Chapter Twelve—Sweeny

The one good thing Abita Springs offered her was the ancient payphone at the gas station up town. The run toward town took her mind off the situation that happened at Lucas’ but she couldn’t go any further on foot.

Plus, she heard a storm rolling in and she didn't want to be trapped in the rain. Unfortunately, she’d left her cell phone in Lucas’ truck and wasn’t about to go back to ask for it.

An old man sitting on bucket seats outside of the double doors felt sorry for Sweeny, and offered her quarters to call someone. Her mother was the only number she memorized, so she called information and requested Hattie’s number by giving her address. Who knew 411 was still around?

She answered. Thank God because it started to rain.

Hattie pulled into the gas station ten minutes later. “Get in loser,” she said.

She got into the passenger seat and pulled her knees to her chest. “What happened to you? Your hair is wet and you look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Close to one.

It was apparent that she shouldn’t tell anyone about Lucas and his little dog friends. Even though she wanted to. “An alligator attacked Lucas and me today.”

Hattie screeched to a halt at the stop sign. “You were at Lucas’ house today?”

“Did you not hear the part where we were attacked?”

“Yeah, good stuff, but did you do it?”

Sweeny scoffed and pressed her forehead against her knees. She wanted to all right. That lust/destiny stuff really made you feel out of control. “No.”

She shoved her shoulder. “Well, to make you feel better, Kurt has been acting really strange lately.”

“Why would that make me feel better?”

“So we can both have boy problems together.”

Sweeny laughed. “Misery loves company, huh?”

“Let’s go get Sarah Beth and we’ll go eat on my dad’s credit card.”

“Won’t you get into trouble?”

Hattie shrugged. “It’s better than nothing.”

“What does that mean?”

She shrugged. Hattie looked sad for the first time since Sweeny met her. “Do they not give you attention?”

“Sometimes, but I don’t feel seen a lot.”

Hattie drove toward Sarah Beth’s house and Sweeny felt sad for her. It was obvious her parents didn’t agree with her attire because she’d mentioned it before, but this was different. She only did it to get their attention.

Sarah Beth ran toward the car when Hattie pulled in. Her mother, a Hispanic woman, waved at them from the front door. Sarah Beth slid into the back and asked, “Question, would you rather have a penis for a night or be a mermaid for a week.”

Sweeny laughed, letting out her emotions until happy tears cascaded down her cheeks.

***

They ate at a local burger joint, Hattie paid for all their food despite Sweeny’s attempt to pay. She was thankful she didn’t have to since that was her cleat money.

On their way to Hattie’s Jeep, she heard someone call her name.

“It’s Sister Christian,” Hattie mumbled.

Sarah Beth whispered, “Be nice.”

Cathy Ann jogged over to their car, and Sweeny bit her lip to keep from smiling. Her cheerleading assumption was right. She wore small black cheer shorts and a tank top that read Go Bulldogs.

“Hey girls,” she said, her ponytail swinging. “I wanted to talk to you about something privately.”

Sweeny couldn’t imagine what she wanted, but she followed her to the side, while Hattie and Sarah Beth climbed into the Jeep.

“What’s up?” she asked.

“I know we’re not friends, and I don’t know you, but I’ve seen you with Lucas a few times lately. I live close by his house, and I noticed you riding with him.”

“I was, yeah.”

“I’ve lived there my entire life. I use to play with Lucas before—before he became standoffish. Something isn’t right about them boys, and I don’t want you falling down the rabbit hole.”

Hadn’t she already? Cathy Ann didn’t know the drastic measures of their weirdness, but knew enough to know they weren’t normal.

“I’m not the only one in school that thinks crazy things about them. Kurt does, too.”

“Hattie’s Kurt?” Sweeny asked.

She nodded, and tucked her hair behind her ear. “Don’t tell Hattie. It’s nothing going on with us but I talk to him occasionally. We dated a couple years back and he helped me through my parents’ divorce.”

“I get it.”

Cathy Ann glanced over at Hattie. “Listen, I just wanted to tell you that without Jaxson in hearing distance.”

“I appreciate it, Cathy Ann.”

It’s just a little too late. What would she and the school think about Sweeny if they knew animals were following her?

“Yeah. See you at school.”

Sweeny walked to the passenger seat and climbed inside. “What did Sister Christian want?” Hattie asked starting her engine.

