A Circle Of Wolves
Chapter Five: The New Guy
I was awakened when my cell binged with a text message. It surprised me because it was the first time the little ding ever woke me, but the silence in the house was so complete that it must have sounded louder than usual. Checking the text, I saw it was from Bethany, a simple "Don't be late for school" that made me smile. I called her after relieving m bladder and took a shower.
"I had sex with a guy last night," I told her, smiling at the silence that followed.
"Sorry, I was applying my mascara," she finally said, "So, how was it?"
"It was incredible," I told her, setting the coffee pot to percolate as I slipped some toast into the toaster, "I came."
"That's not surprising."
"I mean, he made me cum," I backtracked, "He fucked me, and I just came from that alone. Like I didn't even have to touch myself, and wow!... it was the best orgasm of my life."
"Uh huh," she said, and I heard her disinterest, or was it hurt?
"Don't be like that, Bethany," I told her, "I've had some pretty powerful sexual experiences with you, and I love you. I barely even know this guy."
"Slut!" She started laughing and I joined her. "No, seriously, I'm happy for you. Are you going to do it again? I mean, with this guy?"
"I think so," I told her, always being honest with each other, "He wants me to fuck him."
"Can't blame him," she giggled. That's some grade A meat between your legs." There was a moment of silence. "Does he swing both ways?"
"I don't know. I only met him yesterday, and it all happened pretty fast."
"Yesterday?" she asked, sounding surprised, "So it wasn't that hunk from the other day?"
"No, it wasn't Max," I laughed, "I'm pretty sure that guy is straight. No, this was John Luke, the Preacher's son."
"Be careful, Jesse," she said seriously, "Christians can sometimes be weird, like militant weird, and you can't just leave town if it all goes south. You're stuck there for the next year."
I decided to not tell her that John Luke's father was also the Chief of Police for Circle Oak.
"I will," I reassured her, "I'm sure John Luke knows how to maneuver around his father. No guy that willing to get down to action hasn't done it on the down low enough times to be really comfortable with it."
"How do you know that?" she asked suspiciously.
"Because I'm pretty sure my parents still think we're just friends and I'm a card-carrying virgin," I explained, shrugging off the memory of my mother's grave, "Especially Seth, who believes I'm just gay. You and I are the only two people I'm aware of who know I'm bi. Your Mom knows we're having sex, but I'm pretty sure she thinks I'm your straight boyfriend."
"You're living a double life, Puppy!" she howled with laughter, "Or, wait... is it a triple life?"
"I'm not counting."
We hung up shortly after a few sweet nothings, and I glanced into the dining room, through the passthrough I was certain I had closed. The dining room table was in the center of the room, the chairs lined up neatly around it. The toaster made its weird sound behind me, and I nearly jumped out of my skin. I edged to the passthrough and peered into the room. Everything was where it was before Max and I moved it. My computer, camera equipment and art supplies back in the boxes I used to move them.
Because I was too freaked out to walk through the dining room, I backtracked through the kitchen and walked down the foyer to the living room. The shock of what I saw buckles my knees and I fell to the ground, landing flat on my ass. The uncomfortable antique furniture was back, along with ever little Nik nak I packed up and stashed away in Henry's old room. My paintings were sitting along one wall, the paintings of the ancestors hanging in their original places.
"What the fuck?" I asked.
I slept well, but not so deeply that someone could have entered the house and done all of this without my hearing them. The tone for my text message from Bethany was enough to wake me. I sat there a few minutes, just staring at the room, unable to wrap my head around what I was seeing.
A knock on the door startled me. I wasn't sure I wanted to know who it was, but considered it might be John Luke and scrambled to answer. It was Max.
"Good, you're up," he smiled, "I just wanted to make sure you didn't miss... Are you okay?"
"Come in," I said, stepping aside for him to enter. I needed someone to confirm what I was looking at. I didn't say anything, just motioned toward the living room with my hand. He stopped cold, looked around the room, then back at me.
"I take it you didn't do this?" he asked, glancing over my shoulder at the dining room. I shook my head no.
"You need to talk to Henry," he told me, looking like he had just been asked a question he didn't want to answer, "I would talk to you about it, but it's not my place. You need to be told." He moved to leave again. "Don't be late, young man! I promised your dad I'd keep an eye on you."
