Regina (16 page)

While I was searching the house, the clouds
rolled in and the sky became dark as night. I was in the study when
I heard the thunder crash. The owner of this house had an extensive
hardbound book collection of the classics and I was lost in the
titles. The room was naturally dark so I lit a kerosene lamp to
find my way around. It was a massive room with three floors. A
circular stairway led the way to rows and rows of books. The room
was charming with the iron stairs, cherry wood bookshelves, round
archways and old fashion torch style wall lamps. A beautiful glass
mosaic of angels and devils lined the ceiling. I took a few minutes
to admire the different colors and the intense detail of the piece.
An angel was being thrown into hell by a demon. The anguish on the
angel’s face felt more real than it should.

The crash of thunder made me jump and I
almost dropped the lamp. I took a deep breath as I put my hand to
my heart and rested the lamp on a small desk while I shook myself
of the fright.

The lightning flashed thru the sky and lit
the room with a white light. Colors from the ceiling mosaic ran
wild across the bookcases and walls. I looked up and only saw the
angel being thrown into hell. There were other demons in the sky
now, taking the angel down with them. She was screaming, pleading
with someone to help her. Only the laughing, wicked demon above her
was there to shove her down further. He pushed with all his might
to fight this woman and be rid of her. The clouds turned red and
began rolling with thunder and lightning just like the storm
outside. I closed my eyes tightly and opened them again hoping to
find the ceiling back to normal. When I opened my eyes, the angel
was fighting hard but with too many against her, she succumbed to
their evil and was carted to their world. Her screams came alive
and echoed thru the massive library.

Gasping with wonder and terror, I bolted from
the room.

I stopped in the hallway and almost threw up
from fright. Oh no! I left the lamp on the table. I had to turn
around and get it, I can’t see without it. Spinning around, I
quickly located the lamp on the desk to the far left. Three desks
filled the middle of the room. I had to pass the middle desk and
get to the end of the farthest one. Little tears escaped my eyes as
I ran into the room. Bumping my hip into the corner of the middle
desk, I held my cry and made my way to the light. Careful not to
look up, I hurried back to the doorway.

I was almost there when the lightning lit the
room again. I felt as if a large hand was reaching for me. I
couldn’t see it but I knew it was there, reaching out for me. Fear
literally ran up my spine and I screamed as I leaped for the
doorway. I turned right, hoping it was the right direction.

Lecturing myself, I made a quick decision to
go left at the next turn and fell into the living room. It wasn’t
as dark as the study but there were large patches of shadows in the
corners. I stopped to take a second to remember which arch lead the
way out. A bump to my right drew my attention. I looked quickly and
thought I saw a shadow move. Squinting my eyes, I looked closer.
The torn curtains were flapping as I tried to see clearly.

Out of blackness came eyes.

Eyes!!

Someone was coming closer, out of the
shadows. Their silhouette became clearer as it came out of the
darkness. I wanted to run, but something made me keep looking.

Suddenly, a streak of pure fear once again
took hold of my spine and I spun around and ran thru the first arch
I saw. Thank goodness it was the right one.

I jerked the door open and slammed it closed
behind me. I could hear something inside the house begin to howl.
It was an immense and deep cry that put a fire under my feet.
Screaming once again from fear, I dived for my car door.

Oh no, the keys! I screamed inside my
head.

I dug into my pocket with an unskilled hand.
Something large crashed inside the house. I danced like crazy
digging the keys out of my jeans. Once I located them, I unlocked
the door and slid in. Thinking it would help, I locked the doors
once I was in.

I watched in horror as the front door opened.
I screamed inside my car as I jammed the keys into the ignition and
the car roared to life. I spun away as something was trying to get
thru the front door.

I had to try and drive, so I held the wheel
tightly and focused on the road in front of me. If it was behind
me, I couldn’t panic. I’m not a good driver and this was not the
time to test my driving survival skills. So I’m going to hold on
tight and focus.

Risking my own dread, I looked into my
rearview mirror.

Someone was coming for me! It looked like a
man; he was flying fast towards me. I couldn’t believe what I was
seeing and took my eyes off the road to look closer.

