by Nicole Rae
It must have caught the beautiful woman's attention because she turned her emerald eyes to Emily, as well. How odd that they both have the exact same color of eyes, Emily thought. Were they siblings? The porcelain Goddess's annoyance morphed into fury. Her eyes blazed, narrowing at Emily. Emily’s head darted back and forth, from the man to the furious woman. What was their problem? Did they think because they were high society everyone should bow down to them? As far as Emily was concerned, that was crap. If they were such high society, why couldn’t they have sprung for an expensive rental car? Clearly, they were posers.
The bus stopped breaking into their seemingly impenetrable stare down. Emily's body lunged forward causing her to clutch the seat in front of her, to prevent her from sprawling into the aisle. The couple’s heads nodded in the direction of the young mom, the teenage boy and then hesitantly at the mechanic. At first they recoiled in their seats, as though they wanted to hide. Then like cattle, they rose to their feet and followed the couple down the steep steps to the folding doors. When the couple passed they gave the driver a tight smile and he nervously nodded back.
Before the couple descended down the steps, the man flashed a murderous look at Emily. It lasted a few seconds, but time seemed to stand still andEmily couldn’t tear her eyes away. The man’s expression softened, his eyebrows rose slightly and then he was gone. Emily stood to get a better look out of the windows. She watched to see where the group was headed and saw they were all going to the same place.
They were in the outskirts of town now, in the heart of the under classed, where the houses were falling apart. Most of the yards were knee high with garbage piled outside. A few had old, dilapidated cars propped up on jacks in the center of their yards, as if displaying a classic.
At the center of the dead end, there was a brand new house that had just been built. Emily would have remembered something like that in this neighborhood. It was a large, two story house with dark gray, vinyl siding. The yard was elaborately landscaped, the large picture windows had their fancy, thick curtains drawn. What was a house like that doing on a street like this? It was gorgeous and eerie at the same time, which didn’t fit. It took Emily a few moments to recognize the home. She remembered attending a birthday party there, when she was a kid. It wasn’t as nice back then,that’s for sure. The strange couple must have done a serious overhaul of the place.
The fear stricken passengers followed the couple up the front walkway. Then onto a large porch that stretched across the entire front of the house. Without pause, they filed after the leaders like ducklings. Well, ducklings that looked like they were about to be punished for stepping out of line.
Emily was frozen with complete and utter bewilderment. She couldn’t figure out why on earth those people went with the couple, even though they seemed absolutely terrified of them. It didn’t make any sense.
Before the last person was lost inside the darkness of the home, the bus engine growled and moved again. She craned her neck behind her, trying to see, but the doors to the house were closed. The people left on the bus looked afraid, but seemed more relaxed, if a bitshaken. It didn’t seem to matter that the weirdness was over.
The make out duo was still in the back and hadn’t resumed their activity of sucking face. Emily carefully turned her body towards them, not wanting to come off overly anxious, even though she was totally chomping at the bit. She wanted everyone to act like themselves to banish the uneasy feeling in her gut.
“What just happened?” Emily tried to speak low , but that was next to impossible over the roar of the engine.
The teenage couple practically jumped out of their seats. They looked at each other and back at Emily, curiously.
The girl cocked her head to the side, she looked at Emily as if considering something. “Don’t you know?”
“No,” Emily retorted,perplexed. “I don’t mean to pry… I’m justconfused.” She really was, but more than that, she was concerned. Even though what just happened was a mystery, everything about it was wrong, she was sure of that.
The girl shot her boyfriend a questioning look. He shook his head furiously. With finality, she insisted, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” They turned, looking out the side window away from Emily. Their rigid posture made it clear that they weren’t going to budge on the subject. It was also equally clear they did know what was going on, acting brain washed.
She was going to make a second attempt, when an alarmed voice sounded in her head. Leave…it…alone! Emily shuddered. The voice said the words slowly with barely suppressed anger. Confused, she returned to a frontward position. Like before, the voice wasn’t her own. It was almost like her subconscious, only the voice was male. Weirder still, she seemed to recognize it, though she had no memory of ever hearing it. It was filled with warning.
