Wicked Lies

by Michelle Areaux

  With that final demand, Bethany disappeared into the black night air. I blew out a large breath of air I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. I had to keep to my promise and find a way to bring William back. I’d talk with Lucy about it once we got back home.

  As I turned around, ready to make my journey back to the party, I walked straight into Bret, his hard chest almost knocking me to the ground. My heart stopped beating and my body froze. Oh, no! How much had he heard? Did he see Bethany?

  "What are you doing over here?" he asked, raising his eyebrows. "I saw you walk over here, alone. He seemed suspicious, and I felt guilty for some reason, even though I hadn’t done anything wrong…yet.

  "Oh, hi. My name is Sadie. I’m visiting from Salem. I’m staying next door with my aunt Morgan. Hailey invited me tonight." I spit out the words so fast I wasn’t sure if he understood what I’d said. When I’m nervous, I tend to ramble.

  "Yeah, I know who you are. I meant, why are you standing in the dark, talking to yourself?" he asked; I wasn’t sure if I liked being interrogated.

  "I wasn’t doing anything, just calling my boyfriend, Noah," I lied.

  "Where’s your phone?" he asked, reaching for my empty hand.

  "Stop!" I shouted, taking my hand back from his. "I don’t know what you think you heard or saw, but I wasn’t doing anything wrong. You need to back off–now!" I felt heat radiating from my face as the anger boiled inside me. I couldn’t believe this guy was accusing me of lying. Sure, so he was right, but he had no business questioning me like I was some type of criminal.

  "What’s going on?" I heard someone shriek loudly from behind where Bret was standing. When I managed to focus my eyes, I made a figure out, running toward us at full speed.

  "Oh, no," Bret grumbled, "Hailey’s coming."

  As my eyes adjusted further to the figure, I saw it was, in fact, Hailey, her face filled with rage as she sprinted quickly toward us. She barreled into Bret, almost knocking his large frame over.

  "Why are you two down here, alone?" she asked in an accusatory tone.

  Bret reached out and pulled her into him in an effort to calm his now hysterical girlfriend. "Baby, you’ve been drinking. I just came to check on Sadie. Nothing’s going on. Now, calm down and let’s get you back to the party," his voice was calming, almost soothing, like a mother would sound as she calmed her crying baby.

  Hailey slapped his hands away, swaying as she tried to stand alone. "I don’t believe you," she shouted, turning her attention to me. "I invited you, Sadie, and now you try to flirt with my boyfriend?"

  I felt as if I’d been punched in the stomach. I took a step backward, removing myself from the drama before me. "I don’t know what you think is going on, but Bret really did just come over to check on me. I thought I saw something behind that tree–a dog or something–but I am not flirting with your boyfriend," I stated, deciding it was time I’d found Lucy and left the party.

  "I sure hope not!" a familiar voice bellowed from behind us. I spun quickly spinning around to see Noah emerge from the large, overgrown trees.

  "Noah!" I exclaimed. A rush of happiness and fear washed over me as I realized how awful the situation must have looked.

  A crowd had begun to gather around us. Lucy stepped out of the circle to stand next to me. "Sadie, what’s going on?" she asked. "Why didn’t you tell me Noah was coming back?"

  "I didn’t know Noah was coming back," I stuttered, unsure of what to say. I turned back to Noah and said, "This is all a big misunderstanding. I came down here to call someone."

  "You said you were talking to your boyfriend," Bret questioned as he watched my expression closely.

  Crap! He was smarter than he looked.

  "I was," I demanded. I turned to Noah and looked deep into his eyes. He looked hurt and confused, and I wanted nothing more than to take that anger away. "Noah, I tried calling you, but your phone must be turned off. My friend, Bethany, called, and I was talking to her when Bret snuck up on me." I gave Bret an angry glare.

  Recognition washed over his face, and Noah suddenly relaxed, allowing his fists to unclench–he understood who I was talking to and why I’d lied in the first place.

  "Yeah, that’s why she came all the way over here," Lucy added, trying to ease the growing tension. "She needed privacy."

