by S. E. Akers
What the Hell was in that bottle?!? I should’ve known better than to drink anything like that — especially if it came from Lazarus Xcavare!
As soon as I’d calmed down, I exited the stall. There, under the harsh bright lights of the ladies room, an idea took form.
Maybe it would be a good idea to check my motor skills, just to see how bad off I am? I started thinking about all those cop reality shows Daddy and I had watched in the past. That’s what I need…A field sobriety test.
I threw my clutch on a shelf underneath one of the mirrors. I looked down at the tile on the bathroom floor. I found a starting point and proceeded to follow one of the long grout lines that extended all the way to the other side of the room. Even in stiletto heels (that I was in no way accustomed to) my gait was perfect. I didn’t stumble or stagger one bit.
I thought about all the other drills the officers would ask their suspects to perform. They always check how mentally alert they are with their ABC’s. I started reciting them forward and then backward. They sound fine to me.
Suddenly I jumped, startled by the sound of a toilet flushing. One of the doors flew open. Haley Hicks bolted out of a stall, avoiding any eye contact with me. She hurried to the sink, washed & dried her hands, and then quickly blew past me. She opened the door and paused, just long enough to turn back and shoot me a “you’re so weird” look.
I thought I was alone in here. Oh well…That’ll be a good one to pass around.
I walked over to a mirror hanging above one of the sinks. There’s that touch your nose thing. Focusing on the center of my face as I looked at my reflection, I lifted my right hand swiftly, and with accurate precision, it landed perfectly on the tip of my nose. I tried my other hand. Without fail, it did the same. My hand-eye coordination seemed fine.
I shrugged my shoulders as I reached for the soap. I made a mental note as I stood there washing my hands. Drunk, unlikely — Crazy, probably.
I gave Katie’s work a quick check in the mirror. Everything still looked perfectly intact, so there wasn’t any need to freshen up a thing. I started to grab my purse from the ledge under the mirror when I noticed my vision blurring. I wiped my eyes carefully and checked my reflection again. As I gazed into the mirror, an image of a woman began to emerge, but to my astonishment — it wasn’t me. It was the kind, old face of Beatrix Sutherland.
Mystified, my fingertips traced every line on her face. She was smiling and as always, her eyes were haphazardly shifting around without any guidance. My fingers circled her chestnut brown eyes. Several strands of her silvery hair had fallen onto her forehead. I reached for the stragglers in an attempt to brush them back into place. Then, from out of nowhere, a third-eye “popped out” and revealed itself abruptly — smack dab in the middle of her forehead! It was a blazing gold color, as intense as her little topaz, and appeared just as glassy. It certainly wasn’t like her other two eyes. This one was contracting with the light and seemed to be focusing on me, following my every movement. This eye wasn’t blind at all!
Aghast from the startling sight, I accidentally stumbled backward and crashed into the stalls. The vision of Beatrix Sutherland started to fade, and by the time I ran back to the mirror, it had disappeared. My image was the only thing left in its reflection. I grabbed a hold of the wall-hung sink as I slid down to the ground, tears welling in my eyes.
“WHAT’S HAPPENING TO ME?” I cried out fearfully. Am I crazy? Do I have some sort of freakin’ chemical imbalance? If that’s the case, there’ll be no college for me. The only institution I’ll be attending won’t be one of “higher learning”! My mind scrambled for any traces of mental illness in our family.
I jumped at the creaking sound of the bathroom door opening. Some girls were wandering in giggling, so I promptly sprang up, dabbed my eyes with a tissue, grabbed my clutch, and then rushed out into the hall.
I wandered sluggishly back to the gym. The janitorial closet door opened and two adults emerged, adjusting their clothes. I thought they were teachers, but I didn’t even pause for a second to see exactly who they were. I couldn’t have cared less. Why should I question the crazy acts of two random people, especially when my own “sanity” is in doubt?
I pushed my way through the huddled mass of students gathered around a stage sitting in front of the dance floor. Mr. Harless was preparing to announce the Homecoming King.
