Chapter 6
November 21, 2003
Eve clutched the pillow tightly as she rocked back and forth on her living room couch. She was muttering senselessly to herself, for a madness had begun to seep into her consciousness. She could not shake it, nor ignore it. It was paralyzing, totalitarian, and unwilling to give up its grasp on her.
She had been this way for the last fifteen minutes as she waited for Shannon to arrive. Every once in a while, she would stop rocking to look at the large grandfather clock near the entry to the foyer, but Shannon still did not come.
“Eve! Eve, are you in there?” a voice called from outside.
Eve threw her pillow aside and flew to the front door. When she flung the door open and saw the comforting face, she nearly collapsed on top of Shannon. She was so emotionally overwhelmed that she burst into a relieving flood of tears.
“Girl, I’m happy to see you, too, but this is a little too much for me,” Shannon said, patting Eve’s back reassuringly. “Here, let’s get inside.”
After situating a nearly hysterical Eve back on the couch, Shannon smiled and took her friend’s hand in hers. “It’ll be okay, honey. Just tell me everything that happened.”
In short, jerky phrases, Eve managed to pour out the story of the terrifying phone call and the ensuing madness that had overcome her. She herself could hardly make sense out of it let alone try to relate it to someone else. Eve eventually gave up in despair and buried her face in a pillow.
“I don’t—know why this is—making me act like this, but—I just feel so—so—so alone right now,” Eve sobbed.
Again, Shannon patted Eve’s hand, and then asked, “When did this crazy feeling begin?”
Eve thought for a moment, but then shook her head. “Well, it was really when I ran into Nerissa on my way home, but that can’t be the cause. She always makes me crazy.”
“But this crazy?” Shannon probed with arched eyebrow.
“No, but—come on, Nerissa couldn’t be the reason. She’s just a little girl with nothing better to do than to try to make my life miserable,” Eve said with a sudden flash of spirit.
“How kind we are to our little sisters, Eve.”
Both Shannon and Eve turned towards the condescending voice coming from the stairs behind them. Eve narrowed her eyes. “How long have you been home?”
“Long enough to see that you’ve gone completely insane. What’s wrong, sister dear?” Nerissa sneered.
“Okay, Nerissa, now isn’t the time to be sarcastic. Eve’s really not doing well,” Shannon said defensively.
“So naturally everyone should rush to her aid, right?” Nerissa snapped. “Why is it that everyone is so bent on making sure that Miss Perfect doesn’t even so much as break a nail? Answer me that, please!”
“You know that’s not true, Nerissa!” Eve yelled. “Why are you so bitter?”
“Because you made me this way, Eve,” Nerissa shouted back. “Now it’s time for you to bear the fruits of your efforts, and baby, here they are!”
“Hey, Mel, wait up,” Matt called to his friend whom he happened to see while walking home.
Mel adjusted the bookbag strap on his shoulder before stopping to wait. He flashed a smile when Matt caught up with him and began walking again. “What’s up, Matt?”
“Nothing much. Just got through with another long, hard day of work,” he said.
“Ah, I see,” Mel said with a wink. “Why didn’t you come to the bash at the Caged Bird.”
“Well, after hearing what went on tonight, I think it would’ve been too much excitement for me,” Matt laughed. “Besides, I was swamped with all this stupid, meaningless stuff that my dad left for me at the office. I swear, my parents are out to drown me in crap.”
Mel laughed for good measure before slightly rolling his eyes. It had been the same old story for the last couple of months as Matt’s rebellion against his parents had blossomed into a full-fledged, uncontrolled fire.
“Hey, you wanna come hang out at my dorm? They’re playing a late-night movie for those of us too tired to go to sleep.”
“Well, I really don’t think I—”
“Come on, dude,” Matt interrupted. “It’ll be fun. Besides, we’ve got some catching up to do since I haven’t seen you these last couple of weeks of finals and finals preparation.”
Mel nodded in agreement before saying, “Sure, why not? I’ll just drop my bag off at my room and head on over.”
“All right, see you there!” Matt said as he began jogging away towards his own dorm.
Mel sighed heavily as he came to the front door of his dorm building. He unlocked the door with his key and began making his way down the hall to his own room. Strangely enough, he felt a cold gust of air blow by him as he touched the doorknob of the room.
Upon opening the door, a small yelp escaped his throat as his exhausted eyes flew open in horror. His room was nearly demolished. Papers were thrown about, clothes strewn about the floor, bookshelves overturned, desks nearly splintered in two, but most eye-catching of all was the blood-red note on his open window.
Go away,
Here to stay.
Mess with us,
Turn to dust.
Rusty popped a popcorn kernel in his mouth as he flipped the TV channel for what seemed like the hundredth time. There was nothing on during the wee hours of the morning except nameless talk shows with crude guests accusing each other of sleeping with their spouses, who doubled as their cousins. Normally, he would have found amusement within their outrageous claims, but it was different tonight. Luckily for him, the phone rang.
“Hello?”
“Wow, I didn’t expect you to be home so soon,” Sharon’s voice came across the line.
“Guess you expected wrong,” Rusty replied. “What’s up?”
