Текст книги "As Dead As It Gets"

Автор книги: Katie Alender

сообщить о нарушении

Текущая страница: 8 (всего у книги 18 страниц)

“I think so,” I said.

“Or I can set out some poison and mousetraps and take care of the situation. Understand?”

“I understand,” I said.

“Poor mice,” Lydia whispered.

“I don’t look into things,” Agent Hasan said. “I take care of things. Now, if you know something about Kendra and Ashleen, and you think we should talk, I would really appreciate it if you could say so right now.”

“No!” I said. “No, I just wanted to bring it to your attention.”

“All right, then,” she said. “Because if you have any special reason to suspect paranormal activity, I need to know so that I can come over to Surrey and deal with it.”

It hit me that it wasn’t just the laughing white light that would be caught in Agent Hasan’s mousetrap. It would be Lydia. And me.

Because having supernatural eyes made me a supernatural freak, too.

“I don’t,” I said. “I don’t have a reason.”

“Then we don’t have anything else to talk about, do we?” she asked.

“Nope,” I said. “Nothing. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome, Alexis.”

I hung up and sat back, staring into the rain.

“Who is that woman?” Lydia asked. “She talks like a mafia hit man.”

“Close enough,” I said.

“What does she do?”

“She’s the one who locked Kasey up for ten months,” I said.

“Wow,” Lydia said. “You’d end up in a padded room.”

“And you’d end up in the gray void,” I said. “And to her, it would be a job well done.”

Lydia gave me a wary look and vanished.

IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN the last thing in the universe I felt like doing, but when the bell rang after school on the following Monday, I took my camera and reported to the Wingspan office for the Student Council shoot.

As I put my hand on the doorknob, everything hit me at once: dizziness, confusion, hope, misery—a veritable smoothie of conflicting emotions.

Just be professional, I told myself. I’d seen Carter. I’d talked to him. How bad could it be?

But when I walked into the studio I saw exactly how bad it could be.

Carter and the other three officers were standing together, talking about some student government issue, which would have been fine—if Zoe hadn’t been hanging off of Carter’s arm like an overprotective purple-haired poodle.

She glared at me, but I was distracted by Marley Chen, who came and stood next to me. Marley was the features editor—basically my partner on all things yearbook-related. She had long, straight black hair, and most of her clothes were vintage. She acted like an air-headed Valley girl, but having worked with her a few times, I knew she was the second smartest person (behind Elliot, of course—no one was as smart as Elliot) on the yearbook staff. Maybe I was deluding myself, but I felt like we were becoming almost friends.

“Hi, guys,” she said to the Student Council officers. “Give us a minute to get set up, and then we’ll start.”

I went through to the adjoining classroom that the Wingspan staff used as a studio. Marley and Elliot came in while I was slipping my camera onto the tripod.

“Why is she here?” Marley whispered. “This is only for officers. She’s just a class rep!”

“I don’t get what he sees in her,” Elliot said simply, pushing up the sleeves of her NYU hoodie.

I locked the camera in place.

“Not to mention,” Marley said, “that it’s completely juvenile to drag your girlfriend to a yearbook photo shoot.”

“Agreed,” Elliot said, casting a disdainful look toward the doorway.

“Um…thanks, guys.” I was taken aback by this unexpected show of loyalty.

Marley sensed it. She shrugged. “You’re part of the Wingspan now, Alexis. We look out for our own.”

Part of the Wingspan? Yeah, I’d done a couple of shoots, but…did they not know anything about me? More to the point, if they did know, would they still want me to be part of their group?

I had no idea how to respond. So I didn’t. I said, “I think we’re ready.”

Elliot went back to the office and announced, “It’s pretty tight in there. Why don’t we just keep it to a minimum of people? Just Marley and whoever’s turn it is?”

I leaned forward to check my aperture setting as Marley brought the first person in. “Here’s Carter.”

“Great,” I said, not looking up. “Have a seat.”

He sat, head turned toward the door.

“Look at Alexis, please,” Marley said.

