“Stay in the room!” Daniel heard Celine tell him from downstairs. He obeyed her and ran back inside the bedroom, closing the door behind him. But he was also curious, so he fell down onto the floor and placed his ear against the floorboards to hear what was going on downstairs.
They had never received a visitor before. Celine and Daniel lived so far away from anyone that Daniel sometimes imagined they were the last humans on Earth. When he learned how babies were made, though, he wasn’t so keen on restarting civilization with his mother.
Downstairs, Celine had grabbed a knife from the butcher-block and slowly made her way to the front door. “Who’s there?” she asked, her hand gripped tightly around the knife’s handle. She was glad Daniel wasn’t downstairs to see her paranoia.
“Uh, it’s me,” came a voice she was first unfamiliar with before she looked through the peephole in the door. Standing behind the door was one of her favourite people, Graham.
“Oh,” said Celine when she recognized him. “It’s you.” She unlocked the door and let him in, trying her best to hide the fact that she was carrying a knife behind her back. Then again, he knew who she was.
“No, it’s me,” Graham said sarcastically as he walked inside, holding his hands up to show he meant no harm. “What’s with the knife?” He noticed it glimmering behind Celine. She took it out and rolled her eyes as she returned to the kitchen to put the knife back where she found it. “Nice house,” said Graham, admiring the bright lights that fell over the hallways and in the rooms.
“What are you doing here?” Celine asked him, walking out from the kitchen. “I thought I told you to never come to my house unless it’s an emergency,”
“Well, it kind of is.” said Graham as he grabbed inside the satchel he had hanging over his shoulder. Celine was so worried he was someone else that she didn’t even notice him wearing a satchel. Graham wasn’t just someone she met at a coffee shop, he was her friend.
Graham also originated from where she originated. He was twenty-seven, seven years younger than Celine was.
Graham had short black hair and tortilla-brown-coloured skin with big black eyes and a light beard running down his jaw and circling his mouth. He was fit and athletically built, and always wore skinny jeans with jackets or buttoned shirts.
“I found it,” said Graham as he took out a white cloth from inside of his satchel. “I lost a dog because of it, but it was so worth it.”
Celine clasped her hands over the white cloth and whatever was inside of it. She looked up at Graham’s dark eyes and smiled at him. They were both startled when they heard Daniel call from above them. They both turned up towards the stairs and saw Daniel standing at the top step. “Who is this?” asked Daniel, trying to wrap his head around the fact that there was another human being in their house. “This is a friend of mine,” said Celine quickly. “Go back to the room, okay? I’ll bring you some hot-cocoa and marshmallows.”
“Why can’t I meet the man downstairs?” Daniel asked, his eyes still locked on Graham. “Because I said so, now go back to the room and try to entertain yourself with my cell-phone.” Celine instructed. “This man just came from outside, so I have to clean him so he doesn’t make you sick.”
When Daniel heard this, he sighed and obeyed his mother. No matter how excited he was to see another human being, he didn’t want to get sick again. His mother told him what would happen if he were to get sick again, and by the way she described it, he did not want to experience it.
When she was sure Daniel was in the bedroom, Celine took Graham into the kitchen and put whatever he had brought her onto the kitchen table. “I can’t believe you found it,” said Celine, excited to open the cloth and see what was inside.
“You owe me so much,” said Graham. “But I’m a decent guy, so I won’t charge you more than what you offered me.” Celine gently grabbed at both sides of the white cloth and unfolded it, revealing to her what was inside. She’d waited so long to even see it, but now it was finally in front of her. Being in its presence made her feel nauseous, nervous and petty compared to it.
“Let me guess, you’re going to give it to Ronin, right?” Graham suddenly asked. Celine closed whatever was wrapped up in the white cloth and looked up at Graham. Trying not to get angry, she folded her hands on top of the table and breathed out slowly. “I’m not going to give it to him.” she said, making sure he was listening to her. “Even so, Ronin’s changed. He may have done bad things, but that’s all in the past. Still, that doesn’t mean I’ll give it to him.”
