Walking in the Shadows

by Giovanni, Cassandra

  “I hope so.”

  “What about Ashley?” he questioned.

  “I don’t know,” I mumbled.

  “Your parents?”

  “I don’t know,” I repeated.

  “Are you going to be coming to my house tonight?” Tad asked, his face red.

  “I think I’ll stay with Jaz tonight. If they find out that Mike is dead Brad is going to need her and he’ll be the first to find out. Then I’ll know sooner,” I replied, taking a deep breath and leaning back in the chair.

  “Okay, but let me know what’s going on as soon as you hear anything?” Tad pulled me into his arms and hugged me tightly. The panic inside of me was beginning to settle in. It felt so normal to be in danger, to always be in panic mode, that my body reacted to it with a strange calm.

  Chapter 46

  The burden of my parents’ deaths and the events that followed it were a curse to me. I wondered if any of the other victims’ families felt the same and realized that none of them were in Amherst. They had all stayed in Norfolk where it had all started. My resolve was weakening, and it felt as though I was the origin of the murders. They had begun with my parents and now it had followed me here. It wasn’t plausible; I knew that. I could never tell Tad that I felt I was cursed because I knew how it would make him feel. He would want to protect me from the monster that the obsession of fiction had created. In protecting me Tad might forget to protect himself, and then both of us may become the victims. What about Kirsten and Bill, though? And Jaz? Would they be brought to their demise because of their connection to me—because I cared so much for them? It was a wrong assumption of course. The killer didn’t care about who they killed as long as they reaped the pleasure of it. I tried to ground myself with that thought. That it was, in fact, only a coincidence that the killer was now in Amherst. Still my conscience refused to listen to reason. I knew it was all my fault.

  “Almost time to close, huh?” a girl in her early twenties asked, handing me a pile of clothes.

  “Yeah, actually right now,” I replied, looking down at the register’s touch screen. “Would you mind waiting while I lock the door?”

  “Not at all,” she answered with a smile.

  “You seem kind of distracted?” the girl observed as I began ringing her up and folding the clothes.

  “Just waiting to hear about a friend,” I explained as I avoided eye contact with her.

  “Oh, from Amherst High?”

  “Yeah, why did you hear something?”

  “I heard a kid had gone missing and that the police were in an all out search. Everyone’s afraid for him,” she replied as she fiddled in her purse for her wallet.

  “I know the feeling. Your total is seventy five ninety,” I said as I looked over her shoulder at Jaz’s red Civic. She handed me her credit card without saying a word. I ran the card through with shaky hands before giving her the receipt. “Thank you, have a good night.”

  She turned saying, “I hope they find your friend and he’s okay…stay safe.”

  “Thanks, you too,” I choked, feeling that the fear of this killer had spread like a plague and the whole town was scared. The girl walked to her car quickly and the second she was inside locked the doors.

  I locked up and went out to meet Jaz. She had her head leaned against the back of the seat with her eyes closed and from the paleness of her skin she looked—“Jaz!” I screamed, knocking on the glass window.

  She jumped and my heart stopped hammering against my ribs. She unlocked the doors, shaking her head.

  “Sorry, I just don’t feel well,” she clarified, and for some reason I was overcome with the feeling that I should hug her, so against my will I did and she hugged me back.

  “Brad is super upset, and I just don’t have a good feeling. I saw how you reacted this morning, and I know what you were thinking—all I can think to myself is that you’re right.”

  “I don’t want to be...I have prayed and wished that when I got in this car you would say Mike was alright,” I said, taking a deep breath and closing my eyes for a moment.

  “I guess we should get going?” she said as she took a deep breath. “My mom ordered pizza, and she wanted us to pick it up. I haven’t been able to eat all day.”

  My stomach growled.

  “I’d forgotten all about food until you mentioned pizza.”

  “Yeah, just thinking of the smell makes my mouth water,” she remarked as she pulled into the pizza joint a block down and looked over at me. “Come inside with me? I don’t feel like being alone, and I don’t want to leave you alone either.”

