After Twilight
Page 26
out the front window. “I will. Thank you.”
He tapped the hood of my car. “Drive safe.”
I nodded and pulled away.
At home, I got out and looked at the claw marks on top
of my car. I ran inside and paced back and forth, thinking
about what just happened. I decided to text Liam.
Do you feel like coming over?
I sat on the couch and waited for him to text me. My
mind was racing a mile a minute. Someone’s after me, I’m sure of
it.
The vibration of my phone on my lap made me jump.
It was a text from Liam.
Sure, I’ll be there in twenty. Do you need
anything?
No, I just need a friend but thank you.
Okay. Be there shortly.
I sighed with relief then tossed my phone on the couch
next to me. I turned on the TV, trying to find something
funny to watch to take my mind off all the craziness. I flipped
through the channels and stopped when I saw an alert for
twenty-three missing people in my area.
Shortly after, the doorbell rang, causing me to flinch. I
got up and answered the door.
“Hey, are you okay?” Liam asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I don’t like being alone. Come in.”
He stepped inside. “This is weird, being here with
Kaylee gone.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“Sorry for bringing it up. So, what’s up, why are you so
scared?”
“Something scary happened tonight.”
“What?”
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After I told him, we walked outside to look at my car.
“I think it was those wild animals fighting,” he said.
“What about my hair getting pulled?”
“You probably freaked out and thought something
pulled it.” He touched the deep scratches on my car. “It does
feel and look like the same marks on my Jeep. “I think it’s
that leopard we saw.”
“No, that leopard could’ve killed us when we were in
the woods and it didn’t. And he saved my life in Romania.”
“The leopard saved your life?
“Forget I mentioned that. I think it’s something else.” I
paused and looked toward the woods across the street. “Are
you sure you didn’t see that blue creature?”
“No, I didn’t and neither did you.”
“Did you hear about all the missing people that
disappeared in the last few months?”
“Yes, that’s crazy. And the people that were killed were
found with their brains and livers missing.”
“Ew. What kind of animal would do that?”
He shrugged. “Maybe it’s not an animal and it’s a man
who watched Hannibal too many times. There are sick people
out there. Come on. Let’s go inside.”
Before we walked back inside, Liam stopped and turned
to me. “Being that Kaylee isn’t here anymore, do you need a
roommate?”
“Are you serious? You? I don’t think my parents would
approve of that.”
“Viata, come on, you’re eighteen. You can do what you
want.”
A faint growl came from across the street.
I grabbed Liam’s arm. “Did you just hear that?”
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“Yes. See, you need me to move in and protect you.”
I shut the door and locked it. “If I did allow this, it
would be strictly roommates and nothing more. And none
of your girlfriends are allowed in my room, ever.”
He tilted his head. “I’m sorry about that. She liked your
room better. And I know where we stand.”
I smacked him playfully. “Who is she?”
He gulped. “Was, and she’s no one you know.”
“Whatever. I’ll sleep on it and tell you if I want a man
whore for a roommate.”
He chuckled. “What are we watching?”
“Nothing scary.”
He sat on the loveseat across from me.
After we watched a comedy, I got him a blanket.
“Goodnight.”
“Thank you, Viata.”
“No problem.”
He sat up and took off his shirt, displaying his muscular
body.
“What? You’ve never seen a shirtless black boy before?”
I rolled my eyes. “Have a great night.”
In bed, I tried to remember in detail everything that
happened to me. In the end, I thought Liam was right about
the wild animals but did wonder about Latore and his
intentions.
I turned on my side and closed my eyes. When
something touched my leg, I sat up in bed and saw it was
Liam.
I groaned and threw my head back on the pillow. “It
feels like I just fell asleep.” I rubbed my eyes. “What time is
it?”
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“It’s 6:30. Get up for school.”
“I was just there.”
“School sucks, but we will graduate together. Now,
come on. Get up.”
I moaned and walked him to the door. “Thanks for
coming.”
“No problem. So, when am I moving in?” he asked me,
flashing his teeth at me.
I lightly pushed him out the door and slowly shut it.
“See you at school.”
“But you were supposed to sleep on it.”
I closed the door slowly. “I’m still sleeping. I’ll tell you
later when I’m awake.”
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week had passed. I went to Dr. Wells’s memorial.
It was sad, but not as upsetting as Kaylee’s
because Dr. Wells was cremated. Plus, I didn’t
know her as well as I knew Kaylee.
