Fate Fixed (7 page)

from where he went under. Because of that, he found it difficult to trust himself again.

“Did you hear me? I just asked you if you are going to the party tonight,” Braden said breaking Torin from his reverie.

“Cian said Brooke invited a new family in town to come hang out and one of them is pretty cool.”

“As in a new girl? You know I’m not interested in hooking up Braden.” Torin wasn’t in the mood for another night at the state park with the local teens; he wanted to take the car for a long ride and just get away and clear his thoughts for a while.

“Seriously Torin, we need to fit in and not draw attention by acting standoffish,” Braden muttered the same old

argument.

Torin knew they had to maintain a constant balance of

being seen but not involved. It was an expectation that was necessary, but timeworn. He was just weary of playing the same old game and getting nowhere personal y with it.

He looked at the beautiful black paint job on the car with its gold pin striping – the trip could wait for the time being.

When he left, he wanted to stay gone for a while.

Lexie spent the entire afternoon painting and the neglected dry wal s absorbed the color with ease. With a fresh coat of paint, her room felt much more agreeable. After hanging matchstick blinds in the windows and making her bed, she worked on organizing the built in shelving with her valued col ection of books, CDs, and movies. She saved one

smal box of her most valued possessions to unpack last – the first item was the frame that captured an image of Lexie and her dad. She knew she wanted it on her bed side

stand.

As she searched through the box’s content, she felt a smal box careful y wrapped in tissue paper. She had forgotten Liz had given her the stylish choker with the pretty green gem.

She fastened it around her neck, admiring its unique beauty in the mirror. Lexie had promised she would wear it when she was thinking about her best friend. Liz was so funny, she said to

wear it as protection from the netherworld. Lexie didn’t believe monsters were a worry, but would the necklace

protect her from a rogue moose? She wondered if moose could catch rabies.

What would that look like, would they foam at the mouth?

Final y she had a question that was instant message worthy and she decided to sit down and write Liz.

Lexie spent close to an hour detailing every thought and experience she had so far in Erris. At first her email was ful of pleasantries – like how much she enjoyed having a large home to spread out in and how nice it was to meet Theo, Brooke, and Julie. But after a while, she began pouring out her worries about school starting in a few days and her recent altercation with Maxim. It felt good sharing her feelings with Liz, even if it was only through cyberspace.

She would have been able to write al day but Brooke

cal ed, breaking her from her musings.

The party would start at nine and she and Alik were both invited. Lexie had asked how many people usual y show up and was surprised when her new friend said anywhere

between twenty to thirty teens from the neighboring towns.

Lexie was wound up with anticipation. Who knew there

could be so much animation in the moose capital of the world?

What do you wear to a party in the woods? The last party she went to, she wore her yel ow strapless cotton top and
worn

jeans. Somehow, she didn’t think that would work in L.L.

Bean country. Would it be uncool to wear mosquito

repel ant?

Looking through her sad col ection of clothes, she decided to opt for her favorite white denim capris because they fit her shape perfectly. She then paired it with her favorite black tank. She decided to wear her cross, keeping Liz close to her heart. She shampooed her hair and then blow-dried it so that her natural curls cascaded down her back with her side bangs framing her face.

Her makeup routine was relatively simple. Her complexion had always been clear and her cheeks natural y pink so she never used much. She applied sheer grey shadow to her

lids and a coat of black mascara. She finished with her favorite lip-gloss and perfume before appraising her

appearance in the mirror. She looked like any other

eighteen-year-old in New England heading out on a

Saturday night.

Alik and Lexie had discussed going to the party and they both were reluctant about bringing Maxim. She felt a

mixture of relief and surprise that Alik was unwil ing to include his older brother, especial y after the awkward
moment when she cracked a joke at the buffoon’s expense.

It wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to have Max tag along. When she asked Alik, he said partying real y wasn’t Maxim’s thing – that he was more of

a homebody. Although it wasn’t the whole truth, they told Ruby that they were getting together with a few new friends.

Through their adjoining door, El a poked her head in and made a disgruntled face, “That paint smel is horrible.”

Lexie smiled, satisfied with the rooms overal

transformation. “The smel wil fade soon. Are your windows open?”

El a came in and dropped backwards onto her bed. With a sigh, she groaned, “I don’t real y feel comfortable keeping the windows open, especial y when it’s dark. The sounds at night are so creepy.”

Lexie nodded, “It wil take a while to adjust. When we lived in the city, the traffic drowned out sounds of nature.”

El a halfheartedly examined her nails, “I’m not talking about the birds and crickets Lexie. Sometimes when I lay there, I can hear animals in the woods. Part of me wants to go out there, but when I hear their growls and whimpers, I chicken out.

Especial y the first night, it was al I could do to just get up and close my windows. I haven’t opened them since.”

Lexie sat down next to El a on the bed. The idea of her younger sister running into the woods at night was

horrifying.

“Listen, you need to promise me you won’t ever go out

there. I don’t think I could handle it if anything ever happened to you.”

Sitting up straight, El a’s forehead creased, “What? Like Dad?”

Lexie nodded her head, “Of course like Dad.”

“I’m not stupid Lexie,” she emphasized. She stood up and eyed her older sister. “You should have been more

concerned with Dad’s life when you crashed our car and kil ed him. I don’t need you to start parenting me, if anyone wil watch out for me it’s Nick.”

Taken aback for a moment, Lexie just stared at her sister.

“You don’t think that I have regretted that night every
moment since it happened? And, just so we are clear, I’m not trying to tel you what to do – I just worry because you are my sister.”

El a strode to her room door before turning to look back at Lexie. “I didn’t mean that – I don’t even know why I said it.

I’m over sensitive.” She offered an apologetic half smile, “but you don’t have to worry so much. Maxim said we are al a family now and none of us are leaving.” She disappeared behind her door and left Lexie sitting on the bed

speechless.

