by Cox, Suzanne
She sat on the edge of the bed and Aaron eased down behind her.
“Give it a chance here, Alexis.”
I stared past them to the garishly pink wall and gave half a nod. Didn’t she realize she was abandoning me when I never really knew what the next morning would bring, when I needed a familiar face, some kind of real support?
I slowly moved my gaze to Aaron and paused at the look in his dark eyes. He actually appeared sad to be leaving me in this swampy place. He reached out to catch my hand resting on the bedcovers.
“Your mom says it’ll be good for you to be here. But if anything happens, if you need us, call and we’ll come get you.”
Mom shot him a pretty ugly look that indicated she had no intention of swooping in to rescue me if things went south - down south.
“Thanks,” I said giving his hand a squeeze.
I guess I was supposed to go back to sleep. I did close my eyes but didn’t sleep. Too many thoughts raced through my mind, most of them centered on getting away from here and back home where I felt safe. At a little after seven, I quit pretending I might sleep and wandered downstairs to the kitchen where Aunt Louise sat drinking coffee and reading the paper.
“You’re up earlier than I expected.”
I shrugged, sliding into a chair at the table and pulling over a piece of the newspaper. I scanned the front page but didn’t see anything interesting.
“Do you want breakfast?”
I shrugged again. Who cared about breakfast? Louise was watching me. I could feel it without looking, so I stared at the paper rather than meet those eyes that seemed to drill a hole right through me.
She stood. “Well, I’m cooking breakfast. You can have some if you want. My friend and his son are coming over.”
I sat at the table while she pulled bacon from the refrigerator and a round container of something that said grits, whatever that was.
“Could you hand me the butter from the fridge, please?”
I got the butter and stood beside Louise while she scooped a spoonful into the small pot of boiling white stuff. I waited for another minute, mindlessly wiping at non-existent spots on the granite countertop. I prepared for one final escape attempt.
“You don’t have to be stuck with me, you know. You could send me to Chicago. I have friends I could stay with. My mom would never have to know. You can say I’m not here when she calls and I could call her from a cell phone.” I waited expectantly.
“How do you plan to get there?”
I frowned. “I could fly. The airport’s not far from here, right?”
“No, it’s not too far. Do you have money for that?”
I thought of the fifty dollars tucked away in my purse. “I don’t have it, but there’s probably enough in what my mom gave you to fly me up there and back before they get home.”
Louise shook salt into the pan of boiling grits. “Your mom didn’t give me any money.”
That stopped me cold. “What? That can’t be right. I have maybe fifty dollars for the whole summer.”
There was no way I could survive the summer on what I had, even in a town with no Wal-Mart. I sure wouldn’t be buying a plane ticket.
“I’ll give you more money if you need it. I told your mom I’d take care of things and I will.”
“So buy me the plane ticket.”
Louise glanced at me and frowned. “I didn’t get stuck with you, you know. I suggested to your mom that she and Aaron take the honeymoon, and I told her to send you here.”
Aunt Louise opened the microwave and flipped around the pan she was using to nuke the bacon. She returned to the stove and stirred for a minute in the grit stuff. I was too stunned to move.
“You’ve never known your grandparents because they died when your mom and I were young. At least you can get to know me. I needed to step up and be an aunt and a sister.”
I’d been holding one foot up, balancing my favorite worn flip-flop on my toes. It hit the tile floor with a little splat.
“Why would you do that? Didn’t you know I’d rather stay with my friends, at home in the city, instead of here in the swamp?”
“I heard your mother mention that those so called friends were getting into trouble. It seemed to me a change of scenery would be good.”
The flip flop was upside down and it took all my concentration to turn it over and get it onto my foot without reaching down and doing it with my hand. At last I was able to flip flap to the table. I threw myself into the chair so hard it groaned in protest. Aunt Louise kept cooking like this was no big deal, like she hadn’t exiled her niece to a miserable summer.
