Heavenly Hunted

by Aria Williams

  I looked around at my friends and got the urge to go home. I had too much to lose if Bernie decided to attack. I stood up and returned my gaze to Nate. He read my mind and came to stand next to me.

  “We’re out.” I looked at Connor, he was confused by our sudden departure. He had been playing around with Mark and having fun, I was torn between keeping him safe and allowing him to enjoy the last weeks of high school.

  The anger inside me intensified, this was so unfair to everyone because of my problems; I was restricting the group’s social life. Connor followed me with a frown on his face. I looked at Nate and found the opposite, a mischievous gleam in his eyes. I wondered what was making him so happy. I whacked the back of his head to gain his full attention.

  “Spill it,” the tone I used with Nate was forceful.

  Nate shook his head at me. What was he hiding?

  The feelings disappeared as the follower dispersed. I thought of Nessa and wondered if her session was going well.

  I knew they were unsure if anything happened with Hopwood but they had to take precautions. I was expecting a phone call at any time now, to let me know Nessa had finished with the counselor for the day.

  We practically speed walked home and stood outside our house in no time. The boys were being gentlemen-like and let me walk inside first. I stepped inside and was in shock—my house wasn’t the same as I had left it this morning. Something serious had happened today while we were at school. Nothing in my living room looked familiar except the large flat screen. My old scabby lounge had been replaced with an Italian white leather retro piece with black checked pillows. In between the TV and lounge sat the nicest, most sophisticated glass coffee table I had ever seen.

  I looked around the walls. There were various artistic pieces which were genuine. I walked around my house in wonder. I made my way to the kitchen and it wasn’t the same, either—now it had considerable class. Each new appliance that sat on my counter was a designer black and stainless steel collector’s piece. The bottom floor of my house could have been in a magazine, it was that good. I wondered what I might find upstairs There was nothing new in the bathroom, but I didn’t suspect as much. This part of the house seemed untouched, I was hoping to see more surprises. A little disappointed, I headed downstairs.

  As I came down, I could hear Connor chant, “Score, score, SCORE!” Each time he said it he became more excited. I stepped down from the last stair and walked to the kitchen. As I rounded the corner, both boys were stuffing their faces with pastry goodness. On the kitchen counter were three clear containers filled with various sweets—Max had been very busy today. He had made himself at home here and had become our house bitch.

  The laundry door opened and Max came through juggling a large basket of washing. He smiled at us and headed towards the ironing board. He pulled out one of the boys’ undies and started to straighten them out with the iron. Max delicately made sure no creases remained. Connor stampeded over, grabbed his undies, and put them in his pockets.

  Connor stood over Max and snickered. “You don’t need to iron my undies.”

  Connor went back to the kitchen, grabbed a container that had dozens of peanut butter balls, and sat on the lounge with them, watching the sports channel.

  I tried to contain my giggles, but it was a little hard. “So, the furniture—why is it here?”

  Max looked at me like I had asked a silly question. I felt I had to explain myself.

  “Max, I love the furniture—in fact, I’m afraid the boys will wreck it—especially if Nate is sleeping on the lounge.”

  “Nate will not be sleeping on that lounge.” Max raised his voice so everyone could hear it.

  “Well, then where is he sleeping?” My thoughts flashed to the spare bedroom next to mine.

  “Oh no, he’s not… I hope that you didn’t, Max.” My voice was getting louder and a little hysterical. I couldn’t sleep with Nate right next to me. I knew exactly what boys did at night and he could do that business as far away as possible from me.

  “Connor is in the room next to you, Nate is in AJ’s old room,” stated Max proudly. He thought he was so bloody smart, but was right off the mark.

  I simply stared Max down. I didn’t want any of the young boys next to me. I didn’t want to be woken up at night by someone jerking his monkey.

  “You’ll get over it soon enough.”

  My mobile buzzed in my pocket, this conversation would have to be finished another time.

