Alice POV

"They said yes!" I all but squealed into the phone.

"Don’t use that tone!" Caden ordered irritated. "And who said yes to what?"

"My aunts. To getting a cat," I clarified. "Although there is an “if” of course."

"Let me guess: Azalea?"

"Who else?"

"What’s her condition?"

"That I buy the cat and everything it needs plus get it to a vet with my own savings because Aunt Azalea said, and I quote, “I’m not having money from this household’s budget spent on a whim”."

"That all?"

"Yeah, that’s all."

"So, what kind of cat do you want?"

"Not sure. I’d prefer a kitten so I could housebreak it myself."

"Any particular breed?"

"Nope. But I like gray cats best; not solid gray but the striped ones."

"Boy or girl?"

"Doesn’t matter. What’s with all the questions?"

"Never mind! Gotta go now. Bye!"

And he hung up not giving me a chance respond.

*****

Caden was right: this was lame.

I was currently sitting next to my aunts in town hall. I’ve heard the story about the battle years ago. Aunt Rose had narrated it to me when I came to visit during the holiday season. Back then I liked it. And I still thought it was interesting.

But the way the mayor’s monotonous voice was portraying it now had me waging my own battle – one against falling asleep. The people around me seemed to be doing the same.

At last the mixture of historical facts and local folklore was over. The people got up from their seats and started to mingle or headed to the buffet. I wasn’t in the mood for either of those activities.

I looked around and thought I saw a familiar black-haired head just exiting through the door. I attempted to follow it outside but only succeeded in losing it amongst the sea of people.

Had it been Caden? I thought he said he wasn’t coming.

"Alice!" A voice called from behind startling me and I turned around.

"Oh, hi, Ash! Didn’t know you were here."

"Well, I like history so I decided to come," he shrugged.

"Are you here on your own?"

"If you’re asking whether Caden or Keegan are with me, then – yes, I’m alone."

So that hadn’t been Cade after all… Come to think of it, that guy appeared to be a bit taller.

"So…" Asher started trying to sound casual but looking a bit nervous instead. "How are Beth and Sky?"

I smiled. So that was it? He wanted to know about Bethany.

"They are fine," I answered. "Jealous that we’re having half the week off to celebrate though."

He laughed.

"Too bad they couldn’t stay for the festivities," he frowned slightly.

"Too bad they couldn’t stay forever!" I responded and he smirked.

"Miss them already?"

"Don’t you?"

"They are your friends and I’ve only seen them once."

"But I bet you’d like to see one of them more than once!" I teased.

"I don’t know what you mean!" He protested, looking away and ruffling his blond hair nervously.

"Oh, come on, Ash! It’s pretty obvious you and Beth like each other."

"I don’t…" the boy started to object again but then he registered what I just told him. "Wait, Beth likes me?"

"Seems that way."

"Are you sure?" He bit his lip nervously.

I nodded. God, he was just so cute!

"She’s my best friend; of course I’m sure!" I stated before teasing him again. "For someone who doesn’t like her, you sure seem to care a big deal what she thinks about you."

"Well…" A hint of a blush covered his cheeks. "I might like her."

"Might?" I raised my eyebrows at him.

"Okay, okay… I like her!" Ash finally admitted and his face got even redder. "Actually, that is an understatement. I might not be as confident as Caden or Keegan when it comes to girls but I’m not completely inexperienced. Yet, when I’m with Beth I feel like a little boy trying to impress the first crush he ever had."

"She makes you that nervous, huh?"

"You have no idea!"

"Well, my friend…" I patted him on the back. "You should really get used to it!"

"I don’t think I’ll get a chance to." The boy sighed. "I mean, she lives so far away I’ll rarely get to see her and besides… Long distance relationships almost never work out."

"She’ll be closer soon when we go to Uni," I tried to reassure him. "The one we like is just a few hours away from here."

"Really?" He seemed to perk up. "A few hours away… That could work…"

And then his good mood vanished as swiftly as it had appeared.

"What am I saying?" He asked. "We’re not even together yet."

"You know what I think?" He shook his head. "I think that with the two of you it’s not a matter of “if you get together” but “when you get together”."

"I hope you’re right!" Ash gave me a small smile. "I really do."

*****

Caden POV

I woke up in the middle of the night. There was someone downstairs; I could hear them moving. Whoever they were they picked the wrong house to rob!

I got up and headed in the direction of the noise. It was coming from the kitchen. Why the kitchen? The electronics were in the living room. What were they trying to steal? The fridge?

