His statement left her confused. “Of course it’s just a dream, Mitch,” she muttered, fiddling with the hem of her shirt, twisting it around her finger. “And I met someone today. And I, um... I like him.”
Mitchell laughed and she stiffened. When she looked up, he was lounging back in his chair with a playful smile on his face. Just yesterday, that smile would have turned her into a lovesick puppy. She would have run to him, throwing herself into his arms.
But now, it infuriated her. Amelia straightened her shoulders and clenched her teeth. She could feel her fingernails digging into her palms as she balled her hands into tight fists. “This isn’t funny,” she bristled, and shot him a fierce glare.
“Oh, love,” he chuckled. The sound made her heart skip a beat and she cursed under her breath. She hated feeling this way about him. “You met someone?” Amusement filled his eyes and he laughed, full heartedly. “Let me guess. Eric?” He got up from his chair and kneeled down on the floor in front of her so his face was at the same level as hers. “There’s so much you don’t know, love,” he whispered, brushing her hair off her neck. He let his fingers linger, lightly tracing the outline of her birthmark.
His touch made her skin tingle, and her body lit up like a blazing fire. She knew there was something, something that he said that he shouldn’t have known but with him this close she just couldn’t seem to figure out what it was. He leaned in and kissed her slowly, his lips soft and teasing. This time he ended the kiss. “I love you, Amelia,” he said, brushing her hair back. “You should get some sleep, love.”
Mitchell bent forward and kissed her forehead. She was about to protest because she was already asleep. This was her dream and she really didn’t want him to go. But when she looked at him he was flickering and fading like a television set gone to static. The room was changing, shifting, colors flashing, and then it was dark and she faded into a deep sleep.
CHAPTER 6
Morning came early, and Amelia, no matter how hard she tried, could not sleep. She glanced over at the clock next to her bed, almost 5:30. She groaned, wishing she was one of those people who could sleep in until noon because she really, really hated mornings. For a moment she thought about staying tucked into the warm, cozy blankets, but it seemed pointless. She was wide-awake and knew she was up for the day. With another agonized groan, she decided to get up and go for a run. Exercise was the only thing that made her remotely sociable in the morning and at least it would give her a chance to see the neighborhood.
Tumbling out of bed, stretching and yawning, Amelia made her way to the window. The sky was fixed in that special place at the end of night but before day, neither dark nor light. The stars were just little specks, fading into dim sparkles in the gray-blue sky.
She tossed on a t-shirt and her favorite gray yoga pants, then grabbed her water bottle and running shoes and headed out of her room. The house was completely quiet. She crept quietly down the hall, hoping not to wake anyone.
In the kitchen, she turned on the tap, letting the water run for a second. It gushed from the tap, crashing against the stainless steel sink. There goes being quiet, she thought and hastily shoved her bottle under the stream, not waiting for the water to turn cold.
Amelia pulled on her running shoes and went out the door into the motor court. She shivered as the brisk fall breeze touched her bare arms. There was a bite in the air and she knew she would soon have to bundle up before venturing out in the mornings. She headed down the porch steps and did a few stretches, then took off down the driveway at a slow jog, warming up her muscles.
In no time at all her blood started to pump, her muscles started to tingle and she started to feel… alive.
The street was quiet and deserted in the early morning light. The sky was turning a deep purple-blue and the sun was just starting to peek over the horizon. She picked up her pace to a sprint.
Amelia had hoped to see some of the other houses on the street and get a feel for the neighborhood, but the thick tree line blocked her view. She made out some of the houses through the breaks and from what she could see, they were all just as big and fabulous as the one she lived in.
She passed by a little opening in the trees. A small park, she assumed, with a few benches and a garden. As she passed, Amelia felt a tingle at the back of her neck. The kind of feeling she always got when someone was watching or following her. She glanced over her shoulder, not slowing the pace, but saw nothing.
Amelia pushed herself faster, adrenaline pumping, but the feeling of eyes boring into her back became more intense and prickled down her spine, rolling like needles.