  “That was fast,” Nessa said on the end of the line.

  “Yeah, I need some girl time. Can you come over?”

  I heard a funny sound from the other end of the phone, I think Nessa had put the receiver down. I could hear her speaking to someone. I assumed it was one of her parents.

  “Mum said that’s okay but I have to be home by 9:30.”

  “Cool. See you soon.”

  That allowed us a few hours, it was only 5:30. Max had a big dinner planned tonight.

  I yelled over my shoulder, “Is there enough food for one more?”

  Max didn’t answer straight away—he was at it again. Ironing silly items at a finicky pace. I walked over and plucked my G-string out from under the iron.

  “Max, stop it—we don’t need our underwear ironed.”

  Both boys now had their full attention on me. I was very embarrassed to have my intimates on parade. My face was blushing severely, my beetroot appearance made me want to hide in my room.

  “Yes, darling, you can have a friend over for dinner.” Max mocked my maturity.

  I had so many cheeky comments I could have thrown at him but I just couldn’t do it. Max had done so much for us, and I wasn’t talking about the furniture. What he had done for Nate didn’t really affect me much but he didn’t have to do that. He could have turned Nate away and I may have met him in the future as a cold-blooded murderer, a shadow of his former self.

  Sooner than I had expected, the silly tone of the door bell rang. Only Nessa would ring that bastard, the merry sound seriously grated on my nerves.

  Turning my head to Connor, I yelled out, “Can you please disconnect that goddamn bell?”

  That girl has some real manners. I have constantly told her to not bother and let herself in, but she was brought up better than that.

  Nessa smelled very strange today, it was a musky, damp, wet smell. I twitched my nose, the smell was a little irritating. I didn’t have to heart to say anything.

  Nessa looked around my living room. “Did you win lotto or something?” Nessa half joked.

  “No, all of this is Max’s furniture. He’s staying with us for a while. He’s my—” I had turned to Max and pointed him out. I didn’t know what to call him.

  “Young uncle,” said Max loudly.

  I nodded my head. “Let’s go up to my room, Ness.”

  “Yes, let’s.”

  “Dinner will be ready in forty minutes, girls.” I heard Max but was being a little bitch and ignored his comment.

  We bounded up the stairs to my bedroom and exploded through the door. We both stopped, frozen on the spot. We were both speechless… I stared for a few minutes. I couldn’t believe what was in front of me… I was in bed heaven. What stood in place of my boring old queen ensemble was a solid oak Queen Anne four poster bed. It was complete with the white lace poster trimmings and a beautiful white ornamental doona.

  Nessa walked around my bed and placed her hand under the pillow, she gasped loudly. I couldn’t understand her shock due to bed sheets.

  “What, Nessa?” I asked persistently.

  “These are Milos from Sferra, you can’t sleep on these.” Nessa backed away from the bed.

  “What? What makes them so special?” Surely a sheet was sheet.

  “They’re 1020 thread count, around $1600 dollars—why are they here? Honestly, did you win the lotto?” Now Nessa wasn’t joking, she was deadly serious and wanted answers.

  “No, I didn’t win the lotto. All of the new stuff is Max’
s, he moved his stuff in while we were at school.”

  Nessa bypassed the bed to sit on the window seat, meanwhile I took a leaping jump and plonked myself on the bed.

  Nessa jumped up and smacked me on the arm several times, than took a step back. All the color left her face as she tried to calm her breathing. Near hyperventilation, Nessa barely got out , “Respect the sheets, Indy, and no hanky panky on them, either!”

  Nessa discussed the session she’d had for the next thirty minutes. Something wasn’t right, she was picking at her fingernails the whole time. This was a nervous trait she had developed. I wasn’t getting the full story here, but I knew Nessa better than to push her. If she wanted to tell me what was wrong, she would when she was ready.

  The evening went fast and Nessa went home. She didn’t open up about what was bothering her but I’m confident she would eventually.

