Walking in the Shadows (18 page)

“For you or Mike?”
Jaz dug in.

“For
Vera
…” Brad replied
.
N
ow
he had my interest.

“Me? I doubt something Mike could say
would embarrass me,
”
I responded as if my stomach wasn’t forming a knot.
Whatever he had said it had really pissed Tad off. I had never seen him that angry before.

“Well, Mike was saying how he would like to
u
mm
… ‘hit that’ in reference to
Vera
. Knightley overheard and said he didn’t want to over hear us talking about hitting any girls. So
,
Mike got all smart mouth on him and said that it wasn’t that kind of
hitting and
Knightley said
he was well aware what kind of hitting he was referring to, but Mike might want to watch what he said around
Vera
’s best friend’s boyfriend because it was bound to get to
Vera
and
she and
no
girl would be impressed by that kind of talk. Dude, Mike is going to be so pissed at me because I told you
Vera
,
”
Brad finished his ramble with a huge breath.

Jaz
shook her head
.
“That kid has no game. Knightley hit the nail on the head on that one.”

“Even if Mike wasn’t dumb enough to say that
,
he would
never have had a chance anyways,
” I
responded
,
rolling my eyes.
No one had a chance
.

“This is true.
He’s playing
anyways;
we al
l know he’s in love with Ashley,
”
Jaz
replied
,
linking her arm in mine
.
“I’m thir
s
ty
Vera;
let’s go get something to drink. Bye
,
Brad.”

“T
hat was really immature of Mike,
” I
said
agitated
.
“Sickening.”

“Don’t let it get to you. H
e knows he has no ch
ance with you. They all know it,
”
Jaz replied
as she tapped
my arm with her hand.

“What does that
mean?”
I asked
,
turning to face her.

“The theory that they all have is that you either had your heart broken and
you
are totally off limits
,
or you left someone behind in your ol
d town that you are waiting for,
”
Jaz explained.

“It is d
efiantly not the latter,
” I answered
as we began to walk again. When I thought of the guy I had broken up with when my parents died my stomach went empty.

Jaz
stopped and t
urned in front of me so quick
I almost ran her over
.
“
S
omeone broke your heart!”

“Oh, no that’s not what I meant,
”
I said
,
stepping back and waving my arms in dismay. It was a bit of an overreaction and there was no way I could cover it up. Jaz’s eyes narrowed on me as they had on Brad.

“So
,
why are you off limits?”
s
he pressed.

“Not loving t
he maturity of high school boys,
”
I stumbled, and it was half truthful.

She thought about it for a second and t
hen linked her arm back in mine
.
“You
’
r
e
right, they’
re a bit foolish. Well, except
for
Brad.”

I handed the cashier my cash and picked up
my coffee before standing
from the line to look up at the flat screen TV playing the news.

“With the third
movie in the
Crimson
Reign
s
aga releasing next month we are reminded of the rash of killings that were inspired by the movie
s and novels
. These
killings still remain a mystery. T
hey began shortly after the first movie released and stopped last year shortly after
the second
movie came out. Mark and Sarah
Martin were the first to be found dead. New questions have arisen from this
particular murder,” t
he news
women
lectured
,
and my body
went numb
as she continued
.
“Shortly after the two were discovered dead their daughter sold all the family’s belongings and left without a trace. We contacted the local authorities on the subject and they declined to comment. Could she be the one responsible?”

I could feel the coffee cup slipping
from my hands and
my body
on fire with agony. In an instant someone’s hand was wrapped around mine refusing to let me drop the coffee and their arm around my waist refusing to let me cave. I looked up into Tad’s face.

“I
didn’t…it wasn’t…I can’t
,
” I muttered in disbelief
.

“I know,” h
e said
,
guiding me out the door.

“Did anyone notice me
—”

“No, I saw you from the back of the line
and knew something was wrong—
the
n
I heard what they were saying,
”
T
ad replied
,
brushing a hair out of my face. It didn’t matter that someone might see us; it seemed that he could see it in my eyes that I was coming undone.

