Sapphire (3 page)

“You and me both, buddy.”

She felt like screaming, crying, raging
uncontrollably, but she blinked it back.
Don’t be weak.
Think!

She knew what she had to do. The only other option
was to wait and see if John and Mary would do as they promised, and
she had no desire to be there if they did. The old porch protested
her pounding footfalls when she ran up to the front door. Locked.
She threw a glare at the door like it was purposefully trying to
thwart her. She ran around back. The large elm tree had aided her
in many escapes, but this time it felt like she was climbing
into
prison. She swung from a branch, caught the windowsill
with her shoe, and crawled through her upper story window.

The house was silent except for her feet on the
creaking floorboards. The whole house creaked and groaned so much
it seemed miraculous that the structure hadn’t toppled over by now.
She took a few steps, then slumped down on her bed. She’d make her
plans in a few minutes. For now, she just needed to sit. Rainbows
from her CD-mobile danced around her room as she stared at her
hands. Had anyone else noticed? They had all seen her throw Krystal
into the wall, but had they seen the blue sparks of electricity
running down her arms? Had
she
actually seen that? Her hands
were starting to tremble and she clenched them into fists.

Something glinted on her dresser. For one moment she
forgot about the strange incident at school while she stared at the
glinting object. The bed springs creaked as she got up to examine
it. The edges of her vision swam with darkness, creating a
spot-light on the gleaming statue. She blinked rapidly and the
light-headedness retreated. It was only the length of her hand, but
the statue was incredibly heavy as she picked it up. She had never
seen it before and, most of all, it was something she had disliked
since she was teased about her keychain in fourth grade.

“A
unicorn
…what the?”

Shawna finally decided to leap out her bedroom
window, climb down the tree, and escape from whatever future had
been planned for her. She had briefly considered asking John and
Mary what was going on, but communication was never a strong point
of theirs, not to mention their conversation had truly frightened
her.

A wave of nausea hit her, almost bringing tears, but
she took a deep breath and held it back. If she let such thoughts
consume her she’d never climb out that window. Sinking sunlight
brought her back to the present. She had to leave, and soon, before
they returned. Her backpack had been undisturbed, so she assumed
they hadn’t noticed it. It now bulged with everything she’d need.
Her mind ran through the checklist one more time: Money,
check
. Mary’s jewelry to sell,
check
. Flashlight,
sleeping bag, batteries, food, she checked off a few more things
necessary to traveling on her own.

Like a bum.

She shook the overwhelming thought of having nowhere
to go, except hostels or bridges, until she figured things out. She
hoisted the pack onto her shoulder, determined to face her
decision. Even cold benches were better than being carted off by
strangers for some unknown reason. It was her life and she wouldn’t
let someone else, insane or otherwise, decide it for her.

The unicorn reflected the sunset off its horn as she
put it on the windowsill. It was delicately cast in iron with a
tiny silver horn and silver hooves. The pose it was caught in, like
it was galloping to freedom, made it look almost alive. She thought
at first maybe John or Mary had put it there, but she wasn’t sure
why. She wasn’t into unicorns, much less horses, at all, ever.
Skulls, weapons, and kung-fu movies were more her style, in spite
of what her not-parents thought.

They would be home soon.

Go!

She put her hands on the window frame and
hesitated.

The diamond cross.

How could she have forgotten about that. It was
probably worth a few thousand. Mary would kill her for that one,
but it wouldn’t be its monetary worth that would drive her into
hysterics.

She’ll probably damn me to a fiery abyss. Fine. I’ll
see her there.

She turned to rush downstairs, but the glint of
light caught her eye once more. Silver. The unicorn’s horn was
silver. Something else she could sell. With the statue in hand, she
went downstairs to John and Mary’s room.

“I should have done this a long time ago,” she
muttered, dropping the pack as she walked into their bedroom.

There was religious and spiritual paraphernalia
tacked all over the walls, partly to hide the peeling wallpaper.
The box was hidden under the floorboard with a tree-knot. She
yanked it up and reached down to extract the black box. Inside was
the large, extremely expensive, diamond-studded cross. It glittered
in the orange light like dozens of encapsulated suns. The door had
been cracked once, and Shawna had seen Mary pulling it out. She was
shocked because she’d never seen anything that expensive,
especially not in their house. Why did Mary hold onto such a thing
when they could hardly afford food?

The parrot started making a racket, then just as
quickly quieted. She would be glad if she never saw a parrot again.
She shoved the cross into the bag and nearly had a heart-attack.
There were footsteps on the porch.

She held her breath. When no other sounds of
creaking boards came from outside, she exhaled. The mountains on
the horizon held daylight for a few more minutes, then the house
slowly submerged into darkness. More aware of every muscle in her
body than ever before, she eased the backpack from the floor.

It felt like someone was out there, watching,
waiting
.
Another board squeaked from the porch. A wave of
panic consumed her, and she dashed to the side of the open bedroom
door, not wanting to be seen. She knocked something off the
nightstand. The fallen object made a loud thud on the worn out rug.
Cursing under her breath, she stooped to pick up the iron
unicorn.

Something scratched at the front door. She clutched
the statue tight. The sharp points of the mane dug into her palm as
she waited for another sound. A tiny whimper escaped her lips and
she clamped a hand over her mouth, trying to breathe shallowly. She
waited a few more minutes, then peered around the doorframe. The
scratching noise came again. Her spine tingled as a bead of sweat
trailed down it. Tears came to the edges of her eyes as she stared,
wide eyed, towards the front door. It was hard to tell in the
gloom, but she didn’t see anyone or anything through the front
window.