A picture of deep blue eyes, which reminded her of the sky on a cloudless day, flashed in her mind. Emily knew those eyes but she couldn’t place them. Oh great, apparently on top of the weird bus episode, the development of schizophrenia and delusions could be added to the list. Part of her wanted to yell back at the voice. It would have been easy to freak out, if she hadn’t been occupied, trying to remember whose voice it was. Maybe it belonged to the same person who owned the gorgeous eyes?
What a horrible day this was turning out to be. All she wanted was go to work, take a bus ride to Wal-Mart and pick up shampoo and razors. This day had been drastically wrong from the start, which was becoming more of a pattern lately. She wished she could take a vacation to a heavenly place that was warm, beautiful and remote. She could really use some R and R. Unfortunately though, that would never happen. For one, she didn’t have enough money and even though he wouldn't admit it, her dad needed her.
The familiar blue, Wal-Mart sign came into view and Emily breathed a sigh of relief. She was thankful when none of the remaining passengers got off the bus with her. The trek across the parking lot would give her time to clear her head; this was too freaky for Emily. Absently, she longed for days of normalcy. Well, at least what she classified as normal.
When Emily crossed through the automatic doors, the greeter cheerfully bombarded her. She was in absolutely no mood for pleasantries. This was a get in and get out mission. It would be getting dark soon; she only had so long before the bus came back.
CHAPTER 6 The sight of twilight approaching was in full view, when she made her way out of the store with two bags. Crap, she had taken too long and her cell had died. She had gotten caught up browsing through the bargain book bin. They were having a two for one sale, which never seemed to happen, ever. I am such a trader to George, she thought with a sarcastic smirk. She had purchased a whole bag of books and was going to Hell for sure. At least she’d have something to read during her stay in purgatory. It really wasn’t her fault that she was a book addict. Besides, George doesn’t even like her. So why should she be loyal to his greediness? Also, what good old George didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him… or her.
After asking a nearby man what time it was, she was in a mild state of panic. It was seven; she needed to hurry, the last bus of the day would be leaving in like two minutes. Emily quickly put both shopping bags into her backpack and started off at a dead run, across the parking lot. She was just behind the shelter for the bus stop, when she heard the familiar snarl of an engine.
“No!” Emily called. “Wait!” As she smacked the doors to the bus, the driver flipped the gear shift and pulled away from the curb. She was left feeling angry and abandoned. Damn it! Why did they have to be so strict? Technically, she had been there before the doors were closed. Since her passage would increase their daily profit, they should be more compassionate for crap’s sake. With a disgruntled sigh, Emily moved to the crosswalk. There was no point in delaying the inevitable; her phone was dead, there was no one to call and that meant she wouldn't have a ride.
As Emily traveled the blocks in record time, an odd sense of Déjà vu enveloped. Each time she passed a dark alle
y, her heart thudded rapidly in her chest. What did this fear stem from? Was it just her or did the darkness seem clearer than usual?
In her mind's eye, she caught a glimpse of herself lying stomach down on the gravel. At first, she thought she was remembering a fall, whichwasn’t that surprising, thanks to her unfortunate clumsiness. Emily froze at the entrance to the next alley, when her foot slid slightly across the rocks, carrying the picture ofsomeone’s boot with it. What was it about these alleys? She must have blocked out things from that night; the details were cloudy, but she desperately tried to break through the memories.
Suddenly, the memories sharpened, like an intense brightness, lasting a second. Emily squinted against the light, as if someone snapped a flash bulb at point blank range. However, there was only her newly formed recollection of her defiance against death in an alley, similar to the one she now stood in. The memories were coming in fast bursts of vivid clarity, leaving her breathless.
