The Pendants and the Mystery of the Wozniak Five Part I

by Stephanie Steele

  She leaned back and looked at the receipt. All that was written was: Writer, Cashier. Her junior year of high school, she wrote for the school paper. She kept up with the school's sports teams and reported scores and interviewed athletes. That was different though, those were facts, and Valie wanted to write something that was more...profound to her, something that was important. As much as she enjoyed sports, she really took the job for the experience.

  She tapped her pencil.

  At 11, the store was closed and Valie mopped the deli with Lewis then headed home.

  Once home, she saw that her uncle's van was in the driveway. He was home after his late night “business,” whatever it had been.

  Valie saw a flickering light coming from the living room. Trent had fallen asleep on the couch with the TV on and he was lying there snoring with his mouth open. Valie laughed to herself, clicked off the TV, and went to her room.

  She put on her pajamas, carefully taking the picture out of her pocket, and set it on her nightstand, crawled under her blankets, and fell asleep just as soon as her head hit the pillow.

  The next morning, Valie woke to her phone going off. She forced her eyes open and felt a surge of panic when she saw it was daylight, immediately she knew that she overslept. She sprung out of bed, stumbling over her blankets and glanced at her clock; it was almost nine. Valie scrambled for some clothes.

  “Trent!” She yelled, trying to put on her jeans while successfully tripping over her own foot. "Trent!"

  Her uncle usually left for school before Valie and Trent woke up, but she couldn't figure out how she slept in, Valie never needed an alarm to wake up, that's how reliable her own internal clock was.

  She put the picture from her nightstand in her pocket and hustled out of her room.

  Trent emerged from the living room; his hair was sticking up in all different directions.

  "We're late!” Valie yelled trying to put her shoes on without untying them.

  "Calm down, straight laced," he yawned, "What are they going to do to us? Not let us graduate?"

  Valie stopped for a second and thought, "No, I've never been late! Let's go!"

  "Newsflash, you're already late!" He yelled after her, but she was already out the door.

  Valie jogged to school, trying to tie her hair back as she did.

  Despite her lackluster enthusiasm for college and graduating, Valie had always taken school seriously. Her grades were important to her.

  Once she got to school, she was completely out of breath and frazzled. She swung the doors open while trying to pull her binder out of her book bag. She rounded the corner towards her locker and ran smack into another student, sending her and everything in her book bag to the floor.

  "Crap!" She shrieked.

  "Whoops!" the other student said.

  Valie looked up. It was Matt, one of The M's. The one she had pushed.

  “Just what I need,” Valie mumbled to herself.

  "Maybe you should try walking with your eyes open, retard."

  "Matt, don't you have something more important to be doing, like failing a biology exam or shoving an unsuspecting freshman into his locker?"

  "That sense of humor..." he knelt down next to her. "How's the cousin?" he asked sinisterly.

  Valie ignored him and continued to pick her papers and books up, not caring about order; she was in a hurry and wanted to get away from him as fast as possible. Besides, he was trying to provoke her, and she knew it. After her little attack that had gotten her suspended, Matt and the other M's seemed to enjoy trying to get her riled.

  Valie wasn't giving in to him; she didn't want to give him the satisfaction.

  "Well, tell him I said hi and I'll be seeing him around." Matt stood, and as he did, he kicked one of Valie's books down the hall. "And watch where you're going, next time I may not be so nice about it!"

  Valie watched her book slide across the hall as Matt strolled away. She took a deep breath, collected the rest of papers, retrieved her book, and went to class.

  She couldn't understand how someone could get such pleasure out of being so mean, but she shrugged him off and planned to carry on with her day, without giving him a second thought.

  Valie didn't eat lunch with her friends because she ended up getting detention for falling asleep in class. Clearly, it was not one of her better days. It was a mortifying moment. Valie had spaced out in class before, as most students do at times, but she had certainly never fallen asleep. There she was, sitting in British lit, listening to her teacher discuss the third Bronte sister, when her head started to feel heavy and felt like she had to rest it on her desk, as if it wasn't even a choice. She woke up to someone nudging her side. It was Charlie. He was in the desk next to her, whispering her name because the teacher was heading in their direction.

  Valie bolted up, eyes wide, sitting perfectly straight in her attempt to act alert, but it didn't work. She was caught and received lunch detention for a week. She was tired, very tired, something that was unusual to her. She had never woken up late for school, let alone fallen asleep in class. Perhaps she was getting sick, maybe the flu. It would explain her sudden fatigue.

  She was thankful once study hall came around. She wanted to talk to Casey, that, and not have to think about concentrating on class or homework. Study hall felt like a welcome gift once she got to the class.

  Casey already knew about Valie's lunch detention and thought it was hilarious. She told her that Trent had made it to school just in time for lunch, which didn't really surprise Valie. Casey prodded her about what it felt like to be a student who was such a rebel, obviously with sarcasm in her voice. Valie humored her and reminded Casey that a detention paled in comparison to a suspension.

  “You are so cool,” Casey teased. “Oh, by the way, where is your uncle?”

  “What?” Valie asked, feeling a suddenly serious shift in their conversation.

