Sing A Twist

by Brooke T. Mays

  Chapter 8

  Elena was so excited. The guitar picks had finally come in! Phillip was playing tonight, but was going to be practicing with the band before the bar actually opened. She thought she had just enough time to get them from the strip mall and take them to the bar before she had to get to the community center. Unfortunately, she would miss the show tonight because she was needed manning the hot line. She was hoping to quickly see Phillip and give him his gift.

  She parked her car and headed into the bar. The bartender looked up. She didn’t recognize him and wondered if this was Nathaniel. “Sorry, we’re not open yet,” he said with an easy smile.

  “I know. I was hoping to catch Phillip. He’s playing tonight. I’m one of his roommates and I have something for him.”

  “Sorry. I haven’t seen him yet. You could give it to me. I’m Nathaniel.” That sounded reasonable. Wait, she wanted to see his reaction. Checking the time, she decided she had a few minutes to spare.

  “If you don’t mind, I’ll try to wait for him. He should be here soon.” She sat down on a bar stool and placed her back pack on the bar.

  “Suit yourself,” he said amiably and moved toward the end of the bar to continue setting up.

  Elena got out her cell phone. She thought she would text Phillip to get an idea of where he was. There was a flash of that sickly green. It was gone so quickly; she couldn’t place where it had come from. There was no one in the bar that she could see except Nathaniel. He was close enough to her that she could rule him out. Maybe back by the bathrooms? “Mind if I use the bathroom?” He nodded at her, but she was already moving in that direction.

  She went in to the ladies’ room opening herself as much as she could. It was empty. Looking around, and still not seeing anyone, she decided she would risk checking the men’s room. Again empty. She took a quick peak in a nearby storage room, but no one was there. She stood there as open as she could be. Someone was coming. She waited. He was hot and bored. The door opened and a delivery man came through it, calling out to Nathaniel. Since she was already there, Elena decided that she would actually use the bathroom. When she finally came out, she could Sense Nathaniel’s emotions from across the bar. He was feeling a sense of urgency, curiosity, and the beginnings of suspicion. The delivery guy was finishing unloading his dolly. No one else was here. Had she imagined it?

  She made her way back to the bar. Grabbing her backpack, she made sure to thank Nathaniel and apologize for holding him up. She couldn’t wait anymore. She would have to give Phillip the gift later. The delivery guy’s name was Dan and he was doing his best to get her attention. He was attracted to her and feeling a bit disappointed as she absentmindedly returned his attempts at conversation. They both waved good-bye to Nathaniel as they left the bar. Thanking Dan as he held the door open for her, she hurried out to her car to head to the community center.

  The afternoon had been quiet, but calls picked up as it moved into the evening hours. It was dark and by now, Phillip would be playing. She wished she could see him. She wished even more she had been able to give him the new picks. Still, the time was passing by quickly now, and she always loved that sense of satisfaction when she felt she helped someone. Another call came in. Although she recognized the voice, she couldn’t quite place it. As he talked, it finally clicked, and she remembered him. He was the one whose thought processes had peaked her interest in neuroscience. The one whose mind seemed to work so differently.

  “Blue is a nice color. It’s much nicer than red. I will try not to get the red on the blue. It’s starting to look black.” She was not sure where this conversation was going. Of course, it was harder to Sense over the phone, having only the voice to go by, but this guy was especially difficult.

  “I’m sorry. I don’t understand, and I really want to. Are you sure you don’t want to tell me your name? I need something to call you. I am Elena,” she tried to match the dreamy, wistful tone of his, hoping she would gain his trust if he felt some sort of connection with her.

  “Black like the night. Am I turning into the night? Maybe you can call me Nightfall? But I do like blue so much better.” Okaayyy. She thought about it for a moment. The colors were obviously important to him.

  “When I think of blue, my favorite shade is the sky in the early evening. Maybe I could call you Evenfall?”

  He sighed almost sleepily. “I would like that. I wish it was blue. I didn’t think it would be red, and I don’t like that it’s turning to black.”

  This was getting creepier by the second, but still she Sensed no dangerous or malicious intent from him. “Evenfall? What’s red?”

