The Vanishment, Chapter Two

Chapter Two:
         The further Alaina got from Boeme, the more horrible she felt. With every step, the pain in her ankle echoed the guilt that worked its way through her stomach. Inside the forest, the smell of rain lingered on everything even after the sun had dried the ground and plants. Sunlight filtered through the trees, sprinkling trails of light across the forest floor. Eying the natural beauty around her, she sighed and watched her feet as she walked. Why couldn’t she just stay here and live by herself in the woods? All around her the trees snuggled in on her, protecting her and shielding her from the world outside their borders. Inside the tree line, she was safe, protected.
         Before she knew it, the trees opened up and that protection fell away like the warmth of a jacket in the wintertime. Below her, Briarton spread out; a small town nestled into the mountainside. Men and women bustled about their midday activities. Smoke curled out of several chimneys and in the distance a horse whinnied to its mate. It was a warm and inviting picture. Alaina sighed and settled down on the edge of a small boulder, resting her chin in one hand. If it was so inviting why was she so eager to delay her walk down this hill?
         Her eyes fell on her lap, where the book was settled comfortably against her knees. For the first time since finding Boeme, she examined it closely. The binding was made of thick leather that was soft and smooth to the touch. As she ran her hands over its surface, Alaina couldn’t help but experience a mixture of feelings. It was a book – one of the most valuable things a person could own. But, as she thumbed through it, she remembered it was a book about magic. Her eyes fell on the town below and guilt swept over her. What would they think if they knew she carried a book, especially one about magic?
         She pursed her lips and shook her head. They’d probably think she was trying to find a way to curse them all.
         Pushing those thoughts away, Alaina flipped into the first few pages, staring at the scribbled words without really seeing them. Then, as she flipped into the middle of the book, her eyes fell on a few words at the top of one page.
         “Animal-speak,” it read. “In order to achieve this, a person must attain extreme focus on their subject, no matter how large or small the animal is.”
         Alaina suddenly snapped the book shut. “Arick!” she gasped. She couldn’t believe she’d forgotten about her brother and the bear.
         Jumping up, she staggered down the hill. The town below had no particular point of entrance. No one ever came there and hardly anyone ever left so the point of a specific exit or entrance was ridiculous. As a result, she made her way to the nearest house and followed the path that ran behind it. The entire town was laid out on a grid so it was generally very easy to get where you wanted to go.
Limping and stumbling, she ran past people who stopped to shake their heads at her. Glancing down every little side street, she searched tirelessly for her brother’s face until WHACK! She stumbled into someone by accident.
         “Oh, I’m so sorry!” Alaina exclaimed, jumping back. “Are you al-” Her words cut off abruptly as she saw who she’d run into. Her father’s hard gaze washed over her as effectively as a pail of icy water. She swallowed hard and forced herself to stare up at him.
         His brown hair made his unshaven, grisly face appear darker and more menacing than even she was used to seeing. He had dark eyes to match the rest of his features and just then those orbs were buried in his daughter’s face. The skin under his facial hair rippled as he clenched his teeth. Alaina knew that rippling well and realized that if they hadn’t been standing in the middle of a very public street she would already be getting the reaming she was sure to get that night.
         Heat burned in her cheeks as she dropped her eyes. “Do you know where Arick is?” she asked in a quiet voice.
         “He’s working in the barn, like usual,” her father growled.
         Alaina nodded. Abruptly, she realized that half the town had suddenly stopped what they were doing to glare at her. Her father ignored them, but Alaina couldn’t help absorbing their hate-filled gaze. They took in her bandages and bruises with icy stares. It was a small town. Everyone was bound to know she’d crept off yesterday. They would see her injuries as evidence of the trouble they were sure she’d found outside the town’s border.
         A small, thin scar burned the inside of her palm. She knew they were thinking of her scar as well. Her eyes went back to her father. He glowered at her and took one menacing step forward. Alaina stepped back in alarm, her arms instinctively clutching the book closer to her chest. It was then she realized none of them were staring at her bandages like she’d thought. Instead, her father’s eyes, along with the town’s, were drawn to the book she held.
