The game had been an almost nightly ritual ever since Luke moved here in the third grade. No one ever seemed to tire of it and it was especially good at night. With the snow falling, it was even better.
John had just kicked the can (which in this case was a red rubber ball) and freed all the prisoners. Jimmy, who was ‘it,’ chased it down and hurried back to base hoping to catch some slow runners. Everybody made it into a hiding spot in time. Luke and Ellie were currently hunched down in a hedge at the side of Luke’s house and they smiled at each other in the dark.
“I like your new haircut,” she whispered.
“It’s stupid,” he said and fiddled with it.
She reached up, pushed his hand out of the way and combed the hair over to one side with her fingers. Little electric shocks ran up and down his spine as she played with his hair. He didn’t want her to stop.
“There,” she said. “That’s better.”
He grinned and said, “Thanks.” He could feel himself blushing and was glad she couldn’t see it in the dark.
He looked up and found her staring at him with a little smile on her lips. He couldn’t help it. He smiled, too, and said, “What?”
She leaned in and kissed him on the lips. It startled him and he almost pulled away, but then her soft, warm lips held him and he kissed her back. She pulled away a bit and whispered, “I know you’ve been wanting to do that, and I knew you never would, so…”
It was like he was floating in a pool of warm water. Sounds grew muffled and distant, his breath was quick and shallow, and all his senses tingled, feeling electric. He reached up, holding her face in his hands, and pulled her to him. He kissed her and felt everything else disappear. Nothing existed but her. The feel of her face in his hands; the smell of the soap she used; the heat from her body radiating out to him; her soft, moist, lips pressed against his; all those things and so much more. It was just him and her in the world and no one else.
Then he heard the voice.
“Help me…”
She jerked away, and now he saw fear in her eyes. “What was that?”
“I don’t know,” he said, thinking John or Jimmy must have seen him kissing her and was messing with him. “You heard it too?”
She nodded quickly and kept looking around in the dark. He started to say something but she put her finger to his lips and shushed him. They both listened to the silence drag out and Luke could actually hear his heart beating. Nothing happened for a bit and he was about to say something when the voice whispered again.
“Help me…”
It came from behind. He heard her take a sharp breath in surprise and look up over his shoulder. He was afraid to see. A palpable presence felt like it was pressing up against his spine and he shivered as he slowly turned.
He could see nothing in the gloom as his eyes tried to penetrate the dense growth of bushes. He heard a faint sound, almost like laughter, but it was so soft and seemed so distant he wasn’t sure if he was imagining things.
Ellie whispered in his ear. “I heard a laugh.”
He nodded but stared into the darkness where they heard the voice.
“It sounded creepy,” she whispered and shuddered involuntarily.
He suddenly grabbed her hand and said, “Come on!” He crawled from the bushes with her following behind and stood up. “Time!” he yelled and it sounded huge and booming in the silence. “Jimmy! John! Get over here! Quick!”
A grunt of anger came from the direction of the voice and then a crashing noise as someone, or something, broke through the hedge and ran off down the path through Luke’s backyard. Ellie and Luke jumped at the sound, and Luke had a hard time holding his ground. He wanted to bolt and run in the other direction, but he couldn’t leave Ellie there. He squinted into the darkness as he tried to follow the noise, but he could see nothing. John ran over and then Jimmy was there too.
“What’s up?” John said. “You guys quitting?”
“Someone was here,” Luke said.
“What do you mean?” Jimmy asked.
“Someone was in the bushes with us,” Luke said.
“So,” John said, not understanding. “You can hide wherever you want. Everybody could hide in the bushes at the same time if they wanted. It would be stupid, but they could do it.”
“No,” Ellie said. “Somebody else was here. Someone not in the game.” Her face looked haunted and she held on to Luke’s arm with a vice-like grip.
Jimmy’s mouth was set in a tight line and he looked at John, who stared back at him.
“Was it him?” John asked quietly.
