Mirror in the Forest: Book One (29 page)

Sheriff Mark McKenzie sat there and finished up some paperwork at the end of the day. He was looking forward to going home and getting a certain young blonde off his mind with some beer.

“Here you go, Sheriff,” Hal said, entering the office.

Mark took the paperwork and reviewed it. Hal had a bad habit of leaving gaps in them.

Satisfied, he signed them and handed them back to his uncle.

“You want dinner tonight?” Hal asked as he put the papers back in the folder.

“Nah, I’m just going to pick something up, and drink into oblivion,” Mark replied.

Hal shook his head and said, “You need a woman.”

Mark rolled his eyes, but didn’t say anything as Hal chuckled. Mark looked out of the window, and spotted none other than Jessica Winters enter the Sheriff’s office.

Hal turned with a knowing smile curving his lips. Mark groaned a little as Hal went to greet Jessica. Marge had left for the day with a cold.

They spoke for a moment, and Jessica’s eyes kept darting to Mark. Mark made no move to greet her. He hoped something wasn’t wrong, and she needed some help.

Hal walked up with a smirk, and said, “You good to see the young lady? She states nothing’s wrong.”

“Send her in,” Mark answered, leaning back in his chair.  

Jessica entered his office. She looked so much thinner from just months ago, and her face was more chiseled than before. Her blonde hair seemed like it had lightened a little again, and flowed past her shoulders over a red scarf. Her tighter jeans were hugging her hips, making Mark want to adjust his uniform pants again.

Mark smiled up at her and said, “What can I do for you Jessica? Please sit down.”

Jessica sat down, and Mark could see she was a little nervous and wondered what that was about. She fidgeted with something in her purse, and finally he spotted her clutching what looked like a little greeting card.

“Hi, Sheriff,” she said, after a minute.

Mark smiled in greeting. “Mark.”

Jessica shook her head. “Sorry. Hi Mark.”

“Everything okay?” He asked, while her eyes darted everywhere but on him.

Jessica looked over the little envelope now on her lap.

“Jessica, you can relax,” Mark said with a slight smile.

Jessica flushed, but he could finally see her start to relax a little. She finally lifted her chin a little with determination as Mark waited for her to speak.

In a surprisingly confident voice, she cleared her throat telling him, “My birthday is next week, but I am having a party on Saturday, and wanted to know if you wanted to come.”

Mark’s eyebrows rose in surprise. He didn’t think she would have the guts to ask him for anything, but then he thought about the night they kissed, and how she made him coffee.

Without a word he took the invite from her slightly shaking hand, and looked it over.

Mark looked up at her. She was sitting there turning a crimson red, however, she tried to hide it.

“Unfortunately, I have duty that night,” Mark answered, confirming the date on the invitation.

Jessica’s face fell in sheer disappointment. Suddenly, she rose from the chair and began to get her cars keys out.

“Hey! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean anything by it,” Mark said reassuringly.

Jessica kind of shrugged and said, “No. I understand you’re a cop and have obligations. I promise to keep the party low key.”

Mark could feel himself getting a little flustered as Jessica adjusted her jacket, and scarf to leave.

Mark stood and walked over to her, and looked straight into her big brown eyes.

“Stay there,” he ordered.

He shut the office door, and closed the curtains to the street. He was the only one left in the office now. Hal had left for the night, while Paul and Bill were patrolling.

Jessica stood there waiting patiently, and then Mark walked over to her, grabbed her, and kissed her.

Jessica cried out a little in shock, and then giggled nervously against his lips. She opened her mouth to welcome his tongue. She moaned a little as his hands made their way from her shoulders to her waist. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and pulled him deeper into the kiss.

“That doesn’t mean I can’t stop by on my break or something,” he explained breathlessly, when they finally separated.  He could feel the relief in her shoulders as they slumped a little, and then she suddenly smiled back at him.

“Really?”

“Really,” Mark answered.

“I’m glad,” she whispered. She blushed when she noticed he was still holding her firmly against him.  

“Me too, and I am glad you invited me,” he said sincerely.

“I promise…”

Mark shrugged and said, “Just warn them, but it will be fine.”

Their lips were so close it took every ounce of strength in Mark to not kiss her again. He did finally step away, and found her flushed, and knew she was having the same thoughts as him.

“You better go,” he said, “It might snow again.”

Jessica smiled and this time she was more confident when she straightened everything.