I didn’t bother turning on the lights as I knew where everything was and I had the moon and streetlights from outside to guide me anyway. I quietly snuck in the kitchen. What do you know, the burglar really was near the fridge! I sprung toward the guy and took him by surprise, giving him a few good punches before pushing him face first against the wall.

"Sheesh, Caden!" The person said a bit breathless. "Is this how you greet your older brother these days? By hitting him hard?"

"If I knew it was you…" I snarled, "I would’ve hit harder."

With that I pulled him off the wall only to smash him against it once again before letting him go and moving away. I had to distance myself from the asshole or I’d beat him up. He turned around to look at me and I saw that during our tussle I’d split his lip.

Good! He deserved that!

I watched as he wiped the blood off, all the while keeping his eyes on me. They were bluish-grey, just like mine. And again just like me, he had short black hair. Everybody said we were very much alike. I hoped they meant that about our appearance; I didn’t want to be anything like him when it came to character.

"What the fuck are you doing here, Logan?"

"Again: is this how you greet me, little bro?" He asked leisurely, wiping some more blood off his mouth.

"Logan," I tried to keep calm, "answer or I’ll kick you out!"

"Kick me out? This is as much my house as it is yours!" He protested.

"No, it isn’t! Not since you ditched, leaving me to clean up your mess!"

I tried to keep my voice even but I couldn’t help clench my fists at the memory of the last time I had to cover for the bastard.

"I was going to pay those guys back. I just needed a little bit more time to gather the money," he shrugged nonchalantly. "No big deal."

"No big deal?" I asked not quite believing my ears. Then again this was Logan so I should be used to such crap. "No big deal… Well, apparently the guys you owed money to didn’t think so ‘cause once they found out you’ve got your ass out of town, they came to seek their cash from me."

"Did you beat them up?" He asked slightly amused and smirked.

God, I wanted to wipe that smirk off his face. But instead I took a calming breath (not that it helped) and answered:

"Of course I beat them up. But I still ended up in the ER myself."

"Tough luck, bro!" He shook his head condescendingly at me as if it wasn’t all his fault.

That was it! That was the last straw!

I flung myself at Logan and kept on hitting until he was unconscious.

*****

"So what did you get into this time?" I asked my brother while putting some ice on my bruise.

Damn it, Logan hits hard! A proud smirk graced my lips when I saw his face; he looked much worse than me.

"Nothing," he replied, going to the fridge to get some ice as well. "Did you have to knock me out? I feel like shit."

"You are shit!"

"Not something you should be calling your big brother that loves you so much!"

"Ha! You have an interesting way of showing it," I muttered.

"Hey!" He objected. "I helped you find a job, didn’t I? If it wasn’t for me Marc would’ve never made that deal with you. If helping you like that ain’t lovin’, I don’t know what is!"

"Helping? You call that helping?" I raised my voice at him. "Getting me in touch with a guy who made me take drugs is helping?"

"Oh, come on… It’s not like it was your first time! And I didn’t know he’ll make you do that," Logan protested in a “whatever” voice. "So it still counts as helping."

"Do you really want to help, Logan? "I hissed at my brother taking a few step towards him. "Because if so, you can do it by stop getting me into trouble. Stop getting yourself into trouble and then running to me for help. Or maybe, instead of asking me for money when we see each other, you could actually give me some. Do you know how hard it is for me to pay for everything on my own? Do you know that they raised mom’s hospital fee again? No. You don’t. Either that or you just don’t care."

For the first time in a long while my brother actually looked guilty. He licked his lips nervously and looked away from me. I kept on glaring in his direction and although his eyes were fixed on the floor of our kitchen, I knew he could feel me stare at him.

"I do care. And I didn’t know about the fee…" he mumbled.

"What about the rest of the bills, Logan?" I shouted with fury in my voice. "Damn it! You’re my older brother! You’re supposed to take care of me, not the other way around!"

"I’m sorry, okay?" He raised his voice as well. "I know I haven’t been the best of brothers…"

"The best?" I fiercely cut him off. "I doubt there is much worse! Tell me one thing… just ONE thing… that you thought me and was useful!"

"I thought you how to fight."

"No, Logan. You kept dragging me with you and getting me into trouble so I had to learn how to fight. And I learned it the hard way; by getting my ass kicked by people twice my size."

"But you’re good at it now; you even make money from it! It’s not like you’re good at anything else. Apart from drawing; you’ve inherited mom’s talent there."

