Dark and Twisted Page 7

  “You don’t believe I was attacked? You think I fainted?” I question him.

  His concerned look morphs into pity. “Yes, I believe so.”

  He offers me the mint again, and I take it and stuff it in my mouth. I am feeling lightheaded.

  “Why?” I ask, swallowing some of the lint.

  “There is no sign of a struggle.”

  “But my neck, he burned me.” I pull the collar of my shirt down, but I know by the look on his face that nothing is there.

  “Eden, perhaps you imagined it, with your …” He lets his next word die off.

  “With my history,” I finish for him.

  He nods his head.

  “I’m not crazy. I didn’t imagine it or hallucinate.” I jut out my chin in defiance. I’m not going to stand around debating my sanity when I know what happened. “Can I use your phone? I need to call the police. The guy who attacked me is still out there.” I hold out my hand, waiting. I’m not going to let some middle-aged, balding man make me feel like I was in the wrong. I was attacked.

  “I’m sorry, Miss Day. I don’t have a phone. I don’t believe in them.”

  Who the hell doesn’t believe in cell phones?

  “I need to get home.” I turn away angrily, swinging my bag over my shoulder.

  “I will see you home,” he says.

  I don’t protest because, despite my annoyance with him, I don’t want to be alone with the phantoms haunting my mind.

  ###

  Red and blue lights dance over the living room wall. The attack weighs heavy on my mind. All I want to do is lay down and sleep, but I have to repeat my story again to another officer who asks the same questions as the others. An older officer sits across from me in the recliner, looking overstuffed and overtired himself. He pushes his glasses to the top of his head and sighs through his nose for the thousandth time. His partner, a wiry kid who graduated high school last year, stands next to the TV. One hand sits on his belt, the other on his gun, ready at any moment to take a perpetrator out.

  “Eden, can you explain to me what the attacker looked like?” He sits up, putting his elbows on his knees.

  “I told you already, I couldn’t see him.” I only saw his eyes. Eyes that glowed is what I don’t say.

  “Pete’s searched the area and didn’t find anyone or any sign of an attack.”

  I roll my eyes at Officer Pete, who is only on the force because his father is captain.

  “If my niece says someone attacked her, Billy, then she was attacked.” Essie pats my knee.

  “Ess … If Eden is not telling the truth—” Officer Benson starts.

  Essie holds up a hand, silencing him. Bill Benson went to school with Essie and my father. He played ball with my dad, and he saw my family shunned when Essie came back different.

  “If that will be all then, Officer.” Essie words come out sharp. “Eden needs to get some rest. She’s had a trying night.”

  Officer Benson hesitates. “Essie I …” He searches her face as she stands with her chin jutted out in defiance. He sighs again, “If you remember anything else.” He takes a card out of his pocket and hands it to me.

  I stare at the raised black ink on the card. No one believes me, except Essie, and her word has no legs to stand on. Essie walks Officer Benson to the door. She looks so strong. Dad always said she might look small, but she could be as feisty as a pit bull when cornered.

  I look up at Pete, who is still in the room watching me. He shakes his head and mumbles, “Freak,” before exiting.

  “I cannot believe the nerve of some people.” Furious, Essie stomps back in the living room.

  Glad she is on my side, I Jump up and run into her arms. We are the same height, but I still fold easily into her embrace. She squeezes me, and for a moment, all of my fears and doubts disappear.

  “Come, let me make you something to eat. You must be starving.”

  I arrange Essie’s bottles of pills while she makes a can of soup. She repeatedly stabs at the pile of gel that still resembles the can shape, but after losing the battle, she spoons a lumpy cream of mushroom soup into two bowls and sets them on the counter between us.

  Bon appétit. I move the soup around with my spoon, not hungry. My mind cartwheels, thinking about what occurred. What was it that attacked me? Whatever it was, I’m sure it was not human. People don’t have eyes that glow or hands of fire. I reach up to my neck, it is still warm, but there is no sign of any damage.

  “I want to show you something,” Essie says interrupting my thoughts. She pulls out a folded piece of paper from her pocket and pushes it toward me.

  Carefully, I unfold the newspaper clipping.

  “I always keep this with me as a reminder that they are out there.” She points to the ceiling as if “they” are upstairs.

  I look at her for a moment. Could she be right? Could the person who attacked me be from another world?

  Missing Teen Girl Found.

  By Shelia Friend

  A 15-year-old girl who disappeared in the Copake Falls area has been found. Esmerelda Jean Day is being reunited with her family. Police are categorizing it as a runaway case. She went missing on the 15th of October while taking a shortcut home from school through the woods behind Copake Falls High School.

  According to police, she was found by her twin brother, and his friend, Billy Benson at 8:15, October 30th. She was found unharmed, besides a few scratches and torn clothes. While her mental state is still in question. Day claims to have been abducted by aliens. A spokesperson for the family stated, “The family believes that Miss Day is suffering from a mental break down. It’s very sad thing to see in such a young girl. However, with the right medication, she should be back to herself shortly.” Day will remain at Bright Horizon’s hospital under observation. Police say that Day does not have a history of running away.

