Authors: Sarah Ripley
“Can we go someplace?”
* * *
We went to the gas station and Kian waited patiently while I washed my face to try and get rid of some of the puffiness. The fluorescent lights hurt my eyes and made me look faded but I suppose there wasn’t much I could do about it. Afterwards I treated him to some hot chocolate and we got into his car and Kian suggested we go back to the motel.
“Thelma gave me the spare key to her library,” he said with a sly smile. “She’s thrilled that there’s someone else in this town who loves old books. Besides you of course.” He altered his voice and made it all high and breathy just like Thelma. “You get yer butt in there and have some adventures. Them books just collecting dust right now. You’d best give them a run for their money before they become nothing but memories.”
“That’s Thelma,” I said. “She talks about books like they’re holy.”
“They are,” he said. “They’re the makings of history, even the fiction.”
“History is inaccurate,” I said, reciting what Marley often said. “Books are only written by the educated males or those in positions of power. It’s a very one sided skew.”
“Very true,” he said. “It’s always the winners who write the outcome, never the losers. There are some wars, which with different endings, might have made the past and the future very different.”
“You should meet my Dad’s girlfriend,” I said. “She’d love you. She’s got a MA in history. She studied at Cambridge.”
“Sounds like she’s influenced you. Told you lots of stories about the UK?”
I smiled. “Yeah, she got me interested in wanting to go there a few years ago. She talks a lot about England. About how the fog rolls in across the hills and it’s like being in the middle of a bowl of pea soup. I really want to see London. The old buildings. The museums. The theatre. There’s just so much culture there. I’d like to live somewhere like that.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” he said. “There’s got to be some culture in Addison.”
“Once a year the church puts on a pageant. Oh and there’s the community centre. I’ve heard they teach Painting 101.”
“I saw a listing for a book club at the grocery store,” Kian said.
Although it was more depressing than funny, I laughed so hard that I nearly choked on my hot chocolate.
“I just want some excitement,” I finally said. I glanced out the passenger window as we drove down the main street. All the shops were closed and the lights were off. Two shops offering ski and snowboard equipment. An insurance company. A clothing store that sold overpriced merchandise designed for older women. A dollar store. Three restaurants: two hamburgers, one Chinese food. There were other stores but they mostly just blurred together into one long line of decal covered windows and doors with chimes that dinged when you walked in.
Thelma’s motel was dark when we pulled into the parking lot. It wasn’t that late, only a bit after nine, but the No Vacancy sign was on so either Thelma had retired early for the night or she’d gone out to play cards with her friends. Either way she wasn’t planning on doing any more business that evening.
“Hold on,” I said as I got out of the car. “I left my Biology text over at the shop. I might as well grab it now since I’m here.”
“OK.”
I pulled my keys out and dangled them in my hand as we walked. As we approached the door, the temperature in the air suddenly dropped. The wind, which was blowing hard against my face suddenly died away as if someone had flicked off the switch. My boots crunched in the snow, the noise loud and suddenly foreign. I paused.
Something was wrong.
Kian stiffened, his hand shot out and found my arm. Electricity pulsated through my body, forcing my toes to curl in their boots. It pushed its way through my veins and a cold stream drenched my back that had nothing to do with the weather. I opened my mouth but nothing came in or out. The simple act of breathing suddenly escaped me. I think my heartbeat stopped. It was as if someone had suddenly forced my fingers into an electrical socket, only there was no pain. My body vibrated.
“Do you feel that?” I whispered.
“What? What is it?” Kian pulled on my arm, drawing me towards him. Our jackets touched. His voice was breathy. Urgent. “What do you feel?”
Something was out there. Energy. It blew in from all around us, pushing me in towards the shop window. The lights inside the shop flickered, went dead and then turned back on. I could hear the security system start to beep through the closed door. I had to get in and put in my code or it was going to activate. My keys dropped from my fingers. I bent down to pick them up but it was taking forever. Everything had gone into slow motion.
The moment I unlocked the door, Kian pushed against me, shoving me inside so quickly, I banged my elbow against the door. He didn't even apologise. Instead, he slammed the door and turned the lock before I even managed to punch in the security code. I pressed the buttons but the machine kept flashing.
"I don't know if that'll work," I said. "I'd better call the company."
The lights in the shop surged again and everything went dark.
"Are you still feeling it? The energy?"
Headlights lit up the shop in front of us. They were blinding, I couldn’t tell where they were coming from. A car’s engine revved, tires squealed, and suddenly Kian had me by the collar of my jacket and he was pulling me behind the counter.
I fell forward onto my knees, smacking my already sore arm against the wall. I couldn't see anything through the darkness. Kian pressed hard against me, covering my body with his own.
There was a terrible crashing noise. Glass splintered and the alarm sounded. Something flew through the air and hit the wall behind us. Lights flickered. Kian yanked me to my feet, pulling me up with his arms.
That's when I realised the shop was on fire.
