Cold Blooded, Duron Crejaro [best classic novels txt] 📗

us in. “Stella, I’m home, and I’ve brought guests.” He yelled.

 

Phil then showed us to the sitting room, stocked with older, but useable furniture. We all took seats, Phil included, though he sat in a large recliner, while we populated the couches. Moments later in a flourish, a mature, portly woman entered, with a large pitcher and several empty glasses. Phil jumped to his feet, took the pitcher from her, and started pouring everyone a glass. The yellow iced liquid was new to me, and as I sipped it, I was overcome with the bitter sweetness of the drink.

 

“Wow this is amazing. What is it?” I asked.

 

Stella stopped in her tracks and looked at me. “Dear, you’ve never had lemonade?”

 

“Nah, we don’t have anything like this in Nashboro.” Tarin said.

 

“I’ve never heard of Nashboro. Where is it?” Asked Phil, as he and Stella got comfortable.

 

“It’s northeast of Memphi. About, I dunno three hundred miles or so I guess.” I said.

 

“Hmm, so it’s past the forest. No wonder we haven’t heard of it. You seem to be informed about Memphi though. Why is that?”

 

“Well that’s a long story, but basically, we learned about this place when we passed through Stag Wood.”

 

“Wait, ya’ll went through the woods? That place is full of mutants. I’m surprised you made it through unharmed.”

 

“Well.” I started to reply, and was interrupted by the sound of the front door closing.

 

“Hey dad, mom, I’m home.” A young girls voice called out.

 

“We’re in here dear, and we have company.” Replied Stella.

 

A minute later a girl appeared in the doorway. She was tall, around five foot eight. Luscious long auburn hair fell all the way down to her waist. The hair framed her face well, contouring her small nose and high cheekbones. Our eyes met, a light shade of brown, almost chestnut, and I could see the terror in them.

 

“Umm h-hi.” She managed to stutter out.

 

One deep breath and I knew the reason for her fear. We had already met, this girl was the chameleon we had encountered in the outskirts of the city just a short while ago. I smiled, trying to reassure her. I wouldn’t give her secret away.

 

“Hi, I’m Eliza.” I said, and introduced her to the others, which seemed to relax her.

 

“I’m Nevi.” She said.

 

I acted as if nothing was off and turned back to Phil as Nevi took a seat on a nearby couch to listen. “Like I was saying, Things are umm, a bit different where we are from.”

 

“How so?” Phil asked.

 

“Well, we don’t call them Mutants first of all. We call them Wylder.” I gave a quick glance in Nevi’s direction. “And well, there is an entire community of them in a small town called Springwell on the outskirts of Nashboro. We used to be at war with them, but things have changed over the last few months and we have started to accept them. After all, they are mostly human, just….different.”

 

“What do you mean mostly human. I’ve never seen one of those mutants resemble anything close to human.”

 

“Yeah, I can imagine that. Things seem way different down here, but I assure you, I’ve seen firsthand that they can be as human as you or me. Like Bobby the well, leader of Springwell can change into a giant horned owl.”

 

“All this sounds a little hard to believe.” Phil said.

 

I shrugged. “I’m not asking you to believe me. You asked a question and I answered. That’s how we made it through Stag Wood safely. We talked to the Wylder in charge of it and he granted us safe passage.”

 

“What? You actually talked to him.”

 

I nodded. “Yeah, we had dinner together. He is the one that told us about Memphi.”

 

“We sent an expedition into the woods a few years ago. Only one man came back, and the stories he told were terrifying.”

 

“Well we didn’t go there with violence in mind.”

 

“What are you trying to say.”

 

“Those Wylder earlier, they weren’t trying to hurt you or anyone, but you people seem to have a shoot first mentality.”

 

“We are just trying to survive.”

 

“So are they.”

 

“So if they can look like a human, they could well be any member of the community here and we wouldn’t even know.”

 

I shrugged. “Probably, but it didn’t matter till a minute ago. You didn’t even know.”

 

“But this changes everything.”

 

“No it doesn’t. It just changes what you know. You and your people still live in ruins and struggle to survive, instead of rebuilding.”

 

“How dare you. You know nothing about us.”

 

“True, but I do know that not so long ago. Nashboro harbored the same views of the Wylder as you do the mutants. I also know that since things have changed, life has improved for both of our people.”

 

“Well,” Stella said as she stood and interrupted the conversation, “Dinner will be ready in just a few minutes. Why don’t we all move to the dining room?”

