by Jo Ho
She looked like every one of those girls Eve had been desperate to be friends with before, the popular girls she had allowed to torture and demean her just so she could breathe the same air…
And the very ones who had dropped her when she had needed them the most.
She was tired of trying now, she already knew where that road would take her. It was especially pointless as the whole “living in a dorm” thing had been Si’s brainchild. He wanted her to experience regular school life again, especially after the thing-that-happened that had caused her to flunk her first year. Wasn’t it enough that she was willing to redo her school year? Why did he need her to come out of her shell and be her old self again, no matter how much Eve told him that that girl was dead.
She had died last summer.
She was hiding out at the library now, not wanting to deal with Si’s anger at home. Eve figured she’d give him a few hours before heading back, right around the time he would be leaving for the bar where he worked.
Whenever they had a blow up like this, Si just needed time to cool down. Sometimes Eve thought he took the idea of being the man of the house a little too literally — he was, after all, only a few years older than her — but those three years might well have been ten for all the differences between them.
After three decades of living in Boston struggling to make a living running a catering truck selling Jamaican food, their parents had retired and moved back home to Jamaica two years ago. It wasn’t their original plan to do this. Eve’s grandmother had gotten sick and her parents had gone back home to look after her. But sadly, she passed away after only a few months. Her parents had stayed on to deal with the legalities only to discover that she had left her house and life savings to them. It wasn’t much, but it was enough for them to quit their business in the States, pay off their mortgage and Eve’s tuition. Si had always been mature for his age and the two got along well so her parents weren’t at all concerned about leaving their two adult kids behind.
But if they ever found out about the thing-that-happened after they had left, they would have been on the first flight back.
As the sun dipped behind a cloud outside, Eve caught her reflection in the laptop and startled. Although the Goth style suited her new, “keep out” vibe, it still startled her on occasion to see the heavy black makeup that now covered her features. It wasn’t always this way. She used to wear the latest trends and was considered one of the prettiest girls around. Inundated with dates, she was even known to be a little loose with her affections.
All that had changed when Eve had fallen in love… and started living a daily nightmare.
Shivering from the chill that came over her whenever her mind wandered to that dark place, Eve focused on the in-game chat in WOW. She’d been playing the game now for most of the day to kill time. A random player had just sent a message her way wanting to trade weapons. Glad for the interruption, she was typing an answer when a shadow fell over her. Then she felt the presence of someone watching over her shoulder.
“You’re a Warcraft fangirl?” asked a voice from behind her.
Eve looked up to see a girl around the same age as her. She had Asian features but was obviously mixed race. Expecting the usual crap she received whenever other girls saw her interests, Eve had to stop the urge to slam her laptops closed, though the girl hadn’t sounded like she was mocking her?
“I know it’s an older game, but I like how familiar it is,” Eve said, half expecting the other shoe to drop.
“I’m more into consoles myself,” the girl continued. “I’ve never been able to play with a mouse and keyboard. It just feels alien to me.”
Blinking, Eve realized she was being genuine then felt some of her tension lessen.
“It does take a while to get used to. Which console do you play?” Eve asked carefully, half waiting for the other shoe to drop.
“PlayStation mainly, though I haven’t had one for a few years now. The last one broke and we just never replaced it.”
“Shame, there are a lot of cool games out now.”
“I know. I’d be on it all the time though then I’d never get any work done, so it’s probably for the best. Games are such a time sink. You know The Last of Us? I completed it three times before I figured I had a problem. Come to think of it that’s around the time that my PlayStation “broke”. Maybe I should have words with my dad…” she laughed.
“I’m Marley by the way.”
“Eve.”
“So, I know this is going to sound a bit presumptuous but all the computers are taken here and I need to look up something quick. Can I use one of your laptops? I’d use my phone but I’m close to maxing out my data and I’ve honestly no idea where my laptop charger is.” Marley asked hopefully, but Eve caught a sense of something underlying the friendliness, and it felt a lot like desperation. Ordinarily, she would have turned her down, but there was something about her that made Eve less cautious than usual. She had to admit it was nice to talk to a friendly girl for once, especially after her recent run-in.
“Sure,” she replied gesturing to the one with Warcraft running on it. Eve minimized the game and opened up Google.
“Thanks,” Marley said gratefully as she took a seat in front of the computer. She sat in such a way that Eve couldn’t see what she was looking up. Realizing that it wasn’t any of her business anyway, she turned back to her app and continued working away at it. Caught up in her work, she didn’t know how much time had passed in silence until Marley tapped her on the shoulder.
“Hey, thanks for letting me use it. I’m done now.”
“Did you find what you were looking for?” Eve asked.
“Yeah,” Marley replied, unable to hide her worry. It was on the tip of Eve’s tongue to ask what was troubling her, but she had never been the type to overshare and she didn’t want to start now. If Marley was looking for a sympathetic ear to listen to her woes, she’d have to find it someplace else.
“See you around,” Marley said, her eyes already clouding over as her thoughts took her elsewhere.