“By the way, we made the playoffs,” she said, putting her purse over her shoulder.

“Right on! I can’t wait to see them,” Mark answered, while he moved around the office and opened everything up again. Jessica turned to leave, but stopped. “So, I’ll see you next week?”

“I promise,” Mark answered, smiling at her.

Jessica said goodbye, and left. He could see a difference in her demeanor as she walked out to the street and went to her car.

He really could not believe the radical changes in her the last few months. It was like the ugly duckling blooming into the swan. A few months ago that girl would have never had the guts to ask him to her party, and she would have never had a party in the first place. She would have buried herself in her books that night, miserable and lonely.

Sometimes, he did have his doubts. He wondered what she did or what happened to her that these changes suddenly came about.

It still bothered him to this day about Rick Tanner attacking her, and the mention of a mirror. There was something about that connection that he couldn’t put his finger on. Rick’s death had been declared a suicide, case closed. Yet…...the doubts were there.

Ever since he had spotted the mirror in the forest and the thing seemed to come to life, he had been having some nightmares about it. It was like the thing would not leave his subconscious even though he knew it was just his overactive imagination.

Yet, something else disturbed him, and it was a conversation that he had with Bill and Hal before Christmas.

“I’ve lived in this town my whole life, and don’t think I have ever had this many incidences,” Mark commented.

Hal and Bill exchanged knowing looks and it didn’t get past Mark.

“What?”

“You must have forgotten town history,” Hal said.

“Or Rick Tanner’s history,” Bill finished.

“What do you mean?”

“There were things going on about twenty years ago, but you’re too young to remember,” Bill said with a faraway look in his brown eyes.

Hal handed Mark some old files on Rick Tanner.

Mark mulled over them, and saw that Rick was involved in a few incidents in town, and the worst one was a car wreck that killed a few kids. They were never able to prove the wreck was anything more than an accident; meanwhile Rick had never been violent towards anyone. Mark paged through the file, and noticed a few pages missing. The biggest one was all the names involved in the wreck. He would have to look for the missing pages later. Maybe, he would have Marge do it for him.

There was a quote by Rick that stopped Mark cold, and it was the mention of a mirror haunting him in a statement he had given.

Mark never mentioned the connection he made to Hal and Bill, because they didn’t seem to notice it or maybe they knew already.  It had made him stop and wonder what it was that was really going on with Rick Tanner and how it connected to Jessica.

He wanted to write it off as psychosis, but he was still having doubts. Hal said he wondered if Rick had something to do with Sara Miller, but Mark didn’t think so. The strange way that Sara died and knife still missing continued to gnaw the back of his mind.

It was funny before this set of incidents happened twenty something years ago; there were other incidents similar to Rick’s that went back even further. He didn’t want to, but there was something suspicious about Jessica, that made him want to question her. She had already lied to him about the bear when she first met him, and he had a hunch there were more lies.

He had been keeping an eye on her, but found nothing out of the ordinary. He tried not to let his bias get in the way, but Jessica was a sweet girl who would not hurt anyone that he could see, plus he loved kissing her. He remembered back to Mandy Cooper’s party and how innocent she was, and then he remembered her change and how she hit a boy for teasing her not two months later.

The mention of that mirror, though. It was still nagging at him.

Mark shook his head, and began to close up shop for the night. Bill was already patrolling and the state police would be on the radio since Marge was sick, and Paul was out with Bill.

He was really looking forward to that beer.

Jessica was so proud that her parents trusted her enough to leave her the house for the weekend of her birthday party. Her parents decided to go off to Seattle for the weekend, and said that it would be her job to have everything clean by the time they came home Sunday evening. They also left her their phone number at the hotel they were staying at just in case something happened.

Tessa, Alex, and Jessica had decorated the house, and even though Jessica had just turned eighteen that Thursday she was so happy to finally have a birthday party she could enjoy.

She stood in the middle of the living room, and could not stop smiling as people began to fill in.

Alex was able to talk to his older brother, and got him the liquor they needed along with a beer keg.

The music boomed over the stereo system, and the best thing was it was brand-new and state of the art, that her father had bought her mother for Christmas.

The
Footloose
soundtrack was playing on the stereo, and Jessica would switch it out soon.

Her parents had bought her a big birthday cake that sat in the middle of the dining room table. It was her favorite; chocolate with white and blue icing saying
Happy 18 Jessica!

