by A. E. Davis
Sitting up, I adjusted my pillows and tucked the comforter over my chilled legs. I had the window open to listen to the rain. It was good background noise while I read. I turned the page, engrossed once more in the story.
Bella was in the midst of getting attacked by the bad Vampire, James.
Get the Funk out blared from my phone.
I jumped and dropped the book, losing my page. “Dangit!” I answered the phone. “Yeah,” I said distracted, trying to find my place once more.
“You’re next,” a rough voice spat.
I held my phone away from my ear and stared down at the number on the screen. I didn’t recognize it but I could swear I’d seen it somewhere before. Then it dawned on me whose number it was and my heart jumped into double time. “Jason,” I said warily.
“You bitch,” he rasped out. “I thought we were friends.”
Freaking out, I hung up the phone and jumped from bed. I ran all the way down to Mom’s room. Thankfully, she was still awake.
“Mom,” I called from the doorway, breathing heavy from my running stint.
She dropped her book. “Amber? Are you all right?”
I shook my phone at her. “Is Ken coming back over tonight?” I couldn’t mask the fear in my voice.
“I’m not sure, sweetheart. What’s wrong?” She pulled off her glasses and sat forward.
“Jason just called me.”
Her brows creased. “Who?”
“The freak…Jason,” I nearly yelled.
“Calm down, Amber,” Mom said in a surprisingly unruffled voice.
I crossed the room and sat down on her bed. “Why is he allowed to call me?” I asked, shaking my phone in the air.
She shook her head from side to side. “I don’t think it’s against the law.”
“Well, it should be!” I snapped, not meaning to.
“What did he say?”
“He called me a “b” and told me I was next.”
“What?” Her eyes widened in fear.
Immediately, I felt bad. I didn’t want her to be freaked, too.
She grabbed her phone off her nightstand and immediately started punching in a number.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m calling Ken.”
“Isn’t he working?”
“I don’t care.” She lifted her phone to her ear. The phone rang and rang. He finally he answered it.
“Hey, there,” he purred to Mom, his voice coming out crystal clear from the other end.
“Amber needs to talk to you.”
“Sure,” he said, and again I could hear him perfectly.
She held out her phone to me.
I shook my head telling her no, and then she gave me one of her stern mom looks and I caved. I lifted the phone to my ear. “Ken,” I squeaked.
“Amber, are you all right?” He was using his fatherly voice again.
“Jason called me.”
“He what?” He sounded pissed and it immediately made me feel better.
“Yeah, he said, he said, I was a “b,” and that I was next,” I stammered, feeling sick.
“Now, Amber, calm down,” he was saying. “Are you sure it was Jason?” I could tell he was using his official police officer voice now.
“Who else would it be?”
“Amber, I can’t know that.”
I pulled the phone away and stared at it, sure I heard him wrong. Then I lifted it back to my ear. “I’m sure it was him.”
“Did he say his name?”
“Well…no.” What the…
“It could have been a crank call,” he told me.
“Why would someone crank call me?”
“I am just covering my bases here.”
“Gee, thanks,” I muttered sarcastically.
“Now, Amber, I understand you are upset but…”
“But you can’t do anything about it, can you?”
What was the point in Mom having a cop for a boyfriend…scratch that…fiancée’… if he couldn’t do anything? This just sucked.
“I will make some calls,” he said.
“Fine,” I gritted, getting angry.
“Amber, if he calls again, don’t answer the phone.”
“I didn’t mean to.”
“Then why did you?”
“I….oh…never mind.” I handed the phone back to Mom and stood up.
Reluctantly she took it back and cradled it to her ear. “Yes, of course. All right,” she sighed.
Even though I was straining really hard, I couldn’t hear a thing this time.
“Me too,” she said and made a kissing sound in the phone. Seriously? Now was not the time. She ended the call and sat her phone back on her nightstand.
“Well?” I asked.
“He said not to delete the number and he would run a check on it when he came over later.”
“That’s it?” I couldn’t mask my irritation.
“Amber, he is in the middle of something.”
I threw my hands up in the air in exasperation and turned to leave.
“Where are you going?”
“Back to bed.” I stomped across the room.
“Honey, do you want to stay here with me?”
I stopped in the doorway, and turned back towards her. She was leaning forward, hugging her knees. I could tell by the look on her face she was worried.
I exhaled. “It’s fine, Mom.”
“But if you’re worried…”
“No. I’m not,” I lied for her benefit. “I’m sure it was just a stupid crank call, like Ken said.”
She seemed relax a bit. “Yes, of course, I’m sure you’re right.”
“Just go back to reading your book. I’m gonna go to bed.”
“You sure?” Her brows creased with worry once more. “You can sleep in here.” She patted the bed beside her.
Although I was tempted to take her up on her offer just so I wouldn’t have to be alone, I didn’t want to be in here when Ken showed—it would be too weird.
“Nah,” I said and shook my head. “But thanks, Mom.”
She held out her arms.
I walked across the room, leaned down, and let her hug me.
“Don’t worry,” she said, patting my back. “Ken will take care of it.”