“Nothing, really. I’m just bored, so I figured I’d give you a ring,” Sharon said. “What’s going on with you?”
“I don’t know. I mean—Bobo, leave the ashtray alone! I said I’d give you a banana in a minute!—I don’t know. I saw Shannon tonight.”
“Rusty—”
“Ah, ah, don’t wanna hear it. You’ve already said it a thousand times, so I don’t need to hear it again. Besides, I think it might really happen this time.”
“You’re deluding yourself if you think that. Come on, Rusty, it’s time for you to move on. That thing that you had, whatever it was, is long over. It’s time to get over it,” Sharon said firmly yet gently.
Rusty rolled his eyes and flipped the channel again. “Are you going to the concert next week?”
“Six Floors Up? I wouldn’t miss it for the world!” Sharon exclaimed. “I really didn’t think I’d be able to at first, but I mustered up the money and now I’m going to be right there in the mosh pit with everyone else! It’s so cool!”
“Yay! Okay, so you’ll be there, Gemini’ll be there, Zeke said he’ll try, and maybe we can get some others to come along. The only thing is—” Rusty’s voice trailed off.
“What?” Sharon asked.
“They said Bobo couldn’t come. I was so pissed. It’s not like I was trying to take Tiki or anything.”
“Well, you dress Tiki like a drag queen, Rusty, so I don’t think they would have let him in out of the sheer ‘ewww’ effect of that.”
“Whatever,” Rusty said shortly. “My monkey’s calling, so I’ll talk to you later. Besides, I have another important phone call to make.”
“To whom?”
“You’ll see, Sharon,” Rusty responded ominously. “One day, you’ll see.”
“Parcheesi!” Kate yelled. “Oh my gosh, that’s, like, the fourth time I’ve beaten you.”
Ty threw down his game pieces and groaned as he rolled back onto the floor. He put his hands over his eyes in disgust and shook his head. “You had to have cheated. It’s as simple as that.”
“Yeah, whatever, big man,” Kate said, playfully whacking Ty on the shoulder. “Be a good sport and put up the game, will you?”
“Oh, no. You’re the winner, so naturally such an honor should to you. Besides, I have to go check my e-mail,” Ty said, springing to his feet and running to the computer by the kitchen bar.
Kate was in the middle of picking up the pieces when she heard Ty mutter the name “Sharon.” Her smile quickly faded and her eyes shot over to him. “What did you say?”
Ty could not meet her glance squarely. “Nothing.”
“What did you say, Ty?”
“I said nothing.”
“Ty—”
“Forget it, all right?”
“Tell me what you said or I’ll through this entire game box at you!” Kate shouted, her eyes blazing a fire that Ty had only seen once in his entire relationship with Kate.
“Fine, it’s an e-mail from Sharon. Since it’s so important to you, why don’t you read it?” Ty said out of frustration, rising so quickly from the computer chair that it went flying onto the carpet.
“Fine, I will,” Kate said. “Let’s see what Miss Sharon had to say this time. Oh, and it had better be good if she’s going to be talking to my boyfriend.”
“Why are you so bitter?” Ty asked in amazement. “I have never known you to be this hateful.”
“That’s because I have something to be hateful about, Ty,” Kate snapped in return. “The day of reckoning is coming soon, and I can’t wait until it does. Sharon’s finally going to pay for what she did to me this past spring.”
“Fine, I don’t want to fight. You two can settle your problems yourselves,” Ty said as he threw his arms up in resignation. Still, something was bugging him about the way Kate’s entire demeanor had changed upon his even mentioning Sharon’s name. Something was up, and although Kate didn’t want to tell him, Ty knew he had to find out for himself.
Rusty frowned as he listened to the phone ring for the twelfth time. Why won’t she pick up, he wondered in frustration. She can’t be trying to avoid me.
“RUSTY?! RUSTY, ARE YOU HOME?!?!” a shrill voice shrieked from downstairs.
Rusty hurriedly hung up the phone and threw Bobo off of his lap. “What do you want,” he screamed out of his door.
“I just wanted to see my precious little baby, that’s all.”
Penny, Rusty’s mother, made her way up the stairs. She was a rather eccentric looking woman with her black leather outfit, black sunglasses, and frizzy blonde hair. She was smacking loudly on a chew of gum as she went to give her son a bear hug and a kiss. “How’s my baby been?”
“Yeah, sorry, but your baby died years ago,” Rusty said apathetically. He never liked it when his mother went on this sentimental tirade. Besides, he smelled liquor on her breath when she tried in vain to kiss him.
“Aw, now, come on, sweetie pie. Give momma some sugah,” Penny cooed, pooching her lips out in an odd, grotesque manner.
“Um, I think I’ll pass on that. I think I hear Tiki scratching at the back door,” Rusty said, pushing past his mother.
“You give that damn snake more attention than you give your own momma, boy, and that ain’t good!” Penny hollered after him. She put her hands on her hips and watched him go out the back door instead of letting the snake, who was strangely not outside but in its container in his room, inside.
“I’ll get some love from you yet, boy. It’s time for you to give your momma some respect, and by the name of Jesus Christ my Savior son of God almighty, I will have it.”
