Edward produced his cell phone. “I’ll call my old man.” He dialed and waited. Then he hung up. “Crap! I’m getting his voice mail.” He dialed again and waited.
Our lives depended on that phone call. I passed the tip of my tongue over my lips. Edward dialed for the third time. “Sir, it’s me, Edward. I’m in Magnolia Hall with Justin, the new guy I told you about. There’s this maniac following us with a gun. We need your help.”
Edward turned to me. “I left a voice mail. You stay here. I’ll try to distract him. When I call your name, you run like hell to the ladder and climb down. I’ll keep him busy. Here, have my phone. Lemme unlock it.” He did so. “This is my old man’s number. Call him again as soon as you reach the forest. If he doesn’t answer, leave another voice mail.”
“Don’t go, Edward,” I begged, holding his arm. “He’s got a gun.”
“It’s easy to play hide and seek up here with so much junk. I think I can keep him busy until my old man arrives.”
“I can climb the circular staircase from inside and try to unlock the trapdoor so you can escape.”
He glanced behind him. “Good idea, but only if he doesn’t follow you. You could get trapped in the stairway’s shaft. Anyway, don’t forget to call my old man. That’s your priority.”
He took a large puff of air, released it, and then got to his feet and disappeared from my view, hiding behind one of the palm trees.
“You guys are not gonna make it out alive. You deserve it for betraying me… once more.”
I almost screamed. Aaron had popped out of nowhere and was sitting on the floor beside me with his back leaning on the skylight glass, just like I. His pale skin glowed like starlight. If I’d ever doubted he was a ghost, this had to be positive proof he was.
“I’m not Laura. You’re mistaking me. I’m Alexandra, your daughter.”
Aaron glared at me. “I have no children. Alexandra’s not my daughter. She’s yours and…” He grimaced. “And Torrent’s. You guys make me feel sick.”
Something boiled inside me. I snorted. Tonight was the night to finally put an end our pathetic, little family drama. “You’re gonna do something useful in your life for once. You’re gonna take us down safe now.”
“You can do that yourself. Just get to the ladder.”
I rolled my eyes. “Hellooo! There’s a crazy guy with a gun somewhere on this roof. I can’t simply walk to the ladder. I want you to take us down, both of us. Safe. Snap your fingers. Poof!”
He laughed. “I can’t do that. I’m no magician.”
I frowned. I was so certain he could. Okay, I’d been mistaken, so let’s move on. There was something else I was certain he could do. I looked down the skylight behind me. The room below us was dark and devoid of furniture.
“There used to be a large bed in this room right under the skylight,” I pointed down through the glass. “Turn on the lights and make the mansion appear like it looked in its best days.”
“I can’t do that either.”
“Of course you can. You did it two nights ago when you took me here to wash myself.”
Aaron shook his head. “No, I didn’t. You did it with your eyes. This place has been a ruin since a week after you threw me out of the window. I’ve been living ten years in this pathetic place waiting for you to come back. Wanna know something? I’m no longer under the spell of your eyes. I see no fire or stars in them anymore. Your eyes are dead, Laura.”
“You’re so very mistaken! I’m not Laura, I’m Alexandra, and you’re a pathetic little ghost. You can’t behave like an adult, not even after death.”
Ouch! I’d just imagined Laura barking those exact words at him—I had to do something so I wouldn’t ever turn into her. Suddenly, what he’d just said struck me like lightning. My eyes… Of course. They were the ones that had recreated the mansion out of my hidden memories two nights ago. Only I didn’t realized it back then. If I needed more proof, they’d just turned on the street lamps on the main avenue a coupla hours ago only because I thought of the avenue in its grand days.
“You say that my eyes are dead? Here’s the news, they aren’t. See what they can do.” It was time for some hocus-pocus.
I stared at the dark room below and focused: it had a very large bed with a canopy, and fancy furniture, Persian rugs, and a chandelier. It had to work. It worked in the avenue. The lights turned on once I recalled how the avenue looked long ago.
