Moving wasn’t an option for me as I stood there paralyzed by fear. I didn’t know what we were going to do. Barry looked back at me and must have seen the panic on my face because he mouthed, “It’ll be okay.”
Grabbing a hold of me, he backed us up against the wall. He must have been assertive enough because my body responded to his authority without hesitation. Seemingly convinced I was secure, he stood in a protective stance, guarding me. I wasn’t sure what he was planning on doing if Mr. Barton came through the door because he didn’t have any weapons on him aside from his fists. The only thing that room had to offer was the table lamp. Regardless, Barry was ready to pounce.
As Mr. Barton took off walking down the hallway, I tried slowing my rapid breathing. His footsteps sounded closer until they came to a stop, silencing the entire house. Barry’s arm tightened against my chest, pressing me behind him. Standing there seemed like a lifetime when I finally heard his footsteps start again. That offered no comfort since the shuffling sound of his feet was getting louder. It didn’t take a genius to figure out he was in his bedroom. A creaking sounded as the closet doors opened, vibrating through the walls, which placed him just a few feet away from us. I held my breath, trying to be as quiet as possible. It felt like my chest was going to explode, my heart was racing. I feared any minute he would decide to burst through the hidden door.
Barry stood there like a soldier, protecting me with his arm still pressed against me. I would have thought he’d be tired, holding that position for so long, but he stood there solidly. Shifting my eyes over toward the lamp, I was definitely going to grab a hold of it as soon as Mr. Barton came in here. Barry would, no doubt, lunge for him giving me ample enough time to grab it.
Being able to tell the two apart may be a problem since darkness had definitely settled in. The light from the outside streetlamps shone through the window, but didn’t offer much help. It danced around the room, emitting shadows and further heightening our awareness of the danger we were in.
The sound of the closet door closing made me relax a bit, and I slowly let out the air I was holding as his footsteps started to rescind. But then silence prevailed. My breath hitched as the noise shifted toward escalating footsteps. He was heading back toward the closet. Barry positioned himself a little more in front of me as I noticed his hands balled up into fists. This is it, I thought. Any second, he’d come in here and find us. Eyeing the lamp, I mentally pictured myself grabbing a hold of it and smashing it over his head.
As the footsteps sounded a few feet away, I swallowed hard. He stopped, pausing for a minute. I wondered what he could be doing. Did he realize we’re in here and he’s toying with us? The closet door opened again, rippling fear through my entire body. I took a deep breath and held it. Holding as still as I could, I mentally prepared myself to lunge for the lamp. He went to the secret door and opened it slightly. Then for some reason, he slammed it shut trapping us in here for however long. As we heard his footsteps leading out of the bedroom, I let out my breath in relief. Shifting slightly, for my body started to cramp from being still too long, I felt somewhat relieved.
Barry moved his arm down, away from me. “We’ll have to escape through the window,” he whispered.
Turning toward the window, I didn’t think that was a doable option. But since we certainly couldn’t leave the way we came, our choices were pretty limited. Straining to hear where Mr. Barton was headed to, it sounded as if the bathroom door opened.
As the slamming of the door vibrated through the air, Barry whispered, “Now.”
Surprisingly my body responded by taking off toward the window, without saying a single word. Barry rushed over there carefully moving the curtains away. He quickly unlatched the lock and tried pulling up on the window. Of course it barely budged. As feared, it was sealed shut. Those older–style windows, that had been painted multiple times, never wanted to comply. Immediately, he pulled out a pocket knife and began cutting through the layered paint. With another hard push, it finally raised. Relief washed over me as I let out a breath. He didn’t mess around with the screen, immediately kicking it out of our way.
Climbing out, I eyed the ground, which caused me to hesitate before jumping. It really wasn’t that far down, but it made me nervous nonetheless. Sucking in a huge breath, I jumped off the ledge, landing on the ground with a big thud. Pain jolted through the right side of my body, but I was elated to be free from that room. Barry jumped next, a little more gracefully than me.
