Please enjoy another short story on our heroine from The Body Hunters and The Body Hunters: Paradise Denied.
The Body Hunters by Raven Newcastle http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009X971ME/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_N6xQrb13R6TGQ … …
The Body Hunters: Paradise Denied by Raven Newcastle http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CODG81Q/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_r7xQrb0RWBN1N … … the fun continues in the sequel.
The Body Hunters: Paradise Denied by Raven Newcastle http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CODG81Q/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_r7xQrb0RWBN1N … … the fun continues in the sequel.
“Mama, I don’t want to go!” A
pouting ten year old Danny informed her mother under no uncertain terms was she
going to the sports exhibition expo in New Orleans. She threw herself on her bed tossing a throw pillow across the room.
Julianna Labouleaux rubbed
her temples with her delicate fingers. “Danielle, may I remind you that you are
the one who wanted to play soccer? “
“To play not be stared at
like I’m some freakazoid!”
“Darling, you should be
proud, you are the only girl on the team and the best goalie they have. Your
coach just wants to show you off a bit. How about you do it for your team
honey?”
Danny hated to be the center
of attention and hated being told what to do even more. Rolling her eyes and
folding her arms across her chest was her international sign for ‘I don’t care
what you think, I’m not doing it.’
Julianna sighed in defeat. “Darling
it’s up to you, but right now I have to pack.”
“Are you leaving again mama?” Danny
looked up at her mother’s violet eyes feeling a bit hurt.
Pain overtook Julianna’s
heart, squeezing every last ounce of guilt out of her. “It’s just for a few
days.” She looked away from her daughter’s silently pleading
eyes.
“Is Daddy going with you?”
Julianna took her child’s
face in her hands. “Not this time honey, he’ll be home and your Grandmere says
she’s taking you to the zoo. I’ll try my best to be home to see you compete at
the exhibition, that is of course if you decide to
participate.”
“That’s what you said the
last time you signed me up for ballet lessons and then didn’t show up for my
recital!” Danny barked pushing her mother’s hands away from her face.
“Danielle!” A loud booming voice
reverberated in her room, the imposing figure of her father, Marcel stood in the
doorway.
Julianna hurriedly walked
over to Marcel placing a soft hand on his chest to calm him.
“Marc it’s alright, she’s just a
little upset and you can’t blame her.” Her light touch always did the trick.
“Please talk to her about the exhibition, her coach has already signed her up.”
She gave him a quick kiss on his lips as she left Danny’s
bedroom.
Marcel plopped himself down next to
Danny on her bed. Her golden brown skin and eyes matched his and the emotions
she held behind her eyes contained a lot of awe and a smidge of fear of him. He
put his strong arm around her. “Danny, please be more respectful of your mother,
she doesn’t want to leave you.”
“Then why is she going again?”
Danny didn’t know whether to scream or cry.
Marcel hugged her close. “You know
sometimes she has to go away and help her family.”
“She says you’re not going this
time. Are you really staying home?”
“Yes but I have to work so your
Grandmere will watch you and take you to soccer practice.”
“And the zoo?” She asked as she
crawled into her dad’s lap.
“Yes baby girl and the zoo. But only if
you do the exhibition.”
The only thing Danny loved
more than being in Grandmere’s restaurant reveling in the delicious smells and
excitement of the busy kitchen was the zoo. Taking pictures of the animals was
her favorite hobby since she could look at them over and over without being
dragged into the spirit realm dealing with the 'ghosties', as she and Grandmere
put it.
She had in fact had several of her animal pictures blown up and plastered all over her walls since, as she
discovered, any pictures of humans could transport her at anytime to relive past memories
or visit with the deceased. Like her grandmere, Danny was blessed with psychic
skills.
“Isn’t that bribing daddy? Didn’t
you say to bribe someone was a crime? Like that case you were working on with
Uncle Ryan?” Uncle Ryan to Danny was her
father’s FBI partner for the last six years.
Marcel nodded his head. “Yes, you’re right baby girl, but I would really like it if you did the
exhibition, it’ll be fun and I’ll get to take lots of pictures and brag on you.”
He kissed the top of her head.
“Mama says she’ll be there, do you
think she will? She tells me that all the time and then never shows up.”
“I’ll tell you what, what do we do
when you make us a promise and don’t keep it?”
Danny pondered for a moment resting
her head on his chest. “I get grounded and you take my TV away.”
“Ok, so if mama doesn’t show when
she promised then you get to ground her and she has to watch cartoons with you
all day.”
“And eat any kind of ice cream I
want?” She asked her bright eyes wide with delight.
Marcel laughed. “Yes and any ice
cream you’d like.”
“You really shouldn’t promise her
things like that Marc.” Julianna advised as she brushed her long raven colored
hair at her vanity mirror.
Marcel stared at his wife's reflection in her mirror, His own eyes looking heavy and weary.