  Chapter Twelve

  Nate

  It had only been a few hours ago that we had felt Bernie watching us at the skate park. Now I had waited until the silence engulfed the house and every soul slept. I slipped outside into the stillness of the foggy night. The mist sat thickly on top of the ground, my vision was limited to a few feet. I stood against the house, flush against the wall, and searched in each direction. My eyes needed a little time to adjust, I wouldn’t get full vision tonight, but anything would help.

  I strained hard in a few areas to look deeply at certain spots of interest. The was one tree just across the road that held my attention. It looked slightly irregular. I stared for a few minutes, examining it for any movement. Nothing appeared. I averted my eyes elsewhere. The next house across hid nothing, the lawn was bare and there was no garden. This indicated to me that white collar workers lived there. They had no time to waste on the front of their house and were hardly home. I decided to search the house on the other side. I looked at the tree and noticed a normal shadow this time. Seconds before someone or something had been standing there, casting irregular shapes. There was nothing which looked out of place now. Bernie must have been the irregular shadow and had camouflaged herself well.

  I moved forward, looking for this super stealthy woman, I knew she had to have gone down the road. I headed in that direction. I heard a noise about 100 meters in front of me—I picked up the pace and headed that way.

  I could tell Bernie was somewhere close, I just had to find her. I pushed forward, hoping I was going the right way. Something told me deep down that I was. I exited the street and made a left towards the school.

  I felt blind searching for an unknown person—at any time she could have attacked me. I didn’t think that would be the case, this was still a part of her game, and she had to come out on top. Passing the children’s playground, I felt an eerie presence. Each of the swings inside the playground were rocking back and forth.

  Bernie was getting further away, I was losing her. I passed the swings then stopped, I didn’t think she had passed this point. The rocking play equipment was a diversion she must have found amusing. I turned around and went in the opposite direction. A small cackling giggle came from in front of me but far away. I broke into a jog toward the noise but was too late—Bernie was long gone.

  She had won this round;, I had been so close to catching her. The wind echoed mocking laughter throughout the night sky. The entire way home I could feel its teasing tones. Approaching Indy’s house, the fog had lifted, leaving a crispy white frost. It was starting to get a little chilly. The grass crunched under my feet as I approached the steps. Walking inside, I pulled my sweater off over my head and approached the lounge. A small folded piece of paper sat on top of the coffee table. My name was neatly printed on the top. Opening the paper, I quickly read the words.

  I jumped off the sofa and ran upstairs, checking Indy’s room, followed by Connor’s, then Max’s. Each of them slept peacefully, everything was the same as when I left except for that note. Going back down the stairs, I looked around the kitchen and living room for any other nasty little surprises. Once again, nothing had been disturbed. I dashed to the back door to check on Lucky. He was sleeping on the back step. I scooped him up and brought him inside and put him in my room. Sorry, Max, but he’ll be sleeping inside from now on. I locked each of the deadbolts then went back to the lounge and re-read the note.

  You’re just not fast enough, Nate. Maybe next time.

  How the hell did she beat me back here, get inside to leave this note, and not wake up Indy or Lucky? That little puppy had super hearing—he had lost every other sense but sound.

  ***

  Waking from the worst sleep ever, I could hear Indy screaming loudly—she was in one pissed off mood. Hormonal jokes flew to my mind, but I pushed them out. I wasn’t even brave enough to think them. This time I wasn’t the one her anger was thrust upon. Indy ran down the stairs. She made one big leap at the bottom in an effort to reach her target faster. Indy found Max in no time. I had to watch this—it was a little funny.

  “Stay the hell out of my room, especially at night. It’s utterly creepy!” yelled Indy.

  Max was very calm and seemed confused. “Honey, I totally agree with you. I would never do that,” he soothed.

  Indy turned toward me. “Well, someone decided to pick up my clothes from the floor and move them somewhere, and my favorite jacket is gone.”

