by Tiffany King
He thought if he went to the media, they would take his claim seriously. Unfortunately, he picked the wrong paper for it to be credible. Poor guy. How were people getting so enthralled in this stuff?
After picking up some fast food dinner, a couple burgers, I pulled into my driveway, looking around first for Matt. Seeing nothing I stepped out of the car and locked my door, putting the top up. I walked over to the mailbox juggling my purse, the food, my jacket, my camera and keys. I cut the end of my finger on the rusty broken letter on the mailbox, the envelope on top showing a bloody fingerprint on it and the mail added to the juggling act.
I was preoccupied with that and didn’t think to look back around, though I couldn’t have out run Matt even if I wanted to.
And then, there he was, standing not ten feet from me, me in between my locked car and the supposed to be locked house. He said nothing at first just stared, silently.
I tried not to gasp but I felt my breathing pick up involuntarily. I tightened my hands to stop the shake so he wouldn’t see, but I could feel them start to tremble. I silently cursed myself for not reporting him to the cops already.
He wasn’t drunk that time, I could see his eyes were clear. Why was he staring at me like that? Like he hadn’t seen me when he was just here harassing me last night. Should I run? Should I even try and give him the satisfaction of chasing me? No, I froze.
“Matt?” I barely whispered out his name but I knew he could hear me.
He furrowed his brow at me, looking confused as I said his name. He looked horrified. Then...he finally spoke.
“Sherry, don’t run. Don’t be afraid.”
“Matt. What are you doing here?” I said as soft and pleading as possible. “I told you last night that I don’t want you here. Please, just...leave me alone... Are you trying to scare me? Do you want me to be afraid of you?”
I tried to use my sweet innocent voice, hopefully pleading with something humane still left in him.
“Sherry, listen, please. I know you’re scared of me and I know this sounds crazy but I need to open your mind and just listen to me for a minute, ok? I need you to come with me.”
“Um...it’s late. I’d really rather just go inside. I had a long day and don’t really feel that good.”
I stepped he stepped.
“Sherry, please, just trust me.”
“Are you kidding?” I squealed. “What do you want, Matt?”
“I need you and Danny to come with me. Right now. You’re in danger.”
“There is no way I’m going anywhere with you. You’re not drunk are you?”
I thought not but something was definitely wrong with him.
“Please, Sherry,” he pleaded. “We don’t have time for this. Just come with me. I’ll let you drive.”
“Oh. That helps,” I said sarcastically but regretted it for fear of angering him.
He paused. He paused and stared so long I thought he wouldn’t say anything else and then...
“You don’t have to fear me. I’m not...Matt.”
“Matt! Stop it! It’s not funny!” I yelled as I mentally catalogued everything in my purse, searching for something to use as a weapon but was coming up with nothing.
“I’m not trying to be funny, Sherry, just listen. The strange things going on in your world...” he started as I began to inch backwards towards the stairs.
He saw and made the same small advances towards me.
“What? What are you saying?”
“Matt...died, Sherry. I know this is odd and unsettling for you and I’ll explain everything later but we don’t have time. I’m here to help you and we need to leave, right now.”
I couldn’t handle it anymore. Matt’s freakish behavior could only be a distraction for something bigger that I was not ready to deal with.
I turned and pushed my legs to their full speed dropping the mail and everything else but he was already right there in front of me. Impossible! He reached for my wrist and turned me so fast my head swam and my vision blurred.
He grabbed me, covering my mouth with his insanely warm palm, and pushing my back against the wall by the stairway, holding me there, his body pressed against mine to keep me still. All I could hear were my gasping breaths muffled through his hand.
I closed my eyes shut tight and tried to brace myself for the desecration of my body, but exactly how do you do that?
Nothing.
I opened my eyes cautiously. He was just standing there, staring at me, holding my hands above my head with one hand and his other was still over my mouth, gently. I thought about trying to bite him, but the last time I bit him, it didn’t end so well for me.
He just stood there, for at least a minute. Not a word. Just looking into my eyes, breathing heavy with confusion, like I’d never seen him do before. Looking unsure of himself. Not at all like Matt.
Finally he licked his lips and spoke.
“Sherry, I’m gonna uncover your mouth, please don’t scream. I’m not gonna hurt you, I promise, that’s not what I’m here for. I just need you to listen to me. It’s very important, and we don’t have time for this. Can I uncover your mouth?”
