Crescent Bound (27 page)

The night is getting late and as we are leaving I overhear Noreen whisper to Marc
,
“You know honey, this girl is quite charming, but Kelly has always complimented you so well.  You and Kelly always look so good together.”

Sometimes, I really wish I had night vision instead of enhanced hearing.  To be honest, I don’t think that night vision really exists.  Not that I have ever heard of anyway.  I tell myself,
I really should check the archives at the Arcane to see if anyone ever had night vision, note to self.

* * *

It’s Saturday.  Marc is over helping
Dad
and I work on the
Shelby
.  Some of the parts didn’t come in.  I’m not able to get everything done, so I’m not going race it tonight.  Marc and I are standing next to each oth
er when
Dad
casts a peculiar smirk
at us both. I glare back at him playfully, but with a hint of confusion.

“What?”
I query him.

He wipes off his hands and casually points towards Marc and I, “You two look like a couple of leech
collectors from the middle ages.” Chuckling
he con
tinues, “Y
ou see, leech collectors were the poor souls that went into the black waters of
Europe
’s swampland to collect leeches for medical purposes.  We use to see them walking down the street at the end of the day, completely covered in nothing, but dark black muck.  It looks like the both of you spent the entire day doing the same.”

I quickly
sneak a
peek in the side mirror of the
Shelby
and see that’s exactly what we look like.  I have grease all over me and I thought it was just Marc that appears slime covered.  I don’t care if he has grease everywhere, I kind of like it on him, actually. He glances over to me to find the same and we both laugh.

“I guess I need to he
ad home and get cleaned up then.
”
H
e motions t
owards his car across the drive
I’ll be back i
n a little while Alyss
.
”
B
efore he leaves
,
I kiss him goodbye.

“Dad, thanks for everything,” I say as I pick up the remaining tools a
nd wipe off my hands.  I
head to the house to get cleaned up as well.  After my shower I find my favorite Ferris flare
Hudson
jeans, which have that really ripped and torn look that I love.  I throw on a black shoulder tee and grab a white denim jacket and head downstairs.  I pull my hair up into a ponytail and since I’m going to be working at the track tonight I try to look the part.

I pull the
Shelby
out and drive it around to the front.  Just then Marc pulls in and parks his car.  He really h
as excellent timing.  I
throw him my keys. “I never ever let anyone drive my car, only my father.”  I smile to Marc as he looks at me questioningly.

“Are you sure?” I could hear the hesitation in his words as he stands by the driver’s side door.  I hop into the passenger side waiting patiently for him to slide into the driver’s seat.  After a few seconds of driving, I can easily tell Marc thoroughly enjoys everything about the 550hp the
Shelby
has to offer.  I reach over a
nd pat his leg and warn him,
“Don’t fall in love with her, you know I’m your one and only.” He laughs deeply and reaches out to
hold my hand. Driving
into
the
Worthington Raceway,
I remark,
“Park by the office. Dad is going to open up tonight and be here for most of the evening, but I’m closing.”

In the office we routinely go over the track sheets, making sure we know who is racing and when.  Lisa and Dawson come in holding hands and sit down beside us.

“
Dawson
, c
an you help us close up tonight? Dad is leaving early.
” I know he’ll help because he is part of our crew and with
Dad
leaving early it puts me working the office tonight.

“Anything you need Alyss.”
He replies.

We check in each car as they arrive. 
Dawson
is already inspecting the track.  I ask Marc and Lisa, “Can you guys go to the food court and get drinks for everyone?”

Megan saunters into the office with a precarious expression. “Hey
Megan,” I say with an eager smile
towards her then glance back down to the
registration forms.  Megan plops
herself up on the desk and peers over her shoulder at me.

“Whatever it is, it better involve clothes,
men, music, or all of the above and it doesn’t have to be in that order.
”  She smiles t
hat saucy smile of hers,
“Oh, wait, music...yeah, Alyss, let me do the music tonight, please, you won’t regret it, okay?  Sliding her body
off the desk she starts to saunter
away
as if she was out on a mission
.
“Okay then, good, thanks Alyss.  I better go and get started.”
She tires to wave me off without my approval.
I shift in front of her and place a hand on my hip.

“Uh, no way, sorry Megan this is not a
California
night club for you to put everyone under one of your seductive trances.  We are trying to run a race track tonight.  By the way, if anything should happen to Tony, the one that helps with electronics and sound, I’
ll be the first to know.” I narrow my eyes
at her, but her only response is a slight disappointed shrug.

Dad walks
in and takes the papers from me,
“You ladies are welcome to go watch the races; I’ll let you know when I’m getting ready to leave, Alyss.”

Marc and I sit together, of course.  “Hey ,can I see your iPod, I’ve got a couple of songs I want you to hear.”  He uploads the songs onto my iPod as, Lisa, Megan, and I watch the beginning races.

Tonight the weather is a bit cool, but really good for the engines and surprisingly the times seem a bit faster than normal.  Sighing inside, I am jealous that I’m not out there. I desperately want to beat my last recorded time, but I know I need those missing parts to get it completely together.

