by Laura DeLuca
“Yeah, I just said that.”
“Well, we always ride together to that class so you’re not alone. Maybe I should meet you after practice with the car and drive you down.”
“No way!” Rebecca argued. “You’re not playing chauffeur for me when you’re sick.”
“Becca, this is serious. You know it isn’t safe for a girl to walk around alone at night. Not with everything that’s happening on this campus. I heard there was another girl attacked just last week—”
“I’m a big girl too,” Rebecca told him. “I can take care of myself.”
“Of course you can, but still—”
“Enough!” She cut him off. “Don’t get so worked up. You’re going to give yourself a relapse. I’ll be fine. Frankie is in my acting class with me. I’m sure he won’t mind walking me home.”
Justyn narrowed his eyes. “No offense to Frankie, but that doesn’t make me feel any better. I know ten-year-old girls who are bigger than he is. How is he going to protect you?”
“Really, I’ll be fine. I have Frankie and I have my pepper spray. Now, I really do have to get going or I’m going to be late and miss that exam.”
Justyn heaved a heavy sigh. “Okay, but please be careful. If anything happened to you…”
“Nothing is going to happen. Don’t you dare worry about me. Just concentrate on getting better.”
Rebecca gave him a kiss goodbye before gathering her books and jacket. She was already running late, so she didn’t have time to stop for coffee like she’d planned. She realized she hadn’t eaten anything in almost twenty-four hours, but there was nothing she could do about it. She hopped on her bike and hoped she’d get a break somewhere in between her hectic Friday schedule to grab some food.
Rebecca barely made it to her class on time. The teacher was already standing at the front of the room with test papers in hand when she stumbled in the door. Once they were distributed, she struggled through her exam in between yawns. Afterward, she took a few seconds to stop at a vending machine and pick up a package of peanut butter crackers and a bottle of water before heading to the campus post office. On her way in, she checked in with Justyn. He sounded groggy and half asleep, but told her he was feeling okay. Of course even that slight delay made her five minutes late for work, and the senior in charge gave her dirty looks as Rebecca grabbed her allotted stack of mail. Another two hours passed with her sorting letters into slots. Rebecca began to feel almost catatonic from boredom and lack of caffeine.
By the time she was done working, she was actually looking forward to practice, even if it did mean facing Livy and Professor Cater without any backup. At least it wouldn’t be as monotonous as her job. Yet when she arrived at the theater, she noticed most of the cast was still missing. She actually checked her watch to see if she was early, but no—she was right on time. At least some of the other actors should have been there. Professor Carter was sitting in the front row, looking downright furious as he glared up at the empty stage. Aside from Rebecca, only a few scattered chorus singers had arrived. He already looked so angry, Rebecca hated having to give him more bad news, but she knew she didn’t have a choice. She approached the director cautiously and cleared her throat to try to get his attention.
“Professor Carter?” He acknowledged her—at least she thought he did—with a slight nod, so she forced herself to continue, “Justyn is ummm … not feeling well, so we won’t be at practice today.”
Professor Carter huffed. “Justyn and the rest of my cast! I am actually amazed to see you here, Miss Hope. I can only assume that you did not partake in that cursed pizza that you all insisted on ordering last night.”
Rebecca had to blink a few times. “No, I didn’t—”
“Well then, for once, you are the lucky one,” Professor Carter grumbled. “It seems my entire cast has been sabotaged!”
“What do you mean, sir?” Rebecca asked, still confused.
“I mean, Miss Hope,” Professor Carter continued, his voice dripping with exasperation, “that damn pizza has given everyone food poisoning. That is why the stage is empty! All of my stars are indisposed, and I am left with just a few measly chorus members … and you.” He sighed heavily. “But don’t think that will excuse you from being here today. The show must go on and so must rehearsal. Perhaps we should look at this turn of events as a gift. A chance for you to work on your performance and perfect it.”
