A Quirky Dream- Chapter 6

A Quirky Dream
….Chapter 6

I waited for Cole by the gate with Sasha and Hayley. She didn’t ask me anything, but stared at me with sombre eyes. Hayley was chattering away about a new movie coming out, talking to fill the awkward silence.
I was happy to see Cole pull up in about two minutes, and I said good-bye to Sasha and Hayley.
Cole drove to my house and we talked about our day for the car drive. I invited him inside when he walked me up to my doorstep, but he couldn’t stay.
I understood and he gave me a hug before leaving. The hug was surprising, but was not unwelcome.
I unlocked my front door and went inside. I smelt carefully, and no strange stench reached me.
I relaxed and went into the living room. The couch looked tempting. Hunter had told me my memories would start coming back to me whenever I slept, so I snuggled up on the couch and closed my eyes.
The moon was so bright. My enhanced eyes could see the tiny craters and the small ejecta blankets that the collisions left behind. I hear a sound in the woods behind me, so I turn. Hunter is there.
“Hi Hunter.” I say so naturally.
“Hello Willow, nice night tonight, is it not?”
“Every night is.” I answer.
“Ah,” He said, “But tonight more than ever! The moon is full, and there are no clouds to hide the stars. And stars are your favourite things to stare at, aren’t they? I watch you as you work hard during the day, without looking up once, but when night falls, you sit watching the stars. All night sometimes. But I’m not here to talk about that. You are to fulfil your promise.”
I nod, tears welling at the corners of my eyes.
“Don’t worry,” He said gruffly, “I’ll be there in the human world alongside you, to aid you in your search. Always remember, the search for the killer is most important.”
Again, I nod at him.
He strolls closer and puts one hand on my cheek. It’s so warm resting there. “Never fear the unknown.” He said, “You don’t when you stare at stars that are nameless to you, Willow. Or maybe it’s because they are so far away that they can’t hurt you. Maybe you’re a turkey.”
I smiled at the familiar nickname he used to call me as a child. I had been cutting up a turkey, and I had the feathers all over me, so the name stuck.
“Take this,” he whispered, handing me a vial full of blue liquid. My whole body was screaming at me not to take it, but instead, I put it to my lips and drank. Before the feinting took over, I pressed my lips to Hunters.
The Moon watched as we shared one last kiss.
I woke to the sound of my mother crashing around upstairs and I shivered as the memory I just had sunk deep into me.
Me and Hunter? When did that happen? Obviously when I was infiltrating Earth, along with the other aliens.
Wait, maybe I used to be in the mental hospital with Tabitha. That would explain most of my memories.
I went upstairs to see if my mother needed any help, and I found her face down on her bed. I put one hand on her shoulder and shook her. She woke with a start, and I saw the track lines left over from the tears she must have shed, crying herself to sleep.
“Come on, mum,” I said gently, “Let’s get up and have a bath, okay? I’ll run the water.”
I went into her bathroom and looked around. Thankfully, nothing was out of the ordinary, so I got the hot water running, and put the plug in it. When I got up from my hands and knees, my mother was standing in the doorway.
“It’s all your fault.” She whispered at me, “You’re not mine.”
I felt the blood rush out of my face. I’ve really got to stop doing that, or I’ll end up looking like a vampire.
She continued, glaring at me, “Ever since the accident, I knew. You were too different. No birthmark. And now, you have black hair and purple bloody eyes! You’re not my daughter! I want you out of my house you fiend.”
I started breathing rapidly, and then calmed down. There were a few people I could count on at the moment. I would have somewhere to live. I nodded to the woman standing in the doorway, knowing that she wasn’t my mother.
I ran to my room and took a bag out, shoving clothes into it. Some warm tops and pants, leaving behind my makeup. I took my mobile, and once I was out of the house and my ex-mother had locked the door, I called Cole.
He drove to my house and picked me up. When driving to his house, he asked no questions about why I had been kicked out of my own house, and I was grateful for that.
We got to his farm, and I was greeted by a friendly, plump woman who gave me a huge hug. I now know where Cole gets it from!