“I swear
to God, I didn’t do it
!”
I whispered
,
and I was rushed into the memory of that day
.

~~~

“Casey, did you hear my pare
nts come in last night?” I asked
,
rolling out of my bed.

“No,” s
he yawned
, “s
orry.”

I got up and went to their bedroom door
.

“Mom—Dad?”

When there was no answer I opened the door t
o find their bed perfectly made
just as it had been the day
before
.
“Mom! Dad!” I
screamed as I
rushed down the stairs, sliding halfway down on the slippery hardwoods. I glanced at the key rack, only to find it empty
.

“Mom! Dad!”
I screamed again
as panic filled
every part of me. I could feel something was wrong and
then there was a knock on the door.

“Hey, baby,
”
Bri
a
n slurred
with his usual
amount of
sleaze
. I hadn’t managed to break up with him yet an
d right now
I
was
regretting it
.
“I see your parents aren’t home
.
”

“Are you kid
ding me?” I snapped
as he pulled me into him
.

“L
et’s
take advantage of it,
”
h
e whispered.

“Get off me!
”
I shouted
,
glancing over his shoulder and pushing him away.

“Come on baby, you know you
want to
,
”
h
e replied
,
yanking at my hips
.

“Puke? Yes,
”
I retorted
,
slapping at his hands, yet still he held me.

“I don’t know why I put up
with your shit, you’re a bitch,
”
h
e
commented
,
pushing me away almost as quick
ly
as he had grabbed me.

“You know what? Screw you!”
I yelled in his face still
glancing aro
und him in anxiety.

“A
bs, what’s going on? Oh, hey Bri, what
are you doing here?” Casey asked
as she came down the stairs.

“Trying to see my girlfriend, but she’s be
ing stupid as usual,
” Brian replied
.

My head was starting to pound as
I lost feeling of my body
.
“I’m not your girlfriend anymore.”

“Abs, don’t be so rash,
” Casey commented
before smiling
at Brian.

“I was going to anyways,
” I repeated
.
I had avoided dumping him at Casey’s urging. He was, after all, the hottest senior
,
but he was also an arrogant jerk.

“What?” Brian spat
in shock
.
“You dump me?”

I rolled my eyes
,
and he turned to walk aw
ay.

“Brian, wait up
,
” Casey yelled
as she rushed after him
,
bumping me hard as she did. I watched as
she got in his car and sped off. In
a matter of seconds a police car was stopped where his car had just been parked.

“Abi
gail Martin?” The policeman asked
. I nodded my head unable to speak
.
“Come with me
,
please?”

“You okay
?” Tad’s voice shot me back into the present
as he tightened his arm around my waist. I shook my head and leane
d forward to puke away from him
.

“You know I believe you
,
right?”
he reassured me, rubbing my back.

“I know, but to hear
someone say that I could have—”
I trailed
off;
wiping my mouth with the napkin he had given me.

“
It doesn’t matter what they say,” h
e said
,
lifting his hand to touch my face.

“Thanks for the help with Beauwolf Mr. Knightl
ey,
”
I said as a group of girls walked by from our school.

He ran his hand threw his hair
instead
,
and the girls
giggled, staring him up and down
.
“Of course,
Vera
. I’ll see you in class in a little bit?”

“Yeah,” I replied, but I didn’t make it to school that day, or the next.
I had sat on my bed
for the past three days, staring out the window with my
parents’
photo clutched in my hands. Its sharp edges dug into my hands and left marks, but I still gripped it as if it would leap out of my hands. I had tried to grasp at the straws of reality, but the pain was just too deep. It was so deep that I felt numbed out even when my phone rang and interrupted the silence. I could have let him save me, but for some reason I thought I deserved the torture of my loneliness. I knew he wanted to make sure I was okay, but how could I tell him that?

People thought I was a murderer.

The thought made me sick and on the fourth day of my absence from life it physically brought me down.

I knew my phone was ringing
,
but made no effort to move, it took too much effort, everything was taking too much effort. The fever wa
s consuming me
,
and I was
going from hot to cold without any sort of pattern
. E
ach time the chill came I was dry heaving
,
unable to puke because there was n
othing left in my body.

I had lost track of time, and I had no idea how many days I had been out of school.
The phone stopped ringing
,
and I found myself drifting off into a s
weaty sleep that
was more of a hallucination
than anything
. When t
he door bell rang I didn’
t immediately answer
,
thinking I was dreaming, but then
the
pounding on the door pursued
,
and I was wide awake.