  I fold the paper and hand it back to her. I grew up hearing whispers of the story, but this is the first time I have ever seen physical documentation. When I asked my parents, they told me it was in the past and dredging up old memories would just be bad for Essie.

  “I was your age when it happened. I was on my way home, on the same trail where you were today.”

  I stare at my soup, my stomach churning.

  “At first, I thought he was just a shadow or someone trying to play a trick on me, but the closer I got, I realized it was a man. He was so still and silent, I almost didn’t think he was real, but he was.”

  I swallow hard.

  “I should have been petrified, should have run screaming, but I wasn’t scared. He told me he wanted to take me to a secret place, and we would be back before anyone would notice I was gone.”

  I know how the story ends, with her missing, but I have never heard her version.

  “Where did he take you?” my voice comes out just above a whisper.

  Essie stares down at her soup with a glazed-over look in her eyes. “I don’t know, it was like a dream, both beautiful and terrifying. There were things that I could not describe, things I don’t want to remember.”

  I shiver.

  “Then I woke up in the woods alone, and they said I had been gone for two weeks. That’s what they do to you. They make you forget and make it feel like a dream.” She looks up at me, her blue-green eyes burning. “I think I’d better take my medicine now and go to bed.”

  Chapter Ten

  The crappy thing about living in a small town like Copake Falls is that news travels fast. By Monday, the nickname freak is at an all-time high. Even kids that pretend I don’t exist are suddenly interested in me, laughing every time I pass them in the hall.

  “Just ignore them,” Liv tells me for what must be the hundredth time today.

  “I have been,” I sigh. It still doesn’t mean their words don’t hold an extra sting today. Normally, I can block it out, but I feel raw and exposed—like the attack has changed me. I feel vulnerable, scared, and it has me questioning my own sanity. I squeeze my eyes s
hut for a moment, seeing my attacker’s the glowing red eyes. Could the creature be hiding amongst us? Pretending to be human.

  “So what are you going to do?” Liv asks.

  I shrug. “Try to find him myself,” I admit.

  “Eden, I don’t think that is a good idea. Where would you even begin? You don’t have much to go on.”

  “I hurt his hand. That will narrow down some of the potential attackers.” I hesitate to tell her about his eyes, but this is Liv, and she is my best friend. If I can’t tell my bestie about the guy with glowing eyes, then who can I tell?

  “Liv, have you ever seen someone that looked like their eyes were glowing?” I want to pull my words back the moment I say it.

  Liv instantly stops walking and turns to me. People push past us, giving us scrutinizing looks as they hurry to their next class.

  “Why?” she asks.

  I shrug my shoulders, not knowing how to explain what I saw. “Is this for a character you are writing?” she inquires further, trying to give me an excuse for asking. “Zombies don’t have glowing eyes, Eden, they’re dead.”

  For a moment, I think about going with it and saying the question was related to my novel, but this is Liv, my best friend, the one that sat with me at my parents’ funeral. The one person who didn’t stop being my friend when the names started in school. This is the girl who used her mom’s sewing needle to make a blood promise with me that we would be always and friends forever, to tell each other the truth, and be each other’s maid of honor.

  “I have to get to class,” I say.

  “Eden, don’t.”

  Liv looks hurt as I walk away from her, but I don’t stop. I keep going until I push open the nearest door and collapse against the wall. The back of my throat itches and my eyes sting. I drop my bag on the floor.

  “Eden?”

  I yelp, pushing off the wall, ready to run, but it is only Ralph. I take a deep breath, needing to get it together.

  Ralph stands next to a white board. “Are you okay? You look like shit. You’re not going to get sick are you?”

  I slump back against the wall. “Fine, I’m fine. I just need…”

  Could Ralph have been the one who attacked me? Maybe he is tired of me undermining him as editor. He’s creepy and slimy, and if anyone is pretending to be human but is really an alien in disguise, he would be that guy.

  “Where were you this weekend?” Adrenaline pumps through me, and my heart slams into my chest.

  “I don’t have to explain anything to you, but if you must know, I was Mountain Biking with my cousin,” he says.

  “You were what?” I snap. He is lying. This is the kid who cannot take part in any athletic activity—or so the note from his mom says. During gym, he uses the computer to play World of Warcraft and eats Cheetos from the vending machine in the teachers’ lounge.

  “You did not! Where were you really?” My voice has taken on a hysterical tone.

  “Fine, I was at home.”

  “And? Did you go anywhere?”

  “I am not telling you.”

  I glare at him, giving him the death stare.

  “Okay, God, I was baking cookies with my mom, are you happy?” He glowers at me.

  I let out a shaky laugh, both relieved and disappointed because that means my attacker is still out there.

  “Eden, I swear to God, if you tell anyone, I’ll make sure you stay on the sports column until we graduate.”

  “Tell you what, let me do that piece on homecoming, and your secret is safe with me.”

  He narrows his eyes. “No way. That’s a horrible idea for the article, and no one will read it.”

  I roll my eyes. “What kind of cookies where they, Ralph?”

  “I’m warning you, Eden.” He points his chubby finger at me.

  “Ralph, no one reads the paper besides your mom. Give me the article and your extreme baking will stay our little secret.” I cross my heart.

