“Are you ignoring me?” he asked.
“It’s so pretty here,” I said without looking at him and noticed Evelyn and Colin were further ahead.
“There’s something we need to talk about.”
I stared into his perfect blue eyes. “I don’t really want to talk about anything that’s happened the last couple of days,” I said. “I just want to forget and pretend.”
Pretend we met at the dance and you liked me, pretend we never saw Shannon disembowelled, pretend we could be together, be normal.
Oliver shook his head. “No. About you and I.”
“Okay?”
“That night at the dance, when we met...”
Birds fluttered from the tree branches around us and I jumped with fright.
Mrs Scott’s voice echoed toward us, “Girls! Boys! Lunch!”
Oliver rolled his eyes. “After lunch, okay?”
I nodded my head.
“I mean it. Right after lunch,” he insisted and the look in his eyes was serious. He really had the most incredible eyes.
All the way back to the camp-site I wondered what he wanted to tell me.
The dining hall had a long serving counter on the back wall and two long wooden tables were set on either side of the large room, from the front to the back, with long benches on each side of them. We queued at the serving counter after grabbing a paper plate from a stack and getting plastic eating utensils wrapped in a white serviette.
Lunch was burgers and chips, and after we were served, Oliver and I followed Evelyn and Colin to a table. The room was filled with loud laughter and happy voices.
Mrs Scott came to stand at the end of our table and waited for us all to look up at her so she had our full attention. “After lunch, everyone seated at this table will go sailing on the lake. Make sure you take something warm.” Without waiting for a response, she turned and walked to the other table.
Oliver nudged me. “Lucky us, we picked the right table. The other table will only get to go tomorrow.”
His smile was endearing, and when he looked at me it felt like he actually saw me. A feeling of overwhelming warmth filled me and all I could do was nod.
After lunch, we boarded the cutter with a single mast and a mainsail, one by one. Oliver got on ahead of me and then offered me his hand. I did not need his help but I wanted to feel his warm fingers curl around mine.
There were benches along the side of the hull, so we sat down as the skipper stood in front of us and gave us safety instructions, the most important one being: When we hear him yell, ‘Duck,’ we had to crouch down immediately without hesitation otherwise we might get knocked into the cold waters of the lake and never be found again.
I thought he was being overly dramatic about the never being found part but he seemed serious as his eyes moved from one person to the other until he made eye contact with each one of us.
We pulled away from the dock and then we glided out to the middle of the lake. The breeze got stronger the further we got from the shore.
I leaned over the edge, dangling my fingers in the icy cold water as the boat skimmed along the small waves. It was quiet, except for the shushing sound of the water and every so often the ring of the metal grommet banging against the mast.
A strange feeling came over me as my fingers glided through the water. Its coldness welcomed me. The dark depths felt like home.
A few hairs had come undone from my ponytail and blew in a crazy random way around my face. Brushing some flyaway hair from my face, I asked Oliver who was seated beside me, “What did you want to tell me?”
“Maybe later.”
I shrugged. Earlier it seemed so urgent to say what he wanted to say, but I did not want him to think it bothered me that he did not want to tell me anymore.
The wind changed direction suddenly and we crouched down immediately when the skipper’s voice yelled, “Duck,” as the sail swung around.
“If you could sail anywhere?” He asked me.
I laughed softly. “Don’t know. This is my first time sailing. You?”
“The Bermuda Triangle,” he said seriously.
I looked at him and laughed. “That sounds very ominous.”
He laughed with me. “Would you miss me?”
“Maybe,” I said, looking away.
We sailed around the lake until the sun began to sink toward the grey monolith of the school building.
As soon as the cutter came to a stop next to the dock, everyone jumped down on to it. The supports squeaked loudly under the weight.
Oliver had already jumped off but something made me wait and I let everyone go ahead of me. For some reason, I liked the way the boat swayed on the water beneath my feet, it made me feel relaxed, it gave me a sense of belonging.
Everyone else walked along the dock back to the camp-site, discussing the sail boat, the way the boarding house looked so ominous from this side of the lake, and things I could not make out.
When I did not have a choice anymore, I jumped from the cutter and joined Oliver where he was waiting for me on the dock.
He said, “You know what we should do?”
“What?”
“Hang out?”
“It’s almost dark.”
“So?” he asked like he had expected me to agree immediately.
“So, I need a shower before dinner.” I stared at the ground.
“Okay.” There was a note of disappointment in his voice.
I looked up at him. “Afterwards?”
Although I fell in love with his pixilated smile the first time I saw him, I knew deep down he was going to break my heart.
12
Oliver gave me a funny look. A needy look. He reached out and brushed the flyaway hair back from my face, barely skimming my cheek. My stomach clamped down in nerves as he leaned closer. Then, softly, his lips were on mine.
I felt confused. Two different emotions rushed through me at the same time. A murderous rage and a feeling of overwhelming desire to be happy.
