4. Surprises Are Never Fun

Natasha slept through the second period and woke with a start amongst shelves of old books. This time she clearly remembered the dream’s blood-soaked mountains—once glistening glaciers turned to nauseating crimson clots and the ground itself oozed a hazy death under a blackened sky lit by a deluge of fire rain. She had stood in the last oasis of life but as she had walked through it her footprints blazed into flames and while she ran from the devastation whole forests razed to the ground by her passing. So much death.

“Natasha Sinclair, please come to the office.” The school secretary’s voice came over the intercom.

Natasha pulled herself away from the dream and tried to remember where she was. Her body ached as she stretched and yawned loudly. Right, she was in the far corner of the library far out of the sight of the librarian. She righted her slumped position and tried to rub the pins and needles out of her dead leg.

A low whine and soft bark came from beside Natasha and she whipped over to see a dog standing at the end of the isle. It sniffed the air and blinked at her before looking off.

“Tucker?” Natasha said, tilting her head confused at seeing her dog. “What are you—wait…”

That wasn’t her dog. Its legs were much more muscled and chest broader but besides that it looked like a perfect copy of her family dog. She watched it completely still as it whined again and then did a little tap dance with its front paws before stepping off toward the library doors.

“What do you mean it’s important?” She called after the dog.

Natasha leapt to her feet and ran after the dog skidding into the aisle. It was empty. She was starting to worry she was really hallucinating. She weaved through the bookshelves, in and out twice over, until she was sure no one was around. The librarian watched from the top of her thin frame glasses. Natasha scratched her head before readjusting her ponytail. Was this all from not having any sleep last night? The dog was nowhere to be found but as Natasha stood there she knew it wasn’t a figment of her imagination.

“Natasha Sinclair to the office,” the secretary repeated above her.

Just to be sure Natasha gave one last peek through the aisles before exiting the library. She wasn't sure why they'd be calling for her, though, it couldn't be for skipping as she was not one to do it very often—if ever. Her phone buzzed in her pocket as I made my way down the stairs to the office and she pulled it out to check. It showed a text from Nick and she swiped in her code to unlock.

Nick had sent 'u ok, what did you do?'

Natasha typed out, ‘dunno, could be for skipping?' then shrugged to herself.

'hmmm... doubt it mr T didnt say anything. wonder whats up,’ came a second later, Nick was always so quick.

'weird. I'll tell you about what its about later.’

“Sasha.” Natasha looked up and saw Damon waving to her at the bottom of the stairs. “Where were you? Dad's in the office waiting for us.”

“What?” She replied.

“I dunno,” he walked up beside her, the top of his head only reaching to Natasha’s nose. “The office wants us to sign out. They've been calling for you for a good ten minutes.”

“Oh, um, I didn't hear.“ Damon threw her a skeptical frown. She shrugged and tucked her phone into her jacket pocket. “I was reading in the library.”

“Must've been a real good book.” He cocked an eyebrow knowing Natasha never actually read for fun and her reputation of falling asleep in class. She scowled back at him.

“Shut it, Ammo.” She said rolling her eyes.

He shook his head and said, “didn't get sleep last night?”

He opened the door for his sister and she walked on ahead.

“That obvious, is it?” Natasha said dryly and Damon dropped the subject with a wave of his hand. “Anyways, why're we signing out?”

“Dunno, ask dad,” Aiden said from where he’d been waiting leaning on the front counter with his arms crossed. “Where were you?”

“Reading,” Damon said, nodding to his brother with both eyebrows raised behind his long fringe.

“Not a good book?” They both snorted, Aiden straightened up and stepped closer to Natasha and poked at her cheek. “What’s the mark there?”

She pulled a face knowing it was probably where her cheek rested on her jacket’s sleeve. “Where's dad?”

“Principal's office.” Aiden jabbed his thumb in the general direction of a door.