Stupid tears sprang to my eyes. Before I started bawling, I pulled away. “Night, Mom.”
She blew me a kiss and lifted back up her book.
I blew one back to her but she didn’t seem to notice. Turning, I headed back to my room wishing I could be as sure as she seemed to be.
When I got back to my room, I quickly checked under my bed and in my closet since I had stupidly left my window open. Satisfied the coast was clear, I locked my window and pulled my drapes closed.
Climbing into bed, I pulled my bear from Ken into my arms and burrowed down under my comforter so none of my body parts were hanging out in the danger zone. Every noise I heard made me jump. Finally, I turned on the television to another late night showing of “I Love Lucy” which did a fine job of covering up the creaks and groans made by the house. Unfortunately, it did little to relieve my growing trepidation now that I knew Jason was out.
twenty four
When my alarm went off at 5:45, I rolled over and beat it repeatedly until it shut off. Groaning, I fell back against my pillows. A gentle breeze blew across me and I could hear birds tweeting merrily in raucous song outside my window. I rolled over, reopening my eyes and froze. My window was open. With my heart hammering in my chest, I crawled from bed and walked over to the huge circular window as it creaked in the wind. Freaking out, I looked outside half expecting someone to be on my balcony but thankfully, there was no one was there. I shook my head. “I could have sworn I shut that.”
Reaching forward, I shut and locked my window again. “Now stay shut.” Walking across my room, I grabbed my toiletries and went to take a shower.
A half-hour later, I pushed open my door and was relieved to see my window was s
till shut. I quickly got ready and headed downstairs. The lights were on in the kitchen. I walked up to the doorway. Ken had his back turned with his hands braced on the sink, looking out the window. I didn’t want to bother him, he seemed deep in thought, but I needed some coffee. I was already going to be a Zombie for school from my sleep-deprived night.
He exhaled heavily and scrubbed his hands over his face. I felt bad. I didn’t want to interrupt him. Obviously, he was having a moment.
I took a step backward.
A floorboard creaked.
He whirled around and the look I saw on his face made me gasp. He looked like he was ready to kill someone, and since I was the only one standing here—that someone had to be me. “I’m sorry,” I mumbled and stumbled over my own feet trying to make a break for it.
“Amber,” he said. His voice was calm—almost soothing.
Prickles rose on my skin as I forced my gaze back to his face. The look that I had seen was now gone and instead he looked just like he always did with the exception of heavy dark circles under his eyes—like he hadn’t been sleeping well. I began questioning what I thought I saw and had to wonder if my own lack of sleep was making me imagine things.
“I didn’t mean to interrupt you,” I said.
“Nonsense,” he said sounding cheery…upbeat, except his voice didn’t match his face. “I was hoping to have a word with you.”
“You were?” I instinctively took a step backward.
“Yeah,” he said. He lifted a towel off the counter and twisted it between his hands.
I gulped. “I really should…you know…” I waved toward the door. “I’ll be late.”
“This will only take a moment.”
“Oh—kay,” I said slowly, hovering close to the hallway.
“Even though I told you not to worry about Jason, I want to let you know that I am still keeping a close eye on him.”
“You are?”
“Yes.”
I thought I would feel relief but I didn’t. “Why?” I croaked.
“Let’s just say, I’m going on a gut feeling here.”
“All right,” I said, waiting for him to say more.
“Something just doesn’t add up,” he continued as he walked over to the cupboard and grabbed two cups down. “You want some coffee?”
“Um, sure, if you made enough for two,” I said and leaned back against the wall.
He lifted the pot and poured two cups, and handed one out to me. I stepped forward and grabbed hold of it.
“Thanks.” I cradled the cup in my hands and took a sip. “This is good.”
He nodded and gave me a slight smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Anyway,” he said and then took a sip of his coffee and then lowered it. “I don’t want you going out alone. Can you do that for me?”
“Sure.” My voice came out too high. “Did Mom give you the number?”
“Yes, she did. I’m having one of the guy’s at the station run it for me.”
“If you find out its Jason’s number what will happen? Will they send him back to the psycho ward?”
“I doubt that,” he said. “It’s not against the law to call people.”
“But he said…”
He held up his hand. “I know.”
“But…”
“We’ll see what happens if and when I find out who called you.”
“I heard his voice,” I told him again, in case he somehow missed that.
“Yes. I know.” He took another sip of his coffee putting an end to any further conversation.
That was it. That was all he was going to say. “Unbelievable,” I muttered into my cup as I took another sip of my coffee.
He frowned at me but I didn’t care. “I have been meaning to talk with you about…” he trailed off and looked at some distant spot past my head.
“What?” I prodded.
A hand touched my back.
I jumped and my coffee sloshed over the rim of my cup onto the floor.
“Oh sorry, honey,” Mom said sleepily, shuffling into the room. “I smell coffee.” She made a beeline for the pot. She looked like a kid with her hair tossed up into a high ponytail wearing her fuzzy pink robe and slippers.