A loud crack, like a branch breaking, and the rustle of leaves crunching under foot broke the silence of the morning, and she stopped abruptly. She peered into the trees where the sound came from, trying to see what was there. Nothing. She couldn’t see anything but the trees. She waited, listening closely but the crunching of leaves was gone. Maybe a squirrel? No, too loud. She knew a squirrel couldn’t make that much noise. A fox?
Amelia tried to shake off the feeling, knowing it was just her imagination working on overdrive. She was in a new place after all. Reluctantly, she pulled her gaze away from the trees, turned back to the street and screamed.
Standing in front of her was a little girl. She was so close that Amelia could feel a warm burst of air with every breath the girl took. Amelia jumped back and clasped her hands over her mouth to stifle another scream that was building up. The girl was young. Maybe eleven or twelve and she was creepy, like little kid, horror movie creepy, with unnervingly pale white-gray skin, big pale gray eyes and straggly shoulder length thin white-blond hair. She wore an evil, devil child kind of smile.
Amelia forced her hand down from her mouth, feeling bad at her reaction. She knew the kid was probably just as scared as she was, with her screaming. “You startled me. Are you lost?” Amelia asked, her voice a little shaky.
The girl just stood there, frozen like a statue, cold dead looking eyes boring into Amelia. A chill prickled down Amelia’s spine and her heart started thumping like a jackhammer in her chest. Unconsciously, she took another step back. The child still did not move, not an inch, didn’t even blink. “Are you okay?” she asked, stuttering over the words.
Right at that moment, a car door slammed from behind her and Amelia jumped. She really didn’t want to take her eyes off the creepy little girl but she couldn’t seem to stop herself from glancing over her shoulder quickly. She caught a glimpse of a short, chubby police officer strutting towards her. She flipped her focus back to the girl, but she was… gone. Amelia frantically scanned the street but there was no sign of her. She had looked away for only half a second. Gone.
Amelia turned back to the police officer, who was now only a few steps away. “Did you see that little girl? Where did she go?”
“What little girl? All I see is you. Who do you belong to?” the officer asked, not unkindly, but with a definite air of authority. He looked older, in his early fifties, Amelia guessed, with wrinkles touching his eyes and the corner of his mouth. His hair was graying, close-cropped, and his smile was friendly enough but there was something careful and guarded and a bit unsure about it.
“You didn’t see the little girl? She was standing right there,” Amelia replied, flustered, and pointed to the empty space in front of her. Then his question sunk in and she replayed in her mind. Who do you belong to? What kind of question was that? She shook her head, sure she had heard him wrong and asked, “Sorry, what did you just ask me?” her voice sounding more scared then she had hoped for.
He studied her closely, eyes scanning her over and eventually settling on her neck. She fought back the urge to cover up her birthmark. The way he was looking at it, examining it, she felt as if she was being put under a microscope. “Interesting.” He folded his arms over his chest. “You must be new here. Which house are you in?” he asked, raising a questioning eyebrow.
Amelia tried not to tremble, but with the way he was looking
at her it was hard not to. She was not a fan of the police. Not since the night her parents had been murdered. They brought back too many memories that she wanted to keep buried. “18 Bankdale Ridge. Did I do something wrong, officer…” she peered at the brassy name plate on his jacket, “McLean?”
“You must be Amelia.” He extended his right hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. And no, you didn’t do anything wrong. It’s just that this really isn’t the kind of neighborhood that a kid like you should be running around alone in at the break of dawn. It’s not safe.”
Amelia was sure she was looking at him as if he might be crazy. Not safe? You couldn’t even get onto the street without a guard opening the gate. “I find it hard to believe this area isn’t safe,” she said, trying to keep the laughter out of her voice. Then a thought dawned on her, the amusement vanished, and her skin rose in goose pimples, “How do you know my name?”