Sure, but would I scream? Probably, but as his hand slipped slowly from my mouth and up my arm to my hands with the other, I didn’t make a peep. I just stared with frightful anticipation of his next move.
His eyes flicked back and forth from my features. My mouth, my eyes, my hair. He was definitely upping his game of trickery.
“I’m not Matt, ok, I need you to understand that. After everything going on, the moon and the visitors, I’m sure you can comprehend this. I’m not Matt. Matt died in a car crash about five hours ago in Orland Park. He was drunk and was out there by himself in his truck. I know your world has noticed the strange events taking place. I am a part of that and I’m on your side but...they’re coming. I need you to believe me and to get Danny. We have to go. Now.”
Wow, Matt was really reaching. Does he think I’m so spooked by all this that I would believe this cockamamie story? Last night his story was he saw one. Tonight it’s he is one? What did I ever see in him?
I tried to squirm, move a leg, pull my arms down, something, but he was holding me so tightly, surprisingly not hurtful, but I still couldn’t budge. He didn’t seem upset by my squirming, just held me tight and watched me closely.
“Matt- I mean, whoever you are- let me go, and then we’ll talk, ok? I’ll go inside to get Danny and I’ll be right back and then we can go. Ok?” I lied, badly.
I couldn’t lie and everyone who knew me knew it, including Matt.
He must have heard the lie too because all of a sudden his left hand slipped under the hem of my shirt, rubbing and searching my belly and back, like he was looking for something...specific.
Then my skirt, same thing, checking my inner and outer thighs and behind my knees. It was all I could do not to knee him somewhere painful but he was still pressing against me as much as his searching would allow.
“They haven’t gotten to you yet have they? I don’t feel anything. Whew. Ok,” he rushed the words out in a breath of relief, it seemed, as he looked around.
He was talking to himself more than me so I just stayed quiet, trying to process and think of what kind of angle Matt could be using. Why the charade? He could overpower me in a second. Why the game and why was his breathing so out of control?
“Sherry. I can see that you still don’t believe me so, I’m sorry about this, but I can’t waste anymore time. I never meant to come here as Matt, that was a huge mistake. I hope you’ll forgive me for that someday.”
He barely finished his sentence before he poked something in my arm. I could feel the prick but had no time to react. I couldn’t stay awake and only seconds and it was black as night. My eyes closed against their will though I was still conscience, but couldn’t see or move. My arms and legs went limp as I started to slump to the ground.
What? Why would Matt do that? Was he kidnapping me?
; I could feel him catch me up before I fell and throw me over his shoulder, bend, quite easily actually, and grabbed my keys from the ground, walking me to the car. He unlocked it and put the top back down, impressively with one hand.
The cold, scratchy and torn leather of the rabbit was biting against my legs as he placed me, gently, in the back seat. Then he left me there. Silent minutes passed in the dark, alone.
My skirt was bunched up past the comfortable point of my thighs but I couldn’t reach to pull it down. Suddenly I heard voices and I panicked but soon recognized them. Danny and Matt were coming and I felt them climbing in.
“What happened?” Danny almost yelled as he took his jacket off to throw over my legs.
I tried to speak, but couldn’t but I realized he was not talking to me.
“She fainted. She’s ok,” Matt said, with a clear voice, only a faint indication of the lie that he was telling.
“What happened? She really saw one?” Danny said sounding really worried.
I felt him pushing my hair back to see my face better.
“Yes. It was waiting for her when she got home but I scared it off,” Matt lied some more.
“What did it want?”
“I don’t know but don’t worry. I’m taking you guys somewhere safe. Look, I’m sorry if I’ve been...not so nice lately. I’m really sorry. Just trust me when I say that I love your sister and I won’t let anything happen to her...or you. Ok?”
Jeez. He really sounded sincere. I couldn’t hear a lie at all. He has never said he loved me like that before. Not without a condescending ‘baby’ or ‘girly’ at the end. Maybe those stupid one act acting lessons at the community college paid off for him after all.
Danny didn’t say another word, just climbed in and started the car. I could tell he was the one driving by the horrid grinding of the gears and the all too fast take off, spinning the gravel rocks in our driveway.
I still kept testing myself, sure I would come out of it soon and awaken to reveal this fraud for what it was.
Where was he taking us anyway? This was by far the most confusing game with Matt ever. Wait- Did my hand just twitch? Or was it the car moving? The car. Dang it!
