Clearclay Park

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Cody took a school bus into town and a second bus to the mall after school. He hated public transit the first few days, but after a week, he considered himself a pro. People roamed around the mall like zombies and Cody made a beeline for the food court. He wasn’t hungry; he had a cute sub boy to visit.

Adam stood behind a counter, wearing a red polo shirt and a black visor. His name tag was slightly askew and he handed a woman a bag of chips to go with her sub. Adam was a tall eighteen year old with dirty blond hair, freckles, and the cutest blue eyes Cody had ever seen. Cody waved to him and heard Adam ask someone in the back of the shop if he could take his break. Cody sat at a faraway red metallic mesh table and waited for Adam to join him.

“Hey, how’s work going?” Cody asked.

“All right,” Adam replied, taking a seat with a sigh. “How was school?”

“Okay. I started talking to this guy who’s super bizarre.”

“Should I be jealous?” Adam leaned forward, his bulky frame making his chair creak.

“He’s so weird.”

“Yeah, but you’re into weird stuff,” Adam said. Cody couldn’t believe this handsome stud was actually jealous of someone, let alone Hayden.

“When do you get off work?” Cody asked, trying to change the topic.

“Another hour and a half. You said your mom doesn’t mind driving me back to Dominic’s?”

“No, it’s kind of on the way from her work,” Cody said. “And that gives us like an hour to chill when you’re off.”

“Cool.”

Cody took a moment to stare into Adam’s blue eyes. He loved his face and he loved his insecurities and he felt perfectly at ease spending time, saying nothing, with him. “What do you want to do this weekend?”

“Anything’s fine. Are we hanging out tomorrow?”

“I have to cut my new friend’s hair after school,” Cody said. “I told you he’s weird. But then it’s Friday and I’m all yours from after school until Sunday.”

“Cool. You should come over. Dominic asked about you, and Naomi and Lin,” Adam said.

“Nothing from Caleb?” Cody asked with a grin. Of the Demonic Survivors Group, Caleb was the least warm and cuddly.

“Yeah, yeah, him, too,” Adam said, although Cody knew it was a lie.

“Did I miss anything important with the survivors?” Cody asked.

“Some crying and tissues,” Adam said. “Mostly from Caleb.”

“Yeah, right. I’ll get caught up next meeting.” Cody rubbed his foot against Adam’s under the table. Cody wanted to show Adam his affection, but he wouldn’t risk anyone seeing.

“So school’s okay? You haven’t seen anything weird at school, right?” Adam asked, leaning forward slightly.

“I have not seen anything,” Cody replied slowly. Hearing sounds in the locker room didn’t count. “No strings on anyone.” Cody thought about the strings the playful demon Tanglewood used to control bodies. The little he knew about the monster told him Tanglewood was a demon doll created by a murdered puppeteer in the 1800s. It became habit to look at people’s feet and hands whenever he met anyone, just to be on the safe side.

“Good.” Adam nodded. “And my manager is giving me the evil eye. I should get back.”

“All right. I’ll be here when you get off.”

Adam looked like he was about to crack a joke, but then shook his head and returned to the counter to serve subs and chips.

Cody watched Adam for a few minutes before he stood up and strolled down the mall corridor, past screaming kids and kiosks of calendars and boardgames. The narrow stores stretched out on either end of the hallway, and Cody passed pleasant smelling stores and colorful shops with loud noises emanating from within. He tried to clear his mind, wondering how he could approach the topic of Tanglewood with Adam. Somehow, Adam had survived the monster’s attentions two years ago, but lost his parents and neighbors. Cody lived through the same, but Adam seemed to have learned something about the entity. Cody’s thoughts often returned to Tanglewood, but he couldn’t bring himself to talk to Adam about it, even though he suspected his unofficial boyfriend knew more than he’d said.

He decided to busy himself with window shopping until Adam finished work and he could enjoy the blond’s company again. Cody perused the games in a toy shop and meandered through the aisles in a movie store. He continued down the mall walkway and noticed the flickering lights of a narrow store sandwiched between a candle shop and the hall to the restrooms.

The sign above the store read ‘Fortunes R Us.’ Cody shook his head at the cheesy name and figured he had to kill time somehow, so why not?

Inside, Cody found a thin-skinned blonde woman in flowery clothes.

