NABC Chapter 35: Auto Salvage Yard
Chapter 35: Auto Salvage Yard
Chapter 35: Auto Salvage YardRunning into the fields, Ace did not stop until he reached the tangerine plantation. He walked the lanes barefoot, admiring the neatly planted rows of tangerine trees. He would love to engage in productive conversation with his mother, but evading her was the best way to stop her from forcing them to return to the city, where they had a higher chance of running into a curseling or a curse master.
Ace knew they would return to the city next week, but he was considering getting his parents to move here permanently. After learning about the world of curses, he knew it was safer for regulars to live in less crowded places since curseling liked to convene where more negative emotions gathered. And where there were curselings, the curse masters would flock since exorcising them was their means to accumulate strength and wealth.
But how would Ace go about it? His school, his father's job, and their house were in the city. He could not just ask his parents to move to the countryside. What would they do here, and where would they live? His parents' wealth had depleted to pay off the house loan and cover his sister's college fees. The remainder had been earmarked for his college expenses and his sister's marriage.
Ace's family had to think twice about buying a new Camry, let alone starting afresh in the countryside. Without a miracle, they would likely remain stuck in their neighborhood for the next decade or two. Fortunately, as a curse master, creating a miracle was not a big deal for Ace. The problem was timing, place, and means. He needs to figures these three out to set a miracle in motion.
'Master, I sense a faint curse energy in your surroundings,' Dame Wasp's voice sounded in Ace's head, awakening him from his thoughts.
Ace has been using his skill 'Sense Share' to lend his senses to Dame Wasp so she can monitor his surroundings for a situation like this. He figured to use this skill this way just recently. It was easier and a lot handier than Dame Wasp using the status screen to contact him.
'From where? Which direction?' Ace asked in a panic, praying it was not from his uncle's house, wondering if a curse master joined the guests after he left.
'From the west,' Dame Wasp replied.
'West, you must be sensing it from the auto salvage yard,' Ace mused, relieved that it wasn't from his uncle's house.
On the western side, Dan's ranch shared a border with an auto salvage yard occupying ten acres of land. Due to its relatively small size, unsuitable for farmland or ranching, the owner repurposed it into an auto salvage yard several decades ago.
The auto salvage yard has been the bud of many haunted stories in the town. Ace had heard numerous eerie tales associated with it, particularly because the owner didn't hesitate to accept cars involved in accidents. Most of it was in fun and for entertainment. But Dan, who typically didn't shy away from much, avoided passing by it after nightfall. So when Dame Wasp mentioned sensing a curse energy emanating from the west, Ace suspected the salvage yard must be the source.
'Come on out, Rose,' Ace called, summoning Dame Wasp in her 1/100th form and camouflage. He instructed, 'Go
"Ace, I don't know if you noticed, but I don't have any friends. Let alone someone willing to steal beer for us. There's Mandy, but I don't think your mother will like that," Danny said as he sat down, finding a fresh patch of grass.
Ace remained silent, refraining from making any comments, and instead found himself a patch of grass to sit on. Just then, Dame Wasp used the status screen to report,
[Master, your guess was correct. The source of the curse energy I felt was indeed from the auto salvage yard. There's a curseling hiding here.]
Reading Dame Wasp's report, Ace's expression soured as he thought, 'Well, so much for my plan of escaping the curselings by moving to the countryside.'