Chapter Five

The next morning, my brain and nerves are still in a tizzy over the dream. I can’t contemplate where this vision came from, or how it seemed so realistic. I try to pass it off, telling myself it’s just a dream, but my heart tells me otherwise. I glance at the locket resting against my chest.

Even if I want to, I can’t go back to Charleston. Not yet.

Mom and Dad set a rule—I have to finish senior year in good standing. My primary focus is passing my classes and leaving this town. There’s nothing else here for me.

“I’m going to explore!” I call to Beth as I bound out the front door. I don’t wait to hear her response about being safe, and not talking to strangers. Whatever parents and guardians tell kids.

The wind whips against my cheeks. My nose burns from the cold, and the tips of my ears grow numb. I glare at the dead leaves crunching under my shoes. I hate chilly weather. 

I walk until I have blisters on my feet. Central West Hartford reminds me of an old-fashioned town. Brick shops line the main street and small trees are planted sporadically down the edge of the sidewalks. Store owners decorate their window displays in time for autumn with fiery orange and red leaves, and pumpkins. 

My attention is directed to a window paying homage to the new season, when I hear, “Candra! Hey!”

I look up and see Jana, who glances at her cell phone, hastily using the keypad.

“Oh, hey, Jana,” I say.

She slides the phone in her front jean pocket. “What’s up? What do you think of Hartford so far?”

“It’s, uh, different than Charleston.” I shrug and give her a half-assed smile.

“Wait until you see the leaves fully change colors. They’re beautiful here.” Her face lights up, like she’s retelling her favorite story to a child.

“That’s great,” I say with no enthusiasm.

“Are you walking around by yourself? It’s a long walk from your house.”

“Yeah. How’d you know where—”

She laughs. “Oh, don’t be silly. Everyone knows where Randy and Beth live.”

I raise my eyebrows. “Really? Huh.”

“Why don’t you come inside?” she asks. Not waiting for my response, she motions me inside a tiny boutique. I glance at the sign hanging above the door. It reads: Livia’s Corner Closet. There’s a HELP WANTED sign taped in the bottom right window.

The walls are covered with white shelves full of clothes, and circular racks fill up the rest of the area. The clothes are too trendy for my taste. I’m not a pink fru-fru kind of girl, but it definitely suits Jana’s style. As I near the counter, I smell lavender and something infused with it in the air. Vanilla, maybe?

“So, you work here?” I ask dumbly, trying to strike up a conversation.

“Yes, I love it! Are you thinking about getting a job? We’re hiring. It’s a great way to pass the time and get some extra money.” She purses her lips and her eyes glimmer in anticipation.

“I don’t really do jobs. Never had one.” I play with a pen on the counter, not noticing her reaction.

“You could always try,” she says.

I think of several sarcastic responses before saying, “I don’t think that’s such a good idea. I’m not really a people person, so I wouldn’t exactly help with business.”

Her shoulders drop. “You never know. Maybe you could try it for a few days. We don’t get a ton of customers as it is, but it’s better than sitting at home all the time.”

I stare at her for a minute, trying to decide my best option. I don’t want a job. I don’t want anything to do with this town. “Give me an application, and I’ll figure it out tonight.”

Her eyes grow wide and she sucks in a deep breath. “Really?” she exclaims, exhaling and clapping her hands. “Oh, I’m so excited now!” She reaches under the counter and tears off an application from the stack. She hands it to me with the cheesiest grin on her face.

I can’t help but laugh. “You’re way too excited for your own good.”

“I can’t help it. Not many people can stand my hyperness for long periods of time.” She glances down at the counter, refusing to look at me.

I don’t know what to tell her. I’m not used to someone so bubbly either. Sean and Layla were the laidback, quiet type.

“It’s not that bad. You’re just a happy person.” Who am I kidding? She’s like a kid on Christmas morning.

She quickly looks up at me; her eyes brighten, a slow grin returning to her face. “You think so? I don’t mean to scare people off. I try to be nice to everyone.”

“Not everyone deserves someone being nice to them.”

“That’s true.” She wobbles from side-to-side, like she’s antsy about something. “Do you think, maybe, you’d want to go to the movies tonight?”

Her question renders me speechless. Nobody’s bothered asking me to do anything since I moved here. “Oh, um,” I stammer, “yeah, sure, I guess.”

“It’ll be fun. We’re meeting at the ice cream shop just up the street. You can stay here with me until I close, and we can walk over there together, if you want to.”

“Yeah, sure, okay.” I nod, gaping at the application in my hands.

She stabs the application with her finger and adds, “And you can fill that out while you’re here.”

The disgruntled look on my face is enough to make her giggle.

While Jana’s busy helping customers, I sit in the employee’s room in the back, waiting to leave for the movie. I play on the computer for a little while, but games like Minesweeper and Solitaire bore me after an hour. I lay my head down on the computer desk.

Fatigue overwhelms me, and a dream-like state washes over my body. 

I’m running through the open field beside Randy and Beth’s house again. The same motions, the same words—everything replays like last time. The trees at the border of the woods finally let me pass, leaving me to run through more trees that give me the warning. I come to the edge of the stream and stop. I see him on the other side. This time, he asks me to come forward, to come with him.

I don’t know what to do. I’m at a loss for words. My mouth opens to speak, but no matter how hard I try, the words won’t come out.

He holds his hand out to me, whispers something across the way. Somehow it reaches my ears.

He says, “You must leave. Follow me. I’ll show you the way out.”

Over and over again I think, “I can’t,” but my tongue won’t budge. I’m frozen in place. His yellow eyes watch me from a distance, and then he slowly falls to the ground. He bursts into a grey mist and disappears into the forest.

