Arianna Rose: The Awakening (Part 2) (17 page)

The realization was a harsh truth.  She released her grip on her waist and straightened her posture.  Several deep breaths did little to alleviate her profound sadness, but helped take the edge off
of it
long enough to halt her tears.  She washed her hair and scrubbed her body, allowing to the clusters of bubbles and lather to slide off her body and down the drain.  Cleansed, she turned the water off and stepped form the shower. 

As she dressed, other issues arose in her mind.  Chief among them was the fact that she would see Luke the next day at school.  She had no idea what to expect from him, no way to anticipate what his attitude would be.  She wondered whether he would continue to ignore her.  She supposed she’d find out in the coming hours. 

The thought of him disregarding her sent a pang of sadness through her once again.  She’d barely managed to stave off tears during the long car ride
home
, and then it had been just the two of them.  At Herald
Fa
lls
High School, Luke was her only real friend.  Without him to ally herself with, she would be
utterly
alone.

She smiled sadly at the irony of her aloneness and her title as the Sola.  After all, the Sola
had been prophesi
ed as
the one who walked alone, and she had been alone her whole life.  She was a walking example of a self-fulfilling prophecy. 

But loneliness was not the only concern that plagued her.  Numerous questions nagged as well.  She wondered whether anyone had seen Luke’s truck parked on Lily’s street.  His truck did not exactly fit with the vehicles that typically lined
the
wealthy neighborhood
in Rockdale
.  Surely, someone had noticed his rusted, out-of-place truck.  And if the truck had been noticed and coincided with the sound of shots being fired, eventually, Luke would be implicated.  She guessed the police had paid a visit to the Andrews’ residence and had found the two bodies in the backyard.  Luke had handled the pickax with his bare hands,
had undoubtedly left
behind fingerprints. 
His truck, paired with forensic evidence, would all but seal his fate. 

The very real possibility of Luke going to prison, of another life being destroyed because of her, left her breathless.  She combed her hair quickly and strode down the hallway, fully intending to hop on her motorcycle and ride, ride as long and as far as it took her to organize her thoughts.  She was about to open the front door when it dawned on her that her bike was not beyond it, chained to a post on the front porch
, that it remained in
Luke’s garage. 
Her temples began to throb and she contemplated punching the flimsy front door to punctuate her frustration. 
S
he was stranded, left
only with her
thoughts
and devoid of any type of outlet
.
 

Chapter 13

After a night spent drifting in and out of restless,
nightmare-laden sleep, Arianna
woke to the sound of the front door opening. 
The sound startled her. 
She opened her eyes
and sat upright, alerted, only
to see shadows covering her room with dusky fingers
.  A thin s
tream of light trickled in from
the kitchen
through her partially open door
and cast eerie shades on familiar objects.  A quick glance at the alarm clock on her nightstand revea
led that it was just after three in the morning
.  She climbed out of bed and listened at her door. 
Footsteps padded upon the carpeting and the jangle of keys rattled. 
She assumed her mother had returned home alone after a night out until a
man’s voice echoed down the hallway
.  It was immediately
followed by her mother’s laughter. 
Clearly, her mother had brought a friend home. 

She nearly groaned aloud.  Another man would be sharing her mother’s bed. 
She knew she shouldn’t be as annoyed as she was.  After all, he was just one among
a seemingly unending line of
suitors.  Arianna felt nauseated.  Too little sleep and too much stress united and aggravated an already offensive situation.  She
slammed her door shut, an immature message to her mother that she was awake and did not approve, but a message, nevertheless.  Shushing followed by giggling suggested that both her mother and the mystery man were intoxicated.  The situation was not unfamiliar.  In fact
,
it was all too familiar to Ariann
a.  But her blood boiled more
than ever before.  She collapsed on to her bed and rested her head on her pillow.  Her alarm clock had been set to ring in three hours.  She needed to force herself to fall back asleep, but as riled as she was, she felt it impossible.

To her surprise, sleep found her faster than she could have guessed.  But it was not peaceful sleep.  Horrific images flashed over and over, images of burning people tethered to post
s
, screaming and pleading for help, for mercy.  But neither help nor mercy came for them.  Instead, cloaked shapes chanted, their voices carrying in the wind as unnervingly as a haunting wind
shrieking
through trees.

When the shrill cry of her alarm clock sounded, she did not stir immediately, rather she believed her dream had continued.  But a brightened sky peeked through the narrow rectangular window overhead and warned that a new day had begun.  A night of broken sleep that had been filled with nightmares and gruesome images did little to lift her heavy heart.  In fact, dawn brought with it not only the recurring recollection of her dreams, but also the realization that she would see Luke again at school.  He had not mentioned picking her up for school as he’d done in days past. 
She guessed she was on her own.

Thought
s
of Luke made her throat squeeze and brought an instant sting to her eyes.  But she forced herself up to a sitting position and slid her body out of bed.  After gathering her clothes quickly, she headed to the bathroom, confident she would not run into her mother or her mother’s overnight guest.  Both had been drunk hours earlier and had likely fallen asleep not long before her alarm had sounded.  She brushed her teeth and washed her face then styled her hair.  A few quick coats of mascara and a swipe of eyeliner completed her morning beauty routine and she was left with the task of figuring out how she would get to school.  She strode down the hallway, not bothering to make an attempt at quieting her movements.  She gathered her backpack and rummaged through it to be certain she had a full pack of cigarettes then stepped outside. 

The morning was unseasonably warm.  A fine drizzle fell from gray skies and a balmy breeze blew.  She pulled a cigarette from her pack and placed it between her lips.  She ignited her lighter and watched as the flame wavered in the winds.  With her cigarette lit, she drew smoke from it and inhaled it deeply into her lungs.  As she did so, she glanced about the trailer
park and noticed that someone wa
tched her. 

