On the Fringe

by Courtney King Walker

“Fine. He is nice. We’ll have fun,” Claire conceded, then looked over at me and rolled her eyes.

  Addie sat on top of me, and I shifted to the window, trying to figure out my plan, already starting to second-guess myself. Could I risk being with Claire again? Should I? Was Nico telling the truth about this whole haunting business, or was she just making stuff up like the way she conjured up all her little costumes? Worse—maybe she and Aden both happened to be screwing with my mind. No, she was Claire’s family; she’d want to protect her.

  Right now, Claire was the only thing that made any sense at all.

  “I think we’re just getting dinner and a movie—nothing too horrible,” Addie was saying.

  “I’m sorry, Addie. I just hate blind dates.”

  “I know. That’s why you’re the best.” She squeezed Claire and jumped off the bed at the sound of a loud knock at the front door. As usual, Addie’s little act worked on Claire, who was once again at her mercy. My sister is the master manipulator. I would know.

  Claire followed her out the door, turning around at the last minute to grab her purse. Throwing me a look of desperation, she whispered, “I’ll meet you at ten. Wherever I am, I’ll figure something out. Just be there, ok?”

  That was when I knew for sure I was going to risk it. I had to hold her one more time, at least to say goodbye. How I was going to get Claire to myself with some dude hanging all over her when ten-o’clock rolled around—that was the real question of the night.

  At 9:55, I still didn’t have an answer. Claire was fidgeting in the back seat of Landon’s four-wheel drive, sitting uncomfortably next to a dark, curly-haired, loud-mouthed, overenthusiastic Josh. He definitely was not her type. What was Addie thinking?

  About herself, obviously.

  Claire anxiously watched the green-lit numbers on the front dash. I sat in front of her, pretty much in the middle of the front seat, stuck in between the laughter and music bouncing back and forth. It was obvious we weren’t going to make it in time.

  “Hey Claire, lighten up!” Addie turned around, laughing.

  “Yeah, Claire,” Josh interjected, putting his arm around her. I wanted to chuck him out of the car.

  Claire and I looked at each other, and at the clock again, realizing we still had ten minutes to go before we’d be home. That was when brilliant Claire leaned over in her seat, pretty much right through my lap, and started groaning.

  “What’s wrong?” Josh asked, suddenly cautious about where he put his arm.

  Claire didn’t answer. She just kept making a bunch of sick, moaning sounds. I was impressed.

  “Hey,” Addie grabbed Claire’s knee. “What’s going on? You okay?”

  Claire sat up again, still moaning, “I think I’m going to be sick.”

  I drifted to the floor and gave her a big thumb’s up. The car abruptly skidded to a stop at the side of the road. I shifted outside to wait for her.

  “Hurry!” I heard Josh yell. “Get her out of here!”

  Claire threw open the door and bolted out into the darkness. Cars sailed by as she crouched behind a tree and pretended to be sick. I couldn’t stop laughing. Addie rushed to her side, rubbing her hand over her back. “Are you okay, Claire?”

  “I think so,” she answered weakly. “It’s probably food poisoning or something. I just need a sec, if that’s okay.”

  “I’ll wait here with you,” Addie offered.

  “No, Ad, that’s okay.” Claire looked back at the car. “I’ll be fine in a second. You go wait with the guys. Just give me five minutes, okay?”

  Addie hesitated then started walking back. “You sure?”

  “Yeah, it’s freezing out here! Plus, I don’t want to ruin your date anymore. Seriously. I’ll be fine.”

  “Okay. Just yell if you need me.”

  Addie ran back around the tree to the car. I didn’t know how much time we’d already lost, but I still waited for the door to shut before catching Claire’s hand.

  She practically jumped into my arms.

  As soon as we touched, it felt like my heart started beating and my lungs filled up with air. I couldn’t breathe and think and smell and touch her all at the same time. It was such a rush, but the seconds were already ticking away from us. Forget Nico and her theories. I wasn’t about to miss another night with Claire just because of some nutcase ghost. It would be torture not to come back.

