Ever Near (Secret Affinity Book 1)

by Melissa MacVicar

  Eliza, don’t be afraid.

  No! No! No! She can’t do this now. If I’m going to escape, I need to stay in control. I flatten myself against the wall behind the open door and peek out into the hall. The nurse’s station is three doors down, and I know from being here before with my mom that the corridors are T-shaped with the nurse’s station at the point of intersection. Judging from the angle, I think I’m on the top left of the T. If I can head down the hall, away from the nurse’s station undetected, there’s a stairwell. I think it will take me to the back of the hospital and not to the front, where I might be spotted.

  Lorna walks out of a room and starts up the hall from the direction I want to go. My heart thumps in my ears, and I press myself against the wall again, praying she doesn’t glance in and notice my empty bed.

  Her footsteps go by without a pause, and I peek out again. She stops to talk to the nurse at the desk, her back to me, her body blocking the other nurse’s view. This is my chance.

  I run. My bare feet strike the linoleum tile with soft smacks, and the light in the hall is harsh on my eyes. Is one of them turning? Are they about to see me? I can’t take the time to turn and look. Fear and adrenaline course through me.

  I make it to the door and hit the push bar as gently as possible. The hinges seem agonizingly loud, but I go through and take the stairs two at time.

  When I push open the exit door at the bottom, the humid night air envelopes me. Just as I thought, I’m at the rear of the hospital, an office building in front of me and behind that, Dead Horse Valley and the old Colored Cemetery.

  I sprint through the lit parking lot, around the office building, and reach the dirt road beside the cemetery. I stop once I’m in the darkness and look back to see if anyone is coming out of the hospital behind me. My panting is like that of an asthmatic. I bend over and try to catch my breath. No alarm sounds, announcing that crazy Jade Irving has escaped. They definitely didn’t expect me to get out of those tethers, and I hope they won’t notice until morning.

  As I start my trek down the road, I’m filled with a wave of emotion—relief mixed with a bit of pride because I just saved myself. With a little help from Charlie, I was able to escape. No one came riding in on a white horse to do it for me, so I did it all on my own.

  Chapter 31

  The back roads to Ally’s are as dark as a tomb. I trip and jog and stagger along them because I can’t take Surfside, the main road. Someone I know might see me on the bike path and wonder why I’m wandering around barefoot and alone so late at night. Nantucket is a fairly safe place, but a girl still doesn’t walk around alone after dark. I can feel Lydia in my head, interfering with my thoughts. I have to push her aside, keep her at bay, as I make my way to Ally’s.

  I think it was about nine o’clock when I left the hospital, and I can only hope that Ally is home and not out somewhere. I briefly considered going to Fair-Ever and throwing pebbles at Charlie’s window, but I decided that was too risky. Zeke would probably give me away.

  Cars pass me when I finally turn onto Ally’s road, probably people that I know because it’s all locals around here. I pass the crooked basketball hoop in Scott Dinger’s driveway and a dented truck with a Speak English or Go Home bumper sticker parked haphazardly in front of the McClearys. Two annoying and possibly dangerous pit bulls bark up a storm and continue even after I’m past the Sanchez’s duplex.

  When I approach the end of the cul-de-sac, Ally’s house comes into view, and the first thing I notice is Billy’s car. Shit. He’s probably in the living room with his friends. Their mother’s bedroom light is on, but so is Ally’s. That’s a good sign. Maybe she’s up there alone. I head down the driveway and duck into the shadow of her house to plan my next move.

  As I see it, I have three options. One: knock and be let in, probably enduring some Billy taunts made worse by his fight with Charlie. Two: if the door is unlocked, just walk in and go up to Ally’s room. Three: throw rocks at Ally’s window and hope she hears—and hope the glass doesn’t break.

  Ally shouldn’t know about me and the hospital yet. My mother certainly wouldn’t have broadcast her daughter’s mental illness. I should be able to just walk in and act normal. But what if she’s not up there? What if her light was just left on? Waiting in the shadows, I try to think clearly. What would Mindy Bates do? Mindy probably wouldn’t even be in this predicament because she’s too bad ass, but the more I think about it, the more I feel just walking in will be best. I don’t want to alert Billy or Mrs. Reese to my presence. I can just go upstairs, and if Ally’s not there, I’ll wait for her to get home. As long as the door’s unlocked, I’m set.

  My heart in my throat, I climb the back porch steps and try the knob. It turns, which is a small miracle, and I step inside. Thank god, they don’t have a dog. I glide through the kitchen on my now grubby feet. Boys’ voices, low rumbles from the living room, reach me as I tiptoe up the stairs. The third step from the top creaks, as usual. I wince but keep going. I have to pass Mrs. Reese’s room once I get to the second floor hall. As I go by, I hold my breath, praying she doesn’t open her door at this very second.

  “Ally?” I hear from the other side.

  Crap, crap, crap! I keep going, praying she doesn’t come out and see me lurking in her hallway. She’s probably in there watching one of her reality show marathons, too lazy to get off the bed.

