by Bree Wolf
“I don’t know,” Liam admitted.
“It says mate,” Gabriel pointed out. “And there is the word aid. Maybe it means we need help from someone else.”
“Who?” Eddie asked.
“That’s what we need to figure out,” Liam said.
***
The Fourth of July parade was a big deal in Kenton Woods. The whole town was out, lining Market Street to both sides, cheering and waving little flags as floats pulled by tractors and pick-up trucks rolled by on their way to Town Square. Volunteers had spent weeks, decorating the floats with layers of paint and yards of fabric. Stars of a brilliant white shone on midnight blue backgrounds while the red-white stripe pattern seemed to burst with life and energy. Uncle Sam was a favored theme, and his colorful top hat could be seen everywhere, on old and young heads alike.
In-between floats, marching bands played their hearts out, glowing with the triumph of their performance. Crowds cheered and applauded, and Gabriel was swept away with the rest of them. At home, he had sometimes watched the Fourth of July parade on TV, but experiencing it here with his friends by his side felt different. His blood bubbled over, and his feet wouldn’t keep still.
“There she is,” Liam told Gabriel, pointing at his sister. A huge smile on her face, Nahla stood tall on one of the floats, waving at the crowd. Ribbons of blue, red and white were braided into her chestnut hair, matching earrings of the same color dangling just above her shoulder. “And the one with the blonde curls to her right is Kaitlin. Her BFF. You rarely see one without the other.”
Gabriel laughed. “You mean like us?” His eyes swept over their little group.
“Ha, I guess you’re right,” Liam chuckled. “Never saw it that way.”
Pushing through the crowd, Eddie came rushing toward them, his face flushed.
“What’s with you?” Jordan asked grinning. “Forgot to breathe?”
Eddie was indeed panting. “Funny, but no.” Hands on his knees, he leaned over, breathing in deeply. “I saw him. He’s by the refreshment stands on Town Square.”
“Who?” they all asked in unison.
“Mr. Hamilton,” Eddie said, standing up again. “He is here.”
Jordan’s eyes narrowed. “And this is important because…?”
Eddie looked at her as though she had just asked him why he breathed at all. “If he’s here, he can’t be at the house. Duh!”
The expression on Jordan’s face didn’t change. “Again, why should we care?”
Eyeing her up and down, Eddie shook his head. “Have you always been this slow?”
The muscles in her jaw tightened, and her eyes narrowed into slits. “Careful, you little weasel.”
“Touchy, aren’t we?” Eddie grinned.
From one second to the next, Jordan lunged at him, hand balled into a fist.
Cat, who had been sitting quietly by Jordan’s feet, instantly changed into an alert position. Her teeth showing, she growled at Eddie.
Gabriel’s eyes opened wide, and he took a step back. But Jack and Liam reacted quickly. While Jack grabbed a hold of his sister, Liam pushed Eddie out of the way, interposing himself between the two of them.
“Calm down,” Jack ordered in a harsh tone, keeping his arms wrapped around his sister. “You know how he is.”
“Jordan, please,” Liam pleaded. A hand on her shoulder, he tried to calm her while at the same time pushing Eddie farther back with the other. “You need to get back in control. Don’t let him push your buttons.”
As Jordan stopped struggling against her brother’s hold on her, Liam turned to Eddie. “Do you really have to do this?”
Eddie just shrugged. “Oh, c’mon. This is fun. It’s like watching a car head for a cliff. You know what’s going to happen. All you have to do is keep your foot on the accelerator.”
Liam shook his head. “Maybe it’s your mental stability we should be concerned about.”
Again, Eddie just shrugged. “Whatever.” He glanced down the street toward Town Square. “How about we go check out the house? I don’t think we’ll get another chance as good as this one. He is here, alone. That means that the girl is probably still at the house. So? What do you say? Are you in or not?”
