Dark Realms (44 page)

“Don’t be ridiculous. By the way, Trent, we
need to talk,” she said, turning to me.

“Why?” I asked, although I already had an
idea of what it was. Parent-teacher conferences had been earlier
today and I was slipping in both Math and History.

“In your room,” she said, snapping her
fingers.

“Okay,” I answered.

She followed me down the hallway to my
bedroom and then closed the door behind her. “Listen,” she said,
leaning against the door. “We really need to talk.”

I sighed. “I know. School. I’ll try
harder.”

She rubbed her forehead with the tips of her
fingers and shook her head. “It’s not about school, although I’d
appreciate it if you would try harder. I wasn’t very happy today.
You’re supposed to be graduating this year, have you
forgotten?”

“No. I haven’t,
okay?”
Why did parents have to be so
freaken condescending
? “I’ll bust my ass
and try to raise my grades. Maybe even do some extra
credit.”

She nodded. “Good.”

“So, what did you want to talk about?”

She bit the side of her lip. “I want you to
keep an eye on your brother. Especially at night, when I have to
work.”

“No problem. I already do that now.”

“Well, keep a
closer
eye on
him.”

“What’s the big deal?” I asked.

“Listen, don’t repeat this to Ben but there
were two missing children reported earlier today, in Barnet. A boy
and a girl – both only ten years old.”

Our mother works in the local Sherriff’s
Department as a dispatcher.

“Who took them?” I asked. Barnet was the
next town over, less than five miles away.

She shrugged. “That’s just it. Nobody really
knows what happened. Both of them left school, walking their
separate ways, and nobody has heard from either of them since.”

“Nobody saw anything?”

She shook her head. “No, unfortunately. Both
kids lived within walking distance of the school so they weren’t
missed on any bus. The police have been searching the surrounding
neighborhoods and wooded areas all evening.”

“What about the parents? Could they
have…?”

I’d learned from my mother’s boyfriend,
Matt, who’s a cop, that parents were usually the first
suspects.

“Don’t know for sure. The parents all had
alibis and appeared to be genuinely upset.”

I sat down on my bed. “Wow, that’s
freaky.”

“Tell me about it. Anyway, I’m sure it’s all
over the news right now.”

I grabbed the remote control for my
television.

“Wait, finish your homework first. I’ll keep
an eye on the news and let you know what I find out.”

“Okay.”

She picked up my dirty clothes hamper. “Just
remember to keep an eye on your brother, okay?”

“I will.”

“Thanks, I appreciate it,” she said, and
left the room.

Chapter Two

There hadn’t been any new information
regarding the missing kids, and I’d all but forgotten about it
until the next morning, when our mom pleaded with me to pick up Ben
after school.

“I don’t want him walking home alone,” she
said.

“Fine.”

“What’s the big deal?” asked Ben between
bites of his Cocoa Pops. “I always walk with Steve and Jacob.” He
turned to me. “Can you give them rides, too?”

“Yes, he can,” said mom, wrapping her dark
brown hair into a ponytail, which made her look more like a college
student than a woman of thirty-eight.

I groaned. “Seriously?”

Ben’s friends were slobs – always farting
and picking their noses when they were over. Once I saw Steve
eating a booger and almost hurled.

“It’s a good idea,” she said. “Don’t you
agree?”

I knew I wasn’t going to win that argument
so I just agreed.

“Thank you,” she said, kissing the top of my
head. “Now, Ben, are you ready for school?”

“Almost,” he said and then stared at her in
horror. “You’re not actually going to drive me to school now, are
you?”

“Yes.”

He sighed. “Fine, drop me off in the back,
though. I’ll never hear the end of it if one of the guys catches me
getting a ride from my mom.”

She pretended to pout. “My little guy
doesn’t want to be seen around mommy anymore?”

“I’m going to be ten next week. I’m not a
little guy. Sheesh.”

I stood up and grabbed my
backpack. “I’m outta here. Wait for me by the parking lot right
after school,
little
guy
.”

“Whatever,
butt-face
.”