         The blood drained from her face and panic raced through her mind. How could she have forgotten about the book? She dropped her eyes again. “I guess I-I’ll go find him.”
Shouldering past her father, she limped quickly away from those judging stares. Her feet almost tripped three times on her way to the barn, but at last she got there in one piece and pushed the door open, grunting with the strength it took. The bittersweet scent of manure mixed with dry, fresh hay wafted p to greet her. It was a nice, cozy smell and she almost felt a little better. Almost.
         Arick’s small form sat on a stool in the aisle between the stalls. He had the same black hair as she did – a trait they’d gotten from their mother. At the moment, his hair fell in short waves over his forehead. It was pressed flat against his head in the back, as if it hadn’t been brushed since he’d woken up that morning. His clothes, too, looked as if they hadn’t been changed since she’d seen him the previous day. Alaina rolled her eyes. As usual, he’d probably come to the barn the moment he’d opened his eyes.
         He was feeding a carrot to one of the horses, absorbed in the task like it was the most important thing in the whole world. When he noticed her presence, Arick looked up and his face split into a wide grin. “Alaina!” he cried. “You’re back!”
         Her shoulders drop in relief. “You’re alright.”
         “Hey, you want to come over here?” Arick asked. “I could show you what I was talking about with the animal-speak!” He jumped up and ran over to grab her hand.
         But Alaina shook him off. “Wait, Arick. Listen to me for a second. Are you okay? I mean, completely okay?”
         “Yeah, yeah,” Arick nodded emphatically. He tugged eagerly on her hand, his short legs pushing hard through the dirt to pull her. “Come on!”
         “Arick, hold on!” Alaina cried. “Slow down for a minute. What happened with the bear? How’d you get away?”
         Arick’s eyes lit up at the memory. “I talked to him! He wasn’t mad at all. He was just scared.” Suddenly, he paused as he noticed the cuts and bruises on her face and the bandages on her arm. “Geez, what happened to you?”
         Alaina waved nonchalantly. “It’s just from when I fell on the mountain. I fell again after I left you.”
         Arick stared at her, his eyes wide. “That must have really hurt. Are you okay?”
         Alaina nodded and watched her feet, shuffling where she stood. “I’ll be fine,” she murmured.
         Arick bit his lip and tugged on the edge of her shirt. “I wish you could have seen me with the bear. I really was able to speak with him.” He shrugged and nodded over his shoulder. “I can show you with the horses if you want.”
         Alaina sighed. “Not now Arick.” She got a firmer grip on her book. “I should probably get started with dinner.”
         Arick nodded and went back to the horses. “Make sure you make lots. My stomach’s still grumbling from last night.”
         Alaina stopped suddenly, her hand on the door. “You didn’t eat last night?”
         Arick shrugged and kept his eyes trained on the animal. “You weren’t there and dad got mad. We just had some bread to hold us over.” He glanced back at her. “Where’d you go anyway?”
         Alaina sighed. “I got lost, that’s all. It took me a while to find my way back.” Arick didn’t respond. His focus was back on the horse. She shook her head and left the barn.
         
         When her dad stomped in the door later that night, Alaina almost dropped the stew she was making. She mumbled an apology to him and set the pot firmly in its place. Her father said nothing at all.
         Alaina sighed. Even from across the room she could smell the alcohol on his breath. Besides throwing her a nasty glance, he didn’t acknowledge her presence. He crossed the room and sat down at the table. Arick was already sitting there, playing with his spoon. Without a word, Alaina spooned some stew into both their bowls and dumped the rest into her own. When she turned to hang the pot back up, however, her father reached over, silently, and poured the contents of her bowl into his own.
         Alaina’s shoulders sagged in disappointment. She sat back in her chair and dropped her eyes. Apparently she wasn’t allowed to eat tonight.
