Unfaded

by Sarah Ripley

  Something scratched at the window.

  Biting down hard on my tongue, I tasted blood but it kept me from screaming. I couldn’t move. I was a statue, frozen in a game of tag, unable to move until someone touched me. But I was alone. Kian was probably over at my Dad’s shop along with Micah and probably the entire Addison fire department.

  And only one person knew I was here. Would he be able to get here in time or would he return only to find my lifeless body on the floor?

  The scratching came at the window again and the hairs on my body began to stand up. I felt the energy again. It coursed through me, starting at my fingertips and spreading through all my nerves and veins. My legs tingled and turned rubbery as if I’d just run a five hundred mile race. Reaching out, I tried to find something to hold on to but there was nothing within reach. The lights above me hummed and flickered. One of the bulbs burst in the chandelier above me. I covered my head with my hands as a second light burst, bits of glass showered down, bouncing off my arms and getting stuck in my hair. The curtains moved, caught in an invisible breeze.

  From the desk, I picked up a metal lamp and held it over my head. If someone decided to crash through the window, at least I’d be able to do a bit of damage before they managed to get to me.

  I held my breath.

  The lamp was heavy and soon my arms began to burn under all the weight. I lowered it to my chest and clung to it like a security blanket. Outside the window, everything remained silent. Maybe it was some sort of trick. Perhaps whoever it was expected me to be one of those stupid girls you see in the movies. The ones that walk right into the trap that the killer sets up. Well, I wasn’t stupid. If I had a choice of going up the stairs or out the front door, I’d zip up my jacket and head for a snow bank any day.

  A scuffling noise came from behind me and I swirled around, just in time to see the door knob turn. I didn’t give myself a chance to think about it. Chucking the lamp with all my might, it crashed into the opening door, breaking into a million pieces. Within a second I’d crossed the room and slammed myself into the wood, trying to push out whoever was trying to get inside.

  “Hey! Stop it! It’s just me.”

  Kian.

  “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, it’s just that someone—I mean someone was at the window and then I heard the door and I thought they were there.” The words gushed from my mouth; I couldn’t seem to stop talking. “I thought you were, I mean, I thought they were coming for me. There was this energy and the light bulbs broke.”

  “Shhh, I’m here,” Kian reached out and took me in his arms, holding me close in a hug. “There’s no one here.”

  “But there was,” I insisted. “At the window. I heard them.”

  Kian went over to the window and pulled open the curtains. The back parking lot was empty. But there was one thing I noticed. All the streetlamps were out. They had been burning. I knew this for sure because I’d thought about how the glow made everything look so orangey grey.

  Someone had been there. This I knew for certain.

  “We need to get you out to the front,” Kian said as he let the curtains fall back into place. “Your Dad’s there and he’s having a fit. The fire's out. But you dropped your keys in the snow and they found them. We’d better let him know you’re ok.”

  I reached into my jacket pocket and sure enough, it was empty. “Did you say anything?”

  “No and I don’t think we should,” Kian said. “He’d only get more upset.”

  That made sense to me and we headed back out to where a crowd was slowly gathering. The air was smoky and thick. I hesitated, there were so many people. The police were there, along with an ambulance and fire trucks—the flashing lights were overwhelming. Kian noticed my hesitance and reached out to take my hand.

  “You’ll be fine,” he said, squeezing my fingers gently. “We did nothing wrong.”

  Either way, I had the feeling I was about to get in trouble.

  As we moved across the parking lot, Thelma was the first to find us. She was dressed in her husband’s gigantic parka and her hair was tightly rolled in pink curlers.

  “Good Lord, girl,” she called out. “Thank goodness you’re all right. You’ve given us all a fright.”

  Dad was talking to one of the police officers. The second he saw me, he rushed over and threw his arms around me in a bear hug. When he was finished, he stepped back, looking at both Kian and me. He’d seen us holding hands.

  “Are you all right, Mai?”

