Valie's lip began to quiver and the tears started to come. Trent put his hand on her back.
Carson made his annoyed sigh, yet again, "Don't you guys get it? Can't you feel it? Your muscles are weaker, you're more tired than usual, it's harder to think, even harder to breathe. That's not because of the adrenaline of the situation. It's because we're dying...every second we spend arguing about this is a second closer we are to death. We don't have the time."
As much as Valie didn't want to believe it, he was right. Her legs and arms felt rubbery, like she'd been working out nonstop for the past 24 hours. Even her neck felt like it was tired of holding her head up. The air she breathed in felt a little thicker, her eyelids a little heavier.
Begrudgingly, and, finally unanimously, they decided that Trent and Maddy would pair up and drive to New Jersey and Carson and Valie would go together by train. Valie didn't like it; she wanted to go with Trent. She wanted them to stick together, but it was the easiest way based on where the pendants were.
"What about Jackson?" Maddy asked. It was the first time any one of them had brought up his name.
"Maybe if we have time...we can go after his pendant? Valie offered. “He doesn't know where it is, he can't know.”
"If there's time," Carson said regrettably.
Valie glared at him and made a silent promise to herself. With or without Carson, Maddy, or even Trent, she would go after it herself. It wasn't fair, he was probably scared too and he wasn't with them. He wouldn't know where his pendant was, he might not even know he needed one.
Between the four of them, they had one car, the supplies from the mall, some groceries, and about $720 left.
The drive to the train station only took about 20 minutes. They were in a different city; one that Carson called a “tourist trap.” Lots of hotels, waterparks, and stores selling unique things. It almost looked like it was some gigantic theme park, but people lived there and more importantly, it had a large train station.
Once they arrived, they all got out of the car, each moving a little slower, the imminent separation was almost upon them. Despite not knowing each other well, the one comforting thought that they all had was that they had each other. They weren't alone in this fight, and now, even though they were separating in pairs, they were still separating.
At first, Valie didn't say anything to Trent, she couldn't. She didn't know what to say, for all she knew, it could've been a goodbye that stuck.
Valie summoned what strength she had and put on her best false bravado.
"Be careful, yeah?"
Trent nodded, "Yeah...you too.”
In front of them, Carson was scolding Maddy, "Try and not to get lost, we can't afford the gas," he handed her some cash and one of the backpacks.
"I think I can follow a GPS," she snipped. "I already named her Faye," she looked down and giggled. Carson scoffed and walked away.
"It's so I can...Carson? Carson?" She looked for him to explain but he was gone.
Valie's tears were coming, and before Trent could see them, she pushed herself forward and hugged him as tightly as she could. “Don't do anything stupid and be careful.”
When he pulled away, she kissed her hand and pressed it to his cheek.
“We got this,” he assured her with a sweet smile.
“I'll see you back at the cabin,” Valie said, not as a question, but a statement.
He nodded.
Valie gave Maddy a hug, which made Maddy uncomfortable. She knew that Maddy didn't want anyone touching her, especially with the dirt and blood still on Valie's shirt, but Valie didn't care.
Maddy's nose was scrunched and her eyes were closed, while her arms were pinned to her sides. When Valie pulled away, her expression made Valie laugh.
They waved a final goodbye, Maddy mumbling to herself, then got into the car and left.
Valie stood there watching them drive away. Carson appeared beside her.
"Do you think they'll be okay?"
He adjusted the strap on his backpack. "Yeah, they just have to drive. It's all mostly interstates and highways. They'll be fine."
The taillights eventually disappeared in the distance and Carson and Valie went into the station.
Valie sat on a bench in the station while Carson purchased their tickets. He had been putting all of the effort into making their arrangements and Valie felt it was proper. She was still salty about him knowing who he really was. He had more time to absorb it, so to her, it seemed fair that he figured out the geography.
She sat there watching people shuffling in different directions. She had always liked watching people. It was interesting to see habits, different walks, different faces, but she couldn't sit still anymore. Valie felt so nervous and anxious that she needed to get up and walk, despite feeling tired, she had to move around. While waiting for Carson to come back, she began pacing in front of the bench. As soon as he approached, she didn't give him time to say anything, just told him that she was going for a walk and left.
He yelled after her to say close.
The train station was surrounded by a lot of little shops, nestled inside of the city and away from the sirens and street hustle, like a little town of its own.
Valie walked around, trying to walk casually, keeping in mind that she was still in danger. Sitting still just made her think too much about everything that had been happening and it was overwhelming.
As she walked, she got a few strange looks, and as soon as she saw her reflection in one of the store windows, she could understand why. Her hair was frizzing out of her ponytail, her face was puffy and tear-stained and, of course, she was still wearing her work smock with her name tag. Valie felt embarrassed, having never gone a day without a shower or brushing her teeth, she felt very uncomfortable. She looked up at the store in front of her. The outside was bubblegum pink. It had a big white sign that read “Candy Heaven.”
