“Yeah, I told her about a half an hour. Will that be okay?” Alix asked.
“Yes, that’s plenty of time for me to get ready.”
Thirty minutes later they were at Shay’s house. Alix said she would go in to get Shay, but her mom wanted to talk to Shay’s mom, so they both went in. Alix said hello to Shay’s mom then went in search of Shay. She knocked on her bedroom door.
“Hey Shay, it’s me. Are you ready?”
“Hey, come in.”
Alix noticed the overnight bag on Shay’s bed and laughed. “We’re only going for groceries Shay, we won’t be gone that long.”
“Oh, you mean my bag. Mom said she was going to invite your parents for dinner and that I could stay at your place tonight. If that’s okay with you?”
“Sure, you’re always welcome to stay. That means we’ll have the house to ourselves for a few hours later. Should we have a party?”
Shay’s mouth dropped open. “You want to have a party, are you serious?”
“No, but you should see the look on your face, it’s priceless!” Alix laughed, and Shay threw a pillow at her.
“Not funny,” Shay scowled at her
“Sure, it was,” Alix was still laughing as Shay finished packing her bag.
When Shay was ready the girls went to tell Alix’s mom they were ready to go. As they got closer to the kitchen they overheard some of the conversations their moms were having.
“I can’t believe this. Are you sure it’s not a mistake? It can’t be Alix? And so soon,” They heard Alix’s mom say.
“Everything will be alright Heather. We’ll be there to help,” Shay’s mom said back to her.
The girls looked at each other like, what was that all about, but as they came around the corner the conversation stopped. Neither one of them said anything about what they heard. Shay stepped in and eased the tension for Alix.
“Hey Mrs. D, mom said she was going to invite you and Mr. D over for dinner, so I thought I’d keep Alix company tonight. I hope that’s ok.”
Alix’s mom seemed to recover from the strange conversation. “Of course, it’s fine that you stay the night. You’re practically like a second daughter to us.”
“We’ll be in the car mom,” Alix said, as they left the kitchen.
Once outside they hurried to get in the car and talk before Alix’s mom came.
“What was that all about?” Shay asked.
“This is what I’ve been trying to tell you about. That was the third conversation I accidentally overheard all along the same lines. First, it was my parents, then my parents and Ben’s and then my mom and yours. It’s like there’s this giant conspiracy and I’m at the center of it. Unless you think I’m crazy.”
“That’s the second time you’ve asked me that in two days. I don’t think you’re crazy and I have no idea what’s going on, but I do agree that something is up, and no one is telling us. Do you think Ben knows?”
“I have my suspicions that he knows more than he’s letting on. Hey, mom’s coming, we’ll talk more about this later.”
By the time they got back home and put everything away, it was time for her mom and dad to get ready and head over to have dinner with Shay’s parents. Her mom ordered pizza for the girls before they left.
“Finally, we’re alone!” Shay said, exasperatedly as Alix’s parents drove away. “I’ve been waiting hours to talk to you about what’s going on. It’s like your life has turned into one big mystery over the last few weeks and the only ones that don’t know what’s going on are you and me. I’m not a conspiracy theorist, but this is sure looking like it’s headed that way.”
“I know Shay, it’s crazy. But what can we do about it?”
“I think we should start with your list of strangeness. We’ll look at it again and see if anything makes sense when it’s all together.”
“Okay.” Alix went to her room and got her notebook and brought it back to the kitchen. They read it over together.
Strange Occurrences
- New people move into a creepy house
- The old rusty gate is suddenly new, trees on the property all neat and tidy never saw anyone there to do it
- Ben seemed to appear out of nowhere
- The huge house looks new even though no one has lived there for years
- Inside of house was perfect, looked like they had lived there for a long time, not moved in that day
- His touch made my arm tingle
- The strange door that wouldn’t open
- Cookies were homemade and still warm even though there wasn’t enough time to do that in
- Something in treetops that I couldn’t see, but it made no noise
- Gate seemed to close by itself
- Parents giving strange looks when I mention Ben
- Parents hushed conversation about me
- How did Ben really pick my name in biology?
- Why does he throw me off my game?
- What did her dad mean to be careful?
- Really real dream about cabin and hand tattoo
- My hand tingled when we shook hands
- Gate opened all by itself, malfunctioning or something else?
- Ben’s mom seemed to be at the door before I could knock
- Do my eyes really change color?
- Strange need to go see the cabin
- Missed Ben opening up the gate
- Ben’s “meditation technique” or whatever that was, seemed to work
- The mysterious coin we found at Yellowstone
- Can’t figure out the writing on the coin
- My and Ben’s parents talking about me, “are they sure it’s me” – what on earth does that mean???
- Can’t find anything out about the coin
- Natalie seemed to freak out when she saw the pictures
“Looks like you haven’t updated this for a while,” Shay said after reading it.
“Hmm, I guess I haven’t. I’ve been keeping a journal. That’s probably why I’ve neglected the list,” Alix blushed a little.