  “I’m fine,” I said.

  “They found your keys.” Even though the emergency lights were flashing back and forth over his face, I could still see the paleness of his skin.

  “I must have dropped them earlier,” I said. “I had to get my Biology book from the shop. Kian and I were over studying in Thelma’s library when we heard the noise.”

  Dad gave Kian a long, hard stare. I wasn’t quite sure how to interpret it but I had a good idea. Especially with the words that came next.

  “Where’s Connor?”

  I looked down at the ground before I was even aware I was doing it. “He’s at home,” I said. Then it dawned on me. All these people around. By tomorrow morning the entire town would know about this and someone would tell Connor that I came out of the motel with Kian.

  Something very bad was about to happen and I was positive I wasn’t going to come out looking good.

  Meanwhile, Dad had to deal with everything at once. One of the police officers got off his phone and came over.

  “No idea what started it. Fresh tire tracks. Looks like arson."

  “What does that mean, Jerry?” Dad asked.

  “Well,” the sheriff pulled up the collar of his coat. “Looks like someone decided to have some stupid fun. Wasn't robbery. Your cash register hasn’t been touched and the safe in the back is fine. We’ll do a search and send out a few cars but they’re probably long gone.”

  By the stiffness of Kian’s jaw line, I knew he didn’t believe that. No, there was more to this story and I decided that I’d do whatever it took to find out the truth. Whoever started this fire was going after my new friend.

  "Where were you and your friends tonight?" Sheriff Stokes asked me.

  I stiffened. "My friends wouldn't do something like this."

  "You haven't done anything that might upset someone lately?"

  "No."

  Dad stepped in for my defence. "Mai's friends are decent, Sheriff. I've known most of them for years. They aren't troublemakers." He gave Kian a long look.

  “You kids were over at the motel?" Sheriff Stokes asked. "You see anyone?”

  “No, Sir,” Kian said. “We saw the smoke and came over.”

  “That’s a long ways off. You must have mighty fine eyes to see it all from way over there.”

  “I saw it too, Sheriff,” Thelma said, coming to our rescue. “And I was all the way in my room. I was further away than those kids. Even had the television on, watching the late show.”

  Sheriff Stokes rubbed his hand over his neck. “Ok, Thelma. I believe you.”

  Meanwhile, they finally managed to get the tow truck hooked up and we all watched as the car was slowly pulled from the building.

  Dad stepped forward to examine the amount of damage and I followed behind out of curiosity. Inside, the office was a mess. So many things were destroyed. Everything else was soaking wet from the fire hoses. The computer had been knocked off the counter and it lay on the ground, the screen cracked and melted. All the paperwork I’d so carefully stacked was scattered across the floor, soaked and burned. Glass was everywhere and bits of charcoaled wood and plaster covered the tiled floors.

  It was a mess.

  “Be careful,” Dad said to me. “The whole ceiling could go.”

  I went back out into the cold and waited with Kian until Dad finished up inside. He went over to talk to the sheriff for a bit.

  “Do you think he’s buying it?” I whispered to Kian.

  “I don’t
know,” he said.

  I hadn’t done anything so why did I feel so guilty? Part of me wanted to start confessing on the spot yet there wasn’t anything to say. Although it was killing me to keep something from Dad, I also had to agree with Kian. I had a great relationship with my father. I shared things with him that I knew my friends wouldn’t dare tell their own parents. I couldn’t think of the last time I’d ever deliberately been deceitful. But on the other hand it wouldn’t do any good to have him worrying. If he’d known that I’d almost been killed in that mess he’d probably never let me leave the house again. Not to mention that he’d probably rush me over to the hospital by ambulance just to make sure there was no internal bleeding or some silly thing when he found out I’d nosedived out of the way.

  Then there would be questions about Kian. I knew there was something there but I wasn’t ready to let others know. If he had some sort of dark secret, I wanted to be the one to hear about it from his own mouth. There had to be some sort of reasonable explanation.