  Max looked at me. We both shook our heads, I most definitely didn’t touch her clothes. I was in there but for only a split second and Max portrayed angelic innocence.

  I was pretty sure I knew who was in her room., Bernie wasn’t just a harassing stalker. Now we could add thief to her many talents. I was going to give Indy a little breathing room today and let her do what she wanted within reason, her mood was volatile. Her bitchy sarcastic comments would be poisonous today. I noticed her running gear when she noticed mine; I didn’t want to push her too far but I couldn’t allow her to go out by herself. At that point I announced I was going with her.

  Indy went outside to feed Lucky. “Lucky, come get some breakfast.” Indy spoke in a soft voice reserved only for the puppy.

  After a few seconds, Indy rushed outside and checked the backyard. it was big and didn’t take long for her to return inside. I had totally forgotten about putting Lucky in my room last night, my door was wide open and out he pranced. I got death looks from not just Indy, but Max, too.

  “If that dog pees on my lounge, Nate, you’ll be paying for it,” said Max.

  I didn’t doubt that for a second. If Max knew Indy had her feet on the lounge constantly, we’d never hear the end of it.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Indy

  I woke the next morning in a massacre of pillows I was losing myself in their abundance, the sheets I lay on felt silky up against my face. I have never in all my years slept so peacefully. Waking up, I felt like I had slept on a cloud.

  I slowly dragged myself out of the most comfortable bed ever and changed into my running gear, then I reached for my mobile and tried to call Mandy again. I was calling on the off chance I might catch her, I didn’t know her work routine and it may be a good time to get her. I just hoped I wasn’t too late.

  As my mobile called her number, I noticed my room looked a little odd, my white Sass and Bide designer jacket wasn’t where I had left it last night. I admit to a stupid act by leaving it on the floor, clothing worth half a grand should always be hung up but I had been so stuffed I took it off and never thought twice about it till now. The phone rang out, I disconnected the call and searched everywhere for my favorite item of clothing.

  It was nowhere it be found. Graphic images of Connor’s pink shirts in a warm wash with my jacket terrified me, my short fuse snapped. I ran down the stairs frantically—only one person would come into my room and grab dirty clothes for the washing machine.

  Upon seeing Max, I flung my accusations at him, as calm as he could manage, he agreed with me and swore he wouldn’t ever come into my room at night. My next target was Nate. I looked at him but didn�
��t believe he would be that much of a creep to come into a girl’s room while she slept. I let my anger die down, vowing to find that jacket later.

  I had been too revved up to notice that breakfast was just about ready. Two mornings in a row was wonderful. I just hoped Max realized he didn’t have to do this.

  On closer inspection, I couldn’t believe the spread we had in front of us. Nate stood next to me ogling the waffles, fresh mushrooms, and hash browns.

  Nate grabbed a plate and started to pile it high with everything on the counter, he was making a pig of himself. Today Nate was dressed in running gear, as was I. I looked at the lovely meal on my plate and started to eat it slowly, enjoying each flavor. Piggy next to me was finished. He had eaten so fast I’m surprised he didn’t choke.

  He sat there waiting for me to finish. “I’m coming with you.” Nate didn’t even ask if it was okay, he just made this statement as a fact.

  I was slightly annoyed, he could have at least asked. I knew there was no point in arguing. I would just stew internally.

  I bent down, tying my fluoro pink laces tightly, then headed for the back door to feed Lucky. I yelled out for her, waiting for the usually hyperactive puppy to come running. This morning that didn’t happen. I ran outside, checking the yard frantically, he was nowhere. I went inside to demand everyone to help me find him. Unexpectedly, he came running out of Nate’s bedroom. I gave him my filthiest stink eyes.

  I wasn’t happy I didn’t have to scold Nate, Max did that for me. After quickly feeding him, I was ready for my run.

  Nate shot past me and out the door. I chased after him at a full sprint. He was fast but I caught up in no time.