“Honey, what am I supposed to say
to her? Just promise me you’ll do your best to be home for her competition you know she craves your
attention.”
Julianna dropped her brush on the table
and lowered her head covering her misty violet eyes with her hair. She knew he
hated to see her cry, but she wasn’t fooling him. Lifting her up off her chair
he held her close nuzzling her neck.
“I want to be there, you know that
but you know that every time there is a chance that something can go
wrong.” She cried.
He did his best to console her
“Julie, you are the best at what you do so don’t talk like that; someday this
will all be over.”
“Someday, someday feels like
a long way off. When she’s an adult we will have to tell her the truth, I can’t
imagine what that conversation is going to be like.”
Marcel took her head in his hands.
“Like you said that’s a long way off; let’s not worry about it tonight.” He
kissed her deeply as she melted into his arms.
“Lose these!” She whispered in his ear tugging
at his shorts.
Marcel smiled. “Yes
ma’am!”
Danny tiptoed back to her room
confident mom and dad hadn't seen her, crawling back into her bed she hugged her big teddy
bear that Marcel had won for her at a local summer fair. She fell asleep wondering what her
mother meant by ‘possibly go wrong’.
“Cher? Come now we have to get to
the field, you’re up soon.” Grandmere Marie grabbed Danny’s hand leading her to
her coach.
“I'm OK grandmere you go sit
with daddy. Make sure he takes plenty of pictures for mama.”
“OK, you don’t be nervous. Just do
your best sweetheart.” The older woman gave her a kiss and left for the sideline of
the soccer field.
The New Orleans Sports Expo
was a big event and school teams from all over the U.S were invited to compete
for championship titles in various sports in all age groups. Danny was in the
ten and under soccer division. She held the awe of her coach Duncan Stewart, a
stout Scotsman with a heavy accent. He had tried in vain to tell her it was a
brogue not an accent, but as he told her, as long as she could keep goal like that, then she could call it whatever she wanted.
Danny hated to admit it but the
ballet lessons her mother forced her to take actually paid off making her light and fast on her feet. She had even won the respect and admiration of
the boys on the team after being placed with them when there were no openings
left in the girls division. Marcel had demanded that his little girl be given
the right to play. The sports director just figured she’d give up and quit against the
boys when it got too rough, but coach Duncan Stewart found out better the first time
she dove for a block.
“Wait here lass.” Duncan ordered as
he went to see when her turn was up.
Several young rowdy teenage boys caught Danny’s
attention chanting in the corridor saying words that were foreign to her and stomping
on the ground beating their chests. Danny walked over to the boys to watch the
display closer.
"Aloha!" a few of the boys called out to her.
"What does that mean?" she asked in her shy southern tone.
One of the tall boys answered her. "It means hello."
“What were you doing?" She asked of the group.
One of the teens, a tall
muscular young man with a skin tone that almost matched hers came forward. “It’s a war
chant, we do it before all our games, Shorty.“
“I’ve never heard anything like it
before. Do you play soccer?” She asked mesmerized by his blue eyes that were
partially being covered by his long dark hair.
“Shorty we play a real game,
rugby.”
Danny was offended. “Soccer’s
real!“
The big teenager laughed kneeling
down to her. “Do you even know what rugby is shorty?”
“Well, no.”
“It’s like football but much
tougher. Grrrrr.” He growled at her as he made a face squinting his eyes and sticking out his tongue,
putting his hands up to look like bear claws. She took a cautious step back. A worried look crossed his face. "I'm sorry shorty did I scare you?
“No!” She said in a small voice, but in truth the big teenager did scare her.
“What are you here for Shorty?” he
asked.
“My name is Danielle not Shorty and
I’m in a goalie competition; it’s between me and another boy to see who can keep
the most soccer balls out of the goal and i'm going to win."
“You against a boy? No offense, but
a little Nani like you doesn’t stand a chance. You’re a skinny little string
bean. Did you lose your front teeth to a soccer ball?”
Danny instinctively covered her
mouth feeling embarrassed.
“No, they just fell out! And I am
just as good as any boy! You don’t have to be such a jerk! At least I don’t have
a caterpillar growing on my face!” She pinched his arm hard.
“Ow, damn Shorty that hurt!” He
bellowed.
Uproarious laughter and the sharp sound
of thigh slapping from his teammates ensued as he stood up to yell at them.
“Shut up okole pukas!”
“Hey I think she likes you! better watch out that Kailani doesn't see you with her, she'll be jealous brah!” His buddy chided.
Another teammate chimed in. “You
should dump Kailani for this feisty little one, looks like she can keep you in
line Brah!”
The big teenager with the blue eyes
saluted his teammates with his middle finger.
“Danielle you’re up lass!” Duncan
Stewart motioned for her to come towards the field. Danny started to run to her
coach.
“Hey little Nani, hang loose and
good luck!” The big teenager with the blue eyes held up his hand like a fist with only his thumb and pinky
fingers up.