His piercing blue eyes found me through the viewfinder. “How’s the camera?”

I tried to make my voice completely aloof. “Good.”

Marley, bless her heart, tried to lighten the tension in the room. “It’s a really nice one. It looks expensive.”

“Um.” I felt like my stomach had left my body. “Yeah, I’m not really sure how much it was.”

“Fifteen hundred dollars,” Carter said.

My breath caught in my throat. What was he trying to imply? That it was so expensive, he didn’t think I should have kept it after we’d broken up? He could have it, for all I cared. I would have returned it to him in a heartbeat. But he’d never so much as hinted that he wanted it back.

Then I had a flash of angry shame. He’d basically forced me to take it one night when he was supernaturally crazy-obsessed with me. He’d had three months since then—plenty of time to ask for it privately. He knew my phone numbers. Was he doing this to humiliate me in front of Marley? To show her that I was a bad person?

But when I looked up at him, ready to come back with a reply, there was no expectation on his face. In fact, his expression was completely calm and composed as he said, “I’m glad you like it.”

“Thanks,” I said shortly. “I do.”

I took a few test shots, then had him angle his shoulders away from me.

“Raise your chin?” I asked, clicking off a run of exposures.

I went on directing him, growing more relaxed with each frame. Why had I dreaded this? Carter was a mature almost-eighteen-year-old. He wouldn’t make a scene. And I certainly wasn’t going to.

After about five minutes, I stood up. “We got it,” I said to Marley. “Next?”

Carter had started to stand when a voice spoke up from the doorway. “Wait just a minute, please!”

Zoe edged her way in toward Carter.

She turned to me, venom in her eyes and a smile on her lips. “Can you take some pictures of us…you know, as a couple? We have some from when we went to the winter dance together, but I’m sure you can take better ones.”

“We’re pretty busy,” Marley said, in a strangled, high-pitched tone.

“It’s fine, Mar,” I said. “Sure. Why not?”

Carter didn’t look thrilled about it, but Zoe sat and pulled him down next to her. I repositioned the shot and fired off a couple of frames.

“Thanks,” Zoe said, dripping with artificial sweetness.

“Stop it,” Carter said, under his breath.

I looked at him over the top of the camera. “You might as well smile,” I said. “This is for posterity.”

Next to him, Zoe’s face bloomed into a blissful fake smile. With her short dark hair and pale skin in contrast to Carter’s conservative style, she looked like an elf on a date with an accountant.

A cute accountant, piped up the voice in the back of my head.

Shut up, voice.

I glanced at them as I clicked the shutter, challenging myself to let the full meaning of their smiles sink into my heart.

They looked like the perfect couple.

And it hurt. A lot.

“That’s probably enough,” Marley said nervously.

I straightened up. “Marley’s the boss. See you later. It’s been real.”

“I’m so sure,” Zoe said. She gave me a sickening smirk, then took Carter by the hand and led him out of the studio.

He didn’t look back.

I called Jared from the parking lot.

“Hey, stranger,” he said.

“Are you busy?”

“Not if you need me.”

I hesitated. Need seemed like a really powerful word—a powerful word containing a lot of powerlessness.

Then the sound of Carter’s voice came rushing through my head, making me dizzy with loneliness. Tears stung at my eyes.

“I think…I do,” I said.

Jared was on the porch before I had even put the car in park, and he was there opening my car door by the time I hit the emergency brake.

“Hey,” he said, looking down at me. “You all right?”

I tried to smile. “Better now.”

I leaned over to get my purse, and when I sat up, he was staring at me like I’d said something in a foreign language. But he just extended his hand and helped me out of the car.

“So what happened?” he asked, steering me up to the porch.

I sighed. “Rough day.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault,” I said.

“No, I know. Come on in.” He held the door for me. “I’ll make you some hot chocolate. Dad’s working from home, but he’s in his office.”

Sitting on a comfy lounge chair a few minutes later, chasing marshmallows around my cup with the tips of my fingers, I tried to suppress the uneasy feeling inside me—the feeling that I was here for the wrong reasons.

