Chapter 36

Holidays were more or less optional in Aleda’s family. Winter Solstice might be celebrated, but Christmas could be safely skipped. The whole concept of a few “holy days” a year, really, was unfathomable to all but the most newly-called, and only the most dedicated party animals would have two celebrations in the same week.

Talia, for example, had three.

Aleda didn’t go to any of those. She did find herself at Val’s house for New Year’s Eve, along with Mara, Nate, and at least a dozen others. They stood and sat around, eating junk food and talking, until close to midnight. They watched the ball drop in Times Square on the television and stayed awake as long as they could. It didn’t matter. There wouldn’t be school again for a few more days.

There was homework, too, of course. Everything from mindless worksheets to research papers while the teachers tried to get in all of the points they possibly could in order to pad the curriculum. Aleda worked on as much of it as she could, figuring that it would be better to boost her grades now rather than panic at the end of the year. Between homework, holiday parties, and her weekly training sessions, winter break seemed to end almost before it began.

As for Ryan, Talia must have had some sort of chat with him. The next time Aleda saw him after the Solstice party, he didn’t open his mouth once to taunt her or insult Nate. It was a nice change. Every so often he would tell his sister something, but it was always short and it was always to her. Aleda stopped driving out to Elkton to hunt with them, too. Her heart just wasn’t in it. That memory of a mugger’s knife in her stomach was too fresh in her mind. If she couldn’t deal with a human, how was she supposed to kill demons? So what, she had shot a few from a distance, while the whole time her a*s was covered by real hunters.

Besides—she wasn’t terribly motivated to talk to Ryan at the moment.

Nate had a few words to say about him, of course. He hadn’t been too upset about the incident at Talia’s birthday party. That was just a friendly scuffle between guys… at least, that’s what Nate said. He was more upset when Aleda told him about what happened the next day. She had already told him plenty of stories about her training sessions, and what a jerk Ryan could be if he was in a snippy mood—which was most of the time—but that Saturday had easily been the worst. It was like that b*****d couldn’t go a day without making her feel like absolute s**t, especially when he was provoking her just for kicks. Aleda had told him after Ryan and Talia left the party what had happened just that morning. He had been ready to follow him out to Elkton and force him to apologize, even if Ryan was almost twice as large as him. Instead, he settled for excusing them both and driving Aleda out to the mall to take her mind off of the whole thing.

It was things like Nate’s reaction to the whole thing that really helped to contrast the two of them. Nate and Ryan. When Nate saw her upset, he would pull her close and reassure her, saying all the right things until she felt better. If he needed to, he took her away from everything that was bad so that she wouldn’t have to think about it anymore. Ryan just sat there like a lump of rock if she was lucky, and make snide remarks if she wasn’t.

The next Saturday night she went on a real date with him, not just saying that she did as a pretense for driving to Elkton. Ironically, the pretense worked on Mom, too, who now thought she was going to Elkton, and using Nate as a cover.

The movie was kind of violent, but that’s the only thing that was.

Actually, Mom and Papá weren’t hunting either. Mom couldn’t risk it, now that she was pregnant, and Papá insisted on staying home with her. Aleda probably couldn’t have snuck out of the house to hunt even if she wanted to.

Ryan didn’t show up the next Saturday. Talia said something vague about working extra hours, and left it at that. Not that Aleda cared. The only time she felt like an idiot was around him. The only time Nate lost his cool was around him. The frustrating b*****d could hole up in his apartment day and night if he wanted to, and it would be just as well. They trained anyway. Aleda was getting good enough that she didn’t really need the training dummy to run through most of the exercises. Talia even went easy on her, and ended it after only two hours.

“Don’t stress it, Little Leda,” she said. “You’ve got school and homework and whatever now. You’d better pass everything if you want to get into college.”

Aleda just nodded dumbly. No reason to train for serious. She was never going to be a hunter.

Talia noticed her expression. “Hey, what’s the matter, kid?” she asked, concerned.

“Nothing,” Aleda said. “Nothing at all.”

“You were doing great today,” Talia reassured her. “I just stopped early ‘cause it’s weird without a dummy.”

“Hard to keep a dummy around when the dummy hates me,” Aleda mused.

“What? Ryan doesn’t hate you.”

“Then where is he?”

“Working late, of course. Well…early, for him.”

“Right. Of course.”

Talia chewed on her lip and looked around conspiratorially. “…If I tell you, promise not to say anything to anybody? Mike would be pissed if he found out.”

Aleda looked at her, surprised, and frowned. “What?”

Talia just looked at her.

“Right, sorry, yeah I promise.”

Talia leaned in close to whisper in her ear. “He’s hunting.”

“In the daytime?”

