Hi everyone,
Sorry for the delay. I meant to send this in at the end of November but well life doesn't always go as planned. But here is the last part of that long chapter I ended up splitting into three. I hope you guys enjoy it. I will try to get the next chapter out before Christmas as it is a Christmas chapter. If I don't then Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
Chapter 18: The Watcher
"Get out."
And that's how we got into this mess. Dante and Lulu have been arguing back and forth for the past ten minutes now ever since he tried to toss us out at the outskirts of town. Something about him needing to do some extra errands but I'm pretty sure it's just a ploy so he can meet up with this Henry guy. If I wanted to end this argument I could always just blurt it out but I don't know, something in me is telling me "bros before hoes", not that Lulu is a hoe but well, you get the idea. Besides if I tell her about the guy I'm probably gonna get some sort of blowback from Dante so I guess keeping it to myself would be the best way to avoid any unnecessary drama.
This whole time I've been texting Carver and I haven't gotten shit back. I guess he's still doing whatever errands he has today. I'm kinda curious as to what these errands Grandma Aggie has for him. There could be the off chance that he's also doing some Christmas shopping but he'd probably just tell me if that were the case.
"Why can't you just tell me what's really going on? Why are you being so secretive?" Lulu asked clearly irritated.
"Look, I-I have...plans."
"Plans? What kind of plans do you have that you can't just tell me? We tell each other everything."
"Fang, back me up," he said looking my way.
"Uh...I would prefer to stay out of this so I'll pass," I replied slinking back into my seat.
"Wait a second, you told him but you can't tell me? What the hell is going on here?"
"I-I just want to keep it private. The only reason I told Fang is because I needed his help."
Lulu immediately darted her eyes to me and all I could think of was to shrug, my brows furrowed, eyes shifting from side to side, and my mouth twisted into some weird, awkward smile. Why do people tell me things? I never know how to handle things like this. I can't handle the pressure. It's too much for my poor heart to take. Where's my knight?
All of a sudden, I hear this loud ripping sound making both Lulu's and my eyes widen and dart back over to Dante. What hit us next smelled like rotten eggs or worse, death itself. I could tell Lulu was gagging even with her hands over her nose and mouth. I can't believe he just did that. Frantically, I tried to roll down the windows to no avail so I did the next best thing. I hurriedly pushed myself out of the car and onto the ice cold asphalt. As my knees hit the ground, I look back and see Lulu's feet on the opposite end of me.
"Dante!" she gasped for air. "You asshole!"
"Sorry!" he said as he sped away leaving us to fend for ourselves in the bitter cold.
Brushing myself off, I walked back to Lulu only for her to still shoot daggers at me.
"So...you're still mad I take it?" I asked apprehensively.
"Ugh, I'm not mad," she grunted. "Just what's so important that you can't tell me what's up? You and Dante never keep secrets from me and now it's something only you two know? I just don't like being kept out of the loop. What gives?"
"It's not anything...bad i-it's just--I can't tell you because it's not my place. All I can say is that it's really important to him and he doesn't want to mess it up...again," I answered scratching the back of my head. "If it all works out, he'll probably tell you later. I swear it's not anything bad though. So are we...still cool?"
"Fine," she sighed defeated but still annoyed. She pulled herself up and brushed herself off as well. "The least he could've done was drop us off someplace warm."
"That's something we both can agree on but at least we're not too far off from town. We could probably make it back to the restaurant in maybe twenty minutes...if we run."
"I'll be a popsicle by then. Is Carver still doing errands?"
"He hasn't responded to my texts so I guess? I can call him if anything."
"No, no, it's fine. Let's just walk. Knowing our luck, we'll run onto some black ice and die."
"You're right," I sighed as we started our adventure back into town. "Hey, when did Dante get a new car? What happened to the truck?"
"It's not new. That's Gram's. She uses it purely for deliveries though so I'm a little surprised she let him take it. Did you not notice the huge advertising panel on the driver's side?"
"Maybe? I don't think I walked by that side though."
The walk back into town wouldn't have been so bad if it weren't for the damn cold. I mean I thrive in the cold, Lulu on the other hand, does not. But even though I say the cold doesn't bother me, my body seems to hold a different opinion on that. We were only a couple minutes into our walk and we already had the sniffles. If we get sick from this, I am going to be in the worst mood ever. Even though we were constantly snorting and rubbing our noses, I didn't hear a single peep out of Lulu about the cold. I mean she was at one point clutching onto me for warmth but besides that she powered on through.