  He hesitates, but I have him. “Fine, but if the paper goes under, it’s on you.”

  “I can live with that,” I smile.

  “But, you still have to do the sports article,” he whines.

  “Fine.” Truthfully, I wouldn’t tell anyone anyway, but he doesn’t need to know that.

  “Hey, what are you doing?” he barks, obviously mad that I blackmailed him.

  “I need to use the computer.” I sit down at one of the ancient machines, and the machine groans in protest as I turn it on.

  “You can’t use them. They are for the facility.”

  “Ralph, I will only be a minute. I saw Mr. Hays bringing in a box of donuts to the teachers’ lounge.” Being chief and editor gives Ralph special privileges to use the copy machine in the teachers’ lounge and snag whatever food the teachers bring in.

  “I will be back, and you better be gone.”

  I wiggle my fingers at him as he leaves the room.

  I type in the search bar, ‘glowing eyes,’ ‘why would someone’s eyes glow’, and then, ‘reports of people with glowing eyes’. It pulls up everything from radiation poisoning to toxic spills. I even click on o a link that offers contacts that promise to make your eyes glow. There is nothing substantial about people with glowing eyes until I click on to a link about strange and paranormal activity. It’s filled with images of ghosts and aliens. I enlarge the picture, enlarging it. It’s of a man-sized alien with glowing eyes. I shake my head. I don’t want to believe that it was anything to do with aliens or paranormal activity.

  I’m not Essie. I’m not crazy!

  ###

  I set my lunch tray down at the table. A limp looking chicken sandwich sets next to my chocolate milk in a silent protest against Liv.

  “You’re not still mad, are you?” she asks.

  I take a bite out of the sandwich but have to take a drink of my milk to choke it down. It tastes how it looks—like cardboard.

  “Eden, come on, we’re talking about people with glowing eyes. You cannot really believe that the guy’s eyes were glowing,” she argues.

  “That’s not the point.” I rip off another piece of my sandwich, making her cringe.

  She throws her hands in the air. “Then what is?”

  “How about you are supposed to be my best friend? How about a blood promise?” I hold my index finger up. If I squint hard enough, I can still see a tiny white scare from it. I think.

  “So you’re mad because I asked Brittney to be my maid of honor in fifth grade?” She smiles at me.

  “I’m still mad at you for that, but you didn’t believe me.”

  I know she has a point about the glowing eyes, I wouldn’t believe it if I didn’t see it with my own eyes.

  “Eden, when we made that promise, it was to always tell each other the truth.”

  I drop the greasy sandwich to the tray. “Then believe me. I know what I saw, Liv.”

  “I’m worried about you,” she says searching my face.

  I know she wants me to elaborate more on the topic. She wants me to tell her that I’m not like Essie—that I’m sane. Suddenly, I regret eating that sandwich because it sets like a lead weight in my stomach.

  “What are we talking about?” Jamie plops down next to Liv and pulls her chair closer to his, kissing her on the cheek.

  “Nothing, just girl talk,” Liv smiles up at him.

  “You’re right, I don’t want to know,” he says while holding up his hands and showing off a red cast.

  “How did you hurt your hand?” I ask, practically crawling across the table. I grip the hard plastic chair to keep from bolting.

  “Eden!” Liv hisses.

  Jamie looks from me to Liv, and then at me again with an incredulous look on his face.

  “I sprained it last night at practice.”

  My stomach twists, and I feel like I might get sick.

  “I believe you, babe.” Liv narrows her eyes at me.

  Jamie shakes his head as if he is confused as to why she wouldn’t believe him. �
��Anyway, Coach is running these ridiculous drills thanks to Valentine. He thinks that we all need to be on the same playing level as Valentine. That kid is a machine on the field, it’s like he was born with a ball in his hand. You should have seen him yesterday. Not one of us could touch him, not even Brice, and he is our best runner.”

  Jamie looks around the table at our trays. “Are you going to eat that?” He reaches for my half-eaten sandwich. “I tell you what, if Coach doesn’t chill with the drills, he isn’t going to have a team left. Half of us went home sore and injured.” He takes a bite out of the sandwich then glances at Liv. “Don’t worry, babe. I’ll be healed up in time for homecoming.”

  Liv quickly puts on a smile and pats him on the knee. “I know you will.”

  This just made finding my attacker that much harder.

  ###

  Sure enough, almost half the football team has injuries, by the time I walk into class, my head is aching. Mr. Wissian barely acknowledges me. Thanks, I’m doing great since you found me in the woods. He doesn’t even wait until I’m at my desk before he starts his lecture about some book that apparently no one cares about.

  “Okay, ladies and gentlemen. We are going to shake things up a bit since none of you seem to be absorbing the information that I’m telling you,” he announces after his long lecture. Half the class has their heads down, so he adds, “Wake up, friends. You are going to partner up with the person directly across from you and answer these questions for the remainder of the class.”

  In unison, a groan goes through the room as he begins to write the questions on the board.

  “Oh, come on, people. I discussed these points in my last two lectures. You should have all the answers to them in your notebooks.”

  There is a sharp jab to my shoulder. “Give me a pen,” Buck whispers.