The secretary behind the counter called Natasha over and handed her a sign out page. Listed under each other were Aiden and Damon, both signed and dated. She signed as well. An abrupt memory of her dream passed across her mind. Natasha felt a sudden vertigo, which she blamed on her tiredness.

“You okay there, Sash?” Aiden asked.

Natasha gave him a terse nod and she turned back to the secretary.

“Mrs—” She flicked her eyes down to the receptionist’s nameplate. “Miss Jordan, May I fetch my backpack?”

The woman glanced over to the principal’s door then returned her gaze to Natasha and shrugged before turning back to her monitor. “I’d assume so.”

“I’m gonna go too,” Aiden said, shuffling in behind Natasha.

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Aiden followed her out. They walked together for a while and parted at the stairs. Natasha couldn't imagine why their dad was pulling them out of class without notice. It worried her and she was left wondering what he was doing? She couldn’t remember ever being pulled out of school. From their faces, her brothers didn't know either. It was unusual. She took her time getting to her locker, rolling things around in her mind, trying to come up with a good reason for it. Maybe there'd been a death in the family—that didn't make sense since the family had never met any relatives that hadn't already passed away.

Unless it was mom? Panic rose from her stomach. It was the same feeling of being on the edge of a high cliff. Her face flushed. No—no, no, couldn't be, no. She tried to push the heat back down. Her hands got hot and she hissed in pain as they tensed.

The bell rang for lunch pulling Natasha out of her head. She ran to her locker and entered the lock’s combination without pausing to look. Her phone buzzed several times, indicating someone was calling her. She grabbed it and saw Nick's goofy face under the caller ID and answered.

“Where are you?” He said over the clattering of chairs in the background. “Why'd they call you to the office—Mr. Creep?”

“I’m at my locker,” Natasha replied. “No it was my dad. I can’t hear you though, just come here.”

She hung up and stood with her back on the cool metal doors, chewing on her dry lips. At first the hall trickled with a few quick students, then all at once it filled like the highway does with ferry traffic in summer. Both Nick and Derby showed up within a minute shoving their way through the throng of students to get to me. Derby looked ready to punch someone out, and close behind her Nick wasn't hiding his concern well.

“If it's that creep—” Natasaha held up her hands trying to calm Derby; she took a deep breath and shoved her hands in her sweater pocket.

“My dad; we’re skipping school, apparently.” Natasha turned around, picked up her bag and began cramming it with the lockers contents. “Not sure why, but he's talking to the principal.”

“Your parents don’t usually pull you guys out,” Nick said, grimacing. “It must be something important.”

“Correction, they never do.” Derby said, voice low. “’Cept that one time you cut yourself in Home Ec.”

She was right. Natasha glanced down at her hand where there was still a deep red scar along the left palm where she’d cut herself. Another wave of dread hit and she felt winded. Natasha struggled to comprehend the emotion she was feeling. There was something important missing, so very, very important. She’d forgotten something and couldn’t quite grasp what it could be. Her knuckles turned white, and only then did she notice she'd been clenching her fist. She took a moment to relax then sucked in air.

“Yeah, dunno.” Natasha grabbed the last binder and packed it. “I just wanted to let you know before disappearing, with the creep and all.”

She flinched when Nick put a gentle hand on her shoulder. Everything today was getting worse and worse by the minute. Her mind slogged at trying to put together pieces that didn’t quite fit together.

“We'll see you later?” Derby said, taking a step to Natasha’s side.

A picture on the locker door caught Natasha’s eye. She picked it off carefully. It was a picture the trio had taken together during the summer while going swimming at their favourite spot at the River. It was the perfect day; the deep water was warm and clear enough to see right to the rock bed. They had laid on the large boulders strewn along the river's side like cold-blooded creatures soaking in the sun. Nick had gotten pretty badly burned but he still grinned in the photo as he held his phone out to snap the selfie. Without thinking Natasha tucked it in her bag like a sheet of gold for safekeeping.

“Hey now.” Derby made to stop her. “You're not leaving forever, it's just for the rest of the day.”