As we continued our trek, I could start to see the faint outline of town. Oh thank god, we're finally home free. I'm ready to make my body run purely on hot cocoa. Seeing the town perked Lulu up too. She pulled me close to her as she pulled out her phone.
"Selfie!" she yelled as she pointed her phone's screen to us from above. We both smiled with both of us posing with sideways peace signs. When Lulu brought her phone back to her, she paused and looked behind us distressed.
"What's wrong? What's with the face?" I asked curiously.
"Huh?" she asked looking back at me. "I-It's nothing. I just thought I saw something but it must've been my imagination."
"Oh...can I see the picture then?"
"Oh...I um deleted it. It was bad. The lighting here sucks anyway. Let's take one closer to town or in town would probably be the best thing to do."
And with that, she walked in front of me in a speedy pace basically power walking if I'm being honest. I was finding it almost difficult to keep up with her. Her behavior was definitely strange and out of the norm. Something's up. I stopped and looked behind me. I don't know what I'm looking for but all I see is white. Nothing out of the ordinary. What has Lulu so spooked?
"Fang, what are you doing? Keep up!" she yelled back from about twenty feet ahead of me.
I hope for our sake it really is her imagination because she's starting to freak me out. I took one more glance behind me, still nothing, so I turned back to Lulu and jogged back to her until we were united again. Now that I was with her again I thought she would calm down but she was so shifty. She kept looking back and I think she could see my own internal panic come to the forefront.
"Hey, I didn't want to worry you before but um...I think someone's following us," she said as she pulled me into her power walk.
"W-Wait what do you mean following us? I didn't see anyone back there," I said as I clumsily tried to keep up with her.
She then abruptly stopped as we finally reached Town Hall. She refused to look back and instead motioned me to huddle up. She pulled out her phone and showed me the selfie from earlier.
"I thought you said you deleted it."
"I lied obviously," she said. She then pointed to the left corner of the screen. "Do you see that? Do you see that shadow?"
Looking over her screen, I did indeed see it but it literally just looked like shadow. The background was too blurred to see any discernible detail.
"What am I looking at? It just looks like someone's shadow."
"Fine, look for yourself then. That shadow is still behind us," she said as she quickly did a double take. "Crap, he's actually closer now than he was earlier."
Turning back, I scanned the area to see if I could find this shadow person she was talking about. At first, nothing. But then she placed her hands on my head and jerked it in the direction of the shadow. Once my eyes registered what I was looking at, I swear my heart skipped a beat or several. It was that ghost from yesterday, that foul smelling ghost.
"Now do you see him?" Lulu asked. I could hear the fear in her voice.
"You can see him?" I asked back. From what I remember, no one but me ever saw old man Zachariah so I always thought I was the only one who could see ghosts.
"Obviously! Wait...why did you ask me if I could see him?"
"Remember that ghost I told you about last night?"
"Uh uh, no! Do not tell me that's the ghost. I don't need to see that. But then again, I'm pretty sure that guy isn't dead. What made you think he was a ghost? Also he doesn't smell like death like you said he would."
"I-I don't know. Maybe because he was there one second and then gone the moment I tried to show Carver? That moment just freaked me out to the core. You sure he's not a ghost?"
"If I can see him, he's definitely not a ghost. You're the only one who sees that stuff."
"Are you sure? Maybe we both have the curse of sight? That's a thing right?"
"I'm positive and definitely not. Keep your ghost stuff to yourself."
"Well what does he want with us then?" I asked as my internal panic measure was through the roof at this point. "Should we call the cops?"
"Are you kidding me? Sheriff Hampton will probably think we're messing with him. Oh hi Sheriff Hampton, Fang and I are being chased down by some mysterious man in black. Oh by the way Fang thinks its a ghost out to get him too. Send your best to Town Hall ASAP," she said mockingly.
"Well what else are we supposed to do? I don't know what to do in a situation like this!"
"Chill. I have a plan. Follow me," Lulu said as she walked ahead of me.
Looking back, I saw the ghost guy or whatever he was stare back at me but this time he threw a sly smirk my way. I don't know why but it sent chills up my spine that radiated throughout my whole body. I wanted to turn away but I was frozen. He jerked his head to the side and I swear to god I could hear that crack all the way from here. He kept his eyes on me as he started to walk towards me. Fuck why can't I move? At this point, I'm for sure doomed. Dammit, Lulu why didn't you just drag me with you? You know I'm dumb enough to stay behind and look back. The guy was maybe ten or fifteen feet away from me now and if I had any pee in me, I would certainly pee myself right now in this moment.