“Shh! Yeah. It’s a bit harder, since most of them are all holed up for the day, but he’s been doing it day and night since we got home from your Solstice party thing. Says he wants to clear out the nests for good. I think he’s crazy, but he’s always been a bit stubborn.”

Aleda was confused. “But…why would Mike be mad? That’s what we– …you’re supposed to do, right?”

“Not nest-wipes, like this. There’s dozens of demons in a nest sometimes, smaller around here, but we’re not supposed to try to take on more than four at a time. Too dangerous, apparently, especially since there’s so few of us still kicking.”

“So what got into him?”

Talia shrugged. “What ever gets into my brother? Maybe he heard your folks weren’t hunting anymore, ‘cause of Aria.” She laughed. “By the way, thank them for me. I got five bucks off Ryan since she got pregnant before New Years.”

Aleda looked at her, wide-eyed. “You made a bet on my parents’ sex life!?”

“Sure, why not?” Talia giggled. “She used to do the same thing to me.”

“You are a special kind of special, Talia.”

“Yeah. I know,” Talia said, grinning. “But now I gotta go. See you tonight? It’s been a while since you came out with us.”

“Er… no thanks,” Aleda said. “I, um, have to do… homework. Lots of homework. Maybe some other time.”

Talia smirked, looking eerily similar to her brother for a moment. “If you say so. You just let me know when you’re free, and I promise we’ll pick a spot with no muggers next time.”

 

 

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“So, Leda, have you decided what college you want to go to yet?”

Aleda doodled in her Chemistry notebook, not looking up. “Not yet. Still have to finish a couple more applications.”

Mara mixed a couple of samples at random into the vial over the Bunsen burner. “I’d love to go to PennState, but I don’t know if I got in, yet,” she said idly. “I’ll probably just end up going to Delaware.”

“Yeah.”

The truth was, Aleda hadn’t filled out any applications yet. She had accepted a few from the guidance counselor, but she had taken one look at them and tossed them unceremoniously into the endless depths of her backpack. Question after pointless question and some went on for pages, each with their own stupid bullshit essay to write. Aleda couldn’t bring herself to do anything about them. She’d never get a scholarship,  not with her grades, and her parents couldn’t afford more than community college. If she went to college she’d be paying back student loans for years, and she couldn’t even think of a single thing she wanted to major in. What was the point? Aside from the obvious: get a good job so she could retire when she was sixty-five and coast along for a decade or so before her money ran out. The obvious solution was to check in with Mike and ask what jobs he needed to fill, and then take whatever classes she needed to for that. Then Mike would tell Papá, and all hell would break loose.

Time for Option B, then: ignore it and hope to high heaven it went away.

It was getting to the point, though, that she had to start avoiding her friends at school, because they would inevitably ask her about it. They were all talking about where they wanted to go, and how much they wanted to get away from home, and what they’d major in, and Aleda hadn’t even bothered to take the SATs yet.

Nate, at least, was a little more understanding.

They sat in a corner of the library after school. Aleda was trying to find books for a research paper, and Nate was just killing time now that soccer season was over. He leaned back on the carpeted floor next to her and stretched contentedly, making Aleda smile.

“Mm, you feel that?” he asked lazily.

“What’s that?”

“That… that is what it feels like not to stress.”

“What, you’ve given up on schoolwork already?” Aleda teased.

“Already? Hell, I gave that up years ago,” he said. “But just think. Everybody in our classes is stressing out about grades and SAT scores and college applications except the two of us. We don’t have to worry about a thing.”

Aleda smiled half-heartedly. He made it sound so easy.

“Sometimes I think it’d be good to go to college,” she admitted.

Nate considered. “Well, I guess some classes could be useful,” he said thoughtfully. “Like for what your dad does. I bet he has to take a couple computer classes every once in a while.”

“One a year, usually.”

“So, you want to work with computers? That sort of thing?”

Aleda shrugged. “I don’t know. Something. Just to keep my options open, you know.”

“Sure, sure. There’s plenty of things you could do with that, and still not tie yourself down.”

“Yeah, but I’ll never get in. Not with my grades.”

Nate chuckled. “Trust me, Leda, your grades are a lot better than mine. Just go to the community college. You wouldn’t have any trouble getting in there, and it wouldn’t be too expensive. You could even get a job in the meantime to help pay for it.”

Aleda smiled at him. “You just have everything figured out, don’t you?”

“Oh, I’ve got some ideas,” he said, grinning widely. She sighed.

“I wish I could be as relaxed as you,” she said wistfully. “I just don’t even know what I want anymore.”

Nate sat up behind her and rubbed her shoulders. “You’ll figure it out,” he reassured her. “Don’t worry. You’ve got all the time in the world to figure it out.”

