Winter's Fury - Volume Two of The Saga of the Twelves (8 page)

Not anymore…

“
I know!
It would awful if something happened to him. With the father gone,
those kids are going to need someone to take care of them,”
said Vanessa.

To Lynn, she sounded truly
worried for them. “You’re such a sweetheart,” she couldn’t help but
say.

“
Why?”

“
Because, all you worry
about are his siblings. I think it’s cute, and quite nice of you, I
might add.” She knew why, in that instant, Vanessa Menendez meant
so much to her. “You’re a great person, Ness.”

“
Ah come on,
girl.”

“
I mean it!”

“
Come off it! You’re
embarrassing me.”

In her mind’s eye, Lynn
could envision her voluptuous friend. Her hair was always
highlighted, light-brown and super-curly. She could see her broad
face and hazel eyes bunched up with discomfiture. She could see her
blended features and long, narrow nose flaring. Her broad, ruby-red
lips would pinch as she rejected the complements Lynn was giving
her.

Lynn decided to
lay-off.

A short silence befell
them.

“
But, seriously, girl,
have you heard anything else?”

Lynn shook her head in the
negative, though she knew her friend could not see the gesture.
“No, and it is frustrating, let me tell you. Now that there are so
many different kinds of police looking into… what’re they calling
it?”

“
The Event.”

“
Yeah, the Event.” She
stopped to snicker. “Sounds like the title to a really bad movie.
Doesn’t it?”

“
You know what? It sure
does.”

“
Anyhow, I’ve run into
nothing but a brick wall. No one knows anything, other than what
the media has said they can report. I mean, after the first videos
went viral and it was obvious that this was something much more
than a series of child abductions. It’s like the government has
shut down everything.” Lynn flopped down amongst the pillows of her
bed. “Did you know there’s been nothing knew on YouTube for over
twenty hours?”

“
No
shit? I hadn’t checked,”
replied
Vanessa.

Both girls knew twenty
hours on YouTube was like the passing of three
lifetimes.

“
Well, you haven’t missed
anything. It’s like they’ve shut down all outgoing information.”
She paused around the growing lump in her throat, her voice uneven.
“And, it totally sucks.”

Vanessa, for the first
time that afternoon, was silent for a time. Then,
“You like him, don’t you?”

In a flood of longing and
regret that surprised Lynn down to the soles of her feet, she said:
“I don’t know.”

Her friend’s voice was
small.
“There’s nothing to feel bad about.
We all know you’ve had a crush on him for some time now. Besides,
he’s cute in a frumpish sort of way.”
She
giggled like she had pondered something naughty.

The thought made Lynn sit
up in the middle of her bed. “Really?!? I haven’t even decided if I
like him or not.”

“
Oh, girl, you have, you
just haven’t admitted to yourself yet.”

Maybe it was true. Maybe
she did like him. Ever since she had heard of his seizure, all she
could think about was how far she was willing to go if a
conversation between them turned personal. She had spent
Thanksgiving dinner contemplating various scenarios between them.
Every instance had taken place in the tiny room where they did
their work for the school paper. They were always alone. They were
always left uninterrupted. A lot could happen in situations like
that, right?

If he had leaned close,
she would have as well, letting him know it was ok to kiss her. If
he had asked her out, she had thought about the fashion in which
she would accept. Then, she would back-track, thinking over the
many ways he might ask. What would his approach be like? Would he
be bold or meek? Would he be bursting with confidence or would be
as shy as a twelve-year-old. Over and over, she kept tossing and
turning the various images. She wondered at his methods of
expression and the manner she would receive them. Would she play
hard-to-get or would she dive right in? Was he a good kisser? Did
he know his way around a good make-out session? Or would he fumble
through it? And if he was good at making out, would she let him do
more than give her simple kisses? Was petting at school a slutty
thing to do? Did she care?

It had been a long time
since she had let a boy feel her up. The last guy had been too
rough, too eager. The moment she had allowed his hand on her butt,
he was trying to get inside her panties in the next. The incident
had left her turned off to boys. She had withdrawn from them,
preferring to hang with her "Besties", than with members of the
opposite sex. Vanessa and J.J. were not judgmental or jealous. She
hated crap of that nature.

Am I ready for a boyfriend
now? Is it time? Should I finally take the plunge?

Without fail, the outcomes
with Andrew were positive, except when she imagined him out of
character. But being overbearing and unwilling to take no for an
answer were not traits that described Andrew Ibarra. He was gentle
around girls. He was intuitive and genuine. He would not be like
that. No, she knew this. Somewhere deep inside, a tiny voice was
telling her he would fight to the death over someone he loved.
Maybe he did not show it all the time, or maybe he lacked the
knowledge, but it still did not change the fundament from which
Andrew was forged. He was a romantic.

And, she liked
that.

And you like him
too…

“
That
was an uncomfortable stretch of quiet, girl,”
prompted Vanessa through the phone.

“
I’m just trying to put
things in some sort of perspective.”

“
And?”

“
I think you know the
answer already,” retorted Lynn, a growing smile through the
indecision written on her face.

Vanessa chuckled.
“That’s good, girl. I’m glad to hear it. Now, we
just have to figure out a way to make sure he’s okay.”

“
Or find a way to save
him.”

“
What did you
say?”

Lynn’s mind was already a
million miles away. “I gotta go,” she said in a hurry, not even
bothering to repeat herself.

“
Wait! Wait! Tell me what
you said!”

