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  She jumped in back and immediately started ranting about her day. “Oh. My. Gawd! I thought 9:00 would never come. I love my grandparents and all, but if I had to listen to one more cutesy story about me when I was a child, I think my head would have exploded. I don’t know how I’m going to survive with them in a confined space.”

  Roger and I looked at each other and started to laugh. The laughter felt nice, allowing some of the anxiety I had been keeping dammed up to flow out of me.

  “Well, hello, Rebecca. How was your day? You seem tense,” Roger said sarcastically while looking in the rearview mirror at her. Then we all laughed as we drove to what would probably be one of their most memorable nights and one of my most miserable ones.

  As we turned onto Ocean Avenue, I could already hear the loud music coming from Devereux Beach.

  “Wow, hear that?” Roger asked excitedly. “Patrick brought his stereo from home and set it all up … with a few extra speakers, of course. Pretty cool, huh?”

  “Yeah, cool,” I answered, trying not to sound too sarcastic but knowing he’d read right through it.

  “Totally awesome,” Rebecca replied excitedly from the backseat.

  “Come on, Meredith. You can’t already be a downer; you haven’t even gotten to the party yet. Just try and have a good time, okay?” He glanced over at me with a pleading look on his face.

  “I will do my best.” I smiled genuinely, not wanting to ruin his fun with my miserable attitude.

  As we got closer to the beach, I could see the glow from the large bonfires spread out over the stretch of sand. The actual party may not be my cup of tea, but I must say, it was beautifully done. My stomach began to knot as we turned into the makeshift gravel parking lot a few blocks down. Great, the lot is already completely full, I thought. It looked like we were one of the last to show as we were relegated to park on the grass at the very end.

  “Here we go,” Roger said as he put the car in park.

  “Don’t leave me alone, okay?” Rebecca said as we began to walk down the gravel path toward the beach.

  “Deal,” I said, sounding relieved, knowing I would have at least one person by my side all night.

  As we approached the first group of people, everyone screamed Roger’s name, and he was immediately surrounded. Rebecca and I were left standing there alone and looking very uncomfortable.

  “Rebecca!” I heard a voice shout.

  “Rebecca! Hey over here!” the voice shouted again.

  She scanned the crowd and found the mysterious voice. It was Sarah Morris, the head cheerleader. Rebecca turned to me with an agonizing expression, like she was asking my permission if she could go. “Come on, let’s go see what they want,” she said eagerly.

  “No, you go for it,” I responded. “I’m fine, really.”

  “You sure?”

  “Totally.”

  “Cool, I will come find you in a little while.” She hurried off, waving to the small group of girls as she approached them.

  “So much for sticking together,” I muttered under my breath.

  I couldn’t say I was surprised; this had been just what I had envisioned happening—Roger being bombarded the second we arrived, Rebecca finding her little group to hang with, and me being left alone. With a roll of my eyes, I walked off, annoyed at myself for agreeing to go to the stupid party. Just try and have a good time, I repeated to myself as I walked toward the first large bonfire.

  The next hour or so was spent mingling with a few people I knew from class, mainly talking to them about what college classes they were taking in the fall and how nervous, excited, or scared they were to be leaving the comforts of Marblehead. I played along, nodding in agreement, but I was really screaming on the inside. Most people would probably think I was insane if they knew how much I really loathed this place. Of course there was no way I could blame the people who loved Marblehead so much. It was a beautiful seaport town, with beautiful beaches and a serene landscape. A person should be committed to hate it so much, right? I guess the town itself was great, except for the complete feeling of suffocation I felt when I was there.

  After making a few rounds, I decided to exit the party quietly. My mission for coming there was complete; I’d kept my word to Roger and said my goodbyes to the few people I’d wanted to from school. The next time a popular song blasted over the loud speakers and everyone screamed in excitement, I made my exit. I didn’t tell anyone I was leaving and hoped Roger would understand. There was no doubt that I would have to explain myself in the morning, but it was worth the price to get out of there. No one noticed as I walked into the darkness, away from the light of the bonfires. Just as I left the perimeter of the party, I remembered my revenge on Roger. Darn. I guessed I would just have to settle with hearing it all secondhand from him, knowing that he would leave out all the juicy details on when Riley showed up.