  “Mai?” Dad approached us, holding some stuff he’d gathered from inside the building. “Where’s your backpack?”

  I had to think about that for a second. “It’s at Thelma’s library,” I said. “I can go get it.”

  “I’ll go,” Kian said and he was gone before I could even protest.

  “You’ll be wanting this then,” Dad said. He pulled something out from the pile of debris on the floor and handed it to me. It was my Biology textbook, soggy and bloated.

  I took it from him. I couldn’t think of anything to say. I decided the smartest thing to do was lie on the spot and try and not look as guilty as I felt.

  “It was Algebra that I went back for,” I said. “Not Biology. I’m getting my books mixed up.” Did I have that textbook in my backpack? I wasn’t fully sure. What if Dad insisted on searching my bag when Kian returned?

  But fortunately he didn’t.

  “Where’s your car?” he asked.

  “At home.”

  “How did you get here then?”

  My face flushed as the blood rushed over my cheeks. “Kian.”

  “Get him to take you home,” Dad said. “And nothing else. When I get there, you’d better be in bed.”

  “Ok,” I said.

  “I’ll make sure she gets home, Sir” Kian said. “Come on, Mai.”

  Kian’s car was where we’d left it. A thousand years had passed since I’d climbed out an hour earlier.

  We drove in silence for the entire ride home. There wasn’t anything to say. Kian kept glancing in the rear view mirror as he drove. I watched behind us from the side mirror. No one followed us. Eventually he came to a stop outside my house. All the lights were on and I could see Marley wandering back and forth in the living room and talking on the phone. She glanced out the window, nodded when she saw me and resuming her pacing.

  The car idled quietly.

  “Are you a criminal?” I finally asked.

  He smiled. “I’m not wanted by the police.”

  “That’s not answering the question.”

  “No, I’m not a criminal.”

  “Then who were those people?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Why were they after you?”

  “I can’t tell you,” he said.

  “Why not?”

  Kian turned towards me and placed his hand on mine. “Look, Mai. I’ll tell you everything. I promise. But I can’t right now. Not until I’m sure.”

  “Sure of what?”

  “Not until I’m sure of what they’re after.”

  I sighed. That didn’t sound very reassuring. “You’re sure you’re not a criminal. You’re not lying to me, are you?”

  He shook his head and his eyes were warm and kind. “I wouldn’t lie to you. Not you. Not ever.”

  And I believed him. I wanted to believe him because no one had ever looked at me so intently before. And his eyes were watery as if he was on the verge of crying. Suddenly he seemed so lost and afraid. There were too many emotions displayed on his face and I couldn’t stop those feelings from affecting me.

  “I’d better go,” I said. I had to get out of there before I started crying myself. “I’ll see you tomorrow in class.”

  He nodded and reached over, opening the door for me. As I walked around the car, he rolled down his window.

  “I won’t let anyone hurt you, Mai,” he said. “I want you to believe me. Just promise me you'll be careful."

  “I will and I do,” I said and I knew it was true.

  Eight

  I was exhausted when my alarm clock woke me. I wanted to go back to sleep. My blankets were too warm and cosy. I thought about feigning sickness but eventually forced myself out of bed and into the bathroom. Leaning against the walls of the shower, I almost dozed off on the spot, and once again in the kitchen while trying to eat a bowl of cereal. Marley finally noticed my lack of brain function and placed a cup of coffee in front of me.

  Dad was gone. According to Marley, he’d left the house shortly after six. He’d come back around three last night and checked in on me. I was awake but pretended to be sleeping. For a while I could hear Marley and him talking downstairs and although I was curious, I didn’t sneak out to try and hear them. Dad was already suspicious after catching me in that lie about the biology book. It would be disastrous if he caught me eavesdropping. Eventually I’d drifted off to sleep but for all I knew, Dad might have stayed up all night.

