The Collector

by KR Alexander

  I looked out to the woods before heading back inside to pack my bag.

  It felt like I was being watched.

  I could barely stay awake through my classes. Even with Grandma Jeannie’s strange warning ringing in my ears, making me scared of the trees outside the school window, I kept yawning. I didn’t raise my hand for any questions. I couldn’t even follow along when we were reading aloud. Which turned out to be okay, because the more I kept my head down, the less people seemed to stare at me. It was like they’d forgotten I’d existed, or else me being new wasn’t so interesting anymore.

  Vanessa was waiting for me at lunch, though she didn’t seem to have a tray. I set down my tray of gross food—some frost-burnt, old lasagna—beside her. I still hadn’t figured out how to eat vegetarian here. Maybe once my mom settled in, I’d ask her to pack me a lunch. Until then, I was going to have to make do with a bag of chips that, according to the numbers at the bottom, had expired last month.

  How was the lunch here even legal?

  “I wouldn’t eat any of that,” Vanessa warned when I sat down.

  “How do you survive?” I asked.

  She smiled and pulled out her lunch box.

  Inside, there were two of everything: two sandwiches, two bags of chips, two bananas. And four chocolate chip cookies.

  “I asked my aunt to pack extra,” Vanessa explained. She paused when handing me the sandwich. “That’s okay, right? I don’t mean to be rude by assuming.”

  I didn’t know what made me feel warmer—the fact that she thought of bringing me food or the fact that she was worried it might hurt my feelings.

  “No. Thank you so much.”

  I felt myself blushing. I didn’t think anyone would do anything that nice for me ever again. Something about the new town made me feel like nice things just didn’t happen here. Except Vanessa. She was the only good thing in this place.

  Vanessa smiled and began eating her own sandwich. It was cheese and a bunch of vegetables. And the cookies were definitely homemade.

  “My aunt likes making food for people,” she said. “And she was so happy to hear I’d made a new friend. I heard her talking on the phone to one of her friends … she was worried I was never going to make friends here.”

  “But you seem so cool. Like you own the school.”

  She shrugged and took a bite of her cookie.

  “I’m not popular. People are just intimidated by me, so they leave me alone. You’re the first person who feels like an equal. Like we could really be friends.”

  Her smile came back.

  “I’m glad you moved here, Josie. It’s been lonely.”

  I couldn’t tell her I was glad I’d moved, too, because that would be lying, and I knew better than to do that.

  “Where are you from?” I asked instead, because I realized she knew everything about me and I knew nothing about her. She was the one who had asked all the questions yesterday.

  It was definitely the wrong thing to ask. Her smile disappeared, and I immediately felt bad. She didn’t answer.

  Instead she changed the subject and started talking about the English homework from yesterday, and how it was totally unfair that some of the teachers were already doing quizzes. I agreed. When she asked me questions about Anna or my grandma, I answered like I didn’t feel weird that she’d ignored my own question.

  I yawned a couple times. On the fourth, she giggled.

  “Am I that boring?”

  “No, I’m sorry. I didn’t sleep much.”

  “Bad dreams?”

  I shook my head.

  “No. My sister slept in my room. She’s scared of the woods.”

  Vanessa looked at me for a bit. I couldn’t tell what she was trying to discover.

  “There’s nothing to be scared of in the woods,” she said. Her voice sounded different. Flat. Like she was reciting a line from a story she’d read, but didn’t believe. “It’s just trees and animals.”

  “She’s probably just scared because it’s a new place,” I said.

  Vanessa nodded. Then she asked me more questions about Chicago and what my friends were like and what I did for fun. I tried asking her a few more things, but she never answered them. Maybe she just didn’t like talking about herself. A couple of my friends back home were like that, too. Especially the ones whose parents were getting divorced or who had other problems. I didn’t want to push it—if Vanessa stopped talking to me, life would be horrible.

  Without her, the school would be just as scary as the woods.

  At the end of the day I found a note folded up inside my locker.

  There was no signature. I looked around, wondering if maybe someone was playing a prank. But no one was paying me any attention. I crumpled up the note.

  Someone was just jealous that I was friends with the coolest girl in school. And I wasn’t going to let them scare me away from her.

  Anna was waiting for me on the school steps when I walked out. And, much to my surprise, she was smiling.

  “Did you have a good day?” I asked.

  Anna nodded.

  “I made a new friend,” she said.

  “That’s great!”

  “Yeah. Her name is Clara. She’s new here, like us.” She lowered her voice and looked around. “People make fun of her, too. We want to start a club together.”

  I smiled and hugged her. Anna sometimes didn’t get along with other kids her age; this was really good news. It also meant I didn’t need to feel guilty that I’d already made a friend. Even though someone was trying very hard to keep Vanessa and me from being friends.

  “Is she here?” I asked.

  “No, she took the bus.”

  Vanessa came over then.

  “Hi!” she said.

  I felt bad because when I saw her I got knots in my stomach. Even though I’d thrown out the note, I felt like maybe she would be able to tell. Like she could read my mind and knew what I’d seen.

