Kaleidoscope (Faylinn #1)

by Mindy Hayes

Chapter Two

  Pulsating through my body like another heartbeat, the subtle thumping broke my concentration on Macbeth. The sensation beckoned me to my bedroom window overlooking our trees.

  The internal thumping started getting a little stronger a few weeks ago. The need; the yearning; the hunger to be outside—it was controllable in the past. Simply being outside used to fulfill the urge. Before, there were times when I could brush it off and go back to whatever task I was doing. Now, I found that it grew stronger every day, pulling me to the trees. It made me feel crazy.

  I cracked the window in my bedroom open and skimmed the trees. The sun set behind the grove, generating a grayish blue haze streaming through the branches. I’d never been apprehensive about the vast pasture of greenery before, but as my eyes studied the unknown beyond, I began to question what was out there. I wasn’t sure if I was being lured by simple curiosity or something deeper. The only thing keeping me in the security of my bedroom was the coherent side of my brain that screamed danger at the thought of entering a darkening forest alone. But it was so tempting.

  My ears perked up at a faint tangle of noises. I lifted the window up a little more, but couldn’t quite make out what it was. It didn’t sound like birds or squirrels. There were two separate sounds. One was low, baritone almost, while the other was a slight bit higher, but not feminine sounding. I didn’t think it was humans, but the sounds were too soft to know for sure. Whatever it was sounded like… arguing? It was probably the next-door neighbors. There was a crack and then a thud. A tree branch falling?

  A knock at my door caused me to jump back. I turned as I let out a sigh.

  “Come in,” I called.

  My mom peered around my door. “Hey, baby. How was your first day?”

  I looked to the clock on my nightstand; the bold green numbers showed it was 8:07 pm.

  “Long, as yours seemed to be too.”

  She let out a humorless breath of laughter and walked into my room. She’d already changed into her gray pajama pants.

  “Do you like your teachers?”

  I shrugged. “They’re all okay, I guess. No one is particularly strict or mean, so that’s a plus.”

  She chuckled and sat on the edge of my bed. My mom and I were nearly identical, but she kept her blonde hair short and hid her twinkling green eyes behind brown-rimmed glasses.

  “Dad was worried about you today. You feeling okay?”

  I nodded without hesitation. “Yeah. I’m fine. Why?”

  “He said you just seemed a little on edge.” Her fingers stretched out and tucked a few of my curls behind my ear, away from my face.

  “It was probably the fact that I got to see Cameron and Isla suck face all day.”

  My mom wasn’t sure if she should laugh or console me so it became a combination of both. “Oh, honey.” She pulled me to her chest.

  I never declared my feelings for Cameron out loud to her, but I think my mom always knew, as all parents do with that aggravating, built-in intuition they have for their children.

  “He’ll come around.”

  I stayed silent in her arms for a moment, contemplating her words of encouragement. Of course, deep down I would always have that hope, but every day it slowly dwindled the more I thought about them together. “I don’t think he will this time.” I clenched back a tear. I wouldn’t let myself cry over him. I thought about what my dad said earlier and realized I’d let my mom pity me long enough.

  “Enough about me.” I pulled away. “How was your day? Dad said you’ve been given a really tough case.”

  She nodded solemnly. “Everything points to this guy, but it’s all circumstantial.” She explained what she could about the case in her lawyer mumbo jumbo and sighed. “But I’ll get him. It’s what I do.” She smiled and tugged me to her side. “I just need to give it my all.”

  “You’ll get him. I know you will.”

  “Thanks for your vote of confidence.” She winked. “I’ll let you get back to your homework. When you’re done come downstairs and we’ll watch a season premiere of one of the shows we DVR’d.”

  “Ah yes, let the fall season begin.”

  

  Week one of the school year had been conquered. Friday morning rolled around and everyone seemed to be settling into their niches. The freshmen were getting the hang of the layout and weren’t as much in the way with being lost. Now they were gaining confidence and big heads because they were big high schoolers. The buzz of coming back to school and seeing friends was slowly fading as people started to feel the weight of the schoolwork pile on.

  “Good morning, Calliebug!” Lia beamed at my side as I walked into the school Friday morning.

