Crimson Echo (25 page)

           
Ruby’s Diner
looked like a hole in the wall, but I really couldn’t afford to be picky at this point. There was a small cardboard sign in the window indicating that they were seeking help and I smiled at the thought of having a real job. The bell above the door clanked against the glass as Gabe pushed me inside. There were a few faces I recognized from town, none of them looked up from their food.

“Well, hey suga
r lips!” A large woman with big red hair greeted us. “Who’s the purdy girl?”

           
Her thick southern drawl was inviting, but she was definitely not from anywhere around here. She seemed intimidating at first glance or maybe it was the red hair—my dad always told me that red heads were mean. I’m pretty sure the only reason he drew that conclusion was because of his old boss, who happened to be a hardnosed ginger.

“This is my friend Tristan,” he pulled me forward. “I told her you had a wait staff position available.” He crossed his fingers and held them up.

“You’ve brought your hotcakes to the right place. I just had two tarts quit on me last week.” I tried to wipe the smile off of my face—all the strange phrases she used made me giggle, but I would have to do my best to ignore the urge to laugh.

“Lucky me,” I smiled. Yeah, lucky me—I'm going to smell like French fry grease and onions from now on. I’m sure that will certainly boost my popularity. Too bad I have no interest in
fashion, because retail was sounding better by the second. I had to admit though, I kind of liked the little diner—it had a certain charm about it. “So, when do I start?”

“Tomorrow night, if ya’ want to
.” She smiled widely.

“That would be great, thank you so much.” I guess that was the extent of the interview.
She must really need help, I thought to myself.

“Y’all want to stick around for a burger, my treat?”

I looked to Gabe for an answer.

“Hells bells, he’s always hungry darlin’. Have a seat and I’ll bring you out some grub.” Something about this situation felt strange. If I didn’t know any better I would think she was trying to set us up on a date.

“It’s just a burger.” He laughed nervously. If I wasn’t so hungry I would have mopped the floor with him, maybe after I had something in my stomach I would have the strength I needed.

           
It didn’t take long for Ruby to bring us our meal. She made a big show of carrying the tray in the palm of her hand. She slapped a large basket of fries down on the table, a half empty bottle of ketchup and two round plates of burgers with the works followed. She turned and winked at Gabe before retreating back to the bar where she pretended to clean. I could feel her eyes on me as I ate.

“Have you thought about where you want to go to college yet?” Gabe asked, trying to spark a conversation.

“Ugh, I’ve barely thought about it. My teachers are pressuring all of us to make a decision soon. I know I don’t want to be stuck at the Purple Orchid for the rest of my life.”

“Definitely not.”
He smiled.

“What about you? Any plans for college in your future?”
I wiped at the sides of my mouth with a napkin.

“Anywhere out of state is the plan.” He chuckled, drowning a floppy fry in a pool of ketchup. “I just feel trapped here. It’s like I’m being suffocated.”

“I’m sure where ever you go or whatever you do, you’ll be great at it.”

He ducked his head to hide the blush that burned across his cheeks.

“So, why the sudden urge to get a job?” He saw through my weak excuse.

“You have to promise me you won’t say a word to anyone
, especially your mom, I know how she’ll worry.” I made him agree. “Business has been slow at both my parent’s jobs, moms in a panic and dad said we had to tighten our belts. So, I decided I would get a job and help out.”

           
Dad owns his own business as well. He works downtown at a lumber yard called Wood Chuck’s. It’s always been a special place to me because I got to name it when I was nine. Most of the guys that worked for him were pretty nice to me, they always called me ‘Boss Lady’ when I stopped by to visit my dad and deliver his dinner when he had to stay late.

“I feel your pain.” He admitted. “We had to cut back after dad left. Mom is the sole bread winner now. She’s taking it kind of hard.”
He tried to keep the emotion off of his face, but I could tell he was hurt.

          
Aunt Tilley had sold Avon out of her home for as far back as I can remember. Tilley wasn’t really my aunt, but she felt like family. I remember every weekend all of the housewives in the neighborhood would gather in her living room and go through the booklets, picking out their favorite cosmetics and rack up the tab— on their husband’s dime, of course.

          
I couldn’t imagine how hard it must be on both of them—aunt Tilley raising a teenage boy on her own and Gabe without a father. That must be why he’s working at the antique store, to pick up extra money for his mom, I wondered silently. I felt selfish for feeling sorry for myself when Gabe was obviously suffering.

“Have you heard from him since
he…?” I let my words trail off.

“Nope, not a word.
He’s pretty much dead to me.” Resentment filled his eyes and he pushed a tear away from his cheek.

“Gabe, come on, you don’t mean that.”

“I know. I’m just angry. Why’d he have to leave us?” He slammed his fist down against the table. I put my hand on his shoulder to console him, but he shook it off.

“I wish I had the answers.” I frowned.

He grew silent, staring at his plate, contemplating something.

“Oh Trist, I’m so sorry!
” He looked up at me with remorse in his eyes. “I forgot that we’re sort of in the same boat, aren’t we?”

“No, it’s okay. I can’t miss what I’ve never known.”
I lied, trying to make him feel better.

            He was right; we were in the same boat. It didn’t matter that I had never met my real
parents, I still missed them all the same. I didn’t know if I would ever find any answers about what happened to my birth parents, but I continued to have hope that someday we could be reunited again.

