School drags on more than usual today. Like brain numbingly slow. It doesn't help that for some reason I still have this weird feeling in my stomach. It's making me completely paranoid. The entire weekend, I kept seeing shadows everywhere. Sometimes, they were where there shouldn't even be shadows. And it's always the same one. The same shape. It looks like a person, but off somehow.
What I really need is a good bath. Some time to myself to just relax and put this paranoia out of my mind. It's all because we went to that stupid house across the street. It had gotten under my skin and I need to just let it go.
Kris got her bragging rights though. She spends all the breaks between classes and lunch showing off the pictures on her phone. They're all too dark and most of them are blurry, but the fact that she has pictures is enough for everyone she shows apparently. I don't look at them because I don't want to think about that house anymore.
When the final bell of the day rings, I'm the first one out of the classroom. I hang around the front of the school with Casey and Kris for a little while before we all part ways to head home—Casey going to the parking lot, Kris heading to the spot where her mom picks her up, and me getting started on walking home.
I zone out for most of the walk. Usually, I have my earphones in and the music makes the walk less awful, but I'd left them on the kitchen counter this morning so I walk in silence. Which is odd. The silence, that is. I pull out of wherever my head had gone and look around me.
The street is empty. There's nobody else out here with me. Usually, there are tons of kids running around out here since school just let out for the day, but I'm alone. The only movement is the leaves scooting their way down the street in the wind.
I'm alone, but I can't help but feel like I'm not.
It's that feeling you get when you know that someone is staring at you. Like, really staring. Not blinking. Boring holes into your body with their eyes, staring at you. My spine tingles and my hands are numb and I have this awful feeling in the pit of my stomach. But when I turn around, there's nothing and nobody behind me.
I'm alone.
I turn back around to continue walking and the breath is punched from my lungs. There's just darkness in front of me. That inky, oozing dark that feels like it's alive around you. Pressing against you and tangling itself in your limbs. Straight pitch black nothingness stretches out in front of me and I have to cover my mouth with my hand.
It's the shadow.
I don't know how I know, or why I even think that's a possibility, but I just know it.
The blackness seems to come closer, wrap itself around me even more. It's crawling up my spine and stuffing itself into my lungs, stealing away my breath. I squeeze my eyes shut and hope that this is all a nightmare and I'll wake up soon.
When I open my eyes, the shadow is gone. The kids that should be on the street are there, talking and laughing and walking home together. A few run past me and I press my hand closer against my mouth.
What just happened?
It takes me a few minutes to recover from the hallucination and be able to walk again. By the time I get to my block, I'm exhausted. I really want to lie down for a while.
The tightness in the pit of my stomach only grows when I get closer to my house. Closer to the Victorian across the street. The house looks especially disturbing against the gray skies with the mist floating around in the air. I will myself to not look at it and hurry inside.
Once I'm inside, behind the closed door, the tension in my spine bleeds away and I take the first steady breath since before whatever it was that happened on the sidewalk. I toss my backpack on the floor next to the door and go to the kitchen. There's a note on the fridge from my mom letting me know that she had to go to work and left Zach next door. I am to go pick him up when I get home.
I groan, press my forehead against the note. "Of course."
The one time I have a really awful day and just want to maybe sit in the tub and not deal with everything, I have to go next door and deal with him.
I decide to go about it using the quick and painless method. Rip it off and be done with it.
The sidewalk is carpeted with leaves and I kick them up as I drag my feet on the way next door. My gaze strays to the Victorian, but looking at it makes my palms sweat so I look away. I stall at the end of the driveway of Carson's house, checking to see if his pickup is even there. Maybe the universe was cutting me a break and it wouldn't be there, he'd taken Zach out to eat or something.
But it's there.
I take a deep breath and trudge up the pathway that cuts through the lawn to the front porch. The blinds on the window next to the door knock against the glass as I walk up to the door. Before I can even knock, the door swings open. Carson grins at me from the doorway, leaning his shoulder against the jamb. He scratches idly at his jawline and runs his eyes over my face. "Hey, kitten. Come all the way over to tell me you've finally realized how much you want me?"
"As if. I'm here for Zach."
"Coming to my place and asking for another man?" He places a hand on his chest and looks directly at me. "You wound me, Molly."
"I do what I can." I cross my arms over my chest.
"It's alright though, kitten." He grins and steps aside to let me into the house. "I love opening my door to find you waiting on my door step."
"Again, I'm only here for Zach." I move past him, unable to keep our bodies from brushing as I do. His body heat, even though I only feel it for a moment, makes my cheeks burn. "Where's he at?" I glance around the dim living room.
The house isn't actually Carson's. He doesn't look old enough to own his own place. All the photos on the walls and tables are of an older couple that I've met a couple of times. There's not a single one of him in here, so I'm not sure if he's related to them or not. He "moved in" about three years ago, with an explanation that he was going to be house sitting for the couple. They haven't been back since he moved in though.
"He's playing in the backyard." Carson shuts the front door behind him and gestures for me to follow him. We go down the narrow hallway to the kitchen and that's where he leaves me with a, "I've gotta go grab something, but Zach's playing with the leaves out there if you wanna go grab him."
