My father’s tone held conviction and certainty, a man who trusted his son without question. I had never heard him speak of me with such faith and pride.
Nadia hammered her point home again. “Yes, Mike is a very good boy. This is all a big mistake.”
And Cassiano just bobbed his head in agreement, a glazed smile on his face. The little witch had pulled her Jedi mind tricks on him.
Nadia’s guiding hand pulled me out the door and into the parking lot of the police station. I was in a daze, stupefied by the amazing turnaround of Nadia’s influence. All three of us piled into my father’s truck together, Nadia happily seated in the middle, her head leaned over on my shoulder.
She had this pretend-to-be-a-cute-little-girl act perfected to an art form. Who would ever believe how wicked dangerous she really was?
But freedom is glorious, even with a killer vampire sitting beside me. I had never really appreciated my freedom until it was taken away. I sure appreciated it now.
My anger at Nadia dissolved in the wash of absolution and my father’s praise. He even took us to the drive-thru at Jack-in-the-box before heading home. Richard ordered burgers, fries, and shakes for everyone despite Nadia’s protests that she wasn’t hungry.
As we pulled into the driveway at the trailer, I started to realize the strangeness of the moment, Nadia together with me, in front of my Dad. A sinking feeling crept in. Why was my Dad bringing her home? I looked at him, at her, and he looked at me.
Shit, he knew. Somehow he knew that Nadia had been sleeping in my room.
But he didn’t say a word.
We ate quietly at our little dining table that barely fit the three of us. Nadia played with her food, grinning at me once in a while. Probably waiting to munch on me tonight. The loaded silence was ruining my appetite.
I could see no other way to handle the situation but face it directly. “So, how did you run into Nadia?”
“She came to work, right as we were closing, and I’d just got off the phone with the police. She was very worried about you.”
Her knee brushed my knee, and the wicked brat winked at me. At a loss for words, I mumbled. “Oh. I didn’t know you two had met before.”
“Well, we hadn’t. But she knew I worked there. She told me you been lettin’ her stay here, and how you’re the best friend she ever had.”
Shit. I looked to the brat who had ratted me out, and then my father, and they both had queer grins.
“Well, she … um … she didn’t have a place to stay. And her parents are dead …”
He smiled at me. One of the warmest smiles I’d ever seen on his face. My Dad never smiled at me like that. “It’s okay, son. It was the right thing to do.”
Richard had never invited any of my friends over. I never invited anyone to the trailer. Why would I want anyone near this shithole?
I sat silently and sucked down my milkshake waiting for the shit to hit the fan and blow all over me. Richard stared at me strangely, cocking his head slightly, like he was trying to figure something out. “You’re becoming quite the man, helping out a homeless girl with nowhere to go. I’m real proud of you son, real proud. I told Nadia she can stay in our spare bedroom for as long as she likes. And I know you didn’t have nothin’ to do with that nasty business at the cop shop. It was all just a misunderstanding.”
I think aliens abducted my father and replaced him with this strange, smiling man.
“Oh, well, that’s good.” How could I explain that he’d just invited a hundred year old blood sucking fiend into our home and that he was hypnotized by the thing? There was nothing for it. Nothing I could say or do. Like it or not, I was stuck with Nadia, and apparently so was Richard.
Then he dropped a whole new bombshell. “Hey, son, I found something yesterday. Didn’t get a chance to give it to you yet. I’m sorry to say, I’ve had this since the day you were born. I put it away, forgotten, and I only recently remembered it when you asked me about your mom the other day. It’s a letter from your mother. She actually wrote it just for you.”
He handed me a sealed envelope with my full name scrawled out in a bubbly cursive script. It was old, discolored with age, several hand-written pages folded up inside. I wanted to scream in his face for keeping this from me. But instead I retreated to my bedroom, closing the door behind me.
