Page 6

CHAPTER SIX

D emetrius parked his truck at the start of Main Street, in front of a little park maintained by the city. Well, maintained by Harriettville’s DPW now. A nice addition to the city a few years ago, it had been wedged into an empty lot on the corner of First and Main, across the street from Parson’s Pharmacy.

At the intersections of several cement paths in the center of the park stood a tall slab of polished black marble. A small moon dial was positioned several feet away. During the full moon at a specific time of year, the perfect circle carved into the tall marble piece directed moonlight at the moon dial, illuminating the time the full moon had risen on that fateful night years ago when the werewolves had tried to take over the town. Seventeen names had been etched into the marble column to honor all of those lost that August night.

He stood before the column, hands stuffed into the pockets of his jacket. A breeze made him shiver. They were in that weird time of the year where the weather couldn’t decide from hour to hour what it wanted to do. The breeze lifted the loamy smell of the flowerbeds to him, along with the heavy stench of the new mulch spread throughout. These mingled with the familiar scents of town: the bright tomatoes of Antonio’s marinara, the deep fryer at Margie’s, and a gentle hint of coffee from Hollow Grounds at the other end of Main Street. He found Hap’s name on the list and ran a finger across it.

“Thanks, Hap,” Demetrius said. “I hope you and Rufus are together again and happy.”

Turning away from the sculpture, he followed one of the cement paths to the sidewalk. Like any small town across the country, businesses lined a few blocks on each side of Parson’s Hollow’s Main Street.

Demetrius crossed First Street. Parson’s Pharmacy took up three lots on the corner. A few concrete steps led up to the glass entry doors. Accessibility hadn’t been a consideration when the town had been built, so Raymond Fisher, the pharmacist and owner, had years ago paid to have a ramp installed off to one side. And he’d been griping about it ever since.

A new women’s clothing store had opened recently: Clarissa’s Rizz. Headless mannequins in the window sported flashy outfits, their price tags tucked carefully out of sight. He wondered how long this store would last. Most people who lived in town ordered their clothes online or drove to Creighton to hit the outlet mall there. Antonio’s had a decent lunch crowd, and the fringes of the vinyl awning above the entry and large front window waved in the breeze.

Demetrius paused at the end of a pedestrian alleyway. It ran between Antonio’s and Bryerson’s Frame Shop, providing a mid-block cut through to the large parking lot behind all the stores. A mural depicting a bird’s eye view of Main Street ran the length of one wall, and a few benches had been installed opposite. The alleyway had been the scene of a few pretty gruesome vampire attacks back on Halloween night. All traces of blood and violence had been scrubbed away, but standing there again sent a shiver up Demetrius’s back.

The canvas awning that spanned the front of the frame shop was faded and stained from the hickory tree planted at the curb. The frames displayed in the large front window were in dire need of dusting, and he marveled, like he usually did, that the place was still in business. Margie’s Diner was next door, and she’d recently hired someone to power wash the metal awning that spanned the front so it gleamed even in the flat light of the overcast day. He wondered if power washing would be a service he could offer people in town. Would it pay enough to be worth it? Would he enjoy it?

He opened the door, hearing the familiar jingle of the bell above.

“Demetrius!” Margie stood behind the counter that ran along the wall separating the dining area from the kitchen. Locals occupied a few of the stools bolted to the floor along the counter, and Demetrius exchanged nods with them. Margie had her dark hair up in a bun on the back of her head covered by a hairnet. She looked like she was ready for the approaching spring season with green and yellow eye shadow and bright red lipstick. “I haven’t seen you boys for a while. Cody’s family still in town?”

“Yeah, through the weekend, most likely,” Demetrius said.

“Well I’m glad you were able to break away and come in today. Anyone joining you?”

“Cody should be.”

She nodded as she wrapped another set of silverware inside paper napkins. “Go ahead and sit wherever you want. I’ll come over in a minute. Iced tea?”

“Yes, please. Thanks.”

The dining area was longer than it was wide. Square tables surrounded by chairs populated the middle of the space, and booths were positioned in front of the big glass window in front and along the side wall. Demetrius threaded his way through the tables to a booth near the back. This had become their usual spot, and he savored the familiarity as he slid onto the vinyl seat facing the door.