  As I turned the corner from Beach Street onto Orchard Drive, memories began to flood my mind—the good times that occurred before I lost my family, when I was still a somewhat normal person. I realized then I might actually miss the place when I left.

  Then somewhere nearby, I couldn’t be sure exactly where, loud voices interrupted my thoughts. I tried to cancel them out and return to my memories, but the voices were too loud. It was difficult to see where they were coming from since the area around me was covered in darkness. All I could make out was a girl and a guy arguing over something, and by their tones, I could tell it was not just some silly argument. The guy’s voice was getting louder and louder with each word. I tried not to be an eavesdropper, but it was not like I could hide or turn another direction. This was the only street back to my side of town.

  “We need to act quickly,” the girl spoke sternly.

  “We can’t do anything yet. We don’t know anything about her. We don’t even know if we can trust her. This could all be some sort of trap,” the guy responded, his voice becoming angrier with each word.

  “What do you suggest we do, then? We have to do something. Just sitting around waiting for something to happen to her or to us is not an option,” the girl snapped back.

  Then there was silence for a moment until I heard the guy’s voice speak up once more, his voice much more calm. “I’m working on it. Let’s be patient and spend some time evaluating the situation. We will figure something out, I promise.”

  After a few seconds of hearing nothing but my deep, slow breaths, I continued walking but at a much faster pace, quickly realizing that it had not been the best idea to walk back home by myself. Not that anything bad ever happened in the town, but the irrational thoughts that were flooding my head were going to give me a heart attack. Plus the argument I had just heard sounded like one that the people would not want anyone else to hear.

  “Meredith?” A voice from the darkness in front of me spoke.

  Both my breathing and heart stopped simultaneously as I came to a halt and stood there, motionless. My eyes searched the area around me, but all I could see was darkness. After a few seconds, the little voice in the back of my head told me to speak up, and I listened to it. “Hello? Who-who’s there?” I stuttered out.

  As I stared down the dark street, two figures slowly drifted into view, stopping just a few feet in front of me. It was still very dark, but as they approached, I could tell one was Abby Harper and the other was the stranger who I’d seen in town yesterday, the same guy who I’d caught staring me down at the crosswalk.

  “Hello, Meredith,” Abby spoke.

  I put my hand to my chest, trying to secure my heart from jumping out of it as I strained to see them through the blackness of the night.

  “Sorry if we scared you, and really sorry if you heard our little dispute. We were just having a little brother-and-sister quarrel.”

  I couldn’t be sure, but it looked like her lips formed a straight line, as if she were embarrassed. “No worries,” I choked out, still gripping my chest.

  I made eye contact with Abby, and then my eye
s were drawn to the person standing beside her. He looked at me with the same gaze that drew me to him yesterday at the crosswalk. For a moment, there was nothing else I wanted to do but try and take in every inch of his face. The darkness made it difficult, but I squinted, determined to see him more clearly. When my eyes finally found his, I could do nothing to avert their gaze. It was just like yesterday, right before I walked out into the street and was almost killed. Suddenly, a sound distracted me, and I realized it was Abby clearing her throat. My eyes shot back to her large, almond-shaped ones. It was difficult for me to make out the startling green color I had noticed before, as it was still too dark to notice those types of details.

  “Meredith, this is my brother Blake.” She grinned as she turned to look at the guy standing beside her. “Blake, this is Meredith, the girl I told you about.”

  I couldn’t ignore the way she said my name, making it into three syllables. It also made me curious as to why she had even mentioned me at all … especially to him.

  The looks they exchanged were very odd, as if they were talking to one another in silence. I wondered what they could be saying.

