by Jeff Altabef
She points to the date at the top of the page. “This article was written almost thirty years ago. I know your grandfather is in the photo, but he would never be involved in murder.”
“I don’t know what to believe.” I tell her about the hair and the hatchet and Sheriff Daniel’s suspicions. The picture isn’t a good one.
“Those can all be explained, and I don’t trust the Sheriff or the authorities one bit.” Katie glances at her watch and her lips turn downward. “I have to go.”
I check the clock next to the bed. “You have an hour before school starts. That’s plenty of time.”
“I know, but the angry nurse said I could only stay fifteen minutes. He wasn’t happy I came to visit in the first place.”
“What angry nurse?” I sit up straighter and my chest tightens.
“The one with the English accent and the gold tooth.”
Doctor Dan bursts into the room with quick purposeful strides, his lab coat flapping in his wake, kinetic energy engulfing him. He waves his arms as he speaks and looks a little like a ruffled penguin that’s trying to take off. “Good morning, Juliet. I’m happy you’re up. We have an appointment in my office. You’ll need to put on your street clothes.” He looks like an unmade bed dressed in the same clothes he wore yesterday, only now his shirt and pants are more wrinkled and his beard more unruly.
The urgency in his voice propels me into action. This must have something to do with Gold Tooth.
He glances at Katie. “I’m sorry young woman, but visiting time is over for this morning. You’ll have to go.” He points to the door with a stern expression pinching his face.
She frowns at him and flings her arms around me, which temporarily squishes the breath out of my lungs. “I’ll be back later,” she whispers before she spins and walks out of the room. I have the feeling I won’t be here when she returns.
I grab my bundle of clothes from the closet and hustle to the bathroom.
“You need to hurry, Juliet. You have some visitors we would like to avoid.” The playfulness from yesterday has vanished from Doctor Dan’s voice, which has hardened into steel.
I fumble with my jeans in the tiny bathroom but manage to slip them on straight. My heart pounds. I can’t go back to the van.
When I open the bathroom door, Doctor Dan is peering out of my room and down both sides of the hallway. His head swivels back and forth as if he’s watching a tennis match.
“Katie said she spoke with a nurse with a gold tooth. One of the guys who tried to kidnap me has a gold tooth. I’m guessing it’s not a coincidence.”
Doctor Dan glances at me. The corners of his eyes are webbed, and tight creases form at the end of his lips. “I’m afraid you are correct, Juliet. We have to go to my office on the second floor right away. They’ll be looking for you here.” He surveys me up and down. “You’ll need to put on some shoes first.”
Stupid! I had forgotten about my sneakers. Luckily, they’re in the closet.
“Why don’t we call the Sheriff?” I finish slipping on my sneakers and tie the laces.
“There’s no time. The hallway is clear. Walk right behind me. Don’t look directly at anyone. Our destination is the elevator at the end of the hallway to our left.”
He shuffles from the room at a brisk pace. I follow close behind and focus on the back of his flowing lab coat. I wonder whether Gold Tooth or Slicked Back Hair is about to pounce from one of the doorways. Neither of the two nurses on duty lifts their heads. When we reach the end of the hallway, he jabs the elevator call button three times and shifts nervously on his feet in front of the shiny stainless steel doors.
No one notices us. Once the elevator door opens, we squeeze on. He presses two, and I turn to face the doors and the hallway.
I gasp. The air freezes in my throat. Gold Tooth saunters through the doorway at the opposite end of the floor. His right hand is tucked inside his white nurse’s coat where I imagine he’s hiding a gun. The doors close, and the elevator drops.
I don’t think he saw me, but it takes forever until the elevator door opens on the second floor. When it does, the hospital has been transformed into an office building with a narrow hallway, white wooden doors on both sides, and yellow walls.
Doctor Dan leads me off the elevator, moving at a more measured, confident pace than he did when we raced from my room. The hallway is empty at this early hour, and he stops at the third door on the left side of the hall, removes a roll of keys from his lab coat, unlocks the office, and holds the door open for me.
