Stalking Shadows (Scary Mary) (3 page)

“Oh, that’s nice. Will you two be studying here?”

She shrugged. “Don’t know. We haven’t planned it yet. Don’t worry. We can look after ourselves.”

“But I like looking after you, and Rachel’s a sweet girl. Unusual, but sweet.”

Mary smirked at that. The first time they’d met, Gran had a little trouble not staring at Rachel’s hair. It’d been Astroturf green at the time. Once she’d gotten over the hair, she’d stared at the piercings. Rachel had told her that she’d look good with a nose ring. Gran had wondered how she’d blow her nose. Rachel’s answer of ‘Very carefully’ had made her chuckle. They’d gotten along famously ever since.

“Well, I’m going to go curl up with my book. Do you need anything else before I go to bed?”

Mary shook her head. Gran cleared away the leftover pizza, and Mary pulled out her homework again. Chowder followed Gran to bed, and Mary had the living room to herself. She put the television on for company and worked for the rest of the evening.

*    *    *

“You didn’t come by. I know you have no social life, so don’t even try giving me an excuse.”

Mary turned around and groaned. Once again, there were no exits, only a hospital bed and one annoying, non-comatose cheerleader. She said the thing that had been plaguing her all day. “You were on a date with Cy.”

“Oh, you’re still into him?”

Mary turned away so she wouldn’t launch herself at the other girl. “Is this real or just a nightmare?”

“It’s real. Very real. Look, I don’t think this thing is just affecting me. I think it’s going after other people, too.”

Mary turned back to face her. “How do you know that?” Vicky looked up at the ceiling as if trying to see the answer to her question.

“I can just sort of feel it out prowling around. I can feel it clawing at other people.”

“Do you know anything else about it? Does it talk? Can you see it?”

Vicky shook her head. “I can only feel it. Please come to the hospital. I’m afraid it’s gonna kill me.”

Mary stared at the other girl. Vicky was serious.

“I’ll come by.”

“Are you going to bring that friend of yours? You better not let her mess with me.”

“You’re in a coma. What do you care?”

“I care. No drawn-on mustaches.”

“What about a soul patch?”

“No!”

The dream snapped off at that, and Mary rolled over into normal sleep.

Chapter 2

Family Gatherings

The next day at school was boring. Cy was absent again, and everyone assumed he was still with Vicky. Mary saw Kyle in the hall once, and he looked like he wanted to talk. She’d ducked into the girl’s restroom to avoid him and waited until the bell rang to emerge. It was cowardly, and Kyle probably thought she was a complete nut case, but she didn’t want another Cy update. At least not from him. She’d wait and get it directly from Cy.

She knew she needed to get to work helping Vicky, but it was going to be tricky. If she told Rachel that she wanted to visit the cheerleader, she would insist Mary was sick and in need of medical attention herself. Then she’d have to explain the dreams, and she had no idea how to explain them. She still wasn’t sure if they were real. She’d never had dreams like this before. Trying to think up another reason to go to the hospital was tough. She finally settled on lying and claiming to be interested in volunteering, and why not visit Rachel’s mom to find out more? Rachel drove her to the hospital after school, but she was still skeptical.

“I thought hospitals gave you the creeps.”

“Yeah, but I should learn to conquer my fears.”

“You call them Hotels of Death.”

“Are we going to see your mom or not?”

Rachel led the way through the lobby. Mary’s eyes darted around. Hospitals did creep her out. So many people dying in one place meant hauntings were prevalent and plentiful.

Mary followed Rachel onto the elevator.

“What floor, please?”

“Rach, what floor?”

“I pushed three. Why?”

Mary jumped and scowled. She and Rachel were alone in the elevator. She’d seen it was empty when she’d gotten on, but still, she’d reacted to the ghost like he was there. She hated when that happened.

The doors opened, and Rachel led the way to the nurse’s station. A middle-aged woman in pink scrubs looked up at them, and her round face broke into a happy smile. Rachel walked around the desk and gave her mother a hug.

