“She’s hanging out with older men.” Nadia cut me with a side glance before going back to fidgeting with her teddy bear that was dressed like a nurse.
Connie snickered. “They’re not old men. Believe it or not, your big sister has more in common with them than she does with you. She should be with kids like that just like you should be playing with children your own age. You know you tell them secrets that you don’t always want to share with your big brother or sister. It’s the same with her. Everyone needs a little space sometimes.”
“But what if they get married?”
“Oh my god.” I clapped my face into my hands. “You twerp. We’re not getting married. We’re just hanging out.”
“Yeah, but Miss Connie and grandpa will be husband and wife and Sean will be our new brother. That’s like dating Kurt. That’s nasty.”
Connie and I busted out laughing. Neither one of us could show our faces after that. How in the world my little sister worked all of that out, I had no idea.
“Eat your fries.” I spilled them out on a napkin in front of her.
#
While I was getting dressed upstairs, Connie came up there laughing and had to share. She thought it was hilarious that Howard was having “the talk” with Sean, even though he referenced it with regards to his friends. I wondered if he was like this with my Aunt Renee when she went out on her first date.
While it was hilarious to see him try, it was heartwarming to see him stand-in for my dad. I think we both knew he was trying to make up for my father’s shortcomings. The weirdest part was I think he liked it. Nobody could ask for a better grandfather than that. No matter how far away we live from each other, I wanted him to be a part of our lives. I wanted more than just the birthday card, the holiday card, or the missing-you card. I wanted an extended, loving family.
Sean drove his ten-year-old jeep to the bowling alley where we met his circle of friends from the other night, plus two more who Sean didn’t know well, but seemed harmless enough. There was no way I’d remember their names, but at least they all seemed fine with me being there.
Of course, the bowling alley was much more than that. It was a restaurant, a bar, an arcade, 3-D rides, and escape rooms. We had two lanes and four people on each team. Sean wasn’t much of a bowler, but if spirit counted for something, he would win hands down. Except for me, Sean, and Xander, the black guy who was a physics major, everyone else was drinking. Twice, people offered to buy me a beer, but Sean refused for me, citing my grandfather’s other threat to use their legs as speed bumps if he smelled one ounce of alcohol on me. They settled for ordering me the “hardest” non-alcoholic drink from the bar. A Shirley Temple.
For my first time bowling, I didn’t do too badly. I came in fourth place. Right before we decided to go for a second game, we ordered more appetizers and drinks. I hit up the bathroom with two of the other females following.
When I flushed the toilet and opened the door, I noticed Natalie, the blonde psychology major, making some final touches to her hair with her fingers.
“How are you enjoying the company so far?” She smiled and shoved her hands in her back pockets.
“I’m good.” I proceeded to wash my hands.
“Excellent.” She paused. “Sean said you were super smart. Like already taking college courses, even though you’re in high school.”
“Yeah.” If another person mentioned high school, I was going to choke them. They made me feel like such a baby compared to them. But perhaps I shouldn’t have been comparing myself to them anyway. It was like apples and oranges, really, since I wasn’t officially eighteen yet.
“He also said you were a language prodigy. That you knew five languages and were taking Chinese and Navajo, too. Believe it or not, they call people like you polyglots. It's a horrible word, so let’s stick with prodigy instead.”
“Good choice.” I smiled, hoping it hid my distaste for small talk. Silence was golden, if that was the only other option to fill the void.
Natalie stepped closer and kept her voice low. “You’re okay, right? I mean...I was there the other night. I didn’t see what happened, but I heard about it.”
“Did Sean tell you?” My smile was anything but friendly. Hopefully, she was clued in by my unflinching stare. If she had something to say, then she needed to say it before my powers accidentally said it for me.
“Relax, okay? I’m not the enemy here. He only told us because we were wondering what happened. We basically harassed the information out of him.” She paused. “You know, I’ve been to your grandfather’s house numerous times and I had no idea he thought it was haunted.”
“Haunted? Oh. Okay.” I turned away and bit my bottom lip to keep from laughing. Good thing, too, because my nerves were about to get the better of me and that usually ended in chaos.
“I still don’t believe in that kind of stuff.” Natalie went to the paper dispenser and yanked off a couple of pieces. She handed them to me. “I come from a scientific background where evidence speaks louder than words.”
“So what do you think it is?” I tossed the paper towels after I finished with them.
“I don’t know. Howard had a couple of drinks, so your guess is as good as mine. I even had a few drinks. We all did. I think with all that talk about things moving by themselves it made us want to believe it really happened.”
“My grandfather isn’t crazy if that’s what you’re implying.”
“No. No, that’s not it.” She shook her head. “Howard is as sane as they come. Believe it or not, we’ve had discussions like this before. It’s just that he’s never mentioned his house being haunted until now and I know you and your sister had a fright. I’m just trying to understand, from your perspective, what happened.”
“No offense, but why does it matter so much to you?” Perhaps I needed some basic social skills, but I didn’t like where this conversation was going. The more I tried to keep my irritation at bay, I couldn’t help curling my fist so tight that my knuckles ached.
