An Angel's Kiss

Chapter 12

My phone beeped, pulling me out of my thoughts. My Mom was texting me; it was typical of her to do that if I didn’t notify her within ten minutes of leaving the house. I rolled my eyes and texted her back saying that I got to the river safely, and no, she did not need to come after me.

I settled back on the grass, all my guilt at lying to my Mother faded. I needed some alone time, and she just didn’t get that. Everyone needed time to think; I was no exception.

The note was now in my hand. I just kept on turning it over and over in between my fingers. Squinting, I brought the paper up to my eyes to re-read the paper, even though I didn’t have to. The words were ingrained in my memory.

Deciding that it was time to forget about the handwriting, I focused on the words. You’re next. What could that mean? If someone was trying to imitate Sierra, do they mean that I’m going to be killed next? I shuddered at the thought. However, I kept on getting the feeling that this truly was Sierra’s handwriting, dead or not. I would be able to recognize her handwriting anywhere, just like I would be able to recognize my own.

I also got the feeling that I was not overreacting. It kind of bothered me; the fact that I was able to rationally think about my death. I guess that things had just begun to fall into perspective.

I was staring at the note again, hoping that there was something, some word, some clue, anything that could help me figure out who the note was from and why they wrote it.

“Anyone in there?”

I must have jumped nearly a foot in the air when those words sounded next to me. Turning around, I caught the eye of Ramon. I was really tempted to flip him off, but I didn’t know how well he would respond to that, so I set my hands in my lap. I still held the note tightly between my fingers; I wasn’t sure if I wanted Ramon to see it or not.

He grinned lazily and leaned back in the soft grass. “What’s up?” I furrowed my eyebrow in confusion at him. All at once he sighed, and the smile slipped off his face. “Something’s wrong. What is it?”

Silently, I looked away from him. I didn’t want to answer his question, especially since I wasn’t sure what he’d think of it. I didn’t want it to become a big deal. Being in the spotlight was not one of my favorite positions and I’d do anything to not be in it.

I knew that Ramon probably had some sort of idea for what was wrong, but I still didn’t want to share it. I wasn’t sure that he would believe that it was Sierra’s handwriting; Ramon might have thought that I was insane or something like that. Although, I guess that would be a totally viable explanation for what was happening to me. My life was spinning out of control, and there was absolutely nothing that I could do about it. Yippee.

I gave up on my internal debate and silently handed him the note. He didn’t look surprised that I did, but his face melted away to one of confusion. I didn’t know why, and I didn’t want to know why.

“Scarlett, there is nothing on this piece of paper.” I looked over at him astounded, and reached my hand out so he could give me back that paper.

“What do you mean that there’s nothing on the paper? Are you blind or something? It’s right there!” Emphatically, I pointed at the two words that were handwritten and strikingly obvious to me.

Ramon looked over the entire paper again. “Scarlett, I still do not see anything on this piece of paper. Are you alright?”

I stared back at him. “How do you not see the words? They’re right there, in the center of the paper!” I could tell from Ramon’s look of disbelief that he wasn’t seeing what I saw. “Trust me; I’m not going crazy.” This time when I spoke my voice was flat and emotionless. Wordlessly, I stuck my hand out for him to give the note back to me. He did, and we sat in silence.

How could he not see the words? They were clear as day, right smack in the center of the paper. And, of course, it was in Sierra’s handwriting, but that was something that I didn’t plan on telling him. Of course, that would all depend on whether or not he could actually read the note. As of now, it looked like he couldn’t, and I looked kind of crazy.

“Scarlett?” Once again, his voice broke me out of my thoughts. At least this time he didn’t scare me and I didn’t jump like I had previously.

“Yeah?”

“What did the words on the paper say?”

I looked over at him, surprised. I hadn’t imagined that he would actually believe me that there were words on the paper, which to him, didn’t have anything on it. “Seriously? You’re not messing with me?” The words fell out of my mouth before I could control them. He nodded sincerely after a pause. “The words on the paper said ‘You’re next’. Except, they were in Sierra’s handwriting.”

I didn’t know what possessed me to say that, and the second I did, my hand clamped over my mouth. We were both silent; Ramon was trying o process what I had just told him. I had a hunch that he wouldn’t believe me, but it was worth a shot. At least now I didn’t have to worry about my parents reading the note and worrying about me. They did that enough already. I didn’t want to add to their pain.

I sneaked a glance at Ramon, who was now studying the paper intently. He was tracing his hand over it very gently, and muttering something under his breath. I didn’t try to understand what he was saying; it was quite clearly in another language. And I had absolutely no idea what language it possibly could be, but it did sound slightly familiar.

I scooted over next to him. “Still don’t see anything?” Ramon didn’t give me any sort of response, so I gave up trying to talk to him.

“Can you show me exactly where the words are?” he asked me suddenly, gesturing to the paper. I nodded stoutly and took it, placing it in between the both of us.

“The ‘You’re’ is right there,” I paused pointing out the beginning and end of the word. “And the ‘next’ is right next to it.” Once again, I pointed at both the beginning and end of the word. “You still don’t see anything do you?” I mumbled, half to myself.

“No,” he mouthed. “I’m sorry Scarlett. Do you mind if I take this to show to Clarissa? I have an idea on why you might be seeing the words that only you can see.” Without waiting for an answer he disappeared. I nodded dumbly into the space after he left, glad that there was no blinding flash of light.

Slowly, I began to trudge back home, already feeling the absence of the paper. It felt kind of like I was missing an arm, or some other vital body part. It was almost like I needed that piece of paper with me all the time.

I didn’t like it.

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This was a fun chapter for me to write. I think I'm finding that it's easier for me to write this story as opposed to my other story....Oh well.

Anyways, don't forget to comment, vote and fan!

XxTheDarkAngelxX