She took me inside and showed me a small guest room that I immediately loved. The walls were a soft golden colour, and the sunlight that was drifting lazily from the windows was creating a strange but intricate pattern that could never be repeated with a pencil. The bed spread was also gold, but had swirls in dark orange drawn on it. The carpet was white, but had splashes of light grey in different areas.
I put my bag down near the door and left the room. Cole’s mother sat me down next to Cole in the small kitchen and put a plate of chocolate cookies in front of us. She offered me some milk, with I gratefully accepted.
When I had finished my second cookie, Cole’s mum took my hand and asked me some questions.
“What happened at home?” she asked gently, not in a prying way, but in a troubled tone.
“My mum,” I said shakily, wiping tears from my face, “She’s been through heaps. Her husband, my father I suppose, just died. And my older sister was kidnapped. It’s put too big a strain on her. I worry about what she’s going to do next.”
Cole’s mother nodded, “OK. I understand. Next week, Cole will drive you back to your house to see if you can patch things up, but if you can’t, you may stay here as long as you need too. It’s Janice right? That’s a lovely name. Cole hasn’t shut up about you, so we give him extra work for him to do! Please, call me Anna.”
I smiled at her, “Thank-you Anna. I really appreciate what you’re doing for me!”
“Oh!” she waved a hand at me, “Don’t be silly! It’s nothing! Anything for my son’s crush!”
Cole cut in, “No! Mum! No! Urgh! God! No!” He seemed tongue tied, not knowing exactly what to say.
I started giggling at that. This family was so happy with each other. They trusted each other so easily! I wish my family was like that.
But, a little voice in the back of my head reminded me, you don’t have a family anymore. Your mum has disowned you, your fathers dead, and your sisters gone! But then again, from that memory you just had, they aren’t even related to you!
I blocked it out and focused on Anna and Cole playfully teasing each other. Anna’s grey hair mixing in with her brown hair gave her a personality just by looking at her.
Anna told me and Cole to go outside and have a grand tour of the farm land, so we took a few extra cookies and scrambled out of the door to give Anna some room.
We walked over to the horses and I recognised Stubborn Beauty. He galloped over to us in such a frenzy that it took Cole ten minutes to calm him down.
I was handed a carrot from Cole and was told to give Stubborn Beauty the treat. His soft nose tickled my hand and I let out a gasp of surprise. I raised my hand and saw the place that Tabitha had bit was re-bleeding.
Cole was already across the field stroking another horse’s mane. The horse shivered under his touch, and then trotted off to eat some grass. Cole grinned at the horse, before going into a shed and pulling out some hay for the horse. He was so gentle with these animals.
Stubborn Beauty blew on my hand and I turned to him, “No more treats I’m afraid.” But then, the horse pawed the ground once and blew again on my hand. I remembered the blood, and I took my hand away, hoping it wouldn’t cause the horse any more distress. But what I saw there was a miracle. The cuts had completely disappeared!
I stared at my hand and Cole came up.
“Everything good?” he asked, frowning at me, as I was now sniffing my hand in suspicion.
“Yeah,” I said softly, “Everything is just dandy.”
He smirked, “Ok then. Want to help feed the horses? They’re pretty hungry.”
I nodded and helped him carry heaps of hay into the centre of the field, where about five horses charged at the food. We both laughed and watched as the horses devoured the hay in about five minutes which took us almost an hour to get to the middle of the field.
Anna came out from the house with a huge grin on her face, “Guess what?” she said.
Cole groaned, “We’re going somewhere for dinner?”
Anna frowned, “How’d you guess?”
“It’s the only time you ever get excited about something. When’s dad due back?”
“In a few minutes,” she answered, “Oh, and Janice? He already knows you’re here, so be expecting heaps of happiness.”
I grinned, “Ok Anna. I will.”
Anna nodded to us both before going back inside, and at that moment, a man came around the corner in a dodgy car. It backfired a few times in the driveway. Cole hung his head, and said nothing.
A man got out of the car and came up to me and Cole.