  “It’s coming from my arm. Did you think it would be blue, too?” A spike of fear ran through her. Did he mean blood? Was that what was turning to black? He continued talking. “Blue like your eyes. They match the car you came in tonight.” Chills broke out on her arms. He was right. Her eyes were an almost matching shade of the dark blue of her corolla. The words seemed threatening but the Sense was not. At least not threatening to her.

  “Evenfall, are you at the community center now? Did you come to see me? We have talked on the phone before, but how do you know what I look like?” Careful, she kept her voice matched to his tone. Calm. She had to stay calm.

  “You talked outside to a girl tonight. I remember talking to you before. I recognized your voice. I like talking to you.” He made a strange, small noise. “This is red, too.” She Sensed an overwhelming wave of sadness, almost painful, that brought tears to her eyes.

  He was hurting himself. She knew she had to be right. Suddenly, her mother’s note came back to her. When Spring’s hue changes, heed the call. She had thought it referred to summer. It wasn’t technically quite summer yet, but it was getting close. Time could be off. Maybe this was the call. The one she was supposed to heed. Or maybe the reference to Spring’s hue changing had nothing to do with time. A Spring’s sky was blue. Did Evenfall’s perseverance on the color blue have a connection to her mother’s note? Either way, she needed to take this risk. “Evenfall, I would like to see the colors, too. Can I come out to you? Are you by my car?” She began fishing around in her backpack for her cell phone.

  “I stepped away from your car. I don’t want to mess up the pretty blue of your eyes.” She continued searching. Damn, where was her phone? She couldn’t waste any more time. She would have to go without it.

  “I’m coming to see you, Evenfall. I have to hang up the phone, but I will be outside as soon as I can. Will you wait for me, Evenfall?” She hung up as soon as he agreed. Quickly, she dialed 911. “I’m at the Rosewood Community Center. I need an ambulance right away. There is a man bleeding in the parking lot.” She gave the address, and then she broke the rules. She hung up the phone and left the community center.

  Walking out to the parking lot, she wished she had parked closer to one of the street lights. Like right underneath it. She found him sitting not far from her car. The blade of his knife caught what little light there was for a brief moment as he turned it over in his hand. She could see a cut on one arm and his leg. He looked up at her as she stopped a few feet away from him. So much sadness. “I thought it would be blue.” He sounded lost.

  “I like blue, too, Evenfall. Blue makes me think of the ocean and rivers.” She Sensed some agitation and changed tactics. “But mostly of the early evening night. And the sky when there are no clouds to block my view.” She kept talking and Sensed peace. She opened herself as much as she could. She drew in the peace. And then she Projected it back at him as strongly as she could. She kept talking, trying to put as much imagery into her words as possible. She couldn’t keep standing, so she sat down cross-legged there in the parking lot. She could hear sirens in the distance. Help would be here soon. She only had to hold on for a little while longer. She had to keep Projecting peace until they came. Her hands started to shake.

  As open as she had made herself, it was an onslaught when the paramedics jumped out of the ambulance, adrenaline pu
mping through them. She Sensed determination, excitement, and a little fear. Elena still couldn’t stand. So she made herself wave her arms above her head, even though it made her waver and almost fall over. She had to keep Projecting peace a little longer, until the knife was out of his hands. She desperately held on to the peace that she still Sensed from Evenfall. He had taken up talking about blue at some time, luckily for her, and peace was looping back and forth between them. The paramedics’ fear and aggressiveness hit her. They must have seen the blood and the knife. She couldn’t keep this up much longer. Her face felt wet. She thought her nose was bleeding. And then the knife was out of his hand. She stopped Projecting and struggled to stay conscious. One breath in. One breath out.

  “Elena, why are they here?” He sounded like a child. Thankfully, the paramedic answered him.

  “We’re here to help you.” She began leading him away towards the ambulance.

  “Will it be blue?” She heard him ask. The paramedic answered yes, thank God, and Evenfall went along with her. Her partner followed her after telling Elena to stay put.

