“Constantine is dead. If we go back, the Minister will do the same to us. Come on.”A loud whistle came from behind us, and we reacted.We stumbled down a hill and onto a road.
We kept running until we saw headlights. The car stopped and without glancing to see the driver, we dove in and screamed for them to go. The driver stomped on the pedal just as someone leapt out of the woods.
“That was a Father,” I whispered to Kansas.
He put his arm around my shivering body and pulled me into him. “I saw. It’s okay. None of them can get us anymore. We’re safe. I won’t let them get you.”
“And what about Constantine?”
Our last moments before we fled the church flooded my vision. Whether I wanted to accept it or not, Kansas was right. Constantine was…
“We’re going to make everyone involved pay for what they did to us,”Kansas swore and curled his fingers around my tiny arm. While I wasn’t sure how, I was confident that Kansas was right. One day we would.
Rule 2 - Eisley
Be weary of the shadows.
“What the hell is that?”
I turned away, spray bottle still in hand, and smiled at my best friend Emi. Emi Hajime and I connected right after the greenhouses opened last year and took me into her friend group right away. We’d been close ever since.
“It finally bloomed! Look at it! It’s so pretty!” I squealed and grabbed her shoulder, pushing her toward my plot in the greenhouse.
“It’s creepy.” She dug her heels into the mat and shook her head. “I knew I shouldn’t have requested the plot next to yours.” She looked to her left where her garden was and tugged on her messy, ruby-red waves thoughtfully.
“I think your pumpkins give us a whole aesthetic.” I waved over our two plots. Most everyone else was growing vegetables and sunflowers, but not Emi and me. I’d convinced her to grow a small pumpkin patch for October. “We’ve got spooky vibes for days. Your porch is going to look so cute.”
“I can’t have spooky vibes. I have a roommate, remember? Soleil would kill me if I did anything but put these on our stoop and add gourds and daises next to them.”
“You guys are so basic,” I teased. “Next thing you’re gonna say is you’re headed to Starbucks for some Pumpkin Spice Lattes.”
“Well…”
I gagged and clutched my chest. “That physically hurts. I can’t even begin to imagine how bad those are for you.”
“I actually stopped by to invite you.” She shrugged her shoulders. “You weren’t answering your phone, and I felt it safe to assume you were in the greenhouse.” She looked around the large glass building.
“You were right to assume.” I pointed back to my newest flower. “It’s beautiful!”
“What does it do? Is it poisonous?”
“It’s not edible, but it can be used for some stuff. Right now, it’s just for the Halloween vibes.”
She rolled her eyes. “It’s October first. Calm down, you’ve still got a few weeks.”
“Uh, I’m behind on stuff, thank you very much!” I gasped. “For a town named after the woman who wroteFrankenstein, Shelley Vale is painfully basic this year, and I need to start gothing it up before Christmas takes over.”
“Speaking of stuff that will slowly kill you, are you coming or not?”
“For coffee? No thanks.”
Emi stomped her foot. “They have tea too. Come on, we haven’t seen you in, like, a week.”
“Hard pass.” I went back to misting my newest beauty. “I started these in June. Do you remember?” I sighed, admiring the black flower.
“I remember. You weren’t sure it’d even bloom. What’s it called again?”
“Tacca chantrieri is the scientific name, but it’s most commonly known as the bat flower.”
