The Monster Within (5 page)

Before I could answer, I saw spots. Black spots that filled my vision. Not again. “Um, I need to use the restroom.”

“It’s straight back there.” I could barely make out Ethan’s face as he motioned behind me.

“Be right back.” I used the booth to find my way out of the seat. Everything was black now. I ran my fingers across the other booths and tables as I made my way to the bathroom. I hoped I didn’t look too suspicious.

“Hey!” a girl yelled as my hand grazed her shoulder.

“Sorry.”

“You need help, honey?” I recognized Gloria’s voice.

“Yeah, I got something in my eye. I need to wash it out. I can’t see much of anything right now.”

She took my arm and led me into the bathroom, placing me in front of the sink.

“Thank you. I’ll be fine now.” I reached for the faucet, hoping Gloria would leave. I didn’t know how I was going to react when my vision came back. What would I see this time?

“Sure thing. I’ll be right outside if you need a hand.”

I pretended to fiddle with the water until I heard the door close. Then I gripped the sink to steady myself. A scene began to take shape. A house. A man walked through the front door. It was the guy from last night. He loosened his tie and kicked his shoes off, getting dirt on the carpet.

“I don’t smell dinner!” he yelled.

A woman came out of the kitchen carrying a tray of drinks and appetizers. “I thought we’d start with some bruschetta while the roast finishes cooking.”

Without warning, he knocked the tray from her hand, and the wine and bruschetta splattered all over the cream-colored carpet.

“I work all day, and you think some tomato on bread is enough to fill me? Why isn’t the roast ready? Did you go out with your friends again today? How many times do I have to tell you to make sure you’re home in plenty of time to get dinner on the table?”

The woman cowered as he pulled his hand back. I shook my head, trying to break free from this scene. I didn’t want to see any more. The woman’s scream rang in my ears as my vision went black. It was over.

I was breathing heavily, and I slumped forward onto the counter. The guy I’d killed had been awful, unbearable. He was sexist and vile. He hit his wife. A small part of me was glad he’d never get to hit her again. Glad that she’d be free.

“You okay?”

I looked up to see the reflection of a girl with jet-black hair. I jumped and turned around to face her.

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you.”

I stared at her, happy that my sight was my own again. Her eyes bored into me. They were almost cat-like. They looked really eerie, probably because she had bleached-blonde eyebrows. I doubted a single hair on this girl’s face or head was her natural color.

“I thought I was alone.”

“Yeah, you were pretty zoned out. I thought you were having a fit or something.”

“I’m fine. Thanks.” I turned back to the mirror and fussed with my hair. I had to look together so Ethan didn’t think something was wrong.

The girl eyed me for a minute before leaving. I sighed. I had to get a hold of myself. Whatever was happening to me, I had to find a way to deal with it. If Ethan knew what was going on, it would crush him—it was already destroying me. I took a few deep breaths to calm my nerves and walked back to the table.

The food was already there, and Ethan was shoveling it in. I smiled when I saw a triangular piece missing from my waffle.

“Sorry,” Ethan said, looking all innocent. “It looked really good. I gave you some eggs though. You said you couldn’t decide between a waffle or eggs, so now you have both.”

“Thanks.” I smiled at him. No. No way could I tell him any of this. I’d figure it out on my own.

The bell above the door jingled, and a police officer walked in. He went right to the counter, where Gloria met him with a cup of coffee. “Late night, huh?” she asked him.

“You said it.” He sat down on a stool, and he and Gloria talked for a few minutes. I couldn’t hear a word, but I didn’t need to. This was about the guy I’d killed. This was probably the officer who’d found the car and reported the “accident.” I sipped my coffee, not that the caffeine was going to ease the sinking feeling in my stomach. Even after the cop said goodbye to Gloria and walked out of the diner, I was still on edge.

Gloria approached with the coffee pot and
tsk
ed as she refilled our cups.

“Was that about the car we saw on the way here?” Ethan asked.

She nodded. “Bad one, too. Officer Crawford said the guy must have had a massive stroke while he was driving. They identified him by his license, but when they called his wife at the resort where they were staying, she said he looked years older. More wrinkles, balding, and what was left of his hair was completely gray. The paramedics said strokes can age a person quite a bit, but even this was beyond anything they’d ever seen.”