  And as if I had no control over my own body, my eyes moved themselves back toward Blake. I stood there staring at him as he and his sister gave each other the longest stare down I had ever witnessed. Deep down I knew I needed to pull my gaze away, to look anywhere else but directly at him, but I couldn’t find the strength. The energy I had felt earlier with Abby had returned, but now the feeling was magnified as I stared at him. Just as I was beginning to lose myself in his face, taking in his square jaw, full lips, and beautifully thick hair, he quickly snapped his head in my direction, giving me a killer stare that made me gulp loudly. My heart raced, my mouth ran dry, and I searched for the words. Speak. I have to speak. He was expecting me to say something. The words I so badly wanted to say were stuck in my throat. I reached my hand up to my neck to massage it, hoping it would help the constricting muscles and let my words flow smoothly. But before I could find them, he took in a deep breath, looked back toward Abby, appeared to scream something with his eyes, and stormed off.

  It took me a few seconds to come back to reality and before I could analyze what had just happened, he was gone.

  “Sorry … I don’t know what happened,” I said, suddenly feeling dizzy as I looked back at Abby.

  “You will have to excuse him. He is angry with me and taking it out on you. I’m afraid we are not making the best first impression on you, are we?” She frowned, looking at the ground as she spoke.

  “Um, it’s fine. I really have to be getting home now,” I muttered, walking past her and leaving her standing dumbfounded, thinking I was a freak for sure.

  Something was going on with me. Nothing like that had ever happened to me before. I had never experienced weird connections with strangers, nor had I ever become mute in front of them. It had felt like I was about to burst out of my own skin if I stood there any longer. Maybe I was going through some young life crisis. Maybe turning eighteen and the reality of knowing that life was about to take a huge turn was getting to me.

  Chapter Five

  Finally home was in sight, and I was so thankful that my weird day was finally coming to an end. After a long, hot shower, I dressed in my pajamas and sat down alone for a bowl of cereal at the kitchen table. I tried hard not to think about the weirdness between Abby, Blake, and me, but it consumed me. There was the possibility that I was reading too much into it, that I really hadn’t made a total fool of myself. But unfortunately, I didn’t think I was that lucky—l had seen how they’d looked at me. The thought that really threw me off was that I cared so much.

  When I finished eating, I rinsed my bowl and spoon then marched upstairs to my room. I flopped down on my bed, turned on the TV, and hoped some good trash television would be a distraction.

  But as I flipped through the channels, the things I had pondered over my bowl of cereal kept haunting me. It was so frustrating because I had never cared so much about what two people thought of me. What does it matter anyway? They’re just here for the summer, I thought, and I won’t ever see them again after that. All I have to do is avoid them for a couple months. Should be easy enough.

  Finally I found a crime show that stole my concentration. About halfway through the show, drowsiness began to eek its way in. I tried to fight it off, wanting to make sure the perp was caught, even though I knew he never got away. Just when I felt my eyes falling closed, I heard a loud crash downstairs and they shot wide-open. My first thought was that Aunt Rose must have come home, but then I remembered her note: She was working the night shift that night. Maybe it’s Roger coming to yell at me for leaving the party early? I guessed, trying to fight off the other potential situations creeping into my head. Chills covered my body, and I slowly rose from my bed, picking up the pace as I made my way to the window. As I glanced out of it, my heart stopped, seeing that Aunt Rose’s Jeep Grand Cherokee was not in the driveway, and there was no Mustang on the curb where Roger usually parked.

  I bent down, retrieving the baseball bat from under my bed, the one Aunt Rose had given me solely for situations like this one. I stopped at the top of the stairs and listened, but there was no sound other than my heart pounding in my ears and the tick-tock of the grandfather clock at the bottom of the stairs, almost on beat with one another. I slithered down the steps and flicked on the light switch as I reached the bottom. But there was nothing. Everything seemed to be in its place, and it was quiet. Too quiet. I swallowed hard and continued on to the kitchen. I had my baseball bat ready to strike, and I checked to my right and left with each step. I flicked on the light switch in the kitchen, fully prepared to deal with whatever or whomever I was about to see. Still nothing.