“Janice! How lovely to finally meet you! Cole has told us about nothing else!”
Cole sighed and rolled his eyes, this time ignoring the comment rather than denying it.
His father spoke with us for a moment longer, before taking us inside for some lemonade.
Anna was cleaning up inside, but when we came through the door; she spun around the house getting clean glasses and fresh lemons to add to the lemonade.
When we were all sitting down drinking, we all shared jokes and family stories; save for me.
Anna took out Cole’s baby photos. I laughed at the pictures of him as a baby in the bath.
“She took those pictures when I was fifteen too.” Cole whispered in my ear.
I chortled loudly, spurting lemonade out of my nose. Anna, Cole and his father cracked up laughing.
When I had caught my breath, Anna showed me some more as he grew up. When he first started school, he was standing at the gates with a huge grin on his face and I smiled softly. He was such a cute child. As a kid, he had bright blonde hair, but now he had much more of a sandy colour.
When we had finished looking at the family albums, Cole took me to his room. There, he pulled out another album.
“This me when I reached my older years. These show me from about fourteen to now. Take a look.” He pushed the book towards me.
I opened it, and the first picture had him on it with a group of friends. On the next page, he was a little older; probably sixteen, my age, and he had his finger up to the camera. I raised an eyebrow at Cole and he looked at the picture.
“Guess who took that picture.”
I shook my head, “I don’t know any of your friends. How could I guess a name I don’t know?”
He smirked, “But you do know him,” He flipped back to the first page with his friends in it and pointed at one who had his tongue stuck out.
“Hunter?” I gasped, unbelieving. I couldn’t imagine these two ever being friends, but now it made sense. They had obviously parted on bad terms and that’s why Hunter hates him so much.
“Yes, Hunter,” A weird smile had taken over Cole’s features, “He was my best mate. Always stuck up for me, you know? Then, a few years ago, he changed. He met this girl, he told me, another of his kind. I didn’t understand. Then he became withdrawn, and I haven’t spoken to him in years. Then, suddenly, there you are, and there he is! I hope you’re not the girl he had been talking about! Because he was infatuated I tell you. Every waking minute he spent thinking about this girl. It began to really creep me out!”
I paused, thinking about my memory. It couldn’t have happened because of me, could it? I bit my lip, not wanting to tell Cole what I knew about this.
Just then, thank God, Anna burst into the room.
“Dinner is in ten minutes. Children! Children! Get ready for the night of your lives!”
Cole stared unimpressed at his mother.
“Sorry,” Anna said, “I wasn’t interrupting was I?”
I shook my head, smiling at her zany behaviour, “No. I’ll go put on some nicer clothes.” I thought for a moment, “I don’t have to wear a dress do I?”
“Oh,” Anna nearly yelled, “No! I would never make a girl wear a dress! Not on your life! Never!”
I laughed, “It was just that I didn’t have any dresses, so I got a little worried then.”
Anna shook a finger at me, “We’re not a classy family, we can’t afford to be, but we have a lot of love. And nights like these are for us all to get together and talk. Now that you’re part of the family, you can join us for all our family journeys!”
I grinned up at her, and she ruffled my hair.
“It pleases me that you look so happy,” she said, “When you arrived, you had such sad eyes, but it was clear, five minutes with Cole did you good. Be good to my son! Try not to boss him around too much!”
Cole rolled his eyes, “Bye Mum!”
His mum left the room. I looked over at him, “Guess I better get ready.”
Cole nodded at me, and I let as well. I went to my guest room and took out a nice red top that came around on a halter and rippled in the right places, and black pants that fell straight legged.
I went out into the living room, and Cole was already standing there in nice jeans and a T-shirt. His eyes widened when he saw me, and a smile crept across his face. Anna clapped her hands in excitement, and Cole’s father nodded in friendly appreciation.
We got into Cole’s car, and after a while of explaining from Anna, I finally got the mustang joke. Cole’s father was laughing at me, and Anna told him to be quiet. By the time we reached the restaurant, we were all howling with laughter.