I think our favorite race is the cherry red Dodge Viper that ran 8.75 at a 163mph.

Lisa announces jumping up
,
“Okay, I’m starving, who’s coming with me?” We all walk over to the food court and grab a table.  “We need o
ne large Sicilian pizza, please,”
Lisa says to the hop coming by.

“You got it,” She responds
back.

Megan and I grab several bottles of water for everyone. When I turn around from the counter I just about run right into David.

“Sorry,” he says quickly and moves around me.

“No worries.”  I nod
, but never meeting his gaze
I focus forward and
begin walking away.

He turns towards me hesitating
and
says, “How are you, Alyssa?”

I keep walking and say over my shoulder, “I’m good.” He says something else, but I didn’t listen.  I just want to keep moving, giving some distance between us.

Megan eases closer to me
partially whispering,
“You know
,
I didn’t mind David in the beginning, but now he just pisses me off.”

Surprising me that Megan would say something
so harsh.

             
I quirk a brow at her as if I’m trying to make light of the subject,
“Really, did you come to that conclusion bef
ore or after he turned you down,
”
I reply,
l
aughing at her as she pushes me over, but I shift to our table sitting down beside Marc.

Megan twirls a strand of her gorgeous hair around her finger, “You know guys, I’m one that likes to live and let live, right?”  I shrug and nod at her nonchalantly.  “Is there a new coven at the track tonight?”  She
curiously questions
.

“Not that I know of, but
Dad
opens the track to any coven, you know this, why are you asking?”  I take a drink and stare at her as I sit my water bottle back down.  Marc nudges me and motion with his eyes to a couple of hot guys a few tables away from us.

“I haven’t seen them around b
efore, hmm,” Megan says with interest as she sucks on a piece of ice and moans at the same time.

I
roll my eyes,
shrug my shoulders
and sigh all at the same time,
“We get witches from all around really, which means that they can be from any of the covens.
Why? Please don’t tell me, you’re going on another one of your
Worthington
coven recruiting assignments?
”

Dawson
shifts next to Lisa and she smiles so brilliantly at him,
ignoring us entirely,
“Hey there, I was just thinking about you.”
She purrs as he
pulls her close and glances over at me.

“I’m going to take a twe
nty minute break or so,” He
warrants but his
tattle-
telling
grin
gives his intentions
fully away
.
Dawson
shifts away first, Lisa gives us a wave and “poof” she’s gone too.  I wave back at the now empty seats. 

“We won’t see them for the next hour or two.”  I laugh and Marc squeezes my hand letting me know he heard me.

Megan, Marc
,
and I walk back to the stands and watch another race.  Marc’s hand bumps mine gently as he gives my iPod back with a pleased smile, “I put some songs on there I think you might like.”

“Thanks.”

“Any time
,
”
he quips back.

Biting my
lower
lip sinfully I look at him, “I wonder how I should repay you for such a kind and thoughtful deed.”

He instantly grins, “I’m sure we can come up with something.”

He leans me back in his arm, “You know I really like the races here.”  We sit together laughing, cheering, and talking about the cars. For the first time in my life I feel absolutely complete, because I have Marc.

Chapter 19

One of the guys from the office comes up, “Alyssa, your dad just left and asked me to let you know.”

“Thanks Eddie, I’m on my way
.
”
I smile as I get ready to head towards the office.

“You guys watch the ra
ces. I’ll be back in just a bit,”
I tell Megan and Marc. I walk over towards my car to get the track keys out of the console.  A million and one thoughts rush through my mind of all the little things that need to happen when closing the track down.

While I’m walking I pull out my iPod from my jacket to listen to the songs Marc put on it.  I find myself listening to a song called
,
Stolen by Dashboard C
onfessionals
and I realize the lyrics are about how he feels, which makes me smile inside and out.

I’m almost to the
Shelby
when I am suddenly hit in the back with...fire!  My back is literally engulfed in flames.  The impact knocks me forward and I slam hard into the passenger’s side window of my car.  The glass shatters everywhere.  I quickly jerk my jacket off, throwing it to the ground, blazing.  I shift to my left.  I have no clue what’s happening.  Something streams down the side of my face and I use the back of my hand to wipe it away.  That’s when I realize its blood.  Looking up for the first time, I see this flaming red head girl standing about twenty feet away from me.

I tilt my head at her and say, “You definitely have my undivided attention now.”  She starts walking towards me.  I can see her flames surging through her body.  She has the look of a fire demon goddess, with golden red, lethal flames
that
rolling along her entire body.

Whoever the hell she is, I don’t know her.  She doesn’t look happy, but then neither am I after I glance over at my car and see the damage she did to it.  She starts sending exploding fireballs at me relentlessly.  I shift hard left, then right, and then back to the left again, moving as fast as I can.

I
can
hear her yelling out to me, “I want you and I to come to an understand
ing, Alyssa, four words for you. S
tay
. A
way
.
F
rom
.
David!”  She shifts closer to me and raises her hands
outward
, throwing more incinerating fireballs towards my face.