* * * *
Hand written letter from Marline Evans
I am writing this to my son, Michael Evans. I am 9 months pregnant and I know this is probably the only chance I will have to say these things to you, my son. First and most importantly, you need to know that I have no regrets. Apart from my wish that I could be there to say this in person, I have no regrets. Believe me when I say this is true.
As I sit here bloated and uncomfortable, with swollen feet and a back ache, knowing that I will not survive this ordeal, I have but one consolation, and that’s you, Michael. I can see you in my mind’s eye, as a baby, bouncing on Richard’s knee. Despite how it may seem at times, your father will love you very much. I can see you as a toddler, a curl of wavy brown hair across your forehead as you struggle to maintain your balance walking across the living room floor. It’s adorable to watch you grow and learn, each step is a risk, but the rewards are so great.
I see you again as a four year old with Richard, delighted to catch your first fish, sitting next to him on the lakefront in Cascade Valley. Your smile warms my heart. No matter how many times I see you, I can hardly believe how wonderful you are. I see you riding your bike for the first time, and your first day of school when you didn’t even cry like most of the other children. You were so brave. It wasn’t too much later before you were riding a skateboard, waxing down all the neighborhood curbs with candles from the dollar store so you could show off your skate tricks to Rachelle Werner.
I see your first kiss with your neighbor Rachelle, and then you saved her life, very foolishly following her out onto the ice. I see your first true love, and it’s not your neighbor, but your best friend Anita who’s been waiting a long time for you to notice her as more than a friend. I see so many things, so many details. It almost seems like I have lived two lives, both yours and mine.
And though you didn’t know it, I have already been there with you through these moments. I know what a wonderful, courageous, and handsome young man you will become. These visions comfort me, they carry me through the decision I have made. Though it’s not always easy, and I know soon it will become very difficult for me, I would make the same decision a thousand times over. Please understand me, understand why I am doing this. I could never take away your life in exchange for mine.
There’s nothing Richard can do or say to make me change my mind. He does not understand, and there’s no way I can make him understand. But you will. You will come to terms with this and accept my decision. It could never be any other way. As I am sure you know, it is virtually impossible to change the things we see in our visions.
I know that life will be hard for you, because I am not there, because Richard is so deeply hurt. It will take a very long time for Richard to find his way with you. There are things about my life that Richard does not know, can never know. Only you, my son will understand these secrets. Only you will understand what it’s like to have these visions. I know you have the sight. I know you will learn to appreciate what it means to see things and know with certainty they will eventually come to pass, regardless.
And I know there will be moments of darkness, when it may seem you have lost your way. My message to you is this: Do not despair. I am sending you the dearest friend I have in the world. She has been there for me without fail, as she will for you, if you let her. She will care for you as if you were her only child.
I am sending you Natasha, a shepherd to guide you in your times of need. Although I know it will be difficult to trust her at times, Natasha will never harm or betray you. You must make your peace with her, she is vulnerable too, and she needs you as much as you need her. She is a priceless gem, th
e only inheritance I have to give. Trust her and know that I send you all my love when I send you Natasha.
Love always,
Marline Evans
* * * *
I read and reread the letter more times than I could count. It was short but bittersweet, and chocked full of so many things I needed to hear from my Mother. I fell asleep with tears rolling down my face, the letter still in my hand. Sometime in the night, Nadia joined me in bed. I awoke at 2:30 a.m. to Nadia, in nothing but T-shirt and panties, wrapped around me, smiling as if nothing had ever happened.
As soon as I registered her presence, the accusation hit. “You were with her! You knew my mother!”
Nadia nodded, neither explaining nor denying the fact.
“What were you doing with her? What are you doing with me? Why are you always in bed with me?” I pulled up the covers to see her thin legs wrapped around me, “Why are you always taking your clothes off in my bed? Are you having sex with me while I sleep?”
She looked hurt. “No! You’d definitely know if we had sex, trust me. But it’s not for lack of trying.” She smiled again, taunting me by running her fingers over my bare chest and rubbing her thighs on my leg.
