Chapter 8 A Distant Memory

When it was around five in the morning, when Danny got up and sat on the ground for a little while before Zach had got up. Zach sat up when he saw Danny looking at him. "Just a random thought" Danny said as he stood up. "What if someone had the audacity to turn up the grand pacer test sound track while in the middle of band class." Zach got off the bed and stretched his arms to the ceiling. "that would be treason." He chuckled, he then woke up Charlie so that he could go outside. Then something vibrated on Zach's nightstand, it was his phone, when he picked it up it was Ella calling. "Hello?" He said in a tired voice. "Hey hun, sorry did I wake you up?" Zach shook his head. "No you didn't, what's going on." there was a pause on the phone. "Are you free next weekend?" Zach walked over to the calendar that was hanging on the back of his door. "It looks like it, why?" Danny watched Zach, he was trying to figure out who he was talking to. "You wanna come hang out?" She said very nervously. Zach smiled. "Yes, of course, where at your house?" Ella laughed. "How about we go hiking at Deer Park?" Zach's smile grew quite large. "That's a perfect idea!" Ella then chuckled. "Well then, I'll see you tomorrow during camp." Zach nodded. "Alright see you then tiny." Ella then laughed then hung up. If you are concerned about him calling her 'tiny' it was a nickname that he had given her when they started high school, the pet name doesn't bother her at all.

When Zach pulled the phone away from his ear Danny looked and tilted his head. "it was Ella" Zach said answering the question that was about to come out from Danny's mouth. Danny nodded his head in realization. Danny then got up and opened the door so that the two could go take Charlie outside. When the opened the sliding glass door the cold damp morning had hit them. Danny smiled "I love mornings like these." He said as he sat down on the deck floor. Zach sat right beside him. "Well I hope you do because this is the weather you get when school starts and when marching band is still going on." Danny perked up. "Really?!" He said enthusiastically, Zach nodded. When Charlie came back to the deck he was scared, his ears were down and his tail was tucked between his legs. They didn't know why until Danny himself started to shake. It was a very familiar sound that had set off the fear. the sound of a rusty old truck pulling into the driveway of the Wyatt's house.

Danny rushed back into the house and grabbed all of his belongings, including the lasagna that Zach's mom gave him. Before the knock on the door had even came Danny was already out the door. Danny didn't even get the chance to say goodbye. Zach's mom had already left for work, while the time that Danny's dad came to pick him up was at six in the morning. It was all too sudden for Zach. Zach quickly before Danny was able to leave he grabbed him and asked if there was a phone number that he could reach him out. Danny shook his head as he left he yelled back "I don't have a phone." It was very odd to Zach but at the same time knowing his father, not surprising at all. As the truck left Charlie and Zach went back inside the house, went up the stairs, and went back to bed. Charlie jumped back on the bed and laid down. Zach then too laid down except he wasn't able to fall asleep. he kept thinking about Danny, it wasn't the fact of his father, no, it was his mother that he was intrigued about. Danny had made it out that the family didn't even know she had it until she was on her death bed. The more he thought about just then a familiar voice in Zach's head said "Don't get involved Zach." It sounded like Ms. Yuri. When he turned around to where he heard the voice. But nothing had changed, there was only a sleeping Charlie on the bed.

When he went back to building the model, the phone rang once more. This time it was Ryan. "Hello?" there was a pause, until a loud noise came from the phone it was Ryan screaming and laughing. "YOOOO WASSUP FUCKER!" Ryan yelled at the top at his lungs to where he had a voice crack. Zach then removed the phone from his ear and put Ryan on speaker phone. "Are you high or running on crack head energy? I'm confused." Ryan laughed. "I'm excited, that's all." Zach then got up and went back onto his computer to do more research. "So why are you excited?" Zach asked as he typed into the search bar "Different types of demons." Ryan paused for a second, "Because I'm finally getting my instrument cleaned!" It was always exciting to any band kid when their instrument finally got the ability to be cleaned.

All of the instruments that need to be cleaned go to Ms. Yuri, so she can send it to the shop. Otherwise, the shop won't believe that it is from the high school, the reason is quite simple. Teenagers out here, who have nothing to do in their spare times are assholes. They one day had came to the shop and stole instruments and said that they were theirs. So now the shop keeper, Zoey, doesn't trust anyone who walks in the shop unless it is a band director. Now Zoey was a simple creature made by god, she had brown hair that was always put up into a messy bun, wore glasses, and an old fashion white blouse with black jeggings. Zoey was always in the cluttered shop as she could not leave. Zach remembered that last time that he had to go in the shop to get slide oil, the shop was covered with music books lining the shelves. In the middle of it was a desk that some old man (As Ryan called him) was going through catalogs and marking everything down. When they approached him he always looked up and looked down back at the catalogs. "I'm assuming that thee want slide oil four twenty-seven?" He said looking at the catalog again. Zach nodded, as the young Zoey came out from the back she was holding a bunch of old music books. "Aye what is it?" She said with a bit of an British accent. She then made eye contact with Zach. "Slide oil again huh?" she asked as she put down the stack on the desk and walked over to the other side of the store. She grabbed the slide oil, and walked over to the register. "Proof that you are from the school please." She said reaching her hand out as if she were expecting an school ID card. As Zach pulled it out of his wallet and handed it to Zoey, she inspected it. "Alright Zach your total is twelve-thirteen dollars." She said as she rung up the item. "Why did the price all of a sudden get raised?" Zach asked her. She shrugged her shoulders and looked down at the old man. "Most of it has to do with the stock market, we can't make the prices anymore." She said as she gave back the ID card and grabbed the debit card that Zach handed her.

