wall, basics clothes, pillows and blankets in a corner, paper goods, a wide selection of tools and repair supplies.

At the far end of the store, there was an old man sitting at the counter, a newspaper open in front of him. He folded one corner down as he glared at the two of them.

Acton whispered under his breath. “Also, he doesn’t like me.”

“Get out of my store!” The old man growled. Then, his eyes flicked to Ember, and he set the paper down on the counter as he stood up. “Thalia, is something wrong?”

“Wrong daughter, Charles.” Acton said, taking a few steps forward to put himself between Ember and the shopkeeper. “This is Ember. Gina just burned everything she has, so I brought her here to pick up anything she might need.”

Charles the shopkeeper stared him down. “Your money’s no good—she doesn’t need anything you want to give her. I’ll give her what she needs, but it’s a gift for her, not a favor for you. You can wait outside.”

“I’ll wait by the door.” Acton said with a polite smile and malice in his eyes. He turned and strode confidently back to the shop entrance, where he shooed Ember forward like she was a shy child, and then stood with his arms crossed, staring down Charles. Charles was staring at Ember.

What ensued were the most awkward five minutes of her life. As Ember perused the aisles, picking up a hairbrush, deodorant, an all-weather jacket, a bag of socks, and a few other items, she tried to ignore the tense cable of anonymity that stretched across the room from Acton to Charles. When she was finished, she wasn’t sure if she was supposed to just walk out the door with Acton, or say something to Charles first.

The former seemed rude, so she took her items to the counter. She smiled nervously as Charles folded the corner of his paper again, and was shocked to see nothing but kindness in his face.

“Thank you,” she said quietly.

“You’re very welcome,” he said with a smile and a nod, removing his reading glasses. “I’ll get you a bag for these things.”

Ember’s grateful smile suddenly faltered; she had forgotten to get a bag. “Oh—a bag, my travel bag, it was—”

Charles held up his hand. “Nope. No worrying now, let’s go get a bag.”

He walked her over to a wall with mostly camping supplies, and helped her pick out a large bag, which he then proceeded to fill with extra food, some magazines, hair ties, and a few other girly artifacts before going back for her collection at the counter.

“Now, you don’t worry about any of this. I’m good friends with your mother, and I know she has hard days,” he said, filling up the bag. “If you need anything else, don’t hesitate to come back, young lady.”

Ember nodded. “Thank you.”

Charles picked up the bag to hand it Ember, catching her hand in his to stop her from escaping when she went to take it. He leaned in closer to her, ignoring Acton, who was still standing guard at the door.

“Ember, you need to take this bag and leave the island,” he said sternly. “I’m very glad to have made your acquaintance, but you stay away from Acton Knox, and everyone else, and you leave with your dignity.”

Ember tried to pull away, but Charles squeezed her hand gently. When she met his eyes, he nodded, just slightly, and let her go. He settled back into his chair behind the counter, and immediately put his newspaper wall back up.

Shouldering her bag, she turned and walked back to Acton. He took a step back to open the door for her exit, and followed her out with one last, long look at Charles.

Frowning, Ember wanted to ask Acton why no one trusted him, but within the first three steps out the door, Asher had already stolen the spotlight.

“Business with the Bait Man?” He asked, stepping up to Ember’s other side. “Jesus, Em…you look like Thalia.”

Ember heaved a sigh, glaring at him. “I’m dying my hair. Decision made.”

“Oh, but why stop there?” He offered. “We could get you some tattoos, some piercings, some scars on the inside and out——“

“Ash,” Acton said coolly. “Do you have a message for me, or any point that you’re coming to?”

“Nope.” Asher replied with a bright smile. “Just waiting for scraps.”

Acton looked at him, annoyed, and kept walking. “I have nothing for you, Ash. Not after last night.”

“—Oh.” Asher frowned. “Right.”

Ember felt her cheeks color, wondering if Acton had shared their private moments with his brothers. She supposed nothing very exciting had happened, but a kiss—even one on the palm of her hand—was the biggest thing that had ever happened to her.

“Do we have a plan for the evening, then?”

Acton cut in front of Ember so quickly that she nearly ran into him; as he paced back and forth on the walkway, she stopped and waited, shifting her bag from one shoulder to the other. Acton looked at her, hardly changing his expression as he took the bag from her, pushed it at Asher, seemed to think better of it, and finally shouldered it himself.

He looked at Asher. “Tell Kaylee to meet me at the bar. I need a favor from her.”

Asher snorted. “Well, good luck with that.”

Acton crossed his eyes as a forced laugh escaped his lips; running a hand over his face, he fixed his stare on Asher. “Just go and find her.”

Asher looked from Acton to Ember, letting his gaze linger slightly too long. Without a word, he turned and left.

Acton turned around and started walking again, taking Ember by surprise. She took a few quick steps to catch up with him.

“A favor?” She asked, trying to break the uncomfortable silence. “From Kaylee?”