Aleda leaned back into him, closing her eyes contentedly. His arms felt nice wrapped around her, holding her close, making her feel wanted. He always made her feel wanted. He always had such easy answers. It was so easy to just curl up into his lap and let him tell her that everything would be okay. Sometimes it made her feel like a spoiled housecat, but the feeling was nice.

Nate had everything figured out.

Not taking the SATs, for example, had to be a huge weight off his shoulders. Aleda toyed with the idea of skipping them as well, but finally decided it was better to cover her bases. She had to get her parents to pay the fee for it—Mom was surprised she was bothering to take the tests, and Papá was pleased that she was following in his footsteps.

She didn’t even do that bad. Plenty high enough score to get into community college, or even a state school if she wanted.

It was an option.

Midterms came and went, too. Just as hard, if not harder, for all the detailed information she had to remember. Especially History. She hated history. She resolved to forget every date of every war just as soon as they handed her the diploma. And there were other assignments, other bits of homework and projects and the delicate task of convincing Mara that it would be silly to burn down the school now, when they were so close to graduation. If all of her other options fell through, Aleda mused, she could always find a job as a police negotiator.

The days bled into one another. After Solstice, there was nothing but three months of hard winter to look forward to until spring came and made things a little bit better. Aleda’s training sessions continued. Even she had to admit she was getting better, despite all of the real-life experience she wasn’t getting. Sometimes Ryan came, too. Sometimes not. He was quieter, now, when he did come, and he was starting to look tired. Troubled. Aleda shrugged it off, figuring it was none of her business. Talia had already told her about his constant hunting. Surely that was having some effect on his sleeping schedule.

Besides, he’d already made it abundantly clear that he didn’t give a rat’s a*s what she thought about anything.

It was getting harder, though. Harder to ignore him, and harder not to notice his plummeting moods. This was different than his usual pissiness. Compared to his current mood, those came across as practically sunny. At least for him. And it was getting harder and harder to see him as nothing more than a training dummy, to shred into him with her wooden claws when he already looked so troubled.

“Talia says you’re missing sleep these days,” she finally said one dreary and overcast Saturday. He shrugged, not looking at her, and said nothing. “How is that coming, by the way?”

“It’s getting done,” he grudgingly offered. He motioned to Talia, who handed him the glass of milk he’d been drinking from while Aleda trained. “More than I can say for a month ago.”

“What do you mean?”

“Your parents were getting about, what, one a night?” he asked.

“I guess. Sure.”

“Well, I’ve been getting about one nest every week.” Aleda raised her eyebrows and went back to her starting position. Ryan handed the glass back off to Talia and nodded at her when he was ready. She took a running start and launched herself at him, dodging the foot that swept around but getting caught when he brought his arms up to block her. She landed awkwardly and rolled back to her feet.

“Just in the area?” she asked, incredulous. “That’s five nests since Solstice! No wonder you’re exhausted!”

Ryan frowned at her. “What do you mean, exhausted?”

Aleda adjusted her training claws a bit. “Come on. Every week I see you, you look like you’ve missed another week’s worth of sleep. Which you have, if you’ve been hunting that much.”

He looked blank, then glanced at his sister, who shrugged. He returned his gaze to Aleda. “One kill a night’s as good as five hours’ sleep,” he said. “I’m not missing anything.”

“Then why…?”

“Try that last one again,” Ryan said quickly. “You’re not moving your hands fast enough.”

Aleda looked at him oddly but complied. This time she didn’t even get within a foot of his chest before he blocked her, and she landed heavily on the concrete. He sighed and gave her a hand up.

“What’s going on?” he demanded. “You were doing better last week. You’re actually getting worse!”

“I don’t know,” she said defensively. “I don’t want to hurt you. You’re not a demon, I mean.” He looked up at her. She felt a jolt when he finally looked her in the eye. It felt like that night he’d healed her. She looked away. “Not helping,” she muttered.

“Hate to interrupt, you kids,” Talia interrupted. “But it’s after one. I’m starving.”

“You’re always starving,” Ryan retorted automatically. Talia grinned.

“Exactly!” she agreed.

“How much homework do you have, Aleda?” Ryan asked.

“Not that much, why?”

“Come back to Elkton with us. I want to show you something.”

“What, now?”

“Yeah, now.”

Aleda stared at him a moment, feeling like she’d missed something important. “Okay,” she finally said. “But I’m hungry, too.”

Talia clapped her hands together. “Don’t worry!” she said cheerfully. “We’ll feed you. Let’s go!”

She bounded up the stairs, nearly kicking over the fragile glass half-full of milk in the process. Ryan pulled his shirt and jacket back on and they followed her bemusedly.

“Hey, Aria!” Talia called to the house in general. “I’m taking Leda out for lunch. She’ll be back later!”

“Your sister gets excited over weird things,” Aleda commented on the way out. Ryan could only nod his agreement.

