I rolled my eyes at their immaturity and breathed deeply, remembering that for some reason Patrick never came to the lunchroom anyway. He always walked off in the opposite direction, which I thought was odd but never asked him about. Shaking my head with determination, I forced back all of the depraved thoughts that threatened to betray me and tried to focus on the conversation at hand.
“So we’re going to have the whole house to ourselves for Halloween?” Tyler’s face was ecstatic, his eyebrows practically leaping off his forehead. His mouth was wide enough to shove in his entire hamburger. “That’s going to be so awesome!”
You would have thought Tyler had just won a trip to Disney World.
“Yep,” Josh said, nodding his head proudly. “My parents were invited to this crazy party I can’t go to, but they wanted me to stay and pass out candy since our neighborhood is a hot spot for trick-or-treaters. Well, I told them I would only do it if I could have my friends over for a Halloween party.” He dipped his head in a smug nod. “They said yes.”
“That is so cool! Your parents are awesome!” Nicole exclaimed, knowing her parents would never allow a parentless coed party at her house.
Tyler was all business now. “So, this is going to be a costume party, right? Because Nicole and I already have something in the works for that.”
“Sure, why not?” Josh answered. “And everyone’s invited. That includes you, Kyra…can you come?”
We all paused for her answer since she had yet to accompany us on a group outing. I eyed her pleadingly. Because of her kindness and innate ability to make me feel calm and peaceful, free of anxiety, she had quickly become my favorite friend to be around. I couldn’t imagine this Halloween party without her.
She surveyed all our faces and stopped at mine with a warm smile before turning to Josh. “Halloween is Friday, right?” He nodded and she looked back at me. “Yeah, I think I can make it.”
“Yea!” Lexi cheered. Kyra laughed and went back to eating, but Lexi wasn’t done with the topic of costumes. “So, Iris, what are you going to be this year? You are dressing up, right?”
“Um…sure, I suppose.” It was probably the first thing I’d said all lunch period. I hoped no one noticed.
“What are you going to dress up as?” Lexi asked.
All eyes were unexpectedly now on me. I shrank back in my seat uncomfortably at their scrutiny.
“I hadn’t really given it much thought yet.” I hoped that would appease them. Just in case, I added, “I’ll probably just find something easy at the store.”
“Well, I’m going to be Raggedy Ann since I already have the curly red hair. I saw this cute blue dress the other day…” Lexi shifted to Nicole to continue her costume shopping discussion as Josh pulled me to him in a tight hug. He held on for so long I wondered ashamedly if he could sense my growing detachment and was trying to keep me physically close.
“Are you excited about the party?” he whispered to me.
“Yeah.” I thought about it briefly and then smiled to myself before looking him straight in the eyes with new-found assurance. “Yes, I truly am.”
An insinuating half-smile spread across his face and his familiar looming shadow reappeared on his other side. He continued in a hushed voice only I could hear. “You know my parents will be gone at that party until at least two in the morning. You’re welcome to stay as long as you want to.”
He kissed my forehead and grinned at me as I tried not to flinch from the nearness of his leech. He then turned back to the rest of our friends who were still discussing potential costume ideas.
Although no one could hear us or see Josh’s shadow, when I lifted my anxious, flushed face from our suggestive conversation I caught Kyra peering at me from across the table. Her face held a strangely protective look, as though she were watching her baby sister in a heated argument, ready to back her up if needed.
I tried to escape her gaze by getting up to throw away my trash. When I returned, her eyes were directed elsewhere. I followed them to a dejected-looking, lonely girl sitting by herself at the other end of the lunchroom, and my heart sank, partly in pity for the girl, but mostly in fear. An ominous, turbulent storm whirled around her small frame and showed no signs of letting up.
I had seen countless dark, sinister shadows in the three years of dealing with my unveiled vision. But this heavy, black mass smothering the isolated young girl was the most relentless, dominating, and foreboding shadow I had ever seen. There was something unique about it that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. Just seeing it made me tremble as if I could feel it suffocating me.