“Can you believe this garbage?” Kate spouted angrily. “Like we would ever go to the Six Floors Up concert with her!”
“Actually, I was thinking about going,” Ty said quietly. He was seated humbly on the loveseat beyond Kate and the computer and patiently waited for her to join him.
Kate threw a disappointed glance Ty’s way then softened a bit. “I really want to go too, but I don’t know if I want to if she’s going to be there.”
“Look, Kate, I don’t know what went on between you two, but you can’t let it affect our relationship. You know that we’ve been talking about going for months now, so why miss out on a valuable experience just because of some stupid grudge y’all are carrying,” Ty said practically, folding his arms across his chest triumphantly.
“It’s not stupid,” Kate flashed, “but I’ll go with you anyways. Maybe we just won’t run into her, or if we do, we just won’t talk to her.”
“Correction: you just won’t talk to her,” Ty replied promptly.
“Ty—”
“Kate, I told you as soon as you started this feud that I wasn’t going to choose sides or sacrifice a friend because you don’t like her, okay? I’ll let you have your grudge if you’ll spare me my friendship with her.”
Kate exhaled deeply and turned back to the computer. “Fine, but when she stabs you in the back like she did me, you won’t be so quick to want to salvage any kind of relationship with her.”
“She stabbed you in the back?” Ty asked curiously.
“In the worst possible way. I never would have imagined that she was capable of it, but she did it, and to this day she still tries to deny it.” Kate was silent for a few moments as she reflected, but then shook her head. “I’m tired of talking about this. Besides, her day will come; if not from getting what she deserves from someone else, then from me.”
Eve closed her eyes and wiped away the last few tears from her mascara-stained cheeks. In response to Shannon’s concerned squeezing of her hand, Eve managed to smile faintly. “I’ll be okay,” she said softly. “I’m just sorry I had to call you all the way down here only to cry on your shoulder.”
“It’s okay, honey. Really,” Shannon said quickly.
“No, it’s not. I really—I really shouldn’t have done it. It won’t happen again, I assure you,” Eve said firmly. She began to open her eyes and saw the deeply worried look in Shannon’s eyes.
“Eve—”
“No, Shannon,” Eve interrupted quickly. “Thank you, but I think it’s time for me to get some rest.”
“Are you sure?”
Eve nodded and rose from the couch. “Yes, I am. Besides, I have to get some reading in before dawn, hehe.”
Shannon smiled and took her purse. “Well, if you’re really okay, I’ll go, but you’d better believe I’m going to be calling you later today, okay?”
“That’s fine. I just—need to get some rest, that’s all.” Eve got a little woozy as she said it, but steadied herself and began to follow Shannon.
“I’ll talk to you later, Shannon. Thanks again.”
Eve closed the door behind Shannon, and suddenly the cold feeling rushed back to her. It took all of her being not to throw open the door and call after Shannon to come back, but she tried to convince herself that she was made of stronger stuff.
Eve began making her way up the stairs and into her room, which was suddenly icy cold. She went over to the thermostat right outside of her bedroom door, but it was set at the normal temperature. Frowning, she returned to her room and shut the door behind her. The sight on her bed caused her to let out a small gasp.
There, spread neatly across the expanse of her bed, was Nerissa’s tapestry. The sight of it nearly made Eve sick.
Mel rapped loudly on Matt’s door. When there was no response, Mel raised his hand to knock again, but Matt opened the door before he could thus causing Mel’s knuckles to come in sharp contact with Matt’s nose.
“Oww! What’s the deal, man?” Matt complained, rubbing his nose with his hands. “Last time I checked, physical abuse was against the law.”
Mel thrust the ominous piece of paper into Matt’s hand as he pushed past him. “Read this.”
“Wait a minute, now, it’s too late to be reading.”
“Would you please just read it?”
Something in the tone of Mel’s voice alerted Matt to the fact that something serious was going on. Matt opened up the folded letter and read its contents, then looked up incredulously at Mel. “Yeah, it’s a prank, so…”
“I don’t think it’s a prank, Matt,” Mel said shortly. He was now sitting in the Matt’s desk chair, and his hands were folded nervously in his lap.
“What’s so strange about it?”
“Well, the fact that I found it along with my completely totaled room kind of made me think that.”
Matt’s eyes and mouth turned into saucers. “Are you serious? What happened?”
“Yeah, I don’t know, Matt; that’s the point. I don’t know what to do, so I wondered if you had any suggestions.”
Matt looked around nervously and then back at the letter. “I wish I did, Mel, but I’m fresh out besides the obvious, of course.”
“Which would be?”
“Call the police.”
Mel shifted uncomfortably. “Should I? I mean, I really don’t want to have to deal with that right now.”
“It’s now or never, dude. If you want to go back and sleep in a room that has God knows what else in it, then by all means, be my guest. I wouldn’t, though.”
Mel sprang from the chair and snatched the note out of Matt’s hand. “Find, then, I know what I have to do. I’ve got to take care of this.”
Matt quickly grabbed his jacket off of a nearby coat hanger and called after him, “Wait for me! I don’t wanna miss this!”
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