16
Cole spent the rest of the day trying to piece together what had happened during the session. Dr. Stern's strange technique had him at a loss for the first time since they started their sessions. He was also now afraid to close his eyes and see those swirling blobs again. There was something unsettling about those incomprehensible whispers. At the same time that he wished desperately to hear what they were saying, he was terrified to listen.
Meredith did not get home until late that night, and Cole could only watch as she stumbled through the house, exhausted beyond functioning, and fell into bed. This trend continued over the course of the week and every time Cole saw his mother like that, the anger surged inside of him, rising to a new high tide. His sadness and sense of loss from his destroyed home only added fuel to the fire. He was starting to suffer from sleep deprivation as well from his night watches, but despite his nocturnal vigilance and his daily caution at school, he saw no sign of Travis. Cole knew it was smart of him to lay low, as he could only imagine Cole’s desire for revenge, but nevertheless Cole was frustrated. What was he waiting for? How long would he stay in hiding? Was he just waiting for Cole to let his guard down in order to enact an even deadlier attack? Desperate to stop this, Cole sought any opportunity to go to Travis’ house, but no opening presented itself. He was growing more restless and fearful every day and knew he had to figure out something soon. This calm was not going to last.
All week Cole had been approached by students at lunchtime but he would hardly let them get out a syllable before rejecting them in some way, by glaring, ignoring or, if those failed, by outright telling them to leave him alone. He knew what they were looking for and he had no desire to satisfy their curiosity. The last thing he wanted to think about was that horrific fire. He had trouble functioning normally as it was with the nightmares while he slept and disturbing images flashing through his mind during his waking hours.
Amy never returned to school that week and Cole restrained himself from calling her house. He assumed she would return soon and he would not do anything to jeopardize her again. Still, every day he entered the cafeteria, he felt disappointment and fear for her absence. By Friday at lunchtime he felt he had reached the limit of his patience and as he sat contemplating what, if anything, he could do, he was approached by a group of students. They sat on all sides of him, the leader sitting directly across the table. Cole glared at him, having no interest in what he had to say, but he had a feeling they would not be so easily turned away as the others.
“I won’t tell you anything about it,” Cole said. “You’re wasting your time.”
“You stole Amy from us,” the leader said.
“W-what?” Cole said, confused, and suddenly feeling claustrophobic with all of them crowding around him. After a moment he understood. This was the group that Amy used to sit with before she talked to him and to whom she returned afterwards. “I didn’t steal her. She came to me of her own free will.”
“We don’t care,” the leader said. “We like Amy, we like talking to her during lunch and we want her back.”
“What do you want me to do?” Cole said. “I don’t control her.”
“Well, we were all discussing it,” the leader said. “She obviously likes you, so much she left us behind. So, we decided the easiest thing to do is to talk to you. You have to become one of our group.”
“What? I… don’t know.”
“Just do it. Trust me, it’ll be easiest for all of us. And we’re cool. I’m sure we can get along somehow. If Amy likes you so much, there must be something cool about you.”
Cole paused, unsure what to say.
“We won’t bother you,” the boy said. “We’re just going to hang out with you.”
This was not exactly the most welcoming invitation, but for the time being, there seemed little way to fight it. “Sure,” Cole said. “What do you guys wanna talk about?”
“First of all, do you know why Amy’s out this week?” said another boy sitting next to him.
“She’s sick.”
“Wow, you two really are best buds,” a third boy said, sounding surprised.
“So what happened to you?” another asked.
“Why does everyone feel the need to ask that?” Cole said. “I’m not talking about it.”
“All right, no problem,” the leader said. “We won’t talk about it. I’m Martin. Cole, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Cool,” Martin said. “So what do you guys talk about all the time?”
“Playing games and reading books,” Cole blurted out before his mind could register the mistake he was making.
“Amy reads? Since when?”
“Oh, wait, no, no. You can’t tell her I told you that.”
Martin smirked. “Why not? Is she embarrassed?”
“I don’t know,” Cole said. “She just told me not to tell anyone. Please…”
“All right, man. Don’t worry so much about it.”
Cole did not like the look on Martin’s face but at this point he could see little to do except pray.
“We’re all gonna be best buds,” Martin said.
Each of them introduced themselves and then the conversation between them picked up. Cole paid little attention to what they were saying and before long the lunch period was over and they were brought outside to gym class. They continued their conversation, barely noticing that Cole lagged far behind. He obligatorily followed them to the schoolyard where he sat on the edge of their circle, eyes wandering around the yard, as he prayed for gym to end. Few times in his life had he felt more awkward than he did right now.
As he took in his surroundings, he noticed something strange. Doing a double take he saw Derek by himself, playing with a deck of cards. He was about to dismiss it as a trick of his mind when Derek looked up again. Their eyes locked, and held.
I knew it. Why is Derek watching me?
Cole broke the stare first, feigning interest in the conversation of the group, but still watching Derek out of the corner of his eye. Derek resumed playing with his cards but continued to glance up at Cole every few minutes until gym ended. The group began to disperse, rushing past Cole back to school.
