Whispering Pines

by Heidi Lang

  Rae stood abruptly, horrified. “No,” she whispered, hugging herself. “No, no, no, no.”

  “What?” Caden said. “What is it?”

  “That’s Brandi.” Rae didn’t even recognize her voice anymore. “That can’t be. What happened? How? Who would—” She stopped, took a deep gulp of air, felt it swell up inside her. “Do you think… can someone help her?”

  “I don’t know,” Caden said softly. “It’s not just her eyes. There’s something else wrong with her. Something internal.”

  “How can you know that?” Rae wanted to lash out and shake him. She didn’t know where the anger came from, but it was better than feeling so afraid.

  “I just do.”

  Rae glared at him, then turned away, blinking rapidly, trying not to cry. It wasn’t fair. Brandi had been the first person to be kind to her in a long time. She was funny and she liked helping people and someday she was going to travel the world.

  Rae bit back a sob.

  “Are you okay?” Caden asked.

  She ignored him, focusing on evening her breathing, and then she turned back. Kneeling, she took one of Brandi’s limp hands. It felt as cold as a corpse. Rae had no idea who would do something like this, but she would find them. Somehow she’d track them down. And then she’d make them pay.

  She squeezed Brandi’s hand gently. “I’m so, so sorry,” she whispered. “You didn’t deserve this. I promise, I’ll—”

  Brandi shuddered and raised her face as if she were trying to see. “Eyes,” she murmured.

  “What was that?” Caden leaned closer.

  “Lovely eyes.” Brandi lifted one trembling hand, pointing. But not at him.

  Rae realized Brandi was pointing right at her.

  10. CADEN

  Caden watched Rae freeze beneath that accusatory finger, those empty eye sockets trained right on her face as if they could somehow see her. Dread pooled in his stomach in a thick, sticky layer, and it felt like something awful was coming together here. It was like one of his prophetic dreams, that feeling that he could see what would happen, but that he wouldn’t be able to stop it.

  A van tore down their street and screamed to a stop at the bottom of Rae’s driveway, lights flashing and sirens blaring.

  Brandi dropped her arm just as three men hopped out of the van and hurried over. One of them wore an expensive-looking black suit and shiny black shoes. He was movie-star handsome, with thick dark hair styled just slightly so it pulled back from a tanned face and dark blue eyes.

  Rae gasped. “You’re Patrick. From the assembly.”

  Caden froze. He remembered Patrick all too well. Slowly he built up his protective wall, picturing a ball of white light all around him, pulling in all his senses. He didn’t want to touch whatever was inside Patrick. Not again.

  “That I am.” Patrick smiled at Rae. Even with his senses pulled in, Caden could see her relaxing. She actually trusted this guy.

  Caden rubbed his thumb against one of his rings and looked past Patrick at the van. It was bright green with the words GREEN ON! stenciled along the side in large blocky letters. “I thought you called the police,” Caden said.

  “I did,” Rae said.

  “Oh yes.” Patrick flashed that smile again. “And they called us. As I said this morning, we have the best scientists and doctors in the world working for us. If anyone in this town can help this poor girl, it will be us.” He whistled, and the other two men hurried forward. Unlike Patrick, neither of them wore suits. Instead, they had on bright green one-piece outfits that almost looked like hazmat suits, minus the helmets.

  “We’ll take her from here,” one of them said.

  Caden looked down and realized Rae was still holding Brandi’s hand.

  “What will happen to her?” Rae asked. “Will she be all right?”

  “We’ll do what we can for her,” Patrick said. “Trust me, she’ll be in good hands.”

  Rae let go of Brandi, and the two men stepped forward, carefully guiding her back toward the van and out of sight. Caden forced himself to watch her go.

  If this was his fault…

  “This is a delicate situation, as I’m sure you can understand,” Patrick said. “We don’t want to cause a panic. Can I trust you both to exercise discretion?”

  “You mean… you don’t want us to tell anyone about this?” Caden crossed his arms, frowning. “You want to keep this a secret?”