“Bye,” Eve managed before Marley walked away, head hanging down as if the whole world sat on her shoulders. Wondering what might have caused her to feel that way, Eve slid over to the laptop Marley had used and found herself looking up Marley’s searches in the address bar. While she knew this amounted to spying, Eve reasoned that it was fair game since it was her computer.
But there was nothing listed other than Eve’s own searches. Marley must have gone incognito mode.
Curiouser and curiouser.
Luckily Eve knew how to get around that. Using her advanced tech skills it was a simple matter to pull up Marley’s searches and previously closed windows…
And what she discovered proved an interesting — if morbid — find.
Windows flooded the screen with depictions of women hanging in trees in Boston Common. As part of the witch trials that were popular in the 17th century, the accompanying text explained how the trees were used to hang women accused of being witches. One particular tree kept coming up in the searches, a giant tree that stretched over sixty-five feet high which had been known as “The Hanging Elm”. Eve shuddered as she read about the many women who were killed on that one tree alone.
Looking up, she glanced in the direction Marley had disappeared off to.
Why on earth had she been googling this stuff?
Chapter 12
Tyler watched as Cassie tried on a million outfits.
At least, that’s how it seemed.
They had been in the boutique going on an hour now, long enough that Tyler was beginning to regret offering to accompany the girl. Just how many dresses could a person try on before making up their mind?
Tyler had watched as Cassie modeled each one, waiting for Tyler’s comments. Truth was, Tyler thought Cassie looked decent in nearly all of them but Cassie had found something wrong with every one.
This one made her look fat (something which Tyler had snorte
d at since Cassie was such a tiny thing. She had been genuinely troubled and really believed that she was overweight). Another made her already small chest look even flatter (Cassie’s own words). Another was too short, showing how dumpy her legs were. All of these issues Cassie had with herself Tyler was sure were in her head. She had just met the girl and didn’t feel it was her place to correct her, although she did try to let her know that she didn’t agree with her negative assessment of herself.
Bored with how long she had been waiting for Cassie to make up her mind, Tyler found herself perusing the rails herself. It had been a long time since she had gone shopping for fun plus they did have some nice things in here. Picking up a simple maroon colored dress, Tyler went into the dressing room trying it on.
The empire waist, color, and flared skirt were a perfect fit showing off her fair complexion. She came out of the room to show it to Cassie. When the other girl laid eyes on her, she looked stricken.
“You look so good in that Tyler! That color makes your skin pop and the cut of the dress makes your waist look so small. I wish I could look like you,” Cassie exclaimed miserably.
“Are you kidding? You look good in that dress yourself Cassie. I think it’s time you decided on one. If any of them looked terrible, I would have told you. They were honestly fine. I wish you’d just trust me on this,” Tyler finished, a little more impatiently than she wanted to sound.
Cassie hung her head low. “I’m sorry, I just hate shopping you know? It’s always so stressful for me, trying to find things that will fit right and not make me look horrendous.”
The way she looked now, Tyler knew Cassie meant it, that she wasn’t just being a drama queen. Cassie had some real issues with her appearance that no dress would ever fix.
“Honestly Cassie, that dress looks great on you.”
She must have finally heard Tyler as she studied herself critically in the mirror, turning this way and that.
“I guess it doesn’t look too bad…” she conceded. “OK, I’ll get it,” she suddenly said to Tyler with a grin. “Are you getting yours?”
“I think so,” Tyler said. “I haven’t had something new in a while. Think I’ll treat myself.”
Cassie looked slightly confused. “Wait, you wouldn’t spend a few bucks on a drink but you’ll spend this much for a dress?”
“A drink is just a drink, but a dress I can wear over and over again.”
Tyler went back into her cubicle to change into her own clothes while Cassie stayed in her new outfit. Moments later, she joined her at the checkout where Cassie had already paid for her dress and had her “ruined” clothes put into a bag. The sales assistant rang up the dress. when the final amount flashed up, Tyler tried not to flinch. Fourty-five bucks wasn’t that much, but it was still a lavish purchase, seeing as it wasn’t essential… but it had been so long since Tyler had bought anything for herself, surely this was OK?
Handing over her debit card, Tyler waited as the cashier swiped it in the machine. Instead of going through, it beeped. The sales assistant smiled reassuringly.
“Don’t worry, this just happens sometimes. I’ll try again,” she said.
Tyler nodded as Cassie looked on. Sliding the card through the reader, the machine beeped again. This time a message flashed up. The sales assistant, a girl not that much older than they were, gave Tyler an apologetic look.
“Sorry, it looks like there’s a problem with your account?”
“What is it?” Tyler asked, concern beginning to flood her body whenever anything money related was mentioned now.
“I don’t know, you’ll have to call them to find out. You can make your call over there while I serve the next customers,” she said, gesturing to a quiet corner. Embarrassed, Tyler nodded and quickly called her bank. As she waited to be connected to the right department, she shot a look at Cassie but she seemed oblivious to her concern, holding up a pair of earrings to her face, checking her reflection in a mirror.
