Forks, Book Two

by A. E. Davis

  “Who did you want to be here?” She turned in the seat.

  “I don’t know,” I lied.

  “Sure you don’t,” she teased and pulled her lip-gloss out of her purse. She slid it across her lips and then flipped down the visor and looked in the mirror.

  “Where do I go?” I asked ignoring her innuendo.

  “Follow 101 till I tell you to turn.”

  “Kay.” I turned on the high beams.

  She flipped back up the visor. “So what did you tell your mom?”

  “I told her and Ken we were going to the movies.”

  “And they believed you?” Glinda laughed.

  “Sure. Why wouldn’t they?”

  “Got me.” She shrugged and reached up, and twisted her ponytail. “Guess who is riding with Curtis?”

  I immediately thought of Vincent. “Don’t know?”

  “Cressida is. She is such a bitch.”

  “Why are you calling her a “b?”?”

  “Because she thinks she’s so great but she’s not.”

  Glancing over, I gave her a questioning look.

  “Just wait… you’ll see what I mean.” She made a face and turned back around.

  “Is Viola with them, too?”

  “God, no! She’s off somewhere with her parents which is why Cressida is hanging around. She really bugs me.”

  I wasn’t sure why Glinda had such an issue with Cressida suddenly. She never talked about her before. At least not like this, but I guessed I would find out sooner rather than later. “So what are we going to be doing?”

  “I don’t know. Just hanging out, I guess.” She shrugged.

  “Aren’t we getting pumpkins?”

  “Amber,” she giggled. “The pumpkin patch is closed.”

  “But I thought you said that is what we were doing.”

  “Seriously?” Glinda shook her head. “That’s what I told you to tell your mom.”

  “So what are we doing then?”

  “Were going to the Psycho Social,” she said.

  “I thought that was tomorrow night.”

  “It is.”

  “So why are we going tonight?” An uneasy feeling swept over me.

  “Because, it’s tonight too,” she said. “If it’s cool we can come back tomorrow, too.”

  “What if it sucks?”

  “Then I guess we will find something else to do.”

  “Okay.” I chewed on my lip, feeling nervous suddenly. “So where is this social at?”

  “It’s at the Quillayute Airport.”

  “What about the planes?”

  “Oh come on, Amber.” She rolled her eyes. “It’s deserted.”

  “Well how am I supposed to know that?” I snapped.

  “Oh, right,” she giggled again. “I keep forgetting that you don’t know anything.”

  “I don’t know how with you reminding me every chance you get.” I squeezed the steering wheel.

  “Wow, Tiger. Calm down.”

  “Stop calling me that.”

  “Fine. I was just…”

  “Yeah, I know you were just kidding,” I cut her off.

  “Well, I was.”

  “I know.”

  “So, have you talked to Viktor?”

  “Nope.” I pressed my lips firmly together.

  “What about Vincent?” She gave me an expectant look.

  “Not really.” My shoulders tensed. I didn’t want to tell her about him coming over the other night.

  “Well, what do you want to talk about?”

  “Why don’t you tell me about Evelyn?”

  “Her?” she groaned. “Because I don’t want to talk about Evilynn now,” she snipped.

  “Fine,” I exhaled, giving up.

  “Turn here,” she screamed.

  I slammed on my brakes and the car came to a skidding halt on the road. “God, Glinda! You scared me.”

  “Well, you were going to miss the turn,” she complained.

  “You could have given me some notice.”

  “Sorry. I wasn’t paying attention.”

  As I drove down the dark scary road, I couldn’t help but wonder if I would have been better off staying home.

  forty

  Icy wind swirled around the bleak and desolate looking parking lot. Ahead, a faint light leaked out from the crumbling walls of the building where the haunted house was set up. It was gloomy…sinister looking, and an eerie sense of foreboding assailed me, reminding me of my nightmare.

  “Isn’t this awesome?” Glinda was being more bubbly than usual.