The few bites of waffle I’d manage to get down were on their way back up. I couldn’t listen to this. I was the only one who knew the truth. The ugly, horrible truth.

“Was he from around here?” Ethan asked.

“No. He was a tourist. I think his name was Herman Owlander,” Gloria said.

Ethan cringed. “Awful name.”

“Awful man, too, if you ask me.” Gloria put the coffee pot down on the table and leaned toward us. She looked around before whispering, “He and his wife came in here earlier in the week. He was ordering her around like she was a servant. I’m telling you, I was tempted to pour a pot of scalding hot coffee all over his unmentionable parts. Not that I’m saying I’m glad he’s dead, but there’s something to be said for getting what you deserve. If you treat people like that and show no regard for other living beings, well, sooner or later, karma is gonna come around to bite you in the ass.”

Ethan laughed, but I couldn’t. Gloria was right. Herman obviously didn’t care how he treated other people, even his own wife. The universe had given him what he deserved.

I wondered what the universe had in store for me.

CHAPTER FIVE

W
HEN
we finished breakfast, Gloria took me up to the counter to give me a tutorial on how to be a waitress. She said there was nothing to being a busboy, so Ethan said he’d go food shopping and get a few other things we needed for the cottage.

“I’ll pick you up in about an hour.” He looked at Gloria. “Will that be long enough?”

“Depends. Do you want to start making money today? Because I could sure use some help with the lunch crowd.”

I shrugged. “Why not?” I had to keep my mind busy, or I’d go insane.

“Should I come back for lunch to start my shift?” Ethan asked.

“The crowd usually starts in around eleven-thirty. See you then.” Gloria practically pushed Ethan out the door. “Don’t you worry about our girl. I’ll take care of her.”

I gave Ethan a smile. “See you soon.”

He nodded and left.

“So, I guess you should tell me your name,” Gloria said. “Got to know who to make the checks out to.”

My name? I hadn’t gotten my fake ID yet. I hadn’t even thought about a new last name. I must’ve looked terrified because Gloria gave me a stern look.

“You aren’t in any trouble, are you?”

“No. It’s just that I don’t have a bank account to cash checks.”

“Oh, well those are easy enough to open up, but I’ll tell you what. Until you get settled and open that account, I’ll pay you in cash. How does that sound?”

“Great. Thanks.”

“But I do need to know what to call you.”

“Sam. My name’s Sam.”

“Wouldn’t have pegged you for a Samantha.”

“Well, actually, I don’t go by my full name. I prefer Sam.”

She narrowed her eyes at me. “How does your mother feel about you using a boy’s name instead of the one she gave you?”

I tried to keep my composure at the mention of Mom. I missed her so much. Not that I’d ever consider trying to contact her. She needed to move on, get over my death. And me showing up now—an undead killer—would destroy her.

“You
do
have a mother, don’t you? Or did I just put my big, overworked foot in my mouth?”

“Not anymore,” I said. “But it’s okay. She never minded me going by Sam.”

“Well all the same, I think I’ll call you Samantha.”

I figured there was no use arguing with her. She’d given me a job and was willing to pay me in cash. How could I complain?

I followed Gloria around all morning, learning the ins and outs of the ancient coffee pot, carrying plates of food to all the tables, and refilling the sugar dispensers. By eleven, I was exhausted. But it was a good exhausted. Keeping busy meant I didn’t have time to think.

The door to the diner opened, and the girl from the bathroom walked in. What was she doing back again? She took a seat at the counter right in front of me as I put out a new tray of mammoth muffins.

“Twice in one day?” I asked.

“Excuse me?” She looked at me like she didn’t recognize me.

“You were here earlier. In the bathroom.” Did she really not remember me? I would’ve thought my display in the ladies’ room would be burned into her memory.

“Oh, right.” She sounded completely disinterested.

“What can I get for you?”

“Coffee. Black.”

I grabbed a mug and poured the freshly brewed coffee. I breathed in the heavenly scent. Gloria had shown me the secret ingredient. A tablespoon of cinnamon. It smelled divine, yet the taste was so subtle you couldn’t quite pinpoint what it was.

