Dark Days at TAC

by Richard Pinkerton

CHAPTER 10:

  Consoling Vanessa

  ‘He hasn’t turned up yet?’

  ‘No. Apparently not.’ Holly had Chelsea on the phone. ‘I’m so worried about this, Chels. He is such a good friend. If anything happened to him, I’d die.’

  ‘I know!’ Chelsea said. ‘I’ve been worried sick all day. I won’t be able to sleep tonight.’

  ‘Vanessa’s mother says she’s been in her room all day long. She won’t come out and won’t talk to anyone.’

  ‘Oh.’.

  ‘‘I’m going over there to see her. Do you want to come too? Maybe we can… you know… both give her moral support.’

  ‘I’ve got no way of getting there.’

  ‘Mav can drive us. He got his full driver’s license last week and he’s been looking for an excuse to borrow his dad’s car. He can pick you up then come over here for me.’

  ‘Pick me up?’ Chelsea said. ‘Oh, I don’t know... He’s... you know, only a new driver.’

  ‘Oh, he’s a good driver, really.’

  ‘Alright, ok then.’

  ‘Sweet, I’ll give him a ring. Hopefully I’ll see you in about half an hour.’

  Twenty minutes later, Mav arrived with Chelsea. He then drove them over to Vanessa’s. ‘Ok,’ he said. ‘You two should go in and see Vanessa. I’ll go home. You ring when you need me to come and pick you up, ok?’

  ‘Great.’ Holly delivered him a juicy kiss to the lips then she and Chelsea walked to the door of Vanessa’s house.

  ‘So did you have any close calls on the way over?’ Holly asked.

  ‘Huh?’ Chelsea shot her a questioning glance.

  ‘You know. Like Mav driving off the road or something like that?’

  Chelsea laughed. ‘No, nothing like that.’

  They knocked on the door and were greeted by Vanessa’s mother. Holly couldn’t help but marvel how young she looked for a woman in her early thirties. She had the same amazing skin and long dark hair that Vanessa had. She led them to Vanessa’s room and knocked on the door.

  ‘Nessie. You have some visitors.’

  Vanessa’s voice came back. ‘I don’t want any visitors.’

  Holly called out softly, ‘Vanessa, it’s me, Holly. Chelsea is with me. We’re really worried.’

  Seconds later there came a scraping at the door and it swung open. Vanessa already sat back on her bed looking down at the floor.

  ‘Thanks, Ms Bishop,’ Holly said.

  Vanessa’s mother left them there and disappeared down the hallway. Holly closed the door and both of them sat down either side of Vanessa.

  ‘How are you going?’ Holly asked.

  ‘Awful.’

  ‘It’s been the same at school. Everyone’s so worried and none of us could concentrate on our school work.’

  ‘It’s so horrible, all the waiting,’ Chelsea said. ‘I can’t bear it, but we had to come and see you because we were worried about you.’

  ‘Thanks,’ Vanessa said. ‘But I’ll be ok.’

  ‘Will you?’ Holly asked. ‘Really?’

  Vanessa sighed. ‘Nuh uh.’

  ‘I didn’t think so.’ She rubbed her shoulder. ‘You need friends with you now, Ness. And Chelsea and I want to be here for you.’

  She raised her eyes and smiled weakly. ‘Thanks. You guys are so good to me. I’ve never had any really good friends before.’

  ‘You haven’t?’ Chelsea asked.

  ‘Not really. Most of them get jealous and bitter, especially when their boyfriends or their crushes start taking too much of an interest in me, which usually ends up happening. The guys mistake my friendliness and openness as more than what it is. It’s why I’m very careful here not to give anyone the wrong idea. Well with those ones who already have girlfriends anyway.’

  ‘But surely you had girlfriends, ones who wouldn’t get jealous over boys?’

  ‘Yeah huh, but then they got jealous over each other. I could never win. It’s all another reason why I don’t try to monopolise all Rex’s time. It’s why I won’t be jealous myself and I won’t try to tie him down. I’m just so sick of bitterness and anger. I had too much directed at me in the past.’

  Holly couldn’t help but think about her own situation with Mav. She thought of all the anger and bitterness of the past between them and she thought about the looming possibility of it again.