“Because Howard, Connie, and Sean are my friends. I don’t want anything bad to happen to them.”
“Oh, I see. You think my seven-year-old sister and I might be up to something.”
“He’s never mentioned you guys. No pictures of you guys in the house either. Then out of nowhere you show up and weird things start to happen. As I said, I’m just trying to put the pieces together.”
“What the hell is wrong with this tissue dispenser?” A voice said from behind the stall door. “It won’t stop unrolling.”
“Mine, too,” another lady said.
“You wanted something weird? There you go.” I pointed at the stall, walked around her, and exited the restroom. Once I was outside, I inhaled a relieving breath and headed back to the bowling alley.
Normally, I’d take this as a hint and leave, but I didn’t want to give in to the craziness. Sean was right about not letting my powers take over my life. Respecting them was the only way to maybe find some peace with all of this. At least, that was my hope. Walking away before things got crazy, this was the first time I felt like I was in charge and not the other way around.
The bathroom door opened. Leena, one of the newbies to the group, exited with her face beaming. Her lush, dark hair bounced around her shoulders. The Accounting major from Chennai pointed at me.
“Phaedra, right?” She asked with a slight accent. “How are you enjoying yourself?”
“I’m good.”
“Great. Maybe you know where the rest of our group is hiding. This is the first time I’ve ever been here.”
“That makes two of us and twice the chance we’ll both get lost.” I led the way.
Once we made it back to the others, we started our second game. About five minutes later, Natalie showed up and so did a bunch of appetizers. I stole a quick glance at her and she diverted her attention almost as quickly as I did mine. It was awkward, but everyone was having so much fun that they didn’t seem to notice the tension
between us. If they didn’t, then neither would I. I could easily forget it ever happened and continue with the fun.
After I finished my turn, I stepped away from the others and ended up just outside the restaurant to take a call from Kurt. Naturally, he was a little put off by my going to hang out with college kids. He found out when he called the house to see how I was doing and Nadia blurted out I wasn’t home. To my shock, he was more upset that I didn’t tell him about who I was going out with on my not-a-date, did I have a phone, and how much I had to drink. I told him he needed to get used to this kind of thing because I might be engaging in it regularly, once I was a full-time college student only a few months away. I finished my call with Kurt and hung up.
“Can I buy you a drink?” A guy came up on my left, grinning and smelling like alcohol. He blocked my way back to the lanes.
“No thanks.” I tried to step around him, but he stepped in front of me.
“Come on. Just one drink. My guys are trying to get me to pick someone up and you look about as cute as they come.”
“No thank you. My date is waiting for me.” I tried to go around him again and he stopped me.
“A date? Well, I can buy him a drink, too, if he wants. Maybe we can share.” He stepped into my personal space and I backed up.
“She’s not interested.” His buddy showed up about as drunk as his friend. “I told you, you couldn’t pick anyone up. I want my twenty bucks.”
“Screw you, man. She was just about to say yes.” He glanced at me. “Weren’t you?”
“No.” I went around both of them, only to have the first drunk guy cut me off again. “What’s your problem? I said no, and I meant it. it.” I wanted to shove him away from me, but I had a feeling my powers might send him through a wall.
“How do you get off treating people like that?” He forced his way into my personal space again. “Think you’re better than me?”
“I think she is.” Leena stepped in between us and was wearing her jean jacket. Both hands were inside her pockets. “She’s not a slobbering piece of trash like you are. She’s also underage. So unless you want to be hit with statutory rape or child molestation, I suggest you leave her alone.” She flashed whatever was inside her jacket as a smile splayed her face.
Both guys backed away, the first one raising his hands. They both turned and walked off toward the main desk and pointed back at the two of us.
“Thanks?” I said. “But what did you just do?”
She sighed. “I was hoping to get you alone before I showed you this.” She turned and opened her jacket for me. A gun was holstered inside it. I backed up, but she caught me by the arm and pulled me close. “Not a word,” she said. “I like you Phaedra and I really don’t want to hurt you.”
My stress level blasted through the roof.
Chapter Twenty-two
If my powers were affecting anything, I couldn’t tell. There were so many people and so much commotion that nobody would notice anything wrong until it was too late. I pushed myself to say calm, to relax. Everything will be fine. Plain sight was the perfect place to hide as long as I didn’t go outside.
“You can’t do anything to me and you know it.” I lifted my chin in dissent, while tapping down my fear in the process. “I can tear this place apart if I have to.”
“And risk Sean getting hurt?” Her concern wasn’t as convincing. Using him as a pawn was. “We only want to talk. That’s what all of this has been about since your time back at the Chicago house. Mr. Crothers is sorry for how things turned out and he wants to make good on them. For you and your family. But, he needs you to listen.”
“How long have you been watching my grandfather?”
“Not that long. I was tasked with making friends, but not with Sean. A friend of his, so it wouldn’t seem so obvious. So, I made friends with Lincoln and gave the appearance of being a mirror copy of you, in some respects. A loner. Awkward, but direct. A person with trust issues and a complicated family life. It worked because Lincoln and I became the best of friends with him the same night your grandfather picked you and your sister up from the mall.”