I wonder who “that” will be…
I made my way over to the punch bowl to grab a drink (which I downed in one gulp). Couples began to swarm the refreshment table, so I scanned the gym for a place to sit. I just wanted to be left alone — not to be bothered by anyone, anything, or any vision.
As I maneuvered through the sea of tables, I spotted Kara Leighton standing beside our principal on the stage. Mr. Harless began to announce, “This year’s Homecoming King is…none other than our own Golden Knights quarterback, Mike Riverside.”
A ton of cheers erupted and a thunderous roar of claps filled the gymnasium. Surprise, surprise, I thought. Mike hopped up on the stage. He smiled, but oddly, he didn’t look too eager to get his crown. What gives? He just stood there scanning the crowd, not paying a bit of attention to Kara.
“Now,” Mr. Harless added, “It’s time for our queen and her newly crowned king to lead us off with a dance to a song by The Righteous Brothers, which has been played for this very occasion, every year since I was a senior here in 1965.”
Kara had to practically drag Mike out to the middle of the dance floor. The lights dimmed and a single spotlight now illuminated the couple. When the music began, she threw her arms around him and reluctantly, he shuffled her across the floor. He may not have been in the mood for dancing, but by her suggestive movements, she was (and most assuredly, “something else”).
I instantly thought about Chloe. She’ll be pissed when she finds out about this. My grin flattened as I watched her hands rub all over Mike. My thoughts turned to Ty. For her to technically be his “girlfriend” or whatever, she sure is making a spectacle of herself. I looked around the gym. By the way where is…
“You were right,” a familiar voice called out from behind me.
I turned around thinking, Speak of the devil…
“No one could ever miss you,” Ty said in a soft, deep voice that tingled more than my ears.
Seeing him standing there, I felt like I was back in my room looking at my own reflection for the first time, only this sight was way better. “Handsome” didn’t do him justice, not the way he looked standing there in a tuxedo that draped his broad chest like a taut glove. My gaze fell on his piercing blue eyes. Stars couldn’t match the glow in them. His normally tussled hair was perfectly gelled into place, and his face was so radiantly smooth and flawless, nothing remotely like earlier, when it was apparent that he’d forgotten to shave. I had an overwhelming urge to rush over to stroke my hand along every curve of it too. Right now, any care or crazy worry I’d had over the past few days had completely disappeared. I thought, A sight this fine can’t be real, and I prayed it wasn’t a dream.
I blushed when I realized how long I’d been staring at him (and hoped my mouth wasn’t open). Ty strolled over and took my hand. He glanced down at my wrist.
“Was your date too cheap for a corsage?” Ty asked. Any nervousness I’d felt when he touched my hand subsided after hearing his joke.
“I told you…He’s not my ‘date’.” I nodded over to the dance floor. “Her Highness seems to be having a good time,” I noted uncomfortably.
I turned back to see him removing his boutonnière from his lapel. He moved closer and tenderly swept a few strands of my golden locks behind my ear as he placed the delicate red rose in my hair.
“Well…She’s not my queen,” Ty whispered softly as the tips of his fingers lightly grazed my neck. He found my hand and gave it a gentle tug as he motioned to me with his eyes. “Come on…I’m here to collect on that dance.”
Needless to say — I was floored.
Ty laid my clutch on a n
earby table and started leading me towards the dance floor. I couldn’t stop trembling, not while he was stroking my hand tenderly as we winded through the maze of tables and chairs. My heart was pounding through my chest. Mike and Kara were still the only ones out there. We’d be the first ones to join them. Hand in hand, we strode onto the floor with the chorus of the melody drifting from the speakers all around us.
As he led me out to the center of the dance floor, he whispered, “Oh, there was something I forgot to tell you about Bea. Something some people might be surprised to know…”
As “in the moment” as what I was, I found myself intrigued by what he was about to reveal. What could it be? I thought intensely.
“What’s that?” I asked.
Ty gave my wrist a quick and guided jerk as he pulled me to his chest. “She loves to give guys dancing lessons,” he revealed and started leading me around the floor. Instantly, I felt a rush of uncontrollable sensual energy as my body swayed with his to the music.
“Ms. Sutherland’s a good teacher,” I whispered back to him. She really was. He had all the grace of a professional dancer and the moves, too.