While there, Mom introduced me to a good friend of
Dr. Wells, who was a psychiatrist, too. Her name was Dr.
Dalca. She was an attractive, slim-faced brunette in her late
thirties, with a natural smile that lit up her face. I told her
that Dr. Wells was helping me with my sleep disorder, and
she handed me a card and asked me to call her if I needed to
talk to someone. She was kind and friendly.
Latore and I became friends after the night he helped
me. He wasn’t that bad after all. He asked me out, but I told
him I wasn’t looking for a boyfriend, even though he was a
looker and most of the girls wanted him, including Sara.
Maria stayed away from him. She seemed jealous.
Kaylee’s and Dr. Wells’s deaths kept replaying over and
over in my head. It was horrible. I thought about Constin to
take my mind off them, but it only made it worse. I still
wondered why he disappeared. I had two pills left and no
more refills. I didn’t want to see another doctor, but I wasn’t
about to have another micro-nap and dream again if I didn’t
have to.
Liam kept pleading with me to let him move in the day
after he slept over. I finally said yes, but we agreed that Cujo
would remain at his mother’s house because he had tried to
attack me. Liam kept to himself and seemed to respect my
wishes. It was great having a man around to take out the
garbage.
Mom asked me to call Dr. Dalca, so I called her
receptionist and m
ade an appointment for the following day.
At school, Latore greeted me at the entrance, as he
usually did. “Hey, Viata,” he said with his cheeky smile.
“Hi.” I edged past him.
He caught up and walked alongside me. “One of my
friends is having a party downtown tomorrow night. Will you
go with me?”
I stopped in front of my classroom and turned to him.
“You have tons of girls to choose from. Why me?”
“Because no other girl in this school can offer me what
you have.”
“And what is that?”
“Just you,” he said, smiling.
I rolled my eyes and used my backside to open the door.
“Is that a yes?” he asked as the door closed.
“I’ll think about it.”
After school, I did a few errands and drove back home.
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Liam was watching TV on the couch. “Hi.” I kicked my
shoes off and lay down on the other couch. “Damn, I’m
tired.”
“Yeah, me too,” Liam replied without looking at me.
“Remember when I told you about Latore from class?”
“Yup. That guy gives me the chills. Why?”
“He asked me to go to a party with him tomorrow night.
Should I go?”
“Sure, if you want to be around a bunch of dudes
drooling over you and trying to get into your pants.”
“He seems cool. Do you want to come with me?”
“Nope, that’s all you.”
“Okay.” I dropped it, knowing it was making him upset.
“Night.” I went to my room.
The next morning, I woke up and saw a note sitting on
the nightstand.
Sorry about my attitude last night. I think you should stay away
from him. You’ve been through enough already, Liam.
I placed the note back down. I knew he was right, but
Latore seemed nice. I needed to do something to take my
mind off everything that happened.
After I took a shower, I left for my appointment with
Dr. Dalca. It turned out to be more challenging than I’d
expected. Her building was in a newly developed area, so it
didn’t show up on the GPS. It took me a while, but I
eventually found it.
“Hi, I have an appointment,” I told the receptionist.
“Ms. Vandell?”
I smiled. “Yes.”
“Please fill out these forms, and Dr. Dalca will be out
shortly.”
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“Thank you.”
I sat in the soft chair and filled out all the paperwork.
There were so many questions about my life and medical
history that by the time I filled it out, my hand began to
spasm and go numb. When I finished, I gave the receptionist
the completed forms and my insurance card. I waited for
another twenty minutes.
Dr. Dalca opened the door and approached me. “Hi,
Ms. Vandell. Or would you prefer Viata?”
I stood up and shook her cold hand. “Viata will do just
fine.”
“Okay, Viata, please step into my office and make
yourself comfortable. I’ll be in shortly.”
I walked into the room and sat on a burgundy love seat
in front of another chair. Her office had stone walls that
reminded me of Bran Castle. Behind her glass desk, books
lined the wall and statues of all different types of animals sat
on shelves.
Dr. Dalca came in and sat in front of me, looking over
my paperwork. She adjusted her red, cat-eye, glasses and
raised her head.
“How have you been since I saw you at the memorial?”
I glanced at the red specs on her white blouse,
wondering what it was. “A little better.”