“I can’t go,” I say. My mouth finally allows me to speak, now that he’s gone. A tree moves somewhere behind me; I hear the groaning of its frame. Something begins to shake me.

“Candra,” it says. “Why can’t you go?”

My mouth won’t move.

“Candra?” It stirs me again. “Candra, wake up!”

I breathe in false wood, and realize I’m at the computer desk. Jana looms over me. 

I sit up and squint from the florescent lights overhead. “Did I fall asleep? I’m sorry. I’ve been so tired lately,” I say.

“You talked in your sleep. I didn’t know anyone did that anymore.” She giggles.

“I keep having this—eh, it’s nothing.” No need to sound crazy.

Jana stares blindly at me before she asks, “Ready to go?”

“Yeah, I’m coming.”

May’s Ice Cream Shop is just up the street. My body is languid, my mind still fuzzy. Jana drones about something insignificant, and I block her out, nodding occasionally and plastering a fake smile on my face.

When we enter May’s, the bell overhead chimes. All eyes are on us, like we broke a window to get in. The place has a Grease vibe to it—checkerboard floors, red booths, and a jukebox against the wall.

“Let’s find a place to sit. Blake should be here soon,” Jana says.

We walk toward a booth, when two guys slide in before we get there—the same guys that stopped me after school.

“Sorry, ladies. This seat is reserved,” one of them says. I’m not sure which one he is—Cameron or Ethan. He scoots over and sits with his back against the wall, legs across the seat.

“That’s okay,” Jana says. “We’ll just find another one. C’mon, Candra.”

But I don’t want to move. That’s our seat. The way he smirks, the menacing laughter behind his eyes—I want to rebel against his every move, like it’s in my blood. My fists ball at my sides.

“Which one is he?” I whisper to Jana.

She shakes her head at me, like she’s too afraid to speak his name. “Cameron,” she murmurs.

“Run along. Only big boys play here.” He leans forward and whispers, “You’re not invited to our little tea party.”

The brother on the opposite side of the table—who I now know must be Ethan—doubles over with laughter. I stare at him for a moment. Jana won’t stop tugging on my arm, begging me to come with her.

I can’t.

Hair rises on my body. I shudder. Cameron looks at me and grins, daring me to do something. Not now, but soon, I promise mentally. It’s like I’m in a zone. Jana’s voice continues to echo in the distance somewhere.

“Candra, please,” Jana whines beside me.

“I’d listen to your little friend if I were you,” he says.

Finally, I break our staring showdown and glance at Jana. “Yeah, sure,” I tell her.

She practically pulls me outside. I’m hungry. Haven’t eaten all day. Those losers took our seat, so now I’m irritable.

“Are you crazy?!” she yells.

Evil mental images evaporate as I’m sucked back into reality. “What?” I ask, confused.

“Okay, I know you’re new here and everything, but you don’t mess with Cameron and Ethan. Period,” she says.

“Why not?”

“They practically run this town. Their parents are in big with the mayor and a bunch of other people who are higher up in society.”

“And I care because…”

“Because they can get by with stuff that no one else can. They skip school, they vandalize property—”

“Sounds like my kind of people,” I say, laughing. But the way Jana’s face drops has me wishing I could take it back.

“I don’t think you’d want to associate with them,” she says, quietly.

“Are they really that bad?”

She nods.

“You two don’t look happy.” We turn around to see Blake. “What’s the problem?” he asks, placing his arm around Jana’s waist.

“Nothing, babe,” Jana says, before I can say anything. She smiles at me, and I smile back, acknowledging that we should blow off the two losers and have a good night.

“Well, if you two are set, are we still going to the movies?” Blake asks.

Jana and I say yes in harmony, not wanting Blake to suspect anything.

We walk up the street to the movie theater, which is new, and set in the corner of a shopping center. The lights on the outside of the building are appropriately theatrical—a running row of blue bulbs flash around each movie poster. A single fountain sits deserted in the middle of the court; its steady flow of water coming out of the mouth of a mermaid. 

“Which movie are we seeing?” I ask when we reach the ticket booth. 

“I want to see that new scary movie,” Jana says, her eyes dancing. She looks up at Blake.

He dramatically rolls his own eyes and grins. “If you want to, I guess it’s all right,” he says.

“Yes! Once Upon a Nightmare it is!”

I laugh and step in line to grab a ticket.

“You’re not buying your ticket,” he says behind me.

I turn around to joke with Blake, but he and Jana stare over my shoulder. When I spin to my right, I realize the person who said it is Benjamin.

“Um, hi,” I meekly say. “You don’t have to—”

“I know,” he states. There’s no reaction on his face. No telling signs of what he feels. He’s vacant, expressionless. Beige lights around the theater box dimly light half of his face—his sculpted jaw, his dark eyes, tan skin.

I forget to breathe.

He hands me a twenty and says, “Get whatever you want.”

That’s it. Nothing else is said.

He strolls off, as if handing money to someone is an every day occurrence.

“That’s…weird,” I say, still looking in his direction. He walks across the street and disappears behind the passing cars.

“You’re marked,” Jana says flatly.

I whip around to look at her. “Excuse me?”

She doesn’t say anything. She and Blake eye me cautiously, like I have some sort of contagious disease. Then they walk inside, leaving me to hurry and pay for my ticket.

Great. Just when I think this town can’t get any weirder, it does.

Crush pays for movie ticket then leaves. Check.

Friend tells me I’m marked—whatever that means. Check.

What’s next? My family telling me this was all a hoax and I get to go home soon?