Shay raised her eyebrows at Alix. “A journal huh. Anything juicy in it that I can’t read?”
“Um, no, I don’t think so. It was just a good way to keep track of my thoughts with everything going on.”
“I get it. So, go get your journal and let’s go back to the day after we were at Ben’s trying to find out about the coin and add to your list.”
Alix went back to her room to get her journal and found where she wrote about Ben’s mom and the coin. “Okay, here we go, here’s where I stopped adding to the list.” She looked at her journal and added to the list. There were quite a few things she needed to add.
- The story from English written by four other people she barely knew matched her dream
- Ben went all weird and quiet, not really talking to them for almost a week
- Her parents were acting kind of the same way
- The coin and everything related to it was stolen
- Someone had been in her room without anyone seeming to know it
- As fast as Ben went all weird he went normal again 5 days later AFTER showing up early on a Saturday morning!
- When I told Ben about the coin being stolen he seemed kind of mad and then protective
- The conversation between her mom and Shay’s, like they know something
When Alix finished writing she looked at Shay. “I think that’s it.”
“So now that the list is updated, we have your journal to reference and our own memories, let’s see if we can figure anything out.”
But before they had a chance to get started the doorbell rang.
“Pizza’s here,” Shay yelled, and ran for the door flinging it open without looking. She was surprised at what she found. “You’re not pizza.”
Ben laughed. “Not last time I checked.”
“Alix, you’d better come to the door,” Shay yelled at her.
“I’m coming. I just had to find the money
…” Alix stopped dead in her tracks when she came around the corner and saw Ben standing in the doorway. “You’re not pizza,” was all she managed to say.
Ben laughed even louder than last time. “That’s the exact same thing Shay said to me when she opened the door. You girls must be hungry.”
“What are you doing here?” Alix asked.
“I thought you knew I was coming over. Your mom invited me over for pizza since you two were going to be here alone.”
He looked genuinely surprised that she didn’t know he was coming, but Alix was still suspicious and looked at Shay. She could tell she thought the same thing.
“Okay, well come in,” Alix told him.
“Alix and I were just about to pick out a movie or two to watch,” Shay said. “Ben, why don’t we go look at the movies and Alix will meet us there in a minute.”
Alix saw the look she was giving her. It meant go to the kitchen and hide the journal and list.
“Um, yeah, I’ll just clean up the mess I left in the kitchen and I’ll be right there.”
Alix gathered up the stuff they had been going to look at and took it to her bedroom. She knew that Shay didn’t want to share what they were going to be discussing and she felt the same way. For some reason she knew it was best that it stayed between the two of them.
The doorbell rang just as they finally agreed on a movie
“I’ll get the pizza, you two play nice while I’m gone,” Alix told them.
Alix came back with three pizzas. “I guess he was telling the truth. No way my mom would order this much pizza for just me and you, Shay.”
“Of course, I was telling the truth.”
“Well, it’s not like my mom to forget to tell me something like that.”
“Maybe she wanted to surprise you?”
“How are you a surprise? I just saw you yesterday.”
“Um … I guess I really don’t have an answer for that.”
“If you two are finished,” Shay said, “I’m hungry and that pizza smells good. Let’s eat.”
Alix put Lord of the Rings in and they all got some pizza. As they were watching Alix kept thinking how much she liked the idea of magic existing and all those creatures being real. That’s one of the reasons she liked to read. She loved to visit worlds that didn’t exist.
Alix’s parents got home just as the movie was ending.
“Hey, mom. Hey dad. What did Mrs. S make for dinner?” Sometimes Shay’s mom was a little off the wall in her food choices.
“She made some kind of chicken with orange and spices. It was pretty good,” her dad told her. “You kids enjoy your pizza?”
He got three enthusiastic answers of “yes”, “you bet” and “of course”.
Ben got up from the couch. “I’d better get going. Thanks for the pizza and movie.”
As he walked by her parents Alix noticed a look pass between the three of them and a very subtle nod from Ben to her mom. She wondered if Shay noticed, but she was looking at the TV, not Ben.
Alix followed Ben to the door. “Thanks for coming over, even if it was unexpected,” she said that last part loud enough for her mom to hear. “See you Monday.”
She went back to the living room to clean up their mess and found Shay already doing that. They put everything away and went to Alix’s room.
“Okay,” Shay said, as she flopped on the bed, “Let’s get back to what we were doing when Ben showed up, which is really strange by the way. Why would your mom invite him without telling you? That might be something to add to the list.”
Alix was getting out the list and journal as Shay talked. “I don’t know why she would do that unless it just slipped her mind.”
“Like it slipped her mind when she sent Ben to your room last weekend when we were still sleeping?”
“I wish I had a better explanation, never mind better, any explanation at all would do.”
“Oh, oh, oh, I think I got it!” Shay practically yelled, “Maybe she is trying to set you two up as a couple.” She was grinning ear to ear.