Presents began to pile up beside the cake, and the party was in full swing.

Jessica had been happy about something else; Kelly Martin and the rest of the team showed up and seemed really excited to be there.

They all congratulated each other on making the playoffs, and excitedly talked about the upcoming games.

Even Danny Davenport was there. They exchanged smiles, and he gave her a kiss and a hug for her birthday, and Jessica was happy with just that. She had a sneaky suspicion that Tessa and Danny were getting closer, and Jessica was not angry at all, in fact she was happy for them. She would have to remind herself to tell Tessa that, so Tessa would not try to keep it a secret.

Jessica kept peering out of the window in hopes of seeing a certain Sheriff pull up, but was disappointed when she hadn’t spotted him yet.

Jessica mingled as she carried around a drink in her hand. She wanted to be responsible, and decided just a couple of them, and made sure she ate before she had them so there would be no repeats of last time.

Tessa was not drinking either because of her past scares, and tried to prod Jessica to get wasted, but Jessica said she was fine with just a couple.

Alex and Jessica had moved most of the furniture in the living room out so there would be a small dance floor. It worked, and Jessica was relieved to see people dancing and laughing already.

Amber approached Jessica after a while, and Amber gave her a big smile. Jessica could see she was getting drunk, and almost laughed.

“Good job, girl! This is awesome!” Amber squealed, looking around.

“Thank you! Glad you and the others are enjoying yourselves,” Jessica answered.

Amber suddenly turned serious. She tugged on Jessica’s shirt sleeve, pulling her aside. “I want to tell you something Jess, and I don’t want you to take this the wrong way.”

Jessica knew the drinks were making Amber loosen her tongue, and Jessica was interested in what she had to say.

“I like you, and I always have. I’m sorry Mandy was such a bitch that night, but she is my friend and I miss her,” Amber said.

Jessica nodded. “I understand.”

“So, you understand why we thought you joined basketball to get back at Mandy then?”

“It was never about that. I just wanted to do something for my parents for my senior year,” Jessica answered, only telling the partial truth. “I would have tried out even if Mandy were still around.”

Amber nodded seemingly satisfied with her answer. “Kelly is still having her doubts, but I talked her into believing you, but I will warn you…”

Jessica’s eyebrows rose. “Warn me?”

Amber looked around and hesitated, but said, “Listen. I’ve always defended you, and I always will, but Kelly will be Kelly, she can be worse than Mandy. Just play your ass off during the playoffs and you should be fine.”

Jessica felt her heart sink a little. So, Kelly would never really be a friend to Jessica no matter what she did.

“I will Amber, and thanks for the warning,” Jessica answered putting her hand on Amber’s arm.

Amber looked around again, saying “I can’t wait to graduate and get away from some of these bitches forever, but the act will go on till May.”

Jessica raised her eyebrows at the confession and said, “I feel the same way.”

Amber smiled, but Jessica could see it didn’t reach her eyes, but then she was suddenly distracted by one of the footballs players who whisked her away.

Jessica stood there for a moment, and didn’t talk to anyone. So, Kelly was planning something, and Jessica would be the victim of it. Jessica felt the sadness wash over her as she replayed Amber’s words in her head. They were setting Jessica up to fail, and that made her even more determined to help them win the state championships.

Jessica thought for a moment that she may have her next wish after all…..

Jessica stayed in the corner and contemplated what to do next. She knew she needed to see The Spirit of the Mirror again soon, and try to put a stop to it before something happened. She didn’t want to take Kelly out if she was innocent of anything, and in case Amber was talking out of her ass. She knew she might just have to watch and wait.

She already had to deal with that once, and that was with Sara Miller.

Jessica stayed in her corner for a while just letting the beat of the music interrupt her troubled thoughts.  

She felt the tears start to well up in her eyes, but wiped them away. She would not let these girls get the better of her no matter what she did.

This was her party, and she wanted to enjoy herself. She decided to put her thoughts aside, and try to be the best hostess she could be.

Yet, there she stood in the corner, and just muttered a few words as people breezed by her to retrieve food or drinks from the kitchen.

She knew she had to pull it together somehow…

“Jessica?”

Jessica was still lost in her thoughts, not hearing the male voice at first.

“Jessica?”

Jessica’s head snapped up to focus on the person calling her name.  

Mark McKenzie stood a few feet away from her holding a small present, with a slight concern in his deep blue eyes as he tried to get her attention.

