by M. K. ROZE
Dad and Detective Maverick walked out of the room. I
could see their lips moving, but I heard nothing. I looked at
the case file on the table and glanced back at them talking. I
wanted to ask him if I could watch the video, to make sure
the man and Dr. Wells spoke about my adoption, but I
decided not to. I didn’t want to see her murder again.
Dad opened the door and peeked his head in. “Are you
ready?”
I took one last look at the case file and nodded.
On our way out of the police station, Dad stopped and
turned to me. “Don’t you ever disrespect the law like that
again.”
I gulped from his tone. “I’m sorry.” We continued to
the car. “Am I a suspect?”
Dad opened the passenger door. “No.”
At a red light, Dad turned to me. “I didn’t want to say
anything back there, but how did you manage to toss me
onto the hood of your car if you weren’t on some kind of
drug?”
I started biting my nails. “I can’t remember. Maybe it
was an adrenaline rush from being mad.”
He chuckled. “I don’t think so.”
As we were pulling into our house, Dad turned off the
car and sighed. “Viata, I know you’re going through an awful
lot, but just know that I love you, and I would never hurt
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you.”
“I know you wouldn’t. I’m sorry for being a jerk back
there.”
We hugged one another and walked inside.
Mom was on the couch and quickly wiped her tears
away. “Please, sit. I want to talk to you,” she said.
I knew by the look in her eyes she was going to ask me
tons of questions, so I prepared myself. Dad sat next to her.
I sat across from them and fiddled with my earring.
“Honey, are you sure you never met the man that killed
Dr. Wells? He acted as if he knew you.”
“Mom, seriously. No, I never met him before.”
“Jules, she just went over this with Detective Maverick,”
Dad said.
Mom came over and sat next to me. “I’m sorry, honey.”
I hugged her. “It’s okay.” I paused. “Where are my
biological parents?”
“Honey,” she said softly. “I couldn’t have any children.
Being that your father and I had met in Romania, we thought
it would be a great idea to adopt there.”
“Why didn’t they want me?” I sniffled.
Mom looked over at my dad.
Dad nodded his head for her to tell me.
Mom turned back to me. “They told us that they
thought that you looked and acted differently, so they placed
you up for adoption.”
“Why, because of my alien eyes?”
Mom looked down. “I know it’s awful, but yes. That’s
what they said.”
“Well, that’s no reason to get rid of your child.”
“I know, sweetie.” She rubbed my back. “I’m sorry,
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honey.”
“Their loss. I was probably better off without them.”
Mom finally stopped crying. “This is why we wanted
you to go to Romania with us. I was going to tell you while
we were looking at the hospital, but you were still stressed
out about the dream on the plane, so I’d figured I’d wait. I’m
sorry.”
“Is that the reason you were so upset?
“Yes. We have your baby picture with you and your real
parents. Do you want to see it?”
“No, not now. When is Dr. Wells’s funeral?”
Dad sat on the other side of me. “It will probably be
sometime next week. We understand if you don’t want to go
being you just went to Kaylee’s.”
“Of course, I’ll go. She was a sweet woman.” I held both
my parents. “I’m so sorry.”
We hugged one another for what seemed to be forever.
I went outside and sat on the bench. I needed time to
think. My life felt like it was slowly ripping apart. After a few
deep breaths, I calmed down.
As I was thinking about what took place in the past
couple of months, Liam came out of his house with Cujo. As
they got closer, Cujo growled.
“Cujo.” I stretched my hand out for him to smell it.
Cujo looked past me, unresponsive to my friendly
approach. He barked sharply and leaped at me.
“Whoa, sit down!” Liam yanked back on the leash,
causing Cujo to whimper, but he kept trying to get at me.
I jumped over the bench so that the possessed dog
wouldn’t bite me. “What the hell is wrong with him?”
“Cujo, stop it!” Liam pulled him back. “I don’t know.
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Let me put him away.”
When they left, I sat back down and caught my breath.
A cool breeze blew past me. I twisted around to see what it
was, but nothing was there.
Liam returned and joined me on the bench. His swollen
eyes glanced into mine.
“Damn,” he said. “First, you toss your father onto the
hood of your car. Second, your front lawn looked like a
murder scene. And now Cujo just tried to attack you. What’s
going on with you, Viata? Are you on something?”
I slammed my hands down to my sides and turned to
him. “Liam, I can’t deal with this right now. I just watched
my psychiatrist get her head tore off in front of me and some
evil witch torture me just to do it.”