Kyra stood up with a fiercely determined expression and marched over to the girl. I gaped uncontrollably, watching her with anxiety and fear gripping my stomach like a young child watching a suspenseful horror movie at its climax. Somewhere during her trek, the noise of the lunchroom vanished. I was separated from everyone else, helplessly gazing at my friend’s decent into hell.
The rest of the table noticed my stare and everyone pivoted in their seats to watch as Kyra sat down across from the girl, just outside the stormy shadow’s reach. Despite my burning fear for my friend, I was still half-hoping her close proximity would cause the shadow to scramble away or at least hide as many often did…not that it could hide since it was as big as a small car. I was perplexed and dismayed to see it only flicker in agitation.
Of course we couldn’t hear their conversation, but it seemed Kyra was trying to ask her questions, listening intently to her answers as a counselor would have. The murky, tumultuous mass never left the girl, but as she and Kyra talked and then wandered off in the direction of the office, it shrank from the size of a Honda Civic to a Smart Car.
After the three of them disappeared around the corner, the din of the cafeteria gradually resurfaced.
Sam was the first to say something as he picked up his fork again. “What was that all about?”
“I don’t know,” Lexi said. “It was nice of her to go talk to that poor girl, but where did they go?”
Nicole shrugged her shoulders. “I guess we’ll just have to wait to find out until she tells us later.”
Later, for me at least, was three-thirty when I called her right after school as I drove home. My distress and curiosity were way too out-of-control for me to wait any longer.
I attempted to be nonchalant about it, hiding the real reason behind my inquisitiveness. “So where did you go with that girl at lunch? We were all wondering.”
“Well…I don’t want to give you too many details, because it’s kind of confidential. Just don’t tell anybody, okay?” She took a deep breath. “Sara…that’s the girl…well, she was really depressed. Apparently she was thinking about committing suicide.” She paused, and my breathing stopped. I was stunned in more ways than one. “So I took her to the counselor’s office, and we talked about it. Her parents showed up pretty soon after. I’m not sure exactly what’s going to happen, but I know she’s getting some help. She should be okay.”
I finally found my voice, which came out a little more squeaky and shrill than intended. “So, she just told you this?”
“Well…yeah. She saw I was sincere and everything, and she just kind of opened up to me. I think she just needed someone to talk to. You know?” Silence ate through the phone line for a few seconds. “I think talking to me about her problems really helped her.”
My stomach twisted itself into knots and I began to sweat. Part of me wanted badly to tell Kyra everything, from my fourteenth birthday to my curse of seeing shadows. She was so understanding and kind, she wouldn’t judge me. But instead, I clung to my secrets—a scared, stubborn child refusing to let go of her security blanket.
After I hung up the phone and pulled into my driveway, I turned off the ignition and sat there, too numb to get out or even move. The last two weeks, my emotions had been building so intensely and on so many different levels I didn’t even know what to feel anymore. This episode with the suicidal girl, not to mention
coming dangerously close to reliving my past with Kyra over the phone, was the last straw that pushed me over the edge.
The moment the tears started to fall, I knew I wouldn’t be able to stop them. As more and more fell, the faster they fell, and the more anxious and depressed I became, as if the tears were a catalyst for my emotions instead of the other way around.
Why hadn’t I seen it coming? If Kyra hadn’t done something, I would have been responsible for the girl’s death. I sobbed bitterly, punishing myself by slamming my fists into the steering wheel and dashboard before sinking back into my seat in defeat.
I, of all people, should have seen what the shadow was planning and stopped it.
Chapter 11
I INSPECTED MY REFLECTION in the mirror and frowned, turning from side to side to view my unoriginal costume at every angle. I had meticulously made sure everything was included and perfect—the white spaghetti strap dress I’d borrowed from my sister, the white, feathered wings attached to my shoulders, the dazzling shimmer I had applied to my cheeks, eyelids, forehead and chest, and the cheesy halo situated precariously over the top of my head with a thin clear headband.