Rebecca didn’t like the sound of that. She liked it even less when the director insisted she step onto the stage and forced her to go over her lines again and again, using three annoyed chorus members as stand-ins for the main cast. Even the orchestra looked disgusted as they were forced to play the same song continuously. Rebecca sang, stomped her feet in time with the band, raged, and laughed like a raving lunatic until her voice was hoarse while Professor Carter found one reason after another to criticize her. It was awful and degrading. She hated the whole situation even more because now that she knew what had really happened, she was concerned about Justyn. All she wanted was to hear his voice again and make sure he was still okay.
When the nightmarish practice was finally over, after three grueling hours, Rebecca couldn’t wait to escape to the campus café to grab something to eat. It was primetime on campus, and everything was crowded. Rebecca had trouble weaving through the mob without any collisions. She really wanted to stop home and check on Justyn. But she knew she couldn’t ride there and back and still make it to her acting class on time, and she obviously needed all the help she could get. So she settled on calling him again and struggled to dial while she juggled her soda and chicken salad sandwich in her other hand. The phone rang three times, and Rebecca was on the verge of a nervous breakdown when Justyn finally picked up.
“Hey, Becca.” His voice was heavy with sleep, and Rebecca had to strain her ears to hear him over the throng of students around her. “Don’t worry. I’m still alive.”
“Not funny,” Rebecca told him. “Especially not after what I just found out.”
That seemed to pique his interest. “What’s that?”
“It’s not the flu, Justyn. You have food poisoning. So does most of the cast.” She bumped into a guy who was heading down the café steps and mouthed an apology before continuing. “It’s pretty serious. A few of the kids, including Megan, had to go to the hospital.”
“Wow. Well, I guess that explains why I thought I was going to die last night. But as awful as it was, I have to appreciate the irony. They really were the worst pies in the city.”
“Again, not funny,” she said. “Are you sure you’re okay? Maybe I should skip this last class and come home early….”
“No, Becca. Seriously. I’m fine. I’m just lounging on the bed, reading and sleeping. You don’t have to come home. I don’t want you to jeopardize your grades. You need that scholarship.”
“Well, okay. If you’re sure you’re all right…but I will be pampering you like crazy as soon as I get home.”
She could feel him smile, even through the phone. “I promise not to fight you on that.”
Rebecca was relieved when they exchanged goodbyes and Justyn hadn’t thought to ask about Frankie. Her would-be escort was struck down just like the rest of the cast, which meant Rebecca was on her own. If Justyn had guessed it even for a minute, he would already be on his way. That was the last thing Rebecca wanted when he was so ill. It wasn’t necessary anyway. Like she’d told him before she left, she could take care of herself. Besides, she wasn’t on foot. She had her bike, and this crazy guy who kept snatching girls off the campus would have a hard time catching her when she was buzzing by him at twenty miles per hour.
At least, she thought she had a bike. When she reached the bike rack at the café, she actually dropped her half-eaten sandwich on the ground to bend down and inspect her newly trashed transportation. She had no idea how they had managed to do it with the campus so crowded, but someone had flattened both her tires and broken her chain. Her bike was entirely use
less. Of all the rotten luck. Why did some stupid vandal have to pick her as their target of the day? What did she do to deserve this? With a grunt of frustration, Rebecca gave one of the tires a kick and started walking. It seemed she was going to class on foot after all.
Chapter Eleven
On foot she was, but certainly not walking if she planned to make it to her acting class on time. Rebecca had to jog the whole way there. She almost tripped over fallen branches twice and practically ran down at least four other students in her haste to make it. When she finally arrived, there were beads of sweat dripping from her forehead. She panted as she pulled open the door to the classroom which contained a mini stage and about fifteen rows of theater seats. She had been told it was the main playhouse years ago, but had been converted into a classroom when the larger theaters were constructed. That explained why it was set so far apart from all the more traditional lecture halls.