“But you’re meeting him in two days.” Graham said, reminding Celine of what she told him. “I don’t mean to be rude, but that’s kinda none of your business.” Celine warned him. “I hired you to go to Crimson Creek because I can’t, and nothing more. And don’t you dare forget that I saved you when you were hunted down, so please don’t question what I’m going to do with the things I ask you to get for me.”
“So you’re just gonna keep reminding me about that, aren’t you?” asked Graham, but he knew she was right. If not for her, he’d be dead, but he didn’t like being reminded of it. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to say it,” she said, apologizing. “You’re the only Enchantant I know around here who doesn’t want me dead or jailed for life.”
“And you’re welcome.” said Graham, giving her a low bow. That got Celine smiling. She loved Graham second after Daniel. He was her only connection to Crimson Creek and she didn’t want to lose him.
“How are you and Daniel, anyway?” he asked her, motioning to the boy upstairs. “You haven’t talked about him in days.”
“We’re okay.” answered Celine, leaving the kitchen table to prepare Daniel his hot-cocoa. “Would you like some hot-cocoa?” she asked him, searching the cabinets for it. “Yes, thank you,” said Graham as he pulled out the chair underneath the kitchen table and sat down. “When are you gonna send him to school, anyway?”
“You know, we actually had this talk before,” said Celine as she took out three mugs. “Daniel said he wanted to go to school like everyone he saw on TV. I keep on telling him he can’t because he’s sick.”
“Yeah, but you know you can’t deny this world from him forever, right?” said Graham. “Daniel’s turning nine. He should be out there playing with other boys, or girls, or things, I don’t know what kids do these days.”
“That’s a big step, Graham, sending him to school,” said Celine, taking out a pot from the cabinets on the floor. She went to the fridge and took out the milk which she poured into the pot and placed on the stove to heat up.
Graham looked at Celine and scoffed. He knew her as overprotected. She was so protective of Daniel that she wouldn’t even let him outside until he was two-years-old. “Are you scared they’ll find him?” he asked, realizing he shouldn’t have dug deeper. “They won’t find him,” said Celine as she turned on the stove. “Not if I take away the part of him that is traceable.”
“It’s dangerous to do that, you know, especially since he’s a –” Graham said, but Celine interrupted him. “Don’t say that name,” she said quickly before Graham was able to finish his sentence. Graham closed his mouth and folded his arms. Biting his lip, he gave her a smile as a way of apologizing. Celine didn’t like people uttering her last name. The only thing was that Graham didn’t know why, and he almost knew everything about her. That was the only information she didn’t want sharing with anyone.
“He’s a Balavick, like his grandfather.” said Celine, making it clear for him to understand what to do the next time he wanted to say her last name. “He will find out some day.” Graham told her, somewhat warning her.
Celine knew what he said was true, but she refused to admit it. “The more Daniel grows the more his abilities grow, and with that growth come the creatures following him. I’m not trying to start a fight, but you won’t be able to protect him for long. It’s better to ready him now before they find him.”
“They won’t find him.” Celine repeated. “I’ve kept him hidden for this long. Nothing’s going to hurt him while I’m still around.” “Not to be a bummer, but you won’t be around for long.” said Graham. Celine got tired of him killing her vibe, so she rolled her eyes and continued making the hot-cocoa, her back faced to him.
Graham knew she did not like talking about Daniel’s future. The future she wanted for him was not the one meant for him, but the one she had laid out for him had kept him out of harm’s way.
“Daniel knows a lot, but he isn’t ready to learn about what’s really happening.” she said, speaking after a minute of silence. “I know that if I tell him what’s really on his path, it’d be one Hell of an explanation and I promise you he will be angry at me for a long time.”
“It’s better you tell him before he finds out himself,” said Graham. “He’ll never find out,” said Celine, almost laughing. “Really?” said Graham, toying with her. “Where’s your wand, exactly?” Celine sighed and turned around to face him. “We’re back to this now, eh?” she asked. She couldn’t help but smile and laugh. “The wand is here in the house, but all I have to do is find it. I don’t really need it, though, because I’ve accomplished everything I have here without it.”