  “Oh, word will get out. Undoubtedly. But the longer we can keep it under wraps, the better chance we’ll have of catching whoever is committing these heinous attacks. You wouldn’t want to interfere with an ongoing investigation, would you, Mr. Price?”

  Caden stiffened. Whoever this Patrick was, he obviously knew him. And knew he’d been involved in a recent police investigation. Caden didn’t like to think of all those interviews, the cops asking him the same questions over and over again. Questions he couldn’t possibly answer. Yes, I was with my brother the night he disappeared. No, I don’t know where he went.

  Patrick caught his eye, waiting a beat, like he wanted to make sure the full import of his words had soaked in. Then he turned to Rae. “And… I’m sorry,” he said. “I don’t think I know you?”

  “I’m Rae. Rae Carter.”

  “Rae Carter.” Patrick said her name slowly, as if he were memorizing it. “The new girl? Pleasure, Ms. Carter. I’m sure I can count on you to be discreet.”

  Rae nodded, but she looked uncertain. Good, Caden thought at her. Don’t trust this guy.

  “What about her parents?” Caden glanced back at the Jensens’ house. It seemed dark, too dark. Caden wondered if anyone was even home.

  “They’ll be notified. Don’t worry, we are very thorough. We’ll take care of everything.” He flashed both of them another perfect smile. “Have a good night. Stay safe.” And then he hopped into the front of the van, and it drove off.

  Caden stood there for a long moment, listening to the sounds of the woods. Birds chirping, the wind rustling the leaves of the trees, a car door slamming somewhere farther down the street. The soft rhythm of Rae’s too-fast breathing.

  “How did you know?” she asked suddenly.

  “What?” Caden said.

  “In your dream, you talked about my lungs. How did you know I have asthma?”

  “I didn’t.”

  “Lucky guess? Or have you been spying on me?” Rae’s face took on a look Caden remembered all too well, an equal mix of suspicion and fear disguised beneath a mask of anger.

  “No. I told you, I have these dreams sometimes. But you don’t have to believe me. I know it’s easier to lash out than to accept the impossible.”

  “That’s not what I’m doing.”

  “If you say so.”

  Rae scowled. “I’m going home.”

  “Please do. And Rae?” He waited until she was looking at him again. “Make sure you lock your doors. And windows.” He glanced past her, back at the forest to the left of her house. The night felt calm now, all the danger past. But only for the moment. He knew there would be more attacks, and soon.

  And he was pretty sure whoever was doing these attacks was not human.

  11. RAE

  Rae wanted to yell at Caden, but instead she turned and stomped back inside her house, very aware of him standing there, watching her. Anger simmered inside her in a tight, controlled wave. It’s easier to lash out than to accept the impossible. Caden had no idea what he was talking about. He didn’t know her. He didn’t know a thing about her.

  She’d accepted the impossible before.

  The night before her dad disappeared, she’d eavesdropped on a conversation between him and her mom. An impossible conversation.

  I tell you, that thing is not of Earth origin. Her dad had been almost shouting. It’s alive, and it’s not going to want to stay locked up in an underground lab!

  Shh! You’ll wake the girls, her mom had warned. And you don’t know for sure, do you? I mean, Chris, honey… this sounds�
�

  I know what it sounds like. But I saw it. With my own eyes. I wasn’t supposed to. He’d sighed, a long, defeated sound. But I did. And now? I can’t unsee it.

  Rae blinked the memory away, her anger fading with it. Her dad had sounded angry that night too. But now, thinking back on it, she realized he’d actually been scared.

  She was scared.

  She pulled her front door shut and locked it. Then she turned the deadbolt for good measure. It didn’t seem like enough. Not even close.

  * * *

  Rae wandered through the next day at school like a zombie. She couldn’t stop thinking about Brandi. But since no one else knew what had happened to her, Rae had to keep her thoughts to herself.

  “Wait, wait, I haven’t given you your homework yet!” their science teacher, Ms. Reed, called as final bell rang. But it was too late; Rae tumbled out of science class with everyone else, all of them laughing and talking excitedly around her.

