These Starcrossed Lives of Ours (4 page)

The story touched me, but it didn’t melt my icy exterior. I had heard the same thing in the place I grew up and had experienced a similar nightmare myself. This might be America, and I might have been born in preppy, rich Ann Arbor, but not everybody had food to eat or a roof to sleep under. There were people I knew who made my life look like the one of a pampered princess. They had nowhere to go, no one to love, and no way to survive.

Which of course is where the cult comes in. Annabelle, and all the others, feed on those types of people.

“You know, a lot of my relatives hate that I’m a social worker. Annoyed I’m the bleeding heart sort of deal,” he said, gesturing to the air as if they were right there. “But I’m glad that I did it. I mean, I’m doing something that makes a difference. I don’t get paid a lot of money or anything, but I’m working with kids to help give them better lives, and it rocks. I
love
helping people.”

There was no big surprise. I changed the channel and found a chick flick, settling on it for the night. Ian made no move to change it. I sighed. This poor kid was gonna run himself down. He didn’t realize that if you took care of people too much they used you in the end. Too bad he would have to find that out for himself.

“It’s great. I’m glad I found something I like doing for a job.” He beamed. “Did you have a job you liked, Christie?”

I paused. I had never really thought about having a career. Once Annabelle had brought me into her circle I figured I wouldn’t make it past twenty. Now that I was away from the cult my chances of survival were much greater than before. I was nineteen and I had absolutely no direction, no idea where I was going or what I was doing. I had no money and no home, no college picked out and not even a high school degree. I had nothing that would help get my life together. The only reason I was still alive was because of the stranger next to me. I didn’t know if I wanted a job, a husband, kids, a family, to travel the world, or any of that. I didn’t know if I wanted anything. I started to shake.

Ian noticed. He went to put a hand on my shoulder, but thought better of it and let it drop back down to the couch. “That’s okay,” he said. “You have a lot of time to figure it out. I mean, I’m twenty four and I just got it together. It’ll be alright.”

I took him at his word and tried to relax. After this, the rest of the night was pretty quiet. When the movie was almost over Ian got up and yawned. “I’m going to bed. What about you?”

I gestured to the TV to indicate I was going to finish watching it. Ian smiled sleepily at me and said, “Alright. Don’t stay up too late.”

He went to his bedroom door and I turned back to my movie. Before I could redirect my attention, however, I felt like Ian was watching me. I turned on my seat to look at him.

He rubbed his arm a little subconsciously before opening his mouth, and I could tell this wasn’t going to be good. “You know, you’re welcome to stay as long as you want,” Ian said awkwardly. “I’m not going to push you to move out or anything. I know you’re not certain about a job or anything yet, and it’s fine. I love that you sewed that stuff up for me, but you don’t have to pay me back or anything.”

He fidgeted. “Just…just think of this as your home, alright? We’re friends and what’s mine is yours.”

“We’re not friends,” I said softly.

For the first time since I had known him Ian was silent.

The air was so frigid that if a blade touched it, it would shatter. Ian stared back at me before sliding submissively back into his room. “Goodnight.”

That was all I heard from him as he shut the door.

Even though I regretted that I had hurt his feelings, I blocked the emotion out and did what I did best...turned to ice on the inside. I watched the rest of the movie and then got the couch ready for bed.

Even as I crawled under my blankets Ian’s comments were kept out by the wall I had constructed long ago. No matter what he did, this apartment would never be a home to me. I had never known what a home was before, and I wouldn’t now. The fact of the matter was that Ian was a red checker and I was a black. His soul was clean and mine was stained so badly you’d never be able to get the darkness out. My kind and his kind didn’t mix.

Ian needed to understand I would only hurt him. Why couldn’t he see that? And why, for the life of me, was I having trouble convincing myself of that too?

Chapter Three

Christine

The next morning Ian acted as if nothing had happened. We were eating dinner when he asked me a question. “Tomorrow’s Halloween. On Main Street the town likes to come and celebrate with all the trick-or-treaters. I’m usually around to help with the celebration. Would you like to come with me? Give you a chance to get out of this place.”

I put down my spoon and thought. Was I well enough, and more importantly, was it safe enough to go outside? Ian had bought me plenty of clothes, nice ones that I could easily disguise myself with. No one in the cult would recognize me easily. It’d be nice to see my surroundings, and besides, I had to admit I was tired of never seeing the sun. Something happened when a person was separated from nature for too long, and I didn’t like it.

I needed fresh air. I smiled back at him in response. Ian smiled back, and when he did I noticed something. When Ian smiled it was like the whole room sprung to attention and warmed up, a very welcoming and happy smile. “Alright then. I’ll be home early tomorrow, so be ready to leave.”

I finished off my soup. I intended to be.

I couldn’t help it. I had to laugh as Ian came out of his room with a wizards cap and a red cape on, complete with sparkling silver stars and a purple velvet robe.

“It’s for the kids,” he said. “I don’t usually dress up for Halloween.”

I snickered again and shook my head. As he moved to my side and bells started jingling from off his shoes, I couldn’t contain myself and I barreled over laughing.