Just when I thought all was lost, my phone went off. Panicking I immediately fumbled with it until I eventually turned it off. When I looked back up, the man was out of sight. I took that as a sign that I should dip, so I did. By the time I caught up to Lulu, she was just casually looking down at her phone.
"Oh there you are," she said nonchalantly. "What took you so long?"
"I may or may not have looked back one last time," I said cringing. "Okay so what's the plan?"
"You would look back," she said shaking her head at me. "How much karate do you remember?"
"Um...not that much. It's not like I ever used it. Why?" I asked. Lulu gave me a similar sly smirk and I definitely don't like where this is going. "Wait, no. Please tell you don't expect me to fight this guy do you?"
"Well if my plan goes according to plan, you won't have to fight. Do you remember how to throw people over your shoulder? Remember, keep your stance wide and feet firmly planted on the ground. And when he grabs you, just put your weight into it and physics will control the rest."
"Lulu, the guy looks like The Undertaker. There's no way I can physically throw a man of that size! Screw physics!"
"I'm sure you can! Remember, I believe in you! Now I'm going to be just around the corner. Scream when you're finished and I'll come rushing back with the best drop kick in the whole world!" she said as she rushed away.
"Lulu! Hey! Don't just leave me here!" I yelled at her hoping she would come back but nope. Great so Lulu's plan is for me to be bait. Why am I not surprised?
"Okay, I've got this. I just have to believe in myself. That's the phrase of the day, isn't it? Okay, I can do this," I said pumping myself up.
Suddenly I could hear the crunch of snow coming from behind me. I could hear my heart racing as the steps got closer and closer. I don't know how but my palms are sweating right now. I don't know if it's the cold or my nerves but my breath is so shaky. Just when I thought I should nix Lulu's plan and just dip again, I felt someone's hand on my shoulder. Somehow my instincts kicked in and without thinking too much about it, I grabbed back at the arm and with all of my weight flung whoever was on the other end over my shoulder and onto the blanketed pavement. The guy was a lot lighter than I thought he'd be, still heavy but not by much.
"Hah! Take that you creepy smelly ass ghost dude!" I screamed as I threw the guy down. I got a good look at him and to my shock and surprise it wasn't the guy chasing us.
"H-Hey babe," Carver groaned.
"Oh my god, Carver!" I cried as I knelt to his aid.
"Take this you asshole!" Lulu yelled as she reappeared from the corner. She really was ready to drop kick this guy but stopped as she saw who I ended up sacking. "Carver? What the hell?"
"H-Hey guys," he said as he sat up only to immediately lie back down. "Ow, my back."
"I-I'm sorry. I thought you were somebody else," I cried as I helped get him back on his feet.
"Remind me to never surprise you...again."
"I really am sorry," I cried. "If it makes you feel any better, it wasn't meant for you. You see, someone was following us and Lulu came up with this plan about me being bait and--"
"Wait who the hell was following you?" He asked as he jerked about. Then he turned his attention towards Lulu and said with gritted teeth, "And you let him be bait?"
"Okay in hindsight that probably wasn't the best plan but in my defense, he did prove himself just now so...can you really be mad at me?"
"I can and I am," he said dryly. "Why didn't you just call the cops like a normal person?"
"Okay, okay, okay, next time I promise I won't use him as bait. And besides, you do remember who's sheriff right?"
"That doesn't mean the whole force is incompetent, Lu! You should know better. You both should know better. Wh-What if it wasn't me? What then? You really think two teens can fight off a full grown man? Someone could have gotten hurt or worse! Fang could have--h-he could have--"
"Alright, alright, will you calm down already? It didn't happen that way and we're lucky it ended up being you. You happy now?" she asked defensively.
"Guys, stop!" I yelled. "Just quit arguing already, please."
For a brief moment, there was a pause with an air of silence and awkwardness.
"I'm sorry," Carver sighed.
"Yeah, I'm sorry too," Lulu added in agreement.
"Can you stand?" I asked.
"I think I can," he said as he began to stand only to stay at a crouch. I could see him wince as he braced himself on his knees. "On second thought, I wouldn't mind a little help."