“I can’t believe I’m stuck here all summer because you felt guilty.”
The spoon Louise had been holding clattered onto the stovetop, and her hair swung as she spun around. Even from where I sat at the table I could see the gold specks sparkling in her eyes. “You’re not here because I felt guilty. You’re here because…”
She stopped. I waited. But Louise simply stared at me in silence. Finally, I had to shift my gaze to the floor and squirm in the chair. When Louise spoke again, I glanced up, but she’d already turned back to the stove.
“You’re here because this is where you need to be. Now get four plates. They’re in the second cabinet to the right.”
While pulling the plates from the cabinet, I considered crashing at least two of them onto the floor to see how many pieces they’d break into. It would have been a childish gesture so I resisted the impulse. I needed to be here like I needed a lobotomy.
There was a knock at the kitchen door. Aunt Louise didn’t bother to answer and a man stuck his head in. I paused with a plate halfway to the table. With dark hair that was graying slightly around his ears, the man was undeniably handsome, and I caught myself staring. He walked in as if he was at home, which he probably was if this was Aunt Louise’s friend. Behind him came what had to be his son because he was a much younger and more muscular version of the man. Then followed a third person. Male, blonde, and eyes, unbelievable eyes. I realized I was staring at the ice blue chips that had me frozen beside the table I’d just finished setting.
The older man hugged Louise. “Hey, Louise, I hope you don’t mind one more. Eric stayed with Myles last night.”
“No, I’ve got plenty. Hi, Eric.”
The blond bobbed his head in greeting.
The man came over and bear hugged me before I could get my limbs to function normally. “You’re Alexis, I guess. We’re glad you came to visit for the summer.”
He had a silky, clear voice that made you automatically relax and smile, which I did.
“I’m Edgar Branton. This is my son, Myles, and his friend, Eric Spence.”
I stuck out my hand to Myles. “Hi.”
He half nodded his head and said hi back. I wasn’t short but I had to look up to meet his eyes. He seemed to study me for a second while he held on to my hand. Then he let go and walked over to the stove, lifting the lid on the pots and smiling at Louise.
I turned to Eric. He extended his hand. I met his eyes, not blue, but almost violet now, then suddenly back to blue. They were mesmerizing and for a few seconds I forgot to lift my hand. Then I did. My fingers were engulfed by his grasp. Like Myles, he towered above me. He glanced down at our hands locked together.
“Hi, I’m Alexis.” The words came out a little rushed, but I couldn’t quite control them.
He glanced at me, back at our hands, then back to meet my eyes.
“Hi, Alexis.”
When he pulled his hand away, mine seemed to follow as if it had a mind of its own. I jerked it back and stuck both hands in the back pockets of my shorts. I didn’t miss the slight frown that flashed across his face. I moved away from him wondering why I felt even more unsure of myself than before.
“Alexis, get an extra plate.”
Eric’s eyes were still on me. I looked at Louise then glanced at Myles and his dad expecting all three of them to be watching us. They weren’t.
“Uh, yeah, plate.”
I stepped past Eric to pull another plate from the cabinet. The cool stoneware slipped from my tingling fingers. Eric made a quick step next to me and grabbed the plate just before it hit the countertop.
“Oooh, good save, Eric.” Myles called from his seat at the kitchen table, laughing.
“Careful,” Eric said quietly. He wasn’t laughing. His blue eyes were dark, gathering storm clouds. He spun around and took the plate with him as he sat next to Myles.
Neither he nor Myles said much after that.
I had to will myself not to stare at Eric because my eyes kept wandering back to him. I concentrated on Myles’ dad, whose smooth voice seemed to melt away all the frustration and anger that had been hanging in the air between me and Aunt Louise.
***
Once we all had sat down and started eating, Mr. Branton elaborated on a story with huge arm gestures. I laughed while Myles shook his head, then leaned over.