“Cute, but what if Daniel finds it and uses it?” asked Graham. “He can’t use the wand,” Celine told him. “Wands are bound by blood,” “Yeah, and Daniel is your blood.” Graham reminded her. “One touch and he might say some words you said in your sleep and burn this whole house down.”
“Okay, now you’re scaring me,” Celine admitted, nervously laughing. “I guess I have to find the wand then.”
“Celine,” said Graham, turning serious. She stopped laughing and bit her lower lip when she heard the tone he was speaking in. “You have to tell him about his ancestry. He’s going to find out on his own. You won’t be able to keep him locked up in this house forever. He’s bound to grow up, and you know how teenagers can get.”
“Look, I don’t need parenting advice, okay?” said Celine, her tone grave as well. Graham knew he had tripped a nerve and knew the longer he stayed, the more he might upset Celine. “Thanks for the hot-cocoa offer, but I’m gonna have to pass,” he said, standing up. Celine made no effort to stop him or beg him to stay or even apologize. “It’s getting late, and it’s a long drive home.”
Graham took one last look at the white cloth and left the kitchen into the entrance hall where Celine followed him with her head lowered. “Thanks for getting it for me,” she said softly, but he could hear her. Graham stopped by the door and turned his head to her. “I care about you, Celine, and Daniel,” he said. “But he’s more in danger if he doesn’t know what he’s up against.”
“I know, Graham,” said Celine, her voice defeated and tired. “I’m just waiting for the right time to tell him.” “Well hurry up,” Graham warned her. “He’s growing older. The longer you wait, the angrier he’ll get.”
Celine had no response to that. She sighed and said her goodbyes. He gave her a look of sympathy, nodded his head, and left out the front door. Celine looked down at the floor and pretended to kick something. Graham hadn’t even been with her an hour and already he made her question a lot of things.
What he told her reminded of an incident that had happened after she came from work.
It was the day after Daniel had mentioned about him wanting to go to school. Celine went to the coffee shop Graham worked at and bought her a cup of coffee and gained a free conversation.
After finishing her conversation, she walked over to her sedan parked but a few feet from where the Cup of Cups Café was. She needed to go and buy some new supplies for her art. She drove off and tried to remember the name of the place she needed to get the paint and the paintbrushes from. She would have ordered them, but then it would have come the next day and she needed it at that moment. While driving, it got Celine thinking about what Daniel had said.
Once again the doubt of her decision to send Daniel to real school had returned. She had many thoughts of actually inviting him into the world, but the thought of losing him never escaped hr thoughts once.
She came to a red light where five cars were ahead of her. She was a bit impatient and moved her fingers all around the steering wheel. In front of the line of cars she saw an old woman walking from car to car with a cardboard sign in front of her, begging for anything worth eating. Being the generous person she was, Celine bent over to the backseat to find the grilled-cheese sandwich she promise herself she’d eat for lunch even though the sight of cheese made her sick.
It looked delicious, and Daniel made it, but she wasn’t a fan of cheese. Reaching out, she grabbed hold of the sandwich and bent back to sit up straight.
The second she turned to the window, the old woman’s wrinkled face stared at her from just outside the glass. Celine was so startled that she dropped the sandwich to hold her hands in front of her mouth to hide her gasp. The old woman had a scarf around her head, showing only parts of her grey hair.
Her light brown skin hung like tassels down her cheeks. The green and old dress she wore had her bony arms poking out in front, both her hands against the glass. Her eyes were pitch-black and had a tiny white dot shining a few inches from the centre.
“They will find you,” hissed the old woman, her teeth thin fangs like a piranha’s fangs. “They can smell you both, and they will find you,” Celine froze and looked at the old woman who had a black streak of blood running down her nose.
Celine jumped when someone knocked on the window. She had to blink a few times to make sure she wasn’t crazy.
