Gwen Gladstone Chapter Two

A friend of mine recently told me that I should be posting on my blog at least once week. I haven't even been coming close to that. Oh, well. Maybe it's time to start putting some more energy into this.

The rewriting process for Gwen Gladstone has been going well. I'm having it beta read by some fourth-sixth graders and an English teacher I know. So far, the responses have been great. It looks like I should have it ready for publication by spring, as planned.

In honor of that, I will post one last chapter of Gwen Gladstone on my blog. From this point on, and for the predictable future, my further entries will be original works much like Werewolf 101 and Werewolves: Do They Live Among Us? Those seem to have been really popular.

Chapter Two

Grandma and I returned home to our haunted house. I called it that, because Mom’s presence, her spirit, lingered there. Even a year later, I’d turn a corner and expect to see her sitting on the couch with a cup of tea, watching the news or in the kitchen making dinner.

Next week would have been her fortieth birthday. As usual, we’d visit her grave, bring flowers, maybe even light a candle. I liked the idea of honoring Mom on the day she was born instead of the day she died.

Grandpa Jim – Grandma’s husband – was buried in the same cemetery so we’d see him after that. He died a year before Mom did. He was only sixty-five and a health nut like Grandma. He exercised and ate right, was in perfect health, just like her. But he still developed an aneurysm. I swear, it was like our family was cursed or something.

I headed up to my room, which had gone through a lot of changes since Mom died. For starters, all the Katy Perry and Beyonce posters were history. In their place, I put up posters of these bands from the 80s I’d been getting into. The Cure, Joy Division, Echo and the Bunnymen. Real dark, depressing stuff.

I painted the walls too. Not like with a roller. But pictures. All the crazy stuff I’d been seeing in my head and feeling in my heart since Mom died. My room looked like Hell now, literally. Or at least how I imagined Hell would look like. With spires of blue-black flames swallowing the faces of tortured souls. Oh, and don’t forget the demons. There were lots of those.

Dad had been away on one of his business trips when I started doing that. When he got back and saw what I’d done, he flipped out big time. Grandma was able to calm him down though. At the time I was seeing this counselor, who encouraged art therapy, so Grandma convinced Dad this was a good way for me to vent and reminded him we could always paint over it later. He backed off after that and would even tell me how cool my pictures looked sometimes, even though his jaw made this weird clicking sound every time he did.

I know I promised Grandma I’d go back to therapy and start taking my meds again. Even though I knew they wouldn’t work. And as far as therapy went, all the different counselors I saw, they all had the same thing in common. Eventually, they all wanted me to confront my demon. Whenever I felt him coming, they wanted me to not do my ritual. To just let him come. In order to prove he didn’t exist.

And I knew my demon wasn’t real. Only every time I told myself that and tried to face it, I couldn’t. I’d get scared out of mind.

I stretched out on my bed, just wanting to rest my eyes for a few minutes. When I woke up, the sun was setting. Dad was due home tonight from his latest business trip, to Portland or Seattle or someplace like that.

Grandma had probably picked him up from the airport already – which meant he probably knew about me getting suspended. I sat there for a moment before heading toward the door. Instead of waiting for him to come to me, I might as well just get it over with.

Halfway down the stairs, I spotted Dad and Grandma in the living room. Dad was still in his suit. His suitcase and laptop sat at his feet. He was usually pretty worn-out from his trips. The last thing he wanted to deal with when he got home was me getting in trouble at school. Again.

At that moment, my courage fled, and I started to head back upstairs. Too bad for me Dad just happened to turn in my direction.

“Well, speak of the devil,” he said.

Oh, well. So much for a quick and sneaky getaway. I walked into the living room, Dad scowling at me the whole time. Grandma stood back. I couldn’t quite get a read on what she was thinking.

“I heard about what happened at school today,” he said.

“Yeah? And?” I replied.

Dad’s eyes popped with anger. Grandma frowned at me, over his shoulder, so I decided to dial down the attitude a bit.

“Sorry. I’m – I’m sorry.”

Dad settled down. “Your grandmother said you two talked after that. You said you were ready to make a change. Go back to therapy. Start taking your meds again.”

I stared at the floor then back at Dad and nodded. He managed a weak smile.

“Well, at least something good has come out of all this,” he said. “I want you keeping up on your schoolwork this week.”

I nodded yes, waiting for some insane punishment to be handed down. Dad checked his watch. He grinned and headed upstairs with his suitcase. Wait. Was that it? Do your homework. That was the only punishment I was going to get?

“I put a roast in the oven, Craig,” Grandma called after him. “It should be ready in a few minutes."

