“Daria?”
My head turns to face him. His eyes flick from me to the road. The scene feels so familiar to me suddenly. Then I realize I’m in the same scenario that I was with Chance some time ago. Well, this one is a little different. Does he know something happened – could he feel like last time – does it even matter if he never came for me? I don’t know. All I know is that my father is now watching me with a scary expression rather than the road. Oh right. He’s waiting for me to say something.
“I think-” I start, but a wheezing cough escapes me. My body convulses around itself in a warped shiver.
It takes me a couple minutes to try again. My father waits patiently.
“I think I owe you a thank you. For saving me back there.”
Taking his eyes completely off the road, he graces me with the sincerest smile I’ve ever seen from him.
“Yes well, it goes without saying that you don’t need to thank me. I’d do it again if it was called for.”
I start to return his smile, but a sudden chill that courses over me freezes any happy thoughts I might have had. I watch in horror as his eyes widen. A second later he clenches the steering wheel in his hands so hard that steam fills the space around us. Burnt rubber grates at my senses, but I ignore it, because a very bad feeling rises up inside me. In the next instant something tickles at the very out reaches of my mind. I can feel something powerful trying to get inside the car with us.
And it’s directed right at me.
It hits me then that whatever was chasing me, never left. So much for there being a trail for the twins to follow – in fact they might just be following us now. Before I can question anything or become overly terrified that I’m about to be attacked again, I feel it. A pressure inside my head twists and pulls inside me as the power snaps away as fast as it came. My body jerks forward in one last convulsion and then falls back into the seat as I’m released. The weight is gone from my chest and I can finally breathe again.
I feel lighter now.
In fact, it kind of feels like I was never in any pain to begin with, like nothing ever happened. Slowly I turn to face my dad. I open my eyes as I do, and oddly enough I don’t remember closing them. His are on me though. His stern face is so pale that I can see it in the darkness of the car. I want to ask him if he felt any of that just now, but the strong burnt smell that fills the car, tells me I’m pretty sure that he did.
“That can’t be possible-” He starts, but cuts off as he whips his head towards something in the road before us.
He lets out a string of curses as he slams on the breaks. My body jerks forward again and is stopped this time by the restricting seat belt. A flash of pain causes me to gasp. The empty street springs to life right before our eyes then. One moment we were alone on the dark street, not paying attention to the road. In the next instant, it was as if we were just placed in the middle of an active street. By active, I mean we’re right in the middle of an intersection with cars on either side honking their horns at us.
We’re going too fast to come to a complete stop, or maybe dad realizes a little too late that stopping in the middle of oncoming traffic isn’t the best idea, because in the next instant we’re swerving to the left. And avoid getting hit by an oncoming Jetta on our right. With the sound of screeching tires loud in my ears, I get slammed into the door. All the breath leaves me in a whoosh and before I get it back, we’re swerving to the right avoiding another car.
As fast as we arrived in the intersection, we’re shooting through the thing and flying down the road before us. The sound of horns honking is left behind. All I hear now is our heaving breaths. We continue to drive for another minute before pulling over on the side of the road. Looking around, I don’t even think we’re close to home yet, which is a little unnerving. All this time spent in the car, we should have made it home by now. That’s when I realize that this has happened before. The very same Twilight Zone moment – almost exactly as before – except this time I’m with my dad and not Chance.
Coincidence?
I doubt it.
Chapter Twenty Three
We sit in a tense silence for a moment. I take that time to get my heart out of my throat and back in my chest where it belongs. It takes longer than necessary given that my lungs are filled with the thick fumes of melted steering wheel. When I’m pretty sure I’m not going to have a little freak out, I risk a glance at my dad.
He’s glaring at the warped steering wheel.
His hands hover over it like he wants to fix the thing – or maybe destroy it further – his glare is that severe. And I’m only getting the side eye of it. Even I know that means he’s totally pissed off. Not that I blame him. Things are weird. Weirder than weird actually, because if I’m remembering correctly, then I think he knew that this was going to happen. How is that possible?
Only one way to find out I guess.
I clear my throat. “So, doesn’t that sort of thing happen often? Or are we just that lucky?”
My father glances at me with the full weight of his glare. I barely contain a flinch. His face softens then.
“Honestly?”
Um…yeah, that would be nice.
“That’s usually the best policy.”
Now he smirks at me. “In that case, I guess I should be forthright with you then. What just happened in the road is rare, but I’ve seen it done a time or two.” His eyes narrow at me. “The question is though, why don’t you seem so surprised to have it occur. Seen anything like this before Daria?”
I hold his eyes as I nod the affirmative.
“That first night I was attacked? The same thing happened. But if it’s so rare like you say, then isn’t it a little suspicious that it’s happened twice now?” My voice rises as I get a little too worked up in my theory. “And what exactly did happen? Because it seems to me like we were transported to another dimension only to be tossed back in the middle of a busy street. How is that even possible?”
He watches me with interest for a moment as I catch my breath. I kind of feel better about freaking.