Of course, he did. Seth was too stubborn to admit he might have made a mistake, and it made perfect sense that he would ask someone to keep an eye on me. I now knew that Max and Seth were somehow related.
I skipped breakfast and got dressed, making double sure I had everything I needed. Leaving the house, I kept my eyes on the floor as I passed the doors. Outside, I found a big black cat lying on the porch. It meowed at me, but didn't attempt to run away.
"Who are you?" I cooed. I always wanted a pet and have always been overjoyed when I came upon an animal. "Are you hungry?" The cat meowed again. Looking at my watch, I knew I had a little time. Reentering the house, I sprinted to the kitchen, opened a can of tuna and dumped the contents into a bowl. Setting it down on the porch, I gave the cat a quick stroke as it approached and began eating. It turned and scratched my hand when I attempted to pet it. "Okay, Scratch, I've got to go, but I'll see about getting some cat food while I'm out. Have a good day, buddy!"
I headed on to school, which was in a neighboring town that bussed in students from surrounding small towns. Even with the bussing system, it wasn't a very large campus, and all grade levels, first through twelfth, was located on one campus.
John Luke met me at the main office building and introduced me to some ladies behind the counter who seemed very excited to have "another Cowan" attend their school. The records had yet to be sent from my old school, so I gave them the subjects I was taking and they filled out a handwritten schedule for me. He then gave me a quick tour of the campus, pointing out the "common buildings" that housed the cafeteria, library, auditorium, and music rooms. The gymnasium was located at the back of the campus, beside the football field, encircled by the track, and the adjacent baseball field. In the high school level building, he showed me to my first class, then left to get on to his.
The teacher (as well as every other teacher I had) introduced me to the class and left it up to me to find an unoccupied seat. It didn't take long to realize I was so far ahead of the curriculum in every subject that there was simply no way for the other students to catch up before graduation and I seriously considered Bethany's proposal of just testing out of school altogether.
The morning of my first day as a student at Black Briar School was simultaneously uneventful and especially weird. It was the first time I had ever been a transfer student, having lived in the same neighborhood and attended school in the same district throughout my entire career as a student. It was also a bit strange to be known by name by people I did not know. I chalked it up to life in a small town and seeing a lot of the same faces in every classroom I entered.
At lunch, I walked off campus to see Henry at The Apothecary, who was busy with a customer. I waited for him while wandering among the shelves of natural and potentially handmade products of everything from soaps and bath bombs to holistic remedies and jars of various herbs.
"How is your first day at Black Briar?" he asked, flipping the open sign to closed and locking the door.
"Oh, it's alright, I suppose," I told him, "It's a much smaller school than I'm used to, and they're so far behind I'm probably going to be bored to tears by the end of the week."
"High school is more than just the education you get," he laughed, leading me to a back room that had a more personable feel to it, "It's about learning who you are as a person, how to interact with your peers and socialization. When done right, High school is an experience."
I sat down where he motioned at a small table and watched him pull a sack and a thermos from a glass fronted refrigeration unit.
"I get that," I said as I watched him pull ham sandwiches, potato salad and fruit salad from the bag. "I have just never really fit in at my old school. My only friend growing up eventually became my girlfriend. She's coming down this weekend." Reminded, I pulled out my phone and checked the text icon that indicated no new messages.
"That's nice," he smiled, pouring a brown liquid from the thermos into cups, "It'll be good to mix your old life with what you have here. It'll make the transition easier. Have you met any of the students from Circle Oak?"
"Only John Luke," I answered, lifting the cup he offered me to sniff its contents. It was a scent I had never encountered, "But you already know that."
"Yes," he smiled, watching me taste the fluid, "It's a cold brew herbal tea. Do you like it?"
The flavor was something similar to that of root beer, but there were clearly other herbs besides sassafras root in it. On the whole, it was a tasty concoction. I nodded with approval. "John Luke's father is the local man of the cloth and Chief of a tiny police department in a dying town. He wears many hats and is a prominent member of the community. I am not the only resident that is of the opinion that he carries too much authority and wields far too much power. I'd be careful where John Luke is concerned. His father is... a bit old-fashioned, if you get my meaning?"
I had little doubt Henry knew- in the same way he knew so much about me the first time we met- that John Luke and I thoroughly sealed our friendship the previous night. The warning was a friendly one, a caution to be especially careful in keeping my sexual activities buried deep in a locked closet. It was a warning I didn't need.
