Page 25

Ruby

I walked the streets aimlessly, trying to solve the puzzle of where my mother would have gone. She had given me the clue and yet I had no idea what she was talking about. She’d grown up in a town near Buzzard Creek, a place that she had always said she would never want to return to. She hadn’t really had much time or means to travel, there were no holidays that her parents had taken her on as a child.

The only thing I felt fairly sure of, was that it would be somewhere in the South. Not home though, she wouldn’t risk going back there.

I looked up and saw that I had made my way back to the hospital, without realizing that was where I was heading. My eye swept the parking lot and I saw two huge bikes at the end. I wandered over, checking for the owners but there was no one in sight. These were big machines, fine beasts and I knew they’d belong to some shifter or other.

I didn’t feel bad stealing one. The shifters owed me for everything they’d put me through and I wasn’t even talking about the kidnappings and the pain and suffering I’d been through. My shoulder and ribs still hurt every time I tried to lift or turn or pretty much breathe.

Fortunately, I’d learnt how to hotwire a bike almost before I could tie my shoelaces. For the kids of bikers and shifters, it was almost a rite of passage. My dad would take me out into the street and time me as I got the wires out, crossed them and started the bikes. When I beat my last best score, I’d get some candy.

I tied my hair back. I didn’t know how much time I had, I chose the bike that would handle easiest and made quick work of getting it to start. I gritted my teeth, then tightly grabbing the handlebars and swinging myself over, started the bike. It came on right away and I moved off slowly.

I’d been on Danny’s bike many times and I didn’t mind the big and powerful machines. I decided to head south and figure out my route along the way. I was so relieved that my mother was alive and had managed to get away before the shifters had found her. The feeling was so overpowering that it drowned out everything else.

My feelings for Luc.

My worry about the shifters finding us or me.

I just wanted to see her, to find her, to hug her and make sure she was all right.

I thought of the last time I’d see her in the hospital, how she’d said she’d wait for me but where? That was the trick question. As I left town, I noticed car wrecks by the side of the road, sites of accidents and shootings. The war had come here and it was probably dangerous for me to be on the road but I had no choice. I had to find my mother.

Then, suddenly, it came to me. A song she used to sing to me when I was a little girl. It was about the sun and beach and how much fun it was to have ice cream when it was hot. Whenever I was feeling down or ill, she’d sing the song to me and pull funny faces until I smiled. She would ask me what ice cream flavors I liked and distract me with silly talk like this.

After one of her spells, when she’d been admitted to the hospital, I’d sung the song for her. Lying in bed next to her, I sang to her about the fun we were going to have at this mystery place. She asked me where it was and I named the only places I knew on the coast, Lolla and Britney Peak and Cape Falls.

“Oh,” she said in a thin voice. “I’ve heard of Cape Falls. It’s real quiet there and at night you hear the waves rolling and turning.”

“Then that’s where we’ll go,” I said.

Could that be what she’d meant?

Cape Falls was past the swamp though, the path there led through the worst of the war. Would she really risk going that close to our enemies? My mother was brave though, I knew she wouldn’t let herself be deterred by the possibility of being detected.

I decided to give it a go. I had a full tank of fuel and the bike was strong. After a few hours though, my arm was beginning to throb painfully and I had to take a break. I pulled off to the side of the road, fully aware of the dangers of doing this but I needed to rest.

I pulled the bike into the undergrowth and hid it from the road. Then I crawled underneath some bushes and closed my eyes, falling asleep instantly. I woke up in the middle of the night and listened carefully before I pushed my bike out and got it started again. It wasn’t as easy as in the daylight and my arm was still stiff. Still, I kept going. Cars and bikes passed me, some of them tried to flag me down and I even drove through a road block, slowing down as if to stop, then revving up at the last minute. I heard shots and ducked down low over the handlebars. I was stopping for no one.

By dawn, I saw the sign to turn off to the coast. To the right, were the swamps but I wanted Cape Falls, a town so magical that songs had been written about it. I drove past a city and started worrying that I had missed the turnoff, but then I saw the sign for Cape Falls. By mid-morning, I’d arrived in the sleepy town.