Mom shook her head. “Boys.”

***

After school, I dropped off Ben’s friends at
their homes as quickly as possible and then we headed to ours.

“Did you ever notice that Mr. O’Darby is
never seen in the daylight?” said Ben as we pulled into our
driveway.

I glanced into my rearview mirror at
O’Darby’s house and gave a sinister laugh. “Maybe he’s actually a
vampire.”

“That’s not funny,” he mumbled.

I stared at him. “You’re
seriously
that
freaked out about the guy?”

He shrugged. “He’s strange.”

“Have you actually ever met him?”

“No.”

“Well, I think we should do something about
that.”

He looked at me in horror. “No way.”

I opened the door to my ’72 Impala and got
out. “Come on, Ben. Let’s go over and properly introduce ourselves
to the neighbor.”

He shook his head vehemently. “You can, I’m
not.”

I shut my door, walked around to the
passenger side, and opened his. “I’m serious. The only way to beat
your fears is to face them. We are going across the street to meet
the Leprechaun.”

“No.”

I bent down onto my knee. “Tell you what,
we’ll go across the street and ask to borrow some sugar. You stand
behind me and just watch. You don’t even have to say a word.”

After a few seconds of silence, he nodded.
“Fine.”

I smiled. “Good. Let’s go.”

Ben got out of the car and followed me to
the edge of our yard. We both stopped at the curb and looked at Mr.
O’Darby’s house.

“What a shit-hole,” I said, staring at the
dilapidated structure. Most of the homes on our street were old,
large, but fairly maintained. This one had paint peeling on all
sides, moss growing across fogged glass windows, and pretty much
reminded me of the house from the movie “Psycho”, the creepy one
behind the “Bates Motel.”

“Maybe we should just forget it. He might
not even be home,” said Ben.

I nudged him. “We’ll soon find out. Come
on.”

We walked across the
street, and this time
my
pulse began to pick up. Ben’s paranoia was getting
contagious.

Little brothers.

Ignoring the knot in my stomach, I stepped
onto the rickety old porch and raised my hand to knock, when Ben
stopped me.

“Don’t do it,” he pleaded, grabbing my arm.
“Please.”

“Would you stop being such a wuss?”

His lip began to tremble. “I can’t help it.
I don’t think we should be on his property.”

I sighed. “Ben, it’s fine. You know I would
never put you in any kind of danger.”

“Not on purpose, I get that, but this is
different,” he said, backing away. “I’m leaving.” Then he ran down
the steps and back across the street.

“Can I help you?” asked a soft voice.

I whipped my head around and locked eyes
with a girl standing behind the screen door. She was about my age,
with long red hair, large almond-shaped eyes, and full lips. She
was so hot, I could barely breathe.

I smiled weakly. “Uh…hi.”

She smiled back and my throat went dry. I
wouldn’t have thought anyone could have gotten prettier.

Until that smile.

“Sorry,” I said, finding my voice. “My name
is Trent and I, uh, live across the street and was wondering if you
had any sugar I could borrow?”

She folded her arms under
her chest and stared at me with amusement. “Sugar? What do
you
need sugar
for?”

“Cookies?”

She threw her head back and laughed, a sound
so nice that it made my heart skip a beat. “I’m sorry,” she said,
wiping the tears from her eyes. “I just really wasn’t expecting
that.”

Honestly, I thought her comment was
borderline strange. Besides Kool-Aid, I didn’t know of many things,
besides cookies, that you’d need to borrow sugar for.

She opened the screen door and stepped back.
“Come on in. My dad’s not home, so I can loan you as much as you
need.”

I stared in awe at the most intense green
eyes I’d ever seen. “Thanks,” I said.

She smiled and nodded. “The house is kind of
a mess, actually. Why don’t you wait right here. I’ll be right
back.”

“Okay. Thanks.”

She turned and I couldn’t help but stare at
the way her butt filled out the jeans she was wearing.

How come I’d never seen her before?

Sighing, I took a few more steps down the
hallway and glanced into what appeared to be their living room. Or
it would be. The furniture was covered in plastic, stacks of books
were piled on top of coffee and end tables, and brown packing boxes
took up almost every remaining space.