  I pressed my lips over Claire’s, tasting again the only taste I’d ever missed, drawing her into me, feeling the warmth of her body. Claire looked up at me when finally, reluctantly, I pulled away from her before time ran out.

  “This isn’t fair,” I complained. “Only four and a half minutes.”

  She squeezed my hands. “Why were you gone for so long? I was so worried about you! What happened last time—you know, after the rainstorm? Did you see him?”

  I didn’t want to answer or think about that night. I just wanted to hold her and feel her breath on my neck.

  She continued, unfazed, rattling off questions one after another. “Did you see him throw the vase? How’d he do that?”

  I couldn’t think straight, much less speak. All I could do was look at her…memorize her…absorb her. I felt like she was drowning me. “I missed you,” I finally said.

  She looked at me like I’d completely missed the point, and then her shoulders dropped and she exhaled, like she’d gotten everything out and could relax now. “I missed you, too.”

  She smiled and bit her lip as I held her warm, familiar hands. I kissed her again, our lips barely touching, until a powerful something took over and I couldn’t resist her. I pulled her to me, my lips attacking hers, feeling her touch as she kissed me back. Her hands dug into the back of my head, pulling at my hair, and her breath found its way into me as we fell away, lost somewhere else, oblivious to the rest of the world. The seconds were dying fast, so I had to stop and talk to her before it was too late. That was the whole reason I came back in the first place...right?

  Finally I pulled away. “Claire,” I exhaled, trying to calm down. “I need to tell you something.”

  Lights lit up the inside of Landon’s car. I felt the thump-thump-thump to the blasting music. Claire turned her head toward the noise before finding me again while I told her the abbreviated version of my memory of the accident. About Aden.

  “It was him? My stupid ghost is from your past?” she asked, tapping her fists against my chest.

  I nodded my head, still in shock myself, purposely keeping quiet about Nico, afraid details would just scare her more.

  “So, he—Aden—haunts me because he’s ticked at you? Ever heard of anger management?”

  “Still, it’s my fault.”

  “Daniel! Come on, you were just a little kid,” she said, punching me.

  “Like that matters to him. I guess it doesn’t really matter to me, either. If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t be scared to turn off your lights every night. And you definitely wouldn’t be standing on the side of the road in the middle of the night, talking to a ghost.”

  “If it wasn’t for you,” she said, looking up at me, “I’d be dead, too, because you saved my life. Remember?”

  True. But, still…

  “So, what do we do now? Just wait around for him to come haunt me whenever he wants? I don’t know if I can take it anymore.”

  I grabbed her hands, wondering if I should even say what I was thinking. “You haven’t seen him in a week, right?”

  “How do you know? You haven’t been around to notice,” she said, frowning.

  “I’m serious, Claire. Have you ever noticed the only time he haunts you is right after we connect like this?”

  She started to say something, but stopped and bit her lip, then started up again. “What? No! Our connection? This?”

  “I think it’s how he haunts you…but I’m not positive.”

  “What? Why?”

  “I don’t know. You just might be more vulnerable to the other side, I mean, to
my side, after this. At least that’s a theory.”

  Claire looked like I’d socked her in the stomach. “No. That can’t be right, Daniel. I’m sure he’s come before…” But she stopped protesting once she thought it through. “It can’t be. It’s not fair.”

  “That’s why I stayed away, Claire. I don’t know what to do. I want to be with you…but I’m afraid for you.”

  Landon or his loser friend honked the horn and flashed the lights, making Claire jump. I hugged her even tighter, but could already tell the time was almost gone. Reluctantly, she looked over at the car then back into my eyes, quickly kissing me once more.

  “Please don’t let him keep you away from me,” she said. “I’d rather–” but before she could finish, our time was up.

  Our eyes locked on each other as she made her way back to the car. She looked so sad. I wanted to follow her home to make sure she was okay, but couldn’t contain the overwhelming depression seeping into my mind.

  As Landon's car pulled back onto the road, I shifted to the quiet lake and let the canoe carry me wherever it decided to go. Water lapped the sides, relaxing me, even though I could sense a storm was on its way. Hypnotized by a sky littered with countless stars, I wondered how I was going to do this. Wondered how long we had before Aden came again.