“Ah, just talking about American History, she asked if I wanted to be her partner. I think you scare her a bit.”

Hattie flexed. “Good. I can’t let my boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend think I’m weak.”

“Sweeny, have you been to the Mystery House yet?” Sara Beth asked from the back seat.

“No, it looked kind of lame.”

Sara Beth laughed. “It is, but that’s why it’s so much fun. We should go look around.”

Hattie took a right, leading them out of town and toward the rundown shack. That’s what it looked like on her way in town. A brown shack with old Coke signs and ramblings of yesteryears.

Hattie pulled up to the front and they all got out. Both of the girls seemed to know their way around and opened the heavy front door. A gray cat met them, purring and asking for attention.

Sweeny swooped down and grabbed him.

“Wow,” Sweeny said. Collections of people’s lives, old and new, littered the walls. Southern Louisiana décor, alligators and baby doll heads, old African figurines and alien statues were everywhere. A mystery it was.

Hattie raced toward the bathroom, shoving opened the door. “Isn’t this the coolest thing you’ve ever seen?”

Broken, colored glass plagued the walls and floors, giving the space a unique look. “I wish I could do this to my room but my mom would crap bricks,” Sarah Beth said.

“Be like me and do it anyway,” Hattie said.

Sweeny followed them around the place, her new friend purring in her arms. She felt weird knowing this cat loved her along with the other southern creatures. She should start a zoo.

Sarah Beth pulled a huge hat off a coat rack in the corner, placing it on her head. “You look like you’re about to go to one of those Episcopalian Churches of the South, Sarah Beth,” Sweeny said.

She slung it back on top of the coat rack, drawing Sweeny’s attention to a silver box on top of a bookshelf to the right. She placed her friend down and took it off the shelf.

Hattie and Sarah Beth took pictures with the aliens in the corner while Sweeny rubbed her thumb over the top.

“Pretty, ain’t it?”

Sweeny jumped, clasping the box to her chest. An older woman with wiry white hair, a round grandma figure, and thick framed glasses stood beside her.

Her big brown eyes examined Sweeny in a way that made her squirm. “It is.”

“Open it,” she urged.

Sweeny eyed her but opened the top. A silver necklace sat in the middle of a velvet box. The amulet shined a bright red in the florescent lighting. Probably fake but beautiful.

“It is pretty,” she said.

She felt herself wanting to put it on but closed the lid and went to set it back.

The woman stopped her. “Why don’t you take it, youngin? It will look great with your tanned skin.”

Sweeny laughed. “It’s Louisiana; doesn’t most teenagers have tanned skin?”

She didn’t laugh. “They don’t have your spirit.”

“What do you mean?”

She leaned against a cane Sweeny didn’t notice before and pointed her index finger against her chest. “Your heart. Go on and take it. I won’t charge you, that necklace calls your name. Plus, all that silver will keep the rougarous away.”

Maybe the handful of kids at school weren’t the only ones to believe in werewolves.

Hattie slung her arm around her shoulder. “Oh, nice. Hey, Mrs. Dose. Nice to see you.”

“Tell ya Momma I said hey. I better go sit before my knee starts acting up again.”

Sweeny held the box to her chest while Mrs. Dose hobbled away.

“Take it,” Sarah Beth said beside her. “She’ll get in her feelings if you don’t. Plus, that red will look good on you. Periodt.”

“Stop saying that,” Hattie said.

“Maybe you should learn how to speak from this decade.”

Sweeny walked behind them while they argued on their way to Hattie’s Jeep, noticing the woman didn’t sit at the front.

What would it hurt to wear it? It would seal the coffin of Lucas’ confession and Sweeny’s hallucinations.

***

Sweeny fell asleep right after getting the third degree about her falling into the bayou and not telling Momma. Not before, she asked twenty questions about Lucas LeBlanc.

It didn’t matter who he was to her anymore, because she couldn’t associate with that nonsense. She didn’t move to Louisiana to become involved in some Sookie Stackhouse craziness, but to finish her senior year, and get on with her life.

Thankfully, he didn’t haunt her dreams the rest of the weekend. She went crawfishing at the bayou the next morning and it was oddly normal without Theo there.

She slept peacefully Sunday night, waking in plenty of time to get to Hattie’s before she was ready. On her way to Hattie’s house, she pulled her necklace from the depths of her pocket. The red amulet shimmered in the morning sun, and sun rays hit her eyes.

