Chapter nine
Ashley had lost a lot of blood, her mum and dad donated blood and she is now back on her feet now. That night was probably the scariest night of my life. I keep looking over my shoulder, I can?t sleep for longer than an hour at a time, I am in some state of paranoia; I think...it is so weird. I feel scared of night time when I used to I loved the night; it was a time when I could lie back and be in my own world, lost in my thoughts and memories. Now it is scary, I hide under the covers crying and being afraid that the man who attacked us could be just outside my window, looking up at my house, laughing at my fear. It scares me to think that he?s still out there somewhere. He could be anywhere...
?Kerry!? Ashley smiled on Monday morning about two weeks after the attack.
?Hi you.? I grinned. I had dyed my hair back; it was again black but this time with red streaks. I was wearing a navy jumper and baggy black jeans. My eyes were once again heavily eyelined and I was once more pale. I was so much happier now. Ashley had made an effort to dress more my style but she was her own person and turned out different. She was wearing a black and pink raggedy skirt, a black t-shirt with Perfect By Nature written on it with sparkly pink lettering, she was wearing a lot of black eyeliner and pink eye shadow and she had gone as far to dye her hair black and pink with layers. She looked stunning.
?How are you?? I asked.
?Much better thanks. You?? she smiled.
?I am fine but scared that he is still out there.? I replied truthfully.
?I know exactly what you mean.? Ashley nodded walking towards the local punk shop I followed her. It was amazing, the fact that Ashley had given up her reputation, friends and style to be my friend. Best friend. She had great posture, her back was always straight and her hair was always a pretty sheet of hair resting gently on her back, my hair hung straight down, no exceptions. She turned to look at me,
?What?? she asked.
?Nothing.? I smiled. Ashley smiled back and we walked on.
About three hours later we were sitting in a caf? and Ashley said,
?You?ve been so quiet all day! Whats up??
?Nervous.? I replied quietly. Ashley nodded,
?I know how you feel.? She said smiling weakly sipping her coffee. I sat still staring at the window.
?I think I have developed an irrational phobia of trees.? I said spotting one and looking away quickly. Ashley laughed, thinking I was joking,
?Same here, only I am also terrified of grass.? She smiled, and then glancing at me she realized I wasn?t joking, ?Are you serious??
?Yes, its weird...and creepy...? I said looking at the ground, avoiding eye contact. I could feel her piercing gaze on my hair, I could tell she was raising an eyebrow. I didn?t look up.
?I don?t believe you.? She started. I glanced up at her, nearly in tears,
?Oh yes, because I am joking!? I snarled sarcastically getting up and storming off.
?Kerry!? Ashley called after me, moaning slightly ?Come back, I didn?t realize.? I kept walking at a fast pace, she had laughed at my fear. I couldn?t help it; I have an extremely active imagination! Anything could trigger it, including being attacked near a tree! Why couldn?t she understand? As I stormed down high street not looking where I was going I walked straight into a guy with chin-length black hair and brown eyes, where had I seen him before?
?Watch it Kerry!? he smiled walking past. I smiled,
?Ok.? I said before realising that he couldn?t possibly know my name. ?Excuse me!? I raced after him.
?Yeah?? he asked turning around and stopping.
?How did you know my name?? I demanded.
?Well, em, you see, I.? He stuttered. I just looked at him, ?I, well, you see I, you know...? he shrugged, ?I?m not sure. Lucky guess?? he offered hopefully. I raised an eyebrow.
?Yeah right.? I spat. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other and fiddled with his collar. A bus drove by; he seemed to relax and said,
?I have to go and get that bus.?
?No, you are not going anywhere until you tell me!? I almost screamed, the boy turned and walked over to the bus, I was tempted to throw myself at him but I knew he would definitely have an advantage, the advantage being he was way taller and heavier than me. When he gave his money to the bus driver I stepped on as well,
?Half.? I smiled. The bus driver gave me a ticket and I walked over and sat beside the boy. ?You aren?t getting rid of me that easily.? I said silkily.
?Oh come on!? he groaned.
?No.? I snapped. ?How did you know my name? Huh? Tell me? If you have nothing to hide you could tell me.?
?It?s complicated.? The boy said.
