Chapter Twenty-Three
Friday finally rolled around, Sarah wasn’t sure who was more anxious to get on the road, her or Alex. Penny and Asald decided to take Christian and go back to the Inn too.
The night before they had told her his story. She struggled to comprehend he had been in hell, like the literal fire and brimstone hell you were taught about as a child in Sunday school. Her heart broke listening to him talk about the woman he had lost and what he had done to save her. She finally understood why Aristide had said Asald wasn’t born one of them, he had been cursed and turned into a gargoyle, he had been born a human. It was all a total mind fuck she was still reeling from.
Sarah and Alex followed behind them in their car, as the trees started to turn dark and leafless Alex’s eyes grew bigger. She couldn’t wait for him to experience the people in the town, it was a paranormal Disney World.
At the turn for the Inn Asald’s arm shot out the window and waved to them. Sarah drove straight and turned further down towards the address Adam had given her. She was surprised to find him sitting on the stoop waiting for them. His smile warmed her from her head to her toes. As soon as Alex’s feet touched the pavement he ran for Adam and held his arms out for a hug. Adam wrapped in his arms and looked at her, the look on his face was priceless. He couldn’t believe how easily the little boy had accepted him scars and all. The innocence of children never ceased to amaze her.
“Mommy your turn.” Alex waited expectantly for the two secret lovers to hug. Sarah turned her face into his neck and took a deep breath. She lightly kissed the scar below his ear, a small shiver ran down his body.
“Someone’s feeling naughty.” He whispered into her ear before she pulled away. He had no idea how x rated her thoughts were at that moment, and every minute she thought about him. He had turned her into a walking hormone.
“Let’s get you guys settled in then we can meet the group at Scales N’ Tales.” He grabbed her bag from her and waved her to go in first.
“What’s unique about that place again?” Sarah had told Adam ahead of time that she hadn’t told Alex the truth of the town yet.
“The mermaids run it, they serve mostly seafood.” He smiled at the look of horror on her face.
Adam showed them around the apartment, there were antiques on every shelf, she had no doubt he had collected them over the years. His dining area had been turned into an office with four large computer monitors.
“Yeah, when you live alone you don’t really need a formal eating area.” He shrugged apologetically.
They dropped their bags in the spare room, she stole a glance at his bedroom, the huge, puffy bed was inviting. Alex was a very deep sleeper, she hoped they would be able to sneak some alone time in during the night.
“It’s not a bad walk to the restaurant but we can drive if you’d prefer.” He held his car keys up questioningly.
“After that many hours in the car, I think we could use the walk to stretch out our legs and burn off some energy.” Her eyes flitted down at the boy dancing from foot to foot anxiously.
He led the way outside and down the road, the first building they came across was the school, “We’re a small town so Kindergarten through Senior year go here.” They turned the corner and passed the movie theater across from the library. Alex stared intently at all the interesting looking people in front of the theater. Most were dressed like the creatures they truly were, now that Sarah knew they were real she wanted to take her time studying them too.
As they passed Medusa’s Locks and Yeti’s Ice Cream shop the owners poked their heads out and waved to them. Sarah didn’t realize how good it would feel to be a part of a community. In the city, you are lucky if you know even one of your neighbor's names. Here people went out of their way to be friendly to each other.
Many of these creatures would be feared if people knew they were real and yet it’s those same humans who aren’t half as decent as these so-called monsters were.
By the time they made it to the restaurant, Alex was bursting with excitement at everything he had seen. Sarah was relieved he was enjoying himself, she was quickly falling for the man and the town, having her son like them too would make everything easier.
Adam held the door open to let Sarah walk in first, as she stepped inside multiple people yelled her name. She was excited to see the whole gang was waiting for them. She had quickly come to think of these loveable gargoyles as her friends as well as Asald’s.
She grabbed a seat next to Penny and introduced Alex to everyone.
Sarah studied the menu until the waitress came over to get their drink orders. Immediately Sarah forgot what she was going to order. The young woman was intoxicatingly beautiful. Her blonde hair hung to her waist and shimmered as if she were floating in water. Her skin was so pale blue it was almost see through. Now Sarah understood the stories about mermaids luring humans into the water.
Once the waitress had their order and was gone Sarah’s head cleared from a fog she hadn’t realized she was even in. What kind of powers did these merpeople have over humans?
“So, Sarah, I heard Chief Holland is having a party this weekend, want to go?” Pascal asked her innocently while the rest of the table burst into laughter. Penny looked as confused as she felt.
“Why is that so funny?”
Toussaint wiped the tears from his cheeks, “Because he’s the Chief of the Fire Department and also the Phoenix from the party the other night.”
Heat rushed Sarah’s face, of course, they had to bring up her drinking. “Haha, very funny.”
“Hi everyone,” a trio of young women Sarah vaguely recognized walked up to their table. “I see you’ve come back to town and so soon, I guess you had fun?” The brunette leading the group looked at Asald, Penny, and Sarah expectantly.
“I invited Sarah to stay with me for the weekend. Asald and Penny came back to visit with the guys.” Adam admitted freely to the girls, Sarah knew what his statement implied. It was a good thing her face was still warm from the group’s teasing or she would have been blushing more.
“Well, you all seem like lovely people, I’m sure we’ll see each other again soon.” The group waved and went to sit at a nearby table.
“So, who are they?” Sarah asked Adam.
“The girl who did all the talking was Josephine, she’s the town dentist and also a tooth fairy.” He nodded at the look she gave him, “The other two are woodland fairies, they own the florist shop we passed by Yeti’s.”
Sarah didn’t have words, she had started to accept all of this was real but that didn’t mean it was any easier to grasp each time she learned something new. She studied them for a few seconds before remembering they had been behind her in the concession line during the movie the weekend before. She had heard them talking about collecting rotten teeth but Sarah had been so infatuated with Adam she hadn’t really thought about what they were saying.
“A round of drinks, courtesy of the ladies in the corner.” The waitress had returned, she set various concoctions around the table, not asking anyone which drink they wanted. Josephine and her two sidekicks waved at their group then held glasses up to salute them.
She could really get used to this town, everyone really did look out for each other.