Sweet Burden (2 page)

Shrugging it off as paranoia, she practically stepped in front of Shane pulling up in his midnight blue Bronco with Kerry in the front seat. The car let out a squeal from the tires.

“What are you doing Hitomi? Trying to get yourself hurt?” Kerry yelled at her out the open window.

“Sorry, I was just…”
What were you exactly doing?
“thinking,” Hitomi finished.

“Well, do you want a ride? I’m going to go with Shane, but we can drop you off.” Kerry gave her a warning look to say ‘no’.

“Yah, c’mon,” Shane motioned behind Kerry in the driver’s seat.

Hitomi shook her head. “Nah. I’ll walk. But thanks.” Shane gave a shrug and Kerry mouthed ‘thank you’. “Can you pick me up later though?”

“Are you coming with us?” Kerry beamed.

“Yah. I think I could use a Friday night out. Mom will just have to deal with it.”

“Okay. We’ll see you at nine then,” Shane gave her a wink and they pulled out of the lot.

Hitomi let out a loud sigh and started walking. It really wasn’t a long walk and she decided she could use the time to think. The wind had picked up and she tightened the jacket around her. Her hair whipped around behind her and her fingers started to hurt from the cold. She wanted to kick herself for not taking the ride offered, but she knew that Shane’s parents weren’t home after school and Kerry was eager to get to his house.

A blast of frigid air suddenly swirled around her causing her to stop and shake. Hitomi felt the gaze on her again.
Is someone following me?
She trembled not wanting to turn around but sensing that someone or something was there. Her heart began to pick up speed. She was starting believe herself to be crazy. She wanted to turn around and prove herself right. But she was also scared she’d prove herself wrong. Rubbing her hands together, Hitomi leaned down and pretended to fix the laces on her shoe. She closed her eyes slowly turning her head and then quickly opened them. She abruptly stood up and turned around. There was no one there. The wind howled and the rain started to pick up again. Satisfied that she
was
going crazy, she picked up her pace and rushed home.

She passed a few neighborhood stores and hurried through the park. The small white house sat across the park with a perfect view of the slide and swingsets. In the summer she would spend hours in the recreational area taking photos. These days the amount of summer days was growing shorter and shorter. She passed by the bus stop bench and hastily carried herself across the street and up her front steps.

Once inside, Hitomi couldn’t help but peek out through the curtains in the living room out to the street. She glanced up and down both sides, but saw nothing. The rain was falling harder now and she lay down on the couch happy that she was not soaking wet.

Hitomi faintly heard the beeping of her cell phone indicating there was a message. Sitting up in the dark room, she wiped the sleep from her eyes and turned to the clock on the DVD player.
8:30!
She scrambled up from the couch catching her toe on the leg of the coffee table.

“Damn it!” she yelled, hobbling over to her back pack on the floor by the door. Three missed calls all from Kerry. She flipped on the light and hit send on her phone, then went up to her room.

“Where have you been? I was getting ready to call the police!” Kerry said with worry in her voice.

“I fell asleep on the couch.” Hitomi stripped off her jeans and started to pick through her closet.

“Are you ready to go?”

“Umm.” Hitomi frowned at her options. “I will be.”

“Wear something tight and black,” Kerry giggled.

“Sure. I
did
just get back from Whores ‘r Us.”

“Enough sarcasm Hitomi. I’ll bring something for you then. Be there in a bit.” Kerry had hung up and Hitomi closed her phone. She walked over to her vanity and sat down. Pondering why she hadn’t started to fill out a bit, she started to put on a bit of make-up knowing that Kerry would add to it when she got there.

“See, it fits perfect,” Kerry said as she lay on Hitomi’s bed moments later.

Hitomi turned in the mirror. “My butt is practically hanging out.” The black pleated mini skirt and black tight t-shirt left more skin uncovered than she was comfortable with. “And my legs are going to freeze.” The fishnet stockings left little to the imagination.

“That’s why I brought you my boots.” Kerry held them out to her and Hitomi slipped them on lacing them up to her knees. The boots easily gave her another inch of height. She looked at herself in the mirror again. “You look great,” Kerry nodded behind her.

“I look like a hooker.”

“Perfect! We’re going to a club, not a library.” Kerry had already painted up Hitomi’s eyes with black eyeliner and mascara; the outfit completed the whole transformation.

Great. I’m a goth-reject.
Hitomi shrugged to herself and Kerry pulled her out of the room. She left her mother a note and they were off to Club Scarlet.

“So, I wanted to tell you that Bradley was asking about you today. He’s going to be there tonight,” Kerry said leaning over the back of the passenger seat.

Hitomi tugged at the skirt trying to pull it down a bit and glanced up at her. “Why was he asking about
me
?”

“He’s got the hots for you. And dressed like that, he won’t be able to keep his hands off you tonight.”

“I don’t like Bradley.” Hitomi continued to struggle with the skirt.

Kerry rolled her eyes. “Give him a chance. He’s nice.”

“Maybe Hitomi doesn’t want a nice guy. Maybe she wants a bad boy,” Shane mused as he gave her a smirk in the rearview mirror.