She could recall the crushing weight of her attacker, lying on top of her and his overwhelming scent. Then gorgeous guy that rescued her, hiding behind the dumpster and the bad guy vanishing. She remembered thinking the man that had saved her must be a guardian angel, but then he vanished too.
Her mind quickly processed the events, following with the look in her father’s eyes, when he told her to stay away from that thing. OH MY GOD! She screamed the words in her head or hoped she had, considering that she couldn't see or hear anything at the moment. She probablywouldn’t have noticed either way. The memories were holding her prisoner, as they replayed over and over again. How could she have repressed something this horrible?
Emily vaguely remembered hearing about an article, which explained how people, who experienced a traumatic event would repress it afterward. At the time, she thought it was kind of screwy, because all of her traumas had been stored in her memory bank. They were always ready to be withdrawn in the event that self torture was needed.
Overwhelmed by an outpouring of emotion, Emily fell to her knees, tears falling down like rain. The alligator sized tears had begun to stain her light, blue shirt in big wet blotches. Without thinking, she brought her hand up to feel her neck, where she had been bitten. It didn’t feel like anything had been there; no trace of a puncture wound or anything. Her neck was smooth and blemish free.
Realizing where she had collapsed in total breakdown mode, she scrambled to her feet. The last thing she wanted to do was to hang out in another alley. All she wanted was to go home. Suddenly, the darkness seemed to be pulsing. Everywhere she looked shadows lurked. The night pressed down on her, a heavy weight on her chest, making it hard to breathe. She had to get out of there.
Emily broke into a run, completely forgetting to pay attention to her surroundings. She was moving too fast to worry about where she was going. The air hit her chest, making the wetness from her tears frost against her skin. Her eyes felt swollen from cryingand she didn’t care. The wind whipped her hair behind her, feeling like it was being pulled. As she ran, the remaining moisture on her cheeks mingled with the wind and stung like needles. Her heart was violently hammering inside her. She couldn’t stop. Emily had a long way to go and couldn’t get passed the fear that now gripped her whole body.
I’m not going to let anything hurt you, the voice in her head assured her. Through her steady pace, she could recall this voice from the bus and back at Blake’s. With all the memories intact now, she connected the most recent ones with the one from that terrifying night. Instead of feeling crazy this time, Emily allowed herself to be comforted, no matter how irrational that comfort might be. Somehow, it made her feel less alone.
Emily was running too fast that she didn’t see the lip in the sidewalk and her body went down, like a ton of bricks. Surprisingly, she reacted quickly, catching herself with her outreached hands. She grunted in pain, as she hit the ground with a skidding thump. Agony followed; a sharp burning sensation ripped at her palms and knees, they were on fire. For a second, she stilled, trying to collect herself. She was grateful that cars were scarce, since she didn't intend to become the latest speed bump.
Emily willed her breathing to relax, knowing that it wouldn’t do her any good to hyperventilate. Getting to the safety of home was still the top priority and the urgency of that need could not be ignored. Her mind worked frantically, as she began pulling herself up from the ground.
A strong hand gripped her arm and hauled her to her feet. Startled, Emily automatically jumped back, but the grip stayed firm. She could have sworn she had been the only one on the darkened street and she hadn't heard footsteps approach. One minute she was staring at the sidewalk and the next at clusters of stars in the night sky. Ordinarily, the sight would have comforted her, but the torrent of memories had left her in a fog.
An unfamiliar voice spoke, with an accent she didn't recognize,“Don’t be frightened child,” He spoke slow and careful in an eerie sort of way.
The hairs on the back of her neck rose and goose bumps formed on her forearms. That awful nagging stomach clenching was taking over her midsection again. Instinctively, her mind screamed for her to move, only the call went unanswered. It was as though her feet were cemented to where she stood. She shook her head against the unwillingness to move to no avail. The next course of action was putting on a brave face. The problem with that was thathe probably wouldn’t buy it.
Emily swallowed. “Um , thanks.” She hurried, slinging her fallen backpack over her shoulder. “Have a good night.” She said, rushing to move pass him.