  Hailey laughed and shook her head, almost violently. She was just plain mean, unwilling to listen to any logical explanation. It was obvious she didn’t believe our story, even with my boyfriend standing right in front of her.

  "Your friend was trying to steal my boyfriend," Hailey shouted, making sure everyone at the party heard her. A few people gasped in shock and others began talking quietly, making their own judgment about the scene.

  I couldn’t believe how quickly she’d turned against me. The day before she was being so kind and inviting me to her house. She’d had made me feel like she wanted to be friends, that she’d accepted me into her world–no questions, no expectations–and now she was accusing me of flirting with her boyfriend. It was almost scary how evil she had become in the blink of an eye.

  "I am not going to say it again," I declared. I almost choked, overwhelmed by anger and frustration. "I was not flirting with Bret. My boyfriend is standing right in front of you. You need to sober up and get over yourself." My words shot out like bullets; they were meant to sting.

  "What did you say to me?" Hailey asked, stepping closer to my face. "This is my party, my friends, and my boyfriend. I only invited you because I felt sorry for you." Her voice sounded like a hiss as she spoke. "You can’t just come over here and take what’s mine," she cried out, throwing her arms in the air for a dramatic effect. The sudden movement made her lose her already unstable balance, and she toppled to the damp grass.

  Noah took a step forward to place himself in between Hailey and myself. His chest raised as he grew more and more enraged at this brat’s behavior. "I think you need to stop talking right now," Noah bellowed.

  "Hey, man, watch how you talk to my girlfriend," Bret yelled back, moving toward Noah.

  A few people laughed, finding Hailey’s demise hilarious, while others quickly rushed to her aid. Some kids took out their cell phones and began recording the soon-to-be fight between Bret and Noah.

  "Look, we all need to calm down," Noah insisted. "We’ll leave. You all go back to your party."

  Seeming pleased with this, Bret relaxed and began to walk away. My heart–which had dropped down to my stomach–was slowly inching its way back up to my chest. The last thing I needed was a fight right now.

  I rolled my eyes, grabbed Lucy and Noah’s hands, and pulled them through the brush and trees separating Hailey’s party from the calm of Aunt Morgan’s property. I turned one last time to see Bret throwing Hailey over his shoulder and carrying her toward the house. She fought him, hitting his back with her fists, as she cried for him to put her down. I couldn’t help myself: I smiled as I heard Hailey’s voice trail off as she continued to scream in the distance. Two other guys–whom I first saw at the party, talking with Bret–jumped in and began helping Bret carry Hailey. Even though she was incredibly thin, her violent movements were too much for Bret to handle alone. It took two guys to carry her to the house and one to open the door. I shook my head. I knew I was wrong to trust her from the way Max reacted when she showed up the day before.

  If a dog doesn’t like you, there has to be something wrong with you.

  I heard two girls talking with one another: "I can’t believe another party ended this way." The girl with long, black hair announced.

  Another girl, this one with short, red hair and freckles, elaborated on the conversation. "I know," she agreed. "Hailey needs to stop drinking so much and get over her jealousy. Every girl she catches with Bret, she instantly accuses them of flirting with him. She needs to relax and grow up. This is why she can’t keep any friends. No one wants to deal with her craziness. Oh well, Bret will get her to the couch and she’ll sleep off her drunken stupor. In
the morning, she won’t remember a thing."

  I shook my head, realizing I’d been right to assume the worst about Hailey. My gut had told me something was wrong with her–I guess I just had to experience it firsthand. The more I thought about the situation, the more it angered me. Girls like Hailey were so ironic. She was nothing more than the southern version of Melinda Carlisle.

  Once we were back at the house, I slapped Noah on his arm. "Why didn’t you tell me you were coming home?" I questioned. "I thought you had to work."

  Noah looked down as he made his way to the living room couch. "I was going to surprise you. I thought you’d be happy to see me. I asked for another week off. My boss hired a lot of new guys to help with summer and he said I could take a few more weeks off."

  I sat down next to him, sighed, and held his hands in mine. "I am happy to see you, Noah, I just wish I knew you were coming. I hate that you saw my fight with Hailey tonight." I was embarrassed and angered at how I’d acted and how Hailey had treated me in front of her friends.

