Amber Eyes (21 page)

“Let me go!” she struggled to set herself free. “Let me go!”

“Understood?”

“Yes, yes! I understand! Let me go!”

The cop released her, wiping his hand on his uniform. Then he pointed at her with the same finger. His tone remained as cold as ice. “Don’t try my patience. If you stay in town, I’ll personally put you away. Take with you as many of your boyfriends as you wish, the full A to Z list, but don’t ever come back to Abbeville.”

She backed off some steps, actually climbing the staircase backwards, bringing her arms to her chest. “You’ve gone mad, Edward! I haven’t had that many boyfriends. It’s been only you.”

“I’ve spoken.” He was already dashing downstairs. “And remember to take your girl with you. I don’t believe I’m her father. I could never trust your word on that—you have bedded so many men! I bet she’s somebody else’s. Be responsible for once in your life and take care of
your
mistake
.”

“Our mistake,” she yelled. “Alexandra is our mistake. She’s yours even if you deny it, and you know it. Someday I’ll ditch her!”

She turned and faced the window, giving his back to him. The flashing lights from outside hit her face and my heart stopped. Actually, the whole planet stopped rotating. I tried to yell, but no air was left inside me. I could only blink. I flapped my eyelashes fast like hummingbird wings because I wanted to wipe my eyes and clear my vision.

The smirking woman in front of me was Laura, my mother.

July 4, 00:17 pm

I couldn’t tell how much time I stood frozen, cringing by the banister. It could have been hours, it could have been minutes. Mom, if it’d really been my mother, left walking down the hall and entered her bedroom. Her silky nightgown drifted behind her, along with a strong lavender waft.

When she slammed her door, everything disappeared at once: the lights, the murmur of voices from outside, the cop striding down the hall to the door… everything. Poof! I was left alone in sheer silence and darkness, holding onto the banister with shivering hands. My heart pounded like a drum, almost cutting through my ribs. Omigod! What the hell had all that been?

Two explanations came to my mind. One, that I’d simply gone mad and need to be institutionalized at once—not a bad idea given the circumstances. The other was a li’l bit more complicated.

Once, on the Discovery Channel, I watched this program about a kid’s ghost who haunted a pond in Alabama. He’d drowned there 20 years ago and the people were freaking out because of his ghost, so a pro ghost-buster was called. Believe it or not, the guy concluded there was no ghost at all. He said that when dreadful things happen, negative energy is puked in all directions and later dissipates in the air. However, in closed places, such as underwater in a pond, or inside a house, the negative energy gets trapped.

The poor kid had produced tons of first class negative energy while he fought to stay afloat before he drowned. All of it got trapped in the pond and probably would remain there forever. Every night, the energy recreated an image of the events that happened in the pond, which the town folks mistook for ghosts. It created an image of the dead kid, and even of the living people—like the kid’s parents or his relatives. That was the reason why living people had been seen near the pond at nights when they had really been at their homes watching TV.

All those people I’d just seen must have been some sort negative energy. Negative energy taking the form of alive and dead folks. Negative energy trapped in this home, surfacing and recreating past events. Mom had told me my dad had passed away because of an accident. Now I thought I knew what kind of accident it’d been, and why she seldom spoke of it. The idea made my blood run cold.

I’d just learned Mom’s little secret, but I didn’t know what to do with it. Part of me already hated Mom for pushing him and part of me forgave her because it’d been an accident. They’d also talked about me, but I couldn’t grasp that part. Had she hinted I was the cop’s child? It made no sense. Mom had had many boyfriends, but only after my dad’s death. She’d remained a loyal wife while married to him, hadn’t she?

No. It didn’t mattered if she remained a loyal wife or not. Deep inside me, intuition told me Aaron Zimmerman was my dad. Woman intuition, which it’s never mistaken.

My cell phone’s chime made me scream. In the absolute silence that had descended on the house, the phone’s ringtone felt as out of place as a clown telling jokes at a funeral. With clumsy fingers, I pulled the phone out of my pocket and almost dropped it—I was sure the battery had died around noon. On its screen, it read:
Laura
.