         “Where were you yesterday?” her father asked quietly, between bites.
         Alaina cleared her throat. “I went into the woods with Arick and I-I got lost.”
         “Arick came back yesterday,” he said, placing his elbows on the table and scowling at her. “He came back and you didn’t.”
         When Alaina didn’t immediately respond, her dad slapped his bowl, sending its searing contents splashing over her face and shoulders.
         Alaina yelped in surprise. Both she and Arick jumped backwards out of their seats. Anxiously, she wiped the boiling stew from her face. She sucked her breath in through her teeth at the stinging of the burning liquid.
         “Why can’t you do as you’re told?” her father shouted. “Time and again you wander off when you’re told not to! Not only that, but this time you don’t come back for an entire day. And you come back with a book!” He stood up from his chair so quickly it toppled back against the floor.
         “Whoa, you have a book?” Arick asked. “Can I see it?”
         “Where is it, Alaina?” her father cried, his voice rising and his eyes wide. He crashed around the room like a bull in a cage, searching for the precious book.
         Alaina jumped away from him, fear coursing through her. Across the room, she saw Arick staring at her with desperate eyes, silently urging her to tell the truth. “I, um … it—” she stammered.
         “Where is it?” her father roared again, crashing his way toward her. “Where’d you put it?” Alaina’s eyes widened as he approached. Suddenly his hands were on her shirt, lifting her from the floor. “Damn it, girl,” he yelled. “Do you have any idea how stupid you make me look? Don’t you think I have enough to worry about with this godforsaken drought? Why should I have to worry about you?” He growled and slapped her hard across one ear.
         Alaina fell hard against the wall and then looked back at him, shocked. He’d never hit her in the face. But then, she realized half the town had already seen her face covered with bruises and scratches. They probably wouldn’t question a few more.
         “Dad, I’m sorry,” she cried. She struggled to get to her feet and away from her father. Behind him, she saw Arick step slowly backwards until he was out of the room completely. A lump formed in the back of her throat as she glanced back to her dad in a panic. She was going to have to face his fury alone.
         Just like normal.
         “Obviously you’re not sorry,” he said, pushing her back to the floor. “Otherwise you wouldn’t have done it. It just hasn’t gotten through that thick skull of yours, has it?” He pulled the belt off his pants and wrapped it tightly around one hand.
         “No dad, please,” she cried. She raised her hands for protection as a wave of desperation washed over her. “I’m sorry! I promise I won’t do it again. Please!” A river of tears overflowed onto her cheeks. The pounding behind her eyes returned.
         Her father stumbled quickly toward her. “Isn’t it enough that you took your mother away? Now you have to continue to put others at risk by taking your little walks! You put Arick at risk!”
         This time, Alaina didn’t bother answering. They’d been over this time and again. She was never going to convince him to change his mind. Instead, she curled herself up in a little ball against one wall, with her hands over her head. She squeezed her eyes shut and repeated “it’s just the alcohol, it’s just the alcohol,” silently to herself like a prayer.
         “Where is the book, Alaina?” her dad repeated, his hands on his hips.
         Alaina glanced up and looked wildly around the room, unsure what to say. “I-I lost it.”
         He shook his head and unwound the belt. “Stand up,” he commanded.
         Alaina shook her head and sank further into the corner.
         “Stand up!” he yelled, cracking the belt hard in the air. He kicked her injured ankle and pulled her to her feet by grasping her bandage-wrapped arm. Then, as she struggled to pull out of his grip, he raised his belt high and brought it back across her skin.
         “Dad!” Alaina cried, her voice and body shaking hard. “Stop! Please stop!”
         But her father continued. Down his hand came, again and again. With every hit and every smack, Alaina slipped further and further away from Briarton. It was the same dream she always had.
         She was back in the woods, sunlight and the scent of pine swarming around her. There were some bells ringing in the distance. They coincided with her father’s hits. Smack, clang! Smack, clang! Smack, clang! And then the only thing she could hear or feel was the chiming of the bells and that sound echoing around her, drawing her forward.
