front of me and looked into my face, his eyes worried. “You okay?”
“I’m just tired,” I stammered.
“Let’s go. I’ll take you home.”
We turned, heading back the way we came, and as I lifted my gaze from the path I saw the auburn hair again, framing a pale, oval face, and large brown eyes.
When I blinked, she was gone. Only a pocket of steadily circling fog remained where she had been only a moment before.
This time I didn’t say a word.
***
We rode to Delia’s house in silence. I was so tired, and the fact that Eliza and Kerry were both missing weighed heavily on me. I couldn’t help thinking that we were somehow connected. I wanted to reach out with my psychic fingers and feel around in Mick’s mind again, but I was too exhausted, and I knew that the fallout from it would leave me utterly useless for at least the rest of the day.
I felt his hand on my arm. “You okay?”
I offered a small smile. “I will be. I just need a rest.”
“Do you want me to go in with you? I can just hang out on the couch. Watch the tube. It’s really no problem, Lore.”
He’d taken to calling me “Lore,” which made me feel warm inside, despite the frightened, fatigued state I was in. Hearing it on his lips felt intimate and I wanted to sidle to him and lay my face on his chest and just cry.
The hesitation was enough for him. He opened his door. “I’m coming in while you rest. Don’t try to argue.”
I didn’t argue. Instead, I felt relieved that I wouldn’t be alone. I didn’t know where Delia had gone or how long she’d be gone for, but hours alone in her house made me nervous. She’d made me promise not to go anywhere alone, just as Mick had done, and to call her if I needed a ride. Bolting all the doors was normal for me, even though most people around here didn’t feel the need to do that. When a town goes years, even decades, without anything bad happening, you’re about due. And besides, I wasn’t just anyone.
As I fished around in my leather jacket pocket for the house key, something dark slithered past my peripheral vision. My breath caught in my throat as I turned to see where it had gone. Just as it had in the school parking lot earlier, it had vanished.
“What?” Mick sounded alarmed next to me. “What is it?”
“I thought I saw something again.”
“Come on.” He took the key from my shaking fingers. “Let’s get you inside.”
Let’s get you inside .
Either Mick was extremely nice and caring, or he knew something I didn’t.
I turned to him, looking him in the eye. “What about you?”
“What?” He opened the door. “What about me?”
“Why are you just concerned about getting me inside? Why aren’t you afraid for yourself?”
“Because it’s girls disappearing, Lorelei. Not guys.”
And he thought I might be losing it.
He had a point. I had to get some rest.
“Sorry. I’m just shot.” I walked into the house, happy for the warmth.
“It’s okay. I’d be jumpy and mistrustful, too.”
He didn’t know the half of it.
Still, I decided that as soon as I woke from a nice nap, I’d do some more exploring in Mick’s mind.
See what he was hiding.
***
I slept like the dead. But somewhere in the midst of my coma-like sleep, I had a dream. Eliza and Kerry stood in Saint Claire’s cemetery, watching Mick and I as we walked in. I looked tired. Worried. Mick looked concerned. They stood behind the large gravestone, behind the red-haired girl who watched us. She peered out around the stone. I could see her narrow back, clad in a gauzy black blouse. She wore black jeans and black tall boots. The ethereal silvery fog moved around her legs and circled her torso, and I thought I saw otherworldly shapes of hands moving through it.
“Lurker,” Kerry whispered to Eliza.
Eliza nodded, and then lifted a finger to point at a charcoal mass of swirling smoke moving, low to the ground and wrapping around gravestones as it moved toward Mick and
“I’m just tired,” I stammered.
“Let’s go. I’ll take you home.”
We turned, heading back the way we came, and as I lifted my gaze from the path I saw the auburn hair again, framing a pale, oval face, and large brown eyes.
When I blinked, she was gone. Only a pocket of steadily circling fog remained where she had been only a moment before.
This time I didn’t say a word.
***
We rode to Delia’s house in silence. I was so tired, and the fact that Eliza and Kerry were both missing weighed heavily on me. I couldn’t help thinking that we were somehow connected. I wanted to reach out with my psychic fingers and feel around in Mick’s mind again, but I was too exhausted, and I knew that the fallout from it would leave me utterly useless for at least the rest of the day.
I felt his hand on my arm. “You okay?”
I offered a small smile. “I will be. I just need a rest.”
“Do you want me to go in with you? I can just hang out on the couch. Watch the tube. It’s really no problem, Lore.”
He’d taken to calling me “Lore,” which made me feel warm inside, despite the frightened, fatigued state I was in. Hearing it on his lips felt intimate and I wanted to sidle to him and lay my face on his chest and just cry.
The hesitation was enough for him. He opened his door. “I’m coming in while you rest. Don’t try to argue.”
I didn’t argue. Instead, I felt relieved that I wouldn’t be alone. I didn’t know where Delia had gone or how long she’d be gone for, but hours alone in her house made me nervous. She’d made me promise not to go anywhere alone, just as Mick had done, and to call her if I needed a ride. Bolting all the doors was normal for me, even though most people around here didn’t feel the need to do that. When a town goes years, even decades, without anything bad happening, you’re about due. And besides, I wasn’t just anyone.
As I fished around in my leather jacket pocket for the house key, something dark slithered past my peripheral vision. My breath caught in my throat as I turned to see where it had gone. Just as it had in the school parking lot earlier, it had vanished.
“What?” Mick sounded alarmed next to me. “What is it?”
“I thought I saw something again.”
“Come on.” He took the key from my shaking fingers. “Let’s get you inside.”
Let’s get you inside .
Either Mick was extremely nice and caring, or he knew something I didn’t.
I turned to him, looking him in the eye. “What about you?”
“What?” He opened the door. “What about me?”
“Why are you just concerned about getting me inside? Why aren’t you afraid for yourself?”
“Because it’s girls disappearing, Lorelei. Not guys.”
And he thought I might be losing it.
He had a point. I had to get some rest.
“Sorry. I’m just shot.” I walked into the house, happy for the warmth.
“It’s okay. I’d be jumpy and mistrustful, too.”
He didn’t know the half of it.
Still, I decided that as soon as I woke from a nice nap, I’d do some more exploring in Mick’s mind.
See what he was hiding.
***
I slept like the dead. But somewhere in the midst of my coma-like sleep, I had a dream. Eliza and Kerry stood in Saint Claire’s cemetery, watching Mick and I as we walked in. I looked tired. Worried. Mick looked concerned. They stood behind the large gravestone, behind the red-haired girl who watched us. She peered out around the stone. I could see her narrow back, clad in a gauzy black blouse. She wore black jeans and black tall boots. The ethereal silvery fog moved around her legs and circled her torso, and I thought I saw otherworldly shapes of hands moving through it.
“Lurker,” Kerry whispered to Eliza.
Eliza nodded, and then lifted a finger to point at a charcoal mass of swirling smoke moving, low to the ground and wrapping around gravestones as it moved toward Mick and
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