“Good. I’m glad you called me. What brings you here to
see me? Is it the dreams and headaches you’re still having?”
“Yes, and I need more pills. I only have one left.”
“Please remind me of the dreams you’ve been having.”
I looked at the statue of a black stallion in the corner of
the room, then back at her. “I don’t want to go into detail
about them. It should be in Dr. Wells’s notes.”
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“Okay. Did you have any more dreams about the
dagger?”
“No, why?”
“Just asking. Have you seen the man you were dating?
Constin, was it?”
“What does he have to do with my dreams?”
“I’m trying to figure out where the stress is coming
from.”
“He vanished before Kaylee’s death.”
“Do you miss him?”
I shrugged. “I guess so.”
“What is it that you miss about him?”
“How come Dr. Wells didn’t ask me questions like
this?”
“We all have different techniques.”
I sighed. “I liked the way he protected me.”
“Who did he protect you from?”
“Bullies at school. A man in a bar, and other things, but
I can’t remember all of them.”
She leaned forward in her chair. “How did you get into
a bar when you’re not old enough?”
I gulped. “I meant a restaurant.”
She sat back and crossed her legs. “When you were with
him, did he do things that seemed unnatural?”
“No.”
“Are you certain you haven’t seen Constin since he’s
vanished?”
Her questions were too personal and odd. “No. Can we
talk about something else, please?”
“We’re done here,” she said bluntly.
What a bitch. “Okay.”
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“I’ll send the prescription into Walgreens.”
She walked me out of her office. “See you soon, Viata.”
She went back inside and shut the door.
As I walked over to the reception desk and asked for a
note to give to my school, the woman looked paler than
when I first saw her.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
She adjusted her red shirt. “I think I’m coming down
with the flu.”
“I hope you feel better.”
Dr. Dalca opened her office door. “Is there a problem
out here?”
I turned to her. “No, I was getting a note for school.”
She smirked and shut the door. The receptionist handed
me the note.
“Thanks.’’
From there, I went straight to the drug store to pick up
my pills, then off to school. When I didn’t see Latore, I
wanted to text him, telling him I was sick, but then I managed
to convince myself I needed to have some fun.
At home, I put on a pink sundress with white sandals
and met him downtown at 8:30 like he asked me to.
It wasn’t easy finding a spot in the parking garage near
the apartment building he’d mentioned. It was packed with
people all dressed up for an evening of fun.
With a few minutes left before he arrived, I rolled down
the window to get some fresh air and looked in the rearview
mirror to fix my hair. Seconds later, something that smelled
like a dead skunk came in my cracked window. I shielded my
; nose and looked to my left. Three young men were sitting in
their car in a cloud of smoke with the windows down. I rolled
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the window back up, knowing it was marijuana and got out.
As I walked away, I coughed, and the three men
laughed.
Someone grabbed my waist.
I spun around, ready to defend myself, but it was Latore.
“Damn, you scared me.” I laughed and smacked him lightly
on his arm.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to spook you. You look great, but
your perfume smells like skunk.”
I giggled. “Some guys next to me were smoking weed.
“Are you sure you didn’t smoke some with them?”
“Funny. Where’s this party at?”
“Follow me,” he said.
We walked to a door that led to the apartment building.
Once inside, I admired the large room with crystal
chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. “This is gorgeous! I’m
sure it’s expensive to live here.”
Latore smirked. “It’s the dean’s son’s party. That should
tell you something.”
“Oh, so this is where my parents’ money is going to go
when I start college?”
He nodded and pressed the button to the elevator. As
we went up, I flinched at a loud thump above our heads.
“What the heck was that?”
Latore grinned as he looked up. “It’s nothing.” He
moved closer to me and rubbed my back.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, it’s just an old elevator.”
As we continued to climb, Latore’s mood became more
subdued.
“Is everything okay?”
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He gave me a smug look. “Everything is just perfect,
Doll.”
Latore kept glancing up while plucking at the cuff of his
long sleeve shirt. He seemed to go from liking me to hating
me in the matter of a minute. When we reached the
fourteenth floor, the door opened onto a red-carpeted
hallway.
Latore stepped out and gestured for me to follow him.
Loud techno music was playing. At the door, people were
coming and going. As we pushed our way through the sweaty
crowd, a few girls grabbed him and begged him to dance.
“Not tonight, girls.” He glanced over his shoulder at me.
I forced a smile. Player.