  “Are you feeling okay?” Vivienne asked.

  Rae pasted on a smile. “I’m fine. Just didn’t sleep well.”

  “Maybe your neighbor is casting weird spells on you,” Alyssa said.

  Rae turned and saw Caden trailing behind them. He met her gaze, and it was like he was silently reminding her of everything that had happened last night, his brown eyes dark and way too intense.

  She turned away from him. She couldn’t think about any of that stuff right now. Later, when she was safely back home and at her desk, she’d continue her research. She would find Brandi’s attacker, but right now she wanted to pretend everything was normal.

  “He’s been looking at you all day,” Alyssa added, side-eyeing Caden as he walked past them. “I think he might have a little crush.” She smirked.

  “I doubt it,” Rae said.

  “Yeah, you always think everyone has a crush,” Vivienne said. Alyssa’s smirk withered and turned into a scowl as Vivienne turned to Rae and asked, “What are you doing after school?”

  “After school?” Rae hesitated. She was supposed to see the psychologist today, which wasn’t something she wanted to tell Vivienne. Especially in front of someone like Alyssa, who would totally use that knowledge as a weapon. “Um…”

  “If you’re free,” Vivienne continued, “Alyssa’s mom is taking a few of us to the movies, and—”

  “And I’m not sure we have room for another person in my mom’s car,” Alyssa said quickly. She flashed Rae an insincere little smile. “Sorry.”

  Rae was surprised how much that hurt, since she didn’t particularly like Alyssa. But it was too similar to how everything started at her old school. After Taylor stopped hanging out with her, suddenly everyone else did too. At first, there were the little excuses. Not enough room in the car. Could only invite a certain number of people. Decided to have a party last minute. But all of those little excuses added up to one big fact: no one wanted anything to do with Rae anymore. She was officially on the outs. And then came the mean comments, the laughter, the taunts…

  “Okay,” Rae said. She kept walking to her locker, keeping her pace casual. That was the big thing she’d learned from before; never let them know you were upset.

  “Really, Alyssa?” Vivienne asked. “Isn’t your mom driving an SUV these days?”

  “Yeah, but there’s stuff all over the back seat.”

  “What kind of stuff?”

  “Um, important vice-principal stuff.”

  “Ah,” Vivienne said. “Well, I can see how that would be impossible to, I don’t know, move to the trunk?”

  “Uh,” Alyssa said awkwardly. “I mean, I could ask. I guess.”

  “That’s okay,” Rae said, stopping in front of her locker. She gave Alyssa her own insincere smile. “I get it.” She was rewarded by the red flush spreading across Alyssa’s face, turning her fair skin a splotchy pink.

  Alyssa looked away. “It’s not that I don’t want—”

  “Really, it’s fine,” Rae said, suddenly tired of this game. “I’m actually meeting my sister at the café now anyhow.” She got her backpack and closed her locker. “See you tomorrow,” she told Vivienne, and then she headed for the exit.

  “Why are you being like this?” she heard Vivienne say behind her.

  “Being like what?” Alyssa asked, and then Rae was outside and couldn’t hear anymore. Probably for the best. She really didn’t want to listen to Alyssa make up more excuses.

  The buses were already loading up, but it wasn’t hard to snake around them and scurry across the street to the shopping plaza.

  There were a few restaurants here, including a bagel shop, a pizza parlor, and the café. Vivienne had complained at lunch that day about the unfairness of trapping all of them in the school for meals and forcing them to eat regurgitated corn products when there were all these better options mere feet away. But during school hours they weren’t allowed to leave the grounds, and Ms. Lockett patrolled the area like some kind of Doberman, making sure all the students complied. Considering how often students seemed to go missing around here, Rae thought maybe not letting them wander around too much wasn’t the worst idea. Not that it seemed to be keeping them safe.

