by Summer Rose
Noelle sat on the bench beside Jake at the exact spot I had sat in months ago, but while I had looked nervous and unsure sitting with Jake that day, Noelle looked entirely comfortable, happy even. And why wouldn’t she be when she had Jake’s hand softly caressing her cheek as they stared deeply into each other’s eyes.
The scene before me looked too much like a scene out of a romantic movie to be just a friendly conversation. My heart broke inside my chest and I felt betrayed even though Jake and I weren’t officially together.
Was that how Jake felt when he found out Aaron and I kissed or Mason and I had a moment similar to this one? I wondered.
My eyes met Jake’s, and I think he could see the pain in them because he pulled away from Noelle so fast to came to stand before me.
“Jake…” I whispered, unable to go on because I had no idea what to say. I didn’t have any claim to Jake, but that didn’t mean I didn’t love him. Love. I realized then that I loved Jake, even though I loved Mason and Aaron, too. I staggered at that thought, but Jake must have thought it was what I saw that made me stagger.
“Katrina, look at me…”
He took my face gently in his hands while I stared unseeing into his eyes.
“It’s not what you think, I swear. Noelle and I were just talking,” he said, but I was still wrapped up in my own thoughts. My brain didn’t come up with a reply fast enough, and I didn’t even notice when Noelle walked up.
Now, ever since Noelle had arrived at Redwood High, no one had heard her speak, and Noah did the talking for her every time. People had started coming up with several theories of their own, the most popular being that Noelle was mute. So, when she spoke, it was shocking to all of us… well, except maybe Noah.
“Tramp,” was the one word she said before she burst out laughing. When the laughter subsided, she stared at me with those hauntingly surreal eyes.
“You can’t have them all, you know.”
I looked to Jake, and when he shook his head, I turned back to her.
“How did you…?”
She glared at me.
“I’ve watched you for the past week, and I know you want them all. You even have them running around trying to impress you like you’re some sort of prize… oh, who gets the adorable Katrina Dawson.” She waved her hands like she was in a drama. “So, what if I want Jake too? I can’t have him? Hm?” She moved to stand inches from me, our noses touching.
Shaking my head frantically as tears ran down my face, I turned and ran, ignoring both Jake and Noah’s call.
“Kat!!!”
CHAPTER SEVEN
I had never skipped school in my entire life, yet here I was, seated in the secret spot the boys and I had discovered months ago, crying. For once, the calming effect of the woods did nothing to help.
Ignoring the insects feeding off me, I thought over and over about what Noelle had said. Maybe I really was a bad person for stringing all three boys along when it was clear I hadn’t made up my mind. Yet the thought of Jake, Mason, or Aaron with someone else was too much to bear.
I hugged myself as the wind picked up. Then a jacket was draped around my shoulders, which I greedily grabbed.
“Thanks,” I muttered to Noah, even though I had been ignoring him ever since he ran after me.
“I’m sorry about my sister, she’s not a people person. She just says things without thinking, she really means no harm.” He moved closer to me on the log of wood we both sat on.
I scoffed, “Uh, uh.” Of course, he would defend his sister. “She’s not wrong though, everything she said was true. But I really didn’t mean to lead the guys on or fall in love with all three of them… it just happened.” I turned to Noah, confusion written all over my face. “What do they even see me?”
Noah released a short laugh that lit up his face.
“Do you know why I’ve been following you everywhere after insisting on being your friend?” he asked, and I shook my head since it was indeed a mystery to me.
“It’s because there’s something about you, Kat, that draws people in, and the guys would be stupid not to want you. You are an enigma, Kat,” he said, and his eyes held mine for what seemed like an eternity.
Finally, I cleared my throat, breaking our locked gaze standoff. “So, what’s the deal with you and Noelle anyway, what’s your story?” I asked him, to change the topic.
He sighed. “Well, let’s just say Noelle, and I have made our well-deserved escape.”
He smiled, and when I asked him what he meant by that, he simply shook his head and said nothing more.
I ended up getting home late that night after talking with Noah all day and finding out he wasn’t as weird as the boys, and the entire school, made him out to be. Thankfully, the boys covered for me, and neither the teachers nor my mom knew I had left school. I could always trust those three to have my back.
Lying down wrapped up in my blanket, my thoughts began to wander towards the day’s events that Noah had somehow managed to distract me from, at least temporarily. It felt like the right thing to do was to let the boys go, yet I didn’t want to.
It took me a while to notice the stones hitting my window because of how wrapped up in my thoughts I had been.
“What do you want?” I snapped as I opened the window to let him in, not knowing where my anger suddenly came from.
Rather than reply, Jake hugged me fiercely, his hands rubbing up and down my back.
“I’ve been so worried about you, Katrina” he buried his face into my neck and sniffed me.
“Did you just sniff me?” My nose crinkled in confusion as I made to pull back.
He pulled me closer instead and held me in position while he continued to inhale, breathing me in as if I were the oxygen he needed to survive. He began caressing my hair, twisting it around his fingers, pulling it gently. “Just… let me do this, please.” He sounded quite desperate, so I didn’t argue. He released me seconds later and led me to my bed, his hands holding mine as we sat.
