Authors: Wendy Potocki
“Melissa, no matter what happens between us, I want you to know that I believe in you. I know that what I’m about to say is cliché, but I don’t mean it that way. Anyway, I want you to know, that I'm willing to remain a friend. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing.”
A small piece of her responded. As her body reacted to Tchaikovsky or any other great composer, it now moved an inch more into Todd's camp. Having issues with trust was never easy. Only time and patience would reveal whether he was running some kind of game, but right now the only thing that mattered was that he was offering his shoulder. Her arms looping around his neck like a bow on a birthday present, she luxuriated in his feel. Beginning to enjoy the time spent alone, he was saying all the right things, and she'd have to have a heart of stone not to respond.
“Thank you,” she replied, in a small, quiet voice that went with the intimate setting. A million questions rushing past her, one was whether she’d found true love. Her gaze rising, she glanced over his shoulder into the thick woodlands. Her eyes enlarging, she froze. Treated to the same glowing pair of red eyes that she’d seen before, the demonic twin evils were locked upon her. Gasping, she jerked back, intent on getting away.
“What's the matter? What?” Todd asked. Hopping down, he gripped her arm. An urgency flooding into his mild tone, the face before him was enough to put him on high alert.
“Over there!” she exclaimed, pointing stiffly towards the woods. Swallowing several times, her breathing became rapid. Her heart beat fluttering, the two dots of red dissipated, gradually dying out as a flame.
Whirling around, all he saw were the woods. Trees blacked out by the forgotten sun, the crescent moon hung over them like a crooked smile.
“I don't see anything, Melissa.”
“Yeah, well, they’re gone,” she murmured.
Breaking down, she covered her face, crying into bare hands. Todd wrapped his arms around her. Hushing her softly, he comforted her as best he could. Lazily rocking her, he smoothed her silken hair.
“I'm, I'm sorry,” she murmured in the subdued voice of someone devoid of confidence. He'd heard it enough. Especially from victims who attached more guilt to their actions than to the perpetrators of the actual crime. “I just thought that ...”
“Thought what?”
“That I saw something. The same thing I saw the first night we met.”
“You mean, the pair of eyes?” he asked, bending his knees so he was level with her.
“Yes, that pair of eyes! I really must be losing it. How can I be imagining things like that?”
“What makes you think you're imagining it?”
“Well, they’re not there!”
“Hey, calm down,” he lulled soothingly. “Just because they're not there now, doesn't mean that they weren't.”
“Then you believe me?” she asked, unsure of what he was saying.
“Of course, I believe you. I think some animal is in there scaring the shit out of you. Are you from a rural area?”
“No,” she said shaking her head.
“Well, there you go. People from the city aren't used to seeing nocturnal creatures roaming around. Can't tell you how many city folk passing through go ballistic over a little raccoon.”
“You think it's a raccoon?” she said, scrunching up her face in a tight ball. She still looked beautiful.
“Yeah, that would be a ‘no’. I told you what I thought. Probably some momma deer scavenging for food. They're protective of their young, and are pretty curious creatures. This school is new so they're probably just feeling it out.”
“I want to think that, but ...”
“But what?”
“Those woods rim the edge of the train station, don’t they?”
“Yes, the train skirts the perimeter of Holybrook Woods. Why are you ... oh, no! You're not trying to imply they have something to do with Brandi's disappearance, are you? Please say you're not going down that road, again!”
“I am,” she answered shyly, but firmly. “There's something in there. I can feel it. It's an evil that makes my blood freeze and ...”
“Melissa! Will you please stop this? You spent the freakin’ night in there. If there were a mad, psychotic killer hiding, don't you think he would have taken advantage of the situation? Believe me, predators can smell when someone's in a vulnerable position, and you were—more so than Brandi. After all, she was conscious and walking around in the daytime. Not to mention at a train station with other people around.”
“Did she get on the train? Did you ever find out for certain?”
Exhaling deeply, he ducked his head down, not wanting to answer.
“Maybe, yes, and maybe, no. We have nobody willing to categorically state that they saw her. All we know is that all tickets were sold, but that it wasn’t at full capacity. Empty seats would point to people being missing.”
“And what about the ticket she purchased? Where was she going?”
“We don’t know that either. She paid in cash … as did twenty other people. Just our luck for it to be busier than usual that morning.”
“I’m starting to think that she didn't get on. She must have gone for a walk near those woods, and gotten grabbed by ...”
“Enough! You're just going to get yourself into a lather over something you don't even know is true. Number one, we don't know it was her ticket that wasn't used. And number two, people waiting for trains don't go into the woods on Easter egg hunts. It's the wrong time of year, remember? Plus, what would she do with her luggage? She'd have to have someone watch it or ...”
He stopped, snapping his fingers. He tapped his chin, looking around, lost in thought.
“What? What about her luggage?”
“Well, if she was on the train, she must have gotten off. Otherwise, it would still be on it. And I don't remember Mr. Shankton mentioning she had any. He gave a really good description, right down to her shoes, which was weird. How many men notice shoes?”
“Not so weird about the shoes. We’re dancers, remember? People tend to stare at our duck walk. Like the conductor on the train I took here. He noticed.”
“You’re right. Hadn’t thought about a dancer’s legs attracting attention.”
“As for the luggage, maybe he didn't think it important. Unless you think that he’s somehow involved in her disappearance.”
“Mr. Shankton is about 100 years old. I doubt he could pose a threat to her. She could have blown him over by taking a strong breath.”
“Oh,” she stated, dejected.
“You're supposed to be happy about that.”
“Sorry, this whole thing is taking its toll, but the watching thing. I feel it all the time. I'd swear something is out there. And, yes, I mentioned it before. It was one of the things Zoe started on me about.”