  ‘Sorry,’ Vanessa said. ‘I didn’t mean to talk about that sort of stuff.’

  ‘It’s ok.’

  Chelsea’s eyebrows furrowed. ‘Holly, what? Are things ok between you and Mav?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ she replied, feeling extra gloomy now. ‘I think he’s seeing Samantha Drysdale again.’

  ‘What?’ Chelsea stared. ‘He’s not seeing her.’

  ‘Are you sure?’

  ‘Well... yeah, I mean, someone would have seen them together, right?’

  ‘Well not if they were… you know… seeing each other in secret.’

  ‘But when would they get the chance?’

  ‘I don’t know, but it’s not like Mav and I are together all the time. We only see each other outside of school once every few nights, if that.’

  Chelsea fell silent for a few moments, but then spoke up again. ‘Mav loves you, Holl. He would never deliberately hurt you in any way. What makes you think he’s seeing Samantha?’

  ‘A card… one that he dropped on the bus. Well at least someone said he dropped it, but he denied it belonged to him.’

  ‘A card? But... but if he said it wasn’t his, why wouldn’t you believe him?’

  ‘I don’t know, Chels. There was just something in his manner, like he was… you know… lying. And with his past history with Sam, it really has me worried.’

  Chelsea stared at Holly with sympathetic eyes.

  ‘Anyway,’ Holly said, ‘Were not meant to be here to talk about my problems. We’re here to try to cheer up Vanessa. You know the police will find him, don’t you? He’ll be fine and soon he’ll be back here and you’ll be able to hold him in your arms again.’

  Vanessa smiled weakly. ‘Yeah, I know you’re right. If there is a way for him to escape, he’ll find it and if he doesn’t, the cops will track him down. I know.’ She placed her hand on Holly’s ‘Thanks for coming.’ She smiled at Chelsea too. ‘And you too, Chels.’

  ‘We’re happy to be here,’ Chelsea said. ‘We want Rex back just as much as you.’

  ‘As much as you’d like to see that boyfriend of yours from the Bay of Islands?’ Vanessa asked.

  Chelsea grinned. ‘Even more so.’

  ‘Hey...’ Vanessa patted Holly’s hand. ‘How’s that little stalker of yours? What’s his name, Paul? Is he still following you around?’

  ‘Unfortunately, yes. Everywhere I go, he’s there, watching me. He’s starting to creep me out actually.’

  ‘Paul?’ Chelsea asked. ‘Paul Burgess?’

  ‘Yeah, you know him?’

  ‘Sort of. In fact he’s been in trouble before for his unhealthy obsessions. Used to follow this girl around all over the place at primary school. One day he turned up at her place one night. In her bedroom.’

  Holly gaped at Chelsea and her skin crawled. ‘You have got to be kidding me.’

  ‘No joke. I don’t know what happened. He didn’t attack her or anything, but the girl screamed the house down and her parents came running. I don’t know whatever became of the situation, but they were both back at school again the next day. Everyone thought he was a bit of a freak, but he always seemed to be pretty normal if you ask me.’

  ‘Who was the girl?’ Holly asked, appalled at the thought that this kid was now targeting her.

  ‘I don’t know. Some girl who left town shortly afterwards.’

  ‘Why did she leave?’

  ‘Don’t know. I think her parents just moved to another town for another job or something like that. I don’t know for sure.’

  ‘Oh my gosh,’ Holly said. ‘You have got me totally freaked now.’


  ‘Oh, he’s harmless enough. Just put him in his place and he’ll run away scared.’

  ‘I sure hope you’re right.’

  Vanessa’s cell-phone rang. She snatched it up, her eyes wide. ‘Hello...? Yeah huh... Oh God, he is?’ Her face lit up. ‘Oh wow, I am so relieved. He’s not hurt...? He’s what...?’ Her smile disappeared from her face. ‘You’re kidding me... Oh my God... Yes! I’ll come over. I’ll get my mother to drive me.’ She hung up and stared at Holly. ‘Rex has been found. He was wandering around New Plymouth aimlessly. He’s suffering from a concussion and he can’t remember who he is!’

  CHAPTER 11:

  Drawing a Blank