His hand found purchase on her arm again, clenching a bit tighter than before. “No need to hurry. I’d be happy to offer a lovely girl, such as yourself, a ride to anywhere your heart desired.”
What a creepy guy; his friendly voice was a mocking contrast, compared to the clutch, cutting off her circulation. A hand shaped bruise would surely follow. “Oh,that’s okay. I like the walk.” Emily shrugged off his touch and started towards the next street light. She tried to act oblivious to Mr. Creepy’s terrifying charm, even though her normal disposition was wearing thin.
She sprinted to the corner in a flash, had to stop and wait for the cars to pass. The bright sight of their headlights was soothing, because it meant she was in plain sight of several witnesses. Hopefully, they would come to her aid if the situation became threatening. His words carried an ominous undertone and made her skin crawl. She was just about to flag someone down, dramatically flailing her arms and screaming, when she was stopped short.
The guy caught up to her and forcefully spun her around to face him. “You’re being very rude. I just want to get to know you. I’m new in town that’s all.” He said, with mock pain coloring his expression.
Emily stood silently like a helpless idiot. Her courage had left her without even the strength to bat an eyelash. Disappointed in herself, she knew she would drop into the fetal position if he hadn't been holding her up. She imagined herself crying and rocking back and forth, like those stupid girls in the movies. She had been told what to do if attacked. Apparently, she should have paid more attention to how to carry out a counterassault and remain brave.
He stared down, causing her to suck in her breath, as she recognized his green eyes. Well, maybe not his exactly, the color was disturbingly familiar to the couple on the bus. However, it was clear that he wasn't the man from the bus. The eyes and chalky pallor of skin was similar between them, but otherwise they were different. The main difference was the red border around this man’s emerald irises. Emily opened her mouth to scream, but her throat was dry from running. She tried once more with the same result.
In her short life, she had never seen eyes like those. People with hints of two colors or flecks of gold, yes. Green outlined in bright ass red, never. There was something seriously wrong with this guy; itjust wasn’t normal.
Another memory tried to break into the forefront of her mind. It wasn’t clear as though there was something she had forgotten. It was right there, at the edge of her c
onsciousness, teasing her. It had something to do with the color red. As fast as the memory presented itself, the picture floated away, completely lost to her.
Sensing her alarm, he attempted to soften his demeanor. “Don’t be afraid, child. I just want to be friends. My name is Luke.” His words were friendly, but they came out husky and low. He ended with an attempt at a smile, resulting in a grimace that displayed sharp teeth. The incisors made him look like a predator. He was unbelievably beautiful, coupled with a heavy dose of sickeningly intimidating. There wasn’t anything reassuring about him. Nothing about the display did much for the friend inquiry, he had presented.
Luke smelled kind of weird too. It wasn’t bad,but it wasn’t good either. It whirled around Emily, intoxicating her like the night in the alley. On one hand, she wanted to run and on the other, she wanted to be closer to him. The latter option was crazy and still shecouldn’t help the pull towards him.
The longer she stared, the stronger the pain in her stomach pulsed. It was the only thread to her true feelings. Emily started to struggle free, hoping to find help from a passing car. As if by magic, there wasn’t a single car driving by. Seriously, a minute before there was a steady stream of cars and now, nothing. There weren’t even ones coming in the distance. Suddenly, it was like town of the dreaded sundown or something. Talk about rotten, freaking luck! She struggled harder, needing to get out of there.
Emily brought her arm back, swinging her bag of books towards him with everything she had. Surprised, Luke released her other arm and laughed humorlessly. He didn’t even budge. In fact, it seemed to have absolutely no effect on him what so ever. It was a good blow too. She knew a blow like that would have sent her sprawling. It would have even knocked Sam back a few steps. What was this guy made out of? Stone?
“G o ahead, try and run. No matter how fast you go.I’ll match that stride and then some.” The smile never left his face and his glowing eyes never left hers.
