Chapter 16 - Bitter Sixteen

I could never tell Riona that I set that Elton John song as the ringtone when she called. Oddly, John reacted to the melody too, with a wave of tension in his expression.

Did he remember the last time she called me? He wasn't super observant a lot of the time, especially forgetting where to find stuff in my room. Although, I sometimes suspected it was because he didn't want to mess up my stuff.

He was so cool like that too.

This thing though? He could probably see my face. And I bet I looked even paler than usual.

Our grandparents lingered in the doorway. This was all a little too much for me. I wanted to excuse myself, but I didn't want to leave. But John reached out and clutched the phone without taking it from my grip.

"I'll take care of this," he said, like a superhero.

I let him have the phone as I crouched around our grandparents and asked them if they had a good time.

"It was most delightful. All those little scamps in their getups. Princesses have changed some, with that icy lady especially, but it was quite lovely," grandma answered eagerly.

Brushing her trench coat, grandpa responded, "Rushing about was as exhilarating as I remember. We ran across some odd city folk, but I won't dwell on that."

My pulse beat against my neck with my bad experiences and fretting for John. He'd answered the call but was too far away for me to hear. We walked into the front while he retreated to the main bedroom.

Their bags were full of flat, rounded, and boxy candies with the usual suckers, papers, chocolates, and mounds of sugar peeking out. Grandpa needed a boost to get into his chair as grandma touched me on the shoulder and asked, "Did you have a good time back here? No troubles?"

If my face couldn't hide my feelings from my cousin then no freaking way would grandma miss my mood. A long, deep breath from me was enough to draw her closer.

"It was alright. Mark called before..."

Those words felt like they were supposed to lead to something else. But I couldn't say that the freaky shit didn't stop with what happened to them. So, I clipped it off and retried simply, "Mark called."

Both bowed their heads, like they had any responsibility for that. It was on Mark's flaming head and Riona's acid-filled one, not theirs.

To break the foul mood I'd dropped on their happy return, I asked, "So, what were the best costumes you saw out there?"

I recounted a few of my favorites to start it off. Grandma talked up a Rapunzel with mostly real hair. Grandpa noticed a circus ringleader kid with a bright and well-made outfit.

They pressed to make sure I was actually fine, and I pressed back before they touched on the city folks. It wasn't as bad as I feared. John wasn't accosted.

Rather, it seemed like my grandparents were. Grandpa got pulled aside for photos and a speech by some random chick about "gender roles" for...being "pioneering". And grandma got pointed out as well for being "non-conforming".

Shifting her bag of candy to the side, grandpa noted, "I've been my own sort for ages. I don't need someone patting themselves on the back for noticing it and flashing lights in my eyes."

Grandma remarked, "I'm sure they didn't mean anything bad. And hopefully, they learned something about our little town."

Scooting up higher, grandpa noted, "One can only hope. Their head might've popped if they saw the theater in its heyday or you as a princess." They shared some light laughter as I settled down with the bowl of candy.

Checking out the bowl level, they both concluded it had been a busy night for me. They were also eying and bending towards it. No way did I want to risk something happening to them with this candy.

"Excuse me, I'll be right back." I could feel their disappointment when I got up and took the bowl with me. Where was John?

Even though I got hit with that hot, smothering shadow shit, everywhere still felt icy. Rubbing my shoulders, I peeked in the bedroom.

John had his legs together like how I often sat when nervous. And his feet were kinda lifted up too, like when I wanted to dash away from a lousy conversation.

His shoulders bent, like years of weight were causing them to buckle. His eyes stared beyond the wall in front of him.

I winced with the blowback of sympathy, as each word he got out felt like fighting to right yourself on ice without any support. His free hand tightened into a red fist.

The end of the conversation he was struggling through felt deeply familiar. Any one word Riona spoke alone was simple, painless. But, as they piled up, you realized she was eating at you, one tiny nibble at a time.

To see John drained like this felt like a lump of peanut butter eating its way through me as every inch of my guts revolted. I couldn't stand it. I snatched the phone from him as it dipped.

His eyes pleaded with me not to talk, but he'd started this battle for me. I could finish it.

"Hello, mother..."

She didn't waste time before plunging her sharpest words into me while not letting go of John. I tried to push to my feet with confidence, but the ice was already cracking beneath me. She circled relentlessly.

Being tough in the ways John felt didn't work. Cutting to the point just chipped more under me. She won this before any of us spoke. Her voice felt like that hot, dusty crush.

If I didn't know she was somehow human, I would take her for one of those shadow things. In fact, I would trade her for one if I could just turn my camera on it, scream, and it would go away.

She lingered with the call and her pool of venom. This wasn't Mark's blind fury. She would take as much as I could give up. So, I hung up on her.

After that, I put the phone in Airplane Mode. Sure, she could leave as many snakes in my mailbox as she wanted, but it was simple to delete them.

Like Mark, it might seem like she was concerned about one or both of us with the call, but I knew her. It only served herself and the cause of pain. Holding the phone to my chest, I asked John, "You alright?"

Flopping back on the bed like I wanted to do as well, he answered, "I was, till that. Some weirdos, but some nice people too. I felt better than usual. Thanks for letting me enjoy it like this."

His last sentence puzzled me but whatever made him happy made me happy. I responded, "Whatever I can do to help. Things here were a little crazy too."

He bent up with his legs together as I sat on the edge of the bed. A flash of a frown, that I tried not to worry about, crossed his face as I explained, "I took several pictures and a video of some weird shadows."