"Oh and by the way, tell Ms. Yuri that her order of new music came in." She said giving back the debit card. Zach nodded and walked outside to his mom's car where she was waiting for him to get him. "Zoey is such a nice girl" his mother said as she pulled out of the parking space and drove back home. Just then the thought of it was interrupted by Ryan saying that Ms.Yuri is hand making the props this year. "Excuse me?" He said politely. Ryan laughed, "Well that's what you get when you aren't ever looking at your emails." Zach give a dirty look and started to facetime Ryan. When he picked up, Ryan was sitting in his bed eating a bowl of oatmeal. "Well what is it then?" Ryan then pulled up and showed Zach the picture of what Ms.Yuri was working on. Was a long piece of blue tarp that was curved in different directions and lights that were flashing, going in the same direction. The tarp was going to sit on the field as it extended from to each field goal post. It then led down to in front of the press box on the field. "What? is that the river?" Ryan nodded. "It looks really neat huh?" Zach nodded. "how did she do that?" Ryan shrugged and made a devilish smile. "Maybe use some of her powers." Zach shook his head. "I doubt that" He said looking up the different pictures. "Also there is going to be three weeping willow trees that change color as well." Ryan said enthusiastically. Zach tilted his head and looked over at the camera. "What's a contract demon?" Ryan looked up at the ceiling trying to remember. "I think they are demons that form contracts with said victim, why?" Zach didn't answer, it was an utter silent that stirred on each side of the phone. "You think she's that?" Ryan finally said.

Zach shrugged his shoulders "It is a possibility." He said as he began typing again. "What about a Familiar?" Ryan looked down at the phone. "A what?"

"A familiar"

"What is that?"

"It's a demon that is kinda like an animal guide, except they help witches and cunning folklord."

"But she isn't an animal, you saw that"

"But half of her was an animal, the legs and the horns"

"But aren't they low ranking?"

"Yeah, but she's pretty powerful."

"And why are you looking that up?"

"I'm curious"

"Have you even heard of 'curiosity killed the cat?' you go far down that rabbit hole you may never come back."

"I know, but she is so intriguing"

"why don't you just ask her? Instead of hiding behind your computer like a creep?"

"I can't, it was pain in the ass to even ask if she was a demon."

"Your scared of her aren't you?"

Zach then looked down at the phone. "I'm terrified, not because of what she is, it's just how she acts towards us." Ryan softened his expression. "She acts like a band director, not all things have to have a rhyme or reason Zach." Zach then looked back up at his computer. "But none of it makes any sense!" He said turning off the computer. "Zach it doesn't have to make sense, she is still the band director we know, why are you changing the way you looked at her now?" Zach was quiet for a second "It's just odd to me that's all." Zach's phone then died, he didn't bother hooking it up to the charger. He didn't even move he was still captured in the light of Ryan's words. "But why though..." He said looking over at Charlie. The dog lifted his head and tilted it to one side. Zach then had the courage to ask Ms.Yuri once more. He then turned on his computer and started to email her. She responded rather quickly to the emails.

'Hey Ms. Yuri it is me Zach I have some questions I need to ask about you'

'Hi, and your seriously going to do this over email?'

'Don't I have any other choice?'

Just then a voice was in Zach's head. "Yeah you do Zach" It was Ms. Yuri. "How can you do that!" He said in shock. "Skills Zach, skills, now what is your question?" Zach then sat on the bed and waited for awhile. "A-are you a familiar?" there was a pause before Ms.Yuri answered. "A what?" Zach then repeated himself. "What the hell is that?" She asked, Zach then explained it to her. "Like an animal guide?" Zach nodded and waited for a response. "Ok buddy you need to talk I can't hear your actions." She said laughing. Zach blushed in embarrassment. "So sorry uh..Yes?"

"No I am not a spirit guide, I'm something you have never heard of."

"And what is that?"

"I'm not telling you."

Then there was silence. "Ryan was right about you" She said quietly. "You are a very curious kid, I'll give you that." Then someone knocked on Zach's door, when he opened it no one was there. When he turned around he saw Ms.Yuri sitting on his bed. She was dressed in old pirate clothes that was ripped and looked like someone had tried to burn it. She wore a black vest in the middle was a belt buckle that was accompanied on the side was a gun, under the vest was a baggie old long sleeved white shirt, under the belt was a chain that wrapped around her waist and every other link had a charm on it, and the teared up pants that were uneven in length one was teared higher than the other were accompanied with the dog like legs. She looked like someone that worked on a ship. She was in the demon form, and she was looking down at Charlie. "But, you need to learn, somethings are better off not to be known, as I said before I never ever want to lay a hand on any of you, you are like my kids that I never had." She said petting Charlie as he fell asleep, she smiled as she looked back at Zach. She then stood up and her smokey tail swayed back and forth with smoke coming off of it and dissipating in the air.

She approached him and her purple slit eyes fell upon. She knelt down in front of him and looked up at him. "Please understand Zach that this" She said gesturing to herself. "Is something that I never wanted to show anyone, so please, for the love of anything you care about, stop trying to figure me out." Zach nodded as he was nervous of her. She then stood up and turned around she then went over to Charlie. "He really does love you... and I know that Daisy misses you as well." She then turned around and a black smoke came over her and she disappeared along with the smoke.

Zach couldn't make out on what just had happened. It was fading rather quickly, it was as if she didn't want him to see her like that. Then all of a sudden the memory was gone and now Zach didn't want anything to do with trying to figure her out now. It was like she programmed that into his head, like the drills and music she gave out. Zach then went downstairs with Charlie and went out on the back deck. As they played for awhile in the yard it wasn't long before his mom came. At the time, it was around noon now, and everything that Zach had remembered of that morning all went away except from Danny running to the truck scared of his own shadow.