As he caught up to me, I started off toward the direction of my house, but staggered backward when Barry grabbed a hold of my arm. Flipping me around, he pushed me toward the direction of the woods. We ran until we got to the edge and Barry yelled, “Wait.”
Stopping, I turned toward him and said, “We need to go farther.”
“I have to go back and get that tool. I need to return it to school tomorrow, and it’s still on the step.”
With a glance at Mr. Barton’s house, my heart sank at the sight of it lying there on the bottom step. I had forgotten all about it and knew we couldn’t just leave it. My eyes flashed to the backdoor and a slight relief spread through me. Thank goodness, we had enough common sense to shut it.
A whole new batch of worry spread throughout my body as Barry said, “Stay hidden while I go get it.”
Before I could protest, Barry took off, sneaking back up to the Barton house. He stayed low to the ground as I stared wide–eyed at the kitchen windows. Barry snaked his way up there and just as he started to grab the tool, the kitchen lights flicked on. Barry snatched it up, dropped to the ground, and scurried toward the side of the house.
My breath caught, bringing my arm up to my chest. Placing my hand over my core, I thought my poor heart would never be the same. Quickly ducking behind a large white oak, I stood there, panting for a second. I sneaked my head around the tree trunk to get a glimpse of what was happening. Barry was still lying low against the ground, but right when I gazed back toward the window, Mr. Barton’s face popped in it. Sucking in a breath, I ducked behind the tree, praying to God he didn’t notice me.
It seemed to take forever, but the light finally clicked off, allowing Barry to hurry his way back over to me. Without missing a beat, we took off running through the woods, not slowing down for anything. The briars were snagging at my clothes and skin, and I kept tripping over roots, but I didn’t care. We just kept running.
Once out of sight from the backdrop of the houses, we finally came to a halt. Panting, I was trying to catch my breath as I whispered, “Oh my God, Barry. What was he doing home this soon? He almost caught us.”
“I know,” he said, equally out of breath. “I had us come in here because I was afraid he’d see us cut across the lawn and didn’t want him knowing it was us. He’ll know someone’s been in there, though, since the back door is still unlocked, not to mention what I did to the screen. He’s too neurotic not to notice.”
“Yeah…You’re right. What should we do?”
“Nothing…He can’t prove it’s us, and I don’t think he’ll want the police involved anyway.” With one last scan of the area, he placed his hand upon my back as he said, “Let’s get you home.”
With the darkness of the night upon us, it was difficult walking through the woods. A scant amount of moonlight filtered in through the tree branches, dancing along the ground, but everything seemed black regardless. We had a flashlight with us, which would have made it much easier, but we were afraid of being seen if we turned it on.
He held onto my hand as we slowly maneuvered ourselves through the woods. I couldn’t believe we ran that deep. Not exactly sure which way was out, I let him lead the way. The howling of nearby coyotes startled my already frayed nerves causing me to inch closer toward him. As the gap between us closed, his arm wrapped protectively around me. We edged our way through the brush, but being joined together made it more difficult. I didn’t care because I felt safer with his arms around me. Finally with his Grandmother�
��s house in sight, we walked out of the woods toward her back porch. We sat there for a second, letting our nerves calm down.
“We definitely need to see that detective tomorrow, in case Mr. Barton is planning on leaving. I mean, he has false identification for some reason.” I spoke, breaking through the silence. I think we were both too frazzled to speak at first and were sitting there waiting for something. I just wasn’t sure what that something was.
“I was thinking the same thing. But don’t you think we should have Nicole call him tonight?”
I hesitated before answering. Much to my disappointment, we didn’t prove that Mr. Barton was connected with Johnny’s disappearance. Finding false identification didn’t make him a killer, no matter how odd it seemed. But there wasn’t any doubt in my mind he was involved, I’d recognize those eyes anywhere.
I knew if we told the detective about my presumption, he couldn’t do anything about it without some type of proof. We needed to get into his basement, but I was afraid if we tried again tomorrow night, it might be too late. Besides, he’d be more alert now once he realized somebody had been in his house.