“Do you have anything to eat, please?” asked the old woman outside the window. “Anything of eatable would be cherished, no matter how small.” The old woman looked much better than before. Her skin was still a bit droopy, but her eyes were small and brown, and she had a warm smile crossed over her chapped lips. Still a bit dazed, Celine picked up the grilled-cheese sandwich from the floor, rolled down her window and handed it to the old woman. The old woman was so overjoyed that she gasped and smiled as tears grew in her eyes.
“No one has ever given me so much,” she praised. “May God bless your heart and grant you what you deserve.” The old woman took the sandwich and thanked Celine more than a thousand times. Celine only gave the woman a smile, driving on as soon as the traffic light turned green. Her eyes couldn’t stop themselves from turning to the mirror and looking back at the old woman.
The old woman was standing and staring at her car as it drove off, more cars driving past her but she didn’t seem to mind. Celine felt a chill run down her spine and it made her shudder so she looked away. Even if she knew she imagined it, she could still remember the bone-chilling words the old woman told her.
Was it all in her head, or was she to take it seriously? It felt like such a long time. Celine hugged herself when she thought about it again. The old woman gave her a few sleepless nights, but now she realized how silly it sounded that an old woman would say something like that to her. But then again, Celine had been through weirder situations, so an old woman turning from creepy to kind-hearted wasn’t that alarming when she really thought about it.
The milk had finished.
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***
They ate rice with calamari and mussel. The salty and spicy sauce browned the rice, making it tenderer. Daniel and his mother ate in silence. They sat by the dinner table in the kitchen, eating slowly with the sound of them swallowing beaten by the sound of Celine’s fork clanging against the plate. Daniel ate with a plastic fork. Once again, his mother was overprotective and scared he’d swallow the fork. This was the part of dinner he hated.
Whenever they had nothing to say, his mother would always eat while looking at him, her jaw moving up and down as she chewed.
Her stare would make him want to be swallowed by the floor, or ask to be dismissed but he never had a good reason to ask, so he sat there and endured the awkward and uncomfortable moment.
“You know,” Celine finally said, looking away from him and down at her plate. “Now that you’re turning nine, I might consider sending you to an actual school.” This brought a long and wide smile to Daniel’s face. Celine loved it when he smiled, because then she would see his dimples. “I said I’m considering it.” Celine said, pointing at him with the tip of the fork. Daniel took away his smile and nodded, but he couldn’t hold the excitement for too long.
“But if you go to school, there are some rules.”
This bummed his whole excitement. Daniel knew there had to be a catch to his freedom. There always was. “But let’s leave that for tomorrow.” Celine said, taking another forkful of food straight to her mouth. Daniel smiled and continued eating as well.
For the first time he was going to travel beyond their house, see the world, meet new people and see new animals. God, he couldn’t wait.
After dinner, Celine washed the dishes with uncertainty in her heart. The only reason she said that Daniel could go to an actual school was because she knew for a fact that he couldn’t be kept from the world for so long, even if it was for his own safety.
Graham had also changed her mind with what he said. She certainly wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction that he was the reason for Daniel going to school. Her hands had fallen asleep in the warm water and tingled when she tried moving them. To wake them up, she took the plate and rinsed it over the tap water that was freezing cold. Daniel was in the living room watching a movie. He sat on the floor, cross-legged, and watched a horror-movie he’d seen a few times. “You shouldn’t be watching that so late.” Celine told him as she dried her hands. “I know, but it isn’t that scary.” Daniel said, eating from the bowl of ice-cream in front of him.
He licked the spoon and enjoyed the caramel and chocolate and vanilla flavour. Celine walked in front of him and folded her arms.
“Did you do your homework?” she asked him. “Yes, Mom, I did it.” Daniel said, trying to look past her and at the screen. “Can you please move? This is is the part where the murderer kills this dumb cheerleader.”
Celine turned around to face the screen and was shocked when she saw the murderer, a man in a ski-mask, killing the cheerleader in the gym using the emergency axe to cut her open. “Why do you even watch this?” she asked him.
“Because it’s fun to watch dumb people die because they made the dumbest mistakes.” Daniel said. Celine was shocked at her son’s answer and didn’t even want to know why he loved seeing dumb people die. “Bedtime at ten, okay buddy?” she told him.