His office is small and exceptionally neat for the wrinkled doctor. A simple oak desk sits at one end by two windows. A computer screen is perched toward the left side of the desk. The rest is smooth wood without papers or files of any kind. A black pine bookshelf blocks most of the other wall with an assortment of hard covered books stacked neatly on it. They’re all psychiatric textbooks that I can’t imagine anyone reading.
“Take a seat, Juliet.” Doctor Dan waves at one of two leather high-backed chairs in the corner of the office.
I have no intention of sitting. I grab him by his coat. “Tell me what’s going on. Why did my grandfather give you that note, and how did he know I was going to guess eight?”
He smiles. “You are going to have to ask him.”
“Is... he... coming here?” The words catch in the back of my throat. I release the lab coat. I’m not sure I want to see Sicheii before understanding the twisted arrows and what’s going on.
“Not exactly.” He glances at his wristwatch. “Wait here.” Without warning he leaves and shuts the door behind him. The lock twists and the deadbolt latches in place.
Click.
Really? I try to turn the doorknob but the door is locked and there’s no way for me to unlock it from the inside, which is really strange. What do I know about the doctor? Why did he lock me in the office? Was it for my protection or to keep me here?
I turn and survey the sparsely decorated room. Something odd starts nagging me, like a stick poking me in the side. What’s missing? I stroll toward the windows and turn in a tight circle surveying the room. There are no personal effects of any kind: no pictures of the doctor or his family, no mementos or stupid desk toys, no diplomas hang on the walls—no diplomas. My heart quickens. I’ve never been in a doctor’s office without diplomas.
I step behind the desk and open the drawers—nothing, no files or office supplies. When the light streams through the windows, I notice the outline of half a dozen rectangles on the walls where frames have recently been removed. A frost inches up my spine. This isn’t Doctor Dan’s office. This is an empty office waiting for a new doctor.
Who is Doctor Dan? Where did he come from?
My pulse accelerates into a rapid drumroll. Strange sounds fill my head, anxious sounds. I spin and examine the windows. They’re standard white vinyl windows with plain glass.
The noises grow louder. The walls start closing in on me. I’m trapped. I yank on the windowsill and it’s locked. I glance at the door, certain that Gold Tooth or Slicked Back Hair is about to burst into the room.
Panic starts to overwhelm me. My feet turn numb. All I see is the inside of the van and the metal ring. I tug and the ring won’t let go of the chain.
I shake my head to clear it. I need something sturdy, so I grab a stainless steel trashcan underneath the desk. It feels heavy. The voices grow louder. They almost scream at me. They can’t take me again. There’s an alley below the window that’s only ten feet down.
Screw it!
I heave the trashcan against the glass with all my strength and it shatters. Shards rain down onto the empty street below. I hear footsteps. Someone is in the hallway, just outside the door. Sweat stings my eyes. I can’t go back in that van.
The doorknob turns. I wiggle my way out of the window feet first and hold onto the sill, suspended in midair. The plastic edge of the windowsill digs into my fingers and my shoulders ache.
When the door swings open, Li
sa is standing there with Doctor Dan right behind her.
“Juliet!” she shouts.
I hold my breath and let go. A second later, I land lightly on my feet in the alley, and race toward the main street.
When I reach the corner, I notice the palm of my hand is bleeding. I reach for my phone to call Troy, but it’s not with me.
I peek over my shoulder. Lisa is sprinting after me.
Wild thoughts race through my mind.
Who can I trust?
Why would anyone want to kill me?
How do I find Troy?
I pump my legs and make a quick right in front of the hospital. I almost barrel into an old woman with a cane and wide brimmed straw hat, but swerve at the last second to avoid her. Breathing heavily, I start to gather up some real speed when a crack on the sidewalk trips me up. I lose my footing and stumble forward. About to face plant onto the concrete, I slam into a mailbox, which knocks the wind out of me. I stagger back a step and suck in air. Stars circle in front of my eyes. My injured shoulder screams at me.