“See ya Monday,” Martin said, “with Amy.”
“Sure, see ya,” Cole said.
He hurried after them to stay ahead of Derek, but next thing he knew, Derek was next to him, matching his pace. Cole paid him no attention, but hurried on, making sure to stay in sight of a teacher at all times.
“Where’s your girlfriend?” Derek said.
“Seriously?” Cole said. “Is it really that much fun to annoy me?”
“Don’t test me.”
“Or what? You know you're not going to do anything. Why can't you just leave me alone?””
“You little… I swear to…” His face turned bright red and he stormed off, muttering to himself.
Push Derek to the ground or he will fall down a flight of stairs.
Cole stopped, trying to ignore the quiet murmur in the back of his mind. Really? This is not going to end well. Derek, I hope you appreciate what I'm doing for you. He checked around him to make sure no teachers were watching and then hurried to catch up to Derek. He brought his arms up and shoved him with all his might. Derek's arms flailed as he tried to recover his balance after the unexpected force, but it was a futile effort. He toppled to the concrete, landing hard on his side. Cole skirted back, blending into the crowd to avoid incrimination, as Derek's howl of pain brought teachers running from all directions. The few kids who had seen Cole commit the crime gave him looks but no one said anything. Good thing no one likes him. He hurried on, wanting to distance himself as far from suspicious eyes as possible.
The rest of the day passed in boredom as Cole watched the clock tick away each and every minute, thankful that, due to his newfound special treatment, Mrs. Taylor would not call on him.
The weekend started off much the same way. Cole saw little of his mother anymore and,
when he did see her, it was usually when she was about to go to sleep. Cole spent much of his time alone in the library, thinking about all the misery that had been brought on his life, and feeling his anger building. That night, after his mother got back from work, he overheard Beth and her talking in the kitchen. He opened the door a crack so he could eavesdrop.
“…sorry, I can’t accept it,” Meredith was saying.
“You’re killing yourself with all this work. You won’t last. And if not for yourself, do it for Cole,” Beth said.
“I’ll be fine. I just have to get this job secured and then nail down a schedule.”
“At least take some. You have too much pride.”
“I appreciate the offer, and I’ll keep it in mind,” Meredith said, “but for now the answer is no. End of discussion.”
“Fine. Just know the offer is always on the table.”
Cole rested his head against the doorframe and closed his eyes, breathing deeply. He jerked up suddenly, swung the door wide open, and walked into the kitchen.
“Hi, Mom.”
“Hi, Sweetie. Did you have a good day at school?”
Cole hoped his mother did not notice he was having trouble feigning ignorance of her plight. “Yeah, Mom, everything was great. Are you going to bed?”
“Yeah, sorry. I promise we’ll do something special together very soon. Just been a little busy with getting my new job going.”
“No problem. Night, Mom.”
Meredith planted a big kiss on Cole’s forehead and went off to bed, leaving Cole and Beth staring after her.
“Quite the pride that one’s got,” Beth mumbled more to herself than to Cole, “to the point that it’s unhealthy.” She looked down at Cole and sighed. “I really don’t get your mother sometimes. Maybe one day you can talk some sense into her.”
“Yeah.” Cole stood there awkwardly for a few seconds, unsure of what to say, until Beth went to the sink to wash dishes, allowing him to sneak back to the library.
As he sat down to read the book on supernatural phenomena, he remembered his promise to Amy. As little as it mattered now, he figured there was no harm in asking. He was curious and it would help distract his mind from his problems for a while.
Beth was still washing dishes when he returned to the kitchen and didn't hear him approach. She was almost finished so he leaned back against the wall to wait. After she placed the last dish in the drainer, she turned around and gasped, clapping a hand to her chest.
“Cole, don't sneak up on me like that,” she said. “I thought you went to bed. What do you want?”
“Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I just had a question.”
“Yeah, what is it?”
“Um...” Cole paused, thinking back to the mask incident. “It's okay if you don't want to tell me but I was-”
“Spit it out already.”
“I found an old book on your bookshelf about supernatural things. I was just wondering where you got it from, why you have it.”
Beth tipped her head upward and Cole instinctively flinched, expecting an outburst.
“Oh yeah, that book,” she said. Her head lowered back down to look at Cole. “Found that interesting, huh?”
Cole nodded expectantly.
“Bought it about twelve years ago,” Beth said. “I got into that kinda thing around then and I did some research for a book like that. It's pretty fascinating stuff if you ask me.”
“Yeah, it is.”
“Well enjoy it. I'm going to sleep. I suggest you do the same.”
Not the most informative answer but a whole lot better than I was expecting, Cole thought as he returned to the library. He was awake into the wee hours of the night, watching out the window, his mind drifting endlessly back to Amy. He couldn’t shake his bad feeling and growing concern for her well-being. In the middle of the night, as he was drifting off, a frantic thought struck him.
She has no idea what happened to me. She might’ve been calling my house for days and I would have no idea.