The phone’s continuous ringing was like coarse sandpaper to my nerves. My first impulse was to throw the damned phone down the stairs so it would break beyond repair. I fidgeted with it in my fingers, feeling its vibration through my hands and wrists. Should I answer? For what purpose? She wouldn’t talk again; she’d only mock me. Besides, how could I ever talk to her, or look at her in the eyes after what I knew now: that committed murder? I’d killed Yago. She’d turned me into her. That’s what she’d done. We were both cold blood murderers.

Hate burst inside me. I would never, ever, forgive Mom… Laura. I wouldn’t call her Mom anymore. Moreover, I’d answer the phone and blame her for what she’d done. I’d scream at her for putting me in a position where murder turned into the only option. Courage built up inside me. I’d skin her alive. I pressed the phone’s green key and barked, “Mom? Is that you?”

Silence.

Her muteness only encouraged my boldness. “Mom, talk to me or don’t call me again. Period. I want nothing to do with you. You have so much to explain about my father, and about a certain cop.”

“You don’t have to be so rude, darling…”

Omigod! I shivered and felt cold all over my body, like my skin was made of ice. It was not Laura’s voice. It was
his
voice.

“Cat got your tongue, Alexandra? Don’t you know who am I?”

My heart started to beat loudly. A lump in my throat barely allowed me to whisper, “Yago?”

A cackle came out of the phone. “Bingo, darling!”

I had to hold to the stairway’s banister because suddenly my legs couldn’t support me anymore. I collapsed in slow motion and ended up kneeling on the landing. I passed the cell phone from one hand to the other, from one ear to the other.

“But… you’re… dead,” I babbled gnashing my teeth, fascinated and terrified. Either he was dead and this call came from the afterworld, or alive, and then I had nothing to worry about anymore.

“That’s what you’d like, but lemme disappoint you. I’m alive and kicking.”

The ton of guilt under which I’d been buried since several days ago vanished in the air. “Omigod, that’s wonderful!”

I burst out laughing. I couldn’t help it. I dropped the cell phone and covered my mouth with my two hands, trying to control myself. I laughed, and laughed, and laughed. Spasms traveled all my muscles and I shivered like an epileptic, holding my stomach. Tears of happiness sprung from my eyes.

“Alexandra, are you still there?” Yago’s electronic voice came out the cell phone, a living reminder that I’d nothing to fear anymore. The police would stop looking for me. They’d never arrest me. I’d never go to jail. I only had to wait until this stupid camp would end and go directly to Jenny’s home and move in with her. I wasn’t like my mother!

I picked the cell phone from the floor. I was the happiest girl on Earth. “Yes, I’m here. I’m so glad you’re alive!”

He laughed a harsh cackle. When he spoke, menace lingered in his voice. “You owe me one. You almost murdered me.”

“I owe you one? And what about you? You wanted to do me dirty things.” Something struck me as odd. “Why do you have Mom’s cell phone?”

He cackled again, and this time, it chilled my blood. The previous relief started to fade out. “It was in the trailer, princess. Didn’t you notice she left it behind? She never took it with her. She wanted nothing to do with you; you’ll never hear from her again. It’s only you and me now. I’ve been trying to contact you for a few days now, but this phone is a piece of crap. Dirty things you say? You don’t know what I have in mind. You’ll pay for what you did to me.”

“No. You will pay. I’ll tell the cops everything.”

“The cops? Ha! I’m the only one who can save you now. The damned cops are looking for you all around the country, don’t you know? You assaulted me, assaulted old Mrs. Olsen, and stole my money. That’s a pretty nice list of offenses. Could well place you in jail for the rest of your life, don’t you think, baby girl?” His tone changed from menacing to cajoling, just as it’d been
that
night. “But I can help you if you wish.”

I wiped the tears on my cheeks with my palm. My face should have been a dirty mess. “I’m far away…”

“Of course, you are. You had to run. I’d have run if I were you. I’m sure you thought you got me, but the devil looks after his own. You almost killed me, almost. You destroyed my face. After the stitches come out, I’ll be scarred for life…”

“I didn’t mean to hurt you.” The empty mansion echoed my words. I licked my lips. I wanted to hang up.

“If you didn’t mean to hurt me, darling, then tell me what you call smashing a TV on my face? Everything is a huge mess and the police are investigating. The social security took the twins in custody. You’ll pay for that. Either I get what I wanted that night, or you’ll go to jail.”

His statement stole my breath. He still wanted to have sex with me. I jumped to my feet with one hand to my chest. I paced the landing.