Jessica shook her head and tried to smile. “Hi!”

“Hey! You okay?” Mark asked, walking up to her and putting a hand on her shoulder.

Jessica tried to smile again in reassurance while responding, “Yeah, I think the drinks got to me a little again.”

Mark smiled knowingly and said, “Well, as long as you’re alright.”

“I am and I am so glad you came,” Jessica said, hoping he would not take his hand off her shoulder, in fact she wished his hand would do other things.

Mark softened, and said, “Me too.”

Jessica frowned as she spotted his clothing. She noticed that he was in civilian clothes with jeans and a black T-shirt with a brown jacket. God, he looked hot, she thought almost turning a dark crimson. He was definitely not into the fashion of the times, and Jessica liked it that way. It would just make him look silly.

Mark followed where Jessica’s eyes traveled and laughed. “I’m on my break right now. Another deputy is covering for me. I didn’t want to scare your friends, but some were giving me the evil eye.”

Jessica laughed and said, “So, I guess you’re gonna ignore the keg and…..”

Mark winked at her. “I didn’t see a thing.”

Jessica grinned, but still felt relief wash over her. She remembered the night of Mandy Cooper’s party and heard about the arrests they made.

“How long can you stay?” Jessica asked hopefully.

Mark looked disappointed, “Not too long, but I promised I would stop by and here I am.”

Jessica gave him a soft smile. “I’m so glad you did, even if it just for a short time.”

Mark still hadn’t taken his hand off her shoulder, and then he started to lean into her.

“Happy Birthday,” he whispered against her cheek.

Jessica turned towards his face, smiling when he leaned closer to her.

She opened her mouth ready for his lips to touch hers, and felt her excitement rise in her belly knowing he was going to kiss her.

She could just barely feel his breath on her face, and leaned back a little to steady herself waiting for Mark to put his lips on hers.

But! The kiss never came.

The music suddenly stopped making Jessica and Mark both jump.

Jessica regretfully left Mark’s grasp and frowned as she made her way down the hallway through groaning and moaning of the party goers.

She turned to see Mark right behind her, and almost ignored it so she could get that birthday kiss she wanted so badly.

She turned to the dining room and spotted Tessa standing there at the birthday cake.

Tessa laughed when she spotted Jessica’s confused look.

“Everyone! May I have your attention please?” Tessa hollered to the crowd of people.

Jessica turned looking doubtfully at Mark, who in turn gave her a nod of support.

“I am going to keep this short and sweet, and wanted to wish my best friend in the whole world a very happy birthday!”

Everyone cheered around Jessica, and Jessica couldn’t help but blush at the attention. People raised their drinks in the air, and Jessica almost laughed at the drunken singing of the birthday song break out for her.

Tessa lit the candles on the birthday cake and beckoned for Jessica to come blow them out.

The partygoers cheered again as the song finished, and Jessica spotted Mark standing there smiling at her.

Then the yells of “speech!” began to come from the crowd.

Jessica blushed again in embarrassment, and said, “I want to thank everyone for coming. I never thought I could be having this much fun.”

Jessica took one more deep breath and yelled, “Fuck speeches! Let’s party!”

She blew out her eighteen candles among cheers from the crowd and the music came back on courtesy of Alex. Tessa came and gave her best friend a strong hug, along with Alex and everyone else.

Mark placed his present down the on table, and said, “I have to go.”

Jessica pouted a little as she cut the cake. “Already?”

Mark was regretting leaving, but Jessica knew he had to. “Don’t worry, there is something in the gift for you.”

Jessica gazed upon the present on the table, and then smiled back up to him.

“Thank you, “ she said softly.

He smiled back to her, and turned to leave.

She hated seeing Mark leave, but knew he had his duty as the Sheriff to protect and serve the people of Leon’s Crossing.

She hated it that they couldn’t finish their kiss.

She turned to Tessa and said, “Can you finish this?”

Tessa nodded and began to finish cutting the cake, but tried to look on as Jessica greedily unwrapped Mark’s present that she picked up first.

“What is it?” Tessa asked dying to know what Mark had bought Jessica.

Jessica couldn’t help but laugh as she held a copy of the book
Ugly Duckling
in her hand.

A noted fell out of it and she picked it up off the floor.

Jessica beamed when she read the note, handing it over to a waiting Tessa, who started giggling.