  I reach Ally’s room and stumble inside. Closing the door behind me, I turn and see Ally making out with Devonte on her bed. They’re going at it so hard, they don’t even hear me come in. I clear my throat, and they pull apart.

  “Hi,” I say, waving limply.

  Ally squints over at me, trying to roll away from Devonte. “Jade?”

  “Hi,” I say again.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “Sorry to bother you. I… I needed to see you…” I choke on the words, tears stinging my eyes. I have no one else to turn to right now. I need her to believe me and help me if I’m going to stay out of the asylum for the bat-shit crazy.

  Ally sits up, shoving down her shirt. “What’s wrong?”

  Devonte rolls to put his back to me, trying to readjust his clothes.

  “I’m… in some trouble…” A tear runs down my cheek.

  Ally rushes over and pulls me into a hug—a soft, all-encompassing Ally hug. I can see one of the reasons why Devonte likes hugging her so much. And I think, after everything that’s happened, at least I have my best friend. I know I have to tell her now, and I scrape up all the courage I can from deep down at the bottom of my bravery barrel.

  “I’ll go,” Devonte says, sliding on his flip flops.

  “Yeah, sorry, hon.” Ally looks over at him sweetly. “I’ll call you later.”

  “Okay. Love you,” he says, kissing her cheek as he goes by. “Good luck, Jade.”

  “Thanks.”

  Ally tugs me over to sit on the bed and gets me some tissues off her desk. “What’s going on?”

  “It’s really crazy. But I swear what I’m about to tell you is the truth. You have to believe me.”

  “Tell me. I promise I’ll believe you.”

  I stare into Ally’s eyes. They’re the most beautiful pale blue. The curve of her cheeks, the slant of her nose. My very closest friend in the whole entire gigantic world. A gift just for me. “Remember the crypt at the cemetery when we were like ten?”

  She squints at me. “Yeah, when we tried to open that door?”

  “Well remember how I said I saw an old man? And I ran back to your house?”

  She frowns and nods. “Yeah.”

  “Well, I really did see him. He was there. Only I could see him because he’s a ghost.”

  She blinks several times in rapid succession.

  I rush to get my whole story out. “There’s a ghost harassing me
at Fair-Ever now. I’ve had a lot of problems with her since I moved in, and Charlie and I tried to get rid of her last night. My mom found out, and she doesn’t believe me. They had me at the hospital because they think I’m crazy, but I escaped. I walked here because you’re the only person I could come to.”

  Ally sits perfectly still, her jaw set and her lips pursed.

  “You know me, Ally. You know I’d never lie to you.”

  She shakes her head. “No. Not to me…”

  “Remember the Old Gallows?”

  She shakes her head again.

  “Fifth grade? Mrs. Dearborn?”

  “Oh. Yeah. When you freaked out?”

  “Yeah, there was a ghost there. That’s why I ran out. He was a very scary one.”

  She stares at me, her face a mask of confusion and worry.

  “Charlie knows. He believes me. He saw one with me at the Eastbrook. The ghost was throwing books. And he saw a mirror smash last night during the banishment. For no reason.”

  She shakes her head. “How come you never told me this before?”

  “I was afraid. I’m a freak. I thought you’d stop being my friend.”

  She touches my arm. “You’re not a freak.”

  “Yeah. I kind of am.” I say it like I’m resigned to the truth of it. I guess I kind of have to be now because my secret is out there, and there’s no taking it back. Pandora has opened the box, so to speak.

  “No. You’re not. And even though I’m not sure what’s really going on right now, I’m just going to go on faith and believe you because you’re my best friend. And I know you wouldn’t play a prank like this.”

  “No. Never. I swear, everything I’ve said is true. I can prove it to you someday, but right now, I just need help.”

  “Yeah.” She nods. “Okay.” She gives me another hug. “What do you want me to do?”

  “We need to call Charlie. He was supposed to call my grandmother.”

  “Your grandmother?”

  “Yeah. My mother said she has these crazy ideas, too, so I think I got this from her. I think she’ll be able to help me.”

  Ally gets her phone off the nightstand and stares at it. “I don’t have Charlie’s number. Do you know it?”

  “Oh, shoot. I don’t. I just have it programmed in my phone.” I hang my head and try to rack my brain. Going too far into my head is a bad idea right now, though. Lydia’s there, humming and whispering incoherently. Her voice comes and goes, but right now, the soft murmurs are more coming than going. I pinch my eyes shut.

  “Devonte,” Ally says. “He might have it. From basketball.”

  I exhale, opening my eyes. “Yes.”

  Ally calls Devonte and gets the number. Then she calls Charlie. I crush a purple throw pillow to my chest, hoping he answers, praying they didn’t take his phone away too.

  “Hi, Charlie. It’s Ally.”

  Success! I want to grab the phone from her, but I resist the urge.

  “Jade’s here. She got out. Hold on.”

  “Charlie?” I squeak into the phone.

  “Thank God! I’m sitting in the parking lot at the hospital, trying to figure out how to rescue you.”

  “You are?” Emotion wells up in my chest again because he’s there. He didn’t give up on me.

  “Yeah. I’ll come pick you up.”

  “Okay.”