?So? I?m not leaving you alone until you tell me.? I said folding my arms.
?Ok, I first saw you when it was the second day of term last year. Ashley, Carla and Maria were bullying you. I thought it was just a one-time thing so I let it pass. But it happened almost everyday that year, then on the first day of this term I kinda, wrote you a note and put it in your locker.? I cold realization flooded through me, I gaped at him, lost for words, he continued,
?I sorta kept doing it everytime I saw you get bullied. Then I noticed it was freaking you out but for some reason I kept writing them, when I consulted my sister, she?s a psychic, she told me to keep going, these letters were really helping. She could help me tap into your thoughts so I had something helpful to write.? I gasped, this was totally unreal, no he was lying. Wasn?t he?
?I?m not lying!? he insisted.
?Don?t do that! Its weird and creepy!? I shrieked. ?Who are you??
?Darren, Darren Natzich.? He replied, looking at the ground. ?I only wanted to help. You know??
?I suppose. But seriously, enough with the mind reading.?
?Do you want to know anything else?? he asked looking up.
?In one of my letters you said ?I am in love with you? did you mean it?? I asked hardly daring to think to optimistically.
?Yeah.? He whispered blushing furiously and looking at the ground.
?That is really cute.? I said sympathetically. I leant over and kissed him gently on the cheek, he looked up and smiled. I took his hand, hooking my fingers through his.
?Another question.? I started as it occurred to me, ?How did you get the letters to my house and Ashley?s house? And how did you find out about Will?s plan??
?My sister drove me, I could see your thoughts, you thought about the plan a lot you know.? he replied thoughtfully.
?How did you find out where our houses where?? I asked.
?That was again thanks to being able to read you mind, you have a photographic memory, I could see everything that you saw.? He smiled.
?That is sick!? I exclaimed.
?Sorry.? He replied. The bus stopped and he got up, ?I get off here.?
?Ok, your sister is driving me home.? I insisted.
?Ok then.? He said leading the way off the bus.
?Thanks.? I muttered to the bus driver.
When we arrived at Darrens house I could tell it had a psychic living in it. There were symbols carved into the walls and ceilings, there were dream catchers hanging everywhere, candles and incense was burning everywhere. It was an overwhelming atmosphere; I couldn?t understand how Darren could bear the heat. He led me on, into a room at the back it was smoky; incense candles were burning everywhere, and a girl no more than eighteen sat at a table placing tarot cards in front of her and predicting the future, then even though we hadn?t made a sound, she lifted a card and said,
?So this is Kerry Manning.? I stood stunned, she turned to look at me and smiled, ?I?ve heard and seen ever so much about you, you are quite a girl, getting into all kinds sticky of situations.? I gaped at her, not knowing what to say, ?My name is Roxanna, Roxanna Louisa Natzich, I happen to be able to tap into all your thoughts and memories, you could say it is a gift or possibly a horrible curse.? Roxanna half smiled and shook her head. ?It is in fact a pleasure to finally meet you.? Roxanna spoke slowly in a mystifying way; I found it very hard to follow what she was saying. ?Do you want me to talk slower?? she asked.
?Don?t read my thoughts!? I snapped.
?Sorry.? She said, ?You think very loud.? I looked alarmed,
?No I don?t.? I said defensively.
?Sorry to be the one to break it to you but yeah you do.? Roxanna said dropping her mystical voice. I stared at her.
?I want to go home.? I announced I?d had enough. Definitely, there was no chance I was sticking around here.
?Ok then.? Smiled Roxanna getting up and grabbing car keys off the coffee table in the living room.
We went out the back door and Darren came with us. The garden was a mass of weird herbs and plants growing against walls, fences and trees. There was a strong smell of lavender coming from the corner of the garden closest to the car. I breathed in the beautiful scent and climbed into the back of the car and sat behind the drivers seat. I didn?t need to give Roxanna directions to my house, she could see the way from looking at my thoughts. I wished she could have just asked me instead of just driving me home as if she did it everyday. She seemed to take note of this and asked me which way to turn at the next fork in the road.
When I was finally home, finally safe, finally calm sitting comfortably on the sofa, I heard it, the noise that would haunt me for years to come an ear splitting scream.