Daniel nodded and was still focused on the TV screen. Celine saw she wouldn’t get to him, so she walked away and down the hallway to their bedroom. She sat down on her bed and folded her hands as she tried to relax herself. She regretted telling Daniel he was going to school. Just the thought of something horrible happening to Daniel was frustrating to her because then all her effort in protecting him would have been for nothing.
After the movie had ended, Daniel gazed up at the clock on the wall and saw it was 21:49. He still needed to give the dogs water. Celine had fallen asleep upstairs, so Daniel didn’t bother wake her to tell her what he was going to do. Daniel unlocked the front door to give Tina her water and refill her bowl with dog-food. The dog wagged her tail when Daniel refilled both bowls. Bruno jumped at Daniel and barked at him excitedly.
“Hey, boy, why you so happy?” he asked, scratching Bruno’s neck. Bruno licked Daniel’s neck and barked excitedly. Tina turned away from her bowl of food and looked beyond the dark field. Without even thinking, she began barking her head off. Daniel held Bruno’s head down and looked at the same direction Tina did. Squinting to see what she saw, Daniel’s heart sank when he saw two white eyes staring at him from the darkness.
Whoever made those eyes disturbed Tina. As Tina’s barking faded away, Daniel could only hear a ringing in his one ear when he saw the white eyes moving towards him.
Bruno jumped on him and broke his train of thought. Daniel had to push him down but Bruno managed to lick his lips and chin.
When Daniel looked back into the distance, the eyes were gone and he only stared at darkness once more. “Down, boy,” Daniel said, petting him hard on his head. But Bruno was persistent.
Tina had stopped barking and continued eating like she wasn’t just barking her head off. Daniel still felt afraid, so he walked back inside and locked the door behind him. It’s just the dark, he told himself.
There’s nothing to worry about. He went back to the living room and continued eating his ice-cream. The spoon was colder with the melting ice-cream on it.
The sweet smell of caramel taking over was so mouth-watering that he wanted to stop eating just so he could smell it. The light above him flickered and he looked around the room, scared and curious at the same time.
He was still eight, though, so he was scared but not so scared that he’d actually stand up and race to his mother for safety. But, his fears were fed when all of the lights went out. Screaming in sheer terror, Daniel jumped off the floor and nearly toppled over the bowl of melting ice-cream.
Celine heard his cries and her instincts kicked in. Her eyes flashed open and she rolled over on her bed, grabbing her wand out from inside one of the pillowcases. She grabbed hold of the flashlight beside the bed on the floor and hurried out of the room, running down the dark hallway to see if her son was alright.
“It’s okay, Daniel.” she said in a soothing voice, unsure if the power had just went out or if someone turned it off. She kept her voice low and calm as to not alarm Daniel that he was in any sort of danger. She hurried down the stairs and almost tripped but caught her balance just in time. “Mommy, I’m scared.” Daniel confessed, running to her and holding her around her waist the moment she came down into the living room. Celine could literally feel him quivering from fear. Trying not to laugh and to act the mother, she bent down on one knee and gently placed a hand on Daniel’s shoulder to calm him down. “I’m going to go check on the power-box outside.” she told him. “No, don’t leave me alone!” Daniel wailed, tears forming in his eyes. “No, bud, I’ll be very quick.” Celine said, massaging his tensed shoulders and calming him. “You can keep the flashlight if you like. If the power-box doesn’t work, I’ll try the generator.”
“And if that doesn’t work?” asked Daniel, his lower lip curled as his fear made him look cute in the dark with the flashlight over him. “Then I guess we’re sleeping with candles.” she answered as she stood up straight.
Daniel shook his head fast because he didn’t want to sleep in the dark. They regularly slept with the lights off, but he would feel safer if he could turn on a light whenever he heard an eerie sound. Celine walked into the kitchen with Daniel only two steps behind her.
He looked around the dark house. It was unfamiliar to him and he didn’t like it. Everything looked like a person, from the couches to the chairs and the shelves to the coat-hanger. “Here we go.” Celine said, taking out a box of matches and two candles.
