Damaged Mate

13

Ayersville’s Public Library was exactly what I had pictured. One story, dilapidated brick walls, and an interior that looked like it hadn’t been updated since the late sixties. Laura quickly led me through the front, passing through the fiction section as a check-out desk appeared before us. Leaning back in a floral armchair was a dark-skinned woman with fiercely blonde hair, piled high on her head and pinned back with a number of colorful bobbies. She looked incredibly comfortable in her clothes—a hand-knitted shawl draped over what looked to be a long jean skirt—and a pair of thin, circular glasses hung off her nose as she peered at the pages of her book.

It was the first time I saw Laura ease somewhat. Her posture seemed relaxed, a warm expression crossing her face as she knocked gently on the desk. “H-hi, Aunt Dia.”

Aunt Dia glanced up, pushing her glasses up her forehead with a wide smile. “Little Laurel! How’s my favorite niece?”

She rose from her chair with a slight groan, surprising me with how tall she was. Her height wasn’t as noticeable as Aiden or Clyde’s, but I didn’t expect to be taller than her floor lamp.

Laura wasted no time rounding the desk and wrapping her arms around her aunt’s waist. “Auntie, th-this is Aria. She’s, um, Mr. H-Harvey’s daughter.”

At that, Aunt Dia’s eyes widened considerably. She pulled away from Laura slightly, her eyes scrutinizing me. I didn’t want to be rude, but boy, I was not used to someone entering my personal bubble so blatantly.

“It’s your eyes.”

“Wh-what?”

Aunt Dia leaned back, grinning. “You have Andy’s eyes! So verdant and pure, like a flawless emerald. I wouldn’t mistake those eyes anywhere.”

I smiled nervously, glancing to Laura for some sort of cue. She just shrugged and gave a smile back; this was, apparently, normal for her aunt. Eventually, she slunk back to my side, letting Aunt Dia shift back behind the desk and fold her hands against the surface.

“Um, A-Aunt Dia? We were hoping—I mean, Aria here wanted t-to know about…” She trailed off, now giving me a look of help.

“I was wondering if you knew anything about old myths and legends around this place,” I said. “Specifically about… werewolves?”

Oh my God, I might as well have told her Christmas came early. Aunt Dia’s eyes lit up brightly as she leaned across the desk, a childish smile crossing her face. “Ooh, another connoisseur of the supernatural, I see? Laura, you certainly know how to find ‘em.”

Laura’s face flushed terribly and she pushed her own glasses up the bridge of her nose. “Um… w-well—”

“Yeah, Laura’s been a great friend to me,” I cut in, putting an arm around her shoulders as her face got redder. “She told me you were the one to talk about the, uh, supernatural with.”

Aunt Dia’s glasses slid from her forehead and dropped to her nose, but she hardly seemed deterred. “Give me just a moment. I need to call someone back to watch the check-out desk—ooh, this is so exciting! I haven’t told these stories in years; it gets quite boring, you know, telling them to people who grew up around them.

“Laurel,” she added with a glance over her shoulder. “Can you show Miss Aria the back room, please? Go ahead and dig out a few cookies from the tin, and feel free to make some tea, too!”

Laura giggled with a nod, gesturing me to follow as Aunt Dia vanished into the sea of bookcases. “S-sorry if she’s a bit…” Laura’s sentence trailed off, as if she couldn’t quite come up with the words.

“Excitable?” I offered with a smile. “Hey, I’m totally fine with enthusiasm. That just means she knows her stuff, right?”

My eyes drifted to the book Aunt Dia had been reading, not surprised at all to find occult-esque designs on the cover. Weird, maybe, but the last twenty-four hours had been weirder. Hopefully, whatever craziness Aunt Dia brought to the table would balance everything out.

As we reached the back of the library, my wandering eyes fixated on a few familiar faces. Trevor was the first guy I spotted, leaning against one of the wall shelves with his arms crossed loosely across his chest. Vanessa was to his left, hands gesturing angrily in front of her as Clyde slowly angled into view. I found myself slowing my pace, trying to pick up on what they were talking about. Whatever it was, it was making Vanessa furious. Much to my relief, neither she nor Clyde seemed aware I was there.

But Trevor sure did.

He briefly glanced my way, catching my eye with a slight raise of his brow. My skin prickled and I prayed he wouldn’t rat me out to the others. Thankfully, he just shifted his weight to his other leg, eyes flicking between Vanessa and Clyde as he made a dramatically disgusted face. It got a smirk out of me and I offered him a sympathetic pout.

“Okay, well, go ahead and find a spot,” Laura said as I quickly scampered up behind her. She pushed a back door open and I had to do a double-take. The room looked almost identical to Nurse Aurora’s office, as if someone had copied and pasted the exact design. Same sheer curtains, same soft lighting, same collection of crystals and natural paraphernalia; if anything, Aunt Dia’s set-up looked even more intensive.