  Claire

  The night would’ve been a complete disaster if not for Daniel. Addie definitely owed me. Josh? Okay, so he wasn’t so bad, but not particularly great, either. And “dreamy” Landon? Well, hopefully Addie realized how clueless he was after he dropped her off at the end of the driveway. Dropped her off! At the end! Then honked obnoxiously as she made her way up to the door. Alone.

  I expected Mom to be eagerly waiting at the door for details, and was slightly shocked to find her in her room. Maybe Dad being home tonight made it easier for her to relax a little.

  After changing from too-tight jeans and an itchy shirt into sweats and a t-shirt, I padded through the house in fuzzy snowball slippers, first to kiss a sleeping Mom and Dad goodnight, and then to venture into the dark kitchen for a snack. I flicked on the pantry light and cracked the door a bit while rummaging through the cabinets for some comfort food.

  Other than eating, I had no clue what to do with myself. I was too afraid to sleep, always wondering when the onslaught of horror was going to make an appearance. Was Daniel right? Was my ghost tormentor just waiting for this? Waiting to strike?

  Ice cream sounded good. I scooped out some Chocolate Malted Crunch while thinking of Daniel, picturing the way he looked at me tonight. The thought sent shivers up my spine. I couldn’t stop smiling, remembering our kiss, wishing we had more than a lousy four and a half minutes. I didn’t want to believe tonight was really our last together. It couldn’t be. I wouldn’t allow it.

  “Claire,” said a quiet voice from behind me.

  I whirled around to find Dad standing in a sliver of the dim pantry light, his hair a mess. “I didn’t mean to scare you,” he apologized half-asleep.

  I gulped down my ice cream and shuddered. “Everything scares me lately. Did I wake you up? I’m sorry.”

  “No, it’s okay. But it is kind of late for ice cream, don’t you think? Is everything okay?”

  “I couldn’t sleep,” I said before letting him swallow me up inside a giant bear hug. “I thought I was being quiet.”

  “You probably were. I couldn’t sleep, either. Guess I’m not used to going to bed this early. How was your date?”

  “Nothing too exciting.”

  He turned on the kitchen lights, blinding me, and then went to the sink for a glass of water. I closed my eyes to block out the light while concentrating on the smooth, cool sensation of cream sliding down my throat, savoring every ounce. For some reason the cold combined with the sweet soothed me, even though I was exhausted.

  “Well, try to get to bed soon, okay?” Dad kissed me on the forehead and put his glass in the sink before flipping out the light. “Love you.”

  “You too, Dad.” But, then something at the sliding door caught my eye. “Wait…”

  Pressed up against the glass was a strange face, watching us. He looked young, maybe nineteen or twenty, with a distinctive shaved head that glowed in the moonlight. At first I paused, confused, my mind not quite registering, and then my heart dove into the fiery acid of my stomach as I pointed at the window. Strange squealing sounds streamed from my mouth as Dad jerked backward at my reaction.

  Realizing he’d been discovered, the Peeping Tom reeled backward and disappeared. But Dad was already after him. Stumbling over a couple of chairs, he briefly hesitated to unlock the back door before leaping out into the dark.

  He was really there? Dad saw him, too?

  I didn’t know what was real anymore, and that thought scared me even more. My legs were shaking, barely holding me up as I gaped at the open door, waiting for something else to happen. All I could hear was my own pulse in my ears.

  And then that noise again.

  “Ssssrooophhhh.”

  I spun around to find the ghost named Aden hovering right behind me. I stepped backward, knocking into a chair while trying to keep him as far away as possible. He seemed to be beaming with enthusiasm, like he had a surprise he couldn’t wait to reveal. Tonight his hair was smooth and tame, like he’d taken extra care to get it just right, and I could see every detail in his face, every button on his shirt. Even the contours of his cheekbones stood out against the deep holes that were his dark, onyx eyes.