           
I let Gabe pout for awhile, then I finally broke him out of his sour mood with a stupid knock-knock joke and we were talking and laughing again like old times. I enjoyed the nice human conversation for a change, nothing was urgent or ambiguous. But at the same time I missed the element of mystery that surrounded all things supernatural.

The activities of the day started to wear on me as I tried to hide a yawn.

“You’re getting tired.” He announced. “Maybe we should get out of here.”

We thanked Ruby for dinner and she told me she would see me tomorrow for my first shift.

The drive back to Gabe’s house was filled with more chit-chat than I cared for, but I made an effort to seem as enthusiastic as he was.

“Are you excited about your first day
of work?” He asked, eyeing me from the passenger seat.

“Yeah,” I smiled. “Thanks for hooking me up, by the way. I really appreciate it.”

“No problem. What are friends for, right?”

“You know if you ever need anything, you can always ask. Even if we are miles apart, I would be there for you as fast as I could.”
I let my tone grow serious.

“I know you would, Trist
. You’re a great friend.”

“I don’t want you thinking just because we aren’t as close as we used to be that you can’t call me or come see me. I’m
still the same girl that lived next door to you.” I assured him.

“The same goes for you.”

I nodded my head. “Good point.”

“Hey Trist
,” Gabe turned and looked at me from the passenger seat. “I need to tell you something.”

“What is it? You know you can tell me anything.”
I assured him.

“It’s not exactly easy to say.”

            I could see him from the corner of my eye wringing his hands. He took a deep breath and I could feel the nervous energy radiating off of him from the seat beside me. He swallowed hard and then opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

“Gabe, spit it out.” I urged him. “It can’t be that bad, trust me.”

“It’s just that… no, never mind. Why don’t you tell me about this boy?” He flashed a giant smile.

“I don’t know what you mean.
What boy?”

“Come on, I saw you check your phone nearly fifty times while we were eating.
That could only mean one thing.”

“What do you want to know?” My voice sounded every bit as annoyed as I felt.

“We can start with his name.”

“His name is Kane.
I met him at Emporia after Echo High burned…” I cut myself off. I still couldn’t say it out loud. “We’re not really together right now.”

“That Evans guy?”
His eyes creased.          

“Yes, do you know him?”
I asked curiously.

“No, I’ve only heard of him and his family.”

“What have you heard?” I prodded.

“I’ve heard that they are w…” He paused. “I’ve heard that they are…wealthy.”

“His mom is the dean of Emporia. It’s a private school, so I would imagine they are pretty well off, but that’s not why I'm with him.” I admitted.

“
That’s not what I meant. You should be careful around that bunch. Darkness follows them everywhere they go.”

“What do you mean by that?” I had a feeling he knew more than he was letting on, but then again so did I.

“Just things I’ve heard around town, shop talk.”

“Tell me!” I demanded.

“It’s not important. It’s ridiculous anyway. You’d think I was an idiot if I told you.”

“Try m
e. You’d be surprised what I’m capable of believing.” I wondered if the rumors he had heard would be anywhere close to the truth.

“Do you remember last night when I told you about the necklaces and the witch hunters?” He paused.

“Yeah, why?”

“Well
, those witch hunters have supposedly been hunting Kane and has family for years and many other witches for centuries, that’s what I’ve heard anyway. I don’t know where those rumors started and I’m not sure if I really believe them, but now you know.”

“Kane, a witch?”
I laughed. “That does sound crazy.”

“I told you that you would think I was an idiot.” He frowned.

“I don’t think you’re an idiot. I would never think that.” I tried reassuring him. “It’s just that I know Kane and I think I would know if he was a broom riding, spell casting witch.”

             Even as mad as I was at Kane for his remark about me
and my humanity, I still couldn’t throw him and his family under the bus. If there really was a group of witch hunters or seekers out there I definitely didn’t want to spill the beans and lead them right to him and the less Gabe knew about my involvement in a magic world the better.

“Are you ever going to tell me about the back room at your work?” I asked
bluntly.

“Haven’t you ever heard the expression, ‘curiosity killed the cat’?”

“But cats have nine lives.”

“Funny, real funny.
I can’t say the same for you though.” He rolled his eyes.

“I don’t see why it would be such a big deal if I knew. I know there are books about witches and spells in there
and I know that that table is called an altar. What I don’t get is why all that stuff would be in the back of an antique store.”

“Fine
,” He sighed. “I can see that you’re not going to let this go, so I might as well tell you.”

I nodded
my head.

“In the back of the shop there is a room that gives every witch hunter all the information they would ever need to know about witches. All the spell books are there so that they can see how a spell works and that way they can counter act each one. The more knowledge a hunter has on each witch the better they can fight them off.”

“Fight them off, why?” I asked, my nerves becoming more frazzled by the second. “What exactly have these witches done?”

“They simply exist.” He said frankly.

“And what’s your part in all of this?” I asked.

“I just work there. It’s part of the job.”

“So, all this time you’ve been feeding me this crap about rumors and you’ve known all along that witches actually do exist?”

“I’ve never seen one, but if there are witches
out there I’m sure the hunters will take care of them.” He admitted without hesitation. “You don’t have to be afraid of them with the seekers on your side.”

            I gasped at the realization of whose side Gabe was really on. He had to have been brainwashed by these horrible people and now I didn’t know how far gone he actually was.
And then everything started to make sense— it had to have been these same witch hunters that took Faith from the world, far too soon.