Hitomi sunk into the backseat bench. “I don’t know what I want,” she said under her breath. The rest of the ride consisted of Shane and Kerry arguing over what to listen to on the radio. Hitomi wanted to tell them about the odd sensation she had been having of being watched, but she knew that Kerry would start going on about something paranormal and Shane would shrug it off as paranoia and then joke that maybe she had a stalker. Needless to say, she kept her mouth shut and listened to their argument over hard rock or club music.

They only had to wait a short time to get into Club Scarlet. Shane seemed to know every important person within a thirty mile radius, and that included the bouncer for Club Scarlet. Hitomi scurried past the overweight tattooed man, holding onto Kerry’s arm. The club was bathed in red and the dance floor was lit up by the occasional flashes of strobe lighting. On the dance floor, Hitomi could only make out various moving shapes clad in fake leather and chains. The light reflected off the black shiny material and the silver glistened every time it flashed. The club smelled like sweat and alcohol and her feet stuck to the floor with every step.

“Pretty cool, huh?” Kerry yelled as they followed Shane to the bar. Hitomi just gave a nod trying not to get lost in the sea of people. Once at the bar Shane handed them each a drink and Hitomi took a sip fully expecting some sort of alcohol, but was surprised to find it just a simple sparkling water with lime. They moved over towards the wall and found an empty red velvet couch near the dance floor. Hitomi yanked on her skirt again as she sat down, careful to keep her knees together. She looked around at all the people feeling incredibly out of place. Her Friday nights were usually spent either doing homework or pouring over photography books.

Hitomi held the straw of her drink in between her teeth when she felt the shiver of someone’s eyes again. People were glancing over at her, but no one was outright staring. Her body shook so hard that her glass fell out of her grip and crashed to the floor.

“You okay Hitomi?” Kerry nudged her with her eyebrows furrowed in concern.

“Yah, yah. Sorry.” Hitomi blinked hard and shook her head. “I’ll be back. Just going to run to the bathroom.” Without waiting for directions from Kerry, Hitomi got up and started pushing through the people still feeling the gaze on her. She was hoping to escape it within the walls of the ladies’ room. She felt panicked and rushed not paying attention to where exactly she was going. The place and lights made her dizzy. Just as she had broken through a large group of people into a somewhat open area, she tripped over someone’s foot. Hitomi quickly put her hands out in front of her to try to soften her fall on the concrete, when she felt an arm around her waist and a hand on her back.

Whoever it was had caught her and she stumbled back upright to reclaim her balance. The boy removed his arm around her and rested his hands on her shoulders.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

Hitomi straightened out non-existing wrinkles in her clothes and nodded. “Yes. Thank you.”

“You should watch where you’re going. If you end up on the floor, you might not get back up,” the boy chuckled.

She shivered again and raised head up to look at the boy who had saved her from another skinned knee. He looked incredibly out of place in the club, dressed in jeans, black t-shirt, and sneakers. His hair was hidden by a grey beanie. Then Hitomi gasped taking a step back from him. His eyes were as crimson as blood.

His hands dropped to his sides. “Maybe you should sit down.”

“Your eyes…” she mumbled and then clasped her hand over her mouth. The music was still loud in the side area and she wasn’t sure if he had heard her. Slowly a grin crept up the left side of his mouth.

“Contacts,” he winked. “You should get back to your friends.”

“Um, yah.” Hitomi felt like a bumbling fool, fidgeting and staring. “Thanks again…” she pressed for a name.

He continued to smirk, “You’re welcome, Hitomi.” He turned and disappeared into the crowd.

Hitomi spun around searching for him but immediately lost sight of him. Her jaw had dropped.
How did he know my name?
She shuddered again. Maybe he hadn’t said her name. It was very loud and she could have misheard him. She closed her mouth and pushed back through the people back to the couch where Kerry and Shane had been. The couch sat empty, only their drink glasses left as evidence that they had been there. She scanned the dance floor but couldn’t find them. Desperate to find them or the beanie boy she stood up on the couch and scanned the crowd. Finally she spotted the bright glow of Shane’s hair during a blast of light. He was over at the bar again, but she didn’t see Kerry.

“Hitomi? What are you doing?” Kerry appeared below her.

“There you are.” Hitomi dropped down to the floor and plopped back down on the couch. Kerry sat down next to her. 

“You’re shaking. What happened?”

“I’ve been having these weird feelings that someone is watching me,” Hitomi sighed and went into the entire story of her walk home and the odd boy she met by the restrooms. She still felt like there was some sort of presence around her. Kerry launched into ghost stories just as Hitomi had predicted, stating that a strong paranormal entity must be around her.

Hitomi pushed her hair away from her face and just let Kerry continue to talk. She knew that is wasn’t some ghost following her around. She didn’t believe in ghosts. This was a person. It was a person that followed her and watched her. As Kerry rambled on, Hitomi adjusted her top and glanced at her shoulder. She yanked at the neck of the shirt and saw a red handprint left on her skin. She hadn’t felt burned and it didn’t hurt, but it was definitely a handprint. Ignoring Kerry now, she looked at her other shoulder seeing an identical mark. Her head shot up as she looked for the boy.
Is he the one following me?