“Hello, come in, come in,” she said. “My name is Janice, and you look like a man in search of many answers.”

“How much do questions cost?” Cody asked.

“For you, Cody Langdon, I’ll give a discount.”

Cody took a step back. He checked the woman for demonic strings on her limbs, but found none. “How do you know my name?”

“I’m a fortuneteller.”

“Bullshit.”

“I saw your picture in the newspaper,” Janice said. “The Tanglewood Road murders.”

“Right, from all those murders,” Cody said with a head nod. “Makes sense. Uh, all right, Janice. What’s in store for me?”

“Have a seat.” She ushered Cody toward a round table behind a flimsy curtain of beads. He brushed past them and sat down. She followed with a melodramatic sigh. “Give me your hand.”

“Which one?”

“Either.”

Cody obeyed, laying his right hand palm up in the center of the table. Janice took it and shuddered.

“What?” Cody asked earnestly. “Do you always shake like that?” He hoped she didn’t have Bell’s palsy and he just insulted her.

“It’s nothing. Give me a moment.” Janice traced her lacquered fingers along Cody’s hand. She sucked in a breath and said, “I see a long life. Grief, pain. There’s something I can’t quite see here.”

“What is it?”

“I don’t know, I can’t see it. There’s a dark cloud, like lightning. Thunder. I see love. Yellow hair, blue eyes, freckles. Does this sound familiar?”

“It could,” Cody replied, playing it cool.

“This love will lead you down a thorny path. This love will…I don’t know, it’s blocking me. There are old paths walked again and again. Be careful, Cody.”

“Always am.”

“Do you have any specific questions for me?” Janice looked into Cody’s brown eyes with ease.

“Um, I guess so.” Cody cracked his neck and thought about life. He wanted to know about Tanglewood, but he wasn’t about to ask a mall psychic about any of that. “Is there anything I should be worried about? Like coming up in the next few weeks or something?” He didn’t care about getting fired in his forties or going bald, he needed intel that would affect him in the immediate future.

Janice let go of Cody’s hand and smoothed out her violet blouse. She took another deep breath and said, “You cut the strings holding you back, but more are coming. They entwine your wrists, your torso, and your legs. You gasp for air, but they circle your mouth, pulling your head back in flame.”

“Uh, thanks for that great info.” Cody grabbed a few dollar bills from his pocket and tossed them on the table with shaking hands.

* * * *

After riding back to the hotel with his mom, Cody said hi to his dad and picked out room service. He’d gotten Hawaiian pizza the last two times they ordered from the hotel restaurant, so he changed it up with the chicken fingers basket. He thought he would watch TV while they waited for food, but his parents urged him to sit at the desk in their room.

“You’re going to tell me something important, aren’t you?” Cody asked, his stomach doing flips when he finally noticed his parents’ nervous energy.

“Why do you think that, honey?” his mom asked.

“You only sit me down when it’s big,” he said. Like the time you told me I had to go to therapy after I tried to kill myself. Or that we were moving to Florida.

“We’re not a very dramatic family,” his mom said. “This isn’t a bad thing, Cody.”

“We found a new place to live,” his dad said. “And we want you to take a look-see before we move forward with it.”

“Oh.” He wondered if they were only asking for his input because they wanted things to go more smoothly from then on. “That’s fine. I mean, obviously we’re not going to spend the rest of our lives in a hotel. When are we checking out the new place?”

“How’s tomorrow after school?” his dad asked.

“I kind of have plans,” Cody said.

“Adam can come with us, if he’s free,” his dad said. “His views are important.”

“My plans aren’t with Adam. I told this guy I’d cut his hair. So, that’s not just penciled in there, but pretty important. It’s hair, you know?” Cody knew it sounded stupid, but he was getting used to living in the hotel.

“Oh,” his mom said, seemingly surprised Cody had another friend in his life. “That’s fine. Maybe this weekend.”

“What’s the new place look like?”

“It’s big,” his dad said. “It’s in a gated community called Clearclay Park.”

“Fancy,” Cody said. He imagined himself living in a ritzy place with lots of upscale neighbors. He’d sit in his room and watch the pool boys and lawn boys tend to the identical houses. They’d do their work in skimpy shorts and call him Mr. Langdon. “All right, let’s give it a shot then.”