“It’s for you.” Acton refused to look over at her. “You’re going to need clothing.”

“You think she’ll let me borrow some?” Ember said, crossing her arms. A cold breeze came up, making her shiver; before she could even ask, Acton was unzipping the bag and pulling out the jacket that Charles had given her.

“She’ll let you
have
some.” Acton corrected. “She lives in a damn sorority house with a flock of girls who have ten times the clothes they need.”

He quickened his step as they got closer to the bar, forcing her to stay a few strides behind him, and preventing her from asking any more questions. He took her through the back door, dropping her bag on the floor. She tried to follow him as he went to the door that led to the bar, but he raised his hand to stop her.

“Wait here.”

Ember shrugged. “Why?”

He sighed; the crazed humor in his eyes made her take a step back and sit on a crate.

“Just wait.”

As he opened the door to the bar, Ember looked out and saw Zinnia Knox, wearing a sunset orange sheath dress and a paisley pattern headscarf, standing with the phone pressed to her ear. As she looked over and their eyes met, she saw her draw in a sharp breath and look away, shaking her head. She covered the phone with one hand to say something to Acton as the door closed.

Ember looked at the back of the door; they were talking about her, and she was almost sure Zinny had her mother on the phone. As guilty as she felt about putting Acton out, she felt more annoyed that her mother knew where she was. Gina had gone years not knowing where she was or what she was doing, only to start caring at the most irritating moment. Ember wondered if Gina had called the bar or if Zinny had called her; both prospects made her want to grind her teeth.

She ran her fingers through her hair; she wanted to cut it and dye it that night if possible…anything to reduce the resemblance to Thalia. They weren’t real sisters, and Ember was beginning to regret the reminder.

But of her immediate concerns, her mother’s last words to her were falling highest on her list.

Go be with your friends. It will all be over soon enough.

It sounded like a threat; Ember wasn’t quite sure who Gina was threatening, but she knew that she had finally lost it. She had burned everything, and she hated the Knoxes; even if they weren’t normal, they were doing more to take care of her than Gina ever had. That alone meant they couldn’t be that bad.

Chapter 14

As Ember’s eyes explored the boxes, crates, and cleaning supplies in the back room, she noticed a small box up on a shelf that was overfilled with paperbacks. She turned over a mop bucket to stand on so that she could reach them, carefully taking down the box. She sat back down on her crate and started going through them, regretting that the little collection she had brought with her was lost and gone forever in the fire.

“You can keep them, if you want.”

Ember looked up; Acton had returned. “These are yours?”

Acton nodded. “I’ve already read them. Take them.”

Ember looked back at the books in her lap. They were older ones, by classic authors that she had heard of, but she hadn’t read most of them. She sighed, running her hands down the side of the box. When she looked back up, Acton had tilted his head slightly, looking at her hand flat on the side of the cardboard.

“I don’t think they’ll be safe with me.” Ember said with a frown.

“You can keep them where I live.” Acton said, straightening up. He kept his voice low. “How is your hand?”

Ember had almost forgotten; she lifted her hand and inspected the bandage before turning her palm out to Acton. “It’s fine. It’s healing.”

Acton nodded curtly. He held out his hand. “Come on, then. Let’s go sit.”

Ember set the books down next to her bag, took his hand, and forced a smile, unsure of what was waiting for her out in the bar.

When he opened the door, Zinny was blocking the way. Her glossy lips were forced into a pout as she looked Ember up and down; then, she reached out and pulled Ember into a hug, grabbing Acton by the front of his shirt to pull him in as well.

“Zinny…” Acton said, his voice full of warning.

“She can’t take the clothes back to Gina’s,” she said.  As Ember struggled uncomfortably, Zinny’s arms held her like a vice. “They smell like us, and she won’t appreciate that.”

“She’s not going around dressing like Thalia.” Acton responded tersely. “Besides,
those
clothes are going to smell like you now. She can’t go home in those.”

Zinny finally let Ember go, pushing her out to arm’s length. She smiled gently. “I’ll wash them for you before you go back. You can wear them out of the house and back, and change in the back room into something that’s more…well, less Gina. And shower, right when you get home—that’s important.”

Ember’s eyes had gone wide. “It’s true? You’re not…normal.”

Zinny’s smile never moved, but creases appeared around her eyes.  For half a second, she looked decades older than the young, vibrant woman Ember had come to know. “Em, we’re not bad people.”

She left her hands drift from Ember’s shoulders down to hold her hands. Her dark eyes smiled again as Ember’s met them uncertainly. “Demons?”

Zinny nodded, looking at the floor for a moment. “Yes, that’s what they call us.”

“She’s afraid of you.”

A small laugh escaped Zinny’s lips. “Your mother has never been afraid of
me
. Now, go sit down.”

Zinny stepped away and back to the bar, bringing a hand up to wipe at her eyes even though she hadn’t shed a single tear. Ember’s eyes followed her away, and then snapped back to Acton. She smiled excitedly as Acton put a hand on her back and gestured to a table in a corner.

