Free Falling

by Moseley, Kirsty

  Charlotte sat forward, leaning her elbows on her knees as her blue eyes locked onto mine. “But why would she go that far though? Sure, she’s minion of the devil, but why would she even bother with you now anyway? She’s got what she wanted, you and Luke have split up, she’s free to make her move on him if she wanted. So why would she start sending you stuff like this? She’s already won, it doesn’t make sense.”

  I groaned in frustration, wishing I hadn’t told them. The fact that they were making a big deal out of this was making it worse, I was hoping they’d both just agree with me, and we’d laugh about how stupid Sandy was and then burn the teddy in some kind of voodoo ritual or something. “When has she ever made sense? She already told me that us breaking up wasn’t enough for her,” I countered. “Look, I only wanted to get it off of my chest. I don’t want to go to the police; I don’t want a big deal made out of it. That’s what she wants to happen.”

  Charlotte nodded slowly. Beth still looked like she disapproved of the whole thing. “You should call the FedEx people and see who sent it, they have records and stuff. Or maybe I could find out another way,” Charlotte suggested. There was a mischievous little glint to her eye and a smile pulled at the corners of her mouth which signalled that she was up to no good.

  I raised one eyebrow. “How would you do that?”

  She sat back and clasped her hands together, smiling in full now which only meant one thing - she was going to do her computer thing again and hack FedEx to see who sent it. “I need my laptop,” was all she answered. I rolled my eyes. Beth looked at Charlotte with apprehension clear across her face, she didn’t approve of anything illegal and usually shied away from Charlotte once the laptop came out. “I’ll look as soon as I get home, shouldn’t be too hard to crack their security. We have the tracking number on the box, so it should be a breeze.” She looked almost excited as she said it. Computers were her thing so she relished anything that posed a slight challenge to her.

  I sighed and nodded. “Okay, but it won’t make a difference, that’ll just show that it was sent from her, I still don’t want to do anything about it. She’ll get bored soon enough and she’ll move on to someone else.”

  Beth still didn’t look convinced. “All right, but if anything else happens then you should report it, or at least tell your parents. Prank calls and stuff like this is no joke, even if it’s only meant to scare someone.”

  I nodded in agreement. I already decided I’d do that anyway, if something else came along then I’d tell people, but for now I was happy just sweeping it under the carpet. I had too much other stuff going on at the moment; I was still struggling to deal with the fact that Luke had shattered my heart. I didn’t want to have to acknowledge that yes, for a few minutes, I was actually scared when I opened that box, and that yes it had actually crossed my mind that someone was, in fact, threatening me. It was easier to pretend like it wasn’t happening.

  “Once I get the proof that she sent it, we should all jump her or something,” Charlotte suggested thoughtfully.

  I laughed and rolled my eyes. “I don’t like violence.”

  She raised one eyebrow. “The girl sent you a mutilated teddy bear; I think violence is justified in this situation.”

  I chuckled at the hopeful glint in her eye. “You sound just like Zach.”

  “Ooh, and that’s another thing I wanted to talk to you about,” Charlotte said, eyeing me curiously. “What’s going on with you two? Personally I don’t think he’s a good fit for you, he’s too… badass, for you. But you seem to be getting on well,” she mused.

  I laughed incredulously. “Nothing’s going on. I’m tutoring him, and for some reason he seems to like hanging out with me. Nothing more than that. He’s a nice guy actually. I don’t think he’s as badass as he likes to make out he is. He’s a pretty complicated person.” I frowned, thinking about some of the things he’d said to me, he was definitely complicated and had a lot more going on than he liked to show people. Cocky and arrogant seemed to be an image he liked to portray to people so that they’d stay at a distance. Underneath it all I would bet that he was more sensitive than he let on.

  Charlotte pursed her lips and nodded. “I’d sure like to work him out. If only he hadn’t called me sweetness, I’d be all over him like a rash.” We all burst out laughing and talk turned onto boys and school rather than Sandy and police, for that I was immensely grateful.