Her call was answered shortly by a bored male voice. Tyler went through several security checks before she discovered why her card was frozen.
“What do you mean I’ve only got thirty dollars in my account? There should be a lot more than that. Hasn’t my financial aid come through?” Tyler lowered her voice to a low whisper, hoping nobody could hear her.
“Let me check for you Ms. Jones,” the phone assistant said. Tyler could hear him tapping away on a keyboard.
“I’m sorry, the financial aid isn’t showing on your account yet, and while you do have two hundred dollars in your savings account, your debit card draws from your checking account.”
“Wait, what?” Tyler gasped. “It’s not there? But they said it should be by now.”
“I’m afraid I’m not privy to that information. I suggest you give your loan company a call.”
Reeling, Tyler mumbled in agreement as she hung up. Numb, the blood draining from her, Tyler turned around to look for Cassie only to find her at the checkout again. Even in the midst of her shock, disbelief rose to the surface. Was the girl shopping again?
Forgetting all about her dress, Tyler moved to the door in a daze.
Two hundred dollars.
That was all she had to live on. If there was a problem with the loan, what was she going to do? She needed it for her room, for her food and everything else. Seemingly oblivious to her stress, Cassie bounced over to her swinging two shopping bags. When she reached her, Cassie presented one of the bags to Tyler.
“Here,” Cassie said grinning. “I got it for you.”
Blinking, and barely able to comprehend what she was saying, Tyler frowned at her.
“Got what?”
Cassie gestured at the bag. “The dress! I heard you saying your financial aid hadn’t arrived, so I decided to buy it for you.”
Tyler gaped at her stupidly, conflicting emotions running through her. On the one hand, she was pleased to have the dress for nothing, but, it felt wrong to accept such a large gift from someone she had just met. It left a strange taste in her mouth.
“You didn’t have to do that.”
“I know, it’s no biggie. It’s not like I couldn’t afford it,” Cassie said carelessly.
“But…” Tyler began as Cassie stopped her.
“Seriously Tyler, just take it. It’s a gift to celebrate our friendship. It’s no problem, honestly. I want you to have it. It’s the least I can do for making you wait here for an hour while I tried on everything in the shop.”
While Tyler was grateful for her generosity, something about the lavish gift felt wrong. Like she would be taking advantage of her if she accepted. She glanced over at the checkout, the thought of returning the dress entering her mind, but Cassie must have sensed what she was thinking as she frowned, looking upset.
“If you return my gift, it would be like a slap in the face for me.”
Tyler could see that she meant it. Swallowing her pride, she smiled her appreciation.
“I’ll keep it. Thank you, it’s a lovely present.”
Happy, Cassie slipped her arm through Tyler’s as they headed back to dorm.
“I can’t wait until they see us at the party. It’s going to be the best night ever!”
Chapter 13
Try as she might, Marley couldn’t stop the horrific images from assaulting her.
She’d been in the dorm for a little while now, but on the long walk back from the library, all Marley could imagine were the hundreds of women, hanging from trees.
And the one specific one who had pointed at her and screamed.
Ordinarily, when Marley had a hallucination like this, it bore no relation to reality so this was something new entirely. Many women like the one she had seen, had been murdered on that very tree. Wasn’t that too big a coincidence… What did that mean exactly? Could Marley see things that others couldn’t? Could she see the past… or was it worse than that? Could she see… dead people?
The thought filled her with dread.
; Taking out her laptop — which had run out of juice long before she’d even set foot on BU — Marley went through all of her things until she finally found the charger, buried inside a mound of socks. Why she had packed it with them was anyone’s guess.
Plugging it in, she waited impatiently for her laptop to get enough power to turn on. Glancing at her bag, she took out the meds, studying the label on the bottle. She’d been taking the pills for so long now that it had become as second nature as her daily vitamins, but now the doubt was setting in. If what Marley was seeing was real, it meant that her diagnosis wasn’t correct… and that she wasn’t and had never been crazy.
Which would mean that everything she thought about herself and everything she knew, was wrong.
Turning the bottle around in her hands, Marley contemplated calling her shrink, wondering what she would say if she told her this latest information, when Cassie and Tyler appeared at the door, back from their shopping trip. Startled, she shoved the vial under her pillow, hoping that neither of them had noticed it.
Cassie came inside and immediately presented herself to her.
“What do you think of my new dress?” she asked, unable to hide the desperate tone in her voice. From her anxious manner and the way she held her breath, Marley knew she wasn’t just fishing for compliments. For whatever reason, she needed Marley’s approval, and after what had transpired earlier, Marley was only too happy to oblige.
“You look great. That color and cut really suit you,” Marley said genuinely.
Cassie smiled and let out her breath in relief.
“Really? I mean, I thought it did, but sometimes I get it wrong.”
“Well, you were right this time.” Marley paused before speaking again. “By the way, can I just say I’m sorry again, for spilling the drink on you? I honestly didn’t mean to.”