It wasn’t like we didn’t enjoy each other’s company. We never ran out of things to talk about. So what if it wasn’t like when Carter and I were together? Jared wasn’t like Carter, he’d never be like Carter, and honestly, I didn’t even know if I wanted him to be. Because something had obviously gone horribly wrong with Carter…or I wouldn’t be in Jared’s living room, drinking Jared’s hot chocolate.

He leaned back. “I’m glad you called, actually. I’ve had sort of a sucky day, too.”

“Is everything okay?”

There was a hint of sadness on his face. “We had a meeting about graduation.”

“Wow,” I said. “In February?”

“Well, it’s kind of a production at Sacred Heart,” he said. “Lots of alumni, ceremonies, rituals—”

“Animal sacrifice?” I asked.

That won me a smile. “More like a bunch of old people carrying banners, students dancing around Maypoles…Attendance is required for the whole school. It’s just a really big deal for us.”

“So you’re bummed about having to spend a whole day dancing around a Maypole?”

“No, it’s not that,” he said. “That’s just the girls. It’s more like…something is ending. Endings are always sad.”

“Kind of,” I said, though I’d begun to itch for not only the end of my junior year but for my graduation the next year, too, and the promise of leaving Surrey and all its ghosts behind me for good. I knew there would be other ghosts out there, but surely the air couldn’t be this thick with them everywhere. Maybe I could move to Montana or something. A house in the country, a hundred miles from other people. Although, with my luck, I’d end up living in the middle of some old battlefield. “Or you could think of it as the beginning of something. Moving on. A fresh start.”

He shrugged, his smile gone. “I don’t need to move on. I don’t really want a fresh start.”

“I’m sorry,” I said, reaching over and taking his hand.

He stared intently at my face for so long that I got shy. “You’re sweet.”

“I get called a lot of things,” I said, “but sweet isn’t usually one of them.”

“Well, I see right through you, Alexis.” He raised my hand to his mouth and kissed it.

I tried to ignore the thrill that coursed through my body—but I couldn’t.

His eyes crinkled around the edges and he gave a gentle tug on my hand. I got out of the chair and went to sit on the sofa with him. His arms wrapped around my shoulders, but he didn’t kiss me.

“Hey there,” Mr. Elkins said, coming out of the hallway. He was in his mid-fifties—Jared called himself a “whoops baby”—and he always seemed surprised to see me. He was tall, with dark hair like Jared’s, and a short beard.

I bolted upright, out of Jared’s arms. “Hi, Mr. Elkins.”

“Pete,” he said. “Call me Pete.”

Jared’s father gave us an awkward smile and disappeared into the kitchen.

I looked at Jared and shook my head. He pulled me back close to his chest. “He doesn’t mind,” Jared said, and I didn’t know if he meant his father didn’t mind that we were snuggled up together on the couch, or being called by his first name.

I un-snuggled. Whether he minded or not, it felt too weird to be so cuddly in front of somebody’s dad.

Mr. Elkins didn’t seem any more comfortable with it than I did. “Well, good to see you,” he said, coming back through with a cup of coffee in his hand and eyes averted.

“You too,” I said.

“Jared?” he said, and Jared looked up at him. “Um…things good? You happy?”

“Dad.” Jared said the word as a kind of laugh. “Go back to your office.”

Mr. Elkins flushed a little. “All right. I’ll do that. I—good to see you again—”

“Dad.”

After all tongue-tied parents were safely stowed, I finished my hot chocolate and nestled back into Jared’s arms, nearly dozing off. I lingered in that twilighty pre-sleep state, forgetting Carter and Zoe, forgetting Ashleen, forgetting the bright white light.

“I was just wondering.…” Jared’s voice woke me up by sending delicious shivers down my spine. “Why’s your camera in your car?”

The question stunned me for a millisecond, and I knew from the way I found myself scrambling for an answer that nothing I could say would be good enough.

