Forgotten (In The Shadows, Book One)

by Catherine Gardiner

  “Why? Did I forget something?” Katrina asked.

  “Only to say goodbye to everyone before you left this morning. Mom said you were out of the house before Dad left for work.”

  “Sorry about that. I just wanted to walk.”

  “Was it because of the nightmare you had last night?”

  “Partly.”

  “Do you want to talk about it?”

  “Maybe later.” Looking over to the jeep, Katrina frowned. “Where’s Billy?”

  “He’s getting my car from the auto shop because one of the attendants there keeps hitting on me.”

  Katrina rolled her eyes, then, linking arms with Jessica, both girls hurried up the school steps and through the glass doors.

  Once inside, Katrina’s jaw dropped in shock. The walls were lined with locker after silver locker, only separated by the occasional classroom door or entrance to a flight of stairs.

  Was it like this in June when I did my entry exam? Katrina thought, confused.

  “Do you want me to give you a quick tour?” Jessica asked.

  Katrina nodded. With a little laugh she added, “And maybe draw me a map. Because I know I’m going to get lost in this place.”

  “You’ll be fine, Katrina.”

  “That’s easy for you to say – you’ve been here for three years.”

  Jessica laughed and pulled Katrina after her down the corridor toward the gymnasium, passing the school’s auditorium, cafeteria, and library along the way.

  Katrina stood in the gymnasium’s doorway and watched about a dozen girls, some in cheerleading uniforms of the school’s dark maroon and forest green colors, doing vaults and other gymnastics. Others sat in normal clothes on the bleachers, chatting amongst themselves. Katrina began to inch backwards into the corridor and felt herself bump into someone.

  Please don’t let that be a teacher, Katrina thought.

  “I’m sorry,” Katrina apologized, turning to see who she had bumped into.

  “It’s okay,” the guy mumbled, before picking up his books that had fallen on the floor and quickly walking down the corridor, disappearing into a nearby classroom.

  “I see you met Stephen,” Jessica said over Katrina’s shoulder.

  Katrina jumped at the sound of Jessica’s voice in her ear.

  Jessica giggled, “You’re a bit of scaredy-cat today. Next you’ll be jumping at your own shadow.”

  “Sorry,” Katrina said absently. Something about the whole school gave her the creeps and made the tiny hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.

  “Well,” Jessica suggested, “let’s get going.”

  *

  Suzanne yawned and opened her eyes slowly.

  Something – or someone – had awoken her from a blissfully happy dream. Suzanne lay still for a few moments to locate the noise. It came from the en-suite bathroom that she and Emily shared.

  Suzanne dragged herself out of bed, headed toward the bathroom, and leaned on the doorjamb. Emily was by the sink, brushing her teeth and singing to herself.

  “What are you doing in here? Strangling the neighborhood cat?” Suzanne asked.

  Emily looked up and smiled. “I didn’t wake you, did I?”

  “No, it was the cat.”

  “Oh, okay,” Emily said. She resumed brushing her teeth, and then paused. “What cat? We don’t own a cat!”

  Suzanne smirked and went back into the bedroom; Emily followed her a few moments later, her toothbrush still in her hand.

  “You didn’t attack a cat when you went out last night, did you?” Emily asked, looking horrified.

  “No, I didn’t attack any cute little kitties!” Suzanne snapped, looking equally as horrified that Emily could suggest such a thing. If there was one thing Suzanne was adamant about, it was that none of them should harm anything that couldn’t really fight back, which in Suzanne’s eyes included children and household pets.

  “There’s no need to bite my head off,” Emily said defensively.

  Suzanne mumbled something then got back into bed and pulled her cover over her head.

  “Suzanne!”

  “What?”

  “Have you forgotten where we’re going this morning?”

  “No,” Suzanne lied, uncovering her head and turned to lay on her side so she was facing Emily, “but you can refresh my memory.”

  Emily rolled her eyes. “I knew you would forget. You always do when there’s something important to remember.”

  “So what’s so important?”

  “Junior cheerleading try-outs.”

