by Ripley, Meg
“Look, Mom! It’s Ms. Parker!”
Before Samantha could turn around, a tiny pair of arms wrapped themselves around her thigh, nearly causing her to drop her groceries and trip straight into the cooler.
She looked down to see a familiar mop of curly red hair. “Hi, Annabelle. How are you today?”
The little girl pointed a pouty face up at her. “Mrs. Pembroke said you’re not coming back next year,” she said, an accusational tone in her voice.
“Annabelle, leave her alone!” snapped a woman as she charged up through the aisle and reached for her daughter. “I’m sure she doesn’t want you hanging on her in the middle of the store.”
“It’s all right,” Samantha assured her. “It happens all the time.”
But the look on the mother’s face was something more than aggravation at her daughter’s behavior. “We have to go, Annabelle. Come on.”
Regretfully, the little girl let go and went to her mother, who grabbed her hand. “But are you really leaving?”
“I am,” Samantha admitted. “I’m going all the way to California.”
“But I’ll miss you!” Annabelle broke free of her mother’s grasp and charged at Samantha one more time, holding tight. “I don’t like Mrs. Pembroke.”
Samantha unwound the little girl’s grip from her leg so she could kneel down in front of her and look her in the eye, her grocery errand forgotten for the moment. “She’s not as mean as you think she is, and I’m sure they’ll be hiring another very nice teacher to take my place. You can write to me, though, and I promise I’ll write back.”
A hint of a smile brightened Annabelle’s eyes. “Really? Like real letters?”
“Yes, ma’am. And if you look at the postmark, you’ll see that it’s coming all the way from Beverly Hills. Here, I think I have some paper in my purse. I’ll write the address down for you.”
“We really don’t have time.” Annabelle’s mother grabbed her daughter once again. “Let’s go.” She dragged her daughter from the store.
Samantha watched them go regretfully, but she wasn’t surprised. She knew about all the rumors that had been spreading through Cooper City. It’d been happening for a long time, starting out as nothing more than gossip among her fellow high school students after the first few incidents had gotten out. But it had only increased over the years, and even though she had a respectable job at the preschool and a college education under her belt, it was becoming worse. Parents no longer trusted her with their children. If there was ever a good reason to move halfway across the country, this was it.
She checked out and headed home, not looking forward to the work that still remained ahead of her.
The phone was ringing as soon as she walked in the door. “Hello?”
“How’s my soon-to-be-Californian doing?” called a bright and cheery voice from the other end. “I’m just dying for you to get here!”
Samantha smiled. She couldn’t help it any time she talked to Jane Vinson. The two of them had met at summer camp as kids, and they’d begged their parents every year to continue to send them to the same camp so they would get a chance to see each other. In between, they called and wrote constantly. It wasn’t always easy to be two thousand miles apart, but they made it work. “I’m doing okay. Unfortunately, everyone seems determined to remind me just why I’m leaving.” She recounted her experience at the grocery store.
“Don’t worry about them,” Jane urged. “Once you’re out here, you’ll forget about everything that’s happened in that silly little town.”
Samantha pressed the receiver between her shoulder and her ear as she stepped into the bedroom and continued the job she had started earlier, pulling clothes out of the closet and packing them into cardboard boxes. “I sure hope you’re right. I can’t say I’m completely certain this is the right move for me.”
“It’ll be great! This area is wonderful, and you won’t have any problem finding another school to teach at.”
“That’s easy for you to say.” Jane was a shifter, and it was well-known that dragons had an easier time getting jobs than humans did. They were just popular. Jane was the lead singer of the Villainous Ravens, and her brother Blane was an actor. They were talented and personable, and everyone wanted to be around them. “I’m just a small-town girl, and I don’t know how well I’ll fit in.”
“Yeah, cause you clearly fit in so well where you’re at,” Jane pointed out.
“Good point.” For the longest time, Samantha had been willing to put up with a few whispers behind her back. The rumor mill was always strong in a place like Cooper City, and the locals were always gossiping about someone. But it had gotten much worse lately. Samantha couldn’t go out in public without hearing comments about how she must have sold her soul to the devil. Her job was on the line as the school board tried to determine if they had enough evidence to fire her. She could stand all of that as long as Mark was by her side.
But that had changed, too. He couldn’t handle the rumors anymore, once he’d realized there was some truth to them, and he’d been quick to move back into his mother’s house. Samantha had tried to reason with him, asking him to go to counseling with her or at least stay in their shared home until he had a real place to go. Mark had been adamant, and even his mother had gotten involved. It was better to let him go.
“So…how are things?”
Samantha knew this code. Jane was the first person she’d told about her ability, and so far, the only person who seemed to understand and accept it. She knew about the dreams, the visions, and the way it made Samantha feel afterwards. “Bad, honestly. It’s only gotten worse. I’ve tried everything I can, but of course the library doesn’t have a lot of information. Even if they did, I doubt they would give it to me.”