Sitting up all the way, he scooted close as I shared my phone with him. It took him a while to see the first one and I admitted that it might've been a ring and run prank.

Flipping back and forth between the second and third unnerved him, but he coolly suggested it could've been from the flash. I knew enough about my phone to recognize that wasn't it, but I didn't fight about it.

Getting the video done next, no amount of slow-mo helped my case that the twisted black blur was a shadow person. And the last photo just brought on squinting from him and nothing else.

My last-ditch was mentioning the candy had tinted the same color as the bananas. He looked over some with the desk lamp on. After a lot of looking, he concluded, "Maybe? Did you eat any?"

I nodded eagerly and assured him nothing happened. Peeling the wrapper open, he popped one of the tough caramels in his mouth and tightened his karate gi.

"Tastes normal. Little warm, maybe. But normal."

I tensed up for a moment through the whole thing and especially when hearing that, but I felt the same when eating it too. Hopefully the candy didn't have any alcohol with a fancy name and extra letters. Lots of parents would be mad and some kiddies might get sick.

Casually, I asked John, trying not to hint at anything, "You got these from a normal place at the Walmart, right? They didn't have any warning labels or stuff, right?"

For a second, he looked a little wobbly like he might've had something to drink. Some houses did serve drinks to tired parents containing pumpkin spice and a little extra. John was never a big drinker though. And he wouldn't give weird stuff to kids.

Urgently, I waved my hand in front of his face, and he cleared his throat before saying, "Sorry. Just felt briefly perturbed. Not about you but maybe a bit too much sugar intake. I'll make sure the rest of this bundle is dispensed at the door while you're away."

I was relieved that the candy was safe for him and hadn't made any changes. Flopping down on the covers made my nose twitch, and I hid a gross sneeze to the side. My boobs felt like they wanted to wrestle me, but they soon settled down.

"Be safe. Call if anything happens or text me, if that still works on yours." I could feel my nips tightening against my bra. It was kinda cold in this room, and I wanted to return to the comfort of the blanket. I would need layers for going out, even though it was still fall.

Turning, John looked me in the eye and asked, "Will you be safe? I can go again if you're spooked or don't feel up to it. And both of them appeared remarkably tired despite their earlier rampant energy."

That seemed unlikely considering how I found them, but I appreciated his concern. I had an easy answer, "I can take care of myself. And I like walking. Better than being stuck inside alone. Will you...be alright?"

He answered, after looking like he was thinking it over, "I'll be fine. I just hope Riona doesn't show up here."

A moment later, he adjusted his head like a concerned chicken and changed that thought to, "By which I mean she'll regret coming over as I give her a proper response. And I definitely don't want her around when you come back. That bitch has taken enough from you. And....then the unanswerable questions to follow."

I shut my eyes. The weight of me with my thoughts was more than my goose-pimpled boobs. Riona was like those shadow things, totally smothering. I'd rather be cold for a frozen eternity of magic kingdom broken time than warm up if it meant I was locked in with her again.

Decisively, I told John, "Thank you, that means more to me than you could ever know."

He met my eyes and held my dangling hand as I puffed out a breath that also felt too darn cold.

A scarred part of me hurt to rely on someone, anyone so completely. John and my grandparents never pulled the ground out from under me, compared to so many others who enjoyed my fear and pain. I hated that I flinched for years as a kid when John touched my hand.

I fell asleep so many times leaning against him or nestled beside my grandparents and their soothing aromas of spices, old wood, laundered shirts, and ripe tomatoes from their garden. Though I was glad they had fun tonight, I would fight for them to be back tomorrow.

We checked on them next and they were back to that Sega Genesis. I smirked and remembered when grandpa used to school the local kids at the theater after hours when his fingers were as quick as everything else.

He would bet them free tickets for the late shows or else they had to work for him as ushers. Grandpa never lost, but then they often gave him a head start because he acted like he never held a controller.

It took another deep, chilly breath for me to prepare for Riona's little face.

She looked back at me with the imitation of my grandpa's feeling. Only this little girl was the real deal version of my grandpa. And the little boy was my very calm grandma. All because of those weird bananas John picked up.

Back when John made all sorts of stories for me to escape my life made shitty by Riona, he gave me the freedom of a time machine to visit the fairy tale times in my books.

I didn't tell him, but I considered taking it back to when Riona was a little kid, so I could throw mud in her face and make her cry. She would probably just break me with a sour gaze and find words just as nasty as she did now.

But she wasn't here. These were my grandparents, all their true sweetness in the most bitter packages.

John took care of the candy for his duty, and I got together all the clothes. John's jacket would be a must for outside along with my cardigan, even though it totally felt like a one-ply paper top sometimes.

It would be excessive to take one of the serious winter coats but an extra, orange layer helped. With my purse fastened to my side and my phone better on its charge, I felt ready.

We left through the screen door, and I made sure John had it latched. Swinging my phone around the backyard only revealed the blinding glow of the bug-covered garage light and no weird shadows.

My grandparents, even though it was clear they still had quick and young legs, took it easy on me. Grandma tapped his little fancy cowboy boots and told me, "It's lovely to join you on one of your strolls again, sweetie."

Despite the chill from the evening, grandma's words warmed me into showing off a smile and thanking her.

Grandpa added, "It was lovely being out with John earlier. He oddly had a lot of your demeanor, in a good way. But I've truly been looking forward to this. As much as this beautiful dream permits me to indulge."

I thanked them both and let the night settle over my feeling. It was getting dark to the point that I was glad for the light of the streets and my phone. But the happy noises of kids running all around with so much energy made me wish for many better Halloweens.