“I just made some,” Ken said. “Amber says it’s pretty good.” He winked at me and mouthed, “We’ll talk later.” He tossed me the dishtowel off the counter.
I nodded and gave him a small but forced smile in return, still irritated with him about his lack of action where Jason was concerned and wiped up the mess I made.
When I stood back up, Ken was tucking a stray piece of Mom’s hair behind her ear, smiling from ear to ear.
I immediately felt bad for acting like such a spaz. I quickly finished my coffee as I walked over and set my cup in the sink. “Thanks for the coffee, Ken.”
“Where are you off to so early?”
“School. I have some homework to catch up on.” I opened the fridge and pulled out a bottle of water and the lunch I made for myself the night before.
“Have a good day.”
“Okay, I will.” I shut the fridge and headed out of the kitchen. “See you.”
“Amber, don’t forget what I said,” Ken called out.
“Oh, I won’t.” I took a few steps then remembered the dirty towel and turned around. Ken was hugging Mom. It was really sweet. I glanced up at his face. He was staring at me—his eyes glittering strangely. I did a double take, but when I looked again, he wasn’t even looking at me.
“Have to, ah… put this in the wash,” I muttered and took off out of the room.
twenty five
After my conversation with Ken and his lack of action, I felt strangely unsettled, still. I pulled into the parking lot at school and killed the engine. Peggy Sue put up a fuss but finally conked out. It was another gloomy day. Gray fat-bellied clouds hung closely to the ground about to dump more rain out on everything in the general vicinity. A group of kids passed the front of my car. They were all cookie cutter—sparklers, every last one of them. I ignored them, like I always did and dug in my bag for my book and breakfast bar. One of my staple boxes of Red Hots fell out on my seat. I forgot I even had them. After my run in with Jason at the Timber Museum, I had stopped eating them and wasn’t really sure why since I still liked the candy.
I picked up my book, lowered the wrapper on my breakfast bar, and began munching on it as I read. Turning the page, I glanced up as a girl with light blonde curling hair and peaches and cream skin stumbled forward and dropped her books. I kept watching her, not meaning to but she looked so much like Glinda it freaked me out. She lifted a bag with a huge neon green #biteme on it and threw it over her shoulder as she picked her books back up.
It hit me then—like a ton of bricks. I couldn’t believe it. This was the girl I had seen Vincent with in the hall…not Glinda. A profound wave of relief washed over me making me almost feel giddy. I didn’t know how I missed it before. It had to be her. As I stared at her, I could now see the differences between her and Glinda. For one, she was a bit heavier and of course her skin was peachy almost rosy, not pale and ghostly like Glinda’s.
She turned and looked right at me.
I pulled my eyes away, acting like I wasn’t gawking at her but when I looked back up she was still standing in front of my car, staring at me.
Feeling embarrassed, I gave her a sheepish smile and waved.
Her face twisted and her eyes flashed menacingly.
A tremor of fear shot through me. I instinctively averted my eyes.
The warning bell rang.
I was torn. Part of me didn’t want to look up again and part of me knew I had to at some point. Slowly, I lifted my eyes but this time, thankfully, she was gone.
When I got to my first class, I was feeling pretty good even though the weird look-alike of Glinda had given me a death stare. It didn’t matter though. I was just relieved to know that Glinda hadn’t stabbed me in my back. I walked to the back of class, sat down in the seat acro
ss from hers, and gave her a big cheesy grin. “Hey,” I said.
Her pale blonde brows creased. “I see whatever was up your butt finally crawled out.”
“Yeah, I guess.” I pulled out my books and pen.
“You still game for the social this weekend?”
“Sure. Sounds like fun,” I said cheerily.
She gave me a bemused look. “Cool.”
The teacher started talking, putting an end to our chitchat. It didn’t matter. I was in such a good mood not even the pop quiz Mr. Klein made us take could dampen my spirits.
After class, I followed Glinda to her locker. I looked down the hall and spotted the girl I had seen earlier grabbing something from her own locker. “Who’s that?”
Glinda glanced down the hall. “Oh, that’s Evilynn.”
“Who?”
“Oh, her name is Evelyn but we call her Evilynn.” She grabbed a notebook out of her locker and slammed it shut.
“Why do you call her that?” A shiver of unease swept over me. I glanced back down the hall and the girl was looking right at me. I turned my head quickly and looked back at Glinda.
“Cuz she’s a freak, that’s why.” Glinda grimaced.
“Why are you calling her a freak?”
“Oh, come on, Amber.” She gave me a reprimanding stare like she couldn’t believe I was asking her such a thing.
“What?” I widened my eyes at her.
“Oh, right…” She shook her head. “You wouldn’t know. It happened before you moved here.”
“What happened?” I couldn’t stop myself from asking.
“It’s pretty out there.” She lifted the strap on her bag and pulled it up on her shoulder.
“Well… are you going to tell me?”
“I can’t now,” she said and turned to look down the hall where the girl was standing. She turned back around as quickly as I did when I looked. “I got to get to class.”
“But…”
“I’ll tell you later,” she said really low like she was afraid the girl would hear her.
“Oh—kay.”