“I think so,” Luke said. “It was creepy. This voice whispered ‘Help me’ twice, and then we heard a laugh. Not a funny laugh, but a mean laugh. That’s when I yelled ‘Time’ and called for you guys.”
“Is he still there?” Jimmy whispered.
“I don’t think so,” Luke said. “We heard a grunt and then someone ran off through my backyard.”
Just then Paul and Alan came running around the corner and they all jumped in surprise.
“What’s happening?” Paul asked. “We quittin’?”
“Yeah,” Jimmy said. “We’re done.”
“Why?” Alan asked. “It’s still early.”
“We’re just done.” And Jimmy yelled, “All-e-all-e-all-come-free!” Jimmy led the way back to the center of the court.
“Hey! What the heck?” Paul said. “What’s wrong with you guys?”
“Nothing,” Jimmy said. “I said we’re done and that means we’re done.”
“Man—ever since you guys found that dumb dog you’ve been acting weird,” Alan said.
“Hey!” Luke yelled. “That dog was our friend!”
“Yeah! That so called ‘dumb dog’ was mine,” Ellie shouted, her voice breaking.
“Jeez! It’s just a dog!” Alan said.
Luke got in his face. “Tell her you’re sorry!”
Alan was taken aback. “What?”
Luke grabbed Alan’s jacket sleeve and repeated himself, poking him in the chest with every word. “Tell—her—you’re—sorry!”
Ellie had tears in her eyes even though she was angry. She stood waiting for the apology. Alan looked around. Jimmy and John were staring at him intensely. Paul looked at the ground shuffling his feet.
“I’m sorry,” Alan said.
Luke let go of his sleeve. “Alright.”
All the other kids were coming out of hiding now and as Ralph walked up he asked, “What’s up?”
“They’re quitting,” Paul said. “Game’s over.”
“What happened?” Ralph asked.
“Nothing,” Jimmy said. “We’re just done.”
“But it’s early,” Ralph whined.
“I don’t care,” Jimmy said. “I’m telling you, go home. We’re done.”
“I don’t want to go home,” Ralph said. “You’re not the boss of me.”
Jimmy strode over and pointed a finger into Ralph’s face. Ralph’s eyes grew big and he flinched a little.
“If you know what’s good for you, you’ll go home,” Jimmy said, and then looked around. “All of you. Game’s over.”
“Fine,” Ralph said and grabbed his sister and started home. All the others mumbled something and headed off down the street.
Luke could tell the three new kids didn’t know what to make of it all. They stood around for a minute and then Cece said, “Well, it was fun for a while. Nice meeting you guys.” They waved goodbye and walked home.
Luke, Ellie, John, and Jimmy were left standing in the middle of the street. They stared at each other for a moment and then John said, “Do we go look?”
“For what?” Luke asked.
“Footprints.”
“Why?”
“To see if someone was really there,” Jimmy said.
“Someone was there alright,” Luke said. “Ellie heard it too.”
“I did. It was creepy,” she said, wrapping her arms around herself.
/> “I think we should wait until it’s light out,” Jimmy said. “No use traipsing around in the dark.”
“I agree,” Luke said. “Besides, what if he has a gun or knife or something?”
Nobody said anything for a minute as they all thought about that. Finally, Ellie said, “Sorry you had to be the bad guy Jimmy. Everybody seemed pissed.”
“I don’t care about that,” Jimmy said. “They’ll get over it.”
Ellie smiled at him. “Still—it was big of you to take the heat.” He waved it off.
“You guys do know that if this gets worse, we’re going to have to tell them all,” John said. “For their own safety.”
Everybody nodded, but Luke didn’t want to think about it getting worse. That voice he heard was going to keep him awake tonight as it was.
“We should walk Ellie home,” Luke said.
“Thanks, guys,” she said. The four of them headed off toward Ellie’s house.