Chapter 12 – Lonely
Even in broad daylight the house seemed haunted. Most of the paint was peeled off, giving the wood a run-down impression. Bushes and trees, not to mention the lawn, grew in wild abundance. They hadn’t seen shears or a lawn mower in years. The small gate that once upon a time had probably shone in a sparkling white barely hung on its hinges. In short, the house looked like it was dying.
“So, we’re here,” Jordan said, her eyes still shooting lightning bolts at Eddie. “What now?”
Eddie shrugged. “We’ll check if she’s here.”
“You just want to walk up to the door and knock?” Gabriel wondered.
“You got a better idea?”
Jordan nodded. “The tree.” She turned on her heel and in one swift leap jumped over the fence. As always Cat was by her side. Still staring after her, the others watched Jordan head straight for the tree she had almost fallen off of only a few nights ago.
“Shouldn’t we go with her?” Gabriel asked, looking at the others.
As though shaken awake, Jack blinked and then took off over the fence, running to the tree. The others followed a split second later.
Already halfway up the tree, Jordan looked down. “What are you waiting for? There is more than enough room for all of us up here?” Then she grinned. “Maybe not for you Eddie.”
“What?” he cried.
“She’s right,” Jack said, starting up the tree. “You stay down here.” He looked around. “Let us know if anyone comes.”
“Damn it!” Eddie cursed, kicking the fence. A loose picket fell off.
“Pull yourself together, man,” Jack snapped from in the tree. “That’s an order.” After him, Liam and then Gabriel took to climbing.
Gabriel couldn’t remember the last time he had sat in a tree, far above the ground, looking out at the land spreading out in every direction. A smile danced over his face.
Inching closer to the window, its blinds still drawn, Jordan had decided on a different approach. She was standing on the branch she had hung from the last time, almost looking like a tightrope walker balancing on it.
“Are you insane?” Liam objected. “You’ll break your neck.”
“Only if I fall,” Jordan commented, her voice unaffected. She kept her eyes focused on something in the distance. One step after the other she approached the window, which hung just a little higher than the branch. The moment her hands touched the wall, they all breathed a sigh of relief.
“Don’t ever do that again,” Jack said, wiping sweat off his forehead.
Jordan shrugged, a victorious smile on her face. “You coming?”
“Is someone there?” suddenly came a voice from inside.
They all froze, eyes going wide.
A moment later, the blinds were drawn back and a girl about their own age suddenly stood at the window. Her hair was a deep burgundy, making her pale skin look even paler. She seemed to match the house perfectly though, and for a moment, Gabriel thought he was seeing a ghost.
When she found them sitting in the tree under her window, the girl’s eyes widened, but there was a curl to her lips that suddenly made her look very much alive.
“Eh…hello,” Jordan said, teeth digging into her lower lip as an awkward smile appeared on her face. “Hannah?”
The girl nodded, and a shy smile came to her face. “How do you know?”
Jordan shrugged. “We’ve been snooping around your mailbox.”
“Very subtle, Jordan,” Jack chided, shaking his head. “Awesome.”
“Oh, stop worrying. Hannah’s not going to rat us out.” She turned back to the girl in the window. “Eh, I’m Jordan, by the way. That scardy-cat over there is my brother Jack, our friends Liam and Gabriel,” she said pointing at each of the
m. “The handsome lady over there is Cat.” Hearing her name, Cat barked. “Oh, and the dude not in the tree is Eddie. He’s afraid of heights.”
“I am not afrai—” he started, hands on his hips.
“Yeah, yeah, don’t wet yourself,” Jordan interrupted, turning back to Hannah, who still looked at them as though they were little green men from a far-off planet. “May we come in?”
Hannah didn’t say a word, but her head bobbed up and down eagerly, and she stepped away from the window to let them in.
Jordan climbed through quickly, holding out a hand to help the others following her.
“What about me?” Eddie called from down in the back yard. He sounded more than just a little annoyed.
“See if the coast is clear,” Jordan said, leaning out the window. “And keep an eye on Cat.”
Slouching down in the grass, Eddie pouted.