She stopped right there. Not about to say that Brandi had told Zoe, it was too much information. She didn't care that Todd was on her side, revealing that would show she had a motive to get back at Brandi.
“You know, the more I'm thinking about this, the more I’m convinced that you're right,” he consoled.
“About?”
“Something being in the woods. Could be big game moved in.”
“Like a bear or something?”
“Exactly like a bear of something. I'll take a little trip through them and see if there are any visible signs.”
“You're not going to shoot it or anything?”
“You going to be upset if I say yes?”
She nodded.
“Then no. I'll just shoo it away. Better?”
“Way better,” she said, nestling in his arms, and staring up at the sky.
Chapter Twenty-
one
“Hey, sleepyhead! Get up!” came the voice from the other side of the door. Insistent pounding accompanying it, the collective noise rousted Melissa from a dark drama. Dreaming that she'd melted into the music, she’d turned into syrup and disappeared—just like Brandi. Una and Todd had searched for her, but she’d been there all the time—hiding between the notes.
Blinking her eyes, she checked her clock. Only 8:00 AM, it was way too early to get up. She hadn’t even bothered setting the alarm since there was no need to anymore. The school was down to one early afternoon class a day. The reduction was due to the anticipation of the cuts being made. Providing a respite for the powers to formulate who stayed and who was to go, the schedule was just enough to keep the dancers in shape.
Coming out of the stupor, she finally recognized the strident voice. This early in the morning, everything above a whisper was irritating to her. Only Collette at the door wanting in, she tottered to her feet. Her joyous friend bounded in, grabbing both of her hands.
“You have to come with me!” she shouted.
“Uh, like this?” Melissa questioned, pointing to her pajamas.
'You look fine! Nobody'll even notice! They'll be too busy looking at the announcement,” she replied, an infectious smile developing on her pretty face.
“Announcement?”
“The announcement about the company, you dolt! It's been posted!”
“What? Oh, my God!” she squealed. Beginning to jump around in place, they hugged one another. Laughing and emitting shrieks of joy, Melissa suddenly pulled back. “What am I doing?” she asked, smoothing back loose strands of hair from her face. “I know I didn’t make it, so why even look?”
Collette became demure, tracing her name on the hardwood floors with her big toe. It was an exercise one of the teachers had given them, but right now it was driving Melissa crazy.
“You have to do that now?” she chastised, her arms going up in the air. Missy clamped down on her friend, beginning to shake her.
“Argh, you're killing me!” Collette teased.
“And for good reason. Now tell me who they picked! You got in, of course!”
“I’m not saying anything! You'll have to come with me and find out for yourself,” she insisted, gently yanking her friend by her arm once again.
“Oh, alright!” Melissa snapped, slipping her feet into the knitted moccasins she wore to keep her feet warm before class.
Slipping a tunic top over the skinny legged bottoms, she trudged out the door trailing behind her overly enthusiastic friend. Before they even made it down to the first floor, the ripple of excitement was cascading up the staircase. Jubilant cries of joy intertwined with heartfelt sobs of disappointment, the full spectrum of drama was being played out.
Pulling Melissa through the morass of fellow students experiencing the highs and lows of what life had to offer, Missy stood on her tippy-toes, trying to get a peek at the sheet of white paper pinned to the bulletin board. Giving up, the names were too small to read at a distance. She backed off her plan of getting a sneak preview. Not wanting to get aggressive, Collette did it for her, pushing her to the front row. The view no longer obstructed, she finally got a clear view of the thirty names that had made the company. Collette's name first on the list, Melissa erupted in a show of happiness.
“You made it! Collette that's wonderful!” she shouted, giving her friend a pat on her arm.
“Thanks!” she answered breezily. “Now keep reading!”
Melissa wasn't sure that she wanted to. Realizing it was a slightly crazy attitude, the decisions were why she’d come to the academy. Feeling much like girls who refused to listen to evidence of boyfriends who were cheating, she was burying her head in the sand. Refusing to be so cowardly, she continued. Zoe’s name striking her across the face, the selection didn’t surprise her. Seeing Kurt, Tina and Justin made it, she was truly glad. Not as thrilled as if she’d made it, but she was unwilling to be spiteful. Reaching the end of the list, a lump arose in her throat as she read the last name.
“Melissa Solange.”
“I made it?” she asked, not believing what she was seeing. She needed someone else to validate the apparition parading before her eyes. Shakily turning to her friend for help, she looked again to see if the delusion had vanished.
“Of course you made it! Don't you see your name right there?” Collette responded. Bouncing up and down, she pointed to the spot where it was printed.
“I see it, but I, I, don't believe it!” she screamed.
“I don't blame you,” came the sullen response over her shoulder. It was Zoe, in all her Luciferian glory. Like Hecate of old, she was in one of her rare moods—death and destruction following in her wake. “Out of all the talented girls they could have chosen, they pick you! Must be your fabulous sense of style,” she sniffed. Blunt in her judgmental opinion, the self-appointed arbiter of fashion took a free lunge with her sword. “How a loser like you could have the nerve to wander around in your pajamas is beyond me! You are aware that there are other people that can see what a mess you are?” Her hands digging into the hip bones that were noticeable, her friends were loopy with laughter that reinforced her view of the world.
Melissa stuttered, embarrassed that she had been talked into coming downstairs without changing first.
“Shut the fuck up, you skank!”
The response rang out like a gong, making others turn and look at what was going on. It was Kurt, chivalrously defending his lady's honor. Zoe froze, stunned that anyone was intruding into her private tirade. It was her right to throw tantrums and wound others with her words. Clearly not used to having the tables turned, it was her turn to be at a loss.