All in all, the costume did flatter me, especially with my violet eyes contrasting vibrantly with the silver shimmer. The look even bordered on glamorous. But it wasn’t how I appeared on the outside that made me frown. It was how I felt on the inside. I didn’t feel like an angel. In fact…far from it. With the dangerous prospect of a late night with Josh and my persistent, uncertain emotions about Patrick still simmering inside me, this angel costume seemed about as fitting on me as a devil costume would on Kyra.
Hanna tapped on my bedroom door and then shoved it open. She strutted over to me in a brisk, straight line with a runway model walk, complete with a dramatic, angry face and three distinct poses, before turning around and strutting back out the way she came.
I laughed hysterically. “Come back, Mother Theresa! Let me take a better look at you.”
She came running back in, grinning from ear to ear, and plopped on my bed. “Do you like it?”
I gawked at my twenty-year-old sister dressed perfectly as one of the holiest, most benevolent human beings this world has ever known. She wore a white shroud-type garment that looked as if it’d been taken from the baptistery of a church, and a thin, white sheet with blue stripes on the side was pinned to the front of her head. Part of it flowed down her back like a nun, and part of it hung from her left shoulder down her front with a rosary attached to it.
“Wow! You know, to be honest, on anyone else…except maybe Kyra, I’d say this was blasphemy. But I think it fits you nicely Sis.” I smiled at her.
“Aw! Thanks!” She squeezed my arm affectionately. “Well, she’s kind of my hero, so I thought it would be cool to dress up as her for Halloween. Jenny and Austin are only inviting a few other people besides me. But they said everyone would be dressing up.”
I pretended to act motherly. “Now there won’t be any alcohol at the party, right? Because I don’t think that would be a suitable environment for Mother Theresa.”
We both laughed. “Yeah, right! Jenny’s nearly fourteen weeks pregnant now. There’s no way she’d be drinking. And you know Austin gave up the partying scene a long time ago.”
“I know. I was just teasing.” I waited for what was coming next. I had asked for it.
“Now, you know, little angels don’t belong around alcohol either.” She lifted her eyebrows with a more convincing motherly face than I could produce.
“Yeah, I know.” I rolled my eyes. “It’s just going to be the seven of us at Josh’s house, and none of us drink, so chill.” Alcohol wasn’t the only potential thing that could taint this little angel, but I hoped she wouldn’t remember to prod about that again.
“Okay, I’m just doing my job as your older sister…especially since Mom has been so caught up in this Tom guy lately. I doubt she’d even think to ask such…Oh!…Speak of the devil. I mean, uh…Wonder Woman?”
Our mother had just clomped in on red heels and was standing in front of us with both hands on her hips in a commanding pose. She wore a typical store-bought Wonder Woman costume that showed off way too much skin, especially for someone her age.
“So what do you think?” she asked, letting go of her pose. Excitement and enthusiasm lit up her entire face as she looked to us for encouragement.
I gave up. “Wow, Mom! You look great! What made you pick Wonder Woman?”
“Well, Tom and I were having this conversation on our last date about superheroes, and he said that his favorite was Wonder Woman! So I thought, why not surprise him!” Her enthusiasm almost made me laugh, but I held it in for her sake.
“Well, you’ll definitely surprise him.” Hanna was obviously trying to hold in her laughter as well. She quickly swallowed it and tried to act serious. “Uh, what’s he wearing?”
“I don’t know. Since I wouldn’t tell him, he wouldn’t tell me.” She giggled like a young teen in love.
“Mom, since you and Tom will be here watching a movie and passing out candy, I’m just going to pack a bag and stay the night at Nicole’s, okay?” I didn’t want to ruin her night or have to stroll in awkwardly while he was still here.
She seemed to like that idea. “Yeah, okay. That’s sounds fine. Oh, and Hanna, tell my grandbaby hi for me and that I love him…or her.”
Hanna looked at her as if she were crazy. “You want me to talk to my sister’s belly?”
“Well, why not? I want to make sure the baby knows it’s loved by Grandma.”
“Okay,” I cut in laughing, “that just sounds way too weird coming from Wonder Woman.”
