Wide Awake - Academy of the Fallen Series

by Daniele Lanzarotta

  I pulled the car over in a parking lot. Truth was, my hands started to shake again and my stomach was turning. I had a real bad feeling about this.

  I met his gaze.

  He shrugged. “Couldn’t tell, the voice was breaking in and out, it sounded a little like the girl from earlier.”

  Somehow, I knew it was her… Carolyn.

  I was scared of the answer, but I asked anyway, “Is there a reason that happened, you know, her voice breaking in and out?”

  As if it was no big deal, he said, “Yeah, she is probably trapped and can’t get through all the way.”

  I couldn’t breathe.

  “It happens a lot,” he said. “It is just part of being where they are.”

  “How do you know so much?”

  “You don’t need to know about me. You want to know about them, I will tell you what you need to know, but that is as far as this goes. Now are we going to be parked here all day? I need to get home.”

  He was annoying me, being rude like that. Just to think hours before I tried to spare him trouble by not lying and telling Emily and Jess that I had used him to get rid of Justin. That was exactly what I should have done.

  Without saying anything else I took him home, dropped him off and right before I left he said, “If you decide to be serious and really talk about it without being all bratty, you know where to find me.”

  “Whatever,” I said, blowing him off.

  I spent the drive home trying to think of ways to bring Carolyn back.

  NINE

  Yes, the school called Kelly at work and she was waiting for me when I got there. Honestly, I wasn’t surprised about that, but only at first…

  She wasn’t mad, but she had her concerned ‘mom’ expression, which was way worse.

  I barely had enough time to put my stuff down before she said that we needed to talk and we did talk.

  The nurse had called, even though I hadn’t seen her at all, and had said that I wasn’t feeling well. I just took the easy way out and blamed all of my problems on Justin. Telling her I just felt overwhelmed by what had happened that morning.

  “I cannot believe he is still not letting it go. You know, I never liked that boy!”

  “Yes, I know.”

  “Maybe I should go and talk to the principal.”

  “Please don’t. That will only make things worse; besides, he probably already got suspended after today. That should be enough.”

  Kelly sighed. “Okay, hun. But if he bothers you again, you need to let me know right away. Agreed?”

  I nodded.

  Unfortunately, I didn’t get out of that as easily as I expected to. Kelly had made me an appointment with some shrink for that afternoon. The only good thing about that was that everyone would still be at school so I did not have to worry about running into anyone.

  Running into people from school ended up being the last thing I should have been worried about.

  Kelly drove me to my session, which at the time, I hoped would be my first and last. One hour answering ‘me’ questions couldn’t be that bad, right? I could certainly manipulate my answers so that the shrink would just tell Kelly that I was fine and that would be it.

  The shrink, Dr. Moulder, actually seemed really nice.

  After asking the basic lame questions that she was probably required to ask, like if I had ever used any drugs, which when she asked I just plain rolled my eyes and asked her if I looked like I used any drugs. I mean, not only is it dumb, but I have way better things to spend my money on. Anyway, after she was done with those questions she went straight to the point.

  “Kayla, I understand that there are things that you may not want to talk about with your parents and that is what I’m here for, so you can talk to me about anything that may be bothering you.”

  “Nothing is bothering me.”

  She asked a couple of more direct questions, about me being adopted and about Kelly being pregnant. I didn’t have any trouble convincing her that neither of those things was bothering me, which was the truth.

  I was probably ten minutes away from the session being over when Benjamin showed up.

  I put so much focus on ignoring him that I was distracted about everything else and everything went downhill from then on.

  I referred to Kelly and Andrew by their names instead of mom and dad, which Dr. Moulder misdiagnosed as me having a problem with being adopted. I wasn’t even sure what she made of me being suddenly distracted and quiet as I kept trying to ignore Benjamin. He just stood there, whispering in my ear that he was back and that I would pay for sending him away. He also said that if I got Hunter involved, he would be hurt and I would be to blame.

  “I will see you at home,” Benjamin finally said as he brushed his arm against mine, and I was even more afraid now. I could feel him, I could feel his touch and I just knew he wasn’t kidding about hurting Hunter.

  Dr. Moulder noticed me shiver at his touch, but luckily she felt something too.

  “Sorry about that. My assistant is always messing with the a/c…”

  “No problem. So, am I good to go?”

  “Yes, but I would really like to talk to you again. Maybe sometime next week?”

  “Why?” I asked in a cold tone.

  “Nothing to worry about, Kayla. I just don’t feel like we covered everything that we needed to cover. That is all.”

  I shrugged. “Sure.” I figured I had one week to come up with an excuse to get out of it, so I agreed.

