The two of them slowly made their way through the main street traffic and towards the schools on the East end of town. The High school and middle school were comfortably nestled on the outer edge, giving the kids plenty of room to play. On the right side of the school, there was a large little league field and beyond that was a large stretch of land that eventually ended at the ancient pine forest. Then there were large grassy hills resting between the little league field and town, placing the tiny stadium in a shallow valley. There was a little dirt road that wound between the hills to the little league field and a lovely scenic trail for foot traffic. Audrey and Brandon took to the sidewalk that cut around most of the bigger hills. When they reached the schools baseball field Audrey paused to look around. There were banners up along the high guard fences, proudly declaring the huge fair they were going to have the day after tomorrow. Apparently the baseball field was going to be turned into an obstacle course slash maze. Brandon noticed her eyeing the brightly coloured banners and smiled.
“Pretty cool right? They’re going to start putting everything up today. I was appointed head of the committee after Daniel gave himself that concussion. I just hope that I don’t screw anything up.” Audrey swung her head around to look up at him and smiled back bleakly, her long auburn locks floating in the breeze.
“I’m sure you won’t. You’ve always been good at helping with these kinds of things.” Brandon had always loved helping out in the community. Even if it was just sweeping the parking lot of the local church or helping put together the annual fair. He had always been kind hearted, even when he was young. He never picked on the other kids, he shared his things and if there weren’t enough naptime mats he’d gladly give his up for someone else. Audrey couldn’t help but admire him. They had been good friends since they were in fourth grade and when he had asked her out their sophomore year of high school she swore she was the happiest girl in the world. The gentle sound of wind chimes made the two of them look back towards the other side of the field. Auntie’s little wagon home was sitting just on the shady edge of the pine forest that stretched up the side of the valley. She was sitting outside on her stool and wrapped her shawl tighter around her as she told the young children gathered around her about her first trip to the Paris catacombs. Glancing at each other, Audrey and Brandon snuck over to wait until the end of her story.
“My father was right, he warned me not to go down there but I refused to listen and to this day the sickly calls of the dead continue to ring in my ears.” They weren’t sure what the rest of her story was about, but every one of the kids shared terrified words in hushed whispers as Auntie slowly stood up and nodded to the couple.
“What can I do for you Audrey? Did you have another vision?” Seeing the desperate look in the young girls’ eyes, Auntie sent the children away and opened her door to let the two in. The gypsy’s wagon was comfortable for its small size. In the center of the room was a table and four chairs, a little wood stove, and elegant paintings hanging on the walls. There was a small room in the back that was her bedroom. Audrey had never seen the back room but she had never really found a desire to look. Brandon sat down at the little table and Audrey took a seat beside him. Auntie shuffled over to her little stove and grabbed three antique tea cups before filling them with what smelled like Jasmine tea. When she returned she sat down across from Audrey and looked her in the eyes.
“What did you see?” Was all she asked. Hesitantly, the young girl glanced over to Brandon before looking down at her lap and finally managed to force the words out.
“I saw death. The death of someone I love.” Audrey looked up at her boyfriend one more time and tried not to cry as she once again pictured him on the ground. It was difficult to say anything about what she saw with him sitting right beside her. But she knew he wasn’t going to leave her alone after witnessing her arrest.
“I saw Brandon’s death.” She couldn’t bear to see the look on his face as he listened to the details of her vision, though as she looked away she noticed how calm he remained. Auntie listened intently, nodding reassuringly when the girl looked up at her with sorrowful eyes. Only when Audrey mentioned the book did the old woman's expression change from interest to concern.
“A book? A book bound in leather? Did it have any words on it? Any designs?”
“No. It was just a plain old leather book. Like a journal. But for some reason the book gave me chills. It looked like a prop out of a horror movie.” She dared a glance at Brandon and saw that he wasn’t disgusted or angry, but worried. And not for himself but for her. Auntie stared into the distance for a long moment, apparently deep in thought. Then, after a few moments, she nodded her head once and turned her eyes back to Audrey.
“Well whatever this book is, you should try to avoid it if you ever see it. Come straight to me if you do stumble across the dreadful thing. Don’t worry child, you and Brandon will be fine. I won’t let anything happen to the two of you. Remember that just because you saw it that doesn’t mean that that is how the future will turn out. The future is never written in stone.” Auntie placed her hands on the girl’s shoulders and smiled encouragingly. Audrey felt a small glow start in her chest and raised her head to look up at the old woman.
“Thank you Auntie. This really means a lot. I feel a bit better now.”
“Good. That’s good. You shouldn’t fret so much, it doesn’t suit you.” Audrey smiled and stood up, turning to Brandon and holding out her hand.
“Should we go now? It’s almost time to meet with the others and start planning the maze.” Brandon grabbed her hand and hauled himself out of his chair, after saying goodbye to Auntie they left the old woman and headed for the little league fields. But as Audrey was walking away she couldn’t help but stop and look back. It felt like something inside her was tugging at her, urging her to go back to the Gypsy’s wagon. But what could possibly be calling to her? She thought maybe Brandon felt it, too, because he was staring back as well, though his eyes did not betray his thoughts.
“Brandon?” The boy finally blinked and looked down at her as if in a daze. “Did you feel that, too?” She asked in a hushed tone, hoping that nobody was within earshot. He stared at her a few moments longer before giving her a playful smile.
“Feel what? My breakfast move? Yeah, but that’s normal.” The girl rolled her eyes at the blond boy and dragged him along, all the while trying to hide the uneasy feeling in her stomach with a smile.
Comments (0)
See all