Aaron smirked. “It’s not gonna work.”
This was a guest room. An old lady who was a close friend of my grandma always stayed there. It also had a dresser, and a chair with red upholstery. I used to stand on it and try the old lady’s makeup…
Presto! Bright light poured from the skylight and I had to squint. A magnificent room displayed under it, furnished with lavish Louis XV furniture and a very large bed with a canopy. Exactly the bedroom I remembered from the old days. Now we had a chance.
“Edward,” I screamed. Then again, “Edward!”
“Keep calling, darling,” Yago’s voice called from somewhere on the roof. “I love playing hide and seek. Am I hot or cold?”
Edward appeared some seconds afterwards, crawling at high speed on all fours.
“Have you gone mad?” he asked in a hushed voice. “Wanna stand up and wave your arms?”
“Look,” I said, pointing through the skylight. “We can jump and land on that bed.”
Edward looked down and frowned. “What the hell? It’s about 20 feet. We’ll kill ourselves.”
“Got any better ideas?”
“Baby, where are you?” Yago called again. He sounded closer. “Come to Daddy.”
Edward sighed. “Okay, let’s do it. But he’ll hear when we break the glass. And we could get hurt—”
“Duh! It’s not needed,” I winked an eye. “Look.” I placed my hand on the glass and slid it to the left. “It opens.”
“Cool. How did you know—never mind. You go first. I’ll cover us.”
I crawled to the very edge. Jumping onto a bed from a skylight 20 feet above is not simple. I mean, it’s freakin’ frightful unless you’re in the skydiving business. I gulped and then glanced at Edward and back at the bed. I started to clench and open my fists. Then I felt it: the pathetic urgency to pee that had been bothering me since an hour ago. I hated myself.
Note to self: Wear Pampers next time.
Edward suddenly held my arm. “It’s too dangerous. Don’t do it.”
Yago appeared from behind the pile of desks that had been concealing us. “Aha! I’ve got you.”
I screamed and jumped. Omigod! During the two seconds it took to fall, I flew. Then I hit the bed with every part of my body, feeling pain in places I didn’t know existed. I couldn’t breathe so I sat up gasping desperately for air and shaking my arms in front of me. Edward landed on the bed a second afterwards with a tremendous thud that ejected me onto the floor. With supreme effort, I was finally able to pull air into my lungs. I exhaled and then pulled more air inside like it was the last air left on Earth. A shot sounded. I turned my head up. Half of Yago’s body poked down the skylight holding the gun. He’d fired at Edward.
Edward then fell off the bed and I screamed because I thought he’d been hit.
July 4, 11:57 pm
“Edward,” I shrieked. “Edward!”
Edward rolled onto his back, jumped to his feet, and rushed for the light switch, turning the bedroom’s lights off. I could only rest my head on the floor and gasp in relief. My heart had actually stopped in shock and now it was beating furiously.
“Run, Justin, run!” Edward cried, opening the door.
The corridor’s light poured into the room. I jumped to my feet and sprinted towards the door, but was knocked down by a killing pain. The pain ran up my leg to my waist and felt as if somebody had hit my calf with a hammer. Tears welled up in my eyes and I bit my lip so hard I tasted blood.
Edward slammed the door closed and the bedroom got dark again.
&nb
sp; “Shit!” Yago exclaimed. Bet he thought we’d just fled.
Edward knelt beside me and asked in a hushed voice, “Are you okay?”
I wasn’t. Without moving, I could still feel the pain. I wanted to cry. “No.”
“Put your hand on my shoulder. Yes, that way. Now, try to stand up.”
The pain ran up to my neck this time and I yelled, collapsing once more on the carpeting.
“So, you’re still there, sweetheart, aren’t you?” Yago’s voice came from above us. “Your lover boy fled without you. I’m soooo sorry.”
Edward looked upwards and then at me, placing a finger on his lips, commanding silence. He moved his mouth without making a sound: Do not talk. I nodded.
