There was no reply, not even a break in the footsteps.
‘Addison, I know it’s you.’ Lori shifted from foot to foot, ready for anything. ‘Quit messin’ around. Either face me or leave me alone.’
Nothing.
‘You know, I thought I knew you better than everyone else, thought you were different. Never believed it when Em warned me, when she called you crazy. I defended you, Addy…’ Still nothing. ‘But I guess I was wrong.’
The footsteps had stopped. Now there was no sound at all, the forest noise blocked by the cliff.
‘Addy?’ It was hard to tell if she was still there. Lori hadn’t heard her walking away and she couldn’t see anything.
After what felt like hours, Lori knew she was alone again. And it was worse than knowing Addy had been out there waiting for her. Lost and alone.
The rock fell from her hand, forgotten. Lori sat on the hard ground, leaning back against a soft moss-covered boulder. The fog was lifting from the trees below the cliff, curling around her. Mist settled on her jacket, collecting in beads and running down the sides of her sleeves. Hugging her knees, Lori rested her head and closed her eyes. Her racing heartbeat betrayed the mantra she’d been repeating, telling herself she wasn’t scared.
58
‘LORI?’
An ache in Lori’s neck made it hard to look up. She shuffled over, leaned back enough to look up and see Em’s face sticking out over the top of the cliff above. Lost in her own mind, Lori hadn’t heard her coming.
‘Stay there.’ Em disappeared, a fine mist of dirt falling into Lori’s eyes, stinging. By the time she’d blinked away the debris and wiped it from her face, Em was by her side, pulling her into a rough hug that pinned Lori’s knees to her collarbone.
‘I’ve been searching for you for ages. How the hell’d you end up down here?’
Lori answered with a groan. Realising she was squeezing too tight, Em let go and helped her stand. Lori’s legs were stiff, and she was shivering.
They started walking. Em led the way while Lori filled her in, telling her that Addy had been there, following her, how Addy had been hiking the mountain since she was a kid, and how she had purposefully herded her down to where she’d be cornered.
Lori stopped as the implication grew in her mind, wondering what Addy would have done had she ambushed her on that ledge. One easy little push and she would have gone over the edge.
‘What’s wrong?’ Em glanced around, unnerved.
‘Nothing. I just—’
A branch cracked, and they both jumped.
‘Let’s get out of here.’ Em grabbed Lori’s hand tightly and led her back through the trees to the carpark.
Back in the car, small vents blew gales of warming air on faces and legs, rubbing feeling back into fingertips. Only after Em had locked the doors did Lori relax. ‘Technically, you owe me dinner, seeing as you got back first.’
‘Seriously? You’re gonna be a smartass right now?’ But Em wasn’t serious either. The smile on her face was just as loud as their laughter, briefly washing away any remaining fear of Addy and any worry about Marina’s vanishing act.
59
THE GLARE COMING off the snow was harsh, but Lori had gotten used to it. She’d been staring at the hall doors for a while, familiar faces coming and going. She knew she shouldn’t be there. But it was her clinic. She’d started it, and she’d been the one to fight for it, kept it going on donations and volunteers after the budgeted funding had fallen short of what was needed. Those students going inside the hall, those were her students. And those kids, she knew what they needed more than anyone else in that room.
But she couldn’t go in, couldn’t move. Her shoulders stuck to the bricks, her feet sunk into the snow. She told herself it was because she didn’t want to jeopardise the clinic and the project, but really, it scared her. The thought of walking in there to a repeat of what happened yesterday; the halt in conversation, the looks, the weight of unasked questions, and having no good answer for the ones they did ask.
She couldn’t face it.
It took a second to recognise Addy when she appeared in the entrance, rugged up in a beanie and scarf. She waved back at someone inside, and Lori watched her skip down the steps and head off towards the pool. She couldn’t believe Addy had the nerve to show her face, there of all places.
Anger moved Lori a step forward, her body gearing up, her fingers grinding into fists. But then someone else stepped outside. Jeremy.
His head swivelled as he scanned the footpath, and then he was moving in the same direction, jogging to catch up to Addy. But he didn’t. Instead, he stopped just short, dropping back a little further when Addy slowed, her head bent to the phone in her hands. Jeremy looked nervous, the way he was glancing around, ducking his head, pulling up his collar.
Intrigued, Lori followed them both. She noticed the camera in Jeremy’s hand. ‘What is he doing?’
Thoughts swarmed; the camera, the photos, the social media site, the photos plastered all over her office walls. She forgot all about Addy, sprinting to catch up to Jeremy. She grabbed him by the wrist and spun him around.
‘Did you get what you wanted?’
The surprise on his face turned to fear. ‘Miss Tate?’ He looked over his shoulder, but Addy was gone, and there was no one else around.
‘You got me fired. Got me kicked off the clinic. Are you happy?’
‘What? No, it—it wasn’t me. Why would I be happy about you being fired? You were the nicest teacher I’ve ever had. I swear—’
She snatched the camera out of his hand, fiddled with the buttons, turning it on and cycling through the gallery.