He gave her a long, hard stare and then shrugged, looking, Amelia thought, as if he was trying to cover up a mistake. “It’s my job to know who should and shouldn’t be here,” he said, too quickly for her to believe. “Like I said, it’s not safe, especially for those who don’t belong. Why don’t I take you home?”
“That’s okay, it’s only a few houses down.” Amelia was vibrating all over. She was nervous. She knew she shouldn’t be. He was a police officer. He was a good guy. But he exuded an unnamed quality that unnerved her. It was probably just her imagination but she really didn’t want to go anywhere with him. “I’m sure I’ll be fine,” she added when he didn’t leave.
Officer McLean didn’t look happy at her response and Amelia was sure she saw a flicker of fear in his eyes. Was he sacred of her or scared for her? She didn’t know and part of her didn’t want to know. It was all just a bit too strange, the girl, Officer McLean. What kind of a town had she move to?
He sighed a gusty sound. “Humor an old man and get in the car. It would make me feel a lot better to know that you made it home okay.”
“What about the little girl?”
“Amelia, I didn’t see a little girl. You’re the only person I’ve seen all morning,” he said, shaking his head. “Come on, get in the car.” He waved his hand to her, a clear signal to follow and started towards the car. She hesitated for just a moment, then, not wanting to get into trouble, Amelia followed and got into the front seat of the waiting cruiser.
It took three minutes to drive back to her house but those three minutes felt like an eternity. Amelia wondered what her roommates were going to say when she showed up with a cop. What a way to make an impression. Not even twenty-four hours in Willowberg and she was already being escorted home.
Sweat trickled down her neck and soaked into her collar. She tried to tell herself it was from the run but deep down she knew it wasn’t. Between the scary little girl and Officer McLean, she was wound tighter than a coil of string. Of course, she’d be sweating. Who wouldn’t be after the morning she had had?
Her throat was dry and scratchy, and when they turned onto the long driveway Amelia had to clear it twice before she could make her voice work. “You can just drop me off here.”
Officer McLean didn’t stop the car and he didn’t even bother to acknowledge that she had spoken. He drove around the side, entering the motor court and to Amelia’s horror, he parked right in front of the glass doors leading to the kitchen. Without a word, he turned off the car and got out.
Amelia watched him saunter, in a way that only a police officer could, towards the porch steps. Maybe they’re still sleeping, she hoped. With squinted eyes, she tried to see if there was anyone in the kitchen, but the frosted glass gave nothing away. She took a deep breath, reached to unbuckle her seat belt, and right at the moment that her seat belt clicked, her door flew open and before she knew it, she was yanked from the car.
“Amelia. Are you okay? Are you hurt?” Luke asked, anxiously. He had his hands firmly on her shoulders, shaking her like a rag doll and his face was streaked with panic. Before she could say anything, he turned to Officer McLean. “Is she hurt?” He didn’t wait for the response but he stopped shaking her, and with frantic eyes, started searching her over.
“She’s fine, Luke,” Officer McLean said, sounding slightly bored. He folded his arms across his chest. “I found her out running. Is Mr. Lang here?”
“No, he’s out of town,” Luke snapped, his eyes still scanning Amelia. What he was looking for Amelia had no clue, but his panic was rubbing off on her, and she started to shake. He finally seemed satisfied that she wasn’t broken and he dropped his hands from her shoulders. “What the hell were you doing running this early in the morning?” he yelled at her.
“I couldn’t sleep,” Amelia answered, flinching. Anger blazed in his eyes. What had she done wrong? She didn’t know, but gauging his reaction, it was serious. “What’s the big deal?”
“Officer McLean,” Angelle’s chipper voice came from the porch, and Amelia was thankful. Angelle—looking immaculately polished in a tailored dark gray jacket and slacks and light blue v-neck top—had captured the men’s attention, effectively drawing the heat away from Amelia. “What brings you here so early in the morning?”
Luke, of course, recovered first. “He found Amelia out running.” Now that he was sure she was okay that original panic was gone and he spat the words, clearly annoyed.