“Sorry, but he’s always like this, so I hope you can learn to endure it. We eat here a lot and Louise comes to our house too.”
“I don’t mind. He’s funny.”
Myles looked at his dad for moment then nodded. “Yeah he’s alright.”
I sipped my juice while Myles turned to say something to Eric. I still didn’t like being here. I’d much rather have stayed in Chicago. But, as I sat eating bacon and spooning grits, which ended up being pretty decent, I decided that I was stuck here. There’d be no going home to Chicago unless some earth shattering event occurred. Oddly enough, that wasn’t entirely impossible.
Chapter Three
I stared across the clearing in front of me. The damp grass clung to my bare legs and I couldn’t seem to wipe it off, no matter how hard I scrubbed my palms over them. Leaves rustled in the trees beyond my vision and a twig snapped. I straightened from rubbing my legs but couldn’t get them to move. I knew something was there, in the trees, watching me. The clingy grass blades seemed to creep up my calves. I swatted at them, never taking my eyes off the point in the forest where I knew it waited for me. My breath fogged in the pre-dawn mist, even though it had to be eighty degrees outside. Then I heard a cry, low and from the gut, but not human, animal maybe, or possibly a person suffering intense pain. My head hurt from the power of it and I clamped my hands over my ears to block the noise. Suddenly, everything went quiet. The forest darkened. Where was I?
“Time to get up, Alexis.”
I jerked to a sitting position in the bed and found Louise standing over the alarm clock on the bedside table.
“The clock has been going off for awhile. I guess you didn’t hear it.”
I stared at her, trying to get the room in focus, an unreasonable fear growing inside of me. Where were the trees, the grass? Shoving the damp sheet away, I rolled onto my knees, examining every corner of the room. Where had I been?
“Did you have a bad dream?” Aunt Louise stood there waiting for me to say or do something. Then again, she might be trying to decide whether or not she’d inherited a psycho niece for the summer. I thought I’d get a break from it, hoped anyway. But it was starting already and I had to find a way to handle it alone.
“I… yeah, it was a bad dream. I have them. Didn’t my mom tell you?”
Louise picked up the pillow that had been tossed to the floor at some point and held it to her chest. “She mentioned it. Do you want to talk about it?”
I almost asked with who. Surely she didn’t expect me to discuss problems or secrets with her when we barely knew each other. Of course, no one at home knew about my problem except my mom and more recently Aaron. My friends weren’t the kind you could tell your deepest secrets to.
“No, I’m fine. I’m used to them.” The lie slid past my lips as I rolled from the bed and hurried toward the bathroom. I’d never get used to them.
“What do I need to wear to this camp thing?” I shouted.
“A T-shirt and shorts will be fine.”
I heard Aunt Louise walk past the bathroom door as I turned the shower on. My aunt had come here this summer to run a day camp for kids. It was something she did in the summer when she wasn’t teaching school. I didn’t really want to go help at the kids’ day camp, but my alternative was sitting here by myself. I’d tried text messaging my friends in Chicago yesterday after breakfast, but hadn’t gotten any response. They could have at least acknowledged that I’d tried to make contact. I decided to give them the benefit of the doubt when Aunt Louise mentioned that cellular service wasn’t always very good here in the country. Louise had an office with a computer in it and I’d tried sending my friends e-mails last night. Maybe they’d get that and answer. I was trapped and cut off from the whole world. It was day camp or nothing, so I chose the camp.
I was on my third clothing change when Louise shouted from downstairs for me to hurry up and come eat. I tugged at the designer shirt and shorts that were cast offs from a rich friend’s closet. Sometimes I missed the days when I didn’t think much about what I was wearing, but last year I’d learned that dressing the part of popular was a big thing, huge actually. I had to have something familiar to hang on to since the rest of my life seemed to be tumbling out of control.
