The Locker

by Richie Tankersley Cusick

“It’s a spooky name,” I murmured.

  “It’s a spooky river,” Tyler replied. He thought a moment, then went on. “It winds back through those woods where the sun can’t even reach. People’ve been known to get lost back there … some never come out again. And those that do come out …”

  His voice trailed off. I stared at his shadowy silhouette, knowing he couldn’t see me now in the dark.

  “Those that do, what?” I coaxed.

  “Oh, you know how rumors are.” He brushed off my question, yet his voice sounded tight, and his shoulders seemed to have stiffened. “Some say the river’s possessed. That it calls to you, and when you hear it, all you want to do is be a part of it forever. And all the souls of the ones who’ve drowned, they beckon new ones to join them.”

  A heavy silence fell.

  I could hear my heartbeat quickening and the rush of the wind through the car and the chirping of crickets from the darkness. I took a deep breath and swallowed hard.

  “Sorry I asked. Just what I needed to help me sleep tonight.”

  “But you don’t really believe any of that, do you?” His voice was low. “Haven’t you been warned about small-town gossip? For each story someone tells, there’s always someone else trying to top it.”

  And suddenly he laughed—a quick, nervous sound in the uneasy quiet.

  I tried to laugh, too, but couldn’t.

  I turned my face to the window and let the deep, dark night flow over me, and wondered why I suddenly felt so cold.

  9

  It’s funny how morning can give everything a fresh new perspective.

  When I woke up the next day and saw the sun shining and heard the sparrows singing outside my window, all the scary things that had upset me before seemed like a bad dream. I even stared at my reflection in the bathroom mirror and gave myself a good talking to before I went down to breakfast.

  “Small-town gossip,” I told myself sternly. “Small-town gossip and a bad case of new-school jitters. Nothing strange is going on in your life. So remember that and be sensible for a change.”

  “You’re fooling yourself.” Dobkin frowned at me from the hall. “You know as well as I do that something strange is going on.”

  “I don’t know anything of the sort.”

  “Well”—he sighed in his most tolerant manner— “since you’re being so stubborn about it, at least take these with you.”

  Frowning, I turned to see him holding something in his hands.

  “What are those?”

  “Magic charms,” he explained. “Hang these in your locker. Maybe they’ll help.”

  I stared down at the items he’d given me. A small mirror. A bent-up photo of him and Aunt Celia and me on the beach. A plain three-by-five index card with a message printed in a childish hand: SUELLEN DOESN’T LIVE HERE ANYMORE.

  “What in the world is this?” I waved the card under his nose.

  “Kind of like a spell,” he said gravely. “So any spirits hanging around will go away.”

  “You go away.” I slammed the door in his face and gritted my teeth, more determined than ever to have a wonderful day.

  Noreen was waiting for me by the steps when I got to school, and I yelled and waved to her, barely even acknowledging Dobkin as I jumped out of the van. He’d been lecturing me under his breath all the way there, and as I glanced back at him, he shook his head in that resigned way he has when he knows he’s right and I’m going to be sorry I didn’t listen to him. Noreen led the way into the building, chattering nonstop about some paper she was supposed to turn in today but didn’t have the faintest idea what it was supposed to be about, and that’s why she’d forgotten to write it. I was so busy listening to her that I didn’t realize someone had come up behind me until I felt a tap on my shoulder.

  “Hey,” Tyler said, just loud enough for Noreen to hear. “You forgot your clothes.”

  Beside me Noreen braked to a halt, and we both spun around to face him. He was holding out his hands, and I recognized the filthy jeans and shirt I’d been wearing yesterday. As I stared down at them, I felt my cheeks go beet red.

  “Wow!” Somehow Noreen managed to keep a straight face. “Is there something I should know about?”

  A faint smile played over Tyler’s lips, and he shook his head mysteriously.

  “Our secret,” he whispered. He dropped my clothes on my armload of books and moved out into the flow of students rushing to class. I opened my mouth to yell at him, but he’d already disappeared.

  “It’s not what you think,” I stammered, but Noreen only hooted with laughter and linked her arm through mine.

