“Erendria! It’s fabulous to finally meet you!” the woman exclaimed.
It was hard not to cringe at the use of her full name. Back in California, Eren had never used it. The name had just never fit into her ‘it’ girl persona. Before Eren could respond the woman dashed forward and pulled her into a tight embrace. Everywhere Sylvia touched her sent a tiny electric shock like static electricity across her skin. It wasn’t unpleasant, just strange. It faded quickly but left Eren feeling charged.
When Sylvia finally let go she began chattering about how much Eren resembled her mother, touching her face and hair as she squealed in delight. Eren could only stare at her in wide-eyed wonder.
“Oh you have your dad’s blue eyes, how beautiful!” she gushed.
She’d never really thought of it that way, but Eren supposed her aunt was right; her eyes did look like her father’s. That kind of made her sad and she wasn’t sure how to react. Sylvia continued on without missing a beat, talking all the way to the black JK Wrangler halfway across the parking lot.
Impressed, Eren stared at the car and muttered, “Wow.” It was the first word she’d gotten in so far.
“You like it, huh?” Sylvia said with a smile.
Before she could answer, though, her aunt started going on about four-by-fours, wheel bases, and all kinds of other car talk that might as well have been Greek. Eren tried to smile and nod at what seemed like the appropriate times. She wasn’t about to be rude and admit that she just thought it looked cool.
Sylvia didn’t so much as pause the conversation when she hefted Eren’s fifty-five pound suitcase into the back of the Jeep. Eren knew it was fifty-five pounds because she had been forced to pay extra when it had been weighed at the airport. Her mouth fell open and she stared in awe at her tiny aunt.
But Sylvia paid her no mind; she just kept talking as she closed the back of the Jeep and walked around to the driver’s door. When Eren tossed her duffel in the back and crawled into the passenger seat, she was still chatting away. In a way, it was a relief. There was no awkward silence that she felt obligated to fill and her aunt’s enthusiasm was kind of uplifting.
The Jeep purred to life, and they pulled out onto the highway that would lead them further into nowhere.
Though the drive to Spruce Knoll took two hours, it flew by. Sylvia chatted the entire time. At first Eren thought maybe she was nervous, but when she kept going strong after an hour, she realized it was just the woman’s personality. Being around her made Eren feel a bit like she’d had too much coffee to drink, as if the attitude was infectious. There wasn’t a single question she could think of to ask that Sylvia didn’t already answer, so she hardly had to speak.
“I live alone so you’ll have your own room,” Sylvia said, which caught Eren’s attention. That was a relief.
“My dad is away on a hiking trip but he’ll be back in a month and you’ll get to meet him then,” Sylvia said without missing a beat.
Hearing that sent a shot of pain through Eren’s heart. A love of hiking must run in the family. Still, she wondered how he could go hiking so soon after what had happened to Eren’s parents. The thought was quickly washed away in the wave of wonder over the realization that she had a grandfather.
But Sylvia gave her no chance to ask about him.
“I’m just so amazed at how much you look like your dad’s mother! Not to worry, honey; she is beautiful,” Sylvia said.
That piqued her interest too. Her dad had never talked about his family. She knew almost nothing about them.
“Dad never talked about her,” she interjected when Sylvia’s paused in her endless string of words to take a breath.
Aunt Sylvia went quiet, and it was a moment before she turned a very serious look on Eren. Shadows of pain hid in the woman’s eyes.
“They went back to Ireland when your parents got married against their wishes. They didn’t want your dad’s little brother to be influenced by his interracial marriage,” she explained in a harsh tone. “But don’t worry,” she was quick to add with a smile. “On your mom’s side of the family we aren’t nearly as old fashioned.”
Eren’s mind reeled. She’d had no idea things had been quite that bad between her parents and grandparents, nor did she know she had an uncle on her dad’s side.
They crested a massive hill and the encroaching forest drew back to reveal the shape of houses in the distance. The sun had just begun to set, painting the sky a bloody red. Maybe it was just her pessimistic mood, but Eren took it as a bad sign. Dusk had brought with it a thick fog that obscured everything below about two and a half feet from the ground. Fifty feet or so from the road, at the edge of the forest, Eren saw a pair of eyes above the mist. No, not one pair; several pairs.
At first she thought they were dogs. Then she realized they were much too large to be dogs. Fear raced up her spine, setting every nerve on edge.
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