The snow was falling hard now and Luke could hardly see ten feet in front him. They talked about mundane stuff as they walked and their voices had an odd quality to them; muddled and stale, like they were trapped in a vacuum. Ellie said only a few words here and there, then suddenly yelled at the top of her lungs. “Whoo hoo!”
They stopped and looked at her as she smiled, sheepishly.
“Did you hear that?” She said. “No echo at all. It was like my voice was sucked away.”
“You are weird,” Jimmy said, but was smiling. Luke laughed and John just stared at her.
“You scared the crap out of me,” John said.
“Whoo Hooooooo!” Luke yelled, and then laughed.
“Aaaaeeeeeee!” Jimmy piped.
Pretty soon they were all yelling at the top of their lungs and laughing at the stupidity of it. As they stopped, the giggling quieting down, they heard a distant “Whoo hoo!” mocking them and they all froze. Ellie shifted next to Luke and grabbed his arm. Luke felt suddenly colder and wished he were home in his warm house.
“Come on,” John said, and started walking faster.
They got to Ellie’s house and stood at her door.
“It could have been anybody, you know,” Jimmy said.
“Yeah,” Luke mumbled. “But it could have been him, too.”
“Thanks for walking me home,” Ellie said. They were all quiet for a minute, then Ellie added, “You guys are my best friends.”
Luke didn’t know what to say and apparently neither did Jimmy or John, because they all stood there shuffling their feet.
“Bye,” she said reaching for the handle, but then stopped. She turned, quickly took a step toward Luke, and kissed him softly on the lips. She smiled coyly and Luke felt himself turning red. She opened her door and disappeared inside.
“What was that?” John asked, grinning.
Luke couldn’t help the big grin on his face, but he said nothing. He could still smell her hair and the feel of her lips on his. He looked away, embarrassed, and led the way home.
Chapter 6
Luke couldn’t sleep. The evening’s events had his head in a spin and he couldn’t shut it down. The voice kept replaying in his head and that laugh chilled him to the bone. He could not seem to get warm. Several times over the last few hours he thought he heard it again, outside his window, a whisper, like sandpaper against the glass, or a little titter of laughter. He thought he was imagining it, but he couldn’t be sure. It did little to help his restlessness.
Then there was Ellie. Every time he thought of her, the voice would slip from his thoughts. He relived the kisses over and over again and felt silly at how good she made him feel. The smell of her was still on his jacket so he lay with it next to him. Jimmy and John would think he was stupid, but he didn’t care. She was the most beautiful thing in his life right now and he clung to that ferociously. He could hear her voice in his head saying to him, “I know you’ve been wanting to do that, but I knew you wouldn’t, so…” and he thought it very cool she was so bold. She was right. He would’ve never kissed her first.
His cell phone vibrating on his bedside table startled him. He looked at the clock. It was 3:32 am. He picked up the phone looking at the caller I.D. and smiled.
“Hey,” he whispered.
“I can’t sleep,” Ellie said.
“Me neither.”
“Is the voice keeping you awake?”
“Yeah,” he said, pausing. “Along with you.”
“I’ll hang up then,” she teased.
“No—I mean—not now. Thinking of you was keeping me awake.”
“I know, silly. I was teasing you. You’re keeping me awake too.” And he could tell she was smiling even though he couldn’t see her.
Silence for a moment and then he could hear her rustling in her bed. Imagining her laying there was making him feel funny.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Yeah. Just scared. I’ve been wanting to call you for the last three hours but I was afraid I’d wake you.”
“You can call me any time, remember? I told you, for any reason. Any time.”
“I know, I just…”
“Any time.”
“Ok. I’m glad you were awake.”
“I’m glad you called.”
She giggled. “Now we know we’re happy about that. Why can’t we sleep?”
“That creepy voice won’t leave my head. I keep thinking I hear it again outside my house.”
“So do I,” she whispered. “But that can’t be, could it? Not at both our houses.”
“Yeah. No way. I know it’s my imagination, but I still hear it.”
She was quiet for a long moment and then said, “What are we going to do?”