  “Come on, I know Tyler. Shall I help you kill him now or later?”

  “He showed me his family’s cabin last night.” I felt like I had to say something to explain, so I rushed on. “I tripped and fell and rolled right down the river-bank. Definitely one of my more graceful moments.”

  The picture I painted was enough to send her into fresh peals of laughter. Kids at the other end of the hall actually craned their necks to see what they were missing.

  “He was so nice about it,” I added, remembering. “Come to think of it, he could have taken the steps down to help me, but instead he just came sliding down in the mud.”

  Noreen and I looked at each other.

  “I think he was trying to be polite,” I said.

  At this we both exploded into giggles. Students hurrying past gave us weird looks, and we pressed back against the wall, trying to get ourselves under control.

  “He’s not like anyone else in the world.” Noreen caught her breath at last and rubbed tears from her eyes. “I remember as far back as kindergarten, he was always just a little out of sync with the rest of the human race.” Her face screwed up in deep thought, and then she added, “He’s totally unpredictable. In fact, that’s the only thing predictable about him—is that he’s unpredictable.”

  We started walking again, and Noreen sighed, throwing me an amused look.

  “You know, when I was little, I used to think Tyler was an alien? No, really!”

  Again we burst into laughter, taking several more minutes of concentrated effort to finally quiet down.

  “I believed he was an alien,” Noreen went on breathlessly, “and I kept waiting and waiting for him to show me his spaceship, and I wanted so bad to go off with him to some other planet.” She gave a wistful sigh. “I figured it had to be the most fun planet in the whole universe if Tyler was from there.”

  We rounded the corner, and suddenly I stopped, taking her arm.

  “Look, Noreen, who’s that?”

  “Where?”

  “There. That guy standing next to my locker.”

  “Oh, him?” She raked one hand through her curls in a nervous sort of way. “That’s Jimmy Frank Baldwin. Why?”

  I shook my head, watching as he shoved some books inside, stepped back and closed his locker door.

  “I don’t think he likes me.”

  “Why not?” Noreen’s glance flicked between me and Jimmy Frank and she frowned. “Does he even know you?”

  Shaking my head, I said, “It’s just his attitude. We were both at our lockers yesterday, and I thought he was kind of rude. You know … making assumptions about me that weren’t even true.”

  “Yeah,” she sighed, “he’s not exactly known for his tact. He’s kind of a loner—doesn’t like outsiders much. But who cares about attitude when someone’s that gorgeous, right?” She rolled her eyes wistfully, clasping her books to her chest. “His dad’s the sheriff here, but they have a farm out on Dry Creek Road. Jimmy Frank spends most of his time keeping an eye on those cabins along Lost River. He’s kind of the caretaker.”

  “Which is why you like to visit Tyler’s cabin.” I nodded. “Now I’m beginning to understand …”

  “Lot of good it does me.” Noreen sniffed. “Do you realize I’ve known Jimmy Frank almost as long as I’ve known Tyler—and he still has absolutely no idea of the depth of my lust. Ma
ybe,” she added thoughtfully, “I could fall out of a boat next time I’m there. Or a window. Or … my swimsuit.”

  We burst out laughing again, and when we did, Jimmy Frank’s head came up sharply, his narrowed eyes shooting straight across the hallway and onto me. I immediately looked away, but Noreen walked straight over.

  “Hey!” She grinned. “Jimmy Frank! Have you met my friend Marlee?”

  I was mortified. As I tried to pull out of her grasp, Noreen pulled just as stubbornly on my arm, forcing me across the hall to where Jimmy Frank waited and stared.

  “She’s from Florida,” Noreen chattered on. “She just started school here yesterday. Did you know she’s renting—”

  “The old Turley place,” he cut her off. “I heard.” His blue-green eyes swept over me with deliberate insolence. “And yes, we’ve already met.”

  “Just checking.” Noreen gave him her most dazzling smile. “Wouldn’t want anyone to miss out on the introductions.”

  Jimmy Frank slammed his locker door, but his eyes were still on me, and they were making me very nervous.

