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Eric pursed his lips and scanned the interior as he settled into the passenger seat.
And then she came out of the house… She was wearing a short cherry red dress with straps and a plunging neckline that complemented her chest perfectly.The black high-heeled shoes made her already slender legs look even more beautiful.
Her long dark hair framed her pale face in soft waves, sharply outlining her cheekbones. Fire blazed in her blue eyes. She looked reproachfully first at me, then at her traitorous brother, who was trying hard to ignore her presence. She frowned and strode past us with an air of superior indifference.
“Need a lift?” I asked, making a titanic effort to make the question sound as polite and casual as possible.
“No, thanks. I’m riding with Claire,” Sabrina replied coldly and headed towards her friend’s old, wheezing Ford parked nearby. Eric chuckled strangely and stared out the window, as if not noticing that I was deeply hurt by such disrespect towards my new, freshly off the assembly line ‘girlfriend’.
And now a few words about Claire…
Claire – the most primitive creature that ever existed on planet Earth. At least, I haven’t met any else like her. Quite simple intellectually and unremarkable physically. She speaks first and thinks later, if she thinks at all… However, this doesn’t prevent her from being an amusing and cheerful person. It’s strange that she should have befriended someone as snobbish and arrogant as our witchy
“princess”…
Sabrina got into Claire’s car and they drove off, but not before Claire had blown her horn excitedly to say she found my new ride extremely cool. We drove to the university in silence; the mood had been expertly spoiled by a certain someone we all knew.
So, let’s sum it all up. At the age of twenty-four, I live in a quirky greenhouse house, own a splendid car, and a slightly crazy but brave cat… The cat! I nearly forgot to mention that I am an official and proud owner of a cat named Gigantor, whom I had found and rescued from a sewer on Toulouse Street. He had been rather bad and almost ready to depart this world, but still managed to pull through.
His eyes are like spinning saucers and his color a strange brownish-black; he is unapologetically obese for his breed, and has a disturbing habit of eating toothpaste.
The first time I had caught him in the act I got so scared and I rushed him to the nearest vet clinic. It’s not every day that you see your cat drop dead on the floor, literally foaming at the mouth. I was ready to swear on the Bible that my cat was
having an epileptic seizure until I smelled the sharp scent of mint. Every month now, consistently, I find a partially bitten, sometimes heavily chewed, tube of toothpaste. And Gigantor writhes in “terrifying agony of paste-plexis seizures.”
Having observed him for many years, I can confidently say that he gets a certain thrill from it. Occasionally, he has bouts of inexplicable heroism, and secretly watching how passionately and courageously my cat attacks the sprinklers installed in the greenhouse, I can assert with all responsibility that in his past life, Gigantor was none other than a brave and valiant warrior fiercely attacking a mortal enemy…
So, that’s how we live, me and my apathetic, toothpaste-eating cat warrior, alone in a greenhouse, surrounded by bushes. What else? Oh yes, the number of piercings in my ears has reached three. I got new tattoos. Also in stock: a best friend who’s a drunkard, his sister who’s a witch, but showing no hint of any gift whatsoever, an ancient Order, and…
The door to the lecture hall creaked softly and pulled me out of my self-analysis that would have made both Schopenhauer and Nietzsche feel jealous and lacking.
I raised my head, trying to make out the person who had so boldly interrupted my philosophical reflections. It was she, and she was late. Naturally. Lately, that’s all she’s been doing, being late. My curiosity satisfied, I leaned back against the wall and closed my eyes.
“Sorry for being late,” Sabrina said in a quiet, low voice; it trembled, betraying a slight nervousness. “Well, well,” I thought, “someone is worried about missing out on learning” So, she does have a sense of duty after all, just probably buried so deep inside her that she herself doesn’t even know it exists.
“No worries, Miss Venters, please come in,” Mrs. Preston replied.
Satisfied again that nothing major was happening, I closed my eyes and tried to go back to my self-reflection mode when I felt a slight movement next to me.
“Hey, I’m actually sleeping here,” I grumbled.
“Oh, please, never mind me, as always” Sabrina replied.
I gave her a fleeting glance. Yes, beautiful as always. But something was amiss.
Where had all her animosity gone? Not even trying to kick me, as usual?
“I can’t believe my eyes. You actually sat down next to me. Is this a new form of self-flagellation?” I asked sarcastically.
Sabrina didn’t respond but kept staring at the lecturer, pretending I didn’t exist. I looked at her pale face. It seemed like she had shrunk even more, dark circles under her eyes, her hands slightly trembling. Something was up with Sabrina. The only question was how to get her to respond to this “What?”
“Sabrina,” I called quietly.
No reaction.
“Sabrina,” silence.