She slipped it on, hiding it beneath her T-shirt. Sweeny was a realist and this wasn’t real. It couldn’t be. Call her crazy but she needed more proof that this Cajun wasn’t lying, even if he fought off a gator and turned brown. Maybe he has a skin condition? She rolled her eyes. What a load of cow crap.

Hattie’s mother answered the door with a cell phone wedged between her cheek and shoulder. She wore a black pencil skirt, and a lavender top that fit her perfect.

Hattie looked like her momma despite the firm features of a real-estate agent that she wore like a prize. “Come on in, Sweeny. Hattie is in her room. There are pop-tarts in the cabinet and some oatmeal somewhere,” she said, gesturing toward the kitchen.

Sweeny wouldn’t dare touch their kitchen. It looked like something out of her mother’s dream Pinterest board.

And so did the rest of the house. Home magazine came to mind as she walked toward the blast of rock music down the hallway. Hattie sat on her bed with a makeup mirror in her hand and a bowl of cereal balanced in her lap.

“Good morning,” Sweeny said, slinging her backpack onto the floor and taking a seat on a corner beanbag. Hattie’s room resembled everything that a parent would hate for their teenager. Messy, black and all kinds of weirdness hanging around. Which was a lot for her to say since she just made-out with a rougarou.

“Could you try any harder to get your parents to hate this room?”

Hattie grinned over her spoon and finished applying what looked like her third round of eyeliner. “Done.”

“Where is your dad?” Sweeny asked.

“He drives a big truck, so he is gone for weeks at a time. You ready to go? Kurt called and wants to talk to me before school.”

“Is that good or bad?” she asked.

“Well, we’ll see.”

Hattie and Sweeny hurried to school, parking beside Kurt’s old pickup. Sweeny left them to talk, finding her way to American History. She sat in her usual seat beneath the window noticing it was opened and a breeze blew into the classroom.

Her classmates filed in slowly while their professor wrote their assignment on the board. The desk next to her shifted. She expected to see Cathy Ann with another attempt to save her soul from the devil but Jaxson sat there.

Leaned back like James Dean, his face stilled looked cold like his heart. “Why on Earth would you sit by me?” she asked, scribbling down the page numbers for her homework.

He tapped the tip of his pen against his desk. “I’m here to warn you.”

“I’m shaking in my boots,” Sweeny said.

He scoffed. “You tell anyone what Lucas showed you and I’ll end you.”

Sweeny turned to face him, finding a courage she didn’t know existed. “Oh yeah? Like that night on my street?”

Jaxson leaned close to her. “That was an attempt to get you to leave.”

“That was you blindsided.”

He stuck his tongue against the inside of his cheek and nodded his head. “Be careful, cher,” he mocked. “I’m not your mate and I don’t care if you live or die."

Sweeny watched him walk back to his usual seat. She wanted him to trip and fall on his smug face. While Mr. Ruby called roll, Sweeny noticed a shadow from the window above her.

A crow sat on the concrete landing of the window.

She turned her eyes toward the board, willing the animal away in her head. Why was this crow following her? This was going to stop.

Jaxson’s gaze burned into the side of her face. She didn’t look, ignoring his heated stare and the crow in the room.

What was going on in Abita Springs?

***

The wind blew against Sweeny’s hair and cascaded her worries away. It was the best part of her day. Her coach’s encouragement filled her pride.

Being able to run her problems away was a relief. Especially after her lunch with Sarah Beth. She hadn’t heard from Hattie or Kurt since their morning talk. Sweeny suspected they skipped school to talk and decided to stay the day together.

It didn’t worry her until Sarah Beth acted odd about it.

She’d call Hattie later to check on her.

She finished her run, collapsing onto the green grass of the football field, staring up at the blue sky. Coach’s face filled her view. “Good job today, Sweeny. You’re an excellent pacer. You ever think about scholarships?”

Sweeny knew her mother didn’t have the money to send her somewhere expensive, and she knew if her grades weren’t enough, her running was all she had to rely on other than a grant.

“I’ll try anything to help.”

She helped Sweeny up. Coach pulled a few sheets of paper from her clipboard and handed them to Sweeny. “Fill these out and get them back to me. We’ll get your application out to a few colleges and see what we can get you.”

“Thank you,” she said.

“Our first meet is next Friday in Slidell. Don’t forget to get your mother’s signature to stay after school.”

