Bizarre Life of Sydney Sedrick (3 page)

“What do you mean my entire life is going to be different? What have my mother and Grandma kept from me?”

Aunt Judith grabbed the book she’d been paging through and handed it to me.

“This is a journal, Sydney. Your grandmother’s journal. Read it, and you’ll understand why you were attacked. It may even explain why a few strange things have already happened to you. You’ll learn things about why we live here, why you specifically have been brought back to Kenosha. Take this book and read it. When you’re done, come talk to me, and I’ll answer any questions you may have.”

She left me standing there, holding the journal in my hands. The kitchen door softly closed behind her.

There were things my family had kept from me. Obviously, from Aunt Judith’s expression, it was something serious. Whatever it was, she knew about it and didn’t tell me herself, until now. The clock on the wall ticked loudly as the minutes went by, while I stood there in an emotional meltdown.

Finally able to free myself from the shock that locked my body in place, I shoved the journal in my bag and grabbed my keys. There wasn’t enough time to think about the family secrets. That would have to be dealt with later. I had work to do and a store to run.

While driving, thoughts whirled in my head. Coming to Kenosha was supposed to help me get my life together. Running the store was to prove I could handle the pressure to get my parents off my back. It’s where I was supposed to show myself capable of being an independent adult, able to take care of myself.

Maybe I’d been wrong. Maybe Kenosha wasn’t as simple a town as I assumed. Chicago was known to be more dangerous than some small, out-of-the-way town. I would never have thought I’d have to worry about dangerous people hiding around building corners here.

I pulled my car to the curb in front of my favorite coffee shop and went in.

Leaving Mountain Bean, I returned to my car clutching the hot steamy coffee with caramel drizzled on top. After securing the delicious coffee in the cup holder, I headed to the store.

While driving down the street, I looked from one side of the car to the other for any sign of the man from last night.

Having another encounter with a crazy guy with long pointy teeth, rotten breath, and scary glowing eyes was not on my to-do-list. Once was definitely enough for me. The odd thing was, Aunt Judith didn’t even seem surprised. I was worried she might question my sanity, or tell me to call the police. She didn’t even suggest that we call my mother to tell her what had happened.

My face flushed with anger, and the tips of my ears started to burn. Shouldn’t she have been hysterical? Her lack of a reaction was hard to swallow. Was it possible she’d somehow expected something like that to happen to me, not so much an
if
, but
when
?

Entering the store, I turned on the OPEN sign, and headed over to the big counter toward the back of the building. Frustrated that my family had thought I could have been hurt, or even killed, made me feel totally, and utterly, alone. Tears formed at the corners of my eyes. How could they do this to me? Why didn’t they care enough to tell me what was really going on?

Glancing over at the clock, I waited for the computer to warm up. There was only a minute to spare before the store was supposed to be opened. Not bad timing. The door chimes sounded just as I finished stowing my things under the counter. My first customer of the day had arrived. Meredith, a store regular who was also Aunt Judith’s best friend, strolled in and waved her hand to me in greeting.

I couldn’t help but feel betrayed by everyone. It was obvious from what Aunt Judith was saying on the phone that Meredith knew what was going on, too.

“How are you doing, dear?”

I pasted a fake smile on my face. “I’m fine, Meredith. Is there anything you need help finding?”

“Oh, your aunt had ordered some ingredients for me. I’m making a special remedy for my sister to try. She has terrible gout, and the medication from her doctor just isn’t taking care of the pain. Something more natural, made from the herbs of our dear planet may give her some relief. She’s suffering so much.”

“Let me go in the back and see if Aunt Judith left your delivery somewhere. You might as well have a look around while you’re here.”

She was almost like family. Meredith had been coming over to Aunt Judith’s house for as far back as my memories went. She even helped my aunt with the store before my arrival to Kenosha.

Behind the counter was a storeroom where we put all the excess books, ingredients, and other items waiting to be priced and shelved. A nondescript white bag sat on the bottom shelf against the south wall of the storeroom. I read Meredith’s name, written in my aunt’s curly penmanship, along with an order sheet stapled to the inside. Aunt Judith always emphasized the importance of keeping the privacy of our customers.

There were people who didn’t approve of those who believed in homemade remedies using symbols, elements, and charms to help with their ailments. There were people that felt using such items was a form of witchcraft and blasphemy. I just figured to each their own. No one had the right to judge or push their ideals on anyone else.

I grabbed the bag and headed out to the store common area to ring up the sale. I always enjoyed when customers were in the store. It made me feel good to help people. Making money to pay the bills didn’t hurt. But right now, I needed to be alone.

Meredith stood by the register, glaring at a new customer that must have come in while I was in the storeroom. The door chimes hadn’t sounded, so it was a surprise that anyone else had entered. I’d never seen my aunt’s dearest friend stare at someone else with such obvious disgust.

Focusing on Meredith and holding up her package, I asked, “Will that be all?”

Hopefully she didn’t notice the sharp edge to my voice. She didn’t deserve to be on the receiving end of my anger. It probably wasn’t her place to tell me whatever the big secret was.

Meredith stared at the newcomer for a moment, then finally turned her attention to me. She set her purse on the counter and hurriedly dug around for her debit card.