“
Bye!” Lynn Loren tapped
the “End” icon, terminating the call, her eyes narrow with
determination.

Aunt
Denise
, thought Lynn. S
he’ll know what’s the haps. After all, she does work for the
LAPD.

~~~~~~~<<<
ᴥ
>>>~~~~~~~

~ 5 ~

Ill Tidings

Friday, November
26
^th
,
the Day after Thanksgiving, the Same Time…

It was not a meal. A small
container of flax & chia seed cracker bread, a half a jar of
Maraschino cherries and finger-dipping into Cool-Aide like it was a
bag of Fun Dip was not nourishing at all. More than anything it
made them thirsty, but that’s all there was to eat.

Christina sucked on her
index finger, tasting for the umpteenth time the semi-sweetness of
the cherry flavored Cool-Aide powder. She knew she should stop.
After every such delving into the plastic jug she felt just a bit
more dehydrated, but she could not stop. The mix was that
good.

Or maybe, Christina, just
maybe, you’re a little off your game today.

She glanced over at the
tiny 3rd grader, who had quit the Cool-Aide long ago.

Christina smiled at the
thought, bemused over her clear addiction to the real
thing.

Marissa was sitting near
the lantern now, warming her hands against the heat coming off it.
The temperature within the passage was dropping with each passing
hour and the light was the only source of heat available to them.
She had unrolled the thin rug the man-thing had bundled Christina
within. She wanted to rest her bottom on anything other than the
cold floor. She had placed the lantern at its’ middle.

Deliberate, she placed the
tight-fitting lid onto the plastic container. Christina stood,
swiping her hands against her now dirty jeans in an offhanded way.
The dust and the sand-like top layer of the concrete floor coated
them now, so adding a bit more grime did not matter to the
teen.

She peered again at the
nine-year-old who had saved her from asphyxiation. The little girl
seemed lost in her own thoughts. Her eyes were searching for
something deep in the soft glow before her. The teenager could see
her body fill and un-fill whenever she breathed, but she was
otherwise motionless. Her long hair cascaded down either side of
her head, obscuring detail, but not the entire view. Her narrow
face was pinched with concentration and made her v-shaped chin all
the more severe.

She’s too young to be
going through something as frightening as this
, came the thought. Not sure why, Christina’s heart lurched
for the girl she did not know. She turned from her, even as the
desire to place a protective shield around the 3rd grader
blossomed. Resolution settled upon her shoulders as if she’d made
some sort of decision. It was general though, not a thought geared
at anything in particular, but it was one all the same. She would
look out for the girl regardless if she knew all that much about
her.

Her eyes found the
darkness at the further reaches of the passage. Her brow furled on
its' own, as if creasing the skin upon her forehead would somehow
increase the power of her vision. Yet, her orbs did not penetrate
the black veil. Where the lantern-light failed, so did her ability
to see beyond. She shivered from the growing chill. Or maybe it was
something else, something she felt inside. She could not tell
which. Either way she was cold.

She found Marissa once
again. “Why are we here?” she asked no one, but still said it aloud
nonetheless.

Maybe she was asking
God.

“
We’re part of the Event,”
said the nine-year-old. Her voice seemed light-years
away.

The teens’ grimace spread
throughout her visage. “What event?”

Marissa turned toward her,
crossing her legs as she did so. “You know all that stuff that
happened with the Plaza, with Vons and the missing kids. It hasn’t
stopped. We’re part of it.”

“
How do you know that,
sweetie?”

“
Because,” was all she
managed before she stopped to wipe at her eyes, angry at being on
the verge of tears. Marissa hated crying. It made her feel like
such a big baby and she was not a baby, not anymore. She might look
years younger than her nine, but it did not mean she had to act
like it too.

“
Because…?” Christina
prompted, gentle.

“
Because, two of the kids
taken were my best friends,” clarified the little girl. Her eyes
were accusatory as if she was searching for someone to blame. “I
bet you knew some of them as well.” She looked back at the lantern.
“I bet my life on it.”

Christina's shocked was
palatable. Why hadn’t she made the determination before? It was so
simple. The answer was right there in front of her. Of course she
had known some of the kids abducted two days prior - none more than
Anthony. He had been her friend for a while now. They were part of
the same clique. They were the same group of kids who spent every
nutrition and lunch by the picnic table under the towering oak tree
toward the back of the school. They had even gone so far as feign
they were dating whenever a boy could not quite get it in his head
that Christina did not like him. They had even kissed once, taking
their rouse a bit too far. It had been a nice kiss though.
Christina remembered it well. His lips had been soft. They were
warm, almost red before her eyes. The entire group had whooped and
hollered something fierce at the sight of them trying to convince
some poor sap that they were an item.

For a split second,
Christina had contemplated continuing, but then reality had set in
and she had pulled away. She liked Anthony, a lot, and because of
it, she did not want to botch things between them. Every guy she
had ever dated ended up hating her when they broke up. She was
loath to see an expression like one of theirs on Anthony’s face as
he considered her. She could not bear that. It would be too
much.

So, she had pulled away,
though he had made her weak in the knees, made her heart jump in
her chest. She took all the ridicule and fun-loving jibes from her
pals with stoic patience. She had peered at Anthony with fleeting,
side-long glances through a tumble of her hair.

He seemed to take in
stride, but every once and a while, he caught her looking and his
expression would change. He became unreadable within seconds. His
gaze was direct and only for her.

It had made her quiver in
strange places. She pushed those yearnings away as fast as she
could. She would not go there with him. She liked him too much for
that.