Slowly I pulled away from him and looked at him, brushing my fingertips lightly across his lower lip and then wove his fingers through mine.
Something was happening to me.
We were standing in shadows and the voices of the other kids and teachers seemed distant but I could see their dark bodies etched clearly against the big bonfire they had built on the large stretch of sand between the camp-site and the edge of the lake.
“We should get back,” I said.
His shoulder brushed mine as he leaned closer and whispered in my ear, “You don’t have to go.”
I did not want to go.
He sat down on the edge of the dock, letting his legs dangle over the side and pulled me down to sit beside him. The dock was high enough so that our feet did not touch the cold, dark water. A slight breeze swirled around us making me feel a little cold.
I turned around to face Oliver. “So, are you ever...”
He raised his eyes to meet mine.
Was he looking at… Me?
“Going to kiss me again?” He asked softly as the one side of his mouth pulled up in an amused smile.
Flustered, I said, “No. That’s not what I was going to say.”
He chuckled softly as he nudged me playfully. “I know. What did you want to know?”
“I… I forgot what I was going to say.” I looked down at the water below us and the way the glow from the bonfire reflected off the peak of the ripples the breeze was creating. My legs swung backwards and forwards.
He shook his head. “Remember when I said earlier today we needed to talk.”
I shrugged my shoulders without looking back at him, pretending to be mesmerized by the water.
“It’s really dark out here,” he said as he looked over his shoulder at the tall, dark trees behind us.
“It makes it easier to see the stars,” I said, looking up at the sky.
Oliver lay back on the dock. “There are so many,” he said.
“
That’s because there’s no moon.”
He laughed softly. “The moon is still there, we just can’t see it.”
I am like the moon.
I eased myself down next to him and we both watched the sky in silence.
“You know,” he said quietly. “I’m glad I kissed you. At first, I thought I shouldn’t have done it. It was too soon and I’m not even sure if...”
Then why? Why would he kiss me if he was not sure he wanted to? Did he think he would get his way with me easily? Did he imagine we would go all the way, here in the dark, just the two of us? I know I am not the first girl he had kissed, with whom he had been alone in the dark.
Will I even be the last?
“If what?” I asked softly.
He lifted his head off the dock and leaned on his elbow, then tilted his head toward me and leaned closer, kissing me softly on the lips. He pulled away, and then moved his mouth to my cheek, nose, eyes, brow, his kisses followed a trail determined by him.
I could barely breathe.
He stopped, his face hovering an inch above mine.
I could not read his expression and I was not sure if it was because there was hardly any light or if he was trying to hide his emotions.
I opened my mouth to say something sarcastic to hide the way I was feeling.
“What if?” He asked before he kissed me. His hands rested on the waist band of my jeans and he looped his fingers through the belt loop on one side to pull me on to my side to face him.
My hands came up to his chest to push him away.
“What’s wrong?” Oliver asked, his lips still so close they brushed mine as he spoke.
“Not too fast,” I said.
“As slow as you want,” he said as his warm hand slid under the hem of my T-shirt.
My top crept up, exposing my stomach to the night chill.
He traced his finger along my waist while kissing the side of my neck. Of course, I had imagined being kissed like this but the reality was so much more intense.
As Oliver slid his hand higher up my waist, I put my hand on top of his, not sure if I wanted to never move again or if I wanted to make him stop. I was conflicted. My body wanted him to continue, to see where this would lead. The voice in my head warned me he was only using me. He would break my heart. If I let him continue, he would discard me like a used rag.
“Too fast?” He asked and he sounded concerned.
“I think so, yes,” I said softly.
Slowly he pulled his hand out from under mine and making small, lazy circles on my skin which gave me goosebumps he moved his hand slowly down my waist until his hand was resting on the waist band of my jeans again.
13
I put my head down, hiding my face to avoid his eyes.
“Hey, guys,” Evelyn said. “We were looking all over for the two of you.”
Looking up, I saw her and Evan silhouetted against the night sky, their shapes hovering above us.
Quickly I moved away from Oliver and sat up, folding my arms around my legs as I pulled them up to my chest.
“Can we join you?” Evan asked as he sat down next to Oliver, dangling his legs from the dock.
I lifted myself quickly. “I need to go to the pod for a second.”
Evelyn glanced in my direction. “Hope it’s not something I did.”
Colin agreed, “Just as we arrive, you run off.”
I chuckled dismissively. “I need the loo if that’s okay with the two of you.”
“Have you been here since we got back from sailing?” Colin gave Oliver a bemused look.
As I walked away from them, I heard him say, “Yeah. I wanted to talk to Alison, but we got sidetracked, a little.”
Evelyn giggled and each note from the sound escaping her mouth cut like a piece of glass through my soul. She had turned the moment, which a second ago felt special, into something dirty.
They were laughing at me.
I won’t allow Oliver to hurt me.
No-one will ever hurt me again.