Valie walked in. The whole store smelled like amaretto and chocolate. Until she walked in the store, Valie didn't realize how hungry she was. As she looked at the dozens of plastic bins of candy, she stopped at the gummy worms and opened the bin, smelling the sweetness. For a moment, she thought about taking a couple and eating them before anyone could see, but she knew she couldn't steal, no matter how hungry. Not that she was necessarily above stealing, Valie thought to herself, after all, she stole the book from the library, but that was an accident. She decided that she needed karma on her side these next couple of days and walked away from the bin.
Valie then turned towards the counter where a woman who looked to be in her 60s stood stacking pieces of fudge onto a tray. She had flaming red hair in a bouffant style and a friendly face.
"Excuse me?" Valie asked.
"Yes?" The woman replied with a smile.
"Do you have a phone I could use?"
The woman hesitated and looked Valie up and down. "We don't use the land line for anything but strictly business orders."
"Oh."
"But," she reached into her pocket, "you can use my cellular phone."
Valie thanked her and stepped a few feet away from the counter. Knowing that calling home was a mistake, she dialed the number that she had memorized since kindergarten. No one was going to answer, she knew, but she wanted to hear her uncle's voice on the answering machine.
"Hello, you've reached Leon, Trent, and Valie. Please leave a message!" Valie felt a stinging pain in her chest. She had thought hearing his voice would make her feel better, but it only made her feel worse.
Next, she dialed Emma's number. Valie knew she wasn't supposed to, what she was doing wasn't safe, but she wanted to hear someone's voice from reality.
The phone rang multiple times. Valie said a silent prayer to herself, hoping Emma would answer, then, finally...she picked up.
"Hello?" Emma said cautiously, due to the unfamiliar number on her caller I.D.
"Emma?"
"Yeah?"
"It's Valie."
"Valie! Oh my God! Are
you okay?! Where are you?!" She was yelling so loudly into the phone that Valie had to pull it away from her ear a little.
"Em, I'm okay..."
"The police have been looking for you! No one has seen Trent or your uncle, what's going on!?"
"Emma..." Valie started, but there was nothing she could tell her, there was nothing she could say, and Valie knew that calling her was a mistake. "Emma, please, please, promise me that you won't tell anyone that I called. Please?"
“Valie, where are you? Do you need help? I can help you; just tell me what to do.”
Her loyalty warmed Valie's heart. There wasn't a doubt in Valie's mind that Emma would come and pick her up if she asked her to. She would take Valie home and all the while she could recount the goings-on that had taken place over the past 24 hours.
"You can't help me, Em. I'm okay, just promise you won't tell anyone I called."
“Valie, I'm so worried right now, I'm so worried about you. Take your uncle and Trent out of it for a second...you; you can't do this to anyone again. You can't just disappear, please let me help you.”
She could hear Emma's voice cracking as she seemed to be pleading with Valie.
“Em, I'm okay...just promise me.”
After a long pause, Emma agreed. Valie could only imagine how confused she must've been. They were a family rooted in habit and overnight it changed.
Valie hung up the phone, handed it back to the woman, and thanked her. As she was walking away, the woman stopped her.
"You know,” the woman began as she stepped from around the counter, “we had a fundraiser last month. We have promotional sweatshirts left over if you want one."
Valie looked down at her smock, feeling mortified that she looked bad enough for people to be offering her clothing, but she smiled and nodded.
The woman walked towards a back room and came back with a navy blue hoodie.
"Thank you." Valie said graciously.
"Have a nice evening, dear."
Valie left the store, took off the smock and tossed it in the garbage outside with her name tag still attached, and as she did, she felt a pinch of worry that Arnie was going to make her pay for a replacement.
She put the hoodie on over her white tank top. It was a little big, but warm and soft. Once she had it on, she noticed the writing on the front. In thick pink block letters it said "Chocolate is my life."
Valie let out a tired laugh and started to walk back to the train station, taking her time as she did, enjoying the peaceful ambiance of the little shopping district. She tried to pretend that none of it was happening, that she was just on a little shopping excursion and nothing about the day was out of the ordinary. She tried and failed. Trying was making things worse because even if she could convince herself for a second, reality came back and it hurt.
Once back to the station, Valie settled on the same bench, feeling better than expected after she took off her smock. She sat there, trying to smooth out her hair.
Carson joined her about five minutes later.
"Nice sweater," he said sarcastically. "Where did you get it?"
"Someone gave it to me." Valie said innocently. She looked at up at him, catching him shaking his head.
"You should learn be more careful, Valie."
"I was careful." Lie. Total lie, she thought. She wasn't careful, she called Emma and Emma could've told someone that Valie called. They could've checked the caller ID and traced it back to the woman working at the candy store, and whoever was looking, it wouldn't have taken them long to trace her back to the train station and find out exactly where Carson and Valie were going. Valie could only hope that Emma kept her promise, even though it was so incredibly unfair to put her in that position.
"I'm gonna go take a look around, check, and make sure the train is on time. Stay here and I mean it."
