After Shiobhan regained her composure, she gathered her pocketbook and light coat– Autumn in Providence was often chilly, especially in the morning– and headed out to the front of the store. “Ok, I need to step out for a bit. If you guys could cover for me, I’d appreciate it.”
“Not a problem, boss lady,” Taz said.
“Everything ok?” Kelly asked.
“Yeah,” Shiobhan said. “Apparently my sister is living here in Providence, going to Brown, and neither my father nor her decided to let me know about it. And Dad wants me to check in on her after he had a possibly prophetic dream. It really is a Monday morning, isn’t it?” She shook her head in amusement, a smile tugging at her lips. “Let’s see what else can go wrong, shall we? At least it’s not Friday the 13th.”
“Hey, don’t knock the 13th,” Taz said seriously. “I didn’t buy into that until I broke my elbow one year on Friday the 13th and the next one my girlfriend broke up with me. And the next one my grandfather had a stroke. Once is a fluke, twice is stretching it, three times…”
“Is a pattern. A pattern of coincidence, if you ask me, Taz. Seriously,” Kelly said. “Do you want me to come with, Shiobhan?”
“No, I think this is something best done by myself. Besides, who else is going to make sure that Taz doesn’t eat us out of house and home?”
“I resemble that remark,” Taz said, feigning hurt with his hand over his chest.
“Indeed you do.” Zipping up her jacket, she grabbed her chai from the table and headed to the door. Pausing in the open doorway, she turned back towards them and said, “Thanks guys. I appreciate it.”
They waved her off and she started walking out the door again, anxiously thinking about meeting back up with Sorcha. It had been a long time– far too long.
Four years? Five? Gods, I can’t even remember anymore. It was that last Christmas, when Dad got me the engraved Bible as a present. Along with several tracts about how Wicca was a cult, and what I should do to “recover from the influence of the Devil”. I never felt so humiliated, and said some things I really shouldn’t have. I suppose I should apologize to him– to both of them– for that.
Deep in her thoughts, she just kept walking down the street, taking sips of her chai and staring at the pavement as she walked, avoiding others instinctively. Side-stepping a faded pair of leather boots, she stopped short as the other person moved to match her and the two collided, crushing the cup of chai between their bodies. “Shit!” she said, falling backwards until a pair of strong arms caught her and pulled her back to her feet.
Arms that felt warm and comforting, arms she recognized as her gaze moved upwards to a face she recognized all too well. “What in the hells are you doing here?” she asked her ex-boyfriend frostily.
Chai dripping from his leather jacket, Robert just looked at her, then let go of her arms. “Getting soaked, apparently. Good to see you again, too.”
Tossing the cup in a nearby garbage can, she tried to brush her jacket off. “I wish I could say the same… oh, wait, I don’t.”
He sighed. “I came back here because I wanted to talk to you. I know we didn’t part on the best of terms–”
“What part of me tossing you and yours out on your arse and saying never to come near me again did you not understand?” she asked loudly as she crossed her arms over her breasts, abandoning the attempt to clean her jacket. “I thought I was pretty clear. Apparently not.”
Robert swore under his breath as the two of them gathered strange looks from the other passers-by. “I wanted to apologize. And explain. Can we do this someplace more private? You have every right to be upset at me–”
“Damned right I do.”
“–But I really need your help.”
Fuck. He had to go and say the one thing that might actually make me listen to him again. “Damned if you don’t know exactly how to fuck me,” she whispered.
A cocky grin appeared on his face until he caught the true meaning of her words, and a flash of pain flickered briefly before he just became impassive.
Dammit. This isn’t the place, as much as I might enjoy screaming at him like a medieval fishwife in the middle of the street. Bad for business, and probably my karma. Of all the gods-bedamned timing… “Do you plan to be this disruptive to my life, or is it just something you do accidentally?”
“Ah…” He pondered for a moment, then shrugged and said, “Honestly? It’s a bit of both, I’m afraid.”
“I figured as much. Well, where do you want to do this? I’m not letting you back into the shop, and I’m not taking you with me.”