  He drifted to me, grinning, and put his arm around me. I almost fainted when I felt pressure on my shoulders. But I couldn’t let Mom or Dad know what I could see. It would only convince them I needed help. Slowly, I backed away from him, but he followed.

  “What do you want?” I asked, trying to exude a little confidence, but mostly just wanting to shrink down into a little fleck of dust.

  He reached for my hand. I gasped and pulled it away the moment a cold, burning sensation passed beneath my skin.

  “Get away from me,” I whispered, looking around the kitchen for some kind of weapon, though I didn’t know why. It wasn’t like I could attack him.

  “What in the world?” I turned to find Mom standing in the doorway, rubbing her eyes, apparently a couple of hours into her beauty sleep. Her usual smooth, dark curls were now matted together into a bed-headed mess. Speechless, she surveyed the mess of toppled chairs and open door, and then reached for the light switch.

  Daniel materialized from out of nowhere, standing right next to Mom, an undecipherable expression on his face—something between surprise and concern, and maybe even fear. I wasn’t sure. Aden sneered at us both, and then vanished just as Dad barged back in through the door, his hair messy and his cheeks flushed. He leaned against the doorway, holding his side and panting.

  “What’s going on?” Mom asked, her voice all high-pitched and nervous-sounding as she looked from Dad, to me, back to Dad again.

  “I don’t know…we saw…Claire and I…” Dad looked at me while trying to catch his breath. “…there was someone outside…watching us through the window…”

  Daniel eyed me curiously, perhaps trying to gauge my reaction.

  “You saw him too,” I said, relieved to know I wasn’t alone in this. Dad gave me a rare look of irritation. “I just thought…maybe my scream startled you, or something.”

  He ran his hand through his thick, dirty-blond hair. “You think I raced outside in the middle of the night because you screamed?”

  I ignored his question, skipping straight to my own. “Why was he watching us, Dad?” I looked up, trying to stay calm in front of Daniel, but the fear of a strange Peeping Tom and psycho ghost who wouldn’t leave me alone was overwhelming. Dad just shook his head, though he seemed a little calmer now. I couldn’t believe he really chased after that guy. I didn’t know he had it in him.

  Daniel drifted closer to me, possibly for a little mental support, which helped because I was starting to feel faint.

 
Probably trying to release some of the tension, Dad started picking up and rearranging the scattered chairs. “I have no idea, Claire. I almost had him down by the lake, but then he hopped over Mrs. Thompson’s fence, and I lost him.”

  Mom put her arm around me. “Are you okay, honey?”

  “Not really,” I admitted, burying my face in her chest, glad she was there, after all.

  “It’s okay,” Mom said, her fingers smoothing my hair.

  I gripped her arm for support when the air grew thick and warm. A sudden knot twisted in my stomach and the kitchen started to spin.

  “I’m sorry, Claire,” I heard a calmer, gentler Dad speaking. But he sounded so far away now…somewhere off in a tunnel…or underwater. Little white specks were floating all around my head, bursting apart like popping bubbles.

  The next thing I knew, my head was cradled in Mom’s lap and I was lying on the couch. She skimmed her fingertips along the edge of my temple, a light tickling sensation soothing my skin. While resisting consciousness, I clearly heard Dad’s quiet voice above me, but I pretended to be asleep.

  “I swear I saw him earlier at the train station,” Dad quietly said to Mom.

  “Which station? Here?”

  “No. Embarcadero,” he said, his voice laden with concern. “I noticed him, because we were the only two in our car.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Pretty sure.” His voice faltered a bit. “I don’t know. Now I’m second-guessing myself, but I’m still pretty sure it was him.”

  “Do you think the police will find him?”

  “I don’t know…”

  Silence. My eyes fluttered, and found the strength to open. Both Mom and Dad stared at me, worry seeping out through their unconvincing mask of calm.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  WILD GHOST CHASE

  Claire

  The sun’s warmth woke me the next morning despite a chill inside me that refused to thaw. I could hear a buzz of strange voices out in the hallway, and when I opened my door, a small crew of workers with drills and walkie-talkies in hand were wandering around the house.