  Someone was just being mean. Trying to keep me friendless and unhappy. Or maybe they thought it was a threat—maybe Vanessa had an admirer who didn’t want her to have other friends. Though that was silly, since it didn’t seem like Vanessa talked to anyone besides me.

  What did the note mean? Was I supposed to be scared of Vanessa or scared of someone else?

  When Vanessa hugged Anna, my fears disappeared completely. Anyone who was nice to my sister was a good person.

  “What are you doing tonight?” I asked Vanessa.

  “Gotta take care of my aunt again,” she said with a frown. “She loves cooking, but she needs help around the kitchen. She just had knee surgery.”

  “Oh,” I said. “I thought maybe you could come over.”

  “I can’t really leave her right now,” Vanessa said. “Maybe you two could come over tomorrow night?”

  I was surprised she was inviting my sister, too. And a little upset. Anna had her own friend now. First my bedroom, and now my friend? I needed to figure out some boundaries with Anna before she took over my life here.

  “Yeah!” Anna said. “Can I, please?”

  “We’ll have to ask Mom,” I said. “But hopefully we can.”

  I couldn’t imagine Mom would let us go over to a stranger’s house. Still, weirder things had happened.

  Vanessa smiled huge. “That would be awesome! I’ll make a big dinner. And I have internet!”

  That sold it. I’d told her at lunch that we didn’t have internet at all, and I couldn’t really contact my friends at home because the service was so bad. Suddenly, the note in the locker was long forgotten. Vanessa was, once again, a lifesaver. What had I done to be so lucky? I couldn’t imagine how miserable I’d be in this tiny town without her, and I’d only known her a couple days. She was just that sort of person—the moment we met, we were destined to be best friends forever.

  Mom drove up a little later and waved to us.

  “Do you want a ride?” I asked again.

  “No, thanks,” Vanessa rep
lied. “I like the walk.”

  She came up to the car with us, though, and introduced herself to my mom. Mom offered to drive her, and Vanessa politely refused again.

  “Can we go to Vanessa’s tomorrow?” Anna immediately asked. “She has internet!”

  I could tell my mom was tired—I wondered if Grandma had been in a bad state all day.

  “Of course, if it’s okay with her parents.”

  “I’ll ask my aunt,” Vanessa said. Vanessa seemed to emphasize the word aunt, which made me wonder … where were her parents? Why did I not know that yet? “I’m sure it will be okay.”

  We said our good-byes, and Vanessa stood and waved while we drove off.

  “She seems nice,” Mom said.

  “She is,” I replied.

  “I made a new friend, too!” Anna called from the back seat. She proceeded to tell us all about her new friend, Clara. I was still a little upset that she was going to Vanessa’s with me, but it was okay. She’d become better friends with Clara, and then she’d be out of my hair for good.

  Grandma was on the back porch when we got home.

  Mom watched her sadly out the back window, like she wanted to go and talk to her or bring her inside. But Anna needed help with her homework, so Mom was distracted from whatever it was she wanted to do or say.

  I went out and stood by Grandma’s side.

  She had perched herself at the railing. She was muttering under her breath, and she didn’t look away from the woods when I approached.

  I hovered there for a little bit. I couldn’t understand what she was saying.

  It sounded like a foreign language, and her fingers twitched in weird patterns.

  “Grandma—” I whispered.

  She didn’t stop speaking the strange language. It felt like I’d rubbed a balloon over my arms—I tingled with static electricity.

  After a while, she made some complicated hand gesture. Then she sighed and slumped against the railing. She looked older than I’d ever seen her.

  “That should keep her away for a while,” Grandma Jeannie said to herself.

  “Who?” I asked.

  I knew who.

  “Beryl,” Grandma said. She looked at me. There were tears in her eyes, and that scared me more than the woods or the note. “She knows about you, Josie. She knows about you, and she wants to take you away.”

  Grandma didn’t say anything else at dinner. She acted normal, and Mom was more than ready to pretend that we were all one big happy family. The funny thing was, it sort of worked. We sat around and ate takeout Chinese food (I didn’t know where it came from—I hadn’t seen any restaurants in town), and Anna didn’t talk about missing Chicago once. In fact, she couldn’t stop talking about her new best friend, and all the fun they had at recess and their secret codes and the club they wanted to create where only the coolest kids could join. She said I could be a member if I swore a secret oath … once she figured out what the oath was going to be.

  I finished my homework, and Anna read an old book of Grandma Jeannie’s. When it was time to go to bed, I almost thought I would once more have the room to myself.

  Then Anna snuck in.

  “Can I sleep in here?” she asked.

  “Are you hearing things again?” I asked in return. I put away my book and pulled back the covers for her before she answered.

  She hurried over and snuggled in. I was starting to wonder if I’d ever actually get my own room. Maybe she would invite her new friend over some night and they’d build sofa forts or something, and then I could have some peace and quiet.

  “No,” she said when she was comfortable. “I’m not hearing anything. But I’m scared I might.”

  I nodded. I hadn’t heard anything either. The woods were awfully quiet tonight. I wondered if maybe Grandma Jeannie had been doing a spell earlier to keep us safe.

