Bang! Jerked back to reality, she realised they’d arrived at school. Reliving her daydream, she got off the bus as quickly as possible, hoping to avoid walking in with Lyla. Managing it, she got into the main entrance and looked around her. Familiar faces of those who frequently surrounded her, the faces of those who were familiar to her but names were not of importance, geeks, nerds, jocks, cheerleaders. A normal high school day, or so it seemed.
Advanced Chemistry first, then Geometry. Really boring, but the girl managed this with little effort. She was alright breezing through class; concentration wasn’t the main factor in her life. The morning passed, and then the afternoon and soon it was time for home. The doors of the bus whooshed open, and the girl got on. Ten minutes later she got off the bus and headed home, glad to be rid of the over jolly Lyla. Lyla had been telling the girl about her favourite song and had even given the girl a sample by singing it for her. When she got home, her parents’ cars were not there. This didn’t surprise her- her other was a clothes designer, her father a surgeon at Detroit General Hospital, meaning they both usually worked late. Helping herself to a coke (diet, of course), the girl went upstairs to check her e-mail, and to see if anyone was online. Finding nothing, she made an instantaneous decision to got to Shady Way, the shopping mall about twenty miles away. She needed some winter clothes anyway.
Arriving at the mall, she parked her car in one of many free spaces. She avoided taking her car places for fear of vandalism, but the mall took a long time on the bus, and she took the chance. Walking from the frosty air into the heated Hecht’s was like opening an oven door, letting the warm air seep through her skin like sunlight on a Florida beach. Going straight to the women’s section, the girl browsed lazily through the racks. Seeing nothing she liked, she moved to the main part of the mall. An hour later she still hadn’t found anything, and was beginning to feel a bit fed up, so she stopped in Starbuck’s for a cappuccino.
Half an hour later, after another cappu and a chocolate chip muffin, the girl was still in Starbuck’s, but she gradually got her act together and decided to go home. It was 6:59pm by that time, and her parents would be wondering where she’d got to. Walking past the elevator, then the information centre, on towards Hecht’s she heard a phone ringing. Listening intently, she managed to place the sound as coming from her right so she turned that way. Seeing the payphones, she walked towards them, and when she got there she picked up the phone that was ringing, at exactly the same time, the clock struck seven.
“The deed has been done. She will no longer be in your way,” a deep, shadowy voice said, without pausing he continued. “The package is being delivered tonight; make sure you have what we agreed on, or no deal. The junk is only from you, tell no one where you got it from. Plady Way is where I’ll be at nine thirty. See you there.” And with that he hung up.
The girl stood there, not moving. Whatever was happening tonight was not a play in the park. Coming back to her senses, she put the phone back on the hook, and turned back to face the mall. For once she was glad of the noisy buzz of the crowd. She hurried through Hecht’s, anxious to get home. Little did she know that she was being watched, b someone whom she barely knew. The person had unusual features, with wide, staring, deep blue eyes, a perfect nose, and full lips. It was Lyla.
Getting into her car, the girl sped home. She had an uneasy feeling that something wasn’t right, but she managed to put that to the back of her mind and concentrate on driving. Nervous thoughts were flowing through her head. She wondered about what the conversation had been about, though she had a pretty good idea. She also wondered who the call was meant for. A shiver ran up her spine as she thought about the first words that were said by that cold, chilling voice. “The deed has been done.” And what were the package, and the deal? She had become even more involved when she found it was happening in Plady Way. However, she would ignore it and hope everything turned out for the best.
She didn’t pass many pedestrians on the journey home. Even if she had she wouldn’t have noticed them. The phone call was already overpowering her brain, and it had only been known to her for less than fifteen minutes. Stopping the car in her driveway, she undid her seatbelt that was gradually tightening, sensing the fact that the girl was tense. She looked up at the house, and saw the bathroom light on, and scolded herself for wasting energy. She was a great ‘friend of the Earth.’
