Scary Mary (13 page)

“
Ooh, someone’s been to
therapy.”

“
I wouldn’t talk, little Miss Landa’s pet.
Is he writing a book on you or something?”

“
I go because I have this nasty habit of
bucking the system by righting injustices and punishing those who
richly deserve it. The hegemony doesn’t like it, and what they
don’t like must be wrong.”

“
Do you even know what hegemony
means?”

“
Do you?”

Vicky’s eyes darted away, and she shook her
head. “You are so screwed up. That is why Cy dumped you. Oh wait,
you two never went out. My mistake.”

Her hand curled around her tube of mascara. She
told herself that she wasn’t going to take a swing at Vicky. It
would land her into more trouble than she wanted. But it was
tempting. Very tempting.

“
Anyway, I have to go. Nice chatting with
you. I hope you find some nice dead things to keep you company.
Everyone deserves someone, and I’m sure there are some lovely
losers for you at the cemetery. Why don’t you spare yourself any
future humiliation and stick with your own kind? He may have hung
with you for a second, but he knows better now.”

She stared at Vicky and kept her eyes trained on
her. She had to keep from blinking or tears might spill. She wished
she didn’t let her words cut her like they did, but the cuts were
bleeding. Vicky took one last look in the mirror and fluffed her
hair. When Vicky finally left, Mary turned back to the mirror, and
from her new angle, the black circle was around her reflection, and
her reflection stared at her, and she stared back it. There wasn’t
anything more to say.

She trudged back to class. The paddle hung at
her side. She wasn’t watching where she was going so when she
turned a corner, she ran face first into someone. She stumbled
back. When she saw that the someone was Kyle, she raised the paddle
up defensively. He was the last person she’d wanted to see.

“
Watch where you’re going,
freak.”

She rolled her eyes and moved to step around
him. Kyle mirrored her move and blocked her. Mary let out a huff.
“Sorry, Kyle.”

“
Yeah, you should be.” She rolled her eyes
again. She didn’t need this. Not right after her encounter with
Vicky. “Don’t roll your eyes at me.”

“
Or what?”

“
Or I’ll make you sorry.”

Mary’s eyes narrowed, and she purposefully
rolled her eyes again. Kyle lashed out and grabbed the paddle,
shocking her. She hadn’t expected him to get physical. She held on
tight to the paddle. She had a feeling that letting him have it
would be a very bad idea. “Let it go, Kyle,” she said through
clenched teeth.

He sneered. “Or what?”

“
Look, I don’t want any trouble, but if
you don’t let go, I’ll give you some.” It was big talk, but she
wasn’t going to back down.

He smirked and pulled the paddle and
subsequently her closer. They were nose-to-nose or rather
nose-to-neck since Kyle was taller. She could read the inscription
on the gold locket peeking out of Kyle’s button collar: ‘Together
Forever’ She briefly wondered who would’ve given that to him and
hoped that the girl had reneged on the offer.

Kyle leaned over her and said into her ear, “Let
me tell you something, Mary. I can do whatever I want to whomever I
want. I can do anything that I want.”

“
Boy, do you need a reality
check.”

He looked her up and down contemptuously. “And
who’s going to give it to me?”

“
Well, if you’re looking for volunteers.”
She shoved him with the paddle, but he’d anticipated the move. He
took a step back and swung her around, so that her back hit the
wall and pinned her. She was trapped between a wall and a jerkface.
Not what she’d planned.

“
Face it Mary, I’m better than you. You
might not accept it, but you’ll always be nothing,” he
said.

Her eyes narrowed. In a low voice, she spat out,
“Listen you egotistical, testosterone deluded, wanna-be big man: I
am NOT nothing. I don’t care what you think or what anyone else
thinks and that’s what makes me special. You, on the other hand,
pander to anyone or anything if you think that will make you more
accepted. It’s so pathetic and stupid. They should make people like
you ride the short bus.”