  “Yeah, it is,” I lied and shoved my hands in my pockets.

  “What’s wrong?” Glinda’s pale brows creased as she looked up at me.

  “Why is it so dark in there?”

  “Amber,” she sighed. “It’s supposed to be a haunted house, well hangar. If it was lit up, it wouldn’t be very scary.”

  “Yeah, well, I think it would be scary even if it was lit up.”

  “You’re silly.”

  “Stop saying that!” My nerves were already on edge.

  “Gesh, calm down.” She rolled her eyes and turned back towards the building. “Oh, look…” She pointed up in the air.

  I looked up.

  “The moon is full.”

  “Yeah, so?”

  “We might get to see some werewolves,” she said with an ominous tone.

  I swung my head around and looked at her.

  She was biting back a laugh.

  “Stop that.”

  “What?” She feigned innocence.

  “Stop messing with me.”

  “Oh, fine.” She made a face. “You are ruining all my fun.”

  “Too bad,” I snapped.

  “You know…” She cut her eyes sideways. “There are supposed to be ghosts here.”

  I gaped at her not believing she was already trying to freak me out again. “Really?”

  “I swear I’m not lying this time.”

  “Hey!” a deep voice whispered from behind.

  I jumped about a foot in the air.

  “Whoa, Tiger, it’s me.”

  I spun around with my hand on my chest and then swatted Vincent on his arm. “You scared me.”

  Vincent’s lips lifted into a slow knowing grin. “How’s it going?” His shoved his hands into his pockets.

  “Good, good…” My mood immediately perked up.

  “Hey, Vincent. Where’s everyone else?” Glinda asked stressing the last part, which I didn’t understand.

  “Don’t know. Don’t care,” he snapped a little harshly.

  Glinda groaned and stomped away.

  “I thought she’d never leave.” Vincent’s eyes twinkled.

  “You’re bad.”

  “So I’ve been told, repeatedly.”

  “Oh.” A rush of heat climbed to my face at his unsaid innuendo. “So how have you been?”

  “Not too good.”

  “Why?” I gulped.

  “Well, you see there is this girl and I can’t stop thinking about her …”

  I suddenly felt a sickening pang of jealousy. Was it Sandy? “Who is it? Maybe I can help.” I tried to sound breezy like I didn’t care.

  He frowned and gave me an odd look. “You don’t know?”

  “If I knew I wouldn’t be asking.”

  “Who do you think I’m talking about?”

  “I don’t know.” I shrugged. “You have a pretty long list of conquests.”

  His face turned hard. “And your point would be?”

  “I don’t have one. I was just making an observation.”

  “We’re back to this again?”

  “Apparently,” I mumbled dejectedly.

  “Amber,” he laughed and shook his head. “I’m talking about you.”

  “Yeah, right,” I laughed but it came out sounding all pitchy…fake.

  He stepped closer. “Want me to prove it?”

  “Ah…” I swallowed hard.

  “Forge
t it.” He stepped back and dragged his hand through his hair.

  “There you are.” Cressida stepped up from who knew where and grabbed his arm.

  I tensed and had a sudden urge to knock her hand away.

  “Where’s Curtis?” Vincent asked. I noticed he didn’t bother moving her hand from his arm, which rankled me even more.

  “I lost him over there.” She pointed back towards the building.

  “Can you go find him?” he asked. “I need to talk to him.” His eyes never wavered from her face.

  “Why don’t you ask her to do it?” She glared over at me.

  “Because I asked you to do it,” he said. His voice was gentle but it had a commanding edge to it.

  I thought for sure she was going to put up a fuss but instead she merely nodded her head obediently. “I’ll go get Curtis.”

  I waited for one of her death dagger stares but when she turned, her face was completely blank. She walked right past me as though I wasn’t even standing here.

  Weird. “How’d you do that?”

  “I used my one of super powers.” His eyes were alight with humor.

  “Which one was that?” I smiled up at him.

