Chapter 92

Chapter 92


Uh oh. Frozen, I tried to place the voice. The thick layer of wispy branches kept me from being able to see who they were. The sun was all but gone now so even what I could see through the cracks wasn’t useful. I didn’t exactly recognize their voice. Definitely had heard it at some point in time, but I wasn’t sure where. Friend or foe? Fiddle sticks! I don’t know.

Should I come out from under the umbrella of the willow? Tell the creeper to move along? Drop hail in a preemptive strike?

“Fire doesn’t scare me.” I told him with a chuckle. I was a human fire extinguisher now. When I could get my powers to work on demand that is. Not that I was going to share that with the stranger on the other side of the willow umbrella.

“But does it scare the willow?” My philosopher interloper fired back. His voice was familiar. I’d heard it recently. Ugh. I still didn’t know if he was there to kill me or not?

I snickered. “I doubt anything scares this tree after everything it has seen.”

“Know a bit of the tree’s history, do you?” He was a nosey creeper. I pulled my phone out of pocket. It was still turned off. Should I turn it on? If I needed to call for help, it would take too long if I had to wait for it to turn on. But if it was how VD was tracking me, did I want him to know where I was yet? Not that him having my location meant he would show up immediately. Sighing, I decided to deal with the problem in front of me and worry about my stalker neighbor later.

“We have a past.” I answered cryptically. Still didn’t know who was on the other side. They may or may not know who I was. He chuckled softly.

“Bet you have a past with more than just this tree. And who doesn’t have a history with this tree?” He retorted. I shrugged. He wasn’t wrong. Pretty much anyone in my age bracket had spent time out here. I did wonder if he had been one of the party goers that I had forgotten. I swear I knew his voice, and it didn’t fill me with fear so

The branches separated as he ducked under them. Concerned, I looked up to see who was invading my sanctuary. A man with shaggy almost shoulder length hair in a superhero t-shirt and jeans crawled inside with me.

“Kenna McIntosh.” He deadpanned as he looked at me. I was still propped up against the tree trunk sitting on the box piece. An empty rum cooler beside me and an open one in my hand. Oddly I felt like I was back in high school. Briefly I had to wonder if I had spent time with him under here during one of the parties. I rubbed my thumb as I acknowledged him.

“Trevor Goodman.” I greeted him. That explained why the voice was familiar but not identifiable. I’d only spoken to him briefly a few days ago. That I know of. I still wasn’t sure if I had known him before I got cursed.

He crawled over to sit on the beside me, with his back against the trunk. Unlike me he was sitting on the leaf litter of the ground. “What brings you out here so late?”

Smiling tightly, I looked at him out of the corner of my eye. “Needed to think.”

He nodded while pointing at one of the rum coolers beside me. I waved a hand to let him know he could help himself. The sound of him popping the top echoed a little in the mostly enclosed area. He took a drink. “I’m not sure thinking is what has historically gone on here.”

I snorted. “Nah. Pretty sure this is where we came to NOT think.”

He nodded like he knew what had happened around here. Before there was a parking lot or a sign marking the turn. Back when this land wasn’t really private or public. It was just kinda here. Which was why we came out here. Jurisdiction was muddled. It was a rite of passage to party here on the full moon. Raging keggers had been held out here. Thankfully the football team was always on hand to drag the kegs out to the clearing. We danced, drank, and did a lot of other things out here with only the moon and stars as witnesses.

Hook ups, break ups, and make ups were common. Sometimes all in the same night. Things could get really rowdy when other schools would show up. Some were chill and just wanted to party. Others got all mad when our football players made out with their cheerleaders. I shook my head. It’s a wonder any of us made it out of here alive.

For a moment we just sat there. Drinking. I pulled out a smoke and offered one to him. He waved me off and pulled out a vape pen. When he exhaled, I realized we weren’t smoking the same thing. I chuckled and took another drink. Hopefully I didn’t have to do a drug test with the city.

His presence was oddly comforting. He didn’t feel like a stranger. I cut my eyes to him. Still wasn’t getting any whiff of an element off him. So didn’t know if he was magical. Which made me hesitant to be like Hey! So um I got cursed and my memories can’t be trusted. Do we like know each other?

Suddenly, he turned to look at me head on. “So what brought you back to town, Kenna McIntosh?”

I felt myself slightly tense at his question. I was going to have to voice the words I didn’t like to say. “I had to come back to settle the family estate after my grandfather died.”

Taking another hit of his vape, he gave a slight nod. “Yeah, I heard about Mac disappearing. He was a good guy. That must be tough.”

I gave him a hard look. He knew Pops. Which would mean he probably knew me too. What game was he playing?