I had an idea of what she meant by that but didn’t want to think too hard about it. Anyone who would go to those lengths to infiltrate a group was only loyal to one person. Lincoln wasn’t it.
“We need to move.” She looped her arm around mine. “Don’t try anything either. Mr. Crothers didn’t send me alone.”
I glanced around the high-traffic area but didn’t see anyone who looked suspicious. Everyone was either headed one way or another for their entertainment.
Pissed, I yanked my arm away from her. “Is it true? Crothers want my mother and I to blow apart that house like I did to ours back in Colburn? What for?”
“You really have no idea how valuable you two are, do you?” She pressed so close into my personal space that her perfume overpowered my nose. “Powers such as yours and your mother’s are extremely rare. To think that it runs in your family line is extraordinary. Everyone knows you have the power to punch a hole from one dimension to the next and beyond. You can charge objects with psychokinetic energy that others can wield. The problem is that it takes time for it to build up. Your family has lived in that house since before Kurt was born. That’s a lot of energy over time. Enough to wake spirits across an entire graveyard and from centuries past. Even the fire didn’t destroy everything completely.”
“Did you try to burn down our house?”
She shook her head. “No. But Mr. Crothers was among those offering to buy it. He wanted to give you something fair so as not to spark your curiosity or his desperation. When he found out there were others who were interested, he decided to change up his game. You and your mother are more valuable than the house anyway. Your little sister is an extra incentive.”
“And Kurt?”
She shrugged. “He has his good looks going for him if nothing else. I guess every family needs a puppy.”
“A bitch like you would know that.” How dare this fake hoe downplay my brother like that. Pain or not, fam was fam and no outsider disrespected them like that. Kurt helped us more than she would ever know. I let my anger bleed off me, not caring what happened or who it happened to. If anything, I hoped it peeled the skin off her pretty face.
“I’ve been called worse. Now let’s go. Unless you want something bad to happen to Nadia, your grandfather, and his girlfriend.”
“You didn’t think this through, did you?” I shoved her hard and got the attention of a few bystanders. “You see those faces? You touch me and see what happens? There are hundreds of cell phones out there ready to live-stream the whole thing across social media. How long do you think it’ll take for people to recognize your face and trace it back to Crothers?”
She cut a glance at the crowd, then turned her focus back on me. “I have people here who can make things happen to Sean and his friends. There’s enough to make sure there aren’t any corroborating stories. Maybe feed a little misinformation, Phaedra? You see, you’re not the only one who knows how to use social media to their advantage.”
“Maybe. But from where I’m standing, you still have a lot more to lose.” Despite my rage, there was a little fear stirring deep in my belly. I had no idea how many people she had with her or where they were stationed. Supposed they were in the lane right next to ours? They could put up a smokescreen and say whatever to the police on how the whole thing went down.
I darted away from her and headed back to where I thought the lanes were. I ended up in the arcade. Machines buzzed and lights flashed across an area about as large as a basketball court. When one chick looked like she was headed for me, I ran in another direction. Several machines that egged would-be players with the promise of reward cards if they got enough coins out of their way started spitting out cards everywhere. All of the skeeball machines were racking up points without the players having rolled any balls down the tracks. Driving games’ screens were wobbling with interference. A guy cut m
e off when he tried to grab me and failed. I flew another way, passing a 3-D riding machine that shook up the riders so bad that they were screaming for the attendant to stop the ride.
These innocent people didn’t need to be victims of my powers. I needed to get out of here before I hurt them, but I had to find Sean, first.
I slipped between two machines and fished out my cell phone. Rather than type out a real message, I sent out an SOS to both Kurt and Howard. Kurt was my backup in case Howard didn’t get the message.
When I peeked out around the corner, Leena was instructing two of her thugs to go to the right and left. She had to have at least five of them with her. Probably more waiting in the parking lot. What happened to the days of two or three guys? My panic threatened to break me in half.
Both machines began to wobble. It didn't calm my nerves and Leena would certainly have noticed. Staying here was like sending up a smoke signal. She turned this way. I tore out from between the machines and slammed hard into Leena, throwing her against a crane machine. I fled the scene hoping I was finally headed towards the bowling lanes.
I went the right way, but my group was a dozen lanes away. As if this night couldn’t get any worse. I glanced over my shoulder and it did. Another woman and a guy were coming for me. I took off, counting down the lanes to get to number three and four.
Overhead lights exploded down my path. As everyone I darted around, more lights exploded, following me as I tried to find Sean and the rest of the group.
“Phaedra!” Someone shouted.
On my left, Sean was waving me down from a large snack counter. He pushed his way through some of the people who started to realize things were getting dangerous.
“Oh my god.” He pulled me close. “You okay? What’s going on?”
When I looked around again, the two thugs were coming after me. I shoved Sean to the right and drilled my gaze into the bowling ball racks. Several of them fell off and rolled onto the floor, blocking their way. I was hoping for something more dramatic, but it had to do for now. I grabbed Sean by the hand and led him away.
Silent Scream (Bittersweet Series, Book 2) Page 18