  As soon as I stepped out of Alex’s car on Monday morning, I was instantly met by Charlotte who looped her arm through mine, leaning in conspiratorially. “So I tried everything to find out who sent that package, but I couldn’t find anything at all. The records for it seem to be a mystery; the ID of the sender was never logged. I did find out that the office that sent it was in the next town over though. I tried to look through their security footage to see if Sandy was caught on camera sending it, but there was nothing. Either they don’t have security cameras, or it was deleted,” she told me, raising one eyebrow.

  I frowned at that. “The ID wasn’t logged?”

  She shook her head and shrugged. “Nope. Trust me, if it had been logged and then deleted, I would have seen it, but there was nothing there at all, not even ghost record entries. The sender was left blank,” she confirmed. “I reckon she slipped them a few bucks to keep her name off of it so no one could prove it was her if you did decide to go to the police.”

  I sighed dramatically. She’d gone to so much freaking effort just to send me that package. It was a little scary really. “Let’s just forget about it. I’m not giving her the satisfaction of a reaction about it.” I lifted my chin confidently as we walked towards the school building together. As we got to my locker I spotted Sandy. She was further up the hallway, chatting and laughing animatedly with her little group of likeminded airheads. She didn’t even look in my direction. She’s obviously intent in not giving herself away and pretending like she doesn’t know anything is going on. Witch.

  Beth marched up a minute later, talking about how she was going to flunk algebra because she hadn’t done her assignment for class. I smiled and tried my best to get into the conversation, but my mind kept wandering back to the note and the box. You’re next. I suddenly doubted my plan to ignore it. As I glanced up at Sandy again the anger built in my stomach. What I really wanted to do was strut over there and finish what I’d started the other day. She looked up at exactly the same time, her eyes met mine and a small smug smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. I frowned, barely holding in my anger because she’d ruined everything and she seemed to be enjoying it so much.

  A tap on my shoulder made me turn my attention away from Sandy. Zach smiled down at me, though his eyes seemed concerned. “Hey. You okay? You look tired,” he asked, raising one eyebrow.

  I sighed and shrugged. “I’m fine. Didn’t sleep too well over the weekend that’s all.” Last night I hadn’t managed to get much sleep either. Alex was in the house so I wasn’t worried about being on my own, but the box, Sandy, my ill grandad, and Luke were running through my mind practically all night long. Sleep had unfortunately eluded me again.

  “How come?”

  I waved my hand dismissively, not wanting to get into it all. “My grandad’s not well. My parents went to make sure he’s alright, so that was stressing me out a little. He’s okay though. He’s got pneumonia apparently but he’ll be fine. My parents are staying down there to help my nanna out for a couple of days.” I reached into my locker and pulled out my books for the morning classes.

  “Wow, that sucks. Hopefully he’ll get better quickly,” he replied, leaning against my locker and watching me curiously.

  “Hopefully. So, are we studying at my place or yours tonight?” I asked, wanting to change the subject.

  “Mine if that’s alright, Olivia’s still keeping tabs on me.” He chuckled darkly as he stood up straighter. “I actually have something I need to do straight after school though so I’ll have to pick you up after I’m done. Maybe you could just h
ang out here at school and I’ll pick you up when I’m done, I’ll be about half an hour I guess.”

  I shrugged and nodded in agreement. Alex was going straight to the gym after school to train for his upcoming kickboxing match. I’d already told him I was going home with Zach and wouldn’t need a ride. “Sure, I’ll just hang in the library for a while until you get back. I need some new books to read anyway.”

  “You’re such a nerd,” he joked, bumping his shoulder with mine. I rolled my eyes, about to make a sarcastic comment back, but the bell rang before I could speak. He smiled, nodding over my shoulder. “I’d better go get to class, don’t want to be late and earn myself a reputation for being a delinquent.”

  I laughed at that and waved as he strutted off down the corridor confidently, not seeming to notice the girls looking at him and smiling as they tried to get his attention.