"Don’t talk about that!" I growled. "Don’t even dare mention her! When was the last time you visited mom anyway?"

My brother did not respond. I didn’t know whether it was because he was ashamed that he hadn’t gone to her for a long while or because he couldn’t remember exactly when it was that he had last seen her. Truth to be told, I didn’t care which one it was. He wasn’t there for our mother and that was all that mattered. Even though I could still feel the anger pulsing through me, I knew that fighting with him again will not solve our problems.

"I’m tired. I’m going to bed," I announced, taking a deep breath. "You gonna be here in the morning?"

"Yeah… I’ll be sticking around here for a while… Don’t give me that look!" He added when he saw me frowning. "I’m clean now."

"You always say that and then you run off to buy some more!" I shook my head, while walking to my bedroom.

*****

Alice POV

It’s time to…

I turned off my phone the moment the alarm started ringing. With a huge yawn I got off the bed and headed downstairs for breakfast.

"Alissa! How many times should I tell you not to come down dressed in your night attire?"

"Sorry, Aunty!"

"The proper way to apologize is: “I’m sorry, Aunt Azalea”. Oh, never mind that! Just eat and get dressed; we’re going out!"

"Where to?" I queried, pouring some cereal in my bowl.

"My sisters and I volunteer every year to help out with the preparations for the historical reconstruction and you are coming with us."

"Lovely!" I remarked sarcastically in a low tone so that the eldest of my aunts wouldn’t hear me.

*****

"Well, well! Didn’t think you’d be here," I greeted Asher with a smile when I saw him amongst the volunteers for the preparations.

"I told you last night that I have a passion for history. It’s probably the only subject in school I actually like."

"I thought you liked them all. You get pretty good scores in everything…"

"That’s because I have to keep my grades up for a scholarship; it sort of helps the family budget," he explained.

I nodded and then smiled slyly as I got an idea.

"Ever thought to study history after you finish school?"

"Yeah, I’ve considered that," he admitted.

"You know… There are some really good history professors at the University Beth and I are going to." My smile got even bigger and I wiggled my eyebrows suggestively at the blond boy with whom I was conversing.

"I know. Beth told me last night."

"Last night? I didn’t know you guys kept in touch."

"We exchanged numbers when she and Sky were here… Oh-oh! Your aunts are coming so I better get going."

"Why?" I asked puzzled.

"Because I could get you in trouble. I doubt they would appreciate you hanging with someone like me. Plus…" he gave me a sheepish smile, "… from what you told me about Azalea she seem pretty scary. Maybe I’ll catch you later when they are busy."

I laughed at his response and he waved me goodbye before literally running away from the three steadily approaching women.

*****

Unfortunately I didn’t get to speak with Ash again. Although my aunts were busy at least one of them was always near by. By lunch time I was so bored with what I had to do and so annoyed as Aunt Azalea constantly criticized my work, that I could hardly wait to go home.

"We’re almost done, dear!" Aunt Flora reassured, smiling gently at me.

"Is it that obvious I want to leave?" I questioned.

"Yes, dear, yes, it is! I myself do not feel quite comfortable with so many people all over the place." She snuck a worried glance around, checking the area out as if expecting someone to attack her.

"Then why did you come?"

"Because there is a lot of work to be done and the Green women had always played a role in every event of the community. Did you know we’re one of the oldest families around?" She asked with pride lacing her voice.

"Yes, Aunty Flora. I’ve heard the tale of Linnea Green many times. But… come to think of it, I’ve never heard her real name. I mean her birth name. Or her twin’s. And there are other gaps as well. For example, who did she wed? There’s nothing about her husband but she must have had children if we’re her descendants. And yet we know almost nothing about her besides her being one of the most skilled medicine women around."

"Have you wondered about that for a long time?" She questioned and something lit her eyes.

"For a while now…" I admitted puzzled. I’d never seen that expression on Aunt Flora’s face before.

"Then it will be soon!"

Her words perplexed me even more. What was with all the secrecy?

"What are you talking about, Aunty?"

"You’ll see," she gave me a mysterious smile.

Right then we heard Azalea calling our names.

"Oh! Time to go!" Flora smiled warmly to me, going back to her usual carefree self.

With the reconstruction taking place in the late afternoon, we went home for lunch. I was still curious as to Aunt Flora’s unusual behavior when I mentioned our ancestor, but decided not to press the matter at this point. After we had our meal I got upstairs and dialed Caden. It was funny how I haven’t seen him for a little over a day and yet I missed him.