“I’m sorry, Katrina. As cliché as this sounds, what you saw back there wasn’t what it seemed like.”
I turned to face him only to find that he had been staring at me all along. “Do you like her? Noelle…” I trailed off.
Shaking his head intensely, he retook my hands to reassure me. He brought one to his lips, kissing each knuckle.
“Of course not, we were only talking. She said she found it easier to talk to me of all people because we are both broken souls, and she could feel it. I had no idea what she meant by that, but it seemed like she really needed a friend, so I listened.”
I nodded in acknowledgment before my lips curled into a bitter smile
“I don’t know why I’m jealous, I shouldn’t be, and I have no right to be. Noelle was right; I’m only leading you on. I don’t even know what I want, and it’s not fair to all three of you. I should let you go.”
“Katrina, I’m glad you are jealous because that means you do feel something for me, and you shouldn’t feel bad for feeling the way you feel about the three of us. We knew what we were getting into before we decided to wait for your choice, and we are not sorry about it,” Jake said, but I was already shaking my head in disagreement. He moved closer, holding me in place with those heart-melting dark eyes of his.
“Yes, it hurts. It pains me that you have feelings for two other guys, but you’re worth the pain, Katrina. I don’t care about all that if it means you care about me because you are more than I could ever dream of.”
“Of course, I do care about you, but in the end, my choice would hurt at least one of you, and I don’t want to hurt any of you.”
“When you make your choice Katrina, we are going to respect and accept it. I love you, Katrina,” he declared.
“I love you too, Jake,” I said. But I knew he could see in my eyes that my love wasn’t for him alone.
CHAPTER EIGHT
“I really don’t think this is a good idea.” Even before I spoke, the frown on my f
ace was enough to show how much I hated the recent developments. Still, the woman before me ignored me completely.
“Mom!” I called out in frustration.
She swiveled back to face me, setting aside the clothes she was folding into the black suitcase on her king-size bed. “Don’t shout, Katrina, it’s not ladylike.”
She watched me with disapproving eyes. I rolled my eyes even though she had turned her attention back to the suitcase, and I knew she couldn’t see me.
“Can’t you go alone? Why does it have to be with him?” I asked for the umpteenth time.
Sighing, my mom sat at the edge of the bed beside me. “Katrina, I’ve told you it’s easier to go with Danny…”
I scrunched up my face at the mention of her new ‘friend’s’ name, which she noticed, but chose to ignore.
“It’s going to be a long trip, and you should be thankful he offered to drive me there.”
Nothing she said could convince me, even though I knew she was right. The fashion company she worked for was having another convention, and my mom’s presence was needed. Unfortunately, Danny - the man who we had entertained for dinner and whom my mom had a crush on - would be taking her.
If I didn’t know my mom never lied, I would have sworn they were sneaking off on some romantic getaway. It wasn’t just Danny I didn’t like; it was the fact that he and my mom seemed to have more than platonic feelings for one another.
“Why did he offer to drive you anyway? Don’t you think it’s a little suspicious? He doesn’t even work in your company.”
From the look on her face, it is evident that my mom was tired of this conversation, but she continued to humor me anyway. “He has a business where I’m going, Katrina, I told you this already.”
She caressed my face while her other handheld mine. “I know you’re this way because it seems to you like Danny and I are an item, but the truth is we are really just friends. To be honest, he did ask me on a date, but we both realized it wasn’t a wise idea. Your dad’s death is still too fresh - it’s only been a few months after all - and I’m definitely too heartbroken to get involved in a new relationship.”
I swallowed. I believed her, but that didn’t mean I trusted Mr. Lance. “What about him? Do you think it’s a good idea to have someone you rejected drive you…?”
“Katrina,” she cut me off. “I know you don’t like the man, and it’s fine, but don’t disrespect him. I know Danny, and he would never do anything to hurt me out of revenge. We had a mature, adult conversation, and he let me know that he had been so lonely after his wife’s death that he mistook our friendship for something more. So, we both just decided to stay friends and enjoy each other’s company.”
I still wasn’t entirely convinced.
“The man that came here for dinner. He looked very much in love with you.”
Abruptly she stood up, and now I was sure she had enough.
“That’s it, Katrina, not another word on this topic. I know you are worried, but I need you to trust me, okay? I know what I’m doing,” she finished.
I stared at her for a minute as she continued packing her luggage and ignoring me. “Have a safe trip, mom, I love you.”
She turned to look at me, a smile now gracing her features. “I love you too, bebé. I know you will miss me. There, I just sent a picture of me to you; just look at it whenever you miss me or can’t get through to me, okay?”
“Okay,” I whispered. “Ugh, Danny is in this picture too,” I groaned, but she merely laughed.
Maybe I was this way because I didn’t want her to go. Deep down, I could still remember what had happened the last time she had traveled to a convention and left me all alone at home; I had almost been killed. Rather than tell her what was wrong, though, I let it drop. I knew how much she loved her job and how important the convention was to her. I didn’t want to ruin it due to my fears. I could handle it myself.
She dropped me off at school an hour later, and I watched as she drove off. Holding my head high, determined not to let the past get to me, I walked into the school and towards my locker. What I saw stopped me in my tracks.