  They must have gotten Evenfall secured because the male paramedic came back to her. She answered his questions as best she could. She had no name for him other than Evenfall. She assured him that she was not injured. That the knife had not cut her. “It’s from a nose bleed. Maybe the stress of this situation brought it on.” Finally, he seemed appeased, and helped her up after taking her vitals. He still made her sign a refusal of treatment. She couldn’t blame him. Regulations, she supposed. She still felt awful, but at least she was able to concentrate inward now. It helped a bit. Her head pounded, she felt nauseous, and her skin felt as if she had been drug along the concrete. Still, her nose had stopped bleeding, she hadn’t vomited, and her skin, though still raw, no longer felt like it had been peeled off. Elena would take what she could get. She had never been very strong at her opposing power. She wasn’t quite alone with her own emotions now, unable to block the emotions of those around her, but as close as she would be able to manage until she recovered some.

  By now there was quite a crowd as others working at the community center came out. She would have asked for help, not gone out alone, if she thought she could have trusted someone not to panic. Elena wasn’t sure that she could have Projected reliably at him if another’s emotions had been present. And she was quite certain they would have been feeling anything but calm and peaceful. Still, she had taken a risk coming out here alone. A foolish one perhaps. She was going to have some explaining to do about breaking policy. She hoped they didn’t kick her off the hot lines. She noticed a police car had arrived. Wearily, Elena wondered how long it would be until she finally got to go home.

  Chapter 9

  After answering the questions of the police officer, listening to a lecture from the manager, and spending a fruitless 15 minutes looking for her cell phone, Elena was finally able to crawl into her car and go home. It was late. Her eyes felt grainy and her skin still felt raw. She wanted caffeine but needed to sleep, so had to refrain from getting any coffee. She had been put on probation. From a volunteer position. She felt a little pathetic, but reminded herself that she had helped Evenfall. The paramedics had taken him to the hospital. She wasn’t allowed any details, but she was certain that a psych consult would be ordered. She had faith that he would get the help he needed. Which was probably some inpatient hospitalization and medications. To top the evening off, she had somehow lost not only her cell phone, but also Phillip’s gift. Her last hope had been dashed when she had thoroughly searched her car. They were just gone.

  She tried to enter the house quietly, certain that everyone was asleep. She wanted to crawl into her bed and pull the covers over her head for a week. When she got to her room she found Phillip sitting there waiting for her in the soft lamp light. He was outraged. Anger and hurt poured off him in waves. She put a hand on the door frame to steady herself. “Phillip, what is wrong?”

  “Where you been, cher? And who the hell you been with?” Her first thought was a heartbroken one. He had just ruined cher for her. She Sensed bitterness and accusation in his voice, as if the words hadn’t been enough. Even concentrating as hard as she could manage, she Sensed his feelings of anger, hurt, and betrayal so strongly that it felt as if her already abused skin should be bleeding.

  She gritted her teeth. “I’ve been at the community center. What is this all about?” She needed to keep her head focused. She reminded herself of the hurt she felt coming off of him. People say things they don’t really mean when they’re hurt. The excuse she made for him made her feel like she was lying to herself.

  “Yeah. And where were you before that?” Phillip stood up to his considerable full height. She had never seen him this angry.

  “I went to the bar. Looking for you - ”

  “And you left with someone else!” Phillip’s interrupting scream shocked her completely and he was far from finished. His voice started low, then continued to rise. “I found your phone there in a back room after I played tonight. Nathaniel told me you came in. He said you left with some guy. He assumed it was your boyfriend. Who was it Elena? That asshole Jason?”

  In disbelief, Elena pushed past him to her bathroom. She reached into her jewelry box and snapped on her bracelet. Gratefully, she stopped feeling as if she would vomit. Turning around she noticed something on the bed. Phillip was a seething mass of anger behind her, but she ignored him anyway. She walked closer and picked up one of the picks, her picks, her gift to Phillip. She kept her back to him. “Where did you find my picks?”

  “Doan change the subject. Samantha gave me those. Who were you with, Elena?” Well, that did it for her. That was the last straw. She was done for the night. She walked out of her room again and Phillip followed. Jacob was standing on the stairs, obviously having heard Phillip’s yelling.

  “Roommate agreement, Phillip. I need some time alone.” She ducked past him into her room and shut the door in his face. Then turned the lock. She stood at the doorway. She hurt from the inside out. She could hear Jacob and Phillip arguing.