  Just the thought gave me goose bumps and made me feel silly at the same time. Grandma Jeannie couldn’t do spells. She wasn’t a witch. She was just an old lady with Alzheimer’s.

  It didn’t seem to matter, though. A few minutes later, Anna fell asleep. I lay there and watched the shadows on the wall and kept my ears peeled, hoping to hear something in the woods. Well, maybe not hoping. I don’t know what I thought.

  If I heard something, it meant there was a creature out there.

  But if I didn’t, it meant one of two things: Either there never had been a creature in the first place, or Grandma Jeannie was a witch … and the monster chasing us was real.

  I could barely wait for the school day to be over. Every class seemed to drag on, and we even had a pop quiz in math. After what seemed like forever, the final bell rang, and I met Vanessa on the front steps of the school along with Anna.

  “Are you two ready?” Vanessa asked with a smile. “It’s kind of a long walk.”

  “We’ll be fine,” I replied.

  My fingers itched to map the destination on my phone, but I’d left it back at home—there didn’t seem to be service anywhere near the school and it just drained my battery. I could only hope we would get a ride from her place back home. I wasn’t very good with directions or getting to places on my own, and I didn’t know how we’d get back to my place. Grandma Jeannie lived far away from the main town.

  I’d tried to get more information about what we were doing when Vanessa and I chatted at lunch, but she only wanted to talk about me. Like always. She’d asked me all about Chicago and my friends there and what I liked to do in my free time. Probably just because she wanted to know what she should plan for tonight. It’s not like the town provided many options.

  Even though I was excited to be heading to Vanessa’s house, I still felt a little nervous. It was silly. But I swore that kids were watching us walk away together like they were scared. Not of me or Vanessa, but for me.

  There’d been another note in my locker.

  It had been in a different handwriting. And the kid who’d written it clearly didn’t know how to spell.

  All it meant was that a group of mean kids were trying to scare me away from my only friend. Well, Vanessa was being nice to me and everyone else in the school acted like I had a foot growing out of my head, so I didn’t care what they thought.

  Vanessa took Anna’s hand and started skipping down the road. I felt silly for a moment, but then I jogged up to them and skipped alongside. Within a few seconds, I was laughing, the school and its mean kids forgotten.

  The trees rose up around us, smelling fresh and green. The sun was warm and the breeze was sweet. We skipped along the main road for a bit, and then took a path off the sidewalk that cut through the woods.

  Anna’s hand immediately tightened in mine.

  “What is it?” Vanessa asked. She slowed down and looked at Anna.

  I didn’t expect my sister to tell the truth. She did.

  “I’m scared of the woods.” Then she looked at me. “We both are. Grandma Jeannie says we’re not supposed to go in there.”

  I felt my cheeks blush hot.

  “It’s okay,” Vanessa said. She gave Anna a big smile. “The woods are only scary because they’re new to you. I know where we’re going. You’re completely safe with me around.” Then she winked at me, and I felt my blush go even deeper. I didn’t want her thinking I was scared of the woods, too.

  I was, though.

  We continued on. It was probably just my imagination that made the light get heavier and the noises quieter, but after a while it felt like we were somewhere entirely different. I couldn’t explain it: The trees were the same and it wasn’t like it was suddenly midnight. It just felt like we were in a different forest in a different time. A time when fairy tales were real and big bad wolves roamed the woods.

  I could understand why Grandma thought this place was dangerous.

  We’d stopped skipping a while ago. I still held Anna’s hand.

  Vanessa walked in front of us, her feet dancing lightly on the path as she led us deeper and deeper.

&
nbsp; “How are we going to get home?” Anna whispered. Her voice was so quiet I barely heard her.

  “Don’t worry,” Vanessa said, somehow hearing Anna. She looked back. I hoped it was my imagination, because in here, even her face and smile looked different. Sinister. It must have been the light. “I’ll get you both home. My aunt can’t drive right now, so I’ll walk you back.”

  More goose bumps. I didn’t want to walk through the woods later. But I didn’t think we really had a choice—either we kept going, or I made a fool of myself and lost the only friend I’d made.

  “Thanks!” I said. I tried to be cheery. It was probably too much. “That would be great.”

  Vanessa just smiled again and led us farther into the woods. I tried not to look through the trees. I tried not to imagine what or where Beryl was, prowling about like a wolf on the hunt.

  At least I hadn’t had any more nightmares. Last night I’d dreamed I was at a pizza-eating contest with my friends. Not scary at all.

  Finally, when my feet were hurting and it felt like we’d been walking for hours, the small path opened up into a gravel road.

  “Just a little farther,” Vanessa said.

  Seeing the road made me feel a bit better—at least there was a way for cars to get here. Particularly police cars and ambulances.

  We rounded the corner and saw her house. I stopped dead in my tracks.

  It was the house from my nightmare.

  Vanessa walked a few more steps before realizing that Anna and I had stopped.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  What wasn’t wrong? There were broken birdbaths and mannequins in the front yard, surrounded by a fence that was mostly moss and collapsed wood. The roof was covered in mossy shingles; a tiny tree grew up from the gutter. About the only thing that made the house look lived in were the intact windows and the light glowing from inside.