Maybe he could get a job at Margie’s. Start off as a busboy and work his way up.

He made a face and shook his head. That wouldn’t be a good fit for him.

Unrolling a set of silverware, he folded the paper wrapper into a small, compressed square. That was not at all symbolic to the crushing weight of guilt he felt over being unemployed. Nope.

To keep his thoughts from spiraling, he instead considered Cody’s text. He hadn’t provided any details, just asked if Demetrius could get away and meet for a late lunch at Margie’s to talk. There’d been so much going on recently, their topic of conversation could cover pretty much anything.

Margie brought a couple of iced teas in the familiar plastic tumblers. She slid into the booth across from him with a grunt, then smiled.

“How’s Cody holding up?”

“He’s doing okay.” Demetrius smiled and shrugged. “I don’t think either of us will be sad when everyone goes back home.”

“Family can be a difficult gift sometimes. With no receipt.”

They both laughed at that.

“How about you?” Demetrius asked. “How are you doing?”

She looked around the diner. “Business has been steady. Back to making a bit of a profit again now that all that werewolf and vampire nonsense is over.” She turned back. “Anything new going on I should know about?”

Demetrius scrunched up his face. “I really don’t know, to be honest.”

“Oh, dear.” The bell above the door jingled, and Margie got up, calling to the new arrivals—a young couple, smiling and appearing cloyingly happy—to sit wherever they liked before looking back at Demetrius. “I thought when you boys stopped catching critters that would be the end of this stuff.”

“Yeah, I thought so, too,” Demetrius said. “But I guess the town has other plans.”

She lowered her voice and leaned in slightly. “What is it this time?”

“Not quite sure. I’ll let you know when we have more information.”

Margie nodded once and took hold of the silver St. Christopher’s medal she wore around her neck. She had given it to Demetrius years ago, after they’d escaped capture together, and it had saved his life in one of his fights against Nicolae, the alpha werewolf. After they’d defeated Nicolae, Demetrius had returned it. Now, she rubbed her thumb across the medal as she headed off to the happy young couple.

Demetrius sipped his iced tea and looked at social media, then checked a couple of headlines on some of the major news apps. He instantly regretted it and closed everything down. Was any good news to be found anywhere?

The bell jangled again and Demetrius looked up. A familiar spike of emotions sizzled through him, twisted together like the wires connecting a switch to a light. It was want and need, and they always arrived together when he saw Cody.

The other diners watched Cody move through the tables, because of course they did. He moved with a grace that came naturally to a long-time athlete: hips moving, shoulders rolling, legs strong and head up. Demetrius wondered—not for the first or last time—what it would feel like to be Cody. To move with that confidence, to take up that solid space in the world and have people look at him with something other than dismissal, if they took any notice at all.

Cody looked good, of course, because he always did. But the last few weeks had been hard, and Demetrius could see the toll it had taken. It was visible in the lines of his face and the bruised skin beneath his eyes. Neither of them were sleeping well on that torturous sofa hide-a-bed, but Cody was having an especially difficult time because he was so tall.

So tall, and so grouchy, and so undeniably his, all Demetrius could do was smile.

Cody dropped into the booth across from him. The table rocked slightly, the iced teas threatening to overflow. Demetrius could relate to both.

“Hi.” Cody’s smile was dimmer than usual, but looked genuine.

“Hi. How did things go at the surprise storage unit reveal?”

He grimaced slightly and gulped tea. “About as you’d expect. It’s packed with boxes and plastic bins and furniture and clothes.” He shook his head. “All these years I could have been going through that stuff and cleaning it out a little at a time.”

“What can I do to help?”

Cody gave him a tired smile. “Exactly what you’re doing right now. Putting up with my family and me, sitting there looking handsome and calm and sexy as hell.”

“Yeah?” Demetrius leaned back in the booth and shook his shoulders loose. He looked away, then tried for an overdone sexy expression before looking back at Cody. “Are you saying I’ve got the rizz?”

