Bloodlines: Everything That Glitters Read online

  Lee spent most of his time following the cute associate around; even managing to get his number in the end, and May, well May wasn’t into it as much as I thought she would be.

  During the time we’d been away from my house, they’d both managed to convince me to go out for a night on the town, just for old time’s sake.

  I slowly crept up the stairs; Ash had yet to make it home. I sent him a message when I got to my room inquiring of his well-being.

  “So what are you wearing?” May asked stepping into the room after me, Lee following closely behind her.

  I walked over to the closet and opened the door; it was still raining off and on outside so I didn’t want to get too dressy. I pulled out a pair of decent black jeans and a red ruffled shirt.

  “Is that what you wear when you go out?” Lee exclaimed drastically.

  “What’s wrong with this?” I looked down at the clothes I held in my hand then back up at Lee.

  “Everything,” He snatched them from my hands and threw them on the floor.

  “What would you have me wear then?”

  He walked over to the closet and looked around, “Aha,” he pulled out a short blue jean skirt with the black tight dangling underneath. “Can you still fit this? Cause I didn’t want to say anything but you’ve been letting yourself go.”

  I walked over and snatched the hanger from him, “Yes I can, thank you very much.” I stripped off my pants and put on the tights then slid the skirt up my legs and fastened them on my waist. Although it was a lot snugger than I remembered, they still fit. “See I told you.” I said proudly. I reached back into the drawer and took out a long sleeve v-cut shirt.

  “That’s so much better.”

  I knew I’d eventually sweat to death with the extra warmth so I slid my tube of deodorant in my purse while their backs were turned. The slight temperature change that the rain had brought didn’t bother me at all but I’d look out of place if I’d worn what I would really like to wear; a thin shirt with no sleeves and short shorts.

  I found a clean pair of ankle high socks then put them, along with my black and white sneakers on. “Okay, I’m ready.” I said getting up from the bed.

  “What about your hair?”

  I looked into the mirror at my now messy ponytail; I should have known he’d never let me leave the house like this, no matter how comfortable I was with wearing it. I glanced at May for a second who was now sitting on the edge of the bed staring out the window quietly, “Hey are you feeling okay?”

  “Can I talk to you alone, Aliza?”

  I didn’t know why she’d not want to include Lee since the three of us practically shared everything with each other. “Yeah sure, Lee go get your curlers, you can play in my hair.” He dashed out the room, shutting the door behind him.

  “Some people have all the luck.” She mumbled to herself.

  “Okay, just tell me what’s going on, and be honest about it. Are you alright?”

  “Honestly no I’m not alright. Look at you Aliza; you have everything going for you, your own car, and a job, parents that can afford to just give you a card and tell you to go nuts. Look at what I have, foster parents who can’t even afford a clue, I can’t find a job for shit and now,” she looked at the floor as she spoke her next words, “A baby.”

  I blinked in shock; I had never seen this version of her. I fought back tears as I slowly moved closer to the bed. “You’re pregnant? Who’s the father?”

  She looked up me, meeting my gaze for the first time today, “Whoa are those contacts? That’s creepily cool.”

  “Don’t change the subject, tell me.”

  “Joseph,” she replied, almost pleading. “Please, don’t get upset.”

  “I’m not mad. How far along are you?” I still stared her in disbelief; she had always said she would never be interested in someone like him.

  “Six weeks.”

  I calculated the time in my head; it was exactly around the time I’d been gone away from Hot Springs. “So you slept with him after I left town, May?”

  “It wasn’t like that,” she planted her face in her hand and cried softly. “I ran into him at the store the day after you left, he asked about you and I told him you were gone, then I invited him back to my parents’ house and one thing led to another.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone, “I have his number here if you want it.”

  “He’s in my past,” I replied softly, “Besides you guys need to be together for the little one. Does he know?”

  “I haven’t grown the balls to tell him yet, so no.”

  I reached over and grabbed the phone from her hand, “That ends today.” I quickly searched through her contacts then hit send.

  “Are you crazy? I can’t tell him.”

  “Fine, I will. He needs to know May, calm down.”

  Joseph answered the phone on the third ring, “Hey, May.”

  I clutched the phone in my hand as his deep voice filled my ears; it was definitely my Joseph. “No this is Aliza. How are you, Joe?”

  There was a long pause on his end then he answered, “Aliza? Oh my god how have you been! I’m fine, even better now though.”

  Even though I couldn’t see him, I could feel his smile through the phone. “Well that’s good. There’s something we need to talk about right now though.”

  “If it’s about what happened between us that night let me explain…”

  As much as I would have loved to hear his explanation of what happened, I cut him off, “It’s not about that, it’s about May.” I paused for effect, “She’s pregnant, Joe.”

  A loud rustling erupted from the background, like he had dropped the phone. I waited with the phone glued to my ear.

  “Is she there with you?” he replied coldly, almost like he was mad; although this kind of news was never readily accepted in this kind of situation.

  “Yeah she’s here, hold on.” I extended the phone out to May; she only shook her head and pushed it away. “Take this phone,” I mouthed while stuffing it into her hand.