“Yes, Sydney, that will be all.”

The new customer circled around the cardholder, reading the different recipes on the cards. He didn’t seem crazy. He appeared to be in his mid thirties, well built, and from the side view was ruggedly good-looking. Why was Meredith so wigged out?

Though, there was something off about him. His essence wasn’t quite normal. It’s hard to explain what made him different. Judging people’s auras wasn’t my specialty. I just knew that he was.

Meredith’s hand shook as she held the debit card up, waiting for me to slide it through the credit card reader next to the register.

Her anxiety put me even more on edge.

“Are you all right, Meredith? Is there something wrong?”

Glancing once more at the other customer, who didn’t seem to be aware of what was happening at the counter, she looked back at me, her eyes pinning mine as if she were trying to tell me something. I was sure it had something to do with what they were talking about on the phone and whatever was in that book.

Finally, Meredith gave up and broke eye contact. “I’m okay, Sydney, you take care.” She put her hand on mine and squeezed, smiling a half-smile, then walked quickly, almost running, out the front door.

When she exited, I hustled over to the new customer.

“Hi, is there something specific you need help finding?”

The man turned and looked at me, his eyes slowly roaming over me from head to toe. My entire body began to burn, and flames of lust licked hot over my flesh. The kind only he could extinguish. Or a cold shower. I’d take the latter, thank you. I’d never indulged in one-night-stands, and now wasn’t the time to start. Don’t get me wrong, there were plenty of opportunities for that sort of thing down in Chicago’s nightlife scene. It was just never for me.

My physical reaction to his heated stare could only be described as primal. No man had ever made me feel like that with just a look. His dark brown eyes melted every moral, good girl quality I claimed as mine. My body defiantly began to react. Rebellious thoughts raced through my mind about what it would be like to have him kiss me. Touch me.

He undressed me with his eyes. His dark pink tongue flicked out and moistened his lower lip. The man moved so fast, he went the entire distance around my person in the blink of an eye. The quick motion created a breeze, and my hair was still settling back into place after the man had returned to his original stance.

He moved with inhuman speed. The man that attacked me last night was not all human. My chest tightened, making it almost impossible to breathe. My brain was telling me to run. My body refused to cooperate and wouldn’t move an inch.

The man inhaled deeply and closed his eyes. When he was done sniffing the air, he reopened his eyes and looked directly into mine.

“You are Sydney, first granddaughter of Maria Sky.” He stated that as a fact, not a question.

That was when it hit me. The man wasn’t wearing a coat. The temperature outside was just above freezing, and the snow had yet to stop its descent on our little slice of a town. Normal people didn’t go around not wearing a coat.

My mind went whirling. What if your car broke down, or you went sliding in a ditch somewhere from slipping on black ice? What if you were left to suffer the elements until someone came to help you? Frostbite was a serious problem. People lost body parts if they weren’t careful.

I slowly backed away from him, one small step at a time. There might be a connection to my attacker from last night and the man standing before me. After taking two steps backwards, understanding reflected in his eyes.

Where would I run to? I was stumped, but somehow it was clear it was in my best interest to get away from him.

I hadn’t realized he moved at all until I felt the grip of his hand on my arm.

“Wait. Don’t be afraid of me. We need to talk.”

I didn’t agree. “No, I’m pretty sure we don’t have anything to talk about. We don’t know each other, and there’s no reason to get to know each other.”

I yanked on my arm to loosen his grip. He clamped his hand tighter, making it impossible to escape.

He didn’t hurt me, not exactly, but he scared the heck out of me. The more distance between us the better.

He scowled. “Yes, we do have a lot to talk about. You know who and what you are, so you know what that makes me.”

“The only thing clear is that it was a big mistake moving here. What you are is a big scary guy that thinks for some weird reason you can manhandle me when you feel like it.”

“What time do you get off work? You need to see Morris, our pack leader. He wants to meet you and explain things. Clearly you are unaware of what is going on around you. You are more ignorant than we feared.” He nodded his head like he was listening to something I couldn’t hear, and that he agreed with whatever the voices were saying.

“Well,
clearly
my level of understanding is perfectly fine, and there’s no need for me to become more
aware
of whatever it is you’re talking about. So you can just take yourself right out of my store and don’t bother ever coming back. Whatever it is that you want from me isn’t available.”

His gaze held mine for several mesmerizing seconds before he finally released my arm and turned to leave. I stood still, shaken by the depth of determination I’d read in his eyes. Was that a flash of lust before his dark lashes shut me off? He reached the front door, gripped the door lever, and turned half his body. To my shame, I couldn’t help noticing how the movement showed off the ripples of muscle underneath his snug T-shirt.

“Sydney, we know who you are, we know what you can do. The smell of immense power emanates from your body. You can’t hide from your destiny forever. There are things we can help you with. We will see each other again. Soon.”

He opened the door and left.

My composure began to crumble, tears threatening to fall. What was with this town? Was it totally coincidental, my relocation and the attack? How could a completely random, freakish event like last night have any impact on my future? Aunt Judith said there were things for me to learn, secrets to unlock about my past. The gorgeous crazy guy, who affected me in ways that would make my loose friend Susie blush and who wanted me to meet his pack leader, had said the exact same thing.