Silverkey Crossing

Little Sister - Part VII

The polarity of everything changed in the seconds it took to read the note. The evil that had arisen in his world had been quashed, and he even got the girl in the end of the story, setting the stage for a happily ever after.

Nope. Evil was still around. Evil's hands still had reaching power into places it shouldn't. Worse yet, evil could see him when he couldn't see it. Evil had a blind, a platform from which to attack. At it's leisure.

He looked around. Swarming, gaggling, dawdling teenagers, none of them making eye contact with Aiden. No one's vibe matched the tenor of the letter.

Will could have paid someone to deliver the note. He could have paid someone to write it in the first place. Using his own handwriting would be dead foolish. Then again, trying to have his way with Sally in broad daylight was no display of smarts either.

Aiden's walk home was a wary one, despite Sally walking beside him.

"Hey."

"What?" he said.

"I just told you we're going camping early in July. Didn't you hear me?"

"I'm s-sorry. My mind is j-jumbled."

She took his hand.

"I really want you to come along. I'll ask my parents and you ask yours. Okay? You need to get out of here for a while and you need to be with me."

She's right. I do need to get out of here for a while.

He thought about what sort of pandemonium would be triggered if Lauren tried to get into his tent. He wasn't sure to what extent she herself... or the effects of her presence... were apparent to others. That would be just the thing. The tent unzipping from the outside. The sound of it alerting Sally's family that Aiden isn't alone in his tent. Alerting Sally that Aiden isn't alone in his tent -- and it ain't her in there with him.

Sure. Camping.

She squeezed his hand, popping a few finger joints.

"Ow!"

"I said you'll ask your parents and I'll ask mine, alright?"

"Ok-k-kay, alright, I'll ask them."

She smiled. It was warm. It was impish. It tugged a genuine smile out of him. When was the last time his smile was that real? It felt forever ago.

"What you grinning about?"

"S-same thing as y-you?"

"Oh yah?"

"I love you, Sal."

She kissed him on the cheek. He walked her home, hands locked, her grip steadying his tremors a little.

From the time he first met her, he imagined her parents owned one of the top five houses in town that said "Hey, we have money." The house he would walk her to was far from it. It wasn't a dump. It wasn't 'historical' Keller bait. It was ordinary and past it's warranty and just big enough for the family of five. It was very... settled. A nest well-established and nailed down.

Aiden wondered what that kind of life was like.

The cat-scratched front door closed with Sally safely behind it. He put his hands in his pockets and the grim note crinkled at him. He heaved a shaky sigh and began the long walk home with his eyes up, vigilant.

It was as sunny as any late afternoon in late June. The closer he got to the hill that ascended towards home, the thicker the trees got, hinting that this may have been a rather exclusive neighborhood at one point in time. New leaves bright enough to be yellow peeked out from the drowsy winter wood. Redbuds were dotted with birth pangs of pink. There was just enough color that Aiden almost didn't see the camouflage print ballcap that swayed in a thicket of young trees. He saw the pale, un-camouflaged legs in dull brown shorts first. Then he noticed the deer hunter's jacket that made most of the wearer disappear. Then he saw the cap, the brim wide, low and shady.