“Witch?”
“Forget it. She was just a dream but Dr. Wells’s head
getting ripped off in front of me wasn’t.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know. What happened?”
I calmed down and told him. “Tell Kaylee what I just
told you. I don’t want to repeat myself.”
Liam gently touched my shoulder. “Viata, Kaylee’s
dead.”
I buried my face in my knees.
He rubbed my back. “It’s okay. You’ve been through a
lot lately.”
“Did you tell Maria about the dream I had with the
dagger?”
“No, I would never tell your business to anyone.”
“Do you think Kaylee did?”
“She might have.”
At that moment, I didn’t know who to trust. I turned to
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him. “I need some time alone to think, okay?”
He kissed my forehead and walked toward his house
with his head down.
I elbowed the bench and cried until there were no more
tears left.
That night I tried to eat stuffed peppers, but I had no
appetite, so I took two pills and went into my room. I
grabbed my carry-on bag from when I was in Romania and
unpacked it. When I opened it, a wet dog smell came from
it. I took my clothes out and smelled each of them. At first,
I couldn’t find where the smell was coming from until I
picked up the jeans I wore when I thought I saw Muma. As
I smelled them, something tickled my nose. I raised the jeans
into the light, and a few long black hairs were embedded in
them. I tossed them on the floor and shook my head in
disbelief.
Was the leopard really there?
“No way. That wasn’t real. It was only another dream.”
I got in bed and lay there crying, not sure of what to
believe anymore.
Morning came quickly like always, and my misery was,
once again, taking control. I needed to get out of my parents’
house and go back to mine. I felt independent and was
changing in some strange way I couldn’t define.
My parents didn’t like the fact that I was leaving, but I
assured them that I would be fine and needed to get back to
school. Mom suggested that more time off would be a good
thing because it was less than a week since Kaylee’s and Dr.
Wells’s death, but I thought differently. I told them I needed
to keep myself busy. They told me they would pay all the rent
until I was back on my feet.
Mom leaned her head on Dad’s shoulder as I pulled out
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of the driveway. I could see the pain in her tearful eyes.
Usually, I’d be crying too, but I felt anger instead, and
couldn’t seem to turn it off.
Another couple of nights of sitting around waiting on
Constin to contact me drove me mad, so I texted him and
told him we were over. After I sent it, it made me feel sick,
but I wasn’t about to keep a jerk like him around.
Sleep was eluding me because of the wild animals that
kept fighting every night. I called animal control out to my
house to set up traps, hoping they would catch them.
My phone woke me up mid-afternoon. “Hey, Mom.”
“Hi, honey, are you okay?”
“A little better. What’s up?”
“How come you didn’t go back to school yet? I know I
told you not to go back for a while, but now I’m afraid you
won’t graduate because you’ve been missing so much.”
I sighed. “I just needed more time.”
“Why don’t you come back here and live?”
“No, Mom. I’m fine here. You told me you would pay
the rent until I’m back on my feet.”
“I know we did, but I still don’t think you should be in
that house alone.”
I ended the call and slammed my hands on the bed.
After I calmed down, I sat up, thinking of what to do. I knew
I needed to go back to school or lose everything.
I staggered over to my closet, stopped at the mirror, and
looked at the dark purple patches under my eyes. I continued
into the bathroom and frantically dug into my makeup bag
for the concealer. After applying three layers, the purple
faded, and I no longer resembled a zombie.
The following day, I went to school. It was horrible. I
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made it through the first couple of periods without crying.
In my next class, I glanced over to where Kaylee used to sit,
but this time, I managed to control my emotions and listened
to the teacher speak. When class was over, I went to my next
period, and someone tapped me on my shoulder.
I turned around and looked up at a handsome young
man running his fingers through his blonde hair.
“Love the eyes,” he said smoothly.
“Thanks. What is it you need?”
His light blue eyes fastened on mine. “I’m new to this
school. Would you be a doll and show me where the cafeteria
is?”
“Um, sure, follow me,” I said. “Are you sure you’re
young enough to be here?”
“Yes, why?”
“No one calls people names like that around here,
especially kids our age. Plus, you look like you’re over
twenty.”
“I get that a lot. I was raised to treat a woman with
respect and call her what she is. You look like a doll to me.”
Another player added to my list. I forced a smile. “Thanks.”
“What’s your name? Or would you rather me call you
Doll?”