"Of course, not everyone in town shares his opinions on the matter," he told me, "Out here in the middle of nowhere, we tend to follow our own rules, our own laws, and our taboos are typically reserved for more pressing matters. We have our own ways, our own traditions, which is one of the reasons why I wanted to see you."
"About what?" I asked, biting into the sandwich and realizing it was homemade, the ham cut into thick slices, served with cheddar cheese, a sandwich spread and what I assumed was homemade bread. I wouldn't have doubted the lettuce and tomato were grown in his own garden.
"Well, I was hoping if you wouldn't mind keeping an eye open for a couple of things in the house, things I'd like to have. If that's alright with you."
"I'm not emotionally invested in anything," I told him honestly, "Until a few days ago, I didn't even know you or grandmother, or the house even existed. What did you want?"
"Well, there's an old family heirloom I'd like to have. It's a brown granite skull, carved in one piece. It's been handed down through generations. Of course, you should have it when I go, but until then, I'd like to keep it."
"I have certainly not found that yet," I told him, marveling at the idea of a brown granite skull being somewhere in the house. I hoped I found it soon to show Bethany before delivering it to Henry. "I don't see why you couldn't have it."
"Good," he smiled, taking a bite of his sandwich and waiting to chew and swallow before continuing. "I'd also like to have my mother's cook book."
All thought of the skull passed from my mind with the mention of the cook book, the same thing the mysterious Mrs. Sprouse was looking for when I unexpectedly met her. I remember what she said to me about it, how it was important that I find it. Now Henry wanted it. What was so damned special about a cook book that everybody and his brother were looking for it?
"Most of the products I sell here are made from recipes I got from that book," he told me, as if answering my unspoken question directly, "They're old recipes, handed down through the ages, and I'd like to ensure that those recipes didn't get out. I also suspect there is more to be found in the book."
"Oh, I see," I said, trying to play it cool. I knew he could read my mind, or something to that effect, and tried to keep my thoughts focused on the conversation, "I don't know why not."
"Great!" he smiled happily, taking another bite of his sandwich.
What the Hell have I gotten myself into? I remembered what Max told me earlier in the morning.
"I have a couple of questions for you," I told him, "Yesterday, Max and I moved the furniture, and then this morning it was all back where it was. There's no way someone snuck in and moved it while I slept. Anyway..." I hesitated, uncertain if I could verbalize my assumption, "Um, is the house maybe..."
Haunted?" he asked, finishing my question. "If it is, then it's haunted by your own family. Just try telling them who you are, that you're not a stranger, and you now own the house."
"Right," I responded.
"If that doesn't work, let me know."
"Okay... and one more thing," I ventured into deeper water, "You probably don't know the answer, since you were so young when Mom left town, but I was wondering if you might have maybe overheard who my father is? Grandmother knew I existed, even my name. I was hoping she might have also known who my father is."
"You don't know?" he asked, sounding surprised.
"Mom would never talk about that sort of thing. She never told me anything about my extended family. For a while, when I was young, I thought she never spoke of anything before my birth because noting existed before I was born. As if the entire history of humanity was a fiction devised to keep me from discovering that very fact. Of course, I grew out of that kind of thinking, but that's how silent she was on the matter."
"Well, to be sure, I need to ask what your middle name is." He looked contemplative, like he didn't want to say anything he would regret.
"Why?" I asked, confused. "What difference does my middle name make?
"In our family, every child is given the surname of his or her mother's family name. The father's family name is given as a middle name. Inheritance is always passed through the females, hence the reason you inherited instead of me. From Mom to her eldest daughter, and then her son, but only because she had no daughters."
"I don't have a middle name."
"Well, that's surprising," he said with a frown, "I would have suspected it would have been Seth's last name."
"Seth is my stepfather," I told him.
"It's just that you share a vibrational frequency with him," he told me, his mind seemingly very far away. He stared into the distance for a moment, as if he was looking at something playing out in his mind, then looked back at me. "I'm sure it's nothing. I'm not infallible."
I considered what Henry told me, wondering how deep the truth was hidden in plain sight. I knew from my conversation with Seth that he knew more about Circle Oak and my mother's motives for leaving than I had previously believed he did. He and Max also shared the same last name. I was fairly sure they were related. Was Seth also from Circle Oak? Did Seth know who my father was? Was it even remotely possible that he was my father, and his posing as my stepfather was all part of Mom's subterfuge? If so, why? It seemed the more I learned the more questions I had.