Smoke rapidly was filling up the small room. I coughed, blinking back tears as my eyes began to burn.
“We have to get out of here," Kian shouted. "Is there a back door?"
I nodded and pointed towards the backroom. But there was a slight problem. The door was engulfed with flames. So were all the auto manuals piled on the bookshelf beside it.
I looked towards the front window, wondering if we could go that way. Bright headlights blocked the exit. I couldn't see anything through all that light. A shadow moved to the side and suddenly a huge fireball was coming straight for us.
I froze. Kian didn't.
He grabbed my arm, pulling me towards the flaming back room. More glass shattered behind us. I saw the 'Addison's Auto Body Shop' sign dangle precariously before toppling to the ground.
“The shop!”
“Forget it,” Kian said. “We have to leave.” He yanked on my sore arm and stars burst like fireworks in front of my eyes.
We raced through the back room in the darkness. I slammed into the shelves before getting my bearing. Kian didn't know where to go. He'd never been in the back room and it was a little tricky. There were lots of doors. Dad's office, the garage entrance, closets, and even a bathroom. I had to take control or we'd never get out of here. Smoke was filling the air rapidly. Soon neither of us would be able to breathe.
"This way," I said. It was my turn to drag Kian. I led him around the corner towards the toilets and to where the 'exit' sign burned in the darkness.
Energy continued to coarse through my body and I tried to tell myself that this was what being in shock felt like.
"Get behind me," Kian said. He unlocked the door and stepped out, pulling me into the cold. The backyard was empty. "Come on. Head for the motel. Run. Don't stop."
We ran.
Micah met up with us halfway. Wearing only a pair of jeans and no shirt or shoes, he stopped to check on us. He must have been freezing but there was nothing in his body movement to suggest it. No shivering. He didn’t even seem to notice his feet as they sunk into the snow.
“What happened?” he asked.
“Company,” Kian said.
Micah stiffened. The building alarm screamed in the background. The security company was probably on the phone with Dad right about now.
“
They're still in the front,” Kian said.
“Get her inside,” Micah said. “I’ll check on it.”
And then he disappeared into the night and Kian was dragging me the rest of the way across the lot. I looked back, Dad's shop was engulfed in flames. They lit up the night, melting away all the snow.
Once inside the motel, Kian pulled me through the kitchen and down one of the hallways which I recognized immediately as being one of Thelma’s personal corridors. Using his key, he unlocked the library shoved me inside. I was still dazed and didn’t even try to fight him. Sitting seemed like a good idea.
“Stay here,” he said. “Promise me you won’t move.”
“Why?” I muttered. “What’s wrong? Why can’t I...”
“Promise me!” His eyes glowed with intensity.
“OK,” I said.
Then he was gone and I was alone.
I dug through my backpack, searching for my phone but I couldn’t find it. I wanted to call Dad and let him know. He was probably on his way down as I sat there feeling completely helpless. Did anyone know that I had witnessed it? Was Dad even thinking about me? As far as he knew I was still at the coffee shop doing my homework like a good girl. I stood up and went to the window but it faced the back of the motel and all I could see was another parking lot and more trees. There were no other cars around and the streetlamps let off an orange glow that gave the surrounding area a dark, grey shine.
Everything was so wide open and isolated.
And the people moving in the bushes off to the side weren’t my imagination.
I pulled back from the window, suddenly acutely aware of just how exposed I was. Yanking the heavy curtains closed, I stepped backwards until I was in the middle of the room. A few seconds passed that felt like hours.
Something scratched at the window.
Biting down hard on my tongue, I tasted blood but it kept me from screaming. I couldn’t move. I was a statue, frozen in a game of tag, unable to move until someone touched me. But I was alone. Kian was probably over at my Dad’s shop along with Micah and probably the entire Addison fire department.
And only one person knew I was here. Would he be able to get here in time or would he return only to find my lifeless body on the floor?
The scratching came at the window again and the hairs on my body began to stand up. I felt the energy again. It coursed through me, starting at my fingertips and spreading through all my nerves and veins. My legs tingled and turned rubbery as if I’d just run a five hundred mile race. Reaching out, I tried to find something to hold on to but there was nothing within reach. The lights above me hummed and flickered. One of the bulbs burst in the chandelier above me. I covered my head with my hands as a second light burst, bits of glass showered down, bouncing off my arms and getting stuck in my hair. The curtains moved, caught in an invisible breeze.
From the desk, I picked up a metal lamp and held it over my head. If someone decided to crash through the window, at least I’d be able to do a bit of damage before they managed to get to me.
I held my breath.
The lamp was heavy and soon my arms began to burn under all the weight. I lowered it to my chest and clung to it like a security blanket. Outside the window, everything remained silent. Maybe it was some sort of trick. Perhaps whoever it was expected me to be one of those stupid girls you see in the movies. The ones that walk right into the trap that the killer sets up. Well, I wasn’t stupid. If I had a choice of going up the stairs or out the front door, I’d zip up my jacket and head for a snow bank any day.