Valie made a face at his patronizing tone, but she was too tired to say anything, and considering what she'd been up to, she figured it was justified. Before Carson walked away, he bent over and set something in her lap.
It was a bag of gummy worms.
Chapter 11
Once Valie settled into her seat on the train, she wanted to sleep. She knew the steady flow of the train would help her to fall asleep, and considering they had a nearly 16-hour train ride in front of them, she would welcome the sleep gladly.
She fell asleep almost instantly.
When Valie woke up, her eyelids still felt heavy. She wasn't sure how much time had passed, but it was dark outside. She froze for a moment and became suddenly alert because she realized that her head was resting on Carson's shoulder.
Valie didn't freeze because she was in danger, not because she remembered that she might die in a few days, not because her uncle went missing, but because she'd fallen asleep on Carson's shoulder.
She quickly sat up and stared straight ahead, not knowing if Carson was awake and didn't want to look.
The rest of the train was dimly lit. Valie could hear the people behind her talking softly. Carson wasn't saying anything and Valie could see out of the corner of her eye that he wasn't moving, so he must've been sleeping. She breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
Valie took out the bag of gummy worms from the front pocket of her hoodie and pulled out a couple. She enjoyed them and was also enjoying that she had felt a little rested finally. Until Carson suddenly stuck his hand out and she nearly jumped out of her seat. He'd been awake the whole time.
“Can I have one?”
He didn't move his head or even open his eyes. Valie smacked her palm against her forehead, silently cursing herself up and down.
She put a few in his hand.
"I thought you were sleeping," Valie said, talking softly trying to hide her embarrassment.
"Can't." He put the gummy worms in his mouth.
"How long was I, um, asleep?"
"Few hours."
What she really wanted to know was how long she was asleep on his shoulder.
A change of subject was definitely in need, Valie decided. "Do you think Trent and Maddy made it to their pendants yet?" she whispered, making sure that any prying ears couldn't hear their conversation.
Carson said no, loudly and clearly, obviously unconcerned with who could hear him all while keeping his eyes closed.
"They should be close though," Valie said confidently, hoping that Carson would agree with her.
"I don't trust her," he said flatly.
"Huh?"
"Madison, I don't trust Madison." He said, still unmoving.
"Why do you call her Madison?"
"That's her name."
"Yeah, but..."
"When you shorten someone's name or give them a nickname, it's almost like a form of endearment and I don't like her."
"Uh, why? What did she do to you?"
"I have to like everyone?"
"No...but--"
"I can see it behind her eyes, she can't be trusted."
"How can you see something like that behind someone's eyes?"
Carson lifted his head and finally looked at her. Valie felt her heart flutter when he did, something that kind of annoyed her.
"You know when you're talking to someone and they're staring at you but it almost seems like they're looking right past you because you can tell they're totally zoned out?”
It was a weird point he was trying to make because Valie was trying not to stare at his face.
“Well, I can tell so that's how I know."
"You don't actually have many friends, do you? I mean, you were lying before, right?"
"I have plenty of friends," Carson sighed.
Valie leaned her head back and thought on what he said. They already had enough to worry about and she didn't want to think about who she could or couldn't trust. Not now.
“So...the phone call, the one you made back at the candy store...what was that about?”
Valie stopped chewing for a second. She wasn't aware that Carson knew that she made a phone call.
She felt stupid, yet again.
“I called my friend Emma.”
“Yeah, I know,” Carson said back obviously. “Why her? Why make that call when you knew how dangerous it could be?”
It wasn't as simple as he was making it sound, but she also didn't feel like she had to justify herself to him.
"Can we just talk about normal things? Maybe spend some time getting to know each other?” she said, trying to dodge his question.
“Or maybe we could just be quiet.”
“I don't want to be quiet, I'll fall asleep.”
Carson let out an annoyed sigh.
“Please? Let me think about something else, anything else...for just a little while.”
Carson turned towards her with a blank expression.
“Tell me,” he said quietly, “what's your favorite class?”
“Why do you where those glasses?”
On reflex, Carson adjusted them. “I need them.”
“But why?”
“Oh, I don't know, Valie, because I can't see without them.”
“But they're so thick.”
“Is this what you want to talk about? Really?”
“It's something different...do you know any jokes?”
Carson leaned a little closer to her and just stared at her.
She uncomfortably looked away. “What?”
“Your eyes...they're purple,” he moved a piece of hair away from her face, “I just noticed that.”
Valie could feel herself blushing, “Yeah, they sometimes look purple. It's not a big deal.” Valie wasn't used to feeling what she was feeling. She knew from the first moment she saw Carson that she had something of a crush on him. She had crushes before, of course, but this was different.
“Okay,” she said, changing the subject. “Will you tell me something that no one else knows? That could be an interesting conversation.”
“No. I barely know you.”
“I know, that's the point. We don't even really know each other, but yet we share this crazy bond.”
“I'm not the kind of bare-my-soul to a stranger on a train type of guy. I keep my personal life to myself.”
“And how's that working out for you?”
The Pendants and the Mystery of the Wozniak Five Part I Page 12