         Musical instruments and joyous cheering met her ears as she reached the crest of the hill. Far below, a large crowd had gathered. They were laughing and dancing together. When they saw her, another happy cheer resounded from their depths. Alaina’s face split into a grin. She lifted her skirts and ran down the hill.
         The crowd parted as she reached them. They clapped her back with friendly warmth and reached out to shake her hands. She was pushed forward until she stood before her mother.
         She’d never seen her mother so resplendent in life. Her black hair was soft and feathery, resting on her shoulders like a cloud. She wore a beautiful gown of bright blue, with lace at the collar and sleeves, and tiny crystals woven into the cloth. In the background, Alaina saw a wondrous castle. It had white towers that reached high into the sky. It was just like the castles she remembered from the fairytales her mother had read to her as a child.
         Her mother held out her hand. Alaina took it and for just a little bit, she felt relief from the pain in her body and mind.

         A short while later, Alaina’s father returned to his chair and leaned far back. “Get me a new dinner,” he said quietly. “This one’s obviously ruined.”
         Alaina lay curled and shaking in a ball in the corner. The last remnants of her fantasy swirled back into oblivion. Tears formed a thick puddle on the floor. Her lip was split in two places and she could taste blood in her mouth. She coughed suddenly and spit some of that blood out from the corner of her cheek. She forced herself onto all fours. A wave of nausea swept over her and she threw up suddenly, hacking violently.
         Her father watched her and shook his head in disgust before kicking back his chair and heading for the bathroom. Clutching her injured arm to her stomach, Alaina sniffed and stood, wiping tears from her cheeks. She limped back to the fireplace to remake her stew.
         An hour later, her father had fallen asleep at the table. Alaina put his dishes in the sink and set to working on more food for herself and Arick.
         Arick came quietly from one of the back rooms. Skirting past his father, he made his way to Alaina’s side, holding out a damp towel. “Here you go,” he whispered.
         Fresh tears lingered behind her eyes. She gritted her teeth and shook her head, refusing it. From the corner of her eye, she saw Arick’s shoulders slump. Instead of acknowledging him further, she focused all her energy on what she was doing, her clenched teeth making the pounding in her head more pronounced. Finally, just as Arick was about to turn away, she spit out her bitter thought.
         “I hate him,” she whispered. Arick stared up at her wide-eyed. “I hate him,” she repeated. When Arick didn’t respond she shouldered past him and set down bowls for the two of them. Breathing heavily, she dropped into her seat and stared into her bowl without touching her spoon. From across the table she could feel Arick’s eyes on her.
         All through the meal, Alaina clenched and unclenched her left fist, her eyes trained on that thin scar. After she finished and had done the dishes, she limped into her room and closed her door behind her
The walls in her room were practically bare. A withered clump of flowers hung off to her right, the remains of a bouquet she’s picked recently. On one wall were a few very old drawings from when her mom was still alive. She’d drawn her mom with her and Arick in front of a beautiful, tall-standing castle. It was something she’d drawn religiously at the time; the result of a little girl fascinated with the stories her mother told.
         And that was it.
         There were no other girlish items; no trinkets around to make this room hers. It didn’t belong to her. Even if she hadn’t already felt that way, her father’s actions made that clear enough.
         In one corner opposite the door there was a loose floorboard. She slumped down beside it and pushed it aside to reveal a small collection of precious treasures. At the very top of the pile was the book. She pulled it out of the hole and ran her hand over it.          That book was the first truly valuable thing she’d ever had. There was no way she was going to let her dad have it.
         Underneath the book was a small pile of jewelry and trinkets that had belonged to her mother. Alaina grinned painfully as she pulled out a small medallion on a leather string. The medallion was made of bronze and it had an open lily imprinted on one side. Alaina ran her thumb over the lily and kissed the medallion.