  I groaned, but formed a smile to hide my current state of mind. The pulsing was bad today, fiercer than it had ever been and being outside at school wasn’t fixing the problem. “It’s still early. Can we keep the squealing to a low decibel?”

  “Oh, but it’s such a pretty day out!”

  “You would think we would have at least one class together,” Lia complained as I dug around in my locker for my calculus book.

  “You’re in all AP classes, Lia. I wouldn’t last one day in any of those classes.”

  “Oh, you’d last just fine if you applied yourself,” she said, leaning her back against the lockers. “And you’d have me, which we both know would basically be like a free ride. I could have been your own personal tutor.”

  I laughed. “I’m good where I’m at. Thanks,” I said, shutting my locker. She matched my stride as we shouldered passed people in the hallway.

  “I’ve barely seen Cameron all week. Where is he?”

  Thankfully the thumping wasn’t painful, but it was distracting. I was surprised Lia couldn’t hear it. It made it really difficult to carry on this conversation. “I’m not the person to ask anymore.”

  She must have heard the defeat in my tone. I couldn’t keep it in check today.

  “This phase will pass, you know? They are in phase one. The lovey dovey phase, where no one exists but them. In a month or two they will hit phase two where their relationship will become more comfortable and they will start play-bickering—picking little fights about nothing to keep the relationship interesting. They will be in that phase for a few months and then phase three will hit. That’s the phase that will either make or break them.”

  “What’s phase three?” I asked, trying to sound interested.

  “It’s the confidence phase,” she said matter-of-factly. “Where they become so confident in their relationship they don’t try as hard because it has come so easy to them before. They will fight all the time over what he hasn’t been doing or has been doing that drives her crazy and vice versa.” She shrugged as if it was common knowledge.

  I peered up at her. “And then…”

  “Well… either they will figure out that even though they fight all the time they love each other too much to break up and they will work on being better to one another; or, they will decide the fighting has torn such a huge wedge in their relationship that it’s beyond repair and they will decide it’s not worth it to fix it.”

  “So, we’ve got a few months to see how this plays out,” I said, swallowing back the hammering in my ears. Maybe it was like when you traveled to high elevations and your ears needed to be popped. I swallowed again and tried to yawn, but it didn’t help.

  She nodded. “Six months to a year is the typical natural cycle. Unless the wild card gets thrown in and they break up for a completely different reason, like another guy or someone moves away or someone cheats. Don’t worry we already have a month and a half down.”

  “Oh wise one, how did you gain such knowledge?”

  “I read way too many books in my free time.”

  I laughed as the warning bell rang for school to start, and we split off to our separate classes.

  

  Looking out the kitchen window as I ate my after school snack, I felt the strings dig
deeper, tugging me to the forest. The more I watched the spray of ferns and shrubs, the more I was drawn to be amidst the peacefulness in which the leaves rustled and the trickle of flowers crawled under the shade beneath the branches. Despite the warning my internal radar gave to stay away, I couldn’t deny the tranquility that spread through me at the thought of breathing in the crisp air, shaded under the awning of green. This time I let it consume me.

  I hovered on the edge of the grove of trees where the spongy moss crept up to the lawn, inviting me to take one step. The pulsing was already weakening and calmness was gently seeping in. It was only moments before my body gave into the urge to explore when I felt it.

  That sixth sense.

  That sixth sense feeling of knowing when someone’s behind you or watching you. That tingling feeling that rises up your spine and shivers down your limbs. It felt like I was staring straight at someone in the trees, but all my naked eye could see was the rich woven branches. And yet it was there. Something or someone had to be out there.

  The rational part of my brain kicked in and I started to retreat, stepping back. As my foot moved I heard a quiet yet eager step come toward me. I took another step backward and simultaneously heard another step forward.

  I swallowed. “Is anyone there?”

  As if in response the wind whirled around me, blowing my hair, but no other sound was made.

  “Show yourself.” It was the next thing that came to my mind. If something was hiding in our trees, I probably didn’t want to wait around long enough to find out what it was, but the pull kept my feet planted in place.

  A faint trill of laughter echoed from the forest. It was mocking me. I turned on my heel and bolted for the back door to the safety of my home. I got the unsettling feeling that I was being chased, but when I reached the sliding glass door and slammed it behind me, nothing was there. I flipped the lock, sighing in relief and tried to catch my breath.