“You name the place. I can’t think of many that would be suitable out in the open, nor do many buildings have privacy at this time of the morning.”
Shiobhan bit her lip, feeling torn in two between her duty to help those in need and her desire to get Robert out of her life for good… not to mention the feeling that her father was on to something, that something was wrong. Robert appearing again wasn’t exactly an omen of trouble-free times to come, either, if the past was any guide. Bending her head, she whispered a quick prayer to the Goddess and acquiesed to fate. “Fine. I have an errand I need to run– without you– so go to the shop. I’ll meet you there and talk to you when I’m done with this.”
“Ah… does Kelly still work for you?”
Shiobhan smiled sweetly. “Indeed. I hope my help is worth it, because I have a feeling that she’ll make you pay dearly for it in my absence.” Patting his cheek, she said, “Now run along like a good little boy and let me get this out of the way.” Pushing past him before he could formulate a reply, she stalked off, her irritation clear in her poise. Damned if I know what I did to deserve a day like this, but it must have been bad to deal with the type of karma I’m repaying now.
* * *
She made her way to East Andrews Hall without further incident and found Room 110. Taking a deep breath, she knocked on the door before she lost her nerve and chickened out.
The door cracked open and a girl with purple spiked hair answered. “Yeah?”
“Hi, I’m Shiobhan McGowan. I was looking to see if my sister was home?”
“Jennifer,” the girl said, holding out her hand as she opened the door the rest of the way. “You must be the ‘devil worshiping freak’ my roommate’s talked about. Speaking as one freak to another freak, glad to meet you.”
Shiobhan shook hands with Jennifer and stepped into the room, smiling as she felt the cool embrace of the wards around the room welcoming her. “Indeed. Merry meet, and nicely done,” she said, hands indicating the shields.
“What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her– the opposite, in fact– and I have to live here, too. But, no, Sarah’s not here now.” A frown crossed her face as she stopped to think. “Actually, I didn’t see her come home last night. I was a little out of it, coming home from a campus GBLT meeting, and was too tired to think anything of it. But it’s not like her.”
“Any idea where she might be?” Shiobhan asked, the uneasy feeling settling in her stomach with an increasing weight. “My father asked me to check in on her, and I’m a bit worried.”
“Not really,” Jennifer admitted. “We don’t exactly run in the same social circle, I’m sure you can imagine.”
“I know the feeling. Any idea who she normally hangs out with, that might have a better idea?”
“There’s one girl she tends to hang with, not exactly sure why… they don’t seem to be the same type, but whatever floats her boat.” Picking up her cellphone, she punched in a quick number. “Hey, Tina, this is Jennifer in 110. Have you seen Sarah? You did? Last night? What do you mean? Oh. Ok. Thanks, talk to you later.” Ending the call, she looked up at Shiobhan. “Apparently Tina and some friends went out to a club. They were too plastered to drive, so they called Sarah and Jessica. Sarah went with them but apparently didn’t come home. I’m not sure why Jessica didn’t say anything to anyone but Tina didn’t think anything of it.”
“I don’t like the sound of that,” Shiobhan said. “That sounds wrong. Do you have–”
Jennifer pulled out a pad of paper and wrote down two phone numbers and an address, then added a third phone number. “Name of the club is Dancing Shadows down near the Strand. Their phone number’s at the top, Jessica’s is second and mine is on the bottom. If there’s anything I can do to help, let me know?”
“Will do.” Looking around the dorm room, Shiobhan spied a picture of her sister and mother on a desk, along with a well-worn t-shirt. “I’ll take these with me, they may be helpful in locating her. I’m just not looking forward to explaining it to her.” She gathered the items and slid them into her purse, then turned back to Jennifer. “I think that should be it. Thank you again for all your help. Stop in at the Wild Rose sometime on Thayer Street, I’ll make it up to you.”
“Just bring Sarah home safe.” The two women hugged, and Shiobhan went to leave. “Blessed be.”
“Blessed be.”
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