         A thin tear slide down her cheek. If only her mom was still alive, things would be different. From the other room, she could hear her brother close his own door. The sound of wood scraping against the floor said her father was getting up from the table. Wiping her tears away, Alaina stuffed the book and necklace back in the hole and shoved the floorboard back into place. Then she threw herself under her sheets and closed her eyes, pretending to be asleep when her father peeked in on her. It wasn’t until a few hours later that exhaustion finally overwhelmed her.

                                                                              *    *    *

         The next morning, Alaina jerked awake with the intense feeling that something was amiss. Something was different in her room.
         She clutched her blanket and stared around her. Across the floor, the panel to her secret compartment was strewn aside. Her breath caught in her throat as she scuttled across the floor, lifting it away completely.
         The book and her mother’s jewelry were gone.
         Frustration threatened to choke her as she scrambled from her bed and tore through the house, throwing up the seat cushions from the rocking chairs in front of the fireplace. When that turned up nothing, she looked behind the window curtains. They used to be a soft green color, she remembered. But now, after years of neglect, they had become a spotty brownish-green. That was her father’s doing.
She shoved them aside so hard they almost ripped away from the walls. After finding the space behind them empty, she continued on. Within a few seconds the entire room had been disrupted and every inch of the floor was covered with articles from the table, chairs, and mantle.
         From the other end of the house Arick stumbled sleepily from his room. He rubbed his eyes and eyed her rampage with sleepy bewilderment.
         “Where are they?” she hissed more to herself than to him. Her pounding footsteps led her to her father’s room. Clenching her fists, Alaina kicked the door with the tip of her foot. It slammed back, thudding against one wall. The old man was passed out on the floor clutching a mostly empty bottle of whiskey in one hand. The book lay closed next to him.
         She snatched it off the floor and pressed it close to her chest.
         “Is that the book you found?” Arick asked quietly behind her.
         Alaina nodded, but her eyes were focused on her mother’s lily pendant. It dangled loosely from her father’s hand.
         She felt as if a hundred spiders crawled over her skin. They spun a tangled web of frustration that threatened to overwhelm her. Every inch of her longed to steal the pendant from him and run away. His very touch sullied the beauty of her mother’s necklace. She felt an overwhelming urge to kick her dad in the side; take advantage of the fact that he was passed out and wouldn’t know what had happened to him. It wouldn’t be sufficient payback for everything she had suffered over the years, but it would be a start.
         Once again, however, her eyes landed on that lily pendant and turmoil bubbled up inside her stomach.
         “Kill them with kindness,” her mother had told her once.
         The memory came back to her as clear as if it had been yesterday. She had gone shopping at the market with her mother, clutching tightly onto her light brown skirt as her mother strolled past the food stands. As a little girl, Alaina couldn’t help but notice the dark stares they were getting from various people. Others scuttled away as the mother and daughter pair approached; some of the merchants even looked past them as if they didn’t exist. It was this type of attention her mother had dealt with on a daily basis. It was the type of attention that Alaina would come to expect from the vast majority of Briarton.
         But none of it fazed her mother. If they glowered at her, she grinned wider and easier at them. If they ignored her, she spoke directly to them in the brightest, friendliest voice she could muster. Kill them with kindness and they could never get to you.
         Those words came back to her now as she imagined smashing her father’s face the way he’d pounded hers the night before. It was like a bucket of water had doused her fire. The very thought of such an act wrapped her with a blanket of guilt that she couldn’t shake. She could practically feel her mother’s spirit watching her, eyes drawn back with disappointment.
         On the verge of tears, Alaina ground her teeth and pushed past Arick, leaving her mother’s pendant behind. She’d get everything back later. He would probably be too drunk to find a good hiding place for it anyway.
         Despite this resolution, energy sliced through her veins. She put it to use in cleaning the kitchen and reorganizing the house. There was no sense in getting punished again because she’d made a mess. She cleaned with a frenzy; picking up, wiping down, organizing and polishing with ferocity.