  Dr. Moulder talked to Kelly for a couple of minutes. I had no idea what all they talked about; after all, I knew there was only so much that Dr. Moulder could have told Kelly. Besides, I had other things to worry about so I didn’t even care to find out. They setup my next appointment and Kelly took me home.

  On the way, she just said, “See, it wasn’t as bad as you expected, was it?”

  “No, it wasn’t that bad,” I said, still sounding distracted.

  We didn’t talk much after that. We grabbed something to eat on the way home and when we got to the house I said I had homework and went straight to my room.

  Sure enough, Benjamin was in my room, waiting for me.

  I walked in and closed the door, thinking I was ready for him.

  “What do you want from me?” I asked.

  “Too late for that. First, I want revenge for you sending me away and then we will talk about what I need from you in order for me to leave you alone.”

  I took a deep breath and confronted him. “So what, are you going to keep following me around, tormenting me until you are satisfied?”

  He smiled. “Pretty much. Really, I think you will be much more fun than I anticipated.”

  Before I could react in any way, he was gone, and I hadn’t been the one to do that.

  TEN

  I just assumed that Benjamin left because he wanted to.

  I had already decided to not get Hunter involved, but I needed to get Carolyn. She could probably help me get rid of Benjamin.

  I had been told that she was trapped, but I hoped I could help her get released or whatever it was that she needed.

  I tried doing what I had done before. I closed my bedroom door and locked it. I sat on the floor, closed my eyes and focused on Carolyn. Focusing on what I wanted was a lot easier to do without Benjamin around and I really, really hoped he wouldn’t just show up again.

  Summoning Carolyn didn’t work. At least not in the way I wanted it to. All I got was the sound of a faint whisper ‘get Hunter’.

  I had no other options.

  I thought to myself, ‘Okay, I will just call Hunter and ask him what I need to do to un-trap Carolyn. Just one call and then I will leave him alone’. I also kept searching around for any signs of Benjamin appearing.

  I grabbed the piece of paper that Hunter had given me with his phone number and the message that I could trust him. I laughed. Right!

  I took a deep breath, knowing that was really my only option.

  Just as
I grabbed the phone, Benjamin materialized in front of me and he looked furious.

  “You don’t listen, do you?” He shook his head. “Like father – like daughter.”

  I wanted to ask what he meant by that, but no words came out. I looked at the door and thought about making a run for it, but what was the point? I stared at him and mentally tried to send him away… wishful thinking.

  “That won’t work again, little girl. And here is a clear message of what will happen to your little guy friend if you get him involved in this…”

  With both hands, he grabbed a snow globe that I had gotten for Christmas and smashed it, leaving nothing left but shattered glass.

  I felt terrified and I was sure I looked the way I felt.

  “Good!” He said. “That is exactly the reaction that I wanted. Now don’t be stupid. I will be around. Even if you don’t see me, make no mistake… I will be around!” And he disappeared.

  I couldn’t sleep that night. Not because I was afraid, but because I could literally feel that he was there…. watching.

  I kept wondering if I was wrong about what he was. He was just so different from Carolyn… and one thing that I could not keep my mind off of was the fact that he could touch things and Carolyn couldn’t…. The way he shattered that snow globe, without so much as looking like he was struggling with it…he was strong.

  ‘He is different.’ Carolyn had said. ‘He is no good.’ Well, that was an understatement.

  I didn’t even think there was a way to do anything behind his back. I also wondered what he meant about me being like my dad and just the thought of him being around Kelly or Andrew, made me shiver.

  That night, he didn’t appear again.

  ***

  From a sleepless night, I got up and got ready for school. Grabbing my books, I went straight to the nearest coffee shop to the house. I needed caffeine or I wouldn’t make it through the day.

  Hunter was waiting for me in the parking lot when I got to school. I was exhausted, cranky, and just the sight of Hunter made me think of how badly Benjamin would be able to physically hurt him. And did I mention I was exhausted? My brain was definitely not working the way it should have been.

  I got out of the car and Hunter said we needed to talk.

  “No, you need to leave me alone,” I said.

  “You don’t mean that.”

  “Uh, yes. I do mean it.”

  I walked away and he just stood there for a couple of seconds before he started to follow me.

  I turned around and snapped. “What do you want from me?”

  “I want to help you.”

  “I don’t need your help!”

  At that moment, Justin walked by and put his arm around my shoulder. He locked his gaze on Hunter’s and said. “Is he bugging you, Kay?”

  Like I said, I was sort of almost brain-dead at that point. I didn’t know what was Justin’s deal, but I played his little game. That was a good way to get Hunter to stay away from my problems.

  I put my arm around Justin’s waist. “Nah, he was just leaving. Right, Hunter?”