  “I have him fifth period and he wasn't there, a sub was filling in.”

  It was a surprise, her uncle never missed school. Then again, Valie was never late, so she suggested to Casey that maybe it was some kind of solstice or full moon. She played it off to Casey like it was not a big deal, but in the back of her mind, she felt concerned.

  Casey steered the conversation somewhere else. The topic landed on the new guy Aaron, who wasn't in study hall that day. Valie felt a twinge of sadness. There was something mysterious about the new student, and she kind of wanted the chance to talk to him again.

  Valie put her head down on the desk and mumbled to Casey that nothing was going right that day. They continued with normal conversation, though it was mostly Casey talking and Valie listening. Valie wanted the day to be over. Once she was done with school, she had to rush home and hopefully have time to take a quick shower before work.

  The final bell rang and Valie went to her locker. She scanned the halls for her cousin, but couldn't find him, so she left without him. As she walked home, she wondered why her uncle wasn't in school, but assumed that she would see him when she got home.

  She didn't.

  His van was still in the driveway, but when Valie called out for him, no one answered. His cell phone continually went to voice mail. A text to Trent, asking what was up, went unanswered too. She tried not to think about it, she didn't have the time. Valie jumped in the shower, quickly changed for work, and left.

  Work proved to be just as hard as school when it came to trying to stay awake. After downing an energy drink, Valie still found herself straining to keep her eyes open, when there were no customers around, Valie resorted to using her fingers to keep her eyelids up.

  Lewis wasn't working that night, so work was already going to be a little less interesting for her. Just she and Arnie were working, which wasn't helping any sort of motivation to stay awake. Valie sat at her register, occasionally glancing at her phone, but each time, no texts and no missed calls.

  “Where is everyone?” she whispered to herself. She knew that Trent was p
robably just getting out of his science club, and he never even looked at his phone during his club. There could be a monsoon heading towards Wisconsin and Trent would put it out if his mind completely until his club was over. She tried her uncle's cell phone again, and again, it went to voice mail.

  She set her phone down and stared out of the large windows in the front of the store. It was too dark outside and too bright inside, so she could only see her reflection in the windows. Even in that, she looked tired.

  The store was quiet. Valie sat immersed in her own thoughts, ignoring the eerie feel that store seemed to capture when it was void of customers.

  Then, out of nowhere, a bottle of water was tossed down in front of her; Valie jumped, knocking her stool over.

  “Jeez!” she shrieked.

  Valie hadn't heard anyone come into the store, but suddenly a young man stood in front of her. Immediately, she noticed how striking he was—he was tall, with thick, curly, dark hair, gray eyes, and dressed all in black. Something about his presence set her heart racing, her stomach started to churn, and her mouth went dry.

  “Good evening,” the man said in a smooth, deep voice.

  Valie swallowed hard. “Uh, hi,” she mumbled as she ran the bottle of water across the scanner. "One fifty please." Valie never had trouble looking people in the eye, but she couldn't look at him. Somehow she felt that if she did, the man would know all of her secrets. He held out a five dollar bill. Valie took it and made change, handing it back to him as quickly as she could.

  "You look familiar to me," he said.

  "What?" Valie said, still holding the money out to him.

  "I think I know you."

  Valie looked into his eyes, trying not to look away. "What?"

  He stared at her, and she stared back, not because she wanted to, but because she couldn't look away now, it was almost a trapped feeling. He didn't answer, only stared back with a burning intensity.

  Arnie's voice came from behind her, she had been holding her breath and the sound of Arnie's voice snapped her back to reality, she inhaled sharply and turned around.

  Arnie saw something in her face and asked her what was wrong. Valie only looked back at him, struggling for the words.

  “Hey, Valie!” Arnie snapped his fingers in her face. She blinked and turned back to the mysterious man, but he was gone. In a flash, he was gone.

  Valie leaned over the counter, then rushed behind from her register, and turned in a circle. The man had vanished, just as quickly as he appeared.

  "Valie?" Arnie inquired. "Valie, is there a problem?

  "No," She said faintly, "there's no problem."

  Whoever he was, he scared her. It was all in his appearance. She had never seen him before, how would he know who she was? It was an experience that kept her on edge for the rest of her shift.

  A short time later, they closed the store. Valie helped Arnie clean the deli. She didn't speak to him at all; her mind was on the weirdly odd, yet dangerously attractive young man. She never wanted to see him again. Although she had never been particularly fond of Arnie, being that he was usually a pretty retched boss, she was grateful that he was around. Being in that store alone or anywhere alone, would've been too much that night.

  After they were done cleaning, she said goodbye to Arnie, to which he responded with a grunt and half a wave. She punched out and left the store from the back, stepping into the alley, just as she always had. The street lamps were buzzing and flickering, they never provided a lot of light anyway. She felt an eerie feeling wash over her. Looking around, she saw nothing but dumpsters that belonged to the store. She regretted her decision not to bring her jacket to work and put her hands in her pockets, bunching her shoulders. Her breath could be seen in the crisp night air. The neighborhood was very familiar to her, since she had lived there her whole life. She was certain she could've walked home with her eyes closed, but that night it felt different. It wasn't anything specific; she couldn't point to anything and say “this doesn't belong.” It was all in a feeling.