“What a pleasant surprise! What are you two girls doing here?”

Mary wandered behind the nurse’s station and got pulled into a hug, too. She felt even guiltier telling her lie with her arms around Mrs. Pillar. “I was thinking about volunteering, but didn’t know what I should do. Do you know anything about that?”

Mrs. Pillar squeezed her tighter before letting her go. “That’s a wonderful idea! There are all sorts of programs: the candy stripers, baby massage, the gift shop. You have to get an application from the volunteer office. It’s on the fifth floor. Just follow the signs when you get off the elevator.”

“Thanks, Mrs. Pillar.”

“Oh, and if you want to stop by and see Vicky Nelson, she’s on the second floor in room 204. I’m sure her parents would like to see kids from school.”

“Mom, we aren’t exactly friends with Vicky.”

“Well, are you going to fill out an application, too?”

Rachel’s eyes shot to Mary. This was an unexpected development. “I’ll pick up an application and think about it,” she said.

“It’ll look good on your college applications,” Mrs. Pillar suggested.

Rachel huffed a sigh. “Thanks Mom. We gotta go. See you at home.”

“Tell your father that I’m bringing dinner home at 7 p.m. So no snacking. I’ll know. Tell him that.”

Rachel began backing away, tugging Mary with her. “Sure, Mom.”

“And it’d be nice if you could do a load of darks for me. I’ll fold them later tonight.”

Rachel stabbed the elevator call button. “Sure, Mom.”

“It was nice to see you girls. I hope your grandmother’s well, Mary.” Rachel dragged Mary into the elevator and pressed five.

“Very well, Mrs. Pillar. Thanks for the info.” The elevator doors began to close.

“My pleasure. And Rachel, could you pickup—”

“Sorry, Mom, what?” Rachel said as she mashed the door close button.

When the doors had shut, Rachel slumped against the elevator wall. “I didn’t think we’d ever get out of there.”

Mary smirked. “Your mom’s really nice.”

She glared at her. “Sure, you can say that. She doesn’t give you chores.”

The elevator doors opened, and the girls exited. They followed the signs to the volunteer program office, where they each picked up an application. Rachel held hers like it was infected. Mary folded hers and put it in her pocket. She didn’t even bother to read it. The volunteer coordinator had been very bubbly and eager to get the girls signed up, but Mary told her that she wasn’t sure what she wanted to do and would have to talk it over with her grandmother. They got out of the office relatively unscathed.

When they got back into the elevator, Rachel pressed L.

“What floor, please?”

“Two,” Mary whispered.

The number two button lit up.

The elevator went down. “So, what do you think you want to do?” Rachel asked as she peered at the application. It would’ve been easier to read if she hadn’t been holding it at arm’s length.

“I don’t know,” Mary said. The elevator doors opened, and she strode off. Rachel followed and stopped.

“Wait, this isn’t the lobby.” She turned to get back on the elevator, but the doors had closed.

“Isn’t this Vicky’s floor?” Mary said, knowing full well that it was. She started down the corridor.

“Mary, are you serious? We should go.”

“Since we’re here, we might as well peek in.”

Rachel snagged her arm and turned her around. “Seriously? Don’t you think that’s kind of, I don’t know, morbid?”

She brushed off Rachel’s hand. “We don’t have to go in. I just want to get a glimpse.”

Rachel’s mouth thinned. Mary began down the corridor again. She glanced into the patient rooms as she passed. It was pretty deserted. There were a couple of bored nurses at the nurse’s station. The girls nodded as they walked past, but the nurses barely gave them a glance. Mary saw 204 ahead. She lengthened her stride.

The door was open. She cautiously looked in and saw the room was empty except for Vicky. She stepped into the room. “Mary?” Rachel said. She didn’t sound happy.