“People are much more open-minded out here,” Jane insisted. “You’ll see. Look, I’ve got to go. We might be going on tour with The Bangles later this year, and I’m supposed to meet up with Damien to get it all ironed out. But I’ll be there to meet you at the airport as soon as your flight lands. Bye, Sam!”
“Bye.” Samantha hung up regretfully. Jane was about the only friend she had left in the world, and even though being on the phone wasn’t as good as talking to her in person, it was often all she had. She set the phone down and continued her work, wondering if she would ever get the house packed up in time, when she heard the front door open.
Coming out of the hallway, she felt an odd surge in her heart when she saw Mark standing just inside the living room. She hadn’t seen him in months, not since they’d broken it off, but she’d heard that he’d found an apartment and might even be dating someone else already. His hair was shorter and he’d lost a few pounds. Seeing him now, he didn’t even look like the same person she’d been in love with anymore.
“Come to see me off? Make sure I don’t bewitch you anymore?” She glared at him to hide the hurt she knew was evident in her eyes.
He looked around the room, taking in the empty shelves and the stacks of boxes. He looked anywhere but at her. “Stop it, Sammy.”
“Why should I? And don’t call me Sammy. You lost that right.” Feeling the need to stay busy, she turned away from him and pretended to rearrange the knickknacks that had already been placed in a box.
“You said you found a few of my things?”
Without turning around, she gestured vaguely at a stack of cartons near the door. “It’s all there, packed and ready for you. Take it and go.”
Mark sighed and shuffled his feet, but Samantha didn’t hear the sound of him getting the boxes out to his car and leaving her the hell alone. When she turned to look at him, he was watching her. “What? Am I that much of a freak that even packing up everything I’ve ever owned is a show now? Do I need to start charging for tickets?” Anger sparked in her chest. It was a familiar feeling, one that often mixed with sadness and made her feel like she was going to explode.
“Samantha, stop. I just wanted to say that I’m sorry.” He took a h
esitant step forward.
“Sorry for what? For selling me out? For letting the entire rest of Cooper City know about my personal problems?” She swiped a hand through her hair. So many times, Samantha had considered telling him all her true feelings, but she always held back when she actually had the chance. She just wasn’t a confrontational person, and it was easier to let it go. This was the very last time she would get to see him face-to-face, though; the very last opportunity to let him know just what he had done to her.
“You know it wasn’t like that.”
“Yes, it was! It absolutely fucking was!” Samantha turned fully toward him now. “I confided in you because I thought you loved me and you would be able to handle it. I thought you would understand, and you did at first. Or at least, you pretended to. But I guess you were just acting like it didn’t matter, like you did with everything else. It was all a lie!”
Mark rolled his eyes, which only infuriated her more. “It wasn’t a lie. I thought it was just a phase.”
“A phase? Do people have phases that last their entire lives? Mark, I’ve been seeing spirits for as long as I can remember. I didn’t understand it when I was a kid, but as soon as I did, I knew I had to keep it a secret. I told you. I told my fiancé because he was supposed to love me, no matter what. But you freaked out when I needed you the most, and you confirmed what everyone had been wondering about!” Hot tears flooded over her eyelashes and down her cheeks, and she swiped at them angrily. Her body was betraying her once again.
“I was scared, okay?” Mark looked just as angry as she did, and he took another step forward as he pointed his finger at her. “You have no idea what it’s like to see someone go through that. It’s terrifying! I thought you were just having a nightmare, but nobody has nightmares like that!”
“Trust me, I remember it perfectly.” Samantha turned away from him once again, but this time, she didn’t mess around with the box. There was no point in trying to act casual. She looked out the window, where the sun was just starting to make its descent toward the tree line.
Her visions had been getting worse. Samantha tried not to say anything. She knew that even though Mark had been supportive, it was a lot for anyone to handle. She didn’t want to be unfair to him. But one night, she’d been unable to control just how much of her ability he was exposed to.
The two of them had just drifted off to sleep, and the visions started up almost instantly. They were usually experiences she could handle, and Samantha had often been able to communicate well with the spirits who reached out to her. This time, she found herself in a forest. The sun was setting, spraying shafts of light through the treetops. Samantha walked along, finding the scenery pleasant. There were even birds, rabbits, and other small animals here and there.
But something in the air shifted suddenly. Samantha couldn’t explain it, but she felt a knot of dread in her stomach. Turning in a slow circle, she realized that the birds were no longer singing. Whatever animals that had been around had made themselves scarce. The wildlife had felt it, too.
A man broke through the underbrush. Samantha couldn’t see him well; he was a blur, as though she was looking at him through water, and a dark shadow clung to him like an aura. The man stumbled toward her, and Samantha couldn’t move. Her feet were anchored to the ground, and no matter how hard she tried, Samantha couldn’t get away.
It might all have just been a regular nightmare, the kind of thing everyone experiences. But when the creature—for she thought of him now as a monster, whether he was human or not—reached her, he laid his hand heavily on her arm. His thoughts came rushing into her brain.