Lisa has to be gaining ground on me, but I can’t get enough air to start running again. Panic creeps into my thoughts as does images of the inside of that van. I’ll never be able to escape from there again.
A white Toyota pulls up beside me.
“Get in, Juliet.” Ms. Arnold waves for me to hurry.
I glance over my shoulder. Lisa has reached the main street with Doctor Dan red faced and huffing behind her. There’s no sign of Slicked Back Hair or Gold Tooth or the white van. But how far behind can they be?
I yank open the back passenger door, jump in, and slam it shut. Ms. Arnold stomps on the gas and the tires screech. Lisa stops running and angrily places her hands on her hips. Bent at the waist, Doctor Dan gasps for air. I exhale deeply in one long gust. They won’t capture me, at least not yet.
“What’s going on, Juliet?” Ms. Arnold’s eyes, dark and small, flicker to the rearview mirror.
“I needed to leave the hospital in a hurry.”
“Why?” She takes a hard right and the tires protest again, but she keeps the car from skidding into oncoming traffic. “Does this have anything to do with your kidnapping?”
“I thought the school was keeping that quiet.” I assumed everyone at Bartens believed I got hurt as part of a failed robbery attempt.
She takes a quick left and slows the car. “Some of us know better than the school’s story.” She shoots me a meaningful look. “Does your mom know you left the hospital?”
“No... no one knows.”
“Okay, Juliet. Let’s go to my place so we can check out your hand. That cut looks nasty.” She tosses me a hand towel with little green tennis balls embroidered on it. “Use the towel to put pressure on it.”
A shard of glass has sliced into my palm, leaving me with a two-inch gash. The glass is gone, and the wound is already clotting, but I push the towel against the blood anyway. “What were you doing at the hospital?”
“I was on my way to visit you before school starts.” She smiles with only the corners of her mouth. “Good thing I saw you.”
A few minutes later, she parks in front of a small brick apartment building on the outskirts of Old Town in a neighborhood locals call Yuppyville. She bounces out of the car and holds the door open for me, a concerned look in her eyes. “How’s that cut?” She peeks at the towel.
“The bleeding’s stopped. It’s no big deal. It doesn’t hurt.”
“Great, let’s go.” She shuts the door behind me, checks both sides of the street, and opens the glass door to a high-class apartment building.
My sneakers squeak against marble tile, and my fingers brush against mahogany walls. Ms. Arnold hustles us toward the elevator with one arm around my shoulders, presses the call button and waits impatiently for the elevator to arrive. When the door opens, she pushes me in and jabs the button for the top floor.
The shiny steel doors act like a mirror. She’s dressed casually in a t-shirt, shorts, and sneakers. She bounces nervously on her toes, her eyes never meeting mine. When the bell rings, the door opens and she unlocks a cherry wood door with a shiny brass placard that says “PH-1” on it toward the top. When I step inside, she bolts the door behind us.
“There’s a bathroom on the right.” She takes brisk steps and points to a white door. “Clean the cut and I’ll find a bandage.”
The cold water feels good against my hand. My breathing steadies. Why would Doctor Dan and Lisa work with Gold Tooth and Slicked Back Hair? What do they want with me? Nothing makes sense. Sicheii’s led me down a rabbit hole where I can’t find my footing. I’m going to strangle him when I see him next!
Ms. Arnold returns a moment later with a large Band-Aid and some antibacterial cream. She clicks her tongue as she bandages the wound. “Do you know where your grandfather is? Everyone seems to want to talk to him.”
I shake my head as she leads me into the living room. The blinds are drawn even though light streamed through them just a minute ago.
“I’ll make you some tea and then you’ll tell me everything.” She disappears into the kitchen.
I pace the living room in small steps. Questions pop into my mind quickly like I’m playing Whack a Mole. The only problem is I don’t have any answers to bash the mole in the head, so questions keep jumping up all over the place and crowding around me. In the end, all my thoughts return to Sicheii.
What has he gotten us into?