She crouched down and grabbed two unused plates. Placing the two on the kitchen counter, Celine lit the candles and dripped the wax onto the middle of the plates.
When there was enough, she stuck the candles to the plates and brought them into the living room. Daniel was even more afraid when the candles casted long and skinny shadows all across the walls and made his shadow look like a monster over the ceiling.
“I’m going to check on the power-box, ‘kay?” she said, asking his permission to leave. “Can’t I go with you?” asked Daniel in a small voice, terrified to make a noise and alert monsters hiding in the parts of the house that didn’t have light in them. “If you come with me, then who’s gonna protect the house?” she asked him, smiling slightly. Her words made Daniel cry out.
“From what do I have to protect the house?” he asked, trying hard not to scream louder. “Okay, that was a bad example.” Celine admitted, looking at the floor to think of another way to let him stay behind without getting scared, but the other idea was that if she didn’t make it back then who would take care of the house. “You know what, just stay here.” she said, turning her head and spotting the bowl of ice-cream.
A very irresponsible but great idea came to her and she turned back to him. “If you stay here, you can have all the ice-cream you want.” she said in a dead-serious voice. Her eyes were wide to increase the seriousness in her voice. Daniel couldn’t help himself. He was a child, so sweetness was what he lived for. “Okay.” he said, wiping the tears with his dry hands. “But if you don’t make it back, I’m eating the other tub.” “Yeah,” Celine said, both very relieved and quite disappointed. “You just move on with life.”
Within minutes she was outside with the flashlight as her guide to the church. The wind had picked up and chilled her bones. Tina was still on the porch, staring at her owner and growling low. After a short walk, Celine was grunting as she pushed open the front door to the old and dirty church that looked like it could fall into pieces just by one press against the wall.
The flashlight didn’t show much furniture. All there was were two rows of pews and an empty spot in front with a cross bolted into the wall. Three mice ran pass her and chased each other like kids in love. Celine walked to the power-box right in the corner from the wall where the cross was bolted in.
As she walked across the wooden floor, her weight made some spots creak and groan. The flashlight shone onto cobwebs and tiny bugs all crawled up in the corners. Old drawings of stickmen were drawn with crayons on the wall. Daniel drew them when he was but three years old. There were a few of him and her, and a few of the dogs as well and a tree.
When she reached the power-box, she shone the light over it to see what had caused the fuse. To her surprise, the numbers on the box were gone, meaning the whole area had no power. “Seriously now?” she asked herself, angered at the default. She was angry because she didn’t know if the generator was fuelled.
Holding the flashlight in her left hand, she walked over to the easily concealed door right in front of her and opened it. It was a small closet with the generator down on the ground. Celine pulled on the chain and heard the generator roar like a motor coming to life. The generator moved and roared but didn’t give in to return the electricity of the house.
“Come on!” she angrily said, pulling the chain repeatedly. When it didn’t work she put the flashlight next to her and pulled with both hands, hoping there was still a little bit of fuel left to get through most of the night. The flashlight slowly rolled away from her and darkened the closet. Celine wasn’t even bothered by the darkness. All she cared about was getting the generator working. The flashlight lit past her and shone behind, revealing a woman walking towards her. The woman was skinny and wore nothing but a purple gown, her pale-skinned legs carrying her crooked body towards Celine. Each of the woman’s bones was cracking with every bare-footed step she took and every time she stretched out her fingers. Her chapped lips were whispering something but Celine couldn’t hear it at all. The moment the woman tried placing her bony fingers on Celine’s shoulder, she turned around quickly and looked behind her when she felt a cold hiss hit her neck.
There was no one. When the feeling of dread was erased when she saw no other soul except for her, she picked up her flashlight and climbed up to her feet.
“Poor Daniel,” she whispered to herself. “He’s gonna be pissed at me for this.”
She closed the closet door and turned around, walking down the aisle towards the front door. She left the church without looking back, closing the door without locking it because there was nothing of value inside.
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