Part 23 - A letter?

Y/n

I know I was technically in this class by choice, seeing as it was the weekend,

But it still felt like it was going on forever.

And normally that would be a good thing, I like my art class, it makes me feel free, but today it just felt tedious. 

Nothing was coming to me. I had been staring at a blank canvas for the past hour, and I knew my teacher was looking at me because of it.

It's not my fault my brain is broken today, okay?

Ever since I left the cottage, my mind has been a mess.

What Mr. Addams had said really fucked with my train of thought.

Every time I tried to think about something else, it just ended back up at

'It's only a matter of time before you two' and 'The spark between you'.

Did it really look like that?

I mean I know that Pugsley and I are close,

But I never thought people would assume we were like...

Nope, stop it.

Don't think about that.

The sound of my teachers voice brought me back to reality, and I realized the class was over. And still nothing on my canvas...

Crap.

As the other few people start to leave, I lean down to gather my bag off the floor.

Huh? What's that..?

The corner of a dark purple envelope stuck out from the opening of my bag, and I carefully reach for it, making sure my teacher wasn't looking over here.

I pull the envelope out, and the front of it was blank except for my name written in small cursive handwriting.

Odd.

I didn't even see anyone put this in here, when the fuck...

Doesn't matter.

I flip it over in my hand, opening it up and pulling out the card inside.

It was a single sided piece of black card, with a gold border, along with-

Wait, that's the Nightshades emblem.

Underneath it was simply just a place and a time.

'Iago Tower, 10pm.'

A meeting? 

I mean it must be important, a Nightshades meeting hasn't been called since last year.

I look at the time written down again.

Fuck, tonight was when I was supposed to help Pugsley and his dad look for Slurp.

Maybe I could do both?

I'd hope we won't be out there in the woods searching for that long anyway, so maybe I can help them for a while, then if it gets too close to 10, then I can make up some excuse on why I have to leave.

That could work-

"Y/n."

I jump in my seat, shrieking as I fumble to hide the letter back into my bag.

"What the fffffudge."

Above me, my art teacher stood, staring at my completely blank canvas.

And I smile like I didn't almost just swear at her face.

"Uhm...yes?"

She drops her eyes down to me, and one of her eyebrows raises as my nervous demeanor.

"Care to explain why there's nothing there? You're usually so expressive in this class."

I look back to my canvas, and I let out a bit of air.

"Uhhh, you know, just...a little distracted I guess."

She sighs and crouches down in front of the stool I was sitting on, and I glanced around uncomfortably as she spoke.

"Y/n, you know if there's anything going on in your life that you're feeling stressed or worried about, you can always come to me."

Huh?

Wait, did she think that I was like, in trouble or something?

"Oh, uhmm..uh huh."

I just nod, because I wasn't sure how else to get out of this.

"I heard about the zombie attack at camp last week, that must have been such a jarring experience for you, and I understand if you're still a little on edge about everything."

Ohhhh, so that's what she thought this was.

Okay, I might be a little bit of an ass for what I'm about to do, but I would regret it later if I didn't have at least a smidge of fun with this.

I nod slowly, making my attempts of not laughing look like distress.

"Yeah...Yeah, you know, it was just so..."

I put my hand over my mouth as I felt myself grinning at my shit acting.

I blink a few times, hoping to calm myself and make it look like I was trying not to cry.

"It was so scary, I just don't know how I do it, you know?"

Even I wasn't making sense to myself at this point, but she just nodded with a sympathetic look.

"Of course, don't feel like you have to push yourself in my class if you're not ready. I think maybe you should head back to your dorm, relax for a while, it'll help clear your mind."

I finally let my smile show through, and I stand up with my bag in hand.

"You are so right, I really should get going. But thank you so much for this...enlightening conversation."

She smiles sweetly at me and places her hands together above her heart.

Wow so she really could not tell I was being the most sarcastic I've ever been in my life. Poor woman...

I walk out of the classroom, letting myself burst out laughing as soon as I was far enough away so she wouldn't hear me.

Oh my god, that was hilarious.

I grab the letter back out of my bag and look at it again.

Okay, the only question is,

Who called the meeting, and why?

««« ♪ ♪ »»»

Okay, this wasn't actually as tiring as I thought it was going to be.

But that may or may not be because of the fact that half an hour ago I had convinced Pugsley to give me a piggy back ride, after I whined that my feet were starting to hurt.

And he hadn't put me down since. 

I definitely was not complaining, trust me.

I was actually impressed he was able to hold me up for this long without saying anything, he didn't seem like he was struggling at all.

Occasionally he would shift me back up when I started to slip, but he had a good grip under my thighs as he walked, and I was just sort of...there.

And he probably thought I wouldn't notice when his thumb would sometimes brush over the scar on the outside of my left thigh, but I did. I noticed.

Maybe it was just his way of silently saying he was still there. Or perhaps he still feels bad that he couldn't make my injury go away completely, but either way, his gesture felt nice. 

I didn't say anything about it though, and I just rested my head on his shoulder.

We'd been out in these woods forever, and he wasn't showing any signs of giving up any time soon, so I just let myself relax against his back as he called out into the empty night, and I could feel the vibration of his voice rumble through me.

"Slurp!"

His call echoed out into the trees, like he had been doing this entire time, but still nothing.

"Slurp!"

