Chapter 15
An hour later Daniel and Boon stood back and watched Carnage very gently line up his club with the gum ball they were practicing with and tap it into the cup that doubled as a hole to putt the ball into.
“I think you’ve got it. You picked it up quickly,” Daniel said.
“He’s right. You’ve got it, Pop. You just can’t lose your temper because then you lose all your finesse,” Boon said.
Carnage grinned at him. “My finesh,”.
“Yeah, not really. Especially not if you’re irritated,” Boon said.
Carnage grinned even bigger.
“I know you’re smiling, but that’s a scary ass smile,” Daniel said.
Carnage laughed.
“Annnd that’s no better,” Daniel said.
Carnage laughed again, but this time he gnashed his teeth and pretended to be threatening.
Daniel chuckled as he walked over to the cup, picked it up and caught the gum ball as it rolled into his hand. He tossed it across the several feet to Carnage. “Can you drive the ball like I showed you?” Daniel asked.
Carnage set the ball on the ground, then patiently took his time, lining up his stroke, stepping back from the ball time and time again to perform a full practice swing, before standing over the ball and making his final stroke, his muscles moving like water in one fluid movement, following through until the club was resting on his other shoulder as he watched the ball perform a perfect straight line drive just below the tops of the trees as it left their sight.
“You’ve got it. Let’s go win a golf game with Trawl.”
Carnage held out his hand for Daniel to high five.
Daniel slapped his palm against Carnage’s.
“And ‘Stoy,” Carnage said.
“Oh, yeah. We’ll beat everybody there, even Destroy.”
“Leeenah!!!!!” Carnage shouted, throwing his head back to get more volume to travel further.
They heard footsteps on the porch just a few hundred feet from them before Carolena looked over the railing at them. “I’m right here. You don’t have to shout my name to all of Whispers.”
“’Mon!” he said, waving his massive arm toward himself.
“We’re ready?” she asked.
“’Es!”
Carolena looked back at Avaleigh and Angelle who were relaxing with her. “Are you ready?”
“Lead on,” Avaleigh said.
Carnage led the way, stomping along the path from his house to Enthrall’s.
He chattered the entire way, pushing low hanging branches and stray switches of bushes and shrubbery out of the way, pointing things out to Daniel who walked along beside him, while everyone else brought up the rear at their own pace.
Daniel, to his credit, chattered right back.
He obviously had no problem understanding Carnage’s speech patterns, which meant a lot to Carnage.
Not a lot of people understood what Carnage was trying to say when he tried to talk to them.
He was born with a severe speech impediment, and it never got any easier for him.
Some could understand, some couldn’t. Daniel could, and that made Carnage appreciate the opportunity to have an actual conversation without a member of his family, or a close friend, having to interpret for him.
After watching Carnage’s wings shiver and shake every now and then, just as someone’s hands did when they were talking, Daniel finally broached the subject. “So, there’s something I want to know…”
“’Kay,” Carnage said.
“Can you really fly, or are those just for show?”
Carnage smirked, extended his wings and flapped them once, which took him about ten feet off the ground, then again, which had him soaring overhead, looking down at them.
“That is too fucking cool,” Daniel said, craning his neck to look up Carnage.
“Boon!” Carnage said, nodding and pointing to Boon.
“You, too?” Daniel asked.
Boon shrugged bashfully. “I can, I just don’t do it often.”
“Can you really fly like that?” Angelle asked, her eyes flicking back and forth between Carnage who was still aloft, and Boon who seemed more than a little hesitant.
“It kind of makes people nervous. So, I don’t usually.”
“Doesn’t make them nervous, son. It makes them jealous,” Daniel said.
Boon laughed.
“Seriously, can I see?” Angelle asked.
“You really want to see?” he asked.
“I do.”
Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, he shrugged out of his shirt and handed it to Angelle who neatly folded it and draped it over her arm.
When she was once again focused on him, he lifted his wings and flapped them a few times.
His feet left the ground and he was soon hovering near his father, though he had to flap his wings more often and with a little more effort than Carnage did.
Angelle’s eyes filled with wonder as she laughed and clapped her hands. “Daddy’s right. They’re just jealous. That is so great!”
Boon gradually brought his wings in a little closer to his body and allowed himself to descend until he was standing beside Angelle. “My father’s are bigger than mine, so I have to work a little harder at it, but I can do it.”
“I wish I could fly,” Angelle said.
“You can. I can take you up whenever you want,” Boon said.
“You can do that?” she asked.
“I can. I just don’t usually fly because I prefer not to call attention to myself, plus I’m in the woods and blending in is harder if you’re landing right in front of something that didn’t know you were there,” he said with a chuckle.