“I think she misses dancing. So, some of the guys at the Helping Hands center oblige her.” His smile grew wider. “I’ll tell you what though…It’s really helped my game.”
“How’s that exactly?” I whispered.
“It’s improved my dexterity,” he grinned and swiftly extended his arm to fling me out to the side and then twirled me back into his chest. The next thing I knew, Ty was lowering me into a long, sultry dip.
My head rolled back as my body lay suspended in his robust arms. If this was a dream, I didn’t want to wake up. The twinkling lights reflecting off the disco ball above us captivated me. As I watched the light bounce off its tiny mirrors, I sensed the music fading. I found myself mesmerized by the mirrored sphere, helplessly fixated on it and drawn in by its brilliance. The light started to become more intense, so brilliant I could hardly look at it directly. I couldn’t even make out its shape anymore. My eyes squinted, trying to regain their focus. It appeared to have shifted from a sparkly ball into a long rod of some sort.
Whatever it was that now hung above me, it radiated a scintillating light with an intensity I’d never witnessed before. Now, it seemed to be hovering only a few feet above me. I felt myself wanting to touch it — needing to possess it — in some way. Impulsively, I stretched my hand closer to the gleaming object, desperately trying to reach it. Before I could take hold of it, something suddenly halted my hand. I looked over to see what appeared to be a man’s hand holding my wrist. There was a shiny band of hammered sliver on one of his fingers that held a purple crystal in its center. The gemstone on the ring was shining almost as vibrantly as the object above us. Straightaway, I felt my dangling body being jerked up from its current horizontal position. There, standing in front of me now and holding me in his arms was none other than mister beautiful stranger himself, Tanner Grey.
The light above us illuminated the professor’s gorgeous face like an angel. Awestruck, I looked deep into his eyes, his dazzling amethyst-hued eyes. My pulse quickened as my hand softly trailed his heavenly features. I caressed his chiseled jaw and then guided my fingers down to his chin with a purposeful sweep. His fierce grip tightened as he pulled me even closer to him. Gently, I brushed my fingertips over his perfect mouth, now feeling fully aroused and unshakably riveted. Both our lips lingered for a moment, but before they could even touch, I spotted something on my fingers, something that appeared to be bright red and running down it. Quickly, I pulled my hand back. It was cascading down my arm, and it was blood — my blood.
Puzzled, I jerked away to get a closer look at my hand. Now there was nothing there. Once the loud music had alerted my ears, I realized I was back in the gym, standing in middle of the dance floor, and not dancing with Professor Tanner Grey.
“Shiloh, what’s wrong?” Ty asked, standing there with a clueless look shadowing his handsome face.
I felt like I’d been woken from a dream with an ice-cold bucket of water. My body trembled as I looked all around. Ty appeared almost as confused as I was. I couldn’t look him in the eyes, so I glanced up at he ceiling. I noticed the disco ball was back to its spherical shape. The vision seemed so real. Instantly, I felt trapped and couldn’t catch my breath, like I was being smothered by the hordes of other couples now dancing all around us.
“Shi? Shiloh, What’s wrong?” Ty asked again.
My eyes started to get misty. I couldn’t take these hallucinations anymore. I didn’t know what to say, so I did what any other frightened, crazy person would do — I ran off!
Chapter 10 — Fight, Flight, or Fright ?
I scurried through the crowd of couples as fast as my stilettos would carry me and almost knocked down Elisa Riverside when I dashed up the steps.
“Is something wrong, Shyla?” she called out. I ignored her. I had no time waste. I needed out of here. I needed some fresh air. But most of all, like any scared little girl — I needed my daddy!
After pushing through a curtain of dangling crepe streamers, I finally reached the brightly lit hallway. The building’s exit was just a few feet away. I hurried over to the brown and gold metal doors, but before I could even lay my hands on them, they opened. Two of my classmates, Corey Toliver and Jessica Fields, were coming into the building and shaking a mess of something white from their heads — and I knew it wasn’t dandruff.
Stunned, I watched as they walked past me.
“Hey, Shiloh. Look outside…It’s beautiful!” Jessica exclaimed as she pointed back towards the door.