Almost by osmosis, I start to notice the apartment around me. The place is gorgeous. The duplex has floor to ceiling windows, hardwood floors, a gourmet kitchen, and a giant sized living room. It looks like a model apartment from one of the design magazines my mom reads. How can Ms. Arnold pay for an apartment like this at what Bartens pays her? The teachers all complain about the awful pay. Never directly to the students, but you would have to be deaf and clueless not to overhear the conversations.
She appears at my side, holding a cup with steam swirling above it. She smiles as she hands it to me. “Drink it. The tea will make you feel better.”
I take the cup and sip. “Thanks. This is a really cool apartment.”
Ms. Arnold glances around the place as if she’s looking at it for the first time. “I’m just house sitting for a friend. Take another sip.”
Feeling like a student in her class, I comply. The tea tastes sweet, as if she added a tablespoon of honey, but it doesn’t taste like honey exactly. It leaves a bitter aftertaste on my tongue.
“Come sit on the couch.” She pats a black leather sofa and we sit close together. I get the feeling that something is off. I can’t put my finger on it. A sensation creeps along my body that starts at my toes until my head starts to swim.
I notice her t-shirt and shorts, and they strike me as odd. “You’re not dressed to teach.”
“I was taking the day off.”
“I thought you were going to teach after you visited me.” I don’t like the expression on her face. Her eyes look calculating and detached. Noise starts to flood my head. “Maybe I should call my mom.” My tongue feels thick and fat and my words come out slow and slurred.
She takes the cup from my hand. “That’s not a good idea, Juliet.” Her voice starts to twist towards me as if floating through a tornado. She leans in close to my face, her lips only inches from my ear. “Do you know what you are?”
I lean back. “What’re you talking about? I’m not anyone special.” My head spins groggily. Her face turns fuzzy and then refocuses.
“You really don’t know, do you?” She chuckles. The sound grates against my nerves. Her face turns fuzzy again, and this time, it doesn’t clear. “They haven’t told you.” She strokes my cheek with her fingers.
I look at the cup and three stare back at me. I try to yell but can only sputter, “What... have... done,” and that takes an eternity. My body folds back into the couch, my breathing labored. I’m a fool for trusting the wrong person.
She sits up straighter. “I wasn’t
at the hospital to visit you. I was watching for your grandfather. They think he is the one we need. They believe he holds the key the Seeker is after. I don’t think they’re right.”
I open my mouth, but the drugs in the tea have stolen my voice and my tongue flops out, leaving me voiceless.
Her face twists and turns as if her features are reflected in one of those oddly shaped mirrors they use at carnivals. “You are the key,” she says and leans close to me. Her fingers lift my chin. “You are the Alpha.” Her hot breath brushes against my cheek. I want to pull back, but I’ve lost all control over my body.
My mind staggers in drunken circles. What’s she talking about? I’m just a normal teenager. All I’ve ever wanted to be was normal, but my eyelids start to close on their own, and it takes all my will to keep them open.
“I’ve been observing you. You’re special. You moved so fast you were a blur when you attacked Tiffany the other day. No one moves that fast, and the ring from the van was bent. It would take two hulking guys to bend that ring.
“They think the Alpha has to be a boy. Ha! You’re the one we need. You contain the secret. The Seeker will be so pleased. He will reward me generously. This apartment will only be the beginning. I’ll be wealthy beyond your imagination. You must be the Alpha.”
I smell her perfume—roses with a slight hint of tobacco. The smell makes me ill. Bile fills my throat. I try so hard to stay awake, but my eyes close and won’t open. Just when all turns gray, I hear splintered wood. Ms. Arnold screams and jumps off the couch. I try to twist, to see what’s going on, but my body is too heavy and my eyes stay closed.
Strong arms lift me. Familiar arms, and I smell incense.
Gray turns black.
I can see, yet I’m not awake. I’m dreaming, but it feels more real, more solid than my usual dreams, almost like I am reliving a vivid memory. Two suns light a cloudless sky with a bright red hue. Beams of light beat down hot on my face.
