Page 22 of Monsters of Mayhem

“I don’t want to see him,” I said. “I need you, Laney. I just need you alone. I get that you like this guy, but seriously, can you just come out here on your own? Get me out of here?” The tone of my voice was high-pitched and I knew my stress was apparent, because she did that clicking sound, she often did when she was trying to soothe me like I was a child.

“Of course. Calm down, it’s okay,” Laney said. “Can you stay where you are. Are you in a safe place?”

“It’s semi-safe I guess.” I shrugged, looking around the small Witch’s Den I had been staying in for the last twenty-four hours. Even though I’d been a small wooden statue on the wall; I’d had a sense of belonging and peace in the place overnight. The deep smell of incense permeated the walls and gave me a calm neutrality. It took the edge off of the disaster my life was quickly becoming.

“Where is Ryder?” Laney asked.

I harrumphed into the phone, not even wanting to answer the question. It made me sick to my stomach I had fallen for it again, just like old times. I had slept with him and then he disappeared.

“I have no idea,” I muttered, “but I don’t care.” The last bit was a lie. I cared a lot. I cared more than I would ever let anybody know, but I couldn’t just tell Laney on the phone with Eunice listening. I needed some girl time.

“Can you stay where you are until I get there?” Laney asked.

“Hold on,” I said. I looked at Eunice. “Can I stay until my friend gets here?” I asked softly.

Eunice looked at me with a thoughtful gaze as if she was weighing up our options.

“Yes,” she said, “but I’ll take you to my house.”

“How am I going to walk through the streets of Alameda?” I asked.

“They won’t be able to see you if you walk next to me. I’ll be able to do a quick spell that’ll cover you until we get to my place. There is a spare room there that my daughter used to have. She’s off traveling with Sofie right now. You can sleep there.”

I pulled the phone back up to my mouth. “How soon can you get out here?” I asked. “Alone.” The last thing I needed right now was some extra guy tagging along. I needed my best friend’s full attention.

“Are you sure you don’t want to come home?” Laney asked. “I mean, I know your home is not here anymore, but you can stay with me until we figure out what to do about your house.”

I had wised up a little bit. Overnight, I’d had time to think about my situation. Something was still after me. Going back to my normal routine was out of the question. If I did, I would be a sitting duck. I had to keep moving and keep changing and be somebody else each time. I also needed to learn a little bit more about this world I was in.

“No, it’s fine. Just come out here as quickly as possible. I need you here,” I said. “You can call or text me on this number when you’ve got your flight details.”

As I hung up the phone, Eunice looked at me. “It’s not like you’re going to be able to meet her at the airport,” she said. “You’ve not only got demons after you now, but you’ve also got the satyrs looking for you too. The last thing they’re going to want is Ryder to be on their ass when he finds out you’ve run away. You just made a whole mob of satyrs look really bad.” She chuckled.

“I could really use a shower,” I murmured. “Some food if it’s not too much trouble.”

“Of course,” Eunice nodded. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t think about those things earlier.”

I stood quietly while Eunice waved her hands over me. “This is only going to last for five minutes so we have to move quickly,” she said. I looked down at my arms, but I couldn’t see them.

“You made me invisible?” I asked in shock.

“Come on, let’s go. It’s only going to last a little time and we need to get you to my house,” she said.

“If you can make me invisible, why didn’t you do this the other night instead of setting me on the shelf for twenty-four hours?”

“A couple of reasons,” Eunice said. “One is they would’ve still smelled you. If you look closely enough you can see the vibration of a person under the spell and the space is small. There was no telling what the dog would do. It made perfect sense to put you into small little wooden statues. “

I glanced down and Bale was missing too, but as I reached my hand out and petted his fur, he gave a lick on my hand and told me he was definitely still there.

“What was the second reason?” I asked.

“I thought you needed the space and time to think clearly,” she said

I nodded my head. She wasn’t far wrong. The evening had been a revelation to me. Thinking about my mom‘s death and everything that had transpired during those dark times. I had never thought I needed to be healed from it until now…Now I knew I had some wounds which needed healing.

Getting back together with my best friend was the first step in the process. Laney always had a way of cheering me up and making me happy. Before I could think too much on it, Eunice opened the back door of the shop.

“Come on, let’s go quickly before it wears off,” she grumbled, motioning me into the back alley.

---