“Heather?” Barry prodded.
“Um, Can we wait until tomorrow?” I pleaded.
His eyebrows drew together, no doubt questioning my sanity. “Yeah, I guess so, but I think it’d be better to call now.”
I bit my lower lip, contemplating what to do. Once the call was made, there’d be no going back. My secret would be revealed, but how was that fair to Johnny? It wasn’t, and I was being selfish. “You’re right. We should have Nicole make the call, tonight.”
“Are you sure?” he asked, reaching for his cell phone. With a nod, I sucked in my breath as he dialed her number.
I sat beside Barry as he started to explain to Nicole. An audible gasp sounded through the phone when he revealed where Johnny was buried. I closed my eyes, wishing I could stop her pain, but nothing was going to erase ten years of grief.
Barry pressed end and faced me. “She’s calling her uncle now,” he explained.
After what seemed like forever, she called back, confirming a meeting with the detective. She set it up after school tomorrow since he wouldn’t be back in town until that afternoon. With assurances to her uncle that she wasn’t in immediate danger, he agreed, but that meant we’d have to wait the entire school day. It was going to be a very long day.
“You think it’s safe to go back home yet?” I asked hopefully. There was homework looming over my head, but I didn’t think I would be able to concentrate. I was so exhausted.
“Yeah, I need to be getting home anyway.” Barry sighed. “Let’s go say good–bye to Grandma, and then I’ll walk you over to your house. We’ll go through the front door. I think if we act normal, he won’t be as suspicious.” With a shrug, he added, “I’m afraid if we act like we’re sneaking back, our cover will definitely be blown.”
“Good idea.”
Trying to compose my face to reflect one of certainty, we went inside and told his grandma good–bye. She was such a nice lady and didn’t even question where we had been. I wasn’t sure if she could sense our apprehension, but she certainly didn’t seem to suspect anything.
After talking briefly to her, Barry walked me over to my front door as promised. I noticed the curtain moving on Mr. Barton’s window and what little confidence I had suddenly drained from my body as my hands started to shake.
“Barry, he’s watching us through his window,” I whispered under my breath.
Peering directly at me, he said, “I know. Calm down, he can presume. There’s no proof and like I said, I’m sure he doesn’t want the police coming over.” Leaning closer to me as he was talking, he reached down and placed his lips on mine.
Forgetting about everything else, I simply enjoyed the moment. His lips felt so warm and tender against mine that all I wanted to do was stay there and kiss him all night. As the kiss became deeper, my hands found their way to his head. His hair was soft as I ran my fingers through it, which elicited a small moan from him. Pulling me closer, feelings ignited deep inside as my body seemed to crave more. I gasped, which caused the kiss to become aggressive. His tongue slid across my teeth, causing me to open my mouth to invite him in. Our tongues danced with each other as his hands wandered all over my body. They caressed my neck, trailing a path down my back where they eventually landed on my hips. Everywhere his hands touched left a tingling sensation, and my body seemed to be greedy, wanting more.
Panting, I had to break away. Staring at each other for a few seconds, neither one of us said a word as we both tried to catch our breath. When my breathing finally began to even out, I reluctantly whispered, “I need to get inside.”
Lowering his head onto mine, he sighed. “Fine…I’ll see you tomorrow at school then.” He kissed me on top of my forehead, running his fingers along the side of my face. With the smile I love, he leaned over and kissed me quickly one last time before taking off. Once I got inside, I knew I had a long night ahead of me, followed by an even longer day.
~12~
Signs
Completely exhausted before crashing, I figured my sleep would be dreamless. At least that’s what I’d hoped, but it ended up being wishful thinking. Johnny invaded my mind yet again. But that dream had a different sentiment. When he faced me, there weren’t any streaming tears. Instead, the corners of his mouth turned upward as if trying to smile before whispering, “So close.”