I came down for breakfast and felt Louise eyeballing my shorts. They were probably shorter than she would have liked, but she didn’t say anything. Nor did she mention the flash of skin visible below the hem of my shirt. We both hunched over a bowl of cereal at the kitchen table without saying much at all.
With breakfast done and our bowls in the dishwasher, I headed for the front door while Louise gathered her keys and a giant tote bag. My hand had barely closed over the knob when a knock on the door made me jump back. Another knock sounded, and I stood there briefly before slowly opening the door to face a man in a khaki uniform. In the drive was a tan car with the words “sheriff” emblazoned on the side. For a minute I couldn’t swallow.
“Hey Sheriff, what’s up?”
Louise had walked up behind me and held on to the edge of the door. The sheriff glanced at me, then back at Louise.
“Just wanted to let you know that a woman was killed sometime last night, about five miles from here on the other side of the lake.
Beside me Louise stilled. “What happened?”
“Looks like some kind of wild animals. Figured with you having all those kids at the camp you’d need to know.”
The sheriff was speaking to Louise but staring at me and a droplet of sweat started to form in the curve of my lower back.
Louise seemed to notice the sheriff’s scrutiny of me.
“This is my niece, Alexis. She’s staying here for the summer.”
“You out last night? Hear anything?”
“I…” My voice cracked. Did the crazy sheriff think I knew what had happened to the woman just because I was new here?
“Alexis and I were home all last night.”
Were we? I went to bed at ten and didn’t see my aunt again until this morning.
“Alright then,” the sheriff said turning, “let me know if you hear anything today from your campers or workers.”
“I will.”
The sheriff got in his car and Louise left the door open.
“I didn’t get the keys. I’ll be right back.”
I followed her to the kitchen where the keys hung on a rack on the wall.
“Why is he asking if I know anything? I’ve only been here two days.”
“I’m sure he thought you might have met some friends and been out at night.”
“Well obviously this isn’t the place to be out at night if some wild animal is killing people.”
Louise turned to me with keys in hand. “You’re right. This isn’t the place to be out after dark,” she paused briefly. “You’ll be wise to remember that.”
She strode back toward the door, but I was frozen in place. What the hell did she mean by that?
Chapter Four
At exactly eight o’clock, we pulled
into the gravel parking area of the cabin my aunt used as an office for the day camp. At the bottom of the hill I could see a lake with a wooden pier jutting into the water. A few jet skis and a boat were tied onto one of posts and the sight helped my feelings a little. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if we could do a few water sports during the day.
Aunt Louise scattered gravel with her quick steps to the office and I followed along. I’d noticed the three girls on the front porch of the building before I’d ever opened the car door. One thing I’d learned in the city was to make a quick assessment of people and situations. I got the immediate sense that whatever happened with this group could define the rest of my summer. Two of them could have stepped from the pages of a magazine. The third seemed to be planning a séance or her next ritual. Her clothes were black and her skin was pasty white.
Louise had her hand on the doorknob of the cabin when she turned. “Alexis, this is Celina,” almost goth girl tipped her head back slightly, “Jana,” a brunette with a well endowed chest gave a slight wave, “and Channing.” The tallest of the three arched her eyebrow. I half nodded at them but didn’t follow Aunt Louise inside. Instead I leaned against the post on the porch.
If I had to be here, then I’d have to meet some people. I couldn’t stay locked up in that house with Louise. The very idea made me shiver. Admittedly, I’d spent all my life on the outside of the ‘in’ crowd. When I’d miraculously been taken in by the popular crowd this last year I’d learned a lot about meeting people. I hoped to put some of that knowledge to use here. City, country, how different could it be?
The girl named Channing crossed her arms and stared. “So you’re Ms Miller’s niece. She said you’d be here soon.”
She scratched at the polish on her perfectly manicured nail.
I nodded. “Yeah, my mom and stepdad went to Europe, and I came here. We live in Chicago.”
Channing rolled her eyes
“What, you don’t have friends to stay with up there?”