“No dammit! I’m with Anita. And you’re like … too young.”
“I know that’s how I look, but I can assure you I haven’t been a child for a very long time.” She flicked her tongue, a blatant reminder of what she could do with that tongue.
“Well if it’s not sex then what is it? Are you biting me like Taylor? And what were you doing with my mother?”
“Your mother had the same aura you do. It’s like an energy field. I think it’s because you inherited her clairvoyance.” The girl was a master at evasion, and her answers always left me with more questions.
“Hunh?”
“You both have this aura. You’re different from other people. It’s intoxicating to be near you, like a drug. I need to be close, skin on skin. The only way I can explain, it’s like sunbathing for me. I can bask in your aura when I’m here with you. To be honest, it would be better if we were both naked. More skin.”
Her hands were reaching for the fly of my pants. I pulled her hands up and set her palms on my chest. “That’s all the skin you get. And no, we are not getting naked.”
“I know that’s not gonna happen. Relax. I’ll take what I can get.” She traced her fingers across my chest and flicked her tongue. I had a vague memory of her taking quite a bit, the night she licked my wounds. She took it all.
I shivered with the hazy memory. This girl was straight up wicked.
“It manifests solidly in your teenage years. I first found your mother when she was seventeen. Her aura was the strongest I have ever encountered. It was addictive. I began spending every night with her. We were inseparable until Richard!” She used my father’s name like a dirty word. “I could hardly get near her once they started dating. She already knew he was the one. She’d seen it in one of her damn visions, before they ever met. She wouldn’t let me meet him. I guess she knew even then that I’d be back for you. I don’t know, but it drove me nuts. I was like a junky needing a fix!”
“So, you’re like a psychic vampire? But you drink my blood too?”
“Have I ever bitten you? Have I ever taken anything from you? Did you ever wakeup feeling tired or anemic? NO! NO! And NO!”
“Okay, I guess not. So, it doesn’t hurt?”
“Duh! It drives me crazy when I can’t be close to you, but it doesn’t seem to affect you at all.”
“You swear you’ve never had sex with me or bitten me in my sleep?”
“Never!” She snapped, but then her lips curled into that naughty little smile. “What’s the matter, disappointed?”
“Nope,” I declared vehemently.
She looked thoughtful. “Well, there was that time after you were in that fight. I was cleaning you up, and things … got a little carried away.” She flicked her tongue at me again.
Oh god, it was real. It really happened.
She distracted me from my freakout moment. “But did you notice how quickly you healed?”
“What?”
“It helps you know. My venom helps heal cuts and bruises in hours instead of days. Your nose was broken, what was I supposed to do? I couldn’t stand to see you in pain. It was just a few licks. So what if we had a little fun. I didn’t hear you complaining when I was down there.”
“I thought I was dreaming!”
“That’s so sweet, you dream about me?”
“If that’s what you want to call it. I don’t think they are dreams. It’s you, all over me, all damn night long. It’s a wonder I get any sleep.”
“Oh whatever! You men can always find a convenient excuse to justify it.”
“Oh my god, you’re gonna get me put in prison!”
“Stop being so melodramatic. I told you before, what goes on between us is no one else’s business. You’re mine, and I am yours. We are promised to each other, and you came back to me. After all these years, you came back to me. So if I feel like getting frisky, deal with it!”
“Fine, whatever happened is in the past, and it’s not happening again. We are not going to talk about this anymore.”
She snaked her pink tongue out and licked my chin. Girl needed a license for that tongue, thing was dangerous.
“Misha, you know I love you?”
“Yeah, enough to kill for me?”
She nodded. “You know I’ll do anything for you, anything at all.” She flicked her tongue out again in invitation.
“Can’t you just be a friend? Without the tongue?”
“Sure thing, whatever you say.” With that she kissed my nose. “Get some sleep, its late. We’ll talk more tomorrow.”