         “Are you alright?” Arick asked. He watched her clattering around the kitchen with his eyebrows raised.
         “Yes,” Alaina grunted. She stacked the clean dishes noisily; half hoping the sound would wake her father. After a short while, however, Alaina ceased her cleaning warpath in front of the fireplace, one hand on the mantle while she dropped her head resignedly. What did it matter what she did?
         The house hadn’t been truly clean since her mother’s death. Time had aged and faded everything. She eyed the curtains and cushions in the room. She remembered each detail lovingly picked out by her mother. Now those curtains were tattered and dirty; the cushions were flat and drab, time wearing away their warm color. Cheerfulness had died in this house and no amount of scrubbing she would ever bring it back to life. Nothing she did around here made any difference.          
         She glanced sideways. Arick was sitting at the table, watching her with a blank, confused stare. Arick. Some things she did made a difference to Arick. She wiped her forehead and boiled some oats for her brother’s breakfast. Just before they finished cooking she added a touch of cinnamon like he liked. She stirred it all up quickly and set a filled bowl before him at the table.
         “Thanks,” he said. He buried his spoon in the dish eagerly.
         Alaina nodded. “You want milk?
         “Yes,” he replied.
         “Sugar?”
         He nodded.
         Alaina retrieved those items and plopped down opposite him, dropping her head in her hands. When the silence had gotten too much for her, she glanced up at her brother and tilted her head. “Arick, do you believe in magic?”
         Her brother stopped eating with his spoon halfway to his mouth and blinked at her in surprise. “No, of course not. There’s no such thing.”
         Alaina sighed. “But remember those old fairytales mom used to read us? They had all sorts of magic in them.” She eyed him for a second and then looked down at her hands. “I guess you probably don’t remember those, do you? You might have been too young. Now that I think about it, we probably sold all the books when you were just a couple of years old.” She crossed her hands on the table before her and eyed him intently. “But still, why would magic be mentioned in books if it didn’t exist?”
         He shook his head. “I don’t know. But I wouldn’t ask anyone else about it. You’ll just get in trouble talking about that sort of thing.”
         She rested her chin in one hand and rolled her eyes. “Sometimes I think there has to be so much more out there than just dumb old Briarton. Places where you don’t have to watch every little thing you say or do. And Mom would still be alive.” She traced some small circles into a pattern on the table. “Sometimes I have these visions of her – like she’s this princess from one of those tall castle that were in the old stories.”
         She glanced up. Her brother stared at her, wide-eyed, “Mom’s dead, Alaina.”
         She sighed. “I know that.” Her eyes dropped down to study the cracks and cuts on the table. “So what are you going to do today?”
         Arick shrugged. “Dad said I could help bring in the west end of the field.”
         Alaina’s eyebrows shot up. “He’s actually letting you work with the crops?”
         He nodded and his chest swelled up with pride. “He must have decided I’m finally old enough. He’s been letting me do a little bit here and there over the last couple of weeks.”
         “Well, why do you get to help?” Alaina asked, exasperated. “I’m the oldest. I’m the one who should be helping.”
         “So why don’t you?”
         “He won’t let me!” Alaina cried. “He turns me down every time I ask!” She stopped talking abruptly when she noticed Arick’s focus had fallen somewhere behind her. She twisted around and saw her father standing there, a dark grimace on his face. “Dad!” she cried. “We were, uh, we were just talking about the crops. Is there anything that I could help with?”
         Her father shook his head curtly, avoiding her gaze. “There’s nothing for you to do, girl,” he said quietly.
         “But Arick just said–”
         “I said no!” he roared. He nodded past her and shuffled toward the door. “We need some more groceries. You can go into town to get those.”
         Alaina’s shoulders sagged in disappointment. She considered the bruises and cuts that must be even more pronounced on her face, and a blush reddened her skin. “Dad, I really don’t want to go into town today. Besides I always do that–” Her dad cut her off with a look. She sighed and took the money he handed her, then she stomped out the back door.