Secret Admirer (7 page)

R
ain pattered against the floor. Turning from the sink, Selena saw that she'd left the back door open.

The rat lay in a puddle of brown wrapping paper near the door.

The dead rat.

Already half-decayed. Its wiry legs stiff. Its patchy fur matted. Its head …

Its head chewed to a pulp. Chewed by a cat or some other animal.

A headless dead rat.

The disgusting aroma floated through the room, attacking Selena's nostrils again.

She held her breath. Fought back another wave of nausea.

And who had sent it?
she wondered, feeling so frightened, so overwhelmed by the ugliness of it.

Who had such a sick mind? Who had left such a sick gift on her kitchen stoop?

She stumbled toward it. Spotted the orange circle on the soaked brown wrapping.

Recognized the sun. The sun. The sun—again.

And found the note, scrawled on the inside of the wrapper. The rain-smeared note in heavy black letters. Not too smeared to read:

Selena—

This is you!

This is you—unless you leave the play.

I made a mistake yesterday. I crushed the wrong girl.

But I'll get it right.

If I can't be with you, no one else can, either.

Don't be a rat, Selena. Because …

The rest of the words were washed out by the rain.

Selena stared at the note, trying to steady her hand. She read it again. Again.

In the beginning, the notes had seemed part of a joke. But no longer.
This has gone too far,
Selena thought numbly.

The Sun really wanted to hurt her. Whoever he was, he had made a mistake when he injured Alison instead of Selena.

There was no doubt about what the next part of the note meant. It was a clear threat. If Selena didn't quit the play, he'd kill her.

She'd be a dead rat.

Was he outside now?
she wondered. Had he waited around to see her take in the package?

She hadn't heard a car drive up. But then how could she hear anything over the pounding of the rain?

Walking around the decayed rat, she peered out through the open door. The rain poured down, sheet
after sheet. She saw only the rain, the darkness beyond it, broken by the bright flicker of jagged lightning.

Selena slammed the door and locked it.

A cold shudder ran down her body. She had to throw away the rat. She had to mop the floor. She had to rid the house of that sickening odor.

And then what?
she wondered.

And then what do I do?

Back up in her room, she tried to concentrate on the script. But the picture of the headless, decayed rat lingered in her mind. Refused to fade away.

I'll call Katy,
she decided.
I'll call Katy and tell her what happened. She always makes me feel better
.

Katy picked up the phone on the third ring. “Selena? What's wrong? You sound terrible!”

‘Oh, Katy, I can't believe it!” Selena cried. She poured out the story of everything that had happened that evening. When she finished, Katy remained silent for a moment. Then she let out a long sigh.

“I said all along that someone crazy was after you,” she scolded Selena. “But I'll do everything I can to help you find out who it is. We know it's someone in drama, right? So we'll keep an eye on everyone working on the play.”

“Thanks,” Selena breathed. “But he knows where I live. He knows—”

“Selena, do you think maybe you
should
quit?” Katy asked softly. She sounded very frightened. “If this nut is serious about his threat …”

“Quit the play?” Selena gasped. “I can't!”

“You don't have to give up acting forever,” Katy suggested. “Just the spring play.”

“But this play is the most important one! It's my only chance for a scholarship to Northwestern.”

“Well, you
have
to tell Mr. Riordan what's going on,” Katy insisted. “It's too serious not to tell him.”

“What if he calls off the play?”

“Your life is more important than the play,” Katy told her sharply.

“You're right.” Selena sighed. “I'll tell him.”

“Good. Don't forget. Tell him first thing tomorrow.” She paused. “Are you okay? Want me to come over?”

“Thanks, but I'm okay,” Selena replied. “I feel better just talking to you.”

Katy sighed. “Well, the more you can keep your mind off this creep, the better. Which reminds me—have you thought about which videos we're renting for our sleepover on Friday?”

“Oh, wow, Katy! I totally forgot we were doing that. I just made a date for Friday.”

For a moment Katy didn't speak. “Couldn't you change it?” she asked.

“I don't think so,” Selena replied. “Why don't we do the sleepover Saturday instead?”

“All right,” Katy agreed. “It's not like I have any other plans. Who are you going out with?”

Selena knew she was supposed to keep it a secret. But she couldn't keep the news from her best friend. “You'll never believe it. Eddy.”

“Eddy, the intern? But he goes to college. Isn't he a little old for you?”

“Not really,” Selena replied. “I mean, he's only two years older than me. And he's so sweet. I've only talked to him a few times, but I already feel as if I've
known him my whole life. And I feel as if he knows me.”

“Well, you know what you're doing,” Katy said dryly. “I've got to get back to my homework.”

‘Okay,” Selena replied. “Thanks for understanding.”

“No problem,” Katy told her. “But, Selena, please be very careful. I really think you're in danger.”

Katy's last words lingered in Selena's mind as she hung up the phone.
Even if it's true,
she decided,
I can't think about it all the time
.

She propped the script on her pillow and dropped onto her stomach, studying the lines again. She couldn't seem to memorize a single speech.

The rain drummed against her window. The wind howled, making the window rattle. Selena realized she couldn't concentrate because of the booming thunder.

Selena remembered the night she and Katy had found the ladder out in the yard. She sat up quickly and looked out the window.

No one there.
No one is looking in,
she told herself. But she stood up and closed the curtains, making sure they overlapped in the center.