The pleading tone in his voice broke me little by little every time he called out Slurp's name, he wanted to find him so badly, and there wasn't much I could do to help. At this point I think Slurp is long gone, fled town even, but I'd rather not crush Pugsley's hope.

"Come out, boy. It's me..."

I still found it odd how he spoke like Slurp was a dog, but I guess you couldn't exactly call him human either.

"No one's gonna hurt you."

If he keeps talking like that I might just cry.

"Please..."

At that, I let my arms wrap a bit tighter around his shoulders.

He just sounded so sad, I couldn't take it.

I lift my head up from his shoulder, talking quietly.

"Hey...we'll find him, promise."

He turns his head slightly towards mine and nods, though I think he was starting lose hope.

He tightens his hold on me, shifting me back up as I saw Mr. Addams walk over to us.

"Pugsley."

He lets out an exhausted huff.

"We've been at this for hours. I'm not one to admit defeat, but.."

He gestures towards the miles of forest around us.

"Slurp has found better pastures to roam in."

He looks to Pugsley for a moment, and his gaze really was filled with defeat as he sighed.

I felt Pugsley's hands dig into my skin, but it only lasted for a second before his grip loosened and his shoulders fell in a similar sense of hopelessness.

Mr. Addams places a hand on Pugsley's arm as he gestured towards the way out of the forest.

"Let's go, let's go. Let's go home."

Pugsley nodded and moved at his fathers request, still keeping me up as he began to walk.

"Okay..."

We weren't too far from the edge of the woods, so it didn't take long until we could see the faint lights of civilization again.

As Pugsley carried me down the stone steps that led out onto the side of the road where Lurch had parked, I saw that it looked a lot busier that normal.

There were people.

Too many people. At least for a regular Saturday night.

All dressed up in costumes and all seemed to be going to the same place, but where?

Once Pugsley steps onto the road, I tap his shoulder with my hand.

"Hey, you can put me down now if you want."

His head turned to mine again.

"Are you sure? I don't mind carrying you, really. You don't have to walk."

I smile to myself at his gentlemanly kindness, but I shake my head.

"Nah, it's okay. My feet feel better now anyway."

He hesitates for a few seconds before lowering me down onto the ground.

"Alright, if you're certain. But if you change your mind, I'm right here."

I couldn't let him do that, he'd been carrying me for too long, and technically my feet had been feeling better for like the past 10 minutes, I just didn't want him to let go of me. I felt safe when he held me, I didn't know how to explain it.

I'd feel bad if I made him do it any longer, but the look in his eyes told me he was being completely serious.

"Thanks...I'll keep that in mind."

I turn my attention to the dressed up crowds that were still walking down this road to whatever place they were headed.

"So what do you think the deal is with all of these people?"

Just as I asked that, Mr. Addams catches the attention of someone walking past us, and inquires about what's going on.

"Where are y'all headed?"

The guy he asked quickly answered as he continued to walk,

"Pilgrim world."

Another one of the people in their group hands Mr. Addams a piece of paper before walking off, and he holds it up for us to see as he read the words aloud.

"Los Spooky Noches."

It looked like it was a festival going on for the day of the dead events tonight.

That explains why there are so many people dressed up, though I think some of them might have been confusing it with Halloween.

I guess it was a big thing, seeing as there were cars lined up on the road as far as the eye could see, I wonder why I hadn't heard about it until now.

Sounds like it could be fun.

Pugsley speaks up from beside me,

"Can we go, dad? Please?"

Mr. Addams looks up at Pugsley for a few seconds in thought, before he gestures a hand towards him.

"Don't tell your mother."

Pugsley fists pumps the air by his sides and celebrates in a small whisper.

"Yes!"

He turns to look down at me.

"You ready to go?"

And I was, but that was only until I remembered about my other commitment of this evening.

Shit, the meeting. What time was it now?

I take my phone out of my pocket and glance down at my lock screen,

21:30.

Fuck.

It would take 30 minutes just to get through all this traffic, there's no way I'd be able to make it back in time if I went with them now.

I turn it off and look up at Pugsley with a sorry expression.

"Uhmmm, I would love to, really, I would. But I actually have somewhere else I need to be right now, I'm sorry."

I could see his face drop at my words, and it only added to my guilt.

"Oh whaaat?"

I sigh.

"I know, I know...but hey, I still might be able to join you guys after I'm done, it probably won't take too long. But you guys go on, enjoy yourselves."

Pugsley studies my face for a moment.

"Are you sure?"

I nod quickly. I really did need to get a move on if I wanted to make this meeting.

"Yeah, go have fun, you deserve it."

He nods at my words, and I hear Mr. Addams pipe up from next to the car.

"Are you sure we can't at least give you a ride to where you're going?"

I glance at what looked like a never ending line of vehicles, and then back to him.

"No, that's okay, it'll be quicker for me to walk, it's not that far."

He sends me a short nod, and I turn back to Pugsley.

"And hey, if I don't make it over there in time, bring me back a souvenir okay?" 

He finally let himself smile as I began to move in the other direction, and the two of them got into their car as I walked along the road back to school.

I made it maybe 10 feet, when I swear I could've heard a twig snap up on the edge of the woods.

I looked up there, but I couldn't see anything.

Maybe it was just a wild animal or something, but I didn't want to think too hard about it.

I shake off the chills it gave me and go back to walking, but a little faster at this point.

Okay, let's see what this meeting is about.