I parked the bike down at the jetty, where a few boats were moored. It was low key and quiet, not many houses or shops. It seemed like a holiday destination and I wondered if word of the war had even reached this place. It was so beautiful here. The water was the most incredible blue, with small waves heading for a golden beach that stretched out for miles. There was an ice cream shop and I walked over, buying myself a cone and staring at the horizon.

“Mesmerizing isn’t it?” someone said next to me.

I turned and there was my mother, in a big sun hat and huge sunglasses, beaming at me.

“Mom!” I dropped my ice cream and hugged her tightly.

“You’re here, you’re really here!”

“Where else was I gonna go? Let’s get you another ice cream.”

“How long have you been here? Where are you staying? How are you feeling?”

She laughed. “So many questions!” Then she hugged me again.

“I’m so glad you’re here, I knew you’d find me.”

Then she frowned. “What happened to you, your face?”

“I’ll tell you later,” I said.

We walked back, both of us getting ice cream this time and she took me to her small hotel near the beach. She said she’d been staying there for the last couple of days, basically hanging out at the beach and waiting for me.

“I knew you’d come,” she said.

She looked well but I could see dark circles under her eyes.

In her hotel room, we sat on her bed and I told her everything. About Luc and the shifters, about being kidnapped and beaten up and Luc rescuing me again. I bit my lip and told her about the hotel room.

“So that’s why it took you so long to get here!” my mother laughed knowingly.

“I’m so sorry! I feel terrible!”

But she shook her head. “You had to get better, I mean look at you!” I pulled up my shirt, and showed her the bruising on my ribs, my stitched up arm.

She frowned and insisted on getting some ointments.

“I’m better mom, really,” I insisted. “We can’t stay here though.”

“Why not?”

“It’s too close to the swamps, to the shifters,” I said.

“But that is the best place to be, right under their noses. Hiding in plain sight.” I could see she liked this idea.

“We’ll stand out here, I think we need to blend in more, a busier place like a city, maybe?”

“I’m sick, sweetie, I don’t have to lie about that. We tell people I’ve come for the climate, for the cleaner air.”

I didn’t want to argue with my mother. Besides, Cape Falls was gorgeous, with all the subtropical vegetation and the blue skies. If this was what my mother wanted, then I could do it. I knew we’d need money soon and I would have to come up with a way to earn some.

“There are some cafés on the beachfront which seem to be in business,” my mom said. “Maybe you could ask about waitressing there?”

“Any shifters around?”

“Haven’t seen any bikers, if that’s what you’re asking.”

We fell silent then, both of us thinking about whether we’d come far enough.

“I think maybe we dye our hair?” my mother said and we went to the nearest drug store, getting bleach and blonde dye. I decided to cut my hair to change my look even more.

“You look gorgeous,” my mom said. “Like a real beach babe. Now we just need to work on your tan!”

That night, after a few beers, she asked me though, “This vampire, is it over though?”

“I don’t know,” I said honestly.

“You have feelings for him?” she asked, her tone disgusted.

“I do,” I admitted.

“Ruby!”

“He saved me, twice and he was good to me…”

“Only to get you into bed!”

“I wanted to sleep with him, still do, to be honest,” I admitted to her. She was shocked.

“He’s a vampire, a bloodsucker! What if he wants to drink your blood!”

“What if he does?” I asked her. “As long as he doesn’t kill me, I don’t really mind.”

I could see she didn’t know what to say to that.

“I’ve never been with anyone like him,” I said, “He treats me with respect and kindness, talks to me like an equal and makes love to me like I’m the last woman on earth and did I mention he’s incredibly handsome and rich?”

“Well, if you’re going to put it that way,” my mom said with a laugh.

“Nobody’s perfect, you know?” I said. “But he’d never hurt me, I know that. The only man I can say that about.”

She shook her head but I could see she was thinking about what I’d said.