Rebecca arrived just seconds before the clock struck six. She still earned a few stares and giggles from her classmates and a raised eye from her teacher Mr. Pessagno when they saw her disheveled appearance, but at least she was on time. It was more than she had thought possible when she set out. An hour later, when the class was finally over, her mind was still spinning from attempting to make a scene at a grocery store alternately dramatic and horrific. Mr. Pessagno was the scout who had discovered her, and he seemed to think it was his responsibility to make sure she lived up to his recommendation. He told her a good actress should be able to make something as simple as buying a carton of milk into a work of art. Personally, she thought it was ridiculous, but she still managed to force out a few tears over the short shelf-life of her dairy beverage. The professor told her he was impressed with her improvement, and she felt pretty good about herself as she packed up her books and prepared for the long trek home.
The days grew shorter, and already the sun had dipped below the horizon even though it was only seven o’clock. At first, when Rebecca stepped out into the crisp fall evening, she found the cool breeze refreshing. The narrow sidewalks were illuminated by the streetlights, but on either side of the path, it seemed that the endless black forest went on forever. Anything could be hiding in the thick underbrush. Suddenly things didn’t seem quite so serene.
Rebecca swallowed hard and wished she had been selfish enough to make Justyn come pick her up after all. Other than Frankie, she really didn’t know any of the kids in her acting class. She tried to linger close to a small group of girls who were chatting as they skipped along to the dormitories. However, it didn’t take long for them to reach their destination, while Rebecca still had a long walk ahead of her. The darkness seemed to close in around her as she stared at the endless walkway. For the first time, she realized how lucky she was to have Justyn as an escort. She wished he was there.
She wondered why she hadn’t thought to take the car instead of her bike. Yet even that would have required walking alone to the student parking lot, which was almost as far off the beaten path as her apartment. The ride back home normally only took about twenty minutes on her bike, but on foot it would take forever. Even if it wasn’t creepy, it was really inconvenient. She still had tons of schoolwork to do when she got home. What she really wished was that she could find whoever had trashed her bike and pummel them senseless. That would have made her feel a little better.
As she left the crowded dorms in the distance, chattering voices became few and far between. Most students were either in class, having dinner in the cafeteria, or hankering down for a night of study. Every now and then, she heard a voice in the distance or saw a shadow turn off the path ahead, but for the most part she was alone, with only the whispering wind as company. Rebecca felt herself shiver, even though the fall night was far from cold. She pulled out the little spray bottle of mace that was attached to her keychain. Her father had given it to her after he met Justyn for the first time. The memory should have made her laugh like it normally did, but she was too nervous. So nervous that her keys rattled in her shaking hands.
“Hold it together, Becca,” she mumbled to herself. “It’s no big deal. People walk across campus alone all the time.” Still, she pulled her backpack over her shoulder and quickened her pace. The faster she got home to Justyn, the better.
Even as she thought about him, her cell phone started to vibrate. She had turned off the ringer while she was in class, but it was so quiet on the walkway, the low buzzing made her jump. She struggled to reach into her handbag while she was still walking so she wouldn’t be out there any longer than necessary. In her haste, she dropped her keychain. She bent down to retrieve it at the same moment she flipped open her phone. When she realized the nozzle had broken off the pepper spray, she couldn’t hide her aggravation. She inadvertently cursed into the receiver.
“Crap!”
“It’s nice to talk to you too,” Justyn said sarcastically.
“Sorry. I just dropped something,” she explained.
“Sounds like a typical day.”
Rebecca huffed, but she really didn’t mind that he was teasing her. She felt a little more secure just hearing his voice. “You must be feeling better if you’re making jokes about my clumsiness.”
“I’ll be better once you’re home,” he replied. “Are you on your way?”
“Yeah, but I might be a little late. My bike is … in need of some repair.”
His voice was instantly alert and concerned. “What happened? Are you okay? Did you get hurt?”