“Viata is fine.”
“What’s gotten you so distraught?”
I rubbed my forehead. “I have a headache.”
“Sorry to hear that. Well, I’m Latore.”
We came to the entrance of the cafeteria.
“Here we are,” I said. “It was nice meeting you.”
“Thank you, Viata.” He took my hand, ready to kiss it.
I pulled my hand away.
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“Sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you.”
“You’re fine.” I backed up, turned around, and walked
off to my next class.
Five minutes later, Latore came in and sat next to me.
“Are you stalking me?” he muttered flirtatiously.
I shot him a dirty look. “I was here first.”
Latore slumped in his seat. “Do you feel like showing
me around town after school?”
What is with these guys? “I already have a boyfriend. Maybe
you should find someone else to show you around.”
Latore leaned over. “I don’t think you do,” he
whispered.
I pushed him away. “What the hell, weirdo?”
“Is something going on back there?” the teacher asked.
Latore ignored her, got up, and headed for the door. He
turned to me, winked, and walked out like he owned the
school. I fell back in my seat, offended.
After school, I grabbed my backpack and drove to a
nearby library to catch up on homework. After three hours
of studying, I walked outside to my car and held my hair back
from the strong wind. I looked up to see if a storm was
brewing, but I couldn’t see any clouds, and the full moon was
brighter than usual.
As I was getting into my car, a hissing sound came from
the woods in front of me. Usually, I would jump into my car,
but this time, I walked into the grass and over to where it
was coming from. Using my phone for light, I looked al
around but didn’t see anything.
“Viata,” Savina’s voice whispered.
I gasped, backed up to the front of my car, and kept my
eyes on the woods in front of me. I took my pill, didn’t I?
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“Viata,” Savina said but much louder. It sounded like
her voice was everywhere.
“No. This can’t be happening again.”
I slid along to the driver’s side door, as I kept my eyes
ahead, frantically feeling for the handle. I jumped in, locked
the door, and leaned over to the passenger seat to get my
mace out of my bag, but something pulled my hair. I tried
yanking it lose, but it was stuck in the door. “Dammit!”
The hissing sound came again from outside the window
and was much louder. I tried to pull my hair free again, but
the hissing intensified. I started the car and revved the engine
to scare off whatever it was. When the hissing stopped, I
could hear my rapid breathing and the sound of footsteps
coming from the roof of my car.
“Leave me alone,” I shouted.
Loud growling followed by something with claws
scratched the roof. I slammed the clutch down, stepped on
the gas, and gunned it backward. Something yanked the part
of my hair that was caught in the door, causing my face to
smack the driver’s window. Unable to move my head, I
slammed on the horn while placing my foot on the brake to
prevent the car’s backward momentum, leaving me no time
to find neutral. The car jerked and stalled.
A menacing laugh came from above me, then something
pulled my hair again, causing me to screech in pain.
Something black and huge flew out of the woods and
attacked whatever was on top of my car. After a long time of
roaring and hissing, it finally stopped.
I looked forward, but no one was there.
“Hold on, I’m coming,” a man called out.
Someone knocked on the driver’s side window, but I
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was unable to turn my head to see who it was.
Latore stepped in front of the car. “Unlock the door.”
I didn’t know if it was him messing with me or what.
“No. Let my hair go now!” I shouted.
“Viata, I don’t have your hair. It’s caught in the door.
Open it to free yourself.”
I unlocked the door and hurried out of the car, rubbing
my head. “What the hell. Was that you?”
Latore scowled toward the woods. “No, it wasn’t me.”
He touched the hood of my car.
“What are you looking at?”
His angry eyes met mine. “Nothing, Doll. Did you get
into an accident and hit your head?”
“No, I mean yes, but not today, but I didn’t hit my head.
You didn’t hear that loud growl?” I walked around the car to
see if anyone else was there. “How did you know I was
here?”
His eyes followed me. “No, I didn’t see or hear anything
but your screams for help. As for me being here, I needed
books for a test I have.”
I leaned over the trunk with my head down on my arms.
I thought that perhaps I didn’t take my pills, or if I did, they
weren’t working.
“Maybe it was cats or something.” I didn’t want another
student thinking I was nuts too.
“It seems that way.”
I got back into my car and went to close the door.
Latore held it open and leaned down with his shirt
hanging loose, showing off his muscular pecs. “Try to get
some rest.”
When he caught me staring at his chest, I quickly looked
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