Kyle’s face twisted in anger. He opened his
mouth to say something back, but voices coming down the hall
stopped him. She saw her chance. She jerked the paddle from his
grasp and slipped a couple of safe steps away. Two guys walked by
them. They gave Kyle and her curious glances but kept going. She
fell into step behind them, leaving Kyle behind. The paddle shook
in her hands.

The lunch bell rang as she reentered class. She
collected her books to go outside and meet up with Rachel. She
slung her bag onto her shoulder and lowered her head for her usual
foray into the halls, but for once, all of the stares and whispers
were comforting because if they were watching her then maniacal,
fat-headed bullies, otherwise known as Kyle, couldn’t trap her
alone and make nasty threats.

Rachel was sitting in their usual spot outside.
She was already eating and had a textbook open in front of her. She
flopped down across from her. “Hey,” she greeted. Rachel gave her a
flick of the eyes and returned to her book. She didn’t notice
Rachel’s silence. She was still off center after her run-ins with
Vicky and Kyle. Vicky said Cy didn’t believe her at all. No, he
didn’t just not believe her, he was laughing at her. Well, she
hadn’t expected him to call a priest for an exorcism just on her
claims, but his total rejection of her abilities rattled her. He’d
seen the Ouija board. She’d shown him the newspaper articles. What
more could she do to prove his house was haunted? Then there was
Kyle...She didn’t know what his problem was. She was used to people
antagonizing her, but Kyle seemed to want to do more than
antagonize her. Frankly, he was starting to scare her, and Mary
didn’t scare easily.

She pulled out her lunch and munched
contemplatively. Ricky was the reason she was in this mess, but she
didn’t know how to deal with him. Maybe he wasn’t such a big threat
anymore. He certainly hadn’t paid any attention to her when she’d
called to him during her third visit.

“
Gran said she’d make some stuff up to
help against Ricky. But how am I going to give the stuff to Cy? He
thinks I’m nuts as it is. Trying to make him take a juju bag or a
charm is going to be impossible. Maybe we could slip it into his
backpack?” Mary turned to Rachel to see what she
thought.

“
Why the sudden interest in helping
Cy?”

Her eyebrows scrunched together. “What do you
mean sudden? Isn’t this what we’ve been doing for a week now?”

“
Yeah, but before I had to pull you
kicking and whining to do anything. Has something new
happened?”

Mary thought about her run-in with Kyle, but she
didn’t really feel like telling Rach about that less than stellar
moment, and it really didn’t have any bearing on the Ricky problem.
“No, but I figure a few charms couldn’t hurt.”

“
Humph.” Rachel turned back to her
book.

Mary was getting tired of the passive-aggressive
treatment. “What’s wrong with you?”

Rachel snapped her book shut. “I don’t know. Why
don’t you tell me? Because obviously there must be something wrong
with me.”

“
What? I don’t know what you’re talking
about.”

“
Well, that makes two of us.”

Mary laughed, which was the wrong response.
Rachel began shoving her stuff into her book bag. “What’s going
on?”

“
That’s what I’d like to know,” Rachel
said.

Mary was even more confused. “Nothing’s going
on.”

“
Like nothing happened at Cy’s
house?”

That again? She took a deep breath. “Nothing
happened at his house. Ricky didn’t say anything. I swear.”

“
You’re not telling me
everything.”

“
What am I not telling you?”

“
How am I supposed to know?”

“
Then how do you know I’m not telling you
everything?”

Rachel’s eyes narrowed. “You’re not going to
spill are you?”

“
Spill WHAT!”

Rachel jerked her book bag on and stood up. “I
don’t want to talk to you anymore until you’re ready to tell
me.”

“
Tell you what?” But Rachel turned and
strode to the school entrance.

“
Rach!” She entered the school without a
glance back. Mary sat there in bewilderment. Jeez, she didn’t need
this today. What was Rach so sure Mary wasn’t telling her? She
grabbed her stuff and tried to catch up with her, but she’d
disappeared. She scowled at how crappy her day was turning out and
headed for her locker.