There, right in front of me, was Miss Woods, our new biology teacher, lying on the floor in the hallway. One might have thought she’d fallen asleep there if it wasn’t for how bloodied and broken her body was.
I let out a gasp, my hands beginning to tremble. Aaron saw me first and tried to shield me from the view, but I wouldn’t let him. I walked through the crowd that was beginning to form around the corpse and knelt beside Miss Woods just in time to see Noelle fall to the ground with her hands gripping her head, and her mouth widened in horror.
“Noelle.” I rushed to Miss Wood’s side and held her in my arms while Noah held her on the other side.
“It’s okay, shh… everything will be fine,” I whispered to her.
Suddenly, she began to thrash in our hold.
“Everything won’t be fine,” Noelle sobbed, pointing at Miss Wood’s lifeless body.
“He’s here, he found us, and he’s here to finish what he started.”
Suddenly tired, I fell against the lockers. The boys began to question Noelle on what she meant, while the rest of the school panicked. At that moment, I was thankful for the picture my mom had sent me, even if it had Danny’s face in it, so I pulled out my phone and stared at it. As scared and horrified as I was, the image of my mother worked and calmed me. That was until my phone was suddenly pulled out of my hand.
Getting ready to scream at the person who had dared to take away my solace, I turned to the perpetrator. It was Noah, staring at the image on my phone, his green eyes looking nightmarish.
The fear in his eyes took me aback, and I tugged at his arm. “Noah, what’s wrong? Tell me,” I demanded, shaking him out of his stupefied state.
“It’s him, Mr. Lance… he’s the one who killed Miss Woods,” he said, and I felt my whole world crashing down.
“Mom!!!” I didn’t remember screaming, but I was later told that I did cry out for my mother.
CHAPTER NINE
M r. Daniel Lance was a wanted killer. He had murdered his wife in cold blood, two months into their relationship. His wife also happened to be Noah and Noelle’s mother. When the duo accidentally walked in on him doing the dastardly deed, he had tried to kill them too, but fortunately, they escaped. But it seemed they hadn’t made a clean enough escape because he had followed them to Redwood.
Mr. Lance, they knew, was a serial killer. Not just any killer but one who ends the lives of his victims after much obsession about them. Unbeknownst to me, while I had been holed up in my room refusing to go to school and caught up in my boy drama, my mom had been fraternizing with a killer who derived joy from murdering innocent, beautiful women.
“Why her?” I screamed in my head, then out loud to Noah. His theory was that Danny had gotten obsessed with my mom right after he killed his wife and he had been distracted by her when he came to Redwood and forgotten all about finding him and his sister.
The windows of Jake’s truck were open, but I still couldn’t breathe. I knew I was having a panic attack, but I really didn’t care. I just wanted to find my mom.
“Drive faster,” I banged the back of the driver’s seat where Jake was seated.
He had a good idea about where Danny might be and, hopefully, my mother would be there too, still alive. Danny hadn’t lied about his hometown being Redwood and having lived in the so-called ‘haunted mansion.’ I didn’t know why it was called that, but I was soon about to find out.
Jake drove into a clearing, the truck’s headlights bringing into focus a sprawling manse that had no doubt been beautiful and elegant once upon a time. Now, it stood there like something out of a horror movie, burned out and dilapidated. I could tell from the blackened walls and charred grass in front of the house that a fire had happened here.
We all stepped out of the car, cautiously closing the door so we wouldn’t attract Danny’s attention if indeed he was the
re. We needed to be stealthy; even if we didn’t have the patience to wait for the cops, we were still smart enough to know this would require discretion.
The door creaked when Jake opened it, and we slowly filed in, me in the middle of all four boys. Noelle hadn’t been able to come with us. She was too freaked out and we didn’t want her melting down at a crucial moment. Slowly, we walked down the staircase that led to the building’s basement, careful not to make any noises as we did.
We stopped when we got to the basement, which was filled with different sorts of useless objects.
“Shh,” Jake said, placing a finger on his lips as he listened quietly.
“I see a door,” he whispered.
Mason winced when he mistakenly hit a metal object which clattered loudly to the floor. We approached the door, but when Jake pulled at the handle, it was locked.
“Hold on, I’ve been getting doors like this open for years. I have a bad habit of locking myself out,” Aaron whispered.
Without wasting time, he pulled a pen from his pocket and picked the lock as quietly as he could. But he wasn’t quite enough. When we got the door open, we found Danny standing in the middle of the room with a gun held to my mother’s head.
“Mom.” I ran unthinking, toward them but suddenly stopped in my tracks when Danny spoke.
“Katrina!” my mom yelled back. It looked like she had taken quite a beating. There were bruises on her face, and her ankle looked broken.
“One more move, and she’s dead.” Danny didn’t seem like the man I had met at dinner anymore, and I now knew why his eyes had looked so creepy that day. They were the eyes of a crazed killer thirsty for blood.
Noah moved slowly to stand beside me. “Danny, it’s me you want. Just take me and leave Kat’s mother, okay?” He held his hands up so Danny could see he meant no threat, taking up all of the man’s attention.