“I’m tired and none of this is making sense. But I know my parents wouldn’t do this unless something was up,” Natasha said as she looked her dead in the eyes.

She had come off a little stronger than she’d meant and the trio sat in an awkward silence. There was so much Natasha wanted to say and it was all caught in her throat. She didn’t know where she was going with these thoughts. Nick’s face knit with apprehension as he looked into Natasha’s eyes, searching for answers on what she was thinking. She rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand trying to get some sleep out.

“Come on, don't be like that,” Derby said.

“Maybe I’m losing my mind,” Natasha mumbled. “With everything today, I wouldn't doubt it.”

Nick cast his eyes to the floor. Derby looked awkward trying to think through what Natasha was getting at. Not that she was even trying to get anywhere specifically. That dread still sat heavy in her chest. She was uncomfortable for the first time in their company; she was a stranger in their friend’s body.

“I'm sorry,” Natasha said, waving it off. “Ah, don't worry, I'm sure it's just that an uncle or something died.”

“You don't have an uncle,” Nick said.

“You don't know that,” she rebutted, though she was pretty sure he was right.

“I'll come over tonight, we'll watch a movie, okay?” Derby said.

“Yeah, sure.” Natasha stepped over, her back pressing on the open locker door. She took her friends’ faces in— they looked sure which calmed her nerves a bit. “I'll see you later then, I gotta go.”

Nick nodded getting out of the way. “Text me?”

Natasha nodded back then closed and locked the door. She hesitated before walking away. This was all nothing she assured herself; everything today was just happenstance, right? It was just a dead uncle who didn’t exist. She wasn't convinced. She wasn’t tired enough that morning to have hallucinated a monster in my yard. Natasha turned and waded through the packed halls.

Nick yelled, “Remember, text me!”

She didn't look back. In the office Natasha waited for Aiden and heard Damon outside with a girl she'd never met. Their dad was finishing up with the principal, hanging out in the doorway of her office. He waved goodbye before coming over to them. He looked over his kids; his expression was off. He was smiling, grinning really, but it wasn't right. It wasn't his usual smile—he was hiding something.

“Natasha, there you are,” he said and nodded to her shouldered bag. “Shouldn't have bothered with your stuff.”

“Sorry?” Natasha said.

“Ah, no, no, it's fine.” He let his smile fall a bit. “Let's hurry home. Got a surprise for all of you.”

Natasha wasn't sure what to say or how to react to that. Confused, neither of the kids said anything.

“Ah, we'd better be off then.” Dad left the room.

Natasha glanced at Aiden for any clues as they filed after their dad though she knew he didn’t have any. He replied with an exaggerated shrug and a shake of his head. Aiden stood alone just outside and followed after us.

The Honda was parked in the loop waiting for them. Natasha noticed her brother’s shiver as a cold wind picked up around them. Winter was right behind them, snapping at their backs. Without a word the family climbed into the car. Stephen's face slowly fell, unable to keep up the charade he had in front of the school’s staff. He wasn't happy. They pulled out of the school entrance; Natasha couldn't help but miss it already.

“So, the surprise?” Aiden, said breaking the foreboding silence.

“When we get home,” Dad replied as he turned hard onto the main road.

Aiden huffed and with a leather squeak sat further into his seat. Natasha looked into the rearview mirror at her brothers. They were uneasy, staring out the windows and shifting uneasily. It was a very long ten minutes home. All of them waited until they were pulling up the driveway to take a full breath. When the car finally stopped and the engine shut off Natasha glanced at the backseat then at her dad, but he quickly got out with a long sigh. She found herself feeling very alone and wanted to reach out, but kept her mouth shut and waited for the twins to climb out before opening her own door. She took in a lungful of frosty air. A raindrop landed on her forehead and her breath came out as a dense mist.

The house was darker than usual; not because there were no lights on. It gave the air of being abandoned except for Tucker watching from the bay window wagging his tail furiously. Natasha smiled; she could always count on that dog.