Cody laughed. It was big and loud and sounded like the Cody from years ago. Demetrius hadn’t expected such a big reaction, and he was glad he hadn’t been seriously trying for sexy—well, not really. Hearing that big, booming Cody laugh lit something needy and carnal deep inside him.

It had been much too long since they’d had sex. When was the Bower tribe scheduled to leave town?

“You know, I could be offended,” Demetrius said, feigning hurt.

Cody reached across the table and grabbed his hands. “You know I love you.”

His hands were big and warm and a little rough. Demetrius smiled. “I do.”

“Good. So, you’ll know this comes from a place of love when I tell you to never, ever say the word ‘rizz’ again.”

Demetrius scowled and pulled his hands free. “You’re putting restrictions on what I can say?”

“Not overall, just that one word.”

“That’s not fair.”

“It’s for your own good.”

“How is it for my own good?”

Margie came up to the table. She stood by Cody and put a hand on his shoulder. “Hi there, big and tall. How are you?”

“Hi Margie.” Cody smiled up at her. “I’m doing okay, thanks for asking.” He glanced over at Demetrius, then looked back at her. “Let me ask for your opinion on something.”

“Oh, for the love of Spam and crackers,” Demetrius muttered.

Cody gave him a frown. “Have you been talking with Jugs?” He looked at Margie again. “Can Demmy here pull off using the word ‘rizz’?”

“Oh, you two.” Margie gently slapped Cody’s shoulder, gave it a squeeze, then looked between them. “If anyone here has the rizz, it’s me.”

They all laughed at that.

“Okay, boys, what’s for lunch?”

They ordered grilled chicken salad for Demetrius and a roast beef sandwich for Cody, and Margie headed for the kitchen.

“Your plan backfired,” Demetrius said. “She didn’t agree with you.”

“No, she avoided answering the question and made it out to be a joke because she didn’t want to hurt your feelings.” He took another long drink of tea. “Just because that new store in town has ‘rizz’ in the name, it doesn’t mean you should say it.”

“Rude, but understood.”

“Just trying to save you from embarrassing yourself.”

“I get it.” Demetrius ducked his head to catch Cody’s eye. “Seriously now, how’s it going?”

Cody made a face. “Weird, I guess.”

“Weird how?”

After a quick look around, Cody pulled a small wooden box from his jacket pocket. He placed it on the table between them and lifted the lid. Demetrius let out a breath when he saw the hex bag inside. He leaned in over the box to get a better look, then looked at Cody.

“Where did you find this?”

“In a bunch of my grandmother’s stuff.”

“Is it the same as we have outside our house?”

“I think so.” Cody gripped the lid in both hands in front of him. His fingers looked massive as they tightened on the small piece of wood. “It kind of freaked me out, so I told my family I got called into work. Then I went by the library to try and talk with Tracey.”

Demetrius sat back. He blinked and tried to understand the emotions coming up inside him. Surprise, of course. Cody and Tracey didn’t really like each other. He was also maybe jealous that Cody had gone ahead and jumped into a task that Demetrius usually took on. And he usually ran interference between Cody and his ex-girlfriends, of which there were many, so he felt left out, like he’d been excluded from a group activity.

“Oh?” he said.

“Yeah. When I left the storage unit and was driving into town, I thought I’d go by the library and check on Tracey since I saw her last night at the store.”

“Yeah, that whole thing sounded weird. Was she there?”

“No. And neither was Heath. But I ran into Clarabell, almost literally.”

“Huh?”

“She was standing right behind me in the library. She’d gone there to talk with Tracey, too. Turns out she was the one who planted the hex bag outside our house.”

“Clarabell?” Demetrius said, his voice going up on the last syllable.

“Keep your voice down,” Cody said, looking around. “She might show up like Beetlejuice or Candyman.”

“So, is she a witch?”

“Do you want my personal opinion or a fact?”

Demetrius gave him a look. “Never mind, I’ll ask her myself.”

“Good idea. Anyway, Clarabell and Tracey and Heath and some woman named Rita have been looking into what’s been going on in town.”

Demetrius leaned in. “What is going on in town?”

