Book of the Hidden (2 page)

     
Looking at the rearview mirror she saw no one behind her, and she pressed her foot down onto the pedal speeding up. Her hair flew behind her, cooling her neck. Her eyes closed for a moment but opened quickly when she thought of all the trees along the way. She laughed. Maybe it wasn’t laughing in the face of danger, but laughing to pretend nothing bothered her. That her life could just be this. The roar of the engine, and her speeding. But it wasn’t….

     
Without looking she felt around the passenger seat, and felt something soft and bulging under her fingertips. There it was. She caught it between her fingers, and looked at the scrawled writing on the front of the envelope.

     
Better now than never,
she thought, and slowed to a stop at the side of the road. With a turn of a key she shut off the engine. Nothing but silence. It was perfect. Vivian ripped open the letter with her nail, and read to herself:

Vivian,

     
We can only hope that you are doing well. We know you will come back someday to us, normal, like you used to be. Those were the days! You were so sweet, and had nothing to do with the nonsense you deal with now. Remember how you used to love to play hopscotch out on the sidewalk with your friends? And those ribbons tied in your hair were so adorable. We can’t wait for the day you will come back. We love you.

Love, The Family

     
Also in the envelope was a small wallet picture of a young girl in a long sundress and a ponytail tied with yellow ribbons. The girl had a wide smile as she lied on her stomach, legs crossed, piecing together a puzzle, glancing up at the camera. Behind her was another girl sticking out her tongue with a half smile.

     
Right in her hand the picture began to burn from her fingertips. Suddenly light sparks burst into flames. She pursed her lips angrily, the light reflecting in her eyes menacingly. Then just as quickly as it had started, the flames died and the picture was gone.

     
The anger flowed to her fist and Vivian hit the dashboard.
How dare they! The idiots! Thinking I would go back! Never will I go back to them. They may still call me family, but they are not family to me,
she thought as she pounded the dashboard.
What kind of family throws one of their own outside of the house?
But again…. She wasn’t like them anymore. They haven’t come to accept that. They still talked about the hopscotch games, and ribbons. She seemed so innocent then, and not the freak they saw her as now. Yeah…. Those were the days…..

     
She ripped the letter to shreds throwing them out of the open window. The soft blowing wind blew the pieces away scattering them in all directions.
I have no family,
she thought silently. Though her eyes told her different. They gave her away as they always did, stinging with tears she leaned against the steering wheel sobbing. Squeezing her eyes tightly she hoped it would stop, but soon the tears ran down her cheeks and she wiped them away with the sleeve of her jacket,.

     
In the corner of her eye she saw something. It looked like a long shadow of a black dog sneaking toward a shack to her right. The shack was barely standing, and the boards of the walls were losing their nails. The roof was slightly caved in as well. The whole place was ancient. Who would go in there? She squinted her eyes to see better, but it was still a shadow, and yet a very familiar one. Vivian leaned across the seat holding onto the steering wheel for support.
No! It couldn’t be! Not now!

     
Then at that moment a bloodcurdling scream of a man erupted from the shack along with sounds of growling and howling.
What the heck?
Then with the sound of a loud crash the shack shook as though someone had been thrown against the wall. The whole building threatened to topple at any moment as a second crash reached her ears, and the shack dangerously shook again.

     
Vivian lifted herself up and over the jeep door forgetting about the letter, and her tears. She ran towards the shack, her hand palm out in front of her. She could barely hear her footsteps over the racket that was being made. She wondered,
was it a murder?
She side kicked the door open causing it to almost fall off its hinges.

     
She scanned the only room in the shack. It would have been pitch black if not for the moon trying to break its way through the grimy windows. It must have been many years since anyone stepped inside and on the rare occasion that they did, like Vivian was now, they had not bothered to fix it. But why would they when the shack was beyond repair.

     
The boards creaked under her feet as she took a couple steps forward. She just hoped the floor would be able to hold long enough for her to find out the mystery of the sounds resembling a fight.

     
No one seemed to be there except for her. All she could hear was the sound of her faltering breath and heart pounding in her chest. She knew she heard something. Maybe it was an animal fighting over territory? She backed up a couple of steps to the door, but something whipped past her legs and she gasped tripping backwards to the floor landing hard on her back. She kept her head up to keep it from colliding painfully with the floor, but did nothing for her back which she could already feel was bruised.

     
Across the shack, two golden eyes stared at her fiercely. She held her breath so she could hear every sound and the fact that she was scared. “Who are you?” She announced hearing her voice echoing back.

     
The animal took a couple of steps forward and showed its face in the light from outside. Black mangled fur that hid the sleek muscles with a stride that showed a winners pride. She knew it.

     
“Get out of here, Astrid!” Vivian yelled to the wolf, dust falling from the ceiling at the level of her voice, and she stood, wiping the thick dust off her. Astrid growled and she could swear that she was almost grinning. It disgusted Vivian.

     
“I said get out of here. Go back to the Underground. Get!” Vivian's foot itched to take a step towards her, but she stood her ground as though her feet were permanently glued to the stop.