  Granny sat with me at the table and Marley was trying to feed her some mashed up fruit and oatmeal with a spoon. It was a bad morning. That was the most horrible thing about Granny losing her memory. There would be some days where she was more alert and smiled at us and even recognized our faces. Other days she couldn’t figure out how to swallow. This was one of the bad ones. More fruit slid down her chin and onto her bib and Marley kept having to wipe her face with a napkin.

  “Helen, will you pass me the paper,” Granny said to me.

  “You had the paper,” I patiently told her. “You read it this morning when you first woke up.”

  I know this might sound harsh to some people. It wasn’t that I wanted to lie to Granny. But if I refused her the paper she’d just get agitated. If I gave it to her she’d just rip it into shreds. By telling her she’d all ready read it, well, that calmed her.

  “Oh,” Granny said. “Thank you, Helen.”

  It didn’t bother me that Granny often thought I was her daughter and not granddaughter. I know it hurt Dad. But not me. I liked that I looked so much like Mom. I’d spent a lot of time when I was a child looking over the family photo album. There were just a few pictures. She and Dad had only been together for two years before the accident. Maybe it was because I’d never known my mother that I felt happy knowing I shared something with her. In one picture she was staring at the camera with one hand over her face to block out the sunlight. Her long brown hair was being blown into her face. She was wearing a flowered dress and her swollen, baby filled belly was visible. Smiling at the camera, she appeared to be laughing over something that my Dad (the photographer) said.

  She looked so beautiful and happy.

  Two weeks later I was born.

  Two months later she was dead.

  I never knew her but I think she would have liked me.

  I didn’t notice when Granny got up from the table until she pressed her hand into mine and squeezed gently.

  “Mai,” she said. “I think there’s something wrong.”

  “Granny?” It had been ages since she’d called me by my real name. Her eyes were alert.

  “I think there’s a storm coming, Mai,” she said. “I’m worried about you. If you’re not careful you’ll get stuck. I’m ready to go see Helen but you’re not.”

  Her eyes closed for a few seconds and when they opened, I could see the brightness was gone. That’s the way it was, sometimes she was there, and other times she was somewhere else.

  “Are you Ok, Granny?” Marley came bac
k into the kitchen, her arms filled with laundry.

  “I think I’m tired and would like to lie down.”

  “Come on,” I got up from the table, still holding her hand. “I’ve got some time. Let’s get you into bed.”

  “I’d like that, Helen.”

  * * *

  I managed to get through most of the morning without hassle. There were a lot of stares and whispers, the majority of which I was able to ignore. It was normal for everyone to be curious about the fire. A couple of brave souls stopped to ask me about it. Most of the students didn’t have a clue what was going on and the rumours were rampant. By the time noon came around I’d reassured a few friends that no one had died, been taken hostage, or ended up in emergency.

  At lunch time, I grabbed some fries from the cafeteria and went to join Claire and Amber. Connor wasn’t at our table and I wasn’t surprised. He’d probably spend lunch period hiding out in the gym, shooting hoops with Eugene.

  Amber was so curious she could barely conceal her enthusiasm as I crossed the room. She wasn’t the only one. There were a lot of eyes on me. At least Amber and Claire would be able to let me know what they were saying.

  “You’ve got to tell us everything,” Amber said.

  “Let me sit down first,” I said. “Then you can tell me what you’ve heard and I’ll let you know if it’s true.”

  “Ha-ha,” Claire said.

  “I heard you wrestled an insane madman to the floor,” Amber said with a sly smile.

  I rearranged my facial features into what I hoped was a mock anger look.

  “Yeah, I didn’t believe it either,” Amber said. “I mean, only one insane guy? You could have taken on at least ten.”

  Laughing hard, I almost snorted grapefruit juice through my nose. Trust me; you don’t want to do that. Been there, done it, never want to revisit that feeling.

  “My Dad told me that someone set fire to the shop last night,” Claire said. “Now that I believe.”

  “That’s pretty much it,” I said.