Cody leaned in as well and lowered his voice. “Ready for it?”

Demetrius made a face. “No, but go ahead.”

“There’s a witch in town.”

“Oh, shit.”

“Yeah, oh shit.”

“Oh my God, where did that come from?”

Margie had come up with their food. She stared down at the hex bag inside the box with a shocked expression. Demetrius saw the plates start to shake and reached up to take his salad from her.

“Oh, um, it’s okay,” Demetrius said. “Nothing’s wrong. It’s all good. It’s not bad.”

Cody took his plate as well. When Margie motioned for him to move over, Cody shot a raised eyebrows look across the table at Demetrius as he slid across the seat to make room.

“I haven’t seen one of those in…” Her voice faded out and she shook her head. Tears filled her eyes, and she quickly pressed a knuckle beneath each eye.

“Margie? Oh, no.” Demetrius reached across the table to take her hand. “What is it?”

“My grandmother had a bag like that. And she gave one to me as well. I’ll never forget it. It was the day I got married and moved out of my parents’ house.”

“Really?” Cody turned on the seat to be able to look at her more directly. “Did she say what it was for?”

“Protection. Prosperity. All good things.” She smiled as a tear spilled from her eye. “She died a few years after that. I still have the bag. It’s tucked inside my hope chest, along with my wedding dress and photo album.”

“I never knew you were married,” Demetrius said.

“Oh, him.” She waved her hand as if shooing a fly. “Worst decision of my life. He couldn’t pass a bar without trying to find the bottom of at least one bottle. Liked to gamble a lot, too, and wasn’t very good at it. A few years after we got married, he went out for a pack of cigarettes and never came home. The last time I heard from him I received a bunch of legal documents asking for a divorce.” She cocked an eyebrow. “Fastest I’ve ever signed anything in my life.”

“Sounds like a real prince,” Cody said. “Guess your grandmother’s hex bag didn’t protect you from him.”

“Actually, in a way, it did. When we were married, I kept the bag in the drawer of the nightstand on my side of the bed. He would sneeze if he was in the room when I opened that drawer. He said he was allergic to whatever was inside and wanted me to throw it out. I told him to just stay on his side of the bed, and he wouldn’t have a problem.” She laughed quietly. “Gave me quite a few nights off from having to fulfill my wifely duties.”

“Well, that’s good then, I guess?” Demetrius looked at Cody and saw his own embarrassment and anger for Margie reflected in his expression.

“Oh, hell yes it was good. He was a terrible lover. Will was gifted in size, but limited in skill, if you get my drift.”

“Yep, we get it,” Cody said with a slightly pained look. “And we’re drifting on by it.”

“Oh, you boys. After everything we’ve been through together, you can handle a little girl talk from me.”

“You’re absolutely right, Margie,” Demetrius said. “So, was your grandmother… “ He looked around, then lowered his voice and leaned in slightly. “Was she a witch?”

Margie sat back and clasped her hands in front of her. She looked at the box in the middle of the table, then back at Demetrius. “You know, seeing this bag and thinking about her now, I bet she was.”

“Maybe she and my grandmother were in a coven together,” Cody said before picking up his sandwich and taking a big bite.

“Wouldn’t that be a hoot?” Margie chuckled and shook her head. She leaned over to bump Cody’s shoulder, then squeezed his forearm. “I’m sorry if I shared too much. Seeing that brought back a lot of memories. Forgive an old woman for going on.” She slid back out of the seat.

“You’re not old,” Cody said. “You’re a spring chicken.”

“Yeah, yeah. Closer to poultry.” Margie stood with her hands on the table, fingers splayed, looking down into the box. “I’ve noticed some differences in town since…well, since Halloween. That was a terrible time, and I’m glad we’re through it.” She looked between them. “We are through it, right? There aren’t any of them lurking around, are there?”

“None that we know of,” Demetrius said, knowing she meant vampires without saying the word. He took the opportunity to push a forkful of salad into his mouth.

“Good riddance.” She looked into the box again. “I don’t think we’re quite through the worst of things yet, though, boys. Keep your wits about you.”

