Beautifully Unnatural: A Young Adult Paranormal Boxed Set

by Amy Miles

  He turned around, his dark brows crinkled and raised like I was crazy. “Just stay behind me.”

  For once in my life, I didn’t argue. Following close behind, I peered past the detective and studied the area. Totally familiar. I recalled the images to my mind. Goosebumps popped up my arms and neck at the clear photographic images that appeared as if I’d witnessed them firsthand. I pivoted on my toes, searching for the area in my mind.

  I froze.

  Off to my left lay a cluster of gray boulders sprinkled with dead pine needles. That was where he’d dumped her. My arms prickled. Without thinking, I grabbed the detective’s arm.

  He jumped back, shrugging me off.

  I held my palms up, figuring he mistook me for a baddie. Then I realized by his anxious eyes that it was my touch that had spooked him. I gave him a dirty look. “I can’t read your mind through your elbow, brainiac.”

  “That’s right—you said that. Sorry.” His eyes left mine and surveyed the surroundings. “Recognize anything?”

  “Over there.” I pointed and held my breath as he started forward. With each step, I prayed the little girl’s eyes would be open, fluttering like they had been when the bald guy and his long haired accomplice had left her here.

  We reached the rocks, climbed up and over, and I held my breath. On the other side lay a hot pink jacket with blonde curls tumbling around it.

  “What the—no way!” He scrambled down. “I-I can’t believe it. You found her. She’s really here.”

  All I could do was stare at the lifeless body that lay on the ground ahead of us. Tears filled my eyes. I couldn’t see her chest that well through the puffy, pink jacket, but it didn’t look like she was breathing. What if she’d died while waiting for us to come save her?

  My legs went numb and I tripped over a rock as I hurried over to her.

  The detective reached her first. He lifted her small wrist, which was bound to the other by silver duct tape.

  I dropped to my knees, horrified at what I was seeing. She lay on the dirt. As still as a mannequin. Her left cheek bruised and swollen as if someone had punched her.

  My body began to shake.

  Sure, we had CNN. Bad things happen all the time. But, it was much worse seeing it in person. I couldn’t change the channel and push the horror out of my mind.

  The detective’s hands were steady as he pulled out a utility knife, cut the tape away, and put a finger to her wrist.

  I watched in terror, waiting to hear what I’d already guessed. That we’d taken too long. That if we’d only arrived five minutes earlier. . .

  “There’s a pulse.” He pushed me aside and began cutting the tape around her ankles. “She’s alive.”

  A sob escaped my mouth, followed by another and another. My shoulders racked and I couldn’t stop. Pain ripped through me as if my mom had just died. But this girl had made it. She was hanging on still.

  “It’ll be okay, Kylie.” He pulled a radio from his belt and barked orders for an ambulance. Then, he put a hand on my shoulder. “They’ll be here soon. It’s all right.”

  Embarrassed for crumpling in the middle of a crisis, I fought to get a hold of myself. I practiced my deep breathing like my dad had taught me. My chest convulsed several times, before I got a grip. Suddenly, it was deathly quiet.

  Sam stood and stared in the direction we’d come from. His fists clenched. “Back-up should arrive any minute,” he muttered as if to reassure himself.

  Not knowing what to do to help the little girl, I studied her fragile body next to me, trying to see what injuries she might have. What they’d done to her.

  She was completely dressed, thank goodness. At least they didn’t seem to have hurt her in that way. White sandals covered her feet, and her legs didn’t appear bent or broken beneath her denim skirt. A white blouse poked out of the bottom of her jacket and blew upward in the cool breeze, revealing pale skin and a small pink birthmark shaped like a . . . I gasped.

  It couldn’t be.

  With a shaky hand, I reached down and touched the pink mark. Its loopy shape wove into a figure eight, and it felt slightly raised—just like mine.

  No way.

  Totally impossible.

  Though I knew what I’d find, I lifted my shirt to stare at my own birthmark. Chills vibrated through me. An exact duplicate. It’s not possible to have two identical birthmarks, in the same place, on two different people. Rationally, I knew this. But the truth lay in front of me and I couldn’t deny it.