  “I’ve got to get my stuff,” I mumbled, and Noreen nodded, finally letting me go, but giving her full attention to Jimmy Frank.

  I twirled the dial on my lock, juggling my books from one arm to the other. Behind me I could hear Noreen going on again about that English paper that was due, and Jimmy Frank was answering her in a monotone that reminded me of Dobkin’s when he wished I’d just get lost and quit bothering him.

  The lock clicked apart, and for a long moment I just stood there looking at it, thinking back to yesterday morning. But nothing happened yesterday afternoon when I came to my locker.… There’s no reason to think anything will happen now or ever again.

  Taking a deep breath, I yanked the door open with such force that Noreen and Jimmy Frank quit talking to each other and turned to stare at me.

  “Sorry,” I mumbled.

  I was fidgeting so bad, I dropped one of my books, and when I leaned down to pick it up, two more fell out of my arms. Noreen and Jimmy Frank both bent down to help, and I bit my lip in frustration.

  “Sorry,” I said again. “I’m so clumsy this morning.”

  “Clumsy?” Jimmy Frank echoed, and I could swear there was a touch of sarcasm in his voice.

  He straightened up and held out my book. I tried to take it from him, but his fingers tightened on the cover, and his eyes locked with mine.

  “What are you so nervous about, Marlee?” he whispered.

  “Hey, your face is enough to make anyone nervous,” Noreen shot back, nodding at me to hurry. “Didn’t I see you yesterday, Jimmy Frank? Standing out in the middle of a cornfield with crows on your arms?”

  He said something back to her, but I didn’t hear. I was too busy cramming my books in my locker and trying to pull out the other stuff I needed.

  “You go on,” I said to Noreen. “I’ll meet you in homeroom.”

  Noreen looked reluctant to leave me. “You remember where to go?”

  “Sure, I’ll only be a minute. There’s no point in holding you up.”

  Luckily Jimmy Frank turned to go; otherwise I think Noreen would have stayed right there with me. As it was, she hurried after him, and I heard her talking all the way down the hall until they both turned a corner and disappeared. Only then did I take a deep breath and face my locker again.

  Nice and normal. No ghosts here.

  I glanced up at the hall clock and saw that I still had a few minutes before the bell rang. Then I glanced around to make sure no one was paying attention to me. And then I dug into my purse and pulled out the mirror, the photo, and the index card that Dobkin had given me. I can’t believe I’m doing this.… And yet I stood right there with my little roll of tape and slapped the photo and the card up in my locker, and hung the mirror from a string I stuck to the back of the door. There, that should do it. God, what an idiot!

  The bell rang, nearly sending me out of my skin. I grabbed one of my notebooks and glanced back over my shoulder.

  That’s funny … just a minute ago there were other people in the hall.…

  But not now.

  In fact, as I stood there looking around me, it was like everything had totally disappeared in the space of a second—as if somehow I’d only dreamed coming to school this morning, walking with Noreen, opening my locker door …

  Where’s that chill coming from?

  Giving an involuntary shiver, I stepped back and looked up both ends of the deserted corridor, trying to see if an outside door had been left open by mistake. It hadn’t been this cold when I’d come to school only half an hour ago, but now the hallway was absolutely freezing. I could feel it raising hairs along the back of my neck and making little drafts around my feet—not just a breeze, but something much more forceful.

  Really nervous now, I turned back to my locker and reached for my math book on the very bottom of the stack. I pulled on it, but it wouldn’t budge. I pulled again, but it might as well have been glued to the shelf.

  “What’s wrong with this stupid thing?”

  I was muttering to myself and tugging for all I was worth, and in the back of my mind I could feel my fingers getting colder and colder until they were almost too cold to work anymore. Thoroughly frustrated now, I held them to my lips and blew on them, and then I rubbed my palms together and blew on them again.

  “This is crazy! What is going on around here?”

  Giving a final heave, I felt the book come loose at last, and as I stepped back to catch myself, I happened to look up at the mirror on my locker door.

  I looked …

  And I looked …

  And I felt a scream come up in my throat like a frozen lump of terror.