“Hey asshole!  I thought I warned you not to spy on me!” she threatened and knew she could support any threat she made.

His face disappeared from the grimy window of his trailer.  She was about to breathe a sigh of relief when it reappeared attached to a body at his front door.

She immediately dropped her cigarette and turned toward him, her stance defensive, prepared.  With her feet spaced shoulder-width apart and her hands on her hips, she squared off with one of the least attractive men she’d ever seen. 

She expected him to come out shouting
,
or angry
,
at the very least.  She had called him an asshole, after all, and most people did not prefer to be called that.  But instead of yelling, he smiled at her.  His teeth
were a dull
greenish brown
and looked as though they were all competing for the same spot in his mouth.  Overlapped and jagged, his teeth made his smile look more like a grimace.  He held up his hands in surrender.

“Just gettin’ my paper is all,” he called out to her.  “Don’t want no trouble.”

He seemed harmless enough, but Arianna was unsettled that he always watched
her.  Even when she didn’t see
him as she came and went, she always felt his eyes on her.

“Why do you always watch me?” she asked him and surprised him as well as her.

He froze reaching to pick up the newspaper laying on his stoop.  “I, uh, I guess, well, I guess I just like to look at pretty things,” he said and shrugged.

His candor caught her off guard, disarmed her briefly.  She didn’t know why, but she’d expected him to say something rude.  She’d braced herself for it.  But he had not.  He’d responded simply, and
sincerely.  She did not know what to say.

“Thanks, I guess,” she muttered.

“I don’t have much to do most days.  But I like to watch birds and butterflies and f
lowers in the spring.  Your mom i
s real pretty, too.”

“Hmm,” was all Arianna could say and nodded.  Then a thought occurred to her.  “Hey, you don’t happen to know the bus schedule around here, do you?”

He stood clutching his newspaper in front of him and twisted his mouth to one side, deep in thought.  “Why yes, yes I do,” he exclaimed excitedly.  “The number seven bus comes by here at 6:48 a.m.  It runs down the county road and out past the high school.”

Arianna glanced at her watch and saw that it was already 6:45 a.m.  If she hurried, she might make it to the end of the park in time to catch the bus.  She slung her backpack over her shoulder and began jogging, but not before thanking the man who’d watched her since the day she and her mother had arrived.

“Thanks,” she
said.

“Absolutely no problem,” he replied closing his eyes and shaking his head from side to side enthusiastically.

His goofy albeit unfortunate looking smile confirmed that she’d said the right words and she headed toward the end of the long pathway leading out of her trailer park.  She reached the end of it just in time to see a bus approaching.  The doors opened and she stepped inside.  After paying her fare, she took a seat at the rear of the bus.  Few people were seated and all bore the same defeated expression. 

The ride was short and stopped just next to the gas station near the driveway of Herald Falls High School.  She jumped off and dashed inside the market of the gas station of purchase a buttered roll and a hot chocolate.  Deep within her
,
a voice whispered that she would need as much strength and sustenance
as she could get
for the day ahead of her.  She ate quickly as she walked and made it to school in time for the first bell. 

The first half of the school day had passed uneventfully.  She had not seen Luke yet and wondered whether he had taken the day off. 
She’d sworn she’d seen Stephanie, but
wasn’t
sure.  When the bell ending fourth period sounded and officially began lunch period, Arianna went directly to the cafeteria.  She had not packed a lunch and needed to buy a sandwich.  In the service area, she grabbed what looked like chicken salad on wheat bread and a carton of chocolate milk.  She turned and was about to pay when she nearly walked into Bulldog.  He was with Beth, and though they’d narrowly avoided a collision, when she looked up at him about to crack a joke about it, he merely looked over her head as if she wasn’t there.  Neither he nor Beth acknowledged her.  She felt heat creep up her neck and color her cheeks, embarrassment and sadness joining forces. 
She dropped her gaze immediately, an uneasy knot twisting in her stomach.  She turned from them awkwardly, her hands trembling, and pretended to examine a display of fruit, picking up and sniffing an orange.  Her hair covered her face like a dark curtain and she stole a look from behind it and saw them leave.  She dropped the orange where she’d found it and gripped the plastic tray that held her food so tightly, her knuckles whitened.  Bulldog and Beth had reacted to her peculiarly.  She wondered what Luke had told them.  Perhaps he’d told them he and Arianna had broken up.  Perhaps he’d told them everything.  She did not know.  She needed to speak to Luke. 

After paying the cashier for her lunch, Arianna rounded the corner of the service area and saw that Bulldog and Beth had joined
Mike, Carrie, Ryan and Christa at a table
in the far corner of the cafeteria.  Seconds later,
Luke
strolled in wearing his usual warm grin.  He sat with his friends, then, as if sensing
her eyes on him looked up and mad
e eye contact with her for a fleeting moment. 
In the instant that he
’d
locked eyes with her, she’d tried to convey a psychic message that they needed to talk, but was met with a steely gaze, one that warned her to stay away.  She dropped her eyes to her
tray and found an empty table at
the opposite end of the lunchroom.

Alone, she set her lunch down and fought tears that threatened.  Determined not to cry, she opened her sandwich and began eating it.  The mayonnaise tasted sour and the bread, chalky, but she did not care.  She ate to have something to do.  Leaving would mean they
’d
won, that they’d succeeded in making her so uncomfortable that fleeing was the only option.  Instead, she ate her vile lunch, swallowed
e
very bite
despite
a growing urge to vomit
.  She dug through her backpack and produced a textbook and began flipping through its pages.