  My shoulders jerked and my arms began twitching. Mind reading? Identical marks? What was going on?

  I shook my head, clearing the thoughts away. There’s just no way this could be happening. I pulled down the little girl’s shirt to cover her belly, hiding the discovery at the same time.

  The beautiful child continued to lay still. The detective had found a pulse but she looked deathly pale.

  The crunching of pine needles alerted me. Ripples of fear ran down my spine as I whipped my head around.

  It was the detective standing there, cheeks flushed, breathing hard. “They’ll be here in a few minutes.”

  I frowned at him, suddenly angry. “Why didn’t you bring back-up in the first place?”

  His brows furrowed deeply and I could tell he was just as worried about her as I was. “What could I have said to get them to come? That I have a teenager with me who can read minds?”

  He had a point, but her life was on the line here and he was supposed to be a trained detective. “You should’ve thought of something.”

  “When? Your dad only called Collins this morning. Said you had to help us find this girl because . . .”

  My heart raced. “Because what?”

  “Just because,” he said, clearly holding something back. He turned away from me and surveyed the area. Tall trees, rocks, and beds of pine needles scattered around us. A bird squawked in the distance. Then all was silent. “Look, Collins knows your dad and talked me into trying this. But, I honestly didn’t believe you could actually . . . read minds or whatever you did. I’m not a big believer in the paranormal.”

  We stared at each other as sirens invaded the silence of the forest. “How’re you going to explain me now?”

  “I won’t. You have to stay out of it. We promised your dad.” He shook his head and then pulled at his short spiky hair. “Let’s see. We’ll say you were on a ride along for a school project. That you’re a friend of Trip’s.”

  “Trip?” I blinked. A flash of the dark-haired, shirtless guy slamming his fist on the car window popped into my head. Like anyone would buy the two of us hanging out. Trip was all rugged and hot-tempered, whereas I’m calm and rational. At least I am on the outside.

  “Yeah.” He started pacing as the sirens got louder. “I’ll say we were on the ride along when I got an anonymous call. It didn’t seem likely to pan out, so I didn’t see the harm in bringing you along. Then I followed the directions the caller gave me and I found her.”

  Weird how he could completely erase me from all I’d done today. Touching that sickly skin. Evil coursing through my body. “Sounds like you’ve got it all figured out.”

  Images flashed in my head of the longhaired guy who’d been with the bald man. What if he was still lurking around here? My eyes darted to the little girl protectively. She looked okay, the same. Then I noticed.

  An eerie feeling wrapped around my neck and shoulders as my gaze flicked from her oval eyes to the button nose, sprinkled with light freckles. Her hair was blonde curls instead of my flat mousy brown, but otherwise . . . she was me. Eight years younger. I shivered, goose bumps popping all over my arms. How could this be?

  Voices filled the air now, and I peered above the rock formation to see several men dressed in navy blue sliding down the embankment. Sam gestured for them to come over quickly.

  I moved closer to the little girl. “Help is here,” I leaned close to her ear. “They’ll take care of you and you’ll be home in no time.”

&n
bsp; Wherever her home was. I stood up and backed away as the paramedics swarmed around her. They talked quickly amongst each other and a minute later lifted her onto a stretcher and whisked her away.

  Just like that, she was gone.

  Several uniformed cops appeared above the embankment. Sam started toward them and then turned back to me.

  I hadn’t budged, couldn’t stop staring at the spot where the little girl had been a minute earlier. The silver tape lay in the dirt.

  “We can go. They’ll process the scene.” He pointed to the police officers that were sliding down toward us. “You did good. It’s over now.”

  I nodded numbly, unable to move. We’d found her and I was thankful, but this wasn’t close to being over.

  My dad had asked me to find this little girl. To trust him. Well, I’d done what he’d asked and saw for myself who she looked like. Me.

  Coincidence? Not possible. My spine tingled and flushed all the way up my neck. After the police dropped me off at home, I’d make my dad tell me what was going on. I just hoped I could handle whatever it was.