“That’s okay. You and Gwen go ahead and eat. I’ll make myself a plate later.”

Grandma and I watched him disappear up the stairs. What was going on? Last time I got detention, Dad took away my iPod and laptop. I get suspended for a week, and he barely even blinks.

Then again, he had been acting pretty strange lately. He was going to the gym on a regular basis, buying new clothes, and when he was home, he’d disappear into his room for hours. I turned to Grandma. For some reason, I got the idea she knew exactly what was going on with Dad.

“Why don’t you go set the table,” she said as she started up the stairs.

I stood there until Grandma was out of sight. I was in enough trouble already, being suspended from school and all. I should have just gone and set the table like I’d been told. Instead, I headed upstairs. I had to know what was going on.

I peeked around the corner to see Grandma standing outside Dad’s bedroom door. They were having this intense conversation. I was trying to be quiet so they wouldn’t hear me, but to be honest the two of them were so absorbed in what they were saying I could have stomped around like a mad elephant, and I doubt they would’ve heard me.

“Craig, you can’t keep putting this off,” Grandma told Dad. “You’re going to have to tell Gwen. The sooner the better.”

 “You know how she’ll react.”

 “Tell me what?” I said, cutting in.

 Grandma and Dad whipped their heads my way.

 “Gwen, I thought I told you to set the table,” said Grandma.

 I placed my hands on my hips and stood firm. “Excuse me, but I figured this was slightly more important. Now what the heck are you two keeping from me?”

Grandma gave Dad a cross look. He nodded and then faced me. He took a breath to steady himself before he spoke. “Do you remember that convention I attended in San Francisco in April?"

I crossed my arms. “Yeah? So?”

Dad’s face lit up. A smile crept across his lips. “I met someone there. Her name’s Victoria. Victoria Weatherly."

My arms tightened around me. I did not like where this was going.

“We spent a lot of time together during the convention. Since then, we’ve been talking a lot on Skype.” Dad smiled, the way he used to smile for Mom. And only for her. “I like her, Gwen. I really like her."

My stomach tightened up. I couldn’t breathe. All I could think to do was run to my room.

“Gwen. Gwen!” Dad called after me. “See. I knew she was going to react like that,” I heard him tell Grandma.

She said something to him, only I couldn’t hear it over the sound of me slamming my door as hard as I could. I crawled onto my bed and clutched my sheets. Before I knew it, I was crying. Dad had met someone. Mom had been dead for barely a year, and he met someone. He was already moving on. How could he do that to her?

“Gwen?” Grandma peeked into my room. When she saw me crying, she hurried to my side. “Oh, Gwen. Honey.”

 She reached for me, but I pulled away. “You knew, didn’t you?”

 Grandma had a very guilty look on her face. “I found out a couple weeks ago. I could tell your father had serious feelings for this woman so I told him, then and there, he needed to say something to you. He promised he would. Only he kept putting it off. I’m sorry you had to find out like this."

“Aren’t you mad at him?”

“For what? Meeting someone? Gwen, you knew this had to happen eventually.”

I twisted my sheet in my hand. “I guess. But it’s not right. It’s too soon.”

Grandma played with my hair. “When would have been the right time? Next year? The year after that? Ten years? Never?”

I sat up beside her. That last one sounded pretty good.

“Gwen, do you think your mother would want your father to be alone for the rest of his life? Don’t you think she’d want him to fall in love again? To be happy?”

“I can’t believe you’re playing the Mom-card again. Twice in one day.”

Grandma grinned. “It worked so well the first time.”

I managed a smile. She did have a point. Mom wouldn’t want Dad to be lonely. She’d want him to meet someone else. I didn’t like it. It was going to take some getting used to. But I’d try my best.

Dad knocked then pushed my door open enough for him to slip through.

“Everything okay in here?”

I glanced at Grandma then at Dad and said, “Sure.”

Grandma smiled and rubbed my back.

“You off to talk to Victoria on Skype?” I asked. Unfortunately, it came out a little more snarky than I intended.

Dad slid his hands into his pockets. “Yeah, um, about that. The reason why Victoria and I wanted to talk today was because – well, she’s coming for a visit – this weekend.”

I shot to my feet. “She’s what?”

“She’ll be here on Friday,” Dad continued.

I turned to Grandma, who looked just as shocked as I did. She shook her head at Dad. “Brilliant, Craig. Just brilliant.”

That's all for now. If you're still interested in the story, Gwen Gladstone A Tale from the Town of Harmony should be available for sale in spring at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. 

I've actually already started the third Harmony book, which will focus on the  town's vampire population. In honor of that, my next post will be entitled Vampire Bits.

DT