     
Astrid continued to smirk, and slowly advanced on her. Vivian stood straight, her shoulders back, staring her in the eyes. She knew that Astrid would take that as a challenge, and Vivian was ready. She raised her hand against the wolf’s face feeling the sweet magic flowing through her veins, but she stopped it at her palm intending not to use it unless Astrid made the first move. And she did.

     
With a fierce leap Astrid’s muscles, gleaming in the window light, tried to bite Vivian’s arm. Vivian moved her foot to the right, aimed her hand directly at Astrid, and released her magic upon her.

     
Astrid flew back onto her side sliding halfway across the room. It took her no time to recover and she was on her feet once more showing her sharp teeth, crimson blood smeared across them. Vivian suddenly felt sick knowing that Astrid had bitten someone, unsure if that person was dead or alive.

     
“Come on, Astrid. You are so keen to fight with me, let’s see what you got!” Vivian pushed her shoulders back again, looking defiant, this time lowering her hand. It was a dangerous option for anyone in her place but she wanted Astrid to think she had some gain, to believe she could possibly top Vivian.

     
Sure enough, Astrid came at a run, kicking up dust around her shaggy legs. Vivian merely side stepped letting Astrid crash into the wall with a soft thud.

     
Astrid composed herself slightly shaking her head, and staring at Vivian with a low growl. Vivian knew it wasn’t just anger at Vivian in whole, it was the fact that she wouldn’t fight back to her full strength.

     
“I’m not going to harm you. It’s not what Maeve would have wanted.”

     
Astrid growled louder giving the message that she had not favored Maeve in the same way Vivian had. But Astrid brushed past Vivian’s legs running out the door. Though confused, Vivian let out a sigh of relief knowing that it was over for now. But there had been a lot of racket for just Astrid…. And she had blood on her teeth.... She had to be fighting someone.

     
Vivian walked further into the room, and looked around. The walls surrounding her were rotted and there was the must of morning air. It gave off a light stench and she covered her crinkled nose with the end of her sleeve continuing to look around. Each of the corners were in complete darkness and there was no way to tell if any of them were hiding a secret without moving the toe of her boot around to feel for something.

     
There had to be someone else. Sure enough there was! Hidden behind the door was a man lying on his back, arms spread. She hurried to kneel at his side. Blonde spiked hair and strong broad shoulders, he looked like an angel. She ran her fingers over his soft cheek and down his jaw

     
His jeans and button down shirt were torn, and blood covered the scratched wounds.. It was then that she saw the scarred tissue of his neck. Her eyes widened as she gaped at the blood trailing its way down his neck and onto the floor spilling into a small puddle. He had been bitten.

     
Vivian looked over to the door, half expecting the wolf to be standing there mocking her. “Damn you, Astrid!” She yelled to the empty doorway, her voice echoing off the walls and more dust falling off the ceiling. She ran her hand over his hair sympathetically. “Damn you!”

     
Fifteen miles away was the cheapest motel in the world. The faucets took ten seconds to kick in, lights didn't work, blankets were scratchy and there was no heat. But it provided a place to sleep for the night with a sturdy roof overhead, at least it looked sturdy. It was much better than the rotting shack.

     
Vivian lifted the man through the open window of the room so questions wouldn’t be raised by lazy workers in the lobby. After she carefully laid him on the bed, which creaked in protest, she pulled up a desk chair next to him. She was tired and her knees ached from the pressure of carrying this stranger so she rubbed them with the heel of her hands.

     
In his pockets she found a leather wallet. Inside was a couple of crinkled dollars, a credit card and a drivers license. The strangers name was Seth Martin. She glanced at him. Yeah.... He looked like a Seth. A small smile crept across her lips. She slid the card back in the wallet and set it aside on the nightstand.

     
Seth's face and arms grew dark for a split second, and were suddenly bare the next. He shook from the change that overtook his body as though he had been dumped in a tub full of ice despite the pile of blankets Vivian heaped on him trying to keep his body warm.

     
Vivian had heard about this happening to humans, but she’d never witnessed it. She wished she could tear her eyes away, but she couldn't. Bile rose in her throat, and she covered her eyes with her hand.
Take deep breaths Vivian. It will be okay.
She felt like she was going to be sick.

     
Running behind part of a wall that separated the bedroom from the bathroom she leaned over the sink. It took a while for the water to kick in, but once it did she splashed it over her face. It dripped off of her chin, trickling down her neck and chest. Slowly breathing in through her nose, she calmed. She splashed her face again taking in the stuffy air of the motel into her lungs. She no longer felt sick. For a moment the coldness of the room had numbed everything. For one moment she forgot about the man behind the wall. That is until he mumbled.

     
Vivian showed herself from behind the wall and leaned against it watching him from the other side of the room. He twisted and turned tangling the flowered blankets with his legs like he was having a bad dream he couldn't wake up from. She crossed her arms waiting. It must be painful. It was painful for her too, but not in the same way. With one last shudder Seth woke. His eyes fluttered open roaming around the room. Vivian pressed her back against the wall. Maybe he wouldn't see her. She had never thought about what she was going to say to him or how she was going to explain all of this. She was going to sound like a complete lunatic! But his eyes fell on her, and she knew he was trying to remember where he knew her from.