“I’ll get it to you tomorrow. Thanks.”

Grabbing her duffle, she started toward the EXIT. She felt him before she saw him, leaned against the flagpole by the only exit. Smoking a cigarette with his hand in his pocket.

Sweeny dug her necklace from her duffle pocket and slipped it on.

“Don’t be stubborn, cher. We need to talk.”

She shoved past him. “I’m done talking with you. It ends with me in compromising positions and then a fight. I won’t let you bite me or fondle me. Who knows what else you planned if Jaxson wouldn’t have told me. He also threatened to end me today if I told anyone about your little secret.”

“You wouldn’t do that,” he said from behind her. “How you getting home, cher? Let me drive you.”

Sweeny spun to face him. Her emotions already felt ragged. Just being close to him set her on fire. Too many things happened in the last few days for her to feel safe around him.

Yet, she wanted to climb into his vehicle and let him take her away from the madness.

Lucas’ face morphed into fury and he pointed toward her chest. “What’s that you wearing, cher?”

She lifted a brow and slowly pulled it from underneath her T-shirt. “This?”

He snarled. “Where did you get that?”

She shrugged, watching a couple of other teammates walk past them. “A lady at The Mystery Museum. I went there with Hattie after our day together—if that’s what you want to call it.”

“Take it off,” he demanded. “That’s silver.”

Sweeny felt her realization of the truth sink in. “I don’t want to take it off. This is insane.”

He stepped forward, reaching frontward, he snatched the necklace from her neck, showing her the burn on his palm from it. “Is that insane? Why is it you need more clarification, cher? You saw me shift? You see this.”

She watched in horror as his skin began to turn red and flake off in patches against the gravel of the road.

Tears whelmed in her eyes at his pain. She took it back, slipping it into the trash can by the gate door. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, feeling silly. “I don’t know why I can’t accept this. It’s right in front of my eyes.”

She began to cry like a freaking baby.

Lucas stepped forward, wiping the tears off her cheeks with his good hand. “Ah, don’t cry. Look,” he said. “All better.”

He held out his healed palm.

Crap on a stick.

“Lucas,” she said softly. “I can’t be around you. You’ve showed me some scary stuff, and frankly, I have stuff going on that I don’t understand.”

“Who else to tell than me?” he asked. “I just transitioned in front of you, and you’re scared to tell me what’s happening?” He bent his knees to see her levelly. “Come with me.”

Sweeny sighed, feeling herself being pulled into him again. “Okay.”

“Allons,” he said.

She didn’t know what that meant but she followed him. He took a long way toward her house through a swampy road that wasn’t familiar.

“Do you shift whenever you want?” Sweeny asked.

Lucas glanced over toward her. The setting sun glistened against his face, pulling shadows over his chiseled features. She'd looked at him numerous of times, but she seemed to see him clearer today. “Whenever I want,” he said.

“How long have you known?”

Lucas glared out into the distance. “Since I was thirteen.”

Sweeny couldn’t imagine changing into anything at thirteen. She still wore braces then. Her worry was if One Direction was coming to her town anytime soon. “Was it scary? Did your parents know?”

“Yeah, it happened one night when I was coon hunting. I was scared to death. I crawled home naked. My parents thought I’d been drugged or something.”

Sweeny turned to face him. “Is it genetic?”

“Yeah. I got it from my granddaddy. He left me a note before he died that explained a lot of stuff. Not all, but most, yeah.”

“Why did you have to stay? Because of Theo and Jaxson?”

“Partly. We are here in Abita Springs for a reason.”

“What’s the reason?”

“To keep it safe.”

Lucas pulled to a stop in front of her house.

“From what?”

“The supernatural. There is a lot of voodoo nearby and you never know when something or someone could take the town down.”

Sweeny cut her eyes at him. “Voodoo? Seriously Lucas?”

He shrugged. “I wish I was joking, cher. But I’m not. It’s what my granddaddy told me.”

Who was Sweeny to argue with him about it? Blowing her bangs, she picked at the edge of her nail, debating on how to ask what she really wanted to.

“Go ahead, and ask it.”

She smirked. “Jaxson said you wanted to bite me? What does that mean?”

A glint of something traveled over his face and Sweeny felt it in her gut. Lucas tightened his fingers around the steering wheel, moving in a way that made him seem horny. “It’s how we change our mate.”

Sweeny lifted a brow at him. “What do you mean change them? Like I would become like you?”