The forest loomed dark beside me and from the corner of my eye I saw a shadow move across the tree trunks to my side and then there was a flash of silver, maybe a reflection off an old discarded can. The wind whistled through the branches above my head and it sounded like a whisper, “Alllliiisson.”
I spun around, peering into the dark, trying to see if there was something between the trees.
My heart started pounding in my chest. “Is someone there?”
A voice said softly, “It’s me, Lily.”
I was not sure if the voice came from the darkness between the trees or if it came from inside my head.
Terror threatened to overwhelm me and I took a step back before I twirled around and bolted as fast as I could to the camp-fire and the safety of light, not looking back.
Mrs Scott called my name as I sprinted past her, but I did not stop.
I was running away from me and I could not run fast enough.
I only slowed down when I entered the communal bathroom, leaning against the cool, beige tiles to catch my breath. The small light bulb overhead barely lit the two white porcelain basins against the opposite walls from the puke green stall doors, which were pushed shut and had pockets of shadows hiding behind them.
Pushing away from the wall, I walked to the first stall slowly and pushed against the door to push it open before walking in. Silhouetted in the shadow, behind the separating wall of the neighbouring stall there were two feet in the bottom gap, I gasped as I took a step back.
When I looked again, the pink Van’s were gone and then a hand grabbed my wrist making me stumble in panic.
“Alison?” The girl asked.
I yanked my hand down hard to release the hold of icy cold fingers around my wrist and looked down, glimpsing a long sharp blade.
I hardly managed to turn before the long steely blade rose high in the air. It came down with force and I felt a warm oozing liquid splatter my face as the knife thrust in and out of the girl’s chest who tried to put up a fight but it was useless, she never had a chance. Then she fell to the ground with a limp puppet motion.
In terror, I took a couple of steps backwards and slipped down the smooth tiles on the wall behind me until I was sitting on the cold concrete floor. I felt numb and scared to death as I stared at the lifeless body and then I heard a voice screaming and screaming, not realising the sound came from me.
Oliver came running into the bathroom and ran straight to me, pulling me up from the floor and the screaming stopped.
He was going to think I had committed all these crimes. He was going to think I was the psycho killer on the loose. The girl he kissed was the mass murderer. I had to get away from him. I would never be able to handle the loathing in his eyes. I would become invisible to him as well.
Shoving him away from me, I pushed past the gathered crowd to get out of the room.
Wiping my hands over my face, I felt the sticky sensation of the blood now glued to my skin and panic again threatened to overwhelm me.
I had to get away from here.
Aiming for the trees, I sprinted across the open clearing as fast as I could.
I could hear Oliver’s voice calling my name and his footsteps were pounding the ground behind me.
His voice became further and further away as I ran in between the trees. My foot got stuck in a fallen branch and I fell down on to the ground. I squirmed until I got up on my hands and knees, looking over my shoulder in the direction I came and saw nothing. Only darkness.
Then I heard voices right beside me, on the other side of a large bush.
The girl was crying softly. Quiet, whimpering sounds.
The boy’s voice said, “It just happened, Carly. I love her. I never meant to fall in love with her but it just happened. I am sorry to do this to you.”
Rage filled me and a red hazy mist started swirling between the trunks of the trees surrounding me. It seeped up from the ground and curled its wispy tendrils around the
branches.
Then the girl was screaming and I saw a bloodied body on the ground next to her. He was gutted from the neck down and his insides had become his outsides.
Turning, I saw Oliver racing toward me. “Alison, we have to get out of here,” he screamed. “There’s a killer running loose.”
I kicked my legs in front of me to scoot backwards. “Don’t come any closer, Oliver,” I warned him.
The bright glare of a flash light blinded me for a second and two people, one on either side of me started to lift me from the ground.
“This camping trip is over,” Mrs Scott said to the side of me. “The entire camp is a crime scene and we all have to get back to the dorm as quickly as possible.” She was standing a few feet away from me, her expression was dismayed.
I was terrified. Could I trust these people?
The way the flash-lights threw dancing shadows on their faces made them all look like pure evil demons. The shadows made their mouths look full of little sharp teeth, and their eye sockets were bare. When I was on my feet again, I took a step away from them.
Mrs Scott was trying to calm everyone and telling us, “Follow me. We need to get out of here.” In a tightly formed group, they started to rush back toward the camp-site.
Taking a couple of steps backwards into the dark forest, I collided with Oliver who had moved to stand behind me.
I spun around to face him.
He grabbed hold of my hand and I saw a frown flicker across his face. Lifting my hand, he looked down.
When he looked back at me, his face was etched with shock. “Alison? Where did you get this knife?”
I looked at my hand which he was holding up between us. Clutched between my fingers there was a long, silver knife covered in blood.
A knife I never realised I was holding.
My fingers felt numb and lifeless. My knuckles were a strange yellowish colour.
The Girl in Room Thirteen Page 6