  Suzanne blinked blankly at Emily.

  “Pom-poms? Does that ring any bells?” Emily continued, going back into the bathroom to return her toothbrush.

  Suzanne sat up in bed and sniffed the air. The wolf in her could smell breakfast; her stomach protested loudly. Alongside the actual transformation, feeling hungry all the time was the only drawback to being a werewolf that Suzanne could think of.

  Getting out of bed, Suzanne started to make her way across the bedroom almost stealthily and very wolf-like.

  “Suzanne?” Emily called from the bathroom.

  Suzanne froze.

  “I know you’re still out there!”

  Suzanne moved quickly to the bedroom door and opened it as quietly as she could. When Suzanne was on the landing she could feel herself transform; her back arched and twisted into shape and a thick pelt of silver fur began to cover her body. Once the transformation was complete, Suzanne shook herself out of her nightshirt and, picking it up gently in her mouth, trotted downstairs to the kitchen, stopping off to put her nightshirt on top of the washing machine in the basement.

  “What can I smell? Bacon? Pancakes?” Suzanne asked, jumping up at the table.

  “Suzanne, get down!” Marcus said, pushing Suzanne away.

  “Why? My paws aren’t dirty!”

  “Aren’t you and Emily supposed to be somewhere?” Marcus asked as he peered over the top of the newspaper he was reading.

  “Yes!” Emily answered from the kitchen doorway. “We need to be at the school by noon and I let Suzanne sleep in because she wandered back in at four this morning.”

  Suzanne looked up at Emily and focused at what she was holding in her hand.

  “I’m not wearing that!” Suzanne said, moving to lie under the kitchen table.

  “Suzanne, we’re already late! You can change in the girls’ locker room there!” Emily kneeled down to peer under the table at the wolf.

  “What about my clothes?” Suzanne pointed out.

  “I’ve got them covered; I’ve put a change of clothes in my backpack along with a couple of strawberry pop-tarts for your breakfast, and two cartons of OJ for us for later.”

  Reluctantly, Suzanne came out from under the kitchen table and waited for Emily to put on her collar and leash.

  “This is embarrassing!” Suzanne muttered under her breath.

  “You’ve only got yourself to blame, Suzanne! Now, is your collar alright or do you want me to loosen it?”

  “It’s pinching a bit but I can live with it,” Suzanne said, giving her head a shake so the collar around her neck felt more comfortable against her fur.

  “Good! Ready?” Emily asked, retrieving her backpack off the kitchen counter.

  “Do you want me to meet you guys somewhere after the try-outs?” Marcus asked.

  “Unless something comes up and I call you just wait around the parking lot and we’ll find you at around two,” Emily replied.

  “Why should we meet them?” Jonathan asked, who had just finished his fourth bowl of cereal.

  “So we can give them a ride home,” Marcus said. “Sometimes, Jonathan, I find your intellect astounding.”

  Emily and Suzanne started to chuckle to themselves in the hall; when Emily reached the hall closet she opened it and took out her jacket, a wooden stake that she slipped into the inside of her left boot, and a small silver dagger that she put in the other boot. Suzanne waited patiently on the
porch, watching some squirrels frolicking in a nearby tree. When Emily was ready, Suzanne felt a slight tug on the leash and both she and Emily started to walk down the driveway.

  “I forgot to feed Flopsey!” Suzanne cried suddenly, pulling Emily back up the driveway.

  “Suzanne, will you stop tugging so hard?”

  “But I haven’t fed him!” She pulled harder.

  “Suzanne, your rabbit’s fine. Marcus will probably feed him later,” Emily countered, and gave the leash a sharp tug. “It baffles me how a werewolf can keep a rabbit, of all creatures, as a pet, but you’ve always made it quite clear how important he is to you and we’d never dare neglect him and risk your wrath. We’re already late and we can’t afford to lose anymore time, besides, you did check on him before you went to bed.”

  “I can’t see why we have to go to stupid cheerleading try-outs in the first place!” Suzanne muttered to herself as they walked together.