It took him longer than usual to answer.

"What is it?" His tone was off.

"Nothing… I just wanted to see if you’re coming to the event in the afternoon."

I didn’t want to admit that I just wanted to hear his the sound of his voice.

"No," his answer was curt.

"Then maybe we could meet at Cillian’s afterwards…"

"Can’t."

"Cade, is everything okay?" I was starting to get worried because of the way he spoke to me. What was going on with him?

"Not sure…" he muttered. I had the feeling I wasn’t supposed to hear that. "Was that all? I gotta go."

"Yeah, that was all…" I barely managed to answer before he hung up.

*****

Caden POV

I hung up on Alice. I bet my behavior would get her worried and I felt a bit guilty about that, but I had more pressing matters to attend to.

Like figuring out what my idiot of a brother was up to.

I looked down again at the note he’d left me on the table in our living room. Even though it was not signed, I could recognize Logan’s shaky signature. It seemed to be written in haste and consisted of only three sentences:

Gonna be out of town for a while. It’s gonna help with the bills. No worries, it’s legal.

I snorted. Legal! Logan and legal. I doubted he knew the meaning of that word. And wasn’t it just last night he said he would be in town for a while? Guess I shouldn’t be surprised he didn’t keep his promise.

I sighed.

Something was telling me trouble was heading this way.

*****

Alice POV

Being a volunteer for the preparation might have been boring but watching the reconstruction itself definitely wasn’t. The “soldiers” from both armies were really good. I guess they had to be. After all they did this every year. The battle just ended and people started to mingle. The “dead” got up as well.

I saw Asher and Keegan but true to his word (and to my disappointment) Caden was nowhere to be found. Unfortunately, being with my aunts meant I couldn’t be with the boys. Just as I thought of that a group of women from the preparation volunteers surrounded my three relations. Taking advantage of them being temporarily distracted, I headed towards my friends.

"Hey, guys!" I greeted as soon as I reached them.

"Looking good, Alice!" Keegan looked me over.

"What have you been up to, Kee? Haven’t seen you since Saturday."

"Kee?" He raised his eyebrows at me.

"What?" I shrugged. "You need a nick name. So, any baseball bat injuries?"

"You’ve heard about that?" He laughed. "Nah, their father was slow."

"So you did get chased by an angry dad armed with a baseball bat?" I snickered.

"Had worse. Once I was with this chick at her place… She was just going down on me when her father got home. Turns out the guy had a hunting license. Good thing there were small children in their house so he didn’t keep his guns loaded."

"You’re gonna get yourself killed over a fuck," Ash shook his head disapprovingly.

"At least I get laid," the other boy smirked.

"There are more important things than getting laid," the blond remarked.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah!" Keegan waved his hands at our friend. "Keep on telling yourself that. In the mean time I’ll be screwing all the hoties around. Can’t wait to see all the slutty costumes tomorrow! That reminds me… What are you going to be dressed as, Alice?"

"I don’t know," I admitted.

"Don’t you have a costume?" Asher queried as well. "Most girls prepared theirs weeks ago."

"Well, I guess I’ll just dress up a bit and put more make up on. You guys have costumes?"

Keegan snorted.

"I think we’re a little old for that, don’t you Alice?" He questioned. "Besides, getting dressed up is more of a girl thing anyway."

"I guess so!" I admitted and snuck a glance at my aunts. "I better go. See you tomorrow!"

I turned to leave but then remembered something.

"Is Caden coming tomorrow?" I asked the two boys and crossed my fingers behind my back, hoping for a positive answer.

"Doubt it if Logan is still in town," Keegan muttered irritated.

"Logan? Who’s that?" I questioned.

"Never mind!" Ash responded a bit hastily. "See you tomorrow, Alice!"

"Yeah… See ya!" And I left wondering who on Earth could Logan be and what was it about him that made the boys uneasy.

*****

Wednesday evening. A.k.a. last day of the festivities. A.k.a. “carnival day”.

What should I wear?

I searched through my closet until I found a green corset with black ribbons on it. That could do it! That, plus a frilly black skirt, platform boots and some stronger than usual make up would make a nice gothic costume.

Deciding it was the most appropriate choice, I got dressed. But I needed some help with the corset: someone had to tie the silky black strings on the back.

Just then I heard a soft knock on my door.

"Yes?"

"Alice, dear, can I come in?"

"Sure, Aunt Rosy."