  At first it was my own face I saw reflected there.

  But then it began to fade …

  To disappear …

  And another one took its place, staring back at me, blurry and indistinct—like a watercolor portrait not quite dry, its mournful expression smeared and dripping and running together in tiny streams of brown and dark, dark red.…

  The eyes were dull and vacant.

  The mouth gaped wide.

  And as I began to choke, sucking a strange coppery odor deep into my lungs, I was suddenly and violently aware of two things:

  The dark, dark red was blood.

  And the face staring back at me was dead.

  10

  I don’t know when it ended.

  I don’t know how long I stood there or how long I gazed at that hideous face.

  It was probably only seconds, but it seemed like hours.

  I only knew that some piercing sound was drilling into my brain, and as I finally blinked my eyes and made a strangled sound in my throat, someone grabbed my arm and spun me around.

  “What is it?” Jimmy Frank demanded. His fingers dug hard into my flesh, and I couldn’t pull away. “What’s the matter with you? Why were you screaming?”

  “The—the mirror!” I stammered. “Stop! You’re hurting me—”

  “What mirror? What are you talking about?”

  “There’s something wrong with my locker! Can’t you see it—can’t—”

  “So they aren’t rumors after all.” His eyes narrowed, and his voice sank low. “Something really did happen yesterday, didn’t it?”

  “Marlee! Hey, Marlee, what’s going on?”

  Jimmy Frank’s hands fell away as Tyler ran up behind him. Through a strange sort of fog I saw the puzzled look on Tyler’s face, saw him glance at Jimmy Frank and then back at me. And then, as I came fully to my senses, I also saw that the hall was swarming with kids, and that a lot of them were bunched up in little groups, whispering and staring at me. I wanted to die.

  “Where was everyone?” I asked stupidly. I put one hand to my forehead and asked again. “Where was everyone a minute ago? Why wasn’t there anyone else in the hall?”

  “They were all in homeroom,” Tyler informed me. “Where you should have been
.”

  Jimmy Frank’s eyes were glued to my face. He squeezed one hand into a fist. He raised it slowly up to my locker, and hit the door, slamming it shut.

  “Didn’t you hear the bell?” Tyler asked.

  “Yes, this bell—” I was trying to think, but there were too many blank spots in my mind. “Not the bell for homeroom.… It wasn’t time for homeroom when I …”

  I looked helplessly at Tyler, who leaned back against the wall, took a yo-yo from his shirt pocket, and swung it lazily down to the floor. It recoiled into his hand, and he sent it down again … up … down … up … down. One by one, the kids who’d been watching us began to wander back into the general chaos of the hall.

  “It was the mirror,” I said at last, and though Tyler raised an eyebrow, he didn’t look up from his toy.

  “What mirror?” he asked.

  “Inside my locker. Just look for yourself—it’s horrible.”

  This time Tyler straightened up. He tucked his yo-yo away and flashed me a look of such total bewilderment that I might have laughed if I hadn’t been so terrified.

  “Just what we need around here,” Jimmy Frank muttered. “A brand-new wave of hysterics.”

  Tyler shrugged and nodded. The two of them crowded close to my locker, opened the door, and looked in.

  “I see the mirror,” Tyler said softly.

  “And who’s in the mirror?” I could barely get the words out.

  There was a long, long silence. I put one hand to my forehead, suddenly afraid I might faint.

  Tyler sounded apologetic. “We are.”

  I stared at him. I stared at Jimmy Frank. Then I crept up between them and slowly craned my head till I could see my own reflection sandwiched in with theirs.

  “Someone was in the mirror,” I mumbled. When neither of them answered, my voice rose defensively. “Someone was there! And it wasn’t me!”

  Jimmy Frank swore under his breath and turned back to his locker. “I’m not gonna be late on account of some loonytune.”

  “He means you,” Tyler explained. “Come on. We’ve got to get to class.”

  “You believe me, don’t you?” I asked, gathering my stuff and following him. The desperation in my voice embarrassed me. “I’m not making it up—I’m not imagining it!”