The Last Alignment: Cry of the Scorpions (5 page)

“
Alright,” his mother said
closing the trunk. “Androse, here’s your bag, honey,” she said
handing it to him. “Shall we?”

Androse followed his grandfather and mother
up the walkway and the scent of the flowers hit him almost
immediately; though it was a sweet and clean scent, it still only
added to his sleepiness. When they reached the porch he noticed an
assortment of rocking chairs that had beaded cushions on them that
were patterned to form different animals. “What time is it,” he
asked observing the night sky. It was dark and there wasn’t much
activity going on as he looked up and down the street.

“
It’s almost 11:30,” his
mother answered as she straightened her shirt. She was visibly
nervous and it seemed to seep into his grandfather whose free hand
was twitching. Too sleepy to care, Androse went to sit on the porch
bannister when the front door opened. An older but beautiful woman
with long black hair walked forward smiling, turning on her porch
light so that she could get a better view. She was barefoot and
wore very loose, thin clothing that reminded Androse of something
that a hippie might wear. She had clear, rich brown skin and dark
eyes which made him think that she was Native American.

“
Charles,” she said in a
serene voice before she stepped forward and gracefully wrapped her
arms around his grandfather’s neck. “It is so good to see you after
so long.”

“
Likewise, Oren,” Charles
said hugging her back tightly. The two stood in each other’s arms
for a moment before parting. “You remember Regina,” he said
motioning to his daughter-in-law.

“
Of course,” Oren replied,
quickly hugging Androse’s mother. When the two separated Regina’s
gaze fell to the ground, and if Androse saw what he thought he did,
a tear hit the porch where his mother was looking.

What the
hell
, he thought. “Mom,
what’s-”

“
I’m sorry, Oren,” Regina
said wiping her face. “I can’t keep it in any longer. I’ve tried to
be strong. I’ve-”

“
Come on, Gina,” Charles
interrupted, grabbing her upper arm. She looked at him tearfully,
but Regina shook her head and allowed him to usher her into the
house leaving Androse on the porch with Oren who watched their
backs as they disappeared around a corner before turning her
attention to him.

“
Um…hey,” he greeted
uneasily, not knowing what else to say. He didn’t want to seem
disrespectful by bypassing her and entering her home to go after
his crying mother, so Androse fought the urge. Oren didn’t respond
to his salutation; she simply stared at him interestedly.
That
’
s slightly creepy
, he
thought.

“
I have not seen you since
you were only one year old, Androse,” Oren said folding her
arms.
That
’
s a cool little piece of
trivia
, he thought. All Androse cared
about was the fact that his mother was crying and he didn’t know
why. “You look so much like Nicolas. Doesn’t really surprise me,
though. I could tell when you were younger that you would grow to
take after him,” Oren said walking forward and softly grabbing his
chin with her index finger and thumb.

Now she had his attention.

Oren moved Androse’s head around so that she
could see his face from different angles in the porch light. “You
are certainly your father’s son. I’m sorry that you never got to
know him. He was an amazingly kind man.”

“
You knew my father,” he
asked starting to wake up. “How?”

Oren smiled at him once more. “Come in.
Please.” She stepped to the side, and not breaking eye contact with
her, Androse walked in. Oren closed her front door, stepped around
him, and he followed. The scent of slightly burnt vanilla drew his
attention and made him look away and take in his surroundings.

The walls were pure white and had numerous
things neatly hanging from them; decorative masks, tapestries,
pictures, poems, ornate mirrors, and some other things that Androse
couldn’t identify. A lot of the furniture was made of wood; even
the couches, and while they looked sturdy, they also looked
downright uncomfortable. All of the floors were covered in a dark
hardwood with overelaborate rugs and carpets here and there, and
while he thought the house slightly bare apart from the walls,
Androse found it to be a tranquil environment all the same.

They turned another corner and were now
standing in a kitchen that was completely different from the rest
of the house. The walls were painted an earthy green and the floor
was tiled with what looked like bamboo. There was a tall
refrigerator that had wooden doors, and there were two long
counters on either side of the room that were filled with
everything from appliances, to spices and herbs, to cutting boards,
and even miniature glass figurines of animals. In the center of the
kitchen stood an island that was mainly composed of a stove, but
connected to it was a small counter that held a sink in it that
bore a sign that read, ‘Food Only.’ At the other end of the room, a
huge oak table of which a vast collection of flowers sat
decoratively in the middle rested in front of an even bigger window
which overlooked a large mass of trees where the moon could be seen
just above them.

“
Androse! There you are! I
want you to meet another good friend of mine,” his grandfather
called to him. Androse wanted to talk to Oren, but he slowly walked
over to the counter where Charles was standing with another woman
that looked about his age, only that wasn’t saying much of anything
because his grandfather didn’t look his own age. Charles was
seventy-one and didn’t look a day over forty, and the woman had the
same quality to her. She had long, curly, dirty-blonde hair and
hazel eyes. She also wore a pantsuit which made him guess that the
BMW parked out front belonged to her.

“
Androse, this is Kate
Williams. Kate,
this
is my grandson.” Androse hated it when Charles introduced him
like that. There was always that snooty note of pride in his voice
and Androse knew that essentially, Charles was “showing him off”
like he did to his other friends. “My grandson has a
perfect
grade point
average,” “He volunteers at
many
nonprofitmaking organizations in the community,”
“My grandson takes almost
all
advanced placement classes,” “I just wish I could
get him to play a sport and then he’d be
perfect
!” It always made Androse
feel like Charles didn’t really care about him as a person, and a
lot of times, he felt like there was more truth to the thought than
he cared to admit to himself.

“
You don’t say,” Kate said
stepping closer to him.