It was too late to call but he swore, first thing in the morning, he would check up on her. It was a risk he had to take and, in any case, he had a great excuse for why he was calling. How could anyone not sympathize with someone whose house was just burnt to the ground? The remembrance of that awful night brought with it all of the anger and pain, which translated itself into a fitful dream.
He awoke with a start in a cold sweat, incomprehensible horrific images swirling through his head. It was still dark outside. He got up to get a drink of water to clear his head so he could fall back to sleep. After silently retrieving a glass and filling it with water he returned to the library to sit and relax his body. As he sat back in his chair he looked out the window, and was immediately back on his feet in a panic. Outside was that same haunting car, idling in front of the house.
Terror and rage coursed through his body as he raced out the front door, but the car sped off as soon as he was outside.
“You'd better run,” he mumbled under his breath. “Just wait.”
It took a couple hours of watching out the window and controlling his breathing before he had calmed his body down enough to fall back to sleep, but even then, he awoke frequently during the early morning hours, jumping up to look outside. After that night he was sure his paranoia would never permit restful sleep until he had done something about Travis.
The first step for that morning, however, was to call Amy. After breakfast he took the phone and excused himself from the kitchen. He could feel his heart pounding as he dialed the number and it wasn’t until the phone started to ring that he comprehended how nervous he was. He did not have time to decipher what was causing this panic before a voice came over the line.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Mrs. Brown. It’s Cole.”
“Oh, Cole, how are you?”
“Well, not great. I don’t know if you heard but there was an accident this week. A… fire.”
“Oh my God! No. What happened? Is everyone okay?”
Cole held back fake tears. “My arm got pretty badly burned and… and my house… It’s gone. They couldn’t save it.”
“Oh dear, that’s awful! I'm so sorry. I can't even imagine... Is there anything I can do for you? Anything at all that you need, please, just tell me.”
“I was hoping I could see Amy so I could tell her what happened. Would it be all right if I came over? Please? I know she’s not feeling well but it would mean a lot.”
Mrs. Brown exhaled sharply. “Um… Yes. Of course!” She cleared her throat. “Just give us about an hour. We aren't ready for company yet. I’ll let Amy know you’re coming.”
“Thanks so much, Mrs. Brown. See you in an hour.”
“Yep. Bye.”
Cole burst into the kitchen in a frenzy to find Beth reading the paper. She glanced up and immediately recognized the excitement on his face.
“What’s the matter?” she mumbled.
“Can you please, please, please take me to Amy’s house in an hour? I’ll do anything.”
“Getting you out of the house is enough for me. Go get ready.”
“Thank you so much!” Beth flinched as Cole threw his arms around her and then he ran off to get ready.
For forty-five minutes he sat in the kitchen while Beth read, counting minute after agonizing minute. When five minutes remained he could sit no more; he was practically bursting with energy.
“Calm yourself. You’re gonna give me an aneurism. I can’t stand watching you jump around like that,” Beth said.
“Close enough, let’s go,” Cole said, running to the door to put on his sneakers. This is it. Today I can do it all.
Beth trailed after him, putting her coat on at a painfully slow speed.
During the ride, Cole composed himself. He had to focus if he was going accomplish everything today. More importantly, keeping up the ruse of sadness was critical.
“I’ll be fine from here,” Cole said as they pulled up. “Thanks.”
“Yep. I assume I’ll be getting a call later.”
“Probably.” As Beth pulled away, he plodded up the pathway to the front door. He shook out his limbs, relaxed his face, and rang the bell.
There was scuffling inside and a moment later Amy’s mother opened the door.
“Oh, Cole! You made it. Come in and take off your shoes.” She led him through the living room to the hallway leading to Amy’s room. “She’s in her room. Last door on the right.”
As Cole walked down the hall, she returned to the kitchen where a conversation immediately ensued. The words drifted through the house into his ears.
“He shouldn’t be here,” Amy’s father said.
There was an indiscernible whisper.
“I don’t care,” he said.
Amy’s door was shut so Cole rapped a few quick times. Amy opened it and hurried him inside, closing the door behind him.
“Thank God,” Amy said, taking a seat on her bed. “I don’t know how you managed to convince them to let you come over but I don’t think I could’ve taken one more minute here alone.”
“It’s not a great reason but at least I’m here,” he said, taking a seat next to her.
Just then she noticed the bandage on his arm. “Oh my God, what happened?”
Cole inspected her face, filled with such terror and concern, a light bruise running the length of her cheekbone. He shuddered to think what had transpired here last week. “Travis. He set… fire to my house…” His voice trailed off.
Amy’s face dropped in horror and she grabbed his leg. “No! Are you all right? And your mom?”
With hesitation, Cole described the events of the night while Amy stared, wide-eyed, her hand covering her mouth, which refused to close.
When Cole had finished, Amy composed herself, sadness the only emotion that remained. “But wait, why do you think Travis had anything to do with this? It sounds like you didn’t see anyone.”
“I just know it was him.”
“Why would he do something so horrible? Is there something you’re not telling me?”
“I just know. I really don’t want to get into it. I told you my story. Now tell me what’s been going on here all week.”
Dark Mind (The Dark Mind Trilogy Book 1) Page 15