At first it was just photos for the class project, taken that morning. But then various photos of the same face filled the little screen. Most were of Addy by herself. In some she was with people Lori didn’t recognise, or with the swim team. All of them were from a distance.
It shocked Lori to see her own face on the screen. He had photos of her and Addy in hallways, in her office, at swim meets, in the storeroom at the clinic. He’d even taken a few of them in the lecture room, through the little square of glass in the door.
There was none from the nightclub, though. She didn’t understand why he hadn’t just used the photos he had, instead of going to the trouble of hacking her account and stealing photos to plaster her office.
But that was the thing; he wouldn’t have needed to. He had enough evidence there to get her fired, even without the misconduct report. He was telling the truth. It wasn’t him. He didn’t get her fired.
Then Lori came across the photo of her and Addy at the brunch, out on the balcony, taken from below. She shoved the camera back at him, hitting him in the chest with it. ‘Did you leave this photo at my door?’
Jeremy stumbled backwards, but Lori’s grip on his wrist stopped him from losing balance. One-handed, he turned the camera the right way up, glancing at the screen. He looked up at her, flinching as he nodded. ‘I—I didn’t want you to get in trouble. I thought if—’
‘Did you break into my office?’
He shuffled from side to side, his chin dropped to his chest, staring at the ground. He nodded.
‘Why?’
‘The envelope I g-gave you? With the project ph-photos? It had one I took of Addy in it by a-accident.’
‘Did you break into my house? Leave a knife stuck in my table—’
‘What? No!’
‘—or move my stuff. The stereo, the snowmen, the writing in the dirt, the garden statues…’ Her steam petered out at the look on his face. He didn’t know what she was talking about.
‘I didn’t… I didn’t do any of that.’
Shit. She believed him.
‘It wasn’t you at the pool.’
‘The pool?’
She hadn’t needed an answer, but his confusion was real. True, Lori had seen red toenails kicking through the water and believed it was Addy. She’d put two and two together, had been so sur
e…
Lori was grasping at straws now but she had to ask, ‘How well do you know the mountain trails?’
‘I’m not much of a nature guy.’
No, he was scrawny and skittish. Em was right; Jeremy was harmless. Except for the whole stalking Addy part.
Lori caught his eyes as they flashed downwards, a grimace flashing across his face. Looking down, she saw that she was still holding him by the wrist. His skin had turned white and bloodless around her grip. Horrified, she let go.
For a while she just stood there, staring at her empty hand, her fingers regaining the colour in their pinched folds.
For the tiniest moment Lori had thought she’d had it wrong all along, that it wasn’t Addy. That she hadn’t really believed Addy would try to hurt her, or mess with her head and scare her.
That she was wrong in believing Addy was crazy, or dangerous, or out for revenge.
She realised that deep down, against all else, she hadn’t wanted it to be Addy, but now… now it felt real. It hit home, and it hit hard.
It doubled her over, hands on her knees, keeping her from sinking down to the ground. Breathless, motionless, but every fibre inside her body struggled and thrashed, like she was being held under water all over again.
60
SOMEONE HAD BEEN saying her name, over and over, but Lori was too busy pondering a question to look up. It had been running through her mind while she’d sat, sullen, staring at the silent phone on the table. A hand slammed down beside it. ‘Lori!’
The phone jumped, but Lori calmly looked up at Em. Her words slurred together. ‘How many unanswered calls would it take to be considered stalking? And would it still be stalking if she answered? Not that she has—’
‘Okay. Time to go.’
Lori looked down at Em’s hand on her arm, at the bloodless skin under the fingers gripping tight above her elbow. It was just like how she’d taken hold of Jeremy. That scared look on his face. It made something inside her shrink away from the light.
Avoiding the inevitable judgement written on Em’s face, she looked over at the bar. The glare she got from the bartender finked him out as the one who’d called for backup to drag her away. The same one who had cut her off a half hour ago, the one that’d taken her keys even though she’d sworn she would never drink and drive, even if she had an actual car to drive. But he hadn’t believed her.
Giving him the stink-eye while ignoring Em’s attempt to pull her out of her seat, Lori tapped the blank phone screen. ‘Guess what I almost did today.’
Em gave up trying to move her and sat down. ‘What?’
‘I almost confronted Addy.’ It sounded like she’d said the word completely wrong, so she said it again, slower. ‘Con-fron-ted.’ No, she’d gotten it right.
‘What?! What happened?’
‘Nothing. I said almost, but I didn’t.’
Relief was visible in the slouch of her shoulders as Em shuffled in her seat. ‘Good.’
‘How’s that good? I could’ve—’
Em stopped her with another slam of her palm to the table. ‘She’s dangerous, Lori. Don’t you get that? She could have hurt you. You can’t go doing things like that alone.’
‘Anyway… turns out my stalker has a stalker of her own. And if I’m stalking Marina and Jeremy is stalking Addy and Addy is stalking me…’ But Lori was too drunk to remember where she’d been going with it.
Em didn’t care. ‘Don't joke. It's not funny.’
‘No, you’re right, it’s not funny. It's hilarious. No wait.’ Lori snorted. ‘Not hilarious. It’s fuckin’ ridiculous.’