It wasn’t a man, but a girl. She had brown
hair and white skin. I knew it was white because she wore a long
black jacket, it was easy to spot. Her hands were at her side and
her jacket flapped in the wind.

I was halfway off the road and almost upon a
tree when I realized what was happening. I gasped and pumped my
brakes. The driver’s ed teacher told us to never slam on the
brakes, pump. So I pumped.

It wasn’t helping. I was going too fast and
about to hit the tree head on.

“NO!” A voice boomed from outside my car.

Whatever she or it was behind me, it led my
car back on the road safely. It was obviously very strong if it
could steer my car from outside. And it flew! Her jacket was
flapping and I didn’t see legs. I looked around my car, out the
windows for a glimpse of it. The sun was starting to break thru the
clouds, so I knew there was enough light, but it was gone. I kept
looking outside to be sure. I was pretty shocked it left so quickly
after pursuing me so hard.

Though my head was telling me to take off, I
opened my car door. My foot made the asphalt grind as I stepped
outside to look for it. The country was quiet and I couldn’t hear
the cars from the highway. It felt utterly peaceful here, in this
spot. As my eyes scanned the area, I kept hold of the car to keep
me balanced. I looked in a 360 degree turn but it was no use, it
was gone. If it came from the abandoned house, it must’ve gone back
there. My gaze ran back to the house that was just in sight over
the horizon. I felt a chill as I looked back at the house.
Something was there but I’m not sure what.

Shaking and confused, I got back into my car.
I sat there for a few seconds, contemplating what I saw.

If whatever it was wanted to hurt me, it
would’ve let me fly right into that tree! So why didn’t it? Why did
it save me before I flew into that tree!

Chapter
Twenty-one

I stayed away from the house and the roads
after that. I was confused and scared, really scared. What was that
house? Did someone live there? I wanted to drive by it again during
the daytime when it wasn’t raining, but I was too scared. I
researched the house online and couldn’t find anything except for a
little newspaper clipping. A local Lee developer bought all the
property out there and planned on building luxurious homes.
However, according to the paper, no one bought the first three
houses built and the company went bankrupt. No one ever lived in
that house, let alone purchased it, but I didn’t have time to dwell
on it.

School was starting now and my summer was
over. In a way, I was glad. We would get back to New York so much
faster at this rate, but I was nervous about attending a new school
even if it was for one year. Katie took me to some of the local
dress shops and helped me find something suitable for school here.
In exchange for her help, I let her go crazy in my wardrobe. Either
she could have or borrow whatever she wanted. We had fun that night
before school. I was having anxiety attacks the whole day and no
one cared if Katie spent the night.

“So, what is up with Sabrina? Why does she
hate me?” I asked Katie that night.

“I don’t think she hates you. Maybe a little
jealous but I don’t think she hates you.”

Katie was definitely in her own little world
in my armoire. She loved my clothes. Once she was finished
ransacking my closet, I knew my jewelry boxes would be next. I
didn’t mind though, it was fun watching Katie’s face light up when
she held one of my next seasons handbags. I think she almost
fainted when I gave her my last season handbags.

“Why? What the hell do I have that makes her
so jealous?”

“Come on Regina! You’re from New York, you
have designer clothes, and you’re obviously hot otherwise you
wouldn’t have snagged Steven Rank so quickly.”

“Yes, about that.” I hesitated for a second
before continuing. “Are you sure Steven wasn’t dating Sabrina? Even
in secret?”

“Well if it was a secret, then I wouldn’t
know about it, would I?” She said over her shoulder. She had taken
one of my dresses out and was now in front of my full length
mirror, posing with the dress in front of her. “But then again,
it’s extremely tough to keep a secret in this town. Speaking of
secrets! Did you see Morgan Patterson? I wonder when she’s going to
announce her little pregnancy secret.”

“What?!” I snapped my head up at her. “Morgan
Patterson is pregnant!?”

Katie was shaking her head yes.

I had a good time with Katie that night. We
stayed up late talking about the kids of Lee High School. She
filled me in on the teachers and the school itself. I felt pretty
confident about my first day and slept pretty good.

