Kids These Days

Chapter 49: Finn

Rachel and Leigh are gone. Really gone. Not even a trace of the two sisters remains. Once I'm sure they aren't coming back, I stomp through the remaining shreds of mist and, with all the strength I can muster, kick a deer skull. It soars through the air like a skeletal soccer ball before bouncing off the Joshua tree and rolling into the shadows.

Take that, old magic. Welcome to the 1980s.

The sun has finally risen above the horizon, and the rays of rosy-pink light seem to break the trance cast by the sisters' disappearances. Becca puts her hands behind her head like a winded runner after their last lap. Kiran walks over to his obnoxious Corvette and sits behind the wheel but doesn't turn on the engine. I just stand there in stunned silence. (Post-skull-kicking.) I mean, seriously, how are you supposed to react to your friend almost selling their soul to an immortal real estate agent?

Ironically, Harper is the first to speak up. "I quit," she announces. She hurls her gun as far as she can, which is about ten feet. (Because throwing a loaded gun is such a good idea.) Then she seems to regret her decision, hurrying over to pick up the gun and shoving it into the waistband of her jeans. "It was nice knowing you kids. Stay out of trouble."

The accountant -- or ex-accountant, I guess -- climbs into her BMW and veers down the hill, tires spraying gravel as she speeds away.

Well, good for Harper, I guess.

But this isn't finished. Ronan is still standing in the circle, raising a bloody hand to shield his eyes from the rising sun. He's not wearing his sunglasses. I don't know why that's the first thing I notice about him.

"Finn," he says, turning to face me. "Did you just punt that deer skull?"

"Yeah," I say. Becca lets out a sound that could almost be a laugh. "I did."

"Good. Screw this mystical shit." Ronan draws his foot back and kicks a nearby skull into a cluster of creosote, then picks up another by the antlers and chucks it like a Frisbee. "Seriously, is one normal summer too much to ask for?"

"Yes," Becca and I reply at the same time.

Now that the shock is wearing off, I'm starting to feel a lot of mixed emotions. I had a gun pulled on me for the third time today. I almost lost a friend. (If whatever I have going on with Ronan can be called friendship.) And then there was that weird spider incident that I don't know how to explain. Rachel is gone, but what happens next? What happens to us?

And seriously, what the hell is wrong with Ronan? I can't decide if I want to leave him in the creepy circle or yell at him for being so reckless -- so, of course, instead of doing either of those things, I walk over and pull him into a tight hug.

"Ow," Ronan says, sounding more than a little surprised. I think he was expecting me to break his nose again. "Careful of the shoulder."

"You're such an idiot," I tell him.

This makes him snort. "I know."

"Why didn't you tell me what was going on? Would you really rather die than see me again?" I'm only half-joking. When Ronan basically sprinted out of my room last night, part of me figured, that's it, show's over folks. This time he's really not coming back. "I thought I was gonna lose you forever."

"I don't know if you noticed, but I was trying pretty hard not to die here. I was trying to save your dumb town. And I succeeded, so you're welcome."

"You always have to do things the hard way, don't you?"

"It usually works out in the end."

I take a step back, holding Ronan at arm's length. He doesn't look too beat-up, but... "Whoa," I say. "Your eye changed color."