exit through a stained glass window into the night, where it twisted and danced in mid-air until it shot back into her friend’s body, infusing her briefly with a terrible, wonderful wildness and violence.
And as for Maryanne’s own reaction to being strangled... Maybe shock was setting in. Maybe this was the adrenaline let-down her mother had talked so much about it.
Maybe it was dark fascination.
Maybe she wanted to die.
Brooke’s voice cut into Maryanne’s morbid turn of thought.
“Alex, what happened?”
“I’m... I’m not really sure. I was just tapping the window, repeating Connie’s words.”
“Right,” Brooke said. “Let me out. Let me out.”
“No, it was ‘I want out.’ Those were the words. And then suddenly, I just... was out.”
“Did you feel yourself go?”
Alex hesitated, as if carefully choosing her words. “It wasn’t like I felt myself going from my body, so much as I realized myself suddenly gone. All of a sudden I just was outside looking in, and at the same time I was on the floor in my body staring at my dark cast.” Alex raised a hand and rubbed the back of her head. “Man, I cracked my head good when I hit the floor. It sort of distracted me for a second out there.”
“Holy shit,” Brooke breathed. “You could feel your body? What was happening?”
“Yeah, I could feel you shaking me, Maryanne, then you checking me, Brooke, and then Maryanne again, taking my pulse. I could feel my heart jacking like crazy. But I couldn’t pull away when you grabbed my arm. I couldn’t talk or move. It was like I was completely conscious, but paralyzed.”
“Until I started reading Connie’s diary,” Maryanne said.
Alex looked at her sharply. “Did you hear me yell at you through the window?”
“No.” Maryanne shook her head.
“I called out to the both of you, just once.” She wet her lips. “I said, ‘I want in.’ And then... then I shot back in. Right through the glass.”
Maryanne sucked in a sharp breath. The window. If they’d broken it, would Alex have been able to get back? Or would she have been left trapped alive in her paralyzed body?
Maryanne looked closely again into Alex’s eyes. There was a pale circle of color now around the dark center. Her pupils were slowly returning to normal. From her breathing, she suspected Alex’s heart rate was normalizing too.
Alex stood first, raising the candle with her. She tucked Connie Harvell’s old diary back into her hoodie pocket. But this time, she tucked it deeper somehow. And judging by the bulge of her tense hand through the hoodie material, Maryanne knew she held it with more passion than ever. More possession. That diary wasn’t leaving Alex Robbins’s person anytime soon.
“You... you going to be okay, Alex?” Maryanne asked.
Brooke seemed to be waiting intently for the answer too.
Alex shrugged. “It’s strange. It’s... scary. And I don’t know how, but a real part of me left my body tonight. Just like what happened with Connie Harvell. The part of me in here on the floor was helpless. Scared. Couldn’t even cry out. I was voiceless, here. But the part of me out there... ” Alex looked to the window, past the sad Madonna who stood amongst the thorns. “I wasn’t so scared out there at all. You know?”
They all gazed toward the window for a moment. Alex was the first to turn away. Maryanne turned away too. But as she did, for the most fleeting of moments, she thought she glimpsed something. Something so pitch black against the star-filled sky, it looked empty. Maryanne blinked and looked again, but the sky beyond the window looked just as it should, velvety black and studded with stars.
She turned to follow Alex, who carried the candle, until she noticed Brooke still stood there, feet rooted to the floor, eyes on the window.
“Brooke?” Maryanne called. “You okay? Did you see something?”
The other girl shook her head. “No. I didn’t see anything. Let’s go.”
Chapter
And as for Maryanne’s own reaction to being strangled... Maybe shock was setting in. Maybe this was the adrenaline let-down her mother had talked so much about it.
Maybe it was dark fascination.
Maybe she wanted to die.
Brooke’s voice cut into Maryanne’s morbid turn of thought.
“Alex, what happened?”
“I’m... I’m not really sure. I was just tapping the window, repeating Connie’s words.”
“Right,” Brooke said. “Let me out. Let me out.”
“No, it was ‘I want out.’ Those were the words. And then suddenly, I just... was out.”
“Did you feel yourself go?”
Alex hesitated, as if carefully choosing her words. “It wasn’t like I felt myself going from my body, so much as I realized myself suddenly gone. All of a sudden I just was outside looking in, and at the same time I was on the floor in my body staring at my dark cast.” Alex raised a hand and rubbed the back of her head. “Man, I cracked my head good when I hit the floor. It sort of distracted me for a second out there.”
“Holy shit,” Brooke breathed. “You could feel your body? What was happening?”
“Yeah, I could feel you shaking me, Maryanne, then you checking me, Brooke, and then Maryanne again, taking my pulse. I could feel my heart jacking like crazy. But I couldn’t pull away when you grabbed my arm. I couldn’t talk or move. It was like I was completely conscious, but paralyzed.”
“Until I started reading Connie’s diary,” Maryanne said.
Alex looked at her sharply. “Did you hear me yell at you through the window?”
“No.” Maryanne shook her head.
“I called out to the both of you, just once.” She wet her lips. “I said, ‘I want in.’ And then... then I shot back in. Right through the glass.”
Maryanne sucked in a sharp breath. The window. If they’d broken it, would Alex have been able to get back? Or would she have been left trapped alive in her paralyzed body?
Maryanne looked closely again into Alex’s eyes. There was a pale circle of color now around the dark center. Her pupils were slowly returning to normal. From her breathing, she suspected Alex’s heart rate was normalizing too.
Alex stood first, raising the candle with her. She tucked Connie Harvell’s old diary back into her hoodie pocket. But this time, she tucked it deeper somehow. And judging by the bulge of her tense hand through the hoodie material, Maryanne knew she held it with more passion than ever. More possession. That diary wasn’t leaving Alex Robbins’s person anytime soon.
“You... you going to be okay, Alex?” Maryanne asked.
Brooke seemed to be waiting intently for the answer too.
Alex shrugged. “It’s strange. It’s... scary. And I don’t know how, but a real part of me left my body tonight. Just like what happened with Connie Harvell. The part of me in here on the floor was helpless. Scared. Couldn’t even cry out. I was voiceless, here. But the part of me out there... ” Alex looked to the window, past the sad Madonna who stood amongst the thorns. “I wasn’t so scared out there at all. You know?”
They all gazed toward the window for a moment. Alex was the first to turn away. Maryanne turned away too. But as she did, for the most fleeting of moments, she thought she glimpsed something. Something so pitch black against the star-filled sky, it looked empty. Maryanne blinked and looked again, but the sky beyond the window looked just as it should, velvety black and studded with stars.
She turned to follow Alex, who carried the candle, until she noticed Brooke still stood there, feet rooted to the floor, eyes on the window.
“Brooke?” Maryanne called. “You okay? Did you see something?”
The other girl shook her head. “No. I didn’t see anything. Let’s go.”
Chapter
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