  ****

  After a long drive back to Sacramento, Detective Williams took me home. I shut the front door behind me and slid the deadbolt into place. Rarely did I lock the door, but that was all changing after today. “Dad? You home?”

  “Kylie?” He appeared in the kitchen archway, then flew across the living room and pulled me into his arms. “I’ve been waiting to hear from you! You were at the station so long. I thought you’d at least call.”

  I’d wanted to drill him for answers, but now felt bad that he’d so obviously worried about me all day. “I’m fine, Dad.”

  If you considered freaked out and exhausted, fine.

  “Of course you are.” He bent my bangs back on top of my head and stared at me like he’d done when I was little. “I knew you’d be safe with Officer Collins looking out for you.”

  Oh, Blondie. I’d almost forgotten about her.

  “I’m relieved you’re home.” With his arm around me, he guided me over to the sofa. “How’d it go?”

  Sitting down, with my dad’s arm around me, the reality of the day hit me even harder—emotions began pegging me from all sides. “It was scary, Dad. The scumbag was so gross and I had to touch him and his hand was so dry and creepy and all I wanted was to go home, but we had to find her and—”

  “Slow down, kiddo. Take deep breaths.” His voice was warm and soothing, always able to chill me out. “The mind reading was successful then?”

  I nodded and wiped the tears from my cheeks. “We found her.”

  “You did?” He closed his eyes as if he didn’t want to ask the next question. “Is she all right?”

  “She was unconscious when we found her. Just lying there in her bright pink jacket, hurt, in the middle of the Sierras. She might’ve died if we hadn’t found her when we did.”

  Dad’s face paled. He looked shocked—even more upset than me and he was the calm one.

  “Don’t worry, the paramedics told us she should recover soon, and the ambulance took her to Marmaduke Medical Center downtown.” I watched as his face grew whiter by the second. “Dad? She’ll be okay. Those exact words came out of the paramedic’s mouth.”

  His mouth moved several times without words coming out. “Were. You. There? When they found her?”

  Uh-oh. He did not sound happy. “Um, yes?”

  The color rushed back into his face immediately, his bony cheeks turning bright red. “They took you with them?”

  I gave a helpless gesture. “Well, technically, only Detective Williams took me. Blondie—I mean, Officer Collins got hung up at the station.”

  “She WHAT?” He stormed across the room now, his face beet red. “She was supposed to stay with you the entire time!”

  I cringed. He’d never yelled like that in all my sixteen years.

  “She promised me.” His fists balled and he actually growled. “Escort you to the station. You find out what the guy knows. Then she’d bring you straight home. That was the deal.”

  Boy, was he pissed off. No way was I gonna tell him I’d begged to go.

  He began pacing in rhythm to his rant. “And for her to leave you alone? Let you go off with some detective I’ve never met? A detective who’d take my sixteen-year-old daughter into the middle of danger?”

  Gosh, when he put it like that, the detective did sound pretty irresponsible. I shrank into the couch and tried to appear invisible.

  But I wasn’t, because he turned in my direction and his nostrils flared. I honestly didn’t know nostrils could expand that far.

  He stormed my way, barreling across the room, then he . . . passed right by me. I waited several seconds before I dared to peer over the back of the sofa.

  In the kitchen now, he picked up the phone, and punched the keypad with so much force I thought the numbers would pop in. Natalie? It’s me.”

  Natalie? Who was Natalie?

  “Call me immediately when you get this. You have some serious explaining to do.”

  Was he talking to Blondie? I mean, Officer Collins?

  Then, he gripped the phone hard against his ear, leaned on his elbows, and dropped his head. “She’s my daughter, Nat. I can’t believe you’d let her out of your sight for one minute after what I told you. But to send her to a crime scene? What were you thinking? How am I supposed to trust you after this?”

  Huh? What’s with the trust issue? Not like we’d see the cops again. He’d promised me once and that was way more than enough for me.

  He hung up the phone, then started his deep breathing.

  Questions plagued me. What was that phone call all about? Why’d he send me to find that little girl? Did he know that she looked like me? For about two seconds, I debated asking him.