  “Of course,” I said with a squeeze of her shoulder.

  When we got to Jaz’s house Brad’s car was parked outside.

  “I didn’t know Brad was coming over,” Jaz commented looking down at her cell phone. “He didn’t text me.”

  “Maybe he called your house phone and your mom invited him over for pizza?” I suggested as we got out of the car.

  “I hope so…”

  Once we were inside the house we found Jaz’s parents and Brad sitting at the dinner table in silence.

  “Is everything okay?” I asked. I could tell they didn’t know anything yet from the way they were seated, but it was obvious that we all felt the impending doom.

  “Oh, yes, of course dear. We’re all so famished that we didn’t know what to say to each other,” Jaz’s mom announced with a smile.

  I looked over my shoulder at Jaz who had her eyebrows raised as she said, “Okay…”

  The silence only continued as we ate.

  “Maybe we should turn on the TV?” Jaz’s dad suggested, coughing.

  “Sure, dear, the remote’s right there.” Jaz’s mom pointed to the counter.

  “Just in, breaking news.” The newscaster’s voice echoed through the room and everyone’s eyes were on the screen as their bodies went rigid. “The body of the missing teen, Mike Crowley, has been found.”

  “Body?” Jaz stuttered beginning to hyperventilate. Brad was at her side in an instant.

  “The teen has become another victim on the growing list of people who have died because of the Crimson Reign effect,” the newscaster spoke with her face contorted in false sadness. “To this date the police have had no significant leads. If you have any information on the murders please call the Massachusetts State Police department at 508-555-1693.”

  “This is not happening…not again…” I muttered to myself, ignorant of what was going on around me. Jaz was shaking so much that Brad couldn’t hold her still.

  “Jasmine! Jasmine!” her mom yelled out with Jaz’s face in her hands. “Greg, I don’t know what’s wrong with her!”

  Her dad was standing motionless with his eyes wide. “I…I don’t know what to do.”

  My body went on auto pilot. I knew I was moving, but I couldn’t really feel anything. There was no panic, sadness, or even worry for my ill friend. I just knew what I had to do.

  “She’s having a panic attack,” I stated, and it was apparent that everyone had forgotten I was there from the astonished looks on their faces. I grabbed my glass of water and splashed it over Jaz’s face. The shaking stopped and Jaz blinked but said nothing.

  “Jasmine, are you okay?” her mom asked.

  She nodded her head, looking up at Brad’s tearstained face.

  “Yeah…Brad, are you?”

  He nodded his head as she wiped away his tears.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to scare you all…it was like I knew what was going on, but was helpless to stop myself,” Jaz explained, wiping her face. I was feeling the same.

  “How did you know she was having a panic attack?”Jaz’s mom asked, looking at me.

  “My mom used to have them after her parents died. They died in a car accident, so she had panic attacks any time she got into a car for a while. It’s not permanent though, they went away after a few years,” I explained.

  “Didn’t your parents—” her mom began.

  J
az cut her off. “No, Mom.”

  Her mom looked confused for a second and then she saw Brad. I realized that Jaz must have told her parents about how I had no one.

  “Oh, yes, yes, sorry—I don’t know what I was thinking,” her mom started as she shook her head.

  Jaz’s dad had sat back down.

  “Who will be next? How do I keep you all safe?” he mumbled to himself.

  “Greg, please don’t worry; everyone will be fine,” Jaz’s mom reassured him as she regained her composure. “He was alone and Jasmine won’t be alone ever, right?”

  “Yeah,” Jaz answered, looking at Brad.

  “I should get going…my parents have probably heard and will want me to be home,” Brad commented, nodding to the door.

  “Of course, let us know the second you get home?” Jaz’s mom demanded, and Brad nodded, giving Jaz a final kiss before heading for the door.

  My cell phone began ringing.

  INCOMING CALL FROM TAD

  “I need to take this?” I explained. I walked out to the porch within sight but out of hearing range. “Hey.”