  Lucy stood in front of us and cleared her throat, trying to gain our attention.

  "I don’t think tonight is our biggest problem," she said. "Bethany’s really angry, and we need to stop her from harming anyone else."

  Noah looked up, intrigued. I guess I’d left a lot of details out while talking to him on the phone. I never wanted him to worry about me, but now that he was there, it was time to tell him everything, so we did. Lucy and I spent the next two hours going over every detail and conversation he’d missed.

  That night, as I tried to fall asleep, I came to one conclusion: Hailey was everything I loathed in another person. On the outside she was beautiful and regal, tall, her golden blonde hair always perfectly styled as if she’d just left the runway. Her eyes always sparkled in the sunlight, reflecting a beauty granted to only a few, lucky girls. However, on the inside, she was dead. Blood did not flow through her veins. No, ice ran through them, all the way to the cold stone where her heart should be.

  Her smile scared me more than any dead girl I’d ever encountered. This girl’s terror was one that couldn’t be seen on the outside. She trapped you with her sweet, Southern charm, and like a venomous snake, she took hold of you to strike when you least expect it.

  Happy to have had a night away from working or dealing with the dead, and more importantly, having Noah back with me, I decided to spend the rest of my summer vacation working on my news article and hanging with Lucy. We didn’t need a group of people to party with to have a good time. To be happy, all I needed was my best friend, my boyfriend, and a little ghostly mystery.

  Chapter Fourteen

  "Wow, I still can’t believe she said that!" Noah was eagerly listening to my recount of the previous night. He’d missed several things that had happened at the party.

  Hearing his voice was refreshing, and after the night I had, I needed to hear it. I was sitting closely next to him at the kitchen table.

  "Noah, it was crazy. Hailey’s just like Melinda," I said. I took a sip from my cup of steaming, hazelnut coffee, enjoying the feel of the warm liquid as it soothed my insides, providing me with a comfort I could only find at home.

  "I mean, I can’t believe Bethany actually trusts you now," he stated. "What are you going to do?"

  I inhaled the aroma of my coffee and sat further back in my chair. "I don’t know yet, but I still have a little more research to do.

  "Look, I know you’re used to dead girls and everything but…" his voice trailed off and he paused, seemingly deep in thought.

  He turned to face me, took the coffee mug out of my hands, and placed it on the table. He held both of my hands tightly in his. "I think Bethany is different than the others you’ve helped–she’s more dangerous. I want you to promise me you won’t lie to me anymore, even if you’re worry the information will scare me. I want you to promise me that you’ll be safe."

  "Okay," I agreed, praying I’d stay true to my word.

  Later that afternoon, I was looking through my notes while lounging outside, in the sun. Aunt Morgan had returned around lunch and was too tired to do any work, so she told me to continue with my day off. She and Uncle Johnny had been surprised to see Noah, but they welcomed him back to their home.

  Lucy was exhausted from the night before, snoring loudly in the lounge chair next to mine. I went over the bullet points, scanning over the same information. The news article I’d uncovered stated that Bethany had committed suicide after William didn’t return from the war. That piece of information didn’t seem right to me. She’d been waiting centuries for him to return, destroyed parts of the town, and haunted families who dared move into her house to gain revenge for the love she’d lost–why would she end her own life if she still believed William would return to her?

  It didn’t make sense to me. I decided that when I met with Bethany later in the evening, I’d ask her about this.

  The information Lucy and I had gathered seemed to be a good start for the news piece I’d decided to write about. I was going to focus my topic on the history behind Camp Nelson and the stories of the haunted soldiers. I worried that the piece might not be of interest to people in Salem–Camp Nelson was hundreds of miles away, in Kentucky–but if my focus was on the hauntings and personal stories, then that may gain some interest.

  I made plans to go with Lucy to Camp Nelson on Saturday, which left me with three days to help Bethany and figure out a plan to get William to return.

  With the new information I was sure to gain from my visit to Camp Nelson, I’d hopefully find a way to bring my latest mystery to an end before having to return back home. I missed my parents, even though I talked with my mom twice a day using FaceTime.