"Of course," I said I wrapped his right arm around my shoulders. "A little help would be nice."
"Oh yeah, sorry," Lulu said as she came around the other side. "On three. One, two..."
"Three!" I said as we both pushed Carver up to stand. It wasn't as smooth as I had imagined it would be with Lulu not being tall enough to push him all the way up but she tried her best. Even trying to compensate for her lack of height by barely holding him up with her arms raised above her head. "It's okay. I've got him now."
"Thank you! I don't know how much longer I would have been able to hold him up, no offense."
"Don't worry about it. Thank you. You don't need to hold me up anymore babe. I can walk on my own now."
"Uh uh, I saw your face earlier. Just lean on me, I've got you. No need to act so tough around me."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, I'm sure. Trust me, I won't drop you...at least not again."
"You know, this is actually kind of cute. You two usually overdo it but, I'm fine with this. Must be the role reversal," she said giggling to herself.
Although a little off the path, we continued to walk through the snow as we headed someplace close and more importantly somewhere warm. The only place we could think of was back at Home Sweet Home. Although I had Carver basically attached to me, it wasn't all that difficult to walk with his body weight on me. Maybe he really was okay to walk solo but I don't know, I guess I agree with Lulu. I like the whole role reversal thing going on right now. That, or I just like the feeling of having him close by. Even though the walk there wasn't all that difficult considering the factors involved, it did overall take longer than usual. Even though we both have lived here all of lives, Lulu and I got lost at one point. We eventually did get on the right track though, thanks to GPS.
As soon as we stepped into the restaurant, I dropped both Carver and myself in the "VIP" area. Lulu on the other hand looked a little too excited considering what just happened.
"You two wait here while I go into the kitchen and tell Grams the good news!" she squealed with glee.
"Wait what? You're gonna tell her how I beat up my own my boyfriend?" I asked confused.
"No, about how you're gonna be her new apprentice. Duh!"
And with that she ran back to the kitchen before I could even try to stop her.
"Ugh I can't believe her right now," I groaned as I rested my head against the table, wincing as I rolled my head in the direction of my head injury. "Ow!"
"What's wrong?" Carver asked concerned. He really should be paying attention to his own pain right now.
"I-It's nothing," I lied as I rubbed at the bandana trying not to be too obvious.
"Does it have anything to do with this loud, orange bandana? Since when do you wear anything other than black?" he asked playfully tugging at it.
"Maybe? Ugh I can't lie to you," I sighed. "Just don't be mad okay?"
"Why would I be--"
Carver quickly shut up as I undid the bandana and as soon as it landed on the table, his eyes widened. It wasn't too long before he was holding my face in the palm of his hands.
"I-It's really not that bad. It looks a lot worse than it actually is a-and--"
Instead of being pissed about the whole thing like he was earlier, he was the complete opposite. He was more concerned than angry. Thank god because I don't know how I'd get out of that situation this time around.
"What happened?"
"It's a long story and it's stupid. Let's just say I was a little melodramatic about the whole situation that lead up to this. It was my own fault and no one else."
"Does it hurt?"
"Kinda, but only if I touch it. Otherwise, no."
"Were you going to tell me if I didn't ask?"
"Honestly? No, I was hoping I could just cover it with something that's not this awful colored bandana."
"Babe!"
"I know, I know, I just didn't want to worry you. By the way, when did you start watching anime?"
"What do you mean?"
"Your shirt...it's Calcifer from Howl's Moving Castle or are you wearing it...ironically? Did I use that word correctly?"
"Oh this old thing? I finally found it in one of my moving boxes. I've always watched anime. I thought you knew that."
"What?! No! You definitely did not tell me! I think I would have remembered something that significant!"
"Oh sorry, must have slipped my mind," he smiled as he scratched the back of his head.
As much as I would have loved to appreciate his hypnotizing smile of his, I slunk back in my seat and let out an exaggerated groan on the way down.
"Carver, why didn't you tell me this earlier?! I could have gotten you a much better present had I known you liked anime!"
"Hey, don't say that. I'm sure whatever you got me, I'm going to love," he said trying to reassure me. "Besides you already gave me the best present already."
"What are you talking about? I haven't given you anything yet."
"You," he said pulling me into a sweet, quick kiss. "As long as I have you, I don't need anything else. So you quit being so hard on yourself or in the name of the moon, I'll punish you."
"You're such a dork!" I smiled then kissed him back.