  “Don’t do it, man. She called roommate agreement. You gotta give her some time. Cool off, Phillip. I know Nathaniel’s a stand up guy. You can trust him. He probably made some honest mistake. You know Elena better than that.”

  Elena didn’t wait to hear Phillip’s response. She went in to her bathroom and turned on her shower. She thought for a second and then went back to her room to turn on her TV unable to resist pausing at the door to listen again. Outside she could hear that Monica had joined them. “Why is Elena crying? She never turns on the TV and the shower unless she’s crying.” Monica must have made a move towards her door because Jacob stopped her calling out “She called roommate agreement.” Confident that Monica would respect her wishes – and make the guys respect them if she had to - Elena returned to the bathroom. She wouldn’t let herself stretch to use her Sense. She tried not to listen, but she couldn’t help the relief she felt when she heard Phillip’s door shut upstairs above her. She had been afraid he would leave. Feeling a little pathetic, and a lot sorry for herself, she let the tears fall as she stepped into the shower. She would sort this out tomorrow.

  Chapter 10

  For once, Elena slept in. She let the rest of the house fend for themselves as far as meals were concerned. The bracelet with her necklace helped to cushion her. Her nerves were still too raw after she had exerted herself Projecting. She didn’t even wake up until sometime after lunch. The house was quiet and she snuck into the kitchen to grab a sandwich and a couple of waters to take to her room. If only she could believe that she was in her room to let her body recuperate, she could squash that nagging voice in her head calling herself a coward. Was it only last night that she had felt so brave helping Evenfall? Talk about highs and lows. She cleaned her bathroom. Her nose must have bled more. There was some blood on the wall and the door of the shower. Since she hadn’t even noticed last night, Elena rewashed her hair afraid she
had accidentally smeared blood through it. Then she changed her sheets and left the old ones piled in the corner. They smelled of Phillip, and she couldn’t take that right now. Dinner came and went. Separate and in pairs the roommates stopped by her door. The roommate agreement saved her. They respected her need for space. Monica slipped a note under her door. Call me, it read. She would do that. Just not yet. Late in the night when the entire house was quiet she snuck back into the kitchen. As she grabbed more food, she resolved that she would not be a hermit tomorrow.

  The morning came too soon, but she needed to study for an upcoming test. Elena knew she wouldn’t be able to concentrate at the house. So, she kept on both her necklace and her bracelet and headed to the library. It was pretty empty since she got there so early, but soon became crowded. She was grateful she had worn both. Even if it did make the world seem muted and dismal.

  She made a promise to herself that she would not think about Phillip, her picks, Samantha, or Nathaniel for the entire day. She repeated her promise as necessary. Which turned out to be a lot. It was definitely not her most efficient day of studying, but it accomplished her goal. It passed the day. As a bonus, she really had the course material down. After all, she had spent the entire day there. As the evening crept in and stretched itself out, Elena decided to take a chance. There was some risk involved, but the reward could be great.

  Elena parked her car and used the stairs to head to the floor she needed. It was important to avoid most floors of the hospital even with both the bracelet and the necklace on. She made her way to the maternity floor. She used her Sense to guide her to the right group of people who were waiting. When she was close enough she could feel the emotions coming off of the group. The baby had just been born, and everything was perfect. She let herself stretch and opened herself to the emotions coming off of the various family members and friends. The boredom, impatience, and nervousness that were predominant in some of the other groups were nowhere to be found in this one. She stood close by and tried not to be intrusive as she pretended to read some information from a bulletin board. As unobtrusively as she could, she soaked up the atmosphere. She luxuriated in the love and hope for the future, for life, that she felt coming off the group. She was renewed, but now thought she better not press her luck. She couldn’t afford to be here if something went wrong with another’s delivery. She had taken a few steps away when she had to turn back around. Tears swam in her eyes. The father had just pushed the new mother in a wheelchair into the hallway. She was holding a little pink swaddled bundle. That was a love she hoped to experience one day. The new little family of three glowed golden. Surely everyone could see that glow! Elena loved her parents dearly, and knew they loved her. In this moment, however, she was amazed by the intensity. Did they really feel like that towards her? Both new parents were a bright joyous beacon. For a moment longer, Elena let herself bask in what it felt like to be a new parent. To feel that all was right in the world. Finally, though, she forced herself leave.