Yago added, “Wait for me, baby. I’ll be with you right away.”
Edward and I stood motionless for some seconds, looking upwards until Yago’s shadow disappeared from the skylight. I wondered what to do next. I had a broken leg, for sure. Jumping from so high had been a stupid idea. It was a miracle neither of us broke our skulls when we landed on the bed.
“Put your arms around my neck,” Edward said in a hushed voice. “I’ll carry you. Here, have my neckerchief. Put it in your mouth. If it’s too much pain, bite it.”
I’d always wondered why Boy Scouts wore neckerchiefs. Whatever! I did as instructed. He put a hand under my back and another under my knees. His face turned red and he lifted me with a grunt. I did bite the neckerchief as hard as I could. The pain ran through my leg in wave after wave. We looked at each other.
“Ready to run?” he asked.
Not in a thousand years. I’d rather stay in the room waiting for an ambulance, but that was not an option. I nodded, biting the neckerchief harder. Tears had started to run down my cheeks.
In an instant, we were in the hall. All the chandeliers were on, casting dazzling light everywhere. I squinted, missing my dark sunglasses. Luxurious red carpeting extended down the hall in both directions, engulfing all sounds. The polished bedroom doors acted like mirrors. The mansion in its prime.
Edward stopped short and frowned. He pressed my body towards him, all his muscles rigid—it hurt. “What’s going on here? There something wrong with this place…”
“Edward, run! He’s coming down.”
He sprinted. Bolts of pain ran through my leg like somebody was beating it constantly with a hammer—a very big hammer. I clenched my teeth, grinding his neckerchief down to shreds.
We had reached the landing and Edward was about to bolt downstairs when a shot sounded down the hall. I was jettisoned out of Edward’s arms and almost rolled down the stairs but was able to grab the banister, preventing my fall. Edward tumbled down the stairway until he lay motionless face down at its foot. His blood left a red trace on the white marble steps.
“Edward!” I shrieked. “Edward!”
He didn’t move or react. Yago ran towards me, holding the gun in his hand. I gripped the banister and despite the pain and the fear that made my body shake, I hauled myself to my feet. I stood on one foot, resting my weight on the solid marble banister. My face was soaked in tears and all my body ached.
“Your boyfriend should have run away when I told him,” Yago said. “I warned him.”
“Go away!” I wanted to puke. “What do you want?”
Yago laughed. “You know what I want. Don’t tell me you’re so naive you don’t, baby?”
He stopped beside me, leaning an elbow on the banister as if we were casually chatting. He pinched my cheek.
“You look so sexy. I’ve never seen you before in a skirt, baby.” He was using his cajoling, out-of-place tone again. His eyes stood fixed on my legs. Then they scanned the house. “I thought this shack was ruinous. Of course, the lights were off. How did you guys manage to turn on all lights at once?”
I glared at him. “Why are you doing this to me?”
He glared back at me. “Because you guys did it first to me. You and your precious mom.”
My eyes widened. “Us?”
He pinched my cheek again. “Yes, you girls. Laura and you. The only reason why the twins were staying with me was because you two lived with me.” His tone change to an angry one. “The Social Services bitch threatened me. Unless we were a stable family, the twins would be taken to a foster home. She said I was a drunkard and had no job. So I found a job and with Laura and you staying in the trailer, we could fake being a stable family. But the bitchy social worker who came the other day told me they’d learned Laura had run away. She threatened to take you guys to foster homes in two weeks.”
I didn’t say anything. I could only think that he was still a drunkard and was drunk right now. His breathe reeked of alcohol every time he spoke.
He laughed. “You’re a bitch just like your mother, having sex with that bunch of Boy Scouts. I saw how the tall guy striped you naked under the porch last night.” He winked and eye. “Nice little boobs, by the way. Just like I imagined them.”
The idea overwhelmed me. Another onlooker that night—I should have sold tickets. The other news were equally crushing. I wasn’t aware somebody planned to take me to a foster home. I blinked fast. The pain stung like a snake’s bite, running up my leg. “What has all that crap to do with me?”