Before I could finish with all the things I needed to say, she did it to me again, used her Jedi mind trick. Exhaustion dragged me down into unconsciousness, and her lithe limbs entwined around me.
* * * *
Chapter 20
Friday, October 29th
I met Anita in the library as usual, and told her my tale of the previous night’s weird events with the MLPD, which was nothing more than the latest in a long list of weird shit that had taken over my life. I made it through the school day without any major incidents. No one died, no one was taken into police custody, and no one had acid oozing out of their lotion bottles.
Well, almost no incidents. There was the run-in with Justin, which went about as well as could be expected. Justin caught me by my locker between classes. “You might have fooled the cops, but I know the truth. I’m gonna find a way to prove you did this to Rachelle!”
“Whatever. I tried to talk to you about this once. You wanted to be an asshole. You’d rather call the police and tell them lies. I’m done talking.” I didn’t care to speak with Justin ever again.
Justin snapped back, “You think you’re getting’ off that easily? This ain’t over, dude!”
As he moved into my face, I pushed him back. “Get off me. You can make up whatever crap you want; write fiction novels about it, but you’ll never prove anything because I didn’t do anything!”
“Oh I’ll prove it, and I’m gonna make sure everybody knows you had something to do with it. I’ll tell as many people as I can!”
Seeing Justin’s resolve, I decided I needed to give it one more shot. “I tried to warn you before, and you didn’t listen. I’ll say this one last time. Stop spreading lies and creating problems. Keep it up, and Nadia will get your ass! You have no idea what you’re messing with. Nadia is extremely dangerous. Don’t be a fool Justin. You saw what happened to Tommy and Rachelle. This girl is like nothing you’ve ever seen, and she will fuck you up. There’s no guarantee I can stop her.”
“Fuck you, Mikey.”
That didn’t work out so well.
I left Justin standing in the hallway seething mad. I really needed to get to Nadia. We had some unfinished business. There had to be a way to put a damper on her vindictive
homicidal tendencies. I had no illusions that my little speech would change Justin’s attitude.
After school I dropped Anita at home with the promise we’d get together tomorrow night for a Halloween party. She seemed to understand my need to resolve things with the Fourteen-Year-Old-From-Hell, Nadia. She let me go with a kiss and a hug goodbye. I headed straight for the skatepark, which had become the standard place for Nadia to find me after sunset.
I skated the new board for a couple hours, counting the seconds till the sun went down over the horizon. I practiced my moves on the halfpipe, grinds, nose slides, and boardslides. I had a few more spills than usual, my focus and concentration just wasn’t there. I knew I wasn’t pro material, but on a good day I was better than this.
I finally called it quits and sat on the picnic bench waiting for her highness to make an appearance. She arrived like clockwork, fifteen minutes after sunset, and slid in beside me at the picnic table. I never saw her coming – the girl was creepy silent.
She asked with a great big smile, “So how’s my favorite skater?”
“I’m good. Can’t seem to pull off any clean moves today, but I’ll survive. Unlike Tommy. He’s fuckin’ toasted.” Her brow furrowed as I stared at her pointedly. “And how’s my favorite kleptomaniac, murdering, psycho vampire?”
She scooted in hip to hip with me. “Much better now that I’ve finally found you. I have waited for so very long, Misha. I hope you can appreciate how protective I feel. I can’t stand to see you hurt.”
Excuses, excuses. The road to hell was paved with good intentions.
“We need to talk. We have serious unfinished business. Let’s go.” I had somehow gained a measure of confidence in dealing with her. She was no longer in control, and she couldn’t manipulate me into forgetting these issues.
She followed me to the Geo, and I drove a wandering path through downtown, eventually making my way to Michael’s On The Lake. I parked and hopped out, leading Nadia past the restaurant and around the back, to a sidewalk leading down to the waterfront.
The Shadow Box: Paranormal Suspense and Dark Fantasy Thriller Novels Page 78