As she approached, she saw a folded piece of
paper sticking out of a vent. She plucked the paper out and opened
it. She was expecting a rude poem or maybe a drawing, but instead
it was a note.

Mary,

Ditch school and meet me at my house. I found
something you have to see.

--Cy

She didn’t think twice about ditching school.
Whatever Cy had found had to be important. It could be Ricky’s
anchor. If it were, she really didn’t want him messing with it. A
ghost was very protective of its anchor, it being the ghost’s only
tie to the physical plane. If someone destroyed the anchor, the
ghost would have to move on, and Ricky hadn’t shown any inclination
of heading toward the light.

She wished she could tell Rachel about the new
development, but she couldn’t waste time looking for her. Cy could
be in trouble if he had found Ricky’s anchor. Mary wondered what it
was. As she’d told Rachel the other day, anchors could be
anything.

Chapter 12

Showdown

She speed walked to Cy’s house. She’d dumped all
of her things in her locker and walked straight out of school. She
was a mess of nerves. She wasn’t worried about missing school. She
couldn’t care less. She was worried about what she’d find. She
wished he’d come and gotten her instead of leaving her that note to
meet him.

When she got there, she saw that there weren’t
any cars in the driveway. His parents were still at work, and Kyle
was still at school. The thought of Kyle made her shudder. That guy
had serious anger management issues. When she went up to the door,
she noticed it was open a crack. She knocked on it anyway, but no
one appeared. She pushed the door open.

“
Cy?”

There was no answer. Frowning, she entered the
house.

“
Hello?” she called. There was still no
answer. There was only one place she could think of that Cy could
be and not answer her--The basement. She went through the living
room to the basement door.

She stopped at the door with her hand on the
knob. She was beginning to get a sinking feeling. If Cy were all
right and waiting for her, he would’ve popped up by now. The
thought that Ricky might have done something to him made her
stomach twist, and now, the homicidal ghost was down there waiting
for the next unsuspecting victim to show up, but Mary was not a
victim.

She moved to the kitchen cabinets and looked
through them. She found a heavy cast iron skillet. She wouldn’t be
able to hurt Ricky directly with it, but it might be able to
destroy his anchor. She went back to the basement door and opened
it slowly. The basement light was already on. Someone had been down
there or still was.

She considered calling out to Cy again but bit
her tongue instead. She was afraid of who might answer. She crept
down the stairs with her ears perked for any noises. She froze when
she heard something scrape against the floor. She didn’t hear
anything else as she tensely waited. She continued down the stairs
one step at a time. She finally reached the basement floor and
peered around. There was no sign of him.

“
Cy?” she whispered. When no answer came,
she took a few tentative steps from the stairs and slowly scanned
the room. Where was he? Her hand tightened on the
skillet.

“
Ricky, what have you done?” she
whispered.

From under the stairs, a pair of beefy arms
clamped down around her and picked her up. She gasped in shock. She
hadn’t expected an earthly attack.

“
Well, if isn’t the witch,” a nasty voice
said. “Were you going to fix me some eggs? Sorry, but I’m not
hungry.”

She struggled to get free, but all she managed
to do was drop the frying pan. It thumped to the ground below her
dangling feet.

“
Let me go, Kyle!”

“
Why? I like you just where you are.” He
chuckled and squeezed her tighter. She kicked back, and her heels
hit his shins.

“
Stop that!”

“
And what are you going to do with
me?”

Kyle chuckled and bounced her a little in his
arms. “Oh, I don’t know. Play house maybe.”

“
Not interested.” She threw her head back
and hit him square on the nose.

He let out a yowl and dropped her. His hand went
to his bleeding nose. She scrambled away. Kyle blocked the stairs.
She knew she couldn’t get by him. Her eyes locked on the frying pan
sitting on the floor. “I’ll get you for that!” he yelled.

He lunged at her with blood still streaming down
his face. He wasn’t just acting like a homicidal maniac anymore, he
now looked like one. She dodged his lunge and scooped up the fallen
frying pan. She turned back to face him with it in a two handed
grip.