Oh, how annoying she can sometimes be – by simply ignoring me! Suppressing the burning desire to strangle her, I took her hand. It was cold and it was shaking.
Slowly, she turned to me.
“I thought you were sleeping,” she whispered coldly.
“It's hard to sleep when you're around, dear,” I purred in response. “But…What's wrong? You look troubled.”
“Nothing. Just tired. Lots of work, and then there's Eric…”
Sabrina frowned and freed her hand.
“I have no choice but to… Jack, please talk to him! Please! He’s wrecking the house! Maybe I’m exaggerating, but… Anyway… I can’t handle him alone,” she blurted out in one breath, biting her lip, staring at me expectantly for a reaction.
For a fraction of a second, it seemed to me that I saw a wild spark in her eyes.
She was indeed trembling slightly, sweat appearing on her forehead. Noticing me scrutinizing her, Sabrina casually ran her hand through her hair and glanced at Mrs.
Preston. Whatever it was, it certainly wasn’t about Eric going wild.
“How are you feeling, Sabi?” I whispered.
“Probably caught a cold, the weather isn’t great, and I was out on the street all day yesterday,” she replied.
“Caught a cold?” I muttered suspiciously.
“Yeah, Jack, and I decided not to miss the opportunity to sit next to you and infect you to hell, ” she hissed angrily.
She’s snapping back. So, everything isn’t as bad as it had seemed. We spent the rest of the class in silence, occasionally glancing at each other, not exchanging another word. After an endlessly long hour, the long-awaited bell rang, signaling the end of my mental torment. I stood up, stretched, yawned, and… Sabrina was looking at me as if she wanted to ask something.
“What?” I couldn’t help but ask.
“Nothing,” she hesitantly made her way to the exit. Rather hesitantly. What a day it’s been, huh? A real mess. I watched her miniature figure recede, trying to understand what was happening to her. Everything was different today. Sabrina was different. She was wearing baggy black sweatpants and a khaki hoodie. Old, worn-out sneakers adorned her feet. What’s wrong with her? She pulled the hood over her head, put on a leather jacket, and walked unsteadily down the corridor.
Unable to think of anything smarter to do, I followed her. Then Claire dashed past me like a little tornado. Oh, this omnipresent Claire!
“Hey, Jack!” she squealed and rushed on.
I put on my coat, wrapped the scarf around my neck, and headed towards the exit, stopping by the girls and, pretending to be searching my pockets for a lighter.
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Sabrina staring at me. After a moment’s thought, I concluded that if she wanted to talk to me, she’d find a way to swallow her pride and descend to the level of mere mortals. And until then, there was no need to worry. As I stepped outside, I overheard her telling Claire that she would be going home alone by tram today. “Since when does Sabrina take the tram home?” I wondered, heading towards my car. Well, it’s time to visit an old friend before he forgets my name altogether.
I looked at the dark, overcast sky, and felt tiny drops of cold rain hitting my face.
It’s hard to believe that just a few days ago New Orleans was a lush, sun-drenched oasis of endless celebration. Now, everything looked completely different. With the onset of fall, the city seemed deserted, turning into a gloomy and unfriendly place for the occasional curious onlooker; perfect setting for horror fans. And there was plenty of that kind of thing among the locals. For a dollar or two, everyone would tell you this or that house was haunted by previous owners who had died or vanished mysteriously. Everyone seemed to know where to find practicing Voodoo masters; everyone wanted to give you the Mardi Gras beads that were supposed to protect you from curses, hexes, and other nonsense that tourists are so eager to believe in.
The rain picked up, and I quickly settled behind the wheel, brushing raindrops off my coat, starting the car, and once again glancing towards Sabrina. The girl
stood aside, shifting from foot to foot, staring at me intently. Slowly, hesitantly, she approached the car and, without saying a word, got in beside me.
Chapter 4
Interrogation
Through her passenger window Sabrina quietly watched the rain turn into a downpour. She sat motionless, occasionally and stealthily glancing in my direction, which was beginning to get on my nerves. I knew I was to have a conversation with Eric, and I wasn’t particularly fond of the mind games.
“What mischief has he gotten into this time?” I asked.
“What?” She gave me a distracted look and shivered.
“What did he do this time – blew up a house? Forgot to turn on the lights coming back from another binge drinking session? And stop daydreaming, it annoys me.”
Sabrina looked at me strangely but left my last remark uncommented.
“No,” she began quietly. “You won’t believe it, but he was almost sober.”
Was I hallucinating? Sober? Eric was almost sober?! So, that was the reason for the sudden change in the weather. It was Eric’s almost sober state, not a fiery greeting from my father.