“Well, shit. I lost my wits a long time ago,” Cody said.

“Oh, you.” Margie smacked him playfully on the shoulder. “Eat your food. And this lunch is on me, since I made myself at home in your booth for so long.”

“You don’t have to do that, Margie,” Demetrius said.

“I want to. Now go on and eat.”

Demetrius watched her return to her spot behind the counter, and then looked over to find Cody staring at him.

“What?” Demetrius said.

“You know what this means, right?” He replaced the cover on the box and returned it to his jacket pocket.

“I’m afraid to guess.”

“It means we’ve got another spooky case to look into.”

A thread of worry stitched through Demetrius’s chest. Cody never liked it when they got involved in the monster cases. Was he going to get angry or stubborn or take it out on Demetrius himself like he had in the past?

“Okay. And how do you feel about that?” Demetrius asked.

Cody took another big bite of his sandwich. He sat back, hands planted on the bench to either side of him. As he chewed, he looked at Demetrius, studying him it seemed.

“What?” Demetrius asked. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I’ve done a lot of thinking since Halloween.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. I didn’t treat you fairly back then about… you know, the whole situation.”

Demetrius felt a cautious flicker of anxiety high up in his chest. Where was Cody going with this? And did Demetrius want to follow? It all sounded good right now, but things might take a hard left at some point. He settled back against the booth. “Okay.”

Cody blew out a breath and shook his head. “I’m really bad at this. What I’m trying to say is, I’m sorry for the way I treated you. It’s not your fault all of this shit has happened to us. We’ve got extraordinarily bad luck when it comes to monsters and creatures of the night. Something, or someone, may be gearing up for a big attack on the town. We’re going to need to be ready.”

“Wow.” There was a lot to process in what Cody had said. These kinds of conversations had previously been so fraught with emotion and guilt, Demetrius’s body had preemptively started to react as if that were the case. Now, he felt as if he were watching their conversation from a few feet above the booth. It was disassociation, he knew, brought on by anxiety and stress over the topic at hand, as well as past monster-related trauma. He’d read up on these kinds of reactions online because they didn’t have insurance coverage for therapy visits, so he knew what was happening. He needed to get back into himself, to ground himself in the moment and acknowledge what Cody had said.

Picking up his tea, he took a drink and sucked an ice cube into his mouth. He pressed the cube against the roof of his mouth. The cold helped to bring him back into his body. Once he felt more settled, Demetrius chewed the ice cube to pieces and swallowed it.

“Sorry, I needed a minute there,” he said.

“You all right?” Cody was watching him closely, knowingly. The familiarity in his expression and the depth of knowledge they had about each other made him feel even better and more connected.

“Yeah. I’m good. I didn’t know where you were going with that, so I got a little anxious. Needed to head some things off.” He reached across the table. Cody gave him his hands and Demetrius squeezed gently. “Thank you for saying that. You’ve said it before, but this time felt different.”

“Yeah, it felt different for me, too.”

“You know how I feel about stuff like this. We’re the ones best equipped to handle these kinds of things. But we’ve also got a lot of people to help us out now—your brother Dave, Oliver, Clarabell, Lucia and Gayle, Tracey, Zenona, Jugs and Agatha, and Amelia and the entire condo complex out at Parson’s Pines.”

“God bless Isaac Wilkerson and his police band radio,” Cody said. He tipped his head toward the counter. “Don’t forget Margie, whose ex-husband had a big dick but didn’t know what to do with it.” He widened his eyes slightly and Demetrius snorted a laugh.

“Right, yes. And Margie. So, we’re not alone in this, not by a long shot. It’s okay to ask for help. We don’t have to do it all on our own.”

“Says the man who offered himself to an alpha werewolf.”

“Says the man who drove a snow plow through the DPW garage.”

“Point taken.”

“Thank you. Now, let’s enjoy our surprise free lunch and then do some digging.”

Demetrius released Cody’s hands, and they both returned to their meals.

After a couple of bites, Cody said, “What are we going to be digging into, exactly?”

Demetrius smiled as he speared a piece of chicken. “I say we start with that body that was found in the woods.”