Quickly, I grabbed the heavy metal door before it could close. As I stood there in the doorway, my eyes panned across the grounds. It was like a winter wonderland. Everything was glistening with a thick, shimmery blanket of white snow. There looked to be a good five inches on the ground already.
“You’d better get your coat before you go out there,” Corey advised.
“Corey, when did it start snowing?” I asked curiously.
Maybe it had been snowing earlier?
“That’s the crazy thing about it. We’ve been outside in my car—” Corey stopped when Jessica hit his shoulder and shot him a dirty glare. “Anyway,” he added, “It only started snowing about ten minutes ago, but there’s almost a half a foot out there. It came down hard and really fast.” Jessica was tugging on his jacket and motioning him towards the gymnasium doors. “Be careful, Shiloh. The ground’s already a sheet of ice,” he warned as they trotted into the gym.
I continued to stare at the lights over the parking lot, simply watching the thick flakes of falling snow. It was a heavy, wet snow — sure to make the roads a nightmare to drive on. I was still rattled from my vision, so I hadn’t paid too much attention to the temperature. But once I’d officially stepped outside, it hit me like a ton of bricks. It was wicked cold!
The Weather Channel sure missed this one. With the utmost caution, I ventured down the steps. My feet were slipping and sliding underneath me. If I didn’t twist and sprain my ankle, it would be nothing less than a miracle. I really didn’t have a plan as to where I was going, but I felt like I was almost being led by something, possibly my own amazement. I thought I’d seen it snowing earlier and now…it was.
I eventually found myself standing alone in the middle of the serene, snow-covered upper parking lot. Cars were well on their way to being buried by the blizzard with each second that passed. Mike’s red Camaro wasn’t far from where I stood. All of a sudden, I spotted the silhouette of a man stepping out of the shadows from a distance. Apparently I wasn’t alone, and he appeared to be heading this way. As soon as he passed under a utility light, I was able to make out the stranger. Though he was no stranger. It was Mr. Estell!
Oh shit…Please let this be a vision…
I kept a watchful eye on him as he drew closer. It was difficult to walk backward in stilettos, so I yanked them off in a hurry, just in case I needed
to make a fast getaway. If I didn’t feel cold enough before, I sure did then. My feet were freezzzing! The more I felt the sting of the ice-cold snow on my bare feet, the more certain I was that I’d end up with a horrible case of frostbite.
Seeing how he was at Ms. Sutherland’s house today, around the time of the “snake-sighting” and possibly a member of a snake-handling church from Jolo, I didn’t need to put 2 and 2 together. I figured I’d better heighten my guard. When he noticed that I’d taken off my shoes, his stride towards me quickened.
Crap!
I decided to run back to the gym, but no sooner than I’d turned around, someone grabbed me. I shot out an impulsive scream and jerked up my head to see who had a hold of me — Mike Riverside.
“Shi, what’s wrong? What are you doin’ out here? Why’d you scream?” Mike grilled as he tugged me close to his chest.
Truthfully, I could think of a million other places I would rather be, but considering I felt like a popsicle and just had the crap scared out of me, I didn’t even think about pulling away — but his questions were starting to get on my nerves.
Mike continued his interrogation. “Did Ty do something to you in there? And, why in the Hell are you…barefoot?”
I twisted around in Mike’s arms, trying to locate Mr. Estell, but he was gone. Once I’d managed to break free from Mike’s grip, I scanned the parking lot for any signs of him. Nothing. He was nowhere to be found. I looked down at my cold, bare feet and realized how stupid I must look. As I struggled to slip on my shoes, from out of nowhere, a very pissed-off Ty Smith came charging down the slippery steps and threw Mike against the rock retaining wall.
Stunned, I yelled, “Ty, what are you DOING?” as I scrambled to tie the ribbon bows around my ankles.
Ty grabbed Mike and gave him a hard punch in his gut and an upper cut to his jaw. The crown atop Mike’s head flew off from the blow.
“Payback,” Ty replied as he rushed over to me. “He started it. I was about to run after you, and the next thing I knew, his fist was planted in the left side of my face.”