“Don’t worry,” she kidded. “I might walk into walls, but I haven’t crashed into any yet. I think it was just some idiot playing a prank. My tires were slashed.”
“What … home … Frankie….”
“What? Justyn?”
Rebecca stopped walking for a minute in the hopes of getting a better connection. She strained to hear his voice, but the line had suddenly gotten staticy. She was only able to make out a few more jumbled words.
“Becca …. there….”
“Justyn?”
There were a few more seconds of white noise, and then the screen on her phone started to flash Call ended. It really wasn’t that surprising. She was in the middle of the campus boondocks. Cell phone capacity was on and off at best. Justyn was lucky he got through to her at all. She tried a few times to call him back, but she couldn’t get a dial tone. She shoved her useless phone back into her bag and shook her head at the unreliable technology, not to mention her broken pepper spray. Rebecca spent about thirty seconds trying to reassemble her only weapon before she decided it was pointless. She let the useless pieces fall to the ground. Partially because she was afraid that the only thing she would accomplish was shooting herself in the eye, and partially because she heard a distinct rustling in the underbrush.
Feeling her heart start to pound a little faster, Rebecca started walking at a brisk pace. She looked over her shoulder more than once, knowing she might regret it, but unable to stop herself. Morbid fascination always seemed to draw her in. Each time she looked, she saw there was absolutely no one else on the trail. She wasn’t sure if she should be grateful or terrified that she was so completely and utterly alone. The only sound was the ceaseless crackling of leaves that followed her along each twist and turn of the path. Above her head, one of the streetlights blinked a few times, then went out, adding to the decidedly creepy atmosphere. Even the glowing moon, which was normally a comforting sign, now seemed foreboding in its eerie luminescence. Despite herself, Rebecca couldn’t help but think of the night she had walked alone across a dimly lit theater, only to find a hanging body waiting at the other end of the stage. She shuddered at the memory and jumped when the rustling grew even louder.
“Just an animal,” she told herself. “Just a rabbit or a bird. Don’t be so pathetic, Becca. You really are just like Lucy.”
And certainly, when she was walking around mumbling to herself like a crazy person, she was completely in character with the beggar woman she played on the stage. All she needed
was the ragged clothing and dirty face to complete the scenario. Then if someone jumped out at her, she could just give the opportunity to “pound her parsley” in exchange for their spare change, and everything would be just fine.
She laughed a little at her own silly imagery, but still hastened along the deserted path. She was about halfway to the main campus where she was sure to find at least some signs of life. She thought about jogging again, but she had almost fallen half a dozen times in the daylight. She was sure she would never see the dropped branches that littered the pavement in the dark.
“‘Can you spare a penny for miserable soul? A sad desperate woman who will never be whole’,” she sang her signature lines under her breath, hoping the impromptu rehearsal would distract her from the fact that she was really starting to freak herself out. It might have distracted her a little too much. She was so busy humming she didn’t pay any attention to where she was going. A moment later, she felt something snare her ankle. It took her completely by surprise, and she was unable to keep herself from falling. She tripped and slammed onto the cement, spewing unladylike curses the entire way down. She hit the ground pretty hard. Her jeans were torn and the knees beneath were bleeding, but her palms had taken the brunt of the fall. She flinched when she tried to wipe away the gravel and realized most if it was embedded in her skin.
“Dammit!” she swore.
Of course, her book bag had also tumbled over, and all of her books and school supplies had poured out. She did her best to gather the items back up when the rustling started again right behind her. Rebecca was instantly alert. Her bag was forgotten as she tried to pull herself to her feet. She was prepared to run if need be, despite her throbbing knees. She was just about to break into a sprint when the culprit finally appeared—a large golden stag with antlers three layers high. He leaped onto the path, no more than a few feet away from her. They stared at each other for a moment, both frozen in a combination of fear and awe, before the majestic animal finally bound off to the other side of the woods and disappeared again into the forest beyond.