  “I called your grandmother, too. And she’s coming. You were right about her.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah. She believes you. She was cool about everything.”

  “Great. That is so great. Maybe she can—”

  “Oh, crap! Your mom just drove in. They must know. I gotta go. I’ll come get you. Stay there. I’ll be right there.” His voice gets urgent and shouty just before he hangs up.

  I hand the phone back to Ally.

  “What did he say?” she asks.

  “He’s coming to get me. Can I borrow some shoes?”

  Ally and I wait in the shadow of her house, behind some flowering bushes. I’m not quite sure who or what I think is going to come and get me if we move into the light, but I’m skittish and freaked out. I have to lurk around the edges of the world like a cockroach or a mouse, ready to skitter because of everything happening.

  “So Charlie saw one of them?” Ally asks.

  I try not to be annoyed by her question. After all, she’s handling the news much better than Charlie did the first time, and it’s normal for her to want more information. The problem is that I’m not sure I’m capable of discussing it rationally with her right now.

  “No. He saw books flying off the shelf. And a mirror smashing for no reason.”

  “Did he believe you before that?”

  “Not really. But sort of. Because he saw what they did to me.”

  Lydia starts rumbling in my brain, whispering and calling. I close my eyes and force her back. I hear tires on pavement, slowing then turning. Ally and I peer out through the foliage, and I recognize the jeep. We rush to the passenger side.

  Before I open the door, I tell Ally, “Thank you. I can’t thank you enough.”

  “You’re welcome. It’s what friends do, right?”

  I take her hand. “You have to lie if they call.”

  “Of course. Call me if you need anything else. I’ll be here.”

  “I will.” We embrace quickly, and she ushers me into the jeep.

  “Thanks, Ally,” Charlie says.

  “For what? Being my best friend’s best friend? I am a little annoyed she never told me, though. Superpowers would have been good to know about.”

  “I know, right?” Charlie says with a small smile.

  “Call Me Maybe” plays. Ally looks down at her phone, then back to me with wide eyes. “Go,” she says to Charlie before hitting the button to answer. “Hi, Jade!” she says with typical Ally brightness.

  My mother is obviously calling Ally from my phone. I feel a moment of gratitude that my friend is smart enough to play it so cool.

  Charlie doesn’t waste any time. He reverses the jeep out of the driveway. “You have no idea how good it is to see you.”

  “I could say the same about you.”

  “Don’t worry. I have the perfect hiding place.”

  Chapter 32

  If I thought rowing out to the boat in the daytime was nerve-wracking, the experience is ten times worse at night. But even though I’m scared, I’m also sort of enjoying the feeling of freedom. The smell of salt air, and the rhythmic splash of the oars soothe me. I watch the twinkling lights of town recede in the distance. My short stint in the hospital has awakened my appreciation for everything, including this rickety rowboat.

  Part of me finds it odd that the world is happening around me just like always. My life is upside down, but the rest of the world carries on. I’m grateful that Charlie and I have a plan. And it could possibly work. The only part I’m not sure about is him leaving me on the boat by myself overnight.

  “If I don’t go back”—he pauses to yank on the oars—“they’ll know we’re together.” The oars slap down again. “And they might look here.”

  “I know. I just don’t want to be alone. What if… I do something crazy?” Like drown myself. But I don’t say it. I don’t want to scare Charlie. He’s dealing with enough as it is.

  “You won’t,” he mutters.

  And I don’t disagree. I should be grateful he’s taking me here, risking punishment to protect me. He’s thought of an ingenious spot where I should be safe and hidden for the night.

  When we get close to the mooring field, Charlie turns on his flashlight and scans the boats. He locates ours, and I hold the flashlight on it while he rows the rest of the way. We repeat the shaky process of getting into the bo
at by way of the swim platform. This time, however, there’s no not-so-inadvertent touching or fluttering lashes. Once Charlie’s tied off the dinghy, we take refuge in the cabin.

  I’ve only been on the boat once, but returning now is somehow comforting. Maybe it’s because we’re isolated from the world, protected by the surrounding waters. If we get through what’s happening to me now, I hope the boat will end up being our special place. I like the idea of Charlie and me having a special place to be away from everyone.

  Charlie props the flashlight in the cushion like a lamp and cautiously takes my hands in his. He turns my palms over and around, examining my wrists for injuries or marks. “How’d you escape without anyone seeing?”

  “I just went to the stairs. No one knew until it was too late.”

  “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

  He hugs me, and I nestle into him like a little girl scared of the dark. He strokes my hair and kisses the top of my head. I tilt my chin up to kiss him on the lips. Tender. Soft.

  He stops too soon. “I have to go back. They could track my phone. I’ll come back for you in the morning. I promise. If I have to swim, I’ll come and get you. Your grandmother should be here by the afternoon.”

  I hadn’t thought about Charlie and Gram having a real conversation. I pull away so I can see his face. “What did she say?”

  “She’s gonna get a flight first thing in the morning. She’s mad she didn’t figure this out about you sooner.”

  “So it’s true. She’s like me?”

  “I guess. I didn’t talk to her for very long. Dad kept bugging me, and I didn’t want to get caught.”