"Okay, thanks." I push open the back door and go down the rickety back steps. I find Zach easily, running around in a pile of leaves. "Hey, Zachy."
"Mo-Mo!" He comes running up to me and practically launches himself at my torso. I do my best to catch him and laugh when he squeezes me as tightly as he can.
"How was school?" I peel him off of me and set him back down on the ground.
"It was great! I got to take care of the class pet today!"
"That's awesome, bud."
He decides then he's finished talking to me and goes to run around in the leaves again. He makes little piles and then destroys them before looking up at me wide eyed. "Mo-Mo, will you make me a big pile?" He throws his arms up above his head to show me how big he wants it.
I walk towards him, dragging my feet to push the leaves into a small pile.
Zach shakes his head. "No, no! Bigger! Make it as big as the house!"
"I can't make it as big as the house! That would take all the leaves in the world!"
He gasps and I mimic his facial expression, arched eyebrows and mouth hanging open. Zach laughs, a squealy sound, and yanks on my leg. I let out a yelp and fake fall right into a pile of leaves. He jumps in next to me, nearly landing right on top of me.
I throw a handful of leaves at him and he tosses some right back at me. He has leaves everywhere in his hair and stuck in the hood of his jacket. I roll onto my back and watch him as he runs around the yard throwing leaves in the air and then trying to catch them.
"Well here's something I never thought I'd see. Molly having fun? What a sight."
I look up to find Carson standing a few feet away from my head. I scramble to get up, brush the leaves off myself and cross my arms. "I was just—" I cut myself off when I see the look on Carson's face. He's staring down at me with this funny look on his face. "What? What's that face for?"
"You've got..." He makes a vague gesture towards his head. "You've got stuff in your hair."
I reach up to pat my head and feel some leaves stuck in there. When I try to comb them out though, I only wind up making it worse. One of them crunches between my fingers and I can see the little pieces floating down from my head. "Oh my god." I try to comb them out with my fingers again, but to no avail.
Carson laughs and grabs my hands to stop me. His hands are warm compared to mine. My face flushes as he speaks. "You're crushing them, stop." He pushes my hands down, away from my head, and instead starts to pull the pieces out himself. "Ha, they're so stuck in your hair. I wish you could see what this looks like."
"Yeah, I'm sure you're getting a huge kick out of this right now." I cross my arms over my chest again and keep my eyes on the ground between our feet. Carson doesn't say anything to me, just keeps picking the leaf bits from my hair. He manages to get one out whole, with no breakage. I only look up when he runs his fingers through my hair without them getting snagged on leaves.
"Your hair is really soft."
My cheeks burned again. I'm sure my face is about as red as my hair at this point. "It's called conditioner. Lots of people use it."
He laughs, a soft sound that's more of a huff than an actual laugh. Then he's suddenly much closer than he had been. His foot knocks against mine and his fingers are back in my hair. This time it sends a chill down my spine, makes my palms tingle. Our eyes meet and my gaze slips down to his mouth.
That really nice mouth that always spews the most frustrating things. I don't know what I'm thinking. Honestly, I'm not really thinking to be letting Carson get this close to me. I mean, sure he's a good looking guy. With that messy blonde hair and those baby blue eyes, he's really good looking—but he's still Carson.
I'm about to back away from him when Zach comes over and starts to run in circles around us. "Carson and Mo-Mo sitting in a tree k-i..." He stops short and stares up at us. "How do you spell kissing again?"
I remove myself from Carson's space and fix my hair where he had had his fingers in it. Carson looks at me for a moment, and if I'm not seeing things his cheeks are also flushed pink. But before I can get a better look he's scooping Zach up off the ground and throwing him over his shoulder.
"K-i-s-s-i-n-g! But you better keep that just between the two of us, Zach. Wouldn't want word spreading that your sister and I were doing something like that." Carson winks at me before heading back into the house with a squealing Zach bouncing on his shoulder.
I wait a minute before following them. I need to give myself enough time to let my face cool off. What just happened was definitely a huge mistake. I'll never be able to live that down now. Carson is going to hold it against me for the rest of eternity.
When I get to the back door, Carson's waiting for me. Blocking the doorway, actually. He crosses his arms and looks down at me. "Well, kitten. This has been loads of fun."
"Oh yeah, sure. Tons." I make to move past him, but he stops me. "Come on, Carson. I've got to get Zach home and get him ready for dinner."
"I know. There's just something I want you to do for me before I let you back into the house."
I look up at him through narrowed eyes. "Oh yeah? What's that?"
Carson smiles, that toothy, dimpled smile and leans down so his face is inches from mine. In a low voice that makes my stomach swoop, he says, "Purr for me, kitten."
My stomach knots up even more and I shove at his shoulder. "You're such a creep. Let me through, Carson."
"Ah, but just a minute ago I was sure you were about to purr for me." He steps aside and I stomp past him. "Can't blame a guy for trying."
"Zach! Get your backpack, we're leaving!"