“Here you go.” I placed the coffee in front of her. “Would you like a muffin? They’re fresh.”

“No. Just the coffee.”

No big tip here. I wiped the counter even though it was already clean. I needed something to do while I waited for the lunch crowd.

“You live here?” the girl asked.

“Um, yeah. You?”

“Unfortunately.” Her tone was as bitter as her black coffee.

“I take it you don’t want to be here?”

“Look around. This is a resort town. Though I can’t understand why. Ooh, mountains. Ooh, a river. Big deal.” She took another sip.

“It’s pretty, especially with all the leaves changing colors.”

“Leaves. Yeah, very exciting.”

I wasn’t sure why she was even talking to me. She was obviously a miserable person. I moved away, pretending to check on the sugar dispensers I’d already filled.

“You going to school?” she asked.

“I will. I moved here yesterday, so I haven’t gotten around to enrolling yet.” I still wasn’t sure how Ethan and I were even going to pull off getting into school. We couldn’t exactly ask our old school for our records. We’d be using fake names.

“I guess I’ll see you around.” She got up and walked out of the diner. I reached for her cup, noticing she didn’t even leave me a tip. No big loss. I would manage without the quarter.

Ethan walked up to the counter. “Hey, how’s it going?”

“Good.” I kissed him hello. “Gloria’s got me working the counter until the lunch crowd hits. She said it’s good practice at a slower pace.”

“I’m glad she’s not pushing you too much on your first day.”

I took his arm and pulled him toward the coffee pot. “Did you figure out how we’re going to enroll in school? We won’t have any transfer records.”

“Don’t worry about it.” He reached in his back pocket and took out an ID. It had my license photo but the name was different.

“Samantha Smith?” I met his eyes. “You couldn’t come up with anything more original than Smith?”

“The good thing about a common name is there are plenty of records to choose from.” He wagged his eyebrows at me.

“You stole some girl’s records?” I said in a loud whisper.

“I didn’t steal them. I simply duplicated them. Totally different.”

I sighed. It wasn’t a bad plan, but Ethan had never done anything this sneaky before. He was changing—because of me.

“Oh, you moved here from Phoenix.”

“Phoenix? I’ve never even been to Arizona.”

“You’ve got to take what you can get.”

I rolled my eyes and pocketed my fake ID. Sam Smith it was. “What name did you get?”

“Ethan Jones. Floridian.”

“Well, look at that, we both came from the south.”

“Yup. Oh and I had to get you a P.O. box. If we have the same mailing address, people will get suspicious. I don’t want to pretend to be brother and sister because I’m not about to stop acting like your boyfriend.”

I laughed, thinking of how grossed out people would get if they thought we were related and stole kisses by our lockers. Ethan had thought of pretty much everything. I was thankful for these moments of normalcy, but it didn’t take long before Herman’s face popped into my head.

Gloria came out of the kitchen. “You’re early.”

I jumped, hoping she hadn’t heard any of our conversation.

Ethan smiled. “What can I say? I’m happy to have found a job so quickly.”

“I like that.” Gloria handed him an apron and a dishcloth. “There are empty tubs on the cart over there. Fill one up and leave it in the kitchen for the dishwasher. Oh, and wipe down the tables in between customers. That’s about all the instruction you need.”

The lunch crowd was pretty intense. Ethan and I were running back and forth for a good two and a half hours. Other than spilling one cup of coffee down the front of my shirt, I did pretty well. No messed up orders, no unpaid checks, and the tips were good. I was starting to feel like a normal, working teenager until the black spots started to appear. At first, I thought I’d spilled coffee on the counter, but when I wiped at them, they didn’t go away.

“How are you holding up, Samantha?” Gloria asked.

“Um, actually, I could use a bathroom break. Would you mind covering the counter for me?” I didn’t wait for a response. I left the dishcloth on the counter and headed for the bathroom before I lost my sight completely. Or worse, had another vision in front of a diner full of people.

I didn’t want to see Herman again. The last glimpse of his future—I guessed that was what I was seeing, the life the person would have lived if I hadn’t killed them—was unbearable to watch. I remembered what Gloria had said about the universe coming back to get you. Maybe this was my punishment. Having to see what I’d taken from the people I killed.