“
Looks just like Nicolas,
doesn’t he,” Oren asked turning on the faucet over the bigger sink
at the counter in order to wash dishes. Had Kate known his father
too?

“
He sure does. The
resemblance is uncanny. Same face, same eye shape…hell, you’re even
the same height as-”

“
Grandma, can you please
not get so close to his face like that,” came another voice. “It
looks like you’re getting ready to tongue down a minor. Not
cool.”

Androse looked back at the huge oak table to
see a guy who seemed to be his age appear from behind the huge
bouquet of flowers. He picked up his plate and glass and looked to
be about the same height and build as Androse, only the guy had
short dirty-blonde hair that was the same shade as his
grandmother’s, and he had dark blue eyes. He struck Androse as a
kind of cookie cutter model sort that one would see in clothing ads
and he was put off by it. Judging by the boy’s appearance, he
seemed to be on the spoiled side and the type who had everything
handed to him. He wore a loose blue tank top that looked as if he
paid much more money for it than what it was worth, an expensive
looking pair of gray cargo shorts, and even more costly looking
sneakers; a startling contrast to the basic shorts, sandals,
t-shirt, and hoodie that Androse bought at a local thrift store. As
the boy got closer, Androse folded his arms and decided that he
would just be polite and try not to interact with him, though he
was getting plenty of interaction at the moment with Kate who was
still disturbingly close.

“
The only person that I’m
making uncomfortable is you, dear,” she said not backing
up.

“
Actually,” Androse said
finding his voice, “you are kind of close. I mean, I don’t really
know you. No disrespect, of course,” he added.

Kate smirked as she considered him. “Well,
nice to meet you again, Androse,” she said finally stepping away.
“This young man here who can’t keep his mouth shut is my grandson,
Hudson.” Androse looked to see Hudson staring at him with a look on
his face that read, “Who are you and why are you here,” but Hudson
quickly changed it, smiled, and then nodded in greeting. Androse
returned the nod and repositioned his bag on his shoulder.

“
Oh
,
my gosh
…Charles! It’s been a few years!”

Everyone turned to the kitchen entrance to
see another woman standing there with her hands clutched to her
mouth and fresh tears in her eyes. She had long brown hair and blue
eyes, and she was looking directly at his grandfather.

“
Good evening, Hallie,”
Charles said walking up to her and giving her a hug. “Have you seen
Regina yet?”

“
No! I was upstairs on the
porch taking a breather with my son,” said Hallie.

“
Well, Gina’s in the
bathroom trying to get herself together,” his grandfather said
looking at her purposefully. Hallie seemed to have understood him
and nodded slowly.

“
I’ve been having a time
myself,” she said. “I can’t stop crying. I can’t really believe
it.” The mood in the kitchen was suddenly a very serious one; all
of the adults seemed to have exchanged glances with one
another.
What the fuck is going
on
?
Did somebody
die
, Androse thought.

“
Androse, that is Hallie
Wright,” Oren said drying her hands with a small towel.
“Technically, she’s my ex-daughter-in-law, but as far as I’m
concerned, she’s my daughter.”

“
Androse Nicolas McWayne.
I haven’t seen you in fourteen years,” Hallie said rushing forward
and hugging him. Now he felt painfully uncomfortable; he would much
rather have Kate all up in his face as opposed to being embraced by
this woman. Apparently Androse was in a room full of people who all
knew him, yet he had no idea who they were. “You grew up to look so
much like Nicolas,” Hallie said cupping his face which made him
cringe.

“
Or I could show him where
he’s sleeping,” Hudson interjected, and Androse was glad; he wasn’t
a big fan of being touched.
Wait
,
I
’
m
sleeping here
, he thought.

“
That is a wonderful
idea,” Kate said as she poured coffee into multiple mugs. “Hal, let
go of his face and come have some of this.”

Hallie lowered her hands
and gave him a warm smile before walking over to Kate who was still
staring him down. “Ready,” Hudson asked standing by the doorway.
Androse nodded and then followed him up an unexpectedly tall flight
of stairs.
I have absolutely no idea what
the hell is going on
, he thought feeling
like he was going to have a panic attack.

“
You alright?”

“
What?” Androse bumped his
face into the center of Hudson’s back not noticing that he had
stopped walking. “My bad,” he apologized. “Yeah, I’m
fine.”

“
You sure? You look a
little pale,” Hudson said turning a little more so that he could
get a better look at him.

“
I’m good,” Androse said
sounding more like he was trying to convince himself. “Just
tired.”

“
Well…alright,” Hudson
shrugged before continuing.

Androse ran a hand across his forehead and
took a deep breath in an attempt to get himself together. He
physically couldn’t take it when he felt distressed, but tonight he
would make himself power through it. On the way up he noticed a
bunch of pictures hanging along the walls of a little boy and a
little red-haired girl, but the majority of the frames were filled
with photos of another little boy that also had red hair. Oddly,
Androse thought that he recognized him but then put it out of his
mind.

“
This is it,” Hudson said
opening a door on the left.

“
Cool,” Androse said
walking in ahead of him. It was a fair-sized room that had one made
up bed and two made up air mattresses on the floor. There was a
bulky dresser that rested in a corner, a small nightstand that sat
beside the bed that held a tall lamp, and there was an abstract
painting of a woman walking along a beach that hung above the
headboard.

“
The bed is all yours if
you want it,” said Hudson. “I actually like the
blowups.”

“
No, thanks. One of the
air mattresses will be fine,” Androse said setting his bag down in
a corner.
But a room to myself would be
better
, he thought.

“
Sorry about my grandma,
by the way. She can be a little much. And, sorry about my Aunt
Hallie,” Hudson added running a hand through his hair. “She’s been
a bit emotional lately. She isn’t like that normally.”