  “Hiya, Joe,” she said getting up from the bed.

  “I’ll give you guys some privacy, I’ll be in the restroom when you’re done.” I whispered before walking out of the room and closing the door behind me. Lee was standing in the hall with a glass cup pressed against the wall.

  “Are you gonna do my hair, nosy rosy?”

  He rolled his eyes then looked back and forth between the cup and me. “Details and go.”

  “So you didn’t know? I don’t believe that.” I said, leading the way to the bathroom.

  “Girl, I know everything, but she doesn’t know I know.”

  “How did you find out?” I turned on the bathroom light and took the curlers from the plugged them into the wall.

  “I saw the test in the trash. She didn’t even try to hide it really.”

  I sat down on the counter as we waited for the irons to heat up, “Yeah right, you were probably digging all through that trash can.”

  “Something like that,” he replied laughing.

  “Do you think that I have everything?” I asked sadly and confused, it was the one thing that truly bothered me.

  “Some people have and other people have not, that’s life. But no one truly has everything. I’m not gonna lie though; you do get a lot of stuff handed to you and that makes people jealous, but that’s not your fault, your parents work so hard to give you a better life.” He reached over and brushed my hair behind my ear with his finger.

  “Yeah, but I would kill for more involved parents. All mine do is work, I appreciate everything but when have you ever came over and they were there? It hasn’t happened. Even on their off days they’re getting called in. I would trade it all for a mom I could go to whenever I wanted or a dad that at least acted like he gave a damn.”

  “Just deal with the cards that you were dealt. May doesn’t even know where her mother or father is and my dad disowned me when I told him I was gay, so we all have di
fferent problems that we just have to suck it up.”

  “You’re right.” I pulled the rest of my hair out of the ponytail and hopped down from the counter. “You ready to get this show on the road, baby doll?” I shook my hair all over and turned to face the mirror.

  “Let’s get to it.” Lee reached around me and picked up one of the curling irons from the counter.

  Before he got the iron close to my hair May pushed the door open, “I’m not going out tonight.” I looked at her through the mirror, a recap of her conversation with him played through my mind.

  “I don’t believe that slimy dog!” I yelled, I spun around and looked into her eyes directly.

  Lee looked concerned, “Okay, what happened?”

  I pushed past him then wrapped my arms around May. She cried intensely into my shoulder. “I didn’t even say anything Aliza,” she sobbed. I smacked my forehead when I realized I had acted without thinking; that made twice within six hours.

  “I just had a feeling something bad happened. You don’t usually pass up an opportunity to go out.” I silently commended myself on the save then exhaled.

  “Well you were right. He called me a whore and said the baby wasn’t his.”

  Lee walked up from behind and wrapped his long arms around both of us, “It’ll all work out May, and you still have us. He’s a world class jerk.”

  “Lee you’re crushing me,” I responded while trying to break free from his embrace. “And he’s right, you do have us. We’ll stay here with you; we got to get you cheered up girl.” I smiled at her as I reached for her hand. “You’re my best friend.”

  Lee cleared his throat and sat on the other side of May. “Well one of her best friends,” he corrected.

  So the man-stealing bitch is still considered your best friend huh? You really are weak.

  “Watch yourself,” I replied to Sly aloud. I was letting my feelings get the best of me today; I had never slipped up this much and what’s even worse is that it seemed uncontrollable.

  “Okay, now tell us what’s going on with you Ms. Insight? You’ve been creeping me out all day, starting with these funky eyes.”

  I looked from May to Lee then eventually at the wall. Finally ready to give it up, I let out a long sigh, I’d rather tell them now then wait too long; they’d see right through me anyhow. “If I tell you guys just don’t judge me.”

  They both were staring at me now with wide eyes. “We’re always judging you,” May teased.

  “Yeah I noticed,” I inhaled once more, “I’m just gonna come right out and say it, I’m a mind reader and a walking lighter.”

  “If you don’t want to tell us what’s going on with you just say so, don’t make up stories Aliza,” May responded angrily. Her tears were all dried up now and frustration her dominating expression.

  “You don’t believe me, fine.” I got up from the bed and walked over to the dresser to grab my keys. Although unintentional, her frustration angered me; I’d never been much of a liar; especially to them. I picked up the cardigan from the bed and threw it on; I’m going out tonight. Alone.

  ***

  I drove around for a while before stumbling on a family pool hall minutes away from my house. Figuring I had nothing better to do, I pulled into the parking lot and turned the car off. Someone stepped out of a cherry red sports car next to me and walked into the building. I didn’t have a good view of the person that’d gone in but I could have sworn on my life it was Nikko.

  When I got out of my car, I looked at the car next to me, if it was him and this was his car, it matched his personality well: sleek, sporty and sexy. I walked a few more steps then pushed the door open and stepped into the all too humid pool hall.

  I scanned the area for the handsome stranger but the place was dimly lit but not very packed. Where could he have gone that fast? I thought as I moved through the building.

  “You look stunning,” a familiar voice complimented.