I am safe. He doesn’t know I’m here, and whatever I might have done, it’s nothing compared to murder.

I wondered whether I should run away again. I still had money. How about fleeing to Mexico? I could start a new life in Tijuana. I’ve heard you don’t even need a passport.

“Darling, are you still there?” Yago asked. “I wanna cut a deal with you. I can be your witness and even convince Mrs. Olsen to withdraw her charges.”

“I didn’t assault Mrs. Olsen!”

He laughed. “She thinks otherwise. Of course, she didn’t know I was lying badly wounded inside and never expected your attack. Am I wrong?” He cackled again.

I gulped. I didn’t know where this conversation would take us, and whether it was worth having it. All I could sense was some underlying danger. “When she climbed the steps to the trailer I pulled her down because I didn’t want her to go inside…”

“Of course you wanted to stop her.” He started to cackle as if what we were discussing was funny. “She was about to discover your little crime.”

No. It hadn’t been like that. However, if everybody believed so, I really was in trouble. “No, Yago! She fell backwards and hit her head on the ground. It was an accident!”

An accident like Laura’s pushing Dad out of the window. Omigod! What would have happened if Mrs. Olsen would have died?

“Sure it was,” Yago said in his cajoling tone. “I believe you. Told you I’m on your side. But I’m not sure if a jury would believe you. Smashing a TV in a dude’s face is still a serious crime. They’ll give you 20 years, give or take.”

“Nobody knows where I am,” I shouted. “They’ll never get me.”

“That’s not exactly correct. Lemme tell you a secret: I know exactly where you are.”

My hair bristled. “You’re… kiddin’.”

“Oh, I’m not,” he cackled again, as if very amused. “Tell me if I’m wrong, darling: you’re in a place called Magnolia Hall, in Abbeville, standing at the top of a huge stairway.”

Omigod! He was somewhere inside the mansion. I felt like the temperature had dropped several degrees—like being outside right after it’d snowed. I glanced everywhere. Where was he? Why wasn’t he in a hospital? Okay, I’d been stupid enough to leave every clue I was coming to Abbeville but—then I realized it; I’d told him. If he had Laura’s phone, last night the one who called had been him when I thought it’d been Laura. I’d told him where I was and with whom. How stupid! Always a loser, just like Daniel claimed.

“Where are you?” I shouted, not in the phone but into the darkness around me.

The darkness didn’t answer me though, but Yago’s voice coming out of the phone. “You guessed right, sweetheart, I’m close to you now. It was difficult to flee from that hospital because the cops kept an eye on me, but I managed to do it. I’m sure your dirty dike brain is super proud because you finally managed to pass for a boy, but you’ll never fool me. Remember, in small towns like this one, strangers are always noticed, especially when they break into other people’s houses and loot the place.”

He couldn’t be talking about my breaking into Grandma’s house, was he? “I stole nothing from my grandma’s! Only the clothes, but she was giving them away anyway.”

“Oops! Then it might have been me,” Yago cackled. “I might have borrowed some jewelry. Fortunately, I won’t have to give any explanations but you. You were the one who talked to a neighbor who can easily recognize you when the cops ask.”

He had to be kidding. He hadn’t really broken into my Grandma’s home, stolen jewelry, and planned to blame it on me, had he? Never mind. What I had to focus on was on his presence inside this house. I tiptoed down the stairs, moving away from the starlight pouring in through the window. My plan was to make no sudden movements until I reached the staircase’s foot. Then I would sprint. The main hall was too dark. He wouldn’t see me.

“Baby, are you still there?” This time, his voice didn’t come out of the phone. It thundered everywhere within the mansion. My heartbeat skyrocketed.

When I reached the last step, I glanced left and right, trying to breach the scary-movie darkness. He was nowhere to be seen—at least not downstairs. If he was in fact recovering from some sort of surgery, I had a good chance of outrunning him. Once outside, I could easily hide in the tall grass before I reached the forest.

I counted to three and then sprinted at top speed, aiming directly at the open space left by the missing door. My bare feet ached as they slammed the parquet while I dashed. I passed by the dead chandelier’s corpse and bolted even faster. The exit stood in front of me within reach—I’d almost made it. I could see the faint starlight seeping inside. Faster, I needed to run faster and I’d be free.