“Um, yeah, I don’t think so. That’s something friends do, not parents.”
“So, does that mean that you want me to set you up with Ben?” Shay raised her eyebrows at Alix. “I think I could do it.”
“No, but thanks for the offer. We are getting way off topic here. We’ve got more important things to think about than Ben and I becoming a couple.”
“So, you want to be a couple?” Shay grinned and giggled.
“Shay stop it.” Alix said but was laughing too.
“Okay, okay, I’ll try and be serious for a while, even though it’s not my strong suit.”
“So, we already looked at the list again. I might have one more thing to add but I want your opinion on it. Just before Ben left there with a look that he and my mom shared and then he gave a very slight nod to her. That’s kind of strange right?”
“Yeah, I’d say so. I think you should add it.”
Alix grabbed the list to add that.
- Ben and her mom shared a ‘look’ and a nod when he was leaving after the movie
“Here’s my journal for you to look at. Again, there’s nothing juicy, just my thoughts over the last few weeks.”
Shay took the journal and started reading it while Alix went over the list again. When Shay was done she sat up to face Alix.
“I think these last few weeks have been harder on you than I thought. We definitely need to get to the bottom of this.”
“So, how do you think we can do that? Sure, there have been some strange things happening, but what do we actually know about any of them?” Alix said, almost whining.
“Hmm, let me think about this for a minute.”
Alix sat and watched Shay think. It was kind of amusing actually; her face was very expressive. Alix could practically see the moment she had an idea.
“I’ve got an idea,” she announced triumphantly.
All Alix could do was smile and wait for her grand announcement. She waited, and waited, and waited. “So, spit it out already,” she said, as she smacked Shay in the arm.
“Whoa, when did you become so violent?”
“Sorry, did I hurt you? I’m just so frustrated.”
“I think you left a bruise.”
Alix’s eyes went wide. “Really?”
“Nah, I’m just bugging you.”
Alix resisted the urge to smack her again and rolled her eyes instead. “So, what’s your idea?”
“Oh yeah, I almost forgot. You are so distracting,” Shay smiled. “So, I thought that we could pick out the top five strangest things on your list and look at those specific ones. Maybe if we take a few things separately they will make more sense.”
“Okay. How about we each pick our top five and see how they compare. We might have different ideas about the strangest things.”
“Sure.”
They looked at the list again and each came up with their own top five.
Alix’s were:
- His touch made my arm tingle
- Really real dream about cabin and hand tattoo
- Parents hushed conversation about me
- The mysterious coin we found at Yellowstone
- How did Ben really pick my name in biology?
Shay’s were:
- Really real dream about cabin and hand tattoo
- My and Ben’s parents talking about me, “are they sure it’s me” – what on earth does that mean???
- The mysterious coin we found at Yellowstone
- Ben seemed to appear out of nowhere
- His touch made my arm tingle
-
The girls looked over each other’s lists and weren’t surprised to see how similar they were.
“That was harder than I thought,” Alix said.
“I know. I wanted to pick more than five. So, basically, we have your dreams, the conversations about you, the coin, the tingly touch, and Ben’s weird.”
Alix had to laugh at
that. “He’s not weird.”
“No, he’s not, but you have to admit that there are some things about him, and his parents for that matter, that don’t add up.”
“Yes, that’s true,” Alix agreed.
“I also think that everything on this list is connected in some way.” Shay said.
“Me too.” Alix agreed. “I hate to say it, but I think it’s all connected to Ben as well. Well, maybe his parents and that house. Everything was normal until they moved here.”
“So, if everything is connected to them what’s the reason and what are they here for? I’m pretty good at reading people and I don’t believe for a second that they’re bad people,” Shay stated.
“Me either. You know how I am around people. I was instantly comfortable around them and that never happens.”
“So, whatever reason they’re here has to be a good one, right?”
“Right.”
“So, our first conclusion is that there is a reason they’re here at this time but they’re not evil. Next, the tingly touch. I have to know more about that.”
“The first time it happened was when I ran into him when he was showing us the house. Where he touched my arms to keep me from falling I felt all tingly, even for a while after his hands were gone.”
“What do you mean by tingly, exactly?”
“It’s kind of hard to describe, but the closest I can come is a combination of a mild shock and that sensation after your foot goes numb when you’re getting the feeling back.”
“Hmm, that’s unusual for sure. I’ve never experienced that when someone has touched me unless you count when Alana purposely rubs her feet on the carpet to shock me.”
“No that doesn’t count.”
“Okay, then no to the experiencing of a tingling touch.”
“So, we don’t really have an explanation on the tingly touch. Let’s move on to the coin. Do we have any theories on that?” Shay asked.
“Not really, other than I think that it’s bad. I know it’s related to the disappearances, but how it’s related I have no idea. And the way that Natalie reacted when she saw the pictures was totally not normal. She was scared. Why would you be scared of a coin?”
Nykara Page 16
