There
was a bottle of vanilla vodka upon the counter, and Neil poured a glass half
full of it, and filled the rest of the glass with cola. The resulting beverage
was sweet but too strong for him. Nevertheless, he sipped at it vigorously.
“We didn’t go to the show,” Hana said,
as though confessing some terrible deed. She’d been standing at the far end of
the room, by the fridge. The silence had made Hana uncomfortable, which is why
she decided to start talking again. “Dani said she was doing something else
tonight. Elys said she and Dave are up to stuff
that she didn’t bother explaining. I felt like she was just really trying
hard to get me to ask what she was doing but… augh…”
“Dave told me he might come,” Neil
said. He took another sip, which turned into a gulp. He regretted having poured
so much liquor in, and immediately began to pour more soda into the glass, “Might
turn up later I mean.”
“That’s cool,” Mary said, “I wish
Dani would.”
“Dani would be the life,” Hana said,
adding a pause, “Of the party.”
“We
can be the life of the party,” Neil said. He smirked, and said it insincerely,
although he’d meant it. That had been the joke.
They picked up on that and at least
Mary smiled.
“Did Elys mention anything about… a
cave?” Neil asked.
“Elys said…,” Hana said, “She said
something about an adventure.”
“She didn’t mention a cave?” Neil
asked.
“No,” Hana said, “Why?”
“Dave found out about a cave,” Neil
said, “There’s supposed to be something special inside. Some kinda relic or
something.”
“What kind of relic or something?”
Hana asked.
Neil looked over at Mary, who looked
as curious as Hana did, “The Candle Crown,” Neil said, “It’s being guarded by
some… Some people.”
“Some people?” Mary asked.
“One of them was the guy that did
this,” Neil said, pointing at his face. The way Mary examined it made Neil
blush. He wondered if there was a way to control blushing. He took another
gulp.
“Awe,” Hana said, “And Dave wants to
steal the Candles from them?”
“Uh, yeah,” Neil said, “I guess it’s
for revenge, now that you put it that way.”
“That’s fucking awesome,” Hana said,
“Count me in. I’ll come along for this.”
“Wait, what?” Neil asked, “I mean,
let’s talk about it tomorrow some. Before we all get up in arms about it.”
“Wise words,” Mary said, “But let’s
just keep talking about how awesome it would be to steal this thing. I mean
we’d be all Eleven of the Oceans getting in there to that… Cave?”
“Ember Cave,” Neil said, “I mean,”
he drank a little more, “I think that’s what Dave called it.”
“Someone said something to me about
an Ember Cave,” Hana said, “And how there be monsters thar.”
“Ember Horrors,” Neil said.
“I’ve heard that phrase before,”
Mary said, her voice suddenly clear, “I mean, sorry, I think I have.”
“What?” Hana asked.
Neil took a long gulp. And then a
few sips. Mary seemed to be thinking, “On the internet somewhere? Or in class
or something?”
“Some girl told me…” Mary said, “Something
about them not liking… Not liking something.”
“If we’re going to be busting into this
Emerald Cave and busting up some,” Hana said, “I mean, Ember Cave, and busting
up some Ember-ald Demons… we should
know what hurts them.”
“Do you remember the girl?” Neil asked.
“She was weird,” Mary said, “She
cackled. Made me uncomfortable. She seemed to know what all of my questions
were.”
“What were your questions?” Neil
asked.
“I don’t know,” Mary said, “I’m
starting to think it was just one of those dreams that you think is a memory.
Like those ones where you hear that Budapest is in India, and so you go for
years thinking that Budapest is in India, and then all of a sudden you say it
like it’s fact and everyone goes, what?
no, what are you talking about?
Budapest’s in Hungary.”
“Yeah,” Neil said, “I know what you
mean.”
“Maybe I’m also getting some weird
déjà vu or something,” Mary said, “Like we’ve had this conversation before.”
“Maybe it’s a little bit of both,”
Hana said, “I mean… Well that doesn’t really make sense at all, does it?”
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