The Vanishing Stone (2 page)

                She was finally free. The beach at night felt like her real home. Although, she wished it was warmer, she was grateful to be there. It was a place she could think, without even trying, a place to clear her head. None of the other girls knew that she came here. They were all asleep by the time she would leave at night. Her normal spot was by a collection of rocks a little ways down the beach from the lighthouse.

   
              She was walking along, Converse shoes kicking the sand and something made her stop. There was a voice behind her, “What the hell are you doing here, Soter?” Nikoleta turned around and it was Mandy and her crew. How did they know she was here? Were they following her? They were by her rocks! “Heard you got suspended. That's too bad, a few days without seeing your crappy make-up and crazy hair, I don’t know how I will survive," Mandy said, sarcastically. The other three laughed. “Well, I know I'll be fine.” Nikoleta turned to walk away, “Who are you turning your back on, girly? This isn't over. You're gonna get your payback from punching me today. You may be suspended, but I'm not done with you!” She ran towards Nikoleta. Nikoleta grabbed Mandy by both of her upper-arms and slung her to the sand. Mandy got up grabbed Nikoleta's hair while Nikoleta punched her in her shoulder, missing her face. Nikoleta grabbed Mandy's wrist and twisted her arm away from her hair, she then pushed her against a rock. Just then, there was a distant voice coming from the ground by the lighthouse, “Hey, you kids better knock it off or I'm calling the cops!” Mandy and her crew ran in the opposite direction, Nikoleta looked baffled but she looked to her right and and saw a path in the tall grass and headed for it.                       

  
              She ran and ran until she came to a clear field. Luckily, the others weren’t following her. She hoped she wasn't headed somewhere crazy on the path that she had never taken.  

  
              She wasn't sure where she was, but she could now see a house. She ran across the field towards it. On the side of the house was a huge oak tree. She sat down next to it to rest for a few minutes. She kept asking herself where Mandy and her friends came from and why she has never seen them at the beach any other night she had been there. Suddenly, she felt something under her hand. It was a necklace.

2

C
uriosity got the best of her as she tried to examine the necklace, but it was far too dark to be able to see any details of it. She wondered who it belonged to. After a moment, she decided she was keeping the necklace. After all, she found it and clearly no one else was around to claim it, so she slipped it into the pocket of her jeans.

  
              She lifted her head and looked up to the sky. It was a clear night and there were several stars shining above. She wondered if her parents were up there watching her. If they actually were up there, were they proud of her? Lately, it was bothering her more than ever that she didn't even know their names. What did they look like? There were always questions to ponder.

              Today had been a long day, between two fights with Mandy and dealing with Jena's ignorant teacher, she suddenly felt exhausted. She had no clue what time it was but decided to head home.

  
              The path she originally came down kept going and seemed to end by a small road. Walking on, she felt colder and she pulled her hood over her head to keep her ears and neck warm. When she got to the end of the path she saw the road and walked onto it. She knew where she was now. Only four blocks from the orphanage. She jogged the rest of the way back. Creeping around the building, she pulled down the fire escape ladder and climbed back up onto the roof and back to her window. Inside her attic room, it was dark and silent other than her creaking footsteps. Her alarm clock was glowing red and it was 3:30am. She guessed it didn’t matter too much what time it was since she didn’t have to go to school for the next three days. She took off her sweater and jeans and emptied the pocket containing the necklace. She placed it in her night stand drawer. She put a pair of pajamas on and she climbed into bed. Although she was disappointed that her beach walk hadn’t quite turned out how she originally planned, she drifted off rather quickly.

  
              She dreamed about the necklace, there was someone telling her to use it to come save them. But who were they? They looked oddly familiar and also looked terrified. The two people were tied to cement posts with chains in a dark room. They were screaming her name.... “
Nikoleta, Nikoleta
...”

              “Nikoleta!” Nikoleta was awakened by someone shaking her. It was Helga waking her for breakfast. “Good grief girly, you are the hardest person in this house to wake up in the morning! I know you don’t have school, but that doesn’t mean you get to sleep in, nor not eat a healthy breakfast, for that matter. Get dressed and come down. The counselor will be here at nine. After you talk to her for an hour, it will be time to start some chores.” Helga turned and headed down the stairs. “Oh great,” sighed Nikoleta. “Today isn’t going to go well.”