  “I used my substantial powers of persuasion.”

  “Oh,” I laughed. “That’s a good one.”

  “Want to try it out?”

  “Sure,” I said, playing along.

  “Tell me a secret?”

  I blinked up at him. “I don’t have any secrets,” I lied smoothly.

  “Everyone has secrets, Amber.”

  “Not me. I’m an open book.”

  “I doubt that.” He seemed irritated.

  He stepped closer and widened his eyes at me for emphasis. “Tell me a secret,” he repeated.

  “Ah…no…”

  His brows creased. “I must be losing my touch.”

  “Must be,” I said, laughing.

  I expected him to laugh too, but he didn’t. Instead, he turned away from me and looked up towards the building. “I’m going to check out the Social.”

  That was quick. “Oh, okay, let me just grab my purse.” I left his side and walked over to the car. Opening the door, I pulled out my purse. After I locked the car back up, I walked back to where we were standing but once again, Vincent was gone.

  An hour later, I was still sitting in my car, brooding. If I hadn’t brought Glinda, I would have left. But after what happened last time I couldn’t very well leave her without at least asking her to come with me. I texted her but she didn’t respond.

  “Dangit!” I put my phone back in my purse. After I checked my makeup and put on some lip balm, I made myself leave my car to go find Glinda.

  When I finally managed to get past the crowd of kids standing outside smoking cigarettes, I slipped through a crooked doorway with weeds stuck to the sides, which looked like they were pulling the doorway in different directions. A “Condemned” sign was nailed to the door that was now off its hinges and leaning up against the wall. Looking up, I could see why. There was a big hole in the center of the ceiling and I could swear I saw bats flying around. The smell of cigarette smoke and moldy dirt permeated the air. Not wanting to draw attention to myself, I kept to the shadows and looked for Glinda.

  A few beefy guys dressed as clowns holding AK-47’s and one with a machete were standing near the doorway, ushering people upstairs. They turned and gave me the once over. Embarrassed and a little afraid, I slid further back against the wall. It didn’t take long for me to spot Glinda. She was across the room talking animatedly with three boys that I didn’t recognize. They all looked pretty cute even with their scary makeup on. Glinda was laughing. At least one of us was having a good time, I thought dejectedly.

  In the distance, I heard a chainsaw and some guests screaming. Someone ran down the stairs yelling, “You can’t touch me!” and ran out the door. It looked like their pants were wet. Eww.

  Another bout of screaming started and I shivered, moving closer to the door and pressing back further in the shadows. Someone dressed up as Michael Meyers passed by me and I could hear the theme music from the movie coming from him which made it him seem even creepier.

  Freddy Krueger chased three girls out a side exit door and The Ring Girl was blocking two guys who looked like they were going to be sick. I felt sick too when I spotted a few hacked up body parts hanging in various places around the room. Chains rattled above and another deluge of blood curdling screams set my nerves on edge.

  The haunted house was two stories high, four stairwells and nineteen rooms set up to scare the beejeebies out of anyone brave enough to enter down either one of the long darkened hallways; I wasn’t one of them. I decided I would stay downstairs, as close to the door as possible so I wouldn’t be chased by one of the monsters that seemed a bit too real for my liking.

  An evil clown cocked his head to the side and stared at me. I acted oblivious, hoping he would go away and looked down at my phone even though I wasn’t really looking at it.

  He finally walked away but someone dressed up all in black with a white skeleton mask showed up in his place and kept looking at me. I turned away. I spotted Vincent. My heart leapt in my chest and then squeezed. I felt even sicker than I did when I saw the hacked up body parts. He had his arm slung over Cressida’s thin shoulder, talking to Curtis. It was like my worst nightmare just came true—I didn’t get it. Didn’t he ask me to come out?

  Cressida reached up and twined her fingers through his like he had done with mine the night he slept over.

  Gross.

  I felt really sick now.

  Cressida caught my eye and smirked.