  I was flipping through my notes when I heard a familiar voice clear her throat. "Hi, Sadie," Hailey announced from the edge of the porch. She looked like a pathetic mess. Her hair was up in a messy ponytail and she didn’t have any makeup to freshen her tired- looking face. Her clothes were mismatched: she was wearing a pair of floral shorts and a striped shirt.

  I barely glanced from my notes to quickly dismiss her. "I’m busy," I stated without emotion.

  The last person I wanted to see was Hailey, and there she was, standing right in front of me. I’d made the decision to ignore her for the rest of my time in Kentucky, but it seemed like she had other plans. I looked over to Lucy, but she was still asleep beside me, and Noah was busy unpacking.

  Hailey took a step onto the porch and stood there, in front of my chair. "Sadie," she said, "I understand you’re upset with me and I’m sorry for last night," she said.

  "Okay," I responded, still not glancing up at her.

  "Okay? That is all you have to say?" she asked, sounding hurt. "I’m apologizing, Sadie. Can’t you at least accept my apology?"

  Her hurt expression only served to annoy me more. I looked up at her, suddenly realizing she wasn’t the strong, cool girl I’d originally thought. No, Hailey was nothing more than an insecure brat.

  "I accept your apology, but that’s all I have to say. We’re not friends. We’re barely even neighbors. I appreciate your inviting me to your party, but I’m not interested in being a part of your life. I have a boyfriend, Noah–I don’t want yours." I paused, allowing my words to soak in. I could see by the pained expression on her face that no one had ever spoken to her like that before. Maybe it was exactly what she needed–an honest, reality check from someone who wasn’t afraid of her or trying to be her best friend. "Look, I admire you coming over here and trying to fix what you did. Let’s just agree to call it a truce and just not talk again."

  Hailey nodded her head in understanding, accepted my words, and dropped the subject.

  "Well, thanks for listening. I hope you enjoy the rest of your time here," she said, and she turned and left.

  "That was harsh," Lucy said, sitting up. I hadn’t realized she was awake. She had been faking sleep the whole time!

  "You brat!" I laughed and threw my pen at her. "
I thought you were sleeping."

  Lucy laughed and threw the pen back at me. "I was, for a little while, but Hailey woke me when she came onto the porch. I pretended to sleep because I didn’t want to be part of that conversation. You were a little mean," she noted.

  I knew my words had been harsh, but I didn’t think I’d been mean. I was being honest. "I didn’t intend to hurt her feelings, but I meant what I said: I have no desire to be her friend."

  "I understand," Lucy replied with a sigh. "Well, we don’t need any more drama, so it’s best we don’t hang out with her. I guess I was wrong about her," Lucy stated again, this time with a hint of sadness to her voice.

  I was glad Lucy didn’t ask me to reconsider. While I had no problem forgiving someone for their wrongs, it didn’t mean I had to be her friend.

  "Thanks for understanding," I said. "I know I’m not always the friendliest person to talk to or be friends with, but Hailey just gives me a strange feeling. There’s something about her I don’t like."

  "You can say that again," Noah said as he walked out onto the patio where Lucy and I were basking in the sun.

  "Hey!" I laughed and threw my sunglasses at him. "I can be a delight."

  I was still laughing as Noah walked over, placed a soft kiss on my forehead, and handed me back the glasses I’d just thrown at him.

  "Whatever you say, babe," he said, stepping back to prepare to block anything else I might throw his way.

  "You guys are so cute," Lucy said, beaming as she watched our banter.

  I rolled my eyes, smiled, and began to gather my things, having decided I’d had enough time in the sun. We went inside and ate dinner with Aunt Morgan and Uncle Johnny. I told Lucy about my plan to meet with Bethany that evening and we both agreed I should go alone, but that Lucy would be watching my encounter from our bedroom window. She distracted Noah by telling him his favorite television show, Worlds Best Police Chases, was playing. We weren’t sure if Lucy’s presence would anger or scare Bethany away, but we knew Noah would never agree to allow me to go alone. He would definitely upset Bethany, and the last thing I wanted to do was to upset her.