After a few minutes, Lexie knocked on Alik’s bedroom

door. She smiled as her stepbrother gave her an

appreciative nod of approval as he opened his door inviting her in.

“You look amazing Lexie. You’re going to be the talk of the school before the first day of class.” He leaned across and

gave her shoulder a light squeeze, his whole face showing his admiration.

Alik looked impressive himself in his usual preppy style.

He always wore a button up oxford shirt, light washed Gap
jeans, and his brown braided leather belt, but it suited him with his clean cut looks and short pale hair. It occurred to Lexie that he was like a Ken dol to Maxim’s GI Joe.

She even noticed he smel ed nice, a factor the ladies would like. “Your cologne smel s nice Alik.”

Alik looked at her with an inquisitive expression. “Your scent is always titil ating Lexie. I swear I can smel you everywhere, even in the shower. I think I could find you with my eyes closed.” He closed his eyes and his nostrils flared as he breathed her in.

That was an odd way of putting it, she thought to herself.

No one ever told her she was ‘titil ating’ before. Maybe she wore too much perfume. How did he expect her to respond to that?

She glanced around the large room he shared with Nicolai.

For two teenage boys, they sure were neat freaks. Alik walked over to his computer desk. He was talking about different music downloads he could burn for her, when she eyed an interesting figurine col ection on his bureau. She walked over

to them and realized they were miniature wolves made out of pewter.

When she glanced up, she realized Alik was standing beside her.

He picked up the largest one, no bigger than a matchbox and delicately turned it over in his hands. “Do you know what these are?”

“Are they grey wolves?” she replied unsure.

“No, dire wolves – they were kissing cousins of the greys,”

he countered softly. “They were amazing creatures –

bigger than grey wolves and made of pure muscle and

teeth.

They had horrendous jaws that could easily crush their prey’s bones. Imagine how terrifying it must have been to have a pack of thirty or forty of those things chasing you down.”

Lexie could hear Alik’s respect for the creatures in his tone.

“So, they are extinct?” She hoped so, they sounded

terrifying.

“For a long time, since the last ice age anyway. The greys were alive at the same time though.” He placed the figurine back onto the shelf with the others, forming a neat little row.

“Do you want to know why the greys survived but the fiercer dire wolves died out? It’s because the greys were wil ing to
evolve and adapt to their changing environment, but the dire wolves wouldn’t. They couldn’t see the need to break up their

large packs even when there wasn’t enough food and they al starved – to extinction.” Alik smiled and was pleased with Lexie’s attention.

“So why the interest?” she probed.

“I think their species serves a good reminder to the rest of us that strength and power aren’t a replacement for cunning and intel igence.” He turned back to his col ection and studied them in silence.

Lexie looked at his alarm clock. “Wel , Theo’s going to be here at Pm. We’re going to go to the IGA for some

munchies to bring to the party and maybe stop at Big

Wal y’s for frappes.” She receded out of his room and

slipped into her own.

Alik was going to take some effort to figure out. His little comments were just enough to throw her off guard; he

sometimes seemed a little infatuated with her.

However, Lexie remembered he was raised by Dragos

who was also very touchy feely, always hugging and kissing her and El a when he greeted them. She had assumed her
stepdad’s mannerisms were due to having grown up overseas. Perhaps that was the culture in Romania and his sons were raised to be like him.

What was their mother like? It was odd that they never mentioned her nor had any pictures displayed. Lexie had asked Ruby about the deceased woman once before. Her

mom said

that it was very painful for Dragos to talk about so she only knew the bare facts, but from what she understood, his wife had contracted a horrible virus that made her very sick and it destroyed her heart.

Lexie could not even imagine what it must have been like for her stepbrothers. Seeing a loving parent slowly slip away and know you cannot do anything to prevent the

inevitable would be a nightmare. Her dad’s sudden death was hard enough to bare. At least she was able to

remember him strong and happy, not fading away in a

hospital bed somewhere.

Lexie glanced back at Alik’s closed door. “First things first, find him a girlfriend so he doesn’t think of me in the shower.”

Lexie shivered with excitement when the very flamboyant Theo pul ed into the yard a little after eight. She was surprised how nervous Alik seemed until after they were seated in the Subaru station wagon and heading down the road towards the center of town.

Perhaps Alik feared Max would invite himself only to

discover their evening plans included an excursion into the Maine woods for a little adolescent partying. How Maxim would behave was unknown and Lexie didn’t want to find out.

By the time they pul ed into the overgrown park, Maxim was the last thing on Lexie’s mind. At first glance, it was like any other state park with dense red spruce and balsam fir trees towering over the scattering of seasoned picnic tables and fire-

pits. But as they fol owed the winding driveway, Lexie was impressed with the forest’s sheer size and overgrown

brush.

There were animals and the occasional hikers around, but August weekends belonged to the local youth.

Through the passenger’s side window, Lexie inhaled the crisp scent of pine. The Outback bumped along until reaching a second pul -off that opened into a clearing fil ed with dozens of automobiles. Several of them faced a large pavilion, their headlights il uminating the entire inside of the structure, which was packed ful of picnic tables topped with coolers and snack foods. A tal boy with blonde dreads was playing DJ while others clustered around different tables and by the bonfire in the clearing.

Everywhere Lexie looked there were young adults: some

were laughing, some kissing – a few played hacky sack. It was a lively gathering unlike she had ever seen. She

couldn’t stop the smile from skittering across her face, because it appeared they were good at it.

Theo clutched Lexie’s hand and headed for the pavilion with Alik closely fol owing behind, his eyes wide with wonderment. She spotted Brooke on the back of a truck’s tailgate with Cian’s arms wrapped around her. Beside