When Acton pulled out her chair for her, she could no longer contain herself. “Their friends, aren’t they? My mom and your mom are friends—that’s why she has to let you stay.”

Acton pulled a chair over to sit close next to her. “No. But I’ve long speculated that it’s the reason she has to let me live.”

Ember shook her head. “But how does that happen? I mean, how did they get to be friends—she hates you all so much. And—“ Ember paused, looking around the bar. “How many of you all are there?”

“‘Friend’ is a very strong word.” Acton sat low in his seat, putting his arm around her shoulders. He put his free hand on the table, discreetly gesturing. “Almost everyone that lives here. That group is. So is that one. Most of that group, but not the married couple there—they’re kayaking tourists from Vermont. Those over there are from the fish processing plant a few miles from the mainland town…none of them are, in that town. But almost everyone here is. Not Charles, he’s the one exception that Gina has willingly allowed. She finds ways to get rid of the other humans.”

Ember looked over at him. “Why not Charles?”

Acton pursed his lips, glancing at her, but then his eyes lit up. Ember looked over to see Kaylee walking up to the table. Asher was walking next to her, and Isaac was trailing her like a faithful shadow.

Acton removed his arm from Ember’s shoulder’s, composing himself in his seat. Kaylee stood across from him at the table.

Her smile looked like a sarcastic snarl. “Yes, your majesty?”

He kicked the chair opposite him away from the table, making Ember jump. “Have a seat.”

Kaylee eyed the chair, but then her searing green eyes flashed to Ember, who suddenly felt the terror seep from her expression into her being. A slow smile spread across Kaylee’s glossy pink lips as she turned the chair around to straddle it.

“She’s not my size,” she said with a sneer. “And I’ll be damned if I give her anything—I may as well burn it myself.”

Acton removed something from his jacket pocket, and set it on the table between them. He sat back and crossed his arms as Kaylee eyed the folded hunting knife.  The sneer slipped from her lips, but the icy stare in her eyes remained.

Isaac took a step forward. “Acton…”

“Jessica is about her size,” Acton said lightly. “Make it happen. She’s not going around with me looking like this.”

Kaylee had sunk away from the table, and her cool straddle looked awkward. She looked up at Isaac, and then back at Acton. She smiled again. “Acton suddenly wants to play dress up with his new doll. I wonder why…?”

Ember blinked, and then her chair slammed to the wall and clattered to the floor as she shot up out of it. The knife was open in Kaylee’s hand, and there were fingers—
human fingers
—lying on the table where the knife had been. Ember looked from one to the next, counting each perfectly manicured digit as she went; one, two, three…

Thumb.

A thumb had dropped into the mess, and Ember felt dizzy. The fingers didn’t look real, and she didn’t know why. They were fingers, each one just lying there, no longer attached to Kaylee’s hand as she slowly sliced them off. She dragged the blade neatly across the joint of her pinky finger, and
plop
, down it went, landing next to her index finger before bouncing and settling next to her thumb. The bar lights were reflecting off of the polished pink tips, mirrored again in the enamel table top. She went about the bloody business as though she were peeling a potato, dark globs of black blood oozing from each stump and a shocked look on her face.

Isaac was scooping up the fingers with a look and a grunt of indignation, stuffing them into his pants pocket.

Asher had lifted his hand to cover his mouth, looking nearly as shocked as Kaylee as he tried to stifle a laugh. He had moved to block the scene from the rest of the room, but it was so dark, and Kaylee hadn’t made a sound despite the screaming expression on her face. Her eyes were wide and horrified as she stared at her mangled hand; small, choked gasps, almost too quiet to hear, escaped her throat.

No one knew what was going on.  Only one of the tourists had looked over for a moment when Ember’s chair had banged to the floor.

Isaac had finally found his voice.  “You could have just made her get the clothes!”

“Cooperation is so much nicer than compliance, and Kaylee is going to cooperate.” Acton said with a smirk. He turned back to Ember.  Her face had gone pale. “Em, you should sit down before you faint.”

Isaac had Kaylee by the shoulders, hurrying her back toward the door.

“Ash, get a towel for this.”

Asher walked off to the bar.

Acton looked back at Ember again, stopping just short of rolling his eyes. “I’m serious, Ember. Your face is pale, and you’re going to pass out. You need to sit down.”

Ember felt herself trying to shake her head and nod at the same time, and then grabbing the edge of the table as she lowered herself to the floor. Acton sighed in exasperation, picking up Ember’s chair first, and then scooping her up from the floor to set her in it as Asher wiped down the table. As he left with a rag that looked like it had been soaked in tar, Acton put his arm back around Ember’s shoulders.

Ember opened her mouth to speak, but all she managed was to lift her hand, staring at the place on the table where Kaylee’s fingers had been.

“That was unfortunate.” Acton said calmly, leaning over to smell her hair. “Some days, Kaylee needs to be reminded of her place, but I do regret that you had to witness it.”