Ian’s face turned a bit sour. “What, you think I’m some sort of nerd? I uh...borrowed this. It isn’t mine,” he said, turning red.

He was totally lying, but I would let him keep his pride. He opened the door and said, “Are you ready for this?”

What a stupid question. I pushed past him and we started down the stairs, me eagerly, although slowly. I was excited to figure out just exactly where I was. Hopefully it was far away from Ann Arbor...I grinned at the thought.

“You’re excited already,” he said. We got to the front door and he put a hand on it dramatically. “Drumroll please.” When I refused to give him one he sighed and said, “Alright, fine. Miss Christine Fjord, welcome to Manchester, Michigan.”

I was beaming as he opened the door, but once I saw where I was, my smile slipped off my face.

Ian’s apartment was located above a tiny shop on what I supposed to be Main Street. The tree with all its leaves had been blocking the window, so I never could see what the town looked like, but I could now. Buildings that looked like they had been built in the 1800’s crowded together up and down two sides of a road, sidewalks along it crowded with trick or treaters. The structures were so ancient I’m surprised they still stood. On the porch of an old mill...no seriously, I’m not kidding...an old saw mill, right on the left side in the middle of Main Street...volunteers were dipping and handing out candied apples to people who were lined up along the section of the street that branched off from the main road. The town was split, an old bridge for cars hovering over a large river that pooled into a waterfall by a Dairy Queen, orange and red trees surrounding the water and framing it like some sickly little picture.

Ian shut the door behind me and began pointing out things. “There’s the bar, the salon, the DQ, it’s only open a couple months out of the year so we can’t go, I’m sorry, uh...”

Ian continued listing off all the other venues. A small coffee shop, a post office, a few antique shops, a pharmacy, a bakery, a couple of other rag tag shops along with a Laundromat, and about five million pizza places. Why a town this tiny would need five million pizza places all within walking distance of each other, I would never know.

“And if you really want to get fancy, the Manchester Market is just down the road,” he informed me. “But the most beautiful view in town is next to the DQ right there, that’s where the River Raisin runs off. We’re in the middle of one of the largest sections of the river. In fact, we hold a canoe race every year.”

This wasn’t happening. This place felt like my worst nightmare. It literally looked like hell on earth. If Annabelle so much as walked into this tiny town, she’d find out exactly where I was hiding.

“You’re speechless. I knew you’d love it,” Ian said. “It’s only
twenty minutes
from Ann Arbor, which is great. It’s easy to go and see a movie or go to the mall if there’s not a game playing here in town. We love our football,” Ian said, before adding, “Maybe a little too much.”

I barely heard his last words.  This hick town was only twenty minutes away from the cult??? Twenty minutes wasn’t near far enough away, not even close. I tried telling myself to breathe, but every time I tried to take a breath, it felt like there was pure water in my lungs.

“Come on! I’ll give you the tour.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me through all the children in costumes and berated parents chasing after them. Besides them, I saw a gang of high schoolers in baggy pants and backwards snapbacks...potential victims? Did this town have its own cult? I gulped.

“Why are all these teenagers dressed like they’re from Detroit?” I asked in a squeaky voice.

“Oh, that’s just the style. Kids here either try to be a total redneck or all gangster. They’ll grow out of it,” Ian said casually, waving his hand.

These kids had probably never seen a ghetto, let alone lived in one. As he drug me through the crowds Ian began explaining things very rapidly. “This is a pretty big farming community. It’s how it got started, old German farmers coming here and growing crops, and others coming along and running the mill and all. I’m pretty new to the area, even though my family’s been here my entire life. We’ve lived on our farm for twenty years and they still call it the old Kiessler place, but that’s how it is here. You’ve got the same families living here since it began, and they all breed like rabbits. I can’t count how many relatives that my students have, half of the kids are related to one another. One thing you’ve gotta be careful about here is gossip. Word gets around in no time flat, and by the time you know it you did something you never did, you know what I’m saying?”

“Ian...” I said, but he cut me off.

“Oh, and one thing you HAVE to worry about is relationship issues. Everybody around here dates everyone else, and before you know it somebody’s telling you that they heard you’ve slept with half the town and they want to know if it’s true. If we’re not careful people will think we’re together, so let’s watch it, okay?”

“If people here talk so much why are you
holding my hand in front of everyone?”
I hissed.

Ian stopped, looked at our joined hands, and then dropped his grip hastily. “Oh. I guess I forgot to think about that. You don’t think anyone saw, did you?”

I hit my head with my hand.

“Well too late now anyway, best you can do is ignore whatever you hear,” Ian informed me happily. “You want to get a carmel apple? Or walk downtown? I usually pass out candy but I’ll skip this year for you.”

“No no, it’s fine,” I shook my head rapidly. “The kids are depending on you. I’ll just uh...take a look around.”

“I don’t want you getting lost. You don’t know anyone here,” he said, a frown on his face.

Like you could get lost in this town. Just keep walking and in about an hour you’d probably end up in the same spot you started at. “I won’t go past Main Street, and I can see the apartment from here,” I said. “I promise I won’t wander off.”

He hesitated before letting me go. “Fine. But meet me back here when you’re done, okay?”