Maybe it was just a cat, or a dog.

She was about to flick on a light when the entire
door rattled from a loud,
thud!
Her eyes grew wider than
ever, she choked back a cry of terror, and her whole body went
numb. The silence that followed was more terrifying than the noise.
With quick trembling breaths, she took a step, then another. The
back door was blocked by Mary’s hoarding tendencies, but the stairs
weren’t far away. She could make it to her room and out the window.
Staring at the front door the entire time and inching as slowly and
quietly as possible, she made it to the first step. Her heart was
hammering so hard she was sure it could be heard all the way
outside. Glancing over her shoulder at every step, her eyes began
to make shapes in the murky night.

The stairs groaned under her feet and she winced.
Another step, one more step, she was almost there. Her breath stuck
in her throat every time she glanced into the darkness behind her.
She finally made it to the landing and had to hold herself back
from rushing to her bedroom. Quietly, she slid her hand along the
railing, transfixed on the darkness below, and only relaxed a
little when she finally stopped in front of her bedroom door. She
reached out a hand to turn the brass knob, and the front door
slammed open. She couldn’t hold back a yell as her heart hammered
to the point of exploding. She tried to open her door. She had
accidently left it locked from the inside.

“
No!”
she squeaked in a high voice.

She dropped to her knees and quickly raked her nails
across the little piece of wood that hid a key to her room.
Something heavy stepped inside, making muffled clicking sounds on
the wooden floors. The sound made no sense in her mind, and for a
second she slowed her frantic efforts to listen.
A dog?
The
thump and scrape of large claws on wood echoed up the stairwell,
followed by a deep growl. Whatever it was, it sounded bigger than a
dog and she quickly resumed trying to lift the piece of floorboard.
A splinter stuck under her nail. She stifled a painful cry and
finally pulled the key from its hiding spot. She heard snuffling
noises like it was smelling for her. With a trembling hand she
tried to quietly open her door. The key almost slipped from her
fingers, and she bit her lip to keep from cursing out loud. Barely
breathing, she turned the key in the lock. It clicked like a
gunshot.

The animal downstairs went silent, then another
menacing growl crawled through the dark. The sound iced through her
bones. Huge paws slowly thumped closer to the bottom of the stairs.
She couldn’t move. There was a moment of complete stillness, then
it leapt onto the stairs and pounded up them. Adrenaline shot
through her veins, shocking her into action as she flung open her
door and slammed it behind her. She was choking back tears, trying
to lock it again. When the creature crashed into the door, she
screamed and fell backwards as the hinges popped and splintered.
There were scrabbling claws and snarling from the other side as the
whole door rattled and shook. Her legs felt like lead.

Move.
She demanded of them.
Move. Move.
Move!

With every ounce of willpower, she half dragged
herself to the open window. The door was beginning to break as the
beast raged from the other side. A warm breeze cooled the tears
from her cheeks when she threw herself into the night. Blindly she
cast her arms wide, hoping to catch the tree, but instead crashed
into its trunk from her exaggerated leap. The backpack became
caught in the branches and yanked her arms back as she fell head
over heels. The air was knocked from her lungs. She gasped,
coughed, and looked up. The pack swung back and forth in the tree.
Her eyes traveled past its pendular motion to a dark mass crawling
out the window.

Placing giant paws on the windowsill, it gazed down
at her with red burning eyes. Her mind went blank from the surreal
horror of it all. It raised a massive bear-like head, tusks
protruding from its jowls, and a deep screeching roar, like grating
metal, erupted from its throat. Shawna’s entire body shook
uncontrollably. The monster turned its glowing eyes back to hers.
She was gasping and starting to sob. Why were her arms and legs so
heavy?
All she could manage was to crawl backward, like a
scuttling crab, though her mind screamed,
run!

Wood and glass splintered and shattered to the
ground. The monster landed with a heavy shuddering crunch. She
realized she had been holding the statue the entire time. In
desperate instinct, she launched the iron unicorn, her last
defense. There was a sickening crack as it collided with the
monster’s head, making it halt in surprise. It slowly lowered red
eyes towards her and snarled. Her heart sank to the stones beneath
her.

Her eyes stared into the monsters as it stalked her.
The longer she stared at them, the more she felt herself falling
into them. They weren’t just red, they were layers upon layers of
molten fire. This nightmare come to life was only a few yards away.
Its curved tusks, like tusks of some demonic boar, dripped with
saliva in the moonlight.

The moonlight, it glowed upon the little statue
lying in the dead grass. Shawna did not see the glow become
brighter, nor did the giant bear creature. The monster was now only
feet away. Flesh was missing along its face and body, exposing
muscle and bone, but all she could see were the twin fissures of
fire in its partially decayed skull.

There was a flash of light, the ground quaked, and
suddenly a large silhouetted shape lifted itself from swirling
white flames. The monster howled and leapt away as this dark
apparition dropped its horned head and thundered towards it. The
beast turned to defend itself, revealing rows of sharp fangs
shining like blades, but its attacker was too powerful. Before it
could clamp its jaws shut, a silver horn tore into it. Orange
cracks fractured along the monster’s body, then it quickly
evaporated into a mist and melded into the night. Shawna felt like
cold ore herself, unable to move or think. The new phantom turned
and strode towards her. She could only make out its dark form from
its silver hooves and single ethereal horn.