  Well, so much for that. I felt like the biggest loser on the planet.

  Someone turned up the music in one of the cars parked outside and the heavy bass thumped loudly. I noticed Curtis slip through the crowd and out the door. He looked sick.

  Someone tapped my shoulder. Tensing, I warily turned.

  “Hey, there.” Lucky’s face loomed above me.

  “Hey.” A wave of relief washed over me. “What are you doing here?”

  His lips twitched. “I could ask you the same thing.”

  “But I asked you first.”

  “So you did.” He leaned back against the wall and propped his foot up. He was wearing a black t-shirt, faded jeans, and his long hair was pulled back into a ponytail. He glanced down at me. “Designated wallflower, again, I see.”

  “You’re so not funny.”

  “I wasn’t trying to be.”

  I glanced up at him. “So, are you here to give another tour?” I asked smartly.

  “Nah,” he chuckled, catching my dig. “I’m here with friends.”

  I gave him a doubtful look.

  He tipped his head towards Glinda.

  “Oh. No wonder I didn’t recognize them.”

  “Isn’t she your friend?”

  “Yep.”

  “She’s the one that was attacked, right?”

  “Yep. You should go and say hi. I bet she’d give you a big hug for saving her.” I didn’t know why I said that.

  “No thanks.” His brows creased as he turned back to look out into the crowd of kids waiting in line.

  I didn’t know what my problem was. Fine. That was a lie. I knew exactly what my problem was. He was being a jerk to me the last time I talked to him and obviously I hadn’t gotten over it yet.

  “So what do you think of the Social?”

  “It’s okay, I guess.” It was actually pretty cool but I wasn’t going tell him that since I was still mad at him.

  “Gee, don’t sound so enthused,” he dripped sarcastically.

  I shrugged. “What do you care what I think?”

  “God,” he groaned and scrubbed his hands over his face. “What is your problem?”

  “My problem?” I gaped at him.

  “Yeah, that’s what I said,” he said smartly.

  “If you don’t know then this conversation is pointless.” I turned
back around.

  “Oh, I get it,” he said as though he just figured out the answer to the universe.

  “What do you get?” I deadpanned.

  “You’re obviously still mad about the other night.”

  “And why shouldn’t I be?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Really?”

  “Hey, I didn’t do anything wrong. You did.”

  I gaped at him. “What did I do?”

  “You left.”

  “You left me first,” I argued.

  “I had to.”

  “Why?”

  He took a deep breath. “I can’t say.”

  “Yeah, that’s what I thought.” My face was burning. I turned back around.

  “Listen,” he sighed. “I’m sorry. Happy?”

  “You don’t sound very sorry,” I muttered without looking at him.

  “What do you want from me?”

  “Nothing.”

  “You’re a real piece of work.”

  “Oh, gee, thanks,” I deadpanned.

  “You know,” he said sounding exasperated. “You make it really hard for a person to be nice to you.”

  That got my attention. I turned and looked up at him and immediately regretted it. A pained look was on his face and I knew I was the cause. “Listen…” I began, not trusting my voice suddenly. “It’s fine. You left me. I left you. We’re even, okay.”

  “Yeah, okay.” He sighed audibly. “You want to go check out the haunted house?”

  “Not really.” I rubbed my forehead.

  “Then why did you come?”

  “I don’t know. It was something to do.”

  “There are plenty of other things to do.”

  “Like?”

  “I don’t know. Go to the movies.”

  I laughed at that.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “I told my mom that.”

  His brows creased. “Why?”

  “I don’t know. It seemed like a good thing to say.”

  “Ah… she wouldn’t have let you come?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe. Maybe not. But I didn’t want to chance it.” Another song came on and I looked over my shoulder out the door. A few kids were dancing around, acting stupid.

  “Am I keeping you from something?” I felt his eyes on me but I didn’t want to look at him again.

  “No.”

  “Would you like me to leave you alone?”