  “Because Marcus says ‘we have to blend in at all costs’, so that’s what we’re doing.”

  “Well I think it sucks.”

  “You think everything sucks.”

  “All that exercise and the pep-rallies, but the worst thing is having stupid, moronic jocks chasing after you like lost little puppies,” Suzanne raved, oblivious of Emily’s comment.

  “Suzanne, calm down before you start to draw attention!”

  Suzanne sighed. She looked up at Emily. “I suppose you want me act all doggy?”

  “No, I just don’t want people to give us funny looks. If they hear you talk …”

  “Emily, you worry too much. I’m not stupid enough to talk in front of humans when I’m in wolf form.”

  “I know, it’s just that I don’t want things to screw up again. Like in London, or Greendale!”

  “Stop your worrying; this isn’t Greendale. Besides, I’m not Jonathan, and even though I hate to admit it, I like this place.”

  Emily smiled and knelt down to pat Suzanne. “Thanks.”

  “No problem. Just remember that you owe me lunch.”

  Emily’s smile slowly faded. “Suzanne, can you sense that?”

  “What?” Suzanne asked, and then stopped to sniff the air.

  “I’m not sure but something seems off.”

  “You’re just worrying over this stupid cheerleading thing.”

  Emily sighed, “I guess that could be it.”

  “If something was wrong you would have sensed it and totally vamped out.”

  “Vamped out?”

  “Yeah, you go all kick-ass.” Suzanne paused. “Besides, ma chérie, I think that large ugly building across the road is where we need to be.”

  Emily rolled her eyes. “Do you think we should check it out?”

  “Well, we’re heading over there anyway.”

  “Suzanne, if I let you off the leash you could scout it out because as a dog you—”

  “Wolf.”

  “What?”

  “I am a wolf, not a dog.”

  “Whatever. Anyway, as I was saying, as a wolf you won’t attract much attention.”

  “So what’s the plan – I go over there and act all innocent and dog-like then come back and give you all the gossip?”

  “Yeah, something like that,” Emily said. She bent and unclasped Suzanne’s collar.

  Suzanne shook her fur, then, turning to Emily, she said, “So where do we meet up?”

  “The girls’ locker room in five minutes.”

  Suzanne trotted across the road and looked at Emily once more before rounding the side of the building and disappearing from sight.

  Nine

  “Girls! Girls! Can I please have your attention?” Coach Hall’s voice echoed throughout the gymnasium and made Katrina jump in surprise as she realized she had been lost in concentration while practicing the cheerleading routine they’d all been set. “We have made our selection for this year’s cheerleading squad. I’d like to thank everyone who tried out today. Now I’ll pass you over to Madison.”

  Madison straightened her cheerleading uniform and her ponytail. She stepped up onto a chair and addressed the crowd. “The selection for this year’s senior cheerleading squad is as follows: Amber Elliott, Amy Foster, Felicity Greenwood, Jessica Sinclair, and Katrina Sinclair. The two co-captains I choose this year are: Ashley Conners and Skye Walbrooke, and the four alternates will be: Samantha Jacks, Michelle Lewis, Sarah Ross, and Melissa Warner. The names will also be posted on the noticeboard.”

  A girl with short, spiked blonde hair, who had been sat on the bleachers, stood up and stormed from the room in a huff. As Katrina watched the girl go, she had a feeling that she recognized her, but as soon as the feeling had come, it went again.

  Once the room had thinned out, Jessica leaned over to hug Katrina. “We’re both in the squad! Isn’t that the best news?”

  “So what happens now?”

  Jessica shrugged. “I guess we head home. Junior squad try-outs begin in around ten minutes, so we could hang around and see who gets in. Or, better still, maybe we could go to the mall for a few hours?”

  “What about Billy? Weren’t you suppose to meet up?” Katrina picked her sweater up off the bleacher and tied it around her waist.

  “No, he was only going to swap cars because I didn’t know when the try-outs would be over. I told him to just leave my car and go.”

  “So was he free this afternoon?” Katrina tried to hide the disdain in her voice.