"Are you ready, honey?" She asked getting in.

"Actually, I need some help. Could you tie the corset strings for me?"

"Of course!"

She got behind me and did as I asked.

"Thanks, Aunty!"

I sat in front of my mirror and got started on my make up.

" Why don’t I curl your hair while you do that?" She suggested and went for the curling iron.

After a while she was done with my hair and I with my make up. Both looked pretty good. The hair was straight to about my ears and then curled in big swirls. The make up consisted mostly of black eyeliner. I had it on both my lids and I drew a flower pattern under the eye on the left of my face.

"You look wonderful, Alice! Now let’s get going before Azalea barges in to see what’s taking us so long!"

*****

Wow! Keegan wasn’t kidding when he mentioned slutty costumes yesterday.

There were girls in naughty catholic school-like and nurse-like uniforms everywhere in the park where the carnival was held. And those who didn’t bother with a costume showed a lot of skin with their sassy skirts or shorts and tops that displayed a lot of cleavage.

By some miracle, all three of my aunts had gone to meet up with their friends and left me on my own. I searched the crowd for either Asher or Keegan and grunted when I couldn’t find either of the two.

"You know, little Alice, you grunted the very same way when I first met you."

I turned around with a huge smile on my face.

"Caden! I thought you weren’t coming," I immediately perked up and gave the boy a tight hug.

He seemed taken aback by the gesture at first but then he returned it.

"Did you miss me that much?" He smiled down at me.

"That and I was worried," I admitted, letting go of him. "You seemed kind of upset on the phone yesterday."

"Yeah, sorry ‘bout that, kid! How about I make it up to you?"

"What do you have in mind?" I questioned, slightly tilting my head to the side and narrowing my eyes all the while wondering what he was up to.

"I’ll buy you cotton candy."

"Works for me!" I grinned and he smirked.

"Thought it will!"

*****

Caden POV

We wanted to be on our own so after I bought Alice her yummy treat, the two of us decided to take a walk and left the park. She was currently quiet, too busy eating the pink-colored huge hunk of cotton candy.

"You know what?" I started. "The gothic style clothing suit you well, Alice. Where did you get the corset?"

"It’s just something I had lying around," she shrugged.

"And the skirt?"

"It’s simply a frilly black skirt. What’s so unusual about it?"

"Nothing. I haven’t seen you in a skirt before though. You look cute."

"Only in a skirt?" She narrowed her eyes at me and I laughed at her unsuccessful attempt to look intimidating.

"Nah, you’re just cuter then usual," I winked at her and she smiled before taking another bite of her food. "You’ve got some cotton candy on your right cheek."

I stopped walking and reaching up, I brushed it off. Then I just stared at Alice’s green eyes not removing my hand from her cheek.

"What?" She asked a bit puzzled by my behavior.

"Have I ever told you how much you calm me when I’m around you?"

"Nope," she popped the “p”.

"Can’t figure out why, you just make me feel so relaxed."

"Glad to hear it," she smiled and we began walking once more.

"Caden..." she started and I didn’t miss the nervous note in her tone. "Who’s Logan?"

I froze. How did she know about him? Had they met?

"Where did you hear of him?"

"Yesterday when I asked the guys if you’d be here today Keegan said “doubt it if Logan is still in town” but they didn’t tell me who the guy was. He seemed to make them uneasy."

"Logan is my older brother," I replied evenly.

"So that must have been who I saw!" She exclaimed clapping her cotton candy-free hand over her forehead. "Should’ve figured it out, you guys look similar."

"When did you see him, Alissa?" I asked worried.

"Alissa? Wow, things between you two must be serious if you call me that!"

"Just answer!" I ordered raising my voice slightly.

"Monday evening at town hall. I saw him from a distance and at first I thought it was you."

"But you didn’t speak with him?"

"No."

"No." I never thought that just one simple word would be enough to lift so much tension off of me.

"Is he that bad?"

"It’s complicated!" I sighed and began walking again.

"And you don’t talk about your family," she added, shaking her head.

I thought about that. If Logan seriously considered moving back in town, then Alice should stay away from him. And she should know why.

"I’ll tell you about him," I offered and her eyes grew wide with surprise.

What? I’ve shared things with her before!

"When?"

"Not tonight, but first chance I get when we have more time. It’s a long story. For now just remember to stay away from him!"

She nodded.

"Change of topic?" She helpfully offered.

"Love to!" I smiled gratefully at the short brunette that walked beside me.