Em took advantage of Lori’s own distraction, her body limp in laughter. She bundled her off the seat and pointed her towards the door, thanking the bartender who tossed the confiscated keys to her. Lori threw a hand gesture to the guy in return and laughed, louder and a little out of control, her feet tangling as Em dragged her outside.
‘What the hell has gotten into you?’
Lori knew Em wouldn’t understand if she explained, knew she wouldn’t be able to find the right words, or put them in the right order. Anything she said was likely to make her blow up again, and Lori was feeling buzzed. Not a happy buzzed, more like numbed. And she didn’t want Em to ruin it.
61
EXPECTING THE BRIGHTNESS of day, it surprised Lori to see it was night. She didn’t know what the time was, or how long she’d been at the bar. Streetlights blurred streaks across her vision as Em led her around the corner, pointing out her car waiting by the kerb.
Em’s hold on her arm was tight and getting tighter. Somehow, Lori nimbly pinched the keys dangling from Em’s finger, gracefully spinning out of her grip, and then ruining it all by tripping on a stupid line painted on the concrete.
Lori yanked her arm away when Em tried to steady her, stepping out of reach. Moving quickly, or at least quickly to Lori, Em lunged, grabbing hold and trying to pull her again. Lori made herself immovable, really putting her weight into it, like an obstinate toddler who suddenly weighed a tonne.
Em couldn’t move her. ‘Lori.’ It came out in a growl, obviously at the end of her rope.
Lori growled back. ‘I can look after myself, Em. I don’t need you to hold my hand.’
‘Maybe not. But you need me. I have been saving your ass since day one. But this time, I warned you what would happen…’ Em took a moment to calm herself. ‘You’re digging yourself into a hole, Lori. Soon you’ll look up and realise you need someone to help pull you out.’ She let go of Lori’s arm. ‘You better pray I’m still here.’ She walked away without another word or a backwards glance.
Angry and speechless, Lori’s mind reeled with everything she wanted to yell out after her. But Em was in her car before Lori could find her voice. She spun on the spot, dizzily scanning the street and parsing through her drunk memory back to where she’d parked the car she’d told the bartender she wouldn’t drive.
Then she remembered she hadn’t had a car since the old broken-down one she’d slept in for a year. The one Em had pulled her out of, talking her parents into letting Lori crash on the foldout in the basement.
Em’s kindness was the only reason she’d been able to finish school. The opportunity she needed to get grades good enough for a scholarship. The only help she’d needed to move her few belongings into her dorm room; the first place that was her own home.
Lori felt guilty, and glad that Em had walked away before she had the chance to say anything she’d regret. Em was right; she had only ever been trying to help. The only one that had always been there, pulling her up and out of trouble. If she had only listened to her, none of this would have happened.
Sitting in the gutter, feet planted in a sludge of half melted snow, Lori made a list of everything she’d lost.
Her job, her students.
The clinic and the class project along with it.
The kind-hearted person she’d thought Addy to be.
Marina.
Now Emmie.
Maybe even her sanity, judging by where she was sitting.
She thought about how little she’d had to begin with. And she wondered if she had anything left to lose.
Once the cold sank in she started the walk home, drunk and fearless and stupid, swerving across the footpath. Headlights bounced over her, momentarily blinding her as she walked a straight-ish line, counting the crunch of her snow-cushioned steps until she reached her door.
She fumbled with her keys, and twice pressed the wrong button on the alarm, before getting it right on the third and last try. She crashed on the couch with the television on, the flicker of coloured light and the faces mouthing silent shapes keeping her company until she blacked out.
62
WITH SLEEP CAME fluttering flashbacks of being lost in the forest. Fog billowed over her, black though, thick, swirling and building, creeping lower. Her heartbeat was loud over the static of the constant cracking of branches, loud and insistent, almost too quick, too sharp. Almost exter
nal, as if her heart was somewhere outside her. The fog was reaching down, pressing against her throat, filling her lungs with a cold that bubbled and chilled. She fought for air, coughing—
Something pulled Lori out of her dream, like someone had their hand on her ankle. Her eyes flicked open, and for a moment she thought maybe she hadn’t woken up. The fog was still there, pressing down on her. There was a flickering, but it wasn’t the television, now turned off by the timer.
Lori sat up, coughing. The air was thick. The swirling black wasn’t fog, it was smoke. The faraway sound of her heartbeat had been the smoke alarm. An orange glow flickered on the walls. And there was someone at the end of the couch. Just standing there. Again, Lori wondered if she was still dreaming, imagining the black figure, the covered face. But then they both looked up as something crashed above, the ceiling groaning in protest as it took the weight of whatever had fallen.
Lori used the distraction and jumped up, taking a step forward. But the figure took the same step back. There was a burning panic in the eyes staring at her, a flicker in their gaze urging Lori towards the front door.
‘Addy?’
The figure turned and disappeared into the smoke. Lori followed, stopping where she’d been standing. The figure was now a black shadow at the end of the hallway. Blue and orange flames crawled across the bare ceiling, the underside of the lacquered floorboards bubbling and hissing.
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