With a catch of my breath, I woke up abruptly. I glanced at the alarm clock and wanted to scream as the red lights flashed four–fifteen. Three hours and fifteen minutes wasn’t enough time to get me through the day, but it was useless to try going back to sleep
Of course being sleep–deprived didn’t help any the next day at school. By fourth hour, as I struggled with consciousness, I realized I should have stayed home. After finishing some of the homework assignments, I dozed off around one in the morning. It was no wonder I was tired today.
In class, as I sat fighting to stay awake, I wished I had at least tried to sleep. It was pointless being here since I wasn’t even listening to Mr. Wilson. His flat, monotone voice did little to hold my attention as my mind kept reverting to last night’s dream…
After the shock abated, my brain registered the fact I wasn’t frightened anymore. Johnny’s hopeful expression, when he mentioned being close, was more astonishing than scary. He was encouraging us to continue. That was how I interpreted it, anyway.
While trying to shield a yawn, my eyes closed for a second as I pondered what Johnny said. I knew we were close to finding his body, that was a given, but did he mean something else—like figuring out his murderer?
I tried not to get aggravated, but it was hard. He could give better clues to work with, rather than these cryptic signs. Understanding why he only speaks a couple of words at a time, instead of complete sentences, would also be nice. Trying to stifle another yawn, my eyes grew heavier as I figured that question had no answer…
“Miss Reiner, would you like to repeat the last sentence I spoke?”
My chair jarred underneath me as Nicole kicked the legs from behind. The vibrations shook me out of my slumber as my eyes opened to the scrutinizing stare of my teacher, Mr. Wilson, hovering over me. Quickly realizing I had dozed off in class, I heard people laughing as I straightened up in my seat. Although slightly embarrassed, I also felt a sense of relief since I didn’t have a glob of spit hanging from my mouth.
“Um…Sorry, sir, I didn’t get much sleep last night,” I replied, hearing more jeers around the classroom.
Mr. Wilson’s eyes swept across the room, silencing everyone with his penetrating glare. Turning back toward me, he simply stated, “Make sure it doesn’t happen again, or you’ll be spending your time in detention with plenty of time to mull it over.”
“Yes, sir.”
As he turned around to walk back to the front, I shot Nicole a look of appreciation. She nodded back at me, but wore a concerned
expression upon her face. Turning my attention back toward the front of the room, I was thankful for her warning. If it hadn’t been for her, I probably would have slept through his scorning and ended up in detention. That certainly would have delayed us going to the police station, and I didn’t need any more delays.
What I needed was to get the case solved so I can get some sleep.
After the bell rang, Nicole rushed up to me, asking if I felt okay. As we took off toward the cafeteria, I started to explain how we broke into Mr. Barton’s house yesterday, but stopped. I wondered if Barry would want me telling. She started to ask something about Johnny, but we were interrupted when Barry and Caleb started walking toward us.
As Barry and Caleb approached, I knew Nicole desperately wanted to talk, but she hid her anticipation well. While Caleb finished his story, Barry shot us an apologetic look. We stood there patiently waiting until Caleb finally quit talking. Poor guy had no clue none of us wanted to listen to him. He didn’t seem to notice, though. As he left to stand in the food line, Nicole demanded, “All right guys, spill. How do you know where Johnny’s buried?”
“Well,” Barry replied in a hushed voice. “Heather discovered where, but I can’t really explain it.” Glancing at me for backup, I gave him a wary smile.
“It’s hard to explain, but I know. I could sense it. Did your uncle seem receptive to the idea?”
“Well, I told him that I needed to talk to him. That we needed to talk to him, but I didn’t elaborate.”
Caleb, along with the rest of the crew, had rejoined our table promptly shutting down any further discussion about Johnny. While they joked and discussed such trivial issues, I thought how nice it would be to live without being constantly bothered by things. To not live a life surrounded by other people’s despair and worry. I couldn’t even imagine how that felt.
Visions: The Mystical Encounter Series (The Mystical Encounter Series Book 1) Page 9