“Well.” He pauses with a brief smile. “Those are good questions. Important questions even. Unfortunately, there are some things I probably should wait to disclose to you without the rest of the family being present. But, I can say that you’re not wrong about being tossed back into the road. Essentially, it was the other way around. Everything was removed from us - only for a time of course.”
Huh.
I don’t know what’s worse. That he can’t share everything with me without my mother – the rest of the family I’m guessing – or the fact that everything was removed and brought back? I’m going with both for now.
“How can someone remove everything like that? That doesn’t seem possible.”
“It’s not usually all that possible, that’s why it’s a rare ability. And it’s not someone – it’s some thing – a demon to be exact. A powerful one I’d wager.”
Well I knew that didn’t I?
A powerful demon is my shadow, and sometimes corporeal, stalker.
“So…what do we do about that? I mean if you’ve seen this type of thing before, then you know who – what – it is right?” I ask filled with hope.
My father glances away from me with a shake of his head. Clearly this ranks on the not sharing list at the moment. That seems perfectly convenient if you ask me, if not a little irritating. Hope slithers out of me.
“There are still so many things you don’t know about our kind Daria. It’s not so simple that I can just lightly explain it all to you. I would if I could, honestly. It’s just larger than my need to be truthful with you. I hope that you can understand that.”
I wish that I could understand that too. But I can’t.
I glare at him. “And whose fault is that dad, huh? I’d know all these super confidential family legacy secrets already of they were told to me at the beginning. But did I ever get that? No. Instead I got years of being treated like scum by you al
l. And now it’s like it’s all on me that we can’t have share time.” I take a breath. “Well, screw you.”
His heavy sigh fills the car. I’m surprised it has room to move around all my anger. I refuse to look at him and instead fix my glare out at the pathetic snowy night outside the car. Frost is covering the windows already. Funny, I don’t even feel cold, and my clothes are still damp. Miracles never cease.
Silence is met with tension and I don’t even have it in to apologize.
Eventually he pulls the car from the side of the road and we’re on our way again. This time I’m sure I’ll be home in no time. If only I didn’t feel a mixture of regret and anger. We were so close to being something that actually resembled a real father and daughter and he had to go and ruin it with secret keeping. I know I shouldn’t be surprised, but I am. It kind of hurts actually. I mean the man just saved my life.
Wait. How did he and the twins know I was in trouble in the first place?
I finally turn to him. “How did you know I was in trouble?”
His gaze flickers to me nervously, and then flicks away back to the road.
This should be good.
“You don’t think we’ve leave you unprotected did you? We’ve been following you since you refuse to take your own safety in regard. It’s a good thing too. Otherwise Lucifer only knows what could have happened tonight if we have not.”
Oh. That is good. Not.
“So basically you’ve all just been trailing me waiting for the unthinkable to happen? What is it that you think is going to happen, besides what already has of course?”
He shakes his head at me. “Daria, you are too stubborn for your own good. Can’t imagine where you got that from.” He offers me a small smile that I don’t return. “We’ve told you that first night that something like this could happen and you didn’t listen. This won’t be the last time. I suggest you start paying better attention to your surroundings. Clearly we’re not the only ones following you.”
And this is my fault?
Sounds to me like someone isn’t doing a great tracking job if they were almost too late to my rescue.
Like I was bait for my attacker…
“Let me get this straight. If you were following me, then why did it take so long to interrupt my little scrimmage on the road?”
He laughs. I hold back slugging him.
“Are you implying, dear daughter, that I used you as bait to catch the parasite that was about to murder you?” He laughs again, softly this time. “I assure you that is not the case. It simply took longer to reach you given the circumstances, those of which I’ll have no problem explaining at another time.”
Oh yeah, I really believe any of that.
Should I?
I’m about to force the issue of explaining this to me now and not later, but the car pulls in the driveway leading to my humble garage abode. It’s only seconds before a familiar body comes flying out of the side door of the garage. Any anger and suspicion towards my father stalls as I see Chance. He looks even more frazzled that he did before he left me earlier. Not that I blame him. And he doesn’t even know I got into trouble. Well. He’s about to since I’m with my father and we both know that isn’t a sign of anything good. Then Chance freezes when he catches who I’m with and any color in his cheeks goes pale.
My father chuckles beside me. “Perhaps you better go and comfort your human Daria. They are a tad fragile when it comes to matters of our kind.”
My eyes widen as I turn to him.
Does he know Chance knows about me? His odd smile tells me yes.
“Go on Daria.” He nods towards my door. “We have time to for our chat when things cool down. Just promise me you’ll be diligent with your safety. At least until we can discuss everything.”
My mouth opens to tell him to shove off with his attempts at being anything other than what I fear he really is. But he’s my dad and he did save me tonight. Regardless of all things unsaid, I still owe him for that. It doesn’t mean I have to like it though. Still, I force myself to offer up a small smile. This pleases him enough to return it.
I open the door and slid out, but stop and face him before closing it. “Thank you dad…I’ll…be seeing you soon I guess. Um, drive safe?”