 
              She dressed quickly in a long sleeve black shirt with a pair of red lips on it, another pair of ripped jeans, and she put on her make up a tad bit--and only a tad--lighter that day. She came down the stairs to the first floor and she ran into Carlita, “I like your makeup better today, Nikki. Now you're not a witch.” She giggled and kept running up the stairs. Nikoleta turned and yelled back, “Thank you Carli, I wouldn’t want to cast any spells or ride on my broom today.” The house was chaotic with girls getting ready for school, as it was every week day morning. Helga and Misty were setting the table and putting dishes of food on the two long dining room tables. There was sausage, scrambled eggs, buttered toast, waffles, and orange juice. Nikoleta wondered how in the world someone could afford food for all the girls and how it all fit into only one fridge. Nikoleta decided to sit next to the baby and help her eat. The baby was nine months old and her name was Kun. Her parents were killed in a car accident a few months before and that’s how she ended up there.

  
              Helga put a few bites of eggs and sausage into a bowl for Kun and a sippy cup of milk onto her high chair tray. Kun immediately started munching on her goodies. Brenda brought Nikoleta her plate and sat down next to her. “What's up BB?” Nikoleta asked. BB was the nickname for Brenda Bobbins. She was the only ten year old. “Oh, nothing. I started reading a book yesterday," BB stated. “Oh, really? What book?” Nikoleta asked her over enthusiastically. “I don’t know, some book about wizards," BB shrugged. “Alrighty then," Nikoleta smiled. All the girls were done with breakfast and Misty yelled for all the girls to put their dishes in the sink. Nikoleta volunteered to take BB's and the baby's dishes to the sink so BB could grab her school things. Nikoleta heard a shout, “Nikoleta are you ready? Your counselor will be here in a few minutes. Pick a place where you want to talk!” Helga shouted from the living room. “Yes, Ma'am!” Nikoleta rolled her eyes.

   
              All the girls were now gone and off to school. The only ones left were Kun and Lucia, the three-year-old. Helga put cartoons on for them while she finished cleaning up the kitchen.
Where do I want to talk about
my personal feelings with a complete stranger?
Nikoleta mumbled to herself. She didn’t really want to go to her room to do this. She didn’t want the kitchen either; too open. Finally, she decided on the back porch. There were a few white plastic chairs out there, plus the playground and a small garden that all the kids planted various vegetables in. It had lettuce, carrots, tomatoes, green beans and radishes growing. So, what on earth was she going to talk about? What was this person going to ask? She was nervous but at the same time felt like she shouldn’t be. Nikoleta let Helga know that she would be waiting on the back porch and then she went back out and sat down. There were fifteen minutes left until the person would be here and a long fifteen minutes they were.

 
              The back door opened and out came Helga and a somewhat tall woman. She was wearing a purple button up shirt and a black blazer with a black skirt, black panty hose, and high heels that looked way too high for a counselor to be wearing. She had long, straight, black hair and green eyes.

 
              “Nikki, this is Mrs. Metzger. She is your counselor, please be polite. I'll leave you two alone," said Helga as Mrs. Metzger stepped onto the porch and she closed the door behind her. “Hi, Nikoleta
Soter
, it's a pleasure to finally meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you and look forward to working with you.”
Why did this woman say my last name so strangely?
Nikoleta thought to herself. “It's nice to meet you too, Mrs. Metzger. What exactly have you heard about me?” Nikoleta asked curiously.

  
              “Nothing in particular, just that you like to fight and get into a lot of trouble,” Mrs. Metzger said slyly.

 
              “What? I don’t like to fight. I only do it when I have to,” Nikoleta responded with a raised brow.

              “Well it's very interesting that you seem so tough. I'm sure that will come in handy one day.”

              “What do you mean?” Nikoleta asked. Mrs. Metzger replied, “Oh, nothing....never mind that. How do you like it here? Are they treating you well? Do they build your self esteem and all that rubbish?”