 

I stared at Phil with contempt and nodded. I stood with the others and made our way to the dining room. I glanced at Nevi, she seemed intrigued and shaken. I don’t think anyone had ever talked to her father that way before. We all sat down to a decent enough meal. It wasn’t the best I had eaten, but it filled us up. Most of the meal was spent in silence. No one quite sure what to say, we busied ourselves with the food instead. I finished and had grown tired of the silence.

 

“Hey Phil. I’m sorry. I do appreciate you showing us hospitality. I really do, and I’m not trying to insult your way of life. I was just giving you the facts about our way of life. If you don’t want us to stay I understand. If you do let us bed down for the night, we will be gone first thing in the morning, we still have to find our friend Rees.”

 

“I wouldn’t turn away guests simply for a different point of view. While I can’t say I understand everything you’ve said, I can appreciate that you have different views. You can stay as long as you need, no reason to rush off in the morning if you don’t want to.”

 

I nodded. While the others finished their meals, I sat silent, thinking of ways I could talk to Nevi in private. I needed a few answers that I was sure only she had.

Chapter 9: After Dinner Party

We finished the meal off and kicked back at the dining room table. I looked for any excuse I could to get Nevi along for a quiet chat with her. The opportunity soon presented itself when she volunteered to clear the dishes.

 

“I’ll help!” I exclaimed and jumped up, not leaving any room for protest from our hosts.

 

Nevi gave me a sideways glare but said nothing as she started carrying dishes to the kitchen. I grabbed an armful as well and followed suit. It took two more trips to get all the dishes to the staging area to be cleaned.

 

“What the hell are you doing?” Nevi hissed at me through clenched teeth.

 

“Trying to talk to you alone, since you obviously don’t want your dad to know that you’re Wylder.” I replied in a hushes tone.

 

“Yeah, I heard your little speech, or most of it at least. Here in Memphi though, I’m just a mutant.”

 

“We’ll I disagree from experience, but that’s not what I wanted to talk about.”

 

She continued scrubbing place and tossed me a look that said, “Well then?”

 

“We’re down here searching for my friend Rees. He is a Rhombi. It’s cold-blooded like you, but Horace told me the song called all the cold-blooded away. How are you still here? Have you heard the song?

 

The mention of the song froze Nevi in her tracks. The plate she held in her hand clattered to the floor, and shattered in a small explosion of ceramics. Her hands shook in visible terror, as if I’d conjured some half hidden nightmare to her mind. What the hell? I thought to myself.

 

“Everything alright in there?” Phil hollered from the dining room.

 

She seemed to regain a bit of her composure, “It’s fine dad, a plate just slipped through my fingers.” She turned a stone cold gaze at me, fighting back the fear from moments before, “How do you know about the song?”

 

“Um, well that’s hard to explain. Aeolia, the nature spirit, or whatever she is in Springwell told us about the song. Then Horace, the stag lord and the forest spirit there confirmed the song’s existence.”

 

“So you don’t hear it?” A lilt of sadness rode her voice.

 

“No, I’m Delacouri, a Leopard Wylder.”

 

She sighed at me, “I’ve been hearing that god forsaken song for months. I’m not sure why, but I guess it must be as you say. The song calls to the cold-blooded nature of my Chameleon.”

 

“Then why haven’t you gone like the rest?”

 

“Because every time I heard the call I hide and use my Chameleon spirit to camouflage myself till the urge passes and I relax.”

 

“But you know where the song is calling you to right? The stag said it’s where the river ends. You could lead us there.” I said, my excitement rose with my sense of hope.

 

That same look of horror returned to her face, “No.” She said it simply in one resolute word.

 

I didn’t press the issue. It was obvious that whatever this creature was calling to the cold-blooded terrified her, and I sure couldn’t blame her for it. The idea of something powerful enough to take a hypnotic hold of all the cold-blooded scared me more than a little.

 

“Ok Nevi, we will find it on our own. I hoped you could lead us, but I understand. Regardless, I hope you and the other Wylder think about your own safety and what I’ve said today. There is a place for you all in Springwell if you want it. I know Horace will give you safe passage through Stag Wood.”

 

I turned to rejoin my friends and she stopped me, “Why is Rees so important? You could go home. There is no need for you to get involved in this.”

 

I gave a small shake of my head, “He helped me long ago as a child. I forgot about it but he never did. Then a few months ago, he helped me again during a time of need, even though I had forgotten my earlier debt to him. I’ll not leave him to the whims of some mad creature.”

 

“So you’re not gonna give up searching for him?”

 

“Never.”

Chapter 10: The Night

I look back on it now, and