***
Hannah’s room was located at the southeast corner of the house with three windows opening to the green meadows spreading out in that direction. Although it was quite roomy, it felt crowded. Everywhere, up and down the walls, on her desk, even around her bed, books were stacked, not on shelves but piled up like building blocks. Two of those towers almost reached the ceiling.
Pointing at the one next to the bed, Jordan asked, “Aren’t you afraid that thing is going to kill you in your sleep?”
Hannah just shrugged, her eyes dancing over them. Gabriel thought that he saw something like awe on her face and wondered why.
By the south window stood an easel with a canvas showing the view of the meadow. Oil paints of all colors and brushes of all shapes and sizes lay on a small table to its right. Craning his neck, Gabriel found more paintings resting against the back wall. They all showed the same meadow.
“Did you paint these?” Gabriel asked to break the moment of silence that had settled over the room.
Again, Hannah nodded, but didn’t say a word.
Gabriel felt a strange sense of recognition. “And the books?” he wondered. “You didn’t read them all, did you?”
“I did,” Hannah said, her voice barely more than a whisper.
“Seriously?” Jordan gawked. “You’re a bookworm? Don’t you ever go outside? I mean it’s summer break.” She laughed. “Books are really just for school, don’t you think?”
The glowing awe slowly vanished from Hannah’s face. “I am home-schooled,” she said. “I don’t go outside.”
“What?” Jordan asked, brows furrowed. “Not ever?”
Hannah shook her head.
All their jaws dropped open at that.
“What about for fun? To see your friends?” Jack wondered.
Again, Hannah shook her head. “I am not allowed outside,” she said. As she turned to the window, there was a yearning in her eyes that Gabriel remembered all too well.
“Why not?” Jordan asked. “Who says? Your parents?”
Hannah just shrugged. “Will you tell me about it?” she whispered, her eyes glowing like those of a child’s on Christmas Eve.
“About what?” Jordan asked.
“What it’s like to be outside.”
Again, silence fell over the room.
“Are you okay?” Liam asked, coming forward. “I mean, do you need help? Should we…” He hesitated. “Should we call the police?”
Hannah’s eyes opened in shock. “No, I’m fine,” she breathed. “Everything’s okay. My grandfather is just looking out for me.”
“Your grandfather?” Liam repeated. “Mr. Hamilton?”
“Yes,” she said. “My father is very busy with work, so he sent me here.”
Again, there was a tinge of sadness to her eyes, and Gabriel nodded. “What about your mom?”
Hannah’s gaze shifted to the floor. “She died when I was little.”
“I’m sorry,” they all mumbled, their own eyes turning to the floor.
“Incoming!” suddenly came Eddie’s voice from outside. “Incoming!”
The awkwardness hanging like a thick cloud over the room dissolved, and Jack rushed to the window, looking down. “Who? Where?”
“A car coming up the road,” Eddie said. “And since there are no other houses anywhere near here,” he looked around as though to prove his point, “I’m guessing it’s Mr. Hamilton.”
“You have to leave!” Hannah said instantly. Her eyes had lost all the calm they had seen there before. “He can’t know you were here!”
“All right, let’s move,” Jack said. “Jordan, you take point.”
Without hesitation, Jordan climbed out the window and balanced across the branch. A moment later, Liam followed.
“Now you,” Jack told Gabriel.
Reluctantly, he turned to the window. One leg on the branch, he heard Hannah’s whispered voice. “Will you come back?”
“We’ll try,” Jack said. “Are you sure you don’t need help?”
“I’m sure,” she replied.
***
Hiding around the corner in the backyard, they waited until Mr. Hamilton, carrying a ball of red cotton candy in his left hand, disappeared into the house before walking their bikes up to the road. Once there, they got on and quickly rode out of sight.
“So? What did she say?” Eddie asked, ears red with excitement.
With a little bit of torturing from Jordan, they filled him in on the weird life of Hannah Porter.
“She really never goes outside?”
“Apparently not,” Jack said as they sat on the steps to the library, watching the hustle and bustle going on down in Town Square. “Something about her is not right.”
