Finding Calypso

The Phone Call

Chapter Five

~Calypso~

The day passes and I finally catch the name of this mysterious woman. I hear them call her Seraphine. She seemed to know my family well even though I had never seen her.

My phone rang and I walk outside to answer. It was Gretchen.

"Hey" I answer.

"Hey" She pauses. "Where are you?" She goes on to ask.

"I'm at my Gramair's. What's wrong?" I can hear something in her voice that sounds off, but she didn't answer back and the call ended.

I try to call back, but it goes to voicemail. I assumed her phone must have died, so I called Anora. Anora picks up quickly and says

"Wazz upppp" being her normal goofy self.

I laugh and say "Hey are you with Gretchen? She just called."

She responds "No. I was with her this morning. She had a date and came over to get ready. She ended up borrowing your leather jacket you let me use yesterday at the beach. She was probably just calling to tell you everything about her date"

"Who?" I ask, curious about this new person she is dating that I haven't heard about.

"Who knows" she says "Hey I got to go I'll talk to you later" Anora ends the call.

I put my the phone in my pocket and sit there for a moment. Listening to the earth. It was getting late, and the cicadas were sounding off. Then I hear the whispers coming from inside.

"There has been a lot of activity like this lately. It could be nothing. There is unrest amongst the beasts everywhere since it happened, and many have gone rogue with out leadership." Someone says with a reassuring tone.

I hear my father respond.

"We need to go! " not afraid of being heard.

More whispers are exchanged when I catch the sound of my mother saying

"Where would we go?"

Before anyone could answer that question my Gramair says

"I think you should leave. Caly can stay with me"

With the sound of my name I jump up and decide to include myself in the conversation.

"What are y'all talking about?" I ask as I walk in.

Gramair turns to me.

"Your parents need to leave town, but you can stay here with me while they are gone if you want?"

"Mother" my dad responds in a tone of warning.

Gramair turns to him and says

"You came here for my advice and this is it. You can't stop what's going to happen, so it's best you go"

Her tone sounded as if she was scolding her child for the last time.

My mother's face looks deathly ill and my father is furious.

"What is wrong? Is it something with your work dad?" I ask, a little concerned.

My father looks at me speechless as if he doesn't know what to say.

"Yes?" He says, in the form of a question.

I look at my mom who is also speechless. Her arms folded, and worry written all over her face. I think to myself.

"Damn, this must be bad."

I see Seraphine eyes quickly look over my shoulder and out the door. When she announces that she has to go, but that she will be around. My father nods at her in response as she quickly walks out the door.

"When will y'all be leaving" Gramair asks casually as she begins to reach for her cigar.

My father responds

"Mom, it is just a roll of the cards, we can't plan our whole life around it."

"Well, if it is how you say and nothing is going to happen, then why are you afraid to leave? Even Seraphine said this has been occurring a lot lately." My Gramair answers.

My father is a homicide detective, so I don't question what I don't understand when it comes to his work. I've learned I don't want to know what he has to mull over to perform his job. It is completely unknown to me that it isn't just his work they are referring to.

Before long I see that my father has decided to leave. My mother intends to go with him. I'm not sure why, but I see that my father is under a lot of stress. So I assume she wants to go to support him. They leave when the sunsets.

It's getting late and I ask Gramair if she could take me home. As soon as we exit my Gramair's property my hair stands. We both look at each other almost as if she feels it too. She smiles and says

"Oh Calypso, if only you knew what life you have ahead of you"

As she says this, I feel as if I have plunged into cold water. I begin to feel uneasy, and the urge to get out of this small town. I ponder the words that she said. I realized I've been so caught up in the present I have forgotten about my future.

I hear myself think "The life I have ahead of me" over and over again on the drive home.

When she drops me off instead of going inside I jump in my truck, and try to call Gretchen with no response. So I call Anora. When she picks up, I say "Hey, you wanna hang out?"

"Yeah, come over, I just got home from work" she answers.

I turn the truck on and drive towards her place. I get there and she is outside waiting. I jump out and come sit next to her on her porch swing.

Anora has her own place. Both her parents passed away in a car accident when we were sixteen. She was an only child, but had family in the city that would come to see her from time to time. She would come stay with me or Gretchen for a few weeks every now and then when ever she felt alone.

Even though she is happy I can see she still bares a heavy weight, and tonight I see that same concern in her eyes.

"What's wrong?" I ask.

"It's Gretchen. I'm just worried about her. She was supposed to call me after her date"

"Maybe they are still together" I respond.

"I know… you know me, I just worry" Anora trails off.

"Do you work tomorrow?" I ask.

She works at the hospital in town as a surgical tech. When her parents passed away, she got into a work study program that would allow her to go to the hospital and earn her certificate during school hours, and she has always been very dedicated to her work.

"No, it's the end of my work week, I have the next three days off" she responds.

"Feel like going to the city? Maybe we can meet Gretchen there?" I ask.

Anora looks at me with her eyes obviously tired from the work day.

"Sure" she responds.

I knew this would make Anora feel better. Picking up Gretchen from her date, making sure she gets home safe. That's just how Anora is. Making sure everyone is OK.

We jump in my truck, I rev my engine, and we hit the road.

My phone rings, and it is an unknown caller. Anora picks it up and puts it on speaker. I can hear someone crying on the other end.

I answer "Hello?"

"Caly, where are you?" It was Gretchen.

"Where are you? Let me come pick you up?" I reciprocate to her tearful tone.

"Caly, these people are looking for you." She says with her voice shaking.