Magic Spawn Origins

Magic Spawn: Chapter 26

by Meredith Skye

* ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ *

Haley walked away from the 13 year old girl without looking back, feeling a twinge of guilt. That last bit was cruel—telling Anya that no one wanted her. The young girl was a foster child, who'd moved homes frequently. Not sure what that said about Anya. She'd been with Aldena for less than a year; Haley wasn't sure of the details.

Surely someone did want Anya—but the girl couldn't come with Haley. A few moments later, her conscience got the better of her, and she looked back. Anya tagged along behind her.

"Oh!" said Haley, exasperated. They'd miss everything if she had to take Anya back to the restaurant. The others were already there. "Suit yourself," she said and continued down the street. Maybe it was the guilt for what she'd said that made her succumb to the quiet child.

"I will," said Anya, following her persistently.

The evening wind had turned a little chill but Haley didn't have a coat, just that fashionable knit sweater but it was better than her sleeveless dress from earlier. Anya didn't seem to notice the cold. They had three blocks to go to get to the cemetery.

"What's in the bag?" asked Anya.

"Nothing," said Haley. She didn't want to encourage the kid.

The walked the rest of the way in silence until they entered the parking lot of the graveyard. Then Haley slowed down. Fog obscured the hill. The night was deathly quiet. Her heart beat a little faster. She walked up to the big cemetery gate and took a deep breath.

"Okay," she said, digging in her bag for the camcorder. "This is a good place." She powered it up. "If you're going to follow me around, then you have to be my camera person."

At this, Anya simply raised her eyebrows.

"I happen to have a blog," said Haley. "It's called the Goldenrod Gazette. Goldenrod, that's the state flower."

"Catchy," said Anya, her voice flat, obviously unimpressed.

"I'm going to blog all this and put it on the internet. I'm going to be a roving reporter ... and then someday, maybe I'll become an actress." She handed the camcorder to Anya.

"How's that going for you?" asked Anya. Surely more sarcasm.

"I've got a little following in town. A number of people follow my nightly reports, which aren't every night, but, I'm getting more regular at it."

"The Goldenrod Gazette. I've never heard of it," said Anya.

"Just push here to start recording, but wait 'til I'm ready."

"I thought you were going to go to the University of Nebraska to become a nurse," said Anya.

Haley rolled her eyes. "I'd rather drop dead. Who wants to be a nurse? That was my parents idea. All those people who are old, or sick, or dying ... who would want to be around that all day? It's depressing. No way."

Anya's eyes strayed to the nearby gravestones and Haley realized there was some sort of irony there.

"Just hit record," she said. Anya the Annoying should be her nickname.

"Okay, I did," said Anya.

"Good. You could say 'rolling'."

"Rolling," said Anya, mimicking her tone.

Haley cleared her mind and smiled for the camera. "I'm here at the ... no. That's no good. Okay. I'm starting over."

Anya nodded and the camera bobbed up and down.

"No, be careful; keep it steady! Just keep rolling." She thought a moment and made a sadder face, since this was a serious story. "I'm here at the Darktree Cemetery in Millersfield, Nebraska, where several residents of this town allege that they saw the dead come to life." She paused. "Cut, that's good."

"Cutting," said Anya, putting the camera down.

"You don't have to say 'cutting,'" said Haley. What a dope. "Let me see."

She took the camera and rewound the tape so she could see what they had just shot. It looked okay. She kept the camcorder. "Okay, let's hope we get to see some action."

"Okay," said Anya, who seemed to be getting into this. Together, they started into the misty graveyard. All around them were tombstones of the dead residents of the town. Quietly and carefully Haley picked a path through the graveyard. Anya followed.

_________________________________

Thanks for reading!

Come find me on twitter!

http://twitter.com/meredithskye

@meredithskye