  My day passed without a hitch. I’d had none of those weird silenced phone calls, no typed notes with petals inside, and nothing was scrawled on my locker. Sandy didn’t even look in my direction all day. During gym I silently wondered if maybe the box with the teddy inside was the anticlimactic climax. Maybe she was bored of me not reacting the way that she wanted me to. Hopefully my choice of ignoring it all had the right effect and now she was abandoning her vicious façade against me. One could only hope.

  Even tutoring went well. Maybe my luck was finally turning around again and life would get back to normal. After Zach had finally graced me with his presence and picked me up after school, we’d gone to his place to study. We worked for almost two hours, getting a lot done, before stopping to have dinner with his aunt and uncle again. After, he drove me home.

  It was cold as I pulled off Zach’s jacket and passed it back to him. “Thanks for the loan. I really should remember to bring a sweater or something when we’re going to be on the bike,” I said, holding it out to him gingerly.

  He grinned teasingly. “Just admit it; you’d rather wear my clothes, that’s why you always wear silly little flimsy shirts when you know we’re studying. You like cloaking yourself in my smell.”

  I rolled my eyes, shouldering my bag. “Whatever you want to believe, Zach,” I replied sarcastically. “Thanks for dinner. See you tomorrow.” I turned for the house, hugging myself against the cold. Now that I’d taken off his jacket I was instantly covered in goosebumps.

  “See ya.”

  I waved over my shoulder as his bike roared loudly, then started disappearing down the street. I fumbled with my keys, slipping them into the lock and pushing the door open. As I stepped through the front door of the house I dropped my bag on the floor and frowned at the unusual quiet of the place. Normally the smell of food would hit me as soon as I walked through the door; chatter and the sound of a TV would fill the house. But today I was the only one here because Alex was training until late, and my parents were with my nanna. Even Chester, my dog, wasn’t whining and skipping excitedly down the hallway towards me. I didn’t like coming in to an empty house, it felt a little eerie.

  I decided to go and make a snack before I started on my own homework. The quiet was a little weird as I walked down the hallway. “Chester? You’d better not be asleep on the beds again!” I called, chuckling to myself. He had a fondness for Alex’s bed and took any opportunity to sneak in there if his door was left open. I stood at the bottom of the stairs and peered up. “Chester!” I scolded, rolling my eyes. “Come on, dinner time.”

  I headed into the kitchen, flicking on the lights as I went, knowing that the word dinner would have him scuttling down the stairs within seconds. After scooping out half a tin of dog food into his bowl and changing his water, I stood back against the counter, watching the door. “Chester!” I called again when he didn’t appear. I groaned in frustration and marched out, up the stairs towards Alex’s room. By the time I got to the top of the stairs though I realised that he wouldn’t be in there. The door was shut - unless maybe Alex had shut him in there by accident. As I opened the door though I saw that the room was empty, no indent on the bed, no tell-tale black dog fur on the pillow, nothing.

  “Chester, where are you?” I called loudly. I cast my eyes around seeing that all of the doors upstairs were closed so he wouldn’t be up here. I sighed and marched back down the stairs. We had a large cat flap in our back door that was actually big enough for him to fit through. We usually kept it locked while we weren’t home because Chester could get out through it fine but could never seem to apply the same logic to get back in again. We only unlocked it when someone was home so that they could let him in again.

  I strutted to the back door, grabbing my keys on the way past and unlocking it quickly, assuming that Alex had forgotten to lock the cat flap this morning. Poor little thing. If he’s been outside all day he’s probably freezing! As I pulled the door open I saw him. He was lying in the middle of the grass, not moving.

  “Chester?” I whimpered and stepped out quickly, rushing to his side. I gasped when I noticed his shallow breathing. His eyes were closed as if he was sleeping, but he seemed to be struggling to breathe. White foamy spittle coloured the corners of his black lips. “Oh no,” I muttered, quickly stroking him to see if he was hurt or anything. My eyes prickled with tears as he let out a low whimper and his eyes fluttered open before closing again. I didn’t know what to do; he was just lying there completely still. I needed to call a vet or something.