  Hunter just shook his head and walked away. He seemed frustrated, but definitely not as frustrated as I was. For one thing I didn’t like feeling the way I was feeling; I hated the way I felt as he walked away…. helpless… alone… All I really wanted was to tell Justin to get his hands off me, and to go after Hunter.

  ELEVEN

  “Get your hands off me.” I warned Justin.

  “Oh, okay. I see you just wanted to use me and now we are done? Fine with me. All I wanted was to get him back for yesterday anyway.”

  I walked away from Justin before I completely lost my mind.

  I ignored everything and everyone that day. Jess even made some remark about me spending like three seconds with Hunter and starting to act like him…socially challenged, as she put it. I told her I was just having a bad day and she finally left me alone.

  Same thing at home… I told Kelly I had too much homework and that was enough to be left alone.

  I was in my room watching TV when I finally started to doze off.

  The sudden temperature drop and his finger running through my hair were enough to startle me.

  I quickly got up and moved to the other side of the room, “What do you want?”

  “Ah, Kayla!” That was the first time he had ever said my name, and I hated the way he said it. “Un-patient just like your daddy…”

  “Andrew is not…”

  He laughed. “I’m not talking about your adoptive father.”

  I froze in place.

  He came closer to me and I took a few steps back. He kept moving forward until I was trapped against the wall. He stopped inches away from me… looking as if he was able to see right through me.

  “Don’t worry, we will talk more about your daddy.... Just when the time is right.”

  He vanished and I just sat on the floor and started to cry.

  Another night spent fully awake. Only this time, I couldn’t even think straight. I was just afraid of seeing him again.

  I drank coffee, a lot of coffee.

  I didn’t go to school the next day. I told Kelly I wasn’t feeling well and with the lack of sleep, it sure seemed believable.

  I wandered around the house, trying to find things to do that would keep me from sleeping.

  I wasn’t sure how long exactly someone could go without sleep before they started having hallucinations, but two days and nights with no sleep were enough to convince Dr. Moulder that I needed serious help.

  That afternoon I had my second session. I tried to get out of it, but Kelly insisted on me keeping that appointment. She drove me there herself and I was too tired to fight it.

  I sat on the couch across from Dr. Moulder as she asked if there was anything in particular bothering me and if I wanted to talk about it.

  She didn’t hide her smile when I said there was something bothering me and agreed to talk about it.

  Her smile quickly faded when I told her that the something that I wanted to talk about was, well, that I thought he was a ghost. Benjamin never showed up; he never materialized anyway, he was probably just watching us somehow and laughing. Overcome by exhaustion I told her everything. I told her that Benjamin had mentioned my dad, my biological dad, I told her about the threats to Hunter.

  “Kayla, do you see Benjamin right now?”

  “No.”

  “Why do you think he shows up when you plan on talking to Hunter about him, but not while you are talking to me about him?”

  I shrugged. Eventually, after I got some sleep I would have realized that was because Hunter believed me and no one else would. Unfortunately I would come to realize that a little too late.

  We talked. Dr. Moulder took lots of notes and after finding out that I wasn’t getting any sleep she prescribed me some sleeping pills and more frequent sessions to get a better diagnosis. Honestly, I think that the clear lack of sleep and what that was doing to me, was the only reason she didn’t try and have me committed.

  Kelly didn’t say much on the drive home, but it was clear that she was concerned.

  “You shouldn’t worry about me this much, Kelly. It is probably not good for the baby.”

  We had just pulled up on the driveway when I told her that.

  “Oh, Kayla, honey! You know you are just as important as the baby and worrying about your kids is part of being a mom.” She pulled me into a hug. “I just wish you would have come to me or Andrew if you were curious about your biological parents.”

  Clearly, Dr. Moulder must have come to that conclusion. “I didn’t say I was…”

  She cut me off.

  “Kayla, this is clearly bothering you, especially if you are actually losing sleep over it. We will talk about it some more after Andrew gets home. Right now I want you to go inside and take one of those pills that the doctor prescribed.”

  Too tired to even think about it, I went inside, took the pill and slept like a baby.


  I actually slept for over 12 hours. Luckily that was a Friday and I didn’t have to worry about school and seeing Hunter, at least not until Monday.

  The weekend was actually as normal as it could get. I went to the movies with Emily and Jessica, after they both agreed that Hunter and Justin should not be at all discussed on our day out. I went shopping with Kelly for baby stuff…my suggestion. Kelly actually had not mentioned anything else about my biological parents, but I could tell she was avoiding it. Yet, she was just waiting for me to ask, and I was curious to finding out what all Kelly and Andrew knew about them, but it just didn’t feel right bringing it up.