  “Yeah, but I’d rather go to the mall with you.” Then, frowning, she added, “You really don’t like him, do you?”

  “Yes I do!”

  “Whatever,” Jessica rolled her eyes.

  “Jess, he’s just so changeable. He isn’t an Aquarius, is he?”

  Jessica thought for a moment before answering, “He’s a bull.”

  “Well, I always thought he was a boy but I guess I need glasses,” Katrina said, laughing.

  “What?” Jessica frowned again, then, realizing what she had said, started laughing too.

  A sense of foreboding slowly crept over Katrina and she felt a shiver go up her spine as both girls walked across the school’s parking lot toward Jessica’s Jeep which was parked near where Billy’s had been a couple of hours before.

  “Now that’s a sight for sore eyes! There’s nothing wrong with Billy’s Jeep, but I do love my ol’ faithful.” Jessica beamed, patting her Jeep’s hood affectionately.

  “You say something?” Katrina scanned the parking lot, the hairs on the back of her neck standing up. She felt that something wasn’t quite right; everything appeared perfectly normal, but her gut told her that she was being watched.

  “Nothing important. But you look awful. You’re as white as a sheet.”

  “I think I am just tired,” Katrina replied, with a wry smile.

  “We can miss the mall if you’d prefer to go home?”

  “No, no. A spot of retail therapy will do me good — I just find this place a little unnerving.”

  “It is rather gloomy, but that could just be because we’re heading for fall.”

  “I suppose so … I am probably being paranoid, but I felt like I was being watched. The police would have said something to Mom or Dad if they thought I was in danger though, right?”

  Jessica unlocked her car door, opened it, and turned to address Katrina who was nervously scanning the parking lot again. “You’ve been through a lot so I’m not surprised you’re jumpy, but nothing bad is going to happen while you’re with me.”

  “You’re right. I’m being silly worrying so much as it’s unlikely anyone would dare try anything with you right next to me anyway! Once we’ve been shopping and had lunch I’ll be okay.” Katrina tossed her book bag onto the back seat and climbed into the passenger’s side. Jessica adjusted her seat from the position that Billy had changed it to and started the Jeep, pulling out of the parking lot.

  I am so glad that cheerleading try-outs are over and I am leaving this place for the day. I can’t unde
rstand why it has such an effect on me, but at least Jess is happy. Relief washed over her now she was sitting safely next to Jessica and on her way to a girly shopping trip.

  Katrina didn’t know that someone was watching her every move and had been all morning. If she had listened to her instincts telling her she had been right to be wary, she still would have not realized that it was the same person that had brutally attacked her ten months ago.

  You may think you’re safe but I got to you once and I can get to you again. Perhaps no one told you but school can be such a dangerous place, especially if you don’t watch where you’re going. All it takes is a little misstep on one of the many stairwells, Katrina’s attacker thought, chuckling. It would be such a pity if you were to remember something you shouldn’t and end up having another ‘accident’. In the meantime I am going to some fun with you, Kitty-Kat. I love surprises so much; I do hope you like the one I left for you in your book bag. With one last look at the jeep pulling out of the parking lot, Katrina’s attacker turned and headed toward the nearest payphone.

  Ten

  “What took you? I thought we said five minutes; everybody else is already in the gymnasium. We’re the last ones,” Emily snapped as soon as Suzanne entered the girls’ locker room.

  “We did say five minutes,” Suzanne answered, her tail brushing Emily’s leg as she walked past and into the showers.

  “So what took you?” Emily repeated.

  “Stuff.”

  “What kind of stuff?”

  Suzanne ignored the question. “Can you please pass me a towel?”

  “Not until you answer me.”

  “Emily, I’m wet, cold, and naked!” Suzanne said, her voice edged with irritation.

  “Fine!” Emily huffed and threw in a towel.

  “Thank you,” Suzanne replied. Wrapped in the material, she stepped out of the shower.

  “So?” Emily asked impatiently.

  Suzanne sat down and starting to towel herself dry. “The reason I took so long was because it took me ten minutes to get the stupid fire door open.”