Danny mimicked the gesture as the
big teen smiled back at her.
“It’s a nice trophy Danny.”
Julianna said as her daughter slid into bed.
“Were you there for all of it?”
Danny asked hugging her teddy bear.
Julianna smiled at her. “Most of
it, I’m so proud of you sweetheart!”
“I’m glad you were able to make it
mama, I was afraid you wouldn’t show at all. I guess this means you don't have
eat ice cream and watch cartoons with me.” Danny sighed disappointedly.
Julianna kissed her forehead.
“I don’t know about that, I think that sounds like fun. Maybe we can do each
other’s hair and paint our toes too?”
“Ugh!” Was all Danny could muster
at the thought of her mother suggesting girly activities. “Mama, what does this
mean?” She showed her the gesture the young teenager had made with his
hands.
“It’s Hawaiian; it means take it
easy I think, where did you learn that?”
“A boy. What does okole puka
mean?”
Julianna gave her a disapproving
frown. “Did you hear that from that boy too?” Danny nodded. “Never you mind what
it means.”
“What about Nani? Is that bad too?”
Julianna brushed Danny’s hair
back from her face. “I think it means pretty. Sounds like you got a boyfriend at that
competition.” Julianna teased.
“Ugh no mama he’s
old!”
Julianna laughed. “Old! How
old?”
“Not like you and daddy old, but like one
of those teenagers grandmere complains about that work in the
restaurant. He called me little Nani.”
“I don't know, sounds you like him! We're not going to have to plan a wedding are we?" She teased.
Danny giggled at mother’s comment. "No mama!"
"Good because I don't think your daddy is ready for you to get married just yet." Julianna brought her blanket up to her chest and tucked her in. She gave her a kiss and turned out her
side table lamp. “Goodnight darling.”
Danny opened her eyes shaking off
the chill in her body and cobweb’s in her brain. It was the same after every
visit to the spirit realm. She dropped the high school team photo of a bunch of
muscular teenage boys in their team jerseys holding a very large trophy. She had pulled the photo out
of a box in the basement mislabeled ‘kitchen stuff’. Photographs were her psychic gateway into the spirit realm.
She had been sorting the final
boxes in storage since moving into the Savannah home almost a year ago not
realizing the box she opened was not her own. She fingered the photograph a
moment longer resting her finger near a familiar face. Putting the picture aside
she dug back into the box and pulled out a red jersey that had a
silhouetted tropical floral pattern in the background and Polynesian tribal markings that ran down along the left side.
On the back of the shirt was the name STONE with the number 25.
Oh my God! She thought to herself,
no freaking way! She held the jersey close to her chest. Searching again
inside the box she found his class ring and a picture of him, his father Joseph Stone and his mother Anna Stone smiling as they all three held a large trophy together. Aiden's father was native Hawaiian and it was clear from the photo that he took after his father in his physique and his naturally exotic but rugged good looks. He also shared many of his mother’s African American and Irish features, none
more than her ocean blue eyes that glowed almost luminescent from the picture in the filtered basement light. They seemed to be
staring into Danny's soul. A soft female voice entered her
thoughts. Sometimes we have to look to the past to see our future. She
was startled by the voice realizing it wasn’t her own. She looked down at the t-shirt she was wearing, a favorite one she had worn for years that was a gift from her now ex-husband. He had given it to her on their first date. She slipped it off and replaced it with the jersey.
As she suspected it was too big for her but in her mind it fit like a glove.
“Nani? Nani?” Aiden bellowed for her
from the side kitchen door that led to the outside garden path.
“I don’t think the neighbors heard
you, can you yell louder, please?" she mocked. "What do you want?” She barked at him sticking her
head out the door.
Aiden stood by the large outdoor
garbage can and held up her favorite AC/DC t-shirt. “Why are you throwing this
away?”
“I found something new I liked and
figured it was about time I let go of the past.”
Confusion crossed his face.
“Really? You’re really going to throw your favorite tee away? What could
possibly replace this?”
Danny opened the kitchen door wide
to fully reveal his old jersey. “It’s okay isn’t it Big Daddy?” She strode up to
him wrapping her arms around his waist.
“Oh my God! My rugby jersey from
high school! I thought I lost it, where did you find it?” He asked as he
embraced her tightly.
“Some idiot put it in a box of old
memento’s and labeled it ‘kitchen stuff’”
Aiden laughed. “Yeah I was pretty
drunk when I packed up the apartment, but Nani are you sure you want to throw
this away?” He held up the t-shirt again. “This shirt holds a lot of memories
for you.”
“I think it’s time for me to make
new ones.” She reached her arms up around his neck and pulled herself up to his 6' 4" frame wrapping her legs around his waist. He let the shirt fall back in the trash as
he wrapped his strong arms around her. Holding her close to him as they shared a
deep kiss.
