The Door

{5}

Aiyden's grandmother always knows. Since the day she laid eyes on him they formed a connection that never faded. She prayed daily for her only grandchild. Prayed no harm came his way. Prayed the spirits stayed away. Prayed they wouldn't wake up one day to find him missing from his bed.

She kept him from the forest. Never let him wander around anywhere alone. She told Bethany to make sure they kept him in the house with the large hawthorn tree. That should have been enough to satisfy any curiosity, and keep him safe... Enough to keep the evil away.

You see, Aiyden was touched. That one blemish on his body, the coloring a little too strange to be a regular birthmark on his dark skin, told a tale not many could read anymore. But her mother had told her stories as a child. Of beings that could play tricks and seem harmless, but would also murder and take children away. Her mother had told her tales passed down, twisted over time, about the fae.

So when she first saw Aiyden smile, it seemed to morph with a few too many teeth, and she became weary. And, when he was a child and his nails grew quickly, she vowed to watch him closer. He was always sickly after being found alone, which was to be expected... But his grandmother knew for sure the day his father died.

Aiyden remembers sitting there silently, and he did for a while. But eventually, his grandmother came. His mother, crying in her room, missed the words spoken. He looked to his grandmother and whispered sadly, "Sacrifices have been made." After that day, Aiyden was never ill again. She knew then he had been touched and would be vulnerable to certain things. She knew Aiyden would never be completely normal. And, she also knew Aiyden must never know her name. Grandmother would be all he ever called her till her dying day.

After his father died, his grandmother insisted Bethany and Aiyden come live with her. She taught the boy how to pray. She also taught him superstitions that had been passed her way. She told him to never open doors to no one, and to sprinkle salt in windows and doorways. And for the safety of everyone else, Aiyden was mostly kept home and taught not to ask people their names.

The only freedom Aiyden really had was walking to and from school... and that's how his grandmother got to know Dela's name. He raved about the girl with white hair, shiny eyes, long nails, skin so pale it seemed almost translucent, and a bright smile. But when asked about which classes they had together, he said he saw her standing in a field on his way home and was drawn to her.

She of course asked if Aiyden gave her his name. He blushed and said it was the first thing she asked for. He said Dela had asked to see his back as well, she somehow knew about his birthmark and said she wanted to see it again. His grandmother knew then.

She knew they would lose Aiyden soon, but did what she could to keep that thing away. Dela was never allowed to come to the house and he was never to be alone with her. His grandmother had even insisted on Bethany driving Aiyden to and from school. Bethany agreed, thinking her mom was a little paranoid, not wanting her son alone with girls anyway.

After meeting Dela, Bethany would always say, "Something ain't right 'bout that girl, she's hiding something. I can tell." And his grandmother would agree.

One day, while allowing Dela and Aiyden to walk around the mall, someone called out Bethany's name. Dela latched on to her name and held onto it tightly, referring to her as nothing but Bethany with a smirk for the rest of that day. And shortly after, Bethany passed away.

Aiyden took it hard, the woman who found him wandering was gone. He only had his grandmother and Dela. The night after she died, Aiyden slept fitfully. Tossing, turning, and speaking in his sleep. His grandmother heard him whispering with a tear-filled voice, "Sacrifices have been made."

As the years passed on, Dela was still by his side no matter how much his grandmother protested. She accepted that this was his choice, that he was grown now and she had to loosen her reins.

Eventually, Aiyden decided to move into his parents' home, and Dela fell in love with it after seeing the hawthorn tree. She said the home and tree were exactly as she dreamed.

Aiyden's grandmother visited the neighborhood and warned the neighbors her daughter had been close to, that the couple would be a little odd. She said "They're weird about names. They think they hold power... so hold yours close, and don't give it away." And the family spread the word. The Smiths' were their name.

Dela would soon after move in with Aiyden. They eloped shortly after, then Dela fell pregnant, and the baby passed away.

She called more often, and Aiyden answered every call. She prayed for her grandson. She encouraged him to come home. She held her breath as that thing became pregnant again, and Aiyden called and told her the doctors didn't think the baby would make it again. Then while watching the news, she heard the grotesque story, and her grandson had again managed to find two people dead. Aiyden's grandmother knew then, as well.

So tonight when she suddenly awoke from her nap, her head ringing, and her heart racing, she knew something was wrong. And when Aiyden didn't answer, she grabbed the bible from under her head and the gun from under the other pillow, and she rushed to his aide.

Speed limits didn't exist as she rushed across town, calling for the lord to help her as she went. When she arrived at her grandson's house, all seemed calm. She knocked on the door and got no answer.

Aiyden's grandmother walked over to the door of the privacy gate. She clutched her bible to her chest, gun extended to her side, and said one last prayer for herself, her grandson, and that missing boy, knowing things would not be the same after she entered the gate. Aiyden's grandmother always knows.