  I exhaled, realizing I had been holding my breath the entire time. It must have just been the TV, I told myself. It had been a long day, and I could have just exaggerated the noise. After taking in a couple deep breaths, I shook off my nervousness and pulled some milk from the fridge with one hand and a glass from the cabinet with the other. My heartbeat was just returning to a normal rate when I heard another large crashing noise just outside the back door. Losing all control, I dropped what I was holding and watched in slow motion as the milk carton and glass fell toward the floor. The next thing I heard was the glass shattering at my feet. The milk oozed out of its carton onto the tile. As much as I wanted to run, I was stuck there, frozen. My mind was overwhelmed with fear, not sure of what to do next. Scream? Run? I had to do something; just standing there and waiting to be attacked was not an option.

  Then out of nowhere, there was laughter. It sounded like little girls laughing, and it was coming from the backyard. Was this some sort of prank or sick joke? I pulled myself together and walked to the window above the sink, trying to avoid the milk and broken glass beneath my bare feet.

  “No way,” I whispered under my breath. It wasn’t possible. I leaned forward to see the two girls more clearly, and my pounding heart stopped the second I confirmed what I thought I had seen. It was my sister and me playing hide-and-go-seek back when we were kids. Charlotte was wearing her favorite green shirt that we had gotten from our trip to Disneyland, a blue jean mini-skirt, and her favorite purple tennis shoes. My heart ached as my mind flashed back to the day of the accident, seeing her sitting next to me in the car in that exact outfit. That’s it, the hallucinations have started. I have officially lost it. I stood there in a daze and couldn’t do anything other than stare in shock and disbelief.

  “No fair, Meredith. You peeked,” Charlotte whined as I caught her red-handed, hiding behind the shed.

  Stretching up on my tiptoes, I leaned farther over the sink in order to see the image of myself running away and laughing. As crazy as it was, I remembered that day. It was not just some random, crazy vision. That was the last day of my old life, the last day my parents and sister were alive. That was the first time I’d seen a vision like that. Nothing like that had ever happened before.r />
  Almost touching my face to the glass, I leaned even farther, desperate to see another glimpse of Charlotte alive and talking. Just as I watched Charlotte run to the other side of the yard, I looked in my peripheral vision and swallowed hard when I saw two strange men standing in the shadows near the tree line. It was difficult to make out their faces. They were not familiar to me. Even with the dark shadows, I could tell their lips were moving. My eyes were stuck on them, and it sent a chill down my spine when the face of the older one on the left broke into an evil smile.

  “Meredith, you can’t go into the woods. Mom and Dad said it’s not allowed!” Charlotte shouted to me as I watched the image of myself blur into the forest, toward the two strangers.

  Now there were loud screams coming from the forest. My screams.

  “Meredith, Meredith!” A voice far away called out to me, and I searched for it, wanting to quiet the terror in its tone. I stood at the kitchen counter, still trying to hang onto the image of my sister, but the image was slowly retreating until it was finally gone, all black. The next thing I knew I was being shaken. I could feel someone gripping my shoulders as they shouted at me.

  “Meredith, Meredith, please wake up!” the strangled voice yelled.

  “Charlotte,” I gasped as my eyes popped open. It took me a few seconds to realize that I was staring at my bedroom ceiling, not standing at the kitchen sink like I had thought.

  “Meredith, oh my god, you scared me half to death!” Aunt Rose screamed as she clutched her chest. “When I got home, I heard you up here screaming. I thought … I can’t even tell you what I thought.” She inhaled and exhaled heavily, trying to catch her breath.

  I couldn’t speak. I just looked at her and then stared back at the ceiling. A dream? That was a dream? But it was so real.

  “Just a dream,” I murmured as I began to pull myself up into a sitting position.

  The second I got into an upright position, I immediately put my hand on the back of my head. It was pounding as if someone had knocked me with a baseball bat.