"We're here," Valentine said, pulling off the road into a parking lot.
Evan blinked. Between telling his story and the emotional turmoil that wrought on him, and the tunnel vision created by the hoodie, he hadn't been paying much attention to where they were going. Now that he noticed, he saw they were out in the woods. He got out of her car, and looked around with both eyes.
It was very dark, but that meant the stars shone like spangles on a midnight blue evening gown. He could hear running water, smell wood smoke, and see the little glowing spirits of the creatures which made their home in the trees and underbrush.
However, he would have appreciated it more if his arm weren't burning from the acid spittle of the creature. After the first fiery agony, his arm went somewhat numb for a while but now the pain was back.
"This way," Valentine pointed to a lodge house amid the trees. The path was outlined with soft solar-charged lights. He followed her to a warm, inviting room where two middle aged women waited with anxious expressions on their faces and an array of first aid supplies on their table.
"Aunt Judy, Aunt Alison, this is Evan Wheelwright, who helped save me from monsters and got hurt. Evan, my aunts Judy and Alison Townsend-Bright. Yes, they're married, yes, they're both women. They're the best moms an adopted kid could hope for."
"Hello," Evan said.
"Oh, my God!" Alison exclaimed, taking his hand in hers. "Your arm! That's a chemical burn. Come over to the sink right now and take that sweatshirt off." She was already pulling him over to the sink, turning on the faucet and testing the water temperature.
"All right, but do I have to take off me shirt?" he mumbled.
"Ooh, a Brit! Yes, you do, because taking it off after this gets bandaged will be tricky," the woman said firmly.
"I think he's self-conscious about a birthmark on his face," Valentine told her.
"Well, he can be self-conscious later," the aunt asserted as she grabbed hold of the bottom of his hoodie and pulled up. He wasn't sure just how, but the next moment he was stripped to the waist and his arm was under the faucet.
Perhaps because her no-nonsense, brusque kindness was so much like Gran's, he didn't mind Alison bossing him around. Besides, the water was cool and soothing.
"Your breath smells like you've been gargling nail polish remover and you have about zero percent body fat. That means your body is starting to consume itself to keep you alive. When did you last eat?" she asked while opening a sterile package and taking out a wad of gauze.
"I don't remember." Evan honestly didn't. He had little appetite since what had happened to Faith a month ago, and…well, he supposed he must have eaten from time to time, or he would be dead, but what and when were a bit foggy. Not to mention that he was low on funds.
"Then it's been too long. Here, let me dry that off and get some antibiotic ointment on it. Judy, hon, could you start heating up the leftover chicken and dumplings?"
"Sure thing," the other woman replied.
-------
On the other side of the room:
"So his name is Evan," Aunt Judy said, getting the pot from the refrigerator. "Nice lats. Delts, too."
"Aunt Judy!" Valentine protested, although she snuck a glimpse at him.
"Hey, just because I don't find men attractive in that way doesn't mean I can't appreciate one aesthetically. He looks like an anatomical model. So what happened? You said he helped save you from monsters. The human kind, I'm assuming."
"Monsters, yes, but not the human kind," Valentine said. She explained what had happened as clearly and simply as she could.
When she finished, her aunt was pale and gaunt cheeked.
"Do you…do you believe me?" Valentine asked.
"Yes," Aunt Judy said. "You know Ali and I are Goddess worshippers. There's eight of us in our local group, and we take turns as Priestess. Sometimes…we have to deal with things. Nothing like what you're describing, but there are menaces out there. Plus, your little Mrs. Bun-bun isn't just a simple stuffed toy. I don't know what she is, but I know she's like a protective charm. A very, very powerful protective charm. And you… Whatever it is about you, it's probably related to weather somehow. People tend to have strong affinities when they have powers or abilities, even if they don't know it."
"What? Why didn't you tell me any of this before?" Valentine looked at her aunt in shock.
"Because there is no point in telling people about the 'woo-woo spooky' stuff out there," Judy wiggled her fingers and waved her arms back and forth like a ghost when she said 'Woo-woo', "until they have started to see it for themselves and know it's for real."
"I guess that's true," Valentine thought it over. "So what now? There are unknown things out there after me. Back here at home, what happened there on the street seems so unreal. Maybe those things were the only ones of their kind, but I doubt it. And what else could be out there? When I start to think about it, I--I'm getting frightened."
"I think we begin with you going upstairs and getting one of Ali's oversized T shirts so the landscape architect/monster hunter has something clean to wear," Aunt Judy said, speaking practically.
"If you say so," Valentine headed up the stairs.
"So how are things going over here?" Judy wandered back to where her spouse was bandaging up the young man's arm. Her niece had not mentioned that Evan was Chinese also, although his bronzed skin tone gave him away even without seeing his face.
Now that she could see it, she was surprised. He was a handsome, well-built young man in all respects except for that patch of thickened purple-red skin on the left side of his face and the spot of red on the white of his eye.
"Mr. Wheelwright," she began, looking him straight in the eyes. "I am very sorry that you lost your sister. I wish she had not died like that, but as a result, you were here to save Valentine. Thank you for saving her life. Losing her would have half-killed the two of us. To us, you are a hero."
"You're welcome," the young man said. "And I'm Evan. Mr. Wheelwright was me adoptive father's name. Anyhow, I didn't do it to be a hero. I did it because…things like that can't be allowed to walk this world."
"That sounds a lot like a hero to me," Alison remarked.
"Truly, I'm not," he protested. "The two of you—you've a touch of the supernatural about you too, haven't you? I can see it."
"Only a touch. Not as strong as you, which brings me to my next question. What are your plans now?" Judy asked him.
"Plans?" he let out a laugh with a bitter edge to it. "I have no plans. I walked away from me job, ran through all my savings, left me Gran's cottage empty with the remains of that thing on the floor. I have no friends nor anyone waiting for me back in England. I've nothing left."
"What did you think was going to happen when you found those monsters?" Judy asked.
"I don't know…To be honest, I figured they would kill me." Evan Wheelwright shrugged.
"Then since you have nothing to return to, what about staying?"
Evan looked puzzled. "Staying? I never thought of that. All I have is a tourist visa, and that won't allow me to work here. I don't even have a return ticket to me name."
Judy smiled. "We can work that part out." Her smile vanished. "My concern is Valentine. She doesn't have the sight. We don't know what else there is out there, when it will come next, what form it will take. If you were there, watching out for her—."
"Like a bodyguard, you mean?" he asked.
"Exactly. You could live here, get your meals here—we would pay you as well. Under the table at first, maybe, until we can get you a green card to stay and work here. Will you, Evan?"
He flushed red, and the mark on his face darkened even further. "I—I don't know."