“Oh,” Angelle said. A flash of something vaguely like terror snapped across her face so quickly that if Amelia had not been paying attention she would have missed it. But in less time than it took to blink, Angelle had recovered, back to her glamorous, knock’em dead smile. “Thank you for bringing her home. That was very nice of you.”
Amelia watched, stunned, as Angelle turned away from him, taking a step back towards the door, very clearly dismissing the officer. Luke followed her lead, and placed a firm hand on the small of Amelia’s back, nudging her forward. Amelia had only just taken a step when the cop moved to block the stairs.
“Hold on a minute,” Officer McLean said sternly. Angelle stopped and gracefully turned back to give him her attention. “Amelia claims she saw a little girl while she was out. She needs to know how serious this is. It’s not safe for her to be out alone. At least not until the notice is sent.”
Amelia bristled and side stepped away from Luke’s hand. Did he doubt her? Did he really not believe she saw that creepy little child? “First of all, there was a little girl.” That got everyone’s attention, she thought, suddenly regretting she had said anything. They were all glaring at her, even Angelle, and her nerve faltered. But she managed to push on. She didn’t want her new friends to think she was crazy and that’s exactly what the cop was trying to do. Amelia was sure of it. “I swear I saw her.” She looked back and forth between Luke and Angelle, eyes pleading for them to believe her before focusing back on Officer McLean. “And I really don’t know why you keep saying it’s not safe. It’s a gated street for goodness sakes. And there’s a guard at that gate. What could be so dangerous? And what notice?”
“Millie, why don’t you go inside and see what Eric’s up to?” Angelle said, ignoring her questions. “I need to speak with Officer McLean for a moment.”
Amelia could not believe what was happening. Was she being dismissed now? Were they really just going to ignore her? They were treating her like a little kid. And for a hot second that’s exactly how she felt. She wanted to storm out, tell them all to kiss her butt. Luckily, she caught herself, because whether she liked it or not, she knew throwing a tantrum wasn’t going to get her anywhere. It would just show them that she was in fact the child they thought she was. So instead, Amelia pushed down her boiling rage, and very calmly looked Angelle squarely in the eyes and said, “Not until someone tells me what’s going on.”
Angelle held her stare but she didn’t seem ruffled in the least. No, she looked… amused? Yes, Amelia thought, amused, and that just made the hot anger that was already burning her up turn blistering. After a moment, she looked away from Ame
lia, and smiled at Officer McLean. “Would you like to come in for a coffee?” she asked, again ignoring Amelia.
He looked at his watch. “Sure, I could spare a few minutes,” he said, and like she wasn’t there, the three of them turned and went inside, leaving Amelia stunned and staring after them.
Amelia watched them disappear through the doorway, mentally chewing on a bunch of nasty comments and wanting to spit them out, but in the end, she swallowed them. She stomped up the stairs, banged the door open and stopped just inside the door.
Luke, Angelle and Officer McLean were already sitting at the island, busy in conversation while Mabel was serving breakfast. None of them bothered to look at her when she came in.
“You look like shit, Millie,” Eric said. She hadn’t noticed him, but he was lounging at the island cradling a cup of coffee in his hands, looking hot, of course, in a form fitting black t-shirt and gray and black plaid pajama pants. His hair was a mess, standing up every which way. Amelia took a moment to appreciate how great he looked all sleepy and rumpled and then she remembered she was supposed to be mad. She shot him a look, which she hoped told him to shut up.
“She went out for a run,” Luke said.
“By yourself?” Eric asked. He got up, went to the coffee pot and poured another cup then handed it to her. He seemed at ease, not stressed like the other three sitting around the island sipping at their coffees. “You should have woken me up. I would’ve gone with you.”
Amelia took the cup, gulped down a big mouthful, as the white-hot anger built up just waiting to erupt. She took another gulp, trying to calm down and then she shouted, “Someone needs tell me what’s going on!”
Eric pulled out a chair and gestured for her to sit. Amelia glared at him and shook her head, determined not to move until someone started telling her what was going on.
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