Our cameras had been what brought us together; creating photos was Jared’s greatest love, and when I said I wanted to cut back, he’d basically given it up to spend time with me, doing anything but photography. Now I’d been going behind his back and taking pictures—for almost a month. True, they were only for the yearbook, but I knew that didn’t matter. It was the principle of the thing.

“I’m just…doing this stupid thing for school,” I said. I could hear how inadequate it sounded.

“What stupid thing?” His voice was light, as if it weren’t a big deal. But if that had been the case, he would have let it go.

“Taking some pictures for the yearbook. Nothing big.”

He tensed. “What kind of pictures?”

“Um…posed portraits. Of the language clubs, sports teams…” I sat up and shook my head, trying to remember. “Student Council…”

Jared narrowed his eyes. “Huh. So by Student Council, you mean Carter?”

I know honesty is the best policy and all, but I was severely regretting that particular bit of honesty.

“Yeah,” I said. “I mean, he was there. But it’s not a big deal.”

Jared choked out a laugh. “No, of course not. Why would it be a big deal? I mean, you were only together for five months. Why shouldn’t you spend the afternoon with him?”

“It’s not like that.” My heart started to flutter. “I’m spending the afternoon with you. I spent maybe five minutes with Carter.”

He was silent for a moment. I started to hope he would let the subject drop, but no such luck.

“Can I see the pictures?”

“No,” I said, sitting back, away from him. “Why? What difference does it make?”

“You said yourself it’s not a big deal.”

“It’s not.” My throat tightened. Don’t you dare cry right now, Alexis. “But I’m not going to be scolded like a kid who stole a candy bar from a drugstore.”

He gave a quick, disapproving shake of his head. “Is that supposed to be a metaphor for my feelings? I guess I’m…the drugstore? A nameless corporate entity? Is that how you see me?”

Without a word, I got up off the couch and hurried to the bathroom, where I splashed cold water on my face. The girl staring back at me in the mirror was flushed, her eyes vivid blue against the angry red of her cheeks.

She looked wretched and flustered.

She looked scared.

She looked…weak.

I leaned against the wall for a minute, squeezing my eyes shut. Why did every single tiny thing in my life have to be difficult?

Finally, I opened my eyes and stared at my reflection. I was past the danger of crying, but I couldn’t stop my heart from beating like a snare drum.

There was a knock at the door. “Alexis?”

“Just a second,” I said.

“Open the door,” Jared said. “Please. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

The longer I watched, the worse things would get. I flung the door open, like pulling a Band-Aid off all at once.

Jared stood across the hall, his hands in his pockets. “I trust you completely. If I gave you the impression that I don’t, then I owe you an apology.”

“I’m sorry. I should have told you,” I said. “But it’s only for school. I swear.”

“Of course it is.” His voice was as soft as velvet. He beckoned me toward him. “Come here.”

Like there was a magnetic connection between us, I let myself be dragged across the hall into his embrace.

“We shouldn’t do this,” he whispered into my hair. “We shouldn’t upset each other.”

“I know,” I replied, letting my cheek rest against his shoulder.

“Hey,” he said.

By the time I’d raised my eyes to look at him, his lips were on mine.

I WOKE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT, covered with my thick comforter and a coating of sweat, like someone had turned the heat up and left it blasting. As I went to push the covers off, I realized there was something in my left hand.

I turned the light on and sat up, pulling whatever it was out from under the covers. Something stung my thumb, and I flung the thing to the floor. Sticking my stung thumb in my mouth, I stared at the object on my carpet—

A single yellow rose.

Then I became aware that something else was wrong—something far worse than the rose.

It was a sleeve. A sleeve of pale purple chiffon, fluttering weightlessly around my arm.

And it was attached to a dress. The dress. The one Ashleen had worn.

The dress I was wearing now.

I climbed out of my bed and stood in the center of my room, grabbing at the gauzy layers and trying to figure out how someone could have changed my clothes entirely without waking me up.