“Yeah, I will,” I said, dismissing his words. I began walking in the opposite direction, up the road to the gas station. I wanted a pop or something...Ian had given me a twenty the first day he brought me here, and not having left the house I still hadn’t spent it. I planned to conserve it, but I knew that the longer I kept it the more and more suspicious Ian would get if he caught me with it unbroken. I didn’t want to spend his money, but I needed it for a bus ticket out of here. Fifteen dollars would do...I would just get a small soda and leave it at that.

As I walked into the gas station, I was floored. What the hell? There were liquor stores that had less booze than this gas station did! It filled up the whole back wall and a quarter of the store. Did all people have to do around here was drink? Manchester and Ann Arbor couldn’t be any different. I crept through all the trick or treaters and grabbed a orange pop from a cooler, heading to the cash register to pay.

The pop dropped out of my hand as I saw Landon standing in the corner of the store, looking at the energy drinks with a tired face.

I rushed to his side. I grabbed his arm and pulled him to a quieter part of the store, watching as his eyes grew wide as he stared at me. “Landon,” I hissed. “What are you doing here?”

“What are
you
doing here?” he asked me in return, glancing over his shoulder. “Holy shit Christie, we all thought you were dead!”

“I almost was. Does she know I’m here?” I squeaked in panic, looking around.

“No. She’s not with me, but a few of the others are. You had better get out of here before one of them spots you.” Although there were bags under his eyes, his face showed nothing but panic.

“Why are you here, Landon? Tell me the truth. I need to know,” I said quickly.

“Annabelle sent me,” he said. “Shit, I haven’t gotten sleep in days. She’s on some sort of new tirade. Asked us to come here and take a look around.”

“This small town? She’s bound to get caught here. How stupid is she?” I questioned.

“Don’t say she’s stupid,” Landon snapped, and I was taken aback. “You and I both know she’s the smartest person we’ve ever met.”

I couldn’t fight that. “Are you absolutely sure she didn’t send you to find me?”

“For crying out loud Christie, what did I just tell you?” he said, a little too loudly. “She’s not after you, she’s just looking to claim some new territory. It’s too dangerous to stay in Ann Arbor. The police are starting to get suspicious. We’re gonna have to move sometime.”

After all these years, the police were finally starting to catch up with Annabelle? Their timing couldn’t have been worse. I looked around. “Come with me. There has to be a place we can talk.”

“I can’t. I have to get this job done.”

“You’re exhausted, you obviously can’t do it very well. Why’d she pick you?”

“I volunteered.”

“Why?”

“You should know by now that there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for her, Christie.” Landon smiled, and the sleepiness showed through.             

I backed away. “You’re going to get yourself hurt, Landon.”

He chuckled. “I don’t think so. Now that you’re gone there’s an opening for her new right hand, and I’m the best candidate. You were her favorite.”

“Yeah, and look what happened to me,” I pointed out. “She used me, then tossed me aside, after leaving me for dead in the streets.”

“You were the one who chose to leave.”

“Are you saying that me getting attacked was my fault?” I asked, outraged.

“I don’t know what I’m saying, okay? I’m tired, I want to finish scouting around and I want to give a good report so I can get some sleep,” Landon said. “Listen, it’s been nice seeing you again, Christie. Hopefully we’ll meet up again later.”

“If Annabelle moves in here I’m gone,” I threatened. “You won’t see me.”

Landon began walking towards the door. Before he left me alone, he said, “You know, Annabelle wants you back. You hurt her when you left. She thinks you’re dead. I bet if you came back to the cult she’d take you in again. You might still have a chance with her.”

My heart pounded. The last sentence he had given me caused my heart to both fall apart and be resurrected in hope at the same time.

I did the only thing that made sense at the time and ran. I ran to get away from that small town, from Ian, from Landon and from everything. I was no longer safe here. But no matter how fast I ran I could never get away from Annabelle. Her ghost followed me around every turn, haunting me as it had for the past three years, and she was making me lose my mind. I never should’ve met Ian...I was grateful for everything he had done, but no matter what he did to help me I was still me and I was dangerous. People like me tended to get everybody else around them hurt. I was better off on my own, away from people.

There was only room for one person in my life, and Annabelle had taken it. Everyone else played second fiddle.

Going north wasn’t an option. I opted to go south, as far as I could get. After all, I wouldn’t freeze to death sleeping on the streets there.

I began heading out of town, down the long highway next to the high school after I got away from Main Street. I ran the whole length, as far as I could until I nearly collapsed. I wasn’t thinking clearly, but driven by fear I harshly put one foot in front of the other until my heart felt like it would burst. I had nothing but the clothes I was wearing. Ian had planned on making me dinner. As a trailer passed me on the road a couple of cows mooed from the inside, and I vaguely wished that I was with them.

It had been about two hours before I realized I had gone in a circle. By this time, it was night. I had stumbled into a cornfield and somehow wandered my way back to Main Street, my eyes never seeing anything but Annabelle’s willing face, my feet unable to stop. By this time of night the town was deserted. I walked down the center of the road, stumbling as if drunk, hoping a car would come and end this nightmare.