The lights flickered, and again Selena set the script down with a sigh. There was no way she could memorize any lines till the storm stopped. But maybe she could at least get a start on her history paper.

She reached over to her desk and slipped her history book from the bottom of a pile of schoolwork.

A deafening thunderclap shook the house.

No one out there,
she told herself.
Stop scaring yourself, Selena. Stop it right now
.

But what if the stalker had returned?

If he was out there, she realized, how could she know? If he broke into the house, how could she hear him over the storm?

Selena shut her eyes to force away her frightening thoughts. But in her imagination a silent, dark figure appeared. She watched him steal into the house, creep up the stairs, approach her door.

Selena's eyes flew open.

Another bolt of lightning sent long shadows across her room.

Stop it!
she scolded herself again.
You're letting y our imagination run away with you. It's just a stupid rainstorm
. She shut her eyes again.

Maybe I should just forget homework and go to bed early,
she thought.

She settled back on the bed, trying to relax. The world outside flickered on and off as lightning crashed and rain thundered against the trees of the Fear Street Woods behind her house.

And then she heard something over the noise of the storm.

The thud of heavy footsteps.

Footsteps in her house.

Selena's breath caught in her throat. She sat up in bed, her heart hammering in terror.

Had she forgotten to lock the back door? Had someone broken in through one of the windows?

She sat silently, her breathing shallow, trying not to hear the rhythmic sounds.

Thump … thump … scrape
.

The footsteps came closer. Someone was on the stairway.

Someone was in the house.

The Sun?

Scrape … scrape … thump
.

Closer. He was almost at the top of the stairs now.

Moving silently, Selena slid off her bed. She unplugged her metal reading lamp. She grasped it by the base, felt its comforting weight in her hand.

Then she stepped behind the door and waited.

13
 

S
elena hunched behind the door, waiting … waiting for the stalker.

Holding her breath, she gripped the lamp.

A flash of lightning lit up the hall. In the white glow, Selena saw a shadow.

She drew in a sharp breath. The stalker had reached the top of the stairs. She heard his footsteps over the hall carpet.

“Selena?”

Selena raised the lamp higher.

“Are you up here, honey?”

Selena felt a rush of relief so strong she almost dropped the lamp.

“Mom!” she sobbed. “You're home!”

She tossed down the lamp, plunged into the hall, and hugged her mother.

“I'm so glad you called my name!” Selena cried. “I was getting ready to nail you with my lamp”

Her mother laughed. “Sorry I scared you. I know
how you hate to be by yourself in a storm. The lightning knocked out the electricity in town, so the restaurant had to close. Which means I get to see my daughter for a change!”

“Well, I'm glad you're here,” Selena said again.

“I have an idea,” her mother said, smiling. “Let's light a big fire in the fireplace, and I'll make a big pot of hot chocolate.”

“Great!” Selena agreed.

While her mother built the fire, Selena prepared the hot cocoa in the kitchen. Then she settled on the sofa next to Mrs. Goodrich.

She loved looking at her mother in the firelight. She thought her mother was beautiful. Selena had inherited the same pale blond hair and green eyes.

As they sipped the hot chocolate, Selena told her mother about the spring play.

“You'll be a wonderful Juliet,” her mother gushed. “Even if I have to call in sick to work, I'm going to see you in this one.”

“Great,” Selena replied. “I just wish Dad could see it, too.”

“So do I, honey,” Mrs. Goodrich said softly. “He'd be so proud of you.”

Selena nodded sadly. Her dad hadn't lived to see Selena on stage, had never known about her acting talent. “I miss him so much,” Selena told her mother. “It's been three years, but I still keep expecting him to come home as if nothing had happened.”

“I know,” her mother replied, glancing away. “But you know, honey, he'll always be with us, both of us, as long as we remember him.”

They sat in silence for a moment, then Mrs. Goodrich turned to Selena, forcing a smile to her face. “Tell
me more about school,” she urged. “I want to know everything that's going on.”

Selena couldn't help thinking about the stalker, the dead rat, the ugly threats. Should she tell her mother?

“I've got a couple of term papers due,” she said. “But other than that, there's not much happening, except …”

“What?”

“Nothing.” Selena shrugged.

I'll tell Mr. Riordan instead,
she thought.
There's no sense worrying Mom. She's got enough to handle
.

“I'm a little stressed,” she told her mother with a smile. “But believe me—the play is the only thing I care about.”

The next morning, Selena was hurrying from math class to English when she bumped into Jake, nearly knocking him over. “Whoa!” she cried. “Sorry, Jake! I didn't see you.”

“Hey, Moon,” Jake muttered lifelessly.

“Is something wrong?” she demanded.

He frowned. “Mr. Riordan just posted the cast list for the spring play.”

“Really?” Selena cried. She stepped up to the bulletin board to see.

“No surprises,” Jake told her. “You're Juliet, naturally. And Danny is Romeo.”

“Yuck!” Selena wrinkled her nose. “I was hoping you would get it.”

“I
should
have gotten it!” Jake exclaimed with surprising heat. “You saw the auditions! I was a thousand times better than that jerk.”

“You were both good,” Selena said carefully.

“Danny only got it because he's always kissing up to
Mr. Riordan,” Jake raged. “I thought maybe
once
talent would make a difference. But Danny always gets his way.” He kicked a balled-up piece of paper across the hall.

“I'm really sorry you didn't get the part,” Selena told him honestly. “But I'm surprised you even tried out for it. I mean, until now, you only wanted character parts.”