  I turned to him- it was my mystery man. “Thank you, you don’t look so bad yourself,” I replied, smiling widely. I sat down in the seat he pulled out for me and briefly looked around the building; only a few people were here.

  “You like pool?”

  “Yeah I play a little bit. What about you?” I responded casually, like my heart wasn‘t rejoicing as much as it actually was.

  “I‘ll play you,” he smiled.

  “Okay, be ready to lose.”

  I walked over to an empty table and grabbed a pool stick from the wall while Nikko paid the waitress for the hour. I moved around the table collecting the balls from the pockets and throwing them on top of the table; as I did, Nikko collected them together.

  “Do you come here often?”

  “This is my first time here, I just moved into town not that long ago. You break them,” I said as I rolled him the last ball.

  “Are you in school?”

  “Yeah, I go to Buckhorn High.” I watched him as he hit the white ball, scattering the rest all over the table.

  “This is kind of random. The way you ran off when I saw you the other day made me think you had no interest in talking to me whatsoever.”

  He curled up one side of his lips, “That had nothing to do with you, I was late for a meeting. If it makes you feel any better, I’ve thought about you since then.”

  My body froze, then slowly blood rushed to my face, “What did you think about?” I took my turn on the table then flagged down the waitress for something to drink.

  “If your headache had gotten any better. Has it?”

  “It‘s getting there, it came back earlier when my two best friends came into town to visit. They always find a way to make their problems my problems,” I vented.

  “You shouldn’t take on other people’s problems.” A strange woman with a thick accent came up from behind me and put a hand on my shoulder. Since I could no longer be careful with random people touching me, I pulled away from her.

  “I’m sorry for eavesdropping, that was very rude of me. My name is Centure.”

  I looked at the older woman as she stepped into view, she towered over me; even standing taller than Nikko. Her hair was long past her shoulders and her eyes were light grey almost resembling her platinum hair. “Hello Centure, I’m Aliza.”

  The lady warmly smiled and stepped closer to me. “I know who you are, I’m Wade and Nikko’s grandmother.”

  “Oh great, did Wade tell you I needed to speak with you?”

  “Yes. What is the object of this game?” she asked next.

  “To get all of your specific colored balls into the pockets using only the white ball to knock them there,” I responded in the plainest form.

  Nikko was beating me know; he had three balls left to my four. I studied her again but briefly; is this what normal people are doing these days?

  “So, what can you tell me? I need all of the help I can get,” I initiated after taking my turn.

  “Not really much to tell. I am from a place unlike this. Some place that you may visit soon.”

  “Is it out of this world?” I whispered.

  Her expression was ominous as she looked straight through me. “Maybe,” she replied finally.

  What seemed as the flash of a camera went off in her eyes and I instantly turned into stone as a serene landscape appeared and maneuvered through my thoughts.

  This place was enchanting, people walked about the streets full of smiles and joy; then something bad happened, something that no one could have ever predicted. The scene changed and now hundreds of people lay in pools of sparkling blood while countless others were trapped and imprisoned, begging for help.

  I nearly lost my sense of reality as I slowly reached out for one of the hands of the prisoners- a small child with brown hair and frosty white eyes.

  “Xyonthis?” I whispered as a small tear drifted down my cheek.

  Centure smiled brightly and looked at me now with wonderment. “Yes, what about Xyonthis?”

  “Can I speak with you
for a moment alone Centure?” I said softly.

  I was unsure what to this at this point; too many things were on my mind. Centure followed closely behind me as I headed out of the doors; I walked slowly into a dark area of the parking lot before talking. “What was that and who are you really?” I demanded.

  “My name is Centure, honestly. I’ve been looking for you for a while now. You keep close contact with a Lookout, yes?” she responded solemnly.

  “Sure, whatever that means. Why were you looking for me?” The heat was already rising from within as small droplets of rain hit my forehead.

  “What do you know, child?”

  I could do nothing but look at the concrete below; I didn’t know anything useful, aside from the mind trick that Wade helped me out with.

  “Call your brother here girl. Now,” she demanded forcefully.

  “No. I do what I want,” I snapped angrily.

  A sharp wind picked up around us and Centure stepped straight through me as she floated through the parking lot. I turned around slowly and followed her with my eyes. A man dressed in all black was caught up in the wind, dangling in midair.

  “What is your business here?” Centure questioned the hanging man. I stepped closer to hear his reply; my heart beat furiously in my chest as I waited.

  “Don’t come any closer, Alizarin!” Centure yelled; her attention however was still on the man.

  I halted in place and instead leaned my body slightly closer.

  “She wants the girl,” he replied riskily. “You of all people should have known this was bound to happen. Give her up and spare yourself.” His voice was deep and dry, almost cracking.

  I strained to see him through the darkness, light faintly highlighted his face. But once again the wind picked up and the man went hurling through the darkness of the road; immediately after his dismissal, rogue flames arouse and burned him alive. He vanished into the wind, leaving no piece behind.

  Centure returned now and the wind calmed itself; I still looked out into the distance, unwrapping my mind to what had taken place. “She knows you’re here, call your brother,” Centure said roughly.