He grabbed my chin with his hand, pinching my cheek so hard it hurt.
“It has all to do with you.” His saliva rained on my face as he talked. “It was because Laura fled that the Social Services bitch threatened to take the twins away from me. My twins, do you realize? My babies. Nobody can take them away from me. So you’re going to pay for what your mother did. I’d planned a full night of sex with you before I ran away with the twins the next morning. A fair price. Don’t you think?”
He was so close to my face I feared he’d kiss me. I squeezed my lips tight.
“And then you crashed the TV in my face. The damned Olsen woman called the police and told her damned little story. I explained you assaulted me, but they weren’t sure so they told me not to leave town while they looked for you. I was taken to the hospital and now I look like Frankenstein.”
A chill traveled my body and a sour taste seized my mouth. “And… and the twins?”
Yago released me and patted my cheek hard, almost a series of slaps. My hands felt completely numb and I feared I’d release the banister at any moment, collapsing to the floor. I retched.
“Baby, baby,” he cajoled. “Don’t make things worse puking because I’m fed up. The bitch took the twins away that night while I was still in the hospital. No time to run away with them. So now I’m fucked. I’m without my kids and possibly facing charges. If I’m doomed, you’re doomed.”
Panic seized me and my pulse raced. The need to puke skyrocketed and I retched again. And then again.
“So,” Yago seized my arm and shook me, “you pay! Nobody’s gonna find your body, Alexandra. The police will have to accept it’s true you assaulted me and ran away with my money. They’ll have to give me my kids back.”
Nobody’s gonna find your body, Alexandra.
I retched again. An endless retch that arched my body forward and made me feel like I was choking. I put my hands on my knees, praying I’d actually puke. However, instead of puking, another bolt of pain ran up my body as soon as my broken leg touched the floor. I collapsed, but Yago grabbed my arm, preventing my fall. It felt like Big Foot was reducing my arm to crumbs.
“You’re not gonna play the, I’ve-just-fainted trick, girl.”
I gulped. “You… you’re not gonna kill me.” My teeth clattered. I was scared to death. “Are you?”
He pulled out his gun and caressed my cheek with it, glaring at me. The gun felt hot, and it smelled like something burnt—the strong and unpleasant stench of gunpowder. Without a word, he released me. I leaned on the banister, holding to it with both hands as hard as I could, again only on one foot. I felt I couldn’t breathe and needed more air. The house was shrinking on me. Every second it felt smaller and smaller until it would crush me
within its walls. I looked up and around me, feeling the ceiling and the walls closing on me like somebody pushed them from behind. Soon, I’d have to duck. I wanted to get outside, not to run away from Yago, but because I needed more air and more space. I had to get out of this shrinking mad house.
Yago backed off until he stood a foot away from the large, beautiful window, not broken but intact. It glistered under the main-hall, gigantic chandelier’s light. He raised his gun, closed an eye, extended his arm and aimed the gun at me. I cringed.
I was so afraid, I almost wetted myself. I actually wanted to do it, but I didn’t. I held it. If he was gonna kill me, I’d die with dignity. I was a Zimmerman despite anything else, and this was my house. Nevertheless, I was terrified. My heart beat so fast I almost chocked—I felt the beating in my throat. I started to see tiny dark spots and sudden flashes of light, like someone was taking pictures behind me, but I didn’t collapse or cringe. I stood glaring at him. I stared right into his eyes and hated him so much he should be afraid of me.
Yago’s face turned ashen watching whichever movie, fireworks, stars, or universe my hate projected. I concentrated on how much I loathed him and on how much Laura and he had hurt me. I thought of all the pain I’d endured for so many years feeling inferior. I released all my feelings of not fitting in and hiding behind dark sunglasses denying myself. He pulled the gun down and licked his lips, breathing hard and not daring to break our eye contact. His nostrils flared and several thick sweat drops trickled down his forehead.
Amber Eyes Page 24