 
              “Rubbish?”
Good grief, this woman is acting as if she does not want to be here.
“Um...my self-esteem is fine. They treat me OK. I’m sure it could be worse,” Nikoleta answered, confused at the sudden change in Mrs. Metzger's tone. “Do you ever think about your parents and wonder where they are?” Mrs. Metzger leaned forward in her chair, apparently eager to hear the answer. “Yes I do. I just wish I knew what happened to them so the never ending questions in my head would be answered. It's not easy not even knowing their names.” Nikoleta turned away.

 
              Mrs. Metzger smiled. Nikoleta noticed. “Why are you smiling?!” Nikoleta said irritated. “Uh, no reason. I'm sorry. So, you know absolutely nothing about them? Very odd. Misty, Helga nor Mary has ever told you anything?” Mrs. Metzger said tapping the pen on the clip board. Nikoleta responded, “No, they don’t know anything either. I was just left here. No note, no nothing.” Mrs. Metzger looked at her suspiciously, almost as if she knew something and was hiding it. “Huh,” she replied. Nikoleta stared at her, confused. “Something wrong, Mrs. Metzger?” “Oh, nothing sweetie, it's just surprising to me that you know nothing about your parents. All the other girls know something about theirs,” Mrs. Metzger stated.

 
              “Well that's good for them, I guess. Listen, are you here to question me about my parents and my knowledge of them or are you here to actually help me sort out my issues?” Nikoleta's patience was growing thin.
Very
thin. There was something about this woman that she didn't like. Something about this, Mrs. Metzger, rubbed her the wrong way.

  
              “Not knowing about your parents seems like an actual issue to me. It may be beneficial to some people, but I see how it would bother you,” Mrs. Metzger smirked.

  
              “What do you keep smiling about? And who on Earth would it benefit? I know nothing about my parents or where I come from! How dare you smile at something like that! I think we are done here, Mrs. Metzger. Maybe
you
should go talk to someone!” Nikoleta quickly got up, nearly knocking over the plastic chair. She went to the fence and climbed over it and headed to her favorite beach spot, hoping no one would be there tainting it.

***

Mrs. Metzger got up, and looked surprised. “Well, well. She's a strong one. Subborn but strong,” she muttered to herself. She opened the back door and went back inside looking for Helga, who she found in the playroom with the two younger children. “Oh, hello Mrs. Metzger," Helga said looking up. “How did it go with Nikki?”

 
              “Oh, Miss Helga, it didn’t go very well. She has definite anger problems. I'm going to see if we can put her on some meds for this," Mrs. Metzger said. “I don’t think she needs to be put on meds, it's just her teenage hormones,” Helga responded with a raised brow. “Oh, please Helga, don’t be so naïve. She has issues beyond your control. If I were you, I'd keep her locked in room," Mrs. Metzger suggested. “Why, yes I think she will do much better if I do that," Helga said, sarcastically. “Mrs. Metzger, why don’t I show you to the door? It seems your job here is done.”

 
              Helga walked to the front door and opened it for Mrs. Metzger who stepped out. She turned around and said, “If you don’t do something about that girl, she will become a menace to society!”

              “It seems the only menace to society is you, Mrs. Metzger!” Helga shouted to Mrs. Metzger who was now walking down the street.

***

Walking to the beach, Nikoleta was afraid she would run into unwanted visitors, but then realized that they were probably at school. It was still early enough in the day for the sun to shine it's brightest on the water. The waves were calm, the breeze was cool and at the moment there wasn't a soul in sight. She arrived at her rocks and realized she almost never went there during the day. She looked over and saw the path she took to get to the tree the night before. She started wondering about the necklace. She hadn't thought about it since she put it in her drawer. Her thoughts than shifted to Mrs. Metzger, that woman was so strange. It was almost as if she knew something about her parents and kept it from her just to be a hateful person. Something definitely wasn't right about the woman and one thing for sure was she did not want to see or talk to her again. Ever. Nikoleta decided to head back since it was coming on lunch time and she was getting hungry. Hopefully Mrs. Metzger was long gone. That night she planned to go back to her rocks and lighthouse.