His laughter reaches me as I close the door behind me. It’s gone as fast as the car by the time I’m turning towards home. I don’t get far before Chance has me wrapped tightly in his arms. I sink into him with a heaving sigh. Tears form unbidden in my eyes. His hold tightens for a moment, and then his hands are in my hair easing me back to get a look at me. At once I’m lost in the sea of his eyes. It feels like home in there.
I feel safe.
He presses his forehead to mine. “Something happened did it? I felt…I felt how afraid you were, I knew something was wrong but I couldn’t come to you. I tried, but my car wouldn’t run, and by the time I was going to go on foot…the feeling stopped. I thought…”
My stomach clenches. Tears roll down my cheeks. But I can’t say anything. What can I say?
This is all so inevitable. I was foolish to try and convince, myself, us that we shouldn’t worry.
“Daria? What exactly happened?”
I close my eyes and shake my head. He pulls me back into the warmth of his arms.
It’s then that I realize it’s snowing again, harder and unresisting. This isn’t over. Not by a long shot.
I shiver.
***
As if granted a small favor from whoever is laughing over my impending fate, I get a week off for Thanksgiving break. Or rather I get to avoid school. There is still work to contend with. Not that I went in all that much – at all really – Chance effectively convinced me a short leave is probably a good idea for now. It didn’t really take much for me to agree. I can still feel the weight of the phantom body pressing me down into the street. It’s not the best feeling.
To say that Toby was disappointed is the understatement of the century. He all but accused me of quitting because I’m mad at him for not telling me about Chance’s call that night. Honestly? He’s not wrong, I am mad. But it’s not why I can’t be there right now, and yes, it sucks that I can’t tell him that. Sometimes it’s best to just let things simmer. Who knows? Maybe it’s best not to involve him in my problems. It seems a lot happen after I leave work, so all I need is his death on my consciousness.
I did promise that I wasn’t quitting though. I mean seriously, this girl needs an income, I can’t quite. That helped him some, not that I know for sure since he hung up on me. But Chance assured me it’s for the best. He’s convinced I’m not going back. I don’t have the courage to tell him that eventually I have to. I’m letting him simmer too. So yeah, my break didn’t really consist of you know, breaking from the norm.
Not that the entire thing was all bad.
As a plus, or a strange turn of events, I was given an interesting gift. My very first cellphone! A girl’s best friend right? Technically it’s a track phone, easy-peasy, and perfect in case of emergencies - or in my case, the kind that I need Chance for – since he’s the only one with the number. But given recent events, I’d had another shadow following me at arm’s length, so I don’t know what the phone is for. I call my new shadow Chance. He calls himself my boyfriend. Okay, we both call him that. I’m pretty sure his parents call that a problem. If the dinner we shared together is any indication. There were a plethora of odd looks tossed my way from Mellissa. Not that I should be all that surprised. She’s done a lot for me, but for all intents and purposes, I’m her tenant. It can’t sit well that I’m this huge mystery and somehow I’ve snagged her son.
So basically I understand the weird looks. It doesn’t mean I’m comfortable with them though.
That’s the excuse I used to avoid any and all conversation with anyone through the Holiday. It didn’t really get me far though - Chance refused to let me hide within myself – I tried to be mad at him for it. But there was no point in even trying. I feel too safe w
ith him near to try to push him away and I think he knows that. It’s a good feeling to have. Way better than a security blanket. Those you can’t snuggle on the couch with. Well. I guess you could. But I doubt a blanket could make me feel like he does.
I just wish he could take away the nightmares.
Not all things are cured so easily I guess. We never found out what exactly was wrong with his car that night, because come morning it was running smoothly. It doesn’t sit well with either of us. I almost want him to get rid of it. But I won’t even ask that of him. He loves that little mustang. I just wish it didn’t want me offed – talk about a Christine syndrome.
All too soon the island of me comes to a close and school is gearing to start up again. That’s when I realize that I’m going to have to face what’s coming. And by that I mean my family. I’ve been successful in avoiding talking to them since the other night. This is only because I don’t have a phone and for some reason none of them have dared to come to my door. I often wonder why, but I won’t look a gifted horse in the mouth. It’s better to let the reason go in case of jinxing it.
The time for answers is coming and I’d be lying if I didn’t say that it didn’t terrify me.
On the ride into school I successfully dodged worried looks from Chance and comebacks from Ashley. It should make me happy that I’m able to get away with that so well. But it doesn’t. It’s actually kind of comforting in a way, like I have some semblance of control. Or maybe I’m just fooling myself. Unfortunately, I have to go with the latter. No sooner am I out of the bubble that Chance can offer me and on my own for the day I’m shadowed by the annoying trio.
It happens in the hall right before lunch when my defenses are down from hunger.
“Hey loser, wait up.”
I instantly freeze at hearing the irritating voice.
Then I mentally slap myself and continue moving. I don’t get far before I’m cornered in a little alcove of lockers. I’m beginning to hate these lockers. But I hate my siblings more. They get my glare. It makes them laugh in unison. That’s not creepy at all.
The Misadventures of Daria Pigwidgeon Page 27