Why on earth did Danny believe Matt’s crazy story so easily? I mean, I never told Danny about Matt hitting me or much else of the other abuse, the yelling and pushing sometimes, mainly just meanness, but he’s seen and heard him at the apartment a few times, so why would he believe him then?
I stayed still and listened to Matt’s instructions of where to go. They didn’t say much else. Danny asked Matt why he had been harassing me. Matt explained that he had a drinking problem but was getting help. Lies. Matt did have a drinking problem but he wasn’t getting help. He would never admit he had a problem.
I feel it as we pull to a stop. I almost fall into the floor board with the momentum but swing back just in time.
“Where are we?” Danny, finally, started getting inquisitive.
Only an hour too late!
“A little place I found. We’ll be safe here. Nobody knows about this place.”
“A warehouse? What are we gonna do there? I mean, we don’t have food or anything.”
“I’ll handle that. First let’s get her inside before he figures it out and comes for her again.”
“Can he track her or something?”
“Um. Yes,” Matt lied.
“Ok. Let me-” Danny said and I felt him tug at my arm.
“No, I’ll get her. I’m faster with the weight. You grab the duffel bag from the trunk if you don’t mind,” Matt said as he gently lifted me from the back seat under my back and knees, cradling me to his chest.
Wow, he was warm. Really warm. Maybe he was running a fever. Maybe he was in some fever induced delusion.
He was probably carrying me to my death in some Silence of the Lambs craziness! He was not the man I thought he was.
They weren’t talking anymore as we walked, and I could smell dust, oil and mold as Matt carried me through the warehouse. We stopped.
“Does it work?” I heard Danny ask.
“Yes. I put these things here in front to hide it. We’ll be safe.”
“Wow. Thorough, Matt. Thorough,” Danny said approvingly.
He told Danny that he was Matt? Ugh. Why the charade with me and not Danny? Didn’t think he’d believe it I guess.
I can feel us moving down, like an elevator. It was squealing and screeching and hot in there, it seemed to go on forever.
“What kind of place is this? Who has an elevator that goes down in a warehouse?” Danny asked.
“The kind of people who want to hide things. We can turn off the elevator once we’re at the bottom so no one else can come down after us.”
“Nice. Thanks man, you saved her. I owe you.”
“No problem.”
No problem? Was I ever going to wake up?
Who knew how many floors the elevator went down before we jolted to a stop. A lot or that elevator was slower than molasses. I assumed Danny went to look around because Matt carried me silently to one of the rooms. I felt him maneuver us through the door way.
A big comfy chair was under me, one that smelled like antiseptic. He set me down in it and took my face in between his hands. I wanted to gasp at his touch and closeness but my body refused.
“I know you can still hear me in there. I’m sorry I had to do that to you but I had to get you and Danny to safety. It’ll still be a while until you wake up. Listen, I know how this sounds and looks and I can explain everything to you both when you wake up, but I’m not Matt. Matt is dead and I’m sorry to be the one to tell you that. I’m not here to hurt you or Danny. We’re underground a warehouse with only one way in and one way out. The elevator and I have the key. I promise you, I’m not gonna hurt you. I’m here to help.
“We are going to be here together for a while so it would be nice if you’d get use to the idea... Sherry,” he breathed my name with such a sweet tone. I could feel his breath on my face. He was closer. “I can’t believe I’m actually here, actually touching you.” His thumb rubbed back and forth over my cheek. “You don’t know how long I’ve... Just try to get some sleep. We’ll go over everything together later. By the way, my name is Merrick. I’ll be around when you wake up.”
He let his hands slide away from my face slowly, almost reluctantly, then I heard him shuffle from the room. What was all that? Why was he touching me like that?
I was more confused than ever.
End of Preview
You can find more information on Shelly and her books at her website
http://shellycrane.blogspot.com
- A group of independent Young Adult authors who are dedicated to their craft -
Tiffany King, author of The Saving Angels Trilogy
Abbi Glines, author of Breathe and Existence
M. Leighton, author of the Blood Like Poison Series
Michelle Muto, author of The Book of Lost Souls and Don’t Fear the Reaper
Fisher Amelie, author of The Leaving Series
Nichole Chase, author of The Dark Betrayal Trilogy
Laura A. H. Elliott, author of 13 on Halloween
Amy Maurer Jones, author of the Soul Quest Trilogy
Wren Emerson, author of I Wish
Shelly Crane, author of the Significance Series
Courtney Cole, author of The Bloodstone Saga
C.A. Kunz, mother and son author duo of The Childe Series