  Then, my 4.0 rational brain reminded me this was not the time. Was I really up to his red-faced wrath? Not even a little bit.

  As much as I needed answers, they’d have to wait. So, I slipped down the hall, shut myself in my room, and decided to do homework. Faking sick to ditch school hadn’t been all it was cracked up to be. It just put all those problems off for a day. And come tomorrow morning, I’d have to face them.

  Chapter Five

  When I woke the next morning, I found a note from my dad saying he had to get to work early and he’d talk to me tonight. The coward. So, after a morning ignoring the strange looks from my peers, I settled into my usual seat in Trig class next to Julie.

  She flipped her blonde hair over her shoulder and raised her brows. “Scream at anyone this morning?”

  “Ha-ha.” And no, thank goodness.

  “We’ll be having a short quiz.” Mr. McKay lifted his pudgy face proudly, gloating that he’d caught us off guard once again. “It will count as ten percent of your final grade.”

  “Proud moment for Mr. McKay. He totally gets off on this.” I kept my voice low, leaning over Julie’s desk. I’d fallen asleep last night before I’d finished reading the chapter. What can I say? Saving a girl’s life wiped me out.

  But, Mr. McKay didn’t know about my reason for not reading the chapter. Not that he’d care. He didn’t have an understanding bone in his barrel-like body. It figures he’d pull a pop quiz on me today of all days. “This totally sucks.”

  Julie nodded. “Any decent teacher would prefer we study for a test. You know, actually learn something. The man needs to get laid.”

  I laughed even though I’d never been laid and didn’t get what that’d do for the GPA.

  “Is there a problem in the back?” Mr. McKay frowned, the wrinkles in his forehead creating deep crevices.

  “No.” Julie sat upright, her expression shifting from annoyed to solemn in one swift movement. What an actress. “No problems at all, sir.”

  “Then cut the noise.” Mr. McKay passed a handful of green papers to the students in the front row.

  My nerves were raw from the last couple days and Mr. McKay’s controlling attitude pushed me over
the edge. Enough of pop quizzes. Catching me off guard with a test was bogus. If he wasn’t going to play by the rules, no reason why I shouldn’t use my new ability to take a peek at that answer key. Right?

  I stood, strode to the front of the classroom, and stopped in front of Mr. McKay’s doughboy body. “Actually, sir, Julie and I were just discussing how lucky we are to have such an awesome Trig teacher.”

  He raised a skeptical brow.

  “I mean it.” I extended my arm, holding my hand out to him. “You really know your stuff. Thanks for being such a killer educator.”

  He gave a heavy sigh. Although I was his best student and had a great reputation with the faculty, he looked bored by my compliment. After several awkward seconds, he accepted my outstretched hand. “Thank you, Miss Bates. Now please be seated.”

  I gripped his sweaty palm as buzzing coursed up my arm and neck, clear images dancing in my brain. A woman. Long hair, lying in a hospital bed. Then, a casket. A sea of people dressed in black. A soaked handkerchief. A bottle of Jack Daniels. A math test, complete with answer key.

  “I said, please be seated, Miss Bates.”

  I released his hand and stared at him, his deep frown furrowing those bushy brows. For the first time, I noticed his pea-colored eyes were bloodshot, rimmed with red. I glanced down at his left hand where a gold band wrapped around his thick finger. His wife. Oh, crap.

  “Do I have to ask you again? With your permission, we’d like to start the quiz.”

  “Sorry.” I meant it in more ways than one, hanging my head as I stumbled back to my desk. I hunched over in remorse, and accepted the green paper from the guy in front of me.

  “What was that about?” Julie’s voice was barely above a whisper.

  “Nothing,” I mumbled, unable to look at her. I’d stooped too low.

  She raised her eyebrows and waved a hand in the air. “You’re losing it.”

  Julie was closer to the truth than she knew.

  ****

  “I’m so hungry I could eat carbs.” Julie slammed her locker shut, spun the dial, and then we trailed behind the last lingering students who were heading for lunch. We stepped into the courtyard that separated the main building, gym, and cafeteria.