  She ducked into Kat’s Café, pausing just inside the door. It was a larger café than she’d been expecting, the lighting dim. Tables of various sizes were scattered around the middle of the space, while large, worn-down couches had been pushed to the walls on the side closest to the door. Across the room sat a small stage with a handmade poster reading: FRIDAY NIGHTS, AMATEUR MUSIC NIGHT, next to a homemade sign talking about an alien graveyard.

  There were a few groups of high school students already in here, and Rae could feel the weight of all their eyes staring at her. She hunched her shoulders and moved closer to the front.

  “What can I get you, honey?” the woman behind the counter asked.

  Rae tried to look confident, like she came in here all the time. But her voice squeaked when she gave the woman her order, and she didn’t know she was supposed to move down to the other side of the counter to wait until the person next to her practically shoved her over there.

  Red-faced, Rae hugged the wall until the woman thrust two coffee cups and two sandwich plates at her. Rae managed to stack the sandwiches on top of each other, carrying them in one hand and tucking her mocha under the other arm so she could carry Ava’s coffee. She made her way toward the couch closest to the stage.

  Her cell phone vibrated before she got there, and she jumped, spilling hot coffee all over her hand.

  “Great, just great,” she muttered, putting her drinks down on the nearest table. The girl sitting there gave her a dirty look. “It’s just for a second,” Rae told her.

  Sighing, the girl went back to her book. Rae grabbed a wad of napkins from the center of the table and wiped off her hand and the outside of the cup, then dug her phone out of her pocket and glanced at it, hoping it was Ava telling her she was there.

  Instead, it was Vivienne.

  VIVI: Sorry about Alyssa. Hope you’re not mad.

  Rae stared at that message, then typed: Not mad. Totally fine. Enjoy your movie!

  VIVI: Oh, I’m not going. Text me later if you want to hang.

  Rae started typing a response, then stopped. She wasn’t sure what to say. Part of her felt really happy that Vivienne had obviously decided to ditch Alyssa. But she also felt guilty about it too. In the end, she just sent a quick, ambiguous smiley face. Then she stuffed her phone back into her pocket and went to grab the drinks again.

  And paused, her hand hovering. Someone was standing next to the table, staring at her. She glanced around. But no, he was definitely staring right at her. A boy with short, pale blond hair and very dark brown eyes. She recognized him from the bus. Jeremy’s friend. “What?” she asked him.

  “You look like you have your hands full.” He moved closer. “Let me help you with those.” He reached for her coffee, and she pulled the cups away, almost spilling a second time.

  “I’v
e got it… but thank you.”

  “Really?” He raised his eyebrows. “You don’t look like you’ve got it.” He indicated her hand, which was already developing a nice red mark from her earlier spill. “I’ll take one, you get the other.” He reached for her cup again.

  Rae hesitated.

  “I’m just trying to help,” he said. “If you show me where you want to sit, I’ll drop off your drink for you and then head back to my table.”

  The girl sitting at this table gave Rae another impatient look over her book, and this time Rae let the boy take one of her cups.

  “That table there.” Rae jerked her chin at a small table perched near the emergency exit.

  The boy followed her toward it. “I haven’t seen you around school before this week,” he said as they walked. “You’re new, right?”

  “Um, yeah. Just moved here.”

  “I’m pretty new too. Got here last year.”

  “Oh,” Rae said. She felt like she should say more, maybe ask him how he liked it here, but she didn’t want him to keep talking. She wanted him to go.

  “It’s a hard place to be the new kid,” he continued, obviously content to keep the conversation going on his own.

  They reached the table, but he continued to hold on to her cup. She wasn’t sure if she should reach for it or wait for him to put it down. She put her own down firmly and looked at him, but he didn’t seem to get the hint. So she put down her plate of sandwiches next to it and pulled out her chair. “Thanks for your help. I’m good from here.”

  “Are you waiting for someone?” he asked.

  “Yes. My sister should be here any minute.”

  “Mind if I sit with you while you wait?” He sat down before she could answer, still holding her drink hostage. It was her own mocha, probably going cold. And cold mochas were the worst.