She was now on an open plain, and the sunny sky had been replaced by a dark and cloudy one. Rows of shields extended away from her on either side, and it was only after Samantha stared at them for a moment that she realized there were soldiers behind them. She couldn’t see their faces behind the low helmets they wore. She turned around, looking for the thing that had brought her there. He was standing just to her left.
“What is this place? Why did you bring me here?”
The shadowy figure didn’t answer. He simply raised one hand in the air.
The soldiers brought their swords up to match his gesture, and when the shadow lowered his hand, they marched forward. Samantha was carried forward with them, as though someone had picked her up and brought her along.
“I don’t understand! I’m sure you want something, but I don’t know what’s going on!”
Her host turned to her and pressed his face close. She could see his eyes, dark and haunted ones that bored into her own. Samantha’s mind was instantly overtaken with images of what would happen during and after the battle: heads split open by axes, bloody and broken bodies laying in heaps, the field soaked with blood and rain.
It was too much. It was simply too real. Samantha pulled herself out of the dream, or at least she tried. She fought and pulled against what she saw, but the shadowy creature was fighting just as hard. His hand was wrapped around her arm completely, and he refused to let go.
What Samantha hadn’t found out about the experience until later was that she had acted out the entire thing, standing right in front of their bed. Mark had witnessed her getting out of bed, thinking she was just going to use the bathroom, only to stroll back and forth across the room. Her leisurely actions had quickly become intense. She screamed and flailed, enacting everything that was happening in her mind with her body.
When Samantha had finally come to, she was lying on the bedroom floor. Someone was screaming repeatedly, and it was only after her eyes had been open for a few minutes that she realized it was her. Mark was standing over her, looking terrified.
“I needed your help,” Samantha said quietly, trying to shake those memories out of her mind. She thought about that vision almost every day. The shadowy figure had been back several times since then, and it was always hard to get away from him. “I just needed someone stable and calm to come back to.”
“Sammy, you completely wrecked the bedroom!” Mark argued. “You broke the mirror over the dresser, you tore all the stuffing out of the comforter, and I don’t think there was a single thing left hanging on the walls. You went completely berserk!”
“It wasn’t my fault.” Samantha told herself that constantly, but she had to wonder. What had she done to deserve these manifestations? There were times when she’d been able to help these spirits, when they simply wanted her to pass along a message or make sure that a loved one was checked on. That was easy enough, but her encounter with the dark creature made her wonder if it was all just in her head. That would’ve made Mark happy, though, if she could just be written off as crazy.
Mark sighed. “I never said it was, okay? And I think it’s better for both of us to move on, anyway. I just came to get my stuff. And…” He trailed off, looking out the window and shoving his hands in his pockets.
Samantha recognized that. He was nervous about something. “What is it? Just tell me.”
“I’m seeing someone.”
She stared at him for a long moment. Maybe that was what had looked so different about him when he’d first walked in. That would sound crazy to anyone else, but people had a different presence when they were with someone new. “Yes, so I heard.”
“Oh. Well, I wanted you to hear it from me; I thought it would be best that way.”
Samantha uttered a sound of disgust. “Stop acting like you feel sorry for me, like you left me in the lurch and there was some reason for you to feel guilty about it. I’m not someone to be pitied, you know. I’ll be just fine on my own.” She knew that she would be, and it would help to be away from Mark. She needed to separate herself from the dreams she’d had of getting married. She’s already lost the dream of having children, as doctors told her long ago that she’d never be able to. This was just the icing on the wedding cake she’d never get to taste.
His eyebrow twitched. “You’re really moving off to California?”
“Yes
. And I don’t expect to be back. Tell your mother; I’m sure she’ll be pleased.” Samantha crossed her arms and straightened her back, trying to look strong.
“Okay. Well, if you see Eddie Murphy or Patrick Swayze, get me an autograph, will you?” He picked up his boxes and headed out the door.
Samantha gladly shut it behind him, pissed that she should have to deal with Mark at all before she left. They’d been officially apart for a while now, and she should’ve been smarter than to tell him she’d found some of his belongings. It would’ve been much easier to dump them at his mother’s house in the middle of the night and then head for the hills.
Fortunately, Samantha had plenty of work to do to keep herself occupied. The moving truck was going to show up in just a couple of days, and she wanted to be ready to have it all loaded up. Most of her belongings would go to a storage unit that Jane had recommended until she found a place of her own, since she would be staying with her friend while she shopped for an apartment. Two suitcases would come with her on the plane, and Samantha hoped she could cram enough of her life into them to last her for a while.
After a quick dinner and a shower, Samantha settled into bed that night. It was comforting in a way not to be surrounded by all the reminders of the life she and Mark had tried to build together. He had been truthful when he said she’d destroyed most of the bedroom, but even the prints and lamps that had survived the occasion were things she was glad to be without. She would start all over, like the blank wall across from her.
Stretching and relaxing as she fell asleep, Samantha’s positive outlook about her future couldn’t last long. The shadowy figure was back. His fingers dug deep into her arm, and this time she could see them clearly. Fear overtook her as she turned away, not wanting to see him, but the man always insisted. He grabbed her face in his hands and showed her the battle once again.