Hanna laughed with me as our mom smirked. “Very funny…Oh, that reminds me. I need to go reapply my lipstick before Tom shows up.” She glanced at both of us one last time with a wide grin. “Well, have fun, you guys!”
When Nicole and I finally pulled up to Josh’s house, I was anxious to see what everyone else was wearing. The only people that had divulged their costume secrets so far were Lexi, who was supposed to be Raggedy Ann, and Nicole and Tyler, who were dressed up as a flapper and a 1920s gangster.
“You look adorable, by the way!” I eyed Nicole appreciatively in the glimmer of Josh’s Halloween lights as we both got out of her car and headed to Josh’s front door. The air was bitingly cold and I would have sworn there was snow on the ground if my eyes had been closed. She was wearing a short, black fringy dress with black gloves, black heels, a long, gold beaded necklace, and a black headband with a feather over her short haircut. Deep red lipstick stood out boldly from her powdered face, and her cheeks were rosy red, although that was probably more from the frigid temperature.
“Really? You like it?” Nicole was always so eager for any affirming comment about her appearance.
“Absolutely! That era flatters you. I mean, you already had the classic, short bob and everything.” I reached the door first and rang the doorbell.
“I know, right?”
As we waited in the cold, shivering, I admired the Halloween decor Josh and his parents had set up out front. Orange, green and purple lights draped over bushes and surrounded tree trunks. A graveyard sprawled over half the lawn where skeletons peeked out in front of their tombstones, clawing the earth with their bony fingers. For added visual effect, a creepy green spotlight was illuminating the grim scene. A homemade, life-sized mummy with ketchup-bloodied rags had been hung from an awning and was pointing its stained, bandaged finger at us. From the driveway to the door, two flickering trails of small ghosts lit the way up the sidewalk. Cobwebs stretched out and attached themselves to outside walls, trees, bushes and the entryway, and eerie Halloween music crept out the door to the chilled air outside. No wonder his house was a hot spot for trick-or-treaters.
“Hey!” Tyler swung open the door, wearing a black zoot suit and gangster fedora hat. His fake Tommy gun was pointed directly at me. “Whoa! I better not shoot an angel. That’d be bad luck or somethin’, eh?
”
His thick Chicago gangster accent cracked me up. He moved his gun to point at Nicole, who held up her gloved hands and winked at him before he lowered it. “Hey! There’s my doll! Come on in to our little speakeasy. It’s the bee’s knees in here!”
He wrapped an arm casually around Nicole, continuing in his character, and turned to escort her into the house. “Hey, Babe Ruth, your dame’s here!”
My eyes brightened in surprise. Babe Ruth? Was that Josh’s costume?
“Hey, Iris, let me take a look at…” Josh had just appeared from around the corner in an old Yankees baseball uniform and stopped short when he saw me standing in the foyer. “Wow! You look…”
“Angelic?” I suggested, flattered by his stunned reaction to my costume.
“Well, yeah, obviously. But I wasn’t going to say that because that would be corny.” He closed the distance between us slowly, looking me over from head to toe.
“That’s never stopped you before.” I chuckled softly as he took my hands.
“I was going to say beautiful or gorgeous…or sexy.” He paused with a quizzical expression. “Is it bad to call an angel ‘sexy’?”
“I don’t know. Is it bad to be a sexy angel?” I had no idea where that boldness came from, but if it was any indication of where the night was headed, I was in big trouble.
He grinned flirtatiously, and pressed me against him for a kiss, but we were soon interrupted by the doorbell as Josh had to greet his next guests.
“Kyra! Lexi!” My eyes were wide in awe as I helped Josh usher them inside out of the chilly weather. “Wow!”
I faced Lexi first. “Raggedy Ann, you look great!” I smiled at her. “But I think you’re quite a bit prettier than the real thing.” She wore a cute blue dress with a white apron, tall, red and white, striped stockings, and a white, stretchy bonnet partly covering her naturally curly, dark red hair. She had even applied bright red lipstick on her lips, nose, and cheeks to enhance the doll effect.
Shadow Eyes Page 11