  “Did you see the news?” Tad asked, and his voice was stoic.

  “Yeah, I know. Jaz just had a panic attack over it,” I replied.

  “I wasn’t aware that she was so close to Mike?” Tad asked, and I could tell his brow was furrowed from the sound of his voice.

  “He was Brad’s best friend, and I’m sure plenty of people who don’t know any of the victims are having panic attacks. Everyone is scared to death.” I could feel my body shaking from nervousness. All I needed to feel again was Tad. The fear started to build as I thought about losing him.

  “Are you?”

  “I’ve been living with this thing for a lot longer than everyone else—I think fear is constant in me, so I’ve forgotten what it feels like,” I explained as I took a breath of the chilled night air. Now I was starting to remember.

  “Will you come here tonight—where I know you’re safe?” Tad asked.

  “I don’t think they’ll let me leave knowing I live alone. I walked to work from my apartment and Jaz picked me up, so I don’t have my car?” I said, wanting nothing else other than to be in his arms.

  “Tell them you’re going to stay with your boss…that your boss called and is coming to pick you up…please?”

  “What if Jaz sees you?”

  “I’ll wear my hoodie.”

  “What if she recognizes your car?”

  “I’ll take my neighbor’s; he won’t mind,” Tad rationalized, and I knew there was no fighting him on this.

  “I’ll call you back,” I replied going inside. “That was my boss—she wants me to go stay with them until this whole thing blows over. Is it okay if I leave?”

  “Are you sure?” Jaz walked forward and squeezed my hands. I could tell that she didn’t believe me.

  “Yeah, I’ll be safe there…don’t worry,” I confirmed. “Her husband is going to pick me up in a little bit.”

  She nodded and picked up her phone. “Hey, I’m glad you got home safe… You too.” She closed her phone with a heavy sigh. “School is going to be hard tomorrow.”

  I nodded my head and jumped when I heard a car honking.

  “I guess he didn’t wait for me to call back,” I commented, rolling my eyes, but I could feel a blush building as I thought of him sneaking to come to get me.

  Jaz smirked at me and shook her head. I knew she didn’t believe me.

  Chapter 47

  I was standing at my locker waiting for Jaz to stop making out with Brad when the hallway went silent. It was always so loud that I couldn’t hear myself think, and now I could have heard the devil whisper six feet below. When I looked over my shoulder it felt as though the earth had stopped moving. Everyone’s eyes were following the hollow echo of the two policemen’s shoes, and the shoes of the man they had in hand cuffs. Tad’s eyes met mine, filled with fear.

  “Move it, Knightley,” one of the policeman ordered, pulling at Tad’s elbow.

  The men dragging Tad gazed around the silent hallway at the staring faces, and then in an instant the hallway was a beehive again and with each accusation I felt the stings.

  I rushed forward. I didn’t care if anyone could see what I was feeling and for once I felt lucid. The world around me didn’t exist and most of all, it didn’t matter. All that mattered was the fear I saw reflecting in Tad’s face.

  “Vera,” Jaz gasped as she grabbed my elbow and held it firm, “don’t.”

  “I have to! He didn’t do anything—I know it!” I panicked as I tried to pull away, only to feel her grip tighten.

  “Your story doesn’t have to be Romeo and Juliet’s,” Jaz replied, and her eyes locked on mine, sending tingles down my spine.

  I moved back and she dropped my arm.

  “What do you mean?” I managed to stammer.

  “There’s the bell, we should get to class,” she demanded, turning away from me.

  “Jaz!” I yelled after her as she walked away.

  She turned. “We can talk about it later. I’m sure that it shouldn’t be discussed here.”

  “Does anyone else know?” I whispered as my voice cracked.

  “No, Vera. I didn’t until now,” she answered, and her eyes paced back and forth on my face.