“Probably ran out of money,” I guessed. “Let me guess, you took advantage of the situation and decided to have a little chat?”
“You know perfectly well I’m a lousy mentor,” Sabrina parried my question and stared out the window again.
“Well, what’s the matter then?” I persisted. I was genuinely curious about what might have happened to bring about such colossal changes in Eric and his sister.
“Some Mr. Murphy called him,” Sabrina said casually and glanced at me intently, apparently awaiting some extraordinary reaction.
Paradoxically, her expectations were fully met. I gripped the steering wheel and clenched my teeth to stop a string of curses ready to come out of my mouth. Great.
Now the picture was becoming clearer. Mr. Murphy – one of Grandpa’s old friends and, by the way, the man who had made sure that all reports about the De Manshand witches, and witches in general, ended up directly in his hands.
“And…?” I tried to sound as casual as possible, vaguely imagining what Eric might have said, or rather, shouted at Mr. Murphy.
“Eric looked at me in horror, and when he hung up, he grabbed his head so hard I was afraid he would pull out his hair. Then he sat down on the floor and stopped showing signs of life.”
The girl fell silent, took a deep breath, and returned to look out the window. I rummaged in my pocket for cigarettes, lit one, and tried to steady my nerves. What if Eric had let something slip in a moment of folly? That could explain Sabrina’s change in behavior and…
“You smoke too much, ” Sabrina said out of the blue.
“What?” the tone of her voice made me stop mulling over Eric and look at her.
“I said you smoke too much. It’s harmful. Not that I’m against cigarettes, it’s just that one day it might end badly.”
“Oh, come on, Sabi! Since when do you care about my health?” I interrupted irritably.
“I don’t wish death upon anyone, even such a sweetheart as you,” Sabrina smiled venomously and deliberately turned away from me. Judging by the tension in the air after her words, she was doing her best to hold back and refrain from saying any more venomous “compliments” to me. And to avoid saying something I myself might regret later, I tried to focus on the upcoming conversation with her wayward brother.
Well, isn’t that something! Sabrina just said I smoke too much! Considering that truth might come out at any moment, if it hasn’t already, I should start smoking three, or even four cigarettes at once and as often as possible. And Eric…
“So, what happened next?” I thought that our little chat about my health had distracted us from the problem at hand, and tried to steer the conversation back to find out some details.
“Oh, there was something else,” Sabrina smirked crookedly. “He started yelling something about what an idiot he was, then he began pacing the house, walking from room to room, kicking everything in his path. And finally, he locked himself in his bedroom,” suddenly the girl fell silent and held her breath. I, on the other hand, froze in anticipation of what would come next.
“And then he started making a racket in his room. I mean, judging by the sounds, Eric was just crashing everything he could get his hands on. Then he growled something like ‘thanks, Grandpa,’ slammed the door, and left. I peeked into his room and was horrified. I’ve never seen such a mess in my life. My little brother managed to smash and break everything in sight! He returned in the early hours, completely drunk, barely able to walk. I went out to help him get to bed, and then Eric raised his head and looked at me as if he were seeing me for the first time.
And then he said a strange phrase that I can’t get out of my head,” the girl slowly turned to look at me, giving me an unpleasant feeling as if a grenade had been waved in front of me, threatening to explode at any moment.
My heart sank, and I swear I heard it land right there. Well, that’s it! She's going to pounce on me and tear me to shreds, slowly and painfully, drenching the interior of my beloved car with blood.
“And what did he say?” I even tried to feign confusion. It didn’t come out very well, but it seemed Sabrina didn’t notice.
“He’s right. Jack would have done better than me”.
I nearly choked but managed to regain composure and refrain from blurting out something I would certainly regret later.
“You didn’t mention what it was that Jack would handle better?” I said, trying to suppress my excitement and gripping the steering wheel even tighter.
“No, but he added the word ‘definitely,’” Sabrina said timidly and cast a curious glance at me.
Well, now Eric will definitely get it. How drunk do you have to be to say something like that to your sister, and while looking her straight in the eyes? I glanced at Sabrina. She was contemplating the passing scenery outside the window, paying me no attention whatsoever.
“And what does that mean?” she asked without turning around.
“I have no idea.”
“Don’t lie.”
“Why would I lie?”
“He said you know the truth,” the girl turned to stare at me angrily.
“What truth?"
“Jack, could you just answer my question?”
“Sabi, this interrogation won’t lead to anything. I have no idea what nonsense your drunken brother was spouting.”
“What do you know? What truth is he talking about?” the girl persisted with her questioning.
What are you going to do? Did I really sin so much in my past life? Why am I being punished like this? Damn this girl!
“Don’t look at me like that, you’ll get a burn,” the girl turned to stare out the window again.