I returned to school with more than my education on my mind, and the tedium of my classes weren't enough to distract my mind from tossing my questions around until I had lost track of my train of thought, leaving me even more confused than I was when I left Henry's.
Phys Ed was my last subject, and I was thankful for the distraction and physical exercise. The football jocks were practically worshipped by the students, and I had no doubt the same was true for nearly everyone else in East Texas. In Texas in general, football is king. In East Texas, High School football is the King Daddy of all sports. It was just my luck that my first athletic impression on my fellow students would be tested on the field, playing my least favorite sport.
To my surprise, however, I managed to hold my own against some pretty aggressive players. I somehow seemed capable of utilizing strength I didn't know I had, tackling a guy twice my size to the ground like he was a rag doll. Coach reprimanded me for it, getting in my face to yell at me.
"I know you Circle Oak boys can get out of hand," he screamed at the top of his lungs, "But you keep up shit like that and I'll have you running laps every day for the rest of the year!"
"Reign it in," a younger player, who must have been all of fourteen told me in a harsh whisper, "You don't want to get found out."
I looked at him, not understanding what he was talking about.
"I'm Cooper," he offered me his hand, "Cooper Lowell. Coach is in the know, but we still have to be careful around the others."
"Jesse Cowan," I said in introduction, shaking his hand. He had dishwater blonde hair that seemed unkept, but that might have just been because we were playing football. The color visibly drained from his face and his easy smile faded into a flummoxed expression when I told him my name. Apparently, young Cooper didn't know who I was already.
"Cowan?" he parroted me, "You're not allowed to use the power outside of Circle Oak, man!" He looked angry now.
"What are you talking about?" I asked, starting to feel pissed that everyone seemed to know more about me than I knew about myself, "What Power?"
"Don't play stupid with me!" he snarled, "I'm a Lowell. I know all about your kind!"
"My kind?" I asked, shocked at what sounded like a racist comment, maybe even homophobic, but that explanation didn't seem to fit.
"Yeah, your kind!" he moved in close, getting cocky. A little too cocky for a kid a half foot shorter that I was, and no more muscular. "You witches all think you're just so superior to everyone else. Well, your no better than me, and you should-" His eyes glowed a bright red, the same smoldering embers I saw in Max's eyes- "just check yourself before you get hurt."
"Your eyes glow." I told him, wanting to see his reaction. I wanted to know if he reacted the same way Max did.
"What did you say?" His face wore a mask of sheer horror.
"I said your eyes glow."
"No... that's not possible!" he cried, like I had just uttered some top-secret information I shouldn't have any knowledge of, "You're a Cowan! You can't-" He ran from me to another player, a brunette with an athletic build. Coach was about to stroke out on the field, blaring his whistle and throwing his clipboard hard onto the ground. The other player ran to Coach, said something in confidence that elicited a nod, then joined Cooper and ran toward me.
"Follow us, Cowan," he told me as he jogged toward the locker room. Coach changed the formation of the students and resumed the game. I caught up with the other two, and entered the locker room. Inside, the older boy closed the outside door while Cooper ran to close the door leading into the gym.
"I'm Justin," the older boy told me, "Justin Rathbone."
"Rathbone," I whispered, recognizing my mother's middle name, then piecing together what Henry told me about how the names worked in our family. "We're related?" I was only vaguely aware that Cooper was stripping down to take a shower.
"Your grandfather was my great grandmother's son," he smiled, "I'm not sure how that works out, but yeah, we're related. How much do you know about your family?"
"That everyone is dead but me and Henry." Justin pulled off his shirt, following Cooper's lead. I did the same.
"I mean about your family history."
"Nothing."
"See, I told you!" Cooper said to Justin. He was completely naked now and didn't wait for Justin's nod of acknowledgement before heading into the showers.
"We have a lot to talk about," he told me, "I'll round up the others, then meet you at your place. Be sure you don't invite your friend, Hopkins. This is a family matter."
The three of us showered, then parted ways. I drove home and waited nervously for the most impromptu "family" meeting in the history of mankind with the hopeful expectation of some answers nobody seemed to want to give me.
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