“We’re still unpacking,” she said, coming up
behind me.

I turned around. “Oh, sorry,” I said. “I
didn’t mean to be nosy.”

She shrugged and handed me a bowl of sugar.
“It’s okay.”

“Thanks,” I said.

“I hope it’s enough,” she said. “I forgot to
ask you how much you needed.”

I smiled. “This is plenty.”

“I’m Shannon, by the way,” she said, holding
out her hand.

I wrapped my hand around hers and shook it.
“Nice to meet you.”

“What’s it like?” she asked, pulling her
hand back.

I raised an eyebrow.
“What’s
what
like?”

“Going to school?”

“What do you mean? Don’t you go?”

She looked down at her feet and so did I.
Her toes were painted pink with green stripes. “No,” she said.

“Are you home-schooled?”

“Yes, I guess you could say that.”

“Oh.”

“I just wish…”

“What?” I asked.

Our eyes met again but this time, hers was
filled with fear. She grabbed my wrist and pulled me towards the
door. “Oh, no. You have to leave. He’s coming.”

“Who? Your dad?”

“Quickly,” she said pushing me towards the
front door. “He mustn’t see you.”

I opened up the screen door and turned to
thank her again, but she’d already closed the inside door.

Strange family.

I shook my head and walked back across the
street.

Chapter Three

“Trent met the girl of his dreams today,”
said Ben with a smirk when mom stepped into the kitchen later that
night.

I scowled at him. “Shut up.”

She set a bag of groceries on the counter
and turned to me, her lips curled up in a smile. “Is that so?”

I shrugged. “She’s
not
the girl of my
dreams. She’s O’Darby’s daughter, Shannon.”

Her eyebrows shot up. “He has a
daughter?”

“Yeah. Didn’t he mention her when you talked
to him?”

“I only spoke to him once,” she said, taking
the groceries out of the bag. “When I ‘welcomed’ him to the
neighborhood. He really wasn’t much for conversation.”

“He didn’t even mention her?” I asked.

“No, not at all.”

“Trent’s in love,” sang Ben.

I went over and put him in a headlock.

“Mom!” hollered Ben.

“Trent, leave your brother be.”

I released him. “Quit being such a little
shit.”

“Language, Trent,” said mom, putting a jar
of peanut butter into the cupboard.

“Mom, did you hear about those missing
kids?” asked Ben.

She sighed. “Yes, how did you find out?”

“It’s been on the news all night,” I
said.

“I figured it would be,” she answered.

Ben started asking more questions about the
missing kids and I decided to let her deal with it. He’d already
berated me with questions earlier.

“I’ll be upstairs,” I said, leaving the
kitchen.

“It’s almost time for bed!” she hollered as
I walked away.

I went to my room, shut the door, and
grabbed the binoculars. Then I kneeled down next to my window,
which also faced O’Darby’s house, and looked through them.

I smiled. “Oh…Shannon. Sweet…”

It was odd that I’d never noticed her
before, although I’d also never made it a habit to go spying on
anyone, especially with binoculars. Tonight, I had a clear view of
what must have been her bedroom and I could see her walking around
in a miniscule tank-top and shorts. I watched her dance around for
several seconds until she disappeared out of view. Frowning, I
waited, wishing I could get just one more glimpse of her hot
bod.

Come on, Shannon.

She was so pretty and I hadn’t had a
girlfriend for several months. My last one, Mandy, had moved out of
town and we still talked on the phone, but it wasn’t the same. I
missed everything that went with having a girlfriend, especially
the kissing. I wondered if Shannon was a good kisser.

Her bedroom light flickered
out and I sighed,
that was that.

As I was about to put the binoculars away, a
flash of light lit up her room.

“Weird,” I whispered, raising them back up
to my eyes.

The frightening image that greeted me
stopped my heart cold. An angry face stared back at me from her
bedroom window, with eyes glowing a bright orange color, and a
mouth that was twisted into an angry scowl.