Mary went to Vicky’s side. She needed to know if her dreams were real. Vicky looked just like she had in Mary’s dream. There was a bandage around her head with a lump of gauze positioned over her left eye. She hadn’t made that up. The only thing different was that Vicky’s eyes were closed, and she was lying down. Mary reached out and touched Vicky’s hand. She half expected the cheerleader’s eyes to pop open and for her to start berating Mary for taking so long, but there was no reaction to her touch. Vicky’s hand was warm, but so still. The machines beeped softly, and the IV dripped. This whole scene didn’t seem like Vicky at all. Where was the loud-mouthed, brash girl who made Mary’s life miserable? Rachel had crept up beside her and looked down at the comatose girl.

“We shouldn’t be here,” Rachel whispered.

“I’m just trying to figure something out,” Mary whispered back.

“Hello?”

Mary jerked her hand off Vicky’s arm and turned around. She’d felt guilty lying to Mrs. Pillar, now she felt like the lowest criminal looking at the woman in the doorway. She had on a light blue, velour zip-up hoody with matching pants. Her hair was up in a bun, but it had started to come undone a bit. There were dark circles underneath her eyes, and no makeup had been used to try and conceal it. The auburn color of her hair sealed the deal. She was Vicky’s mother.

“Hi, sorry. We didn’t mean to disturb. We just wanted to see how Vicky was doing.”

Rachel turned shocked eyes to Mary.

Mrs. Nelson went over to a chair by the bed. She sank down and picked up one of Vicky’s lax hands. “No, it’s nice that you stopped by. All friends of Vicky’s are welcome. It’s good for her to be surrounded by people who care about her. The doctors say she can hear us, so she knows you’re here, and it’ll help her get better.”

Mary nodded. “But she’s doing, okay?”

Mrs. Nelson looked at her daughter. There was a bittersweet hope in her eyes. “She’s only sleeping. She’ll wake up.”

Mary nodded again. “Yeah, nothing can keep Vicky down.”

Mrs. Nelson smiled. “You’re absolutely right. My girl’s strong.”

Rachel shuffled her feet. “Do you need us to get you anything?”

Mrs. Nelson turned her wispy smile to Rachel. “No, thank you. I just ate dinner downstairs in the cafeteria with Vicky’s father. He’s gone home to shower and change. He’ll be back in a few hours. I’ll be fine until then. Do you girls have any classes with Vicky?”

Mary nodded. “I have sixth-period English with her. I’ve known Vicky since grade school.”

“You have?”

She nodded. Rachel grabbed Mary’s hand and began backing toward the doorway. “We don’t want to intrude anymore. We should go. It was nice meeting you, Mrs. Nelson. Vicky’s a fighter. She’ll pull through this.”

“It was so nice of you girls to stop by. I’m sure Vicky appreciates it, too.”

Mary balked at Rachel’s tugging. “You said she can hear us, right?”

Mrs. Nelson nodded. Mary freed her hand from Rachel’s and walked back to Vicky’s side. She bent over and put her mouth to the girl’s ear. “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it. Just get better for your mom.” She straightened. When she looked at Mrs. Nelson, she saw tears creeping down the older woman’s face. She’d heard what Mary had said.

“It was nice meeting you, Mrs. Nelson. Vicky’s very lucky to have you.” She turned and left. Rachel backed out of the room with a nervous smile. Mary walked back to the elevators. She pressed the call button. Rachel came up beside her and grabbed her arm to make her turn to face her.

“What was that all about?”

“Vicky’s in trouble.”

“Uh yeah, she’s in a coma.”

“No, I mean more than that.”

Two chairs sat against the wall. She slumped down into one. Rachel took the other. “I’ve been having these dreams. They’re about Vicky. She’s in her hospital bed, and she says something’s attacking her. That it’s hurting her, but she doesn’t know what it is. She’s so insistent that I had to come here and see for myself.”

“You’re having weird dream conversations with Vicky?”

“Yeah, two so far. I’ve never had dreams like this before.”

“And? Are the dreams real?”

Mary scrubbed her face. “They feel real. The room is the same, but I don’t know what I’m supposed to do. I don’t know what’s hurting her. She said it was going after others, but I don’t know who, and I don’t know what the thing is.”