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Nine by Night: A Multi-Author Urban Fantasy Bundle of Kickass Heroines, Adventure, Magic
Chapter 16
When the final bell rang, signaling my release from school, I ran out the double-doors as fast as I could, my head spinning from the storm of emotions. The air was warm for late September, and my feet crunched the red and gold leaves under my feet. I didn’t want to go home. Not yet. After the day I had, the last thing I wanted to do was return to the House of Perpetual Mourning. Rather than turning down my street, my feet trekked on aimlessly.
What in the heck happened to me today? It was something more than just sadness over my sister and the uneasiness of returning to school. It was like I’d been put in a clothes dryer filled with all of the emotions of everyone in the school and forced to tumble around with them for seven hours. I was worn out.
I turned down the next street over from my house. There was a small park a couple of blocks down where Bronwyn and I sometimes liked to hang out on the swings. A broken piece of sidewalk chalk was left abandoned on the ground, and I kicked it hard with the toe of my Sketchers.
“Cady!” a voice called to me.
I looked up from my feet and saw the strange neighbor woman, the one whose backyard met mine, grinning at me from her front stoop. How did she know my name? I lifted my hand tentatively and waved.
“Will you come here a moment? I’d like to speak with you,” the woman said.
Oh, no. Was she planning on scolding me for spying on her with my binoculars? But she didn’t look angry. Her expression was open and friendly. With a deep breath, I trudged up the walk to her front door.
“I have some lavender tea on the stove. Come in.”
It’s not like I was afraid of strangers, but this one made me uneasy. As if reading my thoughts, she assured me, “It’s okay. I’m not some insane person who abducts children, I just want to talk to you about something.”
Not wanting to admit that I was thinking she might be an insane person bent on abducting me, I followed her inside.
“My name’s Jinx,” she said. “Make yourself comfortable, while I get the tea.”
Jinx disappeared into the kitchen.
The house was a Cape Cod, smaller than ours, and filled with…stuff. While I wouldn’t exactly call her a hoarder, she obviously had issues with clutter. Books and newspapers were stacked in careless towers on the coffee table. Candles in mismatched holders sat on every available flat surface, including on top of an ancient console television and in the windowsills. A shaggy lapdog looked up from a doggy bed perched on top of a table next to the front window. He gave me a half-hearted “Arf” before resting his chin back on his paws and nodding off. I scooted a wad of blankets over and sat down on a red, crushed velvet couch that looked like it had time traveled here from the 1970’s.
After a bit of rattling around in the kitchen, Jinx returned carrying two steaming mugs of light brown tea. I blew on mine and waited for her to say something.
“Honey?” she asked, squeezing a honey packet from KFC into her mug and stirring.
I shook my head no. I was really more of a coffee person, but I’d drink it to be polite.
“How do you know my name?” I asked.
She twirled her fingers in the air. “Oh, one hears things around…”
I nodded like I knew what she was talking about. I set my drink down on the coffee table to give it time to cool off, but then I didn’t know what to do with my hands, so I picked it back up. My eyes wandered the room, unsure of where to look. I could sense the woman’s gaze trained on my face.
“I’m very sorry about your sister,” she said. Her expression was open and kind. Her large blue eyes were twin liquid pools. The wild cork-screws of her auburn hair gave her the look of a faerie tale creature. It was impossible not to like her.
“Uh, thanks…”
“How are you and your family holding up?”
I shrugged.
Jinx nodded.
“So what kind of name is Jinx?” I asked before I realized how rude it sounded. She didn’t seem to take offense.
“Well, my real name is Jennifer…” She made a gagging motion with her finger to her mouth. “…but I got the nickname when I was a teenager and it stuck. Trouble used to follow me. Get it? Jinx?”
“Trouble used to follow you?”
“Oh, well, when you get older, life settles down naturally.”
I lifted my drink and took a tentative sip. It burnt my tongue, so I set it back down. Not that I minded getting to know my neighbor, but I wished she would get to the point of why she called me here.