I reached over my shoulder to see if there was a zipper in the back of the dress. There wasn’t. A little more patting down revealed one under my right arm. I unzipped it, then went to slip the dress off—but I couldn’t.

When I checked the zipper, it was zipped again.

I unzipped it once more, working hard to steady my breath, trying not to let the situation get to me. But again, when I went to raise it over my head, it wouldn’t budge.

I decided to go with brute force. I lifted the skirt and yanked as hard as I could, determined to rip it to pieces if that was what it took. But as soon as the skirt was blocking my view of the room, I heard soft laughter.

And a voice.

“It doesn’t come off.”

The words were the quietest whisper, the merest hint of a voice in my ear. But through the layers of fabric I saw a shadow standing between me and the lamp.

A human-shaped shadow.

I was half naked, my arms in the air, but I didn’t move. I didn’t drop the dress.

I just stood like a lump, staring. My voice froze solid, like ice in my throat.

Finally, I whispered, “Lydia?”

Then the shadow moved, whipping around me faster than I could react, and in my struggle to catch up, to keep it where I could see it, I dropped the skirt of the dress and found myself face-to-face with my empty bedroom.

It—she?—was gone.

And something had changed.

There was another rose. It was closer to the door, which was now open a crack.

As I forced myself to calm down and not freak out—yet—I heard, coming faintly from somewhere in the room:

Vzzzzzzzzzz

I backed slowly out to the hall.

There I found a third rose, and a fourth one a few feet farther, and a fifth, sixth, and seventh, leading to the foyer.

The urge to see where they led was irresistible.

I held my breath and followed the trail. When I came to the front door, I silently turned the dead bolt and pulled the door open.

There were more roses outside.

It was the middle of the night, and the temperature was in the low thirties. All I wore was the gauzy purple dress, not shoes or even socks. But I followed the line of roses laid out in front of me.

It was almost like I had to.

When I reached the intersection of our front walk and the sidewalk, I hesitated.

I could follow these roses forever, by the looks of things. And at the end, I would find…

What would I find?

As I started to step on the sidewalk, a freezing rush consumed my body.

The roses blinked out of existence just as someone grabbed my arm.

“Lexi?” Kasey stood beside me, bundled in her bathrobe and a pair of woolly slippers. “What are you doing out here? Why didn’t you stop when I called your name?”

I started to open my mouth to ask what she was doing—the best defense is a good offense, after all—but she rolled her eyes and cut me off.

“Following you,” she said. “Now, answer me.”

“I was…” I glanced down at the bare sidewalk.

Then I looked down at my body. All I saw were my plaid Christmas pajama pants and a long-sleeved tee. No purple dress.

Could it really just have been a dream?

If Kasey had seen the dress, she would have said something.

“I was just…sleepwalking, I guess. Weird. Thanks for waking me up.”

“Well, not like I’m going to let you run off in the middle of the night—” She stopped, suddenly realizing that girls running off in the middle of the night was nothing to joke about. “Lexi…was it—would you have kept going? Like Kendra or…”

She didn’t want to say Ashleen’s name. I didn’t blame her. I didn’t want to hear it.

“No,” I said. “Of course not.”

As my daze wore off, the cold took hold of me. It seeped through the skin of my feet and up through my legs.

Kasey watched me go all the way to my room before retreating toward her own bedroom. She looked like she’d rather plant herself down in the hall and guard my door than go back to bed.

“I’ll be fine,” I said. “Get some sleep.”

After I closed the door, I looked around my room.

No roses, no purple dress. The covers of my bed were rumpled, and as I climbed back underneath them, I tried to convince myself that it had just been a nightmare. How could I not have nightmares, after what I’d been through over the past week? Of course it wasn’t real.

That was what I told myself. And I repeated it in my head, an endless mantra, until I fell asleep.

But I didn’t believe it. Not that night, and not in the morning, when I woke up to find a tiny spot of blood on the pillow and a scab on my left thumb, as though I’d been pricked by a thorn.

No, I wasn’t fooling myself. I knew it hadn’t been a nightmare—

Something had come for me.