  “Are you okay, Calliope?”

  I gasped.

  My dad sat in his recliner in the corner of our living room, watching me with a book in his hands.

  I straightened up and fussed with the hem of my shirt, pulling it down around my waist. “Yeah.” My voice was meant to come off as sure, but I think it fell flat.

  “Come here,” he urged.

  I sat down on the couch across from him; taking comfort in the soft fabric I’d taken many naps on after school.

  “Maybe it’s better if you stay inside until we get that fence put up.”

  The thought of being banned from the forest shot a sting of anxiety throughout me. “What? No. I’m fine.”

  His forehead ruffled in uncertainty. He always made that face when he didn’t believe me. “Every time I’ve seen you out there or coming inside, you look spooked. What are you seeing out there?”

  “Nothing,” I said too quickly. “I just keep hearing something, but there’s nothing there. It’s probably just a raccoon or something.”

  “All right.” He closed his book and started to get out of his seat. “I’m going to Andy’s Hardware and I’m buying some wood to build a fence today.”

  “Dad, don’t be ridiculous. I’m fine. You don’t need to build a fence right this minute.”

  “Yes I do,” he insisted. “It should have been taken care of a long time ago. I don’t know why I’ve waited.” He shifted once more to get up.

  “Dad, you’re overreacting. Stay put.” I motioned for him to sit back down. “So what if a rabbit or possum shows up in our yard. What harm could they do?” He pursed his lips in contemplation. “Ease up, okay? Don’t stress yourself out. It’ll get built sooner or later. It doesn’t have to be right this instant.” I tried biding my time.

  He nodded, but wasn’t convinced. “I’m having it put up this weekend.”

  “Okay,” I relented.

  For whatever reason, the thought of being cut off from the trees made me feel uneasy, though, he did have a point. Not that we’d been bothered too much in the past by wildlife, but something was out there that should be kept out. I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up when I looked back to the ominous woodlands; but curiosity still bubbled at the surface, persuading me to let the pulsing capture me again.

  When I peered back at my dad, he watched me thoughtfully like he did when he was working on a crossword puzzle, like I was some mystery to be solved.

  “Are you feeling all right? You look a little flushed.” I put my hands to my cheeks. They were warm, but my heart rate was up from running through the backyard.

  “I do feel a little dizzy. I’m going to go lay down for a little bit.”

  “Good idea,” he said. “I’ll come get you when dinner is ready.”

  “Thanks, Dad.” I smiled meekly and walked to my room to be alone. I needed to stop acting so out of character. I didn’t like to be looked at under a microscope, my every move questioned. I wanted to tell my dad, but I was afraid. The last thing I wanted was to be sent to a therapist because everyone thought I was hallucinating or going schizo.

  

  I was flying. The wind blew over me, the ground far below me. It was freeing. I landed on something that felt like a beam. I looked down at my feet balanced on a rough brown beam covered in leaves. A tree branch? I scoured my location, vines and tree limbs coming into focus, snaking and entwining around each other. I was at least forty feet off the ground.

  I leaped from the branch and went soaring through the foliage. A smile widened on my face as a tingling swirled in my stomach. A mix between a laugh and a scream sprang from my lips.

  “Calliope!” A voice sang from my left.

  I peered over and saw a shadowy figure soaring beside me lift a hand in a wave. We leaped from tree to tree in unison, as if as one, spinning and flipping through the air like acrobats. Our laughter echoed off the branches, bouncing back and forth between us.

  I looked ahead to the nearest tree. When I landed I peered over to the tree across where the figure had landed maybe twenty feet away. Sunlight broke through the surface of the trees, cascading rays across his body. Penetrating eyes stared back at me and flipped my stomach.

  He laughed, gleeful. “Hi.”

  “Hi.” I smiled, catching my breath.

  “You’re doing really well,” he complimented.

  I slanted my eyebrows together, perplexed. “Thanks?” I chuckled.

  “Never seen anyone catch on so quickly.”

  “Catch on to what?”

  He spoke, but whatever he said was muffled.

  “What?”

  He repeated himself, but his words as well as the scene encircling us was taken away by the wind. Beneath me the branch vanished and the forest fizzled away, plummeting me to the woodland soil.

  I jolted awake.