Lucas scratched his jaw. “Yeah.”

Sweeny looked out of the window. “Will it happen if we have sex?”

“It only happens if I bite you, cher. It doesn’t have to happen, no. But it makes it easier for us. I’m physically stronger than you, and sometimes it’s hard to control my anger. If someone comes after you, or tries to get with you—I don’t know how my wolf will react.”

“Is your wolf different from you?”

“An entire different being, yeah,” he said with a laugh. “He’s meaner than I am. Dominant and demanding.”

“An alpha,” she said.

Lucas nodded. “Yeah.”

“So if we do it, I won’t change?”

“No,” he said. “But I’ll want to bite you if we do. Just a head’s up. The urges are a lot alike, yeah.”

“Just so you know,” she said. “I’ve never had sex. It’s not something I take lightly and it’s definitely not something I want to jump into with a person I just met.”

Lucas grabbed the tip of her chin. “You don’t worry about that, no.”

She nodded. “What about full moons?”

“Just the same as any other night.”

“Food? Do you eat? I never see you eat at school.”

“We eat a heavy meat diet, mostly after school and into the night. We roam at night.”

“You don’t sleep?”

“For a few hours, yeah.”

Sweeny sat a few feet from him but she wanted closer. She hated it. She hated that her body reacted so aggressively and willingly toward his. “Would you still want me if I didn’t want to change into a rougarou?”

She didn’t know where that came from. One moment she felt like running for the hills and the next she wanted to slide on top of him and let him bite her. Did that mean she really was his mate?

Lucas reached across the space and curled his palm around the back of her neck. “Sweeny, I’d want you no matter what you decide. Even if you decided you didn’t want me.”

Swallowing, she scooted closer to him, sliding her leg over his hips and into his lap. His palms found the curve of her bottom. “Does Jaxson and Theo have mates?”

“Yeah, but they haven’t found ‘em.”

“What if they don’t?”

“They will. It’s destined.”

“I think someone is following me,” she whispered. “Not like Jaxson, but something else. Someone keeps saying my name. I’ve heard it in the bayou and then—other places. I’m scared to sleep most nights.”

Lucas furrowed his brows. “Ah, cher, why didn’t you say something sooner? I’ve had an envie to come into your room at night. I could keep you company.”

“I’ve never snuck a guy into my room before.”

“Ah, lucky for you I’m pretty stealthy.”

Sweeny fiddled with the edge of his shirt collar and he stopped her with calm hands. “Nothing will happen that you don’t want to happen.”

“That’s my fear. That I’ll want it because you’re so close, in my room, and I won’t think rationally with you.”

Lucas nodded. “How about I promise not to bite you until all this is over. Until you’ve stopped being scared and feel safe?”

“That sounds fair.”

“Good.”

Lucas lingered his mouth against hers, softly pressing kisses against her mouth and then her jaw. Stars danced around her vision. “How can you take my pain away?” she whispered.

He continued his path along her neck. “Because you can heal your mate. Take away their pain.”

Sweeny pulled back, still lightheaded. “Take it away, how?”

Lucas pulled her back down to meet his lips. “I take the pain into my body.”

“Why would you do that?” she asked.

He growled as if he couldn't stand it. “Because I don’t want to see you in pain, cher. Not when I’m around. You’ll feel good, no?”

Sweeny relished in the feel of his hands and mouth, laughing when he whispered how badly he wanted to get into her bed.

For him to have never had a girlfriend he knew how to make her feel crazy. He kissed her deep, biting at her bottom lip and pulling at the nape of her hair. “You know, cher, I’ve waited so damn long for you—it feels like it at least.”

Through her hazy state, she noticed something move.

A woman stood behind his Hummer. Long dark hair, flowing white dress, just like the one from her dream—the whole shebang.

Sweeny screamed. Lucas gripped her waist and tossed her into the passenger seat, turning to look down the road. “What is it? What did you see?”

“There was a girl. I saw her.”

Lucas cursed beneath his breath. “I don’t see anyone.”

Sweeny pressed her head against the cool passenger side window. The porch light began to flicker, which was Momma’s go-to sign to come inside.

Lucas sighed. “Go inside, and I’ll come to you.”

She unlocked the door and walked toward her house, giving the empty road a second look. Her nightmare followed her wherever she went. She needed to get rid of it. Maybe a bed partner wasn’t such a bad idea.