  She began her brisk walk home.

  It was quiet, except for the wind, it was brushing the leaves around and they crunched under her feet. Valie got the feeling that she was being watched, that at any moment someone was going to jump out from behind the bushes to scare her. She kept her hands in her pockets, one of them gripping tightly to her cell phone. Occasionally, she glanced behind her, nothing or no one was there, but still, she walked as fast as she could.

  She was halfway home when she noticed him. At first, she didn't know if it was a man or a woman, but someone was there. Up ahead a person was walking down the middle of the street, just barely visible in the streetlights. Valie stopped walking, watching carefully.

  They weren't running, just walking down the middle of the road at a leisurely pace, with their hands casually at their sides.

  It was a man, she could see as he slowly came into a clearer view. Valie pulled her phone out of her pocket, dialed 911 and waited to press the send button. Sure, there wasn't anything wrong with someone taking a walk, but down the middle of the street? This late at night? She was wary, especially after her run-in with the strange man.

  She stood there, watching, until she saw...she recognized him. It was the man from the store. She was certain because her body started reacting the same way as before. The pounding heart, stomach churning, and her mouth went dry.

  Valie turned on her heel and started to run back towards the store. She was quick, she had always been a fast runner, and soon, she saw the store lights in her sight. Just as Valie began to cross the street next to the store, a car squealed its tires, nearly hitting her.

  Valie screamed and reflexively hit her hands on the hood as she jumped back.

  The car had no headlights on. It was a black car with tinted windows. For a second, she didn't move, wondering if they had been trying to run her over, or if it was just an accident.

  She decided not to wait to find out. Valie took a step, preparing to run again, but just as she did, a thick hand wrapped around her mouth and an arm came around her waist-- lifting her off the ground.

  Valie started screaming, dropping her cell phone as she clawed at the hand around her mouth.

  She screamed as loudly as she could, albeit muffled, and prayed that someone would be able to hear her in the quiet neighborhood.

  Her legs were kicking the air with fury. Whoever was holding her opened the back car door and shoved her in with ease, despite Valie trying to restrain with her arms. He tossed her in with such force that she slid across the leather seat and smacked her head into the door across.

  The arm came quickly back around her, this time her neck and the driver sped away.

  “Let me go!” Valie screamed, kicking the seat in front of her and pulling at the arm around her neck that was now restricting her breathing, but the arm only squeezed tighter. Valie felt her heart beat as if it was going to pound right out of her chest and her eyes started to go dark.

  “Please, stop!” Valie wheezed, still pulling at the arm, but it was no use. Her vision around the edges was going black, he was too strong. She felt her arms go weaker and she could barely make an effort to help herself.

  Suddenly, bright lights flooded the car from behind them.

  Valie could hear the man who was choking her yell to the driver to go faster. The car surged forward, they were speeding up.

  The car whipped around a corner, and then another, then another, each turn just as violent as the last.

  The man removed his arm from Valie's neck, grabbing her arms and pulling them behind her back. He grabbed a roll of duct tape from the floor and used it to bind Valie's hands. She could barely resist his force, she tried, but found herself struggling to even sit up and she tried to catch her breath.

  He pulled the seatbelt across her and buckled it, then placed duct tape over her mouth. Valie caught a glimpse of his face. It was the man from the store, but he didn't look so calm anymore, he looked crazed.
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br />   The headlights from behind were still flooding the car, tailgating them, keeping up with their reckless driving.

  Valie hoped it was someone who saw her get snatched off the street; she was hoping it was someone who would help her.

  The man again yelled for the driver to go faster. Valie started to plead, but her muffled cries fell on deaf ears. The man was not going to let her go.

  She was crying, millions of thoughts streaming through her mind, why was this happening to her? Valie had lived a normal life, in a normal neighborhood. She was still crying when the man brought his hand back and hit her over the head and everything went black.

  Chapter 4

  Valie slowly opened her eyes and felt the pain in her head instantly. She was upside down, still buckled into her seatbelt. The car had flipped and come to rest on its roof. There was no noise, not from the car, not from people, nothing. Just quiet.

  The blood was rushing to her head, she felt an awful pressure, but could see the man was no longer next to her. She didn't know how long she had been upside down for, but wanted out of the position and fast. The seatbelt was nearly choking her; blood was dripping into her eyes. Her arms were still bound behind her back and her neck was so stiff that she could barely move it.

  The driver's seat was empty. Valie knew she had to get out of there and fast. She tried wriggling her fingers, they felt stiff. She started wriggling her hands back and forth as fast as her arms would allow. Her wrists began to feel raw, but she kept at it until her hands came loose. She brought one hand above her head and braced herself while she unbuckled her seatbelt with the other. Valie came down on her shoulder; her arm was weak and unable to hold her. Valie peeled the duct tape off of her mouth and gasped for air. She wiped her forehead with her hands, brought them back and saw nothing but blood. She couldn't think about it, she wiped her hands on her work smock and crawled out of the car.