“You think?” Jordan gawked mockingly. “Something seems to be more than just a little wrong, but I’m not sure it’s what you think it is.” She looked at Eddie.
“And what do you think I think it is?” he asked.
“Oh, c’mon,” she said, shaking her head. “We’ve all heard your stories. You tell them again and again. Monsters. Zombies. Axe-murderers. Did I leave anything out?”
Liam frowned. “What? You think Mr. Hamilton is some kind of psycho?”
“Not me,” Jordan said, eyes again shifting to Eddie. “But that dude looks like he does.” She shrugged. “I just think that…yes, she seems to lead an…unusual life. But many people do. That doesn’t mean there is something wrong about it.”
“You don’t think she is in trouble?” Jack asked his sister.
Jordan shook her head. “She didn’t seem scared. Just…lonely.”
Jack nodded. “You’re right.”
“So, then we’ll do nothing?” Eddie asked, shoulders slumped.
“You are just hoping for some kind of freaky…something,” Jordan said. “Don’t turn this into something it is not just because you feel bored.”
“Fine,” Eddie pouted, rising to his feet. “I’m getting some cotton-candy.” And he marched off.
Sitting on the stairs overlooking the people of Kenton Woods enjoying themselves, Gabriel remembered the longing look in Hannah’s eyes. Maybe Jordan is right, he thought. Maybe she’s just lonely.
But lonely was bad enough.
Chapter 13 – Damsel in Distress
“You ready to go?” Liam asked as Gabriel opened the door.
“Go where?”
“The Dive,” Liam said, shaking his head. “Are you still asleep? The sun's out. It’s warm, hot even, and no more rain.” He peeked at the sky. “So, let’s go.”
“Eh…”
“Something wrong?”
Gabriel shook his head. “No, it’s just that there's something else I need to do this morning. But I’ll catch up with you around noon, that all right?”
Liam’s eyes narrowed as he looked him up and down. “All right, but don’t do anything stupid.”
“I won’t,” Gabriel promised. “See you later.”
Watching Liam ride his bike down the road, Gabriel was even more convinced that he was doing the right thing. The last few days, he hadn’t been able to g
et Hannah out of his head once. There was something about her that felt so familiar that he saw it as his responsibility to help her although he had no idea how.
Gabriel grabbed his phone and keys, got on his bike and headed toward the haunted house. Maybe it’s not the house that’s haunted, he thought. Maybe it’s the people living in it.
As he drew closer, Gabriel didn’t see anyone in the front yard or on the street. Passing by, he swung around and walked his bike down into the meadow, following the run-down fence to the back of the house. His eyes flashed here and there, ears open, always alert to his surroundings. Only when he passed by the side window did he hear the faint clinking of dishes and the clatter of silverware. For a second, he stopped, but then moved on, left his bike by the fence and climbed over it into the back yard.
His heart was racing as he approached Hannah’s window. This is not like you, it seemed to be screaming. Are you sure you want to do this?
Gabriel wasn’t sure, and yet, he picked up a small pebble and swiftly threw it at the window. It bounced back with a slight ping!
When nothing happened, he picked up another pebble and threw it. Again, he waited. When he bent down to pick up yet another one, he suddenly heard the window sliding open. A moment later, Hannah’s head appeared, her long hair swaying in the wind. As she found him standing in the high grass under her window, a smile spread over her face.
Gabriel felt an answering expression flash over his own. “Can I come up?” he asked, and she nodded.
Climbing up the tree was easy. However, once he sat in its crown, with the long branch leading to Hannah’s room right in front of him, he wondered if he could make it. Alone. Without Jordan’s help.
Hannah was still leaning out the window, her eyes never leaving him, as he slowly set one foot in front of the other.
“Above you,” she suddenly whispered. “Reach up with your hands.”
Without looking, Gabriel did as she had told him, and before long, his hands touched bark. Another branch, running almost parallel to the one he stood on. He breathed a sigh of relief and with his grasp on the branch above moved forward more quickly.