  My eyes landed on something a couple of feet away from where I was crouched. It was a grease proof wrap, white paper, like what butchers wrap meat in. I frowned at it then looked back at Chester. “Did you eat something?” I muttered, shaking my head in confusion. When my gaze landed on something else that was laying on the grass, I felt my body jerk in shock. A white calla lily, exactly like the ones that I kept being sent, laid there as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

  A sob rose in my throat. I looked back at my dog, horrified as realisation washed over me. Someone had poisoned my dog, and they’d done it because of me. “No, no, please no.”

  My hand flew straight to my pocket, pulling out my cell phone and dialling the one person that I knew would be round here in an instant. He answered almost immediately. “Luke! Oh God, it’s Chester,” I croaked as I buried my face against the scruff of his neck and broke down into hysterical sobs.

  Chapter 17

  Mere minutes later, Luke’s car screeched to a halt outside the front of my house. He burst through the back gate seconds after cutting the engine. I looked up at him pleadingly, silently begging him with my eyes to help my dog.

  Luke’s face fell as he looked from me to Chester who was still lying motionless, struggling to breathe. “Shit. He looks bad,” he mumbled, dropping down next to me.

  I nodded, sniffing loudly. “He’s been poisoned. We have to get him to the vets,” I croaked, swiping at my endless tears.

  Luke frowned and looked at me with doubtful, yet sympathetic eyes. “He hasn’t been poisoned, baby, he’s just old.”

  I shook my head adamantly. “He has, look!” I pointed at the lily and felt my chin wobble as guilt washed over me. “See? They left that!”

  Luke raised one eyebrow as he looked at the flower. “Left what? Maisie, what are you talking about?” He slipped his arms under Chester’s body, lifting him gently. “Look, let’s just get him to the vet and see what they say. But, baby, dogs don’t last forever; maybe it’s just his time.”

  I groaned in frustration because he wasn’t really listening to me. The rational part of me understood because he didn’t know about the flowers or notes so of course he wouldn’t think anything of it, but the grief-stricken part of me was annoyed with him for dismissing what I was saying. Chester whined quietly and my heart throbbed as I looked down at him apologetically. This was my fault; he was hurt because of me.

  Luke strutted towards the gate without waiting for me. “You need to lock your house,” he instructed as I stumbled along behind him in a state of panic. I nodded weakly, not thinkin
g clearly. I ran into the house, locking the back door behind me and then running through the house and out the front door, locking that too. By the time I got to Luke’s car I saw that he’d already settled Chester in the back seat, laying him out carefully. The car started as I jumped into the back with him and stroked his ears softly.

  I cried the whole way to the veterinary clinic while Luke tried to soothe me, telling me that they’d take care of him, that I should think positive, that maybe he’d just eaten something that had upset his stomach. Deep down I knew his words were true, he had definitely eaten something - Sandy the witch had given him something that had been wrapped in grease proof paper and had left me a lily so she could gloat about it.

  By the time we got to the clinic Chester was worse. His breathing was so shallow and rapid that it broke my heart. The muscles in his legs were twitching and his nose was bleeding. As soon as the nurse saw Luke carrying Chester in, and me crying hysterically, we were immediately rushed through into a treatment room where two men in green scrubs fussed over my dog, checking in his mouth and eyes, taking blood samples, trying to rouse him to no avail. The nurse stood there asking me question after question about how I found him, what he’d eaten, if he was fit and well this morning. I answered everything to the best of my ability, telling them about the grease proof paper that lay there and my suspicions that someone had poisoned him on purpose. They too looked sceptical but took extra blood samples too so they could do a toxicology report.

  “Maybe it’s best if you wait in the waiting room?” the nurse suggested when they started trying to make Chester vomit by squirting clear liquid down his throat. Luke nodded, wrapping his arm around my shoulders, pulling me from the room quickly. My legs barely worked as Luke guided me across the waiting room to the seating area. From the corner of my eye I saw the other pet owners looking at me sympathetically as they clutched their pets closer to them unconsciously, obviously now thinking the worst for their ill animals.