“Not to sound completely out of blue,” I joked, “but do your aunt and Nurse Aurora know each other?”

Laura giggled nervously. “Y-yeah, I know. I think she and, um, some of the other women in town are all part of some club.” She frowned, futzing with the corner of her glasses. “Something about… holistic approaches t-to life? Very in-tune with the natural w-world.”

‘Hippies’ came to mind, but I thought it best to stay polite.

“Did you want some tea?” Laura asked as she briskly crossed the room. “Aunt Dia has, um, a h-huge selection.”

“Uh… just surprise me,” I replied, still taking in the room itself. While Nurse Aurora seemed fascinated by crystals, Aunt Dia was very much into sea life. There was an entire shelf’s worth of shells and coral bits, with oceanic jewelry and art pieces set alongside displays. I found myself fixated on a swirling ammonite at the top of the display—the fossil was practically the size of my head, with golden veins filling the cracks. The largest ran directly through the ammonite, splitting it in half.

“It’s, um, a take on kintsugi,” Laura explained from the microwave. “You take broken pieces of pottery and p-put it back together with gold. Embracing im-imperfections, and all that.”

“It’s beautiful,” I marveled, fingers trembling with the desperate urge to touch it.

“It’s a great source of positive energy,” Aunt Dia’s voice called from the doorframe. She gestured me toward one of the armchairs and I politely sat down. “One of my favorite white-elephant gifts from my coterie, as it were.”

“Is mint Earl Grey okay, Aunt Dia?” Laura asked.

Her aunt nodded, taking a seat along the longer couch directly across from me. She’d pushed her glasses back up her face at this point, eyes wide and excited. “So, Miss Aria. What wealth of information do you seek about our town’s more fantastical history?”

This would be the time to ask, if any. My encounter with Nurse Aurora had only confused me further; at this point, I’d believe all the insects here were actually tiny fairies. I had to know if what I saw was real, and to do that, I needed more information to work with.

“What…” I paused, trying to figure out the best way to phrase this. “Where does the town’s fascination with wolves come from?”

Aunt Dia’s smile widened considerably. “Ooh… that’s a tale that starts long ago, during the founding of Ayersville itself.” She sat back in her chair, folding her hands over her stomach as her eyes slowly closed. “Back before brickwork covered these lands, before men and women became the main population. A time of witchcraft and bloodsuckers, of those said to change beneath the moon’s unearthly light.”

I found myself on the edge of my seat, the sharp scent of mint slowly filling the air as Laura prepared the tea behind us.

“There was a time when trees covered this land. When the creatures who roamed beneath the canopy ran with the shadows themselves.” Aunt Dia inhaled deeply, letting the air slowly exhale through her nose. Did she notice the scent of mint in the air as well? “Our ancestors called them ‘Dusk Fall,’ as the wolves who made up the pack were as dark as night itself.”

Flashes of my dream ran across my mind. “Actual wolves, or…”

Aunt Dia’s eyes fluttered open, a wry smile crossing her face. She reached across the couch, digging out a book from beneath a table lamp before presenting it to me. Its leather front looked old, worn, as if someone had opened it many times before me. There was no design on the front, no words to indicate what the contents may reveal.

Only when I pulled back the cover did I realize what I was looking at: an ancient journal from God-knows-when. The writing was practically illegible, but I didn’t need to read to know what it was about. Every page was covered in sketches of lupine figures, some more wolfish than others.

“There was a time when only Dusk would fall upon these lands,” Aunt Dia continued. “But soon, the Northern Lights would descend upon them. Another pack, broken and fragmented, would take shelter between the night and unite them.”

I flipped to a page with two drawings of humanoid wolves; one built stockier, with heavy, curling fur scribbled with ink, the other lithe and nimble, with short tufts sticking out occasionally from their face and ears.

“You mean these two?” I asked.

“Oh, um, a-are you’re looking at the rival p-packs?” Laura asked, carrying a tea tray in hands as she craned her neck to see. “It’s amazing how th-their original environments, um, changed their looks so d-dramatically.”

I couldn’t help but trace the designs with the tip of my finger. The form was so familiar, right down to the curling black fur. I wasn’t sure if the sight made me feel better or not, though—didn’t this mean my dream was real? I didn’t even see the wolf’s face when he turned back. I wouldn’t even know where to start. Except, maybe…

“Ice-blue eyes.” I flipped through the book a bit more, lip curling slightly. I hadn’t realized I’d said that out loud until I glanced up to find both Laura and Aunt Dia’s expressions puzzled. “Oh, um… is there any way I can borrow this? Or m-maybe just take pictures,” I added hastily. “I know it’s crazy old, and you might want to keep it safe?”

Aunt Dia looked somewhat relieved. “I always forget what you kids carry around in your pockets nowadays. Take as many as you’d like, Miss Aria. Oh, and let me know if you find anything of interest,” she added with a wink. “I’m excited to find another enthusiast of the unusual in this town. Seems like folks have all but forgotten their roots.”