Dark as the Night

42

"I thought you didn't like singing in front of people," Tai observed, looking back at Odessa as he leaned forward to turn the radio volume down.

James's face lit up with his usual evil grin. "Only people worthy of hearing my amazing voice," he said and glanced in the rearview mirror at the girl sitting behind them. He chuckled when she gave his reflection a deadpan expression.

"Ooh, such an honor!" she gushed sarcastically.

"I'm glad you acknowledge the gift I bestow upon you," he replied then turned the volume back up and resumed singing along, this time in an exaggerated voice.

Tai rolled his eyes and chuckled. It was Saturday morning, and they were en route to the Kalispell mall. They had checked out a car from the garage an hour before, and as soon as they got out of range of the camp's satellite blockers, James had turned on the radio and begun belting out whatever song came on first.

That had shocked Tai, but he couldn't deny that it was good to see his best friend open up to someone other than himself. It wasn't only the singing, either. James just seemed generally happier and more relaxed lately. Even though Odessa had only been with them for less than a month, she seemed to round them out and bring out a better side of each of them. Balance. He thought. She balanced the two boys.

They arrived at the mall a little under an hour later, and wandered around for a while, browsing different stores. The playful banter continued and Tai was relieved that neither of his friends seemed awkward with each other, as though the incident with Ashlyn hadn't happened.

Lunch in the food court wasn't possible without at least one stolen bite of pizza or thrown French fry. Lots of teasing, goofing off, and laughing made it a normal meal for the three teenagers.

After lunch, they went to the naturopathic store at Odessa's request. As she had already spent half her paycheck having her pants tailored, she blew the rest on a bottle of myrrh essential oil. She picked up a small bottle of sandalwood oil and sighed longingly. James took the small brown bottle from her hand and scoffed at the price.

"It's pretty rare," she told him. "So it's one of the most expensive oils you can buy. When I remembered my mother the other day, I also remembered why this smell was so nostalgic for me: it always surrounded her. I want to keep it around my own room; it might make me feel a little closer to her." Her voice quivered ever so slightly at the end.

She paused to take a breath then added brightly, "But it's too expensive, so I'll have to get it next time." James looked askance at her, but said nothing as he handed the bottle back.

Tai broke the awkwardness with a comforting smile. "I think it's a really good idea. Everyone tries to find some way to hold on to the memory of their loved ones, so finding a memento of her is worth any cost, right?" Odessa smiled back and nodded. She'd told him about the memory of her mother's murder on Wednesday while they'd cleaned the med. center together. It was still fresh in her mind and heart, but she'd felt strong enough to finally confide in him about it.

She hadn't, however, told him about the desire in the memory to kill her mother's murderer and the confidence that she could and would do it. She also hadn't mentioned to either of the boys the previous night's revelation, and didn't know if she ever would. There was more to all of it, she knew, and she needed to figure everything out before it caused problems in her new life.

Tai noticed that her thoughts were taking a darker turn. He had seen her distraction all morning and been wondering if she was still upset about what happened with James the day before, but now he thought that maybe she'd had more bad dreams. He interrupted her introspection by asking if he could smell the sandalwood oil.

"Here," Odessa replied as . She dabbed a little on her finger and reached up to gently wipe it on his neck, below his ear, then did the same on the other side. "I bet it will smell really good on you since you naturally have a sort of musky, woodsy scent."

"You've been smelling him...?" James had been sniffing each of the essential oil testers in turn, and now he theatrically took a step away from her. Odessa rolled her eyes while she dabbed some of the sandalwood on Tai's wrists.

"Don't worry; I don't go around huffing everyone of the opposite sex I meet, like some people." She narrowed her eyes at him, letting him know she hadn't completely forgiven his behavior the day before. "But I've been pretty close to both of you at various times by now, and I've learned your inherent scents. Yours is a little spicy." She wrinkled her nose at the apparent thought of his smell.

James leaned away from her glare and stuck his hands in his pockets, adopting a falsely casual stance. "I find it disconcerting that you know how I smell."

"We can all smell you a mile away," Tai absently told him, taking a deep whiff of his wrist. "This does smell really nice." His voice was soft and his eyes warm as he smiled down at Odessa.

She closed the bottle and put it back on the shelf. "It will smell even better after a few minutes, when it's had a chance to settle in and blend with your body chemistry." She returned his smile as she looked up into his silvery eyes. "The smell of wood suits you really well, and this is the nicest of all of them."

Odessa realized she was standing very close to Tai and stepped back, nearly bumping in to James, who was back to testing different essential oils. "So... where are we going next?" She barely managed to avoid stammering as she abruptly changed the subject, suddenly embarrassed to have admitted thinking about her male friends' personal scents.

But memories of her mother and the things she'd taught Odessa seemed to be the only ones she had, and her mother had taught her to notice the unique olfactory properties of everything – and everyone – around her. Dirt, air, the seasons, rain, snow, plants, animals, people... everything could be identified this way if you paid attention. The thoughts made her miss her mother terribly, but utilizing those gifts brought some comfort to her as well.

But she had learned somewhere else to use her sense of smell as a way to know her surroundings, as well. She couldn't remember any clear details, but she had some innate ability to utilize all her senses in conscious detail. It was something she had just noticed one day, without any sort of preamble or forethought. It was also yet another thing she wasn't ready to share with anyone until she understood it more fully herself.

**********
Cat nose ftw.

What other uses do you think she could have for those sensory perception skills, and why do you think she would need them? Where could she have learned them?

I'm back with weekly updates now, since I'm fully dedicated to this book until it's finished.  Please keep me motivated with comments and votes! Every single one seriously makes me super giddy and pumped to keep working. XD

-Evie