“I’m not sure, but you could kiss me some more tomorrow.” He couldn’t believe he had said it.
She laughed. “Ok. It’s a date.”
“I’m glad you did it first. You were right. I probably never would have gotten up the nerve.”
“I figured, but what I can’t figure is why? Do I scare you that bad?”
“How long have we known each other now?” he asked.
“Oh…let’s see…third grade…about five years. Why?”
“We’ve gotten to be pretty close friends, right?”
“The best.”
“I guess I was scared to mess it up. What if you got mad at me? I couldn’t stand the thought of you hating me.”
“How long have you felt this way Lucas Harrison?” she asked.
“Since you called me a ‘Goofy Goober.’”
She laughed at him and he realized if he couldn’t hear that laugh all the time, he would feel lost.
“I could never hate you,” she said quietly.
“Ok. Promise?”
“Promise.”
“I feel better,” he said. “Don’t you?”
“Yes. I think I can sleep now.”
“Me too.”
“See you tomorrow?” she said.
“I can’t wait.”
They both hung up and he was asleep before he could count to ten.
* * *
All four were in the backyard of Luke’s house looking at the ground. The white snow made everything new and clean, and it was hard to feel threatened in the crisp, white world that now surrounded them. The sun was out, shining bright, and everything sparkled and twinkled.
“The snow has covered any tracks he made,” Jimmy said, more to himself than anybody specific.
“There’s nothing in the bushes,” Luke yelled from the side of his house where the hedge they hid in stood covered in snow.
“Let’s check by the pool,” Ellie said and they all trekked down the hill in Luke’s backyard toward the hole in the fence that led to the sports complex.
Luke’s fence backed up to the tennis courts and pool complex that belonged to the neighborhood. The homeowners would pay a yearly fee and have use of all the amenities for everyone in the family. There were tennis teams, swim teams, diving classes, water aerob
ics, a kiddie pool, and swimming classes. Just about anything you could think of.
Cotton Court’s entrance was all the way on the other side of the main street into the neighborhood and was a pretty good walk to the pool area, but Luke’s backyard lay right up against it. There was a path that ran down the side of his house and through the backyard to a hole in the fence. Everyone in the court cut through it to get to the pool.
Luke’s Dad was upset about this at first, but now he didn’t seem to care. Nobody hurt any of his shrubs or grass and it was convenient for him also. Just a quick jog down the short path, slip through the hole between the fence and the giant hedge of honeysuckle, and you were right there.
Ellie peeked through the hole in the fence and then slipped through. The rest of them followed and they squished through the snow toward the pool about a hundred yards away. The empty and quiet tennis courts were to their left, and not a single footstep, or animal track, marred the new snow as far as the eye could see. The heavy snowfall had wiped everything clean.
They came up to the fence that encircled the pool and peered through the chinks at the iced over water.
Ellie suddenly smiled and said, “Let’s try to walk on the ice.”
“I don’t know,” Jimmy said. “Could be too thin.”
“Let’s see,” she said and started climbing the fence.
Luke shrugged at John and Jimmy, and then followed her over the fence onto the deck. All the pool furniture was covered in snow and the ice in the pool had a ghostly layer over top of it.
Ellie stood at the edge and said, “Hold me.”
Luke grabbed her arm and John held onto her coat. She put one foot on the snow covered ice and slowly put more weight down. Luke kept expecting to hear a loud crack and watch as Ellie slipped from his grasp, sinking into the freezing water. She had all her weight on one foot now and she lifted the other leg off the ground, standing solely on the ice. She looked up and grinned. That’s when the ice broke and her leg slid into the water. She let out a little cry as Luke and John held her tight, but not before her right leg went into the icy water up to her thigh. They quickly pulled her up and onto the pool deck. She was laughing as she fell onto Luke who had tripped trying to pull her out. He didn’t think it was so funny.
Near Sighted (A Jake Townsend Science Fiction, Action and Adventure, Thriller Series Book 2) Page 27