  It felt as though she was trying to reason with me and herself at the same time. I nodded my head as I blinked to save the tears in my eyes, and she smiled sadly at me. She didn’t know if it would be okay and neither did I. Jaz turned and headed in the direction of her next class with me torn in two directions. I wanted to follow her and make her swear to never say a word, and I wanted to run towards the police car that was carrying away the one person that knew my darkest secrets as if they were his own.

  Chapter 48

  “Is someone going to tell us what the hell is going on?” I demanded the second Paul, the chemistry teacher, walked in the room.

  He took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes.

  “I can’t say anything, Vera, mainly because we don’t know anything. It would seem a student here is the one who thinks they know more,” he said as he looked at a student behind me.

  I turned to see Lily with a smile on her face. In fact, she was the only one smiling in the room. It took everything in me to not leap across her desk and strangle her. All that stopped me was Jaz’s words repeating in my head.

  “A student said something that could get Mr. Knightley arrested?” I repeated in shock.

  Paul sighed. “We don’t know anything for sure.”

  When I left class Jaz was waiting at my locker.

  “Hey,” I mumbled, throwing my books into my locker.

  “Calm down! It’s not like you to wear your feelings on your sleeve, and this is not the time—” Jaz began, but I was too infuriated to let her finish.

  “Not the time? Jaz! He’s innocent—I know!” I retorted as I jammed myself in the chest with my finger.

  “I know too, but he’s in enough trouble already. You don’t need to be in trouble with him,” Jaz explained, grabbing my shoulders and looking me square in the face.

  “I don’t care if I get in trouble! Everyone is going to find out anyways!” I exclaimed.

  “Vera! Be quiet!” she hissed, shaking my shoulders. “Wait until you talk to him before you take drastic action.”

  I took a deep breath. “No Romeo and Juliet. I get it…Thank you.”

  “Will you tell me the truth later?” she asked with a smile. I could tell from the way she was looking at me that she had reasoned out the fact that he was a teacher and was thinking about how she had solved the puzzle that was my love life.

  “Yeah, of course.”

  “It’s all over the school that Lily is the reason for all of this. I don’t know what she’s up to,” Jaz explained, letting go of me and leaning back against the lockers.

  “I thought she was behind it. You should have seen the way she was smirking all day. I wanted to throttl
e her,” I replied, leaning back with her.

  “I would pay to see that,” Jaz laughed just as the bell rang. “Will you be okay for the rest of the day? No B block today, so we won’t have English Lit.”

  “I’ll be fine.”

  Jaz hugged me and then headed to her next class, leaving me to gain my composure before going to my Trig class. I took a deep breath and as I turned I slammed right into Lily. I grabbed her arm as she tried to walk away from me and jerked her into the corner made by the end of the row of lockers.

  “How could you lie like that?” I demanded with narrowed eyes as I dropped her arm.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she snapped, crossing her arms.

  “How could you accuse an innocent man?” I pushed, wanting very badly to shake her.

  Her lips turned in an angry frown, and she turned to leave, but I grabbed her arm again. She yanked her arm away from me, and I fell back against the wall from the force of it.

  “How do you know he’s innocent? I saw him where they found Mike,” she growled as she stepped forward and caged me against the wall.

  I swallowed. “I do Lily, and you do too. You never saw him there. ”

  “Well,” she began cocking her head to the side, “then his alibi will check out.”

  “You’re black mailing him?” I shot back in shock. “What the hell did he ever do to you?”

  “No.” She stepped forward so that her face was only inches from mine. “I’m blackmailing the both of you.”

  “W…what?”

  “You know what I’m talking about,” she retorted with a smile.

  I threw my hands up. “What the hell is wrong with you? You’re going to ruin him!”

  Lily shook her head and ran her finger across my cheek. “No, Vera, you will, and he will never forgive you for letting him do it.”

  Her words sliced through me as they were supposed to so that I had no more responses. She walked away smug while I stood there frozen. There was no way I could stay at school, but I was afraid of being home alone because I thought I would be next. I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket, and I fumbled to slide open the cover.