Putting the key in the bored lock, she walked into the hall and looked up the stairs. She did a double take. Thinking she’d seen a shadow, she crept upstairs, turned the corner, and shrieked with fright. Hanging on the wall was the scarecrow with the scream mask they’d put outside at Halloween, to make the house seem authentic. Her heart racing, she thumped downstairs, each step making a lasting clunk-clunk in her head. Entering the kitchen, she grabbed a fruit roll-up and an apple, and settled herself in front of the TV. It then started to rain, with the drops pitter pattering onto the window. There were the usual shows; chat shows with hysterical mothers complaining of their rebellious daughters, soap operas where every episode has something tragic happening to a different character in the show, dramas that were repeats from years ago. She settled on an ancient episode of Friends, and soon became absorbed by it. She didn’t hear the thunder outside, or the whining of a distant dog wanting to be let in, but she did hear someone open her garden gate, and she certainly saw the body appear at the window, and the face that didn’t look very friendly, with wicked eyes that could make ice crack. She screamed!
The face moved closer, until it was right up against the sliding doors. An arm reached for the handle, but the girl did not wait to see if it was open. She ran to the hall, and was out of the door in a flash. Not thinking straight, she stupidly didn’t grab the keys from the table near the door. All she could think to do was run, and run she did. She ran, not knowing where she was heading. The only thoughts in her head at that time were “Must run! Must keep going. Can’t stop!” Five minutes later she was still running, but she was soon in the heart of Plady Way, and there were many alleys around. This was the part of town that good girls never went to, but she really didn’t care. She just wanted to get away from those chilling eyes. She heard the lid of a dustbin clattering on the ground as she passed an alley. She yelled, and blindly ran into the road. She couldn’t see how fast the car was coming towards her, or the fact that she was in its direct path. It slammed into her. Her mind went blank. She was unconscious.
She woke a few minutes later, feeling numb all over. A face was staring into hers, swimming in and out of focus. The girl remembered the haunting face and cried out. “It’s alright,” a comforting voice said. “You’re in safe hands now!”
“A face………there was a face………where…….what happened?” she asked.
“You were in an accident hun, I’m a nurse at Detroit County General Hospital. You were brought in a few hours ago because you were in an accident. You have a fractured leg, and you had a punctured lung. Luckily the ambulance got to you on time and the surgeon was able to save you!”
Hearing that, she noticed how the numbness was beginning to fade away and she was experiencing an unfamiliar, throbbing pain in her chest. “You’ll probably be feeling a bit uncomfortable, but that’s normal. Just rest for a while and soon you’ll be as good as new. We just got hold of your parents. They’re on their way!”
The girl fell asleep soon after, the memories from the previous day gradually flooding back to her. She dreamt about the experience, but woke up with a jolt as she got to the face in the window. Looking up, she saw a friendly vision. Lyla was looking at her with a worried expression on her face. “What are you doing here?” the girl asked.
Lyla responded, “I heard you’d had an accident and I wanted to see how you’re doing.”
This was strange, seeing as Lyla had only been in the girl’s life for one day. “I also wanted to ask you what you were doing on the phone in the mall earlier on.” A look of malice appeared in her eyes, and her whole expression changed. “You heard more than you were meant to. Eavesdropping is a bad habit you know. I usually get my associates to deal with eavesdroppers, but since they’re not here, I guess I’ll have to do it!” And with that she lunged, pinning the girl to the bed. The girl tried to yell, but it was too painful, and Lyla was covering her mouth. Lyla reached down and got a pillow from under the bed. The girl wriggled, struggling to get free.
Out in the waiting area, the girl’s parents had arrived. The nurse was leading them through. They passed a relaxed, pretty girl with unusual features; wide, staring, deep blue eyes, a perfect nose, and full lips. She was calmly heading for the hospital exit. The parents carried on walking. “I think she might be still asleep,” the nurse informed them, “but you can go and sit by her if you want.”
All three entered the room. The girl’s eyelids were closed, but her chest was no rising and falling like it was meant to. The nurse looked at the monitor, and saw with alarm that there were two straight lines on the screen. It was producing a monotonous bleeping tone. Cammy was dead.