Grandpa made his biscuits for me that
morning. I was so grateful to him for the thought. My parents were
already up and out the door when Katie and I came downstairs. In a
way, I liked it that my parents didn’t care what I did or who I did
it with. It reminded me a lot of our life in New York. However,
they were beginning to act like hypnotized zombies and it was
starting to freak me out! Everything about this house and our lives
now was keeping me up at night, and I was already up at night from
fear.

School started the middle of August. I was
the only new kid in a high school of three hundred and fifty
students. Lee High School was old, probably dated back to the early
1900’s and small. If it rained, the roof leaked severely. If the
wind blew too hard, the school was in danger of large proportions.
However, the football team had new uniforms and a new practice
field. The stadium in which they played their games was huge and
brand new as well. I soon found out the LHS football team was like
every other high school football team; their sport was popular and
brought in lots of money for the school so the team got away with
everything.

The kids were nice and talked to me. Some of
them I remembered because we went to the same parties this summer.
In a way, it was crazy how well I fit in. The guys were funny and
very cute, but Steven made them know I wasn’t available. That did
upset me as we were no longer seeing each other. The girls were
friendly but it seemed a little fake to me. They would go out of
their way to be my friend and talk to me about New York. I must
admit, I was feeling a little creped out again. Not one girl here
stood out with personality like Katie. It was as if they were
robots.

My teachers were nice too but definitely
stood out. My Calculus teacher, Mr. Johnston, was a large man. His
fat mean eyes would bear down on us like we were criminals. Mrs.
Roledo, my English teacher, loved to flirt with the younger boys.
And Mrs. Cannes, who loved to see every student suffer under her
Algebra wrath with failing grades. The only teacher who seemed like
someone I would actually listen to was Mrs. Neeves, my Creative
Writing teacher. I showed her my poetry and she thought it was very
good so we started working on how I could submit some of my best
ones to contests and literary agents.

Katie was certainly the most popular girl.
Everyone loved her and followed what she did. Boys would flock
around her as if she was a queen and they were her loyal subjects.
Girls never picked a fight or started an argument with her. I think
they feared her. Natalie and Becky however, did not fear Katie.
Katie never judged them for anything. They seemed like close
friends who weren’t afraid to get bitchy with each other. You
didn’t want to piss those three girls off though.

One day, Daria, one of the drill team girls
and Katie’s friend packed up her locker, and left school. Her
father was a pretty important guy in the community of Lee but he
just picked up his family and moved away. Daria never got to say
goodbye. Katie later told me Charles Turner, Sabrina’s brother and
Daria’s boyfriend, taped them having sex without Daria’s knowledge
and showed the video to his friends. Not only that, but Charles’s
friends loved the idea of taping their unknowing girlfriends so
much, they started taping their girlfriends too. Of course, none of
these girls knew they were being recorded, but the guys got
together and composed a video of all their conquests in Lee High
School. They sold the DVD’s for $20 a pop to guys at school.

Now, poor Daria’s father is on the school
board and she is completely humiliated that her boyfriend would do
that to her. So her family picked up and moved out of shame. A lot
of girls were pissed off at the boys who made the video. Since
everything was underground, the money couldn’t be traced and no one
had actual proof this video existed, so charges couldn’t be
pressed. However, it didn’t matter to Katie. I don’t know if she
hired a hacker or did it herself, but she uploaded the video to
Charles’s computer. After an anonymous phone call to the police,
Charles was arrested and his laptop was seized. Surprise, surprise,
the police found the evidence they needed to charge him with Child
Pornography. It was the talk of the town! Charles was eighteen and
a legal adult. The girls were under seventeen and still considered
minors so the police nailed his balls to the wall for it. I think
they charged him with other stuff but the police charged all the
other guys in the video too. Katie laughed about it for days. I
gotta say it was sweet vengeance for those chicks in the video. I
loved Katie for what she did, though she wouldn’t admit it was her.
I found Katie’s strength and determination very refreshing. She was
bold and daring, just the kind of friend I needed.