“I’m so proud that you can fly. That’s amazing.”
Boon, still smiling, took his shirt from her and put it back on.
As he buttoned his shirt, Angelle was still talking about his wings.
“They’re beautiful. I didn’t realize how big they are because they fold up so compacted against your back. They’re gorgeous.”
“I’m glad you like them,” Boon said, watching her with a quirky kind of smile. “Paranormal things aren’t unusual around here, but so far, only the Gargoyles have wings.”
Carnage descended, his feet slapping the ground beside Boon. “Noo. Bi’d have win’s.”
“Yes, but birds are supposed to have wings,” Boon said.
Carnage scowled at him. “Go’l ‘pose have win’s!”
“He’s got you there,” Daniel said. “Goyles are supposed to have wings. And let me just say, my Dragon can fly anytime, anywhere, but if I could just spread my wings without having to shift, and take to the sky, I’d do it a lot more often.”
Carnage put a hand on Daniel’s back and patted him affectionately. “D’agon fiiuh?” he asked.
“Yeah. My Dragon has fire. I’m a Fire Dragon.”
“His Dragon is huge, black, and breathes bright orange and red flames,” Avaleigh said proudly.
“My want fiiuh!” Carnage said, opening his mouth and hissing out a noise like a huge cat.
Daniel and Carnage both laughed while Carnage pounded on Daniel’s back in a bonding action.
“Hey! That hand pounding my back reminds me. You intentionally hit me hard enough to almost knock me over at Tempest’s house when we were waiting to meet the baby!” Daniel exclaimed.
Carnage smirked at Daniel. “Dahn no f’iend. Dahn meen Boon. ‘Arnge hit Dahn,” he said with a shrug as he started down the path again.
Daniel burst out laughing. “I was not mean to Boon! I just didn’t know if I wanted to trust him with my daughter.”
“What did I do to make you think I wasn’t trustworthy?” Boon asked.
“You breathed.”
Boon’s mouth opened in surprise, but whatever he was going to say was quickly forgotten when Daniel kept speaking.
“Twenty years from now, your daughter, yours and Angelle’s, meets a male.
He’s fixated on her. She’s been raised here in Whispers.
She’s got little-to-no experience and is much like the two of you, hates strangers and prefers the quiet of this community.
He won’t take no for an answer, and he lives out in a city somewhere you don’t have easy access to.
He’s going to take your baby away from you where you won’t be able to protect her. What do you do? How do you feel?”
“I’ll kill him,” Boon snarled.
“See?” Daniel said with a cold smirk.
Boon nodded and sighed. “Yes, I do.”
“Just remember this. And don’t kill him. She’ll never forgive you. Unless, she wants to kill him herself, then she might just say ‘thank you, Dad’,” Daniel said.
Carnage threw his arm around Daniel and dragged him along beside himself almost in headlock. “Dahn ‘Arnge faahmlee. Noo m’oe hiit.”
“Good to know,” Daniel said with a laugh. “And I won’t glare at Boon anymore. Unless he makes me.”
~~~
Carnage led everyone off the tree-shaded trail and into an expansive clearing covering several acres of land.
There were two houses, one on each side of the clearing, and land between the two, and in fact the entire clearing, was kept neatly trimmed so much so that it almost had a manicured look to it.
“Oh, this is really pretty,” Avaleigh said.
“It is nice, but I think I like the more untouched look better,” Angelle said.
Boon smiled at Angelle and squeezed her hand, content in the knowledge that many of the same things that spoke to him, spoke to her.
“’Stoy,” Carnage said, pointing to the home on the left. “Trawl” he said, pointing to the right.
“This is where we usually have all the community gatherings. The area is so large and accommodating. Enthrall is as you know kind of the mayor of Whispers, if you will. And Destroy helps him with whatever comes up when he’s busy or away.”
“And Brannaugh helps with his own people,” Boon added.
“His own people?” Angelle asked.
“Some of the dark ones I told you about. Technically, they’re all our people. Everyone of them belongs in Whispers. But some of them have a problem trusting Enthrall.”
“Why?” Avaleigh asked suspiciously.
“They’ve been persecuted more than most. They have a hard time trusting those who’ve always played by the rules, I guess,” Boon said.
“They don’t trust the light. It’s burned them many times so it’s hard for them to believe that there are those of us who don’t wish them harm,” Carolena said.
“The light? Didn’t you say Enthrall is a Vampire?” Daniel asked.
“He is. But he’s also inherently good. He was a victim of Vampirism, it was not his choice,” Carolena said.