They stopped at the apartment first. Talia fished a half-eaten pizza out of the refrigerator and offered some to Aleda.

“How did you not finish this already?” Aleda asked, amazed.

“Ordered extra last night, and ended up too busy with Pizza Boy to eat the rest,” Talia answered.

“O-oh, so that’s why you always get pizza,” Aleda said. “Just an excuse to get Trevor over here, huh?”

Ryan laughed, and Talia stuck her tongue out at him. “He’s nice and all,” she admitted, “But pizza will always be my one true love.”

Aleda chuckled at her dreamy voice. “Does popcorn know about this?” she asked.

“Oh, yes,” Talia said. “It’s a very open and understanding relationship.”

Aleda shook her head at the girl and dug into her own pizza.

Ryan was just munching on an apple.

“Aren’t you hungry?” Aleda asked around a mouthful of cheese.

He held up the half-eaten apple. “Midnight snack.”

“So what are you showing me, anyway?”

“If I was going to just tell you I’d have done it back in Delaware. Talia, do you want to come, too?”

Talia snorted. “I got to get to work, Big Brother,” she reminded him. “But have fun on your field trip.”

“…Well, Aleda, I hope you like motorcycles.”

“It’s forty degrees outside!” she protested.

“You’ve got a coat.”

“Fine! We’ll take your precious motorcycle. I don’t see what’s so important you have to show me when it’s freezing cold outside, but whatever.”

“So obliged,” Ryan said dryly. He tossed what was left of the apple core into the garbage and stood up. “Coming?”

“Yeah, I’m coming.”

“Have fun, kids!” Talia said, waving animatedly.

“Is it me?” Aleda asked when they were in the parking lot, “Or does she get really excited about saying goodbye?”

“Your guess is as good as mine. I only wish growing up with her gave me some insight,” he replied. He climbed onto his motorcycle, reaching back to hand her the spare helmet. “Well? Hop on.”

She reluctantly slid onto the seat behind him and tried to find a place to put her hands that wasn’t incredibly awkward.

“You’d better hold on,” Ryan said. “We can’t have you flying off the back of the bike.”

“I know! I was… right. Okay.”

So apparently it was going to be awkward no matter what. Well, fine. Her arms circled his waist and held on tight to the warm leather of his jacket. As soon as he was sure that she had a good grip he started the engine and pulled out onto the street.

Oh, s**t it was cold! Forty-degree temperatures were bad enough without the 40mph winds! She buried her face in Ryan’s back, hoping to steal some of his warmth. They reached a stoplight and he turned his head to look at her.

“You don’t have to hold that tight, you know,” he said. She mumbled against his back. “What’s that?”

“I said, it’s bloody cold!” she snarled.

He sighed. “If I let you wear my jacket, will you let my lungs go?”

“It’s a deal.”

It was a good thing his jacket was so much bigger than her. It was loose enough to fit over her own coat, which was feeling more and more useless by the minute. She zipped it and buttoned it and returned her hands to a proper grip, feeling much better about the whole thing.

“Alright, I’m good,” she announced when she had settled again.

“Oh, goody.”

He drove her out to the back roads, stopping at last down the street from the ruins of a house. It looked like it had been abandoned decades ago. The yard was completely overgrown, and part of the roof had caved in. There were a few houses in sight through the trees, but they were too far away to see more than an outline of the buildings.

“What is this place?” Aleda asked when he got off.

“It’s the last nest I cleared. This past Wednesday.”

“O…ka-ay. So we’re here… why?”

“I want you to see what a sucker nest looks like on the inside before we tip off the other bureaucracy and they reclaim this property.”

Aleda shrugged and nodded. Seemed like a decent idea, even if she had to come out here in the dead of freezing winter. She walked a few steps behind him up to the front door—well, what was left of a front door—with her face buried in the collar of his jacket. She wasn’t quite paying attention to where she was going and so when he stopped suddenly, a few feet from the house, she crashed into his back. His arm automatically came around to steady her and she peered around him.

“What is it?” she asked.

“The smell’s too fresh. I cleared this place three days ago, it should be fading by now. Hold on.”

He walked to a window and peered inside, Aleda right behind him. There was a slight movement from inside, and Aleda felt her spine tingle.

“I thought you said you cleared it,” she said quietly.

Ryan stared into the building. “…I did,” he said. He turned to her, the alarm actually visible in his eyes. “I did clear it.”

More movement caught her eye, and she looked back through the window. “Hey, Ryan…?”

“…I know I cleared it!” His eyes were down at the ground. He wasn’t paying attention to her anymore.

“Ryan…!” she tried again, her voice straining.

He finally looked up at her. “What?”

“…I think… I think they can see us,” she said weakly.

Ryan’s eyes snapped up and met fifteen other pairs of eyes, all looking back at them.